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Bee J01RNAL
CHICAGO, ILL, JANUARY 3, 190!,
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
George W. York & Co.
116 Michigan 5t., Chicago, UK
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of tbis journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a yearextra for postag-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOO" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1900.
Subscription Receipts — We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the A mer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
**ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
TI16 B66-K6eDer's
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
■ BY
PROE A, J. COOK.
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook*s
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $i.OO), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. I^et every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
IIS Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
YELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending us One New Subscriber for a Year.
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent regular subscribers will send us $1
with a new name for next year (1901),
we will send the new subscriber the bal-
ance of this year's (1900) numbers free,
and mail, postpaid, to the one sending
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with $2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michig'an St., CHICAGO, ILL.
,t* *t»
BEST =
Exiractefl Honeu For Sale
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY.**.
This is the famous
Extracted Honey gath —
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY*....„
'his is the well-known
ixt-colored honey gathered
m the rich, nectar-ladeu
iswood blossoms in Wis-
^,^^asin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor iu their honey.
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey : ^^
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents — Jl^
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9;i ^^
cents per pound; two cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans, ^'
8'2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering ^^
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so «*
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all (^!U-
EBSOLWTBLY FURE BEES' E&MEJ.
The finest of their kinds produced iu this country.
m*-
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that
" ■ ' ■ " "iral thousand pounds of honey of my own pro-
usfbt to
I'm something- of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of
duction and then buy honev of you for my own use. But however loyal (
be to the honev of his owii region, there s no denying- the fact that for
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to su^ar. the very ^^
excellent quality of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the §fe<-
honevs of more markt flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller. >j"'
McHenry Co.,Ill. /^
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^*"
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce |^L
enough honey for their home detnand this year, just order some of ^^
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, J^
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^jf^
Address, •
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., ii8 Michigan St., Chicago, III. ^^
<^
^j^ERECAg"
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY 3, 1901,
NoJ,
I * Editorial. * j
lOOl— Volume XLI.— The first year of
the new century is here — the 20th century.
The first number of the 41st volume of the
American Bee Journal is also here. Tho the
past century was one of wonderful improve-
ments and developmentSj we suppose this new
century we are just entering upon will be still
more wonderful. That hardly seems possible,
and yet it doubtless will be true.
But what of the old American Bee Journal
in this 20th century ? It also must keep step
with the progressive spirit of this rapidly ad-
vancing age. And it will do so. We need not
make any promises for the fnture to those
who have been reading the old American Bee
Journal during the past 10 or more, or even
less, years. We mean to keep its standard up
hereafter as we have tried to do in the past.
We realize that this we can not do alone — we
must have the hearty and continued support
and encouragement of the bee-keepers them-
selves. We believe we will have it — at least
we will endeavor to merit it.
We can all, then, look forward to the com-
ing years with a strong faith and a high hope,
realizing that in a united effort for the right
we shall be successful in all that is worthy
and true.
The Utter vs. Utter Case in New York
State, which has been referred to in these
columns several times the past few months,
came to trial again, and was decided in favor
of the bee-keeper, on Dee. 19th.
Mr. O. L. Hershiser, superintendent of tlie
apiarian exhibit at the Pan-American E.xposi-
t ion, being present and assisting during the
trial, the following account written by him
will be read with great .satisfaction by all,
and particularly by the members of the Na-
tional Bee-Keepers" Association, whose money
helpt their fellow member to win his ease :
Mt Deak Mr. York: — I enclose you news-
paper clippings concerning the now famous
case of Utter vs. Vtter, and will request that
remaining papers containing acmuritsof tlie
case be forwarded to you by the publishers.
In the meantime, let me tell you so you will
have no dismal apprehensions concerning the
result of the litigation, that the bees were en-
tirely exonerated of the charge of mischief as
complained of. The case oeciipii-il (.ver twn
days, the jury being nearly all druwii un Mon-
day afternoon, and the jury's vi-rilict brought
in at about dusk on Wednesday evening.
For a case involving such insigniflcaut
damages, Tve seen nothing that has created
so much interest to lawyers and sensation to
the people, in many a day, as ilid this case. It
seemed to be the only subject of conversation
for the people in the hotels, railway stations
and stores, and by groups of people on the
streets. Besides local witnesses, the plaintiff
had Mr. Banes — a fruit-grower of New Hamp-
shire ; and the defense, besides local witnesses,
had several fruit-growers and apiarists from
New Jersey. A. I. and E. R. Root from Ohio,
Frank Benton from Washington, Mr. Marks
from this State, and your humble servant as
counsel and witness.
I understand the jury's first; ballot was 10
votes to 2 blanks tor no cause of action, which
was immediately made unanimous for no
cause of action. They were out scarcely five
minutes. Was not that a complete victory ?
Too much credit can not be given the just
judge for his fair and impartial attitude and
rulings on every disiuileil point, anil for the
great learning and aliility of Messrs. F.actm t\:
Merritt. And while passing. I desin- that you
know that learned and astute counsel were
opposed to us in the persons of Messrs. F. V.
Sanford and M. N. Kaine. both of whom are
scholarly and gentlemanly members of the
legal fraternity : and w^hile they brought to
bear all llicir M'liolarly attainments and legal
acumen in this very bitterly contested case, I
think that all on the opposite side will agree
that they were treated in a gentlemanly and
dignified manner.
Of course, you will observe that the scene of
of this fight was in the village of Amity,
which, to say the least, was very ironical ;
that, metaphorically speaking, one brother
sought to kill, or "do up '' the other, and that
this fratricide might be accomplisht aeeonling
to ancient usage, as recorded in Holy Writ,
Kaine was brought in to assist one of the
brothers in his fell purpose. However, the
plaintiff would not be disposed of in this
summary manner, and knowing of a firm of
distinguisht legal gentlemen, who, be it said,
Merritt their Bacon, he enlisted them in his
behalf. These lawyers were Bmt on (Benton)
goini.'' tn thr /I'riur of the matter, and, accord-
ingly, Mill jni- cirtain gentlemen from Wash-
ington mid oliin to assist them in getting
down to first principles. The Utter absurdity
of the plaintiff's claims were made apparent
to all observers, after the gentleman from
Chapinville had made Marks of his witnesses,
by jiroviiig I" the jury that in their claims
that lH■l■^ puncture peaches they were simply
"talking thru their hats." And now that it
has been judicially settled, that the claims of
the plaintiff were too Utterly Utter, I think we
are justified in believing that peace will reign
in Amity again. Yours truly,
Orel. L. Hershiser.
From the clippings kindly sent us by Mr.
Hershiser, we take these paragraphs, the
newspaper in which they appeared being
the Middletown (N. Y.) Daily Argus:
The case was opened for the plaintiff by Mr.
Sanford. He said he askt only SlOO damages;
that the case was not one which charged that
peaches and trees had been destroyed by
stinging. He claimed about as follows : The
two Utters lived near Amity, in the town of
Warwick. One raises peaches, the other is a
kripcr of bees. William H. owns 4,000 peacli-
tiic^. Forty rods from one of his orchards
are several hundred hives belniiLiinu' to his
brother. The bees from \\v^<- liivf^ licqnired
the habit of Hyiiej- over \'< ih. ,iivliaid and
" puncturing" his pcaehe>. miiUih^' tlie fruit,
and making great quantities of it unfit for
market. The juice trickling from the fruit
would form a substance about the branches of
the trees, which, in time, destroyed the
branches, and in time 40 trees were totally
destroyed.
Wm. H. Utter, the plaintiff, was the first
witness. This is the substance of his testi-
mony : On July 5th last he walkt into his
orchard and noticed that there were many bees
in his peach-trees. Every day after that the
bees began to get thicker and thicker. He
counted as many as 14 bees on a peach, and
saw so many others on other peaches that he
couldn't count them. He watcht their
operations. A single bee would come up to
the peach, walk all around it, pick out a good
spot, and put its nose in. Then it would wig-
gle its head one way and then it would wiggle
it another. Then it would stand upon its feet
and pull out its nose. Then another bee would
come and find the hole. Then a third and
fourth, and a whole lot of bees would come to
that peach, and in less than a week the peach
would die.
This is the way he found out that the bees
were from his brother's hives: He built a box
and put flour in it. Then by another con-
trivance he caught a lot of the bees on his
peaches, put them in the flour-box. and when
they had become white he permitted them to
escape. Then he followed their line of flight,
and in most cases they went direct to his
brother's hives.
Next week we hope to have a fiu'ther repot t
on this celebrated case.
Clarifying of Wax.— It is a good thing
to have the same thing viewed by many eyes,
thereby reaching it from all sides. Regarding
the clarifying of wax. the following kind note
is received :
Mt Dear Mr. York:— Haven't you made
a little mistake in your editorial answer to Mr.
Hill about the cooling of wax ? The real
truth is, that the time taken in the cooling of
the wax makes no dilTererice whatever — it is
in the length of time it r,Lii;iins in a melted
condition. The effect on ruidr will be exactly
the same if the wax should Ih> slightly heating
instead of cooling all the time it remains
melted. And I can not conceive how you
could possibly give the meaning you did to
the quotation you made from Mr. Hill.
O. O. POPPI.ETOX.
Decidedly Mr. Poppleton is correct, that the
thing that makes a difference in the clarifying
of the wax is the " length of time it remains
in a melted condition,"' altho it is doubtful if
any one has exprest the idea in that exact
form before. But is it strictly correct to say
that "the time taken in the cooling of the
wax makes no difference whatever '." It is
true that after the temperature of the wax has
come down to the melting-point, it makes no
difference whether it is ten seconds or ten
years in getting down to the temperature of
the surro\inding atmosphere, but it does make
a difference as to the time of the cooling of
the wax down to about 14.5 degrees, just be-
cause the longer time it takes in cooling down
to that point the longer time it is in the de-
sirable melted condition.
Having agreed that slow cooling is not per xe
A 3 -ro'i
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Jan. 3, 1901.
the thing desired, but only de>irable beeauie
it leads to the ri^ht eonditioii. the practical
iiuestion comes, Is it better to say to a begin-
ner. ■■ You must cool your wax slowly ;"' or.
•■ You nnist keep your wax a long time in a
melted condition !" If he is told to cool his
wax slowly, it is about certain that he will
keep it a long time in a proper condition for
the foreign particles to settle; at any rate, if
any one has been misled by such a direction,
it has not come to light.
Suppose, however, we try to be more exact,
and say, " Your wax must remain a long time
in a melted condition.'' One can easily fancy
him saying, '• Well, it will remain in a melted
condition if I keep it hot. and I can just as
well leave it on the stove half a day." So it
remains " in a melted condition '" for half a
day — not only in a melted condition, but at so
high a temperature that the particles are kept
constantly in motion, and there is no chance
for impurities to settle ; and then it is taken
off and allowed to cool rapidly, with the result
that impurities are mixt all thru.
The best of all would be a full explanation.
Since the foregoing was written, the Bee-
Keepers" Review has come to hand, and Edi-
tor Hutchinson says :
'• The trouble with Bro. York
as I understand him, is that he is confusini;
purity, or freedom from dirt, with that of
color" That is. he assumes that the dark
color results from the presence of dirt
time and again have I seen the brightest, yel-
lowest wax fairlv Inadi-il witli particles of
dirt. If kept liquid a Ion;;- time the-e parti-
cles settle to the bottom, but the color of the
wax is not changed one io(a,"
There is no desire whatever to deny that two
specimens of wax entirely free from impuri-
ties may be very different in color. But it is
also true that a very large part of the beeswax
thrown upon the market is of the kind he
mentions — ''fairly loaded with dirt." Now
does Mr. Hutchinson mean to tell us that that
dirt is of the same bright color as the wax
when it is cleansed ? Does a cake of it look
just the same after cleansing as before ? If the
answer is in the afflrmative, then there is
something exceptional about the color of dirt
in his locality. If a white handkerchief is
covered with soot, we don't say it is white,
but black.
Reformed Spelling.— A correspondent
writes that he woitld be a subscriber for life it
it were not for the spelling which follows the
rule, '• Change d and ed final to ( when so pro-
nounced, as in looked (lookt). etc., unless the
e affects the preceding sound, as in chafed.
etc." He thinks until our lexicographers
change the rule that makes the past tense and
perfect participle of regular verbs end in ed
there should be no change, and that it is con-
fusing to children who are learning to -spell to
read this jourital.
It would be hardly worth while to refer to
the matter except for some who are recent
subscribers. To them some explanation is due
for departing from the general custom. This
departure is not a whim of the American Bee
Journal, not of a number of illiterate people.
It is because our lexicographers, the ablest
and best lexicographers of the world, Iiave
changed the spelling — a fact of which our
correspondent does not seem to he aware. If
he will turn to page xvii of the Standard Dic-
tionary, he will find the matter treated some-
what extensively. The change is endorst by
the Philological Societies of England and
America, and the Modern Language Associa-
tion of America, the members of which in-
clude most of the recognized authority in lin-
guistic science in England and America, among
them Hon. \\m. T. Harris, LL. D., who for
years has been the United States Commis-
sioner of Education, and the late very able
Max MuUer, of England, with professors
from leading colleges in both countries. There
is no law compelling people to obey these
rules, no more than there is to compel people
to talk good English, but reforms having such
strong arguments in their favor, and urged by
such high authorities, will stu-ely prevail in
tlie end, and it is the part of wisdom promptly
to tall in with them.
If the father and grandfather of our. corres-
pondent had been of his mind, very poor
would have been his chances for much modern
literatiu-e. for they would not have allowed
him to read a book that did not continue the
spelling to which they had first been accus-
tomed, such as honour, labour, Atlantick,
arctick, etc.
I Weekly Budget l
Mr. Thom.vs G. Newman, for so many years
editor of this journal, and also general man-
ager of the National Bee-Keepers' Union (a
year ago united with the National Associa-
tion), has this personal paragraph in the issue
of his Philosophical Journal for Dec. '33, 1900 :
The editor, in response to many reciuests
for a public statement concerning his vision,
would say that his health is much improved,
but his sight has not yet returned sufficiently
to allow him to read or write. This condition
has prevailed now for more than a year, tho
he has been taking daily magnetic or mental
treatments the whole time, but he feels sure
that full sight would soon return, if he could
take a much-needed rest, the optic nerves
being only partially paralyzed, thru excessive
strain. Mrs. Newman is also much in need of
rest, after the extra labor and care of the past
year. Thomas G. Newman'.
Mr. Newman's many old friends will all
unite in the hope that he may soon have that
necessary rest so that his eyes may recover.
Also that Mrs. Newman may join him in the
vacation.
Mu. Dadaxt's Pauis Crebentials, which
he mentions in his article this week, read as
follows:
Mk. C. p. Dadant.
Dear Sir: — 1 am pleased to inform you that
the Board of Directors of the National Bee-
Keepers' Association, thru its chairman. Mr.
E. T. Abbott, has aiuhorized me to jiresent
you this certiticate of credentials, appointing
von as their dclc^riile to the International
( nii-re-- .,1 1. Ker|,,r- at I'aii-. .11- at any
(illiel riie.-lin- nt hce l,ei'|ii r- «l(i,li vou may
l)e ahle t.i aiteiel iluriiiy- youi' trip abroad. On
behalf of the Association, I desire to say that
we feel that we have in you the person of all
others the best fitted to represent American
bee-keepers in Europe. Yotu- large {■\i)eri-
ence. covering many years of siieei'^sful man-
agement with l)ees: your thoro aei|iiaiiitauce
with all the latest uietliods and developments
in use in this country and in Europe; your
familiarity with the French language and cus-
toms— all these, and more, especially fit you
for the position, and will entitle you to a de-
gree of respect that could be accorded to
almost no one else. .Althoa native of France,
we still consider you a typical American bee-
keeper in every respect : and we desire you to
convey to European bee-keepers our hearty
good wishes, love and respect. We feel that
we owe to dear old France a debt of gratitude
for sending two of her best sons to America;
and in sending one of them back to represent
us, we bespeak for him a reception such as
could be accorded to no other American bee-
keeper— a man whom we are proud to honor,
and who, in connection with his venerable
father, has done much to advance the pursuit
in this country and in Europe.
Yours very respectfully,
Ernest R. Root. President.
Di! A. B. Mason. Secretary.
Mk. Fred W^. Muth, of Hamilton Co., Ohio,
with his friend, Mr. Hauk, made us a very
pleasant call recently. They were on their
way to visit among some of the manufacturers
of bee-keepers' supplies, Mr. Muth having
been an employee of Mr. C. H. W. Weber, of
Cincinnati, for nearly two years past. Mr.
Weber is well known to our readers as a dealer
in honey and bee-keepers' supplies. Mr. Muth
is a son of the late Chas. F. Muth. who did
such a large honey-business in Cincinnati for
so many years.
Mr. W. .4. Prtal. of .San Francisco Co.,
Calif., writing us Dec. Tth. said;
'• The winter here is something fine, tho we
are having slight fogs in the morning. These
latter are said to be beneficial in w'arding off
the cold weather, tho, to tell the truth. I
think it is cold enough as it is — it is one of
those cold spells that is full of dampness, the
dampness being worse than dry cold. At any
rate, all kinds of flowers, viz. : roses, geran-
iums, fuchsias, heliotropes, potato-vines, calla
lilies, etc., are in bloom as it it were summer.
The other day I took a little trip across the
bay with some friends from Chicago, and
visited Alameda, Oiikland, and Berkeley. The
day was a charming one. and the gardens and
air landscape were arrayed in their best winter
garb. The sun was so hot that none of us
could wear wraps or overcoats. The Chicago
folks were charmed with the climate and the
cities they visited— the climate just delighted
them.
" So far the whole Slate has been visited
by copious rainfalls, and it may be fairly ex-
pected that a liberal amount is yet to come.
This will make the coming season a bountiful
one. Still, it is yet too early to count one's
chickens,''
Mr. Gaston Bonnier, whose portrait
graces our first page this week, was president
of the International Congress of bee-keepers
at Paris, held during the World's Fair there
last September, which is referred to by Mr,
Dadant on another page. He was born in
1853. Being a cousin of the noted French
apiarist, George DeLayens, he helpt him in
his young days in making experiments on the
size of hives at different altitudes. In 1873 he
entered the Superior Normal School, where he
was first student, then professor. In 1887 he
was appointed professor of botany at the
Sorboune (University of Paris), and in 1897
was elected a member of the Academy of
Sciences of Paris.
Without going into the details of works p.ul>-
lisht by Mr. Bonnier, and of experimental
demonstrations due him. we will only men-
tion the following works: In 1879. "The
Nectaries," an anatomical and physiological
description of the nectar-jiroducing organs in
plants: in 1887, the "New Flora," in which
arc indicated the plants visited by bees: and in
1898. the "Cours Complet d'Apiculture."
These publications all have a direct bearing
upon bee-culture. ,
Jan. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag"o, 111.,
Aug'. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BV DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from page 821.)
KBBDING BEES RIGHT OUTDOORS.
Suppose your colonies were away from other bees,
wouldn't it be safe to feed right outdoors to them, and let
them carry it in ?
Mr. Aikin — No.
Mr. Fixter — I have fed by placing- the feeder on top of
the colony I wish to feed in the evening about sundown, and
by morning they would have it all taken down. Put in the
syrup lukewarm.
Mr. Wood — I have had experience in feeding ; after the
bees are all thru breeding is the best time to feed ; then
feed all at once. If it is cool weather warm the food. Con-
fine the bees to the combs they can cover, don't let them
scatter, put the feed on top, and keep them warm.
I-EEDING SUGAR SYRUP TO BEES.
Mr. Moore — Is there any particular danger in feeding
granulated sugar from its solidifying in the combs ? How
can that be prevented ?
Mr. Root — We never have any trouble, and our scheme
is always to feed syrup thin, about half sugar and half
water. If you make it a third water and two-thirds sugar
you are liable to have some sugar solidify ; you can avoid
it a good deal by putting in water or some sort of acid. I
think it is better to make it thin.
Dr. Mason — By adding honey you never have that
granulation.
Pres. Root — You want to make it thin ; make it about
half and half; if you make it thin enough it won't gran-
ulate.
A Member — How early do you feed it ?
Pres. Root — In September and October, in our locality,
when the days are warm.
Dr. Mason — If you use that much water the bees will
have a great deal of work to do.
Mr. Fixter — Take 15 pounds of syrup, by the time that
is in the cells, when you have two parts sugar and one
water, you have over 10 pounds of food left.
Pres. Root — You have to figure according to that when
you feed that thin syrup.
Mr. Fixter — I have tried that, and weighed the hives
before the bees were fed, and weighed them afterwards.
Mr. Green — Don't you have trouble in feeding this thin
food rather slow ?
Mr. Fixter — I askt Mr. Root in feeding this thin syrup
and feeding it rather slowly (as I supposed he would have
to), if he did not have trouble with getting the bees started
to brood-rearing.
Mr. Root — Sometimes we feed 10 or IS pounds at a time.
The main idea in feeding thin syrup is to have the bees
convert that syrup into honey.
Mr. Green — Sometimes it becomes necessary to feed
bees in rather cold weather, and at such a time we must
either mix it with honey, as has been suggested, or boil
with tartaric acid and feed it then at a proper consistency,
nearly the consistency of honey, and feed it rapidly.
Dr. Mason — If I understand you correctly, I think I have
learned something, Mr. President. You say, " The main
idea in feeding thin syrup is to have the bees convert that
syrup into honey." By adding one-half water do the bees
make the sugar syrup into honey '! Is that so ?
Pres. Root — I want to ciualify that a little.
Dr. Mason — I guess you would better.
Pres. Root — In making it thin, one-half sugar and one-
half water, the bees have an opportunity to invert it. Prof.
Cook calls it " digebt." If you feed it too thick they won't
digest it and convert it into honey.
Mr. Abbott — I want to offer my protest so that the
stenographer will be sure to get it, and the bee-keepers as-
sembled will be sure to understand it ; that you can't feed
sugar-syrup of any kind, to any kind of bees, and have it
converted into honey [Applause], Prof. Cook to the con-
trary notwithstanding.
Pres. Root— What I mean by that is, it is not the same
you get from flowers. What I mean by honey — real honey —
is nectar from flowers stored by the bees in the combs and
converted into honey ; but nectar in cane-syrup is a good
deal like we feed. What I am speaking of now is chemical
honey, and not commercial honey.
Mr. Abbott — Either chemical or commercial honey. If
you feed them cane-syrup you reap cane-sugar when you
eat it.
Pres. Root — It will be be inverted, tho.
Mr. Abbott— No, it won't be inverted ; it will simply be
cane-sugar.
Pres. Root— Where is Prof. Gillette ?
Mr. Taylor — There seems to be quite an issue between
Mr. Cowan in his paper and Mr. Abbott.
Pres. Root — Mr. Abbott speaks of chemical honey or
commercial honey. I don't care whether they have nectar
from flowers or sugar-cane ; if you give them time enough
they will convert it into honey.
Mr. Moore — I will have to enter an emphatic protest
against the use of this term " chemical honey." You might
as well say " glucose honey ;" it is the same thing in the
eyes of the public. I have handled a family trade for 15
years, and I am red hot on the subject, and lots of people
have said to me, " Do you feed your bees sugar to make
honey?" I say even a bee doesn't make honey ; she gath-
ers honey from the flowers. You can't give it to people in
this scientific way ; if you do they won't understand it. I
tell them bee-keepers don't practice that sort of thing.
First, it doesn't pay us. I state here, you can take lots of
bees and produce honey cheaper than you can get it from
sugar-syrup and other things. I tell them more than that,
yon can't get your sugarsyrup into the combs ; if you got
it into the combs it wouldn't be honey — it would be sugar-
syrup in the combs; it wouldn't' pay. I am protesting
against using terms that are misleading to the people who
won't understand them. They are asking me these ques-
tions every day, and I must enforce my personality on that
party before I can get his confidence. For the benefit of
our pursuit, and for bee-keepers generally, I think we must
avoid the error of speaking in misleading terms, and thus
leading to misconceptions of our pursuit. [Applause.]
Mr. White — When we talk about sugar-syrup let us talk
about it as only feeding to winter our bees ; that we never
sell any of it ; it is simply to live on ; it is just as good, I
believe, when it is "inverted," as you call it — I don't want
to know the term, anyhow — but it is just as good to winter
our bees. I believe we can winter the bees on it all right,
but let it go out that it is for feed and itof for family use.
Pres. Root — If you feed the syrup too thick it will candy
and go back to sugar. If you make it thin enough the bees
will invert it.
Dr. Mason — Don't use the word " honey " in that con-
nection.
A Member — I always heat the syrup hot. I think that
is one reason why it does not candy in the comb.
Mr. York — I want to emphasize what has been said
about feeding sugar, and saying what it is used for when
you feed it to bees. I am very careful what is said on this
subject in the American Bee Journal. I help my corres-
pondents to say what it is used for — to feed, and not to pro-
duce honey, but to keep the bees alive. I put it in that way.
Dr. Mason — This is really a serious matter; if it should
go out to the public that our honored president has been
advocating anything of that kind, it would be a great dam-
age to our fraternity here. I say we ought to keep this in-
side— not to say it at all in the first place. I am in dead
earnest about this. Mr. Moore knows what it means. If
our president goes out on the market and peddles it from
house to house he will find out he would better not say sugar-
syrup any more.
Pres. Root — I concede the point Dr. Mason makes, and
the point of Mr. Moore and Mr. Abbott, and all these
others. I am willing to be corrected on that. I will, if you
prefer, use the word " inverted."
Mr. York — We should always say that we feed the bees
for winter stores, or to keep them from starving. If the
general public only did know, it wouldn't do any harm. But
it is hard to get them to comprehend the matter correctly.
Mrs. Dunne— I think in speaking of storing sugar for
winter use, we should confine ourselves to the bare fact.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Jan. 3, 1901.
and say it is g-iven to stimulate the bees for brood-rearing,
to store for winter food, and give none of them to under-
stand it is to be converted into honey for any purpose.
Mr. Abbott — I was writing a resolution, and I don't
know as I just understood what was said, but I infer that
you meant to say unless the bees invert it or ripen it, it
would go back into sugar ; that syrup couldn't be made to
do it — wouldn't go back into sugar without the bees did
something to it. I feed my bees sugar-syrup to winter
them; they eat sugar-syrup, and live on sugar-syrup in-
stead of honey ; it is sugar-syrup when I feed, and when a
bee eats it it is never anything else but sugar-syrup, and I
don't see any reason for calling it anything else.
Pres. Root — It is not chemically the same as it was be-
fore.
Mr. Abbott — It is absolutely the same as it was before,
chemically ; I can demonstrate clearly that it is so.
Pres. Root — I am only stating it as have Cowan, and
Cheshire, and Dr. Headdon of the Colorado Experiment
Station, and other scientists — thej' called it "inverted."
A. F. Morley — I have been reading that when bees are
fed sugar-syrup they will fly out into the air and manu-
facture it over to some extent before they store it.
Mr. Fixter — If you allow the bees to store 25 or 30
pounds of syrup in the brood-chamber, aren't they going
to carry that into the sections in the spring ? How are you
going to separate the sugar-syrup from the honey ?
Pres. Root — Not very liable to after that length of time.
SUPERSEDING OUEBNS.
Why should a colony refuse to kill the old queen when
she has stopt laying, and a young queen has emerged, the
colony finally swarming with the old queen that was dipt,
there being no eggs or uncapt brood, and but little capt
brood in the cells ?
Mr. Aikin — For my part, I think there is a mistake
somewhere ; such things do not occur except as a freak, in
all my experience.
Mr. Green — They occur pretty frequently.
Dr. Mason — You must be in a freak country ; localities
differ.
Will a colony superseding a queen swarm with the old
queen after the j'oung one is hatcht and in the hive ?
Mr. Aikin — It is possible that the jfresence of two
queens in the hive, the old and the young, might cause a
disturbance ; but where the colony would come out I should
most certainly expect them to come with the young queen
rather than with the old one.
REARING QUEENS.
How often would j'ou put queen-cells in the same hive ?
Mr. Aikin — I suppose this is intended for queen-breed-
ers ; I can't answer it.
Mr. Hutchinson — I put in queen-cells as often as I take
out a queen.
Mr. Holdren — That isn't the idea; I want to know,
when j'ou are rearing queens, how often you would put cells
in the same hive to rear queens for sale ?
Mr. Aikin — Isn't your thought this : How many cells
would you cause one colony to rear ?
Mr. Holdren — Yes, sir ; without giving them a rest.
Mr. Hutchinson — Perhaps two or three — somewhere in
that neighborhood. They will rearonfe batch of cells in ten
days.
NUMBER OF COMB SPACES WITH BEES FOR WINTER.
Taking the Langstroth frame for a standard, how many
spaces between combs should be occupied by the bees for
good wintering on examination Oct. 15th ?
Mr. Aikin — I don't know the number of spaces ; that
will depend upon the temperature, largely, and it varies so
much the first of October that probably six or eight spaces
would be right.
Mr. Benton — Five in sharp weather.
Mr. Abbott — I believe that would be pretty close.
Dr. Mason — Six makes a good, solid colony.
FORMING LATE NUCLEI.
How late can a nucleus be formed in northern Illinois,
using a virgin queen, and build up strong enough to last
until spring ?
Mr. Aikin — That is out of my territory. I should sa3' it
depended largely upon the weather and the honey-flow —
principally those two things — and the man who is handling
them.
Continued next week.)
i Contributed Articles. |
No. 2.— Extracted Honey Production.
Size of Hives— Plenty of Stores and Ho'w They
Become Effective— Larg-er Hives Needed
Than in Comb Honey Production, Etc.
BY R. C. AIKIN.
Some months ago I was writing a series of articles for
this journal. I concluded the series so far as comb honey
production was concerned, and in the issue of June 21, 1900,
page 387, I gave the first article on extracted honey produc-
tion. Just about that time I found myself so occupied with
other work I could not continue the articles, hence this
lapse or break in the series. In order to get the connection
and refresh our memories, I shall have to sum up or repeat
a little of the ideas in the former articles.
In the comb-honey articles I taught the great importance
of having very strong colonies while section honey was be-
ing stored. When entering on the description of extracted
honey production, I still advocated strong colonies. I also
pointed out that comb honey stock would pack brood-combs
very closely with honey, but when extracted was produced,
especially with abundance of store-comb, the brood-combs
were left very lank or thin. I urged that the apiarist note
this difference in the amount of stores found in the brood-
chambers, that run for extracted, having brood-combs so
very scantily stored as to cause death of colonies from star-
vation when comb-honey colonies in like hives had stores
in plenty.
There is also another cause for starvation of extracted
stock, the very fact that the latter stores the honey in the
extra, leaving plent.v of brood-room, leads to the develop-
ment of much more brood. The two colonies may not seem
very different in strength during the flow, but since the
comb-honey colony has its combs with much honey and lit-
tle brood, while the extracted honey colony has just the
reverse, this causes the latter to have a great force of bees
rt/7f;- the flow is over. This host of bees produces quite a
different condition of affairs from the other.
The great amount of brood and bees with the extracted-
honey stock a//er the flow, may, under certain conditions,
be a benefit. Should there be a later flow that these bees
can forage upon, they may prove to be just what we want ;
but if there is a dearth of nectar, and they are in enforced
idleness, they may be of little use. If we know perfectly
our field we will know just what to do, but it is not always
possible to know. However, most apiarists know fairly
well whether they are to have any nectar yielding late to
employ the bees, and if there is none then it follows that
there "should be provision made for the conditions. I am
using for extracting, 9-frame American hives. This frame
being about 12 inches deep, it would be inclined to catch
more honey than a shallower frame, yet I find these hives
run for extracted honey to contain less honey at the end of
the flow than do Langstroth frame hives of the same ca-
pacity when run for comb.
I have no late flow, hence the condition on the hive as
to stores at the close of the summer flow is the condition
practically for winter. As it takes 30 to 40 pounds of honey
to carry a colony thru in this field, I am compelled to do
more spring feeding of the extracted-honey stock, or else
use a larger hive for them. I have before given my experi-
ence in this matter, but it will do no harm to state it again.
For several years I lost heavily of my extracted-honey stock
from starvation and general poor condition in spring,
caused by shortage of stores. Since then I have given
larger brood-chambers, and, when so, this stock winters
and springs as well as comb-honey stock, if not better.
Note that the comb-honey stock well provision the
brood-chambers, this very fact reducing the amount of bees
going into winter. We might reason as many have done in
the past, that we do not want a big force of bees to go into
winter, that it takes so much to feed them. That argument
is very good if the bees are cellared, but for outdoor winter-
ing I believe the big colony the better. It does consume
more honey, but then they winter more safely. I have win-
tered a great many colonies in two-story American hives
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
rit;ht along- with one-story ones, and the two-story hives
have rousing- big colonies when the June flow comes, plenty
of honej' and far more bees than the one-story ones. The
bii,^ two-story colonies will be storing surplus when the oth-
ers are barely readj' to enter supers. This testimony will
give comfort to the Dadants, and I am sure that for outdoor
wintering they are right, that the big hive is the better. I
believe the net results to be better from such.
In producing comb honey it is true that a very large
brood-chamber colony may get to swarming before they do
section-work, but this does not apply so much to estracted-
honey stock where a set or two of combs above, ready to
store in, attracts the bees to them.
Conditions (that is "locality," sometimes) make a great
difference. I call the reader to note carefully what I am
just now to put before you, for these matters must be under-
stood or you will say the doctors do not agree.
I have been for several years in a tield in which the few
vreeks Jus f pn'ii'ding the June flow, were weeks of an abso-
lute dearth of nectar. Now, reader, suppose you were here
with your bees under such conditions. Suppose they were
in S-frame hives, and the last half of May and first half of
June there was practically «£>/A/«^ for them in the fields,
and the stores at home very low. Do you think you would
have any swarming? Or even a proper amount of breed-
ing ? You would not need to bother your head about how to
keep down swarming — I will guarantee no swarming-fever
under such conditions.
Now, suppose your bees, instead of being in 8-frame
hives, single story, were in two-story or 16-frame ones,
stores to be in proportion. I can tell you that such two-
story hives well-provisioned, weather warm, and other con-
ditions favorable, you would have sonu- swarming before
the flow, and much more after it began. You could, bj' a
careful and judicious management, handle your one-story
hives so as to have good colonies, but it would have to be
done by close watch, and never at any time allow the col-
ony to get out of stores, and while they would have very
little ahead make them handle what little they do have. One
principal factor in inducing free laying by the queen, is to
have workers with full sacs much of the time.
Thus it is possible to have bees carried thru the spring
in a dearth of nectar, bringing them up to a honey-flow in
good condition and no swarming-fever. Such colonies will
go into the sections and work for some time without swarm-
ing, many going thru a flow and not swarm if care is used
to give and keep plenty of room in supers. But, should
there be a little nectar from the fields for two or three weeks
just before the flow, and at no time a scarcity of old stores,
some would no doubt be ready to swarm at or about the be-
ginning of the flow, if not sooner.
Your two-story hives having a great abundance of two
things (yes, three) — stores, empty comb and house-room —
will breed just about as rapidly under the complete-let-alone
plan as will the other with the coaxing and encouragement.
The large hive is the easiest to winter and spring, for two
reasons : 1st, because they go into winter with a host of
bees, and can endure the cold, and so have more bees in
in spring to start and care for brood ; and 2d, because there
is a plenty of feed at all times, both winter and spring. As
before stated, I find my two-story hives build up faster in
the spring, and make great rousing colonies by the time the
others are in fair condition. lean not account for it in any
other way than the great amount of brood and bees in the
fall being a protection against cold ; earlier and more rapid
spring breeding from some cause ; and a courage and ambi-
tion because of the much empty comb to occupy, and backt
by a rich store of honey.
I wish here to say that there is another probable reason
— perhaps I should leave out the " probable." When a col-
ony is wintered in two chambers, that have been under con-
ditions that find the brood and cluster low down or in the
bottom hive in late fall and early winter, they work upward
in vs-inter and start breeding in the top hive in the spring.
This leaves honey below the cluster in lower outer combs,
and this they will from day to day carry up and store aboz'e
and about the brood. You see, here is a condition that
causes the workers to handle honey, have full sacs, also
open stores and a well-fed queen and brood. It all conduces
to the welfare and prosperity of the colony. It is a condi-
tion that is very like a flow of nectar, and is obtained with
the least care and labor on the part of the apiarist.
cr Now I think I hear E. R- Root hurrahing for two-story
8-frarae hives, and I think he is not far amiss as to the re-
sults to be obtained when they are rightly managed. If
3'ou winter bees outdoors, use a larger hive for the cellar.
If you produce extracted, use larger hives than for comb
hone}-. If you use 8-frame hives, use two of them for a
brood-chamber in verj' many cases; but you can contract if
j'ou choose, when the flow comes on.
Larimer Co., Colo.
Fiat-Bottomed Foundation Securing Drones in
tlie Fall.
BY G. M. DOOLITTI.K.
A CORRESPONDENT writes thus: "I have always
used foundation having a natural septum or base, but
I am thinking of using the flat-bottomed next season.
Will you please tell thru the columns of the American Bee
Journal whether the bees change the base of such founda-
tion before drawing it out ? Or, after drawing it out, will
they fill out the corners with wax, or let it remain with a
flat base ? "
Bees never leave the base of the cells as they come from
the foundation-mill making foundation with flat-bottomed
cells. This is one reason why there is never a base of yel-
low wax apparent with flat-bottomed foundation, where
such is used in producing comb honey. With foundation
having the natural-shaped base, the bees often, in times of
an excessive honey-flow, add their own wax right on to the
raised part of the foundation, so that this added part can be
scraped off with the honey, the foundation washt, and the
same be nearly or quite as perfect as when given to the
bees. This gave rise to the "fish-bone center" in comb
honey, complained of when comb foundation was first used
in sections, and the flat-bottomed process of making foun-
dation was invented especiallj- to overcome this "fish-
bone," if I am correctly informed.
When bees are given the flat-bottomed foundation, the
fii-st thing they do is to go to work to change the base, and
in doing this the side-walls are manipulated also, but just
how this work is accomplisht I have never been able to tell,
after all the close watching I have been enabled to do, for
when the work is being done, the bee has its head in the
cell, hence the vision of the would-be investigator is cut off,
so long as the bee is at work.
While I prefer the flat-bottomed foundation to all other
makes for section honey, it has two drawbacks, as I look at
it, which are that this manipulation of the base of the cells
takes time, so that sections filled with such foundation are
not completed quite as quicklj' as is the case where the nat-
ural-shaped base is used ; and where the sections are placed
on the hive before the honey-flow is fully on, the bees will
mischievously work at it far more than they will that with
the natural base, often gnawing and tearing it all down,
where the honey-flow we expected does not come, so that it
is necessary to look after the sections to see that they are
all right when the bees are about to enter them to fill with
honey, after a period of scarcity, or before putting them on
for the next season.
I have had scores and hundreds of sections which were
filled with this foundation, and which had been on the hives
during a period of scarcity of honey, the foundation of
which was eaten or gnawed away so that only a neck of
foundation, of from a quarter to a half an inch wide, re-
mained next to the tops of the sections, while the lower half
of the foundation was very nearly as it was when first put
in. When honey commenced to come in from the fields,
and the bees began to work on the foundation, it would
twist about so that it would touch the separators, and be
fastened there. And at the end of the season, when I ex-
pected to take off nice comb honey, the whole thing would
be spoiled by the cutting and tearing necessary in taking it
from the separators. This is the worst trouble I have with
the flat-bottomed, and were it not for this, I would not think
of using any other make in the sections. Of course, in
good years, this does not apply, but in years like the past
has been, when fullj- ten percent of the sections have the
foundation badly gnawed in them, it is quite an item.
For brood-frames, I can not see where the flat-bottomed
has any advantage over that having the natural base, while
it has the disadvantage of taking the bees longer to manip-
ulate it ; consequently I prefer the foundation having the
natural base for the brood-frames.
GETTING DRONES FOK 1-AI,I, OUEEN-RE.ARING.
Another correspondent writes thus : " I wish to rear a
few queens nearly every fall, but when I wish to do so, I
find that the most or all of the drones have been killed oft'.
Can I coax the queen to lay in drone-comb, if the same is
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 3, 19tl.
placed in the middle of the brood-nest of a strong- colonj'
during- the fall months ?"
The above is something- which has puzzled many a
queen-breeder, and while some say they can secure drone-
egg-s whenever they desire, the trying to rear drones after
August 25th, by myself, in this locality, in an average sea-
son, has resulted in an entire failure.
The only sure way that I know of, after trying nearly
every experiment given, to have drones during September
and October, is to mass what drone-brood (the drones from
which are to our liking), can be found at the end of our
summer honey-flow, placing the same in a large hive which
will accommodate all that we may have, making the colony
contained in this hive queenless, so they will keep these
drones as long as you wish them, which they will do. pro-
vided no queen is allowed to hatch in the hive.
If you do not have a hive as large as you wish, you can
make one of any proportions you may desire, by tiering one
or more on top of each other. Worker brood must be given
every ten days or two weeks, in order to keep up the
strengh of the colony, else they may be liable to be robbed
when an entire scarcity comes in the fall. This hive must
also contain a large amount of honey, as a hive having
many drones in it grows light as to honey quite rapidly,
and, if not properly fed, drones do not fly as freely as they
should. As our basswood keeps in bloom until August, the
drones which are in the egg form, when the combs are mast,
will not wear out because of old age before it will be too
late to rear queens, say from the first to the tenth of Octo-
ber. In some cases I have had such drones live over, so as
to fly quite plentifully on warm days in March and April,
tho they are soon gone after the bees begin to have general
flights.
After all other drones are killed off, if we wish to secure
the very best results, this hive of drones can be gone over
some day when it is cloudy, and the mercury stands at from
55 to 60 degrees (at which temperature the drones are not
likely to stampede oft' the combs), and all of the undersized
and inferior drones culled out and killed, after which we
can be almost sure that our queens will mate with the de-
sired drones. This hand-picking of drones is quite a tedi-
ous job, but pays well where we have the object of the im-
provement of stock in view.
I have practiced the above plan for the past ten or
twelve years, so I am not entirely ignorant in the matter,
and am quite sure I have made much advancement as re-
gards the quality of my bees by so doing.
Onondaga Co.. N. Y.
No. 10.— Interesting Notes on European Travel.
BY C. P. DADANT.
THE International congress of bee-keepers took place
Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1900, on the Exposition grounds.
Each of the delegates was provided, by the secretary,
with a pass, for the duration of this congress, so they could
go back and forth without having to pay any entrance to the
grounds. I was privileged in the matter of passes, or " ser-
vice cards " as they called them, for I had been appointed
delegate from Illinois to the Exposition, and about all the
advantage I derived from it was,the grant of two service
cards, one for myself and one for my daughter, by the man-
agement of the American exhibition. The fee for entrance
to the grounds was very low. It had originally been put at
one franc ( 20 cents ), but the issue of shares of stock had
been accompanied by an equal issue of tickets, so that each
purchaser of stock had the value of his stock in tickets.
In this manner, 65 million tickets had been issued, and as
there were only 50 odd million of these used, the holders
soon perceived that the price would have to fall. But it
fell below reasonable prices. When we arrived in Europe,
the tickets were selling on the street at 7 cents, and when
we came back to Paris, in August, they were at 6 cents
(30 centimes).
Altho this International congress of bee-keepers
was very interesting, I think more beneficial results have
been achieved in many of our national meetings ; but the
most interesting feature to me was the opportunity of be-
coming acquainted with so many foreign apiarists. If I am
not mistaken, there were 15 dift'erent nations, 24 foreign
associations, and 35 French associations, represented.
There were bee-keepers present from South America, Spain,
Italy, Russia, Bosnia. Austria, Germany, Belgium. Switzer-
land. England, and other countries. All but two or three of
these men understood the French language, and all the dis-
cussions were in French : but the handling of different top-
ics was placed in the hands of committees with foreign
chairmen appointed to control the discussions of these top-
ics, and it was quite interesting to notice the different ac-
cents of these men who occupied the chair in turn, and who,
altho very familiar with French, still showed in their
speech and enunciation that it was a tongue foreign to
them.
Having long known the energetic and amiable secre-
tary of the congress, Rlr. Caillas, by reputation, I had paid
him a visit a few daj's previously, at his home, to get per-
sonally acquainted with him and also to hand him my cre-
dentials, written with a great eulogy, by Pres. Root of our
National Association. He received me with the greatest
cordiality, and when I offered to pay the membership fee,
he stopt me and said that all foreign delegates were ad-
mitted as honorary members, free.
So much for French hospitality.
When I arrived at the congress hall, I was stopt at the
door by a registering clerk, who askt my name and cre-
dentials, before permitting me to enter. I felt rather
intlined then to criticise the French love for rules and reg-
ulations, which is so conspicuous, not only in France, but
thruout Europe. But they took the pains to explain to me
that this registering at the door, which seemed to me rather
vexatious, was the only method that could be used of com-
pelling members to help sustain the institution by paying
their membership fee. Otherwise, they said, a number of
people, who can enjoy our meetings, would come and listen
and even discuss and vote, and wofild go home without
having subscribed as much as a single cent towards de-
fraying the expenses incurred. I could not help thinking
that this was good logic, and that I had heard some of our
leading bee-keepers in the United States deplore the fact
that there were bee-keepers at each convention who took
advantage of the meetings without helping their success in
a pecuniary way. If we wish to be hospitable and enter-
tain visiting foreigners without expense to them, we must
expect our local men to help us, and a bee-keeper who thinks
enough of a congress of this kind to travel a number of
miles purposely to attend it, ought to be willing to help de-
fray the costs.
The number of delegates present must have been 150 or
more. I have not yet received the report of the secretary,
so have none of the proceedings to refer to, and can only
speak of what I recall tomemorj'. I was particularly struck
by the number of doctors, teachers, and clergymen, whom I
met. It seems to me that they must have composed fully a
third of the attendance. The peculiar clothing of the
French clergy make them so much more conspicuous than
our Protestant ministers. But a pleasanter set of men I
never met.
Among the subjects toucht in the discussions, I will
mention the " Role of the drones in the hive." It seemed
to be the opinion of the majority that the destruction of
drone-comb and replacing of these by worker-combs, in
inferior combs, was desirable, for a motion to recommend
this was past, but there was considerable opposition. One
member came with a report showing that he had experi-
mented on two hives, the one with many drones, the other
with few. I will quote a part of his report :
" In a hive I obtaiued many drones by plachig in it, in the spring-,
some drone-combs already built and some unlniilt frames with j^uide.
in which, as you all know, the bees would build more drone than
worl^er combs. In another liive I placed comlis l>uilt of worker-cells,
so as to have but few drones. The definitive gain of the hive with
many drones, in weight, during the season, was about a pound. On
the other hand, I weighed five hives with many drones, and five hives
with few drones. The five hives with many drones iucreast 116 kilo-
grams. The five hives with few drones increast 123 kilograms."
This shows a difference of seven kilograms, or 16'i
pounds, in favor of the hives with few or no drones. But
this gentleman does not think that this difference is suffi-
cient to condemn the drones, and thinks they are advanta-
geous in keeping the brood warm. He did not stop to note
that before these drones could keep the other brood warm,
they had to be kept warm themselves while in brood, and
that, too, at a time when the bees are not numerous and the
weather is cooler than during the honey crop ; and that if
there had been workers reared instead of drones, they would
be just as likely to be able to keep the brood warm if the
weather became cold enough to necessitate this.
But one thing I heard asserted by a number, and which
I entirely disbelieve, is that the bees change worker-comb
to drone-comb when all the drone-comb has been removed.
I do not mean to contradict any one, but I believe that the
asserted change from worker to drone comb was not the
Jan. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
work of the bees, but a sagging of the cells in combs of
foundation caused by heat. I have seen this in a few
instances. But in order to convince me that the bees actu-
ally tore down worker-comb to rebuild drone-comb in its
place, it would be necessary that the test be made with old
worker-comb, in which there could be no prospect of sag-
ging-
But I am running away from my task as narrator and
falling into arguments.
Another subject discust, which seems to be of great
interest the world over, was that of foul-brood, and it ap-
peared to me that, in Europe as well as in America, many
so-called cases of foul-brood are only accidental cases of
chilled brood. I say this because I was told by a French
bee-keeper that he had had foul brood among his bees, but
it had disappeared without his having to do anything for it.
And two or three bee-keepers got up in the meeting and
asserted that foul-brood was not so dangerous a disease as
it had been reported to be, and one man ridiculed all the
writers who advise such strong measures against it, but the
interruptions and laughing of the majority showed him
that he had no hope of convincing them. Several leading
men, on the other hand, advised fire and boiling water as
the only sure remedies for the true foul-brood, which is evi-
dently a scourge the world over.
Another subject, which has perhaps more importance
for the European than it has for us, was the creating of
apiarian classes in schools and colleges. I say that it has
more importance over there, because so great a proportion
of the population does not seek information, as our farmers
do here, thru the daily papers and agricultural press. But
it has importance for us, nevertheless, for it would be use-
ful to have, not only our bee-keepers, but all classes,
informed, superlicially at least, upon the natural history of
the honey-bee, its role in nature, and the need of its culti-
vation.
I had an occasion of ascertaining the total ignorance of
some of our average American citizens on this subject, dur-
ing our return trip to America, on shipboard. To pass
away idle hours, the passengers got up an evening enter-
tainment at which each one was required to say, or sing,
something for the entertainment of the others, under pen-
alty of the payment of SI, 00 into the sailors' orphans' fund,
and they had me down on the program for a talk on bees.
I did the best I could, and the few words that I spoke led to
more questions than I could have answered in a week, and
some of these questions were decidedly foolish.
Mr. Editor, I hope you will excuse me, but it seems I
can not avoid tumbling out of my subject. I was quietly
taking notes among bee-keepers, at Paris, and here I am,
on the ocean, sailing home before time.
This question of teaching bee-culture is fast being
solved everywhere. When I visited the old city of my birth
Apiary in IVas/ioe County, Xevacla.
— and I may tell you something about this by and by — I en-
tered the doors of the old college in companv with the
treasurer of the college, who was also entrusted with a
school of apiculture in this institution, and on his desk I
found a French copy of "The Hive and Honey-Bee." It
seems that everywhere they are trying to push the educa-
tion of the peasants on all agricultural subjects. This is
sure to bring results sooner or later.
A Summer of Bee-Keeping in Nevada— Alfalfa.
BY J. T. HAMMERSMAKK.
IT was on a dark, dismal evening in June that I stept
off a train in the cozy little city of Reno, situated in the
mountains a few miles east of the border-line of Califor-
nia. Altho we are in mountains, so to speak, still we
are in a valley 10 by 15 miles entirely surrounded by moun-
tains. This and some of the neighboring valleys are very
fertile, where water is to be had, but where it is lacking
sage-brush and jack rabbits hold the fort. Some few scat-
tering scrub pine trees are to be seen on the mountains.
This is all that is left of what used to be a great forest some
years ago. The valley is well populated with thrifty and
well-to-do ranchers, cattle and sheep men, and bee-keepers.
It is about the latter class and their industry that I will give
a short sketch.
The bee-keeper's calendar here is just the same as in
the Eastern States. We begin our work about the 1st of
April and finish up about Oct. 1st, or as soon thereafter as
possible. We are not troubled here with the wintering
problem, as bees winter well on the summer stands. A
great deal of alfalfa is grown here. Two crops of hay are
cut each season from this source and the third crop is sold
for fall pasture to men who turn their herds and flocks on
these fields, which are in a few da3's grazed to the ground.
Our source of honey is alfalfa. It is a very prolific yielder
when the conditions are just right. It is something like
white clover and basswood in regard to the amount of nec-
tar it secretes; some years it yields more nectar than others,
still it is not so subject to short and uncertain crops as the
above-mentioned, and many other nectar-yielding plants of
the East. One is always sure of a crop altho it may not be
more than 40 to SO pounds per colony some seasons. The
average yield for 2U years, 1 feel safe to say, would not be
less than 100 pounds per colony of comb honey. This is
judging from past records.
The past season Mr. Hash's crop was 30,000 pounds of
comb and extracted honey, being the smallest yield per col-
ony he has had in 20 years, and this was an average of 50
pounds per colony. Some people have askt me since my re-
turn to Chicago, if their alfalfa honey is of good flavor.
To this query I can say, yes.
The alfalfa honey of this
region is preferred to that of
California by buyers. In my
estimation it comes next to
pure white clover honey, if I
have any preference at all.
But we have our troubles
here, even if we get lots of the
best honey produced. Think
of a ride on the cars from Chi-
cago, for instance, from three
to four days, first thru our fer-
tile neighboring States, then
over the vast desert of waste
land and mountains of the far
West. However, this would
not be so bad if the railroad
company did not charge you a
small fortune to get there.
Then, our freight charges are
something awful. Suppose I
order a carload of bee-fixtures
from the East to be laid down
in Reno, Nev. My goods go no
further than Reno, but the
company charges me with
freight to San Francisco, and
back freight again to Reno.
< )f course, they are the big fish
and I am of the little fish, and
during the present state of
political corruption, and as
long as the men who make our
10
AMERICAN BEE lO'JRNAL
laws can be bought and bribed to do as the big tish dictate,
regardless of the rights of the people, the little tish must
either submit to their robbery and be swallowed alive, or
keep out of their way. There are hopes, however, that such
things will some day be modified, for the people will not al-
.•.lys be silent. Pardon me for switching off on politics, for
I intended to write about bees, but you see it naturally came
into the subject of our drawbacks in the West, and as this
is my view of the matter, if I should not speak of it for fear
of offending some one I would not be doing right.
Then, to be isolated in a new country, away from all
one's friends, is another thing you have to contend with if
you care for society, but if you could make friends in the
East you can do so in the West. The climate of this high
altitude is simply fine. Reno is 44T9 feet above sea-level.
Snow can be seen on the tops of the highest mountains
nearly all the year round. ISee-keepers at Reno are now
suffering from the fact that the place is overstockt with
bees, for there are many fine locations in the West, espe-
ically if a man has two or three thousand dollars to buy out a
well-started place — a man with 1400 or $500 could get a good
start, but of course he would have to depend on other in-
/. T. Hanimcrsinark and Son.
come aside from his bees for a few years until his stock in-
creast to from 300 to SOD colonies, at which time he could de-
pend on making a good living, and most likely accumulate
a nice little bank account from the product of his bees be-
sides.
There is another thing I have not mentioned: Alfalfa,
I am sorry to say, is cut in its best bloom for honey. I no-
ticed that the bees did not, the past season at least, work
more than T or 8 days on each crop before it was cut. It is
of the sweet clover order. It commences to bloom about
July 1st, and will bloom for 10 weeks or more if not cut.
What a lot of sweet could be produced from 1,000 acres of
Alfalfa raised for seed !
Taking it carefully into consideration, it is a question
whether to stay where I am or "go west."
I have given a fair view of both sides of the question,
so no one will be misled, I hope, thru the reading of this ar-
ticle. Cook Co., 111.
P. S. — Referring to the picture of the apiary, I may say
that one afternoon a traveling photographer came by our
place, and those seen in the photograph came out and lookt
towards the camera while the man prest the button. Mr.
Hash at the time was away: I am sorry he was not at home,
for with his presence the picture would have been complete.
The sun was just going down over the Sunset mountains,
which we stood facing; that's why we are all squinting so
admirably.
The young lady with the white waist is Mr. Hash's
niece, who helps him at times during the honey season.
The lady at the left in the picture is Mrs. Guthrie, who
came out to cook for us for a few weeks. Her daughter and
son are the ones at the right, and the young man in the pic-
ture is — myself. Miss Guthrie has helpt Mr. Hash in the
bee-business for the past three seasons. She is a splendid
"hand" and can scrape sectionslike a machine — so fast and
clean J. T. H.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. C MILLER, Mareago, Ul,
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Moving Bees on the Cars.
I have been thinking of moving to Colorado. Could I
take bees that distance — 900 miles ? If so, how should I
pack them to move on the train ? Can I make the change,
say the latter part of February ? Nebraska.
Answer. — In moving bees on the cars the two things to
fear are the breaking of the combs and the smothering of
the bees. There ought to be little danger as to the last in
the month of February. See that each colony has for ven-
tilation at the entrance or elsewhere a space covered with
wire-cloth equivalent to 10 or 12 inches. If the frames are
fixt-distance frames they are all right, but if they are loose-
hanging frames, fasten them in place either by driving a
nail partially into the end of each top-bar, or by putting in
little sticks between the frames. Fasten the hives in the
cars so they can not move about, and let the frames run
parallel with the rails of the railroad. The excitement of
the journey will be a little hard on the bees in February,
and will make them eat more than they otherwise would, so
they will need a flight sooner than if they had been left in
quiet.
Transferring and Dividing Bees.
Suppose we have a colony of hybrid bees in a hive not
standard, but full of comb and brood. We can transfer
those old combs, but will have to tie or wire them in our
new frames. Now, we have eight new hives with comb
foundation ; and we have coming in the spring— say the
first of May — one strong colony of pure Italian bees without
a hive, one queen in April, and two more in May and June.
We want to increase all we can, and have no weak colonies
in the fall. If we had our colony in an improved hive next
spring, full of bees, comb, and brood, we would know how
to proceed, but if we transfer them we can't expect much
increase.
Don't you think it would do to transferthe bees (as they
are hybrids) into a new hive, then put the queen that is
coming in April into the old hive, then put the colony that
we are going to send for, in a hive with full sheets of foun-
dation ? Then how are we to get drones to breed from next
summer ? I do not kno%v whether our old queen is a hybrid,
or a daughter of a hybrid.
You might infer from the tone of our letter that we are
running this bee-business alone, but we are not wishing to
mislead you in the least. We have a good papa who helps
us, or rather we help him, but the bees belong to us.
Two W-J^SHINGTON GlRLS.
Answer. — You are mistaken in thinking that trans-
ferring will make any great difference in the matter of in-
crease. In the present case it is merely transferring from
one set of frames to another, and you can have the brood
just as compact after transferring as before, in which case
the bees will go right on as if there had been no trans-
ferring. If I understand you rightly, your plan contem-
plates dividing your old colony in April and forming a new
colony to which you will give the queen received. It is very
doubtful that your colony will be strong- enough to divide
in April to bear any depletion. The first thing is to have
it build up good and strong, and if you take anything from
it before that time you will lose by it. You can transfer in
fruit-bloom without any loss, but unless the colony is very
strong don't divide at that time.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
As the colony of Italians you are to g^et will be without
hive, it will no doubt be without brood. So it will be a },'Ood
plan to have the transferring- done before you receive tlie
Italian bees, and then )'OU can g^ive the Italians the larg^er
share of the brood in the old colony. That will make at
first a mixt lot of workers in the colony with the Italian
<iueen, but that will be no harm. A week later any queen
reared from brood taken from the Italian queen will be of
the right stock. Having now the two colonies to draw from,
you can form new colonies by taking a frame of brood and
bees from each when you want to start a new colony.
By keeping the Italian colony strong, you will be sure
to have drones therefrom. When you give brood from the
old colony to the Italian, see that you take combs that have
some drone-comb in them, but if any drone-comb is in them
at the time destroy it by shaving off the heads of the sealed
brood and sprinkling fine salt on the unsealed.
Transferring Bees.
1. Which would be the best month or time to transfer
bees from common, rough redwood boxes to regular hives ?
2. Is it not a rare thing for a few bees (I could not see
more than 10 bees), at about 4 p.m., and about half a mile
from the seashore, to commence building a comb on the
edge of a common cypress hedge, (around an apple orchard
four years old), the branch being only about two or three
feet from the ground? I could see no other bees but the
few workers I mentioned. I was looking at them about ten
minutes.
3. I would like to know if it is possible to hive the
above bees, and also, how and when to do it. Also, suppose
they were hived, would you put the hive on the ground in
the same place or not? California.
Answers. — 1. Probably 21 days after casting a swarm.
If you prefer it earlier, take the time when the combs are as
light as possible and bees working at the same time. In
the North this comes at the time of apple-bloom.
2. Decidedly a rare thing for so small a number as 10
bees to be engaged in comb-building anywhere. Are you
sure they were not carrying away was that had been left
there by a swarm that had been clustering there ? Some-
times it happens that a swarm starts to build comb on a
limb, then leaves, and a few stray bees get left.
3. It is doubtful if you could hive 10 bees and get them
to stay, and they wouldn't be of any value should you suc-
ceed.
i ^ The Afterthought. ^ \
QZI] : The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Richards. Ohio.
FRENCH ANTI-PROGRKSS — BEES .\ND PLANTS.
I think most of us were interested in reading how, for
the French-speaking portion of the world, the anti-progress
monster intrencht in the columns of the only French bee-
journal was bought and conquered by Messrs. Dadant and
Bertrand. . We are glad Mr. Bertrand has the beautiful
home we read of, looking out upon its beautiful scene.
Rather in the nature of news that Mt. Blanc is of three diff-
erent colors at three different times of the daj*.
Yes, now editor Bertrand calls our attention to it, it is
getting apparent that plants (for their own look-out-for-
number-one profit) have three wavs of securing the attend-
ance of bees — nectar, pollen, and more or less mysterious
dainties, very small in bulk, and of which the bee never
gets a load to carry home. (This doesn't prove that the bee
never carries home a«_)' of these minute secretions.) Mr.
Bertrand's experiment of marking a bee at work on his
"Dar-room plant," and watching it for five hours consecu-
tively, and noting that the little dupe had nothing to show
for its work at the end of the time — that experiment de-
serves a g-reat deal more attention than it has received
hitherto. All of us who pay any scientific attention to for-
age plants need to be on the lookout. I feel pretty sure
that poppies, altho they may furnish some of both pollen
and nectar, furnish something else also, and that it is this
"something else" that gets the bees so excited. And I won-
der a little if the angelica (devil's club) is not another case
of the same thing. I had never heard before that the Chap-
man honey-plant was of this character. It seems Mr. Ber-
trand had discovered that before the plant had its boom in
this countr3\ I fear we shall find that all plants wliich never
fail to attract bees are of this bad kidney, and that all
plants furnishing large amounts of nectar have occasional
times of barrenness when bees ignore them. Don't let any
one tell the man who wastes his time hovering around our
horrible Eryngiura giganteum that that model of industry,
the bee, does the same thing.
Do we understand that it was an American plant that
scored in Mr. Bertrand's garden the record of rapid growth
— an inch an hour? Sounds that way. And if any people
have been saying that Mr. Dadant writes nice travel letters
with the bees left out, they must admit that he has re-
deemed himself this time. Page 761,
CAGING AND MAILING OUEEN-BEES.
Forty bees in a very big cage, with both cold-weather
room and hot-weather rooms — the way Doolittle sends
queens to the Boers. If he would only contrive some way
to deprive them of one queen all the world (save one nation)
would crown him " king of men." Sixty-five degrees of
temperature for your caged queens, whenever you can boss
the thermometer. Most of us would have jumpt conclusions
for a much higher temperature, and Mr. Doolittle deserves
thanks for a valuable item. Also those of us who have no
experience in caging queens during harvest are glad to be
assured that the bees can be depended upon to feed them.
Page 742.
NECTAR AND CANE-SUGAR.
It seems to me that Editor Cowan, on page 758, makes
a little slip where he says that the sweet of nectar is
"almost entirely" cane-sugar. Unless my memory is
greatly astray, we had, not many years ago, the exact
determination of the different kinds of sugars in several
samples of nectar made by scientific hands— samples gath-
ered artificially. One or more of the samples showed more
than half cane-sugar, but most of them less than half-
composition varying greatly according to the species of
plant the nectar came from,
.\CID TO PREVENT GRANULATION,
I should have used ever so much excess of acid if I had
been askt to make bee-feed with vinegar to prevent granu-
lati'in. If there is another brother as green as I let him
make a note. Tablespoonful will do for 10 pounds of sugar,
if the vinegar is sharp. Page 771.
INTERNECINE WAR ABOUT I'URE FOOD.
Mr. Abbott's speech is quite a refreshing change from
the formal tone of the ordinary convention paper. And so
there's internecine war between friend and friend among
the friends of pure-food legislation. Sad. And all because
the butter-folks are set in the resolution to subject imita-
tion butter to additional disabilities, beyond being said un-
der its own name— disabilities more or less inquisitorial.
Stated in that way, it sounds as if the Brosius folks are al-
together right and the others altogether wrong. But no in-
justice will be done by stating the other side. I suppose
the other chaps will say that people are fooled with bogus
butter more frequently than in almost any other way— and
more to their disgust; that the person who eats butter is of-
tener than otherwise not the person who buys it; that pres-
ent methods inform the buyer what he buys, but not the
eater what he eats; and that therefore it is right to protect
the eater by forbidding the imitation to be colored like the
genuine. That sounds reasonable, too— but it murders an
honest infant industry (honesty infantile altho the industry
is not) seeing that no one will eat as a relish a new stuff
that looks queer. But the boy that must have absolutely all
the candy he calls for, else destroy all the candy designed
for the crowd — I fear the most kindly friend of naughty
boys would find it hard to say anything- mitigatory for him.
Page 773— S.
The Chicago Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly SxlO inches in size, mounted on heavy card ird
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for SI. 60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown.
12
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 3, 191 1.
DR. PEIRO
34 Central Music Hall. CHICAGO.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
SEED bTl free
!Sl my Seeds. I will mall my ISOl
Kill good for 10c •
.eds, Pol
lliiaenE, tl
<ilii
ricaii Oats. Bentoulfreeto
D Pan American Ezpo-
• Itlon,' Buffalo, N. V. are offered. 82,63.^00 in cash pretDioma,
Ik.n'te1ve vour order ontil you see this new c3talopie.^Tou'U
tie Surprised at mv bareain offers. Send poata i for catalogne
,odsy. It !» FHKR toall. Tell your friends to send too.
f. B. MILLS, Box 88, Rosehlll, Onondasalo., N. T.
IDTt Please mention the Bee Journal.
The Dipping Process
is a thing of the past.
Whol
ibbing
1 ni.tke l.v .1 ■• Ni;\V PRnCESS" that produ-
ces EVERY ESSENTIAL necessary to make
it the VERY BEST and MOST desirable in all
respects. Mv PROCESS and AUTOMATIC
MACHINES are my own inventions, which
enable me to SELL FOUNDATION and work
wax into foundation for cash at prices that are
the lowest. Catalog giving full line of Supplies
and more particulars about my foundation, with
pi ices and samples, free on application. When
writing, state amount of foundation wanted or
Be
ted.
: to be workt
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Satlsfacti'iu fniaranteed or money
MARILLA INCUBATOR CO.
■lalalogiieSc. stamps. Box31 RoSB Hill N.Y.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
« ^ r J J I Two or three apiaries
VVflnTPn I for cash, located in
▼ ▼ CI.111.V^VI i Colorado. Give full
particulars in first lelter,and lowest cash price;
Climb honey preferred.
1 Atf Thos. C. ST.iNLEY & Son, Fairfield, 111.
OLDS
J Seed Potatoes
Always Give Satisfaction
Ts.OOO buehtls thi-; year. I.aru'i-^t ami 1"
UTOWn. Pat's CIHJIC.-. llnKlcr, \ i..'.... >K, Bum.'
Ev.Mlch.. Ey. <ilu", Ann.-, Jl. Kih 1. > . I in fii :; M
Walt. Ral.. Liviii.-rMii , I. , l'„r,M...l.. I.,,.. IV,,-,-
Olds' Field and Garden Seeds..,.
Quality tliel.p«t; ],n, ■,.!,- l-i- h> 1 1 licii|.,-l. Hr.
llrle.lSee.l foriiii-in-iliilty. -. . ' u-. 1,1 vj:,'.
INus' CalalogFree. L.'l.rLDS. Drawer D. Clinton, W s
°lease mention Bee Journal when -
■iting.
Best Honey Season in Years.
The past honey season has been the best we
have had tor years in western Massachusetts.
I securetl 75 pounds per colony, and the qual-
ity cannot be excelled.
I much regret the almost total failure of
the honey crop in many sections of the coun-
try, as reported in the Bee .Journal, but I trust
that we all realize that there are ups and
downs in the bee-keeping business as in all
other occupations in life, yet if we persevere
reward will surely come. Jos. Blake.
Hampshire Co., Mass., Dec. IT.
H^ MONEY IN POULTRY
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writms
I BEE-SUPPLIES! |
r^ ^^"Root's Goods at Root's Prices'^SSft ^
• 1^ PocDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^^
• ^ thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^>
■ 3^ Service— low freight rate. Catalog *^'
1^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
-^ 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^;
Kfi^ ^ VKliC'i'AllLK nnd KLOtttK.
,,■«<% KveryihliiK in the iXiii-ery and
"11^ FlorlMV line Direct deal with
^t^ us will insure you the best and
„__ money. Mail size postpiiid,
,aitiT;T by freielit or express, safe arrival
tisfac:ion BUaranteed. Try us. A valu-
able IGR pace Catalog for the asking. « years.
1000 acres. 44 creenhouaes.
THE STOKKS .V H AKRISOJf CO.,
Box 285, P.<XINESVILLE, OHIO.
Please mention Bee Jouruai -wnen ■writing.
lors, Co
Report for the Past Season.
I haye 9 colonies of bees in winter quarters.
I wintered only one colony last winter, and
secured no increase, but they stored 3b pounds
of nice section honey, which I sold for 15 cents
per pound. H. J. Coolet.
Kane Co.. 111., Dec. W.
Bees Didn't Do Very Well.
My Ix-es ilidn't ilu yery well this season.
They were wintered in a cold, damp cellar,
the temperature sometimes going down to 10
degrees below the freezing-point, so they were
yery weak in the spring.
I secured only 400 sections of comb honey
from 10 colonies, spring count, and increast
to 15. I use nothing but the tall sections —
4x5x3% — with separators. Honey sells more
readily in them, and I can get a better price
for it. Will Ehlebt.
Wood Co.. Wis.. Dec. 20.
Poor Season for Honey.
This has been a poor season for houe,y in
this locality, on account of the dry weather in
May and .June, but I feel that I can not get
along without the American Bee .Journal.
Lewis Lloyd, .Ju.
Columbia Co.. Wis.. Dec. 18.
,le recipes mil r'a"* ai ,1 HOW TO
tKE FOrtTRY PAY. Sent postpaid ft.r Ih cents,
JOHN BAUSCHER. JR.,Box 94, Freeport, ilU
Fiea.s9 mention Bee Journal twhen -writiTifi^
TheAmerican Poultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, II
century old and i
ing must possess intrinsic merit of
its field must be a valuable one. Su
i still grow-
ls own, and
:h is the
American Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
BARNES' FOOT POWER fflACHIHEEY
featl what J. I. Parent, of
arlt.m, N. Y., says: "We
with one of your Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
IW honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a ereat deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
tnake, and we expect to do
vith this Saw. It will do all
" Catalog and price-list free.
W. F. & John B.^rn'es,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Hea.se mention Bee Journal when wrmng.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Departinent, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
flea.se mention Bee Journal when ■writine'
The Rural Californian
Cotton Honey— Swarming.
I notice on page 797 (1900) a report headed
■' Cotton as a Honey-Plant," in answer to R.
P. Davies' letter on page 718. Mr. Carr says
he doesn't think that cotton is anything extra
as a honey-piant. but that we have a variety
of prairie-tlovvers which are our main source
for surplus honey. lie may leave Lamar
county out when it conies, to pralrie-tlowers.
When cotton fails to yield nectar the bee-
keepers o£ this part of the State wear a long
face. I extracted 700 pounds of cotton honey
secured from 11 colonies, spring count, and
increast to 33. Mr. Davies is mistaken about
the bees gathering surplus from the cotton
bloom. They get the nectar from the middle
stem of the leaf, and from the siiuare and
bolls they get pollen. They do get some honey
from the bloom.
On page 777 is an article headed, •' Do Bees
Select their Future Home Before Swarming;"
In my opinion this question will never be
settled, tho I believe 1 should take the m-ga-
Sharples Cream Separators; Profitable Dairying
Tells all about Bee;
and Price of Honey;
Producing Plants:
thev are conducted,
fuliv covered by
in California. _ The yields
he P,isturage and Nectar-
le Bee-Ranches and bow
In fact the entire field is
expert bee-man. Besides
the p.aper also tells vou all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, ID cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, ■ Los Angeles, Cai,
Please mention Bee Journal when writinK,
POHLTRV BOOK KllEB, fit pa^es, illustrated
with;imo9. trial suD^cription to our paper. Ine
1NL.\ND PODLTRV JOUKN-^L. Indianapolis, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal whe- writmg.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publishl i
Wool narkel!
the United States.
and i^lieep
the sheep-breeder i
has a hobby whit
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee journal when writrna
32€
FIRST
PREMIUMS
SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE. H
Prairie Stale Incabator Co.
^ Uomer Cily. Pa.
the Bee Jouruai.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
13
SPECIAL NOTICE!
L,ast winter's cut of basswood is the whitest it has been for many seasons.
We are now making^ sections out of this new stock and therefore are in a posi-
tion to furnish j'ou with the very finest quality in the market.
LEWIS WHITE-POLISHT SECTIONS
Are perfect in workmanship and color.
Orders shipt immediately upon receipt. A complete line of everything
needed in the apiary. Five different styles of Bee-Hives.
Lewis Foundation Fastener simplest and best machine for the"[purpose.
Price, ONE DOLLAR, without Lamp.
G. B. LEWIS CO., Watertown,Wis., U.S.A.
BRANCHES:
G. B. Lewis Co, 19 So. Alabama St., Indianap-
olis, lad.
G. B. Lewis Co., 515 First Ave., N. E., Minne-
apolis, Minn
SEND FOR CATALOG
Please mention Bee Journal "when writing.
AGENCIES:
L. C. Woodman Grand Rapids, Mich.
Fkkd FotJLGER & Sons Ogden, Utah.
E. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, Missouri.
Special Southwestern Agent.
Bee-Hives and Honey-Boxes
S,:,'-.l , In'oar lots, wholesale or retail. Now is the time to get prict
•CJ'J'. We are the people who manufacture strictly Jirst-class (;oii
^^ and sell them at prices that defy competition. AVrite us tn-ila
J--
Inter-State Box and Man-ufacfuring Company,
i^tf HXJDSOlSr, -WIS.
Please niention Bee Journal "when "writing
BE SURE ABOUT IT ?^S^;;C^:;\wll.^-^£:L
!'''«;";:H',-,:;,r;:or.''our New Premier IncubatorlES^ i
WHY NOT
COLUMBIA INCUBATOR CO.,
S Water St., Delaware City, Del,
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing
Best on Earth
What? OurNew Champion Winter-
Cases. And to introduce them thruout
the United States and Canada we
will sell them at a liberal discount
until Oct. 15, 1900. Send for quota-
tions. We are also headquarters for
the No-Drip Shipping-Cases.
R. H. SCHMIDT & CO.
Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Please mention Bee Journal when wrritin^
FOR SALE !
Best Extracted flltalta floneu
Guaranteed absolutely Pure Bees' Honey.
Packt in 5-ffallon tin cans, of about 60 pounds
each, two cans to the case, ~'A cents per pound
cash with order. Buy direct from the home o1
Alfalfa. We can please vou. Headquai
for ALFALFA and SWEET CLOVER SEED
Write for prices. Vogeler. Wiedemann Co.,
60-63 W. First So. St., Salt Lake City, Utah
43Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
live side of it : but for the want of space I wil
not try to K'ive my proof. II. (.'. IIttchins.
I.amarCij., Tex., Dec. l(i.
Late Storing ShoPten the Sting.
We liaTe not securetl much honey in this lo-
cality since 1896. My bees stored a few liun-
dred pounds late this fall— so late that they
did not like to go up into the supers with it.
so filled everything below, and crowded out
the queen so that she could not lay, and so I
am afraid that some of the colonies will lie
short of l)ees in the spring. I have 137 frames
of nice honey, and every hive is full.
We are expecting a good honey crop next
ye:ir, for the land is a green mat of white
clover.
I wish those who are Interested in length-
ening the tongues of bees could be persuaded
to fry to shorten the " other end "' a little bit !
(ireen Co., Ind., Dec. 15. Geo. Sage.
Bees Did Well.
.My bce,s did well the past ^easun. I iuereast
from 11 colonies to 3:!. and got 160U pounds of
tine comb honey. W. P. Bhaxsox.
Decatur Co., Kans., Dec. 23.
Pat Renews His Ba Jurnal.
iShurc its a great whecdlcr. ye's are. .Mr. Id-
itor. Here ye's put Dec. and two IJU's fora-
inst me name on the rapper av me Jurnal,
an at the tap av yer furst page av that same
Jurnal ye's do be saying fur insthince. " Yer
toime is up;" an thin below that ye's do be
sayin. "The Great Cook Book " wid the Jui--
nal fur a year, an only §1.50: •■ wuU yuii have
one;" Be crabs, I wull, an here's the ducats
inside. Oim jist dyin entirely fur to see phwat
koind of cookin's in it. Sind thim along, the
We Cant Give AvayAnyflilng
You pay for -what you get in this world. You niulerstand that. P>ut as a business propo-
sition -we want you to try our great medicine for Indigestion. Constijiation, Biliousness, Sick
Headache, Insomnia, ''tlie Blues," and like complaints —
NERVO-VITAL
Laxative
Tablets
We know you won't buy it, until you know something about it. The best way to get you
to know how good it is, is to let you try it. That's what we do. Send Stamp for "Health''
booklet, and we will send you a free sample package, that you may try it yourself. We know
you will always keep it in the house, if you once try it. What fairer offer could we make?
At all Druggists— 10 and 25 cents.
If, instead of sending for a sample, you send us 25c we
will send you "Health" booklet.a 25c liox and a lianilsonie
gold stick-pin. set with emerald, ruby or pearl, warranted to be
worth double tlie money. Order by number. This is an extra intro-
ductory ofTer. Only one pin to one person. It unsatisfactory,
money returned. Send now while the oITer is good.
Handsome
5tick Pin
FREE!
IHODERIN REMEDY COMPANY, KEWANEE, ILLINOIS.
flease mention Bee Journal when -writing.
14
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is the i-^ULL Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife.— When oideriug-, be sure to say just what aame and
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is iudeed a novelty The novelty lies !u tlie handle.
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as gh
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material euterinor into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg^ed out of the very finest Eug-lish razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back spring-s of Sheffield spring-'Steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usag-e.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case "a p-ood knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the *' Novelty " is lost, having' name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise'to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling-, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunale as to have one of the "Novelties," your Pocket-Kxife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting- memento could a mother
g-ive to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying- cu' tffves a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this'beauliful knife, as the " Noveltj' " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or ^ive it as a Premium to the
one sending- us 'iriREE new surscribfrs to the Bee Journal (with $3.00.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for Jl.'Xi.
GEORGE W, YORK £ CO,, 118 Mich. St., Chicago, 111.
J^^PIease allor "-bout two weeks for your kuife order to be filled.
snionds 1% and 3
h.p. gasoline eng-ines. Wanted
wer saws, lathes and machinerv of all
ROBERT B. GEDYK, La Salie, III.
Mention the American Bee Journal.
MacHineri!
FOR SALE.— Tenoa machine,
doviutf machine, two-spindle
ble, ^ua^es and saws, shafting',
d belting-. Fred DALTON,Walker,Mo.
Please mention the Bee Journal.
The Ohio Farmer
AND THE
American Bee Journal,
Both One Year for only $1.40.
THE OHIO FARMER is clearly one of the leaders of the agricultttral papers
of this country. It is a 20-page weekly, often 24 pages, handsomely printed on
good paper, and CLEAN in both reading and advertising columns. It has the
largest actual staff of editors and correspondents (all farmers) of any farm paper
publisht, and is practically progressive in defending the farmer's interests.
IT WILL HELP YOU MAKE "THE FARM PAY." Send to Ohio F.\rmbr,
Cleveland, Ohio, for a free sample copj'.
REMEMBER, we send both the Ohio Farmer and the American Bee Journal,
both one year for only $1.40. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 MICHIGAN Street, CHICAGO. ILL.
26 cents Cash
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
• ■* fi l^fc '4» »♦» wax. We are pa3'ine
paid for Beeswax. * - ir,.' f:.,i.T
low, upon its receipt, or 2.s cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michigan St., CHICAGO.
two of thim, and Oi'll ti-y to git me old woman
ter be radin the " Cnok-Book "' — she won't
rade the Jurual, an says Oim an Old Saj^er.
bee-joote, an she wushes she'd got marrid to
some foiuc young feller, wid since enuff ter
go ter bed at noight, and not be spiudin toime
an munny wid ould books an papers fnll av
bees, an no hunny in the house, nor wood in
the shanty.
Oim hopin luck may sthrike her wid ther
Cook-Book upon Christmas mornin.
C'TREXE E. MORKIS.
I arroll Co.. Iowa, Dec. 14.
A Slim Honey Crop.
The honey crop was very slim here the past
season. The weather is fine now, and the bees
hare been flying for the last .S or 4 days, and
carrying out lots of dead bees. I am afraid
there will be a great many of them next spring.
The old American Bee Journal is the pillar
of truth. Long may it and its editor stand
without fear. D. D. D.4NIHek.
Dane Co.. Wis.. Dee. :il.
Poopest Season in 10 Years.
Tlie past season has been the poorest for
honey we have had in 10 years. The bees did
not make their expenses — some had enough
for winter — some had a little — and others
n<jthing. I fed over 600 pounds of sugar syrup
in order that they might have the required
amount of stores. Clover looks fine now, and
the prospects for next season are very good.
Holmes Co., O., Dee. 1". Amos Miller.
Good Season for Honey.
The past season war- a good one for hone.v
in this locality. The spring was very mild,
and gave the bees an opportunity to gather all
tlie honey froin the fruit-blossoms. White
clover was never so plentiftil as the past sum-
mer, altho the weather was not as good as it
might have been. Alsike and sweet clovei-
yielded plenty of honey. The bees gathered
honey from wild aster and sweet clover dur-
ing October, gathered pollen from dandelions
until Oct. 3, and had a good flight on Oct. 20.
I wish you a happy New Year, and success
to the American Bee Journal.
Charles Duclos.
Saginaw Co.. Mich.. Dec. 20.
Honey Crop Slim the Past Season.
The honey crop of UIOO was rather slim in.
this county. Clover and basswood failed en-
tirely, so that with the exception of some
honey-dew that was gathered in May and
June, we had a dearth of honey from apple-
bloom until buckwheat bloom. Btickwheat
yielded fairly well, and I secured enough to
200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2.00
Perfect in ennstruetion and
epg. Write for catalogue to-day
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy. III.
the Bee Jc
aal.
diKEIUEK'S POULTRY
B. H. CREIDER, Florin, Pa.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wntl^i?.
Jan. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
15
siijiply our own table, besides selling: i^'iO.OI)
Hui'th, thus keeping our ''toad-hide" repleu-
isht to the extent of another year's subscrip-
tion to the American Bee Journal. As long
as the editor keeps the " Old Reliable '" up to
its present standard, we subscribers won't
kick. I wish him a large croj) of new sub-
scribers, and a merry Christmas.
M. P. LowiiV.
Armstrong Co.. Pa.. Dec. 14.
[Thank you, Mr. Lowry, for your good
wishes — yes, and the same to so many other
good friends who have sent us numberless
kind words of encouragement. — Editor.]
Good Instruments.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Please mention Bee Journal -wnHii
flits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
'-'lease mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
TOUR OF ALL flEXlCO
in Pullman's finest Compartment
Drawing- Room, Librar_v, C)bservation
and Dining- Cars — all Vestibuled — with
the celebrated
OPEN-TOP CAR "CHILILITll '
for Observation in the Mountains and
Canons, and Dining Car in the Tropics.
A delightful trip of 38 days with
Three Circle Tours in the Tropics of
the South of Mexico and a Visit to the
Ruined Cities.
All exclusive features of these itiner-
aries of leisurely travel and long stops
— The Special Train starts Tuesday,
Jan. 22, from Chicago.
TOUR OF PUERTO RICO.
Spkcial Pi-i.i,M.\N Cars leave Chi-
cago Thursday, Jan. 17, and Thurs=
day, Feb. 14, at 9:30 a.m., connecting
with the splendid new steamships
Ponce and San Juan, sailing from New
York the second day following. Indi-
vidual tickets sold for other sailing
dates, alternate Saturdays.
TICKETS INCLUOE ALL EXPENSES EVERYWHERE
These select limited parties will be
under the special escort and manage-
ment of The American Toirist As-
sociation, Reau Campbell. General
Manager, 1423 Marquette Building,
Chicago.
Itineraries, Maps and Tickets can be
had on application to Agents of the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R'y.
New Vork,— The annual meeting of the Ne\
York- State Association of Bee-Keepers' Soci<
ties will be held in the Kirkwood, at Genevj
N. Y., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 1901, at 10 a.m., au
continue thru the afternoon and evening-. A
interesting- proirrara has been arranged, and
good time is e.xpected. C. B. Howard, Sec-
Romulus, N. Y.
A Ueniaikable Offer.— Mr. F. B. Mills,
the well-kncnvii seedsman of Rose Hill, X. Y..
f^ives us in tills issue the first insertion of his
advertisin;^ fur the coming season, presenting
an entirely new and oriffinal feature. Hun-
dreds of our readers have in the past availed
themselves of Mr. Mills" " Seed Due-Bill "
offer, which he again renews, including with
it an offer of two free passes to the Pan Amer-
ican Exposition to be held next summer at
ButTalo. N. Y. This is surely \vortli investi-
gating, and a i)Ostal card to Mr. Mills will
bring full partleulars. Please mention the
American Bee .Journal when writing.
The Emerson Binder.
stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson " no further binding' is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
US Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILI/
LanQstroin on...
Ttl6H0I161lB66
Revised by Dadant — 1899 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michigan Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
BEE=SUPPLIES.
■ Muth's Square Glass Honey-Jars.
Send for Catalog.
HONEY AND BEESWAX wanted.
C H.W.WEBER,
42Atf 2146 Central Ave.. Cincinnati, Ohio
Please mention Beo journal when writing.
GINSENG
5:a1.^1 Mention
In rU,
l.oi::i.ln
LakesideGinseng Gardens, Amber ,N.Y
the American Bee Journal.
il Sit sli ite Jli >t<. Jte. Mi >tt jK >Iiil4 jJtt?
I HONE,/ AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Dec. 21.— The demand has fallen off
very much of late, but prices have not declined
to any great degree from those prevailing for
the past Ml days, but any pressure to sell would
cause a decline. Fancy white comb, 16c; No 1,
ISc: amber and travel-stained white, 13(ail4c;
dark and buckwheat, 10@llc. Extracted,white,
"H'aSc; amber, 7(gi7!4c; buckwheat and other
dark grades, 6(g»6!^c. Beeswa.i, ZSc.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Dec. 21.— Honey market firm,
demand steady. Fancy white comb, 24-section
case, $3.51) to $3.75; 12-section case, $l.'«l to iJ.nO;
amber, case, $3.00 to $3.25. Extracted, white,
SiaWc; supply fair: receipts and demand good.
Beeswax, 22@30c. Demand fair.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Buffalo, Dec. 20.— Honey continues to drag
at quotations. Holiday business kills everv
thing, almost, but presents. Fancy 1-pound
comb, 15@16c; common, 10(u 14c, as to grade. No
extracted wanted. Batterson <fe Co.
Albany, N. Y., Dec. 22.— Honey market quiet
with light stock and light demand, especially
for extracted, in which there is very little move-
ment at present. While we do not change quo-
tations, they are nominal at pre.sent. We look
for better demand at beginning of new year.
Fancy white, 17(g»18c; No.l, 16@17c; No. 2, 14(d'
15c; mixt, 13@14c; buckwheat, 12Ji@13Kc. Ex-
tracted, white, 8@8Kc; mixt, l&~iic.
H. R.Wright.
Boston, Dec. 22.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, lS(g 16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, ~'/i@
Sc; light amber, Tfi'^c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Leb.
Cincinnati, Dec. 26.— The market for comb
honey here is becoming a little bare, altho
higher prices are not obtainable. Faacv white
comb sells for 16c; lower grades do not want to
sell at all. Extracted is selling slow; amber for
S\4 and higher; fancy white clover brings 8fn*
mc. Beeswax, 2Sc. C. H. W. Weber. ^
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, lSS16c-
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white 12'nl3c; amber,
12c: buckwheat, lOMDc. Extracted in fairly
good demand at 7ii(a,Sc for white, and 7c for
amber; off grades and Southern in barrels at
from 65'<i7Sc per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
yet. Some little selling at S!^@6c. Beeswax firm
at 2S^cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
HiLDRETH & SeGELKEN.
Detroit, Dec. 22— Fancy white comb, 15(sil6c;
No. 1, 13(3il4c; dark and amber, lOto'Uc. Ex-
tracted, white, 7^(a8c; amber and dark, 6(o 7c.
Beeswax, 26(a)28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Dec. 10.— White comb, 13@
14 cents; amber, ll>«@12J4c; dark, S(b)9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7;^@8c; light amber 6Ji@75ic;
amber. 5>^@6!^c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water white
honey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
A HONEY MARKET.-Don't think that your
crop is too large or too small to interest us. We
have bought and sold five carloads already this
season, and want more. We pay spot cash. Ad-
dress, giving quality, quantity and price,
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, III.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
DO YOU WANT A
HiQH Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Jourual.
Jmokers. Sectiui...
16
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
' Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, aud cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Kee-Kkeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' as- W. M. Gekrish, East Notinjfham, N. H.,
carries a full Viae of our g-oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal when -roTi^'na
LATENT WIRED COMB FOUNDATIOR
Has no Sag in Brood-Frames.
Thin Flat-Bottom Foundation
Has no Fishbone in the Surplus
Honey.
Being the cleanest is usually workt
the quickest of any foundation made.
J. A. VAN DHVS£N,
Sole Manufacturer,
Sprout Brook, Montgomery Co.. N.Y.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writinp
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
516 10ft 25ft soft
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.«0 6.25 12.iXi
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
AlsikeClover 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 3.75 6.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
llSMichigan Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
•SriF YOU WANT THE
— BEE-BOOK
That covers the wnole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other publisht, send $1.25
to Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif., for his
B66-K66D6rs' Guide.
- •» .~,i n.vnunta to the Trade.
FALL SPECIALTIES
Shipping-Cases, Root's No-Drip; Five-Gallon
Cans for extracted honey, Danz. Cartons for
comb honey. Cash or trade for beeswax. Send for
catalog. M. H. Hu.nt & Son, Bell Branch, Mich.
Please mention Kee loumal when WT'tinp.
LOW RATES TO THE SOUTH.
Excursion tickets at reduced rates
are tiovr being sold by tlie Chicag-o,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway to the
prominent resorts in the South, includ-
ing Jacksonville, Fla., Mobile, Ala.,
New Orleans, La., Savannah, Ga., El
Paso, Tex., which are good for return
passage at any time prior to June 1,
1901. Information regarding rates,
routes, time, etc., can be obtained on
application to any coupon ticket agent
of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
Railway.
^"" Dadant's Foundation. ^^"'
Year
Year
We guarantee
satisfaction.
^ »^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY
PURITY, FrRIWNESS, No SAQaiNQ. No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINQ.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in aa years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
THe CMC InBee-Ciilture-Price, $1.25, by Mail.
Beeswax Wanted ^ ^ ^
AT ALL TIMES. CHAS. DADANT & SON,
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing. Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
MADE TO ORDER.
Bingliam Brass Smokers,
made of sheet-brass which does not rust or burn ut sh
last a life-time. You need one, but thev cost 25 cents t
than tin of the same size. The little pen cut shows
brass hinge put on the three larger sizes.
No wonder Bingham's 4-inch Smoke Engine goes w
out puffing aud does not
DROP INKY DROPS.
The perforated steel fire-grate has 381 holes to air the fuel and support the fire.
Prices: Heavy Tin Smoke Engine, four-inch Stove, per mail, $1.50; 3^-inch, $1.10; three-
inch, $1.00; 2J4-inch, 90 cents; two-inch, 65 cents.
BUTCS-HA-lid: Sl>a:OK:E3R,S
are the original, and have all the improvements, and have been the STANDARD OF
EXCELLENCE for 22 years. Address, T. F. BINGHAM. FARWELL, MiCH.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Section5==A Bargain.
We have 50,00(1 S'sxSxl'j inch plain sections, and as our call for them is
light, we will sacrifice them. Prices very low. Write.
Apiaries-GlenCove, L.I. J, J, STRINSHAM, 105 fWl PlaCG, NGW YOfk, N, T.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Four Celluloid Queen=Buttons Free
.^ AS A PREMIUM j^
For sending us ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER
to the American Bee Journal for three months
with 30 cents, we will mail you FOUR of these
pretty buttons for wearing on the coat-lapel.
(You can wear one and give the others to the
children.) The queen has a golden tinge.
This offer is made only to our present regular subscribers.
NOTE —One reailei writes: "I have every reason to believe that it would be a very good
idea for every bee-keeper to wear one (of the buttons) as it will cause people to ask questions
about the busy bee, and many a conversation thus started would wind up with the sale of
more or less honey; at any rate, it would give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to en-
lighten many a person in regard to honey and bees."
Prices of Buttons alone, postpaid: One button, 8 cts.; 2 buttons, 6 cts.
each : 5 or more, 5 cts. each. (Stamps taken.) Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michigati St., CHICAGO.
i>^ERie/|/v
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, JANUARY 10, 1901.
18
AMERICAN BEE jOUKNAL,
Jan. 10, 1901.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
Qeorqe W. York & Co.
118 Michigan St., Chicago, III.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
Ttae Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postage. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance. " DecOO" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember. 19tKl.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
'*ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
TUG B6e-K66Der's
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROE A. j, COOK,
460 Pages—ieth (1899) Edition— 18th Thon-
sand— $1.25 postpaid.
A description of Ibe book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Eee-Keepers* Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to GIVE away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will matl you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO-,
U8 Michigan Street, CHICAGO. ILL.
YELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending us One New Subscriber for a Year.
if
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent regular subscribers will send us $1
with a new name for next year (1901),
we will send the new subscriber the bal-
ance of this year's (1900) numbers free,
and mail, postpaid, to the one sending-
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good' chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with $2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W, YORK & CO., 118 Michigan St., CHICAGO, ILL.
BEST =
J:^ ,i«
cIkI)
->0
Extraciefl Honeu For Sale
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well - known
light-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
bass wood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honev.
ALFALFA
HONEY.......
This is the famous White
E.^tracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
the Alfalfa extracted.
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey :
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9^2
cents per pound; two cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans,
Syi cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all
EBSOMTELI PWEE BEES' EQMEJ.
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
's prime. Thank you. I feel that
nd pounds of honey of my own pro-
;e. But however loyal one ought to
aying the fact that for use in any
holesome honey to sugar, the very
better suited than the
^
^
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and
I'm something of a heretic, to sell several thous
duction and then buy honey of you for my own i
be to the honey of his own region, there s no d
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more \
excellent quality of alfalfa honey I have received from
honevs of more inarkt fla
according to my taste.
C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co.,
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would sufifgest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enotigh honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
GEORGE W.YORK & CO., ii8 Michigan St.. Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY 10, 1901,
No, 2,
^ Editoraal Commeufs. ^ i
A Big Fire— Our Office and Stoclt Flooded.
On New Year's day the office and floor occupied by the
American Bee Journal, bee-supply and honey business, was
made almost a complete wreck by floods of water coming-
down from the upper floors where a big fire broke out about
two o'clock in the afternoon. There were something like
2(1 fire-engines throwing water thru and on the top of the
building in an endeavor to put out the fire, and of course
practically all of that water came down thru our floor.
Fortunately the issue of the Bee Journal for mailing on
Wednesday. Jan. 2d, was still in the office of the printer,
and thus was saved, as were also the forms from which it
was printed. Thru the kindness of one of our former part-
ners we were able to mail the Bee Journal in his office, thus
preventing any delay in getting that number off.
We are writing this Thursday evening, Jan. 3d, and are
not sure but that this number of the Bee Journal may be
delayed. If it is, it will likely be the first time in 20 years,
on the publishers' account, that it has failed to be placed in
the Chicago post-office on time. Also, it may be that we
will be unable to get out more than 8 pages instead of the
16. If so, we feel very certain that bee-keepers will not
complain, knowing that in case of a fire no firm can do ex-
actly as they would under other circumstances.
We do not know just yet what our loss will be on print-
ing-office, bee-supplies, and honey, but feel very sure that
it will be sufficiently large. Of course, we had everything
fairly well insured, but as all know who have had experi-
ence with insurance companies, it will be understood that
there is no likelihood of getting the full amount of the loss.
This misfortune comes at a time when it is not easily borne
by the publishers of the American Bee Journal, so that we
would like to suggest that all who are owing on their sub-
scriptions please send it, and also a renewal for 1901.
While the loss on account of the fire will be a good deal, it
of course will not interfere with the continuation of the
Bee Journal. However, everything sent in on arrearages,
renewals, and new subscriptions, will be gratefully received
at this time.
The fire in our building was one of the fiercest that the
fire companies of Chicago have had to fight in a long time,
and- the weather being extremely cold on New Year's day,
it was really very remarkable that the building and con.
tents were not totally consumed. The daily papers spoke
in high commendation of the excellent work done by the
Chicago fire department. To prevent the total destruction
of a 7-story building, 100 feet square, when a great fire is
raging at its top, is certainly a wonder. The Chicago lire
department did it, and deserve great praise for their bravery
and success.
If any of our readers or customers do not receive prompt
response to their letters or orders they will now understand
the reason for the delay. Just as soon as the insurance
companies have adjusted the losses, we expect to get things
in shape so as to be running again as usual. This may take
a week or two for the bee-supplies and honey business, but
we expect to be able to have our printing-office in running
shape again by the end of this week.
The total loss occasioned by firg and water, on building
and contents, will likely be anywhere from $50,000 to $100,-
000. There were perhaps ten firms in the building, and
all sufi'ered more or less loss.
George W. York & Co.
Bulk or Chunk Honey— that is, comb honey filled in
tin cans, and the empty space filled up with extracted
honey — has been highly recommended by some bee-keepers,
especially in the southwest, but according to E. T. Flana-
gan, in the Bee-Keepers' Review, it is not wise to put up
honey in that form. He seems to think it will be better to
keep the two kinds separate, either kind alone bringing
more than the two mixt. With such diametrically opposite
views it is hard to tell just what to believe, unless it be that
local preferences may have a bearing. As a bit of experi-
ence in the matter, Mr. Flanagan says :
Some years ago, having sold all my own crop of comb
honey, I went to St. Louis to get a supply. At one of the
largest commission houses in the city, where I frequently
dealt, I inquired if they had any comb honey on hand.
" Yes, a verj' fine article ; come and take a look at it." I
did, and found over lOU cases containing 120 pounds to the
case. I supposed the one showing me the honey had made
a mistake, for I thought the cases contained extracted
honey, but I found the 120-pound cases filled with as fine
comb honey as I ever saw, but in 60-pound cans. I askt the
price, and was more than surprised to find it only 6 cents a
pound, when I had come prepared to pay from 12'2 to 14
cents for good section honey. I askt them to remove a por-
tion that I might examine it more closely, but it was impos-
sible to do so without breaking and tearing it all to pieces.
Of course, I did not buy a pound of that honey, for I could
not use it. I could not sell it to my customers for as much
as clear extracted honey. Now, that was A No. 1 comb
honey originally, and it would have brought 15 cents per
pound at wholesale readily had it been in sections. I was
thereto give that much for as much of it as I needed, but I
would not give the Jive cents per pound that they subse-
quently offered it to me for, and I believe they sold it later
for 4'2 cents per pound. How much the poor fellow netted
on that fine lot of "chunk " honey I leave you to figure out ;
I only know I was sorry for him, and glad I was not in his
place.
Building Up Weak Colonies for the honey-flow is not
advisable in many cases. If it be done at the expense of
colonies only fairly strong in a region where the honey-
flow closes rather early in the season, it will be at a loss,
and a reversal of the practice would be advisable, that is,
drawing from the weak to help the strong. But where the
season is sufficiently long — possibly in any case where colo-
20
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 10, 1901.
nies become very strong— it is possible that the very strong
may be made to help the weak so that the total harvest
may be increast. With regard to weak colonies, Wm.
McEvoy has struck a new thought, which he gives in the
Canadian Bee Journal. He says that larva? in weak colo-
nies are not fed as well as they should be — a thing not so
hard to believe by those who are familiar with the fact that
larv;t? are not always fed alike. So he has thought out a
plan by which he kills two birds with one stone — he secures
the feeding of a part of the larva; in strong colonies that
left to themselves would have been fed in the weaklings,
and at the same time gets the weak ones strengthened.
Here is his plan :
Just as soon as the strongest colonies are in shape to
put the extracting-corabs on, I lift up a comb full of brood
that is about ready to be capt, and place it above the queen-
excluder, and leave it there for nine days. I do this with
every strong colony.
During the nine days the bees in these strong colonies
will feed the larvre extra well, and all that was in the egg
form when I placed the combs above the queen-excluder
will be capt brood at the close.
At the end of nine days I take all the combs out of the
brood-chambers of the weak colonies and fill up every
brood-chamber with capt brood from these top stories, and
in a few days after this is done the capt brood will be
hatcht out, and these weak colonies will be full of bees.
The combs that I take out of the brood-chambers of the
weak colonies I put in the top stories where I took the capt
brood out of, and let them have that in place of the brood I
took from them. The bees in the strong colonies feed the
larva; given them from the weak colonies well as before.
Locating and Starting an Apiary. — Mr. G. M. Doolit-
tle works up some, very interesting and profitable apiarian
conversations with himself in each number of Gleanings in
Bee-Culture. In the issue of Dec. 1st, it happens to be
about locating and starting an apiary. His responses to
questions may be summed up something like this :
Unless a prospective bee-keeper has some knowledge of
the business, 25 colonies would be too many to start with.
He recommends reading one or two of the standard bee-
books, and the taking of one or more of the best bee-papers.
So much for necessary literature on the subject.
As to placing hives, Mr. Doolittle would have them
level from side to side, and slanting just a little toward the
front, providing the frames run the usual way of the hive —
from front to rear. If the frames run from side to side,
then the hive should stand level both ways.
Mr. Doolittle recommends placing the hives three
inches from the ground — to prevent the bottom-board from
warping, and also to give the bees a better chance to get in
on cool, windy days in early spring, thus preventing loss of
bees at a time when one is of more value than a hundred
after the honey harvest.
On the nearness hives should be together, Mr. Doolittle
says his apiary is laid out on the hexagonal plan, the hives
being ten feet apart in the rows from center to center, and
the rows ten feet apart. This is how he would proceed to
arrange the hives as suggested, supposing the apiary
finally to contain 100 colonies :
"To get the hives arranged in the hexagonal form, get
a line 100 feet long, having a pointed stake tied on each
end. Five feet from the stake at one end tie to the line a
white thread or string, four or five inches long. Five feet
from this white thread, tie a red thread or string, and then
a white one five feet from the red, and so on until you have
red and white threads alternating at five feet from each
other the whole length of the line.
"The line isto be stretcht where you wish the first
row of ten hives to stand, then you are to stick a little stake
at every white thread. Now move the line ahead ten feet,
when you will stick the little stakes at the red threads.
Then move ahead ten feet again, sticking the stakes at the
white threads, and so on until you have stuck the 100 stakes
for the stands for your 100 hives or colonies you expect to
have in time. Having your stakes all stuck, level olf the
ground about each stake until you have a nice broad
level place ready to set a hive on at a moment's notice at
any time. Having it completed, and each stand occupied
with a hive of bees, if you are like me you will consider that
for convenience and beautiful appearance this plan is supe-
rior to any other."
On the facing of the hives, he prefers to have them
toward the south, tho some of the best bee-keepers in New
York State advise southeast, for then the morning sun will
cause the bees to gather earlier in the day. He comes out
very strong against facing hives to the north in a cold
latitude.
V.^:l.^.^«..::C^:t.J^>=L<^,^iCJ:iV^.^i>^:C^:t>^^CJit>^.^^^»ii
'*-^irw5«"w^5^^5^"5«''*p5r^r^^^*"^*^'5r"isr-^-^rw
Next— A Machine For Incappins Honey.
BY "old grimes."
THERE seems to be some stir in the busy world of bee-
keepers, and the ingenious fellows are determined to
place obstacles in the path that has been beaten by us
old fellows. We must needs use them, stumble over them,
or make new paths around them.
Just now the uncapping-machine is racking the brains
of these geniuses and Old Grimes wants to have his say
about the matter. Off and on for a number of years I have
wielded the Bingham knife, and quite successfully, too, and
I expect still to wield it for an indefinite period, but if we
are to have a new-fangled way of uncapping, the Grimes
family wants a practical, up-to-date machine.
The first idea that enters the brain of the uncapper in-
ventor is to shave off both sides of the comb at once ; but
looking at such a machine from a practical point of view,
how much time will be gained ? For a slicing machine to
work nicely the combs should be quite uniform in thickness
and with a smooth surface, but the average bees will make
more or less hills and hollows upon the combs, and these de-
fects are more or less according as the season is a good or
poor one, or as the honey-flow is slow or rapid. With many
combs the machine would have to be set to take oft' all down
to within a quarter of an inch of the septum, and that would
never do, for it would be taking away too much of our good
combs, and the tank would have to be placed under the un-
capping-box instead of under the extractor.
If we try hard to get really nice combs for the machine,
they are equally nice for rapid work with the knife. To
get nice, fat combs for extracting, the Grimeses use 8
combs in a 10-frame super. It does not take an expert long
to uncap nice combs; then we save much uncapping by ex-
tracting when the comb is one-half or two-thirds capt — two
strokes to a side usually finishes it. From actual timing a
comb can be uncapt in from five to fifteen seconds, or an av-
erage of five combs per minute.
We must take into consideration the time for adjusting
the machine, and the time to change the knives for a water-
bath, for no form of knife will run long without getting
that gummy edge ; then there is bee-bread to clog-
the machine, and more or less brood in the way. Perfor-
ated metal would prevent the latter.
But let us figure a little. A machine wou}d necessarily
cost from S15 to $20. There are but few of our extensive
bee-keepers who use perforated metal. In order to use the
!t20 machine a hundred dollars or more will need to be spent
for excluders. The large apiarist would be the one having
the most interest, and a machine to become a success with
him should be a very radical improvement.
In a paper which was read before the California Bee-
Keepers' Association by "Rambler", and afterward pub-
lisht in this journal, he seems to set the pace for a machine
to uncap several combs at once. That is a radical improve-
ment in the right direction, and while we are inclined to
say that it can't be done, it is very unsafe to say it, for
more wonderful things than that are being done every day
in this age of improvements.
I hope inventors will not take the above comments in
the nature of a wet blanket. Thev are intended to lead
Jan. 10. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
21
them to see the correct method, and not waste time upon a
machine that will be but little, if any, better than the pres-
ent knife. Instead of comforming to present usages they
should seek in a field where the improvement would be so
valuable as to lead the extensive bee-keeper not only to buy
queen-excluders but to revolutionize his entire apiary, hives,
etc., if necessary. There will be something of a reward for
the inventor who will climb to this mark.
No. II.— Interesting Notes on European Travel.
BY C. P. DADANT.
DURING one of the sessions of the International congress
of bee-keepers, a French bee-keeper,Mr. Giraud, exhibit-
ed a frame containing dipt queen-cells, reared by the
Doolittle method. This was a new thing for many present,
and I wisht that Mr. Doolittle had been there to take a little
of the praise that was bestowed upon this practical demon-
• stration of the success of his teachings. Mr. Giraud and
his three sons are practical, wide-awake apiarists, and have
been for several years readers of an American bee-paper,
and it was in this that they found the Doolittle method.
They stated that they had reared 314 queens during the
season of 1900, in the best one of their colonies, while the
queen was laying and the bees working in the customary
way. They used an 18-frame hive divided in two by a per-
forated zinc, and on the outside of the zinc they kept two
frames with the dipt cells between two frames of brood,
and kept adding more queen-cells as they removed the ones
that were ready to hatch, and which were given to nuclei
made by our method. An account of their doings so inter-
ested Mr. Calvert that they gave him two photographs of
the artificial cell-breeding, and furnisht him with a state-
ment iu French that I translated for him.
On the last day of the congress, the secretary of the
committee on Apiarian Statistics made his report on api-
culture thruout the world. He had received so voluminous
a correspondence from the different countries of Europe,
and from America, on this subject, that it was impossible
for him to give more than an abridgment of the statistics.
But the detailed report will certainly be very interesting,
and I hope to be able to give extracts from it to the readers
of American Bee Journal whenever the printed report reaches
me. I noticed with great pleasure that the report obtained
from our own country, sent by the Department of Agricul-
ture at Washington, was quite extensive. He also had re-
ports from some of the States of South America.
During the afternoon session of the last day, the con-
gress decided to hold its next meeting at Bois-Le-Duc, Hol-
land, in 1903, with the same executive committee as for this
congress. Messrs. Bonnier, president; Sevalle, vice-presi-
dent, and Caillas, secretary.
That same afternoon, as the business of the congress
was about over, and the sky was clear, as it had not been
since our arrival at Paris, we ascended to the top of the
Eiffel Tower — Mr. Calvert, my daughter, and myself. Go-
ing up into a monument a thousand feet high is not a thing
of very great interest after one has been on mountains
eight or nine thousand feet above sea level, but there is cer-
tainly no mountain in the world from which one can see as
great a gathering of civilized people, as many mountains,
or as many houses. The ascent may be made either in an
elevator or by a stairway, but we selected the former with-
out hesitancy, for just the looks of the spider-web structure
of the stairway was enough to make us dizzy, and it costs
just as much to walk as it does to ride. The elevators are
large enough to contain som^ 60 persons, and they were
full every time. And they are run very smoothly, and start
with so slow a motion that one does not at all experience
the sensation of falling down into a bottomless pit, as one
feels when let down with a jerk from some of Chicago's
sky-scrapers.
From the first platform, 200 feet up, one can view all
the monuments of Paris, some 50 or sixty of them being
very conspicuous because they loom up above the houses.
The H shape of the Exposition grounds also shows itself
plainly, and in the background, on one side, the heights of
Montmartre, and on another the fortress of Mont Valerian
stand in full view above the sea of houses. But when one
attains the third platform, at a thousand feet of elevation,
everything flattens down — the monuments, the hills, the
white ribbon of the Seine, the Bois de Boulogne, the dozens
of villages, seem only like a living map. A trip in a baloon
would probably give a similar impression. The houses
make a sea of red tiles, the river is a silver thread, and the
parks are green spots here and there.
Speaking of parks reminds me that I failed to mention
my visit to the experimental apiary of the Garden of Lux-
embourg. It was a disappointment. The spot is unique,
for an apiary in the heart of one of the largest cities in the
world. It is a very quiet corner, among the trees, the
shrubs and the flowers, in the aristocratic garden of the
palace of the French senate, and the bees fly back and forth
unmolested and busy. But there are only a few hives, in a
rather dilapidated condition, and it is evident that no pains
are taken with them. The keeper very kindly permitted us
to look at everything. We found half a dozen different prac-
tical hives, rotting without occupants, while a half-dozen
straw-skeps and two or three odd patents seemed the only
experimental feature. I enquired for an observation hive,
and he showed me a hive with eight or nine frames with
glass all around. What one could observe with such a hive
is more than I could say. I was told that lessons in bee-
culture were gi\^en every two weeks, in this place, during
the summer. I doubt that any experiments of value are
ever made there. France can afford something better.
In the evening of the last day, the apiarists of the con-
gress were gathered at a banquet, in one of the restaurants
of the exposition grounds, and numerous toasts were offered
to the visiting delegates, who returned the compliments as
best they could. On leaving, we opened our purses to pay
our share, but the secretary, Mr. Caillas, informed us that
the foreign delegates were guests, and that their expenses,
even to the tips for the waiters had been paid by the man-
agement.
The following days two excursions were arranged, with
special trains for the delegates to visit the apiaries of two
of the members, all expenses paid by the association, and I
regretted very much that I could not take advantag'e of
this; but my time was limited, and I had to leave Paris that
very same day.
if the Europeans are behind us in the matter of con-
venience of railroad cars, they are certainly ahead of us in
securing cheap transportation. If I remember rightly, the
amount paid by the association for these two excursions
was less than a cent per mile, per person. Perhaps we will
also get cheap travel here by-and-by, but in the meantime
we need not be afraid of the cost of traveling in Europe, af-
ter we are accustomed to travel in this country. But I
earnestly hope that we are not going to take the habit of
"tipping" the waiters and servants as they do over there.
It is sickening. You eat dinner — tip. You ride half a mile
and discharge the cabman, pay — and — tip. You go to the
theater, buy your ticket, and tip the ushers. You leave the
hotel, tip the servants, the boot-black, the chamber-maid,
the porter. Tip, tip, tip. Luckily they do not expect sil-
ver in every case, and this is the principal use of coppers.
Two cents, three cents, make a very passable tip. If you
give a dime, you get a smile. If you give a quarter, you
get a fine bow. But if you give nothing, you had best not
look behind, for a look of contempt will follow you till yott
are out of sight.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us otie new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at Sl.OO.
*-♦-♦
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year tn adi'ance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
22
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 10, 1901.
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceedings of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag-o, 111.,
Aug-. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BV DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from pa^e 6.)
COMB FOUNDATION— EXPERIMENTS, ETC.
Prof. Gillette — I have been experimenting- some the last
three or four years at the Colorado Experiment Station, at
Fort Collins, to determine the manner in which the bees
handle the foundation that is g-iven them. It seems to me
on so very important a question we ought to have more
light. What weight foundation is best, for example, to use
in the brood-chamber, and what is the best weight to use
for comb honey? and to what extent does the giving of the
foundation lessen the wax secreted by the bees? Do the
bees really take the wax from the foundation and build it
up both in the cells and down in the midrib of the comb?
If so, to what extent? The experiments that I want to re-
port upon are chiefly along these lines, and before proceed-
ing, I might say what I say to you was publishtjust re-
cently in Bulletin 54 of the Experiment Station at Ft. Col-
lins, which any of you can obtain, so long as they last, bj-
simply addressing a letter to the director, and requesting
Bulletin 54, on "Experiments in Apiaries." First, Ithought
I would endeavor to determine definitely whether or not
bees do use the wax in the foundation. Everybody be-
lieves they do; no one doubts it; but I wanted absolute proof
of it. I went to Mr. Elliott, who makes comb foundation,
and askt if he could make for me some rather light founda-
tion, and work into it a large amount of lampblack so as to
make it exceedingly black. This he did, as you can see by
looking at the sample of foundation which I have here — a
small piece of it — just as black as coai, or nearlv so. This
is about a medium weight of super foundation for comb
honey; that was used in the sections. I used a strip one
inch wide at the top for some of the sections, but others I
put in a full sheet; by "full sheet," I mean a sheet like that
of the black foundation. I find I haven't in my trunk — I
didn't come from home and have not the samples that I had
from the experiment station to show you, but I will simplj-
have to tell you, and you will have to take my word for it.
Where foundation like that was used, about one inch, it was
workt down into the comb so that the black color would
show nearly to the ends of the cells. I happen to have a
little piece here from the full-piece foundation. This was
fully drawn at the center; this comes out here near the
sides. The cell-walls this far [indicating] are black, and
the foundations used are nearly so.
A Member — Do 1 understand you to mean the black
workt down from the strip of lampblack foundation at that
part?
Prof. Gillette— Yes, so that in cutting thru the comb
and looking at the edge of it, the black nearly faded out at
the ends of the cells.
A Member— What was the object of getting that black
to start with?
Prof. Gilette — To see to what extent the bees did take
that wax, and whether they used it right there where it was
placed, or whether they carried it it all over the hive and
used it in the foundation; in some places, a small amount of
black wax was taken up by the colonies and used in smear-
ing, but not to any great extent did they carry it away into
any other section— used it right there;' drawn right down
into the midrib of the comb. Having proved definitely
that they do use the wax in this way, I wanted to know
whether or not they get that wax from the midrib of the
foundation, or whether they get it from the cell-walls. For
example, let that represent a section, tho the foundation, as
you look at it, are the edges there. In any foundation
there would be found, or in nearly all the foundations there
would also be a short cell-wall as shown there. Now, do
the bees get this wax that they build the cells out of, wholly
from those little short cell-walls, or do they go down into
the base and midrib itself, and use it in building out the
cell-wall and^extending the midrib? First, do thev use the
wax that is in the midrib? This I determined by three or
four different means. First, by weighing the midrib. They
drew out this wax into combs. The comb was then put into
water and the honey all extracted, if they had filled it with
honey. The cells were scraped off from the two sides, until
thej- had only the midrib left. Here, for example, is a mid-
rib that has been built out in a comb and the cells taken
off again. Here is a sample of the foundation, on which
that comb was built. Then I took pieces of foundation
and of the midrib from the comb on that foundation,
cut them in different sizes, and weighed them, and I found
that the weight of the original foundation was considerably
more than the weight of the midrib taken out of the comb
built upon that foundation. But now it might be possible
that the difference in the weight was all due to their using
these little short cell-walls. The very heavy foundation
weighed 11 grains to the square inch. Septum from the
comb only weighed eight grains to the square inch after the
bees had built the comb upon it and the comb-cells had been
removed; then there is the difference between 8 and 11, or
three grains to the square inch of the septum that had been
used. In case of medium foundation, of which I have a
sample here, and a sample of the midrib of the comb
built upon this foundation — the foundation itself weighed
8.4 grains to the square inch; this midrib out of the comb
weighed 5.18 grains to the square inch, being a difference
there of about 3'; grains to the square inch of the midrib
that the bees had used. The deep-cell foundation was also
used; the foundation weighed 5.46 grains to the square inch.
After the comb had been built upon the foundation and the
comb-cells removed, then the midrib weighed only 3.44
grains to the square inch; but if I should take this foun-
dation and cut off the deep walls here, just as close as I
could, this foundation midrib weighed only 2'z grains per
square inch. It actually weighs less right here in this found-
ation than it does after the bees have built the comb upon
it, because they do fill in, in some places, on the bottom,
and make it a little heavier, and the natural-comb septum,
taking comb the bees have built entirely, not having given
them any foundation at all, removing the cell-walls and
taking the midrib of this comb, and it weighed but 2.1 grains
to the square inch. The difference in weights here was evi-
dently more than could be accounted for by the removal
simply of these small cell-walls.
A Member — Were all those tested alike, by being im-
merst in water?
Prof. Gillette — No, sir, not in all cases. There were
cases where there was no honey at all. Those were not put
in water. In all cases they werethoroly dried before using;
very frequently' two or three days elapst before they were
used. The next method which I used for determining
whether or not they take the wax out of the midrib, was to
fill the comb with plaster, and that was suggested to me by
Pres. Root. I filled the comb with plaster of Paris, and
making sections of it and measuring the width of the mid-
rib, and cut in that way, as Pres. Root has explained in his
paper, this holds the midrib; it is perfect, it is not spread
out at all. I found by measuring the midrib of the comb
built upon a foundation — it was in all cases where heavy
foundation was used — the comb was very thin. In cases
where light foundations were used, foundations in which
the midrib does not extend seventeen one-hundredths of a
millimeter, that they did not thin the midrib to any extent,
usually not at all, which seems to me quite an important
matter. If the midrib of the foundation does not extend
seventeen one-hundredths of a millimeter in thickness, the
bees will thin it but little, if any, very little indeed; very of-
ten scratch it over to make it opaque, but very little used; if
thicker than that, they are sure to thin it some, but never
thinning it down to the thinness of the midrib in the nat-
ural comb. Is that clear? If you use a heavy foundation
the bees never thin the midrib down to the thinness of the
midrib in the natural comb not in any case that I have
found. I have placed upon the table here some of the differ-
ent midribs that have been taken from combs; here is a
specimen of midrib from natural comb, all made by the bees,
and those other midribs are midribs taken from different
specimens of combs made upon foundation. You will not
find any as light as the natural-comb midrib, except in the
kind where the deep-cell foundation is used. In some of
those cases it is as thin as the natural. Do the bees thicken
the walls of the comb where it is built upon foundation? I
think there has been a difference of opinion in regard to
that, some thinking that no matter how thick — how much
wax you may put in the little short cells of the foundation,
the bees will always thin it down to the thinness of the nat-
urally built comb. To determine that point I proceeded in
Jan. 10. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
23
this way: I took a g'oodly number of pieces of comb that
had been drawn by the bees, and some natural comb, other
samples of comb that had been built upon different kinds of
foundation. And care was always taken in this case not to
use a comb that had been capt, because, if the comb had
been capt, it would have to be uncapt and the honey ex-
tracted. In that case, the ends of the comb would have to
be removed, so I always took a comb that had not been capt.
I found that by taking these samples of comb, scraping the
comb-cells all off from the foundation, the wax of the mid-
rib is left, and I consider these weigh the same perhaps in
natural comb — that the bees do thicken the surrounding
walls of the comb, so that they are heavier, as well as the
midrib of the comb, and that is brought out in some figures
that I have put upon these sheets of paper. In this chart —
I don't know whether you have read it or not — you will note
in this column is given the kind of foundation used, the
first lot having no foundation at all, being natural comb;
the next shows the thickness of the comb used. In this
column I have given the weight of the entire comb per
square inch. Suppose this was the comb, suppose it is an
inch thick; we have given here the weight of a square
inch of that comb. In the next two columns I have sepa-
rated the weight of the comb into two parts — the weight of
the midrib of that comb and the weight of the cell-walls in
that comb, so as to give the two separate. We will take
first the natural comb, which is 1.37 inches thick. You will
understand I could not get comb made to order, but had to
take samples out of the hive — the thickness as the bees had
made it, getting them as nearly alike as I could, and taking
the actual measures, comparing those that were nearest
alike. In case of natural comb 1.37 inches thick, a little
thicker than this comb here [indicating], the weight of that
comb alone per square inch was 13 grains; the weight of the
midrib averaging — I have given here in every case the av-
erage weight gotten by weighing quite a large number of
samples, not giving the different weights. In this column
I have given the weights of the cell-walls themselves — the
wax in the cell-wall. The wax in the cell-wall here weighed
10.8 grains ; in the midrib only 2.10 grains. This [indica-
ting] is a sample of deep-cell comb, comb built upon this
deep-cell foundation that was put out in 1888. Take the first
sample 1.44 inches. This is a little heavier than the 1.37,
the first one that I had in my samples to compare it with ;
the midrib there weighed 13 grains to the square inch ; here
it weighed 16.63 — a difference of 3.63 grains for this comb.
It is a little bit thicker, as vou will see. The difference in
the septum of the midrib is the difference between 2.1 and
3.7 ; the difference in the weight of the cells would be the
difference between 10.8 and 12 93 ; those are the only two
samples that are very close together in comparison with
those weighed. We might pass to another sample of this
deep-cell ; the comb weighed 14.9, almost IS grains to the
square inch; the comb here weighing 13 grains to the square
inch.
A Member — You have one there in the natural comb
just exactly the same.
Prof. Gillette— That is right. I want to call attention
first to the fact that this 1.13 style gives a heavier comb.
This is 11.6 grains to the square inch while the other was
10.11 vrhere it was 1.37 in thickness ; comparing these with
samples of comb of exactly the same thickness 1.13, the
whole comb weighed 9..^.^ grains to the sq. inch ; the whole
comb here weighed 14.9 or almost IS grains to the sq. inch ;
the midrib weighing 3.3; the cells themselves with the mid-
rib removed weighed 11.6 grains, whereas up here they
weighed 7.2 grains to the square inch. It is true in all the
cases, where these heavy foundations were used that the
weight of the cell-walls was increast as well as the weight
of the foundation. I want to call attention to one over-
statement in my bulletin which Pres. Root has also called
attention to. I stated that the increase in weight of the
cell-walls was greater than the increase in weight of the
midrib where the heavy foundations were used ; that is only
occasionally true. It is often true that the increast weight
of the comb is due more to the added wax in the cells than
to added wax in the midrib. The increast weight of the
comb is due to the increast wax in the cell-walls as well as
the increast wax in the heavier foundation where the heav-
ier foundations are used. That isn't true often where the
foundations are, for example, the extra-thin and the thin
foundation, and the rather shallow foundation put out by
the Root Company. I found with those the cell-walls in the
comb were just as light in many cases — in fact quite com-
monly so — as they were in the natural comb ; but it seems
to me it is proved beyond any doubt that if we add a large
amount of wax, either in the midrib or short cell-walls of
the foundation, we will always increase quite perceptibly
the weight of the comb built upon that foundation. There
is one other point which I will take time to bring out and
that is: To what extent do we economize the secretion of
the wax when we give bees comb foundation to build comb
upon ? To make the question a little clearer, if we give
bees foundation that has wax enough in it already to build
the whole comb, will they then secrete any wax, or use that
wax and build the comb up? To bring that point out, let
us refer to the figures that I have already upon the board.
I might go on thru the list of these, but I think the examples
I have used are enough. I used one foundation, this very
heavy foundation which would average 11 grains to the
square inch when cut up. Natural comb built by the bees,
the average weight I found to be 10 grains to the square
inch, the comb being one inch thick in both cases — 10 grains
to the square inch in the natural built comb, where it was
II grains to the square inch in this foundation itself.
Those are samples of comb one inch thick [indicating.]
Dr. Mason — One inch thick or one inch square ?
Prof. Gillette — It is a comb one inch square. The comb
built upon these heavy foundations, built out one inch thick,
weighed 18', grains to the square inch. Natural comb, as
I told you, averaged only In grains to the square inch. The
bees then having one grain to the square inch more wax
than they needed, added to that foundation 8', grains more
of wax. In other words, you gave your bees 18' 2 grains of
wax to save their secreting 2 '2 grains of wax, because 2>^
grains added to 7 '2 make the 10 grains the bees would have
used if they built this themselves. Take the lighter foun-
dation, the medium Root foundation, running, I think,
about 7 sheets to the pound, that foundation averages 8.4
grains to the square inch. The comb built upon it weighed
16,'2 grains to the square inch ; that is, comb one inch thick,
the bees added to that foundation so as to make it weigh 6;'2
grains to the square inch more than that natural comb
would have weighed if they had made it all themselves.
You give the bees 8.4 to save them from secreting 3.5 grains
of wax. Without going thru the figures of the different
weights, I found, I might say, that held thru all the tests I
made. That is, to all these heavier foundations the bees
still added a very large amount of wax from their own se-
cretions, altho they did not need to do it. It seems to me
that we only economize the secretions of the wax on the
part of the bees to a very small extent by giving them wax
in the foundation. It seems to be the nature of the bees
when building comb to secrete wax, they go on eating honey,
I have no doubt, and secreting the wax to a very large ex-
tent, even tho wax was given them to begin with. Then
what kind of a foundation can we use that would be most
economical in comb building ? Without using the figures,
I might simply say I found the greatest economy appar-
ently from my own measurements to be in the foundation
which has, as measured, as nearly the weight of the natural
comb midrib as you can get it — the foundation with the mid-
rib just as nearthe natural as you could get it, and with not
a very large amount of wax in the cell-walls of the foun-
dation. I presume you have all used, to some extent, this
rather short deep foundation. It seems to me that contains
about as much wax in the cell-walls as can be given with
the greatest economy in the building of the comb. I be-
lieve that is all that I will take time to tell you about now,
unless you wish to ask questions, except simply to call your
attention to some of the samples that I have here. In these
little paper boxes, I have placed samples of sections of comb
and of foundations, and many of them are arranged in this
way — one of them showing the section of the foundation
and the other the section of the comb built upon that foun-
dation. I would like to have you examine the two and com-
pare them, and see if you can see with your naked eye the
comb built upon the foundation and midrib thinner than
that built upon the foundation. Some samples show plainly,
and I have markt it in this way: A sample markt A would
be a sample of a foundation cut thru ; a sample markt A A
would be a sample of the comb built upon that foundation.
The same is true of B, C, D, and so on. By bearing that in
mind, you can tell which is the section of the foundation
and which the section of the comb built upon it. I have
also one or two sections here of the comb cut at right angles
to the cells, and I would like to have you see how very deli-
cate and beautiful the section of the natural comb is in
that way. Also on these two pieces of boards, I have a
sample of foundation and also a sample of the septum of
comb built upon that foundation, and you can make com-
parisons of them. These can be past around.
D. H. Coggshall— I have noticed where we run for ex-
tracted hone}', in increasing my amount of combs for ex-
24
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 10, 1901.
trading- purposes, that by slipping' a sheet of foundation in
with the other combs, the bees will use their surplus wax
that they produce on this foundation, and it saves me bur-
combs. They don't crowd the extracting- place ; where
there is a surplus place they fill up, they don't crowd so ;
where there is no foundation in there, they will crowd every
spot and fill it all up with bur-combs. To overcome that
when I extract, I cut deep slices from the combs ; that wax
goes in with the cappings, and I have it in wax. That is the
way I overcome the bur-combs. Otherwise I claim the wax
would be wasted. They will produce wax when they are
gathering honey fast, and they must have some place to put
it.
Pres. Root — With regard to this matter of foundations,
we have Mr. Rankin here of the Michigan Experiment
station who wishes to relate some of his experiments, which
I think will bear out the experiments already given by Prof.
Gillette.
Mr. Rankin — We had some samples of foundation which
were made by the A. I. Root Co., of different weights, rang-
ing all the way from 8 to 13 sheets to the pound. The sheets
were the size of the Langstroth frame ; we used these foun-
dations in different ways thru the hives, and I used differ-
ent methods of wiring. We used the vertical wires, some
with 5 and some with 8 in a frame, and we used the hori-
zontal wires 4 and 8 in the frame. We found it workt the
best on the horizontal wires, every time. The vertical
wires gave no satisfaction at all. There would be a weight
between each wire, and the foundation stretcht. With the
horizontal wires the wires sagged and the foundation
stretcht and left a perfectly straight comb. I was showing
it to Prof. Gillette when he was at the college. I think he
would bear me out in the statement. It seemed a little bit
strange to me, and quite interesting, and I might say, too,
that the foundation with 13 sheets to the pound seemed to
give just as good satisfaction as that of 8 sheets to the
pound. I think that the lighter we get our foundation the
more economical, and it will answer the purpose just as
well. Two years ago we had an experiment in surplus
honey. The advantage of full sheets or half starters has
been clearly analyzed. It is shown there is just a little
over one percent more wax in the sections which had the
full sheets of foundation than those which had half-start-
ers. The foundation used was Root's extra-thin, also the
Dadant. There is no difference in the two foundations.
Pres. Root — The experiments which have been given,
are quite interesting; they show bee-keepers have been
using too heavy foundation. There has been too much wax
in the midrib certainly, and, probably, too much in the
walls. The experiment which Mr. Rankin gives, that 13
sheets to the pound, wires horizontal, give as good results
as 8 sheets to the pound, wires horizontal, is quite remark-
able. It isn't our experience, as I remember, but it is pos-
sibly correct. I think it would be well for bee-keepers to
begin using four sheets to the pound. If you are using too
much wax, you ought to know it. The experiments shown
here, as given by Mr. Rankin, seem to indicate that you
can use thin foundation in the brood-frames. We have been
working, and so have all the foundation-makers, towards
lighter foundation. Several years ago, heavy foundation
was used by bee-keepers, and later they have been using
lighter foundation, which has been a great economy to the
bee-keepers and saved a great deal of wax as well.
Dr. Mason — Mr. Rankin stated in putting in vertical
wires they sag; that hasn't been my experience. I use
vertical wires and make my foundation right on the wires.
I have tried the horizontal wires, and with me it has been a
failure every time ; a good deal more sag to it than with
the vertical wires.
Mr. Fixter — Have any tried foundations milled at dif-
ferent temperatures, and found any difference in the work-
ing of the bees upon them ? Which do they find best — the
wax that is hard and stiff, or the soft, pliable wax ?
Prof. Gillette — I have made no test.
Mr. Rankin — I don't know anything about that.
Mr. Taylor — In reply to this question, I may state that
at the time I was conducting experiments for our experi-
ment station in Michigan, I made an experiment upon that
very point ; I used wax in making foundation when it was
at a very low temperature, just as low as it was possible
and get to press it at all properly, and also at a high tem-
perature, and I compared them and I could see no differ-
ence in the results. One seemed to be workt out just as
well as the other.
Mr. Rankin — I would like to ask Dr. Mason how many
sheets of foundation of the Langstroth size he says he gets
to the pound with a Given press.
Dr. Mason — That depends altogether on how thick I
make the sheets. From 4 to 10 sheets.
Mr. Taylor — You can make them 4 or 11, just as you are
a mind to.
Continued next week.)
\ Questions and Answers. \
CONDUCTED BY
T>Jt.. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, ni.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofBce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editoh.1
Drones in Worker-Cells.
Last fall I bought a 5-banded queen, and after com-
mencing to lay I noticed that about half of her brood in
worker-cells were drones. Do such queens ever get over
this drone-laying business ? Or should I take off her head at
once ? She appeared to be laying less drone-eggs and more
worker-eggs after being in the colony a few weeks.
M.\SSACHUSETTS.
Answer. — It sometimes happens that a young queen,
or one that has been thru the mails, lays more or less
drone-eggs in worker-cells, and afterward lays as a good
queen ought. Don't be in too much of a hurry in deciding-
against her.
Bees Leaving the Brood-Chamber—Best Hive for
Extracted Honey, Etc.
1. I have had bees for four years in Langstroth hives,
and they always have been breeding below, but this year
they all went up into the supers ; some hives had no bees
and no honey below at all. We had a very hot summer.
Was it too hot for them below ?
2. I am working for only extracted honey. Which is
the best hive for the purpose.
3. Should I use a hive with 8 or 10 frames? and what
kind of frames are the best ?
4. My best honey-flow is in September, and the first
part of October. From what flowers could that be ?
5. In what hive can bees be handled the best and the
easiest ? New Jersey.
Answers. — 1. The heat would hardly account for the
bees going above, for generally it is warmer above. In the
cases where there was neither brood nor honey below, it
looks as if they might have had the super or upper story all
winter. In that case, they might move above in the spring-
because it is warmer above.
2. There is probably nothing better for you than the
Langstroth size of frame.
3. For extracted honey, you will like ten frames better
than eight. As already said, the Langstroth size of frame,
17'sx9's, is not excelled. If bee-glue is not troublesome in
your locality, you may like he Hoffman frame, but if bee-
glue is plenty, it will be better to have frames spaced with
staples or nails. For extracting-frames it is better to have
in the upper story shallow frames not more than 6 inches
deep. The objection is that such frames can not be used in
the brood-chamber.
4. Hard to tell without being on the spot. Possibly as-
ters or goldenrod.
5. There isn't much to choose. Perhaps nothing better
than the common dovetailed hive. Remember it isn't the
hive that makes a diiference so much as the man, the local-
ity, and the bees.
Managing Swarming in Out-Apiaries—Bees Fanning at
the Hive-Entrances.
1. On page 808 (1900) " Ind." asks how you run your out-
apiary for comb honey. You say your latest plan was to
visit the yard from 5 to 7 days. How do you go to work
then — take out every frame and see if there are any queen-
cells on them ? And then you say. Destroy the eggs or
grubs so as to keep them from swarming. I should judge
that that would be quite a job, to look over an apiary of lOO
Jan. 10, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
25
colonies or so. Now, some bees will swarm without having
their cells capt ; where will your swarm be if you don't go
there within S or 7 days? Anyhow, the queen would be
gone. As I understand that you clip your queens' wings, I
think it would be the safest way to have somebody right
along with them.
2. Why are there always some bees fanning at the en-
trance ? Some say it is for ventilation. I hardly agree
with that, because my bees had a flight yesterday, and then
some were fanning. If that is to cool the hive, what are
they going to do when it is about 100 degrees in the shade ?
Illinois.
Answers. — 1. You are right ; it is quite a job to look
thru a lot of hives for queen-cells ; you are also right in
thinking it would be a safer plan to have some one watch-
ing for swarms. But it would be a good deal of expense to
have an extra hand at each apiary to watch for swarms. Of
course, there's no law against others having a watcher on
hand all the time.
Yes, some colonies will swarm, and the swarm will be
right there in the old hive (except in a few cases where it
may enter another hive.) Then the thing needed is to de-
stroy the extra cells, or in some way provide against a
swarm issuing again.
I'm not insisting that the plan is satisfactory, and as
soon as I learn something better I'll drop the present plan.
2. In nearly all cases bees ventilate at the entrance for
the purpose of changing the air in the hive. Even if the
air was none too warm it might need changing on account
of its impurity. In the case you mention it is just possible
that the air in the hive was warm or foul, notwithstanding
the fact that the outside air was not above SO degrees. Af-
ter being confined to the hive quite a number of days, the
bees may become very much excited upon the occasion of a
flight, and that excitement may run up the inside tempera-
ture above the desired heat. It is quite likely, however,
that you had one of the exceptional cases in which bees ven-
tilate without any need of ventilation. I'm not certain
whether the books tell about it, but one may often notice a
bee ventilating at the entrance because it has accidentally
got to the wrong hive, or for some reason is afraid of the
reception it will get. A bee afraid as to its reception falls
to ventilating, apparently because it thinks it will show it
is willing to go right to work helping as one of the mem-
bers of the colony, and ventilating is the first work that
comes to hand. When a strange bee goes to ventilating it
is not likely to be ill-treated by the guards.
Grading Honey by Tinted Glass.
I notice on page 88 some comments on the grading of
honey by color, by the use of tinted glass, and I wonder if
the idea originated among the British bee-keepers. It was
advanced something like a year ago in the columns of the
Progressive Bee-Keeper, and, by following instructions
there given, by the use of a number of glasses of diff'erent
tints it can be graded by numbers from the darkest buck-
wheat to water-white. North Carolina.
Answer. — Yes, perhaps as long as two or three years
ago, there was some discussion in American bee-papers as
to the matter of grading by samples of glass, celluloid, etc.,
and the British idea may hav^ started from that, or it may
have been an indigenous product. At any rate, our British
cousins seem to have gotten the start in the matter of act-
ual application.
Does Sweet Clover Cause Bloat, or a Bad Flavor
in Milk or Butter?
Does s veet clover ever bloat cattle or sheep as alfalfa
or red clover does ? Does sweet clover give a bad flavor or
odor to milk or butter ? Nebr.^.ska.
Answer. — I do not know why, under favorable circum-
stances, sweet clover might not cause bloat as well as al-
falfa or red clover, but I do not remember seeing any report
of the kind, nor any report as to its giving bad taste to milk
or butter.
brittle. The bees now reject them, tho placed in the very
center of their hives on a warm summer day. They pass
over them, or destroy them. Can any one suggest a
remedj' ? Is there any way to soften them, or make them
acceptable to the bees ? Ontario.
Answer. — I don't know of anything to help, if the
combs are so bad that the bees destroy them. Who does ?
Worker-Comt)S Rejected by Bees.
I have a large quantity of good worker-combs, but
being empty and not in use, they were laid aside for a sea-
son in a damp place. < hi this account they got hard and
The Afterthought.
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTV, Richards, Ohio.
P0I,I,EN and honey .'iT THE SAME TIME, ETC.
Most of US know, notwithstanding scientific doubts
thrown at us, that bees often gather both nectar and pollen
at the same time, but I suppose few had right in hand the
positive proof to reply with which a scientist would require.
I am glad Mr. Davenport is able to say he has taken hun-
dreds of bees laden with both. I see no reason why a good
colony scant of stores might not be given a super of unfin-
isht sections in a warm cellar. Glad to hear that this style
of feeding marks well on a considerable scale. If honey
that has been fumigated with bisulphide of carbon will kill
a colony of bees in xhe cellar, said honey is pretty sure to
be of no particular good to delicate human stomachs. That
experiment ought to be repeated until we know whether the
death of the bees was from poison or from fortutious cir-
cumstances. Page 776.
SELECTING .\ HOME BEFORE SWARMING.
"Rip" is undoubtedly right that bees do not ahvays se-
lect a home before swarming. We may suspect as much
when they have a long distance from the home hive, and
take a decidedly different direction when they start again.
Also when a prime swarm comes out on a desperately hot
afternoon, with little or no preparation visible in the hive.
It is not likely that invisible preparations have been going
on when there were no visible ones. That virgin queen got
so tired in flying 50 feet that it took three days to rest her
enough to start again, the "born-tired" record may be con-
ceded to her, altho some human parlor-virgins could
doubtless run her close. Page 777.
HONEY-DEW IN WINTER STORES.
McEvoy's experiment of wintering with honey-dew is
instructive, especially that part of it where part of the combs
held good honey, and the bees lived somewhat longer for it
but perisht eventually. Page 779.
CORKING A HONEY-FUNNEL.
The cork on a wire to stop and unstop a honey-funnel
from the inside looks like one of those trifling but very val-
uable little inventions which sometimes come along. Page
787.
SILVER LINDEN NOT GUILTY OF KILLING BEES.
Notwithstanding the reliability of the journal that
makes the accusation, I strongly think the silver linden is
not guilty of killing the bees. Bees died of disease other-
wise contracted while the accused tree happened to be in
bloom, I think. Such disease need not be much different
from the one sometimes called "footing it," when we see
multitudes of bees not able to fly crawling on the ground
about the apiary. It is not impossible, moreover, that the
same fungus which injures the lindens, and keeps them
from yielding as they used to do, also injures the bees,
which get more or less of the spores of mycelium. Page
788.
BURNING COMB TO SETTLE A SWARM.
Most of our veterans will smile at burning comb to
make a swarm settle. And yet more unpromising things
than that have been known to turn out well. In famine
times the other flying bees of the apiary would be drawn by
the smell of wax ; and a swarm long on the wing might
come, not to the smell, but to the crowd. For just once in
their lives the bees belonging to the swarm don't want to
gather anything — or do anything except "sciugle." At
least that's the "orthodox" view of it. Page 788.
26
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 10, 1901.
Lanosiroin on...
Ttl6fl0ll6yB66
Revised by Dadant— 1899 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug^ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for SI. 25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one j'ear — both for SI. 75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with S3. 00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michig-an Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
t*lease mention Bee Journal -when writmff.
The Dipping Pr
is a thing of the past.
Dittmer's Foundation f^t'^"j-ZnT'
Is made by a " NEW PKciCESS" that produ-
ces EVERY ESPE.NTIAL necessary to make
it the VERV BEST and MOST desirable iu all
respects. My PROCESS and AUTOMATIC
MACHINES are my own inyentions, which
enable me to SELL FOUNDATION and work
wax into foundation for cash at prices that are
the lowest. Catalog g^ivin^full line of Supplies
and more particulars about my foundation, with
prices and samples, fiee on application. When
writing, state amount of foundation wanted or
wax to be workt. Beeswax wanted.
GUS, DITTMER. Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Jou'-nal when writing.
The "Know It All" Kind.
I have been trying to get new sub-
scribers to the American Bee Journal,
but the bee-keepers around here seem
to " know it all," thothey find there is
something lacking when they compare
their honey-yield with mine, which
is usually two or three times larger
than theirs. H. C. Binger.
Shiawassee Co.. Mich., Dec. 29.
Bees In the Cellar.
My 36 colonies of bees have been in
the house-cellar since Nov. 17th, with
the temperature from 38 to 45 degrees.
The bees are quiet and dry, and there
are perhaps a quart of dead bees on
the cellar-floor. I have been looking
at the bees and their workings thru a
low-power magnifying glass, and feel
that what a high-power microscope
would reveal must be wonderful. The
bees and the bee-hive are a constant
source of wonder and surprise to me.
F. W. Hall.
Sioux Co., Iowa, Dec. 25.
Bees in Fair Condition.
I commenced keeping bees two j-ears
ago, getting my start from a colony of
bees that I found in a knot-hole in the
side of the house.
This year was almost a failure here.
We secured no surplus, but our bees
are in fair condition for winter. I
think this locality is all right ; I am
going to give it a fair trial, anyway.
The American Bee Journal is just
what every bee-keeper needs in his
business. Success to it.
Dan N. Haskin.
Lancaster Co., Nebr.. Dec. 21.
Gathering Pollen and Nectar.
During the forepart of the past sea-
son we had such a drouth as was never
known here before. Bee-keepers, as
well as those in other lines of business,
were very much discouraged, and ex-
pected very little profit but the July
and August rains brought new life,
and the result was better than ex-
pected.
My yard contained 29 colonies,
spring count. They increast to 56,
and stored a surplus of over 1,000
pounds.
On page 776 (19001, Mr. Davenport
refers to a statement made some time
ago, that bees do not gather both
honey and pollen on the same trip. I
tioticed the same statement, and
thought if it were true at all it most
certainly was not universally so. My
observation confirms what Mr. Daven-
port says. I never thought of making
a test at the hive-entrance as he did,
but have observed closely the bees on
the honey-pollen flora. Their every
movement and appearance were con-
vincing that they were loading with
both honey and pollen. This was es-
peciall)' noticed on the bloom of the
high bush cranberry. This bloom is a
cluster formed by a number of small
blossoms, whose petals touch each
other, forming a beautifully archt sur-
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wriTina
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiS-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL
nal
Good Instruments.
-J Done confute tlle^e iiu-Uninti.
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Floaso
r'nlifni-nia t If you care to know of its
^dlllUrilld I Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS.
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, CiL.
Mease mention Bee Journal when writing.
IMCUBATORS^'u^FARM
FoIi.Idc W
Bronrter. We Pav tti.^ Fr^i
SURB HATCH INCUBATOR CO., Clay Cealer. Nebraska.
BEE-SUPPLIES.
■Muth's Square Glass Honey-Jars.
Send for Catalog.
HONEY AND BEESWAX wanted.
C H.W.WEBER,
42Atf 2146 Central Ave.. Cincinnati, Ohio
Please mention Beci journal ■when ■writing.
GINSENGi
, plinls proluce Si.OO'J.lO In 10
I Lakeside Ginseng Gardens, Amber,l<.Y
-.\l.^t Mention the American Bee Journal.
Jan. 10, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
27
SPECIAL NOTICE!
Last winter's cut of basswood is the whitest it has been for many seasons.
We are now making sections out of this new stock and therefore are in a posi-
tion to furnish j-ou with the very finest quality in the market.
LEWIS WHITE-POLISHT SECTIONS
Are perfect in workmanship and color.
Orders shipt immediately upon receipt. A complete line of everything
needed in the apiarj'. Five diflferent styles of Bee-Hives.
Lewis Foundation Fastener simplest and best machine for the 'purpose.
Price. ONE DOLLAR, without Lamp.
G. B. LEWIS CO., Watertown,Wis., U.S.A.
BRANCHES: , AGENCIES:
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olis, Ind. Fred FouLGEK & Sons Ogden, Utah.
G. B. Lewis Co., 51S First Ave., N. E., Minne- E. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, Missouri,
apolis, Minn ' Special Southwestern Agent.
SEND FOR CATALOG.
Please mention Bee Journal when writlne,
BG6-H1V6S and Honey=Box6S
in'car lots, wholesale or retail. Now is the time to '^et prices.
AVe are the people who manufacture strietl\- first-class j^ouds
and sell them at ]>nces that defy competitiou. Write us to-day.
Inter-State Box and Manufactnring Company,
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Please i.iention Bee Journal "when writing
Fruit and Ornamental, Siirnb»i, Ro»iies, Vines, Plants, Bulbs,
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Best on Earth
What? Our New Champion Winter-
Cases. And to introduce them thruout
the United States and Canada we
will sell them at a liberal discount*
until Oct. IS, nOO. Send for quota-
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the No-Dkip Shipping-Cases.
R. M. SCHMIDTS CO.
Sheboygan. Wisconsin.
f lease mention Bee .lournai when wxitine'
FOR SALE I
Best Extracted flifalta floneu
Guaranteed absolutely Pure Bees' Honey.
Packt in 5-sfallon tin cans, (if about 60 pounds
each, two cans to the case, 714 cents per pound,
cash with order. Buy direct from the home of
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for ALFALFA and SWEET CLOVER SEED.
Write for prices. Vogeler= Wiedemann Co.,
60-62 W. First So. St., Salt Lake City, Utah.
43Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
face. The place is a little paradise for
the bee, which moves from cup to cup
sipping^, and apparently making the
same movements as when gathering
nothing- but nectar. At short intervals
it rises, works its legs as when placing
pollen, and then alights again on
another part of the cluster, only to re-
peat the movements. The light-col-
ored pollen is plainly seen, and the
fact that the bee is intent on sipping
from every bloom it comes to is evi-
dence that it obtains at least some nec-
tar. E. S. Roe.
Todd Co., Minn., Dec. 20.
Vepy Poof Season.
The past season was a very poor one
for me. Bees did not do anything
after July 1st, but what honey I did
have was fancy, and I got a good price
for it.
I should be lost without the Ameri-
can Bee Journal. J. L. Haight.
Delaware Co., N. Y., Dec. 26.
Heavy Loss on the Cotton Crop.
My bees did fairly well the past sea-
son, but I lost my cotton crop by the
overflows. The loss amounted to
about Sl.SOO. The crop was overflowed
on two occasions in September, and
again in October. J. D. Givens.
Dallas Co., Tex., Jan. 1.
Sainfoin— A Brewery Plant.
I notice Mr. Dadant mentions sain-
foin, or esparcette, or Holy hay. as a
honey-plant in France. I have con-
verst with an Irishman about it, and
he says that in Ireland it j-ields great
quantities of nectar, and is an excel-
lent fodder-plant. I would like to
know if anj' bee-keeper in America has
had any experience with this plant,
You pay for what you get in this world. You understand that. But as a business propo-
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If, instead of sending for a sample, you send us 25c we
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Please mention Bee Journal -when -writluK.
28
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 10 19tl.
and if so, I wish there might some day
be publisht an article giving^ his ex-
perience with it.
We have a honey-plant here that is
a good one. It is a biennial, and has
only a few long narrow leaves the
first year ; the second year it has a
long stalk and commences to bloom.
The flowers are blue, and from June
until frost you should see the bees on
it ; I have heard them fairly shouting
over it, like a lot of schoolboys just let
loose. I do not know the name of it,
but the flowers are not larger than a
Canadian five-cent piece. I have seen
them growing only in two places in
Canada, and it seems to me we must
have gotten them in some brewery re-
fuse in some way, as they were grow-
ing around breweries.
W. D. H.\RRis.
Ontario, Canada, Dec. 21.
Did FalPly Well.
Bees did fairly well in this locality.
I secured about 4,000 pounds of comb
honey from 57 colonies, with an in-
crease of 20. C. A. Stann.^rd.
Lapeer Co., Mich.
A Discouraging Season.
In the spring we started with the ex-
pectation of having a good honey sea-
son, as our bees were out in good time,
and went to work. The weather was
warm so that we soon had, plenty of
bees. White clover bloomed in abun-
dance the last of May, but the bees did
not store any honey from it. Bass-
wood has been our main source for
honey, but the worms destroyed that
two or three years ago. and last fall
they stript the trees of their leaves
again. Our crops this season run all
the way from 0 to SO percent of a crop,
so far as I can learn of my bee-keep-
ing neighbors. Some sell their comb
honey at 10c per pound, and the ex-
tracted at from 5 to 8 cents. It is hard
to keep up a home trade where we run
across some one else peddling it at SO
cents per gallon, and three sections for
25 cents. I get 8 cents per pound for
extracted honey, and that is the only
kind I have. F. C. Smith.
Pierce Co.. Wis.. Dec. 19.
A Successful Beginner's Report.
Two years ago I became interested
in bees by hiving a large swarm that
alighted near my home. I put them
in the back yard and began to study
their hibits. I found the subject so
interesting that I gave it all my spare
time. Not knowing exactly how to
care for them, the first winter killed so
many that I started in the spring with
only a handful, and it was all they could
do to get ready for last wiuter, but they
came thru in fine condition. I took
off the first surplus honey (28 pounds)
last summer, and fixt them for this
winter leaving them about 35 pounds of
honey. I use the lo-frame Langstroth
hive. A bee-keeper living near here
who saw the bees last summer said it
was the finest colony he had ever seen.
Having just the one colony, and buying
the very best of everything, I was able
to keep it as neat as a pin, and I also
profited by the valuable suggestions
found in the American Bee Journal.
As soon as possible I hope to increase
to 3 colonies, which will be as many as
my business will allow me to care for.
Are You Making Money?
— Out of your poultrv we mean. If nut therf i> Jroincthint; wronfr. Ua7 be
you didn'tstart ri^:ht. We have published a bunk called the'
20th CENTURY POULTRY BOOK
which helps to start poultry people ripht and then keep> thein4:ii^
right. Tells all about f" ►■■■■'■■■»•'=-—> -►...... . • ■■..■.■ J. -
RELIABLE INCUH
The book will be sent oi
itonce. Reliable Incubator A. Brdr. Co., Box B.2 , pulncT. tti.
The Ohio Farmer
AND THE
American Bee Journal,
Both One Year for only $1.40.
THE OHIO FARMER is clearly one of the leaders of the agricultural papers
of this country. It is a 20-page weekly, often 24 pages, handsomely printed on
good paper, and CLEAN in both reading and advertising columns. It has the
largest actual staff of editors and correspondents (all farmers) of any farm paper
publisht, and is practically progressive in defending the farmer's interests.
IT WILL HELP YOU MAKE "THE FARM PAY." Send to Ohio Farmer,
Cleveland, Ohio, for a free sample copy.
REMEMBER, we send both the Ohio Farmer and the American Bee Journal,
both one year for only $1.40. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.. 118 MICHIGAN Street. CHICAGO. ILL.
To Exchanoe ^.t
Edsmonds 114 and 3
.p. gasoline etigiiies. Wanted
-foot-power saws, lathes and machinerv of all
[inds. ROBERT B. GEDYh, La 5alie, III.
l.\2t Mention the American Bee Journal.
JUarhinPPII for SALE.-Tenon machine
/ndblllllory dovinsT machine, two-spindh
shaper, saw -table, fruages and saws, shafting
pulleys and belting:. Fred D.\lton. Walker. Mo
52A4t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Xo. 4 * ' Barkr IdeaP* Oil-Eeater.
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year I
NO ODOR! NO SMOKE! NO ASHES!
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee .Journal is using the
"Barler Ideal '■ Oil Heater, and It is all rijjht in every way.
We liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
fill our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one we
recommend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
for heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial wa}-, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon of
kerosene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
)uldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
e of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
but this one doesn't. Its hight is 2'., feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, fob. Chicago, $6.00; or. combined
with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal— both for only $6.30. Full Directions
GO WITH E.icu Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
"Barler Ideal " Oil Stove, as it can easily be carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan St., Chicago, 111.
Please mention the Bee Journal Idvert'S^r^^
Jan. 10, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
29
The white clover was a total failure
liere last summer. All the honey our
bees stored was from sweet clover
-which is very abundant in this locality.
The late Mr. Muth, I believe, is given
the credit of being the one who cov-
ered our clay and stony hills with it.
Altho I am only keeping bees for the
enjoyment I derive from it, I could not
have succeeded as I have without the
help of the Bee Journal.
A. W. Macbrair.
Hamilton Co., Ohio, Dec. 19.
A Hard Season For Bees.
Owing to continued wet weather the
past season was a hard one for bees in
this county, tho nearly all bee-keepers
secured a little surplus, and very few
had to feed for winter, so we ought not
to complain. Some localities had a
fair crop.
From 30 colonies spring count I in-
creast to 40 and took off 900 pounds of
surplus honey. Only about bOO pounds
were tinisht sections, and I had about
000 unfinisht sections.
In most places in this county bees
went into winter quarters rather light
in bees, but a good quality of stores.
Like all good bee-keepers I am looking
for a good season next year.
I like the idea of printing each week
on the front page of the Bee Journal a
picture of one of the leading bee-keep-
ers. I always read an article with
more interest when I know what the
author looks like. The pictures of the
different apiaries from all over the
country are also a very interesting fea-
ture to me. Keep the pictures coming,
even if you have to ask a little more
for the Journal. In fact. I think you
are giving us a most excellent paper
for the price we pay for it.
O. B. Griffin.
Aroostook Co., Maine, Dec. 15.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
Loss Fpom Diseased Brood.
This has been another bad year for
bee-keepers in this part of the country.
Foul brood, black brood, or pickled
brood— call it what you ma)' — is doing
its work. It looks the same as the
comb of infected brood shown at the
National Bee-Beepers' Convention in
Chicago last August. I had nearly 50
colonies and nuclei affected with it. I
treated them according to the McEvoy
plan, but ih; disease reappeared in
some colonies, while others dwindled
away in spite of my efforts to
strengthen them. The "glue-pot
smell" was absent in all cases, but the
dead brood was sour, and had a very
offensive odor after it commenced to
turn black. There were only two col-
onies in which I detected the "glue"
smell, and in which the decayed mat-
ter had become ropy.
I purchased 11 colonies and trans-
ferred during fruit-bloom, and at that
time there were no signs of the disease.
In June I detected the disease among
them, and by fall all were dead. I sac-
rificed several good colonies trying to
build them up.
Not one of the infected colonies
stored any surplus, but twenty colon-
ies alongside which were not infected,
stored from 20 to 60 pounds per colony
of beautiful comb honey.
The disease first appeared here in
•Sharpies Cream Separators: Profitable Dairying
Your Name on the Knife.-
you wish put on the Knlte.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies la the handle,
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass,
derneatb the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence ot
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drono, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest Eng-lish razor-steel, and we --
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German s!' j —« -».— ,-.
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire;
the back spring's of Sheffield spring--steel, and the fini:
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage. ^
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are i
tunate as to have one of the " Novelt;es," vour Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
ver rust or
the linings are plate brass;
h of the handle as described
elatives will at (
! be'notified of the
case of death, y
TTow app--.^
fe to a husband, a sister to a brother,
the name of the recipient on
:ident.
opriate this knife is lor a present! What more lasting memento
uld a mother
a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
The accompanying cai gi res a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this beautiful knife, as the "Njvelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
' How to Get this Valuable Knife. -We send it postpaid for f ^2S, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us "i .ibee new suescrimers to the Bee Journal (with $3.00.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for fl.'W.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO., 118 Mich, St., Chicago, IlL
<S"Please alio-- 'bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled
FREE FOR A MONTH
interested in Sheep in any waj
afford tu be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United Slates.
%Vool i^l«irkel«i» and Sheep
sheep-breeder and
n and all the time,
te ti)-day.
If you
has a hobby which is
his industry, first, ft>r
Are you interested ?
WOOL NtARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO. ILL.
Please mention Bee journal ■when 'writiiis.
Be Kind to Stock
by humanely dish.. mini.' them only with
the (luiok, smooth cutting
Convex Dishornefi
oker t
1 the
nake the Hu.,..^. — ... .,
best aids to dishorning, and two other styles or
Pishorners, one tor calves. Every aDproyed ap-
pliance tor this work. Send for FKEK book.
UEOKGK W'EBSTF,R.Bo«123.0hrli>tlaiiO,Pa.
Westein trade BoppliedfiomCblcpgo.
nentii
Bn
kfllf-11
Have You EJllier an Orcliard or Garden ?
Have you anything to do with either Fruits op Vegetables
Then lieep in touch with your work by subscribing for the
American Fruit and
Vegetable Journal
Publish
713 Masonic
Temple....
CHICAGO, ILL.
Sample copy free.
I have before me a copy of the Amer-
ican Fruit aud Vegetable Journa ,
which I like pretty well. It fills the
bill better than any paper I have seen
lately. iK.i C. Tracy,
F'oreman in the Home Nurseries.
'lentiou this paper.
I was much pleased to receive you
publication. It is a very ..eatly priutei
and well edited journal, and merit
success. D. W. Bakkley,
Editor of the " Rocky Ford
Enterprise."
All depa
of the Fruit and Vegetable business discust by practical and
e.xperienced persons.
^|-^r~ |~ I We will send the above 'Journal absolutely
Lm l^ U" U" I FREE for one year as a premium to all old
I l\ I I I subscribers sending us SI .00 to pay their sub-
1 IVL^L^ • scription one year STRICTLY IN ADVANCE.
Both papers for the price of one. Send your renewal subscrip-
tion to this office while this offer is open. Both papers, $i.oo.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 118 Mich. St., Chicag-o, 111.
30
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Jan. 10, n. 1.
A HANDY TOOL-HOLDER
Sent by Express, for $1.50 ; or with tlic Bcc Journal
one year — both for $'2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller. Carpenter.
Cabinet Maker. Machinist. Wheelwright and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one usin^ a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work of two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will hold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chieel to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachment for sharpening* scythe
blades included in the above price. The work
Is done without wetting the hands or soiling
the clothes, as the water flows from the opera-
tor. It can be attached to any size stoue for
hand or steam power. Is always ready for use,
nothing to get out of order, and is absolutely
<»orth 100 limes Its cost.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less It has a Tool-Holder. Pays
"or itself in a short time.
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool is fas-
tened securely In the Holder by
a set-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevel by insert-
ing the arm of the Holder into
a higher or lower notch of the
standard. While turning the
crank with the right hand, the
left rests on an steadies the
Holder ; the Tool Is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and In the same
way as if held In th-> hands.
For grinding Round ■ Edge
Tools, the holes in the stand-
ard are used instead of the
notches.
GEORGE "W.
YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, LL. a
paid
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
26 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michigan St., CHICAGO.
5 Doolittle's Queen=Rearing Book J
FREE— For Sending Us TWO New Subscribers for
One Year at $1.00 Each.
i| Scientific ^^
5 Queen-Rearing,
as practically applied, describes
and illustrates a method by which
the best Queen-Bees are reared
in perfect accord with Nature's
ways. It is written for the ama-
teur and veteran in bee-keeping,
by Mr. G. M. Doolittle, the lead-
ing queen-breeder of the world.
Index to the Chapters of the Book. ^
Importance of Good Queens: Nature's ^
Way of Hearing Queens; Another of ^
Nature's Wav; Old Methods of Rearing ^
Queens; Later Methods of Rearing Si
Queens; New Wav of Rearing Queens; ^
Getting the Bees off the Cells; What to S
do with the Queen-Cells; Queen-Cell ^
Protectors; Nuclei— How to B'orni; Nu- Si
clei— Ilow to Multiply; Bee-Feeders and ^
Bee-Feeding; Securing Good Drones; ^
Introduction of Queens; Introducing ^
Virgin Queens; Keepinfj a Record of »
Cells, Queens, Etc.; Queen-Kegister; ^
Clipping the Queen's Wings; Shipping, »
Shipping-Cages,Bee-Candy,Etc.; Uueens ^
Iniured in Shipping; Quality of Bees ^
and Color of Queens: Rearing a Few ^
Queens; Later E.xperiments in Queen- »
Rearing; Latest Feats in Queen-Rear- ^
Bound in cloth, price SI. 00, postpaid ; or we will mail it FREE
as a premium for setiding us TWO NEW subscribers to the Ameri-
can Bee Journal for one year, at $1.00 each ; or for $1.60 we will mail
the book to any one and. credit a year's subscription on the American
Bee Journal. Address, _
■^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 118 MICHIGAN ST., CHICAGO. ILL. ^
1.S94 or 1895. The next year after its
appearance I lost 70 colonies. That
was genuine foul brood, and I showed
it no mercy but burnt everything.
Since then I have suffered but little
from its effects, until the past year and
then I was puzzled. I do not know
whether I will stock up again or not,
as I believe every apiary in the bottoms
is infected more or less. If I remain
in the business the coming season I
will fall back on the lire remedy, as I
know that is sure.
The season here was fair for honey,
and the good colonies stored honev un-
til the last of October. Out of 70 col-
onies I have about 50 left, and will lose
more by spring. C. A. Haixes.
St. Clair Co., 111., Dec. 25.
Poop Season and Poof Prospects.
I began the bee-business 7 years ago
with one colony. I tiow have a mon-
ster apiary of two colonies, altho I have
had as many as 15. During the past
summer there was no clover of any
kind, and the two colonies did not cast
any swarms, nor did they store enough
honey for winter, and so had to be fed.
If I could get 1600 pounds of honey
from one colony, spring count, as was
reported the other day, from my two
next summer I might get 3200 pounds,
which would be some encouragement
to continue, but the way things look
now I shall have neither bees nor honey
by next fall. When people tell about
havitig to feed their bees for winter, I
know how to sympathize with them,
but some of the stories that get into
the papers are big enough to choke
me. J. V. B. Hkrrick.
Hennepin Co., Minn., Dec. 25.
The Lightning-Bug Bee!
While the long and short tongued
bee is being so much discust I wish to
say that I bought a strain of bees from
an old fellow that kept a few bees in
this neighborhood ^-ears ago, and they
do say they crost with the lightning-
bug and workt by nightl (No queens
for sale.) Daniel Jones.
Marshall Co., 111., Dec. 24.
A Drouth for Three Years.
An unprecedented drouth of three
successive years has visited southern
California, and the bee-keepers' and
the grain farmers' interests suiTered
very severely, we are reduced in num-
bers to a minimum of a few apiaries,
and we had to work out to make ends
meet. We all hope for a better season
to come.
This is the land of perpetual sun-
shine, but farmers and bee-keepers
have been scanning the sky for rain-
clouds, only to be disappointed, and a
radiant hot sun pours forth on the
hills, valleys, and meadows.
GrST.4^v Voss.
Riverside Co., Calif.. Dec. 22.
Hardly Paid Expenses.
The bee-business has iiardly paid ex-
penses the last three seasons, and it is
hard scratching to spare the monej' for
my subscription, but you can't run the
" Old Reliable " vrithout money, and I
can't do without the paper. I will try
to keep bees one more year before I
give it up. T. M. BarkeTT.
Orange Co., Calif., Dec. 20.
Jan. 10, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
31
Good Honey Crop.
We had a good honey crop in the
spring, securing an average of nearly
70 pounds of comb honey per colony,
but our fall flow failed entirely, and we
found feeding necessary for the first
time in six years.
We have had a lovely winter so far —
frosty mornings, but warm enough for
the bees to fly every day. To-day is
warm and balmy, and bees are in full
flight now. Maple will be in bloom in
a few days, and pollen-gathering will
begin.
I feel as tho I can not do business
without the American Bee Journal,
which, I think, is the best of all bee-
literature. F. M. Creighton.
Dodge Co.. Ga.. Dec. 24.
200-Egg Incubator
for © 1 2.00
Perfect in cnnetrnction and
aclion. Hntchea every fertile
eep. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
4i:.A25t Please mention the Bee Journal.
50VARIETIES.
e oi tile best equipped poultry
8c in stanjps for new lyOl Book.
leg. witli special prictsou fow.B
^■w r A J t Two or three apiaries
Wan tea I ^°' *=='''»' »"""='' '«
TV CI.llt.V^VI i Colorado, tlive full
particulars in first letter, and lowest cash price;
comb hoiiev preferred.
lAtf Tubs. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
A WHOLE GARDEN
For 14c.
We wish to Rain this year 200.000 new
customers, and hence offer
1 Pku. Salzer's liiue Blood Tomato.. 15c
The Northern Lemon I5c
" Mama's Favorite Onion 10c
" Emerald Green Cucumber.... lOc
■' City Garden Beet lOc
l3Day Radish lOc
■' LaCrosse Market Lettuce.... 15c
; *• Elegant Flower Seeds 15c
Worth $1.00 for 14 cents. $Too
We \'n\\ mail voa this entire 81.0fl's
worth of splendid seed novelties free,
tncether with our larpe illustrated
Plant and Seed Catalogue on receipt
of this notice and 14e in postage
Choice Onion Seed 60c lb and up.
Potatoes at .*i.l?iii.er barrel and up-
Cataln;.'!!.- :i1n,u'. T. T.-IlT-. T
JOHN A. SALZER SEED CO., LaCrosse, Wis.
■pOULTRY BOOK KREE. fi4 payes. illustruted
Nf-ANUFUULTRY JOURNAL, Indianapolis*.' Ind
Please mention Bee Journal -whp" -writing.
m
SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE.
Prairie State lacubator Co.
' UumerClly. 1»B.
ion the Bee Jo urnal.
BIG^^RESULTS:2J£»™
Hatches every batcbableet'g, often 50 chicka
from oOeires. BOPSeaize^S. SENTONSQ
OAYSfREETRIAL.SenfltctorcoulogNoRJ
Baebere lacubator Co., SprlogQ.ld, O.
— vintion Bee Journal when writing.
TO LAST TEN YEARS
piled moistare; to beB^lf-vciitllalingaDdref^
ulattDi;; to operate with Itss oil and expense ;
fireprixif; eaaiest t"open»l*; toptoduca
book "lO Address Dfif^-st nfficf.
Cyphers Incb. Co., Chicago, Ills., Wayland, N. Y., Boston. Mass.
Bee- Books
tENT roSTPAID BY
George W.York & Go. 118 Mich. St. Chicago.
Bees and Honey, or Manairement of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New.
man. — It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pages,
beautifully printed in the higrhest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, gold-lettered. Price, in
cloth, 75 cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langrstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. I',
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?-ry,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiologv of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, S1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, Sl.OO.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
paedia of 400 pages, describing everything per.
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially fot
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by \V. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You sh^>uld read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Uzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, $1.00.
Blenen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— Thi=>
is a German translation of the principal portion
of the book called " Bees and Honey." lUO-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bjenenzucht und Honiggewlnnung, nach der
neuesten methode (German) by J. F. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia.— A practical and condeost
treatise on the honey-bee. giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the moRt
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, bv Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
*' new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or extracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotes two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 50 colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
nies, 51.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood. — Gives the
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce.— Result of 25 years' experience. 30 cts.
Foul Brood Treatment, bv Prof. F. R. Che-
■ihire.— Its Cause and Prevention. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing, bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others.— Illustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fanny
Field.- Everythirt'r about Poultry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, by
Fanny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
Business. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
MISTAKES Si^Ve^
1,,,, ,o, „,-i,,,n > ,^.. in toyl,,|;«nl
L NEW
su Hole malten of SImplltltj Ineubniors,
S.Ml .V. |.o.ia£e f..r iHu.ir^led CAtalog au.l "Poultry ll.li>>.."
COLUMBIA INCUBATOR CO., J Wittr St.. Deliwart City, Del.
ii Ste. Jit >!o!i >te ite. >to >Ji >te ite. Jit iiil?.
|tiON&y MD BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Dec. 21.— The demand has fallen off
very much of late, but prices have not declined
to any great degree from those prevailing for
the past (.0 days, but any pressure to sell would
cause a decline. Fancy white comb. 16c; No 1,
ISc; amber and travel-stained white, 13@14c;
dark and buckwheat, lO^llc. Extracted, white,
V^tfeSc; amber, 7(a,7^e; buckwheat and other
dark grades, b^Mc. Beeswax, 28c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Dec. 21.— Honey market firm,
demand steady. Fancy while comb, 24-sectioa
case, $3,511 to $3.75; 12 section case, $l.''o to $2.00;
amber, case. $3 uo to $3.25. Extracted, white,
8(iUMc: supplv fair: receipts and demami good.
Beeswax, 22#30c. Demand fair.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Buffalo, Dec. 20. — Honey continues to drag
at quotations. Holiday business kills every
thing, almost, but presents. Fancy 1-pound
comb, 15@16c; common, 10(ail4c, as to grade. No
extracted wanted. Batterson 4: Co.
Albany, N. Y., Dec. 22.— Honey market quiet
with light stock and light demand, especially
for extracted, in which there is very little move-
ment at present. While we do not change quo-
tations, they are nominal at present. We look
for better demand at beginning of new year.
Fancv white, 17(n.l8c; No.l, 16&17c; No. 2,14®
15c; mixt, l.^@i4c: buckwheat, 12!^&13>ic. Ex-
tracted, white, 8@8>^c; mixt, 7@7>sc.
H. K. Wright.
Boston, Dec. 22.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, l(>c: No. 1, 15fo 16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutelv no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 7H@
8c; light amber, 7'«7Hc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
Cincinnati, Dec. 26.— The market for comb
honey here is becoming a little bare, altho
higher prices are not obtainable. Fancy white
comb sells for 16c; lower grades do not want to
sell at all. Extracted is selling slow; amber for
5'/4 and higher; fancv white clover brings 8@
8.4c. Beeswax, 28c. " C. H. W. Weber.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, 15ral6c;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white 12tol3c: amber,
12c; buckwheat, lOfgillc. Extracted in fairly
good demand at 7J6@8c for white, and 7c for
amber: off grades and Southern in barrels at
from 65f('75c per gallon, according to 'lualtty.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
vet. Some little selling at 5M@6c. Beeswax firm
at 28 cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
Hildreth Si Segelken.
Detroit, Dec. 22— Fancy white comb, 15(ail6c;
No. 1, 13(514c: dark and amber, 10fail2c. Ex-
tracted, white. 7^(tti8c; amber and dark, 6(t^7c.
Beeswax, 26(ai28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Dec. 10.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, im@12Hc; dark, 8(ai9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7>i(SSc: light amber, 6K@7!<c;
amber. 5J^@6^c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the fjuoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water' white
honey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
A HONEY MARKET.— Don't think that your
crop is too large or too small to interest us. We
have bought and sold five carloads already this
season, and want more. We pay spot cash. Ad-
dress, giving quality, quantity and price.
Thos. C. Stanley Si Son, Fairfield, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal "when WTiting.
DO VOU WANT A
HigH Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBF.RRY ?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCMER. Pearl City, 111.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
QUEENS
Smokers, SectionB.
Comb Foundation
Lad all ApUrlAB ciopplli*
^ _fa*ap. 8^ad f«r
32
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 10, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND us YOUR ORDERS FOR
HIV6S, Extraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections i
tlon are ahead of ever
than other makes. Js
The American Bee-1
id New Process Founda-
Ihiayf, and cost no more
^w Catalog^ and copy of
EEPER free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' tm- W. M. Gekkibh, East Notiojrham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of hira and save freight.
Please mention Bee Jotxrnal when ■wri'^'na
LATENT WIRED COMB FOUNDATION
Has no Sag in Brood-Frames.
Thin Flat-Boltom Foundation
Has no Fishbone in the Surplus
Honey.
Being- the cleanest is usually workt
the quickest of any foundation made.
J. A. VAN DHITSEX,
Sole Manufacturer,
Sprout Brook, Montgomery Co., N. Yt
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writinp
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft 10ft 2Sft sot*
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.S0 6.25 12.iki
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
AlsikeClover OOc 1.70 3.75 7.110
White Clover 90c 1.70 3.75 6.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartasre. if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
llSMichigan Street. - CHICAGO, ILL.
r'lease mention Bee Journal -when wrntine
M-IF YOU WANT THE
— BEE-BOOK
That covers the wnole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other publisht, send $l.2S
to Prof. A, J, Cook, Claremont, Calif., for his
B66-K66P6rs' Guide.
■ ■•xral riiacnunti *° the Trade.
FALL SPECIALTIES
Shipping-Cases, Root's Mo-Drip; Five-Gallon
Cans for extracted honey, Danz. Cartons for
comb honey. Cash or trade for beeswax. Send for
catalog. M. H. Hunt Jc Son, Bell Branch, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal •when writing.
I BEE-SIPPLIES! I
f^ 49~Root's Qoods at Root's Price8*e» ^
• ^ PouDBR's Honey-Jars and every- ^-
^S thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^T^
.^ Service — low freight rate. Catalog ^.
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
• Ji 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapoi,is, Ind. ^-
please meation Bee Journal -when ■writing.
^24th n^4».^«'^ r^..r.rl^«:^n 241h
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. '^^
What more can aovbody do? BEAUTY
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINO, Nr
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETINQ.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We selj the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
Tlie Classic in Bee-Cnlture— Price, $1,25, tiy Mail.
Beeswax Wanted ^ ^
AT ALL TIMES. CHAS. DADANT & SON,
Please mention Bee Journal when writing. Hamilton, HanCOCk Co., ill.
MADE TO ORDER.
Bingliam Brass Smokers,
mide of sheet-brass which does not rust or burn ut should
last a life-time. You need one, but they cost 25 cents more
than tin of the same size. The little pen cut shows our
brass hinge put on the three larger sizes.
No wonder Bingham's 4-inch Smoke Engine goes with-
outpuffing and does not
DROP INKY DROPS.
The perforated steel fire-grate has 381 holes to air the fuel and support the fire.
Prices: Heavy Tin Smoke Engine, four-inch Stove, per mail, $1.50; 3'A-\ach, $1.10; three-
inch, $1.00; 2K-inch, 90 cents; two-inch, 65 cents.
BIN-OHA-I-I SIwIOICE5K,S
are the original, and have all the improvements, and have been the STANDARD OF
. — T. F. BINGHAM, Fahwell, MICH.
EXCELLENCE for 22
Please mention Bee Journal '
Sections==A Bargain.
We have 50,000 3>ixSxlJ^ inch plain sections, and as our call for them is
light, we will sacrifice them. Prices very low. Write.
Apiaries-Glencove, L.L J, J, STRIN&HAM, 105 YWl PlaCC, NCW YODf, N. Y.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Four Celluloid Queen=Buttons Free
.^ AS A PREMIUM j^
For sending us ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER
to the American Bee Journal for three months
with 30 cents, we will mail you FOUR of these
pretty buttons for wearing on the coat-lapel.
(You can wear one and give the others to the
children.) The queen has a golden tinge.
This offer is made only to our present regular subscribers
NOTE.— One reader 1
idea for every bee-keeper to 1
■'I ha
every reason to believe that it would be a very good
[of the buttons] as it will cause people to ask questions
about the busy bee, and many a conversation thus started would wind up with the sale of
more or less honey; at any rate, it would give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to en-
lighten many a person in regard to honey and bees."
Prices of Buttons alone, postpaid: One button, 8 cts.; 2 buttons, 6 cts.
each ; 5 or more, S cts. each. (Stamps taken.) Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michigan St., CHICAGO.
^vvEWe/i/v
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JANUARY 17, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 3.
ivx fj^%^^^%\ WEEKLY
34
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
Jan. 17, 1901
YELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending us One New Subscriber for a Year.
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent regular subscribers will send us $1
with a new name for this year, we will
mail, postpaid, to the one sending
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with $2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michigan St., CHICAGO, ILL.
'®(i).(i.(i.A-i)-(i-##(D-#(D-i)-S)-#i)'
BEST:
Exiraciefl ttoneu For Sale
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY*..... ♦
This is the famous White
Extracted Homey fathered in
the great Alfalfa regions o(
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't sret enough
the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well - known
lig-ht-colored honey g-alhered
from the rich, nectar-ladeu
basswood. blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey :
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight— one 60-pound can, 9)^
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
S'/z cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all
KBSQiimELJ PURE BEES' EOSEJ,
The finest of their kinds pKHliiced in this couiUiy.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that
I'm somelhin? of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own pro-
duction and then buy honey of vou for my own use. But however loyal one ought to
be to the honev of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very
excellent qualitv of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the
honeys of more markt flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, ^
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^^
Address, J^
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., ii8 Michigan St., Chicago, III. ^
I Weekly Budget
"?iisfTr'>
Mr. J. A. Golden has an advertisement on
page 46, offering his stock of Golden combi-
nation Hives for sale. Better write him at
once it you want to try his system of produc-
ing comb honey.
.JiiHN H. Martin, better known as Ram-
bler, has been keeping bees for some time in
Fresno Co., Calif. He is now in Los Angeles
county again, and wrote us as follows, Dec.
'29th:
" I have returned to the south after a suc-
cessful season in central California. There
was a grand rain here about Nov. 20th, but
since then the skies have Vieen clear. Bee-
men who smiled broadly then now look sober.
It is time tor another rain, and if it does not
come soon there will be a lot of blue bee-
keepers. It is the old, old story— the bee-men
here never know ' where they are at ' respect-
ing a honey season till well towards spring.
After nine months absence from my old api
aries I find them flourishing, and the bees are
anxious tor a good honey season. And for
which ^ve all devoutly hope."
Walter S. Povder, of Indianapolis, Ind.,
writing us .Ian. 4th, had this to say;
'■ I regret exceedingly that you have been
S.I uTifcirtunate as to have afire in your es-
tablishment. You have my sympathy, and I
hoiie tin- loss and inconvenience will be less
than expected. I have often wondered what
I would do in case o£ fire here, but in your
case, with the Bee Journal on your hands, I
know the situation must be very serious and
troublesome.
•' I have had no bill for my last quarter's
advertising, but think the little amount might
do you more good right now than later. Find
clieck enclosed."
Thank you, Mr. Ponder, for your kind
words of sympathy for us in our " flood " of
troubles. We hope you may never be visited
as we were; but, as the saying is, "a bad be-
ginning makes a good ending," we may eiid
the '20th century all right— tho we will nofc
likely see its end.
O. L. Hershiser, superintendent of the
Pan-American Exposition, wrote us as follows
.Jan. Stli :
My Dear Mr. York:— A letter from E. R.
Root has informed me of your loss, by fire, of
the offices of the American Bee .Journal. No
particulars were stated, but I trust you had
insurance protection, and that the only loss
to the readers of the American Bee .Journal
will be some necessary delay. I regret the in-
convenience you will be occasioned, but I
have no doubt of the future of your excellent
publication, even against the scourge of fire.
It would be quite un-Chieago-like for any-
thing in your enterprising city to be subdued
by that or any other calamity. The enterprise-
of the .\merican Bee Journal is well shown
from the fact that, altho the ottice was.
burned on the cveninj,' <it Jan. Ut. a> I am in-
formed, we hud the initial number of the
new century before learning of tlie disaster.
Wishing the American Bee Journal a pros-
)>i-r(ius century in the hands of its present
pmiirietur, and his successors, believe me.
Yours very truly,
Orel L. Hershiser.
As noted in last week's Bee Journal, our-
loss was occasioned by water, that was thrown
on the fire which was above us. It was almost
n miracle that we wer« not burned out also.
We wish to tliank Mr. Hershiser for his.
kiii.l letter.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, JANUARY 17, 1901,
No, 3,
I ^ Editorial.
Yellow Wax and Slow Cooling is a
subject which receives considerable attention
in the first number of the American Bee-
Keeper for the new century. Editor Hill
seems to understand that this journal teaches
that any sample of wax, no matter what its
color, and no matter what may have caused
thai color, may be changed into bright yellow
wax by simply cooling it slowly. This journal
has never pretended to claim for slow cooling
anything more than that it allowed the foreign
particles time to settle. The average begin-
ner will have a cake of wax that has been
rapidly cooled, and so of dark color because of
its impurities. If nothing has been done to
affect the color of the wax except the rapid
cooling, slow cooling will clarify it. (Of
course, it may be made still brighter Ijy acid.)
That's the whole thing in a nutshell. The
editor of the American Bee-Keeper has em-
phasized the necessity for slow cooling, and
nothing that he publishes in his last number
militates with the teachings intended to be
given here. It is a regrettable circumstance if
lack of control of the English language has
allowed any meaning to be given that was not
intended.
The Liong-Tongue-Short-Tube prob-
lem is still on. J. Warren Arthur, in Glean-
ings in Bee-Culture, reports advance at the
red-clover end. The interesting details are as
follows:
In 1898 1 noticed my bees going and coming
in one direction, namely, southwest. Think-
ing to find what they were working on, I fol-
lowed in that direction, and found very few
bees at work on or near the ground, and no
timber of any consequence on which they
could work. About a mile and a half from
linmi- I fnund a clover-field fairly swarming
Willi bcfs, while a clover-Held of 30 or more
acres one side of it, not 5U yards apart, and
not more than 40 feet from the remainder of
my lot of 30 hives, had very few bees on it.
Some two or three days after, I noticed the
bees stopping work about noon, and taking
my wheel I rode around and found my clover-
field laid low. When the second crop came in
bloom I again noticed the bees in particular,
and found them working on this same Held,
altho the field across the road from my home
contained many more bees than on the first
crop. This fact alone caused me to decide
that I wanted seed from that particular Held.
When the neighbor hulled his seed, by offer-
ing a few cents above the market price, I ob-
tained it, but had to take the entire crop to
get any. I managed to sell some of it to some
of my neighbors, and some more to my father,
who lives about ten miles southwest of me.
The crop of seed sown near me in 18(111 was
almost a failure iu catching, and what did
catch was winter-killed last winter, while
scmie fair fields were left over at my father's.
.\!y jiroseets for honey last spring were any-
tliiiig liut bright for 30 colonies, so I decided
111 divide up territory. I took five of my
weaker colonies and one strong one to my
father's ; four were taken to a place where
there were a fair number of basswood trees,
altho badly cut by the canker-worm. Well,
this fall I had 34 colonies to feed, nearly all
being at starvation's door.
My father said when he cut his hay he
never saw bees thicker on a buckwheat patch
than on his clover. I made a trip to see how
they were doing, and had the pleasure (?) of
helping him haul up his hay; but when that
clover-field bloomed for seed, those bees filled
up everything tight; and I was surprised, on
going down one day, to find them so. Now, I
feel that that clover had something to do with
it. But the weakest colony taken down there
built up the strongest, yet could not have
been fuller of honey than the other five.
It has been suggested in Gleanings that
wherever there were bees with tongues long
enough to work on red clover there would be
seed matured on the Ursl crop. The possi-
bilities that lie in this suggestion are worth
considering. It is well known that seed from
red clover is secured only from the second
crop, altho the reason therefor is not so well
known. It is a very simple one. The fertili-
zation of red-clover blossoms is effected
mainly by bumble-bees. Unlike our hive-
bees, bumble-bees start in the spring, not with
several thousand bees iu a nest, but with a
single bee. So when the red clover first
blooms, bumble-bees are so few that not
enough blossoms are fertilized to make a crop
of seed worth harvesting. By the time the
second crop is on, the number of bumble-bees
has multiplied many times, and a full crop of
seed is secured.
Now, if hive-bees are secured with tongues
long enough to work on red clover, it is easy
to believe that they may fertilize the first
crop. From this first crop it will be easier to
obtain seed of the short-tube kind. A little
explanation will make this clear. In the sec-
ond crop of red clover there will be tubes of
various lengths. Hive-bees may work on the
shortest of these, and bumble-bees on the rest.
So it will happen that the seed from this crop
will produce blossoms having tubes of differ-
ent lengths, with perhaps a constant tendency
to revert to the original and longer type. Only
by difficult and careful selection under such
circumstances could a flxt type of short-tube
clover be secured.
Now, in.stead of waiting for the second crop,
let full attention be given to securing seed
from the first crop. The hive-bees will ferti-
lize the blossoms with shert tubes, and those
with long tubes will for the mo.st part be im-
fertilized. So whatever seed is secured from
that first crop will be of the short-tube kind.
The next year it will produce red clover with
blossoms, all of which can be utilized by the
hive-bees, and by saving seed each year from
the first crop the long tubes will be auto-
matically weeded out.
TIq Cans vs. Barrels for Honey. —
We think most of our readers are aware that
we strongly favor tin cans for holding honey.
And we have not come to this conclusion
hastily, but after considerable experience with
handling honey in both kinds of packages.
We are free to say that we don't care to handle
any more honey in barrels, no matter what the
grade of honey is.
Some of our good friends in Wisconsin —
which, by the way, is a great barrel State —
enjoy opposing our stand on the can, of
course doing so in a good-natured way. But
it is our tiun now to refer them to the follow-
ing, by Ellas Fox, of Wisconsin, which ap-
peared iu a recent issue of Gleanings in Bee-
Culture;
I can truly indorse all'that was said in favor
of tin cans as against barrels for the shipment
of honey, at the Chicago convention. I have
had <iuite a little experience along this line
myself, and have decided never to use a
wooden package for extracted honey again. I
began putting it up in wooden packages with,
wooden hoops ; and I found by letting them
stand a short time the hoops would loosen up,
and, unless watcht very closely, and hoops
tightened, there would soon be a leak, no
matter how good the cooperage ; and, even in
shipping, the hoops would loosen.
Then I had my cooper use iron hoops, and
my experience was the same, by letting the
packages stand for any length of time, not-
withstanding we selected the choicest and
most thoroly seasoned staves and the cooper-
age was perfect ; and the packages were mad*
up a year before using, and kept in a dry
place, and hoops retightened, and filled dry.
If there was a piece of heading a little cross-
grained the honey would ooze thru the pores,
and even thru the end of the staves, and
almost invisible knots, no larger than a pin-
head. Of course, so far as the loss was con-
cerned from leaking, it was nominal. But if
you count the amount of honey absorbed by
the wiiod, and the leakage together, it would
eciunl. if not overbalance, the difference in the
cost of the two packages.
Then, again, think of the nasty, sticky
packages to handle, and hands and clothes
daubed with it; and when barrels are iu this
condition, and rolled along, as advocated, dust
and dirt will stick to the leaking spots, and
make an unsightly package, aside from smear-
ing dejiot platforms and car-floors, to attract
bees, tlies, etc.
The barrel side of the debate say if a case is
droiil, the solder will loosen, and a leak would
result, aiul that the cans are too unwieldy ami
too heavy to handle. A man should not be
so awkward as to drop a package. But .sup-
pose be is. and the iiackage should be a barrel.
About llic time you had it up to the wagon-
box, mid the head should l>iirst out, which
would leak the worse ; .Vsto the cans being
a little too heavy, 1 would say they are; yet I
have moved, alone, 5.000 pounds in two-can
cases in a day; had ten rods to carry it to the
36
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Jan. 17, 1901.
wagon, two miles to haul it, and piled it up
five cases high, and ray ronsolation paid me
for the extra work in knowing there was not a
drop of leakage, and no hoops to loosen while
I slept.
We can not be tio neat in handling and
marketing extracted honey. So I say. give
me new 60-pound cans, and I will guarantee my
honey to reach any market in such a condi-
tion that I shall not be ashamed of it, and no
loss from leakage or absorbing. If we want a
cheaper package for dark honey, there are
plenty of second-hand cans and cases to be
bought as cheaply as barrels.
We welcome Mr. Fox to the tiu-can side of
the debate; and if he will only be present at
the Madison meeting of the Wisconsin State
Bee-Keepers" Association, on Feb. 4th and 5th,
next month, we (Mr. Fox, Mr. Hatch and our-
selves) will simply "do up " those wooden-
headed-liarrel chaps, like Messrs. Pickard.
Wilson, McNay, and others. Of course, we'll
treat them 6quare(can)ly, but will see that
they don't roll any of their honey-soakt and
leaky-dauby wooden barrels over us! We'll
just honey-can those boys so that they'll keep
like any other kind of canned goods.
The Case of Utter vs. Utter.— As
mentioned in a former number, we give this
week something further about the celebrated
peach-bee case of Utter vs. Utter, which came
to final trial at Goshen, N. Y., Dec. 17, 18 and
19, 1900. Gleanings in Bee-Culture contains
quite a full report of the trial, from which we
take the following, written by Editor E. R.
Root:
The case was a peculiarly hard-fought one;
and after 35 or 30 witnesses had been exam-
ined on both sides the jury brought in a ver-
dict, after being out about ten minutes, for
the defendant, bee-man Utter.
I need not say that the National Bee-Keep-
ers' Association took an active part in this
case — one that seemed to involve the very lite
of bee-keeping in New York. It pledged ?100
to Bacon & Merritt, two of the leading attor-
neys of Orange County — lawyers who have
been retained in some of the most important
cases that have been tried in that vicinity.
There were many laughable incidents, and
some queer statements on tin- i>:nt nf the wit-
nesses for the plaintiff, as to ii..H the bees did
and could puncture fruit: hem they used
their "horns" (antennae) to make holes, etc.
In the lower court, several of the witnesses,
I am told, testified that the bees got up " on
their hind legs" and .v/'i((//tlii' fruit; went off
and left tlic- |.carh, and >tuiii: ciIuts; that a
rotten .spot at llic poiiii> iiicrcrd liy the stings
would buoii set in, and this would be subse-
quently visited by the bees. In the higher
court, that same set of witnesses testified that
the bees punctured the fruit with the " head
end," and not with the " business " end. It
was evident that the prosecution had realized
the utter absurdity of the former statement.
The plaintiff, fruit-man Utter, while on the
stand, went on to describe how the bee moved
its head first to one side and then the other,
and raised up on its legs and flopt its wings ;
that after this performance he found there
was a hole. This was corroborated with some
variation by his two sons. It was amusing to
see the plaintiff try to mimic the bee, on the
witness-stand, as he swayed his head from one
side to the other, raised up on his legs, and
flopt his arms. His motions were so Utterly
ridiculous, and so contrary to the real acts
and movements of bees, that every one in the
court-room, including the jury, laught, and
laught heartily. I sincerely believe that, if
the jury had gone out at that supreme mo-
ment on the evidence then presented, we
should have had a verdict in our favor, even
without one word of rebuttal testimony.
Another witness, Mrs. W. II. Utter, the wife
of the plaintiff, testified that the bees would
alight on the fruit, and then with their
"horns" make holes in the peaches. She
stated that there were eight holes in one
peach she examined, and that three bees were
on it ; that, after they left, there were three
more holes, or eleven in all. Mr. Bacon, one
of our attorneys, in his cross-examination, got
at the facts something in this waj';
" You say. Mrs. Utter, that there were three
holes after three bees had visited that peach !"
" Yes."
" You say that the bees made three holes
with their ^or;/s .^"
" Yes, sir."
" Where were these horns located !"
•■ On the top of the head."
"Two prongs like this?" said he. putting
his two hands over his head.
" Yes."
" And they took those two horns and dug
them right down into the peach, did they ;"
" Yes."'
" Well, now, Mrs. Utter, will you tell the
jury how three bees, each with two horns,
could make only Virre holes ? Shouldn't there
have been sij holes ?"
" Wy-ah, wy-ah, wy-ah; they took those
two horns and put them together and then
poked them into the peach."
" O — h !" said Mr. Bacon, with a wise look.
At this there was an uproar of laughter.
When the jury and the audience had sub-
sided, Mr. Bacon continued :
" You are sure the bees made these holes
with their horns V
"Yes."
" Well, don't you know that those are an-
tennse, or feelers ?''
Several had talkt about the so-called
" horns," and how bees make holes with the
horns: but after the learned counsel had
shown the C/ttn' absurdity of the horn theory,
then the prosecution began to talk about the
•■ jaws :" and some of the witnesses told how
the bees ran their " bills "' down into the
peach — meaning, of course, the tongue. But
the bill theory was untenable, and the rest of
the testimony was then confined to the jaws,
which, it was averred, were powerful enough
to puncture the skin of peaches. The prose-
cution claimed, among other things, that after
the bees had punctured the peaches the juice
ran down on the limbs, causing them to
wither and dry up. In the former trial it was
maintained that the trees were utterly de-
stroyed: and even in this trial the Peach
Utter at first talkt of the destruction of trees,
and claimed damage for the loss of trees and
fruit. The defense, on the other side, showed
by two good witnesses that the plaintiff, Mr.
Utter, the fruit-man, had said to each of the
afhants, that these trees were going to die,
and he would have to pull them up, and this
was before the bees are alleged to have visited
the fruit.
I do not need to rehearse here the testimony
that was introduced by expert bee-keepers,
tho I can not omit reference to the testimony
of Prof. Frank Benton, Assistant Entomolo-
gist. Deixirtment of Agriculture, Washington,
I). ('. Prof. Benton had been sent by the
National Bee-Keepers' Association to render
expert testimony on the mouth parts of the
bees, and he certainly was the star witness for
the defense. He showed by live and dead
specimens of bees, and also by charts which
he had brought for the occasion, that in his
opinion it was a physical Impossibility for the
bees to puncture fruit with their mandibles
or jaws; that the jaws of bees were very dif-
ferent from those of wasps and other insects
having cutting edges or teeth. He chloro-
formed some live bees, and then past them
around to the jury, after our attorneys had
ulitain{Ml consent fr the court to do so. He
showed them that the delicate tongue, so far
from being a " bill " which could puncture a
sound peach, was more like a camel's-hair
brush ; that it would be absurd to suppose
that they would run this thru the skin of any
substance. He admitted that bees could tear
by picking away at fiber, but denied the pos-
sibility of their mttmn the skin of any fruit.
The jaws, or mandibles, had smooth rounding
edges, which, he showed by charts, were dif-
ferent in this respect from the jaws of a
wasp, that has cutting edges or teeth; that
the mandibles were made for forming plastic
sub.stances like wax* and even then the wax
had to be brought to a temperature of aliout
90 degrees before such work could be per-
formed.
The professor's testimony, so far from bear-
ing evidence of prejudice, was what might be
termed in legal phraseology, " candied." the
kind that weighs with a jury. There was no
evasion, and no attempt on his part to make
-//' of his testimony in favor of the bees. When
askt whether he regarded the experiment of
confining a few bees in a box with a peach as
worth anything to prove that bees would not
or could not puncture sound fruit, he said
that, in his opinion, it did not count for much,
as he doubted whether they would even help
themselves to honey under like circumstances.
At the conclusion ot the testimony for the
defense, the prosecution called Peach Utter
back to the stand, and askt him whether the
trees, the fruit of which the bees were alleged
to have stung, causing the limbs to die, were
alive and in good order. He said yes. In very
good order. This testimonj' was produced,
probably, to show that the trees did not have
the " yellows " or " wet feet," as was claimed
by the defense. But Mr. Bacon, in his final
plea before the jury, called attention to the
fact that the plaintiff flrst testified that his
trees had been destroyed^ and that now they
were good and sound ; and yet he desired
compensation for the trees which he at first
said were destroyed! Mr. Bacon made a
strong plea, picking up all the important
threads of evidence, and hurling them at the
jury In a most forcible manner.
The attorney for the plaintiff, while he did
not attack the testimony of Mr. Benton,
turned his guns upon A. I. Root, shaking his
fist in his face, and calling him the great
" poo-bah " of the West. A. I. R. did not ap-
pear to relish the compliment ; but the rest of
us enjoyed the joke immensely, tho there
wasn't one of us who knew what " poo-bah "
meant. We consoled A. I. by saying that it
signified something big, and told him not to
feel badly.
Of course, no one could tell absolutely what
the jury would do: but it seemed to be made
up, if I could judge by their faces, of a lot ot
intelligent, thinking men.
The judge, in his charge, rehearst very
carefully and Impartially the full case, and
then said that the jury, in order to render a
verdict t(jr tlie plaintiff, must find that the
bees ot the dclVmlant, and his bees alnne, were
the trespassers : and that it (the jury) should
further give very careful consideration to ex-
pert testimony. The jury then retired, and
in about ten minutes returned with a verdict
of "no cause for actloQ."
The National Bee-Keepers' Association ex-
erted a powerful influence In the case, in that
it enabled Mr. Utter, the bee-man, to employ
the best legal talent, and, in addition, furnish
expert testimony on the bee-side of the ques-
tion, so that an unprejudiced jury, seeing and
knowing the tacts, would render a verdict
accordingly.
This case was a hard-fought one from be-
ginning to end. There was no lack of legal
counsel on either side, and no lack of wit-
nc'ssi.s: but, thanks to the Association, we
will- able to show that the evidence adduced
by the plaintiff was, tor the most part, to put
a most charitable construction on it, founded
on misapprehenson, Ignorance, and prejudice.
There is no doubt that some witnesses for the
fruit-man actually believed that the bees did
puncture sound fruit with their " horns or
bills."' If they did so believe, and it they
heard our evidence, their belief must have
been most severely shaken before they went
away.
The Delay and Interruption to our
business, occasioned Jan. 1st by the water
poured on the fire above us, and Which landed
on our stock, will be over by the time our
readers receive this copy of the Bee Journal.
By another week we hope to know just what
and how much ot the bee-supply stock was
damaged by water. Some of it Is a total loss,
some slightly damaged, and some, still In good
condition by having been well protected with
tarpaulin covers.
We are not anxious to have another such a
dampener put on our place ot business. While
it thoroly " settles the dust " it also quite as
thoroly unsettles things too much. However,
trials and tribulations are the common lot of
man and perhaps we are getting only our
share.
Jan. 17, 19C1.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
37
The National Bee-Keepers' Association.
General Manager Secor's 4th annual report was sent to
members of the Association last month with a votin^^-blank
for the election of three directors and general manager.
Mr. H. F. Moore and the Editor of the American Bee Journal
were selected as the committee to receive and count the bal-
lots. The result will likely be known in time for announce-
ment next week.
In order that General Manager Secor's report may have
a wider circulation we give it here:
FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GENHRAL MANAGER OF THE
NATIONAL BEE-KEEPEKS' ASSOCIATION.
Forest City, Iowa, Dec. 11, 1900.
Fellow Members: — At the last annual election of general
manager and directors, Dec, 1899, the question of uniting
the two National societies was submitted to the members of
both organizations, and the new constitution, which slightly
changed the name of our society, was ratified and endorst
by a large majority of both old societies. It is therefore
gratifying to report that what some thought to be two rival
associations with similar aims have united, and the increast
interest augurs well for the now-named "National Bee-
Keepers' Association."
There is no doubt about the usefulness of such an or-
ganization, if properly managed. The question of its effi-
ciency under the present management is pertinent, and ev-
ery member may rightfully express his confidence or his
criticism by his vote, or in any other proper way. The
present manager does not pretend that his judgment is in-
fallible or that the efficiency of the organization can not be
increast by other management than his own. But this
much he does claim — to have honestly and faithfully dis-
charged the duties imposed to the best of his abilily.
The board of directors and all other officers of the As-
sociation have heartily cooperated with the general mana-
ger in the business in hand, and therefore entire harmony
prevails, so far as this writer is informed.
The kind and appreciative words received from time to
time from members of the Association and friends gener-
ally are prized beyond compare. They are like sweet flow-
ers found in desert places where one expects nothing but
the hard thorns of bitter opposition. It is easy to labor
when one is cheered on by encouraging words.
I have not in every instance been able to help those who
have appealed to me. Some cases have been too hard. For
example, it is not possible to collect a bad debt if the debtor
is bankrupt and execution-proof, with no disposition to pay.
Dishonest honey-dealers will sometimes evade their debts
and escape punishment just as a thieving bank-teller will
occasionally squander the savings of depositors and go
scot-free. The suggestion is here emphasized that it is bet-
ter to look up the financial rating of every man who buys
honey, and the honesty of every commission man, before
making a consignment, rather than try to recover a bad
debt hastily accepted.
THE CASE OF UTTER VS. UTTER.
Several months ago, in the County of Orange, New
York, two brothers fell out, the one a grower of peaches
and the other a bee-keeper and member of this Association.
The peach-growing Utter sued the bee-keeping Utter before
a Justice of the Peace, and askt for damages done to plain-
tiff's peach-orchard by defendant's bees. The case was
tried, and after a good deal of damaging evidence was intro-
duced by the plaintiff, and astounding revelations as to what
bees could do and did to those peaches were heard, the learned
judge decided against the bee-keeper and assest him $25
and costs. While there was a lack of coinpctenl evidence
that the bees were guilty as charged, it seems that the fruit-
growers had the sympathy of the court.
The case was sensationally written up by reporters and
the matter was given wide circulation thru many papers.
The coloring given to it was generally against the bee-
keepers.
The Rural New Yorker, however, used its influence to
show that bees are not guilty of injuring sound fruit. But
aletterfrom its editor, besides communication from many
bee-keepers, convinced me of the alarm that was felt if this
decision were left unchallenged. If that case could be
quoted in the future it was feared that other bee-keepers
might suffer. The general manager, therefore, with the
concurrent judgment of a majority of the board of direc-
tors, ordered the case appealed to the county court, and it is
proposed there to try the case over again on its merits, with
enough expert witnesses to get the facts before the jury.
As the brother who was the defendant in this case is a
poor man, and, as in the judgment of the general mana-
ger, the matter was one which had to be fought out sooner
or later in the interest of truth and justice, he pledged $100
toward a favorable verdict. The Association will be obliged
also to pay the expenses of several expert witnesses while
attending the trial. The results can not be ascertained in
time to go into this report.
BEES AND HORTICULTURE.
During the past year the general manager has compiled
and publisht a twelve-page pamphlet showing the value of
bees as poUenizers and fruit-producers. This was thought
to be necessary because there is so muchignorance on the
part of orchardists relating to the work done by insects in
their interests. Spraying is becoming more and more com-
mon. When to spraj- and what preparations to use are
shown, quoting competent authorities. Laws of several of
the States in relation to spraying are also quoted.
This pamphlet has been forwarded to several members
who feared trouble from neighbors who threatened to spray
with poisonous substances while trees were in full bloom,
and it is hoped and believed that this timely publication has
had some educating influence, because no reports have come
to this office of damage done to bees by spraying where it
was distributed. It has always been my policy to try to
prevent law suits rather than to win them. If by educa-
ting the people we can make good neighbors — neighbors
who respect each other's rights — it is better than winning
victories at the end of bitter legal battles.
The above pamphlet was sent to several agricultural
and horticultural journals and in every instance was favor-
a'oly noticed.
THE FIGHT FOR PURE HONEY IN 1899.
It will be remembered that the Association put up a
fight against adulterated honey in Chicago last year. A
statement of this matter was in my last annual report.
While the outcome of the suit was not satisfactory to us at
the time, later developments seem to point to the fact that
it had a wholesome influence. The following extracts
trom Gleanings of Sept. IS, 1900, may be of sufficient inter-
est to warrant copying here. It is as follows:
"At the Chicago convention we had the pleasure of
hearing Prof. E. N. Eaton, chemist, and Commissioner A.
H. Jones, of the Illinois State Pure-Food Commission.
Both of the gentlemen exprest themselves as being highly
pleased to meet so representative a body of bee-keepers as-
sembled for the purpose of discussing ways and means for
putting down the adulteration of honey. They told of the
work they had already begun ; how they had compelled the
dealers thruout Chicago (the very hotbed of adulteration
only a few months ago) to sell all food products under their
legitimate and real names. Samples of honey mixtures
were brought in, showing in some cases the word 'pure' ? had
been crost out by the dealer, and the word 'imitation' in
plain letters had been written in its place to conform to a
recent law enacted at a session of their last legislature. All
kinds of honey mixtures, imitation honey, glucosed honeys,
if they are sold at all, have either been relabeled or else the
word 'pure' has been scratcht out and the word 'imitation' in
bold letters put in its stead.
"It will be remembered that the United States Bee-Keep-
ers'Association, under the direction of General Manager
Secor, and thru the personal efforts of George W. York and
Herman F. Moore, (a well-known honey-man and an at-
torney I, gathered up, a year or so ago, a number of samples
of bogus honey. These were placed before the city prose-
cutor, and certain suits were begun against the vendors of
the samples. It created quite a furore among the dealers,
for the Chicago papers were full of the matter for the time
being ; and altho the first suit resulted in a verdict of "not
guilty" for one of the parties on a queer sort of technicality
before the justice, the result of this prosecution, while ap-
parently a failure, was a far greater success than the Asso-
ciation could have hoped for in twenty years. How ? Both
Prof. Eaton and Commissioner Jones stated before the con-
vention that the suits begun by the United States Bee-
keepers' Association made such a stir in the city that it
helpt in no small degree toward the enactment of the new
law now in force atid being enforced."
I wish to acknowledge the hearty co-operation of the
Division of Entomology, Department of Agriculture. Mr.
Frank Benton, assistant in the Division, has rendered valu-
able service by replying ably to enquiries directed to the
38
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 17, 1901.
Department on the subjects relating- to bees and fruits, and
has put into my hands copies of correspondence in several
instances where litigation was threatened, but which was
averted by prompt and prudent action.
A Case at Evansvili.e, Indiana, was reported to the
entomological Division stating that the city authorities
proposed to pass an ordinance prohibiting the keeping of
bees within the city limits and for four tiiiles outside. The
matter was referred to me, and such literature as was avail-
able was forwarded to the attorneys for the bee-keepers,
and they were also referred to McLain's experiments. No
doubt the matter was dropt by the citj', as nothing further
was heard of it.
Several other cases have been reported to me during
the past year, of cities and towns threatening to rule the
bees out, but copies of the celebrated Arkadelphia decision
sent, no doubt had a restraining iniluence.
The general manager has written more than a hundred
official letters during the year, besides hectograph copies
sent the directors at different times, and besides the regu-
lar routine of official notifications and receipts.
Many of these letters have been lengthy legal opinions
in answer to members who have been threatened with law-
suits.
The Association sent Mr. Abbott as delegate to the
Third annual convention of the National Pure Food and
Drug Congress, which convened in the city of Washington,
March 7, 1900, and paid a small portion of his expenses.
The work of this congress is in the interest of purity and
honesty of all foods and medicines consumed by man. It is
laboring for the enactment of laws to protect innocent pur-
chasers from deceit and fraud. The board of directors be-
lieve such efforts worthy of aid.
THE HAKES ADULTERATBD-HONEY TRIAL.
January 22, 1900, Secretary Dr. A. B. Mason, at my re-
quest, attended and assisted in the trial of a groceryman at
Jackson, Mich., who had been arrested by the State Food
Inspector on the charge of selling adulterated honey. The
suit was in the circuit court of Jackson county, and it ap-
pears to have proven bej'ond doubt that the honey offered
for sale and sold by Mr. Hakes, was largely adulterated
with glucose syrup. The court instructed the jury to re-
turn a verdict of guilty, which was done. I have no doubt
that this trial will have a wholesome effect in Michigan and
in all other States where pure-food laws are in force.
If impure extracted honey can be driven from the mar-
ket, and consumers led to believe that what they buy as
honey is really the product of the hive-bee, a better price
may be realized by the producer of a first-class article. It
may be well to state here that quality as well as purity is es-
sential. No unripe honey ought ever to be offered for
sale.
In conclusion I wish to admonish our members to keep
out of trouble if possible. Don't get the idea that this As-
sociation can do everything. Bee-keepers inust keep within
the law if they wish to have the protection of law. Bees
may become trespassers like other domestic animals, and
bee-keepers maybe liable for damages done by bees in some
instances. It is therefore wise to avoid any conflict with
near neighbors which your care can prevent. Infuriated
bees in a thickly settled neighborhood may bring legal con-
tests which this Association can not win. The Golden
Rule is the highest law. Fraternally yours,
Eugene Secor, General Manager,
Mr. Secor closes his report with a financial statement
showing a balance of cash on hand of $521.15.
The Association now numbers 560. It is unfortunate
that so large a number of bee-keepers have not yet discov-
ered the personal benefit and security there may be for them
in uniting with the National Bee-Keepers' Association, yet
it is pleasant to know how much has been already accom-
plisht by organization, and the present number of members
gives hope that it may continue to increase. There ought
to be a large gain in membership with the beginning of
the new century, and now is a good time to act.
\ Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceedings of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicago, 111.,
Aug-. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
By DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just
what its name indicates. Tells all about growing fruits
and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at 50 cents a year.
We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it.
We club it with the American Bee Journal— both for $1.10.
(Contiaued from page 24.)
Pres. Root — We are very fortunate in having Prof. Ea-
ton of the Pure Food Commission of Illinois with us, and
Mr. Moore, who knows him well, I have askt to introduce
him.
Mr. Moore — Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association, it gives me great pleas-
ure to introduce to you Prof. Edward N. Eaton, who was
formerly chemist to the Minnesota Pure Food Commission.
He has been a member of the Chicago Bee-Keepers'Asso-
ciation, and has been very much interested in our work, and
is really one of us. He used to analyze samples for us, and
the time came when the Illinois State Legislature organ-
ized a Pure Food Commission. Under this Commission
there must be a chemist appointed. The Chicago Bee-Keep-
ers' Association recommended Prof. Eaton for this ap-
pointment. He is now the analj-st of the Illinois Pure
Food Commission, and I present him to j'ou.
Prof. Eaton — I thank Mr. Moore for his very kind in-
troduction, and the kind words he has to say, and I appre-
ciate them fully. I didn't expect to take up any of your
time this afternoon, I didn't expect to make anj' sort of a
speech, simply express to you the gratification I feel in be-
ing able to attend this convention, and the pleasure I al-
ways have in attending bee-keepers' conventions. This is
the first of your national conventions I have ever had the
pleasure of attending — I hope it will not be the last. I also
wish to express regret that Commissioner A. H. Jones, the
Illinois Pure Food Commissioner, is not able to meet with
you and address you this afternoon. He has been out of the
city some little time on business connected with the Com-
mission and returned this noon. I expected to see him this
afternoon and invite him to come this evening, and per-
haps he will be here. The members of the Chicago Associ-
ation know how much interest he takes in the question of
pure food, especially in regard to adulteration of honey.
Before he had accepted the duties of the office he came
before the Chicago Association and outlined to them
his policy in regard to preventing this fraud and deception
in the sale of honey, and that policy he has continued, and
to-day there are but very few adulterated goods upon this
market. Of course this is not the season for honey, but we
expect to make a more vigorous crusade in the winter
months when honey becomes a prominent product on the
market. Adulderation has had a long and prosperous reign
in this State. Mr. Moore referred to the work of the Chi-
cago Association in trying to prevent the sale of fraudulent
honey before the commission was started. We did not suc-
ceed in making any convictions. However, we did succeed
in purifying the market to a great extent of the adulterated
goods in Chicago, but not so in the small cities of the State.
About six months ago, I think it was, we got a large num-
ber of samples from Aurora and from Rockford, in this
State, and of the samples in Aurora, I believe, almost
half of them proved to be adulterated. In Rockford the
situation was not quite so bad. This was before the law
went into effect, which was July 1st. As I said, we have
not done much in the line of honey since July 1st. I have
examined a few samples, and what I examined were pure
honey. Heretofore the manufacturers of adulteratfd honey
that has been put upon the market in the past few years
have come to me and said that they will hereafter comply
with the pure-food laws and sell as the State requires, with
the name "adiltkrated honey" in large type on the front
of the label. When the situation comes to that, it will not
be so bad for the bee-keepers. I brought along a couple of
samples of goods that came in, within the last week, which
shows to you another phase of adulteration. The goods
are not honey, don't pretend exactly to be honey, but they
use the word honey in describing the adulteration ; the
word honey is another name, and the manufacturers of
Jan. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
39
these goods are only too willing to use that to assist them
in selling the goods. One of them is called, I believe,
■"Malt Honey." There is no honey in the preparation at
all. There is another name for it ; they don't care to call it
by that name ; they would rather call it b_v the name of
"honey." That company has been askt to leave off the
name honey from their goods. The other sample is a syrup
that is labeled "Honey Syrup." There is no honey in that
sample, either, and that was taken by one of our regular in-
spectors out over the State, and since the law went into ef-
fect, the word "Honey" has been scratcht off. We hope to
prevent the use of the word honey altogether on the goods
which do not contain honey, unless there is some honey in
the preparation, or unless the word "Adulterated" accom-
panies the word honey. Of course, they can use the word
honey if the word "adulterated" appears in large letters
equally as prominent.
Mr. Green — I have seen honey on the market which was
labeled "Imitation Honey," with the word "imitation" very
small type. Does that comply with the law ?
Prof. Eaton — No, sir ; that does not comply with the
law. The law requires that the word "adulterated" shall
be on in large and conspicuous type. 1 have noticed that
myself, but the company that has been putting out the
most of it in this State intends to use the word adulterated.
This [indicating] shows you the way it should not be, but
it gives you an idea of the way the law requires it to be la-
beled "Adulterated Honey." You will notice they put this
{indicating] in red letters on a red background as they don't
show up as well as thej' ought to. Hereafter they have
agreed to put on better letters. This is the label the gen-
tleman referred to, probably, where the word "imitation"
occurs in small letters on one corner and the word "Honey"
in prominent letters ; that is illegal. It will be hard to pre-
vent, I presume, the use of the word honey in the way I
have spoken of, because it will be impossible to apply the
same principle to other goods. For instance, selling coffee,
where the word "coffee" is used on the can ; that word is so
commonly used and there is so little fraud in it, perhaps
there is no great objection to its use. A little more object-
ionable, perhaps, are the words "Fruit Cocoa" which some
of them are using. I am very much obliged to you for your
kindness. [Applause.]
Mr. Abbott — I want to call attention to the statement
on the label. I want these bee-keepers to see how people
trade on their reputation, and the cheek and gall of it.
This reads: "This preparation is free from the deleterious
properties of this and similar sweets," — free from the delet-
erious properties, it says, of honey. I wish some of you
would tell us what the deleterious properties of honey are.
Think of a firm sending out an article like that and saying
it is free from the deleterious properties of honey 1 If there
is anything on God's earth that honey would hurt, I would
like to see the thing.
Pres. Root — It seems to me the world is moving when
the time comes in the State of Illinois, and perhaps in Chi-
cago, that they have come to the point they are scratching
out the word "honey" when it is obviously on a can of bo-
gus stuff. We are making progress, whether the National
Bee-Keepers' Association has anything to do with it ; it
may have had some little influence.
Prof. Eaton — It had a good deal.
Pres. Root — It is encouraging to think we have done a
good deal. I would like to have that thing photographt,
that word "honey" being crost out, compelling them to
sell goods under their own names. The committee on reso-
lutions will now report.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS.
Resolved, That this Association urge upon the Congress
of the United States the importance of enacting into a law
the House Bill known as the Brosius Pure Food Bill ; that we
would impress upon the individual bee-keepers of the United
States the importance of addressing a communication to
their Senators and Representatives, asking them to give
their support to this bill.
Resolved, That the thanks of this Association are due,
and are hereby heartily tendered, to the Chicago Bee-
Keepers' Association for its zealous and successful efforts
to furnish us accommodations and music for the session of
our convention.
Resolved, That the president appoint a committee of
three on legislation, looking to the securing of uniform
laws thruout the honey-producing States, touching such
matters as are of interest to bee-keepers, such as the eradi-
cation and prevention of contagious diseases of bees, and
the prohibition and punishment of adulteration of honey,
and the injurious spraying of bloom visited by bees.
Okkl L. Hekshiser. 1
Emerson T. Abbott, - Commitlee.
R. L. Taylor, \
The resolutions were adopted unanimously.
Mr. York — I would like to move that this body extend
an invitation to Commissioner Jones of the Pure Food
Commission to attend our session to-night, and Mr. Moore
be delegated to notify him, and come with him.
The motion was unanimously carried.
Mr. Burnett — I understand a communication came from
Dr. Miller, explaining that his absence from this conven-
tion is caused by his sickness, and death in the family. I
move you a telegram be sent acknowledging his letter, and
sending the regrets of this convention and the hope for his
speedy recovery.
The motion was carried unanimously.
Mr. Benton — I want to bring before this body a ques-
tion which will perhaps require the president to step down
from the chair a moment, and may I ask Dr. Mason to take
it ? He ought to have done so last night. I proposed last
evening a vote of thanks for him, for what he has done in
providing such tine stereopticon views and also his
brother, Huber Root, who also assisted him. Mr. Root was
so modest last night he would not put it, and Dr. Mason
was so deaf he could not hear, so I now move that the
thanks of this Association be tendered the President, Ern-
est Root, and his brother, Huber Root, for the splendid en-
tertainment they have furnisht us in showing the stereop-
ticon views that we have had.
The motion was seconded and unanimously adopted.
Dr. Mason — Mr. President, I am a little bit slow on
resolution matters, but I want to have the Committee on
Resolutions put in one thanking the Chicago Associ-
ation for their splendid effort in the direction of doing away
with the adulteration of honey in Chicago. Some of us
know thej' have been in dead earnest and thoroly at work
in this respect, and I offer that as a resolution, to go with
the others.
Pres. Root — Have you one to offer now ?
Dr. Mason — Yes.
Resolved, That this Association thank the Chicago Bee-
Keepers' Association for the splendid effort it has made and
congratulate it on the splendid success it has met with in
fighting the adulteration of honey in Chicago.
The resolution was adopted unanimously.
Continued next week.)
\ Contributed Articles. ^
Double vs. Single Walled Hives— A Comparison.
BY T. M- RANKIN.
THE question of double and single walled hives has been
discust pro and con for many years, and there have
been strong arguments on both sides. To determine
for my own satisfaction the value of protection from the di-
rect rays of the sun during the honey-flow, the following
observation was made:
July 7, 1900, five S-frame dovetailed chaff-hives and five
8-frame single-walled dovetailed hives were watcht. The
entrances on all the hives were '5x12 inches and all were
fitted with one Buper each. The single-walled hives were
fitted with a flat board cover, while the chaff-hives were cov-
ered by a telescope cover having a ventilator in each end
and an air space of about 2'^ inches all around the super.
There was no noticeable difference in the strength of the
colonies. All were equally exposed to the sun and all hives
were painted white.
In the morning the bees were working freely in all the
supers, and no difference could be detected.
At 9 o'clock the thermometer registered 89 degrees
Fahr., in the sun, and the bees were all working the same
as earlier.
At 10 o'clock the mercury had reacht 94 degrees and
the bees were still working lively.
At 11 it had warmed up to 99 degrees and the bees were
beginning to cluster around the entrances of the single-
walled hives, but were still working in the supers.
40
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 17. 1901.
At 12 o'clock the column of mercury stood at 110 degrees
and the bees were beginning to cluster a little around the
entrances of the chaff-hives, and had formed a cluster of
nearly four quarts on the front of each single-walled hive.
Xo difference could be seen in the supers of the chaff-hives
from their appearance when first opened in the morning.
Those on the single-walled hives, however, were compara-
tively empty.
At 1 o'clock the thermometer registered 111 degrees, the
highest for the day, and the conditions of the inside of the
hives were practically the same as an hour before. There
were a few bees above the entrances of the chaff-hives,
while the whole front of each of the single-walled hives
was covered with bees. The conditions remaiued the same
until toward evening, and no more work was done in the
sections on the single-walled hives that day, while the bees
in the chaff-hives continued to store honey in the surplus
cases all the afternoon.
Altho one experiment will never absolutely prove
anything, it would seem that if hives containing bees must
stand in the sun. it would be a paying investment to see
that they are in some way protected from its direct rays.
Ingham Co., Mich.
No. 3— Extracted-Honey Production.
About Getting Stores in Proper Shape For Good
Wintering— Brood in Extracting-Combs
a Help at the Beginning of the
Flow— Manipulating Extract-
ing-Chambers to Discour-
age Swarming, Etc.
BY R. C. iilKIX.
IN the previous article was discust the size of hive and
effect of conditions upon the strength of the colony and
swarming. We learned that a larger brood-chamber was
necessary for an extracted colony- than for section honey,
or. in case the same hive was used, more care and feeding
for winterand spring. I showed you that some seasons and
localities would change the conditions, and I will further il-
lustrate. Suppose the flow closed in June or July, and you
have taken off the surplus combs, shutting down to the
brood-chamber. If so. and there is a little honey gathered
— sufficient to stock the brood-chamber — j-our colony gets
in condition for winter ; but if the extracting-combs are
left on till all late honey is gathered, then you may still ex-
pect the honey to be almost all in the super, //"the colony
is strong. A weak colony would store in brood-combs more.
Also the size of the brood-chamber makes considerable dif-
ference in some things, and as well more or less free com-
munication between brood and super.
Suppose you use an 8-frame hive, and the extracting-
combs are all worker : after the main flow is over when you
extract, a very good plan is to take one extracting-cham-
ber and place it under the brood-chamber. You may ask
why under, arguing that if on top it will catch the honey if
any comes, and saves lifting the brood-chamber. You are
right so far as that applies, but you stop too soon. Place
the extra on top after the main flow is over, and if there
are enough bees they will occupy the extra, and if the
weather is warm and some honey comes in. they will be af-
ter putting it into the extra. More than this, if there be a
vigorous queen, and especially a young one recently begun
laying, together with a light flow and warm weather, not
only will the little coming from the fields be stored above,
but other previously stored below will be moved up to allow
the queen to lay freely. Remember that strength of colony,
age of queen, temperature, nectar coming in, etc., intensify
or diminish the storing above.
But here is another trouble with that extra on top in-
stead of under: Leave jour colony thus to go into winter,
and before, or by early spring, at most, the colony shifts
upward into the top chamber. Once the cluster is estab-
lisht above, should a siege of cold come on so that the bees
can not go downward for honey, your colony would perish
by starvation. I know this by actual experience. If the
extracting-combs are to be given when the flow is probably
over, put them beneath. So arranged, the honey that may
be stored later is crowded in close above the brood, and thus
the stores are made more instead of less compact. The
The good wintering of a colony is very materially aided by
a very compact condition of stores, and the stores very close
to the cluster. In extreme cold there ought to be honey
within or very close above the cluster. Placing the extra
under gives room for the colony to cluster down as much as
they please, and they will move downward only just enough
to let the honey in above the brood.
But what about getting brood in the extra if under ?
Well, unless put there very early in the fall it is not likely
any brood will be put in it : but if there should be it will be
out before winter, and in the spring none will be put there
until the colony becomes quite strong. But what if there
is some brood in the extracting-combs just before the flow ?
It is one of the best things that could happen. Rearrange
the hive by putting the brood-chamber again below, then
on it a queen-excluder, and the extra with its brood on top.
This will cause the colony to occupy the entire hive, and be-
ing stretcht so are less likely to get the swarming-fever.
That brood — even tho but a little — in the extra, causes the
storage of whatever honey comes in from the very start to
be put in the extra, thus the queen has the brood-chamber
to lay as much as she pleases. As soon as storing has well-
nigh filled the extra, lift it and place a fresh chamber be-
tween it and the brood, and you continue to get the honey
in the extra, leaving the queen full sway below. This will
almost extinguish swarming in most seasons. It will also
leave the colonj- again without winter stores unless the ex-
tra is again put beneath, or a late flow fills up after the ex-
tra is off.
I believe there is no better way to keep extras over win-
ter and spring than by this method of placing them under
the colony. It makes plenty of room below that the dead
may fall away from the cluster: it protects the combs, and
it also protects the colony against robber-bees. Of course X
am speaking of outdoor wintering ; if bees are cellared
they do not need so much room, nor is it so imperative that
stores may be in very close proximity to the cluster, tho I
am sure that for best results stores should be very compact
and close to bees all the time, both indoors and outside.
This kind of management anticipates only worker-comb
in the extracting-chambers, at least in such as are put be-
neath the brood-chambers. A drone-comb there in late fall
or winter, even in early spring, makes no difference as it
would not be used : the time trouble would come would be in
the last two or three weeks just before the summer flow.
The extras may be put on top when the colony becomes
strong enough to desire and use drone-comb, using an ex-
cluder between : but the objection to this is that there is so
much extra care needed. It would be so much more simple,
and a great saving of care and time, if every colony can be
left as they are with their two-story hives until the flow is
just on, when one job can be made of the entire yard, in re-
arranging hives. There is also this in favor of all remain-
ing as they are till the flow is on — the operation of making
the shift, rearranging and readjusting, so changes the colony
that if preparations for swarming have been begun they
would be discontinued. Every colony should be inspected
to know if swarming is already anticipated, and ceils cut
out from those that have been.
I will add here, parenthetically, that if any queen is
failing — and weakly ones will (many of them) be at it about
this time — you will discover it. If there has not been
enough nectar coming in to encourage to swarming, the
colonies that have cells at this time, just at the opening of
the earlj- summer flow, are preparing to supersede. If the
number of cells built run from two to five or six. it is a
strong indication of supersedure, but if the colony is of
good strength it will be almost sure to swarm. Remember-
ing this. )Ou can well understand that if you have only
young and vigorous queens there will be much less swarm-
ing. A colonj' having a vigorous queen, stores normal, and
room and other conditions to make it comfortable and easj-,
will have little tendency to swarm until the season for
swarming with its encouraging conditions arrives : but aged
or feeble queens may be expected to swarm under quite less
favorable conditions, and earlier and later in the season.
I would not think of producing extracted honej- without
queen-excluders — thej- are necessary to confine the queen
lest there be brood in the extras when not wanted there. A
little brood just before the flow begins — saj- a week or a lit-
tle more, that it be all sealed — serves the purpose of drawing
the colonj- up to work there, yet does not interfere about
extracting. An extra having brood in it when ready to
come off for extracting, is much harder to get the bees out
of.
It is well to give special attention to this matter of hav-
ing the stores in close, compact shape for winter, especially
in outdoor wintering : it makes a colonj- winter more safely,
and build up better in spring — more safelj- because stores
Jan. 17. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
41
are easy of access, and because if brood is closely bound
with honey some of that honey will be moved to get it out
of the way of the brood-nest, thus better feeding of queen
and brood results, that would not otherwise be obtained ex-
capt by a flow of nectar or by feeding.
If the foregoing management be applied in an intelli-
gent and scientific manner there can be no doubt of good
results. And the more one expects to practice the let-alone
plan in the spring and early summer, the greater the neces-
sity of the better preparation and obtaining of the condi-
tions relating to stores and strength of colony for winter.
Larimer Co.. Colo.
The Afterthought.
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By B. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio.
FINDING A QUEBN BY FANNING BEES.
Yes, sir, I guess McNeal has a bright, new idea for us.
It is according to the probabilities ; and if he has tested the
matter and found it correct it is worth while for us to test
it too. If Oueen Victoria was at your house, and you had a
movable mechanical arrangement for cooling off things in
sultry weather, the mechanism would be run right straight
to the room she was in. So first look at the fanning bees
outside the hive when j'ou go for a queen in fanning
weather. Page 792.
PROPOLIS ON FLOORS AND BOOTS.
That parasite, or incubus, or stick-tight-ibus,on the bee-
man's sole — who has not worried his brain more or less for
some scheme of relief ? Propolis scraped ofi' must needs fly
some place (inclines to fly every place) and when a body
steps he has annext a lot of it — annext it on constitution-
follows-the-flag principles, too. Mr. Wilcox, page 793,
seems to think that down in a cool cellar, which has moist
sand only for floor, he can tramp around on propolis scrap-
ings and not have them follow him off. Don't more than
half believe he can do it as a regular thing — may be he can.
Those of you who cati rub in a dram of enthusiasm and a
few scruples of faith-cure into the ointment may try it —
remedy worth something if you succeed. I scrape sitting,
hold feet still, keep a broom in reach, and sweep me a path
before rising. How is it, brethren ? Which way is ortho-
doxy, and which way is heterodoxy ? and who will come
with a better-o-doxy ?
WIRE-RINGING THE QUEKX.
As to capturing the queen, the wire ring to surround
her with suddenly, and lift her up with when she steps on
it, will be new to many of us. Quite a number of trials we
may need before fully deciding about the exact value of it ;
but it may be that we shall decide that it is a ve>y great
help in that line of work. The idea is capable of modifica-
tions ; and it may be that it will yet be improved quite a bit
from the way McNeal has it. Page 792.
CRUDE PROPOLIS AS A MARKETABLE ARTICLE.
I think I should look out for a trap, or a snap, or a rap
of some kind, if a man wanted to buy crude propolis of me
for 50 cents a pound. Price much above the cost of obtain-
ing it, and rather out of proportion to the cost of similar
articles — or should I post myself about the cost of varnish-
resins before saying that ? Anyhow, if a man came around
and wanted to buy the waste dish-water of your kitchen at
5 cents a gallon, you'd let him have it ; but if he proposed
to pay 25 cents a gallon you would postpone things until
you could form some opinion as to what the fellow was
really up to. It wouldn't be easy for any one apiary to fur-
nish great amounts of propolis ; but section scrapings, to
the amount of quite a few pounds, could be furmsh\. c he a per
llia/i not. Costs mOfe to waste it than it would to save it-
it has such a won't-be-peaceably-vs-asted disposition. Those
of us who use the w'^e frames to hold secretions can get a
good few pounds any oW time (not in the honey season) by
scraping our frames. Page /'O.
TWO BAD SLIPS OI- THE PROOFREADER.
Seems to me the proof-reader must have been making
New Year's calls shortly before he read the last After-
thought. Butter is sold, not "said," and the anti-progress
monster was fought, not "bought." Nobody not already
in his claws would ever buy him. Page 11.
A BEE AND FRUIT PAMPHLET NEEDED.
A little pamphlet which is not yet in existence was evi-
dently what that legal man on page 803 needed — "The Hab-
its of Bees in Regard to Fruit Impartially Stated by Au-
thority." It should begotten out by some government ento-
mologist, and be reviewed and endorst by Uncle Sam's head
fruit-man. Then lawyers (and courts, too, to some extent)
would accept it. You see, we'uns are apt to state things
pretty strongly on our own side — and if we didn't we would
be suspected of doing so so sharply that our pamphlet
wouldn't count much.
THE ITALIAN BEE "NOT THE WHOLE THING."
In Mr. Dadant's letter, on page 806, I was particularly
interested to see that Swiss bee-keepers (as well as many of
the British) do not give the preference to the Italian bee.
By and by the whole actual fact about races of bees will get
to the surface ; and it is quite possible that the best bee for
one locality will not be the best bee for another locality.
Bees that could be depended upon always to crowd the queen
with honey, and check her laying in times of plenty, would
be very desirable where the harvest is all in one short flow ;
but where moderate flows are scattered all thru the season
such bees would get so weak as to be worthless. And the
Italian is the worst of a queen-crowder that we have, I be-
lieve.
v:
leCRAPtllGAt
Mr. J. B. Hall, of Canada.
The man whose portrait we are permitted to present on
the next page, is one of Canada's very brightest and
best bee-keepers. We had the great pleasure of meeting
Mr. Hall at the convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association held in Toronto, Ont., in September, 1895— the
last convention which Father Langstroth attended.
Editor H. E. Hill, of the American Bee-Keeper, was at
one time an apiarian pupil of Mr. Hall, and to this day takes
much pride in that fact, as well he may. Recently Mr.
Hill had this to say of his former teacher, in his paper
which he so ably edits:
We have pleasure in presenting in this number a most
excellent portrait of Mr. J. B. Hall, of Ontario, one of the
Dominion's acknowledged leaders in things apicultural.
While Mr. Hall is a very earnest and popular associ-
ation worker, it is to be regretted that, for some years past,
all persuasion and force, in their oft-repeated applications,
have proven inadequate to the purpose of eliciting from his
pen contributions to the bee-keeping press. This is the
more to be deplored when we consider the fact that Mr.
Hall's pen productions have a style at once interesting and
instructive, peculiarly their own. A more methodical and
painstaking bee-master than Mr. Hall can not be found —
nor a more successful one. Too many futile eft'orts have
stealthily been made to remove the "bushel" in which so
much "light" is confined, to leave any hope for the future
in that direction ; but, were it not for the profound respect
which we feel for this esteemed instructor of our youth, we
should not hesitate to suggest the trial of a quicker method
of removing it. This might, however, prove equally inef-
fectual, and we shall neither try nor recommend the kick-
ing plan.
Mr. Hall is a producer of honey, and, being such, he
says he has nothing but honey to sell. His favorite bee for
the production of comb-honey is an Italian-Carniolan cross,
of which he has an excellent strain. He is the originator
of the thick top-bar and of the wood-zinc excluder ; tho too
modest to assert his right to the honor.
In the conduct of his business, Mr. Hall's operations
42
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 17, 1901.
are governed^by attendant conditions and their
immediate requirements, from the standpoint
of independent reason, and not according- to
any set of stereotypt rules, as is too frequently
the case with bee-keepers. He is, obviously, a
case of " the rig-ht man in the right place ;" and
there is ample evidence on every side, of the
wisdom of his choice injadopting apiculture as
his profession.
At the present time a week seldom passes
in which we do not have occasion to recall some
of the advice and admonitions given with his
characteristic earnestness and kindly manner,
15 years ago, when he labored to eliminate the
erroneous ideas which we had previously ac-
quired, and to establish in their stead a clear
understanding of what thej' appeared to be a
most obscure subject.
That our younger readers may fully appre-
ciate the picture, we have pleasure in reproduc-
ing a few paragraphs from the Canadian Bee
Journal's report of the meeting of the Ontario
Bee-Keepers' Association, held at Toronto, in-
December, 1899. Mr. McKnight's motion was
evidently a spontaneous outgrowth of the same
sense of obligation and high esteem to which
every man is subject who has been intimately
associated with the gentleman whom he sought
to honor. It is a sense of obligation and es-
teem which, as we know by actual experience,
constantly increases by long and very intimate
association :
"Mr. McKnight— There is a little matter
which I would like to bring up. We have a
gentleman with us during this convention who
is here only bj' the solicitation of a great many
members. This Association has been a great
success right from the first until now. and that
is something creditable. There have been men
who have done more than Mr. J. B. Hall has
for this Association in a purely business way ;
but I want to tell you there is not a man be-
longing to this Association now, or ever did be-
long, who has made its meetings so interesting
and practical as our friend Hall. [Applause.]
He has been the life and soul of our Associa-
tion meetings for the last 19 years. Like my-
self, the world is largely behind him : he has
not many years to be here, and I think it would
be a graceful thing to do anything in our power
to show our appreciation of the value of his
services. Altho he does not say very much out-
side of this Association, Mr. J. B. Hall is known _„
all over the continent of America. I would like ^^
to move that this Association make J. B. Hall a life mem-
ber—that is all. [Loud applause]. I would like, if it were
in my power, to confer some higher honor upon him, but I
know he does not want it; and I am not sure whether he
would appreciate even this ; but I know it is our duty to
show Mr. Hall some mark of the appreciation of the val-
uable services he has rendered to the bee-keeping interests
of this Province. I hope this will not be made a precedent ;
it would be very little honor if all the old men were asso-
ciated with him ; I would like to see Mr. J. B. Hall the one
and only life member of this Association during my life-
time.
•Mr. Brown — I have very much pleasure in seconding
Mr. McKnight's motion. I can indorse every word he has
said with reference to Mr. Hall.
"The motion was carried by a rising vote, and the
singing of 'He's a Jolly Good Fellow,' after which Mr.
Hall briefly and suitably replied."
Mr. J. B. Hall, of Ontario, Canada.
American Bee-Keeper.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
*-»-*
Queen°Rearing is a very interesting part of bee-keeping.
Mr. DooHttle's book tells practically all about the subject.
See the offer we make on page 30 of last number.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
OR. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, 772.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Eimtor.1
A Beginner's Questions.
This is ni3' first year with bees, and I would like to
know how to keep them successfully. I want to increase
as well as to work for comb honey.
We have cold weather and snow usually from Dec. 15th
to March 15th. It has been from 5 to 10 degrees below zero
here for 10 days, and lots of snow on the ground.
1. What kind of hives and supers should I use for best
results ?
2. I took the third frame of brood from an 8-frame dove-
tailed hive last summer, and put it into a hive with founda-
tion, in order to get the swarm to stay, as well as to
strengthen them. The colony was strong at the time with
bees and honey. On examining, before I put them into the
cellar, I was surprised to find how few there were dead,
and I now have a colony with eight brood-frames of honey.
Jan. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
43
< >ii removing the frame of brood, I brusht all the bees from
it. What caused them to dwindle and die ?
3. Can I feed those combs of honey to two weak colo-
nies I have, or should I give them sugar syrup ? I am win-
tering 20 colonies in frame and box hives.
4. I had five colonies last spring that gave me 20 to 30
pounds of surplus comb honey each. The swarms gave me
no surplus. I put them on new stands with one frame of
brood and seven frames of foundation 3 inches wide. What
could I have done to make them do any better ?
New Brunswick.
Answers. — 1. The kind of frame hive you already have
is the one to continue, unless there is some good reason for
making a change, for it is a very troublesome thing to have
two kinds of hives in the same apiary, especially if they
have frames of different sizes. The size of frame most
generally in use is probably as good as any, measuring
17;-sx9's, outside measure. This is the frame used in the
dovetailed or Langstroth hive.
2. Very likely they were queenless.
3. It will be all right to use the combs of honey, unless
the bees were diseased, which is not likely.
4. You got all your honey from the old colonies, and
tione from the swarms. It may be that you would have
had more honey if you had depended more on the swarms
by managing in this way : When the swarm issues, put it
on the old stand, setting the old hive close beside it. A
week later remove the old hive to a new location. That
will throw the whole field-force into the swarm, and altho
you may get nothing from the old colony, you will have a
strong force in the s%varm, and your total yield may be
greater.
What Killed the Bees ? Other ttuestions.
The season of 19ii0 opened the best in many years, with
a big flow from fruit-bloom, mostly from plum and wild
cherry, the scales showing a gain of four to six pounds per
day. Then the great drouth commenced, which lasted un-
til Aug. 4th. It was too dry for basswood to yield nectar.
From the above date until September there was almost a
daily rain. The stores from the spring-flow were about all
gone, and it lookt as if every colony would have to be fed,
or starve. The rain brought an immense growth of weeds
on the wheat stubble, and with a few fair days the bees
filled their hives with the most villainous honey you ever
saw, almost black, and the flavor was worse than anything
I ever met with before. It was from what is called wild
buckwheat — a vine that has a seed shaped like buckwheat.
A few cold, rainy days followed, when the bees commenced
throwing out dead larva; and young bees. Examining, I
found frames of brood being uncapt, with not an egg or
j'oung bee alive. This was the. case with every colony
<about 80), and there was not another bee reared, to the best
of my knowledge, and I examined them frequently.
1. Now, the question is, what killed them ?
2. Will they rear brood in the spring on such stores ?
3. Will it be best to take the honey away and feed as
soon as taken from the cellar? They seem to be wintering
all right, with no unusual number dying.
Centr.\l Minnesota.
Answers. — 1. I don't know. It looks as tho that vil-
lainous black imitation of honey killed them. Yet from
what you say they must have been living on the same stuff
since, and it does not hurt them. It is just possible that
they got something poisonous that killed them, and none of
it is now in the hives.
L-n 2. As they are wintering well upon it, it is quite likely
they will rear brood with it next spring.
3. Keep a close watch in spring, and if everything goes
straight, and brood appears healthy, let it be ; but if the
brood dies, or there is no brood, then change the stores.
Spring Feeding— Two Apiaries or One?
1. Do you know of any objection to the following plan
of feeding and strengthening a colony in the spring ?
Would bees object to the partial division of their home
when in two hives ? If not, would they be less likely to
swarm, being on 16 Langstroth frames ?
Start feeding an 8-frame colony early in the spring,
and before the queen gets crowded put them in a 10-frame
hive. Go on feeding, and then transfer them to two 8-
frame hives set close together, with the adjacent sides per-
forated every few inches, and with a bee-way top and bot-
tom. Goon feeding gently until a week before the honey-
flow, and then put on two supers, side by side.
2. Will bees refrain from carrying up syrup fed to
them, so long as the queen is not crowded ?
3. Do you think there would be any advantage, so far
as yield of honey is concerned, in dividing an apiary of 140
colonies, spring count, when the out-apiary is to be only '^
mile distant from the home-apiary, assuming, of course,
equal conditions all around as to bloom ? Minn.
Answers.— 1. The probability is that the queen would
not go readily from one hive to the other, when you had the
two hives side by side with holes for passageways, and if
she did go from one to the other, there would be some like-
lihood of the bees starting queen-cells in the one she had
left.
Instead of first changing from the 8-frame hive to a 10-
frame, and then to two 8-frame hives side by side, it would
be much simpler, and probably better, to start at once with
the two 8-frame hives, putting one hive over the other. As
soon as you think the bees are in danger of being crowded
with only eight frames, put the second story under the first.
Even if this is done before the bees are at all crowded, it
will do no hurt. The heat of the hive rises, and an empty
hive below would not cool off the brood-nest as it would
with the empty hive above or at the side. Then when the
bees became crowded above they could work down into the
lower story ; or, if you thought they were too lazy about it
you could put a frame of brood from the upper story in the
lower story. But when it comes time to put on supers, I
have always found it better to take away one story, crowd-
ing with brood the story left.
2. Yes, the bees will store in the brood-combs anything
fed to them, so long as there is plenty of room there. But
it is not wise to crowd the brood-nest at any time, for there
is a possibility that the combs may fill up so rapidly with
brood that the bees will feel obliged to empty some of the
cells in the brood-combs of their stores, carrying the same
up into the super, altho when the stores were given there
may have been abundance of room in the brood-combs.
3. Most surely, in any ordinary location. The only ex-
ception would be in some location so remarkably rich in re-
sources that 140 colonies could get all they could gather
without going farther than -'+ of a mile from home.
Using Extracted Honey=Dew Profitably.
How can extracted honey-dew be used in the apiary to
good profit and advantage? What other uses can there be
made of it ? Kansas City.
Answer. — It can be fed to good advantage in the
spring to be workt up into brood. It may also be sold for
manufacturing purposes.
tietting Extra Extracting-Combs.
\
Being short of extracting-combs, I am thinking of fill-
ing the supers next spring with combs, and the frames with
starters, half and half, alternately. How would it do ?
I extracted my fall aster honey in November, and got
about 40 pounds to the colony, which makes about 70 pounds
for the year — about an average with us here. I winter my
bees outdoors, of course, and up to this time they have had
a good flight every day, if not raining.
South C \rtoi.-:: ■ ,
Answer. — If I understand you rightly, there wia ue a
fully-drawn comb, then a frame with a starter perhaps an
inch deep, then a drawn comb, then a starter, and so on.
An objection to this, especially if the harvest is at first a
little slow, is that the bees will draw out deeper the cells of
the fully-finisht combs, and will make the newly built
combs very thin. It may be better to have all the drawn
combs together on one side, and all the starters together on
the other side. Then your combs will be more uniform in
thickness. If the extracting-combs are of the same size as
the brood-combs, you might like the plan of having the new
combs built in the brood-nest instead of in the super. In
that case you can alternate the frames, for when used for
brood there will not be the same danger of having the
combs unequal in thickness. Moreover, if you prefer
worker-combs, you will have less drone-comb built in the
brood-nest than in the super.
The Premiums offered this ■
ing for. Look at them.
reek are well '
rth
44
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 17, 1901-
ISHT WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. York & Co.
118 Michigan St., Chicago, III.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
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change the date on your wrapper-label, which
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upon applica-
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recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
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when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
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Seed Catalogue
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never offered before, has 136 large pages,
seven handsome colored plates and hundreds of
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The first edition alone costs over $30,000, so while
we send it free to all customers, we must ask
others to send 10 cents for it, which amount they
may deduct from their first order. You will
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the Novelty Seed Book of tbe year. AiMress,
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Is made bv a " NEW PROCESS" that produ-
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it the VERY BEST and MOST desirable in all
respects. Mv PROCESS and AUTOMATIC
MACHINES' are my own inventions, which
enable me to SELL FOUNDATION and
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i the Ui
at ii
Catalog givintr FULL LINE OF SUPPLIES
and more particulars about ray foundation, with
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writing^-. state amount of foundation wanted or
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A Good Report Fop 1900.
I started the season of 1000 with 62
colonies of bees, increasing- to 115 col-
onies, and got 4500 pounds of nice
honey, all of which I sold in the home
market. .One-third of it was comb-
honey, which I sold for 10 cents per
pound, and the extracted at 8'j cents.
LON ROSSON.
Ellis Co., Tex., Dec. 27.
Bees Did Fairly Well.
My bees did fairly well the pa.st sea-
son, averaging 50 pounds per colony,
but it was very dry all summer, and
one of my neighbors did not get any
honey at all. There are very few bee-
keepers around here, and our bees have
a large range. They are wintering-
finely so far; Dec. 23d and 24th they
had a good flight, and look healthy
and strong in numbers.
I am going to try the fences and.
plain sections next season as I believe
they are an improvement.
J. Warrkn Sherman.
Suffolk Co.. N. Y., Dec. 29.
Report For the Season of 1900.
We have had another poor honey
season in Texas, altho there was con-
siderably more honey produced than in
1899. We commenced the season with
500 colonies, had but little increase,
and harvested 21,100 pounds of honey,
divided as follows: Extracted 11,900
pounds; bulk comb, 7,840 pounds ; sec-
tion honey, 1,464 pounds. We have
had abundant fall rains, and vegeta-
tion is up ; we therefore expect a good
crop for 1901.
A few days ago we sent our renewal
to the American Bee Journal, which
we can not do without.
O. P. HvDK & Son.
Williamson Co., Tex., Jan. 1.
Bumble-Bees in Winter.
On page .S()9 (1900) a beginner asks.
"Where do bumble-bees winter ? " I
am pleased with the question, and
would like to have some naturalist tell
us all about it.
In Canada we have several kinds of
bumble-bees, some very small and oth-
ers all the way to very large. They
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Jan. IT, 19fl.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
45
ase menTion Bee JournaJ when •writVTig.
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46A25t
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oal.
«■■ r i J t Two or three apiaries
Wanted I fo-- "^h, located in
VY CllIL^U i Colorado. Give full
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m
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are variously and beautifully markt
with pleasing colors. The smallest of
all are the rarest, but their nests are
the richest in honey. The medium
sizes winter generally in the woods un-
der old logs, where there is a large ac-
cumulation of old leaves. The small-
est and largest may winter in the same
fashion, but I don't know about that.
I have often wondered if it could be
that they migrate to the South like
the birds, and spend a season there,
and return North the following spring.
()nly the queens live thru the winter.
I have handled a good deal of wood,
logs, rails, and timber in my day, but
never found any of the smallest or the
largest kinds in winter. Who will tell
us all about it, in the columns of the
"(lid Reliable," just by way of diver-
sion and information ?
Ontario, Canada. S. T. PettiT.
Bees Didn't Do Well.
I have 20 colonies of bees, but they
didn't do well last season. We hope
next season will be a better one for
beekeepers.
I appreciate the Bee Journal very
much, and can't very well get along
without it. H. C. Roberts.
Lawrence Co., Ohio, Jan. 8.
Bees Wintering Nicely.
Bees are wintering nicely in the cel-
lar, but no snow on the ground is hard
on the clover. N. Staininger.
Cedar Co., Iowa, Dec. 12, 1900.
No Honey Last Season.
I have 29 colonies of bees in good
condition on the summer stands, but I
got no honey the past season. There
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46
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Jan. 17, 19( 1.
were plenty of Ijlossoms, and I never
saw bees do better on fruit-bloom.
I can not do \vithout the American
Bee Journal as long as I keep bees,
which will probably not be many years
more, as I am 71 years old.
S. H.\KPST.
Mercer Co., Pa., Dec. 31.
Prospect Fair Fop Next Season.
The honey crop last season was an
entire failure in this part of Ohio.
Bees are enjoying a flight to-day.
Mine appear to be all right, tho I had
to feed for winter.
White clover is plentiful and the
prospect is fair for the coming season.
G. C. Allingkr.
Marion Co., Ohio, Jan. 10.
How to Sell Candied Honey.
Years ago I came to the conclusion
that the proper way to dispose of ex-
tracted honey was to sell it in tin pack-
ages in the candied form, and I began
putting up our honey for the winter
trade in raised-cover tin pails, and
for my trouble I met lots of opposition,
but I determined that the battle must
be fought along that line. I first had
to overcome the prejudice to candied
honey by guaranteeing my honey to
be strictly pure, and that it would
candy in cold weather. The next
trouble was that the packages were
too dear for my customers, and I be-
gan using 3-pound tin fruit-cans and
sealing the lids with wax (grafting
wax is best). I get 23 cents per can, or
$2.75 per dozen ; this is for fall honej',
mostly touch-me-not. I buy the cans
by the gross, and stick on them a neat
label. For the summer trade I use the
one-pound glass jars to a small extent.
I get SI. 32 per dozen for pound jars.
My crop of honey was 1,675 pounds
of extracted honey from 63 colonies.
C. A. Bunch.
Marshall Co., Ind., Dec. 28.
Wintering First-Rate.
There was not a blossom of white
clover or linden the past season, and
my bees did very little. They are
wintering first-rate.
The thermometer is 8 degrees above
zero this morning, and weather clear.
We have had but little snow, and fine
weather. H. Mksser.
Green Co., Pa., Jan. 4.
Not Much Surplus Honey— Foul
Brood.
The bees did not store much surplus
last season. They did fine in the
spring during maple, elm, box-elder
and locust bloom, and also during fruit-
bloom of all kinds. I expected to get
a large amount of honey, but you know
how often we are disappointed in our
expectations, and I did not get over 25
pounds of surplus honey, all told.
Swarming commenced the latter part
of April and continued until June 2d.
My bees never were, in better condition
for work, being very strong. I sold 40
colonies the latter part of May to a
bee-keeper in this county, and he se-
cured considerable honey.
I have about SO colonies left, which
are in good condition for winter. I
winter my bees on the summer stands.
Sharpies Cream Separators: Profitable Dairying
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BEE=KEEPERS!
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perfect sample hive, complete, will do well to
order soon, as my larg-e lot on hand will soon be
exhausted. Write for prices and instructions,
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3A2t Jan. 1. Wdl. Box 1,1.
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U orhinonii FOR SALE.— Tenon machine,
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What ? Our New Champion Winter-
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LanQSMH on..
TI16H0I1611B66
Revised by Dadant— 1899 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug-ht to be iti the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michigan Street,
CHICAGO, ILL.
and they are always packt, suminer
and winter — "what will keep out the
cold will keep out the heat," you
know. The covers are sealed down
tight, and soft-maple leaves are packt
two inches in front of the hives, 4 to S
inches at the sides and back, and 7 or
8 inches on the top of the cover. The
outside cover is 's to '2 inch thick.
All hives have good shingle covers
projecting all around the ends and
sides. I can put my hand in among-
the leaves on top of the hive in the
coldest weather and it will be quite
warm. I have had very little winter
loss for a number of years, or since I
got rid of foul brood.
I lost hundreds of colonies from foul
brood. I bought some bees that had
it, and once it got into the apiary I
had a time of it. I did not then know
what it was, but tried everything to-
get rid of it, and burned a great many
colonies, hives and all. That was
about 8 or 9 j-ears ago, and I do not re-
member when I got rid of it.
Some of the old hives that were in
use at that time were piled up, their
covers put on after the bees were dead,
and were left in the apiary. I cleaned
out some of them two or three years
ago and put new swarms into them. I
boiled some of the frames so as to be
on the safe side, and tried a few with-
out boiling, and there was no differ-
ence— no signs of foul brood in either
case — so I scraped all the old hives
and frames and they are now in use.
I sent specimens of the foul brood to
A. I Root and Dr. Howard. I detested
the odor of foul brood, but workt with
it until I got rid of it.
D. C. McLkod.
Christian Co., 111., Dec. 29.
Bees Did Pooply.
Bees did poorly in this neighbor-
hood last season, but mine gathered
enough for winter and stored an av-
erage surplus of 12 pounds per colon3',
amber extracted, from fall flowers.
May the American Bee Journal long-
prosper, and if bee-keepers can't afford
to send in the dollar we might as well
give up trying to keep bees.
S. O. Larson.
Isanti Co., Minn., Dec. 31.
Report Fop the Season of 1900.
We run about 250 colonies for comb
and extracted honey the past season,
and averaged SO pounds to the colony.
We hope to do better in 1901.
We winter our bees on the summer
stands with sawdust on top of the
frames. W. J. Stewart.
Utah Co., Utah, Dec. 31.
AsteP as a Honey-Plant Introduc-
ing Queens.
The honey-crop in 1900 was about as
much of a failure as in 1899, if not
worse, but we should be thankful for
what little we did get, and hope for
better things the coming season.
I began with two colonies, spring
count, increast to five, and secured 198
pounds of honey. nZII3 t^3
I also had charge of an apiary which
we began with 23 colonies, spring
count, increast to 24, and secured l,20i>
pounds of extracted honey, mostly
from aster.
Mr. W. W. McNeal certainly gives
Jan. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
47
the aster a much-deserved good name
on page 793 (1900). I would advise
" Mississippi," page 783, to try this, as
he says he is searching for good honey-
plants. It has proven a boon to bee-
keepers here. It comes into bloom
the very last of September, and gives
us a fair surplus, besides a force of
young bees for vrinter, and bountiful
winter stores. It granulates very
quickly, however, especially when ex-
tracted ; I have known it to granulate
solid in 10 days, and when mixt with
no other kind of honey it has much the
appearance of lard.
Last June I received a tested queen
from a noted queen-breeder in the
East. She arrived all right, and I put
her away until the next morning, as I
was very busy at the time. The next
morning I ■ destroyed the reigning
queen, and as I had so much work on
hand I did not take time to separate
the new one from her escorts, but
pulled back the wire-cloth, exposing
about an inch of candy, and set the
cage on the top-bars of the hive. Some
honey was coming in at the time, but
I was also feeding them. I examined
the hive 48 hours after the queen was
releast, but in a day or two when I
lookt again there were numerous
bunches of queen-cells, but no queen
to be seen. J. Wiley Motxtjoy.
Anderson Co., Ky., Dec. 22.
Bees in Good Condition Swarming.
Bees went into winter quarters in
this locality strong in numbers, and
plentiful in stores. Most of them were
left on the summer stands until late in
November, owing to the mild weather.
They stored an average of about SO
pounds per colony of surplus honey,
altho some colonies stored as high as
100 pounds — I think mine did, spring
count.
In my apiary, some years ago, a large
swarm issued in June ; without mak-
ing any attempt to cluster they put for
the woods, which is but a stone's throw
from my apiary. They went slowly,
flying around the tops and bodies of
the trees they past. I was quite certain
they had a tree lookt up in which they
The Belgian Hare Guide
acknnwledfrod to
lid mo
This book
be the finen
bo"k out on
Industry. It containa'c
and praetlfal In-
formation on tlio
following and
many other Bub-
Jects pertaining to _ __
the industry: History and Origin, The Belgian
lor Utility, The Belgian for Pan. '7, The Busi-
ness and Its Outlook, How to Begin. Houses and
Hutches, Foods and Feeding. Feeding Green
Stuff. Mating and Breeding. Care of the Young,
Pedigrees, Score Cards and Ju.lglng, Belgian
Hare Color, Dressing and Cooking. Diseases and
Eemedles, Preparing for Exhibition, Crating and
Shipping, Caponizing, Queries and Answers.
Miscellany, Belgian H,arfs vs. Poultry, The Bel-
gian in England, The Belgian In Call-
t^aig^fornia.. Illaek Belgians
^3»and Flemish Giants.
^^^^V It 18 elegantly printed
^^^^^V on fins paper, lllun-
^^■^■v trated with numerous
^■HV beautiful phuto e ti -
— ^■gr^ ^, rravlngs. and Is 611 1<-
^^^^ ^ stantlally bound. No
nne Interested In Belgians can alTor.l to ho with-
out It. Send your order today, rritt, 3a cents.
SPECIAL OFFERS.
For SI. 10 we will send the "Belgian
Hare Guide" and the American Bee
Journal for one year ; or for ?2.00 we
will send the Bee Journal for two years
and the "Belgian Hare (iiiide."
Address, QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
lis Michigan St., C U IC A(jO, ILL.
were intending to settle, and, sure
enough, after going about 80 rods they
settled about 60 or 70 feet from the
ground in a pine-tree, which was about
3,'2 feet in diameter. The next morn-
ing I cut down the tree and safely
hived the bees. Doesn't this look as
the they had this tree lookt up, and
went directly from the hive to the tree ?
The "Old Reliable" continues its
weekly visits, and is a most welcome
guest, freighted with so many good
things. Long may it and its editor
live to bless the fraternity which they
represent. L. ALLEN.
Clark Co., Wis., Jan. S.
Bees Light in Stores.
Bees went into winter quarters light
in stores, and I may have to feed them
in the spring. I am wintering some in
the cellar, and some in an open shed
facing the south.
My eyesight is poor, and I can hardly
see to read the Bee Journal any more,
but I still keep some bees, and I don't
like to give it up, as I can see to read it
a little. Noah Millek.
Iowa Co., Iowa, Jan. 8.
Poor Season for Bees in 1900.
I put 75 colonies of bees into the
cellar last winter. One died of starva-
tion, and 4 were queenless. I had 9
first and 3 second swarms, and 5 left
the hive before I started to break them
up. Some of the new colonies had
about one pound of honey when I
robbed them, and some of the old ones
had very little honey. They had too
many bees for so poor a season as the
last was.
I took 700 pounds of comb honey from
the supers, and have 266 pounds on
hand yet.
I put 53 colonies into the cellar on
Nov. 28th. The prospects for next sea-
son are good, provided we get plenty
of snow to cover the clover, which
showed up nicely last fall.
Wm. Duescher.
Brown Co., Wis., Dec. 28.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Minnesota— The annual meeting of the South-
ern Minnesota Bee-Keepers' A-isocialiou will
be held at the court house in Winona. Jan. 23,
24, IWl. A very elaborate program has been
arranged. It is intended to secure a chorus of
girls to render several musical numbers, and it
is expected that the attendance will be
very large. Among other good things on the
program are the following: Address bv Pres.
E. B. Huffman; Song, " Hum of the Bees in the
Apple-Tree Bloom; "Bee-Keeptng as a Source
of Pleasure and Profit," bv E. B. Huffman;
" Reminiscences of Bee-Keeping," bv J. Turn-
tuU; " Different Strains of Bees," bv F. Oech;
'■Production of Section Honev," bv W. K.
Bates; *' Rearing Queen-Bees," by E. B. Corn-
well; "Wintering Bees Out- Doors," by Wra.
Berthe: " Implements Used in Bee-Keeping,"
by J. M.Rietz; "How to Exhibit Honev," bv
Frank Yahnke; " Bee-Forage," by W. F. Mar-
tin: "Marketing Honey," by Peter Oech;
"Managing an Apiarv," bv Phil Gardner;
" Dividing Colonies of Bees," bv Jas. M. dates,
and " Prevention of Swarming," bv T. B. Rand.
Winona, Minn. C. A. Gile, Sec.
Grow Rich, Mr, Farmer.— Every farmer is
ambitious to put aside a snug sum for the later
vears. Well, that is iust right; but wbv not
grow rich double-quick. You can do it. How?
By planting plenty of John A. Salzer's Seed
Company's La Crosse, Wis., grown seeds. You
see, Salzer breeds his seeds up to big yields, as
the farmer breeds his cattle to their highest
point of merit. The result is, Salzer's seeds
sprout, grow, and produce enormously. Many
a farmer's granaries had to be built larger, and
his barns needed additions put on, on account
of sowing Salzer's seeds: that's good, prosper-
ous news. Please mention the American Bee
Journal when writing.
.SJ >li >!i >V. >li >li >Ii >li >li >Ji >tl >ti ^l^
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Dec. 21.— The demand has fallen off
very much of late, but prices have not declined
to any great degree from those prevailing- for
the past f-O days, but any pressure to sell would
cause a,decUne. Fancywhite comb, 16c; No 1,
15c; amber and travel-stained white, 13@Uc;
dark and buckwheat, 10@llc. Extracted, white,
"Hfe'.Hc; amber, l(m-%c; buckwheat and other
dark grades, b<m6^^c. Beeswax, 2.'<c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Dec. 21.— Honev market firm,
demand steady. Fancywhite comb, 24-section
case, $3.50 to $3.75; 12-section case, $l.')n to $2.00;
amber, case, $3.00 to $3.25. Extracted, white,
8©9c; supply fair; receipts and demand good.
Beeswax, 22@30c. Demand fair.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Buffalo, Jan. 4.— Honey market is very quiet
and unsatisfactory. The various lots here must
be cut sharply to' -sell. Fancy. 15(a.l6c; fair to
good, lOio'Hc, but prices are shaded according
to the case. No extracted wanted. Beeswax
quiet at 2S^28c. Batterson& Co.
Albany, N. Y., Jan. 5.— Fancy white, limiSc-
No.l, 16@l-c; No. 2, 14(S,i5c; mixt, 13@14c: buck
wheat, 12H(ail3Kc. Extracted, white, 8(a8>ic*
mixt, 7®-\4c.
Honey market slow with light stock, but sell
ing at concessions, especially on extracted,
which have been holding too high everywhere.,
H. R.Wriuht. '
Boston, Dec. 22.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c: A No. 1, Ibc; No. 1, lStal6c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 754®
Sc; light amber, 7'n7>^c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lkb.
Cincinnati, Jan. 4.— The market for comb
honey here is becoming a little bare, altho
higher prices are not obtainable. Fancy white
comb sells for 16c; lower grades do not want to
.sell at all. Extracted is selling slow; amber for
S'A and higher; fancy white clover brings S@
8Hc. Beeswax, 38c. C. H. W. Wbber.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, 15{aii6c;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white 12wI3c; amber,
12c; buckwheat, 10(ai]c. Extracted in fairly
good demand at 75^^^8c for white, and 7c for
amber; off grades and Southern in barrels at
from 6S(alSc per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
yet. Some little selling at 5>^@6c. Beeswax firm
at 28 cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
Hildreth & Segelkbw.
Detroit, Dec. 22— Fancy white comb, 15(3)16c:
No. 1, 13(?'14c; dark and amber, lOfaiUc. Ex-
tracted, white. 7!^(g8c; amber and dark, 6@7c.
Beeswax, 26(S28c. M. H. Hdnt & Son.
San Francisco, Dec. 1').— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, nH®WAc: dark, S(a(9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7}^@8c; light amber, 6X@'i}ici
amber. S}^@6J4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water' white
honey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
HONEY HARKET.-We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are'in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here for
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, III.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -WTiting.
DO YOU WANT A
fiigH Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
BEES
QUEENS
Jmofeera, Sections,
Comb Foundation
S. T. rL^ACAJI, B«U«Till%l
48
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 17, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everjtbing^, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Kekper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' O" W. M. Gekkish, East Notiagham, N. H.,
carries a full liae of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wrri'^'na
SWEET CLOVER
And Several OtheF Clover Seeds.
>, e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5tb 10ft 2Sft sons
Sweet Clover (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.C0
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
Alsilie Clover Wc 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover ''Oc 1.70 3.75 6.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
llSMichigan Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole ApicuUural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
send*1.25to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
f lease mention Bee Journal when writine
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
V^ool Markets and Sbeep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first,foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee journal when ■WTitinB-
FALL SPECIALTIES
^ Shipping-Cases, Root's No-Drip; Five-Gallon
Cans for extracted honey, Danz. Cartons for
comb honey. Cash or trade for beeswax. Send for
catalog. M. H. Hunt & Son, Bell Branch, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing,
I BEE-SIPPLIES! I
f^ 49*Root*8 Qoodj at Roofs Prlces*$» ^
.^> PouDKR's Honey-Jars and every- t^-
^^5 thing- used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^1
.^^ Service — low freight rate. Catalog- ^'
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
•^ '512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^^
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
24th n«ri«.^*'^ r/...t.rl»4:#.n 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
lear
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNQ. No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^/^
SO well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any^
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog", Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We selJ the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Egg^s
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Tbree Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is tjie Fold Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife— When ordering, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knife.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies In the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass. Un-
derueatb the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg-ed out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. "The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the "Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this^beauliful knife, as the ** Novelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife*— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us -LrfREE nkw subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $3.00.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for Sl.OO.
GEORGE W, YORK £ CO., 118 Mich, St, Chicago, IlL
^S^Please allor^ ''bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled.
566=Hiv6S and Honeu-Boxes
in'car lots, wholesiilc or retail. Now is the time to get prices.
We are the people wiio niaimfaoture strictly first-class goods
auil sell them at prices that defy competition. Write us to-day.
Inter-State Box and Manufacturing Company,
47Atf HXJDSON", "WIS.
Please Mentioii the Bee Joamal XSl^r^^S^
AVVESe;i/v..
Dee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JANUARY 24, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 4.
50
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
Jan. 24, 1901.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. York & Co.
113 Michigan St., Chicago, IIU
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postay-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, '*DecOO*' on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember. 1900.
Subscription Receipts — We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be g'iven npoii applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
**ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
Ttl6 B66-K6eDer'S
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROF. A. J. COOK,
460 Pages— 16tli (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Jotirnal.
Given !or TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to PR]
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two new subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
U8 Michigan Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
YELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending us One New Subscriber for a Year.
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent regular subscribers will send us $1
with a new name for this year, we will
mail, postpaid, to the one sending
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with S2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michig-an St.. CHICAGO, ILL.
-># BEST #-
tiimm Honey For Sale I
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY,,..
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
the Alfalfa extracted.
BA5SW00D
HONEY.......
This is the well - known
lig"ht-colored honey g'athered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a strcng-er
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred bv those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey :
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cetits —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9J2
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
S}i cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all
EBSQLUTELJ PURE BEES' EQEEY.
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that
I'm something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own pro-
duction and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to
be to the honey of his own reg-ion, there's no denying the fact that for use in any
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very
excellent qualitv of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the
honeys of more markt flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Millek.
aicHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Money and then Sell It.
■^^e would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, arid sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
QEORQE W.YORK & CO., ii8 Michigan St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, JANUARY 24, 1901,
No, 4,
\ ^ Editorial. % \
Bee-Keeping at the Pan-American.
— The busy bee will be in big business at the
Pan-American Exposition the coming sum-
mer. It has been decided to construct a spe-
cial building for the proper display of the
working colonies of bees and the great va-
riety of bee-keepers" supplies which will con-
stitute this exhibit. It is expected that this
will be the most extensive bee-exhibit ever
prepared in this or any other part of the
world.
The exhibits will be so arranged that the
bees may enter their hives from the exterior
of the building, and carry on .their work un-
disturbed by visitors, yet in full view thru the
glass sides of the hives. As the successful
management of an apiary requires a knowl-
edge of botany as well as the habits and re-
(luirements of the bees themselves, this ex-
hibit will illustrate the operation of an api-
ary, and will show the common honey-pro-
ducing flora in a way to be understood by all
who may be interested. The relation of bees
to horticulture and agriculture will be clearly
.shown, and the many uses of honey illus-
trated.
Since the invention of the movable-frame
hive by Langstroth in 1851, the application of
labor-saving, honey-saving, and bee-saving
devices has been very interesting and impor-
tant, as is well known by up-to-date bee-keep-
ers everywhere. It is intended to make the
most complete display ever seen of things
apiarian at the Pan-American Exposition.
Amateur Bee-Keepers is the heading
of an article by Ramljler, in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture. He contends that to the amateurs
the bee-keeping world owes quite a debt. He
begins with Samson, who found a colony of
bees in the carcass of a lion, '■ some writers
going so far as to claim that Samson invented
the movable-frame hive, from the supposition
that the bees built the combs to the ribs of
the defunct lion ; and it was the comb attacht
to one of these ribs with which he sweetened
himself."
Kambler then mentions Virgil, of later time,
followed by Huber, and notes in passing that
cotemporary with him were many German
investigators who were amateur bee-keepers.
Then coming across the ocean he finds
Langstroth, who was never an extensive bee.
keeper, yet it was he who by the invention of
the movable frame opened to vie* the mys-
teries of the hive, and made it possible for
bee-keeping to become a remunerative busi-
ness.
After that, again jumping liack over the
ocean, it was Hruschka who discovered the
idea of the honey-extractor.
Returning to this country, among the many
amateur bee-keepers who have been of great
service to the bee-keeping world, he names A.
I. Root, Prof. A. J. Cook, Samuel Wagner
(founder of the American Bee Journal),
Thomas G. Newman, F. Danzenbaker, and
Arthur C. Miller, the inventor of the hot-
plate foundation-fastener.
Skipping across the ocean once more.
Rambler mentions .J. Mehring, a German, who
invented comb foundation. Also Prof. Che-
shire, and Thos. Wm. Cowan, editor of the
British Bee Journal, and inventor of the
Cowan honey-extractor.
As Rambler intimates, the foregoing are
only a few of those who while only amateurs
in the pursuit of bee-keeping, yet did much to
bring it up to its present high place among
the useful businesses of the world. Surely,
no amateur bee-keeper need be ashamed of
his place or efforts, either in the past or pres-
ent. May his tribe increase, and continue to
bless the craft with bright and helpful ideas.
Pure Stock vs. Crosses. — A Stray
Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture is as fol-
lows :
A fixt strain of bees Is very desirable for the
sake of continuing good qualities without
change. But the "fixt strain " idea maybe
workt too hard when it comes to the matter
of improvement. With a strain so fixt that
there is no possibility of variation, there is 710
possibility of improvement. Continuation of
good traits comes from fixtness. Imjirove-
ment of traits comes not from fixtness, but
from variation. The trouble with a cross is
that its characteristics are not fi.xt, but that
does not argue against the pos.s(6i7j(j/ of greater
improvement in the cross, and then it is the
proviiu/c of careful breeding to make that im-
provciiiunt tixt. I am an advocate of pure
stock; Init if I had the purest and best Ital-
ians on earth, and a cross that would beat
them in storing by 50 percent, I'd droj) the
purity and try to fix that .50 percent. — [Yes, but
I believe you will Hud that crosses would have
a very ^lroll;^■ tendency to sport back to the
original >tiick, fiilii'i- one uf which would be
poorer than the mixture. — Editor.]
There is a somewhat sharp conflict between
the Straw and Editor Root's comments; but
not an irreconcilable one. Both views are
correct. The progeny of pure or thorobred
stock is likely to continue the qualities of the
parents. The progeny of a cross is likely to
hark back to the (lualities of one or the other
of the parents, selecting perhaps some of the
least desirable traits. But there is a posKibility,
also, that there may be a sporting toward good
as well as bad qualities. In the hands of the
ignorant and careless, a cross is likely to run
nuich more rajiidly to the bad than pure-bred
stock. In the hands of the careful there may
be more poor than good in the progeny of the
cross, but by careful and severe selection
there is a, possibility of something that may be
an improvement on the pure stock on either
side from which the cross originated. It is a
i|uestion for each one to decide for himself
whether he will try the more hazardous plan
of l)reeding for improvement from an unstable
cross, or the safer plan of breeding from pure
stock.
■•'
" Bees Do Nothing Invariably " is a
saying attributed to Mrs. Tupper, and there is
much truth in it. To establish any general
rule about bees, there must be no little obser-
vation. Because y'ou see bees do a certain
thing on a certain day, you are not safe in
saying that all bees invariably do the same
thing every day. What is true at one time
may not be true at another time. What is
true one season may not be true the next.
What is true in one place may not be true in
another place. Laugh as much as you will at
the frequent recurrence of the phrase. " iu
this locality," in many cases locality has a
large influence.
As illustrating this matter, one man. having
nuide careful observations, says he has found
that when a bee brings in a load of pollen it
brings no necla.r, iind I'iceversa. Another man,
observing just as carefully, finds a full honey-
sac in bees carrying pollen. In order to es-
tablish a general rule on the subject, there
must be repeated observations, all the better
if made by different observers in different
places and at different times.
C. Davenport says on page 776 (1900), that
he has foimd hundreds of bees carrying both
Ijollen and honey, while an Ohio professor
found bees carrying only one at a time.
Which was the more exceptional case ? The
general opinion has probably been in accord
with Mr. Davenport's view, but it is doubtful
whether many have closely observed. If it is
safe to venture an opinion, it is that careful
observation will show that the popular opin-
ion is in general the correct one. and the com-
ing season may find many to substantiate Mr.
Davenport's testimony.
Another illustration may be found by re-
ferring to pages 530 and 777 (1900). The ob-
servations of " Kip Van Winkle " do not en-
tirely agree with those of Prof. Cook, as to
the matter of scouts, and as to the reason for
clustering. The questions are Interesting,
and may possibly be of practical importance.
There is no lack of testimony that scouts are
sent out by some colonies before the act of
swarming. In apiaries where swarming is
auti<'ipaled by dividing or other means when
the condition of the colony shows that swarm-
52
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 24, 1901.
iug: is in prospect, it is not an uncoramon
thing to see a number of bees busily engragred
day after day in cleaning: out a hive contain-
ing empty combs, when as yet no swarm has
issued. But when a swarm clusters, and re-
mains clustered 12. 24. or more hours, it seems
reasonable to believe either that no scouts had
been sent out. or that their search had been
unsuccessful. The fact that bees with a vir-
gin queen are not so sure to cluster as one
with a laying queen gives color to Prof.
Cook's view that a swarm clusters to rest the
queen. On the other hand, discredit is
thrown upon that belief by the fact that in
apiaries with dipt queens it is a thing of fre-
quent occurrence for swarms to settle without
any queen. Why should they settle to rest
the queen when no queen is with them t Or
do they go on the general principle that a
queen ought to be with them, and that she
ought to be tired ?
In all these disputed matters, careful and
repeated observations made at different times
and under different circumstances will help to
general conclusions, and in the meantime it is
well to bear in mind that " bees do nothing
invariablv."
■♦
"We "Wish to Thank all who have writ-
ten us such kind letters referring to our re-
cent misfortune, occasioned by the fire on the
floors above us. Our "watered stock" is
drying out again, and soon we will be going
on as before. We feared that the old Ameri-
can Bee Journal might be delayed, or miss a
number or two, but we were able to get it out
so that our readers would scarcely know that
anything unusual had happend here.
I Weekly Budget j
SOMETIMES.
'• The hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the — "" Maybe :
But 'the hand that rocks the cradle."" sure
Is the hand that spanks the baby.
W. W. Mitchell, in Progressive Bee-Keeper.
StR. T. F. BrsGHAM, of Clare Co.. Mich.,
wrote us Jan. 4th :
"The weather is fine, and the wintering
prospect outdoors is better.'"
Mb. X. D. West, of Schoharie Co., N. T..
wrote us Jan. 3d :
" It is zero weather this morning: no snow,
good wheeling, and bees are quiet.''
The ArsTRAXASiAS Bee-Keeper is guilty
of the following:
Jogging him: " Ello. Slumpy ! Wot's de
matter wid year face and hans '. Got de
hives '."
■■So; I got de bees!"
Editor HrTCHrssos, of the Bee-Keepers"
Review, says:
■■ A pun. If a good one. is often quite en-
joyable. For instance, at the banquet held at
Niagara Falls dm-ing the Ontario convention.
There was an allusion to the green color of
the water in the rapids just below the falls,
and some curiosity exprest as to what this
color was due, when some one suggested that
it was green because it baAjant route over.''
Mr. Wm. a. Selser, of Philadelphia, we
learn in a letter from him dated Jan. 1.5th.
lost his beloved sister, by death, last month.
We had the pleasure of making her acquaiut-
ance when stopping at Mr. Selser's home a
year ago last fall, while attending the Na-
tional Convention. Among other things in
his letter, Mr. Selser says:
■• She was so helpful to me in my business:
from the very start she helpt bottle honey.
Ten years ago. when I first began the idea of
bottling, there was no end of mishaps and
drawbacks caused from lack of experience on
my part, and loss of hundreds of dollars in
little accidents from the lack of knowledge as
to how to do it right: I would become dis-
couraged, and feel like giving it up. when she
would cheer my heart with encoiu-aging
words, and take right hold and try again, and
try to show me where I was wrong. We
would work side by side with my wife and
man. week after week, to make it go. For the
first few years she did all the labeling, then as
my business increast. and I had to employ a
larger force, she took charge of the molding
of some four tons of beeswax in 1-ounce. 4-
ounce. S-ounee. and 1-pound cakes, ijacking
them in boxes made for the different sizes,
and getting them in shape to ship to my trade
in Baltimore, New York, and Boston. She
also put up a large lot of sections and frames
for my made-up hive-sales in spring and sum-
mer. And in all the years she would never
accept one cent for her services : and upon the
auniversary of her birth, when I would desire
to remember her in a substantial way, she
would say. • Now, brother, you are doing too
much for me.' Her life was one of unselfish-
ness, and the very idea of pay would take her
real pleasure out of her service.
•• The pecuniary loss is the smallest part to
me, but her bright, sunny. Christian disposi-
tion, so encouraging at every turn, will be
one that I will ever miss, and leaves a place
that never can be tilled. We laid her body
awav on Dec. "22d: her Christmas was with
Christ, the author of it. We left the New
York office to bring her home on account of
appendicitis: she was sick only six days."
In addition to our own sympathy. Mr. Selser
will have that of all the bee-keeping friends
in the departure of his sister. But his loss
must be great gain on the other side, where
only character is valued. And then there is no
little gain to those who are left behind, for
the influence of her devoted life and example
will ever remain to bless those who knew her,
and be to their memories as pleasant as the
sweet fragrance of beautiful flowers.
HoxETED Baked Apples.— Mr. A. E.
Willcutt sends us the following which he elipt
from some paper :
-■ In baking apples, honey for sweetening is
trulv delicious. Wash the apples and core
them, but do not peel : a bit of cinnamon may
be put in the holes made by removal of the
cores. Put the apples into a baking-pan,
with just enough water to cover the bottom of
the pan. When the apples are baked for 20
minutes, add the honey and baste them fre-
quently until done. For very sour apples use
a half giU of honey to every six apples.
Eaten hot or cold, with or without cream,
they are good.''
We publisht this same information several
years ago. and we were quite certain it origi-
nated with the bee-keeper who then sent it
to us.
Mr. W. L. Coggshall, of Tompkins Co,,
N. y.. writes us that it does not look very
bright for his bee-keeping in Cuba, as signs of
diseased brood are appearing. On page S-29
(1900) it was mentioned that Mr. CoggshaU
had shlpt a lot of bees to Cuba, expecting to
carrv on the business there.
Mr. J. E. Crane, of Vermont, has an arti-
cle in the Bee-Keepers' Review telling how his
bees helpt to build his beautiful home, a pict-
ure of which forms the frontispiece. He says
that when .voung he was quite an invalid, and
the doctors advised living on a farm, but he
was not able to do heavy work, nor had he
the capital to employ some one to do it for
him. No one in his locality had made a busi-
ness of bee-keeping in those days — about 40
years ago — tho some of his neighbors kept
bees, and were able to sell some honey in
good seasons. He read the lx)oks of Qtiinby
and Langstroth — there were no periodicals
devoted to bee-keeping in those days. He was
led to believe that he could sell enough honey
to employ the needed help to work on his
farm, even if he did not produce enough to
make a living at the bee-business. He began
in a small way. as all beginners should do. and
did not get a pound of surplus the first season,
as it was a very poor one. The next year his
colonies averaged 100 pounds. He then in-
creast his apiary until he had six or seven
hundred colonies all his own. He used frame
hives from the very first, and had Italian bees.
The price of honey averaged 30 cents per
pound above the cost of selling, being fully
double what it is to-day.
He thinks that more failures in bee-keeping
come from increasing too rapidly than from
any other cause. He has stuck to his bees
thru aU kinds of seasons, and believes that
they wUl pay as well, ordinarily, as any other
branch of rural industr,v. After 35 years of
work with them he is more interested than
ever. He thinks that it pays to persist in the
business rather than to sell out when a poor
year comes, or let them die. and go into some-
thing else. He realizes that many parts of
our country are unfit for keeping bees profit-
ably, the same as would apply to wheat-grow-
ing or fruit-raising, and that there is nothing
to be gained by trying to believe that bees can
be made a success everywhere. The way to
discover a good location is to investigate the
flora, and consult those who have kept bees
some years in such localities.
The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association
elected the following as its officiary for 1901,
at its meeting held at Niagara Falls last
month :
President. John Newton, of Thamesford;
1st Vice-President. J. D. Evans: 'id Vice-
President. Jas. Armstrong: Secretary. Wm.
Couse. of Streetsville: Treasurer. ^Martin
Emigh : Foul-Brood Inspector, Wm. McEvoy,
of Woodburn: Assistant Inspector, F. A.
Gemmill. of Stratford.
Woodstock. Ont.. was selected as the next
place of meeting. We learn that the last
meeting was the best ever held by the Associa-
tion. We hope soon to find room for an
epitome of at least a portion of the proceed-
Mr. G. M. Doolittle has been down in
Arkansas for several weeks, looking after a
farm in which he is interested. He expects
to be at his home in New York State again
about Feb. 1st. Among other things he says
this in a letter to us dated Jan. 12th :
" I do not see why bees ever need to die in
wintering bees here [Sebastian Co.. Ark.]. If
they have food enough, for more than one-
halt the days since I have been here have been
warm enough for them to fly. and the sun has
shone every day but two.''
Jan. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
53
ie,.3e,je,je,jfi,ss^)e,:ii,^s,jfi^ii,ji^
Convention Proceedings. \
Report of the Proceedings of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag-o, 111.,
Aug-. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from page 39.)
Pres. Root — We will next listen to the paper by George
W. York, on
HOW TO SHIP HONEY TO MARKET, AND IN WHAT
KIND OF PACKAGES.
While this subject is ever one of greatest interest to
those bee-keepers who make the production of honey a real
business, still it is also a topic on which it is almost im-
possible to say anything new — especially for me to do so.
Unquestionably, the "how" to ship honey to a distant
market is by freight, every time, and for two very impor-
tant reasons, v\i.: First, the transportation charges are
much less than by express ; and, second, the comb honey so
shipt is more likely to arrive at its destination in good
condition.
SHIPPING COMB HONEY.
In the shipping of comb honey great care must be used
in its preparation to withstand the necessary handling in
transit. Judging from personal experience, and also from
somewhat extensive observation in the Chicago market, the
only safe way in which to put up comb honey to stand
shipping successfully is first to put it into non-drip cases,
having a follower-board at the back of the sections, with
newspaper wadded up and crowded in back of the follower.
After that, the cases of honey should be placed firmly
in a large crate whose upper side-pieces extend out and be-
yond each end of the crate about six inches, to be used as
handles for carrying between two men. In the bottom of
the crate should be put a bed of straw or hay, to act as a
cushion under the honey-cases. Then, when putting the
cases in they should be so placed that the glass side of each
shows thru the crate. This will be an aid to the freight
handlers, revealing the contents, and thus suggesting care
in moving the crates.
It is not a bad thing to put hay or straw on top of the
cases before nailing the top slats on the crate, so that
should it accidentally be turned upside down, the honey
would not be injured.
But in addition to all the above care in packing comb
honey for shipping, it is also well to mark or tack on this
precautionary notice, in large letters, COMB HONEY —
HANDLE WITH CARE.
If comb honey is prepared for shipment as above
directed, precious little of it will suffer any when shipt, no
matter what the distance, nor how often it may be trans-
ferred from one railroad to another.
CAR-LOAD SHIPMENTS OF COMB HONEY.
For car-load shipments of comb honey no crates are
necessary. Simply see to it that the cases are placed solidly
in the car, in such a way that the combs are parallel with
the railroad track. This is necessary in order to avoid
breaking down of combs from the sudden starting or stop-
ping of the cars. The bumping of freight-cars is simply
an awful thing, hence every case of honey must be securely
fastened. It will do no harm to put a light bed of straw or
hay on the floor of the car before putting in the cases of
honey. Even if not really necessary as a cushion, it would
serve to keep the bottoms of the first row of cases clean.
If you wish to keep the tops of the top tier of cases neat
and clean in the car, the whole can be covered with news-
papers, or other paper, tackt down lightly. Or, what is
better, a large canvas covering can be used, and after the
honey is unloaded, this canvas can be returned by freight
to the shipper, and thus used over and over again. It pays
to keep comb-honey cases absolutely clean. We all know
how dirty and dusty one becomes when traveling even in
the comfortable upholstered passenger coaches; but how
much worse it must be in a rough old freight-car 1
SHIPPING EXTRACTED HONEY.
It will not be necessary to say much on the shipping of
extracted honey. Simply put it up in good 60-pound tin
cans, two in a box, and send it off to market by freight.
Now, I know there are some large and most excellent
producers of extracted honey who prefer to use wooden
barrels for holding and shipping their honey. No doubt
that is all right/or litem, but I don't advise it. Of course,
I am not going to try to compel them to use tin cans if they
prefer wooden barrels. I would simply say, I believe that
perhaps three-fourths of all the extracted honey produced
in this country is now shipt in tin cans ; and I further be-
lieve that withiti ten years practically all of it will be put
up in such packages.
I have no doubt that the barrel has the advantage of
cheapness, and is also more easily rolled around than two
square cans in a box. But for a strong tendency to spring
a leak, and for a miserable job of digging out candied
honej', you always can count on the barrel.
For reliquefying, for selling in uniform single-package
amounts, for nearly every desirable thing one wants to do
with extracted honey, I always commend the 60-pound tin
can.
Now, I believe I have not offered one new idea in this
whole paper. But it's not my fault. I didn't solicit the
job of writing it It was forced upon me — likely to fill out
the program, or because somebody else declined the stupen-
dous honor (?). But no matter now just why I was prest
into service for this special occasion. The subject, as well
as the paper, is before you for discussion. Both are war-
ranted to take in meek submission whatever you may feel
disposed to administer. George W. York.
Pres. Root — You have the paper before you : now is the
opportunity for discussion. On the suggestion of some one
the discussion yesterday and the day before on this subject
was deferred till after the reading of Mr. York's paper.
Now is the time to discuss all these things.
W. J. Pickard — Two years ago I shipt 250,000 pounds of
honey in barrels. I did not have any loss : I got paid for
the same amount of honey that I shipt ; but this year I was
advised by our old friend, Mr. York, to use cans. We have
used cans to our regret and sorrow. We filled a can to get
ready to send away and found it bursted on the bottom and
running all over the floor. Or, we would get a can full and
get ready to send it away, and find a nail hole on the top
or side ; all these things we have had. Fill a good barrel
with honey and roll it off into a corner and it is sure to be
there the next day. We paid about 90 cents for cans ; we
use a barrel that will hold 350 pounds for 90 cents. It takes
a small boy to roll a barrel, and takes a man to handle two
60-pound cans.
C. A. Hatch — I have used honey-cans almost every year,
and I have used barrels also ; and I have lived in the same
county that Mr. Pickard has workt in nearly all my life. I
have had more loss in one season with barrels than I ever
did in all my experience with cans. I have had 350-pound
barrels of honey, the head drop out, and the whole con-
tents run out into a man's wagon-box so it was all lost. The
first intimation he had of any disaster was that his feet
and lines were wallowing around in honey.
Mr. Taylor — Difference in location I
Mr. Hatch — It isn't the location ; I have filled cans from
Wisconsin, Arizona, California and Colorado, all the same,
from one end of the country to the other. I endorse every
word that has been said by Mr. York, but laying all jokes
aside, there is this condition about the two packages: If
you have a good cooper and know just where j'ou can get
your barrels at a reasonable price, and know you can de-
pend on them, the honev that goes to bakers and manufac-
turers should be put in barrels; but if you want it for re-
tail grocers" trade, you can't beat the can. We have to
study our market and find out how honey is consumed, and
then put the honey in the package that the market de-
mauds, no matter what our opinion is. It was said you
have to pay 90 cents for cans ; that must be a mistake ; the
cost is about -'4 cent per pound if put in new cans, and
about a half a cent if put into barrels. Let me tell you an
experience I had with barrels. There was a cooper running
a large manufacturing establishment near me, and the man
I had been getting my barrels from moved away, and I
thought that as long as I could get barrels from that cooper
I was all right, but in this case I had to get new barrels, so
I told him to send me a sample of his difterent kinds of bar-
rels that he thought would do for shipping honey. There
was one that I thought I would measure and estimate what
it would hold, and so I commenced pouring in water at the
54
AMERICAN BEE IOUj?NAL
Jan. 24, 1901.
pump. I poured and poured; thinks I, that holds an awful
sight of water. I thought I would examine it, and I went
around the barrel and there it was coming out in a big flat
stream as fast as I could pour it in ; and, mind you, that
was a sample, not regular stock. If that was the case with
samples, what would his regular goods be ? Only last year
I bought five-gallon cans and on taking .some of those to
market one of them fell down and I lost nearly one-half,
besides it daubed the wagon-box and all the other cans.
Mr. Pickard — I wish to call the gentlemen to order.
He has his face from me, and I can't tell what he is saying.
Take the platform and then we can all hear.
Mr. Hatch — I have said just about all I had to say, any
way : but the trouble with Mr. Pickard this year is, he got
a few second-hand cans. It must have been some fault in
his management of those cans ; I filled many more than he
did this year out of the same lot, and I had to solder only
four or five, and found one rusted on the side so it would
leak. Let me tell you a little experience of a friend of
mine in loading barrels. We had some 3S(Vpound barrels ;
two men were handling them and were getting one of them
up into the wagon, and the end of the barrel slipt and came
down and took the end of his finger off ; he couldn't do that
with a can. Another time, I myself was hauling honey to
the city of Winona ; I was delivering a 350-pound barrel in
an express-wagon. Crossing the railroad-track ahead of an
engine, it tipt over and caught me between the edge of the
seat and the barrel ; if I had not been in a square position,
my arm would have been broken ; as it was, I had to carry
my arm in a sling a day or two. Every time you handle a
barrel with a lot of honey, you have to cooper it. Mr. Pick-
ard has just said if you rolled it up in the corner you would
find it there in the morning. If you take it to the depot,
you have to cooper it over before it goes on the car ; when
the man gets it in Chicago, he has to cooper it over un-
less he puts it in a damp room ; if he takes it from a damp
room and puts it in a dry room, he has to cooper it over ; it
needs constant watching. If you have cans and put them
in there, they are there to stay until the market takes the
honey oft' your hands.
F. Wilcox — It is hardly a question of location. Mr.
Pickard, Mr. Hatch and myself are practically in the same
field — from the same place. Mr. Hatch has said about
what I intended to say, so I merely agree with him. What
I want to say is on the question of market. If the honey
is to go to the wholesale buyers, like the National Biscuit
Co., use small barrels and half-barrels ; it gives them the
best satisfaction. But if it is to be consumed by the gro-
cers, by all means I would have five-gallon cans, or small
ones, and for reasons which have already been given. The
reason for using barrels is that they are cheaper : it costs
from 20 to 30 cents per 100 pounds of honey for half-bar-
rels, and from 60 to 65 cents for cans ; that difference alone
makes all the difference between a profit and a loss when
buying and selling honey ; and you also sometimes have a
loss by having the honey soak into the wood. I prefer to
have barrels painted ; paint them, then the honey may not
ooze out in warm weather thru the pores.
N. E. France — I don't want to bother with tin cans.
Both Mr. Hatch and Mr. Pickard appreciate the tin can in its
place. I want to call attention to barrel cooperage. Unfor-
tunately, too much of our barrel cooperage has not been
properly done, and again, unfortunately, the masses of the
bee-keepers spoil that cooperage by soaking it up before
putting the honey in it. I have barreled my honey for over
20 years without five pounds of loss over that whole time.
In order to make a barrel that is tight, we must kiln-dry
the timber; then have iron hoops that we can "drive
home," and then keep it dry. This year in the same county
where these two gentlemen are living, I found a man with
27 barrels of honey, and to my surprise he said, "What is
the reason that I can not make my barrels hold ?" I found
that he poured boiling water in the barrel before filling
with honey, and then after filling it rolled it into the sun,
and I don't wonder the staves all fell down as quickly as it
got daylight. I buy my barrels in the winter, kiln-dried,
and put them in a dry room, and just before filling dry
them again until they are thoroly dry, and I will warrant
those barrels anywhere. Whether you use barrels or cans
depends upon the market ; each has its place.
Mr. Pickard — Mr. Hatch seems to think he has had a
great many mishaps, cutting off his fingers, and toes, and
one thing and another, letting his barrels fall. Last year
I handled between six and seven carloads of honey, and
never lost a pound by any such accident ; I never lost any
honey in shipment ; everything seemed to be all right ;
barrels are a great deal cheaper and easier to handle. I un- |
loaded some honey last week at our depot in 60-pound cans.
I had to go right down and take the honey and lift it up
bodily from the platform. I wisht Mr. Hatch had been
there to lift them. Had I had it in barrels I could have rolled
them right out. I would like to ask Mr. Hatch, Who buys
our honey ? Where does it go ? Where does the honey of
the world go — to the table? I don't find it so. I find our
honey goes to the manufacturer. My experience with what
manufacturers I have known, is that they want it in bar-
rels. I was in a factory not long ago and said to the mana-
ger. Which way would you rather have it, in barrels or
cans ? He said, "Barrels ; with them I can roll it right out."
I wouldn't give you a cent a can for honey ; barrels are
cheaper, and, as Mr. France saj's, if you keep water out of
barrels you won't have any leakage.
D. H. Coggshall — In our vicinity, the last ten years,
we used kegs, and get good ones ; we don't want any second-
hand kegs. They hold 210 pounds. Now we get them
hoopt with flat wooden hoops, 12 on a keg. We got our
kegs last February for this year ; they are scattered around,
most of them, in our different outhouses.' We drive those
hoops thoroly before we put the honey in, and don't have
any leaking to amount to anything ; we ship these kegs
and are bothered hardly any, and it is a half a cent a pound
less expense than it is to put it in cans, and we can sell
it for just about the same price. Our New York market,
for manufacturing purposes, wouldn't give us any more
for it in cans than thej' would in' the kegs, which are made
of white poplar, as I understand it. They are thoroly put
up in every respect.
Mr. Moore — My experience in this respect has not been
very satisfactory. I notice there isn't any certainty that
there would be no loss either in barrels or kegs. I know
Mr. York told me he got a can the other day that had only
about 10 pounds of honey in it when it arrived. It is well
known that the Dadants are among the heaviest honey-
producers of this country. They state practically what Mr.
France did. that barrels are absolutely certain with them
if absolutely kiln-dried and well coopered.
Mr. Hatch — I would like to ask Pres. Root what kind
of packages their customers prefer ?
Pres. Root — I can't say what kind of packages they pre-
fer ; a few years ago it seemed to be barrels, and now it is
coming more and more in cans. My o%vn personal experi-
ence has been more favorable with cans. The first year of
foul brood with us dates back to leaky cans. The cans
came on the train, and before we could get them off, the
honey leakt down on the car and about two weeks after
that foul brood started in our apiary. That would not be
an argument against cans.
H. N. Chandler — I have had considerable experience
with tin cans. I would advise those going to use tin cans
not to use second-hand ones. [Applause.] If you use sec-
ond-hand cans, and lose one can of honey, you have lost
enough to pay for the difference between quite a number of
second-hand cans and new ones. We tried second-hand
cans and lost more in one year than would have paid for
the difference between second-hand cans and new cans for
five years ; I put up 400 or 500 cans a year.
J. A. Green — I want to count myself among the barrel
men. One after another has made most of the points I
expected to speak on. I will say that my experience
has been, with Mr. France and others, that the barrel is al-
most absolutely certain, while I lost considerable honey in
filling new cans, and from honey that vras shipt to us in
tin cans. There is one barrel that hasn't been spoken of,
the hard-wood barrel that Mr. Dadant has used for years ; it
is a second-hand alcohol barrel. You can get them at al-
most any drug-store; they come in two sizes, one holding
about 350 pounds and the other about 550. Of course, it de-
pends upon j'our market ; my market demands, or at least
will take just as readily, those large barrels. When I get
an order for a barrel I send one of those 550 pound barrels
that cost me SI. 00 or SI. 50 apiece. If they have not been
kept a long time in a perfectly dry place, put them in the
sun and then tighten the hoops. Somebody said you could
not use barrels in Colorado, the climate is too dry. That is
what you want ; put the barrel in the sun where it will get
perfectly dry, then drive down the hoops and fasten them,
and you have something that will hold.
Mr. Dunne — Old alcohol barrels are coated with glue,
and is the glue any detriment to the honey ?
Mr. Chandler — I think it is shellac.
Mr. Dunne — No, it is glue.
Mr. Chandler — I used to wax the barrels inside, or use
paraffine, but late years I have not done it.
Mr. Moore — Mv brother has used alcohol barrels for a
Jan. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
55
number of years, and I heard him speak in terms of com-
■mendation of them. If well coopered they will hold almost
anything- ; I never heard him say a word against them.
Mr. France — While I was down at Mr. Dadant's, I ex-
amined those alcohol barrels ; I thought I would try them
next year for a small portion of my honey, as a large por-
tion of it was going to consumers; but unfortunately I
could not get alcohol barrels so clean but what there would
be a little of the alcohol flavor to it ; therefore I discarded
them. I want new packages for honey.
Mr. Hershiser — One other barrel that hasn't been
spoken of yet I think is a good barrel ; it is the barrel that
is used by the glucose manufacturers ; they use a basswood
barrel, holding 650 to 800 pounds. I have used only a few
of these barrels, but I find they are excellent for the pur-
pose ; they are paraffined inside ; I used second-hand bar-
rels only. In almost every large city where glucose is
manufactured, I think they can be had from the manufac-
turers at verj' reasonable prices. There is another pack-
age that I saw in a manufacturing establishment in Buf-
falo ; it came from Wisconsin. I don't know the producer
of the honey that came in those packages, but they were
like a candy-pail filled with honey, and had the head put
in and the honey was candied. I think that was a very
nice package; it would hold. I should think, about .SO pounds.
Kow, while I am up, I would like to ask if those basswood
barrels used by Mr. France are paraffined inside ?
Mr. Wilcox — I just want to say, I am sorry to see it go
upon record that any member of this convention recom-
mends the use of glucose barrels ; glucose barrels filled with
honey and sent to any market in the world would excite a
suspicion that they had had glucose in, emptied and re-
filled. I would not use a glucose barrel myself or any
sj'rup barrel, because all syrup so far as I know, is mixt
with glucose ; therefore I would not buy syrup barrels un-
der any circumstances whatever.
Mr. France — In reply to Mr. Hershiser, I will say that
I was askt at one of our conventions if I waxt the barrels,
and my reply was no.
Mr. Abbott — I want to suggest the question. Are we
not losing sight of a certain market for our honey ? I have
not heard any remarks on it at all, as I was out during
part of your discussion. I have not heard anything said
about honey for the home trade. I handle a great deal of
honey during the year ; but I would no more think of sell-
ing to any of my customers honey out of a wooden pack-
age than I would think of selling it to them out of a vine-
gar barrel. Honey, to me, is wholly unfit if it has been in
wood at all. I don't know of any way to get honey out of
wood without injury; if you scrape it out, you will scrape
the wood ; it is always filled more or less with sediment. I
notified the Dadants if they ever send me honey in a wooden
package there won't anj' more honey come into Missouri
addrest to E. T. Abbott, because I do not want it ; I cater
to fancy consumers, and I can't use that kind of honey at
all. Just now I am using bottles. I am just hunting for
somebody that has nice, bright, ripe honey in clean, new
cans, where I won't have to pick out the dead bees and
pieces of old comb, and strain all sorts of things out —
sometimes pieces of cob-pipes and plugs of tobacco, and
various other objectionable features. It is all true ; I have
had that kind of experience, and I simply ask you now.
Wouldn't it pay 3'ou better if the large producers would ca-
ter a little more to this trade ? We people who do not pro-
duce honey, but sell a great deal of it to consumers, will
find you a market for your honey if you give it to us in the
right shape. , I remember, not a great while ago, I got
some honey from a prominent bee-keeper in Iowa ; he sent
it down to me in some rusty, nasty, stinking looking cans,
and it made me sick to look at the cans, much less at the
honey. I strained bees' wings out of it, and all sorts of
stuff, and had to sell it at less price than I gave for it in or-
der to get rid of it ; it came from a prominent bee-keeper, a
man who writes for the l)ee-papers, and thinks himself an
authority. I can't sell that kind of honey. I am not say-
ing this to take sides in favor of barrels or cans ; I am tell-
ing you what we want. Will you not remember us when
you are putting up your honey ? We don't want any honey
in barrels, or anj' kind of wooden package ; we want it in
nice, clean, new tin cans.
(Secretary — Pretty good advertisement for Mr. Abbott,
and for producers, too.)
Continued next week.)
I Contributed Articles, l
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work
ing for. Look at them.
Rearing Queens in Early Spring— Some Advice.
BY G. M. nOOI,ITTI,E.
A CORRESPONDENT writes as follows: "Will you
please tell us thru the columns of the American Bee
Journal how early in the spring we can commence
to rear queens, taking the stage of advancement in drone-
rearing as a guide ? In other words, if we commence to
rear queens when we see larva- in drone-cells, will drones
from that larv;t be on hand to meet the queens when they
are ready ? If so, in this way we can tell just when it will
do to commence queen-rearing, no matter whether we are
located in Canada or Florida."
If the correspondent, or any one else, uses any of the
plans by which larva; from 24 to 36 hours old are given to
the bees from which to rear queens, said queens will per-
fect and emerge from their cells in from 11 to 12 days from
the time the cells are started, as a rule, for, by an experi-
ence covering a period of 30 years I find the average time,
taking the seasons as they come, and the season from early
spring- to late fall, for a queen, is three days in the egg
form, nearly six days in the larval form, and seven days in
the chrysalis, making a period of nearly 16 days from the
time the egg is laid to the time the young queen emerges
from her cell. Very warm weather will hasten the develop-
ment during all stages, to a slight extent ; while very cool
weather, or inactivity with the bees, as in the fall of the
year, retards this development. I have never known this
development to be hastened to a greater degree than hav-
ing the queens emerge from their cells in IS days ; but I
have had it so retarded in the fall of the year, especially
where queens were reared in upper stories, that they did
not emerge from their cells, or become fully mature, till 20
days from the time the egg was laid by the mother queen.
But, as I said before, about 16 days is the rule, and it is one
which can be depended upon in nine cases out of ten.
Then, as a rule, the young queen does not go out to
meet the drone till she is from six to eight days old, seven
and one-half days being about the average during the sum-
mer months, so we have the time as being not far from 17
to 20 days from the starting to rear queens to the time they
would naturally fly out to meet the drones, where every-
thing is favorable. Occasionallj' a queen will fly from the
hive, evidently in search of drones, when from four to five
days old ; and I have known them to be 28 days old before
becoming fertile, but in nine cases out of ten queens are
fertilized when from seven to eight days old, when the
weather is favorable.
If the above is correct, and I believe it is, then it will
be seen that we shall want flying or mature drones in 17
days, at least, from the time we start our queen-cells.
I have not as carefully observed the time of the matur-
ing of drones as I have that of the queens, but from the ob-
servations I have made along this line, I find that the
drone is in the egg and larval form about In days, or one
day longer than the workers, and about 14 days in the
chrysalis form, making a period of about 24 daj-s from the
time the egg is laid to the emerging drone.
From six to eight days after the drone emerges from
the cell it goes out for its first flight, to void excrement,
mark its location, etc., similar to what the worker-bees do,
which is called their first play-spell, during which they
mark their location also. After this first flight they go
out every pleasant day from 12 to 3 o'clock, p. m., to meet
the queens, if they are to be found, so that we have about
32 to 34 days from the time the queen lays the eggs in the
cells for the drones, to the time they are ready to meet the
queens. Therefore, as we had from 17 to 20 days from the
time we commenced to rear queens to the time the queens
would go out to meet the drones, it will be seen that the
drone-eggs should be laid 17 days, at least, before we start
to rear queens, and this would bring the time to where the
drone-brood would have to be sealed from six to seven days.
Of late years I never commence to rear queens until
plenty of sealed drone-brood appears in ray drone-rearing
colonies. Usually, I wait longer than this, the rule which
I adopt being, not to commence to rear queens till the eyes
of the chrysalis drone commence to change from the white
56
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 24, 1901.
color of said chrysalis while in its first stages, to the pur-
ple color of its later stage.
And now pardon a word regarding very early queen-
rearing. Mj' advice is, don't do it, unless you are willing
to treat the colony rearing them in a similar way to which
a king treats a new-born heir to the throne, for any neglect
on your part will almost surely result in very inferior
queens. Very early queen-rearing generally results very
unsatisfactorily in this locality, as the colonies used for
this purpose have to be petted and pampered, by way of
feeding, often in very unsuitable weather for the breeder
to be out in : carried indoor on cold nights, so as to keep up
the desired temperature, etc., while the colonies used for
this purpose are very much retarded, about building up,
and the queens do not come up to the standard of perfec-
tion, unless the care of an old veteran is used in seeing
that all the requisites of a perfect development are pres-
ent, which is well nigh-impossible, in this locality, during
March, April, and the first half of May. June, July and
August are the months, during which the rank and file can
rear good queens with the least trouble here at the North.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
What is Meant By "Cooling Beeswax Slowly?"
BY F. GRKINER.
IT will now seem as tho all the difl'erence that existed on
the matter of how to produce nice yellow wax will be
laid by, or at least as soon as we fully understand the
meanings of the terms used. I do not think there would
have been any difference at all had it been clearly defined
where the cooling is to commence and where to end. An
illustration of the status would be this:
The little mountain stream passing by my house an-
swers many of the purposes of the city water-works. We
use this water for washing, rinsing, etc. When I catch a
pailful of this water I can notice particles of foreign mat-
ter, perhaps soil, vegetable matter, etc., in it, and I have
found out, by experiences, if I give the water a little time
all visible particles will settle down to the bottom of the
pail. Along comes a gentleman from another clime.
"Nonsense," he says ; "after the water has become solid,
no amount of cooling will cause any of those impurities to
settle. It will remain just as it is forever." And he is
right, perfectly right. All the difference is, I was experi-
menting with "liquid water, and the other gentleman had
the frozen article in his mind. As soon as we find out what
the other means we agree perfectly.
Beeswax "freezes" at a much higher temperature than
water, but that does not alter the case any. Particles of
dirt or other substances can not settle any more after it has
become solid. I don't think any person of sense had ex-
pected it, even should the cooling process be carried to the
greatest extreme. In this respect frozen water and frozen
wax behave exactly alike.
In my 25 years' experience as a bee-keeper it has hap-
pened at least several times that I have melted up wax.
With my facilities I never have been able to melt a batch
without its coming to the boiling-point. This is exactly
the point where the cooling commences, with me. I have
explained a number of times in other papers how this cool-
ing (slowly) should be managed. The impurities in the wax
must have time to settle while the latter is in a melted and
quiet state. I consider the cooling process ended when the
wax solidifies, altho my idea may not be exprest properly.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
Naturally Built Combs, vs. Comb Foundation
—A Reply.
BY C. P. DADANT.
IT is only since my return home from Europe that I have
noticed the two articles of Mr. Deacon, of South Africa,
publisht August 16th and 23d, 1900, in reply to some ar-
ticles from me publisht in 1897. I had concluded to allow a
similar length of time to elapse, between his notes and my
next reply, as were put between our former discussions ;
but some of our friends seem to be impatient for a word
from me.
I will leave aside the very important facts that the use
of comb foundation secures straight combs and worker-
combs exclusively, altho all who have tried these matters
know the importance of them, and Mr. B. A. Hodsell, on
page 630 (1900) has already fully covered these points.
Mr. Deacon lays great stress on Simmins' experiments-
as to the cost of beeswax to the bees. I must acknowledge
that if I had ever read of these experiments I had forgotten
them. But they seem to me to be faulty from the start.
Mr. Simmins experimented with a swarm weighing three
pounds, but does not seem to have taken into account the
quantity of honey those bees had in their honey-sacks
when hived. Bees that swarm, or that are disturbed and
transferred from one hive to another, always gorge them-
selves with honey to the utmost, and in the case of this ex-
periment must have been so loaded. He figures that it
took 12 4-S pounds of honey for one pound of wax, and then
goes on and deducts the quantity of honey that was con-
sumed by the bees. I can not see the wisdom of this.
Surely, bees must live while they build combs, and the cost
of their board should be reckoned in the total cost.
If we figure up the cost of an article that we produce,
we should count up our board while we are producing it,
together with other expenses. So, in my mind, the 12 4-5-
pounds is nearer the right amount than the 6 2-S which he
gives as correct, while still estimating the actual amount
at even less.
Mr. Simmins is not the only man who has made experi-
ments concerning the cost of wax. Huber, a Swiss, found
that nearly 20 pounds were needed. Berlepsch. a German,
made it from 11 to 20 pounds, according to circumstances.
Since that time experiments have been tried over and over,
and the lowest report I remember, made on a practical test,
with bees in freedom, was made by Mr- Viallon, an Ameri-
can, with two swarms of equal weight ; but he forgot ta
take into account the amount of honey spent for the brood
reared by the hive to which full combs were given, when
comparing with the swarm that had to build the combs,
and yet he put the amount at 7 to 8 pounds. The quantity
would probably have been raised to the general average of
11 or 12 pounds had he taken the brood-rearing into consid-
eration.
Authorities confirm the high cost of comb. Prof. Cook
says that his own experiments confirm Huber's test of 20'
pounds being needed. T. W. Cowan (English) puts it at
13 to 20. Cheshire (English) says it takes "many pounds."
The assertion that wax secreted is wasted when foun-
dation is furnisht, does not hold together. Bees do secrete
a little wax when the crop is abundant, and they always
have good use for it, for no one ever can furnish them foun-
dation in such shape that they can fill every part of every
comb. Any bee-keeper who uses foundation has seen where
they put the wax secreted, for it is whiter than the other.
There are always plenty of nooks and corners to fill, and
combs to seal. But when there are no combs at all, we all
know that they have to hang in festoons and remain idle,
probably because they must wait till the honey is digested
and the wax is secreted, and because there is no room for
more honey till some comb is built. So does the queen lose
time, when they are hived upon empty frames, and they
have to build combs before she can lay.
Mr. D. makes a play on words about the expression
"drawing out" the foundation. He implies that we mean
that the bees get behind each other, and, pulling at each
other's jacket, thus stretch the foundation, by pulling on it.
But he surely knows what we all understand by these
words. I use them because everybody does, and we all
know that the bees manipulate the wax with their man-
dibles, and that it is quickly done. A comb of foundation
given to a strong colony in the evening will often be all
drawn out and eggs laid in it by morning. Are they not
also always remodeling their naturally built combs?
When combs are whitened, at the beginning of a harvest,
it is very difficult to tell just where the bees began, and we
can see that they have remodeled a portion of the old comb
to mix the new wax with it.
Mr. Deacon denies my assertion of the Americans being
practical, and says that they "take an amazingly long
time to realize the uselessness of a thing." I must say
that in the matter of comb foundation even the all-wise
Britishers are also apparently deluding themselves, for, be-
sides what they make, they import thousands of pounds of
this useless foundation into Great Britain. They are badly
in need of a few arguments from our South African friend.
But this manner of denying the correctness of progress,
after so long a time, reminds me of the French editor
Hamet, who, 20 years after the invention of the movable-
frame hive, still persisted in calling it "a puppet show,"
and the honey-extractor "a useless toy."
And as to the practical tact of our Americans, I feel
Jan. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
57
free to speak of it, being- a foreigner myself, by birth.
The honey-extractor, the bee-smoker, the much-abused
foundation, are all European inventions, but take the bee-
journals of 25 years ago, and see who took hold and im-
proved and made these thing's practical and put them to
use. Americans, of course. The Europeans only follovped.
JHancock Co., 111.
^ The Afterthought. ^ |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio.
THINK NEITHER HONEY NOR SUGAR CAUSED IT.
That life-insurance doctor on page 809, he was presum-
ably wrong in crediting sugary urine to the consumption
of honey. Moreover (altho a defiance of authorities, and
possibly a sad mistake of mine), I will go further and
make a pretty decided statement of my private opinion
that neither sugar nor honey had anything to do with it.
Pestilent old-grannyism has not all been eliminated from
medical practice yet : and I doubt whether the present war-
fare against sweets is any better founded than the warfare
of 60 years ago against drinking water. At that time al-
most any patient could be depended upon to die if he suc-
ceeded (by bribery or otherwise) in getting a cool drink of
water.
A THREE-SCORE-AND-FOUR BEE-KEEPER.
Most of us will have to take oS our hats and make a
bow to Dr. Besse, with his 64 years of continuous bee-keep-
ing. We can't even fib about it when the boys all kno%v
that our cradles are not yet 64 years back. And the boy
who earns a hive of bees this summer, and continues in the
business 64 years, what sort of hive and manipulation will
he arrive at A. D. 1965 ? Page 811.
TONGUE MEASUREMENTS VS. HONEY-STOKAGE.
Anent the paper of J. M. Rankin, of the Michigan Ag-
ricultural College, I will confess that I have felt all along
strong suspicions that dissecting bees and measuring their
tongues was a deceptive and unreliable way of getting at
things. I had a sort of idea that length depended much on
the amount of injection with blood and other fluids inci-
dent to life, and that cutting the member off would, of
course, let all fluids loose, that there would necessarily be
contraction, and that the amount of the contraction would
not be at all uniform — temperature, length of time the bee
had been dead, and other things, playing bewildering roles.
May be I'm wrong. Don't want to be out of fashion. The
idea is in the air, — breed from bees whose tongues meas-
ure high. Measurement, if it is even approximately reli-
able, is much more to the point than honey-storage. The
latter is almost hopelessly fortuitous, except to long and
skilled experiment, while the former gives us something to
go by a/ once if we want to improve our bees. Get the
tongues, and sooner or later the tongues will get the honey.
The way the publisht lengths agree with the honey-stor-
ing reputation of the colony seems to be reassuring. But
the mitlinietcrs are rather grinding to us. Few of us have
any mental picture within as to how short meters or how
long meters they may happen to be. I'll come to my own
rescue and yours by figuring out that the best 240-pounder
bees were snouted up to over 23 hundredths of an inch,
while the j-ellow 135 pounders scored less than 20 hun-
dredths— the exact figures being .236 plus and .197 minus,
respectively. Strikes me %ve have had but few publisht meas-
urements of this sort to beat .236. And .197 is not a bad
measure. Page 812.
SEEING ALL OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
"In all probability very few now living will see all of
the 20th century." Editorial, page 819. Tut. tut, dear
George W. ! That's not the way to talk it. To defeat the mi-
crobes and add 50 years or more to average human life,
is not half so wonderful a triumph — not half so wonderful
a medical triumph — as some the nineteenth century won for
us. Don't start out by telling us that the twentieth cen-
tury must, of course, do less.^
Mr. 0. 0. Poppleton, of Florida.
We are pleased to be able to present on our front page
this week a most excellent picture of O. O. Poppleton, of
Dade Co.. Fla. He was born near Green Springs, Ohio,
June 8, 1843. In 1855 he removed to Chickasaw Co., Iowa,
where he lived until 1887, when he went to Florida, on ac-
count of his health. Excepting about two years at Oberlin
Collee^e his education was obtained in the common schools.
In October, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the 7th Iowa
Infantry, and re-enlisted as a veteran in 1863. In Febru-
ary, 1864, he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and a few
months later was made regimental adjutant. While per-
forming his duties overwork resulted in eye-trouble, which
has seriously affected his health ever since. After the war
he went to farming in Iowa, and married a Miss Groom,
who died 12 years later, leaving him two daughters.
Dec. 6, 1881, he married Mrs. Mattie Herrick, of Ft.
Wayne, Ind. On account of poor health and the very se-
vere Iowa winters, they went to Florida during the cold
seasons for several years, where they found the change of
climate, with outdoor living, greatly improved his health.
When first married he was given a colony of bees in a
box-hive. It so happened that in the winter of 1869 he be-
came acquainted with a bee-paper that is now extinct. He
was very much interested in it, and very soon obtained all
the literature on bees he could find, thus learning that
there was a better way of handling bees than in box-hives.
He soon obtained movable-frame hives, and in a year or so
had quite an apiary, which, in common with many others,
was almost destroyed by bad wintering in northern Iowa.
But the use of chaff-hives removed this trouble for the fu-
ture. On account of such poor health he made no effort to
do a large business with bees, but kept from 75 to ISO col-
onies, spring count, and devoted himself almost exclusively
to the production of extracted honey. For the last ten
years that he lived in Iowa his annual crop averaged 110
pounds per colony.
More than 25 years ago he discovered the value of chaff
as a winter protection for bees. He also invented the solar
wax-extractor about the same time. For several years he
was vice-president of the National Bee-Keepers' Associ-
ation, president of the Iowa State Association, and honor-
ary member of the Michigan Association. He has ever
been a careful observer, doing his own thinking and ad-
hering to plans which he had found successful.
Over ten years ago Mr. Poppleton kept bees for two
years in Cuba, the Dussag apiary in his charge containing
from 400 to 500 colonies. During the winter of 1888-89, 398
colonies gave a crop of 52,000 pounds of extracted honey, or
about 130 pounds per colony— a larger gross yield from one
locality, but less average yield per colony, than has been
frequent with him both in Iowa and Florida.
On removing to Florida in December, 1889, and looking
over the situation, he decided to practice migratory bee-
keeping, keeping his bees at what is now his home in Dade
Co., on the banksof the St. Lucie River, from October to June,
and at Hawk's Park from June to October. His home was
the best winter location, while at Hawk's Park was the
best-known field for black mangrove in the State. The
two locations were about 150 miles apart by water, and the
bees were moved on lighters drawn by steam-tugs. His
losses in all this moving were no colonies at all, about one-
half dozen combs broken down, and a few dead bees in
some of the hives. The four seasons he kept bees in this
way gave him average yields per colony, spring count —
273, 291, 82, and 300 pounds. The mangrove was frozen
down so badly in the winter of 1H94-9S that he has changed
the location "of his bees to a place 35 miles north of his
present home— a location with some black mangrove, but
much inferior to what Hawk's Park v^as before the freeze.
His average yield since 1894 has been some over 100 pounds
per colony — about the same as he used to get in northern
Iowa.
Owing to the poor health which drove him to Florida,
Mr. Poppleton has not tried to do a large business, but has
kept only bees enough to give him a fair living. He also
58
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 24, 1901.
has a small patch of pineapple, giving from 25 to 100 bar-
rels of fruit annually. He will increase the acreage of
this fruit in the near future.
CZ- Mr. Poppleton's wife died about five 5'ears ago. His
remaining family is a married daughter and her two child-
ren living in Florida, about 70 miles north of where Mr.
Poppleton's home is in Dade County : he has also an unmar-
ried daughter living near his old home in Iowa, taking care
of her aged grandfather.
Referring to his migratory bee-keeping and methods
employed, Mr. Poppleton wrote us as follows:
MIGRATOKT BEE-KEEPIXG WITH A GiSOLIXE LALXCH.
Movinj^ bees on the water has been a favorite method since ancient
times wherever migratory bee-keeping was practiced. Nearly all the
different kinds of boats known have been in use for that purpose. Of
late years a favorite plan has been on li,»rhters lowed by steam-tugs.
These are all right if one could always secure them just when needed.
Some {use sailboats, which are quite cheap to use. but quite uncertain
and unsatisfactory. I have used both methods within the past ten
years, but found them faulty for the reasons given.
About two years ago I had built for me the launch ■■ Thelma."
probably the first gasoline-power boat in America that was designed
and built especially for general apiary work, such as moving bees from
one location to another, carrying honey to the railroad, going from one
apiary to another, etc. .She is 2* feet long. i> feet S inches beam, and is
\ Questions and Answers. ^
Introducing Queens— Supers on in Winter.
1. Will it do to introduce queens during the winter
j months where the old ones are too old to be of any use, or
where the queen has died and left no brood ? I am a be-
I ginner, have 30 colonies, and fear that there are some that
I need new queens.
2. The.v are outdoors, but all have double hives packt
with dry leaves all around. I left the supers on all that
are partly tilled with combs, as I have no place to keep
them. Have I done right ? If not, what shall I do ?
K.\XSAS.
An'SWERS. — 1. Better not do anj-thing about introducing
queens till spring. It will be very hard for you to tell now
whether a colony has a queen or not. for there will be on
brood in the hive in most cases, even with the best of queens,
and you maj' lose queens by trying to introduce
now.
2. They are probably all right so far as the
bees are concerned. But if you mean you have
left on supers with partly tilled sections, it will
be rather rough on the sections. They will
likely be darkened too much for tirst-class sec-
tions. But it will be hardly wise to disturb them
now.
A Question on a Honey-Deal.
Mr. Poppleton's Gasoline Launch "Thelma."
driven by a 3 horse-power ■• Globe " electric gasoline engine. She is
what is known locally as a •' Skipjack " model, giving for a boat of
that size a low and large floor space, some SO square feet of the latter
aside from the engine space. She will carry at a time about three tons
of honey, or about 60 colonies of bees in single-story Langstroth hives.
Her speed is about six miles an hour on an all-day's run. The engine-
power is smaller in proportion to the size of boat than any other boat
I know of. To have put in the next larger size of engine would have
cost .*300 more, first cost, and 50 percent more per mile to run. and
added not to exceed "35 percent to the speed. It costs about 2' j' cents
per mile to run for gasoline, electricity, and oil. or less than the aver-
age railroad fare for one person. At least 20 people can ride in the
boat at one time with comfort.
The picture of the boat shown herewith was taken last summer at
Fort Pierce, while on my road home from Indian River Inlet with a
load of bees.
The boat can also be used for pleasure-trips. Within the past
month a nephew and niece from Ohio were visiting me,
and the three of us spent nearly two weeks in cruising a hundred miles
down the coast and back, stopping along as we pleased, to hunt. fish,
view tropical scenery, etc. "O'e had a gasoline stove, cooking utensils,
dishes, and beds, in the boat, and made it our home while gone.
The boat is iiuite a different model from any other heretofore in
these waters, but has been so generally successful for an all-purpose
boat that already one other has been built of the same style, and
others soon will be. It would be very unpleasant for me now. if I
should have to go back to the use of a sailboat or hired steam-tugs.
Dade Co.. Fla., Dec. 18. 1900. O. O. Poppletos.
"We might add in concluding this sketch of Mr. Popple-
ton, that we have had a personal acquaintance with him for
some years, and count him as one of the best in all beedom.
"VS'e have often tried to get him to contribute regularly to
the columns of the American Bee Journal, but on account
of his eye-trouble and general poor health he has been un-
able to undertake the work.
We hope that he may be spared many years to the re-
maining members of his family, and to the host of bee-
keeping friends who appreciate his character and his efforts
in behalf of advanced and progressive methods in apicul-
ture.
A sold to B 20 barrels of honey, B to pay
A prompt cash on board the cars at A's railroad
station. A delivered the honey at the station in
good condition. When the honey arrived at
B's station one barrel had the head knockt out,
and the contents all gone. B made claim on
the railroad company for the barrel of honey,
and insists on A waiting for his pay for that
barrel until he gets it from the railroad com-
pany. A insists that the honey was B's as
soon as it was delivered at the railroad station,
and that Bshould pay A for the honey, and not
wait for the railroad company. Who was right,
A or B ? In other words, if the railroad company does not
pay for the barrel of honey, who should be the loser?
Subscriber.
AxswER. — Unless there was some specific agreement to
the contrary, it would seem that if B was to pay cash for
the honey delivered on board cars at A's station, that A's
ownership of the honej- would end at A's station, and hav-
ing fulfilled his part of the contract he should be paid the
stipulated price, no matter what the railroad company
might afterward do with the honey. [As our opinion is
askt on this question, we would sa^- that we agree with Dr.
Miller's answer. — Editor.]
Judging ttueenlessness and Winter Stores Externally—
Management with More than Two Stories.
1. Is there any way of knowing from external appear-
ances if a colony is queenless ?
2. What is the best way of determining if a colony has
sufficient winter stores ? As my hives are all of the same
pattern, it might be done by weighing, if known what the
bees weighed. Can you tell me what an average colony
will weigh ?
5. How is a colon 3- run with more than two stories — a
body and a super ? Does the queen circulate between the
first and second, and a queen-excluder on top of the second,
and the honey stored in the third story ? Or should there
be an excluder on the top of the first, and honey stored in
the second and third ? If so, is there any advantage in it?
Why not use only the second story for surplus, and extract
as often as is necessary ? K.^^nS-^s.
Answers. — 1. Xone so good as looking into the hive,
and at this time of year it may not be easy to tell them, for
queens are not likely to be laying now in the North. But
j'ou can judge something from the outside. If there comes
Jan. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
59
now a day when bees fl)', and you find the bees of a colony
running- over the outside as if hunting- for a queen, or if
they continue uneasj' after the other colonies have stopt
flying, and have settled down to quietness, you may at least
entertain suspicions of queenlessness. If you pound on a
hive while holding your ear to it, there will be a response
from the bees, and then a prompt quieting down if their
queen is all right. It will be something more like a wail if
they are queenless. In the working season you may be
somewhat suspicious of a colony that appears very listless,
and that carries in little or no pollen -when other colonies
are carrving in big loads.
2. If you find out the weight of a hive with its combs
and a good store of pollen, then add to that ten pounds for
the weight of the bees, you will be pretty safe in counting
that any excess over this is honey. One of the best ways to
tell how much honey there is in a hive is by actually lifting
out the combs and seeing how much honey is present. Even
then you may not be so very exact about it, for you can not
tell how many cells have pollen under the sealed honey.
The safe way is to make allowance for a liberal amount of
pollen, for there is little danger of harm being done by too
much honey in the fall or beginning of winter.
3. Sometimes one story is allowed for the queen, then
an excluder, then one or more extracting stories. Some-
times the excluder is put over the second story, allowing
the queen to use two stories. If 8-frarae hives are used, the
two stories for the queen are more needed than if ID-frame
hives are used. You can use a single story for extracting-
frames, but that makes it necessary to extract oftener, and
makes it more difficult to have the honej' well ripened. If
for any reason you must have a single extracting story, it
may not be a bad plan for you to extract only half the
combs at one extracting, then the other half at the next ex-
tracting, and so on. That will give less chance for un-
ripened honey, but will make you extract oftener than if
you extracted all the frames at one time.
Removing Bees from the Side of a House.
A neighbor has a large swarm of bees in the side of his
house, and wants them taken out. How could I drive them
out and save them ? I would like to drive them into a hive.
I am told that some medicine will drive them out. They
are very cross, but are wonderful honey-gatherers.
CALIFORXrA.
Answer. — The fumes of carbolic acid are very offensive
to bees, and if enough of the acid is poured into the place it
will surely drive the bees. If a frame of brood be held at
the place where they come out. they would probably occupy
it promptly, and if it could then be put into a hive, and the
hive be placed so that the bees could run right into the en-
trance of the hive as they come out of their hiding-place,
the effort to hive them ought to be successful. There is a
possibility, however, that there is so much room where they
are that they would merely move to another place awa^-
from their combs, and you would be no better off than be-
fore. If so, there may be no certain way to get them out
without cutting away part of the wall and cutting out the
combs, removing bees and combs together.
' Sections Open on Four Sides— Packing Material.
I am about to buy my bee-supplies for this j-ear, and
would like advice on a few points.
1. Is there any advantage in using sections open on all
four sides ? I used them last jear ; my notion in doing so
was that it gives the bees free access to any part of the
surplus department easily and readil)-. With sections open
on two sides, should a laden bee get in the department
already full, she has to look around for a place to deposit
her load, thereby losing valuable time.
2. Is excelsior good for the surplus department in win-
ter ?
3. Is the cork that grapes are packt in good or better
than excelsior ? I can get all I want of either cork or ex-
celsior. North Carolina.
Answers. — 1. Some think that sections open on all four
sides are better, for the reasons you give. Perhaps there
may be some advantage in having more free communica-
tion, but it can hardly make very much difference, for if I
am not mistaken, most bee-keepers cling to the sections
with openings at top and bottom, and sides closed ; altho
some years ago much was said about sections with four
bee-ways, and if they were much better they ought to have
come into general use. If a bee with a load of honey were
to enter a super for the first time, and should get into a sec-
tion already entirely filled, it would no doubt be a conven-
ience to have a side passage directly into a section still
offering room. But that is hardly the condition. Mr. Doo-
little tells us that it is not the lield-bees that deposit the
hone)' in the sections, but that the field-bees dump their
loads in the first convenient place in the brood-chamber,
and then a set of bees that do not go afield carry from be-
low into the sections. Is it not probable that these inside
carriers are quite familiar with the room upstairs, so that
they may go generally to those parts of the super where
they are sure there is room ?
2. Excelsior, if dry, may answer for packing, but
planer-shavings are generally preferred to excelsior, possi-
bly because the planer-shavings are more compact.
3. Ground cork is one of the very best things for pack-
ing-, and is considered away ahead of excelsior.
Feeding Bees in Winter.
What is the best way to feed at this time of the year ?
I have three colonies in the cellar, and three on the summer
stands packt in chaff. Is it best to feed syrup, candy (if
candy, what kind ?), or granulated sugar dry ?
Illinois.
Answer. — The best way is to do your feeding as soon
as possible after the bees have stopt gathering, whether
that be in August or later. But sometimes circumstances
are such that we can not do what we would like, and then
we must do the best we can. Certainly it would be unwise
to let a colony starve rather than to feed this time of the
year. Don't'think of feeding syrup now. Giving combs of
sealed honej' is much better. But in all probability that's
about as good advice as telling you how to feed last August,
for it's a pretty safe thing to assume that you haven't any
combs of sealed honey. Granulated sugar dry would be
little better than so much sand. The bees couldn't do any-
thing with it. Candy is the thing, the best perhaps being
the •• Good " candy, made with powdered sugar and ex-
tracted honey. Warm the honey (I'd say heat it, only you
might then burn it, and that would make it poison for the
bees), and stir into it all the powdered sugar you can. Then
knead it like dough, adding all the sugar you can work in
till you have a stiff dough. Put a cake of this, perhaps an
inch thick, over the brood-frames, and cover up warm.
Plain candy, made of granulated sugar, the same as any
confectioner makes, will also do.
Robbing Making Comb into Beeswax.
1. Will bees on the side of a hill rob those below, say
about 50 feet lower, and about 400 feet apart ? . i
. How can make old comb into beeswax ? ^^ j
Maine.
Answers. — 1. Such location would make no difference
in the matter of robbing. Bees are just as likely to rob
those below. Other conditions than those of position are
responsible for starting robbing. A queenless or very
weak colony is likely to be a victim, and the case is aggra-
vated if there is too iarge^an entrance, or if the appetites of
the robbers are whetted by having combs or honey exposed
so as to give them a taste.
2. A good solar extractor is perhaps the best'thing. You
may have something to act much in the same way by hav-
ing an old dripping-pan and a cook-stove./. Split open one
corner of the dripping-pan, and put it in the oven of the
cook-stove, with the split corner projecting out. A little
stone, or something of the kind, should be put under the
end of the dripping-pan that is inside, so as to make the
was run toward the split corner. Of course, the pieces of
comb must be laid in the dripping-pan, and the door of the
oven must be left open. Whether you use the dripping-pan
or the solar wax-extractor, if you pile on a lot of pieces of
old comb you will find that the cocoons of the old comb will
act a little like a sponge, and will be filled with '.wax that
you will not get. There will be less waste in this way if
you put in your pan only a single thickness of comb at a
time. A good way is to soak the combs thorolyjin water
before putting them in the pan.^^Then break them up and
pile on what you like. The cocoons being already filled
with water can not become filled with wax as they would if
dry. A dish must be set on the floor to catch the;wax as it
drops from the pan, and it is well to have in the bottom of
this outside vessel a little hot water.
60
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Jan. 24. 1901.
DR. PEIRO
34 Central Music Hall, CHICAGO.
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DUE BILL
_ _ Send us to-day , your nam
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rth of Flower or Vecetiible Seedf. FKEK.
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I The Best Northern Grown Seeds
Idirect from grower to planter, from Sii^riiiaw i
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Flower. Field Seeds and Plants.
100,000 PACKAGES SEEDS FREE
lonabove plan. Write (luick. Sendnnmesof
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best list See the catalogue.
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Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MONETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing for use in
catching and clipping- Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at Sl.OO; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeal
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY,
11P Michigan St.. Chicago. Til
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies
Bn furnish you wuli 1 lir A. I. Uoot C
IVE MAKE INCUBATORS
You put the eggs in it and makea hatchfi^.^
for yourself. When you have tried it thoroughly
and are Builstied, you pay ub for it. Iso' t that the sensit>1e way to Day
and sell incuoators { Send 5c stamp for Catalog A "Poullrj Helps.'*
ITc lire nU'i noU vinJars of SimjAicitu Incubufor.
COLUMBIA INCUBATOR CO., 5 Water St., Delaware City, Del.
Please nientiou Hgh j^ournai w^tien writinp.,
50VARIETIES.
telliiiE all about :.U vsrisllea. ivilh upetial j.ri.eson fows
"""'^ B. H.CREIOER, Florin, Pa.
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For Sale ! IM*1
— foundation — extractor and siiijplies.
W. E. Pickett, 22nd & K sts., So.Omaha, Neb.
4A2t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wintering Well— Prospects Good.
Bees are wintering well, while early
snow preceded by soaking- rains blan-
keted the best start of white clover we
have had for several years. The pros-
pects so far are not to be complained
of. H. G. AcKtiN.
Ramsey Co., Minn., Jan. 16.
The "Nameless" Bee Disease.
The past year has been a poor one
for bees, but I think mine gathered
enough to carry them thru the winter.
I had a little experience with the
"Nameless" bee-disease last fall. One
colony was so bad that it could not de-
fend itself from robbers. I covered
the hive with a sheet at night, and ex-
changed the stands, and the next
spring there was no sign of the dis-
ease left, and last fall they seemed
to be as good as any colony I have.
Ch.\s. Blackburn.
Buchanan Co., Iowa, Dec. 31.
A Bee-Keepers' Institute.
The bee-keepers' institute was held
at Johnstown, N. Y., Dec. 18, 1000, and
a goodlj' number of bee-keepers were
present.
The meeting was called to order by
one of the State bee-inspectors, Chas.
Stewart. Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson de-
livered an able address on " The Use
and Abuse of Comb Foundation," and
an interesting disctission followed.
At the close of this meeting an asso-
ciation was organized for Fulton atid
Montgomery counties, and the follow-
ing officers were elected : President,
J.'W. Hoffman ; 1st Vice-President, G.
H.Adams; 2d Vice-President, E. W.
Rean ; 3d Vice-President, G. W.
Haines: Secretary, T. I. Dugdale,
West Galway, N. Y.; and Treasurer,
D. E. Floyd. A number of members
were received, and the next meeting
will be at Fonda, N. Y., the first Tues-
dav in May. G. W. Hainks.
Fulton Co., N. Y., Jan. 7.
Managing Bees— Carniolans.
I ran three of my colonies last season
on a different plan from what I have
been doing, and got $45 worth of No. 1
comb honey from the three ; and I am
going to try the same thing the com-
ing season, and if it comes out all
right I will give you the plan.
X had a fine colony of Carniolans
which had one super on early in May ;
I was thinking of slipping another one
under it, and before I got ready to do
so a swarm issued and went some dis-
tance before it settled. After it clus-
tered I hived it and brought it home.
It was a powerful swarm. In a day or
two I was out in the apiary and noticed
a stream of bees going in and out at
this new colony. I did not at first
think much about it, because I knew it
was a very large swarm, and thought
they were hustling, and concluded that
those Carniolans were dandies. When
I finisht my work I went over to look
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I make a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in' all respects. My PRO-
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own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fort fax Into FonnilaiioD For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
prices and samples, free on application. BEES-
WAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
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5VE4;ETAI;LE nn<]
Kverythlne in the
Florl«t'« line- Din
ill i
al with
you the best :
you money. Mail size postpaid,
larger by freieht or express, safe arrival
and patisfaction Biaranteed. Try us. A valu-
able 168 page Catalog for the asking. 47 years.
1000 acres. 44 ereenhouses.
THK STORKS ^ HARRISON CO.,
Box 285, PAINESVILLE, OHIO.
SEED bTl free
To set new customers to lest my Seeds, I will man my 1901
catalogae, tilled with more Bargains thaa everaod a 10c l>ue
Hill eood for lOo worth of Seeds tor irial absolutely
free. All tbe Best Seeds, Bulbs, Plants, Bosra.Furm
Seeds, Potatoes and many >'oveltles at lowest prices.
Glnsene. tbe mat money making plant. Giant I'plie To-
matoes, 3 to the foot. Pan Anierleaii 4lats, eentoutfieeto
fanners, and two Free Passes to Fan American Expo-
sition, Butfalo, N. Y. are offered. $2,635 00 in cash premiums.
to-day. It Is FKER to all. Tell your friends
1. li. MILLS, Box 88, KosehUl, UnondaeaCo.,N. Y.
Please niention Bee Journal when writing.
•Egg bcubator
_ for S 1 2.00
^Perfect in Cf>nstruotion
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy.lll.
4t;.A2St
Please :
entii
the Bee Journal.
Wanted I
Two or three apiaries
for cash, located in
Colorado. Give fuU
particulars in first letter, and lowest cash price;
comb honev preferred.
lAtf Thos. C. Stanley fc Son, Fairfield, 111.
dtionthe Bee Journal
If You Raise Sheep
; u oe. 1 the greatsemi-monthiy Wool
"Vliiirkets and Sheep, .levoUid tolhe
d care otshetp.ind the market-
1. It helps you make money,
year, includio}; liberal prem.
wniit ae^nts for publico
Draper Pub. ii bupply Co., Cbicat,-u, 111.
WdlllUnilct 1 Fruits, Flowers,
ow of its
Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading- Horticultural and Ag-ricultnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
rtease mention Bee Journal when writing.
Jan. 24, 19(1
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
61
SALZER'S RAPE
; Rich,
green lood^
at 25c
FARM
SEEDS
SPELTZ-
What Is it?
Catalog
tells.
rSalier's Seeds are Warranled to Produce^
E. Troy,I'a.,at^Di8hecl the worlii by '
!ig40at3; J.Breider,Mishicott,Wf9.. ,
d H. LoTejoy,R«d \\"lnp,MinD..320ba
5al«erc.irii (■er acre. If you douW, w
:o gain 200,001) new customers, htijc_
$10 WORTH FOR I Oc
10 [ikt's of rare fann seeds. Salt Bush. '^ "■■ ~ '^"
iuC **!) bu. food and 4 t-
d barley. Bro
. ^ _,.jng Wbea.,
i^inmoth Seed C-iUiIog all mailed I —
positively worth glOtogetasUrt.
Seed Potatoes ^1.30 a bbl and up
Please
send this
adv. with
10c. toSalzer.
Catalog
alone, 5c,
Send at once.
flease •nRntion Bee Journal when writing.
The Emerson Binder,
This Emerson stiflf-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding- is neces-
^^^^' GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL
^^ BULL- STRONG!
....PIG -TIGHT....
An lllinuis lariner bald that aft-
■ harvest he had fully 200 bush-
els of loose oats on the ground
that he could not secure any ben-
elit from, because the fence
around the field would not turn
hops. Fif^re the loss for yourself.
He also said, all this would have
heen L.aved if he had used the
Kitselman Woven 'Wire Coiled
Spring Fence, and the value
would have gone a lonp ways
towards paving cost of the fence.
With the'Duplex Machine
any ■
the actual cost of the wire.
Cat.ilnerue free for the asking.
KITSELMAN BROS.
Box Ubi. Muncie, Ind.
at them. I had placed them about 100
feet from the parent colony, and I
noticed that instead of going' to the
fields the bees were going in a circle
to the parent hive. I lookt into the
parent hive and found that the swarm
had taken all the honey from that hive
and stored it in their own in the old
combs I had given them. I let them
alone, and on the fourth day all was
quiet. Before fall the parent colony
had rallied, it came thru the winter all
right, and the next spring I sold it for
$9.00. I secured a fine crop of honey
from the new colony that season.
John W. B.\uckm.\n.
Fairfax Co., Va., Jan. 7.
Not a Successful Bee-Year.
The past year was not a very suc-
cessful one with bees in this part of
the country. They did almost nothing,
and stored so little surplus that we
may as well say that the crop was a
failure. They were so light in winter
stores that I had to do a great deal of
feeding. They may have enough to
carry them thru till next spring, and I
may have to feed again. White clover
failed to yield any nectar, but we look
for better things the coming season.
Don't forget to send us the old
American Bee Journal, for if the sea-
son was poor I think I can't get along
without it, so keep it moving along.
C. H. VoiGT.
Kewaunee Co., Wis., Jan. 1.
Not Much of a "Gpeenhopn."
We secured about half a honey-crop
here last season.
I began keeping bees in the fall of
1895, and last spring I had 31 colonies,
spring count, which I valued at $4 00
per colony, which would make 3?124 in-
vested ; I then put in SIS worth of
foundation, paid f4 00 for help, and
LanQsiroin on...
TI16H0J16UB66
Revised by Dadant— 1899 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one )'ear — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
BEE=KEEPERSI
Ox^
• mv health, I am compelled to
abaudDU the manufacture of the QOLDEN COM-
BINATION HIVE, and bee-keepers wishing- a
perfect sample hive, complete, will do well to
order soon, as my large lot on hand will soon be
exhausted. Write for prices and instructions,
free.
J. A. GOLDEN, ReinersvillcOhio.
3A2t Jan. 1, Win. Box 01.
Hiease mention Bee Journal ■when ■WTitinE^.
We Cant Give Away Anything
You pay for what you get in this world. You understand that. But as a business propo-
sition we want you to try our great medicine for Indigestion, Constipation, Biliousness, Sick
Headache, Insomnia, "the Blues," and like complaints —
Laxative
NERVO-VITAL
Tablets
We know you won't buy it, until you know something about it. The best way to get you
to know how good it is, is to let you try it. That's what we do. Send Stamp for "Health"
booklet, and we will send you a free sample package, that you may try it yourself. We know
you will always keep it in the house, if you once try it. What fairer offer could we make?
At all Druggists— 10 and 25 cents.
If, instead of sending for a sample, you send us 25c we
will send you "Health" booklet.a 25c bo.\ and a handsome
fxold sticli-pin, set with emerald, ruby or pearl, warranted to be
worth double the money. Order by number. This is an extra intro-
ductory offer. Only one pin to one persfm. If unsatisfactory,
money returned. Send now while the offer is pr-tod.
Handsome
Stick Pin
FREE!
MODERIN REMEDY COMPANY, KEWANEE, ILLINOIS.
• im
62
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 24, 1911.
Ai the Paris Exposition
,..^,^.; !iil,,.,ir,.jhil.ltattriu-te.liii..reatlentinnthan ilni st '^^^^ (v
lii «,.tl,c.„i,.|itwewerettni..iii,'Bliank-eis. Su«,f « ]., i^"^^ rj
iiui.lv Mirprisedatthelarceiuimber of peoilefi m *J||,., "^\ J
< ,^- ill ,,..,, 1 .,,..,„■ «ri...alledonu8and saidtheywere using Krllo- p|V js, ,j
bli- III. iilMiL.ru „ii.l llr I, r.. A ll Were satlpfled and Congratulatory and it inadB ^N V' ' rS
uIliV'.'iil. .1 I., ni. I h. .. I i.ilt ..11. , xr.lanation-mcTlt,liicrlt,meHt. Ouratlth y *<> 1?
CVnturx I'.Hilti-j U.M.U hill..- 1(1.11 l.liiui. .Seiitf<.rlii.-asl..iii,-astIieylaRt. ,'^ <^« p ^-^ i-d
Reliable Incubator & Brooder Co.. Box 8- 2 , Oulncy.lll. ^i^^ 1^ .'-^ ^ j^
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writr
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:j:^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown, Wisconsin, U. S.
m INClBATOeS
cct. a 200 size hatching morechitk .
ie when sitters are bard to ^"-1 \ t
Successful Hatcher, i
iDOES
THE
mORK
BEHER i
iTHAN
HENS, i
ntlfleally perfect, i
I and at
money makers, no a
paratus will equal
We are the lartrest exclusive maiiuia.'
culiators and brooders. 8end 6 eent
C'ataloeue, printed In 5 languages.
DES MOINFS IMTBATOK CO.* Box 78
Address,
DES 310ISES, IOWA
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writinff.
IINVESTIGATE BEFORE YOU BIY.
SURE HATCH INCUBATORS
KN»F, KI>l.l>INO ltl;i>01>Kl."~ in; eirlng t.elw Baiiffacti. n
SURE HATCH INCUBATOR COWPANY, CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writinf
Four Celluloid Queen=Buttons Free
^^ AS A PREMIUM *4k
For sending us ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER
to the American Bee Journal for three months
with 30 cents, we will mail you FOUR of these
pretty buttons for wearing on the coat-lapel.
(You can wear one and give the others to the
_ children.) The queen has a golden tinge.
This offer is made only to our present regular subscribers.
NOTE —One reader writes: "I have every reason to believe that it would be a very good
idea for every bee-keeper to wear one [of the buttonsl as it will cause people to ask questi
about the busy bee, and many a conversatio
more or less honey; at any rate, it would gi
lighten many a person in regard to honey a
Prices of Buttons alone, postpaid: One button, 8 cts.; 2 buttons, 6 cts.
each ; 5 or more, S cts. each. (Stamps taken.) Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Mlcliigaii St., CHICAGO.
started would wind lip with the sale
ve the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
lid bees."
Draper Publishing and Supply Co.— There ap-
pears elsewhere in this issue the ad. of the
Draper Publishing & Supply Company, of Chi-
cago, which we hope every reader of this paper
will see. These people have 3 high-class papers,
each occupying a separate and distinct field-
Dairy and Creamery, Wool Markets and Sheep,
and Commercial Poultry— all semi-monthlies.
The subscription price of each is only SO cents
a year, and valuable premiums are oCTeied.
Those who are in a position to secure subscrip-
tions will receive liberal terms on application.
Write the Draper Publishing and Supply Co"^-
pany to-day for sample copi
•adv
Bee Jo
nal.
GINSENGi
I Lal(esi<le Ginseng Gardens ,Amber,N.T
S2A13t Mention the American Bee Journal.
NI.AND POUi.TR V JIlUKNAL, Indianapolis, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal whe" -writing.
Fnp Salfi ?^i!.ss!!ii
1 V/l dUlU iug 1.10 colonies of bees
^^Profitable Poultry Keeping
Pin all iti^ ijuANtiiEs
Deals
and reyrulatiii^;
refunded. Sti
CYPin.Ks INCl
>iilu-\ iniiii-rr\ 111 i.ii iiiM iii'ti w and |in.>tit briiipint' way.
CYPHERS INCUBATORS. SraTotSer.^
I l.,r 111., in stamps. Ask f..ib""l, ".T . Cin.ular and prices tree.
Woylund, N.Y.,liof.i«in,Mu»(«
ItA'l Oi: 0«>., thlf
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
workt eight days myself. Counting"
my work worth S2.50 per day would be
S20, hence my spring- valuation and all
expense to date would be ?163.
My bees increast 10 colonies, which
at $4.00 per colony would be worth S-4-0 ;.
I extracted 22 cases of honey, 120-
pounds per case, or 2,640 pounds, which
sold at 6 cents per pound would bring
S1S8.40. This with the increase worth
540 makes a total of S198.40, the income
on a S163 investment, allowing- myself
S2.50 per day for the time I workt.
How is that for a greenhorn ?
C. E. Stevens.
San Diego Co., Calif., Jan. 2.
Did Fairly Well— Paper-Bag Feeder.
My bees did fairly well the forepart
of the summer, but the fall crop of
honey was an entire failure on account
of the dry weather, tho all had a good
supply for winter stores. One colony
that did not swarm stored 54 pounds of
honey, besides having plenty for win-
ter. The colonies that swarmed stored
no surplus honey ; I had Sll worth in
all. I sold one colony, and put 12 intc>
winter quarters on the summer stands.
I do not quite understand Mr. Ker-
nan's article (page 606, 1900) on paper-
bag feeders, and wish he would be kind
enoug-h to give his plan a little more
completely, in the Bee Journal. Does
he make the pin-holes on the top of the
sack, or where ? and does he make
many of them ? I was quite favorably
imprest with the plan, as I have so
much feeding to do, and no one to help
me. Mrs. Sarah J. Griffith.
Cumberland Co., N. J., Jan. 2.
Report For the Season of 1900.
I had 120 colonies, spring count ; I
divided the strong colonies and now
have 165 in fair condition, I hope. I
have done nothing with them since
July, but manzanita is beginning to
bloom and I must overhaul them at
once.
The amount realized on honey the
past season averaged about $2.00 per
colony. It has been higher than I
have ever seen it since I have kept
bees. C. W. Kerlin.
Monterey Co., Cal. Jan. 1.
"Reducing the Swarming Habit."
My bees are in fine condition ; the
weather could not be better for them
to clean house, and have a good flight.
On page 819 (1900) I noticed an edi-
torial on "Reducing the Swarming
Habit." I can agree with Mr. Lathrop
and Mr. McNay (and many other
bee-keepers can do likewise), in saying
that by careful attention on the part
of the bee-keeper swarming can be
discouraged, but I can not agree with
them in saying that bees can be reared
that will be non-swarmers, for this
reason :
I have been keeping bees — tho not
continuously — since 1883. I sold out
in Nov., 1897, but started again in the
business in 1899 with 7 colonies, which
I have increast to 13 ; in all these years
I have had but two natural swarms.
When I sold out in 1897 one bee-keeper
bought 4 colonies that I had had for 6
years — one colony with a 3-year-old
queen, two colonies with two-year-old
queens, and one colony with a queen
of July, 1897 — and in all that time they
Jan. 24, 19U1.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
63
had never swarmed under my treat-
ment. But in July, 1S98, this bee-
keeper informed me that 2 of the 4 col-
onies had swarmed and that from one
of them an after-swarm had issued.
I have bought, and received in other
ways, strains of bees from the apiaries
of some of our most noted bee-keepers ;
some of them have not had the oppor-
tunity to swarm, and others I have suc-
ceeded in preventing from it.
Personally, I do not believe it is to
the best interests of the bee-keeper to
discourage his bees from natural
swarming. Better results will be se-
cured if the bees that are gentle are al-
lowed to increase in the natural way ;
but bees that have cross dispositions
ought to be prevented from swarming,
as it acts very much like taking the
horns off of the stubborn ox and put-
ting it on a level with the lamb.
Dan.\ H. Gr.\ham.
Lancaster Co., Pa., Dec. 31.
Seem To Be Wintering Well.
Bees are flying to-day, and seem to
•be wintering fairly well.
Elvert W. Haag.
Stark Co., Ohio, Jan. 11.
Poof Season— The Bee Journal.
The past has been the poorest season
for honey in this locality in many
years. I secured 26 good colonies in
two-story lO-frame hives, and they
nearly filled the supers.
I would not think of getting along
without the Bee Journal, I have read
and reread three of the standard bee-
books during the last year, and am
well satisfied that the copies of the
Journal for the past two years are
worth more to a beginner than all of
these books put together. The text-
books are all excellent, and well fill
the place for which they are intended,
but the amount of original thought
and experience which we get from
couventions and otherwise thru the
Journal are above everything else.
S. N. Salsbury.
Cochise Co., Ariz., Jan. 1.
Smallest Crop in Years.
We had the smallest honey-crop in
this county the past season that we
have had in a number of years ; in
many apiaries the bees stored no sur-
plus. The goldenrod and wild aster
yielded no nectar, and the oldest bee-
keepers say that this never happened
before in this " neck of the woods. "
Our bees had their last flight Xov.
6th, and will probably be in winter
quarters until April 1st. Many colon-
ies are very light in stores. We win-
ter them in the cellar, and they are
now in splendid condition.
We had plenty of warm rains late in
the fall, early snows, and no frost is
in the ground. The clovers are doing
well, and we are sure of a big crop next
season.
Wm. Robinson.
Barron Co., Wis., Jan. 7.
A Canvassing Experience.
If everyone could get as much fun
out of canvassing for new subscribers
as I have, I think you would have
plenty of agents. I called on one old
gentleman, and, after showing him
the Bee Journal, I told him that if he
expected to be successful in keeping
bees he should keep posted and read a
bright, wideawake journal. His reply
was, '■ Look here, Donaldson, I kept
bees before you were born, and I have
forgotten more about them than you
know, I tell you it's all luck, " I
then askt him how it happened that
my bees came thru the winter all right
when bee-keepers around me lost all
that they had. He replied, " You were
lucky ; that's all there is to it," I
thought my next question would
" floor " him, so I askt him how he ac-
counted for the fact that I secured a
good honey-crop when others did not
get any. He replied, "I tell you it's all
luck ; you'll see, your luck will change,
too, I had just as good bees as you
have, and the first thing I knew they
were all gone. The worms ate them
all up. " I concluded he was a hope-
less case.
J. M. Donaldson.
Worcester Co., Mass., Jan. 1.
Good Instruments.
_ cheep "bargain counter" offers. T
' high grade, fully guaranteed.
lents l-'OltnUSllIANS.
VIOLIN— Aniati model, choi
•s.dark brown, light r
orth«30. My I'rk-e $6.27
BGUITAR— Solid Rosewood, standard
P^size, neatly inlaid, Spanish cedai
neck, celluloid Iront, ebony finger
board, best quality patent head.
MANDOLIN— Solid Kosewood.
19 ribs; celluloidfront; veneered
head piece, handsomely inlaid
■1*16. My Prit-e, Only $t, with
.!.__..__ .. . . .extra set of
s pick. Send for
Please mention Bbb journal wnen ■writins
I BEE-SUPPLIES! I
t^ 4^Root*8 Qoods at Root's Prlces-^SSL ^
;^fc PoUDKR's Honey-Jars and every- ^.
•^ thing" used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^^
*^ Service — low freig-ht rate. Catalog- ^.
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER. ^
;^ 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^-
Please niention Bee Journal •when ■writing,
THE POPULAR BUFFALO ROUTE
this summer on account of the 1901
Pan-American Exposition will be the
Nickel Plate Road. Countless thou-
sands will visit this one of the greatest
expositions of modern times. The
Nickel Plate Road will be the popular
line. The excellence of its service is
well recognized by the traveling pub-
lic, and the reputation of its train em-
ployees in their uniform courtesy to
passengers is well known. When you
go East see that your tickets read z'ia
the Nickel Plate Road. Write, wire,
'phone or call on John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams, St., Chi-
cago, 111. 2-4a3t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
>) Stt Jte. >te >li >tt >li >li >!i >!« >fe Jli >ltl?
I tiONE,y AND BEESWAX S
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Jan. 10.— Honey is selling slowlv;
this applies to all grades with the exception of
white clover aud basswood comb honejr, which
sells readily at loc providing it grades No. 1 or
better. All other kinds of white comb honey
sell at from 14m ISc, and candied white comb at
from HMlOc: travel-stained and off-grades of
comb, 13i" 14c; amber, 12(ol3c; amber e.\tracted,
7(gr7'4c; dark and buckwheat comb honey, '>(m
10c. E.xtracted, white, 7c, 7i^gj8c; basswood
and white clover bringing the outside prices;
buckwheat and other dark grades, ti@6Kc.
Ueeswax, 28c. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Dec. 21.— Honey market firm,
demand steady. Fancy white comb, 24-5ection
case, $3.50 to $3.75; 12-section case, $1.10 to $2.00;
amber, case, $3.00 to $3.25. Extracted, white,
SioWc; supply fair: receipts and demand good.
Beeswax, 22@30c. Demand fair.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
Buffalo, Jan. 17.— All kinds of honey are so
quiet it is dilficult to make a sale. Occasionally
some sells, fancy 14@15c; few, l(.c; choice and
No. 1, 12w 13c; few, 14c; but dark, Ofa 10c, and all
kinds in liberal supply; some may have to be
reconsigned. Extrdcted, 7(a>8c, add not wanted
in Buffalo. Beeswax, 22@27.
Batterson & Co.
Albany, N. Y., Jan. 18.— Honey market is
dull on all grades now, with light stock and
light demand. White comb in good condition,
not candied, lS(n.l6c; mixt, 13(ar4c; buckwheat,
12(in2Hc; mixt, ll(s*llj«c. Extracted, white,
8to'8>ic; mixt, 6@6Kc; dark, S}4c.
H. R.Wright.
Boston, Jan. IS.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, lSftl6c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 8@
S'/ic; light amber, 7}^'3 8c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
Cincinnati, Jan. 16.— Market very quiet. No
change in prices. Fancy white comb sells for
16c. Extracted, dark, sells for 554c, and better
grades bring bHVsTAc. Fancy white table honey
brings from SJ^faOc. c. H. W. Weber.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, 15m16c;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white Ufn'Uc: amber,
12c; buckwheat, 10@l)c. Extracted in fairly
good demand at ~ii@8c for white, and 7c for
amber; off grades and Southern in barrels at
from 65ta75c per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
yet. Some little selling at SH@6c. Beeswax firm
at 28 cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
HiLDRETH & SEGELKEN.
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, lS(ai6c;
No. 1, 13(!!'14c; dark and amber, 12(ail3c Ex-
tracted, white. "(alUc; amberaud dark, bfAbl4c.
Beeswax, 26@27c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Jan. ')._White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, lUi®WAc: dark, SSQc. Ex-
tracted, white, TAiaSc; light amber, 6J-4'(a7Kc;
amber. 5H'(S>6Hc. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water' white
honey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
HONEY HARKET.-We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here for
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
DO YOU WANT A
HiQti Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCKER, Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
QUEENS
SmokerB. Sections,
Comb Foundation
IpUrlAi SnppUM
64
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 24, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LIKE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
■ Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everyihingf, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r tS- W. M. Gekrish, East Notioirliam, N. H.,
carries a full liae of our ^oods at catalog" prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal wlieu -wri'-na.
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clovep Seeds.
tt e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5»S 10ft 2Sft soft
Sweet Clover (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
Alsike Clover 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover OOc 1.70 3.75 6.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
nSMichiean Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you >vant the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicnltural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
send *1. 25 to
Prof. A. J. CookpClaremont, Cal.,
'* Bee=Keeper's Guide/'
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
f lease mention Bee Journal -when "WTitine.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
%VooI Marketiii and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
wool MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee journal "when "WTitina.
BE SURE TO REHEMBER
that the popular Pan-American Expo-
sition Route this summer will be the
Nickel Plate Road, the shortest line be-
tween Chicago and intermediate points
and Buffalo. No excess fare is charged
on any of its Peerless Trio of fast ex-
press trains, and American Club meals
ranging in price from 35 cents to SI. 00
are served in all its dining cars. Pala-
tial thru vestibuled sleeping-cars and
modern day-coaches with uniformed
colored porters in attendance on the
wants of passengers. The acme of
comfort and convenience in traveling
is attained thru the superb service and
competent equipment found on the
Nickel Plate Road. Write, wire, 'phone
or call on John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago. l-4a3t
24th R/irl^tit'^ C^..nrl^«:^n 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAOQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINQ.
Why does it sell ^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We selJ the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
\
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., 111.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife,
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYViLLE, O.
the 1
[This Cut is the i-'ULL Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife.— When ordering-, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies !u the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle a6 described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the "Novelty" is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destrov the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the '* Novelties," your Pocket-Kxife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a sou, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
>f the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
fbeautiful knife, as the '* Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
sending us \ riREE nkw subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $3.CtO.) We will club the Novelty
ife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for 51.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,, 118 Mich, St., Chicago, IlL
i^"Please alloi — 'bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled.
i^j 566=H1V6S and Honey-Boxes
— j r, I in car lots, wholesale or retail. Now is the time to get pr
A\'e are the jieople who iiianufaeture .strictly lirst-class g
and sell them at prices ttiat defy comiietition. ^A■rite us to-
Inter-State Box and Manufact-uring Company,
iTAtf KXJIDSOlSr, WIS.
Please Mention the Bee Journal ^^^° ^""^
Advertisers.
^^SI^^A'.
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY 31, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 5.
. "^'^-^ f^^^y^f^ .-'■.'^I'^s
66
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
Jan. 31, 1901.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
George W. York & Co.
116 Michigan St., Chicago, 111.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postag^e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, "DecOO" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1900.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England; — Change "d" or
*'ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
TiieBee-KeeDer's
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROE A. J, COOK-
460 Pages— 16th [1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary-it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Gxtide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two new subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal [with $:;.0O), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Joumal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
us Michigan Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
THE BEST WHITE
Extracted Honey
ALFALFA
OR
BASSWOOD
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY,.....,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well-known
lig-ht-colored lioney gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honev.
We have a good stock of the tine WHITE ALFALFA and
WHITE BASSWOOD EXTRACTED HONEY that we can ship by
return freight. Most bee-keepers must have sold all their last year's
crop long before now, and will be ready to get more with which to '^
supply their customers. All who have had any acquaintance with
the above-named honeys know how good they are. Why not order
at once, and keep your trade supplied ?
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey :
(For the purpose of selling again.)
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9}i
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
S'i cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all
Absolutely Pure Bees' Honeyp
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that
I'm something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of ray own pro-
duction and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to
be to the honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very
excellent qualitv of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the
honeys of more markt flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enotigh honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some mone3',
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., ii8 Michigan St., Chicago, III.
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
•^ This is a good time
xV xV to send in your Bees-
• 1 _C T~> _ _ ^ ^ff^f wax. We are payine
paid for Beeswax. * ji-- rj."J.
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 118 Michigan St., CHICAGO.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, JANUARY 31, 1901,
No, 5,
\ * iditorial. * f
Removal Notice.
Beginning Ft^b. 1st. imr place of business
will be at
144 & 146 Krie Street,
instead of 11?S Michigan Street. Our corres-
pondent.s, and customers who are in the habit
of calling at our oflice, will please note this
change in location.
After our loss and general disturbance here,
caused by the lire in this building on Jan. 1st,
we concluded it would be best for us to seek
another location. We had Jittle trouble in
finding what we think will suit us exactl.v.
The new place is on the first or ground
Hoor — so there will be no more stairs to climb,
as is the case here. Also, there will be no
need for a freight elevator at the rear, on
which we have had to load and unload all our
goods the past eight 3'ears. This will save
considerable handling. We will have a larger
Hoor space at our new location, so we will be
able to have everything on one floor, instead
of on two as has been the case here a part of
the time.
( )ur new office — 144 & 146 Erie Street— is
just a few short city blocks — (about 100 rods)
— due north of the Chicago it Northwestern
Railway Passenger Station on Wells Street.
We will be just about midway between Wells
Street and Franklin Street on Erie Street.
We think now none of our friends who
come to the city will experience any difficulty
in tinding us.
t'ome and see us in our new business home
— after Feb. 1st. George W. York & Co.
Bees and Fruit.— The editor of Green's
Fruit-Grower— Mr. C. A. Green— offers the
following testimonial to the value of bees to
the growers of fruit:
■' But as regards bees injuring fruit, there is
no doubt in my mind that this is a fallacy
which should be corrected thru the agriciii-
tural and horticultural pre.ss thruout tlie
country. Make it plain to all enquirers that
bees do not injure fruit, but that they are in
reality the friends of the fruit-growers."
We have no doubt that those fruit-growers
who have studied the subject will agree with
Mr. Green. We believe that most of the
ojiposition that has shown itself on the part
of fruit-growers in the past has liecu a result
of ignorance, or perhaps a desire to injure
bee-keeping. We are quite certain that at the
last analysis it will be shown that bees are of
the greatest possible value to all growers of
fruit, and that when they endeavor to destroy
the bees or prohibit bee-keeping they are sim-
ply " killing the goose that lays the golden
egg'' for them. The trouble will likely be
that most of the opposition will discover their
error too late.
We notice in Gleanings in Bee-Culture that
it is proposed to hold a joint meeting of bee-
keepers and cfruit-growers during the Pan-
American Exposition next sunmier at Buf-
falo, N. Y. — at least one day of a joint session
of the representatives of the two interests
mentioned. We believe this would be a good
thing, and every endeavor should be put
forth to bring it about. Of course, it is just
possible that the National Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation may hold its meeting at Buffalo, and
likely, if such should be decided upon, the
joint meeting referred to could be arranged all
right. It will be helpful if the representa-
tives of the two pursuits can come face to
face, and discuss questions which are of so
much mutual importance. We should be
pleased to be aljle to announce soon that an
arrangement has been made whereby the bee-
keepers and fruit-growers can luive the pro-
posed joint meeting at the Pan-American. It
would go far, we think, toward settling the
question permanently in regard to the value
of bees to fruit.
Bees on Shares. — To the often recurring
and always troublesome question as to the
right share of products to be given by the
owner to the keeper of bees, the editor of the
Australasian Bee-Keeper replies in the follow-
ing sensible manner:
"Of all matters connected with bee-keeping,
that of engaging another to look after the
bees on shares is the most difficult to arrange
satisfactorily, and I really think it is impossi-
ble to have an understanding on all points,
there are so many things to be considered.
Where the apiarist does the work for a share
of the products, he should be allowed what
might seem a rather large proportion, for he
has to take all risks of the season, and the
market rate, provide his own tins, etc. No, I
would rather diseom-age any such arrange-
ment, knowing it to be unsatisfactory. I once
had an ajtiary on similar terms, and tho we
were able to satisfy each other, there were so
many points cropt up that unless eacb made
up his mind to be lil.icral and not exacting, a
dispute w<:)uld liave arisen, and it seemed as
if each party must lie prepared to decide all
points in favor of the other to settle up and
remain good friends. If you wish to engage
a man the most satisfactor.v arrangement is
to pay him wages and retain all products,
when .vou can dictate the ainonni of inrn-ase
to have, and how tlu' apiary should be worUt.
You may think that if a man has an interest
in the concern he will be more attentive to his
work and do tjetter: such reas(ming is very
good, and the only way to make such an ar-
rangement is to p:i\ ilic pnicbii-er a price per
pound, nr per tin. fur 1 Ik, himti/ he produces.
The wax product \m.ii1iI have to be arranged:
if wa.\ is paid for in the same way tTiere
would be an inducement to melt up conilis,
and yet if wax is not paid for uo attention
may be paid to its saving, and the apiary
made dirty with wax-scraps and bee-moth.
" To engage a man for one season on these
terms he would not permit of increase, and
may rather decrease the number of colonies
at the close of the season to get the greatest
amount of honey ; also, unless each hive is
arranged to contain a certain weight of honey
they would be extracted too close for winter.
This was my experience under a similar ar-
rangement, and on the whole the only satis-
factory arrangement is to pay wages and re-
tain ail riglits and take all risks; then if the
apiarist is not doing his work satisfactorily he
can be dismist — not so under any other ar-
rangement."
The Utter vs. Utter Case.— Dr. Miller,
in a Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture,
has this to say about the double-Utter case
recently mentioned in these columns :
■• That I'tter-Ctter decision is alone worth
more than all the money that has been put
into the National Bee-Keepers' Association's
treasury. So was the adulteration light in
Chicago. Now, ray friends' who are not yet
members, don't you think you can afford to
put in a dollar each to help on the good work?
A lot more good can be done by the Associa-
tion if it has a full treasury.''
Editor Root, in commenting on the above
paragraph, writes thus:
" In my humble judgment the decision of
tlie Utter trial was worth more — vastly more —
than that of the celebrated Arkadelphia case,
important as that was. If the decision in the
first-named had been against us, and left
there, bee-keeping might have been wiped
out of many fruit sections of the United
States. The Arkadelphia case related only to
bees in towns and villages: and it that "had
gone against us it would have wiped bee-keep-»
ing out of the great centers of population only,
but would not have affected it in the least in
the great acres of country half a mile and
more from those centers. Why, it seems to
to me that the results of the Utter trial are
wortli thousands and thousands of dollars. If
the National Bee-Keepers' Union, the United
States Bee-Keepers' Union, or the North
American Bee-Keepers' Association, now all
merged into one, had never done any more,
we could still feel that the money that has
been put into the several treasuries was well
invested."
We agree most heartily with all the fore-
going. Of course, there are many bee-keepers
who think that they do not make a sufficient
business of bee-keeping for it to be worth
while for them to join the National Associa-
tion. We think, however, that they are mak-
ing a big mistake. No one can tell just when
he will have to meet the same kind of opposi-
tion as did Mr. Utter, the bee-keeper. It pays
to be prepared in advance for any such at-
tack. But even if it were unnecessary for you
to defend yourself, you would have the Satis-
faction of knowing that liy joining the Asso-
ciation you were doing good by helping
others who are unfortunate enough to be com-
pelled to defend themselves against envious or
68
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 31, 1901.
ijjnoraut ueiglibors. This writer lias been a
member of the Association for nearly 10 years,
and has never had to call upon it for any help,
and never expects the time to come when it
will be necessary for him to call for such aid.
However, he would not think of being outside
of the Association, for. in view of such good
work as it already has done for bee-keepers,
he feels that it is a very little thing for him to
pay his ?1.00 a year to help.
Instead of a membership of less than 600
there ought to be at least 6,000 bee-keepers
w ho have paid their annual dues to advance
the interests of the pursuit in which they are
engaged. There are many lines of work that
could be pusht if the officers of the Associa-
tion had the means to vmdertake it. But we
have always felt that even a larger member-
ship would of itself be a great influence ; if.
when an attempt is made to secure the pass-
age of a law against foul brood or spraying
fruit-trees, those working for the passage of
such law could say that the National Bee-
Keepers' Association with its 6.000 member-
ship was unanimously in favor of such laws,
it would go far, we think, towards securing
the enactment of such measures. So long as
only a few of the thousands of bee-keepers in
this country deem it of sufficient importance
to belong to their National organization, we
can hardly blame legislators for paying
scarcely any attention to any resolutions or
suggestions that might come thru the Asso-
ciation. In numbers, as well as in a full
treasury, is their strength. It is true the full
treasury is very necessary, but the best way to
secure that desideratum is to get a larger
membership. More money will always follow
inereast membership.
Not being an ofhcer of the Association we
feel very free to speak in its favor, and do all
we can to get others to join and send their
membership dues to General Manager Eugene
■Secor, of Forest City, Iowa. However, as we
have often said before, if it is more conven-
ient for anj' one to send the dues to this office
we will be glad to receive it and forward to
Mr. Secor, who will then mail individual
receipts.
♦
" The Uncappiiig-Fork continues to be
vaunted in the German bee-journals as supe-
rior to an uncapping-knife. It is made with
adj ustable forks or needles, so that if one is
broken it may be replaced. Price, with ex-
tra needles, 33 cents. '' So says a Stray Straw
n Gleanings in Bee-Culture. We have seen
one of the uncapping-forks referred to, in the
apiary of Mr. L. Kreutzinger, of this county.
We do not know whether he has tried to use
it, as he works mainly for comb honey. We
hardly think that it could take the place of
the uncapping-knife in this country.
In Liove writh Your Business. — In
one of our agricultiu-al exchanges we read
this recently :
'■ The successful farmers arc the ones who
are in love with their business."
•'In love with their business." That's it.
That's the secret of the truest success. You
may not become rich while following a certain
lifmorable business. You may not eiiual in
many ways your competitor's ability to get
ahead. But if you love your work there is
good prospect of the best success.
We know some men who are " dead in
love" with their work — if it were not so they
would turn their attention to something else,
for they are not getting rich in their present
business. But they are successful, neverthe-
less.
It is the same way with bee-keeping. Seest
thou a man or woman in love with bees and
their care, surely such will succeed, for they
will persist until success is compelled to be
theirs.
The j'oung man who is truly " in love''
never gives up the struggle until the young
lady is won — or until he finds out the reason
why he fails of success. The same spirit of
determination should fire the heart of every
man who would win success in any line of
honest effort.
I Weekly Budget j
The Wiscoxsin [Conventiox will be
held at Madison next Tuesday and Wednes-
day. Feb. 5th and 6th, in the State capitol
building. A portion of the interesting pro-
gram is as follows ;
President's Address, by N. E. France i Cel-
lar vs. Outdoor Wintering, by A. P. Miner:
Outlook for a Bee-Keepers' Exhibit at the
Pan-American Exposition in 1901, by E. D.
Ochsner ; Honey Exchange, by C. A. Hatch;
How to Maintain Present Prices of Honey in
the Event of a Good Honey Crop, by Harry
Lathrop : Short Cuts in Extracting, by Frank
Minnick : Discussion of J^aws Pertaining to
Foul Brood, by N. E. France; and Mrs. Evans
and Mrs. Towle will each present a paper on
subjects of their own selection.
The secretary. Miss Ada h. Pickard, in her
announcement, says;
Many of the prominent and experienced
bee-keepers will be present.
E. R. Root, editor of Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture, will present his stereoptleon views ou
the evening of Feb. .5th. These we know to
be highly entertaining as well as instructive,
and to be appreciated they must be seen.
Since Mr. Root presented these at the Na-
tional Convention he has obtained many new
slides, which will prove to be instructive and
interesting to fruit-growers as well as to bee-
keepers.
A general discussion will follow each topic,
and a free use of the iiuestion-box and an-
swers will be a prominent and valuable fea-
ture..
Excursion rates, within 300 miles of Madi-
son, one and one-third fare for the round
trip, ticket purchast Feb. 4th, 5th or 6th good
to Feb. flth. Tickets in Wisconsin, over '200
miles from Madison, same rate if purchast
Feb. 4th, good to Feb. 9th.
Editor W. Z. Hutchinson, of the Bee-Keep-
ers' Review, as well as the editor of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal, expect to be present also.
We are anticipating a good meeting. Wis-
consin bee-keepers should turn out in full
force.
Mr. O. O. Poppleton', it seems, has been
receiving considerable notoriety recently in
several of the bee-papers. About two months
ago we received his photograph, expecting to
use it in the Bee .lournal very soon after. Ijut
before we were able to do so we found that
the American Bee-Keeper had also decided to
present his picture, which appeared in the
December issue of that paper. Then, just
after making up our forms of the last week's
Bee Journal, in which appeared Mr. Popple-
ton's picture, we received Gleanings in Bee-
Culture, and discovered it there also. So it
seems that at least three of the bee-papers had
been planning to show Mr. Poppleton to their
readers. It is all right, as there is no one in
all the ranks of bee-keepers whom they would
be more pleased to see and read about.
It was Mr. A. I. Root who said to his son
E. R. Root, when he (A. I.) had the editorial
management of Gleanings in Bee-Ciilture,
" Whenever j-ou see anything from that man
Poppleton just hand it right in to the printer.
It is always good. He is sound and practical."
Editor E. R. Root says he has found his
father's statement concerning Mr. Poppleton
to be literally true.
Mr. Poppleton, as is known by most of the
older readers of bee-literature, uses what is
called the "Long-Ideal" hive, the frames being
13 inches square, and from '30 to '34 frames in
each hive. The.se frames are all used in the
brood-chamber, and, of course, are run en-
tirely for extracted honey. Mr. Root says;
"Mr. Poppleton himself believes that the
hive first devised by Langstroth .50 years ago
has not been improved upon so far as shape
and proportion of frames are concerned, for
the production of comb honey. But the pro-
duction of extracted huiuy is so different he
thinks it is doubtful if the same style of hive
and frame can be best for both."
Mr. Chas. Becker, as well as other api-
arian exhibitors at fairs, hear some queer re-
marks made by visitors who see the exhibits
of honey and bee-supplies. At the Illinois
fair last fall an old couple were gazing at Mr.
Becker's large exhibit of bottled extracted
honey. The old gentleman said to the old
lady :
" What isthat along there in them bottles ?''
'■ I don't know unless it is an advertise-
ment for a drug-store," replied the lady.
Mr. Becker is a very sweet " druggist."
On another occasion some spectators were
strolling along and came to the honey-ex-
tractor. One of the company upon enquiring
what it was. received this wise answer from
another visitor;
" Why, they put the bees in there, and
squeeze out the honey I ' '
And yet, some of us are just as ignorant
about certain things as were the people re-
ferred to in the foregoing concerning common
apiarian matters.
Mr. H. G. Osbcrs, writing to Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, from Cuba, Oct. 10, 1900. after
living there 13 years, advises any one contem-
plating bee-keeping in that country, to stay at
home unless one can first go there and learn
the difficulties to be encountered, and how-
best to meet them ; also as to insects which
delight to feast on "the rich red blood of the
new comer, the very best stimulant for a good
appetite.'' One year he extracted 73,000
pounds of honey from 600 colonies in five
months.
Editor Root wisely saj-s : "No one should
ever think of ■ pulling up stakes.' taking his
all, and changing everything in a move to a
new locality, much less go to a climate that is
essentially different from the one in which he
has been brought up."
Jan. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUBNAL,
69
I Contributed Articles- |
The Bee-Keeper and the Bee-Supply Dealer.
A Colorado subscriber wrote us as follows Oct. 16, 1900,
and we referred his letter to several bee-supply dealers
requesting^ their opinion on the subject :
TO THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL : —
I want to purchase supplies needed for 250 colonies of
bees. I don't know where to buy, for the reason that the
business must be transacted by mail, and the purchase
made at a factory some hundreds of miles distant. One bee-
keeping neig'hbor needs a larger lot than I do, so of course
we shall join in getting a car-load direct from the factory.
We should like to see the goods, check the invoice, and
verify the measurements or other qualities, of the different
goods, then pay our money on the spot. I object downright
to paying for a large bill of goods that I have never seen.
But I can't help myself. When the goods are manufactured,
then counted and shipt, I am not represented. My money
passes beyond my control, and I am helpless.
I know all the current answers to my objection ; but the
answers do not satisfy. The seller is honorable : that does
not meet the case. The shipping-clerk is careful ; that does
me no good after an error is made. An error in counting
can be corrected, and always is, if it amounts to much ; but
the error of the man at the saw, if his spoiled goods get
shipt, is never corrected. We get softly-worded apologies,
but these do not meet the requirement.
In making a rule of business to protect the seller abso-
lutely, we have left the buyer absolutely unprotected. Cash
in advance is perfect protection to the seller, but it is rank
injustice to the buyer. Cash on delivery of goods, duly ex-
amined, checkt out, and verified, is right.
Now, I submit that the bee-keepers, supply dealers, and
editors ought to aggregate brains enough to make a rule of
business that will protect both buyer and seller. Let us try
the problem, at any rate. Will not the sellers of supplies
lead the discussion ? Colorado.
We have received the following responses to the above,
from some of our advertisers:
DE.'VL WITH RESPONSIBLE FIRMS.
I do not consider the dilemma of our Colorado friend a
serious one. If he wishes to purchase a car-load of supplies
the goods will be figured to him at a very low price for the
consideration of a quantity order with the cash. This is
preatly in the favor of the purchaser. If he places his or-
der with a strictly responsible house his goods will be guar-
anteed as ordered, and if, by accident, an error should be
made it would be corrected without expense to him. As a
rule, manufacturers and supply dealers are very honorable
in their dealings, and if there are any that are not they
must eventually drop out of the business.
After giving this subject much thought I can see but
one explanation, and that is, to be certain to place the order
with a responsible firm. Walter S. Pouder.
" COLORADO " takes A WRONG POSITION.
We note the copy of letter from your Colorado sub-
scriber, which you enclose. We think he takes a wrong po-
sition in this matter, for this reason : If he wishes to pur-
chase a car-load of goods, and can show as good financial
standing in the business world as the manufacturer, then
we would have no objection to sending him goods to be
paid for when examined ; but inasmuch as he is not in busi-
ness, and not quoted in the commercial reference books, he
could hardly expect that any one would trust him outright
with a car-load of goods unless he could give satisfactory
references.
We have never had any difficulty in satisfj'ing our cus-
tomers in the ultimate settlement of any disputed point,
unless it may be with some one who has ordered only a few
dollars worth of goods and is simply of that make-up that
he would not be satisfied even if the whole amount of money
he paid for the goods was returned to him.
Now we would suggest that if this party wishes to pur-
chase a car-load of goods, and, as he says, he is willing' to
pay cash, that he send the manufacturer one-third or one-
half the cost of the goods, and deposit the balance in some
bank to be paid to the manufacturer when the goods have
been received and found satisfactory.
The W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co.
NO rule can he LAID DOWN.
There is no rule that can be laid down in this matter,
as the matter of credit to a strange purchaser by a dealer
depends altogether upon the information that the dealer
may or may not have obtained concerning the purchaser.
If dealers were compelled to trust everybody, they would
have to ask a much larger price for their goods to make up
for dishonest customers, and the honest ones would evi-
dently pay for the dishonest ones. Purchasers of large
orders who understand the rules of business do not hesitate
to furnish good references, and that secures them a credit,
so they can see the goods before buying. On a small retail
trade, however, it is not advisable to make credit, as it in-
volves too large a correspondence and too much book-keep-
ing. Between a fair dealer and a fair purchaser, there is
NOT trouble once in a thousand purchases, because the dealer
is always ready to take back incorrect goods and replace
them, paying freight both ways. When there is trouble it
is when the dealer is not fair, or the purchaser himself is
unjust or gets angry at an error, instead of peaceably rep-
resenting the mistake which needs correction. But as I
said before, it does not happen once in a thousand deals
that both parties get so angry that they can not agree on a
satisfactory solution.
As we cut up very little lumber ourselves, but buy
much of our stuff already cut from large mills, we are both
a buyer and a seller in the goods furnisht by " the man at
the saw, " and we must say that we find very little trouble
in getting or giving satisfaction.
Chas. Dadant & Son.
TRY TO DO AS YOU WOULD BE DONE BY.
Your Colorado correspondent is not so badly off as he
imagines. In the first place it is not necessary or desirable
even, for him to send his order hundreds of miles distant di-
rect to the factory. He can place it with a large wholesale
dealer in his own State, and receive just as good prices as
tho he sent the order direct to the factory.
Again, if he is a reliable and responsible man, and can
satisfy the one with whom he places his order of the fact,
it is not necessarv for him to pay for the goods until he
sees them and is satisfied they are what he ordered.
Neither the manufacturer nor the dealer wants to have any
unfair advantage over his customers. The reason why
the rule of " cash with order " has been adopted is not to
take advantage of the buyer, but it is rather in his interest
in preventing bad debts, thereby permitting of closer
prices. If the manufacturer or dealer had the means at
hand of ascertaining who were responsible and trustworthy
and who were not, many people could be accommodated
who, under the present conditions, find it less troublesome
to send the amount with the order. We have the means at
hand for men in the mercantile business : but not for
farmers, professional men, etc, who makeup the great
majority of customers for bee-supplies.
Even if cash does accompany the order and it is placed
with a responsible manufacturer or dealer, the buyer is not
helpless if the order is not properly filled. Your subscriber
seems to assume that the manufacturer would be more care-
ful to avoid mistakes in filling the order if the payment
was not to be made till after delivery and inspection — a
proposition which is absurd from our point of view. We
would have as much right to assume that the buyer would
be more critical in his inspection, seeking for some basis as
a claim for rebate, if he were allowed the privilege of in-
spection before .settling for the goods. We have more
faith in both classes— buyer and seller— than to ascribe to
either such low standards.
Your correspondent says, " Errors of the man at the
saw, if his spoilt goods get shipt, are never corrected."
That is a pretty sweeping statement which we think he
would find it difficult to prove. We can cite him to numer-
ous cases in our experience that would induce him to ma-
terially modify it. We always try to do as we would be
done by, whether goods are paid for or not. Occasionally a
man takes so unreasonable a position as to make it impos-
sible to satisfy him ; but we usually satisfv our customers.
The A. I. Root Co.
70
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
Jan. 31, 1901.
THE HONBST SUFFER BECAUSE OF THE DISHONEST.
I have carefully considered the letter by "Colorado."
It would appear that he has had bad work unloaded on him,
and had to put up with it as it was. Has he ever dealt
with firms that have given perfect satisfaction in quality
and workmanship ? If so, why has he not stood by them ?
This question is for customers in general.
The fact of the matter is, that a large proportion of
bee-keepers are always looking for the cheapest, and they
always get it. A customer of mine bought nothing of
me last season until September. I find he had bought else-
where at a less price, but admits that my goods were best,
and again orders of me at 7ny price, without making a sin-
gle objection, as " Colorado " does.
Every supply dealer and manufacturer should be able
to establish a character beyond any question, by the best of
reference. I deal with hundreds of customers every year —
it is an easy matter for every one of them to get my stand-
ing within a week, but it is an utter impossibility for me to
find out the character and standing of all my customers.
If every bee-keeper were honest and fair, then it would be
perfectly safe and right for any reliable firm to submit
goods for inspection before payment. But it is a melan-
choly fact that bee-keepers have their regular proportion of
people that are dishonest, unfair, and cranky, as every
dealer knows. We must protect ourselves against this
class by " cash with the order," and the honest must suffer
for it. until after having establisht a character with a
firm, we sometimes make exceptions. But this does not
protect us against losing customers, and we are forced to
do the right thing to keep the business going.
Why should /, as a " manufacturer and dealer," "con-
tribute any brains to make a general rule of business that
will protect both buyer and seller ? " Why should I contrib-
ute to make it perfectly safe for my customers to order of
my competitor ? If I have given them satisfaction and no
cause to complain, let them keep on buying of me, and if
they want to try the other man let them take their chance,
and not ask me to make it safe for them to try him.
If it were a rule to ship goods on approval, we would be
at the mercy of dishonest people. What is to hinder a
man from ordering from several concerns and selecting
the best as he sees it, and refuse the others on some pre-
text ? We would never know, and if we did would have no
redress. Or what protection would we have against a
chronic crank and fault-finder ?
Such conditions as Colorado complains of, while they
are liable to happen to any firm, and in fact do happen,
are exceptions. Where they are a rule, they will soon es-
tablish a reputation as being unreliable. For the few ex-
ceptions that happen to good firms, it is hardly worth con-
sidering a general rule as proposed.
Let each firm do business on a principle that will sat-
isfy their customers. Let each make it a rule for them-
selves. Instead of forcing the dishonest and unreliable to
do right, let it be a " survival of the fittest." Let honest
and legitimate competition alone force a man to do right,
and be careful and considerate in dealing with his custo-
mers. Let him command their confidence, and let them
freely give it. It is only those that mistrust everybody else
that we ever have any trouble with.
I have for a number of years shipt all of my honey to
one firm, for the reason that I have confidence in their hon-
esty, and I let good enough alone.
The only general rule should be with the publishers.
Hold them responsible for the character of their advertis-
ers. It is an easy thing for them to do, and they can afford
it considering what we have to pay. Let it be understood,
that the appearance of an advertisement is a guaranty for
the character of the firm. Gus Dittmer.
Later. — I had thought that perhaps I had been a little
too hard on " Colorado. " I have just read the editorial on
"A Dishonest Honey-Shipper," on page 691 (19001, and I
am more than ever confirmed in the position I have taken.
We must protect ourselves against that class of bee-keep-
ers, and the honest must suffer in consequence. G. D.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers v^ho do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
Honey-Dew— Extracted-Honey Question.
BY C. P. DADAXT.
I HAVE received the following to be answered in the
American Bee Journal:
Mr. C. p. D.idaxt: — Would you be kind enough to answer a few
iiuestions on the production of extracted honej' '.
1. In our locality we have an occasional flow of the so-called
"honey-dew." Is there any danger of this being carried up into the
extracting-frames, or will it be used up for brood-rearing before the
white clover honey-flow ' The honey-dew flow comes in early spring
when the oaks are leafing. What I want to know is. Will it injiu'e the
grade of the white clover honey *
2. Do you put your honey, as soon as extracted, into cans or into
a tank '.
3. How do you clean extraoting-eombs after the honey-flow is
over '.
4. Is it best to leave them on the hives from spring lUitil fall ? —
Carholl Co., Il.T..
1. Honey-dew is harvested and carried into the supers
just like any other crop. In the extracting supers, and when
there is no other honey harvested at the same time, it is all
right, for it can be taken out and sold separatelj-. It is cer-
tainly not good honey, but it is a " sweet," and much bet-
ter than no crop at all. In 1890 or 1891 (I do not remember
which), we harvested some 30 barrels of almost pure honey-
dew, and in fact there was little else. This was sold by us
at five cents per pound for baking purposes, and I believe
also for the use of tobacconists. We have used it ourselves
in wine-making and found it quite as efficient as any other
grade of honey. But its taste, for consumption as honey, is
not a recommendation. Some people call it '• bug-juice,"'
and seem to abhor it. Some of it, probably the bulk of it,
is certainly a production of aphides, but undoubtedlj' also
some honey-dew is an exudation from the tree, especially
that which is gathered around the acorns.
The fact that honey-dew is the product of aphides
should not condemn it for all purposes. If aphides are
"bugs," so are bees ; they are all insects, and the fact that
one product is unpalatable does not make it entirely useless
or worthless. And in the matter of edibles, much depends
how we consider things. What we call cheese is called by
the Chinese "rotten milk," but we think cheese a greater
dainty than the young dogs that the Chinaman roasts as a
delicacy.
One consolation is that honey-dew does not usually
prove very plentiful in times of a great clover honey-flow.
Then, the bees do not like it as well as clover honey, and
they do not always gather it when there is a good flow of
the better nectar. Yet there are times when clover and
honey-dew are harvested together. This is unfortunate for
the clover crop, for it does not take much of the poorer ar-
ticle to stain it in color, and to spoil the flavor. The only
remedy is to sell the mixture at a lower price. But we
must avoid keeping it for winter food, for there is not the
slightest doubt that it is not as healthy as white honey,
probably because it does not contain as much saccharine
■substance, or because it contains more foreign matter,
which amounts to the same thing.
2. We have always practiced putting our honey, as soon
as harvested, into barrels. Our reason for doing so is, that,
with the large crops we harvest, tanks would be very cum-
brous and very expensive. Then, we have never had any
trouble with barrels, tho we see that many people complain
of them. It is probably because we have always taken
pains to secure first-class, dry barrels, such as have been
used for alcohol or syrups, that are usually coated with
some sort of glue on the inside, which makes them honey-
tight. Too many people imagine that they can take a
leaky barrel and soak it with water, as they would for wine
or cider, and make it do for honey. This is a grave error.
Honey absorbs moisture to such an extent that it will
readily "drink up "the water contained in the wood, and
thus will dry up the wood and leave the barrel leaky as be-
fore. We found, at our expense, that if you take and melt
a lot of honey, and put it while hot, into even a very sound
barrel, the heat of the honey will dry up the wood enough
to cause it to leak at once, when it would not have done so
if cold honey had been put into it. We prefer barrels to
cans because we can handle the honey and draw it oft' into
any kind of a receptacle when ready to retail it.
But we do not wish to speak against the honey-tank.
Any apiarist who has sufficient room and can secure a good,
big tank can place the honey in this and probably have it
continue to ripen, after it is' harvested, if the tank is kept
in a warm, dry place. Such a tank should be made of gal-
vanized iron or heavy tin, and placed where the honey may
Jan. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
71
be drawn oS thru a faucet without having to move the tank.
For a crop of a few hundred, or even of a few thousand,
pounds, this is certainly good. We sometimes have unripe
honey, and I know that such honey would be benefitted by
standing- in an open tank in hot weather. But if the crop
is harvested at the right time, there is usually no need of
artificial ripening. There are seasons when the weather is
damp and the crop is so watery that it even ferments in
the combs before harvesting. No amount of ripening will
help such honey.
3. We always return the combs to the hives to clean them.
If there is no honey in the fields at the time of extracting, we
wait until evening to return the extracting supers, so that
the bees may not be incited to rob. About sunset is a good
time, and if any excitement prevails it dies out before any
damage is done. The next morning all is quiet. In a good
season, when the bees are still at work, the combs may be
returned at once, that is, the combs of one hive, that have
just been extracted, are exchanged for those of the next,
and so on, till the end of the day.
We have tried keeping the combs over, from one year
to another, without giving them back to be cleansed — we
do not like it. They are sticky, and leak more or less : they
attract mice and robber-bees, and the liquid honey that
sticks to them is likely to sour. Then when spring comes,
if we happen to put them on the hive during a day of short
crop, we have some risks again from the excitement caused,
and some danger of robbing.
4. Yes, if your colonies are strong, the combs are better
off on the hives during the summer than in the honey-house
or anywhere else. Even if there is no crop, the bees take
care of them and neither mice nor moth can touch them.
But we must not leave a lot of supers on a weak colony.
That would be an error. Some judgment must be used in
this as in a.ay other thing. Let us always remember that
snccessful bee-culture is made of many little details, and
that the most careful man is also the most successful.
Hancock Co., 111.
Queen-Rearing en a Roof Feeders and Liquefy-
ing Granulated Honey.
BY jOUX K. SCHMIDT.
SO much has been said already about bee-keeping on a
roof, and especially as this has been my subject quite
often it is really becoming one of the "old chestnuts."
It is about time this subject were buried, at least long
enough to allow the readers to recover from the "too much
of one thing "' malady which creeps into our periodicals so
often, not only in bee-literature, but in many others as
well. For instance: Not long ago while talking to a pho-
tographer who has made a success of his profession, I
chanced to ask him which is the best photographic journal
publisht. Picking up one of the high-priced journals and
turning to the frontispiece he said: " Here we have an ex-
ample of composition and lighting that we buried 20 years
A'onj-.lpuny o/A/i: C. II. U\ Wehn. Hamilton Co.. Ohio.
ago, and it is the same with many of the articles as well —
the rethrashing of the same old things until we actually do
not care to read them." Now this is just the trouble with
articles written on bee-culture — the rethrashing of the same
old things until the advanced readers will not read them.
The only excuse I have for bringing an old subject be-
fore the readers is, that it introduces something which
heretofore to my knowledge has never been attempted on a
large scale, viz: The rearing of queen-bees for the trade.
The illustration herewith is a photograph of the C. H. W.
Weber apiary again, and also shows a few of the nuclei
used last season to accommodate some of the queens. It has
been suggested that the only sure way to get queens purely
mated is to establish an apiary on an island, away from
other bees, and even to accomplish this desired result a des-
ert was mentioned. Probably this led to the idea of going
to the other extreme and rearing them on a roof in the
city : anyhow, this has proven to be a capital idea, at least
in this city, where house-top apiaries are few and far be-
tween. Mr. Weber tested this method of queen-rearing
last season and found it to work well, his business having
developt to such an extent that a move was necessary to
the roof proper, about 20 feet higher, where more room and
sunshine could be given the bees.
The same idea of having the hives under cover has
been adhered to, as this is important when located on a
high roof where the wind has full sweep without a break,
over the house-tops. It would become a troublesome and
often disastrous undertaking to winter hives of bees under
any other method, but as it is here, each hive nestles up to
t he second story in a solid packing both winter and sum-
mer. A thing of no little importance has been added to
these hives. That is, every one has a permanent Doolittle
feeder on the north side of the brood-chamber, and manipu-
lated entirely from the outside thru a N-inch tin tube closed
with a cork. The arrangement is so convenient that one may
feed any desired amount of syrup at any and all times;
even in the coldest days the bees may be fed with the same
convenience and safety as in summer, the packing not
being disturbed in the least. Just pull out the cork, insert
a funnel, pour in the feed, replace the cork, and we're ready
for the next hive. This is almost convenience itself, and
as near being the perfect way to feed as anything could be.
Another thing, every one of the hives under cover has
three queens in each — tzi'O young laying queens besides the
old one — living peaceably, too. I believe this was consid-
ered impossible heretofore. Can't tell you now (by request)
how it is done, but it is an accomplisht fact — nothing
theoretical about it.
LIQUEFYING GR.^NULATED HONEY.
The sale of liquid extracted honey is another specialty
of Mr. Weber's, and to keep it in the liquid state is not an
easy thing to accomplish, judging from the amount of
granulated honey we see. This localitj' undoubtedly wants
liquid extracted honey, and to make a success of the busi-
ness we must give them what they want. Realizing this,
Mr. Weber has de-
vised a liquefying-
tank with a capacity
of one barrel at a
time. The honey-
chamber is surround-
ed hy a water-bath,
and the water is
heated by a gas stove
of special design. The
exact amount of wa-
ter in the tank can be
read from the out-
side upon an auto-
matic register, and
when the water is too
low a turn or two of
a small wheel admits
the water thru a sep-
arate hydraulic con-
nection for this tank.
Should the water sup-
ply become too great
it may be turned into
a drain - pipe, and
needs no further care.
The temperature
of the surrounding
water is of great
72
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Jan. 31, 1901
importance, and to know to a degree just how hot the water
really is, is accomplisht by a thermometer on the outside
which registers the exact temperature of the surrounding
water in the tank. A glance at this will tell us just where
we are '• at " at all times, and there is no danger of over-
heating except thru carelessness. Any variation from the
desired temperature is easily controlled by the perfect sys-
tem of heating, and cold water supply. All this will be ap-
preciated the more when it is said this tank is located in the
store in full view of all customers and visitors, and its novel
appearance excites much curiosity. The honey when re-
liquefied is run into bottles, corkt, and hermetically sealed
while hot with a preparation which looks like beesvrax, and
something especially appropriate and pleasing when used
for this purpose.
Is this tank a success ? Well, I believe I can safely say
it is. Two bottles of reliquefied honey which I saw had
been on ice constantly for three months, and after this long
time did not show the least trace of granulation. If bottled
honey will stand so severe a test as this there is no neces-
sity for educating the people to eat granulated honey. I
was told a tank like this does not cost over SlOO, and it cer-
tainly would be a good investment for many. To see it
one would think it cost a great deal more.
Such are a few of the good things Mr. Weber has
thought out himself, and if he could be induced to describe
them with his own pen I am sure he would put a few
" wrinkles " into some of the most prolific writers.
Before closing I would like to say that some parts of
this article may read like a big puff for Mr. Weber. To all
those who think it such, I would say that I write only hop-
ing to give something new and practical to the readers,
and if a person deserves credit for such a thing it is no
more than right that he should be mentioned in connection
^I'l^ it- Hamilton Co., Ohio.
The Conklin Apiary in Rliyme.
BY MRS. .IAN. K. ( OXKI.IX.
In the village of Moravia this apiary's found —
Just out behind the barn are the busy workers 'round ;
Bounded on the east by berries, and on the west by hens,
On the north by a vacant lot, a neighbor it defends. .
The owner that's at work there, was born in '53 ;
He stayed on the farm with father until he married me.
We went to farming right away, instead of a wedding trip,
But he hankered so for honey that one day he bought a ■• skip.''
■Jfou all know what the fever is that one swarm brings to men—
"Well, I guess the only remedy is to get some more of them.
Mistakes, experiments, and even death didn't break the fever up-
Still on it raged till cooled by drink from a successful cup.
■VVe finally gave farming up, and to the village came.
But his appetite tor honey is very much the same.
Bee-keeping sirs— and also wives— those both short and tall,
When passing thru this place we'll be glad to have you call. '
—Cayuga Co., N. Y., Dee. 19, I'.IOO.
Tlie " Bull-Dog Ant " of Florida in the Apiary.
BY PROF. A. J. COOK.
I HAVE been much interested in a correspondence with
H. E. Hill, of Florida, regarding a large red ant of that
State. Mr. Hill says he has not seen this species in Can-
ada, Cuba, or in any section of the United States except
Florida. These ants are very serious pests in the apiary,
and their destructive habits make it imperative that the bee-
keeper give them special attention. Mr. Hill states that he
has lost as many as 19 nuclei in a single week from these
predatory ants. This is true notwithstanding that the
nuclei were fastened on the trunks of palm-trees quite
a distance from the ground. A further precaution was also
taken of placing a girdle of cotton wadding saturated with
carbolic acid around the tree above and below each nucleus.
Districts not cultivated are fairly alive with these ants.
They burrow deep in the roots of old" stumps, under logs or
other pieces of wood, in the grass, between the walls of
buildings, in wood-piles, in ventilated hive-covers, beneath
the bottom-board of hives, in the vacant space of a con-
tracted hive, between the shingles of old buildings, in rot-
ten portions of tall trees — in short, may be found in any
place that affords them a harbor.
Mr. Hill has never counted them but believes that a
colony may number two or three thousand ants. It is quite
common, however, for a detachment of a few hundred to
gather in any place affording a safe rendezvous. They
are very ready to occupy any convenient harbor near the
apiary. Hence the need of great vigilance on the part of
the bee-keeper.
It is a curious fact that queenless colonies, or any colony
in the apiary weak in numbers, are quick to be discovered
by these marauders and are almost certain of attack and
extinction. They always make their onslaught in the
night-time ; and even populous colonies not infrequently
succumb to their attack.
I have long believed that ants are to the Arthropoda
what man is among Vertebrates. Even the study of the
ant's brain would establish its position at the head of its
phylum. Its brain is not only large in proportion to its
body, but has a kind of corrugation which reminds us of the
convolutions of our own brains and those of the other
higher mammalia. We know that ants sow seeds, clear the
ground, gather and cure their grain, make slaves, and do
many other things that indicate very high intelligence.
We are not surprised, then, at what Mr. Hill writes of this
apicide of Florida. He states that in the early evening,
scouts are sent out in advance of the main army, which se-
lect the colony of bees to be destroyed and plundered.
These advance agents may be seen running over the hive
at the very dawn of the night. In such case, the colony of
bees is usually doomed unless removed beyond the reach of
the menacing host. Mr. Hill has frequently removed the
imperilled colony with the result that an adjacent colony
was attackt and destroyed.
This method has been the most successful of any tried.
Mr. Hill reports that the bees show the utmost conster-
nation when attackt by these ants. The chitinous crust,
which in all ants is very hard, is specially so in the case of
this bee-destroyer of Florida. The ant has immense
strength, is very agile and alert, and, by use of its sharp,
scissors-like jaws, is sure of victory. The hum of distress,
and even of despair, made by the bees is so characteristic,
that it would be quickly recognized even by the inexperi-
enced.
As before stated, these attacks are always made in the
night. During the time of the contest, thousands of ants
may be seen running over the ground and the hives near
by. The ants grasp the bees and the two may be seen
whirling, one over the other, until the bee is hurled from
the hive maimed or dead. This hand-to-hand conflict, if
we may so call it, goes on until all that remains of the bees
is, to quote Mr. Hill, " a crawling, wreathing mass of dis-
membered bodies drabbled in perspiration and honey."
The victory is sure to come to the ants but is not without
its fearful sacrifices. Hundreds of the ants arq disabled or
killed in the battle. These are mixt with the perishing
bees and reach high up from the bottom-board between the
combs. After the terrible carnage, the remaining ants
feast upon the honey which is left in the comb and in the
honey-sacs of the dead bees.
The immense numbers of these destroying ants can be
easily imagined, as Mr. Hill states that he has burned
thousands of colonies during the past two years. They
seem to be proof against the use of bi-sulphide of carbon.
When this liquid is used, they pick up their eg'gs and move
to new quarters. The free use of gasoline and the torch
seems the only practicable waj' to destroy the destroyers.
Mr. Hill has invented a very ingenuous way to protect his
queen-rearing colonies from these ant banditti. He places
them on a stand, the legs of which are so turned that a lit-
tle basin encircles each leg. This little basin is made im-
pervious by coating it on the inner side with paraffine. By
keeping this full of kerosine or carbolic acid, the ants are
unable to pass up the legs and so can not reach the bees.
Of course the liquid has to be replaced as it evaporates.
Like all ants, this " bull-dog of Florida " has a sort of
scale or hump on its narrow thorax. There are two sizes
of the ants, the ordinary small workers and the much larger
soldiers. The heads are very large, the eyes round and
small, and the jaws very strong and sharp. The entire
body has numerous hairs. Except the eyes and the abdo-
men of the soldiers, and the tip of the same in the smaller
workers, which are black, the entire ant is red. As Mr.
Hill has not sent me any specimens of the queens. I do not
know how they differ from the others except as very likely
they are larger and will show stubs of wings. The queens
of all ants, as also the males or drones, have wings and fly
Jan. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
73
forth to mate. After mating-, the workers or soldiers bite
off the wing-s of the queen so that she is ever after held as
a sort of a prisoner in the ant household where she performs
no other duty than to lay eggs.
I have been explicit in this narration as it is a remark-
ably interesting case. Ants for the most part do little
harm. When we see them visiting trees we may be almost
assured that there are either scale-insects or plant-lice on
the same trees. These scale or plant-lice secrete honey-dew
and it is this which attracts the ants. The ants, then, do
no harm here except, perhaps, to protect the scale and
plant-lice from birds which are slow to visit plants on
which ants abound. AVe all know that ants sometimes bore
into trees. This tunneling, however, is rare except in
trees more or less decayed. In such cases, however, the
tunnels are often very numerous and the carving done
by the ants is interesting to study. In California, where the
ants are near trees, they sometimes do damage by destroy-
ing foliage. I have not seen this but have it from what I
consider good authority.
The most grievous offense that the ants commit in our
country is that of entering our houses and making them-
selves a nuisance on the lawn about the house. Strings
dipt in corrosive sublimate will keep them from the houses,
while burning with gasoline or suffocating with bi-sulphide
of carbon is the easiest way to rid the lawn of their pres-
ence. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTE
DR. O. O. AirCtER, Afareng-o, HI,
[The Questions maj be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.]
Moving Bees in Winter.
I have an apiary of about 50 colonies. Would you ad-
vise me to move them now ? Virginia.
Answek — Without knowing more about the case it is
hard to answer. If you yourself expect to move, it will
probablj' be more convenient for you to move the bees also.
If you remain where you are. and the pasture is very much
better at some place two or more miles away, it may be ad-
visable to move the bees. If you expect to move the bees,
and desire only to know whether the present is a good time
to move them, it may be said in reply that it will be better
to wait till the bees begin to fly in the spring. Still, if it is
much more convenient to move them now, thej' may be
moved carefully without danger of much harm.
Getting Straigtit Brood-Combs Moving Bees.
1. As I am a beginner in the bee-business, I would like
to know what is he best way of getting straight combs in
the brood-fratnes ? I have 20 colonies, and I wish to run
for extracted honey another year. The past year I workt
for comb honey, so the brood-frames are in such a shape
that it will be difficult to extract a great many of them that
I would like to get into.
2, And, furthermore, is it best to contract the space in
the hive, when there is an extra frame in the hive that isn't
filled ?
2. After a swarm issues, can I move the old colony, say
a half mile, without injuring them, to a different place, sup-
posing that the swarm that issued would better be put back
on the old stand ? The reason that I ask is, I want to have
them on the opposite side of the river. I have 20 colonies.
California.
Answers. — 1. The very best way to have combs built
straight is to fill the frames with comb foundation. That
makes a sure thing of it that the center of the comb will be
in the center of the frame, and you may make sure at the
same time of having all worker-comb.
2. It is not desirable to have any more space in the hive
than can be tilled by the bees, especially in winter, for it
costs the bees extra to keep up the heat in that extra space.
3. Yes, it will be all right to move the mother colony.
away a half a rod or half a mile. If you want to have the
moved colon)' pretty strong, move it immediately after it
swarms. But it is generally considered good practice to let
the old hive stand close beside the swarm for a week and
then move it. That makes the swarm very strong, but of
course the mother colony is just so much weakened. The
object desired is to prevent a second swarm, and also to
make the first swarm strong for surplus. Moving the
swarm a half mile will be much the same as moving it a
short distance, only there will probably be not quite so
many bees leave the old hive for the swarm, if the old hive
is moved a long distance.
Storing Supers-10-Frame vs. 8-Frame Hive.
1. I am anxious to fix my surplus honey arrangement
during the winter, but having been deprived of the use of
the building I used for a shed, I have no place to store my
supers where the temperature does not go much below
freezing — in fact, I must leave some outdoors. Thru the
kindness of the " gude wife," I can work in one end of the
kitchen, but must store my traps elsewhere. Will freezing
injure the foundation in the sections, provided they are kept
dry and in the dark ? By an eye of faith I see a shop and
honey-house after next summer's big honey-crop !
2. Why is a 10-frame hive better for extracted honey
than an 8-f rame, as you advise New Jersey, on page 25 ?
How about two 8-frame hives with queen-excluders be-
tween ? HOOSIKK.
Answers. — 1. Don't be worried about the freezing. It's
probably a good deal colder here than where you live, and
I've had thousands of sections tilled with foundation stay
in a place as cold as outdoors not only all winter but two
or more winters, and I don't think they were hurt by it.
2. One reason for preferring the 10-frame hive is that
it is safer for winter. There is more room in it for winter
stores. There is not the same reason for restricting the
brood-nest at any time for extracted honey that there is for
comb honey. The bees will not do anything at comb honey
in the supers so long as there is room below. But it is not
quite the same with extracting-combs above. If they have
old black combs above they will store it in them nearly if
not quite as readily as below, and even if the extracting-
combs are new they will prefer them to sections divided up
into little compartments. Of course, you will need more
than one story of 10 frames in the harvest, and you will be
safer from having the harvest interrupted by swarming
than if the ciueen vrere confined to 8 frames.
Mating of Queens Growing Plants for Honey.
1. I have been reading "Langstroth on the Honey-
Bee," and I find that it says that the queen mates with the
drone while on the wing. I do not find that it .states atiy-
where that queens mate in any other way. I have six dipt
queens, and others that seem to be too large to fly, and I
would like to know if they will be all right for breeding in
the spring.
2. I wish to purchase some honey-plants in the spnng,
and would like to know what would suit this climate best.
What kinds of clovers would you advise, and what kind of
garden flowers ? West Vircinia.
Answers.— 1. It is exceedingly doubtful whether
queens mate any other way than on ttie wing. If the wings
of a queen are dipt before she flies on her wedding- trip, or
if by anv means the wings of a virgin queen are bad so she
can not fly, you may better kill her at once ; she is utterly
worthless^ as all the eggs she lays will produce only drones.
The six dipt queens are all right for the next spring, if
they were all right in the fall, for a queen does not need to
meet the drones each year, but only once for life.
2. Your best chance will probably be among the clovers.
Alsike clover is one of the best, especially if the location is
somewhat low and wet. Sweet clover will do almost any-
where, and vf ill do well on poor land and on stiff clay. Very
likely crimson clover may prove a success with you. It is
very' beautiful when in flower, and would be an ornan.ent
in the door-yard. Crimson clover is not usually sown in
the spring, but it may be worth while for you to try some
at that time, as in that case you will be a little ahead if it
succeeds.
^ ■ >
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work
ing for. Look at them.
74
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Jan. 31, 1901.
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag-o, 111.,
Aug-, 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from pag-e 55).
DISCUSSION ON SHIPPING HONEY CONTINUED.
Mr. Aikin— I am glad Mr. Abbott has made his speech ;
I know now where Colorado, Arizona and Utah people can
sell their honey.
Mr. Moore — I was gfoing- to ask him how he sold 30.000
pounds of honey a year ?
Mr. Aikin— Don't bother yourself about that, Mr.
Moore. In the first place, if we had barrels, we would have
to let the Wisconsin people ship to Chicago, and from Chi-
cago to Denver, and from Denver to Loveland ; what would
be the freight rate ? Not less than first-class, or once and
a half, or double first-class.
A Member — Couldn't you ship barrel-staves without all
that freight ?
Mr. Aikin— We would probably have to pay the freight
on them just the same ; whereas the tin comes to Denver
and our cans are put up right in Denver, and distributed
thruout the State and adjoining territory, and we have new
tin cans. I don't know of anybody in our part of the coun-
try who puts up honey in second-hand cans. Last year we
put our honey in five-gallon tin cans, otherwise called 60-
pound cans. Those cans are made, it is true, out of light
tin, and unless they are securely made, you can burst one
of them almost as easily as you could roil off a log. When
the honey is quite liquid, you put that honey into the cans
and let it stand for four weeks, and then you can ship it
across the continent and back again and it will be there
just the same ; it will candy solid. At least all the honey I
ever produced in Colorado, and that has been a good many
car-loads, would candy within a month, and will candy as
solid as any butter or lard you ever shipt. But why put it in
a 60-pound can ? What trade are we catering to, anyhow ?
It has come out at diflerent times here in this convention,
and in other ways, that the great bulk of the honey we
have been producing and taking such pains to get nice,
good honey for people to eat, goes where? Into tobacco,
into whisky or liquor of some kind or other— I don't know
what all it is put into. A representative from one of the
Chicago honey commission firms told us last year that the
great bulk of the extracted honey they bought and sold did
not go on the table as a table syrup. If that is true, use
your old, dirty barrels if you wish to, but we in the West
who have a good table " syrup " that can't be excelled any-
where in the United States, propose to put our honey into
cans. It is the cheapest package we can get. Every old
alcohol and glucose barrel is pickt up by the farmers and
others who want to take water on their ground for drinking
purposes. The cheapest barrel we could buy would cost us
$100, it wouldn't hold anything except water, and not al-
ways that. It is true that we could take the barrels and put
them out there and use them. I made a piece of furniture
in Iowa out of walnut, and it was put up several years be-
fore it went to Colorado. It stood all right until I'moved it
to Colorado ; after I got it in that dry climate, the cracks
opened up until you could stick your finger thru. That is
what the barrels would do if you shipt them from a damp
climate and let them stand a little time without redriving
the hoops. I tried that once on some barrels I had in Iowa
in use for three or four years. After they had stood in my
shop, I filled them with honey, having the hoops driven
tight and putting on iron hoops and drove them until I was
afraid I would burst the hoops, and then shipt them to Colo-
rado and let them stand in the sun a few days, and then
went around and could lift the hoops off from the barrels
with a finger. If the honey had not been candied it would
have been out on the ground. That cuts but little figure
with Wisconsin and New York people, and you who have
barrels and can use them and ship them to the factory. I
am producing honey and working on a different line alto-
gether. Mr. Moore wanted to know how I could sell 30,000
pounds of honey in my local trade. I am making it a
staple, and as a staple it must compete with other sweets
of equal grade — that means granulated sugar with some
water poured into it to make a syrup. I am not catering to
the fancy trade, but when the poor people of this country
buy our extracted honey and use it as a syrup, they don't
want to buy a barrel of it, and they don't want it to be ex-
pensive, either. They don't want to pay 25 cents, or even
five cents, for a package that will hold five cents worth of
honey. I am going to hit Mr. York real hard while I am
on-.the floor, and if he undertakes to get after me, I want
you to get between us. Some of you remember reading in
the American Bee Journal an editorial by Mr. York criti-
cizing those of us who want to put our name and address
on our package, and he says, " Does the farmer put his
name and address on the bags of wheal^v and on his pota-
toes, and on his horses and cows ? " taking the whole list of
them, pretty much. " Does he put his name and address on
them when he sends them to market ? " The case isn't ap-
plicable at all ; his argument is altogther lame. The wheat
the farmer sells goes into a big bin with 1,000 other farm-
ers' wheat ; it is shipt in a car-load to the mill, the miller
grinds it, and when it becomes flour, every sack of it goes
out with the miller's brand on it, and it remains on it until
it goes into the family to be consumed. When Mr. York
buys my honey, if he buys it in barrels or 60-pound cans,
and puts it up in little packages to sell to the retail trade, it
doesn't make any difference whether I have my address on it
or not, it becomes then Mr. York's honey ; but when I ship
my comb honey that goes thru his hands to the retail trade,
and is never changed from the moment it leaves my hands
until it reaches the retail store, my name has a right and
my address has a right, to be on that package and remain
there until it goes to the consumer, or until it gets into the
store. I have a right to have my name and address on every
separate section, and in proof of my position I will ask
you if you can find any package whatever in foods that
is sent out in any other way. The name and address of the
packer or manufacturer is on that goods whenever the
goods goes right thru to its destination in the original pack-
age ; butter is so branded, eggs are not of course, because
an egg is an egg, and it is out of the question from the na-
ture of the product. Yet in the city of Denver, there is a
firm, I have been told within the last few days, who are
making a specialty of strictly fresh eggs, and when these
eggs go out to the different houses around the city, they go
out with the name and address of the firm putting them
up and guaranteeing them strictly fresh and all right.
Now, I will not take any further time on this particular
phase of it. But why continue with the large package ?
why waste any more time with that ? Do as I have been
doing — put your honey into the small retail package right
the first thing; put packages up in dozens, or any other
way, just as all kinds of fruit and other things, and put
them up and send them right to the consumer and let them
be used as a table syrup. My honey is put in lard-pails 3,
S, and 10 pound sizes, holding 4, 7, and 14 pounds of honey.
I put that honey into the pails at the honey-house. I re-
fuse to sell it, except to people right by me, until it has
candied solid ; then I take it to the stores, and the store
salesmen in my town to-day don't want liquid honey,
because they will pick it up and tip it on one side and read
the honey-label and then set it down and go off. Every
customer who wants to look at it will do the same thing.
Directly the honey is oozing out around the rim. When it
is candied, there is none of that trouble. I am sorry my
honey isn't here. I made a shipment by freight but it has
not yet arrived ; otherwise I could show you all of this. I
have the printed instructions right here, how to melt that
honey, and the people can learn, and will learn, and when
they come to the store they want a package that they can
take home, some syrup to go on their table as a staple, and
they don't want to pay any fancy prices for the package ;
it is simply to put on their tables. They want it in the cheap-
est package they can get, and so when it is in a candied
condition they take it home and melt it, and everyone
is better pleased. Some like it better in the candied condi-
tion, and want it put up in cans. I put it up so they can
have it either way. If they want it they can take it in the
pails and put them in their wagon and go home ; it can be
used in town or country, or in the mining camp ; outing
parties take it because there is no leakage, no bother get-
ting to their camping-ground. Let us quit looking so much
after the manufacturing trade and begin to put our honey
onto the table of the family, and we will do two things —
we will benefit the family, and we will take a lot of this
honey away from the manufacturer, and they will be com-
Jan. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
75
ing- after us to get our honey, and I think we will increase
the demand. I have been selling honey very cheap— I
won't tell you how cheap ; I have been selling it very cheap,
and some people said to me, " You are selling honey too
cheap; you are killing the market." I said. Which would
you ratlier I would do ? You know if I send my honey to
Denver I will have to compete with you ? Do you want me
to sell at home, or sell in Denver ? I say the question
comes to this point, if I have a crop of 30,000 pounds for
sale, and enough to make the total crop right around a lit-
tle village of 2,000 population — making the total crop 50,-
000, is that community going to consume SO,Oi)0 pounds of
honey at 10 cents a pound when they can buy granulated
sugar at S'2 or sis cents a pound and make a splendid table
syrup ? No, sir, they will not. Mr. Abbott is catering to
fancy table trade ; Mr. Moore is doing the same thing.
Let them put up glass packages, if they want to, for people
who are willing to buy fancy goods ; let a panic come, and
there comes a time when you can't sell to that trade; but
the family buys every day in the year ; they want it all the
time, whether times are good or bad. The family trade is
best to depend upon. I said to our Denver people. If I put
my honey on the market at 8, 9 and 10 cents a pound, as
j'ou want me to, the result will be the people are going to
buy the sugar and leave the honey with me ; then I have
got to ship it. What will I do ? Send it down to George
W. York, of Chicago? If I ship in less than car-lots it
costs me 97 cents a hundred pounds to get it here, and I pay
freight on the package — barrels or whatever it is. Mr.
York would probably want to pay six cents there for it, or
seven in Chicago ; my package costs me '4 of a cent ; how
much money have I left for that honey ? If I ship to the
general market it will net me, less freights, commissions
and package, about 3 to 4 cents ; and I said to the Denver
bee-keeper. Would you rather I would ship my honey and
get 4 cents a pound, or sell it at home for 6 cents a pound
and keep it at home ? I am tending to my own business, I
am not bothering you ; when you can get more right at
home than you can sell, don't put it on the market to com-
pete with other people who haven't the local market, or
can't get it. (Applause).
Continued next week.)
Report of the California Association.
BY O. L. -\BBOTT.
The members of the California Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion met at Selnia, Fresno Co., Jan. 7th, and elected a board
of directors, consisting of the following members : Dr. J.
P. Johnson, J. W. Paine, J. S. Crowder, B. D. Vanderburgh,
and C. M. Davis.
The following were elected as officers for the ensuing
j-ear : President, Dr. J. P. Johnson : 1st vice-president, J.
S. Crowder ; 2d vice-president, C. M. Davis ; secretary.
Prof. C. S. Taylor, Jr.: corresponding secretary, O. L. Ab-
bott, of Selma ; and treasurer, J. W. Paine.
Pres. Johnson read the annual report, showing among
other things that the directors had purchast a car-load of
cans and a car-load of cases at a saving to its members ;
that the Association had received and sold 118,732 pounds of
extracted honey at 6 cents a pound ; and that it had manu-
factured the wa.x into foundation for its members at a low
cost per pound. The members showed their appreciation
by a vote of thanks, and by re-electing the old board. Mr.
Grimes was unable to serve as director another year, so Mr.
Davis was elected to fill his place.
A committee consisting of J. H. P. Stephens, Prof. C.
S. Taylor, Jr., and O. L. Abbott, was appointed to revise
the constitution and by-laws, and report at the next meet-
ing.
The meeting adjourned to the first Monday in February.
O. ti. Abbott, Cor. Sec.
Fresno Co., Calif., Jan. 8.
The Chicago Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents ; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for SI. 60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown. ^n czj
^ Tlie Afterthouglit. ^' |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio.
"drones" at the world's convention.
The world's bee-conventton, as reported by Mr. Dadant,
page 8, was quite an affair, even if it didn't amount to
many bushels of beans to be stored in the elevator where
we keep all our knowledge. It is something, however, to be
informed that colonies with many drones store 5)4 percent
less honey than colonies with few. (This was only one
trial involving but 10 hives.) For you know that things
imported from far are worth more than home-made articles.
Interesting to see that some foreign opinion thinks S>2 per-
cent not enough advantage to proscribe the drones on.
Let me state the drone's strongest case, as it looks to me :
When a young queen flies, if she comes within sight of 10
drones there is a sort of selection—the one that gets ready
first is the mate— and that one is presumably the bcsf one
in the lot, the one that will transmit the most vigor. Now
if she comes in sight of a hundred drones there is still se-
lection, chance good for the best one out of the hundred be-
ing the parent. And to be sure of the queen's being seen
by a hundred drones whenever and wherever she may fly,
there needs to be lots of them. (Incidentally, I may remark
that this consideration makes me very apathetic about the
search for some way to control mating. We can not equal
nature's selection if we had control, because we can not see
which drone is the best.)
There is another thing not always thought of. If
drones are few there is little or no drone-comb in the brood-
chamber. This is not necessarily so, but practically it will
generally be the case. With no drone-comb below we must
expect more of it built in the sections. (Wish I knew more
positively about this.) But why care how much drone-comb
there is in the sections ? I am not sure on this point, either,
but presumably the drone size requires so much longer an
arch of capping that it does not lend itself so well to that
beautiful and beyond-all-praise style of finish in capping
which is one of the important things that we want to work
towards. When bees do the best their art admits of, even
dark-colored honey looks temptingly white — almost too
dainty to touch with a handkerchief — the honey itself not
being seen at any point.
COMBS of honey for WINTERING.
Mr. Aikin, usually reliable, seems to me to be getting,
for once at least, into the doubtful regions where he says,
page 821, that four solid combs of honey are better to win-
ter bees on than the same honey in eight combs. I believe
I would choose the latter of the two— with a preference for
six combs, with a generous space on four of them in which
the cells were either empty or only half full. It certainly
looks as tho bees were not quite satisfied with their position
on sealed honey. And such a solid slab of comb, with one
edge of it nearly down to 32 degrees — we can hardly see
how it can help being a needless extracter of animal heat.
NO U. S. HONEY At THE PARIS EXPOSITION.
Not a pound of United States honey at the French Ex-
position I Doubtless the gazing public did not cry for the
lack of it— still, neither the fact itself nor that consider-
ation puts us in a swing-your-hat frame of mind. Suitable
thing to put in our smokers and smoke it. Page 822, (1900).
CONDITION WHEN COLONIES BUILD UP R.iPIDLY.
"Workers with full sacs most of the time." Yes, sir;
that's it, Mr. Aikin. That is the exact and definite condi-
tion under which a colony of bees builds up rapidly. A lit-
tle money (or honey) in general circulation better than
much carried by a few individuals, or lying in bank. It's
all well to say "honey coming in," it's all well to say
"plenty of stores on hand," it's all well to say "feed;"
but if either of these exists where half the workers are on
moderate rations, and not handling honey themselves,
things will continue to go slow. At odd jobs, from time to
time, let us have the terms of our talk brought to terms of
precision, instead of so much allowing of them to "He
around loose." Page 7.
76
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 31, 1901.
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THE A, I. ROOT CO,, Medina, Ohio,
p)aii^^^/}:^^^3'ws,=m3^i!om^
Bees in Fine Condition.
I have about 50 colonies of bees all
put away in the cellar in fine condi-
tion, and expect they will come out all
right in the spring. E. C. Smith.
Ashland Co., Wis., Jan. 14.
Finding a Queen.
I see by page 41 that our good friend.
Mr. E. E. Hasty, evidently misunder-
stood my statement on page 792 (1900).
What I wanted to say was that I al-
ways found the queen on the combs on
that side of the hive not occupied by
the ventilating bees at the entrance.
Thus while the queen is pursuing her
accustomed duties she enjoys the bene-
fit and the comfort of a well-ventilated
room without being exposed to the di-
rect draft of cool air which is forced
into the hive by the fanning bees.
I am fully satisfied that this means
of finding the queen has real merit
when rightly understood.
W. W. McNeal.
Scioto Co., Ohio, Jan. 18.
Poorest Season in 23 Years.
My 250 colonies are all packt on the
summer stands, as usual, and seem to
be wintering nicely. The past season
was the poorest that I have had since I
have been keeping bees (23 years), as I
secured only one barrel of surplus
honey.
The prospects are good for the com-
ing season, and if promises are realized
I am making preparations to increase
from 100 to 150 colonies.
I have never undertaken anything-
that has paid me better than bee-keep-
ing, for the money and time invested.
Emii, J. Baxter.
Hancock Co., 111., Jan. 11.
Bees Did Well— Honey for Smallpox,
My bees did first-rate the past sea-
son, considering the care they had, as
I was away for three months during
the best of the honey-flow. My chil-
dren took care of them, and took off 120
pounds per colony, and left enough in
the hives for winter stores. The win-
ter has been dry, not very stormy thus
far, and it has not been very cold ; the
bees have been out nearly every day,
and the prospect is good for the com-
ing season.
A honey-cure recipe for smallpox was
publisht on page 40 (1897). I saw an
account of it in another journal later
in the year, but did not get the one
that had the cure in. If you would
please be kind enough to reprint it it
would be doing the people in this part
of the country a great deal of good.
The Bee Journal comes to me every
Sunday morning, and it is a very wel-
come visitor. JosKi'H A. EE'SVIS.
Navajo Co., Ariz., Jan. 17.
[The smallpox cure mentioned by
Mr. Lewis, reads as follows :— Editor.]
Experiments made with smallpox
patients in Oaxaca, show that by ad-
ministering honey diluted in water to
smallpox patients the pustules of the
Jan. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
77
DR. PEIRO
34 Central Music Hall, CHICAQO.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wnting.
MARILLA.
HIVES.
THE HUBBARD HIVE
surplus honey. It is ea
ways gives satisfaction.
HUBBARD BEE-HIVE CO.,
3D2t FT. WAYNE, IND.
Please mention Bee Journal -when wrriting
MdUls'S (■^^ "^ ^'''"ss for mi)
Seed Catalogue
Ynu should, by all n»;nis, li.ive this most
niotlorii 4-»tal4»s"<' **' iii(»clerii tiuieH.
It IS l>rmiful iind overtiowing with good thing's in
vegetable, fiirm and flower seeds, flowering
plants, fruits, bulbs, etc It eontalnN 35
noveltie-s in vegetable!* and floMers
never ofTered before, has 136 large pages,
seven handsonie colored plates and hundreds of
illustrations. It gives practical, up-to-date cul-
tural directions and offers many cash prizes.
The first edition alone costs over §30,000, so while
we send it free to all customers, we must ask
others to send 10 cents for it, which amount they
may deduct from their first order. You will
make a mistake if vou do not write to-dav for this
the Novelty Seed Book of the year. Address.
WM. HENRT nAITI.E. Philadelpbia.
worst variety will disappear, and the
fever is immediately diminisht. The
matter attracts much attention. The
remedy was accidentally discovered by
a j'oung- girl who was down with the
disease, who secretly refresht herself
with honey and water with the aston-
ishingly curative results, and it was
then tried on soldiers sick with the
disease.
Bees Seem to be Wintering Well.
There has not been much winter
here as yet, but it has turned colder
to-night, with prospects of a big snow-
storm or ice spell. Bees are wintering
well, seemingly.
J. Wiley Mountjoy.
Anderson Co., Ky., Jan, 17.
Wintering Bees in a Cyclone-Cellar.
I have 49 colonies in winter quarters
— 30 in my cyclone-cellar, and 19 in a
neighbor's. I put them away about
the first of December, and they appear
to be doing well. I find the cyclone-
cellar the best place to winter bees, as
I have lost only two colonies in six
years, and they were weak when put
away. Last winter I put 10 colonies
into the house-cellar, and lost three of
them after taking them from the cellar,
and the others were weak and didn't
do much all summer.
The bees stored very little spring
honey, but the fall flow was good. I
got 1,500 pounds in all, over 900 pounds
being comb honey. My best colony
stored 169 sections, and the ne.xt best
105 sections. No. 1 was an old colony,
and did not swarm duritig the summer.
No. 2 was a swarm which came off
June 18th ; but I had 11 colonies that
did not give me a pound of honey.
I use the 8-frame and the 10-frame
Sharpies Cream SeoaratorsrProfitable Dairyinjj
Fred W. Muth & Co.
J. H.ILH
I'. W.J. H.
One Minute, Please !
We be^r to andouace that we have g-one
into the bee-supply and honey business.
Being^ practical bee-keepers who un-
derstand the supply business thoroly,
and know pretty well the wants of the
bee-keepers, the 'firm will g-ive its exclu-
sive attention to the bee-supply business
and the promotion of the sale of honey
in this vicinity.
After visiting all the important manu-
facturers, we have selected a line that
will give the best of satisfaction. Our
location — adjoining- the Suspension
Bridg^e— is most central, and being- only
four blocks south from the Fountain
Square, is right down in the business
part of the city, and especially handy
tor our Kentucky friends: our facilities
for prompt service are perfect; and our
prices are consistent with good business
judgment. Our Catalog has many new
features. Send us your name so we can
mail you one.
FRED W. MUTH & CO.
Southwest Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.,
CINCINNATI, OHIO.
LDS' BIG THREE
PatV th«Uc—r -ite— Introduced in 1900 Heavi
est \ lelder— Handsomest— Best qiialitv A iforoiin—
Me lium eail\— Introduced m 189<-Most profitable
L L OLDS, Dr
D, Clinton, Wis.
We Cant Give Away Anything
You pay for what you get in this world. You understand that. But as a business propo- ^^
sition we want you to try our great medicine for Indigestion. Constipation, Biliousness, Sick
Headache, Insomnia, "the Blues," and like complaints —
NERVO-VITAl
Laxative
Tablets
"We know you won't buy it, until you know something about it. The best way to get you
to know how good it is, is to let you try it. That's what we do. Send Stamp for "Healtli"
booklet, and we will send you a free sample package, that you may try it yourself. We know
you will always keep it in the house, if you once try it. What fairer oifer could we make?
At all DruEfffists— 10 and 25 cents.
FREE!
Handsome
Stick Pin
MODERN REMEDY COMPANY, KEWANEE, ILLINOIS.
If, instead of sending for a sample, you send us 25c we
will send you "Health" booklet, a 25c bo-\ ami a liandsoiue
K"Iti stick-pin, set with emerald, ruby or pearl, warranted t<» be
worth double the money. Order by number. This is an e.xira intr.v-
ductorv offer. Only one pin to one person. Jf imsatisl'actorv,
inoney returned. Send now whUe the .jIT.-r is ;,'..,,d.
• ynu
78
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 31, 1%1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :X7^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copr. It is tree.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin,
UIUV MflT BE SURE ABOUT IT ? .-^^^!
Iff III llU I '^■^':'::^^>:\r\::Lr^i<m Premier incubator iESMP'
COLUMBIA INCUBATOR CO., S Water St., Delaware City,
mare City, Del. \^
^^Profitable Poultry Keeping
IN ALL IIS IIir.V\<
.tlir, CVIMIl Kn INt'l |{\T0K <
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[• Book.
11^ buildiu^^s.ett'..iiitlief(>iin-
I V (-^iuid profit bringiiii-' way.
guaranteed tn nut-
hatch any other in
Circular and price;; free.
Chioutro. Wuyluiid, N.T.,ieo»>tun,Mu»!>ft
1^ Fruit and Ornamental^ Slirnb^^ Roses. Vines, Plants. Bulbs.
^ Seeds. Xlie best by 47 years test. 1000 acres, 40 in Hardy Roses, 44
r^ frreenhousi.^s in Everblooming Roses and Plants. Mail size postpaid, safe
arrival j^uarantced. larger by freight or express. Try us, our ^ood-^ will please
you and direct deal will save you money. Correspondence solicited. Valuable
to'C: STORRS « HARRISON CO., Box 286 Painesvllle, Ohio.
GINSENG
UdIs produce $4.06'.i.:0 to 10
took Ulilns how 10 B'ow ll.4e
Lakeside Ginseng Gardens, Amber.N.T
POUI/l'RY UdilK FREE. f>4 pages, illustrated
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis. Ind
Please mention Bee Journal whe" -writing.
Fnr Salfi ftH&^iF..'
I V/I V/UIU injf 1(111 colonies of bees
iu Langstrolb wired frames. Address,
3A3t P.O. Box 232, Springville, Utah.
Please mention Bee Joirrnal when writing.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Cos
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid tor beeswax. Send for our laoi catalog.
M. H. HUNT \- SON. Bell Brarcli, Wayne C.i., Mich.
QUEENS
Smokers. Sections.
Comb Foundation
And «ll Ap[srl»a SopplUfl
_ eh«»p. 6«Dd f«r
B. T. riiABAGiJIt B«U«Tai«k 3^
BEES
l^J^ PKE£ CaUIoco«. B.
Bee=SuppHes
We are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virg-inia, Ken-
tucky, and the South.
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTRQTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
vest Fr
ountry.
i* Successor to C. F. Mcth & Son,
4 214|j4H Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Farm Raised Poultry
I'ay the liuvir betausi- thcv nil- Btroiis'
Ulgoroua, healthy and will brctil heal-
'thy stock. All CIDU DlKCn ourlarge
stock weshlpisrAnm nfl!»tU loultry
Guide explains all. and tells li.>\v toniakeblpr
money with poiiltrj-. llorlh fio. S<;iit f.r onlylSe.
JOHN BAUSCHEk JR., Box 94 Freeport.lll.
Fnp Q;ilP I is colonies
rUI odio ! "^^^^^
— foundation — extractor and supplies.
W. E. Pickett, 32nd & K sts., So.Omaha, Neb.
4A2t Please mention the Bee Journal.
GREIDER*S POULTRY
.. .My buds are w,
B. H. CREIOER, Florin. Pa.
For Sale ^
ART OF QUEEN-
REARING APIARY,
onsisting of bees, bee-
lucleus - hives.
E. W. HAAG, Canton, Ohii
A Bee= Keeper
Address, ELI SHOEMAKER. Las Aminas, Colo.
5A2t Mention the American Bee Journal.
Wanted !
api;
for cash, located in
Colorado. Give full
n first letter, and lowest cash price;
preferred.
;. C. St ANi.iY & Son-, Fairfield. 111.
THE POPULAR BUFFALO ROUTE
this summer on account of the 1901
Pan-American Exposition will be the
Nickel I'late Road. Countless thou-
sands will visit this one of the greatest
expositions of modern times. The
Nickel Plate Road will be the popular
line. The excellence of its service is
well recognized by the traveling pub-
lic, and the reputation of its train em-
ployees in their uniform courtesy to
passengers is well known. When you
go East see that your tickets read via
the Nickel Plate Road. Write, wire,
'phone or call on John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams, St., Chi-
cago, 111. 2-4a3t
m
SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE.
Prairie Slate lacubator Co., I^Pj
' Homer City, Pa.
Please mention the iJee J uu
I BEE-SUPPLIES! |
:^ 49~Root*s Goods at Root's Prices"®* ^:
;^ PouDER's Honey-Jars and every- i^>
• 00 thing- used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^^
■^ SerTice — low freight rate. Catalog- t^-
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
•^ 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^.
Please mention Bee Journal "when 'writing.
hives, but think the S-frame are best.
I have found many valuable hints
and learned a good deal by taking the
Bee Journal. Mks. P. R. Dickson.
Winona Co., Minn., Jan. 4.
Good Report Fop Last Season.
I got about 14,1)00 pounds of honey
last year from 94 colonies, andincreast
to IbS colonies. F. J. Gunzel.
Poinsett Co., Ark., Jan. 3.
Wintering Well— Prospects Good.
Bees are wintering in perfect condi-
tion, and prospects for a good season
this year are very fair.
C. H. DiBBERN.
Rock Island Co., 111., Jan. 22.
1900 a Poor Season.
I started in the spring of 1900 with
62 colonies, and secured about SOO
pounds of comb honey, and no increase.
It was the poorest season we have had
in this locality in 10 years.
I put 58 colonies into winter quar-
ters, 9 of them being light.
Theo. Rehorst.
Fond du Lac Co., Wis., Jan. 15.
Report For 1900— Sweet Clover.
The season of 1900 was the poorest
in this locality since I have been keep-
ing bees (8 years), with the exception
of the " dry " year of 1894. There was
a light honey-flow from sweet clover
and basswood, but it came very slowly.
I secured about 1200 pounds mostly
comb honey, from 60 colonies, spring
<3aunt, and increast to 73. I was pretty
busy in the fall building a new house
and getting moved, so I didn't give the
bees as much attention as usual, and
200-Egg Incubator
for $I2.00
*erfect in constrnction and
iction. Hatches every fertile
epp. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy.lll.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— W holesale— Jobbing.
I make a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in .all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are mv
own inventions, which enable me to SELL,
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Fonuilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
free on application. BEES-
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
r-'ease mention Bee Jou'-nal when ■writing,
C a\\it\rrt\t» I li you care to know of its
V/aillOrnid. l Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San FRaNcisco, Cal.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Jan. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
79
some colonies are pretty light, as we
had uo fall honey-flow.
One man two miles from me had two
colonies last spring, increast to 8 by
the let-alone plan, got no honey at all,
and now has one colony ! That is, he
did have one left about a month ago,
when I last saw him.
We had considerable rain here last
fall, and clover lookt fine. The great
drawback to clover here, tho, is the
dry, cold winter, without snow to pro-
tect it. The ground is full of moisture
this winter, and we are hoping it (the
clover) will come thru in good
"shape." Sweet clover always comes
thru all right — I don't believe a Klon-
dike winter would kill it, for it's al-
most a " sure thing." It does not stay
iu bloom so long here as we read of it
doing in some other localities. It be-
gins to bloom about July 1st, or a little
before, and is all gone to seed and al-
most all dead before August 1st. Is it
because of "locality," or have we a pe-
culiar strain ? It is the "short-tubed "
clover, and if one has enough of it, it
will not be necessary to breed " longer-
tongued " bees.
I wish the " Old Reliable " and its
numerous family a happy and prosper-
ous season. E. S. Miles.
Crawford Co., Iowa, Jan. 12.
Reliable incubator and Brooder Co.— The fol-
lowing- letter from the Inspector (ieueral of tbe
Paris Exposition has been received by the
Reliable Incubator and Brooder Co., Ouincv,
111., and its flattering statements, since they are
fully deserved, will be enjoyed by the many
friends and users of Reliable machines all over
the land. We are very j^lad to give it publicity:
Paris, Nov. 9, 1900.
The Reliable iNcnsATOR and Brooder Co.,
Quincy, 111., U.S.A.
Gentlemen;— I have the honor to remit your
certificate of admission to the Paris Exposi-
tion of 1900, and take this opportunity to com-
pliment you upon your successful attainments
at the Paris E.xposition.
■Vour unique, interesting- atad instructive ex-
hibit iu its handsome pavilion has entertained
hundreds of thousands ol visitors, whose unan-
imous opinion and active interest manifestly
declare you to be the head and front of the
poultry industry in the United Stales.
Signed, Hon. C. de Rui-fk D'auxiox,
Inspector General.
Issued under the authorization of
The Hon. Delawney Belleville,
Director General.
Juvenile Poultry Raisers.— As time goes on it
becomes more necessary to give our bovs and
girls practical education. Agricultural col-
leges are springing up in every State. We are
sending our next generation of farmers to these
schools now to fit them for battling with close
competition on all matters that pertain to suc-
cessful farming.
These schools of training aie
but the large percent of the far
■ill c
endable,
..-.^^... «....,, .a. ....,,3 i J the fu-
from the farms without the ad-
vantage of science as developt at these schools.
It therefore stands us in hand to make the best
use of our home schools— the farms. Every boy
and girl likes to own something, and, for the
educational purposes alone, thev should own
something. Nothing fills the bill better than
an incubator and a flock of poultry. It culti-
vates a sense of care and business management
that would be lacking when thev were called on
to do business with a competing public. It is iu
their time of life that impressions are perma-
nent, good or bad. The writer of this was a
boy once, raised on a farm; owned every colt —
or rather owned a new colt each spring— owned
it until it became real valuable, then he had the
privilege of trading it for the youngest again
and was educated to think the young colt more
valuable for a boy than a colt' old encjugh to
bring a good price. The result of this line of
training and encouragement, he landed in busi-
ness at 21 a regular pumpkin - head to do
business. The farm had no attractions for him,
he could see nothing in it but plow and harrow
and doing without money from crop to crop. I
am not blaming Dad, he simply did not know
how to educate a boy. Had there been an agri-
cultural college or other school that occurred to
him to be a good thing for a boy, money would
not have stood in the way. As above stated, he
was not aware that he run the best school on
earth, right at home among realities.
Of course, we would rather the farmer would
buy his boy an incubator, but rather than see
the boys grow up without ideas of business care
and management, it would certainly pay really
to give them a start, even if it was nothing
more valuable than a hen and chicks. Boys
and girls like to own something; as soon as
they are old enough to play marbles or jump
the rope, they will want to own the marbles
and rope at lea^ t.
In buying an incubator for the j-oung poultry-
raiser, it is just as important that we have a
good one— one large enough for business and
well enough made to do the work properly— as
it is that his father has a good implement for
his work. Poor tools discourage tbe users.
Give the youngsters a fair chance.
M. M.Johnson,
Inventor of the Sure Hatch Incubator.
A Model Incubator Factory.— The new factory
erected last summer at Rose Hill by the MariUa
Incubator Compauy, is thoroly equipt in all its
departments with modern, up-to-date machin-
ery for the manufacture of incubators and
brooders. In many respects it is one of the
most complete incubator factories in the coun-
try. Since its completion it has been filled with
biipv workmen building this famous style of in-
cubators and brooders. All possible care is
taken in the factory to see that everything
about the machines is exactly right; the ma-
terial is carefully inspected before it passes
into the factory; only skilled mechanics are
employed, and every "finisht machine is tested
before' being crated. It is this extraordinary
care which enables these manufacturers to sell
their machines on the 30-day free trial plan,
and thev tell us that not one machine in a hun-
dred ever comes back. The new catalog of the
Marilla is a handsome book full of practical in-
formation on incubation and brooding, and ex-
plaining in detail the Marilla hot-air tank or
radiator and mercury regulator— special fea-
tures of this incubator — in which we know our
readers will be interested. Send for it, being
sure to mentian the American Bee Journal when
writing.
Qneen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping'
Device is a fine thing' for use in
catching- and clipping- Queens
wing-s. We mail it for Z5 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for$1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeaf
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORQB W. YORK & COMPANY,
119 Michig^au St.. Chicago, IlL
Good Instrum
atoehccp'-Uargain counter" offers. Thev are JBH. ^— ^
high grade, tully KUareuiteed. inkru- '
eiits FOU 91 ll.".! HANS.
VIOLIN— Amati model, choice of 3
t'olors.dark brown, lightred oramber,
tull ebony trimmed, brazilwood bow,
pearl slide, luU leather bound
case, extra set ot strings, rosi
worth820. My Vrlen^H.ZZ.
GUITAR— t^olid Rosewood, standard
size, neatly iidaid, Spanish ced:
neck, celluloid front, ebony fingi
board, best quality patent hea
Full leather hound canvas ca^
Regular price «18, MyPrlce$7.6i_
MANDOLIN— Solid Rosewood,
la ribs; celluloidfront; veneered
liead piece, handsomely inlaid.
Eleu'anfc French Polish. PatentI
head, engi-aved tail-piece. Worth
*1... My Prioe. Only »7, with
h-tither bound case, extra set of
1 pick. Send for
Chicago.
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back tor the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year -both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson " nu further binding is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL
iJ >li >ti >J< >fe. >te. >li >tt ste. >te>li >ti Sttl?
I mmv AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Jan. 10.— Honey is selling slowly;
this applies to all grades with the exception of
white clover and basswood comb honey, which
sells readily at 16c providing it grades No. 1 or
better. All other kinds of white comb honey
sell at from 14(o'lSc, and candied white comb at
from saiOc; travel-stained and off-grade? of
comb, 13("14c; amber, 12(5 13c; amber e.\tracted,
7f»7?4C; dark and buckwheat comb honey, ^(a\
lOc. Extracted, white, 7c, "J^@Sc; basswood
and white clover bringing the outside prices;
buckwheat and other dark grades, ii@6%c.
Beeswax, 2Sc. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Jan. 22.— Fancy white comb,
15(gil7c; amber, 13(9l4c; dark, ''frviic; demand
good. E.xtracted, 7@9c; demand quiet. Bees-
wax, 20@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Buffalo, Jan. 17.— All kinds of honey are so
quiet it is difltcult to make a sale. Occasionally
some sells, fancy 14@15c: few, 16c; choice and
No. 1, 121" 13c; few, 14c; but dark, 9@ilOc, and all
kinds in liberal supply; some may have to be
recousigned. Extracted, 7@8c, and not wanted
in Buffalo. Beeswax, 22@27.
Batterson & Co.
Albany, N. Y., Jan. 18.— Honev market is
dull on all grades now, with light stock and
light demand. White comb iti good condition,
not candied, 15(L' 16c; mixt, 13('aJl4c; buckwheat,
12(u'12)^c; mixt, n(SiU]4c. Extracted, white,
8<«'8!^c; mixt, 6@6«c; dark, S'/ic.
H. R.Wright.
Boston, Jan. IS.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, ISm 16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honev this vear. Extracted, white, 8@
fl'Ac; light amber, Vyi'agc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lbs.
Cincinnati, Jan. 16. — Market very quiet. No
change in prices. Fancy white comb sells for
16c. Extracted, dark, sells for S'Ac, and better
grades bring 6V«i(S^75^c. Fancy white table honey
brings from 8J^(a>9c. C. H. W. Weber.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, ISinlOc;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white 12«'13c; amber,
12c; buckwheat, 10(ai]c. Extracted in fairly
good demand at 7J4@Sc for white, and 7c for
amber; off grades and Southern in barrels at
from 65ffl'75c per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
vet. Some little selling at SH(ffi6c. Beeswax firm
at 28 cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey: sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
HiLDRETH & SeGELKEN.
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, lS(sil6c;
No. 1, 13W'14c; dark and amber, 12(all3c Ex-
tracted, white. 7w7^c; amber and dark, 6fw6J^c.
Beeswax, 26ra27c. M. H. Hunt &. Son.
San Francisco, Jan. 9._White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, llii@12!^c; dark, .S(<ii9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7ii@Sc; light amber, 6J<@7!<c;
amber. S}i@bHc. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water white
honey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
HONEY nARKET.— We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write ns regarding
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here for
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
DO VOU WANT A
HiQH Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
ForSal6
Extracted Honey
5A4t D. S. JENKINS, Las Aminas, COL.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing,
80
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Jan. 31, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS F
H1V6S. tmmm
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r jSS- W. M. Gerrish, East Notiojfhatu, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal ■wtien ■wTi'"-na
S1VEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
** e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order;
■ Sib lOffi 25ft 50»
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.2S 13.00
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
Alsike Clover »c 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover Wc 1.70 3.75 6.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
llS'Michigan Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole AplouUural Field more
completely than any other publisht,
send *1. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
f lease mention Bee Journal -when wrltina.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
Wool Markets and Slieep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee journal -when WTitlns.
BE SURE TO REriEMBER
that the popular Pan-American Expo-
sition Route this suminer will be the
Nickel Plate Road, the shortest line be-
tween Chicago and intermediate points
and Buffalo. No excess fare is charged
on any of its Peerless Trio of fast ex-
press trains, and American Club meals
ranging in price from 35 cents to SI. 00
are served in all its dining cars. Pala-
tial thru vestibuled sleeping-cars and
modern day-coaches with uniformed
colored porters in attendance on the
wants of passengers. The acme of
comfort and convenience in traveling
is attained thru the superb service and
competent equipment found on the
Nickel Plate Road. Write, wire, 'phone
or call on John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago. l-4a3t
24tll n^rl^ri*'^ r^..nrl»4:.%.^ 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. '"^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell _^^
so well?
^¥
Because it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE— Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co., III.
The Novelty Pocket= Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife.— WHen
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The ooveltv lies !n the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as g-lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, ou one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are haud-forg-ed out of the very finest Eng-lish razor-steel, and we war-
rant everv blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffisld spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usag-e.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a pood knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the '* Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for*
tunate as to have one of the *' Novelf.es,'*' ,vour Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a presenti What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side ?
The accompanying- cu/ gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this^beautiful knife, as the ** Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending- us 'i. rtREE nkw subscribers to the Bee Journal i.with $3.CH).) We will club the Novelty
Knife and, the Bee Journal for one year, both for fl.''0.
GEORGE W. YORK L C0„ 118 Mich. St., Chicago, IlL
«S"Please allor" -■bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled.
666=H1V6S and Hon6i!=Box6S
ill cur lots, wliole.-iiik- ur rt-tail. Now is the time to fxct j
We are the people who mamifaeture strictly flrst-class g
and sell them at prices that defy competition. Write us to
Inter-State Box and Manufacturing Company,
Uf HTJDSON", "WIS.
Please fflention the Bee Journal
when writing
Advertisers ♦ . . . .
v^-'--^^
■w
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY 7, 1901,
^-,
WEEKLY
February.
The low-slanting Sun, which for man}- a day
Has played childish bo-peep with work,
Is slowly but surely retracing his way,
Which means he will no longer shirk.
a;a;
In prodigal mood he deserted the North —
With harvests a plenty in store —
To riot with beauties of tropical birth.
And sensuous gardens explore.
Repenting, he turns toward the land where the bloom
Is waiting his slow, silent tread.
Thrice welcome the wanderer back, and make room
For music and joy we thought dead I
The bees and the birds have been silent and glum
Since cheery Old Sol traveled South ;
The flowers lie asleep till this rover shall come
And kiss them right square in the mouth.
— Bv EUGENE SECOR.
^^~^M)^zjwxr
82
AMERICAN BEE ;OUFNAL
PUBLISHT
George W. York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, UK
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journalisfl.OO a
year, in the United Stales, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postag-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOO" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember. I'iOO.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
chang'e the dale on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philolog cal Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
"ed" final to "i" when so pronounced, except
when the "e"" aff-^cis a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
TI16 566
(66D6r'S
d6^
THE BEST WHITE
ALFALFA
OR
BASSWOOD
Extracted Honey
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROE A. J. COOK.
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— ISth Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
Fully
cinai-
A description of the book here is quite
essary — it is simply the most complete st
and practical bee-book publisht to-day.
Illustrated, and all written in the most f;
Ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
\o bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given lor TWO New Subscribers.
The following- offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given lo
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for$1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
J1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let e very
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY...,..,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybod.v who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
Thi!
the well - ko
light-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms iu Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
We have a good stock of the fine WHITE ALFALFA and
WHITE BASSWOOD EXTRACTED HONEY that we can ship by
return freight. Most bee-keepers must have sold all their last year's
crop long before now, and will be ready to get more with which to
supply their customers. All who have had any acquaintance with
tlie above-named honeys know how good they are. Why not order
at once, and keep your trade supplied?
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey :
iFor the purpose of selling again.;
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9yi
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans,
8,'2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are bost. This is all
Absolutely Pure Bees' Honeyp
The fiuest of their kinds produced iu this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
I've iust sampled the honey you s
I'm something of a heretic, to sell seve
duction and then buy honey of you for
be to the honey of his own region, there
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the
t, and it'!
1 thousand pi
le. Thank
nds of honey of my
But however loyal one
lenying the fact that fo
wholesome honey to suga
I feel that
nn pro-
ught to
se in anv
xcellent quality of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the
honevs of more markt flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
oaid for Beeswax. V ^^'c.Z^^"itui^i
Jr*"^ ** AVr» a-T'*.'^*^ TT %*.r».. CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 7, 1901,
No, 6,
I ^ Editorial. ^ p
National Bee-Keepers" Association.
— General Manager Secor has sent us the fol-
lowing copy of the report of the committee
appointed by the Board of Directors of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association to count
the ballots cast at the annual election held in
December. 1930:
Chicago. III.. Jan. 28. IIKII.
Hon. EfGENE Secou.
General Manayii- Xalidiml Bee-Keepers'
AsBOCialiini, li.ri>i i iiy. Iowa.
DE.iu Sir:— 'llir iin.lci.^iLjiitd committee se-
lected to count the \uU-s cast by the members
of the National Bee-Keepers' Association in
December, having performed their duties, find
Ihe following result :
Total number of votes cast 'i95.
FoH GEXER.iL Manager— Eugene Secor,
:i59: George W. York, 16; Dr. C. C. Miller, .S;
\Vm. A. Selser, 2: balance scalteiinu. 1 rach.
For Three Directors— W. z. llmrlihi-
son, 237; A. I. Root. 233: E. W hiiinml,. Ml:;;
George W. York, 3.5; (i. M. Dooliltle. U : Dr.
C. C. xMiller. 12: Herman F. .Moore. 13: E. T.
Abbott, 11: C. P. Dadant. 1(1; N. E. France.
S; (). O. Poppleton, 6: Frank Benton. 5: C.
.\. Hatch, 4; W. L. Coggshall. 3; Thomas G.
Newman. 2; H. G. Acklin. 2: P. H. Ehvood,
■-': Prof. A. J. Cook. 2; Eugene Secor. 2; bal-
anci' scattering. 1 each.
Respectfully submitted.
George W. York. / ,,
Herman F. .Moore, i ""''
The officiary of the National As.sociation
now are as follow:
President— E. R, Root.
Vice-President — R. C. Aikin.
Secretary— Dr. A. B. Mason. Toledo, Ohio.
General Manager and Treasurer — Eugene
Secor. Forest City, Iowa.
Board of Directors— E. 'tthitcomb. W. Z.
Hutchinson, A. I. Root. E. T. Abbott, P. H.
F.hvond. E. R. Root. Thomas G. Newman, G.
.\1. Doolittle, ^V. F. Marks, .1. M. Hambaugh,
I'. 1'. Dadant. and Dr. C. (.'. Miller.
Single TS. Double Tier Cases.— Some
time ago Gleanings in Bee-Culture publi.sht
an editorial on the subject of comb-honey
shipping-cases, saying that years ago the first
were do.ible-tier. holding 4S pounds, but some
thought them too heavy. After some time
-imilar cases were made holding just half the
amo;int. and finally l"2-pound single-tier ca.scs.
The hitter were so convenient that naturally
t lie 24-pound single-tier appeared. Bee-keep-
ers and commission men, after using the lat-
ler. decided that it was just Ihe thing. The
ohicclion to the double-tier cases was that
should any of the combs in the upper tier of
sections become broken they would leak down
over the lower tier, and thus daub them also.
During the past few years there has beer
scarcely a double-tier case used in" ths East
and central West, but in Colorado the bee-
keepers seem to hold to the double-tier cases
with two glasses separated by a strip of wood.
Editor Root says that during all the time
the many were advocating single-tier cases
Dr. Miller still clung to the 24-pound two-
story ease. The Root Company, like many
others who handle large quantities of comb
honey, advocated the single-tier cases either 12
or 24 pound, but it seems that after getting
and disposing of some car-loads of honey from
Colorado the past few months, put up in
double-tier 24-pound cases, their prejudice
against them began to wane ; and now Mr.
Boyden, their honey-man, and also the
freight-handlers, prefer the 34-pound double-
tier cases, Mr. Root thinlis that while it may
not be possible to give fully the reason, it may
be on account of the double-tier case being
cubical in form, and thus more easily lifted
and handled than when spread out in a single
tier. He says, " Handle a car-load of it and
be convinced."' He thinks the double-tier
case is more symhietrical in appearance, con-
forming more with other packages holding
staple goods.
Mr. Root also says that the double-tier case
is now used "• with drip paper under the upper
set of sections as well as under the lower one.
so that the one objection to honey leaking
from the upper to the lower set has been re-
moved."
Gal vanized Iron vs. Tin; — A Stray
Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture says:
" Australians seem agreed that galvauize_d
iron does well to hold honey so long as honey
without air touches the surface; but let the
surface be simply daubed with honey so the air
can get at it, and chemical action at once
takes place. — [A short time ago the Aus-
tralians sppnicd to be agreed that galvanized
iron «a> iii.i lit fur either extractcn-s or cans.
for liiiMiii'^ h'lury. The verdict in this coun-
try seems to In- that for extractors it is safe,
because the honey is supposed to remain in
the machine only long enough to run out.
But I believe myself that storage-cans of less
than one or two barrel capacity should be
made of tin. If Larger, galvanized iron will
be all right. — Editor.]"
Qiieens by Mail. — In the American Bee-
Keeper Editor Hill refers to the discussion at
the Chicago convention in regard to the effect
on queens sent by mail. It will be remem-
bered that there were those present who
thought that queens were quite a good deal
injured in going thru the mails, and also
others who did not think they were materially
affected. Referring further to the matter. Mr.
Hill says this:
To take a queen fioni active egg-laying and
confine her in a mailing-cage for several days
is such a very aliiiipt change, resulting in a
suspension of her natural function, that even
a casual thtnight of it impresses one with the
probability of its detrimental effect ; and, in-
deed. It may be that very prolific queens are
sometimes injured in this way. We believe,
however, that it will rarely be found that the
injury is permanent. Some of the best queens
that we have ever owned have come to us
thru the mails, during the honey season.
Some very inferior ones have likewise been re-
ceived. We might be prone to charge this
inferiority to the above cause, but the most
inferior lot of queens that we have ever
bought were confined only about 20 hours;
and then, upon three full frames of brood and
bees. There were 50 of them in the lot, and
but five or six of them proved to be worth
keeping, altho they were of the high-priced
kind.
The National Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion.— We received the following letter re-
cently :
Editor American Bee Journal :— I have
just learned thru the Rural New Yorker the
result of the Utter vs. Utter suit against the
bees. Hin-rah for the National Bee-Keepers'
Association ! Had it not been for it that suit
would never have been appealed, and then
bee-keepers the whole world over would have
had to take a liack seat, and would have been
hounded around by anybody and everybody
who chose to do so. I wonder if beekeepers
thruout the country realize the benefit they
have already, and will hereafter receive from
the actions of the Association. Too many
good things can not be said in praise of it. It
seems to me the Association is the mainspring
to bee-keepers: that is. it is the foundation
upon which we as lire Kr, i.. i> ran Imild our
hopes of having our i i^lii- pi ..ii.tcd.
1 am glad my id( us Ikim- 1 ii stirred up
sutliciiiiily 1.1 rause iiM- t.. Iiriome a member
of til!' l"-i ;i iaiicii \M- ,\,i- liad. Enclo.sed
find ¥1011 u liiih .V..U will pli-asc forward to
General .Manager Secor. Aaron Snyder.
Ulster Co., N, Y., Dee. 31.
We are glad Mr. Snyder wrote us as he did.
His letter ought to stir up others to follow his
good example.
Really, we don't see how any one that is at
all interested in bee-keeping, and in seeing
their rights upheld, can fail to appreciate the
great value of the National Bee-Keepers" A,sso-
ciation. There ought to be a grand stampede
on the part of those still outside the Associa-
tion. They should join by the hundreds, and
do so at once.
Wc are ready at all times to receive the an-
nual dues ($1.00) from any and all, and then
forward the money to General Manager Secor.
who will promptly mail a receipt to each.
Pasteboard-Candy Qneen-Cages. —
During the past season a number of (pieen-
breeders used mailing cages which had a piece
of pcrforatcil cardboard at the candy end of
the cage, instead of the usual cork that has
been used for years. Tlie idea was that the
bees would tear away the pasteboard, then eat
thru the candy, and thus liberate the queen.
It seems that some bee-keepers who received
84
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Feb. 7, 1901.
queens in these cages were nut successful in
introducing, and attributed the failure to the
pasteboard. In a Stray Straw in Gleanine:s in
Bee-Culture Dr. Miller had this to say about
it, he having used a number of the pasteboard
cages:
The American Bee-Keeper, speaking of the
pasteboard-candy mode of introduction, says :
•' At this writing numerous reports are com-
ing in which show that failure more often re-
sults thru the use of the new plan than with
the older method." Isn't your Tcrdict a bit
hasty, Mr, Hill J In the few hundred cases
that have come within my knowledge, there
have been rare exceptions when the bees did
not remove the pasteboard, but that is the
only objection. As to the rest, there is un-
doubtedly additional security from the longer
time it takes to remove the pasteboard ; and.
without being sure of it, my present notion is
that fewer failures will occur with the jtaste-
board.
Editor Root had this comment on the
above paragraph :
A good deal depends upon the kind of paste-
board and the manner it is put in over the
candy. The first cages we sent out had the
strips cut too wide. We now cut them much
narrower, so that the candy is exposed on
both sides to the bees, as well as thru the
perforations in the center. It is true, there
have been failures by this phiii of imn)duc-
tion; hut the failures have bcrn ihie. 1 Iliink.
in all cases, to too much pasteboard ur to the
wrong kind of pasteboard.
Should Brood-Combs be Renewed ?
is a ([uestion sometimes askt. and answers to
the question vary according to the place. It
seems just a little strange that views on opjjo-
site sides of the ocean should be so far apart.
Good authorities on the other side say that
when brood-combs become old the cocoons
left in the cells from year to year diminish the
space for the growing larv.Te to such an extent
that it is not advisable to allow combs to re-
main without renewal, the proper time for re-
newal being given by diflerent authorities at
four to ten years. On the other hand. Ijee-
keepers in this country pay little or no atten-
tion to the matter of renewing combs, count-
ing that age alone does not rule them out.
Some of them say they have combs 10. 39, or
more years old, and can see no difference in
the size of the bees reared in them. But a
slight difference in size might not be easily
discerned with the naked eye, and those who
advocate renewal of combs argue that as each
bee that emerges from a cell leaves a deposit
in the way of a cocoon, the diameter of a cell
must become less, and as a result the bees
reared therein must be less.
The only way to settle the matter definitely
would be to have instruments sufficiently
delicate to measure a very small fraction of an
inch, to find by actual measurement the dif-
ference in diameter between cells of new and
old comb. Such measurement has been made
by Editor Root, and unless the specimen of
comb measured by him was exceptional, we
may thank him for having set the question at
rest, and congratulate ourselves that the bees
do not show a lack of good judgment when
they show their preference tor old comli. .Mr
Root had sent to him a specimen of worker-
comb 25 years old. and says:
There are just as many cells to the square
inch, of course ; but the bulloms of the cells
have from eight to ten layers of cocoons,
while the xidex of the cells have only one, and
at most two layers. This would seem to indi-
cate that, when the diameter of the cells gets
too small, the bees remove the excess oi
cocoon walls, but leave the bottoms until they
get a packing of ten layers. This reduced
depth can, of course, be corrected by adding
more wax to thec»f/.-i of the cells. Now let's
see if this is true. There, I've stopt to meas-
ure, and find that the thickness of the comb
is from one inch to one and one-sixteenth
thick. Thickness of new brood-comb is about
seven-eighths: and. if so. this '^.Vyear-old
comb has been thickened from two to three
sixteenths because of the packing of nine and
ten layers of cocoons in the bottom of the
cells. The other fact seems to be that the
diameter of the cells lias not been reduced all
these years. If this is true with other old
combs, then worker-bees in a*2t5-year-old comb
will be just as large as in one six months old.
I'his I am inclined to believe correct, because
Nature w'ould surely make some provision for
the excess of wall-linings.
I Weekly Budget I
light for us to see hiii
see us.
, even if he ca
^WT^*rw*n^>fTrwT!r>rT^pir
Dk. J. P. H. Biiowx.of Richmond Co., Ga.,
writing us Jan. '22d said :
'• Bees did fairly well the past season, and
where attention was given they will safely
pass over till they can gather from natural
sources in the spring."
Mu. H. D. CvTTiXG, of Lenawee Co., Mich.,
as a good many of our readers know, has been
totally blind for several years. On Jan. 1st
Mr. Cutting mailed us a picture of himself and
his dog *■ Duke.'' This dog is one of Mr. C.'s
most intijuate friends. He is 2 feet 11 inches
high, which is about 5 inches higher than an
ordinary dining-room table. He weighs about
Ifi.T pounds. Mr. Cutting says, " He is very
kind to me, also a great pet of cmr family."
Mr. Cutting, as doubtless a great many will
remember, had charge of the Michigan api-
arian exhibit at the World's V'air here in Chi-
Mr. Thom-is (i. NEW5HX. in his Philo-
sophical Journal for Jan. ISUh. had this to say
about our New Year's troubles:
Fire. — We regret to learn that the office of
the American Bee Journal, of Chicago, 111.,
as well as the bee-supply and honey depart-
ments, were wreckt l>y fire and water on Jan.
1st. This was a disastrous way of beginning
the New Year. As the editor of the Philo-
sophical Journal was editor of the American
Bee Journal for nearly 30 years, he deeply re-
grets this disaster. The present proprietors
(Geo. W. York it Co.) have our warmest
sympathy and best wishes for surmounting
the loss. As they issued the next week's Bee
Journal on time, we feel that they are equal
to the task.
Mu. F. L. Field was one of our New York
subscribers until we received the following
letter, Jan. '23d:
Dear Sir
Now I want you to stop that paper of yours
I have had to or three little papars sent me
before that I could not stop it when paying
up. now I want this to end It If you send it
on you will never receive any pay when I sub-
.scribe for a paper I am capable of knowing
how long I want it with out anv of your help.
F. L. Field.
The above is as nearly like .Mr. Field wrote
it as we can show it in type. His subscription
was in arrears only since July 1, 1900. If he
had been kind enough to have sent us a pos-
tal card when it expired, asking us to discon-
tinue sending it. we would have attended to
it. But Mr. Field very likely wanted the Bee
Journal, else he would have notified us in a
courteous way over six months ago.
Many subscribers express their thanks to us
for continuing to forward the Bee Journal to
them after their paid subscription expires, or
until such time as it is more convenient for
theiu to remit. We are always glad to do
Mr. H. D. Cutting and " Duke."
cago in 1S93. At one time he was also presi-
dent of the Naticraal Bee-Keepers' Association,
being for a number of years one of the lead-
ing bee-keepers in Michigan. His many
friends will sympathize with him in his sad
affliction, for none of us who have the proper
use of our eyes can realize what it means to
be entirely deprived of it.
Mr. Cutting has earnestly solicited us to
visit him some time— a thing which we would
like very much to do, and are still hoping that
we may have the pleasure of spending a day
or two at his pleasant home. It will be a de-
I this, even if occasionally we do receive such a
cross-grained letter as Mr. Field wrote us.
We would never think of fomiiq the Ameri-
can Bee Jcmrnal on any one, and alwa.ys stop
sending it when askt to do so. We do feel,
however, that when a man contiiuies to take
it from the post-office and reads it. he ought
to be willing to pay for it.
Of course, whenever any I iiic finds he does
not want it any longer, then he should pay
whatever is due, and courteously request its
discontinuance. To do this is only common
honestv and ordiiuiry gentlemanlincss.
Feb. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
85
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag'o, 111.,
Aug-. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
By DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from page 75).
DISCUSSION ON SELLING HONEY CONTINUED.
Mr. Moore — Mr. Eaton, the chemist of the Pure-Food
Commission, would like to say a word or two about label-
ing- packag^es, from the standpoint of the Pure-Food Com-
mission.
Prof. Eaton — There is one interesting- thing just brought
up I forgot to mention, and that is, about the name and ad-
dress of the manufacturer being on every package ; that is
the only way honey can be sold in this State, at least in the
package sold to the consumer, the name and address of the
manufacturer must be on the package, not only in the case
of honey but every sample of food. There is just one
other thought that came to me as Mr. France, I believe,
was speaking about putting honey in glucose-barrels. Of
course, perhaps you are anxious to avoid the appearance of
evil -, I don't believe that is quite as necessary as it is to
avoid the evil itself. It is the adulteration we are looking
after. If they get the honey pure, they don't care so much
for appearance. I have noticed the worst adulterated honey
comes in the fanciest package.
Mr. York — There are several things I would like to say.
I think some one said that the National Biscuit Co. used
more honey in barrels than in cans, or preferred it in large
packages. If I am not mistaken, they use more honey put
up in 60-pound cans than in barrels. The " body-blow "
that Mr. Aikin thought he gave me, I did not feel at all.
In fact, I would hardly have known that he was aiming at
me. He says he has a right to put liis name on every
package of his honey. True, he has a perfect right to do
so, but if I bought his honey I would take it off mighty
quick. Usually the way I put up my comb honey for sale
is with these wordson the printed carton : " York's Honey,
Absolutely Pure, Always the Best." Suppose I sell that
to grocers and they take it out of the carton and find R. C.
Aikin's name and address on the section. Wouldn't the gro-
cers think York was a fraud ? I have been advertising; I
have kept a man out at high expen.se to push "York's
Hone}'," and I think I have a right to have my name on
that honey and not the bee-keeper's name. It is none of
the public's business who produced that honey. When I
buy Mr. Aikin's honey, it is my honey, and I have a per-
fect right to do what I please with it. I can throw it in the
Chicago river if I want to, or give it to anybody. It is not
necessary for the consumer to know whose bees produced
it. There is a great difference between the adulterated
product and the honey produced by the bees. Mr. Eaton
said the label must be on every package — not the label of
the honey-producer, but of the man who puts it on the
market.
Mr. Eaton — Either the manufacturer or the packer:
some one that we can hold responsible.
Mr. York— So I say that every package that I put out in
that shape I have my name on, and I will guarantee it. I
am not working in Chicago alone. I boom the business of
Mr. Aikin when I pay him his price for his honey. For in-
stance, I know Mr. Moore sells honey in this city and gets
a good price for it. If he buys Mr. Aikin's extracted honey,
and puts Mr. Aikin's name on the pails in which he re-
tails it in Chicago, the consumer would thus learn that it
was R. C. Aikin who produced it, and think that next time
he (the consumer) will get his honey direct from Mr. Aikin.
Then Mr. Moore might as well go to hod-carrj'ing. He
can't afford to live here in the city and pay his expenses to
advertise Mr. Aikin's business. Do you see the point .'
When I buy a bee-keeper's hone)', that honey belongs to me,
and I stand back of every pound of it that I offer for sale.
I don't know that I can say anything more than I have. I
have had at least some experience, and believe you all know-
how I stand on this question. If you had had the experi-
ence I had last winter with honey, I am sure you would not
use another honey-barrel while you keep bees. They are
dangerous. I lost one finger-nail myself from handling
honey in barrels ! You will remember while Mr. Bishop
was on the platform, yesterday he spoke of a bung coming
out —
Dr. Mason— That was a can and the cover blew off i
[Laughter],
Mr. York— I was going to tell about the 28 barrels of
honey that I had standing on end in my warehouse ; before
I knew it, the honey was leaking all over the floor, and I
had to transfer every barrel of that into tin cans,
Mr. Poppleton— The honey we had did the same thing
in cans. "
Mr. York— I lost scarcely any honey at all in cans.
But Mr. Burnett knows more about this subject than all of
us put together. He has handled much honey in his 20
years in Chicago, and I would like to have him close this
discussion, if he will.
Mr. Burnett— I thought perhaps you had enough yes-
terday, but this discussion brings to my mind a little inci-
dent. I will relate it. If Dr. Mason takes exception to it,
you must draw your own conclusions. We will lay the
scene on the bridal tour. After a little lapse of time in
conversation, the lady turning said, "Who is sweet?"
The reply was, " Both of us." Now, this discussion on
packages has been sweet ; it is all right, and the condition
of the package will tell the tale when the honey is taken
out. If the package was properly prepared for the honey,
there will be no difficulty with the honey when it is taken
out. I have been given considerable credit here that I am
not entitled to, in my opinion, and therefore I would depend
wholly upon the circumstances and the conditions in which
you are situated. I know to put honey in a barrel in some
places would be almost to waste the honey. I don't know
that there is any place where honey in a can would be
wasted, providing the can was all right ; so the can may
have that much advantage over a barrel ; if they are leaky
and rusty, why the barrel is perhaps preferable to cans as
now used. One gentleman here spoke about using second-
hand cans. I never came nearer getting into trouble than
I did once on that question. I have been very, very careful
when askt by bee-keepers what sort of package to use for
their honey, for unless I knew all the circumstances con-
nected with their situation I could not advise, and on many
other questions I have endeavored to be conservative ; but
I knew where new cans were bought for honey, that noth-
ing had been in those cans before ; I bought the cans by
the car-load and shipt them to parties who filled them with
honey, and sold the honey, and as I could get the cans and
cases back from the parties to whom I sold the honey at a
low price compared with the cost of new, it seemed tome
those cans ought to be all right, and as far as I could see
they were all right ; so I wrote to my correspondent about
the matter, and he at once graspt the idea that that was
just the thing, that they could save at least a half a cent a
pound on their honey by so doing. Having committed my-
self that far, I got some of the cases and the cans and I be-
gan testing them, and found that there were difficulties'
that were quite unexpected ; but my correspondent got a
chance to get cans even cheaper — second-hand cans cheaper
than the ones I offered him— and he didn't wait for me to
sell them to him, but bought elsewhere, aud before he got
my letter (he had waited some time) he wrote me that he
had bought cans elsewhere, and unless I could make those
cans cheaper he guest he had enough. About that time I
had come to the conclusion I was not going to send them
to him, and I wrote back and said I was very glad to get his
letter saving he had enough ; if anything should hap-
pen that i half expected might happen, I didn't veant to be
a party to it. I think that happened some six or seven
years ago, and only this year I got a letter from him, and
he said, " There are a few of those second-hand cans that
I bought, that you may remember vrriting me about and
thinking they would be a good thing. Well, this is the last
of them— I will never have any more. You know of some
of the trouble I have had." He blames me now for being
a party to that, because I suggested the thing. I had not
investigated thoroly before I communicated my thought to
him. Now this is a warning to you who have not made any
mistake up to this time. If anybody undertakes to use
cans for honey that have been used for anything, if they
don't get caug'ht the first time, they are twice as liable to
get caught the second time with trouble; and if they don't
get caught the second time they are three times as liable to
get caught the next time ; and when they are caught, they
are caught hard ; they don't forget it. If I don't say any-
thing or talk about anything else, I think I have helpt ev-
86
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
erybody who will refuse to buy a second-hand can, no mat-
ter who offers it to them for sale, nor how good it is or ap-
pears to be. The package for honey ought to be tested, and
the party who uses the package ought to know what condi-
tions are necessary to keep honey in good shape. Take a
man like Mr. France, he won't make a mistake wit^ a bar-
rel ; he has workt out that thing. He knows now what is
necessary to carry the honey in the right kind of condi-
tion, and it will keep for years in those barrels. Some
years ago a bee-keeper came to this city and sold his honey
to the retail trade. A good many have tried it in the past,
but they have not all staved with us; but this one came,
and the first year he sold all his honey, and sold all his
neighbors" honey, and bought quite a lot of honey from
me. Well, he felt enthusiastic about the matter; he felt
sure that he had gotten into a business now that he was go-
ing to get rich at. He didn't think anybody could do much
better than he was likely to do, and than he did the first
year. The second year he didn't bother much with his own
product, but he bought from me several tons of honey and
stored it, and it was mostly basswood honey in barrels.
The second year he didn't sell nearly as much honey as he
did the first, and the third year he didn't sell a great deal of
honey, so little, indeed, that he concluded he would sell out
the business. Some in the audience could probably tell some-
thing about that, too. That was his experience. I bouglit
some of that honey back from him after it had been stored
in the basement, I think, fully three years, and there didn't
seem to be anything the matter with the honey : some
hoops had come off from some of the barrels in that lot —
not the lot I sold him — they had broken open, had burst the
head out, or something; but I knew mine by the marks
that were on. I sold them to other parties and the honey
seemed to be all right. Barrels are dangerous unless the
man who makes the barrel knows %vhat it is for, and knows
how to make a barrel to hold honey. A tin can that will
hold a liquid and is well soldered, will do for honey on al-
most any occasion, altho a great many people who have
made cans for honey solder the joints so light that the
honey has burst them open ; the jarring has sprung them,
and lots and lots of honey has been lost in that way. i
have had them come in car-loads where the cases were
thrown and smeared in honey 3 inches deep on the floor of
the car. I don't know that I have anything more to say on
this almost inexhaustible subject, for strong-minded people
who have had lots of experience know what thev need in
their business in the way of a package, and as for selling
it, we need small packages and we need larger ones. If
they are all small, they will not bring any more than half
large and half small ; that is probably the experience of
the trade.
Dr. Mason — Now, you see the persons who have spoken
in this discussion might have summed the whole thing up
by saying. Put your honey in the package that your mar-
ket demands. It doesn't depend upon the barrel ; it de-
pends upon the man who handles the barrel; doesn't de-
pend so much on the can as on the man who handles the
can. Don't try to suit Mr. Abbott by sending honey to him
in cans, if you have a market that wants barrels.
Mr. Poppleton— Mr. Burnett, how much more can you
sell honey for in the Chicago market in cans than in bar-
rels, on an average ?
Mr. Burn'ett — I don't.know as I can answer that ques-
tion unless it is in this way. If it was about half in cans
and half in barrels it might sell at about the same price.
Mr. Poppleton— Mr. Abbott said that we shippers should
have a little compassion on the buyers. I want the buyers
to have compassion on the shippers and pay us back the ex-
tra money cans will cost us, and they will get all the cans
they want. It costs me 75 cents more per hundred pounds
to ship in cans than in barrels. The whole question with
me is that and that alone.
Dr. Mason— Mr. York spoke of the National Biscuit
Company having so many cans to sell ; we have a National
Biscuit Co., in Toledo, and I askt them, '• Why do you have
so many cans to sell?" and they answered," Because we
can't get honey in barrels and are obliged to buy in cans."
Mr. Poppleton — I have taken great pains to find out
what our market demands and they tell me barrels.
Pres. Root — Mr. Aikin wishes to make an explanation
of the labels on packages.
Mr. Aikin — The explanation I wish to make about la-
bels on packages is just this ; Mr. York, or any other
dealer, need not worry about losing his trade because my
name and address is on the package. It is only the man
who buys or ships in car-load lots who is able to pay freight,
and a man in this city who wants to buy a case of honey.
either comb or extracted, isn't going to send to me and pay
local freights. No, he is going to buy my honey from Mr.
York. I wisht to speak on that point because there is an
undue fear in that respect.
Mr. York — There are many private families in Chicago
who could easily afford to send to Colorado for Mr. Aikin's
honey, and pay for it and also pay the freight on one 60-
pound can or 50 pounds of comb honey, rather than pay the
retail price that grocers have to charge here for honey.
While such dealing direct with the producer by the con-
sumer is entirely right, still no city retail dealer is quite
foolish enough to furnish his customers with information as
to his source of supply so they can buy direct. It costs
too much to work up a demand or line of customers, to
turn it over to some one else in that way afterward. I
would not expect that the bee-keeper who buys honey of
me to retail among his customers would use my name and
address on his retail packages, and thus show his custo-
mers just where they can get that same kind of honey.
That wouldn't be ordinary common-sense let alone business
sense. Continued next week.)
Report of the Illinois State Convention.
BY JAS. A. STONE.
The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association held its
tenth annual meeting at Springfield, Nov. 20 and 21,
1900. On account of bad Illinois mud roads there were
but few present except those who came by rail. Never-
theless we had a good and profitable meeting. Among
those present were President Smith, as he always is;
Messrs. George W. York and C. P. Dadant, and, as Mr.
York has already said in the American Bee Journal we
heard with great interest of a few of the many things he
(Mr. Dadant) learned while on his trip thru France, and
other parts of Europe.
The treasurer not being presept at the opening of the
meeting his report was given along with the secretary's,
and showed that on account of furnishing the Bee Journal
to every member it left a small treasury.
After the reading of the reports a motion was made by
Mr. Dadant that the one dollar membership fees go into
the treasury, and the members pay extra for their Ameri-
can Bee Journal. Whereupon the secretary assuring them
the treasury had need for but very little funds, the motion
was withdrawn, and the same arrangements as in several
years past were made, to give a copy of the American Bee
Journal for one year to each person who sent in a dollar for
membership in the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association,
to Jas. A. Stone, Sec, Rural Route 4, Springfield, 111.
The president's address was brief, but in happy, well-
chosen words.
Mr. Becker said, " I am a Methodist, and favor experi-
ence meetings, so let us hear from all the members. My
bees swarmed a great deal, and stored no honey. Mr. Da-
dant, how would you prepare a winter cellar for bees ? "
Mr. Dadant — Our cellar is separated from the furnace-
room by a double 4-inch wall, packt between with sawdust,
ceiled overhead, and there packt the same. There are two
windows outside, arranged with shutters to let in air but
not light.
Mr. Titterington — Do you let your bees swarm, or do
you divide them ?
Mr. Dadant — Almost entirely the latter.
Pres. Smith — I prevent continued swarming by first
hiving the second swarm in a new (fresh) hive, and at the
end of 48 hours empty them in the evening at the entrance
of the mother (old) hive, which will likely end swarming for
that colony for the season.
Mr. Dadant — Whom did you get that from ?
Pres. Smith — From you.
The premium list committee reported, and on motion a
temporary committee was named as follows: Chas. Becker,
C. P. Dadant, and Jas. A. Stone.
It was voted that the premium list committee be in-
structed to ask for a larger premium on honey extracted on
the grounds, on account of its being an educator to those
who were prejudiced against extracted honey.
Mr. Dadant said in his splendid talk on his travels thru
Europe, that he could distinguish the American honey at
the Paris Exposition from that of the other countries, by
the neatness of the sections, even at a distance ; and in the
apiaries that he visited he did not see the improved imple-
ments that were to be found in this country. He began to
think he was more of an American than Frenchman. But
he also said in their favor that their bee-keepers' meetings
Feb. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
87
were more largelj' attended than ours, and they did not al-
low any one to enter their meeting's till he had paid his
fee, of one or two dollars, as the case might be, and still
had a membership of 200 or 300.
Mr. Becker — Una year, when the white clover honey-
flow was good, I had one colony that gathered 16,'2 pounds
of honey in one day, and the same colony in the fall gath-
ered 14 pounds from heartsease.
A paper by George W. York was read as follows:
PURE FOOD LEQISLATION.
This is a large subject. It means much at both ends.
First, it will take much hard work to secure it ; and, second,
it will take much more and harder work to enforce it after
it is secured.
Illinois succeeded in the passage of what was, thought
to be a good pure-food law at the last session of its legisla-
ture. Some attempt has been made to enforce it in Chi-
cago, but so far we believe without much effect.
As to the question of the need of pure-food legislation,
only the adulterator or swindler would object. The very
health and life of the people depend upon their getting pure
food. There is also a moral aspect to the case. The sale
of impure food is a deception and a fraud practiced upon
the purchaser or consumer. It is getting money under false
pretense, and a pretense of the verj- falsest and most dan-
gerous kind. The state should protect the lives of those
who help make up the State ; especially should it step in
and insist that helpless women and children shall be pre-
vented from being imposed upon and defrauded by those
who pretend to be their friends.
I think that if the law contemplated the prosecution
and punishment of the manufacturer or wholesaler of the
goods instead of the retailer, better results would be ob-
tained. This would of course necessitate the labeling of
practically all goods offered in the open market. But this
could be done, and the retailer could be required to reveal
the source of his supply, if found adulterated.
Another very important requirement to the successful
results of pure-food legislation is honest officials — officers
who know no better than to enforce laws just as they find
them, without fear or favor. No law ever enforced itself,
and never will. The reason, almost invariably, why prohi-
bition doesn't prohibit is because of officials who don't offi-
ciate honestly and fearlessly. I believe, however, that the
present pure-food commission of Illinois are all right, but
that the fatal weakness is in the law itself.
But so long as the " dear people " persist in electing as
their State lawmakers, saloon-keepers, pothouse politicians,
gamblers and frauds, just so long may they expect to have
weak laws — laws that fail at the most crucial time, because
the}' were enacted with that intention. The people must
act honestly and decently themselves in the selection of
their lawmakers and public officers, then, and not until
then, need they expect that good laws will be furnisht and
properly enforced.
It would be one of the simplest things in the world to
drive practically all the adulterated honey out of the Chi-
cago market, or any other market, for that matter, if it
were gone about in genuine earnestness and with determin-
ation to accomplish the thing. There should be a pro-
vision in the law permitting the confiscation of all the adul-
terated food on the market. A few raids backt up with a
law having such "teeth " in it would soon end the adulter-
ating business. There wouldn't be anv profit in it ; and
any business that is unprofitable in dollars and cents will
soon be left to take care of itself, and that means speedy
death.
The people should itiiili' in demanding the enactment of
strong adulteration laws. If present legislatures refuse to
comply with such demand, then proceed to elect men that
will give heed to the people's will. Having secured suit-
able laws, elect only such men to office as will understand
that their retention in office depends upon their executing
the will of the people as exprest in the laws. Pretty sud-
denly after such things have come to pass there won't be
much adulterated stuff to be found. Even frauds don't en-
joy frequent and close contact with so good a thing as a
good, strong law — one with cross-cut saw teeth that cut
both coming and going. GEORGE W. York.
The election of officers for 1901 resulted as follows:
President, J. Q. Smith, of Lincoln ; 1st vice-president.
George Poindexter ; 2d vice-president, C. P. Dadant ; .^d
vice-president, S. N. Black; 4th vice-president, J. M. Titter-
ington ; 5th vice-president. George W. York; secretary, Ja-,.
A. Stone, R.D.R. 4, Springfield; and treasurer, Chas. Becker.
On motion the temporary premium list committee was
made permanent.
The convention then adjourned sine die.
Jas. a. Stone, ^ec.
I * The Afterthought. * |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio.
BEES GNAWING COMB FOUNDATION.
It is a vexatious thing to have bees gnaw foundation
after it is put in— half inch of foundation, then a big hole,
then the lower half of the foundation pretty much all
right, except with nothing to hold it in place. Presumably
Mr. Doolittle is right, that flat-bottomed foundation is
gnawed much the worse ; and that is a serious short-com-
ing. Still, it may be rather the thinness than the shape
that tempts them. When they are fixing the bottoms the}'
don't tear things down, and when they tear down they are
not fixing the bottoms — not even thinking whether bottoms
suit them or not. I don't think bees ever nibble up founda-
tion at the same time when it is being prepared to put
honey in, or that they ever throw the fragments away, as
one might expect. Incapable of entertaining more than
one idea at a time, and anxious not to be idle, they rasp it
up to mix with propolis and daub things with. My bees
won't even spare the half inch at the top when only start-
ers are put in.
And prepare your queenless hive to keep your drones,
while you have plenty. For if Doolittle can't practically
make bees rear more in the fall it isn't likely that you can.
Hand-picking of drones I am rather suspicious of. May be
it's all right. Almost certainly it's no harm. One can't
get rid of the idea, however, that the really valuable in-
heritances (prospective) which drones carry about them
inevitably must be totally invisible — or mostly so. Page 7.
THE GREED OF GREAT CORPORATIONS.
I think we have been shown few examples of the ro?;-
Z^;;/// with which great corporations regard what common
citizens think, and must think, of their ways, to exceed the
one given on page 9. Freight to San Francisco charged
when the goods never went there, and were never intended
to go there, and then freight back again added in — a regu-
lar add-insult-to-injury kind of clean steal. I'm not sure
we are going to have overcharges corrected right away,
for when there is a desire to overcharge, some less flamboy-
ant way to do it than that can easily be found : but I'll ven-
ture to prophesy that the twentieth century will not be very
many years old before corporations decide that it paj's to
keep their outrages a little out of sight of the people when
they can just as well as not. Presumably the evil habit
complained of grew up in the first place by small packages
being actually sent that way — nobody on the thru trains
knowing what the lockt cars contained in the line of small
items.
CHUNK HONEY IN PAII.S.
That chunk honey on page 19 was too big a lot. and had
"got too far from Cinada." People used to sections are
not likely to evolute backward and buy the old-fogy style.
But in back-county towns, where folks have never bought
sections, and don't want to begin, there small lots in bulk
would be all right. I doubt if it's best to solder it up in
tin, however. Empty candy-pail, or something in the line
of a big pail with close-fitting cover, would look to me more
like the thing, even if it had to go 50 miles by zcagon. In-
deed, with modern goods the freight and breakage of half
a ton of honey might easily pay for lots of wagoning.
HEXA(;ON.\I. AI'IAKV A BACK NUMBER.
I weep over Mr. Doolittle giving the weight of his name
and example to the hexagonal style of placing hives. Out
of date for one thing, and, for another thing, not much to
recommend it in the first place, but the fantastic resem-
blance of the hexagon to the honey-comb. The fact that
we are bee-keepers does not make us long to be paid for our
crop in hexagonal money. Hexagon not even as good as
the rank-and-file, and the latter barely escapes being a dis-
68
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Feb. 7, 1901.
grace— confuses the bee. while the hexagon confuses both
bee and keeper. Page 20.
OLD GRIMES AXI> PERFORATED METAL.
Old Grimes again, eh? Well, well ! Poetry has no
power to fulfil itself, evidently. And isn"t he slandering
cur craft where he says that few of our extensive bee-keep-
ers use perforated metal ? May be he's right, tho. "Spects,
in that case, that the executors of our new pure-food law
will get around to their cases sooner or later, and treat them
to a jolly fine for putting honey on the market that is mixt
with larval food and juices — and three cheers for the pure-
food law I Page 20.
\ duestioos and Answers« !
CONDUCTED
r>H. C. O. AIILLER. Alareng-o, 111.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Feeding Bees in Winter.
I have a lot of bees that will need feeding. I read of
bee-candy. Where can I get it ? and how is it fed to the
bees ? I have old-fashioned hives without sections. Would
it do to put the candy underneath, or how will it be best to
use it ? Subscriber.
Answer.— It may be you can get bee-candy from deal-
ers in supplies, but each bee-keeper generally makes it for
himself, and you will find instructions for making in your
text-book. [See page 59 for directions for making the
" Good" candy. — Editor.]
From what you say, your hives are probably box-hives,
and there is no chance to feed them above. If the weather
is such in your locality that bees are flying every few days,
it will be all right to put the candy underneath! Crowd it
close up to the combs, so the bees can crawl directly from
the combs upon the candy. Put the candy therein the
evening, and contract the entrance for a few days, so the
robbers will not trouble. If you are in a cold locality,
where bees may not be flying for some time, take vour bees
in the cellar (if they are not there already), turn' the bee-
hive upside down, and lay the candy on the combs.
How Many Bees Die During Winter? Wintering in a
Warm Room.
1. How many bees in a good colony will die during the
winter months, or before the flowers come in the spring ?
2. I have two colonies in a room upstairs, which is
heatea from the kitchen stove. The bees were placed there
because their storehouse of honey wasnot suflicient to carry
them thru. Should they be kept in darkness, or have the
light? I have a glass box over them, so they can fly
around a little, and also carry out the dead bees. Some
think they will not winter in this way, but they seem to be
doing well, and are quite ambitious. New York.
Answers.— 1. It is a hard thing to give a definite an-
swer. One colony may lose ten times as many as another,
the two sitting side by side. A given colony may lose ten
times as many bees underunfavorable conditions as it would
under the most favorable conditions. One colony may be
composed mainly of old bees whose '• span of life is nearly
run," another may have a large number of young bees. So
you see it's a hard matter to say how many will die, and it's
no great wonder that the books" don't try "to tell us. About
as near a definite answer as they could come would be to
say, " A whole lot." If I were forced to give some kind of
an answer, I think I should say at a guess that you ought
not to complain much if not more than half of them died,
and feel exceedingly thankful if only a fourth of the colony
died.
2. Look here, my good friend, if that colony comes out
alive in the spring, you can be put in a glass case in a
museum and exhibited as the man that brought thru the
winter alive a colony of bees in a room well warmed and
lighted, the bees having the opportunity to flj' within a
limited space when they had a disposition to do so. It is
true that some cases have been reported in which bees have
been successfully wintered in a warm room above ground,
but as a rule it is considered that in such a room kept dark
thruout the winter, a colonj- of bees will be found dead in
the spring, and if the room is light they will be deader yet.
It might be well for you to darken the room, give the bees
some honey or candy, and in two or three days later return
them to the cellar.
Wintering Troubles.
I wish you would tell me what to do with my bees. For
awhile the temperature was at 42 degrees, and one of my
colonies started to rear young drones and consumed their
honej-. They had a young queen which I could not get to
lay last fall. I fed them for a week, and it didn't do any
good, so I thought I would unite them in the spring, but as
they used up most of their honey I just took the cover off
and the bottom-board of another that had plenty of honey,
atid gave them a IHtle tobacco-smoke, but this did no good.
There was about two quarts of dead bees in a few days. I
don't know whether the smoke killed them, or whether they
killed each other. Then, the temperature went down to 35
degrees, and my bees were all quiet. But now it is down to
30 degrees, and they are making a little noise.
Iowa.
Answer. — Probably about all is done that can be done.
The colony that began rearing drones was most likely
queenless, or had a bad queen, being worthless in either
case, and was killed by the bees that had a good queen.
The bad colony is now dead, for which you need not greatly
mourn, and the other colony may be little the worse for the
scrimmage.
Peed-Bags and Burlap for Packing.
How will old feed-bags or burlap do for packing outside
cases, 5 or 6 inches larger than the hives? I have only 3
colonies this winter packt with burlap and with hay-chaff
in outside cases, and a super under the hive for a space be-
low. Maine.
Answer. — They will make good packing, but look out
that the mice don't find it too comfortable a place for their
nests.
Bees Troubled with Moth-Worms.
What can I do to stop millers from getting into the
hives and destroying the whole colony ? I have had five
colonies to share the same fate. They seem like the com-,
mon little white millers, and then there are vrorms. some
an inch long. They are packt in like sardines in a box.
Father had bees for 50 years, but never had anything like
this. As he is not here to teach me about bees, I will have
to depend upon the books. New Jersey.
Answer. — When worms spin their cocoons in a hive
and are packt like sardines in a bos, the case is pretty bad.
The first thing, however, that it is important for you to get
into your head, is that the worms are rather a result than a
cause of the trouble. In a strong colony of bees, the worms
never get much of a foothold, for the bees will keep them
cleaned out without any attention on j'our part. A weak
colony of black bees may allow the worms to get in, but if
the bees are Italian even a weak colony will keep the worms
at bay. You may give the bees some help by lifting out
the combs and picking out the worms with a wire-nail.
Aside from this about all you have to do is to see that no
colony becomes queenless or weak, and to try to have as
much Italian blood in your bees as possible.
The Chicago Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for $1.60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work
ing for. Look at them.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
89
I Contributed Articles. |
Three Foggy Notions of Value.
Wide-Frame Supers, the Honey-Board, and the
Telescope Hive-Cover.
BV TRIEDEMANN GRKINEK.
WHAT wonderful improvements have been made dur-
ing- the past SO years in bee-hive manufacture 1
Even .5(1 years ago it was an uncommon sight to see
anything else but box-hives in a bee-yard. If we will ex-
cept an occasional hive of an extremely odd pattern, box-
hives were the order of the day. A markt change has ta-
ken place — a change for the better. Well-made and nicely
painted movable-comb hives have taken the place of the
ugly boxes. It would seem almost as tho the climax in the
line of hive-manufacture had been reacht: but still the im-
provement is going on. As to the construction of the
brood-chambers little is left that need be changed. Of the
several different patterns, one should please the most ex-
acting.
As to a cover for my hives, I can not become reconciled
to use the modern light single board or even the improved
ventilated covers. A single thickness of lumber between
the inside fixtures and the weather is certainh' not enough,
and if a shade-board is required to make it safe — and it is —
a better cover could be built, not costing more. Accident-
ally I once left the telescope-cover off from a hive during
the noon hours, leaving the surplus-case protected only by
a '4 -inch board. Two hours later, when I happened along
again, the honey was running out of the entrance of that
hive, and a case of honey was ruined. A shade board
would have prevented that loss. A regular telescope-cover,
such as Father Langstroth used on his 10-frame-portico-
hive, would have been still .better. I have not yet found
anything to suit me better. I think it is an advantage to
have the cover made tall enough at least to take in one su-
per. If made to take in two supers the cover becomes too
heavy and expensive. It would, of course, be a good thing
to have the two supers %Tell-protected against loss of heat
as well as against extreme heat ; but if we do not have
better honey seasons than we have had for two or three
years, the single-tier cover will suffice.
The honey-board is the next foggy notion. Father
Langstroth made use of it ; and in this way it was handed
down to me. When I saw so many adopt and use the quilt
instead, I also gave it a trial. For two years I used it ex-
tensively, but it did not please me as did the board, and I
discarded it for summer use. The bees have a non-com-
mendable way of chinking in propolis between the quilt
and the tops of frames or sections, and every time the
quilt is raised more glue is crowded in, for the quilt cannot
well be readjusted as it had been before. More propolis
and stain is found on quilt-covered sections than on those
entirely exposed. I would rather use the board, even on
such supers as have their sections unprotected at the top.
A honey-board is also very convenient as a record-keeper.
On many of my hives the record for 10 years may be found
on the honey-boards.
A marvelous progress — I would rather say change —
has been made in the supers, and most complicated ar-
rangements have made their appearance. Ouite a number
of years ago, soon after Mr. Root invented his double-tier
wide frame, my brother and self hit on the same device un-
beknown of what Mr. Root had already in use, except that
we adopted a single-tier wide-frame and wooden separators.
I have since, and before, used other styles of supers quite
2xtensively, but I have not been able to find one that meets
all my requirements and is as handy as this one. To be
sure, I have changed the size of my sections several times,
but still the wide frame is my favorite.
The objection is sometimes raised that it is difficult to
remove the filled sections from the frames. Those who
have never given the wide fraine a trial are excusable for
holding such an opinion. A friend from a neighboring
town stopt with me this fall and lookt over things ; he ex-
prest just such fear. He was not in the business very ex-
tensively, but said he wanted to go in, and before doing
so he wanted to find out what the best supers and appliances
were, so not to be obliged to change later on when it would
cost more to change. (If we all had been as careful as this
friend, how many mistakes would have been avoided, how
much money we could have saved !)
Well, it so happened that I did have a few full cases of
honey on hand that had not been disturbed, but were ex-
actly as they came from the hives. They were opened up
and in a few moments the doubts and fears of my young
friend were disperst, for the filled sections came out easier
than empty ones would. In fact, there is no difficulty
whatever.
And then the advantage of having our sections pro-
tected on all sides is not — well — to be sneered at. The so-
popular section-holders, the T and other supers, leave just
that part of the sections exposed that, above all, should be
protected. I always ca.se my honey the same side up as it
was in the hive ; thus the tops of the sections are first ex-
posed to view when a case is opened, and, when they are
soiled, they make a bad impression. I can understand that
those who use such supers as allow the soiling of the sec-
tion-tops have use for sand-paper machines. I find I can
well dispense with them as I seldom use other than wide-
frame supers.
In conclusion I wish to say: It is true that when we
become accustomed to certain implements, or the ways to
use them, we gradually become of the opinion that those
implements or methods are superior. The bee-keepers in
Germany, for example, use a hive accessible only from the
rear ; their hives more nearly represent a cupboard ;
grooves are cut out in the proper places to allow two,
three, or even four sets of frames to hang one above the
other. The German bee-keepers understand how to get
along with the inconvenience of their hive, and altho they
well know what kind of hives we in America use, not one
in a thousand can be induced to try them. We Americans
can hardly understand this attitude of the Germans ; and
yet, even in America, it takes a long time, sometimes, be-
fore a good thing is recognized. Sometimes even a good
thing is thrown aside, as is the case with the wide-frame
super, the honev-board, and the telescope cover.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
An Interesting Cellar-Wintering Experience.
I KEEP my bees in the cellar, and have a lamp-stove to
regulate the temperature during extreme cold spells.
The cellar has no other deposit than the bees. The
lower hives are about f wo feet above the floor, but other-
wise so compact that only narrow aisles are left between
the tiers.
Yesterday (Dec. 31) the mercury registered, outside, 28
degrees below zero ; in the cellar the temperature was 2 de-
grees below freezing. So in the evening the lamp-stove
was arranged on the ground floor, as I had done a few times
before, with a metal cover over the top for shading. The
light coming from under the burner seemed to annoy the
bees more this time than before, so a cheese-mould (zinc
open at both ends, and its sides perforated with small
holes) being close at hand was placed around the lamp.
The free draft at the top and the small holes in the sides I
thought would give plenty of oxygen.
After watching the "dummy " a little while, with an
air of satisfaction, I turned from the cellar, replenisht the
fire in the heater, and prepared for the pleasures of dream-
land.
I will never be able to tell how much I dreamed, but at
any rate just as the Old Year and Old Century were leav-
ing, the bees and I were undergoing a very unpleasant
siege of lamp-black smoke. The strong scent awakened
me, and on lighting a match I noticed it was just a little
past 12 o'clock. The New Year and New Century were
here, and the house full of smoke— "a bad beginning"—
but there was comfort in the last part of the saying— "a
good ending."
The stovepipe was examined, and then the stove. The
trap-door leading to the cellar was next, and the trouble
found. Th^amp-stove was all aglow. Flames were shoot-
ing from uilfcr the burner. A little red " vase" stood nam-
ing from the perforations of the sci-ew cap of the lamp,
and a column of smoke was rapidly moving from the top.
The blaze was soon put out, and with a cloth I was able to
hold the hot and sputtering thing longenough to remove it.
The bees were surprisingly on their best behavior.
Only one or two were heard flying. The hive, entrances
90
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Feb. 7, 1901.
and covers of the top hives were coverecl with flakes of
lamp-black. They had been carried up by the heat and
then settled on the hives like falling snow. Of course, the
use I made of the cheese-mould was the cause of the
trouble. The heat being- more contined caused the light to
burn higher, which in turn generated the more heat, keep-
ing the flame on the increase, in this way acting on a prin-
ciple of law that was rapidly carrying it to a serious condi-
tion— possibly to the end of explosion, loss of bees and
house.
Kach reader will be left to form the moral that will be
of some practical good. I am thankful that smoke accom-
panied the excessive heat and came to notify me of the dan-
ger.
To-day the bees are quiet, and I hope they are as they
seem — no worse for the experience.
Todd Co., Minn., Jan. 1.
Contamination of Qiieens Thru Hybrid Bees and
Royal Jelly.
BV G. M. liOOI.ITTLE.
I HAVE two colonies of hybrid bees in an isolated posi
tion, with which I wish to try an experiment. I wish to
have them rear some queens from Italian larva; by the
plan given in your book. Now, if I supply the cell-cups
with royal jelly from a hybrid colony, place larva? in them
from a pure Italian queen, and place these prepared cups in
a hybrid colony for completion, will the queens emerging
therefrom be pure Italian ? Be kind enough to reply to
this question thru the American Bee Journal, as I am a
regular subscriber to that excellent paper." Thus writes a
correspondent.
In answering the question, I will say that I take it that
the questioner is in doubt about the part played thru the
bees which prepare the food for the queen-larv;e. He has
evidently heard, thru some one having " locks hoary with
age," something of the old theory that was put before the
bee-keeping fraternity during the sixties, of "like food,
like queens." As hybrid bees are used, quite likely, they
giving the best results in queens of any variety of bees
with which I am acquainted, except theCypriaiis, I have
and do use them very largely to feed and perfect queen-
cells, and, after years of careful watching, and with years
of success in perfecting Italian bees, said to be as good as
can be found in the world, I fail to find wherein the food
has anything to do with purity of stock, or the changing of
the color, or the disposition of the progeny of any queen,
in the least.
If royal jelly prepared by black or hybrid bees could
contaminate queens of the Italian race, surely the same
food prepared by Italians which were of such an orange
color that they seemed like lumps of gold when flying in
the sunshine, would contaminate the black or German race
of bees. And I have proven, beyond a doubt in my own
mind, by several experiments, that black queens brought to
perfection thru the royal jelly prepared, and the nursing
given, by the yellowest of the golden Italian bees, are not
in the least degree different from those nurst by their own
"blood," hence I feel that I am justified in going on rec-
ord as saying that the queen progeny of any race or va-
riety of bees are in no way changed as to markings, dispo-
sition, etc., thru the food given them. If there are those
among the readers of the American Bee Journal who think
otherwise, I should like to have them tell us upon what they
base their conclusions. While these nice points are of in-
terest only to queen-breeders, in a dollar-and-cent way, yet
they are helpful in making up the general fund of bee-
knowledge which we are handing down to future gener-
ations : hence I believe the American Bee Journal will be
willing to give all of the best thoughts on the matter
which may be sent in.
But before closing I wish to say a few words about that
purity part which our correspondent seems to cling to, as
being the ne plus ultra in the Italian race. I have objected
for years, and do still object, to the calling of our Italian
bees or queens />«>-<". for, from everything I can gather, they
are nothing but what would be properly called a thorobred
variety of bees. This is also proven by the fact that we
have all shades and colors of these bees, from those having
golden abdomens nearly their whole length (as shown in
the workers), to those which are so nearly black that it
takes an expert to tell whether they have any Italian blood
about them, only as it is known that they were imported
from Italy — the very same place from which came the pro-
genitors of the most beautiful orange-yellow bees obtain-
able in this countrj'. Had the Italian bees been pure, in a
sense equal to that of the pure black or German bee, no
such change of color could possibly have come about by
years of breeding for color. But this non-purity part of
the Italian bee in no way detracts from its standing at
the head of all of the bees, as to its industr3' and useful-
ness to mankind. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
The Coming Season in Southern California.
BV rROF. A. J. COOK.
AS the bee-keeper of Southern California is so much in-
terested in the rains of the season, the statistics of the
present winter will be of interest. It has been held
generally that 15 inches of rain insured a good honey crop,
and was necessary to a maximum j'ield of honey. Doubt-
less the way the rain comes has much to do with this. Last
year a rainfall of lO.oS inches gave a fair honey crop in
some sections, while the 11.5 inches of two years previous
gave no crop at all. We have already had 12.89 inches this
season. We had 9.36 inches before December, mostly in
November. Early this month we had 2.68 inches, and we
have just had .85 inches, with the weather still unsettled.
This has been so evenly distributed that we may hope for
great things from it. The season is hardly more than half
gone. Our average is about 16 inches.
I give here the rainfall at Clareraont for the past nine
years, from 1891-92: 12.54: 26.23: 11.17; 24.40: 9.58; 23.14;
il.05; 7.87; 10.65. Eos Angeles Co., Calif., Jan. 21.
L.iTER, — Jan. 28. — I wrote you last week regarding the
hopeful outlook for the coming season for the bee-interests
of Southern California. Since writing you we have had a
nice rain of nearly one-half inch, which has raised the
total over 13 inches. We are now having a much better
rain, the amount of which I have not yet learned. But as
it has been quite steady for the past 18 hours I think our
total must be above the average of 16 inches. And our sea-
son is not yet half over.
The rains have come in such gentle mood that nearly
all has been retained in the soil. This not only rejoices the
bee-keepers of Southern California, but is equally cheering
to the grain-growers (who have not had a full crop now for
several years), and to the fruit-growers. Our friends of the
orchard have not suffered so severely, because of the dis-
covery of the immense reservoir beneath us, yet they, too,
are deeply interested, as pumping is quite expensive, and
all will breathe more freely if the great underground reser-
voir is again fully replenisht. A few years ago we had
here in Claremont a large number of splendid flowing wells.
But the prolonged and unusual drouths, together with the
excessive pumping, has made it necessary for the last few
j'ears to pump all these same artesian wells. It would give
great satisfaction if these wells should again commence to
flow. I think Southern California has promise of an excep-
tionally prosperous year. A. J. C.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " .is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon,
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every iiumber of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
Feb 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL
91
^nmy^ Grand '^^^^
CLUBBING OFFERS.
Magazines and Post Fountain Pen to the
Amount of $9.00 for $5.00.
^l^e^!?i^^S^"!^ :;;::;;;;;;:;::;::;n;^ ] All of these sent to tf^ r 00
l^^^v::::;;:;;:;;::;;::::;::::::;::::::: 1« } one or separate ad- Al) =
?olf'^^tai«Pen;:::;;:::;;;::::;;;::;::::^:S) dresses i year fr^^*
$9.00
Read EverytHinE in tMs Colum. ^ Here are a few Sample Coinliiiiatioiis.
SAMPIvE COMBIXATIOXS. Begulnr Frice.
Gleaaiogs, Review of Reviews (new), McClure's, and Success ir,.fO
*' " *' " and Cosmopolilau 5.50
'* '^ *' Pearson's, and " 5.50
" Success, McClure's, and Cosniupolitan 4 00
" '• Pearson's, and McClure's 4.00
" " Cosmopolitan, and Pearson's 4.00
" *' and Cosmopolitan 3.00
" " and Pear.son's 3.00
" " and McClure's 3.00
" " and ivlunsey's 3 00
" and Success ." 2.00
" and Cosmopolitan 2 a)
" and Pearson's 2.00
" and Woman's Home Companion 2.00
Other Combinations can be made from tlie Table below.
Everij Order must Include Gleanings.
Urn- Pil
$3,511
Am.PoultryAdvo.
Poultry Keeper.
Rel. Poultry Jour.
Am. PoultrV Jour.
Farm Poultry.
Farm and Home.
Farm * Fireside.
A^. Epitomist.
Prairie Farmer.
No. 2. » 50 cts.
No. 3. ♦ 75 cts.
No. 4. « $1 00.
No. S. ♦ $1.2S.|No. 6. « $1 SO.
Success.
Munsey's.
American
Review of 'paciHc Rural
Woman's
McClure's.
Gardening.
Reviews. i Press.
Home Cora.
Rural New-
Christian Her-
Country Gen- Country
Ohio Farmer.
YorUer.
ald.
lleman , Gentleman
Mich.
Nat. Stockman
Post Pen.
Youth's Com- (renewal.)
Practical "
and Farmer.
panion.
Kansas "
Indiana "
[(JriliTs r.irlhPsfS
Cosmopolitan
uinst hf Ttir \piv
Pearson's.
SuliscribiTs )
♦ These prices
prices when taken
lar rate.
ire not the publishers' prices for these papers, but they are our special reduced
I connection with Gleanings. In many cases they are just one-haU the regu-
How to Get the Price for ein-y or eill of the
Pcipers Named Above.
1. Gleanings in Bee-Culture, one j'ear, $1.00.
2. If you want only one additional paper, add the price found in the top of the
column in which that paper appears. For instance : G-leanings, and Suc-
cess (2d col.) will cost you SI. 50.
3. If you want several papers in addition to Gleaning-s, each one may be had at
the price named at the top of the column. For instance : Gleanings, Suc-
cess (2d col.) and Rural Xew- Yorker (3d col.) will cost you §2.25.
4. You may select as many papers from each column as you wish.
5. Everj- order sent must include Gleanings.
CONDITIONS. — Offers subject to withdrawal without notice. Subscrip-
tions to the Review of Reviews, Youth's Companion, and Country Gentleman
must be strictly new. Neither the Review of Reviews nor Post Fountain Pen
will be sent in any combination amounting to less than $2.5(1.
THE A. I. ROOT CO,, Medina, Oliio,
A Very Successful Season.
Last season was a very successful
one witli me. I began the season with
20 colonies, securedover a ton of honey,
mostly comb, and put 23 colonies into
the cellar Nov. 14th, in fine condition.
I am sorry that you suffered such a
loss by water thru the fire, but I hope
you will not be discouraged for we
need the Bee Journal as much as ever.
Success to you and it.
Francis H.\i,i,.
Filhnore Co., Minn., Jan. 14.
Bees Did Well— Prospects Fine.
My bees did very well the past sea-
son. We have had considerable rain
already, and the prospects are fine for
a good crop the coming season.
I was sorry to hear of your loss on
account of the fire in vour building.
B. P. Shirk.
Kings Co., Calif., Jan. 14.
Short Honey-Flow Bee-Papers.
The honey-tlow here lasted only two
weeks the past season. I secured
about 25110 good, salable sections, but
some of the bee-keepers around here
who do not take a bee-paper got very
little honey and some got none.
I have tried to get them to subscribe
for some good bee-paper, but they
either know too much, or think they
can't afford it. My experience is that
I can't afford to do without them.
Edward Wilson.
Iosco Co., Mich., Jan. 15.
Management at Swarming Time— Is
it the Effect of Eating Honey ?
On page 808 (1900) Dr. Miller says in
answer to question No. 1, in regard to
management at swarming-time: "The
caged queen was put in at the en-
trance." Suppose the cage would not
go in at the entrance, could it not be
put between or over the frames, or in
a corner of a frame where there is
drone-comb, by cutting enough out for
the cage ? Also, the Doctor does not
say how he confines the queen —
whether the bees are allowed to enter
the cage, or if they feed the queen thru
the screen. Novices, like myself, per-
haps would not understand it. Is
there no danger of the bees killing the
queen when she is releast ■*
I am also interested in the question
r^r/'ll.PKSE-HieH!!
^^LX V
...BULL-STROHG...
•f^«Er^_>.^ :!
Wltlioui Duplev Viit.-rp.M.r
r::"^ :r:.^m
Ken,,-- M... Iiii,.'. niiv fHn,i,'i
^.^, ■■-..'?*
SO to lO rod's a tiay
i:_^'z:z: "^'sm
tll'-'»ir.' 'l.'!V,'i','l!!.''i't'.'l"l'i '.',','
vca .- Km
20 to 30c. per rod
«.■ >.'ll . i|1i..1l,.Tri..l 1 . n, ,
DiVM.i JO«
i>ii\i nm
Coiled Spring Wire
'"suiasm.
sail. |Mi,., .. , ..l;,,..^-.,c l,c.:.
M^Hf ^ ^V^Bk
KITSELMA M BROS,
i^ft:tjk;KMi
Box Di. Muncie, Ind,
Please mention Bee journal when ■writing.
92
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Feb. 7, 1901.
A WHOLE GARDEN
For I4g.
ish to ^:Aln this year 200.001) new
ciistomtis. and lience offer
I I'k;r. balzer's Blue BJtiuii To
luei-ald Green Cucumber..,
itv (_iardeu Beet ,
uViy liadish
Market Lettuce...
Flow
th j=1.00for 14 cents. jl.oo
will mail vu this entire 81.(K''s
orth of splendid seed novelties free.
tntretlier with our large illustrated
Plant and Seed Catak>gue on receipt
of this notice and 14c
Choice Onion Seed 60
Potatoes
Catalo;
L postage
lb and up.
8!. 20 per barrel and up"
one. ,T cents. T
JOHN fl. SALZER SEED CO..LaCrosse.Wis.
SEED bTl free
To eet c
lest my Seeds, I will maO my 1001
calak'pue, tilled ivjch more Iturffalns ilian everaod a lOe I>iie
Kill t:ood for lOo worth nl' Sf eds for trial abHoliitelf
tree. All ttie KestSeed^, Bulbs Plants, Ko8cs, Farm
MfcdA, Potatoes' and mauy Novelties at lowest prices.
€rlnsen^, the great money m^iDg plant. Glunt Prize To-
matoes, 2 tot ne foot. Pan American Oats,
f lease mention Bee journal ■
SEEDS, PLANTS,
Ko«t'.. hulba. Vines,
lbs Fruit and Oriia-
tal Trees. The best
by 47 jears test. 1000 acres,
"■ 'Q Hardy Roses, 41
sofPla
Doming Roses. Mail
istpaid, safe arrival
itesd. Try us, our
iviU please you ai J
^direct deal will save ^uu
money. Valuable lljB-ijaye
Catalogue Fri-e.
THE ST'"ISIIS Jte HARKISOX CO.,
Box 287 PAINSVILLE, OHIO.
Please -iRntion Bee Journal -when -nrriting.
SEED POTATOES
$1.SO a Barrel and up.
Michigan Northern Grown are always
the best. 20 liest varieties. Blight
proof, enormous yielders. highest
quality, lowest prices. Sold in any
quantity, one pound to a car load.
Cat-ilogue free on request.
^ Harry IS. Hammond Seed Co j
MioJ: i , Ilntj iitfi, Jlich,
Low Rates West and Northwest.
t >ii Feb. 12th, and on each Tuesday
until April 30th, the Chicago, Milwau-
kee A St. Paul Railway will sell one-
way second-class tickets at the follow-
ing very low rates :
To Montana points. . . . $25.00
To Nor. Pacific Coast points, 30.00
To California 30.00
These tickets will be good on all
trains, and purchasers will have choice
of 6 routes and .s trains via St. Paul,
and 2 routes and 5 trains via Missouri
River each Tuesday. The route of the
Famous Pioneer Limited trains and
the II. S. Government Fast Mail trains.
All ticket Agents sell tickets via the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, or for further information address
F. A. Miller, General Passenger Agent,
Old Colony Building, Chicago. 6A3t
on page 80'» (19001. "Was sugar in the
urine caused by honey ?" Being af-
fected in the saine way, the doctor said
the same thing, '" You have eaten too
much honey." Now, Doctor Miller,
will honey really cause diabetes ? I
stopt using sweets, and after six
months' treatment the specific gravity
was 20. I am now using saccharine to
sweeten my coffee, but find that it
raises the specific gravity to 26. Ga-
lenic Institute says, "Eat honey if
you crave it." I did one evening, and
the next morning the specific gravity
was 29. S. M. C.\RLZEN.
Arapahoe Co., Colo., Dec. 31.
Experience With a Clipt Queen.
I would like to tell of an experience
I had with a swarm of bees that had a
clipt queen. They came off, flew
around awhile, then went back and
clustered on the front of the hive up
under the shade-boards, staying there
eight days. Soon anotherswarm came
out with a j'oung queen and clustered,
and I hived them. Two days after this
the old queen came out with a swarm,
and the swarm on the front of the
hive rusht after her, altho they had
not moved when the other swarm came
out. I moved the old hive from the
stand, put a new one in its place, with
the caged queen on the alighting-
board. The swarm came back, enter-
ing the hive with the old queen. Why
did the old queen come off with the
last swarm ? Edward Knoi.l.
Ontario, Canada, Jan. 25.
Not a Good Season— Yellow Wax.
The past season was not a very good
one for bees in this locality. Last
winter and spring were very hard on
them, and I lost over half of mine,
and did not have a swarm during the
season. The bees stored very little
surplus honey during the forepart of
the season, but thru August and a part
<if September they did pretty well. I
secured nearly 100 pounds of surplus
honey, and have put 10 colonies into
winter quarters, one of which I am
keeping on shares. This colony is
from a hive of bees that had been on
the farm of their owner for over ''0
years, having been brought there by
his father. Bees have been kept on
the farm which I have, since 1836,
without intermission. In the fall of
THE f^UMELYl
fleatie uieution Bee Jourua.
MISTAKES g,^!7E>
NEW PREMIER Incubator.
iiim at World's h.iir. .M^.i sole makers ot Simyllcltj Incubators.
s.,,,i "> , I-- iL^ I r ( l.)i<r,led raLiloc aral "Poullil Helps."
COLUMBIA INCUBATOR CO., 5 Water St.. Delaware City. Dal.
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
111! n-itli '111.' A. 1. R' nt Co's
Koods at who
i|. promptly. .Market pT
M. II. HUNT 4: SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co., .Mich.
ELECTRIC HAWD'? WAGONS
eitci inijualits 6tr=Lytfl, duraij.iitj. Carry 4UUU ita.
They arfLovy prie "
bumolcbttp.
Klectrio Sleel
U heeU-sira.<rl
orsiaegered oval
spokes. Any heicht,
anv width of Iirt tofit an
ELECTRIC UUEEL CO., Bo
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writinp
DOES IT HATOH9
.lijiiit. l...L-;iiinni;andlheeii,iof tile incabator
'I'll. This Bantam Hatcher
c\irr3 every hat. hable .- ■/
il I esffs not unuBaI.30 D A '^ ^
(FREE TRIAL. -enJJoforCatalos.. No. 63
iBiJckeye Incubator CcSpringfield. Q.
WepresMitt'^HE^NEWRUMEir^iicMMh^^^^
!-i^^;;H;FirikS^s^LE"DURABiE I
.*J',°,a^f,?!,7n°,';.^''fJ,^?onr^n«v'S?lol.urFRlE.|
► M. RUMELV CO., LAPORTE, IND. C
Please mention Be(3 journal when writiae
UiC-tjiTui nniL
fuLfMLmyMwinrMfnxtu
Direct to Consumers.
t«b->okof ilSKind. Sent for 10c to pay
will be refunded with firstorder. Valuable book o) refer-
knd onchtto bein every household. Getit ;lteepith»ndy.
COMMERGIAL POULTRY
able premium.
imps or silver.
V free. We want agents for
sand novelties.
DRAPER f ij:. i. SUPPLY CD., Chicago, III.
ntsntiou Hfr^e .fournal wht-ii wnii'../
THE POPULAR BUFFALO ROUTE
this summer on account of the 1901
Pan-American Exposition will be the
Nickel Plate Road. Countless thou-
sands will visit this one of the greatest
expositions of modern times. The
Nickel Plate Road will be the popular
line. The excellence of its service is
well recognized by the traveling pub-
lic, and the reputation of its train em-
ployees in their uniform courtesy to
passengers is well known. When you
go East see that your tickets read z'ia
the Nickel Plate Road. Write, wire,
■phone or call on John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams, St., Chi-
cago, 111. 2-4a3t
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
93
Short of Stopes—SouF Honey.
My bees are short of winter stores —
shortest they have been in 18 years —
and are trying' to rob. The short crop
was caused by too much rain during-
the past season — two weeks in April,
all of June, until July 3d, and nearlj'
all of October.
I purchast a lot of willow and pop-
lar extracted honey at a sale, and
found that it had been extracted before
it was ripe, and it is slightly sour and
g-ranulated. Can you tell me to what
degree to heat it in order to reduce it
to a liquid state ? John M. Ryan.
Marshall Co., Ala., Jan. 8.
(Try 160 or 170 degrees. But don't
let it stand at that for any length of
time, as there would be danger of
changing the color of the honey by al-
most burning it. — EiiiTOK. ]
Getting Outside Sections Filled—
Robber-Bees— Lealiy Covers.
I can not report a very good crop for
1900 owing to the drouth. The white
clover crop was cut short in June, so
the bees could work on it only three
weeks. I secured 1250 pounds of fancy
clover section-honey, which I think
was pretty good from 43 hives in three
weeks. Owing to the honey-tlow being
cut off so short the bees did not swarm.
I have tried the plan spoken of by
Mr. Thompson in the Bee Journal, to
get outside sections filled as well as the
center ones. For the last six years I
have practiced putting empty bait-sec-
tions to the outside of the super, and
I find that it works tine.
When One is bothered with robber-
bees about the hives coal-oil is a good
thing to use. Wet a cloth with coal-
oil and rub it along any crack or crev-
ice the bees are trying to enter — for in-
stance, under the lid — and every rob-
ber will leave. I contract the entrance
to anj- hive that robbers are bothering,
and place a rag wet with oil where the
robbers will smell, or better still, touch
it, and they don't stay a second after
smelling the oil. I never leave the rag
very long after the robbers have gone.
I see quite a little in the bee-papers
about leaky covers. I have hives in
the home apiary that have been in
constant use in the weather for 18
years, and not a single leaky lid in the
apiary. Whenever a lid checks, take a
good quality of shingles, paint them
well, then shingle the cover ; and all
Sharpies Cream Separators; Profitable Dairying
l,s74 I had 7 colonies and father had 23,
and in the spring I had none and he
had 7. I bought a couple of colonies
and in the fall of 1878 I had nine col-
onies and father had 3ti, but by the
next spring- I had none again, and
father had only three.
I have an old log gum in which my
grandfather brought a colony of bees
to this farm in 1821.
In regard to yellow wax, a good plan
for those who use wax-extractors is to
let the melted wax run from the ex-
tractor into a pan of hot water. This
will give the wax a chance to cool
slowly, and the impurities will settle
to the bottom of the pan.
I began taking the Bee Journal in
Januarj', 1883, and have nearly every
number since that time, and I like it.
J. S. B.\KB.
Trumbull Co., Ohio, Jan, 15.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES J^C;^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
G. B.
LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown, Wisconsin, U. S. A.
^^ProfitabEe Poultry Keeping
I N ALI, ITS BIEAS« llEtS.'
.. 8x11 ll
Deals > . - .
s also of the fan
.Hi.-,- (vr'iii its I \* I KA'ioii <<>..<iii>-
Please mention Bee Journal -when w
iiatch any other in
r linuk ^i.Cirt'Ularand prices free.
. Wuyluiid, N.Y.,IIOKton,MuB>
iting.
YOUR MONEY'S WORTH.
1 have a risht to expef t that, beoau
this condition is our aiii and has bee
have beenin this business. To du this wesc-
ull troods direct f'romourfactory tothe
-t maniiracturersorvehlfleaan*
MM III the world »>eltln:; to con
- escluKtvely. U'e make 1788tylei
1^
vehicles and 65 stvles of harnes:
rpla
here for
copy of
utcd cntuIoKue-FKEE.
No. 816-Canf._
large eprin:^CaiTiagewithVideci
_ . , ^ storm apron, sun shsde,
1^',; E-^ fenders, poleorfihaf IS, 860.
ElkhaH Carriage & Harness Manfg. Co,, Elkhart, Indianam as sells for d35 u> e5o mor.
Please mention Bee Journal w^he
WTitine
A Bee= Keeper
10 run ray apiary here in
the Arkansas Valley— a
man iliai can dc tlie work as directed to do.
Address, ELI SHOEMAKER, Las Aminas, Colo.
5A2t Mention the American Bee Journal.
For Sale
PART OF QUEEN
REARING APIARY,
consisting- of bees, bee-
■ conditiod
" 5A2t E. W. HAAG, Cantc
Please mention Bee Journal -whezi
n, Ohio.
■writing-
POPULAR TOOLS FOR MARKET GARDENERS
MATTHEW
Mew Universal
Model Garden Drill
Slnele Wlieel plants
strai^rht rows at uiiif.>rm
and perfectly reK"latf<i
; quantity
tomi'iiialiQ'iillrill'^ ..iffif'tliB
FREE
All Kinds of Labor-Saving Attachments.
Implements are ^aranteed m.ide of be»t material,
tinely fioinfaed and have toi>^h Oak bent liandleB.
valuable bonk 2*') papres illustrated,
11 the leadin^r colletre;
mbitifil. Adjuslable to any depth
"VEGETABLE GARDENING.
.SS.l.'iCt'-;!.'c'e\!:d";,'ook. limes Plow Co., 24 Market St., Boston, Mass.
please mention Bee Journal -when -KTititio,
Pleace mention Bee Journ.il whi
-- :'^ajNVESTlG ATE BEFORE YOl Bl)Y._,
|— LI^Z^LS SURe'rATGH INGUBATORS
1 y AND foM \i<>\ ^rN~i: loi.iiiNc i:i;i>ci>i i;s „. .n „- . n.r >,. f,.i, .
We Pay the Freight, 1^ SlS:;'!HL,^,ri'^,;;3::,d ■;:,!;, ' ' ""■■•■^'"■'"'^•'^'-i'"' "-•■"'^'''"''■
SURE HATCH INCUBATOR COWPANY, CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA.
flease luent
94
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 7, 191 1.
"Poultry Raisins on tlie Farm
20IH CENTIRY POULTRY BOOK.
It W undeniably thtb,
(r.:it:ulthe latest
the world famous Kcliahl.- Incnliiil.T^ uiid llr-oN^r-. ^shidi air u^td all wver the
S*"n«ce^U*ori&"XtiS Reliable Incb. & Brooder Co. Box B- 2 ,Qulncy.lli
Good Instruments.
VIOLIN— Amati model, choice of 3
i>lora, dark brown, lightredoraniber.
board, best quality patent head
Full leather bound canvas cas»*
Regular price 818. My Price*?. <;i
MANDOLIN-Solid Rosi-v^.„„i
"Jribs; celluloidlront; veiH-.-r.ci
ead piece, handsomely in laid.
Elejrant French Polish. Puteiitl
\ head, engravedtail-piece. Worth
|81». My Price, «nly $7. with
I leather bound case, extra set of
inps and tortoise pick. Sendfo
t'h grade musiral instruments of all k
Chicago.
I BEE-SUPPLIES! I
r^ -^"Root's Qoods at Root's Prices'®* 5^.
;^ PouDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^■
•^ thing' used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^?
*^ Service — low frelg^ht rate. Catalog- ^•
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
\^ 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^^.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writing.
EENS
BEES
B, Sections,
Comb Foundatior
Tetmessee Queens I
Fine lot of Choice Testeil
(lueens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden i|ueens,
reaped y\ miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.SU
each : untested warranted
tjueens, from same breeders,
bees
vned
arer tha
large orders. Contracts
rith dea'ers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
{,A20t Spring Hill, Tenn.
' HIVES,SEGTiaNS AND ALL
EEPERSISUPPLIES.
e Free. Write
V Mfsr. Co., 2tlS
b" St. Louis, 111.
-TTX-ri-I-l HIVES, SECl
II Ijl IllBEE^KEEPE
oAtf
Me
Bee Journal.
CAREER AND CHARACTER OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
An address b)' Joseph Choate, Am-
bassador to Great Britain, on the career
and character of Abraham Lincoln —
his earl}' life — his struggles with the
world — his character as developt in the
later years of his life and his adminis-
tration, which placed his nainc so high
on the world's roll of honor and fame,
has been ptiblisht by the Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul Railway, and may
be had by sending six (6) cents in pos-
tage to F. A. Miller, General Passen-
ger Agent, Chicago, 111. 6A3t
iQliCH MONEY
I. ...IN CHICKENS... ^
*Can be made if y..il u^.i "in- iiimhatfirs to hatch ^
;tlieyhnt,.|.aL..,.„t..r IF
i
M KEEP THE
Z HEATJUSr
Z RIGHT.
TJI Des Moines Incubator Co., Box 78 Des Moines, la. 2
Pltjase mention Bee Journal ^when ^writing.
Fred W. Muth & Co.
1 P.W.J.H.CCK.
^ One Minute, Please I
^ We be^r to announce Ibat we have g-otie
^ into the bee-supply aud houe^ business.
^ l^tin^ practical bee-^keepers who un-
1 derstand the supply business thnruly,
A and know pretij well the wants ot the
^ bee-keepers, the firm will (rive its exclu-
A sive altealion to the bee supply business
^ aud tbe promotion oi the sale of htmey
J in this vicinity.
1 After visiting- all the imponant tuauu-
O facfurerp, we have selected a line that
^ will g-ive the best of satisfaction. Our
J location — adjoining' the Suspension
^ Bridg-e— is most central, and being- only
1 four blocks poulh from tbe Fountain
^ Square, is right down in the business
J part of the citv, and especially handy
A tor our Ketitucky friends; our facilities
1 for prompt service are perfect; and our
^ prices are consistent with g-oud business
J judgment. Our Catalog has mauy new
m leaiures. Send us your name so we can
J mail you one.
i FRED W. MUTH & CO.
n Southwest Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.,
2 CINCINNATI, OHIO.
^ 200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2.00
ica every fertile
Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
Dittnier's Foundation !
Retail \N holesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are rav
oivn inrentions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Fonnilaiioii For Cash
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
the better if you give them a good
dose of paint afterward. This kind of
a cover will outlast a new one. If the
lids are fiat nail a cleat lengthwise
down the center, shave the corners of
the cleat with a plane, also the edges
of the cover — that is, the eaves ; then
shingle as you would a gable cover,
and you will have a small air-space left
under the shingle cover, which makes
a cooler cover in hot weather. The
cleat can be one, or even two, inches
thick. Eugene Hambaugh.
Brown Co., 111.. Jan. 8.
Past Season a Failure.
I have been in the bee-business three
years, and the past season was almost
a complete failure. I will have to feed
some of the bees to bring them thru
the winter. But I don't see how I can
do without the American Bee Journal.
Ernest E. Bakek.
Wayne Co., Iowa.
Bees Having a Flight.
To-day is warm and nice, and my
bees are having a fine flight. I can't
keep house (and bees) without the " Old
Reliable." H. W. Congdon.
Hardin Co., Iowa, Jan. 14.
Good Season— Honey From Spanish-
Needle.
This has not been a very good year
for my bees. I got only 3500 pounds
of extracted honey and 50 pounds of
cotnb honey from 60 colonies, which is
not nearly so well as they have done
in years gone by.
I am wintering them outdoors. I
made a box with three sides, leaving
the front open. I used clover chaff for
packing as it absorbs the moisture :
they seem to be doing very well.
I move my bees every fall to the
swamps of the Illinois River bottom,
in order to get the honey-flow from
Spanish-needle. I had 40 colonies
down there last fall, atad secured 1500
pounds of as fine yellow honey as I
ever saw. James Grover.
Brown Co., 111., Jan. 15.
DilTepenee in Color of Wax.
Did any of the readers ever notice
the difterence in color between wax
rendered from old brood-combs and
that rendered from honey-combs ? In-
variably when melting honey-combs —
that is, combs free from cocoons— I
get a pale-yellow-nearly-white wax,
while if melting old brood-combs I se-
cure a rich-yellow, first-class article.
It seems Mr. Hutchinson's experience
has been the same. He says he is un-
able to say what causes the difference
in color, and I am not sure that I know
what causes it, but I am sure that by-
careful experimenting the cause can be
found. Is it possible that brood-rear-
ing colors the wax thru and thru ? I
think not. I believe it is the stain
from the cocoons that gives the wax
from the brood-combs its rich-yellow
color. We can tell in this way :
Melt up enough old brood-combs to
get ([uite a lot of cocoons and residue ;
take some new comb and put above the
pile of cocoons so that the melted wax
will not run thru it. Of course a so-
lar wax-extractor must be used.
My reason for thinking that the
Feb. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
95
stain from cocoons is the cause of the
rich yellowness of the wax rendered
from old combs is : If an old comb is
put into water it turns the water coffee-
color. Is it not reasonable to think
that wax would be likewise affected ?
W. T. Stephenson.
Massac Co., 111.
Poop Season A Bonanza in a
Bee-Tree.
I lost my strong-est colony last spring-
by neglecting to enlarge the entrance
when I put them away the previous
winter. One colony balled the queen,
so I united it with another, which left
me with eight colonies, some of which
I had to feed.
I sowed two acres of mustard in the
spring, and the bees built up strong-,
and commenced to swarm about June
3d. Four colonies swarmed, and then
the mustard played out, and basswood
failed, so they did nothing- more until
buckbrush bloomed, when they stored
a little surplus, but I got only 60
pounds of surplus honey for the whole
season.
I sowed three acres of buckwheat,
and there were acres of heartsease and
other wild flowers, but the bees did not
seem to store any honey from them.
We had four severe hail-storms, which
might account for this.
I helpt to cut down a bee-tree last
fall, and it was the sight of a lifetime.
It was a very large tree, and I think
the bees must have been in it about
4 j-ears. The combs were a little over
five feet long, and from 11 to 13 inches
deep. Some of the honey was granu-
lated ; we got all we could stack into a
wash-boiler, and a dishpan full, be-
sides— I should think about 12S pounds
in all. I hived the bees, and fed them
up, and now have 13 colonies in the
cellar, which I think are in tine condi-
tion. Lewis Laiikin.
Woodbury Co., Iowa, Jan. 18.
326,
FIRST i
PREMIUMS
SEHD FOB FREE CATALOGUE, i^a
Prairie State locubator Co., j^Slf
llomcr City. Pa. H B
GINSENG
810. in plants produce $4.0tiy.lO tn 10
years. Book tcltina bow lo giow it. in
Lakeside Ginseng Gardens, Amber, N.Y
the American Bee Journal.
POUI/rilV BOOK FREE. 64 pages, illustrated
with .i inoft. trial subwcriptirm to our paper, inc
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis. Ind
Please mention Bee Journal -wliP" ■writing.
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'S liOODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and the South.
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Lov'
ountry.
Successor to C. F. Mt'th & Son,
14(,4.s Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O,
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
Wanted
for
r three apia
sh, located
particulars in first leiter, and lowest cash price;
comb honev preferred.
1 Atf Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfleld, 111.
Ir*leas9 mention Bee Journal when -writiT>e^
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has liad practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising- Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee Journal -wh«n ■wrritinE'
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturay-e and Nectar-
Producing Plants; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the p.aper also tells you all about California
Ag-riculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per y^r; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
31S North Main Street, ■ Los Angeles, Cal
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
TheAniericanPo rj Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Alrtllfrml ""^t '^ °^s'' ^ quarter of a
JUUrnai century old and is stm grow-
ing must possess intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must be a valuable one. Such is the
American Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writinff
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHIHERY
Read what J. L Parent, of
Charlton, N. Y., sajs: " We
cut with one of your Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
50 chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
ITO honev racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a great deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
to make, and we expect to do
it with this Saw. It will do all
jou sav it will."' Catalog- and price-list free.
Address, W. F. & John Baknes,
•)>5 Ruby St., R ockford. 111.
Hiease mention Bee Journal "when ■writing.
A Reliable Concern.— Every live and enter-
prising- business institution seeks by all leg^iti-
mate means to increase its business. In this
respect the publishers of newspapers don't dif-
fer essentially from other men. It transpires
therefore that we are ever on the alert for new
business and always diligrently seekingr new ad-
vertising- patrons. While this is true it how-
ever affords us an infinitely greater amount of
pleasure to realize that we merit the continued
patronage of an old customer. We are led to
refer to this matter by the re-appearance in our
columns of the Elkhart Carriag-e A: Harness
Mfg. Co., of Elkhart, Ind., whose advertisement
will be found on another page of this issue.
These people have long- been in our paper and
are well known to our readers as the manufac*
turers of good and reliable g-oods, and for their
honest and upright business methods. We take
pleasure in again recommending- them to o^r
readers.
Storrs & Harrison Company.— Reliability is
of the utmr>sl linjM.riance in the purchase of
trees and seeds. 1 1'-' a waste of monev to buy
the kinds that w.m't grow. The Storrs &. Har-
rison Company, I'ainesville. Ohio, who h ive
been in the busines-^ almost half a century, en-
joy an enviable reputation for accuracy and
honestv, and any ot our readers in want of anv
thing in the nursery line should send for theiV
valuable catalog f»'i which no charge is made.
Kinaly mention Uie American Bee Journal
when writing.
^ >t< >te. >!/. >Ii >K >Ii >li >li >!i >ti >li ilit*
I HON&y AND beeswax!
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Jan. 10.— Honey is selling- slowly;
this applies to all g-rades with the exception of
white clover and basswood comb honey, which
sells readily at 16c providing it g-rades No. I or
better. All other kinds of white comb honey
sell at from HwlSc, and candied white comb at
from Mf(z lOc; travel-stained and off-grades of
comb, 131" 14c; amber, 12Ci'13c: amber extracted,
lO^l'ic; dark and buckwheat comb honey, 9@
10c. Extracted, white, 7c, T4lw.Sc: basswoot)
and white clover bringing the outside prices;
buckwheat and other dark grades, (i@6'4c,
Beeswax, 2.Sc. R. A. Bor.vett & Co.
Kansas City, Jan. 22. —Fancy white comb,
15(<»17c; amber, 13(ail4c; dark, <)(g)llc; demand
good. Extracted, 7@9c; demand quiet. Bees-
wax, aiXjUjOc.
- VV. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
Buffalo, Jan. 17.— All kinds of honey are so
quiet it is difficult to make a sale. Occasionally
some sells, fancy 14@15c; few, 16c; choice and
No. 1, 12(</ 13c; few, 14c; but dark, <)((l.lOc, and all
kinds in liberal supply; some mav have to be
reconsig-ned. Extracted, "©Sc, and not wanted
in Buffalo. Beeswax, 22@27.
Batterson & Co.
Albany, N. Y., Jan. 18.— Honev market i;^
dull on all grades now, with light stock and
light demand. White comb in good condition,
not candied, lS(g.l6c; mixt, 13(ai4c; buckwheat,
12@12«c; mixt, ll@llj^c. Extracted, white!
8@8!^c; mixt, 6@6Mc; dark, S^c.
H. R.Wright.
Boston, Jan. 18.— Fancy No. 1 white in car.
tons, 17c; A No. 1, l6c: No. 1, 15rt 16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutelv no call for
dark honey this year. Extracied, white, 8@
8Mc; light amber, 7Ji'a'Sc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blakb, Scott & Leb.
Cincinnati, Jan. 16.— Market very quiet. No
change in prices. Fancy white comb sells for
16c. Extracted, dark, sells for S5^c. and better
grades bring 6'.5ft!»75^c. Fancy white table honey
brings from 8J^(ai9c. C. H. W. Weber.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, lSiail6c;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white 12(aii3c; amber,
12c; buckwheat, 10@llc. Extracted in fairly
good demand at 7>6@8c for white, and 7c for
amber: of? grades and Southern in barrels at
from 6S(u7Sc per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
yet. Some little selling at S>^^6c. Beeswax firm
at 28 cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup.
ply fairly good. Extracied in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
HiLDRETH & SeGKLKEN.
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, lS@16c;
No. 1, 13(an4c; dark and amber, 12(SH3c Ex-
tracted, white. 7@t7)^c; amberand dark, 6@65^c.
Beeswax, 26@27c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Jan. 9.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, ll>i@12!^c: dark, 8(<o9c. Ex-
tracted, white, l\i&,%c\ light amber 6Ji@7}<ci
amber. SUCgihlic. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturallv most
pronounced on light amber and water white
honey, the latter being iu very scantv supply.
HONEV HARKET.-We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, qualitv, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here foi
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, III.
DO VOU WANT A-
HiQH Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
47A26t Menti<m the American Bee Journal.
For Sale
5A4t D. S. JENKINS. Las Aminas. Col.
t'lease mention Bee Journal when writine.
96
AMERIC.\N BEE JOURNAL.
Feb. 7, 190
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of eTervthintr, and cost uo more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Kekper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r tS- W. M. Gerrish, East Notinjrham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal wiien wri-'''Ut
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
V. e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order: ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.S0 6.23 12.fiO
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2. .5 5.00
Alsike Clover ''Oc 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 3.75 6.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14<j Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other publisht,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
"Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
f lesise mention Bee Journal when wntme
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
fVooI UlarUets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee journal -when writina.
BE SURE TO REHEMBER
that the popular Pan-American Expo-
sition Route this summer will be the
Nickel Plate Road, the shortest line be-
tween Chicago and intermediate points
and Buffalo. No excess fare is charged
on any of its Peerless Trio of fast ex-
press trains, and American Club meals
ranging in price from 35 cents to $1.00
are served in all its dining cars. Pala-
tial thru vestibuled sleeping-cars and
modern day-coaches with uniformed
colored porters in attendance on the
wants of passengers. The acme of
comfort and convenience in traveling
is attained thru the superb service and
competent equipment found on the
Nickel Plate Road. Write, wire, 'phone
or call on John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago. l-4a3t
'''' Dadant's Foundation. ''''
Year
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. **"*^
What more can anvbody do? BEAUTY
PURITY. PIRIVINESS, No SAOQINa, Nc
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell _jv >v
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE— Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, SI. 25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHA5. DADANT & SON, tlamllton. Hancock Co., in.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife.— Wheu
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty Itc?
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as trans
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg^ed out of the very finest Eug-Ush razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the lining-s are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the " Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and la
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a raother
g-ive to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gj res a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this'beautiful knife, as the " Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send It postpaid for $1.25, or g-ive it as a Premium to the
one sending us 'kHRp:B new subscribers to the Bee Journal (witli$''.'X).) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for Sl.OO.
GEORGE W. YORK £ CO.
St, Chicago, 111*
«®=Please allO'- -bout t^
■ knife order to be Qlit
BG6-H1V6S and Honeu-Boxes
ill car lots, wholesale or retail. Now is the time to get piitt
We are the jieople who manufacture strictly flrst-class gom
iiiul sell them at prices that defy competition. Write us to-da
Inter-State Box and Manufactiiring Company,
47Atf KXJIDSOlSr, ■WIS.
Please Mention the Bee Journal lJl?rSr?.?.
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, FEBRUARY 14, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 7.
98
AMERICAN BEE jOUPNAL,
Feb. 14, 1901.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
George W. York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago JIl.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postag-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper- Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which yonr subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOO" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1900.
Subscription Receipts — We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
chang-e the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising- Rates will be g-iven upon applica-
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthog-raphy of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
**ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
me Bee-Keeoer's
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROF. A, J. COOK.
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
Tke following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two new subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK 6: CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Extracted Honey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY*.,,..,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY,,,,,.,
This is the well-known
light-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
(For the purpose of selling again.;
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, 15 cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9^2
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
8'2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all
Absolutely Pure Bees' Honeyp
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
Tve just sampled the honey jou sent, and it's prime. Thank you, I feel that
I'm somethingr of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own pro-
duction and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ouyht to
be to the honey of his own region, there's no denying- the fact that for use in any
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very
excellent quality of alfalfa houey I have received from you is better suited than the
honevs of more markt fiavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHeury Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would sug^g-est that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
We have a good stock of the fine WHITE ALFALFA and
WHITE BASSWOOD EXTRACTED HONEY that we can ship by
return freight. Most bee-keepers must have sold all their last year's
crop long before now, and will be ready to get more with which to
supply their customers. All who have had any acquaintance with
the above-named honeys know how good they are. Why not order
at once, and keep your trade supplied ?
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. "* Ei££BB
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 14, 1901,
No, 7,
\ ^ Editorial. ^ I
Only One National Association. —
Rev. A. B. Mettler, of Will Co., 111., wrote us
as follows, Feb. 1st:
1. Is the National Bee-Keepers" Association
now in actual existence as the embodiment of
the National Bee-Keepers' Union, the United
.States Bee-Keepers' Union, and the North
American Bee-Keepers' Association *
'I. And in consequence have these last three
pone out of existence < Your quotation of
Editor Root, on pafje 67, seems to imply this
much.
3. And if so, when was it effected, where is
its headtiuarters, and who are its officers '.
If an amalgamation exists so that there
is but one truly National Society instead of
two or three or more, I think I would like to
unite with it : for then something could be
done efficiently, as all will pull together, and
not pull somewhat together and somewhat
apart, as must be the case where several
societies are organized as "'National " in the
same interests.
4. What is the admission fee '.
a. The American Bee .Journal for .Jan. 31st
has arrived. I congratulate you upon removal
of your office to a more convenient place. But
say, do street cars run up Wells street to Erie
street ! If not, how near do they go ?
6. I am .57 years old to-day, but have had
only one birthday. If you can't guess how it
is I can tell you later on, if you wish to know.
A. B. Mettlek.
AsswEHs.— 1. The National Bee-Keepers'
Association is now the only national organi-
zation of bee-keepers in existence. The Na-
tional Bee-Keepers' Union was organized some
1.5 years ago for the special purpose of de-
fense, never held a meeting, but did success-
ful work until about a year ago, when it was
amalgamated with the United States Bee-
Keepers' Union, and the organization result-
ing called the National Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion. About five years ago the original
national bee-keepers' organization, which was
started over 30 years ago, changed its name to
the North American Bee-Keepers' Association.
Then at the Lincoln, Nebr., convention in
1898 the name was changed to the United
States Bee-Keepers' Union. This left two
bee-keepers' unions in the Held, both being
national in character, and were the two that
united into one society about a year ago.
•2. So, as before stated, there is just one —
the National Bee-Keepers' Association— now in
America.
3. Its headquarters are at Forest City, Iowa,
where its general manager, Eugene Secor, re-
sides. The full list of officers was publisht on
the tirst editorial page of last week's Bee
Journal.
4. The annual dues, or admission fee, is
Sl.OO. ■
5. Yes, the street cars run within one-half
block of our new olHce, at 144 and 14(1 Erie
street. The Wells streetcars can be taken on
what is known as the down-town loop, and
for 5 cents you can come to our office from
the center or main Ijusiness part of Chicago.
If one happens to get on a North Clark street
car there will be no harm done, as this line
crosses Erie street two and one-half blocks
east of our office. But the least walking will
be done by taking the Wells street cars.
(). We are usually not very good guessers,
and so you will have to explain about your
having had " only one birthday.''
Management for Comb Honey. — Mr.
L. Stachelhauseu gives his method of produc-
ing comb honey as follows, in Cileanings in
Bee-Culture:
As soon as the honey-flow commences, and
the time arrives when we think it is best to
set supers with sections on top of our hives, a
hive is prepared with starters onl.v. We bring
it to the hive selected for the new manipula-
tion. The old hive is removed from the bot-
tom-board, and set aside to be handy for the
following manipulation. The new hive is .set
on the old stand, and an empty hive-body on
top i>t it. In all these operations I use smoke,
and handle the bees somewhat roughly to
cause them to fill themselves with honey.
One of the brood-combs, with bees and all,
is put into the new hive, and then all the bees
brusht from every frame into this hive. The
most important thing in this operation is, that
the bees fill themselves with honey. A little
sprinkling with a solution of sugar in water
can be used if the bees do not suck up the
open honey.
The combs from which the bees are brusht
into the new hive are assorted into different
empty bodies near by — brood-combs, honey-
combs, or empty ones separately. It is not
necessary to look for the queen. She is brusht
into the hive with the other bees.
At last we remove tJie empty body, lay a
queen-excluding honey-board on top of the
new hive; and a super with sections (con-
taining preferably full sheets of foundation
and some bait-comlis) is set on top of this,
and the hive is closed.
The next day the frame of brood is re-
moved, and more super room given if needed.
Fropolisin. — As there is a possibility that
propolis may yet become an article of com-
merce, the following from a report of a con-
versazione reported in the British Bee Jour-
nal will be of interest:
" Fropolisin '' w
medically used in
many supposed,
wonderful antisept
successfully for wc
was supposed to 1:i
some experiments :
percent emulsion u
were killed off in t
teria in three mil
was stated to !«
as a remarkable iiroduct,
liquid, not salve form as
It was consiiliTi'd to be a
ic, and hail lu'cii cMiiployed
lunds in Sovith Africa. It
lie the place of iodine, and
-bowed that with about 3
f the li(|uid certain bacteria
MO minutes, and other bac-
lutes. This ■• propolisin "
very useful for foot and
mouth diseases. The mixture was also said
to be very rich in oxygen and carbonic acid
gas in a liquid form, and contained another
alkaloid at present unknown. With regard
to "propolisin." Mr. Harris would like to
know, seeing that its antiseiJtic properties
had been proved, what the general opinion
was as to its efficacy in the treatment of foul
brood.
Mr. Reid, who had examined the bottle and
smelt its contents, said that the liquid smelt
of benzoline, and might be a germicide. Mr.
Brlee suggested that the germicidal pro])er-
ties probably existed, if at all, in the "un-
known alkaloid."
Mr. Reid said that propolis, when taken out
of the hive, always contained wax; generally
it was nearly half wax, and wax invariably
contained propolis, except when just secreted.
It was possible to separate five or six different
substances by the use of various solvents, but
what those substances would do, or whether
they were specific antiseptics, it was difficult
to say. The bees themselves used propolis
as their chief antiseptic. They would cover
over objects of aversion (such as a dead
mouse), which got by any means into their
hive with wax and propolis — always the latter
— and they would cover over the antiseptic
provided for them with their own, which was
better. A large percentage of propolis would
be found in the dark cappings of cells con-
taining foul brood.
Mr. Hamlyn-Harris, in concluding the dis-
cussion on " propolisin," stated that the re-
searches made by the inventor of the com-
pound in question was sent up to the Medical
Officer of Health for Prussia, and the latter
gave his certificate that all the chemical and
bacteriological properties thereof were as
claimed.
A Suggestion for the National. — At
the last meeting of the Chicago Bee-Keepers'
Association the following was unanimously
adopted :
Whereas, The National Bee-Keeepers' A.s-
sociation has provided that local as.sociations
may join it in a body by payment of 50 cents
for each local member; and, ,
Whereas, Abundant advertising is neces-
sary for the success of any enterprise; there-
fore, be it
Mesolved, That we, the Chicago Bee-Keepers'
Association, do hereby request and urge the
National Bee-Keepers' Association to provide
all local associations in America with printed
matter setting forth the objects and aims of
the National Association, so that the secre-
taries of such local associations may be able
to put such printed matter into the hands of
all bee-keepers in their territory and juris-
diction.
From the fact that there has been some call
for information concerning the objects and
work of the National Association, It would
seem that there should l)e something printed
for free distribution — that it fiu-nish the de-
sired information — so that it would not be so
difficult for the officers of the local associa-
tions to get members.
It was at our suggestion that the provision
was made in the constitution of the National
Association to admit the members of the
local associations at .50 cents each. We still
100
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Feb. 14, 1901.
think that it was a {food move, and believe
that the provision vpould be taken advantage
of if local bee-keepers understood about it,
and especially it they were informed concern-
ing the good work already done by the Na-
tional, and also as to what it purposes to do.
In the interest of every bee-keeper in America.
We trust that the board of directors of the
National Association will act on the sugges-
tion made by the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation.
We also think that it would be a good
thing if all the bee-papers would carry a
standing notice, that every one desiring to
learn about the work of the National Associa-
tion could do so by sending to the general
manager for literature that would explain the
objects of the Association. It can not be ex-
pected that bee-keepers will unite with an
organization until they know something
about it. They must be led to see that it will
pay them to do so before they will hand out
their doUar-a-year dues. We believe that any
legitimate organization will not suffer tor the
lack of funds if those who should be inter-
ested are shown that it is to their interest to
support it, and that its objects are really wise,
and for the advancement and defense of right
principles and purposes.
Let the board of directors of the National
Association prepare at once suitable litera-
ture as suggested, and begin its circulation as
soon as possible thereafter, so that by the
time of the next annual meeting its member-
ship can be counted by the thousands instead
of by the hundreds. We are ready to do our
part in pushing the work of securing member-
ship, thru the columns of the American Bee
Journal, and have no doubt that the other
bee-papers will do all they can along the same
line. With united effort we believe there is
no reason why the National Bee-Keepers' As-
sociation should not have a larger member-
ship than any of the other agricultural or-
ganizations now in existence in this country.
We believe the miichinery of our Association
is all right, and all that is needed is to work
it. It needs to have its joints limbered uj)
with the oil of enthusiasm, and the motive
power of earnest effort applied to start it and
Iceep it going.
Mr. 0. O. PoppLETON, of Dade Co.. Fla.,
wrote us as follows, Jan. 29th :
" Bees are breeding nicely with an abun-
dance in the hives. They would be gathering
quite a little surplus honey now if the
weather was only a little warmer.
"I had the misfortune, a couple of weeks
ago, to drop the ax on my left forefinger, just
above the knuckle joint, cutting it quite
badly, and breaking the bone. The surgeon
thinks the finger can be saved without its be-
ing stiff. It is doing fairly well now, but it
will take a week for the bones to knit so the
hand can be used. I don't find any special
fun in being one-handed."
We regret to learn of Mr. Poppleton's ac-
cident, and trust that in time his finger may
be all right again.
Editor Wili, Ward Mitchell, of the
Progressive Bee-Keeper, after quoting the
account we publisht in the American Bee
Journal of Jan. 10th, concerning our ''fire-
water" disaster, gives this appreciated para-
graph :
We regret our brother publisher's misfor-
tune, and hope his many patrons will pay up
any back dues at once, as Bro. York has been
giving us his best efforts, and the " Old Re-
liable " is far ahead of what it ever was be-
fore. We know of nothing that would be
more cheering to Bro. York than for delin-
quents to " pay up" and send in their re-
newals.
The Wiscoxsix Convestiox was held at
Madison last week as previously announced.
It was a good meeting, and quite well at-
tended, considering the poor honey season the
past year.
The officers were all re-elected for the en-
suing year, as follows: President, N. E.
France; vice-president, Jacob Huffman; sec-
retary. Miss Ada L. Pickard ; and treasurer,
Harry Lathrop.
Next week we will have more to say about
the meeting and some of those who attended.
A Dozen of the wealthiest capitalists in
the country — men who wield absolute control
over immense business enterprises — will tell
the readers of the Saturday Evening Post
(Feb. 16th) why they remain in the race which
they have already won.
Each of them writes frankly wlu'ther he
makes money for its own sake, for the sheer
joy of working, or to gain the power with
which vast capital invests itself. Ci'rtis
PiBLisHiNG Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. H. C. Binger, one of our subscribers
in Shiawassee Co., Mich., wrote us Jan. 28th
as follows ;
" Father past away Jan. 15th, at the age of
67. He was born in Mecklenburg, Germany ;
when 38 years of age he came to this country
and settled at Rochester. N. Y.. and there he
was married to Miss Friedericke Fischer, who,
with five children, survive him. In faith he
was a Lutheran, and was a kind and loving
husband and father.''
I Contribyted Articles. |
No. 12.— Interesting Notes on European Travel.
BY C. P. D.\D.\NT.
BEFORE I leave Paris and its surroundings, I must tell
you of fwo very pleasant trips I took in company with
my daughter and our good friend Mr. Gariel, of whom
I have often spoken. The first was a visit to a manufac-
tory of bee-hives and implements located in a small town —
Chartres— some 60 or 80 miles out of the capital. The fly-
ing express took us there in the morning and brought us
back in the evening.
Of the factory itself I shall say nothing. It was a
busy place, but those of our friends who are acquainted
with American factories would find nothing of interest in
anything I might depict, for their methods are not as prac-
tical as ours, and the work turned out is not to be compared,
as I said in a former article, to anything that is made here.
But I could perhaps give instances of the great economy
practiced in the saving of material. This factory manufac-
tures hives only as a secondary business, their main occu-
pation being the making of railroad supplies of different
kinds. Well, I saw large piles of old railroad ties (which
would be sold here for fire-wood) cut up into small pieces,
and a good portion of the material set aside for the manu-
facture of a number of small articles which could very
readily be cut out of this refuse. It takes more time, it is
true, to pick out the sound wood, but the Europeans can not
use our axiom, "Time is money," to as much of a purpose
as we can, for altho with them time is also money, there
are many things that are more valuable than man's time
over there.
The cheapness of labor is very certainly responsible
for some very queer notions. For instance, a certain manu-
facturer seriously asserted to me that it was cheaper for
them to have the lumber planed by hand than by steam.
"It costs so little," he said, "and the work of a smoothing-
plane is always neater than that of a steam planer. And
in the use of second-hand lumber we need not be so afraid
of the nails which would very soon spoil the steam knives."
I tried to discuss the matter but it was of no use, and it is
also evident that many working men do all they can to dis-
courage the employment of time-saving devices which they
consider as their enemies.
We were splendidly treated by the manager, who is evi-
dently an able man and who askt me a number of ques-
tions about America and its factories. He was well ac-
quainted with a gentleman who was in the employ of the
railroad company as civil engineer, and who liad been sent
to America to buy a number of locomotives, and whom I
happened to meet on our trip across the ocean, so we had
quite a talk about the great steps that America is making
in her trade with the world at large, and the numerous ex-
ports which are just beginning to bring the New World into
competition with the Old.
We partook of a very nice dinner in his home, close by
the factory, and employed the afternoon hours previous to
the departure of the train, in walking about the old city, its
walls, and the little stream which runs at their foot and in
which the housekeepers were busy washing their linen. It
was very picturesque. On another day we went with Mr.
Gariel again, to visit an old and experienced bee-keeper —
Mr. Delepine — cure of Meulan, within an hour's ride of
Paris. Mr. Delepine is not only a practical apiarist, but is
also a writer on bee-culture. He writes regularly for the
weekly journal entitled, "La Gazette du Village," which
might very properly be called the " Farm Journal" of
Feb. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
101
France, for it is a neat, newsy, and practical farmer's pa-
per, full of interesting information. The trip to Meulaii
reminded me ver3' much of " L'Abbe Constantin,'" by Hal-
evy. I have no doubt many of the readers of the American
Bee Journal have read that little book, for it has been trans-
lated into English and has become a classic.
Well, the kindly, good-humored cure, his old servant,
his little garden, the little church, the little village, and
even the big castle at a short distance on the opposite side
of the road — all these things lookt familiar altho seen for
the first time. We found ourselves there with Mr. Giraud.
whom I have mentioned as so successfully putting in prac-
tice the Doolittle method of queen-rearing, and wjth an old
gentleman — a count who kept bees for pleasure — and we had
quite a talk on America and our American celebrities in
bees. If I am not mistaken, two of the persons present
could read English and had read Gleanings and a few copies
of the American Bee Journal and " A B C of Bee Culture."
Why it is that so few of the French can speak or read Eng-
lish is more than I can comprehend, but they seem to think
it much more astonishing that not all foreigners can speak
French. They seem to think that the French language
ought to be an indispensable part of any good education.
Entrance Gale to the City of Cliartres. France.
I think this makes the French more exclusive than other
nations. Then their literature seems to encourage them
in their ideas of exclusiveness, for it is certainly very
■wealthy in able works and books which have become clas-
sics, and more translations seem to be made from the
French than from any other tongue.
We left Meulan after a very pleasant chat and a visit
to the fine park of the castle across the way.
What a difference between European and American
landscapes 1 I vainly tried to imagine myself in America,
at different times. There was always something in sight
to dispel the illusion. The village houses huddled together
as in a nest ; the white walls and red tile roofs ; the mag-
nificent country roads with their avenues of trees on each
side : the little patches of land looking for all the world
like so many handkerchiefs lying side by side in the sun :
the smooth little streams of water, running quietly even
the full to the edge of their grassy shores, and shaded with
willows and poplars along their windings ; the herded
cattle, the two-wheel carts and thair heavy loads, even the
country buggies, showed me that this was another world.
O, those buggies 1 What a look of contempt our farmer
boys would give them 1 They are not buggies, but carts
very gaudily painted, but so heavy ! Wheels five feet high,
shafts made of 4x4 timbers, springs to suit, harness ditto.
and a big Percheron for a trotter. I nowhere saw one of
our American spider-web buggies. I have no doubt that
there are some in Paris, yet they must be scarce. There
are plenty of fine carriages, and expensive equipages, but
you can not, on the public roads, meet a light top-buggy at
every turn. Their lightest buggies are made to last, and
are heavy in every particular. This seems an absurditv.
for such vehicles as we use here, on our abominable Ameri-
can roads, would be a delight over there. The harness also
is heavy. It seems as if they were afraid the horse would
break it, and there is enough leather in the lightest harness
to make three such harnesses as our buggy-horses wear.
A Few Words of Comfort for " Old Grimes."
BV •'THE MILI.EK ()' THE DEE."
SO the old ballad has it, but it now seems that he was not
dead, but sleeping — aye, sleeping long years, like Rip
Van Winkle, and he has only just awakened. (See
page 2(1.) Poor, sleepy Old Grimes, who would have thought
that one of your kindly, genial, helpful nature would have
put even the semblance of discouragement in the way of
any one, even of one so lost to all rectitude as to try to in-
vent new devices in beedom ?
You kindly old men did, indeed, beat paths for thereat
to follow, even as our forefathers blazed the rude trail to the
frontier ; but who now would care to stumble over the logs
and stones of such paths, vphen the same end may quickly
be reacht by automobile ? Those old paths are full of
pretty places, romantic spots and picturesque corners where
wild flowers lend their sweetness and the drowsy hum of
the bumble-bee invites one to tarry and repose. We all
love those places to rest in, and the companionship of the
placid plodder of these byways, but they are not for pres-
ent-day commerce, nor can we travel over them in up-to-
date vehicles.
The feeling which caused you, dear Old Grimes, to com-
plain, is but a sound and safe conservatism allowed to run
riot. But then, we must needs be charitable to you, for
your article clearly shows that you have in mind only the
devices shown in ancient times, and which indeed needed
bees from fairy-land to construct combs for use in them.
What a nightmare your dreams have been, for now, just
half awake, you mutter of slicing-machines, of hills atid
hollows, of long adjusting, of high prices, of revolutions,
of systems, of new outfits, and other fits and misfits.
Come, come, Father Grimes, take a cold plunge, shake thy-
self and awake, for thou art still more than half asleep.
Thy ideas and reasoning bespeak of cobwebs in thy brain,
and are not worthy the 20th century.
'Tis far from the thoughts of these troublesome invent-
ive fellows to put obstacles in the paths of you old fellows
— no, no .' they would much rather help you into the broad,
smooth highway, and when you longingly turn from its
rush and bustle into the sweet, tho sleepy, quiet of the old
paths, they would furnish you with a rugged cane to help
your tottering steps over its stones and hummocks.
I know a little about some of these new-fangled ma-
chines, and to save you from further worry let me whisper
to j'ou that an uncapper costing S20, and that has to be "ad-
justed," is as far from the realized dreams of those ingen-
ious fellows as you can imagine. No, the}' do not cost
nearly so much, and their capacious maw will take all the
combs as they come, and deliver them to you neatly iincapt,
and at the rate of 20 a minute, if your trembling hands can
feed them in so fast.
Dear r)lri Grimes, we all love you for your kindly chari-
ties, and for that quaint figure in its "old black coat, all
buttoned down before," even tho the color is now rather
gray from the dust of many years.
So let us help you as you tread
That path of olden times ;
All undisturbed, rest in thy rut
For evermore, Old Grimes.
Getting Bees to Swarm— Requeening, Etc.
BV EDWIN BEVINS.
LAST spring I discovered a means of getting bees to
swarm at almost any time when swarms are desirable.
One of my colonies was wintered in two sections of a
sectional 8- frame hive, sections 7's inches deep. Early in
May the colony got so strong that in order to prevent
swarming I placed another section under, filled with drawn
combs. When supering time came, I raised the upper story
and put a queen-excluder under them, then shook the bees
from every frame down in front of the entrance. I felt sure
the queen was below, and expected the brood in the upper
story to mature and make room for honey to be stored there
by the time there would be much tg store.
No further attention was paid to these bees for several
days until one day a neighbor exprest a desire to look over
the apiary. In showing him around I happened to raise the
cover of the hive and lift some of the combs. To my sur-
prise I found brood in all stages of development, and every
102
AMERICAN BEE |ObT?NAL
Feb. 14, 1901.
comb full. On one of the combs I found the queen and put
her below. The next day but one, some one coming- into
dinner said the bees were swarming. I said, " What are the
bees swarming for? I don't believe there is a queen-cell in
the yard." But noticing that the air was full of flying
bees I went out to see what hive they were coming from.
It was from the hive in which I had piit the queen below the
day but one before. The cause of the swarming was not
hard to understand. The bees clustered in two places, and,
suspecting that each cluster had a queen, I hived them in
two hives. One cluster was large, and I hived it on 9 Lang-
stroth frames; the other I put into an 8-frame dovetailed
hive. Each cluster had a queen.
After hiving them I went to see what was going on in
their old home. I found a queen in possession there, and
quite a number of cells, from which the queens had issued.
I reduced the old hive to two sections, and left it that way
for the balance of the season. When packt for winter it
was so heavy with honey that I did not care to lift it. The
two swarms stored their winter's supply, notwithstanding
the season had been an unusually poor one for honey.
These were all the swarms I had the past season.
Anothor colony wintered in two 10-frame dovetailed
hive-bodies on 17 frames, had a queen nearly or quite as
prolific as the one just mentioned. The last of April the
two stories were so full of bees that I put another story un-
der, containing 9 frames. About the first of June the three
stories seemed to be full of bees. An examination showed
that there was no brood in the lower story, but the one
above, which also contained 9. frames, was practically full
of brood, and the upper one seemed to be about half filled.
As the upper story contained much honey I removed the
middle story to another stand, knowing that most of the
bees would go back to the old location. I did not see this
colony again for several days, but when I did I found a
queen on the first comb I raised. Another mature queen
was found on another comb. Then I formed a nucleus and
gave it to one of the queens. The queen left in the hive
proved to be an uncommonly good one, even if it was reared
in a manner which queen-breeders generally condemn.
SELECTING A HOME BEFORE SW.\RMING.
Do bees intending to swarm hunt up a place to go be-
fore the swarming takes place? I guess they do some-
times. ( )ne season I noticed bees in great numbers enter-
ing a hive which stood on another hive at the upper side of
the bee-j'ard. The hive had some empty corabs in it. I
lookt about to see where the bees were coming from, and
found them pouring out of a hive at the lower end of the
3'ard and taking a bee-line for the hive at the upper end of
the yard — a distance of about 4 or 5 rods.
EEQUEENING COLONIES IN THE FALL — MAILING QUEENS.
I unqueened and requeened one-fourth of the apiary
last fall. Most of the work was done in October, but it was
not finisht until some time in November. One reason why
I like to do this work so late in the season is because in al-
most every instance I found the bees two deep, and as they
have nothing from which to start queen-cells I don't have
to be very particular about the time of introducing. In two
instances there was a little brood, but as the queens were
delaj'ed I had a chance to destroy queen-cells.
The queens were from different parts of the country,
and from breeders of good repute, and I have reason to be-
lieve they were all safely introduced.
I shall continue to order queens to be sent thru the
mails, as I do not believe that many are injured in transit.
Four queens ordered last fall were received dead. ()neof
these was delayed in the mails at a time when the weather
was hot. Two others had received such a shock that the
cages were split from end to end, and had been tied up with
string. The other cage had the queen and the bees all
dead in it, doubtless caused by the same shock which split
the cages of the other queens, as they came in the same
mail.
When I received queens with pasteboard covering the
entrance to the candy it was promptly torn off, and I had no
queens killed in consequence of being releast too soon.
I do not think that Mr. Fred Tyler need to worry about
his bees getting too warm packt as he describes on page
7(i6 (1900). Decatur Co., Iowa, Jan. 7.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work
ing- for. Look at them.
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag-o, 111.,
Aug'. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BV DR. A. B. M.\SON, SEC.
(Continued from page 86.]
MELTING CANDIED EXTRACTED HONEY.
OuES. — What is the lowest temperature at which can-
died honey will melt?
Mr. Aikin — I think about 100 degrees, or a little better,
but you must continue the heat for a long time ; about 110
to 120 degrees will melt it in a few hours. The highest de-
gree that I wish to subject m3' honey to is about 160 or 170
degrees ; beyon4 that it begins to spoil the flavor. An ad-
ditional question on the same sheet is: "What is the
highest temperature it will bear without injury?" About
160 or 170 degrees is high enough. I would rather melt at
140 or 150, keeping it a longer time at that degree than to
u,se the higher temperature.
APIS DORSAT.^ AND THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
yuES. — What is the attitude of this Association in re-
gard to impofting Apis dorsata, the big bee of India ?
Mr. Aikin — If I am to answer that, I believe it is op-
posed. I don't know.
Dr. Mason — Opposed until we know more about it.
QuES. — Have any steps to procure or test these bees been
taken ?
Ans. — Yes, there have.
Mr. Benton — The attitude of this societj- did not seem
to be that at the Buffalo convention, and I was wondering
whether it had changed, considering your answer.
Mr. Aikin — I judged from the sentiment as exprest
thru the bee-papers of late — I said I thought, I do not know.
I suppose the only way we could come at it would be by
taking the temperature of the people here now. Are you
thru with this subject ?
REQl'EENING .\N APIARY.
QiES. — What time of the year is best to requeen an
apiary, all things considered ?
Mr. Aikin — Dr. Mason, answer that.
Dr. Mason — Why, I really don't know. I prefer to do it
during the honey-flow, myself, and by natural methods. I
don't use the artificial methods.
A Member — Early or late ?
Dr. Mason — Late.
A Member — How late ?
Dr. Mason — For convenience, that is all. I don't be-
lieve it makes any difference as regards their good quali-
ties which stage, early or late.
A Member — You would saj- just after the honey-flow ?
Dr. Mason — Just as it is closing up, before it closes.
They must have the vim and energy they have when the
honey -flow is on.
A Member — How often would you requeen ?
Dr. Mason — Once in two years.
MATING IN CONFINEMENT — SPREADING BROOD.
QuES. — Can the queen mate with the drone if the queen
and drones are confined in a tent or other inclosure, say
200x100 feet ?
Dr. Mason — Xo.
QiES. — Is it any benefit to spread brood in early spring ?
Mr, Aikin — Prof. Gillette, please answer that.
Prof. Gillette — Let some one with more experience an-
swer that.
Mr. Poppleton — Yes.
A Member — Sometimes it is, and ^sometimes it is not,
depending principally upon the man or woman who man-
ages it. If you know how, it is all right ; if you don't know
how, go slow.
KEEPING EXTR.ACTED HONEY'.
OuES. — How long will extracted honey keep ?
Dr. Mason — I don't know ; it has never been tried.
Feb. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
103
Mr. Aikin— I have some that is getting to be pretty
nearly half as old as I am.
Mr. Cog-gshall — I have some 30 years old.
Mr. Aikin — Is it good ?
Mr. Coggshall — I haven't opened the package.
Dr. Mason— I have some that is 15 years old that stands
open — good yet.
TO PREVENT GRANUI,.\TION AFTER FEEDING.
QUES. — For feeding what would you put with sugar
syrup to prevent granulation, and what proportions ?
Mr. Aikin Some use honey; I never had any experi-
ence, I can't answer it.
Mr. Hutchinson- Honey is all right for that; about
one-quarter honey is all right.
Mr. Benton— (,)ne-tifth will do.
Mrs. Acklin — Percolate the syrup and you don't have to
put any honey in.
WHAT TO DO WITH FERMENTING HONEY.
QrES. — What can you do with frames of honey that is
fermenting ?
A Member — Extract it and sell it.
Mr. Aikin — Feed it to the bees, or make vinegar of it.
A Member — Will it do to feed to the bees ?
Mr. Aikin — I wouldn't feed it to the bees any time ex-
cept when they could fly freely, and I have some doubt
about it then ; I said that because somebody else was rec-
ommending feeding.
SPENDING THE FUNDS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
OuES. — How large a percent of the funds of this Asso-
ciation should be used in the prosecution of adulterators of
honey ?
Mr. Abbott — It depends upon circumstances. We would
have to decide that when the case came up.
OuES. — Would this Association deem it better to have a
good, fat sum in the treasury, or should the money be very
nearly exhausted each year in the various lines of work for
which the Association was organized ?
Mr. York — I think it ought to spend its money in the
interest of its members. If more is needed at any time for
legitimate purposes, call for more from the members.
Dr. Mason — Money is no good when it lies idle.
AN .ASSOCIATION BRAND FOR HONEY.
Ol'ES. — Should this Association prepare an association
brand as a guarantee of purity of honey, which it can sup-
ply to certain applicants upon the unanimous approval of
the board of directors ?
Mr. Aikin — For m)' part I would answer that in the
negative, until this Association becomes more properly a
business concern.
BEES POISONED FROM UNTIMELY SPRAYING.
QuES. — Is it a fact that bees are poisoned and brood
killed when fruit-trees are sprayed while the trees are in
bloom, and the bees are visiting them ?
Mr. Aikin — Colorado people say yes.
Mr. Benton — Other people say yes.
Mr. Aikin — A person in my county was convicted and
fined for spraying his trees while in bloom, and thereby
killing his neighbor's bees.
Mr. Prisk — I think in referring to that the other day,
when I spoke about the sulphuric acid killing the bees
where the smelters were, somebody made a reply that they
thought that smelters did not kill the bees. In our town we
have large smelting works, and in our yard, and for blocks
around, everything is killed. I have known arsenic to col-
lect to a large amount in a few hours and to kill the shrub-
bery around there, and we thought that probably it fell to
such an amount on the bloom that that killed the bees. We
noticed the bees always came home as if they were tired
out, and did not leave their hives.
ARR.\NGEMENT OF BEES WHEN SUPERING.
QuES. — When putting on the supers for comb honey
should the natural arrangement of the brood be interfered
with '.
Mr. Hutchinson — I should say no.
Mr. Hatch — I wrote that question myself, because I
tried an experiment this summer that convinced me it is
profitable to interfere with it, and judging from this one
experiment I should say decidedly it should be. My experi-
ment was to move all the eggs and unsealed larva^ \o tlie
outside of the hive, to fill the hive full of brood, and put all
the bees and unsealed larva; clear on the outside. The re-
sult was I got a big yield of comb honey, and the outsides
were filled up first. Whether it would work always that
way or not I don't know. Of course, I only tried it one sea-
son ; but I think it is a subject worthy of further experi-
mentation.
Mr. Abbott— Mr. Hatch is appointed to experiment next
season.
Mr. Hatch — I undoubtedly will.
THE HONEY CROP AND HANDLI.NG.
QuES. — What percentage of the national honey crop is
represented by the membership of this Association ?
Dr. Mason — I don't know, and I don't believe anybody
else does.
OuES. — Would it be practicable for the Association to
handle the crop of 1901 for its members ?
Mr. Abbott — No, nor at any other time.
Dr. Mason — I don't believe that : that is, the last part
of Mr. Abbott's statement. I'm a firm believer in co-
operation.
OuES. — If impossible, by what obstacles is the possi-
bility precluded ?
Dr. Mason- That matter is like all other matters — it
has to develop itself slowly. I believe that this Association
will some day get in position to handle the honey of its
members ; can't be done yet : it is going to take time.
A Member — Is it not possible for this Association to go
into a joint-stock corporation and handle all their honey,
buying all the honey in the country and handle it for the
benefit of the members ? I think it is possible. I don't see
anything to prevent it. if all the honey could come in here
and be graded by disinterested parties.
Dr. Mason — Are you asking me that question ?
A Member — Yes, sir.
Dr. Mason — I think I can answer that question. I don't
believe there are a dozen members of this Association that
would be willing to ship their honey and wait for their pay;
it takes money to run any business. Will you put the
money in ?
A Member — The honey will bring the money.
Dr. Mason — It has to be handled, and all bills paid ; it
takes money to run any business; this has to bedevelopt.
A Member — Why can't the bee-keepers, furnish that
money pro rata ?
Dr. Mason — Well, I don't know why they can't; but
will they ?
Mr. Aikin — I would like to say for the information of all
interested, that some of us in Colorado have been thrashing
that ground over and over again in the last four or five
years, until we have got down to a working basis ; lam
going to tell you a little of it tonight.
OuES. — Should this Association undertake to find a
market for its members ?
Dr. Mason — It is answered in what has already been
said — not at present.
WIDE AND DEEP HIVE-ENTRANCES.
OuES. — Is it an advantage during hot weather to use
wide and deep entrances in the production of comb or ex-
tracted honey ? If so, is there any danger of going to an
extreme ?
Mr. Wood — I use both large and small entrances, and I
see no difference. I use chaff cushions on top of my hives
the year round, and I find them better than none at all.
COMB FOUNDATION— COMB HONEY.
QuES. — Is it more profitable to use thin foundation than
extra-thin in supers ? and, if so, why ?
Mr. Aikin — I believe extra-thin would be my answer,
and the why of it as put before us this afternoon by Prof.
Gillette.
QuES. — Is comb honey in' drone-cells as pretty and as
white as that in worker-comb ?
Mr. Aikin — It depends upon who is looking at it : ordi-
narily it doesn't appear as white looking.
REMOVING SUPERS — HONEY OOZING OUT.
QiES. — When should the supers be taken off ?
Mr. Aikin — When they are full, and the unfilled ones as
soon as the honey-flow stops.
Mr. Holdren — What is the cause of honey oozing out of
the cells after it is filled all up in that way ?
Mr. Aikin — I don't know why it is — fermentation, per-
haps.
Mr. Holdren — What causes the fermentation ?
Mr. Aikin — I wouldn't know how to answer that, unless
it is too much water — unripe honey.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 14, 1901.
Mr. Holdren — I had my honey in a very light place up-
stairs, and some of it oozed out in that way.
Mr. Abbott — Bees frequently g-ather honey that will
ferment, especially in localities where there is basswood.
Sometimes bees gather honey during damp weather that
they can't fully ripen, and I have had large quantities of it
ferment in that way, and just as soon as it becomes ripened
it will granulate. In some seasons I was troubled badly
with it in Missouri, and other seasons I would not have any
of it. I think it is owing to the dampness of the honey
when gathered, the bees not being able to ripen it fully.
.Continued next week.)
Report of the Utah Bee-Keepers' Canvention.
BY A. F. STEVENSON.
The Utah State Bee Keepers' Association held its an-
nual convention in Salt Lake City, Oct. 6, 1900.
The meeting was called to order by Pres. Lovesy, and
after the reports from committees were read he gave some
general reports from different parts of the State. The
meeting was then thrown open for discussion of topics of
general interest to the fraternity.
~^ _; ."^GENERAL REPORTS FROM MEMBERS.
Andrew Nelson, of Emery Co., had harvested a very
good crop of honey during the past season, but he said that
something was wrong with some of the bees, possibly foul
brood, and, if so, he would like to know of some way to get
rid of it. The condition of the brood was described, a
discussion among some of the experienced bee-keepers fol-
lowed, and they decided that it must be pickled brood.
Some time was taken in discussing cures for foul brood.
The bees should be lookt at early in the spring, and if anj'
brood is found with the backward presentation it is sure to
turn out to be foul orpickled brood, and when such conditions
are in evidence the bees should be transferred onto founda-
tion in clean hives; but if they are left until rotten it is
best to destroy both bees and brood.
James Jackson, bee-inspector of San Pete Co., said
there was some foul brood in Mt. Pleasant and other parts
of the county, and it seemed to be almost impossible to get
rid of it entirely.
Mr. Lovesy found in 10 years of experience that it was
always best to transfer the bees just as soon as the back-
ward presentation was noticed, even if at a time when the
bees would have to be fed, as even at this early stage the
disease will have been in the hive two weeks or more, and
the young larva? in their agony have turned over, leaving
the head in the bottom of the cell, which makes it impos-
sible for them to hatch out.
Joshua Terry, of Salt Lake Co., reported a poor crop,
and the situation very discouraging. His bees had
dwindled from 90 colonies to 15, the principal cause being
smelter-smoke. Mr. Cornwall of the same county was also
a heavy loser from the same cause. He moved some of his
colonies several miles from the smelter-smoke, and they
continued to die for a week, after which they began to do
better, while all of those left at home soon died. A resolu-
tion was adopted authorizing the Association to use all pos-
sible legal means to get rid of the nuisance.
L. Yeale, of Tooele Co., reported a fairly good crop, tho
not as heavy as in former years. Several reported a light
crop in the southern part of Davis County, while in some of
the northern portions the flow was good. They reported
some cases of foul brood, and no inspector to attend to it,
tho they expected to have one soon.
Mr. Nelson gave his experience in packing for winter
with burlap, straw, chaff, etc. Mr. Stevenson was also suc-
cessful in packing with straw and chaff mixt, raising the
covers about '; of an inch for ventilation.
Geo. Hone reported that Utah County had produced only
about half the amount of honey secured in other years. In
speaking of winter packing he thought that two or three
thicknesses of burlap over the brood-frames, with a super
on top, was a good waj-.
Frederick Schach, of Salt Lake Co., reported a poor
crop ; he thought packing for winter was all right, but the
bees must have sufficient ventilation or they would sweat,
get weak and damp, and then die.
A general discussion followed in regard to exhibiting
at Fairs, and also in regard to the purchasing of bee-
supplies and disposing of the products of the bee. A
vote of thanks was tendered the officers of the Association
for their efforts in supplying members with information as
to honey prices, as this had a tendency to keep up prices,
and thus benefit the bee-keepers and the industry.
Several from Weber County had a full average crop,
some of the bee-keepers there averaging more than twice
the amount of both comb and extracted that some bee-
keepers in Salt Lake and other counties secured. Mr.
Reese secured over a car-load of No. 1 extracted honey. As
prices have been above the average this season he is one of
the lucky ones.
THE PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS.
The many reports we have received taken as a whole
are not very flattering or encouraging. While we have re-
ceived some flattering reports of a good honey-flow and a
good crop for bee-keepers in the southeast and south central
parts of the State, further south they have not been as-
good : and while in the northern parts of the State the re-
ports have been fairly good in some localities, in the north
central parts, owing to drouth and grasshoppers, the re-
ports have mostly been from '+ to -; of a crop, the average
in some instances being as low as 30 to 35 pounds. One of
the remarkable features of the season has been that while
there was very little honey in some localities, in favorable
localities a few miles distant there would be a good honey-
flow. These favored spots were generally in or near the
base of the mountains, where there was plenty of irriga-
tion, and few or no grasshoppers. To many of our bee-
keepers the last year of the century will prove an exasper-
ating failure. Altho we had a beautiful spring, the dry,
hot June — the hottest ever kno%vn in the State — dried up the
bloom and irrigation ; and as misfortunes seldom come sin-
gle-handed, then came the grasshoppers in such numbers
in some localities that they ate everything green. When
things began to look discouraging, both for the past season
and the next, our friends — the gulls — came by the tens of
thousands and devoured the grasshoppers by the wholesale.
So most of the bees have plenty of honey for winter, with.
some surplus, and the chances are more favorable for an-
other season, on account of the work of the gulls.
The Association has been of material benefit to many
of our bee-keepers, in keeping them posted as to the value
of bee-products ; we have been duly assisted in this matter
by Mr. F. L. Thompson, of Colorado, and the bee-keepers
that have been governed by the advice given, have saved
money by it. This union of interest is certainly a step in
the right direction, and we hope it will be extended to the
purchasing of supplies nest season. Too much credit can
not be given Mr. Thompson and others in their unselfish in-
terest in this matter.
The smelter-smoke is still a matter of much concern to-
many of our bee-keepers. This matter has been thoroly
tested in Salt Lake Count}' the past season, by placing colo-
nies of bees in different directions and distances from the
smelters, and we find that all bees placed within five miles
of the smelters in the direction the wind usually blows, die
off in from three to five months, while many 8 or 9 miles-
away die during the year. But bees placed within two or
three miles of the smelters in the direction that the wind
does tio/ blow, do not seem to be affected at all. It has also
been proven that much stock and vegetable matter have
been destroyed by this smelter-smoke. Arsenic, or some-
thing of that nature, settles from the smoke on the trees
and plants, causing a destruction of life, as stated. In the
light of these facts some method should be adopted to have
this poisonous smoke consumed, or otherwise prevented
from being sown broadcast as it now is. E. S. LovESV.
Mr. Ulrich Bryner, of Carbon Co., said that his bees
were in good condition, and had done better this season
than ever before. He secured 200 60-pound cans of ex-
tracted honey from 85 colonies.
Thos. Neilson, of Sevier Co., reported that the season's
crop was considerablj- below the average.
Mr. Balliston, of Juab Co., reported a fairly good honey-
flow in that county, but not as heavy as it had been in-
some years.
J. A. Smith, of Wasatch Co., reported a fairly good
crop for his county, altho they had harvested larger crops
in other years. Wasatch is one of the counties in which
there is a good flow of first-class honey in ordinary seasons.
Mr. Smith heartily endorst the efforts of the Association in
trying to keep up the prices of bee-products, thereby aiding
the bee-keepers in building up the industry.
Uintah County reported the best honey-flow of the sea-
son, and is the banner county of the State. A score or
Feb. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
105
more of the principal bee-keepers of the county harvested
318.400 pounds, and altog-ether the county has produced
about 500,000 pounds the past season.
After a discussion on how to increase honey-producing-
plants the meeting- adjourned, subject to the call of the
president. A. F. Stevenson, Reporter.
Salt Lake Co., Utah, Oct. 27, 1900.
"The President's Message" to the Ontario Co.,
(N. Y.) Convention.
BY \V. F. MARKS.
ANOTHER year has past since last we met, and left us,
as honey-producers, richer only in experience, the past
season being the poorest season for honey ever known
in our county if not thruout a large portion of the conti-
nent. But altho the past season has been the poorest of
several poor seasons with us in the production of honey;
altho our bees have failed to gather us any surplus, we can
feel that our labor has not been in vain, for our pets have
never yet failed to fulfil faithfully the prime purpose for
which they were created, whereby all are benefitted.
Miss Morley says, "The Vedic poets sang of honey
and the dawn at the same moment, and all the succeeding
generations of India have chanted honey and its maker into
their mythologies, their religions and their loves."
" The philosophers of Greece esteemed the bee. And
without hone)' and the bee the poets of Hellas would have
lackt expressions of sweetness that all succeeding ages
have seized upon as consummate."
"The Latin writers studied the bee not only for its use-
fulness as a honey-maker, but because of its unique char-
acter for industry, for its skill as a builder, and for its won-
derful sagacity in its social organization."
"Modern writers are principally concerned with the
structure and habits of the bee as revealed by modern
science, and particularly with the part played by it as a fer-
tilizer of the fruits and flowers."
" To fertilize the flowers has always been the office of
the bee, as we can see now that the processes of nature are
understood."
" At the present time sugar has superseded honey as an
article of every-day use. Honey has lost most of its im-
portance in the family life, but not so the bee, for we know
that it does inestimable service in perfecting the fruits of
the earth, and that without it our orchards would be lean
and our gardens barren."
Notwithstanding the acknowledged importance and ne-
cessity of the bee as a factor in agriculture and the arts,
we are to this day called upon to fight for its very exist-
ence.
At the last session of the legislature the opposition, I
have reason to believe, started in to repeal our excellent
spraying law ; but, finding that its friends were awake and
ready for the fray, they contented themselves by asking for
an amendment to the law to allow experiments by the di-
rectors of the experimental stations at Ithaca and Geneva.
Originally the amendment had the words, " whenever and
wherever desired in this State : " we had these words
stricken out. As finally amended, believing that the pro-
posed experiments would sustain the bee and strengthen
the law, it was allowed to pass without further opposition.
These experiments have not yet been publisht. Perhaps it
will not be proper for me to anticipate the result of these
experiments, but I have reason to believe, from what I can
learn, that we have nothing to fear from them, and that
they will only emphasize the fact that it is not only unnec-
essary but absolutely injurious to spray during bloom. I
learn that in one of the experiments of spraying in bloom,
the yield of fruit was just one-half of what it was where
the spraying was done just before the blossoms opened.
That certainly is not " making two blades of grass grow
where one grew before," but the very reverse. The result
in all the experiments may not have been as emphatic as
this one ; it could hardly be expected.
Plato in his laws written 370, 1!. C, makes it a crime to
poison bees. His law translated reads as follows: "He
who employs poison to do an injury, not fatal, to a man
himself, or to his servants, or any injury, whether fatal or
not, to his cattle or his bees, if he be a physician, and be
convicted of poisoning, shall be punisht with death ; or if
he be a private person the court shall determine what he is
to pay or suffer." Thus it will be seen that we have a prec-
edent that was eslablisht nearly 2300 years ago.
"The mills of the gods grind slowly." It is thus with
the Apis dorsata enterprise that you have so persistently
advocated. I can assure you, however, that this undertak-
ing is certainly making progress ; one thing is certain,
Providence is on our side, and, altho he has not yet suc-
ceeded in importing these bees, he has given us their na-
tive land, and dorsata is getting accustomed to the
star-spangled banner. I believe they are willing subjects,
as there are no reports of their having joined the insur-
gents ! I trust the opposition will not start such a report,
and that they have stung, perhaps killed, one-half, more or
less, of our little army, and driven the balance into the
China Sea 1 Yet such a story would be just as reasonable
as manv that have been circulated in relation to this bee.
Perhaps the subject of marketing honey is quite out of
place this season, owing to the fact that we have none to
market : but if we should be fortunate enough to secure a
crop again we should endeavor to maintain prices now that
they have advanced.
The National Association has recently issued a pamph-
let, larger and more complete but similar to the one we pub-
lisht over a year and one-half ago. Such pamphlets are
very useful. I wish that all this matter— showing the rela-
tion of bees to horticulture — that has been publisht by the
Department of Agriculture, the various experimental sta-
tions, and other recognized authorities, with the experi-
ments now being made at Ithaca and Geneva, in relation to
spraying in bloom, with accompanying illustrations, could
be publisht in one bulletin. This matter of the bee and
its importance to agriculture can not be proclaimed too
much — the people should be made to realize their obliga-
tions to the honey-bee.
I will briefly call your attention to Article 3, Section 2,
of the Constitution of the National Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion, which read as follows:
"Whenever a local bee-keepers' association shall decide
to unite with this Association as a body, it will be received
upon payment by the local secretary of SO cents per mem-
ber per annum, provided that the local association's mem-
bership dues are at least SI. 00."
This is carrying out the ideas embodied in our State or-
ganization, and, if adopted by our association, would admit
us to membership not only in our county and State associ-
ations, but in the National also, and all for the small price
of $1.00 per annum. I would recommend that our constitu-
tion be amended so as to enable us to take advantage of
this provision of the National Bee-Keepers' Association.
In my several previous messages, with which you have
been afflicted, I have by turns coaxt and scolded the bee-
keepers of the county for carelessness, or indifference,
shown by them for not taking greater interest in these
meetings. The fact that you have realized but little from
your bees for a couple of seasons should not deter you from
aiding and strengthening our organization. The more in-
terest you take in it the more pleasure and benefit you will
derive from it. Do not wait for the secretary to urge you.
Each of you has some subject — perhaps several — relating
to our pursuit, upon which you have well-founded ideas.
Notify the secretary, and let him put you on the program.
Take pride in our organization and pride in our pursuit ; it
may not be the largest industry, but it is just as honorable
as any. Bees are said " to have been the heralds of civili-
zation, steadily preceding it as it advanced." That they
have always been held in high esteem by man can not be
questioned, as they are mentioned as far back as history ex-
tends. They figured in the symbolical history of Egypt
nearly 4,000 years B. C, showing with what esteem they
were held nearly 6,000 years ago. Let me repeat, take
pride and interest in your pursuit, that the bee may ever re-
main where history and science place it — the most interest-
ing and important member of the animal kingdom.
The Chicajro Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents ; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for SI. 60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown.
The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just
what its name indicates. Tells all about growing- fruits
and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at 50 cents a year.
We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it.
We club it with the American Bee Journal — both for $1.10.
106
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Feb. 14, 1901.
\ Questions and Answers. !
CONDUCTED BY
OR. C, O. AIILLER. A/areng-o, 212,
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Boiling Foul-Broody Hives— Newly-Hived Swarm
Leaving.
1. If I boil hives and frames that have been taken from
foul-broody bees, will it kill the germ ? and will they be
safe to put bees in again ?
2. Can one tell whether the disease is foul brood or
pickled brood when it is found in an early stage ? If so,
how ?
3. Last season in swarming-time it was quite warm, and
in hiving bees they would leave the hives soon after being
put in. A remedy was tried of cooling the hive with cold
water, and after letting it drain put the bees in, but they
would leave them. Mint was tried, and had but little suc-
cess. The hives were new, and had foundation on each
frame. Please suggest a remedy. What do you think was
the reason of their deserting ? Ut.^^h.
Answers. — 1. Yes, and' some good authorities say it is
safe to use a hive of the kind without boiling.
2. You can hardly be certain till some advance has
been made. Look up the subject in the last volume of
American Bee Journal.
3. When a swarm is hived and leaves the hive, in a
large proportion of cases it is because the hive is too warm.
Sometimes wetting with cold water will help, but if the hive
stands in the sun it may still be hot in spite of the wetting,
especially if the hive is close. Let the hive be raised from
the bottom-board, and perhaps the cover open a little for a
day or two. Some give to a swarm a frame of brood. Bees
are not likely to desert this.
Queen and Swarming Questions. «
1. What percentage of queens reared by a strong col-
onj-. and then 3 daj-s before hatching being given to nu-
clei, would swarm the same year?
2. What percentage of virgin queens would swarm, if
allowed to hatch before being introduced to nuclei ?
3. Would it be better to let each nucleus rear its own
queen, providing each had 4 or 5 frames of sealed brood
with one containing some eggs, and all being well covered
with bees ?
4. What would be the best method to increase from 30
to 55 colonies and keep swarming down ?
5. Would it make anj- difference in the harvest if all
old queens were replaced by virgin queens 45 days before
the flow ? or would it be better to give them fertile queens
of this year's rearing ? and what difference would it make
in swarming ? SrBrRB.\NiTE.
Answers.— 1. I don"t know. If you will tell me what
will be done with the queens afterward. I may be able to
tell something about it. Your question is such as to sug-
gest that you suppose a queen reared in a strong colony
and given to a nucleus three days before hatching will give
results as to swarming quite different from one that has not
been given to a nucleus. I doubt that. It is not so much
what has been done before the queen begins laying, as it is
what has been done after.
Let me try to answer fully the spirit of your question,
for there are some misconceptions likely to be entertained
in the minds of beginners. It is a commonly believed
opinion that a queen of the current year's rearing is not so
likely to swarm as an older queen. The belief is right.
And it is wrong. It all depends. Formerly it was held as
a sure thing that a queen would not swarm before sis
months of age. At that time it was probably correct.
Latterly the opinion is held that a young black queen of
the current year will not swarm, but an Italian queen may.
There may be some difference between blacks and Italians
in this respect, but I'm a little skeptical as to its making
much difference. I think the rule was true of blacks before
Italians were introduced — not because they were blacks,
but because of the treatment they had.
Before the introduction of Italians, there was little
in the way of changing queens, making swarms by divid-
ing, etc. Bees were left pretty much to their own devices.
Leave them to their own devices to-day, and you may count
that a young queen of the current year's rearing will not
swarm till the next season, whether black or yellow. In
other words, if a young queen is reared in a colony in the
neighborhood of the swarming season, and left in that col-
ony, that queen and that colony will not swarm that season.
I'm not so sure that any satisfactory reason can be given,
but the fact seems to be well establisht.
If a queen is reared this season, and after being reared
is put in a hive where conditions are favorable for swarm-
ing, her age will not prevent swarming. Let a colony be
on the point of swarming, or take it iramediatel3' after it
has swarmed and the swarm has returned ; take its queen
from it, and give it another queen, and that colony will
swarm without regard to the age of the queen. I once had
a colon}' swarm and return (the queen was dipt), and I
took awaj' their queen, giving in its place a young queen
that had not been laying more than two or three days.
Promptly that swarm came out with the young queen not
more than two days later — I think it was the next day.
If a queen is so old as to require superseding, and that
supersedure occurs about swarming-time under prosperous
conditions, there is likely to be swarming, whereas there
might have been no swarming if a j'oung queen had been
present that did not need superseding.
I haven't given you, perhaps, a satisfactory answer,
but it's the best I can do.
2. Probably just the same as if they had been put in
the nucleus before hatching.
3. Four or five frames of brood well covered with bees
would be rather a colony than a nucleus. A queen reared
therein might be a very good queen, supposing, of course,
she was of good parentage, but such a plan of rearing
queens would hardly be advisable if many were to be
reared, because too expensive. A number of bees may be
reared in one colony just as well as to let the colonj- rear a
single cell, and when the cell is near hatching it may just
as well be in a nucleus till the queen lays.
You would proba'oly find Doolittle's queen-rearing book
a profitable investment.
4. What would be best for one might not be best for an-
other. For some, natural swarming would be best, pre-
venting second swarms by hiving the swarm on the old stand
with old colony close beside it, and removing the old colony
to a new location a week later. For some the nucleus plan
would be best : Start a sufficient number of nuclei, and
from time fo time give to each nucleus a frame of brood
with adhering bees, or brood onlj-, planning to give just
enough help to build each nucleus up to good strength for
winter.
5. It would probably make a big difference to give a
virgin queen 45 days before the flow — so great a difference
that you would not be likelj' to try it a second time. The
harvest with you is likely to begin somewhere about June
10. Forty-five daj's before that time would be in the latter
part of April. As far north as northern Illinois j'ou will
hardly succeed in rearing good queens by that time. That
is objection enough of itself. To put a virgin queen in a
colony April 25th would stop the laying and brood-rearing at
a time when it is important to have it pusht to the ability
of the colony. That is also a sufficient reason of itself.
Neither would it be wise to think of giving a young laying
queen in April. It would make chances for swarming
somewhat less, but riot enough less to overbalance the dis-
advantage.
Qut-Apiary and Swarming— Feeding for Winter.
1. How could an out-apiarv be managed where daily at-
tention could not be given to it, mainly the swarming ques-
tion, possibly 25 or 50 colonies, in a fine honey locality?
Would the bee-entrance guard on each hive prevent swarm-
ing ? What would be the result if they did swarm, and
were lost, as long as the remainder did well ?
2. What would be a fair share (of honey) to give to a per-
son for allowing me to place 10 or 12 colonies on his farm,
everything to be furnisht bj- me, he only to see to the
shade-boards, etc., as he does not understand hiving swarms
or bees at all ?
3. What is the best time for feeding sugar syrup, for
Feb 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
107
winter use ? and how can you feed thru the winter in case
of necessity '■ Some time since one colony starved to death
for lack of food, not knowing how to feed syrup, but in-
stead I placed super with comb honey on the hive, but it
seemed to do no good. They were on the summer stands.
4. Can you name one or two good feeders, and tell how
to use them ?
5. Can extracting be done th ru the winter as well as in
the honey season ? In fixing frames for extracting, would
medium (full sheets) brood foundations be right? and
should they be wired in ?
In my short experience I have found that the bees in
hives not shaded, begin work earlier, and also they work
later than those that are shaded.
Washington Beginner.
Answers. — 1. Bee entrance guards would not in the
least prevent swarming. It only prevents the queen from
going with the swarm, and without a queen they would not
leave. It would be just as well for them to swarm and be
lost " as long as the remainder did well," but unfortunately
the remainder will not do as well. Entrance guards might
be safely used if you could visit the place as often as once
a week, for the queens would be held in the traps awaiting
your treatment. Perhaps you might be best suited to have
such large hives with so much room in the extracting-su-
pers that the amount of swarming need not be considered.
2. That question is not easily answered, but at a guess
it might do to give him honey enough for use on his own
table. The amount of compensation would not be exactly
in proportion to the number of colonies. A man would
just about as soon have 10 colonies sitting on his ground as
one. In some cases a man might be willing to pay for hav-
ing bees on his place for the sake of having his fruit ferti-
lized.
3. Just as soon as you are satisfied no more surplus
will be stored. In some places — indeed in a good many
places — that might be in the last of August. That gives
time to have the syrup well ripened and put in proper shape
for winter. In any case, try to have all feeding done before
September closes.
In case of necessity in winter, use comb honey or sugar
candj', making sure that the food is so close to the bees that
they will crawl directly upon it. Don't think of feeding
syrup in winter.
4. Root's A B C of Bee-Culture gives the Miller feeder
first place if the feeding is to be done on top. Put the
feeder on top the same as a super ; put in syrup and cover
over. If the feeding is done early enough, I prefer a plan
that is still less trouble. Put dry granulated sugar in the
feeder, and then pour hot or cold water on it. The bees
will do the rest. If you prefer to feed at the hive-entrance,
the Boardman feeder is one of the best.
5. It is just as easy to extract in winter as in summer,
if the combs are just as warm. If kept in a very warm
room for 24 hours, you will likely be able to extract. If
you can hang them overhead in the kitchen they will stand
a good chance for heat.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. 'This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year t?i advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names a. id addresses when writing us on
other matters.
i£,j^ia.j£.j£,ja^i£,ja^ia,ja^is^)i
* The Afterthought. ^
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio.
WEIGHT OF NATURAI, COMB.
Average weight of natural comb 10 grains to the square
inch. Prof. Gillette, page 23. If we call the Langstroth
frame 144 inches (usually less from being nibbled away at
the bottom) the weight of the wax in a comb will be 1,440
grains, or 14,400 grains in a lOframe hive. Xow, if we as-
sume that the 400 grains will cover the extraneous matter
workt into the new comb of a hive, we have just an even
two pounds of actual wax. Practically, I think they usu-
ally work in a good deal more extraneous matter than that;
but on the other hand, next to the bars all around there is
much more wax than 10 grains to the inch. So a fair esti-
mate of the actual wax in a hive, providing it all could be
recovered, is two pounds for lO-frame hives, and one pound
9'> ounces, nearly, for the more common 8-frame hives.
MAKING ROOM FOR WAX-SCALES.
And so D. H. Coggshall thinks that it pays to cut slices
from the combs at extracting-time to give the bees place to
use their scales of wax without building burrs. I think he
has a valuable idea — that is, valuable in long, strong runs
of honey. When the combs are scant thickness, or not built
down at the bottom, or when the honey-flow is short, then
the cutting would be rather a waste. Page 24.
FANNING AT THE HIVE-ENTRANCE.
I think Dr. Miller, on page 25, does a pretty good job at
theorizing. A bee uncertain about its reception by the
guards at a hive-entrance falls to fanning at once — plain
way of saying, "Don't you see, I am ready to go to work?
and robbers do not work." tiuess it's right. Still, let a
fourth swarm come out and leave the parent hive nearly
empty and pretty well demoralized as to guards ; let the
swarm hang an hour, till said hive gets cold — colder than it
needs to be ; then hive the swarm and carry it away, leaving
say SO obstinate bees determined not to leave the limb. In
the course of the day it will dawn upon them what fools
they are, and they will return to the alighting-board. I
should expect to see them fanning together there the first
thing they do. In this case there can hardly be fear, or un-
certainty, and there is no need of the fanning being done —
what is it ? Fanning in the entrance draws outside the fa-
miliar smell of home. Perhaps that is what they want —
before they have submitted to the inevitable quite enough
to go in.
DOUBLE W.4.LLS AND CHAFF ON \ HOT D.W.
Mr. J. M. Rankin has got on track of a question
that is of value — the actual effect of double walls and chaff
on a hot day as compared with plain, single-walled hives.
Thinks the working-force for a time mostly abandoned the
supers of the single-walled hives. This is one of the things '
we want to be sure of before we are too sure of it, so re-
peated observations by different observers are desirable.
For future comparisons Mr. R. should have given us the
temperature in the shade in addition to that in the sun.
Page 39.
COMB BUILT BETWEEN FINISHT COMBS.
Dr. Miller is right in his answer to " South Carolina,"
on page 43, that a comb built between two finisht combs in
a super is apt to be very thin. Even if so much extra space
is given as to obviate that trouble the alternation doesn't
seem to be a good plan. Put one first-rate, finisht comb
next one side of the super, then several frames with start-
ers, then one or more partly built combs if you have them,
as I mostly do ; then fill the rest of the super with finisht
combs. That seems to be the " how " to do it, providing
you don't want the bother of having them built below.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in shee-
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical beet
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
108
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 14. 1901.
Feeding Bees for Wintep.
Our bees went into winter quarters
in debt to us. We had to feed about
two-thirds of the colonies late in the
fall, and unite many weak ones. If
we had not fed they would have had
very little honey to winter on. A
friend about 30 miles from here fed his
bees in November to keep them from
starving^.
We took only about 300 pounds from
140 colonies. We united some in the
fall so now we have only 98, but as
their fall honey was gathered from de-
caying- fruits, etc., I fear they will not
winter as well as they usually do. I
am sure they winter better on sugar
syrup if fed early and well sealed,
than they will on such honey as they
gathered last fall.
It has been so dry for the past few
years that many bees in this localit)'
have died. Some years our crop has
been cut short by people spraying
fruit-trees while in bloom.
Mrs. L. C. Axtei.1..
Warren Co., Ills., Jan. 21.
Something About Bumble-Bees.
On page 44 I notice a letter written
by S. T. Pettit, in regard to bumble-
bees in winter. I presume the majority
of people think they winter here, but
I think differently. I will be 67 years
old in three more days if I live so
long ; I was raised on a farm and still
live on one, but I have never been able
to find a nest of bumble-bees in win-
ter. When the fall of the year comes,
and the weather begins to get cool, I
have seen them disband and leave their
summer nests. I don't know where
they go, but I think the queen goes
South. My reason for thinking this is
that I have never seen a bumble-bee in
the spring until the weather had be-
come quite warm, and the flowers had
begun to bloom. The queen starts her
nest and increases very fast. If they
stayed here all winter I should think
they would come out as soon as the
weather began to get warm, as do the
honey-bees, green flies, and other in-
sects.
There are three sizes of bumble-bees
— queens, workers, and drones. The
drones have very long bodies and are
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Please mention Bee Journal when writinf
Gleanings in Bee=Culture!
Extraordinary
Offer.
Gleanings for Jan. ist contains these Special Articles ;
Queen-Rearing- in France,
-by-
Giraud-Pabou
314 queens from one hive.
How it was done.
Illustrated by 3 half-tone engravings.
Candied vs. Bottled Liquid Honey,
by Chalon Fowls
1 bottled honey.
Wintering- Bees in Clamps,
(From Hee-Keepers- Review
-by-
W. Z. Hutchinson
Four illustrations.
No one is better qualified perhaps
than Mr. Hutchinson to write on this
subject. His many years' experience
wintering bees in Michigan should
give weight to his opinion.
Conversations
—with —
Doolittle
ho have read bee-literature for years
d Doolittle's writinus full of practi-
Thos.
always
cal informatiou. Those who are not fa"
with his writinsrs are invited to read a sei
practical articles on eeueral topics relati
bee-culture under the title, "Conversation
Doolittle."
Gleanings for Jan. 15th.
Co-Operative Org-anized Work,
by ft. C. Aikin
Its benefits demonstrated; The Colorado
Honey-Producers' Association an information
scheme: The work of the Association outlined.
An Extracting- Outfit, by W. A. Gilstrap illustrated.
Mintle's Lig-htning- Section-Folder
Illustrated.
Stray Straws,
-by-
Dr. C.C. Miller,
Every Issue
The
;e '^Straws" appear
ug-s, constituti
in every issue of
.^ . _ of its most valua-
ble features. Dr. Miller reviews nearly all of
the bee-iournals publisht. American and For-
eig^n, and readers of Gleaninj^s get the benefit
in these "Straws," thereby receiving much val-
uable information publisht in the Foreign iour-
nals.
Picking-s from Our Neighbor-
ing- Fields,
by Stenog, Every Issue
For several years Gleanings readers have
been privileged twice a month to enjoy short
squibs from this writer's pen. Not only does
he give us articled full of value gleaned from
other journals, but they are so enlivened by his
vein of humor that they are eagerly read by all.
Gleanings for Feb. ist.
Our Honey-Bottling- Sympo-
sium,
Fully Illustrated, by
G. A. Deadman,
Earl C. Walker,
and Walter S, Pouder
How to wash bottles : Filling with
hot honey or cold ; Bottles with corks
or self-sealing tops ; Temperature of
honey to be bottled.
The right kind of honey for the purpose; Mi3c-
ing honeys to secure a flavor; Why honey
should be heated in the bottles.
Size and construction of vats for heating the
bottles of honey; Tumblers vs. jars or bottles.
The Personnel of the Utter Trial
by E. R. Root
The Belgian-Hare Business,
by W. K. Morrison.
of Devonshire, Bermuda
A fair statement; Extravagant
statements ; Bees and rabbits not a
good combination.
Co-operative Organization,
by R. C. Aikin
Plans outlined; Intelligence bureau; Why
simple co-operation fails; Business must be at
the bottom; Government's duty ; A continuation
of this writer's article which appeared in Jan.
15th Gleanings.
Cuba,
by The American Tramp
This writer has been in Cuba some two years,
and writes understandingly.
SPECIAL OFFER.-Each one of the issues
bee-Ueeper, but we will send all three for only 1
all gone.
BETTER YET— Send us 2S cents at once,
issues, 6 months, beginning Jan. 1st. Feb. 15lh '
oned above should be worth a dime to every
s. Hurry along .vour order before they are
ugs in Bee-Culture 12
ill contain
Cuba,
by Harry Howe, Robert Luaces,
and A. L. Boyden
Mr. Howe was formerly with Coggshall, of
New York, and has already given Gleanings
readers glimpses of Cuban bee-keeping. Mr.
Luaces, of Puerto Principe, considers that con-
ditions are nut well known and gives informa-
tion somewhat different from other writers.
Mr. Boyden begins a series of articles entitled,
"Glimpses of Cuba and Cuban Bee-Keeping,'*
illustrated by photos taken by himself.
noney
efuuQod Julv 1st if -
: not satisfied.
Remember. Six months for 25 cents, and your
tiention the American Bee Journal.
THE A. I. ROOT COHPANY, Hedina.Ohio.
Feb. 14, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
109
quite yellow, being markt better than
most of the Italians in this country.
The workers are smaller and darker,
and are great fighters ; I don't know
whether the queens fight or not, but I
think they do. The whole colony
works for a living — the drones as well
as the rest. I do not know that they
carry in any stores, but I have seen
them working on thistles. Like the
honey-bee drones they have no sting.
I have heard of boys catching them
and sucking the honey out of them,
but I have never tried it.
Twice in my life I have found a sin-
gle bumble-bee three or four inches
down in the ground, under leaves or
trash, but I don't believe it would have
come out the next spring alive unless
there had been a great deal of salt put
on it, and maybe not then.
The hornets also go South, or else
they all die, and a new queen comes
from the South. They don't make
their appearance here until about June,
then one starts a nest and keeps build-
ing up until fall, just as the bumble-
bees do, then they all die or disappear.
The past season was the poorest we
have had in 30 years. I have been in
the bee-business for nearly that length
of time, but have never seen anything
like it. There was a pretty fair growth
of white clover but it secreted no nec-
tar. I don't think there was a pound
of surplus honey gathered in this
neighborhood. We have had no honey
worth mentioning in the last four
years, but we still live in hopes, tho it
seems a long time coming.
Thomas Wall.^ck.
Adams Co., 111., Jan. 22.
Poor Prospects for Next Season.
The prospects for a good honey sea-
son in this locality are away below
par again, I am sorry to say. We have
had only two fairly good rains thus far
this winter, and there is a deficiency of
over two inches of normal precipita-
tion, which means a good deal in this
land of " excess of sunshine."
Since reading of the Bee Journal's
loss by fire I take pleasure in forward-
ing my dollar for renewal subscription,
and hope all bee-keepers will be prompt
in coming to the assistance of the
journal which is devoted soleh' to their
interests. The three successive poor
honey seasons here have made it seem
best for me to drop three other bee-pa-
pers, but I must retain at least one to
keep in touch with the bee-keeping
world. F. C. Wiggins.
San Diego Co., Calif., Jan. 1<).
Handled Bees 50 Years Rearing
Queens.
I am 62 years of age and have han-
<iled bees for the past 50 years. I lived in
Royalton, Vt., until 13 years ago, when
I came to Florida. I commenced using
the Langstroth hives and frames in
1865. In 18b7 I bought 10 colonies of
Italian bees bred from imported queens.
During the past two years I have in-
troduced about 400 queens very success-
fully. For the 10 years that I have
kept bees in Florida I have averaged
100 pounds of extracted honey to the
colony, and increast from 12 to 400
colonies.
My bees do not always behave as
nicely as the bees belonging to some
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES JTvA:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copv. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown, Wisconsin, U. S. A.
^^Profitable Poultry Keeping
\LI. ITS BK.VMIIES." Tliials tli.. i itl.' :,n.l 1 1 ,- ,.f ,.nr ii.-u' V.ar Il"..k. c. oiitiuiiMSi;
■y, 8x11 in.; -W) new and original illn^ii ..ti^ n- i t > r \ iiiiiii- lMiil.iini.'s.etc..in tliecoun-
Deals with eveiT phase of thepouliii in.iii in 1! Ill II -iiu. ii>. ;iiid proflt bringing way.
alsoaftlie famous non-mois- nVDUCDC lUPIIDJUnDC guaranteed to out-
rentilatinL-andrek-uIating III rntnO INUUDAIUnO, hatch any other in
sts or ninnevrt'fiinded. Sent fur lit.- in ^tjiiii[is. Ask for 1 k r.1. Circular and prices free.
otn.c OVI'llIRS INCriJATOK < «.. Chlcuiro. H ujlund, N.Y., lfoi.t<.n.Mneri-
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
seit-\
MARILLA""'""™^
brin^? together
terl;
plaoH
such a machine. For th
that if they are not found
sentedanddnn'tdoall we claim for them oner ii thoro
triiil, it is no sale. Eleventh rear on the market We u
both Hot Water and Hot Ali^take y-mr choice.
-iiiiple a ..-hild ran run it. Send 2c. in stamps for eatuloKUe.
MARILLA INCUBATOR CO., 80X31 ROSE HILL, N. Y.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when -writinB.
Sood Instruments.
rthS^JO, My
illy guaranteed.
irlANS.
tnati model, chc
in )\vn, light red or amber,
iinmed. Brazilwood bow,
nil leather bound
I ot siriiif^s,
- »6.9t
J-J|i, ^^ , ...^^^
|; p ifGUITAR— Solid Rosewood, standard
\^^/|jjJ^Mze, neatly inlaid, Spanish cedar
neck, celluloid front, ebony fin(,'ei
Vmard, beat quality patent heud
'^ ■■ leather bound canvas car-c
liar price 818. My PriceSr.fir*
MANDOLIN-Solid Kosewo.xl
111 rlbsj celluloidiront; veneered
lead piece, handsomely inlaid.
^„. jfy Eleffant French Polish. Patent'
M' t'i'\fi\ head, engraved tail-piece. Worth
''"AiU-ii. My PrU-e. «»nly «T, with
her bound case, extra fet of
I / -'1 iii^s and tortoise pick. Send for
J y lii/h grade nmsicalinstmmentsof t
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writins.
Make Mor^ .Vlilk-Money
ublicatit.ns and useful
DRAPER PUB. & SUPPLY CO.". Chicagi,. /II.
INf.AND POULTHV JOURNAL, Indianapolis. Ind
Please mention I5ee Journal -whe" "writing.
/%■ l\C The Seed^—
vLllO Potato Man
L. L. OLDS, Dr^iwer D, CLINTON, WIS.
PAN=AnERlCAN EXPOSITION.
On the American Shore of the Niag-
ara River on the outskirts of the City
of Buflfalo, N.Y., within short distance
of Niagara Falls, from May 1 to Nov.
1, 1901, will transpire one of the most
important events in the history of the
Western Hemisphere. The curtain of
the great show will be raised, which
will present the opening scene in a
blaze of glory, never before equaled in
the history of America. This colossal
aggregation of exhibits will show the
wonderful achievements of science, ex-
emplified by the matchless genius of
the two Americas, and fittingly por-
tray their high educational values.
The Nickel Plate Road has issued an
attractive and valuable descriptive
folder pamphlet, elaboratively illustrat-
ing the Pan-American Exposition,
fully describing this important event,
and elaborately illustrating the build-
ings and grounds.
The Nickel Plate Road is the short
line between Chicago and Buffalo.
That popular passenger line offers
competent train service between Chi-
cago and Buffalo, as it does also be-
tween Chicago and New York City,
Boston and all points East, with mod-
ern trains, supplied with the latest de-
signs of Drawiug-Room Buffet Pullman
Sleeping-Cars, and Dining-Car service
of the highest order. The Nickel Plate
Road offers meals in its dining-cars on
the popular American Individual Club
System, ranging in price to suit the
appetite, from 35 cents to one dollar,
but no meal at a cost greater than one
dollar. No excess fares are charged
on any train of the Nickel Plate Road.
Call on any ticket agent for a Pan-
American Folder of the Nickel Plate
Road, or address, John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St.. Chi-
cago, 111. Parties desiring hotel or
rooming accommodations, at Buffalo
or Niagara Falls, during any period
of the Pan-American Exposition, are
invited to apply by letter or otherwise
to F. J. Moore. General .\gent. Nickel
Plate Road, 291 Main St.. Buffalo. N.Y.
No. 3- TAlt
GINSENG
«in. lu fO^nls proituie $4.W.>.10 hi 10
yearv. Ho-ik UlllnK linw lo ktow It. 4c.
LakesideGinseng Gardens, Amber, N.Y
no
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 14, 19( I.
Buggy Announcement Extraordinary
^ Kalamazoo Carriage and Harness Co. of Kalamazoo, Michigan, have
ptcil t);opIan of sending- their vehicles anywhere, on lo days free trial,
y mU direct to consumers at wholesale prices and allow you to take the
fclr fmm the depot, hitch up to it, try the springs, running qualities, see
triiimiinL's, finish and style before yori decide to keep it. N :> more buying
:at in the bag, sight unseen." They know the quality of their goods and
willing to let them sell on their merits. Write for free catalogue,
KALAMAZOO CARRIAGE AND HARNESS CO.,
Box 53 Kalamazoo* Mschigan.
Maule's (^^ "^ ^^'"^* f^^ '^'^^
Seed Catalogue *
!ttii
moAt
You should, bv all nivai
modrrn oafalOB""' ">•' modern linien.
It is brimful and overtlowint^ with good thiiif^cs in
vegetable, farm and flower seeds, flowering
plants, fruits, bulbs, etc. It conlainH 35
novelties in vegetable!* and floneri*
never olTered before, has 136 large pages,
seven handsome colored plates and hundreds of
illustrations. It gives practical, up-to-date cul-
tural directions and offers many cash prizes.
The first edition alone costs over f30,000, so while
we send it free to all customers, we must ask
others to send 10 cents for it, which amount they
may deduct from their first order. You will
make a mistake if you do not write to-dav for this
the Novelty Seed Book of tlie year. Address,
WH. HEBfR'T DIAITEii;. Philadelpbia.
3D4t
Pleasi
the Be
rial.
50VARIETIES.
200-Egg Incubator
for SI2oOO
Perfect in construction and
action. Hatches every fertile
egg. Write for catalogue to-day. I
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
Please mention the Bee Journal.
of the Bee Journal correspondents,
but I seem to be as successful with
them as the averag-e.
I have taken quite an interest in the
different methods of rearing queens,
and of introducing them ; also caging
and sending thru the mails. I have
read many of the bee books and pa-
pers, and until recently never read any
objection to rearing queens on dry
sticks, caging them when full of eggs.
Some think that a strong colony in the
hight of the honey-flovp is about as
good a time to rear a prolific queen as
any. H. T. GikFORd.
Brevard Co., Fla., Jan. 19.
Nothing but Fall Honey.
Bees did not do much the past sea-
son. There was a great deal of white
clover, but no honey in it to speak of.
We had nothing but fall honey, and
very little of that. Wm. Wilson.
St. Joseph Co., Mich., Jan. 25.
Light Honey-Flow— Feeding Bees.
The past year was a hard one on bee-
keepers in this locality. From June
1st the bees did not get a living from
the flowers until about the first of
September, when the asters yielded
HG MOHEY IN POULTRY
Bl
Our LARGE POULTRY CUICE
explains alL W npth »ar> to iin\ore.
The larcest, tiwst and n...sl i,.ii,,.|,Ce 1,,., k .■^;^ t,„b-
lishedin colors. fonlainso>or 175 newlHustrallops,
hundreds of vahiahle recipes and i.l.ins .and HOW TO
JIAKE POI'LTHY pay. Sent posliaid for 16 cent..
JOHN BAUSCHER.JR.,Bn 94, Freeport, liu
Please mention Bee Journal ■w> en ■writing.
Sl£L^ifT Ikf nniL
i^
Direct to Consumers.
Our nandnomeCataloc tree, costing
ODtainea 144 pa°:e3, with 1500 illui
15,000 a
from 151075%. Mostl
for I'Oc to pay costof msilingr, |
jlete bookof itetind. , ,
■h will be refunded with firatorder. Valuable book o( refer-
and onehtto bein every household, Get it; keep It ha
Her Chemical Cn., Dept 13 > Chlcaf
»*Tbe OoljIIlail Order Drug Uau&e in the World."
(jA13t Please mention the Bee Journal.
I BEESIPPLIES! I
f§ 49'Root's Qoods at Root's Prices"^ ^:
.^> PonDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^•
O-Root's Qoods at Root's Prices"^
PonDER's Honey-Jars and every-
thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt
Service— low freig-ht rate. Catalog
free. WALTER S. POUDER,
512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind.
^
Plesise mention Bee Journal when writing.
ii
ELECTRIC " GOODS
Thousands of farmers all over the country know that
the name "Electric" stands for the highest quality, the
greatest durability, the lowest isrice. Everything put out
of our factory carries the reputation of being "as good as
money can hinj."
Electric Metal Wheels
of all sizes and varieties, to fit any axle on any vehicle or
farm implement, either director staggered oval steel spokes.
Electric Handy Wagon^
the neatest, strongest, most durable, easiest to load wagon
made. Metal wheels, any width of tire, any height from
24 to 5G inches. Best angle steel hounds.
Tanks of All Kinds.
Sheep Dipping Tanks, Watering Tanks and Feed
Troughs of all shapes and sizes.
Trucks
for engines, water tanks, etc. Send for new catalog. We
ship our goods auywliere and guarantee to save vdu money.
ELECTRIC WHEEL COMPANY,
Box 1 6» QUINCY, ILLS.
Feb. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
111
some nectar. Some colonies had
plenty for winter, but others did not,
and I beffan in August to feed them
about 8(10 pounds of good honey, in
order to keep them from starving and
get them in good condition for winter.
The)' are wintering splendidly so far,
and I hope the coming season will be a
good one.
To-day is the worst day we have had
so far this winter. It is snowing and
blowing, and cold. I hope it will not
last long. A. J. McBkide.
Watauga Co., N. C, Jan. 24.
Good Honey-Cpop— Introducing
Queens.
My honey crop for the year 1900 was
4,500 pounds from 45 colonies, spring
count, a little over one-third of which
was comb honey. M)' average yield
for 11 years has been 60 pounds per
colony, about one-half of it being
comb. The best yield was in 1893,
when I got 114 pounds per colony, and
the poorest yield was in 1899 — 16 pounds
per colony.
Perhaps the method I use for intro-
ducing queens will be helpful to some.
When I receive a queen thru the mails
I put her in a Miller iutroducing-cage
without any of the escort bees, put in
some candy, and plug the hole so the
workers can not get at the candy.
Remove the queen that is to be super-
seded, and place the cage containing
the queen between two of the central
combs. The next day open the hive
quietly, and if the bees seem friendly
to the queen remove the plug, fill the
hole with candy, replace the cage, and
do not open the hive again for nearly
a week. I have had but one failure in
five years, in using this method. I
formerly lost 25 percent of my queens
by following the directions that came
with the queens.
I believe many of the failures in in-
troducing are caused by the escort bees
being left with the queen. If the bees
appear angry do not remove the plug
the next day, but wait until they are
friendly toward the queen.
The American Bee Journal is all
right. D. I. Wag.\r.
Wayne Co., Mich., Jan. 23.
Convention Xotioe.
California.— The annual convention of the
California State Bee-Keepers' Association, will
be held in the Chamber of Commerce, at Los
Angeles, Feb. 25 and 26, IWl, beginning at 1:30
p.m., on the 25th. Several valuable papers have
been promist, and we expect an interesting- con-
vention. J. F. McIntvke, Sec.
R. WiLKi.N, Pres.
The Kalamazoo Carriage and Harness Com-
pany's advertisement appears in this issue,
making an offer which may truly be character-
ized as "extraordinary." They offer to send to
any reader of this paper any vehicle in their
factory on lit days' free trial, allowing you to
use it during that time and thoroly test it before
deciding to keep it. They certainly have un-
bounded faith in the quality of their goods, or
they could not make such an offer. Look up
their advertisement and send for Catalog, not
forgetting to mention the American Bee Jour-
nal when writing.
Qreat Book About a Great Hachlne.— The new
Cyphers Incubator Catalog is without excep-
tion the handsomest and most complete book
ever issued in the interest of the poultry indus-
try. It contains 224 pages (8x11 inches) with
more than 2'H» new illustrations representing
the highest art of the engraver; the cover is a
symphony of delicate gray tints with just a
dash of red, and the text is devoted to sensible,
practical poultry talk which every poultry!
raiser ought to read. It is an extremely beauti-
ful book and as useful and practical as it's
handsome.
The Cvphers Incubator during the four years
that it has been on the market, has gained a
popularity and achieved a success which is
nothing less tlian phenomenal. And yet, its
success is not hard to explain. The American
poultry-raisers recognized in the Cyphers the
first incubators really built on a scientific plau
—a plan which follows nature's method in the
diffusion of heat and the retention of Ihe mois-
ture of the egg, and thev have found by expe-
rience that it is Ihe only incubator which has
successfully solved "the moisture question" and
"ventilation question "—being absolutely self-
regulating in regard to heat, moisture and ven-
tilation. Without question these two great
features: self-supplied moisture and self-venti-
lation, were the original discoveries of Mr.
Cyphers, and were brought to a practical work-
ing success by him.
The Cvphers Company puts out with every
machine'they sell one ol the strongest guaran-
tees we have ever seen on any machiue of any
kind. And the beauty of it is every poultryman
in America can rest assured that it means ex-
actly WHAT IT S.4VS.
We know that every one of our readers will
be interested in this magnificent catalog. Send
10 cents to pav postage, and ask for Book So.
Address Cyphers Incubator Company, Way-
land, N. Y., Boston, iVIass., New York City, or
Chicago, 111. Please mention the American Bee
Journal when writing.
EVERGREENS
Ilardv sorts, ^ll^s.■^^ ^■^<>^vli fnrwiinl
icaks. ornament an.l la-dties. rrej^ai.l,*!
u $10 per lOl) -yii Creat Bargains to stlcct
rom. Write at once for free Catulngue
nd Parpain Sheet. Local AgrenU wanted.
iD.H!ll,'s^"?SDundee,lll.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Co's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid lor beeswax. Send tor our I9i>l catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich.
Flease mention Bee journal when wnting.
Wanted !
Two or three apiaries
for cash, located in
Colorado. Give full
particulars in first letter,aud lowfest cash price;
comb honey preferred.
lAtf Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
BEE
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, h. St. Louis, 111.
I the American Bee Journal.
Dittffler's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fort fax Mo Fonndatioii For Cash
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Jovirnal when writing.
CAREER AND CHARACTER OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
An address by Joseph Choate, Am-
bassador to Great Britain , on the career
and character of Abraham Lincoln —
his early life — his strug-g-les with the
world — his character as developt in the
later years of his life and his adminis-
tration, which placed his name so high
on the world's roll of honor and fame,
has been piililisht by the Chicago, Mil-
waukee t'v St. Paul Railway, and may
be had by ^ending six (6) cents in pos-
tage to F. A. Miller, General Passen-
ger Agent, Chicago, 111. 6A3t
>1 sti i>ti >!< >t4 >to >Ji >ti >te >ti Mi >li sttl?
I fiONE,y AND BEESWAX l
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Jan. 1''.— Honey is selling slowly;
this applies to all grades with the exception of
white clover and basswood comb honey, w^hich
sells readily at 16c providing it grades No. 1 or
better. All other kinds of white comb boney
sell at from 14(a'15c, and candied white comb at
from Sffj'lOc; travel-stained and off-grades of
comb, 13't( 14c; amber, 12(<il3c; amber extracted,
"•(Sil^ic; dark and buckwheat comb honey, OUii
10c. Extracted, white, 7c, 7!^rui8c; basswood
and white clover bringing the outside prices;
buckwheat and other dark grades, 6@6Kc.
Beeswax, 28c. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Jan. 22.— Fancy white comb,
15(g>17c; amber, 13(^14c; dark, o@llc; demand
good. Extracted, 7@9c; demand quiet. Bees-
wax, 20fn'30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
BtJFFALO, Jan. 17. — All kinds of honey are so
quiet it is difficult to make a sale. Occasionally
some sells, fancy 14(aH5c; few, I6c; choice and
No. 1, 12(" 13c; few, 14c; but dark, *3(g40c, and all
kinds in liberal supply; some may have to be
reconsigued. Extracted, 7@8c, and not wanted
in Buffalo. Beeswax, 22@27.
Battkrson & Co.
Albany, N, Y., Jan. 18.— Honey market is
dull on all grades now, with light stock and
light demand. White comb in good condition,
not candied, I5(al6c: mixt, 13f(til4c; buckwheat,
12(<>l2!^c; mixt, ll(g-lij^c. Extracted, white,
8(«'8!^c; mixt, 6@6Hc; dark, SJ^c.
H. R.Wright.
Boston, Feb. 8.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, lt)c; No. 1, 15(«'16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, while, 8@
SJ^c; light amber, T%^aSc. Beeswax, 37c.
Blare, Scott & Lee.
Cincinnati, Jan. 16.— Market very quiet. No
change in prices. Fancy white comb sells for
16c. Extracted, dark, sells for 55^c, and belter
grades bring 6!^@'7J4c. Fancy white table honey
brings from 8J^@i9c. C. H. W. Weber.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, I5@16c;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 while 12(«il3c; amber,
12c; buckwheat, 10@l]c. Extracted in fairly
good demand at 7J4f§*8c for while, and 7c for
amber; off grades and Southern in barrels at
from 65(a'7Sc per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
yet. Some little selling at 5H@6c. Beeswax firm
at 28 cents.
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
Hildreth & Segelkbn.
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, lS@16c;
No. 1, 13@14c; dark and amber, 12@13c Ex-
tracted, white, 'i<a'~}4c; amberand dark, 6@^>^c.
Beeswax, 26@27c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Jan. 9.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, ll^@12Kc; dark, 8@9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7J^@8c; light amber, 6^@7^c;
amber. 55^@6Mc. Beeswax. 26@2Sc.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water" white
honey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
HONEY riARKET.— We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding"
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here for
anv business man in this citv.
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
DO YOU WANT A
HiQli Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City. III.
47A261 Mention the American Bee Journal.
for Sale
Alfalfa -60-
5A4t D. S. JENKINS. LAS AminaS. COL.
Please xneution Bee Journal when writing.
112
AMERIC.\N BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 14, 190
We have a Large Stock on haud
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiractors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copv of
The American- Bee-Keepek tree. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r IS- W. M. Gereisb, East Notin^ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g^oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■wri'^na
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clovep Seeds.
»» e have^ made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft lOB 2Sft 50ft
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.S0 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
AlsikeClover Wc 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 3.75 6.S0
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14(1 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
sendtl.2Sto
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
"Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Calitrtfnia ! If yon care to know ef its
W'CllIlUI Ilirt 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Low Rates West and Northwest.
On Feb. 12th, and on each Tuesday
until April 30th, the Chicago, Milwau-
kee & St. Paul Railway will sell one-
way second-class tickets at the follow-
ing very low rates :
To Montana points, . . . S25.00
To Nor. Pacific Coast points, 30.00
To California 30.00
r These tickets will be good on all
trains, and purchasers will have choice
of 6 routes and 8 trains via St. Paul,
and 2 routes and 3 trains via Missouri
River each Tuesday. The route of the
Famous Pioneer Limited trains and
the U. S. Government Fast Mail trains.
All ticket Agents sell tickets via the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, or for further information address
F. A. Miller, General Passenger Agent,
Old Colony Building, Chicago. 6A3t
'''' Dadant's Foundation. ''''
Year
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^"^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS. No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINQ.
Why does it sell
so well?
Becau
^^
it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
meuts.
Send name for our Catalog-, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We selj the best Veils, cotton or silk,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANP& SON, Hamnton, Hancock Co ,111.
SEND FOB FREE CATALDSUE.
Prairie State Incabitor Co.,
< Homer City, Pa.
QUEENS
Smokers. Sections.
Comb Foundation
Lnd All AptmrUm SappUa*
hcRp. 8ee9 f«r
Tetmessee Queens I
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Oueens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3'^ miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.51'
each ; untested warranted
Oueens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
iles. Non
ipur
ithii
d but fe^
23 years' experience. Discount
on' large orders. Contracts
specialtv. JOHN M. DAV S,
Spring Hill, Tenn.
The Emerson Binder.
stiff-board Binder with cloth
merican Bee Journal we mail for
or we will send it with the Bee
e year— both for only $1.40. It is
o preserve the copies of the Jour-
tbey are received. If you have
) further binding is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
lis Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILI*
Fred W. Muth & Co.
FKED W. MUTH. CHARLES J. HAUCK.
P. W. J. HAUCK.
One Minute, Please !
We beg to announce that we have gone
into the bee-supply and honej business.
Being practical bee=keepers who un-
derstand the supply business thoroly,
and know pretty well the wants of the
bee-keepers, the firm will give its exclu-
sive attention to the bee-supply business
: promotion ol the sale of honey
1 thi:
iity.
f Bee=SuppIies
fWe are distributors for ROOT'S i;OODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
A Indi.iu.1, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
• tucky, and the South.
flVIUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
. LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
i* Successor to C. F. M>th & Son,
4 2146-4.S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O
I'lease mention Bee Journal wnen -writing
After visiting all the important
factnrers, we have selected a line that
will ^ive the best of satisfaction. Our
location — adjoining the Suspension
Bridge — is most central, and being only
four blocks south from the Fountain
Square, is right down in the business
part of the city, and especially handy
for our Kentucky friends: our facilities
for prompt service are perfect; and our
prices are consistent with good business
judgment.
feat
Send 1
1
FRED W. MUTH & CO.
Uhwest Cor. Front and Walnut i
CINCINNATI, OHIO.
I the Bee Journal.
B66-H1V68 and Honey-Boxes
ill car lots, wholesale or retail. Now i.s the lime to gat prices.
We are the people who manufacture strictly first-class gouils | \
and sell them at prices that defy competition. Write us to-day. l---^-"
Inter-State Box and Manufacturing Company,
Please Meotion the Bee Jouroal ^^'"^ ^*'°^
Advertisers ♦♦..
A^Eie%
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, FEBRUARY 21, 1901,
114
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
Feb. 21, 1901.
PUBLISHT "WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. York & Co.
144 &I46 ErIeStMGhicagoJIl.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postag'e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOO" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember. 1900.
5ubscriptlon Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be g"iven upou applica-
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philolog cal Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "'d" or
"ed" final to *'t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
Tll6B66-Ke6Der'§
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROE A, J. COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given lor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75, But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Joumal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Wi0^l!M^3^^Ml3^
m^i
THE BEST WHITE
Extracted Honey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY,,,,,..
This is the well-known
li^ht-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a strong-er
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
We have a good stock of the fine WHITE ALFALFA and
WHITE BASSWOOD EXTRACTED HONEY that we can ship by
return freight. Most bee-keepers must have sold all their last year's
crop long before now, and will be ready to get more with which to ^
supply their customers. All who have had any acquaintance with
the above-named honeys know how good they are. Why not order
at once, and keep your trade supplied?
Prices of Either Alfalfa or Basswood Honey :
(For the purpose of selling ag-ain.)
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, 15 cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9^4
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
S'i cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honej', if you so
desire. The cans are boxt. This is all
Absolutely Pure Bees' Honeyp
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey :
, and if s prime. Thank you.
thousand pounds of honey of
own use. But however loyal c
ing- the fact that for
I feel that
I've just sampled the honey you se
I'm something of a heretic, to sell sev<
duction and then buy honey of you for
be to the honey of his own reg-ion, the
kind of hot drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the
excellent quality of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the
honevs of more markt flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chrcago, III.
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. "« iSrcH-g
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
^ERICA]^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY 21, 1901,
No. 8,
\ * Editorial. * I
Slow Cooling of Beeswax and its ef-
fect upon color has attention again iu tlie Bee-
Keepers" Review. Editor Hutchinson says:
The American Bee Journal admits that the
slow cooling of wax simply allows the dirt to
settle, and that is the only way that slow cool-
ing can have any effect upon the color. But
it still clings to the idea that the dark oolor of
wax comes from its impurities. Here is where
our old friend is making its mistake. The
color is in the mijt itself. Dark wax will re-
main dark, no matter how slowly it is cooled :
yellow wax will be yellow altho so full of dirt
that the particles can he seen. Any one who
cares enough about this can easily satisfy him-
self. Let him get a cake of dark, black wax.
melt it and keep it iu a vessel surrounded by
sawdust, so as to confine the heat, and cause
it to cool very slowly. AVhcu cool it may have
a cleaner look, the dirt having settled to the
bottom, but it will still be dark. If you doubt
it. just try it.
Next, take a cake of the brightest yellow-
wax, melt it, and stir into it a lot of the
refuse, or slumgum. or dirt, scraped from the
bottoms of other cakes of wax ; mix these in
well, then cool it .just as i{Uickly as you pos-
sibly can. The mix will still be yellow, but
full of foreign matter. Again I say. if you
doubt this, try the experiment.
All of which goes to show that there is no
liarticic of difference in actual belief on either
side. Our good friend of the Review wants
us to say that different samples of beeswax
have different colors independently of the
amount or kind of dirt in them, so that there
may be a very dark color in wax that does not
come from impurities. If Mr. Hutchinson
will turn back to the first number of this
.journal for this year, he will find on page 4
Ibis .sentence: "There is no desire whatever
ti> deny that two specimens of wax entirely
free from impurities may be very different in
color.'' If he had kept in mind that sen-
tence, he would hardly have said. '-But it
still clings to the idea that the dark color of
wax comes from its impurities." for that con-
veys the idea that all dark color conies from
impurities. There is no real difference as to
lielief at that point.
Let us get right down to where the point of
divergence conies. Take Mr. Hutchinson's
last illustration— some bright yellow wax
melted with a lot of dirt stirred in and sud-
denly cooled. To make the illustration
clearer, supjiose a lot of lampblack is stirred
into the wax. We both believe exactly the
same thing about it. We both believe that
the wax that is in the cake, separated from
ihe foreign particles, is bright yellow, and
that altho no yellow color appears to the eye.
the black color is entirely due to the lamp-
black that is there. When askt. " What is
the color of that cake of wax?'' he says,
"Yellow:" we say, "Black." Of course, he
may say that it isn't the .wax that is black,
but the lampblack. But we believe our an-
swer is more in accordance with the every-day
talk of people. Put the cake of wax before a
witness in court and ask him its color. He
looks at it on the outside, and then breaks it
in two. and he testifies that it is black outside
and in. Take a white haudkereliief and rub
soot all over it. Mr. Hutchinson would say.
"The handkerchief is white. The soot only
is black." Common people would say, " The
handkerchief is black.''
If Mr. Hutchinson should contract for a lot
of bright yellow wax. and when it arrived he
should find it one-fourth dirt, he would hardly
feel satisfied if the consignor should say,
" That's bright yellow wax, just what I con-
tracted to send you :'' neither will he be satis-
fled if he is told that a fourth will be deducted
for the weight of the dirt.
Referring to the issue of this journal for
Jan ITth, the American Bee-Keeper says:
" Editor York now asserts that his ' journal
has never pretended to claim for slow cooling
anything more than that it allowed the for-
eign particles time to settle.' "
We do not believe that Editor Hill is a man
who would intentionally misrepresent, but
that statement, " now asserts,'' might be un-
derstood to mean that some change had been
wrought in the views or the statements of
this journal. So far from that being the case,
it is true that precisely the same assertion was
distinctly made in this journal the first time
any editorial belief on the subject was given,
as Editor Hill will see it he turns to the issue
tor Nov. 2m\.
Mr. Hill then asks, " Why, then, has the
Journal so emphatically opposed our assertion
that slow cooiing has nothing to do with
rendering dark wax a bright yellow '."
Simply because the assertion is not believed to
be true,
Let us see it we can express, in as few
words as maybe, just what we do believe.
The most of the wax in this country is of a
bright yellow if properly cleansed, but when
rapidly cooled, as is likely to lie the case with
the inexperienced, it has mixt in it more or
less foreign particles that give it a dull or
dirty color. It allowed a tong time in cool-
ing, it will be kept a long time in that liquid
state suitable tor the settling of the foreign
particles, and thus the dirty-looking wax will
become bright yellow.
A Mioliigun Foul Brood liaw. An-
other attempt is now being made in the Michi-
gan legislature to secure the passage of a law
providing tor the appointment of a bee-in-
spector for that State. Editor Hutchinson, in
the January Bee-Keepers' Review, had this to
say about it:
Once more have the bee-keepers of Michi-
gan, in convention assembled, appointed a
committee to labor for the passage of a needed
foul-brood law — a law that will empower the
governor to appoint an inspector who has
been recommended by the State Bee-Keepers'
Association, and who will have authority to
destroy foul-broody colonies when the owner
can not or will not properly treat them. There
is also to be remuneration for colonies that
are destroyed, the same as the owners of cat-
tle diseased with tuberculosis are reimburst
for their property when it is destroyed for the
general good. A resolution was also unani-
mously carried recommending the passage of
the law, and this resolution will be read be-
fore both houses of the legislature.
There was an attempt, two years ago, to
pass a similar law, but it failed, principall.v
because of the apathy of bee-keepers. I am
informed that only 30 letters were received by
members asking them to vote for the measure.
The simple introduction of a bill will not
secure its passage; the members must be
iir.i/eil to vote for it, and i/ood j'ensuns must be
.given. shoH'ing why the measure is needed,
it must be remembered that the majority of
people know very little about bees or bee-
keeping, and the members of the legislature
must have explained to them the contagious
character of foul brood, how it spreads from
hive to hive, and from apiary to apiary, and
from county to county, and that it is impos-
sible to prevent this spreading until there is
some one in authority to compel careless,
ignorant or willful bee-keepers to rid their
apiaries of the disease.
Members should also have their attention
called to the value of the bees to the fruit-
grower and horticulturist by their work in
fertilizing the blossoms. The loss to the
country from this source would be even
greater than the loss to bee-keepers. It bee-
keepers will only wake up and do their duty
in this matter, the bill can be past. There
are hundreds of bee-keepers in this State, and
yet only 20 of them had sufficient interest in
this matter to write to their representative
and ask liini to vote for this measure, giving
the reasons why the law is needed. If there
is no foul brood in your apiary, it may be in
your neighborhood, nearer than you think.
You little know how soon you may need help.
In order that the bee-keepers of Michigan,
who should be more interested in this matter,
may know just who are the members of their
State legislature, we append a list herewith.
When writing your senator, address him,
"Senate Chamber, Lansing, Mich.;" address
your representative, " Representative Hall.
Lansing. Mich.'' Do this at once, and besides
giving reasons why the law should be past.
let him know that .vou fully expect him lo use
his infiucncc and vote in favor of it.
LIST OF SENATORS.
Xmiic Jifs'tdence
Arthur L. Holmes Detroit
James (). Miirfin Detroit
lliiratio S. Karle Detroit
Solon (HKidcll Canton
James W. Hclme, Jr ...Adrian
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 21, 1901.
William H. Lockerby Quincy
Frederick F. Sovereign Three Oaks
James W. Humphrey Wayland
Arthur D. Bangham Homer
Hugo Charles Loeser Jackson
George W. Moore I'ort Huron
Jerome W. Nims Romeo
William S. Pierson Flint
John Robson Lansing
Anthony B. Schuniaker Grand Ledge
Robert B. Loomis Grand Rapids
Augustus W. Weeks Lowell
George E. Nichols Ionia
Hiram M. High Ovid
Albert E. Sleeper Lexington
Theron W. Atwood Caro
John Baird Zihvaukee
William D. Kelley Muskegon
Frank L. Westover Bay City
Ellery C. Cannon Evart
Augustine W. Farr Ouekama
Ambrose E. Palmer Kalkaska
Alfred J. Dougherty Clare
Daniel P, McMullen Cheboygan
Oramel B. Fuller Ford Kiver
Gad Smith Marquette
Charles Smith So. Lake Linden
LIST OF REPHESESTATIVES.
Name Vounly or District
Adams, C. Spencer Van Burcn
Alward, Robert Ottawa
Ames, Dr. J. W Wayne
Balleutine, Silas L St. Clair
Barnaby, Horace T. Jr Kent
Baumgaertner. Leonard Saginaw
Baumann, Jacob Wayne
Bland, Joseph Edward Wayne
Bolton, Earl B Alpena Dist.
Bonser, John E Bay
Boyd, William Calhoun
Branch. Norris H .Jackson
Burns. David E Kent
Bushnell, William B Branch
Byrne. Charles J Maniuette
Campbell, Thomas G Midland Dis.
Carton, John J Genesee
Chandler, William Chippewa Dist.
Chapman, Ira G Macomb
Colby, Sheridan J Wayne
Combs, John H Lenawee
Corwin, Alva H Osceola Dist
Curtis, William L Cheboygan Dist
Dennis, Orville Wexford Dist
Dingley, Edward N Kalamazoo
Dunn, James St. Clair
Dupont, Charles Wayne
Doyle, Michael S Clinton
Ferry, Dexter M. Jr Wayne
Foster, William J Calhoun
French, Charles B Monroe
Gee, James J Muskegon
Gillette, Joel H Berrien
Goodrich. Lester A Hillsdale
Gordon, John R Marquette
Hellenbeck, C. A Eaton
Handy, Sherman T Dickinson DLst
Hardy, Anson R Ingham
Harley , Charles I Mason
Hastings, Ernest W Grand Traverse Dist.
Hemans, Lawton T Ingham
Henry, John Saginaw
Holmes, John W Gratiot
Hunt, Fred A Wayne
Hurst, William A Wayne
Kerr. Angus W Houghton
Kidder, Charles B Lapeer
Kirk, William Tu^'iila
Kanouse, Luther C L n i 1 1 l;v| i m
Laflamboy, C. H MMiiicalm
Lafler, Warren B .Monroe
Lane, John Berrien
Lowrey, Berry J Montcalm
Lugers, Luke Ottawa
Marks, Herman Wayne
Martindale, Frederick C Wayne
Mason, George T Shiawassee
McCall, L. H Eaton
McCallum, George P Delta Dist.
McFarlane, Duncan Wayne
McKay, William -.Tuscola
Mick, John Ionia
Monroe. James S Gogebic Dist.
Moore, Franklin St. Clair
Murdoch, J . J Huron
Murphy, Christopher Sanilac
Nash , Edward P Kent
Neal, Frank S Wayne
Nevius, B. A \llcgan
Osborn, Frank A Kalamazoo
Perkins, John J Barry
Powell, Herbert E Ionia
Randall, E, S Oceana
Read, J. Herbert Manistee
Reed, William A Jackson
Riili, .\[iluir 1, Newaygo
H).-il, .lohn Michael Bay
K.. Mil-. 11. .lames L Cass
Kodf,aa », Lincoln Muskegon
Rulison, George W Houghton
Sanderson, Asa T Saginaw-
Scott, Andrew J Saginaw
Seeley , Thaddeus D Oakland
Sharpe, Albert E f Iosco Dist
Spencer, Newton C Menominee
Stone, Alvah (iardner Lenawee
Stumpenhusen, Henry C Washtenaw
Tcittc-n, William D Antrim Dist.
Vandercook. Henry B Kent
VanZoei-en, Jacob J Kent
Wade, Theodosius Allegan
Walker, Edward A Genesee
Ward. Newton O Mecosta
Waterbury, I Roy Oakland
Weter, James E Macomb
Wheeler, Charles P St. Joseph
Whitaker, Byron C Waahtenaw
Willis, George W Bay
Willis, Mark Sanilac
Wright, Henry D Isabella
I Weekly Budget |
Notes on the Wisconsin Convention. —
As we promist last week, we will now en-
deavor to jot down a few notes concerning the
recent annual convention of Wisconsin bee-
keepers, which was held at Madison, Tuesday
and Wednesday, Feb. 5th and fith.
By previous arrangement, at 3 o'clock Mon-
day afternoon, Editors E. R. Root and W. Z.
Hutchinson, with the writer, met and boarded
the comfortable Chicago, Milw-aukee iV: St.
Paul train at the Union Depot here, and
started for Wisconsin's fair capital. We ar-
rived about S p.m., and ''putup"" at that
famous farmers' hostelry, known as the
■• Simon's House." Here is where the bee-
keepers and other devotees of rural industries
usually stop. And the boarding is good: but
the sleeping — well, we have seen downier aud
sweeter resting-places.
Mr. N. E. France, the energetic and enthu-
siastic president of the Wisconsin Association,
was the tirst of the clan to meet us in the
hotel. He had reserved for the '• three edi-
torial boys " a room with two beds. But it
was too late for supper at the hotel, so we
had to look up a restaurant, and were directed
to one which seemed to be patronized by State
senators (the legislature being in session), so
at least two-thirds of the editors were satis-
tied ! After disposing of three hot oyster
stews, the journalistic trio returned to the
hotel, n-here Editor Root began a lengthy
nocturnal convention -with Mr. France in the
waiting-room, while Mr. Hutchinson and this
■■ little editor " went to their third-story room
and retired, each taking a bed. and remarking
that wlicn Mr. Root came up we'd see ^vhich
bed-fellow he'd choose. (Mr. Hutchinson "got
the mitten '' that time, if never before in his
life. It's an adv.antage to be Miiall in size
sometimes.)
As we expect to publish a report of the con-
vention— especially the excellent papers read —
we will not dwell very mucli hereon the meet-
ing. We do want to say, however, that Mr.
France is a splendid presiding officer of a bee-
keepers' convention. He keeps things going,
and in a very interesting way. As A. I. Root
was recently called the '• Poobah " of Ameri-
can bee-keepers, Mr. France well deserves to
be called the ■' I'oobah " of Wisconsin bee-
keepers.
The first, or Tuesday, evening was devoted
to a stereopticon lecture by Editors Root and
Hutchinson, one manipulating the slides while
the other explained the pictures. This was a
most successful feature of the program, and
one which was thoroly enjoyed by all present.
Editor Hutchinson had previously planned
for the taking of a photograph of the "editorial
triplets," so on Wednesday morning we three
called on one of Madison's best " photogs,''
and engaged him to do the job. As each of us
had on a queen-bee button, he "caught on,''
and persisted in calling Mr. Hutchinson the
" king-bee,'' presumably on account of his
(Mr. H.'s) hight and dignified appearance.
We understood afterward that we were also
taken for three senators (!) by the lady clerk
who entered the order for the sitting. ( We
all survived, however.)
.\t 1:15, on Wednesday, Mr. Root and the
writer decided to take the train for Water-
town, and call on the G. B. Lewis Co. Mr.
Hutchinson was to follow on a later train, by
another route, and meet us in Milwaukee in
the evening, and then all three go on to
Chicago.
Neither of us had been to Watertown be-
fore. We arrived at 2 :30, and immediately
went to the office of the G. B. Lewis Co. We
found Mr. George C. Lewis, the affable man-
ager, " at home." He is the worthy son of
Mr. G. B. Lewis. He gave us a cordial re-
ception, and showed us all over their great
factory, where hives, sections, basket boxes.
etc., are turned out in any quantity desired.
It was both surprising and interesting to see
how rapidly the basket boxes are made by
machinery in the hands of hustling boys.
About an hour before leaving, Mr, Lewis
ordered a two-seated sleigh and a pair of high-
stepping black horses, with merry bells, and
gave us a ride in the bracing air of Watertown.
We saw pretty much the whole town, which
covers nine square miles, and has a popula-
tion of about 10,000 people. It is a delightful
place, and if Mr. Lewis is a sample of its in-
habitants, it is all right.
Just before taking the sleigh ride, we called
on the firm of Woodard it Stone. They arc
large manufacturing confectioners and bakers,
employing from .50 to 75 hands, many of them
V)eing girls. They use a great deal of hone.\
in their enormous business, aud prefer Wi^-
eousin honey. They list over a dozen things in
which they use honey, viz :
Cuban wafers, honey-bar (iced), honey-cake
(iced or plain), honey cocoanut-cake (icedi.
honey flavors (iced or plain), honey finger^
(iced or plain), honey cocoauut fingers (iced),
honey gems ( iccil or plain), honey cocoanut
gems ( iced), liom-y jumbles, (iced or plain),
and honey cocoauut jumbles lieed).
We had the pleasure of meeting Mi'. Stone,
who was enthusiastic over the use of honey in
the preparation of good things to eat that arc-
baked. He is an earnest advocate of pure
lioney, and will have no adulteration. He
knows of no other sweet that can possibly take
the place of honey when it comes to keeping
a cake or cooky moist and good for a long time.
Feb. 21, 1901,
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
117
We saw a iiiinil'er of samples (if Iheir lioney
Sjoods, and all were nice and teniptinij.
One of the tcenial employees in llie office
was very kind in taking Mr. Root and the
writer all over the factory, showinj; the mak-
ing of candies ami baking of crackers, etc.
One machine and oven consumes 40 barrels of
Hour a day, which makes nearly 300 barrels of
oyster- crackers.
One of the many things that imprest us,
was the happy looking boys and girls that
were working there. All seemed to enjoy
their work. May be it was because of the
sweet business in which they were engaged
that day — making candies of various descrip-
tiiins! Their motto might well be that of the
bee-keepers—" Our toil doth sweeten others.'"
-is agreed, Mr. Hutchinson joined us in
Milwaukee, and we all arrived in Chicago
again before 10 p.m. Editors Hutchinson and
Koot took a late train for Lansing, Mich., e.\-
peeting on the following day to aid in secur-
ing the passage of a foul-brood law in the
legislature now in session there.
Well, our Madison- Watertown trip was a
very pleasant one, and afforded the writer a
nuieh-needed change and rest after a most
trying month following the fire on Jan. 1st,
and the subsetjuent moving to a new and im-
proved location, where we will soon be all
settled anil running as if nothing unusual had
happened.
Mk. EiiiiiXE .'^l;(llIi, general manager of
the National Bee-Keepers' Association, desires
us to make the following statement in these
columns:
In my annual report in December. lUOO, the
financial .statement says that Mr. .Abbott re-
ceived S41.'i
Pure I'
in ntti-
I r
Till
iiling the
' inislead-
Mr
.\M
that .?UI of llii> am. mill wa- Mili-rriliiii I .y him
toward paying the expenses nf ai iriniin^- the
Pure Food Congress. ( mivi -|iiriiil\ the
amount he received for his e\|irii^r> hm^ imly
■*31. 25. which was probably a uoiH ihal less
than he actually spent. The -laiiinriii slmuld
have shown those items sepai ai'-l\ . \\ liirh it
failed to do. Ei'okni: Si.rni!,
General Manaarr,
Mk. J. M. H.\Mii.vi"OH, writing from San
Diego Co., Calif., Jan. 2Tth, said:
■' We have been liaving very seasonable
weather so far, and the outlook is superb for
another year. A tine rain to-day."'
EiiiTiiu Will W.iun Mitchell seems to
be a very busy man, if we may judge from a
short editorial paragraph in the Progressive
Bee-Keeper. He says that besides his work
on that paper, he issues a small weekly,
writes for_several publications (preparing for
the future now), gets out from .50,000 to 100,-
000 catalogs each year, with job work galore,
reads the latest books' with Mr. Leahy (who is
a delightful critic), acts as secretary in 'two
lodges, superintends a Sunday-school, teaebe.--
a class mostly of teachers, and, in fact, is nol
burdened with idle hours. He hopes soon to
catch up with his work, now that his eyes are
better.
We wonder that Mr. .Mifchi'll has any eyes
left at all. We do not see how he can do any-
thing well when he attempts to do .so much.
The trouble witli most busy men nowadays is
that they attempt to do everything, or el.se in
some cases there is an attempt made to put
almost everything on the busy man. Of
course, the busy people are the only folks
who do things. They plan their work, and
are tlius able to do many times more than
people who do not plan to use their time
wisely. Mr. Mitchell would better go slower
and thus live longer to help his fellow men.
Mr. Thomas (1. Newman, as most of our
readers know, during the past year, on ac-
count of physical weakness and defective
vision, has been unable to read and write. In
the number of his Philosophical Journal
for Feb. 2d, he says:
•• With improved physical health the editor
is now able to resume editorial work, and
fully expects the return of vision at no very
distant day."
All our readers will be pleased to know of
the prospect there is for Mr. Newman to have
the full use of his eyes again.
\ Contributed Articles. |
No. 4. Extracted Honey Production.
Can not Produce Both Comb and Extracted from
Same Colonies — Limited Swarming Best —
About Equipment- How to Make
a Strainer.
BY K. C. AIKIN.
IT is practically out of the question to produce both comb
and extracted from the same colony, I know it impos-
sible to do it, but in an averajje field and in the hands of
an averapfe apiarist, it can not be made a success. Some of
the thing's necessary to get both and be a success, would be
a sure and positive flow, lasting long enough and of suffi-
cient quantity to fill the sections put on. A flow giving
two or more supers, may be taken part in each form by al-
lowing the sections to be well nigh completed before adding
the extracting-super, or by lifting the latter and giving sec-
tions under it. But the job is beset with so many difficul-
ties.! would say let none but experts undertake it. I will
give up trying to tell how to do it.
I have already told you something about size of hives
and their manipulation in building up colonies before the
flow, and also somewhat about control of swarming. I
will repeat, if you want best work and most lioney obtain-
able where flows are somewhat uncertain and of short dura-
tion, the less swarming the better. This applies more fulh-
to summer flows — a fall flow is different because one has all
summer to build up and may be able to double, treble, or
quadruple, the number of colonies and still have good
working ones.
There are other things besides bees and hives needed in
producing extracted honey. A honey-house becomes a ne-
cessity even when the apiary is very small, tho of course if
one has only a half-dozen colonies or so, a small room or
tent may be used in lieu of a honey-house speciallj- built
for the business, ^)articularly when comb or section honey
is produced ; but when extracting and producing from 15 or
more colonies, a room should be equipt for this alone. Ex-
tracted-honey production needs a larger equipment of tools
and appliances than does comb, atad needs more care and
labor in getting it into proper shape for market. So far as
the handling of the two products (comb and extracted) is
concerned, there is more labor in the extracted, but in the
preliminary work or management of the bees the comb
takes both greater skill as an apiarist, and more labor.
But I am not discussing the comparison of the two, hence
will continue my subject.
Of course you want an extractor. As to whether a 2
or 4 frame machine, I think there is no very great economy
in using the larger. I have used for many j'ears a 2-frame
machine, and now have a 4-frame one. I do not think I
would go back to the 2-frame one ; I consider the 4-frame
size enough better — especially for extensive producers — to
justify its use. If crank help is not convenient and cheap,
the larger machine has the advantage. I would also use a
reversible.
The extractor should be set solid that it maynot shake.
L 'ncapping and Extracting Honey.
118
AMERICAN BEE lO'JENAL
Feb. 21, 1901.
It should also be conveniently arrang-ed to get combs into
and out of, having the uncapt combs where the crank-man
can reach them easily. I have my uncapping arrange-
ments to the right of the extractor, and just far enough
avpay that there is room between it and the box that re-
ceives the capping-s to have a rack or hive to receive the un-
capt combs. I herewith present photographs of these fix-
tures as I have them set in my honey-liouse. The combs to
be uncapt are to the right of tlie knife-pan, and when un-
capt are past to the left to a receiving rack right close to
the crank. This rack does not appear in the picture because
it is down behind the capping-box. Immediately to the
right of the capping-box and hanging on or attacht to it,
is a small trough-like vessel containing water in which the
knife lies when not in use. A small oil-stove keeps the wa-
ter hot. A hot, wet knife cuts better than a cold, dry one.
The bottom of the capping-box is prepared with an in-
cline to one point where is an outlet, and above this is a
false or secondary bottom made of wire-cloth of 4 or 5
meshes to the inch, galvanized wire just like the extractor
screens. The cappings drop upon this screen and drain
thru to the outlet and the honey passes off at once.
Just beneath the uncapping-box, and extending from
under it to the left clear to the extractor, is my strainer-
I 'ncappnit; Honey.
box. This is made of lumber about a foot wide, using 4
pieces, two of them 6 feet long and the other two about 20
inches. The short pieces or ends are gained into the sides
about I'i inches from the end, the gains about 's-inch deep
and about ' s inch narrower than the thickness of the end
pieces that are to go into them. The ends of the end
boards are then beveled down this 's. so that when the box
is put together, and driven and thoroly nailed, the joint be-
comes tight and will leak neither honey nor water. A pre-
caution may be taken by putting white lead or linseed oil
in the groove or gain before putting together ; this makes
a closer joint and prevents decay.
The bottom of this box I make of galvanized iron or
of tin. The box can be made any size desired — I have
made two or three of different sizes, usually the width to
correspond to the width of the tin or iron that is to make
the bottom, and as long as desired. The metal for the bot-
tom should be enough larger than the outside measure of
the box, so that it will project beyond the wood 's too /li)
inch, this projection to be turned up and pounded snug up
against the lumber, after the iron is nailed on. The metal
is laid on the box and nailed with tlathead 1-inch or S-pennj'
fine nails, driving them about every inch. Do not drive the
nails in a straight row, but zigzag them or alternate, one
near the outer side of the board, and the next near the in-
ner side, just so there is no danger of missing the wood.
After it is nailed, take a strip of about ~>, or one inch thick
— you can make these by ripping out from the edge of a
board. Nail this strip over the metal bottom clear around,
using about 6 or X penny nails and driving right thru the
metal into the edges of the sides and ends of the box.
These strips are not really needed to hold the bottom
on — they serve another purpose. You see, if you should
till your box with honey and attempt to lift it, or have it set
in such a way that there was no support under the bottom,
the weight would sag the bottom more or less, the sides
springing in as the bottom sagged. After these strips are
nailed on — the box being mouth down, of course, while you
are doing the nailing — you really have a little box just the
depth of the thickness of the strips. Now cut one, two, or
three strips as long as the inside width of the bo.x, and \)'z
or 2 inches wide, and the same thickness of the strips
nailed around. These strips are to be just long enough to
drop in tight across the bottom between the rim strips, and
nailed thru the rims into their ends, nailing from the out-
side. These cross strips put in tight give the bottom a
strong tension and prevent any sag. The rim and strips
also support the bottom just their thickness from whatever
set upon, and shield the tin or iron from being dented or
bruised from any hard substance beneath.
This strainer-box also has a sub or false bottom made
this way : A wooden rim or frame is made of strips about
1 inch by 1 '4 , and one or more strips of the same size and
length as the ends put across spaced equidistant from the
ends. Upon this frame is nailed a sheet of galvanized
wire-cloth such as is used in the extractor-baskets. This
screen is then placed in the box, being in its outside meas-
ure just scant the inside of the box, and rests on little
cleats nailed to the sides of the box 2 or 3 inches above the
bottom. On this false bottom or screen, spread a piece of
cheese-cloth that is big enough to cover the whole top of
the screen and reach up and lap or hang over both sides
and ends a little, and you have a very good and complete
strainer. When the cloth becomes clogged, remove and
wash it. Larimer Co., Colo.
Bee-Keepe.rs and Bee-Supply Dealers.
An Inquiry Into a Matter of Equity, in the
Court of Public Opinion.
BY "COLORADO."
I WILL restate the proposition because I failed to convey
the exact point to the dealers in my first letter, on page
69. At any rate they did not get my idea fully.
THE OUESTION.
The excellent and only safe rule of buying bee-supplies
for cash enclosed with order affords unequal measure of
protection, of justice, of equity, to the two parties to the
transaction. The rule makes the seller absolutely safe, but
leaves the buyer to carry numerous risks — risk of error in
count, risk of unsafe packing, risk of error in cutting, risk
of destruction en route, risk of misreading or misappre-
hending the order, and other risks. Can the dealers and
buyers devise a rule that will be equally fair, and equally
protective to both parties ?
THE .^.RC.UMENT.
I am not prepared to offer a substitute. But I am study-
ing the question. ,
Dadant says no rule can be laid down. I fear this is
true. But this view is not creditable to our intelligence.
Most of the dealers drop into a discussion of giving credit
to buyers. To this extent they misapprehend the point of
my query. Plainly, there should be no credit. The only
route to right prices is under a spot-cash rule.
I do not ask you, Mr. Manufacturer, or Mr. Dealer, to
surrender an ounce of the protection that you have. But I
want an equal share with you.
If the buyer parts with his cash weeks before he gets
his goods, the rule is not a spot-cash method for the buyer.
Experience has taught me something about writing or-
ders. If I instruct the dealer to fill my order within a cer-
tain time, or else return the inclosed remittance, I invari-
ably get prompt attention. Otherwise I may wait indefi-
nitely, altho the dealer may have my cash. We buyers of-
ten fail to state our wants clearly.
Commercial honesty — I mean the ethical code govern-
ing business men — is superior to individual honesty. I
Feb. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
119
would not sell supplies, or other goods for that matter, on
credit at all— except where satisfactory guarantees exist.
And I doubt the wisdom of any exceptions at all. Some
individuals are small, querulous, mean, unreasonable.
These must be avoided.
To ship supplies— the same to be paid for after inspec-
tion and approval by the purchaser— would be more satis-
factory than the requirement to pay in advance. Even fair,
reasonable, capable men might differ as to the merits of
goods. But if both want to do right, they will reach agree-
ment.
I do not concur in Mr. Dittmer's paragraph as to pub-
lishers, if he means just what his language seems to con-
vey.
Mr. Root's advice to deal thru a wholesale house, in my
own State, is objectionable because involving needless ex-
pense. I will prove this at another time. Questions of lo-
cality and local freight charges enter in.
I demur to Mr. Falconer's remark that one who pro-
duces honey and sells it " is not in business." There is no
reason why a little class of people with names in commer-
cial reports should entirely monopolize the title, " business
men."
But enough for to-day. A few neighborly remarks in
the future, perhaps.
Do Bees Puncture Fruit? Not Their Nature.
BV I'ROF. A. J. COOK.
I HAVE received from Hon. Eugene Secor, general man-
ager of the National Bee-Keepers' Association, the fol-
lowing interesting correspondence :
I'lior. A. .1. Cook—
Dmr Hi,:-] ^ellll vou a copy of a Icttc-i- received from I'rot. Sliiiu'-
ei-laiui, (i£ t'oniell Iniversity. New York. I woulil like tu kni>\v Imw
vim eoineide witli the opinion of his senior ]>r()fessiM- ret;:irdint: tlie
-trneture of the bee's mouth. I have been led to think differently. I
liad Ijcen intending to send Prof. Siingerland as an expert witness in a
•ease we have in New York, but, after receiving this letter, I changed
my mind and did not ask him to go. I will rely on your statement of
I lie ease whether you agree with him or not. Yours truly,
EriiENE 8EC01!.
The following is Mr. Slingerland's letter to Mr. Secor :
iTHAC.i. N. Y.. Nov. 'JO. IDlNI.
.\I K. EiciEXE Secor.—
y>ur .Sic-- Yours of the 11th inst. at hand. 1 enelose a eupy of
my Kural New Yorker article. This is as far as I can go in tlir maitir.
I have no original data to offer, and I do not feel eonipitmi in tr^iiiy
regarding the capabilities of the mouth-parts of the hoiii\-liee to liite.
Prof. J. H. t'omstoek. head of the Entoniologieal l)epar|nieiit. is
as competent as anyone in the country to testify regarding tliese
jioints. He has kept bees and has taught the strui-tin-e of tlieir moiitli-
parts for years. For me to prepare myself sullieienliy to testify with
knowledge would reiiuire more time than 1 can ilevote to it. With .Mr.
Henton, I do not think you will have any trouble to reverse llie venliit
of the lower court. I do not know enough about the mouth-parts to
help you any.
1 have just seen Prof. Comstock, and he says that he sees im
reason, from what he knows of the mouth-parts, why a honey-bee
should not be able to bite into a grape or peach. Hence, I doubt if
you eould get desirable testimony from here.
Sincerely yours, M. V. Si.iNCiEiii.ANH.
I regret that these letters were mislaid during my ab-
sence from home and have but just come to ray notice. Of
course it is too late to be of any use in the lawsuit which
was then pending. It is, however, a matter of such general
importance that a full consideration of the subject will not
be "out of place.
I fully agree with Prof. Slingerland, that no one in the
country is better qualified to give an opinion in general
matters of entomology than is Prof. Comstock. I do not
wonder that he made the remark that he could see no reason
from the structure of the mouth-parts of the honey-bee why
it might not be able to bite into grape or peach. I should
greatly hesitate to state that a bee could not puncture ripe
fruit. I think Mr. Benton made such a statement in the
suit referred to. I am rather inclined to the opinion that
they could do so if they only knew their ability and had the
curiosity to prompt the quest. I am, however, entirely cer-
tain that bees never do bite into fruit. They never attack
any fruit until the oozing juice calls them to this luscious
bantjuet. It simply is not their nature to do so. They at e
only attracted by odors in connection with color, and with-
out the odor they would ever leave the fruit unmolested. If
the skin of the fruit is intact, the odor is retained and tlie
bee makes no visit. It certainly is the habit of bees ever to
leave unmolested any and every sealed vessel like sound
grape, cherry or peach.
I presume I have experimented more in this direction
than any one else in the country, and therefore I may claim
with some assurance the ability to give a correct judgment
in the matter. I have repeatedly taken clusters of sound
grapes that were very ripe, and pierced certain of them
with pin or needle so that the juice would ooze out, and then
placed them near the hive, or upon the alighting-board of
the hive, and often upon the frames above the cluster of
bees within the hive. This was done when there was no
nectar to be gathered in the field, at which time, as every
apiarist knows, the bees are ravenous to gather from any
possible source. The bees would suck the wounded fruit
but leave every other grape entirely untoucht. This was
done over and over again, and always with the same re-
sults. The bee has a large brain for an insect, but, brainy
as it is, it seems unable to form a judgment in the matter
of the coveted juice if the latter be sealed up by the skin of
the grape.
Every grape-grower has observed at some time when
the grapes of the vineyard are very ripe, and when the
weather is sultry and humid, that all at once the bees will
rush to the vineyard and commence to sip juice from the
grapes in great numbers. (Jf course, in such a case the
presumption would be that the bees had bitten into the
grapes. Examination proves, however, that this conclusion
is utterly at variance with the truth. The overripe grapes
affected by the sultry, humid atmosphere, were ruptured,
and the tiny droplet of oozing juice hailed the eager bees
and they rusht to the vintage with one accord. No wonder
the vin'eyardist blamed the bees. The truth blamed the
vineyardist, as he should not have allowed the grapes to be-
come so overripe. In such case, I have hung sound grapes
among those visited by the bees, and not one was toucht.
Some years ago, I was lecturing in the famous fruit re-
gion of South Haven, Mich. In my lecture, I stated the
truth that bees never bite into fruit, and never attack the
fruit to sip the juice, except that bird, wasp or Nature had
set the latter to flowing previous to the visit of the bees.
Many fruit-growers present were vehement in opposition to
my view. 'They were certain that the bees would attack
and eat into sound fruit. They had already exprest the
wish that I would come the following summer and lecture
to them again. I had exprest the fear of my inability to do
so on account of college duties. I gave them an account of
my experiments as given above, and said that I was not
sure that bees could not eat into grapes. I was absolutely
certain that they did not. They said that if I would come
the next autumn they would prove to me that I was wrong.
I replied that I would surely come ; that they might telegraph
to me at my expense, when I would take the first train. I
added, however, " Look closely before you send the tele-
gram, for if I show you after I come that I am right and
you are wrong, then f shall want not only expenses, but paj-
for my time." Many present said, " 'V\'e'll have you here
next autumn."
The telegram never came. I lectured there afterwards
many times, and was gratified to find that the opinion on
the question was entirely changed. The pomologists were
one with me in the matter.
Some years later, I was lecturing in the grape-growing
region of Sandusky, Ohio, where there was almost an exact
repetition of my former experience at South Haven, Mich.
The Sanduskians sent no telegram, but repeated my experi-
ments, only to become convinced that I was right.
It may be askt how I can be so certain that bees never
do puncture grapes, when I acknowledge a possibility that
they might be able to do so as far as the anatomy of their
jaws is concerned. Bees, like all other animals, not exclud-
ing ourselves, are creatures of habit. Our fathers, not
many generations since, put a stone in one end of the meal-
bag to balance it on the horse They simply didn't think
that meal as well as a stone could balance meal. While I
feel sure that bees think a little, they are away behind us in
this respect. Their every habit leads them to peer into the
flower-tube in search of the precious nectar. They never
go in quest of the sweet unless the escaping odor summons
their presence. It is easy to understand why, with their
limited thought and meagre reasoning powers, they never
go peering into grape or other fruit so long as the same are
sealed. Once let the juice ooze out of apple, pear, peach
cherry or plum, and they are not slow to hasten to orchard
or vineyard that they may stay the waste. It is not, then,
a practical question whether they can or can not pierce the
tender skin of overripefruit. They never do so. And so
120
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Feb. 21, 1901.
their ability, had they the sense to act, is not a matter of
importance.
In California, where fruit-g^rowing- is so important an
industry, this question has called forth not a little discus-
sion. It has often {jiven rise to hard feeling-, and, in a few
cases, to expensive lawsuits. I am glad to sav, however,
that here, as has long- been true in Italy and Switzerland,
the fruit-growers are beginning to understand that tho the
bees are sometimes an annoyance, they do not attack sound
fruit, and are invaluable aids in fruit-growing. Their
good work in pollinating the flowers is of inestimable
value. The fruit-grower, if anything, is more benefitted
by the mere presence of bees than is the apiarist by the
close proximity of the orchard.
Los Angeles Co., Calif., Jan. 21.
Spraying Fruit While in Bloom.
Valuable Experiments Conducted at the Geneva
Experiment Station, New York.
BY ERNEST K. ROOT.
AT the convention of the New York State Association of
Bee-Keepers" Societies, held in Geneva on Jan. 9th, we
had the very great pleasure of listening to an address
by Prof. S. A. Beach, of theGeneva Experiment Station, de-
tailing a very interesting series of experiments that were
instituted to determine the advantage, if any, of spraying
trees while in full bloom. These investigations had been
requested by a certain class who believed that spraying
during the time that the trees are in full flower was essen-
tial to the best development, growth, and maturing of the
fruit. Prof. Beach called attention to the fact that a cer-
tain manufacturer of spraying outfits, had sent circulars
broadcast over the country, advocating and urging the ad-
ministering of poisonous mixtures during the time that
bees work on trees. Then there were also some among the
fruit-growers of New York %vho advocated spraying at such
times, but who could not carry into effect such practice be-
cause a law had been enacted in 18^8, making it a misde-
meanor for any one to spray during the time the trees were
in bloom. Some of the fruit-growers (not all) sought on
several occasions to have this law repealed ; but being
foiled they finally secured the passage of an amendment
which provided that trees might be sprayed during bloom-
ing-time for experimental purposes. The object of this
amendment (and it appears the bee-keepers did not object
to It) was to determine whether there was any advantage in
spraying when the trees were in full bloom, irrespective of
any damage that might accrue to the bee-keeper. As a re-
sult of this amendment a series of experiments was beo-un
at Geneva, and also at Cornell.
In the conducting of the experiments. Prof. Beach
stated that several questions were kept in mind : What was
the effect of spraying while the trees were in bloom ? did
the spraying at such times affect the blossoms ? did it kill
the pollen ? and if not, did it affect the setting or the devel-
opment of the fruit ? what part did the bees play in the
matter?
Some bee-keepers, he stated, were inclined to make
sweeping assertions to the effect that no fruit could set
without the agency of the bees. This was altogether too
strong a statement. That bees did play a most important
part in the fertilization of some kinds of fruit-trees could
not be denied. That question might be considered settled.
In the experiments that had been conducted, it was
found that the blossoms that were sprayed just at the time
they were in full bloom were either killed or injured. If
the spraying were administered only during the blooraing-
time the poisonous mixtures did not go to the right spot, in
a good many cases, for the simple reason that no cluster of
apple-blossoms, for example, opened out at one and the same
time. Some blossoms would be closed, and impervious to
the effect of the spraying-liquids; and if no more spray-
ing were administered after blooming-time, then these blos-
soms that were not open would not receive the benefit, and
the fruit-eating insects would then get in their work. The
professor brought out the point clearly, that if spraying
were applied before blooming and after, the leaf-eating in-
sects in the other, would be destroyed.
He further showed that the spraying-mixtures are ex-
ceedingly harmful to the development and growth of the
delicate pollen. Some pollen was gathered and taken into
the laboratory and mixt with a thin syrup, then afterward
a quantify of spraying-liquid was applied, of about the
strength that is used in spraying trees. It was found in ev-
ery case that the pollen failed to grow. Then the spraying-
liquid was reduced SO percent, and still mixt with pollen
and syrup which had been prepared, and still the pollen-
grains failed to grow in most cases. The professor said he
was decidedly of the opinion that spraying during bloom-
ing time was exceedingly harmful to the delicate reproduct-
ive organs, and to the pollen itself in the flowers of the
fruit-trees. He referred to a certain Mr. Kellogg who had
tried spraying strawberries while they were in bloom, and
much to his sorrow. He mentioned a number of instances
of fruit-men who formerlj' had believed that spraying dur-
ing blooming-time was the correct practice, but now had
been completely converted.
In the experiments that were conducted in four orchards
located in different parts of the State, a certain set of
trees were set apart and sprayed while in bloom, and only
then, and others were not sprayed. Even tho the bloom
was exceedingly abundant, it was found that those trees
that were not sprayed during blooming-time yielded from a
third to a bushel and a half more of fruit. In some cases
they sprayed a half of one tree several times during bloom-
ing time, leaving the other side of the tree not spraj-ed.
There was a markt difference in the setting of the fruit on
the two sides of the trees, and that difference was decidedly
in favor of the side not sprayed. Experiments were con-
ducted in fruit-orchards in different parts of the State ; and
in one instance, at least (the Professor would not give the
name) a certain fruit-man who believed that spraying dur-
ing blooming-time was the right thing to do, estimated, af-
ter he had sprayed his whole orchard at such time, that he
had lost nearly a thousand dollars. He had had enough of
that business.
The Professor stated, however, that there was one in-
stance when spraying right during blooming-time might
prove to be advantageous ; and that was, to kill the apple-
scab that might come on at just that time ; but even in such
a case it has not yet been proved that spraying before and
after bloom may not be equally efficient. But, generally
speaking, the conclusion seemed to be that spraying during^
blooming-tirae was not only wasteful but decidedly harm-
ful as well, cutting down the supply of fruit to an extent
that, if generally practiced, would amount to thousands of
dollars to the fruit-men all over the State.
On the evening of the first day we listened to an excel-
lent address from another professor of the same station —
Prof. V. H. Lowe. The experiments that had been con-
ducted under his direction were for the purpose of deter-
mining the value of insects in pollenizing fruit-blossoms.
A certain set of nine small pear trees (it was not practicable
.to use large ones) were envelopt in a hood of sheeting.
This hood was large enough to slip down over the whole
tree, something in the form of a bag — the bag tied at its
bottom around tVie trunk of the tree. The object of thi&
was to keep out insects, ants, bees or anything that might
assist in pollenizing the blossoms. For the purpose of ven-
tilation, some windows were made in the sheeting, and the
openings covered with a fine netting. On all of these trees
so covered, there was a large number of buds, and all the
conditions were favorable for a good crop, except that the
flight of insects was entirely cut off. Now, then, for the
results :
Out of the whole lot of trees covered, there was just
one fruit. On another set of trees not covered there were
145. In the other case, where it was not practicable to en-
velop the whole tree, one large limb, for instance, would be
enclosed in the bag, the mouth of the bag being tied around
the trunk of the limb. In one such instance there were
2483 buds of an apple-tree that were thus covered with the
sheeting. Out of that number just one fruit matured.
There was plenty of fruit on other portions of the tree
where the limbs were not covered. In one case, where the
sheeting broke open so that insects could get in, there were
13 perfect fruits from 818 buds. It was clearly shown that
bees or other insects play a most important part in the polli-
nation of average fruit-trees.
When the Professor was askt how much of this pollina-
tion was attributable to bees and how much to other in-
sects, he said he could not tell ; but Mr. O. L. Hershiser, in
referring to a similar set of experiments made some years
ago at the Michigan Agricultural College, showing the
same results, said that the bees were altogether the earliest
insects out ; that at the time the average fruit-tree is in
bloom it is too early in the spring for other insects to be of
any value. In his opinion the covering of the limbs or the
Feb. 21, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
121
covering of the whole tree as explained by Prof. Lowe
(with the result that little or no fruit had set) showed clearly
that the bees, and they alone, did the mixing- of the pollen.
At the conclusion of both addresses, both professors
were given a most hearty vote of thanks for the interesting
and valuable testimony they had produced ; and this testi-
mony was the more valuable because both men began these
experiments at the solicitation of the fruit-men, anxious to
show that spraying during blooming-time was not detri-
mental but decidedly advantageous. Verily, the bees in
York State have been and are being vindicated on every
hand.
President Marks said he had made the statement that
')5 percent of the bee-men of the State were also fruit-
growers. He wisht it understood that a large number, yes,
the majority of fruit-growers, acknowledged that the bees
were their best friends ; that it was only a few of the fruit-
men who were at variance with the bee-keepers ; that there
was no real tight between bee-keepers and fruit-growers. -
Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
^iJ^a^vJ^VJ^K^j^J^^J^iiVJ^ji^J^w
Convention Proceedings.
'WT^TfTs^WT?
Report of the Proceeding-s of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicag-o, 111.,
Aug. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BY DR. A. B. M.\SON, SEC.
[Continued from pa.ge lot.)
r,.\ST BVKNING SESSION.
The convention met at 7 o'clock, with Pres. Koot in the
chair.
Pres. Root — The pure-food commissioner of Illinois,
the Hon. A. H. Jones, is present, and will address us. I
have askt Mr. York, the president of the Chicago Bee-
Keepers" Association, to introduce him.
Mr. York — Some other States have been heard from,
but finally Illinois has caught up with them. For a long
time we workt to organize a Pure-Food Commission in this
State, and succeeded at the last session of the legislature,
when the new law was past which provides for a pure-food
commission. It was our pleasure at the meeting of the Chi-
cago Bee-Keepers' Association last December, to have with
us the pure-food commissioner who spoke to us and who
made such a very favorable impression upon us. We were
very thankful to have him with us then, and we assured
him we would stand by him in his work to put down the
adulteration of food, and I think I can say to him to-night
the same thing that we did then — we as bee keepers will co-
operate with him in his work, and do all we can to help him
■ make it a success. It gives me very great pleasure to-night
to introduce to you our pure-food commissioner, the Hon. A.
H.Jones. [Applause.]
ADDRESS OF PURE FOOD COMMISSIONER JONES.
yi/r. C/iainiuin, /.adies and Ccntlenien: —
When I look over this vast audience, and know the
cause in which you are gathered, it affords me pleasure to
be here this evening to address you : for if there is anything
that is dear to the human heart, it is something good to eat.
That is what we are all striving for, to get the very best
product we can ; and if there is anything better than honey
— real good, pure, old-fashioned honey — we have not yet
discovered it. [Applause.]
There has something been said about the Illinois State
Pure-Food Commission ; if there is anything on the part of
the commission I can saj', it is also for my friend. Dr.
Eaton, the State Analyst ; if there is anything that will
build up this cause more than another, it will be the State
Food Commission. You have here, as I can testify, a very
zealous friend in Dr. Eaton. The reason why I speak of
that is, that all these food products come to him for analy-
sis, and he must pass upon them. Now, I suppose that a
good many of you who have been rather like good old Jacob
of old, wrestling with the bee-question, have not thought of
what a pure-food commissioner and a State analyst
have to do. Think of it I When you look around over all
the vast products of the State and see what we have to en-
compass, it is almost beyond imagination. You can hardly
appreciate what we have to do ; but I want to say to you
that we have the fellows who are manufacturing these adul-
terated products — I don't care whether it is honey, I don't
care whether it is maple sugar, or what it may be— we have
them, in the State of Illinois, on the run. [Applause.]
And we are going to keep them on the run. [Applause.] I
had the pleasure last January, the latter part of it, as I rec-
ollect the time, of meeting with the Retail Grocers' Associ-
ation of this State, down at Rock Island. There were 1200
or 1500 of them. I want to illustrate about how we are do-
ing this in Illinois. After I had talkt to them for a day or
so — you know that is a good while— jand we had gone thru
the law and exhausted it, and the rulings, I said to them,
"Now, gentlemen of the Retail Grocers' Association of the
State of Illinois, if you will not prosecute under this law,
it is your own fault. The manufacturers of this State want
to give a good product. All you have to do is to say to the
manufacturer, ' We want a pure article, something that
will comply with the food laws of Illinois, and we want you,
upon each bill that you send us, to make the statement, that
these goods were manufactured in conformity with the food
law of Illinois.' " And that pretty generally has been re-
quired, so that to-day, I don't care whether it is baking
powder, I don't care whether it is maple syrup, or what the
article is, we don't have very much trouble now.
I said to them, " If you do this, gentlemen ; if you see
that that is done, and then it proves to be an impure article,
we will then prosecute the manufacturers and not the re-
tailers."
What was the result? I will give you a little inside
history of it, the secret history on the quiet — don't want
you to say anything about it to those baking-powder people
or any of them, how we managed it. In the first place, the
first people who objected to this were the Royal Baking Pow-
der people ; they said, " We have been manufacturing Royal
Baking Powder 28 or 30 years ; now to compel us to change;
the label will be equal to saying to the public, our goods are
not as pure goods as we have been telling them all the time."
I went to work with Dr. McMurty, the analyst for the com-
pany, and showed him wherein it was to their interest. I
told him. "We feel confident the Royal Baking Powder is
one of the best preparations; " and I also said, " You sell
for 30 or 40 cents a can ; and the powders with alum in sell
for 25 and 30 cents. This is to your interest ; the others
who have been manufacturing cheap powders have been
palming it off on the buyer. This ruling that every article
should be stampt or labeled according to what it really con-
tains, as for instance, bakin'g powder, is in the interest of
the best article. If yours is the best article, you want to
uphold the hands of the commission." He went away,
said he did not know about it ; he would go back and re-
port.
In about 5 or 6 weeks he came back — or, rather, he sent
Mr. Boyesen, an attorney here in Chicago, to us and he
came in with a letter from Dr. McMurty, stating that they
had accepted our ruling, and they wanted to uphold the
commission and they wanted us to make every other com-
pany label and carry out the law as our ruling required. I
wondered why it was they had changed their ideas, and I
askt Mr. Boyesen, and he said, " The fact is, we tried to sell
it without that on the label, and the retailers would not buy
it."
Now, wherever we have the retailers back of us, there
is no trouble at all in this State. I want to say to you, we
have the retailers of the State back of us, and we have had
so far with all of these companies no trouble. You see
what it led to. Here in Illinois they come to us— the larger
cities, and especiaUy in Chicago — saying, "Here, you are
ruining our trade. We have had a good trade in syrups
and honey and all that ; we have been able, by making
these ' blinds' or mixtures to sell, to compete; if we don't
do it, we can't compete with these cheap fellows." We said
to them, when they came to the office, " The cheaper fellows
have to get out of the road ; we are going to have nothing
but the pure article ; when it comes to maple syrup, it has
to be maple syrup, nothing else goes on the label ; and
when vre find any manufacturer that is making maple
syrup that is not pure, we will prosecute him for it. That
has not been the ruling. If they want to manufacture
maple syrup and put anything in, let them label it partly
glucose, and then it will be all right. It is the same way in
regard to honey or to any food product, and when the con-
sumer wants to purchase, he knows what he is doing. He
inows what he is getting and he pays for what he gets.
122
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 21, 1901.
For instance, you take maple syrup ; it is worth about $1.40
a gallon ; glucose is worth from 40 to 50 cents, and so on all
along the line, and by compelling them to label it just what
it is, it gives the maple syrup manufacturer a show, whereas
heretofore he has had none, and they have pretty nearly
driven the maple syrup manufacturer out of the market ;
but from this time on, he is going to have his inning."
As I said, we want to uphold the very best article ; that
is one reason why this law was instituted, so that the con-
sumer may know exactly what he is getting, and pay for
■what he gets.
Excuse me, your secretary. Dr. Mason, notified me that
we were limited to five minutes. If I exceed the time, you
•will " call me down ;" but I heard him say this evening
what a nice, noble band this was. What was it he said ?
He had not heard a profane word, had not seen any one
smoke nor chew tobacco, nor take a drink. Well, how, I can
understand that. If there is anything that ought to lift
one above the plane of all these common, grovelling things
of earth, it is pure honey ; it is the cause that you are en-
gaged in, and others seeing your good works in these lower
walks of life — the glucose fellows and so forth — will, after
awhile, get some inspiration and quit their business and go
into it right, like you are doing, and sail under proper col-
ors.
This Commission, in all seriousness, this Pure-
Food Commission is to let the people know just exactly
what they are getting, and when we do that there is no mis-
take, and we are helping you out. You are the bee-keepers'
association ; whenever the glucose, the maple syrups, or
other products that come in competition with yours — when-
ever they are compelled to label their goods just what they
are, then the honey man has his innings, and he has a fair
show, and that is the exact object, as I understand it, this
Commission is trying to attain.
In conclusion, I want to say to you that we have a very
line laboratory ; we are located at 1623 Manhattan Build-
ing ; Dr. Eaton, our State Analyst, has charge of it, and
,you are invited, one and all, to come and look in upon us.
We have said to the other retail associations and manufac-
turers of the State of Illinois, whenever you find any one
coming in competition with your business, that is manufac-
turing any product that is not what it represents itself to
be, you notify this commission. We will send an inspector
and inspect them, and then we will do the next thing — we
will bring the strong arm of the law to bear upon them.
Whenever we find from any reputablf citizen that any one
is violating the law by selling or manufacturing any article
for other than what it really is, and palming it oif for some-
thing that is inferior, all you have to do is to report that,
and we will at once send an inspector, and we will seize the
fellow and bring him up to the captain's desk, and there
make him pay tribute to Ca?sar. [Applause]. So that if
any one in your town, and you know it — if you live in Illi-
nois— is violating this law, is running his business contrary
to it, it is your fault if he does it ; for we stand here irady,
and ivilling, and anxious, for it is our duty, and we are paid
for it, to see that the law is enforced all over this State. If
it can be done here in Illinois, it can be done in every other
State in the Union.
Another thing I might say while on this subject.
Last October I had the pleasure of meeting with the Na-
tional Commissioners' Association of all the States here at
the Palmer House, and there a committee on rules was ap-
pointed to try to get rules and regulations that would apply
alike to all the States — rulings upon the law ; and then an-
other committee to formulate a law, so that each and every
State might have the same law. Up to this time, each State
has had its own law, and its own rulings, and it naturally
has made a great deal of trouble, and I think in the next
few months we can obviate a good deal of that. Of course
the law can't be changed until the respective legislatures of
the different States meet and pass new laws — a new law that
may be suggested by this committee. We are trying to ar-
range so that every State can work in harmony, and when
the producers of honey in one State produce honey, they
know that the label that is put upon it will go into every
State in the Union, as well as every other food product.
We are trying to help out in the interest of pure food, and
especially pure honey ; for we all believe in that, even if
the glucose man won't say a word against good honey. I
want you to go ahead in the good work you are in, and
whenever you see in Illinois a man that is imposing upon
your rights, by making an inferior article, that does not
come up to the law, if you will just report him, he will sud-
denly cease to do business, or else he will conform to the
law. A. H. Jones.
Dr. Mason — It might be a pleasure to the Honorable '
Commissioner to know that this Association has started
something in the same line of which he has been speaking.
We have to-day appointed a committee for the purpose of
taking into consideration this very work of formulating
and suggesting to the legislatures of the different States
some way by which we all might work in accord under
about the same kind of rulings. We are glad to learn that
others are working in the same line.
Mr. Jones — It has been my pleasure in the past to be
connected with one of the State Institutions — the State
Normal for Eastern Illinois — formerly located at Charles-
ton. We have here this evening one of the faculty ; I have
known him — I don't want to say for how many years, or
some of the ladies here, as well as the gentlemen, might
think he and I are getting old. I will say I have known
him for 25 years, and he has a fine, delightful voice, and I
don't know of any one who likes to listen to it better than I
do. He is great on recitations, and I think this evening he
will favor us with one of his choice recitations. Ladies
and gentlemen, I have the pleasure of introducing to you
Prof. Brownlee, of the Eastern Normal.
Prof. Brownlee — Ladies and Gentlemen: — Let me say,
I think I should not have been here if I had thought on this
warm evening I would have been called upon. I came to
hear the honeyed eloquence of my friend on this occasion,
and not to say anything myself. This is " the most un-
kindest cut of all," I think. He promist me I should have
nothing to do, if I would come, but look at some beautiful
pictures thrown upon a screen, and I suspect at that very
moment he had in mind introducing me to the audience.
However, I am willing, if I can entertain you a little. I am
here this week attending a great soldiers' convention. One
of the things that lam very proud of is that I was a soldier
in the Great War. [Applause]. On the right side, too. I
think both sides were honest, t)ut one side only was right.
I was on the right side, the side we are all on now, and so if
you will permit me, I will choose a selection bearing upon
that great struggle.
Prof. Brownlee then recited, " Why the Old Man Would
Not Sell the Farm."
Pres. Root — I am sure we are greatly indebted to Prof.
Brownlee and the representatives of the Pure-Food Com-
mission of Illinois, for calling upon us and so pleasantly en-
tertaining us this evening.
A vote of thanks was then unanimously extended to
them.
(Continued next week.)
^ The Afterthought. ^ |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio.
THRBB KINDS OF HONBY IN ONE APIARY.
It looks business to see three kinds of honey reported
from an apiary instead of two — Extracted 11,900 pounds ;
bulk comb 7,800 pounds ; section honey, 1,46+ pounds. And,
0 ye furiously and completely reformed brethren, what are
you going to do about it? O. P. Hyde & Son, page 44.
BUJIBLE-BEES IN WINTER.
If I understand Mr. S. T. Pettit rightly, he has found
in winter some kinds of bumble-bees, not all the species.
Well, that's a good beginning — in dry cavities drifted full
of leaves under big, old logs. If I ever found any I just
went and forgot about it. Still, I guess there's nothing
mysterious in the case. A thousand species of insects we
seldom see in winter nevertheless get thru somehow. Pre-
sumably brood-rearing ceases early in a bumble-bee's nest ;
the slender stock of stores gets eaten up ; then each bee for
herself saj-s, "What is home without a baby" — and with-
out any call to dinner ? And thereupon she wanders abroad.
1 suppose these wanderers forage and bask in the sunshine
when it is pleasant, and hunt the warmest place they can
find to crawl into when night approaches — not to come out
for a week unless weather is fine — and eventually weather-
bound until spring, providing they don't get water-soakt
and frozen up bej'ond restoration before that time. Page
44.
Feb 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
123
CREDIT TO WHOJI CREDIT IS DIE.
" Bees do nothing- invariably."' A good editorial on
that topic is the one on pag-e 51. But I shouldn't have told
you so were it not that Sommy in the Progressive Bee-
keeper credits the proverb to me. Give Mrs. Tupper her
due.
DOOI.ITTI.E AS A "GRBEN BEGINNER."
G. M. Doolittle as the " Arkansaw Traveler," and by
and by, may be, the Arkansavp resident, why, we wouldn't
know him ! " Who's that green beginner off there ? " we'd
be saying. Page S2.
THE "BARRELS VS. CANS " CONTROVERSY.
In the long discussion of barrels versus cans on pages
53, 54 and 55, several things are apparent. One is that that
heavy villain, the barrel, is not about to pull a tombstone
over his head right away. Another thing is, that those
who succeed well with barrels from year to year take
more care than average humanity will take until pretty
sorely whipt with losses and annoyances. Another thing
is that the whim of a big buyer who is used to getting his
honey in barrels has got to be yielded to. He'll buy of
somebody else if you don't yield. Perhaps most remark-
able of all is the utter decadence of the practice of treating
barrels with wax or paraffine. Not one waxes his barrels
now ; and most, in their talk, seem not to have any such
practice in their minds. Yet awhile agone we were to wax
the barrels, of course, if we went according to book. Why
is this thus ? I'll venture the guess that waxing does no
harm, but that it encourages the neglect of other precau-
tions which are worth more. t)r is it that ordinary, hard-
wood barrels will leak in spite of it, while just the right
kind of soft-wood barrels can be made to refrain from leak-
ing without it ?
EARLY OUEEN-REARING.
And as advice anent getting wedded to early queen-
rearing Mr. Doolittle pronounces the traditional " don't."
D'ye hear, ye callow young people ? And if you ivill diso-
bey (young people have been known to do so) you >iiust wait
longer than merely to see young drones in open cells — else
your queens will have to wait. Queens started when plenty
of drones have been sealed a week — is the correct match.
Quite interesting is Mr. Doolittle's observation that the
queen's development may be hastened at the utmost only
one day, while it may be delayed four days by unpropitious
circumstances and weather in the fall. Page 55.
" POP " AND HIS BEE-BOAT.
Mr. Poppleton and the " Thelma," on page 58, make me
feel envious and piratical, e'enymost. Doubtful if anybody
has ever found a better way to combine the three — health-
seeking, pleasure and moderate profit — than by this open-
air life of cruising and " beeing " along the coast of Flor-
ida. As we look at him standing there in the sunlight we
are just prepared to hear him say (albeit he is gray-bearded
and somewhat bent), " Wouldn't call the President my
brother this minute." Six miles per hour will get there suf-
ficiently soon if the " there " is not too far away. None of
our business, but we are regretful that he did not give us
the total cost of the little steamer.
"The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearlv subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
*-•-►-
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just
what its name indicates. Tells all about growing fruits
and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at 50 cents a year.
We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it.
We club it with the American Bee Journal— both for $1.10.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DK. C O. MU^LUR. Mareasn, 111.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Flat-Bottom ttueen-Cells.
I have made a lot of artificial queen-cells, a la Doolittle,
with flat bottoms. Since making them I have been in-
formed that the bees will not accept them as readily as the
round-bottom queen-cells. Which is the better ?
Colorado.
Answer. — I never before heard of queen-cells with flat
bottoms, and 1 don't believe the bees would like them. Still,
you can hardly be sure about anything without having the
bees try it, and it is possible the bees might accept queen-
cells with flat bottoms.
Amount Of Honey in 10 Frames Spacing Frames-
1. How many pounds of capt honey is there in 10 Hoff-
man frames (9 inch) before it is extracted ?
2. If I choose to space them 8 frames in a hive, how far
apart can they be put ?
3. Is there any danger of the bees building combs on
the cover ? California.
Answers.— 1. I don't know what you mean by "9
inch," unless it be the depth of the frame, the usual depth
of the Hoffman frame being g's inches. Ten Hoffman
frames well filled may contain as much as 60 pounds of
honey, if there is no pollen in them.
2. That depends upon the width of the hive ; but you
probably have reference to having 8 frames, in a 10-frame
chamber. In that case you would space the frames about
1 '4 inches from center to center.
3. If you puts frames in a 10 frame chamber, and the
cover is only '4 inch above the top-bars, as is generally the
case, there will be no danger, I think, that the bees will do
much more at building comb above than with the 10 frames.
Hives Damp anil Maldy in tlie Cellar.
My nine colonies of bees are wintering in the cellar.
They are in 8-frame dovetailed hives. The cellar is mod-
erately dry and warm— vegetables keep well in it. The
hives were brought in from the summer stands Nov. 26_th,
the bottom-boards removed, and the hives placed crosswise
upon a shelf some two feet from the ground. This shelf is
about a foot wide, so the middle of the hive rests upon it,
leaving a space three inches or more open at each end of
the bottom of the hive for ventilation. The hive-covers
have remained sealed down as on the summer stands.
I noticed, Jan. 30th, on raising a hive-cover, that it was
wet beneath, so much so that water dript from it, and some
mold appeared on the top of the frames. The colony, to all
appearance, was strong and vigorous. I should judge all
the other colonies are in the same condition as this one ex-
amined. What would vou advise me to do with them ?
Maine.
Answer.— Your bees may come out all right if you let
them entirely alone. But it is certainly no benefit to them
to have water standing on the cover, and if that water drips
on the bees it may be a damage. The moisture from the
bees comes in contact with the hive-cover, and the hive-
cover is so cold that the moisture condenses upon it just as
water from the air settles on a pitcher of very cold water on
a hot summer day. If the cover were warmer, the moisture
would not be so much inclined to settle upon it. Possibly
the cellar should be warmer. Try it by a thermometer, and
try to keep it somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 degrees,
or to be more exact, keep it at the temperature at which
the bees are most quiet. If the air of the hive had freer
escape, the moisture would escape with it. To help in that
direction it may be a good plan to raise each cover and put
a common nail'under it, so as to make a small crack for the
air to escape.
124
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Feb. 21, 1901.
r,^^fi^mi<(
A Beginner's Report.
I have been keeping- bees for over
two years. I boiig-ht 5 colonies at $7.50
each, in Lang-stroth hives. I took off
300 pounds the first season, and in-
creast to 11 colonies. The next season
I secured 800 pounds of extracted and
200 pounds of comb, and increast to
21 colonies. In the fall I sold the 21
colonies at $5.00 each, and went out of
the business, because I could not stay
at home to care for thera properly, but
I still take the Bee Journal, and enjoy
reading- it. I think I did well for a
beginner. J. A. Moss.
Missoula Co., Mont., Jan. 24.
Honey-Failures a Matter of Locality
I have read in the Bee Journal of
the hard times bee-keepers have had
in Southern California in consequence
of the rather dry seasons, and fear that
others may get the impression that
there were general failures of the
honey crop all over Southern Califor-
nia. I would like to say in justice to
this part of the country, that the fail-
ures were more a matter of locality. It
is quite true that the last three years
we have not had the average rainfall,
but in spite of that, in well adapted
localities, there is always some honey
secured.
For instance, last season I secured
over 5,000 pounds of surplus honey
from 36 colonies, which is about 140
pounds per colony, and increast to over
80 colonies. Most of the bee-keepers
in this vicinity and the neighboring
valleys got as much, and some even
more. Mr. J. M. Hambaugh secured
150 cases of extracted honey, each con-
taining 120 pounds net, which is about
200 pounds per colony. These are not
bad results for a dry year, and show
what we may expect in a good season.
One of our country stores shipt two
car-loads of honey to Germany the past
season, and two more car-loads were
consigned to the East.
Since Christmas bees have been col-
lecting nectar and pollen from man-
zanita, eucalyptus, pepper-trees, wild
gooseberries, currants, California lilacs.
Gleanings in Bee=CuIture!
Extraordinary
Offer.
Gleanings for Jan. ist contains these Special Articles :
Queen-Rearing- in France,
-by-
Giraud-Pabou
314 queens from one hive.
How it was done.
Illustrated by 3 half-tone engravings.
Candied vs. Bottled Liquid Honey,
by Chalon Fowls
I bottled honey.
Wintering- Bees in Clamps,
(From Bee-Keepers" Review
-by-
W. Z. Hutchinson
Four illustrations.
No one is better qualified perhaps-
than Mr. Hutchinson to write on this
subject. His many years' experience
wintering bees in Michigan should
give weight to his opinion.
Conversations
— with —
Doolittle
Those who have read bee-literalure for years
always find DooUttle's writinfjs full of practi-
cal informatiod. Those who are not familiar
with his writings are invited to read a series of
practical articles on greneral topics relating to-
bee-culture under the title, "Converiations with
Doolittle."
Gleanings for Jan. 15th.
Co-Operative Org-anized Work,
by R. C. Aikin
Its benefits demonstrated; The Colorado
Honey-Producers- Association an information
scheme; The work of the Association outlined.
An Extracting- Outfit, by W. A. Gilstrap illustrated.
Mintle's Lig-htning- Section-Folder
Illustrated.
Stray Straws,
-by-
Dr. C. C. Miller,
Every Issue
These " Straws " appear in every issue of
Gleanings, constituting one of its most valua-
ble features. Dr. Miller reviews nearly all of
the bee-journals publisht, American and For-
eign, and readers of Gleanings get the beneiit
in these ''Straws," thereby receiving much val-
uable information publisht in the Foreign jour-
nals.
Pieking-s from Our Neighbor-
ing- Fields,
by Stenog, Every Issue
For several years Gleanings readers have
been privileged twice a month to enjoy short
?4uibs from this writer's pen. Not only does-
he give us articles full of value gleaned from
other journals, but they are so enlivened by his
vein of humor that they are eagerly read by alU
Gleanings for Feb. ist.
Our Honey-Bottling Sympo-
sium,
Fully Illustrated, by
G. A. Deadman,
Earl C. Walker,
and Walter S. Pouder
The Personnel of the Utter Trial
by E. R. Root
How to wash bottles ; Filling with
hot honey or cold ; Bottles with corks-
or self-sealing tops; Temperature of
honey to be bottled.
The right kind of honey for the purpose; Mix-
ing honevs to secure a flavor; Why honey
should be heated in the bottles.
Siy.e and construction of vats for heating the
bottles of honey; Tumblers vs. jars or bottles.
The Belgian-Hare Business,
by W. K. Morrison,
of Devonshire, Bermuda
Co-operative Organization,
by R. C. Aikin
A fair statement; Extravagant
statements ; Bees and rabbits not a
good combination.
Plans outlined; Intelligence bureau; Why
simple co-operation fails; Business must be at
the bottom; Government's duty ; A continuation
of this writer's article which appeared in Jan.
15th Gleanings.
Cuba,
by The American Tramp
SPECIAL OFFER.— Each one of the issues mentioned above should be worth a dime to every
bee-lieeper, but we will send all three for only 10 cents. Hurry along your order before they are
all gone.
BETTER YET.— Send us 25 cents at once, and w
issues, 6 months, beginning Jan. 1st. I^eb. 15th will Co
:icles
ings in Bee-Culture II
Cuba,
by Harry Howe, Robert Luaces,
and A. L. Boyden
r. Howe was formerly with Coggshall, of
' York, and has already given Gleanings
:ers glimpses of Cuban bee-keeping. Mr.
ces, of Puerto Principe, cousiders that con-
3ns are not well known and gives informa-
somewhat differeot from other writers.
Bovden begins a series of articles entitled,
impses of Cuba and Cuban Bee-Keeping,"
^trated by photos taken by himself.
ind your money refunded July 1st if you are not satisfied.
THE A. I. ROOT COnPANY, nedina.Ohio.
Feb. 21. 191 1
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
125
•etc. The orange trees will soon be in
their full glory, and it is a sight to
delight one's heart to see the bright-
colored fruit between the dark green
foliage, tile trees covered with the fra-
grant blossoms, and innumerable hum-
ming bees collecting the sweet nectar.
Almonds, peaches, apricots, and other
fruit-trees will also soon be in bloom,
besides alfilaria and numberless wild
(lowers.
Bees are building up very nicely to
be ready for the main honey-flow from
the far-famed black and white sage
honey, which begins in April in good
seasons, and lasts until about the mid-
dle of July. After this sumac, wild
buckwheat, and other nectar-yielders
continue till October.
We have had three nice rains this
season, and it begins to look as if the
more favorable conditions were return-
ing again. L,. Marno.
San Diego Co., Calif., Jan. 24.
Bees Did Pooply.
The bees did poorly in this locality
the past season. I did not get any
swarms, and hardly secured honey
enough for winter stores.
This is my second year of bee-keep-
ing, and I have five colonies now
which I transferred into new hives.
D. E. Evens.
Otoe Co., Nebr., Jan. 29.
Ppospeets Good for the Coming
Season.
The past season was a bad one for
the apiaries in this State. Most of
them are left in a mixt-up condition ;
many are diseased, nearly all are re-
duced in number of colonies, and there
must be many that have been wiped
out of existence.
From my 100 colonies, spring count.
I increast to over 130, extracted 6,000
pounds of very fine sage and buck-
wheat honey, and rendered over 100
pounds of wax. I have sold but little
of the honey, and I shall make the wax
into foundation.
The prospects for the coming season
are much more favorable than they
have been for three years, and if the
conditions continue \here will be a rich
harvest for the bees. Yesterday I went
to ray out-apiary, some 25 miles from
the city, to "size up" the situation
as to the prospects, and came away in
good spirits, altho I got a good soak-
ing before returning. Last year we
had 4 57/100 inches of rain ; this year
to date we have had 9 inches, and it all
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:J?5^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Seud for a copy. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin, U. S. A.
Your WhoiBFamiiy
Would Bb Satisfied
with one of theao surrry?. They are hantl^ome, etron^t sty
llsh, easy riding qih) d'lrublc. Seiliug on our plaayoucan
examine It thoroiij^hly bt-l'ore you are reaulred to bnjr It.
WE HAVE NO AGENTS
but sell all goodn direct I'rc.ni our
factory to the purchaser at whole-
sale prices. Wo are the largest
bar
No TOT— EitenBloQ TopSnrrey, wHh double fend- f^^
ers. Complete with eide curtains, aprons, lamps aod
pole or 6baft3. Price. 1^80. A3 good as Bella for»4Q more.
fielectiuD la the
the oonHumer cscluslvcly. We
havepursuedthisplansuccessfuUy
years. You assume no risk
ip our poods anywhere for exami'
Qdfniarantee oafd arrival. Largest
stylefof harness, Catalo:
No. 180— Double Buggy Har-
free, d^bb, withnickeltrimmings. Price
complete with collars and hitch
i*-. ■ JJLSfS^i^il y» n"i »"l^a g ^o ^^g'^a ■ a^'a £ ■'■ >^!L"i"Jo L^S'g i g jj'^ »» ^^li^, ^^a ^^ \
Please mention Bee Joxirnal "when ■writing.
^^Profitable Poultry Keeping
IN ALL ITS BliANillES." This i> t !,.■ i n !.■ .ni,] i i,,.,nr ..f ..u r Tl.■^^ V.-urBook. Coiitaint. ly:,'
pages, 8x11 in. ; '200 new and oiiginal illii^t t ..ii' n - >i in-i i.-n m v mi hi- iiiiitiiings.etc.,in the coun-
try. Deals with every phase of the puulu \ iinin-f i \ m .m m.-i nu ti\. mi id profit brinjring way.
Treats also of the famous non-mois- AVDIICDC llinilDATnOC guaranteed to out-
. seif-ventilatinL'andre;.'nlatin(r lllrnCnd INUUDAIUnd, hatoh any other
lore tests nrni.mev refunded. Seiv^ "' ' ' ■ - -
eaiestnm.-e CVIMII IfS l>Cl
Please mention Bee Journal w^hen "writing.
INVESTIGATE BEFO
AND COMMON PKNfSE FOLIUNG TlItOOIIEIfft ar.; j^iving I etler satisfacti.!
than any other made. It's because they are so simple, smsilde and diirc. Th^y are huilt tui
busy people, w ho haven't time to fuss and bother. Our catalogue is FKEE. We don'
ask vou to pay for it. Isn't i I worlh examining f
SURE HATCH INCUBATOR COMPANY, CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writingu
Please mention Bee journal when -writing.
^U7^W(/ CAJV'r 3Ii£AKIJ:%
* You can't afford to buy a ''shoddy" veliicl^. when you
can jret a famous Split Hickory— made rig-ht all the wav
■oiiirh - forlessmnnev than a dealer will clmr'^'ev.Mifor.ini -if erior
.. .. \Vt- ship vehicles and harness dirnt troin fa.tuiy tn ;iiiyoiiH
Anywhere on Approval
and save you J^ the cost. Don't confuse us with cheap "supply
houses," but send f(ir catalog, note our prices and examine the
output of our factories. We finish and trim to suit yovir taste.
^Obio Carriage J*ifg. Co,, 6 W. Broad St,, Columbus, O
Please mention Bee Journal when vn-iting.
Four Celluloid Queen=Buttons Free
.J4 AS A PREMIUM H^
For sending- us ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER
to the American Bee Journal for three months
with 30 cents, we will mail you FOUR of these
pretty buttons for wearing^ on the coat-lapel.
(You can wear one and give the others to the
children.) The queen has a golden tinge.
This offer is made only to our present regular subscribers.
NOTE.— One reader writes: "I have every reason to believe that it would be a very (food
idea for every bee-keeper to wear one [of the buttons) as it will cause people to ask questions
about the busy bee, and many a conversation thus started would wind up with the sale of
more or less honey; at any rate, it would (five the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to en-
lighten many a person iu regard to honey and bees."
Prices of Buttons alone, postpaid: One button, 8 cts.; 2 buttons, 6 cts.
each : S or more, 5 cts. each. (Stamps taken.) Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO , 118 Michigati St., CHICAGO.
126
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Feb. 21, 191 1.
SALZER'S RAPE
SPELTZ-
Whal is It?
Catalog
tells.
Plfcjase intJiltluii iD
yVANTED.— A situatioQ by a young; married
' ' man, to assist in or care for apiary, and
fruit-^'rowin^. Experienced with bees; sober
and reliable; handy with tools; small family,
and musician. N.Y. State preferred. Add. ess,
J. H. CLUTE, 432 Scotland St., Orang^e, N. J.
.1A4t Mention the American Bee Journal.
^^ BULL- STROKE!
....PIG -TIGHT.,..
11 llhiH.i^ i:u Id.'! Miiiltliataft-
!i;iiM' I he Iku! I uUy 200 bush-
Spring Fence.
"witi,'iii';'Dirpie
SEED bTl free
To get new customer w test my Seeds, I will mail my 1901
catalogne, tilled wilh more UureaiiiH than everand s lOcltue
Bill good for 10c worth of Seed»i for trial absolutely
free. All the Heat Seeds, Bulbs, Plants, Roses, Furm
Needs, Potatoes and many Novelties at lowest prices.
nutoes, 2 ti
Potatoes
t. Clant Priz
I Oats, sentouttfieeto
fanneta, and two Free Passes to Pun American Expo-
sition, Buffalo, N. Y. are offered. $2,635 00 in cash premiointi.
i this 1
I offerf
ehlll, OnoodagaCo.,N. Y,
The Belgian Hare Guide
ThtB book i.g .ickmr
be the flneHt ana mo
bonk out on the Bt-l
Industry. It cnntaluo
and pr.-lctlcal In-
formation on the
following and
,, many other sub-
jects peri;iining-to^
the Industry: History and Orle-lii. The BelKlati
for Utility. The Belgian for Fancy, The Busi-
ness and Us fjutlook. How to Bet'm. Houses and
Hutches, Foods and Fci-dinp, Feeding Green
Stuff, Mating and Breeding, Care of the Young,
Pedigrees, Score Cards and Judging, Belgian
Hare Color, Dressing and Cooking, Diseases and
Remedies, Preparing for ExhlbUlon, Crating and
Shipping, Caponlzing, Queries and Answers,
Miscellany, Belgian Hares vs. Poultry, The Bel-
gian In England. The Belgian in Cali-
4^^/ta^ fornla. niark Belgians
^^Ipand Flemish Giants.
^^^g It fa elegantly printed!
^^^■f on fine paper, lUue-
^^K^Hv trated with numerous
^^mWw beautiful photo en-
JUmf^^ gravlngs, and Is Bub-
C^BM> 'P stantlally bound. No
ju.' Interested In Belgians can afford to bo with-
out It. Send your order today, Fricc., !J5 cents.
SPECIAL OFFERS.
For 31.10 we will send the "Belgian
Hare (itiide " and the American Bee
Journal for one year; or for$2.(iO we
will send the Bee Journal for two years
and the "Belgian Hare Guide."
Address, GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^
lis Michig-an St., CHICAGO, ILL.
has fallen at intervals conducive to the
most good. We may reasonably ex-
pect enough more rain to round out the
year, not only to the benefit of the
apiary, but to all other industries
which receive good from it.
I do not think there will be any over-
production of honey, however favorable
the season may be, because so many
apiaries are in such poor condition. It
will take most of the season to get the
colonies in good working order again,
therefore I do not anticipate that the
Eastern market will be overstock! with
California honey.
My year is up, and I want the Ameri-
can Bee Journal for another year, be-
cause of the benefit I derive from it.
Albert Rozell.
Los Angeles Co., Calif., Jan. 28.
Farmers and Sweet Clover.
We have had two poor seasons here,
but the indications are fair for a good
honey crop next season.
Farmers in this vicinity have begun
to see the benefits of sweet clover.
One of the leading farmers of this sec-
tion sowed 10 acres of corn to sweet
clover last July, and says he will get
two crops of hay next summer, plow
the third crop under, and raise wheat
on the land the next season. Thus he
raises a full crop each year, and im-
proves his land by the rotting of crops,
which he says is the cheapest fertilizer
he can get. He expects to plant
another 10 acres of corn next spring,
and the latter part of July or the first
of August sow sweet clover seed among
the corn, and in this waj' will not lose
the use of his land any year. He
thinks the clover improves the yield of
wheat about 10 bushels to the acre. He
has been experimenting with it for
several years. He intends to com-
mence keeping bees, and if he does he
will make a success of it.
C. W. Snyder.
Garfield Co., Utah, Jan. 24.
Poop Prospects for Next Season.
I have 80 colonies of bees in s-frame
Langstroth hives, and run them for
comb honey. As the past season was
a poor one in this locality they did not
average above 2ii poUnds per colony,
and I do not think that the honey-crop
of Utah would average more than 10
pounds per colony.
Foul brood has been quite prevalent
here the past two years ; it seems that
the disease has a tendency to follow a
poor season.
The prospects for the coming season
are not very bright ; we depend upon
irrigation for bee-forage, and as but
little snow has fallen up to date, if we
do not get more the season will be dis-
astrous indeed to both farmers and
bee-keepers. E. B. Nelson.
Utah Co., Utah. Jan. 28.
Bee-Moths and Millers in Apple-
Trees.
I had 25 colonies of bees during the
past season, 20 of which I had under
the grape-vines, and S in the orchard
under the apple-trees. Only one col-
ony out of the 20 under the grape-vines
was bothered with moths, while all 5 of
those under the apple-trees had moths
in them. I put two under a crab-apple
tree which bore deep-red apples, one
Why Fuss with Hensj
When yot) can ppf an Tn-nbafor mii-] Br- >od-
K'V Uiat worksas s;iLislaciiMil\- a.s ilie
SICCESSFDL
rtr
it**elf and hatches
Keiid6ei
bi>ul;— the best cat il t-'Ue «>f
the vear — and read a% h it useis
of the **Saccf ••slul'*eu , 1 4
pa(res;prititedin6lant;uitre-^
Better seud for it at once
DES MOINES INCUBATOR CO.
Box 78, Des Moines. Iowa.
ery hiit( liable egg
Please — I'-tntion Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
200-Egg Incubator
for $12.00
Perfeit in instruction «nd
ction. Hatches .•very fertile
BR. Write for cataloEue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
Please
the Bee Jc
ELECTRIC HANDY WAGONS
excel m qa&llty. Btrcngtb, .luriHniiiy. Cai
The; areLun priced
Kleetric Steel
VVheeU-s
or fitaegered 0
height,
., . ^(
J!o
mention Bee Journal ■when ■wntine
GINSENG
?in. in rlinta ptocloco $4,069.10 to 10
lookt^llinuhnw toerowlt,4c
LaltesideGinseng Gardens, Amber, K.Y
MAKE INCUBATORS
W
f f that hatch strong, healthy chiciis - -^K^"
and lots oi: them. Our faith in thesej
facts is such that we send vou our
iNEW PREMIER 'oT-trTaT^
You put the epgsinit and make a hatch H^ =
tor yourself. When you have tried it thorouprbly
and sre siiistiert, yoiipay bs for it. Isn't that tliePensiMe way ti
and sell inciioaiors? Send 5c stamp forCiilalni; A *'Ponltr)- Helps."
TTc nrr >tho snh' makers of Nnn/.?ir(7t/ Tnruinfor.
COLUMBIA INCUBATOR CO.. 5 Water St., Delaware City. DeL
fleabc aicuMuu Bee Journai wheui wntmc
VEGETABLE GARDENING
INLAND PODLTKY JOUUNAI
poll*. Ind
THE BANTAM HATCHER
rhe jO e^s %h iiiachioe that batches equal to
liie bighfst priced made. Hm hitched 50
chicks from SUe^eahundredaof times. S*"!)!
0HS0DAYSFilElTlilAL.CatalogNo.58ic
ituckeye Incubator Co., Sprlng&eld, U.
\-T|r^^.^j^J t Two or three apiaries
Wflntefl I for cash, located in
TTdllL^M 1 Colorado. Give full
particulars itt first letter, and lowest cash price;
comb honey preferred.
lAtf Thos. C. Stanley &l Son, Fairfield, 111.
IT MENDS BREAKS
WEiCHT OWLY JQ OUHCU
ON THE SPOT.
■| lit' l*rcniliini combinetl
■ttr. rivet maeuzint
Uueklo punch is i
nplelcrepaiiingoutfitforhttr
w, belting, eic. Carry it il
rpi.Lket '.hold-. 50 rivets anr
lid Creamery— the 'differem" dairy paper—
nnn^y making dairying, not thennes. Send for free
. \Ve wiiiit acent* for qniik selling novtltit-s.
DRAPER PUB. & SUPPLY CO., CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.
t^lease mention Bee Journal -when ■writinff.
Feb. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
127
under a fall apple-tree which bore
apples about the color of lemons, and
two under a winter apple-tree, the
apples having- a brownish color irusty
coats), and the worms from these trees
dropt on the hives underneath them,
and workt their way into the hives and
around the sides, and in each instance
the worms were the color of the apples
in the tree above the hive on which
they fell.
It is my opinion that the worms that
fall from the trees and crawl into the
hives are the color of the tree from
which they carae until they become
millers.
The worms which g^ot into the col-
ony under the grape-vines were of a
natural color.
I went into the country to visit a
friend, and while I was there he made
apple-cider, and askt me to help him,
which I did. We went to the orchard
and gathered the very best of the ap-
ples, cutting out the cores and all the
rotten and worm-eaten spots. After
throwing the cores away I noticed
hundreds of millers gathering on them,
then I lookt up and saw as many
among the trees, and some of them
alighted on the apples. The next
morning I examined the apples, and
found that the millers were stinging
them, and planting their eggs in those
that were ripe or matured. The millers
sting the apples at the stem, at the
blossom end, and on all sides, and
when the eggs are hatcht into worms
they work themselves toward the heart
of the apple.
Iwould like to know if it does any
good to spray the trees while they are
in blossom. Some of our professors
claim that the eggs that are laid in the
blossoms are killed when the trees are
sprayed. I do not believe it does any
good to snrp.y the trees, as my obser-
vation is 'hat the millers plant their
eggs in the apples after they have
matured. August Rosenberger.
Iroquois Co., 111., Dec. 10, 1900.
[See the article on spraying fruit, on
page 120 of tliis number. — Editor.]
Convention Xotioe.
California.— The annual convention of the
California State Bep-Keepers' Association, will
be held in the Chamber of Commerce, at Los
Angeles, Feb. 2.^ and 26, I'lOl, beginning at 1:30
p.m., on the 25th. Several valuable papers have
been promist, and we e.xpect an interesting con-
vention. J. F. McIktyke, Sec.
R. Wilkin, Pres.
I BEE-SUPPLIES! I
^5 .^"Root'saoods at Root's Prices'** ^.
^^ PouDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^^
•^ thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt C-
•^ Service— low freight rate. Catalog ^•
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^.
•J^ S12 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^.
JSfBBSHSm
Direct to Consumers.
eCatnloc J?'ree, costiog ovfr |2e!irh,
, whh ir.W> illustralions and lo,000artklt^
Q which we gTii™°tecto save you from lbto7b%. Mosi
Bho*.koEIWkinii- >ent for lOc to pay costof ir "
which will be refundeil with tirat order. Valuable hook o
■nee and onehtto be In every household. Get it ; keep It bandy. I
I Heller Chemical Co., Dept is , Chicago.
^^TbeUnlr Utail Order Drag UoDseln the World. "~~'
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We <an furnish you with The A. 1. RmoI Co's
poods at wholesale <'r retail at their prices. We i an
save you freiffht. and ship promptly. Market price
pain tor beeswax. Semi for our i9'l catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich.
flease mention Bee joiiruiil ■when writing.
We want *
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog- : it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. MutH & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sis., Cincinnati,©.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■wTitin^,
Dittmer's Fomidatioii !
Retail— Wholesale^Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL, necess.irv to make it the BEST
aud MOST desirable in all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are rav
own inventions, which enable me to SELL.
FOUNDATION and
Wort Wax Into Fonniiation For Casli
at jirices that are the lowest. Catalog- giving
Full Line of Supplies,
wilh prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal "when -wTlting.
BEE
6Atf Mention the An
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
CAREER AND CHARACTER OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
An address by Joseph Choate, Am-
bassador to (ireat Britain, on the career
and character of Abraham Lincoln —
his early life — his struggles with the
world — liis character as developt in the
later years of his life and his adminis-
tration, which placed his name so high
on the world's roll of honor and fame,
has been publisht by the Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul Railway, and may
be had by sending six (6) cents in pos-
tage to F. A. Miller, General Passen-
ger Agent, Chicag-o, 111. 6A3t
Mai'sbfield MaDuractiiriiig Company.
< )ur Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASS\V( )OD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing
Jl >ti >te M<. >te. >fc >li >te >jt jte ite sit ikt?
I HON&y AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Jan. I'l.—Hooey is selling slowly;
this applies to all fjrades with the exception of
white clover aud basswood comb hone;, which
sells re.-idily at l(,c providing it grades No. 1 or
better. All other kinds of white comb honey
sell at from 14(s ISc, and candied white comb at
from SW'lOc; travel-stained and off-g-rades of
comb, 13(<a4c: aniber,12@13c; amber extracted,
TaT/ic: dark and buckwheat comb houey, t®
10c. Extracted, white, 7c, 7i^@8c; basswood
and white clover briug-ingr the outside prices;
buckwheat aud other dark grades, b@6'4c.
Beeswax, 28c. R. A. BnRNETT & Co.
Kansas City, Jan. 22.^Fancy white comb,
l.^MlTc; amber, 13(g»14c; dark, 9@llc; demand
food. Extracted, "@9c; demand quiet. Bees-
wax, 2»@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemous & Cq.
Cincinnati, Feb. 9.— The market for comb
honey is becoming verv bare, altho the prices
have notchauE-ed. Fancy white comb is still
selling for Kjc; no demand for darker grades.
Extracted is in fairdemand; dark sells forS^c;
better grades from b%®Sc; onlv white clover
brings from 8>^@9c. Beeswax,28c.
C. H. W. Weber.
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 11.— Honev market is
dull and prices nominal; light stock, but the'
cold weather is bad for it. Comb, in good order,"
not candied, white, 15@10c; mixt, 13(Sa4c; dark
and buckwheat, 11 @ 12c. Extracted, while,
TcgiSc; mixt, 6@o}^c; dark, 5)«(g6c.
H. R.Wright.
Buffalo, Feb. 8. — Some more active this
week, and mav clean up better than expected'
awhile ago. Fancy 1-pound comb, 15(Sil6c; No.
1, 14@15c; No. 2, 12(<i'13c; dark, buckwheat, etc.,
8@10c. Beeswax. 25("2.'<c. Batterson & Co. '
BOSTON, Feb. 8.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, lSf&16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark hooey this year. Extracted, white, 8@
8J^c; light amber, ^ii'siS<:. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lbs.
New York, Dec. 22.— Fancy white, 15(a>i6c;
No. 1 white, 14c; No. 2 white 12wl3c; amber,
12c; buckwheat, 10(aillc. Extracted in fairly-
good demand at 7J«(a8c for white, and 7c for
amber: off grades aud Southern in barrels at
from 65((i7Sc per gallon, according to quality.
Not much demand for extracted buckwheat as
yet. Some little selling at S!«@6c. Bees-wax firm
at 28 cents. ^
Demand continues good for comb honey; sup-
ply fairly good. Extracted in fair demand with
enough supply to meet requirements.
Hildreth & Segelken.
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, 15(ail6c;
No. 1, 13@14c; dark and amber, 12@13c Ex-
tracted, white. 7w.7i.sc; amberand dark, 6@6}^c.
Beeswax, 26(ii'27c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Jan. 9._White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, llH®WAc: dark, 8&9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 'i}i⪼ light amber 6Ji@7"^c;
amber. S54@6Mc. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Stocks of all descriptions are light, and
values are being as a rule well maintained at
the quoted range. Firmness is naturally most
pronounced on light amber and water' white
houey, the latter being in very scanty supply.
HONEY HARKET.— We may have a customer
wilhiu a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, slating quantity, quality, and lowe
cash price. Reference^ ^'" — '^ " '
any business man in th
-Either Bank here foi
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
DO YOU WANT A
fiJQH Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Send for descri]>tiye price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
For Sale
from Alfalf.t -60-
pound cans at 7c;
_ and smaller cans.
5A4t D.S.JENKINS. Las Am IN AS, COL.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing
128
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything^, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
BI«9- W. M. Gekrish, East Notiagham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wTi-''ns
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
Y« e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5(6 10ft 2Sft 50ft
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.C0
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.1X1
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
AlsikeClover Wc 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14<. Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Cfiliinmta ? If you care to know of its
W'CtlllUI lilt* 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Low Rates West and Northwest.
On Feb. 12th, and on each Tuesday
until April 30th, the Chicago, Milwau-
kee & St. Paul Railway will sell one-
way second-class tickets at the follow-
ing very low rates :
To Montana points. . . . $25.00
To Nor. Pacific Coast points, 30.00
To California 30.00
These tickets will be good on all
trains, and purchasers will have choice
of 6 routes and S trains via St. Paul,
and 2 routes and 3 trains via Missouri
River each Tuesday. The route of the
Famous Pioneer Limited trains and
the U. S. Government Fast Mail trains.
All ticket Agents sell tickets via the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, or for further information address
F. A. Miller, General Passenger Agent,
Old Colony Building, Chicago. 6A3t
'''' Dadant's Foundation. ''''
Year
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, N«
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell _^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We selJ the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHA5. DADANT & SON, Hamriton, Hancock Co , 111.
Please mention Bee Journal "wKh
m
SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE.
Prairie Stale lacobator Co.
' Homer Oil J. I'B.
the Bee Journal
EENS
Comb Foundation
Aod ■!) ApteriAB BappUa*
ehsftp. 6«Bd far
¥iUS.K C»Ulo£D«. B. T. rhASA/GkH, B«U«fIU«b Ofr
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writings
TcHMessee Queens I
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Oueens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
leaied 3^4 miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Mueens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
iles. No
apur
and but few within 5 miles.
28 years* experience. Discount
on' large orders. Contracts
pecialty, JOHN M. DAV S,
i>A26t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal -wiien -writing.
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'S r. ODDS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois. West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and the South.
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Lowest Freight Rates in the country.
Send for Catalog.
Successor to C. F. Mtth & Son.
^ 2146 4.S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O. _
t^ease mention Bee Journal wiien -writing
Des rioines Incubator Co.— It was a happy
thought years ago that suggested the name
"Successful" to the Des Moines Incubator Co.
for their standard machine — a name fully de-
served by its record. With commendable en-
terprise necessary additions have been made to
their factory from time to time, and to further
facilitate the handling of their immense busi-
ness, they have now added a large storage ware-
house. It is located directly upon railroad
tracks, so that carload shipments can be made
with ease and promptness. An illustration of
their warehouse shows one car loaded for O.
Rolland, Montreal, agent for the Des Moines
incubators in Canada. Another car is a partial
shipment to F. Lassetter &. Co., of Sydney, Aus-
tralia, who are handling the Des Moines ma-
chines in large quantities this season. This is
only one instance of the large foreign trade the
Des Moines people have built up, and which has
necessitated their printing catalogs in 5 foreign
languages. We believe they are the only incu-
bator manufacturers who have had to do this.
Space will not permit any extended description
of their machines, but their large and coa-
stantlv increasing business is the best endorse-
ment'they could have. The "Successful-" is
their leading machine, but the "Eclipse" and
"Crescent" are tboroly dependable, and are
most excellent value at the price askt.
Careful readers may remember very remark-
able hatches made by the Des Moines Company
at several large poultry shows last year, incu-
bation being started at Des Moines and timed
to bring out the hatches during the exhibits.
While being incubated the machines with their
precious contents were shipt almost 1.500 miles
by express, were several times transferred in
open wagons, and all without diminishing the
high percentage of chicks hatcht, for which the
Des Moines machines are famous. No other ex-
planation of these remarkable feats can be given
other than the great care taken in the building
of these incubators, and the correct and scien-
tific principles upon which they are made.
Readers of this paper who contemplate pur-
chasing an incubator, will certainly serve their
interests by sending for the Company's new cat-
alog. Please refer to their advertisement else-
where in this paper, and note the conditions
under which the book is sent. It cost the Com-
pany a great deal of money to compile it, and
it should on that account find a permanent place
in every poultry breeder's library. Address,
Des Moines Incubator Company, Des Moines,
Iowa, and kindly mention this paper when
writing to them.
Bee-Hives and Honey-Boxes
ear lots, whulesulf or retail. Now is the time to i;et prices,
c are the people who manufacture strictly first-class goods
1.1 sell them at prices that defy competition. 'Write us to-day.
Inter-State Box and Manufacturing: Company,
vtf HixJDSorr, -WIS.
A^ERie;i/V
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY 28, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. Q.
130
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL.
Feb. 28. 1901.
^f^M^Mi)$^
PHELISHT WEEKLY BY
Qeorqe W. York & Co.
144 5:146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price oftbis jouraalisSl.OO a
year, in tbe United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postag-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the mouth to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
chang-e the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography uf the following Rule,
recommended bj' the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philolog'cal Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change *'d" or
"ed" final to *'l" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
T > prosecute dishonest honey commission-
men.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest Citj, Iowa.
Membership Dues, fl.mJ a year.
The Bee-Reeper's Guide;
Or, JVIaniisil ol* llie Apiary,
BY
PROE A. j, COOK,
460 Pages— 16tli (1899) Edition— ISth Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This Ibth and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
made to present sub-
im is also given to
aply the Bee Jour-
The following offei
scribers only, and no pr«
the two new^ subscribers-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00}, and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a vear— both for only
n.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let everv
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Lono-TonouGfl Bees
ARE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Premium
for sending us TWO new subscribeps to tlie
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2);
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4.00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having' many years" experience) to rear queens for us the coming'
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any )'et measured. The Breeder he ■will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine. "• long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.01) each : Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
G-EGRGE W. YORK & CO
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
26 cents a pound —
CASH— for best vel-
26 cents Cash
paid for Beeswax.
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Best
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Honey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY,,.....
This is tbe famous White
Extracted Honey g"athered in
the fjreat Alfalfa reg^ions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
hooey at all can't get enoug'h
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well-known
lig'ht-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flarar than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents — ffl
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9)^ f<
cents per pound; tvro cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans, /3
8'i cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering j^
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so !!I
desire. The cans are boxt. (^
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. [^
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce n
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of [i
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, g
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. (9
Address, f*
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111. f|
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY 28, 1901,
No, 9,
I ^ Editorial. ^ I
Joiniug the Xatioiial in a Botly. —
Several local associations have already taken
advantafje of the provision in the constitution
of the National Bee-Keepers" Association,
which reads as follows:
'' Whenever a local bee-keejiers' associalion
shall decide to unite with this Association as
a body, it will be received upon payment by
the local secretary of .50 cents per member })er
annum, provided that the local association's
membership dues are at least SI. 00."
Referring to this matter in a recent letter to
this office, Dr. A. B. Mason said :
Editok York: — I have just forwarded a
draft to General Manager Secor for the amount
of I'ees re(|uired to make the members of the
C'ayufja Co., N. Y.. Bee-Keepers' Society
members of our National Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation. Also, I have just received a letter
fruiu the Worcester Co., Mass., Bee-Keepers'
Society, making enquiry as to the terms on
whicli their organization of 40 members can
join the National.
Won't you just suggest that all the local
bee-kceiiers' societies on this continent " go
and do likewise f Alsc.adil that it is neces-
sary to .^ciid rlicnanic and ]ii>st-oHice address
of eiich iiiemlier with the membership fee.
A. B. Mason.
L.1TER. — I have just received a letter from
• ieneral Manager Secor, saying: " New m^i-
bers are coming in all the time, and the
Hnances are in a healthy condition.'' That's
the kind of a ■■ring" to have, and to hear,
and to belong to. A. B. M.
We are indeed glad to learn of more bee-
keepers" societies taking advantage of the low
membership fee when joining the National
in a body. Vfe believe the Wisconsin State
Bee-Keepers' Association was the first thus to
join, and was followed liy the Chicago Bee-
Keepers' Association a month or two later.
At the recent meeting of the Wisconsin Asso-
ciation the memberships were renewed for
both the State and the National associations.
This is just as it should be.
The fact that more organizations are " en-
i|uiring the way"' is a healthy sign, and
should ultimately increase very largely both
the membership and the treasury of the Na-
tional. It will be surprising to all, what can
be done in many ways when bee-keepers once
unite, not only to defend themselves, but to
|)ush their interests on every occasion when to
do so is both proper and right.
We have been greatly encouraged during
the past month or twoon account df receiving
so many membership fees at this office, all of
which have been duly forwarded to (ieneral
.Manager Secor, who doubtless has pronii)tly
mailed individual membership receipts. We
are ready and willing at all times to receive
such dues and send them to Mr. Secor.
We wish there might be more local societies
organized under the provision of the National
constitution, as before quoted, and that all
such local organizations might see their way
clear to elect say two delegates to the Na-
tional convention each year. This would not
only be an honor conferred upon those dele-
gates, but would furnish the kind of represen-
tation in the National that every local associa-
tion should have. Suppose there were 50
local associations scattered over the United
States and Canada, each one of which should
send two of their best men to represent them
in the National Association. If the represen-
tatives would attend the National there would
be an assured attendance' of 100 of the best
bee-keepers in all the country. This of itself
would insure a great convention, to say noth-
ing of the attendance of bee-keepers residing
within 100 or "200 miles of the place of holding
the National convention. Of course, there
should be more than .50 local societies in the
United States alone
What we would like to see is this; Let
there be county and district associations hold-
ing an annual meeting, and sending one or
two delegates each to the annual State con-
vention : and each State association send two
delegates to the National. This would give
representation to the humblest members of
the pursuit. Membership dues of $1.00 in the
county or district association should be suffi-
cient to make each bee-keeper a member of
all three organizations. Twenty-five cents of
the SI. 00 cau be retained by the local associa-
tion ; 25 cents to be sent to the State organi-
zation ; and 50 cents to the National, just as
is provided for now.
We fully believe this scheme is entirely
workable, and that some arrangement ought
to be made at the next National convention
providing for this plan or something similar.
We are ready to co-operate along any line that
will give promise of unifying the bee-keepers,
and building up an organization that will be
able to take care of their interests.
The Anti-Bee-Legislation, as recently
proposed in the Wisconsin Legislature, has |
received its deserved quietus. Mr. N. E.
France, president of the State Bee-Keepers'
Association, wrote us as follows about the
matter, Feb. !)th :
" This morning the Legislative Agricultural
Committee at Madison, reported for indrjhiile
puntjiuiierneitt, on KM laSA— to assess and tax-
bees, also to license moving bees to any other
town than owner's residence."
Mr. France has been working almost night
and day since the Slate bee-keepers' meeting,
Feb. .5th and fith, to accomplish the above
action. We knew he would be successful, for
there was rank injustice in the bill referred to.
For instance, the great poultry industry of
Wisconsin is not taxt. Why, then, tax bees,
which are so much more uncertain stock than
is poultry f Personally, we think bees should
be taxt at a small value per colony, but not
before poulti'y is put on the property list.
Again, the bill proposed to tax those bee-
keepers who desired to practice migratory bee-
keeping. It provided that any bee-keeper
who desired to move his apiary to another
field where the bees might take advantage of
a better honey-flow, must pay a license fee of
$1.00 jier cohmy per rnoHtli before being allowed
to move into another township. That is, if
he had 100 colonies which he wisht to move to
another field for four months, he would have
to pay a license fee of S400 !
No sane legislators would favor such injus-
tice, we are very certain.
The Apiary of Mr. F. M. Wagner is
shown in two views on page 135. No. 1 pre-
sents it with the revolving roof in a horizontal
position to shade the hives from the noonday
sun. No. 3 shows the roof on a slant to pro-
tect from the afternoon summer sun, or from
chilling winter blasts.
In a letter accompanying the photographs,
Mr. Wagner says:
The hives are the 10-frame, with an all-wool
blanket lietwecn the tirood-chamber and the
super. l)ut held up frnni the frames so the bees
can jiass u\,t truni frame to frame. The
super is then tilled lightly with short straw.
The ventilation seems to be enough for this
climate [Adams Co,, III.], under a trial of
four winters — south of the 40th parallel, and
three miles east of the Mississippi River.
A'alue of Bees to Alsike Clover. —
Secretary Couse. of the Ontario Bee-Keepers
Association, said at the last convention that
the nearer a field of Alsike clover is to an
apiary the better the yield of clover seed. He
had applications from two men who wisht
him to locate bees near them. The value of
bees to fruit-growers and farmers is being
proven over and over as time goes on. Ignor-
ance is a hard thing to overcome, but it's
yielding more and more.
Tin ("ann vs. Barrels.— Mr. .1. 11. Mar-
tin, in (ileanings in Bee-Culture, offers an-
other argument in favor of tin cans for ship-
ping honey. He says: ■■Freight rates on
honey in tin cans cased, from California to
the East, are .Sl.lO per 100 pounds: on honey
in barrels. ■*1.H0 per 100 pounds; on honey in
glass. SI. :!0 I>cr 1(H) pounds. Observe honey
in barrels and glass is in the same class. The
railroad conipanies evidently know where the
greate.-t ^i^ks arc."
Conuiient is unilecessary.
132
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 28, 1901.
I Weekly Budget |
Prop. A. J. Cook writes us that the " bull ■
dog ant'' of Florida, mentioned on page 72,
is •■ Campouolus esuriens. Smith," which he
learned from Dr. L. O. Howard, entomologist
of the Department of Agriculture, Washing-
ton. D. r.
The Officiary of the Ontario Co., N. Y..
Bee-Keepers" Association is as follows; Presi-
dent, W. F. JIarks: vice-presidents, H. L.
Case, John Page, Chester Olnistead ; secretary,
F. Greiner, of Naples: treasurer, L. B. Smith;
and honey inspector, E. H. Perry.
Mrs. Artie Bowen, of Merced Co., Calif.,
writing us Feb. 13th, said;
•■ I think this is going to be a good honey-
year in California. The bees in this locality
have wintered well so far. and our winter is
about over. The almonds are coming into
bloom, and within two weeks our orchards
will be in full bloom."
Ijy piano, cornet, and two violins. They are
good players and singers, as they all belong
to the church choir of which Mr. Flower is a
member, and they will doubtless make things
hum. Mr. Flower expects to have a lot of
new .slides to show, and very likely some new
jokes and stories to help entertain his
audience. Mr. Flower knows how to do it,
and will be able to give a good entertainment.
5lR. W. E. Flower, of Montgomery Co.,
Pa., is one of the noted bee-cranks around
Philadelphia. He it was who gave a short
illustrated talk' on bees when the National
convention met there in 1899. It was enjoyed
by all. We understand that he expects to
give another talk on the same subject at
Franklin Institute very soon. There will be
a male quartette to sing "The Hum of the
Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom," accompanied
Mr. L. Highbarger, of Ogle Co., 111.,
writes us that during the meeting of the Na-
tional convention in Chicago last August, he
suffered a stroke of paralysis so that he had to
leave for his home before the close of the
meeting. It left his nervous system in bad
condition, especially affecting his eyes, so that
it is very difficult for him either to read or
write. He was 73 years old last New Year's
day. All will unite in hoping that he may
soon recover. He reports his bees as winter-
ing well.
Rev. a. B. Mettler, of Will Co., 111.,
whose questions were answered on page 99,
writes us that the only birthday he ever had
was Feb. 1, 1844, and that all the February
Ists since that time have been aHidverxaries .'
That's very good, We will forgive him for
the joke, seeing he sent his dollar membership
fee for the National Bee-Keepers' Association.
Bishop Wm. A. Bills, of Salt Lake Co.,
Utah, wrote us Feb. 1.5th that bees were a
failure in Salt Lake county last year, tho in
previous years he had over 350 pounds of
honey per colony. He sent us two clippings
about bee-keeping in Uintah Co., Utah, men-
tioning one firm of bee-keepers who had 160
colonies of golden Italian bees that averaged
331 y pounds per colony last season. Ashley
Valley, in which is located this bee-keepers"
paradise, is about 30 miles long by 6 wide.
Vernal, the county seat, is a busy little city,
and is centrally located in th'is valley. It is a
progressive town, with neatly-graded streets,
paved sidewalks, and well-equipt business-
houses. In the matter of taxes it stands as a
model. It has never levied what is known as
a town tax. and is absolutely free from debt,
with a balance in the treasury. Very likely
they are not curst with saloons.
Bee-keeping seems to be a new industry in
Ashley Valley, but it is making astonishing
strides, and one that promises to forge still
further ahead in this sterile desert section.
The honey-source is principally alfalfa, and
the grade produced is of the best. Aside from
the local consumption, 340,000 pounds were
shipt last season, netting the producers 5
cents per pound. The success which has fol-
lowed the efforts of liee-keepers in that part
of the State is encouraging them to equip
their apiaries with the latest appliances,
which shows an intelligent grasp of the busi-
ness. It is a little less than marvelous that so
much real sweetness should be found in what
was once such a desert-like and forbidding re-
gion. ■
Mr. G. Gletsteex, of Sioux Co.. Iowa,
wrote us as follows Feb. 14th ;
"The. American Bee Journal is a welcome
visitor each week. I could not get along
without it. By the way, the wood binder is
just the thing. Every subscriber should have
one so he can file away the journals each
week, and always have them all together, ready
for any reference he might want."
I Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Proceeding-s of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chicago, 111.,
Aug". 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from page 122.)
Pres. Root— 'We will now listen to Mr. R. C. Aikin, on
the subject of
CO-OPERATIVE ORGANIZATION AMONG BEE=
KEEPERS.
To organize is proper, right, and just. Like all else,
organized combinations may be powerful for good or evil,
according to the inclinations and desires of the organized.
Condemn not organization, only its improper use.
Never in the history of the world have there been times
of so great organizatio'n as at the present. Unions, associ-
ations, syndicates, trusts, etc.. exist on every side. \\ ere it
not for ort^anized business and social affairs, we never
would have reacht the heights of luxury, wealth, and
power, now enjoyed bv the present age. Even the anarch-
ist organizes to break down governmental order. We or-
ganize for mutual help in all lines of business, industries,
education, religion, and government.
But for what shall the beekeepers combine ? This, our
national association, is largely social and scientific, with a
little business mixt in now and then, and a mutual protec-
tion against unjust financial and moral enemies. So far
this is good, but it does not cover, by a long way, the ground
it should to help the people where they need it most, in
properly distributing our product.
These are days of specialism as well as organization
and co-operation. More and more do we become dependent
upon one another in all our affairs, as we grow in organized
work. How long would our government, the postal system,
railroads, churches, schools, and the very many great or-
ganizations, stand, if*it were not for the cooperation fea-
tures of those concerned? It is plain common-sense that
in these days when specialism is everywhere prevalent, in
almost everything, that those who produce our food — wheat,
corn, potatoes, butter, eggs, meat, fruits, etc. — there should
be co-opera/ion.
But what is the great need of the bee-keeper to-day — in
what particular direction should he co-operate to obtain
best results ? Is it on the social side ? Surely not. 'We
have social facilities in our organizations here and there,
and in our class journals. The crying need of to-day is
business co-operation.
Producers bring their wheat and other grain to the ele-
vator; cattle, hogs and sheep to the stock-yards; and fruits
to the fruit depot. In every producing locality, the products
of that territory find buyers and places to deliver and store
the products — facilities for handling. Just take one good
look at the facilities everywhere establisht for the accommo-
dation of the principal products, note that if 1 produce ten
bushels of wheat and my neighbor his hundreds or thous-
ands, there is one common price and I can take my ten
bushels and sell it and have mj- check just as quickly and
surely as the large producer on hundreds.
Now turn your gaze upon our apicultural products — can
you go to town, any and every town, and any day, and there
sell your products ? You may sell a few pounds or cases to
your local dealer, just what he needs for immediate retail.
Should you produce more than the half dozen cases or so
your grocer wants, and wanf'to get cash out of it, what will
you do ? Well, ship it to some city market such as Denver,
iCansas City, Omaha, Chicago, or other practical market ;
I "consign " it to somebody you do not know, take all the
I chances yourself, get your money when you can in the
Feb. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
133
" sweet by-and-by," or order honey puslit onto the market,
which means to give it away. Looks gloomy, doesn't it ?
Honey-producers are so scattered, the product so limited
in a given locality, that there is no inducement to put in
proper facilities for the handling of the goods. Comb
honey is somewhat regular and has a reasonable standing,
but extracted, as handled by most producers, must not get
out of sight of the producer until it is eaten, for you know
he »iust '■ take it bac/c ami lique/y it." While almost every
other product can be sold at any and all times, and for spot
cash, honey must beg to be taken in dribs !
Tell me, if sugar would go liquid in the grocery, must
the manufacturers take it back and regranulate ? Is there
any other product aside from extracted honey that must re-
main under the oversight of the producer or manufacturer
until consumed ? Answer me that, and you may have a
little consideration for the custom of " taking back "' honey
to liquefy. If we must liquefj', then good-by to the indus-
try as a settled business, or extracted honey as a staple.
But I am slightly digressing.
Since it is so that the honej' product is scattered, pro
duced by littles here and there, it comes that there is no
ready market for it locally. True, each producer sells more
or less about home ; but the trouble is, we who are poor and
must realize on our product, and do it quickly, can not wait
months to deal out in little dribs a small crop of honey.
Those who produce by the littles — a few hundred pounds of
honey, a few acres of corn, of apples, wheat, and of such
a few bushels : a half dozen hogs, one or two beeves, etc. —
such are the masses, and are the people that must and will
sell, and just as soon as possible after the product is avail-
able. These small producers are said to ruin prices, and
the charge is true to a limited extent. But can we blame
these people ? and after all what can we do ? They are at
the mercy of the more opulent buyer, or they perhaps must
realize, and that quickly, and since there maj' not be a de-
mand for their product and it is too small to ship to distant
points, they are practically compelled to force the market,
and the stock sells for less than its real and true value, and
so prices are not what they should be.
It is necessary, then, that provision be made whereby,
especiallj' the small producer, may have a market for his
product. The large producer is told to buy up the little lots
and so get them out of the way, but large producers have
difficulties to face, too. It does not take many little lots to
require several hundreds of dollars — even thousands — to
buy them. The large producer has to face the fact that if
he competes in the general markets, and with other large
producers and shippers, he must produce and ship in car-
lots, and to do this causes him to reach out to the limit of
his own capital and ability. Yes, even the large producers,
too, are struggling to keep from being eaten up by the still
larger fish.
In these days when our products are transported hun-
dreds and thousands of miles to be distributed — in reality
exchanged for other products which we have not in our own
localities, but which we think we must have, and social con-
ditions almost compel us to have — there »iust be facilities
for carrying out the exchange economically.
Look again at the immensity of the systems of trans-
portation of products. The packing companies have their
special cars. Then there are the fruit-cars specially de-
signed to transport fruits and deliver them successfully at
distant points ; and grain, sheep and cattle cars. Not only
this, but everywhere distributed thruout the country are
both the gathering and distributing facilities. The large
cities have their commission-houses with a side honey de-
partment, but what of it ? Small producers, 500 or 1,000
miles from these places, do not want to consign. They can
not aflfora the local freights and other expenses. The 10 or
20 cases of comb honey of the small producer, mean more
to him than do the hundreds of cases of the large producers
and commission and otherdealers to them. These small pro-
ducers have honey to sell, and must sell.
What we want, then, most of all, is the facilities for
gathering the product and relieving the poor small pro-
ducer by paying him for his honey and wax. These facili-
ties must reach out from some central place and come close
enough to the little apiaries so that their product can be de-
livered to the buyer with the very minimum of railroad
freights. That such system is Z'cry much needed is surely
evident, but as yet the solution of the ditliculty is not clear.
Many difliculties lie in the way, yet none but can be over-
come.
I shall not attempt to lay down set rules to govern in
working out this question, it can come only by co-operalion.
I say by co-operation, but not by it pure and simple, accord-
ing to the general acceptance of the term. I think I know
enough of human nature to know that this Association can
not in open convention work out such problems and carr3'
them to completion. We have ideas as to what we need,
but how to obtain the results we do not know, each guessing
at what is needed and advising, yet there will be such diver-
sity of opinions that no tangible thing can be arrived at.
Your humble servant has been thru the mill and knovps a
few of the difficulties to contend with, how a convention
will wrangle, and suggest, and advise, and demand, etc.,
then in the end tell a committee to go ahead and bring or-
der out of chaos, j-et not a dollar for the expense of doing
it.
Discussion in convention is all right, and appointing
committees is all right, but committees need financial help.
Select for the committees straight, honest men — men who
are the most familiar with the business world and methods,
who have the facilities to obtain information and results.
Remember that we must do much as we can, not as we like.
We want to put our product as near where it ought to be as
possible, but in doing this we have great difficulties to sur-
mount.
Having selected proper organizing committees and
given them necessary funds to carry on the work, empower
them to act — I would say almost absolute power. When
your committee runs against unforeseen stumps they can
not wait for another annual meeting to get instructions how
to pull up or get around that stump. They must act, so
give them full power. Here is the weak place — the people
can not or will not see the great difficulties in the way, get
discouraged, or jealous, or fault-finding.
In organizing, remember that there are State and other
laws to comply with, there are business customs that 3'ou
can not ignore, that others have rights as well as you, and
that your purpose is not to set arbitrary prices and make
extravagant demands. You want to get in touch with the
whole world so far as possible, for in these day s even oceans
do not separate neighbors and co-operators. Strive to un-
derstand each other. Help others and thereby help self.
Two, three, or more, producers should sell together. Do not
think for one minute that there is or can be over-produc-
tion— no, never, while our neighbors just across the waters
are starving by the millions.
When the bee-keepers are fully organized in a co-oper-
ative way, the head national office will know what j-ou and
I are doing, north, east, south, and west. The sub-State
offices will know what is known at the general head, and in
turn transmit to the various local branches or to the indi-
vidual members. Tho there is never over-production, there
is lack of distribution. Let us then co-operate that we may
ever)' one of us know what the crop is in every part of our
land. Let the distribution be equal, and the prices propor-
tionate according to supply and demand.
Is it a mighty undertaking 7 Yes, but results would be
mighty. Will it harm anybody? Yes, just about as you
are harmed by the complete postal system that takes in al-
most the world and carries your mail almost for nothing.
Do you catch the spirit ? Then proceed to co-operate.
Some are now at it. but hampered by the utter indifference,
jealousies, or greed, of the many. To help a brother helps
you ; to tear him down destroys both. R. C. Aikin.
Pres. Root — The matter is now open for discussion.
Mr. Aikin comes from a State where the)' have an organi-
zation that carried out some of the ideas he has advanced
here. They are not merely theoretical, but the)' are put in
practice and do produce results. Many of you probably
have not had any experience in this line and possibly do
not care to discuss it.
Pres. Root — Dr. Mason has a matter that he wishes to
bring up before the Convention before we close. Are you
ready to present it at this time ?
'Continued next week.)
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at SI. 00.
The Premiums ofifered this week are well worth work
ing for. Look at them.
134
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 28, 1901.
Jt,J4.J4,^4.*!C^4<^4xS4>^,^„iC^,*CJ*>^*.^*>J4>*i..Jst*lJ4
'<'^r^^^^*^^^^^^«^"5*^^^^*"5r^!r5r-*rW5*^5^'"5*'5^'^)t
Pure Italian Bees
Old or Young Bees in the Super
—Swarming.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A CORRESPONDENT sends in some questions and
wishes me to answer them thru the columns of the
American Bee Journal. His first question is, "Can a
five-banded queen be bred — or a queen whose bees are five-
banded — from pure Italian queens ? "
I unhesitating-ly answer no, for the simple reason that
there is no such thing as a pure Italian bee or queen, when
viewed in the sense of a pure race or variety, as the Ger-
man or black bee is pure. At best, the Italian bee is only a
thorobred ; and that these five-banded bees have been pro-
duced from what was orig-inally only three-banded or
leather-colored bees, is a g-ood proof that the above asser-
tion is correct.
Perhaps it may be well for me to give right here a bit
of history relative to these so-called five-banded bees — the
"golden Italian " more nearly expresses what they are, for
there are many queens in this country to-day which give
bees whose abdomens are a solid golden or orange yellow
the whole length, except the tip ; no bands whatever to be
seen as on three and four-banded stock. The history is
this:
In the early seventies, H. A. King, then of Ohio, and
Jas. M. Brooks, of Indiana, were breeding for j'ellower
bees than the average importations of Italians showed. In
1S72 I procured some of Mr. King's stock, and continued to
improve them them till near the eighties, the apicultural
world having- lost sight of Mr. King, meanwhile. At that
time, by exchange, I procured queens of Mr. Brooks, and
afterward, by purchase, got the last of his very best stock,
he going out of the business. In the early eighties I sold
one of the best queens I could rear, along the yellow line,
to L. L. Hearn, then of West Virginia, he and myself ex-
changing more or less for the next ten years. And, if I am
correct, all of the so-called five-banded bees, of Italian or-
igin, that are in the world to-day, spring from the Xing-
Brooks stock. Others produced the so-called five-banded
bees by a promiscuous crossing of Cyprian, Syrian and
Italian stock, but such have shown their origin by their
bad qualities, to a greater degree than either parentage.
OI,D OK YOUNG BEES WORKING IN THE SUPER.
The second question is, " Is it the old or young bees
that work in the surplus arrangement? Iliad supposed it
was the younger bees, but a neighbor contends that it is the
old bees."
Tel) that neighbor of yours, if he will try the experi-
ment of changing a black queen for an Italian about June
20th, some year, noting the time the first Italian bee hatches,
and on the forenoon of the 14th day from that time look at
the entrance of the hive, he will find none but black bees
issuing therefrom : while if he removes the cover from the
surplus arrangement he will find nearly all of the bees
there to be Italian. If he does not so find, his experiment
will prove dift'erent from any I have ever tried, and I have
tried such experiments several times.
When a colony is in a normal condition, I have found
what Elisha Gallup gave in the American Bee Journal dur-
ing the early seventies, to be quite correct, namely this :
Three days in the ft^^ form, six days in the larval
form, and 12 days in the pupa form, making a period of 21
days from the e.\^^ to the perfect bee. Very warm weather
will hasten the matter, while very cool will retard. The bee
when it first emerges from the cell does nothing but feed it-
self for the first day or two, when it commences to become
a nurse-bee, preparing chyme for the larv;^', evaporating
nectar, secreting wax, building comb, etc., till it is 14 to 16
days old. The young bee takes its first flight or playspell,
marking its location, voiding its excrement, etc., when six
days old. if the vceather is favorable, doing this from 12 to
3 p. m., and it continues these playspells occasionally till it
is from 14 to 10 days old, when it goes out into the fields as
a field-worker, doing no more of the inside work of the
hive after becoming a field-worker, unless forced to by a
lack of nurse-bees, from some reason, and dies of old ag^e
at from six to eight weeks from time of emerging from its
cell, very few bees ever .seeing seven weeks of age during
the working season.
In the above I have not given the exact wording of Mr.
(iallup, but the substance, as I quote from memory, not hav-
ing the volume in which it appeared. No beginner, or older
apiarist, should be without the knowledge contained in the
above, for upon it hangs much that goes toward making
the management of an apiary successful.
OI.Ii OR YOUNG BEES IN A NEW SWARM.
Thirdly, the correspondent wants to know if the " bees
composing a new swarm are all old bees," his neighbor
claiming they are.
The truth is, that bees of all ages go out to make up the
swarm, as is very easily ascertained by any one who will
use his eyes with the view of finding out about this matter.
I have seen the ground in front of a hive from which a
prime swarm was issuing, covered with hundreds of bees
under 12 hours old, which tried to accompany the swarm,
but were not able to fly, so they went out on foot ; and on
hiving the swarm, a little inspection showed that it was
composed of bees of all ages, from those 20 hours old, or
bees just barely able to fly, to those with ragged wings,
just ready to die of old age. In this, as in all nature, God
made no mistake, when he showed bees how those of all
ages should accompany the swarm, when they heeded the
mandate, " Go forth, multiply, and replenish the earth."
By a careful observation of the bees and the inside
workings of the hive, we can solve many of what seem dif-
ficult problems to us at first. And in the solving of these
problems, we are growing up into our apicultural work in a
manner that will make us finally efficient in every particu-
lar. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Shipping Qiueens by Mail— Unusual Experience.
BY O. O. POPPI.ETON.
ONE is very apt to give a wrong impression whenever he
allows himself to make a simple statement without
giving an explanation or reasons for that statement.
This was especially true of the statement I made during the
late Chicago convention, while the question of shipping
queens by mail was being discust — that I had " abandoned
the ordering of queens by mail." Of course, the inference
was that the mails were responsible for the poor quality of
the most of my queens obtainedthat way, which was only
true to a limited extent.
For some reason which I can not explain, I have failed
in getting even a fair proportion of queens that would do
well. This applies only to the queens I have receivea since
I came South — not to those received when I lived in Iowa.
The fact that 15 or 20 years ago I could get queens that
proved first-class ones, and can not do it since coming south,
looks as tho there were some other reason than injury by
rjailing. I have had queens from breeders in the North, in
the central Southern States, and in the extreme Southern,
and the results seem to be the same. I wish some one could
tell me the reason why queens do not do as well here as they
used to do in the North. I don't mean that the queens
seemingly reach me in poorer condition, but that they prove
much poorer for real business.
Another, and probably my strongest reason for not or-
dering queens from a distance, is the fact that fully one-
half of the colonies which have been given these queens
have developt bee-paralysis. These queens all have been
from the ablest and most experienced queen-breeders in the
United States, and men against whom there can not be the
least suspicion of having knowingly sent out diseased
stock. This is another one of the unexplainable things,
especially so, as I do not know of any one else having the
same experience. I have had practically to rid my apiary
of all stock obtained from a distance, and their descendants.
The last few j-ears I kept bees in Iowa, there were few
things I did in the apiary that gave me better satisfaction
than did the use of early queens from the South. I used to
use from 25 to SO every season. I could not only get them
cheaper during the first half of June, than I could possibly
rear them, but the getting them earlier than I could well
rear them enabled me to use them at a decided profit. My
general method of management was to prevent swarming
as much as possible (usually keeping it down to 5 percent
or less), thus keeping most of my colonies large and strong
during the entire honey season. Increase was secured by
taking nuclei from the strongest colonies early in June —
Feb. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
135
usually before the white clover honey-tlow com-
menced— g^iving' them these queens from the
South. These nuclei thus given laying queens
so much earlier than I could rear queens my-
self, would do enough better more than to pay
first cost of the queens, be in better condition
for the coming winter, and save me all the labor
and expense of rearing extra early queens. No
practical honey-producer in the North needs to
be told what this means.
I observed closely for years, and could de-
tect little or no difference between the quality
of these queens and those of my own rearin-
some of them proving among the best qucn.
I ever owned. Were I now keeping bees ;ni
where in the North, I should make a very large
use of early queens from the South. I should,
of course, get them from as able and careful
breeders as I could, and I don't think I should
have any special fears of injury to queens in
the mail.
Why queens would reach me all right when
I was in Iowa, and don't do so in Florida, is
one of the unexplained mysteries of "bee-keep-
ing. I only know the facts, jiot the reasons
therefor. Perhaps some of the readers of the
American Bee Journal can give us more light.
Dade Co., Fla.
No. 13.
-Interesting Notes on European Travel.
BY C. P. IiADANT.
IHAV^E well-nigh exhausted my subject, unless I take
you on the ocean with me, or unless I take you to the
place of my birth and make you acquainted with the
coijipanions of my young days, and show you in detail the
narrow, winding streets of the old city, or the lonely ram-
part walls. You would wonder at the lack of life in their
business streets, but would admire the whiteness of the
houses, where coal smoke is unknown. You would wonder
at the numbers of roaming dogs, at the habit the people
have of walking in the middle of the street, owing to lack
of room on the sidewalk where two people can not pass each
other without one of them having to step off into the gutter.
In bee-culture you would see but little of interest, and
yet we could not very well do without Europe and European
bee-keepers. Did they not originally invent the movable
frames, which Langstroth only made more practical by
hanging them free from the inner walls all around? Did
they not invent the first rudiments of comb foundation ?
Did the}' not give us the honey-extractor ? the perforated
zinc ? Do they not, from time to time, give us the most in-
teresting scientific experiments ? The microscopic studies
of Count Barbo, of Milan, made into 32 lithographs some
25 years ago, are yet at the head in the way of plain de-
scriptions of the anatomical structure of the bee. But for
practice, for production on a large scale, with the most eco-
nomical results, give us America.
A'o. /. — Bee-Shed of Mr. F. M. Wagner, of Adams Co.
See page i^i.
-Bee-Shed of Mr. F. M. Wagner, of Adams Co.. III.
See page iji.
But it is strange to see the very deep ignorance of the
masses concerning America, on the Old Continent. Some-
how they have a very clear idea that we are all millionaires,
all Vanderbilts, Goulds, or Rockefellers, but they can hardly
separate our millionaires from the Indians and the buffaloes.
To them the United .States is a country full of machinery
and wealth, and yet half savage. The geography of the
new continent is one of the things to come. They have a
faint idea of the location of Chicago — somewhere near New
York, or on the big Salt Lake. After two months of travel
I had to give up the idea of enlightening any one as to
where I lived by saying "in Illinois." So I had become ac-
customed lousing the term, " On the Mississippi." Once
while traveling thru England I met a gentleman, who, af-
ter I had given him that answer, said. " Oh, very well. Do
you live above Niagara Falls or below?" That is about
the extent of the knowledge that most of my French ac-
quaintances could show of the geography of the United
States. Yet they are all very well acquainted with coun-
tries that seem to us rather remote. Africa, Madagascar,
Siam, and China, seem to be very familiar. But those
places have not built up as America did, and what answered
in their geography SO years ago is'still about right at this
day, while the growth of America makes a new map neces-
sary every 10 years.
A reader of the American Bee Journal puts this question
to me : "How would you like to go back to Europe to live ?"
Not at all. America is the country for me. I should like to
re-visit the places I saw — I admire the beauties of the Eu-
ropean cities, of their buildings, which are certainly more
artistic and in better taste than our plain,
square brick boxes, which we call business
houses or factories. They do not have a 20-story
sky-scraper by the side of an ugly 3-story
.stjuare brick house as we do here ; and around
their monuments it seems as if a part of the or-
naments had been lavisht on all the surround-
ing buildings. This is true of either London
or Paris. But give me America for pluck and
enterprise. Give me America for a neat farm-
house, with a good barn far enough from it to
keep the pigs and the manure smell out of the
front yard. Here we have no peasants and there
is an opportunity for every one.
America, in my mind, has been made what
she is by her cosmopolitan condition. She
draws from every%vhere. All languages are
hers. All nations join here, and each brings
the knowledge and the views from his own.
The Dane and the Spanish, the Italian and the
English, the French and the German, all bring
their customs, their habits, and from the friction
of all these elements light is evolved. Amer-
ica is especially prone to adapt herself to all
sorts of things. Nothing is good enough for
her if something better is to be had. and altho
we must acknowledge that the first results of
136
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 28, 1901.
this mixture of so many things are many incogruities, yet
the general good is sure to come from the apparent chaos.
It matters not -whether a thing is English or German, or
French, if it is good it is accepted here ; while a good
thing, over there, will not be acceptable if it comes from
antipathic sources. " We have always done this way " is a
very usual reply.
And not France alone is slow to take a proposed
progress. The Anglo Saxons, who would have us
think that they lead in every sort of progress, have strenu-
ously opposed the introduction of the metric system, or of
the decimal system in their money, because it was not de-
cidedly English, no doubt, and they stick to their shillings
and pennies and yards and pennyweights, while America
braveh' accepted the metric system, just because she saw
that it was good. Visit an American farmer, then stay
away 10 years and when you come back none of his imple-
ments of cultivation will be the same as 10 years before.
He has outprogrest them all.
Even our new spelling reform shows that we are not
content to remain stationary. I lately bought a new book,
"Newest England," which treats of New Zealand and the
wonderful reforms they are making there, faithfully trying
co-operation, government ownership, and enough different
forms of socialism to scare any conservative. Well, the
writer of this book, who seems to love progress, still U5>es
the English spelling — "valour, labour, neighbour, fervour,
favourable, plougli." If we have dropt the useless letters in
so many words, why fall back— why not keep on improving ?
Or had we best go backwards and write "myrrour " for " mir-
ror ? "
But if the Europeans are slow to take hold, there is
room for improvement here. too. The country is new and
we try to go fast— too fast in some things. Our structures
are often flimsy, our bridges insecure. Our roads are hor-
rible, our architecture a salmagundi of all ages and styles.
W^ith our excellent railroad coaches, we have the most inef-
ficient and expensive transportation. Our express compan-
ies " skin " us to the quick. We need parcel posts such as
in Europe. While passing thru Paris, when first arriving
in Europe, we had to give out some linen to wash, but could
not get it back in time for our departure for the country.
"I will send it to you by parcel-post," said the laundry-
woman. "What, twenty pounds of linen?" "Why,
yes, it will cost you 16 cents." And, sure enough, we re-
ceived our linen, by mail, 20 miles away, for something less
than a cent a pound.
While in Switzerland, a friend loaned me an umbrella,
to go some miles in the rain. I askt how I could return it
to him. "Oh, by mail." "By mail!" " Yes, it will cost
you four cents."
How many of my readers know that we can send a half
pound of samples of merchandise to a:nv point in the Postal
Union for half as much as it will cost to send the same
package to our nearest post-office ? Half a pound can be
sent to the other side of the earth, or to the Fiji Islands,
for four cents, while it will cost eight cents to send it to the
post-office next to your own, in your own county. Yes, yes,
America can learn something yet.
The Long-Tongued Fallacy as Applied to Bees.
BY R. C. HUGENTOBI.ER.
ADMITTING that long tongues in one species of animal
life can do wonders in extracting sweetness, and carry-
ing it to their homes to be evaporated so as to make it
more palatable to those who are fond of this sort of luxury,
I am still extremely slow in applying this principle to Apis
mellifica. It has been argued with much show of reason
that the enormous yields of certain colonies of bees over all
others, is attributable to their longer reach of tongue. The
micrometer has argued long and eloquently in support of
this theory, and the honeyed jury (I dare not say jurvmen)
have been deeply moved by the long tongue of counsel, and
are actually measuring tongues with one another : It is not
yet decided which has the longest tongue.
In order to defend the above theory successfully, it will
be necessary, in comparing the results of labor, to have the
short and the long tongues engaged on a flower whose chal-
ices refuse to yield up any or all of the coveted treasure to
the short tongues, and willingly bestow it upon the long
ones.
In the summer of 1897, when the hills overlooking our
town were robed in white, and guests by thousands sat
down to the banquet of the flowers amid a glorious burst of
harmony, and drank the health of the same, I had one col-
ony that gathered 140 pounds of nectar, choice enough for
the gods. The average per colony of ray entire apiary was
50 pounds. Was the large amount gathered by one colony
due to long tongues ? I answer no. Can not all honey-bees
drain the chalices of white and sweet clover ? And even if
they could not drain the sparkling cups emitting inviting
odors, what time be lost in such a sea of flowers ? What
need of cistern-pole when full unto the neck ?
Again, in 1899 I had two colonies which gathered 100
pounds — double the amount stored by any of the balance of
the apiarj'. That year,
Sniilin:,' May. she promist me £hat I might smack my lips;
Hut laliT on grew cold toward me, as love to hate oft skips:
And tinallj', with back to me, as she was going out,
■• I'll back again next season when time signals thee to rout."
So. sore disheartened then was I;
But when Ma.v's sister came along.
She sang uie her sweet-elover song
Which pleased my ear and filled mine eye
With joydrops for another year.
Until sweet .Jiuie should reappear.
So melting poetry to prose, we had a fine flow of nectar
from a 20-acre field, 1 V miles to the north, which had been
furrowed by a flood and planted by that ready occupant —
sweet clover. Learn of him thy opportunity to watch, and
hold on with his might. He, an ardent lover of thin soil,
sent his servants on weighty- errands after treasure deeply
hidden ; which, when found and carried up, did intoxicate
with delight m}' teeming kingdoms which, when frowning
cloud and wind bore down on them, tv/ ;;/«^j<' came sailing
on lo%T down, till at flood-tide, they filled the main street of
our town, scarce over my low head! Fair sight I Well
worth a poet's eye I
We conclude then, that the superiority of one colony
over many others in amount of nectar gathered, is due, not
to the superiority of organs employed, but to superior in-
dustry which characterizes not only families and individu-
als in the lower kingdom of animal life, but families and
individuals in the higher as well ; and to argue that, in
white clover and sweet-clover flows extending over peri-
ods of five weeks and three weeks, respectively, a particular
colony manifested superior results in amount of labor per-
formed because of a superior organ in its individuals,
would be manifestly an error. Let us remember in breed-
ing for long tongues to gather a doubtful amount of red-
clover nectar (for the meager results from the bumble-bee
indicate no purple goblets filled), that the characteristic en-
ergy of colonies is not dependent upon long tongues, tho
they may accompany them. Nature, it seems, in the provi-
dence of God, has placed an apparently insurmountable bar-
rier between Apis mellifica and the sparkling nectar in the
rosy chalice, which, if overcome by the ingenuity of man,
would doubtless j'ield some nectar, but, taking all things
into consideration, be undesirable to all.
Hamilton Co., Ohio.
Cuban Bee-Experiences— Honey and Wax.
BY GEO. ROCKENBAUGH.
THE rain has been coming down in torrents all day, mak-
ing one feel like doing something desperate, but instead
I came up here on the peaceful mission of^writing to
the "Old Reliable."
April 10, 1900, I thought I was going to leave Cuba
for good, never to see my bees again. I was the most dis-
appointed bee-keeper that ever struck this island, as it was
no trifle to lose 475 colonies all in 10-frame hives with two
supers on each, and each colony containing a j-oung queen.
When I first began to work this apiary some of the hives
were rotten with what I pronounced foul brood, as some of
the bees were shipt here from Havana city. But I do not
now think that it is foul brood, as I tried the McEvoy plan
but made a failure of it. Some of the native bee-keepers
pronounce it chilled brood, pickled brood and bald-headed
brood, caused by pollen that is poisonous to the brood.
Every colony that I have is verj' badly affected with
paralysis, which is probably also caused by that same poi-
sonous pollen, as their abdomens are swelled, and they act
as they would in a bad case of constipation. I have tried
many remedies, but none proved of any avail.
When I arrived here the second time — Oct. 15th— there
were only 170 colonies left, the others having swarmed out,
and the hives were badly cut inside with moths. I have ex-
tracted about It), 000 pounds of honey up to this time.
Feb. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
137
I have not been at all successful here in rearing queens
on the Doolittle plan.
In Gleanings in Bee-Culture, T. Smith says that Editor
Pender, of Australia, gives his experiments, and claims
that 4 pounds of honey vpill produce one pound of wax.
What a foolish thing to put into type, and how unreliable
the statements are. I claim to be one of the sugar-honey
experts of the United States, and I will give a more reliable
statement as to how many pounds of sugar is required to se-
crete one pound of wax. I have written the following rule
which can be relied upon as very nearlj' correct, according
to my knowledge and judgment.
Twenty-four cubic inches of comb will hold one pound
of honey, and one pound of comb honey contains one ounce
of wax ; therefore one pound of secreted scales turned into
comb will hold 16 pounds of honey.
Now I am going to contradict myself right here, but let
me digress a little. I don't know how it is, but it is a fact
that it requires 3 pounds of sugar to produce one pound of
comb honey. I have had good, strong colonies that have
been fed with sugar syrup from June 10th to Sept. 10th — a
Heddon feeder kept full at all times — yet I could never
make the best colonies store much over 200 pounds of comb
honey each.
Bees that are good comb-builders require about 12
pounds of honey to make 1 pound of was, and I have had
bees that were supposed to be poor comb-builders that re-
quired 16 pounds of honey to make 1 pound of wax.
From the foregoing one can readily see that producing
sugar-honey, or feeding " any old thing " to produce wax,
does not pay. Cuba, Jan. 15.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. MIKI.ER. A/areng-o, 7/2.
(The Questiotis may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Sacctiarin as Bee-Peed.
Some time ago I saw some remarks about saccharin as
a bee-feed. Is it any cheaper than sugar for bee-feed ? or
is it injurious to bees ? Where can it be obtained ?
iNDI.iN.i.
Answer. — Saccharin is said to be 300 times sweeter than
cane-sugar, but I think you will find a dollar's worth of
granulated sugar better than a dollar's worth of saccharin
for the bees. You can probably get it of your druggist. It
will cost you something like 300 times as much as sugar,
and while you may have as much sweetness in a pound of
it as in 300 pounds of sugar, you would by no means have
the same amount of nourishment. The amount of carbon
would not be present.
A Colony Taken From a Bee-Tree.
I found a bee-tree last fall rather late in the season,
and I didn't like to cut it, but I was afraid some one else
might come along and not think the same as I did. So the
next day I went to work at it. I didn't think it would
amount to very much, but I was after the bees, so after I cttt
the tree I got the hive ready to put in the bees. I was very
careful about the work. The colony didn't seem to be very
large, but after I had an opening big enough to look in, I
was very much surprised. In place of the hive, I had to get
two wash-tubs and a pail. Such a sight — nothing but
hone)', and yet plenty of bees also.
After I had all the hotiey out, I started to coax in the
bees, but they wouldn't come. I had an 8-frame hive full
of honey. I got them in once, all but a handful. I thouglit
perhaps the queen was among them, but I could not find
her there, and they all came out again. Hy evening, when
it got a little cool, they took up a march to the hive once
more, and very nearly all went in. Some got under the log.
I left the hive until the next morning, when I went
back to look after the bees. When I got there they just
started to come out, but I closed up the entrance and took
them home, and placed them along side of my other bees,'
and opened the entrance again. They started to tly just as
fast as they could get out, for about two minutes, then they
stopt. There were plenty of bees there yet, so I sat down
and watcht them. Pretty soon, to my great surprise, I saw
some of the bees coming back with pollen on their legs.
Now, what I want to get at is this : Do you think the
queen is there? Why should they carry pollen, and not my
other bees? If they have no queen, will it do to let them
out all winter? They seem more noisy than my other bees.
IHINOIS.
Answer. — Very likely the queen is all right. In any
case it is best not to disturb them till spring. Then when
bees fly freely, and you find brood in other hives, you can
decide whether the queen is present by looking whether
there is any brood. If no brood is present it may be your
best plan to unite it with one of your weakest colonies that
has a queen.
Spacing Hives— Spring Feeding.
1. Is four feet from center to center too close for the
hives in the row ?
2. Will feeding bees when they are flying early in the
spring give satisfaction ? If not, why ? Ontario.
Answer. — l. No; but here is something a little better
that will allow more hives on the same ground. Set two hives
side by side, with only two or three inches between them.
Then leave a space of three or four feet and put another pair
of hives close together, and so on. If you place a number of
hives with only a few inches between them, there will be
trouble about entering the wrong hives, but there will be no
trouble when only two hives are placed close together.
2. Properly managed and under proper conditions it
may give satisfaction. If weather is warm enough for
bees to fly daily, and there is nothing they can get in the
fields, the feeding may be a decided benefit. If the weather
is somewhat chilly, so the bees do not fly freely, altho fly-
ing to some extent, feeding may induce the bees to fly out
and become chilled.
Ventilating the Supers.
I have been keeping bees for six years — just playing at
it while in the ministry, and so keep only a few colonies. I
am wintering 8 colonies, using dovetailed Langstroth 10-
frame hives with Hoffman frames. I appreciate your an-
swers to others very much, and so will ask one or two
myself.
If a hole were bored in the end of a super with wire-
cloth tackt over it —
1. Would the ventilation be helpful or harmful ?
2. Would light entering in be helpful or harmful ?
3. Would you advise boring a hole there ?
4. If advisable to have a hole there, how large should
it be ? Il.Li.NOiS.
Answers. — 1. I don't know.
2. I don't know.
3 and 4. — I would not advise it.
Now that I've answered all your questions, suppose we
sit down and talk over the matter a little. Allow me first,
by way of parenthesis, to congratulate you on your good
jiidgment in choosing something so interesting to " play
at " while ti'orX-//;^ in the ministry. It seems just a little
strange that there is so much difference between this coun-
try and Europe as to the proportion of the clergy engaged
in bee-keeping. In Germany, especially, a very large num-
ber of leading beekeepers are clergymen or professors and
teachers in schools and colleges. When I say " leading
bee-keepers " it does not necessarily follow that they devote
their time mainly to bee-keeping, nor that they keep a large
number of bees. But in their moments of leisure they give
earnest attention to the subject, and are among those who
have added most to our stock of knowledge on this most
interesting subject. Father Langstroth, who brought about
an entire revolution in bee-keeping, belonged to the clergy.
So does Dr. Dzierzon, who has done more than any man
living to advance bee-keeping.
But now to our subject. At one time I was on a visit
to Adam Grimm, who was one of the leading apicultura
lights up to the time of his death. He was putting on sur
plus Ijoxes (it was before the day of sections), and when he
put the hive-cover over the boxes he propt up the back end
of the cover something like an inch. As he was propping
up one of the covers, he lookt up and said in his earnest
138
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 28, 1901.
■way, "I consider that very important." Mr. Grimm did
not tell why he thought it important, and I think I didn't
know enough to ask him. But I thought he was a safe man
to follow, and as I adopted sections very shortly after that
time, using double-tier wide frames with 56 sections in a
super, I provided an opening as nearly like Mr. Grimm's as
I could by shoving the super forward so as to make a space
of one-fourth to one-half an inch at the back.
This workt quite satisfactorily, but a super with 56 sec-
tions was very heavy, and on some other accounts I was led
to change to the T super, which I now use. With this I
still kept the opening at the back by shoving the super
forward. A difficulty that I had before noticed to some ex-
tent seemed now to be aggravated. The sections nest the
opening proceeded very slowly compared with the others.
The opening to the outer air at this point prevented the
bees from building comb to a considerable extent. So I
gave up this opening, closing the hive entirely above, re-
lying only on the ventilation from below.
After this change, however, the amount of swarming
increast a great deal, making it look as if the ventilation
right thru the hive had a good deal to do with keeping down
swarming. Another thing helps greatly to strengthen that
belief. For years I have generally had a few colonies that
were allowed to have three or more stories, with a large
opening to each stor}', the combs being used for extracting,
or kept as store-combs. I do not remember that one of
these colonies ever swarmed, and I attribute this immunity
from swarming in a great measure to the large amount of
ventilation.
In the light of all this, it would look as if it would be a
good thing to have the ventilation you propose, providing
you are working for extracted honey, the air and the light
not being objectionable. With comb honey the hindrance
to comb-building stands in the way. Wire-cloth over a ven-
tilating hole is not needed, and the bees will be pretty sure
to till it up with bee-glue. It is hardly advisable to bore a
hole in any case, for you can get better effects by shoving
the super front or back. That distributes the ventilation,
instead of having it all at one spot with the hole.
Questions on Swarming.
In your book, "A Year Among the Bees," which I
bought of you in the spring of 1887, you say on page 49,
" When it comes time to put on supers, they (brood-frames)
are reduced to 4 or 5 frames."
1. Do you still practice this contraction of the brood-
chamber before swarming ?
2. When a colony swarms do you hive the swarm in a
contracted brood-chamber?
3. And if contracted or not, do you use starters or full
sheets of foundation in brood-chamber?
New York.
Answers.— 1. Alas for the changeableness of bee-
keeping— it is not safe to count on doing anything to-day
the same as 15 years ago. Strictly speaking. I do not prac-
tice contraction now. Up to the time of putting on supers
I give all the room needed for brood-rearing, even to two
stories of 8 frames each, if the bees will use it. At the
time of putting on supers I take away all but 8 of the best
frames of brood, if the colony has more, and give it enough
to make 8 if it has less. Some would say that is contract-
ing, and some would say it is exchanging room in the su-
per for room below. At any rate, my practice is to have
each colony have 8 frames of brood at the time of putting
on supers.
2. If I were hiving a swarm, I would give it four or five
frames at hiving, and fill up about 10 days later.
3. I always use full sheets of foundation. I might do
otherwise were it not for just one thing, and that is that I
want to be sure of all worker-comb. One of the ablest of
German bee-keepers, the late C. J. H. Gravenhorst, prac-
ticed giving a swarm four or five frames with narrow
starters, icounting that very little drone-comb would be
built in hem, and when they were filled giving enough
combs or full sheets of foundation to fill out the hive.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
\ ^'^ The Afterthoia^ht- '^ \
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THE BEE KEEPER AND THE BEE-SUPPLY DEALER.
In "Colorado's ■' letter and its replies, on pages 69 and
70, we have a first-class rumpus, albeit by no means a new
one, and not likely to become a closed incident very soon.
How much human nature we can see in man when we get him
in print onoe ! Man who doesn't like a situation seldom fully
appreciated by tlv man who does like it. Just hear the latter
fellow's ir|ili.< p..|i off — as he talks of buying a car-load of
supplies ■• Miiht unseen," and a thousand miles off. " Not so
bad off as hf juiufiiues.'' "Do not consider the dilemma of
our Colorado friend a serious one." "Very little trouble in
getting or giving satisfaction." Ahem ! And, in good sooth,
if the fellow is plump and candid enough, we rather like him,
at least to the extent of a good laugh. " Why should Icon-
tribute to make it perfectly safe for my customers to order of
my competitor? If I have given them satisfaction, and no
cause to complain, let them keep on buying of me.'' And
when we get reminded that much of the trouble arises from
our own too fierce cheapening of everything we would do well
to stop and consider — yes, di a large amount of considering.
First a pinch of " live " and then a pinch of " let live " should
go in the peace-pipe which we are to smoke. The two little
girls who never quarreled reported their S(<cretto be, " Addie
lets me and I let Addie." But, as to the manufacturing Addie,
we don't quite see our way clear to " let Addie " while she is
in her present frame of mind. For one thing she doesn't re-
alize what a prodigious lot of mista'Kes — some annoying, some
pxpciishc. some both, \)V^\i not entirely spoiling the goods — go
out In Im r aliment customers. I take it that part of these are
sidl.liil iiliniii a little, and salved over by a little apology, and
the hugiT part never mentioned at all. Never mentioned be-
cause few of us enjoy making complaints, when we know in
advance that they will never eventuate in anything except
talk. A present-at-the-factory customer would say: "Fix
this and this, and I'll take a thousand : otherwise I'll not
touch 'em with a pole."
Remedy ? Not sure there is any. The Falconer propo-
sition seems the best mentioned. Pay half, and deposit the
other half to be paid on satisfaction being reaclit. How would
it do to employ some bee-man who lives within "25 miles of the
factory to go and see your ear-load of supplies on board ? He
couldn't see with your eyes nor feel with your feelings, as to
faults mainly annoying or ill looking, but not seriously affect-
ing the utility of the goods.
A TRICK THE BEES PLAYED.
That trick which Mr. Bauckman's bees played, page 60,
was a very unusual one. It is unusual for a swarm to plunder
the home hive, and again unusual for a jilundered hive to sur-
vive and amount to something later on.
KEEPING BEES ON SHARKS.
Yes. that's so; the man who is keeping your bees on
shares can not be dismist very well if unsatisfactory. Also, if
the season proves so bad as to afford no hope of anything to
divide, he might take himself off without saying a word.
You think your bees have a keeper when they are totally neg-
lected. Page 66.
so UNUTTERABLY UTTERED, YOU KNOW.
The Utter case being so " utterly utter," and all that's
fairly utterable being already uttered, I think I'll skip it, and
forbear to utter. (Oft thusly our bread findeth butter).
TH.\T GERMAN UNCAPPING FORK.
So Mr. Kreutzingerhasan uncapping fork — but does not tell
his editorial visitor whether he has ever " made it go" or no .
Suspicious circumstance. Motors that never "mote" are not
as a class a very hopeful class. Perchance the uncapping fork
may "be the idea of that kind of amateur who wants to lift off
the cappings without taking any of the honey — and the amount
of time it takes to do it may not appeal to his mind very
strongly. Page 68.
Feb 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
139
i}m^ssmi=m!l^l!^m^.
\^sm^mr/;^mi<;^^A
Good Prospects for a Crop.
My lic'c's xu-v wintfi'in;^- very uieely. Tliey
liadii ^ixia tiiulil Jan. -.'lltli. and prospects are
good tor a i-ioii (if Ik mry this year. 1 do not
think white oUiver has tieen damajred any this
year. G. Gleystei;x.
Sioux Co., Iowa, Feb. 14.
Worms Destroying Alfalfa.
Bees are in tine condition. They Ijrcd n|i
strong;- in ( h-lnhcr. mi with plenty of tirst-elass
stores I rxin-ii ihcin liii-niiic cint all ri|;ht in
tlie siirinu-. 'ihry iliil rniiarkalily well last
season after .July, Init almost nothing earlier.
Worms took most of the tirst crop of alfalfa;
I am told that these worms drove at least one
family away from their home, crawling up the
north side of their dwelling until they were
two inches iliick on the roof.
Our (.'iiliirailo people are as much down on
sweet clover as I was some years ago when I
wrote it duwii in the American Bee .Journal,
and got a good drubbing for so doing. I am
going to plant two pounds of it on my own
land, '-just for greens,"' and chance it. Some
of our cattle men say if I do I will rue it.
The bee-industry in this country is in its
infancy, tho I understand there are atiout
4.1)1)0 colonies of bees in the county. About a
liait dozen people own from 50 to 3.50 colonies
each, and the balance are scattered mostly
among people who are " just e.\perimenting.''
The prospects for the future are very bright
indeed.
We have lately organized as the •' Lamar,
Colo., Bee-Keepers' Association,"" of which
your humble servant has the honor to be cor-
responding secretary. .James il. Wixi;.
Prowers Co., Colo., Jan. 18.
P. S. — Poganuc (Tarlox) got back Inim
Alaska in September, and says he found
bumble-bees, also mason, carpenter, and tai-
or bees, 40 miles above the Arctic Circle.
J. H. W.
Bee Keeping in Clarke Co., Wash.
Mr. (i. W. Durkee, of Wisconsin, a reader of
tlie American Bee Journal, has sent me a let-
ter with in(|uiries regarding bee-keeping in
this part of the State of Washington, and
thinking that there may be other readers like-
wise interested, I beg to answer Mr. Durkee
thru this medium. The questions are as fol-
lows:
1. Are you located near the Columbia River ?
From what does your maid honey-supply come?
2. Do you have basswood, white clover, sweet
clover, aud houey-dew ?
3. What is your average surplus per coloay in
a fair season?
4. What dues honey sell for?
5. How do y ou winter your bees ?
6. VVhat do sections aud foundation cost out
the
What :
I bees worth per colony ?
S Is there any opening for a bee-keeper in
Clarke County ? G. W. Dukkee.
Answers.— 1. Yes. on the edgeof the high-
land .joining the lowlands along the river.
White clover, tire-weed, and Spanish-needle
furnish the main part of the surplus honey,
in the order hamed.
i. We have no basswood and sweet clover,
but once in a great while we get some honey-
<lew, very rank in Havor. But in average win-
ters this stuff is all right for stores, as bees
here are seldom prevented from having a
qoixl tlight for more than a couple of weeks at
a time.
:i. This iiuestion I am unable to answer
further than what I have stated in my reports
in this paper.
4. Ixiok up the market quotations in this
paper for San Francisco, and add to those
prices about one cent for comb and one-halt
cent for extracted honey, and you will come
verv near the prices that honey sells for at
whiilcsale in Portland, Oreg. Of cnurse, if
you are not your own salesman yon will have
Incubators and Brooders
never disapiniint. Till y ni-c mailu ol fii.li pood
> perfect a system (
Manila Incubator Co. Box 31. Sose
It- .i^eiHi two cents for
V tliev arc the leaders.
hind til. III.
N. V.
deduct freight, commission, breakage, etc.,
get the net prices realized by the producer.
5. 1 winter the bees in one-story single-
allfil hivc>. I put two sticks i^xi^xU
clirs i-nis-uisi- on the top of the fraim-s,
c-rialinr]a|i liivci-loth, and one-half ilozcu
lulili- sheets of newspapers and the tlat liive-
n IT. and on top of thi.s the shade-board to
■i|, oir the rain. In the coldest part of win-
r 1 Iravi' the whole entrance ''hXI^ inches
.III, 1 wlini >].ring arrives, generally in
•l.niarv. 1 u-aiii rontract the entrance to
mill ,\:ior t iii.hr- for an average colony.
In this liim- H lien the bees are flying more
■ liss i-\ery day. I licy are better able to keep
i.ir .ombs and inside of the hives free from
1IIIIIII1--S anil niolil. and it also assists the
PODbTKY BOOK li'KEE, 64 pages, illustrated
with y inns, trial sutist-ription lu our paper, inc
I.NIiAND FuUbTRY JtlUKNAL, Indianapolis, Ind
flease mention Bh
"When ■writing.
\j^IfOlD
Is not always the work
of a highwayman.
When a tlcalcr cliarges yoii from
35 to 50 per cent more ior a car-
riage or harness than we would
fliargc you direct for the same,
(u- better, you are certainly being
lieltl up. This however, is not
the dealers fault. He must live,
butwiiy atyour expense? We sell out:
vehicles at factory prices and save you
both the jobber's and dealer's profit.
We do still better; we send our vehic-
les on lo Days Free Trial. Try it be-
fore you buy.
If not wholly
satisfactory
return it at
our expense.
Write to-day >
for our free t
illustrated^
catalogue.
-1
Kalamazoo Carriage & Harness Co.,
Box 53, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -orlip" -writing.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Cu's
goods at wholesale vv retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Martcet price
paid lor beeswax. Send for our I9"l catalog.
M. H. HUNT 4 SON, Hell Branch, Wayne ('..,. Mich.
Flease mention Bee juurnal when writing.
ELECTRIC
HANDY WAGON.
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO., Bm 16, QUINCY, ILLINOIS.
jiiou Bon Journal when wntins
great. However, my bees have come thru the
winter in good condition, with a loss of a very
few colonies, and I have never used more
l.arliing than mentioned above.
I'., s.rtions are high in price. I have a WOl
laial.i'^ issued by a firm in Portland, Oreg. In
ii N... 1 sections are quoted .$4.7.5 per 1.000.
anil lonndation from .50 cents per pound for
bcavv brood to (S cents per pound tor extra-
thin." in 10 pound lots. If you come out here
lo start in bee-keeping, I would advise you to
purchase a Barnes foot-power saw and make
\ our own sections, frames, hives, etc. Lumber
ivihiap. While we have no basswood. spruce
is pl.-nliful, cheap, and good to make sections
lioin 1 have found Oregon and Washington
rcilar to bethe best material I know of for
hi\es and frames. Any man with average in-
telligence can make his own hives, frames,
sections, etc., with the saw mentioned above,
and come out ahead with his bee-business,
even after a poor season, when money is
scarce with the bee-keeper. Of course, if you
haven't it I would advise you to get the " AB
C of Bee-Culture," and read the directions
there given for making hives, and the proper
use of the Barnes saw '" '' '
I ho].
, l...,-|0T|
ith all ils
(As I have no ax to
tin- i-ililoi- will not object to the
iii.-ii.l:inoii~ jiM-n to ilii' saw .and
I 'i\\r ii si.U-ly r.ir till- l.cnetit of
an. I write lioiu actual experi-
t hat I owe SO mueli of my success
- to the American Bee Journal,
i-loved and able writers, that I
hat I can towards paying a little
want to do w
of my debt. )
7. Bees can be bought in box-hives from
farmers hi'rc at all prices, from SI. 00 to s3..50,
but of course it takes time to gather up
enough bees in that w-ay to make a reasonably
good" start, and you will perhaps also have
to call on bee-keepers who ask from S5 to *.H
per colony for bees in one-story dovetailed
hives.
s Till re i^ \(-rv little territory in Clarke
( ..iiiiu «oi-ih anv'tliing for a s|H-L-ialist bcc-
kiT|.,-.- ihal i- n.ii already occut.icd. bill there
arc good local ions farther down and along
the Columbia River. T. H. W.v.u,E.
Clarke Co., Wash., Jan. 26.
Bees Cleaning Up Unflnisht Sections
ituinii
l.ising 1 had .50 pounds of
cy in nnlinishl -i-,li..n~. As I desired to
tili-sc for bail- ilii- i-i. Ilium- season, I con-
|,.,| t,, let ih.- l.i-i- i-in|.ty them by plac-
thcin in tiers (and ni.\-clf in the same
iiion), and allowing but one bee to cuter
time; but having a rich neighbor owning
- on the square above me (I own mine on
-.iiiart- al~o. tho vcrv much encumbered i.
■lii.l.-
Id bt
alio
.hel-e of inllnence" lesl he
111 ni\ kingdom with his own; so I bc-
rlhwitb the tedious process of uncap-
nd cxlracting the entire lot of untinisht
i>. After they were all uncapt and
al.oiita) feet to the westward of my
n row of hives, and the bees had been
iig on them for some time, I was at-
Tby till- buzzing industry about that
ace'. Wauhing with higii admiration
posing eolniuns. as tirst one. then the
gained the ascendency, now pouring
140
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL,
Feb. 28- I'A'l.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A: A:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin, U. S. A.
Marslilield llanufactiiriiig Company.
Our Specialty is making- SECTIONS, and thev are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the ri^ht kind for thrni. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list. *
sA2t,t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing
You Can'i Afford to Guess
at re^^lts ill the poultry business. If
nes**. The way to be absolutely sui i
bator in your hatching!:. Weguai.^'
made. The best way to know ab"i >
Poultry Eeepin:.." Has'.;.>l> illustr ^t
in stamps. Ask for book .jO. Cirruhi
CYPHERS INCVBATli!!
'-. "uthatch any incubator
I' ill.) book, "Profitable
1 Tn r< iiiject. We send it for 10
111 , « ..jluiKii \. T., BoBton, Macii.
Please mention Bee Journal •when "writing.
Drugs and Chemicals by nail.— We produce
herenilli, very inadec|ualely, but as best we can
in black and white, the beautiful cover of the
Heller Chemical Co's new catalog. It is one of
the handsomest, and certainly the most com-
plete of the kind we have ever seen. The cover
is lithographt iu many colors on heavy linen;
the book contains 144 large pages, 1,500 illus-
trations, and gives cut-rale prices on more than
1S,U00 articles— household and standard reme-
dies, pills, tablets, live-stock and poultry reme-
dies, toilet preparations, rubber J- I > 1^. ■
oils, brushes, and in fact everything found in a
IT MENDS BREAKS
;LolJ^50^i
complete drug-store. The prices quoted will be
a revelation to our readers, as they are from 15
to "5 percent below those of retail dealers. The
book should be in every house in the land, for it
will save the purchasei* mauv dollars in the
course of the year. The Heller Chemical Co.,
the only mail-order drug-house iu the world, is
reliable; and our readers may depend upon fair
treatment. Send 10 cents for this cataIog,which
will be refunded with your first order. See their
advertisement in another column. Address Hel-
ler Chemical Co., Chicago, 111., and please men-
tion this paper in writing.
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only fl.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan street, CHICAGO, ILL
ON TKF SPOT.
The Premium lombiiiol
rlvetir, ilvctm.isuziin
aiiU Buckle punch is :>
. ^.u.iilelt rt^jiaii iDfioutliilyr hai-
DRAPER PUB. & SUPPLY CO., CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
Please raeutiou Bci journal when ^sn-itiuR
We want *
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will'
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Multi & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front .v Waluui Sis.. (.iNeixNATi.O.
Please inenfAon Bee Journal "wrhen ■writui^.
EVERGREENS
Dundee, III.
Wanted !
particulars in first
comb honev prefer
lAtf Tubs. C. S-
Two or three apiaries
for cash, located in
Colorado. Give full
leiter, and lowest cash price;
red.
ANLKY i; Son, Fairlield, 111.
Pleace mention B<
riting
BEES
QUEENS
SmoteerB. Sectione,
Comb Foundat loc
And Bll Apfarlaa gapDU»
FUCK CsUlilt°<^ ■• *• rLUMis, BaUaiOh. a»
into, now out fif. now gorging the entrance. I
discovered that the rich man was becoming
richer, and the poor man poorer. As a neigh-
bor sometimes keeps his own by knowing
what a neighbor hath, so I have since done.
Knowing that my neighbor's bees ^vere al
blacks, and a good share of mine Italians, m
curiosity was aroused until it stood on tiptoe.
Peering from a window I beheld their black
craft as they sped on their course to their
place of mooring. Ne'er was merchant-man
so freighted, tho loaded to the water's edge,
and well-nigh unto drinking. To and fro they
plied twixt rich and poor. Not a sail from
Italy's sunny strand e'er hove in sight ! My
neighbor's blacks had found the treasure,
staked their claim, and asserted " priority of
occupation."
Again, last autumn's glow, I piled a score
of hives up in three tiers. Italy's fair colors
now fanned the breezes as they bore down
upon the discovery, and sped to tell the news
to ready listening ears that waited word to
spread all sail, but three or four of ray colo-
nies were thus engaged in the carrying trade,
while my neighbor's and .SO of my own were
not plying an oar. Thus, it seems, that given
but a bee-space the discoverers had planted
their standard on the new-found shore, and
taken possession in the name of their queen.
E. C. HUGENTIIBI-ER.
Hamilton Co.. Ohio, Jan. T.
Bees Did FaiFly Well— 12-Pound
Cases.
I have 8'2 colonies of bees. 30 in .s-frame
dovetailed hives, and 53 in -ho ue-made hives.
I intend transferring them all to standard
hives. They are in tine condition, and have
about 100 pounds each of honey to build up
on this spring.
I have had some experience with bee-paraly-
sis. I simply kill the old queen, and rear a
new one from my best stock. But it I let
them alone they will die within three years.
I sold honey in one-pound sections in 12-
pound shipping-cases — the first ever sold here
— and it went like hot-cakes; I could not sup-
ply the demand.
My bees have not done very well the past
three years, tho I have secured from 1.000 to
1.500 pounds of honey each year, while my
neighbors got none. Why? I5ecausc I take
the American Bee Journal, 'ft'hen I first be-
gan taking it people laught at me. but they
have stopt it, as they tee that I get the money,
and I still take the Bee Journal I can't get
one of them to take it, tho. But let it still
continue to come to help me out of my
troubles, as it always has done.
A. R. Yandell.
Scott Co., Ark., Jan. 30.
Requeening— Red Clover Honey.
In ret|ueening some of my colonies last sea-
son I took two frames with the queen from
one of my strongest colonies, giving the re-
maining brood one of my imported queens
from Italy. Thus I had good eggs and larvae
from my first colony to rear queens from, and
got a fine lot of queen-cells drawn out. On
the eleventh day I took the queens from the
colonies that I wanted to requeen, and by the
next day the bees had learned that they had
no i|ueen. On the morning of the twelfth,
after the brood had been exchanged, I cut out
the queen-cells that suited me, putting one in
each hive between two frames and at the top,
taking care that the sides of . thg cells were
protected, as I never knew the bees to cut a
queen-cell at the end. Within three days the
young queens had hatcht, and the bees had
received them, and in from five to eight days I
had young laying queens. I requeened eight
colonies by this method, and did not lose one.
I tried a few on the nucleus plan after the
queen had been laying, and lost two out of
five, so I like the new way better if it con-
tinues to work as well as on the start. But if
it should work as some of our experiments
with the bees do. I may change my mind, for
sometimes when we think we have attained
perfection in some of our work with the bees,
they let us know that wc are not yet master
of all their ways, and upset all of our plans.
So I have learned that other creatures have
some rights iu the way of following the plans
Feb. 28, 19(1
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
141
of the ji-reat Creator, and are harder to lead
astray tlian a good many people.
Bee.s did little more than set a living here
the piii-t season. I had only a few colonies
that stored any surplus, and a good deal of
that was from red clover, so I have had the
pleasure of eating some red clover honey, and
think it very tine.
I am keeping only a few bees, as I am not
able to do much work, but what few I have I
want as good as can be had. the same as 1 did
when 1 was looking for a wife.
Arthur A. Hoisek.
McDonough Co., 111., Jan. 31.
Poor Season— Bee Litepature.
Last season was a very poor one with me.
as my bees swarmed too much. The color ies
in 12-frame hives, which I was running for
extracted honey, swarmed, and I put them
liack. removing two frames of brood and giv-
ing tliciii frames of foundation, and that put
an ciul to their swarming. They went to
work and st(]red more honey than those in the
Ill-frame hives. My crop of comb honey was
away heliind what it usually is.
I iiave '20 colonies in double-walled hives in
good condition. I winter the bees on the
summer stands, and have very few losses—
none last winter. 1 make my own hives.
I began taking the Bee Journal when I be-
gan keeping bees, and have learned all that I
know about bee-keeping from it. I would
like to have my bee-keeping friends subscribe
for it ; 1 tell them of the advantage in being a
reader of the Journal, and give them copies to
read, but they seem to think they know
enough without it. I tell them to look at the
honey I gel, when they get only a few half-
tinisht sections. My bees are Italians.
James Laidl.wv.
Ontario. Canada, Dec. 31, I'.Wll.
In Winter Time— Bee-Keeping in
Maine.
Now that the l)ees are all quietly dozing
away the long winter days and nights, tiered
up in their winter quarters, or snugly packt
on the summer stands ; the numerous odds
and ends consigned to the wood-pile, and the
necessary material stowed away under cover,
awaiting the opening of another spring cam-
])aign — the busy bee-keeper has ample time to
rellect on his past conduct : make new resolu-
tions; reread some of the articles in his favor-
ite bee-paper that he only half read during
the busy season; build that " non-swarming
hive " which he knows will work to perfec-
tion : and occasionally write an article for the
bee-keeping fraternity, telling them how he
has discovered a method that will revolu-
tionize the industry!
If he has been observing — as most bee-keep-
ers are — he has learned some things that he
will have to learn all over another way, the
next season — some things he has learned for
a positive fact. That big crop of honey he
was going to harvest is a sweet reality, or a
dismal mistake — more often the latter.
I'erhaps he has tried the different strains of
bees, and thinks he has satisfied himself as to
which is the best, or is still perplext about it.
AVell, he can at least tell what he thhik-s, and
the laws of this free, expanding country will
MdUlG'S ^^Snero things for t90t)
Seed Catalogue ^
You should, by all means, bave this moot
ni<i(lern rafaloffue uf modern tiiiifw.
It i.s hrimful iiud overflowing with t;i.>uiJ tiiiut^^ in
veiietable, farm and flower seeds. Howtnim
plants, fruits, bulbs, etc It contain'* :(.■>
novettic>» in vefretables and lluuer»*
never offered before, baa Kiti large puuf-s.
seven handsome colored plates and liundr*-iis of
illuatrationa. It gives practical, up-to-date cul-
tural directions and offers manv rash prizes.
The first edition alone costs over ?"30.W<U. bo while
w«* send it free to all customers, we must ask
others to send 10 cents for it. which amount they
nray deduct from their first order. You will
make a mistake if you do not write tonlay for this
the Novelty Seed Book of the year. Address,
W9I. HENBT 91 AITI.I;. Philadelphia.
Direct to Consumers.
OurllftndHomeCotu'o-r I- ree, cosung ovhf t2 earh.
3 144 paces, with I'.iM) illustrations and 15,000 artnk^
liflted. on which we cuarantetto kstc you from 15lo7f>%. Mom
compute bwk of llflllnd. Sent for 10c to pay costof mailinp,
which will be refunded with tirat order. Valuable book ol refer-
nce and ouehtto befn every household. Getit;lieep1thandy,
-leller Chemical Co., Dept 13, Chicago.
'•TheOolj Ball Order Drug Uoaselo the norld,"i^"
the Bee Journal.
Dittmer's Fouudatioii !
ReUil— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS lliat produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inyentions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog griying
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
IGREIDER'S POULTRY
avsdowell. 50 standard varieties. Handsoni-
.. .iiltry book of the season for 8c stumps. Full
loney-making hints. Aly birds are winners.
B. H. CREIDER, Florin, Pa.
t'lease mention Bee Journal "when writine
BEE
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Mention the An
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Deyice is a flne thing for use id
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 2S cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal /oi
a year at $1.00; or for$1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeal
ind the Clipping Deyice. Address,
OEGRQE W. VORK & COMPANV,
Chicago. 111.
Good Instruments.
DK niTsKlANS.
VIOLIN— Amati model, cho:
3,tiark brown, lightredoramber,
bony triinmetl, lirazil wood bo
' peiirl slide, lull leather boui d cai ^
..rth820. My I'riet* ♦6.2'
RGUITAR— ^ol'd Rosewood standird
"tdaid. Spanit.li ce
neck, celluloid iront, ebony tin;
im, besC quality patent he
1 leather uound canvas ci
.. „njlarprice»18. M> l*rlt-e$4 4
MANDOLIN-Sohd Ro^ewo 1
; celluloidir.int; veneere f
piece, handsomely mlaid
lee. Only «7. with
bound case, extra set of
and tortnit^e pick. Send fo'
•"""chVcaco.
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FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publishl in the United States.
fVool Market!. :i<id Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, fir--l,l'iremost and all the time.
Are you intereslail? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bt« Journal w^en wriung.
not prohibit him from believing it, tho othui-s
(lisa^cree.
That bte-keeper who has been asleep for 20
years (page 777, 1900) seems to be wide-awake
cniiiijrh now, and after Prof. Cook. Very
gouil. It is just such chases as this that
brintr out facts. I wonder if he dreamed
t 111 iM- things during his 20 years' nap. If so.
lil<f !l;iiiiel of old, he feels that " Ihe dream is
riiiMiii. and the interpretation thereof sure."
My I'wii observations compel me to agree
Willi iiiiii ill the main. Experiences similar
to this Mi:ikc NIC think that in the majority of
iHsiK 111! isMiiiig swarm does not know where
ils future home is to be. But in some iu-
stMiires I think they do know where they
iiiteiiil to " pitch their tent." Two instances
caiiii- to my notice last summer, where swarms
left for parts unknown. One, after going
aliiiiit a halt mile, clustered again, and re-
muiiipil there thru the night and until nearly
iiiiiui the next day. The other was found on
II fence ;i mile or more from the nearest api-
:iiy. wiieir it remained two da^'s and two
iii'.;lits lifter it was discovered.' I do not know
how long it had been there before it was
found.
On the other side of the argument: Two
seasons ago a large swarm of hybrid Italians —
the largest I ever saw — left for the woods as I
was about to take them down. They started
in a direction a little south of west. I threw
M-venil jinils of water among them with a
liiuiil-spray pump. Tho it didn't stop them it
liHiied tlieiii from the direction in which they
were going, and headed them northwest. I
followed them until they tired of my coui-
(lany, tho I \vas not at all tired! They were
ninv workiii'.;- toward the south. They past a
nei/lilicr- 11 mile from the apiary, and then
liii'iie'l tlieii eourse again. It seemed to me
tliat they were making for a certain place. I
have an idea, but not much proof to offer,
that a prime swarm is more likely to have a
future home in view than an after-swarm.
I believe that for some localities the black
or Gernmn bee is a better all-around bee than
the Italian, especially if working for comb
honey. I think — tho rny experience will
lianliy warrant my expressing views on the
siil'ieet — that if the same amount of labor and
time had been spent improving the black l-iee
that has been spent in improving the Italian,
it would be a much better bee for the locali-
ties where the season is short, and perhaps
eiiiiipare favorably where the season is longer.
I liMve been trying the Italians and the crosses
fur the past four seasons, and so far the
blacks have proven the most profitable. If
there were a demand for bees I should want
the Italians for profit every time.
In this county the bees can be put back on
the summer stands about the middle of April.
If the weather is fine there is usually enough
honey to keep up brood-rearing nicely, until
alioiit the middle of June, when white clover
lieuiiis to ttiu-im; then the main flow is on
\vliirli liisis aliiuit three weeks. Very little
s\\ arming occurs liefore the beginning of the
How. The blacks, if strong, will usually cast
one or two swarms, and then devote their
timi to storing honey, while the Italians can
1 1 I iided upon to swarm twice, three times,
innie. In 10 to 20 days the prime
■an I le expected to repeat the perform-
uiL 1 liave had them swarm repeatedly be-
fore tlie frames were full of comb. Perhaps I
have been unfortunate in the strains of Ital-
t Ills I have secured, but I have had queens
li I iihio. I'rnn-ylvania, and Texas. The
1 \ irain wa- le-s given to swarming, bet-
1 !• liuiMri -. and workt more readily in
tin. SI lic.iis. li is only justice to say that I
think the Italians coultl be handled so that
lliey would produce as much--or possibly
more— honey in this county, but it would re-
quire more labor and attention. If I succeed
in doing this I will tell of it later on.
O. B. (iKIFFIN.
.\roostook Co., .Maine, Dec. 20, 11100.
Poor Season— Wintering Bees, Etc.
Last season was a poor one from beginning
to end. There were plenty of llowers, plenty
of rain, plenty of bees to gather the honey,
and everything suitable for a good honey
crop, but there seemed to be no nectar secreted
142
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Feb. 28, ly 1.
in the blossoni.s. (an any one tell why there
was not '.
The absence of zero weather this wintir
(with the exception of one day— Dec. 31sli.
has been a very desiral-ile feature in the win-
tering of bees in this locality. There were
several days in November and December
when the bees had a good, cleansing flight,
and many days when they couldn't lly they
could move their positions insiilc of tlu- hive.
to reach their .stores. This state of affairs
almost insures safe wintering. \'ery little
snow has fallen thus far (Jan. 3d).
My losses in wintering during the winter of
1899 and 1900 nearly wiped my apiary from
the face of the earth, hence my attention has
been drawn to other means of making a living,
yet the old love for the business still remains,
and to give up a calling that I have followed
for 20 years or more seems a hard thing to do.
The pleasure one derives from a business he
loves to follow is hard to estimate. Altho my
losses have been very heavy during the past
three vears, I still take three of the best bee-
papers, and have kept informed along the line
of new improvements.
I am wintering ray 22 colonies on the sum-
mer stands, in chaff or double-walled hives,
protected on the north and west sides by corn-
fodder set up around them to break the north-
west winds. If such protection had been
given them two years ago. when my loss was
so heavy, I think a large ]ierrent of them
would have been saved. A IuljI] I'Mnr^l l.nii-,
or some protection on the mirlh ami Hist, is
very essential in winterinu' Ik-o on tiic sum-
mer stand-, an.l in till-. 'ml saves many times
the cost Ml' M"li a rMii-inirtion.
Altlio my lin- kiipnii: i-xperience extends
back for more than :io years, my knowledge is
still quite limited. I learn something nearly
every day, either from the bees or by the read-
ing of the experiences of others in the bee-
papers.
White clover abounds in this locality, and
promises a fair crop next season. The yellow
and white sweet clover varieties are also get-
ting a start around liere.
The "Old Reliable" comes to my desk
every week as regularly as the clock strikes
the noon hour every day. I am jlail Innntc
that many improvements havr lirrn niiiili- in
its make-up and in the valuabii- matlcr it con-
tains from week to week. 1 wish all the
readers of it, and the Bee Journal itself, a
prosperous vear and a hotuitiful harvest.
Cass Co.,"Nebr., Jan. 3. J. M. Ymxc.
Califopnia Smiles.
I notice in a recent issue of the American
Bee Journal that I am qfloted as holding
rather pessimistic views in respect to the
rainfall and honey prospects in this State.
Well, matters have changed since the publi-
cation of that, and now we are optimistic.
Things are favorable and almost certain for a
good honey-yield.
We have had an abundance of rain during
the past 10 days, and vegetation is coming
forward with a rank growth. The sages,
altho somewhat killed out during the past
three years, are making a good growth, and a
new growth is putting forth with vigor. Bee-
keepers are putting forth also, with the ex-
pectation of a honey-yield. Bees are in de-
mand, and I recently learned of the sale of 200
colonies for .$1,000 — an extra-good price for
this country. There has been over 12 inches
of rain up to date, and more coming.
The R.iMBLEU.
Ventura Co.. L'alif.. Feb. 6.
1900 a Failure— A Wheat Country.
The past season was a \woy
in this Incalitv 1 did not n-ct
id al
the
ill
that ni'ViM- taki- a liri-|i
about 200 ])onnils nl nirr wliiti- hmiey ; In- has
a near neighljor that raised alfalfa, and the
bees got it from that source. I have tried to
get him to take the Bee Journal, but he re-
fuses, saying that if he did he would not
change his way of keeping bees.
I have seen a good many bee-keepers this
winter, and all report 1900 a poor year, and
most say it was a failure. AVell, I had the
fun if I didn't get a crop of honey. I will sell
Lanostrom on...
TI16H0I16UB66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is cue of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug-ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pag-es, being- revised by those
larg-e, practical bee-keepers, so well-
kno-wn to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Eacli subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending- us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michigan Street, CHICACO, ILL
GINSENG
fUnls prodnre St.069.10 ll 10
liookUllinshow loeicw lt.4c
Lakeside Ginseng Gardens, Ambei.N.y
Tennessee Queens I
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
aud select golden queens,
reaied 3^i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $I.Si)
each ; untested warranted
<Jueens, from same breedei
owned
s. None
d but fen
7Sc
ch. Nn
n Smiles.
Discount
on large orders. Contracts
specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
The Belgian Hare Guide
This book is acknowledged to
be tbe finest and most reliable
book out on the Belgian hai-i
ludnstry. It contains complete
and practical in-
formation on the
following ana
many otlier Bnb-
,^ ^ ^ jectBperl.-iining-to< _ _
the industry: Hlsioiy aud Origin, The Belglaa
I lor Utility. The Bc;-l;;lan for Pancv, The Bual-
I nesa and Its Ontlook, How to Begin, Houses and
I Hutches, Foods and F'-odmsr, Feeding Green
Stuff, Mating and Breeding, Care of the Young,
Pedigrees, Score Cards and Judging, Be^gl.^a
Hare Color, Dressing and Cooking. Qiseases and
Remedies, Preparing for Exhibition, Crating and
Shipping, Caponlzing, Queries and Answers,
Mi.scellany, Belgian Harps vs. Poultry, The Bel-
gian in England, The Belgian in Cali-
fornia, Bl.-ick Belgians
and Flemish Giants.
It iB elegantly printed
on flno paper. Illus-
trated with numerous
beautiful photo en-
gravings, and is Bub-
stantlally bound. No
cine interested in Belgians can afford to ho with-
out it. Send your order today. Price, 35 cents.
SPECIAL OFFERS.
For $1.10 we will send the " Belgian
Hare Guide" and the American Bee
Journal for one year; or for $2.00 we
will send the Bee Journal for two years
and the " Belgian Hare Guide."
Address, QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
lis Michigan St., CHICAKO, ILL.
a part of my bees in the spring, and run wliat
I keep for comb honey.
This is a farming district, and the crop is
mostly wheat. Last year it rained soon after
the fields were cleared of crops, then the plow-
ing began, and bee-teed was turned under be-
fore it had time to bloom. This county is the
banner county of the State for wheat.
Sampson Stout.
Sumner Co., Kaiis. . Jan. 2H.
Some Queen Experiences— Cooling
Wax.
The question. Why should a colony
refuse to l<ill the old queen when she
has stopt laying, and a young queen
has emerged, thecolony finally swarm-
ing with the old queen that was dipt,
there being no eggs or uncapt brood,
and but little capt brood in the cells ?
was askt by me at the National con-
vention, but as I was not in attendance
when it was brought before the con-
vention, I will relate the facts as they
occurred :
It was the first week in August, and
I was not expecting any swarms under
the prevailing conditions, but while
working in my store-house for bee-
supplies, etc., I 1 oticed a commotion
among tlie bees, and upon investiga-
tion found a swarm in the air. I soon
found whence they came, and as I
wanted some increase I secured a new
hive, which I placed on the old stand,
putting the old colony on a new stand.
The swarm soon returned, the old dipt
queen being with them. After a little
time I went to see how the swarm took
to the new hive, and found nearly all
of them clustered on the bottom of it,
so I used the smoker to drive them
back. I thought something must be
wrong, so I opened the old hive and
found a young queeti, which I killed.
Upon furtherexamination I found that
the frames did not contain a single
egg or any uncapt brood, and but very
little capt brood, and several queen-
cells in which were queens about ready
to emerge. I killed all the queens, in-
cluding the dipt one with the swarm,
and gave each colony young larva;
from Italian queens from ivhich to
rear others. In about 8 or 10 days I
became so dissatisfied with the Italian
queen from which the larvte was taken
that I went to one of the hives into
which was put the frame of brood,
larvx' and eggs, and to my astonish-
ment I found a line of queen-cells built
around the lower part and on both
sides of the frame. I counted them,
and found that there were 60 capt
queen-cells. I destroyed these and
transferred the just-hatcht larva; to
the uncapt cells, and they were ac-
cepted and hatcht into fine queens, I
do not know if such things happen
frequentU', or whether they are freaks,
but I know positively that the above
occurred.
I bought and reared a number of
queens during the past season, which
were introduced without a single fail-
ure. I think there is no excuse for
losing queens thru introducing, if the
proper course is pursued, and precau-
tions taken. Always be sure there are
no queen-cells and no queen in the
hive before releasing the new queen.
Leave the caged queen in the hive two
or three days, and let th6 releasing be
done by the bees eating thru the candy.
It is better to introduce queens during
a honey-flow, as they are more readily
accepted at that time.
In regard to the cooling of wax, I be-
Feb. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
143
lieve that the longer the wax is in
cooling, and the longer it is in the
liquid state, the clearer it is of dirt.
Slow cooling might not make any dif-
ference in the quality of the wax after
it had past a certain temperature, but
fast cooling will almost always cause
it to crack, and this I wish to avoid.
As a rule, when I extract wax I have
quite a lot of it which I pour into
large pans placed upon the floor, and
cover with sacks and such available
material, and it is generally satis-
factory.
The honey crop was short in this
locality the past season, and white
clover was a failure. I have made a
practice of stimulative feeding for sev-
eral years, and I think it pays when
properly done. The early spring and
until after fruit-bloom was excep-
tionally good. After fruit-bloom I be-
gan feeding, using the Boardman
feeder early in the morning. I con-
tinued to feed until within a week of
basswood bloom when I discontinued,
thinking the bees were getting enough
from the fields to keep them up until
the basswood flow. But by that time
nearly all were light in honey, tho
verj' strong in bees, and it took the
first three daj-s to fill up below. Then
the weather became so cold that it
threatened frost, and for about four
days they stored but little honey. The
colony on the scales stored 8 '2 pounds.
There being but little fall hone}', and
October being such a warm month,
bees flew nearly every day, using up
their stores, so quite a number of colo-
nies were a little light when the time
came to put them into the cellar. But
we hope for better years to come.
I enjoy reading the report of the
National convention, and I think all
bee-keepers should be subscribers to
the American Bee Journal.
G. H. Frey.
Linn Co., Iowa, Jan. 10.
VELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending us One New Subscriber for a Year.
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent regular subscribers will send us $1
with a new name for this year, we will
mail, postpaid, to the one sending
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with S2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
1.14 i: 140 Erie Slreet, - CHICAGO, ILL.
lA START IN LIFE!
OS its importance, lion't deny it to yc
pay you back all right. The best v
with the fa?»joi
iRELiABLE
nportance. Don't deny it to your chicks. Hatch 'era
tu back all right. The best way to hatch clucks
with the fa?»jous
INCUBATORS
AND BROODERS
luyii JJ
C20TH CENTURY POU.'Ki BOOK
incuba- •
The machines which h;
Hi ttirtn :inv othur machine made. They hat*
li^ 'Mu'SS BANTLING SPECIAL, suei
Mt SI. 1.1 at a low price. But send for our prrea
wi ti'rs all about our poultry supplies, and all aiK
J* fill im-n have made money at it. Vou won't find
S Reliable Exhibition Coops 1. are LEADERS,
jj^ Reliable Pliant Leg Bands ( )• ,, „ ,,, „, „„,
bout all o
. -cially bow success- ;jj
r;.', n.-aii^.- fn p. sultry :ui\ \s lH.Tt-. uuly 10c for postage, rtg
RELIABLE INC. & BROODER CO., I
Box B-2 Oulncv, III. ?5
CaMtnftlia ! I* you care to know of its
^./dlllUrillcl I Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Aericulturai
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, J2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street. ■ San Francisco. Cal.
m
SENDFORfREE_GATALOGUL|
Prairie State Incabator Ca. i
^ llomerOity, Pa. "^
Bee=Suppnes
We are distributors for ROOT'S (^OODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Ulinoi.s. West Virg-iuia, Ken-
tucky, and llie Smith.
NIUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
C H. -W. "WEBER,,
Successor to C. F. MfTH & Son,
214f. 4S Central .Ave., CINCIN ^;.\TI, O.
I BEE-SUPPLIES! I
r^ .^-Root's Qoods at Root's Prlce9-U« ^
• ^ PofDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^.
•^ thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^.
•Jl Service— low freight rate. Catalog ^■
Ti free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
•J 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, IND. ^
200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2.00
nni.n. HntchcH every fertile
etri.' Write for catalot-'ue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL.Quincy. III.
4<jA2St
Pie
theMee Jou
ual.
\VANTED.-A situation by a young married
*' man, to assist in or care for apiary, and
fruit-growing. Experienced with bees; sober
and reliable; handy with tools; small family,
and musician. N.Y. State preferred. Addiess,
J. H. CLUTE, 432 Scotland St., Orange, N.J.
il >J« Jit i*t >14 sM >li >Ii Jte. >!i Mi >ti iltl*
|fiON&y MD BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Feb. 10.— Fancy white comb, 16c;
No. 1 white curat, 14^1Sc; fancy amber, 12Sil3c;
Xo. 1 amber, liKgiUc; fancy dark,10c; No.l dark,
M(ffl')c White e.ttracted, T'iKiSc; amber, 6^1®
">ic; dark, 6'4c. Beeswax, 2Sc.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Feb. 19.— Fancy white comb,
16@16}^c; amber, 12(ail3c; dark, 10c. Extracted,
light, 'ic; amber, 7H®»^c. Demand fair; re-
ceipts light. Beeswax, 22@28c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Cincinnati, Feb. 9.— The market for comb
honey is becoming very bare, altho the prices
have not changed. Fancy white comb is still
selling for 16c; no demand for darker grades.
Extracted is in fairdemand; dark sells forSS^c;
better grades from d^CaJSc; only white clover
brings from H'/i(gi9c. Beeswax, 28c.
C. H. W. Weber.
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 11.— Honey market is
dull and prices nominal; light stock, but the
cold weather is bad for it. Comb, in good order,
not candied, while, ISWlljc; mixt, 13(g>14c; dark
and buckwheat, 11 @ 12c. Extracted, white,
7fg'8c; mixt, 6(a;6}^c; dark, S>^(a.6c.
H. R. Wright.
Buffalo, Feb. 8. — Some more active this
week, and may clean op better than expected
awhile ago. Fancy 1-pound comb, lSf»16c; Xo
1, 14f<;ilSc: No. 2. 12W'13c: dark, buckwheat, etc.,
.SMlOc. Beeswax, 25wiSc. Batterson <s Co.
Boston, Feb. S.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, ISta 16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, while, SiSi
8Mc; light amber, TJ^'SSc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
New York, Feb. 19.— Comb honev is being
well cleaned up on cur market. The demand
has lessened to quite an extent, on account, we
presume, of l he high prices which have been
ruling. Fancy white siillbrings 15l'»16c in a
small way; No. 1 white, 13(ail4c; amber, ll@12c;
buckwheat, 10c. Extracted rather dull and not
much doing. California white honev, 7t^@8c a
pound; light amber, 7c; Southern, from 60 to 70c
per gallon; buckwheat, SMSl^c. Beeswax steady
at 2.Sc. HiLDRETH & SeGELKEN
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, 15(ail6c;
No. 1, 13@14c; dark and amber, 12@13c Ex-
tracted, white, 7(a.7>^c; amber and dark, o@6S^c.
Beeswax, 26@27c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, mimZ'Ac: dark, S(ai9c. Ex-
tracted, white, ~l4<aSc: light amber 6Ji(a"5ic;
amber. 5%(SbHc. Beeswax. 26(a28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present offer-
ings are of lolerablv liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honey is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantity," which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
HONEY HARKET.-We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here foi
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & So.v, Fairfield, 111.
PiftasQ metltinn Ree Jnurtial when vrntttip.
DO VOU WANT A
MiQli Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, III.
47.\26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
AUSCHER'S
stock Wins
indNof
\v,l,-«d
John Bausclier,Jr,Bo> 94 FreeFort.lll
Please mention Bee Journal Twhen writing
144
AMERIC.\N BEE JOURNAL
Feb. 28, 1901.
INCUBATOR
ON TRIAL
The Perfected Von Culin.
Successful result of 2.^ years' experience.
Scientifically correct, practically perfect.
Non-explosive metal lamps.
Double and packed walls.
Perfect regulation of heat and ventilation.
5Iade of best materials, and highest quality
of workmanship and finish.
PRICES $7. 00 AND UP.
SATISFACTION QUARAN'TEED OR NO PAY.
We make Brooders, Bee Hives & Supplies.
C:F" Catalog and Price List sent Free.
The W.T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
Dept. Jamestown, N.Y.
'ease mention Bee Jou'Tial ■when ■writing.
SWEET CLOVER
Afld Several Other Clover Seeds.
,» e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft 10ft 25ft 50ft
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (Tellow)....$l.SO 2.80 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover "Oc 1.20 2. 75 5.00
AlsikeClover Wc 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover Wc 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14t, Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
send tl. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Reversing: the Current.— Some years ag-o by
artificial means the current of a western stream
IS thoug^ht a most wonder-
ms less remarkable to us
; of trade to flowing' in the
d this is what has been
done bv the Reliable Incubatorand Brooder Co ,
of Quincy, 111. Artificial idcubation originated
across the water, but it has been developt, per-
fected, and popularized on this side, so that now
thousands of incubators are shipt every year to
foreign markets. No machine is more widely
or favorably known abroad than the Reliable.
It is a pioneer in its lide; and while it often hap-
pens that those early in the field are outstript
by younger rivals, this has not been the expe-
rience of the Reliable, and their interests abroad
have received a fresh impulse thru their splen-
did exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 190(i.
Their honors— medals and highest award— are
a flattering recognition of this representative
American industry. Their catalogs from year
to year keep pace with the improvements made
iu'their machines. They are now mailing the
second edition of their 20th century catalog. It
is one of the most complete compendiums of
poultry appliances we have ever seen. A copy
will be gladly sent to ;iny reader of this pai)er
on receipt of 10 cents to pay postage. The in-
formation it contains would cost many dnllars
if secured in anv other wav. Address. Reliable
Incubator and Brooder Co., Ouincy, 111.
Please ttteutlon Bee Journal
wheo writing Advertisers
was reverst, and it w
ful thing. But it set
than turning the tide
opposite direction,*
24th n^rl»n«'^ C^..r.rl^4:^r. 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY.
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNQ. Nt
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SMEETINO.
Why does it sell v^ ^t
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, SI. 25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co . III.
» ■
^j-{.pMh'(^Xl^MhSM§>MM
)'4Mk4Mk4^
Gieaninos in Bee-Guiture...
Is an illustrated semi=monthly, 32 pages and cover,
at $1.00 a year.
If you keep only a few bees you can't afford to get along with-
out Gleanings in Bee-Culture, as it will save many times its
cost the first season. Better get along without almost anything
else than a good bee-paper. There is no use in our telling how
good Gle.^nings is, as it will speak for itself if you will only let
us send you a sample copy for your name and address on a postal.
If j'ou once see it we know you will want it.
Look eit Our Offers:
Offer No. 21.
nd Gli:anings 6 months
ial subscription to
n untested Italian que
ight to send queeu soi
For 25 cents we
subscribers.
Offer No. 22.
For $1-00 we will send Gleanings for one year and ;
valued at 75 cents; but at this low price we reserve the
time in July when we have a choice supply.
Offer No. 23.
For 50 cents we will send Gleanings from the time your subscription is re-
ceived till Jan. 1, 1902, so that the sooner you send in your order the more num-
bers vou will ^et.
Offer No. 35.
Gleanings one year and one untested red clover queen, $2.t>^. Gleanings one
year and a tested red clover queen, S4,(K); a select tested red clover queen and
Gleanings one year for $t> 00. We will begin mailing these queens in June. Or-
ders are alreadj- being entered and will be filled in rotation. Do not neglect to
improve this opportunity and get some choice stock. Send your order early so
you may get the queen correspondingly early in the season.
Offer No. 25.
For $1.00 we will send Gleanings one year and a Clark smoker, postage 20
cents extra. Or, for $1.25 we will send the Corneil smoker, postage 25 cents extra.
Offer No. 26.
For $1.75 we will send Gleanings one year and our cyclopedia ou bees^ the
A B C of Bee-Culture, of 475 pages.
Old as well as new subscribers may take advantage of these
several offers, but all arrears or back subscriptions must first be
paid at SI. 00 a year. Refer to these offers by number to avoid
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio. ^
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., hatc'-Aho'lLlT'
: head,iuaners for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES. Send to tl
■ir free Catalog.
T^^S^%
DEE JOIRNAL
CHICAGO, ILL,, MARCH 7, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
-X£rW
146
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
EKLY BY
George W. York & Co.
144 &I46 Erie St.. Chicago, 111.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postag-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising: Rates will be g-iven upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following' Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philolog^lcal Association and the Philc
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
*'ed" final to 'H" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding- sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commission-
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. A. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
EvGENE Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dves. $l.tK) a year.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or^ ^laniial of the Apiai-y,
BY
PROF, A, ]. COOK.
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition-lSth Thou-
Band— $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
aad practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding-, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Jonrnal.
Given !or TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
oal for one year:
Send us two new. subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $i.OO), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14*j Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Lono-Tonouefl Mh
ARE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppemium
for sending us TWO new subscribers to the
Amepiean Bee Journal for one year (with $2-;
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4.00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years" experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of k
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. W^!
They stored red clover honey last season. h^j
Orders for these tine. " long-reach " queens will be tilled in rota- /W^i
tion — "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is LS^Jj,
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number np^
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in ix9>
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered. S^
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested, (^*
SI. 00 each : Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to ESgi
GEORGE "W. YORK & CO. j^
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL. ^^
paid
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
26 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Best
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Honey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY.......
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't g-et enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well-known
li^ht-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honev.
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents : samples of both, 15 cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9Ji
cents per pound; two cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans,
S'i cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
<^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, MAECH 7, 1901,
No, 10,
I ^ Editorial. ^ I
The National Convention Report is
omitted this week on account of more copy
not being received in time from the secretary.
We regret this second tirealc in the long
"continued story," as we desire to complete
it as soon as possible.
A Glucose Te.st.— Editor E. R. Root said
at the Wisconsin convention that adding an
equal amount of wood-alcohol to honey, stir-
ring well, and then letting it stand say ten
minutes, is a good test for glucose in honey.
If adulterated the compound would show a
milky appearance, and remain clear it pure.
This is a simple test, but we presume the
wood-alcohol must be absolutely pure itself to
start with.
Bee-Keeping at the Pan-American.
— At the last Ontario County ( N. Y. ) Bee-
Keepers' convention. Mr. <). L. Hershiser,
superintendent of the apiarian exhibit at the
Pan-American Exposition, said that it was
proposed to have a commodious building for
the accommodation of bee-keepers ; that bees
alive were to be exhibited in regular yards as
kept in different lands; and also that there
would be shown articles from bakeries in
which honey is used as an ingredient. The
New York bee-keepers will he allowed to ex-
hibit at least .5,000 pounds of honey, about
equally divided between comb and extracted.
The extracted is wanted in bulk, the State to
furnish the packages in which it is to be ex-
hibited. The State will also furnish the cases
for the comb honey. All bee-keepers in New
York, who have any honey suitable for exhi-
bition, should address Mr. Hershiser. He will
buy the honey outright, which, however, he
will not do until next season, when the new
crop comes in. No exhibitor will have to pay
any freight charges. On request the honey
will be returned to the exhibitor, or such dis-
position made of it as he may desire. Mr. F.
Greiner furnishes this information for the
American Bee-Keeper.
Big Yields of Honey. — The Twentieth
Century Farmer has been telling a whopper
on the 19th century bee-keeping. Here is
what it publisht recently:
cyi'KIANS UOLD W'OHI.IIS liECORl).
The next breed of bees imiiorled came from
the island of C yprus. They arc called Cyp-
rians, a name not always used for bees. The
Cyprians hold the world's n-iord for the
amount of honey gathered by one colony in a
single season. Mr. Doolittle, of New York
State, a well known apiarist, took 1,000 pounds
of extracted honey from one colony of Cyp-
rian bees one year. They have one serious
fault they are very nervous, and will defend
tlu-ir stores of honey to the death. They can
not lie subdued by siuoke. When aroused the
only way to comiuer them is with a mild dose
of chloroform. On account of their disposi-
tion they have not become popular.
Upon receipt of the Farmer containing the
above paragraph, we dipt it out and sent it
to Mr. Doolittle, to show him what was being
credited to him. And here is what Mr. D.
says about it :
The above reminds me of the " man who
puked up three black crows.'' of ancient time,
while the truth was that " he threw up some-
thing as black as a crow', and told his neigh-
bor so."
My greatest yield of extracted honey from a
single colony of bees was in 1877, when one
colony gave me the large yield of 566 pounds,
besides producing enough to winter on— or
about 3.5 pounds more. So that the total
gathered by this colony was not far from 600
pounds, nil told; that is, above what they
consumed while gathering, or during the
summer inonth.s. But this was before any
Cyprian bees were imported into this country,
the bees doing the gathering of this 000
pounds being those best of all bees, all tliwyx
considered — the Italians.
But this record of 566 pounds has been out-
done several times. E. Gallup, while in Iowa,
went considerably above 600, and P. H.
Elwood, of this State, produced 640 pounds
from one colony, if I am cerrect; while a
Texas bee-keeper obtained 1,000 pounds, or a
little over, from a single colony in the spring
and its increase. This latter I have spoken of
in print several times, always crediting the
matter to the State of Texas. It would now
appear that it has grown, like the crow story,
till / myself produced the 1,000-pound yield,
and did it with Cyprian bees. But the Cyp-
rian part is wholly " manufactured," for, it I
am right, this l.oilO-pound yield was produced
before any Cyprian bees ever came to this
country. G. M. Doolittle.
Onondaga Co., N. Y., Feb. 20.
That " Utter "-ly Glorious Victory
won down in New York State last December
grows more glorious all the time. Editor
Root, in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, has a para-
graphic editorial with this quoted heading,
■' But 'Twas a Glorious Victory."' Then right
under it he gives the following from .losh
Billings;
" Sum people that go to law fordanimiges
sumtimes get more than thawant."
After that comes this paragraph referring
to the final settlement of the Utter vs. Utter
suit:
Just as this form is going to press I have
received information that the plaintiff, or, as
be is called, Fruitnian Utter, has decided not
to carry his chm' to a higher court, and lie has
settled liv iiMviii/ all the costs, which can
hunlly lie lc>^ iliMu .*.50O or SfHKl. Thanks to
the National Bee-Keepers' Association, the
defense was so strong that the other side
knew there was absolutely no show for them.
We met the enemy, and whipt him so hard
that he knew there would be nothing left of
him if he attempted to put up another fight.
"Tis well. Hip. hip, hurrah for the Associa-
tion ! Such a victory ought toappeal to every
one of our !-iiliMiilper> who is not a member.
Send in a dollar to (ieneral Manager Secor,
Forest City, Iowa, and have a hand in this
glorious work. There are more battles to
fight, and we need your help, and — you may
need ours.
Yes, Manager Secor ought to be kept busy
now taking in the membership dollars. Surely,
every bee-keeper should desire to belong to
an organization that does such effective work.
If it is more convenient for the readers of
the American Bee Journal to send their mem-
bership dues to this ofHee, we will be glad to
receive them and forward to Mr. Secor. We
would like to see every one of our subscribers
get into the National Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion. You can't help in a better way for the
uplifting and defense of bee-culture.
The Production of Comb Honey. —
Mr. F. Greiner reports in the American Bee-
Keeper some notes from the Ontario County
(N. Y.) Bee-Keepers' convention held last Dec.
13th and 14th. Referring to an address by W.
Z. Hutchin,son, he gives the following impor-
tant point:
As soon as it is advisable to put on the
honey-boxes or supers, give a super full of
drawn comb. This will keep the honey out of
the brood-chamber, and start the bees right.
Empty sections, or such filled with founda-
tion, do not fill the bill here. When the bees
once get in the habit of storing their honey
above, they are apt to continue thus thruout
the season; when they form a habit of filling
the brood-chamber with honey at the begin-
ning of the season, they then are slow to en-
ter the sections any time after. Mr. Hutchin-
son had observed that by giving supers full
of drawn comb a case of honey was gained
above what other equally as good colonies
had made supplied with empty sections.
The swarms are treated according to the
Heddou plan. Mr. Hutchinson had done a
good deal of experimenting with swarms,
hiving them alternately on C(mibs, foundation,
and starters. The combs always gave the
poorest results with him, and the foundation,
aside from insuring perfect combs, proved a
total loss. No young swarm is allowed more
than five I.angstroth frames, or one section of
the Heddon hive. Contraction is practiced
only on the swarms.
He has come to the conclusion that it is
not always profitable to supply the bees with
foundation. During a good fiow he claims
wax is produced anyhow, and if there is no
opijortunity to use it somewhere a large por-
tion of it is lost. And, after all, be exprest
his opinion that good, straight worker-combs
were not too dear at the expense of the foun-
dation.
♦
A Ijooking-Glass plaeeil before the hive-
entrance is advised in the I,eii)/.iger Bienen-
/.eitung. to scare away robl>er-becs. Perhaps
it is thought that if the robbers could "see
themselves as others see Hutu." they'd " i|Uil
their meanness."
148
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 7, 1901.
I Contributed Articles. |
A Successful Roof-Apiary in Cliicago.
BV G. E. Pl'KPLE.
TO relate 'my experience in keeping: bees in the city, and
how the idea occurred to me to keep them on the roof, I
will have to go back a few years.
Like a great man)' others, my boyhood days were spent
on a farm. When a boy 16 j'ears old my father took some
bees to keep on shares. It was not long before an interest
in the little creatures was aroused in me, and I became
quite a student of their ways, studying- them as best I
could while using a box-hive. After keeping them about
two years in box-hives, having the usual failures one has
when he works with them blind (one may say), I secured a
copy of the " A B C of Bee-Culture." I began reading it
and could not bear to drop it until I had read and reread it
all thru, and from that day to the present time my enthusi-
asm has not abated. Not being blest with an over-abun-
dance of this world's wealth, I made hives and frames, so
by the next season I had all the bees in movable-frame hives.
I had six or eight colonies at the time.
Let me say here that before this we had returned to the
original owner his share of the bees, so all we had then
were our own.
The next two seasons were very favorable ones, and by
the end of the second we had 30 or more colonies
and succeeded in getting over 2,000 pounds of honey from
20 colonies, spring count — an unheard of amount in that
country (northwestern Missouri).
The next three or four years were either entire failures
or only a very little surplus. Having a very good position
offered me in Minneapolis, I concluded to accept it, and
leave the farm and bees to father's care. Father all this
time had left the care of the bees entirely to me, and when
the responsibility fell to him he was little prepared for it,
and, as a consequence, the bees were more or less neglected,
and gradually dwindled.
During my stay ill Minneapolis I made the acquaintance
of persons who kept bees, and we spent many an hour talk-
ing over our experiences, and enjoying ourselves as only
enthusiasts can.
Owing to the financial disturbances of 1893, I found it
necessary to change my residence from Minneapolis to Chi-
cago, and have lived here since. While riding home from
work one evening I saw a man sitting opposite me in the
car reading the " old reliable" American Bee Journal. < )f
course I knew he was a bee-keeper, and knowing all bee-
keepers are jolly good fellows, I ventured to speak to him,
and he proved to be our friend Mr. Mead. I afterwards
called on him, and we together examined his bees. I
learned they did not disturb his neighbors, and that there
were many nectar-yielding plants in the vicinity. That call
revived in me the " bee- fever " again, and I determined to
get one or two colonies as soon as I could find a place to
keep them.
Soon after that I moved farther out, and while on the
roof one day I thought it a capital place to keep bees, and
the next spring I sent down home for one colony, and tried
it. The colony father sent was not a very good one, so I
bought two frames of brood and a queen from Mr. Mead to
build them up. They did far better than I expected, pro-
ducing over ISO pounds of extracted honey (borrowed the
extractor) that season. The bees wintered well on the roof,
packt in planer-shavings, and the next spring I sent for all
there were left on the farm — only four, and one was dead
when it reacht me (starved out). So I started with four
good, strong colonies. That summer they increast to
seven, and I got an average of ISO pounds per colony.
In the fall I moved to the present location, and the fol-
lowing winter (ISMJS 9'i) was very severe on the bees. The
long-continued cold weather prevented their moving to their
stores, and one colony died with plenty of honey in the
hive. Only two came thru strong, and four were very
light. We had a very early spring, and I never before saw
bees build up so rapidly, so by the time the honey-flow came
on, they were all good and strong. But it was the first sea-
son I ever had reason to complain of my luck ; I lost queen
after queen, both old and young, and only increast to nine
colonies, these producing over 900 pounds of honey.
The next winter, not having them fixt properly, I lost
two, and doubled others up. I started with five of my own,
and bought li> more, increast to 21, and produced nearly
3200 pounds of extracted honey. The engraving shows
the apiary one Saturday afternoon in August, when Editor
York called with his photographer, and took our pictures af-
ter we had (as an old friend says) " climbed Jacob's ladder
to the bee-heaven." (See first page).
When one keeps only a few bees, more for the pleasure
than the profit, and does the work connected with them at
odd times, he can keep close watch of each individual col-
ony, and get better results in proportion to the numbers
than with a large apiary, and they will amply repay him for
the small outlay at the start, and for the time spent in tak-
ing care of them.
The roof as a place to keep bees has its advantages as
well as disadvantages. Things in its favor are that the
bees are up out of the way, and there is no fear of
their disturbing any one. (I have never heard any com-
plaints against mine). The roof being nearly level, and
covered with clean gravel, there is nothing to hinder the
bees, and when they swarm it is easy to find the queen. (I
clip all my queens.) While the drawbacks are, getting ev-
erything up there, as well as getting the honey down to ex-
tract and handle, and some days the wind blows so hard
that the bees can scarcely get to the hives at all. Many
think it quite a novelty, but the novelty has worn off wit*
me, and I derive a great deal of pleasure as well as profit
from my bees, tho kept on the roof of a modern flat-build-
ing in a big city. Feb. 1, 1901.
[We might add to the foregoing that Mr. Purple's honey
source is principally sweet clover. Hi^ apiary is located
about five miles west of the Lake, and is a very neat one.
He reaches the roof thru an opening directly above one
end of the porch at the rear of the third flat in which he
lives.
Mr. Purple is a very pleasant gentleman to meet, and
thoroly understands bee-keeping. He would be successful
almost anywhere with bees, provided there was plenty of
nectar for them to gather.
We spent a delightful hour at his roof-apiary, and were
surprised to see how abundantly the bees had rewarded his
efforts during the summer. — Editor].
A Review of " A B C of Bee-Culture."
BY I'KOF. A. J. COOK.
IT has been a pleasure to review " Dadant's Langstroth "
and "Cowan's Honey-Bee," as there is so much to com-
mend and so little to criticize in these volumes, each of
which is a credit to our nineteenth century bee-culture.
The)' are books which deserve to live and which will live.
I come to the pleasant duty of reviewing " A B C of Bee-
Culture " with no less of gratification. Without doubt this
book has exerted a wider influence upon the bee-keeping
world than any others ever written. Even its rivals can
only be joyous in its extensive sale, as they know that
wherever it goes it goes to help and to bless. I am the
more pleased to do this as I have received several letters
thanking me for the reviews of the other books. These re-
views certainly call attention to mooted questions and will
be almost certain to incite criticisms. I shall criticize no
point except in such cases as I have good reason to believe
that there is an error, but it is quite possible that in some
cases I may be in the wrong.
Page 2 — Mr. Root says, "Candidly, I don't know any
better way to prevent second swarms than to watch care-
fully when they are to be expected and then chase after
them, climb tree, etc., until they are gotten safely into the
hive." I believe that the experienced bee-keeper will rarely
be troubled with second swarms. One is enough for the
best results, and some of the many vpays will, and should,
be used to prevent the second swarms. I think the way first
suggested by Mr. Heddon is certainly the best. The prin-
ciple of this is in placing the new swarm close beside the
parent colony, and the day before the second swarm would
be expected remove the old hive to another part of the api-
ary. Of course, the older bees will go back to the old loca-
tion, to join and strengthen the swarm, while the old colony
will be so thinned out that very rarely a second swarm wiU
March 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
149
issue. I used this method for years and with no failure, so
far as I know.
Page 6 — Is not Mr. Root a little too enthusiastic re-
garding;: alfalfa honey, when he says " the quality of al-
falfa honey is probably superior to anything- that the world
has ever produced from any other source " ? I claim to be
something of a judge of honey, and I think alfalfa is no
better than clover, linden, sage, and I think I might find
even others quite equal to it.
Page 7 — In California it does not take three years to
get the best yield from alfalfa. In fact, we often get a
maximum yield the very first j'ear in the later cuttings.
Alfalfa is a wonderful crop. I often say that I think I
would rather have a good alfalfa field than an orange-or-
chard. I have known several cases where seven cuttings
have been made in a year, and it is not uncommon to se-
cure two tons per acre from a cutting. In this same ci>n-
nection, Mr. Root hints that there is so much sweet in al-
falfa that the bees even gather (sic) from the dry hay.
This is putting it altogether too strong. Still I do not think
that too much can be said in favor of alfS.lfa for it is a
marvelous crop.
Page 10 — Mr. Root says that digestion is the separation
of the nutrient part of the food from the non-nutrient, and
the conversion of the nutrient into a liquid fit to mingle
with the blood and thus nourish the body of the insect.
This is given as a question but he was not happy in his se-
lection of authority. Digestion is simply the fitting of the
food to be absorbed. I tell my class that " digestion is ren-
dering the food osmotic." Many authors say that diges-
tion is merely to dissolve the food. This is not a good defi-
nition. Some of the food that is already dissolved, like
blood albumen and cane-sugar, must be digested before it
can be absorbed from the stomach into the blood. That is
before it is osmotic. Absorption, not digestion, does the
work of separation. One other of our bee-books makes
this same mistake.
Page 10 — In speaking of the urinary tubes appended
to the stomach, Mr. Root calls them the "malphygian
tubes." It should be "malpighian," as they were named from
their discoverer, Malpighi, a distinguisht Italiati physiolo-
gist and microscopist. Mr. Root says further of these
tubes, " It is not certain what their office is, but it is thought
that they are the urinary organs." This is no longer true
as urea, etc., have been found in these vessels, so we now
know that they function as kidneys.
Page 44 — In speaking of the advantage of black bees,
from the fact that they can be shaken off the comb so eas-
ily, Mr. Root says, " For that reason alone some prefer
them, or hybrids, to pure Italians, which can hardly be
shaken off." I have very little trouble to fell at one
shake every Italian bee from the comb if the latter fully
fills the frame. This requires a peculiarly sharp jerk which
every apiarist should learn to give. He should also learn
to keep the frame perfectly vertical else the comb may fol-
low after the bees, which is about jis annoying a thing as
can happen in the apiarj'. I should make this characteristic
a count against the black bee and in favor of the Italian.
As our best men love their homes so well that they alwaj's
stick to them if possible, so I prefer the bees that endeavor
to stick by their comb.
Page 45— Mr. Benton did not spend the best years of
his life in the jungles of India, in search of new bees. Mr.
Benton was in India only a few days. I think he was only
a few days in Ceylon, where he secured Apis dorsata.
Page 47- -It is unfortunate that our authors use the
term worm and grub as synonymous with larva. I know
this is commonly done but it is wrong, and how shall we
correct errors unless our authors avoid them ? Entomolo-
gists confine the term grub to the larva of beetles, while
worms are not insects at all. Worms, as instanced in the
angleworm, never have any legs at all, and look essentially
the same from first to last except for size. All mature in-
sects have legs and are very different from the larva, or in-
sect, just after hatching. Why not always speak of the im-
mature bees as larvae and be correct ?
Page 49— It is here stated that it is supposed that this
larval food is pollen and honey, partially digested by the
young or nursing bee. I with others have positively proved
that this larval food is perfectly digested pollen, with or
without the addition of honey. Planta has shown that the
drone-larva- have mixt with this food toward the last a little
undigested pollen.
Page 50— In speaking of viper's-bugloss (Echium vul-
gare), Mr. Root calls it blue thistle, and speaks of the dan-
ger of introducing the seed. This belongs to the borage
family and is no thistle at all. This name should never be
used. It is like borage in being no serious pest.
Page 98 — Are the drones from the laying worker eggs
smaller than those from the queen's eggs ? I am sure this
is not always true. I think Mr. Root right in questioning
the fertility of such drones, tho I am of the opinion that
they are functionally perfect. I arrive, of course, at this
judgment from a study of their anatomy.
Page 101. It is very doubtful, indeed, that unimpreg-
nated eggs will ever produce workers. That queens with
imperfect wings sometimes lay eggs that produce worker-
bees would seem to prove that occasionally a queen may
mate in the hive. I feel quite positive that I once had a
queen that was so mated. I can explain the case in no
other way. Yet it is so exceptional that I still feel a doubt
in the matter. I think in writing we should use the word
fecundate or impregnate rather than fertilize, as we also
better use the word pollinate instead of fertilize. Let us re-
serve the word fertile to indicate that the male or female is
functionally perfect or sexually perfect.
Page 126 — A case is given where night work with bees
was carried on successfully. I occasionally practiced night
working with bees where it was imperative, but I did not
like it and would not recommend it except in extreme cases.
The bees have such a way of crawling around and are not
discriminating. Were I to work at night I should want a
string around my "pantlegs," as also my wrists, and should
desire my bee veil tuckt well in at the neck. Our author
recommends this night work to prevent robbing. The bee-
tent and other suggestions given in all our best bee-books
are, I think, greatly to be preferred.
Page 126 — "You could feed white sugar so as to produce
very nice looking honey, but it would be sugar syrup in
honeycomb after all, as you would find to your sorrow if
you should attempt to sell it as honey." This is simply not
true, as one experiment will satisfy anyone if he will but
try it. I believe in telling the truth even if it confronts the
prejudices of the whole bee-fraternity. Mr. Abbott at the
last National convention stated and reiterated this untruth.
If Mr. Abbott will feed his bees pure granulated sugar
syrup and then taste of the product, he will find that it is
certainly honey and not sugar syrup. It surely will lack
any aroma which might be secured in the nectar of flowers,
but it will have decidedly the taste of honey, and will be
preferred by many to any other kind of honey, as I have
proved more than once. Yet it will rarely if ever pay to do
this even if there were no prejudice against it, and in view
of the prejudice it would certainly be unwise. Let us talk,
however, of its nonprofitableness, and of its unwisdom,
and not state what we can all so easily prove is not the
truth. I was brought up to believe that untruths never
pay, and I have never yet seen reason to believe otherwise.
Page 129 — I have always wondered at the statements
we so frequently see of bees expelling water from the honey
while on the wing. I never saw it and don't believe they
ever do it. We have so many reports that there certainly
must be some ground for the opinion. If a fine mist does
escape from the bee, it is surely one of two things — either
excreta from the intestines, or perspiration from the bee.
The bees excercise very severely and must of necessity cool
off. This must be done thru perspiration. This perspi-
ration must occur in the breathing tubes as the thick chiti-
nous crust of the bee's body would preclude much if any
sweating from the exterior surface. I have no doubt that
much evaporation of moisture escapes from the trachea of
the bees when the latter are hard at work in very hot
weather. That this might descend in a mist is possible. I
should like, however, to see it.
Page 142— Our author speaks of honey from the nectar
of fruit-blossoms as of poor quality. I would like to hear
from others on this subject. I was once so happy as to get
some unmixt apple-blossom honey. I thought I had never
tasted any so excellent. Others to whom I gave this were
equally enthusiastic.
Page 144—1 have often been puzzled, as has Mr. Root,
in the varying opinion among fruit-growers as to the value
of bees in the work of pollination of fruit-blossoms. I
know positively that some varieties of fruit are at times en-
tirely fertile to their own pollen, and again utterly sterile
to the same. The vigor of the tree must play no small part
in this matter. Yet no fact in pomology is better attested
than is the necessity of bees in or near the orchard if we
are to secure the maximum fruitage.
(To be continued.)
The Premiums offered, this week are well worth work
ing for. Look at them.
150
AMERICAN BEE ICURNAL
March 7, 1901.
Management for Producing Extracted Honey.
BV C. DAVENPORT.
FOR the last seven or eight years I have run from 30 to
40 colonies for extracted honey, and intend this season
to increase the number to over 100, and I will describe
the plan or method on which they will be run, and tho this
method might not answer for some localities, it is the one
that will work here, I believe, and secure the most surplus
with the least work.
While it is generally claimed and conceded that it re-
quires less work and skill to produce extracted than comb
honey, I have not found this to be altogether so. If I had
for the last few years I should have been producing ex-
tracted in a much larger way, and would do so now. The
first season I ran a number of colonies for our product in
the liquid form, it seemed to me that it required fully as
much, if not more, .work as well as skill to produce a first-
class article of extracted honey, as it did fancy comb honey.
But I have learned enough about this branch of our pursuit
since, so that I can now produce extracted with consider-
able less work than comb.
Now the question may occur to some, why I started and
kept on producing extracted honey, if, with me, it required
as much work and skill as it did to produce comb honey.
There were a number of reasons for this, and two of the
principal ones I will explain. One was that there was a lo-
cal demand for extracted honey, at a better price accord-
ingly than there was for comb honey. I had, and have at
present, a still larger number of customers who prefer
honey in the extracted form, many of them preferring it
because it is cheaper — in fact, I have a good many custom-
ers who use a large amount of extracted honey every
year, and pay a good price for it, compared with the price
of comb honey, who would buy but very little if any comb
honey, because they could not — or at least believe they
could not — afford to. Others actually like it better in the
extracted form, and again some who are very fond of can-
died extracted honey care very little about comb honey.
Personally, I much prefer it in this form to comb honey.
I used to extract a large amount of honey from the
brood-chambers late in the fall, then feed sugar syrup for
winter stores. At that time there was a good profit in do-
ing this, and the bees seemed to winter fully as well on
granulated sugar, as it was then made, as on natural stores,
and the honey thus obtained, tho it might be somewhat
mixt, was always thick and rich. But the price of our
product dropt so low that there was no longer profit in pro-
ducing extracted honey in this manner, tho I had a trade
for it already workt up — a trade that, as I have explained,
would not take comb honey in place of extracted.
Another, and more important reason, was that about
that time (and I have seen no reason since to change my
opinion) I became convinced that more money could be
made from a large yard by running part of the colonies for
extracted honey, for here a range may be overstockt during
the forepart and latter part of the season, and still not have
enough bees to gather what nectar there is during clover
and basswood bloom. This is not the case every season,
but on an average it will hold true two seasons out of three,
and a colony that is being run for extracted honey can
gather considerably more nectar than one being run for
comb honey, for these reasons: A larger number of colo-
nies can be profitably kept in one yard if part of them are
run for extracted, than could be done if they were all run
for either comb or extracted honey. After carefully re-
peated experiments, some of which I have described in
these columns, I know, if I know anything about bees at
all, that more extracted honey can be secured here if the
queen is confined by zinc to the lower story of a hive not
larger than the 10-frame. The reason for this is, that with
a larger brood-nest an immense force of bees are reared out
of season, to be producers, but are. instead, consumers. I
know that this matter of rearing bees out of season has
been ridiculed by .some, but here it is a more important
matter — one that to ignore may mean the loss of a number
of thousand pounds of surplus honey with a large yard,
each season. I am aware that this is a strong assertion to
make, and that it is likely to be disputed by many able ones
in our ranks, but it should be borne in mind that I make
this claim only for my own locality, and for others where
the flows are similar to what we have here, relatively to the
season.
It may be of interest to the newer readers of this
journal, for me very briefly to go over the experiments I
made to find out vvhetlier it was more profitable to allow
more than one story for a brood-nest. These experiments
extended over a number of seasons, with slightly varying
results, owing to the varying conditions of the seasons, as
well as that of the bees. But without any exception they
all showed that a brood-nest here could be so large that it
would reduce the amount of surplus extracted honey that
could be obtained : besides, these large brood-nests, espe-
cially the unlimited ones, entailed much more work to get
what surplus there was, and to reduce or get the bees into
one story again for winter.
My method was, each spring, to select 30 or 40 colonies
as nearly equal in strength as possible, and divide them into
lots of 10 each. The queen in one lot would be confined by
zinc to one story ; those in the second lot would be allowed
two stories for a brood-nest ; while the queens in the third
lot were allowed their will in 3 or 4 stories. Some lots
were in 10-frame hives and some in 8-frame, and, so far as
surplus honey was concerned, these two sizes of frame
made but little difference either way. But with the plan I
now practice, there is considerably more swarming where
the queens are allowed 10 frames than there is when they
have only 8 for a brood-nest. When the queens are al-
lowed two brood-chambers there will be here, in a good sea-
son, about half of them that will swarm, and some seasons
as large a percent of swarming will take place when the
queens are confined to 10 frames ; but with only 8 frames
for a brood-nest the swarming will not be over 10 percent —
it has been less with me the past two seasons. It is true
that both seasons were poor ones, still there was enough
honey gathered so that nearly 30 percent of the colonies
that had 10 and 16 frames for a brood-nest swarmed, or tried
to do so. Southern Minnesota.
iTo be continued.)
Longer Tongues and Larger Bees, Etc.
BY ADRI.\N GKTAZ.
BEES with longer tongues is the topic of the day. Meas-
ure the length of the tongues of the difi'erent colonies
of bees and select for breeding those with the longest-
tongued bees, if I can use that expression.
Well, to begin with, I doubt about the exactness of the
measurements given by Mr. Ernest Root and a few other
experimenters. It seems to me that the difference between
the tongues measured is too great. There is hardly any
difference in the size of the bees and in the different organs
and parts of them ; and I don't see how the tongues could
make such striking exceptions, the measurements varying
between 13100 and 23-100 of an inch. The tongue of a
bee is very near as elastic as a man's tongue. How could
you measure exactly the length of a man's tongue which
can change its length, width and shape in all sorts of dif-
ferent ways ? And it is nearly so with bee-tongues.
The method employed to measure them, is to chloroform
the "subjects," which makes them extend their tongues,
and measure them with calipers. But what proof have we
that they all extend their tongues to the same extent ?
None at all.
Again, there is a considerable difference between the
length of tongues of the different bees of a colony (when
measured by the above-described process), and even admit-
ting that the measurements are correct we can measure
only a few bees — say 20 or even SO out of at least four or
five thousand bees of a colony. We may have measured
some of the shortest in one colony and some of the longest
in another, and failed to reach the proper average length,
or rather maximum length, for this would be the important
item to obtain.
I do not say that this method of measurement should
be discarded, but I think necessary to have some indirect
way to check it, and ascertain to what depth the bees of
each colony can reach for the honey in the flowers. For
this I think an instrument as here represented would be the
best. It is simply a trough 4 or 5 inches long and not more
than '+-inch wide inside. The top is made of wire-cloth
thru which the bees can suck the syrup. The depth is from
'4 of an inch at one end to nothing at the other, forming an
incline. A scale is markt on the bottom dividing it by
transverse marks in 25 parts graduated from 0 to 2.S, com-
mencing at the end where the depth is nothing. To use
the instrument, fill it with syrup or thin honey thru the
wire-cloth. Place it in an empty super on the top of the
l)rood-nest or the super that may be already there, being
sure that it is level. This can be easily done by placing
it so that the syrup comes even with the wire-cloth over the
March 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
151
whole surface. When the bees have taken all that they
can, notice (without disturbing- the instrument) to which
division the syrup reaches. If it reaches, for instance, to
the 17th mark, it shows that the length of tongue of the
bees, or rather the distance from the wire-cloth to the level
of the syrup, is lV-100 of an inch, and since the 25th di-
vision corresponds to a depth of '4 of an inch that is
25-100.
This instrument will give a depth or length of tongue
rather too long, as a portion of the bee's head above the
tongue may go thru the wire-cloth. From a practical
standpoint, it is immaterial whether we get the exact length
or not — what we need to know is the comparative length, or
in other words, which bees can reach the deepest. If sev-
eral instruments are used, and the results to be compared,
it will be necessary to use the same kind of wire-cloth on
all, for the reason that a greater part of the bees" heads
could go thru a larger wire mesh and enable them to reach
deeper. The instrument should be constructed accurately,
waxt or paraffined so as to prevent swelling of the wood
and possible distortion. Care should be taken that the
wire-cloth should lie evenly all over, and for that reason the
instrument should not be wider than '_j of an inch, other-
wise it would be difficult to prevent the cloth from bulging
in places. When it comes to measure to a precision of
1-100 of an inch, the instruments used must be accurately
and carefully made.
LAKGKR BEES FUK LONGER TONGUES.
All other things being equal the largest bees should
have the longest tongues. And to have the longest tongues
possible, it will be necessary to have the largest bees pos-
sible. In fact, the main argument presented in favor of a
larger race of bees is their presumed ability, thru a longer
tongue, to reach the nectar of flowers too deep for our pres-
ent race of bees, especially the red clover.
There would be another advantage in having larger
bees. That is, less time lost in going to and coming from
the fields. Suppose you had a pile of materials to remove —
say 2,000 pounds — and want it carried to a distance of 500
yards. If you employ a man able to carry only 50 pounds
at a time he will have to make 40 trips — that is, walk a total
distance of 20,000 yards. If you take a man able to carry
100 pounds at a time, he will have to make only 20 trips,
therefore to walk only 10,000 yards. It may take him as
much time to load and unload his 20 loads as it takes the
smaller man to load and unload his 40 loads, and he may not
walk any faster, but even then, he would be ahead of the
time necessary to walk thru 10,000 yards. So it would be
with larger bees — they certainly would lose less time in go-
ing- and coming.
EFFECT OF COMB FOUNDATION.
A few years ago the question was askt, " Has the size
of the foundation cells any influence on the size of the bees
reared in them ?" To my surprise nearly all the " wise
men " answered, "No, none at all." And yet it is self-evi-
dent that no bee can be larger than the cell in which she
has been reared, for the simple reason that all her growth
is done when she emerges, and her skeleton already formed
and too hard to expand any. The abdomen and other soft
parts can and do expand some after the emergence.
All the above-mentioned " wise men " knew good and
well, that the drones reared in worker-cells are much smaller
than those reared in larger cells.
Before foundation was used there was quite a difference
between the different races of bees in regard to size.
There was a race of black or brown bees in Holland much
smaller than the common (ierman bees. The Carni-
olans were distinguisht by their large size. Among other
figures we have some of Cheshire giving the weight of 20
Cyprian bees at 28 grams and of 20 Carniolans at 40 grams.
We don't hear any more about a difference of size, now.
Why so? Just because foundation of a universal size is
universally used — 5 cells to the inch — and with a uniform
size of cells has come a universal size of bees.
The first step will be to use a larger size of cells. But
that is not sufficient. The size of bees will not increase at
once, simply by giving larger cells. It will be necessary to
select the queens giving the largest bees, and keep on breed-
ing for the largest all the time. One drawback will be that
with a larger size of cells there may be an over-production
of drones. The only way to prevent it would be to increase
the size of cells, at first of only a small fraction, and later,
when the new race is establisht, make another increase.
Several years ago, a distinguisht French apiarist, Mr.
Drory, gave a number of queens only drone foundation. A
number of them reared worker bees in those sheets, but
some others only drones. I have not the details of the ex-
periment. Judging by what has been done with horses,
dogs, fowls, etc., we might think it possible (and perhaps it
is) to create a race of bees even larger than the Apis Dor-
sata. We shall name it (if it comes) "Apis americana."
Knox Co., Tenn.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. MILLER, Marengo, 111.
[The Questions may be maited to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Plan for Comb Honey and Increase.
1. What do you think of the following proposed plan
for comb honey and increase ?
The staple honey-plants for this locality are the wild
red-raspberry, and buckwheat. Build colonies up as strong
as possible even to the point of swai-ming, for the rasp-
berry bloom, then divide by taking the queen, and say three
frames of sealed brood, from the parent hive, place them in
the new hive with a couple of frames of foundation, and
place the new hive on the stand of the old one, removing it
to a new stand and in the course of 24 hours introduce a
Carniolan queen. We have here forage for bees at all sea-
sons ; basswood is not sure for surplus. The present bees
are Italians, which we mean to keep up, the only object in
putting in the Carniolan being the reputed prolificness.
Michigan.
Answek.— Your plan and your surroundings are so much
out of the line of my experience that I do not feel very
competent to answer. However, I am not very much afraid
of doing harm, for sharp eyes are ever on the watch to cor-
rect what may be wrong. For those sharp eyes I am thank-
ful, for I well know that eyes may be very sharp and at the
same time very kindly.
Your plan is evidently intented to obviate swarming,
and yet I atn a little afraid it might not be successful in
general. A more severe depletion might be needed, and I
should advise trying at least some colonies by leaving with
the queen on the old stand not more than one frame of
brood, filling up with frames of foundation, and brushing
the bees off about half the frames removed. Then two or
three days later take away their remaining old frame of
brood.
If you have never tried Carniolans, it might be well for
you to try giving them to only part, so as to compare their
work with that of your other bees.
A Beginner's Questions.
1. Where can I find the queen-cells ? Also tell me other
things which I, as a beginner, do not know.
2. Is buckwheat a good honey-plant ?
3. I hope soon to be able to purchase "ABC of Bee-
:^ulture," or " Uangstroth on the Honey-Bee." Which is
the better for me
Missouri.
Answers.— 1. From the way in which you ask the ques-
tion, it is possible that you think there is a cell in the hive
that the queen keeps for her own, perhaps retiring to that
cell every night to go to sleep. So far from this being the
case, it is true that after the young queen emerges from her
152
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 7, 1901.
cell she never enters it again, and it is not a great while af-
ter she leaves it until the workers tear it down all but the
base or enough to make a concave hemisphere. If you
look into a hive at this time of the year, it is not likely that
you will find a queen-cell in it, but you will be likely to find
quite a number of cell-cups, some of them the remains of
queen-cells from which queens have issued, and some of
them cups that the workers have started and never finisht,
and most of them they never will finish. If you look into
a hive at the time a first swarm issues you will find 5, 10,
20, or perhaps more queen-cells with young queens in them,
and they may be in any part of the hive. Generally they
will be found near an edge of a comb, possibly right among
the worker-brood near the center of a comb where there
happens to be a hole or an irregularity. Sometimes you
may find a queen-cell not on the comb at all, but built di-
rectly on the wood of the end-bar, but this is very rare.
You must excuse me from attempting to tell you all the
other things that you as a beginner do not know, that is, if
the list of unknown things is as long as my list was when I
was a beginner. It would take many pages of this journal
to contain the answers to all the questions I had, but most
of the desirecl information can be obtained from the excel-
lent text-books we now have.
2. Buckwheat is one of the best honey-plants. It does
not yield the best honey, for the honey is very dark, and
most persons do not like it so well as honey of milder flavor,
and yet some prefer buckwheat honey to any other. It is,
however, a somewhat fickle yielder, one year yielding an
abundant harvest and the next yielding nothing.
3. If you get either you will have a treasure, and will
find in it so many good things that you will wish you had
the other also, with Prof. Cook's excellent work added.
Introducing a Queen to a Colony that Has Just
Swarmed.
I would like to know, just after a swarm issues, how to
give the old or mother colony a laying queen.
Wisconsin.
Answer. — Give the queen in an introducing-cage, and
there may be no trouble without any further attention. It
will be safer, however, to destroy all queen-cells in the hive.
Putting Bees Out of the Cellar at Night.
Is there any objection to putting bees out of the cellar
at night ? Wisconsin.
Answer. — There is probably no difl'erence between put-
ting bees out at night and putting them out the following
day. That is, if you are sure you will put them out to-mor-
row morning, you may as well put them out to-night. But
you can not always be entirely sure at night that you will
want to put them out in the morning. For the weather is
sometimes so changeable that between night and morning
the temperature may sink so many degrees that it will not
be safe to have the bees out. When bees have been in the
cellar all winter and are put out-doors, they are not as prudent
as they might be, and will fly out in weather when large
numbers of them will be chilled and be lost. If yovi could
be sure of good weather the next day, it would be all right
to take out bees at night, but on the whole it is more pru-
dent to take them out when you know they can fly with
safety within ten minutes of being taken out.
Uniting Colonies and Introducing Queens.
1. I have some colonies which I wish to unite. When
do you consider the best time in the spring for doing it ?
2. Which plan is the best ?
3. Would it be advisable to introduce a new queen at
the same time ? British Columbia.
Answers. — 1. If you intend to unite colonies in the
spring, it may be safely concluded that it is because the
colonies are not strong enough single. If you have two
colonies, each having bees enough to cover two frames of
brood, they ought when united to be able to cover at least a
little more than four frames of brood. At all events, when
the two are united you will have six frames of brood sooner
than you would have done if you had kept the two separate.
So you can easily see that you will gain nothing by wait-
ing, and the sooner the uniting is done the better. Unite
before the bees begin to fly, and there will be less danger
of the bees of the removed colony going back to the old
place.
2. There is little danger of fighting if you alternate
the frames with their adhering bees, first a frame from one
hive then a frame from the other, and so on. If you unite
before the spring flight, there is little danger of trouble if
you simply put one set of combs in the hive beside the
other. In any case, if you see any bees doubled up in the
death struggle on the bottom-board after having been stung,
or any other sign of fighting, give them smoke till they
promise to be good, as Mr. Root says. If they get bad
again, smoke them again.
3. Yes, you can introduce a queen at the time of unit-
ing if you kill the other queens, altho on account of the
greater difficulty of getting queens in spring, and the
greater cost, very few queens are introduced in early
spring.
Excellent Alfalfa Honey.
I have mailed you a sample of honey that I think to be
first quality, and would like to have your opinion.
UTAH.
Answer.— I have no quarrel with you for calling it
first-class. It is very white indeed, and altho very mild in .
flavor, like all alfalfa honey, what flavor there is is excel-
lent.
K*4J!W*J<V*4^*i^*iJ*^*4J^i*J*^
Convention Proceedings.
i<i*T5nrT*'>
Report of the South Dakota Convention.
BY E. F. ATWATEl;.
The annual convention of the South Dakota State Bee-
Keepers' Association met' at Yankton, Jan. 25, 1901. More
than half the members were present, and all were very enthu-
siastic, considering the past poor honey season.
Many interesting pohits were brought out in the discus-
sions ; a short talk by Daniel Danielson, was especially inter-
esting, his subject being " Migratory Bee-Keeping." Some
years there was a good profit in moving bees from one locality
to another : in other years it would be a loss, as the honey-
crop can not be foretold. In moving bees they should have an
abundance of ventilation, and the hauling should be done at
night, when possible. Cold water soust down thru the hives
helps to bring the bees thru in perfect condition, without loss
of enersv or iinmliers.
President ■I'li.K. Chantry called attention to the real neces-
sity of ii];iiiit;iiiiiiiL' our organization. Our association pro-
tPi-ts its niciiibris, as we have joined the National Bee-Keep-
.■]■<• A->n. i:itiuu in a body. If all the State bee-keepers' soci-
ctir^ wiHiI.l join the National in a body it would be a great
help tu the National in its great work of fighting adulteration,
and protecting the bee-keepers of this country. All the bee-
keepers of the State should get in touch with the State associ-
ation, as by so doing they get full protection from the Na-
tional also. Many of our members have saved several times
their membership fee, in buying their supplies thru the associ-
ation.
A paper on foul brood— that most destructive of bee-dis-
eases—was read by E. F. Atwater. By special request, the
Rev. Dr. Matson, formerly of Ohio, spoke briefly on the
" Home of the Honey-Bees," and of the members of the Root
family. His address was very enjoyable.
E. F. Atwater was made Association foul-brood inspector
for South Dakota.
At the evening session .1. .1. Duffack gave a report of the
great National Bee-Keepers' Convention, at Chicago, bringing
out very prominently the great need of a suitable National
pure-food law.
A paper by Mr. R. A. Morgan, formerly an extensive Wis-
consin bee-keeper, toucht on the value of honey as a food, its
wonderful keeping qualities as compared with butter and
other foods, the causes and processes of swarming, and queen-
rearing.
Mrs. .John M. Downer spoke of the convention of the
Horticultural Society, at Siou.x Falls. S. D., and of the grow-
March 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
153
ing sentiment in favor of holding the bee-ljeepers' and horti-
culturalists' meetings at the same time and place.
In the question-box and answers, glass was decided to be
the best package for retailing extracted honey. A point
brought out that is not well understood by the general public
is that practically all granulated honey is/«ri?, and easily
liquefied by gentle heat.
In regard to honey-plants, catnip was thought to yield
very little; sweet clover is the great honey-plant for South
Dakota. Fifteen acres of sweet clover supported 30 colonics,
and each colony gave about 50 pounds of surplus honey. It
was thought that 70 colonies might have given as large yield
per colony, as 80 colonies did not seem able to work the en-
tire field.
Increase by dividing was generally preferred for the ex-
perienced bee-keeper.
Attention was called to the good qualities of sweet clover
hay, but horses and other stock must be taught to eat it, and
it must be properly cured.
Thomas Chantry was elected president ; J. M. Hobbs,
vice-president ; J. J Duflack, general manager, and E. F. At-
water, secretary.
The committee on resolutions reported as follows :
Resolved, That the South Dakota State Bee-Keepers' As-
sociation call the attention of all other State bee-keepers' so-
cieties, to the benefits of joining the National Bee-Keepers'
Association in a body, thus increasing the membership and
power of the National Association.
E. F. Atwater, Sec.
The Yermont Bee-Keepers' Convention.
BT M. F. CRAM.
The 26th annual meeting of the Vermont Bee-Keepers"
Association was held in connection with the Vermont Horti-
cultural Society, Dec. 5, and 6, 1900, at Brandon, under the
auspices of the Brandon Grange, which furnisht hall, lights
and music.
The meeting was opened by Pres. R. H. Holmes, and
prayer was offered by H. L. Leonard. The minutes of last
meeting wereTead and approved. The Secretary's and Treas-
urer's reports were read and approved.
Pres. Holmes' address was delivered without notes, and a_s
the secretary is not a shorthand reporter, he caught only some
of the more important points. Mr. Holmes said that Vermont
produced 1/33 as ranch honey as California, where the
honey is mostly extracted, but Vermont honey is mostly comb.
What Vermont lackt in quantity she made up in quality.
V^ermont leads the country in quality of horses, butter, apples,
sugar, etc. Addison County produced % of all the honey in
Vermont, but he thought honey could be produced in other
places at a profit. The public were not informed in regard to
the method of producing honey, but were learning. People
have to learn to keep bees, the same as any other business, in
order to make a success of it. There is no luxury that people
like more than honey. Honey is something that would keep
— it need not be sold until the producer is ready. Altho the
last two seasons have been poor, bee-keepers are not discour-
aged. We should have better seasons soon. Eternal vigilance
is the price of success. We are met to tell each other of our
success and failure, and the points of interest in our pursuit.
A discussion followed on the peculiarities of the past two
seasons. Mr. Leonard said Rutland County had had better
seasons than some other counties, but the past two seasons had
been very poor, 1899 being the poorestseason without any ex-
ception for 50 years.
The past seven years have been poor for honey-produc-
tion. Mr. Cram said that 1860 was the poorest season he
ever knew — about every colony in Addison died.
Mr. Leonard had had seasons when his colonies averaged
100 pounds each, but they had not done so for the past seven
years. We have made great strides in the management of
bees in the last 50 years.
Mr. Larrabee spoke about the bees building comb when
the season is dry ; also that the bees capt the comb more read-
ily in dry seasons than in wet ones.
Jlr. Crane said one class of flowers would produce honey
one year, and the next year they would not, but some other
would take their place. The past season was the best for 40
years, thru fruit or apple bloom.
Mr. Terrill, from Lamoille County, said that bees did bet-
ter last season than in 1899. He got no basswood honey tlio
it bloomed full.
M. F. Cram then gave his method of getting a crop of
lioney in a poor season, which was in reality the same as irj
good ones. The first thing he did was in the month'of .luly
the year before, and that was to see that each colony was put,
and kept, in such condition that it would have a hive well
stockt with bees in September or the first of October. Hi^
could not let his bees swarm later than .Tune and get good re-
sults from them the next season. There was generally a
honey-flow some time in the season, and In his locality it was
usually in .June. He had his colonies strong early, or he '-got
left." His main honey-crop is from raspberries. He used a
larger hive— (9 frames) about one foot square. We didn't
very often lose any bees in winter, not more than one or two
percent, but in the fall he had doubled up and had some empty
combs. In the spring he has had some colonies so strong that
they would occupy two hives in good shape — one empty hive
on top of a strong colony. The queen would occupy both
brood-chambers. He had one queen enter an empty brood-
chamber and lay 11,000 eggs in three days. When some
other colony swarmed he diove the bees all down out of the
top brood-chamber, and then hived the new swarm into that,
putting on sections, and also putting sections in the place of
the removed brood-chamber, and both colonies would push
things with vigor. He wintered his bees in the cellar with no
upward ventilation, and didn't remove them from the cellar
until they could gather pollen.
Mr. Crane said it was well for every one to study his lo-
cality, and be ready when the flow comes.
The chairman ai)pointed the following committee on uomi*
nations : G. H. Terrill, A. J. Vail and Lewis Bascom.
QUESTION BOX.
QuES.— Can bees make comb out of sugar? Ans. — Yes.
QuES.— Is the honey as good for comb building one time as
another? Ans. — Yes; but the temperature is not.
What is the difference between honeycomb and honey-
moon ? Ans. — Honeycomb is composed of a lot of small
cells, and honeymoon is one big sell.
Does alsike clover produce honey the first season ?
Ans.— Not in sufficient quantities to produce surplus honey.
How are surplus combs stained ?
Mr. Larrabee said they were stained by wet weather, also
by using old comb where the bees had died.
Mr.' Crane then spoke on travel stain. It is caused by
several things, one is using foundation to cap with : another
cause is pollen. Sulphur will remove it. Propolis used to seal
the combs could not be removed, but could be lightened
in color. He had made a little tent or lean-to. and had used
it for bleaching. It was 10x13 feet. He could bleach l,OoO
sections at one time.
The committee on nominations reported as follows:
president, J. E. Crane; secretary, M. F. Cram ; treasurer, H.
L. Leonard ; vice-presidents : Orange County, T. H. Edson ;
Lamoille, E. K. Seaver ; Chittenden, O. J. Lowrey ; Rutland,
V. N. Forbes ; and Addison, L. O. Bascom,
All were elected.
Mr. Crane gave his paper on pickled brood, which the sec-
retary failed to get, but the disease is not serious in Vermont.
Mr. Leonard then gave a talk on the loss of queens in
mating. If seiiarated far enough they would not be lost in a
house apiary. If there is room to place one hive at every
other place, it will help.
Mr. Holmes has a house-apiary. He painted up and down
the building (3 feet wide in red, white and blue, and lost 16
out of 26 queens. There was no difference in loss whether
they were at the end or middle of the building.
Mr. Crane had changed the entrance and it had helpt.
He had noticed that if some object were placed near the hive
it had helpt about the loss in mating.
Mr. T>eonard had trouble with bees leaving their hives
and going in where there was a queen, they in the meantime
being queenless.
Mr. Holmes had had swarms mix in his house-apiary on
the side of the building.
A vote of thanks was extended to tlic Brandon Grange for
the use of the hall and for music.
The time and place for the next meeting were left with
the secretary to confer with the secretary of the Horticultural
Society, to meet as they could arrange.
M. F. Cram, Sec.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year iti advatice,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free— if you will mention it.
154
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL,
March 7, 1901.
I % The Afterthought. ^ |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THRKK "WIVES" IN ONE HOUSE.
Of course we are Schmidtten with desire to know how
three (|ueens to one colony are secured, page 71. Was the in-
formation withheld on purpose to malce us cry for it? We
can see that there are three stories and three entrances. I'll
guess that the mid-story has zinc both above and l^elow, and a
partition across the middle. But then, but then ; it's one
thing to show us how to have three wives in one house without
any (juarreling, and quite another thing to prove that such an
establishment is wise? or profitable. I can see that a queen-
breeder might like to have an excess of tested queens to draw
upon.
WANTED — A NONBUSTABLK UONKY CAN.
Hut, Mr. Aikin, I don't want to speak well of a honey-can
.that will burst unless we wait for the honey to candy before
we ship it. Better we insist on a can that will carry liquid
honey to market. First you know, we shall learn the art of
keeping our honey licjuid pretty much all the time. A non-
bustable can will not offend at all your lovers of the granu-
lated article— or steal ISIr. Doolittle's thunder and send it to
'em in a box. Mr. A. is right on the main point, however.
Make your plan and your price according to your situation,
and don't be bluft out of it by the brother who has a fancy
trade, and who wants you to try the impossible task of bring-
ing non-fancy people up to its lines. If you want your honey
eaten daily on the poor man's table, you must compete (to
some extent) with home-made sugar syrup. If you can sec
your way clear to do without the poor man's custom, why,
that is your privilege. Page 74.
BROOD-t'OMH 25 YEARS OLD.
Editor Ixoot's account of the 25-year-old comb is reassur-
ing, and also just what we might expect. Presumably the ex-
tra thickness at the bottom is more or less mixt with dried
food. I strongly suspect that bees in winter supply themselves
with a small amount of nitrogenous food by chewing these'
dried masses — one reason why old comb winters bees better
than new combs — and also the origin of the little heaps of fine
stuff we see on the hive-bottoms. Possibly in a land where
there was no winter the bottoms would continue to thicken.
Even with us an occasional colony does plaster in their cells
with black-looking wax till the comb in places is nearly a solid
mass. Perhaps that may be much more common in Europe
than here. Page 84.
ENTRANCE-FANNING .\.ND (JUEEN-FINDINO.
And so it is not at the side where fanning bees are, but at
the other side that we are to expect the queen. I made and
propagated a very natural mistake : so now let us get our
heads level on the subject. By the way, McNeal's correction
would be misunderstood by a beginner. Strictly speaking,
bees do not force air into a hive ; they fan it out, and other
air follows in by the easiest route. May it not be that it is not
the bees but the queen that determines this whole little mat-
ter'? She feels a current of air, doesn't like it, and directly
goes elsewhere. Page 76.
HOW MANY" BEES DIE IN WINTER.
Oi) page 88 a beginner asks how many bees die in winter:
and Dr. Miller sagely answers, " A whole lot." This suggests,
for more than the thousandth time, that we greatly need some
common agreement as to what we mean by " the winter."
Most of our chunks of wisdom are more or less reduced to fog
by the indefiniteuess of that term, if they happen to contain
it. A colony of 16,000 bees might get thru December, Janu-
ary and February with a loss of only 1,000 — and yet "every
man of them"' die before May 10th. In this case one man
would say, "Only a small proportion of my bees died in the
winter;'' and another would say, " The winter killed 'em, all
dead as nails ;" and both these men would be telling the truth.
Can't we fix things, brethren, so a man can tell a lie when he
tries ■? We seem to have three winters. The greater one be-
gins when daily flight ceases, say Oct. 10, and ends when they
begin to build up in numbers, say May 1st. (One bad winter
I noted that May 6th was the lowest point with my bees.)
The lesser winter is of course the three months usually desig-
nated as "winter months.' 'Then there is an intermediate sort
of winter which has its beginning Dec. 1st, and its end any-
where the season and the speaker may happen to put it — usu-
ally at the warm spell which brings in the first pollen — some-
times in March, and sometimes in April. Somebody tell us
what we would better do about it.
Northern Seed Grain-i
imlli'.,,-,a[i.lbil\ci Kiut; l^aih-y ut /Jc iutlo bu. lots.
Iiite Ilullc-ris bill ley and speltzatifl in :iO bu. lut-.
[1. millet or •'UillionDoUjir Grass" at 81.75 per bu.
Order quick. Free catalog tells of all kmds
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Kalamazoo Carriage and Harness Co.
Box S3, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Please raentign Bee Journal when writina
Good Report Bee-Hive Incubator.
I started in the bee-business last spring with
11 colonies of bees, and put 26 into winter
(luarters in the cellar, and they seem to be
wintering all right. I sold three colonies dur-
ing the summer to an old bee-keeper, and got
about 0.50 pounds of honey all in one-pound
sections, which I sold in the home market at
l."i nuts per pound.
,\l.v bees are all "well-bred." I boufjlit
some queens last summer from some of our
noted queen-breeders, and I don't see much
difference between them and my old stock.
1 ;im going to try using the bee-hives as iti-
riil«itors the coming season. My father used
lo I I'll me not to •' count the chickens before
liii'.v were hatcht," so I will not say how
many I will have.
We have had nice weather up to yesterday,
wIk'U we had a big storm. I can not get along
with the American Bee Journal.
(i. W. KUEAMEH.
.Audubon Co., Iowa, Feb. 4.
Queen-Rearing.
Mr. I'ridgens article on c(iieeu-reuriri;;
(liHi:e4lll, I'.iUOi is very interesting and iiu-
porlaiit to every bee-lieeper even if not in the
iiueeu-rearin;.' business, but unfortunately 1
e:in sav with ■■Apis Mellifica" (paire 47(l,i;Nill),
lliat 1 luive rea.l it and rereail il .".(I times, pei-
liaps, hoping itwoiild clear up, but it is still
tirccK to iiie, ■■ Apis Jlcllitica " complains
S""OATS
45caBu. andup. ^^^_* *. M ^1^
The clfanesr. heaviest, best vieldintr oats are
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straw, have yielded 150 bu. per acre^ Cataloff deseribing
3 and all other farm s
1 free on request.
Harry N. Hammond Seed Go.^
£-ormerlg ./ FijitiJ. Box 2i Bay City, MIch-
Please mention Bee Journal when -writine.
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Coiled Spring Wire
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March 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
155
only of one passage, but the whole last page
is almost a dark cloud to me.
What a splendid gift Mr. Doolittle has in
being able to explain his ideas so clearly and
logically, and building up in such correct
order one thought after the other, in a way
that one niuxt understand.
I tried Mr. Henry Alley's method of ([ueen-
rearing with good results, while I made a
failure of Mr. Doolittle's, but I am convinced
that it was my own fault. I should like to
know, tho, where I was at fault — whether in
transferring or in the colony I used to rear
the queens. The result always was that after
transferring food and larvfe into made queen-
cells, inserting them into an upper story over
a queen-excluder, with a good colony and
laying queen below, the food and larva> would
be gone and the queen-cells empty the next
day. The excluder covered only a part of the
colony below. Could this have caused the
trouble f
I do not advocate increase by swarming,
but prefer to build up nuclei and keep down
the swarm ing-f ever. J. Noeltin'(;.
Argentine Republic, Oct. 10, 1900.
Bees Wintering Well.
The weather is tine, and no snow a^ y
Bees appear about normal in the cellar.
Sioux Co., Iowa, Feb. 31. F. W. H.m.i..
Poof Seasons— Hive for Extracted
Honey.
The honey-business has been rather discour-
aging the past two seasons in this section, on
account of the dry weather. Bees stored very
little surplus, and a great many are dying of
starvation this winter: but we are looking for
better things in the future.
Which is considered the better for extracted
honey — the S-frame or the 10-frame Lang-
stroth hive ? W. S. Shield.
Fierce Co., Wash., Jan. 31.
Has a $100 Queen.
I had one queen last season that helpt me lo
clear .*10(), and I can prove my statement.
Kroni her colony and the two swarms which
issued from it, I secured 325 pounds of fine
honey between March 1st and Sept. 1st. 1
sold the honey for from .30 to 40 cents per
pound — Mexican money — so you will plainly
see that I had a JilOO queen.
Bees do well here, but the demand for a
good article is very small. Extracted honey
brings froni 10 to 35 cents per pound, and
strained honey from 4 to 6 cents — that is, in
" Doby dollars." W. S. Allan.
Mexico, Feb. 11.
Report for 1 900— Two Queens in One
Hive.
My crop of honey for 1900 was practically
the same as that of the two preceding years —
an average of 40 pounds per colony. I dis-
posed of all of it in the local market at 14 and
15 cents per pound. I also increast the num
ber of colonies one-third.
We all winter our bees out-of-doors here,
and never lose any unless they are very weak.
By way of experiment I am wintering two
queens in one hive, with a division-board be-
tween the small colonies. These are in the
cellar. A. B. Cross.
Meigs Co.. Ohio, Feb. 4.
Feeding Bees in Box-Hives in
Winter.
< )n page 88 some one asks how to feed bees
in box-hives in the winter. Like questions
are so often askt that I am tempted to give
my practice, which seems to conflict with the
answers of others.
I have several colonies in straw-hives that
are short of honey. I have feeders made of
taker's tins, 9x12x2 inches, with thin strips
running lengthwise to keep the lices out of
the feed. I then make a rim two inches wide,
the size of the bottom of the hive, and place
this on theilxittom-board, with the feeder in-
side of it. I put the hive in the cellar, or an
A WHOLE GARDEN
For 14c.
lia this ;;-r aKiOOO new
■f», and hence offer
liiue hloud Tomato.. 15c
hern Lemon I6c
Onion. 10c
,rii>-mM Green Cucumber..
ity*;tuden Beet
J Day Uadish..
__ _ Market Lettuce.... Iftc
1 " Elegant Flower Seeds irio
Worth $1,00 for 14 cents. ^Uiu
We will mail you this entire 81.00's
worth of tiiplendid seed novelties free,
together with our large illustrated
Plant and Seed Catalogue on reeeipt
of thl» notice and l-4c in po.'-tuKe
Choice Onion Seed 60c lb and up.
Potatoes at ?i.:iOper barrel and up*
Catalo^Mie alone. .5 cents. T
JOHN A. SALZER SEED CO„LaCrosse,Wis.
i^lease mention Bee Journal "when •wntmc
Wanted !
Two or three apiaries
for cash, located in
Colorado. Give full
particulars in first letter, and lowest cash price;
comb honey preferred.
lAtf Thos. C. St.inlkv & Son, Fairfield, 111.
SEED bTl free
To get new customers lo test my Seeds, I will mail my 1901
catalogae, Slled with more Bargalnt^ tban ever&nd a lOeDue
Bill good for 10c worth of Seedn for trial abHolulely
free. All theBestSeeds, Bulbs Plants, Ro8CH,Furra
Seeds, Potatoes and maiiy Novelties at lowest prices.
(vlnsene* the great money makiDg plant. Giant Prize To-
matoea, 3tothe foot. Pan American Oats, seot&u iftee to
farmere, and two Free Pattses to Pun Amerlcun Expo-
sition, Buffalo, N. V. are offered. 82,635.00 in cash premiums.
Don't plve yonr order until you see this new catalogae.* You'll
rgrl«ed_at nw bargrain offers. Send posta i f or catalogue
" " '' " ' ■ ■ asend uxi.
co.,N. r.
Tell your fri
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We ran
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our I9'^l catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON. Bel I Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich.
'-VEGETABLE rnCC
GARDENING" rlltt
NEW UNIVERSAL
HAND SEEDERS
andCULTIVATDRS
fffj^jfnp Sui.a.ie^r„,„„
n d 3 whee I cu Iti vator
stable. Anourtooit.
rid are made of best
t-nd lorcataiocdescriljint:
' AMESPLOWCD ,24 MarketSt., Boston.
Please mention Bee journal when writing.
We want *
To sell you BEE=SUPPL1ESI
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog- : it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. <)ur prices
are rig-ht, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Multi & Go.
S.W. Cor. From A: Walnut Sts., Cin^jixn a ri,( ).
Please mention. Bee Journal -when "writing.
SEEDQORN
75c a Bu. and up. ^^ ^^ U MB ^
MJchiKan Nonbi in (.r.un is tlit- furli. ^t and iiro-
ducea largeat criiDs. lhiiiiiii.iMcl'> ^.xlJ I>u5 Flint,
Amerli'an :I*rl<l>. Kiirl> \,lluw I>. nt und Thur-
oughbred Whlti- IX..I :.i. n,, :i f„, s vnricties to-
day. Amprican I'ri.lmiiM']-' 1 -, hit. .•.Ii.-lk-d intrn per(K.'re.
Filteen other snrl;^. ' ,,i .1 'k lullv rt.-~.rihiii(; these woQ-
derfolcorns and cllnrs' i N ijitli-..- .in reriiient.
HARRY N. HAMMOND SEED CO.,
rarmtrlfofFIMil. Uax 8, Boy City, Allcb.
adjacent warm room, at night, then fill the
feeder with very warm syrup, made of 1()
jiounds of sugar, ,"> pounds of water, and ,'>
pounds of honey. I then put the hive on the
rim over the teed, and give them upward
ventilation, to let off the steam or moisture
generated by till' Hits. If the colony is large
euougli t" 'n- wiMlh wintering, the feeder will
he empty iIm' ihM morning. The ne.xt night
repeat tlii^ liMiJiiiL^-. I would not advist; feiMl-
ing more than twice in this way, as that is all
the unsealed feed a colony ought to have in
the hive at this time of the year. If one de-
sires he can b^)re si.v one-inch holes in ttie
rim, and tack on wire-cloth, then close the
entrance to the hives while feeding.
It I have a colony in a I-.angstroth hive that
needs feeding, I simply put the feeder on top
of the frames with two cobs across it to keep
the covering up, till the feeder, and cover all
with the cushions.
I fed bees successfullyiyears ago with this
|ilan, and have fed several colonies the same
way in my basement this winter, where the
temperature was at least 60 degrees above
zero, and have not lost a hundred bees.
While this method is perfectly safe and .sat-
isfactory in the early winter months, it would
not do at all to try it in the spring months
when the bees have become tilled with excre-
ment and uneasy for a flight.
George W. Bassett.
Washington Co., Vt., Feb. 10.
1900 Almost a Failupe— Laying-
Workers.
The year I'.IOO was almost a failure for .Miss-
ouri bee-keepers. The last three seasons
have been very poor, but we are looking for
better things next season.
1 put 10 colonies into winter quarters in
isii'.i, and did not lose any of them. In the
spring 1 increast to 28 by dividing. Bees
swarm very little here, so I did not have any
natural swarms.
I winter the bees on the summer stands,
with chaff cushions over ttie brood-frames.
When I examined the bees last spring 1
found one colony with laying-workers: I
gave them eggs from another colony, but they
would not start queen-cells, so I gave tlieni
more eggs, and changed places with anotlier
strong colony, and the strange bees started
cells properly, and reared a queen. This col-
ony is now one of the best I have.
My bees stored honey enough for winter
stores, but very little surplus. I like the
,\merican Bee Journal very much.
K. COVLE.
Vernon Co., Mo.. Dec. a). 1001).
Bee-Exhibits at Farmers' Institutes.
I take great intere.st in reading the Ameri-
can Bee Journal, and took special jjairs to
have my last year's numbers displayed at our
county •Tat'iniM^' In-tiluti-." We secured
space for an exhit'il 'il l..r -applies, lixtnii-s.
etc.. as well as Iki- liiri aiinc, which was of
interest to inaii.\ . \\ i- hope to see good re-
■■-iill fnini ipur flforl!- lo bring before the peo-
]>le the ini-rits of bi-e-ciiltnri'. I see no rea-
son whv the lioney interests of oiU" country
should not have as much attention paid to
them in our institutes as is paid to horficid-
ture or poultry. To be successful in horticul-
ture we must call tiee-culture to our aid.
Many often ask th(^ question, " Whafs the
matter witli iny bees;'" and doubtless tho.se
very persons have never taken a bee-paper in
their lives, nor even read one.
C'YKfs Uoi(iI,.\s.
John.son Co.. Ncbr., Feb. s.
The Cry of Hard Luclc in Cuba.
It .seems very strange to me that all ho
everything I read in the fjee-papers aboni
Culm is fnll of foul brood and all sorts of bail
Ihings. vet the writers of these artic-li"^ .■ire
liuving 'new hives by the luunhv,!-. li i.s
hunl to rcconciU- the theory with Ihr |irai li.c.
One of my friends wlio talks m.i.~t discuurag-
inglyaboiitit has bought .500 new hives this.
sea.s<)n: another who has recently publish!
a very pessimistic article is putting in ^lO
more. Personally, I liave always advised my
156
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 7, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :X:X
THE FtNEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown, Wisconsin, u. S. a.
You Cskn'i Afford to Guess
The
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made. The best
Poultry KeepI
hatching:. We g-uaraniee them to last 10 years and to outhatch any incubator
' know about it is to read our 224 pace (8x11 in.) book, "Vrofltoble
. _ -J.iO illustrations and covers the entire sabject. We send it for 10
ips. Ask for bonk i.O. Circulars mailed free. Address neiirest office.
CYPHERS INCUBATol{ rO. Chienc-, HI., W.iyland, N. Y., Bo8ton. Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
SAVE $8 ON A HARNESS!
n'earethe
rgeatt
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nufacluy
tty^-r^ ttt trit; tvurttt selling tothe cotisittnet' ejcclusii:
We Have no Agents, Dealers or Middlemen.
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aUaddi'.ional expense. We ship anywhere forex
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report that tliey have saved from 88 to 810 in*
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Elkhart Carriage and Harness Mfg. Go.,
O. B. PRATT, .S(r;, ELKHART, IMDIAHA.
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m INCIBATORS
ore sclentlfl
than :;o hens and
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Successful Hatcher.
the largrest exclusive manufacturers of standard in-
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78 DES MOINES, IOWA
Marshlield Mannfactnripg Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWoOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal "vphen ■writing.
I ARE YW NAKINGllOINEY?!
RELIABLE "''^^^'^^-°-^-? B:
AND BROODERS
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The Business End of the
NEW RLMELY SEPARATOR^
Like all the "Rumely Goods" this is simply perfection. When
coupled to our New Rumely Rear Geared Traction Engine
they constitute a threshing outfit that not only makes big ^
money for the thresher, but saves grain and money f
the fanner. They are durable beyond com- <
parison and when you buy them you are
(lone buvinK for years to come. Take a little
tin e tn think about h"\v it -n-oiild pa V von to
(mil snch an .lutlll, tla-n wriic lis f^.r f rce catalof;.
Ml. RUNIELY CO., La Porte, Ind.
Flew Mention the Bee Jonrnal iJl^iSJ?.?...
friends not to come here, yet I have just re-
ceived 500 new hives with some '• trimmings."
Some time ago it was stated in the Bee
.Journal that a subscriber had made a success-
ful shipment of 200 colonies from the States,
but in a more recent number he hints darkly
at "'diseased bees"' — yet he has 325 more
hives on the way here. And so it goes.
The representative of one of the big bee-
supply houses spent a vacation here, and sold
thousands of hives, tho we are all crying out
that we can not make bee-keeping pay at the
present prices — 2^^ cents per pound for all
kinds, from white to black. The only reason
I see for this is that we feel that the profit to
the colony is so small that we must have a
great many of them in order to make it pay.
I have just returned from a trip over ou the
north coast. We went for 30 miles thru
almost virgin forests, looking for good loca-
tions, but it would be impossible to get honey
out of there for there is no road. The most
of the way we carried our wheels down a
river-bed, or followed the paths the deer had
made along the ridges. For 25 miles we
traveled entirely thru sugar-cane fields, which
extend from the coast to the mountains — a
block of cane 25x6 miles.
The scarcity of good locations is another
reason for the crv of hard luck in Cuba.
Cuba, Feb. 4. Harry Howe.
A Fair Report for 1900.
Last fall I put tjtl colonies of bees into the
cellar in good condition, and secured 1,500
poimds of comb honey, which I sold in the
home market at 15 cents per pound. I got no
increase.
The weather was very dry the forepart of
the season, as most of the honey was gathered
from fall flowers.
I keep the queens' wings dipt, so I do not
lose any swarms, and know just how old the
queens are. I make from ?100 to ?300 out of
my bees every year.
I recommend the American Bee .Journal to
all who keep bees. Geo. H. .\irisgek.
Meeker Co., Minn., Feb. Iti.
Bees Will Die of Starvation.
The past season, in this locality, was a total
failure, and I had to feed nearly all of mine
for w inter. I know of no one else in this
locality who fed the bees, and the report is
that about five colonies out of every six will
die of starvation. Harkt Bbokaw.
Richland Coi, Ohio, Feb. 15.
Cleanliness Among Bee-Keepers.
1 notice what Mr. Alibolt has to say on
page .")5. in regard to cleanliness on the part
of the honey-producers. I can verify his
statement as far as some of the California
bee-keepers are concerned.
I think if we would all be more particular
in preparing our honey for market we would
receive a much better price.
We have just had the best rain in 10 3"ears.
C. E. Stevens.
:>an Diego Co., Calif., Feb. 7.
Feeding Bees Grapes— Introducing
Queens.
I have been askt how to feed grapes to bees,
so will here give my method:
1 crush the grapes the best I can, then
put them in a large pan, tipping one end a
little higher than the other, and having the
pulp on the highest end : in the lower end I
put some grass, or something of that kind, so
that the bees will not drown. After they have
taken all the juice, they will gradually work
the pulp " down hill."
Having a few more queen-cells than I
wanted at one apiary, I cut them out, put
them in a pasteboard box, making a few holes
in it for air, put it over a strong colony, with
a queen-excluding board lietween. and forgot
all about it. When I finally thought of it I
foimd that the i|ueens had hatcht, and the
bees were tearing a\vay the pasteboard. Since
then 1 have many times used pasteboard for
introducing queens.
1 once put|a comb containing .seven or eight
March 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
157
.BIG RESULTS.^
^ Etmsll In-
fnt. Thai'a
eBaiiliimllatehiT.
Hatche§every h<ttchabloe;jg, often fiDchicka
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturag-e and Nectar-
Producing- Plants; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
The American Poultry Journal
323 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Almir>n;i1 ^^^^ '^ over a quarter of a
UUUl IKII century old and IS still grow-
ing- must possess intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must be a valuable one. Such is the
American Poultry Journal.
60 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal,
Please mention Bee Journal ^vh.en ■writing
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHINERY
Read what J. I. Parent, of
Charlton, N. Y., says: " We
cut with one of your Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
SO chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
100 honey racks, SOD brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a ffreat deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
to make, and we expect to do
it with this Saw. It will do all
Catalog and price-list free.
W. F. & John Barnes,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writing.
yon
Address,
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinarj', Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertisings Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing,
" Vegetable " Qardening Free.— No book ever
publisht on g-ardening has proved to be more
popular nor of more practical value than
"Vegetable hardening," written bv Prof. S. B.
Green, of the University of Minnesota. It is
now used asa text-book in the Minnesota School
of Agriculture, in the North Dakota, South
Dakota, Iowa, Virginia, Massachusetts, and in
the Illinois and Washington State Agricul-
tural Colleges. We have received a copy of the
special edition of this book, issued for the Ames
Plow Company, which contains 240 pages, more
than 120 illustrations, and treats of the cultiva-
tion of every variety of vegetable grown in
America. While the regular price of the book
is $1.25 (and it is well worth it), the Ames Plow
Company is offering it free to every purchaser
of a Matthews New Universal Seeder in any of
its various styles. These Seeders are unsur-
past by any implement used bv the gardener
and truck-grower, being adapted' to all classes
of work, both seeding and cultivating. They
are used by Prof. Green in his lieUltests. We
trust that our readers will avail themselves of
this opportunity to secure free so valuable a
book by so capable an authority, l.ook up the
advertisement in another column; and write
them to-day, mentioning the American Bee
Jouroal when writing.
queen-cells in witli aliuiit a quart of lices, and
when loDkin;; lifter tliem a few days later 1
liiseovereil that four of the cells were open,
but I could find only one queen. I afterward
fdunil the oiJHT I liree in worker-cells, appar-
iith
In sturtni^^ a new colony I put the queen
and one frame of brood into a hive, then
shake the bees from the frames into the hive,
and give the broi>d to weak colonies. Nearly
all the bees given to thi' queen will stay with
her. I also give a frame of brood with a
i|ueen-eellor a queen to the fleld-bees that re-
turn; in this way I have more bees, and there
is no need to cover the brood to keep it from
chilling. B. E. Gixxek.
Placer Co., Calif.
Is it an Erpop ?— Another Was.
On page T8, F. J. Gunzel reports U,(l(l()
pounds of honey from 94 colonies, whicli, as
1 figure it, would be an average of about ITO
pounds per colony. I wonder if it isn't a mis-
take—something like the one on page 74, first
column, where the treacherous type makes
Mr. Aikin say, " The cheapest barrel we could
buy would cost us ?10U.'' J. D. Gehrixh.
Douglas Co.. Kans., Feb. 7.
[Of course, that barrel cost should have
been -SI. 00. Just the omissioniof the deciiual
point— that's all. — Editor.]
Bee-Keeping in the Yazoo Valley.
The Yazoo Valley in Mississippi is a very
unhealthy part of the country. I was sick
there all summer with chills.. It is also a very
poor honey locality, as it rains too much. My
advice to bee-keepers is to stay away from
there. The great bee-keeper who was the
cause of tny moving there has rendered his 250
colonies into wax. About once in six or
seven years they have a good honey-flow from
the willows along the Mississippi River, and
there are only a few places where that is
plentiful. Daniel Wurtu.
Anderson Co., Tenn., Feb, 4.
Do Bees Select their Future Home
Before Swarming?
While wrestling with "la grippe '' I have
had plenty of time to read the I?ee Journal,
and have noticed the discussion as to whether
or not bees select their future home before
swarming. I believe that first swarms always
do — second swarms never. First swarms not
only select their home, but if it is a tree they
clean it out before taking possession.
In l.'<47, while hunting in the woods near
Utica. X. Y., I discovered bees going in and
out of a hole in a hemlock tree, and stijiposed
1 had found a bee-tree. I went with others
the next morning to cut down the tree ; it
was a sultry morning in June, and before
reaching the woods a brisk shower came up,
and wlien we arrived there it was (|uite
cloudy. We could not see any bees about the
tree, luit we decided to cut it down. As soon
as it fell we ruslit to the hole to stop it up so
that the bees woulil not get out and sting.us.
(We knew nothing about bee-smokers in
those days. ) To our surprise we did not see
a single bee. We sat down on the log to rest
and eat our lunch; the sun came out bright
and hot, and while eating and discussing, and
wondering what had become of the bees, we
heard a roaring sound overhead, and on look-
ing up discovered a swarm circling where the
tree formerly stood. After awhile they set-
tled on one of the fallen branches, and v,e put
them in a Ijox and took them home with us.
We always went then, as now. prepareil to
save all wild bees which we found. We cut
down lii bee-trees the past season, and left
seven which we did not have time to cut.
In ls.-i:i, near this i)lace, I found a swarm
in a large oak-tree— or supposed l' had. We
went the next day to c\it it, and found the
bees working in and out. As soon as the tree
fell we rusht forward to stop up the hole, as
usual, hut only a few were coming out. and
these soon disappeared. We cut the tree oi)en
and found only a few bees— they were clean-
ing out the place, and getting it ready for
Tennessee Queens I
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reated 3\i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
(jueens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2J4
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2.H years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A2ot Spring Hill, Tenn. a
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
f Bee=Supplies |
fWe are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS tt
. AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio, ▼
A Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken- A
• tucky, and the South. •
fMUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS, f
. lAHGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC. T
• Lowest Freight Kates in the country. •
• Send for Catalog. *
T C. H. "W. -WESBEK,, ▼
■j" Successor to C. V. MuTll & Son, T
4 2146 4,S Central Ave., CINCINNATI,©. 4
200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2.00
*erfect in construction and
iction. Hatches every fertile
esp. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy.llt.
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Ag-ricultnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
haudsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
X30 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
326
FIRST
PREMIUMS
SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE. ^aI
Prairie State Incubator Co. f^Pfll
' UomerOlty. I>b. ••' I |
47A17t Please mention the Kee Journal
I BEE-SDPPLIES! I
♦ -^-Root's Goods at Roofs Prices'** ^'
;^ PooDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^.
• ^ thing- used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^^
••^ Service — low freight rate. Catalog ^•
•^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
•^^ 512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^-
Three Great Potatoes.— Amoup the catalogs
we have recently received is that of L. L. Olds,
the well-known potato specialist of Clinton,
Wis. Mr. Olds has been in the seed business
for 14 years, and makes a speciality this year of
three great potatoes: " l*at"s Choice " — a splen-
did variety introduced for the first time last
year; "Potato Pingree "—introduced in 18'**»,
one of the very earliest potatoes that grows;
and '* Vigorosa "'—the best yielders of all early
potatoes. His catalog is handsomely illustrated
from photographs, and gives the lowest prices
on potatoes, seed corn, oats and other grains
and grasses, besides a full line of vegetables
and flower seeds. Mr. Olds' three-fold motto is
*' Truthfulness- Promptness— Carefulness." Do
not fail to send for the catalog. It is free.
Please mention the American Bee Journal when
writing him.
BEES
QUEEN(»
Bmokers. Sectiona,
Comb Foundation
ijnd &II Aptedu SnjipUa*
•kMp. 8ra4 Nr
158
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 7, 1901.
occupancy. Many times since then I liave
noticed during tlie swarming season that
liives that were crammed full of bees would
suddenly be almost empty, and I would cen-
sure the one who was caring for them for not
attending more closely to business ; but in a
day or two the hives would be full again, and
a swarm would issue. I have known second
swarms to go from place to place for a week
before settling down to stay, and these were
bees which I could positively identify. In
the year I.SIM a second swarm of Italians be-
longing to me decami)t. and were found 7
miles away, one week after leaving the hive.
I knew they were mine, for they were the
only Italian bees in the county.
As to bees carrying both honey and pollen,
we hunt bees for a living, and I find that
those loaded with pollen, and, in fact, all
covered over with dust, fill with honey as
readily as those without pollen.
D. H. Metcalf.
Calhoun Co., Mich., Feb. S.
Bees Needing a Flight^Ppopolis on
Sections.
Bees have been eontined to the hives tor
ijuite a long time. They had some small
nights in the last three or four days, but I
think they are needinp: a general flight pretty
bailly. Thu weallicr is cold again to-day. and
there is iimsiileriible snow on the ground.
I would like it it I could find some way to
prevent the bees from depositing so much
propolis on top of the sections when using
section-holders. Who can tell ?
Edwin Bevixs.
Decatur Co., Iowa, Feb. 20.
Bees Wintering Nicely.
I put the Ijees into tlie cellar the latter part
of November, and did not see them agaiu
until the last of January, when I found them
to be as cozy and quiet as could be, and the
hives were clean and all right. I took the
bottoms off, and found the bees clustered be-
low the frames. Fred (J. Le Fevre.
Adams Co., Nebr., Feb. 6.
Mild Winter— Overstocking.
Up to this time the winter has been so mild
thill iiiii!-t idlouies have consumed about all
their stiin> in Imiod-rearing. This seems to be
the ea,-e with hybrids and crosses, especially.
The question of overstocking will be settled
around this vicinity the coming season, as an
ordinance prohibiting the keeping of bees
within, or one-half mile from, the city limits,
went into effect .Ian. 1st. Several bee-keepers
have moved near me lately, having about 350
colonies in all.
We have only a light flow from fruit-bloom
in the spring, and the prospects for white clover
are not very bright. I believe in scattering
10 cents worth of honey-secreting clovei « or
flowers for every colony. Sweet cIon er, « lien
started, will spread with amazing rapidit\
.J. C. Wallen'mei nx
Vanderburgh Co., Ind., Feb. 7.
Paper-Bag Feeders.
In reply to Mr>. Sanili .1, (irillitli ( pUL'c c.-jl,
IflOO). as to using iiaper-bag feeders, 1 will
have to admit that I liave never tried (lie
scheme enough to know much about it. My
first trial was a failure. I poured o or i'>
pounds of syrup into a large paper-bag, tied
the top and placed it on top of the frames in
the evening. During the night the bag burst,
but there was very little loss, as the hive was
raised in front. I ue.xt made of light manilla
paper three or fom- small bags that would
hold about two pounds of syrup. I then oiled
them, filled them, and placed them on the
frames. I tried puncturing them on the sides,
near the biiltoTu. and wiien 1 lookt at them
the ne.xt morning they were empty, and the
bees had enlarged the holes, and were run-
ning around on the inside of the bags. That's
all I know about it. They might be all right
for feeding a colony that was light in stores
during the ^unMuer or fall, if very heavy
pajjer were u^ed, and the holes made with a
check-puuelier. For spring feeding the nicest
S££L/y/r ni UniL
j^ovwififMun^
Direct to Consumers. «,
t>ur llnndHome Cfttnloe J? ree, costing ovpt *2 each,
:ontalne3 144 pa^'es, wilh K-OO illustratione and Ib.lKKI arii, U ^
iated. OD which we piaraiiteeto xaveyou from 15to757f . Mu^i
complete book of itslilntL ScDt for I'Oc to pay contof mailing,
a-bich will be refunded with firetorder. Valuable book of refer-
■nee and ouchtto be in every household. Get it; keep It handy.
Heller Chemical Co., Dept 13, Chlcaeo.
The Oolj- nail Order Drug Uoasela the n'orld.**^^
6A13t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail-^Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL, necessary to malie it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inveniions, which enable rae to SELL
FOUNDATION and
ion For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog: giving
Full Line of Supplies^
free on application.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal "when WTiting.
5eed Success.— Farmers, planters, gardeners,
and florists all over the country have learned to
look forward with the confident expectation of
finding^ something' unusually good when the
annual seed catalog of H. W. Buckbee, of
Rockford, 111., appears. The new catalog for
1001 will not disappoint them, for it excels in
variety of seeds offered, and in jreneral make-up
even Mr. Buckbee's former catalogs. It is a
veritable guide for the planter, because the
public has learned in the 25 years in which
Buckbee's seeds have been sold, that they can
be depended upon, and that the descriptions in
the catalog are true. The cover of the book is
graced by a handsome picture, the new beauti-
ful Jackmanni Clematis, a hardy, continuous
bloomer of early growth, a single plant some-
times producing as many as 5,000 blossoms.
Among the specialties for 'Which-Mr. Buckbee
is having the largest demands this year are the
famous Quaker Oats, the hardiest and health-
iest oat in existence, free from rust, and a won-
derful yielder; his celebrated (.ireat Liberty
Field-Corn (first introduced last year), a world-
beater in almost every section where corn is
grown; Buckbee's Great Western White Dent;
the famous Rocky Ford Muskmelon; Buckbee's
Mastodon Mangel, and other standard varieties
which have been thoroly tested and proved
money-makers. The list is too long to give
here. Send for his 132-page book and find " the
key to success." Address, H. W. Buckbee,
Rockford, 111., and please mention, the Ameri-
can Bee Journal when writing.
Good Instruments.
olors, dark brown, light red orambt-
worth 820. My Price iii6.2T.
GUITAR— yohd Rosewood, standard
size, neatly Inlaid, Spanish cedai
neck, celluloid front, ebony finder
board, best quality patent head
Full leather bound canvas case
Regular prtceeia. MyPrlee$r.66
MANDOLIN— Solid Rosewood
19 ribs; celluloidfront; veneered
Head piece, handsomely Inlaid.,
Elegant French Polish. PatentI
t head, engraved tall-piece. Worth
•5. My Price, Only 97, with
ather bound case, extra set of
rings and tortoise pick. Send for circula
hlyh grade musical instruments of all kinds.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
IVool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing" for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal oae yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
QEORQE W. VORK & COMPANY.
Chicag-o, IlL
HIVES,SECTIONSAND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, li. St. Louis, 111.
6Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
VV/'ANTED.— A situation by a young married
'* man, to assist in or care for apiary, and
fruit-growing. Experienced with bees; sober
and reliable; handy with tools; small family,
and musician. N.Y. State preferred. Address,
J. H. CLUTE, 432 Scotland St., Orange, N.J.
8A4t Mention the American Bee Journal.
BEE
■INVESTIGATE BEFORE YOl) BUY.
: «!i[it our i-i.stMiin-rs to be perlCitlv satisfied befort-, hv\ .spend the r monev , l[ivesti^at« the
(.-limwof uU iiKubfltura and then decide. Wt believe you wil I tind that tlie
SURE HATCH INCUBATORS
NG UROOOEKH are f-ivlng better BailsfaclioD
a soeimple, senwiMe and wiire. They are built tor
bother. Our catalojcuclBFKKE. We doa't
pay for iL 1 sn'ti t wort h eiamln Ing I
SURE HATCH INCUBATOR COWIPANY, CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA.
flease '-tention Bee Journal -when "writing.
Anyone— Anywhere
Our vehicles and harness are shipped to any
point in the United states on approval, and
for comparison with any other goods. We
are willing to take chances on pleasing you.
Are you willing to save money without tak-
ing any chances ? Our Split Hickory Vehicles
are right in style, in quality and in price.
Write for our new catalogue and prices on
seventy-six (7»i) different styles in vehicles
and large assortment of harness. Buy direct
from us. and save all dealers' commissions
and profits. We are manufacturers of the
famous Split Hickory Vehicles
Ohio Carriage Manufacturing Company
6 W. Broad St. . COLUMBUS, OHIO.
please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
March 7, 1901.
AMERIC/^ BEE JOURNAL
159
way I know of is to pour the syrup in as ex-
plained by Dooliltle and others.
Feediny: on top of the hive is bad practice
in early spring, as it is apt to let the heat out
of the hive, unless it is well paekt on top, and
feedint; at the entrance is liable to start rob-
bin;,'. t!!i|uare boxes could be made of very
heavy paper, that would be all rig-ht and
cheap. I tried to make a few of them, but a
man is very bungling about such work.
Hces might be fed in the spring by placing
an empty >u]iit under the hive and syrup put
into aliiiii^t any kind of a paper-bag, and put
on the liottom-board. Unflnisht sections left
from the previous season are also very nice to
use in stimulating a colony. Wm. Kersax.
Sullivan Co., Pa., Feb. 4.
way, aiid at the right lii
dined to outgrow i]|liri>
it, and kecj) all sueh I'fi
by ])inching until other
■ateh up. If
The Swate Fields av Nu York.
There's many a field in Nu York that don't
be F. L. Field's, an' many av thim do be swate
honey-fields, and do be loikin swate things
an' Amerikan things, an' do be loikin tlie
.\merikaii Ba .lurnal jist, an" have sinse enuf
to spake gintlv an' swatelv whin thev have
ony thing to say. The best thing ( >uld Doolit-
tle cud do (as he's there on the turf) wad lie
to Doosomthin, an' go at wanst, froze or no
froze, an' turn under that Field an' seed it to
swate clover, an' let the baze swaten it up a
lilt wid fiyin' over it an' blawing their swate
breath on the face av it. jist. Now here be-
yant the Daddy av Wathers we do be glad to
have Ould York sind the Ba Jurnal ivery
wake, an' when we are flush we'ull pay the
piper, and whin hard up we do be glad to
have the Ba .lurnal come an' cheer an' swaten
us. Should the toime cum whin we can't git
swateness enuf from it to pay, we'ull pay
phawt's doo, an' wid a good -by an' God-speed,
i|uit frinds wid all the swate bhoys.
AVid good wishes — an Ould Nu Y'orker.
(.'arroll Co., Iowa. Feb. 8. C. E. Moukis.
Report for 1900 Rendering Bees-
wax.
The past season was not a very good one in
this locality. I secured about 200 pounds of
eomb honej' from Iti colonies, spring count,
and increast only one. They all have identy
of .stores for winter, the hives averaging over
M p(ninds each when put into the cellar.
What honey I had to spare Tsold in the home
market at 1.5 and 16 cents per pound.
1 will give my experience in rendering wax
from old combs. I pounded and ruliljeil the
old e(ind)s into fine bits, until they lookt liki'
pine sawdust, then I weighed thecrusht eomb.^.
and fouiid that I had 14 pounds; this 1
divided into two equal parts, put into bags
and soakt for 4.S hours, the water being
changed twice, and some of the dirt was
s(iueezed out. I put one bag into an iron
kettle partly full of water, and boiled it for
.some time, then I took ic from the stove and
sipieezed it. I repeated this operation three
different times, until all the wax was ex-
tracted. The 7 pounds of comb made 4!l
ounces of clean wax, or 43^4 percent wax.
The 7 pounds put into the solar wax-ex-
tractor, and left in the hot sun at a tempera-
ture of from 80 to 90 degrees for about 10
days in June, made 15 ounces, or 13'., percent
wax. The slumgum was taken out of the ex-
tractor and put into a thin cloth bag in the
kettle, and treated the same as the other bag.
The slumgum gave 28 ounces of wax, or 25
Ijcrcent. This .shows that a great deal of
wax is wasted in the slumgum if it is not
boiled and scjueezed as it should be.
The outlook for the coming season is prom-
ising at present, as the snow will protect the
white clover from winter-killing.
AiiCHEii L. White.
Dodge Co., Wis., Feb. 12.
Care of Plants in Spring.
In the sjiringtime when plant^ are nuiking
strong and rapid growth, particular attention
must be given to training them. If negli'cteil
in this respect they soon get beyoin! eniilrul,
and tlu' only way to bring them inlo sulijei'-
tion then is I IV sacrificing a good ile.rl i,f i he
growth th.-y have made. This there i- i e.l
of doing if the training is begun m Ihe right
If a liraneh isin-
iii.-h olT the end of
■lie.s from growing
anehes have had a
plant is not bushy
d<'omiiact. make it so by pinching oil the
enil of all its branches. Keep up this treat-
ment until as many branches have started as
you think the plant ought to have. If you
ilesire a plant to grow- in tree form train it to
one stalk until it reaches the height you de-
sire, and then nip (dT its top and force it to
branch. Save the iiranches at the top to
form the head of the tree. If yoti want a
shrubbery plant begin the pinching process
when it is small, thus forcing it to branch
close to the 'pot. The old saying," as the
twig is lient the tree inclines," applies perti-
nently to the training of plants when in their
early stages of development. — Ebes E. Kex-
i-dKii, in the Ladies' Home Journal.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Utah.— The Utah Bee-Keepers' Association
will hold its regular spring meeting April 5th,
at 10 o'clock a.m., in the City and County Build-
ing at Salt Lake City . All arecordially invited.
We expect to get out a treatise or pamphlet, the
obiect of which will be to give the best and
quickest method to discover, cure, add prevent
disease amoug the bees, and the best way to
protect them from their enemies. It will also
contain other matter for the benefit of the in-
dustry, including our State law. We will be
pleased to receive coramunicatioas from any of
our bee-keepers upon any subiect along the
lines indicated. Address, Pres. E. S. Lovesy,
Salt Lake City, Utah, or J. B. Fagg, Sec.
East Mill Creek, Utah.
JBINSENG
lanta pTodace $4.0f>0.10 tn 10
look tellini^ how to grow It, 4c
LakesideGinseng Gardens, Amber, N.Y
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
^^"^^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL
Please meutloii Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
Easy to Answer.— The popularity of the Low-
Down Farmers' Handy Wagon is not difficult
to explain when we see bow much easier the
Handy Wagon is both on the man who uses it
and the horses which draw it. Being easy to
load it saves the work of one man in doing
almost any kind of hauling. The tires being
wide the wheels do not rut the ground, nor
mire, and so the load draws just that much
easier.
The popularity of the Electric Handy Wagon,
PZlectric steel wheels, and, for that matter, all
Electric goods, is equally easy of explanation.
It is based on their superiority, which is main-
tained by careful selection of material and care-
ful construction. The hub is made of a supe-
rior cast-iron, fully b'O percent stronger than
ordinary cast-iron. The spokes are cast in the
hub by a special process, and have a head
which effectuallv prevents their ever pulling
out. They will remain tight in the hub as long
as the wheel lasts. The outer ends of the spokes
are securely fastened in the tire with a counter-
sunk head and a substantial shoulder on the
inner side of tire. The heads are countersunk
clear thru, so that the spokes will remain solid
in the tire until the tire wears out. Both tire
and spokes are made of the best wrought steel,
and guaranteed uui to break in the coldest
weather or on the rockiest road. The wheels, as
a whole, are practically indestructible, and will
last a long lime.
The Electric Wheel Company, at their fac-
tory in Ouincy, 111., manufacture steel wheels
(which are sold to tarniers to fit any running-
gears the farmer may have), handy wagons,
tanks of all kinds, feed cookers, feed grinders,
and other farmers' supplies. We feel conlident
that every one of our readers will be interested
in their catalog. Do not fail to send for it, and
mention the American Bee Journal when writ-
ing them.
,>3 >!i >ti >t<. >!i >t<. >li >ti >te. >te >!4, ili ^14^
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, I'eb. 1').— Fancv white comb, 16c;
No. 1 white comt, 14@lSc; fancy amber, 12@13c;
No. 1 amber, lutoillc; fancy dark,10c; No.l darlt,
s@9c. White extracted, V'imSc; amber, (,'/i@
~iic; dark, 6]ic. Beeswax, 28c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Feb. 19.— Fancv white comb,
li*ul6>4c; amber, 12(ai3c; dark, ibc. Extracted,
light, 'ic; amber, 7t6@,>ii^c. Demand fair; re-
ceipts light. Beeswax, 22(at28c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemous & Co.
Cincinnati, Feb. 9.— The market for comb
honey is becoming very bare, altho the prices
have not changed. Fancy white comb is still
selling for Itic; no demand for darker grades.
Extracted is in fair demand; dark sells forSJ^c;
better grades from 6H@8c; only white clover
brings from 85^@9c. Beeswax, 2.8c.
C. H. W.Weber.
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 11.— Honey market is
dull and prices nominal; light stock, but the
cold weather is bad for it. Comb, in good order,
not candied, white, lS@16c; mi.xt, 13^14c; dark
and buckwheat, 11 @ 12c. Extracted, white,
"(a8c; mixt, 6@6)^c; dark, 5>i@6c.
H. R.Wright.
Buffalo, Feb. .h. — Some more active this
week, and may clean up better than expected
awhile ago. Fancv 1-pound comb, 15(ft-16c; No.
1, 14<5;15c; No. 2, 12(.S13c; dark, buckwheat, etc.,
StojlOc. Beeswax, 2S(q2^c. Batterson & Co.
Boston, Feb. 8.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, lSrail6c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honev this year. Extracted, white, 8®
8Mc; light amber, 7}^'aSc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
New York, Feb. 19.— Comb honev is being
well cleaned up on our market. The demand
has lessened to quite an ^.xtent, on account, we
presume, of the high prices which have been
ruling. Fancy white siill brings 15(gil6c in a
small way: No. 1 white, 13@14c; amber, lltoiUc;
buckwheat, 10c. Extracted rather dull and not
much doing. California white honev, 7J^@8c a
pound; light amber, 7c; Southern, from 60 to 70c
per gallon; buckwheat, S(n^5'Ac. Beeswax steady
at iSC. HiLDRETH & SeGELKEN,
Detroit, Jan. 19— Fancy white comb, 15®16c;
No. 1, 13(ai4c; dark and amber, 12'?Jl3c Ex-
tracted, white, ~(s'7Hc; amber and dark, b(i.6}ic.
Beeswax, 26(a27c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13@
14 cents; amber, ll>«@12!4c: dark, 8(s>9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7>4@8c; light amber, bKlS^Kc;
amber, S>^@6!^c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present ofifer-
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honev is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantity,' which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
HONEV HARKET.-We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are' in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, qualitv, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here for
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & S'on, Fairfield, III.
Pjftase mention Bee Journal when writttip.
DO YOU WANT A
HiQli Grade ot Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
For Sal6
SiiDplij Deal-
ers' Slock
and flniarij,
i,(ic.\'m:ii in mai,iii:.\, .m.\ss.
S. A. FISHER,
12 Pearl Street, - Boston, Hass.
10A2t Please mention the Bee Journal
t60
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 7, 1901.
INCUBATOR
ON TRIAL
The Perfected Von Cuiin.
Successful result of 2S years' erperience.
Scientifically correct, practically perfect.
Nou-explosive metal lampa.
Double and packed walls.
Perfect regulation of heat and ventilatioa.
Made of best materials, and highest quality
of workmanship and finish.
PRICES $7.00 AND UP,
SATISFACTIOX Gl'ARANTEED OR XO PAV.
We mako Brooders, Bee Hives & Supplies.
C3f" Catalog and Price List sent Free.
The W.T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
Dept. Jamestown, N.Y.
Please mention Bee Journal when writi-.'
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
>* e have made arrangements so tliat we can
furnisli Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order: ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^
Sweet Clover (white) 50c $1.00 $2.25 $4.C0
Sweet Clover (vellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
Alsike Clover "Oc 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 140 Erie Street. - CHICAGO, ILL
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
sendJl.'25to
Prof. A. J. CookyClaremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
$2,ooo In Cash Premiums.— This is one ot
the striking propositions presented to the
reader of the seed catalog issued by F. B. Mills,
of Rose Hill, N. Y., who has been advertising
in our columns for some time past. We have
inst received one of these catalogs, but space
will not permit more than a brief reference to
it Doubtless hundreds of our readers already
know Mr. Mills thru their dealings with him io
the past, but to such as do not enjoy his
acquaintance in a business way, we can only
say— send at once for one of his catalogs and
see for yourself. It embraces everything in the
way of standard field, garden and flower seeds,
as well as many novelties in each of these lines.
The cash-premium proposition relates particu-
larly to a new variety ol oats— the Pan-A raeri-
can— being introduced by Mr. Mills this season.
It appears he is sending free to certain reliable
farmers 2-bushel lots of the seed, the only con-
dition being that a cerLiin portion of the crop is
returned to him, and all receiving seed under
the above conditions are allowed to compete for
the cash premiums, which are many and very
liberal. In connection with this same offer, is
a free pass to the Pan-American E.tposition,
which will open at Buffalo, N. Y., this year.
We feel sure the remarkably generous condi-
tions of this offer will interest a large number
of our readers. The catalog is free. Send for
it to-day, and in writing please mention the
.American Bee Journal. Ask Mr. Mills also for
his new lettuce proposition by which another
pass to the Exposition is to be awarded.
24th n^rl^.^4'^ r^...^rl^4:^r. 24tll
Year
Dadant's Foundation
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WBBD-PROCESS SHEBTINO.
Why does it sell ^.^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co , III.
Gleanings in B66-Guiiur6...
Is an illustrated seini=niontlily, 32 pages and cover,
at $i.oo a year.
■^3
->^S
If you keep only a few bees you can't aft'ord to get along with-
out Gleanings in Bkb-Culture, as it will save many times its
cost the first season. Better g-et along- without almost anything
else than a good bee-paper. There is no use in our telling how
good Gleanings is, as it will speak for itself if you will only let
us send you a sample copy for your name and address on a postal.
If you once see it we know you will want it.
Look at Our Offers:
Offer No. 21.
For 25 cents we will send Gleanings 6 months' trial subscription to new
subscribers.
Offer No. 22.
For $1.00 we will send Gleanings for one year and an untested Italian queen
valued at 75 cents; but at this low price we reserve the right to send queen some
time in July when we have a choice supply.
Offer No. 23.
For 50 cents we will send Gleanings from the time your subscription is re-
ceived till Jan. 1, 1902, so that the sooner you send in your order the more num-
bers vou will ^et.
Offer No. 35.
Gleaningrs one year and one untested red cl»ver queen, $2.00. Gleanings one
year and a tested red clover queen, $4. (XI ; a select tested red clover queen and
tileanings one year for $0.00. We will begin mailing these queens in June. Or-
ders are already being entered and will be filled in rotation. Do not neglect to
improve this opportunity and get some choice stock. Si:nd your order early so
you may get the queen correspondingly early in the season.
Offer No. 25.
For $1.00 we will send Glea.nings one year and a Clark smoker, postage 20
cents extra. Or, for $1.25 we will send the Corneil smoker, postage 25 cents extra.
Offer No. 26.
For $1.75 we will send Gleanings one year and our cyclopedia on bees, the
.\ B C of Bee-Culture, of 475 pages.
Old as well as new subscribers may take advantage of these
several offers, but all arrears or back subscriptions must first be
paid at $1.00 a year. Refer to these offers by number to avoid
mistakes.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., ceicago, ill.,
I headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPER.S' SUPPLIES. Send to them for
■ir free fatalog.
^^•f)-f-f)-f-f)-f)-f)-^-f)«f-f-f-f)-f)'f)'f)^
AVVEge/l/v
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 14, 1901,
162
AMERICAN BEE jOUFNAL,
March 14, 1900.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
George W. York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
'Entered at the Post-OfBce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postage. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
'*ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the **e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
nd protect the
aterests of its
To promote
members.
To prevent the adulteratioti of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commission-
men.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dk. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Mauag-er and Treas-
nrer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.(.h) a year.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or^ ^lauital
ot* tlie Apiai-y.
-BY-
PROE A. J. COOK,
460 Pages— 16tli (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary-it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
mag^nificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, weproposetoGiVE away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting- NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new. subscribers to the Bee
Journal [with $2.00], and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.Z5, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO..
144 A. 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
LonQ-TonOUGfl B66S
ARE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppemium
fop sending- us TWO new subscribers to the
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2i;
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4.00.)
We have arrang-eci with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. "W iiHis-S
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Best
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Bouey n
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY,.*.,,,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gfathered in
the great Alfalfa regions ol
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't g-et enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY...,.,.
This is the well-known
lig^ht-colored honey gfathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a strongrer
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9ji
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
8'2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL., MARCH 14, 1901,
No, 11,
I ^ Editorial Comments. ^^ |
The Home Circle. — We begin this week a new department of
the American Bee Journal, called The Home Circle. As will be
noticed, it is in charjje of Prof. A. J. Cook — a man of excellent ability,
wide experience, and a most helpful writer. We trust that thru this
feature of the old Bee Journal every member of the family may be
greatly benefited.
It would be a nice practice to gather all the family around the
fireside, and have some member read aloud the whole of this new
department each week. As each paragraph is read it could be dis-
cust or commented upon very helpfully by father or mother, or the
older members of the family, and thus pass a most entertaining hour
or evening.
We hope, also, that many will avail themselves of the invitation
which Prof. Cook extends to all who can do so, to aid by sending to
him such items of general interest and helpfulness as may be thought
to be suitable. Of course, all such may not be deemed available, but
doubtless a goodly proportion would be approved.
It is not our intention to allow " The Home Circle " to trespass
upon the space usually devoted to bee-keeping, but we shaU likely run
fewer of our own advertisements, and devote the space thus occupied
to matter that shall be of real value to every member of the family,
whether interested in bees or not. We feel that in so doing we will be
advancing the good of all, and thus be extending the influence of the
" Old Reliable '' in a way that will be commended by every one who
desires to see it fulfill its highest mission.
We bespeak for both Prof. Cook and " The Home Circle "' a cordial
reception by every family into which the old American Bee Journal
has already won its way.
Home-Apiary of Mr. K. J. Ba.xter. — On page 171 will be
found a picture of the home-apiary of Mr. E. J. Baxter, of Hancock
Co., 111. Mr. Baxter is a native of Newark. N. J., but he has lived
nearly all his lite in Hancock Co.. 111. He is a son-in-law of Mr. Chas.
Dadant, and for the past 23 or 24 years has kept bees on a large scale,
having from two to four apiaries most of the time. He uses large
liives. and extracts the greater part of his honey. In reply to en-
(luiries as to his success in the production of honey, he says:
•' The book containing my honey-crop etatistics previous to 189B
is mislaid, but I can give you my exact returns for honey sold since
that time, and some approximation of previous crops. The past five
years have yielded me as follows : 1896, S523.40; 1S97, «1, 192.92; 1S9S.
^)7.70; 1899,8534.98; 1900, S42.:!0. The average number of colonies
i have kept during this time has been 225. The past five years have
Ijeen about the poorest, the last tieing the very worst of all.
■• My best years were 1882, 18S3, and 1880. In 1882 the bees aver-
aged me over !?10 per colony net, but I don't remember the exact
amount.
•' In 1883 an apiary that I establisht at Powellton, of 41 colonies,
yielded a liltk- better than 23 barrels of honey, one colony yielding WO
pounds I believe that the total for that .year was in the neighborhood
of 2:^,IK«) ipdinids from 123 colonies, spring count.
"In 1889 1 harvetsted something over 33,000 pounds for my own
share, besides the one-fifth that I gave to the persons on whose
grounds the out-apiaries were located. AH but five barrels was clover
honey, and netted me about S2..5O0.
" Our crop is clover, heartsease, and S|)anish-needle.
" As to the strain of bees, 1 havu blacks, Cyijriansand Italians. The
Italians have always done the bt-st. in pcjor seasons usually hav-
ing plenty of stores to winter on if no surplus, while the blacks are on
the verge of starvation.
■' I have used Langstroth, Simplicity, and Dadant-Ciuinby hives, and
the latter having given me the best results I have now no other kind.
Until the past year I have done nearly all the work in the several api-
aries except during extracting time, when I have the usual crew of
four besides myself, if the crop is good. I now have two out-apiaries
besides the home-apiary shown in the picture."
Mr. Baxter is also a large fruit-grower. He is one of the firm of
Baxter Bros., who own several large vineyards and extensive straw-
berry-beds. Their shipments of strawberries, raspberries, grapes, etc.,
amount each year to over a hundred car-loads; but E. J. Baxter says
that his bees have brought him more profit, for the time involved in
their care and the capital engaged, than any other enterprise in which
he has ever been.
Making an Observatory Hive. — One of our subscribers in
the State of Washington asks us to give plans or directions for liuild-
ing an observatory hive. Also the best location to place it for
observation ; and he wishes to know whether such can be purchast
from bee-supply manufacturers.
Of course, anything in the bee-line can be gotten from the bee-
supply manufacturers, if they are told just what is wanted.
Almost any one who is handy with ordinary carpenter's tools can
make an observatory hive, something after the style of an ordinary
hive, only with glass sides. Perhaps the most successful would be
made for only two brood-frames, tho they are often made for one
frame. Then the frame or frames can be lifted from the hive with
the bees, queen, etc., and put into the observatory 'hive.
If we were going to keep bees in an observatory hive we think we
would have it at the window of one of the living-rooms of our house,
having it so placed that the bees could work in and out just the .same
as if they were outdoors, but have it so arranged that they could not
get outside of their hive into the living-room.
Apiculture at the Pan-American. — As we have announced
before, Mr. 0. L. Hershiser is the live superintendent of the apiarian
exhibits at the Pan-American Exposition, which opens in Buffalo,
May 1, 1901, to continue six months thereafter. Here is what he has
to say in tJleanings in Bee-Culture regarding the proposed exhibit in
the interest and representative of bee-keeping:
Judging from present indications the apiariau exhibit will not be
least among the many novel and instructive attractions. It promises
to eclipse everything in this line ever attempted, and this, notwith-
standing the general shortage in honey-production in many localities
within the United States and Canada during the past two years.
This exhibit will be a veritable wonderland, not only for apiarists,
but for that larger class of users and consumers of honey. It is de-
signed to make this exhibit educational as well as entertaining, to the
end that the fallacies affecting the pursuit of apiculture may be, as far
as possible, rectified.
A model apiary will be in operation to show, in a practical way,
just how both comb and extracted honey are produced. Exhibits,
showing the relation of bees to horticulture, will be a prominent fea-
ture, and the mistake of spraying fruit-trees when in bloom will be
demonstrated, as well as the absolute necessity of the presence of bees
during the season of bloom in order to make horticulture, in any sense,
a paying pursuit.
Vasl (luantities of both comb and extracted honey, prepared in the
most attractive and appropriate forms for market, will be shown. It
is safe to say that this most interesting feature of the exhibit will in-
clude the nectareous products of all vahialilc honey-|ilants to tic found
within the Americas and the island possessions of the Uiiiti-d States.
There will be a complete and exhaustive display of manufactures
therefrom.
A distinctive exhibit of honey-plants, as a part of the general out-
door-growjng horticultural and floral exhibits, is contemplated.
There will be several large and attractive exhibits of ai)iarian sup-
plies, comprising specimens of all approved hives and every tool.
device, and preparation needed in the imrsuit of apicidture.
Several State and Provincial exhibits are already a.ssured, and
others are under aclvisement. It may also be stated that individuals,
no matter where situated within the Americas, have an opportunity t*)
164
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 14, 1901.
exhibit their apiarian manufactures and products. One person in this
class proposes to install an exhibit comprising a ear-load of 30,000
pounds of comb honey, and it is expected that there will be others of
great magnitude, especiall}' from localities noted for large productions
oi honey of a standard and uniform grade, as is the case with the
alfalfa of Colorado, the sage of California, and the basswood of Wis-
consin. Many of these, as well as some State exhibits, will lie of the
present season's honey harvest, and will not be installed before the mid-
dle of July to the middle of August: but application for space should
be made early, in order that it may be provided.
Apiculture is accorded a prominent place in the Exposition, and a
special building, in an excellent location, will be provided for the api-
cultural exhibits, the extent and size of which will be commensurate
with the needs and desires of the bee-keepers who will exhibit.
It begins to appear that Mr. Hershiser is going to try to outdo the
combined apiarian exhibits at the World's Fair in 1893, and the Omaha
Exposition in 1898. We hope he will succeed. He is a hard worker,
and deserves every encouragement in his huge undertaking. Surely,
his objects, as stated above, are highly creditable, and, if carried out,
ought to help to elevate bee-keeping and the products of the apiary to
a higher plane than they have occupied before in the estimation of the
public.
The American Bee Journal is ready to do all in its power to aid in
making the apiarian feature of the Pan-American the most eutertain-
ing and educative of any to be shown.
"Watch the Bees" — Robbers.— A subscriber at Ackley
Station, Pa., wrote us as follows Feb. ISth;
I enclose a clipping from the Farm and Home. It is a good thing
we don't depend on farm papers for our bee- informal ion.
The clipping referred to reads as follows:
Watch the Bees. — Be sure they have food enough. This can be
easily ascertained by lifting the stands. They should weigli at least
75 pounds. If they are not supplied dissolve white sugar in w-ater,
enough to make a thick syrup, place in shallow pans and put imme-
diately in front of stand on warm, sunny days. Watch for robbers if
this is done. Tour own swarms will not rob one another. — M. Hale.
Coos Co., N. H.
When it comes true that " Your own swarms will not rob one
another," it will no doubt also be true that two roosters will not light
if they belong to the same owner, and there will be no possible chance
that one dog will snatch a bone from another unless they belong to
different owners. There is, however, a serious side to this matter. In
some eases a man will be punisht who pretends to practice medicine
without proper ciualifleation. He must know enough about the laws
of health to be able to instruct his patients as to their health, or he is
guilty of crime. Altho less in degree, is it not of the same kind when
a journal ostensibly gives instruction upon agriculture, and knows
nothing about the matters it treats of ; If a physician is subject to
punishment when guilty of mal-practice, should not an agricultural
paper be punisht when guilty of mal-practice in its instruction '. Farm
journals should give reliable instruction as to bees, or let bees alone.
It says iu the clipping that the "stands" should be lifted, and
should weigh 75 pounds ! If a " stand " weighs 75 pounds, how much
should the hive, with bees and combs, weigh ?
I % The YVeekly Budget. ^^ I
Mr. Johx B. York, the Father of the editor of the American Bee
Journal, died of pneumonia at Randolph, Portage Co., Ohio, Sunday,
March 3d, and was buried there March 6th. We returned this fore-
noon (March 8th) from our old home, where we laid to rest one of the
best men that over lived. He was a sincere, earnest Christian worker,
and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church tor 55 years, most of
the time in some official capacity.
Father was born Aug. 34, 1829, in Starke Co., Ohio, only a few
miles from where he died. He left mother and seven children to
mourn his departure — foiu' sons and three daughters, the youngest
being a son 28 years of age, and the only one unmarried. Fatlier lived
to see his children grown up, and all in comfortable circumstances. He
believed that to give them a fair education, and ability to look out for
themselves, was far better than to leave them financial wealth. He
was wise in thus doing. We believe father was fully ready not only to
die, but also to live again— in the Eternal Home, where all his family
hope to meet him by and by, to part no more.
Mk. A. L. BoTDEN, of the A. I. Root Co., has recently been in
Cuba, and gives a report of his trip in Gleanings in Bee-Culture. It
seems he visited some box-hive apiaries owned and managed by
natives. At one of these he desired to take some photographs, but the
Cuban bee-keeper didn't quite understand the kodak act. Mr. Boyden
continues :
When I went to the lower end of the yard to snap my kodak he
came rushing up, gesticulating wildly and talking vociferously. The
bees were getting roused up at this point: and as 1 did not understand
his Spanish, I concluded that he was afraid I would get stung. Being
a bee-keeper myself, I determined to take my chances, and so held my
ground until I had made two exposures (both failures, however), and
then went back to the upper end of the yard, where the rest of the
company were. When I got there I found I had offended this man
very much indeed, for be thought I had come with some sort of
music-box to entice his bees away. It is reported that he lost a large
number a year or two ago in the same way, and he is very suspicious
of anything he does not understand now. We tried to explain the
matter to him, but did not succeed in pacifying him.
* * * * *
Etiitor E. R. Root has the following paragraph in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, witli this heading, '■ York's Patent Double-Acting Bees: ''
While we were on the cars en route to the Wisconsin convention,
Mr. York poked fun at Mr. Hutchinson and myself on this matter of
measuring bees' tongues. Mr. Rankin, you are aware, measures the
whole tongue, while we measure from the mandibles to the end of the
tongue. When Mr. Hutchinson and I were discussing which was the
right way, Mr. York facetiously remarkt that he had a plan that was
better than either; and that was, to measure from the end of the bee's
tongue to the end of the sting. There could be no confusion if we
measured thus. And he proposed, further, that Hutchinson and I go
into the business of breeding bees that could suck .up nectar from
"both ends" at one time, something like a patent double-acting
double-plunger pump.
When those two editors have queens for sale of the double-acting
kind of bees, we will give them a free advertisement. Only we hope
they won't develop long stings at both ends, also!
Mr, H. T. Gifford, of Brevard Co., Fla., we learn from Mrs. F.
C. Prange, " was shot Feb. 16th by C. D. Reed, a renter. There had
been some dissatisfaction about the crops, it seems, but no heated
words for over three weeks. Reed used a shot-gun loaded with No. 4
shot, fired without warning, at a distance of 50 feet. Mr. Gilford was
unarmed, and was pumping water for his horse. He saw Reed when
he aimed, and threw his head and body behind the pump and plat-
form. This saved his life, but he was badly wounded." Mr. Gifford
is one of our subscribers, being 6'3 years old, and most highly respected
by the residents of Indian River district in Florida, as well as in
his native State, Vermont. We regret very much to learn of this very
unfortimate occurrence, and trust that Mr. Gifford will fully recover.
Not a Bee-Hive. — The following is told at the expense of an
.American gentleman who was recently stopping with his wife at Hotel
Cecil. On their first evening there he happened to retire somewhat
later than his spouse. Arriving at the door of what he imagined to be
his room, and finding it lockt, he tapt and called, " Honey !" No an-
swer came, and he called again more loudly, " Honey !" Still he got
no reply, and becoming somewhat uneasy he shouted the endearing
term with his full lung power. This time a reply came, and in a male
voice: " Go away, you blithering idiot ! This is a bath-room, not a
blooming bee-hive 1"' — London Express.
Yei.i.owzon'es is the name of a valuable tablet remedy gotten up
by Dr. W. B. House, of Detour, Mich. They are intended for the
alleviation of all fevers, headaches, coughs, colds, grip, rheumatism,
neuralgia, colic, dyspepsia, heart diseases, etc. We have tried this
remedy for some of the troubles mentioned, and find it all right. We
would advise our readers to send to Dr. House for circular and further
information, if interested. Please mention seeing this notice in the
Bee Journal, shoidd you write to him.
Mr. R. B. Leahy, of the Leahy Mfg. Co.. called on us Friday,
March 1st, when on his way to visit Wisconsin bee-supply dealers.
We didn't think he seemed as well as some years ago, tho he said he
felt better than for some time past. He is taking things easier than
formerly, saying he doubted if he would ever again work as hard as he
did for some years. Nice thing to be able to" let up,'' we presume,
and let others worry over business, etc.
March 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
165
ii,jemjs,.is^vi,js,.is,M^is,Jfi».ii,Ji,M.
Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual
Convention of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, held at Chieag-o, 111.,
Aug-. 28, 29 and 30, 1900.
BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC.
(Continued from page 133.)
THE secretary's report.
During^ the past year no complaints have been made to
me by any of our members of any trouble in obtaining pay-
ment for consignments of honey, but the case to which
reference was made at the Philadelphia convention last
year has not yet been adjusted.
In 1899, Mr. W. C. Gathright, one of our members in
New Mexico, made a small shipment of comb honey to Mr.
H. P. Robie, of Sioux Falls, S. Dak., and failed to get his
pay. I wrote Mr. Robie twice regarding the matter before
I got a reply. He promist to pay, but wanted a little time.
After waiting a long time I wrote to him twice, but as yet
have no reply, and, thinking it advisable to collect the
amount if possible, I obtained his commercial rating, which
in part is, "He is running a small newspaper called the
Successful Farmer. Is of small financial means, and not
known to have anything in excess of exemptions and
can not be recommended for general credit dealings."
I informed Mr. Robie of the objects of our Association,
and told him that unless settlement was made bee-keepers
would be informed as to his method of doing business, and
cautioned regarding their dealings with him.
This is the only case in which, during the past five
j'ears, I have failed to make a settlement in the name of
the Association. A. B. M.\soN, Sec.
Pres. Root — Are there any other matters to come up
before we adjourn ?
Mr. Abbott — The Legislative Committee.
Pres. Root — I will name on that committee Messrs. R.
L. Taylor, O. L. Hershiser and Herman F. Moore.
Mr. Abbott — Let me say briefly that the purpose of that
committee is to look up the laws in the various States re-
lating to bee-keeping, and to draft such laws as are thought
proper in the interests of bee-keepers. Those laws will
then be submitted to the General Manager, and when you
want a law past in your legislature you send to the General
Manager to get a copy of that law, then each State will have
a uniform law, and you will have one drafted ready to push
thru. I have a man now in Missouri who says he will put
one thru our legislature this winter.
Pres. Root — Is there anything further that should come
before this convention before we finally adjourn ?
Dr. Mason — Nothing is yet known as to the time or
place of our next meeting ; we have been following the
Grand Army Encampment ; they have not decided where
they will meet : as soon as we have decided you will learn of
it in the bee-papers.
Mr. Root — If there is nothing more, I think we may
consider ourselves adjourned, sine die.
Owing to some misunderstanding no report has been
sent to me of the Wednesday evening session by the stenog-
rapher, and altho I have twice written about it, and it was
promist, it has not been received, and as Mr. J. M. Ran-
kin's paper on " Breeding for Longer-Tongued Bees " was
read at that session, I have been waiting the arrival of the
stenographer's report before inserting his paper in the re-
port, but as it seems probable no report will be made, Mr.
Rankin's paper will be inserted here.
BREEDING FOR LONQER-TONQUED BEES.
The subject which was assigned to me to discuss is one
which has but recently been considered by the public as an
important one. There are a few men who have been work-
ing along this particular line for years, but for some rea.son
or other they have neglected to inform the public as to their
results. It may be that they were afraid of being laught at
for working on such a crazy hobby, or it may be any one of
a dozen other reasons ; but the facts of the case are, that no
attention has been given it by the bee-keepers until the
last three months.
When beginning work of this kind it is always well to
stop and consider the probable advantages that would be
gained if we were successful in accomplishing it. And also
count the cost of bringing about the desired change. Then,
by mathematical calculation, as it were, we can determine
whether or not it is worthy of our consideration. The one
groat advantage in having bees with a tongue 8 or 9 mm.
long, would be that they would be able to gather nectar
from the flowers whose corolla-tubes are now too deep for
them to work on. There would be myriads of plants whose
honey deposits would be of easy access to our bees, which
at present are entirely useless except to the bumble-bee.
The principal one of these would be red clover. It is a
known fact that as the country becomes cleared away, and
the wild vegetation with the forests give way to the farm-
er's corn, potatoes, and hay, that the bee-keeper realizes
that it is time to move to better pastures. His crop has be-
come too uncertain to be profitable.
If the honey-bee could reach the nectar in the clover-
heads, the bee-keeper would not find it necessary to move.
When there is onlj- an ordinary amount of honey in the
corolla-tubes, it is of no value to the honey-bee, because it
is out of her reach. She is compelled to wait until a moist
or favorable time, when the nectar rises to within 3 or 4
mm. of the top of the tubes. What a difl^erence it would
make in the honey-crop, in these old sections of the country,
where clover comprises half of the hay crop, if a bee could
work freely on it !
When beginning this work I sought the advice of sev-
eral scientific men. I received no help, and no encourage-
ment. One of the most prominent entomologists in the
country said that if I had nothing else to do for the next
hundred years, it would be a pleasant way to spend my
time in trying to accomplish something which was an im-
possibility. Had I been wise I should probably have taken
his advice, but I did not. I went to work to contrive some
way of measuring the tongues of the bees. After much ex-
perimenting I settled on a compound microscope with an
mc. scale, and a camera lucida attachment. The bee was
killed by chloroform, the tongue removed, placed on a slide,
and held in position by a cover-glass. The image of the
scale, as well as that of the tongue, was then thrown on the
desk beside the instrument. This, however, proved to be a
very unsatisfactory method, as it is a diflicult matter, and
requires the best of the day to make the adjustments of the
microscope.
The method finally adopted was to place the tongue on
a slide which contained the mc. scale, then to hold the
tongue in place bj' a cover-glass, and place the whole on
the stage of a simple or single lens microscope. By this
method it is impossible to get the measurements down finer
than .1 mm.; but this is close enough for all practical pur-
poses. Many devices have been made to measure the
tongue while the bee is still alive. So far as I have found
none of these have been practical. The only fact that is of
value that I have obtained from them is that during life the
tongue can be stretcht to a certain extent, at the pleasure
of the bee. Just how much it can be stretcht I am not now
prepared to say. When I had found a way of measuring I
was glad to know that the tongues of a certain colony were
comparatively uniform, that is. that each strain had a par-
ticular length of its own.
After securing the best stock it was possible to find,
queens were procured from this stock, and the selections
began. The idea that presented itself to me was to cross
and recross two good strains, thinking that we would in
time produce something much superior to the original
strain. It is by this method that all the improvements
have been made in live stock.
It was right here that the difficulty presented itself,
namely : How should I control the mating of the queens ?
Every method imaginable was tried, with little success. I
have dipt the tips of the queens' wings, with the intention
of impairing their flight ; have taken off all the way from
a hair-breadth to half the wing, but out of 65 queens thus
treated only one was mated.
I then tried the plan of cellaring the nucleus containing
the virgin queen, and also a full colony of bees containing
drones. Then I releast them towards evening, after the
drones ih the yard had ceast to fly. The results were little
better than those of the first method.
The only plan which has given me satisfaction is to
keep a colony with drones queenless until toward the close
of the season, and after the otlier drones in the yard are
killed off. The virgin queens would generally be success-
166
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 14, 1901.
fully mated. This plan, however, prevents more than one
cross in a season. It has been proven that in the case of
live stock, where breeding from nature toward a certain
type, that the selections must be from both the male and
the female, and ol the two the male is the more important.
It is necessary, therefore, to control both sides if we wish
to develop a longer tongue, because it is not a natural
tendency.
After three years of failure and success from these and
other methods, from stock which measured 5, 8, and 6 mm.,
I have made two direct crosses, and the result is stock which
measured 6.4 mm.
There is as j-et a question as to what will be the out-
come of this idea. The problem which confronts us at
present is that of mating the queen. When we succeed in
this we may experience the difficult3' of having our stock
suffer from in-and-in breeding, but this can doubtless be
overcome.
If some one will take the contract of mating the queens
as I want them mated. I would agree to develop the strain
of bees with a tongue as long as desirable.
There are three methods, it seems to me, of accomplish-
ing the desired results. One would be to sow a large barren
tract on some island in the sea with our June clover. The
corolla-tubes of this would be short because the soil would
be too poor to grow the clover thrifty. An apiary located
in this clover would reap a fine harvest from it because of
its short corolla. Then we would gradually lengthen the
corolla-tubes by adding fertilizers to the soil, and in a few
hundred years we would have bees that would successfully
obtain a harvest from June clover. We all know that it is
the tendency of animal life to adapt itself to its surround-
ings. So the bees would have gradually stretcht their
tongues to reach the nectar in the clover. This method
can hardly be considered practical.
The next best thing will be to increase the length of
the tongue by direct crossing. This method will, at the
best, require many years of careful work. Why not add to
this another method which will work in with this one per-
fectly, namely, to breed a race of clover with a shorter
corolla-tube ? Plants are more variable than animals, and
therefore more easily changed from their original types.
There are examples of this all around us. From a small
yellow variety of corn, with an ear less than 6 inches long,
and a stalk not 3 feet high, we have the large varieties of
Dent which stand 10 feet, or even more, in height, and bear
two or three ears. Cabbage and lettuce have been selected
with a view to the value of their leaves. Phlox drumundi
has within the last SO years been changed from a small
pinkish flower to the beautiful double white flowers of the
present time. All these have been selected with a view to
a certain type. Clovers have been developt with a view to
a forage crop, and nowhere is there any record of work
being done on the flowers themselves. Dr. Beal — one of
our best authorities on botany, and especially grasses —
said while talking with me on this subject: " A field of
clover represents as many and as varied types of the same
species as would a field of corn planted from a mixture of
all the known varieties." It seems tome, then, that there is
a chance to do some good work on the clover. There would
be little danger of its going back to its original type, for
only the short corolla-tubes would be fertilized by the
honey-bees, and the first crop of this clover would yield the
seed.
Let me impress upon you that in all probability there
are few present here to-night who will live to see bees work
freely on June clover. Do not misunderstand me. I hon-
estly believe that it is possible to breed a strain of honey-
bees with tongues long enough to work clear to the bottom
of a June clover-blossom, but the process will be a slow one,
and probably not practical for the ordinary bee-keeper to
undertake. What I do think will be practical, and should
be done by every bee-keeper, is to keep the longest-tongued
stock that it is possible for him to find.
I dare say that next season there will be cataloged by
the leading supply-dealers a piece of celluloid with a mc.
scale, lense, and a half-dozen cover-glasses thrown in.
They will offer the whole outfit for about .'52.00, and every
up-to-date bee-keeper will know the length of the tongues
of every strain of bees in his yard, and will rear his queens
accordingly.
I think that in the past the ordinary bee-keeper has
been too likely to rear his queens "just as it happened," or
possibly has paid special attention to the three or five yel-
low bands. This is all wrong. When selecting a work-
horse we do not pick out a sharp-backt, slab-sided horse just
because he works willingly. We find a square-built, blocky
horse that has the ability as well as the willingness to work.
Wh}' not apply the same horse-sense when selecting our
breeding stock in the apiary ?
If this method of selection is followed for a few years
there will be no more short-tougued bees in your apiary.
Then, too, you will not see one colony working on some
vile weed, and storing strong, black honey while the colony
beside it is storing beautiful white honey from second-crop
clover, or from some other plant with a deep corolla.
J. M. Rankin.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON A. MODEI, SCORE-CARD.
The committee appointed at the National convention in
Chicago, to draft a model score-card to be used in judging
bees, honey, etc., at fairs, was appointed so late in the
meeting that they could not get time to decide on various
points, and after much corresponding they have decided to
off'er the enclosed score-card — not as a perfect score-card,
but as a help, and with the hope that it may be tried in
various parts of the United States, and then be so modified
by another committee at the next meeting as to fill all
demands :
Quality 25
Comb
Honey
I Variety
I Perfection of cappiag . .
1 Completeness of "
I Straightness of comb .. ,
I Sections, clean and neat
General
Display
Quantity 25
Attractiveness 50
f I Variety 5
j I Body 5
Quality 25 \ Flavor 5
Extracted 1 | Style of package . . 5
Honey ] 1 Kinds of packages. 5
Quantity 25
Attractiveness 50
Single
Case
Entry
Comb
Honey
Not less than 12 pounds nor more tha
25 pounds.
Points of judging as above, graded :
white, amber or dark.
j Points of judging as above, graded as
white, amber or dark.
Extracted ' , . ., I },^^"^*>' •■••••■.•■• ^
, Granulated. | Fineness of grain . 5
(Separate j Color 5
I entry.) | Flavor 5
t I Package 5
Honey
I Color and markings 30
Size of bees 20
Queen 20
Brood 5
Quietness of bees 10
Style of comb 5
Style of hive 10
Each race of bees to have the markings and color
peculiar to its race.
Nucleus
of Bees in
Obser-
vatory
Hive
Queen-
Bee
Quality SO
Variety 25
Style of cage . . 25
(^
s per nucleus of bees.
I Color JO "I
Beeswax | Qrain' ^0 ' ^"'^ '^^^ ^^^" ^° pounds.
Display 20 I
Imple- ^ Number of kinds SO
mentsand
Supplies.
Appearance or attractiveness 50
Bakings
Candies and confections .
Honey-Vinegar
Honey-Wine
Fruits (canned)
1
Greatest number, sweetened
with honej, recipe for mak-
ing with each exhibit —
1st Prize.
Respectfully submitted,
N. E. France,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
F. Wilcox,
R. C. AiKiN,
O E. Hershiser,
Commiltee.
March 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
167
In several places in this report Mr. and Mrs. R. C.
Aikin's little daughter has been credited with havinj:,'- enter-
tained the convention with songs and music on the piano,
but Mr. Aikin writes me that Mr. and Mrs. Acklin's little
daughter was our entertainer. It was a very easy matter
to make such a mistake when two such bright and winsome
Misses of so nearly the same age were constant attendants
on our sessions. A. B. Mason, Sec.
[THE END.]
\ Contributed Articles. |
No. 5.— Extracted Honey Production.
Machinery Needed— Freeing- of Impurities—
About Heating — Why Some is More Watery
Than Other.
BY R. C. .\IKIN.
IN addition to the extractor there are knives, knife-pan, and
oil-stove to heat same, capping bos or can, strainer, and
one or more tanks. The larger the tank the less trouble
and the better the honey. Some use a tank of about a bar-
rel capacity, a real barrel sometimes serving the purpose ;
such will do for a very few colonies. I will not specify a
detinite size of tank, but rather tell you what you ought to
do, and then you can judge for yourself of the size best
suited to your needs.
In extracting it is rarely that any foreign substances get
in the honey but bits of wax and propolis. Wax weighs, I
think, about 7 pounds to the gallon, being lighter than
water, which is in round numbers 8, honey about 12, and
propolis between water and honey. I will say, parentheti-
cally, that if you are melting wax that has propolis in it, be
careful not to let it get too hot, for the propolis settles to
the bottom of the boiler and will burn there and stick fast
to the boiler-bottom. I have just been melting a lot of top-
bar scrapings composed of propolis and bur-combs, and
altho I thought I was not letting it get too hot, yet it burned
on the boiler-bottom.
Since the specific gravity of wax is but about -3 that
of honey, and propolis slightly heavier, but still lighter
than honey, both will float. The thinner the honey the
quicker will the impurities float, but it is very hard to have
it thin enough either to do a good job of straining thru
cloth, or to float out these substances in less than several
days. Well-ripened honey should be at least three or four
days settling at a temperature of about 100 degrees, and
even then there will appear more or less specks after drawn
into the shipping package.
Suppose you want to extract one or two thousand
pounds in a day, and have but a 500-pound capacity settling-
tank to receive it — you can neither strain nor settle it prop-
erly in that time unless heated to considerably over 100
degrees — I should say not less than 125. The most practical
way is a tank of a capacity to hold the honey so you can let
it settle for at least a week, and even then it ought to be in
a quite warm place. If you want to do good work, and put
out a well-ripened and a clean and nice liquid, use both time
and heat liberally.
For several years I used a tank of 1100 pounds capacity,
but when extracting 1,000 or 2,000 a day— even 600 or «0o a
day — several days in succession, I found my tank altogether
too small. A tank 2 feet across and 4 feet high will hold
about 1,000 pounds. I now have one 5 feet across and 6 feet
high, which holds 5 tons, is made of galvanized steel, and
never overflows with a day's extracting. The outlet is in
the bottom ; the pipe is elbowed out beyond the tank, and
all is set on a circular stone foundation built from the cellar
floor to about two feet above the ground floor. A brick
casing is built about the tank with two to three inches
space between tank and brick, until the top is reacht, when
the brick is drawn in against the tank and mortared air-
tight to retain the heat.
In the circular chamber beneath the tank is a range
stove, and on this is where I melt honey, wax, and such
work, and a little fire there helps to keep the tank warm.
The chamber being of stone, and nearly the whole struc-
ture of stone, brick or metal, I can leave a roaring fire and
no fear of a burn-out.
Speaking of heating honey, it does not absorb heat as
freely as water. Set a chamber or hive of combs of honey
in a warm room, and it will be many hours in getting
warmed thru, at as high a temperature surrounding as 100
to 120 degrees. I often bring in a lot of extracting cham-
bers and store them, and before extracting I keep the room
at well nigh 100 degrees for about two days, then extract.
I have so treated several tons, warming for extracting after
the honey season was over — as late as November and
December.
The consistency of honey varies quite materially,
much depending on conditions while being^ gathered. If
the flow be very slow, capping is delayed and the cells
remain open, and the honey is exposed to the evaporating
process for so long that it becomes very thick ; but with a
rapid flow the cells fill rapidly, and the free honey and con-
stantly full honey-sacs cause a free secretion of wax and
prompt sealing, sometimes even before the honey is suffi-
ciently ripened. When nectar comes freely it is dropt into
any available open cell, among the brood, near the entrance,
in fact anywhere where there is found an open cell, big or
little. When the flow lets up, or stops, then this scattered
honey is gathered from here and there and stored regularly.
Even a rainy day serves as a chance to put things to rights
in a much disordered house caused by the previous rush to
get all that was to be had while it was available. This
unevenness will be observed at times by thick and thin
streaks in the same combs, and some parts of a comb will
extract much more freely than another.
All honey intended for table use should be put thru a
settling-tank, and well settled. If it were feasible to get
the honey heated to about 130 or 140 degrees before strain-
ing, then it would be possible with large but fine and close
strainers to properly strain out the impurities ; but the easi-
est way is large settling-tanks. The large tank, and time
given, make a much more even grade of honey than can
otherwise be obtained except by freely using heat. I am
an advocate of applying some heat to the honey, but too
much would be worse than none at all.
Another thing essential in a well-equipt honey-room,
is handy water and washing arrangements. Where it is
possible there ought to be water on tap as in waterworks of
cities and towns. The water may be kept in a tank so that
it can be drawn at any time. A waste-way or sink should
be provided for dirty water, and a barrel with a cloth over
it for all honey-washings, such as of cans that have had
honey in them,"honey-strainers, etc. This sweetened water
can be poured into the barrel thru the cloth tied over the
top, thus straining it as it goes into the barrel. Such sav-
ings will make first-class vinegar, and help out in the rev-
enues. Larimer Co., Colo.
Do Bees Injure Fruit by Taking tlie Nectar From
tlie Flowers ?
BY G. M. DOOLITTLK.
A CORRESPONDENT writes that a neighbor of his
thinks he ought to give him several pounds of honey
for the injury which was done his fruit from his bees
taking the sweet out of the fruit-blossoms, this hindering
the fruit from perfecting as fully as it would have done,
had the bees not so taken the sweet, ending his letter in this
way :
" Will you please tell us in the American Bee Journal
whether there is anything in this claim ? I do not wish to
give out any honey as pay for damages, as it would be estab-
lishing a bad precedent, altho I generally give my neigh-
bors several pounds of honey each, each year, for I like to
see them enjoy it ; and it also helps to smooth over any
rough feelings which the bees may cause in any way."
I like the spirit of the last words from our correspond-
ent very much, and know from experience that the giving
of a few pounds of honey to all near-by neighbors will
smooth over all bee-spots on drying clothes, an occasional
sting gotten by a bare-footed child stepping on any bruised
or partly decayed fruit which may happen to have a bee in
or on it, etc., and I believe that nothing pays me better
than the giving of some of the " first fruits" of my honey
to those who may have a chance at some time or other to be
annoyed bv my bees. But while I so believe, I would never
give out a pound of honey as payment for any damage done
to flowers of any kind by bees working on them, for fio
damage is ever done. In fact, it is always the other way.
The bees always help in perfecting any fruit which is vis-
ited by them while the fruit is in the blossom or flower
168
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
M arch 14, 1901.
form. It is only from jealousy, coming from that innate
weakness common to all, causing- a restlessness to come
over others by seeing the bee-keeper prosperous, that such
demands are made of us bee-keepers, and to show any con-
cession on our.part at this point would be to " let down the
bars" for a still greater call upon us.
No sooner did it go out by a gossip of our neighborhood,
that " Doolittle was making money out of his bees," than a
few about me began looking around, and when they saw
bees at work on the bloom in their orchards, meadows and
buckwheat fields, they began to reason that Doolittle was
getting rich from that which belonged to them, and from
this sprang the thought that the saccharine matter found
in the flowers was placed there for the development of the
fruit ; and as the bees took away this sweet as fast as it was
secreted by the flowers, an injury must result to the product
coming from these flowers and their fields, which injury
did much to enhance Doolittle's gains.
Since being in the queen-business more largely than in
the honey-business, I have heard less of this than formerly ;
but from my own experience I doubt not that every pros-
perous bee-keeper has either heard something similar to
this, or, if he has not heard it. his neighbors have talkt it
when not heard by him. I have even been askt for ten
pounds of nice basswood comb honey as pay for what honey
the bees gathered from a ten-acre field of Canada thistles,
which the owner of the land had allowed to grow up thru
his shiftlessness, he arguing that a pound of honey from
an acre was a very light toll, indeed. When thus approacht,
I have always assumed the attitude of the injured or
grieved one, and demanded a cash return for the service ren-
dered the crop by the bees causing greater fruitage thru
their properly poUenizing the flowers workt upon, and have
always so presented my arguments that every party so
approaching me has gone away convinced that I was right in
claiming that better results always attended any crop which
was visited b)' the bees in the blossom form.
I take a little difterent view of these matters than do
most other people, going back to the creation of all things
and telling ho%v all fruit or grain of any kind was an
entire failure till insects were created to visit the flowers
which secreted nectar, while those that did not secrete nec-
tar bore fruit as perfect then as to-day. Of course, thus
far, all js a matter of conjecture, but it serves the purpose
of getting the thoughts of the one talkt with from what he
considers a grievance, over to a line of thinking where he
is at least a little pliable toward the bee side of the matter.
From this I go on to explain how that the first object of
nectar in the flowers was not for the perfecting of fruit, or
to be used as a food or luxury for man, nor even to sustain
the life of the bees, but as a means to an end, and that this
end was that insects of all kinds might be drawn to the
flowers so secreting, that the fruit, or female blossoms of
plants which could not possibly be fertilized in any other
way, might be fertilized thru the agency of insects which
would be attracted to these flowers by the tempting and
attractive morsels of sweet they spread out before them as a
sumptuous feast, while honey as food for the bee and for
the use of man came in as a secondary matter or item.
I then proceed to dwell on insects other than the bee,
and show that these out-number the bees by scores, as all
close observers well know, showing that to claim damage
of any one from these would be something not to be har-
bored for one moment.
Having gotten the thought now fully on my side of the
matter, I next proceed to quote from Gregory's treatise on
squashes, where he says, " The primary reason why a
squash grows, is to protect and afford nutriment to 'the
seed"— the use of it as food being a secondary matter, and
thru this line of reasoning prove that the primary object of
the nectar placed in the blossoms of the squash was to
draw insects to the blossoms, as the female blossom is of
such shape, and being hid down in the leaves, that pollina-
tion could not be effected in any other way, and thus neither
seed, nutriment, nor anything of the kind could be
obtained, were it not for the insects which were attracted by
that little nectar which was placed in these for the sole and
only purpose that the seed to the squash might perfect.
I then go on to give Gregory's experiments of covering
the female blossoms so no insects could visit them, and
without a single exception, every such covered squash-blos-
som was abortive. I also tell how bees were once banisht
from the town of Wenham, Mass., the result being that no
perfect fruit was found in the interior of that township
until the bees were requested back again ; winding up by
asking. " Why, then, is nectar placed in the flowers? " This
nearly always brings an answer more or less favorable to
the bee, which I make more impressive with, "To attract
insects that the blossoms may be properly fertilized, pri-
marily; and, secondly, for food for these insects, which
food for insects, in the case of the bee, is utilized bj- man."
And by this time the man or woman who came with a griev-
ance, as he or she thought, is won over to the insect side, if
not to the bee side, and I hear no more of paying for dam-
ages done to flowers by the bees.
Let our correspondent try this line of reasoning, rather
than giving any honey or anything else to pay for dam-
ages claimed to be done thru his bees to the flowers in hi.s
neighbors' fields or orchards.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
What About the Hare ?-WilI It Become a Pest ?
BY FRIEDKMANX GREINEK.
THE reports on the Belgian hare in this and other papers
are somewhat conflicting, and people's opinions go
widely apart. Mr. Martin says in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture that after an absence of nine months from Los
Angeles he finds the hare-business — which had been in a
flourishing condition before he left — dead and gone ; and,
further, that the hare-meat can not compete with other
meats.
Mr. Morrison in the same number of Gleanings says
that one firm in Melbourne sent 5,000,000 canned and frozen
rabbits to England ; further, that he can buy in Bermuda
a whole imported canned rabbit for 24 cents.
Mr. Martin's and Mr. Morrison's statements do not
exactly harmonize, and yet are not so very far apart. Mr.
Morrison does not speak of the hare-business from the fan-
cier's standpoint. Mr. Martin evidently does. The conser-
vative observer has been quite sure from the very beginning
that the life of a SSOO-hare boom would be short. There
may be a few, who in the future will be willing to pay S5.00
or f 10 for a pedigree hare, but the majority of hare-grow-
ers must grow the animal for meat-stock and so can not
afi'ord to pay exorbitant prices for breeding-stock, particu-
larly as the difi'erence between the 50-cent hare and the S500
animal does not lie in the latter's greater size, vigor, higher
quality of the meat, or any other important feature, but
merely in the slight difference of his color, which disap-
pears when the pelt is pulled ofl^. The SO-cent hare has
more white hairs on the legs and underside than the other,
but is just exactly as good for the table. That is what we
raise the hare for, and therefore can not see good business
sense in it, to pay these fabulous prices.
Why the meat of the hare could not be made to com-
pete with other meats I fail to see. It certainly does in our
own home, and others that I know of. We like variety. A
few years ago we got tired even of capon meat. My bet-
ter half said she did not like those great 10-pound car-
casses ; they lasted too long. A hare seldom dresses much
over 4 pounds and we can " make away " with one at a
meal, perhaps leaving just a few of the choicest slices to
put into the dinner-pails of our children to take to school.
We aim to have rabbit on the table once a week at least ;
we enjoy it and I believe when the public becomes
acquainted with this diet, there will be a call for it.
Mr. Morrison also saj-s that in Australia the rabbit can
not be called a pest. I judge from my experience that it
will not become a pest here. I can understand that in a
congenial climate, with no enemies, the liberated hare
might increase rapidly and in the end overrun the country.
But there is no danger of that in America where his foes
are legion, and the numbers of hunters outnumber the
game. One might turn out a large flock here, but he will
not see them increase to any appreciable extent. My experi-
ence is they soon decrease in numbers. It would indeed be
a lucky accident to see a young outdoor brood of hares
grow up to maturity unharmed. A grown hare may for a
time hold his own, but he is always in danger, and I would
not want to keep a valuable animal except within a tight
enclosure.
Not long since the Illinois State Horticultural Society
past a resolution concerning the hare as follows :
''Resolved, That it is the sense of the Illinois State Hor-
ticultural Society that hares should in no case be permitted
outside of strong cages or enclosures, and that we earnestly
request the general assembly of the State of Illinois at its
approaching session to enact a law providing, etc., and
affixing suitable penalties upon their owner in the event of
their being allowed to escape, etc."
Senator Dunlap, president of the society, stated that it
March 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
169
would probably be better if the society would petition the
legislature to enact a law to prohibit the growing of the
hare within the State. A comparison was even drawn
between the hare and the English sparrow.
These good people are unduly scared. I will admit it
might be unwise to turn a large lot of hares loose into a
young orchard in the winter-time. I very frequently turn
out 10 or 12 of the animals at any time with bOO young fruit-
trees growing near by, which I would not have injured for
all my hares. Yet I have not the slightest fear that any of
the trees will be damaged. The fact is, I have never had a
tree injured, neither b}' the wild rabbit, which within three
years was very plentiful here, nor by my hares, except
when the fruit-trees had been planted in the hare enclosure.
The woodchuck is the destroying foe among our fruit-trees
— not the hare ; and the States could well afford to pay a
bounty for every specimen killed ; the hunters would take
care of the hares. In some localities nurserymen sustain
heavy losses by the work of wild rabbits, it is true ; but a
few hunters with dogs and ferrets will clean out (glad to do
it) an infested district in a short time. I do wish we had
more wild rabbits.
The hare — because less cunning — could be subdued and
cleaned out much more easily and quickly than the wild
rabbit. However, nobody need be afraid that any hare-
grower would liberate and give up ownership of his stock
as long as they are as valuable for food as they are. There
is absolutely no need for legislation against the hare altho
I believe California has a law against liberating hares.
Sometimes when I wish to dispose of surplus stock, to
make room, I kill a number of them at a time, stew the
meat and can it in our regular one or two quart glass-cans.
Thus prepared it is ready any time for lunches or other
culinary uses.
I am not sure that the hare industry is the coining indus-
try, as Mr. E. T. Abbott puts it, or that it ever will assume
gigantic proportions as to become a leading industry, but I
am sure that it will always be and remain a pleasant aux-
iliarj' for the production of choice meat, for one's own table
at least, and at a very low figure. In my individual case,
if I had several hundred grown animals now on hand I
could very easily dispose of them at IS cents per pound.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
A brother's testimony.
I will add that my brother Friedemann, is hardly enthu-
siastic enough about the value of the Belgian for meat
stock. In quality, the meat is unsurpast — I believe even
unequalled — by the meat of any other domestic animal, the
capon not excepted. A well-roasted young Belgian hare is
a treat, indeed.
In a general way, Friedemann has given the facts in the
case. T. Greiner.
SU4J4«*iJ*v*iJ*J4K*i.*4j!4sJ« s-entie pi
he "i -"P^-^'
'^jM;,ja,Mi
Questions and Answers. ^
CONDUCTE
DR. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, 111.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. MiUe
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Death-Rate of Bees in Cellar-Wintering— A Foul-
Broody Deal.
1. I put 72 colonies of bees into t'ne cellar Nov. 22d to the
26th, just after a good flight, but found many dead bees on
the bottom-boards, which were all cleaned out. About one-
third had a "s-inch entrance, and the balance 's,and nearly
all of the latter were raised and 'j-inch blocks put under
the front end. As there seemed to be more dead bees than
usual on the cellar floor, I made a note of all, swept up
since Jan. 16th, which is as follows : Jan. 16th, nearly two
quarts, and one hive spotted ; Jan. 24th, nearly two quarts,
and four hives spotted; Feb. 1st, 1'2 quarts, and eight
hives spotted ; Feb. 7th. 1', quarts, and 12 hives spotted ;
Feb. 14th, two full quarts, and 1.^ hives spotted.
Is the above an average death-rate, or is it above the
average ? Would it be best to put the bees out for a flight
on a. good da.y, a.nd then return them to the cellar? The
cellar is rather damp ; it was tiled Nov. 1st. The tempera-
ture has been from 40 to 48 degrees.
2. A bought bees of B— 7 colonies at $3.00 each, in
April, to be paid for with honey produced by the bees, (but
not to be confined entirely to 7 colonies). Six of the seven
were affected with foul brood, unknown to the buyer (and
supposedly unknown to the seller). The bees being black,
part of them were used for rearing queens to requeen the
rest, and divided into nuclei. (Don't say A was foolish —
he did not know there was any foul brood in Iowa.)
Result : 11 colonies have been treated for foul brood, 2 of
them absconded, one full colony and one 3-frame nucleus
were sulphured, and three of the treated ones died during
winter, probably from the boiled honey ; S7.00 has been
paid. Now, without any thought of the legal points in the
case, what would be right and just to both parties? Ought
A to pay the full amount to B, or has he paid enough ?
Only one of the seven colonies stored any surplus honey.
Iowa.
Answers.—!. There is nothing very unusual about the
mortality, but so many hives being spotted so early in the
winter gives occasion for some uneasiness. When a cellar
is damp it needs a higher temperature than when dry, and
it is possible that a higher temperature would have pre-
vented all spotting of the hives. The temperature was
rather low in any case if it ranged evenly from 40 to 48
degrees, for that would be an average of 44 ; and if most
of the time it kept near the lower limit the case was still
worse. Unless they are very bad, it is hardly advisable to
put them out of the cellar until they can stay out. Experi-
ence has shown that when put out and returned to the cel-
lar they are not likely to do very well. But it may be
advisable to put them out earlier than you would do if they
were perfectly healthy.
2. The probability is that the moral and the legal view
of the case would closely coincide. If a merchant were to
sell you by mistake sand instead of sugar, he ought not to
be paid more than the value of the sand, and the fact that
he was ignorant of the character of the material sold
would not in the least degree enhance the value of the sand.
The cases are not exactly parallel, for while one might lie
willing to accept sand at a price sufficiently low, he would
hardly want to accept foul brood without being paid for
taking it.
■*-—»'
A Beginner's Questions.
1. I had one colony of bees last spring, and they workt
well at first, but after the first swarm they stopt work.
What made them do that ?
2. Four years ago I had a colony that swarmed three
times. They workt all the time till all the flowers were
gone. I put all the colonies into the cellar and in the
spring they all died. Do you think the cellar was too damp
for them ?
3. How long does a worker-bee live— 40 or 60 days ?
4. How many drones does the queen have with her dur-
ing the working season ? New York.
Answers.— 1. The probability is that there was no
work to be done, that is, no honey in the flowers. Some-
times the flow ceases when there is no apparent reason for
it. Then it may start again without any diiference that
one can see. It may be, however, that you mean that this
one colony stopt work while others continued to work.
The fact that it swarmed was enough to account for at
least a very great decrease in the amount of work, because
work can only be done where there are workers, and when
that colony swarmed most of its workers went with the
swarm. You will find it invariably the case that when a
colony swarms there is a great falling oflf in the work of
the mother colony.
2. It is impossible to say without knowing more about
the case. If the cellar was very damp, that would of
course be something against their chance of wintering
well. But no matter how good the cellar, you ought not to
expect all to vrinter well when a colony swarms three times.
Under ordinary circumstances two or three of the colonies
would be weak for good wintering. The mother colony
would be greatlv weakened by so much swarming, and the
second and third swarms would hardly be strong. But that
does not account for the death of the first swarm, and one
can only guess that a cellar too damp or too cold, or too
little ventilation of hive or cellar, or both, or some other
thing was the cause of the loss.
3. The life of a worker-bee depends upon the amount
of work done, and so to a great extent on the time of year.
170
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 14, 1901.
A worker that enters its career just after all work in the
field is over has little chance to wear itself out with work,
so it may live six months or longer. If it starts in when
there is work for all hands, say the last of May, it will live
about six weeks.
4. There is no rule as to the number of drones to be
found in a colony during the working season. Other
things being equal, the number is likely to be more with an
old than with a young queen. The harvest has something
to do with it. If the harvest is fitful or poor, the chances
are not so good for a lot of drones to be allowed in the
hive. The combs make a difference. Less drones will be
found in a hive with little or no drone-comb.
Building I3p Weal( Colonies— Stimulating Brood-Rear-
ing by Feeding.
1. I read that sometimes even very weak colonies — say
covering only one comb — build up in very good seasons so
fast that they make not only strong colonies, but even
store some surplus honey. Now, do you think it would be
advisable to-day to divide a colony covering eight frames
into eight nuclei, giving each a young and fertilized Italian
queen ? As we expect a very good season, if the strong
colony would give 300 pounds of surplus extracted honey,
would not the eight colonies (or nuclei) build up so well
that I could get from 60 to 80 pounds from each ?
2. Is it of any use to feed for stimulating brood-rearing
in the spring, if the colonies still have plenty of honey ?
What can I do to stimulate them ? California.
Answers. — 1. It is true that a nucleus with bees
enough to cover only one comb may build up into a strong
colony and give some surplus. It is also true that a strong
•colony may go thru a good season and yield no surplus
whatever, being weaker in the fall than in the spring.
Both are very exceptional cases, and it will not do for a
beginner, nor indeed for any one to take either extreme as a
basis. There is of course a possibility that an experienced
bee-keeper might divide a colony covering eight frames into
€ight nuclei and obtain from each a surplus of 60 to 80
pounds in your wonderful California. The probability is
that he would obtain no surplus whatever, if indeed no
feeding were necessary. It is hardly advisable to start a
nucleus with less than two frames of brood with adhering
bees, and even then you should not expect wonders.
2. It is a little hard to say. If there is an abundance
of stores in the hive, stimulative feeding may do little or
no good, and if unwisely administered it may do harm by
starting the bees flying when they would be better off in
the hive. A beginner may do as well to see that a colony
has abundance of stores, and then let it alone.
Mice Trying to Reach the Bees.
My bees have had no flights for over a month. I
find that mice have tunneled thru the snow to get at the
dead bees as they fall at the entrance. They have gnawed
some trying to get inside. Do they do any harm ? If so,
how can I avoid it ? Pknn.
Answer. — Of course the mice do no harm by eating
the dead bees thrown out at the entrance : but they may do
harm, and a whole lot of it. if they make their way into the
hive. Mice in a hive will eat the honey and the'bees, and
they will destroy the combs. If they did neither of these
things they should still be outlawed because of the harm
they do by disturbing the bees at a time when entire quiet-
ness is desirable. Of course the entrance should be large
enough so that a very little gnawing would be necessary
for a mouse to gain admittance. But there is no need to
admit the mice were the entrance ten times as large.
Close the hive with wirecloth having about three meshes
to the inch. That will allow free passage for the bees but
exclude the mice. If not convenient to get such wirecloth,
you may make a fence of wire-nai4s at the entrance, setting
the nails about a quarter of an inch apart.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ ^
Conducted bi| Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Galif.
THE HOME CIRCLE.
Isn't that an excellent heading for a new department
in the " Old Reliable ?" What is there on this mundane
sphere comparable to the home ? Demolins in his " Anglo-
Saxon Superiority," which every one of our readers would
do well to read and study, puts Home as one of the chief
reasons why the Anglo-Saxon has outstript all the Latin
races.
It is said that the French have no word for home.
Aren't they to be pitied? How the very word " home "
stirs us all, and how the very thought of it makes us purer
and better. If the word and the thought count for so much,
what shall we say of the thing itself? Demolins' work has
gone thru many editions and has stirred the French people
deeply..
Another work which all of us will do well to read very
carefully — I have read it twice — once in the Outlook, and
again in book form — is, " America's Working People,"
by Charles Spahr. Over and over again our author shows
how much the home has to do in making the good neigh-
bor, the thrifty citizen, no less than the patriot. In speak-
ing of homeless workers, Spahr says, "And thus the great-
est incentive to thrift was removed." He adds further,
" On the side of citizenship, the gains that come from
home ownership instead of tenantship are still greater."
It were quite superfluous to talk to any Americans
regarding the priceless boon that we as a people possess in
our delightful homes. What gives one a heavier heartache
than to see a man or woman plodding along thru life alone
or homeless ? Our bee-keepers are almost universally blest
with beautiful homes. I have so often enjoyed the fellow-
ship of these little " heavens on earth" that I speak with
no light emotion regarding them. How well I remember
spending one Sunday in one of these, a little west of Chi-
cago. The man's name was not Dr. Moth, but he did have
a charming home. What a lovely Sunday that was.
What solid delight we took, all thru its hours and away into
the night. It was a home where the best love and fellow-
ship reigned continuously. Ah, better than this, it was a
home where God's word was read, studied and revered. It
was a home where Christ's incomparable teachings were
obeyed and where His spirit shone forth. I have been a
better man, I am sure, ever since I made that Sunday visit.
How we did enjoy the morning talk, how pi^cious was the
hour of family prayer, how delightful the church service,
and how long-to-berse-vembered the Sunday-school where
our host was theind we .itendent ; and what a blessed after-
noon and evening completed this, one of the most delight-
ful days of my life. How often I have wisht that I might
do something to multiply such homes. It is the privilege
of every one of us to help to make at least one such center
of good purpose and wholesome influence.
Perhaps I have said enough at present in regard to the
Home part of our department. Especially is this true as
we shall weave in every week hints and thoughts of how
the glory of the home may be promoted, and its blessedness
made to touch with its hallowed influence many who per-
haps have never enjoyed one of their own " Home Circle I"
I like that word " Circle." A circle has no end; neither
has the influence of a good home. Who of us does not
remember the cozy circle of our childhood ? How delightful
it was as we gathered about the table — father, mother,
brothers and sisters — in the long winter evenings. One
read the fascinating book while others at the apple-paring
or in restful leisure listened and commented. Ah. those
were precious circles 1 Father, mother, possibly some of
the others of that gracious home circle mayhap have now
gone to the greater circle which indeed shall have no end.
But the influence is not gone. The mother-love still is the
leaven that sweetens and brightens our hearts and lives ;
the father's good counsel and worthy example still guide us
away from life's pitfalls ; the loving brothers and sisters
still walk by our side tho long gone to the realms of the
blest. Many of us have since formed the home circle for
ourselves, onlv to repeat what glorified our childhood
homes.
It is indeed a good department of the old American Bee
March 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
171
Mr. E.J. Baxter and his Home Apiary, of Hancock Co., III. — See page /^>j.
Journal. It will be my earnest hope and determined effort
to bring into it something each week that may happily
quicken joy and lessen grief. May I not hope to have the
aid of all our readers in making this department something
that will be lookt forward to, week by week, as precious to
those who even may not longer have interest in the apiary ?
A. J. Cook.
MAXIMS FOR THE HOME CIRCLE.
I copy the following from the " Intelligencer." I know
nothing of this paper, its editor, or whereabouts, but I do
know that if it has much like the following it is certainly
rightly named. As I read over the following, " How to
Make Happy Homes," the methodist in me (and I claim to
have not a little) gave forth a most hearty " Amen." As I
read it laterabout the " home circle," I found the " Amens"
came twice-repeated.
1st. — " Learn to govern yourselves and to be gentle
and patient."
What could we covet more wisely for our children than
that they follow this maxim ? The best way to secure this
is to follow it ourselves. A man who kicks or strikes his
cow is bequeathing to his children a very questionable heri-
tage. I know a man who once moved, I think, as many as
twenty times during a milking, and every time with a
gentle " So, boss," and a more gentle press of the teat.
The poor cow had a deep sore on the nipple. To have
whipt and scolded would have been rank cruelty. Such an
exhibition before a child would have been a grievous blun-
der. I know of a father who lived to be 85 years old. He
was a fine example of physicial energy and had an impetu-
ous spirit, and yet tho I knew him very intimately, I never
heard him utter a word that favored in the least of harsh-
ness to the dear, loving companion who was indeed a true
helpmeet. I know a boy, tho hardly now a boy, for he is
on the 30 side of the 20's, who tho he has the same spirit
and temperament of the man just mentioned, yet I never
knew him to lose his temper or show impatience. His par-
ents told him as soon as he could understand that it was
manly to govern one's self. They acted their teachings as
far as possible. Need I say that the result has made glad
hearts ?
2d — "Guard j'our tempers, especially in seasons of ill
health, irritation, and trouble, and soften them by prayer
and a sense of your own shortcomings and errors. Remem-
ber that valuable as is the gift of speech, silence is often
more valuable."
That is good advice. A home where such counsel pre-
vails is a glad presence in any neighborhood. Who of us
has not regretted with anguish of heart the angry word, or
the irritated demeanor ? How gladsome in the home is the
temper that is ever controlled. How fortunate the one who
can lay hold of silence when to speak is to wound. Even
the bees resent the nervous, irritating mein.
3d. — " Do not expect too much from others, but remem-
ber that all have an evil nature whose development we
must expect, and that we
should forbear and forgive,
as we often desire forbear-
ance and forgiveness our-
selves."
I will only add to this
Christ's incomparable
words — "Father, forgive
them for they know not
what they do."
4th. — " Never retort a
sharp or angry word. It is
the second word that makes
thequarrels." This is hard-
ly more than the 1st and
2d. Government of self and
temper controlled, will al-
ways stay the angry word.
The quarrel is never man-
ly, and we do well to re-
member that it always
takes two to make one.
5th. — "Beware of the
first disagreement."
What betteradvice than
this could be given the
twain who are just form-
ing the home circle ?
I 6th — "Learn to speak in a gentle tone of voice." We
can hardly understand how much seeming trifles like the
! voice-tone have to do with character. The description of
i Cordelia in Lear— " Her voice was gentle, soft, and low—
an excellent thing in woman," is suggestive. A low tone,
even in times of excitement, will generally effect more
than bluster. Nervous and excitable children, especially,
should be urged to gentle speech for it will surely bear fruit
in character.
7th. — "Learn to say kind and pleasant things when-
ever opportunity offers." In other words, " Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of
God."
8th.— Study the character of each and sympathize with
all in their troubles, however small.
We may couple with this, " Inasmuch as ye have done
it to one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me."
9th.—" Do not neglect little things if they can affect
the comfort of others in the smallest degree."
Who has not seen homes that were constantly all aglow
with little, thoughtful acts ?
10th.— "Avoid moods and pets and fits of sulkiness."
If anything would convert us to the theory of the brute
ancestry of man, it vs-ould be to see him in the sulks.
11th. — " Learn to deny yourself and prefer others."
This was the very essence of Christ's whole life and
teachings.
12th. — " Beware of meddlers and tale-bearers."
I would add. Let us be very careful that we do not
join their gruesome company.
13th.—" Never conceive a bad motive if a good one is
conceivable."
Could we do otherwise if we obey the Golden Rule?
14th. — "Be gentle and firm with children."
I will add that if anything will keep a child in the
right way it is that sacred thing— the mother-love. God
pity the child who is bereft of it.
15th.—" Do not allow your children to be away from
home at night without knowing where they are."
Is it not wise, also, to be with them ourselves ? Their
fullest confidence will prevent much mischief.
16th.— "Do not allow the children to go where they
please on Sunday."
I know from a blessed experience that a home that is
made to hold the children on Sunday will ever have their
reverent gratitude. The home circle ought to keep the
children at night and on Sunday.
17th— "Don't furnish them with much spending money."
I have known many college boys ruined by a plethory
of greenbacks. I have known many to be made magnifi-
cent men by the stringency of hard fortune. To the man
who hands out money in fullest measure to his son, I would
simply say, " Don't."
HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS REQUESTED.
I shall welcome hints for the home, recipes for table
articles, and any other helpful suggestions.
172
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
March 14 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. Il is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin, U. S. a.
You Can't Afford to Guess
' Poultry Keeplnif.*' Has250 illustrations and covers the entire subject. We send it for 10
cents in stamps. Ask for bonk 5(1, Circulars mailed free. Address nearest nffice.
\ CYPIIEKS IXCUBATOK « O. Clileac*-, III , AViiylaiid, N. Y., Boston, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal when .-writing.
Marshfleld MaDnfacturipg Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfleld, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal "when writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a tine thing" for use in
catching- and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
QEGRQE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
Wool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheepbreeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL
Please mention Bee Journal whp" -writing.
BEE
HIVES,SECTIONSANO ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
6Atf
Cat.il<itr Free. Write
Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
I Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
Mention the American Bee Journal.
JHERUMELYi
(TRACTION _i^„^,
ENGINES
Should you be seekine the best thine in
.... . i.p.^rta'-''' '»"•■'"'"
They
tion, portable and seiuJ-P'^rtable
have what you wa-* '^>">" "
threshlnR.drllllng
i!S^:.r^;^"^V;-^r::"'^Ve'^-e them
From 8 to 20 H. P-
l They all excel asauUk, €o_«»y^»teo
, idcul for
tilneandtrrlnd-
Illsjpumplnirv
_ little fucU rtmurkubl
nplIoUy and durability. All boi
M^ke
. . I»ower« and SutT Mllli
[ Alifuliy described in
1>,
ngth steel pl^at)
rrounded
u'ustrared catalogue.
As'kforit. Mailed free.
RUMELY CO., LA PORTE, IND.
W^
1 by I
-ied
/■ANTED.— A situati
assist in or care for apiary-, and
fruit-growing-. Experienced with bees; sober
and reliable; handy with tools; small family,
and musician. N.Y. State preferred. Address,
J. H. CLUTE, 432 Scotland St., Orange, N.J.
8A4t Mention the American Bee Journal.
Good Insfrunients^
i.'^p'-l>argain counter" offers. They
tcU grade, fully KUaranteed. "
Lilts FUUniT^KlANS.
VIOLIN— Amati model, choice of 3
(■i.lors.dark brown, light red or amber,
lull ebony trimmed, Brazilwood bow,
pearl slide, full leather bound
case, extra set of strinps, rosi
worth 820. My l*rlce 4i6.27
GUITAR— SoUd Rosewood, standard
size, neatly inlaid, Spanish ee "
neck, celluloid front, ebony fini
board, best quality paten
Full leather bound eanvs
Regular price »18. Myl'rk-e
MANDOLIN-Solid Kos.
■ t ribs; celluloidfront; veu
ead piece, handsomely
, Only «7,
■ bound case, extra set or
and tortoiBe pick. Send foi
liforlum,
ine*^" CHICAOO.
Please inention Bee Journal -when writing
I Please mention Bee Jotimal wli en writina.
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reaied 3^i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2^
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years" experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
t,A26t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
LSi^-Tf/r It/ nniL
Direct to Consumers.
Oarllandi-omeCntiiloir !• ree, coswig '
, contaloes 144 pr^ies, with ISOO illnBtr.lloiis and U, -
Jl i.ted. on which «e piaranteeto ..veyon from 16t«7u%. Jlosll
i compl.W bookot luVlod. Sent tor 10c 10 pay co.lot malllnB. ■
■ ■ wUlborefmiJedwUh fir.t order. Valnable book of refer- r
I ence and onehlto bein every household. Getlt;keepllhandy.
Heller Chemical Co., Dept 13 ' ChlcaBO.
"The Onlj Hail Order Dnij Uouseln Iho World, '^"
0A13t Please mention the liee Jouru,
Prospects Bright— Losses by Fire.
The prospects for our bee-keepers appear to
lie much brij^fhter than they were last season.
We have had a pleasant winter so far — not
very warm and not very cold, and reports are
that as a rule where bees went into winter
quarters in fairly good condition they seem to
be doing very well. The snowfall is heavy,
and distributed thru the State, and it is still
storming; this all insures a bountiful supply
of irrigation water. The chances for a drouth
the coming season are growing beautifully
lees each day.
I read the notice of your loss by fire with
much regret. Some of our bee-keepers have
been badly scorcht, so that they know how to
sympathize with you.
On May 1, 1896, I was awakened by a roar
of Are, and got out just in time to see 50 colo-
nies burned up in less than halt that number
of minutes. The Are was in a two-story lumber
barn belonging to a neighbor.
I live on a lot .5x10 rods, with a street in
front, and four close neighbors, and. imly five
blocks from the business center of the city,
yet in IT years I have never had a complaint,
which, judging from the troubles of some of
our bee-keepers, would indicate a difference
in management. I have kept from 10 to 50
colonies each year. E. S. Lovest.
Salt Lake Co., Utah, Feb. 20.
Bees in Fine Condition— Marketing:
Honey.
My bees are in fine condition, and I think
they are going to winter without any loss, as
they always have. I have lost but one colony
since I began keeping bees; that was last
winter, and I am ashamed to say that it was
due to a leaky cover. In the last issue of
Gleanings in Bee-Culture Editor York speaks
of the small producer ruining the market by
selling for less than the market price. That
doesn't hit me, because I get 20 cents per sec-
tion for my comb honey ; the extracted I put
up in pint Mason jars, and sell it at 30 cents a
jar. Jesse M. Doxaldsox.
Worcester Co., Mass., Feb. 23.
Prospects Poor for Southern
Indiana.
The thermometer has been at 10 degrees
above zero for the past three days, after three
weeks of mild spring weather, which started
heavy brood-rearing in all colonies having
plenty of stores. This will cause great losses
to southern Indiana bee-keepers. The winter
so far has been so open that most colonies
have consumed nearly all of their stores.
There has been very little snow to protect
the clovers, altho sweet clover can stand the
most exposure. 1 am experimenting with a
large number of honey-producing plants. In
the river bottoms I had an acre of sunflowers
that gave lots of seed for the chickens, and
the bees workt on them continually last sea-
son. J. C. Wallenmeter.
Vanderburgh Co., Ind., Feb. 23.
Rendering Wax from Old Combs.
In rendering wax out of old combs I use
the following method;
Take the bail off of a 2-gallon tin pail with
flaring sides, nail a stick about three feet long
to the pail, so that it will project upward,
then with a hammer and a 4-inch spike begin
within two inches of thetop to perforate the
pail all the way around, and to within 3
inches of the bottom. Fill a big iron kettle
about two-thirds full of combs and water
(lietter soak them some, also break or chop
them up). Hang the kettle in the yard, and
start a good fire under it about sundown, if
the bees are flying. After the mixture has
boiled a little while take the perforated pail
and begin pushing it down into the melted
March 14, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
173
THE WHEEL OF THWE
Metal Wheel.
■idth of tire desired.
heels are either direct or
.r;,u'eersi».ko. Can FIT YOUK
\VA«;ON r.rt..,-llv withr.„l cliance.
BREAKING DOWN.
IPC they endiir*-. ' Send for cala-
lojue and prices. Free upon re^nest.
Electric Wheel Co.
Bo> 16 Qulncy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -wlien writinp.
^ ■« r J J I Two or three apiaries
VV ft tl iPn I for cash, located in
YYCXllL^U i Colorado. Give full
particulars in first letter, and lowest cash price;
comb honev preferred.
lAtf Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
EVERGREENS
land hedges. Prepaid, $1
I fireat Bargains to select
once for free Cataloeue
It. LophI AgenU vrnntpd.
»D. Hill,lp:ciSDundee,lll.
Please mention Bee oronrnal when ■writiiu^.
I BEE-SUPPLIES! |
f^ 43*Root's Goods at Root's Prices*^* ^:
;^ PouDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^^
^^5 thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^f^
'•^ Service — low freight rate. Catalog .^*
rjj free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
':^ .512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^^
Please mention Bee Journal -wheu writing.
m
SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE.
Prolrle State Incubator Co.
' UomerOlty. Pa.
Please meutii
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicullural Field more
completely than any other publisht,
send J1.25to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
50VARIETIES.
1 breed fine poultry on one of the best equipped poultry
andegg.. B. H.CREIDER, Florin, Pa.
POU-LTRy BOOK FHEB. fi4 paiiea. illustrated
with 3 mi)S. trial subporiiuion tii our paper, loc
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis. Ind
MdUlC'S {35 nem things for t90{)
Seed Catalogue -
You should, by all mt-anw. have this moHt
modern catalosrue or modern tinieH.
It is tjrimful and overttowing v\ itti tiood thint,'s in
vet^etable, farm and flower seeds. tluwerinE
plants, fruits, bulbs, etc I< eontalni. 35
noveElieM in veiretable** sind flowerit
never offered before, liiis i:56 large pages.
seven handsome colored phitfs and hundreds of
illustrations. It gives praoti'al, up-to-date cul-
tural directions and offers many cash prizes.
The first edition alone costs over f.to.000, so while
we send it free to all cusKiniiTs. we must ask
others to send 10 cents for it. which amount they
may derluct from their first order. You will
make a mistake if you do not write to-dav forthia
the Novelty Seed Book of tlie year. Address,
Wn. HENBT 9IA1JI.E. Ptailadelpbla.
liijiss with 11 circular motion i\t will take soijic
lime to K-C't llic haiir of it), and as the wax
lldws tlini llic lUTriirations I use a tin c-iip. or
siiitietliin;;- siiiiilaiMci dip out tlie wax and ]«iiir
it into a tiili half full of cold water, to be caked
up in the usual way later.
The beauty of this method lies in the fact
that we can keep a good fire going and keep
putting in combs and taking out wax, and to
facilitate matters have a wash-boiler of hot
water on the cook-stove, from which we can
get warm water when needed, instead of using
cold water. After too much refuse accumu-
lates in the kettle, throw out the mass and
Ijegin with a new batch.
I melted the combs from 17 of my hives last
season, besides working up those from .50 or
7.5 on shares. Those that we workt on shares
we melted in the woods near a pond, and used
three kettles witli fire under each.
Instead of there being 50 or 75 hives of
combs I workt u)i what was left from about
145 colonies of bees. There were from KO to
:15 bushels of combs after they were stamjit
down in the wagon-box. That put the per-
forated pail to a severe test, and it workt
siilendidly.
I ilon't think the different solar wax-extract-
ors are to be compared with my method of
rendering wax. C. A. Bunch.
Marshall Co., Ind., Feb. 2.3.
Poor Seasons— Producing Extracted
Honey.
I began the spring of 1900 with 100 colonies,
and secured 3,S00 pounds of surplus honey,
about 500 of it being comb, but secured no
increase in colonies.
We have had three poor honey seasons in
succession, and beekeepers are blue, but I
expect to hang on to the bees until the good
seasons come again. Tlie coming season will
be my 31st one in bee-keeping. I have been a
constant reader of the American Bee Journal
for about l.s years, and consider it the best
bee-paper publisht.
I notice that some of the expert bee-keepers
allow the queen to roam around at her own
sweet will, when working for extracted
honey. My experience is that a first-class
article of extracted honey can not be produced
in this way, as pollen is sure to be stored
around where the brood is reared, and this
will cause the extracted honey to taste bee-
hready (as we call it). This I know to be a
fact here. From an experience of about 30
years in producing extracted honey. I claim
that the place for the queen is in the brood-
nest, and I would have queen-excluders for
this purpose, if they cost ?I1.00 apiece. I don't
want them when working for comb honey, as
the queen seldom lays in the sections.
We should take as much pains to produce a
No. 1 article of extracted honey as of comlj,
and ill order to do this where much pollen is
galliercil wc iiiiist keep the queen out of the
surplus dcparliiient. B. W. Peck.
Ashalabula to.. Ohio, Feb. 8.
3D4t
Please mention the He
nal.
Southern Callfopnia— Queenless
Colony.
The old saying. "It never rains but it
pours," comes nearly being verified io Soutli-
eru California this winter. Up to the last of
January it lookt as tho we were bookt for an-
other dry season, at least in San Diego County,
but it rained every day but one from Feb 1st
to loth, and the ground got such a soaking as
it has not received in 3 years. And now till
arc rejoicing, for it is pretty certain that wc
will liavi' Li'ociil hav and grain crops, and when
tlit'M- rniit-unj I we are sure of a good
lioii.\ cr.ip. li \v ill also be a great benefit to
niclianl.s ami \ uicyards — even to those that
Ikhi- water for irrigation in summer. We
have had a few showers since the soaking, and
vegetation is coining on rapidly. Bees are
rearing brood, and they are bringing in more
than enough hrniey to supply their needs. I
have found 3 or 3 frames of new honey in
some hives.
A friend who had a couple of colonies, did
not care to kce]i them, so gave them to tne,
.saying that it tlicy stored any honey the com-
ing season. I could give him what I thought
was right. After getting them home I found
BeiQlan Hares
CHEAP.
PEDIGREED AND COMMON 5TOCK.
Having boutjrbt a Job Lot of a neighbor and
added to what I had, I must dispose of same to
make room fur mv increase. They are mostly
young— 3 mouths aud over— with a few bred
Does. ALSO
Italian Queens
of last season's reariog, ready as soon as the
weather is warm enough to send thru the mail.
Write for prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
iiAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
one !!$tar
Establisht 1885. Fairview, Wilson Co., Wis.
llAtf Please meation the Bee Journal.
ALBINO QUEENS ^U^c
* 'he gentlest Bees— If >oi
t the most
■ns— If you
It the best
■gatherers vou ever saw try mv Albinos.
Untested Oueens in April. JMO; Tested. $1.50.
UA26t J, D. GIVENS. Lisbon, Tex.
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and the South.
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Lowest Freight Rates in the country.
Send for Catalog.
C H. "W. "WBBEJK,,
Successor to C. F. Muth & Son,
2146-tS Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O.
SENT ON 30 DAYS TRIAL
. . y hat,:bable '
!, ^.i. Send 4c for Cat. No. * _
eubator Co., Springfield, U.
f5
We want *
To sell you BEE=SUPPL1ES!
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt,
Fred W. Muth & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front A: Walnut Sis., Cinci.n-xati,0.
Please mention Bee Journal whon ■writing,
HOHE'SEEKERS' EXCURSIONS.
On the first and third Tuesdays of
each month the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul Railway will .sell round-trip
excursion tickets from Chicago, Mil-
waukee and other points on its line to
a great many points in South Dakota,
North Dakota, and other Western and
Northwestern States at about one fare.
Take a trip West and see the wonderful
crops and what an amount of good land
can be purchast for a little money.
Further information as to rates, routes,
prices of farm lands, etc., may be ob-
tained by addressing F. A. Miller, Gen-
eral Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
174
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 14, 19i 1.
$1,000.00 IN CASH
Agricultural Epitomist
ridiltiiral Paper Eililed B
making the largest yield from
one quart of "EPITOMIST
PRIZE" White Dent Corn.
$-J5II.OO fur largpst f irid $50.00 for 4th'largesl yield $10.00 for 7lhlarees( jleld
Sloll.OU •• '.'d " S2.i.00 " 5lh " .'ill prlie>. So.OO piir-li S2.iO
MAKING A TOTAL OF $1,000.00
Tlio-i' I tinlliiir r<ir OIK' ut'thiKi' I'rlzo iiiii.l hciiiI iiHUIiitll cF
• ill nllli >iiiiipli' cifvcini. iviien innilllit: i.|>ui'l: iilno r.',>..i't iiiiiiU'
"'»'''^..?S«F ''EPITOMIST PRIZE"
White Dent Corn
the \
will produce eig:
'•nally valuable.
enough seed to plant
lundred acres of land—
ACRES.
.liarti'teiistlcs. It pro-
I 11)11 ii^'lity bushels to
. I [i. ni.iwed it down.
■ ■-v ii'(-' It uji. and, owing
iiUnl, ii i-fceivea but one
•Is to the acre under such
ages s
ithli
WHITE I>E\T tt^an early variety that will mature any-
fit, and to those wlii> appreciate the value of
ids itself, as it produces a luxuriant growth of
ur fields, were fifteen feet high. It is certainly
that we have ever grown or seen grown, and
that it contains an uiiusual percentage of pr
i per centage of pi
ckof all kinds thi
I the I
valu
as fed almo
ble the
s done upon the Epiti
The Epitomist Experiment Station,
. , ..I..- ti.,. miicl- hpniififiil snot — — ^^.-v
Epltomlftt
,»,.„ edited and printed amid I
.t:Mv.L.c^ of real farm life. Its beauf
scenery and perfect cli
ipring waters, are hard to surj'ass i
■ riching, etc.. aM to be ncUi
experiments which will be '. ----
the Epitomist from month
onth It is our purpose to experi
pnt inall lines of Agriculture.Horti
-ubscriher to the Eplto
■iititled to participate ii
-t. All we require is tha
F^I«E^E>
WliriK 1>I N T
"EPITOMINT I'KIZE"
THIS EAR OF CORN
"EPITOMIST PRIZE
justify u^ in expecting sunscnners to aerive uiius-um dchchu mcn-..!^^-
Address AGRICULTURAL EPITOMIST box 321
Natural Size, It inches in lenRth; 7 1-2 Epitomist Experiment Station, SPENCER, IND.
incbes io circumferencei weight. 17 ounces. Thl, ConUBt Is lor EI'ITOMIST Subscriber. Only.
one colony (lueenless with queen-cell6 sLirted.
I thought it very doubtful if any queen would
become fertilized at that time of the year
(Dec. 17.) as I had only two other colonies at
home, and no drones to be found in any of
them. (My apiary is 3 miles away.) Indue
course of time brood was sealed, but every one
a drone, so I concluded that the next thing to
do was to find a virgin queen, then the pro-
cesses of Nature might go on unhindered. In
looking over another colony for eggs I found
a frame with a queen-cell nearly ready to be
capt, which I gave to the queenless colony
after removing the drone-layer, and putting
all frames containing eggs and brood into an-
other hive. In two days other queen-cells
were started, then I put the drone-brood back
and left them to work out their own family
affairs. Tweiity-seven days from the time of
putting in the frame of eggs, I opened the
hive and found a ciueen with eggs in two
frames, and plenty of drones. I expected to
have a case of supersedure in the hive from
which I took the queen-cell, but yesterday I
found plenty of eggs and brood, and conclu-
ded that her majesty had a greater reserve of
vitality than her subjects gave her credit for.
F. C. Wiggins.
San Diego Co., Calif., Feb. 20.
Using Chaff Cushions in Summep.
1 have practiced leaving the chatT cushions
on my hives all summer as well as winter, the
last (i or T years. I have tried both ways, and
I find I gain at least 25 percent from the chaif-
covered hives. I have noticed in very hot
weather the hives not covered with chatT
would be nearly empty from 10:30 a.m., to
2:30 p.m., while those jirotected with chaff
cushions from 3 to (i inches thick, would be
apparently as full of bees as they could be and
do their work.
My wife often says that I do too much ex-
jieriinenting, but I find it brings me the
kiiiiwledge I am seeking for. .There is no
liranch of bee-keeping in which I have not ex-
perimented. This is a progressive age, and I
feel that we can not do too much to further
the work of our industry. A. D. D. Wood.
Ingham Co.. Mich., Feb. 15.
Last Season a Failure.
My bees did very poorly last season, getting
no surplus whatever. I hope for better things
this year. C. H. Davidson'.
Delaware Co.. X. Y., Feb. is.
Poor Report for 1900.
The year 1900 was a poor one for bees in
this part of Missouri. We got no honey at
all. and I am afraid that two-thirds of the bees-
will die during this winter.
John N. Michael.
Caldwell Co., Mo., Feb. 19.
Bees Wintering Poorly.
I fear my bees are wintering badly. The-
weather has been very cold and windy here
for about four weeks. We have had no rain
since last November, and but little snow.
Henry Alley.
Essex Co., Mass., Feb. 25.
Dispersing Robber Bees with Gun-
Powder.
I have been a keeiier of bees since the early
sixties, and it goes without saying that I have-
experienced the usual ups and downs common
to the craft; also many of the pleasant (!)
experiences, as. for instance, a bad case of
robbing — in short, I have been "up against
it " many times.
During all these years I have read many
ways of stopping this trouble, in the current
bee-literature of the times, but I have never
seen mentioned a plan that I have often used
with unfailing success. I learned it years be-
fore I kept bees, from my grandfather who-
ofti'U quelled disturbances with old-time and
V i-ll-trii-d remedies. His plan was to " blow
iqt " till' rubber-bees with gunpow'der. About
a tca.spoonful of powder is pusht into the en-
trance and then " toucht off." I never knew .
this to fail but once, when I had an extremely
bad case that had to be treated 3 times — the
Dittmer's Foimdation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL-
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonnflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving-
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
BEES
EENS
. Sections,
Comb Foundatioo
And ftU Ai!«u>b> Bapptfi»
Em t. FLAHAeAII, B«[1«tIUi> I
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We ran furnish you with 'Ihi- A. 1. Kuot Cu's-
r.inds at wholesale or retail ut their prices. We can.
lave you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
laid lor beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
W. H. UUNT & SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich.
March 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
175
last time witli a ohar^vof (idwder of .sulliciciit
force to lift the honey-Liuard off ut llie top of
an old-style Langstroth hive. Not the slight-
est injury was done to the combs, except that
two or three of them were blackened a little
at the extreme lower edge, and very, very few
bees were killed— jnst the few that happened
to be in the vicinity of the powder.
Some bee-keeper may hesitate to try such
an energetic reniedv. fearing to ilestrov lU' in-
jure the colony, but he has no orca^ioii for
alarm, for he will do nothing of the Ivinil.
(innpowder is a famous peacemaker among
bipeds of the genus homo, and as the genus
Ai)is seems to possess nian.v traits common to
man, why not employ the same means to set-
tle their (juarrels' With modern hives and
large entrances 1 tliink a larger charge of
powder eould be used w ithout doing harm.
Peacemakeu.
San Francisco Co., Calif., Feb. IS.
Experiences with Bumble-Bees.
I notice on page KIS. Thomas Wallace gives
his experience with bumble-bees. This is a
matter to which I have given a great deal of
attention. When I was a boy I had a great
longing to hive bumble-bees, and experiment
with them, and often had as many as six to
eight small colonies in little boxes and tin
cans. I often watcht them flying to and from
their homes the same as other bees, and I
tried wintering them by burying them, but
never succeeded.
I used to pour a pailful of water on them in
their nests to keep them under control so that
I could hive them, and closing everything up
tight I would start tor home and add another
colony to my already started apiary. I have
succeeded in uniting all of my colonies, and
found that the only way to do it without
fighting was to smoke them (after first closing
the hives) with pennyroyal until all were
in an unconscious condition, then I would
empty all the colonies onto the ground, place
all the combs in one hive, pick the bumlile-
bees up with my fingers, and put them all into
the hive containing the comb. By this time
they were recovering from the effects of the
smoke, and all was well. Each one seemed to
think the other its " best friend and brother."
I tried to introduce the bumble-bee queens
into colonies of our common honey-bees, but
a fight was all I ever succeeded in bringing
about, and all the pay I ever received for my
trouble was a pair of swelled eyes, and now
and then a little fun. I w-ould call the calves
up close to the hives, then give them a few
The Belgian Hare Guide
This bookiaacknowlede-ed to
be the finest and moMt reliable
book out on the Belgian hare
Industry. It contains complete
and practical In-
formation on the
following ana
f many other Bub-
)^^i?Hfl?"^rf,u^'^'?''y ^"'* Origin. The Belgian
lor Utility, The Belgian for Fancy, The Busi-
ness and us Outlook How to Bet-in, Houses and
Snff mI',.^°"'"'h^S^ Feedmp, Feeding Green
Stuff, Mating and Breeding, Care of the Toung.
Pedigrees, Score Cards and Judging, Belgian
Hare Color, Dressing and Cooking Diseases and
?Hi'?S, '"^^^ P'^epaHng for Exhibition, Crating and
Shipping, Caponlzlng, Queries and Answers,
Miscellany, Belgian Hares vs. Poultry, The Bel-
gian In England, The Belgian tn Call- '■'''""''
—^^ll fornla. Bl.-iok Belgians
•^aWand Flemish Giants.
^^^^M It Is elegantly printed <
^fl^^^V on flna paper, lllus-
^H^^V tratedwlth niimerousj
^■M^ beautiful photo en-
^^■k ^> ?>°avlngs, and Is stib-
■^^^ ^^ stantlally bound. No
ane Interested in Belgians can afford to ue wnn-
outlt. Send your order today, r rice, 35 cents.
- SPECIAL OFFERS.
For $1.10 we will send the "Belgian
Hare Guide" and the Ainerican Bee
Journal for one year ; or for 52.00 we
will send the Bee Journal for two years
and the " Belgian Hare tiuide."
Address, GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
lis Michigan St., CHICAGO, ILL.
sweet apples to attract their attention, then
rouse the bumble-bees with a long pole, and
get these tierce bumble-bees to use their
'• swords " on the calves instead of me. But
I wanted still more fun, so I finally succeeded
in getting the dog close enough to get the
bees after him. but I got even more fun than
I had bargained for. as the dog came toward
me, wanting me to share the pleasure with
him, and he siici-i'cded. for he ran after me,
and 1 ran to kccii away from him. but one of
the bees got into my hair, and I had a time of
it getting it out.
After several years' experience I concluded
that I luight as well drop the bumble-bees;
still I shall not be satisfied until some one
tries the plan of grafting larva? of the bum-
ble-bee into queen-cells or cups of the coiu-
mon honey-bee, making the colony hopelessly
(jueenless and broodless, or by traitsferring
the eggs of the bumble-bee into the comb of
the honey-bee. The egg of the bumble-bee is
always sealed, also the larva, and there seems
to be about four different kinds of them — the
worker, the queen, the drone, and there seems
to be another '' critter " among theiu.
The mating of queens is done toward the
fall of the year, just outside of the nest, on
the ground. All ipieens are reared in the lat-
ter part of the summer.
After all my experience with them I believe
that if any benefit is ever derived from them
it must be brought about by a cross between
them and the honey-bee.
P. W. Stahl.max.
Albany Co., N. Y.. Feb. 18.
Worst Season in 10 Years.
The season of 11)1)0 was almost a total fail-
ure in this locality — the worst we have had in
10 years. Bees did not get enough honey for
winter stores, and had to be fed.
We have had an open winter up to this
month, and some zero weather, but not much
snow. W. D. llriiT.
Cass Co.. Mo., Feb. 33.
YELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending: us One New Subscriber for a Year.
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent reg'ular subscribers will send us f 1
with a new name for this year, we will
mail, postpaid, to the one sending
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with S2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14b Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Utah.— The Utah liee-Keepers" Association
will hold its regular spring meeting April 5th,
at 10 o'clock a.m., in the City and County Build-
ing at Salt Lake City All arecordially invited.
We e.Kpect to get out a treatise or pamphlet, the
obiect of which will be to give the best and
quickest method to discover, cure, and prevent
disease among the bees, and the best way to
protect them from their enemies. It will also
contain other matter for the benefit of the in-
dustry, including our State law. We will be
pleased to receive communications from any of
our bee-keepers upon any subject along the
lines indicated. Address, Pres. E. S. Lovesy,
Salt Lake City, Utah, or J. B. Fago, Sec.
East Mill Creek, Utah.
Jj Sit >ti >k ilt >t< ili >Jt >lt >K Jte. Sit ili^
\ «ONE>y AND BEESWAX \
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, March S.— Fancy white comb sells
readily at 10 cents, but all other grades are
weak at the following- range of prices: No. 1,
white, 14«!il5c; fancy amber, 12f<i»13c; fair amber
grades, \0%\\c\ buckwheat, fancv, 10c; off
grades, Swlc. Extracted white ranges from
7^" 8c; buckwheat, .';^(<ii6c; Southern dark, Stooc;
amber grades, uy^^Ti'iic. Beeswax in demand at
30 cents. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Kansas City, Feb. 19.— Fancy white comb.
16(3»16J^c; amber, 12@13c; dark, inc. Extracted,
light, 9c; amber, 7Hs@8^c. Demand fair; re-
ceipts light. Beeswax, 22@28c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemens & Co,
Cincinnati, Feb. 9.— The market for comb
honey is becoming very bare, altho the prices
have not changed. Fancy white comb is still
selling for U>c; no demand for darker grades.
Extracted is in fairdemand; dark sells for SJ^c;
better grades from bJ^tglSc; onlv white clover
brings from 8>^fg)9c. Beeswax, 2Hc.
C. H. W. Weber.
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 11.— Honey market is
dull and prices nominal; light stock, but the
cold weather is bad for it. Comb, in good order,
not candied, white, isaioc; mixt, U&Hc; dark
and buckwheat, 11 (^ 12c. Extracted, white.
7@8c;
v-t, 5@6>^c; dark, 5!.6(5.6c.
H. R. Wright.
Buffalo, Mar. 7.— Fancy, 15®I6c; No. 1, 14®
15c; No. 2, ll(&13c: No. 3, etc., StgilOc. Extracted,
S@9c. Beeswax, 27@28c.
All grades of honey selling fairly well, and
looks as if all lots would clean up.
Batterson & Co.
Boston, Feb. 8.— Fancy No. 1 white in car.
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c: No. 1, 15(a'16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, %%
SJ^c; light amber, 7}i'<j'8c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
New York, Feb. 19.— Comb honev is being
well cleaned up on our market. The demand
has lessened to quite an e.xtent, on account, we
presume, of the high prices which have been
ruling. Fancy white siill brings lS(dil5c in a
small way: No. 1 white, 13(sH4c; amber, ll@I2c:
buckwheat, 10c. Extracted rather dull and not
much doing. California white honev, 75^@8c a
pound; light amber, 7c; Southern, from ()0 to 70c
per gallon; buckwheat, S(<!»55^c. Beeswax steady
at 2SC. HiLDRETH & Seoblkbn.
Detroit, Mar. 7.— Fancy white comb, lS@16c:
No. 1, 14(an5c; dark and amber, lOtoUSc Ex-
tracted, white, ti!.^(ai7c; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax, 27@28c. M. ja. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, \\%@\V/iC\ dark, 8@9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7}4@8c; light amber, 6Ji@7>ic;
amber. S%@b'/ic. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present offers
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honey is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantitv, which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
HONEY nARKET.— We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are' in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References— Either Bank here for
any business man in this city.
Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
DO YOU WANT A
HiQli Orad6 o! Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
47A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
For Sal6
LDCATKD IN MAL1>I-;N, MASS.
S. A. FISHER,
12 Pearl Street, - Boston, Hass.
10A2t Please mention the Bee Journal
SupDlij Deal-
ers' Stock
and flpiaru,
176
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 14, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Oar Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The Americax Bee-Keefer free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
f la- W. M. Gekrish, East Notingham, X. H.,
carries a full line of oar goods at catalog prices.
Order of kim and save freight.
^^^p200-Egg Incubator
forS12.00
Perfect in construction and
action. Hatches every fertile
epg. "Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H.STAHL. Ouincy.lll.
theBeeJc
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
». e have made arrangements so that we can
fnmish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
S» lOBs 2511s soft
Sweet Clever (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover vellow)....$l.SO 2.80 6.2S 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20 2.75 5.00
AlsikeClover 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .SO 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14<. Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted
A MAN I IF PRA( TI-
TAI. EXPERIENCE
AND ABILITY iM care
for 1.5(1 to ii.Kl colonies
of hees. Address.
S. J. DUNNE,
lrt.T S. Forest Ave..
uAtf RIVER FOREST, COOK CO.
ILL.
I AEISE
To say to the readers of
he Bee Journ.al that
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . .$100
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.S0
3 " " Queens 4.0O
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected brew-
ing, the very best.. 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. .address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
Please mentioii Bee Jotimal when -writiiig.
24th n^rl»n4'^ r»..nrl»4:^n 24th
Year
Dadanfs Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybodv do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRM.NESS.'No SAGaiNQ. No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog", Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, SI. 25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co , III.
^.*fl).cl:).f:J>.fi)»fl>.fl).fl).fli
rl:).fl).m
4 $200 Red=Clover Queen f
*^ Offer No. 35,
» On September 1st last we announced that we finally had a red-clover
»^^ queen fully equal to the one we had years ago. The colony of this queen has
» sriven one of the most remarkable showings on red clover of any bees we
»^^ have ever had. The queen ic question is an imported one. and therefore of
» the genuine pvire leather-colored Italian stock. We sent out daughters from
»^^ her aU the season. But we did not discover her value until the clover season.
» second growth, came on. and then her colony so out-distanced all the other
>^^ 4.50 that she attracted attention at once.
^L It must be understood that these queens are not golden yellow, neither
*^^ are their bees of the five-banded stock. They are simply leather-colored Ital-
fS^ ians whose mother came direct from Italy.
\^ Since the notice appeared regarding this queen we have hardly been able
«SN to supply all of the queens that were \vanted from this stock. Many daugh-
'iiifi ters of this queen we sent out before we knew her value, and it now trans-
jff^ pires that some of the finest bees in the land are from queens we sent out
V^ early. We are now booking orders for the coming season, and make the fol-
<S^i lowing offer, but no queens will be furnisht except those that subscribe for
'iC^ Gleanings, and only one with each year's subscription. All arrearages must
<J^ be paid to the end of this year. Gleanings for 1901 and one untested red-
*^ clover queen. ?2.00: Gleanings one year and a tested red-clover queen. S4. 00:
a select tested red-clover queen and Gleanings one year for .*6.00. We w ill
begin mailing these queens in June. 1901. Orders are already entered, and
the same will be filled in rotation. Do not neglect to improve this oppor-
tunity and get some choice stock, and send your order early so you may get
the queen correspondingly early in the season. We are using every precau-
tion to winter this queen safely, but reserve the right in case of her loss this
winter to substitute from other select tested stock of this strain which we are
holding in reserve, or to give the subscriber the benefit of any of our other
clubbing offers if desired.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
^
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. cmcita I'll'?"'
• headquarters for ROOTS BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IS CHICAGO.
nd to them for their free Catalog.
i>jAEBie/i/v
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL., MARCH 21, 190L
178
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
March 21, 1900.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BT
George W. York & Co.
144 &I46 Erie St., Chicago, III.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postage. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, *' DecOl" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts — We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change *'d" or
"ed" final to '*t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
6ome other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commission-
men.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, IVlauiial ol* tlie Apiai-y,
BY
PROE A, ]. COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18 th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
aad practical bee-book publisbt to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give awav
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given !or TWO New Subscribers.
The following oflEer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new, subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for onlv
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW^ SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
Lono-TonQuefl Bees
ARE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppemium
for sending us TWO new subserlbeps to the
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2i;
OP, one Tested Queen free as a ppemium for sending us FOUR
new subscpibeps (with $4.00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming-
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered,
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
SI. 00 each ; Tested, S2.0i) each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. T SHfEjIi
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 Sc 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY.,,...,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey g-athered in
the great Alfalfa regions ol
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't pet enoug^h
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BA5SW00D
HONEY.......
This is the well-kuowu
li^ht-colored honey g-athered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, by mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, 15 cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9^
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
8J2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, MARCH 21, 1901,
No, 12,
^ Editorial Comments. ^ i
Ijarge Yields of Honey. — Mr. Frank Benton says: " Mr.
Doolittle is n'listaken regarding wliat he saj-s in the last four or five
lines over his name, on page 14T. Cyprian bees were sent to America
in ISSO. The yield of 1,000 pounds, in 1S81 or 1S83, in Te.xas, was by
B. F. Carroll, from Cyprians I sent over."
Honey Prospects in Southern California. — Prof. A. J.
Cook, of Los Angeles Co., Calif,, writing ns March 8th, had this to
say regarding the prospects for a honey crop :
"The bee-keepers all thru southern California are pleased with
the prospects tor the coming season. We have had a generous rain-
tall, and may assuredly e.xpect a bountiful honey crop. The Stale and
three county associations have held meetings within a few days. All
are rejoicingly expectant."
Bee-Glue or Propolis in I»aint.— Dr. J. M. Ross, of Clearfield
Co.. Pa., wrote us as follows recently:
Editor York: — Enclosed find two samples of painting from
bee-glue colored with dry paint — bee-glue dissolved in wood-alcohol.
I befieve it will stand the weather better than oil paints.
(Dr.) J. M. Koss.
This is decidedly interesting, and perhaps well worth following up.
The paint seems to have a fair body, and is with difficulty scraped oft
the wood. It is possible, and indeed probable, that for some purposes,
at least, this paint may be ahead of other paints. If so, there Is a pos-
sibility of a boom for Tunisian bees. At any rate, it propolis should
become a merchantable article, the scraping it off will not be considered
the same drudgery that it now is.
Bee-Kecping Within City Ijiniits. — Last week we received
the following from Mr. J. C. Wallenmeyer, of Vanderburgh Co., Ind. :
EiiiTOR Americas Bee JorR?rAL: — A bee-keeper of Evansville —
Mr. Buhmeir — was fined $5 and costs, March 6th, for violating a city
ordinance, which forbids the keeping of bees in the city, or one-half
mile from the city limits. The ordinance went into effect Jan. 1st,
and many bee-keepers delayed moving their bees until they saw whether
the city authorities intended to enforce the ordinance. The passing
of the ordinance was a result of Mr. J. J. Cosby's bees soiling his
neighbor's washings, when taking cleansing flights, and also stinging
a horse, altho he made good all the damage done. The above suit
was brought about by a relative, who got the worst of a will, and so
took advantage of the bee-ordinance to retaliate. More suits to fol-
low. J. C. Wallexmeyek.
I'pon receipt of the above communication we wondered how
many bee-keepers in and about Evansville are members of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association. If they are not alreadj- members they
should join at once, before getting into any further trouble.
We would like to suggest that the Board of Directors of the Asso-
ciation look into this matter, and see what they can do to have the
city ordinance declared null and void. We see no reason why such
should not be done, and done immediately. There is no reason why
bees should not be kept within the limits of any city on the globe.
Of course, there may be special cases where they might possibly be-
come troublesome, but any reasonable bee-keeper would not continue
to keep bees where they were a source of real annoyance to his neigh-
bors.
There are many small apiaries in (|Uite thickly settled portions of
Chicago, and there are also a number of quite large apiaries further
out, but 3'et within the city limits. So far as we know, they cause no
real trouble to any one, while they are a source of considerable revenue
and enjoyment to those who own them.
We hope Mr. Wallenmeyer will take up this subject with General
Manager Secor, with a view to seeing what can be done to put an end
to the •' more suits to follow."
The " Cotton " Controllable Bee-Hive Fraud.— Mr. C.
S. Blake, of Middlesex Co., Mass., has sent U3 the annual circular for
1901 of "The Controllable Bee-Hive and New System of Bee-Keeping.
invented by Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton, about 1878, now owned by C. B.
Cotton." Referring to it, Mr. Blake says:
" It must be all fraud. Would it not be well to expose it in the
American Bee Journal '. Some 23 years ago a lot ot us were bitten by
this same Lizzie E. Cotton, now under the name of C. B. Cotton."
Yes, it may be well once more to occupy a little of our space in
warning bee-keepers against this old fraud. In 1837, one of our sub-
scribers sent us a similar circular dated 18116. In it we found a testi-
monial which reads as follows:
Hon. Robert W. Furnas, Governor ot Nebraska, says:
Having ueed the " New System of Bee-Keeping " and found it a
success, I recommend it cheerfully to others.
Robert W. Furnas.
Upon receipt of the circular we immediately wrote to the Hon.
Mr. Furnas, under date of April 311, 18117, saying that we had noticed
his testimonial in a circular sent out by Cotton, and askt him to let us
know the extent ot his experience with the Cotton ' hive and system ;
also, whether he still recommended it. The following is his reply :
Brow'xville, Nebr., April 20, 1807.
George W. York & Co.
Nin ; — I have no remembrance of giving the testimonial referred
to. Nor do I call to mind " The New System of Bee-Keeping " named.
Very truly, Robert W. Firxas.
There you have pretty good proof of the fraudulent character of
the Cotton outfit, and all bee-keepers will do well to beware of it.
With the Cotton circular of 1806 there was offered a full colony of
Italian bees in the " Controllable Hive " ((! movable frames), with full
set of 85 one-pound boxes with starters of foundation, feeders ready
for feeding, and also a book giving full instructions how to manage
bees by the wonderful new Cotton system of bee-keeping! — this whole
outfit was offered for only ?30, f. o. b., the express office in the State
of Maine!
In the 1901 circular we find the entire outfit is offered for ?(!, and
95 boxes instead of 85 are included with each hive. This is getting
down more nearly to business in price, but the inducements held out
to prospective bee-keepers to invest are somewhat remarkable. For
instance, read the following paragraph :
"Two of the largest yields ot box-honey I ever obtained, and
which I think hard to excel, were as follows, viz. : I selected one of
my best swarms in early spring; I fed them and treated them with
the object of obtaining the greatest possible yield ot box-honey. I
arranged to have no increase in numher of xuxinw. but to employ all
the bies nUiriiiij hoiin/ hi the tiuxex. They gave me a little over ;J80 pounds
of nice honey in boxes. Another, a young swarm hived in the Con-
trollable Hive July 1st, yielded in 10 days one hundred and four pomuh
of nice honey in boxen."
Our Cotton friend also has the folloviug paragraph in bis circular,
referring to "bee-journals and other publications," which is (|uitc
intei;esting :
beware of COfXTERFEITS.
Please remember, if you want the Controllable Hive with book,
giving full instructions for the management of bees, send your order
direct to me. Hewnre of that class who are slandering and lying against
me and the Controllable Hive. They do this thru the bee-juurnnh ami
oitieT publications that tht-ij can cmilrot ; believe them not. They are
180
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 21, 1901.
interested in some paffH( or nun-patent <ir worthless liive or JixtHres. and
are broiling over with wrath against me, because the Controllable
Hive is steadily gaining in the estimation of all honest bee-keepers,
and the demand lor the thousand patent and non-patent worthless hives
is steadily on the decrease. A word to the wise is sufficient.
We think further comment is hardly necessary, as no reader of
any of the present-day bee-papers would be caught by the successor
of the fraudulent " Lizzie." It is pretty safe to put it down as a rule
that when too much is claimed for a particular hive— especially if the
beautiful word ■' controllable " is emphasized rather strongly— the
whole outfit is a pretty good thing to let alone.
I * The Weekly Budget. « l
Hon. Eugene Secor helpt to entertain the Upper Des Moines
Editorial Association, Feb. 15th, at Forest City, Iowa — his home town.
From the local newspaper reports they had a jolly time. Mr. Secor
gave a reply to a toast, and of course did it in rhyme, something after
the Will Carleton style. If it weren't so long we would reprint it. and
to make extracts from it would spoil it. Mr. Secor knows how to en-
tertain, and also how to ".lolly "em up ■' with his poetical pen.
« ♦ « » ♦
Mr. D. H. Metcalf, of Calhoun Co., Mich., writes us that in his
article on page 158 we made him say that he " hunts bees for a living."
This must be quite an error, as he says that every pound of honey he
gets out of a bee-tree costs him ?1.00 ! The fact is, he puts In his
leisure time and vacations in hunting bees. He says, however, that
we may possibly be correct, after all, as to his hunting bees for a liv-
ing, as he believes it has prolonged his life, every bee-hunt giving him
renewed health and strength.
AxsiVERSARiES AND BIRTHDAYS. — Recently we received the fol-
lowing from a reader who signs himself " Old Fogy :"
Mr. Editor: — Pve become used to your new-fangled way of
spelling, and rather like it, but I don't know about your reform in the
meaninxj oi words.. Do Rev. A. B. Mettler and you (page 13'2 J mean
we shall pay no attention whatever to the dictionary, and just go by
your say so ? He was born Feb. 1, 1844, and you say each Feb. 1st
since then was an anniversary. The dictionary says such an anniver-
sary is a birthday, and according to that he has had a lot of birthdays,
and the first dayof next February will also be his birthday whether he
is then alive or not. Now, what do you say ? Shall we go by the
dictionary or take the Mettler-York plan ; Old Fogy.
Seeing this is mostly Mr, Mettler's " funeral " — or birthday — we'll
let him wiggle out first,
Mr, W, a. Fryal, of Alameda Co., Calif., wrote us as follows,
March 10th :
My Dear Mr. York ; — You have no doubt been fully informed
about the splendid rainfalls we have had in this [central] part of the
State, They have been abundant. For about two weeks up to last
night, the weather was fine. At the latter time, without any warning
to mention, rain set in again and fell copiously thru the night and a
portion of the day. The prosi)ects are good for still more.
There is already an abundant supply of flowers. In some places
the hills and the fields in the lowlands are yellow with honey-produc-
ing flowers. This is saying nothing of countless other flowers that are
in bloom, which includes the Australian blue-gum, acacias, willows,
alfiUaree, etc.
Out by the side of the Pacific Ocean, whither I go when I have tlie
time (an electric car line a step from in front of our oflice runs direct
to Old Pacific in about 40 minutes^, and on the very edge of the ocean
1 find an abundance of honey -secreting flowers. Over home, where I
was a week ago, 1 found my bees working with a will. Some colonies
were on the point of swarming. As the apiary had not the atten-
tion last year that I used to give it when living on the old homestead,
I found that some of the colonies had gone the way that bees are apt
to go when not properly lookt after. It may be possible that I may
soon be able to give them some attention again, I like to look after
them. ■"•'• -^- PRtal,
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
g-et the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearl)' every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
\ Contributed Articles. \
No. 1.— Drone-Bees and Their Utility.
Can We, and Shall We, Control Their Pro-
duction ?
BY C. I'. DADANT.
THE discussion on the utility of the drones in the hive
under domestication, which was considered at length
at the Paris Congress, has led to the expression of
opinions from several bee-keepers in different publications
on this subject, and I have concluded to bring the matter
before the readers of the American Bee Journal with the
hope that it mav' lead to further investigations and experi-
ments. It is my intention, if permitted, to explain the sub-
ject at length, so that even beginners may see and under-
stand the importance of the proposition set forth. So I
will expect to develop the matter in two or more articles.
That the drone is an idler we all know, even those who
have but a very faint knowledge of his physiology, for the
name " drone " is proverbial as designating a useless being.
As early as the beginning of the seventeenth century,
Butler, (a writer on agriculture and bees), described the
male bee as " a gross, stingless bee, that spendeth liis time
in gluttony and idleness worketh not at all, either at
home or abroad, and yet spendeth as much as two laborers."
We all know that the drone flies out only wlien the sun is
high and the weather warm ; that he does not go out in
search of honey, never goes into a blossom, but only roams
about for pleasure, and always comes home to eat. We also
know that he occupies a great deal more room in the hive
than his sister, the worker-bee, for the cells in which the
drones hatch measure four to the inch, while the worker-
cells measure five to the inch. Thus one square inch of
worker-comb can hatch between 53 and 55 workers, while a
square inch of drone-comb can contain onlj- some 36drones.
Altho Butler said that they eat as much as two of the
workers, it is not likely that they spend so much, but it is
probable that it costs as much food to rear and hatch the
drones in a square foot of comb as it costs to hatch the
workers that occupj' the same space. This looks to me
quite a reasonable presumption, and in the absence of
actual evidence we can take it for granted that 5,000 drones
cost as much food to become perfect insects as 7,500 work-
ers would cost.
In his physiology the drone shows the purpose for
which he is made, by the differences existing between him
and the other inhabitants of the hive. Aside from the dif-
ference in the sexual organs, the drone shows a much
greater power of vision by the extraordinary number of
facets in his compound eyes, numbering, according to
Cheshire, as many as 13,000 on each side of the head, while the
facets of the composite eye of the worker-bee number only
abont 6,300. It is evident that the purpose of this extraor-
dinary vision is for the finding of the young queen while
on the wing, since it is of great importance that she should
be enabled to meet with a drone at her first flight, for the
life of the colonj' usually depends upon her successful
mating and prompt return. It is certainly also for this
reason that so many drones are reared in the hives during
the swarming season. If only half a dozen or so of drones
were reared, it would be very difficult for the queen to find
one of them, and several repeated flights for this purpose
would endanger her life the more. But the drone plainly
shows that he was not born for work, by the shape of his
legs, which have none of the pollen-baskets that serve the
worker-bee in bringing a load home, and by the shortness
of his tongue. His proboscis is not made to lap honey out
of the blossoms, but only to suck it out of the store-cell, so
the poor fellow is surely not to blame if he is lazy and
worthless. He only follows his destiny. But his faculty
for flight is remarkable, since altho his bulk is only one
half more than that of the worker, his wing-area is to that
of the worker as nine is to five. This is another instance
of his adaptability to the purpose of his existence. The
mating with the queen taking place only in full flight, it is
necessary that he should be able to overtake her, and the
natural law of intermixture between different families
March 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
181
makes it imperative that the mating should be between
queen and drones of different colonies.
A short flig^ht on the part of both queen and drone
would lead to the probable mating of inhabitants of the
same hive — brother and sister — and Nature carefully avoids
this in all beings.
The natural, instinctive knowledge of the necessity of
having drones in the hive at some seasons, is very strongly
markt in the worker-bee. Drones are rarely kept over win-
ter in normal conditions — they are usually killed, or driven
away at the end of the harvest, yet we all know that if a
colony remains queenless, its bees will not only fail to kill
their drones at the beginning of winter, but will even
accept drones which have been driven out of other hives.
This I know from personal experience, for I have seen
Italian drones, late in the fall in a queenless hive which
contained only black bees. These drones could not have
been reared there, but had evidently come to it when driven
from their home, and the bees, altho having no possible
use for them, had accepted them. It is plain, that realizing
the need of a queen, and vainly in hope of securing one,
they keep the drones with them in the expectation that
they may be needed. It is in part also for this same reason
that a queenless colony builds only drone-comb.
Unless a queen is old, or unhealthy, or unfertilized,
she willnot lay drone-eggs until the colony is already well
supplied with worker-bees and brood. She will pass over
drone-comb, and carefully select only such cells as are
suitable for worker-bees. This shows conclusively that she
does not like to lay eggs in drone-cells. As her eggs are
fertilized in passing out of her oviduct, and only when they
are to be worker-bees and are laid in worker-cells, it is
quite probable that she finds more pleasure in laying these
than in laying the drone-eggs, which microscopists tell us
pass out of her body without being fertilized at all.
This ability on the part of a female insect to lay eggs
that will hatch altho unimpregnated, was discovered in the
honey-bee by the famous Dzierzon, and has long been dis-
puted as incorrect. It is called " parthenogenesis."
But when she has been laying a great number of
worker-eggs, the queen very probably becomes tired of the
function, and as the eggs keep coming she seeks rest by
hunting for larger cells and laying drone-eggs. This
would explain why, at certain times, she will hunt for
drone-cells. As a matter of course these likes and dislikes
of the queen are all presumptions, but the evidence is very
favorable to the views we take, and even slight circumstan-
tial evidences lead to the same conclusion. For instance,
a young queen that is healthy and vigorous, will lay a much
less number of drone-eggs than an old queen. She evi-
dently feels well and enjoys it. That a queen can not usu-
ally lay worker-eggs in drone-combs was evidenced by an
experiment made by a Mr. Drory, of Bordeaux, France,
some 20 years ago. A swarm was supplied with nothing
but drone-combs. For quite a number of days no eggs
were laid except a few drone-eggs, and finally the worker-
bees reduced the outer opening of a number of drone-cells
so as to narrow them down to the size of worker-cells, and
the queen laid a few eggs in them.
In my next I will consider the reasons which cause
worker-bees to build a greater or lesser proportion of drone-
comb in the hive. Hancock Co., 111.
(To be continued.)
The Mating of Queens in Confinement.
BY J. S. DAVITTE.
REPLYING to an inquiry as to how I got queens mated
in confinement, I will say that I built a large tent, 30
feet in diameter and 30 feet high, the covering being
of mosquito-netting. Colonies of bees well supplied with
drones were placed close up against the wall of the tent, on
the outside, each colony being allowed two entrances. ( )ne
entrance opened outside of the tent, and was contracted so
that neither queens nor drones could pass, but allowed the
workers to pass out and in, and work in the fields in the
usual manner. The other entrance opened into the tent,
and was large enough for the passage of a queen or drone ;
but it was kept closed or darkened for about a week after
the colony was placed in position. This was done for the
purpose of educating the workers to use the outside
entrance. The drones were not allowed to use the outer
entrance at any time, nor to enter the tent except from 11;00
a.m. until 1:30 p.m. .\fter the drones had learned the
bounds of the tent, they seemed contented, and made a very
pretty " school " flying in the top of the tent.
And I wish to say right here that the drones are the
main feature of this problem. Once you get them qiiieland
reconciled to fly in the top of the tent, the problem is solved.
Nine times out of ten the queen will not reach the top of
the tent before receiving the most prompt and gushing
attention.
After I got the drones under control I had no difficulty.
I simply turned in the queens from the hives they were in,
just the same as I turned in the drones. I one year reared
about 100 queens and had them mated in this tent. A i|ueen
would leave the mouth of the hive, and return in about five
minutes, apparently mated ; and in three or four days
would be laying ; and the progeny of all queens thus mated
showed the same markings as the workers of the colonies
from which the drones were taken.
The workers seem to be more annoyed than the drones
when they find themselves confined in the tent ; and I aim
to keep them out of the tent as much as possible b3' not
opening the tent-entrance until nearly noon, when most of
the workers are in the field. As a further precaution, the
tent-entrance is kept shaded or darkened.
The queens are not turned in until the drones appear
to be well satisfied with the bounds of the tent ; and when
they are in this condition I believe that 500 queens a day
might be mated in such a tent. Where queen-rearing is
carried on upon a larger scale, I believe that this plan
would be preferable to the open air ; as I have seen a young
queen leave the hive, in the open air, as many as three
times, and be gone IS minutes each trip, returning at last
unmated.
My plan for queen-rearing is as follows : I choose a
choice colony from which I wish to rear my queens ; and
from this colony I remove the queen, and allow the bees to
build queen-cells. At the same time I make queenless such
colonies as I wish to break up into nuclei. Two days before
the queens will hatch, I form my nuclei, cutting out and
destroying all cells, and arranging the nuclei around the
bottom of the mating tent. The queen-cells from the
choice stock are then cut out and given to the nuclei, the
outer entrances contracted so that no queen can pass, and
the inner entrances closed entirely. After the young
queens are two or three days old, I open the tent entrances
at 11:00 a. m., and leave them open until 1:30 p. m., each
day, for several days, or until the queens are mated.
Now for the drones : At the same time that I remove
the queen from the choice stock for the purpose of securing
queen-cells, I place several hives that are strong with select
drones around the walls of my tent, with the outer entrances
contracted, as already explained, so that no queens or
drones can pass, and, at 11:00 o'clock each day I open the
inner entrance and leave it open until 1:30. With this daily
exercise in the tent for 16 days, I have my drones tamed, or
accustomed to their surroundings, or under control, so to
speak ; and it would interest a bee-keeper to take his place
inside the tent at noon, and see the ladies meet the gentle-
men, who, Barkis-like, are "willin." I have seen the
mating take place before the queen could reach the top of
the tent. Before thej' separate, the queen and drone fall
nearly to the ground, and the queen goes directly to her
home that she left not three minutes before.
If I were to build another mating-tent, I should build it
about as follows : I would secure 12 tall poles. I would
have them at least 30 feet long — 40 would be better. These
I would plant firmly in the ground, 12 feet apart in a circle.
From pole to pole, at the top, I would stretch No. 10 wire to
keep the poles true and in place. I would also brace the
poles from the inside ; and tlie braces would be allowed to
go up 20 feet on the inside, as the drones use only the upper
part of the tent. At the top of the poles I would also
stretch No. 10 wire from each pole to its opposite neighbor,
thus strengthening the structure and furnishing support
for the covering that goes over the top. I strengthen every
seam of my netting by stitching on a strip of bridle-rein
stuft' about an inch in width. This allows me to stretch the
covering very even and tight without tearing it. Common
boards can be used around the bottom to the height of five
or six feet. At noon the tent should have the appearance of
a sun-palace. — Bee-Keepers' Keview.
Polk Co., Ga., Jan. 22, 1901.
I Editor Hutchinson has this comment on the subject of
mating queens in confinement. — Ei'ITOk.]
In taking up this subject, perhaps some of my readers
will think that I am foolish, or visionary, or chasing an
182
AMERICAN BEE lOUENAL
March 21, 1901.
igtiis-fa/uus. If you wish to see a bee-keeper draw up the
corners of his mouth, mention this subject. When this
subject was first brought up it was lookt upon in all seri-
ousness. Of late it is mentioned only with ridicule. The
man who would propose to accomplish anything practical
in this line would be clast with the man who is trying to
invent perpetual motion.
Seriously, is it wise to discourage attempts in this direc-
tion ? There is no doubt that there is as much difference
in bees as there is in other domestic animals ; and the one
thing needful to enable us to develop strains of bees superior
to those that we now possess, is control of the mating of
the queens. Where would our short-horns. Jerseys, Merinos,
Poland Chinas and Plymouth Rocks be now if the mating
of these animals had been no more under our control than
is the mating or our queen-bees ? The next great step that
we ought to take in apiculture is that of securing control
of the mating of the queens. It is of sufficient importance
to deserve much careful experimentation.
A Mr. LaVake, of Florida, wrote me that he thought
queen-breeders might do away with the sending out of so
many mismated queens if they would have them mated in
confinement. I replied in the usual strain that it had been
tried and abandoned as a hopeless task. I askt him to let
me know who had ever tried it, and made a practical success
of it. He gave me the name of Mr. J. S. Davitte, of Geor-
gia. I entered into correspondence with him, and from
this correspondence I have gathered, arranged and condenst
his article. The reading of the letters from Mr. Davitte
aroused my interest to the highest point. He writes in such
a way, and gives details so thoroly, that he has con-
vinced me of his success.
I have spent considerable time in looking up and read-
ing everything that I could find upon this subject. As I
look at it now, the principal trouble has been that the
drones have not been brought under control. When a
drone has been accustomed to soar away thru the blue ether
for miles and miles, he is not going to be shut up in a
little 30-foot tent and be contented. For a long time, at
least, he is going to spend all of his time in trying to get
out. He is in no mood to pay his addresses to a queen.
Catch two wild birds at mating-season, and shut them in a
cage. Do you suppose they would mate ? Canaries have
been kept in captivity for many years, and they readily
mate in a cage. Mr. Davitte had his drones flying for days
in his tent before any queens were releast in the tent.
Perhaps many of those drones had never flown in the out-
side air — knew nothing of it. Having flown for several
days in the tent they became accustomed to that kind of
flight, were in a normal condition, and ready to mate with
a queen should one appear.
Suppose we could make a cage two miles wide and half
a mile high. Is there any doubt that a queen would be
mated inside such a tent ? Suppose it were reduced to one
mile in width, and one-fourth of a mile high. Don't you
suppose it would be a success? The question then is:
How small can it be and still be a success? My opinion is
that the size is not so very material as it is to get the drones
to fly and feel at home. One large enough for that is, in
my opinion, large enough. Mr. Davitte, who has had
experience, puts it at about SO feet in width and 30 to 40 feet
in height.
There is still one more point ; Not all drones, at all
ages, are capable of fertilizing a queen. Many have failed
from not understanding this point. They have put nuclei,
with young queens, into a tent, then caught drones at hap-
hazard and put them into the tent. Some of them may
have been youngsters, just out of their cradles, so to speak.
Others may have been "old greybeards." All of them
would certainly have been frightened out of their wits to be
caught and shut up in a tent away from their home. I
think that Mr. Davitte has found the key that will unlock
the problem, viz : That of getting drones from a normal
colony, that is, working undisturbed in the open air, to fly
univorricd inside an enclosure.
If I had the time, money, bees and opportunity, I should
certainly build a mating-tent another season and test the
matter to my own satisfaction. By the way, this is the
work for an experiment station. To be sure. Prof. McLain
did try this experiment, but the conditions were such as to
make it of small value. The queen-breeder who will build
such a tent, and succeed with it, will certainly have one of
the biggest advertisements that could possibly be secured
for a queen-breeder. I wish that some one who is in posi-
tion to make the experiment would build such a tent and
give the matter a fair trial. Even if it should not prove to
be the brilliant success that is reported by Mr. Davitte, it
might be a start, or a beginning of something that would
eventually lead to success.
Don't let us lose our heads with enthusiasm, nor toss
the matter aside with contempt and ridicule. With the new
light that we now have on the subject, let us give it careful,
thoro trial, standing ready to meet either failure or success.
Can Almost Any One Keep Bees ?
BY A. C. SANFORD.
WHO may keep bees ? The professional certainly may
because he knows all the ups and downs, the crooks
and turns, the successes and losses, and knows how to
make the best of them. But the many who would like to
keep a few colonies in order to get a family supply of the
delicious and wholesome God-given sweet, lack the experi-
ence that often costs much, and is therefore valuable.
Almost any one can learn how to manage the swarming,
and how and when to put on supers ; and, last but not least
comes the wintering problem. Most Northern bee-keepers
prefer to winter their bees in the cellar or a cave, as it takes
far less honey and is generally the most successful plan —
at least in Wisconsin. In these days we have text-books on
bee-culture and all the science and mysteries of the honey-
bee may be learned, but the actual practice and experience
is another thing.
I well remember my experience with the first colony of
bees I ever had. It swarmed only once, then the parent
colony became destitute of a queen. I told a neighbor that
I thought something was wrong, but he thought not because
the bees were carrying in pollen. Later I found that the
queen had an imperfect wing, had never met a drone, and
produced only drone-eggs, so I lost the colony. The follow-
ing spring I purchast a few colonies in box-hives, and
transferred them into movable-frame hives. It was then I
first attempted to make a swarm by dividing, and the bees
swarmed out ; but I soon learned a great many things and
made the bees pay.
Many people would keep bees if they were not afraid of
the stings. Of course there are some to whom the sting
of a bee is poisonous, and they will do well to let bees alone.
But such people are few, and if one intends to keep bees he
must make up his mind that he is going to endure the
stings, and in due time his system will get used to them.
The pain may be relieved with wet salt, hartshorn, mud,
etc., or by quickly pulling out the sting. If one is careful
he is not likely to get very many stings, but if he thinks
that he never will be stung he is very much mistaken.
Two very essential things in handling bees are a bee-
veil and a first-class smoker, with an ample supply of
smoke-making material. Smoke is a great protection, and
if the bees fly about you angrily give them a generous dose.
Women-folks can learn to care for bees as easily as
they do for chickens, if they only have the courage and the
pluck. It is much easier to learn to keep bees than it is to
learn to play the piano. And then think of the delicious
honey you will have to sell and to eat I
Pierce Co., Wis.
A South Dakota Bee-Keeper and His Little Apiary.
MR. EDITOR :— Being a reader of The American Bee
Journal, I presume you would like to hear something
about how one of its pupils is getting along. I was
just on the meridian line (in age) when the bee-fever struck
me, having spent most of my life in Chicago, and other
cities. I am sorry now that I did not start keeping bees 25
years earlier. When I came out here I told my neighbor (an
old bee-master) that I intended to keep bees, and he told me
that they might live all right providing I would feed them
all summer and give them enough in the fall to last them
all winter. Happy the man who thus expects but little, for
he will never be disappointed.
I found out that this is a very poor country in which to
keep bees, for we have little timber, no clover, or any other
honey-plants that amount to anything. We have dwarf
sunflowers in abundance, and they furnish a little honey of
an inferior grade. Sweet clover grows tall if irrigated, but
on waste land or on the roadsides it doesn't thrive. I tried
buckwheat, but the bees did not work on it, and, besides all
this, the wind blows here sometimes so furiously that if the
hive-entrances were the size of a stovepipe the bees would
hardly be able to reach them.
March 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
183
This experience has not taken the bee-fever out of me,
but it caused me to move to a more favorable locality. I
think bee-keeping' is the most healthy and pleasant occupa-
tion in the world, and it is enough to make me shudder
when I think back, of city life, where some of you folks
are working under a gas-jet in dimly lighted rooms or base-
ments ; or how I used to grab my hat and coat at noontime,
make a rush for the street, jump past the coming street-car,
and make a break for the restaurant to swallow my lunch
and get back again to get out this or that order. Yes, a
feeling comes over me like a nightmare, when I think of
■watching for that ball on the Masonic Temple to drop,
and set my watch by it so as not to miss the suburban
train in the morning. But the bee-keeper looks for the
sun to turn around the gable, which is near enough for him
to tell that it is noon ; and when you city folks are hustling
and bustling in smoldering basements, the bee-keeper,
surrounded by birds and vegetation, works in his garden,
from where he can watch his bees, or else fans himself
under a shade-tree and waits for swarms.
To return to ray bees, I will say that I have " A B C of
Bee-Culture," Langstroth, and Prof. Cook's Manual, as
my guides, and the extent to which I appreciate the Ameri-
can Bee Journal is shown in the accompanying photograph,
■where it is represented by a wheel (or "journal.")
Being a mechanic I was bound to make my own hives,
altho they cost me as much for material as the price I could
buy good chaif hives for. My neighbor calls them "dan-
dies," and says they are the finest hives he ever saw. I am
ready to admit that this credit is not altogether due to me,
for they are but a combination of other people's brains.
The general shape was taken from Root's, the portico from
L,angstroth's, and the telescope feature of the body over the
bottom was taken from Dadant's, which enables me to put
a frame between the body and filled chaff bottom for win-
tering. For the pattern of the observation hive I have to
thank Prof. Cook.
The rocks or boulders at the side of the hives are not
put there as an ornament or bee-mark, but they are some-
times needed in this part of the country to pile on top the
hives so as to keep them attacht to the world, or not to find
them some morning in your neighbor's field mixt up with
cornstalks and Russian thistles.
I am very much interested in the different ways bee-
keepers introduce queens, and no sooner have I come to a
conclusion than I see that manner criticized in another
paper. I think this criticizing or debate is the proper way
to learn, but it strikes me that some of our more experi-
enced bee-masters do not explain to us very fully why bees
reject queens. When a patient consults a doctor he (the
doctor) will first examine for the ailment, and then prescribe
a remedy. Why not the same with introducing a queen, for
when bees reject her it is an ailment, or there is a cause ?
Mr. L. H. CrcDwrs an/i /lis Apiary, of Davison Co., South Dakota.
I will give my own way of introducing. Scientific men
tell us that bees of the same colony know one another by
the scent that the queen-bee imparts to them. Taking this
as a starting-point, I first destroy this scent when I want to
introduce a new queen. When my new queen arrives by
mail I give her a little rest by laying the cage (face upward)
in an empty hive or box. I now saturate a little sponge
with sugar-water scented with a drop of peppermint, which
I lay partly on the queen-cage so that the queen and escorts
can sip at it, which they soon do. and their breath becomes
scented with it.
Towards evening I go to the intended colony, and after
treating the bees with smoke I remove their queen. I have
a special hive-cover with a hole cut in, the size of the queen-
cage, but about 1 inch longer. In this hole I lay the caged
queen (face downward), and shove it forward so that the
bees in the hive can not reach the candy plug.
I now cover that hole in the cover with about two thick-
nesses of burlap, which provides a little ventilation. Next
I take a piece of lath and pour some peppermint extract on
it, after which I stick it poker-fashion in the entrance of
the hive. The next day when all becomes normal around
the hive, I raise that burlap over the cage a little, and shove
the queen-cage backward so that the bees can eat out the
candy plugs and liberate the queen, and all is done.
Maybe our esteemed Dr. Miller will say that while the
colony is thus strongly scented with peppermint the bees
will not be able to distinguish robber-bees if such would
make an attack. This may be so, but as yet I have not
been troubled with it at that time, and as it is done later in
the day most of the peppermint scent is fanned out of the
hive by the next day.
A thing happened to me last summer which may be
worth mentioning. I thought I had a case of robbing, and
as I just then got my bee-paper, I saw where some one askt
the question as to his bees fighting. Dr. Miller answered
the question by stating it as paralysis, and it fitted my case
also ; and as the Doctor said that there was hardly a cure
for it, it set my " thinker " going, and I thought of some-
thing to save a nice queen. As Webster describes "paraly-
sis" as an involuntary motion of muscles,! concluded that if I
could counteract this involuntary action it would be a case
of cure or kill. At night I gave that colony smoke and
whiskey, and two days later there was much less fighting at
the entrance, but whether it was cured or killed I am unable
to say. I think it was only the hardy ones that survived,
and when I opened the hive I found that hardly enough
bees were left to cover the brood. On another day I had a
real case of robbing, which was done by a stronger colony
next to it. When I noticed what was going on I smoked
both the strong and the weak colonies. I then took the
best comb with bees and all from the strong colony and
gave it to the weaker ones. Judging that the new comers
were the strongest and fear-
ing they might harm the
queen, I scented again with
peppermint; and closed up the
hive, leaving the few field bees
to take care of themselves.
After night I also closed up
the hive of the stronger col-
ony, and gave both new
stands, disfiguring the old
stands as much as I could.
The next morning I liberated
the weaker colony first, and
watcht if any of the added
bees would find their old hive
again, but they did not. Soon
afterward I liberated the
stronger ones also, and after
an hour's confusion they
went to work as before. But
what surprised me most, was,
I noticed no more fighting
of the ■weaker colony, and by
noon they were working in
harmonj", carrying out dead
brood and cleaning house.
My bees are in chaff hives,
and on the summer stands ;
tliey had a good (light on
Dec. 2.5, and that weak colony
seemed to have bees enough
to cast a swarm.
L. H. Crkmers.
Dec. 2b, 1900.
184
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Mafch 21, 1901.
A Fair Italian-After " Blacli Beauty."
BY HENRV BIIlWEI,!..
I am a yellow honey-bee of the feminine gender. My
occupation is to secrete was and build it into combs ; to
g-ather honey and pollen from the groves and fields with
which to feed the maturing brood or to partly digest and
give to the motlier-bee for the rapid formation of eggs.
The rule that governs the actions of my life is that what-
ever I find to do I delay not in doing. My mother is called
a queen, but from her numerous progeny would more
appropriately be styled a" mother-bee.'' My father is called
a drone, but since he has no sac to gather honey in, no bas-
ket to carry bread in. and no stinger with which to defend
the hive, he should be called the " gentleman-bee."
Mother and I. and 15 of mj' sister workers, came from
Genoa, Italy, in a small box by mail. We had a quiet trip
across the water, but were badly shaken up in transfer at
New York City, then rolled across the country to our pres-
ent home where we revel in the immense fields of alfalfa
bloom, which we prefer to the fragrant groves and sweet-
scented vineyards of our native land. This is the home of
the industrious bee: here we enjoy the right to swarm
when we wish to, as Nature intended we should. To swarm
naturally is the greatest happiness that comes to us — God's
way is better than man's way, at least, for our increase.
In Italy we no sooner thought of swarming than our
mother was removed and we were compelled to replace her
from worker-larva; which are confined in small cells and fed
coarse food ; thus our step-mother came to us with her size
reduced, her color darkened, the number of her ova dimin-
isht, and her vitality largely destroyed. Again, the Ger-
man bee was imported and mixt with our race ; this deteri-
orated our stock, left the brown stripes on our abdomens
and inferior blood in our veins. But in America it was
discovered that our race was variable, and by careful selec-
tion the brown stripes are being bred away.
It was a beautiful March day when we arrived at our
present home. The bees, whose apiary we were to share,
were returning laden with pollen from the maples. The
box in which we were imported was placed in a strong col-
ony of brown bees from which the mother-bee had been
removed. Immediately our box was surrounded by the queen-
less bees that vainly tried to liberate us, and which in a
measure consoled us by extending their tongues laden with
liquid sweets thru the meshes of our prison doors. We
gladly accepted the food offered us, but were even more
glad the following day when releast. Mother found many
empty berths, recently vacated by baby bees, and at once
began to deposit an egg in each cell, including a number of
the drone-cells. In three weeks her brood began to hatch,
and in four more she began to lay eggs in the queen-cells
we had prepared for her.
We swarmed on the last day of May, just as the work-
men were going in to dinner after having mowed the alfalfa.
We made the air quiver and hum as we flew in circles that
grew larger until we were nearly all out, the yellow and
brown bees mingling joyously ; then the queen settled on
a maple limb where we all clustered, bending the limb
almost to the ground. We waited patiently for some one to
hive us, but getting tired, sent out scouts in search of a
suitable place to live. Soon one returned saying she had
found an empty barrel ; another saying she had found an
open space between the siding and plastering of a house ;
another reported having found a hollow tree, and still
another a small stone house which had never been occu-
pied, for the padlock was sealed with rust. This seemed
the most suitable, for our number was tens of thousands
and we all wanted room to work. So away we flew, led by
the scout, to the little stone building on a vacant lot near
the center of town. We entered thru a crack over the
door and immediately went to work. A few mud-wasps and
spiders had been in possession of the house (which, by the
way, was the calaboose) each year since it was built, but on
account of there being no saloon in town it had remained
vacant and we were left undisturbed.
In the course of a month we had built ten combs the
size and shape of a bushel basket, suspended from the ceil-
ing down into the center of the room. But on the night of
July 4th the door was opened with difficulty, and a tramp was
thrust in. He lay in a heap on the floor until towards
morning when he got up and began to swagger and swear ;
striking out in the dark with clencht fist he knockt down
our combs, scattering us all over the floor. Amid the yells
of murder and fire we ran in every direction until we reacht
the sides of the room ; then we climbed to the ceiling again
where we clustered. As soon as the light was sufficient we
flew back and lit on a limb near our old home, which we
found had been divided into ten parts — just the number of
combs we had left in the hive. Each part had been placed
in a separate hive and g^iven one of the sealed queens which
now were mother-bees. Looking about, we found an empty
hive which we took possession of ; and before winter we
had it full of combs, honey, bee-bread and maturing brood.
Sedgwick Co., Kan.
\ Questions and Answers. |
HR. C. C. AIILLER. Marengo, ni.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. Millsr
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Transferring Crooked Brood-Combs.
I have six colonies of bees in the cellar. They are in
frame hives without the frames, except three, but the comb
is so crooked that I can not get them out or do anything
with them. Will it pay to transfer them on frames of
foundation ? Iowa.
Answer. — Wait till they swarm ; hive the swarm on
the old stand, setting the mother colony beside it. A week
later move the old hive to a new place, and 21 days after
the time of swarming drum out all the bees and add them
to the swarm. Then you will have the old hive /ree from
all brood unless it be some drone-brood, and you can do
what you like with the combs. The swarm having an
extra force of bees ought to give you a lot of surplus
honey, if there is any to be had.
Methods of Securing Increase.
1. I wish to get my increase the next season. My plan
is this : In early swarming-time I think of taking the col-
ony I wish to breed from, and take two frames with bees
brood and queen, fill both up with empty frames with start-
ers. Put the hive with the queen on the old stand ; when
the other has reared queen-cells within a couple of days of
hatching, I divide as many more as I have spare queen-cells
in the same way, placing the queens on the old stand and
removing the queenless ones to a new place and give them
a queen-cell. Will that plan work well ? Will the bees
destroy the queen-cells? Would I better give them the cell
at once or wait a couple of days? If you think this plan
will not work well, will you please give me a better one ?
2. I have some extracted honey which fermented and
then candied. Will it do to feed to bees in the spring if I
liquefy it ?
3. Since writing the above I have been reading an
article by Mr. Doolittle in the American Bee Journal ; he is
good authority, and he advises against giving a queen after
dividing, giving as a reason that it will bring on a crop of
workers too late for the basswood and prepare the way for
another swarm. His reasons seem good.
Please give me what you consider the best system of
dividing. I wish as little increase as possible.
Iowa.
Answers. — 1. Instead of putting the queen with two
combs on the old stand, and the queenless colony on a new
stand, why not leave the queenless bees on the old stand
and put the queen with her two combs on a new stand ?
The queenless bees will then be in a more flourishing con-
dition to rear good queens, because strong in bees and get-
ting a good harvest, whereas by the way you propose they
would be weak in bees and gathering no honey. Then
when it came time to use the queen-cells you could return
the queen to the old stand. The bees will be likely to de-
stroy the queen-cells unless conscious of theirqueenlessness.
It would be a good plan for you to take the queen from the
colonies you intend to use for nuclei two days before, then
when you put them in a new place as nuclei thej' will stay
better where they are put, and the queen-cells can be given
to them at the same time. But remember that when you
make a colony queenless not all the cells will be good.
March 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
185
Some of the last reared will be very poor. Better g-ive
each nucleus two, three, or four cells, and there will be a
better chance that there will be at least one good one in the
lot. You can also judge something by the looks of the
cells, the large, well-pitted ones being preferred, altho
sometimes an inconspicuous cell may contain a tine queen.
2. It will do very well. In spring, when bees are flying
daily, it is safe to feed almost anything that bees will take.
Possibly sweetened vinegar would do no harm.
3. Mr. Doolittle is a man of excellent judgment and a
safe adviser. If your conditions are the same as his, you
will do well to follow his example. If he lived where I do,
I doubt that he would advise all to follow his example.
The Honey-Extractor and Foul Brood.
1. Does the extractor cause foul brood ?
2. If so, in what way ?
All the bee-keepers in this county (Davis), and a great
number in Salt Lake County, will not use the extractor,
claiming it does cause foul brood. Utah.
Answer. — If there are no thistles growing on your
place, there are two ways in which they may be introduced
there — the seeds may be taken there, or the plants may.
Without either plants or seeds there is no possibilitj' of
having the thistles. Foul brood in a colony is much like
thistles on a farm. If there is no foul brood in a colony, it
can only be introduced there by the introduction of a cer-
tain plant or its seed. The little plant is called bacillus
alvei, and a spore is its seed. Please get that clearly in
mind — there must be the bacillus or the spore, or there can
be no foul brood. The bacilli or the spores may be found
in the larva?, in the cells, or in the honey. Their presence
in the honey is the thing most to be guarded against, for it
is probable that in the great majority of cases it is thru the
honey that the disease is carried.
Now for your question as to whether the extractor
causes foul brood. If there is no foul brood in your apiary,
how can an extractor cause it ? The extractor can produce
neither spore nor bacillus. If, however, there is foul brood
in one of your colonies the case is a little different. You
use the extractor to extract the honey of that colony, and
that honey may be infected. You put a comb from the
infected hive into a sound colony, and you have another case
of foul brood. You put out the combs of the infected col-
ony for the bees to clear up after they have been extracted,
and there is a chance for every colony in the apiary to get
the disease. If you feed some of the extracted honey for
any purpose (and the chances are that you are more likely
to feed extracted honey than comb), there is a fair chance
that any colony thus fed will become diseased.
You will probably see now that the answer should be :
There is no possibility that the extractor can produce foul
brood where there is none ; but if there is a diseased colony
in the apiary it is quite possible that bad management in
connection with the use of an extractor may greatly accel-
erate the spread of the disease.
Dead Bees Outside the Hive Colony Destroyed by Moth.
1. Why is it that after a warm spell followed by cold,
that a great number of bees are found dead outside of the
hive ?
2. Is it safe to use a hive after all the bees in it have
been killed by the bee-moth ? I caught three swarms
myself, one of which was afterward destroyed by the moth.
New York.
Answers. — I. I should expect it to be the other way :
after a cold spell when many bees have died, the advent of
a warm spell allows the bees to carry out their dead.
2. The hive will not be injured in any way, and it will
be perfectly safe to use it again. If you mean to ask
whether it is safe to use the combs, the reply is that it will
be all right to use them unless they are so badly destroyed
that most of the septum or middle wall is gone.
I don"t know whether you mean literally that the bee-
moth killed your bees, but as it is a rather common belief
among beginners that bee-moths may attack a good colony
of bees and overcome it, it may be well to say a few words
about it. No bee-moth ever came off first best in a hand-to-
hand struggle with a worker-bee. If you watch closely,
you may see a moth toward evening trying to enter a hive
and if a bee gets after it there is no attempt at fight. The
moth runs, and if the bees get hold of it it has no means to
defend itself, let alone trying to kill the bee. The moth
tries to get into the hive to lay eggs, and laying eggs is all
the harm it does, altho that is harm enough. If bee-moths
are plenty, you will probably find their eggs in or about the
hives of your strongest colonies. When these eggs hatch
out into larvie, the larva? or wax-worms make a business of
eating the combs, and that's where the mischief comes in.
When these wa.x-worms are allowed full play, it will
not be so very long a time in hot weather until the whole
contents of the hive will be a mass of webs and cocoons,
hardlj' anything in the semblance of a comb being left.
But in the majority of cases it is no more right to say that
the moths or the worms destroyed the colonj' than it is to
say that maggots destroyed a horse that one finds filled
with maggots, the horse having been shot some time before.
The colony has in some way come to naught, and then the
worms come in to make a finish of the combs, just as the
maggots come in to make a finish of the horse.
Altho there may be eggs of the moth in the best colony
you have, yet they do no more damage than the weed seeds
that are found in your best cultivated ground. You keep
the young weeds killed down before they get big enough to
do any harm, and in the same way the bees keep the young
worms rooted out before they get big enough to amount to
anything. A strong colony will have no trouble in keep-
ing the worms cleaned out, and even a weak colony will be
all right if the bees are Italians.
Combs that have been out all winter so as to be frozen
are safe until the weather becomes warm enough for fresh
eggs to be laid in them. But if a colony dies in a hive, the
combs will be ruined as soon as warm weather approaches.
Put such combs under a strong colony of bees, and the
bees will take care of them safely.
Sowing Cleome and Buckwheat.
When is the proper time to sow cleome seed ?
When would be the time to sow buckwheat to have it
bloom the first of July ? WEST Virgini.\.
Answer. — I don't know the answer to either of your
questions, but I'll make a guess at them, and if I'm wrong
some good friend will correct. Sow cleome as soon as frost
is out and the ground fairly settled. To haVe buckwheat
bloom the first of July, sow the first of May.
When to Put Bees Qut of the Cellar.
When ought I to take my bees out of the cellar, in
this section of the country ? And should they be put in the
same position and place as last year ? Illinois.
Answer. — You will not be far wrong to go by the
blooming of the red or soft maple. When they come out in
bloom, it is time for the bees to be out. Sometimes, how-
ever, the weather will be so cold and wet that it is better
to delay a little if the bees are in good condition. On the
other hand, if the bees are very uneasy, and are spot-
ting their hives, it may be better to get them out the first
favorable day. It is important to have a fine day for bring-
ing out. After their long confinement thej* are anxious to
get out of the hive, and if brought out on a bad day thou-
sands of them will fly out, become chilled, and perish.
After lying idle for months they can not be expected to fly
with the greatest vigor, and a strong wind will beat them
to the ground never to rise again. Bring them out on a
still day, with the sun shining, and the thermometer at 50
degrees or more.
Having some years put my bees on the stands they
occupied the preceding year, and other years having set
them around promiscuously, I do not see that it makes any
difference. Possibly in places where they are kept in the
cellar a month or so, it might make a difference.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be in.serted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a j till year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
186
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
March 21, 1901.
* The Afterthought. * \
*r>r'>'n'r*n'?'>?Tr"^r>r''
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THAT MAGNIFIED QUEEN PHOTOGRAPH.
I am inclined to get enthusiastic over that maftnified pho-
tograph of queen and egg on the front of No. 9. Between
"approximately correct"' and "correct" is a long and impor-
tant step. One of the great, grand things that we want of the
twentieth century is to take away our approximations and
give us some reals. For instance, let it take away our good
novels, which are approximations, and a lot of our biographies,
which are not so much as approximations, and give us some
real views of other lives than our own. Well, here at last we
have a real look at the queen on paper, can see the gloss on
her back, and the fur on her shoulders, the exact shape of
her foot, and the style of her " horns " {a la Utter) ; can see
that the true taper of her abdomen does not look like a
wooden plug whittled out ; can see the three little eyes on the
top of her head, sticking up like crab's eyes, and ready (if
they do utilize X rays) to locate just where the last egg on
the other side of the comb was put.
SINGLE-BOARD COVERS, WIDE FRAMES, ETC.
I agree with Mr. Greiner that the single-board cover is not
an improvement on the old telescope roof. Also I like the old
wide frames for putting on sections. As to the old honey-
board, I'll let some other fellow agree with him about that —
doubtless " other fellow " will not be very hard to find. Page
89.
A LESSON ON THE LAMP-STOVE.
Friend Roe,
You ought to know
30's too low
For bees to go.
If you had known all that " with your heart," and had
properly meditated on it last fall, perchance the treacherous
lamp-stove would not have been invited to do its worst. Now
sit at my feet while I shake my finger and tell you. Lamp-
stoves are treacherous, even if you don't cover them up.
Never should be left alone long. Liable to char their own
wicks, and get up such a state of things internally as will set
up an impromptu lamp-black factory — if not worse. Been
there. Don't want anything worse. Interesting to see that
the bees, even tho aching for a temptation to fly at something
were "controlled " by the smoke and kept in their hives. O
smoke, thou art a daisy ! Some angel (sister to the one that
gave the moss-rose its moss) surely gave thee thy bee-control-
ling powers. Page 89.
ALTERNATION OF RAINF.^LL IN CALIFORNIA.
Ten years of California rainfall shows up as a regular
alternation of first scant and then plentiful, except that
1899, which should have been plentiful, was instead the most
scanty of all — as if some cause, not connected with the law of
alternation, had knockt it completely out. Page 90.
A CHIDER CHIDED A LITTLE.
Mr. Carlzen, page 91, chides Dr. Miller for not being
explicit enough, and then proceeds to sin much more deeply
and darkly himself. (No wonder we do just so after scolding.)
The specific gravity of 20 is just that of quicksilver — and can
not be his meaning. We would grasp at the theory that 20 is
merely a slip for 20 hundredths, but that would be lighter
than any fluid we have to do with. Perchance it's the arbi-
trary numbering of the scale on some little instrument he has :
but how are we to know that unless he tells us "?
SWARMING ECCENTRICITIES.
The eccentricities related by Edward Knoll, page 92.
seem to me to be instructive. Bees without a queen do not
swarm, but a swarm left without a queen comes back soon.
Here having gotten themselves partly on the end and partly
on the roof of their home, they played that home hadn't any
queen, and kept up the delusion for more than a week. Were
not ready yet to give it up when the second swarm issued, but
"saw the point " when the third swarm appeared. I surmise
the old queen came out when she did because the bees had
recently been worrying her — for them to kill her would be
rather the normal course, I think.
PERHAPS THE FRENCHMAN WAS RIGHT.
Mr. Dadant, may it not be that that French manager was
partly right? I mean about the non-advisability of working
second-hand wood with power. Even here when a railroad
wants old ties sawed up men do it by hand with big saws.
Too many gravel-stones that have workt into cracks for buzz-
saw work. Feeding a power saw allows too little time to
" watch out ;" and it can not be stopt when it strikes a stone.
Page 100.
MAKING A COLONY SWARM.
Well done, Mr. Bevins ! A practical way to make a colony
swarm at will is one of the most urgent of our lesser wants,
and you seem to have given us a good starter towards it.
Booming colony — tall hive — queen in the attic — zinc to keep
her there — then put her below just before the first princess
emerges. There might be some failures, however. A phleg-
matic colony might refuse to build cells below ; and an iras-
cible colony might kill the old queen when she appeared down-
stairs, and only save one princess. Page 101.
KEEPING EXTRACTED HONEY.
Dr. Mason was a little "off" on page 102 when he said it
had never been tried how long extracted honey would keep.
I've tried it a number of times when it didn't keep thru the
first summer. How long the best, and most thoroly ripened,
select honey will keep is perhaps a little problematical yet.
And his contribution 15 years in an open package, and good
yet — is on the road toward finding out. As a general doctrine
I should say that honey not sealed up depreciates sotne every
summer it goes thru. Some innocent trader will get badly
bitten by trying to hold too long a dozen barrels of honey — if
he listens to our boys singing the imperishability of honey, as
they are so fond of doing.
THE HATCH EXPERIMENT.
And, ye experimenting folks, don't forget the Hatch
experiment when putting on supers this spring — filling all the
mid brood-chamber with sealed brood, and having plenty of
young larvffi in the outside frames. For locations with only
one harvest, and that not very long, I shouldn't wonder if
this might prove valuable. Worth something to start the stor-
ing in the outside sections, right over the young brood. Page
103.
BUMBLE-BEE DRONES WORKING.
Mr. Wallace, perhaps it is not very great merit in the
bumble-bee drones that they work to the extent of getting
their own food from the flowers. May be a simple case of
" root hog or die " — no honey at home at all. It's true, how-
ever, that our hive-drones would promptly accept the "die"
rather than the " root hog." Page 108.
UNCAPPING HONEY FOR EXTRACTING.
I am not an expert handler of the uncapping-knife — good
ways from it, I fear — and therefore the photograph of an
expert at his work has special value to me (and perhaps to all
my numerous family.) I am talking now about the photo-
graphs of Mr. Aikin on pages 117 and 118. He does not
lean his comb over to the right as much as I do. He cuts the
first stroke on the near end of the comb. Had I been in his
shoes, and commanded to begin on one end, I should probably
have cut the first stroke on the far end — working the heel of
the knife continually into fresh territory in preference to the
point — except of course when the surface is so uneven that
the point has to be used. Awhile ago I used to take off a little
strip pretty much all around the comb first thing : but I have
pretty much abandoned that as a greenhorn's unprofitable fuss-
ing. Had I been in Mr. Aikin's shoes and told to uncap that
comb just as I pleased, I should probably have set it on one
corner, leaned it over strongly to the right, placed the
middle of the blade under the bottom corner, and
made the first stroke from that corner to the opposite
or upper one. Then the rest of the territory I should have
finisht in a "permiscus"' kind of way. Presumably, Mr.
Aikin's way should be the better — but I should greatly enjoy
hearing other brethren tell just how they would attack a
comb — or, if they pleased, just how they would goat that par-
ticular comb which Mr. Aikin has in his hands.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song- in shee-
music size, written by J. C. Wallenme3'er, a musical beet
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
March 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
187
JsJ>^>^.^.^:C^4.^,.»t^.^.^.i»t,^>^.^.^,^:C^V:t>^y.
1^ The Home Circle.
>ff
Conducted bij Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
INFLUENCE OF THE QOOD HOME.
The homo is the greatest civilizer. A nation of good
homes must be strong. Nothing will foster patriotism like
the presence of innumerable homes where the beautiful is
«ver in evidence and where love is law. Anything that makes
the home more beautiful, or anything that adds to its delights,
not only makes good people — good fathers, mothers, children,
good neighbors — but just as truly, good citizens. The man
■whose home is all in all to him, who longs for it when absent,
and hies himself to it when business lets go her gripe, who is
only away from it when stern duty calls, who rejoices in it
from cellar to roof — such an one feels that he has great things
to live for. He can accomplish great things, for ho over has
a heart light with joy, be ever has wondrous incentive to work
— thought of the loved ones that make that home so precious :
his daily tasks are only pleasures. .Such are the ministries of
the true home. Such a man must be a patriot — he has that
which is all priceless to defend.
The happiest homes, are where all work together to secure
comfort — where all give thoughtful love and rejoice most in
what brings joy and good fellowship to all. It is not the home
of wealth, where money unearned, brings every luxury, and
gratification in fullest measure comes without effort, that
knows the truest happiness. Such homes breed selfishness,
and selfishness and happiness never travel together. I would
never covet wealth for my children or friends. I would covet
the most generous, the noisiest manhood. Such a state is not
born of wealth. The man of wealth may hold onto generous
purpose, unselfish regard, disinterested love, but his money is
ever working to smother all these blessed instincts. Strong
indeed is the man who can maintain his best integrity, and pre-
serve ever alive within him the highest ideals of life, thought
and purpose, if wealth has ever waited at his call and
responded to his beck. Not the home of wealth, then, but
the home where industry and frugality supply moderate needs,
where daily thought and effort must minister to the daily
wants, is where joy is sweetest and best, and such homes are
what will surely give to a nation perpetuity. '
May we not rejoice then that our nation is blest with such
homes ? Their influence is true and sweet, (lod bless every
action and eilort that fosters such homes. May God raise his
hand against efforts that tend unduly and unrighteously to
build up either the homes of squalor, or the homes of the over-
wealthy.
Our American Bee Journal home circles are the average
ones. In them all minister. All are ready to give the helping
hand. All are alert to add a sheaf to the store of comforts.
Thoughtful love for other than self. All this is what makes
gladsome the home.
In our homes, we love to read. The good book and the
helpful magazine are the pride and pleasure of the household.
The reading aloud, and the good talks called forth, as " Wild
Animals That I Have Known," takes us into the fascinating
fields of nature, are too precious and valuable to be at all cur-
tailed. How can we gain time for more ? So very important
is the answer, that we may well share no time or pains to
make all about the house convenient. Labor-saving machines,
no more than convenience of plan and arrangement, should
receive fullest heed and attention. In all this, as it is the
workshop of the queen of the household — the loving wife
who gives the sunlight to the home — a first place should bo
given to
THE KITCHEN.
The kitchen round of duties are e\ery day, and many are
oft repeated in each daytime. Steps that must bo often taken
should bo short and few. Is the kitchen the cheerful room,
where sunlight and pure air ever keep company? Are the
walls cheerful V and does an atmosphere of cheer and comfort
make the kitchen a glad room ?
.Vny pains to make the kitchen bright and attractive are
well and worthily bestowed. Is the kitchen next to the din-
ing-room, with double wall between, enclosing an ample cup-
board, with convenient sliding or other doors that open both
ways ? Doors that slide eitlicr up or sidewise are most con-
venient.
Is the sink close beside this cupboard on the kitchen side ?
And has it an ample drain board, and both hot and cold water
that comes with a turn of a faucet ? Suppose it does cost not
a little, to secure all this. It is to h('lp every day and oft-
repeatedly. the dearest member of the household.
Is the range convenient to sink and table ? and has it a
hot water tank ? And does a first-class quick-meal gasoline
stove take its place in the hot weather ? Is a neat wood-box
close by the stove, and is it ever full of the best of fuel '.'
Is the arrangement of the cooking table to flour-bin and
sugar-box, etc., so that all possible steps are avoided ? Is
there a long, narrow spice cupboard above the cooking table,
with front door to open downward, that no steps shall be
required to reach everything that is needed to make the food
appetizing ?
Is the pantry close at hand, and always stockt with all
needed articles ?
No husband can afford not to give all this most earnest
heed. To save the time, the stops, the energy of the wife and
mother, is his greatest privilege and his wisest and most
blessed act. In building a house tlie most thought and study
should be given to the kitchen, that it may be a model of
neatness, beauty and convenience. If the house is already
built, labor and money spent in remodeling this room so that
steps may be saved, and care, worry and labor lessened, will
be most wisely used.
THE BATHTUB.
That wonderful man. I5ooker T. Washington, in the
intensely interesting and inspiring articles just completed in
The Outlook, and which it is hoped will be published in book
form, speaks of the bathtub, as a mighty civilizer. He is
right. No house should be without the most convenient and
best arranged bathing arrangements. Indeed, " Cleanliness
is 7iext to Godliness." The bathtub — oft used — is the good
angel of the home. We are wisest when we do everything to
encourage to very frequent bathing. We must have the con-
venient bathroom, with hot water. Not to build this if it is
wanting, is to stand in the very light of the home. The hot-
water tank heated every time the stove is lighted, gives hot
water at the kitchen sink and to the bathroom.
I would work my finger-nails short, if needs be, to have
the best and most convenient kitchen and bathroom the
county round. Have all our readers lived up to their oppor-
tunities in these directions ? These should not be considered
luxuries, but necessities — a thing not for the future, but for
the now.
GRAHAM GEMS.
Nothicg is more important in the home circle than
good health. It is true that " what is one man's meat is
another man's poison." White bread is often very untooth-
some, and, I may add, .unwholesome. To any who, like
myself, have found this true, I would sug^gest as a substi-
tute graham gems or bread. I feel that my health, if not
my life, is due to this displacement. The following is the
recipe for gems which I have found very appetizing and
wholesome :
To two cups of graham flour and one of white, add two teaspoon-
fuls of good baking-powder, and milk sufficient to make a thick batter.
Salt to suit the taste. Add a half cup. more or less, of sugar. If
some cream is added with the milk, no harm will be done. Bake
quickly in hot buttered gem-irons.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very pretty thing for a
bee-keeper or honey-seller to wear on his coat-lapel. It
often serves to introduce the s'ubject of honey.and thusoften
leads to a sale.
Note.— f>ne reader wr
to believe that it would be
bee-keeper to wea
people to ask (juesti*
'I ha
ry reason
:rj good idea for every
[of ihe buttons] as it will cause
s about the busy bee, and many
a conversation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would (five
the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to enlighten
many a person in regard to honey and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduction of a motto
queen-button that we have been furnishing to bee-keepers
for a long time. It has a pin on the underside to fasten to
the coat. Price, by mail, 6 cents each: two for 10 cents:
or six for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office of the Amer-
ican Bee Journal.
The Chicafco Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8'xlO inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both forSl.hO. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
here are nearly 20U bee-keepers shown.
188
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 21, 1901.
SALZER'S RAPE
gives Rich, ^^
gre_en fo°dy5,<99^|r ^ p ffl
^SPELTZ-
Wliat is it?
Calaiog
tells.
, SEEDS ^,
P^alzer's Seeds are Warranted to Prodace^gjil
^Tftlahlon Luther E.Troy,Pa.,astoniBhed the world by \
Jferowine 250 bu. Big 4 Oata ; J. Breider.MlBhicott, WIe.. 1
Fl73 bu. barley ; and H. Lovejoy.Red Wing, Mjdd.. 320 bo
corn per acre. If you doubt, write them. We wish
1 21)0,000 new c uslonjers, btroe will send rn trial 1
$10 WORTH FOR I Oc
llO [ikfrsof rare farm tweeds, ^-.'i't Bush, Cuinbina. < orn—
ISpelU, producing 80 bu. food and 4 tone hay per acre— J
% above oats and barley. Bromus Inermiit— preatebt
irth; Hog Pea, Rape, Itfllloii $ CrnDt ,
shay per acre) Spring Wheat, Ac, including j
iir mainnioth Seed Catalog al 1 mailed loi lOc.
pogitively worth#10 togeta
Seed Potatoes ^l.'iO a bbl and up.
-«-.r^35pkg!
send lhi8%u:fM^^ bleeeeda, $1 C
adv. with
10c. to Salzer.
Catalog
alone, 5c.
Send at once.
Please mention Bee Journal when
Wanted I li
) or three apiaries
for cash, located in
Colorado. Give full
particulars in first letter, and lowest cash price;
comb honey preferred.
lAtf Thos. C. Stanley & Son, Fairfield, 111.
^^ ROLL- STROKE!
....PIG-TIGHT,... .
\ii 111 1- i;ii iii.i >.;ii(l thataft-
rr h;uM'-I In- li.nl I ully 200 bush-
tliat 111' >.'>iuia I'mt serine anv ben-
eiit Iri'iii, litMau.vf the fence
around tlie field would not turn
liogs. FlfJTure the loss fill- yourself.
He also said, all tbis would have
been Laved if he had used the
Kitselnian Woven Wire Coiled
Spring Fences and the value
would Wve Kone a lonf? ways
towards pavinucost of the fenee.
With the Duplex Machine
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writina
I BEESIPPLIES! I
:^ 49~Root'sQood5 at Root's Prices-^ft ^
l^ PouDER's Honey-Jars and every- ^'
■ ^ thing' used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^T^
■ "^ Service — low freig-ht rate. Catalog <^'
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
l^ '512 Mass. Ave.t Indianapolis, Ind. ^^
Please mention Bee Journal when, writing.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than an v other publish!,
send S1.'2S to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing- for use in
catching- and clipping- Queens
wing-s. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
ayear at $1.00; or forfl.lO we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping- Device. Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & COMPANY.
CUicaeo. Ill,
m
SEND FDR FREE CATALOGUE. H
Prairie Stale Incubator Co.
' llomcrUlty. I>a.
Bees Wintering All Right.
My bees came thru the winter all right,
without the loss of a single colony so far, and
I look for a good honey-year.
The American Bee Journal reaches me every
week, and is a welcome visitor.
Rix L. Haskitt.
Tipton Co., Ind., March 9.
Encouraging- Outlook for Southern
Calif opnia.
Southern California has had a good wetting
this winter, and it is raining now, with the
jirospect of a good deal more to come. Farm-
ers and bee-keepers appreciate and welcome
the long-prayed-for rain, after the long drouth
of three successive years. Nobody here minds
going out in the pouring rain and getting wet
thru, as did the writer, tho a severe attack of
•' la grippe " was the conseciuence of his folly.
However, I doctored myself out of it, and am
on the way to recovery.
It is rather too early to say much of the
approaching season. Vegetation in general is
backward, especially in places on as high
altitudes as we are. But with the first warm,
sunny spring days a good and lasting houey-
fiow can not fail for those th^it have the bees
to gather the nectar. Of course, the losses
during the long drouth have been considerable.
We winter our Ijees on the summer stands
in a slieltered place. As they were strong
and had plenty of stores last fall, I hope they
will pull thru all right.
The general outlook is very encouraging for
the coming season. Gustav Voss.
Riverside Co., Calif., Feb. 9.
aliua the Bee Journal
More About Bumble-Bees.
On page lOS I notice some remarks of Mr.
'I'liomas Wallace, in regard to the large bee
mentioned above. He gives us his age. think-
ing doubtless that his great age would entitle
liis belief to have much weight. I, too, was
lirought up on a farm, and find myself some
older than Mr. Wallace, as I was 84 years old
Sept. 30, 1900.
Mr. Wallace does not think the bumble-bee
winters North. One reason he gives for his
lielief is that he has " never been able to find
u bumble-bee's nest in the winter." That he
has not found a nest of this bee in winter
arises from the fact that of this bee the queen
only survives the winter, and they never
cluster as the honey-bee does to keep the
mass warm. But when the flowers are all
killed by frost, the workers — undevelopt
(|ueens — and the drones, soon die from the
combined effect of cold weather and want of
food. At that time, instead of the queens
going South, as Mr. Wallace thinks, I iwojothat,
in many instances at least, they remain at the
North. They crawl down under a thick clus-
ter of leaves, and remain there until about the
time the lilac blooms. And the reason that 1
am so positive about it is not a matter of be-
lief, but I have repeatedly found the queens,
only one in a place, in the early spring when
gathering what we boys called "spring
Ijeauty." but the botanists early named
(laytonia carolineana. The queens, tho, so
late in the season, I found deeply I'uricd
among the leaves, always at the bottom,
directly on the soil; at such times they could
walk, t)ut were too much chilled to fly. From
my earliest Ixiyhood I was always much inter-
ested in bees, and at that early day my father
kept no honey-liees, and this led me to study
jDore carefully the bumble-bee.
The last hatch of the season the queen lays
eggs that produce only queens and males, but
no workers, which are simply undevelopt
queens, as 'are the honey-i)ee gatherers. At
that time there arc from fi to 12 young queens
pi-u(liiri-(l, and vi'r\ fi-w if any more males.
ilic iTiiMiii \\li\ -iMVw iiriirs are reared is
lii>r;(i|.r Ml,' \Muiij -i"''<'i' '''"'s uot mect the
ihimcon Uic niii^ as docs the queen of the
SEED bTl FREE
To get new cuBtomere u» test my Seeda, I will mall my 1901
catalo^e, tilled with m^re ICurealnt* tbaa ever and % 10el>ue
Bill good for lOe worth ot ^eedfi for tnol abMoiuteir
free. AlltheUeBtKeeds, Bulbs Flants. Ko^eH, Furm
Tid many Novelties at lowest prit-ea.
ney iiiakmg plant, tilant Prize To-
Potatoei
liliiHenir, the
fool, Pan American OatR, t
B, and two Free Pa»ise8 to Pan American Expo-
I, Buffalo, N. Y. are offered. 82,6:15 00 in cash premioms.
Kurprli.
day. It l« FKK.K U
. U. MILLS, Box HH
fleas© mention Bee Journal "wnen writina
POUf-TKY BOOK FREE, fi4 panes, illust
with 3 IU03. trill! suD.-^criptiun lu our pape
INLAND PODLTKY JoUKNAL. Indiunapoli!
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep ia any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.
%Vool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL,
Please mention Bee Journal wliP'" ■writing.
GINSENG
LakesideGlnseng Gardens, Amber,ll.V
ELECTRIC HAHDY WAGONS
f lease mention B^e Journal "when writing.
HIVES,SECTIONSAND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Calnlny^ Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, ii. St. Louis, 111.
le American Bee Journal.
BEE
VEGETABLE GARDENING
„ I'rol. -. II.
FREE
M nithews- NewUalTenial Sec il Drill.
A valuable book and the beet toola^
Send for catalog discribing our line,
Amei 'Plow 0>.,2i Market St.,Boatoii.
Please mention Bee .Toumal when writina-
C aWtnfni't I If you care to know of its
^dlllUrnid 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
i
Why Fuss with Hens I
When yon can get an Incubator and Bri >od-
er iliat wurksas s;iUsfaclnrily as the
SUCCESSFIL
It rniis itself, and hatches every hatrli^
Rend Cl- in stamps furfnir new
buok— the best cutald
the year — and read \
Better send fur it at
DES^MOINES INCUBATOR CO.
Box 7S, Des Moiaes. Iowa, t
Please mention Bee journal -wlieii writing.
OCCC QUEENS
^^^ W^* H^ ^^ Smokers, Sections.
^^^L ■ H I ^^ Comb FoHB4a£ipa
■ m ■ ■ V « ij>d .11 XftMu «<wtte
■ ■ M^ ^^^^^ •'••p. SmlNr „
W^^ l'K£E oulaca.. B. t. rUIMlll. BMInlMt ■»
March 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
189
honey-bee, but tbey copulate in the nest
where they are hatcht. I have seen more
than half a dozen couples so engaged in a
«ingle nest at the same time.
The bumble-bee never builds its own nest,
t)ut it hunts up a nest that has been previously
built by fleld-mice. I once found the bones
and hair of a mouse in the bottom of a nest
occupied by the bumble-bee. It is not likely
that the queeu-bee killed the mouse, as it is
probable that it had previously died of old age,
or some accident. D. S. Heffkon.
Cook Co., 111.
Wintering Bees— Swarms Settling.
My bees are diiing fine. I take common
dry-gooiis boxes, having the top and bottom
separate, set the hives on the bottoms of the
boxes, then set the boxes over the hives, and
fill in with chaff, leaving a space in front of
the entrance. I have tried this plan for two
years, and have not lost a colony. I get the
boxes as near 30x20x20 inches as I can, and
succeeded in getting two hardware dealers to
save me 37 last fall, at 30 cents apiece.
I have seen a great deal in the Bee Journal
in regard to bees settling after swarming. I
have hunted bees ever since I was old enough,
and have kept bees for several years, so I will
give some of my experience.
I keep several hives up in the trees every
year, and have never failed to catch bees in
them. I have seen them work in and out of
the hive for 42 days before they came to stay,
but never knew them to take" possession iit
once. Three different times I have seen them
hang on the front of the hive from 3 to 50
hours. If the bees settle because the queen
is tired, she must be very tired to hang within
4 inches to a foot of the entrance so long. I
have seen them in the woods hanging just
below a small hole in a tree, and have gone
back in a few days and found them at work.
Last spring a swarm issued from one of my
colonies, and started off. I followed them to
one of the neighbor's, where they settled on
his barn, about 4 feet from the ground. My
neighbor went back home with nie to get a
hive, and as we crost the railroad track we
noticed several bees flying around. I found a
queen with 17 bees. This was about 40 rods
from the cluster. I bought a hive and a
queen-cage, put the <iueen in the cage, and set
the hive at one side of the track, and askt my
neighbor to watch the cluster, and if they
entered the hive he might take them home
and keep them. The second day at noon they
went into the hive. Next day I went over
and liberated the queen for him. They stored
34 pounds of surplus honey, and cast one
swarm. Do you suppose they were over on
the barn waiting for that queert in the hive to
rest '. I think that sometimes they have to
settle in order to rest the ipieen, but I have
caught the queen in my hand while flying in
the air, after more than three-fourths of the
bees had clustered. H. Gilbert.
Jasper Co., Iowa, Feb. 4.
Bee-Keeping Experiences.
I paid •>3..=J0 for the first colony of bees I
ever bought, and they were in a big box-hive
made of oak. Some time afterward I moved
a little further west, and workt for a man
who kept about 25 colonies. We got the
fever to go still further west, so we sold what
we could and traded the balance. We sold
what honey we had at IH cents per pound, and
could have sold more if we had had it.
During the civil war, while on the field of
battle one day. in an old house that was full
of bullet-holes, I found a colony of bees,
which I gave to the good woman who had
■done some sewing for me. X have some relies
from the old battle-field where the battle of
Monmouth was fought.
After the war I struck out for the West,
and landed in Madison, Wis., about the mid-
dle of May, ISW. That part of the country
was then a wildernes.s, with very few houses
■scattered about. I soon found a bee-keeper
with two colonies of bees in oak box-hives,
and offered him ^W for one. He did not
want to sell, and that was all the liees there
were in the village. Soon after ihis I heard
of a man 10 miles out in the country who
kept bees, so I went to see him, ami offered
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :x:X
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin, U.S.A.
,^ IINVESTIGATE BEFORE YOl) BUY.
,/|j We want "Nr I u^iri Ti K; \>-f perle, tl v S'llisln-i! t.,'f..rt. In- > spend ihe r ni"ne\' . li. vestlgale t!i.
A sure" 'Hl^yQ^^'^'iJ^'i^y^giiyQp
I AND COMM4IN KKNSE FOLIUNO T(R«M»l>EliS are Mlvit)(,' l^tl^r Ba.ls.facti.,t
H --^ than anv oiher iiiaile. It's because they are bo simple, s. nsibleand miro. Th^y are built toi
We Pay the Freight. J ^^^J people, who haven-t time to fuss and bother. Our cataloeue 1h FKliE. We dou''
^"^ aak vouto pay for It. isn't i t worth examlnhig?
SURE HATCH INCUBATOR COMPANY, CLAY CENTER, NEBRASKA,
Please mention Bee Journal when "
Let4? Be Friends.
tageindoinb' business with aflnn |
which will give you euch ra
value at such reasonable prk
that you will always feelfriL'udl^ I
If you buy of us
just once
We will a^lways
be friends*
OUR 10 DAYS* FREE TRIAL PLAN
of selling \ehirlefl of every description, at factory prices, is tuiiistjiiuly malting us
friends of thiskind. Youdon'tbave to buy "si^'ht unseen" when you buy of us,
We let you use the vehicle for JO days before you decide to keep it. And we seli
a better vehicle for ie&s money than any other manufacturer or dealer in the
country. Send fur our big. free catalog of vehicles and hurness and tbiuli it over.
Kalamazoo Carriage & Harness Co., Dept. 53, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Flease mention Bee Journal when writing:.
Mai'sbfield laniifacturiDg Company.
Our Specialty is making- SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the rigfht kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog- and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
'■^v.'^
Quality
Carria^-es and hutrpies which a
rigiitall the way through. That
describes the famous '\
Split Hickory
$K.
PRICE
^^^-^\ save you all of the -lealers* u
^7^7i~^' ^ers' profits, and WE S-IIIP
"^ On Approval
VeKicles
1 /uiil I'Mii-i Mi.imri they are as good
skill :ifhI . nf- ? in-isecan produce. Th
hem which add PlfH book of Vehicle and Hai
to Anybody.
r iluralMlir\ . -.iN tv. comfort nntl appenr- ^'ji
.. Don't. I.UV" T, hide before Tou lia
stigated the SPLIT llICKOliY liiii
^?lVicI"i^'u''ouKMtoTmnvV'"iM.nl\.I'.voubuy'oi 'J\-
us or not. It will save you doliurs. | •.
4^1*^^ Ohio Carriage Manfg. Co., i i 6 W. Broad St., Columbus, 0.^^/^;;
Please mention Bee Joiu'nal when -writing.
HOW MUCH CAN I SAVE?
This is a question thatevery man should ask himself when It
)mes to a business proposition. For iustance, we manufacture
TehlclcH end burncKMand t^etl them to you direct from our
factory at nhoicMuU- prici-w. »_>ri this plan the sa\-ing to you is
about 35 per cent; IXi'
uld have to pay i
shafts
BOf ,,..„llly at a na-^.uMi- pric«. 144.poite Illu'struteJ eutiiloElle l'Hl;li.
ELKHART CARRIAGE & HARNESS MANUFACTURING CO., Elkhart. Indiana. ««°a»
■»est No. 180 — Double noivj-
h.ve hanieas, with ou-kcl trim
mlDgs. Cni.ipl.t,. with Cftllar*.
- ' - lis for (30.
190
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 21, 19tl.
BelQlan Hares
CHEAP.
PEDIGREED AND COMMON STOCK.
Haviag bought a Job Lot of a neighbor and
added to what I had, I must dispose of same to
make room for mv increase. They are mostly
Italian Queens
season's rearing', ready as soon as the
is warm enough to send thru the mail.
r prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
I>one Star
Establisht 1.-CS5.
UAti PI
J Bee=SuppIies |
f"^Ve are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS #
, AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio, »
A Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken- ▲
• tucky, and the South. •
f MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS, f
I LANGSTRQTH BEE-HIVES, ETC. 7
:ig-ht Rates in the couutr
Send for Catalog-.
A Lowes
f C. H. "W. -WEIBEJK,, ▼
X Successor to C. F. MlTH & Son, "l
" 2146-4,* Central Ave.. CINCINNATI,©. %
HOnE=SEEKERS' EXCURSIONS.
On the first and third Tuesdays of
each month the Chicago. Milwaukee &
St. Paul Railway will sell round-trip
excursion tickets from Chicago, Mil-
waukee and other points on its line to
a great many points in South Dakota.
North Dakota, and other Western and
Northwestern States at about one fare.
Take a trip West and see the wonderful
crops and what an amount of good land
can be purchast for a little money.
Further information as to rates, routes,
prices of farm lands, etc., maj' be ob-
tained by addressing F. A. Miller, Gen-
eral Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
SEED POTATOES
$1.SO a Barrel and up.
BIichi<ran Northerti Grown are always
the best. 20 best varieties. Blight
proof, enormous yielders. highest
quality, lowest prices. Sold in any
quantity, one pound to a car load.
Catalogue free on request.
^ Harry It, Hammond Seed Oo j
Box 2 , Bay City, Jlicli,
F. rm.rl,/ of fin.tj.
Largest growers of seed pota-
toes in America.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
SENT ON 30 DAYS TRIAL tt ^
Tbe Itantam batches every haubabie 9 Bm
eg. 50^(!g 6i2«, 9~x ^nd 4c for Cat. Na ^- ^M
buckeye Incubator Co., Springfield, u.
We want *
To sell you BEE=SUPPLIES !
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog : it will
convince )-ou that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. f_)ur prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mutn & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front d: Walnut Sts.. Cincinnati.O.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when writing.
ALBINO QUEENS proUfi" Oueens-IfTo^u
want the gentlest Bees— If von want the best
honev-gatherers von ever saw— trv rav Albinos.
Untested dueens in April. $l,n}; Tested, il.50.
nA26t J. D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Dittnier's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are mv
own inventions, which enable me to SELt
FOUNDATION and
ion For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS. DITTMER, Augusta, Wis-
Please mention Bee Journal Twhen -wTitinK.
You Can't AffortI to Guess
it re-uk> ill the poultry l»u^i^ess. If you f;til to raise the- c-bioks, you -siniph liave no busi-
nesH. The way to be absolutely sure about gettingr the chicks is to employ 'aCypher» Incu-
t»otop in your hatching. Weguarantee them to last lOyearsand to outhatch any ineubatnr
lade. The best way to know about it is to read our 224 pape (8x11 in.) book, »*ProfltnbIe
oultry Keeplni;.** Has3.iO illustrations and covers the entire subject. We send it for 10
nps. .^j^k for book r.0, f'ireulars mailed free, .\ridrf";? nearest nft-ff.
CYPIIKK8 INfl BATOIi < O. i htcuc-, 111 . Wi.ylantI, >. Y., Boston. Mass.
START IN LIFE!
, yuu back all right. The best w;
with the famou;
RELIABLE
ly to hutch chicky i^^ — — - ^^
INCUBATORS ";S
AND BROODERS
The 1
ichines which have satisfied more partioulnr pt
n anv other macnine made. They hatt-h e* ery fertile eee- -A" sizes? ;
<-$S BANTLINC SPECIAL.5o-eK>f size, isthe bert small Ineub
lata low price. But send for our great 20TH CENTURY POUlTRt BOOK
s— all about our poultrj- supplies, and all about the pou^'"^ '
M lui men huve made monty at it. You won't find a bettertrei
g E^l'^ul^ |'-^'^'V°" D°°5^ ' ARE LEADERS,
j[j[ Reliable Pliant Leg Bands \ y,,^ ,,,.,'..-.",. m «(A, /
' business in pei
on poultry anywhere. Only 10c
RELIABLE INC. & BROODER CO.,
Qulncy, III.
SfQRSHiaR3Hia%S£3Sn3I^ISBSSE3SR8£3»0«^^
liim .*1U for a colony, but he did not want to
sell, eittier, I linally found a swarm hanging
on a willow liu>h. and thus began bee-keeping.
The winter uf lst>i'-t3.5 I had 17 colonies— ll>
ill straw-hives, and one in a box-hive. On
the last day of the year (1864) the snow-
drifted day and night, and it was so cold that
a great many people had their ears and noses
frozen. My bees were near the house with
oil-cloth covering over them. A few days
after the storm the sun shone brightly, and I
saw no signs of the bees flying about, so I
l<nockt on the hives, but received no answer.
To ray sorrow I found 1 hat they were all dead,
so I had plenty of honey and wax to sell to
cobblers and tailors the next spring. I then
liought about a iiuart of bees and a hybrid
queen for ■*2..50 from an old friend, and
started in again.
I was SO years old last Christmas, and I go
four miles to and from my apiary every day
in the summer-time, and occasionally in the
winter to find out the temperature of the bee-
cellar. I have halt of the bees in the cellar,
and the rest outdoors. I had to feed some,
liut I have about 30 colonies that I think will
come thru the winter all right, as the weather
has been favorable.
The largest sn arm of bees I ever saw was
working in and out of a tree on Lone Moun-
tain. Calif.. 26 years ago.
God bless Dr. Miller : may he live long to
be a help to bee-keepers, and if he ever comes
my way I should like to have him come to
see me.
I have a .son in the bee-business. We feel
that we must have the American Bee Journal
as long as we keep bees. D. D. Daniher.
Dane Co., Wis.
Prospects Bright for the Coming
Season.
I have 30 colonies of bees in winter i|uarters.
This is a clear day. the sun is shining brightly,
and the bees are having a flight. They are
wintering nicely, and we are expecting a good
honey crop the coming season.
The past season was a poor one for honej'
in this locality: dandelions bloomed until
November.
I am glad that the ■' Old Reliable '" did not
L'o up in smoke at the time of the big fire in
the building in which it was located. I have
been a reader of the American Bee Journal for
3'.; years, and as long as I keep bees I expect
to take it. Ira B. Nve.
Posev Co.. Ind., Feb. 17.
Bee-Keeping in Indian Territory.
I want to ask some questions, as I am alone
here, and get all my information thru the
.\merican Bee Journal, the "ABC of Bee-
Culture.'' and experience. The most of the
'■ bee-brethren '' are up North, and very little
is publisht about bees in this part of the
country.
I notice that one of our expert bee-keepers
has been on a trip to Sebastian Co., Ark. I
wish he would kindly give, thru the Ameri-
can Bee Journal, his impressions on bees and
the prospects tor making a success with an
apiary in that county.
We have wild-flowers, cotton-plant, persim-
mons, black locust, ash, willow, wild fruits,
and berries in great abundance, but can one
make a success of the bee-business with these
plants !
This has been a very warm and open winter,
and there has not been more than 48 hours at
any one time in which the bees were not fly-
ing. I put 50 colonies into winter quarters,
and I believe every one of them are alive,
altho they must be short of stores, for I un-
derstand that they consume a great deal more
honey in a warm winter than in a cold one.
Last fall, when taking off supers. I found
that only about one-half of the sections were
tilled, i let the bees clean the partially filled
ones, and stored them away in the supers. In
going over them uow I find quite a lot broken
and partially destroyed — or you might say
ragged. What would be the best thing to
do with them ! Shall I cut out all the comb-
and put in new starters, or will the bees fill
out the combs ; I had very bad luck lasl
summer in introducing Italian queens, and
March 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
191
those I succeeded in introducing did not do
nearly as well as my blacks.
From one large early swarm of blacks I
took 253 pounds of comb honey, which I
think was doing very well for a new colony.
They still had eight full frames for winter
stores. From some of the others I got only
one super full, and from many of them I got
nothing.
I had the worst case of robbing that I ever
heard of last season, but I will know better
another time.
Quite awhile ago I wrote an account of my
great loss by fire, of my entire stock of goods
and store-house, twice inside of I.t months. I
did not feel able to coiilinui- taking the Bee
Journal, but after reading alnmt tlir man that
wrote such an unkind letter in regard to stoij-
ping his paper, and your very generous an-
swer, I will take his place and continue my
subscription, so you will not lose anything,
but make a friend of me.
R. N. Cr-iftox.
Cherokee Nation, Ind. Ter., Feb. 14.
Hard Winter on Bees.
We have had a hard winter on bees. Jliue
did not have a flight for two months until
March 3d, when it was warm enough for them
to fl.v. I found 8 colonies out of 100 dead.
They are wintering on the summer stands.
W. W. Taylor.
Ottawa Co., Ohio, March 6.
Fears Losses in Wintering.
There are going to lie some bee-losses I fear.
It looks as if new colonies in unprotected thin
hives were pretty much all dead already.
E. E. Hasty.
Lucas Co., Ohio, March 6.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Chicago.— The oe.\t regular meeting of the
Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association will be held
Thursday, April 4th, at the Briggs House, Chi-
cago, from 1 p.m. until those present tret tired
and quit, which is usually '*:3ii p.m. A feature
of the meetings lately has been tor all present
to dine at 5:3" in a company. All are urged to
be present and help us all have a good, old-
fashioned time. Herman F. Mooke, Sec.
Utah. — The Utah Bee-Keepers" Association
will hold its regular spring meeting April 5th,
at 10 o'clock a.m., in the City and Countv Build-
ing at Salt Lake City. All are cordially "in rited.
We expect to get out a treatise or pamphlet, the
object of which will be to give the best and
quickest method to discover, cure, and prevent
disease among the bees, and the best way to
protect them from their enemies. It will also
contain other matter for the benefit of the in-
dustry, including our State law. We will be
pleased to receive communications from any of
our bee-keepers upon any subject along the
lines indicated. Address, Pres. E. S. Lovesy,
Salt Lake City, Utah, or J. B. Fagg, Sec.
East Mill Creek, Utah.
A Littfe Wonder Incubator.— The larger in-
cubators are not necessarily the only good ones,
and we are glad to call attention to the 50egg
Bantam Incubator made by our advertiser, the
Buckeye Incubator Co., of Spriugfield, Ohio,
which is one of the most satisfactory hatchers
of its class on the market. The Uuckeve people
put into this little machine the same care and
thoro construction found in their larger sizes.
It has made some wonderful records even in the
hands of beginners. Moreover, the price at
which it is sold is so low no one who has even a
small flock of hens need do without an incuba-
tor. It is sold on 30 days' free trial, and money
will be refunded if purchaser is not entirely sat-
isfied. Lately several improvements have been
added to the machine, one of them being a metal
lamp instead of a glass lamp. While the glass
lamp produced results in every way satisfac-
tory, still the metal lamp is safer and more
durable. A novel feature of their larger ma-
chines is a separate regulating apparatus for
each separate egg-chamber, which not only in-
sures more even temperature when the machine
is being run at its full capacity, but admits the
nse of each chamber independently of the others
if so desired. Many other points <if advantage
are fully shown and described in their catalog.
We trust those of our readers who are leaning
toward the purchase of an incubator will write
the Buckeye people for the catalog, which is a
plain, straightforward statement of the busi-
ness-end of the proposition, and we believe wi;
most favorably impress any one with the desii
ability of these incubators. In writing pleas
mention having seen their advertisement in th
American Bee Journal.
Tennessee Queens!
Fine lot of Choice Tested
ijueens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3^4 miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
untested warranted
,, from same breeders,
her
No
stra
bees owned
miles. Noni
3, and but fe
2.S years' expi
on large or
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
5A2et Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
hin 5 miles.
ce. Discount
tracts
A New Radish.— The John A. Salzer Seed Co.,
La Crosse, Wis., are the introducers this year
of a magnificent new radish — a radish lit for
use every day of the year — hence they have
named it " S'alzer's Everyday Radish." They
sav it is a radish worthy to grace the table of
every king, monarch, president or citizen of the
United States and the world. There is nothing
quite so rich, so luscious and fine; so tender,
and iuicy, and sweet, and crisp, as Salzer's
Everyday Radish. It is a large red radish,
shading into white, peerless in quality and
beauty, and is sure to gi-.e satisfaction. Not
only are the Salzers introducers of new rad-
ishes, but they have a long list of vegetables
that can not be excelled anywhere. Their cat-
alog is worth $1.0(1 to any wide-awake farmer
and gardener, and is mailed to you upon receipt
of but 5 cents postage. When writing please
mention the American Bee Journal.
PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION.
Nothing- since the World's Fair, at
Chicago, in 189,5. has elicited the wide-
spread interest that is manifest, all
over the world, in the Pan-American
Exposition, which is to be held in Buf-
falo, from May 1 to Nov. 1. 1901.
The purpose of the Exposition is to
illustrate the progress of the countries
of the Western Hemisphere during a
century of wonderful achievements,
and to bring together into closer rela-
tionship the people composing the
many States, Territories and Countries
of the three Americas. Acting under
proper authority, the President of the
tinited States has invited all the Re-
publics and Colonies of the American
Hemisphere to join in commemorating
the close of the Nineteenth and begin-
ning of the Twentieth Century, by
holding this International Exposition
on the Niagara Frontier.
For this important event, the Nickel
Plate Road has issued an attractive,
descriptive folder- pamphlet, elabor-
ately illustrating the Pan-American
Exposition, the buildings and grounds.
The Nickel I'late Road is the short
line between Chicago and Buffalo, and
affords competent train service from
Chicago to Buffalo, New York City,
Boston, and all points East, with trains
of modern equipment, on which no
extra fares are charged : also dining-
car service of the highest order. It af-
fords meals in its dining-cars on the
individual club plan, ranging in price
from 3.S cents to SI. 00.
Call on any ticket agent for Pan-
American folder of the Nickel Plate
Road, or address John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St. .Chicago.
Parties desiring hotel or rooming ac-
commodations at BuflFalo- or Niagara
Falls, during any period of the Pan-
American Exposition, are invited to
apply by letter or otherwise to F. J.
Moore, General Agent, 291 Main St.,
Buffalo, N. Y. No. 4— 12A3t
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, March .s.— Fancy white comb sells
readily at li. cents, but all other grades are
weak at the following range of prices: No. 1,
white, 14(ai5c; fancy ambei", UWUc; fair amber
irrades, 10@llc; buckwheat, fancy, lOc; off
trades, SwiJc. Extracted white ranges from
T("8c; buckwheat, S!^fa6c; Southern dark, Sfaoc;
amber grades, t,}i@l^c. Beeswa.v in demand at
30 cents. R. A. Burnett <S Co.
Kansas City, Feb. 19.— Fancy white comb,
16@tl6>ic; amber, 12@-13c; dark, loc. Extracted,
light, 9c; amber, "H@s^c. Demand fair; re-
ceipts light. Beeswax, 22fei28c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Cincinnati, March 9.— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over, the stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings yet loc. Ex-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells tor 55^c;
better grades bring 6'" 7}ic; fancy white clover
from SJ^w'ic. C. H. W. Weber.
Albany, N. Y., March 12.— Honey market is
dull with light demand and very little stock,
either comb or extracted. White comb, 1S(" 16c;
mixt. 12^14c; buckwheat, ll(al2c; mixi,lowHc.
Extracted, white, ~<3>Sc; mixt. ifdb'Ac; buck-
wheat, 5(a S>sc. H. R. Wright.
Buffalo, Mar. 7.— Fancy, lS@16c; No. 1, 14(3)
l.^c; No. 2, IKwUc; No. 3, etc., StBlOc. Extracted,
x®9c. Beeswax, 27(ai28c.
All grades of honey selling fairly well, and
looks as if all lots would clean up.
Batterscn & Co.
Boston, March 11.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, loc; No. 1, ISfalOc, with a
fairly eood demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 8@
8}4c; light amber, 7}^'g8c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & 1,rk.
New York, Feb. 19.— Comb honey is being
well cleaned up on our market. The demand
has lessened to quite an extent, on account, we
presume, of the high prices which have been
ruling. Fancy white siill brings lS(a.l6c in a
small way; No. 1 white, 13«!i4c; amber, 11^12c;
buckwheat, 10c. Extracted rather dull and not
much doing. California white honev, 7!^(a8c a
pound; light amber, 7c; Southern, from 00 to 70c
per gallon; buckwheat, Siw^Hc. Beeswax steady
at 2»c. Hildreth & Segelken.
Detroit, Mar. 7.— Fancy white comb, 15@16c;
No. 1, 14(glSc; dark and amber, 10(a;i3c Ex-
tracted, white. oV2&7c; amber and dark, 5@«c.
Beeswax, 27@28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, mi@niic; dark, 8@9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7J^(S8c; light amber 6Ji@7Xc;
amber. S}i(Sti}ic. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present offer-
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honey is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantity, which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
HONEY nARKET.-We may have a customer
within a short distance of you who wants your
honey or beeswax. We are in close touch with
all the markets; therefore write us regarding
your crop, stating quantity, quality, and lowest
cash price. References-
any business man ii
Thos. C. Sta>
-Eith
this city.
LEV & SO.N
nk here for
Fairfield, 111.
-DO VOU WANT A-
HiQli Grade of Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City. III.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Cua
foods at wliolesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freinht. and ship promptly. MHrbet price
paid Inr beeBwux. Send for our ltf"l CHtatoiz.
M. H. UU.NT \ SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich.
Wanted
An experienced
Apiarist to take
charjre of IQO
colonies of bees
ia Otero Co., Col-
s best references as
be furnisbt. Salary
DR, W. W. BULETTE, Pueblo, Colo,
t92
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
March 21,
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S, Exiracior§
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of eTervthing-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' tS' W. M. Gekrish, East Noting-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g^oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
200-Egg Incubator
for SI2.00
rt in .-nnstrnctinn «nd
1. Untchrn every fertile
BE. Write for cataloeue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy.lll.
Please mention the ^ : ; 1 j
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
vt e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order: ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^
Sweet Clover (white) 60c $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c
Alsike Clover Wc
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 1M^ Erie Street, - CHICAGO. ILL.
1.20
2.75
1.70
:(.';.s
1.70
4.00
1.4()
;<.2.s
.50
1.00
A MAN OF PRACTI-
CAL experi?:nce
AM. ABILITY to care
1(11 l.""iO to 2110 colonies
of liccs. Address,
S. J. DUNNE,
16.5 S. Forest Ave..
iiAtf RIVER FOREST, COOK CO., ILL.
I AEISE
DOOUTTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their .season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
J Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen — 1.25
3 Tested Queens ... . 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
24th n^rl^.^4'^ r^..r»rl^«:^r. 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. "^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY.
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINQ.
^^
Why does it sell
so well ?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog^, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eg:gs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co , ill.
'®#(i.i).(i'(i)»#6.#(i»i)«(i»i).(i).4.(i-cl)-®'
$200 Red=Clover Queen
Offer No. 35.
^
On September 1st last we aiiuounced that we finally had a red-clover
<ineen fully equal to the one we had years ago. The colony of this queen has
given one of the most remarkable showings on red clover of any bees we
have ever had. The queen in question is an imported one, and therefore of
the genuine pure leather-colored Italian stoclc. We sent out daughters from
her all the season. But we did not discover her value until the clover season,
second growth, came on, and then her colony so out-distanced all the other
4,50 that she attracted attention at once.
It must be understood that these queens are not golden yellow, neither
are their bees of the five-banded stock. They are simply leather-colored Ital-
ians whose mother came direct from Italy.
Since the notice appeared regarding this queen we have hardly been able
to supply all of the queens that were wanted from this stock. Many daugh-
ters of this queen we sent out before we knew her value, and it now trans-
pires that some of the finest bees in the land are from queens we sent out
early. We are now booking orders for the coming season, and make the fol-
lijwing offer, but no queens will be furnislit except those that subscribe for
(Ueanings, and only one with each year's sul^scription. All arrearages must
he paid to the end of this year. Gleanings for 1901 and one untested red-
• clover queen, $3.00; Gleanings one year and a tested red-clover queen, §4.00;
a select tested red-clover queen and Gleanings one year for ?6.00. We will
begin mailing these queens in June, 1901. Orders are already entered, and
the same will be filled in rotation. Do not neglect to improve this oppor-
timity and get some choice stock, and send your order early so you may get
the queen correspondingly early in the season. We are using every precau-
tion to winter this queen safely, but reserve the right in ease of her loss this
winter to substitute from other select tested stock of this strain which we are
holding in reserve, or to give the subscriber the benefit of anj- of our other
clubbing offers if desired.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
SW GEORGE W. YORK & CO. cm* i'^iai'Lu""'
are headquarters for ROOT'S liEEKEEPERS' SUPPLIES IX CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalof^.
1\t^ESe/|/v
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 28, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 13.
194
AMERICAN BEE jOUPNAL,
March 28, 1900.
GEORGE W. York & Co.
144 & 146 ErieSl..GhiGago, III.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postage. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the mouth to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember. 1901.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
chang'e the date ou your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
**ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
To promote ;
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commiss
men.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, ^laniial of* the Apiary,
BY
PPOF, A. J, COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition~18th Thou-
sand- $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
mag"nificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given lor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us TWO NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $i.OO),and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body trv for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 A 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
LoflQ-TonQuefl Bees
ARE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Premium
fop sending us TWO new subscribers to the
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2);
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4.00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having: many years" experience) to rear queens for us the coming-
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
SI. 00 each ; Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK «Sc CO
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W ^^£EB
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Honey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY.....,,
This is the famous While
Extracted Houey g^athered in
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid houey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BA5SW00D
HONEY.......
This is the well-known
lig-ht-colored honey g-athered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
f) A sample of either, oy mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
Ki to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9;i
*) cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
^ S'i cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
W two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
W desire. The cans are bost.
vj Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
Jj We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
Nj enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
'* the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
n can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
w Address,
^' QEORQE W. YORK «& CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, MARCH 28, 1901,
No, 13,
^ Editorial Comments. ^ ^
Prof. Cook's Review of the " A B C." — When publishing
Prof. Cooli"s first article of the review of the " A B C of Bee-Culture,"
we should have stated that his criticisms referred to the edition of
1899-1900, and not to the latest, or 1901 edition. As the criticisms
read, one would naturally infer that they relate to the new edition,
and not to the previous one. With perhaps two exceptions, all the
matter which Prof. Cook criticised in his first article has either been
stricken out or materially modified in statement. Only about half of
the edition of 1S99 could be revised, owing to the limited time at the
disposal of the revisers, but when the latest edition (the one for 1901)
was under consideration, that matter which had not been changed
was either rewritten or revised. So, as it happened. Prof. Cook is
calling attention to certain errors and other points that needed modifi-
cation, but which are not in the book now offered fur aale. This is well,
as only a very few, comparatively, have a copy of the 1901 edition, the
great majority having former editions, which contain the criticised
matter.
Prof. Cook quotes E. R. Root as saying that "digestion is the
separation of the nutrient part of the food from the non-nutrient, and
the conversion of the nutrient into a liquid fit to mingle with the
blood." This is not Mr. Root's statement, but a direct quotation from
Mr. Thos. Wni. Cowan^ and, with all deference to Prof. Cook, Mr.
Root writes us that he should not know whether to accept Mr. Cowan's
or Prof. Cook's definition even yet. When doctors disagree, who shall
decide '.
Regarding the statement of the poor quality of honey from apple-
blossoms, so much proof was furnisht Mr. Root to the effect that such
honey was of the very finest quality in color, body, and Havor, that
the 1901 edition contains a statement praising that kind of honey in
the highest terms.
Regarding the other points referred to in Prof. Cook's review of
the " A B C of Bee-Culture," the 1901 edition either does not contain
the statements which are called in question, or else said statements
are modified to conform to the knowledge of the present time.
Mr. Root has sent Prof. Cook a new book bearing the date of
1901, in which he will see that his suggestions and corrections have
been generally adopted; for, be it said, a copy of the 1899 edition was
sent to Prof. Cook, requesting him to point out its errors or its mis-
leading statements, which he did.
Bee-Keeping for Women. — When the statement is made that
bee-keeping is just the thing tor invalids and women, a quiet smile is
likely to be seen on the face of the bee-keeper who works hard at
his business from " dawn to dewy eve," and who lies down at night
more worn out than the average farmer. He knows that bee-keeping
takes work — hard work — and a lot of it. He knows that he is no in-
valid, and yet the business requires all the strength he has. As a mat-
ter of fact, when bee-keeping is spoken of as a business into which
invalids and women can enter and rapidly make a fortune, the realm of
nonsense is entered.
And yet, taken in the right sense, it is not so far out of the way to
say that bee-keeping is jusr the tiling for an invalid woman. Not per-
haps for every one, but for every one who has taste and adaptability
in that direction. Indeed, there are not wanting those who testify
hat with poor health and too I it He strength for ilmost any physical
exertion, when the time comes for the merry hum of the bees in the
spring, they can go to work at their pets, using up their strength to
its limit every day, but every day finding that strength on the increase.
There are two reasons for this. One is that they are kept out in
the open air, that of itself being enough to make a vast difference in
most cases. The other reason is the intense interest that bee-keeping
begets. Many a bee-keeper will readily recall the time when he had
not more than five or six colonies, and when at the close of a hard
day's work in some other direction he has workt an hour at his bees,
and when everything was done that he could find any reasonable ex-
cuse (or doing, he would reluctantly stop, with regret that there was
nothing more to do. If the occupation had been almost anything else,
he would have found himself so tired that he would have been glad to
have shortened up the task.
The woman w'ho enters bee-keeping with no knowledge of the
business, and with no love for it, but only with the thought that she
may make a fortune at it. will be badly worsted in the outcome; but
if she has some taste in that direction, and goes at the matter reason-
ably and intelligently, she may find a delightful recreation, and with
gradual increase of colonies she may add to her pin money a sum not
to be despised.
The attention needed by the bees can be given at a convenient
time so as not to interfere with other duties, supposing that the num-
ber of colonies is not large, and when the number becomes sufficiently
large, help at other duties can be obtained. In any ease, it will not be
hard to get help from " the lords of creation " in anj* part of the
work that requires much physical strength.
Mrs. Axtell's article on this subject iu this week's number will be
read with interest, particularly by the women of the bee-keeper's
family.
Ininiune to Bee-Poison. — One of the tTcrman bee-papers
reports that "Dr. J. Langer investigated 164 bee-keepers, and found
11 of them immune to bee-poison from the start ; 126 became immune
after a time; and 37 remained as sensitive as ever Some lost their
immunity, and sometimes suddenly thru sickness." So says a Stray
Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Editor Root says that he has never yet met a person who is im-
mune to bee-poison from the start — that is, one on whom there would
be no swelling at the first sting. Of course, there are persons who
never can keep bees, owing to the fearful effect of the poison
caused from stinging. The result of the investigation made by Dr.
Langer shows quite conclusively that after a time the great majority
become almost completely immune to bee-poison.
When we first began to keep bees we suffered greatly from the
effect of the bee-poison. We remember very distinctly being stung
above the eye, on one occasion, and the next morning we could
scarcely see anything with that eye. After keeping bees a few years,
and being stung more or less, we noticed that the pain became less
after stinging, and that there was scarcely any swelling at all. Now,
when being stung, we scarcely realize it half an hour afterward, unless
it is a very severe case.
"Practical Lessons for Begiuners in Bee-Culture," by
Rev. .J. D. Gehring, of Douglas Co.. Ivans., are begun in this number.
There will be several of the lessons, forming a scries, which we trust
will be read with interest and profit, especially by those who are inex-
perienced, and have so many kinks to learn in connection with bees
and bee-keeping.
It may be true that '' anybody can keep bees." but it is certainly
true that anybody can not keep them profitably or successfully with-
out making a careful study of the business. While everything can
not be told in the bee books or pajicrs, yet there is very much that can
196
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 28, 1901.
and must be learned by reading. We all learn by picking up an idea
here and a thought there. Then in the aggregate there is quite a good
deal of practical value gathered together. It is much like the bee
when getting the nectar which it transforms into honey — a drop here
and a drop there, of sweetened liquid, then to the hive where it is
"boiled down" into the honey that is so delicious. We must, after
reading, " boil it down," by thought and meditation, to the consis-
tency that shall make it usable and valuable. Thus will our reading,
of whatever kind, prove to be helpful and profitable.
I Contributed Articles. |
No. 2.
(Edition of 18<)0-1900.)
A Review of " A B C of Bee-Culture."
BY PKOF. A. J. COOK.
(Continued from page 149.)
PAGE 147 — It is stated that there are 53 different vari-
eties of goldenrod. This is an incorrect use of the
word variety. The goldenrods are species. The same
as our bee — Apis mellifera. A variety or subspecies is one
of the less markt divisions of the species. The Italian bee
is a variety or subspecies of Apis mellifera. In the figure
on the same page, the three plants each represents a species.
Page 172 — I am surprised at Mr. Root's style on this
page. " Tarnal nuisance " and " pawed out " might do in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture, possibly, but some would quite
object to them in a book like "AB C of Bee-Culture."
Still, this is a matter of taste, and I may be hypercritical.
Page 173 — The typographical errors in this book are
few, but there was evidently faulty proof-reading in refer-
ring to the first figure on this page. The letters should be
reverst.
Page 174 — The figures of the book are usually clear
and admirable, but the second one on this page I think a
failure. I think the first one on the previous page gives a
much clearer idea. This figure appears to me like a small
cube inside a larger one. I should consider it a right-
angled figure.
Page 177 — A strange error occurs here, for which I fear
my own poor chirography may be to blame. Mr. Root
speaks of the coccids as scab insects. This certainly
should be scale insects. I have a dim recollection that in
one of my own articles written some years ago, the type-
setter made my scale a scab. I fear that this is what misled
Mr. Root. The statement is also made that these honey-
dew-secreting insects — plant and scale lice — propagate in
the topmost limbs of the trees. I doubt if this is correct,
in fact I know it isn't. They attack the tree anywhere
where they may happen to locate. All female scale insects,
and many plant-lice, are wingless, and so are conveyed
from tree to tree by bird or other insect. If they are left
on the topmost branches by these carriers, they would
very likely locate there. They are only carried when very
young, and they are at this time exceedingly minute, and
if left to their own means of locomotion, make progress
slowly. We see, then, that accident alone determines
what part of a tree they will occupy.
Page 179 — I am quoted on this page to the effect that
much aphid honey-dew is deliciously wholesome, and the
honey from it superior. Mr. Root follows this with the
assertion that " the ordinary stuff that we have in Ohio, and
that which I have seen in other localities, is usually of a
dark color and rank flavor, to me very sickening and
unpleasant, and as Prof. Cook says, it should be sold to
bakers and others desiring an inferior or strong-flavored
honey." The error Mr. Root makes here is easily
explained. I have no doubt but that the honey from
Aphides is almost always of pleasing flavor, and so always
makes good honey. I have never seen a case in which this
was not true. While in the Yosemite last summer, away
upon one of the highest peaks (Cloud Rest) 10,000 feet
above the level of the sea, we ran across plant-lice on the
pine trees. There were no bees in the region, and the
honey-dew was present in great drops so that it was very
easy to test it. All of our party pronounced it excellent.
Perhaps I should say this was before they were told where
it came from. This aphid hotiey-dew is common every
year in nearly all sections of the country. Yet it is so
unobjectionable that almost no one knows it. The bees
take to it, and I doubt if they will often leave this even for
the nectar of flowers. I have certainly known them to
work on the honey-dew of the larch right at the time of
the white clover bloom. Many of the bees were gathering
from the clover, others were taking from the honey-dew.
The mixture all sold readily as clover honey, and I am sure
no wrong was done any one. The bark-louse, or coccid
honey-dew on the other hand, is not so common, and is
only present in certain years when the scale are very
numerous. Another fortunate peculiarity is that it is dis-
tasteful to the bees, and they gather it only in times of
drouth when the flowers are not secreting. Indeed, the
scale insects of the East prosper most in a succession of
dry seasons, just at the time when the flowers do not furnish
nectar. The honey from this source is dark and rank, and
well deserves the opprobrium Mr. Root has put upon it. I
think our bee-keepers should all understand this distinc-
tion, and should become acquainted with the aphid honey-
dew. It may be flavored. If so, it has not come under my
observation.
Page 185— Two mistakes of faulty proof-reading are
evident on this page. One of the beggar-ticks — Bidens
frondosa, is referred to as Burr marigold. This should be
Burr marigold. Likewise, Leonurus cardiaca should be
motherwort instead of motherwork.
Page 193 — Our author refers to the thorax of the bee as
the shoulders. He shows the abdomen detacht, and states
that it is detacht from the shoulders. This use of the word
is not warranted by any good usage that I know of, and as
thorax is a perfectly good word, I see no need of coining a
new one.
Page 204 — The letter "O" is omitted as marking that
division of the work. Uniformity would be better observed
if the " O " were supplied.
Page 213 — A case of misspelling is made very promi-
nent on this page. I think it is always spelt jasmine or
jasmin. I have grave doubts as to the honey from this or
any other plant being poisonous. It would be so easy to
make the mistake. We know that honey makes some
people seriously ill whenever eaten. That it might occa-
sionally make a person sick who usually was proof against
the ill effects is easily to be believed. I can understand
how Xenophon might have made a mistake. A lot of
hungry soldiers eating freely of honey would in almost any
case give employment to the doctor. We know that false-
hood once on the race-course spans the world while truth is
harnessing her steeds. We can easily see how this idea of
poisonous honey, once started, would run rapidly. If jas-
mine or mountain laurel do furnish poisonous honey, I can
not understand why the evil effects are not more frequently
experienced. I have received this so-called poisonous honey
several times, and have eaten it without any ill effects. If
I found any really poisonous honey, I should look to find if
the arsenites had not been used at the time when the bees
gathered the honey. I have known of cases where
the larva; of bees have been seriously poisoned by
receiving honey poisoned with Paris-green which had been
applied at time of bloom in the apple-orchard.
Page 214 — In describing the way that bees get pollen,
Mr. Root credits the tongue with an important part of the
work. I have never noticed that the bee used its tongue to
get the pollen. The antennse cleaner on the front leg
gathers the pollen, not from the tongue but from the
antenna. I hope others will observe and see whether Mr.
Root is right in the explanation. My own observations
would the rather teach that the compound hairs which
clothe the body so generally, and the legs of the bees, are
the instruments used to gather the pollen. I doubt if the
tongue has anything to do with it.
Page 222 — Our author does well in using the develop-
ment theory to account for the color of blossoms and birds.
It is perhaps modest to say, "I can not positively affirm." I
think, however, that no scientist to-day has any use for
the interrogation-point in using the evolution hypothesis to
account for the color in flower, fruit or bird. To question
it shows that the writer or speaker is not conversant with
the latest in scientific research. We are glad that Mr.
Root has never been one to be afraid of truth.
Page 227 — Is it wise to say that ten-day queens may be
just as good as any ? If I am right, experience, no less
than theory, would argue against such queens. The bees
give us a good lesson in this matter. When things are
normal they start the queen from the egg. I think the
wise breeder will always do the same.
Page 230 — It is very interesting if Mr. Root's views
regarding the presence of eggs or larva; stimulating the
March 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
197
young^ queens to lay be correct. If it be true, I have no
doubt it is owing to the fact that the bees were stimulated
so that they fed the queen differently. Is it not more prob-
able that it was simply a coincidence? I think a pood
many experiments should be tried before we reach this con-
clusion.
Page 232 — That the thread which evinces that matinif
has taken place is absorbed into the body of the queen, I
think very improbable indeed. It is of a kind of tissue
that would be slowly absorbed, and want of contact would
make absorption very slow. That it could dry up and dis-
appear is easy to believe.
Page 250 — I am not at all sure that bees do not com-
municate. A study of their brain would make this seem
possible. That they are one-idead insects seems also to me
not proven, as the judge would say. The very case Mr.
Root gave, I think would warrant this conclusion. When
bees are not gathering, how quickly honey some distance
from an apiary attracts multitudes of bees if exposed. I
think Sir John Lubbock would give a decided " no " to this
idea, that bees do not communicate. If any man living
has a right to an opinion regarding the intelligence of ants
and bees, it is he.
Page 255 — Here again Mr. Root advises the use of the
lantern. I have tried the night-working with bees several
times when necessity compelled it, and I should be slow to
recommend it, especially to a novice.
Page 261 — Mr. Roofs com mendation of California in
view of the prolonged harvest is very timely. The white sage
of the valleys precedes the black sage of the canyons, and, as
he so well says, " the bees first commence working in the
valleys and then gradually fly higher up as the blossoms
climb the mountain sides, giving a much longer season than
we have in regions not mountainous." There is another
fact that greatly extends the period of bloom in California
— many flowers, like the white sage, are in long racemes
which bloom centrifugally, that is, the outside flowers
bloom much earlier than the inside flowers, or the lower
flowers blossom earlier than the upper. This, of course,
greatly prolongs the period of bloom, and consequently,
the honey season.
Page 276 — What warrant is there for stating that
formic acid is a vegetable acid secreted from the honey and
pollen ? I think there is none. I believe that it is equally
untrue that the poison is more pungent when the bees are
working. The formic acid is a secretion of the insect, and
in no sense a vegetable secretion. If the poison is more
irritating at one time than another, it is because there is
more of it. When bees are idle, all their functions will be
less active and so less poison would be secreted. Yet I
have my doubts in this matter. I have never known bees
to sting worse, or the wound to be more painful, than in
the autumn when the harvest was all over.
Page 277 — I am surprised that our author teaches that
stinging does not kill the bee. Who has not known cases
where thousands of bees have died from stinging? In the
case of the cow killed by being stung, which I described in
the bee-papers some months ago, so many of the bees lost
their lives that the apiary was sadly depleted. I have
proved by direct experiment, that losing the sting means to
lose the life. Death, however, may not immediately follow
the wound.
(To be continued.)
Adaptability of Bee-Keeping to Women.
BY MRS. L. C. AXTEI.I,.
I AM surprised that more women do not take up bee-keep-
ing as a business, for I am sure they would find it profit-
able, conducive to health, and a pleasure, if followed
perseveringly.
As bees never ought to be handled except in warm
weather, in taking care of them there is no need of expo-
sure in unsuitable weather, as is often necessary in other
outdoor work, especially in caring for poultry. I have often
seen women out in a pouring rain gathering up little chick-
ens, and have done it a great many times myself.
•Keeping bees is light work, requiring but little heavy
lifting, except when putting the bees into the cellar for
winter, and that is not really necessary, as they can be
made warm and dry and left on the summer stands. Simply
remove all extra combs and surplus from the hives, and fill
the empty space with dry chaff, first covering the combs
the bees occupy with thick cotton-cloth, to prevent the chad
from falling down among the bee«.
If bees are gentle it is a real pleasure to me to see them
flying around and hear their happy hum among the flow-
ers— they are company just as all life is company. A few
neatly painted hives set in the front or side yard add to the
beauty of the premises, making a home look attractive. I
would not have the bees very near to the walks, as some
people are afraid of them.
Some of our most successful apiarists are women.
Most men bee-keepers have women helpers. Indeed, much
of the work to be done with the bees seems just adapted to
women, as they are more likely to look after the little things
than the men. Where a home is heavily mortgaged, if the
wife or grown-up daughter would engage in bee-keeping,
she could do much toward lifting the heavy burden from
the shoulders of the husband and father. Even if there
are no debts to pay it is nice for a woman to have some
money which she feels she has earned herself, as there are
so many ways in which she can use it — for benevolences
and the like — and there is real joy in giving what one earns
one's self. Then, it is quite a help to have plenty of honey
to use ; it doesn't require any preparing or cooking, and if
unexpected company comes a section of nice honey or a
dish of candied honey helps to fill up the table, and most
people enjoy eating it.
I think one great reason why more women do not take
up bee-keeping is because they are afraid of the stings.
But if Italian bees are kept, and handled gently, working
with them only when the weather is warm and sunshiny,
always giving them a puff or two of smoke at the entrance
before opening the hive, having the face protected with a
bee-veil and the wrists tightly wrapt, a woman will soon
become so used to them that she will have no more fear of
the bees than of a sitting hen. Bees resent quick move-
ments so it is well to move slowly and easily when working
with them. It might be well for two beginners to work
together, one to use the smoker while the other works, but
care must be taken not to use too much smoke. The odor
from a crusht bee seems to anger them, but a little smoke
will subdue them.
When a woman makes up her mind to begin bee-keep-
ing she must begin right. Buy good hives, and good colo-
nies of pure, gentle Italian bees — not the very yellow ones,
as I have had the very yellow Italians that were worse to
handle than any blacks or hybrids we ever had. The
queens of such colonies should be destroyed, and ought
never to be sold to beginners. Then the next thing she
should have is a good text-book on bees — don't buy an old
one because it is cheap, but get one that is up with the
times. Follow the book very closely the first few years,
and pay little attention to what a neighbor advises unless
you know him to be a practical apiarist. It is better to have
few colonies at first, and I am not sure but that it is just
as well to have five as one, as it seems hardly worth while
to spend the time reading up for only one colony when one
can just as well look after three or five.
Many women will say they have no time to spend in
caring for bees, and yet they spend much time working in
the garden, and with flowers, or poultry, and none of these
things pay as well for the time expended as do the bees.
Better have a few colonies of bees, and a little less of some-
thing else — perhaps fewer ruffles and tucks on the chil-
dren's clothes, or make less pies and cakes.
In order to make bee-keeping easy and successful we
must do everything at the right time, and have things in
the right place. Bees will not put up with slipshod ways.
We must follow their instincts more or less, and help them
in following them out to the best advantage.
If weak women would have the care of bees all to them-
selves, and be removed from all other work and care, very
many of them would find their health. I know this from
experience. Working with the bees has done me more good
than hundreds of dollars spent for medicine could have
done.
There is something very fascinating about bee-keep-
ing, and when once a woman gets interested she forgets
her aches and ailments, especially if she has enough colo-
nies to look after to keep her busy. When swarming
begins, and being short of help, she will see to it that the
swarms are cared for if she is only half alive, and the
work will become so exciting and exhilarating that before
she is aware of it she will be on the fair road to recovery.
She has been working out-of-doors, breathing the fresh air,
been somewhat suukist, heard the birds sing, and forgotten
her own troubles; and bodily ailments have taken unto
themselves wings and flown away. Warren Co., 111.
198
AMERICAN BEE PUFNAL
March 28, 1901.
Large Brood-Chambers For Queen-Rearing.
HV ('.. M. DOOLITTLK.
A CORRESPONDENT writes thus : " Will you please tell us some-
thing about rearitif^ queens in large brood-chambers, in the Ameri-
can liee Journal? I use a large one-story hive holding 18 frames,
running parallel with the entrance, so I can not very well use the
plan requiring an upper story, as given in your book. How would you
proceed to rear queens in such a hive as the one spoken of above?"
The hive spoken of by the correspondent is very simi-
lar to the one which I used when the plan of rearing queens
in a hive having^ a laying- queen iti the same, first came to
my vision. Some years before I had made four hives on the
" long-ideal " plan, which was brought to public notice a
score or more of years ago by D. L. Adair, of Kentucky.
These hives were used a few years for extracted honey, but
laid aside, as I found it paid better to work my apiary more
wholly for comb honey.
Soon after this, D. A. Jones, of Canada, came out with
a new plan for working for comb honey, in which he placed
the queen and six to eight combs of brood in the center of
a long hive and filled out the ends with sections, claiming
that in this way large quantities of section honey could be
produced without much swarming ; and as these long-
ideal hives would be just the thing to try the experiment
with, it would cost me very little to see what there was in
the plan. So I changed the combs and bees from my regu-
lar hives back into these hives again, put in two queen-
excluding division-boards, so as to shut the queen on five or
six combs in the middle of the hive, according to his plan,
when the first thing which came to my notice in opening
the hives a week later was sealed queen-cells wherever there
was any unsealed brood left which the queen did not now
have access to. These I carefully removed, till there came
a time when work crowded so that the removing of these
cells was neglected till they hatcht, went out of the hive,
were fertilized and commenced to lay, so that I had two lay-
ing queens in some of these hives. Had it not been for
this experiment in producing honey on the Jones plan, in
all probability " Scientific Queen-Rearing " would never
have been written, for right here was where I got my first
ideas on the subject which finally developt into the matter
found in the book.
In carrying out the Jones plan wide frames of sections
were put next the apartment containing the queen, and,
every ten days or so, some of the combs that had been with
the queen, and were now full of eggs and brood, were taken
out and placed beyond the wide frames of sections toward
the ends of the hive, and empty combs placed with the
queea to take the place of those removed. In this way the
queen was given all the room she required for laying, the
bees kept from swarming, and the bees coaxt to work in
the sections to the greatest advantage. And it was on
these frames of brood, placed beyond these wide frames of
sections, where these queens were reared as spoken of
above.
It will be noticed that there were wide frames of sec-
tion between the combs where these cells were reared and
the queen-excluding division-board which kept the young
queen in her place, and these wide frames had separators
on them which tended to keep the young queens from going
to the perforated zinc and quarreling thru it with the old
queen. As the plan of securing honey in this way was a
failure in my hands, these hives were cast aside again, and
the upper-story plan was adopted as given in my book.
But I have found from long experience, that, where ever
there is unsealed brood on which the bees cluster, but from
which the queen is excluded by means of perforated zinc,
enameled cloth with a hole or two in it, or a' division-board
with a crack in the same, the bees will generally build
queen-cells on these combs, and if it is so that the young
queen hatching from these cells can not " touch noses "
with the old queen, and if there is a place of exit from the
part of the hive in which this queen hatches, she will gen-
erally, in due time, become fertile, when a honey-flow is on,
and go to laying, the same as she would if there were no
other queen in the hive.
Hence, to rear queens in such a hive as our correspon-
dent uses, all we have to do is to fix the same so that two or
three combs of brood can be put in one end of the hive, and
between these combs of brood and the apartment having
the laying queen, put two queen-excluding division-boards,
these latter being half an inch apart, so that the queens
can not touch each other. From past experience, my way
of fixing such hives would be to keep the laying queen in
the rear end, on as many combs as I desired her to occupy,
placing next to her apartment a queen-excluding division-
board. I would now place two empty combs next to this
division-board, and immediately in front of these but in
another queen-excluder. I would now fill out the remain-
ing space between the last excluder and the front end of
the hive, or entrance, with combs of brood and honey, and
rear queen-cells there, and have them fertilized from the
same, as I gave in my book.
Now, while I have told what I would do when using
such a hive as the correspondent says he is using, yet I do
not feel like closing this article without saying that, in a
locality like central New York, such a hive is not the one
for the practical bee-keeper to use if he wishes to produce
the most honey with the least capital and labor.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
No. 1.— Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY RBV. J. D. GEHRING.
I WAS working in my apiary one beautiful May morning
transferring brood-frames from one hive to another. It
was what bee-keepers would call a typical bee-day. I had
hived four swarms that morning, and the bees were fairly
crazy in their eager rush and hum, gathering in the rich
nectar which the blooming white clover was yielding in
great abundance that season. I was stooping over an open
hive, in the act of taking up a frame of brood, when I heard
my name spoken, and some one saying, "I would just like
to know what you are doing with that hive of bees ?"
Straightening myself up hastilj', I saw directly in front
of the hive at which I was working, and standing within a
few feet of the entrance of the same, a ruddy-faced, cheery-
looking man, whom I knew as Reuben Bond, a farmer liv-
ing about four miles out of town. At the same moment I
also saw that Mr. Bond had hitcht his team of beautiful
young horses to a post of my yard-fence, not more than 25
ifeet from the first row of the bee-hives. Taking in the sig-
nificance of the situation at the first quick glance, I for the
moment ignored his friendly salutation, and said :
"You are in danger there, Mr. Bond — better come away
at once. Your horses are in danger, too, where they are.
Suppose you take them around into my back yard, while I
close these open hives and get ready to talk to you where it
is more quiet and safe than it is here at present."
But, tho I had lost no time in being decently polite, my
admonition came too late for Mr. Bond. My last words
were scarcely uttered when I saw him slap his right hand
to his face, and, uttering some incoherent exclainatiou,
start on a stooping run toward the house, and before I could
do or say anything, darted down the open stairway of the
cellar, and was out of sight in a twinkling.
I closed my two open hives and followed him, directing
my son, who just then came around the corner of the house,
to take care of Mr. Bond's team. I found the runaway just
inside the door of the cellar, puffing and blowing, and rub-
bing the end of his nose. Noticing his action, I knew
where to look for the instrument of torture. Drawing him
toward the open door, where I could see, I gently lifted the
sting out by placing my thumb-nail under the poison-sac,
instead of grabbing hold of it with thumb and finger, as
bee-sting doctors usually do, and thus squeezing into the
wound all the formic acid contained in the little sac
attacht to the sting.
"Never rub a bee-sting," I said to Mr. Bond, " until
after you, or some one else, has performed the operation I
have just shown you how to do properly. It's a lucky thing
the little fury didn't hit you in the eye. We can apply
almost any kind of a remedy to the nose, but not to the
eye."
" Aint it queer, tho, how quick those pesky bees left me
when I got in here," remarkt Mr. Bond, as he gently rubbed
the end of his nose. " What do you do for bee-stings ?" he
askt, as we ascended the cellar-stairs.
" Usually I pay no attention to them," I replied ; " be-
cause usually I am stung when I am too busy to run away
from my work and doctor bee-stings. I seldom get stings
in the face, however, because I wear a bee-veil whenever I
do work among the bees that is liable to put them on the
defensive. They always fight in defense of their home and
property, Mr. Bond, and seldom for any other reason. And
there is no telling when bees will not sting when they are
being disturbed, and they suspect that the disturber intends
some sort of mischief to them. The principal reason, how-
ever, why I wear a bee-veil is, because they always aim for
the eyes when they have a chance and the disposition to
sting. And, as I always need my eyes, even more than my
March 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
199
hands, and nose, Mr. Bond, when I am busy with a hive of
bees, I wear a veil to protect them. When a man tells me —
even if he is an old bee-keeper — that he never wears a veil
in his apiary work, and that he never gets stung-, I am dis-
posed to think that he is talking thru his last year's hat.
"Now come with me to my honey-house and I will see
what I can do for your nose, Mr. Bond. I use alcohol for
bad stings— red-hot ones, like the one you got on your nose
— when I use anything at all. I will let you try it.
" Here," I said, after we had entered the room in the
honey-house that I called my workshop, " I always keep a
bottle of alcohol for emergencies. A small sponge saturated
with some of it and applied to your nose for about ten min-
utes will relieve the pain and reduce the swelling. I think
the alcohol neutralizes the formic acid in the sting-wound."
"Now, please tell me," said Mr. Bond, after several
minutes silence, " why I got stung the minute I stept in
front of that hive you were working at, and you, with your
hands and your nose right down among the bees, wasn't
toucht."
"That's easily explained, Mr. Bond," I replied. "I
account for it in this way : My bees know me. They are
accustomed to my presence and to my manipulations. You,
on the other hand, are a stranger. They know you as such
by sight and smell. Then, to make bad worse, you plant
your perspiring person directly in front of their only door,
and so near that they can't help but regard you as an in-
truder, with evil intention toward them. There are always
a number of bees on guard at the entrance of their hive,
and these guards are very vigilant. No doubt they saw you
at once, and one of them took aim at your face and struck
j'our nose. A hot sting like that is never an accidental
one, I can assure you. It's a good rule never to stand in
front of a hive of bees, or even to walk past near the en-
trance unless you can't possibly do otherwise."
" I believe in that rule implicitly since my late experi-
ence," remarkt Mr. Bond. " But, will you now tell me why
those bees that followed me to the cellar left me as soon as
I got inside the door ?"
" They left you because bees never go into a dark room
if they can help it — except, perhaps, to steal honey — and,
because they were satisfied as soon as you were out of sight
when you got there. And here let me mention the fact for
your benefit, that a person who is being stung and followed
by a lot of angry bees can do nothing that so promptly and
completely defeats them as to run into a room. A dark
room, of course, is best, but any room will do better than to
run about outside vainly fighting them. They give up
as soon as they find themselves prisoners — always and
everywhere."
" That's a very interesting fact to know," remarkt Mr.
Bond; "but I don't quite understand what you mean by
saying, ' my bees know me.' You don't mean by that that
bees in general have sense, do you ?"
"Yes, Mr. Bond, I certainly believe that bees have
sense. But my belief is surely not orthodox, for, everybody
— even the vast majority of bee-keepers — give bees credit
for a high degree of instinct, and nothing more. But can
you tell me what instinct really is ? Can anybody tell me
what the distinction is between instinct and intuition ? By
intuition we know things as by instinct. That is, intuition
is knowledge which is not acquired thru the reasoning pro-
cess. No one can prove that bees can not and do not rea-
son. I can mention several things that bees do that they
couldn't and wouldn't do by instinct alone. Here, for in-
stance, is a sample of their work " — taking a pound section
of white-clover honey from an open crate near me and hold-
ing it up before him as I spoke. " Examine it and see if it
isn't perfect in every detail. See how white and even the
comb is, and how beautifully it is fastened to the wood of
the section all around. When they put that honey into
those cells it was not honey, but nectar, or sweet water,
very little thicker than water. They converted it into
honey, thick as the best sugar syrup, by evaporating it.
And how, do you suppose, do they know that evaporation is
necessary ? and how do they do it ? They know by in-
stinct, I suppose, and they seem to know, too, that fanning
the open cells of sweet water will thicken it to its proper
consistency.
" The bees seem to have sense enough, too, to under-
stand that this fanning work is best done during the night,
when all the nectar gathered for the day is stored in the
combs, when the hive needs extra ventilation on account of
the heat caused by the whole colony being at home, and
because it saves precious time. It's the bees that do the
work of gathering the nectar that must also do the evapor-
ating work. Drones will not do it, because it's work, I
presume ; and the baby bees in the hive can't do it before
they have learned to fly.
" Now, Mr. Bond," I continued, " look at the surface of
this comb. You see it is perfectly smooth and regular, and
almost snow white. I have 1,600 like this stored in my
honey-room just beyond the partition, all filled and sealed
like this, since the first of this month, by 16 colonies. You
see, they not only know how to work, but how to do the best
kind of work. They make no mistakes, and they never
seem to forget anything. One of the most curious things
about this comb work is, that there is an air-space between
the honey and the wax with which the surface of the comb
is covered, or sealed. How they manage to produce this
air-space, and how they know it to be necessary, are bee-
secrets which have never been whispered into inquisitive
ears. But bee-keepers do know that, but for this air-space,
that beautiful white surface of the comb would be an im-
possibility, because without it the honey would come in con-
tact with the wax, soon softening it, causing it to break up
and let the honey ooze out. You can see how important
this little item becomes when you realize the fact that with
this air-space omitted by the bees, shipping comb honey to
the markets would be out of the question. We would be
limited to extracted or liquid honey."
Before I could proceed to explain further, Mr. Bond
suddenly jumpt to his feet and lookt anxiously out of the
window that afforded a view of the apiary and the street
beyond. I knew what the movement meant, and could
afford to smile as I said :
" You are anxious about your horses, Mr. Bond. Well,
you needn't be. My boy put them into the stable and fed
them soon after the fracas. If you will go with me to the
house, we will now have some dinner, and I will show you
my wife and children. Then, if you care for another dose
of bee-talk, I shall be glad to have you spend the afternoon
in the shop with me. I have a lot of sections to put together
and prepare with comb foundation, and I can talk while I
work."
(To be continued.)
REV. J. D. GEHRING.
The subject of this sketch was born Dec. IS, 1837, at
Buchberg, situated at the foot of an isolated haystack-
shaped mountain bearing the same name. It is presumed
that the mountain existed before the town, hence it is also
presumable that the town was named for the mountain.
From the top of this mountain the snow-clad Alps could
be seen. The famed " Rhinefall " at Schaffhausen, Switz-
erland, is within hearing distance of Buchberg.
His father, at the age of 60, emigrated to the United
States in 1848, with wife and eleven children, and bought a
small farm in Fulton County, Ohio.
Mr. Gehring enlisted as a private in Co. C, 27th Wis.
Vol. Infantry, served three years, and was mustered out a
1st lieutenant, and as a cripple for life. Disability was
caused, mainly, by a sharp-shooter's " minnie ball," which
past thru the back of his neck, fracturing the vertebra, and
resulting in partial paralysis of the left side. Other serious
results developt as time made history and old age.
He began keeping bees in Parkville, Mo., in 1884,
started with two colonies, both presents from friends who
didn't know what to do with them, and were anxious to get
them out of the way for fear of getting stung. Transfer-
ring these two colonies to "movable-frame hives," and
handling over 300 pounds of white-clover honey, in pound
sections, the first season, persuaded his then easily impressi-
ble mind to believe that he had now ceast to be a keeper of
bees, g.nd had become a bee-keeper instead. Mr. Gehring
keeps his front door latch-string always hanging outside
for visiting " friends" of the ancient craft.
Thru a somewhat remarkable combination of circum-
stances he and Miss Anna J. Doty were brought together
in 1866, and have continued the happy union as husband
and wife into this the 20th century. Five children — four
200
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
March 28, 1901.
daug-hters and a son — are in evidence to propag'ate the
parental union of German and Scotch-Irish blood.
It may not be amiss to say for Mrs. G. tha.t she loves
bees — in the abstract sense — but bees never learned to love
her — not, however, because she is not a lovable woman,
but, rather, because her husband's bees never seemed dis-
posed to let her get intimately acquainted with their way of
doing- things when they were out of humor. It was not
owing to any fault in her character; nor could the fault
have been owing to her Scotch-Irish descent, that Mrs.
Gehring's earnest effort to become her husband's " help-
mate " in bee-keeping was a failure from the start. It re-
mains a puzzle in Mr. G.'smind to this day why bees — well-
trained and usuall)' well-behaved like his were — should be-
have so badly toward a sweet, mild-dispositionedand loving
little woman as ever blest the life of a bee-keeper. But
these bees did treat her badly — on a certain special occa-
sion— and the resulting coolness between her and the %vhole
apiarian tribe will end only with life.
Referring to the Falls of the Rhine, in Switzerland,
Mr. Gehring writes us as follows :
The Rhine is one of the most interesting rivers in the world. Its
source is amonfr the Alpine glaciers of Switzerland, and its waters
enter the sea thru the lowlands of Holland. On its banks is every
variety of scenery, towering mountains, wild and picturesque rocks.
Falls of the Rhine at Schajfhausen, Swil-eiiand.
dense forests and fertile plains. It flows between flourishing villages
and populous cities, castles and ruins with which a thousand legends
are connected. Along its course for many centuries great historical
events have been taking place; the victories and defeats of the
Romans, the heroic deeds of the age of chivalry, the coronation of
kings, the meetings of ecclesiastical councils, and the wars of modern
times. We can not wonder that such a river is regarded with little
less than reverence, and that great numbers of tourists come from all
parts of the world to look upon it.
The upper Rhine is especially remarkable for beautiful scenery.
The Falls of the Rhine near SchafEhausen form one of the finest cas-
cades in Europe. The breadth of the river above the falls is 126 yards,
and the hight of the unbroken fall is about 60 feet. If the rapids
above and below are taken into consideration, the total fall is nearly
100 feet. Not far above the falls is a bridge known as the " Rhinefall
Bruecke'' (Bridge of the Rhinefallj. High above the river on a
wooden rock stands the Schloss Laufen (castle of the rapids). From
a garden of this picturesquely situated edifice the best view of the falls
may be obtained, one gallery projecting over the roaring, seething
cataract.
In the year 1S45, when eight years of age, my Aunt Ann. a sister
of my moth-jr. took me on a visit to my grandparents, who resided
about nine miles northeast from the falls, and about IS miles from my
home on the banks of the Rhine below the falls. On the way we pas't
thru Schaffhausen, and stood together, hand-in-hand (I being afraid
to stand alone) upon the bank of the river viewing the awe-inspiring
scene. The spot where we stood was a little way below the cataract^
not far from the old mill seen upon the left bank in the picture. The
railroad bridge above the falls was not there then. There was no
railroad in all Switzerland before 1850. .John D. Gehrixg.
The Chicago Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for $1.60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
here are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. mrLLBR. Marengo, 111.
(The Qnestions may be mailed to tlie Bee Journal ofl&ce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Drones and Swarming.
1. If I destroy all the drones from a colony that wants
to swarm, will this prevent swarming ?
2. When a swarm leaves a hive, and I have the Alley
queen and drone trap on, are you sure the swarm will return
to the hive ? Subscriber.
Answers. — 1. No ; but it is thought there is less likli-
hood of swarming if drones and drone-brood are kept down.
But it can by no means be counted on as a sure prevention
of swarming.
2. If you have only one colony, you may count to a
dead certainty that in the case you mention the swarm will
return to the hive. In any case you may be sure that the
swarm will not go off, and under ordinary circumstances
that it will go back to the hive from which it issued. But
if it should happen that a little while before another swarm
had issued and returned to its hive, the bees still making a
loud call at the entrance of the hive, j-our returning swarm
iiiighl return to this latter hive instead of returning to its
own.
Tall vs. Square Sections, Etc.
1. I began bee-keeping last year and now have 36 colo-
nies. My troubles are caused by the great variety of bee-
supplies. I have 60 supers meant for 4 '4x4'+' bee-way sec-
tions. Now I want tall sections with no bee-way. I think
of buying 60 supers designated "L,." These take 4x5
sections. Now, can I alter the old supers so they will carry
4x5 sections? I'm afraid robber-bees will get in.
2. Will filling all cracks with white lead injure bees in
any way ?
3. I think of using full sheets of light brood founda-
tion in all frames when hiving' swarms, these sheets to be
wired. Is this a good plan ?
4. Do you prefer tall sections with no bee-way to the
old-style square ones with bee-way ?
5. Are the combs less liable to be built together? and
do the bees enter them as readily tho they sit across the
frames? Colorado.
Answers. — 1. There are so many different surplus
arrangements that take 4'+ sections that it is impossible to
tell how much change would be required ; but by the exer-
cise of a little ingenuity almost any of them could be
changed to take 4x5 sections.
2. It will do no harm.
3. An excellent plan.
4. It is largely a question of one's market. Some pre-
fer one and some the other.
5. You will probably find no difference.
Bees Diseased and Dying— Closed-End Frames.
1. I took 12 strong colonies of bees on shares last
spring. One or two swarmed and almost all stored a little
surplus. When I prepared them for winter — that is, took
off the supers — they had plenty of honey and appeared to be
strong, and along about January 1st, I examined and found
all dead but three. On examining the combs of the dead
ones I found fully ' j of the cells with capt brood, with a
small puncture in the cap, and an offensive smell, not like
a glue-pot. I took five back to the owner last summer that
were too weak to defend themselves, and I didn't want any
robbing. The owner (a beeman of 20 years' experience, so
he says) claimed it was caused by moths. The bees I have
here haven't any moths in the hives ; besides, I haven't any
trouble with the moth, anyway.
2. If it is foul or pickled brood, why do they die in win-
ter without any brood, and be, stronger in bees than some
of my weak ones ?
3. What course should I take to prevent it from spread-
March 28, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
201
ing^ to my own bees? I fear they got some of their honey.
The diseased colonies have been destroyed by fire and
water, and every caution preserved all summer, or while I
have been suspicious.
4. I went to a sale of a bee-keeper who made hives to
sell of his own invention, and bought several for almost
nothing. Knowing nothing about the hive, I would like to
be enlightened. I enclose a pen outline of it. There being
no space at the ends of the hive, will the bees winter as
well as on Langstroth frames ? It is what I would call a
closed-end frame. Indiana.
Answers. — 1. I don't know what the trouble is, but it
can not be charged to the moth.
2. Whatever disease of the brood, or whether any,
there seems to have been some wintering trouble that
would produce such loss.
3. Keep everything as snug and clean as you can, tak-
ing special precaution to prevent all robbing of infected or
suspected colonies by allowing no cracks or too large
entrances to invite robber-bees. Be sure that none of the
suspected colonies are weak. If they are, unite them.
There will be no real loss in this, even if nothing is wrong
with them. Carefully study all you can find that will
inform as to the brood diseases of bees, including what has
been said in back numbers of this journal and Dr. Howard's
brochure on foul brood. A thoro knowledge of the whole
subject will enable you to judge more intelligently what is
to be done than can any one at a distance.
4. It would seem from the pen sketch that the end-bars
of your frames form the end-walls of the hive, after the
fashion of the Quinby-Hetherington standing-frame hive.
Not a large number of bee-keepers use this hive, but a few
use it in very large numbers. The end-bars are sufficient
for the end-walls of the hive, but some use an outside case
to set down over the whole as additional protection in
spring.
Basswood for Brood-Frames— White Clover— Honey in
Candles.
1. Is basswood all right for brood-frames, or will they
be short-lived ?
2. Is there more than one variety of white clover ?
3. Is there much honey used in candies ?
Wisconsin.
Answers. — 1. Basswood is not too short-lived for
brood-frames, but entirely too lively. You probably know
that it is unusually bad to swell and shrink, and it twists
out of shape altogether too much for anything that needs
to be as exact and permanent as a brood-frame.
2. There is the common white, and the white Dutch.
The latter is said to be a large kind, and sown on rich soil
it grows quite large. But so will the common, and I feel
sure the two are one and the same thing.
3. Probably not. It would be very much better for the
public if some of the glucose in candies were replaced by
honey.
Bees Dying— What is the Cause ?
Of 76 colonies that were in fine condition about Dec.
1st, there remain alive at present 30 colonies, and I expect
some or all to die soon if nothing can be done for them.
They all had plenty of honey so that was not the cause, or
at least the quantity. The bees could not fly one day for
nine weeks. Of those that are dead, part of the bees are
on top of the frames in a mass, and part in some lower
corner; and all, alive or dead, have the inner part of those
hives, including frames and bees, perfectly wet and soiled ;
also it smells very strong. All are on the summer stands.
Some were in single-wall hives, some in chaff hives, some
had chaff cushions over the frames, and some had none,
but all are affected alike. There was hardly any honey for
the bees to gather last fall, and they workt freely on half-
rotten and bruised apples in various orchards ; but some
received their entire suvplv of winter food by feeding
granulated sugar as late a» Sept. 20th.
May it have been caused by doses of poison not suffi-
ciently "strong to kill them while gathering it ? It is very
probable that they received some. What shall I do for
West Virginia.
proba
them ■
Answer— This is o le of the times when it is painful
to say I don't know, and vet I am obliged to say it. Work-
ing on rotten apples in <irchards could hardly do so much
mischief, unless there were cider-mills from which they
obtained large supplies. It will hardly do to lay the trouble
to the general stores, for some had their entire supply of
granulated sugar. The guess that there was poison in the
case seems a reasonable one, but if it were poison would it
not have killed the bees sooner ? The thought comes that
the entrances may have been closed so tight that there was
something like suffocation in the case, but a man with 78
colonies has in all probability had too much experience to
make that mistake. In any case the trouble was no doubt
aggravated by the confinement of 9 weeks.
It is nearly certain that in your latitude bees are now
flying, and there will be some good done by cleaning up all
the hives and getting out the dead bees. If the trouble
continues after the bees have had a good flight, try at least
a few by taking away their stores and giving them sugar
syrup. It is to be hoped that a good flight will do much
good.
Sugar-Candy for Winter Feeding of Bees.
In the " A B C of Bee-Culture" (1891 edition, I think),
there are directions for making hard candy for feeding
bees, by boiling sugar with a little water. I believe Mr. E.
T. Abbott has also frequently recommended such candy. I
wish you would tell me thru the American Bee Journal if
you have ever tried such candy, and with what results. I
considered the above authority so good that I recommended
it in a couple of instances before trying it myself. I also
riskt a few colonies on such feed and just happened to dis-
cover in the nick of time that it doesn't seem to do for this
"locality." In short, one colony was dead — clustered
right up against the candy — and one was about half dead,
that is, a large portion were just able to hang to the combs
— too far gone to crawl around. The other colonies all had
a little honey yet and were all right. I hastened to give
them combs containing some honey. The candy had
been on only a week or two, and the colonies were in good
condition when it was given. They are packt with leaves
on the summer stands, and there has been no cold weather
to speak of^a very mild winter here. They gnaw thru the
candy and it falls on the bottom-boards about as granulated
honey looks when the bees have such in their combs to use.
I am sure the candy is not burned, in fact it looks just as
Mr. Root says it should — " dry and hard as slabs of
marble" — and about as valuable, according to my experi-
ence. What say you was wrong ? Iowa.
Answer — I have never had occasion to feed candy, but
would have said with no little confidence that you would
have no trouble whatever. I must confess that your experi-
ence staggers me, and I don't know enough to account for
it. I suppose that tons of candy have been fed, and I do
not remember to have read a single report like yours here-
tofore. It looks somewhat as if there had been so much
stirring that it was stirred down to sugar, but that could
hardly be the case if it stuck together as candy. If any
of the good friends can throw any light on the case, it will
be a great favor. Has any one else had a similar experi-
ence ?
Convention Proceedings.
Report of the Michigan State Convention.
IIV \V.\[. (,. VOOKIIKIS.
The Michigan State Bee-Keepers' Association heid its
annual meeting at Traver.sfi City, Mich., Dec. "26 and 27,
19U0. The meetins was called to order by the president, and
Mr. A. I. Root offered prayer.
The president made a few remarks referring to present
needs, and the purposes and educational work of the Associ-
ation.
GF.TTINO BEES TO WOKK IS THE SUI'KHR.
A.' S. Dobson— How can we get bees to work in the
supers?
Mrs. George Jackson — Smoke them up into the sections
when the brood-eombs are filled with brood, and they will
work there if you put on some unsealed sections.
W. Z. Hutchinson — Put on unsealed sections.
202
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
March 28, 1901.
George Hilton — When using deep frames, and tlie bees do
not enter the sections readily, take out the side frames that
are filled with honey, and extract it ; then return the empty
frames, but put them in the center of the brood-chamber.
When the bees will not work in the supers it is sometimes
because there is too much honey in the brood-chamber, and
this choked condition is often caused by honey being carried
over from the previous season. We have to put supers on
early in northern Michigan.
Mr. Hutchinson — To get the bees to work in the supers,
half or partly filled sections are sometimes used. Get the
bees to clean out these uufinisht sections the fall before, and
in the spring they can be used. Sometimes the outside frames
in the brood-chamber are filled with honey These can be
uncapt and placed in the center of the brood-chamber, when
the bees will carry this honey up into the sections.
Mr. Beecham — I can not always get the bees to work in
sections or starters.
Mr. Hutchinson — I use drawn combs to get them started.
Wm; J. C. Davis — I have had no trouble with bees not
working in the supers.
Mrs. Jackson — 1 have had no trouble with bees loafing. I
tier up the supers with partly filled sections.
POLLEN IN THE SECTIONS — CROSS BEES.
Mr. Beecham — I produce extracted honey altogether. I
have had trouble with the Heddon hive, as I have to use a
queen-excluder. When I produced comb honey and had to use
a queen-excluder the bees put pollen in the sections, and the
queen sometimes got thru the excluder and laid eggs in the
sections.
Mr. Hutchinson — I have no trouble with pollen in the sec-
tions, and would suggest that Mr. Beecham put a comb in the
brood-chamber from which the honey has been extracted, and
this comb would take the extra pollen. I should think that
being bothered with pollen in the sections in this way was a
good deal a matter of locality.
Mrs. Menold — When the frames are filled with honey I
take out one of them and put a new one in its place.
Mrs. Menold — What shall I do with cross bees ?
Mr. Hutchinson — Change your queens.
WINTERING BEES — PUTTING ON SUPERS.
Mrs. Menold — I do not winter my bees in the cellar. I
put a dry-goods box over the hive and pack hay between the
box and the hive.
Mr. Beecham — I have had trouble with bees storing honey
on frosty nights. I would like to ask Mrs. Jackson if she
winters her bees in the cellar.
Mrs. Jackson — Yes. I do not put them out until the wil-
lows bloom, and I put on sections in apple-bloom.
Mr. Beecham— I think that bees should be protected on
cold nights in the spring. For the past two years I have win-
tered mine in the cellar, and think that when they are so win-
tered they will dwindle in the spring.
Mr. Coveyou— I think that the supers should be double-
walled and tight. I should also want double-walled hives.
Mr. Root — I think that bees in chaff hives will not be
affected by cold nights. If the bees are to work in the sec-
tions at night the supers must be warm enough for them to
do so.
Mr. Berg — I lose more bees in the cellar than in chaff
hives, so I prefer to winter them in chaff hives.
Mr. Hilton — I have cushions on all of my hives. I think
the cushions must be retained on the supers in order to have
the bees draw out the comb. The supers must be tight or the
bees can not work in them, and it will not do to put on supers
when the brood-chamber is only half full of brood. The
brood-chamber must be filled with brood and no honey, and
the hives must be warm.
Mr. Beecham — I was led to use the Heddon hive so as to
avoid the handling of so many frames. I would like to ask if
Mr. Hilton has any trouble in getting out the first frame.
Mr. Hilton — None at all. I have self-spacing frames with
thick top-bars.
Mr. Sillsby— I have no trouble in getting out the first
frame ; I use a block with a slope to it, and have thick top-
bars. Neither am I annoyed with brace-combs.
Mr. Hilton — I leave a 9^-inch space between the top-bars
to prevent brace-combs.
Mr. Beecham — One must be a good judge to know when is
the right time to put on supers.
Mr. Townsend — I use full sheets of foundation.
Mr. Root — One must have the hives tight so that the cold
air can not get in.
Mr. Beecham -I have had trouble with bees that would
not store honey in sections, but would store it in the extract-
ing combs.
Mr. Townsend — They will store honey in the extracting
combs better than in the sections.
Mr. Hilton — I have had experience with both starters and
full sheets of foundation, and the sections have been finisht
sooner when the full sheets were used.
PLAIN SECTIONS AND FENCES.
Mr. Coveyou — I like the fence separators best, as the
queen does not like them.
Mr. Root — Three-fourths of the orders now are for plain
sections with fence separators.
Mrs. Menold — I use a section plain all around.
Mr. Hilton — A plain section is one without the inset. I
never had first-class section honey until I used plain sections.
The sections must be taken off as soon as they are capt over
or they will be travel-stained. The tiering-up must not be
continued too long. The plain section without the inset has
come to stay. The honey that sells to fancy trade is that
secured by using plain sections and fence separators.
Mr. Berg — I used plain sections for the first time the past
season, and like them the best.
Mr. Fox — I have sold my honey in plain sections in this
city.
USING OLD SECTIONS — ALSIKE CLOVER.
Mr. Root — Does it pay to use sections that have been used
the year before ?
Mr. Hutchinson— I think that if the old sections have
been taken care of and kept clean they are all right to use
again.
Mr. Hilton — I have put on sections that have been used
before, but every year I use less of them. No sections ever
come off as nicely as the first I put on — the first honey here is
the best. I get better results when I use new sections, as the
bees seem to work better in them.
Mr. Beecham — I have always used drawn comb in the sec-
tions. I take off sections before the buckwheat flow, as I do
not want it to get mixt with the white honey.
Mr. Berg — I have used cleaned sections with drawn comb,
and have found that the bees would get these combs uneven.
I get the best honey from new sections, when I use full sheets
of foundation.
Mr. Sillsby — I sold all of my white honey for 15 and 16
cents per pound. There are lOU acres of alsike clover near
me, and the bees work better on it than on red clover.
Mr. Storer — I had a fine lot of honey from alsike clover ;
bees like it the best.
EARLY FEEDING — WORKING IN SUPERS.
Mr. Sillsby — I would like to ask about early feeding to
build up the colony.
Mr. Hilton — Begin to feed as soon as the bees begin to fly.
Mr. Hutchinson — I do not think that liquid feeding in the
spring pays. A weak colony must not be stimulated in the
spring ; if this is done and a cold spell comes on then it's
'■ good-by " to the colony.
Mr. Berg — I have had trouble with bees not working in
the supers. I reduced the swarming fever by extracting —
putting on a shallow super, then extracting the honey they
stored in it, and afterward putting on sections. I put a new
super underneath the one partly filled, being careful not to
allow the upper one to become filled.
Mr. Hilton — I put an empty super underneath the one
partly filled, and tier up just as soon as the super is X full.
Bees will not travel by an empty super.
Mr. Coveyou — I think it pays to put supers on early, so as
to get the early flow.
SWARMING.
Mr. Berg — When bees have nothing to do they want to
swarm. I would rear colonies from queens that do not swarm,
as my experience has been that I get more honey from bees
that do not swarm.
Mr. Beecham — If you run for extracted honey your bees
will not swarm, but they will if you run for comb honey.
Mr. Berg — 1 had one colony ^hat did not swarm, and they
stored from three to four supers o^ honey every year.
Mr. Kaufman — I have no trouble with the bees swarming,
as I run for extracted honey.
Mr. Kitson — I have had three queens in one hive, each
queen having a part of the hive.
Mr. Berg — It is very difficult to keep the bees from
swarming when producing comb honey. People should not
eat comb honey, as the wax is not good to eat : it is indigest-
ible, and is not made to eat, but to hold honey. Extracted
honey is the best to eat.
Mr. Hutchinson — Extracted honey is moie easily pro-
March 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
203
duced, and the outlook is good for it at present The market
is growing better all the time, and no bee-keeper who has ki'pt
a large number of colonies has made money unless he has run
his bees for extracted honey.
•.^3 Mr. Beecham — I would like to ask if the Hilton hive
would stay packt.
D Mr. Hilton — They are ready for use all the ti me — winter
spring, or fall.
KEEPING ANTS OUT OF HIVES.
Mr. Beecham — I am bothered with ants.
Mr. Berg — I used tarred paper under the bottom of the
hives to keep the ants out. I like the chaff hives the best,
and ventilate them in warm weather, when the bees hang out.
Mr. Root — I use tar paper to keep the auts out of the
hives.
Mr. Hilton — I use salt to keep the ants away. It will
drive the ants away, but not the bees. I put the salt on the
inside of the hives, on the bottom-board.
Mr. Kitson — I would like to know of something that will
keep the grass and weeds down.
Answer — Salt will do this very well.
BEES AND FKUIT.
Mr. Root — What about that case near South Haven,
Mich., where a peach-grower sued a bee-keeper for damages ?
Mr. Rankin — The bee-keeper was sued by a peach-
grower for damages to the amount of S200. The records of
the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, showed
that bees will not attack fruit with a whole skin. From the
evidence shown at the trial the fruit-grower withdrew his suit.
It seems that some of the early peaches were affected with a
peculiar rot which attackt the fruit before it was ripe, and
the bees workt on this fruit.
Mr. Root — The same trouble occurred in the State of New
York with the early cling-stone peaches. A suit came to trial
there but the verdict was " no cause for action."
Mr. Berg — We have no bee-fighters in this part of the
country. The fruit-growers want the bees near their fruit to
fertilize the blossoms. Many af them spray their fruit-trees
while in bloom, and some bee-keepers have lost half of their
bees from this cause.
Mr. Hilton — A law was past while I was in the Legisla-
ture prohibiting fruit-growers from spraying trees while in
bloom.
Mr. Kitson — I wish that law might be publisht in the bee-
papers.
(Concluded next week.)
^ ^ The Home Circle. ^ j^
Conducted by Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremoiit, Calif.
KINDNESS IN THE HOME.
I never could quite understand the biblical expression,
" The small foxes destroy the vines." The fox has no love for
the vineyard. The poultry-house attracts him far more.
Neither vineyard nor grape is toothsome to Reynard, yet the
truth taught in this small fox, and despoiled vine-field, is abso-
lute. The true home is builded on real heart-sympatliy.
Unless each feels for the other, what will keep back the cruel
sarcasm, the unfeeling word, the taunting laugh? And are not
these, one and all, the little foxes?
I have a dear home in mind — father, mother, two daugh-
ters. It is a home where the bitter word, or thought that
prompts it, was never in evidence. Paul's grand words were
ever heeded in that splendid home — " Let each esteem the
other better than himself." I mind me of a beautiful winter
evening. I was the fifth one in that home circle for the time.
We were all talking in merry mood, except Edith, who was
trying to manage a great volume of pictures. Her small lap
and the big book were a great misfit. Tho not impatient, she
turned the pages with no slight effort and trouble. Witlmut
any break in our converse, the thoughtful father past thru tho
large wide-open folding duurs to the next room, quietly ri-ailit
a suitable chair, and soon the myriad pictures were resting on
this improvised book-stand, where it was easy to turn the
great pages. It must luive been a rich reward to that
thoughtful father's heart, as his act was greeted with a sweet
smile and hearty "Thank you." This was just one of a
whole troop of kindly acts that so filled that home with sun- I
shine that there was always some to spare, and we fortunate
visitors ever carried a good quantity away when we past out
of its doorway.
If Heaven ever does give a little piece of her very own
precious self to this world, where all is not yet heavenly, it is
in just such homes. The father never hears a wish from any
of the loved ones, that his heart does not yearn to satisfy it.
His best pleasure comes from the little planned surprises.
Labor and effort that would vex and weary where no love
sweetens the life, is now only and wholly pleasure. The
mother-heart is even more alert. She is ever toncht and
moved by any wave of pain or trouble, and irksome labor, and
even painful effort, are coveted by her, if they but minister to
the pleasures of the household. Christ raised the world, — is
ever raising it to higher and higher thought and purpose —
because he was willing and glad to give himself to it and for
it. It is this Christ spirit of sacrifice that gilds the home.
Children that breathe such an atmosphere must enjoy moral
health in all its blessed fullness.
We have a cow in our airy barn and cleanly yard just
back of it. She is of the pleasing fawn, so generally seen in
the Jersey herd, and her bright eye has the nervous spright-
liness of the breed. How pretty is the double ring of color
that keeps guard above her mouth and nose. Gentle is she as
the dove that coos hard by among the evergreens. She looks
happy. I think she is. She ought to be. Good performance
will hand over happiness if anything will. Our .lersey deals
in good performance. For eight years she has given us a
daily average of ten quarts of the most splendid milk. And
such cream and butter — yellow as the golden-rod, and sweet
as its nectar drops. Happiness is born of appreciation. Our
Jersey never hears a harsh word. The milk-stool never
serves but for a seat. When she sees me coming she greets
me with an appreciative call which none other ever receives.
She knows I give the care, and that I look carefully to her
needs. There is a kind of good-fellowship between me and
my Jersey that is not one-sided in its fruits. It is a delight to
feed and milk her, which is done at just the same time each
night and morning. It is a pleasure to plan for feeding her
just what will be most appetizing and at the same time will
push the white foam away to the very brim of the pail.
Would the home circle be complete without such companions ?
Let us give the children such pets and beget in our children
such love of these friends of the home, that the golden rule
will be one of the trio whenever child and pet cow, horse or
kitten are companions.
THE INFLUENCE OF HOUSE-PLANTS.
We may not all have costly paintings, fine statuary may
be out of our reach, but there is a home adornment which
costs but a trifle, and which transcends either picture or
statue in real beauty. It is from God's hands, and so shows
perfection in its fashioning. Our parlor now has a great
sword-ferm just by the west window. Near it is a very costly
painting — one of Hill's incomparable touches showing the
marvelous Yosemite. Yet were one — painting or plant — to
leave for alway, I would give up the picture. Yet this plant
has only cost a trifle except Mrs. Cook's daily and loving min-
istrations, and these are not given grudgingly.
Close by at another window is the dainty, exquisite palm
— oocus weddeliana. The one is ever reaching out its refining
influence in its great health, wondrous vigor, rich color, and
incomparable grace. When tired, it is so restful to sit beside
it. To be peevish or irritable in its presence would seem all
inharmony. The little palm so clean, delicate, and full of
grace, is equally " a joy forever." Why are there so few of
such gems in our homes ? Our dining-room and hall have like
treasures. Bereft of them the room would suffer indescrib-
able loss.
A Celluloid Queen°Button is a very pretty thin^ for a
bee-keeper or honey-seller to wear on his coat-lapel. It
often serves to introduce the subject of honey, and thusoften
leads to a sale.
reader writes; ** I have every reason
would be a very good idea for every
ar oue [of the buttons] as it will cause
•stions about the busy bee, and many
Lhus started would wind up with the
less honey; at any rate it would ffive
I superior opportunity to enlighten
1 ref^ard to honey and bees."
Note.— Oni
to believe that
bee-keeper to v
people to ask q
a conversation
sale of more o
the bee-keeper
many a person
The picture shown herewith is a reproduction of a motto
queen-button that we have been furnishing to bee-keepers
for a long' time. It has a pin on the underside to fasten to
the coat. Price, by mail, h cents each; two for 10 cents;
or six for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office of the Amer-
ican Bee Journal.
204
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
March 28, 1901.
Seed Catalogue «
You should, by all mfans, have thia moat
modern catalogue of modern timeH.
It IS brimful and overrtuwiiiK witb good things in
vegetable, farm and tlower seeds, tlowering
plants, fruits, bulbs, etc It eontainn 35
noveEties In vetretables and fiowert*
never offered before, has 1^6 large pages,
seven handaume colored plates and hundreds of
illustrations. It gives practical, up-to-date cul-
tural directions and offers many cash prizes.
The first edition alone costs over $30,000, eo while
we send it free to all customers, we must ask
others to send 10 cents for it, which amount they
may deduct from their first order. You will
make a mistake if you do not write to-day for this
the Novelty Seed Book of the year. Address,
WM. HENBT 9IAUI^E, Pbiladelpliia.
.iD4l
Please i
the Bee Jo
aal.
BelQlan Hares
CHEAP.
PEDIGREED AND COMMON STOCK.
Having bought a Job Lot of a neighbor and
added to what I had, I must dispose of same to
make room for my increase. They are mostly
young— 3 months and over— with a few bred
Does. ALSO
Italian Queens
of last season's rearing, ready as soon as the
weather is warm enough to send thru the mail.
Write for prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
iiAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writina
■ ..one Sisir
Establishtl,s8S. F
13Atf Please
, Wilson Co., Tex.
the Bee Journal.
I Bee=SuppIies
4' AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohii
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken- A
. tucky, and the South. ,. __ T
f MUTH-S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS, f
4. LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC. T
4 Lowest Freight Rates in the country. ^
Send for Catalog. jJ"
• C H. "W. "WE3BBR,, ▼
X Successor to C. F. Muth &. Son, *X
" 2141, 4,s Central Ave., CINCINNATI. O. %
SENT ON 30 DAYS TRIAL
$5
ckeye Incubator Co., Sprlngflelil, 0.
HOriE-SEtKERS' EXCURSIONS.
On the fir.-t and third Tuesday's of
each month the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul Railway will sell round-trip
excursion tickets from Chicago, Mil-
waukee and other points on its line to
a great many points in South Dakota,
North Dakota, and other Western and
Northwestern States at about one fare.
Take a trip West and see the wonderful
crops and what an amount of good land
can be purchast for a little money.
Further information as to rates, routes,
prices of farm lands, etc., may be ob-
tained by addressing F. A. Miller, Gen-
eral Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111. C
Ppospeets Good for the Coming
Season.
I am a beginner in the bee-business, and
have five colonies of bees in the cellar, which
seem to be doing well. The prospects for the
coming season are good, and I think we will
have plenty of white clover.
I have taken the American Bee Journal one
year, and think I could hardly do without it,
as I get so much valuable information from
it. C. M. Lav\'kesce.
Blaekhawk Co., Iowa. March 7.
Winter Report— Long-Tongued
Bees.
Tile season of 1900 was not a very good one
fur honey in this locality. I have not had a
paying crop for three years, but look for bet-
ter things the coming season. The indications
for a good crop of white clover were good up
to March 3d, but it turned cold on the 4th,
after having been warm for a few days, and
melted all the snow, which leaves the clover
in bad condition. Bees wintered outdoors
have had a number of good Bights during the
winter, but those in the cellar are not doing
very well, being more uneasy than usual;
more than a third of the 70 colonies in the
cellar are spotting their hives, and I think
there are many more dead bees on the lloor
than in former winters. I have been keeping
a record of the bees swept up since Jan. 16th,
also of the number of hives spotted, and will
report on it later.
1 have some of the long-tongued bees .18
and .19 mm., the latter of the five-banded
stock. I shall watch the tongue matter next
summer, as I am prepared to measure the
tongues. Theo. S. Hurley.
Tama Co. , Iowa, March 5.
Bees Wintering Well.
Bees are wintering well, are building up
nicely now, and prospects are good for a
honey crop; but sometimes we have dry
weather that cuts us out. T. B. Bownds.
Milam Co., Texas, Feb. 4.
Hard Winter on Bees in New York
State.
So far the 20th century has been the worst
ever known for bees in this locality. There
has been no weather for them to have a flight,
and during the whole month of February it
didn't thaw even once in the shade, with "the
thermometer from zero to 12 degrees below
much ot the time. The snow is from 4 to 10
feet deep in our roads, and the ice is front 18
to 22 inches thick on the ponds and lakes.
Bees that survive will be of a hardy race —
those wintering on the summer stands, at
least. G. M. Doolittle.
Onondaga Co., N. Y. March 6.
Report for the Past Three Seasons.
I am a man with a hard case of chronic bee-
fever. Two years ago a friend gave me, late
iu July, a colony of bees in a box-hive. They
cast a swarm the next day, which I hived suc-
cessfully in a Langstroth hive. Late as it
was, they gathered enough honey for winter,
and the next summer I divided them. The
colony in the box-hive swarmed when I was
away from home, "and they never caiue back
any more." I got 125 pounds of comb honey
that year.
The next spring I purchast 12 colonies at
.$3.00 each : that was a poor year for honey in
this lo^lity, and I got 420 pounds of honey
(nearly all of which was dark), and increast
to 22 colonies. One of these was queenless in
the spring, so I began the last season with 21
colonies. White clover, basswood and buck-
wheat did nicely, but there was no fall flow to
speak of. I secured 73 pounds per colony.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— W hoiesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessarv to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Wort fax Into Fonnflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
GREIDER'S POILTRY
always do well, r)0 standard varieties. Handsoni-
of money-making bints. My birds are winners.
B. H. CREIDER, Florin, Pa.
Please mention Bee Journal ■whcjn ■writing-
ALBINO QUEENS '^r^^.T^^^.r^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honey-gatherers vou ever saw— trv ray Albinos.
Untested dueens in April. $1.(I0; Tested, $1.50.
llA26t J, D. GIVENS. LISBON. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when -WTitlng,
B66§= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
1. J. STRINQHAM,
I05 Park Place, • NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
"Electricl
applied to either
Wheels or V.'agons
•"tt puarantfe of excellence The,
""■ fact. In 4 years w
lie apPrfcia-Lfs iiiiH lo.".:!.. in I J "_-
Slid 320.000 EleetrlcSleel MTi^fls and 30-
OOOEIpetrie llaodj War-.n-. Weniske wbetls
tofitanywae^D. IiluslrateJ Catalog FREt- I
Electric Wheel Co. Boi 16. Quincyjlls^
Fiease mention Bee journal wnen writme
Brooders, Etc.
For Sale '"'"'^'"^
One 400-egg, Prairie state Incubator; one 20-
foot Sectional Hot-Water Brooder; one lO-foot
Sectional Uot-Water Brooder; one Hand or
Power Dandy Bone-Cutter. All new Willsell
them for cash for less one-half of their value,
or e-xchange for small steam-power. For refer-
ence and description address
A. T. SICKLER, Vernon, Wyoming Co., Pa.
Please mentior Bee Journal when writinz.
A 20th Century Catalog It is not the fault
of the seedsmen if the tables of the farmers at
this season of the Year are not abloom with col-
ored illustrations of the products of the vegeta-
ble and flower garden. One of the largest and
most attractive is "Maule's Seed Catalog, 1901."
Its 13(> pages are literally crammed with in-
formation about seeds that grow, and which
Maule sells. From it we learn that the concern
is one of the largest mail-order houses in the
world, paying out during the last S years, for
postage, jiSl,S87.S8. Theie are several valuable
novelties in the catalog, the two leading ones
being the "Success" tomato, which is pro-
nounced to be the best market tomato intro-
duced to the American farmer and gardener,
and the Snow White Dent corn, said to be the
grandest milling corn in the world. Other new
varieties are Maule's First Early cabbage, the
Model muskmelon, the Nameless cabbage, a
new, unnamed French carrot. Imperial, Giant
sugar-corn, Maule's unnamed lettuce, Excelsior
Tree egg-plants, the Prodigious pea, and others.
In fact, the largest list of new things we re-
member to have seen in any one catalog. It
would be an educator in any family, and can be
had free by our subscribers for the asking;
others must send 10 cents for it. Publisht by
Wm. Henry Maule, Philadelphia, Pa. Please
mention American Bee Journal when writing.
March 28, 1^1
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
205
spring count, ami increast to 35. Some one
robbed one of these, so now I have onl.v 34. I
winter the bees on the summer stands, and the
only loss I have sustained so far is the one
queenless colony last spring, and they are all
in good condition now. I intend to keep in-
creasing until I get enough.
The American Bee Journal is "boss of the
job '' — I do the work. C. H. Benson.
Calhoun Co., Mich., Feb., 38.
Tin Cans vs. Barrels for Honey.
J. 11. Martin says freight-rates on honey in
tin cans eased, from California to the East,
are SI. 10 per 100 pounds; on honey in barrels
§1.30 per 100 pounds. The editor is a tin-can
man, and calmly says, " Comment is unneces-
sary." Now, ye editor, we won't comment,
but listen :
Freight-rates on honey in tin cans cased,
from Apalachicola River points in Florida to
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, etc., are
SI. 35 per 100 pounds; on honey in barrels 7S
cents per IW iMumh. Arguments in favor of
barrels vs. tin cans for shipping honey now in
order. Comments received.
M. W. Shepherd.
Franklin Co., Fla., March 4.
[" Comment is unnecessary I'' — Editor.]
Bees in Splendid Condition.
We have so far had a very pleasant winter —
only three zero days in January and tive in
February. There were ten days in January
and three in February when the bees could
take flights ; they are having a fine flight to-
day, and every colony seems to be in the best
of condition.
When we have another warm spell I Intend
to overhaul all of my colonies, and properly
adjust them. Wm. Stollet.
Hall Co.. Nebr., Feb. 27.
Bees Wintering Nicely.
My bees have wintered nicely, and the pros-
pects are better for a good crop of honey this
season. W. W. McNeal.
Scioto Co., Ohio, March 19.
Prospects Bright— Controlling
Swarming.
The rain is pouring down, and the country
in this vicinity never lookt better. All the
farmers are rejoicing over the prospects of a
splendid season, and all is fine for the bee-
keeper as well as the rest.
The last of next month I expect to requeen
all of my colonies, and try to control swarm-
ing, if possible. Last year we had but 11
. swarms, and I notice that one of the mother
colonies is now very weak. I bought some
queens from Texas last year, which were flue
layers, and I managed the colonies so that no
swarms issued after the prime swarm. A lit-
tle while before swarming-time 1 retiueen all
colonies, giving them a young laying queen,
so I am not very often troubled with swarms:
tho sometimes they will swarm in spite of
all that I can do. Harkt L. Hewitt.
San Joaquin Co., Calif., Feb. 23.
1900 a Poor Season.
Last season was a very i)Oor one for bees
here. There was not much for them to gather
after July Ist, so a great many of them went
into winter quarters with very little to live on
thru the winter, and now I hear that over tjO
percent are dead. Mine are all right so far ; I
fed them last fall, and expect to feed again in
the spring. M. H. VoOT.
Nemaha Co., Kans., Feb. 25.
Bees Wintering Nicely Good
Report.
My 10 colonies of bees seem to be very quiet,
and I think they are wintering nicely in the
cellar. The bottom-boards ^ire nailed tight to
the bottoms of the hives, tlie entrances are
open clear across, and the cuvers are shoved
forward about two inches, with a cloth over
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :x:r%
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin. U. S. A.
You Can't Afford to Guess
ultry Kccplnir-" Hasa.if) illustrations and
A.sk tor book on. Circuhirs mailed t
P1IEK8 INCVIiAT<»U CO. CIiIlii
I the entire subject. We send It for XO
CYP1IER8 INCVIiAT<»U CO. CIiIliib^, IH., AVuylond, N. Y., Boston, Mfl
Please mentiou Bee Journal ■when wTitine.
Marshfield Maimfactniing Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog- and price-list.
sA26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
We want *
To sell you BEE=SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mutn & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati,0.
Please mention Bee Journal when •writing.
Warned to Buy
PURE ITALIAN UNTESTEDQUEENS
—from the one making the best offer. BEES
WANTED April 1st. Adddress,
L. H. GREENE,
13Alt BOX 48. BERTHOUD, COLO.
4.0 pounds of
pure ITALIAN
BEES, and Hi
BEES WANTED!
50 TO 75 Colonies.
If vou have any for sale write to H. G. QUIRIN,
Parkektown, Ohio. 13A4t
SO Strong Colonies of
ITALIAN BEES in
10- frame Dovetailed
hives, Hoffman wired
frames.
i3Ait CHAS. O. Handel. SAVANNA, III.
Please meution Bee Journal when 'writing.
HIVES,SEGTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big- Catalojr Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., .!415
AltaSita, E. St. Louis, 111.
BEE
k 6Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
Queen-Ciipping
Device Free....
The MONETTE Queen-Clipping
Dev
: thii
for
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending ns ONE NEW
sul>--criber to the Bee Journal for
a .v.ar at $1.00; or forfl.lO we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
in,1 the Clippioi,' I.>evice. Addreiss,
aeORQE W VORK & COMPANY.
Chicai^o, IIL
POni.TRF BOOK FREE, M panes, lllustnited
with 3 nioa. triHt .subscription to our piiper, loc
INI.ANB POULTKV JUORNAL. Indmnapolls. Ind
Please mention Bae Journal when writing.
PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION.
Nothing since the World's Fair, at
Chicago, in 1893, has elicited the wide-
spread interest that is manifest, all
over the world, in the Pan-American
Exposition, which is to be held in Buf-
falo, from May 1 to Nov. 1, 1901.
The purpose of the Exposition is to
illustrate the progress of the countries
of the Western Hemisphere during a
century of wonderful achievements,
and to bring together into closer rela-
tionship the people composing the
many States, Territories and Countries
of the three Americas. Acting under
proper authority, the President of the
United States has invited all the Re-
publics and Colonies of the American
Hemisphere to join in commemorating
the close of the Nineteenth and begin-
ning of the Twentieth Century, by
holding this International Exposition
on the Niagara Frontier.
For this important event, the Nickel
Plate Road has issued an attractive,
descriptive folder- pamphlet, elabor-
ately illustrating the Pan-American
Exposition, the buildings and grounds.
The Nickel Plate Road is the short
line between Chicago and Buffalo, and
affords competent train service from
Chicago to Buffalo, New York City,
Boston, and all points East, with trains
of modern equipment, on which no
extra fares are charged ; also dining-
car service of the highest order. It af-
fords meals in its dining-cars on the
individual club plan, ranging in price
from 35 cents to $1.00.
Call on anj' ticket agent for Pan-
American folder of the Nickel Plate
Road, or address John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St. .Chicago.
Parties desiring hotel or rooming ac-
commodations at Buffalo or Niagara
Falls, during any period of the Pan-
American Exposition, are invited to
apply by letter or otherwise to F. J.
Moore, General Agent, 291 Main St.,
Buffalo, N. Y. No. 4— 12A3t
BEES
QUEENS
Smokera. SecUons.
Cotnb FouAdatioo
riuuf ouiacM. E. t. ninimn »iniini» a»
Flease uieuuon Bee Journal when writing
206
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
March 28, iv 1.
mention Bee Journal ■when "writing.
MARILLA'""'"'™^
and BROODERS
tJielr construction the best material, best work-
i^hlp und finish and the be*«t Eeneral plBn§t we know how to
bilnp: together in such a machine. For this reason we eay
to our customers that if they are not found exactly as repre-
sented and don't do all we claim for them after a thorough
trial, it is no sale. Eleventh year on the market We make
both Hot Water and Hot Alt^take your choice. So
Miiiple a child can run it. Send 2c. in stamps for eatuiogue.
MARIUA INCUBATOR CO., 80X31 ROSE HILL, N. Y.
on this vehicle. The qualit},' outweighs the pri«^_J^heJ)alaIlCe is.
always in your favor on m/rJinCvi5^Why5===tec3Bscwe mak»f\the'
highest gra(]ejL=gQaii5'=3Sd— sTTfll them to you direct
price^j-saTingyouthe two profits! of the jobber and
dealer. Besides all thig we send any ve-
hicle on 10 days free triffl. If not entirely
satisfactory, return it \at our expense.
Can you ask more? IWrite for catalog,
lialamaxoo Carriage and Harness Company,
^^J^^ 0OX 53 . Kalsmoxoo, Mich,
A HANDY TOOL-HOI<D£H i
Sent by Express, for $1.50 ; or Avilli the Bee Juuriia"
one year — bolli for $2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller. Carpenter,
Cabinet Maker, Machinist. Wheelwright and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one using a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work of two persous, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will bold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chieel to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachnjeut lor sharpening scythe
blades included in the above price. The work
Is done without wetting the liands or soiling
the clothes, as the water flows from the opera-
tor. Jt can be attached to any size stone for
baud or steam power, is always ready for use,
Dothini; to get out of order, and Is absolutely
worth 100 tiiues its co^l.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
'or itself in a short lime. ,
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool is fas-
tened securely In the Holder by
a set-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevel by Insert-
ing the arm of the Holder into
a higher or lower notch of the
standard. While turning the
crank with the right hand, the
left rests on an steadies the
Holder ; the Tool is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if held in th-> bauds.
For grinding Roniid - Edi2;e
Tools, the holes in the stand-
ard are used instead of the
notches
CilEOROE W. TORK &: CO., 144 Sl I4C F.i-ie St., CUicago, III.
the brood-frames. They generally winter weU
when packt in this way.
I had 10 colonies last spring, increast to 19,
and secured about T.5II pounds of comb honey.
They went into winter quarters strong, and
seemed to have plenty of good honey, so I am
looking for a good harvest the coming season,
as we have plenty of sweet and white clovers.
The "Old Reliable '' is a regular Thursday
visitor: long may it live!
W. A. Harrington.
Boone Co., 111., Feb. 25.
Bumble-Bees in Winter— Prospects
Good.
For a number of years it has been, and still
is, a mystery how bumble-bees get safely thru
the winter. If some one will tell me how they
get there I will tell where to find them. During-
the winter months a little round ball can be
found underground, on the inside of which is
a white, downy bumble-bee, apparently about
ready to emerge. About the time of wild
gooseberry bloom the occupant comes forth
and partakes of Nature's best. This round
ball, so far as I can tell, is precisely the same
as those formed by the tumble-bug.
Bees are wintering splendidly, and the pros-
pects are good for the coming season.
Fr.VXK COVERDiLE.
.Jackson Co.. Iowa, Feb. 25.
Bee-Keeping Experiences.
About six years ago I bought two colonies
of black bees, paying -*5 each for them in
July, and from one of these I obtained a super
of nice honey that season. After wintering
them in the cellar, from whence they came in
vigorous condition in the spring, they gave
an increase of three colonies, and, if I remem-
ber rightly, three supers of nice white honey.
About two years ago I bought 11 more colo-
nies from a bee-keeper, and as I wanted to
have them in time to put into winter quarters,
the arrangement was that he should take
them to town, and should notify me when he
did so. It was about five days after he sent
me word before I could go after them, but
when I finally did so I found that they had
been moved during a rain and sleet storm,
and placed in a wood-shed covered with some
old rain-soakt carpet. The hives and carpet
were ah icy mess, as well as the bees. 1 hauled
them home — a distance of 30 miles — placed
them in the cellar, which was dry and well
ventilated, and after raising the covers, and
uls. .the hives from the bottom-boards, in order
til give thi'in a chance to thaw and dry, I left
them tu their fate. After three or four days I
went down to see how they were getting on,
and found one colony a mass of wet, dead
bees, and so they kept going until the whole
11 colonies were dead before it was time to
put them outdoors in the spring. The next
summer I bought 22 colonies, sold about 20,
and obtained a few hundred pounds of honey.
Last spring I took 56 colonies from the cel-
lar, and i>ut the same number in again in the
fall. Three dwindled away, leaving only 53
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than aav other publisht,
sendSl.'2Sto
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
I BEE-SUPPLIES! I
r$ ;»-Rooffl Goods at Roofs Prices'^* ^
• ^ Pouder's Honev-Jars and every- ^.
^^5 thing used by bee-keepers. Prompt ^^
• •^ Service — low freight rate. Catalog t^*
^ free. WALTER S. POUDER, ^
• ^ .512 Mass. Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. ^*
March 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
207
in condition for business. In May I bouglit
10 colonies at ?5 per colony. I received and
accepted the appointment as census enumera-
tor, and was thus compelled to be away from
home during the month of June. .My son, 13
years of age, with the assistance of the hired
man, caring for the swarms, of which there
were only 12 or 15 during the entire month.
During July there was a contagion of the
swarming-fever, and altho we had tried to
prevent swarming by giving more room, cut-
ting out queen-cells, giving ventilation, and
using every method we had ever heard of,
about 70 swarms emerged, which we doubled,
thus increasing our number only about 30.
We secured over 1,800 pounds of honey, 1,000
pounds being comb. The total crop was worth
$233, figuring what we consumed and kept for
winter use at the same price as what we sold.
We put 100 colonies into the cellar, having
bought enough to make that number. t)ur
cellar is well ventilated, having an open chim-
ney extending from it. Some of the swarms
were very light when put in, and we placed
them at the top, putting supers over them
containing light-weight sections. Yesterday
I went into the cellar and found a lot of dead
and crarwling bees on the cellar floor, and a
very uneasy condition ijrevailing. I would
like to know the cause of this. Have some of
the colonies starved out, or is the cellar too
warm ! Not having a thermometer I can not
give the temperature, but I judge it is about
45 or 50 degrees. H. W. Cornelison.
Washburn Co., Wis., Feb. 16.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. — The ne.xt reg-ular meeting of the
Chicag-o Bee-Keepers' Association will be held
Thursday, April 4th, at the Brigjrs House, Chi-
cago, from 1 p.m. until those present g-et tired
and <iuit, which is usually '':3i' p.m. A feature
of the meetings lately has been for all present
to dine at 5:30 in a company. All are urged to
be present and help us all have a good, old-
fashioned time. HERM.4N F. Moore, Sec.
Utah.— The Utah Bee-Keepers' Association
will hold its regular spring meeting April 5th,
at 10 o'clock a.m., in the City and County Build-
ing at Salt Lake City. All are cordially invited.
We e.tpect to get out a treatise or pamphlet, the
object of which will be to give the best and
quickest method to discover, cure, and prevent
disease among the bees, and the best way to
protect them from their enemies. It will also
contain other matter for the benefit of the in-
dustry, including our State law. We will be
pleased to receive communications from any of
our bee-keepers upon any subject along the
lines indicated. Address, Pres. E. S. Lovesy,
Salt Lake City, Utah, or J. B. Fagg, Sec.
East Mill Creek, Utah.
TWENTY MILLIONS IN GOLD
From Alaska during the year 1900.
Five millions of this came from the
Nome district. Government officials
estimate the output from the Nome dis-
trict will be doubled the coming- season.
The Bluestone, Kougarok and Pilgrim
rivers have been found very rich. There
is hardly a creek from Port Clarence
to Norton Sound in which the precious
metal is not found, and hundreds of
creeks unprospected. A rich strike has
been made on the Yellow river, a trib-
utary of the Kuskokwim.
For full information regarding routes,
steamship accommodations and rates
to all points in Alaska, address C. N.
Souther, General Agent, Passenger
Department, C. M. & St. P. R'y, 95
Adams Street, Chicago. 13A3t
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and A(rricultaral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Fkancisco, Cai.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
'Hieeus reared last season,
d.uighters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3]i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
e.Tch ; untested warranted
'Jueens, from sa"me breeders,
fither strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 21^
miles. None impure within
,^. and but few within 5 miles.
2X years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A26t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal wnen writing
Worth $25.— B. H. lireider, the well-known
poultry-breeder of Florin, Pa., whose card will
be found elsewhere in this issue, recently re-
ceived a letter from a customer who enclosed
stamps for several copies of Mr. Greider's cat-
alog for his friends, sayingthat thecopy he had
received was worth fully $25 to him. It is a
most valuable book, handsomely illustrated,
and containing full descriptions of all the lead-
ing varieties of pouftry. Mr. Greider's farm at
Florin is one of the best stockt poultry estab-
lishments in the country. He has been a care-
ful student of advanced methods, and by care-
ful breeding has produced as fine a lot of fowls
as will be found anywhere. Moreover, having
a large farm, his fowls are not coopt up in little
pens, but have the good range necessary to
health and vigor, and the production of fertile
eggs which hatch chicks thai live and grow.
It is for this reason that Mr. Greider's custo-
mers always are so well satisfied with their pur-
chases from him. Send 8 cents for his valuable
book. It is full of money-making hints. Circu-
lars free. Please mention the American Bee
Journal when writing.
Rocku Mountain Bee-Plant Seed !
{Ckunie integrifolia.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
Tlie ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: "This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-g^arden, to
say nothing' of the honey it produces. It grows
fromtwo to three feet in hight and bears larg-e,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It ^rows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish larg-e quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a 54-pound package as a pre-
oiinm for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or Ji
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michigan St. CHICAGO, ILL
Good Instru^^
"offers. They
chetp'-bargain ^
[ hiph grade, fulJy Kuar&nteed. inatru
iients von nUSlI lANS.
VIOLIN— Aniati model, choice of 3
folors.dark brown, lightred oramber,
1 nil ebony trinimed, brazilwood bow,
' pearl slide, full leather bound canvas
■ of strings, rosin, etc.,
f (./"V w.Tth 820, My l»rlce #6.87
r liGUITAR— Solid Hosewood, standard
neatly inlaid, Spanish cedar
celluloid front, ebony finger
ni. best quality patent head
MANDOLIN— Solid Rosewooi
,t rtbs; celluluidfront; veneered
ead piece, handsomely inlaid.,
My Prif
,,fj[ -J " "".ber bound ■
'|/ 7 strings and t
Please mention Et
Only »7, with
, extra Bet of
I pick. Send for
Chicago.
J Journal when wrritinc.
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only |1.4u. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this ** Emerson "' nu further binding is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL
I HON&y AND BEESWAX B
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, .March 20.— The choice crades of
white comb honey sell at U. ceuts, with supply
about equal to the demand; all other grades are
slow of sale at the followiajr range of prices:
Fair grades of white, Hfe^lSc; best ambers, 12@
13c; mixt colors, 10@llc; buckwheat, i(a»10c.
E.vtracied, white, ranges from "fa^Sc; amber, 6}^
©T^c; buckwheat, Sii@hHc. All of the ex-
tracted is governed bv quality and flavor in the
range of prices, the lowest figures in either of
the colors applies to the sour, or off-flavored,
and unripened. Beeswa.x, 3iic.
R, A. Burnett & Co.
New York, March 11.— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb hooey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancv white is still sell-
ing readily at from 15(«'16c;'No. 1 white at from
13(ft»14c; amber at from \2<ai\:-.c; buckwheat, 10@
lie, according to quality and style of package.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active, and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honey is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, l(S>-%c; light amber,
b'Alqi'c; other grades and Southern, (iSfATSc per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 28@28Mc,and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 2')c.
HlLDRE
; Seqklken,
Buffalo, March 21.— Much better demand for
fancy comb at ISOlbc; extras, 17c' common
dark, etc., %i 10 to 14c. Extracted, (,(a.Sc, and
never in much demand. Batterson &'co.
Detroit, Mar. 21— Fancy white comb, 14foii5c:
No. 1, 13(flil4c; dark and amber, umuc' Ex-
tracted, white, (.itj@7c; amber and dark, 5fi6c
Beeswax, 27iai28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
Cincinnati, March 21— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over, the stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings yet 16c. E.x-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for ^iic-
better grades bring 6(u 'He; fancy white clover
from x'AM 'ic. c. H. W. Weber.
Kansas City, Mar. 23.— Receipts light- de-
mand normal at steady prices. Fancv white
comb, lS(ai6c; no amber on market. E.x'tracted
.S(a.9c. Beeswax scarce, steady demand, 2Sto30cI
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Albany, N. Y., March 23.— Honey market is
slow on all grades of comb honey. Extracted
white, 7(5)8c; dark, 5&5'/ic. H. R. Wright. '
Boston, March 21.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c: No. 1, ISigiiec, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 8@
8}^c; light amber, ^•4'a:Sc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, llSi@i2Mc; dark, 8@9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7}^(asc; light amber 6Ji@7Kc-
amber, S}^@6Kc. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present offer-
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honey is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantity, which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
DO YOU WANT A
fiiflU Grade of Italian Queens
OR A CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Send for descriptive price-list.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City. III.
Please mention Bee Journal whe" writing
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Co'b
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. .Market price
paid lor beeswax. Send tor our I9"l cataloK.
M. II. HUNT .S: SOX. Bell Brunch. Wayne Co:. Mich.
Please mention Bee .Tournal when writinE
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper poblisht in the United States.i
Wool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first.foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICABO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
208
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
March 28 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Kef.per free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
J(S" W. M. Gekrish, East Notinpham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g-oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
200-Egg Incubator
for $f2.oo
Perfect in construction and
ction- HatcheM every fertile
pgr. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy.lll.
Please meati(
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
*t e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
516 1016 2516 5016
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... Jl.SO 2.80
Crimson Clover 70c 1.20
Alsike Clover 90c 1.70
WhiteClover 90c 1.70
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50
6.25
2.75
3.75
4.00
3.25
1.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pouud
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 140 Erie Street, • CHICAGO, ILL^
Warned
A MAN OF PRACTI-
CAL EXPERIENCE
AND ABILITY to care
for 1,50 to 200 colonies
of liee-s. Address,
S. J. DUNINIE,
165 S. Forest Ave.,
iiAtf RIVER FOREST, COOK CO., ILL.
I ARISE
DOOWTTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen ..$1.00
J Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
I select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best. .5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino. Onondaga Co., N. V.
24tll nr.rl...^4'^ C^...^rlr.4:^n 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anvbody do? BEAUTY
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, Nc
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINQ.
Why does it sell _^j^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there hare not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sei' the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE— Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHA5. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co , III.
The Danzen baker Hive.
ul hi
THIS HIVE is rapidly g-aining- favor, es-
pecially in the Eastern States, where
tall sections and closed-end frames are
used to a considerable extent; and within
the last year or so the Dauzenbaker system
has been working- its way into California,
Oregon, and even into Cuba. At the Paris
Exposition the hive was awarded a gold
medal, and at some of the honey exhibits in
this country the comb honey from it has
carried off the first prize. Some of the finest
honey we have ever seen was produced in
Danzenbaker sections; and in the opinion of
those who have given the hive and system
an extended trial, there is nothing to equal
it for the production of a fine article of comb
honey. Indeed, in some markets comb honey
in Danz. sections commands one and some-
times two cents more per pound than other
fancy honey.
Mr. Danzenbaker has long been an advo-
cate of warm supers and warm hives; for he
has always insisted that, for the production
irder to do the best work in wax-building. To
ailed; and the sections in the super are espe-
i with every hive.
of comb honey, the ^
a very great extent the Danzenbaker hive is double-w
cially protected by a special paraftine mat which goe:
The brood-chamber itself has the same
dimensions as the regular lO-frame Dove-
tailed Langstroth hive, except that it is
shallow; that is, it takes 10 closed-end
brood-frames 7J^ inches deep and 17 inches
long. Each brood-frame is supported by a
pivot in the center of the end-bars, so that
It may be readily reverst. These brood-
frames retain all the advantages of frames
peculiar to this class; viz., being reversible,
they insure the building of combs to the
bottom-bar; as there is no opportunities for
air-currents around the ends of the frames,
combs, as a rule, are built clear out to the
end-bars. This one feature makes them
warmer for winter. When a division-board
is used on each side we have, practically, a
dead-air space around the ends and sides of
the brood-nest.
The Danz. br®od-nest has the same
capacity as the 8-frame Dov. hive— a capac-
ity that has generally been recognized as
the best for the production of comb honev.
But Mr. Danzenbaker has gone further bv making his brood-nest shallower and wider— increasing
the amount of surface for the super, and bringing the brood itself— a featurp which many consider
important — closer to the surplus.
The Danzenbaker brood-chamber can be used with any of our 10-frame supers, either comb or
extracted; with any of the Id-frame covers, bottoms, or hive-stands, or with the 10-frame Jumbo
hive. There are four patents on the Danz. hives and fixtures.
NOTICE.— The Danzenbaker hive is not made in the S-frame widths.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., h'^tcitGE^'fhlT'
■ headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
od to them for their free Catalog.
i>j\Ege%
DEE JOIRNAL
CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 4, 1901,
_^«ip^-™™
s^=^
-_^^_^?s^
WEEKLY
%.^^^-ii:-iifei;j^:s'!;a!!aw»;afeg^^f
•►•-•- .A. r^ PL I L -- ^
BY EUGENE SECOR
L
Did you hear the robin piping,
Calling for his mate ?
He has just returned from Southland —
But, perhaps, she's late.
He tells us the plum-trees will soon be in white
To witness his vows and the bird marriage-rite
Did you see the prairie crocus
Held in childish fist
Tight as lover holds his sweetheart
At the evening tryst?
This brave little flower opens early to fling
Its largess of gold on the honey-bee's wing.
Maples blush with rudd}' blossoms
E'er the frost is gone;
And the showy golden willow
Brightens on the lawn.
The barn-fowls are noisy, proclaiming each day
The debt which they owe and are trying to pay.
Intersperst with cheer}' sunshine
Weeping clouds appear,
But, together, they encourage
Life with hope and cheer.
"The winter is past," every sleeping bud cries,
And seeds burst their caskets, determined to rise
^Cj...^^
w
210
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL,
April 4, 1900.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. York & Co.
144 &l46ErieSt.,GhiGagoJll.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.CK) a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postagre. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising: Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
*'ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commission-
men.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
irer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
Rocku Mountain Bee- Plant Seed !
{(■leonie i/ifegiifoUa.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: "This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-garden, to
say nothing of the honey it produces. It grows
fromtwo to three feet in hight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows natur-
ally on ihe Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a H-pound package as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
118 Michigan St.
CHICAGO, ILL
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping'
Device is a fine thing for use id
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for$1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
Lono-Tonouefl Bees
ARE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Premium
for sending- us TWO new subscribers to the
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2i;
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4.00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (havinfj many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
Sl.OO each ; Tested, §2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
28 cents Cash
•^ This is a good time
^ xv to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W ^sSlsB
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Zi^^^^fe^fe^fe^2fe?lfe^fe^^fe
Best
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Honey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY,,.,.,,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered iu
the great Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well • ku
light-colored honey gathered
fron
the
■ich.
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, oy mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9^^^
cents per pound; two cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans,
8J2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 4, 1901.
No, 14,
^ Editorial Comments. >k
Freight-Kate on Comb Honey. — We understand that there
is tu ln' an :iM('iiii)t made to raise the freight-rate on comb honej", one
railroad company desiring to malte the rating double first-class on comb
lioney in boxes with glass fronts, whetlier the glass is exposed or not.
The present rating is \]i times 1st class. The proposed raise is " daub-
ing it on a little too thick," we think, and the bee-men, the commis-
sion men, and the bee-keepers'-supply men should line up and see If
something can not be done to prevent such a prohibitory rating.
Really, such a rating would well-nigh strangle the honey -business
from a shipper's standpoint, especially on long hauls. For instance,
the rate from California points to Chicago would be S^e.OO per 100
pounds, making it impossible for Western producers to market their
comb honey in the Central or Eastern States. Such an advance in
freight would injure the bee-men by making their business unprofit-
able, the commission men by greatly decreasing consignments, and the
supply men, directly, by tending to drive the glass-front shipping-
case out of the market; and indirectly by making the honey -business
so unprofitable as to greatly curtail the demand for all lines of supplies.
Of course, the rating of " 1st class " on shipments in close boxes
will still remain, but that will be of little value from the fact that
honey can not be exposed for sale in such boxes, which would neces-
sitate shipping in one kind of a box, and repacking in another kind
at destination.
We consider the proposed move a great injustice to a class of men
who deserve better treatment. There should be sent in at once earnest
protests from every one interested, as far as possible. Especially can
the large commission houses present the matter of injury to shipments
in glass-front boxes as compared with that to close packages, and
an exhibit of that kind would have considerable weight, especially as
it can be shown that the glass-front box is the safer package, on
account of the contents being in plain sight, thus insuring safe
handling.
The next meeting of the Western Classification Committee will be
held May 7th, at Hotel del Monte, Monterey, Calif., so that petitions
and protests against the threatened raise in freight-rate on honey
should be forwarded at once to Mr. J. T. Ripley, chairman Western
Classification Committee, Room 604 GreatNorthern Bldg., Chicago', 111.
Eating Honey and Butter. — A Stray Straw in fileanings in
Bee-Culture reads thus: " Dr. Fauehet, La Nature says, replaces cod-
liver oil with butyroniel, composed of two parts of fresh butter and
one part of honey, beaten together. He says it is more readily
accepted by children — a thing not hard to believe.''
Editor Root then follows with this comment: " I remember my
mother used to give me honey and butter when I had a cold. If there
is any virtue in such a combination it might be a good idea for us
parents to give our children bread and butter and honey, and lots of it.
' Honey and butter shall he eat,' the good Book says, and its advice
is always good.''
This reminds us that a certaia family of our acquaintance in-
formed us recently that they liad eaten more honey than usuivl the
past winter, and had been much healthier in eonseiiuence thereof. We
haven't the least doubt that if more whole families would consume
more honey in their regular daily diet they would all feel much better
in every way.
Granulated .Sugar and t;iucose. — Mr. Thos. \Vm. Cowan,
editor of the British Bee Journal, but now residing in California, .sent
us the following comnuuiication early in January, but owing to our
"deluge," and also moving to our new location, it was overlookt
until a week or two ago :
Editor American Bee Journai. : — On page 810 of the American
Bee Journal for 1000, alluding to granulated sugar, Mr. E. E. Hasty
endeavors to explain what he thinks I mean when I say " much of the
granulated sugar of conmicrce is adulterated with glucose." Altho as
a rule I do not notice criticisms, recognizing the right of every one to
his opinions, and do not care to be drawn into any controversy re-
specting such criticisms, yet in this ease, having a pleasant recollec-
tion of a personal visit to and talk with Mr. Hasty, 1 think it is due in
courtesy to him to explain that I meant exactly what I said, because
glucose is found in commerce both in the liquid and solid state.
On page 760 (1000) it will be found that, in explaining how glu-
cose was made, I said, " The solutions are evaporated to a syrup con-
sistency and sent into the market under the names of glucose, corn
syrup : or to dryness, the solid product being known in eonunerce as
grape-sugar." It is this dry glucose or grape-sugar that is used to
adulterate granulated sugar, " the very dry white sugar " which Mr.
Hasty alludes to. It is difficult to detect the adulteration by simply
looking at the sugar. Raw or brown sugar is similarly adulterated.
The presence of glucose when mixt with raw or refined sugars may be
generally known by paying attention to the following points:
1. Sugars mixt with powdered or granulated corn glucose, on
solution in water invariably leave white particles of glucose undis-
solved.
3. On submitting a commercial sugar containing glucose to the
polariscope test, it will be seen that the reading does not remain con-
stant, but gradually becomes less until a point is reacht when the
diminution ceases altogether. If the solution is observed immediately
after preparation as little as three to five percent of glucose may thus
be detected.
There are other methods of analysis, but they are only suited to
the chemist's laboratory, and would not interest your readers. lean
assure Mr. Hasty that it is not at all uncommon to find both raw sugar
and refined dry granulated sugar adulterated with glucose.
With respect to pollen in honey, I can only say that in the large
number of samples that I have exaniiued, more or less pollen was
found in every instance, and the presence of pollen-grains has fre-
quently assisted me to determine with accuracy the source of the
product.
If, and when, I have the time and inclination I should like to
critici.se Prof. Cook's criticisms of my book, " TheHoney-Bee," but
altho I have a persenal regard for him, I do not find that he has
adduced anything which would cause me to alter any of my views ex-
prest in that book. Yours truly,
Tnos. Wm. Cowan.
To Drive Ants I'roni the Lawn.— Fine coal ashes sprinkled
about the burrows of ants will cau.se them to leave. Ashes may be
used on the lawn without injury to the grass. Sifted ashes are best,
but those fresh from the stove, shaken from the stove-shovel, will
answer the purpose very well. — April Ladies' Home Journal.
Shall Bees Be Taxt ? is a question that arises every now and
then. Opinions differ. If one were to judge from what appears in
the bee-papers on the subject, one would be likely to conclude that the
great mass of bee-keepers were of the opinion that bees should not be
taxt; because those who hold such opinion have a feeling that they
are wronged by such taxation, and one who feels himself wronged is
more likely to speak out than one who is satisfied with things as they
are. One of the strongest presentations of that side of the case
appeared in the Progressive Bee-Kecper under the signature of D. L.
Tracy. Mr. Tracy takes the ground that they should not be taxt un-
less the tax be refunded in years of failure. In such years an assessor
can not fairly value a colony of bees. But he rightly says that such a
proviso would lead to great complication ; hence, bees should not be
taxt at all.
Unfortunately this reasoning would apply toother things as well
as to bees. A farmer may have a failure of crops, but he is expected
212
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 4, 1901.
to pay his taxes all the same. If his bees are to be exempt because in
some years they make no return, then his swine should be forever
exempt because some years the cholera strikes them.
Those who believe with Mr. Tracy probably reason something like
this: •• There are years in which my bees not only pay me no prolit,
but are an actual expense, so that I would be better off at the end of
the year if I had no bees. Manifestly I should not pay taxes on a
thing of no value, and as the failure maj' occur any year, the easy way
out of the difilculty is to liave the bees exempt from taxation every
year."
This has a somewhat reasonable look on the face of it, but one
may imagine an assessor replying something like this : " Everything
is assest according to its valuation, not according to its profitableness
to the owner."'
" But," says the bee-keeper, " this year if the bees yield no harvest
they are of no value, and should not be taxt."
"At what price do you sell colonies of bees iu years of failure ;"
"Why, just about the same as other years."
" Then they have a marketable value, and rightly, because even
altho they may yield no return you do not give them away for noth-
ing, holding them of value because of the possibility of what they may
do in the future. And you seem to lose sight of the fact that you
already have reduction of taxes because of the uncertain character of
your bees. If you could count on getting each year straight along
more than $W from each colony, as you did one year, then bees would
readily sell for a much higher price than now— perhaps three times as
much— and your tax on them would be three times as much. But the
very fact that bees are uncertain property brings down their value, and
60 their price. If you insist that no tax should be paid in a year of fail-
ure, then in a good year when the profit on a colony of bees is as much
as the profit on a cow, you ought to be willing to pay cow-tax on bees.
When you are ready te give away bees for nothing, it will be time for
you to say they have no value."
Mr. Tracy closes by saying, " I believe that all property should be
tixt. But I do not believe from my experience that it would be right
or justice to call bees taxable property." Which is equivalent to saying
that bees are not property, or else there is a direct contradiction.
A New Honey-Eater.— Mr. Walter R. Ansell, of Ramsey Co.,
Minn., has sent us a sketch of a little animal which has been recently
discovered in western Australia. It has been named Tarsipes
Hostratii^. and, tho only as large as a common field-mouse, belongs.
like the kangaroo, to the Marsupial order — animals that carry their
young in a pouch. It enjoys the unique distinction amongst mam-
malia of obtaining its living exclusively by robbing flowers of their
nectar with its long, thread-lilie tongue.
We have reproduced our new honey-loving friend for the benefit
of our readers.
than appears on the surface. The exact methods described may not
be suited to many readers, but the thoroness with which the writer has
studied out the conditions of his locality, and devised a system of man-
agement adapted to those conditions, furnishes an encouraging ex-
ample for us to follow."
This is what Editor Hutchinson says of the article by Mr. S, D.
Chapman on page 31.5 of this number of the Bee Journal.
"The Best Article that was ever publisht in the Review it
■would be diflieult to point out. I doubt, however, if very many better
ones have been publisht than the one by S. D. Chapman, that appears
in this issue. It is somewhat lengthy, but not more so than is war-
ranted by the magnitude of the subject. There is more in that article
j * The Weekly Budget. ^ |
To Our Delinquent Subsckibers. — We often wish we could
sit down in the homes of all our subscribers who are in arrears on
their subscription to the Bee Journal, and try to explain to them that
in all fairness to us and to themselves thej' ought to do their best to
pay at least all arrearages, and if possible a year in advance. It
should be remembered that our expenses in connection with issuing
this journal are regular, and must be met. We can not put off our
paper house, our printer, or our employees, with promises — they all
must have their money. Hence, it is absolutely necessary that we
should have the cash due on subscriptions in order to meet the neces-
sary and constant expenses from week to week.
After we have favored several thousand subscribers by sending to
them the Bee Journal for over two to four years without receiving any
remittance, nor any acknowledgement of our requests to them to pay
their subscriptions, we feel that we are justified should we decide to
take some other means in order to hear from them. While we
would like to have every bee-keeper read the American Bee Journal
regularly, we would not willingly and knowingly continue to send it
to any one who does not want it. But we must insist that all arrear-
ages, if any, be paid. We shouldn't think that any one would wish to
discontinue a paper of any kind without being clear on the publisher's
books.
So many of us are careless about these matters. Of course, no one
really intends never to pay his subscription. But do you know that
when several thousand subscribers owe for say an average of three
years at only one dollar, it amounts to a very large sum .*• And is i'
right that the publisher, who has faithfully furnisht the paper right
along, should be compelled to go without that much-needed and very
large sum, which belongs to him, and which could just as well as not
be paid ? for it means only a few dollars to each one who owes, but in
the aggregate, to the publisher, it means the difference between a
small profit and a big loss !
Reader, are you in arrears on your subscription to the American
Bee Journal, or to any other paper that you are reading '. If so, will
you not do the proper thing, and " pay that thou owest ?''
it * * * *
The Hint for Errors in magazines, or in any publication, for
that matter, is au interesting and profitable investment of time.
Every article that is publisht in the Ladies' Home Journal, for in-
stance, is read at least four times in manuscript form, and all state-
ments of fact verified before it goes to the printer. Then it is read
and revised by the proof-readers ; goes back to the author for his revi-
sion : is re-read by the editors three or more times, at different stages ;
and again by the proof-readers possibly half a dozen times additional.
Thus, each article is read at least 15 -and often 30 times after leaving
the author's hands until it reaches the public eye. But with all this
unremitting vigilance, errors of the most obvious kind occasionally
escape observation until perhaps the final reading, but it is rare,
indeed, that an inaccuracy hides itself in the pages securely enough to
go thru that magazine's edition.
The improvement in the proof-reading of most of the bee-papers is
encouraging. Yet there is' still room for the exercise of more care
along this line in nearly all the periodicals devoted to bee-keeping, the
old .\merican Bee Journal included.
The Rocky Mocxtain Bee Joi'rnal is the name of the latest
claimant to the patronage of the bee-keeping public. It purports to
be publisht " For Colorado and the Great Inter-Mountain Region." It
is to be issued monthly, is neatly printed, and presents a good general
appearance.
April 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
213
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Michigan State Convention.
BY WM. G. VOORHEIS.
(Contiaued from page 203.)
BKE-PAKALYSIS — SPRING DWINDLING.
Mr. Berg — What are the symptoms of bee-paralysis and
what is the remedy ? Can it be cured without changing the
queen ?
Mr. Root — There are different liinds of bee-paralysis, or
it acts differently in different locations.
Mr. Berg — The bees look shiny, and seem to bo shaking or
trembling.
Mr. Root — In the South the disease is worse than in the
North. When the queen is taken away they do better.
Mr. Kitson— 1 think my bees had that disease early in the
spring.
Mr. Hilton — It is the result of inflammation.
Mr. Chapman — I have not been bothered with it in my
apiary.
Mr. Root — The bees that are not affected will put the sick
ones out of the hive.
Mr. Rankin — I have had no experience with this disease.
I have tried to introduce it among bees, as an experiment, with
queens and combs sent from the South, but did not succeed.
I do not think that bee-paralysis will do much harm so far
north.
Mr. Hutchinson — Nothing has been said about it for the
last two years.
Mr. Kitson — I know what spring dwindling is ; I lost one
colony by it.
Mr. Kaufman — I lost a dozen colonies in that way. I
cured them by changing them around, putting them in the
place of healthy colonies.
Mr. Kirkpatrick — I do not think that the young bees have
it ; only the old ones are affected.
Mr. Root — When the bees begin to store new honey the
disease disappears.
FOUI. BROOD.
Mr. Hilton — I have a letter from C. A. Huff about getting
a law past against foul brood.
George .Jaquays — I got colonies with foul brood from East
Jordan ; it destroyed every colony I had but one.
Mr. Kirkpatrick — Four years ago in the spring I shipt
12.J colonies of bees from Indiana. I also took 67 colonies
from a bee-keeper in this State to keep on shares. These last
had been wintered in pits ; I took them home, and afterward
found that 37 of them had foul brood. I went all over the
neighborhood but found no foul brood anywhere except in my
apiary, and I burned all colonies thus affected. The next
year I bought more colonies, but found that they also had foul
brood, and I destroyed them. I lost 220 colonies all together.
Mr. Rankin — I do not think it necessary to destroy the
colonies by burning them. The disease can be cured, but we
must be protected from the bee-keepers who are careless to
regard it. I think a law should be past similar to the one in
effect in Wisconsin. They have the disease under control in
that State, and I think that when colonies are affected with
foul brood and ordered destroyed by the foul-brood inspector,
the bee-keeper should be compensated, as live stock is com-
pensated for. We ought to have a State inspector. When I
find a colony affected with foul brood I mark the hive with a
capital " B," and put a ring around the letter. Foul-brood
germs can endure a great amount of dry heat, but can not
live thru a very high temperature of moist heat. My cure
for the disease is as follows : Scrape the hives — burning the
scrapings — then swab out tlu' inside with kerosene. Set the
brood-chambers one above another, then r.et tire to them, and
when the blaze comes out of the top put on a cover to smother
the fire. Next scald the hives, frames, ct:, with a solution of
corrosive sublimate — % ounce of corrosive sublimate to one
gallon of water, putting them all into a tank of this solu-
tion, and thoroly washing them in it. Carbolic acid can be
used, if preferred. Care must be taken to see that no luuiey
gets on the ground, as there is danger of other bees getting it.
It is well to soak the hives, etc., about 30 minutes in this solu-
tion, and te sure to burn the brood. The combs can be melted
into wax, and if there should be any honey in the combs, it
can be extracted, and heating it will destroy the germs.
A motion was made and carried that Jfr. Rankin, Mr.
Bingham, and Mr. Hilton, act as a committee before the Leg-
islature, to get the foul-brood law past. The committee must
have the help of the bee-keepers in this State, and each one
was requested to write a letter to his or her representative or
State senator, asking them to support the passage of this law.
L.\RGE YIKLDS OF HONKY.
Mr. Root — I understand that Mrs. .Jackson had an extraor-
dinary yii'ld of honey about two years, and I wish that she
would tell us about it.
Mrs. .lackson — I had one colony that did not swarm which
filled 10 supers of 24 sections each. The total yield from 18
colonies, spring count, was 27UO pounds and an increase of
ly colonies. There were no other bees near me. There was
a heavy flow of honey all the season, and the bees were in the
best of condition.
Mr. Kaufman — During a basswood flow I had a colony
bring in as high as 22>< pounds of honey in one day.
Mr. Kirkpatrick — I used to keep bees in Ohio, but get
heavier yields of honey here than I did there. Last year I
got 93 pounds of raspberry honey per colony, and this year I
got 104 pounds per colony. 1 always get ready for the rasp-
berry flow.
Mr. Chapman — I always get a good honey-flow from rasp-
berry bloom.
SECOND DAY — building ip colonies in spring.
Jlr. Berg — How shall we build up colonies in the spring ?
Mr. Root — Tuck them up warm.
Mr. Berg — As 1 have studied it I must have chaff hives.
I do not think that bees wintered in the cellar do as well
as those wintered in chaff hives. Bees must be in warm
quarters with lots of honey, and must have a queen not more
than two years old. During warm spells in winter bees win-
tered in chaff-hives have a chance for a flight. They also
begin to breed early in the spring.
Mr. Chapman — 1 have had experience with both single-
walled and chaff-hives, and I always winter my bees in the cel-
lar, and lose only about 1 percent. I requeen every year. I use
the common Langstroth 8-frame hive, and put empty cases un-
der the one filled with brood, using the queen-excluder when I
commence to tier up. Last season my 4-story colonies aver-
aged over 100 pounds per colony. I allow each colony to rear
its own queen, but as some of these are queenless sometimes
I keep some colonies for rearing queens. I have had some
experience with spring work, and have not lost many colonies
from chilled brood. My honey is from raspberry, clover and
basswood. 1 kill all queens at the beginning of the basswood
flow, as I want young bees for wintering.
Mr. Hilton — Mr. Chapman must be very familiar with his
honey-flow.
Mr. Chapman — I put all my light colonies in a row, and
see that they have honey enough to last them until the honey-
flow commences. I have very little swarming, and produce
only extracted honey.
Mr. Berg — 1 should prefer to have the bees strong before
fruit-bloom.
Mr. Hilton — I could not follow Mr. Chapman's plan for
comb honey. One must know his location and know how to
work his colonies. Mr. Chapman has two seasons for brood-
rearing — one early in the spring and one in the fall. Those
reared in the fall are the ones to be put into winter quarters.
Bees can not winter on unripe honey, and every bco-kfceper
must know his location in order to succeed. What method
would do for one locality would not do for another.
Mr. Berg — I would like to ask if Mr. Chapman has good
queens.
Mr. Chapman — I find I have better queens than I can buy.
Mr. Root — Mr. Chapman could not rear new races of
bees in this way, nor those extra-long-tongued queens.
Mr. Chapman — My bees are all Italians.
Mr. Hutchinson — I see no difr(U'ence between rearing your
queens and swarming. By his method Mr. Chapman makes
up any loss.
Mr. Chapman — I keep watch of the drones and have only
selected ones with which to breed, and permit only two colo-
nies to rear drones.
building up weak colonies.
Question — How can a weak colony be built up in the fall ?
Mr. Hilton — We can not build up a weak colony.
Mr. Berg — I unite a weak colony with one that has a good
queen, and sometimes unite three In this way.
Mr. Kirkpatrick— All colonies should be strong when put
into winter quarters.
214
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL
April 4, 1901.
Mrs. .lackson — Could a weak colony be kept thru the win-
ter by feeding a cake of sugar ?
Mr. Hilton — The matter of increase can be overdonp.
You must have the best conditions in order to get the best
results. CoIoni.es must be strong in the fall if you want them
strong in the spring. Bees can be fed during the winter in
the cellar, with sugar-syrup, but you must be careful not to
burn it when making it, and the best sugar must be used.
FOUL BROOD -CEOSS-FSRTILIZATION OF FRUITS.
Mr. Hastings, the representative from this district, had
been requested to attend this meeting, and he made his
appearance at this time. Mr. Rankin explained to him the
effect of foul brood, and what other States were doing to
stamp out this contagious disease. Mr. Voorhies was called
upon to explain what the effect would be on the fruit-growing
interests of the State if the bees were destroyed by foul brood.
Mr. Voorhies — I am a pioneer in this part of the State.
When I first came here there were no honey-bees, nor even
bumble-bees, here, and we could not raise melons, pumpkins,
nor squashes without hand fertilization. I do not think all
the fruit-growers realize the importance of cross-fertilization.
I am more interested in fruit growing than in bee-keeping. I
keep a dozen or more colonies more for the purpose of cross-
fertilization than for the profit I get from the bees in the way
of honey-production. When the apple-orchards in this sec-
tion first began to blossom, altho the trees blossomed well the
fruit did not set as it should, and at that time we had a few
bumble-bees in this locality, but no honey-bees. I am con-
vinced fiom the experience I have had that the reason why
we did not get more and better fruit was because the work of
the honey-bee on the blossoms was lacking. Fruit-growers
nowadays do not plant liartlett pears or Baldwin apples in
large blocks, put in alternate rows with other varieties, and
this is for the purpose of cross-fertilization. But we can not
always depend upon the wind to do this, as the wind does not
always blow. There is nothing that I have found in ray
experience that effects cross-fertilization so perfectly as the
honey-bee. Jn the growing of small fruits we have had the
same experience. We plant pistillate, staminate, or perfect-
flowering strawberry-plants, in alternate rows, for this very
purpose. Cross-fertililization will give the best results, and if
we want No. 1 or fancy fruits, we must have it. The blos-
soms of the small fruits do not usually keep open as long as
the tree fruits do. The flowers of the trees may last several
days, tho much depends upon the weather, and the fertiliza-
tion of these flowers may be a question of only a few hours.
If one has bees near by to do this work he can be sure of hav-
ing his trees well set to fruit. I do not see how I could well
get along without the bees ; one can not realize how important
they are in this matter, unless he has had some experience.
Mr. Hastings — I will do what I can for the interest of my
constituents while at Lansing. I have no doubt that the
interest of fruit-growers as well as the interests of bee-keep-
ers will be lookt after. You have my best wishes for both of
them.
It was moved and carried that the committee draft a bill
similar to the one they have in Wisconsin, and present It to
the Legislature.
It was also moved and carried that the next annual meet-
ing be held at Petoskey, the time of the meeting to be decided
by the executive committee.
The Association then proceeded to the election of officers
for the ensuing year, which resulted as follows : President,
George H. Hilton ; vice-president, Elias Coveyou ; secretary,
Wm. G. Voorhies, South Frankfort, Mich.; treasurer, W. Z.
Hutchinson.
Mr. Hutchinson then described queen-rearing as carried
on by W. H. Pridgen, of North Carolina.
QUESTION-BOX.
Question — Does it pay to paint the bottom-boards ?
Mr. Hilton— It pays to paint both sides of the bottom-
boards.
Mr. Kitson — What kind of stands are best for hives ?
Mr. Hilton — I would have 2x4 scantlings in clay, and
have one inch ventilation.
Question— Which way should the hives face?
Mr. Hilton — I want my hives to face the easi.
Mr. Hutchinson — I have tried all ways, and do not think
it makes any difference.
Question— .Should hives be shaded in summer ?
Mr. Hilton — Hives do not need shade except in the hottest
weather — in .luly and August. The shade-boards should pro-
ject over the sides of the hives to shade it properly, and
weights should be used to keep them from blowing off. Ilivos
should not be shaded in the spring, as the sun is best then to
warm the hives.
Question — What size of hives is best ?
Mr. Hilton — The majority prefer the 8-frame Langstroth.
Comb honey can be produced with an 8-framQ hive, but the 8
frames should be full of brood. To do this the honey at the
side of the brood chamber should be extracted, and the empty
frames put into the center of the brood-chamber. It should
contain no honey, whatever. When there is a honey-flow be
sure that the outside frames are full of brood ; if they should
be full of white honey, thi.s can be uncapt and placed in the
center of the brood-chamber, when the bees will carry it up
into the sections.
Mr. Berg — I have used both 8 and 10 frame hives, and
find that I get more filled sections from the 10-frame. I have
had the 10 frames full of brood. I use chaff hives, mostly.
Mr. Beecham — I am in favor of one-half story hives, so
as to keen the different kinds of honey together.
Mr. Hutchinson — There is no loss in deep uncapping of
honey in the frames, as the bees will make more wax that
would otherwise be wasted.
Mr. Rankin — I have experimented with the refuse of wax-
extractors, and would like to get some samples to determine
the amount of wax wasted in the different ways of extract-
ing.
Mr. Beecham — The use of an iron kettle makes the wax
dark ; galvanized iron makes the wax green.
Question — Which is the better foundation — heavy or light ?
Mr. Rankin — I have used 9 sheets to the pound, and also
13 sheets to the pound. I like the thin foundation better.
Mr. Berg — I want a thick top-bar for extracting frames,
so they won't sag.
Mr. Hilton — Have every frame waxt before putting in the
foundation.
Mr. Coveyou explained the merits of his double-walled
super, with the confined air.
On motion the meeting adjourned.
Wm. C. Voorhies, Sec.
\ Contributed Articles. \
Instruments Used for Uncapping Honey.
BY FRIEDKMANN GREINER.
THE first new thing in the line of apiarian implements
coming to us in this new century will be an uncapping'-
machine — at least so it is hinted at. And, indeed, if a
machine can be constructed to accomplish the work of
uncapping for the extractor satisfactorily and speedily, we
will have made a great step in advance, and all extracted-
honey men will be quick, I think, to avail themselves of
the new invention. How great this step in advance is, will
be apparent when I show the readers what the implements
are like that have been used for the purpose in the past.
Nothing better seems to have been found by the Ameri-
can bee-keepers than the honey-knife. [Fig. 1.] Regard-
Fig. I — Birtg/min Honev-A'ni/e
less of what the bee-keepers of other nationalities have
used, and may be using, the knife is preferred by us in
America. Numerous diflferent instruments have been
employed in the years gone by among the German bee-
keepers. It would be difficult to state just how long the
uncapping fork has been known, perhaps not less than 20
years. The long tines of the implement are pusht under
the cappings and the latter are lifted ofl' ; sometimes they
come off perfectly dry — no honey adhering. The work
goes on rather slowly. I can do much more with the right
kind of knife. The handle-part of the fork is usually made
of metal. [See Fig. IV.]
To uncap honey for the bees I, like Dr. Miller and
others, have used an uncapping-comb or harrow. This
implement was originally devised by Iv. Huber, of Baden,
Germany, in 1884, as shown in Figs. II and III. The tines
April 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
215
and teeth of the harrow are crookt at the ends and filed
sharp; with them the cappings are sort of raked off, but
can not be removed so perfectly but what a liberal portion
of them will find their way into the honey and will have to
be strained out or skinned off.
I have no doubt that Dr. Miller's uncapping--comb varies
somewhat in its construction from this one as well as mine ;
but we do not use ours to uncap for the extractor.
Another very old uncapping' instrument is the spiked
uncapping-roller. It works easily and rapidly, and it suits
me to a dot. Of course it only mashes or destroys the cap-
I. Spiked Udcappia? Roller.
III. Single Tooth Harro
II. Uncapping Comb _. ..
IV. Uncapping- Fork.
pings and does not remove them, so they find their way into
the honey, even to a greater extent than was the case with
the harrow when the tool is used to fit the combs for
the extractor as some Germans do. In operating it
they run it over the combs several times and in various
directions. It would afford me little satisfaction to use the
roller in this fashion, but when I have sealed combs I wish
to have emptied by the bees, then the roller comes in play
and has no equal. It has come to stay with me. I have
made the roller part three inches long and about one inch in
diameter; in rows lengthwise of the roller >-inch wire
nails are partly driven in. then the heads pincht off with
nippers so as to have them protrude 's inch or a trille
more. This little roller is hung in a simple frame made of
3+ -inch hoop-iron as shown in the accompanying drawing
[Fig. v.], with suitable small pieces of wood riveted on to
make the handle complete.
Another uncapping instrument I see described as the
uncapping-plane ; but neither the illustration nor descrip-
tion is sufficient to give a clear idea of it, and as I do not
find it spoken of in the bee-periodicals I judge that it is not
a complete success.
The bee-keeping world is now awaiting with anxiety
the forthcoming of Arthur Miller's uncapping machine.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
Working According to Locality— Killing the Queens
Eacli Summer.
BY S. I). CHAI'JIAN.
SITUATED as we are, just half way between the equator
and north pole, we have here in the northern part of
the lower peninsula of Michigan long, cold winters,
and usually it is late in the spring before we get warm
weather. We have deep snow, yet the ground never freezes
in the woods, and very little in the fields. The snow comes
early in the fall, and it is nearly the last of April before it
disappears in the forests. Several seasons my bees have
gathered their first pollen from elm and soft-maple while
there was yet a foot of old snow in the woods. A mile and
a half east of me we are nearly on the hight of the land,
and two miles west we are nearly on a level with the lakes.
In the winter it is from seven to ten degrees colder on the
higher land. Near the lakes we will find, usually, about
one foot of snow ; ten miles due east of there we will find
four feet on the level. Raspberry and basswood come in
bloom one week earlier on the low land. That part of the
Grand Traverse region bordering on the lake and bays is
not as frosty as southern Michigan or northern Indiana ;
but, just in my bee-range, we have early frosts, and the
nights become cool early in the season. For this reason I
believe in putting my bees in winter quarters quite early in
the season — about October 15th. Years ago I found that
my bees, if left on the summer-stands during our cold
and frosty nights, would consume more honey from Octo-
ber 15th to the middle of November, than they would if
put in the cellar October 15th and left till April 2Sth. I
find from 8, to 9 pounds of honey will carry a colony of bees
190 days in 'my cellar. In the last 18 years, 180 days is the
least time that my bees have been confined in the cellar —
211 days the longest time.
At the present time I am using the ninth bee-cellar
since starting with bees in this vicinit)'. I do not know
as it is necessary for me to tell it. but I will say that in
some of these cellars about all I had left in the spring was
the cellar. The cellar that I now use is under my kitchen.
It is 16x24, and there about 200 colonies in it. Some sea-
sons there are a few more ; in others, less. It is perfectly
dry — so dry that you can not, at any time during the win-
ter, find a drop of moisture the size of a pinhead on the
under side of the cover that is right over the cluster of
bees. I use no quilts nor cushions at any time of the year ;
and I prefer this kind of a cellar. I can not winter bees in
a cold, damp cellar ; but in a zvarin, damp cellar I have had
them come thru seemingly in fair condition. They con-
sume rather more honey, however, and they have not the
vitality a colony has wintered in a warm and perfectly dry
cellar. If I could hold the temperature of my cellar the
latter part of spring to about 4,t degrees, I have no reason
to doubt that my bees would be in good condition, and not
show a sign of disease at the end of eight months of con-
finement.
I use the eight-frame Langstroth hive. I have had
some experience with very large hives, but in our cold cli-
mate we can not build up a colony in a large hive so that it
can take advantage of the flow from raspberry. With us
it is necessary that our bees are confined in just as small a
space as possible, with plenty of stores, and just room
enough for their present needs. This applies from the
time of taking the bees out of the cellar, till the time sugar-
maple and fruit-trees come into bloom. From the 5th to the
10th of May, we usually get our first honey from this
source. In this vicinity there are a number of quite large
bee-keepers, and every one of them has come to the eight-
frame hive. We all work for extracted honey. With my
method of management, the eight-frame hive is large
enough for the need of any colony of bees I ever saw.
And I know my colonies are as populous as it is possible to
get with any style or size of hive.
I pay very little attention to my bees early in the
216
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 4, 1901.
spring-. As I take them from the cellar, any colonies that
seem light in stores are put in a row by themselves, and
fed ; but I do not break the sealed covers on the others till
near the time of fruit-bloom. I find that all the time spent
in trying to build up very light colonies in the spring is
thrown away. If they make a live of it they can be
handled to advantage later in the season. With us, the
time to build up our colonies so that they are strong in the
spring, is during the month of August.
At the beginning of fruit-bloom I examine all of my
colonies. From all that need more room, those that have
brood in six or seven frames, and as many spaces well-
filled with bees, I take one frame of brood from the brood-
nest, selecting the one containing the oldest brood. I
shake the bees off in front of the hive, and put a frame
containing all worker-comb in the middle of the brood-nest
in place of the frame of brood I have taken out. I now
put on queen-excluding honey-boards, and leave them on
till the close of the season. The reason I take this frame
of brood from the brood-nest is that I find the queens will
lay much faster in the middle of the brood-nest than they
will in the outside combs. This being the case, right in
the middle of the brood-nest is where we want our queens
to do their work. We are after all the young bees we can
Ret-
Now I will tell you why an eight-frame hive is far the
best in building up colonies early in the spring. It is far
better to have the brood in six or seven frames in the eight-
frame hive than to have the same amount in four frames in
a large hive.
The frame of brood that I remove, is put in an extract-
ing-super directly over the brood-nest, and the super filled
on each side with empty combs. The bees go right to
work in this upper story. If the weather is warm, and a
little honey is coming in, I can, in four or five days, take
from this same colony another frame of brood. If it is a
strong colony I take two. They are put in the extracting
super beside the first comb of brood. I take out one or two
combs, as I need, that were beside the first frame of brood
put in the super, and as the bees have cleaned these combs
and put a little new honey in them, they are just right to
put in the brood-nest in place of the brood removed. The
queen will occupy such combs right away. We must be a
little careful not to take too much brood early in the season
from the brood-nest, or we may discourage the queen.
While our object is to stimulate the queen to lay to her full-
est capacity, I sometimes think our best bee-keepers do not
know just what a queen is able to do, provided the condi-
tions of her colony are just right— and we keep them so for
30 days.
In a short time I take more brood from the brood-nest.
This time I put it in another super and set it under the
first, or over the brood-nest. At this time I destroy the
queen-cells that have been started in the first upper story.
The bees will not swarm if a dozen queens hatch in the
upper stories, but when I extract I shake the bees from
these upper stories in front of the hive, and, if there is a
young queen with them she will crawl in the hive and des-
troy the old queen, and I lose the use of a laying queen for
eight or ten days just at the time I need her most.
I follow this system of management just as long as the
bees zvill be worth anything to me on the raspberry or bass-
wood. We must recollect that there is a certain time dur-
ing the life of a colony, each season, when we can build it
up faster than at any other time during that season. I
expect to find not less than 13, and in some of my best colo-
nies as many as 25, frames containing brood aiid honey —
there is more or less brood in all of them. I think my colo-
nies are 40 percent better than they would have been if I
had given the queen the two lower stories and let them
build up without any of my assistance.
Two years ago I set apart five colonies that were better
than the average of the yard, and I gave the queen of
each the lower stories, and let them build up just as suited
their notion ; adding upper stories and extracting as they
needed. With the remainder of the yard (77 colonies) I
used my method of management. At the end of the sea-
son I^h ad ISOO pounds of honey, extra, to ray credit from
the 77 colonies. This is about 23 pounds per colony ; and I
sold this honey at 6K cents on board the cars. I tried this
experiment in an out-yard, three miles from home. It took
one-half day to go to this yard, put brood in the upper
stories, destroy the queen-cells, and return home. I did
this eight times, requiring four days of time, and I had
this 1800 pounds of honey to pay me for my four days"
labor. The showing in favor of the 77 colonies would
have been much better if there had not been a number
that did not amount to much on the raspberry. This is not
all; my bees never thin/; of swarming. I am complete
master of the situation, under any and all conditions.
This alone is worth the four days' time.
During the last three years, raspberry has yielded
about the same each season. My best colonies, those occu-
pying four stories, have yielded, each season, from 160
pounds to 200 pounds per colony. My three-story hives dur-
ing this same time have averaged 90 pounds each ; my two-
story hives from 20 to 40 pounds.
The wild red raspberry comes into bloom not far from
the Sth of June, and it yields continually till near the 1st
of August ; tho it is on the decline after July 15th. The
past season it came into bloom the second ti)>u\ and my bees
gathered fully five pounds per colony from the 1st to the
10th of October. This is nothing unusual, tho I do not
recollect getting so much honey so late in the season from
this source. After my bees were in the cellar there was
bloom, green and ripe berries, up to November 1st.
Basswood comes in bloom about the 15th of July ; but
we have had little honey from this source the last four
years. When basswood yields, it is not those extra-large
colonies that veintered the best, that built up early in the
season and gave us such large yields from the raspberry,
that prove to be the best on the basswood. Far from it.
Those large colonies built up rapidly in the spring, but it
is impossible to keep our queens laying at their best except
for a short time. Tho honey may be coming in every day,
the bees are getting old, and those colonies are on the
decline, while colonies that were lighter early in the spring
have been building up, and by the time basswood comes into
bloom they are liable to send out a larger working force of
bees that are just the right age to take advantage of the
yield from basswood ; that is why our lighter colonies
prove the best on the basswood. If we are to make a suc-
cess of any colony we must bring it thru the winter in
good condition \ then we must thoroly understand our loca-
tion ; and a certain time before the honey harvest we must
stimulate that colony to build up as rapidly as possible.
Remember, the faster the colony builds up, the more vigor-
ous are the bees ; so that the colony is able to bring into
action the largest possible force of bees that are just the
right age to take advantage of the flow.
From about the 1st to the 10th of July I kill all of my
queens. I have practiced this for 16 or 17 years. I would
not go to this expense unless I thought I had some pretty
good reasons for doing it, as it takes a day in each yard to
hunt them up. Where queens are workt as I work them
they never prove as good the second year. With my man-
agement the average life of the best of queens is not over
two years. The first year of their lives, not one queen in a
hundred is superseded. The second year, from 30 to SO
percent of them will be superseded in the fore part of the
season, just at the time we want a good queen in every col-
ony. This makes a big hole in my honey crop. At the
time I kill my queens my colonies are in the very best con-
dition. I am sure of just as good queens as we can get
with the most favorable swarming conditions. After kill-
ing the queens, for about 25 days, no eggs are laid in the
hives. C3ur colonies are not rearing a lot of bees that
would be consumers for this leng-th of time. As the brood
hatches in the brood-nest the bees fill these combs with
honey, leaving the colony in better condition for winter.
One of my best reasons for killing the queens is that
thereby each colony is furnisht with a good young queen
to build them up for winter.
Experience and a careful study of this matter will show
many more reasons why it is profitable to kill the queens
each year in northern Michigan. As I said in the begin-
ning of this article, the time to build up colonies so they
are strong in the spring is during the month of August. I
use the same method in the fall that I do in the spring, but
not on so large a scale. Near the first of June I select
from four to six of my best colonies, and in each colony I
put two frames containing largely drone-comb, for the
purpose of rearing drones. I do not intend to rear any
drones except from these colonies, as I use only worker-
comb in the brood-nests, and if a few drones are hatcht
they must nearly all hatch in the upper stories, where they
soon worry themselves to death or are killed in trying to
get thru the queen-excluder.
If I wish to run a colony or two for comb honey, IS or
20 days before the end of the honey harvest I take one or
two of these large colonies (they are twice as large as any
colony that is run for comb honey from the beginning of
the season) and remove the three extracting supers, and in
their place I put three section-cases. They will fill three
April 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
217
about as soon as they will one. In 30 minutes these sec-
tion-cases are filled with bees ; and they g^o right to work.
I can take more section honey, late as it is in the season,
than I could if I had workt the colonies for section honey
from the beginning- of the honey harvest ; and I have
already taken 60 or 80 pounds of extracted honey before I
put on the section-cases. They do the work so quickly that
we get an extra, No. 1 quality of section honey.
I have told you that my bees do not swarm, and I think
I can tell you zc'hy they do not swarm. The raising of the
brood to the upper stories, distributing it in three or four
places, there is no large body of brood in the brood-nest at
anytime; es,pecia.\\y sealed brood. PVom the time I put up
the first frame of brood they have been starting queen-
cells in the upper stories, and every 10 or 12 days I des-
troyed them, but during all this time (four to six weeks)
they have not attempted to start a queen-cell in the brood-
nest where the queen is laying. Eleven years ago I used the
same management as I do at pre.sent. That season I killed
140 queens, and over 80 of that number did not start a
queen-cell in the brood-nest : and the brood was too old in
the upper stories. I should have had over 80 queenless
colonies had I not discovered it just in time to take cells
from those colonies that were rearing queens.
I mention this case to show the conditions into which
we can bring our colonies ; and how slovf they are some-
times even to recognize the loss of their queens.
I think these are the reasons why my bees do not swarm
up to the time that the young queens hatch ; and I think
this management has something to do in keeping them
from swarming at the time the queens hatch. My bees do
not get the swarming-fever. When the young queens
hatch, the conditions in the hive are changed ; I have put
no brood in the upper stories for a week or more previous to
killing the queens. If there is a colony in the yard that
has the swar)ning-fever at the time I killed the old queen,
that one will swarm from the 11th to the 13th day, even tho
I destroyed every sign of a cell at the time I killed the
queen, while the others do not hatch a queen till the 14th or
the Ibth day from the time of destroying the queens.
At the time the queens hatch there is no brood in the
upper stories, and I extract the honey closely, so, at this
time, there is plenty of room. This is the reason they do
not swarm at the time the queens hatch.
I have run my out-yard of 90 colonies the whole season,
killed all the queens, and have had but one swarm ; and
that swarmed at the beginning of fruit-bloom before I had
put on any upper stories. The sv?arming-fever is a spon-
taneous impulse, and we can so change the conditions of a
colony that it is liable to contract the desire to swarm in
ij minutes. Supposing, at the time the young queens
hatch, each colony has a young queen, and most of them
have destroyed the queen-cells, now remove all the upper
stories, confining these large colonies to the brood-nest,
and I should expect every one of them to sjvarm. I would
have my hands full for a day or two. With these condi-
tions I have known a colony to swarm in 30 minutes after
we had brusht the bees carefully from the combs. If we
shake the bees from the combs we cover them with honey,
and have spoiled the experiment.
Just before the queens hatch I make my increase by
division ; and it is not at the expense of my honey crop. In
union there is strength. I have kept the bees in each col-
ony together till near the end of the honey harvest.
Many of our best writers have frequently told us always
to keep our colonies strong. I hardly think this is good
advice for our locality. Years ago I would have given a
good deal if they had gone a little farther and told us just
how they managed to build up their colonies so they were
strong. And now, just for the fun of it, I would like to
know, when their colonies are strong how they always keep
them so.
It is necessary that every bee-keeper should understand
his own locality, and what is best adapted to the require-
ments of his location.
I have not written this as a pattern for bee-keepers in
New York, or California, or any other State, but simply at
the request of a few bee-keepers living in northern Michi-
gan, who wish to try my method of management. — Bee-
Keepers' Review. Antrim Co., Mich.
The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just
what its name indicates. Tells all about growing fruits
and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at SO cents a year.
We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it.
We club it with the American Bee Journal— both for $1.10.
K*4K*v*i.jiV*v*v*iJ«v*ijiij*>M;
^ The Afterthought. %
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
A REVIEW OP "THE HOME CIRCLE."
And so it's a "Home Circle " our journal is to have. A
poor one would be just so much space wasted. A good oun,
without much doubt, would decidedly help the paper to pros-
per. I can't say I exactly like that quavering editorial half-
promise to steal all the space needed from tlie advertisements.
Sounds as if the editor hadn't the "sand "to edit his own
paper. (He has, tho.) Other things being equal, the bee-
paper that makes itself of interest to the whole family will
distance the one that only interests one individual. In the
good old times, when to meet a bee-keeper was to meet a man
consumed with a raging "bee-fever," the above dictum may
not have been true, but you know we have to live in present
times. The species of mosquito whose bites inoculate bee-
fever has become nearly extinct. As for the old patients,
they are mostly "pretty well, thank you," at 97% degrees
Fah. And, don't you know, the prosperous paper (besides its
side-issues) will have more acres in bee-reading, and more fer-
tile acres, too, than the unprosperous one can possibly sport.
However correct you may think his principles to be, the editor
who allows his paper to "spring-dwindle" will make you but
little return for your dollar. Cause why ? He can't. It
hardly needs saying that Prof. Cook is a man who has right
ideas — progrest ideas — about what home ought to be.
From the concentrated wisdom of the seventeen Maxims
I will quote just two words: "Avoid moods." Moods all
right in grammar ; and I think I'll advocate " high license"
instead of " prohibition " for moods in folks. Don't believe I
exactly want a friend whose whole life is one even thing,
unvaried by a single change of mind. Constant, even-toned
sounding of one note is hardly the thing— even if the note is
" soul." And we'd greatly want to change off upon another
mood, that fellow whose forever note is " Me," with a big M.
License of -S 10, UOO for the Me-Indicative mood. Also the
contemptuous Poh ! — tentiai mood, and the too-imperative.
Imperative mood should be mulcted well for the public
treasury. But the main idea of the maxim is right. Down
on the home-circlist who won't give a civil answer to a civil
question, and hides behind an excuse. Perchance this is an
excuse : " I have an angelic mood which I wear much of the
tinje — so you must remember that I average well — just for
now this is my nearly-innocent and not-very-big Polar-Bear
mood." That individual should be compelled, somehow, to
see self as others see. Pages 16-3, 170, 171.
IMPORTANT POINT IN SPRAYING TREES.
One thing in Mr. E. R. Roofs excellent paper on spraying
trees in bloom is less familiar to the mind of the bee public
than the rest of the points made. The poison is charged with
damaging the pollen. Grains will not develop when mois-
tened with the solution, or even with a half-strength solution.
Surely it looks hardly wise for the orchardist to depend for
pollen on the flowers he fails to hit. Page 120.
BUYING SUPPLIES WITHOUT A GUABANTY.
When it gets to the point that retailers generally are not
willing to buy supplies without a guaranty as to what things
are really made of, then indeed a pure-food and pure-honey
morning does begin to streak the east— or is it the west in this
case that gets streaked first, and needs it most ? We don't feel
very malignant toward any one. but wo trust the swindlers
also feel a little streaked. Page 121.
WORMS ON TREES AND IN HIVES.
And now comes a man who apparently thinks the worms
(so-called) he finds in his apples, and the familiar ones of the
bee-hive, are the same thing. And he discovers (in certain
frame of soul how we do discov(n- things 1) he discovers that
each color of apple has a similarly-tinted worm— and ditto of
the bee-hive that doth stand beneath that tree. Mr. Tesla
would b'etter be looking a little (uit for his laurels. Hut while
we are contemplating this good friend we would better be see-
ing ourselves a little also, and our inventions and discoveries.
I once discovered the source of the power which makes the
earth revolve on its axis— and came near trying to publish it
to the world. I made a machine that would generate axis
218
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 4, 1901.
rotation beautifully, and I thought I knew why. I didn't, tho.
Page 126.
THK WISCONSIN BEE-MULCT.
That proposed legislative mulct of ."5400 for tnoving an
apiary is of interest as showing the crudity of some people's
ideas of bees. Evidently think the bee-man is getting a fortune
too fast, and that he ought to be made to " shell out" some of
it. Page 131.
" AFEARED " OF A HONEY-TRUST.
And so, 5Ir. Aikin, a convention will wrestle, and
wrangle, and suggest, and advise, and demand — and then sug-
gest and advise the opposite thing — and then appoint a com-
mittee to sell the honey crop of a State — and provide for the
greasing of the wheels — not one dollar ! Still Mr. A. has
hopes. I, too, have — what would be hopes in a different per-
son— I'm " ay^ar^i/ ■' that the honey-trust will some time be
an accomplisht fact. Page 132.
ORTHODOX AND UNORTHODOX GOLDEN BEES.
According to Mr. Doolittle's interesting history of the
five-banders there seems to be in the land both an orthodox
and an unorthodox golden bee. Latter a mongrel worthy of
all sorts of perdition — but doubtless handy to bear away the
sins of both kinds. Still, whether you mongrelize, or whether
you eschew mongrelization, this critic for one doesn't believe
you can breed golden color to the front without at the same
time breeding to the front the ancestral qualities of certain
ancestral bees. Wonder which kind it was that a friend of
mine presented me. They were beauties, indeed : and they
also seemed good-mannered, and exceptionally enterprising ;
but they didn't bef^in to get thru the first winter alive. Page
134.
BEE-PARALYSIS AND QUEENS.
The article of O. O. Poppleton, on page 134, should not
be lightly past by, even if it is a sort of insoluble puzzle.
It looks a little as if the virus of paralysis has spread invisi-
bly pretty much everywhere, but developing to do serious mis-
chief only in favorable climates showing mainly in the inferi-
ority and short-livedness of queens. And how about the resi-
dent Florida bees? Are they free from it (by the extinction
of all not free), or are they immune to the virus which they
carry as well as the rest ?
SHELTER AND SHADE FOB BEES.
That nid-nod, rod-long umbrella of Mr. Wagner's, to shel-
ter and shade his bees, it has obvious good points ; and it is
moreover somewhat of a novelty, in these last days when nov-
elties are scarce. We tip our hats to it just at the angle
shown in Fig 2. Possibly some might say that the arrange-
ment as a whole has obvious disadvantages also. Page 135.
UMBRKLL.\S BY MAIL.
Umbrellas by mail, eh ? If Uncle Sara should adopt the
notion would any lost umbrellas, we wonder, imitate the
" vilest sinner " and return ? Still viler than the vilest sinner
most of 'em, we fear. Possibly, our French and Swiss breth-
ren, you have carried postal reform an inch or two too far
already ; but what say to an apiary by mail at 15 cents per
hive ? Then migratory honey-grabbing might get up-to-date.
And the exhaustion of the subject he complains of seems to
improve C. P. Dadant, page 135. Would almost like to see
what kind of brick he would make when deprived of both
straw and clay.
HOT AND COOL SUGAR-HONEY TALK.
Prof. Cook's hot words about sugar-honey on page 1-1-9 —
possibly it might be well to say some words in addition which
are a little cooler. Whether sugar syrup manipulated by bees
is " honey " or not, is, to a certain extent a matter of defi-
nition of words, and of opinion. Now people may be atro-
ciously wrong in their definitions and opinions v/Waoni entirely
falling into untruth. World is full of justsuch people ; and let
us try to be patient with them. Again, some of those whose
— not quite falsehoods — we deplore may never have tasted the
real article, stored when bees were in the active condition.
Wake the bees up after they have ceast work for the season.
and make them carry down in haste some syrup, and occa-
sional samples of this kind of work »««;>/ possibly taste more
like syrup than they do like honey. But the real article, if I
am right, not only has a honey-like taste in a general way, but
it has a decided special taste, not at all suggestive of sugar,
that would almost deceive the very elect into calling it the
flavor of some particular kind of flower. Exactly that hap-
pened to Mr. Heddon on a certain rather public occasion.
Again (to resume) our senses of smell and taste, rather more
than the other senses, are often be-trickt, especially if our
minds are excited. For instance, I abominate tomatoes. '
Once my mother gave me a piece of very sweet pie. It tasted
good. Later on I found out it was made of preserved toma-
toes— and then it tasted bad — couldn't eat such stuff to save
me, then. It is related that some express clerks somewhere
out West buried a box of pumps, that chanced to be shaped
like a coffin, because the corpse m&\Ae smelt so bad. It was
not falsehood that ailed these clerks, but just the fallibility
of the poor human critter.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, ni.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Brood Diseases.
A subscriber sends me a sample of brood that may be
affected by foul brood or something- closely allied to it. In
matters of so much importance it is wise to take no chances
and to waste no time ; so I advise any one who has reason
to think that anything' like foul brood, pickled brood, or
black brood, is present in any of his colonies, to send a
sample with the regular fee of #2.00 to Dr. Wm. R. Howard,
Fort Worth, Tex., so that it may be analyzed, and then the
sender will know positively what is the trouble, and what is
to be done with it. I know of no one in this line more com-
petent than Dr. Howard, and bee-keepers owe him a debt of
gratitude for his investigations. C. C. MiLLER.
Transferring and Dividing Colonies.
1. My bee-book tells how to transfer colonies, but if I
do it by the Heddon plan, what is to hinder the parent col-
ony from being robbed during^ the 21 days, if near the
apiary ?
2. Why could I not drum them into the new hive at
once that has old combs, having it tight around the bottom,
not using the forcing-box?
3. If I make swarms by dividing according to the text-
books, will the queenless part rear a queen if there are no
queen-cells at the time of dividing? Why wouldn't they
be worthless, like many other queenless colonies?
4. Would colonies made by dividing, be likely to pro-
duce as much surplus honey as if left to swarm naturally ?
Massachusetts.
Answers — 1. The supposition is that the bees will
defend themselves against robber-bees, but it will be well
to help them by contracting the entrance somewhat.
2. That certainly will be better, if the hives are such
as to allow it.
3. Set it down as a lixt fact that if you want good
queens they must be in strong colonies and in favorable
circumstances at least till sealed. That settles the ques-
tion that the queenless part must not be allowed to rear a
queen from the start unless strong and gathering.
4. Just as much, if of the same strength and having
the same advantages.
Spring Requeening— Introducing Method.
If you were to requeen an apiary in the spring with
young queens from the South, what method of introduc-
tion would you practice ? lowA.
Answer — This matter of queen-introduction is such a
constantly changing and elusive thing that it is hard to tell
a month ahead what one would do. Just as it happens to
look at this minute, I suppose I should take the regulation
way of introducing in the cages that brought them. If I
didn't follow that exactly, it would be to do something that
had before proved successful in my hands, without much
reference to what had succeeded with others. Explain it as
we may, there's sometiiing about the matter that allows A
to be successful in one way and B in another, while both
April 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
219
might fail if they should swap plans. If time was plenty,
and it was decided to take extra precaution, this might be
done : At the time of day when bees were busy flying,
remove the old queen and set the hive in a new place, after
first taking from it a frame of brood and bees to put in
another hive on the old stand ; put the new queen in the
removed hive and perhaps two days later return to the old
place, giving it back its frame of brood.
Now it's none of my business, but if you're requeen-
ing with young queens to avoid swarming, I'll volunteer
the remark that in this locality it doesn't do to make the
change too early.
-*-«-•
Transferrins: Controlling Swarming.
I got a start in bees last summer. Can I transfer or
increase, and incidentally control swarming, by placing
Langstroth hives with starters under or over ho^-hivesl or
does the " A B C of Bee-Culture" (which I have) cover the
whole ground ? If so. I shall have to follow instructions
therein. Indiana.
Answer. — If you put a box-hive over a frame-hive hav-
ing its frames tilled with foundation, and allow the bees to
work down and fill the lower hive, you will probably have,
if you wait long enough, all the brood in the lower story,
and consequently the colony transferred, and you may con-
fidently count on no swarming. With a little more trouble
you can have a surer and quicker way. Put on the stand
of the box-hive a movable-frame hive filled with foundation,
and put over it a queen-excluder. Drum the bees out of the
box-hive until you think you have the queen, and run them
into the frame-hive. Set the box-hive over the excluder,
and close up any opening over the frame-hive or under the
box-hive. A week later look to see if you have eggs below,
and if not drum again. Three weeks after the queen is
drummed out all the brood will be below (unless it be a
small amount of worthless drone-brood), and the box-hive
may be disposed of. No danger of swarming. It will be a
help in either case if you can get a frame of brood from
another colony and put it in the frame-hive at the first.
Stimulative Brood-Rearing in the Spring.
When should I begin, and how much should I feed, to
stimulate brood-rearing in the spring? The colonies are
pretty weak. Illinois.
Answer — Unless you are somewhat experienced, and
unless you are very careful, you will do well to let stimula-
tive feeding alone. It may do good and it may do harm.
If you feed so as to start the bees to Hying out when it is so
cold that they will be chilled and lost, it will be a losing
speculation. If the bees are started out flying, and then it
suddenly turns cloudy when the temperature is not very
high, the bees may never return to their hives. It maybe
a safer thing, and perhaps just as well in the long run, if
you see that the bees have abundance of stores, and have
all cracks about the hive closed, and then leave them to
themselves. But if you think it best to try stimulative
feeding, begin when the bees fly out every day at least a
little, feeding every evening, or every alternate evening, a
half pound of sugar with an equal or greater quantity of
water.
It
Stands
to Reason
That There Is Money Saved in Buying
Direct from the Manufacturer.
*-^>„
The profits between the manufacturer and consumer are large. We'
"^Save You These Profits. We are the largest manufacturers of Vehicles
'^and Harness in the world selling to the consumer exclusively. For 28 years we
have conducted business on this plan. We guarantee to give you much better
quality for the same money, or the same quality for less money than the dealer,
jobber or supply agent.
We Ship Anywhere for Examination and Comparison,
Guaranteeing Safe Delivery. We have No Agents.
We make 178 styles of vehicles and 65 styles of harness. Our Large Catalo
shows every Vehicle and Harness we make and gives prices. IT'S FREE.
^Civ X Elkhart Carriage and Harness Manfg. Go.
'^i/^O \— ^^" ^- P'^^'^T' Sec'y. ELKHART, INDIANA.
.>»*
i'^X9
No. 4V 1-8 Sir
trie Strap Ha
^ nlfkel or
niitation ru
^^ber trinin
iiiira. Price
Please mention Be Journal when writing
220
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 4, 1901.
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being- a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
The Combination Desk
■^'%^ -^ K/
and Book^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
THe Royal Star GomDJnation
Game-Board Co..
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO, ILL.
Combined Desk and Book-Case
Size, (iii-in. high. 36 in. wide,
19 in. deep.
Price, .$i;i.7.5.
[The above firm is entirely reliable.
S^ Please mention the Bee Jourc
-Editor.]
Ladies' Desk.
in. high, 25 in. wide, 15J4
in. deep.
Price, $2.S,->.
A WHOLE GARDEN
For 14g.
We wish to gaiQ this ; ^^.r 200000 new
customers, and hence offer
PkK- Salzer's Eiue lilood Tomato..
13 Day Radish JOc
LaCrosse Market Lettuce.... 15c
KleganC Flower Seeds 15e
Worth $1.00fopl4cente. $Too
We will mail you this entire 81.00's
worth of splendid seed novelties free,
together with our larpe illustrated
Plant and Seed CataloRue on receipt
of this notice and 14(.' in postage
Choice Onion Seed 60c lb and up.
Potatoes at$l-'.iOper barrel and up'
Catalok'ue alone, r. cents. T
JOHN A. SALZER SEED CO..LaCrosse,Wis.
Wanted
A trustworthy boy or
young- man to assist
in apiary work, to
learn practical bee-keepingf, and earn good
wages. UK) colonies of bees for sale. C. Theil-
MANN, Theilmanton, Wabasha Co., Minn.
14Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
THERE IS NO
INCUBATOR
rk so well. Send 6c in stamps
.hunk, printed in 5 languages, describing our Sue
i:il<tr>t nnd Itrooders* They deserve their naoie.
Incubator Co., Box 78 .Des Moines, Iowa.
Journal "Wln:-!! ■w^ntiue
SENT ON 30 DAYS TRIAL
15
SEED bTl free
To get new customers w test my 8ecdB, I will mall my 1901
catalogue, tilled with more UargalnH than ever and a lOo Ikiie
Bill good for lOe worth of Meedn for trial ab»iolutely
free. All theBest8eods, BulbH, Plants, ICo8ct«, Furm
Needg, PotatoCH aud oiany NoveUled at lowest prlcea.
OInsenff* the ereat money niaiimg plant, iiilunt Prize To*
mutoeSt 2 to the foot. I'an American Oatn, sentoutfiee to
farmers, and two Free Pa(^H«>*« to Pan Amerleun Expo-
sition, Buffalo, N. Y. are offered. S2,635.001d cash premioms.
Don't give your order until you see this new catatoguet^fou'lt
be 8urnrlMed at niv bargain offers. Send posta I for catalogoa
to-day. It In FKKE toall. Tell your friends toaend too.
F. B. MILLS, Box 84, Uoiiehill, Onoodasft Co., N. T,
^^:})fik/^^^ii^^f}?^:S^^^^l^l^^=^:&^l^So^^:^^m
s%Ewr #^^^i
H^
^^^^i^ii^ssi^mtrffmMi^^
Good Yields of Honey— Foul Brood.
I liave beeu in the bee-busiuess about lU
J ears, euuimeneiiij,' with one colony. I aim to
keeji lietween 50 anil (iO colonies all the time
now. In 1899 I secured 6,000 pounds of ex-
tracted honey, and last season I secured 4,000
pounds. I sell it all at Boulder and the min-
injj: towns in this vicinity, getting from S to 10
cents per jjound for it. I put it in two-pound
Vinson jars, and also in tin cans, and have a
niLdy .s:ile for it. Our honey is mostly gath-
cri'il fnim alfalfa bloom.
Fdul brood got into my apiary last season,
and as I had never had any experience with
the disease, I lost the use of a good many col-
onies by transferring them too late, but I
saved the most of the bees, and what honey I
got was fine. F. W. B.miek.
Boulder Co.. Colo., March is.
Bees Wintered All Right.
My bees are now at work on peach, plum,
uiustaril and turnip blooms, and have come
thru the winter all right, and with no loss. I
lind bees swarm last April, and I believe they
will swarm again this year in April.
R. P. Davies, M. D.
Lamar Co., Tex., March23.
National Bee-Keepers' Association.
The report of the Chicago convention was
]i:irticularly valuable and interesting. I bc-
lit'N'e it should be issued in pamphlet form,
tlius making the fund of information con-
tained therein easily accessible. I am more
imprest with the value of the National Asso-
ciation and its possibilities in the interest of
bii-Kcc|i.'is every lime I think of it. With
uiiiie.l Hiiuiii ,niil .support of the fraternity it
seein> III me iliat the Association could be
m;ule llie Jistiibuting agent for the product,
and tlie manufacturer and distributer of sup-
]>lies as well — a bee-keepers' trust, and why
not ' With concentration in production and
250 Poultry Pictures
lltistratini: ovvry ph.ise of poultry raising and
Ji [layes of mailer telling how, when and
ihat. That and much more ia in our'*l'roflt-
ble Poultry Kcepingin all its BniDches."
) about the warranted for 10 years
Incubator, which Is guaranteed to
free.Addr
CYPHERS
>y III. «;
Circulara
sk" for book 50
IXCrUATOR CO..
ylnnd, N. T. BostOD, Hau.
To Exchange !
100 COLONIES OF
BEES on .s LaDf,'stroth
ch, valued at $3.i.hi each, for beeswax
ir bee-keepers' supplies.
14Alt H. VOQELER. New Castle, Calif.
ELECTRIC HAMDYWAMJJS
excel in noality. strength, durability. Carry 4UU0 Ibo.
kThey are Low priced
Electric 8te
]\\ heel(»— Btratght ■
r staggered oval
DOkea. Any height,
nywidth of ttretom anv wsf'on. Catalotme FREE.
ELECTKIO WHEEL CO.. Itox lt> . <|uln(y. Ills.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVE. INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
Removed —Queens
I wish to inform my ra;
customers that I have ni
Miss., to Coal Creek, Tenn., where lam maliing
A SPECIALTY OF REARINU QUEtNS that
produce the very preuiest and best workers
that worli on red clover.
Untested, each $ .75
Tested, " 1.00
Breeders, " 3.00
Select Untested, each 85
Give them a trial and be convinced. Thanks
for past favors. Resp_ectji;n_y :
14A2t
April 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
221
■distribution, tlie expenses of both would he
■minimized, and the large slice now taken hy
the supply trust before, and the conuuission
trust after, the crop is secured, would largely
revert to the producer.
That this is not all guesswork I am con-
Tinced from late experience. In 1900 I askt
for prices from a firm that advertised " Root's
goods at Roofs prices," on 1,000 brood-frames.
Bending them sample. They quoted ?21 ; I got
the frames made for .*12..t0. This is no re-
flection on the firm, as the prices of other
supply dealers vary but little from the above.
The margin saved in this transaction shows
what may be done if we wake up and do it.
My 70 colonies are all alive and well, but
have had no chance for a general (light since
aast November. Wm. Wr.4Y.
Gratiot Co., Mich., March fi.
Outdoor-Wintered Bees.
I am afraid that some of our outdoor-win-
tered bees have been confined too long for
their own good. Bees in the cellar never were
quieter at this time of the year.
Frieoemaxx Greiner.
Ontario Co., N, Y., March 18.
Bees Did Fairly Well.
My bees did fairly well last season. I
secured 2,600 pounds of comb honey from .37
■colonies, which I sold for $280.10.
\V. G. LiNDZA.
Boulder Co., Colo., March 10.
Bees Wintered Splendidly— Pros-
pects Bright.
My bees have wintered in fine condition, 90
<*olonies having come thru without a single
loss. I hear some of my neighbors complain-
ing of losses, but I attribute it to negligence
on their part.
We have had an unusual amount of snow
this winter, which insures plenty of water for
irrigating purposes, hence a large crop of
alfalfa, and the bee-keepers are expecting
large returns — disappointments not included.
The weekly contente of the " Old Reliable''
are as eagerly awaited as of yore.
John \V. Ltell.
Washoe Co., Nev., March 18.
Bees Wintering All Right -Bee-
Literature.
We are having a tine winter, and bees seem
to be wintering all right so far. They gath-
ered the first pollen on Feb. 17th, and again
on March 2d and 3d, but the weather has
turned cold again, and they have stopt work.
I am employed in a store here, and see a
great many people, and have the opportunity
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
3f tbe finest up-
e've had. They
of Bee=Keepers'
d Queens. Catalog-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS
are 2d to none. Complete lin>
Supplies on hand, i
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
M Q. ACKLIN, Manager,
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please meiUiou the Bee Journal.
HOnE=SEEKERS' EXCURSIONS.
On the first and third Tuesdaj-s of
€ach month the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul Railwaj' will sell round-trip
excursion tickets from Chicago, Mil-
waukee and other points on its line to
a great many points in South Dakota,
North Dakota, and other Western and
Northwestern States at about one fare.
Take a trip West and see the wonderful
crops and what an amount of good land
can be purchast for a little money.
Further information as to rates, routes,
prices of farm lands, etc., may be ob-
tained by addressing F. A. Miller, Gen-
eral Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES ^c^*.
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY....
Watertown. Wisconsin. U. S. a.
and the best of it
.THE WHOLE WORLD AOMIRES
Split Hickory Vehicles,
closer you e.x.imine them, the better you like
■V lire l)Ullt rlflht all the w.tv through and they have a hun-
I f.-atiirp<— "littlf thliisrs" that add to their comfort, safety
lit \- found on no othc-r. We sell
DIRECT FROM THE FACTORY
roval. Yon don't
Send for our V.-
uvcnll aL-infs prohts. We ship on appr
k'-'pii Mill. -s \ on think it a barpaii
hi. 1.. an.l Il:n ti.^s ratalosur-. It will =av." v.m money.
OHIO CARRIAGE MANUFACTURING CO.,
6 W. Broad Street, Colvimbus, Ohio.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writine.
^PW
LiK£A3oj^^7^im
Our low prices and our Ten Days Trial plan are **forever
in the way'* of the local dealer. He doesn't like us — naturally
■ — because we let our customers take a vehicle and use it 10
days before deciding whether they will keep it or not,
and because we sell you better goods for less money than he pos-
sibly can. There are two or three profits on the goods he sells—
the "dealer's, t lie jobber's, the manufacturer's. We make our own
goods and add but one small profit. In style, finish and material
you wnnt find the equal of our vehicles for the money anywhere.
Send for big, free catalogue and particulars of our 10 days trial
plan. \Ve make hartiess too.
KALAMAZOO CARRIAGE AND HARNESS CO., Box 53. Kalamazoo. Mich
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
Ai the Pstris Exposition
e, as usual, nur exhibit attnu-teil mnie ntteiition than almost ^^tet^
ere among strangers. So \
t the large number of people f n
■e thought we
ply surprised _ .-.-^-
Europe who called on us and said they were using Rellu-
I ItrofiderH. All were satisfied and congratulatory and it marie
There is but oneexplanntion— merit, merit, merit. OurSOth
Ito
Reliable Incubator & Brooder Co., Box 8- 2
3 they la?
, Qulncy, II h
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writinct
Belgian nmi
CHEAP.
PEDiaREED AND COMMON STOCK.
Haviugr bought a Job Lot of a neighbor and
added to what I had, I must dispose of same to
make room for my increase. They are mostly
youn^— 3 months and over — with a few bred
Does. ALSO
Italian Queens
of last season's rearing, ready as soon as the
weather is warm enough to send thru the mail.
Write for prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
iiAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
Please mention Bee -Toumal -when -writine,
Harry N. Hammond Seed Co. — We are very
glad to call the attention of our readers to the
Harry N. Hammond Seed Co., of Bav City,
Mich., who have been advertising in these col-
tiber when Harry N. Ham-
ing and selling seeds in a
1 way at Fifield, Mich. At
ness grew to large propor-
Ihi:
nd started
iiparati
.ions
at tbe bus
aln
vheln
befell their
year ago, i
This blow
buildii
people issue a vei
will be glad to ha
have not already
atr cala
business in the shape of lire about ;
.•liich destroyed their warehouses,
vould probably have crusht out the
ambition of most business men, but with com-
mendable pluck and enterprise Mr. Hammond
decided to re-establish his business on an even
broader and more substantial basis than ever.
Realizing that it would be an advantage to have
his warehouses and shipping business In a
larger city, he incorporated his company and
located at Hay City, where large and commo-
ected for his use. These
iplete catalog which we
readers write for if they
itidg please
the A I
Be
al.
Marslilield ilannlactming Conipauy.
Our Specialty is making- SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the rig-ht kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and i)rice-list.
8A26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfleld, Wis.
Flease mention Bee Journal when writing.
222
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 4, 1901.
QUEENS!
Improved Golden and Leathef-colored Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one of Root's best loner-tongued Red-
Clover Breeders from their $2(iO queen, and a
Golden Breeder from Doolittle.who says if there
is a BREEDER of ffoldeu bees in the U.S. worth
fWO, this one is worth that sum. The above'
breeders have been added to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the comingr season.
J. L. Gandv, of Humboldt, Nebr., wrote us on
Aug. 5th, IQiHi, saying that the colony having
one of our (lueens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostly comb); he states that
he is certain that our bees woik on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiary.
A. I. Roofs folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our queens from time to time. We have files
upon files of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering the above evidence, need
you wonder why our orders have increast each
year? Give us a trial order and be pleased. We
have years of e-xperience in mailing and rearing
queens. Safe delivery will be guaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with each lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Warranted stock, fl.OC each: six for $ S.OO
Tested queens, Jl 50 each; six for 8.1X1
Selected tested, $2.00 each; six for 10.00
We have loo, coo Folding Cartons on hand,
and so long as they last we will sell at $«.00 per
1,000, with your address printed on in two colors:
500, for $2.75. At above price you can not afford
to place comb honey on the market without car-
toning it. Address all orders to
H. G. QUIRIN, Parkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Onice.,
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. 1+E13t
.- ..^- . I,oii«'Slar
Breeder of
Establisht 1885.
12Atf Please i
FINE
ITALIANQUEENS
EW, Wilson C
the Bee Jo
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and the South.
MUTH'S SQUARE GLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Lowest Freight Rates in the country.
Send for Catalog.
C. H. "W. ^WEBEK,,
Successor to C. F. Muth & Son,
2146-48 Central Ave., CINCINNATI,0.
ALBINO QUEENS HJZZ^i^iI^l
want the gentlest Bees — If vou want the best
houev-gatherers vou ever saw— try mv Albinos.
Untested Oueens in April, $1.00; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Dittmer's Fonndatioii !
Retail-Wholesale Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desir.able in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are mv
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fork fax Into Fonnflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog g^iving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Plep^e mention Bee Jotirnal -when writing.
to talk to a number of bee-keepers, and I
always siieak .T frond word for the "Old Re-
lial'le." but il MM-iiis to be hard to induce soine
of tlieiii to laid- a i."i(>d bee-paper, and thereby
inform thenisflvi-s along the line of bee-eul-
ture. I have taken the American Bee Journal
for about nine years, and I don't see how I
could keep bees without it.
A. J. Fheemax.
Neosho Co., Kans., March 5.
Rendering Beeswax.
With reference to the color of wax I would
like to say a few \vords in regartl to my ex-
perience with the wax that I have melted dur-
ing the past five or si,x years. It is true that
there are two kinds of wax, and that both
may be produced in the same apiary, but I be-
lieve the foreigu particles have a good deal to
do with the color of wax, just as they would
have with hot water or hot lard, giving them
a dull, dirty appearance that no amount of
slow cooling will brighten. The secret of
bright wax does not lie in the sloiv cooling,
but ill the melting, which should be very slow.
I extract the wax in a solar extractor, then
put it in an earthen pot, and set the pot in a
dish-pan full of cold water, setting it on the
stove and allowing it to come to a point where
the wax begins to melt. Then I push it back
and let it melt as slowly as it will, and that is
about 20 pounds a day. As fast as it melts I
diji it oil and put it into molds, which I have
sitting in hot water. This allows slow cool
iug so that the dirt may settle. I sell it in
small cakes weighing about two ounces each
for 7 cents a cake.
My bees are wintering well.
Robert J. Cart.
Fairfield Co., Conn.. Feb. '25.
Belgian Hares and Bees.
Prof. Cook was right in saying that Belgian
hui('> Wile ;ill rJLiiit to coml^ine with the V)ee-
liusiiM--. ;i> few animals can be found that
will \iilil nioir jiroflt than Belgian hares.
This citu nut lie said of bees in this locality, as
we have had nothing but short crops and
failures for over 10 years, which has made it
necessary for me to add something else to
bee-keeping.
Last season was one of the poorest we have
ever had. I did not get a pound of surplus
honey, and had to feed sugar-syrup in order
to kci']) the queen-rearing colonies in good
cmuiition for rearing queens.
,\fter purchasing the Belgian hares the first
and most important thing is to have a place
for them that is dry and well ventilated, as
they can not stand dampness, but can endure
almost any amount of cold if they are dry and
not exposed to a draft.
They are reared in a small room called a
hutch, about 2x4x2 feet, or larger if conven-
ient. Place a nest in one end of it, 1x3x1
We want *
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mutti & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front i Walaut Sts., Cincinnati,©.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writinfic.
BEES WANTED!
50 TO 75 Colonies.
If vou have anv for sale write to H. G. QUIRIN,
Parki-;ktow.\', Ohio. 13A4t
BEE
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
6Atf Mention the American Bee Jour
HORSE- HIGH!
... BULL- STRONG ...
With our Duplex Autoiiiatio
Kail BeariiiK Woven Wire
Fence Machine, any farmer
can make too Slylrs, and from
SO to 70 rods a day
oi the best and niost piaeti-
cal fence on earth at a cost for
the Wire to make it of from
20 to 30c. per rod
w» veil Oinamental Fence
iates, Farm Fence and
I'lain, Barhe.! and
Colled Spring ¥/lre
■ liir.i T.. thefanuei at whule-
.ak- prices. Catahjiriie fi-ee.
KITSCLMAM BROS,
Box li:n.Muncie, Ind.
Please mention Bee Journal when writiiig.
- pages, illustrated
— ,/ith 3 mos. trial subscription to our paper, inc
INLAND PODLTRV JUUKNAL, Indianapolis, Ind
Tennessee Queens!
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Oueens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
aud select golden queens,
reaied 3% miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2ii
No
appr
ithii
3, aud but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
bA2bt Spring Hill, Tenn.
Flease mention Bee Journal wnen -writing
PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION.
Nothing since the World's Fair, at
Chicago, in 1893, has elicited the wide-
spread interest that is manifest, all
over the world, in the Pan-American
Exposition, which is to be held in Buf-
falo, from May 1 to Nov. 1, 1901.
The purpose of the Exposition is to
illustrate the progress of the countries
of the Western Hemisphere during a
century of wonderful achievements,
and to bring together into closer rela-
tionship the people composing the
many States, Territories and Countries
of the three Americas. Acting under
proper authority, the President of the
United States has invited all the Re-
publics and Colonies of the American
Hemisphere to join in commemorating"
the close of the Nineteenth and begin-
ning of the Twentieth Century, by
holding this International Exposition
on the Niagara Frontier.
For this important event, the Nickel
Plate Road has issued an attractive,
descriptive folder - pamphlet, elabor-
ately illustrating the Pan-American
Exposition, the buildings and grounds.
The Nickel Plate Road is the short
line between Chicago and Buffalo, and
affords competent train service from
Chicago to Buffalo, New York City,
Boston, and all points East, with trains
of modern equipment, on which na
extra fares are charged ; also dining-
car service of the highest order. It af-
fords meals in its dining-cars on the
itidividual club plan, ranging in price
from 35 cents to SI -00.
Call on any ticket agent for Pan-
American folder of the Nickel Plate
Road, or address John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St. .Chicago.
Parties desiring hotel or rooming ac-
commodations at Btiffalo or Niagara
Falls, during any period of the Pan-
American Exposition, are invited to-
apply by letter or otherwise to F. J.
Moore, General Agent, 291 Main St,^
Buffalo, N. Y. No. 4— 12A3t
April 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
223
feet. Here the doe will make her nest from
soft litter that should be jfiven her about Iwo
weeks before she kindles. She will luiikc ;i
hole in this litter, and line and cover il with
her own fur. She nurses her joung late only
at night and early in the morning, and if she
ever lies with them I have not seen her.
The feeding is also an important point. The
standard feed for them is alfalfa or clover hay
with oats, bran or chaff. Does with litters
should be given extra care and feed, especially
if the litters are large, and they ciuite fre-
quently number 11 and 12. Bread and milk is
easily digested, and is good food for the
youngsters from the time they are born to the
ICth or ^th day thereafter. Feed should be
furnisht to all nursing does, as neglect at this
time would interfere with the flow of milk,
and cause the loss of the litter. We usually
keeji feed before them all the time, so that
they may eat when they feel inclined to do so.
The meat of the Belgian hare is very good,
and as they breed the year around we have a
supply of choice fresh meat every day in the
year.
The Belgian hares make nice pets if treated
kindly, and especially delight the children.
Page Co.. Iowa, March T. .1. L. Stkon'G.
Quality and Price.— One of the first things the
successlul business farmer learns is that it
does not pay to buy cheap and shoddy goods —
" cheap and'nasty "—some one has called them.
We believe that this is especially true of vehi-
cles. It takes good material to make a good
carriage or buggy, and good material costs
money. Ifs the same way with the work that
goes into it: it cannot be built for nothing. So
when we see a vehicle advertised at an ex-
tremely low price we are apt to think that it is
dear at any price, and so it is, for a shoddy ve-
hicle, besides never looking well, costs more
than a good one for repairs, to say nothing of
the danger of breaking your neck every time
you get into it. But, on the other hand, a man
need" not pay a fancy price to get a really good
job, especially when he can buy a first-class ve-
hicle from the maker direct. Take the famous
Split Hickory Vehicles, for e.xample. Now that
the manufacturers of these well-known goods
have decided to discard jobbers and dealers and
sell direct to customers, vou can buy a vehicle
which you know is right all the way thr,H, a ve-
hicle with a written warranty behind it, shipt
to vou on approval, for one-third less than deal-
ers' ask. There is not a better line of vehicles
in the world than the "Split Hickory." Not
only are they substantially made, but they have
a style and finisht appearance found in few
makes, and a dozen little conveniences covered
by patents, which make them the leaders wher-
ever introduced.
The new catalog, showing Split Hickory
styles, is a most valuable book on vehicles, con-
taining manv things every owner of a carriage
should know, whether he buys a Split Hickory
or not. A copv will be sent to anv interested
reader who addresses the Ohio Carriage Co., 6
West Broad St., Columbus, Ohio. Please men-
tion the American Bee Journal wlien writing.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
send *1. 35 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
TWENTY MILLIONS IN GOLD
From Alaska during the year iQoo.
Five millions of tiiis came from the
Nome district. Government otticials
estimate the output from the Xome dis-
trict will be doubled the cominj,'' season.
The Bluestone, Kougarok and Pilgrim
rivers have been found very rich. There
is hardly a creek from Port Clarence
to Norton Sound in which the precious
metal is not found, and huiiclreds of
creeks unprospected. A rich strike has
been made on the Yellow river, a trib-
utary of the Kuskokwim.
For full information regarding routes,
steamship accommodations and rates
to all points in Alaska, address C. N.
Souther, General Agent, Passenger
Department, C. M. & St. P. R'y, 95
Adams Street, Chicago. 13A3t
Do You Want a
HiQli Grade ot Italian Queens
Or a CHOICl: STRAWBERRY ?
CiMCAGo, III., Jan. 2s, I'vl.
D. J. Blocher, Escj., Pearl City, 111.
Dear Sir: — Y'our .juotations on 48 untested
Italian (Jueeus, read v for deliverv by Mav l.s,
I'lOl, at hand. It beiiig the first offer out of sev-
eral inquiries, and, besides, you having promptly
favored me with tiueens last year, you may, in
appreciation thereof, have the order.
Yours truly, L. Kkeutzi.\t,i-:k.
Prices lor Hay and June:
Number of Queens 1 6 12
(lOLDEN QuLliNS.
Untested $1.00 $ S.OO $ ').00
Tested 1.25 7.00 11.00
Select Tested 2.00 10.00 17.00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $1.00 $S.no $ 'i.OO
Tested 1.25 7 00 11.00
Select Tested l.SO 8 00 13.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free.
D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, 111.
UEiit Please mention the Bee Journal.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honev: the Pasturage and Nectar-
Producing Plants"; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an e.xpert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. S.imple copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal
The American Poultry Journal
32S Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Alrk1lt*n;i1 *^^^ '^ over a quarter of a
^WUI lia.1 ceutury old and is still grow-
ing- must possess intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must be a valuable one. Such is the
Amepiean Poultry Joupnal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
BAMES' FOOT POWER MACHINERY
Read what J. I. Parent, of
' Charlton, N. Y'., savs: "We
with one of v'our Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
SO chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a great deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
to make, and we expect to do
it with this Saw. It will do all
" Catalog and price-list free.
W. F. & John Barnes,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Plea.'ie mention. Bee Journal -when writing.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal witii
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one wiio has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising Medium in tlie Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
BEES
Please mention Bet; journal "when -WTiting,
QUEENS
Bmobera. Sections.
Comb Foundation
Ind mil ApterbiK 8appUw
il Mt >li >t<. stt >te >tt stt >Ji >te ite. >ti >ttt?
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, March 20.— The choi
hite comb honey sell at 1() cents.
bout equal to the demand: all other grades are
~ ' "ale at the following range of prices;
grades of
supply
Fair grades of white, 14@15c; best ambe;
13c; niixt colors, 10@llc; buckwheat, 9@10c.
Extracted, white, ranges from 7(m8c; amber, 6%
(S'TVc; buckwheat, 5ii@(><^c. All of the ex-
tracted is governed by qualitv and flavor in the
range of prices, the lowest figures in either of
the colors applies to the sour, or off-flavored,
and unripened. Beeswax, 30c.
R. A. Bdrnett & Co.
New York, March 10.— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb honey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancy white is still sell-
ing readily at from 15fnl6c; No. 1 white at from
13(a»14c; amber at from 13@13c; buckwheat, 10®
lie, according to quality and style of package.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active, and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honey is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, 7(aj7}^c; light amber,
lii^fe'Tc; other grades and Southern, (oWTsc per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 2J(g>28>4c, and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 29c.
HlLDRETH & SeGELKEK.
Buffalo, March 21.— Much better demand for
fancy comb at 15(ai(.c; extras, 17c: common
dark, etc., Qin 10 to 14c. Extracted, OteSc, and
never in much demand. Batterson & Co.
Ob
:aha. Mar. 3" —Demand fair; stocks light.
:y white comb, I5(a)16c. Extracted moving
ly at 7(.'8c for white. We do not look for
particular change for the balance of the
HI, as present supply will just about besuf-
ipply the tiade until new crop gets
aarket.
: Bros
Detroit, Mar. 21— Fancy white comb, 14@15c;
No. 1, 13(ail4c; dark and amber, l(iw;12c. Ex-
tracted, white. t.Vs@7c; amber and dark. 5fa;6c.
Beeswax, 27@28c. M. H. Hont & Son.
Cincinnati, March 21— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over, the stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings yet Idc. Ex-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for SHc;
better grades bring 6M7>^c; fancv white clover
from SJ^w'ic. c. H. W. Weber.
Kansas City, Mar. 23.— Receipts light; de-
mand normal at steady prices. Fancv white
comb, 15@16c; no amber on market. E.x"tracted,
8(«9c. Beeswax scarce, steady demand, 2S(a'30c!
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Albany, N. Y., March 23.— Honev market is
slow on all grades of comb honev. Extracted
white, -mc; dark, 5@5^c. H.'R. Wright.
Boston, March 21.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, loc; No. 1, 15(alec, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 8®
8Mc; light amber, 7M@8e. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, ll>«@12Mc; dark, S(ai9c. Ex-
tracted, white, I'/i⪼ light amber, 6 Ji@7}ic:
amber. 5!^@6!4c. Beeswax, 26(a28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present offer-
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honev is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantitv,' which
accounts in a great measure fortheverv limited
business doing in the pure article.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We ran furnish you with The A. I. Kuot Co's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid tor beeswax. Send for our I9''I cataloi;
M. II. UDNT .t SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich.
Please mention Bee .Toumal when wn'tin^
B66S=SypDll6S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINGHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mentiou the Bee Journal.
224
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 4, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
flives, Exiraciors
DR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
JiS" W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
WANTED !
25 to So colonies of bees in good con-
dition. Must be cheap.
S. J. DUNNE,
10.5 S. Forest Ave.,
iiAtf RIVER FOREST, COOK CO., ILL.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
*» e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft 101b 2Slfc 50ft
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 IS.OO
Sweet Clover (yellow) .... $1.50
Crimson Clover 70c
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
!.80
1.20
1.70
1.70
1.40
.50
3.75
4.00
3.25
1.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents e.xtra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14i Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
200-Egg Incubator
for $i2cOO
Perfect in constrnction and
action. Hatches every fertile
egpr. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy. III.
ention the Bee Journa.
I AEISE
To say to the readers of
the Bee Journal that
DOOLITTLE...
lias concluded to sell
QUEBNS in theirseason
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
E.xlra selected breed-
ing, the very best.. 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y
24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation, iilt
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEBTINQ.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always g^iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co , III.
The Danzen baker Hive.
THIS HIVE is rapidly g-aining- favor, es-
pecially in the Eastern States, where
tall sections and closed-end frames are
used to a considerable extent; and within
the last year or so the Danzenbaker system
has been working its way into California,
Oregon, and even into Cuba. At the Paris
Exposition the hive was awarded a gold
medal, and at some of the honey exhibits in
this country the comb honey from it has
carried off the first prize. Some of the finest
honey we have ever seen was produced in
Danzenbaker sections; and in the opinion of
those who have given the hive and system
an extended trial, there is nothing to equal
it for the production of a fine article of comb
honey. Indeed, in some markets comb honey
in Danz. sections commands one and some-
times two cents more per pound than other
iancy honey.
Mr. Danzenbaker has long been an advo-
cate of warm supers and warm hives; for he
has always insisted that, for the production
of comb honey, the super and hive must be warm in order to do the best work in wax-building. To
a very great extent the Danzenbaker hive is double-walled; and the sections in the super are espe-
cially protected bv a special paraffine mat which goes with every hive.
~jThe brood-chamber itself has the same
dimensions as the regular 10-frame Dove-
tailed Langstroth hive, except that it is
shallow; that is, it takes 10 closed-end
brood-frames 'il4 inches deep and IT inches
long. Each brood frame is supported by a
pivot in the center of the end-bars, so that
It may be readily reverst. These brood-
frames retain all the advantages of frames
peculiar to this class; viz., being reversible,
they insure the building of combs to the
boltom-bar; as there is no opportunities for
air-currents around the ends of the frames,
combs, as a rule, are built clear out to the
eud bars. This one feature makes them
warmer for winter. When a division-board
is used on each side we have, practically, a
dead-air space around the ends and sides of
the brood nest.
The Danz. breod-nest has the same
capacity as the S-f rame Dov. hive— a capac-
ity that has generally been recognized as
the best for the production of comb honey.
But Mr. Danzenbaker has gone further by making his brood-nest shallower and wider— increasing
the amount of surface for the super, and bringing the brood itself—a feature which many consider
important — closer to the surplus.
The Danzenbaker brood-chamber can be used with any of our 10-frame supers, either comb or
extracted; with any of the lO-frame covers, bottoms, or hive-stands, or with the 10-frame Jumbo
hive. There are four patents on the Danz. hives and fixtures.
NOTICE.— The Danzenbaker hive is not made in the 8-frame widths.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Medina,'Ohio.
WtF" GEORGE W. YORK & CO., cmcKcI:'!hlT'
are headquarters for ROOT'S HEE-KEEPEKS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
At\Eiie%
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL II, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. IS.
226
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
April 11, 1900.
PTTBLISHT WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
5 Second-
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postage. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
**ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" aSects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
national Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commission-
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. A.B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
EtJGENE Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
The Bee-Keeper's iBuide;
Or, Manual of tlie Apiary,
BY
PROF. A. J. COOK.
460 Pages-16th (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$12 5 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to requireany introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, iu neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year;
Send us two new sxibscrieers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
fl.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 4 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Red Clover Queens
LONG-TON&UED BEES ARE DEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppemium
fop sending us TWO new subscribers to the
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2);
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4.00.)
We have arrang'ed with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming-
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
paid
28 cents Cash ^
for Beeswax. V
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
28 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Best
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Houey
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY.**,,.,
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa reg-ions o(
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't pret enou^^li
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well-known
light-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blo.ssoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, oy mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9)i
cents per pound; two cans, 9 cents per pound; four or more cans,
8 '2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not prodtxce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some monej',
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, APRIL 11, 1901,
No, 15,
^ Editorial Comments. ^ |
Make Haste Slowly is very good advice. Mr. Doolittle, in
the Progressive Bee-Keeper, saj's: "Being hasty in adopting new
methods and ideas is unwise. Test them thoroly before entering into
them largely. Heavy investments, once in a great while, give large
returns, but only too often failure follows, unless one makes haste
slowly. Especially is this true of apiculture." Verily, the one who
is wise enough to hasten slowly is likely to be here longer, or have the
larger success with bees.
Sowing Sweet Clover Seed. — As several of our readers have
requested directions for sowing sweet clover seed, we will quote from
those who have had much experience, as reported in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture:
Mr. H. R. Boardman, of Huron Co., Ohio, writes this paragraph;
" For field culture I would sow sufficient seed to get a good liberal
catch, and not sow more land than 1 could and do this. Half a bushel
to the acre of the unhuUed seed is not too much. The spring of the
year I think the best time to sow it. It will make a good catch on
winter wheat or rye ground, but I think I should prefer to harrow or
cultivate it in deep with a light crop of oats."
Mr. G. .J. Yoder, of Cass Co., Mo., gives the following about where
sweet clover should be sown, and something about cutting and thrash-
ing the seed •
" It will grow almost anywhere, even on very rocky hillsides and
waste lands, but I prefer to sow where I can keep control of it and get
a crop of bloom and a crop of seed ; then the next sijring a crop of
some kind, and in the fall a crop of hay, or to wheat in the fall, and in
the next fall a crop of hay.
" Every other year it reseeds itself ; but if put to cultivated crops
a few years it can all be killed out. I made a garden-spot on a sweet-
clover patch where there were millions of seeds, and in two years it
was all gone.
■• With us it grows from four to eight feet high, thus making it
almost impossible to get it into a thrasher or huller. We cut it with
a self-rake reaper, then make a platform on a 16-foot hay-rack, placing
it on a skid made of poles bolted together with cross-pieces; then
hitch three horses to it, and pull it to the field. With two light poles
about eight feet long, and just heavy enough for a man to handle, and
two pitch-forks, we are ready for tjusiness. Now fill your platform,
not too full; and if the clover is very dry, a few good strokes will
land the seed in the bottom of the platform. Now tumble out the
refuse; drive up, put more on, and so on around the field. A little
experience will show how it should be done. When all is thrasht oil,
run it thru a huller, and you have the Bokhara seed."
Mr. Wm. StoUey, of Hall Co., Nebr., in an article in the American
Bee Journal for the year 1S95, wrote this paragraph ;
" Treating melilot exclusively as a forage-plant, I will say that I
have sown 15 pounds of seed to the acre, and secured a good stand. I
have sown early in the fall, so as to insure good rooting of the young
plants before frost; and I have sown also late in winter, so as to allow
the seed to take advantage of the early spring moisture, with the same
satisfactory results. Even the stubble of small grain, or a corn-field,
is good enough for sweet clover without further cultivation, except a
slight harrowing, and it will take care of itself in this part of the
world. I have l'rec|uently scattered the seed indiscriminately on vacant
places, along jiuljlic roads, where noxious and worthless weeds were
growing, and three years later the sweet clover had run out the weeds
entirely. But let me state right here, that sweet clover growing on
and alongside of public highways should be cut about June 20th, so as
to dwarf the growth of the plants. If this is neglected, sweet clover
is likely to grow so rank and high as to make it a nuisance in winter,
by causing the drifting snow to bank up, thus making the public roads
impassable. Many rank weeds, however, generally growing now on
public roads, are just as objectionalilc in this respect as sweet clover.
By mowing it the middle or 20th of June (not later, if the aim is to
make it profitable for the apiarist as a honey-producer), sweet clover
will furnish bee-pasturage until frost kills all growing vegetation, and
is not objectionable in any way to anybody if growing on the public
highways; on the contrary, it is attractive, its perfume is delicious,
and it keeps the roads in good condition. In a mild and late autumn
I have seen melilot thus treated blooming in December, and the bees
at work on it here in Nebraska."
The National Bee-Keepers' Association. — In pursuance of
suggestions offered some time ago, and also because of the real need
existing, General Manager Secor has gotten out a neat circular con-
taining the Constitution of the Association on one side, and " A brief
outline of the rise and progress of bee-keepers' societies in America,
and the aims and purposes of the present organization." While every
bee-keeper can have a copy by simply asking Mr. Secor for it, we be-
lieve that his epitomized statement concerning the National Bee-Keep-
ers' Association and its predecessors is of sufficient interest to deserve
a permanent place in these columns. It reads as follows;
HISE AND PROGRESS OF BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIOX3 IN AMERICA.
The first American bee-keepers' society, of which I can find any
record, was organized at Cleveland, Ohio, March 15, 1860.
At that time there were no periodicals devoted to the pursuit of
bee-keeping, the American Bee Journal having been establisht later —
in 1861.
The first American bee-keepers" society of national importance was
organized at Indianapolis, Ind., Dec. 21, ISTO'. It was called the
'• North American Bee-Keepers' Association," and included the United
States and Canada. The Rev. L. L. Langstroth, of blessed memory,
was its first president.
The following year the name was changed to "North American
Bee-Keepers' Society," under which name it continued until 1888,
when it was changed to " Inter-National Bee- Association.''
When the above-named society was organized scientific bee-keep-
ing was in its infancy. The annual meetings held were beneficial
chiefiy for their educational value. No conflicts had arisen between
fruit-growers and bee-keepers, and the adulteration of honey htid not
become a menace to the industry because commercial glucose was
unknown.
BEE-KEEPERS' UNION.
But in the year 1885 a Wisconsin bee-keeper, Mr. Freeliorn, was
sued by a neighbor who kept sheep, for alleged annoyance to hisfiock
by Mr. Freeborn's bees. As the Constitution of the Inter-National
Association did not provide for the defense of its members, an inde-
pendent organization was formed for that purpose, called the
"National Bee-Keepers' Union.'' This •• Union " never held a meet-
ing, all its work being done by correspondence, and the annual report
of its General Manager publisht thru the bee-journals. From 1885 to
1899, inclusive, its General Manager, Thomas G. Newman, was ever
alert to the dangers threatening bee-keepers, and to the extent of its
limited resources was very efficient in their defense. The successful
defense of Mr. Freeborn, the vindication of California bee-keepers
when attackt by ignorant or jealous fruit-growers, the magnificent
triumph in the Arkadelphia case, and many others, where the above-
mentioned precedents were quoted effectively, thus avoiding lawsuits,
vindicates the wisdom of its organization.
In the year 1896 the Inter-National .Society voted to change its
name to the " United Slates Bee-Keepers' Union." and adopted a new
Constitution, making it protective in its aims, as well as educational
and social, and for three years l»th " unions " workt along similar
lines of defense, altho the lastruamed Union was also aggressive, and
proposed to fight adulteration.
AMALGAMATION.
But in December, 1899, the two unions consolidated under the
new name of " National Bee-Keepers' Association."' What the latter
has done since its marriage, and what the United States Hee-Keepers'
Union did bcfoir Mui;ilgaMiation, has been made pul>lic thru the annual
reports of its lii-nnal .Manager, but it may not be out of jihice again to
call attention to its aims and purposes, and to some of its most impor-
tant cases.
The present Constitution defines the objects of the Association to be :
1st. — To promote the interests of t>ee-hcpers. The educational work of
the Association is intended to benefit the pursuit of apiculture in the
broadest sense, especially in our own country. This object will not
have been reacht until every bee-Uec|icr within the bounds of the
228
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 11, 1901.
Association's influence {jets every possible profit and delight out of liis
bees.
2d. — To protect and defend its members in their lawful rights. We
maintain that bee-lveeping is a lawful and honorable occupation, as old
as history, and as much deserving of protection as any other rural pur-
suit, but ignorance and jealousy are not yet outgrown, and bee-keepers
are sometimes annoyed and threatened unless they understand and
maintain their rights. An eflacient organization can do much good
toward this end, as has already been proven.
3d. — To enforce laws against the adulteration of honey. This is a
matter that needs and is receiving the aid and encouragement of the
Association. Pure food is of vital importance, and where the legisla-
ture of any State has enacted laws to protect the purity of honey this
Association purposes to spend money if necessary to enforce them.
Pure honey can not be produced and sold in competition with glucose
syrup, and" as this substance is the chief adulterant of honey, there is
need of anti-adulteration laws in every State, and strict inforceinent of
the same.
SOME OF THE THINGS THIS PRESENT OBGANIZATION HAS DONE.
It has endeavored to prevent quarrels and litigation. The present
Manager is for peace if it can be obtained honorably. He does not carry
a chip on his shoulder daring some one to knock it off. He tries to
avoid troublesome lawsuits, and believes he has done .so in many
cases. This doesn't bring any glory to the Association, but it is bene-
fieial and praiseworthy nevertheless.
With that object in view, a 12-page pamphlet on the benefits of
bees to horticulture, and the danger and uselessness of spraying when
trees are in bloom, has been prepared for distribution where needed.
Many jealous neighbors have been deterred from threatening
attacks on bee-keepers by judicious circulars and letters.
The aid given by this Association to prosecute adulterators of
honey in Chicago, in 1899, had a wholesome effect, as we have been
credibly informed. It not all was accomplisht which was desired
and aimed at, the results hastened the branding of adulterated honey
in that city, so as to denote its true character.
During the fall of 1900 there appeared in many of the Eastern
papers highly sensational accounts of a lawsuit between a fruit-grower
and bee-keeper in the State of New York. The contention was that
defendant's bees had ruined plaintiff's crop of peaches. In justice
court the beekeeper lost. The Association had the case appealed,
and after a thoro trial, at which every argument and artifice known to
skillful lawyers was resorted to by plaintiff, the Association produced
enough expert evidence to completely turn the tide, and the bees were
exonerated. Had this case gone the other way there is no knowing
how many other bee-keepers would have had to quit business or defend
a like suit.
The winning of this case, and the valuable precedent establisht,
which will be quoted in all the courts of the country for years to
come, is a triumph for the National Bee-Keepers' Association, and
worth many times its cost.
If an Association for mutual protection and the general advance-
ment of the art and science of apiculture meets with the approbation
of any bee-keeper who is not already a member, he is hereby invited
to co-operate.
The annual membership fee is SI. 00. It may begin at any time
desired, and the amount sent to the undersigned will be duly entered
and ackowledged. Eugene Secor,
Forest City, Iowa. Oeueral Manager and Treaaurer.
The Number of Drones Needed in an apiary is a thing
upon which all are not yet agreed. At this time of year, when one
begins to plan tor the next season, it may be well to make an effort to
have one's ideas somewhat settled on the subject, so as to know
whether to encourage the production of drones or to discourage it by
controlling the kind of comb in the hive. Mr. Dadant's series of
articles on this subject will be of great service in the way of helping to
decide this question.
The first objection likely to be urged against allowing the presence
of many drones is that it is allowing a horde of useless consumers that
add nothing to the common store. But if they are of service in other
ways, they may earn the food they eat without gathering it for them-
selves.
It can not be denied that drones may be of real service to help
keep up the heat of the colony, but it is replied to this that in the
spring, when there is the most need of heat-producers, the drones are
wanting, and when they are present in numbers the weather is so hot
that a set of fanners must keep at work to make their lordships com-
fortably cool. Further, it is argued that a pound of workers are just
as useful in keeping up the heat as a pound of drones; so the argu-
ment for drones as heat-producers is hardly valid.
In an aptary of 50 colonies thousands of drones are flying that are
never needed. Why not restrict the number to the 50 or 150 that will
actually meet the virgin queens ? The answer is not difficult. With
the large number always present, it has been many times observed that
a virgin makes a successful flight not until the second or third attempt.
If no drones were in the air except the one she was expected to meet,
the cliance of such meeting would be rather small, and the chance of
being caught by some bird rather large. Besides, when a large num-
ber is present, there is a chance for selection. The most active and
vigorous drone is the successful one, and this tends to the improve-
ment of stock. One has but to observe Nature to note that each col-
ony has a large number of drones, and it may not be wise to make so
violent a departure from Nature as to suppress nine-tenths of the
drones she would provide.
But it is a departure from Nature to mass 10, .50, or 100 colonies in
one place, and no more drones are needed for the whole lot than would
be needed for a single colony. Consequently the drones may be re-
stricted to two or three of the best colonies, thus adding greatly to the
selection of the best.
So the probability is that in the average apiary there need be no
anxiety lest there be a lack of drones, and the wise bee-keeper will
take advantage of this by seeing that no drones are encouraged in
mediocre colonies, but that they are supprest in all but a few of the
very best. If more attention were given to this, there would be a
distinct increase in the average yield of honey per colony.
i * The Weekly Budget. * \
C~ The Frank B. White Company,
of Chicago, is one of the cleanest and
most honorable advertising firms in the
world. It is an organization of young
men who are banded together to handle
the advertising for such firms or busi-
ness men as desire to use the columns
of the general agricultural press. Mr.
Frank B. White is the much-respected
president or head of the Company, and
a man whom to know is to love.
Recently he conceived the idea of
tendering a dinner or banquet, and
sent out invitations, the following be-
ing a sample :
FraJik B. White.
Chicago, March 20, 1901.
Mb. George W. York, Editor American Bee Journal.
Dear tiir: — I desire to give my business associates, and those
occupying the more responsible positions in connection with our busi-
ness here, a dinner at the Union League Club, Thursday evening,
March 21st, at 6:30 p.m., and I tru.st nothing will prevent your being
present. Very truly yours,
Frank B. White.
Of course we were there, and it was a most delightful occasion.
After doing full ju.5tice to the bounteous and tempting viands placed
on a circular table before the assembled guests, several hours were
spent in "after dinner '' toasts or short speeches. There were about
20 of the employees of the firm present, and tho.se financially inter-
ested. Each departmeut of the rapidly developing business was called
on to respond to an assigned topic, and each indicated the sprouting of
Chauncey Depew wings of eloquence and wit, Mr. White, as host,
speaking first.
The last speaker was the editor of the American Bee Journal
after which one of the prominent employees presented to Mr. White a
written and signed expression of appeciation and esteem in which he
is held by all the employees. It was a sincere testimony, and one
highly prized by the recipient, who merits all the kind things that
were said of him on that enjoyable occasion.
* # # « «
Mr. C. Theilmann, of Wabasha Co., Minn., about' six weeks ago
met with a serious accident, his horses running away with him in a
sleigh. He was thrown out on a lot of logs lying along the roadside,
while the horses were going at a furious rate of speed. They were
frightened by dogs running against them, causing them to become
unmanageable. While no bones were broken, Mr. T.'s neck and hips
were badly bruised and strained. He is improving slowly, we are
glad to report, and all will unite in the hope that he may soon fully
recover.
« # * « *
Prof. Cook having been quite sick recently accounts for the non-
appearance of " Tbe Home Circle" departmeut in several issues. He
has recovered now, so we trust that all may go on again without
further interruption after this week.
April 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
229
\ Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Wisconsin Convention.
BY ADA L. PICKARD.
The 17tli annual convention of the Wisconsin Kee-Koep-
ers" Association was held at Madison, Feb. 5 and 6, 1901.
The meeting opened with a fair attendance considering
the small honey crop the bee-keepers secured last year, and
the number of Wisconsin bee-keepers who attended the
national convention held in Chicago.
Pres. N. E. France askt the convention to come to order,
and opened the meeting with well-chosen remarks, after
which the secretary read the minutes of the last meeting,
which were approved.
The opening session was largely devoted to the discussion
of a bill which had been introduced in the Wisconsin Assem-
bly, providing that the number and value of the colonies of
bees be inserted in the assessment roll:i, the same as other
personal property. The bill further provided that if colonies
of bees be moved about from place to place for the purpose of
extracting honey,the owner shall pay a license fee of $L.OO
per colony for each month or part of months. When that
bill was introduced the State bee-hive was kickt, and each
individual made a great roar. The bill was discust very
thoroly. The bee-keepers did not object to the taxation of
bees as the majority now pay taxes on their bees, but it
seemed that the assessment varied greatly, and seems very
unjust. Thruout the State bees have been assest from 25
cents to .Sl.50, and even as high as .$2.00 per colony, accord-
ing to the one who was assessor. The unanimous voice of the
bee-keepers favored the taxation of bees, for if bees were
taxable property we could claim protection from the State.
It was the latter part of the bill to which the objection
was offered. On motion a committee was appointed by the
president for the purpose of going before the legislative com-
mittee to oppose the bill. The committee appointed was : N.
E. France, .Jacob Hoffman, Elias Fox, and Ada L. Pickard.
At an appointed time the committee went before the legisla-
tive committee, and thru the work of the committee and the
united efforts of the Bee-Keepers' Association, the bill has
been indefinitely postponed — virtually the bill is killed.
At the close of the discussion pertaining to the bill the
convention stood adjourned until 1:B0 p.m., when Pres.
France called the meeting to order, and. on motion, Editors
Hutchinson, Root, and York were made advisory members.
WINTERING BEES.
H. p. Miner read a paper on " Cellar vs. Outdoor Winter-
ing," after which was a lively discussion. Mr. Lathrop said
he had wintered bees both ways, but preferred the single-wall
hives in cellars to the chaff hive. Mr. Ochsner favored the
chaff hive for winter use, but not for summer, as he has had
losses in combs and honey, from the fact that the chaff hive
gets so hot during the hot weather, causing the combs to melt
down. If chaff hives were used in winter, he suggested that
they be transferred to single-wall hives in May. The discus-
sion was summed up in not so much how or where to winter the
bees, but to strike the key-note of success depends upon get-
ting the workers at the proper time for your location.
A recess was given the members for the opportunity of
paying the dues to the State and National Associations, and
the dollars rolled in almost faster than the secretary could
book th<! names.
H. Lathrop read a paper on " How to maintain the pres-
ent prices of honey in the event of a good honey crop." In
speaking of the good prices of honey he said, " Dealers go
thru the country and buy up the honey from small producers,
put it up in good shape and sell it for a good price. It is bet-
ter to sell to the jobber if not willing or able to hold for good
prices ; never sell at low prices to retailers."
QuKS. — Is there any simple method of detecting adulter-
ation in extracted honey ? Axs. — Jlix eijual parts of honry
and wood-alcohol together: stir until thoroly mixt. If
sample contains glucose it will turn cloudy, if not it will
remain clear. It does not make any difference what kiml nl'
honey you test.
QuE.s. — How can aster honey be kept from granulating
within ten days after storing, regardless of temperature '.'
Ans. — Do not know.
QuES. — Where is the proper place to keep extracted
honey ? Ans. — In a dry place.
QuES. — What is the best package for extracted honey?
Ans. — (a.) The best package for storage and shipping is bar-
rels. It has been found a great advantage to paraffini^ the
barrels' before using, as it saves soakage. The cost to par-
afflne a 350-pound barrel is about 10 cents, (b.) The best
package for retail trade is the 60-pound tin cans, or pails hold-
ing 4, 7 and 13 pounds each.
QuES. — Does it pay to crate comb honey ? Ans. — Yes.
But the cases should be crated properly with plenty of straw
for packing.
QuES. — How many combs should be left in an 8-frame
hive for cellar-wintering? Ans. — Majority favored eight.
QuES. — Is it advisable for the State Bee-Keepers' Associ-
ation to recommend an experimental apiary in Wisconsin?
Ans. — Yes. It was recommended that the Association recom-
mend an experimental apiary on the experimental farm. Mr.
France offered to donate his services if such an apiary should
be started. A committee was appointed to visit the experi-
mental station, composed of N. E. France, .lacob Hoffman,
and Ada L. Pickard.
An adjournment was then taken until 7:30 p m., when
the convention was most highly entertained by Editors E. R.
Root and W. Z. Hutchinson, who presented their instructive
and entertaining stereopticon views, which must be seen to be
appreciated. Those who saw the views exprest themselves as
being well paid for attending the convention, save the valu-
able information received from the papers read and discussions
which followed.
SECOND DAY— Mornins Session.
The morning session opened at 9:30 with a busness pro-
gram. The report of the treasurer was read and approved.
The election of officers resulted as follow : President. N. E.
France; vice-president, .Jacob Huffman; secretary, Ada L.
Pickard, Richland Center ; treasurer, H. Lathrop.
The judge and alternate judge of the apiarian depart-
ment of the State Fair were named — F. Wilcox as judge, and
N. E. France as alternate. On motion, the secretary cast a
ballot recommending N. E. France as inspector of foul brood.
BEE-KEBPERS' HONET EXCHANGE.
The secretary read a paper on " The Bee-Keepers' Honey
Exchange," by C. A. Hatch, which was listened to with great
interest. Mr. Root opened the discussion and mentioned the
Cc^orada Bee-Keepers' Exchange, and said it was a good
thing, enabling the bee-keepers to get supplies cheaper, but a
bad thing for the supply dealer. The first thing to make the
exchange a success is to have a good business man as business
manager, who has the interest of everyone in mind. It was
thought not advisable to organize a honey exchange in this
State, because the ones attending the conventions have a
chance to keep in touch with the prices. ,
E. D. Ochsner did not read his paper on "The Outlook
for the Bee-Keepers' Exfiibit at the Pan-American Exposition
in 1901," because an expression of the convention was taken
in regard to making an exhibit, and it was thought not advis-
able to make an exhibit because the appropriation is so small.
F. Minnick read bis paper on " Short Cuts in Extracting."
It was received with much enthusiasm. Avery interesting
discussion followed, and many new ideas were advanced. The
afternoon session was opened by Pres. France reading and
discussing the laws pertaining to foul brood..
The question-box being full, it was again opened.
The agent of the Citizens' Business League, of Milwaukee,
gave a very cordial invitation for the next meeting of the
Association to be held in Milwaukee. On motion, the execu-
tive committee was authorized to name time and place where
the next meeting shall be held. The members favored Jladi-
son.
The convention then adjourned sine die.
Ada L. Pickard, Sec.
[The interesting papers read at the above convention will
appear later, so far as we are able to secure them. — Editor].
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor aiul music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to tie the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
230
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 11, 1901.
I Contributed Articles. |
No. 2.— Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Cuiture.
BV J. D. GEHRIXG.
Contioued from pa^e Wl.)
AT the dinner table my wife past the honey to Mr.
Bond, saj'ing- as she did so : " Honey is almost as in-
dispensable at our table as butter, Mr. Bond. We use
it at the rate of a pound per day the year thru. My hus-
band thinks it is both food and medicine. Our children all
like it, and grow fat on it. I presume you are a bee-keeper,
too, Mr. Bond," she concluded, looking at him for his an-
swer as she spoke. Mr. Bond, however, lookt at me when
he answered and said :
"I guess Mrs. Gehring thinks because you have enter-
tained me in the honey-house I must belong to the bee-keeper
fraternity ; but I am quite sure that if she had seen me
when I was running into her cellar with several hundred
bees after me. she wouldn't have made such a bad guess."
Then, turning to my wife he continued :
" Mrs. Gehring, if you had askt about the matter before
10 o'clock this morning I would have said yes. But I am
now of the opinion that I am only a keeper of bees, not a
bee-keeper. But I am going to take lessons of your hus-
band. He convinced me this morning that I have a lot to
learn. The fact is, I never knew until to-day that there is
such a creature as a queen-bee. I inherited most of the
bees I have on my farm from my father, and I guess he
knew no more than I did this morning about bees, for I
remember hearing him mention the ' king-bee,' but never
the queen-bee, of the hive. He had some very queer
notions about bees, as the Pennsylvania Dutch all have —
and I never knew one that didn't keep a colony or more.
You may have heard about their superstitious notion that
when any one dies in the family all the bees will die, too,
unless some one goes out at midnight and whispers the sad
news to each hive."
" How many colonies of bees have )'ou now, Mr. Bond ?"
I inquired.
••There are some 45 or more. They are not all in one
place, like yours, so I can't tell exactly how many there
are. You see, I have always been in the habit of leaving
them just where I found the swarm when I hived it. My
hives are all the old style that my father us^— square boxes
with cross-sticks in them."
After rfinner Mr. Bond returned with me to the honey-
house, and, at his request, I took him to the honey-room
and showed him my 1,600 pounds of honey, all in one-pound
sections, and packt in cases ready for the market. After a
minute's contemplation of the stack of white boxes, Mr.
Bond exclaimed: "Never, in all my life, have I seen so
much beautiful sweetness 1"
Returning to my work-room, Mr. Bond turned to me,
before he sat down, and said :
•' Now, then, Mr. Gehring, will you please tell me, as
briefly and plainly as you can, how you manage to get at
the rate of 100 pounds of honey to the colony, and inside of
30 days' time ?"
"lean tell you plainly enough how it is done," I re-
plied, " but I fear I am not equal to the task of telling it
very briefly. It is quite a lengthy and complicated story.
Mr. Bond. The best way will be, I think, to take one hive
as an object-lesson, and illustrate the whole story as I go
along. To do that, however, it will be necessary for you to
go with me to the spot where the hive stands, so that I can
explain everything to your eyes, as well as to your ears.
What do you say to my plan, Mr. Bond ?"
Mr. Bond did not reply as promptly as I had expected
he would, having in mind his manifest enthusiasm. He
lookt meditatively at the floor between his feet, twirling
his straw hat slowly with his right hand, while with his left
he gently stroked his nose, which, by the way, had not
quite regained its normal size and color. At last he lookt
up and said :
" Your plan is no doubt all right so far as you are con-
cerned ; but it looks a leedle bit risky-like for me. You see,
I can't quite forget my little unpleasantness with your ' well-
behaved bees' this morning."
"I can't blame you for that, Mr. Bond," I replied.
"But I shall fit you out with a bee-knight armor that
thoroly protects your face. Your hands you can put into
your pockets, if any attack is made on them." Saying this
I procured from a small closet two bee-veils and a Bingham
bee-smoker, and, handing one of the veils to him, I said :
"The right kind of a bee-veil is a valuable article to
any person who has to handle bees under all sorts of cir-
cumstances. This is my own invention, tho not patented.
I have seen some that are patented that I wouldn't have as
a gift. This one, you see, is a very simple afl'air, not much
larger in bulk than a cotton handkerchief. I will tell you
how to make one like it, then you can get the material
before you go home, and show your wife how to make one :
"Take half a yard of cheese-cloth and double it length-
wise. Sew up the open side about halfway. Cut the other
side open to correspond with the length left open. Hem or
bind the raw edges. Insert a rubber-cord into the end
intended for the top, short enough to fit tightly around the
crown of your hat, like a pucker-string. Now take a piece
of silk bobbinet large enough to reach from the middle of
your forehead to your chin, and from one ear to the other,
and insert it in a square hole in the front of the upper end
of your cheese-cloth sack in such a way that when the veil
is in place the little silk veil is directly in front of your
face. The open end of the veil — as the whole contrivance
is now called — is carefuU)' tuckt inside j'our vest, or your
coat when you wear one — which is then buttoned up, and —
there you are I Your hat-rim should not be very wide, of
course, unless you make the veil a little longer than I have
described. The meshes of the silk bobbinet should be rather
fine, but not too close to obstruct your vision.
" Now, when you call for this bobbinet stuff at the store
the clerk will possibly tell you that the cotton kind will do
just as well, and is cheaper. But, let me caution you, never
allow any one to induce you to take anything but just what
I have told you. If you ever do, you will find out why I
have warned 3-0U, without my telling it now.
" Now," I continued, " I will start this little machine
we call a smoker, and then we are ready for business. Let
me show you how to manage the thing properly, Mr. Bond.
First, you see, I remove the end, or nozzle, taking care not
to let the circular screen fire-guard drop out as I do so.
Next, I take a cotton or an old linen rag, light it with a
match and drop it to the bottom of the cylinder. Then I
carefully drop in some more rags, gradually filling the
smoker, but rather looselj-. so that the fire is not extin-
guisht. I leave the smoker standing nozzle-end upward all .
this time, you see, because in that position it acts like a
chimney. When it is full and well started I replace the
nozzle, put a handful of fuel-rags in my coat-pocket, take
the smoker and give it a few gentle puffs, and off we go."
On the way to the hive I said to Mr. Bond : " All the
bee-books in use recommend the use of broken corn-cobs or
punk wood as smoker-fuel. But I don't like either. Both
are liable to become damp, and they are not as easy to start
as rags are. Besides, when they once get under full head-
way in the smoker they make too much heat. When I need
a smoker in a hurry — and that is almost always the case —
give me cotton-rags for smoker-fuel every time."
" Well, here we are," I said, proceeding to remove the
cover of the hive I had selected for the purpose in hand.
Then taking the smoker and giving it two or three vigorous
puffs to start a good volume of smoke, I went to one side of
the front of the hive and blew smoke into the hive thru the
bee-entrance for about 30 seconds, working the bellows of
the smoker with slow, steady pressure, so as not to alarm
the bees with the puffing noise made by the smoker when
workt with a short, quick motion.
" This I do to induce the bees to fill themselves with
honey," I explained to Mr. Bond, who was standing a few^
feet away with his hands in his pockets, watching the pro-
ceedings. •'We will now wait a few minutes until they
have gorged themselves."
"What do j'ou do that for?" askt Mr. Bond. Instead
of giving him a direct answer I said, "Come and put your
ear down near the top of the hive and listen for a moment."
Mr. Bond did so, rather reluctantly, of course, and I said :
" You hear them make a humming noise, don't you ?
Well, they make that noise to express their satisfaction. It
makes them lazy and good-natured when they are full of
honey. Bee-keepers know this, and take advantage of the
fact when they have a tedious job of manipulation to per-
form in the apiarj'. These bees, you see, will be less liable
to fight now, or to take wing and give the alarm signal to
the hives close by."
(To be contLaued.]
April 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
231
Weak Colonies in Spring— Wlien to Unite Tliem.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLK.
A CORRESPONDENT writes that many of his colonies
of bees will come out weak this spring-, and wishes me
to tell him in the American Bee Journal when and how
to unite them.
When colonies of bees come out weak in the spring, it
may be beneficial to put two or more of these weak colo-
nies together, so that one strong colony may be made from
several weak ones. Some suppose that if any uniting of
weak colonies is to be done, the earlier in the spring it is
accoraplisht the better the results will be, but from years of
experience along this line I am positive that such early
uniting is a mistake. From some experience several years
ago, I came to the conclusion that each would go thru the
early spring better alone, and to test the matter I tried the
following one spring :
I had ten weak colonies and united six in one hive,
three in another and left one alone, which was scarcely an
average of the whole, as to strength of bees. This unit-
ing was done the latter part of April, and in less than three
weeks' time the colony formed by uniting the six was all
gone. During the same time the one not united " held its
own," while that where the three were put together was
scarcely better than was this.
On June 10th the one having no help had by actual
count 85 bees besides the queen, and the one made from the
three had 105, according to an entry I tind in my diary. As
I was then anxious for all the bees I could get, I did the
best I could with them without help from other colonies.
The one having the 85 bees built up and stored five sections
of honey, besides having enough for winter, the same com-
ing from buckwheat. And other experiments made since
then gave like results, so that, of late years, I have ceast
altogether to unite early in the spring.
After a careful watching I find the reason for this seem"
ingly inconsistent state of things to be, that with united
colonies the bees seem to be incited to greater activity,
by strange bees being thrown together, thus starting a
large lot of brood, the care of which wears their life out so
fast that they perish from exhausted vitality, or old age,
before any young bees emerge from their cells to take their
places ; while those not united do very little, and rear only
enough brood to take the places of those slowly dying off,
thus keeping their numbers about good till settled warm
weather comes, when these few (now) young bees are able
to hold five times the brood they could in early spring, so
that they now increase rapidly.
From the above it will easily be seen why I would not
unite weak colonies early in the season. Of late years I
have united just before the honey harvest, as I consider it
more profitable than to let each colony go thru the season
separately, as I did the one having the 85 bees. If these
colonies are left to themselves, the best we can hope is that
they will become strong enough in bees and honey for
winter ; while by uniting just before the honey harvest I
secured a good yield of honey from the united colony and
get the two in good condition for winter. My plan of
work in uniting, and looking toward this end, is as follows ;
As earlv in the spring as the bees can be lookt over, all
of the weaker colonies are shut on as few combs as they
have brood, by using a division-board to contract the hive.
They are now left till warm weather comes, being sure that
all have stores enough where they can conveniently reach
them to carry them until this period. They are now built
up as rapidly as possible by reversing the brood, etc., so
that by June 1st the best of them will have five frames of
brood, others four, and so on down to one for the very
weakest. As soon as the best has its five frames filled with
brood, down to the very bottom corners, a frame of hatch-
ing brood is given to one having but four frames, and an
empty comb put in its place.
In taking a frame of hatching brood in this way I gen-
erally take all the bees there are on it right along, only
being sure that I do not get the queen, so that all the
young bees on this comb help to give strength to the
weaker, as the younger bees will not return to their old
home.
In a few days a frame of brood and bees are taken
from each of these two five-frame colonies, and given to
the one having but three frames, and so I keep taking till
all have five frames each.
Do not make the mistake some do and try to strengthen
the very weakest first, for by so doing from one-half t..
two-thirds of the brood will be liable to perish with some
cool spell, as these last colonies have at this time all the
brood they can properly care for.
By the above plan we are always safe, and advancing
warm weather is in our favor also. In a few days after all
have five frames of brood, we are ready to unite, and if all
has been done as it should be, the uniting will be done
about the time white clover begins to yield honey nicely.
To unite : Go to No. 1 and look the frames over till the
queen is found, when this frame having the queen on it is
set outside the hive. Now spread the frames apart in No. 2,
when the four frames of brood, bees and all, from No. 1 are
carried and placed in each alternate space between the
frames of No. 2, closing the hive. Return the frame hav-
ing the queen on it to No. 1, placing beside it an empty
comb ; adjust the division-board and the work is done. In
two or three days, put the sections on the hive No. 2, and
see what a pile of honey they will store up. At the same
time place an empty frame, having only a starter in it,
between the two filled ones in No. 1, and in a few days you
will have a frame filled with as nice worker-comb as you
ever saw, which is much cheaper than to buy foundation.
Nearly all the old bees carried to No. 2 will have returned
by this time, so that No. 1 is a splendid nucleus, just right
for building straight worker-comb, and by giving empty
frames as needed this colony will be in good condition for
winter, while No. 2 will have given three times the
honey the two would have done if left to themselves, or had
they been united in early spring.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
No. 14.— Interesting Notes on European Travel.
C. p. DADANT.
I THOUGHT that I had well-nigh exhausted the narra-
tion of my trip, but our kind editor has the desire of in-
serting in the American Bee Journal a photograph of the
birthplace of my father, Chas. Dadant, which was secured
from the collection of an amateur photographer who has
been dead many years. This photo was taken some 40
years ago, and it would appear, from the half-tone, that the
original picture was good, altho evidently taken on a windy
day, if we judge from the appearance of the trees in the
view.
It was on the 22d of May, 1817, that my father was
born, 84 years ago, in the large house at the back of the
picture. The nearest building on the left hand was a
blacksmith shop, and you can readily see two large grind-
stones under a brush shed. The church was being rebuilt,
and they are putting the new building right over the old
one, but the village was short of funds and they had tem-
porarily abandoned the work and boarded up the unfinisht
portion. The column in front of the church is a public
fountain, and it is still there. The near house on the right
is a grocery. The houses, the roofs, as will be noticed, are,
like their roads, entirely of stone. It takes rafters of won-
derful size to bear such a load, and the attic of one of
those houses looks like a monstrous structure, but once they
are put up, the roofs last till the wood is entirely worm-
eaten and the rafters crack under the weight.
The trees at the back of the picture, which seem to
flutter in a strong breeze, are on each side of the highway
which traverses the village, and the little river is just
behind that. At the time when the picture was taken, the
public highway was the only means of communication with
other towns, but for the last 25 years they have been sup-
plied with railroad facilities, telegraph station, telephones,
etc. The church is now finisht and is a much finer struc-
ture than the one in the picture.
This village, Vaux-Sous-Aubigny, is the one which I
mentioned in my second letter, (page 629—1900), as the home
of my grandfather, when I was a boy, and which I visited
with so much pleasure. I had been told on the way to
Europe, bv foreigners, who, like myself, had visited the
home of their boyhood days, that I would find everything
changed, that no one would know me, that those who would
remember me would be very indifferent, and that it would
be an all-around disappointment. Such was not my experi-
ence, altho I had come prepared for a change. In this vil-
lage as in one or two others where I had been used to visit,
and also in the city of my birth, some 20 miles from there.
I found plenty of friends, old and new. As a matter of
course, the new friends were all apiarists. The treasurer
of the old college is an apiarist of some note, and I made
his acquaintance with the greatest pleasure. He took pride
232
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 11, 1901.
in showing me, on his desk, a
copy of our French " Lang-
stroth Revised," with my
father's autograph.
In one of these little vil-
lages, not far from the one in
the picture, I met a man who
used to drive a wagon for my
maternal grandfather, and
with whom I used to ride back
and forth, on school holidays,
when I was 10 or 12 years old.
This man, who was then about
32 to 35, is a bee-keeper, and
as such I certainly have a
right to introduce him to my
readers. I must, however, own
that he has none but straw
skeps, and is not very progres-
sive. When I went to see him
during my last trip, he was
out in the harvest field with
his hired servant and his wife.
The servant was wielding the cradle, the woman was rak-
ing the wheat, and the old man was binding. He is now
upward of 70. I walkt up to him, he straightened himself
and stared at me as in wonder whether the strange visitor
was not out of his way. I askt, " This is Mr. V.?"
" Yes, sir ; that is my name."
"Well, I atn an old acquaintance," said I.
"Oh, I believe you are mistaken, I never saw
before."
Birthplace of Mr. Clias. Dadant — Vaux-Sous-Aubigny, France.
you
(Editio.
No. 3.-A Review of
of ISil-llOO.)
A B C of Bee-Culture."
BY PROF. A. J. COOK.
[Contiaued from page 197.)
PAGE 277 — A word more about bees dying because they
have lost their sting. Several times I have had my
T , . „ , students secure bees that have lost their sting, it hav-
ir arms "^ ' ^°^ "^ ' ''°" ''^ carried me jng been pulled out consequent upon use. These were put
-nto a cage and fed. Other bees, uninjured, were put into
in you
"In my arms? You must have been smaller than you
are to-day."
I gave him my name. The poor old fellow hugged me
as if I had still been the little boy he had known, and said,
" Is that you, my little fellow ? and did you come all the
way back from America to see your old friends ?"
The harvest was dropt for that day. He took me back
to the village and we had a good visit, and you may think
how much we had to talk about. We went to look at the
bees, but did not stay long with them— we had too many
other things to see.
Around that vicinity a new impetus is given to bee-cul-
ture, for they have an important bee-association, which
comprises what is called a " Department," a land division
covering about the space of one of the_small New-England
States. This association is beginning the publication of
a monthly bee-paper, " Practical Bee-Culture " (L'Apicul-
ture Pratique), which is very nicely gotten up. Whatever
they do, the Europeans are not behind in the number of
their bee-publications, for. in France alone, there must be
some 10 or 12 of them, publisht in diflFerent places. I have
nine of them on my desk now, and they are all wide-awake,
all bent upon taking the peasants out of the old rut as rap-
idly as practicable.
But in these ancient places we saw some very queer
people, with very extraordinary ideas about America. A
friend in our city askt me to come with him to pay our
respects to a couple of old ladies who had kno%vn my folks
long before my birth, and who exprest a wish to see me.
They were between 75 and 80 years old. My daughter
accompanied me and we were heartily welcomed. But the
elder of the two ladies after the usual compliments, raised
her spectacles, and looking at my daughter with unfeigned
astonishment, said : " Why, your daughter is as white as
you are !" She had evidently imagined, that, living in that
wild country— the backwoods of western America— I had
married the daughter of some Indian sachem, some red-
skin Pocahontas. This amused my friend, as you may
understand, and he laught heartily, and went to great
trouble to explain to these good ladies that America was
not peopled with savages only, and that there were a few
families of the Caucasian race scattered over that great
wilderness.
Now, Mr. Editor, I will close this too-long narration
which has been continued thru 14 numbers. I will ask for-
giveness of those bee-keepers who have followed me in the
hopes of getting a little bee-culture out of all this talk, for
they have been sadly disappointed. I will also express my
thanks for the many kind words spoken in private corres-
pondence by some who seem to have enjoyed my too-per-
sonal recollections of the most agreeable voyage I have
ever made. Hancock Co., 111.
a cage and fed in the same manner. In two or three days
all the first bees were dead, and none of the others, nor
were the latter dead for days, even weeks. I would not
wish to be understood as holding the view that stinging
will necessarily kill a bee, as a slight sting would not pull
the sting out and might not do any serious injury. But I
believe that when the sting is extracted, it will always end
in the death of the bee. The time, however, will vary,
which argues that in some cases more injury is done to the
internal organisms than in others.
Page 280 — I am a little skeptical as regards the queen
leading out the bees. I would not be sure that Mr. Root
was right in his conclusion. This may have been a normal
swarm and the queen may have followed them to the old
hive rather than have been led by them. In all my experi-
ence, I have never known a queen to lead a swarm. Her
presence, however, will have much to do in forming the
cluster, as every apiarist of experience knows.
Page 357 — I think Mr. Doolittle is a poorer philosopher
than he is an apiarist. I should have great respect for any
opinion he might give in reference to bee-keeping. I am
not at all sure of his dictum with reference to swarming.
Surely bees do swarm out of their hive from other cause
than the instinct to increase. Indeed, I think the old idea
of instinct as being the unvarying and inerrant guide of
insects and other of the lower animals in their actions will
more and more be modified. I think now that our best nat-
uralists are giving it up. Is not all instinct the result of
previous acts guided by intelligence ? Acts, repeated
many times under volition, result in a habit in which
case action becomes almost automatic, hardly guided at all
by the will. Action that has long been habitual will after
a time become almost unvarying, and becomes, perhaps,
wholly automatic. The physiologist would call this reflex
action with the gray matter of the spinal cord as a center.
With man, and to a less degree with other higher animals,
the intelligence often interferes to modify habit and
instinct. I believe this is equally true with bees and other
lower animals. If I am correct, then swarming will not
always follow from the same cause. I think every apiarist
will recognize that varying conditions will very greatly
modify the habit, or instinct, if j'ou please, of swarming.
Page 362 — I was surprised to note that Dr. Miller also
gives his authority in favor of bees not clustering in case
the queen does not go forth with the swarm. I have always
been surprised at such assertions. For many years, I prac-
ticed clipping queens' wings, which I believe is always
wise policy. I have had hundreds of swarms go forth
where the queen was dipt, and so of course could not join
them, yet I found it very rare that the colonies failed to
cluster. In such cases they will always return to the hive,
but in my long experience and observation, it will be
April 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
233
decidedly the exception and not the rule that they return to
the hive without forming at least a partial cluster.
Page 299 — Mr. Root in referring to turnips writes as
follows: "If they are turned under just before going out
of bloom, they make one of the most valuable of soiling
crops. Thus a good turnip pasturage may be obtained with
no extra work except sowing the seed, and the crop will be
an actual benefit to the soil if turned under." Has not Mr.
Root used the wrong word here ? As I understand it, soil-
ing is used to refer to cutting green herbage for immediate
feeding. When we cut green corn for our cattle, we are
then soiling. Plowing under a green crop, as I understand
it, is not soiling but green manuring. I think, also, that
no scientist would agree with Mr. Root that turnips are one
of the best crops for green manuring. They would add no
manurial element to the soil. They would be of advan-
tage in adding humus. They are not very deep-rooted
plants and so would not bring up inorganic matter deep in
the subsoil. Leguminous crops, like peas, clover, and
lupin, root much deeper, furnish just as much, if not more,
humus, and in taking the nitrogen from the air and com-
bining it so that it can be utilized for the plant, are the
plants par excellence for green manuring. The man who
is content to plow under the cereals like oats, barley or rye,
turnips or weeds, instead of some legume, like clover and
peas, is content with a half loaf when it were just as easy
to secure a whole one. This suggestion is all the more
valuable in view of the fact that nitrogen is the most
expensive fertilizing element which we need to add to our
soil.
Page 306 — Is it true that all the moisture that is found
in the hive, making the sticky mass after bees have been
suffocated, comes from honey that the bees have regurgi-
tated ? I think there is good reason to believe that much of
this is the water of perspiration, or, possibly we better say,
respiration. In such cases, bees try hard to cool off. The
only possible way that they can do it is by evaporation of
water. That they function in some way analagous to our
sweating, I think there can be no doubt. That perspiration
from the exterior of the body can amount to much, is
doubtful. Their thick, chitinous crust would seem to make
this impossible. I have no doubt that there is much escape
of water by evaporation — in fact, there must be — from the
innumerable air-tubes. I believe close investigation will
prove that such moisture is more in evidence on such occa-
sions than the honey which the bees regurgitate.
Page 308 — Here, again, our author refers to bees sepa-
rating water from honey while on the wing. I believe this
is physically impossible. I have never as yet seen this
" mist " fall from the bees while flying in the air. The
statement has so often been made by others who thought
they had seen it that we can hardly doubt but that it had
some basis in truth. If such mist does fall from, the bees,
it certainly must be the water of evaporation in the air-
tubes, or else excreta from the intestines. This is certainly
a matter which deserves very close investigation.
Page 310 — The Chinese wax referred to on this page is
the product of an insect. It is one of the scale insects or
coccids. Thus it is related to the cochineal insect, which,
as is well known, gives us our carmine dye. This Chinese
wax is very white and is used for making candles. As Mr.
Root well says, it is too expensive to be used to adulterate
beeswax, and, more than this, detection would be very easy.
Page 321 — In speaking of the willow, it is stated that
it does not furnish honey, and the late Mr. Quinby is
quoted to the same effect. This is certainly not true of all
our willows. As is well known, the willow, like our pepper
here in California, are diiL-cious, that is, the male and
female flovrers are on different trees. I have seen bees over
and over again thick on the blossoms of both. They were
visiting, one for pollen and the other for honey. True they
might get honeyfrom the willow Aphis, a plant-louse which
is very common on the white willow, but careful observa-
tion in many cases has shown me that thej' were visitini,'-
flowers and gathering nectar from trees not at all infested
with plant-lice.
Page 322 — On this page, Mr. Root gives an admirable
illustration of that incomparable plant, the willow-herb.
Curiously enough, in giving the scientific name lu'
exchanges the generic and the specific names. The plant
is known as Epilobium angustifolium, and not, as he jjuts
it, Angustifolium epilobium. This plant is worthy all thr
good things he says of it. It is not only e.xcellent for
honey but has a most beautiful (lower. This plant comes
up thick over the burnt areas of northern Michigan, and so
is often called fireweed. This name, like that of Indian-
pink, is unfortunate, as these names are also given to
other plants which are very different.
Page 335 — Is it true that dark honey is more unsuitable
for wintering than other honey ? If we give the definition
for honey that some bee-keepers urge, that honey is the
transformed nectar of flowers, then surely the above is not
correct. It is true, however, that bees often gather nectar
from bark-lice or scale-insect secretion, which I think they
transform into honey. This is very dark and is certainly
unfit for wintering. While I would not wish to use this lat-
ter in any climate where bees can not fly frequently, for
purpose of winter food, I should not hesitate at all to use
buckwheat or any other dark floral honey for winter food
in the apiary.
Page 348 — In his glossary, our author gives Apis as the
family to which the bee belongs. This should have been
the genus to which the bee belongs. It may be of interest
to some of our bee-keepers for me to give the groups from
first to last in succinct form, to which our pets of the hive
belong. The phylum or branch, which used to be called
Articulata, and which included worms, is now known as
Arthropoda, a word meaning "jointed legs." All animals
which belong to this phylum have not only jointed legs but
also jointed bodies. Thus the sow-bug, crayfish or lobster,
thousand-legged worm, and spider, as well as the insect, all
belong to the phylum Arthropoda. The bee belongs to the
class Hexapoda, or insects. The former name is given
because they all, in the mature state, have six legs. They
are called insects because their body is cut up into three
well-markt portions, head, thorax and abdomen, besides the
other rings and joints which make up these main divisions.
Of course this class does not include the lobster class, with
their varying number of legs, the eight-legged spiders, or
the many-leg'ged myriapods.
The bee belongs to the order Hymenoptera. This word
comes from the Greek and means membranous wings.
They are so called because they have thin wings like those
of the common house-fly. This order does not include
moths, butterflies, two-winged flies, beetles, bugs, locusts,
etc. The family of the bee is Apida?, a word signifying
honey-bee, as the typical genus is Apis. In this family,
the larvae are always fed on pollen, and thus the bees are
always provided with means for collecting this valuable
food substance.
We have a great many bees, from the huge bumble and
carpenter bees down to the small solitary bees which are
often very beautiful. With very slight exception, none of
the bees ever do any harm, and all of them will co-operate
with the honey-bee in the valuable work of pollinating the
flowers of our fruits and vegetables. The carpenter bees
sometimes bore into cornices and window-casing of houses,
but rarely do any serious mischief, and are easily dislodged
by the use of a mixture of lard and kerosene oil. The
genus of the honey-bee is Apis, and includes all those bees
that have their hind legs best fitted for carrying pollen, and
have no tibial spur on these legs. The species of the
honey-bee is mellifera. This includes all of the bees that
have been domesticated, of which there are several races,
as the Italian, Syrian, German or Black, Carniolan, etc.
In concluding these reviews of our three most import-
ant bee-books, I wish to say that the task has been alto-
gether a pleasant one. There is so much to commend, so
little to criticise. I am proud of our bee-books, and am
proud of my brother authors.
Los Angeles Co., Calif.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very pretty thing for a
bee-keeper or honey-seller to wear on his coat-lapel. It
often serves to in troduce the subject of honey, and frequently
leads to a sale.
NoTK.— One reader writes: " I have every reason
to believe tllat it would be a very good idea for every
bee-keeper to wear one (of ihe buttons] as il will cause
people to ask questions about the busy bee, and many
started would wind up with the
honey; at any rate it would g-ive
perior opportunity to enlighten
ard to honey and bees."
sale of more
the bee-keepe
many a perso
The picture shown herewith is a reproduction of a motto
queen-button that we have been furnishing to bee-keepers
for a long time. It has a pin on the underside to fasten to
the coat. Price, by mail, 6 cents each: two for 10 cents;
or six for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office of the Amer-
ican Bee Journal.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work
ing for. Look at them.
234
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
April 11, 1901.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DIt, C. O. AlILLER, Marengo, ni.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofl&ce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
A Beginner's Questions.
My bees were put into winter quarters very light in
stores, and I think they won't have enough to bring them
thru till spring opens. I began feeding too late in the fall,
and cold weather started in, so they did not have time to
store much.
1. Can I feed them before good weather comes, or will
I have to wait till good weather comes in the spring ?
2. How large should the hive-entrance be in the spring
of the year ?
3. Will bees taken from a bee-tree in the woods swarm
as much as tame bees do ?
4. How much honey does it take to winter a colony of
bees ?
5. What time do bees generally begin swarming in the
spring?
6. How can a person tell when the bees are to swarm ?
7. Will bees taken from a tree store as much honey as
a tame swarm ?
8. How long does it take a new swarm to fill up the
brood-chamber after they are hived, when there is lots of
honey in the fields ?
9. How many times should bees be allowed to swarm ?
10. Should the entrance-guard be kept on when robber-
bees are troublesome ?
11. How long does it take bees to fill a super when
there is lots of honey in the fields ?
12. Where do the bees gather propolis ?
13. Should bees have shade on a hot summer daj' ?
14. Do bees need any salt in summer when they build
comb ?
15. How can I prevent second swarms ?
16. Do bees store any nectar from corn, pumpkins and
cucumber blossoms ?
17. Will putting supers on a ten-frame hive prevent
swarming ?
18. Do the drones build comb and gather honey when
newly hived ?
19. Should the honey-board be on top of the frames,
that is, between the super and the frames ?
Wisconsin.
Answers — 1. If they have enough stores to last till
that time, wait till weather when they are flying. But if
you fear their starving before that time, don't wait ; you
may as well disturb to death as to let them starve to death.
If you feed before they are flying, you must make sure
they can get the feed. Hang a Doolittle feeder close to the
cluster, or give them a brood-comb containing syrup, or
give them candy right over the cluster.
2. No larger than in the winter, if as large. Anywhere
from one to three square inches, according to the strength
of the colony.
3. Fully as much.
4. It varies greatly ; from 6 to 25 pounds or more. The
size of the colony, the character of the winter, whether
wintered in cellar or not, all have to do with the matter.
5. If wintered in the cellar, about the first day they are
taken out. If wintered outdoors, perhaps about the last of
March in Wisconsin. But these are hunger-swarms, or
swarms because there is something wrong. Normal swarm-
ing for increase comes later in the North than in the South.
In Wisconsin there may be rare cases in the last of May,
June being as early as it generally begins.
6. By finding a number of queen-cells started in the
hive. If a colony swarms the second time, it will generally
be somewhere in the neighborhood of eight days after the
first or prime swarm.
7. Just as much as another of the same strength. You
will find the colony taken from the tree just as tame as any
other.
8. That depends upon the size of the swarm and of the
hive, and the time of the swarm. It may be a week, and it
may be not till the next year.
9. Once or less.
10. It will be a little help, but is not commonly used for
that purpose. Strong colonies are a better guard against
robbers.
11. It will be excellent work if done in two weeks. It
may be less, but it is oftener a week more before all sec-
tions in the super are sealed.
12. From the buds and twigs of poplar and other trees.
13. It is desirable.
14. They seem to have a liking for salt, and a few bee-
keepers take pains to furnish it to them. It perhaps has
more relation to brocd-rearing than comb-building.
15. Put the swarm on the old stand, and set the old col-
ony close beside it, both facing in the same direction. A
week later move tlie old colony to a new place.
16. Yes ; much from pumpkins and vines of that sort,
but mainly pollen from corn.
17. Yes, it will be an excellent plan if there are bees
enough to fill them ; but it may not prevent swarming.
18. I have never seen them engaged in such occupations
when first hived.
19. That is the proper place for it if you use one ; but
honey-boards are not as generally used as formerly, except
as queen-excluders.
Spring Questions.
1. I put into winter quarters an even SO colonies,
about ■ i Italians and the balance blacks. In the fall I ran
them all together, made two rows, 12 in each row, back to
back, and covered with gable roof like a house. From
some cause my Italians went into the winter with less
stores than the blacks, but I thought all had an abundance,
and could have, I thought, taken two frames from each
hive, but as it has turned out fortunately for them I did not
do it.
Feb. 1st I put them all on the summer stands. At that
time I thought they had plenty, but, for fear, I fed all the
Italian colonies about five pounds of syrup each. Sunday,
March 17th, as I was looking at them I noticed from my
best Italian colony the bees crawling all around the front
of the hive on the ground, and many dead bees. I got the
smoker, lookt into the hive and found they were starving —
not one bit of honey. All my Italians are in the same fix,
but not quite so bad as that one. The blacks are, most of
them, able to go thru.
I at once began to feed, but I fear too late. What shall
I do ? We have had no winter, scarcely a day but what the
bees have been flying. The peach-trees are all putting out
in bloom yesterdaj' and to-day; elm and soft maple are also in
bloom, and the earlj' wild flowers. Do vou think the elm,
maple and peach will provide food for them — that is, can
they hold their own on that, or will they keep getting
shorter of food ?
2. Was it you that made a visit to Sebastian Co., Ark.,
some weeks ago ? I have forgotten who it was. If you,
kindly give me your impressions on bee-keeping and prob-
able success in that portion of the country, as I live only 75
miles from Ft. Smith. The bee-papers give us very little
information relating to our part of the country, in fact it's
all for Northern bee-keepers.
3. Why have my Italians fallen behind the blacks ?
The -Italians did store just enough honey to carry them
thru (and it has turned out not enough to do that), while
many of my blacks had from 1 to 2 supers of surplus. One
early swarm of blacks stored 252 pounds surplus. I bought
queens from several of the leading queen-breeders last
year, but had very poor success with them. Does it take
more stores to run them than blacks ? or why is it they are
a/l just ready to starve ?
4. I want to clip all my queens. When would you do it
— right now, or wait till they are stronger ? As they now
are, I cati not open a hive but the robbers are right after
me, and just cover the hive after putting in feed. I have to
close it entirel.v up tight. I am nearly discouraged. Tell
me what to do, and I will be so thankful.
Indian Territory.
Answers. — 1. It is quite possible that the bees will be
able to take care of themselves, but it will be well to make
sure by giving some feed. In any case it will not be lost.
You are fortunate in having weather when they can fly
nearly every day, for that makes feeding an easy thing.
2. I have never been in that part of the country, and
can give you no reliable information about it.
3. I don't know why the blacks should have done better
April 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
235
than the Italians. Possibly you have blacks that are
unusually good and have been unfortunate in not having'
the best of Italians. More likely the treatment had
something to do with it. The blacks veere perhaps inter-
fered with less than the others. If you changed their
queens, etc.. the Italians would not have so good a chance.
As you had an open winter, the bees flj'ing nearly every
day, the bees would use more stores in winter, and it might
be that the Italians were more active and used up their
stores faster, but that would not account for the great dif-
ference in the amount stored last summer. There is room
for considerable suspicion that the blacks had the better
chance.
4. Try not to open hives unless absolutely necessary
until time of robbing is over, when the bees will get
enough to do on flowers that they will turn to honest pur-
suits. Certainly you should not clip till you can do so with-
out danger from robbers. If for any purpose you are
obliged to open hives, better do it toward evening ; then
there will be less danger of starting robbing, and if it
should trouble a little, darkness will soon come to your
relief.
A Dozen Questions.
1. The burning question with me is how to winter bees.
This is the fourth year I have tried them in North Dakota,
the second and third year I had heavy loss. This winter I
have them in the same frame building. I have 11 hives
closely packt together, and on top of each other, and covered
with some wheat chaff. I gave no upward ventilation, left
the honey-boards sealed down, put a wood tray two inches
deep under each hive, and with wire-cloth on the entrance
2x3 inches. No ventilation on the bee-house ceiling, above
the ceiling it is packt with chaff. The house is warmly
built. I put an extra door on this winter, which gives two
air spaces. I went in last week, and the thermometer was
29 degrees above zero. I could hear the low hum in all the
hives I could reach.
2. Last season on account of the dry weather I got only
about 70 pounds of surplus honey from the3'2 colonies,
spring count, and in September when fixing them for win-
ter I thought they had enough to tide over till spring. Two
years ago I took your advice and sowed sweet clover ; but
for that, last season would have been a blank for honey.
The past seasons I have kept down natural swarming by
dividing, and extracting from the top hive. The coming
season I would not seek more than one swarm from the
strong colonies, and would like to know the best methods
of dividing for increase. Guided by the American Bee
Journal I have tried several ways, but had many failures.
I seemed to lose at least time, honey, and sometimes bees.
When is the best time to divide ? and to manage the half
that has no queen ? Is there any need to destroy the extra
queen-cells they make ?
3. I sent South and got a good many young queens by
mail ; they all came in good order, and there were some
fine queens among them. Several times I lost the queens
by lack of care on my part, not looking out for the other
queen in the hive. Now tell me how long they should be
without a queen before they have one introduced ?
4. In making a nucleus could I take a frame of brood
with bees on it and introduce a young queen at the same
time ? or how many dajs after ?
5. How far apart should nuclei be set to make it
safe for a young queens to enter her own hive ?
6. Do you think king-birds have anything to do with
my queens getting lost sometimes ?
7. Is there any danger of crowding too many bees into a
hive ? In September, when taking off the upper story,
there were so many bees that they could scarcely all get
into the lower hive. Would that hurt them in wintering .'
or would it be better to give some of the bees to a weak
colony ?
8. Is there any danger of killing the'queen when you
mis together bees of different colonies ?^How do you pre-
vent it ?
9. In taking a frame of brood and bees from a strong
colony, to build up a weak one, will these bees be liable to
kill the queen ?
10. Would there be any danger in introducing a young
queen to the part that is queenless, after dividing a strong
colony? How long should it be before you give it one '
li. Would the bees receive a matured queen-cell as
readily as a queen ? How long should they be queenless .'
12. In dividing a strong colony, how or where would
you place the hives ? Minnesota.
Answers — 1. It is possible you may have to give up
the idea of wintering in that house. It is a hard thing on
bees to be in a place where the thermometer stands at 29
degrees continuously. You may say it is much colder than
that outdoors. So it is, but when a warm day comes the
outdoor bees can have a flight, whereas your bees will not.
It is questionable if you should leave the covers sealed
down, but if there is a sufficient amount of warm packing
over all it may do. The 2-inch tray under the hives is
good, but it is not a good thing to fasten the bees in the
hive with wire-cloth. When bees want to come out of the
hive to die, they ought to have that privilege. You might
find that they will winter better in the cellar under your
dwelling. If it is impracticable to have them there, you
could at least have a cellar several feet deep under the
house in which to winter your bees, so as to raise the tem-
perature to about 45 degrees. If you find them troubled
with diarrhea, better get them out as soon as a day comes
that is still, with the sun shining, and the thermometer 48
degrees in the shade.
2. If you want no more than one increase from each
strong colony (and you are wise in desiring no more), it is
possible that natural swarming would be the best thing for
you. With that it is easy to prevent second swarms. If
you divide artificially, do not begin before about the time
of natural swarming. Generally there will be no need to
destroy queen-cells. Perhaps the nucleus plan may suit
you as well as any. Take a colony that is very strong and
has a good queen — if not as strong as you wish, make it
so by giving brood in advance from other colonies — and
take its queen with two combs of brood with adhering bees
and put in an empty hive on a new stand. Seven to nine
days later form nuclei, giving each one two or three frames
of brood and bees from your queenless colony, and seeing
that each one has two or three good queen-cells. If the
queen-cells are at the outer edges of the combs, put them
on the central surface, fastening them with a staple or nail.
Put the hive with the old queen on the old stand, putting a
nucleus in place of the queen. A week after forming the
nuclei give each of them a frame of brood from the other
colonies that have not been disturbed ; a weak later still,
one or two frames of brood ; and so on till you have a full
colony.
3. You may be successful by removing the queen at the
same time you give the new one, providing the new one is
not releast too soon, but it is safer to have the new queen
releast four or five days after the removal of the old queen,
and to make sure of this with the usual shipping-cage the
old queen should be removed two or three days before the
new one is put in the hive.
4. If the queen is caged, she should be put into the
nucleus at the time it is formed. Two days after it is
formed there would be little risk in giving the queen with-
out caging. If the nucleus was formed with queenless
bees — and generally it should be — then any kind of a
queen, and especially a very young virgin, could be given
at once without caging.
5. If there are no more than four of them they need
not be apart at all. Two of them may be side by side,
almost touching, with the other two facing the opposite
direction, the two pairs standing back to back. Then
another group of four may come with four feet of space
between the two groups, and so on.
6. It may be.
7. Don't be afraid of too many.
8. Generally one of the queens will be saved, but it is
well to take the precaution to kill a day or two in advance
the queen of the bees to be united.
9. Not much danger unless you add nearly as many
bees as were already in the weak colony.
10. If the queenless part is put on a new stand there
would not be much danger after a day or two. But look
out in taking, bees from a queen and putting them on a new
stand, that they do not desert the brood. It is safer always
to form your nuclei of bees already queenless.
11. Generally a queen-cell will be received more readily
than a queen. It will be a rare case that any colony will
not receive a queen-cell 24 hours after being made queen-
less. This does not refer, however, to bees with laying
workers ; hard to get them to receive anything unless it be
a virgin just out of the cell.
12. If you mean dividing into two parts— a thing that
is of doubtful policy — you might set the two side by side
on the old stand ; then if one should get more bees than it
should have you could move it away a few inches and bring
up the other.
236
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 11, 1901.
nowro
SUVA
Follow Inscructions Carefull)-
Take $100. give your wife §35.20 for
\ pia money. Purchase a draft or nion-
der lor $(34.80 and mail it to us
.■ii and we will ship you at once, our
.5^ No. 292 Extension Top Surrey— the best Surrey
ever sold anywhere for SIOO. spot cash.
The S33.20 you give your wife represents
the two extra profits yni would have to
pay in Betting the jobfr mi a doaler. We
Sell Direct from our Factory
to you and give you iO DAYS' TRIAL
before you pay
tor It.
Get our laree illus-
trated catalogue of
our tuU line of Ve-
hicles and Harness.
Itisfullotbarp:ains.
Send for it to-day.
IT 18 FREK.
Kalamazoo Carriage & Harness Co.
Boi 53 , Kalamazoo. Mich.
Please mentior Bee Journal ■when "writine.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anjr other publisht,
send J1.2Sto
Prof. A. J. Cook,Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
ENGINES
—-either traction, portable or eeml-portable
Tepresentthe preatest value thatcan be crowded
ioto s machine ot this kind. Simple or compounds to SOh.p.
Vnequalleil for threshiDg, well drilling saw millg, feed
grioder3.i:c.MakealsosuperiorthrC(*hcrs,hop8cpoW-
ers^saw uiills^etC* Illustrated catalog mailed I'rec*
Pleasp mention Bee Journal -wh.--" ■writing.
Grove City Rabbitry !
I'rinco Ijeopold, Ivaiihoc,
Donovan Boy,
and other high-bied Belgian stock.
Youngsters, 3 mouths, $3.00, or 2 for $5.00.
For pedifjree, write
WM. M.WHITNEY, Kankakee III.
Pleas
BEES WANTED!
50 TO 75 Colonies.
If vou have anvfor sale wnie lo H. G. OUIRIN,
Parkektow.v, Ohio. 13A4t
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
TWENTY MILLIONS IN GOLD
From Alaska during the year looo.
Five millions of this came from the
Nome district. Government officials
estimate the output from the Nome dis-
trict ■will be doubled the coming season.
The Bluestone, Kougarok and Pilgrim
rivers have been found very rich. There
is hardly a creek from Port Clarence
to Norton Sound in ■which the precious
metal is not found, and hundreds of
creeks unprospected. A rich strike has
been made on the Yellow river, a trib-
utary of the Kuskokwim.
For full information regarding routes,
steamship accommodations and rates
to all points in Alaska, address C. N.
Souther, General Agent, Passenger
Department, C. M. & St. P. R'y, 95
Adams Street, Chicago. 13A3t
Early Spring in Arizona.
We are having an early spring. Alfalfa is
about knee-high, and bees are gathering
honey from fruit and desert flowers.
To-day I found ijueeu-cells started in all
stages, from the egg to the sealed cell ready
for swarming. B. A. Hodsell.
Maricopa Co., Ariz., March 4.
Bees Wintered Well in Kansas.
I started last fall with eight colonies of
bees, and they are coming thru the winter
very nicely. I examined a few of them in
February, and found some of the queens la.v-
inn, and some brood in the larval state. The
colonies are all on the summer stands. How
is that for Kansas ?
I love my bees, and am bound to give this
c^juntry a fair trial before I give up trying to
keep them here. I think the prospects will
grow better when the farmers get to sowing
more alfalfa.
I want to do all I can for the American Bee
Journal, for I could not do without it now.
J. L. Bader.
Coffey Co., Kans., March 10.
More Rain in Southern California-
Sage Honey.
We have ,iust had another nice rain, and the
prospect for a honey crop in southern Califor-
nia is good, as most locations have had from
12 to 1.5 inches of rain to date. I have an
apiary near Pasadena, where the rainfall has
been 22 inches. There has been very little
sage honey shipt from here during the past
three years, but there will soon be some to
ship. Fkank McNat.
Los Angeles Co., Calif., March 14.
A Voice from Southern California.
Having read with do small degree of amuse-
ment the comments and prophecies on the
expectations and prospects of California's
honey crop for UKU — and these not always
given in the friendlie.st of terms, but tinged
with a gleam ot .jealousy — I wish to say :
Now, fellow bee-keepers, honey-eaters, and
friends who are hopeful and have a good wish
for those who produce by the sweat of the
brow and the pain of the bee-sting, that which
of all others is one of Nature's choicest
sweets, California has had a hard trial — espe-
cially southern California — in the three sea-
sons of light rainfall .just past, and perhaps no
l)ursuit has been more severely tried, or suf-
tt'i^cd a greater percent ot loss in proportion
to the amount invested, than that of bee-
keeping. And ot the many who have
" stayed it thru " almost all have had some
other source of income, or turned at least a
part of their attention to other pursuits, that
they might save their bees until we should
be blest again with a normal rainfall that
would justify them in giving their attention
to the iioney-producing industry. The editor
of one of the leading bee-papers says, " We
expect California will be wishing Colorado a
' short crop.' " This is not a fair judgment of
the temperament ot us California bee-keepers,
for I do not believe, at any time in the three
trying seasons just i^ast thru, that the bee-
keepers of California wisht to see a good crop
at home and a failure on the fellow in another
State.
Five years ago last fall I came to this part
of the country from Oregon, and, to amuse
myself, the following winter I dug out from
the hills and hived 24 colonies, and from these
and sul)sequent purchases made with money
earned by working out between times, I have
built up an apiary of 1(10 colonies that are in
excellent condition, and I have a few dollars
Belgian Hares
CHBAP.
PEDIGREED AND COMMON STOCK.
H-iving- bought a Job Lot of a neighbor and
added to what I had, I must dispose of same to
make room for my increase. They are mostly
young— 3 months and over — with a few bred
Does. ALSO
Italian Queens
of last season's rearing, ready as soon as the
weather is warm enougrh to send thru the mail.
Write for prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
iiAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Icwa.
one Star
Establisht 1S8S. Fairview, Wilson Co., Tex.
12Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, W'est Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and the South.
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
C. H. W. -WEBER.,
Successor to C. F. Muth & Son,
2146-48 Central Ave., CINCINNATI. O.
applied ti:
cither
feia
■
mt
Wheels or
.'agons
^j^
i<;i L'U.ira
ntee of excellence
Tbe pul>- 1
rues th
IS fact. In
4 yei
10 Klpcl
rleSlfol Wheels a
Z"ut"'s'
Kami)
Ta!.-..n<. We
make
Lftiog ^
"kee!!
Electric Wheel Co.
Go« 16, t
uincr
■iiJ
ALBINO QUEENS I
the g-eolk ' '"
f you want the most
prolific Queens — If you
; — If you want the best
-g-atherers vou ever saw- trv my Albinos.
Untested Oueens in April. $1,00; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t j.D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Dittnier's Foiiudatioii !
Retail— Wholesale-Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessarv to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Foundation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
PleP^^e mention Bee Journal when -writing.
BEE
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Mention the Ao
Bee Journal.
April 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
237
LanQsiroin on...
Ttl6H0I16ljB66
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so vcell-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for fl.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
250 Poultry Pictures
alratine erwry phase of pc'uHry raising and
padres of matter telling how. when and
at. Th.it anil much more is in our "I'ront.
f Foultrj Kecplngin all itH Branches."
Teils also about the warranted for 10 yeara
iphers Incabator, which Is guaranteed to
ithatch any other Incabator, or money re-
. funded. Book for 10c in etamps. Circulars
free. Address nearest office. A sis for bookSU
mNVUTlUTlNGi^Chlcaijo, III. Wayland, S. \. Boston, 91au.
Please mention Bee Journal w^iien ■WTiuntt
Removed — Queens
I wish to inform my many kind friends and
customers that I have moved from Merigohl,
Miss., to Coal Creek, Tenn., where I am makinfj
A SPECIALTY OF REARINU QUEENS that
produce the very prettiest and best workers
that work on red clover.
Untested, each $ .75
Tested, " 1.00
Breeders, " 3.U0
Select Untested, each 85
Give them a trial and be convinced. Thanks
for past favors. Respectfully yours.
DANIEL VVURTH.
14A2t Coal Creek, Anderson Co.. Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal V7hen writine:.
QUEENS
SmoEers, Sections.
C ;mb Foxindalioo
lEd fll i.pl»rl.. HnppUw
laid by, made thru these tireless little workers.
But it has been only by constant and earnest
attention that I have been able to go thru
tliese dry years with a loss of not to exceed ">
percent at any time, and I am sure I see iioth-
ini; at present to justify the supposition tliat
we are in any way likely to overstock the
Eastern markets with cheap honey. For five
years my record has been as follows : 1890,
kW; 1897, $250; 1898,100; 1899,1310: and
1900, 1350. By .Jinks.
Riverside Co., Calif. March 9.
Bees Wintered Well.
Our bees have lately had several fine flights,
the first in about 4Si months. They were
wintered on the summer stands, prepared as
explained in the American Bee .Journal for
Oct. 11, 1900 They were confined to hives by
cold weather much longer than usual, the
mercury going as low as 10 degrees Ijelow zero,
yet there is a loss in colonies of only aljout I'.j
percent, and nearly all colonies are in fine
condition. " H. D. Burrell.
Van Buren Co., Mich., March 35.
A Beginner's Report.
I am a beginner in the bee-business. I had
14 colonies last spring, and increast to 28.
which are wintering on the summer stands ;
all are in good condition, and have consider-
able brood.
I will be 64 years old May 13th. I came to
Texas 50 years ago, and am a farmer and
stock-raiser. I raised 33 bales of cotton and
1,000 bushels of corn last year.
(iood luck to the Bee Journal. I like it very
much. George Conawat.
Comanche Co., Tex., March 13.
Please meatlon Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
Bees in Good Condition— Gatliering
from Sap.
I examined my bees March 16th, and found
them in good condition, with plenty of honey
and some sealed brood. They have had a
good flight nearly every week this winter.
They seem to be at work, but I can't tell what
on unless it is maple sap, as it is running
now, and so is box-elder sap. It is too coki
tii-dav for bees to flv. Feed Tyler.
Mason Co., 111., March 30.
Soft Maple in Bloom.
The Bees are still in the cellar, altho the
soft maples are partly in bloom; but the
weather is cold. E. S. Miles.
Crawford Co., Iowa, March 39.
Horsemint a Good Honey-Plant.
Our bees are working nicely. We have lots
of horsemint in this part i>{ the country,
which is a good bee-plant.
Mrs. C. R. West.
Ellis Co., Tex., March 37.
A Plan for Watering Bees— Fishing.
Our Ijees have I-"'eu a nuisance atioiil the
watering trough and pump. Our women-
folks, as well as the boys, objected to them
aliout the pump, then I knew it was time to
do something. So I referred to "ABC of
Bee-Culture" for a remedy for the trouble,
and straightway made two watering devices,
and set them up in the apiary, which is alioui
five rods from the pump. They were kept
filled during the heated spell in July and
August, when 30 colonies would carry away
from one to four gallons a day. This slopt
the annoyance about the pump, and we saw
liut three bees there during the summer. 8o
inui-h for the texl-tiook.
The walering-lioards can be made with :i
jack-knife if oni: lias no saw. I believe if
apiarists woulil .^ce to it that their liees were
well watered at home, there would be U>s
■■ kicking" done In the neighbors. The leM-
book is the main tool, and the " Old Kelialile "
sees to it that the tool is kept in working
order.
It is not long since I started with bees, and
I was not slow in '.■ firing " questions at that
We want *
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are ri^'ht, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mum & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts., CiNciNXAxr.O.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
INLAND POULTRY JOUKNAL. Indi)
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
Tefluessee Queeus I
lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
tiles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each : untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS.
6A26t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Flease m.ention Bee Journal ■when "writing
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog-
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, Hanager,
1024 Miss, street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Good Instruments.
Liuiit cunfuse these instruinents v
clieK.p"l>argain counter" offers. They
\ hi^h grade, tuUy guaranteed, ins
:ienta FUU DllIMClANS.
VIOLIN— Amatl model, choice of 3
colors, dark brown, iightred Oram l>er,
' full ebony trimmed. Brazilwood bo
' pearl slide, fuU leather bound
case, extra set of strings, rosi
worth riO. My Price »6.a7.
GUITAR— Solid Rosewood, standard
size, neatly inlaid, Spanish cedar
neck, celluloid front, ebony finger
board, best quality patent bea<l
Full leather bound canvas case.
Regular price 818. MyPrloe*7,
MANDOLIN-Solid Rosewc
e. Only «7, with
j leather bound case, extra set of
strings and tortoise pick. Send for
high grade musicalinstrumentsof i
iCAoa
Please mention Bee Jotirnal when -writing
C alifnfnia f H yon care to know of its
C'dlllUrilld 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leadinif Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekl;,
tiandsomel.v illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
130 Market street, - San Francisco, Cal
Please jneutiou Bee Journal "when ■writing
SENT ON 30 DAYS TRIAL i
Th« Ituntum halchts tvtry halcliable '
eeg. Sl^cg alw, *3. Send ic for CaU No. ''
Buckeye Incubator Co., 8priagl]c[d, O.
its
Wanted !
A trustworlby boy or
youn^'' man to assist
i n apiary work, t o
learn practical bee-keepiny, and earn good
wag-es. I"i' colonies of bees for sale. C. Theil-
MANN, Tlieilmanton, Wabasha Co., Minn.
14Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
238
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
April 11, 19i 1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:.
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OuF New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY
Watertown. Wisconsin, U. S. a.
XhandytoomiolderT
Sent by Express, for $1.50 ; or with the Bee Journal
one year — bolli for $2.00.
Every Manufacturer. Miller. Carpenter.
Cabinet Maker. Machinist. Wheelwriglit and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one using a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work of two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will bold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chisel to a draw shave or ax
Extra attachment for sharpening scythe
blades included in the above price. The -(vork
Isdone without welting the hands or soiling
the clothes, as the water flows from Iheopeia-
tor. Jt can be attached to any size stone for
baud or steam power, is always ready for use,
nothing to get out of order, and is absolutely
worth 100 times its cost.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
*or itself in a short time. ,
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool is fas-
tened securely In the Holder by
a set-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevel by insert-
ing the arm of the Holder into
a higher or lower notch of the
standard. While turning the
crank with the right hand, the
left rests on an steadies the
Holder ; the Tool is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if held in th-» hands.
For grinding Round - Edge
Tools, the holes in the stand-
ard are used instead of the
notches.
UEORCE W. VORK A: CO., 144 X 14G Erie St Cliioago, 111.
larsbfleid Mannfactiiring Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Maaufacturiag Co., Marshfleld, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal "when writing;.
YELLOW OR WHITE
Sweet Clover Seed
Free as a Premium
For Sending us One New Subscriber for a Year.
There has been so much written
about both the white and the yellow
variety of sweet clover, that we will
simply say here that if one of our pres-
ent regular subscribers will ,send us $1
with a new name for this year, we will
mail, postpaid, to the one sending
the new name and the dollar, either
one pound of yellow sweet clover seed,
or two pounds of the white sweet clo-
ver. This is a good chance to get a
start of both kinds of these honey clo-
vers. Better send two new subscribers
(with S2.00) and get the three pounds
of seed. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
44 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United Slates.]
%Vool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writing.
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding- is neces-
^^'^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan street, CHICAGO, ILL
Beeswaotefli
15 col-
1 BEES
LANG-
STROTH FRAMES. Addi
Bo.x 151. H. RASnUSSEN, Oak Park. III.
ISAJt Mentic
I Bee Journal.
•' grand old maD." Dr. C. C. Miller, who is so
kind and obliging in telling us what we want
to know. Some day we shall lose him, and
his place will be hard to fill. May the Father
above be good to the Doctor and his, is my
prayer.
What would we better do with Mr. Hasty ?
He appears to be having a circus with us all.
How would the editor like to go fishing with
him. and afterward hear him tell how all the
big 'uus got away — from the other fellow ?
J. P. Blusk.
Webster Co., Iowa, March 9.
[No, we don't know anything about Ashing,
so if Mr. Hasty wants a companion, on such a
job, he'd better take Mr. Blunk, who is a
diligent student of the late, lamented Izaak
Walton. — Editor.]
Mistake in "Averaging Up."
On page 157, J. D. (iehring wonders '■ it F.
.J. Gunzel's report of 14,000 pounds from 94
colonies is not a mistake. " One thing is cer-
tain, as Mr. Gehring " figures it," his 170
pounds average is a huge mistake. Would
not 149 pounds (nearly) reduce the cause for
wonderment >. Wm. Wrat.
Gratiot Co., Mich.
Queen-Button Bees Wintered
Poorly.
I think that little queen-button is the best
thing out to advertise a bee-keeper, and I am
sure that if every bee-keeper, old and young,
male and female, would wear one of these
little "catches" they would catch many a
pound of honey which would otherwise re-
main paekt away in the honey-room. When
taking the last number of the American Bee
Journal from the post-office, and glancing
thru it to page '303, a bystander noticed the
picture of the queen-button, and the first
question he askt was, " Say, Mr. Golden, have
you any honey ? Seeing that bee just put me
in mind of the honey."
Some time ago I frequently spoke to our
bee-keepers that I was fearful that our bees
would suffer greatly on account of the quality
of winter stores and long confinement. Surely,
mv prediction is being fulfilled thruout this
section, not because it has been so cold, but
on account of the long confinement without a
flight, and bad winter stores.
.J. A. Golden.
Morgan Co., Ohio. April 1.
Wintered Well.
I wintered 25 colonies in chaff-packt hives,
and up to this date they seem to be lively and
doing well. Albert Baxter.
Muskegon Co., Mich., April 1.
Mistake in Mathematics.
In Mr. Getaz' article, on page 151. a little
mistake in mathematics appears, and should
be corrected without any offense being given,
because mistakes— according to an old maxim
— are no haystacks.
If a man is to carry 2.000 pounds of mate-
rial, taking 50 pounds on a trip, to a place .500
yards distant, he will truly have to make 41)
trips, but in going to and from the place of
dep<i>it 111- will have to walk 1.000 yards to
coiiLpU'U" his trip; therefore, the man carry-
ing 50 pounds on a trip will cover a total of
40.000 yards, and the one carrying 100 pounds
will walk one-half the distance, or 20,000
yards. E. F. Trittexbach.
Northampton Co.. Pa.. March 11.
Experience in Getting Subscribers.
The editor has said from time to time that
any one could get at least one new subscriber,
but I have tried every man in this vicinity
that keeps bees, and sent in 16 names at one
time for sample copies, but not one would
part with his dollar for subscription, but let
his bees rot with foul brood, and then say,
'• Let them go; they don't gather any honey,
anyway, bo they might as well be dead as
April 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
239
alive." When you tell him that his bees are
spreading foul brood anionf;: other apiaries,
his reply is something lil<e this: "Letthera
spread it; it won't do me any harm." I dare
say not a letter was written by one of this class
of bee-keepers, to help to get the foul-brood
bill past, and they would be the ones to ob-
ject it any inspector should come to examine
their bees.
There is a good, honest farmer over south
of us about three miles, who has nine colo-
nies of bees in hives of all shapes and sizes.
He was here this morning and left §1.00 for
the American Bee Journal. C. H. Austin.
Hillsdale Co., Mich., March IS.
Short of Stores.
Bees in this community are short of stores,
and the time is critical, but as peach-bloom is
now on, with open and warm days, I hope
they will puU thru without much loss.
L. T. Shirley, M. D.
Pickens Co,, S. C„ March 29.
Report fop 1900— Other Matters.
I have only a small apiary — from iO to 50
colonies — and run exclusively' for comb honey,
as there is no market here for extracted. I
depend upon the local market and orders by
mail, all calling for comb honey. I disposed
of 1,S00 pounds of last season's crop in that
way, at an average of about 13 cents per
pound. Each ease is markt with the net
weight and grade, and in packing I am care-
ful to have each section clean, properly filled .
and as good, or a little better, than the outside
exhibition sections. In that way I have
secured a trade that takes all I can supply at
outside prices. I enclose two, three and four
cases in a light box or crate with hay cushion
in the bottom, and ship by freight, unless or-
dered otherwise, mostly to points in North
Dakota.
Last season was a fairly good one, my yield
being 65 pounds of honey to the colony, and
50 percent increase.
I make all my own hives, sections, etc. The
hives are 14xlT'4Xll inches, inside measure,
with 9 frames rabbeted to receive cover or
super; also rabbeted top and bottom to fit.
The bottom-board is fastened to the hive with
three hooks, one in the middle of the back,
and one on either side near the front. The
cover is flat, having 2^.,-s.%iwh cleats nailed
to it, the cover projecting slightly beyond the
cleats. The entrance is •■*,) inch by width of
hive, regulated by a triangular block to suit
circumstances. I bore an inch hole near the
top of the front end of the hive for winter
ventilation, but close this up in summer.
I winter the bees in the cellar, and take
them out when warm weather comes, without
any regard to the season. I double all weak
colonies, use honey-boards instead of cloth,
^removing them when placing in winter quar-
ters. I raise the cover slightly and put on
the honey-board, covering with newspapers
when placing on the summer stands, then re-
place the cover, making all tight and warm.
I do not remove tne paper until settled warm
weather, and seldom lose a colony. I allow
them to swarm naturally, and place" the swarm
on the old stand, moving the old one two feet,
and allowing it to remain two or three days,
when I move it to another stand. I usually
give the new colony one frame containing
some brood, placing it in the middle, and
never have a swarm leave the new hive.
I bad one new colony that cast a swarm the
eleventh day, and don't understand it. I
make my brood top-bars I'j'x".. inch, split with
a saw to within two inches of" the end. The
ends are Ix^., inches, with little pieces bradded
on the edge to serve as spacers. The bottom
strip projects I4 inch beyond the ends to pre-
vent the frame from touching the ends,
II. B. KXOWLES.
Winona Co.. Minn.. .March s.
The nan and the Wheel.— The wheel in its va-
rious applications to the industrial arts, from
the crude cart-wheel of the ancients to the whirl-
ing shaft of the modern dynamo, has been one
of the most important factors in the evolution
of the race. Take away all the wheals of the20th
century world and we would have very little civ-
ilization left. While we believe that much de-
pends upon the man— "the man behind the
guns" wins the battle; the man behind the plow
makes the crop— at the same time we can not ex-
pect as much work nor as good results from the
man who is hampered by having to use inade-
quate tools as from tlie man who employs up-to-
date methods and has an up-to-date equipment.
Take the matter of farm wagons as an illustra-
tion. For years we used for farm work wagons
with the old, narrow-tired high wheels. Every
time we put a load on it we lifted about twice as
high as there was any need of; every time we
drove across a field we cut into the ground about
twice as deep as was necessary; every time we
started the horses we pulled them about twice
as hard as the load required. Then some one
hit on the idea of making a low-down handy
wagon with wide-tired metal wheels, and the
labor of farm hauling was reduced about one-
half. The handy wagon became popular at
once for all farm hauling. Every one who has
used a low-down wagon is ready to say with the
man in our illustration — '*No more high wheels
No more High Wbeels for me, Neighbor, "
for mel" We believe this is especiallv true of
those who use the famous Electric Handv
Wagon or the Electric Steel Wheels made by
the Electric Wheel Co., at Quincy, Ill„who have
been recognized as the leaders in this line of
goods, and by their fair business methods and
the high quality of their products, have made
the name '-Electric" stand for all that is excel-
lent in wagon-miking. They make metal wheels
of all descriptions for wagons and implements
of all kinds, and will sell either a wagon com-
plete or a set of wheels for an old running gear.
Very many farmers bay a set of low wheels for
use on the farm and a set of high wheels for road
hauling. The advantages of wide tires and low-
down wagons have been so thoroly discust in
the press and at institutes and clubs that there
is small need of repeating them here. It lias
been demonstrated, time and again, that they
mean easy loading and easy hauling; they save
the man, they save the horses, thev save the
fields, for they do not " rut " nor cut up the
ground as a narrow tire does. If vou have not
a low-down handy wagon we know that it will
pay you to investigate. Send for the Electric
Catalog. It's Free. It's poor economy to wear
out your back or your hired-man's back when
you get a belter wagon, (and one that will last
your lifetime^ for less money than you paj- for
a high-wheeled labor-maker. Please metition
the American Bee Journal when writing for a
catalog.
GINSENG:
plants prodoce $4,009.10 to 10
Book telline; bow to gTOw It. 4c.
I Lakeside Ginseng Gardens, Amber, N.Y
Please mention Bee Journal -when writiua,
Rocku Mountain Bee-Plant Seed !
{ljlei,me integrifoUa.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Cultare says of it: *'This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-g-ardea, to
say notbiug- of the honey it produces. It prows
fromtwo to three feei in hipht and bears larg-e,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows uatur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a ^4 -pound package as a pre-
diium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Hee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mail for 4U cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
us Michigan St. CHICAGO, ILL
I tiON&y AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, .\pr. 4.— Honey quotation remains
the same as they have been for several weeks
past. Stocks are very light and demand will
more than take care of all there is on hand.
Fair gradesof white, 14@ISc; best ambers, 12'a)
13c; mi.vt colors, 10@llc; buckwheat, ^©lOc.
E.xtracted, white, ranges from "lotSc; amber, 5K
@7N;c; buckwheat, SM@6Hc. All of the ex-
tracted is governed by quality and flavor in the
range of prices, the lowest figures in either of
the colors applies to the sour, or off-flavored,
and unripened. Beeswax, 3oc.
R. A. Burnett & Co-
New York, March 19.— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb honey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancy white is still sell-
ing readily at from IStolOc; No. 1 white at from
13(G»14c; amber at from 12@13c; buckwheat, 10®
He, according to quality and style of package.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active, and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honey is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, 7(a»7{ic; light amber,
ti'A(s>'!c; other grades and Southern, (,S(ai75c per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 2S@28Mc, and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 290.
HiLDRETH & SeOELKEN.
Buffalo, Apr. 4.— Fancy comb, 14(a 15c; dark
etc., 8@12c, as to grade. Demand moderate. '
Fancy beeswax, 27@28c. Batterson & Co.
Omaha, Mar. 3i).— Demand fair; stocks light.
Fancy white comb, ISiaibc. Extracted moving
slowly at 7(a8c for white. We do not look for
any particular change for the balance of the
season, as present supply will just about be suf-
ficient to supply the tiade until new crop gets
into market. Pkvckk Bros.
Detroit, Mar. 21— Fancy white comb, 14@15c;
No. 1, 13(a'14c; dark and amber, 10@12c. Ex-
tracted, white, fj>^(m7c; amberand dark, 5@6c.
Beeswax, 2"@28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
Cincinnati, March 21— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over, the stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings yet loc. Ex-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for S!4c;
better grades bring 6m7Kc; fancv white clover
from S'A(a 'ic. c. H.' W. Weber.
Kansas City, Mar. 23.— Receipts light; de-
mand normal at steady prices. Fancy white
comb, 15tol6c; no amber on market. Extracted,
S(a.9c. Beeswax scarce, steady demand, 2S@30cI
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
Albany, N. Y., Apr. 6.— Honev market quiet.
Light supply and light demand now. The stock
is well cleaned out, so will be no old honey to
carry over this season. H. R. Wright.
Boston, April 4.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, loc; No. 1, ISw 16c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutelv no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 8®
8^c; light amber, 7Ji(si8c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, im@125^c: dark, 8@9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7K@8c; light amber 6H®'i%cx
amber. 55^®654c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring from California apiaries, present offer-
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber grades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on good author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honey is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantity, which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We ran furnish you with Tlie A. 1. Knot Co'8
ponds at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. .Market price
paid lor beeswax. Send for our |9"1 CHtaloe.
M. U. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich.
Please mention Bee .Journal when writm«
B66§=Syppiies"
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13.\26t Please mention the IJee Journal.
240
AMERICi\N BEE JOURNAL
April 11, 1901.
We have a Large Stock oh haad
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiractors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
;»- W. M. Gekrish, East Notinfrham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our iroods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
WANTED !
25 to 50 colonies of bees in g'ood con-
dition. Must be cheap.
S. J. DUMME,
16.5 S. Forest Ave,,
iiAot RIVER FOREST, COOK CO., ILL.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
v» e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft 10ft 2Sft soft
Sweet Clever (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Crimson Clover 70c
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14* Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
1.20
1.40
3.75
4.00
3.25
1.00
5.00
7.0O
7.50
6.00
1.60
200-Egg Incubator
for $I2.00
Perfect in constrnction and
action. Hatches every fertile
egg. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy, III.
I AEISE
DOOUTTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing pi ices :
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
,; Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y
24th n/irl«%.^4'^ r^.-nrl^ii^ri 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. '^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAOOINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINO.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sel) the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE— Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co , III.
'##(i)-4-#i)-(i»i>.4.(&-^.(i)»(i).(i).(i.(i).(i>-S
$13.00 and $25.00 Queens
Having a Measured Tongue Reach.
^
The call for queens of our celebrated $200 imported mother
has been so great that we have decided, in addition to the $2.00,
$4.00, and $6.00 grades of this stock, to offer some $10.00, $15.00,
and even S25.00 of this same blood. But these prices are for tested
queens, the tongues of whose bees have been measured.
The $10.00 queen is guaranteed to produce bees with a tongue-
measurement of 19-100.
The $15.00 queen, 20-100.
The $25.00.queen, 21-100.
These last are very rare and with one exception this (21-100)
is the longest tongue reach yet secured. We reserve the right,
when we do not have the stock with the tongue reach called for,
either to return the money or to send the next lower, remitting
the balance. It would be well for our friends to put in their or-
ders at once, and as soon as we get the grades we will send notice.
When the money is sent, the queens will be forwarded. These
will be put up in the very best manner possible ; and while we
guarantee safe arrival in good order to any point in the United
States, on any railway line, we will not guarantee safe intro-
duction. Such valuable queens should be releast on hatching
brood.
N. B. — It seems as if it ought not to be necessary to say that
no one but a queen-breeder or a large honey-producer should order
these high-priced queens; but it is a fact according to our expe-
rience that ! eginners with only a few colonies will order our high-
est priced imported queens. Such bee-keepers have no more use
for such queens than a pig has for a wheel-barrow.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO;, hedina, Ohio.
sK«<-
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. cHfcA!';a''fLt.?"'
headquarters for ROOT'S liEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO,
id to them for their free Catalog.
#
^^«f)"f)-f)-f)-<|)-f)-(|)"^«(|)"f)«(|)'f)-f)-(|)-f>'f)©^
iiiAE^e/|/v
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 18, 1901.
242
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL.
April 18, 1900.
PDBLISHT WEEKLY BY
Qeorqe W. York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St., Ghicago, III.
'Entered at the Post-Office at Chicagro as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a year extra for postage. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl" on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, IWl.
Subscription Receipts— We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
**ed" final to *'r' when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey commission-
men.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. A. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
EnGENE Secok, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
fhe Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, :Tlauiial of (lie Apini-y.
BY
PROF, A, J. COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thon-
sand- S1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing stvle. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 4<)0 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we proposeto GIVE away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
offer
made to 1
premii
sub-
flply the Bee Jour
The follov
scribers onl;
the two NEW subscribeVs-
nal for one year:
Send us two new. subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $i.0O), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a vear— both for onlv
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to "the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one?
QEORaE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
I Red Glover Queens
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Premium
for sending us TWO new subsepibers to tlie
Amepican Bee Joupnal fop one year (with $2);
OP, one Tested Queen fpee as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscpibeps (with $4.00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having- many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows: Untested,
SI. 00 each ; Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Epie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
paid
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
28 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St.. CHICAGO.
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Honey |
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
^ ALFALFA
^ HONEY...,,,.
|r^?^ This is the famous White
5.^J^ Extracted Honey g-athered in
K^^ the great Alfalfa regrions of
g;i/ the Central West. It is a
►'^CW splendid honey, and nearly
f^^j everybody who cares to eat
^S honey at all can't get enoug-h
i^B^ of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY,,,.,..
This is the well - known
li^ht-colored honey gathered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, oy mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9)4
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
8'2 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honej' and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
GEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, APRIL 18, 1901,
No, 16,
^ Editorial Comments. ^ ^
Are AVe Businesslike ? is a question askt by Arthur C. Miller
in the American Bee-Keeper. He thinks bee-keepers do not equip
themselves in a way to do their work in the most economical manner.
Too many try to make their own hives, or get along with a cheap
bee-smoker. He says. " If the business is worthy of your attention at
all, it is worthy the best tools and implements to do it with. Perhaps
you can not spare the cash for many things needed ; if not, then get
the most important thing first, and the others as you can."
Freight Rate on Comb Honey. — On page 211 we called
attention to the fact that the Western Classification Committee had
before it a proposition to raise the freight rate on comb honey. We
also urged that everybody interested should address a letter to Mr. J.
T. Ripley, chairman of the Western Classification Committee, Room
604, Great Northern Building, Chicago, 111., protesting against the
proposed injustice. Among the responses to our editorial we have
received the following from an Eastern commission firm;
Boston, April 6, 1901.
George W. York, & Co., Chicago, 111.
iJendemeu : — \Ve have noted with considerable interest your edi-
torial on " Freight Rate on Comb Honey." in your issue of the 4th
inst.. and we heartily approve of the sentiment that you have exprest.
It seem.s to us that this matter should be gone into very thoroly,
and everything possible done to "head off" any such move on the
part of the railroads.
It has always seemed to us a most unfair thing that there should
be such a wide difference in the rate between honey in the comb and
extracted honey. An example of this occurred in our own experience
last fall. We found the rate on extracted to be -SI. 10 per hundred
pounds, from Calfornia to Boston, while on comb honey it was S3.30
per hundred ; and at the same time, in response to our question as to
why a discrimination was made against the comb, the I'eply was,
"owing to the extreme risk taken." Directly opposed to this was
the fact that the railroad insisted that the goods he shipt at owner's
risk.
Now, we quite fail to see why there should be- any such great dif-
ference between the two classes as exists, when the comb is taken at
owner's risk, thereby absolving the railroad from any responeibilities ;
and yet at the same time they seek to charge for it. It seems like the
old case of trying to " eat the pudding and have it, too."
Would it not be a good plan for you to draw up and insert in your
next issue a form of petition asking that all of your subscribers sign
the same and send it to you, and your good self in return send it
directly to the railroad committee ?
We suggest this as we have found invariably that united effort
accomplishes more than spasmodic or divided. Whatever is every
one's business surely ends up by being no one's, and we believe that
with your wide and influential position much could be accomplisht by
you. Yours for the cause,
Blake, Scott & Lee.
In reply to the foregoing most excellent letter, we would say that
we had already sent in our protest, as strong as could make it. What
is necessary now is, that all the honey commission firms and comb
honey shippers everywhere shall simply pour in their letters vigorously
protesting against the proposition tu increase the present too-high
freight-rate on comb honey. They slumld be mailed to Mr. Ripley as
above directed.
What you should ask for is a rating of 1st Class — the present rat-
ing is 1}4 times 1st Class. It should be lowered instead of raised.
The reasons we gave why lower rating should be made were these:
'■ The business will not stand such rates. In bulk and value honey
compares favorably with 2d Class articles. Under the provision of
Rule 4, the carrier assumes no risk whatever for loss or damage.
Covering the glass fronts, or packing in plain wooden boxes, would be
no advantage, as the fact that the goods can be seen insures careful
handling. Honey in plain wooden boxes will be thrown around
roughly, the same as any other freight."
Other reasons will suggest themselves to our readers. Let us urge
immediate action. Write at once — before you do another thing— if
you wish to help prevent the enactment of an unjust ruling on the
part of the railroads. Many protests coming from all sections of the
country will have great weight with the Committee. Mr. Ripley will
see that all are properly presented. Send them direct to him, and
make them strong, but courteous.
Spraying During Bloom. — Greeen's Fruit-Grower is one of
the leading authorities on the subject to which it is devoted. In the
March issue it gives some excellent suggestions on spraying fruits
trees, and urges that it be not done while in bloom. Here is what it
says, and every bee-keeper should not only read it carefully, but see to
it that his neighbors read it — better get your local newspapers to
copy it :
SHALL WE SPRAT TREES WHEN IN BLOSSOM '.
In the coming time, to insure success in fruit-growing the fruit-
grower will be obliged to manage his orchard in accord with scientific
principles. Perhaps farmers with little scientific knowledge will be
able to manage an acre or two so as to produce all the fruit required
for home consumption ; but to grow fruit for market so as to be able
to compete with those who grow fine, flrst-class fruit, he will be obliged
to know enough of entomology to know what poisons to use to destroy
the different species of insects, and also when to apply those poisons
to effect greatest results, and at the same time do the least harm to the
trees or fruits. He will also need to know enough of fungology to be
able to combat the different kinds with remedies, when those remedies
will be most effectual. As it happens, most of the insect enemies come
into active life with the first warm days of spring. A few warm days
will hatch the eggs in which the insects have past the winter, or cause
the larvse, which have spent the winter in pupas, to leave their winter
abodes and commence crawling over the tree or plant on which they
have wintered, in search of the tender leaves which form their most
appropriate food. The instinct of the maternal parent guides her to
deposit her eggs close to suitable food for the young larvse. Hence we
learn that some of the most formidable insect enemies of the fruit cul-
turist — the bud-worm, the case-bearer, the apple-leaf folder, the leaf-
erumpler. and several others a little less destructive, are ready to enter
the opening bud and commence eating before it is fully expanded, and
those very formidable enemies, the tent-caterpillar and the canker-
worm, soon follow. There is no period in the life of thosi' insects
when they can be so easily destroyed by arsenical poi-.m- :i~ wImh
they first begin to feed. A weak mixture of arsenic will ilini iIi-mdv
them while a much stronger mixture may fail to do s. i»|hii llu-y
have attained to larger growth. It is evident, then, that apple-frees
should be sprayed with Paris green, or other forms of arsenic, when
the buds first begin to swell, certainly when the leaves begin to tinfold.
As many kinds of fungi commence to grow with the first warm days of
spring, Bordeaux mixture can be profitably mixt with the arsenical
poison.
A few years ago, from a mistaken idea of the time when the cod-
liiig-moth first lays her eggs, orchardists, fearfu Jthat it they waited
until the apple-blossoms fell it would be loo late to destroy the larva',
sprayed their trees while in blossom, and bee-keepers complained that
their Ijces were pdisoned, and prevailed ui")n our Legislature to pass a
law forhiiMiii- spi:iving while trees are in blossom. Many orchanlists
felt gn-ally aL'L,'rii-vf.i by tlii> law. asserting that they wen- forbiil.h-ri
to spray just when sjn-aying would do the most good, and that they
nnist sacrifice their apple-crop upon their own land, for the benefit of
tlie bee-keeper who had no claim upon their orchard as a bee-pasture.
Mcire recently, a careful observation of the habits of the codling-moth
le.l to the discovery that she does not deposit her eggs immediately
afier thi- hUi^Miiii' falls, but several days later, and that instead of
pLieiii^.' theiii in the calyx, or blossom enil of the fruit, as had always
l>eeu supp<j.seil, she lays them upon the side of the young apple, gluing
them to the rind, and that when the egg hatches the larva- crawl over
i!ie fruit in search of a place of concealment, which they gcuerally
liiid in the partially closed calyx. This seems to show that there is no
I asion for haste in spraying immediatel.\ after the blossoms fall, but
244
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 18, 1901.
that any time before the calyx closes will answer, when the little cup
may be filled with the poisoned water ready to give the worm an in-
hospitable welcome to its first meal.
Still more recent investigations show that it is not only not lu'ces-
sarj' to spray for the codling-worm when the trees are in blossom, Imt
that it is a positive detriment to the fruit to spray at such a lime. At
the late meeting of the Western New York Horticultural Society, Prof.
S. A. Beach, of the New York State Experiment Station at Geneva,
detailed some experiments he had made in spraying apple-trees, when
in bloom, with Paris green. He experimented in two orchards in
Ontario County, and two in Niagara County. Had sprayed some trees
in all of the orchards and left others contiguous without spraying. All
the trees were full of blossoms. On the trees sprayed, but few apples
set, a very large proportion of the blossoms falling, apparently, before
the fruit set in, while on those not spraj'ed a very large crop of fruit
grew. To make the test still more conclusive, he selected trees very
full of blossoms alike on both sides, and sprayed one side of each tree,
leaving the other side unsprayed. The result was, on those sides
sprayed, the fruit set very sparsely, while on the opposite side, not
sprayed, a heavy burden of fruit grew. Prof. Beach came to the con-
clusion that where you fairly hit an apple, blossom with Paris green
strong enough to kill insects, you will pretty certainly kill the blos-
som. The organs of reproduction in fruit-blossoms, when fully ex-
posed, are very tender and easily killed. A slight frost, or a long,
cold rain, will often leave an orchard covered with blossoms, with
little or no fruit. If these experiments shall be confirmed we shall
confess that the Legislature " builded better than it knew;" that
while protecting the lives of the bees it prevented fruit-growers from
destroying their fruit.
The foregoing would seem to annihilate the dangerous advice
given by a certain manufacturer of spraying outfits who advises — yes,
urges — fruit-growers to spray while their trees are in full bloom. The
fruit-growers and bee-keepers should in some way unite in order to
prevent the spreading of such harmful instructions as to the spraying
of fruit-trees, and do all in their power to have the quoted paragraphs
from Green's Fruit-Grower given a wide reading. It is not only in
the interest ot bee-keepers, but as much for the benefit of the fruit-
growers themselves. There should be unity of effort between these
two classes of people in order that each may win the best results.
Beginning Bee-Keeping. — We have lately received quite a
number of letters from people who are contemplating embarking in
the bee-business. And the questions they are asking are simply be-
wildering to a busy man.
Now, we don't object to being helpful along the line of furnishing
all the information we possibly can to all enquirers, but we must be
allowed to object when it comes to expecting us to sit down and copy
out several times a day all that is found in the " A B C of Bee-Cul-
ture," "Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," and "The Bee-Keepers'
Guide." The best we can do is to advise the purchase of one or all of
those three books, in connection with a year's subscription to the
American Bee Journal, and then let " the other fellow " sit down and
" drink in " all he wants.
Every one who intends keeping bees should first get a good supply
of the best bee-literature to be had, and thus be able to answer many
of his own questions. Self-help is the best help. Each should by his
own efforts inform himself as far as possible, then when he has e.x-
hausted his own resources, call upon others. First get and read a
good bee-book thoroly, then get the bees. Then read your book again.
Then you will be ready for a good bee-paper, and, very likely — more
bees.
Finding Queens is frequently a very difficult and annoying
procedure. Mr. D. H. Coggshall's method is thus described in the
Bee-Keepers' Review:
"Fill a hive with empty combs, set it upon the stand of the colony
containing the queen that is to be found, setting the colony to one
side. Put a queen-excluding honey-board upon the top of that. Now
take the combs, one at a time, from the colony, and shake the bees
into the empty hive. The bees will at once run down upon the empty
combs below, and the queen is easily found upon the top of the queen-
excluding honey-board."
Sowing Cleome Seed. — We have had several enquiries as to
the sowing and growing of cleome, or Rocky Mountain bee-plant.
Will some one of our readers who has had experience with this plant,
kindly furnish the information askt for, especially giving the time of
sowing, the preparation of the ground, etc. ? Does it grow on dry on
wet land, and in what part of the season does it bloom ? Does frost
kill it when it is young ? We shall be pleased to publish an article
covering all the points in connection with this subject.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
I * The Weekly Budget. « |
Mr. J. C. Wallenmeter has been engaged to conduct the api-
arian department of the Poultry, Bee and Fruit Journal.
Mr. U. p. Dadant was in attendance at the meeting of the Chi.
cago Bee-Keepers' Association, held April 4th. It was one of the
most successful meetings, both in numbers and interest, that the
Association has yet had. And very much was due to the presence of
Mr. Dadant. All united in the hope that he will come again.
Prof. J. C. York, principal of the high school at Girard, Ohio,
writing us March 36th, said :
" I want to congratulate you upon the skill and taste you have
displayed in adding improvement to improvement in the American Bee
Journal. Really, it seems to me as much superior to the Journal of
1893 as the new Deering self-binders are superior to the old low-down
that were in use about 18 years ago. I enjoy " The Home Circle."
Stenoo is accustomed to begin his department of " Pickings
from Our Neighbors' Fields " in Gleanings in Bee-Culture with an
original rhythmical stanza. Lately he had this :
" Don't kill the pretty bumble-bee.s
That hum around the harn ;
They'll bring the price of clover down.
But ne'er a person /lar/n."
Stenog certainly must have been sleeping in the barn on a cold
night and suffered much harm from it, or he wouldn't be guilty of
trying to make "barn" and "harm'' rhyme. Now, if he'd had
the bees humming around the farm it would have been all right — his
stanza would have been less harmed.
We used to try to compose poetry, but it usually turned out to be
such decomposed stuff that we long since have discontinired our
efforts in that line. Shouldn't wonder if Stenog would soon follow
our good example, unless he reforms, and treats the King's English
more kindly than in the sample quoted above.
Mr. M. B. Holmes, of Ontario, Canada, is presented on our first
page this week. Those of our readers who were present at the
Buffalo convention in August. 1897, will recognize it as the picture of
the eminent Canadian who contributed the valuable paper at that
gathering, on "The Progress of Bee-Keeping in Canada."
Mr. Holmes, for many years, has been connected with the Ontario
Bee-Keepers' Association, and that he enjoys the confidence and re-
spect of the members of that great organization is proven by the fact
that he has at times held the highest positions of honor within the
gift ot the Association. He takes a deep interest in all matters per-
taining to bee-keepers, and readily responds to the demand of any
project which will forward the interest of our industry.
The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association made an exhibit of 40 tons
of honey at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, England,
in 1886, Mr. Holmes' contribution to this exhibit being one and one-
fourth tons.
Until a few years ago Mr. Holmes resided on his fine farm, but
finding it not to be a very good place for a constitution not always the
best, he rented his beautiful country home, and purchast a commo-
dious brick residence in the beautiful and thriving village where he
now resides, and has plenty of leisure time. He commenced bee-keep-
ing in 1881.
It is always a pleasure to us to present to our readers portraits of
the prominent bee-keepers among our Canadian " cousins." They
have some of the very best representatives of our pursuit over there.
We shall never forget attending the National Convention held at
Toronto, in 189.5, where it was our good fortune to meet many of their
number, such as J. B. Hall, Wm. McEvoy, R. McKnight, F. A. Gem-
mill, etc. They are all wide awake, and take a great interest in every-
thing pertaining to the apicultural business.
On .another page of this issue will be found the paper read by Mr.
Holmes at the last meeting of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association.
April 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
245
I Contributed Articles, l
Saving Section-Combs From Foul-Broody Colonies.
BY WILMAM M'BVOY.
LAST fall foul brood started in one of my out-apiaries. I had the
affected colonies removed out of reach of the other bees, and then
burned the brood-frames add the hives. Mv apiaries are arraugred
for comb-honey production, and at the close of the season the
supers from all the apiaries were brought in, and thru mistake those
from the diseased apiary were piled in with the others, and now I don't
know the one from the other.
I liud that I have about 200 supers full of sections which contain
empty combs, and combs partly filled with honey. Will you kindly tell
me if those supers, just as they have been taken off the hive, and ready
for use, can be safelv used the coming season without spreading the
disease?— Illinois, U. S.
In the honey season bees store honey in cells where
foul-brood matter has dried down, just the same as they do
in other empty cells, and when the bees, in making' room
for brood in times of honej'-flovrs remove the unsealed
honey out of the diseased cells to cells partly filled with
good honey in the sections above, it will disease it at otice.
If you had extracted the honey out of those sections
and then placed them back on the foul-broody colonies,
and left them there until the bees lickt them out clean and
dry, that would have made them perfectly safe to use on
any colony of bees. But as the case now stands, you can
not place the sections that contain honey on your brood-
chambers without spreading- the disease, because some of
the sections that were taken off the foul-broody colonies
will have a little of the diseased honej' in them, and the
bees will feed some of it direct to the larvae as soon as you
put them on.
It costs yoit something- to buy these sections, and comb
foundation, and it took some time to put the foundation
into over 5,000 sections, and your bees added many dollars
to their value when they drew out so much foundation into
nice combs, and if you had to destroy the 200 supers and
their contents (to be safe), it would be a serious loss to you.
You don't need to destroy anything if you treat as follows :
Take every section that has any honey in if, out of the
supers, and bring them into a warm room, run the temper-
ature up above summer heat, and leave them there until
you can extract the honey out of them easily, then extract
the honey out of every section, and after you have done this
put all of these sections into supers by themselves. Then
put frames with comb foundation starters, into empty
hives, and on these place queen-excluders and the extracted
sections, and in the honey season hive your swarms in
these prepared empty hives with the extracted sections on
where you will get them filled up and finisht in the shortest
possible time.
All the sections that you have with clean, dry combs in
are perfectly safe to use on any of your old hives of bees.
When the robbing season is over, and your bees are
working nicely in fruit-bloom, take the combs out of the
brood-chambers (in the apiary that was diseased), and hold
them so the sun can shine into the bottom of the cells, atid
very carefully look for stain marks of foul brood on the
lower side and bottom of the cells. Foul-brood matter
glues itself fast to the lower side and bottom of the cells
when it is drying down, and there it will remain just as
long as the comb lasts, and such combs can not be made safe
to use, but it is entirely different with clean, new, white
combs that never had any brood in — they are perfectly safe
to use on any colony of bees after they have been lickt out
by the bees until they are clean and dry.
If j'ou find a few cells with the stain marks of foul
brood in any of your colonies (a thing you might easily
overlook), treat such colonies during the honey-flow, but
don't waste any time on empty hives that foul brood has
been in, because they can not disease any colony of bees.
Woodburn, Ont., Canada.
Producing Extracted Honey—Getting More of It.
BY C. DAVENPORT.
IN order to understand how more surplus extracted honey,
with less work and less swarming, can be secured here
by the method I am about to describe, if only eight
frames are allowed for a brood-nest, than can be when a
larger number are used, it will be necessary for me briefly
to describe a few things in regard to my locality, the most
important of which is that in the spring, after the weather
becomes warm enough for brood-rearing to progress rap-
idly, there is but a short time, comparatively, until the
white harvest commences. Eight frames are all or more
than 90 percent of the queens can keep full of brood and
eggs before clover bloom ; afterwards thru June, July and
August, a larger number of combs, if the queens are al-
lowed access to them, will be kept full of brood. But before
this extra brood matures into field-bees, the battle has
already been fought — like Blucher at Waterloo, they appear
too late.
In a locality where the weather, or the time of the
main flow, is such that a young queen can occupy a larger
number of frames in time so that the brood will mature
into field-bees to be of service during the harvest, it would,
without any question, pay to use a larger brood-chamber.
Usually here there is enough gathered from early spring
until clover bloom to keep brood-rearing up. Strong colo-
nies often secure more than they can use for this purpose,
but what is gathered before clover is dark and hardly fit
for table use. Now, with strong colonies run for extracted
honey, instead of putting on the regular full-depth extract-
ing combs, a set of shallow frames is given them to store
this dark spring honey in, and what they do not use for
brood-rearing is all put in them, for they enter and occupy
these shallow combs almost as soon as they are placed on
the hives. Often when the white flow commences these
strong colonies will have hardly a pound of honey in the
brood-frames, tho the super of shallow combs may be
nearly full. But, as I have said, this is dark honey, and if
it was in the regular extracting frames it would have to be
extracted, or the first extracting of choice white clover
honey would be so badly colored by it that it would not
sell for much if any more than half what pure clover
would bring.
Now note this : By using this super of shallow combs,
we save one extracting, and keep the brood-nest bare of
stores. Here, just at or soon after, the commencement of
the main flow is the time strong colonies prepare to swarm,
but when we remove this super containing all their stores,
a full-depth story of empty combs is given. Zinc is placed
between the two stories, two or three of the frames con-
taining the most hatching brood are placed in the upper
story, and a like ntimber of empty combs from the upper
tory are placed in the center of the brood-nest below. A
colony so treated will, with me, seldom offer to swarm, no
matter how good the season is, provided they are given
plenty of drawn comb to store all the nectar they can
gather, for there is practically no honey in the brood-cham-
ber at any time during the swarming season.
With 10-f rame hives the case is different; the queen, as I
have explained, can not occupy more than eight of these
frames, and the unoccupied space will always be filled
with honey before the bees will store any in shallow frames
overhead, and honey in the brood-chamber is a great factor
to induce swarming. The frames containing the most
honey can, of course, be removed to the upper story at the
time it is set on. I have often done this, but it does not
have the check on swarming that the entire removal of all
stores does. But I have found that with these 10-fraine
hives, even if the combs containing the most honey are
entirely removed, swarming is more apt to occur than with
s frames, for the reason that with 10 frames, storage in the
brood-chamber is more apt to be commenced, or rather con-
tinued, and when once started it is apt to be kept up until
the queen becomes crowded, then swarming is the natural
outcome. Even when two full-depth stories are allowed
for a brood-chamber, I have often found that the t^ueen
would become crowded enough to induce swarming unless
a. close watch was kept.
If one has time during the main flow to overhaul and
extract from these large brood-chambers, swarming can
largely be prevented, or if 3 or 4 stories are u.sed, and the
queen is allowed access to all of them, but little swarming
will take place. But when we come to extract from such at
the end of the flow, the amount of surplus found after over-
hauling the whole outfit will be disappointing if compared
with what is secured from colonies whose queens are con-
fined to eight or ten frames.
By the use of these half-depth stories, I have been able
to overcome most of the difficulties I found about produc-
ing extracted honey in a large way, first in regard to this
dark surplus gathered in the spring. When the regular
full-depth extracting frames were set on first, most of them
had to be extracted before the white flow and with a large
246
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 18, 1901.
number of colonies this would mean a good deal of work
at a time when other important work connected with ray
regular business of producing comb honey needed to be
done; and, besides, after extracting this dark honey there
would enough remain in the combs " to shade the first
extracting of white honey so it would not be first-class.
Then when the queens are confined to eight or ten frames I
found that these colonies would almost always be too light
in stores for winter, so that a good deal of feeding was
necessary ; but with the shallow frames I am able also
largely to overcome the work of this, for my practice is to
set these supers at the time they are removed, on colonies
that are to be run for comb honey, then as soon as they get
well started to storing in them, thev are raised up and a
super containing sections is put on next to the brood-cham-
ber ; by the time a second super is required the one contain-
ing the extracting frames is stored in the honey-house
until after the white flow, when they are again, if not
already full, placed on the colonies being run for extracted
honey, in order to have them all filled solid during the fall
flow. Then all the work about feeding these light colonies
is to set on a super containing as many of these filled
combs as seems necessary, and from experiments with feed-
ing in this and a similar way with unfinisht sections, I
believe a colony will winter in a cellar kept at a tempera-
ture of 45 or SO degrees just as well with their stores in a
super as they will if they are in the combs of the brood-
chamber.
Last spring I set some of these supers containing
honey in the honey-house as soon as they were removed
from the extracting colonies, the fore part of the season —
but little of this was sealed, but it kept without granu-
lating or souring until the comme^icement of the fall flow.
The only trouble I have about this plan is that moths
are liable to damage these shallow combs greatly during
the time they are stored. In some manner the moth-eggs
get in the combs while they are on the hives. Bi-sulphide
of carbon will overcome this with but little work or
expense, provided trace enough of its deadly fumes does
not remain in the honey to make it unfit for winter stores.
I expect to know something definite in regard to this soon,
for last fall I subjected all the winter stores of five colonies
to its fumes for four hours, which is longer than is neces-
sary to kill moth-worms and destroy the vitality of the
eggs that may be in the combs at the time they are treated.
Southern Minnesota.
No. 2.— Drone-Bees and Their Itility.
Can We, and Shall We, Control their Production ?
BY C. P. DAD.^NT.
WE have seen in a former article, why Nature has
decreed the rearing of so many drones in each hive.
It is in order that each young queen may readily find
a mate at her first bridal flight. We now will consider why
some colonies build more drone-comb than others.
When a queen is young and healthy she lays plenty of
worker-eggs and seems to prefer it, so if there is any un-
derstanding between the queen and her bees, the bees will,
to please her, build mostly worker-comb. Thus a new
swarm, with a strong and healthy young queen, will usu-
ally begin by building all worker-combs. But if there is a
lull in the crop and some of the brood hatches out of the
comb already built, the queen will have plenty of room
ahead, and the few remaining combs will be drone-comb
whenever they are built. For tho the queen prefers the
worker-comb, we must take notice that the workers prefer
to build drone-comb, for it is more quickly built and is just
as good as the other to contain honey. It is evidently for
this reason as well as because they feel the need of drones,
that a queenless colony will build almost nothing but
drone-comb. If we supply a new swarm with a large
quantity of worker-comb already built, saved from diseased
colonies of the previous winter, and give this swarm only
one or or two empty frames, the result will almost invari-
ably be drone-comb in those frames, for the queen has
plenty of room to lay and the bees do not see the need of
worker-cells.
In the same manner, if the crop is already well on, and
the queen is getting tired of incessant laying of worker-
eggs, and seeks for drone-cells as a rest, all or most of the
comb built will be drone-comb. In such instances a much
greater proportion of drone-comb will be built. In early
spring, before the bees have begun the busy season, and
the hive is only partly full of brood, if at that time we
remove a central comb, and replace it with an empty frame
in the middle of the brood-nest, in nine cases out of ten
the comb will be of worker-cells, because the queen needs
worker-cells in this warm spot, even tho there may be
plenty of worker-cells unoccupied at the outer edges of the
brood-nest but too cold for her to reach. But if the same
thing is done in the warmth of the honey crop, the result
will be the reverse. In the statement of the foregoing con-
ditions I do not wish to be understood as laying an iron
rule. The actions of the bees are subject to many varying
influences, and results are not always what may be
expected, but the propositions above will prove correct in
most instances. So if we wish to have the greatest pos-
sible amount of worker-comb built by the bees, without
using comb foundation as a guide, we must, as uniformly
as practicable, have the combs built by natural swarms
with j'oung queens, and these swarms must not be supplied
with a portion of their combs already built. In short, we
must either supply the swarm with all combs built or with
none.
Since the number of drone-cells in a hive depends very
much upon the conditions of the swarm at the time that
the combs were built, it is still more difficult to give an
approximate idea of the number of drones that will be
reared in an average season by an average colony. By
looking thru a number of works on apiculture, I find that
the proportion of drones to worker-bees, in the swarming
season, has been variously estimated from one-tenth to one-
thirtieth. There is no doubt that it varies a great deal.
There is no doubt also that the difference in results is in
favor of the colony containing few drones, and yet Chesh-
ire calls our attention to the fact that it is the colonies
that rear the most drones which have the best chances of
self-reproduction, since not only their queen stands a better
chance of mating, but the queens of other colonies are also
more likelj' to mate with drones of the most prolific colony,
as they are most numerous. Is it advisable for us to con-
trol the production of drones in a hive ?
Is the drone in the hive of use for other purposes than
for the fertilization of young queens? Are the drones of one
colony as good for breeding purposes as those of any other
colony ? If we decide upon the necessitj- of controlling
the drones, is it best to destroy them after they are hatcht,
or while they are hatching, or is it best to prevent their
production ?
The first two of these questions would better be consid-
ered together, for it is the greater or less usefulness of the
drones which will cause us to decide whether it is desirable
to control their numbers. It has been asserted over and
over again, that the drone is needed in numbers not only to
supply mates, readily found, for the young queen, but also
to keep the brood warm in spring. Dzierzon and his Eng-
lish translator, Abbott, disagree on this subject. Dzierzon
says: "The sole purpose of the drones is to fertilize the
young queens. As in the vegetable kingdom, pollen, on
the male part of the flower, is produced in abundance, so
does Nature produce an abundance of males in a colony of
bees, in order that the queen, upon which the well-being of
the colony depends, may be fertilized the sooner. It is
obvious that drones were not also intended to produce heat
in the hive, as has often been attributed to them, for when
the j'oung queen has been successfully fertilized and begun
to laj- eggs, which perhaps at the same time cool weather
sets in, at this very time, when the temperature in the hive
would require to be raised, the drones are driven out as
being no longer useful."
His translator, Abbott, says in regard to this : "We
can not accede to the author's assertion that the fertiliza-
tion of queens is the sole purpose of drones' existence. It
is well known that when a swarm has left the hive there is
often but a handful of worker-bees left at home to care for
the huge mass of brood in all stages, that the hive contains,
and should a cold night follow a swarming day, as is often
the case, this handful of workers would find it impossible
to maintain the necessary heat in the hive, and there would
be great loss of brood and bee-life."
Evident!)' neither of these writers lays any value upon
the drone as a warmth-producer at the beginning or the end
of a season, and with good cause, for, in order that the
drone should produce heat, it is necessary that he himself
should be reared with expenditure of both labor and heat
on the part of the worker-bees at a time when they are not
numerous. And if in the place of, say 2,000 drones, we
should secure the same space of worker-brood, say 3,000
worker-bees, it is clear that they will not require any more
April 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
247
heat to be produced, and will in their
turn produce as much as the drones
would have furnisht. Therefore, the
only contention between the two writ-
ers, that needs any consideration, is
whether or not the drones that remain
after a colony has cast a swarm are of
more use in keeping the hive warm
than workers would be.
The contention of Abbott is that
if the}' had been workers, they would
have gone with the swarm, while being
drones they stay in the hive. This is
not altogether correct, for a colony
with many drones shows many drones
in its swarm. But perhaps more of
them return home than of the workers.
Yet, Dzierzon, we must remember, is a
great observer ; he it was who discov-
ered parthenogenesis in the queen-bee
and we must be sure that he does not
make statements without good cause,
but perhaps the diiference in observa-
tions comes from the difference in lo-
cation. Dzierzon experimented in Ger-
many, while Abbott experimented in
England, and there is but little'doubt
that the summer nights are cooler in
England than in German)', so this
would explain Abbott's regard for the possible use of the
drones in keeping the brood warm for a day or two after
the casting of the swarm. I say a day or two, because we
all know that at that time the bees are constantly hatching
in great numbers, and it takes only a short time to recuper-
ate the loss enough to keep the hive warm. In a colon)'
that swarms, the daily hatch of worker-bees is between
two and three thousand, sometimes more, and but little
time is needed to recuperate the strength of the colony so
as to enable it to take care of itself. Then let us suppose
a colony with a minimum of drones. Is it very likely that
this colony will actually suffer? Are such instances on
record ? And in domesticity, is it not entirely practicable
for the apiarist, if a hive is left too bare of its bees, by
the swarm, to mend this defect by returning a number of
the bees to the old hive, after the swarm is hived 7 Surely,
this one item of a possible use of thousand of idlers for a
day or two for the sake of warmth, is not sufficient to jus-
tifiy their presence. They are the very ones that help
induce the bees to swarm early, by their noise every warm
day, and by their encumbering presence on the combs at
all other times.
So my conclusion would be that we should give but
little attention to the possible use of drones for any but
fertilizing purposes. If we can avoid the breeding of
them, we must surely be well repaid by the additional num-
ber of workers that we can rear in their stead.
I will next consider the diiferent methods of getting
rid of the drones, or of preventing their being produced,
and of making a selection of them for breeding purposes.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HK '^''
':.
Hatoi. ■**WBHMJ««"-
■^■■KS-.
iTobe continued.;
Mediterranean Flour-Moth Infesting Honey-Combs.
BV PR01-. C. P. GILLETTE.
IN the American Bee Journal for March 29, 1900, under
the caption, " No Wax-moth in Colorado," I said :
" But there is a smaller moth that is prenerally distributed over the
country, coininonly known as the Mediterranean Hour-moth, which I
have repeatedly seen infestins.' honey-comb. The larv.p of this insect
FIG. 3. — FKAME OF HONEYCOMB SHOWING COCOONS OF MEUITERKANEAN FLOI/li-MUTH.
do not seem to care for wax or honey, but feed upon pollen, and per-
haps propolis as well.... and I have seen them in crated sections of
comb honey."
I do not wish to change a word of the short item
referred to, but as some fear that my statements might lead
a careless reader to think that this insect is common in
crated sections of honey from Colorado, I should like to
say further that such is not at all the case. As stated
above, this insect seems to care only for pollen, and possi-
bly propolis, but not for wax or honey. I do not suppose it
would ever be found in sections of crated honey except
where the sections are kept for a time in the same building
or room with old lioney-combs that are infested with this
insect. It is only in two or three cases of this sort that I
have seen the larv;e on sections of comb honey in sections.
On one occasion I saw them in considerable numbers over a
small number of sections, and on some of the sections
they seeiTied to be feeding upon propolis which the bees had
deposited in the corners in considerable quantity.
So this insect would only he of rare occurrence, at
most, in section honey, and could no more be lookt for from
Colorado than from other States, as it is a generally dis-
tributed and a well-known pest in flouring mills in this*
country.
To enable bee-keepers to recognize this insect and dis-
tinguish it from the old " wax-moth," I will refer them to
the accompanying illustration (Fig. I) from Insect Life,
Vol. II, U. S. Dep. of Agr. The moth is shown at a and 6,
the larva at r and at the exteme right, and the pupa or chrys-
alis at d — all enlarged. The lines at the sides of the fig-
ures give the real lengths.
That these larva- can infest old combs badly is illustrated
in the reproduction of a photograph of a frame of old
comb that is nearly covered with their cocoons, shown
at Fig. 2. This engraving is from Bulletin 47 of the Colo-
rado Experiment Station. Larimer Co., Colo.
Hancock Co., 111.
FIG. 1. MEnlTI-.liKlNEAN FLOUH-MOTII.
ftueens— Tlie Best None Too Good.
Read at the convention of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association at
Niagara Falls, in December, 1900.
BY XI. B. HOLMES.
AS stated in the program of this convention, I am to
give an address on the subject of "Queens" and it
may be presumed that the punster, as he scans the list,
will see his opportunity. If he be a sporting man he will
at once suggest " The (Jueen of the Turf;" or if he be a
society man his thoughts will immediately become centered
on " The queen of the party," force of habit and influence
of association acting as a matter of course, as the prompter
behind the scene in these and other similar flights of fun
and fancy.
To this class of individuals, if such there be present, I
have only to say, that this Association of practical men
has convened in this city for purely practical purposes ;
that it is composed of individuals who are not speculative
248
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 18, 1901.
merely, but operative in the strictest sense of the term ;
and that the only queens elig-ible for consideration at this
stage of this regularly organized meeting of Canadian and
American bee-keepers, are the queens of our colonies, and
mothers of our most wonderful pets — the honey-bees.
The practical man, contemplating- the advisability of
entering upon any line of work or business, carefully stud-
ies the situation from every point of view, and, when fully
convinced of its desirability as a lucrative venture, com-
plies most assiduously with all the conditions necessary to
the complete success of the undertaking.
That all business men are not thus thoro in calculation
and execution, goes without saying, and it is also perhaps
safe to infer that bee-keepers as a class are not without
their failings as well.
But every bee-keeper knows, or thinks he knows, all
about queens, and yet it would seem as if some— perhaps
too many — bee-keepers are satisfied by merely knowing
that a queen is in the hive, without any consideration as to
her qualifications or ability for the duty which she is to
perform.
The splendid hives and comb foundations of the day
are certainly a boon which every true bee-keeper appreci-
ates, but the great center on which success most largely
depends—that •' center " at which no " master" bee-keeper
can err— is in securing "the good queen " for every colony.
What do I mean by " the good queen ?" By the use of
the term " good queen " I mean the queen that will do the
largest amount of work in a given time.
The late L,orenzo Lorain Langstroth, who has been
justly styled the Father of American Apiculture, describes
a good queen in that marvelous work of his on " The
Honey-Bee," as one that will lay 3,500 eggs per day for sev-
eral weeks in succession during'the breeding season.
What bee-keeper of any considerable experience has
not had occasion to note the difference between good,
medium, and poor queens ? The colony with but a handful
of bees, so to speak, gaining so rapidly in numerical
strength as in some cases to exceed the more populous col-
ony in the next hive in the actual amount of surplus honey
stored? Thus demonstrating that the good queen was iii
the colony which had wintered poorly, whereas the well-
favored colony had only a medium or poor queen.
Dzierzon, the great German bee-keeper and scientist,
says, " Queens differ much as to the degree of their fer-
tility."
Mr. Langstroth notes an observation made while trans-
ferring bees, by counting the eggs dropt on a black cloth in
40 minutes by the queens of four different colonies. The
first queen dropt but one egg, the second, 12 , the third,
18, and the fourth 20 eggs, in the stated time. This obser-
. vation was made in the middle of April, and on July ISth
the colony of the first queen was very poor, the second was
of average strength, and both the others were very strong.
Now let us apply the result of this observation to prac-
tice and see how it would figure out :
Take, for instance, an apiary of 100 colonies, the aver-
age annual yield of which is, say, 80 pounds of extracted
honey per colony. Let us suppose that 25 of the 100 colo-
nies are poor, 50 average, and 25 strong, and then try to
solve the problem as to how the average yield of 80 pounds
per colony is obtained. The poor colonies will gather
about half as much surplus honey as the 50 of average
strength, or say 40 pounds each ; then in order to get the
average of 80 pounds per colony for the whole apiary the 25
strong colonies must gather 120 pounds of surplus' honey
each. Now, if in accordance with the observation and
deduction of Mr. Langstroth, as already noted, the differ-
ence between the poor, average, and strong colonies, is
attributable solely to the difference of queens, then we are
forced to admit that the mere act of tolerating the 25 poor
queens has incurred an expense of 1,000 pounds of honey
when compared with the average colonies, and 3,000 pounds
when compared with the strong colonies, either of the
items being sufficient to pay for all the good queens
required, and have a considerable bilance to the good.
You may change the figures as you desire and the result
will always show that the ;>(7or queens are heavy debtors,
with no prospect of paying, and should under no circum-
stances be tolerated.
Keep the best, and only the best— the very best are the
cheapest in the end — and an economy that prohibits the
employing of the best queens is certainly a false economy.
The owners of Ayrshire, Jersey, Holstein or other
stock, do not stop at merely knowing that their animals
are thorobred. Their ambition is that each individual
member of their herds shall be the very best of its kind ;
and should not bee-keepers study their own interests by
copying the example of the stockmen in this regard ? Yes,
by all means.
One point more in this connection, and one which
many bee-keepers scattered over the Province will do well
to study and ponder carefully, and that is, the fact that the
stockmen find that it pays to be a member of the Provin-
cial Association, which is studying and advancing their
interests.
Bee-keepers in the remote parts of the Province, into
whose hands the (iovernment Report may fall, will please
make a note of this, and remember at the same time that
the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association is studying to
advance your interests, and, like the stockmen, you will
study you own interests by communicating with the secre-
tary, Mr. Wm. Couse, of Streetsville, and secure member-
ship in the Association which is trying to do you good.
In conclusion, I would say to those who have come
expecting to hear a flowery dissertation on scientific queen-
rearing ; and to those who may have wisht that their favor-
ite kind or race of queens would get an advance in the
address — if such has been )'Our anticipation, I can only ten-
der you my sympathy in your disappointment. I said at
the outset that we had met for practical purposes, and I
have endeavored to give you a plain, practical talk on the
topic assigned to me, and I hope my address and the dis-
cussion which will follow may prove a practical benefit,
not only to those gathered in convention here, but to many
of our fellows v?ho are not privileged to be with us.
Ontario, Canada.
^..JiCJ&L^.^:t>^:l.^il.^it,^.^.;it>^:LJ:t.^.Jit.^:CJ!LJtC^!L^F
^ The Home Circle.
y^
Conducted bij Prof. fl. J. Cook, Clareiiiont, Calif.
SICKNESS IN THE HOME.
Our readers will wonder why the break in "The Home
Circle." The causo is not far to seek. One of the links in
our home circle snapt for the time, and the writer was the
link. Strange what a difference it makes in the home when
Sickness lays her heavy hand upon one of its members. My
stomach, which has always been my weak member, became
for an entire week the warring member. It struck — not for
higher wages, but for less work. At least, that's what the
doctor says. He says it's a warning. I repeat the thought
above — how shaded the home seems when Disease forces her
unwelcome presence into it. The well ones try to look cheery
as the best medicine for the sick one, but it is such a perfunc-
tory cheerfulness that even the dulled vision of the sick one
sees that it has not in it the genuine quality. From every
point of view, every home circle should mal<e it- its chief
study to keep this unsavory presence — sickness — from its
midst. I am sure if "The Home Circle" to-day is made a
little somber by hints and suggestions regarding health and
nursing, I will be more than pardoned.^
There is no doubt that we are all agreed as to the import-
ance of every member of "The Home Circle" worliing with
both sleeves rolled to the elbow to court the best health and
vigor. How to keep well, and be at our best physically, is a
most important question. Our nation and people are making
gigantic strides in a business way. Our commercial abtivities
have taken a stupendous leap, and we are rapidly distancing
all the other great nations of the world. Britain is alarmed,
and even phlegmatic Germany is aroused at the threatening
peril. Is there not reason when our balance of trade last
year exceeded Germany's entire export trade? This is all
very cheering. But all this implies nerve excitement, and if
this is to keep on, as it surely is, it behooves every one of us
to study how we may keep our health away to the top, that
our balance in vigor and strength may even exceed our bal-
ance in trade.
HINTS ON KEEPING WELL.
I wish, now, to give some hints in regard to keeping well,
which I am sure may well be observed by us all.
In the first place, We should remember thi; motto of the
successful business man — "Outgo must always be less than
income." We may well remember Macawber's words to David
Copperfield ; "Annual income, 20 pounds; annual expendi-
ture, nineteen-six ; result, happiness. Annual income, 20
April 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
249
pounds; annual exponditnri', 20 pounds-six; result, mis-
ery." So, too, every one of us should study the health ledsin.
Is the outgo of energy in excess of the income of strength
and vigor? Do the scales show that there is a daily or
weekly loss? Do the lapsing energies as the morning clock
stroke calls to duty show that our balance in the ledger is on
the wrong side 1 Are there little, insidious ailments, like
cough, headache, indigestion, that show that we should study
more intently our physical status ere we find that health is
gone to return no more ? I think it is a safe rule to observe,
never to tolerate the presence of ache, pain, or any bodily ill.
If we find that such are with us, let us rest, change our hab-
its, try anything to reach again the full equilibrium of our
physical poise.
I fear too many of us are under the strain of excessive
work. We are in it. It seems valuable to the community.
We dislike to drop it off, any bit of it. How much better to
drop a little than to have to give it all up, especially as the
giving it all up will give us also a heart full of regret. I
doubt if there is any phase of gospel truth which our people
need more than this. We are caught in the whirl of national
push and progress, and rush on without thought of the sure
consequences. Paul knew. " Let your moderation be
known."'
Another evil which lays its heavy hand upon our Ameri-
can homes is that of irregularities. I doubt if any of us fully
realize the importance to health of i-egularity in our daily
habits. How many of us always breakfast, dine and sup at
the same hour every day ? How large the number of those
who have no settled time to betake themselves to bed or to
rise as the morning hour calls to duty and service. We can
well learu a lesson from the dairyman in this respect. He
finds that unless he feeds his cattle at the very same time
each day, a greatly lessened milk-supply informs him of his
mistake. Indeed, if the cow is not milkt at exactly the same
time, the foam of the pail comes not so near the top. Even a
change of milkers makes itself felt in the pail and pocket-
book. We can hardly believe that the cow is as sensitive as
" the human form, divine." If the cow is so materially dis-
turbed by the lack of regularity, what may we conclude as to
the effects of the glaring irregularities which enter so boldly
into most of our American homes?
Who of us has not felt saddened as we have past thru the
streets of great cities late at night, to see little children,
whom Sleep should long since have claimed as her own, still
thronging the walks? The very dash of our business-life
makes it hard to preserve regularity in our home living. Soci-
ety and business habits both offer a great premium on the
habit of irregularity. Many of us have neglected our first
caution, and so with Saturday night comes a threatening and
overpowering weariness. This of necessity carries the sleep-
ing hours of Sunday morning away into the day. lireakfast
comes an hour or two later than on week-day mornings. Din-
ner instead of at twelve or one, reaches on to two or three, while
supper very likely is omitted entirely. All the time the god
of disease is dancing with very joy.
I know of two children that came into a home to bless
and cheer it. I think neither would have been called very
robust. The parents of neither were very strong. One of
those children never had a doctor until maturity called her
from the home circle. The other was hardly less fortunate
for only once was a physician summoned, and that during the
first trying summer, just at the critical time when the first
year had made its span. Until well in their teens, these chil-
dren were always in bed at just the hour which for all the
first years was the good early hour of seven. The meal-time
in that household rarely varied ten minutes, and this not
simply on week days, but also on Sunday. I wish I could
say something to impress upon our American people the
importance, physiologically, of the observance of absolute
regularity in the home life.
A third factor in maintaining good health in the house-
hold—perhaps in importance it should rank first — is the mat-
ter of good air. This is a free gift from God, and yet how
many refuse even to take it. Southern California has a well-
earned reputation for its salubrity of climate. Many come
here that are held down by the fell grip of consumption, and
soon find full recovery of liealth and strength. In most cases
such receive permanent cuie in case they remain in this
goodly climate. I believe the great reason why so many find
Southern California so helpful in regaining health and vigor.
comes from the fact that here they breathe good, pure air.
Our climate here, even in midwinter, is like the .June uf
Michigan and Xew York. Warmth and sunshine come with
each day and lure even the invalid out of doors where he nuiy
take full draughts of the blessed, life-giving oxygen. Many
here in Southern California live the winter thru in tents, aud
thus, while they avoid all draughts, they are constantly bathed
in an atmosphere almost or quite as pure as that outside.
I believe one of the greatest of health reforms would
come it we could only convince our people that it is impossible
to sleep in too pure an atmosphere. I would have all the win-
dows open in the sleeping room, winter as well as summer,
and the doors open into adjoining rooms also well ventilated.
The sleeping rooms should be largo, and it were better if only
one person occupied the room. Indeed, we can not take too
much pains in our sleeping rooms, that we may secure, even
in the cold days of the Eastern winters, as good air as tho we
slept under the open skies. In my own case. I have never
been overparticular to keep the draughts from myself or
children, and to-day they do not disturb us. However, I would
not advise those who feel disturbed if they are in the current
of air, to subject themselves to draughts. The very fact of
the unrest will work mischief and very likely the draught
per se do harm.
Another thing that will tend to lessen the disquiet of
such ample ventilation in the cold winter nights is a full
supply of covering. Let us court the breezes and the full
vigor which the pure air will give us, but let us rest under
such warm coverings that we will never wake in the night
with a feeling of chill.
Consumption is, perhaps, the most-to-be-dreaded disease
which steals in upon us to rob us of our loved ones. We
know now, of a certainty, that it is not inherited. We do
know that it is contagious, tho not so readily contagious as
many other microbe diseases. If we will only fling open our
windows and let in the pure, blessed atmosphere, sweet and
clean as God has given it to us, we shall do very much to keep
this grim presence from our home circles. We shall at the
same time brace up the general vigor of the body so that
other diseases which may be lurking hard by shall not find
ingress into our beloved homes.
The last point which I shall urge in this article toward
maintaining health is that of diet. I think without any
question, the most of us eat too much. Our hard work, and
very likely the fact that we have gone beyond the usual meal-
time, has made us ravenous, and we can hardly wait the time
of meal coming. The overthirsty horse left to itself at the
watering trough will often in its greed for drink take so much
water that death or lasting disease results. When we are so
hungry, we are apt to eat rapidly, and before the appetite is
satisfied we have overtaxt our digestive powers, possibly to
our lasting injury. One of the wisest things to prevent this
mistake is to cultivate assiduously the habit of conversation,
and the best of social times at the table. This takes the
attention, causes us to eat more slowly, and thus we feel satis-
fied before the stomach is unduly distended or the digestive
powers too greatly overtaxt. Anything that tends to slow eat-
ing at the table is worthy fullest consideration in this relation
of maintaining good health.
In a coming article, I shall aim to show how a happy>
sunny disposition aids to keep disease from the home circle-
Thus glad social intercourse at the table, does double duty,
for it not only retards the food-taking, but it also ministers to
the cheer and gladness of the circle about the table. We shall
continue this subject in our next article when we shall not
only discuss the sunny habit, but also give some hints regard-
ing nursing.
CITY CHILDREN.
A problem of our time and country is what to do with the
city children. A friend remarks that obedience among chil-
dren is a lost art. He says no children now obey. Another
friend says. The great danger of our time is irreverence. I
believe both magnify the evils. If these sins are on the
increase, is it not the result of such herding of our children as
city and town life necessitates ? I hope all our readers will
think over this problem. In my next article, I shall tell how
a friend has attempted to solve the difficulty in part. I have
ever felt to thank God that my childhood was spent in the
country. I am equally glad that idleness was a stranger to
my childhood days. How can we occupy the city children and
preserve them from evil companionship?
"The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending^ us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
250
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
April 18, 1901.
\ ^ The Afterthought. ^ |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
SWARMING ON TEN FRAMES.
It is rather a surprising result to find more colonies on
ten frames swarming than of those on eight frames ; but I do
not wish to cast any discredit on the experiment. Mr. Daven-
port does not claim it as a rule, to be found good in all years
and all locations. The rationale of it seems to be that some-
times two more frames lead to an increase of population with-
out which swarming would not have occurred. Page 150.
ME.iSURING BEES' TONGUES.
AVise chap of beedom, don't you know you can not meas-
ure a man's tongue — not to mention the other half of animate
nature, to which the bee belongs "? A tongue is a thing with
great capacity for rubbering 'round. Best understood not by
what it measures, but by what it does. Thus we reflect on the
words of Adrian Getaz, page l.'iO. Indeed \t does seem to
call for some explanation, how all the other members of the
bee seem to be so uniform, and tongues alone reported with
such variation. I can very heartily second the suggestion
that all measurements of a surgical character should be
regarded as tentative to a certain extent — useful and desirable,
but not to be regarded as final, till confirmed by live bees of
the same colony taking actual sweet out of an actual cavity.
Something better than the ojd inclined plane and wire screen
ought to heave in sight, to keep pace with the Twentieth Cen-
tury. Too much depends upon keeping it level, and too many
bees have to work at it, and «ork at it too long. Who'll give
us a bunch of glass clover-tubes — or put two rectangular
slips of glass together a twentieth of an inch apart holding
honey between ? The idea of the latter is that bees will
cjuickly take the sweet out from all the edges as deep as they
can reach, and leave things so as to be clearly measurable.
THREE " AFTERTHINKLETS."
A new edible for bees — and prohibition States — "cold
water soust." Page 152.
Pretty bad score for house-apiary, 1 6 queens lost out of
26, and that in spite of vertical painting in strong colors.
Page 153.
How about the bee-man who would fain exhibit to a won-
dering world 30,000 pounds of snowy sections from posies
not in bloom yet? Counting unhatcht chickens hardly
" in it." Page 164.
A VERMONT COUNTY VS. CAI.IFORNI.^.
And SO in Vermont one county produces 34 of all the
State product, and one forty -fourth as much as California pro-
duces. How much better to fish in a little brook where there
are some fish than in a big, landscape-adorning river where
there are next to none ! Page 153.
ANOTHER .4.FTBRTH0UGHT TRIPLET.
Archer L. White's experiment indicates that the solar gets
less than a third of the wax from old comb, in fact less than
a third of what can be got by a better process. Page
159.
Two chestnuts sometimes better than one. When you
trot out that aged honeymoon-honeycomb conundrum tell 'em
also that the man who isn't sold for once in his life is sold for
his whole life. Page 153.
'Spects the Vermonters mist it a little on the comb-build-
ing question. Presumably the fresh nectar from the fields is
at least a little better for comb-building than it can ever be
again after it is sealed once. Page 153.
THREE QUEENS NEAR EACH OTUKR.
That three young queens should remain near each other
some time without coming to a fight I do not consider so very
strange. Perhaps they were cold. And I gness B. Ginner's
<!uart of bees (or the remnant of them) did not consiiler
themselves a colony at all— only as individuals, there because
they knew not what else to do with themselves — and so paid
no attention to the queens whatever. Page 156.
CLIPPING SLIGHTLY FOB NEAR-BY MATING.
I had supposed that clipping a young queen's wing
slightly, to prevent her flying away so far to mate, was to
some extent practical. Mr. J. M. Rankin's experience of 64
failures out of 65 is rather in the nature of an extinguisher
on that way of conti'olling mating. Page 165.
SCORING THE SCORE CARD.
The score card on page 166 affords abundance to think of
and talk about. I'd Carrie Nation the "honey-wine" the
first thing. 'Spects there is no such thing. All wines from
fruit-juices. Name "honey-wine" would be used to cover
vile inventions a grade below hard cider, and on a par with
the barbarous drinks of the Philippines. They call their
pizen-juice wine (vino.) If we must get drunk let's get
drunk on something orthodox.
There seems to be an oversight in giving the single-case
display the same pointing as the general di.^play. We read,
"Variety 5." This is all right for the general display ; but
it is not at all desirable that a twelve-section case should con-
tain twelve kinds of honey. Let "Variety " in that place be
changed for " Uniformity," unless something more important
is thought of.
I suppose " Purity " in the beeswax class means freedom
from dirt. Any impurity of the adulteration sort ought to
disqualify altogether. Might not a less ambiguous word than
purity be found ?
I doubt the propriety of putting in the style of observa-
tory hive as a minor item toward a premium on a colony of
bees. Let any style that shows the interiorwell suffice ; and
then let observatory hives have a premium all to themselves,
if desirable.
"Quietness of bees " is a point so important that we dis-
like to discard it ; yet at a fair, it is a very tough thing to
judge with any sort of justice. One lot will be tolerably
quiet, and another lot running wildly, fropi causes not much
connected with the normal manners of the bees at home in
the apiary.
Personally, I should prefer to vice-versa the figures in
" Quality 26, Attractiveness 50;" but perhaps the brethren
will like it as well just as it is.
\ Questions and Answers. |
5iX5rwTrT'ri'rwTrT!r>?''fr>rT'r>'eT'r>'r>?rfri'rT^
CONDUCTED BY
UTI. O. O. M.lI^T.ER. Mareago, 122.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Swarming Management.
I have two colonies of bees that are very strong at this
time, but I would like to increase only to three colonies the
coming season. As I know that both will swarm, and that
early, what do you think of this way of handling them ?
Say if No. 1 swarms, hive the swarm, then remove No. 2
to a new stand and set the swarm on the old stand of No. 2.
1 think if this is done in the middle of the day, when a
great many field-bees of No. 2 are out, they will return to
the old place and enter and help the new swarm by this,
and will reduce the colony of No. 2, and will this not pre-
vent the swarming of No. 2? Pknn.
Answer — It may prevent the swarming of No. 2, but
not certainly. It will certainly make the swarming of No.
2 later, if it does not prevent it.
Italianizing— Other Questions.
1. Would it be profitable to Italianize, where there are
black bees within half a mile of my apiary 7
2. Would you advise the use of full sheets of founda-
tion ?
3. Is light-brood foundation as good as the medium to
use on wired frames ?
4. Is the Simplicity hive as good as the dovetailed, in
the production of comb honey ?
5. Would you advise larger than an eight-frame hive
for comb honey ?
6. Would you advise the use of an observatory hive ?
April 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
251
I have one which I made this winter, but I did not know
whether it would pay me to buy the glass for it.
IdWA.
Answers. — 1, Yes, even if they were only an eighth of
a mile away. Even if you have nothing but hybrids it will
be profitable.
2. Yes.
3. Yes, if the wiring is close enough. Try it a little
carefully at first if you are not sure about it.
4. You would be likely to find no diiference in the
amount of honey, but the Simplicity is hardly so simple as
the dovetailed. If you try the two side by side you will be
likely to prefer the dovetailed.
5. For some the 8-frame may be best, and for some the
larger. The 8-frame requires closer attention, and even
with good attention you will be likely to have some colonies
starve in them every winter.
6. There is no particular profit in an observatory hive,
but it is a pleasant thing to be able to see the bees at work
in one.
Seems to be Paralysis.
I mail you a box containing some dead bees. I have
three colonies that are dj-ing off very fast from some cause,
and I think j'ou can tell me what is the trouble. You will
see some are shiny and black. One colony is dying, and
is all shades and colors. They are mismated queens,
bees that seem the worst. The honey they wintered on
wasn't the best, but I have five or six other colonies that seem
all right. Would I better destroy the diseased colonies, or
will they be all right when warm weather sets in ? Do you
think it is paralysis f
The bees of the colony from which I send you specimens
do something like this : They will catch or bite all around
certain ones of their number, and finally the one that
receives such treatment will roll off the entrance-board on
the ground, kick around and die; and at evening they
will crowd upon the end of the hive and expire, from 15 to
25 and sometimes more a day. It doesn't seem to make any
dift'erence whether the days are warm or cold, and they will
lift the wing and try to fly, but can't do it. On mashing
them there is a thick yellow substance that mashes out of
the bod}'. The ones that are well are carrying in pollen.
Kansas.
Answer. — It seems to be a case of paralysis. Altho
many cures have been offered, unfortunately nothing seems
reliable. Fortunately it is not contagious, and it is quite
possible that it will disappear of itself. The most you can
do is to take good care of your bees, seeing that they are
well furnisht with stores and not allowed to become weak
without uniting, and tlien hope for the best.
Wants to Start Again With Bees.
My bees all died with the cold last winter. I have a
patent hive and the frames of comb in it are all right. If
I had a queen would she live and hatch in it ? How many
bees would she need ? Oxt.ikio.
Answer. — A queen alone would be of no value, as she
would hardly live 2+ hours. With bees enough to cover two
combs, she should make a pretty fair start. You will find
queens advertised in this journal.
Moving and Feeding Bees.
I bought an apiary, or a wreck of one, and wish to
move it one mile. In that yard I find other empty liives
not in use, and they are full of moths. Several colonies
flew lively this week, two of which were robbed and killed,
and at other hives the bees groupt in heaps around the
entrance. Others died of starvation and I think the bal-
ance are short in stores. They are packt, and I can not
examine them at the present place, nor can I get to them to
feed in the hives, neither can I use entrance-feeders.
1. Will I have to build them up before I can move
them ?
2. Is it safe to move them in their present condition ?
3. Are they likely to consume what little honey they
have during the excitement caused by moving ? j.j
4. How would you like this way of feeding? I would
feed them in or near the yard, by taking a large wooden
tray and laying gunny sacks in them. Over this I would
pour enough feed so that they can sip all day. The next
day I would do the same, but add more water, the next day
still more water, and so on until it will all be water.
Ii,i.inois.
Answers. — 1. The only trouble is that moving will
excite them so as to make them consume more stores, in
which case 'the moving would be the worse for a colony on
the point of starvation ; but if a colony is alive at all it
will probably last long enough to be fed after moving.
2. I don't see why it is not, if the weather is at_ all
favorable. In freezing weather a very weak colony might
be so demoralized by moving as to hasten its death.
3. That has already been hinted at, but even if they do
take it all into their honey-sacs it will last them for a time
longer.
4. The plan will work very well if the weather is warm
enough for bees to fly, and we ought to have that kind of
weather now. But don't bring them down to pure water
too rapidly.
Overboiling Sugar Candy for Winter Feeding.
On page 201 " Iowa " gives his experience with cakes of
candy made of granulated sugar as winter feed for bees.
My experience with candy as a winter feed is similar to his.
Only a short time ago I examined some colonies with candy
above the cluster Tone colony was so nearly destitute of
honey that none could be seen, and the bees had begun to
die, and yet there was a large cake of candy on the frames,
but the bees had not toucht it. I melted the candy and
gave it to the bees in liquid form. Had the weather been
too cold for the bees to take it.in this form I should have
poured some quite warm water all over the cake of candy.
Warm water will penetrate and soften the hardest candy
very readily, and so makes it available for the use of the
bees. Subscriber.
Answer. — This suggests that such cases may not be so
rare as I had supposed. Here is something that may throw
a little light on the case. In the British Bee Journal I find
the following : " The sample of candy sent is quite useless
as bee-food, being hard as a stone. It has been overboiled,
and may be truly described as a "hard-cake." May not
overboiling be the solution of the problem ?
Candied Honey in Brood=Combs-Spraying While in
Bloom.
1. I have about 500 brood-frames full of combs and
honey, that are in good shape, smooth and square. There
is 1,000 orl,200poundsof honey in them. The trouble is they
are three and four years old, and the honey candied. Will
they do to use this season ? If not, what is the best way
to dispose of them ? They are all built on comb founda-
tion.
2. Would you advise keeping bees in an orchard ? It is
about two-thirds grown. They do not get the sun much
until about nine o'clock in the morning. They have plenty
the rest of the time. I could give them the morning sun,
but it would bring them within about five rods of the road.
Would I be likely to have trouble ? »
3. I am in an apple section, and some orchardists are
bound to spray when the trees are in full bloom. They did
so last year within ten rods of my apiary. I talkt with
them, and they said they could spray when they liked, and
that I could keep my bees at home. I brought the question of
spraying before the farmers' institute, and proved to them
that they injured their fruit, and that they laid themselves
liable ; but they have been told that before. I am a farmer
myself, but at present I am in the bee-business.
New York.
Answers. — 1. Sprinkle them with water and give them
to the bees. If necessary, repeat the sprinkling.
2. It is not likely the shade will do any harm.
3. Send a dollar to the editor of this paper or to
the general manager of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, so as to become a member of the Association,
and the manager will furtiish you literature with which you
can instruct your neighbor, and give you any assistance
needed. Of course you may get along without joining the
Association, but you'll get along better with it, and be
helping others as well as yourself.
252
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 18, 1901.
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
The Combination Desk
^%, J/v and Book/^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
TUG Roijal Star Combination
Game-Board Go.,
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO, ILL.
Combined Desk and Book-Case
Size, (i6-in. high, 36 in. i
10 in. deep.
Price, $13.75.
Ladies' Desk.
[The above firm is entirely reliable. — Editor.] Size, 40 in. hig-h, 25 in. wide, xs^t
«3r Please mention the Bee Journal „ ■'°"''!fS„-
Price, .*)»3.8o.
FOR SALE
100 COLONIES OF BLACK AND
ITALIAN BEES on s Hoffman selt spacing
frames, all in dovetailed hives, full worker
brood combs, and two supers with each hive —
$2.Ch:' per colony for the lot, or 25 colonies for
$2.50 per colouv. Address,
loAlt F. GENT, Rockford, Minnesota.
■»■■ r J J Bv a woman, position as
Wantea assistant in an apiary;
V T C*.H L^Vl „„g i^ Northern Illinois
ANNIE C. McNEAL.
CRETE, ILL.
Wintered Without Loss.
My bees have wintered on the summer
stands without any loss, but I am feeding
now. I have 12 colonies in 15-frame hives,
but I take out three frames from each side of
the hives when I pack the bees for winter.
Hall Co., Nebr., March 33. Fbed Robt.
June-Berry— Blaelfs Ahead.
Kindly inform me what this flower is I send
you. It ffrows on our liills on small trees,
and looks like dogwood trees. It is in bloom
with peach-blossom and elm. I do not know
whether bees work on it or not, as I never
noticed the bloom before to-day, when I was
up in the mountains. I think it is basswood.
It is very fragrant.
I have not been in the bee-business long, I
have about 50 colonies, and know but little
about honey-producing flowers and plants.
The weather has been so open and mild here
that my bees have eaten up nearly all their
winter stores, and I find my Italians have con-
sumed a great deal more than the blacks, I
had only 11 colonies of Italians, from queens
I introduced last year. They went into win-
ter (as I thought) with almndance of honey,
but last month when I examined them I found
two starved to death, and almost every Italian
colony very short of honey, and I fear I am
too late in feeding to do them any good.
With my short experience I find the blacks
away ahead of the Italians, I had one new
swarm of blacks that stored 252 pounds of
comb honey, besides enough to winter on.
R, N. Crafton,
Indian Territory, March 27.
[The botanist of the American Bee Journal
reports as follows on the flower specimen
sent by Mr, Grafton:— EuiTOft.]
The specimen you send for identification is
the June-berry — Amelanchier canadensis — and
belongs to the pear family. The Junc-bcrry
is a small tree or shrub, and sends out its
.^NIANUFACTURER 0F>4.
BEEHIVES
Sections, Shippiiig--Cases— Everything- used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping- facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending- for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Be'e=Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bld^.,
IGAtf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
THE WHEEL OF TIME
Metal YVheel.
make tlit-m in all sizes and vari-
eties. I O FIT AN Y AXLE. Any
heitrbt. any width of tire desired.
[)nr wheels ore either direct or
^tntrpersp.'kc. Can FIT YOUK
W'A4;<>N p'-rfectlv without chance.
O BREAKING DOWN.
No dn-in.' nut. N.. Tf,,ftliDg lirrs. Clicop
,ecau»<- they enduri-. Send for cal».
io^'ue and pricefl. Free upon reqnest.
Electric Wheel Co,
Box 16 Quincy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
■-< C^ «_ 10 COLONIES OF BEES
Hni* ^fllP in eight-frame dovetailed
1 UI iD<X\^ hives at $3.2.^ per colony.
My bees are healthv, there never having been
any disease among^ them. CHAS. SECKMAN.
Shipping--point, Lincoln, Saltillo, Nebr.
]iiA2t Please mention the Bee Journal,
BULL-STROHG!
....PIG-TIGHT.... .
t^^t he had tuUj liuu l»ush-
! oats on the ground
; he could not secure any ben-
because the fence
^ field would not turn
ethelc.sstoryourself,
tills would have
if had tised the
n Wire Coiled
Spring Fence, nnd the value
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
April 18, 19( 1
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
253
white, showy blossoms before the leaves ap-
pear, thus making itself very conspicuous
even from quite a distance. The blossoms
appear in April or May, dependinn- upon the
season and latitude, and flu* purplish, edible
berries, in Jime. It is an inditTerent honey-
producing' tlower. — (". L. Walton.
Wintered on the Summer Stands.
Last year was a poor year for honey in this
locality, but my 41 colonies came thru the
winter all right, on the summer stands.
We have an abundance of white clover, but
there are very few bees kept here.
I can not do without the American Bee
Journal, as I have learned from it all that I
know about bees. Ai.ONzo Grant.
Clark Co., Wash., March IS.
Report from a Young Bee-Keeper.
Our bees have wintered well and are in
good condition for spring work. My father
used to think that he had the best of bees,
but he has found that they can be improved
upon. He bought three queens from a promi-
nent queen-breeder, and all proved to be
very good ones, Iho one of them was espe-
cially so, and he selected that one from which
to rear queens. She reared over TO queens,
and only one of them was poor.
We secured a very poor honey-crop last
season, but we are watching and hoping for a
good crop this season.
EsiM.i Ban'keb (age 14).
Brown Co., Minn., March 24.
Better Prices for Honey.
Will some one please tell me, as well as the
rest of the readers of the Bee Journal, how we
can bring about a speedy combiuatiou of the
bee-keepers so as to get a better price for our
honey here in California, wh?re honey is pro-
duced by the car-load — yes, even by the train-
load > The population is not so great as in
the East, where from 2 to 100 colonies of bees
are kept, and where honey enough to supply
the demand can not be secured. We are at
the mercy of the jobbers, who are not disposed
to "live and let live," but want all.
If joining the National Bee-Keepers" Asso-
ciation will help to rectify matters, I would
like to know it; and, if so, I will do all in
my power to promote the good of the Na-
tional or any other association that will help
us out.
Would it not be well for the National Asso-
ciation to have a set of by-laws printed and
sent to all bee-keepers, and advocate combi-
nation '. We see, and hear of, combinations
formed every day with immense capital, and
they succeed, so why couldn't we '. If every
bee-keeper would contribute •S2.50 it is hard
to estimate what the amount of capital would
If you want the Bee-Book
TUat covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than an v other publisht,
send 11.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
i Grove City Rabbitry! ^
^ I'rinoe liCopoUI, Ivanhoe, ^
Donovan Hoy,
and other high-bred lielgian stock.
Youngsters, 3 months, t3."0, or 2 for $5.00.
For pedigree, write
WM.M. WHITNEY. Kankakee III.
Please ment
BEES WANTED!
50 TO 75 COLONIES.
If you have aov for sale write to U. G. QUIRIN,
Parkkktovv.n.'Ohio. 13A4t
Please mention Bee Journal when wiiting.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES J?^;^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY
Watertown. Wisconsin,
Are You Making Money?
— Outof your poultry wc mfan. If n-it th. re ts sr-m.-tliinp wronf?. Maybe
you didn't start riu'ht. We iiuve puhlislu-tl a bunk ciilU-il the'
20th CENTURY POULTRY BOOK
whica helps to start poultry people ritrht and then keejjs them
rii-'ht. Tells all about the business and about the best— 'J IIF
KELIABI.E INCUBATORS AN l> BICUOUEKS. Tbey'
book will be sent on receipt of 10 eentd as lon^ aa tbe si
^^- Reliable Incubator A Brdr. Co., Box B.2
NOTICE
THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY have a Branch Store at 10 Vine St.,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.,
Where they have direct steamboat connections with Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida,
and low freight rates.
As this is a main branch, order from any catalog or quotations given
from Medina.
Also booking orders for healthy ITALIAN BEES, shipt this month. Full
colonies, 8 frames and queen, $6.00. Wholesale rates on application.
Double the Money!
in many cases when vou buy vehicles and harness from the aprent or .
dealer. We do without these people and reduce the price of our gooda J
to you to the extent of their commissions. We make 178 styles of J
WE HAVE NO AGENTS
ugs i allty loops
tubbercveredjle.sande hJrabbertlri Pn e uracturmK ,>r<
with »haft>, «6o. Same asolh.rs Bell for MO whieUaflven
I ,« «.™ ,„„r. ih.n „„. T,.i™ ' a factory of t
tloii. Our larne illus-
iniberthat we ship our
, tafe delivery and war-
No. 65— Single Buggy
Please mention Bee Jotirnal when writing.
SENT ON 30 DAYS TRIAL tt |C
Th« Ituntuni hatchrs every haUbable ^ Wm
egg oO-eggeize, *5. SeDii4cforCat. No. t>:i *^
Buckeye Incubotor Co., SprlngOold, u.
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the I'acific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cai.
thy boy or
Wanted !
A trustv
apiary
rages. 1IK.1 ci.
lANN, Theiln
14Atf Mei
il bee-keep
'iiies of bees for sale. C
:uiton, Wabasha Co., Mi
ion the American Bee ]•
rork, t o
rn good
. Theil-
Tennessee Queens!
Fine lot of Choice Tested
!ens reared last season,
aughters of select imported
nd select golden queens,
ared 3;i miles apart, and
ated to select drones, $1.50
h ; untested warranted
same breeders.
her
No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A2et Spring Hill, Tenn.
Hease mention Bee Jotimal wJien ■writing
POUI.TllY BOOK FREE, 64 pagea, illustrated
with 'S mns. trial subscription to our paper, mc
INLAND POULTKY JOUKNAL, Indiimapolls, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
Mai'shfield Mapufactiii'lng Company.
Our Specialty is making- SECTIONS, atul they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin r.ASSWOOD is the ripht kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog' ■''"d price-list.
8A26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
254
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 18, 1%1.
QUEENS!
Improved Golden and Leather-colored Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one of Root's best lone-tong-ued Red-
Clover Breeders from their f200 queen, and a
Golden Breeder from Dooltttle,who says if there
is a BREEDER of g^olden bees in the U.S. worih
$UH), this one is worth that sum. The above
breeders have been added to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the coming- season.
J. L. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., wrote us on
Aug-. 5th, 19rn), saying- that the colony having-
one of our queens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostly comb!; he states that
he is certain that our bees woik on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiary:
A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our queens from time to time. We have files
upon files of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering- the above evidence, need
you wonder why our orders have increast each
year ? Give us a trial order and be pleased. We
have years of experiencein mailing- and rearing-
queens. Safe delivery will be guaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with each lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Warranted stock, $I.Ot.)each; six for $ 5.00
Tested queens, $1 50 each; six for 8.no
Selected tested. j2.00 each; six for 10.00
We have loo.ooo Folding: Cartons on hand,
and so long as thev latt we will sell at 54.00 per
l.iHXl, with vour address printed on in two colors;
Slhi, for $2.75. At above price you can not afford
to place comb honey on the market without car-
toning it. Address all orders to
H. G. QUIRIN, Parkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.)
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. 14El3t
Please mention Bee journal when ■writing-
We want *
To sell you BEE=SUPPLIES!
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog- ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mum & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front A: W.ilaut Sts., Cincinnati,©.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writine.
Do You Want a
fiitjli Grade ot Italian Queens
Or a CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Chicago, III., Jan. 28, I'All.
D. J. Blocker, Esq., Pearl City, 111.
Dear Sir; — Y'our quotations on 45 untested
Italian Queens, ready for delivery by Mav 18,
1001, at hand. It beinp the first offer out of sev-
eral inquiries, and, besides, you having promptly
favored me with queens last year, you may, in
appreciation thereof, have the order.
Yours truly, h. Kreutzinger.
Prices for J*1ay and June:
Number of Queens 1-6 12
Golden Ql'EENS.
Untested $1.00 $5.00 $9.00
Tested 1.25 7.0O 11.00
Select Tested 2.(X> 10.00 17 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $100 $5.00 $9.00
Tested 1.25 7.00 11.00
Select Tested 1.50 8 00 13.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
ist free.
D. J. BLOCKER, Pearl City, 111.
14E(.t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consitrnment of the finest up-
o-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalogr
free.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. G. ACKLIN, Hanager,
1024 Miss, street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please raeution the Bee Journal.
be, but I suppose at least S1,000,000. That
would make a neat little " combine,"
Our jirospects are very fair for a partial
crop of honey this year. C. E. Stevens.
San Diego Co., Calif., March 25.
Drones of Ye Olden Time.
The practice of ciittiii),' out drone-comb is
no new thing, i^lato, who was born some
400 years before the Christian Era, in his
" Republic," represents Socrates as saying:
•' Now the presence of these two classes of
idle and extravagant men which we may com-
pare to drones — like phlegm and bile in the
body — breed in every commonwealth disturb-
ance. Therefore, a skillful physician and
legislator, jlist like a cunning bee-keeper,
must take measures in advance, if possible, to
prevent their presence, but should they make
their appearance, he must have them cut out,
as quickly as possible, along with the combs
themselves."
This passage is interesting because it serves
to show that the (ireek bee-keepers of Plato's
day must have had .some sort of a hive which
enabled them to handle the combs. It also
indicates that they knew a thing or two about
keeping bees. Mr. Dadant, in his articles
impressing the importance of cutting out
drone-comb, has the satisfaction of knowing
that he is in line with ancient example and
precept.
The winter has been favorable here for bees.
All colonies, so far as heard from, have come
thru in good shape. I have wintered my bees
on the summer stands for four years now. and
have yet to lose my first colony. I fill the
supers with planer-shavings, and protect on
the north and west. Fr.xnk Parks.
Lancaster Co., Nebr., March 'J.5.
Better Prospects Than for Years.
Bees in this valley were rather backward at
the beginning of the year, but now they are
breeding up very fast, and the prospects "for a
honey crop are better than they have been for
years. Wm. Ross.
San Bernardino Co., Calif., March 19.
Bees Wintered Nicely.
My bees wintered well, and I think all bees
did in Ashley Valley. I lost only 6 colonies
out ot SO ; there are 6 that are short of winter
stores, and I am feeding them. Bees are
gathering pollen and the prospects for a good
season are fine. There is lots of snow on the
mountains. Ben.i.vmix A. Van Duixe.
Uintah Co., Utah. March 23.
Flowers and Fruit-Trees Blooming
in Florida.
In Florida it is not the " Hum of the Bees
in the Apple-Tree Bloom,"' but the hum of the
bees in the yellow jasmine bloom. It is a very
pretty vine, and I have seen the tops of young
pines bending with the weight of its golden
bloom. Lately I saw a beautiful vine cling-
ing to the cornice of a two-story house, and
winding around its cupola, shedding its fra-
grance on the southern air.
The titi is now in bloom, and its long, white
racemes of tiny flowers are also very fragrant,
and yield a nice white honey. Peach and
plum-trees are also beginning to bloom — the
plum-trees are very white, and the peach-
trees are a deep pink. When the weather is
favorable they are alive with busy workers.
Many pear-trees in this vicinity have died of
blight — they are of the Le Conte variety — the
Reifers are not injured by it. The clusters of
bloom on good pear-trees resemble those on
the hydrangea. I have counted 45 blossoms
in one cluster. Bees gathered much pollen
from pines and cedars.
The past winter has been cool, yet there has
been no severe freezing. The tender growth
ot orange-trees was nipt by frost on March
(ith, but now the little white buds show pret-
tily among the shiny green leaves.
I saw a bee-keeper to-day who said that his
bees were not doing much, as there had been
too many cold winds. He had swarms last
year on Feb. 30th, but he thinks it will be a
BeiQlan Hares
CHEAP.
PEDIGREED AND COMMON STOCK.
Having boug-ht a Job Lot of a neighbor and
added to what I had, I must dispose of same to
make room for my increase. They are mostly-
young— 3 months and over— with, a few bred
Does. ALSO
Italian Queens
season's rearing, ready as soo
is warm enough to send thru
r prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
of last season's rearing^, ready as soon as the
weather is warm enough to send thru the i
Write for prices. Address,
Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
I.one Star
Establisht 188S. F
12Atf Please
lEw, Wilson Co., Tex.
tioo the Bee Journal.
^ Bee=SuppIies
?We are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS
, AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
A Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
J tucky, and the South.
f MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS.
I LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Successor to C. F. Muth & Son,
2146-48 Central Ave., CINCIN.VATI.O.
FREE FOR A' MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.:)
Wool markets and Slieep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention. Bee Journal when -wTitiiiff.
ALBINO QUEENS ^^Z^^^^r^^
want the gentlest liees — If you want the best
houev-gatherers vou ever saw — try mv Albinos..
Untested Oueens in April. $l.(iO; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t J, D. GiVENS, Lisbon, Tex.
Dittnier's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing. .
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to ■ SELL.
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Fonuilation For Casti
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Ple-^^e mention Bee Journal when "writing.
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Biif Catalot.' Free. Write
now. Leally iVlfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, h,. St. Louis, 111.
6At£ Mention the American Bee Journal.
BEE
April 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
255
long time before he has any this season. His
apiary is small, but apparently well kept, the
bees being in movable-frame hives.
Mrs. L. Hahkison.
Washington Co., Fla., March 23.
Good RepoFt fpom Colorado.
Seven years ago I started in the bee-business
with 2 colonies, which I bought for ?10. Last
spring I had 50 colonies, and was offered 84
per colony for them, but I refused it.
My honey crop last year was 2,400 pounds
of extracted honey and 2,200 pounds of comb.
I sold the extracted honey at 7'^ cents per
pound, or S180, and the comb honey for 11 '4
cents per pound, or S247.50, making a total
of S^2T.50.
My increase last season was 30 colonies, but
I lost 2 of these during the winter, so have
only 78 now. The lowest average of honey
secured, spring count, has been 40 pounds per
colony, and the highest 90 pounds per colony,
the latter being the average stored last season.
A. Waudington.
Otero Co., Colo., March 27.
Report from Minnesota.
Our bees have wintered well, with a loss
only one colony out of 124. Last year we got
no honey and had to feed our bees, but we
hope for better things the coming season.
My father is going to give me a colony this
year, and I hope they will store plenty of
honey so that I will not have to feed them. We
use the Langstroth hives.
We wintered some of our bees outdoors
packt in wheat chaff in boxes two inches
larger on the sides than the hives, and 4
inches higher, and raised the backs of the
hives a little so that the moisture can run out.
We have 20 colonies in the cellar which seem
to be all right, but when we take them out
they may be all wrong.
Fred Banker (age 12).
Brown Co., Minn., March 24.
Poor Prospects for the Coming
Season.
I put 11 colonies into the cellar, and I think
there are a great many of the bees dead.
I am very much interested in the American
Bee Journal, but I think it is about all we
will have to comfort us this summer in the
bee line. If the spring is late there won't be
a colony left in the county. F. DrRANT.
Winnebago Co., Wis., March 2.5.
Bees Wintered in Good Condition.
My 38 colonies of bees seem to be in good
condition, and if we have warm weather for
a week or two we can take them out of the
cellar.
We had a good horse killed by lightning on
March 23d, but notwithstanding our bad luck
we feel that we must have the American Bee
Journal in order to carry on bee-keeping suc-
cessfully. Wm. Hartwig.
St. Croix Co., Wis.. March 25.
Bees Short of Winter Stores.
The roads here are in very bad condition,
and have been so for six weeks ; the mud is a
foot deep, and there is snow on top of that.
In Feliruary I lookt at some of my bees,
and I am afraid that many will be short of
stores. Maple is in full bloom, but no bees
are working.
There has been no comb honey in our mar-
ket for a month. I keep the extracted on
hand. Foul brood has cut my number down
to 40 colonies. John C. Stewart.
Nodaway Co., Mo., March 28.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Illinois.— The spring- meetinir nf the easters
division of the Northern Illinois Bee-Keepers"
Association will be held at the residence of B.
Kennedy, 7 miles southeast of Kockford, III., on
Rural Route No. ,s, and 3 miles nurtheast of New
Milford, 111., Tuesday, May 21, l''ill. All inter-
ested in bees are cordially inviiod to attend.
B. Kk.nnkdy, Sec.
LEARN TO SING
\I E by my thorough im-tln ■
With my
1 jjiiarantee to train and t-nl
refund your
i-he'st Kndorscment. Beautiful
iiive Lotkktbtatfrre. AMt^^
G. M. Whaley, Kalamazoo, HIth
Please mentloti Bee Jovirnal when -writing.
jr IS col-
i of Ital-
L BEES
LANG-
STROTH FRAMES. Addi
lio-x 1.^1. H. RASnCSSEN, Oak Park, III
B66sWani6d
15A2t Me
ican Bee Journal.
B£E=SUPPUES!
AT ROOT S /=>RtC£^
QUEENS
SmokerB, Sections,
Comb FotajidatioD
And ftll IpkrUa 8nppU0
^r «b*»p. S«na f«r
■ FRKK CUloi... «. t. FLUMIIII, Btlterilla, tt
Please mention Bee Journal -when -'srritinsr
The Farm and the Thresher.— The man who
owns and operates a threshing outfit is not the
only one who should study and look into the
merits of threshings machines. If there is any
one man above another who should be inter-
ested in the capabilities and the quality of work
a threshing machine will do, that man is the
farmer. If a machine is only limited in capa-
city and is pusht beyond its limit the grain will
be "hogged," or poorly thresht and cleaned,
and the farmer is the loser. If the machine be
flimsily constructed, or if the engine is of too
light capacity, breaks and delays will occur,
and with a big gang of threshers on his hands
the farmer is again the loser. Certainly, then,
when you have a iob of threshing to do the safe
plan is to select or employ a machine of such
well-known make and ability as to avoid all
these vexatious delays and losses. As a type
of this best class of threshers we illustrate here-
with the new Rumely thresher which is manu-
factured by the M. Rumely Co., of LaPorte, Ind.
These threshers have a most enviable reputa-
tion for threshing and cleaning ability, large
capacity, durability, and earning ability. They
are equipt and provided with every improve-
ment and time and labor saving device known
to thresher art— i.e., self-feeders, baud-cutters,
grain-weighers, grain-baggers, high elevators,
elevators with cross-conveyors, etc. The Runi-
elv engines which are made for burning with
wood and coal or b< it h, straw, etc., are phenom-
enal for their strength and durability, and
further tor the fait that they always develop
greater than their accredited power. They are
remarkably easy and quick steamers, and are
economical of fuel. Their traction power is
simply enormous, ,-iud they take the entire out-
fit anywhere over any kind of road. The sepa-
rators can be ecjuipt with Uncle Tom Wind-
Stacker, or the Satiley Attacht Stacker, or the
Independent Swinging Stacker, as desired by
the buyer. All machines of every kind and all
attachments are made of the very best material
and in the most workmanlike manner. If inter-
ested in threshing machinery in any way it will
pay you to see a Kumely catalog. Write the
JVl. Rumely Co., L.' I'orte, lud., to-day, and they
will take pleasure n mailing you one free. Hut
please don't forget 'o say you saw their adver-
tisement in the Am.rican Bee Journal.
xKV xV xV xV xV xV Vx \tx xtx >!^ xtX xfay
I HONEY AND BEESWAX l
MARKET QUOTATIONS,
Chicago, Apr. 8.— Choice grades of white
comb honey continue to sell at If'C per pound,
and there is no surplus in sig-ht. other grades
of comb sell fairly well at the following' prices:
No. 1 grades of white, 14(" 15c; off grades, 13c;
light amber, \2.c\ dark amber, ]0(^llc; buck-
wheat and other dark combs, 9(a'10c; candied
and mixt colors, "tC^'^c. Extracted is dull, and
prices very weak, with the exception of some
fancy linden and clover grades quotable at
7("Sc; ambers, tj^^fSiTJ^c; dark and buckwheat,
5(aoc. Beeswax, 30c. R. A. Burnett & Co.
New York, March 19.— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb honey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancy white is still sell-
ing readily at from 15(aH6c; No. 1 white at from
13fml4c; amber at from 12@13c; buckwheat, 10@
lie, according to quality and style of packag'e.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active, and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honej is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, "(oiT^c; lig-ht amber,
b]/i(alc\ other grades and Southern, (>S(ot'~Sc per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 28@28>4c, and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 29c.
HlLDRBTH & SBOBLKBN.
Buffalo, Apr. 4.— Fancy comb, 14r« 15c; dark,
etc., 8(S>12c, as to grade. Demand moderate.
Fancy beeswax, 2"@28c. Batterson & Co.
Om.aha, Mar. 30.— Demand fair; stocks light.
Fancy white comb, 15@l6c. Extracted moving^
slowly at 7(g8c for white. We do not look for
any particular change for the balance of the
season, as present supply will just about be suf-
ficient to supply the tiade until new crop gets
into market. Pevckk Bros.
Detroit, Apr. 11— Fancy white comb, 14i'gil5c;
No. 1, 13«i'14c; dark and amber, 10(ail2c. Ex-
tracted, white. (>l-^(aj7c; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax, 27@28c.
Sales slow and stocks light, maple syrup
taking the attention. M. fl. Hunt & Son,
Cincinnati, Apr. 8.— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over. The stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings yet Itic. Ex-
tracted is iu fair demand; dark sells for 5J^c;
better grades bring- 6((j7J^c; faucv white clover
from 8J^f<i'ic. C. H. W. Weber.
Kansas City, Mar. 23.— Receipts light; de-
mand normal at steady prices. Fancy white
comb, 15@16c; no amber on market. Extracted,
8@9c. Beeswax scarce, steady demand, 25@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
Albany, N. Y., Apr.' 6.— Honev market quiet.
Light supply and light demand now. The stock
is well cleaned out, so will be no old honey to
carry over this season. H. R. Wright.
Boston, April 4. — Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c: No. 1, 15(o»16c, with a
fairly ^-ood demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honev this year. Extracted, white, 8@
9,%c\ light amber, Vyi<a9,c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & IiBB.
San Francisco, Feb. 6.— White comb 13®
14 cents; amber, llH@12J4c; dark, 8fat9c. Ex-
tracted, white, 7J^@Sc; lig-ht amber, 6%@75ic;
amber. 5!^(aJt.i^c. Beeswax, 26@2Sc.
Considering the light output of honey last
spring" from California apiaries, present offer-
ings are of tolerably liberal volume and are
mostly of amber g-rades. The market is slow
at the quotations. It is reported on g-ood author-
ity that adulterated and imitation honey is be-
ing dealt out in considerable quantity, which
accounts in a great measure for the very limited
business doing in the pure article.
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Co's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you froiKht. and ship promptly. Market price
paid tor beeswax. Send for our i^'il cataloj;.
M. H. HUNT & SON. Bell Brunch, Wavno Co.. Mich.
B66§=Syppll6S"
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, ■ NEW YORK, N. Y.
UA^t^t I'lease mentiou the Bee Journal.
256
AMERICi\N BEE JOURNAL
April 18, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
HIV6S. Exiraciors
or anything you want in the
:bee-keeping line.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything^, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r J8®- W. M. Gerrish, East Notinfrham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
WANTED !
25 to SO colonies of bees in good con-
dition. Must be cheap.
S. J. DUMINIE,
16.T S. Forest Ave.
iiAot RIVER FOREST, COOK CO., ILL.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
** e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following- prices, cash with
the order:
5lb 10ft 2Sft 50ft
Sweet Clever (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $S.CO
Sweet Clover (yellow) .... $1.50
Crimson Clover 70c
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market chang-es.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartag-e. if
wanted by freig-ht, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &. IMj Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
2.80
6.2S
12.00
i.ai
2.75
5.00
1.70
3.75
7.00
l.VO
4.00
7.50
1.40
3.25
5.00
.io
1.00
1.60
200-Egg incubator
for $I2.00
*erfect in constrnction and
ction. Hatches every fertile
KP. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
I AEISE
To say to the readers of
the Bee Journal that
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . $1.00
J Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen 1.25
3 Tested Queens .... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing-. 2.S0
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y
24th n«ri«ri*'^ r^...^j^4:^.^ 24tii
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAQQINO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCBSS SHEETINO.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have aot been aay
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog-, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
_ :
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co . III. Y
Beeswax wanted at all times,
4)4>4>4>4>4)4>4>4>4)-(k-^-(k4>'
® $13.00 and $23.00 Queens $
Having a Measured Tongue Reach.
The call for queens of our celebrated S200 imported mother
has been so great that we have decided, in addition to the $2.00,
$4.00, and $6.00 grades of this stock, to offer some $1000, $15.00,
and even 825.00 of this same blood. But these prices are for tested
queens, the tongues of whose bees have been measured.
The $10.00 queen is guaranteed to produce bees with a tongue-
measurement of 19-100.
The S15.00 queen, 20-100.
The S2S.00.queen, 21-100.
These last are very rare and with one exception this (21-100)
is the longest tongue reach yet secured. We reserve the right,
when we do not have the stock with the tongue reach called for,
either to return the money or to send the next lower, remitting
the balance. It would be well for our friends to put in their or-
ders at once, and as soon as we get the grades we will send notice.
When the money is sent, the queens will be forwarded. These
will be put up in the very best manner possible ; and while we
guarantee safe arrival in good order to any point in the United
States, on any railway line, we will not guarantee safe intro-
duction. Such valuable queens should be releast on hatching
brood.
N. B. — It seems as if it ought not to be necessary to say that
no one but a queen-breeder or a large honey-producer should order
these high-priced queens; but it is a fact according to our expe-
rience that beginners with only a few colonies will order our high-
est priced imported queens. Such bee-keepers have no more use
for such queens than a pig has for a wheel-barrow.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
U. S. A.)
SW GEORGE W. YORK & CO. chi* il'ja ill.'.'"'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BICE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog-.
-rTTTTTTT-rTTTTl'^-t-
8ft<-
iij\Eme%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ELL, APRIL 25, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 17.
258
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
April 25, 1900.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
George W. York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St.. Chicago, III.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
SOc a year extra for postag^e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, *' DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts — We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: —Change *'d" or
*'ed" final to **t*' when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honej-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, Thos. G. Newman,
W. Z. Hutchinson, G. M. Doolittle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Marks,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Hambaugh,
P. H. Elwooi), C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, Dk. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. Aikin, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
Rocku Mountain Bee- Plant Seed!
(Cleonie integnfoUa.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: " Th.is
is a beautiful plant for the flower-garden, to
say nothing of the honey it produces. It grows
fromtwo to three feet in hight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a K-pound package as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14(. Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fane thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
'"^' OEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
i Weekly Budget. I
T. F. Bingham, of Clare Co., Mich., wrote
us April 18th that the bees in his region had
wintered fairlj' well, his own haying been in
the cellar just five months.
Dr. C. C. Miller gave us a short call on
Saturday, April 14th. He is looking and feel-
ing much better than for some time past. He
said, " I feel 15 years younger than I did three
mouths ago." The good Doctor's many
friends will join in the hope that he may con-
tinue to improve, and be spared many years
to help make 'easier the paths of (luestioning
bee-keepers, and if need be say, " I don't
know."
Dr. a. B. Mason, writing us April 12th,
had this to say about himself and his bees :
Friend York; — It is tour weeks this morn-
ing since I had a fall and broke two of my
ribs just below the left shoulder-blade ; I also
bruised my hip, and am still wearing " cor-
sets." They do not allow me to lift as much
as a pail of water yet, but I tell you I have a
'■ bully " time doing nothing. I will be ready
for business again in a few days.
( iwr liees are still in the cellar, and in splen-
did condition. It has been too cold to put
them out, but early this morning, with the
mercury at 33 degrees, it lookt as if they
might be put out to-day, but now at " o'clock
a m. it is clouding up, and prospects are for a
cool day. Yours very truly,
A. B. Mason.
We regret very much to learn of the Doc-
tor's fall, but are not surprised that it should
have resulted in Ijroken bones, as he is " no
small affair." When a "boy" of his size
begins to drop, something has to give way
when he strikes bottom. But all will hope for
his speedy and complete recovery.
Fined for Cruelty to a Bot is the
heading of an item dated at Washington,
April 13tli, and found in the Chicago Record-
Herald, which reads as follows:
Prof. Frank Benton, of the Agricultural
Department, was fined }ilO by Police Judge
Scott yesterday for his inhuman treatment of
Frederick Hahne, an 8-year-oId.
For some time Prof. Benton, who is in
charge of the ^apiary at the Department of
Agriculture, has been annoyed by boys throw-
ing sticks and stones at the bee-hives. On
last Friday he made a raid on the boys and
caught young Hahne. Taking him by one
arm and one leg, the Professor carried and
dragged tlie struggling, screaming child to
the hives.
" ril give you enough bees," said the Pro-
fessor, as he held the boy in front of one of
the hives. The angry bees settled on the boy,
stinging him severely about the face iind on
the legs. As soon as he could get away the
boy ran home, where he was treated by Dr.
Nicholson, under whose care he still remains.
John Hahne, the boy's father, procured a
warrant for the arrest of Prof. Benton, charg-
ing him with assault.
The boy still shows the effects of the stings.
His face is badly swollen. His father is very
indignant at the light punishment inflicted by
Judge Scott upon Prof. Benton. M'hen Sec-
retary Wilson was askt this afternoon what
action he would take in the case of Prof. Ben-
ton, he said the matter had not been brought
to his attention.
While we would not for a moment approve
of Mr. Benton'', severe treatment of the
naughty small bey, still we must admit that it I
is very exasperating to a bee-keeper to have
his colonies pelted with stones and various
other missiles. We lost a good colony of bees
the past winter by its hive having been upset
by mischievous boys after we had it nicely
prepared for winter. The combs, heavy with
honey, were all broken from the top-bars, and
likely drowned the bees. At any rate it was
the only colony we lost in wintering, and we
can not attribute it to anything else than the
upsetting, as the other colonies came thru in
good condition.
But wouldn't it have been better if Mr.
Benton had carried his boy into the house, set
before him some nice honey and biscuit, and
then explained to him in a kindly manner the
probable result of his annoying the bees ? It
would have been cheaper for Mr. Benton, and
he perhaps might have made a staunch friend
out of a careless boy instead of running the
risk of having the boy stung to death for
causing a little annoyance.
What Next in the Temperance Reform ?
— The Board of Managers of the National
Temperance Society and Publication House,
believing that the times call for an active and
aggressive campaign of the Christian and
Temperance forces against the liquor traffic,
at a meeting held on Thursday, Feb. 21, 1901,
instructed the general secretary to send a cir-
cular letter containing the following series of
questions to a number of representative tem-
perance men and women, with the request for
replies.
The Board believes that from the replies re-
ceived it will be possible to mature plans for
an aggressive campaign of the united moral
and Christian forces, that will make the new
century memorable in the entire overthrow of
the liquor-traflic.
The replies will be collated and classified,
and copies of the results sent to all papers
printing this circular-
questions.
1. Now that the " Canteen " citadel has
been taken, what in your judgment should be
the next point of attack ?
2. Is a union of the temperance forces of
the United States at this time desirable and
practicable ?
3. If so, on what basis and along what
lines in your opinion could such a union b©
effected ?
4. Would you advise holding in the near
future a conference (not a convention) of
representative temperance men and women as
a means to that end ?
.5. If so, what place in your judgment would
be the best, and what time the most fitting ?
Those of our readers who wish to answer
these questions may send their replies to
James R. Dunn, Nos. Sand 5 West 18th St.,
New York, N. Y.
The Sports that Make the Man.— Sir
Thomas Lipton, K. C. "V. O., has' written espe-
cially for the Saturday Evening Post, of May
11th, an article on this subject. He places
yachting high on the list, and gives some
interesting anecdotes of his own career as an
amateur yachtsman. Sir Thomas is hopeful,
if not confident, of ''lifting" the America's
Cup next autumn. He says, however, that if
it were a certainty he would not cross the
water; for there is no sporting interest in
"sure things." This article will appear ex-
clusively in the Saturday Evening Post, of
Philadelphia, Pa. It is one of the very best
weekly periodicals publisht to-day.
41st YEAK.
CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 25, 1901,
No, 17,
\ * Editorial. ^ \
" The Man Who Reads is the man
who succeeds," is the first sentence of an
editorial paragraph in the Bee-Keepers' Re-
view. To illustrate it, Mr. W. L. Coggshall,
of New York State, is referred to. He emploj's
quite a number of young men every season in
his bee-keeping work with nearly 1,500 colo-
nies, and he says that " the young man who
did not read never amounted to much in his
employ." It was a true statement, and will
apply in practically every calling in life.
The man who would succeed certainly must
read. He must inform himself concerning
every detail of his business. He nuist find
out the principles by which others have won
success, and then adapt them to his own use.
No man liveth unto himself, 'tis said. And
that is also a hard fact. We are all dependent
one upon another. Each needs the other's
help and encouragement, in order to do the
best work. And by reading we gain not only
helpful information, but a necessary enthusi-
asm. We thus learn how others have done
successfully, and we feel that we can do as
well it we make the effort.
Honey by the Pailful. — Mr. Thomas
Slack, of Canada, tells in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture, how he disposes of his crop of honey
by the use of tin pails, selling direct to fami-
lies. His price is $1.00 for eight pounds. He
thinks that when a family buys a pailful of
honey at a time they will not use it so spar-
ingly as when getting only a single section or
a small glass jar of it. That sounds reason-
able. And he says he can sell more honey at
eight pounds for SI. 00 than at 10 cents a
pound. No one would want to try to push
the 10-cent price if the other is a success. He
allows 10 cents for a returned pail.
Mr. Slack covers with his market wagon 21
miles in three directions each week in the
summer. Liquid hoEiey sells as ten to one for
him as compared with candied.
" Keep More Bees " is the advice some
of the leaders are giving " without charge "
to those who have not made very much suc-
cess at bee-keeping. The idea is that most
bee-keepers have not been in the business in a
sufficiently extensive way to make it pay. This
may be true in many instances ; in others, if
the locality is not suitable for succes.stul bee-
keeping, it would simply be folly to " keep
more bees."
As a sample of what at least one Ijec-keeper
is expecting to do in the expansion business
the coming season, we may say that he has
already contracted to furnish 12,000 pounds
of comb honey at 16 cents per pound. He is
in the sweet clover district not a hundred
miles from Chicago. We are not at liberty to
mention his name, as we are not certain that
he cares to have it publisht. However, what
we have given will do no harm. He is buying
bees " to beat the band,'" and expects to have
about 2.50 colonies, and all in one yard. He
will have an expert bee-keeper take full
charge of the bees, while he attends to other
business that requires his attention.
Last year, we believe, this same bee-keeper
averaged 100 pounds of comb honey to the
colony, and had over 50 colonies in the yard.
We will be able to report next fall how it has
paid him to " keep more bees " this year.
There is quite a good demand for bees this
spring, at least in this locality, and if any of
our readers have them for sale at right prices,
they should do well by offering them thru the
advertising columns of the American Bee
Journal.
Spring Care of Bees.— Editor Hill gives
this paragraph in the April American Bee-
Keeper, which should be read, and its sugges-
tions followed, by every one who desires to
make bee-keeping a success:
At no time of the year does skillful treat-
ment and care of the bees yield so great a
reward as that bestowed during the spring
months. Avoid handling unnecessarily at all
times, and under no circumstances do so while
the weather is cold. See that all colonies are
provided with queens and with ample stores.
Brood-rearing draws heavily upon the honey
which they may have. Protect the hives in
every possible way against the loss of heal.
Upon the number of eggs laid by the queen
up to the 37th day preceding the opening of
the bloom from which the nectar is to be
gathered, depends the bee-keeper's success.
All laid thereafter are iit a loss to the honey-
producer. Give the queen the benefit of every
advantage you are aljle to bestow, in order
that she may meet the honey-flow witli an
ample force of workers.
Testing Barrels lor Honey,— In all
probability wooden barrrls will be used for
holding honey, for many years to come.
Altno the tin can is fa^t becoming the more
generally adopted package tor shipping e.\-
tracted honey, still thire are localities and
purposes which demand the barrel. So we
say, every man to his liking or preference.
Pres. N. E. France, of ihe Wisconsin State
Bee-Keepers' Associalimi, is perhaps one of
the most extensive U6c^^ of barrels for hold-
ing honey. He is a veiy candid man, and can
not be induced to use a can for honey. But
he knows how to test a barrel before putting
honey into it. At the (invention in February
he gave his method as follows, the Bee-Keep-
ers' Review furnishing the paragraph:
" Barrels may be tested as to whether they
will leak by blowing or forcing air into a hole
n the head ; but there is a peculiar knack in
doing this. One breath alone will not test the
matter. Put the lips or mouth close upon the
aperture, and blow in all the air that can be
expelled from the lungs ; draw in another
breath thru the nostrils, still holding with the
lips the pressure obtained by the first breath ;
blow in another breath ; hold this and draw
in another. Perhaps a part of the third
breath may be forced into the barrel, but that
is about all. Hold the pressure. If there is a
leak, the pressure will soon run down, and the
ear may detect the sound of the escaping air.
If there is no leak, the pressure will remain ;
and upon removing the mouth the air will
come out of the opening with quite a decided
explosion."
■*
Done at the Right Time.— G. M. Doo-
little says this in the Progressive Bee-Keeper,
about doing things in the apiary at the right
time:
Upon their being done at the right time
depends the success of many of the operations
of the apiary. From what we often see, it is
evident that all bee-keepers do not realize
this. The wise man said in the Scriptures,
when he wrote under inspiration, '^ To every-
thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven," and tho he was a
preacher instead of an apiarist, he could have
done little better had he been the latter; for
unless the manipulations and operations in
the apiary are done at the right time, and in
the proper season, our purposes, no matter
how good, will fail of the desired success.
Weak Colonies In the Spring. — In
the April Bee-Keepers' Review Editor Hutch-
inson has this to say about the treatment of
weak colonies in the spring:
Weak colonies are something that, it is
almost universally agreed, are not worth fuss-
ing with in th'e spring. Uniting them does
not seem to help matters much. Several
times have I united two or three weak colo-
nies into one in early spring, taking out the
extra <iueens and selling them, only to find, a
few days later, tlie newly formed colony no
more populous than was one of the colonies
that were used in its make-up. Then I would
again unite two or three of these made-up-
and-run-down-again colonies, only to see them
again reduced in numbers. I believe that
once, when warm weather came, and the bees
finally began to liuild up, I had the remains
of a dozeu colonics all in one hive. There is
something about this matter that I don't ex-
actly understand. Here are three weak colo-
nies. We unite two of them. A week later
it is diliicult to say which is the colony that
was made up from the two, and which Is the
one left to itself. See that your weak colo-
nies have sulhciint food, tuck them up snug
and warm, and then let them alone — and that
is good advice to follow with strong colonies.
The Necessary Bee-Supplies.— Have
you them on hand, all ready fur use when
wanted '. It is very aggravating to be com-
pelled to wait for the arrival of supplies when
the bees are suffering on account of their delay.
260
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 25, 1901.
GHEINNADJ KAIVDRATIEFF.
As the present ambitious strides of Russia towards
aggrandizement are drawing tlie attention of the civilized
world, it may not be amiss to show what is being done by
some of its inhabitants in more peaceable lines. War is
surelj' not a sign of progress, but the quiet pursuit of
practical apiculture is one of the growing sciences, which
are followed only by civilized men. So on the first page
we give the photograph of a leading Russian apiarist.
Mr. Ghennadj KandratiefF was born February S, 1834,
on his hereditary estate of Sazikino, ten versts (a verst
being 3,500 feet) from the city of Vrineschma, in the
province of Kostroma. His father, a retired colonel, was
then living at Sazikino and was the " nobility marshall "
of the province. Being an old soldier of the time of Sou-
voroff, he desired his son to embrace the same career, and
sent him, at the age of only seven, to the military Corps
Alexander, for children. From this, in 1884, little Kandra-
tieff was sent to the Corps Paul, of the Cadets. In 1853 he
was transferred to the regiment Model for the study of cav-
alry service, and lastly, in 1854, he obtained the epaulets of
an officer in the regiment of Cuirassiers of the Grand
Duchess Helen Pavlovna.
During the Crimean campaign, Russia was short of
officers, and a call was made for volunteers; among these
Mr. KandratiefF was placed as a cavalry officer at Sebasto-
pol ; at the end of this campaign, after the close of the
war, when it became possible for him to quit the military
service, he obtained his discharge and gave himself up to
his favorite occupation — music.
His talent, his exceptional ability, and his passion for
music, had shown during his earliest infancy, and during
his military education, while still a boy, he already led the
choirs of the cadets in the church.
At length, after numerous difficulties, he succeeded in
leaving Russia to go to Italy, the country of music and
fine arts. There, during the first four years of his sojourn,
he studied with zeal the Italian language, the Italian song,
declamation, everything, in fact, which has any relation
with scenic art. In 1860 he made his first appearance on
the Italian stage, as first bass in the opera of Rossini —
Semiramis. This " debut " was very brilliant, and after
that he was for four years engaged in twelve of the lead-
ing Italian theaters, upon whose stages he filled with great
success several roles of his profuse repertoire.
His artistic career was triumphal, and on the first of
September, 1864, he was called back to Russia, for an
engagement with the Imperial theater of St. Petersburg.
He remained there as a singer until 1872, after which time
he was appointed general manager of the Imperial Opera,
which he managed until September 1, 1900. While he was
occupying this position, which required great knowledge,
strength of character, coolness and presence of mind, these
occupations disturbed his nervous system to such an extent
that the doctors advised him to seek for a summer occupa-
tion that would compel him to remain all day in the air and
sunshine. He had become a member of the Free Economic
Imperial Society, and had made the acquaintance of the
celebrated professor of chemistry of the University of St.
Petersburg, the great apiarist, A. M. Boutlerofi". The latter
induced him to go into apiculture, and Kandratieff took
such a taste for this pursuit that now a life without bees
seems to him a life without aim and without interest.
In 1878, Kandratieff and Prof. Boutleroff, who had thus
become quite intimate, being both members of the Apiar-
ian Commission of the above-named Imperial Society, were
put in possession of 200 dimes of land, on the shores of
the Black Sea, not far from Souhoum-Cale, for the rearing
and cultivation of bees after rational methods. They then
began regular visits to this distant apiary. Mr. Kandra-
tieff even now remembers with pleasure those trips which
they usually undertook during the fine season, in the
months of April and May, the best lime of the year in
Caucasus. They would go by rail to Sebastopol (still in
ruins since the Crimean War), from there in a carriage to
Salta, and thence on a steamer which stopt at all the ports
on its wav to Batum, whence they took another steamer for
Souhoum-Cale. These voyages left with them interesting '
reminiscences and happy impressions.
Unhappily these pleasurable excursions soon ended.
Prof. Boutleroff died suddenly, and in the same year Kan-
dratieff lost his only son, who was feeble in health, and for
whom he had hoped to create at Souhoum an earthly para-
dise, for this section of country is celebrated for its climate.
After the boy's death the sale of the apiary was decided
upon.
In 1886, Mr. A. Boutleroff founded the first Russian bee-
journal. After his death it was managed for some time by
the celebrated Russian apiarist Zoubareft', and later the
editor's chair was offered to Mr. Kandratieff, who was
unable to accept for want of leisure.
In 1891 Kandratieff lost his only remaining child, a
daughter. This so deranged his health that he completely
lost his night's sleep, finding rest only towards morning
each day. To somewhat fill up the terrible vacancy in his
life, he undertook, with his friend Izerguine, the translation
into Russian of the French edition of "The Hive and
Honey-Bee," of Langstroth-Dadant. At the same time he
elaborated a program for a new bee-journal. During each
summer he took a trip to foreign countries and became
acquainted with Metelli, Dubini, Visconti, Paglia, Bar-
bieri, and Lambertenghi, in Italy ; and returning by way of
Switzerland he regularly visited Edward Bertrand, with
whom he always found a hearty reception and many new
ideas on bee-culture. Bertrand approved the idea of this
new Russian journal, and in 1892 they issued the first num-
ber of the "Messenger of Foreign Apiarian Literature" —
Wiestnik Inostrannoi Eiteratury Ptchelovodstiva.
As is often the case when something new appears, the
Messenger met many ill-disposed people who affirmed that
foreign ideas are of no value to Russia, and that special
methods must be created for that country, as if the Russian
bees were not the same insect as the bees of other countries.
But time smoothed everything ; the plan of Kandratieff, of
publishing the paper at the low price of one rouble (about 51
cents) and of printing in it all things that were new and
worthy of notice in Europe in apiculture, proved to be excel-
lent. The journal had great success ; it is now very much
read, and its propaganda has had much influence on Russian
bee-culture. Many pleasant acknowledegments are received
from all parts of the Russian empire. Those letters writ-
ten mostly by persons who have followed the advice given
in that journal, express the hearty thanks of their writers
for their leader and guide.
It is especially the Dadant hive and system which
Kandratieff recommends in his magazine, showing its
advantage over some other methods recommended by oppos-
ing apiarists who have their own systems. The result of
his constant and indefatigable propaganda concerning this
hive, and of the success obtained with it, has been its
establishment as the hive the best liked and the most in
vogue in Russia.
Kandratieff has put into the hands of his devoted
friend, Izerguine, for three years past, the management of
the Messenger. He, however, continues to support the
journal with his contributions. He has also translated into
Russian the " Conduite Du Rucher " of Bertrand, and the
pamphlet entitled "The Modified Dadant Hive," also by
Bertrand, which is now in its third edition. He has in
addition translated the " Memorandum " of the Italian
Dubini, and the unedited " Letters of Huber." He has
also publisht the Dubini pamphlet " Honey as Food and
Medicine" (20,000 copies), and Prof. Zubarsky's, "The
Medicinal Properties of Honey," the latter to the
extent of 90,00(> copies. Owing to the moderate cost of
these two pamphlets they have been so scattered all
over Russia that some honey-dealers give them away with
the honey they sell.
After all that has been said concerning this worthy
bee-master, it goes without saying that the name of Kan-
dratieff will remain connected with the transformation of
bee-culture in Russia and its development by rational
methods, so we may hope that bee-culture there will again
reach to the magnitude it used to have in ancient times
when that country exported its bee- products to all countries
of occidental Europe.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
April 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
261
Contributed Articles, i
No. 3.— Practical Lessons for Beginners In Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
iConliaued from pajfe 230.)
••XTTELL, Mr. Bond," I continued, "you notice there is
Yy a piece of heavy, strong muslin as a cover on the
top of the super resting on the frames of the hive.
That cover is necessary because without it the bees would
get out into the space under the hive-cover and around the
super. Of course, you understand, when there are two or
more supers on a hive we put the cover on the topmost. I
use muslin instead of oilcloth, because muslin lets the
moisture and some of the surplus heat escape, and oilcloth
does not.
" Now, before we can do anything inside the hive this
super must be removed. I have seen bee-keepers who would
first blow smoke under the muslin cover into the super to
make the bees go down into the hive, but I don't do that
because when driven down they are in the way.
"Well,! declare, if there isn't a swarm coming out
yonder 1"
With this exclamation I started on the run toward the
hive casting the swarm, bidding Mr. Bond to follow me.
Arriving at the hive I stoopt over and shoved the en-
trance-blocks toward each other, thus contracting the
entrance-space. Mr. Bond was of course curious to know
why I did this, and I explained thus :
" I do this in this case because I don't want the swarm
to get out so fast — they were rolling out by the pint, you
noticed. The object is this : As there is only a small
space for the bees to come out thru, it takes the swarm a
long time to get out, and those that are out first get tired
flying around. The queen is usuall)' out with the first
quarter of the swarm, and is flying around with those that
are out, but, as she isn't used to much exercise, she is
sooner tired out than the others, and hence, instead of wait-
ing for the rest of the swarm, alights on a convenient
branch of a bush or tree to rest, and the swarm clusters
there, completely covering the queen. If there is a large
bee-space, however, the bees will all get out in about two
minutes, and, being fresh on the wing, and excited, they
will fly off in a body, sometimes quite a distance away, and
then cluster away up in a tall tree, where you need a long
ladder and a rope and a saw, or an ax, to get them.
" Now, watch this swarm," I said to Mr. Bond. "You
see they are flying around near the hive as tho they didn't
know what to do. They do that because they are waiting
for the rest of the swarm to join them. There I they are
settling on that apple-tree, on a limb low down. Now, I'll
show you how /hive a swarm of bees," I said to Mr. Bond,
pronouncing the personal pronoun with strong emphasis,
to remind him of /lis way.
" Now, Mr. Bond," I continued, "the first thing in
order in this case is to move this brood-chamber far enough
away to make room for the hive I'm going to put in its
place. First, however, I open it and take the super off. It
is nearly full of honey or I would leave it on. You see I
figure to economize strength. The fact is, in my case this
is necessary because, as you know, I'm not very strong —
my left arm is nearly useless for lifting on account of par-
tial paralysis.
" Why do you reverse the hive?" queried Mr. Bond,
after we had moved it to its new place.
"Because," I replied, " if I don't do it the entrance
would be facin;,'- the same way it did before, and thousands
of the bees, as they come in from the fields, would enter the
old hive. But I don't want them there, but in the hive the
swarm is in.
" But we must now hasten to get the new hive in order
and put it in position where the old one stood. We can
never know how long a swarm will stay where they settle.
You see, this is not the usual time of day for bees to swarm.
A swarm that will do one thing out of the usual order can't
be trusted not to do something else that is unusual.
" Now," I said, when the new hive had been placed,
" we will take a look inside and see that everything is in
working order. This hive has eight frames in it, you see,
every alternate one filled with three-quarter sheets of
comb foundation. The others are empty, because, when
the swarm is very large, like the one we are now dealing
with, it completely fills the hive. In a short time it be-
comes so hot inside that, when there are sheets of founda-
tion in each frame, some, and often all of them, get so soft
that they collapse to the bottom of the hive. But when
only half of the frames are filled with foundation sheets
the bees have more room and more air, and the accident
mentioned doesn't happen. But now we will get that
swarm."
The swarm was secured by standing upon a box, taking
a firm hold of the small limb at the end of which most of
the bees were clustered, getting hold with my left hand just
back of the cluster, and then cutting the limb off carefully
with a large and very sharp pocket-knife. Great care had
to be taken, of course, not to jar the limb in the act of cut-
ting, and thus dislodge the cluster.
"Now," I said to Mr. Bond, as I was yet standing upon
the box with the limb in my hand, " as you are taking prac-
tical lessons in bee-keeping, suppose you take hold as near
my hand as you can and carry these bees over to the hive.
You needn't be afraid if they crawl on your hand, they'll
not sting you."
Mr. i5ond did as requested, a little timidly, to be sure,
but successfully. "Now just lay the limb down carefully
in front of the hive, and as close as possible to the en-
trance, and then watch them run in,'' I said.
"And is that all there is to it ?" askt Mr. Bond, look-
ing surprised, and, I thought, a little disappointed.
" By that you mean, I suppose, that tliere is much more
to it when you hive a swarm of bees," I replied. "Well, I
have a much more simple and easy way than even this.
But I will tell you about it some other time.
" There is an important secret, however, about this
swarming business that you ought to know before you hive
any more swarms in the way you learned of your father. I
think if you examine all the hives standing around under
trees and hedge fences on your farm you will discover that
some of them are empty, and I can explain why :
" When a swarm of bees issues from a hive, and the
queen has selected a place, or location, foi it to cluster, a
lot of bees which we call a ' scouting party,' composed of a
hundred or more, immediately leave the cluster to find a
new home. This advance party usually goes to the nearest
piece of timber-land where they look for, and usually find,
a suitable cavity in a tree, which they examine and proceed
to clean out, if found large enough. This is known as a
fact, because bee-hunters have been misled by such pro-
ceedings into believing that a bee-tree had been found.
" One such case occurred in the bee-hunting experience
of a brother of mine. On looking up into a tree for signs
of bees, he saw a large number flying in and out at a hole
in the trunk, as tho busily at work in the usual manner of
a colony. He then set to work to mark the tree as his prop-
erty— or the bees, rather — by cutting the initials of his
name and the date of the discovery in the bark of the tree.
While thus engaged he suddenly heard a great noise of
humming, as of a swarm of bees above him, and looking
up he saw a large swarm in the act of entering the hollow
in the tree.
" This, and like observations by experienced bee-men,
has led to the theory of the ' scouting party,' and also to
the belief that when these pioneers have the selected home
about ready for occupation thej' either return to the swarm
in a body, or else a detachment onlj- goes back, to escort
the swarm to the new home. This is doubtless the reason
why a clustered swarm will sometimes very suddenly depart
for the woods while the bee-keeper is actually engaged in
hiving it. And, sometimes, such a swarm will leave a
beautiful and well-furnisht hive soon after being put there.
" O, I know this very much resembles a ' fish-story, ' "
I said, noticing a skeptical smile on Mr. Bond's face.
"But I can give you substantiating facts from my own
experience :
" One day last year a neighbor a few blocks away sent
word that a swarm of bees had settled on the limb of a
peach-tree standing near his woodshed in the back yard,
and that if I wanted it I should come and get it. Taking
;ny swarm-box, specially made for such occasions to secure
and carry the bees home in, I went over to my neighbor's
vard. The swarm was a large one, and hung over the
wood-shed roof within easy reach. I took my box and
limbed upon the roof, and, holding the open end of the box
lirectly under the cluster, I was just in the act of reaching
p to give the limb a shake when I heard, directly above
my head, a loud buzzing noise as of a small swarm of bees.
262
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 25, 1901.
I was for the moment greatly puzzled^ for the clustering
bees had, up to this time, been very quiet, and none had
taken wing. I was sure ; but, looking upward, I saw flying
about the top of the tree in an excited manner, what lookt
like a small swarm of bees.
" Well, sir, in much less time than it takes to tell it,
that swarm of clustering bees detacht themselves from the
limb and were ofif, going like a cyclone toward the woods
down your way."
(To be continued.}
Criticisms and Suggestions about tiie Score-Card.
BY FRIBDEMANN GREINEK.
I HAVE had some anxiety in regard to what the score-
card committee would hatch out, and I am pleased now
to find the work of our worthy committee in the shape of
the proposed score-card in all its details publisht on page
166. I suppose the committee was aware how impossible it
is to suit the notions of every one, and probably expected
their work to be criticised. If I point out some features
wherein a change might be an improvement I do so with
due respect to the gentlemen of the committee.
On the " General display " I find nothing whatever to
change. It is all right.
In the " Single-case " entry, it seems tome too much
importance is attacht to "attractiveness," giving it SO
points. This would be all right in the " General display,"
but in the '■ Single-case" entry it seems "attractiveness"
might at least be placed on an equal footing with "qual-
ity " and " quantity," if not placed below them in import-
ance. A display we expect to be as attractive as possible,
but in a single-case exhibition the superiority of the honey
itself should be the governing feature.
The "Bee-entry" paragraph needs, according to my
ideas, the greatest modification of any. The committee
has overlookt the fact that a colony of bees can not be con-
sidered complete, in particular for exhibition, without it
contains not only queen and workers, but also drones.
The latter have, however, not received any consideration at
all. The reason for this is not apparent. The drone is the
largest, makes the most noise. He is not very modest, by
any means, and is very often around when he is not wanted
at all. I wonder the committee could overlook him. Can it
be possible the committee gives him the slip purposely ? Is
not the drone of sufficient importance to deserve consider-
ation ? If two nuclei were otherwise perfectly equal, but
one of them should contain a few drones I should certainly
award the first prize to that one. If both should contain
drones, but those of the one were larger, and showed better
markings, then that one would be preferred by me.
" Color " and " markings " might be taken as referring
to all the bee-individuals, as queen, workers and drones,
but it would be generally understood as meaning just the
working bees, therefore I believe the drone should be espe-
cially mentioned, and would favor the score-card about as
follows :
Color and markings of workers and drones i")
Size of workers and drones 20
Queen, presence and markings -.iO
Drones, presence . . .' 10
Brood, including drone-brood 10
Quietness of bees .5
Style of comb .5
Style of hive 5
OF BEES IN
OBSERVATION
HIVE.
In regard to beeswax there is some uncertainty- as to
color. It is not fully settled what the color of the wax
should be, and it is left to the one acting as judge whether
he would give preference to yellow wax or white. As the
bees manufacture it, its color ma3- be said to be white ; as
we manufacture it, it is yellow — lemon-yellow at its best ; I
would be in favor of yellow as the standard color.
Wax should also have a peculiar aromatic odor. Aroma
should be taken into account when judging, and so should
have a place on the score-card. I would reduce "color"
and " purity " — each given 30 points on the card — by five
each, and place the gained 10 to the credit of "aroma."
True, a judge may act upon his own ideas, but it seems to
me it would be advisable to take this point in.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
Are Bees Necessary to tlie Complete Fertilization
of the Bloom of Fruit-Trees ?
BV THADDEUS SMITH.
THE part that bees play in pollenizing fruit-bloom is a
subject that has been discust at various times in the
past, and is still made a prominent theme in some bee-
papers, and in some of the discussions of bee-keepers'
conventions. Claims are made by them that bees are neces-
sary in order to insure a full crop of fruit, but such claims
are not substantiated by facts or any positive evidence to
sustain them. Bees visit fruit-tree bloom for honey and
pollen, and in so doing go from one flower to another and
are supposed by some thus to disseminate the pollen that
fertilizes the flower. It is a very pretty theory. Bees and
flowers ! Sounds somewhat poetical, you know. But it
lacks the facts to sustain it. It has been asserted so often
that many persons have taken it for granted that it is true
without investigation, and the cry has been taken up and
repeated by writers who know nothing practically about it.
But some of our experiment stations and professors of a
more investigating mind feel the necessity of having some
positive proof of these often repeated assertions, and are
making experiments to see if they can find that proof. A
report of some of these experiments was recently made by
Prof. Lowe to a New York convention of bee-keepers, and
an account was given of them in an editorial in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture. Further on I wish to refer to these experi-
ments more in detail.
There has been some contention between fruit-growers
and bee-keepers that has produced an ill-feeling between
them, the fruit-growers contending that bees destroy grapes
and other fruit by biting holes, and sucking out the juice,
leaving the fruit to rot ; while bee-keepers claimed that
fruit-growers spray their fruit-trees unnecessarily while
they are in bloom, thus poisoning their bees. These
charges and countercharges have produced a bad feeling
between the two classes in some sections, when in reality
there is no conflicting interest. The fruit-growers are cer-
tainly of benefit to bee-keepers because they increase the
area of bee-pasture that supplies the bees with more honey
and pollen. Bee-keepers, with less show of reason, are
now trying to convince the fruit-men that bees are of great
benefit to them, by claiming that a full crop of fruit can
not be had without the aid of bees to pollenize the bloom.
I have been both a bee-keeper and a fruit-grower for
over 40 years, and have been an enthusiast in both occupa-
tions, and have given these matters of contention between
the two classes a thoro and impartial investigation, and
arrived at conclusions that I believe are just to both parties.
Some IS or 20 years before the case of Utter vs. Utter
was brought for trial in court, I had settled the matter of
bees destroying grapes, in ray own mind — completely
exonerating the bees. I had 30 acres of grapes, and over
40 colonies of bees, and the time came that I found the bees
working upon the Delaware and other early grapes in great
numbers, and appaienlly destroying hundreds of pounds.
I was greatly perplext and disliked to give up my bees, but
if they were the real culprits I would be compelled to give
them up. I did not act hastily in the matter, but set about
thoroly to investigate the subject, and after two or three
years I had solved the mystery. I discovered that birds —
one bird in particular, the beautiful Baltimore oriole — first
punctured the grapes, and the bees gathered only the wast-
ing juices ; and further experiments convinced me that
bees never attack perfectly sound grapes or other fruit. I
also find myself on the side of the bees in the case of
spraying fruit-trees while in bloom. I think it is unneces-
sary to spray while in bloom ; and not only that, but it is
an injury to the bloom to do so.
But when it comes to the claims of ray bee-keeping
friends, that no complete pollenizing of fruit-bloom can
take place without the intervention of bees, and conse-
quently a full crop of fruit can not be had without bees, I
must respectfully difl'er from them, because I see, year after
year, both large and fine crops of fruit, of many varieties,
raised without the intervention of bees, in fact where bees
are entirely excluded from the bloom by natural causes. It
would be unreasonable in me to doubt my own senses of
sight and taste to believe that there was anything in such
claims of bee-keepers. From my view the claim looks
absurd, and I take the position that bees are not neces-
sary to the complete pollenizing of any kind of fruit-
bloom, and I think I can prove it. Now "to the law and
the testimony," or rather to Xh^ facts that ought to con-
vince any unprejudiced mind.
But first I wish to notice the experiments made by Prof
April 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
263
Lowe and heretofore alluded to. These were made by
enveloping^ trees and parts of trees in a hood made of
sheeting in order to exclude bees and all other insects
while the trees were in bloom. The trees so sheeted were
found to set much less fruit than those left in their natural
condition. It would have been very unreasonable to have
expected any other result from this experiment. The trees
so treated were placed in a very unnatural condition. The
free circulation of the air was excluded. The vivifying-
rays of the sun, so necessary to the growth and develop-
ment of the average plant life, was excluded, and light, tho
not entirely excluded, was greatly obscured, all of which
Nature provides most bountifully for the perfect normal
development of fruit. The unnatural heat in that hood
when the sun was shining upon it, without the circulation
of air inside, may alone have been sufficient to have
destroyed the delicate germ of reproduction, or prevented
the grains of pollen from ripening sufficiently to perform
its functions. The sun shining upon the outside of this
hood, with no air in circulation within it, would produce an
unnatural heat inside, enough to injure the undevelopt
pollen and pistils ; and these conditions would render the
experiment abortive. In keeping the bees and other insects
out, the wind was also kept out, and this is the main cause
of the unreliability of this experiment. No one will deny
that the wind plays a most important part in pollenizing
flowers not only of fruit-treesr, but of all the vegetable
kingdom, many of which are never visited by insects of
any kind. The wind loosens the pollen from the stamens
and sets it in motion, and the invisible particles are wafted
hither and thither by every breeze that blows, bringing
some of these particles in contact with the pistils of the
flowers, and in some wonderfully inscrutable way causing
them to produce fruit and propagate the species. The wind
is Nature's agent to disseminate pollen, and every experi-
ment that excludes it is unreliable.
The All-wise God who made all things and provided for
their continuance on earth, and said that there should be
seed-time and harvest as long as the world stands, did not
leave the fulfillment of this promise to depend upon the
uncertainty of bees and other insects, but chose a more uni-
versal and surer medium to perform the important work of
keeping up the vegetable kingdom — of producing fruit.
In some countries there are no bees, as in North
America before the white men came, and there are now
places in this country where there are no bees, and in many
of these places the circumstances and surroundings are
such that other insects can not do this work. It is to some
of these places where there are no bees, to which I wish to
call attention, and give some fads that well sustain my
position.
I live on an island in Lake Erie, and near by me are
several smaller islands upon which no bees are kept, and
they being from six to ten miles by water from any place
where there are bees, no bees ever visit them. These
islands are all noted for their production of fruit. Middle
Bass Island is just across the international boundary line
between Canada and the United States, and is one of the
largest of these islands where there are no bees, and the
whole island is devoted to successful fruit-culture. Upon
this island lives a friend, Mr. George M. High, one of the
most successful fruit-growers in the State of Ohio, who
excels both in quantity and quality of his fruit; growing
sucessfully nearly every variety of fruit that can be grown
in this latitude. Several years ago I askt Mr. High to join
me in investigations by inaking daily observations when
his trees were in bloom, to see if they were visited by
h«ney-bees and other insects, and to what extent by other
insects. This he readily consented to do, becoming much
interested in the matter himself. His reports were that he
had never seen a honey-bee in his orchard, saw a few
bumble-bees but they were not enough to visit one fruit-
bloom in ten thousand; also saw a few small "other
insects" on the bloom.
These observations have continued for several years
with the same result. I visit Mr. High about twice a year
— when fruit-trees are in bloom and when the fruit is ripe —
and I know what he and his neighbors are doing in the
fruit-line. Their trees set fruit so abundantly that peaches
and plums have always to be thinned out, and they hive
surer annual crops than any other place that I know of ;//
without bees; and these facts ought to convince the ni.st
skeptical, and those who are most anxiously interested, to
establish the contrary that bees are not necessary to pollen-
ize the bloom of fruit-trees.
I am aware that I may be confronted with the asser-
tion, or argument, if you choose so to call it, that other
insects were or might have been the means of pollenizing
these island fruit-trees so perfectly. For argument's sake
I grant this, and let us see what it proves. If anything it
proves that bees are unnecessary, as other insects can
insure good crops of fruit withdVit bees. So the advocates
of the importance of bees do not get much comfort from
that. But I deny that other insects did it, and I propose to
prove it.
The first witness that I shall introduce is Mr. O. L.
Hershiser, one of the witnesses who gave his evidence at
the convention of the New York State Association of
Bee-Keepers on the side of those who were trying to prove
that bees were necessary to pollenization, etc. I quote
from the proceedings of that New York convention as
reported in an editorial in Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
" When the professor [Lowe] was askt how much of this pollina-
tion was attributable to bees, aud how much to other insects, he said
he could not tell; but Mr. O. L Hershiser in referring to a similar set
of experiments made some 5'ears ago at the Michigan Agricultural Col-
lege showing the same results, said the bees were altogether the earli-
est insects out ; that at the time the average fruit-tree is in bloom it is
too early in the spring tor other insects to be of any value. In his
opinion the covering of the limbs or the covering of the whole tree,
as explained by Prof. Lowe, showed clearly that the bees, and they
alone, did the mixing of the pollen."
Notice Mr. H's evidence as to the fact that " ?7 z.s too
early in the spring for other insects to be of any value ;" and
this corresponds exactly with Mr. High's observation on
Middle Bass Island, and with my own, made repeatedly,
here on Pelee Island. When these three witnesses agree so
well in their evidence, that " there are not insects enough
out at the time of the blossoming of the average fruit-tree
to be of any value " in pollenizing, then it ought to be
sufficient to establish that fact beyond question, and put a
quietus to the " other insect " theory.
As to Mr. H's "opinion," or his conclusion from Mr.
Lowe's experiments that " the bees, and they alone, did the
mixing of the pollen,'^ I am willing to leave it for what it
is worth, as from the facts already given it can not be
worth much. He reminds me of some other evidence and
conclusions that I once saw in print on this subject. This
writer said that he knew the bees were of great benefit to
fruit-growers because he had some pear-trees near his
apiary, and the sides of the trees next to his bees bore a
good crop of fruit while the opposite side bore scarcely any.
Comment is unnecessary.
There are a number of other points on this subject that
I would like to notice, but fear that I am already too long.
But I will say, if there are experimenters and professors
who really desire to give this matter an impartial investiga-
tion, I should be pleased to have them come here and I will
take pleasure in doing all I can to aid them.
Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada.
Qiueens Only One Year Old for Comb Honey.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A CORRESPONDENT writes as follows : I have decided that every
colony that is iatended to be run for comb honey duriofj 1*^02 must
contain a queen of this year's reanni^. I desire good queens, that
my stock may not deteriorate. In view of the foregoing, what plan
can I follow id order to produce the best results for a series of years?
Please tell me thru the columns of the American Bee Journal."
In answering this, I must say I can not conceive what
line of argument could have been used to bring the ques-
tioner to a decision that he would not allow a queen over a
year old in his apiary, which was to be run for comb honey,
and can not help thinking that when his experience accumu-
lates, he will find that his decision is not well-founded ; for
queens which are in their second year do fully as good work
as younger ones, where the colony is workt for comb honey,
and often are equally, good the third and fourth year.
Those who have read the Canadian Bee Journal for Febru-
ary, 1901, and treasured up what is found there about
queens, will have " a feast of good things " to revel in for
some time to come, along this matter of queen-rearing.
There, Mr. J. B. Hall, than whom the world can not boast
of a greater apiarist or more practical comb-honey pro-
ducer, has things to say about prolific queens which it
would be well for all those to heed who have considered
that prolificness in queens was the «^^/a,s ultra. Among
other things he said was this :
" I want longevity in my bees; I want that first and
foremost; that is why I don't want to replace my queens
every year, because if I do I must kill them, and I don't
know what to kill. If I keep them three or four years and
they have done good work for four years, wintered well
264
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 25, 1901.
given me comb honej- and in good shape, that is the kind
of queens that I want to rear others from." And in read-
ing that, from the foremost practical comb-honey producer
of the world, I said right out \oud, " Amen." Working
along that line means a constant improvement in our bees,
while resolving that each colony must have a new queen
every year, has not a single element of improvement in the
whole "shooting match." Besides the above I find, as a
rule, that the bees will supersede their own queens as soon
as they begin to fail to any appreciable extent ; and when
the bees undertake this work it is done much more satisfac-
torily, all things considered, than it is when the apiarist
attempts to say, " This shall be," or " This shall not be."
But if our correspondent thinks he must have his own
way, then there probably is no better plan than to follow
what is given in " Scientific Queen-Rearing," or that given
by W. H. Pridgen, during 1900, in the bee-papers. If you
think this too much bother, or consider it "fussy," as some
claim, then you can rear pretty good queens in this way :
Kill the old queen and let each culonv rear one from
her brood. In five days from the time you killed the old
queen, open the hive and look for quee'n-cells. In doing
this it is well to shake the bees off the combs so that the
cells can easily be discovered. If they are found capt at
this time they should be destroyed, as they will contain
larvs that are too old to make good queens. Bees do not
cap over a cell containing a good queen-larva, as a rule, in
less than six days from the time the mother queen is
removed. The reason for this lies in the fact that bees
rarely miss their queen to a sufficient extent to start cells
in less than from two to two and one-half days after her
removal ; and if you find cells sealed over on the fifth day
after the removal of the old (or mother) queen, you may
know that the larva in said capt cell must have been three
to three and a half days old when the bees undertook to
change it to a queen. All queen-rearers agree that larva?
two days old and under give the best queens, and that a
larva older than three days should never be used under any
circumstances, if we would have queens which can to any
extent be called good. Of course, the colony is to be well
fed, if no honey is coming in from the fields, until the sixth
day, or till all cells are capt over.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. MILLER, Marengo, m.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Getting Increase-Kind of Bees.
1. What is the best way to increase rapidly the number
of colonies for a beginner? I have six strong and one
weak colony that I shall have to feed. I am giving partly
filled sections to this one now. I would like to increase to
60, but do not count on getting any surplus honey to sell.
This is a fair location for honey. I had one strong colony
that put 66 pounds of honey in sections : the other one did
not do much but swarm : I got S natural swarms from it.
The 4 will winter well. The honey sources are willow, elm,
soft maple, sugar maple, basswood, red and black raspber-
ries in abundance, gooseberry, plum, apple, peach, cherry,
and a few pears. The fall bloom is where we get most of
our surplus, such as buckwheat, goldenrod, and fireweed.
You see I have a steady flow most of the summer, which is
necessary for you to know in order to give your opinion.
I do not know what my bees are. I will Italianize the
whole in a little while, or as soon as they begin flying well.
I bought 3 queens last September, and made a success of
all, so I have only 4 more to make all of an improved strain,
which I think will be the best way to start.
2. Which strain is the better for extracted honey, the 5
or 3 banded ?
3. Could you tell me what breed mine are ? They have
5 bands, are larger than Italians, and longer, are ugly, and
rush about the hive as soon as opened, and sting anything
that comes along quickly, and will only retreat before a
cloud of smoke. In handling supers it keeps one using the
smoker to do anything with them. They are good workers,
and if they were gentle I would not change.
MlCHIG.\N.
Answers. — 1. If you do anything in the way of rapid
increase, the first thing is to get a text-book and become
familiar with general principles and with the different ways
of increase therein. My advice to a beginner desirous of
increasing from 7 to 60 would be — don't. You might with-
out such a great deal of trouble get 60 started, and then you
might with less trouble have all dead before Christmas.
The wiser plan will be not to set any such limit, but to
work on safe ground and increase just what you can safely,
whether it be to 16 or 60. Take the nucleus plan, and hav-
ing used one or two colonies to start nuclei, draw from the
others to build them up, but do not allow yourself in any
case to draw from a colony so as to reduce it to less than
four frames of brood. Then you can start others, and as
fast as a nucleus becomes strong enough it can do its part
toward helping, only keep in mind all the time that in draw-
ing you must not reduce to less than four frames of brood.
In this way you will not be caught with a lot of weaklings,
but can close up any time when the weather threatens to
close up. Of course, with such a long season as you seem
to have you may be able to reach the goal you have set, but
don't count on going beyond just what you can safely do.
2. Some colonies of one kind are best, and again some
of the other.
3. Very likely they are Italians, and very likely if you
compare carefully with other bees of the same age, you will
find them of the same size as other Italians. Some of the
5-banded Italians are reported as cross, and others as gentle.
aueen Flying in March.
March 24th my bees had a fine flight, it being the first
warm day since the holidays. While watching them just at
noon I saw a queen come out and fly away, but return in
IS or 20 minutes. This was repeated three or four times
while I was watching them. The colony is strong in bees,
and was working nicely carrying in pollen. Now, was that
a young queen trying to mate? If so, why did the bees
supersede the old queen so early when there are no drones ?
If the colony became queenless in the winter where did they
get the egg to rear the queen ? It has been so cold since
that I can't look thru the hive. It has been too cold for bees
to fly ever since. I have been keeping bees since the spring
of 1881, but this is something new to me. Indian.\.
Answer. — It may be that the young queen was reared
last fall late and failed to mate, and she may yet be all
right. At any rate such cases have been reported in which
the queens turned out well.
Alfalfa Not Recommended for South Carolina.
I have about 20 colonies of bees at home, and on another
farm 3 miles away 30. I wish to try, on a small scale, the
best clover for hay and also for bees. A friend of mine
tells me that while he was in the distant West he noticed
bees doing well on alfalfa, and says its hay qualit3' sur-
passes all he knows of. But, of course, he knows nothing
as to its being adapted to our climate. Will alfalfa do well
here ? Is it used to any extent by bees ? How much per
acre, and at what season can I with reasonable certainty
sow the seed ? Will the alfalfa grow wild ? I think I have
heard that bees may not look for help from alfalfa for tWo
or three years after sowing. South Carolina.
Answer. — As far east as Illinois alfalfa will grow, but
seems to be of no value for bees, altho in the States farther
west it is one of the best honey-plants. It is not likely that
it would be of any value in South Carolina. Sweet clover,
alsike, and crimson clover, are the things for you to try.
When and How to Form Nuclei.
1. I have studied three bee-papers all the winter, besides
several bee-books, but so many plans only confuse me.
What time (please give month) and how shall I form nuclei
for increase, so as not to interfere with some surplus honey ?
2. Will taking two frames of brood and bees before time
for white clover weaken the colony so they will not store
any honey ?
I opened a hive the other day, and very much to my
April 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
265
surprise discovered a dipt queen. How she came there I
do not know, but I think she is the premium queen I had of
Dr. Miller last year, which I thought the bees killed while
robbing-. I put the empty combs (as I thought) in this liive,
and must have taken the queen without knowing it. Any-
how, she has a nice lot of Italian bees. Subscribkk.
Answers. — 1. In formingnuclei, don't goby the montli,
but by the posies and the strength of colonies, altho June
will probably be the month. When the first white clover
blossom is seen, it will be early enough, altho you might
commence a little sooner if colonies are very strong, and in
any case not till they are strong. One way to form a
nucleus is to take three frames of brood with adhering bees
and pen them in a hive bee-tight, plugging up the entrance
by cramming into it green leaves. Not sooner than the
next day at noon open the entrance, and they will be likely
to stay. It is easier to get queenless bees to stay in a new
place. Try this : Take the colony that has your best
queen, and if it is not strong make it strong by giving it
frames of brood a week before you operate upon it. Then
take from it two frames of brood with adhering bees and
the queen, and put them in a hive on a new stand. Not less
than seven and not more than nine days later, form your
nuclei by giving each three frames of brood with bees, put-
ting one of the nuclei where the nucleus with the queen has
been for the past week, and putting the hive with the queen
back on the old stand. See that each nucleus has two or
more good queen-cells near the center, so there will be no
danger of chilling.
2. No : from a strong colony you might take more than
that and still get a fair crop. But taking before white
clover is much more expensive than taking later. In a
good season it would hurt less to take two frames every 10
days if you wait till they are storing well on clover.
Feeding Sorgliutn Molasses.
What would you say about feeding bees sorghum molas-
ses (that is, molasses made from cane)? Do you think it is
injurious to the bees ?
I am keeping bees for another man, on shares. I just
began last fall, but I have kept from one to five colonies of
my own for five years. Last year was a total failure here,
no clover at all, but the prospects are good for this year.
Clover is coming on in fine shape. Bees are flying nearly
every day, and are working on elm. I don't know what
they get. Missouri.
Answer. — It would not do to feed sorghum molasses
for winter food, but when bees are flying daily in the spring
they may be fed sorghum or anything else they will take
that is not actually poisonous.
Inverting to Destroy Queen-Cells.
I have nearly decided to adopt the Heddon hive in my
future plans for increase in the apiary, and I have seen it
stated by Mr. Heddon that a sure way of destroying queen-
cells in that hive is simply to invert the section and the
bees will destroy all queen-cells. Can you tell me if it is a
fact ? Have you ever given the Heddon hive a trial ? As
hunting for queen-cells forms no inconsiderable part of a
day's work in the apiary, a plan that will destroy those we
do not want as easily as reported, is very desirable, if true.
And as it is scarcely practicable with the suspended frame.
I am ready to adopt an invertiblehive, if it will do the busi-
ness. "Rip Van Winkle."
Answer. — A few years ago it was thought by some
that inverting queen-cells would lead to their destruction by
the bees, but after further trial the plan has been found to
be altogether unreliable. I have never tried the Heddon
hive.
Swarming.
1. When a prime swarm issues does the queen always
come out about the last of all. and first when an after-swarm
issues ?
2. In swarming-time, when a colony seems to be about
ready to swarm, how would it work to place a cage in front
of the hive with a bee-escape from hive to cage, and another
from the cage to another hive standing at one side with I
full sheets of foundation ? And about the second day put I
a queen in the new hive, and leave them arranged in that I
way for several days ? Would I succeed in running most of
the workers from the old hive into the new ? If so, would
they accept the new queen and go to work all right ? Would
the queen and bees left in the old hive give up the idea of
swarming ? Iowa.
Answers. — 1. No fixt rule about it. The queen may be
among the first or among the last in either case ; but she
is more likely to be among the last in a prime swarm and
among the first in an after-swarm. But as to the after-
swarm I have had very little chance for observation, and
am ready to be corrected.
2. Sorry to say I don't believe it would work at all ; but
having never tried it I may be mistaken. My guess would
be that it would fail in each particular.
Beet-Sugar Factory's Effect on Bees.
I attended a beet-sugar meeting the other night, and in
discussing the matter a man from Rockyford said that bee-
keepers would have to move their bees a mile or so from
the factory, as acids and chemicals were used there that
would kill the bees. It was not a bee-meeting, so I could
not discuss this subject, but I would like to have you tell
us thru the columns of the American Bee Journal whether
or not this is true. It is a matter of great importance to
bee-keepers out West. Colorado.
Answer. — I don't know whether a beet-sugar factory is
a bad thing for bees or not. Some subscribers must be
living within a mile of one of these factories; will they
please tell us ?
% The Afterthought. * \
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
EXTRACTING HONEY.
Yes, sir-ee. Mr. Aikin, propolis will go to the bottom
where it can't do anything else than burn on. Burrs and all
sorts of scrapings with propolis in should go thru the solar
extractor the first thing. Then, as after transactions, re-
melt the wax, if necessary, and re-treat the waste cake.
And — another yes, sir-ee — the stubbornness with which cold
comb honey refuses to take heat is quite incomprehensible
to the beginner in bee-practice. Sometimes when in a
hurry one can run the combs thru the extractor and throw
out part of the honey, then hang them up in a warm atmos-
phere an hour or two, then run them thru again. But don't
hang the combs very close together, even if three-fourths
empty. The idea of a large gravitating tank with chance
to heat it underneath is an important idea. Two such
tanks, so one could be undisturbed while the other was
being filled, would seem to be the ideal arrangement. And
the whole article on page 167 is one of the very best Mr.
Aikin has given us.
QUEUING robber-bees WITH GUNPOWDER.
" And sometimes civilization does git forrard
Upon a powder cart."
We know that ; but most of us never thought of civiliz-
ing robber-bees with gunpowder. No doubt it would "hist
'em " if the charge was big enough. And any very offen-
sive smell may discourage them if they are only fussing
around and not getting much. Some brother who has a
too-well-worn hat, present it to Peacemaker as a premium
for his contribution. Page 175.
THAT GENEROUS DOG AND BEE-STINGS.
That was an all-right and head-level sort of dog, on
page 175, that wanted to share with his young master the
bliss of communion with bumble-bees. Masters like the
aforesaid should not object to tasting of dishes which they
have cookt.
DOLI.AR-A-POUND HONEV — EXCLUDING BEES.
Honey at a dollar a pound is rather dear. But health
and fun at a dollar a pound — well, most of us would fain
purchase a little occasionally. So let Mr. Metcalf go on
hunting his doUar-a-pound wild honey. Page 180.
So Chicago can get along nicely without a bee-exclusion
266
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
April 25, 1901.
act. But ever and anon some little village (nothing else on
its comos-embracing mind) finds it necessary to put them
out. Page 179.
DRONES AND WORKERS.
I hardly think Mr. C. P. Dadant needs to cavil about a
drone eating as much as two workers. Sorry I haven't the
exact weight of drones at hand— but all similar objects are
to each other as their cubes. So for workers it should be
5x5x5=125 : and for drones 4x4x4^64. As the drone's shape
is somewhat blunter, it should take somewhat more than
125 workers to equal 64 drones in bulk. Why not expect
them to eat accordingly ? Again, the drone probably eats
all he can, while the workers never do except in rushing
times. If Mr. D. is right, that the drone's bulk is only a
half more than the worker's, then much of the above falls
to the ground.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Frof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
SUNSHINE IN THE HOME.
How few of us understaiul what sunshine has done for
the world.- Except for the blessed beams which come with
their warmth of light, we could have no vegetable growth.
-The plants need the sunlight to change the carbon dioxide
which they inhale from the air, and the water which comes up
to them from the roots into the starch, sugar and oils which
are to nourish them and to feed their tissues. Indeed, we owe
to the sunshine the great coal-beds which make us so rich as a
nation, and which, of themselves, contribute so largely to the
comfort of so many of our home circles.
Sunshine in the home is as great a factor in supplying its
best fruits as it is in the world about us in building up the
great plant portion of the earth. Some years since, a man by
the name of Alexis St. Martin, received a gunshot wound
over the upper part of his abdomen. The healing was imper-
fect and left a flap which opened into the stomach. Thus,
there was formed a sort of a door so that any observer could
not only look into the stomach and see its condition but could
also reach in and withdraw the injesta so as to note any time
just the condition of digestion. Some very interesting facts
were observed. St. Martin was taken around to various of
the medical colleges that the students might have the benefit
of direct observation regarding digestion. .Students are not
always considerate and thus St. Martin was often vest by
them. At times he became very irritable and peevish. With
age he became so susceptible to outward impressions that it
was very easy to affect his temper. He could readily be made
■either angry or happy at the will of those who held him in
charge. It was found that it he was seriously irritated,
immediately after eating a full meal, that the stomach
remained pallid, showing that the circulation was held in
abeyance, the gastric juice or digestive fluid failed to appear
in the stomach, and thus there was an almost total failure of
the food to digest. On the other hand, if he was in merry
mood, the stomach flusht up as the blood courst thru the cap-
illary circulation, the digestive juices were poured out gener-
ously, and the food was soon liquefied, absorbed into the blood,
and hastened on to the tissues to help on the work of assimi-
lation.
Here, then, we had a very graphic illustration of what
many of us have proved in our own experience. How often
has the letter bearing sad tidings, or the evil news told to us
just after meal-taking, seemed to stop entirely the wheels of
digestion. Often sudden grief of this kind has so checkt the
machinery of digestion as to give a fatal shock to the system.
It is now a well-known physiological fact that any thing
which disturbs the mind is a serious break upon all the bodily
functions. With mental depression, the heart beats more
slowly, the lungs fill less frequently, all the secretions are
poured out with languor, and the whole body seems to call a
halt. It is no wonder, then, that so important a part of our
functional activities as that of digestion should be one of the
most ready respondents to this evil effect of bad news.
We see, then, how important it is, if we would maintain
■ealth, that we should bring great floods of sunshine into the
home, and should keep from it everything that incites worry
or brings displeasure.
It is specially desirable that this matter of sunshine
should never be lost sight of at meal-time. Anything that
makes the table look more beautiful, as the neat and orderly
arrangement of dishes and viands, or the vase of flowers,
contributes not only to good digestion but as surely to good
health and long life. We are often urged to eat slowly that
the victuals may be more thoroly masticated and digestion
hastened. This is certainly excellent advice. But the long
sitting at the table, and the happy disposition of each person
in the home to do all possible to make the — I wish I might say
hour of meal-taking, an hour so full of glee that it will
brighten all the other hours of the day, is doing more than
they know to keep dread disease from the household. Is it
Shakespeare who says, "pleasure physics pain," or some-
thing to that effect. I wish I could say something in these
talks on the home circle to brighten all the homes of the land,
for I would in so doing add not only greatly to the health and
vigor of all our readers, but would also do very much to make
the work of life much more effective.
There is another consideration in reference to this matter
which is well worth our thought. Discomfort in itself is very
apt to breed the sullen disposition and the irritable temper.
From what I have said above, these induce dyspepsia and ill-
health. These further build on to the discomfort, which adds
again to impede digestion, and thus we have a fearful com-
pound interest which will almost require a miracle to prevent
seriou.- disaster.
We often hear it said that worry hurts worse and kills
more than does work. This is certainly true, and is easily
explained from what has been said above. Surely, then, we
make no mistake when we do our utmost to flood the home
circle with brightest sunshine. The kind word, the thought-
ful act, and the loving sympathy, not only give a foretaste of
heaven in our homes, but they tend more than anything else
to fence off disease and sickness, and to carry youth into old
age. If we could do anything to secure such homes every-
where in our country, we would do that which would be
greater with promise for the future of our good land than
does even the wondrous prosperity which I referred to in my
last article. A country full of bright, sunny homes would
also be great in patriotism, and would ever be invincible
against any foe that might dare to cross its borders.
NURSING IN THE HOME.
I am also minded to say a few words regarding nursing.
One has only to be sick and in bed a few days to appreciate
the kind ministrations of the loving hands and hearts that do
so much to rob even sickness of its terrors, and so much to
drive the unwelcome visitor away. It is often said, and I am
sure with entire truth, that, of the two, the good nurse is of
more value than even the good doctor. We know of a cer-
tainty that medicine at the best is only a minor aid in the
work of recovering lost health. Very likely many times the
medicine does more harm than good. We can never say the
same of the good, thoughtful nurse. I have often thought
that were I a girl or young woman, and time would permit, I
should take the training necessary to make a first-class nurse
even tho 1 might never wish to make nursing a profession. It
is certainly well for every young woman to be fortified by hav-
ing some business which in case of need would make her inde-
pendent. There are a few things that woman is preeminently
qualified to do. She alone can make the beautiful home ; she
alone can attain highest excellence in teaching children ; she
alone can reach the highest attainment as the nurse. Like
the good musician, so, too, the good nurse, wherever her lot
may be cast, will never find her skill and ability begging
opportunities to make themselves felt and useful.
The first thing the good nurse will look to is such thought-
ful care and attention that the patient can not ha.ve even the
slightest worry over tlie closing of a window, the neatness of
the room, the taking of medicine, etc. Every need and
requirement will be foreseen and met with such promptness
that the patient will have no worry at all. Quiet in the room
and about the house, especially in a case where the nerves are
involved, will be insisted upon by the good nurse. Inquiring
friends will be courteously thankt for their thoughtfulness in
calling and the hope exprcst that the sick one will be able
very soon to see them. No pains will be spared to make the
sick one in the highest degree comfortable. Shaking up of
the pillows, frequent arrangement of the bed-clothes, and the
oft-repeated bathing of the face and hands, especially in the
case of fevers, will never be omitted. Perhaps the most
important thing of all, and we may say the hardest thing, f6r
the nurse is apt to become very tired and sleepy, is that she
April 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
267
LanQStiroilion...
TlieHoiieyBee
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug^ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
JfTK. ELECTRIC
HANDY WA60NS
^\l Ij^ excel ID qQ&Jlly.BtreDKttl.i
yiDktttlily . Catry 4UU0 lb*.
M. Wmxhe, .r„U„ prleeU ,
■^lfamh.t„o..h»n.
mi i'^Jrn
■VHPf Klrctrli- Htrrl ^
■Hh< — r |lfW*l,
■f^KSf \Vheel,^-B™igH M
H^ ^^fmJ
ELEOTKIC WIIEELCO., Bo'i
wa^on. CUloem FREE.
1« . Qulncj, lUl.
.^MANUFACTURER 0F>4.
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shippine-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shippidfT facilities in the world. You
will save raoaey by sendio^ fm our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island I'mver lildg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
should always look happy and cheerful.
The best medicine that the sick one can
receive is sreat allopathic doses of
encouragement. Indeed, the cheer that
the doctor's visit gives is usually more
potent than the medicine he leaves. We
see, then, tliat the nurse whose face is
ever full of sunshine, and whose very
mien and carriage brings courage and
hopefulness, will be one of the most
helpful agents in bringing back lost
health and vigor.
MEDICINES PARTICULARLY THE
PATENT KINDS.
Theieare a tew things that the sick
person can never afford to do. I refer
especially to the use of patent medicines.
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, so long a
favorite lecturer in the Harvard Medical
College, made very witty and wise sug-
gestions. One of his telling remarks
that I remember is as follows :
" It would be a splendid thing if all
the medicine in the world were thrown
into the sea, but it would be awful on
the fish."
1 presume he was wholly right. I
know he would have been it he had thi>
word '■ patent"' placed before medicine.
Perfection is not of this world. Yet as
we all know, patent medicines will cure
everything I This one thing ought to
condemn them. How utterly irrational
is the whole scheme of patent medicines.
We know that even the wisest and most
experienced physicians usually find it
difficult to diagnose diseases. We also
know that medicines given under the
best direction, as Dr. Holmes' witticism
suggests, are of doubtful use. Patent
medicines to be rational at all must cure
everything, which is surely impossible
and absurd. The newspaper advertise-
ments show plainly that patent medi-
cines are gulpt downby the car-load. Is
there anything that proves more surely
the gullibility and readiness of our
people to be hoa.xt and defrauded than
the wholesale consumption of these vile
compounds '? I hope all of our home
circles will see to it that all of these
quack remedies are forever banisht
from their households. If we must take
medicine — it is often wiser to touch none
of it — let us only use it at the suggestion
and under the direction of the best medi-
<'al advice we ran secure.
The American' Fruit and Vegetable
JoVRNAL, which we have beea offering in
connection with the American Bee .Journal,
has been sold to the Farm, Field and Fireside,
of Chicago, and v.ill be publisht in connec-
tion with the monthly edition of that excellent
farm journal. So those of our readers who
were getting the first-named paper will not
be losing anythin^r by the consolidation.
Sowing Cleoine Seed.— In reply to our
request last week about sowing cleome seed,
W. Cartwright. of Hardin Co., Iowa, says:
'• It will grow and mature in the fall or
spring. If I wanted to put it on cultivated
land I would S(jw in the spring and harrow it
in. It will resin i itself afterward. Don't .sow
it on wet land."
For Sale '-%°-'-
■ ^" *-'*^ " ^ hives, at $3.2:
My bees :
any disease
Shippil
16A2t
ES OF BEES
rame dovetailed
per colony,
there never having' been
hem. CHAS. seCKMAN.
LiNCOL.-j. Saltlllo, Nebr.
mention the Bee Journal.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, ^laniial of tbe Apiary,
BY
PROR A. J, COOIC
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unaec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book publisht to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipt, or his library
complete, without Thk Bee-Kkepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook*s
mag-nificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, weproposetoGiVK away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new. subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
JHERUMELYi
[TRACTION
N
IN
Shoald you be seeking the best thlnpr In trac-
tion, portable aad seml-pnrtable engines, we
have what you want They are Ideal for
threRblnp.drllllnewellH. cutttiiff and grind-
liigft'eed, rannlnicMOwnillli4,pumplnir water
— anything requiririj^ power. We have them
From 8 to 20 H. P.
[ They all excel as quK-k, ea.y .tean
quir
•treneth.
f of eJ.UW) lbs tensile streiifth steel plate. Fir<
urrounded with water. Make alsc
I Threoher., Ilor.e Power, and Sow Mill*
M. RUMELY CO., LA PORTE, IND.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing
Catnip Seed Free !
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to oft'er our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year- both for SI. 30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for. ?0 cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14<> Erie Street, ■ CHICAGO, ILL.
268
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April :
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES JI^JT^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY
Watertown. Wisconsin. U. S
^^m
\liAi:A^Gj^^jMm
Our low prices and our Ten Days Trial plan are "forever
in the way" of the local dealer. He doesn't like us — naturally
— because we let our customers take a vehicle and use it 10
days before deciding whether they will keep it or not,
and because we sell you better poods for l?ss money than he pos-
sibly can. There are two or three profits on the poods he sells —
the "dealer's, tiie jobber's, the manufacturer's. We make our own
poods and add but one small profit. In style, finish and material
you wont find the equal of our vehicles for the money anywhere.
Seud for bi^. fre.' (MialoKiie and particulars of our 10 days trial
pla
KALAMAZOO CARRIAGE AND HARNESS CO., Box 53, Kalamazoo, Mich
BINGHAM SMOKER.
Dear Sir;— Inclosed find $1.75.
Please send one brass smoke en-
gine. I have one already. It is
the best smoker I ever used.
Truly vours,
Henry Schmidt, Hutto, Te.v.
MADE TO ORDER.
Bingham Brass Smokers
Made of sheet brass, which does not rust or bnrn out;
should last a lifetime. You need one, but they cost 2."^ cts.
more than tin of the same size. The little open cut shows
our brass hing^e put on the 3 larger sizes. No wonder King-
ham's 4-inch smoke-eupine goes without puffing, and does
not drop inkv drops. The perforated steel fire-graie has
3S1 holes to air the fuel and support the fire.
Heavy tin smoke-engine, 4-inch stove, per mail, 11.50;
3^-iuch,$1.10; 3inch, Sl.OO; 2}^-inch, OOc; 2-inch, 6Sc. Bing-
ham smokers are the origin, lis, and have all the improve-
meats, and have been the standard of excellence for 22
years. Only 3 larger ones brass.
BiRNAMWOOn, Wis., April 10, 1<101.
Dear Sir:— Please send per mail one 3i^-iuch brass
smoker. A decade's experience has convinced me that the
Bingham is the best. Respectfully, M. P. Cady.
T. F. BINGHAM. Farwell, Mich.
We want ^
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog- ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. MutH & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sis., Cincinnati,0.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writing,
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a coosifrnment of the finest up-
o-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, nanager.
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3'i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeder
ther
75c
ch. No
bees owned nearer than 2M
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A2(jt Spring Hill, Tenn.
Flease mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
Wanted
Large apiaries in
Hasswood locali-
ties of WISCON-
H. W 1 UMv, Xorinal, 111.
Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
A trustworthy boy or
young man to assist
i n apiary work, t o
learn practical bee-Ueeping, and earn good
wages. 1"0 colonies of bees lor sale. C. Theil-
MANN, Theilmantuu, Wabasha Co., Minn.
1+Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
Wanted
Ularsbfield Maflnfactnring Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and tiiey are the best in tiie market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
A26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Bringing in Pollen— White Clover.
My bees are still packt as for winter, but I
think I shall unpack them soon. They were
bringing in pollen on Easter Sunday for the
first time in the new century. White clover
has come thru the winter in fine condition,
and I look for a good honey-year.
H. W. CONGDON.
llardin Co.. Iowa, April 10.
Cause of Bees Dying.
In the answer to West Virginia on page 201
Dr. Miller says, " It is painful to say I don't
know." I would like to suggest that variable
temperature combined with inferior stores
and the long confinement may have had some-
thing to do with the matter. The mercury
ranged from zero to 40 degrees above, several
times within one week during the past winter.
My bees spotted the hives and the tops of the
frames the worst I have ever known them ta
do in my 10 years of bee-keeping.
J. J. St.\lnaker.
Braxton Co., W. Va., April .5.
Loss 15 per Cent-Death of a War
Veteran.
My bees are not wintering in good condi-
tion. My loss will be about 15 percent, all
owing to the fact that I was not thoro in pre-
paring them for winter. We had sickness in
our home and the bees were not lookt after as-
well as they should have been. We laid my
lather away to rest on March 2.5th, after hav-
ing suffered for over a year with progressive
paralysis. He was a war veteran, belonging-
to Company B, Toth New York Volunteers.
Carson Van Blaricim.
Calhoun Co., Mich., March 30.
Wintered Well.
I took my bees (jut of the cellar yesterday
morning and they had a good flight. I put 41
colonies into the cellar last fall, and was lucky
enough to take 40 out yesterday, which beats
my record the two preceding years very
miich indeed. However. I have always lost
some in the spring after they were placed on
the summer stands, and I presume the present
season will be no exception to the rule.
Cook Co., 111., April 3. C. H. McNeil.
A Report from Canada.
I put 116 colonies into the cellar early last
November, and they are there yet. Sleighing-
is still fairly good, so I do not know when I
will be able" to put them out, nor what my
luck will be when I do. Three very light ones
that I had set to one side are in fine condition,
and will come thru in good shape, so I am
hopeful for the rest. A. Boomer.
Ontario, Canada, Ajiril h.
Wintered in the Cellar.
The bees are still in the cellar, and " roar-
ing " to get out. but the weather is unfit.
Cold and high winds, rain, sleet and snow al-
ternating, make it unsafe. They were put
into the cellar Nov. sth. Ten of the colonies
have been confined since that time, but the
rest (21) colonies) were given a flight in Febru-
ary. Up to March Tth none showed any signs
of dysentery. March 1.5th four of the 10 that
had not been taken out were spotting the hive-
entrances and crawling about it, and perhaps
a gallon and a halt of dead bees were on the
cellar-bottom. A week later all 10 of the hives
were spotted, and to-day about half of those
that were given a flight in February have their
hives spotted and the cellar-floor is covered
with dead bees, making fully a half bushel
from the 30 colonies since Nov. Sth. The tem-
April 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
269
Belgian Wmh
CHEAP.
PEDIGREED AND COMMON STOCK.
Having boufjhl a Job Lot of a neighbor add
added to what I had, I must dispose oi same to
make room for my increase. They are mostly
j-oung — 3 months and over — with a few bred
Does. ALSO
Italian Queens
of la«;t season^s rearing', ready as soon as the
Tveaiher is warm euoug"h to send thru the mall.
"Write for prices. Address,
J. L. STRONG,
iiAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
Establisht 1S8S. F.\ikview, Wilson Co., Tex
IiAtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
i Bee=Supplies |
fWe are distributors for ROOT'S 'i GODS #
. AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio, »
▲ Indiana, Illinois, West Virg-iaia, Ken- A
^ tucky, and the South. T
f MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS, f
X LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC. 7
A Lowest Freight Rates in the country, y
y Send for Catalog. *
fSuccessor to C. F. MfTH & Son, T
2146-48 Central Ave., CINCINNATI.O. 4
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States.]
M'ool IVlarkets and Slieep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the lime.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO. ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
ALBINO QUEENS ^Un" uSeeU^Jif-^
-want the g-entlest Bees -If >ou want the best
houev-g'atherers you ever saw— try mv Albinos.
Untested Queens in April. $1 ni;' Tested. $1.50.
iiA2t.t J, D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Dittmer's Foiiudatioii !
Retail— Wholesale Jobbing.
lose a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Ple.''=5«^ meutioii Bee Journal wlien V7ritiiig.
HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
BEE
peratui'L- has nut been lower than 4.5 degrees
or more than t.S decrees all winter. The cov-
ers are sealed down, bottoms the dee]) side
Danzenbaker in most cases; others have an
inch blficli under them. Most colonies are
clustered beluw tlie bottom-bars, some beinf?
on the floor iif the hive, and others hanging
out of the entrance, as if preparinj? to swarm.
I would venture to guess that a prettj' good-
sized swarm was in the air during the few
minutes I was in the cellar. I made a hasty
survey of matters, and " closed up," conclud-
ing to give them their liberty the first day the
weather would permit.
We used the last section of our 1900 crop of
honey at dinner to-day. It is a regular dish
at our house, and no unpleasant results have
come of it as yet.
Success to the American Bee .lournal.
•Sioux Co., Iowa, April 1. F. W. Hall.
1900 a Dry Year— Prospects Fair.
My liecs began carrying in puUen about
April 2d. It is cold and wind}', and we have
just had 4 days of rain, so the bees have not
been out.
The wind on Mfl,rch 30th was in the north-
east, and it rained a little on that day: old
settlers say that is the sign of a wet sunnner.
I hope it is, for 1900 was the driest year I have
ever seen. We had plenty of rain in April,
1900, to raise the wells and springs, but did
not have any more to amount to anything un-
til March, 1901, and the wells and springs were
nearly all dry, but we have plenty of water
now.
I hope this season will be a good one, for
we have had two poor ones in succession.
.John H. Kimble.
.Sussex Co., N. J., April S.
Report for Two Years.
This year will be my third one in the bee-
businf.ss. I started with one colony, and
bought four more the following fall, but lost
one in wintering. I had an increase of 3 col-
onies last season. The last of August one of
the colonies became iiueenless, and I bought a
new queen from a bee-keeper here, but the
bees killed her, so I put a i)iece of thin wrap-
ping-paper on the top of one of the other col-
onies, and set the queenh^ss colony on top
of it ; they made holes thru the ])aper and are
all right.
I have wintered the bees on the summer
stands packt in straw, all facing the South. I
have not unpackt them yet as it is cold and
windy. Every warm day they are out work-
ing on apricots and wild flowers. We have a
stiiall flower here not more than I! inches high
which blooms about March 1st, and the bees
get honey and pollen from the flowers. They
grow as thick in some places here as do the
wild strawberries in the East.
I secured (10 pounds of honey from one col-
ony the first summer, and the second year I
got 315 pounds from 4 colonies. This year I
have .5 colonies, and the prospects are very
good for this season.
Mks. Ben. Ferguson.
Ford Co., Kans., April 8.
A California Lady Bee-Keeper's Ex-
perience—Dark Beeswax.
I have kept bees for the last .5 years, and the
first 3 were very good honey-years, but I knew
very little about the business. The year 18',Kt
being a very poor year, I rented the bees to a
man who claimed to be a scientific bee-keeper,
and he divided them as long as there was any
thing or any bees to divide. Last year I rented
them to two young men, who did the best thev
could with them, but the honey crop was a
total failure, so they could do nothing but
build up the colonies. The bees wintered all
right, and are doing well. I will attend to
them myself this season, hiring help when
necessary. I never wear a veil or gloves, and
very rarely get stung, I treat them as I do
people— never go into their house without
rapping, then wait for them to slick up a little
before I raise the cover, I then give them a
little smoke, but not enough to make them
think that their house has turned into a
smoke-house.
Some people seem to have a great deal of
trouble with dark beeswax. I think the uten-
sil used to melt it in has much to do with it.
I have some very dark beeswax made from
starters. I had about 303 frames containing
starters about 'J inches wide; I wanted fufi
sheets of foundation, so last fall I exchanged
them. 1 put the starters into an iron kettle to
I Red Clover Queens
LONG-TONGUED BEES ARE DEMANDED NOW.
Alia Sii
Mentioa the Amer
ihv Mfg. Co.,
1-.. St. Louis
in Bee Joain
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Premium
for sending us TWO new subscribers to the
American Bee Journal for one year (with $2);
or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending us FOUR
new subscribers (with $4-00.)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average cjuite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these tine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled cjuite promptly, as a large number
of nucls^i will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good cdiidition. and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, J2.01) each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK «k CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
270
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 25, 1901.
APIARY OF MBS. ARTIE BOWEN, OF MERCED CO.,
melt, and they were nice and yellow before I
put them in, but after they were melted into
wax I never saw such black stuff. A bee-
keeper told me that he thought it was the iron
kettle that did it.
My apiary is in the orchard. I had 110 col-
onies, and the apricot trees were in full liloom
when the picture shown herewith was taken.
The people in the picture are the two young
men who had rented the apiary, and a young
woman who was \vorking for us.
1 don't care for long-tongued bees. I have
Best
White
Alfalfa or Basswoood Extracted Honey ^
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
ALFALFA
HONEY.......
This is the famous White
Extracted Honey gathered in
the g^reat Alfalfa regions of
the Central West. It is a
splendid honey, and nearly
everybody who cares to eat
honey at all can't get enough
of the Alfalfa extracted.
BASSWOOD
HONEY.......
This is the well-known
light-colored honey g'athered
from the rich, nectar-laden
basswood blossoms in Wis-
consin. It has a stronger
flavor than Alfalfa, and is
preferred by those who like a
distinct flavor in their honey.
A sample of either, oy mail, 8 cents ; samples of both, IS cents —
to pay for package and postage. By freight — one 60-pound can, 9J2
cents per pound ; two cans, 9 cents per pound ; four or more cans,
8j4 cents per pound. Cash must accompany each order. If ordering
two or more cans you can have half of each kind of honey, if you so
desire. The cans are boxt.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of
the above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money,
can get this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Please mentloa the Bee Journal when writing advertisers.
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W Ss^IjBIIt
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
no use for long-tonjrued women, and I ami
afraid they might lie like them — using their
tongues where they have no business to.
Fruit-trees are in full bloom, and the bees
are humming.
I like the American Bee Journal very much.
(Mrs.) Artie Bowen.
Merced Co., Calif., March 5.
Poor Locality for Bees.
This is a had country for bees ; most of them
have starved to death this winter. I will have
to feed mine as soon as the weather is warm
enough. I have not lost any colonies yet. It
is snowing every day. John Berxt.
Polk Co., Nebr.. April 2.
Feeding Sugar-Candy to Bees.
On page 201 Dr. Miller asks for the expe-
rience of those who have fed candy. One
winter I fed a number of colonies with candy
made as per directions given in " ABC of Bee-
Culture." and I am sorry to say that it was a
dead failure. The candy seemed to be all
right, but the bees were all dead before they
were put out in the spring, with the exception
of 3 or 3 colonies, and they died a few days
after they were put outdoors. One such ex-
perience is enough for me. I have a suspicion
that the cheapest and best way to feed in win-
ter is to give them comb honey — a cheap grade
would do, of course. I fed it to some of my
colonies during the past winter.
Hennepin Co., Minn. Wm. Russell.
Taxing Bees in Iowa.
I notice on page 211 you discuss the ques-
tion of taxing bees. In this State the list of
exemptions includes 10 colonies of bees, all
poultry, and various other articles, and then
says that all other personal property is taxa-
ble, which includes all bees over 10 colonies.
Now, right there is the injustice — exempting
10 colonies. How would it seem to exempt 10
acres of land, 10 cows, 10 hogs, etc., all thru
the list of personal property > Isn't it the
same principle ? Why should'nt I pay taxes
on 10 colonies as well as my neighbor on 40 or
50 ; And don't you suppose 10 will be about
the usual number owned by the average run
of bee-keepers in February or March, which is
the time our assessor generally gets around ?
And who will pay under this law * Only those
who have workt up so large a business that
the public, including the assessor, would A-xow
i Grove City Rabbitry ! ^
^ Prince Leopold, Ivanhoe, ^
Donovan Boy,
nd other high-bred Belgian stock.
Youngsters, 3 months, $3.iiO, or 2 for fS.OO.
For pedigree, write
WM. M. WHITNEY. Kankakee III.
A an,
J Youn
Please mention the Be
nal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whule Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other publisht,
send Jl. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
April 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
271
they had a larj^e number of bees. Tlieii there
is poultry — all poultry is exempt from taxa-
tion in Iowa, and there are probably a hundred
dollars invested in poultry to one dollar iu
bees ; and no doubt the annual cash returns
from poultry are as much, or more, in favor
of the feathered tribe. So if bees are taxt as
property having a fixt value, and are a more
or less certain source of income, then by all
means list poultry also.
It is evident that there are reasons for ex-
empting property from taxation — two very
good ones are, to favor the poorer classes, and
to encourage some industry that is a benefit to
the country in general. Now, why have not
bees the very best claims on both of these
grounds ? They are the ideal property for a
poor man — not that he can mal\e money rap-
idly and easily therewith, Ijut they require
little capital for a start, many successful bee-
men starting on nothing, even catching their
first swarms as strays. And as it is generally
admitted that bees are necessary to the cross-
fertilizing of our fruits and flowers, and there-
by a great benefit to the i)eople in general, we
can claim exemption on that ground, if any
class of property can.
We are not claiming that bees are not tax-
able, for we believe they are in this State, but
we think they ought to be exempted for the
above reasons.
Personally, I have never paid any tax on
bees, as our assessor never askt me to list my
bees but once, and then I told him (and I
think truly) that I did not know how many
colonies I had at that time, as it was in Feb-
ruary or March. I told him if he would call
in May or June I could tell him how many I
had. So he said he would let it go. I have
no idea that there ever was a dollar tax paid
on bees in this county. E. S. Miles.
Crawford Co., Iowa.
Weather Too Bad to Put Bees Out.
I put 6 colonies of bees into winter quart-
ers, but lost one. I wish that we might have
pleasanter weather so that I could put them
out. It rains or snows nearly every day, but
we are hoping that it will soon change.
Last season was a very poor one in this
vicinity. The bees did not do much of any-
thing, and the colony that I lost was a young
swarm which stored very little honey, so I
gave it 4 combs of sealed honey and thought
that would bring it thru the w-inter all right,
but about a month ago I found it dead. There
was a little honey left in the hive, and al.so
some sealed brood, so I do not know what was
the trouble. David Sticky.
Herkimer Co., N. Y., April H.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Illinois.— The spring meeliufr of the easterc
division of the Northern Illinois Bee-Keepers'
Association will be held at the residence (»f B.
Kennedy, 7 miles southeast of Rockford, III. .on
Rural Route No. 5, and 3 miles northeast of New
Milford, 111., Tuesday, May 21, l'«l. Allinier-
ested in bees are cordially invited to attend.
B. Ke.nnedv, Sec.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We oan furnish you with The A. I. Root Co's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. -Market price
paid lor beeswax. Send for our lyni catalog.
M. U. UDNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for$1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORQE W. VORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
Bee- Books
sT POSTPAID BY
George W. York & Go.
Ghicaco.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, bv Thomas G. New-
man.—It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pages.
beautifullv
art, and bo
iloth, 75 ce
irelv re-
ed ill the highest style of the
cloih, gold-lettered. Price, in
L paper, 50 cents.
clas
vritten, and is fully illustrated. It
erythin;? relating to bees and bee-
library is complete with-
treats o
keeping,
out this standard
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. I'.
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, SI. 25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Apizry,
by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This boolj is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
iuteresliug and llioroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiology of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully iliustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
paedia of 4ti0 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.- The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 35J pages, bound ia
paper covers, SI. 00.
Bienen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— This
is a (ierman translation of the principal portion
of the book called " Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzuclit und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neueslen niethode (tlerman) by J. F. Eggers. —
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
SO pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bouud in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, bv Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
system, or how to get the largest yields of
)r extracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
comb c
Price,
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman.—
Devotes two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 50 colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
nies,$1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the e.\peri-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Proble
>ierce.-Resu!t c
Be
e-Keeping. by G. R,
i' experience. 30 cts.
by Prof. F. R. Che-
shlie.-
Foul Brood, bv A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing. bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others. Illustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money lu poultry-rai>ing. 64 pages. Price, 20>;.
■ Health in the Poultry
Sick Fowls, bv Fanny
■ leld.-Everythiii'r .iliout Poultry Diseases and
heir Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, b-
anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
iusiness. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
BEES
QUEENS
Smokers, Sections,
Comb Foundation
ind Ul Lf^r^m SnppUv
9HKK CmtMlof.
Please mention l-
' Journal "when writinft.
.S3 ite. >ti >fe- Mi >ti >li >li >4i :rfi >ti >li Mifer
I HON&y AND BEESWAX !
Tii'tK MfK >?«:■>??>{« TjfTj? >jf 7JV y|y >;v >^-^
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, .\pr. 18.— Choice grades of white
comb honey sell at 16c, and there is uo surplus
in sight, other grades of comb sell fairly well
at the following prices: No. 1 grades of white,
umsc: off grades, 13c; light amber, 12c; dark
amber, 10(aillc: buckwheat and other dark
combs, '>(gtlOc; candied and mixt colors, "fojQc.
Extracted is dull, and piices very weak, with
the exception of some fancy linden and clover
grade?, which is quotable at 7(gj8c; ambers*
6fa7c; dark and buckwheat, 5(ai6c. Beeswax, 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Buffalo, Apr. IS— Fancy white comb, 15@16c:
poor, dark, etc., 8@13c, as lo grade. Demand
good on fancy. Beeswax, 20M2.Sc, as to grade.
Batterson & Co.
Omaha, Mar. 30.— Demand fair; stocks light.
Fancy white comb, 15(ai6c. Extracted moving
slowly at 7fa8c for white. We do not look for
any particular change for the balance of the
season, as present supply will just about be suf-
ficient to supply the tiade until new crop gets
into market. Pevcke Bros.
Detroit, Apr. IS— Fancy white comb, 14@15c:
No. 1, 13(gil4c; dark and amber, 10@12c. Ex-
tracted, white, t><4(Sf~c; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax, 2"@28c. M. H. Hunt & Sou.
New York, March l".— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb honey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancy white is still sell-
ing readily at from lS(a.l6c; No. 1 white at from
13^14c; amber at from 12(a*13c; buckwheat, 10®
lie, according to quality and style of package.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active, and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honey is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, 7(a7>4c; light amber,
(i'A(&~c; other grades and Southern, 6S<i75c per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 28(928}^ c, and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 2''c.
HiLDRETH & SeOELKEN.
Cincinnati, Apr. 18.— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over. The stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings 16 cents. Ex-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for 5^c;
better grades bring 6(s7}^c; fancy white clover
from S%(q <)c. C. H. W. Weber.
Kansas City, Apr. l.s.— There is very little
honey offered, and the demand is steady, sell-
ing from $3.50@$3.W per case, fancy wh'ite; no
amber on the market at this time.' Extracted,
no change; white, from Sm'Ic; amber, there is a
litlle on this market that could be sold from 7}i
@s}^c. Beeswax scarce and demand good, at
25@28c. W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
Albany, N.Y., Apr. IQ.— Honey market quiet.
Light supply and light demand now. The stock
IS well cleaned out, so will be no old honey to
carry over this season. H. R. Wriuh't.
Boston, April 4.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, lsraH6c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white. 8®
8}^c; light amber, 7)^a8c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
San Francisco, April 3.— White comb 12®
13cents; amber, o^Hc; dark, 6(g.8 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 6@6>4c; light amber 4>4@Sc:
amber, 4@4^c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Despite general expectations and contrary to
experience of previous years, new honey is re-
ported on market. For some new amber e.x-
tracted from Ventura couutv 6 cents is askt, but
this is above the views of buyers. Old is still
offering in moderate quantity, both comb and
extracted, mostly amber.
■pODLTRr BOOK FREE, fi4 pages, illustrated
■^ with a nius. trial subscription to our paper. loe
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal when writine.
B6GS=SUDDli6S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
I05 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t I'lease mention the Bee Journal.
272
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
April 25, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiraciors
or anything you want in the
:bee-keeping line.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other rtiakes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeter free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
J^~ W. M. Gekrish, East Notiag-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g-oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
LEARN TO SING
AT II«>MEby my thorough mcthr.d
of training. With my complete
X guarantee to train andcul-
te your voice or refund your
ey. The best musical knowledge
Tanp'^il especially for Home Mndy.
Has lli^hetit F.ndorRemeDt, Beautifal
liescriplive bock It t Bent free. Address
Prof. G. M. Whaley. Kalamazoo. Mich.
please mention Bee Journal -when -writins
sWIeTclover
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
*, e have made arraagemeats so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sffi 10115 2Stts
Sweet Clever (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75
Sweet Clover (yellow) .... $1.50
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover
Japanese Buckwheat
1.70
1.70
1.40
.50
6.25
3.75
4.00
3.25
1.00
soft
$5.00
12.00
7.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5.pound
rate, and 10 cents e.Ktra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, • CHICAGO, ILL.
200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2.00
Perfect in construction and
action. Hatches every fertile
egp. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy. ill.
1 the Bee Jc
I AEISE
Vo say to the readers of
he Bee Journal that
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices:
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
.; Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select testted queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving part
each class of Queens, condili(
regard!
etc. Addr
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y
24tll n^rl^rit'^ r^..nri^4^:^r. 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, Nc
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^,^,
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compU-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We seh the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beesvrax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamriton, Hancock Co , III.
'^i)'i).(i.i)'(i).i)«(i).4.#A-(i'(i-i)-(i-#cl"0'
$13.00 and $23.00 Queens #
Having a Measured Tongue Reach. m^
>#
-^
->^$$
The call for queens of our celebrated 3200 imported mother
has been so great that we have decided, in addition to the $2.00,
$4.00, and $6.00 grades of this stock, to offer some $10 00, $15.00,
and even $25.00 of this same blood. But these prices are for tested
queens, the tongues of whose bees have been measured.
The $10.00 queen is guaranteed to produce bees with a tongue-
measurement of 19-100.
The $15.00 queen, 20-100.
The $25.00 queen, 21-100.
These last are very rare and with one exception this (21-100)
is the longest tongue reach yet secured. We reserve the right,
when we do not have the stock with the tongue reach called for,
either to return the money or to send the next lower, remitting
the balance. It would be well for our friends to put in their or-
ders at once, and as soon as we get the grades we will send notice.
When the money is sent, the queens will be forwarded. These
will be put up in the very best manner possible; and while we
guarantee safe arrival in good order to any point in the United
States, on any railway line, we will not guarantee safe intro-
duction. Such valuable queens should be releast on hatching
brood.
N. B. — It seems as if it ought not to be necessary to say that
no one but a queen-breeder or a large honey-producer should order
these high-priced queens; but it is a fact according to our expe-
rience that beginners with only a few colonies will order our high-
est priced imported queens. Such bee-keepers have no more use
for such queens than a pig has for a wheel-barrow.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
S*
W
^
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. cufcit o'i'll'"'''
d.iuaners for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERi' SUPPLIES I.N CHICAGO,
them for their free Catalog.
f>* T
iijAEie/|/v
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 2, 1901,
^^-^^^!H?!!fS^^@^-,-
274
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
May 2, 1900.
PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY
George W, York & Co.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
The Subscription Price of this journal is $1.00 a
year, in the United States, Canada, and Mex-
ico; all other countries in the Postal Union,
50c a yearextra for postag-e. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates
the end of the month to which your subscrip-
tion is paid. For instance, " DecOl " on your
label shows that it is paid to the end of De-
cember, 1901.
Subscription Receipts — We do not send a receipt
for money sent us to pay subscription, but
change the date on your wrapper-label, which
shows you that the money has been received
and duly credited.
Advertising: Rates will be g-iven upon applica-
tion.
Reformed Spelling.— The American Bee Journal
adopts the Orthography of the following- Rule,
recommended by the joint action of the Amer-
ican Philological Association and the Philo-
logical Society of England: — Change "d" or
"ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except
when the "e" affects a preceding sound. Also
some other changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, Thos. G. Newman,
W. Z. Hutchinson, G. M. Doolittle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Marks,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Hambaugh,
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, Dk. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
Rocku Mountain Bee-Plant Seed !
{Chotne iiitegrifoUa.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: "This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-garden, to
say nothing of the honey it produces. It grows
fromtwo to three feet iu hight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a %-pouad package as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14(j Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
The Emerson Binder.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
"'^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
- WE WANT "-
1,000 NEW Subscribers
During May and June.
We want
We want
We want
500 of our present reg^ular subscribers, whose subscriptions
are now paid in advance, to help us get the 1,000 NEW
SUBSCRIBERS.
each one of you to gfet just TWO new subscribers, and the
job will be done ? See ?
to ask you to get them only for the rest of this year — to the
end of 1901. And the price will be but FIFTY CENTS EACH
— or SI. 00 for the two new subscriptions.
We want
to offer to each
one who sends
new sub-
scribers on the
above condition, a copy of
DOOLITTLE'S
"Scientific Queens
Rearing," free.
We have just issued a New
Premium Edition of this fine
book, bound in leatherette cover,
with round corners. It is in every
way (excepting just the cover)
the same as the cloth-bound edi-
tion. This is
A HAQNIFICENT OFFER,
and every one of our paid-in-ad-
vance subscribers who has not
already a copy of Doolittle's
" Scientific Quekn-Rkaring,"
ought to jump at this generous
offer.
Remember, it is only for May
and June that we are making
" " the above offer, so you'd better
be quick about it if you want a copy on the easy terms mentioned — for sending
us only two new subscribers to the Bee Journal at SO cents each, for the balance
of this year, beginning as soon as their subscriptions are received here with the
SI. 00 to pay for them.
Doolittle's " Scientific Oj'EKn-Rkaring " has 128 pages, and describes the
" method by which the best of queen-bees are reared in perfect accord with Na-
ture's way. For the amateur and veteran in bee-keeping." It also contains
Mr. Doolittle's management of bees for the production and care of comb honey.
Every bee-keeper should have a copy of this book.
The Books are Now Ready to nail.
Will you be one of the 500 to have a copy of it on the above premium offer?
If so, your answer will come soon with the $1.00 and the names of two new sub-
If You Have Doolittle's Book,
you can choose one of the following instead as a premium (postpaid) for send-
ing the two 50-cent subscriptions :
1. Two Porter Bee-Escapes.
2. A No. 3 Bee-Veil (made of all cotton tulle )
3. Parker Foundation Fastener for sections.
4. Spur Wire Imbedder and Coggshall Bee- l
Brush. I
The foregoing offers will not appear again. They will be in force only dur-
ing May and June — this month and next.
Now for the 1,000 New Subscribers!
Address. GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL,.
Coggshall Bee-Brush and Carlin Comb-Foun
dation Cutter.
Carlin Cutter and Spur Imbedder.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 2, 1901,
No, 18,
\ * Editorial. ^ \
Next National Convention. — It seems
from the following, sent us by Secretary
Mason, the next meeting of the National Bee-
Keepers' Association will be held at Buffalo,
N. r., Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901:
Editor Americas Bee Journal:
Many inquiries have been received by the
Executive Committee of the National Bee-
Keepers' Association regarding the time and
place for holding the next convention. The
reply has generally been that Buffalo, N. Y.,
would be the place of meeting; but until this
morning (.\pril ITth) the date of meeting had
not licen settled upon.
Oil Marcli 2d the Secretary of the American
Pomolugical Society wrote President Root in
part as follows :
" As bee-keepers and fruit-growers have
many interests in common which could be
considered and diseust with mutual profit, our
Executive Committee has instructed me to
extend to your Association a cordial invita-
tion to hold a joint meeting at some time dur-
ing our session, the exact time to be decided
later by correspondence.
•' At this meeting we would suggest that the
subjects of discussion center round the gen-
eral topic of the mutual relations of bee-keep-
ing and fruit-growing which can he
briefly treated by speakers selected in advance
from among our prominent bee-men and fruit-
men in order that a better understand-
ing of these mutual relations may be reacht.
It has been suggested that a consider-
able portion of fruit-growers do not yet appre-
ciate the preponderance of the benefit derived.
It is felt that a full public discussion of the
subject would, therefore, result in good to
both industries.''
Realizing, as the Executive Committee did,
that this was a golden opportunity for pre-
senting the bee-keepers' side of the subject to
the representative men of the fruit-growing
industry, the invitation of the Pomological
Society was at once accepted by the committee
in behalf of the Association.
We have had to delay the fixing of the date
for our convention until the Pomological
Society had flxt their time of meeting. (Jur
convention will be held on the Ulth, 11th, and
12th of September next, commencing on Tues-
day evening the 10th.
We were at first undecided as to place of
meeting, hoping that the G. A. K. would meet
at Denver, Colo., but when it decided to meet
at Cleveland, and we received the invitation
of the Pomological Society, we felt that we
ought not to miss such a splendid chance to
enlighten some of them on the relation of bees
to horticidlure, and, by meeting at Buffalo,
the York State and Canadian bee-kecpei^s
would bo within easy reach of the place of
meeting : so we at once flxt on Butfalo as the
most desirable place.
It has been decided not to have any papers
or essays, but to rely wholly on the riuestioa-
box to bring out the best and most important
matters for discussion; so any <jLie not being
able to be at the convention, having any ques-
tion or (juestions that he may wish to have
diseust, can send them to the Secretary at
any time.
The committee has taken the liberty to
request the Secretary of the Ontario Bee-
Keepers' Association to ask the members of
that association who ma.v attend the meeting
at Buffalo, to bring their badges with them
and wear them at our sessions, whether they
are members of our Association or not, so
that we may feel more as one, and know who
our progressive neighbors are.
Information regarding place of meeting,
entertainment, and railroad rates, will be
given as soon as decided upon. Don't be in a
hurry about securing a sleeping-place during
the convention. There is plenty of time, and,
later on, better rates can be secured; but if
you are in a hurry, write to the Young Men's
Christian Association, and don't be bled by
" sharks." A. B. Mason, Hk.
Sta. B, Toledo, Ohio,
We trust that all who can possibly "arrange
to do so will endeavor to be at the Buffalo
convention next September, It ought to he
a bigger and better one than was the Chicago
convention last August — tho, of course, that
could hardly be expected even at Buffalo!
(Now, see Mr, Hershiser buckle down to the
job of trying to outdo Chicago,)
"There is Al^vays Plenty of honey,"
said a honey commission dealer to us several
years ago. That seemed a strange remark to
make, especially in view of what have com-
monly been termed "poor honey-years,"
which have been somewhat frequent in ap-
pearance during the past ten or fifteen years.
But Mr. Dealer knew what he was talking
about.
The year 1900 was said by some, if not by
the " oldest (bee-keeping) inhabitant," to
have been the poorest for honey in thirty
years. And yet what do we find ? Why,
more honey in the hands of dealers to be car-
ried over, we believe, than for a number of
years past. One dealer, about two months
ago, had eight or ten car-loads of white ex-
tracted honey on hand yet. We know some
others who also have quite a quantity left on
their hands. Likely all of them will have to
wait-until next fall before it can be moved
off; and then, if there should be a large new
crop, it will have to be sold at a loss.
" There is always plenty of honey " comes
pretty near being the truth. But it would not
be true if there were anything like a more
even distribution of the honey crop each year.
Why, there wouldn't begin to be enough to
go half way around if that were the case.
The great trouble is, so much of ,it is shipt to
the large centers, thusglutting those markets,
causing a demoralization of prices, while
many near-by, tho smaller, markets, are en-
tirely hare of honey. And often in such local
markets the very highest prices are realized.
In a city of about 8,500 population, not
ciuite a hundred miles away from Chicago, a
leading grocer agreed to take as high as five
car-loads of strawberries grown within 15
miles of his store, at 10 cents a quart ! Think
of it ! And yet, in Chicago strawberries are
often sold at four quarts for 25 cents! Why
is it ? Simply because nearly every straw-
berry-grower in the country thinks he must
dump his crop on the Chicago market. It is
all wrong. And it is the same way with
honej'.
Far better prices would be secured if much
of the stuff that is sent to Chicago, or to other
lai'ge centers, were sold nearer home. This is
a subject worth careful investigation.
Short-Tubed Clover is nowadays dis-
eust along with long-tongued bees, and it is
reasonable to believe that the seed saved from
the first crop of red clover will have in it a
larger percent of the short-tubed kind than
that from the second crop. A little explana-
tion will help to an understanding. At pres-
ent it is only the second crop of red clover
that is a seed crop. That is because the ferti-
lization of the blossoms is effected almost en-
tirely by bumble-bees, and at the time of the
first crop there are not enough bumble-bees
to fertilize more than a very small number
of blossoms. For un'like hive-bees, a single
bumble-bee starts a nest in spring, and only
later on do bumble-bees appear in numbers.
So it happens that the proportion of hive-
bees to bumble-bees found working on the
flrst crop should be many times greater than
on the second. It will be only the shorter-
tubed kind that the hive-bees will visit, of
course, and the seed from that will be likely
to reproduce itself. It will be easily under-
stood that at first only a small amount of seed
would be secured on any given surface, but
the proportion ought rapidly to increase from
year to year. It may be well to speculate a
little on what might be the outcome. Sup-
pose we take a plot of ground from which a
bushel of seed of the second crop might be
secured. Save the seed from the first crop,
which may be a pint or less. But in that pint
half the seed may be of the short-tubed kind,
whereas iu the second crop there would not
be one in a thousand. Now sow this pint the
next year in a plot by itself. It is reasonable
to expect that at least half the plants will
have short tubes, and so half the seed will be
of the improved kind. Continuing iu this
way, it would be not a matter of many years
to have seed in unlimited quantity, half of
which would be of the short-tubed kind.
But another factor comes into the problem,
which greatly hastens the result. As soon
as the amount of ground covered by clover
from this half-and-half seed assumes tolerable
proportiens. the seed fertilized by bumble-bees
276
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 2, 1901.
will ro longer hold the same proportion as at
first. For the number of bumble-bees is a
limited quantity, aud they can only fertilize a
fixl number of Mowers. For the sake of illus-
tration suppose there are enough bumble-bees
to produce a bushel of seed within a given
area. A small field will suffice them, and if
the field be ten times as large they can ferti-
lize no more seed. Now suppose enough of
our half-and-half seed is sown in that area to
produce two bushels of first-crop seed. It
will continue to be half-and-half just so long
as we do not go beyond that amount. But
whenever we go beyond the crop of two
bushels, then not only a proportion of the
increase, but all the increase should be short-
tubed.
If a peck of seed is sown to the acre, aud
the crop harvested is three bushels to the
acre, then there is a twelve-fold increase. So
when our bushel of half-and-half seed pro-
duces a crop of 12 bushels. 11 bushels of it
ought to be of the short-tubed kind, and this
l-> bushels sown ought to produce 144 bushels
having only one bushel of long-tubed seed in
it, or 99.3 percent pure. " It is the first step
that costs," and in this case the difficult thing
is to get the first bushel of half-and-half seed.
After that the way is easy. Indeed the way
ought not be very hard after the first pound
is secured.
Of course, all this is only speculative, and
like many another thing in bee-keeping, may
not " pan out " at all as anticipated ; but the
great importance of the matter warrants some
speculation, and this may serve at least to
arrest the thought of some wide-awake bee-
keeping farmer, and to secure from him some
effort toward the desired end.
Loading Combs for Wagon-Hauling
—The right way to load combs, either brood-
combs or sections, has been a matter of some
difference of opinion. When loaded on cars,
all seem to agree that the edges of the combs
should point toward the engine, as the bump-
ing is from front or rear, and not sidewise.
Opinion is divided as to loading on a wagon.
Perhaps all will agree that on a smooth road
on a ve)y steep hill the loading should be the
same as on a ear, but ordinary roads are not so
very smooth, and the hills are not so very
steep. The editor of the Bee-Keepers" Re-
view champions loading the same as on a car.
and gives reasons why he thinks that ought to
be the better way. A few have given the re-
sult of actual experiment, one of which is
given in a Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture as follows-
March 2.5th the roads were muddy and
rough. I drove down town, putting in the
wagon two empty supers, setting them on one
side. The front one ran across the wagon
and the other lengthwise. The one running
lengthwise fell down. Then I put the front
one lengthwise aud the other crosswise. As
often a^ they fell I set them up again, con-
stantly changing. Out of 13 times the length-
wise super fell first every time but one. That
was going down a hill, but going down the
steepest hill the lengthwise super fell and the
other stood its ground. If I had been haul-
ing combs on that trip, don't you believe they
should have been loaded crosswise '. Now
some of vou report how the same thing works
on yo/ir" road. —[This is an interesting and
valuable experiment. It is so easily tried that
wonder none of us had thought of it before.
would suggest that those of our readers who
lave " to drive to town" pretty often over
umpy r oads, trv the same experiment and
report. From the results above given it is
very clear that the edges of the combs should
poirt toward the wheels and not toward the
horse. — Editor.]
Bees Attack Jlountain-Clinibers. —
A correspondent from Honolulu, Sandwich
Islands, reported an occurrence in that coun-
try in which a mountain-climbing party was
attackt by a colony of wild bees, and came
near losing their lives. They had climbed
Konahuahui, the highest peak near the city,
and decided to descend on the Xuanu Valley
side, which had been considered impossible.
They scrambled down precipitous cliffs 75 feet
high, clinging to the rocks with hands and
feet. When part way down they were at-
tackt by the bees, which stung them while
they were helpless to ward them off. For
nearly a mile the bees followed them until
they reacht a point where they were safe.
^ Weekly Budget. I
Good Advick [For Missouri ''.
" Pray, what is good for chappy cheeks .!"'
Wrote Molly to the editor.
And in due time — about two weeks —
She got the answer written for.
To other ears by chance it leaks,
A little birdie told, perhaps;
Thus; "If you wish not chappy cheeks.
You must avoid the cheeky chaps."
— Will Ward Mitchell.
Mr. John Zwahles, of Emery Co., Utah,
gives the following report for 1900, in the
Rocky Mountain Bee Journal, being an aver-
age of 292 pounds of extracted honey per
colony :
" I see it stated that Oliver Foster produced
8ti,000 pounds of honey last year from 500
colonies. I have done better than that. I
secured 19.000 pounds from 65 colonies ; and
Christian Ottisen, 23 miles farther north, in
this county, did even better, but I can not say
just how much."
"Editor Mitchell, who undertook part of
the editorship of this paper last autumn, has
been compelled to abandon the undertaking.
His eyes for the past year or two have been
of more or less trouble, and of consequent
great distress — to one who h^s to use his eyes
almost continually, as does a printer and
editor."
This paragraph is taken from the April Pro-
gressive Bee-Keeper. We regret very much
to learn that Mr. Mitchell's affliction has
compelled him to relinquish some of his un-
dertakings, and trust that the enforced rest
and recuperation may soon bring him out all
right. ^
President E. S. Lovest, of the Utah Bee-
Keepers' Association, writing us from Salt
Lake Co., March 12th, had this to say:
"Friend York:— Spring appears to be
with us again. The bees, the trees, and the
birds, in fact all Nature seems to be putting on
new life. Our bees were carrying in pollen
March 1st— something they don't often do
so early. And we are having a great deal of
snow and rain, which is pretty generally dis-
tributed over the State, thus insuring a good
supply of irrigating water, which in turn will
insure good crops and a good honey-flow. If
the weather keeps mild we may expect to see
our bees and bee-keepers ' in clover ' once
again. The bees that went into winter quar
ters in good condition appear to have wintered
fairly well, while a few smothered for lack of
ventilation. The smelter smoke here in Salt
Lake County has been the cause of our princi-
pal losses."
Again on April 14th Mr. Lovesy wrote us as
follows :
" The prospects are excellent in Utah this
season for a good honey crop. While the bees
are in fairly good condition, barring any acci-
dent that we know not of, they will give a
good account of themselves."
Editor Leaht, of the Progressive Bee-
Keeper, it seems, was also somewhat shoekt
by the " rhythmical break " made by Stenog
in C;ieanings in Bee-Culture, when he tried to
make "harm" rhyme with "barn." After
copying the questionable stanza (see page
244), Mr. Leahy follows with this comment;
It's rather a stretch of poetic license, and
tho we are quite willing the price of clover be
brought down, we are not willing to see the
harmony of " harm " and " barn." The fol-
lowing from the pencil of a despondent Ohio
youth has more jingle and rhyme, and is more
to the point;
" 0, bury me deep, deep in the ground.
Where the humraiug-bird hums,
And the bumble-bee bums,
Aud the straddle-bug straddles around."
We must confess that Mr. Leahy's culti-
vated choice of poetry does have a clear-cut
kind of jingle that no one can mistake or fail
to appreciate. In the "hum" and the
"bum" of the thing there is no humbug
poetry, even if there is a straddle-bug that
"straddles around" with so much impor-
tance.
Mr. W. F. Ordetx, of Cuba, under date of
Jan. 22d, says, that the present season has
been the poorest ever known in that section,
and concludes the information with this para-
graph: " I started with 8 colonies in Decem-
ber, and now have 20. They will soon be
ready to divide again." No doubt that report
is rather discouraging to one of Mr. Ordetx's
enthusiasm ; but he would be surprised to
learn how very little sympathy it will elicit
in these United States of America, where
almost any of us should consider ourselves
very fortunate to accomplish in two whole
years what he has done in two months or less.
That projected second division of colonies so
late in the season may prove a hazardous pro-
cedure.— American Bee-Keeper.
Mr. a. E. Willcctt, of Hamp.shire Co.,
Mass., sent us a clipping some time ago tell-
ing about a " happenstance " down in Bangor,
Maine, last fall. It seems when cold weather
set in a fire was kindled in a fireplace in one
of the houses in that city, that had not been
occupied for some time. When the fire had
been bm'ning for about half an hour, the man
of the house, upon coming into the room,
found the floor covered with a sticky sub-
stance, more of which was running out of the
fireplace. It was found that a swarm of bees
had taken up their abode in the long unused
chimney, and had there stored a large quan-
tity of honey. The heat from the fire caused
it to run down in a stream into the room, cov-
ering the carpet. The householder said he
got ?4 worth of honey and lost .?60 worth of
carpet. He probably did not feel like singing
that part of the chorus of the song. " Busy,
Buzzing Bees," where it refers to •• honey
everywhere."
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
277
I Contributed Articles. |
No. 3— Drone-Bees and Their Itility.
Can We, and Shall We, Control their Production ?
BY C. P. DADANT.
SINCE writing the two previous articles on this subject, I
have met with some private arguments. I have been
told that it is a mistake to try to change Nature, that
even if I can reasonably argue that it is best to prevent the
rearing of drones in most circumstances, it is an error to
change natural conditions. I can not agree with this.
When we breed any kind of animals in domesticity,
their natural conditions are already changed. No one
thinks of trying to prevent the free breeding of wild fowls
in the proportions which Nature has dictated. But where
is the breeder of domestic fowls who will allow all the
roosters to live? Where is the farmer who will keep all his
male calves as bulls ? And do we not succeed best by arti-
ficial selection ? See with what care the farmer's wife
picks out the finest roosters for the following season's use.
And if she were careless, and killed or sent to market the
finest of them, would you think she stood any chance of
improving- the breed? What is done with chickens or with
cattle — can it not be done with our bees, in the measure of
our powers ? It is true that vee can not absolutely control
the reproduction, owing to the peculiar habits of the bees
in their mating, but we can, in a great measure, direct the
greater or less rearing of good or bad stock, and if we
would succeed, we must do all that can possibly be done.
In natural conditions, a colony may be several miles
from other bees and probably requires all the drones that it
may produce. On the other hand, in domesticity, we may
keep a hundred or more colonies in one spot. In that case,
we have, if we leave it to the nature of the bees, a hundred
or more times as many drones as will be needed for all the
young queens that we may rear. We are therefore feeding,
if we leave the bees alone, hundreds of thousands of
drones that cost both food and heat to be reared, and whose
problematic usefulness is in the possibility of their keep-
ing the brood warm for a few days after the colony swarms.
Some of these drones are certainly more desirable than
others, for our colonies are not all equal in honey-produc-
tion. In an apiary of one hundred colonies, we may have
half a dozen colonies which will yield twice or three times
as much honey as the average of the entire apiary, and at
the same time we have a few colonies that will produce
little if any more than enough for their own consumption.
Not only must our female reproducers — the queens — be
reared from some of those best colonies, but if we would
encourage in all possible ways the breeding of the best, we
must also try to breed the greatest number of drones from
some of those preferable colonies. Yet, to avoid in-and-in
breeding, which Nature so abhors, we should not breed both
queens and drones from the same colonies.
These propositions being well establisht, it remains for
us to decide not only how to get the greatest possible num-
ber of drones from the best colonies, but also how to pre-
vent the fertilization of the queens by inferior drones.
Let me here open a parenthesis. I see that the question
of the fertilization of queens in confinement is again agi-
tated. If this were a success the fertilization of queens
would be comparatively easy. But these things have been
tried many times before, many sensible men have shouted
" Victory!" only to find a little later on that they liad
allowed themselves to be deceived by appearances. Time
will settle the question, but even a satisfactory solution
would not affect the question of producing valuable drones
and doing away with the valueless ones. I will now return
to the matter on hand.
To secure a great number of drones from a colony is
not difficult, especially if the queen is prolific. We need
but to place drone-combs, one or two, in the center of the
brood-nest. Altho the queen dislikes to lay eggs in these
cells, until after she has bred a large number of workers,
the situation of these combs will induce her to lay in them
earlier in the season than she would have done otherwise,
and we will readily secure a large number of valuable
drones early. As to the hive from which no reproduction
is desirable, we must confine the drones to the hive, or catch
them with a drone-trap as they emerge on sunny days, or
behead them in the cells before they hatch, or simply pre-
vent their being produced by removing the drone-comb
before the laying has begun, and replacing it with worker-
combs.
The first of these methods is certainly the worst.
Many apiarists use the well-known drone-guard in front of
the hive. This is a sort of "yard" made of perforated
zinc placed at the entrance, and thru which the worker-bees
alone can pass. The drones and the queen are compelled to
stay in. It is also used to prevent swarming. Tho it
answers the purpose, it is not practical because when the
drones are induced to take flight by the warmth of the sun,
they congregate within this guard and are in the way of
the bees. Some people open the guard to let the drones out,
and close it again to keep them from coming back. It
would serve the purpose in compelling them to stay on the
outside and starve if they were all to issue at the same
time, but they are going and coming, and no satisfaction
can be had out of such a method. The drone-trap is much
better, for as the drones get into it they are caught and can
not return, and are out of the way, but it must be attended
to and emptied out regularly or they will die there and cre-
ate a pestilence.
The third method, of beheading the sealed drones with
a honey-knife, before they hatch, is efficient, but like the
other two it has the very bad fault of having allowed the
expense of rearing those drones almost to the perfect
insect, without any returns. Then the comb in which they
have been reared is very soon again filled with eggs, and
the work must be done again. The last and only practical
method of getting rid of the drones satisfactorily is to pre-
vent their being reared, by removing the drone-comb before
any drone-eggs are laid, very early in the spring, and
replacing this comb with worker-comb, taken from deceast
colonies or from extracting supers. This replacing of
comb is a necessity, for the same reason that has caused the
bees to build the drone-comb in the first place will cause
them to rebuild the same kind in the same spot, if they are
allowed to do so. But it is useless to expect to be able to
remove every cell of drone-comb. In nearly every hive
there are quite a number of little patches of drone-cells
scattered here and there, and many of these pass unnoticed
even on the closest examination, unless they are already
full of brood, in which case the peculiar rounding shape of
the capping of the drones will make them noticeable. But
the production of a few drones in any hive is not objection-
able. It is the pieces of six or eight inches square that
give us the hosts of useless males, since the comb contains
36 of them to the square inch.
In my estimation, the prevention of drone-rearing is of
importance especially because of the cost of breeding
them. I have always been of the opinion that they are
nearly as expensive to rear as they are to keep after they
have hatcht. Yet, they certainly consume considerable
honey after they have emerged from their cell, but I would
be inclined to think that nearly half of the total cost of
their support during their short life is to be reckoned while
they are in the cell. So it seems to me of the greatest
importance, on this score alone, to prevent their being
hatcht.
I am told that the bees will not accept the removal of
their drone-comb, and that they will cut down worker-cells,
to change them to drone-comb, when all the drone-comb has
been removed. This I disbelieve, as it is contrary to my
experience. Tho they will rebuild drone-comb where
drone-comb has been removed, they do not seem to feel the
need of it enough to tear down good worker-comb. In
order to convince me that this has ever been done by bees,
it would require a very thoro experiment, made on old
combs that would not sag under the weight of honey._ I
believe that what has led some bee-keepers to this opinion
is the sagging and consequent elongating of cells tf)' heat.
This sometimes happens when the comb is new and heavily
loaded, or by the use of defective foundation, which by
stretching has become large enough for drones to hatch in
it. But I doubt that bees have ever seen fit to tear down
worker-comb to build drone-comb in its place. If they
were prone to do so, they very probably would be inclined
to do the reverse where too much drone-comb existed, and
in the case of the Drory experiment, mentioned by me in a
former article, when a colony had been furnisht with noth-
ing but drone-comb, they certainly would have torn down
some of this comb to replace it with worker-comb, while
278
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 2, 1901.
they only reduced the size of the cells bj' narrowing them
down at the mouth.
But even take it for granted that the bees will insist
on having some drone-comb. We have seen elsewhere that
the average number of drones produced, ranges, according
to some of the most experienced writers, from one-tenth to
one-thirtieth. If we can keep the average number of
drones produced by our poorest colonies at or below the
smallest percentage, and if we can at the same time keep
the drones reared by two or three of our best colonies at
the very highest possible number, we already will have
achieved a great deal towards securing improved matings
and a greater production of honey.
Hancock Co., 111.
Prof. Cook's Review of the "ABC" Book.
BY EKXEST R. ROOT.
IN the columns of the American Bee Journal Prof. Cook
has given a review of " Dadant's Langstroth " and
" Cowan's Honey-Bee," and now follows with a review
of the "A B C of Bee-Culture." In his usual kindly man-
ner he says at the outset, ■' Without doubt this book has
exerted a wider influence upon the bee-keeping world than
any others ever written. Even its rivals can only be joy-
ous in its extensive sale, as they know that, wherever it
goes, it goes to help and bless." Coming as those words do
from one who is himself the author and publisher of a lead-
ing rival work, the publishers of the "ABC" would be
hardly human if they did not feel a warming of the heart
at their utterance.
He then proceeds to point out passages in which he
thinks he has reason to believe there is error, altho admit-
ting the possibility that in some cases he may be wrong.
Some of these may properly deserve consideration and cor-
rection : in others there may be occasion to take exception
to Prof. Cook's exceptions.
First, it is proper to call attention to the fact that the
criticisms are not based on the edition issued last January,
as one would suppose, but on the old edition — the one put
out nearly two years ago. As it is, much that Prof. Cook
criticises is not in the new book at all, such matter having
been re-written or stricken out altogether.
As to the first error pointed out, there is no error in the
book, but the error consists in very careless reading on the
part of the reviewer — a carelessness that is hardly excusable,
for one expects extreme carefulness on the part of one who
points out the errors of others. The " A B C," page 2, in
discussing what is to be done with second swarms that
issue, says in effect that they must be watcht. climbed
after, and hived. This sentence is immediately followed
by another which says, "If one thinks this too much
trouble, he should prevent having after-swarms as I advise
under that head." He ignores the fact that the watching
and climbing refers only to swarms that have issued, to saj'
nothing of the fact that it would be an impossibility to pre-
vent the issuing of a swarm after the swarm has actually
issued. He goes on to give the Heddon as the best method
of preventing second swarms. In the edition just out of
the press the very next sentence refers to the place where,
among other methods of preventing after-swarms, the Hed-
don plan is given more fully and correctly than it is given
by the reviewer. If careless reading is inexcusable on the
part of a critic, still less is careless quotation when the ex-
act words are pretended to be given inside quotation-marks.
In answer to the question as to what shall be done with a
second swarm that has issued, the "ABC" says, " Can-
didly, I don't know of any better way than," etc. "Candidly,
I don't know any better way to prevent second swarms
than," etc., is the way Prof. Cook quotes it. We feel sure
that he will say there is no sufficient excuse for interjecting
the words " to prevent second swarms " in a direct quota-
tion wfiere thej' were neither written nor thought by the
author of the book.
Prof. Cook objects to the statement that alfalfa honey
is probably superior in quality to any other. He claims to
be something of a judge of honey, and thinks alfalfa no
better than clover, linden, sage, and perhaps others. It is
a matter, not of judgment, but of taste. The best judge
might prefer a flavor that no one else would fancy. The
criticism, however, is a valid one. In matters which appeal
entirely to taste, it is unwise to make sweeping statements.
Speaking of alfalfa the "ABC" says it takes about
three years to get it to its best yield. Prof. Cook makes
the pleasant correction that in California the maximum
yield is often got the very first year in the later cuttings.
The reviewer thinks it is putting it too strong to hint
that bees gather from the dry hay. The simple truth is
told that "one man reports so much sweet in it that he has
seen bees by the thousand working on the dry hay in the
spring."
Speaking of this matter. Prof. Cook says, " This is put-
ting it altogether too strong. Still, I do not think that too
much can be said in favor of alfalfa, for it is a marvelous
crop." The good Professor will probably indulge in a quiet
smile when he sees these two sentences side by side : "You
are saying altogether too much for alfalfa," and " You can
not say too much for alfalfa." Which is one to believe ?
Prof. Cook objects to the definition of digestion given
by the author, saying, "This is given as a question [what
can be meant by that ?], but he was not happy in his selec-
tion of authority." Not all will agree as to this, seeing
the authority selected was no less than the able and careful
T. W. Cowan. Prof. Cook teaches that "digestion is ren-
dering the food osmotic."
Our reviewer says "malphygian " should be " malpig-
hian." So it is in the latest edition, and one would hardly
suppose an older edition should be the one reviewed. But
his correction needs further correction, neither the book
nor the critic being right, for "malpighian " should be
" Malpighian."
The " A B C " says, "The blacks are also easier to
shake off combs in extracting time, and for that reason
alone some prefer them, or hybrids, to pure Italians, which
can hardly be shaken off." Prof. Cook says, "I have very
little trouble to fell at one shake every Italian bee from the
comb if the latter fully fills the frame." If Prof. Cook can
shake every bee from the frame at 07te shake, he will confer
a lasting favor on some of the veterans if he will make the
process known. In spite of their shaking off so easily, he
considers they stick tighter than the blacks, and prefers
them on that account, for the best men stick closest to their
homes. There are times when one wants bees to stick by
their comb, and then he will prefer the tighter grip of the
Italians ; but at times when one wants bees to shake ofl", as
in the case mentioned, will one not prefer that the bees he
is trying to shake off shall shake off rather than stick on ?
Prof. Cook says, instead of Mr. Benton spending years
in India, he " was in India only a few days. " In relation
to this point I have a letter from Mr. Benton, who says, " I
left Cyprus for India in December, 1880 ; returned to Cyprus
in May of the following year — absent just Jive months."
While the statement in the "ABC" was not strictly cor-
rect. Prof. Cook is no nearer the truth, for he has gone
clear to the other extreme.
He thinks it unfortunate that the"ABC"uses the
term "worm" and "grub" as synonymous with larva.
That criticism is worth considering, at least so far as to
avoid calling a bee a worm during its early life. Whether
much more than that could be accomplisht is questionable.
To his credit be it said that Prof. Cook is consistent in that
he does not speak of wax-worms, he calls them larv;e or
caterpillars. It is feared that, if a bee-keeper were to say
that caterpillars had eaten up his combs, he might be
laught at. It is very likely, too, that for many years to
come good scholars will saj' that wormy apples have worms
in them. Moreover, when no entomologists are around, an
insect-larva is a worm, for so the dictionary says. So is a
larva of any insect a grub, by the same authority.
Instead of pollen and honey partially digested being fed
to larva^. Prof. Cook says it is pollen perfectly digested,
with or without the addition of honey. When doctors disa-
gree, who shall decide ?
Prof. Cook objects to calling "viper's bugloss " blue
thistle. He says it belongs to the borage family, is no
thistle at all, and is like borage in being no serious pest —
all of which he should have noticed is already told in " A B
C." But blue thistle is one of its popular names, so given
in the dictionary.
He thinks drones from laying-workers areas large as
any, and it is likely that is true when they are reared in
drone-cells.
"It is very doubtful indeed that unimpregnated eggs
will ever produce workers," says the reviewer. It is not
said in " A B C " that they ever will.
He thinks the word fecundate or impregnate should be
used rather than fertilize. According to the dictionary,
either is right.
Referring to feeding at night, Prof. Cook says, " Our
author recommends this night work to prevent robbing."
If he will read carefully, he will see that it is not recom-
May 2, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
279
4PIAUV OF FRAXCES ELLEN WHEELEK, OF CLINTON' lOlNTY, N. Y.
( Courtei^y Reliable Poultry Jom-iint. )
mended, only reported as being accompUsht, and that feed-
ing' toivard night is recommended.
Prof. Cook believes the "ABC" wrong in teaching
that honey from apple-bloom has a strong, rank taste like
that from cherry-blossoms. He may be right; but this,
like some other points to which he refers, was corrected in
the edition just out.
In conclusion, we fear that Prof. Cook, overburdened
with work like some of the rest of us, has not taken the
pains to ascertain whether he himself is always correct
upon all points. He is a pleasant writer — one whom the
fraternity regards as authority ; and whatever else we may
say of him, he is actuated by the kindest of motives — a
spirit that esteems others better than one's self. — Gleanings
in Bee-Culture.
Advantages of Bee-Keeping for Women.
BV FRANCES ELLEN WHEELER.
IN the effort to encourage and lead women into rural
occupations, there is a tendency to extravagantly exploit
the advantages and minimize the difficulties ; that is
misleading and unfair. This is especially true regarding
apiculture. Probably no industry has been more frequently
and enthusiastically recommended to our sex than the care
of bees. Certainly no outdoor work, in some respects, is so
well adapted to our general make-up, or more thoroly fasci-
nating and congenial. Thus far, our advisers are correct.
Their mistakes arise from conveying to the novice an im-
pression that the labor involved is of a light, superficial
character, and that the profits are an assured fact, and to
be confidently reckoned on. Some writers go still further,
and state how many colonies the average woman can take
care of alone, for an entire season, and what the returns
will be for each colony.
Statistics look well on paper. Any one contemplating
a new employment would feel better to know at the start
just how much and how hard they must work, and what
they will make at it. Some people are loath to undertake
this enterprise unless they see in black and white the finan-
cial side of the question ; which would be perfectly reason-
able could the figures be relied upon. But in point of fact,
there is scarely any occupation where the unexpected is
sure to happen, and the " unknown quantity " is so often
to be reckoned with, as it is in an apiary ; both as regards
the labor involved and the profits received.
A little common-sense thought on the subject will show
very plainly that no two worn'... vviudo Lh^ ^.^tie amount of
work in an apiary (ar.j ..lore than they will anywhere elsei,
or obtain the same results. And that in our country, where
the climate and the local flora are so varied, the quality and
■quantity in the crov must also vary. Still more important,
the home markets range in prices according to locality
for comb honey, all the waj* from 7 to 20 cents per pound ;
which affords quite a margin for speculation on returns.
Moreover, is it fair to exact from this business what is not
exacted from any other?
That an immense number of successful apiaries are
scattered thruout our country is proof that bee-keeping
pays. How near the " top notch '' can be reacht, each indi-
vidual must demonstrate by practical experience. A good
instruction book, a periodical, and a few colonies, at the
start, will speedily tell the tale as to qualifications.
After a few experiences alone in the yard, our novice
may decide (as I did) that it pays best, in the long run, to
have a good, strong helper, and that to secure this when
needed, some other industry must he combined with the
apiary, which will give full occupation to both, and relieve
the woman of the heavy parts : affording her leisure to over-
see the important details, and attend carefully to her
market.
Again, tho we have sections where the climate admits
of an apiary being workt almost the entire year, it is not so
in our northern and middle States. Also, our pasturage is
such that there are many localities where apiaries of 80 to
100 colonies only can be workt, year in and year out, to
good advantage. Yards of this size will not, of course,
furnish an income sufficient for a comfortable living ; but,
with a comparatively small outlay of time and money, they
will add very materially to it.
Something might also be considered of our returns
which are not reckoned in dollars and cents. I refer to the
growth in physical and moral health gained by the pure
air and loveliness about us ; the development of spiritual
and intellectual perceptions; and, above all, the sense of
helpfulness and fellowship with these wonderful little crea-
tures ; and commendation,
** Whatsoever thing- thou doest.
To the least of Mine and lowest.
That thou doest uuto Me."
Clinton Co., N. Y.
Something More About Bees Being Necessary to
Poilenize Fruit-Tree Bloom.
BV THAIiUKrS SMITH.
THE advocates of the theory that bees are necessary for
the complete pollenization of the bloom of fruit-trees lay
great stress upon the necessitj' of cross-poUenizing and
seem to think that bees are tho only agents to accomplish
this. By cross-pollenization is meant that there are some
varieties of fruit-bloom deficient in pollen, and the pollen nec-
essary to fructify them must come from some other variety
of the same fruit that produces more pollen. That there
280
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
May 2, 1901.
are a few varieties of fruit deficient in pollen, is well
known to all intellig-ent fruit growers, and they know
equally as well that it is not necessary to have bees to
accomplish this cross-polleuization, and do not depend upon
them, but successfully manage it in another way. It is
found that all that is necessary is, to plant these trees defi-
cient in pollen, near some variety that produces pollen
abundantly. In large orchards it is accomplisht by plant-
ing the different varieties in alternate strips of several
rows each, and thus complete pollenization is obtained with-
out the intervention of bees.
A familiar illustration of where cross-fertilization is
sometimes necessary is found in the strawberry. Every
one who has planted a strawberry-bed knows that there are
bearing and nonbearing kinds— pistillate and staminate
varieties. The pistillate varieties do not bear pollen, and in
order to make them fruitful they must be planted near the
staminate or pollen-producing varieties. By planting the
two kinds in rows from four to six feet apart, the pistillate
— those without pollen— are made to bear fruit abundantly.
The pistillate blossoms do not produce honey or pollen, and
consequently are not visited by bees or other insects ; there-
fore they are not fertilized by' them. But suppose the bees
did visit them— they could carry the pollen from one to the
other just as easily if they were sis rods apart instead of
six feet. But they are barren or nearly so, if planted six
rods apart. But proof positive that they do not owe their
fruitfulness to bees is that both varieties have made fine
crops on these islands where there are no bees. Such a
fact is worth a dozen theories. If pollen can be carried in
the air from one to the other of these lowly plants that
creep upon the ground, to the distance of six feet or more,
and successfully fructify the bloom, could it not be carried
a greater distance and more successfully from the elevated
position on fruit-trees ?
Growers of vegetables in greenhouses have found that
for want of circulation of air, some varieties of vegetables
did not bear well ; and some have been induced to try put-
ting a colony of bees in with their plants, and have found
some benefit from it. The benefit was not. primarily,
caused by the bees carrying pollen from one flower to
another on their legs or bodies, but was caused by the stir
in the air, or the little breeze, as it were, that was made by
the wings of the bees while gathering and transferring
pollen to the little receptacles on their hind legs, that dis-
lodged the pollen and set it in motion to be borne in the
air to other plants. In feeding flour to bees early in the
spring as a substitute for pollen, I have watcht them with
great interest while they were gathering and securing it in
their pollen-baskets. They would gather the flour with
their mouths and fore feet, and would sometimes wallow in
it and get it all over their faces and bodies, and then they
would rise, and with a peculiar fanning motion of their
wings would keep themselves poised in the air just above
the flour, while with their feet they were busy transferring
the pollen from their front feet and bodies to the pollen-bas-
kets, and by this motion of the wings they would create a
little breeze that would blow all the flour off the board upon
which it was fed. Pollen from flowers, whether in green-
house or open air. is gathered and secured in the same way
—placed in their pollen-baskets while on the wing, hover-
ing over the flower, or while going from one flower to
another, and as it is much lighter than wheat-flour, it is
more easily dislodged and blown about in the greenhouse.
Up-to-date growers of vegetables under glass have long
since discovered that the dislodging of the pollen and set-
ting in motion could be accomplisht without bees, and was
equally as successful. They simply go thru the house with
a light stick or rod and give each plant a gentle shake and
the work of pollenizing is accomplisht 1 This corrobor-
ates my statement, that the benefit from the bees was
because they put the pollen in motion.
The ways of the propagation of species in the vege-
table, insect or animal kingdom, is "wonderful and past
finding out," but it affords a theme for interesting investi-
gation which should be conducted in an impartial manner
for the purpose of arriving at the truth. It is possible and
I might say highly probable, that there may be some occult
affinity or attraction between the stigma and the pollen of
flowers by means of which the infinitesimal particles of
pollen that are always floating in the air during fruit-bloom,
are drawn as by a magnet, to the stigma when a short dis-
tance only from it ; and when we look at the results— so
few failures even under adverse circumstances — it seems
there i?iust be something of the kind. But this is specula-
tion, and I am set for the defense of fads.
It is a fact that bees are seen in flowers with pollen on
their feet and in their baskets, and they are seen to leave
one flower and go to another with their pollen ; but
who knows it to be a fact that some of this pollen
obtained from the first flower is left on the second one vis-
ited ? Is there anj' way of finding out? And if it were
left, do we know that this flower would not have produced
fruit without the visit from this bee ? I have known mill-
ions of flowers to produce fruit that never had a bee within
six miles of them. If they will produce fruit in one place
without bees, why not in other places? This claim is all
conjecture based upon preconceived theory without a knowl-
edge of sufficient facts to establish it as a truth ; and when
confronted with such undisputed facts as I have given in
regard to growing fruit in maximum quantities and quali-
ties without bees, it shows its weakness.
Since writing the foregoing, the American Bee Journal
of March 14th has come to hand, containing an article on
this subject from Mr. G. M. Doolittle. Mr. D. represents
himself as discussing this subject with a neighbor who-
claimed that Mr. D.'s bees had injured his fruit crop by tak-
ing the honey from the bloom, and he wanted some of
Mr. D.'s nice honey to pay for the damage. Mr. D. tells
how he met this claim by proving to his neighbor that his
bees were of great benefit to his fruit, instead of being an
injury; and here is a sample of his proof :
"Going back to the creation of all things, all fruit or
grain of any kind was an entire failure till insects were cre-
ated to visit the flowers which secreted nectar, while those
that did not secrete nectar bore fruit as perfect then as
to-day."
This certainly is a new revelation as to the creation of
things. But Mr. D. explains that " thus far all is a matter
of conjecture." But nevertheless he represents himself as
telling it to his neighbor, supposed to be less informed
about such matters, as a matter of fact. With his explan-
ation the statement is most absurd, even as a " conject-
ure."
"So far," he says, "is conjecture," and then he pro-
ceeds to make some other assertions in this very remark-
able article, that are equally as fallacious ; tho he intimates
that he is thru with his " conjectures," and has made na
further explanation. "From this I go on to explain how
that the first object of nectar in the flowers was not for the
perfecting of the fruit, or to be used as a food or luxury
for man, nor even to sustain the life of the bees, but as a
means to an end, and this end was that insects of all kinds
might be drawn to the flowers so secreting, that the fruit
or female blossoms of plants which could not possibly b&
fertilized in any other way, might be fertilized thru the
agency of insects," etc. Another new revelation — seed
and fruit bearing plants and trees were made, but they
" could not possibly be fertilized " so as to bring forth seed
to propagate their species until honey was placed in the
flowers and then bees made to go after this honey in order
to fructify the flowers. In the quotation given, Mr. D.
places " insects of all kinds " in italics, in order to empha-
size the assertion. If language means anything this
includes the festive mosquito, the agile flea, the night-
prowling bedbug, r/ id genus omne. This is too ridiculous
to require further comment.
I have great respect for Mr. Doolittle as one of our
most reliable teachers and writers on bee-keeping, and 1
have read his articles in the bee-papers for the last quarter
of a century with great interest ; but when Mr. D. leaves the
subject with which he is familiar, and gives us such crude
speculation as this article contains, for matter of fact, we
want a more reliable teacher.
Pelee Island, Ont., Canada.
A Celluloid Queen=Button is a very pretty thing for a
bee-keeper or honey-seller to wear on his coat-lapel. It
often serves to introduce the subject of honey, and frequently
leads to a sale.
Note.— One reader writes: '* I have every reason
to believe that it would be a very good idea for every
bee-keeper to wear one [of the buttons] as it will cause
people to ask questions about the busy bee. and many
a conversation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey: at any rate it would g-ive
the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to enlighten
many a person in regard to honey and bees."
The picture shown V^^rewith is a reproduction of a motto-
queen-button that we have beer, furnishing to bee-keepers
for a long time. It has a pin on the i nderside to fasten to
the coat. Price, by mail, 6 cents eacii ; two for 10 cents
or six for 25 cents. Send all orders to tUeoffice of the Amer-
ican Bee Journal.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
281
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTE
DR. O. O. MII.I^Eie, Alareago, 111,
. tThe Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.]
Italianizing— Transferring-^Painting Hives.
1. I have six colonies of black bees that did not swarm
last season, but stored a little surplus honej', and have win-
tered in fair shape. Would it be gfood business to requeen
them with untested Italian queens ? If so, at what time in
the season should it be done ? I do not wish to prevent
them from swarming'.
2. I have four colonies that are on frames that have
thin top-bars that sag- with the weight of the combs, and
some of the combs are not built straight so they can be
handled easily. Would it pay to transfer them to Hoffman
frames with full sheets of foundation ? If so, at what time
in the season should it be done ? There have been bees in
the combs for 10 or 12 years. I wish to secure comb honey
altogether.
3. Would it do any harm to paint hives with the bees in
them ? Ohio.
Answers. — 1. Almost certainly it would be a decided
advantage to trake the change. The only reason for put-
ting in that " almost " is that it is a bare possibility that
you have black bees that are unusually good, and that you
would get Italians that are unusually bad. But that is very
unlikely to be the case. The new queens can be given at
any time when it best suits your convenience.
2. Most likely it would pay well to transfer to more
satisfactory frames, whether Hoffman or something else is a
question. If propolis is as plenty with you as with me, you
will hardly want Hoffmans, but you can have frames that
are self-spacing like the Hoffman without so much surface
for propolis. But instead of changing the combs for foun-
dation, why not transfer the combs into better frames?
The age of the combs is nothing against them. The straight
combs would be transferred very easily — do it in fruit-bloom
— and it is possible that at least some of the crooked ones
could be straigtened, or put in piece-meal.
3. No. it will be all right, providing you make an ar-
rangement with the bees that they will not sting the painter.
Clipping Queens— Other Management.
I expect to have about 40 queens to clip this spring.
They are mostly in standard hives, but there was no brood
foundation used, and I expect the combs are not in very
good shape to hunt for queens.
1. How would it work, to place a hive filled with foun-
dation in frames under a colony of bees (or perhaps have
one frame of brood and a queen), place a bee-escape be-
tween the two hives, and belo%v the escape have a cage of
perforated zinc ? Would the bees go down and accept the
lower queen, and the upper queen attempt to go down and
get caught in the cage ?
2. Would there be danger of draining the upper hive so
thoroly that the brood would be left to chill ?
3. If this plan would work, how long do you think it
would take to trap the queen from the time the escape was
placed, in warm weather ? Iowa.
Answers. — Instead of answering your questions in
ordpr, please allow me to bunch them. In the first place,
unless you have queens " to burn," you may as well dismiss
the idea of having a queen below. Your idea, no doubt, is
to have the frame of brood and the queen there as a sort of
attraction. Altho the brood would be to some extent an
attraction, a strange queen would not. The probability, if
not the certainty, is that she would be promptly balled and
killed. Even if the bees should be friendly to the queen
below, she would do no good. When there is a general
stampede, and the bees leave the hive en iitasse, the queen
goes with them. But in your scheme there is nothing of
the kind. A bee leaves the hive in the regular course of its
duties, and in doing so passes down thru the escape, and is
unable to return. There is nothing about that to make the
queen want to go down. Neither is there when two bees or
several thousand have gone down. All that she knows is
that there seems to be getting to be a scarcity of bees, and
that's no reason why she should desert her post in the
brood-nest. So you may about as well give up the scheme
as impracticable.
You do not say whether your object is merely to clip the
queen, or to get the bees to move their brood-nest below. In
either case, you can drum or smoke out the bees, hunt out
the queen and clip her, then return. If you want the brood-
nest to be moved below, put the queen in the lower story,
with an excluder on it, then place over it the old hive. In
three weeks time the worker-brood will be all hatcht out
above, and you can do what you please with the upper
story. If you do not want to drum out the bees, you might
proceed another way : Put under the hive a story filled
with foundation (all the better if you can give it a frame of
brood), with no excluder between the two stories, and allow
the bees to work down of their own accord. As soon as the
queen becomes crowded for room above, she will move
downstairs, and when you find eggs there you may look for
her. Possibly you may not find her, for until about all the
space upstairs is filled with honey she will keep going from
one hive to the other. But your chances of finding her be-
low will be constantly on the increase, and after you do find
her, if you want the brood-nest to be below, you must use
an excluder.
Before doing anything else, it will be well to make a
thoro investigation in each case, and see if you can not find
one, two, or three frames that can be taken out, and then
the rest might be cut out and transferred correctly into the
frames.
\ ^ The Afterthought, "i" |
The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
MATING OF QUEENS IS CONFINEMENT.
The front picture on No. 12 resuscitates an old enthusi-
asm, or fad, or " image of something in heaven above," at the
shrine of which we all did vainly worship in time past — until
the missionaries of common sense gently led us away. Possi-
bly they were misguided in doing so. "Go in," Mr. Hutchin-
son ! go in everybody who can't be entirely " asy " in mind
about our present breeding 1 I feel quite strongly that the
power to mate the individual drone to one individual queen
would do us more harm than good ; but the present scheme
does not contemplate that exactly. It contemplates mating
an individual queen to a nature-selected drone of a man-
selected colony. More good than harm would come of that I
think, providing success could be had. As Mr. Hutchinsoa
suggests, success must be theoretically possible, providing
some one is willing to spend effort enough, and cash enough,,
in building big enough. But let me also revive a related idea.
Those who live near great plains on which there is no tree or
hollow crevice, and no bees, can perhaps have the same thing
cheaper. Take your wagon and drive out a few miles upon
the plain, carrying your drone colony and your nuclei with
virgins. Little islands are apt to be abnormally cool just
when you want them to be hot ; and at such stations queens
drown : but plains incline to be hot at 2 p.m.
Possibly I can suggest some improvements on the tent
shown in the picture. Suppose we abandon the gasometer
shape, and let the starting model of shape be that of a race-
track rooft in — track only, center circle not occupied. Then
flying around and around insects can go as many miles as they
wish in a course that will not require any halting and turning
back. Suppose we abandon the netting and use cheap cotton
cloth. Abundance of light will come thru it : and it removes
most of the temptation to butt in the effort to get out.
Cheaper, much stronger, makes no on the sewing-machine
more kindly, holes which may develop will be visible instead
of invisible— better every way (except perhaps the deadly
didn't think-of-it one), and excepting the obvious objection
that it will take more wind, and need to be more strongly sup-
ported, lint with cloth cover and race-track shape I don't
believe it will need to be more than 1 H feet high. Presum-
ably it will be possible to fly young queens and drones in
such a course in ignorance of the fact that there is any
282
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 2, 1901.
more to the world. Before you build, and after you have got
this crude ideal of shape well in your mind, you can push in
two opposite sides of it until it is dumb-bell shaped instead of
circular — hives to be at one of the bulbs. This modification
will save one wall, save very greatly in the ground area
required, and give greater strength against wind. The cloth
at the sides can be arranged to pull up and tie at the top when
not in use and thus offer little sail to a storm.
It will reijuire considerable grace to do so, but I trust Mr.
Davitte will be able to take it meekly if there are still
"Thomases" in the world. Sixteen days for preparatory
exercise strikes one as rather a big chunk cut out of the
drone's life. The words, "the queen and drone fall nearly to
the ground," are provocative of suspicion. Tliey sound so
dreadfully like they were " cut out mit de shears " from the
bee-literature of 25 years ago. A fall of less than 30 feet
seems very inadequate to give time for twisting off a strong
ligament by rotation. Page 181.
BEE-KEEPING AND PIAKO-PLAYING.
Easier to learn apiculture than piano-playing, eh ? Well
perhaps. There's this about it — if you learn bees you suffer
the torments yourself mostly ; if piano is your choice the
agony falls to the neighbors. Page 182.
ADULTERATION OF SUGAR CO.MMON.
Referring to Mr. Cowan's letter on page 211, I guess I
shall have to admit that the adulteration of granulated sugar
is getting to be common. Am using some now very pleasant
to the taste, but nevertheless tasting as tho there might be an
admixture of something. The hardness of grain and the
straight-out sweet and nothing else do not seem to be there.
BUCKWHEAT BLOOM E.VRLY.
West Virginia, on page 185 — what does he want buck-
wheat to bloom .July 1st for? Perhaps it might be well to
tell him that buckwheat made to bloom abnormally early is
pretty sure not to yield honey to amount to anything — also
pretty sure not to produce very much grain, either.
j^.^.j&L^.J«C^VtC^,^.^.J:l,j:l^jiC^,j:L.j^.j«^^iCJ:C^t<L
The Home Circle.
W:
Conducted bij Prof. ft. J. Cook, Clareniont, Calif.
"THE BEST CROP."
At one of our recent farmers' institutes, a lady had a
paper on the subject of "The Best Crop." Of course no one
could know whether she was to treat of beans, barley, or
beets. We soon found that it was to be none of these, but
was to be devoted to the children. And surely she was right.
The boys and girls do certainly form the best crop, not only of
the farm, but of any home be it in city or country. 1 wonder
if any of us realize this fact as we should. How many of
the children use tobacco ; how many even smoke the harmful,
not to say deadly, cigarette ; how many seek amusement In the
saloon; how many use profane language : how many tell or
listen to the vulgar story, and often demean themselves by
telling it themselves. Oh, how happy we are if we can keep
our dear ones from all these debasing habits 1 We engage
men to spend days, and keep a close watch of them all of the
time as they break a favorite colt. Yet do we all give time to
the children, and do we watch as closely, as their habits are
being formed ? Do we give an hour or two on each Sunday,
perchance walking in the field, park, or woodland, and call-
ing their attention to the many beauties that are scattered so
thickly all about us ? The father and mother who have not
liad these pleasures have mist one of the rarest sweets of
life. The children who have not in their early, tender years
enjoyed this rich fellowship, have had a most valuable part of
their life left out.
I do not think there is any one thing in my whole life that
I recall with more satisfaction and genuine pleasure than I do
the Sunday walks with the dear wife and children. I found,
it so easy to beget in the children a love even for the creeping,
crawling things. They loved and admired even the snakes,
the frogs, and the caterpillars. Who has not admired the
stanza from the poet ?
"He prayeth best who loveth best,
All things both great aad small ;
For the dear Lord wlio loveth us,
Ue tuade and loveth all."
. Can we help our children more than to lead them to love
and admire (lod's handiwork at the very threshold of their
lives ? If we can couple with this in their young minds a full
appreciation that all the good things are from God, we have
given to them an invaluable possession. I would rather my
child would have a perfectly realizing sense that God was all
about him, loved him, cared for him, and was the Great Giver
of all the beauty about us, than any other one thing. No
father should be so busy that he could not take these Sunday
walks with tlie dear children.
Is it not also true that the club or street-corner talk
should be very valuable indeed if it robs the children of the
time and sympathy of the father? How many fathers carry
a life-long burden because of wayward children '. I just
heard a day or two ago of a good Christian man who lives
close by us, who has also been a life-long minister of the gos-
pel, whose son has dipt into all the bad things that smirch the
life and cliaracter, I have known the boy, and his face tells
the story of his reckless life. I believe all this burden of
sorrow might very likely have been avoided had the father
found time during the boy's early years to have taken walks,
read to him the Youth's Companion or other good paper,
given him some chickens, and then taken the interest In him
that is always so pleasing to the boy or girl.
I remember once in a lecture before the Chautauqua Asso-
ciation, in speaking of inciting in children a love of Nature.
I made what I feared at the time was a rash assertion. I said
that I believed that up to twelve years of age, if Barnum's
"Greatest Show on Earth " were to come our way. and I had
said to my boy and girl, " We will take the day off, and go to
the circus or for a walk in the woods — which shall it be ?" I
believed that they would have elected the walk in the woods.
As I bethought me of the circus, the fine horses, tlie rapid
and dizzy riding, the wondrous jumping, swinging and wrest-
ling'I feared that 1 had perhaps make a reckless statement.
After the lecture, I askt my grown daughter who was present,
if I had done so. She said, " No, indeed. I am sure we
should have gone for the walk."
It is assuredly true that the children are the best crop of
the farm. Time, effort, energy, spent in keeping them inter-
ested in good things is the best kind of cultivation. I have
often wisht that I had money so that I could put the Youth's
Companion into every home of the land. Next to our per-
sonal attention, nothing will hefp so much to lift the children
from all that is mean and unseemly as good papers and books.
These are now so cheap that no home need be without them.
We have had many illustrations here at our college that the
boy or girl of good stuff need not even go without a college
education. Energy, determination, vim, can even give this
best of riches with no outside help at all. How much easier
to secure the good book, the good paper, for the children.
CHILDREN IN THE CITY.
How many of our good friends live in the close quarters
of the city, perhaps in a flat where a few feet of ground in
front and back form the only seclusive places for the children.
The children must have air and sunshine. Without these,
pallor, weakness, disease, are sure to come. Left to the
street, and all kinds of companionship will be theirs. Impu-
dence, rudeness, often even the vilest vulgarity will be poured
into their ears. Surely, no mother can contemplate this with-
out a dread and horror that will do its utmost to bring inven-
tion to the rescue. I have a friend who has just this problem
to solve. Her husband's business makes it almost Impossible
to escape the narrow limits of the city fiat. The back yard is
about 30x10 feet. This is boarded up so as to shut out the
street children, and give the seclusion which is so imperative
to the best good of the children. Lovely vines have converted
the rude board fence into a thing of beauty. A hammock,
screen to protect from the sun, pile of clean sand for the
thousand and one things that the little architects will design,
some clay to be used in moulding, blocks, brick, etc., all make
that back yard a veritable paradise for the wee children.
Other children in the neighborhood long to gain admittance to
this little fairyland, and are themselves moulded into goodness
as they know that the most perfect conduct is the only key
that unlocks the door.
Thus this mother has not only solved the immediate prob-
lem for her own children, but she has a center of good influ-
ence which is throwing Its wholesome beams all thru that sec-
tion of the city. Whenever the busy mother can do so, she
takes the children to the parks and there talks of birds,
insects and even creeping things, for she learned to know and
love these things when she was little, and she Is handing these
same bits of knowledge over to the eager children which have
come to bless her home.
A friend at my side asks, " How about the coming years ?"
May 2, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
283
This raotlipr has thought this out, and has planned to live so
economically and plan so well that as the children get older
they can move into the suburbs, and there with garden, poul-
try and bees, the children may have that which will not only
give them wholesome employment, but which will also interest
them in the real, vital things of life, and thus prepare them
for the sterner duties which will come in their later years.
We see that this mother has devoted a great deal of time and
thought that she may give hor children an abundance of the
good things, and keep from them anything tliat would poison
character and vitiate the life. Ought we not all to do the
.same thing ? Ought we not for our own good and also as a
patriotic duty? Mr. Woodward, so well and favorably known
in the State of New York, once told me that no man should be
content to leave this world until he could leave behind chil-
dren who were brighter and better than he. I believe he said
truly. We can hardly hope to realize this happy experience
unless we give earnest heed to this " best crop of the farm.''
INFLUENCE OF GOOD EXAMPLE TRUTHFULNESS
AND HONESTY.
I believe the best cultivation that can be given tliis crop is
that of wholesome example. How few of us that are parents
are careful enough in this respect. Our words are not such as
becometh the Gospel of Peace or our high position as parents.
The rude 'slang, the profanity, the sarcasm, the thoughtless
wit, all these should be kept away from the home circle.
Ought we not to form an idea of just what we want this best
crop to be ? Then, ought we not with most earnest, prayerful
effort strive to make our own lives conform to this ideal ?
The most blessed thing in character is absolute truthfulness.
Are we careful enough that there shall be no lie in our lives ?
How Quickly even the little deception will be detected by the
child. H such deception beget in them a lack of genuine
truthfulness, then we have sown the biggest tares in our best
crop of the farm.
Next to truthfulness, honesty holds first rank. The child,
the man, the citizen, are not what the home, the community,
the country, stand in pressing need of unless transparent
honesty gilds the life. Who has not felt grieved to the quick
as they have heard the father, perhaps about the tea-table,
tell with great rejoicing how in some bargain or trade during
the day he has cheated a stranger or neighbor to the tune of
many dollars ? Oh, that he could know what a black eye he
was giving to the forming character of the child as lie tells of
any such experience as that given above.
KEEPING LITTLE HANDS BUSY.
I think one of the most helpful things in the best devehjp-
ment of this " best crop of the farm '' is the keeping of the
little hands busy. This is one of the things which glorifies
farm lite. How difficult always to furnish the city boy with
wholesome employment. On the farm it is not difKcult at all.
If we give the boy the bees, the chickens or the calf, which he
is to care for, we will make this labor at the same tiine recre-
ation. I know of a father who incited such interest in bees
and chickens in his children that they were not only both of
them induced to become great readers and students, but they
were led into habits of industry and were each enabled to
make money, independent of the father, enough largely to
defray their expenses in getting a college education. When I
was a boy, my father always kept me at work. While I was
rarely ever late at school, I never got there much before the
opening hour, and tarried afterwards at my peril. I thought
then, at times at least, that my lot was a hard one. How
many times since have I blest my good father's memory as I
have learned to appreciate his wisdom, and have seen its fruits
in my own life.
The parent who succeeds in developing habits of industry
and a love of good, honest work in the child, has certainly
workt in the very best way to secure the best fruitage in the
best crop of the farm.
BEES AND QUEENS
laviag been 2N vears rear-
f Queens for ilie trade on
! best known plans, I will
le to rear the best.
PRICES:
One Untested Queen $1.L)0
One Tested Queen 1.35
One Select Tested Queen 1.50
One Breeder 3.ni)
One Comb Nucleus l.SO
BelgianHares
Choice, pedigreed and common stock; vounfr-
sters, $3.00 per pair. Write for description and
prices. d. L. STRONG,
lIAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
We want *
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES !
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. ()ur prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mutti & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts., CiNCiNX.-iTi.O.
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported Hothers.
r Our stock is so carefully bred and selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality free
from foul brocd and other bee diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, $l.l», 6 for $5.00; 1 tested
<2ueen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $5.00.
ADA L. PICKARD,
ISETt RICHLAND CENTER. WIS.
-■^ T"! nn HIVES, SECTIONS AND AIL
■ I Ijl I Jl BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
■ » li J il J Big Catal,.i; Kree. Write
I I I'i I 'J now. Leahy MfR. Co., 2415
-M-^J-J-l-J Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
6Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
Bees Wintered Poorly.
Bees have wintered poorly in this locality.
I don't believe the working force will exceed
one-half of what it was last year. The care-
less bee-keepers have lost heavily, and .some
have nothing left but empty hives and experi-
ence. One of mj' apiaries which contained
116 colonies last fall has Ijeen reduced to 95,
on account of insufficient stores and a cold
cellar. The bees in my other two apiaries
wintered well, the loss being onlj' 3 colonies
out of 241, and all are apparently in good con-
dition. A. G. Wilson.
Vernon Co., Wis., April 12.
Prospects for a Good Fruit-Bloom.
Sprint; in this locality is late, wet and cold.
Iiut there will be an unusually good fruit-
Ijlooin. and the ground is being covered with
a carpet of white clovei^, so we are hoping for
a good season. John W. Beattt.
Clay Co., Mo., April 13.
Winter Losses.
The past winter was a hard one on bees in
this vicinity. I put 13 colonies into winter
iiuarters, and U of them came thru all right,
hut they will require a great deal of feeding.
One beekeeper here had 30 colonies last fall,
and has lost 14 of them so far. I think he will
make a successful Ijee-keeper, for to work
with them is his " meat and drink."
Jethuo Wilsox.
Watauga Co.. N. C, April 3.
Bees Will "Ring Him Up" When
Swarming.
I have a plan in my mind whereby I believe
I can make the bees " ring me up"' when a
swarm issues. I shall work on the theory
that when a swarm issues they pour out of
1860 1901
THOSE LONG-TONGUED ADELS !
''Business Dairying"
White Rock:, Minn., April 10, IWl.
The Adel Queens I got from jou are more
than you claimed for them. I want (» more.—
S. W. Jackson.
Oneco, Conn., April 15, 1901.
Tke Adels have wintered finely, and I like
them very much. I want more Queens. Send
price list.— Rev. T. B. Mowkey.
I g-uarantee any Queens sent out from my
apiary and sold for $1.00 each to be as g-ood as
any $10 Queens sold by any dealer. Price-list
Now Ready.
]8E2t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when "writing.
THE WHEEL OF fJME
k lor aU time is the
Metal YVheel.
make them in all sizes and vari.
eties, 'lO FITANV AXLE. Any
height, any width of tire desired.
Our wheels are either direct or
statrcerspokc. Can FIT YOUK
\VA<;i»> perffctlv without chance.
^NO BREAKING DOWN.
Nodryiajout. No lesKtnng tires, IJlienp
I beeaut*e they endure. Send for cala-
loL'ue and prices. Free upon request.
Electric Wheel Co,
Bo« 16 Qulncy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
Dittnier's Foimdation !
Retail— Wholesale Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL, necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, which enable me to. SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonnilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog (jiving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Plep<*e mention Bee Journal when writing.
284
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
May 2, 1901.
the hive with such a rush that a number of
them accumulate in front of the hive on the
ground or on the alighting-board.
I would like to aslv the following questions
of just as many bee-keepers as will answer
thru the " Old Reliable," and when the an-
swers are publisht I will give my plan with
some photographs in this Journal:
1. When a swarm issues do the bees pour
out of the hive with such a rush that they
can not take to their wings fast enough, and
consequently pile up in front of the hive to
the amount of a half pound or more ?
2. When a prime swarm issues, is the queen
one of the last to come out of the hive ?
A. B. GlXNER.
Hardin Co., Iowa, April 13.
Handy Little Apiarian Tools.
1 enclose a drawing of a little tool that I
made for fastening "starters" in sections.
The cut is about two-fifths of the full size,
and will do the work as fast as any tool 1
know of. I use two of them, keeping one in
a dish of hot water on a small kerosene stove,
changing when one gets too cool. There is
uo wasting of foundation by melting, as with
most of the high-priced, patented affairs. I
made mine out of a broken saw blade, but a
piece of heavy tin doubled, with the ends
toward the handle, will answer every purpose,
The point should be rounded, not sharp, to
avoid cutting the foundation in two.
I also have a small scraper for scraping
propolis from sections, supers, etc., made in
the same way, of steel, only the point is
turned down and kept sharp. This beats the
Golden section-cleaner out of sight. I use it
to clean the tops of the sections before remov-
ing them from the super, and can do the
whole 24 in the time it used to take me to do
one with the Golden method.
Reading an article in the Bee Journal some
time ago. suggesting that bee-keepers tell
each other of any little thing they think
might be helpful, is what prompted me to
submit the above mites. A. F. Foote.
Mitchell Co.. Iowa.
Piekled Brood Introducing Queens.
Pickled brood, in this locality, is of little
moment. Colonies of Italian bees are not
troubled with it. I have cured many cases
among blacks and hybrids, simply by intro-
ducing an Italian queen. When her bees pre-
dominate the disease disappears. I am quite
sure that pickled brood is not a starvation
disease, as newly-hived swarms, gathering
honey and pollen freely, have shown it in
their first brood.
I successfully introduced over 50 cjueens,
both home-bred and from a distance, to colo-
nies in almost every possible condition, during
the season of IWO. I used the Miller cage,
pasteboard tackt over the candy. The paste-
board must be a little narrower than the hole
>•/-•
^%^^%^-
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
Q. B. LEWIS COMPANY
Watertown. Wisconsin, u. S. a.
28 Years' Experience
SELLING DIRECT.
WE HAVE NO AGENTS
age of the largest selection. You run no risk for we ship
iif where with privilege of examination, ffuaranteclne
ircdelivery. Our line consists of Rockaways or Depot Wag-
:is. Surreys, Traps. Phaetons, Spiders, Stanhopes, Driving Wag-
as. Top Buggies, Open and Top Koad Wagons. Spring Wagons,
Delivery \V agons, Milk Wagons, Wagonettes, andall styles of
harness. Sendfor ourlaree Illustrated cataloKue— FREE.
Elkhart Carriage and Harness Manfg. Co.
W. C. PRATT, Secy. ELKHART, INDIANA.
Plea-se meation Bee Journal ■whea ■writing.
NOTICE
THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY have a Branch Store at 10 Vine St.,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.,
Where they have direct steamboat connections with Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida,
and low freight rates.
As this is a main branch, order from any catalog or quotations given
from Medina.
Also booking orders for healthy ITALIAN BEES, shipt this month. Full
colonies, 8 frames and queen, S6.00. Wholesale rates on application.
Please niention Bee Journal "when •writing
paid
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
28 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
0"
KINGHAM SMOKER.
De-\r Sir:— Inclosed find 51.75,
Please send one brass smoke en
giue. I have one already. It is
the best smoker I ever used.
Truly yours,
Hexkv Schmidt, Hutto, Tex.
BIJiGUAirBRiSrSllRERS !
Made of sheet brass, which does not rust or burn out;
should last a lifetime. You need one, but they cost 25 cts.
more than tin of the same size. The little open cut shows
our brass hinge put on the j larger sizes. No wonder Bing-
ham's 4-inch smoke-engine goes without puffing, and does
not drop inky drops. The perforated steel fire-grate has
381 holes to air the fuel and support the fire.
Heavy tin smoke-engine, 4-inch stove, per mail, Jl.SO;
3"^-inch, $1.10; 3-inch, il.OO; 2}4-inch,')Oc; 2-inch, t.5c. Bing-
ham smokers are the originals, and have all the improve-
ments, and have been the standard of excellence for 22
years. Only 3 larger ones brass.
BiRNAMwooD, Wis., April 10, l'«il.
DE.4K Sir:— Please send per mail one .?^-inch brass
smoker. A decade's experience has convinced me that the
Bingham is the best. Respectfully, M. P. Cady.
The Leader for 25 Years.
Bingham invented and patented all the real improvements made in Bee-Smokers and Un-
capping-Knives in the last 25 rears, and has introduced all the different sizes now advertised.
Every bee keeper having a smoker that will not go out is indebted to Bingham foi its inven-
tion.' If you buy a Bingham Smoker or Uncapoing-Knife you are sure to get the best, and
show that you appreciate valuable inventions. We make different sizes to suit all. No one has
ever written or said that our 4-inch Engine is too large, but many of the best bee-keepers think
'•P"''='=' T. F, BINGHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mentiot Bee Journal when writing.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
285
which it covers. The thin slii|i|iiiij,'-tags used
by express companies are made o£ just the
right Ivind of pasteboard for tliis purpose.
After several years' experience with the
Doolittle and Pridgen methods of ciueen-rear-
ing, I prefer the Doolittle plan. With a quill
I can transfer just as small larva? as Mr.
Pridgen can move, "baby, cradle and all," and
no combs mutilated.
To keep up with the times, I have been
measuring the tongues of bees from several
of my colonies. The variation in length is
surprising. The longest-tongued bees that 1
have yet measured are from the granddaugh-
ter of an " Adel " queen. Their tongues
measure from .25 inch to .354 inch from the
base of the sub-mentum to the tip of the
ligula. This colony built combs for me all
last summer, brood was taken from them fre-
•quently, yet they gave a small surplus, and
had more winter stores than any other colony
in my home yard.
The bee-keepers of South Dakota have ex-
perinced some of the advantages of co-opera-
tion. Supplies were purchast thru our State
association. For many of our members the
saving of supplies alone many times repaid
the membership fee of one dollar.
Perhaps for thoe e who wilt use quilts on
hives nothing is so good as Dr. Miller's quilts
■with several layers of newspapers between,
says one of my neighbors who has used many
of them.
Bees have wintered perfectly, both indoors
and outdoors. E. V. Atwater.
Yankton Co., S. D.. March 1.
Report from Southern Georgia.
I began bee-keeping in 1897 with 5 colonies,
and have made a great many mistakes, as
most beginners do. I now have a small api-
ary of 3T colonies, which I run entirely for
■comb honey, as I find a better demand for it
in my local market than for the extracted
honey.
I live in southern Georgia, where we have
no severe winters, and my bees are left on the
summer stands in single-walled hives the year
around, without the loss of a single colony in
wintering.
I hived a swarm April 5th that weighed 15
pounds, and have put some supers on. Our
main honey-tlow begins about May 1st, and
lasts until about July 1st. I take off the
•supers about July 15th, and let them build up
for winter. I lose two or three colonies every
spring from spring dwindling.
There is no apiary within S miles of mine.
I like bee-keeping, and also like the American
Bee Journal, and think that no bee-keeper
■ought to try to get along without it.
H. T. Hanna.
Decatur Co., Ga., April 13.
Successful Cellap-Wlnteping.
Our bees came out booming this spring.
From 400 colonies placed in the cellar last
fall we have lost only 10 colonies, so I think
we will have some bee-business this .season.
■Our imported queens wintered very well, and
•came out with plenty of brood in their hives.
Many of the bee-keepers in this section re-
port heavy losses. We attribute our success
in wintering to the bees having plenty of
good food, good cellars, and last, but not less
important, good, young, prolific queens.
AllA L. PlCKAKI).
Richland Co., Wis., April IT.
Rendering Beeswax.
Having seen and read a gond many articles
in the Amerieaii Bee Journal alwut rendering
wax from old brood-combs, and about its
being such an awful job, perhaps I can help
some of those who think it so. by giving my
plan. I think the solar wax-extractor is a
slow process unless one has but a few colo-
aies. I have tried a number of different
ways, and I think the following is " king of
all,'' both for rapid work and ease:
I have made what I call a " jack press.'' It
is 10x16 inches, inside measure, the posts and
beams are 4x0 oak. the bottom is made of 3-
inch planks, and the ends and sides are made
■of one-incli pine with one-ineh slots left on
QUEENS!
Improved Golden ;iiid Leather-colored Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one o( Kom's best lone-tougued Red-
Clover Breeders from their $2W queen, and a
Golden Breeder from l)oomtle,wlio says if there
is a BREEDER of ffoUIen bees in the U.S. wonli
ftiiO, this one iswortli that sum. The above
breeders have been .idded to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the coming season.
J. L. tiandv, of Humboldt, Nebr,, wrote us on
Aug. 5th, PJiKi, savintf that the colony having
one of our queens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostly comb; ; he states that
he is certain that our bees work on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiarv.
A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our queens from time to time. We have files
upon flies of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering the above evidence, need
you wonder why our orders have increast each
year? Give us a trial order and be pleased. We
have years of e.\periencein mailing and rearing
queens. Safe dcliverv will be truaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with eacb lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Prices before July ist:
1 6 12
Warranted stock $.75 $4.25 $8.00
Selected warranted l.Oi) 5.IH1 ').50
Tested 1.50 S.tW 15.00
Selected tested 2.00 10 50
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 4.00
Folding Cartons, with your address printed
on in two colors, $4 00 per 1,000; 500 for $2.75.
Address all orders to
H. G. QUIRIN, Papkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.
Bv contract this ad. will appear twice per
moiithonly. 14KI3t
Price of Queens
from Imported
Mothers:
Tested. 1-$ 1.50
Un" .1— .75
:d..6— 6.50
..I,— 4.00
Tested. 12— 12.00
ted.
it he
G. F. DAVIDSON & SONS.
Establisht 1885. Faikview, Wilson Co., Tex.
12Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Bee^Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a coosifrument of the fiaest up-
o-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to noae. Complete line of Bee-Keepers*
Supplies on hand, l-ees and Queens. Catalog
free.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. 0. ACKLIN, Hanager.
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Plea^^e mention the Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely thrui any other publisht,
se[id$1.2Sto
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
1 OR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal DJSLOunts to the Trade.
each side of the Ijottom, these being covered
with wire cloth so that the wax can pass thru.
I also use a sack made of burlap with square
bottom tlie size of the inside of the press. I
have another plank to fit loosely in the press,
wliieli 1 set the jack on. I use a jack with
2x1(1 inch screw. Set the whole thing on a
large tub or trough with some water in it,
and I am ready for business.
I boil about '25 or 30 combs at a time in an
old wash-boiler, having it as hot as I can
make it. I have the sack in the press all
ready, |iour the boiling wax into it, fold down
tile sack, lay on the loose plank, screw down
the jack, and the work is done. I can press
it as dry as pomace that conies from a cider-
press. After having done all this I refill the
boiler, and let the next lot get hot while I am
pressing the first. If the press is made strong,
and the work is done right, from "2.50 to 30(1
combs can be prest in a day.
Wm. Housel.
Hunterdon Co., N. J., March "21.
Prospects for a Good Honey Crop.
I put 11 colonies into the cellar last fall,
but they were not very strong, so I lost 4 of
them. Last season was a very poor one for
bees in this part of the State, but the pros-
pects are for a good honey crop this year.
Albert GoETscn.
Dodge Co., Wis., April 19.
How the
Robber-Bees" Were
Quelled.
I had a little experience once with bees
when I first commenced in the bee-business.
I had read up on the subject of bee-keeping,
and considered myself competent to care for
and manage an apiary. I soon started out in
quest of bees, and ptirchast two colonies in
box-hives. This was in early spring. I kept
close watch to see that all was well with them,
and everything went well the first day. The
second day trouble came. One of my hives
was full of honey and bees, the other one was
light in both.
About 1 p.m. I noticed there was something
wrong in the apiary. I soon discovered just
what the trouble was — they were robbing ray
best colony. 1 thought how very fortunate I
was to have learned just how to manage a bail
case of robbing like the one I now had to deal
with.
I sent one member of the family after straw,
another after water, and myself after the
sprinkler. I soon had the front of the hive,
which was being robbed, piled high with
straw, and the sprinkler running full time.
But what perplext me was, the hees kept
piling into the hive, and none came out, but
soon all was quiet. I had comiuered them. I
decided then and there that I was well in-
formed in all the branches of bee-keeping.
I diiln't learn my mistake till the following
day, when the bees again (as before) came
out for their daily play-apeU.
A. E. WiLLCUTT.
Hampshire Co., Mass.
Value of Honey as Food.
" Comparatively few to-day know the great
value of honey both as a food and a medicine.
Were its value as a medicine thoroly known,
it would displace in hundreds of families tlie
domestic remedies or quack compounds now
depended upon by them as 'cure-alls.' If
every bee-keeper in the country would write a
series of articles for his local weekly news-
piiper upon the value of honey for food anil
iiLoilieine, it would soon create a demand, to
sii|iply which would require a much larger
(pmntity than is now produced."
Thus says a writer in one of our agricul-
tural papers. While there may not be in the
claims made, all the writer thinks, yet in them
is something worthy of thinking about. If
honey is really ihe gvod thing we tjce-keepers
286
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 2, 1901.
Tennessee Queens !
ghi
of Choice Tested
eared last season,
:lect imported
her
select goldea qu
eared 2'i miles apart, aud
uated to select drones, $1.50
■ach ; untested warranted
rae breeders,
5c each. No
an 254
les. None impure within
ind bat few within 5 miles.
rears' experience. Discount
large orders. Contracts
■with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
(,A2tit Spring Hill, Tenn.
taease mention Bee Jotirnal -when writing
r" .r.tifn.fnia I U you care to know of its
CalllOrnia l Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's FaTorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading- Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publ.sht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, J2.00 per annum. Sam.
pie copy free. ^««
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS.
330 Market Street. San Francisco. Cal
4 Bee=Supplies f
f-We are distributors for ROOT'S GOODS •
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio, '
4 Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken- A
, tucky, and theSouth, ^
• MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS, f
I LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC. I
4 Lowest Freight Rates in the country. •
Send for Catalog. i
■^ f
- Successor to C. F. Muth & Son, .
" 2146-48 Central Ave., CINCINNATI.O. #
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. 1. Boot Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. VVe can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
naid tor beeswax. Send for oungoi catalog.
Si H. HUNT & SON, Bell Branch. Wayne Co., Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writinfe
Do YouJWant a
fliQli Grade ot Italian Queens
Or a CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Chicago, III., Jan. 28, 1101.
D. J. Blocher, Esq., PearlCity, 111.
Dear Sir: —Your quotations on 48 untested
Italian Queens, ready for delivery by May IS,
1901, at hand. It being the first offer out of sev-
eral inquiries,and, besides, you having promptly
favored me with queens last year, you may, in
appreciation thereof, have the order.
Yours truly, L. Kreutzinger.
Prices for Hay and June:
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested Sl.OO $5.00 $ ^.OO
Tested 1-25 ''■"O "-W
Select Tested 2.00 10.00 17.00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $100 SS.00 $9.00
Tested 1-25 7.00 11.00
SelectTested - l.SO 8.00 13.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
^'^*"^d'. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, 111.
14El)t Please mention the Bee Journal.
think it is, are we doing right in not publish-
ing the matter more ? Are -we not " hiding
our light under a bushel ''the most of the
time, when, by letting it shine brightly aU the
time, we might honor our calling by leading
others to partake of the good which comes to
the world thru that best of all sweets — honey '.
— G. M. DooLiTTLE, in the Progressive Bee-
Keeper.
Load a Worker^Bee Can Carry.
A Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
says; " A worker, according to Alex. Astor
(Rev. Int.), can carry about an eighth more
than its own weight when honey is given to
it. The maximum load of nectar brought in
he found to be (about .June 1st) 65.5 milli-
grams (a little more than three-fourths its
own weight); and from then to Aug. 3d the
weighings showed 50 mg., 45, 40, 28, '25, 18, 16.
10, 0." — [It appears, then, that a bee can carry
more of honey than it can of nectar — not larger
in imlk, but greater in weight. These figures
are very interesting. — Editor.]
CAREER AND CHARACTER OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
An address by Joseph Choate, Am-
bassador to Great Britain, on the ca-
reer and character of Abraham Lincoln
—his early life— his early struggles
with the world — his character as devel-
opt in the later years of his life and his
administration, which placed his name
so high on the world's roll of honor
and fame, has been publisht by the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, and may be had by sending six
(6) 'cents in postage to F. A. Miller,
General Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
18A3t
A Queen Between the Lips.
A pointer for those who, like myself, are
forgetful: Here is a queen I wish to remove.
The hive is all open ; I hold in my hands the
frame she is on, but I have no cage ! It is a
long way back to the honey-house ; the sim is
hot, and robbers have found us. If I place
the frame back into the hive in order to go
and get the cage. I shall miss the queen ; I
can do nothing so long as this frame is in my
hands. I want that queen ! What shall I do i
Simply place her, head in, carefully between
the dry lips, close the hive, and then go and
cage her. See '
I hold cells, root in, the same way, very
often. — ■' SwARTHMOKE," in the American
Bee-Keeper.
Good Apiarian Advice.
Produce what your market calls for: this
will be both comb and extracted honey. Some
customers will want comb, and some extracted
— please both. Bottle nothing but first-class
honey. Ftu-nish this to the grocers around
you to sell on commission, as many will sell
in this way who would not purchase outright.
Call all your w-its into play, and remember, it
is as honorable to sell honey as to sell wheat
or potatoes. Give good weight, and you will
soon work up a good trade, and get retail
prices for your goods. — F. P. Clare, in the
Bee-Keepers' Review.
Railroads Against Comb Honey.
Referring to the fact that the Grand Trunk
raihvay in Canada has ruled out a class of
honey as freight, and to the information
given in a previous number of this journal as
to contemplated action on this side, the editor
of Gleanings in Bee-Culture expresses himself
in the following vigorous style:
I regard this as a most serious matter. I
can not think of anything that would handi-
cap bee-keeping anj- more, unless it be fold
or black brood, than to have the railroads
practically refuse to handle comb honey. AVe
can not afford at the present rate to send any
quantity by express; and if the new freiL'ht-
olassihcation should go thru, we could not
afford to send it by freight. Many large api-
aries -would he totally unable to dispose of
their product, and the industry would not
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
I05 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mentiou the Bee Journal.
HORSE- HIGH!
... BULL-STROMG ...
With our Duplex Automatic
Ball Beariii;? Woven Wire
Fence Machine, any farmer
can make lOO Styles, and from
SO to 70 rods a day
of the het-t and ino.st practi-
cal fence on earth at a Cost for
tJie Wire to make it of from
20 to 30c. per rod
We tell Ornamental Fence
and Gates, Farm Fence and
Gates. Plain, BarheJ and
Coiied Spring Wire
direct to thefamiei at^hi-le-
Box Dni.Jtffwwcfe, ind.
Please mention Bee JouniaL
writing.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturagre aud Nectar-
Producing' Plants: the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells vou all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writine.
The American Poultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
century old and is still g'row-
ing" must possess intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must be a valuable one. Such is the
Ameriean Poultry Joupnal.
50 cents a Year. I^Ientiou the Bee Journal.
BAENES' FOOT POWER MACHINERY
vith
of you
es, last
'We
POUl.TRV BOOK FREE, 64 pages, illustrated
with 8 mos. trial subscription to our paper, liic
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
bined Machii
50 chaflE hives with 7-in. cap,
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a ffreat deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
make, and we expect to do
rith this Saw. It will do all
you say it will." Catalog and price-list tree.
Address, W. F. & John B.^rnes,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
THE MODERN FARMER & BUSY BEE.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultrj', Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing
..^MANUFACTURER OFi^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything? used by
bee-keepers. Orders tilled promptly. We have
the best shippiogr facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee=Keepers* Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
flease mention Bee Journal when ■writmc
May 2, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
287
ouly be crippleil but almost anuihiliUeil. I have
already laid the matter before General Mana-
ger Secor, of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation. Action should he taken at once, it
seems to me, because it is far easier, according
to our experience, to prevent a bad classifica-
tion getting on the tariff-books than to have
such classification rescinded after it is once iu
force. Why, our Association could better ex-
pend every ilullar in its tnai~nry rather than
have such a foolish, unreasonable, and un-
called-for discrimination against our industry.
I am sure that our worthy general manager
will take suitable action at once. In the
meantime, the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asssocia-
tion in Canada should see what could be done
to have that unjust rulingof the Grand Trunk
railway rescinded. It is apparent that the
proposed action on this side of the line was
instigated by the fool ruling of the Grand
Trunk on the other side; and as long as it
stands thus, so long it will be a menace to us.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Illinois.— The spring meetiugr of the easterc
division of the Northern Illinois Bee-Keepers'
Association will be held at the residence of B.
Kennedy, 7 miles southeast of Rockford, 111., on
Rural Route No. 5, and 3 miles northeast of New
Milford, III., Tuesday, May 21, I'XH. All inter-
ested in bees are cordially invited to attend.
B. Kennedy, Sec.
Connecticut. — The Connecticut Bee-Keepers'
Association will hold its next meeting- at New
Haven, in the Aldermanic Chamber of the City
Hall, on Church Street, Wednesday, May 8,
1901, at 10 a.m. Among the topics for discussion
are these:
With how many colonies did you begin the
winter? How many colonies have vou now?
To what were the losses due? Which do 30U
prefer, black or Italian bees? How many
frames of honey do you allow a colony for win-
ter? What about feeding syrup in paper bags ?
Have vou tried keeping two queens in one col-
onv? 'For the ordinary bee-keepers, are artifi-
cial or natural methods better ? Do you ever
have moldy combs? When did your bees take
first good flight this spring? What kind
>l feeders do
small hive?
crop?
Yo r presed
Whe
Do you prefer a large
o you get the best honey
ruestly requested.
Ellen B. Peck, Sec.
ALBINO QUEENS "^^ZZ^lr^ir^^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honey-gatherers vou ever saw — try niv Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, $1.00; Tested, $1.50.
nA26t J, D. GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -wTitLnqr
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NBW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with $1.00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for $1.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for SO cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICA(;0, ILL.
Marshfield Mannfacturipg Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
A26t Marshfield Mantifacturlug Co., Marshfield, Wis.
please mention Bee Journal when •writing.
Red CloverQueens
LONG-TONGUED BEES ARE DEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppe-
mlum for sending us TWO new subscpibers
to the American Bee Journal for one year
(with $2); OF, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
» >!t ito >te >Jt >te. jfaL >!« >li >ti >fe sk. iliV
I HONEY AND BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Apr. 18.— Choice grades of white
comb houev sell at 16c, and there is uo surplus
in sight. Other grades of comb sell fairly well
at the following prices: No. 1 grades of while,
14@lSc; off grades, 13c; light amber, lie; dark
amber, 10@llc; buckwheat and other dark
combs, 9@10c; candied and mi.xt colors, 7((i^9c.
Extracted is dull, and prices very weak, with
the exception of some fancy linden and clover
grades, which is quotable at 7to.Sc; ambers,
6®7c; dark and buckwheat, 5@6c. Beeswax, 30c.
R. A. BnRNBTT & Co.
BnFFALO, Apr. 18— Fancy white comb, 15@I6c;
poor, dark, etc., 8@13c, as to grade. Demand
good on fancy. Beeswax, 20(§i28c, as to grade.
Batterson & Co.
Omaha, Apr. 25. —There has not been any
change in the condition of the market nor in
prices during the last month, and we do not
look for any change until new crop makes its
appearance. There is not any more stock held
in this part of the country than will be used up
at the present range of prices. We quote fancy
white comb, lS@loc. Extracted, slow sale, 7@Sc
for white. Pevcke Bros.
Detroit, Apr. 18— Fancy white comb, 14@15c;
No. 1, 13wi4c; dark and amber, 10@12c. Ex-
tracted, white. 6i^(ai7c; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax, Z!(si2Sc. M. H. Hunt & Son.
New York, March 11.— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb honey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancy white is still sell-
ing readily at from 15(3'16c; No. 1 white at from
13(s'14c; amber at from 12@13c; buckwheat, 10®
He, according to quality and style of package.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honey is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, 7(at7J4c; light amber,
bH®~<:; other grades and Southern, oS@75c per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 28@285^c, and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 2')c.
HiLORETH & SeGBLKEN.
Cincinnati, Apr. 18.- The demand for comb
honey is nearly over. The stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings 1(> cents. E.x-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for S^c;
better grades bring 6(n "Mc; fancy white clover
from SJ^wOc. C. H. W, Weber.
Kansas City, Apr. IS.— There is very little
honey offered, and the demand is steady, sell-
ing from $,?.50@$3.<)0 per case, fancy white; no
amber on the market at this time. Extracted,
no change; white, from 8(a*'>c: amber, there is a
Utile on this market that could be sold from 7J^
«S>ii4c. Beeswax scarce and demand good, at
25@28c. W. R. Cromwell Proddce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
'Albany, N.Y., Apr. 10.— Honey market quiet.
Light supply and light demand now. The stock
is well cleaned out, so will be no old honev to
carry over this season. H. R. Wright.
Boston, April 4.— Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c: No. 1, ISw'lbc, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honey this year. Extracted, white, 8®
Siic; light amber, l}i<i'Sc. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
San Francisco, April 3.— White comb I2@
13 cents; amber, ')@iic; dark, 6fai8 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, (t@iiiic; light amber, 4x@Sc;
amber, 4@4Hc. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Despite general expectations and contrary to
experience of previous years, new honey is re-
ported on market. For some new amber ex-
tracted from Ventura county 6 cents is askt, but
this is above the views of buyers. Old is still
offering in moderate quantity, both comb and
e.xtracted, mostly amber.
WANXPn '^y .voung woman, positiot
▼ Y /AIT 1 l—L^ to assist in apiarv.
Miss Wiiiti-:, 3'^l.^ Prairie Ave., Chicago, 111.
QUEENS
Smokers. Sections,
Comb FoundAtioa
ijid Kll XfilftriKB SappUM
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
288
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 2, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
HIV6S, Exiractors
or anything you want in the
:bee-keeping line.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everylhiag^, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalogs and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
*S- W. M. Gerrish, East Noting-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
LEARN TO SING
AT HOME by my thorough meth'-d
"' training. With my complete
.irse I guarantee to train and cul-
ate your voice or refund your
iiiey. The best musical knowledge
arrangdi especially fcr Home Mofiy.
Has lliehest Kn()orBemt>nt. Ikautifol
descriptive bocklttecnt free. Alid^..-^s
Prof. G. M. Whaley. Kalamazoo, Mich
. Bee Journal -wiieu ■writiiia
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
1.70
1.70
1.40
*» e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5B ions
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20
Sweet Clover (yellow) .... $1.50
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14t. Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
25tb soft
f2.75 $5.00
6.25 12.00
3.75 7.00
4.00 7.50
3.25 6.00
1.00 1.60
200-Egg Incubator
for $I2.00
Perfect in construction and
action. Hatches every fertile
epg. Write for catalogue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy, III.
the Bee Jou
I AEISE
DOOUTTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . $1.00
.? Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best. .5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOUTTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y
'''' Dadant's Foundation. ''''
Year
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ. No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell _jv>v
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog-, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We selJ the best Veils, cotton or silk,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eg-g-s
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co , III.
4 $13.00 and $25.00 Queens §
Having a Measured Tongue Reach.
^
The call for queens of our celebrated $200 imported mother
has been so great that we have decided, in addition to the $2.00,
$4.00, and $6.00 grades of this stock, to offer some $10.00, $15.00,
and even $25.00 of this same blood. But these prices are for tested
queens, the tongues of whose bees have been measured.
The $10.00 queen is guaranteed to produce bees with a tongue-
measurement of 19-100.
The $15.00 queen, 20-100.
The $25. 00. queen, 21-100.
These last are very rare and with one exception this (21-100)
is the longest tongue reach yet secured. We reserve the right,
when we do not have the stock with the tongue reach called for,
either to return the money or to send the next lower, remitting
the balance. It would be well for our friends to put in their or-
ders at once, and as soon as we get the grades we will send notice.
When the money is sent, the queens will be forwarded. These
will be put up in the very best manner possible ; and while we
guarantee safe arrival in good order to any point in the United
States, on any railway line, we will not guarantee safe intro-
duction. Such valuable queens should be releast on hatching
brood.
N. B. — It seems as if it ought not to be necessary to say that
no one but a queen-breeder or a large honey-producer should order
these high-priced queens ; but it is a fact according to our expe-
rience that beginners with only a few colonies will order our high-
est priced imported queens. Such bee-keepers have no more use
for such queens than a pig has for a wheel-barrow.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., fledina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
leadquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO. T>
to them for their free Catalog. |^3U-
I^^S^^A'
DEE Journal
QEORQE W. YORK.
CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY 9, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
i Three American Apiarian Editors. ►
^ (Courtesy of the Bee-Keepers' Review.) W
p:rnest k. root,
(ileanings in Bee-Culture
is::;.
W. ■/.. Ill TCHINSON,
The Bee-Ki-epers' Review.
(iEORtil-: \V. YORK,
Tlie Aiiiei-ican Bee Journal.
290
AMERICAN BEE ;OUPNAL.
May 9, 1900.
GEORGE W. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Oftice at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Geokge W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
?%.^k?;.^'"^'=^' iDepartment
E. E. Hastt,
Prof. A.' J. Cook
J
Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price ut tlii.s .Journal
is .*1.1KI a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, .tO cents a year extra for post^
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the montli to which
your subscri])tion is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which sliows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
Reformed Spelling. — The American Bee
Journal adotits f he ( )rtli<iLTapliy of the fol-
lowing Rule, m ii'iided liy the joint
action of the Ainerk-aji Fhilulogical Asso-
ciation and the Philological Society of Eng-
land:— Change "d" or "ed" final to "t"
when so pronounced, except when the •• e "
affects a preceding sound. Also some other
changes are used.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
W. p. Marks,
Dr. C. C. Mi
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest Cit^ , Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
It^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr, Secor.
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the sniijiTt r.f honey.
and frequeni !.\ Ii-:hN Iu a
sale. The tiii-iui'r v]i,,\vn
herewith is :i rcpiccluction
of a motto tiueeu-button that
we are furnishing to bee-
keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
Weekly Budget. I
Feminine Pluck is exhibited by Miss Rose
Kennieott, who, in the good State of Colo-
rado, has workt uij in 12 years from .5 colo-
nies to nearly 300 colonies, with only the text-
Ijooks, bee-papers, and her own experience to
guide her. May her success continue.
Mr. F. Gent, of Wright Co., Minn., who
has been offering bees for sale in our adver-
tising columns, wrote us April 30th, when
re-ordering his advertisement: " The Ameri-
can Bee Journal is a good puller." Of course
it is. If you have any good thing to sell that
bee-keepers want or need, offer it thru our
advertising columns. «
Mr. N. E. France, of Grant Co., Wis.,
writing us April 2"th, says :
" Prospects are for a good honey crop in
Wisconsin this season. But some lost many
colonies of bees during the winter.
" I am pleased to know that Michigan now
has a law to suppress foul brood. I have
wisht many times that every State had the
same, then the disease could be eradicated
with no importing or sending of diseased bees
from one State to another."
Three Friendly Editors are shown on
the first page this week. The engraving
appeared first in the Bee-Keepers' Review for
March. Mr. Hutchinson had the following
to say, in part, concerning those represented
in the picture :
It is a fortunate fact for the readers of
three of the leading bee-journals, that the
editors are really and truly friends. Instead
of wasting their time and energies, and using
up space in their journals, in " spats," they
all pull together for the good of the pursuit
to which their journals are devoted.
When the Wisconsin bee-keepers last met
at Madison, these three editors met by ap-
IKiintment at the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul station in Chicago, went together to
Madison, and whiled away the time on the
way by discussing liee-journalism — each try-
ing to learn from the experience of the others
how he might improve his own journal.
E. R. Root was called home from Oberlin
College, some 1.5 or 20 years ago, to help his
overburdened father; and, gradually, he
workt into the editorial harness, until, at
last, he was " uivcii head," not only in Glean-
ings, but ill 111.' ivvisions of the "ABC"
hook. Mr. Kiiiii lia^ had exceptionally good
advantagi--- l<n- luniming a first-class bee-
keeping editor, lie was brought up with the
bees, and in connection with the largest fac-
ti.iry there is devoted to the manufacture of
bee-supplies. If I were to point out his lead-
ing characteristic, or, at least, the one that
has had a great deal to do with the building
up of Gleanings, I should say that it was his
affability — the faculty of making and keep-
ing friends. An editor has many times to
disagree with his correspondents, but Mr.
Root seems to be alile to do this without giv-
ing offense. There is a great difference be-
tween telling a man that he is a liar, and
explaining to him where he has made a mis-
take. Mr. Root takes the latter course.
About the time that Bro. Root began work-
ing on Gleanings, I found George W. York
at work for Mr. Thomas G. Newman on
the American Bee Journal. After work-
ing several years for Mr. Newman, Mr.
York had the" ■' nerve " to buy the Ameri-
can Bee Journal. Only a pulilisher knows
what excellent business manageiiicMt there
must be to furnish such a papei- as the Ameri-
can Bee Journal at .SI. 00 a year, but Bro.
York has shown himself equal to the emer-
gency. He has imbibed that Chicago spirit
of push and enterprise that succeeds where
common mortals fail. If I were to point out
Bro. Y'ork's leading characteristic, I should
say it was exactness, or correctness. That
disposition that leads one to say, " first be
sure you are right." And. haying decided
that he is right, Bro. York sticks to it.
Working so long on a bee-journal, attend-
ing so many conventions, reading so much
bee-literature, etc., have enabled Bro. York
to become pretty well posted upon things
apiarian; and he succeeds in making a most
valuable journal — one that would be mist,
and sadly mist, were it to drop out of the
ranks.
When it comes to writing of myself the
pencil halts. I have written in the Review
so much about myself that I Ijegin to fear
that it may be proving tiresome ; but I would
like to say this, that of late I am becoming
more imbued with the spirit of trying to help
bee-keepers, to be of some real and lasting
benefit to them; to arouse, encourage and
inspire them; to set them to thinking; to lift
them out of ruts ; and to lead them to look
upon their lousiness as a bushuKK. It is all
right to tell a man exactly how to perform a
certain piece of work, but sometimes it is of
more benefit to rouse him. and set him to-
thinking out problems for himself.
We have no comment to add to the fore-
going, except to say that we are pleased to
present to our readers the portraits of our two
" fellow-sufferers."
The Mat Ladies' Home Journal, — Some
of the many excellent features of the May
Ladies' Home Journal are; "The Brilliant
Social Reign of Harriet Lane," " When John
C. Calhoun Went a-Wooing," " When the
Animals Escape from the Zoo," " Some
Remarkable Cases of Double Personality,'*
•'My First Colony of Bees," and Clara Mor-
ris' ■■ Frank Sen," the romance of a little
Japanese girl acrobat. To thosp arranging
for a summer holiday Edward Bok offers some
pertinent suggestions, and the methods of
" Preserving a Husband in Summer," and
"Keeping Summer Boarders with Success,'*
are dogmatically detailed. The admirable
pictorial features include a page drawing,
" President Lincoln's Call for Volunteers,"
by W. L. Taylor ; "In the Fold," the first
prize picture of the 2<',000 photographs sub-
mitted in the Journal's recent contest; a page
of Miss Gertrude Kasebier's photographs —
the first of " The Foremost Women Photog-
rajihers of America " series — and two pages
giving " A Glimpse of Pictures(|ue Canada."
There are three architectural articles, and
seasonable contributions on gardens, flowers,
lawns, cooking, and needle-work. There are
also four pages from the Journal's fashion
writers and artists. By The Curtis Publish-
ing Company. Philadelphia, Pa. One dollar
a year; ten cents a copy.
Somnambulist for several years has been
one of the most interesting and helpful con-
tributors to the Progressive Bee-Keeper —
often being referred to as a " dreamer."
" Wandering sleepy-head " would hardly be
appropriate. A Stray Straw in Gleanings
in Bee-Culture reads thus : ■
Somnambulist thinks that bee-keepers too
often say " I " when they should say " we,"
thus giving due credit for the help of faith-
ful wives. Amen, say I. Also that wives,
like queens, sht)uld be chosen, not for beauty,
but for real worth. Now, here's what puz-
zles me: One who places such high estimate
upon the value of wives, and shows such dis-
criminating judgment regarding them, would
surely be expected to have a wife of the best
type; and yet, if I am rightly informed. Som-
nambulist, who is no longer a spring chicken,
has never had a wife.
If we are " rightly informed," we can't
imagine what " Sommy " would do with a,
wife.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY 9, 1901,
No, 19,
^ ^ Editorial. ^ I
strenuous Queen-Kearing is the sub-
ject written on by Mr. J. H. Martin, as willbe
seen by the report of the California conven-
tion in this number. The paper treats upon a
new phase in queen breeding and distribution.
We understand that the plan was almost
unanimously endorst by those present at the
meeting. Mr. Mclntyre made an estimate
that if a bee-keeper could definitely depend
upon supplying a larg-e number of bee-keepers
with queens, and without advertising and the
uncertainties of the present method, that
queens could be reared for 15 cents each. The
members present were willing to pay 25 cents
each, 'and upon that basis the few present
were ready to place an order for 1,000 queens.
Upon this basis Mr. Mclntyre would probably
receive orders in his own county, and in Los
Angeles county, for over 5,000 queens; but
not being prepared for such extensive queen-
rearing just at present, the matter is under
advisement, meanwhile others are thinking of
entering the field and working upon this plan.
Now the questions before the fraternity, or
rather before the queen-breeders, are. Can
good queens, such as Mr. Martins paper calls
for, be bred for 25 cents each ? Can a queen-
breeder rear from 5,000 to 10,000 good queens
per year ; Or, Mr. Queen-Breeder, how much
will you charge per month for your services
while rearing queens for from 50 to 100 bee-
keepers ?
The object in adding the foregoing is that a
healthful discussion of the matter may be
brought out. Mr. Martin thinks his plan is
the right one for improving the working
qualities of a large number of colonies of
Are Old Combs Objectionable ?— It
is a fact that fashion seems to have at least a
little to do with practices of bee-keepers in
(litfereut parts of the world. In this country
it is the fashion to continue to use brood-
combs when many years old. while in other
countries they are considered oljjectionable
when ten, five, and in some places three years
old. The rejection of old brood-combs comes
from the belief that the cocoons left by suc-
cessive generations of young bees make the
cells so small that bees reared in them can
not attain their full size. A few in this coun-
try have said that they found liees reared
from old combs were a third .smaller than
others, but others say they can see no diller-
ence when the combs are 20 years old or oldei-.
One writer in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
argued that bees must necessarily be smaller
because the cocoons left from year to year do
not leave room for full development. But if
that proves anything it proves too much. Old
combs may be found in which the septum
measures ^s of a" inch, and it was shown in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture that if the amount
of cocoons left on the cell-walls was the same
as at the bottom, the inner diameter of such
cells would be so reduced that instead of
measuring 5 to the inch it would take 13 of
them, and it would take &% of the bees reared
in them to weigh as much as an ordinary
worker. No one pretends that such dwarf-
ing ever takes place.
Some worker-comb 25 years old was meas-
ured by E. R. Root, and he found that while
the septum was 'g of an inch thick the cell-
walls were not materially thickened. It
seems that while the bees leave the bottoms
of the cells undisturbed they continually re-
move the cocoons from the side-walls, so that
by drawing out the cell-walls a little the cell
is made as large as ever. From this drawing
out of the cell-wall it happens that very old
comb measures an inch in thickness, while
comb newly built measures only %.
Another item that should not be disregarded
is the preference of the bees themselves.
Give them their choice between an old black
comb 20 years old, and a fresh comb in which
little or no brood has ever been reared, and
they will promptly choose the old comb,
whether it be for the rearing of brood or the
storing of honey. It is also claimed that
bees winter better on old than on new combs.
Honey-Adulteration in Illinois. —
From the First Annual Report of the State
Food Commissioner of Illinois — 1S99-11-IU0 —
we take the following as written by State
Analyst E. N. Eaton last December, which
bears directly on this subject .
Pure honey may be defined as the nectar
of rtowers, transformed, and stored in the
comb by the honey-bee. Extracted or strained
honey is the same article removed from the
comb by man, usually by centrifugal force.
Comb honey can only be adulterated by the
bee which seems to lia\e a patent on capjung
the cells. Extracted honey, next to vinegar,
is more universally adulterated than any
other staple fond products.
In Minnesola. Iiefure the honey clau.se was
added to tlie Food Statute, about ;-B',; percent
of extracted honey proved to be adulterated.
In Ullinois about the same ratio of ad\iltera-
tion was proven to 'exist. Last year a com-
mittee acting for the National Bec-Keei>ers'
Association, secured a large number of .sam-
ples in Chicago. Bciri^'at the time employed
in conuuercial work. I examined the samples
for the Assoc iiiiini). iind found that more
than ."ill |.(iv,.|it uii' I'lulteratcd. The pres-
ent munili iiii.l> cMiirii.il honey au-uin seek-
ing the winter tnicl' Inspector Mrs. Frank
Hubbard has visited many stores in Chicago,
and rejiorts very much less extracted honey
offered than the year before. This is owing
to the enforcement of State law requiring the
labeling of adulterated honey, thus driving a
dishonest competitor from the market.
While none of the samples taken thisiwinter
have as yet been analyzed, many of them are
of those brands which proved genuine in
former analyses.
The most common adulterant of honey is
glucose, altho adulteration with cane-sugar
and invert sugar is possible and sometimes
practiced. The adulteration thus far discov-
ered on the Illinois market has been of the
cheapest and most gross kind — glucose
flavored with a small slice of honey in comb.i
The Illinois Food Commission is doing a
good work for everybody in this State. There
are still some weaknesses in the present law
under which the Commission are working,
which, when removed, will tend to make
their efforts still more effective in the future.
We hope the. strengthening amendments will
be approved during the present session of^the
State legislature at Springfield.
A Woman AVith 500 Colonies.—
Gleanings in Bee-Culture has a report from
Lydia Crawford Harris, who last year from
an apiary of 16ti colonies obtained 160 60-
pound cans of extracted honey, and in
cases of comb honey. She also has two other
apiaries — in all 500 colonies. If something is
not done to stop this sort of thing there is no
telling to what it will lead. Instead of being
the down-trodden, submissive creature that a
properly constructed woman is expected to
be, Mrs. Harris boldly declares her inde-
pendence of the " lords of creation " by say-
ing;
" As we women in Colorado enjoy all the
rights of voting, from the lowest county
otiieers to the President of the United States,
I propose to operate these yards with women
help."
As a comment on the above. Editor E. R.
Root adds this :
•■ If the right of franchise has this effect on
the gentler sex. let's give the women a
chance. If the women of the land could vote
there would be less of jobbery and wicked-
ness in high places. I'll risk the women,
every time."
A Smoker AVith Double Bellows has
been shown in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
which operates so that a puff is given as
usual at the pressing together of thumb and
fingers, and another puff as they separate ;
but the two puffs give no more smoke than a
single puff of the ordinary smoker. A Stray
Straw suggests that a smoker could lie
made to give a iierfectly continuous blast by
having bellows after the fashion of a nielo-
deon, allowing no possible sucking of smoke
into the bellows. I)ut there would be a loss in
the streii'Tth uf the blast.
292
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 9, 1901.
*4Ji^K*iJ*.J*a^*4K*ViA.>^*i^*4J«
Convention Proceedings.
irTnrTn'fT*Tr>r'>'fTfTnrT«T5
Report of the California Convention.
The 11th annual convention of the California State
Bee-Keepers' Association was held in Los Angeles, Feb.
25 and 26, 1901. There was a small attendance, but all were
hopeful, and were preparing- for a good honey harvest.
Secretary Mclntyre explained some of the advantages
of the new State Law in the interest of bee-keeping,
thru the efforts of Assemblyman R. M. Clark, of Ventura,
assisted by other southern legislators. The new law reads
as follows :
AN ACT
To promote the Apicultural Interests of the State of California b_v
providing County Inspectors of Apiaries, and defining their
duties, and providing for their compensation, and repealing the act
entitled. " An Act to authorize the Board of Supervisors of the
several counties of this State to apjjoint Inspectors of Apiaries,
and provide tor their compensation, and defining their duties, and
for the further protection of Bee-Culture." Approved March 1.3,
1S83.
The People or the State of California, represented in .Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows :
Section 1. Whenever a petition, is presented to the Board of
Supervisors of any county, signed by ten or more persons, each of
whom is a property-holder resident of the county, and possessor of
an apiary, or place where bees are kept, stating that certain or all
apiaries within the county are infected with the disease known as
"foul brood," or any other disease which is infectious or contagious
in its nature, and injurious to the bees, their eggs, or larva?, and pray-
ing that an inspector be appointed by them, whose duty it shall be to
supervise the treatment of said bees and apiaries as herein provided,
the Board of Supervisors shall, within twenty days thereafter, appoint
a suitable person, who shall be a skilled bee keeper. Inspector of
Apiaries. Upon petition of ten persons, each of whom is a resident
property-holder, and possessor of an apiary, the Board of Supervisors
may remove said inspector for cause, after a hearing of the petition.
Section 2. It shall be the duty of the Inspector in each county
to cause an inspection to be made, when he deems it necessary, of any
or every apiary, or other place within his jurisdiction in which bees
are kept : and if found infected with foul brood, or any other infec-
tious or contagious disease injurious to the bees, or their eggs or larva;,
he shall notify the owner or owners, person or persons, in charge, or
in possession of said apiaries, where bees are kept, that the same are
infected with foul brood, or any other disease infectious or contagious
In its nature, and injurious to bees, their eggs, or larva?, and he shall
require such person or persons to eradicate and remove such disease or
cause of contagion within a certain time to be specified. Said notice
may be served upon the person or persons, or either of them, owning
or having charge, or having possession of such infected apiaries, or
places where bees are kept, by any Inspector, or by any person depu-
tized by the said Inspector for that purpose, or they may be served in
the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Any and all such
apiaries, or places where bees are kept, found infected with foul brood.
or any other infectious or contagious disease, are hereby adjudged and
declared to be a public nuisance: and whenever any such nuisance
shall exist at any place within his jurisdiction, or on the property of
any non-resident, or on any property the owner or owners of which
can not be found by the Inspector after diligent search, within the
county, or upon the property of any owner or owners upon whom
notice aforesaid has been served, and who shall refuse or neglect to
abate the same within the time specified, it shall be the duty of the
Inspector to abate the same, either bj- treating the disease, or by des-
troying the infected hives, together with their combs and bees therein.
The expense thereof shall be a county charge, and the Board of
Supervisors shall allow and pay the same out of the general fund of
the county.
Section 3. It shall be the duty of the County Inspector of Apia-
ries to keep a record of his official acts and doings, and make a monthly
report thereof to the Board of Supervisors; and the Board of Super-
visors may withhold warrants for salary of said Inspector until such
time as said report is made.
Section 4. The salary of the County Inspector of Apiaries shall
be three dollars per day when actually engaged in the performance of
his duties.
Section 5. An Act entitled, " An Act to authorize the Board of
Supervisors of the several counties of this State to appoint Inspectors
of Apiaries, and jjrovide for their compensation, and defining their
duties, and for the further protection of Bee-CuUure," approved
March 13, lSfS3, is hereby repealed.
Section 0. This act shall take effect and be in force from and
after its passage.
JOINED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
J. H. Martin then brought up the question of the advis-
ability of the members of the State Association joining
the National Association, and after a discussion of the
proper method of taking this admittedly wise act, it was
agreed that the Association join the National organization
as a whole.
.\DI-LTKR.«ION OF HONEY.
G. S. Stubblefield spoke of the prevailing flagrant adul-
teration of honey, and urged that steps be taken to fight
the evil. He said he knew of two or three parties who are
handling adulterated goods, and remarkt that no matter
how dry the year, there always seemed to be plenty of
goods on the market. The stuff is concocted in syrup fac-
tories, from glucose, he said. He thought there ought to be
a committee appointed to investigate the matter. The
State law covered the evil, but was not enforced. The dis-
trict attorney had promist to take up any case of honey
adulteration brought before him.
Secretary Mclntyre suggested that every member of
the Association consider himself a committee of one,
authorized to investigate honey adulteration in their
respective districts.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
At the time of the election of officers the following
were chosen to serve the coming year: President, G. S.
Stubblefield ; vice-presidents, H. E. Wilder, G. W. Brod-
beck, Robert Wilkin, E. A. Roney, and T. R. Canady ; sec-
retary and treasurer, J. R. Mclntyre, Sespe ; executive
board, J. H. Martin. E. Hart and G. W. Brodbeck.
A general discussion of the aifairs of the bee-keepers'
exchange which has frequently lapst and languisht in late
years, followed ; but while the necessity for an exchange
was admitted, no tangible results came of the arguments.
President Wilkin gave an interesting talk on the prog-
ress of bee-keeping during his forty years' experience,
recounting the many mechanical improvements that have
been made, and emphasizing the need of co-operation
among apiarists.
CONDITIONS IN LOS .ANGELES COUNTY.
President Brodbeck, of the Los Angeles County Bee-
Keepers' Association, stated after the close of the session
that conditions in Los Angeles county were favorable on
account of the rains, but that the continued drouth had
greatly decreast the number of colonies. Four years ago
the estimated production was 4,000,000 pounds. Since then
75 percent of the bees have died. This season, however, is
so far much more favorable than the season four years ago,
and therefore there may be a verj- fair yield, notwithstand-
ing the decrease iu colonies. Most of the apiaries in this
county are situated along the lower mountain sides, from
San Fernando to the eastern count}' line, and in the hills
around San Pedro.
T. O. Andrews, of Orange county, described the state
of the honey-business along the Santa Ana river, where he
has owned several apiaries. Seven years ago he took 18
tons from 325 colonies, distributed in four apiaries. Later
on, when there was a good tiow, he took 27 tons. That year
he could grasp with one hand seven kinds of growing wild
iiowers, but now there is nothing blooming but alfileria,
and even that was not good for honey purposes last year.
He had lost heavily, his stock dwindling to 150 colonies.
He was hopeful for the near future, however.
Mr. J. H. Martin read the following paper on.
Strenuous Queen^Rearing.
In these twentieth-century days we hear much about strenuous
living and working. I suppose strenuous is only another term for
high-pressure, and we have had high-pressure farming, high-pressure
poultry rearing, high-pressure commercialism, and high-pressure many
other things : but I have never heard much of high-pressure bee-keep-
ing.
High pressure is, however, too much out of date to apply to twen-
tieth century bee-keeping, and " strenuous " is the term : and I have an
idea that, to commence at the root of tlie matter, we need a more
strenuous queen-rearing.
Let us consider the subject. During the past season I found a
strain of bees in the apiaries I was managing that were so far superior
to the rest that, had the bees all been bred from the t|ueen of that col-
ony, our honey crop would have been increast by several tons.
The discovery that this strain were such good rustlers for honey
was not made until the season was well advanced; and now, in order
to get the full benefit from that strain, it must be gradually diffused
thru the whole apiary.
When I find a strain of bees like those mentioned I am impatient
to get the whole apiary up to that standard, and the need of queens
when I want them, and the lack of itime to rear them when ray
energies are devoted to the extractor or at other work. In fact, I am
strenuous at something else, and need an extra-strenuous plan to sup-
ply the queens.
I think every bee-keeper present has observed that not one apiary
in a hundred is properly queened, and I think we all have a dim sus
May 9, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
293
picioD that our own apiaries are not up to tlie standard we desire.
We hear of frolden .yellow queens, leather color, long tongnes. and
even .?1(I0 queens. To make a good start we should like one of those
$100 queens; but after considering the lank condition of our purse we
finally conclude to send for a dollar queen, and that is about as far as
we get this year; but next year, if we have a big crop of honey, we
will do better. Our dollar queen maybe good, bad, or indifferent;
and. whichever it is, we do not get much out of her.
Then you know that queen-rearing has become a great science of
late years. Alley's plan used to be good enough for me; but no\y it is
dipping-sticks, tooth-picks, transfer of royal jelly, transfer of larviv,
and putteration until your head swims. Oh, it is so strenuous!
But I see light at last. When I read Pridgen's plan of making
queen-cells by the peck, and queens by the quart, a great load seemed
to be lifted from my mind, and I formulated the following more strenu-
ous plans for (lueen-rearing:
In the first place, every bee-keeper needs the very best queens that
can be reared — best in hardiness, ijrolificness, and notably in the honey-
gathering i|Ualities of her progeny.
In the second place, there are but few bee-keepers who have the
combination of riualities that will insure their success in modern
strenuous scientific queen-rearing. Now, my plan is that a certain
number of bee-keepers in a given locality turn their queen-rearing
over to an expert in that line of work. A contribution from eacli
bee-keeper interested would enable the expert to commence oiierations
with the best available stock. Each bee-keeper in this district should
agree to take a certain number of ciueens per annum; and. having a
definite number of queens to rear, and a large number of them, the
expert could rear them at a minimum cost to the bee-keeper, and at
the same time with a good profit to himself,
A person devoting his entire attention to queen-rearing will strive
to improve his stock, and his iiatrons will receive the full benefit, or
the patrons in this case would have an influence in keeping the stock
up to an approved grade.
Our usual plan is to send for a breeding-queen and rear daughters,
granddaughters, and great-granddaughters from her, and trust to a
]iromiscuous mating with our drones.
Our expert could be so located as to control the mating of queens
with selected drones, and the bee-keepers in this district would get
<iueens only one removal from the original, or daughters, and from the
very best stock in the country. In our pl-esent haphazard way we
dilute the blood too much by the many removes from the original
stock, and this would be entirely avoided thru our expert queen-
rearing station.
This plan is in line with the division of labor which at present is
recognized as the most effective way for accomplishing great results ;
and the question is. Are the bee-keepers ready for this advance in
their methods of management ?
I will leave the question to you for solution, believing that, if it
is put into iiractice, the honey-producing power of our apiaries will
be advanced many fold. J. H. Martin.
Contributed Articles. |
Long-Tongued Bees Fad or Fallacy, Which ?
BV G. M. DOOLITTI.E.
OF late years some of our bee-papers start oflf with some
new idea, or some old one revived, and in a little while
the heads in all beedom seem to get twisted out of the
" straight and narrow path," and run off after an "appar-
ent something," which, a few years later, is dropt as if it
never had an existence, with hundreds and thousands of
hard-earned dollars wasted over the hobby or fad.
The fad now "on" seems to be " long-tongued bees," the
fad having run long enough, and the excitement become
great enough to warrant asking $10, S15 and ?2S for
queens, giving bees having a certain length of tongue-
reach. And our good Editor York is compelled to fall into
line with the announcement at the head of his advertise-
ment, " Long-tongued bees are demanded now." Of
course, the "fad" has caused the demand, and no one
blames the editor for heading his advertisement in accord
with that truth. But is the fad founded on truth, or on a
fallacy ? That is the question that should be askt in all
seriousness, before more money is wasted on the fad.
Long-tongued bees are either better workers, or they
are not better. Then, they may work on red clover where
that abounds, and be a great advantage there, without
being any more industrious at gathering honey from apple-
bloom, basswood or buckwheat, the nectar from which any
bee could reach having a tongue not more than half as long
as the shortest tongues measured. That being the case,
long-tongued bees would be an advantage only to those
residing vphere red clover and other long-tubed flowers
abound. This brings me to look into this part of the mat-
ter, for red clover has not blossomed to any extent in this
locality for the past IS years, owing to a " midge" or very
small larva which works in the head just before it would
blossom, thus reducing what used to be fields " red with
clover blossoms " to fields having a dull-brown color, which
is assumed at blossoming time from the workings of this
pest in central New York. So, if these long-tongued bees
are not better otherwise, their working on red clover is of no
advantage to me. So I turn to the testimony :
On page 220 of March ISth Gleanings in Bee-Culture, I
find these words :
" The movement for longer tongues is simply to get the
red-clover crop of the North, which now is practically all
wasted. The bees no one claims would be any belter
except on that account."
The italics are mine in the above quotation, and were
put there to draw attention to the words, as they point to a
fallacy somewhere. If the above is correct, then these
long-tongued bees are of no special advantage to me, nor
to two-thirds of the acreage of North America. And yet I
find parties in the extreme Southern States of Florida and
Texas, heading their advertisements, in that very same
number of Gleanings, with " long-tongued queens," just
as tho such long tongues was the great desideratum for
that Southern country, when according to the reading col-
umns of the same paper no one should claim they were any
better. But such claims are being, and have been, made.
Let me quote a few of these claims :
" Heretofore I could only assert that the bees were
superior, that they would store more honey, but I could give
no reason why, except that this trait had been developt by
years of selection and careful breeding; but now I can say
whj', or, at least, give a reasonable reason why."
And what is that reason? "They have very long
tongues." (Gleanings for Jan. 1st, page 32). If there vvas
any thought about red clover in the author's mind, no hint
is given to that effect.
" The fact begins to dawn that bees, in order to make a
better showing in their hive than the bees of another, must
have long tongues." (Gleanings for 1900, page _ 882).
These words are given in connection with bees living in the
State of New Mexico, where no red clover grows, if I am
correct. " It is the old, old story. In every case where we
have long-tongued bees we have good honey-gatherers."
(Page 881, same number of Gleanings). Not the least hint
at red clover here, either. " We have now learned the
secret of their great honey-gathering qualities. It exists,
as I supposed, in the great length of their tongues."
(Gleanings, page 813, 1900.) "Another record-breaking
queen whose bees have long tongues." (Gleanings, 1900,
page 844). " Long tongues and good working qualities go
together." "The evidence is still piling up, to the effect
that long-tongued bees are the ones that get the honey."
And so I might go on giving quotation after quotation
of statements made along this line, without any special
qualification, or, if any qualifications have been made they
have been so hidden under a lot of rubbish, or so twisted
that the reader is led to believe that long-tongued bees are
just the thing he should have if he would succeed, no mat-
ter about red clover, or in what portion of the country he
resides.
Now, as I hinted in the start, long-tongued bees do
have an advantage outside of the red clover districts, or
they do not, and to give misleading statements, or tho se
actually false, is something that our bee-papers of the pres-
ent day should not stoop to doing, not even when the
motive of gain prompts its advertisers. I am satisfied that
long tongues are only of advantage to those in red clover
districts, if thev are of any special advantage anywhere,
for the reason "that I have repeatedly had colonies that I
considered hardly up to the average during certain seasons,
(and would so mark the hive, preparing to supersede their
queens in the future), that the very next season would go
ahead of many others which I had raarkt as the best I had
in the yard. And such reports have come to me from many
bee-keepers in other localities.
Then, there is another thing which casts a shadow of
doubt on this whole measuring matter, and that is that
many admit that there is nothing of minute exactness
about it, Undoubtedlv, a bee with a tongue only IS 100 of
an inch long can be told from one having a tongue reach of
20-100 ; but with the most exactness, and the nicety of the
instruments used at the Medina establishment, we have
this strange admission by K. R. Root, found on page S79 of
July ISth Gleanings for 1900:
" All the tongues I measured would reach easily 1:5 100
inch. By exerting a little pressure on the head of a decapi
294
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 9, 1901.
tated bee just chloroformed I could get most of the tongues
to stretch to 18-100."
With such an admission as this from one who has all
the paraphernalia in his establishment for nicety of work,
what can be expected from the thousands of bee-keepers
that Dr. Miller would have set at this work ? And so one
of my correspondents can be excused for asking me the
question, " Do you not think that one of those queens
advertised on page 240 of the American Bee Journal at
$10.00, could, ' b3' exerting a little pressure,' have its
tongue stretcht so as to make a S25.00 queen of it ?"
There are times when it is necessary that a "halt
should be called " by some one, and as no one has seen fit to
do this, I have felt it my duty to do so, that too much
money need not be sunk on this latest fad, even if we do
not call it a fallacy. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
0
Do Bees Help to Spread Pear-Blight?
BY PROF. A. J. COOK.
UR good friend, J. H. Martin, so favorably known to
all bee-keepers, writes me from his present home as
follows :
'•I herewith hand you a clipping from cue of our local papers.
The supervisors and commissioners referred to are from Kings County.
As I understand, the blight is in the blossom and so it is possible that
it is spread by the bees. Would it not be well for you to comment upon
this subject in the American Bee .Journal and give us the truth of the
matter !"
The following is the clipping :
" The supervisors have a novel question under consideration. It
is whether bees are responsible for the spread of pear-blight, and what
action, if any, should be taken in the matter. N. W. Motheral and .1.
F. Tilton, Horticultural Commissioners, gave their opinions on the
matter. Mr. Motheral asserted strongly that bees spread the pear-
blight, and should be condemned as a nuisance to the orchardist. Mr.
Tilton is not so positive."
There is no doubt but that this question is a very
important one, and certainly bee-keepers will be interested
in any experience regarding it. Pear-blight has long been
a serious enemy in the pear orchards in the East, and is
now working fearful havoc in many places in California.
At a recent institute, held at Banning, Riverside Co., there
was no topic which called forth so much of interest as did
this same one of pear-blight. The people there are much
disturbed regarding the matter.
I think it was Prof. Arthur, of Perdue University, Indi-
ana, who demonstrated that pear-blight is a microbe dis-
ease. If I remember correctlj', he discovered the specific
microbe, found that he could grow it in artificial cultures,
and could by their use inoculate healthy trees. I think
Prof. Arthur suggested that bees might be a means of
spreading this malad3'. It is well known that the blight
attacks the end of the twig and works inward toward the
trunk of the tree. Of course the germs are in the sap, and
might very likely be in the pollen, altho, so far as I know,
their presence there has never been demonstrated. The
pollen is carried to the stigma of the flower which, from its
delicate sensitiveness, we would suppose, might be a very
vulnerable point for infection. Thus the conjecture that
bees spread the disease would not be an unreasonable one.
Until we find, however, that the microbe is in the pollen,
we certainly have a right to place a large interrogation
point after this theory. Mr. Motheral or any one else who
speaks with assurance in this matter, would be rash, indeed.
To declare bees a nuisance on this account is entirely
uncalled for.
In the early spring, the swelling buds of both flower
and leaf would be the most susceptible to microbe influence
which may come entirely without the aid of insects. If
insects are the medium of transportation, there are many
others than bees, and removing the bees would not bring
security. We know that without the honey-bee, complete
poUenization will not occur, and thus to declare bees a nui-
sance on behalf of the pomologists would be to stand in
their very light, and would work them incalculable injury.
Many leading scientists of the East, especially Profes-
sors Waite and Fairchild, of the Agricultural Department,
have given this matter the most careful attention. It is
significant that they urge most strongly that fruit-growers
take all pains to secure the presence of bees in the near
precincts of their orchards. The supervisors and commis-
sioners of Kings County can not afford to take a back step
in this important matter. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
No. 4.-
Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
iContinued from pape 262.)
"ATOW, Mr. Bond," I continued, seeing that he lookt,
\\ less incredulous, " had I known less about the swarm-
ing capers of bees I could not have known how to
interpret these queer proceedings. By putting this and that
together, however, I had good reason for the conclusion
that the bees I heard and saw above the tree were the scout-
ing party which had left the swarm as soon as it had
selected a place to cluster; and, that the peculiar noise
they made as they flew about the top of the tree where, they
knew, the swarm had settled down to wait for their return,
was the signal always given on such occasions, and which
all bees seem to understand.
" These seem to be trivial matters to relate just now, I
know ; but there are ever so many such things in the course
of a bee-keeper's experience, and j'et thej' are important."
" But," queried Mr. Bond, "what has all this to do with
my way of hiving swarms? I don't, somehow, catch on."
" I'm coming to that," I replied. " These explanations
were necessary in order that you might easily understand
the application ; which is this :
" When j'ou take your box-hive and set it directly
under, or near, the place where the swarm has settled, and
after getting the bees into it, and, as you think, preparing
to go to housekeeping, j'ou leave them there. You don't
even take the trouble to look at the hive again a few
days after. Well, sir, in a majority of such cases the
scouting party comes back soon after you leave and takes
that swarm away. That is the reason I said you would find
manj' of those hives, standing around in out-of-the-way
places, empty, when you examine them.
" I lost a swarm one time under similar circumstances,
when I was yet a green hand at the business. The bees had
clustered on a low-hanging limb of an apple-tree. I took an
empty hive and placed it under the cluster. Then I slowly —
that is, gradually — shook the bees off, and thus got them all
in. Then I sat down on a box not far away and watcht
them, intending to carry them to the apiary after sundown.
"Well, sir, while I was sitting there I heard a buzzing
noise above the tree, and saw a great many bees flying
about in an excited manner, making more noise, I thought,
than bees ordinarily do. Before I could take a step, or
think a thought, that swarm poured forth and joined the
scouting party ; and oft" they went like a whirlwind. Had
I known enough to remove the hive, after securing the
swarm, far enough away to be out of sight of the returning
scouts, I wouldn't have lost that swarm.
"Now, Mr. Bond, I am well aware that it may appear
to you that I'm telling you all this because I like to talk
about bees. Bee-keepers have a reputation, you probably
know, for being out-and-out cranks on the subject ; and
you surely know that nearly all cranks are great talkers.
Well, I want to assure you that I am not 'talking thru my
hat." The information I am giving is of no slight impor-
tance. Should you conclude to keep only one or two colo-
nies of bees instead of 50, and to apply to those two the les-
son I am giving you, you would soon find out that everj'
item of seemingly trivial detail will be useful at one time
or another. If you go at the business in earnest j'OU will
soon learn that you can not succeed, all around, unless you
know how to handle a swarm when it leaves the parent
hive, and how to prevent its running off to the woods either
before or after hiving it.
" Permit me to tell another thing before I forget it, Mr.
Bond. Long before I became a bee-keeper myself I often
observed the fact that those that are not fulh' informed in
bee-lore seem to put a low estimate on a swarm of bees. If
they knew what an early swarm may really be worth in a
favorable season they would surely try to keep it. And,
I'm sorr)' to say, even reputable bee-keepers are not all as
well informed on this z'i/al point as they should be. That
this assertion is true I can show by relating two incidents
from my experience which illustrate the fact itself, as well
as the result of the ignorance that led to it. The first case
was as follows :
"It was my first season's experience in bee-keeping. I
had onlj' two colonies, but they were boomers. Both had
been transferred the winter previous, one from a cracker-
barrel, and the other from an old-fashioned box-hive. Some
time when it's more proper and convenient than just now I
will tell you all about that job of transferring bees. It was
interesting in several ways, I assure you. I lived in Mis-
May 9, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
295
souri then, where they tax bees, honey on hand, corn in the
crib, and potatoes in the cellar — not forgetting- the poor
man's working tools and the poor woman's sewing machine.
" About a mile distant from my home lived a man — I
shall not tell you his name because he is out of business for
good — who kept bees, had kept them, he told me, ' for
more'n 15 years.' He had 14 colonies, mostly in 'Lang-
stroth hives,' when I made his acquaintance. I tried to
take lessons of him that summer, but I soon found out that
he had never been in Father Langstroth's school, tho he
used his hive invention. Besides, he crankt several queer
notions about bees — their nature, and ways of doing things
— that I could not make up my mind to adopt.
" Well, one beautiful day in early May this friend sent
me word that he had a very large swarm out on an apple-
tree, which I could have for one dollar if I cared to bother
with it. Of course I went for that swarm and brought it
home in my bee-box. Within a week I got three more
swarms in the same way, and at the same price, and of the
same kind friend.
" I had learned from 'Bees and Honey' — an excellent
little book on bee-culture, for beginners especially — how to
house a new swarm so that it would lose no time monkey-
ing around, but go right to work storing honey for me. As
compensation for knowing how, I took from those four one-
dollar swarms 350 pounds of white clover honey, in sec-
tions most beautifully filled and finisht — all before the end
of the same month.
" Some time during the following October my friend
sent for me one day. The messenger said: 'Would you
please come down and take some honey off the hives ?' But
it was already late in the day, and misty clouds shut out the
sun's cheery shine and heat, hence I sent word back by the
messenger that I wouldn't do such work on such a day for
the best friend I had ; but that I would come down the first
suitable day in the morning.
" Well, a few days later I went down. My friend
pointed out to me two hives, of the 14, from which he wisht
me to take what surplus honey I might find. The others,
he thought, hadn't done anything ; and most of them had
no supers on, anyway.
" The two hives he showed me were a sort of a hopper-
shaped concern ; ' The Mother-Hubbard hive ' — or some-
thing like it — I think he called it. The bee-entrance was at
the small end of the hopper, which stood grandly upon four
short legs, and wore a conical-shaped hat or roof. But that
cunningly devised bee-entrance at the extreme lower end of
this so-called ' hive ' made such a deep impression upon my
then very susceptible mind that I have never forgotten it.
Besides, ray friend — who was evidently quite proud of those
two hives — took especial pains to explain to me the superior
excellence of that particular feature of the hive.
"'You see, Mr. Gehring," he said, 'that bee-entrance,
located as it is, acts as a ventilator to the hive, like a chim-
ney to a house ; for there are holes bored near to the roof,
you know. Then, again, that opening acts as an automatic
dirt-trap — the hive cleans itself, you see, because the dirt
and dead bees fall right down thru. Besides all that, Mr.
Gehring, you can see for yourself that mice can't very
easily get into the hive by way of such a contrivance as
that.'
" Well, I opened one of the hives and found quite a
viess of honey, mostly in small frames inside of a sort of a
box-arrangement on top of the three-cornered brood-frames,
and some of it between and above these little frames. The
second hive was in the same condition. I called at the
kitchen-door and got a large dish-pan, into which I put the
honey from the frames, and from odd spaces in the hives.
Then I examined all the other hives for honey, but found
none. The dish-pan full was the whole yield from 14 hives 1
" When I carried the honey to the house my friend—
who had kept himself out of sight while the honey harvest
■was going on — ventured to come to the door to settle with
me, as he said. He seemed to be well pleased with his crop
of honey, and smilingly inquired how much I got from those
four swarms. I told him, and added that I would probably
get another hundred or more from those same swarms be-
fore the season ended ; and leave them enough each to win-
ter on very nicely.
" I don't know what he thought when I told him that :
but I shall never forget how he lookt. It was easy to guess.
however, how he estimated the comparative difference lie-
tween his way of keeping bees and my way of bee-keepinir.
for he sold me his whole outfit before winter for the paltry
sum of S15 1
" The second case to which I alluded, as I presume you.
remember, Mr. Bond, happened in this way :
" One of my near neighbors had two colonies of bees in
his back yard — both in box-hives. One Sunday morning
word was sent to me that a big swarm had come out of one
of the hives and was hanging in a bunch from a limb of an
apple-tree in the front yard, and that I could have it by
coming after it.
" My neighbor was a member of the United Presbyte-
rian Church, and a strict Sabbatarian ; hence he could not
violate his conscience by furnishing that swarm of bees a
home. But I, being a minister in good standing in the
' U. S." Presbyterian Church, had no such scruples to bother
me ; hence I secured the swarm — cut the limb with a small
saw, and carried it home with the cluster hanging to it —
and hived it, and gave it a frame of brood, and two of
honey, that same Sunday.
"It was a late swarm, and it was a rather poor honey
season ; but that swarm filled, and finisht nicely, two
supers of 28 sections each. One evening I took four of the
nicest sections and presented them to my Presbyterian
brother, and told him all about that swarm's doings under
my care ; and that, if he wanted it, I would sell it to him
for SIO, hive and all."
(To be conliaued.)
No. 4— Drone-Bees and Their ttility.
Can We, and Shall We, Control their Production ?
BY C. P. DADANT.
IF the reader remembers my previous articles on the sub-
ject, he knows that we have plainly shown that there is
a decided advantage in decreasing the number of drones
in hives that are undesirable for breeding purposes, and
that this advantage will be derived, in part, from a greater
saving of honey. The approximate amount of profit to be
earned from the prevention of drone-rearing, or from the
excess of it, is, however, ditTScult to establish. By follow-
ing the method mentioned, of removing drone-comb, and
replacing it with worker-comb, we not only prevent in a
large measure the production of the idlers, but increase our
chances of a greater production of worker-bees, which,
costing no more to rear, will yet help increase the stores
instead of consuming them.
In the relation of my summer trip to Europe, and of
my attendance at the International Bee-Keepers' Congress,
I mentioned the discussion that took place on this very
question. The matter had perhaps more importance to the
bee-keepers of Europe than we could place upon it, because
of the very great divergence of opinions exprest over
there, by some noted bee-keepers. A French bee-lover, by
the name of C. M. Weber, has written a poem on bees, some-
what after the fashion of the English Dr. Evans, and in
this work he has asserted t'nat each drone consumes during
his life, at least five grammes of honey, or in other words, that
it takes but a hundred drones to consume, from their birth
to their death, over a pound of honey. If we take such an
assertion seriously, the honey consumption by the drones of
a colony would be enormous. This would mean that the
drones produced in a square foot of comb could do away
with 50 pounds of honey. To me it is almost to be consid-
ered as an absurdity. Some other men have gone still
farther and have endeavored to prove that a drone maj' con-
sume as much as 11 grammes of honey in his life, which
would be the equivalent of a pound of honey for 40 drones.
These assertions, however ludicrous they may appear, have
caused considerable comment, and some discussion, and the
experiments that were brought to light before the Congress
were evidently intended to refute these too-magnified ideas
of the utility of removing drone-combs.
A gentleman by the name of Dufour gave notice of
quite extensive experiments which he has made on the sub-
ject, and reported weighing 10 colonies at different times
during the summer. Half of these colonies contained but
little drone-comb and consequently produced but few
drones, while the other five contained many drones, and the
total result was a difference in production of 15'.. pounds
of honey in favor of the hives having the least number of
drones. The necessity of experimenting on a large scale,
in matters of this kind, is shown by the fact that out of
these 10 colonies two were selected which were apparently
of equal strength, to be weighed regularly, and the differ-
ence between the two, in the results, was in favor of the
one having the most drones, but it was a mere trifle, less
than a pound. So we must recognize the wisdom of this
296
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 9, 1901.
man's statement, that extensive experiments are needed to
get at a good idea of the proportion of gain secured, by the
removal of the excess of drone-combs.
But even this rather insufficient experiment strongly
evidences the advantage of the removal of drone-comb, for
aside from the desirability of preventing the production of
inferior stock for reproducing purposes, the narrow margin
of profit there shown is more than sufficient to repay us for
the labor. In fact it repays it many times. Supposing the
increase in production to be only three pounds annually per
colony of bees, (where the drones are reduced to the lowest
possible number), these three pounds will pay the first sea-
son for all the labor and the cost of the worker-comb used,
and so in the very first year we already have collected back
the cost of the exchange. But we must remember that the
combs of a hive last many years. We have colonies in
which the entire set of combs has not been removed for
over 30 years, and during each year the saving made repeats
Itself without additional cost, so that we are actually mak-
ing an investment bringing us 100 percent annually!
I see it asserted that queens will lay drone-eggs in
worker-combs rather than do without drone-cells. I have
never seen this in any but old queens whose fertility is
already impaired. We have, for years, made a practice
of removing drone-comb wherever found, and have never
noticed that it led to any such results ; we have never
known bees to tear out any comb to replace it with other
comb. The only instances where such a change was made
were in the case of combs that had broken down by heat
under the weight of the honey, or when old combs had
been thoughtlessly removed by the apiarist without being
replaced by other combs.
I earnestly solicit those who have leisure and oppor-
tunity to make extensive experiments on these matters,
reminding them that it is necessary to make these in the
most careful manner, and on a scale sufficient to assure the
results against possibilities of inequality in the conditions
which would materially affect the total returns. I am sat-
isfied that such experiments will clearly evidence the advis-
ability of controlling the breeding of drones in the meas-
ure of our opportunities. Hancock Co., 111.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. MILLER. Marengo, ni.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail, — Editor.!
Get a Bee-Book.
For fear some beginner may not have read them. I
want to repeat here some words of the editor on page 244
that should be emphasized : '
"First get and read a good bee-book thoroly, then
get the bees. Then read your book again. Then you will
be ready for a good bee-paper, and, very likely— more bees."
_^^^_^ C. C. Miller.
A Beginner's Questions.
1. I have a hive ofiFered me. When I receive it what
would be the first thing to do to have it in trim for the
honey-flow ?
2. I have a hive that about two years ago a colony died
in (of what cause I have no idea)— would it be safe to put
another swarm in ?
3. The cells are filled with some kind of stuff somewhat
resembling a fine sawdust, very filthy, and a few webs, but
I can not find any worms. Is there any way to save them ?
4. Wouldn't it be a good plan to winter two or three
colonies, outdoors, in a kind of enclosure made of boards,
back, two sides and a roof, with an opening to the south ?
5. When would you put supers on ? Washington.
Answers. — 1. I am a little at a loss to know whether
you inean a hive or a colony of bees. From your second
question I should judge you mean a hive, in which case I
should say that probably nothing more is necessary than to
see that the hive is clean. If it is an old hive, it is quite
possible that it may need a thoro cleaning out. If you
mean a colons' of bees, the first thing to be done depends
upon the first thing that is needed. That might be a good
many different things, and some of them might be sup-
posed and answers given accordingly, but even then the
very one needed might be omitted.
The first thing that is needed more than all else is a
thoro familiarity with a good text-book on bee-keeping. If
you have only a single colony of bees, it will pay you well
to become familiar with the contents of a text-book. When
you have done that, there will be plenty of questions that
will come up that may not be fully explained in the text-
book, and this department will be ever ready to help out.
2. It will be entirely safe unless there has been foul
brood in it. You can find out whether foul brood has been
in the neighborhood. If it has not, there can be little risk
in using the hive. If it has, then you must try to find out
whether a diseased colony has been in that hive, and act
accordingly. If you use combs upon which a foul-broody
colony has died, you may safely count on the appearance of
the dread scourge. But the hive itself, with no combs in it,
Mr. McEvoy, the foul brood expert, says may be safely
used.
3. Very likely what appears like fine sawdust is pollen,
and it may have been workt upon by some kind of insect.
The webs are likely the work of wax-worms, but the freez-
ing of winter has gotten rid of any wax-worms that were
present. If these combs are given one or two at a time to
a strong colony of bees they will be cleaned up, and if not
too badly riddled by the worms will do good service.
4. Such an arrangement is often used with good results.
5. One way is to watch for the first beginning of white
wax put by the bees upon the upper part of the combs and
at once put on supers when it is seen. Another way is to
put them on when you see the first flowers upon the plants
from which you expect your honey harvest.
A Beginner's Questions.
Last September I bought some Italian bees in double-
walled Langstroth hives, " Langstroth on the Honey-Bee,'*
Cook's "Bee-Keeper's Guide," and the American Bee Jour-
nal for one year, which I enjoy very much. My wife says
that I have had bees in my bonnet all winter. But I notice
that I'm not the only reader of the Bee Journal in my
home !
May 1st I return to the country and my bees, and there
are several things that I would like to know which do not
seem to be in the bee-book.
1. How can I tell if my colonies are strong?
2. How often should the hives be inspected ? and how
often can they be without injury ?
3. Should all the frames be taken out ? (to be out at the
same time), and how long left out ?
4. How can I tell if the frames are "well covered?"
and does " frames well covered " mean all the frames in the
brood-chamber ?
5. Are particular frames used for brood ? and honey ?
6. Do a May queen and nucleus usually yield surplus
honey the first year ?
7. Do queens go out for a flight after their wedding-
trip ?
8. Is there danger of using too much smoke ?
9. How may I tell if there is a good honey-flow ?
10. How long does it take honey to ripen ?
11. When is the capping of honey done ?
12. After being stung, what is the best method of
removing the stinger? New York.
Answers. — 1. Look at 'em and see. If in April you
find combs covered with bees, and brood in them, you may
brag that you have a strong colony. If you find only one
or two frames covered, it is very weak. If four, it will
come out in good form.
2. That's a tough one. If you mean for the good of
the bees, from one to half a dozen times a year may do. If
you mean for a crazy-headed fellow who is just beginning,
three times daily except Sundays will be about right, also
rather rough on the bees. Fortunately, however, they can
stand a good deal, and if the hive is only opened when it is
warm enough for them to fly freely there is perhaps no
appreciable harm if they should be opened once every day.
At any rate, remembering how crazy-headed I once was
myself and how little I have recovered from it in all these
years, I'm not the man to put any restrictions on your tink-
ering with the bees, always providing you do it when warm
May 9, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
297
enough. It may not be a g-ood thing for the bees, but it
will do you enough good to make up.
3. Generally no need to take out more than one or two
so as to make room to move the others freely in the hive.
Indeed, if taking out the dummy leaves room enough for
easy handling, there is no need to take out any except the
one you have in your hand. If, however, you have an
empty hive to put the frames in as you take them out, there
is no harm in taking out all, for the frames will keep each
other warm in one hive as well as another. There are just
the two things to guard against in taking frames having
combs out of the hive — cold and robbers. If you don't
chill the brood, and if you don't start robbing, there is lit-
tle danger of too many frames being out, or of their being
out too long. If obliged to open a hive when the tempera-
ture stands only 60 or 70 degrees, try not to have a frame
out more than two or three minutes. Perhaps you can
judge better by the flying than by the thermometer. If the
bees are flying very freely, call it warm ; if very few are
flying, meddle with the bees as little as possible.
4. A frame is well-covered when there are enough bees
on it to cover the whole comb, the bees being close enough
to touch each other all over the frame, altho some parts of
the frame may not be entirely covered, and some may have
bees piled on one another three or four deep. I don't know
whether " frames well covered " means all in the hive or
not — depends on the connection. If you saj' a colony has
its frames well covered, I should say you meant all ; other-
wise you would be likely to specify the number.
5. No, and yes. The frames in the brood-chamber are
all alike, and if you have a set that are empty you may
change them indiscriminately without doing any harm.
They are unlike in this respect, that you will not find the
two outside combs with as much brood as others, if indeed
you find any brood in them. They will be mostly filled
with pollen and honey. The rest of the combs will contain
both brood and honey, those toward the outside having
more honey than the central ones.
6. They may in a good season.
7. Probably not.
8. Decidedly. Use only enough to subdue the bees, and
if they show fight use a little more, and keep using it occa-
sionally if you need it. Generally, however, there will be
no occasion to use it the second time.
9. Note whether there is an increase of honey in the
hives. If the honey-flow is good the bees seem in more of
a hurry and more of them are flying. When they are
doing a big business some of them will drop down in front
of the hive with their heavy loads, and will have to rest
there a bit before they rise to enter.
10. I don't know definitely enough to give a categorical
answer. The weather, the source of nectar, and other
things have to do with the case, and the time may vary
much. Sometimes it seems to ripen within two or three
days, and sometimes in as many weeks. A section Taa.y be
two or three weeks from the time the bees commence stor-
ing in it before it is entirely sealed, in which case it could
not be said that the whole of it was ripened in less than
two or three weeks, and yet it would hardly be right to say
that any part of it was two weeks in ripening, for the first
stored in the section was probably ripe some time before
the last, and the last may have been gathered less than a
week before it was sealed. While it is true, as a rule, that
honey is ripe when it is sealed, there seem to be cases in
which it remains unsealed after being ripe, and others in
which it is sealed before it is ripe. If you insist that I
shall say how long on the average it takes honey to ripen, I
should say that in this climate it takes about a week. But
I frankly confess I don't know, and shall be glad to learn
from some one who has made a study of the matter.
11. As a rule, when ripe ; but as before said, there may
be exceptions. The exceptions, however, are probably not
at all common.
12. The most natural way that would suggest itself to
an inexperienced person would be to take hold of it and
pull it out just as you would a thorn or a splinter, and the
question might seem like a foolish one. But if you take
hold to pull it out in the usual way, you will grasp tlu-
poison-bag which remains attacht to the sting, and you will
squeeze some of the poison into the wound. Scrape it <iut
with the thumb or finger-nail. A quicker way, and one
that is just as eS'ective, you will learn by experience when
stung on the back of the hand, where a large proportion of
stings are received. Slap the back of the hand quickly on
the leg with a sort of wiping motion the instant the bee
strikes the hand. That will mash the bee, and at the same
time it will wipe out the sting if you use force enough.
Swarming Management, Etc.
1. I am just a beginner in the bee-business. I
hived some (lO swarms last spring, and some eight this
spring, and I have ray first yet to lose. I always move the
swarm. Now what is the difference ? I see some advo-
cate moving the old hive.
2. I have my bees on the lowlands of the river, so I
have to scaffold up for them, five or six feet off of the
ground. Can I set them on the ground during the summer,
then raise them in winter, so as to keep them above high
water ? I have been thinking of putting them on the
ground this spring. California.
Answers. — l. Putting the swarm on the old stand and
moving the old hive is not done for the sake of keeping the
swarm from deserting, but to throw the flying force into
the swarm, making it strong for storing, and also prevent-
ing the issue of afterswarms. If you will try it you may
find that with this practice you will get more surplus from
the swarm than you will get from both if you put the
swarm on a new stand.
2. I see no reason why it will not work all right to lower
the hives during the time it will be safe, and it will certainly
be much more convenient not to have them so near the sky
when working at them.
Perhaps Bee-Paralysis.
What can be the matter with my bees? The colony
most affected has almost perisht. The bees crawl or are
dragged out of the hive and they then crawl off in the
grass to die. Some try to fly but fail. Where one lies dur-
ing the night a yellow stain is sometimes, but not often,
left. They have been that way two months. I am feeding
them honey. They are in Langstroth hives.
Arkansas.
Answer.— From the little of description that is given it
is not possible to be certain, but the great probability is
that your bees have bee-paralysis. If that is the trouble,
you will find the affected bees have a trembling motion, are
inclined to be black and shiny, and are pulled and dragged
about by the other bees. Many cures have been offered,
but unfortunately none of them seem to be reliable. It is
possible the disease may disappear of itself, and it is pos-
sible it may keep on with its deadly work. Some have con-
fidently claimed a cure by making a diseased colony
exchange places with a healthy one. It would do no great
harm to try the experiment.
Dividing Colonies.
I have 16 colonies and wish to divide them so as to get
the white clover honey. I divided last year and put one-
half into each hive, but lost the white clover crop, as they
put it all in the empty hives, or on the four sheets of foun-
dation that I put in place of the four that I took out. I use
the eight-frame dovetail hive. I wish to requeen from two
queens that I got last fall. Would I better use the nucleus
plan, as I can get that out of the Journal or the " A B C,"
as I have both ? Illinois.
Answer.— You will do well to use the nucleus plan both
for rearing your queens and making your increase. That
will allow you to keep most of your colonies strong for stor-
ing. When you cut a colony right in two. neither half is
strong enough to do much storing ; but you can from time
to time draw a frame or two of brood and bees from a col-
ony that is storing without very seriously interfering. Of
course it does make a difference but nothing like the differ-
ence it does to take away half the force.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song— words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at fl.OO.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing- for. Look at them.
298
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL,
May 9, 1901.
;>*J*^J*J!iJ<i^*^J<V>^*i^*V*^^*iJ!^J<VJa.J<tJiiJ^^K*i.>«!
The Afterthought.
^
^^T^WTr'trTsfTrTrT^TfWT^'^
'Old Reliable " seen thru New and Unreliable Qiasses.
By E. E. HASTV, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
INSECT HONEY ON "CLOUD REST."
As told on page 196, Prof. Cook certainly found scientific
"nuts and raisins " on Cloud Rest in the Yosemite — great
<irops of nectar secreted by pine aphides. And it was doubly
blest in having intelligent tasters at hand who did not know
what the origin of the nectar was. Quite interesting to see
that all the party pronounced it of excellent flavor. If some
of us should say that bees work on aphide secretion and clover
at the same time, and mix the proceeds, and that the mixture
passes readily for clover honey — well, the story would hardly
"go down." Please remember, therefore, that Prof. Cook
contributes a positive case of this sort. We must not ignore
the facts ; and the fact seems to be that some insect honey is
excellent, and some abominable. Probably also there are all
intermediate grades.
DOES LOSING THE STING KILL THE BEE ?
Right this way to see an interesting little fight. Let's
have a "shindy" between Prof. Cook, who has proved by
direct experiment that the loss of the sting kills the bee. and
those others who have proved by direct experiment that it
doesn't. Perhaps it is rather soon for me to act as umpire,
but nevertheless let me have ray say. Suppose an ogre should
seize a dozen children and pull a leg off each one. Would
they all die or all get well ? Neither. Some would die and
some get well. In deficit of evidence this is to be presumed
of all very serious wounds in all creatures. As to case in
hand, the matter is still more complicated. Sometimes the
wound is very serious and sometimes it isn't, depending upon
the size of the lump of tissue pulled away with the sting.
Losing the sting only should no more kill a bee than losing
her horns in a fight kills a cow. But if you should jerk off
the cows horns in such a way as to carry the whole top off her
head away too, she would probably die. Again, stingers are
mostly aged (presumably) and aged bees in .June have but a
very short span of life left anyway. Wonder if this fact has
not been forgotten in some of the "direct experiments."
Page 197.
BEE-KEEPING FOR INVALIDS.
Yes, from one point of view, bee-keeping is hardly the
thing for invalids — calls for lively stepping around, long hours,
and sometimes for heavy expenditures of strength. But
somehow one successful bee-keeping invalid, like Mrs. Axtell,
rather extinguishes considerable argument on the other side.
And here's a good sentence from Mrs. A., worthy to be printed
large on the beginner's smoker, or some such place : " Pay
little attention to what your jieighbor advises, unless you
know him to be a practical apiarist." The neighbor wise and
gray, who has had " more or less bees around my place all my
life," is especially a dangerous snare to the beginner, p. 197.
THOSE TALKS TO BEGINNERS.
Here's compliments to the talks to beginners by Mr.
Gehring. They are good. But then, every new dog must
expect to be snuft at and salaried at some, and I'll see if I
can't find a place where I can snap my teeth together. Ah,
here it is ! "They give upas soon as they find themselves
prisoners — always and everywhere." This is very correct as a
general truth ; but my idea is that there are occasional excep-
tions, that they do sometimes ignore everything else but the
consuming passion to find a vulnerable place and put in a sting.
The bee under your veil almost always feels intimidated and
tries to get out ; but once in awhile one will proceed to busi-
ness. I think this takes in two ways, sometimes by being too
infuriated to notice the plainest evidence of imprisonment,
and sometimes by taking a few turns around, sizing up the sit-
uation, and then deciding that a fellow who has sworn to die
in the attempt does best to "strike home" at once. p. 199.
NECTAR-GATHERING MICE.
Our bees, of course, have the other insects and the hum-
ming-birds as competitors; but it is news to be informed that
there are nectar-gathering mice. (Apologies to the scientists
who want them called Marsupials ; but the picture says
they're mice). Certainly animate nature is amazingly versa-
tile in its forms. Page 212.
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ \
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
ATTRACTIVE HOMES AND SURROUNDINGS.
The home circle like everything else about us, is won-
drously affected by its environment. I said none too much
about the kind word and the thoughtful act in the home. I
spoke truly of the marvelous influence of the flowers in the
home. I think it was Henry Ward Beecher who said, " .Show
me the books and the papers in a household, and let uie know
the company which frequent the same, and I will rightly de-
scribe the people of that home." The home is not simply con-
fined to the inside of the walls that domicile us. The immedi-
ate surroundings of the house are of equal importance in
their influence to refine the character and mould the tastes.
Some years since, the village of Kalamazoo, Mich., — it
was larger than a great many cities — gained a wide reputa-
tion, not only for being the largest village in the United
States, but for being one of the most beautiful towns in the
country. It was not that the houses were palatial. Many of
these were cottages, and not a few were very humble in their
dimensions and architecture. But the thing that attracted
everybody, and gave Kalamazoo its well-earned fame, was the
beautifully kept lawns and lovely flowers, shrubs and trees,
usually arranged with the skill of an artist, which adorned
nearly every home in that beautiful village. I hardly need
say that the people of Kalamazoo were exceptional in refine-
ment, intelligence and enterprise. Loveliness like music
charms every one and will certainly attract the best to its near
presence. Kalamazoo had its fine public library, its ladies'
club which attracted large attention, and its drives and boule-
vards which were enjoyed by the many visitors that delighted
in spending their summer outings in this lovely spot.
We may not all be so fortunate as to live in Kalamazoo.
We may be so unfortunate as to have neighbors who care lit-
tle for neatness, order, and beauty. We can, all of us, make
our home the pride, not only of those who occupy it, but also
the pride of all our neighbors. Even those who are lacking
in taste or are too indolent to make the exertion which fine
grounds require, often show their appreciation when company
comes to visit them. As they walk or drive out, they are very
sure to pass by the orderly, well-cared-for places of the town
or neighborhood. How many reasons there are why each of
us should do all in our power to make our grounds the most
lovely and attractive of any in our region. What sincere
pleasure it gives us as we daily watch the growth of the beau-
tiful plants and trees, and think of the part we have had in
their arrangement and fashioning. Whatever gives us pleas-
ure, as we have shown in' a previous article, is sure to add to
health and longevity. Thus we score again for the neat home
grounds. We love to have our immediate friends refined and
cultured. I wonder if children that are brought up from the
earliest years, where everything tells of neatness and order,
will ever fail to receive something of real refinement. Surely
if beauty about the home works such blessedness in its mem-
bers, we may tally again for hoipe adornment. We know
what the Scripture says about the leaven, and how all the
meal was transformed. Can any of us have a higher ambition
than a wish to plant this leaven that shall tend to make all
the homes of cur vicinity attractive and beautiful ?
I believe I know just why Kalamazoo gained such a wide
reputation for its superlative attractiveness. There is no
question but that an exceptionally large number of the first
settlers of that beautiful little village came from just such
homes as we have been trying to describe, and were so attacht
to beautiful surroundings that they gave first attention to
making their own homes so neat and lovely that others who
came to the town even tho less enamored of such beautiful
things were at once led to follow the good example already set.
Soon, it would be so noticeable if any slovenly place was per-
mitted to disfigure the village that no one had the bravado to
set the example, and thus the whole village became famed
thruout the State and country.
Possibly we bee-keepers stand in special need of some
exhortation in this direction. In California, especially, the
apiary is off in some canyon or on some secluded mesa, and is
likely to be seldom visited by any but the bee-keeper and his
family. Thus the stimulus which comes from rubbing against
the world and from its criticism is wholly lacking, and we are
likely to become largely indifferent as regards the appearance
May 9, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
299
not only of the apiary but also of the cabin or house in oase
■we live near the apiary, and all the surroundings. If we do
make the apiary our home, and the family shares its pleasures
^with us, we certainly can not afford to be neglectful of these
adornments which will go so far and do so much to make our
iloved ones possest of a personality which will honor and
delight us and bless the world. Here again we score heavily
for home adornment.
There is another reason why we should all look to it that
our homes are made as attractive as our means and time will
permit. Uy giving a little more time, we can purchase our
flowers, shrubs and trees while very small and so at a very
slight cost. By giving study to the grounds of others we can
learn what are the most beautiful plants and shrubs. This
will not only improve our observation but will be a delight in
itself. Thus as we come to select for ourselves we shall make
few, if any, mistakes. By giving a little time each day we
can do all that is required, and hardly feel it either in time or
labor. We thus keep in touch with all about our home and it
soon becomes so much a part of us that it develops within us
a love for the place which does so much to sweeten life.
The above is not simply theory with me, for we in our
■own home have tried to carry out what I have suggested
above. California has much to encourage one in this kind of
an undertaking. The flowers and plants here are so varied
■and beautiful that it is a wonder that every one does not feel
moved to bring them to his own dooryard. The soil here is
also so marvelously productive that a single season will suffice
to clothe a bare place in the landscape with beauty and ver-
dure that would require years in the more tardy East.
Wherever we go, whether in the country or in the city, we are
all eagerly watching for vines, flowers or shrubs that are more
lovely than those which we already possess. Our excursions
are therefore more enjoyable, and we have been able to select
the most beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees that can be found
anywhere. We each of us, then, planned how we would have
our walks and drives, where we would put the lawn and where
we would put the various plants that they might show off to
the best effect. We then compared our plans and selected the
one which all agreed would serve best for our especial place
and purpose. We then set out the plants and all have had a
part in cultivating the ground, adding the needed water and
using the pruning shears. What a bond of interest this forms
in the home 1 What delightful table-talk it calls forth, and
how it prolongs the meal-time hour. Thus we see that the
advantages in all this beautiful work of home adornment
reach out in niany ways, and pay a tremendous interest on the
•capital invested.
We are all very fond of grapes and have sought out what
we believe are the best, selecting from both foreign and Ameri-
can varieties, and have planted them in two rows about eight
feet apart. We have used inch gas-pipe and have made arches
spanning the difference between the rows of grapes. The
vines run over this and form a beautiful arbor. This not only
affords a shady place to sit and read, and, in the autumn, to I
eat, but also hides the clothes-line which in the dry •climate of
California has little need of the sunshine to make its position
suitable.
On the north side of our house, similar arbors of English
ivy and other beautiful vines form another cosy nook. We
utilize this not only for rest and shade, but under its protect-
ing shade we plant the exquisite ferns, the charming begonias
and thi> graceful climbing asparagus. These arches keep the
climbing rose-bushes — wisteria, solanum, tacomas, etc., — away
from the house, and give a grace and beauty that must be
admired by all. Surely, the home circle does not know what
it misses if it does not do all it can in this matter of adorn-
ment of home grounds.
Wo have also studied up the matter of fruits, and have
added such fruit-trees as we think will contribute most to the
comfort and satisfaction of the family. In California, this is
a matter of exceeding interest as almost all the fruits known
to our country do well here. I remember visiting many apia-
rists in Michigan who had not lost sight of these matters
which engage our attention to-day. I remember very well the
home of Dr. Whiting, of East Saginaw, who will be remem-
bered as such an enthusiast in all matters pertaining to the
apiary. I remember with what pleasure Dr. Whiting showed
us his grapes and his trees, and how proud he seemed to be, as
he gave us the beautiful grapes and fruit. Much as Dr. Whit-
ing enjoyed his bees, I can but believe that he received greater
satisfaction from the fruit which graced his own table,
and regaled the appetite of his fortunate guests. I have vis-
ited many other bee-keepers in many States of the country,
and not a few of them had homes that might be the envy of
any one. Many, like Dr. Miller, loved the roses and other
flowers, and many of them have adorned their homes in a way
to offer an object lesson of real value to all passers-by.
I do not believe it is necessary to secure the services of a
landscape gardner in carrying out these suggestions. There
are very few of us who, if we carefully observe the places of
others, especially those that please us and have cost about the
same expense that we are able to make, can not fashion our
own grounds in a way to please us and receive the approval of
the public. The very study that we shall give to the grounds
of others will be a wholesome pleasure ; and valuable in the
added knowledge which we shall receive. . It is also valuable
and even more delightful to talk these matters over with those
whose beautiful places show that they have taste and appreci-
ation. I have visited almost every place in Southern Cali-
fornia. Some of these places, like Montecito and Pasadena,
are to California what Kalamazoo is to Michigan. With what
exquisite delight I lookt upon and studied the many beautiful
places of these cities. How I have enjoyed talking with the
owners and finding out the principles which they had used so
successfully in adorning their own beautiful grounds. With
what especial delight did I take Mrs. Cook to enjoy with me
the environs of the second city, and with what eagerness I
lookt forward to a promist visit with her that we may enjoy
together the incomparable beauty of the little suburb of Santa
Barbara, known as Montecito.
Farm Wagon Economy.
The economy of this proposition is not all
iound in the very reasonable price of the wagon
•itself, but in the srreat amount of labor it -n-ill
save, and its great durabilitv. The Electric
Wheel Co., who make this ' Klectric Uandy
Wagon and the now famous Electric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
durable low-down wagon at a reasonable price.
This wagon is composed of the best material
hruoul — white hickory a.xles, steel wheels, steel
hounds, etc. Guaranteed to
carry 4rtX) lbs. These Electric
Steel Wheels are made to fit
any wagon, and make practi-
cally a new wagon out of the
old one. They can be had in
any height desired and any
width of tire up to s inches.
With an extra set of these
wheels a fanner can inter-
change them witli his regu-
lar wheels and have a high or
down wag. in at will.
Write for catalog of the full • Electric Line"
to Electric Wheel Co., Box li., ouincy, 111.
Please meuiion Bee jotimal when -WTitlns.
Bees in Fair Condition.
I put all my bees out April 20th, and they
are only in fair condition, being light in
weight and al.so in Viees. I lost (! thru starva-
tion, and one was queenless. Tin- ?-tarvulioii
was due tu not being abli' Id imi iIm-iii into
the cellar myself. 1 had 'j:*' nilcMiii-s.
X. .SlAlMNCEll.
Cedar Co.. Iowa. April 2H.
Egyptian and Hungarian Bees.
I have vet ti> sci- tlie first Egyptian Ih'i-s.
Many years ago Mr. .1. W. Winder, of Cin-
cinnati (notice iif whose death I was very
sorry to see in last year's Bee Journal), offeretl
to send me an Egyi)tian queen the succeeding
spring, but he lost all of them during the
winter which follciweil.
I have had mure experience with the Hun-
garian bees, as I mue took care of a colony
fur an old friend, uiio has since [last away. I
FOR SALE
I have 40 colonies left out of mv liX) I adver-
tised last month-all on .S selfspacing Hoffman
frames in dovetailed hives, two supers with
each hive, full worker-brood combs, in lots of
15 to 25, $2.50 per colony; or the entire lot at t~-'*0
apiece. F. QENT,
l'>Alt Rockford, Wright Co.. Minn.
Please mention Bee Journal when •writing.
BEES AND QUEENS
Having been 2s years rear-
ing Queens for the trade on
the best known plaus, I will
continue to rear the best.
PRICE.S:
One Untested Queen ll.tXi
One Tested Queen 1.3S
One Select Tested Queen 1.50
One Breeder 3.00
One Comb Nucleus l.SO
BelgianHares
Choice, pedigreed and common stock; young-
sters, $3.iX) per pair. Write for description and
prices. d. L. STRONG.
llAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
300
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 9, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A: A:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern;
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writinfi:.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writlnK.
Red Clover Queens
LONG-TONGUED BEES ARE DEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium for sending us TWO new subsepibers
to tlie Amepican Bee Joupnal fop one yeap
(with $2i; OP, one Tested Queen fpee as a ppemium for sending
us FOUR new subsepibers with $4.00).)
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these iine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
SI. 00 each ; Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO
144 & 146 Epie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
hardly know how to descrilje these bees, but
they look much like the bees that many now
call Carniolans. still they are different.being
of a dirty bluish trray, or what some of my
friends used to call a '• wild pigeon " color.
They are the quietest and jjentlest of any bees
I ever workt with, and I liked them except
fur their falling from the combs and their
inclination to e.xcessive storing of propolis.
But a bad winter carried them off, as it did.
the Egyptian bees. i i
I should be glad to know what has become
of these two races of bees, if any fellow bee-
keeper can tell me. Wm. S." Barclay.
Beaver Co.. Pa.. April 12.
Weather Unfavorable for Bees.
This is cold weather for l)ees. Mine came
out for a Hight April 3d. and those that were
alive had a good one. The loss was 12 per-
cent, and if the weather does not change soon
I am afraid we shall lose more. There is such
a cold wind blowing from the northeast that
I iun unable to open my hives, but I hope a
day will soon come when I can look them
over. I know that some of mine are very'
light, Imt I am hoping for the best, and am
very much interested in bees. CZTj
I would like to know what a bee-louse is;
where it keeps itself ; and what the work is
that it does in a bee-hive. C. H. Voigt.
Manitowoc Co., Wis., April 24.
Bees Bringing in Pollen.
Bees came thru the winter nicely. I put
them out April lUth, and theyiibroughtJIin
pollen an hour after being put on the sum-
mer stands. "We had heavy frosts April 19th
and 2Uth, the temperature being 21 degrees
above zero, but since then the bees have been
working lively. They are stronger than
usual.
I am getting better slowly, but can not do
much as yet. "C. Theilmann.
Wabasha Co., Minn., April 24.
Blaelss vs. Italians in Brood-
Reaping.
I wintered 42 colonies of bees on the sum-
Tner stands with no protection, and did not
lose a colony.
I think black bees far ahead of Italians in
regard to brood-rearing. C. C. Ream.
Klamath Co.. Oreg.. .\pril IS.
Severe Wintep Causes Heavy Loss.
My loss so far is 10 tiut of 2.5. and M hofie
the limit has been reacht. The weather was
so severe all winter that the bees could not
reach their stores, so I have been feeding the
honev to the survivors. Mks. C. A. Ball.
Oneida Co., N. Y., April 22.
Bee-Keeping and Bears in Florida.
The secretion of nectar from (lowers' in
this locality has been rather poor so far this
season. There have been cool winds and
heavy falls of rain. Fruit-trees bloomed pro-
fusely, and are now thru with the exception
of Burbank plums, which are now opening.
Ti-ti bloom is very abundant now. and has
l)een for several weeks, and is a great favorite
with bees.
There is an apiary located at the mouth of
Buggy Announoemsnt Extraordinary.
The Kat
iHl'ipti'il the plan of sendiiiK their v.-lji
They sell direct to consumers at whoicj
vdiiclcfrcjin llie depot, hitch up to it, t
the trinniiiiicK, fmiah and style before v
"a cat in the IjaK, sight unseen." The'y
are wiUing to let them sell on their
of K.-ilani.-i/.o,,, Michisan, have
.Uivwlier,-, ,,:i lo da v.s free trial.
prirrs an I :M..k y.,u f. take tlie
le spriTiL's, riinniiiL,' <)iialities, see
•i-i.l.' In ke,.p i(, ^,, ,,i,in> Inlying
w the i]uatit\- ..f their goods' and
Write for fre,, eatalogue.
KALAMAZOO CARRIAGE AND HARNESS CO.,
Box 53 Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Please mention Bee Journal when -".vriting
May 9, 19i 1
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
301
the ChoctawliaU-lu-e River, iieai' a ^wal]lll lo
miles aiiuss. Tlie dariiii. rieli soil produces
many honey-yieUliiif,'- i>laiits. arul furnishes a
.secure retreat for hears; one visited the api-
ary, and ate and destroyed io colonies. On
an arm of St. Andrews Bay. where air apiary
is located, a bear destroyed several colonies,
liut was shot, and much meat secured and a
line pelt. Mrs. L. Harbison.
Washington Co., Fla. April l(i.
Last Year an Average One.
My bees wintered well. Last tall I put .54
<?olonies into the cellar, and last Week took
out that number in tine shaiie. Last year
was an average one with me. as I got about
1,800 pounds of comb honev.
R. A. Hi NT.
Fillmore Co., Minn., April 115.
Hard Winter on Bees.
I have lost 4 colonies out of K! wintered on
the summer stands. It was a hard winter for
))ees. there being no chance for them to Hy.
Joseph N. Rowlee.
Oswego Co., N. Y., April 2'A.
Bees Building Up Nleely.
Bees are building up nicely, and are swarm-
ing, but not storing very much more honey
than they consume. Our tirst honey harvest
win be from the second cutting of alfalfa,
which win be in May.
I appreciate the American Bee Journal very
much. Mrs. A. Bowen.
Merced Co., Calif. April 16.
Gathering Pollen and Honey.
We have had a very liackward, cold spring,
but the bees have wintered well, and it is nice
weather now. They are liringing in pollen
and some honey from the woods. I have "0
colonies, having lost 6. The prospects are
^ood. Clover wintered splendidly, both
white and alsike. Daniel Stuart.
Ontario. Canada, April sr.
Bees Gathering Honey.
My bees wintered tiptop, and are briugiuii
in lots of honey to-day. The American Bee
Journal is all right. (Jilbeht Brows.
Fulton Co., N. Y., Ai.ril -J?.
Wintered With Small Loss.
The bees have come thru the winter in
good shape, with a loss of 4 colonies out of
60. It is snowing here to-day, and the tem-
perature is 36 degrees above zero,
Edwin Hutchinson.
Livingston Co.. N. Y., April 19.
Bees in Eastern Pennsylvania.
I am starting in the bee-business in a
locality which 1 suppose is about the poorest
in the United States. Bees are kept in small
<iuantities by almost every farmer in the
neighborhood — from one to live colonies — in
the old-style box-hive. They all complain ot
little surplus honey, only from -> to Id pounds
from their best colonies. I Know of sonit
that didn't get a pound for thiee years in
succession. Bee-plants are ven scaue
around here, except that of fiuit bloom and
white clover, which, some \eiis iie ijuitt
plentiful. Almost every foot t)t soilisiulti
vated. and all weeds and wild lloweisalon^
the fences and roadsides are ( ut down Theie
is no buckwheat raised liere iin moie whuh
used to produce large quantities of hone\
We need the long-tongued liees \en badU in
this part of the country, a^ thtie aie hun
dreds of a* res of red clovci aiound heie
where barrels of Imncv arc t;oin„ to waste
I bou-hi srvciMl I-.. ionic- of black bees last
spring :ii sl.iiu |mm- cnli.iiy, and expect to
transfer SI inic of tlicrn into dovetailed hives,
.and later on supply them with Italian queens.
F. M. Mayberrt.
Montgomery Co., Pa., April l'?.
Tennessee Queens !
riiie lot of Choice Tesled
'iieens reared last season,
aughters of select imported
lid select golden queens,
eaied 3]i miles apart, and
iiated to select drones, $1.5ii
untested warranted
"Jueens, from same breeders,
^ .her strain, 75c each. No
es owned nearer than 2%
lies. None impure within
and but few within 5 miles.
years' experience. Discount
J large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN IW. DAVIS,
6A20t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Flease mention Bee Journal when writing
Bee-Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
o-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d 'to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Uees and Queens. Catalog
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
M. a. ACKLIN, manager.
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
Price of Queens
from Imported
Mothers;
Tested..!— $ 1.50
Jn" ..1— .75
Tested.. 6— 6.50
..()— 4.00
Tested -12— 12.00
U. h. DAVIDSON & SONS.
Establisht 1885. Fairview, Wilson Co., Tex.
12Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other publish!,
send f 1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Quilts or No Quilts.
At the Ontario convention, reported in tlie
Canadian Bee Journal, IS were in favor of
quilts and 12 opposed.
Sugar for Feeding.
It is good in the fall, perhaps better than
honey ; but for spring, honey is away ahead,
says A. Alberti in Deutsche 111. Bztg. The
sugar needs a digestion that the honey does
not, and in the fall and early winter this
matters little because the food is taken in
such small portions, but when breeding be-
gins in late winter or spring, then it is con-
sumed in large quantities, and converting so
much cane-sugar overburdens.
BEE=lUPPLIES!
AT ROOTS f=RIC£^J.
_ erything used by bee-keepers.
POUDER'S HONEY -JARS. Prompt
service. Low Freight Rates.
NEW CATALOG FREE.
Standard BelQlan Hare Book
THIS book of 175
pages presents a
clear a n d concise
It of the Bel-
gian Hare industry;
its growth, origin
and kinds: the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding
:are of the
oung, feeding, dis-
edition of .50,-
Htii copies was sold
n advance of publi-
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only $1.10.
GEOROn W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14<, Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Hoffman Frames.
These have been strongly championed by
Eiiitor Root, but he now admits that there are
localities in which propolis is so bad that
Hoflman frames are impracticable.
A Plan of Producing Comb Honey.
Here is a matter for you to try in your api-
aries. It is the system to Ije used with shal-
low divisible-l:)rood-chamber hives. You have
eight-frame hives.' Take two of these for a
brood-chamber thru the spring. Manage so
as to have the brood as much as you can in
one of the chambers, say by having the brood-
nest in the ujiper one, and spread it and
manipulate to get these combs solid full of
lirood. The success does not dcipcnd on this
getting the one set of combs snliil full of
brood, tlio to obtain he«t results it will pay to
do this. With this double brood-chamber
there is so much room you keep down the
swarming fever, and I think the room to
sjiread. esi>ecially downward, gives a greater
vigor of work than a crowded hive.
Ten days liefore the flow begins, put the
(|ueen in the lower chamber with a little brood
— one comb with any amount of brood will be
plenty ; an excluder on this, and the rest of
tlie brood on top. At the end of ten days,
when the flow is just starting, take in a new
stand the lower hive with the i|iu-cii. and put
the top chamber on the old stand with noth-
ing but its sealed brood antl no queen, but
give a virgin queen or ripe jirotecteii cell, or
wait two or three days and give a queen or
cell. Give only a cell or a virgin queen, be-
cause the brood is all sealed that is left on the
old stand; and while the virgin is mating,
and getting ready to lay, the Ijrood is hateli-
ing; so when she does begin laying, the last
of the brood is about ready to emerge, and
your colony is just in the condition of a col-
ony that iias swarmed naturally, and their
young queen just ready to lay, except that
you have kept tlie strength of the colony on
the old stand, and have been getting section
work. As the lirood hatcht the brood-comlis
were tilled with honey; but as that young
queen licgins to lay. that honey goes nji to
the sections out of her way, and you have no
swariniiig. cither.
This system anticipatesqultea contracted
lod-chumber left on the old stand, which
lit
ilh
jf a
would be till
divisilile-chainlierhivc, lii-n.r ilinr would not
lie any great aiuoiiut of Imiiic.\ -iMivd in it
during the time the queen wu.^ uul la,\ lug. To
make the best test with the eight-frame hives,
I suggest that you use but six to the lH>dy,
using a dummy at each side; thus you have a
twelve-frame hive before the separation at the
start of the How, and six left when divided.
The whole plan contemplates a big hive u|)
lill the How. then a very small one on the old
stand, and yet all swarming effectually con-
trolled, the force of fielders right where they
302
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 9, 1%1.
A HANDY TOOI<-HOLD£R !
Sent by Express, for $1.50 ; or wilh tlic Bee Journal
one year— bolli for $2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller, Carpenter,
Cabinet Maker, Machinist. Wheelwright and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one using: a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the "work of two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will hold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chieel to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachment for sharpening- scythe
blades included in the above price. The work
Is done without wetting- the hands or soiling
the clothes, as the water flows from the opera-
tor, it can be attached to any size stoue for
hand or steam power, is always ready for use,
nothinir to g-et out of order, and is absolutely
"vorth 100 limes lis cost.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
'or itself in a short time. ,
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool is fas-
tened securely In the Holder by
a set-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevel by Insert-
ing the arm of the Holder into
a higher or lower notch of the
standard. While turning the
crank with the right hand, the
left rests on an steadies the
Holder : the Tool is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if held in th? hands.
For grinding Round • Edge
Tools, the holes in the stand-
ard are used instead of the
Dotehes.
UEORCIE n'. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Eric St Cliioago, III.
Narsbfleld Mannfacturipg Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the rig-ht kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog- and price-list.
A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Flease mention Bee Journal -when -writina
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper-
Tile Pacific Rurai Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publisht weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
Bee=SuppIies
We are distributors for ROOT'S G OODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and theSouth,
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS.
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Successor to C. F. MuTH &. Son,
214(, 4,H Ceiilral Ave., CINCINNATI. O.
Queens! Queens I
A choice lot of TESTED QUEENS reared
last season from the very best honey-gathering
strains— 7Sc each; dozen, S8.S0. Untested, 55c
each: dozen, S6.00. Safe arrival. Send for cir-
cular. Address,
W. J. FOREHAND,
r'Dtf FliRT DEPOSIT, ALA.
Flease mention Bee journal -w-hen writing,
fl Word to the Wise Bee-Keeper
Is the litle of an essay on cjueen-rearing. Sent
free to all applicants. Address, y
r)A4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
BEE
HIVES.SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Hif; Catalog Free. Write
uuw. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
6Atfa' iMention the American Bee Jo
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a g-ood time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. T SH-Ht
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Please Mention the Bee Journal iJ^^rt^irf.?...
will do the most good. The old queen never
stops la.ving, and goes right on and builds up
a g-ood colony in her new location.
This is no idle dream, and I ask that you
have it tried in your apiaries this season. to be
written up later after trial. I have for years
been studying- the plan, and, to some e.\teut,
experimenting. I think I am the pioneer in
it, tho another man. and a good apiarist in
this State, has also used the principle, coming
at ii inili-pcndently of me. If I have the suc-
i.i-.'-s I iiiiii.ipate for it, it will be W/e system
with divisiljle-brood-ehamber hives. — JR. C.
AiKix. Larimer Co., Colo.
[Our readers will remember that about two
years ago I advocated a plan very similar ta
this — that is, I practiced running two eight-
frame brood-chambers for the purpose of get-
ting powerful colonies for the production of
comb honey ; then when the honey-flow was
fairly upon us I crowded this colony all into
one Ijrood-chamber and one or two supers
containing sections and foundation. Some-
times I gave such colonies a shallow extract-
ing-super, and after the Ijees had them well
started I took them off and substituted the
coml>honey supers. There were a few of our
readers who condemned the plan as impracti-
cable and unorthodox ; but I know that for
some localities, and for some seasons at least,
it is all right. Mr. Aikin's plan is. perhaps,
an improvement on mine, and I wish a good
many of our readers might try it and report
at the end of the season.] — E. R. EooT, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Long Tongues and Red Clover.
J. I). Evans, in tlie Canadian Bee Journal,
thinks that instead of working for long
tongues the effort should be to obtain a new
clover by crossing red and white, or red and
alsike. In the same journal, Ila Miehener,
referring to the strange circumstance that
during a certain season one kind of bees
would excel, and show no superiority at other
times, says :
I have Ijecome thoroly converted to the
••long-tongue'' idea, and believe that ex-
jilains it all; there is no mystery about it.
There will be more difference during clover
honey because the long-tongued bees can
work on red clover, especially mammoth or
large red clover, " and when the buckwheat
and goldenrod honey come we will not see
half of that difference." Why i Because
hybrids, or even black bees, can work as well
on buckwheat and goldenrod, and it is the
same early in the season on the wild red-rasp-
berry.
My son, E. L. Miehener, living further from
the lake, and nearer the marsh than I do, got
al>oiit as much wild red-raspberry honey a&
clover, while I got very little, but when clover
came our yields were about the same. He
got twice as much honey from buckwheat
and fall flowers, for my bees had to go too far
lor it.
A part of our bees are Italian and Carnio-
lancrost; while they look like any hyljrids,
they are gentle and very good bees. We do
not want all of the long-tongued Italians, for
thcv will keep on working on red clover after
it icuscs to l)e protitalile. while the dark bees
will l>c tilling up tlieir coml.is with dark
iioiiey I'l-om different sources. Yet, if all our
lit'cs had been like our Ijest red-clover workers
we would have gotten twice the amount of
honey we did get; so I think we will do a lot
of requeening another summer.
Spraying Trees in Bioom.
I have already rejiorted that the Experi-
ment Station at Geneva, N. Y., counseled
agaitist spraying trees while in bloom ; that it
not only killed the bees, but also affected the
delicate organs of the flowers; that in some
ruses those who had been most active in urg-
ing ^lll-aying during l>looming-time had found
to ilicir sorrow that such spi-aying had seri-
ously cut down their fruit crops. While these
exjieriments were l:>eing conducted at Geneva
and in that vicinity, the same kind of exjieri-
ments were being carried on at Cornell Uni-
May 9, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
303
versity, N. T. ; and now we have a report
friiiii John Crai(?, of that station, a>n,flrtniug
lilt Jiiidhifisuf the Geneva station. This report
is jmlilisht in the American Gardening for
April lith.
It has hevn iiry-ed Ijy the advocates of spray-
inj.' in lilooni, that during seasons like that of
1!HKI, when the trees are heavily loaded with
lilossoms, spraying at such times has the
effect of thinning away the superabundance
of fruit. Regarding this, Mr. Craig very per-
tinently says:
•• It seems that, when this admission is
made, the strength of the argument is very
much weakened. If it is a thinning process,
then it could be practiced with safety and
advantage only in seasons of heavy bloom."'
Elsewhere he says, under the head of '■ Dis-
advantages of Spraying While in Bloom,"
that the " researches at Cornell and elsewhere
have indicated that the copper salts are very
injurious to tender tissues; and that, the
mure delicate the structure the nmre likely is
injury to ensue The thinning which fol-
lows spraying trees in bloom is jirobalily due
to the injury to the pistil or stigmatic sur-
face by the fungicide."
Mr. Craig then mentioned another objection
to spraying jn bloom; viz., the "destruction
of the bees;" and then, in giving a reason
why such destruction should not take place,
he says :
■• When cross-pollination is carried on by
the bees, larger fruit will be secured than if
self-pollination occurs Now, if we cover
our apple-blossoms with mixtures which are
likely to poison the bees, it seems to me that
we shall be using against ourselves a double-
edged weapon."
When it is remembered that these experi-
ments were begun at the Geneva and Cornell
stations at the instigation of the fruit-men,
who were anxious to prove that si>raying
during blooming-time was an advantage, the
results, being just the reverse of what was ex-
pected, are all the more valuable. — Editorial
in Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Illinois.— The spring meeting of the easterc
division of the Northern Illinois Bee-Keepers'
Association will be held at the residence of B.
Kennedy, 7 miles southeast of Rockford, III., on
Rural Route No. 5, and 3 miles northeast of New
Milford, 111., Tuesday, May 21, r«)l. All inter-
ested in bees are cordially invited to attend.
B. Ken.nedv, Sec.
.^MANUFACTURER 0F>^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shippiag--Cases— Everythiug- used bv
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shippiag- facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee'=Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co ,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wmtme:.
ALBINO QUEENS U^Zi^^^^r^^
want the gentlest Bees— If vou want the best
honev-gatherers you ever saw- trv mv A Ibinos.
Untested Queens in April, ft oh; ' Tested, it. 50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writi^.e^
CAREER AND CHARACTER OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
An address by Josepli Choate, Am-
bassador to Great Britain, on the ca-
reerand character of Abraham Lincoln
— his early life — his early struggles
with the world — his character as devel-
opt in the later years of his life and his
administration, which placed his name
so high on the world's roll of honor
and fame, has been publisht by the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, and may be had by sending six
(6) cents in postage to P". A. Miller,
General Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
18A3t
Dittffler's Foundation !
Retail— W holesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonndation For Casli
at prices that are tlie lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
1 pri.
3SW
iples, free on applicati)
BEESWAX WANTED
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
PleP'o mention Bee Jovirnal when writing.
INLAND PODLTRY JOUKNAL, Indianapolis, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal when -writine.
B6eS=SUDDli6S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mentiou the Bee Journal.
I More reading- uiatier Ilian ;iny othpr
pniiltry pMper in the world SampletTee.
W^'^UTi' I'nP'Tv Np"-^ t incoln. NVb
'Please mention Bee Journal -when. -OTTiting.
Catnip Seed Free !
We have a siiiall quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with $1.00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for SI. 30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 50 cents. As
our stock of this seed is verj' small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14(, Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
We want *
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fr6(l W. MutH & Go.
S.W. Cor. Front S: Walnut Sts., CiNciNXATr,0.
Please mention Bee Journal when "writing.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies ! \
We can furnish yc.ii with The A. I. Root Co's
goods at wholesale nr retail at their priccst. We can
save you freight, and stilp promptly. Market price
paid lor beeswax. S<Mid for our lyoi catalug.
M. H. UUNT & SON. Bl-1I Branch, Waynt- Co.. Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writinfe.
EENS
Smokers. Sectione,
Comb FoundatioQ
kmd All X|i4^rteB BoppUw
BEES
i! sti >fe >K. Jtt i*t >Jt ili Jte. >li >tt itt slil^
I ttON&y AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Apr. 18.— Choice g-rades of
comb honey sell at 16c, and there is no su
in sig-ht. Other grades of comb sell fairli
at the following- prices; No. 1 grades of i
14'!! 15c; off grades, 13c; light amber, 12c;
amber, lii@llc; buckwheat and other
combs, 9(a:10c; candied and mi.xt colors.
Extracted is dull, and pi ices very weak,
the exception of some fancy linden and c
grades, which is quotable at "fi'Sc; an:
bw'c; dark and buckwheat, Slgitc. Beeswa:
R. A. Bdknbtt &
»hite
rplua
well
■hite,
dark
dark
rwiOc.
ith
lover
bers,
1, 30c.
Co.
Please 'nentiou Kee Journal ■when writing.
Buffalo, May 2.— Fancy 1 lb. comb, lS@16c;
all other grades dragging at 8fail2c, as to grade,
and not wanted. Extracted not wanted. Fancv
beeswax, 27(ai28c; other proportionately less.
Batterson & Co.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1. $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
Detroit, Apr. 18— Fancy white comb, 14@15c:
No. 1, 13(ail4c; dark and amber, 10(ai2c. Ex-
tracted, white, 6^(Si7c; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax, 27@28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
New York, March n.— Our market is virtu-
ally bare of comb honey, and there is a fair de-
mand for all grades. Fancy white is still sell-
ing readily at from 15(ii 16c; No. 1 white at from
13(S»14c; amber at from 12(a;13c; buckwheat, 10®
lie, according to quality and style of package.
As to extracted, the market is quiet and in-
active and a certain amount will have to be
carried over again. Prices are declining some-
what, and if the honey is not moved in large
lots, concessions will have to be made. We
quote: California white, 7(si7'Ac; light amber,
bH®"c; other grades and Southern, bS(ml5c per
gallon. Beeswax very firm at 23@28Mc, and for
exceptionally fine yellow, 2'^c.
HiLDRETH & SeGKLKBN.
Cincinnati, Apr. 18.— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over. The stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings 16 cents. Ex-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for Siic;
Kansas City, Apr. 18.— There is very little
honey offered, and the demand is steady, sell-
ing from $3.;0(ai$3.')0 per case, fancy white; no
amber on the market at this time. Extracted,
no change; white, from SW'ic; amber, there is a
little on this market that could be sold from 75^
Se^^ic. Beeswax scarce and demand good, at
2S@28c. W. R. Cromwell Prodoce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
Albany, N. Y., May 3.— Honey market very
dull. Very little call for anything but choice
comb honey, of which there is a scarcity. Ex-
tracted quiet, H.R.Wright.
Boston, April 4. —Fancy No. 1 white in car-
tons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, 15(ai6c, with a
fairly good demand. Absolutely no call for
dark honev this year. Extracted, white, 8@
8>^c; light amber, 7K's8c. Beeswax, 27c.
Blake, Scott & Leb.
San Francisco, Apr. 17.— White comb 12®
13cents; amber, OOUc; dark, 6@8 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, fi^o'Ac; light amber, 4K@5cj
amber. 4(&-i'Ac. Beeswax, 26(S)28c.
Not much coming forward of any description,
and stocks in the hands of dealers are light.
The immediate inquiry is not brisk, however,
as there are no orders of consequence upon the
market, and dealers do not care at present to
purchase heavily on their own account.
SOUTH DAKOTA FARMS
Is the title of an illustrated booklet just
issued by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway, descriptive of the coun-
try between Aberdeen and the Missouri
River, a section heretofore unprovided
with railway facilities, but which is now
reacht by a new line of the Chicago,
Milwaukee ^v: St. Paul R'y. Every one
contemplating a change of location will
be interested in the information con-
tained in it, and a copy may be had by
sending a 2-cent stamp to F. A. Miller,
General Passenger Agent, Chicago, III.
19.\3t
304
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 9, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. tiimim
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything^, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
*S- W. M. Gekb
carries a full line c
Order of him and :
East Notingham, N
r g'oods at catalog pr
freight.
LEARN TO SING
AT IIOMK by my thorough method
1 guarantee to train
your voice or refund your
icy. The best musical knowledge
.Dged e<-pectally for Home btody.
lias llit^heet EndoroemeDt. B«^autlfal
descriptive bockletseotfree. Address
Prof. G. M. Whaley, Kalamazoo, Mich.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
soft
$5.00
12.00
1.70
1.70
1.40
3.75
4.00
3.25
1.00
tk e have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order;
5ft 10ft 25ft
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the S-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper publisht in the United States, d
W^ool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, III.
I AEISE
Vo say to the readers of
he Bee Journ.^il that
DooyiTLE...
h.i^ concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices:
1 Untested Queen . $1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
E.xtra selected breed*
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y
24th n^rl^n*'^ r^...^rl»«:^n 24th
Year
Dadant's Foundation.
Year
•^
We guarantee
satisfaction.
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS. No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been anj^
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LANGSTROTH on the HONEY-BEE-Revised
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co . III.
^ $15.00 and $23.00 Queens ^
Having a Measured Tongue Reach.
#
The call for queens of our celebrated $200 imported mother
has been so great that we have decided, in addition to the $2.00,
S4.00, and S6.00 grades of this stock, to offer some SIO 00, $15.00,
and even $25.00 of this same blood. But these prices are for tested
queens, the tongues of whose bees have been measured.
The $10.00 queen is guaranteed to produce bees with a tongue-
measurement of 19-100.
The $15.00 queen, 20-100.
The $25.00. queen, 21-100.
These last are very rare and with one exception this (21-100)
is the longest tongue reach yet secured. We reserve the right,
when we do not have the stock with the tongue reach called for,
either to return the money or to send the next lower, remitting
the balance. It would be well for our friends to put in their or-
ders at once, and as soon as we get the grades we will send notice.
When the money is sent, the queens will be forwarded. These
will be put up in the very best manner possible ; and while we
guarantee safe arrival in good order to any point in the United
States, on any railway line, we will not guarantee safe intro-
duction. Such valuable queens should be releast on hatching
brood.
N. B. — It seems as if it ought not to be necessary to say that
no one but a queen-breeder or a large honey-producer should order
these high-priced queens; but it is a fact according to our expe-
rience that beginners with only a few colonies will order our high-
est priced imported queens. Such bee-keepers have no more use
for such queens than a pig has for a wheel-barrow.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. Ji^afcfGafLl:.',''''
are headquarters for ROOT-S liEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
1^
;^-(|)-f)"(f-(|)-(|)-f)"(|)-(f-f)»(f"(|)'^-(|)-f)-<f-f)^^
T^^S^%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY 16, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
306
AMERICAN BEE jOUENAL,
May 16, 1900.
GEORGE K. YORK S CONPAINY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Ollice at Chieag-o as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. Tore, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) T^
E.E. Hastt, n Department
Prof. A. .J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Siib.scription Price of this Journal
is fl.uu a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and .Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union. 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AA'rapper-Ijabel Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcome
W. Z. Hl-tchinson,
__. I. Re
E. T. Ai
P. H. El
E. R. Re
VOOD,
Thos. G. Newman,
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi(
EnGENE Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
irW It more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-lceeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons!
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busv bee, and manv a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
\ Weekly Budget. \
Rev. E. T. Abbott will soon lecture at the
high school in St. Joseph, Mo., on bees and
liee-keeping. He knows how to do it in an
interesting and profitable manner.
Mr. O. O. Poppleton, of Dade Co., Fla.,
writing us May 1st, said:
" This season in this locality the honey-flow
will be an almost absolute failure, because of
lack of saw-palmetto bloom. I hear there is
plenty of bloom farther up the coast."
Mr. Daniel Danielson, one of the promi-
nent bee-keepers of Turner Co., South Dakota,
gave us a call recently. He had Ijeen in a
Chicago hospital for awhile, and was al)Out to
return to his home and farm, where he looks
after the bees, not being able to do heavy
farm work any more.
Mr. M. L. Trester, of Nebraska, called on
us May 3d. He is not now engaged in bee-
keeping, and has not been lor years. At one
time he was secretary of the Nebraska State
Bee-Keepers' Association. Nearly 20 years
ago ho had a very expensive experience with
foul brood. It is an interesting story, as he
tells it, though one that he would not like to
experience again.
Messrs. Bartlett Bros, it Merely, last
year, in one apiary in Utah, from 160 colonies
and their increase, took 55,000 pounds of A
No. 1 white extracted honey — 27\a tons, or a
shade more than 343 pounds per colony,
spring count. — tileanings in Bee-Culture.
It is no great thing to get 343 pounds of
extracted honey from one colony — that has
often been beaten. To get that amount from
each of 25 or .50 colonies would be remark-
able ; from 160, spring count, in one apiary —
it is stupendous I
Mr. Wji. M. AVhitnet. of Kankakee Co.,
Ill , wrote us April 24th as follows:
Friesk York : — I am trying to get caught
up on my reading matter, which accumulated
during niy long absence, and I spend much of
my leisure time with the ''Old Reliable.''
While I expected to attend all the sessions of
the National Association in Chicago, on
account of ill health I was there at the open-
ing .session only. I have been very mucli in-
terested in the report of the proceedings.
On many questions discussed, it is plain, I
think, that difference in locality, with differ-
ent climatic conditions, difference in trade
conditions, etc.. make all the difference in the
world in conclusions — change places and cir-
cumstances, and opinions reverse as quickly.
I think you are entirely right in the matter
of labeling your honey. If any producer
desires to do a retail business, why, it would
be all right to label his packages: but it
would be presumptuous in me, to wholesale
to you. and expect my labels to reach the
retail trade or consumer.
I am with the majority respecting the sec-
ond-hand tin cans. Of the few I purchased
two years ago, three were used— two spoiled
my honey, and the other was used for refuse
drippings. The balance have never been
taken from the cases. They were so rusty,
and smelt so badly, I dared not use them for
any purjiose for which I want cans. So I am
out the price paid, and §10 for wasted honey.
I had heard nothing of your removal till
the day I called on you at your present loca-
tion: nor did I realize the extent of your mis-
fortune till I read the account in the Bee
Journal. You certainly have the sympathy
of all your patrons, and it is hoped that what
seemK a misfortune may jjrove a blessing in
disguise. Your present quarters are certainly
much more convenient than the other. I am
just lazy enough at my age (73) to prefer
riding four or five blocks on street-cars, to
climbing two or three flights of stairs, when
I wish to find you.
I hope you have not sustained a serious
loss. Truly yours.
Wm. M. Whitnet.
The loss on the stock of bee-keepers' sup-
plies was much larger than we anticipated at
the time we settled w'ith the insurance com-
pany. We should have had at least twice the
amount we received to cover the loss. But,
as you say, we believe our patrons will help
us out by giving us all the trade they can,
and especially try to help us extend the circu-
lation of the old American Bee Journal. For
all of which we will be truly grateful, and do
our best to give them good value in return.
" Bee-Keeping bt an Amateur " is the
heading of an article in the Bee-Keepers' Re-
view, accompanied by a fine picture of the api-
ary of the •' amateur,"' Peter N. Duff, of Cook
Co., 111. Beginning less than two years ago,
he now has 52 colonies — a pretty good outfit
for one who calls himself an amateur. He
wintered his bees in a repository above ground
— a place generally condemned, but as he
succeeded in keeping the temperature between
40 and 4S degrees, he must be excused for
successfully wintering. A small oil-heater,
with chimney to carry off gases, raised the
temperature when too low. Success to the
genial Mr. Ditff.
Mr. Geo. Thompson, of Geneva, 111., we
regret very much to learn, died April 14th.
He was one of the oldest bee-keepers in north-
ern Illinois, and a very stanch friend of the
American Bee Journal and its editor. We
feel that his departure is indeed a personal
loss, and our sympathy is extended to Mrs.
Thompson in her sad bereavement. We un-
derstand she has a number of complete vol-
umes of the American Bee Journal, which
she, of course, has no use for. and would like
to sell. Any of our readers desiring such
volumes would do well to write Mrs. Thomp-
That Stort Abovt Bee-Trackers in
Texas who make a living by marking a single
bee as it leaves its hive, then following it
mounted on a bronco without ever losing
sight of it till it alights on a particular flower,
and thus the kind of honey is tracked for
each hive — the story is copied in the South-
land Queen with the remark that in that part
of Texas it isn't the men that track the bees,
but the bees that track the men ! No doubt
the men often "'make tracks," and that in
rapid succession, too.
Mr. Chas. Koeppex reports in the Bee-
Keepers' Review that last year, without any
help, he took 14,000 pounds of comb honey
from six apiaries. Unfortunately the size of
the apiaries is not given, nor the yield per
colony. If he had 120 colonies averaging 117
pounds each, he must have had little time to
waste. If he had 2>i0 colonies averaging 50
pounds each, he must have done some remark-
ably lively stepping around.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY 16, 1901,
No, 20,
\ ^ Editorial. ^ \
Heavy Rains in California the last
week in April give almost positive assurance
of large crops. It seems that the rains were
iiuite general over the State, anj particularly
in the central and southern parts. Mr. W. A.
Pryal, of Alameda Co., has kindly sent us
clippings from local daily newspapers which
speak almost gleefully over the hopeful pros-
pects for farmers of the State. This, of
course, means much for the bee-keepers as
well.
But what if Old California should come up
to her old-time record as a honey-producing
State this year ? And if all the rest of the
country should also have a large honey crop,
this whole nation ought to be well sweetened.
And yet, unless there is a proper distribution
of the crop of honey, there will be glutted
njarkets and losing prices. There ought to
be something done to handle the crop in a
manner that will realize to the producers fair
and just prices for their honey product. And
now is the time to think about this subject —
before the crop is ready to market, and not
ajterwaril, when it is too late.
Buckwheat Comb Honey, according
to Henry Segelken, of Hildrethtt Segelken, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture, is in so much
greater demand than extracted buckwheat
that it would be well for producers to change
from extracted to comb.
Queen-Rearing is discussed by L. Stach-
elhausen in a very able article in Die Deutsche
Bienenzucht. His manner of securing the
work of queenless bees seems especially com-
mendable. On one of his strongest colonies
(several such colonies may be used) he places
an excluder, and over this a hive-body in which
he puts four or live frames of brood from
other colonies, filling up with empty combs.
In eight or nine days nearly all the brood in
this upper story will be sealed, and a large
number of young bees will have emerged. At
this time, in the afternoon, he takes out one
of the broodless combs, and moves the frames
in this upper story so that a vacant space shall
be left in the center, in which a frame may
afterwerd be hung. This upper story is then
moved bodily to a new stand. So large a pro-
portion of the bees being young, few will re-
turn to the old stand, and in the evening they
will show full signs of qucenlessness, when
the frame with prepared cells is carefully
pushed down into the vacant space with full
expectation that prompt work will be started
to rear queens, and that they will be found
well under way the next morning. This hive,
with its contents, can now be returned and
jilaced over the excluder from which it was
taken, when the cells will continue to com-
pletion.
Editor Pender, of the Australasian Bee-
Keeper, makes a practical point by saying
that when he takes the frame of prepared cells
from the queenless bees (which he says need
onlj' two hours to give the cells a good start)
he makes sure to take with the frame all the
adhering bees, and puts this frame in an
upper story over an excluder, between two
frames of young brood placed there at least a
day before. He says:
I do not disturb the bees on the cups any
more than I can help when, carrying them to
the upper story. I want the work to go on
without any check. If I had removed those
bees hanging on the frame and put the frame
into the super without any bees, it would be
some time before the bees in hive ~ would find
the started cells, because the hive is not over-
crowded, but by taking thecUnging bees, too,
the building of the cells goes on as if the
change had not been made, and the bees in
the super soon assist in making the cells per-
fect.
Time for Development of a Queen. —
In the Australian Bee-BuUetln Mr. Doolitt'le
is credited with saying that from the laying
of the egg to emerging from the cell the
queen requires 15 days. It is doubtful that
Mr. Doolittle would be willing to father that
statement, altho there is some good authority
for it. In the past 40 years there has been a
material shortening of the time taught. In
the first volume of this journal, in the year
1861, between 1? and IS days was given as the
right time. At the present day, some say 15,
some 16. The 1? to 18 days formerly taught
was probably true for a weak nucleus, and 15
may be the normal time for a strong colony.
Shipping Drone-Eggs by Mail.— One
difficulty in the way of rearing queens early
at the North is that early drones can not be
secured. " Swarthniore," in the Rocky
Mountain Bee Journal, tells how he has over-
come this difficulty. By way of caution it
may be said that even if drones were plenty it
remains to be proven that good queens can be
reared ahead of their usual time. "Swarth-
more " says in part:
Last season I was prompted to do some ex-
perimenting with ilione-eggs, sent to me from
many distant points by post, and the result
was so highly satisfactory that I hasten to
give the long-sulferiug Northerner the benefit
of these experiments.
A number of Imtihes of fresh-laid drone-
eggs, in dry comb, were forwarded to me by
mail nii'ely packed in tissue paper and en-
closed in 4'4X4|4 section-boxes.
Immediatelj" on receipt of these bits of
drone-comb they were fitted into frames and
placed in the center of the brood-nest of a
strong colony previously made queenless for
the occasion.
Very few of these eggs were removed by
the bees, and the number of dislodgments in
transit was hardly worth mentioning.
The queenless bees readily accept these
drone-eggs, and each and every one will be
properly cared for, reared and sent forth in
handsome, healthy, flying drones long before
any other colony in the yard has given a
thought to drones or the need of them.
Thus the Northern breeder may gain from
six to eight weeks' time in getting under way
with his breeding operations for the season,
and as soon as the traflic is well understood by
both shipper and receiver, I warrant both will
wonder why they did not do the simple thing
many years ago.
3Iust Bait Sections be Cleaned in
the fall by the bees J A discussion in one of
the foreign bee-journals as to whether it was
best to put away extracting-combs in the fall
without first having them licked out by the
bees showed a division of opinion and prac-
tice. The claim was made that if the combs
were left wet there was danger that the small
quantity of comb left would sour. On the
other hand, it was urged that giving back the
combs in the fall was likely to induce robbing,
and that worms were not likely to trouble the
wet combs so much as the dry ones. Strangely
enough, little or nothing was said about the
chief objection urged in this country — the
effect of the granules of honey inducing
granulation in the fresh honej' stored in the
cells.
It has been held that the need for fall clean-
ing by the bees was more urgent in the case
of sections than extracting-combs. But (i. M.
Doolittle comes forward in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture and stoutly asserts that it is all a mis-
take to suppose that honey left in bait-combs
will granulate any quicker than it would have
done if the sections had been full. He claims
as good results by using baits that have not
been cleaned out by the bees in the fall. Sev-
eral others have reported, some on one
side and some on the other. So far from
agreeing with Mr. Doolittle, Mrs. A. .1. Barber
reports that even when cleaned out by the
bees, her bait-sections are very slow in being
sealed. Others say that bait-sections when
properly cleaned out in the fall by the bees
and used the following summer are the first
to be sealed. A call for more reports is made,
and the end is not yet.
" The Wax from the Cappings of a
ton of boni-y I find to be usually about :.'5
pounds; when all completely cajiped, about
HI) pounds." So says R. Beuhne, in the Aus-
tralian Bee-BuUetln.
308
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 16, 1901.
^iS,js,je.js^i!S,jfi^is,jg^i£.ja^iS,je,M.
Convention Proceedings.
Report of the Itah Bee-Keepers' Convention.
The Utah Bee-Keeper's Association held a convention
April 5, 1901. The meeting was called to order by Pres.
Lovesy promptly at 10 o'clock, a.m. Secretary J. B. Fagg
called the roll and read the minutes of the previous meeting.
A letter was read by County vice-president C. C. Bartlett,
of Uintah County, regretting his inability to attend, lie
reported the bee-industry in Uintah County in a satisfactory
condition : also that there were 50 or more bee-keepers in the
county, and about -4,000 colonies of bees. Similar reports
were read from County Vice-Presidents A. N. Winsor, of
Washington County, W. J. F. McAllister, of Kanab County,
and P. M. Grigg, of Wayne County.
Mr. Roberts, one of our old-time bee-keepers, and who
was one of the first to introduce bees into Utah, gave some of
his early-day experiences in hauling bees many hundred miles
on wagons from California. He also spoke on the introduction
of the movable frame, on organization among bee-keepers,
and on the medicinal qualities of honey.
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
I have received fair to flattering reports from nearly all
parts of the State during the past lOto 15 days. The reports
from the south, the south central and southeast parts, espe-
cially, have been universally encouraging in the prospects for
the coming season. I find, as a rule, that the snowfall has
been abundant, and it has been more evenly distributed over
the State than in other years, thus insuring a fair supply of
irrigation water, and so the chances for success are fairly
good where the bees are in good condition. But while the
many hopeful letters I have received give an encouraging out-
look, still the bright picture may have a dark side to it.
While the smelter smoke has very much weakened the bees in
some localities, still a more serious condition exists in at least
one or more counties. I find that there is a great deal of dis-
ease among the bees in some places. I have tried to urge a
more persistent efl'ort on the part of our bee-keepers to eradi-
cate this disease, relizing that a few minutes spent in preven-
tion are worth a month trying to cure. And one of the many
reasons for publishing our expected treatise is that it will
benefit our bee-keepers and bee-inspectors by' putting into the
hands of every bee-keeper simple and effective remedies for
the benefit of himself and the industry. Our bee-keepers can
and should set a new pace in the new century by helping
themselves and aiding the Association in its laudable efforts.
There are other things which we as bee-keepers could
improve on to our own benefit and advantage, and one of
these is organization. We need no prophet to tell us that our
only salvation depends upon a strong union of interest by
proper organization. We iind that the trades, laborers,
farmers, etc., are organizing for mutual benefit, and why
should not the bee keepers ? They should organize for the
purchase of supplies and also for the disposition of their
products.
While many obstacles can be overcome by timely and
proper management, still our brightest prospects do not always
turn out a shining success, and if we attempt to count our
profits by the prospects, we sometimes reap disappointments.
I find the winter question in this State still an unsolved
problem ; while with proper care the bees can be wintered
successfully in most parts, in some places success seems to be
almost impossible.
Would it not be well to consider the question of our Asso-
ciation making an exhibit at our State fair, or the one at Buf-
falo, and also the World's Fair to be held in St. Louis two
years hence ? We certainly should be represented there.
I would be pleased to have our bee-keepers throw
additional light on any of these subjects, or any other one in
the interest of the industry, not forgetting the treatise which
I wish to publish as soon as possible. E. S. Lovesy.
Vice-President J. Hansen, of Boxelder County, reported the
industry prosperous in his locality. J. S. Hamilton, of the
same county, reported quite a loss of bees in wintering in his
portion of the county, and J. L. P. Johnson, also of Boxelder
County, wrote that as a rule conditions were favorable, but
that there was some foul brood.
County Vice-Presidents Oeo. Hone, of Utah County, A. F.
Stevenson, of Davis County, C. 0. Falkman,of Weber County,
Thos. Belliston, of Juab County, and Ulrich Braymer, of Car-
bon County, reported their respective counties in fairly good
condition. A number of letters were read by the secretary
from county vice-presidents, inspectors, and others, and while
most of the reports were encouraging, some spoke of loss by
disease.
Inspector Anderson, of Cache County, said they had some
disease, and that the county commissioners desired him to do
all in his power to eradicate it. Mr. Scott reported much dis-
ease in some localities, and Mr. Dart exhibited samples of
diseased brood, and had a letter read from Dr. Howard, of
Fort Worth, Tex., after which a long discussion ensued as to
the cause and ettect of disease, the best treatment to prevent,
cure, etc. The McEvoy treatment, with some modifications,
was recommended. Our bee-keepers are waking up, and with
the aid of our treatise and our county inspectors, we hope soon
to banish it from the State.
A resolution was offered favoring the publication of a
treatise or pamphlet by the Association, the object of which is
to give the best and quickest method of discovering, curing,
and preventing disease among the bees ; and also how best to
protect them against their enemies. Also, that the State law,
the relation of bees to fruit, seed, plants, etc., be published in
connection with it. After a long discussion which was partici-
pated in by many, the resolution was unanimously passed, and
Pres. Lovesy, Secretary i^agg, and Messrs. Thos. Belliston, L.
J. Whitney, and F. S. Dart, were appointed a committee to
compile and publish the treatise.
Stronger organization among bee-keepers was discussed
at length, with no definite results. A resolution was pre-
sented and passed, urging the bee-keepers to aid the Associ-
ation in making an exhibit at the State Fair in October, and
also at Buffalo and St. Louis. Many reports were given, com-
ing from honey-consumers in the East, praising the superiority
of Utah honey.
The election of officers resulted as follows : President,
E. S. Lovesy; 1st Vice-President, R. T. Rhees ; 2d Vice-
President, Wm. Wartham ; and Secretary and Treasurer, J.
B. Fagg ; Assistant Secretary, C. R. Matson. County vice-
presidents. Salt Lake, Wm. A. Bills; Utah, George Hone;
Wasatch, J. A. Smith ; Davis, A. F. Stevenson ; Boxelder, J.
Hansen ; Weber, C. O. Falkman ; Juab, Thos. Belliston ;
Washington, A. N. Winsor : Tooele, Ben Barrows ; Cache,
Henry Bullock ; Morgan, T. R. G. Welch; Uintah, C. C. Bart-
lett ; Emery, Chris Wilcox ; Wayne, P. M. Grigg ; Carbon,
Ulrich Braymer; Sevier, R. A. Lowe; Kane, W. J. F. McAl-
lister.
Afternoon Session, 2 p.m.
The next question considered was the purchase of supplies
and the disposal of bee-products. It was stated that nearly
all supplies except sections can be purchased in the home
market ; and in regard to the disposal of the season's products
it was decided to try to keep all bee-keepers informed as to
prices, from time to time. The question of grading was dis-
cussed at length, and it was shown that a few dealers pre-
ferred amber to water white extracted honey because it is
cheaper. Still there is a good demand for the best, regardless
of the difference in the price.
Mr. Scott urged bee-keepers to be careful in grading their
comb honey, because a few partly filled or uncapped sections
would not only materially reduce the price of the honey, but
it would injure the reputation of the bee-keepers. Mr. Hone
stated that, as a rule, the greater portion of the bee-keepers
of Utah had a good reputation for fair dealing, but in order to
protect their product against any mistakes they ought to
stamp their names on each case.
QUESTION-BOX.
Ques. — Is dividing preferable to swarming ?
Mr. Hone preferred dividing because he had better success
than with swarming. Mr. Whitney obtained very good results
by forced swarming. Mr. Lovesy preferred dividing, as the
bees are more gentle, the colonies more easily regulated, and
better results can be obtained.
Ques. — What style of hive is preferred ?
Mr. Fagg — The 1 0-f rame Langstroth for all practical
purposes, both for comb and for extracted honey.
Ques. — Does spraying during fruit-bloom kill the bees ?
It was proven that it did, and also that it was an injury
and no benefit to the fruit-grower.
Ques. — Is winter ventilation necessary?
It was decided that it is.
Mr. Dart — I put new burlap between the hive and super,
with some chaff in it ; this keeps the bees dry, and I have no
trouble. J. B. Fagg, Sec.
May 16, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
309
Contributed Articles, l
Bees Dying in tlie Hives^One of the Causes.
BY C. P. DAliAXT.
I SEE an inquiry on page 201, concerning the cause of
death of a lot of bees. This case seems to me identical
to the bee-losses in this vicinity during the winter of
1879 SO, and I will ask leave to describe it.
The season of 1879 was very dry. During the summer
and fall the bees harvested nothing. But fruits were plenti-
ful and so were birds, and the bees worked during the fruit
season on all sorts of damaged fruit. They began on dam-
aged peaches, in August, then took to grapes, and later to
apples. The number of bees found in small vineyards was
so great that vintners held meetings in which they dis-
cussed the advisability of petitioning the Legislature to
obtain a law forbidding the keeping of more than 20 colo-
nies of bees in one apiary. Wherever a damaged berry
was found it was full of bees and most of the grape-grow-
ers were of the opinion that it was the bees that punctured
the fruit. Arguments were out of question until the heads
became cooler, and it was at that time that we decided to
plant grapes on a large scale in order to show our neighbors
that grapes and bees could be kept profitably on the same
farm, in large numbers and without mutual injury. The
damage in this case was really greater on the bees than on
the fruit, which had of itself no value for any one, and
the bees themselves would have been better off without it.
This unwholesome sweet (?) fermented in the hive and
became inferior wine, cider, vinegar — yes, mainly vinegar.
But there was nothing else for them except an occasional
sorghum mill, and sorghum molasses is a poor addition to
cider from rotten apples.
We removed all that we could find of this unhealthy
food, and fed our bees on the best of sugar syrup. But in
spite of it all, we had heavy losses, especially because the
bees were confined to the hives for a number of weeks
together during the coldest weather. But some people were
worse off than we. We bought up an apiary, of some 80
colonies, the following spring. This apiary had been
almost entirely destroyed by this bad food during that win-
ter.
Those bees had not been fed, but there seemed to have
been enough of this stuff in the cells to keep them till the
coldest weather, and there was some of it j et to be found
in many of the hives. The bees had slowly dwindled down
and had changed position in the hives as the combs had
become soiled, until the last small cluster had perished in
an upper corner, driven there by the cold and by the stench
arising from the foul dead bees. It seems as if a little of
this sour food went a great way towards sickening them,
for colonies which we had plentifully supplied with healthy
food nevertheless showed signs of diarrhea, indicating that
they, too. had consumed the nasty stuff.
Strange to say, after the opening of spring, it seemed
as if the consumption of this food for breeding was not
attended with unpleasant results. Strong colonies that man-
aged to pass through this disastrous winter, prospered and
thrived when warm days came, on the plunder that they
obtained from deserted hives, for the stuff seemed to be
scattered in small patches in many of the combs, the most
of it being unsealed, as might be expected.
The most damaging result of this bad food is certainly
brought about by the long confinement of the bees during
cold weather. In an open winter, when the bees can have
a flight once a week, I believe much less trouble would
ensue, but when the bees are long confined on the combs,
with such watery unhealthy food, they become unable to
retain their excrements and the healthy bees catch the
infection, from the diseased ones. The after result of this
trouble in spring is, sometimes, constipation or an
inability on the part of the bees to discharge their excre-
ments. This constipation becomes contagious, and in the
latter form has been described by Cheshire under the name
of " Bacillus Gaytoni." The bees that suffer from it are
heavy, they drag themselves about as if partly paralyzed,
they shine as if varnished; this comes, I believe, from
their having lost all their coat of hairs. Even the queens
catch the disease, sometimes, and in such a case the colony
is not slow to perish, even if the weather has become
warm. But in most instances the disease slowly disappears
or wears out. I have, however, seen it persist through the
summer in a few hives and the disea.sed bees kept themselves
almost invariably at the top of the brood-combs, until they
were carried out by their merciless sisters, for the bee is
pitiless to the useless member of the family, and sickness
finds no sympathy with her.
I cannot help thinking that the case mentioned on page
201 is identical with what I have described. The fruit-juice
stores, the sickly bees dying in small clusters, the stench
in the hives, and the protracted cold weather, all lead to the
conclusion that the case is similar, and that we need look
to no other cause. By the time this article appears in print,
what there may be left of that apiary will probably be in
much better condition, as the spring blossoms are a sover-
eign remedy for Winter's ill-doings.
Hancock Co., 111.
Numbering Hives and Keeping a Record.
BY C. DAVENPORT.
THERE are some who do not consider it necessary to
have hives numbered, but to me it would seem almost
impossible to handle a large number of colonies unless
the hives were all numbered or distinguished by a letter or
figure of some kind. My hives are in rows, and these rows
are also numbered, and to have both hives and rows num-
bered saves a large amount of work, for, as will be
explained, it enables me easily to keep track of each colony
through the entire season, and, what is of nearly as much
importance. I can find or tell where any colony is without
searching over the entire yard.
Instead of using a record-book I use smooth pieces of
thin boards, which are about four inches wide and 18 inches
long. I much prefer these boards to a book or paper of
any kind for all transient records, as they are a great deal
handier. For permanent records a book is, of course, pref-
erable. With my system it requires about three of these
record-boards for a yard containing ISO or more colonies,
but each board can be used for a number of seasons, for at
the end of the season, if there is anything on them which
is desired to be preserved, it can be transferred to a book,
and the writing on the boards planed off, when they are
ready for use again the next season.
After the bees are put out in the spring, the condition
of each colony is set down on one of these boards. A
board is marked off into as many rows as there are rows of
hives in the yard, and if, for instance, the colony in hive
No. 8 in row 5 is weak in bees and short of stores, it is
marked on the board under row five thus : 8 — M — W — B.
The letter M after the number of the hive shows that this
hive is in the middle, or about the middle, of the row. I
have the rows run east and west, and if it had been nearer
the east end of the row than the middle, the first letter
would have been E instead of M ; or W if nearer the west
end.
The first letter after the number always tells where in
the row the colony is, and this saves a good deal of walk-
ing where there are 25 or more colonies in each row.
The next letter in the record is W, which shows that
the colony is weak. Next is the letter B, showing that they
are short of stores. If they had had plenty of stores the
last letter would have been A instead of B : and if they
had been so short that it would be necessary to feed within
two or three days, the last letter would have been C.
To explain my system further we will say that under
some row we find this record ; 98— E — W — A X. This says
that the colony in hive No. 98 is at the east end of that
row, and is weak in bees, but has an extra amount of
stores. An X after the letter A tells that that colony has
an extra-large amount of stores, and in this case, as they
are weak in bees, they have more than they can use, so we
can draw a frame or two of honey and exchange with and
help out No. 8, whose record will now read thus : 8 — M — W
— B — A, The letter B being crossed shows that this colony
has been fed, and the letter A after it shows that they have
been fed enough to make them strong in stores. But say
we waited a week or ten days before feeding No. 8, and
then only fed a small amount, then it would have read : 8
_M— W— B— B— 4— IS. This says that they were fed April
ISth enough to last them a week or 10 days from that date.
If no honey comes in from the fields by this time, or before,
we can tell by looking at this record-board what colonies
have to be fed again, what rows they are in, and where in
the row.
Later, if it is desired to equalize the colonies in
310
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 16, 1901.
strength by drawing- frames of brood from the strongest
and exchanging them with weaker colonies, it is not neces-
sary to spend a day or two in hard work examining each
colony, for the record-board shows the strong, medium and
weak colonies, and tells just where they are.
Still later, the strong colonies may require more room,
especially those that had a large amount of stores — the
record shows what and just where these are.
At the beginning of the main flow, or when the supers
are put on, another board is taken and a new record begun.
This board is marked off in rows to correspond with those
in the yard, the same as the first one was. This second
record also shows the strength of the colony and where it
is. By a system of abbreviations similar to the one I
explained in detail, it tells the date when each super is put
on and taken oif, so that during the flow I can, with this
second record, tell about when any colony has a super ready
to be removed, or when an empty one needs to be put on.
Of course this can not be told accurately, but near enough
so that it saves much work inspecting hives which other-
wise would be necessary to determine when supers are needed
to be taken off or put on.
The third board is used to record swarming. It tells the
date when each swarm issues or is made, what hives they
are from, and what hives they are hived in. It also shows
about how much work, if any, has been done in each super
before it is given or removed to a swarm. So at the end of
the season these records show what colonies have swarmed,
and about what each colony has done in the way of surplus
work. Of course, this system of a cipher code or abbrevi-
ation in keeping a record of a colony, admits of almost
endless variation ; for instance, when examining the colo-
nies the first time in the spring, if any are found to be
queenless, a small x is placed under their number, and soon
after they are united with weak colonies that have a queen,
for I have decided that with me it does not pay to try to
save a colony that loses its queen during the winter, for
after the long winter confinement that bees are here sub-
ject to, they live but a short time after being put out in the
spring, and, before a queen can be secured from the South
and new brood reared, they, as a rule, become so weak that
they do not amount to anything that season, so far as sur-
plus is concerned ; and with a large number of colonies
there is almost always a few that have a queen but are so
weak that they are unable to build up in time for the white
clover flow. A queenless colony united with one of these
may enable them to build up into a strong colony for the
white flow, so that anywhere from SO to 100 pounds of sur-
plus may be obtained, besides artificially swarming or divid-
ing them so as to have, if increase is desired, two colonies
in good condition for winter; and this of course may applj'
to two weak colonies that have queens, for although many
have decided that it does not pay to unite weak colonies in
the spring, I know that in my locality, under some condi-
tions, it can be very profitably done ; but if there is anything
about our pursuit that requires skill and experience, it is,
in my opinion, uniting weak colonies profitably in the
spring. Southern Minnesota.
A Few Grains of Wheat for Honey-Gleaners.
BY AI,LEN I.ATHAM.
IT has been so long since I have sent any of my wisdom
to the " Old Reliable " that lought to have a good store
accumulated now. So much straw has been sent that I
think it is time for a harvest of grain.
BKES .\ND STRAWBERRIES.
In this locality bees are frequently seen at work on
strawberry-bloom in the season of bloom. They appear to
get a little honey, but more frequently are gathering scant
loads of pollen.
HONEV AND POLLEN ON THE SAME TRIP.
The statement made some months ago that bees do not
gather pollen while after honey, must be received by the
bee-keepers of Massachusetts with great incredulity. In
the season of clover especially do the bees here gather the
two simultaneously. In some seasons the sections of
clover honey are ruined by the accumulation of pollen in
them. We are thankful that this does not happen every
year.
APPLE-BLOSSOM HONEY.
I am glad to see that this delicious honey has received
its credentials. It is the most reliable honey we have for
quality. With favorable weather a good crop is obtained
every year of even date. The trees do not blossom readily
on the " off " year with us. The honey is a pale straw
color. It is the heaviest honey we get. I have seen it so
thick that it was almost gummy. It never candies. It is
palatable on the day that it is gathered. This can be said
of no other variety with which I am acquainted. I plan to
secure a crop every even year by spring feeding. Then
on the day that the blossoms are about to open, or perhaps
two days earlier, I fill the brood-nest full of S3'rup. This
drives the bees into the sections. To make doubly sure
that the bees go up, I put a bait-section, also full of syrup,
in the super. This feed does not stay in the section, nor is
any carried up. As every bee-keeper knows, the brood-
combs get the first of the flow. If the combs are filled
with a cheaper feed, then the honey is taken directly to the
supers.
This flow from apple-bloom lasts only a few days, usu-
ally about 10 ; hence the necessity of getting the bees into
the sections at the very beginning. This treatment will
yield some thirty pounds of honej' per colony. Some may
express fear that the sugar will get into the sections and
injure the purity of the honey. This does not happen.
The syrup is ripened and placed in the brood-combs. It is
ditficult to get enough of the thin syrup into the combs to
prevent considerable honey going there too. The syrup is
poured into the empty cells of each comb from a coffee-pot.
It diminishes greatly in bulk in being cured by the bees.
It is not desirable to fill the combs more than once, unless a
cold rain comes on. Then a small allowance, as soon as
clearing weather arrives, will probably drive the bees again
to the sections, which they will have drawn away from
during the rain. After the crop has been secured the bee-
keeper will find beautiful sections of the most delicately
flavored honey in the supers. In the corners of the brood-
chamber will be found sealed syrup. It does no harm there as
it will keep perfectly. I would advise every bee-keeper to
run a few colonies for this honey, if for no other reason
than to get a choice honey for home consumption. My
apple-blossom honey never goes into the general trade. It
is all saved for home, friends, and a limited select trade. I
sell it always at 25 cents per pound. I never have any last
into the second summer.
HUMBLE-BEES IN WINTER.
Possibly the subject has been sufficiently hashed, but I
will add my chop. Only the queens live through the winter.
Thej- crawl into a pile of leaves and lie inert till April or
May. They do not become white, and the writer who found
such " about ready to emerge " probably found the imago
of the June-bug.
THE TENT FOR MATING OF QUEENS.
This is the best yet. Now let us investigate as to how
small this tent can be, successfully. If a drone has never
been outside the hive why should he mind small quarters ?
If a tent six feet in diameter will do, then that is what the
small breeder wants. Some of us should hardly care to
build a 30-foot one.
TENT FOR BREEDING, ETC.
The " grain " that I shall now offer is worth its weight
in gold. Having more honej' in brood-combs than I needed,
and a great number of unfinished sections. I wished a trans-
fer. 1 loaded up a strong colony with supers of these sec-
tions. Then came the rub. Bees will not empty combs
unless they are outside their hive. If outside the combs
attract robbers. The problem was solved in this waj- :
Mj- tent was made of five screens, each sis feet
square. This tent was placed over the hive with the top
removed. Then the uncapped combs were placed within the
tent as far from the hive as possible. These bees finished
many sections. The work went on all through August. There
was no honey in the fields, and robbers were fierce. They
would buzz by the score outside the screen, but never go up
and in. The home bees quickly learned that to go away
from home they must rise, and to return they must get
above the hive and drop. This device is of wide applica-
tion. Every one knows the nuisance of a bee-tent with the
bees trying to get out as the hive is left open. With a six-
foot fence of mosquito-bar around the hive the advantage
of the tent is retained and the worst feature gotten rid of.
If a weak colony is being robbed, try such a fence
about it. You will be highly gratified with the result.
Robbers will not get in— they will try to enter through the
netting, but not otherwise.
May 16, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
311
BEES IN ATTIC WINDOWS.
I am rather short of land space, and thought I would
utilize my attic windows for hives. Two hives were placed
facing two windows. A short runway from beneath a win-
dow to the entrance served for exit. Two or three small
holes were filed through the glass at the top of each pane to
let out those bees which left the combs during manipula-
tion. As far as honey-gatliering and ease of manipulation
are concerned nothing is gained, more than to offset loss.
But in wintering much is gained. The two colonies have
seen two winters thus. They have come through strong in
each. Few bees die, and they all seem unusually vigorous.
The combs come through without a spot of mold on them. It
is delightful to open hives in which all the combs, even the
outer ones, are dry and clean. This means rapid building
up in the spring. The two in question are remarkablj"
strong for the season.
I should state that I remove the covers and throw old
clothes and papers over the hives for the winter. The attic
is unfinished and is well ventilated. The results of this
experiment are so pleasing that I shall, at my first oppor-
tunity, build a bee-house in which I can set 20 or 30 hives.
This would be a tight, double-walled house with double
windows. It would have ample ventilating facilities — this
for dryness. The bees would get their air by the entrances.
An oil-stove would be set in the house on extremely cold
nights, for I believe that extreme cold robs the bees of
much of their vitality. There would be an arrangement to
shade the windows when sunlight would do harm. Such a
house would, I believe, save enough in winter stores and in
bees to pay the cost of it.
Norfolk Co., Mass., April 7.
Introducing a Queen-Bee— Her Normal Good Graces
the Key to Success.
BY W. W. m'nEAL.
I WOULD better, dear reader, impress you with the fact
that the honey-bee in all her actions is governed more by
cold business principles than by any feeling of love for
kin or stranger. I have watched closelj' the habits of bees
for manifestions of love in its true sense, but I am forced
to believe that they are swayed by a selfish love only. Her
motives tnay be good ; and that from necessitj' she employs
harsh methods. However, it is by her methods that we are
fitted to judge; and, judging from these we say that her
motives are unrelenting.
Let me cite a few prominent traits which characterize
the honey-bee as being utterly indifferent to the sufferings
of her mother-queen, of her sisters, and of her brothers :
1. If the worker-bees love their queen, why will they,
when this same queen becomes old and decrepit, allow a
young, vigorous queen, and a stranger, to dispatch the
tnother-bee right in their viidst f Not only do the workers
positively refuse to assist the old and (to them) faithful
queen, but when the bloom is on the stranger queen,
they welcome her with the keenest relish to the situ-
ation she covets. When this same queen has become estab-
lished in her new home, and is generous to the colony in
the performance of her special duties, take her from the
bees for a few short hours, or until they realize fully the
loss of her. This will portray more clearly their real avari-
cious, grasping nature, and that love with them is an
unknown qualification. For when thejjueen is returned to
tl\e bees, note the results ; The worEr-bees ball her as
they would a stranger queen ; and in every way evidence a
spirit of revenge rather than that of rejoicing because she
had come back to them. They appear to regard her sudden
disappearance as a willful shirking of high responsibility
intrusted to her, and, accordingly, the most influential mem-
ber of the colony is made to feel their indignation.
2. When a worker-bee has given its life in defense of
the colony — I mean one mortally wounded, so to speak — and
by some means regains the hive before becoming helpless.
why is she at once dragged therefrom, alone to die Z
3. The great, boisterous drone-bee, which was so ten-
derly cared for when his presence in the hive guaranteed
the safety of the colony, t\na.\\y becomes a subject for the
worst kinds of cruelty — that of actual starvation in the
midst of plenty; and within the immediate presence of the
gueen and worker-bees .' If the honey-bees have that qual-
ity, or attribute — love — which higher intelligences are su])-
posed to have, why do they always commit these fearfully
cruel acts ?
Gentlemen, from my observations of the honey-bees, I
am inclined to the belief that it is neither love for the
mother-fjueen, nor the peculiar scent of the newcomer,
that have to do with the art of introducing a queen-bee.
The kej' to success is in retaining the normal good graces
of the queen — I might say, the best normal perfection, for
the honey-bee is the greediest of the greedy, and the ques-
tion with her is, apparently. Has the exchange of queens
been a good business deal ' Of course, there are exceptions,
but this can abundantly be said to be the rule.
Within the wasened walls of the bee's tiny home, indi-
viduality is nothing further than to serve the colony in the
advancement of its selfish interests. This principle is
painfully manifest in all their doings. The stranger bee,
whose physical fitness enables it to help the colony, is
almost always welcomed thereto, until it reaches a period or
condition in life which requires that it then be helped by
the colony.
Let me call your attention to a few common occurrences
in the apiary, which serve to make manifest the assertion
that this is the ruling principle with the honey-bees.
1. Note, please, that young bees having just reached
the zenith of their physical power and beauty, are, upon
returning from a flight, allowed to enter almost any hive
they choose. Surely, these have not lost their identity — the
distinct impress of the queen's scent during the little while
they were out of the hive I Oh, no, nothing of the kind. It
is seen at once by the older heads within, that these are just
the kind of helpers most needed, and so they are permitted
to join ranks with them.
2. Note, that there is no fighting upon exchanging
supers v>ith two or more colonies, when honey is being
stored. Why, then, is this? Do not the bees of each colony
take with them the peculiar scent of the queen of that par-
ticular hive ? To be sure they do ; but then they always
carry with them what is of vastly more importance to the
stranger colony — the fact that here is a company of able
bees, and ample evidence in the shape of newly built comb
and honey, of their willingness to work.
3. Note, that at swarming-time there is no fighting
when two or more swarms unite ; each swarm evidently feels
that there is nothing to lose, but lots to be gained, by an
addition to their forces.
4. Note, that any colony feeling the need of drones
will welcome them to its hive; but when not needing their
assistance, it will reject them at once; that a worker-bee
laden with honey and pollen may, and quite frequently does,
enter the hive of some near-by colony ; and that a colony
frequently balls its reigning queen when there has been no
outside disturbance of the hive.
5. Note, that when the mother-queen, or reigning queen,
is found in an unexpected quarter of the hive, she is often
stung by the workers ; that a colony having a good laying
queen will attend upon a score or more of queens in cages,
providing that these queens have attained their proper or
natural development ; and that a virgin queen will be
allowed to starve to death, her entreaties for food availing
nothing. Now, why this partiality ? Verily, the virgin is
regarded as bringing with her no security to the colony,
while the queen of the other class, so soon as it is seen that
she will not, or can not, molest the reigning queen, is
reserved unto future use should any accident befall this
queen.
6. Please note, also, that the bees of a colony in whose
hive there are so many caged queens, are just as able to
pick out a robber-bee at the entrance as though there was
but the one or reigning queen within. If it is the scent of
the queen that enables them to exchange their identity, in
what manner does the queen having the freedom of the
hive, so impress upon the bees of her colony her own pecul-
iar scent as to protect them against the depredations of
thieving bees ?
My bee-keeping friend, I believe that all this matter of
the queen's scent is but a vapor cloud, and in due time will
have blown away.
I will repeat that the key to success along this line of
introducing queen-bees consists in having the queen in the
best possible physical condition at the time she is to be
given to the colony. She must be the peer of the colony —
must be equal to their expectations. Not only must the
queen evidence an ability to do good work, but she must
manifest a 'willingness to do the same. Is it not enough to
break the even tenor of her ways — the worker-bee's— to
take awaj- the queen in the prime and beauty of life, and
offer instead, a poor, ha.lf-starved and frightened little
queen to fill the place made vacant?
I have exchanged the queens of two colonies during the
312
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 16, 1901.
season of surplus, and had each laying in the hive of the
other within an hour of her removal. It is done this way :
Catch both queens, and then close the hives ; smoke each
colony a little from the entrance, and then run the queen
into the hive from there. The workers having- seen that
the queen is eager to attend upon her special duties, never
bother themselves about her incense, but bestow on her
every little kindness that was given the old queen. At
that choice portion of the season the queen-bees are fullest
of life, and neither colony is any the loser ; hence there is
no cause for dissatisfaction.
Never take a queen from the bees when her duties are
imperative, and detain her in any way or manner till she
begins to fade, if you wish to give her a chance to run the
gauntlet with the most pleasing success.
This is the logical deduction of this matter, drawn
from my experience with the honey-bees.
Scioto Co., Ohio.
I -^ BiograDhical. ^ |
JESSE N. DONALDSON.
On our first page this week is shown Mr. Jesse M.
Donaldson, of Franklin Co., Mass., and his nice city apiary.
He gives the following account of himself and his bee-keep-
ing experience :
My first lessons in bee-keeping were learned in the
early '70's, in the apiary of my uncle, James P. Sterritt, of
Mercer Co., Pa. At that time I intended to become a bee-
keeper, but, like almost all other boys, I had a desire to
travel and see some of the world.
Nature had endowed me with very flexible joints, so I
concluded to take advantage of that and become a profes-
sional acrobat and contortionist. In that line of business I
visited every State in the Union, also Canada, Newfound-
land, Mexico and Cuba.
I was married in May, 1886, and a few years afterward
decided to quit the show business and " settle down." With
that object in view I found employment in the shoe factory
where I am now working.
Soon after settling here I became afflicted with that old
disease— bee-fever. As it was the second attack, I knew
the only remedy, and applied it at once by buying a colony of
bees. I saw an advertisement in one of my bee-papers that
read something like this :
For Sale. — 400 colonies of Italian bees in lO-franie Langstroth
hives, all in good condition. Price, $4.00 per colony, on board the
cars here. Reason for selling, sickness.
I sent my $4.00, and in due time received the colony of
bees, which I examined as soon as possible. When I saw
the inside of that hive I began wondering which it was, the
bees or the advertiser that was sick. If that colony was a
fair sample of the other 399, it is no wonder that he was
sick. Some of the frames were minus an end-bar, others
had no bottotn-bar, and the whole 10 frames did not con-
tain enough worker-comb to fill six frames.
When I bought my first colony, I intended to keep just
enough bees to supply my own table with honey, but I had
so many calls for honey that I decided to increase the num-
ber of my colonies. I now have 25, but that is not enough
to supply my trade, which is growing larger each year.
I have quite often seen this question asked, in the bee-
papers: How near to a public highway is it safe to keep
bees ? If I were to answer that question I should say that
much depends upon the strain of bees, and the way they
are managed. My apiary, as shown in the picture, is cen-
trally located in a town of 5,000 inhabitants, and not over
50 yards from three streets. When I moved my bees to my
present location, many of the neighbors freely expressed
their opinion that they would be a nuisance, but up to date
I know of but one person being stung. Last Fourth of
July morning, a few rowdies wanted the fence back of the
apiary to make a bonfire, and while they were tearing it
down they struck one of the hives. Then there was trouble.
One of the crowd was stung several times. It may seem
very strange when I say that he never entered a complaint
against me.
If you will take another look at the picture you will see
my two "swarm-catchers " standing at the end of the rear
row of hives. They are not the automatic or patented
kind, but as swarra-catchers they are a success, because
they have not let one swarm get away. If a swarm issues,
they are sure to see it ; they first notice which hive it came
out of, and then there is a race to the shop to see which one
will tell me that the bees are swarming.
Franklin Co., Mass. JessE M. Donaldson.
\ Questions and Answers.
i<>5rwTrwT?TrTr>'fT^>
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C O. MILLER. Marengo, HI.
[The Questions maj be mailed to the Bee Joumal ofBce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Detectine Queenlessness in a Box-Hive Colony.
I have a box-hive in which is a large colony of bees. It
wintered well, but seems to be at present without a queen.
How can I tell that they have none? Wisconsin.
Answer. — Give the bees a little smoke, turn the hive
over, blow smoke down between the combs, pulling them
apart at the same time, and if they have a queen you will
be able to see sealed brood. Another way is to get from a
movable-frame hive a piece of young worker-brood and
crowd it between two combs so it will be held in place. Two
days later if you find no queen-cells started on this brood,
you may safely conclude they have a queen. If they are
queenless, the bees are very old, and unless quite strong
they are not worth a queen.
Dividing to Prevent Swarming.
I have moved 30 colonies of my bees three miles up the
creek, right in the midst of hundreds of acres of alfalfa.
Now I plati to divide them just as soon as the alfalfa com-
mences to bloom, as I will not be able to watch for the
swarms. I wish you would kindly tell me whether I can
just put starters of foundation in the brood-frames that I
put in, or inusi I have full sheets for fear they will make
drone-comb ? The way I thought to do was just to take out
half of the frames of brood and bees and put them into a
a new hive, and then fill in the vacant spaces with frames
with starters on. Of course I will try to be sure that they
have young brood and eggs if I do not know they have a
queen.
A year ago last winter I visited at the home of a sister
of yours, in Denver, where I learned so many pleasant
things about you, and Miss Wilson, too, that I feel quite as
if I knew you, and that you will not laugh if I do ask fool-
ish questions ; I have nearly 300 colonies of bees to care for
the coming summer, and all I know about bees is from read-
ing. I have never even seen a properly conducted apiary,
but I have managed to have this many bees with only 5
colonies to start with in 12 years, with only one year's fail-
ure, when most of my bees died during the winter aiJd
spring. I have very few new swarms of late years — I think
it may be because I have so many bees in one place — ISO
colonics or more. Colorado.
Answer. — If you divide the way you propose, you just
must put in full sheets of foundation if you do not want a
considerable proportion of drone-comb. I must confess I
don't believe that's the best way to divide. It's one of the
easiest ways, but not the way for best results. If you leave
the queen on the old stand with half the brood, that part
ought to do good work, but the other half will have no field-
bees at first, and will be in a discouraged condition, which
is not the best thing for rearing a young queen. You could
use the nucleus plan without making very frequent visits,
and have a chance for better queens. Or, here is a way
that might suit you, with no nuclei in the case :
Get some good cells started, and when they are within
three or four days of having the young queens emerge,
make your divisions. Take from a colony all its brood but
May 16, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
313
one frame, and in this case you may use only starters, and
have a fair chance for little drone-comb. That leaves on
the old stand the old queen and the field-force, and if the
colony is very strong you may risk shaking- off a few of the
bees into the old hive from the frames you remove. But all
the old bees will return to the old stand in a day or two, and
it might leave the new colon)' with hardly enough bees to
care for the brood, so it will be safer to take all the adher-
ing bees with the combs you put in the new hive on the
new stand. Two days later take the remaining frame of
brood from the old colony, and at the same time give to the
new colony a sealed queen-cell.
I have a suspicion that you are not anxious for increase
from these colonies, but intend to divide them because you
know they will swarm if you do not divide. If that is the
case, your plan is easy : Just before there is any danger of
swarming, remove from its stand a hive and put in its place
a hive filled with foundation, putting the queen in this
hive, and putting over it a queen-excluder, over which you
will place the old hive with its contents. When these two
hives are so filled that more room is needed, you can put
between the two stories and over the excluder a super either
for comb or extracted. With this management you may
count on freedom from swarming, unless your experience
is exceptional, and you can make your increase nearer
home where you can have it directly under your eye. You
will readily understand that 21 days after operating there
will be no worker-brood in any but the lower story. There
may be some drones in the upper story that can not escape,
but I have found this trouble more theoretical than real.
The remains of the drones will be there the first time you
open the hive, and you can easily shake them off the ex-
cluder.
Don't you be worried about asking foolish questions.
Bless your heart, if you can study up any more foolish
things than I have done in the course of my experience you
must be an adept in the line of foolishness. The worst
of it is that in my case I haven't yet outgrown it, and ex-
pect to make more or less blunders as long as I live. I con-
fess to you (but this is only between ourselves) that I do
sometimes feel a little impatient when some one asks ques-
tions that are plainly answered in every text-book pub-
lished ; but when one has studied the text-books carefully
there will still be always plenty of questions to be asked,
and with such I am quite willing to be flooded — glad to
answer them just so far as I know how. And this suggests
to me that you may ask why leave that one frame of brood
instead of taking all, and then why take it away later. If
the bees are left with larder entirely bare, they may desert
the hive, and if the frame of brood is not taken away within
a few days they may prepare to swarm. If you ask why
they will swarm if that one frame of brood is left, I may
explain that — that is — well, the fact is I don't know.
tiehrlng's Bee-Veil and Way of Smoking Bees.
I have been reading Mr. Gehring's series of articles
now running in the American Bee Journal, but I don't
quite like his bee-veil, nor his way of smoking bees before
opening a hive. What do you think of them. Doctor?
BUNGHEAD.
Answer. — The bee-veil described by Mr. Gehring in
his very interesting articles will answer a very good pur-
pose, but is objectionable in one respect — it is made of too
close material. When the weather is cool this will matter
little, but on a hot day it would be very uncomfortable, and
to wear it all day long on such a day would be, I should
judge, a rather severe punishment. I wear a veil that has
no closer material about it than bobbinet or cape-lace, and
although that is so open that one might think it would not
obstruct the air, yet actual trial shows that it offers decided
obstruction, and when I have had -one on for some time on
a hot day it is a decided relief to get it off.
I doubt whether you would dislike his way of smoking
bees before opening a hive, if you were actually to see liim
at work, for it is not very likely he does just as he says. It
is quite common to say that a man preaches better than he
practices. This is probably a case in which the practice is
better than the preachini,s and no doubt writing away from
the hive he had not in mind as clearly as he might just
what his practice was. Taking it. however, just as it reads,
his first act was to blow smoke into the entrance for ;i bout
30 seconds, working the bellows with .slow, steady pressure
so as not to alarm the bees with the noise of quicker
motions. Just what is meant by that last I do not fully
understand, for it is hardly possible that any noise made
by the smoker can alarm the bees a tenth part as much as
the horrible flood of smoke that many of the bees have
never before experienced. Indeed, the very object of the
smoke is to alarm the bees.
I very much doubt that in actual practice Mr. Gehring
blows smoke into the entrance for 30 seconds, first starting
" a good volume of smoke." I have just been trying it by
the watch, and working the bellows what I considered
slowly I made 42 puffs in 30 seconds, and 69 puffs when
puffing at the usual rate. That would certainly be an un-
necessary amount of smoke, in some cases driving the bees
out of the hive, and in any case frightening the bees so
much that it would be difficult to find a queen. Then he
waited a few minutes for the bees to gorge themselves. A
" few minutes " would hardly be understood as less than
three minutes. That would leave the bees in good condi-
tion to handle, but a practical bee-keeper would hardly feel
he could afford to take so much time. If I may be allowed
to refer to my own practice, instead of taking 3'. minutes
from the first puff in the entrance before opening the hive,
I do not take one-sixtieth of that time, for two or three
puffs are all that are given, when, without waiting a frac-
tion of a second for the bees to gorge themselves, I imme-
diately open the hive, giving them two, three, or four puffs
on top of the frames. That will usually be sufficient, but if
at any time they show fight they get more. The humming
noise spoken of is a proof of thorough submission ; I would
hardly consider it one of " satisfaction," but the opposite.
Neither would.I want to have the bees proceed to much of a
humming noise unless I wanted to drive them out.
Using Old Combs-Getting Increase-Italians vs. Blacks.
1. Will the combs of a colony of bees that died with the
dysentery do to use again ?
2. I have 8 colonies of bees which I wish to increase to
20. Would you advise dividing, or natural swarming ?
3. Are the Italians more apt to have dysentery than the
blacks ? I lost 3 colonies this spring — one being black, and
all having the same chance. H. C. A.
Answers. — Yes ; scrape off the wood of the frame as
clean as you can, and the bees will do the rest. Instead of
throwing a swarm into a hive full of such combs, it will be
better to get them first cleaned up by the bees, for if they
are very filthy a swarm might object to them. Put the
hive of'combs under a strong colony and oblige the bees ta
pass through it to get in or out. But if you want thatcol-
ony to swarm, don't leave the hive under it after swarming-
time begins.
2. That's a somewhat difficult question to answer. If
you have had little or no experience, perhaps natural
swarming would be best. But taking the matter into your
own hands will give vou fuller control. Possibly a combi-
nation might be best." Wait for three or four of the first to
swarm, then divide the old colonies into nuclei to be built
up from those that have not swarmed.
3. Italians have not had the reputation for being more
inclined to diarrhea, or any other disease than blacks. In
fact they have been credited, especially in Australia, with
being much better to resist foul brood than blacks. Your
experience, however, looks as if your blacks resisted diar-
rhea better than your Italians.
Bees Cross at Swarming-Time.
I purchased 3 colonies of bees in the fall, and the per-
son delivering them put them down in the most convenient
place, and I let them alone until I could familiarize myself
with them. I came home in the forenoon of April 20th,
and found they had swarmed (about a peck measure full), so
I had to make a virtue of necessity, and went about it
according to the formula in the " A B C of Bee-Culture."
I got a hive with full frames of foundation, laid it down on
the top of a sheet, got a box and a turkey wing and went
to sweeping them into the box (as they were clustered on a
tight board fence under the top rail). I got some of them
into the box, but it did not take me long to tumble what I
had in the box down in front of the hive, and make a very
hasty retreat.
Now I take it for granted that there was something
wrong with my manipulation, for Mr. Root says that they
would be so full of honey that they would not fight, but X
need not tell you that I am nursing my wounds yet. I had
314
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 16, 1901.
a brand new smoker, and g-ot it out, but really did not know
what to do with it. I got some rags, lit them, and went
back in fear and trembling. I gave them a good smoking,
took the same box (with a long-handle this time) and a long-
handled brush, and got the bulk of them into the box,
dumped them down again in front of the hive, and when
they would not go in I smoked them in, and they stayed.
Tennessee.
Answer. — It is true that when bees swarm they are
filled with honey, and are so good-natured that you may
hive them bare-headed and bare-handed. But it is also
true that sometimes they are cross enough, just why I don't
know. Very likely there was no fault on your part, only
you had one of the " sometimes " cases.
Transferring Bees.
Several weeks ago I bought 5 colonies, and found 2 of
them very strong, and consequently did not disturb them.
Two of them were ver}' weak, so that only one frame could
be covered in one, and two frames in the other. It hap-
pened that the old home-made frame fit in the new dove-
tailed hives which I use, and so I put them into the new
hives.
1. Now, would I not better take from them both queens,
and unite them into one hive, then give them a new queen ?
I think the queens are pld.
2. Now, the fifth hive was a mess — it was chock-full of
honey, and although it was a movable-frame the bees had
built their combs diagonally in the frames. I began to cut
out from one side where there were no bees, and proceeded
until the fifth frame, when I came to the bees, then I lifted
the remaining four frames bodily, and put them into a new
hive. How can I get those bees out on straight combs ?
Would you advise leaving them and gradually coaxing
them over on new frames filled with foundation ?
Penn.
Answers. — 1. As your letter is written in April, it is
quite possible that a colony very weak at that time may
build up to good proportions by the time of the honey har-
vest. At any rate, it is a common observation that if two
colonies that are very weak are in bad condition as to build-
ing up, the two united will hardly do any better.
Are you sure about the queens being old ? If you are
experienced in such matters you may judge somewhat by
the appearance of the queens, but even then you may not
be sure. If a colony threw out a swarm last year, you may
know it has a young queen less than a year old. The swarm
will generally have an older queen, although there may be
exceptions. Generally, however, the bees will supersede a
queen before she is old enough to be worthless. Very likely
you will do well to leave the two colonies as they are, unless
you want to introduce a new queen for the sake of improv-
ing the stock.
2. Yes, fill up the hive with frames filled with founda-
tion, and let the bees work over upon it at their own sweet
will.
-^-m-^
Weak or aueenless Colony.
I have 2 colonies of bees, and both seemed to winter
well, but I notice this morning a great many dead bees in
front of one of the hives, and that colony seems weak and
not nearly so active and strong as the other. What is the
trouble and the remedy ? Alabama.
Answer. — It may be that there is nothing beyond the
fact that the colony is weak. A good many bees die every
winter, and some strong colonies will keep them carried
away so that you may think that none were lost, while a
weaker colony may leave them on the floor of the hive or
at the entrance. The chief question is whether there is a
good queen in the hive or not. Lift out the frames on
which the bees are most thickly clustered, and see whether
any brood and eggs are present. If you find nothing of
the kind there, they are hopelessly queenless, and the bees
left are so old that they are not worth fussing with. There
is a bare chance, however, that they have reared a young
queen that has not begun laying yet. In that case you may
find no brood except a little sealed brood. If you want to
make sure of it, give them a frame of young brood from the
other colony, and if they start queen-cells on it you may
believe them queenless; but if no queen-cells are started in
two or three days, there is still hope they may have a queen.
If they start cells, and they are sufficiently strong in bees.
you may allow them to mature the queen-cell, but the game
is not likely to be worth the candle. If you find the sealed
brood in worker-cells raised like little bullets instead of
being flat, j-ou may know they have a drone-laying queen
or laying-workers, in which case the only thing is to break
them up.
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Clareniont, Calif.
The Commonplace.
" A commonplace lite,"' we say, and we sigh;
But why should we sigh as we say ?
'Tis the comiflonplace sun in the commonplace sky
Makes up this commonplace (lay;
And the moon and the stars are commonplace things,
And the flower that blooms, and the bird that sings;
But dark were our fate, and sad were our lot,
It the flow,ers should fade and the birds sang not ;
And God, who watches each separate soul,
Out of commonplace things makes this beauteous whole.
— Selected.
" DAD BUTTER"— HOME COURTESIES.
This would seem a curious text for our greeting to
"The Home Circle " friends. Yet it suggests some valu-
able thoughts, as we shall see.
I taught my first school when I was young — in my
teens. How vivid are some of the things of our childhood
and youth I How stamped upon memory was the ride — 11
miles — with my dear old father, as I went to try my skill at
the teacher's desk. Among other wise things my father
said was, " Start right." That might well be a text for
any epistle or sermon. Again, "Never lose j'our self-con-
trol." A man near Claremont was shot yesterday — another
man lost his self-control. The one will be marred through
life, if not worse. The other will doubtless languish for
months behind prison doors, and vrill have long, bitter,
regretful thoughts. Did I say too much in a previous arti-
cle ? Can we say too much to our dear children at the very
first, from cradle up, regarding the importance of self-con-
trol ? I am glad my father impressed it upon me on that
memorable ride, as I went to fashion the still younger lives.
Again, my father said, " Never be called in the morn-
ing." I was to "board around," and such evidence of
energy he thought would win me favor. I think I was
never called, and I was often first up, and in the quiet of
those early hours I not only carefully read my New York
Tribune (which was a good school for a school-teacher), but
also read during the winter Irving's " Life of Washington."
Whatever some may think of this advice, its results were
certainly good in my case.
Again, father urged that I use no words that I would
not use in the presence of the most refined ladies. This
was good advice. I hope I followed it. Were I to train
children to-day — were I to bring up my children again — I
would start urging the "yea, yea," and " na^', nay," which
the blessed Master enjoined upon all his disciples. There
is something so sweet, wholesome, and impressive in the
pure, direct speech, especially in these days of slang, that I
wonder more are not enamored of it.
But why my text ? I often noticed as I boarded with
the good people, that the language of the children was not
always courteous, respectful, refined. The people were for
the most part — indeed, almost in their entirety — thoroughly
good peojjle ; people who would sacrifice heavily to aid a
neighbor who might need comfort or assistance ; people
who prided themselves upon their honesty ; whose word was
honored in matters of common report, or in business. It
was a neighborhood that would soon empty itself in case
the country should be threatened and assistance required.
This was proved two or three years later, when the call for
100,000 men was sounded by that glorious man who then
guided the great "Ship of State." It was a goodly folk to
meet, and I used my opportunity and dwelt among them
poor and rich alike. No home escaped my visitation. I
have rejoiced ever since that the poorest and least respected
May 16, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
315
■were not omitted in my visitations and sojourns. It is g-ood
to see how the other folks live. It is good to share with
them their crusts, and break doughnuts with them in good-
fellowship. I wish all our Carnegies, Vanderbilts, etc.,
could have taught school and have " boarded around " in
the early, impressive years of their lives. It would cer-
tainly have wakened in them a real heart-sympathy for the
hosts of poor people that would later be associated with
them.
As I sat in all these homes, about the evening candle —
those were still the candle days in the country homes : or,
as we enjoyed the evening meal, or sat at the early break-
fast, served usually by candle-light, and usually before six
o'clock, I had good opportunity to study manners, and to
note the words and address of my pupils in the close inti-
macies of their homes.
One morning, in my opening talk at the school, I es-
sayed to inspire the pupils with more deference and cour-
tesy in their associations with each other, and especially in
the home. I was quite specific in urging them to politeness
in the home, and at that best of places — about the home-
table. I thought they seemed impressed, and that my ex-
amples of proper and improper address and phrase would
sink deeply in their memories, and bear fruit in a better
habit and manners in the homes and about the home meals.
That night we had hardly taken our seats at the supper-
table, before one of the boys, in a large family of children,
piped out in emphatic tones — "Dad butter I" I wondered if
all my good advice and suggestions had taken as shallow
root as in this case.
A lady said to me a few days agone, " How can we keep
our children from slang ?" I rejoice that mothers wish to.
A flower, a mountain, a woodland, not only pleases the eye,
it elevates the taste, and purifies the life. Ugly sights in-
fluence in just the reverse waj-. Happy the child who is
only familiar with beautiful scenes, and lovely pictures of
life and environment. Words are like pictures, they make
or mar the taste, refinement, and the life. I have so often
blessed God that I never heard a profane word, a vulgar
phrase, and hardly a byword from my father's lips. I have
three children ; I think their language is so clean and pure
that it would grace any company, and would never be
criticised.
We parents wish so earnestly that our children should
use only good words. We have the matter largely, if not
entirely, in our own hands. First and best, we must be
" living epistles." If we occupy the place every parent
ought to hold in the minds and hearts of our loved ones,
what we say, or do not say, will tell tremendously to fix
their habits of speech. Example is our best weapon in this
warfare.
Again, we must so interest ourselves in our children —
be so one with them that our advice will always tell. Let
us advise that bj'words and slang, sarcasm and abrupt and
discourteous phrases, be never heard ifi the home, or used
by the children. " Dad butter " may get the unctuous
solid, but I am sure it will not taste as good as if it came
with, "Father, will you please pass the butter?" Home
courtesy, and everything that makes toward it, is a rich
adornment in every household.
When I left home for college my blessed mother said to
me — her arms encircled my neck, her tears enriched the
words, and a blessed kiss was her seal — " I am glad to know
that no word, phrase or story will you utter that you would
not be willing that your mother should hear." I am so
glad my mother said it. I believe my college life did not
disappoint her. How I rejoice that it did not.
To paraphrase : " A word fitly spoken is like apples of
gold in pictures of silver." I hope none of our " home
circles " will be marred by any other.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing' for. Look at them.
i(*4siiiavfev*ij!V*iJ<v*iJ^*iJ'V*iav>!iJ*o*j*K*i.;<
^ The Afterthought.
■?K
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THE UNCAPPING FORK.
If the implement known as the uncapping fork has befin
in use 2<) years, and has occupied all that tiuie in getting itself
heard of on this side of the world— welt, one would say it can
hardly be of very great value. Perhaps that's not the way to
look at things, however. At any rate the slowness of truth
when chasing a popular falsehood seems to have found its
match. This is anent those pictures furnished by Mr. Griener,
on page 215. All tools for uncapping, one would say, which
operate like a garden-rake, and draw all they get hold of in
front of them, must manifestly be self-clogging and too slow
for general business.
THE UNCAPPING ROLLER.
How about that roller full of fine prickers to puncture the
cappings instead of removing them ? Can it be depended on
to let go of the cappings ? The prickers must be near
together else some of the cells will be missed; and if near
together will it not, first you know, pull off small patches of
capping and hold on to them until its operation is clogged "? I
have a little pricking arrangement not a roller which deports
itself in about that style : and picking things clear is an unen-
durable waste of time. Perhaps a rolling motion instead of
a patting motion would obviate that, in whole or in part. I
fear, however, that the uncapping roller Is one of the Gala-
tians — " run well for a time " — and short time at that. It is
by no means absolutely necessary that an uncapping device
should remove the cappings at all. It's nice to have that
done: but if the new device works rapidly enough, and well
enough, we can afford to float out the cappings with the
Inverted syphon, or lift them off the gravity tank. There is
another thing to be thought of, however. If we give back
most of the cappings to the bees in a ragged condition they
may take a notion to throw away the most of them, to our
serious loss.
MR. CH.\P.MAX'S METHODS AND MANAGEMENT.
The long article of S. D. Chapman, pages 2 l.n-2 17, very
valuable as it is, needs lots of discrimination on the part of
the reader. Things which will work in one locality will not
work In another : and a series of two or three operations may
work well when the most captivating member of the series,
torn out and used alone, might be ruinous. Or, again, take
the plan of killing all queens early In .Inly— the man who
overworks his queens so that they need killing has a great
deal more occasion to follow that plan than the man does
whose bees run their brood-rearing according to their own
sweet will — albeit there are some other reasons not directly
connected with premature old age.
The Idea that queens will lay much faster in the middle of
the brood-nest than in outside combs will come to some of us
as rather a novel one. It is quite likely to be correct ; and if
correct it is a large-sized item to conjure with.
Another prominent idea is not exactly new, but one which
many of us have entertained (perhaps a little sheepishly or
clandestinely) that the time spent on very weak colonies in
spring is time thrown away.
I note that he does not claim for his diligent taking
out of brood and putting In of empty combs that it doubles
the size of the colony, nor yet half doubles it, but only puts
it 4U percent to the good. It is of value to have the experi-
ence of an expert that a dozen queens hatching in an upper
story do not necessarily make the colony swarm. I believe it
has been said that running the same colony for both section-
honey and extracted is a practice poor If not uneconomical.
Here we have a forcible and plump denial at strong hands —
more bees, and more comb honey, and some extracted honey
as a sort of free gratis.
Raspberry bloom and berries in all stages In northern
Michigan up to November 1st. is simply another of the many
evidences that last autumn was a very abnormal one indeed.
That out of 140 colonies 80 should neglect to start cells
when queens were killed, until brood was all too old, Is a
very strange experience. Oood case to bear In mind as evi-
dence that " one can't pretty much always tell" what bees
will do, or what they will not do.
316
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 16, 1901.
QUEENS!
Improved (iolden and Leathe<--colored Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one of Roofs best lonB--toogued Red-
Clover Breeders from their $2(10 queen, and a
Golden Breeder from Doolittle,who says if there
is a BREEDER of golden bees in the U.S. wonli
SHXl, this one is worth that sum. The above
breeders have been added to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the coming season.
J. L. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., wrote us on
Aug. 5th, 191X1, saying that the colony having
one of our queens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostlv comb'; he states that
he is certain that our bees woik on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiary.
A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our queens from time to time. We have files
upon files of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering the above evidence, need
you wonder why ourorders have increased each
year ? Give us a trial order and be pleased. We
have years of experience in mailing and rearing
queens. Safe delivery will be guaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with each lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Prices before July ist:
^ 1 6 12
warranted stock $.75 $4.25 $ 8.0ii
Selected warranted I.CIO 5.1)0 9.50
Tested 1.50 8.00 15.00
Selected tested 2.00 10 50
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 4.00
Folding Cartons, with your address printed
in two colors. $4 00 per 1,000; 500 for $2.75.
Addr
i all I
H. G. QUIRIN, Parkertown, Ohio.
Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. "^"^ HElit
Please mention Bee Jotirnal -when •writing,
Tull-strokgT
„„PIG-TIGHT„,. V
An Illinois fanner said thataft-
er harvest he had fully 200 bush-
els of loose oats on the ground
that he could not secure any ben-
etit from, because the fence
around the field would not turn
hogs. Figure the lossforyourself.
He also said, all this would have
been saved if he had used the
Kitselman Woven Wire Coiled
Spring Fences and the value
would nave K''ne a \on^ ways
towards paving cost of the fence.
With the Duplex Machine
any farmer (.an make it himself
at the actual cost of the «ire.
Oatalof^ue" f ree fnr the asking.
KITSELMAN BROS.
Box Ubu Muncie, Ind.
Bee Journal "wlien writiDo.
I860 1901
THOSE LONG-TONGUED ADELS !
White Rock, Min.x., April in, 1901.
The Adel Queens I got f rom j ou are more
than you claimed for them. I want 0 more. —
S. W. Jackso.n.
Oneco. Con.n., April 15, 1901.
The Adels have wintered finely, and I like
them very much. I want more Q'ueens. Send
price list.— Kev. T. B. Mowbey.
I guarantee any Queens sent out from my
apiary and sold for $1.10 each to be as good as
any $10 Queens sold by auy dealer. Price-list
Now Re.idv.
It<E2t HENRY ALLEY, Wenllam, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -WTiting.
CAREER AND CHARACTER OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
An address by Joseph Choate, Am-
bassador to Great Britain, on the ca-
reer and character of Abraham Lincoln
—his early life— his early struggles
with the world — his character as devel-
oped in the later years of his life and his
administration, which placed his name
so high on the world's roll of honor
and fame, has been published by the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, and may be had by sending six
(6) cents in postage to F. A. Miller,
General Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
18A3t
Bees Beginning the Season Well.
We are havinij an early spring in this part
of the State, and a good one. too, with the
exeeption of a little north wind.
I have some colonies that are already filling
their second super with comb honey this sea-
son. W. T. Francis.
Sutter Co., Calif.. April 14.
Tennessee Queens r
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reaied 35i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 254
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2S years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A2()t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal "wnen "writing.
Wintered on Granulated Sugar.
Mr. Gill, a bee-keeiJtr here, put a eolonv on
nothing but granulated sugar in the fall.'and
they wintered as well as those with an abun-
dance of stores of honey. Another neighbor
'■ took up " his bees, and Mr. Gill simply
shook them on dry combs into another hive,
set it in the same place, and put on a Millet-
feeder containing 1.5 pounds of sugar.
The season here is fairly early.
T. Proctor Otis.
C^ueliec. Canada, .April ^.'4.
Cold and Misty New England.
We have had hard weather for bees. April
has allowed only three days for pollen-gather-
ing thus far. Mist and rain have been the
prevailing things in New England. The eon-
sequence is. that bees have alternately started
brood-rearing then ceased. The patches of
brood are very ragged. Ten days of cold,
misty weather at a stretch will put a dead-
stop to brood-rearing. Allen Latham.
Norfolk Co., Mass.. April 28.
A Cloudy, Rainy April.
Bees have had a hard time — only 32 hours
of sunshine In 26 days in April. On all other
days it rained hard. No doubt good results
will come from this soaking, as this part of
the glolje had not tjeen yet down for the past
three years. Wells were dry, springs were
low. and now the wells and springs are full —
also a good many cellars.
Bees are doing well now. carrying in pollen.
Henry Alley.
Kssex Co., Mass.. May 1.
Experience in Growing Cleome.
On page 2-44 the editor asks for information
concerning cleome. I raised it last year in
our garden, where the soil is dry rather than
wet, but of course it was watered every day.
It grew so thriftily that one so inexperienced
as I might suppose it would grow almost any-
where. Our garden had only the spade to
loosen the soil as a preparation, and the seed
was planted near the first of May. It grew
quickly, and transplanted kindly when aljout
3 inches tall. The jjlauts should be set at
least three feet ajiart. as it branches exten-
sively, and every Ijranth flowers. Mine grew
from 3 to 5 feet or more tall, as I remember
them. The leaves resemljle the leaves of the
horse-chestnut, and many are quite as large.
The plant is sliglilly thorny and somewhat
aroniatii'. exuding a sweet juice, or dew, in
perceptive i.ut alniosl infinitesimal drops. It
began llowering the last of July, growing
from what appeared to be an umbel of buds
into a spike of flowers; the showy spike
lengthening and blooming until cutoff by
the frost. Strange to say, every flower in the
garden succumbed to the frost before that did.
so that it was not only a ■■ thing of beauty,"
taut of interest, because I had supposed it to
be a semi-tropical plant. The flowers are
very odd, the long stamens growing on one
side of the four petals : the seed-pods are very
long, growing on long stems, and these clothe
the spike while the upper part is in the bud
and in full flower. Perhaps these give the
plant the name it sometimes bears, that is,
" the spider-iUant."
It grew so easily for me in my first attempt
at gardening that I think if I had a farm, or
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'"
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
free.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, Hanager.
1024 Miss, street, St. Paul, Minn.
UAtf
Please i
the Bee Jc
nal.
Price of Queens
from Imported
Mothers:
Tested.. 1—$ 1.50
Un" ..1— .75
Tested.. 6— 6.S0-
Un " ..6— 4.00
Tested. 12— 12.00
Un'
r.oo-
S.-.-.
(Golden, same
price.) Select
tested, either
race, $2.50. Write
for circular.
G. F. DAVIDSON & SONS.
Establish! 18S5. Faikvikw, Wilson Co., T
12Atf Please mention the B
al.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send SI. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
BEE=SUPPLIES!
W5noTS COoa^ ;
Wi^'T 'BOOT'S fsfi I c£^^
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVE. INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
Standard Belcjian Hare Book !
year — both for only Jl.,
GEORGE W.
144&14(, Erie Street,
THIS book of 175
pages presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
jrian Hare industry;
its fjrowth, origin
and kinds; the san-
ation andconstruc-
Dn of the rabbitry;
•^election of breeding"
stock; care of the
voung, feeding", dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring-, mar-
keting-, shippin^,&c.
First edition of 50,-
iMJ copies was sold
vance of publi-
YORK&CO.,
.CHICAGO, r,:
May 16, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
317
larjje piece of land, I would loosen up the
soil, and set a plant here and there in the
pasture, and even by the roadside, and should
expect it to grow, because son)e of the plants
I set out were in rather poor soil — a little
sandy — and not one failed to jjrow.
I might add that during: the first of the
blooming: I did not find the liees very fre-
quent visitors, seldom seeing any, but at the
last of the season they seemed to appreciate
it, perhaps because most other flowers were
gone.
I said it was watered every day, but I am
mistaken about that, although I found that
the plant did not resent the lu'gleet.
ThI50, F. B. tilDDIXGS.
Hennepin Co., Minn., April 2.5.
Bees Expelling Water from Nectar
— Fpuit-Bloom Honey.
Prof. Cook says on ]>age 141», in his " Re-
view of A B C of Bee-Culture :"
■■ I have always wondered at the statements
we so frequently see of bees expelling water
from the honey while on the wing. I never
saw it. and I don't believe they do it." etc.
I was indeed surprised to read this from
Prof. Cook. I have seen bees expel water
from the honey as they left buckwheat fields
for the hives, and I think all doubt will be
removed from the minds of those who do not
believe it if they will get bees to work on a
piece of comb containing houey as bee-hunters
tix it. Tlien have some honey so diluted with
water that it will be only sweetened water,
but sweet enough so that the bees will work
on it readily. Now put some of this into an
empty comb, remove the original comb, and
place the watered honey in its place. Watch
these bees as they till themselves from this
and circle around before they take the " bee-
line " for home, and I think if your eyesight
is good you will no longer doubt that they
expel water, and it is not always a very " fine
mist," either.
I ha%'e used very thin syrup when hunting
bees, for nearly 25 years, as I found by re-
peated experiments that a bee would fill itself
to its untmost capacity, and then after ex-
pelling a quantit,y of the load in the form of
water (soon after leaving tlieljox, and always
before she got out of sight), make the trip of
one or two miles, and return in much less
time than when a thick syrup of honey was
used for bait. All good bee-hunters know
this.
On the same page Prof. Cook speaks of Mr.
Root being in error about fruit-bloom honey.
I think Mr. Cary called Mr. Root's attention
to this, and he acknowledged his mistake. I
have seen hundreds of pounds of pure apple-
blossom honey at the apiary of Mr. Cary, and
have had a few cases of comb honej' gathered
from it by my own bees. With the excejition
of raspl^erry honey it is the finest we have.
Worcester Co.. Mass. .I.vmes. F. Wood.
Three Hive-Bodies Per Colony fop
Extracted Honey.
On page 13" I read the ijuestions on venti-
lating supers, and then I read Dr. Miller's re-
plies, and was very glad to find that I was
walking to some extent in the footsteps of
such a great bee-keeper as Adam Grimm. I
run entirely for extracted honey, and for
every colony I use three s- frame dovetailed
hive-bodies and one super. I winter them on
the summer stands in two hive-bodies each,
and in the spring I feed so as to cause all to
swarm once and no more. The parent colony
is left all summer by the old stand, and facing
at right angles to it, and when ii is re-
quired I place a super on it, but as soon as a
swarm issues I put a ventilator under the old
colony, about 1'.^ inches deep, opened along
both sides, hut covered with wire-cloth.
Then I hive the swarm, which is generally
very large, and under that 1 put a ventilator 3
inches deep ; about three days after they
swarm I examine the parent colony, take it
with eight of the frames that are nearest to
being hatched out, and put it on top of the
new colony with a honey-board between and
another ventilator on top 1 ' . inches deep. So
BEES AND QUEENS
Having been Z^ years rear-
in^r Queens for the trade on
llie best known plans, I will
continue to rear the best.
PRICES:
One Untested Queen $1.IK)
One Tested Queen 1.3S
One Select Tested Queen 1..S0
One Breeder 3.IK1
One Comb Nucleus l-W
BelgianHares
Choice, pedigreed and common stock: young-
sters, $3.iiO per pair. Write for description and
prices. d. L. STRONG.
llAtt Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa.
Please mention Bee Journal vpnen ■writinc
.^MANUFACTURER QFl^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled proinptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money bv sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Please mention Bee Journal "when Tsrritine:
Do You Want a
Hign Grade o! Italian Queens
Or a CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Chicago, III., Jan. 28, lioi.
D. J. Blocker, Esq., Pearl City, 111.
Dear Sir: — Y'our quotations on 48 untested
Italian Queens, ready for delivery by May 18,
1101, at hand. It being the first offer out of sev-
eral inquiries,and, besides, you having promptly
favored me with queens last year, you may, in
appreciation thereof, have the order.
Yours truly, 1,. KREnTZiNGER.
Prices for Hay and June:
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $1.00 $5.00 $9.00
Tested 1.2S 7.00 11.00
SelectTested 2.00 10.00 17 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $100 $5.00 $9.00
Tested 1-25 7 00 11.00
Select Tested 1.50 8 00 13.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
"^ D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, 111.
14Et.t Please mention the Bee Journal.
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can fnrnlsh you with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
Said tor beeswax. 8end lor our ISKil catalog.
[. H. IIUNT & SON, yell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Journal -when writins,
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported Hothers,
Our stock is so carefully bred and selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality* free
from foul brotd and other bee diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, $1.00, 6 for $5.00; 1 tested
Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
S6.00; fair imported, $5.0(1.
ADA L. PICKARD.
18E7t RICHLAND CENTER, WIS.
Please mention Bfie Journal when ■writin&
EXCURSIONS TO BUFFALO EXPO-
SITION via Nickel Plate Road,
On May 7th, 14th, 21st and 2sth, re-
spectively, at rate of S13.00 for the
round-trip from Chicago : good return-
ing 5 days from date of sale. Three
through trains daily, with vestibuled
sleeping-car.s and first-class dining-car
service. For particulars and Pan-
American folder, write John Y. Cala-
han. General .\gent. 111 Adams Street,
Chicago. Depot: Van Buren St. and
Pacific Av., Cliicagcon Elevated Loop.
No. 8— 20A2t
you see there is plenty of ventilation, but in
case of a stoppa;j:eof the honey-tlow I am not
afraid of robljers.
My principal reasons for usint; three hive-
bodies to the colony are as follows :
First, I can renew my queens at will. As
soon as the season is over, anil I put them
away for winter, if the parent colony has a,
prolific young queen I put the parent colony
on top of the swarm, first killing the old
queen.
Second, I depend upon the parent colony to
put away enough honey for winter stores for
Iroth outfits, as I tind as a rule that the swarms
do not store enough to winter on — just a little
strip along the top of each comb in the bot-
tom story.
Third, by this method of doubling up every
fall I have the same nutnber year after year,
and do not have so many combs to jirotect from
bee-moths.
We have had a very mild winter, and bees
have down at least one day in every week, and
now I have them busily engaged in carrying
artiticial i>olIen to the hives. I use from one
to five pounds of flour a day mixed with flaked
oatmeal, and they visit it by the thousands,
and I e.vpect the hum of these bees would
lieat the " Hum of the bees in the apple-tree
bloom." At night I feed a quart of syrup
made from 30 pounds of the best granulated
sugar, 40 pounds of water, and I.t pouuds of
honey. I think fruit-bloom will start next
week, then my work will be over for awhile.
W. H. Aldeb.
Callahan Co., Tex., March 4.
More Rain in California.
It began to rain last night, and up to the
present time (S p.m.) it has rained three-
fourths of an inch. This is the flrst rain in
the San Gabriel Valley since Feb. 7th.
J. T. Haddocks.
Los Angeles Co., Calif., April :^0.
Worst Spring for Years.
My bees came through the winter seemingly
stronger than when closed up in the fall.
They brought in pollen and honey April 4th —
four days earlier than last year. Then we
had a cold, wet time, killing all the early
blossoms, for two weeks or more, and the
bees had a hard time to live, as they had a
quantity of brood — in fact, it has been the
worst spring for bees we have had in years.
The past few days everything has been com-
ing rapidly forward, and the trees are in
bloom, yet there is a lack of moisture, and
there seems to be no nectar in the blossoms.
I have made a few improvements or discov-
eries during the past season, and will write
about them later. D. H. Metcalf.
Calhoun Co., Mich., May 4.
Report from the " Old Dominion."
1 began the season of I'JOO with 4" colonies,
spring count, and increased to 52, working on
Doolittle's plan of spreading brood. I met
with perfect success in using that plan, secur-
ing populous colonies which were in readiness
when the honey-flow came. We destroyed all
drone-comb in colonies we did not wish to
breed from, selecting from colonies with the
best and brighest drone-breeders, and also
selecting from colonies with the best layers
and honey-gatherers to rear ijueens from.
t>ur honey season was tolerably good during
the months of June and July, wheu our bees
gathered the most surplus. During August
and September the bees did not do much, but
the latter part of September and the first of
October they laid in a good supi)ly for winter
stores from wild aster and goldenrod, and
some surplus from smartweed.
Wc tried the Golden plan on one colony,
and found it' a complete success. We shall
adiipt it to some extent duriug this season.
Wc want to increase to 0.") or 7.5 colonies.
Our bees came through the winter all right
witli the exception of two that became queen-
less, and we have 4S colonies now. During
the niontli of I'"cbruary the weather was very
mild and i)leasant, but it diicsii't look now as
if we were going to have imich of a honey
season, as the snow is Hying in all directions.
318
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 16, 1901.
ami the mountains around about us are clad
in mantles of snow.
t)ur crop last season amounted to over 8,000
pounds of comb hone.v (we do not extract
any), which we consider pretty good for the
season, as there was a drouth which cut our
corn crop short by over one-half.
P. I. Huffman.
Rockbridge Co., Va. . April 32.
Clipping Queens' Wings.
(i. .M. DooliMle enumerates the advantages
iu the American Bee-Keeper, viz. : Greater
ease of finding a clipped queen in a hive;
security against runaway swarms; freedom
from climbing trees or getting swarms from
difficult places. Either one of which might he
sutlieient reason for the practice.
Queens Hating in the Hive.
This is reported in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
by 11. L. Jeffrey as a success, but Editor Root
thinks there may be some mLstake about it.
A Swarming.Sticlc.
For those who depend upon having their
bees settle so as to hive them, it is by no
means a pleasant thing to have the cluster on
a very high tree, or in the middle of some
thorny shrub, tree, or hedge. Mr. J. F. Mun-
day has this to say abouta " swarming-stick "
which he uses:
It is therefore advisable for a bee-keeper to
prepare suitable places near his apiary for
his swarms to settle on. The plan I adopted
wasthe fulluwiug; 1 bond :.!■ aii-.-i -holr in
the tni> mil of the feiic.' » lii.-l: ,-n.l..M.,l nn
apiury. 1 then got a slirk hIhmii ih.. IVri
long, one end uf wliii.-!] wnuM slii) iiiio ihc
hole made in the rail ; on the other cud of tlic
stick I fastened a small l>ago£ dry grass about
the size of a small pumpkin. Before nuiking
the bag, I placed the material of. which il was
made (a piece of maize-bag) on the toj) ol' tlie
frames of a hive of bees for a few dins lo
obtain the si'cnt of the bees on it. A\.-ll, I
siin|.l\ lilarr.l tliK MirK wilh the lilll.- I.a-.'f
gra^s
il of llll
swarms settle on it. or rather them, tor I had
four of them in different places.
Now, I do not wish to imply that all my
thev I
when
their
its,.!
ilh
from
111 on it from tlie lio
to the hive. AVitli
tii'd. or with my liai
liciaclifd a few bet
^ tliiiii fall at the mouth of the
II 1 iiotired them entering the
'lily 1 shook oil the rest oi the
lien most of the bees had en-
I returned the swarm-stick to
e fence again.
Foul Brood An Important Subject.
Every little while there comes a frantic in-
quiry from some bee-keeper to know what is
the matter with his bees, and what he shall do
for them. He suspects the presence of foul
brood, but is in utter ignorance as to what the
symptoms are. Heretofore he has seen much
about foul brood, but has always skipped it in
his reading — let those troubled with the dis-
ease trouble themselves with the reading. The
wise bee-keeper will not wait till he is per-
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Seud for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, 11. B. Lewis Co., W S. Alaban
Excellent shipping facilities and very low f
NOTICE
THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY have a Branch Store at 10 Vine St.,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.,
Where they have direct steamboat connections with Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New Jerse5', Delaware, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida,
and low freight rates.
As this is a main branch, order from any catalog or quotations given
from Medina.
Also booking orders for healthy ITALIAN BEES, shipped this month. Full
colonies, S frames and queen, S6.00. Wholesale rates on application.
Please i.iention Bee Journal "when writing
BE YOUR OWN AGENT
Every t
and Save Monoyt
ladditiontothi
thia places au article beyo.i J j ourreacb
WE HA VE NO AGENTS
le you buy an article from an agent
you must pay him a liberal com-
ralue of the article. In many cases
irethelar-fstnmnula.-tiirers of vi-h1cles
fandbarne?s in the world selling' to the consu-
exclusively. We make 178 styles of ve-
?s, and 65 of harness. Roxnember that we
\ our goods anywhere for examination and
1 complete puaiantee safe delivery.
td 8ha(t,. pfice »53.,. f. «d .. deakTs^luoS" ElMiapt Capi-lago A Harness Mfg. Co..
Write f cr Illustrated Calalofue— FREE. \V. B. Pratt, Secy. Elkhart, Indiana,
ir'lease mention Bee Journal "when ^rritin&
Bee=SuppIies
We are distributors for ROOT'S noODS
AT THEIR PRICES for soulhernOhio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
MUTH'S SQUARE CUSS HONEY-JARS,
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Lowest Freiglit'fRates in the country.
Send for Catalog.
O. H. "W. "WBBEJR,,
Successor to C. F. Muth & Son,
2146-48 Central Ave.. CINCINNATI,0.
t'lea.'ie mention Bee Journal when writins
HIVES,SECTiaNS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Bif,' Calaloy Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Lonis, 111.
BEE
Mention the American Bee Jouinal.
fl Word to the Wise Bee-Keeper
Is the title of au essay ou queen-reariug. Sent
free to all applicants. Address.
i'iA4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
SOUTH DAKOTA FARMS
Is the title of an illustrated booklet just
issued by the Chicago,Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway, descriptive of the coun-
try between Aberdeen and the Missouri
River, a section heretofore unprovided
with railway facilities, but which is now
reached by a new line of the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul R'y. Every one
contemplating a change of location will
be interested in the information con-
tained in it, and a copy may be had by
sending a 2-cent stamp to F. A. Miller,
General Passenger Agent, Chicago, III.
19A3t
lai'Hbfleld NamMnring Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshf ield. Wis.
Flease mention Bee Journal ■when writina
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
^^ to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. T St^fEiS
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents iu trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
May 16, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
319
soniilly interested, but will inform liiniself in
atlvanee. Tlien it some trouljle arises lie will
not be foolishly alarmed when not the slightest
symptom of the dread disease is present ; and
on the other hand, the disease will not be able
to steal a march on him, for he will be ready
to detect it on sight, and to battle it before
it makes serious headway. lu the Rocky
Mountain Bee Journal the ex-secretary of the
Colorado Bee-Keepers' Association g-ives the
symptoms and cure in the following very
succinct manner :
THE STMPTOMS.
The larv;e of the bees turn brown in open
cells; the cappings of some of the brood are
sunken, have occasionally small perforations,
and contain dead larv* in a putrid condition,
of a brown or coiTee color and a ropy consis-
tency. This latter characteristic is the most
striking symptom of the disease. To demon-
strate this ropiness, stick a toothpick into the
brown mass, twirl it around once or twice,
and draw it out ; if it adheres to the tooth-
pick, and pulls out in the form of a string,
you can be sure that it is a case of foul brood.
In the more advanced stages of the disease a
disagreeable glue-like odor is often percep-
tible.
THE cnRE.
The best time to free bees from foul brood
is during the honey-flow, as they are then in
]iroper condition to build combs quickly, and
the danger of robbing is at that time reduced
to a minimum.
Towards evening transfer the bees ; to do
this remove the affected colony from its old
. stand, and place it a little distance to the
rear. Take a new or clean hive filled with
frames containing either starters or full
sheets of foundation, set in exactly the same
position where the old one stood, and hang
sacks or lean boards in front of the adjoining
hives to prevent the bees of the affected col-
ony from entering them.
Open your foul-broody colony, using very
little smoke in doing so; shake the Ijees otT
the combs on paper previously placed in front
of the new or clean hive, and run them in.
The utmost care must be exercised not to
drop any honej' or comb on the ground.
As the latest experiments have shown that
Iwiled honey from diseased colonies is not
safe to feed back to the bees, we urgently
advise to burn up completely all combs of
diseased colonies. To do this, a deep hole
should be dug beforehand, a good fire started
in the same, and the combs and frames
burned in it. Afterwards the hole should be
completely filled with earth to cover up any
honey which may remain.
If .vou wish to save the hive, paint the in-
side of it all over with kerosene or gasolene
and drop a lighted piece of paper into it.
After the whole inside of the hive is slightly
charred, smother the fire by putting on the
cover. Frank RArcHFUSS.
Bees Deserting for Want of Pollen.
In the Australasian Bee-Keeper it is .isaid
that H. I.. Jones found his nuclei unmanage-
able through swarming out, and he dis-
covered a pollen famine was the cause. As
soon as he gave the bees a substitute for pol-
len the trouble ceased.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Illinois.— The spring meetinif of the eastern
division of the Northern Illianis Bee-Keepers'
Association will be held at the residence o( B.
Kennedy, 7 miles southeast ol Rockford, 111., on
Rural Route No. 5, and 3 miles northeast of New
Milford. 111., Tuesday, May 21, I'Wl. All inter-
ested in bees are cordially invited to attend.
B. Ke.nnedy, Sec
warned
A MAN EXPERIENCED
in an apiarv.to takecharge
of 30 colonies and increase
same 1o 15'. Apply with
o SHEWMAKES.
iiAlt AUr.I-.STA, (;a.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing
We want ^
To sell you BEE-SUPPLIES I
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mutn & Go.
,S.W. Cor. From A: Walnut Sis., Cincinnati, O.
Please mention. Bee Journal ■when "writing.
ALBINO QUEENS Hr^Zo^i^^r:^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-gath^ers vuu ever saw — try mv Albinos.
Untested Queens in April. SI, 00; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t d.D. GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when wrritine
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale — Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fork fax Into Fonndation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writiue
POULTRY BOOK FREE, 64 pages, illustrated
with a moa. trial subscriptiun lo our paper, inc
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis, Ind
Please mention Bee Journal ^wheD writing;.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mentiou the Bee Journal.
PAN-AMERICAN OPENING.
The Nickel Plate Road will sell ex-
cursion tickets from Chicago to Buffalo
at $13.00 for the round-trip on each
Tuesday in May (the 7th, 14th, 21st
and 28th,) with limit of 5 days, namely:
retttrning good on any train to and in-
cluding midnight train from Buffalo
on Saturday following Tuesday tickets
are sold. They will be good going on
all trains on date sold.
Daily train from Chicago at 10:30
a. ni., arrives Buffalo 2:05 following
morning ; daily train from Chicago at
2:30 p.m., arrives at Buffalo 7:35 next
morning ; daily train from Chicago at
10:30 p.m., arrives Buffalo 4:45 next
afternoon.
All trains carry through vestibuled
sleeping-cars. Individual Club Meals,
ranging in price from 35 cents to SI. 00,
and no meal in excess of the latter fig-
ure, are served in dining-cars.
For sleeping-car reservations and all
other informati'in, call at Chicago Citj-
Ticket Office, 111 Adams St., or write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago, 'phone Central
2057. Chicago Depot: Van Buren St.
and Pacific Ave, on the Elevated Loop.
No. 7— 20A2t
>1 sfc >J4 >1<^ >!t stt ili >lt Sit >te ite. Jit sltl*
|fiONE,y flNDBEESWflXl
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, May 7.— There is very little bein^
done in honey at present with practically do de-
mand for the extracted grades; several coiisig^n-
raents on sale here for sometime, without any
bids beiu^ made. A little choice white comb
sells in a retail way at lt>c, with all other grades
scarce and firmlv held at about former prices.
Extracted, "tosc for fancy white; ambers, OfoiTc;
dark, 5(a5!4c. Heeswax, 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Buffalo^ May 2.— Fancy 1 lb. comb, 15(a^l6c;
all other grades drapgine at 8((il2c, as to g-rade,
and not wanted. Extracted not wanted. Fancj-
beeswax, 2~fEf 28c; other proportionately less.
Battkrson & Co.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per cate, $3.40; No. 1, S3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bkos.
New York, May 3.— We report aquiet market
on all lines. While the old crop of comb honey
is well exhausted, still there is some arrivingr,
which has been carried by the producers, evi-
dently, for a hig-her price Values are mostly
nominal now, and it is only a first-class fancy ar-
ticle that will sell at quotation prices. We quote:
Fancy white, 15c; No. 1, 13c; amber, ll^l2c;
buckwheat, 9(aH0c. Extracted is decidedly dull,
and very little inquiry. Old crop of California
light amber and partly white, is now being- of-
fered as low as 4^c a pound f.o.b. coast, which,
of course, hurts the sale of other grades to a
larg-e extent. Beeswax is firm and sells on ar-
rival at from 2S(g+29c.
HiLDRETH & SeGBLKBN.
Cincinnati, Apr. 18.— The demand for comb
honey is nearly over. The stock of it also well
cleaned up. Fancy white brings lt> cents. Ex-
tracted is in fair demand; dark sells for 5l4c',
better grades bring- 6fe>7J^c; fancy white clover
from si^u^'c. C. H. W. Weber.
Kansas City, May 4.— Practically no ship-
ments arriving-, and very little selling-. We are
getting $3.50 to $3 (j5 per case of 24 sections No.
1 white; amber, $3,00 to $3.25. Beeswax scarce
at 25c. W, R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
, to C. C. Clemons & Co.
Albany, N. Y., May 3.— Honey market very
dull. Very little call for anything- but choice
comb honey, of which, there is a scarcity. Ex-
tracted quiet. H. R. Wright.
Boston, May 4.— Fancy white comb honev we
quote at l7c: A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, 15'<' Kjc. No'call
at all for dark honey this year. Water-white
extracted, srd>8J^c; Itg-ht am'ber, "J^faSc, Bees-
wax, 27c.
Our market on comb honey is firm with light
stocks and a fairly good demand for this time
of the year. Blake, Scott & Lbb.
San Francisco, May 1.— White comb 11@
12 cents; amber, StoHic; dark, 6to7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@oc; Ug'ht amber, 4@*i^c;
amber, 3J4@4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
The market inclines in favor of buyers, with
considerable honey offering, spot and to arrive,
and the inquiry not very active. There is some
of last year's honey still in stock, one jobbing-
firm being reported as havingabout 3 car-loads,
including comb and e.xtracted.
r^ J I RAKE BARf^AINS in Bee-
rOrCeCl N"PPlie^- All kinds; some
M ^f m ^^^^ I slightly shopworn but other,
wise up to date.
Sale.
For §al6
My Apiary
— consistidg- of be-
BINGHAM SMOKERS.
HUASS, t.i (.rilcr, l-incli. Jl.T.".: :)i.,-incl
:i.:i:.; :i-iiiili.4;i.J.'-.. TlN-4-lnili..l;|..-."; :i'
Mill. *l, III; :)-mcli.*l.(i'; 2!<j-incli, »u ctn.; :
iirli, li.'i ctfi.— per mull free.
BinKhum Smokers never lose Are— alwHv
lip. BlnKliain & Hetlierii
Please mention Bee Journal -when ^rltine.
320
AMERIG\N BEE JOURNAL
May 16, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everythinjf, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
to- W. M. Gerrish, East Noting-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee .fournal ■w>Leu -wTitins
LEARN TO SING
AT IIOM K by my thorough method
- ' ining:. With my complete
I guarantee to train and cul-
your voice or refund your
. The best musical knowledge
iged especially for Home Stody.
iliifhfst Endorsemeot. Beautiful
iptive botkltt Bent free. Addrfss
^Prof. G. M. Whaley. Kalamazoo, Mich
Please mention Bee Journai wnen writins*
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
SBs lOB 25ft soft
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (vellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Alsike Clover.' 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound S cents more than the S-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
IJ5 nain Street, Batavla, III.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when -writinsE.
I AEISE
DOOUITTLE...
-....eluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during- 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen .. 11.00
.! Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best - . 5.00
Circular free, giving parti
each class of Queens, conditio
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
PleP'se mention Bee Journal -wrhen -writing.
24111
Year
Dadant's Foundation, vm
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^'^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING. •
Why does it sell ^^
sowed? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
I Pan-flmerlcan timiM t
^ ...AT BUFFALO... V
THE J^. I. R.OOT OO. #-
-#
I
will have an Exhibit showing a
COMPLETE LINE OF BEE-KEEPERS' SDPPLIES,
Also some NEW GOODS that have not yet been advertised. The
exhibit will be conspicuously placed in the Gallery of the Agri-
cultural Building.
If you have never seen a
Ball-Beariug Cowau Houey-Extractor,
Here is your chance.
We expect that HUBER ROOT, the youngest member of the
Root Co., will be the man in charge of the exhibit. He will be
pleased to meet all our old friends, and make new ones wherever
possible.
Gleanings in Bee=Culture
Will contain a very interesting series of articles on Oueen-Rear-
ing, giving New Methods and Short Cuts. There will also be a
series on
BEES IIST LA.'W.
E. R. Root will tell of his trip through Texas, Colorado, Ore-
gon, and California. Better subscribe now.
Six months' trial subscription for only 25 cents.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., fledina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^^^-^JtaoiLl""'-
are headiiuarlers for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
•«f)"f-f)-^-f-f)-f)-f<f'-f)-f'f)-f).f).f).^^
^
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 23, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
322
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
May 23, 1900.
EEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Oflioe at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Gbobgb W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) -r,
E. E. Hastt, (Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is ?1.U0 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"deeOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OIJJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. 'Whitcomb,
W, Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
Thos. G. Newman
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
I^" It more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
tiood ideaforevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
^ive the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlig-hten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weekly Budget, j
Dr. Peiro has removed to 78 State Street,
Chicago, opposite Marshall Field's, where he
would be pleased to see friends of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal at any time when they are in
the city.
(t. M. Doolittle "gets off" the following
in one of his editorials in the Progressive Bee-
Keeper for May :
Packing Pollen. — An amateur bee-keeper
once told how this was done in these words :
'■ When a bee brings pollen into the hive, she
advances to the cell into which it is to be de-
posited, and kicks it oH; another bee. one of
the indoor hands, comes along and rams it
down with her head and packs it into the cell
as the dairymaid packs butter into a tirkin.
The paper publishing, said, "We prefer not to
have any dairymaid pack our butter that
way." Another paper seeing l»th of the
above, remarked, " If our butter must be
packed in that way, let it be done by a bald-
headed dairymaid." Still another paper,
after reading all the above, ventured, •• We
will add that in either case it would be • dand-
ruff ' on the butter."
Daft City Fathers. — The Daily Camera,
of Boulder, Colo., for May 4th, contained this
paragraph which is of interest to bee-keepers :
"Our neighbor, Longmont, is beginning to
feel <iuite metropolitan. She has passed an
ordinance to keep cows off the main street
and now tackles the bee-question. Hereafter
no person shall be allowed to keep more than
i colonies of bees in the corporate limits.
This ordinance has caused a humming and
Inizzing Ijeside which the noise of the bees
was as nothing. The matrons and farmers of
the town are up in arms, and reallj' it does
look as if the town council is putting on un-
wonted airs. Why banish the busy i^ee and
the luscious honey i" ^ ] [ .
It must be that Longmont rulers think
their bee-keepers are enjoying a bonanza,
and that they must do what they can to keep
them down, or drive them out. Instead of
trying to encourage an honest and honorable
industry there seem to be people who would
lirefer to destroy it entirely. But we can
hardly believe that a majority of the residents
of Longmont will permit such an imposition
upon their bee-keepers as the one suggested
in the foregoing quotation.
Mr. Mackenzie, the Propolis Man. —
Those who attended the National Convention
at Chicago last August will recall the dis-
cussion of the question as to the practical use
of propolis, or whether it has any commer-
cial value. A man by the name of John Mac-
Kenzie, of Troy. N. Y.,rwas present with sam-
ples of leather and furniture polish, in which
propolis was a prominent^ingredient. We be-
lieve he offered to pay 50 cents per pound for
propolis, saying that he expected to be able
to use it in large quantities.
It seems that Mr. A. G. Wilson, of Vernon
Co., Wis., sold Mr. MacKenzie a quantity of
propolis, but has been unable to secure pay-
ment for same. He wrote us during the win-
ter about it, asking us to do what we could to
help him get what Mr. MacKenzie owed him
for the propolis. We wrote the Troy man,
but'received no reply. A few weeks ago Mr.
Wilson again wrote us, when we again wrote
MacKenzie, saying that if we did not hear
from him within two weeks we would men-
tion the matter in the American Bee Journal.
We are now simply keeping our promise to
him.
Mr. Wilson, vniting us May 8th, gives the
following facts :
Friend York : —
On or about Nov. 1, 1900. I sold and shipped
to John MacKenzie, of Troy, N.T., IJ5 pounds
of propolis at 25 cents per pound. After
waiting a reasonable time for settlement. I
wrote and reminded him of the shipment and
the amount due me, to which he made no re-
ply. I then drew on him through the bank,
and you will see the results (dishonored
drafts, etc., are enclosed). I have not heard
from him in anyway since I shipped the prop-
olis to him. The propolis was sold through a
sample sent to him, he agreeing to pay for it
as soon as it arrived in TYoy. These are the
facts in the case. Yours truly,
A, G. Wilson.
We do not know whether there are any
other bee-keepers who have been so unfortu-
nate as to have shipped any propolis to Mac-
Kenzie. We trust not. We were hoping that
Mr. MacKenzie was all right, and that he
really had found a good use for propolis, as
we were aware that certain bee-keepers would
be able to supply it in fair quantities.
If our memory serves us rightly, Mr. Frank
Benton also met Mr. MacKenzie, and told him
he had about 40 pounds of propolis saved up,
which he would ship to him. We think Mr.
MacKenzie asked him to ship it C. O. D. We
have since wondered whether Mr. Benton sent
his stock of propolis to him ; and if so,
whether he received anything in return for it.
Mr. J. C. Armstrong, of Marshall Co.,
Iowa, when renewing his subscription re-
cently, had this to say aljout some so-called
bee-keepers :
"I have delayed renewing sometime, think-
ing to get a coujjle of subscribers to whom I
sold bees, but they are not ready. They want
to wait until they get their money's worth
oiit of the bees. Last spring I sold a colony
to a man and asked him to take the American
Bee Journal and a book on bee-management,
but he said, ' No, I will wait till I see what
luck I have.' I told him if he had good luck
he didn't need a book, but the way to have
luck was to read up. I saw him occasionally
through the summer and he was having good
luck. He had gotten two swarms! I have
not heard from him this spring, but I suppose
he will sing a different song now — no luck.
That is the way with them. They will com-
mence at the wrong end of the business. If
a farmer were to go to work on his farm with
no more knowledge of the business than they
have of bee-management, and trust to luck,
we would think him foolish. Yet they are
wise !"
A " Measlet " Editor is Mr. fl. E. Hill, of
the American Bee-Keeper, if we may take the
following paragraph in his May numlier to
refer to himself instead of to a youthful mem-
ber of his family :
" It is our rarejprivilege this month to have
a case of measles against which to charge any
editorial short-comings."
That reminds us of the exceedingly " meas-
ley" time we had when the measles struck
us. We were 21 years of age, and as is well
known when this disease takes hold of an
adult, he is liable to have a hard time of it.
We were attending college at the time, so
away from home and mother. We will never
forget those days, and how when mother ar-
rived the sick bo.v began to mend almost at
once. Ah. can any one ever forget a mother's
love and tender care i God bless all the dear,
self-sacrificing mothers — yes, and all the boys
who are away from home anci mother.
^j^ERICAj^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 23, 1901,
No. 21,
City Ordinances Against Bee-Keep-
ing. — We have received newspaper clippings
from the Rochester, N. Y., daily papers, an-
nouncing that an ordinance relating to the
keeping of bees within the city limits was
passed there by the common council April
Slh. to go into effect May 2d. It provides
that no bees can be kept within the city
limits without the written permission of lot-
owners within 100 feet of the hives; such
written permission to be filed in the ofHce of
the city clerk.
The passage of the ordinance grew out of
complaints made by several residents of the
loth Ward to its alderman, against W. R.
Taunton, a bee-keeper. We understand that
Mr. Taunton is prepared to test the legality
of the ordinance, and is backed by the
National Bee-Keepers' Association, and also
the New York State Association. Personally,
we are in favor of having the matter pushed
to the fullest test, as we are very confident
that no such ordinance is legal anywhere.
Of course, there may be certain instances
where the keeping of many colonies of bees is
not advisable on account of the locality being
closely built up with occupied houses, and
yet, even in such a place, if the bees were
kept on the roof there would likely be no
danger whatever. This is the case in several
places in Chicago, and so far as we can learn
there has been no complaint from the neigh-
bors. Whenever there is trouble it usually
grows out of some spite or jealousy on the
part of those living near the bee-keeper, and
very likely from troubles arising from other
sources than the bees.
We understand that in several other cities
in this country there are municipal ordinances
prohibiting the keeping of bees within the
city limits. We do not know whether their
legality has yet been tested, or whether the
bee-keeper has simply moved outside. We
certainly would not encourage the keeping of
bees in thickly settled portions of any city,
even though no harm would come from it to
any one. But there are many iiortions of
every city that are so sparsely settled that there
is no reason at all why bees could not be kept,
if so desired. Bees in such places are not
only a source of pleasure, but often yield
profit to their owners. It would hardly be
advisable to make a business of bee-keeping
in some cities, but in a large one like Chicago,
where there are hundreds of acres of vacant
property within the limits of the city, it
appears to work all right. In some portions
of Chicago there are almost whole farms that
will not be divided into city lots and built
upon for many years to come. There is no
reason why hundreds of colonies of bees
should not be kept in such places, especially
when there is such an abundance of bloom
that is going to waste for the want of bees to
gather the nectar.
In view of the many demands upon the
National Bee-Keepers' Association for funds
to be used in the defense of cases which are
constantly coming up for settlement, it be-
hooves every bee-keeper to send in his dollar
and become a member. No one knows when
he may have trouble of his own, in the settle-
ment of which he will be glad to call upon
the Association. We wish that all readers of
the American Bee .Journal were members of
the National Bee-Keepers' Association. Even
if any of them should never need its aid. they
have the satisfaction of contributing to what
has often proved a " Gibraltar of Defense "
in the pursuit of bee-keeping. It should never
lack for funds to carry on its righteous wars.
Breeding for Good Stock. — The Lux-
emburg Bztg. gives some of the principles
that are held by Swiss bee-keepers :
Parents transmit their good qualities with
more or less certainty to their posterity. The
longer a trait of character is continued from
generation to generation, the more certainly
it is transHiitted. The more alike the parents
are in their traits without being nearly re-
lated, the more surely are those traits trans-
mitted. Every country has its own condi-
tions, which, in the course of time, affect the
character of its animals, so that the natives
are the best for that country.
As to the last item, it might be said there
is no native race of Ijees in this country, and
the fact that the Ijlack bee was first imported
into this country by no means settles the
(|uestion of its superiority, for this country.
Slow Cooling of Wax. — The American
Bee-Keeper quotes the Progressive Bee-Keeper
as saying " the color will not settle." Prol)-
ably both will admit that the dirt settles, and
when the dirt settles the color of the dirt settles
with the dirt, and the color of the dirt, as
well as the dirt itself, is part and parcel of a
cake of wax in which the dirt has not settled.
Unpainted Hives are discussed by G.
M. Doolittle in the -\merican Bee-Kee])er. He
figures as to the ni;ilter of economy. He has
hives and covers '-'li years old that are still
good. If he had kept them painted it would
have cost him i\.\'> for the 20 years for each
hive, while 48 cents will get that part of the
hive new. It is only single-walled hives that
he believes should be left unpainted, the ad-
vantage being that in unpainted hives the
dampness has a chance to dry out. To the
objection of Arthur C. Miller that the inside
coating of bee-glue prevents evaporation, he
replies that " with the freezing of winter and
the moisture coming in contact with it, the
bright, shiny surface of this varnish becomes
dull and full of very fine cracks and holes so
that moisture and air pass through it."
Honey as a Remedy. — We desire to
call particular attention to the article by Dr.
Jas. McLean, on another page of this issue.
It will repay a careful re-reading and heeding.
Bee-keepers and their families ought to be
the healthiest people on earth. Undoubtedly
they would be very much healthier than they
are if they reallj* knew how best to utilize one-
of their most common home productions — -
honey. The reading of a few articles like-
Dr. McLean's would be a great help to all. It
should have a wide reading.
Artificial Ripening of Extracted
Honey. — W. S. Hart, in the American Bee-
Keeper, says he gets more honey and a more
uniformly high-grade article by extracting it
when one-third capped, and ripening it arti-
ficially. He built a room adjoining his honey-
house, covered it with glass, and put in an
evaporator of tin, in which tlie honey runs
slowly from side to side in a thin stream four
inches wide a distance of about 110 feet, un-
der the full heat of the Florida summer sun.
By drawing off from the bottom of the tank
he gets only the heaviest, while the thin
honey at the top of the tank is constantly
evaporating.
Pictures of Apiaries Wanted. — All
have doubtless noticed that during the past
year or two, since using a better qualit*
of paper, we have been endeavoring 't&
present to our readers half-tone pictures of
apiaries in different parts of the country. Of
course, we are after the nicest and best ones,
and it may be that there are quite a large
number that have not yet been shown, that
are far superior to any that have appeared on
these pages. At any rate, we would like to
receive good, clear photographs of modern,,
up-to-date bee-yards for the use mentioned.
Should any pictures be received that for any
reason wc could not use, we will return tbem,.
if re<iueslcd u> do so.
It may be those who have not already had'
photographs taken of their apiaries will be
led to do so the cooling summer, by reason of.
the above suggestion.
324
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 23, 1901.
I Contributed Articles. |
Medicinal and Nourisliins Properties of Honey.
BY DR. JAS. M'LEAN.
A PERUSAL of Prof. Cook's able review of Thomas
W. Cowan's book, The Honey-Bee, which appeared in
the Bee Journal for Dec. 20, 1900, sugfgested the follow-
ing' points on the medicinal properties of honey, etc :
The physiological effects of honey are singular, though
mild and passive in their character. Honey occupies a
broad line between alimentation and therapeutics, being
both food and medicine ; therefore it belongs to that class
of medicinal remedies that cure indirectly — that is, by put-
ting the vital forces in such a condition as to enable them
to overcome diseased action. Mineral water, cod-liver oil,
malt, etc., all belong to this class of remedies.
Before speaking of the curative properties of honey
we will note its physical properties.
In the first place, where does honey come from ? Some
assert that it is a secretion of the bees, others that it is a
natural product in plants. If it is a natural vegetable
product the laboratory would have furnished us long ago
with genuine honey. It must be remembered that the
sugar and glucose that bees resort to in flowers and fruits,
is never honey until it has passed through the stomach of
the bees ; and please do not call this organ a " bladder," as
some do, for it is virtually a stomach and performs the
functions of that organ. The bee gathers into it a saccha-
rine material. After its reception a gastric element is mixed
with it for two purposes — one to give it the character of
honey, and the other to make it assimilative for the forma-
tion of an oil, that is perfect wax.
It is generally supposed that after a bee returns to its
hive with its treasure it hurriedly dumps it into a cell and
goes out for another, but this is not the case. When the
bee returns, because of fatigue and under the stupefying
influence of digestion, it has to abide for a time, both to
recuperate and to get rid of its burden of honey and wax.
We have reason to believe that even after the honey is
deposited in the cells it has yet to receive the finishing
touch of perfection, which in all probability is given by
the 3'ounger bees of the colony. They live on the honey
imported, and this rich, concentrated food demands an
excess of gastric secretion ; when coming to a certain
point it creates a regurgitation something akin to vomiting.
This the young bee economically puts back into the cells,
thus completing the process of honey-making.
Another point as to the character of the bee's stomach.
As soon as it is unloaded an insatiable sense of hunger and
restlessness ensues, which at once forces the old bee to
work abroad and the young one at home. We all know how
to respect the buzz of the hungry bee, and admire the sweet
disposition of the one that has just finished a sumptuous
repast. Ah, how rare are family jars when the pantry is
ever full 1 It is Nature's law, all the same.
We go more especially into these details to point out
the medical properties of honey. It has two physical ele-
ments that make it particularly a medicine, namely :
First, an aromatic irritant imparted to it by the stomach of
the bee. Second, its ready transformation into fat without
those complicated physiological operations necessary to
transfer other saccharine elements into this material.
These make it at once both a local and a constitutional
remedy. Locally it is an irritant, sedative, emollient, deter-
gent, antiseptic, resolvent, rubefacient, and a parasiticide.
Constitutionally it is nutrient, demulcent, laxative, deob-
struent, alterative, restorative, tonic, expectorant, febri-
fuge, and antaphrodisiac, as well as containing poisonous
properties manifested under peculiar circumstances.
When we say that honey is both an irritant and a seda-
tive we mean that its first effects may irritate, and be fol-
lowed with a sedative effect. All liniments work benefi-
cially on this principle ; the same with the most of eye-
waters, etc. The solution of honey as an eye-water proves
particularly beneficial on account of its antiseptic, absor-
bent, or resolvent properties. It cures inflammation of the
eyes in the way a solution of boracic acid does, that is,
mainly by reason of its antiseptic and sedative properties.
The irritant properties of honey are, in a great meas-
ure, destroyed by dilution. Therefore, as a topical irritant
where we wish to favor resolution by counteraction it is
used in a pure state, or in conjunction with more active
irritants. It is its irritant or rubefacient effect, joined with
its emollient nature, that precipitates local inflammation
into suppuration, and is, therefore, a suitable remedy for
abscesses, boils, whitlows, carbuncles, etc. Therefore, woe
to one who applies a honey plaster over an inflamed eye in
place of the solution. Asa rubefacient and absorbent it
makes an excellent local application in glandular swelling,
and chronic tumefaction, particularly when joined with
iodine, iodoform, or mercury.
On account of the temperature of the body it is diffi-
cult to keep pure, undiluted honey on the surface. This
can be remedied to a certain extent, by saturating layers of
canton flannel, and applying them, changing frequently.
I speak of it as a parasiticide not only in connection
with the theory of the pathogenesis of diseases as advo-
cated by Pasteur. Cohn, Koch, Klebs, and others, who have
investigated the bacteria, but even those who created sev-
eral skin diseases, well known to almost every one. Take
honey for the destruction of the bacteria, because of its
antiseptic, tonic and laxative effects. Its daily use would
disarm every dire and malignant disease of its destructive
force. Cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, scarlatina, and
diphtheria, may run their course as before, but compara-
tively in such a mild form as to afford but little, if any,
anxiety. I speak of honey only as a preventive of
malignancy in these diseases, and not as a curative agent.
The constitutional effects of honey can not be fully
understood and appreciated, except it be studied from its
medical properties, as represented above. All scientific
investigation of remedies are made in like manner. It is
the text to a long and complicated sermon. Every physi-
cian will read in it such a multiplicity of applications as
would astonish the uninitiated.
As a nutrient I will not speak of it as a food, but in
connection with its properties which' serve to arrest certain
diseases, particularly consumption. The important fea-
tures of the medical properties of honey lie in the nutrient,
expectorant, deobstruent, and restorative effects in the
management of consumption, and its allied diseases.
Now, let us go back to a fact that exists in the process
of making honey. No honey could be had if it were not
for its ready metamorphosis into oil, or, in other words, in
the making of wax, as stated. The great object in the
treatment of consumption is to arrest waste. Therefore
we resort to the use of oils, or remedies that will readily
make fat in the system. But the great difliculty in the way
is to get the system to accept these remedies and effect
their assimilation. Under Liebig's authority we give sugar
freely to make fat, but the system often refuses it. This
alone gives us a great advantage in giving honey to stay
the waste caused by disease, //la/ we have in no other remedy.
In beingassimilated honey is disposed of in three ways.
What is not deposited in the cellular tissue as fat is con-
sumed by the liver, and its volatile principle is eliminated
by the lungs. This elimination is a matter of the greatest
importance as a remedy in all pulmonary disorders. But
the most remarkable feature of honey as a sedative is in
administration by atomization and inhalation. The spray
arising in extracting has been proven to exert a very bene-
ficial effect upon cough and dyspnoea, thus revealing its
curative tendency.
The most effective and enjoyable way to benefit from
the general use of pure honey is to have in every home a
ready supply, diluted with, say one pound to a quart of
water, placed in a suitable glass or porcelain vessel — metal
must not be used — from which about one tablespoonful put
into a cupful of warm or cold water and taken at each
meal, would benefit one a thousandfold more than the stu-
pidly conventional decoctions with which we daily clog and
seriously disarrange our physical and mental machinery.
Let any one who suffers from kidney and bladder trouble
try this simple and pleasant substitute for one week, and
then faithfully report the wonderful results. Blind, indeed,
must mankind be to reject one of Nature's very best dis-
ease-preventing remedies, in order to temporarily relieve
their perverted appetites !
O, that we would learn seriously to feel and honestly to
say, with the Psalmist of old : " How manifold are Thy
works Lord, God, Almighty, in wisdom Thou hast made
them all " — including the divinely inspired honey-manufac-
turing bee.
Let me conclude by suggesting a trial of one table-
spoonful of pure honey, dissolved in about half a glass of
cold water, and one teaspoonful of tincture of myrrh, for
the cure of indigestion. San Francisco Co., Calif.
May 23, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
325
Foul Brood, Fatal Bee-Stings, Etc.
BY I'KOl-. A. y. COOK.
MR. FLORY, of Stanislaus Co., Calif., sends me a sam-
ple of foul brood which is not at all typical. He says
black or pickled brood is common, but this seemed
more formidable. This has not just the same odor as the
usual foul brood, aiid as it is pulled out of the cell, it does
not fly back with quite the spring- of the ordinary foul
brood. Yet it appears so much like the genuine that I
believe it is the same with these differences. It is foul
brood but not the typical.
We now have a g-ood foul-brood inspector in this
county. He is proceeding in just the right way to eradi-
cate this evil, which is not very uncommon in our apiaries,
though I doubt if it is so fatal as in the East. Some urge
him to burn all. I think he is wiser in treating the disease.
In case only one or two hives show the malady, he burns
all. If only diseased cells are found in one or two combs,
and a few at that, he burns these combs, watches the colo-
nies closely and hopes for no more trouble. In case many
colonies are affected he uses the McEvoy method — shakes
onto starters, and in four days onto full sheets of founda-
tion. He is very cautious that none of the honey in the
old hive, or that stored in the starters, is eaten by bees.
He further does a good work by carefully teaching all inter-
ested the nature of the disease, the modes of distribution,
the necessary caution in working with the bees, that none
of the honey shall be taken by any bees.
It is wisest, of course, to work only when the bees are
at work, and some are so careful as to work only at the
evening time. It is safest to work under a tent. Wise
caution alone will prevent scattering the honey and the
disease. Let all remember that they can not be too careful.
FATAL RESULTS FROM BEE-STINGS.
A few days ago, two horses were stung to death by
bees in Yolo county, near Sacramento, Calif. The driver
was also seriously stung, but not fatally. He was driving
a four-horse team, and ran onto a hive of bees. The results
were as given above. This suggests that in such cases the
horses may be taken to a barn, if possible, as the bees will
not generally follow into an enclosure. Covering the
horses with blankets wet in cold water will stop the sting-
ing and subdue the fever, and will often prove the readiest
means to prevent fatal results.
In case a person is severely stung, washing in strong
soda-water and covering with cloths kept wet in cold
water will do most to allay fever and afford relief.
FAMILY sCROPHULARIACE.r:.
This is a very interesting family of plants. The tig-
wort — a very valuable honey-plant — is one of the incon-
spicuous examples of these numerous flowers. Like the
mints, or flowers of the Labiate family, these flowers are
bilabiate. That is, the flower has two lips. One of these
has two and the other three lobes.
We have here three very common species of the genus
Mimulus. They are like the snap-dragons of the East.
Thej- are known here as the "monkey flowers." Both the
above names are suggested by the peculiar form of the
flowers. The curious thing about these flowers, as is true
of all such irregular flowers, is the form in its relation to
pollination. The flowers are called ringent, as they have
an open throat. The stamens are in two pairs, one pair
being longer than the other. These are close up to the
upper lip of the flower, as is also the style and stigma.
The stamens do not shed their pollen at the same time that
the stigma of the same flower is ripe for the pollen. Thus
the flower can not be pollinated by its own pollen.
Once I saw all the bees going into the hives, curiously
striped along the backs with white. They looked like
Hereford cattle. I sought the cause and found the stripe
was made by white pollen-grains. I sought its source and
found it in the yellow-spotted snap-dragons. This was in
Michigan. I find our monkey flowers here also have the
white pollen, and are quite attractive to sweet-loving
insects.
In all of these species of Mimulus the lower lip of the
flower, where the bee alights, and which must sustain the
insect as it pushes in to reach the nectar, is strengthened
by two prominent ridges, which, from both their form and
position, must tend marvelously to give strength to the
thin petals, or lower part of the flower-tube. If Nature
does abhor close pollination, as some one has said, then
surely these interesting plants are well fashioned to pre-
vent it. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
Prevention of Increase— Other Matters.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
X a letter from a correspondent I flud the following- : " What is the
best way to keep down increase .' The colonies which I now have fur-
nish all the honey my home trade demands, so that I do not want to
increase my number of colonies further than I now have. Please
hrouj^h the columns of the American Bee Journal."
The surest way is to give plenty of corab-roora, and
then extract closely till the swarming season is over. Prob-
ably not one colony in SO will offer to cast a swarm treated
in this way. In fact, very few colonies will off'er to swarm
where tiered up for extracted honey, and the extracting
not done till the end of the season, providing that eiupty
comb-room is given as fast as needed. But when working
for comb honey the case is different, and the bees are
almost sure to swarm, no matter how much section-room is
given, or whether these sections are filled with foundation
or not.
I know of some apiarists who keep their apiaries at the
original number of colonies, while working for comb
honey, by uniting the colonies about three or four weeks
before the honey harvest, making one colony out of two, they
preparing for this in advance by keeping each colony shut
on only half the combs contained in the hives they use,
making the stronger help the weaker till all have the half
of their hives just solid with brood, and then let them
divide by natural swarming to the original number, keep-
ing down all after-swarming. Or you can let them swarm
without uniting before the honey harvest, and, after the
honey season is over, unite back to the original number.
This accomplishes the same object as the former, only the
colonies are not as strong in numbers for storing, and it
gives more mouths to feed after the honey harvest is over,
with, as a rule, less results in section honey.
Swarming is the bane in comb-honey production, and
Dr. C. C. Miller and myself are waiting, and living in
hopes, that some bright bee-keeper will yet invent some-
thing, or evolve some plan, which will entirely do away
with the swarming desire in bees, so that they will work
all the " livelong day," and all the days of the season,
with the vim manifested by a new swarm, with no such a
thought as swarming ever entering their heads. What fun
there would be, then, in having a number of out-apiaries,
and all piling up the comb honey — yes, and home apiaries,
also.
DRONES FROM VIRGIN QUEENS.
Another correspondent writes thus: "Please tell us through the
columns of the American Bee Journal whether virgin queens ever lay-
any but drone-eggs ? And are the drones from these queens capable of
fertilizing other queens?"
To the first question I think it would be perfectly safe
to answer no, although one or two cases have been reported
looking a little as if a virgin queen might have produced a
few eggs which matured into workers; but I think this can
not be other than a mistake.
The second question is one which has not been settled
satisfactorily to all minds. Some claim that such drones
are just as good as any, arguing from a scientific stand-
point that it must necessarily be that, as the drone is the
" son of his mother," he could not be otherwise than as
perfect from a virgin queen as from the same queen after
becoming fertile. On the other hand, some of our most
practical bee-keepers claim that such drones are not capable
of fertilizing queens, and give instances where plenty of
such drones were flying but no queens would get to laj'ing
till drones from mated queens began to fly, when they
would become fertile and make good mothers.
I have had very little personal experience going to
prove the correctness of either, but have always supposed
drones from a virgin queen, when reared in drone-comb,
were as good as any. Such drones, when reared in worker-
comb, may be virile, and, even were they not so, I would
not expect any queen to prove first-class which had mated
with a drone reared in a worker-cell.
Who can tell us more along this line? A practical
article by some one having experience in these matters
would be read with interest by thousands of apiarists.
"OUTGO MUST ALWAYS BE LESS THAN INCOME."
This is what Prof. Cook tells us is necessary if happiness
is to result. (See page 24S.) And I agree with him exactly
as applied to successful business, or to " successful " health.
But when he intimates that the " balance of trade " between
this and other countries is " very cheering," because our
exports exceed our imports, I can not harmonize his logic ;
for this, to our nation, is like Macawber's "Annual income.
326
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 23, 1901.
20 pounds ; annual expenditure 20 pounds-six," which can
only result in " misery " to the United States. And I can
not, for the life of me, see why Prof. Cook and others can
see aught but misery to a nation in that which would be
misery to an individual.
The papers tell us that during the last four years this
country has sent out 32,150,000,000 more wealth than it has
brought in — in other words, it has got rid of that much
wealth for which it has received no equivalent. The
monopolists (and if I read Prof. Cook aright, he also), calls
that trade " in our favor," but just how I have trade in my
favor when I give another more than I receive back, is not
clear to my muddled brain. Will Prof. Cook explain the
matter to us? Don't any one say this has nothing to do
with hee-kccpitiK^ for it has very much to do with it, and
with the happiness of the bee-keeper and family.
Public documents, covering the subject, show that
there has been over 84,000,000,000 more gold and silver and
merchandise sent out of this country in the last forty years
than came back. What did this country get for it ? They
were not paid in gold, for more gold went out than came
back. They were not paid in silver, for more silver went
out than came back. And Prof. Cook tells us, "This is all
very cheering." Well, it may be to him, but it is very
depressing to me ; for in it I can see only the " sickness "
and eventual ruin to the bee-keepers of the United States.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Experiences YVith Swarming, Hive-Maliing, Etc.
BV J. B. AI^EXANDEK.
I HAVE been keeping bees for three years. My text
book is " A B C of Bee-Culture." I take two bee-papers,
the American Bee Journal being one of them. I like
them verj' much, because I think they are published by good
men — men that try to do the right thing.
Last spring I had a colony of bees to swarm ; I caught
and caged the queen, and let the bees return, as I did not
want the increase. In 15 or 20 minutes I lookt through the
brood-chamber to cut out the queen-cells, and the first cell I
found the queen had just hatched — I saw her on the frame
that contained the vacant queen-cells. I cut all the queen-
cells out that had not hatched, being very careful not to
leave one. I let the newly hatched queen stay in the hive.
I noticed there were eggs in the combs at the time. In six
days from the prime swarm they swarmed out again, clus-
tering for half an hour, then returned to the hive. I looked
the frames all over again, shaking the bees all oif of the
combs to see if I had left another queen-cell. I found noth-
ing but the cell that had first hatched, and one unsealed
queen-cell with a larva in it. I cut this out and they did
not try to swarm any more.
My next experience with the peculiarities of bees was
in dequeening a colony of five-banded bees (these being the
only five-banded bees in this portion of country). I noticed
in the course of half an hour a great quantity of dead bees
in front of the hive. I watched them for quite a while to see
if robbing was the trouble ; there was no robbing at all,
for the bees all had the same number of bands, so I was
sure they were having war among themselves. I opened
the hive, and to my great astonishment it appeared to me
that every bee in the hive was in a state of war with one of
its mates. I swept the dead bees from the bottom-board,
which I am satisfied would have filled a quart measure.
I closed the hive quickly, and smoked them with tobacco-
smoke at the entrance. In five minutes they were perfectly
peaceable.
Now some one will say that it was caused by robbing,
but everything went to prove that there was no robbing
going on.
I make my hives 16 inches long inside measure, and
125s wide inside. I cut the frame-rabbets -'4 of an inch
deep and "4 inch wide, and cut a piece of tin 12 = sx2 inches,
and double it so it is 1 inch wide. I then file nine notches
in the round edge (caused by doubling) of this piece of tin.
Commencing 13-16 of an inch from one end, I file the
notches I's inches apart. I then nail the tin in- the hive so
that the edge that is notched will come within ' , inch of the
top edge of the hive. I prefer the top-bars and end-bars
just 1 inch wide instead of I's inches. Instead of letting
the top-bars extend over to hang on the rabbets, I drive a
4-penn)' nail in the center of each end of the top-bars ; as
my top-bars are only '2 inch deep, driving the nail in the
center of the end of the top bar makes just a '4 inch space
over the frames. The notch in the tin should be 1-16 inch
deep, letting the nails rest in the spacing notches, thus
giving correct spacing. I let the nail extend '4 inch to
hang the frame, and to hold to while manipulating the
frames. I do not suppose this style of hive and frame
would suit every one, but if any reader has much propolis to
contend with I would be glad if he would try my style of
hanging frames.
I send a photograph of my family, and a part of my
apiary, taken in February, 1900. Pulaski Co., Ark.
" Lon§-Ton§ued Bees-Fad or Fallacy, Which ?"
BY DR. C. C. .MILI,EK.
THERE is danger that too much may be expected from
length of tongues in bees, and it is well that attention
be called to this. Mr. Doolittle, on page 293, is right
in saj'ing, " There are times when it is necessary that 'a
halt should be called ' by some one," but when he adds,
" and as no one has seen fit to do this, I have felt it my
duty to do so," he is hardly going by the book. In Glean-
ings in Bee-Culture for April 1st, page 296, Editor Root
says :
'■ It is onlj' proper to sound a note of warning- that the general
bee-keeping public must not be disappointed if they get some
untested queens that do not come up to their expectations Again,
we are not positively sure that the amount of honey a colony will
gather is in direct proportion to the length of the tongues of its
bees."
And in the following number this Stray Straw
appeared :
'■ You are wise, Mr. Eilitor, to sound a note o( warning against
losing our heads and dependinf; entirely upon long tongues. A tall
man can reach more apples on a tree than a short one; but two men
of equal heiii-ht may not lie ei|imlly industrious at gathering apples.
— [Yes, and from present indications it maj' be necessary to continue
the note of warning. While I believe in long tongues, and expect
great results, yet it is evident that a good many are bound to be dis-
appointed. The fact can not be too strongly emphasized, that daugh-
ters from the very best of mothers may prove to be very inferior ;
and I am afraid that .50 percent of them may be only medium, or no
better than other queens in the yard. — Ed.]"
So there were at least two men previously engaged in
calling a halt.
Mr. Doolittle is vehement against claiming superiority
for long tongues without in the same breath constantly
saying that there can be no superiority apart from red
clover. It would hardly seem necessary cotistantly to men-
tion that, but over against all the quotations from Glean-
ings which he gives to show that it is held " that long-
tongued bees are just the thing he should have if he would
succeed, no matter about red clover, or in what portion of
the country he resides ;" which he seems to think warrant
him in accusing Gleanings of misleading or false state-
ments. Over against all this stands out clear and emphatic
the utterance of Mr. Root, quoted by Mr. Doolittle, that no
one claims that long-tongues have any value except for the
sake of the red clover crop. If claims for long tongues
have been made \>y men in the South who have no red
clover, that conflict with the utterance of Mr. Root, a man
who has sat in the editorial chair as long as Mr. Doolittle
ought to understand that it is not an easy thing to edit out
all discrepancies. But suppose a man who never saw a red
clover blossom should find that long tongues and good
working qualities go together, why should he not be allowed
to say so without having the accusation of falsity brought
against the journal publishing his statement ?
I do not believe that Gleanings has knowingly published
anything but what it believed the truth in the matter, and
the innuendos of Mr. Doolittle are not in keeping with his
usual charitable spirit. Surely Gleanings can hardly be
accused of misleading in the face of the distinct utterance
by its editor that the red clover crop was the only thing to
be gained by longer tongues.
A few words as to the real merits of long tongues. I
believe, and have said, that the right thing to do is for
every bee-keeper in the land to engage in a united effort to
continue only the progeny of such colonies as show a good
record in harvest, trusting to records rather than to meas-
urements, yet I do not believe the measurements are with-
out value. It seems a pretty clear case that with long
enough tongues there ought to be no difficulty about getting
the red clover. If I could get all the red clover honey now
going to waste within the reach of my bees, it seems to me
I should hardly consider it either a fad or a fallacy. The
fact that the midge destroy's Mr. Doolittle's chances does
not make red clover honey any less desirable to me. We
May 23, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
327
are not all " midged." Thousands upou thousands of bee-
keepers are located where red clover is all right except the
depth of the flower-tubes.
Without knowing- anything definitely about it, I am of
the opinion that $100 would be a low estimate of the gain
it would be to me annually if I could have all the red clover
honey within easy reach of my bees. At any rate, I would
be willing to give f2S or even SlOO, for a queen accompanied
by a guarantee that I should have all of said red clover
honey ; and I do not believe that E. R. Root is such a
scoundrel that he would stretch the tongues in measuring
so as to palm off on me a SIO queen for a S2S one.
Although Mr. Doolittle may have no red clover, he
might be willing I should have some benefit, and thousands
of others. McHenrv Co., 111.
Small Neglects Affecting Apiarian Profits.
Read at the hist Convetitiou of tin' Ontario Bee-Keepers^ Associatio7i,
BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON.
" For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe the horse was lost;
For want of a horse the rider was lost;
Being overtaken by the enemy and slain ;
And all for want of a horseshoe nail."
HOW well this old ditty illustrates the losses that occur
in the apiary from little neglects. For want of a
pound of feed in the spring the colony may be lost ;
and for want of the colony the harvest is lost, as there are
no bees to gather it. For want of care in disposing of the
cage and accompanying bees when a queen is bought, foul
brood may be introduced into the apiary, and the end
thereof no one knows.
Most emphatically is bee-keeping a business of details.
Of course, there are certain broad principles that must be
observed before success can even be hoped for. The apiary
must be located where there are honey-producing plants,
and there must be bees in sufficient quantity to gather the
nectar. The bee-keeper must understand his locality, know
when to expect the harvest, and have everything in readi-
ness for it. If in a Northern climate, the bees must be pro-
tected in the winter, either by some kind of packing or by
putting them into the cellar. If comb honey is to be pro-
duced, some system must be adopted that will keep the
working force together instead of having it divided up into
two or three colonies. But after a man has mastered all of
the basic principles of bee-keeping — yes, after he has
become conversant with the details — he may lose a large
share of his profits simply from out-and-out neglect.
The bees are in the cellar. He does not go near them.
He does not know what the temperature is. It may be too
low ; and, if so, it might be possible to add to the protec-
tion afforded by the walls. Boards might be set up around
the walls, held in place by strips of wood tacked to the sides
of the house, and the space filled in with sawdust. This
little care alone might, in some instances, secure the safe
wintering of bees that would otherwise perish or come
through the winter in poor condition. If the bees are in
the cellar under the home of the bee-keeper he might
employ artificial heat at those times when it is needed. A
large oil-stove having a hood over it, connected by means of
a pipe with the stovepipe in the room above, will answer
every purpose. A cellar may become infested with rats or
mice that will gnaw combs, and do much damage if not
gotten rid of. Equal parts of flour, sugar and arsenic
placed in dishes in the cellar, will make quick work with
the rodents. Mice will play sad havoc with colonies left
out of doors if the entrances are neglected. The bee-
keeper should know how his bees are wintering. He should
not neglect them. A perfect wintering of the apiary lays
the foundation for a successful season.
After the bees are placed upon the summer-stands don't
neglect them. As soon as the conditions are favorable,
look them over. Here and there will be a queenless colony.
Here and there will be a weak one. United, such colonies
may prove as good as there are in the apiary. Neglected,
they will be of little value- the queenless ones will cer-
tainly perish, perhaps become a prey to robbers, thus stir-
ring up bad blood in the apiary at the time of the year
when all should be peace and happiness. Some colonic-
will be found with a great abundance of stores, others on
the verge of starvation. Neglect here means the loss of
all colonies that are short of stores.
As the harvest comes on, don't neglect to have the
hives, sections, frames, etc., all in readiness. Some of
you maybe ready to shout, "Chestnuts!" Well, if only
those shout who have never been caught, I think none of
us will need to cover up our ears. Nothing will more
quickly change the mood, and disposition, and intention of
a colony, cause it to turn its energies into a different chan-
nel, than the neglect to furnish it surplus room when it is
needed. The disposition to store honey is laid aside for
that of swarming. A colony with the swarming fever will
do little work until that fever is abated. If a colony first
turns its energies in the direction of storing up surplus, it
will often continue on in this way the entire season with no
thoughts of swarming. And, speaking of swarming,
reminds me that the neglect to clip off just one little eighth
of an inch from her majesty's wing sometimes results in
the bee-keeper striking a dejected attitude, as he gazes sor-
rowfully overthe tree tops where he sees disappearing, as lit-
tle specks in the sky, the last, few straggling members of the
rear guard of a prime swarm that would have stored SO,
perhaps 75, pounds of honey for its owner had he not
neglected to clip off that little one-eighth of an inch.
When it comes to the extracting of honey there is on ^
point that I wish to mention, although it may be more ^
mistake than a case of neglect ; it is that of extracting th^
honey before it is ripe. Of course, it is possible to evapo-
rate artificially thin honey, but with this evaporation goes
a portion of the fine aroma.' Not only this, but the evapo-
ration of honey does not ripen it. The bees in their hand-
ling of the nectar invert or change the cane-sugar to grape-
sugar. They change the raw nectar into ripened honey.
If we take it away from them before this change is com-
pleted, it lacks that much of perfect ripeness. It lacks the
"tang" that tickles our palates. Thin, unripe, watery
honey ferments, and sours, and bursts tin cans and barrels,
and disgusts and disappoints every one who has anything
to do with it. Nothing has done more to destroy the mar-
ket for honey than the placing upon it of unripe honey.
Little neglects in preparing the honey for market are
very expensive. The neglect to scrape the propolis from
the sections, the neglect to use non -drip cases, the neglect to
put the cases into a larger case or crate when small ship-
ments are made, may mean the loss of two or three cents
a pound. Sections daubed with propolis, honey dripping
from one case and daubing the one below it, coal dust and
cinders rubbed upon the daubed cases, greatly lower the
price and retard sales. Before the days of no drip cases
and outside crates I went so for as to wrap a paper around
each case before shipment, that the cases might be clean
when they reached their destination.
Men who make exhibits at fairs often lose premiums
that they might have captured had they not neglected to
label their packages tastefully. It is a little thing, but it
adds the finishing touch.
Then there are little things, like, " Where do you keep
your smoker and fuel ?" The neglect to provide a proper
place for them may mean a costly fire. I once kept my
smoker and fuel in an old wash-boiler. Once upon a time
when I removed the cover, the flames burst out. Suppose
the boiler had been a wooden box kept in a building, and
the fire had not been discovered while still confined to the
box ? I now keep my smoker and fuel in a large box, with
a hinged cover, out in the yard.
The matter of saving wax ought not to be neglected.
It is a good deal like saving paper rags — just about as easy
to save the odds and ends as to throw them away. A solar
wax-extractor is a nice thing for this purpose. Keep it
standing in the yard, and when there is a bit of waste
comb toss it into the extractor. ( )ne year when I did a
large job of transferring I threw all of the odds and ends
into a barrel, and pounded them down hard witn the end of
a large stick. Then the matter of rendering was neglected
until that barrel two-thirds full of pounded-down comb
was one mass of webs and wriggling worms.
But whj' multiply examples ? We all know that the
profits of an apiary can be entirely wasted or destroyed by
little neglects. What is the cause of this neglect ? In
some cases it is simply a combination of indolence, pro-
crastination, and a sort of belief that things will come
out all right of themselves. Then there is the neglect that
comes from having too many irons in the fire. If you have
so much business that you can only half attend to it, that
something must be neglected, two courses are open : hire
some one to help you, or else dispose of part of your busi-
ness. There is more pleasure and more profit in a small
business well managed than in a large business that must
be neglected. Some men are so constituted that they can
not employ helpto advantage. They havedone all of their
328
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 23, 1901.
work so long- that they feel no one else can do it properly.
It would put them all in fidg-ets to see some one else clean-
ing- their sections, or uncapping combs for the extractor.
Other men have learned that it is much more profitable for
them to oversee and plan the work, leaving the carrying
out of the details to competent help. You know yourself,
or ought to, so choose the course to which you are adapted,
but don't keep on conducting your business in such a man-
ner that you are compelled to neglect it. Be thorough,
up-to-date, progressive, and energetic, but don't lose half
your profits as the result of little neglects.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. M^ILLER, Afareng-o, 111.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Queen Laying Several Eggs in a Cell.
What is the cause of a queen laying from one to four
eggs in a cell ? It is a weak colony, with a hive full of
honey, and some chilled brood. It is not a laying worker
that is doing the laying, but a fine, large queen.
Utah.
Answer. — The colony though small is lively and
ambitious, and the queen is probably fed as much as she
would be in a much larger colonj'. The eggs must be laid
somewhere, and as the space that is warm enough for egg-
laving is too limited there is nothing for her to do but to
use the same cells over again. As the colony becomes
stronger you will find that she lays only one egg in a cell.
The Nail-Spaced Frame Preferred.
I have had more of the Hoffman frames than I want,
and as I have sold all my bees and fixtures, and wish to
start this summer, I wish to know first if the Danzenbaker
is just as bad to manage for the reason of propolis, and are
the general features as good as the nail-spaced Langstroth
standard ? lUiNOis.
Answer. — The Danzenbaker frames are closed-end
frames in full, and the Hoffmans partly closed, so there is
more surface in contact to invite propolis in the former
than in the later. After giving a pretty thorough trial to
both, and also to some other kinds, I find nothing so satis-
factory as the Miller frame already described in these col-
umns. I commenced using them on a somewhat small
scale, feeling a little afraid that continued use would
develop some objection not suspected in advance, but the
more I use them the better I like them, and have perhaps
2,000 of them now in use.
Keeping Down Increase.
1. I have five colonies and do not wish to increase.
The swarming-fever struck them about a week ago and has
not stopped yet, A neighbor told me how he does but I do
not like the plan, viz : Take a soda-cracker box which is
about 8x10 inches, and about 8 inches deep, and put the
cluster into it, and place a bottom-board over it. Take it to a
new stand, invert it. and as an entrance has been previ-
ously made we have a new but small hive which my neigh-
bor says will be filled solid.
Yesterday one of these swarms came out of the box
three times, clustering on the same post each time. The
third time I gave them a new box with two pieces of foun-
dation stuck to the top -'4 inches wide, and they seem to stay
all right. The neighbor says early in the spring he gives
these cracker-box bees back to the original colony, and has
a fine colony to begin the harvest, and then repeats with
the same boxes next year. This is my first experience
with bees, so I don't like to fall too heavily on ray instructor,
but it does seem to me that the number of bees which I
have put into those small boxes will be terribly crowded.
What was the reason of those bees coming out three times ?
As I am a half-invalid, through eight years of throat affec-
tion, it nearly exhausted me, going to and fro.
2. Now, to-day, another swarm came out of the hive
that swarmed day before yesterday, at which time we
requeened the colony, killing the old queen, of course. The
cell containing the new queen just hatched yesterday.
How can you account for to-day's swarming with such a
new queen ? or do you think the new queen never material-
ized? Would they swarm under those conditions ? We cut
out all the rest of the queen-cells in that hive.
Cai,ifornia.
Answers. — 1. I'm a little inclined to think I'd pay off
that instructor and hire a new one. To put a strong swarm
into a box containing no more than 640 cubic inches — less
than 10 quarts — in these days of expansion is prettj' severe
contraction. The combs built are not in movable frames,
hence not the most desirable. The probability is that the
bees were too crowded and warm, and swarmed out on that
account. Shading well and raising up the box an inch
from the bottom-board would help. If your object is to
keep down increase, perhaps this plan might suit )'0U bet-
ter : When the colony swarms, kill the old queen and
return the swarm. If your queen is clipped all you have to
do will be to pick her up from the ground and kill her, and
the swarm will return of its own accord. A week later cut
out all queen-cells but one. and the work is done. There
will be no more swarming for that colony till another year.
2. If I understand you, when the colony swarmed you
killed the old queen and returned the swarm, killing all the
queen-cells and giving them another cell, then two days later
the colony swarmed ag-ain. It is not easy to say just why
they swarmed the last time, but there are several possibili-
ties in the case. One is that a queen may have entered
from another hive. Another is that the cell you gave may
have been well advanced, the queen having been held in
some time by the bees so that two days after you gave the
cell she was old enough to make her wedding-flight, and
the bees swarmed out with her when she made this flight,
which is not a very unusual occurrence.
A Question on Bee-Management.
White honey is produced in this locality early in the
spring, and the nights here on the coast are cool so the bees
fail to breed up to good working force in time to get the
first flow. How will it do to form a nucleus say in June,
and in the fall place it on the old colony with an excluder
between ; then when both are well filled with brood take
out the excluder and kill one of the queens in the spring ?
F1.0RIDA.
Answer. — I don't know. I doubt if it would work to
your satisfaction. The object would be to throw, in the
spring, the force of the two queens together. I suspect
you might do that better by having the two colonies side by
side in the same hive with a thin division-board between
them but no communication between the two sides. Then
in the spring they could be thrown together. But it would
be worth while to try very hard to have colonies so strong
in the fall that there would be little need for uniting in the
spring. Then the weakest could be united with the medium
ones.
Managing Bees in a " Beer-Keg Hive."
I have a very strong colony in a " beer-keg " nearly
filled with honey. I propose to add one or two S-frame
hives underneath until the white clover flow begins, then
change them to the top of the keg with a queen-excluder
between, with the queen below. Will the bees carry the
hone)' upstairs and make room for her to lay ? I will let
the brood alone until hatched, then put on sections. My
idea is to get the honey now in the beer-keg in sections, and
let the bees winter in the keg. Indi.\na.
Answer. — I'm afraid that thing is so mixed up that the
bees will hardly know what is expected of them, especially
if there's any of the beer left in the keg to muddle their
little brains '. Evidently, your idea is that the keg will be
so filled with honey by the time of clover that the bees will
have worked down so as to fill one if not two stories of
combs in frame hives.
That may be so, and it may be that they won't come up
to your expectations and will have very little done in the
hive under the keg. Suppose, however, it works to your
May 23, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
329
satisfaction, and your two hives are fairly filled, it will be
mostly brood in them. When you put them above the
excluder, the queen you will put below in the kepr that is
now solid with honey (for you may count that it will be
filled with honey if the bees have been driven down to
occupy the two hives.) At this time the bees will turn all
their energ-ies toward storing-, and the liklihood is that
while the bees will do some empt3'ing to give the queen a
chance, the chance will not be a very large one, especially
as the queen up to this time has had unlimited room to
spread herself and by this time has become somewhat
exhausted with laying. The brood will be all the time
hatching out above, and by the time your two hives are
solid with honey there will not be such a great deal of
time left for the bees to work in sections, for they'll not do
much in sections so long as room is left in the hive-bodies.
I don't quite see what you expect to gain by getting your
keg filled with honey only to be emptied again. If you
want the bees to winter in the keg, why not leave them
their brood-nest there all the time, putting sections on the
keg ? One good plan would be to leave them in the keg till
they swarm, then hive the swarm in a hive and throw the
field-force all into the swarm, leaving the keg to strengthen
up for the winter.
Transferring Bees on Crisscross ComI)s.
I bought two colonies of bees and they are in small
hives, one is a seven-frame and the other is an eight. The
frames had no foundation, and the comb is built in every
direction. Is it advisable to transfer them to another hive ?
If so, when is the best time ? and will that prevent them
from swarming ? Ontario.
Answer. — If you don't expect to handle the frames at
any time, then it is not worth while to transfer, and it will
be better to leave the bees as they are. If, however, you
want to handle the frames at any time, then by all means
they should be transferred. You can turn the hive upside
down if the bottom can be taken ofl^ ; cut down with a long
knife or saw so as to loosen entirely the combs from the
side of the hive, then when you lift the hive-body ofl:' the
frames it will be easy to get at the combs.
In fruit-bloom is a good time to transfer, and it need
not prevent swarming. Nowadays the tendency is growing
toward waiting till the bees swarm, and transferring 21
days after swarming, when there will be no brood in the
hive except a little sealed drone-brood.
Curing Pickled Brood.
What can I do to cure pickled brood ?
West Virgini.\.
Answer. — In an able article in this journal five years
ago. Dr. Wm. R. Howard wrote: I have recommended,
with successful results, placing the bees on full sheets of
foundation, confining them for three days (giving them
plenty of water) in order to consume all of the infected
material, that none of it might be deposited in the new
combs to be covered with new pollen or honey.
Convention Proceedings. |
Report of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Convention.
The, Chicago IJee-Kecpers" Association held a most siir-
cessful meeting at the Briggs House, Chicago, April 4, lUd 1 .
There were about 35 in attendance, and several now nicm-
bcrs were secured.
The .secretary had had some correspondence with Mr. ('.
P. Dadant, about being present, and had given up hoping lii'
would come. Hut about in a.m. on April 4th a telegram was
received by Pres. George W. York, saying that Mr. Dadant
would arrive at the Union depot at 2:30 p.m. Of course tliis
was an agreeable surprise, but if we had known It a week
earlier we might have filled the clubroom of the Brigss
House at our meeting.
c_; I would like to say riglit here that those 250 bee-keepers-
within reach of Chicago, are standing very much ii; their own
light in not attending our semi-annual meetings. We liave
really good times and e.xchango many valuable ideas.
Of course Mr. Dadant's presence made a good conven-
tion, aside from any other attractions. He told us about
Paris and the great Exposition ; about the French people ;
about the little old man who had carried him in his arms when
he was a very small child ; and of course he was ready to
answer any and all questions asked of him by the ABC class
of bee-keepers as well as the X Y Z class — and the <iuestions
were numerous.
Prof. E. N. Eaton, State Analyist of the Pure Food Com-
mission, was present, and addressed the meeting, and also
forced his annual dues on an unwilling treasurer.
At 6 p.m. those present adjourned in a body to the dining-
room, and discussed many and savory viands, and had much
sociability therewith.'
It was voted that tlie afternoon-and-evening-session idea
be a permanent fixture. We hope all those 250 bee-keepers
will come to the next meeting in November. Dr. Miller and
Mr. C. P. Dadant may both be there.
I am sure all present were sorry when the meeting
adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Herman F. Moore, Sec.
Report of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Convention.
The Texas State Bee-Keepers' Association held its 28d
annual session at Greenville, April 3 and 4, 1900. President
W. R. Graham being sick, was not able to preside, and vice-
president A. M. Tuttle being absent the meeting was called to
order by the secretary, J. N. Hunter, who acted as chairman.
He made a few preliminary remarks, reviewing the history of
the Association from its organization to the present time.
Prayer was offered by the Rev. W. R. Lowery.
Messrs. Hagood, Osborn and Scott were appointed a com-
mittee on program for discussion.
About 40 bee-keepers were present during the two days'
session, representing some 2000 colonies of bees, the average
yield of which last season was about 36 pounds to the colony.
Secretary Hunter explained his method of transferring
bees. He prefers the hybrid bees and uses full sheets of comb
foundation.
-J. M. Hagood thinks the Holy-Land bees are the best for
Texas, and that they are more immune from disease.
W. A. Evans has 185 colonies of Italian bees, and secured
.50 pounds of comb honey per colony last year.
J. R. Scott explained his method of transferring and feed-
ing bees. He gives the black bees due credit for gathering
honey from cotton.
Peter Lambert and some others are satisfied that bees
gather honey from corn-tassels.
Mr. Tuttle has discovered that ants rob cotton-bloom of
its honey on the sandy land. He thinks that is the reason
why bees gather more honey from black-land cotton-bloom.
Messrs. Graham, Hagood and Lowery were elected to rep-
resent the Association at the bee-keepers' meeting to be held
at College Station, Tex., next July.
W. R. Graham was re-elected president ; J. M. Hagood
and W. R. Lowery, vice-presidents ; and J. N. Hunter, of
Renner, secretary.
After its usual vote of thanks for hospitality and enter-
tainment the convention adjourned to meet in Greenville the
first Wednesday in April, 1902. J. N. Hunter, Sec.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us tlie
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
The Chicag;o Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is .sent, postpaid, for
75 cents ; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for SI. 60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown.
330
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
May 23, 1901.
is»^s•^s.Ja..S£,^s..is,Ja,.ie,Ja,Ja^^
The Afterthought. ^
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasseg.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
EARLY QUEENS FROM THE SOUTH.
As per Dr. Miller, on page 219, queens may arrive from
the South when it's not altogether safe to introduce them.
General requeening with young queens is often urged ; and I
think that this particular danger is very seldom pointed out.
Usually a word to the wise is sufficient ; but if it is a printed
word he may not see it — so I think a little more "racket" on
the point would be well. Doubtless the Southern breeders
will be willing to assist in the racket — to moderate the push
for extra-early queens.
QUEER KIND OF CHAFF HIVE.
Mr. Ochsner, of the Wisconsins, seems to have a queer
kind of chaff hive. Pumps down heat so that melting occurs,
and frames and colony have to be put into single-walled hives
to stand the sun. That's not the kind of chaff hive which
prevails elsewhere on the footstool. Page 229.
WEAK COLONIES IN THE SPRING.
Why does a weak colony in spring survive when left
alone, but dwindle out and perish when united with several
others like itself 1 I had made an off-hand guess that
although not fighting when united they felt more like fighting
than they did like going to work — disgruntled at the mixed
company. Am quite willing to give up my guess in favor of
Mr. Doolittle's more thoughtful solution— too much activity,
too much brood started, and nearly all the bees dying off, in
regular course of nature, before any young bees emerge.
Page 231.
SWARMS CLUSTERING WITH CLIPPED QUEENS.
Prof. Cook gives us a good, hearty stake to tie to on page
232. Has seen hundreds of swarms issue whose clipped
queens could not go with them ; and only a few in the lot
failed to cluster (either wholly or in part) before going back.
HrMENOPTKRA — " MARRIED WINGS."
I'm a little disgruntled at Prof. Cook's Greek on page
233, where he translates Hymenoptera (the order to which
our bees belong) " membranous wings." Don't wish to deny
that the word will bear that translation, as meanings of
words go ; but what in Hymen is the matter now with the
straight-out translation " married wings ?" This is an allu-
sion to the fact that each wing is bound to its neighbor on
the same side by a series of little hooks. Has marriage
become a failure even among the wiiigs of bees ?
DISCIPLE OF IZAAK WALTON.
And, so, according to page 238, its fishing you're going to
set me at next. On the familiar principle, that a man can go
on the most freely on a subject when he draws it fresh out of
his own head (unpestered by facts and natural laws and
experiences and things), I ought to be able to write a two-
volume work on fishing. Tell Mr. Blunk it's 57 years this
spring since I cast my first hook in the waters for fish. But I
didn't catch any. Neither did I on any subsequent occasion.
Never in my life caught even a minnow the size of your little
finger. Send in your sub. for the volumes, if you want "em.
WHY BEES BUILD A CERTAIN KIND OF COMB.
It is something of a mystery — and a mystery that we
should very much like to solve— just why bees build
worker-comb when they build it, and drone-comb when they
build that. One rather feels that Mr. C. P. Dadant
is walking on the water instead of touching bottom in
that part of the subject, page 2-±6. The facts are as he
states them ; but the reasons— well, we must show some
respect to the reasons, too. till some one can offer better
ones. In fact, if we assume that (for some unknown
reason) bees prefer to build drone size, except when the
queen (by some unknown means) causes them to build
worker size, that will pretty nearly cover the ground,
perchance. If the queen caused them to do it we would not
need to assume that she intelligently caused it, nor yet that
they fully understood the effect of their owu work. Hut even
then we might have trouble to answer when asked : Why
then do they build any worker-comb in an upper tier of sec-
tions ?
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ ?
Conducted by Prof. fl. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
Polish Up the Dark Side.
Is life a fret and tanffle. and everything gone wrong ?
Are friends a bit disloyal, and enemies too strong ;
Is there no bright side showing ? Then — as a sage has said —
" Polish up the dark side, and look at that instead !"
The darkest plank of oak will show sometimes the tinest grain,
The roughest rock will sometimes yield a gleaming golden vein ;
Don't rail at fate, declaring that no brightness shows ahead.
But " polish up the dark side, and look at that instead !"
— Priscilla Leonard, in The Churchman.
A LESSON FROM THE WAX=PRESS.
I am sure we have all been interested in the new method
of extracting wax where the press is used, and where great
saving of time, and a much lareer quantity of excellent wax
are secured. What a valuable lesson Christ taught the world at
the time of the feeding of the multitude. It was a great
occasion, and any one less than Divinity would hardly have
thought of the fragments. Yet the blessed teacher of Naza-
reth asked that the fragments might be gathered up and noth-
ing be lost. Many a man to-day is in comfortable circum-
.stances because the fragments have been gathered up. Many
home circles all over our land rejoice to day in numerous home
comforts, not to say luxuries, because in early childhood the
builders of these homes were taught the little economies
which are not only helpful but really give pleasure in their
practice. It certainly can not be beneath any person's dig-
nity to form, or to teach, habits of econotny when the Divine
Master put the stamp of his approval upon this very habit. I
have always been thankful that my dear father and mother
taught me to make a thin paring as I peeled the apple, and to
reduce the core to the minimum before it was thrown aside.
So I am always glad when I see anything like these wax-
extractor improvements, and rejoice that our friend, Mr.
Hatch, and others, has given us the press that we may glean
more, and more easily.
It is often the best of economy to save strength and
time. How short-sighted people were to declaim against
inventions. Whatever saves labor benefits our people, and
gives to us all more of the comforts and blessings of life. It
is not labor-saving machinery that brings inequality of condi-
tions, divides classes, and creates social unrest. It is rather
the abuse of these privileges, and the taking advantage of
circumstance. Were we all to follow the Great Master in all
his teachings, labor-saving inventions would bring only bless-
ings in their coming.
I believe the world never had so many blessings as to-day.
I believe there was never a time when the poor boy or girl
who has energy and economy could reach forward so confidently
towards position, and even wealth. I was happy the other
day in telling ray students of a man who once drove horses on
a canal path, who had no father or mother to train him in
ways of thrift or' economy, and yet to-day occupies honored
positions in two of our great universities. His name is
known in every country where science is studied. Garfield
had a grandmother to help him to thrift and position. Our
friend found both with no help except his own inherent deter-
mination and power. I said to our students, " Haven't we a
grand country, and don't we live in a grand time ?" When-
ever I read of anything like the wax-press, I feel like prais-
ing God for another step forward.
But there is another thing in connection with this wax-
press which is to me more beautiful than the economy, and it
is this that brought it into "The Home Circle" to-day. I
refer to the fact that it removes this work from the house,
and thus saves the wife and mother from much of labor and
annoyance. I believe there is nothing that will test the good-
nature and amiability of the housewife more than the pres-
ence of wax about the kitchen and the kitchen utensils, which
are a part of the special equipment which she has to use. It
was good to hear the men say in speaking of the wax-
extractor, "It takes all this dirt and annoyance from the
house." I believe this is the best part of the new invention,
May 23, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
331
and it is better still that the most of our bee-keepers will
prize it most because of this very fact. Any one who knows
Mr. Hatch and his kindly thoiightfulness, can readily under-
stand his satisfaction as he removes this wax dirt from the
domain of the household. Some may wonder that I speak of
wax as '■ dirt." A weed is a plant out of place. Dirt is mat-
ter out of place. Purslane (pusley) on the common or by the
roadside is no weed. In the garden or field it is a pestiferciis
one. Wax taken by the new method outside the houses is
neither dirt nor dirty. Inside the kitchen it is usually both.
THOUQHTFULNESS FOR OTHERS.
The above suggests what I believe will prove the best
ornament in every home circle. I mean thoughtfulness to
help and to give pleasure to all its members. In many a home
the thoughtful habit becomes almost instinctive. If any
member of the household has the habit of rising earlier than
the others, he will also form the habit of great quiet before
the others rise from their beds. Thus at this earlier hour he
will find himself tiptoeing about the house, which he would
not think of doing later in the day. The door will be care-
fully shut and will not slam, and the fire-lighting will be done
so quietly that one wonders that so little noise is possible.
This caution may become so instinctive that it will even last
through the day, as I have known the father frequently to
find himself tiptoeing even in the daytime as he approached
the sleeping-rooms.
It has been my privilege in my past life frequently to
pass, often quite late in the evening, by the house of an old
gentleman whose habit it was to retire early, with a person
whose thoughtfulness for others' comfort was always an
inspiration to me. This one, as we approached the house of
the old gentleman, would always lower the voice or cut short
the laugh which might awaken the sleeping one. This never-
failing thoughtfulness did more to beget thoughtfulness in
others than would a dozen requests to act in like manner.
We often hear people lamenting that there is so little rev-
erence at the present time among us. I believe this implies
an error. I believe there is more genuine reverence among us
to-day than there has ever been before. Yet, I am not wholly
displeased at the complaint. Want of reverence is so hateful
a thing that even fear that it is a growing evil may well cause
unrest and regret. We must remember in this day of tele-
phone and rapid transit, we have pictured to us the whole
world, each day, and our fuller knowledge often misleads us
in regard to the condition of society.
I repeat, I believe the world never had so much of rever-
ence as it has to-day. It is certainly true that nothing so
increases the reverent spirit among us as thoughtfulness.
There is no place where thoughtfulness pays such large inter-
est as in the home. I remember once a girl asked me for a
sure test in selecting the right person for a life companion. I
believe I made the correct reply : " The person who is ever
thoughtful of father, mother, yea of all the members of the
home circle — always intent to add to the pleasures of others,
and equally careful never to wound or make uncomfortable
— has a first requisite of the perfect husband."
Unselfishness must always be at the root of thoughtful-
ness. Unselfishness is a Godlike attribute. If we can only
teach our children from the very cradle always to be thought-
ful of the happiness of others, and always to be on the look-
out for opportunities to make the home more a place of com-
fort and good feeling, we surely have done our part toward
the building of an unselfish and a reverent character.
In the years when I lived at the Michigan Agricultural
College, it was my habit to drive of a Sunday morning with
my wife and family to the church in Lansing, three and a half
miles distant. In going, we almost always passed one of the
business men of the city going with his family to the same
church. A little boy of this family invariably walked beside
his sister. In the early years, up to the teens, they were
always hand in hand, and the evident attention of the
brother, and watchfulness for the comfort of his little com-
panion were often the subject of remark in our family as we
passed the little group. That little couple, all unconsciously,
were helping us to become better people. As the young people
grew into their teens, the same attention on the part of the
brother was always in evidence. Walking on the windward
side, picking up a fallen handkerchief, stepping back to let
the others pass first into the church, were all signs of a lovely
character which from the first challenged our admiration.
Mrs. Cook often remarked, ••There is the making of a model
husband." Time proved that her judgment was not ill-
founded. There are a few things which we in the homo
circles should never forget Inve of truth, self-control, and
this habit of thoughtfulness: it is a trinity of blessed quali-
ties, and means so much not only to the life of the individual
but to the comfort and blessedness of the home, that we
should commence at the very cradle to speak their importance
to the loved ones whose characters wo are to fashion.
NEATNESS AND ORDER— A FOURTH VIRTUE.
It has been my happy fortune to visit very many of the
bee-keeping homes of our country. It is always a rare treat
to visit those who are interested in the same things that
occupy our thought and attention. But as on the street or in
the audience-room, one of the best pleasures comes from the
study of others, their habit and manner, so in these visits
it is not the least pleasure that comes to us to study the spe-
cial habits of our hosts.
I remember my first visit to Mr. T. F. liingham's apiary.
I had often met Mr. Kingham in conventions, and was always
pleased at his perfect attire and every courtesy, and so was
prepared to find his shop and apiary the perfection of order
and neatness.
I have one other example that is quite-as striking, and no
one will wonder that it Is suggested. It was that of Mr.
Hetherington, who has been so long associated with Mr. liing-
ham in the matter of the honey-knife. Many of my readers
win remember how pleasant It was to look upon ]\Ir. Hether-
ington at our conventions. One had to see him but a moment
to know that system and neatness were ever in attendance at
the Hetherington apiary. And so it was. I might mention
hundreds of similar cases. Mr. Hilton and Mr. Taylor were
other examples. These men never came to a convention with-
out a necktie, or with spots on their clothing. These gentle-
men had apiaries that were justly their pride. It always
gives me unalloyed pleasure to make such visits. These men
have not to look for things, for everything is in place, and
they could put their hand on every utensil even In the dark.
Such system implies neatness, for nothing is out of place, and
so from our definition above, there can be no dirt.
I have often wished that It might have been ray good for-
tune to have visited the apiaries of Captain Hetherington, of
New York State. I have no doubt he has the same habit of
order and neatness that I admired at his brother's. We have
all wondered that one man could manage so large a business
as is carried on by Captain Hetherington, and win success all
along the line. Does not the word system give quick explana-
tion ?
We have given above a trinity of qualities so excellent
that we should commence at the cradle to develop them in the
lives of our children. Would it not be well to make it a quar-
tet, and add the virtue of neatness and order ? This can be
done by teaching the child always to hang his clothes neatly
upon a chair as he retires : to keep his playthings in perfect
order ; and his room, if we can afford him one, always neat
and orderly. Put a premium upon such habits, and if we
ever knit our brow in disapproval, let it be upon occasions of
finding a disordered room or an untidy drawer or closet. It is
well to go often and inspect the drawers, and as we find them
all in perfect order, put in* them some coveted toy with the
words neatly written, " Couldn't help it." Sucli a neat drawer
merits a drawer full of toys.
" The Hum of the Bees ia the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song' — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompanj'. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of SI. 00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
I — I Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 ceTits, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
332
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 23, 1901.
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3% miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 7Sc each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2S years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal wnen writing,
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, manager,
1024 Miss, street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
XjOITEJ STA.K- .A.FIA.K,IE3S
Price of Queens
from Imported
Mothers:
Tested.. 1—$ l.SO
Un" ..1— .75
Tested.. 6— 6.50
Un " ..b— 4.00
Tested -12— 12.00
n" .12— 7,00
(Golden, same
rice.! Select
ted, either
,$2.S0. Write
...Lit^*^.^,,;"*-^ ".. ,^.-- for circular.
G. F. DAVIDSON & SONS.
Establisht 1885. F.ilRvlEW, Wilson Co., Tex.
12Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other published,
send *1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thin^ for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
QEORaB W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
fl Word to the Wise Bee-Keeper
Is the title of an essay on fjueen-rearing. Sent
free to all applicants. Address.
i'>A4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal wlien -writine
SOUTH DAKOTA FARMS
Is the title of an illustrated booklet just
issued by the Chicago. Milwaukee .i St.
Paul Railway, descriptive of the coun-
try between Aberdeen and the Missouri
River, a section heretofore unprovided
with railwa)' facilities, but which is now
reached by a new line of the Chicag-o,
Milwaukee & St. Paul R'y. Every one
contemplating- a change of location will
be interested in the information con-
tained in it, and a copy may be had by
sending a 2-cent stamp to F. A. Miller,
General Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111.
19A3t
A Young Bee-Keeper's Report.
My g^raudfather was a bee-keeper, and he
gave a colony of bees to the oldest graniichild
in each of his children's families, and I, being
the oldest in our family, got one of them.
We now have 12 colonies working nicely on
frtiit-blossoms.
We make our living mostly by selling sec-
tion honey and poultry, and would like to
have 50 colonies of bees from which to sell
honey. I help mamma hive the bees and
take off the honey ; my father is not able to
help any, so we three children all help a lit-
tle. I am going to school now, but it will be
out in four weeks, and then I will help with
the bees. I am not afraid of them as a great
many people are.
I am a girl of 13 summers, and not a very
big one at that. Gertrude Hemrt.
Page Co., Iowa, May 3.
Bees in Fair Condition.
At this time our liees are in fair couditiv)n.
and we hope for a good crop of honey. AH
our colonies wintered well.
Mrs. Emma Woodmansee.
Arapahoe Co., Colo., May 9.
From a Young Bee-Keeper.
I am 18 years of age, and have been trying
to keeji bees for the last four years. I got up
to T.T colonies, and as we had three dry years
I lost BO of them, so you can see we have hard
times as well as anybody else.
Earl Tucker.
Los Angeles Co., Calif., May 1.
An Industrious Lady Bee-Keeper.
We think we will have a good lioney crop
this year. Our bees are storing in the supers
now, and are swarming right along. We.have
4S colonies. You ought to have been here
last week and the week before. I, myself,
put up 75 hives, driving every nail, and then
painted them, and caught all swarms that
came out. My husband is a railroad conduc-
tor, and can't be here to help me, and I do not
hire anything done on the place. I was out
putting up iiives one evening when a lady
came in. She said, " Do you have to work
that w'ay ? You have on a gold watch." I
said. " i have silk dresses in the wardrobe,
but I like to work. My husband tries to keep
me from it, but he can't."
I think if more women would work there
would not be so many bankrupt men. Of all
things, a lazy woman is the worst. The bees
teach us such good lessons. For ao years my
health had been so bad every spring that if I
didn't use a tonic I was bedridden; but the
little bee is the best tonic. For Ave years we
have kept them, and I am out almost all day
with them. I do not need a drop of medicine
now. I tell many women if they would keep
off the streets and stay at home, get a few
colonies of bees, watch them, and read bee-
books instead of novels, they would be better
wives and mothers. They say, ■' Oh, the bees
will sting." Well, if they do it will not last
long. I would rather be stung trying to
make something than to be stung for the
want of something. Mrs. C. R. West.
Ellis Co., Tex.. May 6.
Prospect Good— Bees Stinging
Chickens.
We are exjiecting a good honey crop this
year. Bees wintered well, seem strong, and
are building up fast at present. Fruit is a
little past its best now. Vine maple will b»
the next to bloom after apple ; it makes a
very nice honey, and has a rtavt>r like maple
syrup.
I have about 30 colonies, mostly hybrids,
though some of them are blacks. Last year
We want *
To sell you BEE=SUPPLIES!
Our line is all new and complete. Send
for our Illustrated Catalog ; it will
convince you that our Dovetail Hive
is the best on the market. Our prices
are right, and our service is prompt.
Fred W. Mutti & 60.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati,0.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal ■when ■writing.
ALuINU QUllNo proTiTc Queens— IfTou
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honey-gatherers vou ever saw — trv mv Albinos.
Untested Queens' in April, $1.00; Tested, $1.S0.
iiA26t J, D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■wTitm.e
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, -n-hich enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
¥orl[ fax Into Foundation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writings
POULTRT BOOK FREE, 64 pages, illustrated
with 3 raos. trial subscription to our paper, 10c
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL, Indianapolis. Ind
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINGHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
PAN=AMERICAN OPENING.
The Nickel Plate Road will sell ex-
cursion tickets from Chicago to Buffalo
at $13.00 for the round-trip on each
Tuesday in May (the 7th, 14th, 21st
and 28th,) with limit of 5 days, namelj-:
retttrning good on any train to and in-
cluding midnight train from Buffalo
on Saturday following Tuesday tickets
are sold. They will Vie good going on
all trains on date sold.
Daily train from Chicago at 10:30
a. m., arrives Buffalo 2:05 following
morning : daily train from Chicago at
2:30 p.m., arrives at Buffalo 7:35 next
morning ; daily train from Chicago at
10:30 p.m., arrives Buffalo 4:45 next
afternoon.
All trains carry through vestibuled
sleeping-cars. Individual Club Meals,
ranging in price from 35 cents to SI. 00,
and no meal in excess of the latter fig-
ure, are served in dining-cars.
For sleeping-car reservations and all
other information, call at Chicago City
Ticket Office, 111 Adams St., or write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago, 'phone Central
2057. Chicago Depot : Van Buren St.
and Pacific Ave., on the Elevated Loop.
No. 7— 20A2t
May 23, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
333
I took oil some very uice well-capped sections
on May Kith, and expect to do as well this
year.
1 have had some experience with bees sting-
ing chickens, which I think will be of benetit
to the readers of the Bee Journal : Two years
ago I was transferring a colony of bees to
another hive. There were some chickens
(barred Plymouth Rocks, and, of course,
black) about two weeks old feedinj^ in a pen
near by. and also some white Pekia ducklings
about one week old. The bees went for those
chickens and stung them to death, but the
ducklings were not stung at all. I think the
reason why the ducklings escaped was be-
cause they were white, or light-colored ; and to
prove stiil further that bees hate black chick-
ens, this year I had a hen with 14 chickens
about two weeks old — 13 were black and the
other one white. The bees went for that
brood of chicks and stung all but the white
one. Five of the black ones lived, even
though they were stung, but they were
dumpy for a couple of days. But " Mr.
White "was as happy as it is possible for a
chick to be. The bees had no provocation to
anger whatever that I could see. The hen
was on the ground with the chicks about 8 or
10 feet away from the front of the hive, and
the hive was 3'., feet from the ground.
I have been a reader of the American Bee
Journal for two years, and would not be
without it. Geo. G. Craine.
Whatcom Co., Wash., May 6.
Bees Expelling Water from Nectar.
I notice there has l.ieen quite a controversy
in the American Bee Journal, among some
of the correspondents, as to whether or not
bees expel water from nectar on the way to
the hives. A bee-hunter, and a very success-
ful one, too, says that after a bee has secured
its load and starts in a direct line to the tree,
it always sends off a mist, but never until it
has turned in a direct line for the tree.
I haven't had any swarms yet, though my
bees are in fine condition. We don't expect
to get any surplus until July, or until the
cotton begins to bloom. J. R. .Scott.
Lamar Co., Tex., May 6.
Bees in Good Condition.
Bees are in good condition now. Also the
weather is good at present.
Joseph Creech.
Ontario, Canada, May 8.
Keeping Bees for Pleasure.
I have only 6 colonies of bees, keeping them
foi' an interesting pastime. All wintered well
in the house basement, which is dry and airy.
They used but very little stores dm-ing the
winter. I moved them outdoors the last of
March, and they have been very busy gather-
ing pollen for the past three weeks.
I have taken the American Bee Journal for
over two years, and must say that it is a wide-
awake, up-to-date bee-journal.
Thos. L. McRitchie, M. D.
Ontario, Canada, May 9.
Marketing Honey— Selling Too
Cheap.
I have never sold much honey, bee-keeping
being a side-issue with me, as iny ministerial
duties and my berry-farm claim the most of
my attention. I have kept a few bees for
about 10 years, and now have 17 colonies, and
have taken the American Bee Journal for a
number of years.
There are a good many bees kept in this
county, but mostly by farmers. One man has
50 colonies and another has over 100, but
neither of them takes a bee-paper.
But little, if any, honey is shipped out of the
county, and there is no co-operatifm among
the bee-keepers in marketing the honey crop,
but it is " every man for himself," and as a
result prices are low.
As I had only B colonies last spring, and
the most of them were weak, and as I cared
more for increase than for honey. 1 had very
little more than we needed for our own use.
However, last week I took 25 pounds of first-
A Home ill Colorado SALE
I have ii Hue iMiiii-Iiaiieh of 14 acres licrc at
Kruita, all set to fine fruit, principally winter
apples, with plenty of small fruits, peaches,
I>ears, plums, cherries, apricots, prunes, and
about 700 grajjes; 100 colonies of bees, mostly
lliiliaiis. and about Ino fine Belgian hares that
1 will sell with the place. The orchard is in
line bearing, being aljout 10 years old. and is
clean and free from weeds. The house is a
good 7-room one. nearly new. with bath and
water: a good new barn for two horses and
two cows; good brick hen-house and two gitod
cellars, good lawn and shade. I have a jiaid-
up water-right with the place, with an abun-
dance of water at all times for irrigation. I
am liesirous of making a change in my occu-
pation, and will sell the place at a bargain.
With the proper party the yield from the place
this year will be about §2,000. It joins up to
within 20 rods of the town site of Fruita,
where we have fine of the best high schools in
the State, employing 7 teachers. It is only '.,-
mile to the depot, churches, school and post-
office, and has telephone connections with all
parts of the State. This is a good, healthy cli-
mate, and good society.
Address for terms .lad further particulars,
J, C. CARNAHAN,
Box 64, FRUITA, MESft Co.. COLO.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writing
BiacK Queens
5UBl
for sale —
50c each,
RIVER FOREST APIARY,
[\"EK FoKEST, Cook Co., III.
Italian Queens
reared from the old reliable Leather-Colored
Stock by the best methods. I keep 100 colonies
of Italians to select my breeders from, and I
breed from none but the very best houey-fifath-
erers. Untested, 5Sc each; 1 "dozen, $(..00. Safe
arrival. Send for price-list. Address,
W, J. FOREHAND,
fDtf FORT DEPOSIT, ALA.
Please mention Bee journal "when "writing.
GOOD WHEELS
THE
are ^;nc^i wheels and they make _ .. _,
Jast indefinitely. They are made high or
Jow, any \vidth of tire, to fit any ekein.
They «-nn*t|ret looRe^ rot or brenk
down. Theylaetalwaya-Catalogfree.
Electric Wheel Co.. Boy I6 Qoincy, Ills.
.^MANUFACTURER GFi=^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used bv
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipplag facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writine.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies I
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Co's
goods at wiioiesale or ret:iil at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid lor beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
M. H. UUNT & SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
EXCURSIONS TO BUFFALO EXPO-
SITION—via Nickel Plate Road,
On May 7th, 14tfi, 21st and 28tli, re-
spectively, at rate of S13.00 for the
round-trip from Cliicago : good return-
ing S days from date of sale. Three
through trains daily, with vestitiuled
sleeping-cars and tirst-class dining-car
service. For particulars and Pan-
American folder, write John Y. Cala-
han, General Agent, 111 Adams Street,
Chicago. Depot: \'an Buren St. and
Pacific Av., Chicago, on Elevated Loop.
No. 8— 20A2t
class lioiiey to our oouuty-seat, and all I could
fret for it was 10 cents in cash, ur 11 cents in
trade. They were retailing it at I.t cents. I
took the 1 1 cents in trade, but told the mer-
chant to wliom I sold it that I did not see
what the bee-keepers were thinking about to
sell at such prices when it was quoted at l(i
and 1? cents wholesale in ail the large cities
I have been told that the prevailing price made
here Ijy the bee-keepers to the merchants is 10
cents per pound for clover andbasswood comb
honey, and some of them have peddled it at
that price, though they selected the sections
that were not well tilled. Such prices do not
inspire one with very much zeal to engage in
bee-keeping. j. Ridley.
Winneshiek Co.. Iowa, March 11.
Heasuring Bees' Tongues.
All that is required to measure bees"
tongues is a steel rule with hundredths of an
inch marked off on one side : a glass ma"ni-
f.ving live or ten diameters; a pair of tweezers
and a darning-needle, and a dime's worth of
chloroform. Put up aljout a dozen bees of
mature age in a common mailing-age. Avoid
taking young ones, as the tongues of such
are not quite as long as those that are able to
go to the tields. Pour a few drops of chloro-
form on a handkerchief and lav this over the
bees. In about a minute the" bees will be
sufficiently stupetied so they can be handled
and the tongues will, from suffocation be
protruded almost their whole length. '
Pick up a Ijee and decapitate it. Lay the
head and tongue on the steel rule just above
the graduations of hundredths, fac'e upward
With one hand exert a gentle pressure on the
head of the bee, and, "n'ith the other, comb
the tongue out straight, using needles or
tweezers in either case. The pressure on
the face is to cause the tongue to protrude its
full length.
Now, while the tongue is carefully combed
out, take the glass, focus it on the tongue.
;iiid count olfifhe hundredths, beginning froni
tlie cuds of the mandibles or jaws, and ending
Willi the end of the tongue. Proceed thus
wilh all the Isees in the cage, putting down on
paper the exact results after each measure-
ment. Strike a general average, and this
average gives the measurement by which we
go.
As a rule I find there is but very little varia-
tion in the tongue-reach of the bees in anv
one colony. Sometimes they are all alike";
Ijut in the case of some individual bees it
is more diflicult to get the tongue combed
out its full length.— E. R. Root, in Gleanino-s
in Bee-Culture.
Thick vs. Thin Top-Bars.
S. T. Pettit, in Gleanings in Bee-Culture,
says the idea that thick top-bars are desir-
al)le for any other reason than to prevent sao--
ging is a delusion. The width is the impor-
tant thing, and a top-bar i>,-iuch thick would
be better than one thicker if it had the proper
rigidity ; but for rigidity he is obliged to have
■.,-thickness. A top-bar K thick is wasteful.
That extra ij inch, besides making bees more
slow to enter sections, amounts to a loss of
l,tiOO to 3,000 or more cells in a hive. Dr.
Miller replies as follows:
The mistake is in counting that the same
number of bees are occupied brooding those
sticks as would be occupied in lirooding '.-
inch depth of comix The space between the
top-liars is '.,-inch, and that Iielwecn lu"<>oil-
coiubsaliimt i,_,-inch, thus knocking oul lialf
this iilijcction at a clip. But even Ihal half of
tlic objection will not stand. Wlicu the
weatlicr is hot, as it generally is when supers
are over the top-bars, there is no trouble
about keeping uii the heat; and at anytime
334
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 23, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OuF New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low Ireig-ht rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
The Business End of the
NEW RUMELY SEPARATOR'**
Like alUhe"Rumely Goods" this IS simply perfection. When
coupled to our New Kumely Rear Geared Traction Engine
they constitute a threshing outfit that not only makes big
money for the thresher, but saves grain and money for -"
the farmer. Tliey are durable beyond com- <
parison and when you buy them you are
done buyins for years to come. Take a little
time to think about hnw it would pay you to
own such an outfit, then write us for free catalog.
M. RUMELY CO., La Porte, Ind.
Please mention Bee Journal -wheti -writing.
paid
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good titne
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
28 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Marshlield Mannfactnripg Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Red Clover Queens
LONG-TONGUED BEEsIrEDEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium for sending us TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for one year
(with $2); or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL,
Please Mention the Bee Jonrnal ^fr«" y"ting
Advertisers ««.
when it becomes cool the bees will shrink
away from the space between the top-bars,
and cluster on the combs almve and below.
Suppose you have a colony fully occupying
two stories. Now put between these two
stories another story filled with dummies an
inch thick. Do you suppose it will take 50
percent more bees to " man " the combs than
it did before ? I suspect 5 percent would be
plenty.
Even if the loss were all he supposes — 1,600
to -J. 1)1111 cells, or 1-33 of the brood-chamber — I
sliiiuld still want the lop-bar % deep. At one
tiiiic I used, entirely, wide frames holding
eifjht sections; and when I put on a super I
put in the middle of it a brood-comb from be-
low. The bees very promptly occupied that
super, but it did not answer to leave the
l)rood-comb there very long. It I left it long
enough for the bees to begin sealing the sec-
tions, they would carry across some of the old
comb, and the sections would be aliout as
dark as the eoml« opposite. With ^h top-bars,
which I used exclusively for many years, the
same thing would happen to a certain extent
if no slat honey-board was used, especially if
the sections were left on some time after
being sealed.
So if the prevention of burr-combs by deep
top-ba]"s be all a delusion — which I do not be-
lieve— and if there is a loss of 1,600 to 2,000
cells to a colony — which I am very far from
believing — I still want J4 top-bars for the sake
of having the sections so far from the brood-
combs that the bees will not find it convenient
to carry up a lot of black wax to spoil the snow-
white sections.
The Poison of the Bee.
The inflammation and other unpleasant
symptoms which usually appear after a bee-
sting are often attriljuted to that sharp acid so
widely distributed in the animal Isingdom, and
known under the name of formic acid. This
fluid, however, has nothing to do with the
swellings, its utility to the bees is of quite
another character. Prof. Joseph Langer, ot
Prague, a little while ago, examined the con-
tents ot the poison-glands of 2.5,000 bees. This
he found to be a clear fluid, soluble in water,
tastes bitter, and has a pleasant aromatic
smell, which, however, soon passes away ;
this scent can not, therefore, be the poison.
The formic acid which gives its peculiar acid
reaction to the contents of the gland is also
very evanescent. The contents of the gland
itself retain their poisonous properties, how-
ever, even when dried and subjected to heat.
The poison is, we therefore suppose, a veget-
able base, an alkaloid, as the most active poi-
sons in the vegetable kingdom are known to
be.
Prof. Langer proved that the poison has no
effect whatever on a healthy skin ; if, how-
ever injected under the skin, all the symp-
toms of bee-stings set in. Should it reach the
larger veins or arteries it causes a general dis-
order of the system, which reminds one ot
snake-poisoning. The weight of the poison
injected into the wound made bv a bee's
sting is between 2-10,O00th and 3-10,OOOth
part of a gram. The largest part of this is for-
mic acid, which is such an important factor for
the well-being of the bees. This works as a
means of preserving the honey, owing to its
acid reaction. The bee allows a little formic
acid to fall into each cell filled with honey be-
fore it is closed or sealed, and this small
quantity is enough to prevent fermentation.
Honey extracted from unsealed combs never
keeps long unless 0.1 percent formic acid be
added, which is all that is required. — Trans-
lated from the German by R. Hamlyn-Harris,
in the British Bee Journal.
Weight of Bees and Their Loads.
The following Stray Straw ajipears in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture :
Alex. Astor reports in Revue Int. that he
made 140 weighings of bees, weighing 2,300
bees in all, and he gives in milligrams the
weights of difliercnt kinds of bees. From this
May 23, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
335
I deiluce the following table, sbciwiiii,' the
number ot bees in a pound avoirdupois ;
4054 bees just out of the cell.
3S0S bees falling before a Bwarnung coliinj-
(probably 3 or 3 days old).
2457 wax-workers.
3fl~4 swarming workers.
4S.S5 blaek workers in May-June.
50ii(l Italian workers in May-June. ■
5151 blaok workers in July-August.
5271 Italian workers in July-August.
According to that, the load of honey ot a
swarming bee is about '-4 its own weight. —
[This table is exceedingly interesting — the
more so, as I think it confirms very well the
figures that have been given heretofore. It
appears, then, that bees weigh more during
the swarming season, and that wax-workers
weigh the most of any. This fact is new as
well as interesting. It appears, again, that in
May, June, July, and August the black work-
ers are heavier than the Italian. I had
alwaj's supposed that the average Italian bee
was, if anything, a shade larger or heavier
than the blaok. Is it not (possible that the
black bees referred to were Carniolans, or of
that persuasion ? If so, there would be all
that difference as indicated in the table in
the relative weights, for we have come to
assume that the Carniolan is the largest bte
of the species Apix mellljica ; and we have also
assumed that the little black bees of this
country — not the brown bees — were the
smallest. With regard .to the amount of
nectar a bee can carry, it seems to me the
figures that I have seen heretofore are some-
what in excess of one-fourth its own weight.
There, I have just looked it up. Yes, Prof.
Koons estimates there are 4500 bees in a
pound, and that 10.000 bees can carry a pound
of nectar, this being the fewest number to
carry such an amount. According to this,
then, a bee can carry half its own weight in
nectar. But Prof. Koons estimattes that on
an average it will not carry more than one-
fourth of its own weight; and this agrees
with the above figures. But so far as wing-
power is concerned, we know that one bee
can carrj' one of its companions; it could,
therefore, carry its own weight in nectar,
providing its honey-sac would hold that
amount, which is probably not true. I have
dissected the honey-sac of worker-bees when
the3- were filled with nectar, so that they
almost dropped down as they flew in at the
entrance. This sac was, at the time, about
the size of a No. 4 shot, or perhaps a littlf
larger. — Editor."
Does Hot Weather
make vour wire fpiicc ensl Nut if IIV PAGE.
Til." coil in the h.>riznntals urevenLs siit-Kinj.'.
PA«K\VOVKi\ WlltK KKNCKCU., AIIUIA>',JI1CII.
Please mention Bee Journal -when •writing.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICABO, ILL.
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'.S GOODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Vir^nnia, Keo-
tucky, and theSouth.
MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS.
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Lowest Freight'lRates in Ihe cuuillry.
Send lor Catalo(^.
C. H. W. "WHIBE3R,,
Successor to C. F. Muth A Son.
2146-4« Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O.
itowro
BUVA
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Take Sliiu. give your wife $3.1.08 for
pin money. Purchase a draft or mon-
ey oriler f c ir $(14.32 and mail it to us
and we will ship you at once, our
Ko. 320 Light Two-Spring Phaeton— the best
ever soid ainwlH-re for $100. spot cash.
The $35.0Kyoui;ivi' your wife represents
the two extra pioliis you would liave to
pay in getting tlie jobfrom a dealer. We
Sell Direct from our Factory
and Rive you
10 Days' Trial
before you pay
for It.
full Ul
hides and Harness.
1 1 is full of bargains
AND IT'S FI£EE.
Please mention Bee Journal -wtien writing.
BEES AND QUEENS
ag- been is years rear-
intt Queens for the trad
the best known plans, I
continue to rear the best
will
PRICES:
One Untested Queen....
One Tested Queen
One Select Tested Queen
One Breeder
One Comb Nucleus
$l.no
1.3S
1.50
3.00
1.80
BelgianHares
Choice, pedigreed and common stock; young--
sters, $3.00 per pair. Write for description and
prices. J. L. STRONG,
llAtf Clarinda, Pag^e Co., Iowa.
Please mentioii Bee Journal "wnen ■wntinff.
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing- to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this ** Emerson " no further binding- is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
BINGHAM SMOKERS.
BKASS. to order. 4-ineh, $1.76; 3'^-inch.
$1.35; 3-inch, $1. 25. TIN— 4-inrh, $1.51); 3>fi-
inch. $1.10; 3-inch, if 1.0 >j aj^-inch, yu cts.; 2-
inch. H5 cts.— per mail free.
Bingham Smokers never lose Are— always
READY. -J'i yearn tli*^ best and chen pest— ami
always will be. BinKham & IIelherln«tun
Uncapplng-Knife iH ibe best also. See Mav
9lh No. American Bee Journal, or send for
■ircular for description.
T. F. BlNtiHAM. Varwell. Mich.
J always wi
^ Uncapping
^ 9lh No. Ac
J circular to
i :
•▼▼▼■
Please mention Bee Journal ■when writing.
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
nandsomely illustrated, $2.00 per aunum. Sam*
pie copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, San Francisco, Cal
Plesiae mention Bee Journal when \yritinft.
iJ ste. ste. >te ili >li ili >!i Sit >te >Ji jli >lt^
I HONEY AND BEESWAX i
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, May 7.— There is very little beinjr
done in honey at present with practically no de-
mand for the e.xtractedg-rades; several consign-
ments on sale here for some time, without any
bids being- made. A little choice white comb
sells in a retail way at loc, with all other grades
scarce and firralv held at about former prices.
Extracted, 7^,sc for fancy white; ambers, ()@7c;
dark, S<q>S%c. Beeswax, 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from ^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Weber.
Buffalo, May 18.— Fancy 1 lb. comb, 15@16c;
dark very dull indeed, 8(5a2c. Berries hurt sale
of honey now. Batterson & Co.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
Detroit, Apr. 18— Fancy white comb, 14@lSc;
No. 1, 13@14c; dark and amber, 10@l2c. Ex-
tracted, white, 6i^@7c; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax, 27@28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
New York, May 3.— We report aquiet market
on all lines. While the old crop of comb honey
is well exhausted, still there is some arriving,
wliich has been carried by the producers, ev
dently, for a higher price. Values are mostly
nominal now, and it is only a first-class fancy ar-
ticle that will sell at quotation prices. We quote:
Fancy white, 15c; No. 1, 13c; amber, ll(5^12c;
buckwheat, 9(5il0c. Extracted is decidedly dull,
and very little inquiry. Old crop of California
light amber and partly white, is now being of-
fered as low as 454c a pound f.o.b. coast, which,
of course, hurts the sale of other grades to a
large extent. Beeswax is firm and sells on ar-
rival at from 28#29c.
HiLDRETH & SeOELKBN.
Kansas City, May 4.— Practically no ship-
ments arriving, and very little selling. We are
getting $3.50 to $3.f.5 per case of 24 sections No.
I white; amber, $3.00 to $3.25. Beeswax scarce
at 25c. W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons »fe Co.
Albany, N. Y., May 3.— Honey market very
dull. Very little call for anything but choice
comb honey, of which there is a scarcity. Ex-
tracted quiet. H, R. Wright.
Boston, May 4.— Fancv white comb honey we
quote at 17c: A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, 15(« loc. No' call
at all for dark honey this vear. Water-white
extracted, 8(&S^c; light am'ber, 7^rrt,sc. Bees-
wax, 27c.
Our market on comb honey is firm with light
stocks and a fairly good demand for this time
of the year. Blake, Scott & I^sb.
San Francisco, May 8. — White comb ll@
12 cents; amber, 8@10c; dark, 6@7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@6c; light amber, 4@4^c;
amber. 3J^@4c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
The market is quiet and lacking in firmness.
Buyers are holding back, anticipating liberal
offerings soon. Dealers appeared before the
Board of Health of this city, to receive sanction
for the use of glucose in honey to prevent gran-
ulation, but the Board refused to take any
special action.
Cap Cq|p Good Bee- Ranch
I Ul OGIO and General Farm
IN S(>UTHKI%'\ CALIF()KM.\,
214t Address, (]. C. QEARN, San Diego, Calif.
f lease mentioii Bee Journal ■when -writing.
336
AMERICi\N BEE JOURNAL
May 23, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
fiives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
«S- W. M. Gekrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal ■w>ien ■wrritins
HIVES.SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leaiiy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alt.i Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
BEE
Mention the Ai
an Bee Journal.
LEARN TO SING
?totrain and cul-
your voice or refund your
c. The best mnsical knowledge
uped especially for Home ttndy.
I Highest Eadorsement. Beautiful
riptive botklttBeutfree. Address
^Prof. 6. M. Whaley, Kalamazoo. Mich-
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
fnrnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft lOtt 2Sft SOBS
Sweet Clever (white) -roc $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (vellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Alsike Clover.' 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I AEISE
To say to the reaaers of
the Bee Jocrnal that
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices:
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Qneen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best.. 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
Plef"!e mention Bee Journal when -WTiting.
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation, ym
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell ^^^.
sowed? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on Ihe Honey-Bee — Revrised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHA5. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., 111.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writing.
'#A-(i).4.(i'i).&-(i>.(i).(i.A.(i).(i).(i.(i).(i)-cl)-^
Pan-flmerlGan Exposillon
... AT BUFFALO...
THE J^. I. I^OOT OO.
#
will have an Exhibit showing a
COMPLETE LINE OF BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES,
Also some XEW GOODS that have not yet been advertised. The
exhibit will be conspicuously placed in the Gallery of the Agri-
cultural Building.
If you have never seen a
Ball-Bearing Cowau Honey-Extractor,
Here is your chance.
We expect that HUBER ROOT, the youngest member of the
Root Co., will be the man in charge of the exhibit. He will be
pleased to meet all our old friends, and make new ones wherever
possible.
Gleanings in Bee=Culture
Will contain a very interesting series of articles on Queen-Rear-
ing, giving New Methods and Short Cuts. There will also be a
series on
BBSS IIST LA.'W".
E. R. Root will tell of his trip through Texas, Colorado, Ore-
gon, and California. Better subscribe now.
Six months' trial subscription for only 25 cents.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., fledina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
mr
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO. ^
Send to them for their free Catalog. ^^H-
'^A;c^/
£GE,
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 30, 1901,
FORTY-FIR5T YEAR
338
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
May 30, 1900.
EEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Prof. A. J. Cook, ( ^'^"°'^-
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. 00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a j-ear extra tor post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AV rapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance.
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. "Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newmaj
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
tl^g" If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bce-kec|ier or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good ideaforevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons!
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey: at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
i Weelily Budget. I
PAx Ai'PROPKiATioN from the Ontario Gov-
ernment, of ?.T<XI is to be used in helping to
make an exhibit at the Pan-American Exposi-
tion. Up that way they know how to get up
a good show.
'■ Diseases of Bees and Legislation '■
is the title of a small pamphlet issued recently
by Mr. N. E. France. State inspector of api-
aries for Wisconsin. It treatsjof foul brood,
its cause and cure; pickled brood, black
brood, dysentery, etc. Under " Legislation ''
it gives the laws of Wisconsin relative to bees.
It can be had free by.^the bee-keepers of that
State. 'Zzzi
■•The Home Circle" department is thus
very kindly referred to by •■ Stenog '' in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture:
"Prof. Cook's talks for the home circle, now
running in the 'Old Reliable.' constitute a
most excellent feature of it. They bear
largely on the proper management of chil-
dren, and home conduct in general. All who
have Mr. York's paper will do well to read
these lines of Prof. Cook the first thing, as
they fit one for what follows. Best of all, we
know that the writer speaks from experience,
and in his daily life is an exponent of what he
enjoins."
French Honet-Cakamels. — The Gazette
Apicole, a French exchange, gives the follow-
ing recipe for making caramels, which it pro-
nounces " incomparable." Rose water, 15
grams; powdered sugar, 100 grams; fine
honey, aOOi'grams. Mix and boil, stirring
constantly, [until a drop of the compound,
when cooled, is hard and fragile. Pour out
on a buttered or oUed marble slab, and shape
the mixture into suitable pieces by means of a
teaspoon. So reports Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture.
Dr. C. C. Miller is nothing if not a crank
on the subject of roses. Of course, any one
who'is that kind of a crank is a delightful
crank. In Gleanings in Bee-Culture he wafts
this bit of rosy perfuraethrough a single Stray
Straw :
••One rose in September is worth more to
me than ten in June ; so as soon as the hlos-
som-buds show on the hybrid perpetuals I
carefully pinch off every one except one or
two of the most advanced on each bush.
Then the bush is not exhausted with its June
crop, so as to give no roses later. Of course,
that will not do for June roses, but their
stalks are cut back severely in spring, which
makes the blossoms a little later, and perhaps
a little finer.'"
Cuban Honet-Plant or Bellflower.—
Mr. O. O. Poppleton, of Dade Co., Fla.. wrote
us as follows May 1 :
Fhieno York : — I send you to-day a photo-
graph of my Cuban bee-plant, taken last
December, while it was in full bloom. It
grows over the porch of my house. This
plant is the source of nearly all the vast
amount of honey obtained in Cuba, and 1 am
informed that it is also abundant in other
islands of the West Indies; aLso in .Mexico.
Us scientific name is Ipomaa siilnjolin. com-
mon name, ■• Aguinaldo," while in English it
is usually known as "Bellflower."' This is
one of the Morning-glories, probably the
most abundant bloomer of the entire genus.
It is confined to the tropics, as frost kills it
to the ground.
The flowers are shaped like a ehurch-belU'
are about II4 inches across and deep. It is
nearly all a pure white, shading into purple
and yellow in the bottom of the inside of the
flower. In Cuba it blooms from about Nov.
•ih to late in February. It is a very show.y
flower, and when in full bloom it looks, at a
little distance, almost like snowbanks, espe-
cially where it runs over hedges or fences. It
not only yields large quantities of honey, but
seems to yield it steadily under all conditions
of weather. Nothing seems to lessen the
yield from it. unless the weather is sueh as to
lu^event the bees from getting out and work-
ing.
Honey from the flower is of about the same
color aiid body as that from white clover,
with a distinctive but rather mild flavor of
its own. I should judge that it will rank in
the general markets as between white clover
and basswood honeys, not equal to the first,
but better than the last.
The principal interest this fiower has to-
American bee-keepers is the fact that it
furnishes nearly all the foreign honey that
competes with our product in our own mar-
kets. Those of us who have to dispose of
our crops in the Eastern seaboard markets,
are already feeling the result of its competi-
ticm. " O. O. POPl'LETON.
Mrs. Geo. Jackson, of Grand Traverse Co.,
Mich., is one of the growing number of very
successful women who keep bees. The fol-
lowing paragraph from Gleanings in Bee-
Culture tells something of the results she
has obtained:
••In the fall of 1897 1 had 18 very strong
colonies, and about 900 pounds of comb-
honey. The bees again wintered well, and in
the spring of 189S I had still 1^ strong colo-
nies. Well, I felt, aiul do still feel, proud of
those bees. They commenced work the first
day they were out of the cellar, and worked
every pleasant day during the summer, and
until heavy frost came in the fall. One col-
ony, the ■• Queen " of my apiary, did itself
•' proud." During the season we took from
it ten stqiera of well-filled and nicely capped
white honey, each super containing -24 pounds.
It did not swarm, and we had a heavy flow of
basswood honey. The other colonies swarmed
early, and June 10 I had 8? strong colonies.
I did not get less than two supers of honey
from any colony, and from many of them
four."
Mrs. Jackson says that Mr. Jackson has
given up all claim to the bees, ■• reserving
only the privilege of eating the honey." He
is a wise man. Any man who has a wife that
can get such results from bees as Mrs. Jack-
son has done, can do no better than simply to-
lay claim to his wife only, and then let her
manage the rest. Her price is far above —
well, say "S200 red-clover queens!""
Maxfield Parrish's flne decorative design
on the cover of The Ladies' Home Journal for
June forms a fitting introduction to a remark-
ably attractive issue. Among the most inter-
esting features of this number are a double
page of pictures, entitled. "Where Golf is
Played," showing some of the handsomest
country club houses in America; a series of
curious " Love Stories of the Zoo.'" told by
Clifford Howard; the first installment of a
fascinating new serial, •' Aileen."' by Elizabeth
Knight Tompkins; a touching full-page pic-
ture of " The Passing of the Farm," by W. L.
Taylor; the queer experiences with " Some
People I Have Married," by the Rev. D. M.
Steele, and a vigorous article on " Women as
' Poor Pay,' " by Edward Bok. Numerous
other articles of general and domestic interest
fill out the rest of the number. By The Curtis
Publishing Company, Philadelphia. Pa. One
dollar a year : ten cents a copy.
-^^ERICA.^
^^ il^A-ZN AMERICA >^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY 30, 1901,
No, 22,
I ^ Editorial. =^ I
The Freight-Rate on Comb Honey
was left uDfliangred bj-'the Western Classifica-
tion Committee at its recent meeting in Cali-
fornia. We suppose bee-keepers ouglit to be
'grateful for this, but in all justice to comb-
honey producers, the rate should be reduced.
Perhaps with the proper effort on their part
at some future time the reduction will be
secured.
Steam-Press Wa.\-Extraetors. — A late
number of Gleanings in Bee-Culture occupies
several pages discussing wax-extractors. It
seems that for several years in Germany and
France, and more recently in this country,
wax-extractors have been in use by which the
wax is pressed out by a screw-press, the press
all the while being kept within steam, so that
there is no danger of the wax chilling as when
taken from a heated place and put in a press
in a lower temperature. Some object that
these steam-press extractors are on too small
a scale for rapid work. Gerst\iiig. a German
editor, has invented a press to work in hot
water, which he claims is better than in
steam. It is possible that the solar extractor
may have to take a back seat for something
that will do more thorough work in getting the
wax out of old combs.
Foul Brood in Michigan. — Geo. E.
Hilton, ijresident of the Michigan State Bee-
Keepers' Association, sends us the following
concerning the foul-brood law in that State,
which he desires all Michigan bee-keepers to
read ;
To THE Bee-Keei>eks or Michigan-. —
So many letters are coining to nie regarding
the foul-brood law in Michigan, that I will
try, through the bee-papers, to answer in a
general way, and save myself valuable time at
this busy time of the year.
First, the law is in operation to-day, and
the inspector is appointed. I feel very much
relieved. I have made four trips to Lansing
in behalf of the measure, and it rei|uired ail
the intluence that myself and others could
tiring to bear to secure its passage, as its im-
portance was so little understood. I have
paid out about ?.tO in expenses, to say noth-
ing of the time I have donated, which would
amount to as much more. And now 1 want
the bee-keepers of the State to take advantage
of the law. and receive the benctits that may
come from our efforts.
I went to Lansing last week, spending a
portion of three days, and succeeded in hav-
ing John M. Rankin, our State apiarist, ap-
pointed as our insjjector, and I know of no
one that can better attend to the work, or
who is more worthy of the posiliim. The work
is under the management of the State Dairy
and Food Commissioner, Hon. W. B. Snow,
of Lansing. Mich., to whom all communica-
tions should be sent. He is in direct com-
liiunicatiou with the Agricultural College,
and will inform Mr. Kankin what is expected
of him.
We have but .?.tOO to use this season, but as
the necessity of the work becomes apparent
we shall be able to gel more. The disease
has an alarming foothold in our State, and it
behooves every bee-keeper in Michigan to do
his whole duty in assisting in the extermina-
tion of this dread malady.
Trusting the above will make everything
plain, and save me many personal letters, I
am. Very respectfully yours,
Geo. E. Hilton,
rremletit Midiiyau Bee- Keepers'' Asxociation.
Mr. Hilton and others deserve the thanks of
every Michigan bee-keeper, for their success-
ful efforts in securing the passage of their
foul-brood law. and also for the appointment
of Mr. John M. Rankin as foul-brood inspec-
tor. Now, let all co-ojierate in the attempt to
eradicate completely the scourge which Mr.
Hilton says lias already gained such a foot-
hold in Michigan.
Other States shouUI jironiptly follow the
good examples set by Wisconsin, Michigan,
Colorado, and some other progressive States
that have lieen wise enough, and energetic
enough, to enact laws for the purpose of pro-
tecting the bees from the deadly disease of
foul brood.
Let us all hope that after the bees, the hogs,
the cattle, and all other farm live-stock have
been fully protected, our legislators will wake
up to the importance of protecting that " best
crop of the farm ' ' — the boys and girls — from
the curse of the saloon. Up to the present
time they are not considered of sufflcient
value in most States to overbalance the greed
for ill-gotten financial gain.
Simmins' Method of Introduction
seems to be gaining in favor. Confine the
queen fasting for HO minutes, keeping her
warm, and let her run quietly in at the top
of the hive, preceding and following with a
pull of smoke. This at night. Then don't
disturb the colony tor 48 hours.
Uzierzon and Jiangstroth. — Some dis-
cussion has taken place in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture between Editor Boot and Dr. C. C.
Miller as to the merits of these two great
leaders. Froiri the discussion it appears that
neither of tlie two gets more credit anywhere
than he deserves, and that neither gets out-
side his own couiury as much credit as ho
should have. The work of Langstroth is not
fully appreciated in Germany, and Dzierzon
is too little appieciati-d }n this country. The
high value of the doctrine of parthenogenesis
given by Dzierzon is by some fully appreciated
on both sides the water, while many on this
side scarcely know what is meant liy^he
term. In Germany Dzierzon is credited with
the invention of movable combs ( bars being
used with side-opening hives necessitating
the cutting of the combs from the hive-walls
at each removal), the great improvement of
movable /ramcs being apparently considered
by many as part and jiarcel of Dzierzon's
work, while Langstroth is scarcely recognized ;
while on this side it is apparently not gen-
erally known that Dzierzon gave to his coun-
trymen movable combs before movable frames
were invented, his bar-hives still being in use
in that country.
While not taking a single leaf from Lang-
stroth's crown of laurel, we on this side can
right at least half the wrong by recognizing
Dzierzon at his full worth.
Decoy for Swarms.— Mr. Doolittle says
in the Progressive Bee-Keejier that years ago
lie hung up dried mullen tops that had been
out over winter, for swarms to settle on, and
three out of four swarms chose those settling-
places. For those who allow natural swarm-
ing he commends the following, which he cut
out of an old newspaper :
*'A good way to cat^'h swarms is as follows :
After each melting of wax preserve the resi-
due of dirt, pollen, cocoons, etc., which is left
after the wax has been pressed out, until
enough for the iJur|iose has been obtained,
when you will add to it one-half pound of
rosin and melt it all in an old vessel. Then
having secured some old mullen tops, take an
old spoon and spread some of the mixture
onto one side of two or three, then keep
adding more toijs and of the mixture, until
the whole cemented together is a fairly good
representation of a swarm of bees, when you
have an excellent bee-bob. When the swarm-
ing season conies on, hang your liob on the
limb of a tree or a pole in the apiary, within
the reach of your hand, and of the bees also,
and nearly every swarm will settle on it. For
something to hang it up by. put in a good,
stout wire while making, cementing it in at
the center."
■ ♦-
A School for Bee-Keepers is one of
the up-to-date things in Vienna, Austria,
(iovernment aid lias been secured, ground
purchased, and a building erected. The tier-
man bee-journal, Bienen-Vater, has a fine
picture of the building, and another of the
apiary. A chief course is to be held some
two weeks, beginning in June, with a possi-
bility of the same being repeated. Only 20
applicants will be received at these chief
courses. Subsidiary courses will lie held on
10 specilic afternoons on dillerent dates from
June to September, allowing 4U to attend
Tuition is entirely free.
340
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 30, 1901.
Contributed Articles. |
Depending Upon Bees Alone for a Living.
BV C. DAVENPORT.
I HAVE noticed that the question, "Is it safe for one to
depend upon bees alone for a living- ?" is one that is
frequently asked, and Dr. Miller has abU' handled the
subject a number of times, but perhaps a few words from
me in reg-ard to the matter may not be considered out of
place, for I am one of the few who are specialists, that is,
I have no other business or occupation of any kind except
beekeeping, and I have made a living- and enough so I
could stand a few failures without going to the poor-house.
But my localit)' is a good one, and I have had nobody but
myself to support, for I have never been able to secure one
of those "queens " that wear dresses and other clothes, so
the prospect of a crop-failure, with me, has never caused
the fear of having children crying for bread.
If I had my life to live over again I should not be a bee-
keeper, for I believe the work I have done to make what
might be called a success in our pursuit, would, in some
others, have resulted in better success financiallj', and
also in other ways. But I am now too old to change my
occupation, and it is not likely that I will ever do so. And
while I should not advise a young man to take up bee-keep-
ing as a life work, in my opinion there is no question but
what a living can be made at it in a good locality, if one
understands the business. There is, though, no need for a
man with a family to depend altogether on bees for a liv-
ing, for he should own at least a few acres where the home
yard is located, so that a few cows and pigs, and a large
flock of poultry, could be kept. These with 300 or 400 colo-
nies of bees would, in a good locality, insure a living for a
family, aud a bank account as well.
I am acquainted with a bee-keeper who has about the
above number of colonies, and his income last year was
about S1800 ; though this to some might be considered a
small amount, here it is considered a large income, and by
some would be looked upon as a small fortune. Though we
are not as bad here in this respect as a man from one rival
region who wrote to a firm in regard to their lowest-priced
saw-mills. Soon after the information was sent, the firm
received the following letter from him :
■■DerSurs: — I aint a gointer buy any saw-mil. Wat do yer take
me fer '. If I hail .-^awi what dn yer "think I wud want a saw-mil fer '."
It seems that in his locality S300 was considered enough
so that any further business enterprise to increase the
amount was needless. And as with this man, some may
find that it costs more to secure and properly equip 300 or
400 colonies for either comb or extracted honej' than they
think it does; and to make a success of bee-keeping at the
present time, modern hives and appliances must be used.
It is so now in any business or pursuit. To succeed one
must keep abreast of the times, and the profession of bee-
keeping is not as easily acquired or mastered in all the
many details essential to success as many imagine, for
probabl)' in few if in any other pursuits is there so much
conflict of opinion as there is in ours. So many of these
important details must be settled and determined individu-
ally, for the methods and appliances that work well with
some, may with others in a difi'erent, or even the same, local-
ity, be a failure.
For instance, about the worst investment I ever made
in our fixtures was for 40 wood-zinc queen-excluders. Do
not think that I am condemning excluders, for I use a large
number of them, but they are all-zinc. I know that many
prefer wood-zinc to all-zinc, but with me they are worth-
less.
The way I remove an excluder from a hive is to insert
■ the thin edge of my hive-tool under it, and strip it right off.
When this is done here with wood-zinc, the very thin pieces
of wood that hold the zinc strips to the wood partitions are
also stripped off, and the whole thing soon comes to pieces.
It is the amount and character or stickiness of the propolis
gathered in my locality that causes this. Even with the all-
zinc wood-bound ones, the thin part of the wood frame that
holds the zinc soon peels off, so that I have to make new
frames ; but frames can be made for them that will hold to
be stripped right off, no matter how badly stuck to the hive
and top-bars they are. Of course, one could use enough
care to remove any kind without injury, but I have not
time for this. During the busy season I have to make
things move quickly, and it is money worse than wasted
for me to invest in, or keep any appliances with which much
unnecessary care has to be used, or that requires needless
time to handle.
To illustrate again, last season I was explaining to a
bee-keeper the great superiority of hives that did not have
an entrance cut in the hive itself, which allowed them to be
quickly tiered up, mouse, bee, and even dust tight. His
reply was that if entrances were cut in the hives, and it
was desired to tier them up, it did not take long to stuff in
rags. It takes more time, though, than I can spend for
this purpose. When a hive body or cover, with me, needs
to be stuffed with rags, it soon goes to the wood-pile. Not
but what they can be used so as to help secure as much sur-
plus honey as those which are not defective, but with me the
time lost in fussing with them is soon worth more than the
cost of new ones. And in regard to bees themselves, I want
the German, or what I call the brown bees, for comb honey.
I believe I stand practically alone in this matter, but after
years of experience in a large way with both races side \>y
side in the same yard, I am convinced that I can secure
more surplus white cotnb honey here with brown bees than
I can with Italians. The main trouble I find with Italians
is their determination to stuff the brood-chamber at the
commencement of the flow, and I have never been able to
overcome this trait. And then, after they have put any-
where from IS to 30 pounds of white honey in the brood-
chamber which should have been in sections, instead of
then being willing to work in sections, they are usually
determined to swarm, and Italian swarms do not, with me,
do as much section-work as do the swarms of brown bees.
With the latter I can secure practically all the white honey
in the sections, whether they swarm or not.
But in my opinion there is as much dift'erence in brown
bees as there is in Italians. For extracted honey I pre-
fer Italians ; they will gather more honey, go a greater
distance, and protect their hive and combs from the rav-
ages of the moth-worms much better than will brown bees,
and this is no small matter in my locality.
Some claim that moth-worms never injure strong colo-
nies of any kind of bees, but this is a mistake, for the
combs will be injured, and hundreds of eggs, larva?, and
hatching brood, will sometimes be destroyed here by moth-
worms in strong, thrifty colonies of brown bees.
Southern Minnesota.
Sliort-Cuts in Extracting Honey.
Read at the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Convention, at Jfadison.
BY FRANK MINNICK.
SOLOMON says, in Ecclesiastes 1;9, "The thing that
hath been it is that which shall be ; and that which is
done is that which shall be done ; and there is no new
thing under the sun." In passing through the historical
rooms of our beautiful capitol some years ago, I saw the
hand of an Egyptian mummy, and wondered if it had not
wrought in accord with Solomon's words; or, in the words
of the poet with a line of my own added,
•■ l'riliai>^ this iiuTry hand now pinioned fast,
lias holMiiililii-d with Pharaoh, g-lass to glass;
DrdiiU'i-.l his hat to let Queen Dido pass;"
Or handled Langstroth or similar hives, which are tirst-clas.s.
But whatever may have been, or whatever of lost arts
are buried in the sediment of the Nile, or wherever they
may be, we are where we are. Historians look into the
past, poets into the future, but we have to deal with the
present, so let us get down to business.
Very often the shortest way across is the longest way
around, but I wish to call to your minds a few of the short-
cuts that I have discovered in reading a few works on bee-
culture, and in the 20 short years that I have made bee-
keeping a means of gaining a livelihood.
In the first place, it is very desirable that the bee-yard
be laid out in such a way that the backs of the hives are
toward each other, and the rows far enough apart to leave
plenty of room for the " honej'-carriage," and a space to
work in where scarcelj' any bees are flj'ing. It is also well
to have the extracting-room lower than the yard, for one
can wheel very much more down hill than up.
After handling many different sizes of combs I have
settled down to what the " father of American bee-keep-
May 30, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
341
ing," our beloved and lamented Langstroth, considered the
very best — his 10-frame hive, in brood and extracting
departments. I have worked my winter repositories (which
are cellars) into extracting-rooms, and they are very cool
and pleasant on a hot summer day. I have discarded
screen-doors and ventilate through screen-windows. Bees
will not accumulate on a wooden door and rush in with you
by the thousands to annoy.
Place the extractor on a platform from two to 4 feet
high, and dig a pit so that the honey goes by gravity from
the extractor through the strainer to the keg. My strainer-
box is made after the Rambler pattern, which is a honey-
tight box with a roller on both ends near the top. The
cheese-cloth which I use for a strainer is rolled up on one
end and stretched to the other, as it becomes clogged. It is
rolled by means of a ratchet-wheel on each roller, held in
place by a single spring extending from one wheel to the
other. I have also a tin strainer above the cheese-cloth,
which catches all the coarse stuff.
For an uncapping-can I use a 200-pound honey-keg
with the head out. I take a clean sugar-barrel hoop, and
bend and nail it together so it will drop down into the bot-
tom of the keg ; then make another one that will fit inside
of the first one : place unpainted wire window-screen on
the larger hoop, pressing the smaller one down into it,
which when strengthened with a few pieces of lath makes
a fine strainer for the uncapping-can ; and a hole made in
the bottom allows the honey to drain out.
For a frame to hold the comb while uncapping I use a
strip across the top of the keg 1x2 inches with a nail driven
through each end, between the hoop and stave, to hold it
steady : but before I nail it down I drive an 8-penny wire-
nail about 6 inches from one end- from the upper side, for a
point on which to hold the combs while uncapping. Now
this point on which turns our fortune (or misfortune, I
sometimes think) holds the frame at almost any angle
desired without slipping, and I can reverse it. All these
motions which are necessary in uncapping are accom-
plished with one hand without lifting the comb.
I know of no better uncapping-knife than the Bingham
& Hetherington. I used to lay the knife on the strip on
top of the keg with the handle projecting over the edge,
but hereby hangs a tale. The one who uncaps is called the
"shaver," and I was acting in that capacity one day. when,
in handling a heavy, slippery comb I let it drop on the
projecting handle, which caused it to jump at me like an
animate thing; as poor as its aim was it made a "short
cut " in my ear, and drew forth rich, royal blood. So now
I drive a small nail part way into the end of the handle
beside the shank, and hang it inside of the keg.
The Porter bee-escapes are a great invention. I try to
get them on at least 24 hours before I wish to begin extract-
ing, then usually I can go out and run the supers in like so
many bricks. I try to have enough to keep us running all
day, so I put the escapes on another lot immediately so that
they will be ready to extract the next morning.
Now comes the work which is to me the pleasantest
part of bee-keeping. With veil laid aside, sleeves rolled
up, and my honey-kegs previously tested with boiling
water, I am ready for a big day's run. As the combs are
uncapped they are placed on the platform in a box with a
tin bottom, from which an active, careful boy runs them
through a Cowan extractor. The empty keg is placed on
scales under the strainer-box, which will sink at the desired
weight, and cause the honey-gate to close automatically, by
means of a stick reaching to the honey-gate from the keg.
The keg is quickly removed and replaced by another, and so
the work goes merrily on, and I am content.
Shall Bees Be Taxed ?— A New Yorker's Opinion.
BY I-RIEIIE-M.\NX GREINER.
IT is my opinion that every patriotic person, and all good
citizens, should be willing, na)-, anxious, to pay their
just share of taxation, bee-keepers included. If our
patriotism makes us liberal only in the expenditure of
money used for fire-crackers, beer and whiskey, that we
might celebrate the anniversary of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence worthily (?), or perhaps the victory of the Repub-
lican party, or any other political party, then our patriotism
is not worth much, and leads us astray. If our patriotism
does not prompt us to come forward with our treasures,
our stored-up papers, mortgages and notes, and demand
that we are justly taxed for all we possess, as a reciprocity
act for the protection we enjoy, then we would better not
make much ado about our patriotic feeling. I am sorry to
say that a great many people, even those of high rank, try
in every conceivable way to hide their possessions before
the eyes of the assessors and tax-collectors.
I am not sure that taxation will ever be equitably
adjusted. The situation to-day is practically about the
same as in the many centuries gone before. History shows
that the poor class, the people of little influence and means,
were always controlled and oppressed by the strong
and rich class, which in turn again gave rise to the
so-called revolutions. In other words, the common people
would endure about .so much, but when the pressure became
too great, then they kicked. Of course, we hope that a
Christian spirit will so penetrate the heart of each indi-
vidual, and the masses, that this earth will become more
heaven-like, and that selfishness will be driven out ; but
much water will probably flow down the Rhine before we
reach this state of things. lyCt this be as it may. I do not
wish to sneak out and avoid being taxed on my bees.
What I do object to is, to be picked out of the large number
of wealth producers and owners as the only one to pay
taxes. I am in favor of having all kinds of property
taxed, have brains taxed, etc. We did not succeed in hav-
ing a national income-tax law passed — it was declared
unconstitutional. Let us try it again — it is a just and wise
measure, just the same. Those that have shall give, ought
to give I ,
If I am going to be taxed on my property am I not
justifiable in demanding that my neighbors shall also be
taxed on their property ? To illustrate I wish to say : One
of my neighbors has six fine horses; their market value is
S600 ; nothing said of the single and double, light and
heavy harnesses, wagons single and double, carriages, reap-
ers, binders, etc ; he has 20 head of cattle, their market
value $500 ; then he has 100 sheep with a market value of
$800 dollars; a herd of swine, valued at SlOO — all in all, his
stock has a value of S2100. Let it be understood that at an
open sale his stock would probably bring that amount of
money, at least. But a few days ago I asked him how
much tax he paid on this nice investment. Well, what do
you think ? Not one red cent !
I am a bee-keeper, principally. My stock of bees con-
sists of ISO colonies. At an open sale they might bring
$300, no more. Of course I would not sell them for that,
not even for twice that amount. Besides the bees, I keep
one horse and two cows, valued at $150, which concludes
the list of my stock. In all it represents in value $450. So
as not to be called unfair, I will put it at $700. Some years
ago when the assessor came around he was much inclined
to assess my bees (and I had but about 65 colonies at that
time). Of course I objected. Pray, why should I be taxed
on my $700 investment, while my wealthy neighbor is
exempt on his $2100 stock investment ?
When all other personal property is enlisted on the
assessor's list and lawfully taxed, then I will cheerfully
consent to have my bees listed, also I understand in some
States, in particular in the South, a tax is levied on
watches, pianos, other musical instruments, carriages and
stock of all kinds. Of course, where this is the case bees
should not escape.
But there is another standpoint from which taxation of
bees may be viewed. The cane-sugar interest in the South,
and the beet-sugar interest in the West and North, are fos-
tered by the Government to such an extent that even a
premium or subsidy is paid to sugar manufacturers on
every pound of sugar produced. Honey is sugar. Why do
we bee-keepers not receive a subsidy on the honey we pro-
duce ? A great deal of honey goes to waste in the flowers
year in and year out. It can not be said that all honey is
gathered until there are about 10 colonies kept to every square
mile. The honey, if left in the flowers, does no one any
good. Uncle Sam ought to encourage bee-keeping, to the
end that all this honey might be gathered and saved,
instead of taxing bees out of existence.
And, finally, there are thousands and millions of blos-
soms that need fertilizing every year. Many fail to set
fruit for lack of pollen-carriers. More bees, even if they
gathered no honey for us, would be an advantage to the
fruit interest in most localities, and should be kept for the
sole purpose of fertilizing fruit-blossoms. For this ser-
vice the bees ought to receive pay and protection, or rather
the bee-keeper ought to receive from the Government a cer-
tain amount premium, say ,50 cents, or more, for each col-
ony kept, instead of being taxed for them. This idea is
not a new one. by any means. The people of the middle
age valued the service the honey-bees rendered, and did pay
a premium for keeping them. I believe I mentioned this
342
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 30, 1901.
fact several j'ears ago in a longer article on the history of
the bee.
Great interest in bee-keeping was manifested in a later
age by that great king and statesman of Prussia, Freder-
ick, living during the 18th century. His order was, that
every minister of the gospel in his kingdom, every order
of monks, and all monasteries, must keep a certain num-
ber of colonies of bees. Every renter of crown lands pay-
ing 150 thaler rent had to keep 10 colonies ; those paying
higher rent 20 colonies. For every colony less than that
number five thaler penalty had to be paid. Each farmer
(bauer) had to maintain an apiary of four colonies, from
that number down to one colony, according to the number
of acres of laud he owned. Failing to meet these require-
ments, about 5u cents had to be paid for every colony not
kept. On the other hand, 50 cents premium was paid for
every colony kept, over and above the required number !
From this it will be seen that Frederick must have been
convinced that bee-keeping offered many advantages, and
produced great benefits. In this understanding he was far
ahead of manj' of the leading statesmen of the present
day, who can often see nothing but evil resulting from the
keeping of bees, and desiring to rule them out and almost
exterminate them. Ontario Co., N. Y.
Artificial Swarming ortDividing for Increase.
BY C. r. D.\DANT.
CH.\RLESDADANTi SON:— I think I have seen somewhere that
you practice artificial swarming, exclusively. Do you still think it
best? and can you secure as much comb honey ? It would certainly
be much more convenient if as good results could be obtained. — 1».
C. Roberts, Colorado.
Yes, we practice artificial swarming exclusively, though
we do not call it bj- that name. We call it "division of
colonies," because it is not anything like swarming. True
artificial swarming is done by removing a swarm with the
queen in a forced way, either by drumming the bees out
from one hive to another, as formerly practiced with the
box-hives, or by shaking enough of the bees with the
queen into a new hive.
I must say, however, that if we were practicing bee-cul-
ture for comb honey with the usual eight-frame hive, such
as is recommended by many bee-keepers, we should be far
from practicing artificial swarming, but would instead try
to devise means to prevent the natural swarming in the
limit of our power. From repeated acknowledgments of
comb-honey producers who use small hives, I have con-
cluded that this method of bee-keeping produced rather too
much increase in ordinarj- seasons, and that the desidera-
tum was a method by which less increase could be had.
By our methods, we produce extracted honey almost
exclusively, with large hives, always supplied with a sufli-
cient amount of emptj- comb to prevent the desire of
swarming, except in extraordinary seasons. So when we
desire increase, usually only in sufficient amount to make
up for winter losses, in each apiary, we follow the artificial
methods.
As to the production of as mtfch honey with a colony
that has been divided by any manner whatever, either nat-
ural or artificial, as with a colony in which all the bees
remain at their post, that is out of the question. The bees
that are taken away, or that leave with a swarm, go to mak-
ing that swarm prosperous, they harvest honey for its
brood, and for the building of its combs, and, while doing-
that, they surely can not be expected to produce surplus
hone}'. But if j-ou are in a location in which two crops
may be expected, some six weeks or two mouths apart, atid
if the second crop is a very safe probability, then what you
may lose in the first crop, by dividing, will perhaps be
more than repaid by the product of the extra colony which
you have brought into existence. You are exactly in the
position of a man who is bringing up a family. While his
children are small they are a strain upon his energy, for he
must support them, educate them, train them to the duties
of life; but when the)' are grown, they may prove a very
great help instead of a drain upon his resources. If you
begin the season with 25 colonies of bees and seek no
increase, you may have a very fair crop, but if you double
their numbers, though you will have no crop during the
early summer, the fall crop will probably be double what it
would have been had you depended upon the original num-
ber of colonies for your supplj'.
There are man)' methods of making divisions or arti-
ficial swarms. Nearly every writer describes his own plan,
and they are all good, in a greater or less degree, if they
follow the first principles of the trade — of leaving colonies
queenless the least possible time.
With the new methods of queen-rearing, among which
the Doolittle method stands conspicuous, it is not very diffi-
cult to rear queens from the very best mothers to supply all
swarms made. Or, if this be thought too difficult, queens
may be bought from reliable breeders, especially in the
South, for a small price. Thus swarms may easily be sup-
plied with very good, choice queens, and little time is lost.
The plan which we follow, and which proves the most
economical, is to make our swarms, or take our increase,
from the colonies which are not likely to give any surplus.
This, of course, applies only to an apiary in which the colo-
nies are not all intended for forced increase. If we must
have increase at the exclusion of everything else, then let
us use every colony of sufficient strength to further our
purpose. But if we want an increase of say only one-third,
we will aim to leave the most populous colonies intact, tak-
ing the brood and bees from colonies which have bred up
too late to make a crop. This must not be understood to
mean that every weak colony may be divided, for there are
sometimes colonies of bees which fail to breed up, from
divers causes, and which remain weak till after the honey
harvest. These are of no value, and must be completely
taken out of our reckoning.
But we have colonies of bees that breed up promptly
and plentifully at the opening of spring, and begin the
harvest with as full a force of field-workers as it is possible
for them to have at any time. On the other hand, there
are colonies which having been delayed in their breeding
by different circumstances, are still quite prolific, and find
themselves with a large amount of brood, but with less
field-workers ready for the harvest. These, in other words,
are behind-time for the harvest, and it is to them that we
look for the supply of brood for our divisions. There is
nothing lost in the way of a crop by dividing them, for
they would only just begin to build in the boxes by the end
of a harvest, and the brood and bees that they can furnish
will give us quite a good many " swarms " that will have
enough to make preparations for the second crop. Thus, if
there is any chance for honey, our best colonies will har-
vest it, and the secondary ones will give us the increase.
But if we breed our own queens, no other consider-
ations should deter us from using the very best colony for
breeding the young queens. Prolificness and hardiness
first, color and breed next, should be our standard. Gentle-
ness is also a consideration. But if we breed mainly from
pure Italians this quality will be a matter of course with
every one of our best colonies.
A vigilant eye must be kept on the divisions. Until
they show a good queen laying plentifully, and the combs
are'all built, they should not be left to their own devices
more than a week at a time.
In this way only can we expect to succeed.
Hancock Co., 111.
" Long-Tongued Bees
Fad or Fallacy, Wliicli?"
R. ROOT.
ON page 293, I find an article by Mr. G. M. Doolittle under
the above heading. " Of late years." says Mr. D.,
"some of our bee-papers start off with some new idea,
or some old one revived, and in a little while the heads in
all beedom seem to get twisted. . . .which, a few years later,
is dropped, with hundreds and thousands of hard-earned
dollars wasted over the hobby or fad."
A thousand dollars — that's a big sum ; and thousands
of dollars — that's bigger yet. I do not recall any fads that
have been dropped that have cost anywhere near such sums.
Reversible frames? We sold, perhaps, more than any one
else; and yet we did not sell, all told, $300 worth of them.
Self-hivers ? We sold about 510 worth. But we must have
some failure fads in order to get those that are a success.
Did Mr. Doolittle never ride a hobby, or push a fad ?
Well, let's see. Did he not champion wide frames for sec-
tions about 17 years ago ? And now they are used by very
few, including Doolittle. Was he not one of the very first
who started the fad for tall sections ? Did any one waste
thousands of hard-earned dollars on them ? I can not recall
one. He started the fad for rearing queen-cups, and a very
good fad it was. Did any one waste any hard-earned dol-
lars over that? But the fad maybe dropped for drone-
comb queen-cups. He helped boom, years ago, in his
pamphlet, " The Hive I Use," the Gallup hive ; and some of
his followers, as I happen to know, wished afterward
they had not followed him, because they had on their hands
May 31), 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
343
a lot of odd-sized hives. But now Mr. Doolittle says the
r.,ang-stroth is just as g-ood as the Gallup, and has the advan-
tage of being- regular.
And that reminds me that Mr. D. has decried other
fads which he has since adopted. He condemned, for
instance, thick top-bars, on the ground that he wanted burr-
combs as "ladders" to enable the bees to climb up into
the supers ; and now he is recommending thick top-bars 1
If I mistake not, he once protested against the introduc-
tion of comb foundation, but is now using it. and sanctions
its use. Prominently among those who pushed the fad for
yellow or five-banded bees was Mr. Doolittle. If there is
any fad that has cost bee-keepers a few dollars (not thou-
sands), and for which there may have been little or no return
in honey, it was the rage for golden Italians ; and Mr.
Doolittle is still pushing them, if I mistake not. I do not
say there is anything wrong in selling them. If one
wishes beauty, he has a right to pay for it, and the breeder
to sell it ; but when Mr. Doolittle condemns others for
pushing the fad of long-tongued bees — bees that give a
promise of bringing in more honey — he should not forget
that there may be others who may be equally honest in
advertising and selling long-reach bees.
He apparently questions the propriety of charging rflO,
-515, or S20, for queens. If so, it is wrong for him, but per-
haps in a lesser degree, to charge $5.00 for his best queens.
It may be that no single bee is worth $2.5. I have no quar-
rel with any one who so thinks. I know this : We refused
an offer of f25 for a daughter of our best breeder. If it is
right to sell stallions, Jersey bulls, dogs, and roosters of
high blood, at big prices, is it awfully wicked to sell queen-
bees at ten and twenty-five dollars? Certainly not; for
Mr. D. has said that the queen is the pivotal center of the
colony ; and in the same way an extra-good queen is the
pivotal center of a whole apiarj'.
He quotes Stenog, in " Pickings," as saying that no
one claims that the long-tongued bees would be any better
except on red clover, and then goes on to say if this is cor-
rect " then these long-tongued bees are of no special advan-
tage to me nor to two-thirds of the acreage of North
America." / never claimed that the long-tongue bees
would be useful on red clover alone. The fact is, there are
other honey-plants that iiave deep corroUa-tubes. I refer
especially to the Coinposi/ir family. Then there are certain
corrolla-tubes in the heads of alsike that are too long for
the bees to reach to the bottom ; and there are certain
tubes of even white clover that are somewhat long for the
tongue-reach of the average bee. If there are other honey-
plants that have deep corrolla-tubes, then practically all of
Mr. Doolittle's argument falls to the ground. He certainly
knows that the flora of different localities of the United
States is decidedly difl'erent, especially in the South ; and
he must not judge the whole United States by the vicinity
in and around his place of residence in Onondaga County,
N. Y.
He says, further, that he finds breeders in the extreme
Southern States, such as Florida and Texas, advertising
long-tongued queens, "just as if those long tongues were
a great desideratum for that Southern country." Why, Mr.
Doolittle, don't you know that most of the Southern-bred
queens are sold in the North ? Can't you see, for instance,
how a manufacturer of stump-pulling machines, located on
the prairies of Illinois, might sell such machines in locali-
ties in other States where such machinery would be in
demand ?
The quotations Mr. Doolittle makes are, I find, from
one of Mr. Hutchinson's advertisements, from some of my
own writings, and from a statement or two in the Ameri-
can Bee Journal. Right on the heels of these he says :
"To give misleading statements, or those that are actually
false, is something that our bee-papers of the present day
should not stoop to do — not even when the motive of gain
prompts the advertisers." Why, Mr. Doolittle, is it pos-
sible that Mr. Hutchinson, the editors of some of the other
bee-papers, and all these other brethren whom you have
quoted, are putting out " statements "...." that are actu-
ally false," and " stooping " to unfair methods simply for
" gain ■■"' I can not think you believe that. They may be
misled ; they may be mistaken : they may be wrong in their
opinions ; but falsifiers for gain, never.
You say there are times when it is necessary to "call a
halt." I partly agree with you: but it seems to me, Mr.
Doolittle. in view of what I published on page 2'^^ of
Gleanings, that you are somewhat late in the day. After
making all those quotations, and putting them in such a
way as to leave the impression before the average reader
that those of us who sold long-tongued stock had quite lost
our heads, you might, in all fairness, have given other
quotations from the same writers that hold up the danger-
signals. For example, on page 295 of April 1st Gleanings,
I said :
" There is danger that many who t;et queens of this blood (lonsr-
tongue) will be disappointed, and in the end the whole business lie
condemned. .. .It is only proper to sound a note of warning. . ..\\\-
are not positively sure that the amount of honey a colony will {jathi-r
is in direct proportion to the length of the tongues of its bees. ... In
any case, let us nut lose our lieads."
Again, on page 401 I published something more in the
same line. I did not give these editorials because I thought
it was necessary to call a " halt," but only to draw atten-
tion to certain phases of the question that were liable to
abuse, and to prevent, if possible, probable disappointment.
In conclusion, let us bear in mind these facts : That
red clover is not the only plant, by any means, that has
long nectar-tubes. Second, that, if we succeed in getting
long-tongue stock, we shall have bees that will get more
honey out of alsike, as well as more honey out of red
clover. During the seasons of heavy rains, when the
clovers have a stocky, vigorous growth, I have seen the cor-
rolla-tubes of alsike as long as the tubes in ordinary red
clover in common seasons, and I have seen the nectar-tubes
of white clover — that is, the longest of them — too deep for
the average bees to reach the bottom of.
I desire to say that I believe Mr. Doolittle is honest in
his position ; but he has allowed his prejudices to warp his
judgment, I fear. I bear no ill will toward him, and hope
he does not toward me.
No. 3.— Practical Lessons for BesSinners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRIXG.
Continued from page 2' '5.)
" Now, Mr. Bond," I said, after returning with him to
the hive chosen as our object lesson, " right liere is a prac-
tical illustration of what may be accomplished in the direc-
tion of success in bee-culture. This colony has done won-
ders so far this season. In fact, it has stood first-rank ever
since I first started it with its present queen.
" Bee-books tell us that a queen should be superseded
the third or fourth year, because at that age queens begin
to decline in egg-laying power. I have seen this seemingly
orthodox deliverance asserted, re-asserted, and elaborated
in the bee-papers by bee-keepers whose orthodoxy one
would scarcely venture to call in question. But neither
bee text-books, bee-papers, nor leaders in bee-culture, are
entirely reliable in all things ; owing, however, to the fact
that many things come to our notice by practical experi-
ence and observation, as we pursue each his own theory or
plan, that are unique in the sense of being new, or without
precedent. My experience with this colony for three years
proves that this assertion, which may seem to some like an
unjust aspersion, is neither rash nor egotistical.
" Well, to illustrate : I took from this hive, this morn-
ing before you came, four supers of 28 one-pound sections
each, all well-filled and beautifully finished, and nearlv as
white as snow. The fifth super — the one I took off a little
while ago — is also full of honey ; but, as the sections are
not all sealed over, I leave it on the hive until the bees com-
plete their work in it. But, in order to provide honey-
storing room for them I shall give them a fresh super
directly.
" Now, you see, here is a honey-yield from this one
colony of five supers, or 140 pounds — all white clover honey.
And, the white clover yet being in fairly good condition,
there is a prospect of at least one more super being filled
and finished ; making six in all. Then there is the late
honey to come in yet, from which they may fill another
super for me, and store from 30 to 40 pounds for themselves
to winter on."
" Excuse me, Mr. Gehring, for expressing my opinion,
but that's about the fishiest honey-story I have ever heard."
Mr. Bond was leaning against the apple-tree under
which was the champion colony when he made this slangy
remark. When I turned to look at him in order to interpret,
if possible, the expression of his face, I saw that he had
removed his bee-veil, with his hat, and was — I thought
rather nervously — mopping his jovial face with his red
pocket handkerchief. It was evident that he had quite for-
gotten his previous precautions against danger. There
were no angry bees about just then, however, for I had not
yet opened the hive, but was standing near it with my
344
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
May 30, 1901.
frame-prying instrument — an old chisel — in one hand, and
smoker in the other. I saw a merry twinkle in my friend's
blue eyes, but otherwise he looked supremely unconscious
of having said anything at all funny or improper.
"Mr. Bond," I said, " I don't blame you for making
that remark. But my family and one or two of my neigh-
bors know that what I have stated is true. Besides, here is
another evidence — come here and see."
Mr. Bond hastily replaced his hat and readjusted his
bee-veil before he complied. I then said, pointing to a card
which was tacked to the inside of the cover of the hive :
"On that card, Mr. Bond, you can read a complete record of
this colony up to date, from the time it was put into winter
quarters. At the top end of the card you see the figure 4,
which denotes the number of the colony."
" Why don't you put the number on the front of the out-
side ?" queried Mr. Bond.
" Because I think it is better to number the colony in-
stead of the hive," I replied. " When a certain number is
once painted on the outside of a hive I can't very well
change it to another number, though I may have the best of
reasons for wishing to do so. I know of excellent bee-
keepers who do paint the number on the outside of the
hive, and they have the right so to do. But I think a better
way would be — if they must have the number on the outside
— to tack pieces of tin with the numbers painted on them on
the front of the hive ; then it would be easy to change them
from one hive to any other when occasion required it."
" Your idea looks reasonable and sensible to me," re-
marked Mr. Bond. "But," he continued, " will you please
tell me what kind of an occasion would require the change
you speak of ?"
"One such occasion would be, when the colonj' casts a
swarm," I answered. " Take, for illustration, the swarm
we have just hived. The hive it came from is numbered 9,
on the card inside the cover. That number designated the
colony, or more correctly, the queen. But the colony left
the parent hive, and the queen went with it ; hence, I take
the record-card from the old hive and tack it inside the
cover of the hive the swarm is in. In that way I keep track
of the mother-queen as long as she lives, without confusion,
and with the least possible trouble. But there is another
reason why I transfer the number from the old to the new
hive, which I shall explain when we get back to it to look
after that drone-brood, and to do one or two other things
that will be found necessary, I think, within a week — I don't
think we can more than finish the lesson I have for you
here this afternoon."
" Why, you don't intend to keep me here till dark, do
you ?" anxiously inquired Mr. Bond.
"No," I answered. "And that is just the reason why
we can't finish the lesson to-day. You see, I make it a rule
in my apiary-work never to molest my bees, in any way,
after sunset."
"That's queer," remarked Mr. Bond ; "I had a notion
the night-time was the best to monkey with bees. My
father thought so, I'm sure, for he never touched a hive
during the day, except to hive a swarm."
" That merely proves that you and your father knew
nothing about the nature and habits of bees," I replied. "I
know lots of people who think a cloudy day is a better time
than a sunshiny day, and a rainy day the best of all days
to 'monkey with their bees,' as you style it. Well, they
are all wrong ; and for the same reason just stated.
"The fact is, Mr. Bond, the very best time that can be
chosen when any kind of a tedious or complicated job is to
be done in the apiary — such as putting on or taking oif
supers, looking for queens or drone-brood, or exchanging
and interchanging brood-frames — is between sunri.se and
noon on a clear, warm day. The bees are then nearly all
busy at their work — a large number of the workers out in
the fields. Hence, there are less stings and less labor for
the manipulator, and less annoyance for the bees. There
is only one exception to this, when regarded as a standard
rule, and that is, in the case of robbing going on in the
apiary. In that case all regular work among the hives
must be suspended until the fracas is settled, and every-
thing is restored to its normal state in the apiary. I will
tell you more about robbing and robbers some other time.
We must hurry and attend to the lesson in hand.
" Well, you can see that this record-card indicates the
age of the queen, and that she is full-blood Italian. It also
shows that she is " clipped." , '
"'Clipped?'" queried Mr. Bond, doubt and wonder in
the tone of his voice as he spoke the word. " I don't under-
stand what you mean by that."
" I suppose you don't," I replied, " but I haven't time
just now to explain. Besides, should I proceed to do so I
would probably forget where I am in the course of our
lesson.
" Well, the next thing the card shows is the interesting
fact that the colony had sealed brood on several frames in
February ; and the next, that it cast a large swarm April
12; and the nest, that before the end of the month the
colony was doubled up " —
"What's that?" interrupted Mr. Bond, eagerly, com-
ing a step nearer.
" Never mind now, Mr. Bond ; it's quite a little story,
and a very important thing to know — but I'll have to put
you off for a full explanation because it's getting late.
" What I am trying to get at in an orderly way is that
proof which I mentioned concerning the honey-yield from
this hive. But first — lest you lose a part of the lesson this
card teaches — notice, please, the next items on record :
" ' April 20 : Storing white-clover honey in the frames.'
Following that item you see here a record of dates when
the five supers were put on, successively.
" Another thing : Please notice there is a little card on
this end of this super" — directing Mr. Bond's attention to
the super which I was preparing to remove from the hive
when the swarm interrupted us.
"Well, on this card, as you see, is the number of the
colony ; and next, the number of the super in the order it
was placed on the hive. The other four standing in the
honey-house are marked in the same manner as this.
" This is the special proof I wanted to direct your atten-
tion to in order to satisfy you that bees can, and do, per-
form wonders in honey-gathering when they have a first-
class chance."
"What do you call a first-class chance?" inquired Mr.
Bond.
"Now, you've asked a hard question," I replied. "A
hard question in the sense that a full, comprehensive an-
swer would cover nearly the whole range of successful bee-
culture. I can, therefore, give you onlj' a crumb, as it
were, of the whole loaf :
"One factor in the first-class chance, in this particular
case, was, an uncommonly rich growth of white clover,
yielding nectar very profusely and continuously for a long
time. And another, plenty of young bees in the hive to
gather it ; in this case not less than 40,000 before April 12,
and thousands more crawling out of their cells every day.
" But the bee-keeper also has a share in the first-class-
chance program, if he knows his business and attends to it,
and that is, he must know exactly when to give the colony
supers ; and he must watch very closely to be sure that they
never lack honey-storing room above the brood-chamber
while the honey-flow is on.
" These are, I think, the main points. But numerous
other things are important also, which, if ignored, or neg'-
lected, or not recognized, will cut an a^toundingly large
hole in the honey crop, whether the crop is from one or 50
colonies."
" Do you put all the supers, needed by a colony, on at
once ?"
" I glanced at my friend sharply, when he asked this
question, to see whether he was in earnest or in fun. Satis-
fied that he meant it seriously, I answered :
" No, indeed, Mr. Bond. I put one on first. When that
is about full, and I see that the bees are sealing the sec-
tions over, I take it off and put an empty one in its place,
replacing the full one by putting it on top of the other.
Thus I continue to put on supers as needed, Mr. Bond."
(To be continued.)
Why Not Help a Little — both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
— ^ *-*-*•
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
May 30, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
345
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. C. MILLER. 21/areng-o, 111.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofiBce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Perhaps in a Starving Condition.
I have wintered my bees all right, but I have noticed
for several mornings that the full grown young bees come
out until the ground in front of the hives is covered with
them ; and they won't go back to the hive, but crawl around
until they die away. These bees must either come out at
night or very early in the morning. Illinois.
Ansvvkk. — It is possible your bees are in a starving con-
dition. If you find no stores in the hive, feed at once.
Sometimes a colony swarms out in spring because short of
stores or for some other reason, and if the queen does not
go with them they return to the hive leaving the young
bees crawling about on the ground. The most you can do
is to see that they have stores, and keep the hive as warm
as possible by shutting up any cracks and allowing entrance
for only a few bees at a time.
Carrying Queen-Cells a Distance.
Can queen-cells one or two days before hatching be
taken three or four miles if left on the comb ? Have j'ou
ever tried this ? Illinois.
Answer. — Yes, I have tried it successfully a number of
times. I have taken to an out-apiary a queenless colony
with a good queen-cell on each frame, put each frame with
its adhering bees in an empty hive as a starter for a
nucleus, and obtained good queens thereby. I suppose,
however, you mean to take the queen-cell without bees.
That I have also done occasionally with success. The cell
should be well advanced, and must be kept warm and not
subjected to severe jarring. Pack in cotton in a little box,
and carry the box in the vest pocket or some pocket close to
the body so it will not chill.
Poisoning a Neiglibor's Bees a Crime.
1. When I cook and prepare poison like Bordeaux mix-
ture, etc., for my plants and shrubs on my own property,
and my neighbor's bees come and eat it, and are killed
thereby, can I get into trouble for it ?
2. When my neighbor's bees come and rob mine, kill
them and take their honey, and I in a chemical way kill the
robber-bees on my own property, is there anything wrong
in it when I thus protect my property ? Illinois.
Answeks. — 1. The man that cooks poison that his
neighbor's bees may get is cooking trouble for himself,
most decidedly. The idea that a man can do wrong to
others just because on his own property is a pernicious
mistake. If a man comes on ray property that I don't want
there, he has no business there, and I may order him off ;
but if I shoot him because he doesn't go I'm sure to get
into trouble. Still tuore have I no right to destroy my
neighbor's bees when they come on my property, for bees
have a right wherever they can fly, and if I put poison
where they will take it I am responsible. There is, how-
ever, no danger in spraying plants and shrubs unless they
are in bloom, and an intelligent man will understand that
it is of no use but a harm to the plants to spray at that
time. When not in bloom, there is no danger to the bees,
because the bees visit the plants only when in bloom. < )f
course if the poison were sweetened the bees would visit
them any time, but the sweetening would be of no use to
the plants, and a man that would sweeten the poison for
the sake of poisoning the bees ought to suffer the full pen-
alty of the law.
2. Most assuredly there would be great wrong in it. If
your bees come to rob my bees, it is not your business to
keep them away, but it is my business to manage ray bees
so that no other bees will rob them. If I leave honey stand-
ing around so as to start robbing, then I am to blame and
have done a wrong to myself and to you. If I have weak
or queenless colonies, I must protect them or unite them,
so robbers will not trouble them. Set it down as a fixed
principle that if I allow your bees to rob mine, I am the
one to blame, and it is a damage to you to get your bees in
the way of robbing, and if I then try to poison your bees I
am stooping to so mean a thing that the law ought to
handle me pretty roughly.
Extracting Propolis.
I have quite an amount of propolis scrapings on hand.
What is the best way to extract or melt it ?
Wisconsin.
Answer. — I suppose your object is to get the beeswax
out of it. I'm not sure I know the best way. I once took
a dripping-pan filled with it, put it in the oven of the cook-
stove, and when all was heated for some time poured or
dipped ofi the wax. Possibly if water was added before
heating, the wax would rise to the surface and the propolis
sink to the bottom. Then when cold it would be easy to
lift off the wax.
Simpson Honey-Plant in Kansas.
Would the Simpson honey-plant do any good in this
dry climate ? The cleome does well here. K.\NS.4S.
Answer. — Very likely it will grow well enough, but it
would be worth while to sow it in waste places only. It is
probably not held by any one now that it would pay to
occupy tillable land with it.
Management for Increase.
I have six colonies of bees which I want to increase to
nine, and not allow them to swarm. Three are black and
three are Italians, and I want to increase the Italians. My
plan is this : Drive the bees with their queen from the
Italian hives to new hives with full sheets of foundation,
and place on the old stand, and place the old hive in the
place of one of the black colonies, removing the colony of
black bees to a new place. Do you think this is a good plan
for dividing ? Do you think it will keep them from swarm-
ing ? ' Minnesota.
Answer. — Yes, the plan will work. The change should
not be made late in the day, lest so few bees enter the hive
of brood that it be chilled. Do it early in the day, or still
better at the time the bees are out for a play-spell. It
would, of course, be better if you could give a queen or
queen-cell to the queenless hive, for only field-bees are
there, and they are not the best to rear a queen. If moved,
however, at time of play-spell, there will be some young
bees. If done early in the season (and it would not do to
wait late for fear of swarming) there is danger that the
removed black colony will soon become strong again and
swarm. It will help to prevent this if at the time of
removal you shake off into the queenless hive all the bees
from three or four frames. If you leave them to rear their
own queen, these young bees will be an advantage in that
regard. I'^ut there may be danger of swarming from the
queenless hive when the cells mature, so you might cut
out all cells but one.
" The Mum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the narae of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by .some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a '• hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at Sl.OO.
The Chicago Convention Picture is a fine one. It is
nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard
10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee-
keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for
75 cents; or we can send the American Bee Journal one
year and the picture — both for SI. 60. It would be a nice
picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think
there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown.
346
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 30, 1901.
\ ^ The Afterthcught. « |
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
jvctioxs of bees at SW.\RMING-TIME.
And so B. Ginner wants to know if bees pile up in front
■of a swarming- hive in weight enough to touch off a mechani-
cal arrangement to sound an alarm. Bees have forty differ-
ent ways of swarming. I should not be surprised to see
several ounces clung together on the ground in front : but
once in fifty times would be sufficient to expect it, I think.
Usually the downy young bees very recently emerged are
mostly swept out in the rush ; and many of them crawl
around awhile before the)' can get the use of their wings.
Machinery would have to be made pretty delicate to spring
with their weight : but I guess the thing is possible. If B.
G. will rig a second entrance somewhere about his hive (say
in the rear end of the bottom-board), I think he can get all
-the power he needs by means of it. The idea is to have a
long crack there almost wide enough to let out bees, but
not quite, and a swinging gate on which the joint push of
several dozen bees could be utilized. At ordinary times a
bee doesn't want to get out except at the habitual place;
but in the usual forms of swarming the sentiment seems to
be any way to get out, or any where. Page 283.
THE I.AVING CAPACITY OF OCEEXS.
That Langstroth experiment on page 248, where queens
are made to drop eggs on a black cloth — " some thirty,
some sixty, and some a hundred fold," and the colonies
turn out accordingly three months later — it is striking and
instructive ; yet there is danger of predicating far too
much upon it. The queen that dropped only one egg may
have been just as good a queen as the one that dropped
"twenty. It is not only possible, but probable, that each of
the queens, with the exception of the first, was laying at
just about the rate that the workers were able to care for
the eggs. If I am right, no queen (in the season! will lay
much in advance of the wishes of the workers. Far be it
from me to wish to nullify all the conclusions of the paper
referred to. Two things remain after we have made all
proper allowances : Some queens will not keep up with the
reasonable requirements of a fair colony. To supersede
them is of course just the proper thing to do : only don't
make mistakes about the facts. The other thing is that
some few queens will keep up with the requirements of an
immense colon j' in which most queens would fall far short.
These presumably are of extra value ; but their phenomenal
laying exhausts them quickly, and they are not likely to
last long.
BEES AND FRUIT-BLOOM FERTILIZATION.
Anent the articles of Thaddeus Smith, on pages 262 and
280, denying fruit-fertilization by bees — we can make be-
lieve we are Boers, and he can be a Britisher without mak-
ing believe; and thus we will have a splendid chance to
learn courtesy and fair conduct toward adversaries. He's
right that pretty much all that class of experiments are
inconclusive in which boughs or trees have been covered
with fine netting. In thus preventing insect pollenization
other modes of pollenization are also hindered, if not pre-
vented altogether. Our folks must mend this defect and
experiment some more. Apparently neither himself nor
his friend are well posted in insect lore. We greatly need
a skilled entomologist turned loose in May among the
islands of Lake Erie. Quite possibly he would see with
half an eve that the sheltered location keeps oft' predatory
insects, and that nectar-loving insects are abnormally thick
there. Moreover, from climatic and other causes, these
islands are among the choicest spots on the globe for fruit-
culture. The excellence of results without bees does not
show all it seems to. Still, a chance for some competent
and friendly hand to show how much better results can be
attained with bees. And let us watch the present straw-
berry bloom, and see how many of us can " pink him " on
his reckless assertion (page 280) that the blossoms of pistil-
late strawberries do not secrete nectar. Look for bees, of
course, but especially look for very small insects.
HEALTH AND BED-CLOTHING.
On pages 248, 249, Prof. Cook has a splendid article on
the health of the dear ones at home. I will not attempt to
saj' over again his good precepts, but rather (as possibly
is too much my habit of late) " mouse "' to see if I can't find
a little heresy somewhere. He advocates plenty of bed-
clothing — he's right — but then there stands unmentioned
the very prevalent evil of too much bed-clothing. Are we
not g-etting somewhere near the bounds of heresj- when we
ignore such an evil — as if we should say. Folks ought to
eat plenty of food, and not waste too much time about it ?
It's half in vain to have pure air outside the"kiver" if
underneath, next to our persons, the air is thick with ex-
creted gases and thin of oxygen. And that's the state of
things which must exist with unnecessary sheets of cotton-
batting over us. And is not the result a torpid skin — almost
as bad as weak lungs ? Or, am I wrong about this whole
business ?
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ \
Conducted by Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
Because You Keep in Tune.
There is a harmony that runs thro' all God's works of love,
It rises thro' the hum of earth to join the choirs above:
And if your heart desires a part, morning and eve and noon.
In the wide chorus, sing your best, and always keep in tune.
The voices close beside your ear may grate discordantly.
And sometimes all the world around eeems to be out of key.
But hold the note you know is true, sing clear and sweet, and soon
Others will join the melody because you keep in tune.
— Priscilla Leoxari).
SUCCEEDING BY READING.
I am sure wo are all glad that Mr. Hutchiusou visited the
Coggshalls, and gave us the beautiful pen-picture of their
home. The remark of \V. L. Coggshall to Mr. Hutchinsoa is
so pregnant with sense and truth that I wish to take it as a
test on this occasion. "The man who reads is the man who
succeeds."
I have always remembered something I read of Beecher's
years ago ; " Show me a man's library, and tell me of the
company he keeps, and I will tell you the man's character."
It has often been remarked that we owe our civilization to the
discovery of the printing-press. Sure it is that without the
stored-up wisdom which we have in the blessed books that
grace our homes, our progress would be very much less rapid.
I think I said in a previous number of these " Home Circle "
papers that I wished I was able to put the Youth's Companion
into every home in our country.
I have also said that there were three things I would
strive to develop in the child from the very first — as soon as
he could lisp '-papa" or 1 could make him understand ray
wishes — -'truthfulness, self-control, system." I wish to add
now that I would also strive to interest the child in reading,
good reading, from the very earliest moment. The little nur-
sery magazine should be among the child's first possessions, as
soon as it can enjoy pictures or tingle with pleasure at the
story. This should be followed by Saint Nicholas and the
Youth's Companion. Of course, the child can not read these
at first, but how delightful it is for father and mother to sand-
wich in the Sunday walk between the talks and readings on
Sunday, and surely a little time each week-day can not be
better spent by either parent than by giving it to the children
with some good book or paper as the third party. If we com-
mence thus early, 1 think there will be rarely any difficulty in
interesting any child of ordinary intelligence in the child
book or paper. In case the child does show indifference, the
parents should tax invention till they succeed.
I know of one little boy who was quite a trouble to his
parents in his very early years by a discouraging indifference
to book and paper. He would enjoy their reading to him but
was very slow to read for himself. A visit to some little
friends who possessed a menagerie of white mice, interested
the boy greatly, and nothing would do but that he must have
like pets. The parents, of course, were interested in his
desire and suggested that he find out where he could buy
them, what they would cost, and suitable cages or homes for
the little rodents, when they should once be secured. The
result was that the little fellow hunted the papers over for
advertisements regarding white mice. The parents seeing
May 30, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
347
here an opportunity at once secured the papers which treated
of pet stocli and were deliglited to note tliat not merely tlie
advertisements but everything about the prospective pets was
not only scanned but thoroughly read. The pets came, were
housed according to the latest rules and improvements, and
were for a little a great pleasure. They soon, however, lost
their attractiveness, but the taste for reading commenced in
the scanning for advertisements, ever remained. These pa-
rents never see white mice but they feel grateful for their
share in the development of a taste for reading which has
ever been of inestimable value to their boy.
Mr. Coggshall's implied reason for reading — that it brings
success — is certainly one not to be neglected. We all remem-
ber "Sedan "and the speedy undoing of Louis Napoleon. 1
have seen it often stated that the greater intelligence of the
Oerman army explained the quick conclusion of that momen-
tous conflict between the two great nations.
I have been greatly impressed as I have visited among
our farmers, not only In Southern California, but also in the
East, to note how the best success in the field and orchard
always goes hand In hand with a good library and numerous
excellent papers in the home. It is true that in the past, fru-
gality, native sense, and a close attention to business, would
often bring success even to the unlettered. But that day is
becoming a thing of i he past. Competition Is rapidly crowd-
ing the weakling to the wall. This is becoming as true in
agriculture as in other lines of business. Very soon the man
that succeeds must know the best and practice It. He must
be fully up to the times. To do this, he must possess the
books and papers, and must be a close reader of the same.
What has given such sections as Western New York, Northern
Ohio. Michigan, all of New England, their supremacy in the
way of progress and advancement? Unquestionably it came
from the fact that they were preeminently a reading people.
The home-table gave to the home circle the best of books and
magazines and such papers as The Country Gentleman.
Rural New Yorker, and American Bee .Journal took no second
place among the literary works in these homes.
In speaking to our people of Southern California, I often
hold up one hand with fingers and thumb extended and
explain upon five things of which, we of this State, have great
reason to be grateful : Our mountains, our wondrous climate,
our incomparable fruit, our pure water right from the moun-
tain rocks, and last and best of all, our splendid people.
Visitors from the East often remark upon the splendid culti-
vation which they note in the orchards of our Southern Cali-
fornia. They often say there is nothing to compare with it In
the East. If they should look in upon the home circle of an
evening, they would make the more interesting discovery that
this intensive culture was not alone characteristic of the
orchard work, but was equally true in the mind-field. I have
heard it said that every one reads in our Southern California
homes. While very likely this is an exaggeration, it certainly
is true that ours is a reading community, and is destined to
become entirely so. The man who does not read must catch
the habit or move out. This is a kind of blessed leaven, and
every community may well pray that it be brought in liberal
gauge to their ■' home circles."
But the business advantage is by no mea"ns all that conies
from this habit of reading. We not only need men who know
the details of their work, l>ut we also stand in pressing need
of men with broad views, men who grasp the right relations
of things, men who have broad sympathies, that go beyond
neighborhood. State, or even country. With what pride and
gratitude we have all noted and followed the course of Mr.
Hay, our Secretary of State, as he has managed the intricate
problems of our recent international affairs. We would not
liave been so honored if he had not been a man of widest
view and broadest sympathy. In this case the whole world is
to feel the influence and receive an uplift because of the wide-
reaching stretch of a single mind. It goes without saying
that Mr. Hay could not have taken the proud place which he
occupies except for the fact that he was a man of widest read-
ing. His culture stopped not with his home affairs, but he
shows that he understands the temper and relations of tlie
various other nations even better than they understand each
other. It Is, then, one of the best uses that we derive from
wide reading, that our view is broadened and we are not dis-
turbed by the petty things of life, but are able to grasp the
right meaning of the great events, and so are able to plan and
work for the greatest good of all.
Every right-minded person loves companionship. K\rn
the dear Master, in those bitter hours in the garden, was sor-
rowful when the. disciples fell asleep and could not watch with
him in that terrible hour. I iu'ver see a good man or a g"od
woman treading life's patlnv:iy alone that I do not feel sorruw-
ful, and wish that a better fortune had granted to them the
dear companionship which Is the brightest crown of the best
home circle. Even the most favored of us can not always
have our loved ones about us. Death, cruel circumstance,
often forces separation whether we would or not. Then it is
that the book comes as a very angel of mercy. Who of us
has not driven loneliness from our homes and hearts at least
by a short-lived forgetfulness as we have chosen for our com-
panion the treasured words of some great author? That
greatest and best-loved American — .\braham Lincoln — it is
reported, had but two books in the long preparatory days of
youth— the Bible and Shakespeare. Yet what good use h(>
made of them. The one made him companion of many of
the greatest minds and greatest hearts that ever blessed the
world ; yea, it did better than this, it gave him a heart that
reached out even to the most lowly of God's people and was
ever alive to the needs and sufferings of those about him.
Except for reading, and these two great teachers, who were
such good companions during the long, prosaic days of Lin-
coln's boyhood, we should have been poor indeed, for we
should not have had Abraham Lincoln to put the superlative
gilding upon the pages of our nation's history.
The ability to entertain one's self, and to be happy even
though all our friends depart from us, is certainly one to be
treasured among the best of our possessions. A library full
of the masterpieces of literature, and a taste and desire to
seek out the be.^t they have for us, will do more than aught else
in the world to drive ennui and the gloom of loneliness from
the one whom bitter fortune has separated from the loved ones.
It is a problem, and no less a puzzle, to many of us to know
how to keep the children Interested in the home, that they
may not know of the evil or be enticed by the sinfulness that
the street and even worse places are ever reaching out to lure
the precious children into ways that lead to death.
I have two habits of mind for which I have never ceased
to be grateful. I think I am mostly indebted to my mother
for them. She was the mother of a large household, and the
cares incident to her life, minding as she did not only the
household, but butter and cheese making, and often the care
of the yard, made her life, I think, one of the fullest that I
ever knew. Mother loved books and nature. She was never
so busy that she could not get a little time each day to read,
and, as I look back, it seems to me one of her best pleasures
was in reading with us children, or going out to Interest us in
some insect or flower that seemed peculiarly Interesting and
beautiful. The result of all this was not only to make mother
the dearest companion of my childhood, but such a love of
books and reading that I never find the time to drag heavily, or
the days or hours to last too long.
I remember once, a few summers ago, I was dropped at
Y'ucca, one of the most desert places of our great mid-conti-
nent desert. Numerous others were alike unfortunate. I
think I never knew more yawning in a single day or more
complaint against fortune. Yet it was one of the most inter-
esting days that I ever spent. A book, describing the natural
history of the country and the numerous object-lessons right
at my feet which vividly illustrated the word-picture of the
book, made the day all too short. It was with regret that I
greeted the evening and the coming train that was to bear me
away.
The greatest good from books, is the soul uplift, for this
is immortal. Space permits me only to mention it here.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
g-et the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a prelrty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer. a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
348
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 30, 1901.
QUEENS!
Improved Golden and Leather-colored Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one of Root's best loner-tongued Red-
Clover Breeders from their $2i-X) queen, and a
Golden Breeder from Doolitlle,who says if there
is a BREEDER of golden bees in the U.S. worlh
$UX), this one is worlh that sum. The above
breeders have been added to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the coming: season.
J. L. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., wrote us on
Aug-. 5tb, 19LKI, saying- that the colony having-
one of our queens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostly comb>; he states that
he is certain that our bees work on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiary.
A. I. Roofs folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our queens from time to time. We have files
upon files of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering the above evidence, need
you wonder why our orders have increased each
year ? Give us'a trial order and be pleased. We
have years of experience in mailing- and rearing-
queens. Safe delivery will be guaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with each lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Prices before Julv ist:
1 6 12
Warranted stock $ .75 $ 4.25 $ S.OO
Selected warranted 1.00 S.OO 9.50
Tested 1.50 8.00 15.00
Selected tested 2.00 10 50
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 4.0ii
Folding Cartons, with your address printed
on in two colors, $4 oo per i.ooo; 500 for $2.75.
Address all orders to
H. G. QUIRIN, Parkertown, Ohio.
iParkertown is a Modey-Order Office.
Bv contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. 14E13t
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing-
I Bee=Supplies if
fWe are distributors for ROOT'S (iOODS A
, AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio, J
▲ Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken- A
J tucky, and the South. T
f MUTH'S SQUARE CLASS HONEY-JARS, f
4. LAN6STR0TH BEE-HIVES, ETC. T
4 Lowest Freight' Rates in the country. •
^^ Send for Catalog. V
f C H. "W. -WEBEiR,, ▼
I Successor to C. V. Muth & Son, "?
" 2146-48 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, O. %
Do You Want a
ttioti Grade ot Italian Queens
Or a CHOICE STRAWBERRY ?
Chicago, III., Jan. 2S, I'HU.
D. J. Blocker, Esq., Pearl City, 111.
Dear Sir: — Your quotations on 48 untested
Italian Queens, ready for delivery by May 18,
1901, at hand. It being the first offer out of sev-
eral inquiries, and, besides, you having promptly
favored me with queens last year, you may, in
appreciation thereof, have the order.
Yours truly, L. Kreutzinger.
Prices for flay and June:
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $1.00 $5.00 $ ^.OO
Tested 1.2S 7.00 11.00
Select Tested 2.(10 10.00 17 00
Breeders S.OO
Honey Queens.
Untested $1.00 $5.00 $0.00
Tested 1.25 7.00 11.00
Select Tested 1.50 8.00 13.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free.
D. J. BLOCKER, Pearl City, 111.
14E(.t Please mention the Bee Journal.
k^la^;g5y/i^$stea«fesi:aiZ^^;^\^^
i^%E^irife^»s>
5)/^iig^^^/<'/^^S^
A Report from Nebraska.
I have s roll lilies of liees which I wiiitert-d
on the summer stands without any loss. They
were packed with tim- prairie hay. with a shed
over them which ojiened to the south. The
liees are not as stroui^' as they usually are at
this time of the year, Init we have a fine fruit-
bloom, and the bees are beginning to hustle,
so I think they will be in good condition for
heartsease, which commences to bloom in
July. Dan N. Haskix.
Lancaster Co., Neb., May 12.
Loss 15 Percent— "The Home
Circle."
My bees came out of the cellar in the poor-
est condition thej' ever did, my loss being
about 15 percent when it usually is about 'J
liercent. The cause of loss was short stores
and mould.
1 now have 49 colonies all in good condi-
tion, but I fear we are going to have another
dry spring like the one we liad last year,
which cut short the honey crop. I run my
liees for both comb and extracted honey.
I think a great deal of Prof. Cook's home
talks, and hope he will continue them. Good
luck to the •• Old Reliable."
H. R. Brown.
Black Hawk. Co., Iowa. Mav 2i).
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported nothers.
Our stock is so carefully bred aud selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality free
from foul bro( d and other bee diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, $1.W, 6 for $5.00; 1 tested
Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $5.00.
ADA L. PICKARD,
18E7t RICHLAND CENTER, WIS.
flease mention Bfte Journal ■when v?ritin&
The California Honey Crop Again.
We have just had a \'ery nice rain, aooord-
iiig to reports 1 have heard, varying from
one-half to V.^ inches. I presume the readers
of the American Bee Journal expect me to
talce off my hat and cry aloud — in fact, so
loud that I can be heard across the continent
— that California is going to have a wonder-
ful crop of honey, "Nit," And that is just
why I am writing this, I want to enter a
protest right here against bee-keepers becom-
ing so enthusiastic. It reminds me of a lot
of jiigs — throw an ear of corn in among a lot
of pigs, and when one gets hold ot it, instead
of quickly walking off to one side and enjoy-
ing his good fortune, he immediately starts
off and begins to siiueal, notifying the whole
hevil of what a good thing he is /joiiig to have,
and tliereliy loses his cluinee of getting what
he justly should have had.
Now. don't mark me down as being hide-
bound and selfish, for I don't want all of the
" corn," but I do want all that I shell from
the cob, I have noticed more than one arti-
cle— in fact, I think several — since the pres-
ent season set in, that was ver.v misleading.
The writers were innocent of any intentional
harm, yet I think they have done consider-
aWe to the honey market, I will cite only
one instance to illustrate : Mrs, Harris, on
page 341 of Gleanings in Bee-Culture, says,
" And considering California's and Cuba's
|irospective large crops of extracted honey, I
shall operate my bees principally for coral)
honey," Now, I think Mrs, Harris must
have drawn her conclusions from what she
has read.
As to Cuba's prospective crop. I would not
like to hazard even a guess, for I know noth-
ing about the country or its prevailing con-
ditions; but as to California, I do not think
the facts of the actual conditions here will
warrant any conclusions that California will
have a large extracted honey crop, I do not
believe it is right for any one to make an
assertion unless it is founded on facts that
will substantiate his argument, and as I have
iiniilif'l ili:it Ciilifoniia will not have a large
croi' "I 1 :- I will endeavor to give the
actual liiiidn iiMi~ hi'i-e,
Pk-aM.- bear in luind one thing, that is, that
I am speaking comparatively with large crops
of the past seasons. The last time Southern
California had a good honey season Califor-
nia produced a great amount of honey. That
Tn make cows nav. use .Sliarplcs fream .Separadir.s. Book
"Business Dairying" & Cat. UVZ free. W.Chester.Pa.
Tennessee Queens!
Fine lot of Ch'oice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3^ miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 7;c each. No
bees owned nearer than 21^
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles,
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialtv. JOHN M, DAVIS,
6A2bt Spring Hill, Tenn,
Flease mention Bee Journal -wnen writing.
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens, Catalog
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. G. ACKLIN, Hanager,
.1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
XjOISTE STA-K- .A.FIA.K,IE3S
Price of Que
from I
raported
Mothers:
Tested .
.1— $ 1.50
Un" ,
.1— .75
Tested .
.6— 6.50
Un " .
. (,— 4.0O
Tested
12— 12.1X)
Un"
12— 7.0O
(Golden, same
1 Select
tested.
either
race, $2
5ii. Write
for circular.
G. F. DAVIDSON & SONS,
Establisht 1835. Fairview, Wilson Co., Tex.
12Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
flWordtolheWiS6B66-K66D6r
Is the title of an essay on queen-rearing. Sent
free to all applicants. Address,
ioA4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writinp
^fr^r^HSBSLHIBH!
s«»3ji:^a;
...BULL- STRONG.
With our Dupiex-^iitoma
Bftll Heaiiii;.' Woven \\ i
w.sijl
' rot
the best
cal fence on earth at a cost for
the wire to make it of from
2a to 30c. per pod
Vie sell Ornaiiientai Fence
and Gates, Farm Fence end
Gates, Plain, Earlie.l ami
Collett Spring Wire
direct to the tarinei at Mh. le
sale prices, t'ataloiriie tree,
KITSELMAM BROS.
Box Dbi.Muacle, Intl.
flease mention Bee J
.inp
.^MANUFACTURER UFJ^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping. Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg,,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Hease mention Bee Journal ■when wntiue,.
Mav 30, lyul.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
349
was ill l.S9r. Since tlien. as evei'.v one knows
wlio reads, California lias liail a series of dry
years. Tlial being- tl\e case, no industry lias
suffered worse than apiculture, and, to illus-
trate, I will cite a few of the losses that have
come under my personal observation. I will
begin with my own apiary : At the close of
the season of ISnr I had 1','0 colonies of bees,
but sold all Init U5 of them. Since then 1
have bought 20-1 colonies, and at the begin-
ning of this season I had 14? colnnies. I have
fared far better than the iivci-ti^p, and will
give a short table, omilliiiL; nami-^. and using
Tetters instead. This will niM.MUt different
apiaries in the five coiiiiiii-s ui Souiherii Cali-
fornia that I know of — tlieir cnnditions in
1897 and in liWl :
isar 1901
Colonies. Colonies.
Mr. A. 110 m
Mr. B. 7b 3-1
Mr. C. 150 00
Mr. D. 1S5 100
Mr. E. ;-!5 65
Mr. F. .So 20
Mr. G. 25 1
Mr. H. 45 Oo
Mr. I. 65 00
Mr. J. 27 (1900—7 cols.)
Mr. K. 70 40
Mr. L. -AW 100
Mr. M. 800 .500
One district 5 miles across it 1.500 240
Mr. N. 100 :-i4
I could go on. but it Is unnecessary. This
is suflicient to show something of what the
loss has been in Southern California : and that
is not all. for the honey-producing plants
have suffered also, many of them having
died.
I think the majority of the bee-keepers who
have any bees left will try to build up their
apiaries, but increase in an apiary that is run
for extracted honey will be at the expense of
the honey crop.
Up to the present time we have had so
much cloudy and cold weather that my bees
have stored comparatively little honey, and
if any one can, under the now existing condi-
tions, see the prospect for a large honey croji
in California for 1901, I vote liim the palm.
Since writing tne above I have received an
offer of 4 cents per pound for 1'., tons of nice
sage honey. How does that strike you ?
J. W. (iEORGE.
Riverside Co.. Calif.. Mav 1,
Neetap Going to Waste in Michigan.
The bees are very busy on fruit^bloom and
dandelion. Bee-keeping is in its infancy in
this locality. There are thousands of acres
of raspberry, clover, willow-herb, basswood,
goldenrod, asters and many other honey-
plants too numerous to mention, that are
wasting their nectar year after year.
I am 28 years old. and commenced bee-
keeping at 17. I am very much interested in
it. I have always been in the habit of carry-
ing bee-papers in my jiockets instead of
tobacco. Whenever I found any one that 1
could interest I would either give him samiile
copies, or tell him the valuable information
they contained, and I find 1 have been well
paid for my trouble, as I have interested quite
a good many in bee-keeping.
Elms E. CovEyor.
Emmett Co.. Mich., Mav is.
Transfepping from Box-Hives to
Movable Frames.
Some time ago some one gave i^^tructious
for transferring bees and combs from box-
hives to movable frames. His instructions
called for thorns run through the hules in the
frames into the edges of the cuiiibs. thus ]iin-
ning them fast. Now, I haven't llic tlnu'ns at
hand, and even if I had I have a way that 1
like better, and I think others will; I also
have better success In getting the combs to
stay in, and it makes them much slraighter,
too. My plan is as follows :
Wire the frames the same as fur putting
foundation in them. Then cut a piece of
board a scant 5.j inch thick that will just lit
into the inside of the frames, and nail this to
a board of convenient size, say 2 inches larger
J*ITA.3LjIA.3Sri^
BEES AND QUEENS
Having been 2S years rear-
ing Queens for the trade on
the best linown plans, I will
continue to rear the best.
PRICES:
One Untested Queen $l.i:iO
One Tested Queen 1.35
One Select Tested Queen 1..50
One Breeder 3.1X1
I me Comb Nucleus 1.80
BelgianHares
Choice, pedigreed and common stock; young-
sters, $3.U0 per pair. Write for description and
prices. J. L. STRONG,
llAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa,
Please mention Bee Journal ■when, "wmtinff.
a
ttl
hH
p
PACE
=:
-
^^M
-:
M
4-
^
=
=
^m^^
= 1
IF YOU NEED
a Portable Fence, trv the P.\GE. It can he taken
down and re-stretclied any number of times.
I'AGK WOVKN « IKK KE.NCE CO,, AUIUAN,3liCH.
Please mention Bee Journal -when 'writina-
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writinB
Dittffler's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing,
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Foandation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application,
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal when writinsr.
B66S=SUDDli6S
CATALOG FREE.
I.J.
105 Park Place, -
13A2bt Plea!-e m
STRINQHAM,
NEW YORK, N. Y.
BINGHAM SMOKERS.
B1:a-- I 11, 4-inch, St. 7.t: .'l',.-inch,
$l.:i.-.: ! TlN-4-lnrh,.'i;i..iri; aV
incli,-i -!.u': 2^-inch, aocts.; :!•
inch. I. i I 1 'all tree.
Bin^'huii - ri never lose Are— always
BEADY. L':t yc:ir^ the best and cheapest— and
always will be. Bingham & Hetberin^ton
UncappinK-Knifc is the best also. See May
9tli No. AinoricHn Bee Journal, or send for
Please mention Bee Jovimal when writine.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Knot Cu's
goods at wbolea:il'-' "r retail at their prices. Wucan
save you frelKht. Hn<i sblp promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our 19UI catalog.
M. H. HUNT & Sd.N. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
each way, to he used for a laii-tahle. This can
he used for pultiiiK in foundation as well as
the old coiiihs. Kit the pieces of old combs
tofiether as closely as po.ssil>le. and trim oil
all around even with the smaller board, then
lay the frame 011 top of the combs, holdiii;; it
ilown steady and lirm, and cut with the knife
chise alonjf the wires down to the mid-rib or
septum, pressintr the wires down firmly in the
crease. Lay another lap-lK)ar<l ou top. and
turn the whole thirij; ovi-r on the other side,
lift the first board iiiiMitioiied and lay aside.
Have some narrow wood splints made, say 14
inch wide and as loiitr as the frames (wood
separators make good ones), then tack on 1,
3, or 8, according to the sizes of the pieces of
comb used, and the W(n-k is done — e.xcept, of
course, that the splints are to be pulled off
after the bees have attached the combs to the
frames.
I have many combs made up in this wav
which are as straight, and but for the line of
connection between pieces of comb can not be
told from one built upon foundation.
Consign all crooked pieces of worker-comb
and all drone-comb to the extractor, as the
profits from them will not pay for the '• put-
teration '■ necessary'.
The bees have done gooil work on willow
bloom, but rain and cold weather held them
from fruit-bloom almost entirely. Some of
the fruit is not yet through blooming, and the
dandelions are out, but the cold weather
keeps the bees from them. F. W. Hall.
Sioux Co.. Iowa. Mav l:i
Lost 8 Colonies— Dandelion in
Bloom.
I had tin colonies of bees last fall, but have
lust s of them up to date. Dandelion is in
bloom, and fruit-trees will be in a few davs if
it gets warmer. It is quite cool and windv
to-day, and rains a little. C. F. B.\kek.
AUeganv Co.. N. Y.. Mav IH.
Bee-Sting- Remedy.
I noticed in the Bee Journal an inquiry for
a bee-sting remedy. I use iodine, and if ap-
idied at once there will be no swelling and
the pain will cease in a few seconds. This
remedy can be used even on the youngest
child without injurv. H. W. H.^miltox.
Walker Co.. Ala., Mav 14.
ws
wwnfOH miiLD
[Js^^gfijWSt^afe.- -^
Uniting Weal< Colonies in Spring.
This is considered by many experienced
bee-keepers love's labor lost. J. B. Hall, in
the Canadian Bee Journal, has this to say:
This I have found from practical experi-
ence is waste of valuable lime. It is all very
well to do it as an amu.scnieut. but for profit
never unite twoorthrec. or ten weak colonies.
See that they have enough honey, keep them
shut down, and give them a good letting
alone, and they will be sure to pull through.
If you have ten, and you put nine together,
ihere is only one iiueen left, and that may be
tlie poorest queen of the lot. You have not
only lost four or five, but you have destroyed
the good queens, and very likely have a poor
one left, and you have nothing but .vour
(pieen. Don't unite in the spring, let them
pull through if they can; if they don't, you
have tlic hiv.- for something better when the
warmer season i-oiucs. That is my experience
after '-'."> years. I u.sed to unite them, and
when we put them together they made a very
;.'ood-l(>okiiig colony of bees, both in honey
and bees, Inil in three weeks from that I hail
(jiily one colony of bees, and, therefore, t
think my time was wasted. You know as
well as I do, that those bees arc old, and will
live a few weeks only, and they don't pay for
the labor of uniting them with a colon.vthat
hasaipieen. You may lose your queen by
350
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
May 30, 1%1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. Il is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 10 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
K.xcellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
NOTICE
THE A, I. ROOT COMPANY have a Branch Store at 10 Vine St.,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.,
Where they ha.ve direct steainboat connections with Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
and low freigfht rates.
As this is a main branch, order from any catalog' or quotations given
from Medina.
Also booking orders for healthy ITALIAN BEES, shipped this month. Full
colonies, 8 frames and queen, $6.00. Wholesale rates on application.
Please niention Bee Journal when ■writine
28 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. "*' gin "r-i
K CASH — for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 30 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
Marshfleld ilannfactnring Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
sA26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfleld, Wis,
I Red Glover Queens
LONG-TON&UED BEEsIrE DEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mlum for sending us TWO new subscribers
to the Amepican Bee Journal for one year
(with $2t; or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years" experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italj',
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
SI. 00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
that unitint,'. and if you do not lose that
([ueen those bees are' old, and are g-oing to
pass from the stasje of action in a very short
Light=Weight Brood Foundation.
•J. M. Kankin reimrts in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture a series of interesting experiments
which are a Ijit surprising in their results. He
put in nine different hives comb foundation of
different weights, the heaviest running ti
Langstroth sheets to the pound, then T, 8, 9,
up to 13 sheets to the pound, putting in the
same hive foundation of two different weights
for the purpose of comparison, giving an
equal show to vertical and horizontal wiring.
He found it more dittleult to put the thin
foundation in the frames and wire it : but the
bees showed a preference for the lighter foun-
dation l.iy working it first, their preference
being strongly marked when the heaviest and
lightest were put in the same hive. With ver-
tical wiring, 10 sheets to the pound was the
lightest that could be used without having
the sheets wavy and stretched between the
wires. With horizontal wiring all sheets,
even those running 13 to the pound, mad&
straight and even combs. Tons of founda-
tion are now made in sheets running 9 and 10-
to the pound, which weight was formerly con-
sidered entirely too light for brood-combs,
but it now appears that by using horizontal
wiring it may be used even as light as 13 to-
the pound, making quite a saving. The diffi-
culty of satisfactorily wiring such light foun
dation. however, should make one a little-
cautious.
Foul Brood and Its Treatment.
In the Canadian Bee Journal for Januarv,-
1901, I see that Mr. Pender, editor of the Aus-
tralasian Bee-Keeper. advises the hiving of
foul-broody bees on starters of comb-founda-
tion as a pretty sure way of curing the dis-
ease.
I judge Mr. Pender to be a good bee-keeper.,
and a man that would treat his colonies be-
fore they became bad with foul lirood. and
then doing his work so carefully and so well
that he made a success of curing all by hiv-
ing the bees on starters of comb foundation.
The number of cures that can be made that
way will depend entirely upon the following
conditions:
Ist. On how little diseased honey the bees
find to take out of the old combs when they
are being removed.
2d. Where much of the honey in a foul-
hroody colonj' is badly diseased, everything
will depend upon whether anything is to be
]>laced above the tiueen-excluder to catch the
diseased honey after the bees are given the
starters, if the starters are not to be removed.
In the honey season of lisr.5. while curing
my own apiary of foul brood. I took all the
combs out of several diseased colonies and
left the bees to build combs on the bare
frames, and in a short time I had about as
many failures as I had cures. This method
cured every colony that was not bad with the
disease, but failed on every colony that had
been bad with foul brood, and had a good
deal of unsealed honey in the brood-nest when
the old combs were removed. Just as soon as
the bees had a little comb made they stored
part of the old diseased honey in it. and a lit-
tle later on foul brood made its appearance
again. I then resorted to taking away all the
new pieces of comb that the bees made during
the first four days, and let them keep what
they made after that. This plan thoroughly
cleansed the bees of all the diseased honey,
and ended in perfect cures. 1 also cured
many colonies that summer by the use of
clean combs and the frequent use of the
honey-extractor, and in the fall of that year,
after brood-rearing was all over. I cured quite
a number of foul-broody colonies by shaking
the bees onto sound sealed stores. This plan.
Mav 30, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
351
left the beeb no place tu store tlie diseased
honey, and forced them to keep it until they
consumed it, and that ended the disease.
AH of these plans and methods I studied
out 2.T years ago last summer and fall, when 1
had to treat 50 out of 60 colonies in my own
apiary for foul brood.
Wtien foul-brood matter is drying: down it
glues itself fast to the lower side and bottom
of the cells, and there it will remain as long
as the comb lasts, and during honey-tlows the
bees store honey in many of these diseased
cells, and after that foul brood is spread
through a colony in proportion to the amount
of honey that is fed from the diseased cells to
the sound larvie. In tlie honey season, when
we are taking the combs out of the diseased
colonies to cure them, the bees (finding the
unsealed honey so handy with no uncaijpinjj
to do) rush into the open cells and take all
they can hold, and where many of the dis-
eased cells are full of unsealed honey (as
they usually are at such times) the bees will
get pretty well tilled up with diseased honey
before all the combs are removed. To cleanse
the bees of this honey I give them starters of
comb foundation, and in tour days the bees
make them into little pieces of comb and
store the diseased honey in them. X then (in
the evening) take away all the comb that the
bees made in the four days and give them full
sheets of comb foundation, and Ijefore this is
worked out the cure will be eomiilete. This
is the safest and most practical method for
all classes of bee-keepers to follow, and one
that never fails. It is one thing to cure an
apiary of foul brood and quite another to do
it and make more or less increase and have
all colonies in grand condition when the sea-
son closes, and this can be done.
When I am examining an apiary I mark
each colony according to the condition I find
it in. I put one pencil cross on the front of
the hives that are strong in bees and have only
a little of the disease ; two crosses on those
that have less bees and more disease: and
three crosses on those that are weak in bees
and badly diseased. In the evening, in the
honey season, I pick out the weak colonies
that have the three crosses on, and shake the
bees of every three into an empty hive, so as
to make good, big colonies to start with, and
then give tliem the starters, which are to be
removed in the evening of the fourth day, and
fidl sheets of comb foundation put in their
place. I take the hives next that have two
crosses on, and put the bees of every two of
these into an empty hive and treat them. I
then remove the combs out of the hives that
have one cross on and shake the bees right
into the same hives, and treat them.
Where I find only a few cells of the disease
in colonies that hSve large quantities of nice,
sound brood. I save this brood with some bees
on it and fill up two-story hives with it. I
then set these hives back a little distance
from the others, and when the most of this
brood is hatched I go in the evening aud
shake the bees into a single hive and treat
them and give them a iiueeu.
The increase of colonies that I make by
hatching out the best combs of brood during
the honey season (which is the only safe time
to do this) more than makes up for the old
bees I united.
All curing and treating of diseased colonies
shoulil be done in the evening, so as not to
have any swarming out and mixing in with
others, or bees returning to the old standi
after they have been united with others.
This same method of curing can be carried
on at any time from May to October, when the
bees are not gathering any honey, by feeding
lilcnty of sugar .syrup in the evenings to take
the place of a honey-fiow.
All the combs and pieces made in the four
days should be made into wax. — Wm. .McEvov,
in the Canadian Bee .Journal.
S-Frame NuGieP"^
We have a few at fj.iiii each. Aiblic^s
Sale
POUI^TRV BOOK FREE, 64 panes. Illustrated
with 3 mos. trial Bubscription to our paper, t(»c
INLAND POOLTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis, Ind
Standard Bred (|ueens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among: Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputaiion. TScts.each; 6 for S4. nil.
Long-Tongued 3>Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
lOO iuch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
SI. Oil each, or 6 for $5.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cinci.n.n ati, O.
f lease mention Bee Journal when writine
The duplex
AUTOMATIC BALL BEARING
WOVEN WIRE FENCE
MACHINE
loo Different Styles of Fence.— It seems al-
most past believing- that one little machine
which can easily be handled and moved about
by one man is capable of weaving over 100 sty les
and kinds of farm, lawn, poultrv and ornamen-
tal fencing-. This is, however, true of the Du-
plex Ball Bearing- Woven Wire Fence Machine.
It is manufactured bv our advertising- pations,
the Kitselman Brothers, of Muncie, Ind. The
cut shown with this article gives a very good
idea of the machine and its method of opera-
tion. It also show-^ one style of farm fence in
course of construction. The Duplex will handle
satisfactorily any aud all sizes of wire, using
large wires for laterals and weaving on any
number of smaller sizes of wires. It will also
weave parfectly a fence with desirable barb-
wire at top aud bottom, a style of fence much
sought after and appreciated in certain locali-
ties. Fence may be made of any desired height
up to 50 inches.' As to capacity, this will vary
somewhat, depending upon many things, but
the manufacture's state it conservatively at
from 40 to 00 rods of larm fence per day. The
Standard Duplex Machine makes a fence up to
50 inches high as stated above, but at a small
additional cost special machines may be had
which will make fence 54J^ and 59 inches high,
respectively. The Duplex is well and honestly
made of good material, aud with anything like
ordinary care will la^t indefinitely. Kitselman
Brotheis are also large manufacturers of Orna-
mental Fence aud dates. These fences are
made eutirelv ot wire aud iron in the greatest
variety of form and fanciful designs. They are
so constructed that they will turn all soris of
marauders and at the same time increase rather
than detract from the beauty of the enclosure.
The ornamental gates and the neat steel posts
and rails greatlv set off and increase the beauty
and strength a'nd value of the fence. Write
these people requesting printed matter on fence
machines, ornamental fencing and gates and
all classes of fence materials, and don't forget
to mention the American Bee Journal when
writing to them.
MNTQUEENSlU^^rlE^
■want the fentlesi Ilees— If yon want the best
honev-ffatherers vu ever saw— try mv Albinos.
Untested Oueens in April. $1.00; Tested, |1.£0.
iiA26t J, D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bf-e Journal when wtiti"c-
Blacn Queens i:C
by return mail. RIVBR FOREST APIARY.
21Alf Rivi K FOHKST, Cook Co., Ilt..
Please mention Bee Journal -when, writing.
jsJ ste. >tt >t<c ilt >te. Jte. >te stt >!« jii iii iit»
I HONEY MD beeswax!
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Mav 20.— Market is nominal in al-
most all lines; a little comb sells at 15r*i 16c for
choice white, with the amber grades ranging
from 2<(li5c less. No movement of any conse-
quence in extracted, all dealers seeming to be
expecting; a lower range of prices. A little
fancy white clover and basswood sells at 7(" Sc,
depending on flavor, quality and quantity
taken; ambers, 0(ai7c: dark and buckwheat, 5^
5J^c. Beeswax steady at 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Detroit, May 21.— Fancy white comb, 14(2)150;
No. 1, 13(ail4c; dark aud amber, 10faH2c. Ex-
tracted, white, b^foiTc; amber and dark, S@6c.
Beeswax. 27@28c.
Very little desirable honey in sight. The new
crop will find the market well cleaned up. The
demand is always light at this season of the-
year. M. H. Hunt & Son,
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from J^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, May 21.— Our market continues dull
on honey with very light stocks on hand. Our
normal prices are as follows: Faccv 1-pound
cartons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, ISc: No. 2, 12(si
14c. Extracted from 6H(af7J4c.
Blake, Scott & I*er.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, May 3.— We report aquiet market
on all lines. While the old crop of comb honey
is well exhausted, still there is some arriving,,
which has been carried by the producers, ev
dently, for a higher price ' Values are mostly
nominal now, and it is only a first-class fancy ar-
ticle that will sell at quotation prices. We quote;
Fancy white, 15c; No. 1, 13c; amber, ll(3;12c;
buckwheat, 9(n(10c. Extracted is decidedly dull,
and very little inquiry. Old crop of California
light amber and partly white, is now being of-
fered as low as 4i4c a pound f.o.b. coast, which,
of course, hurts the sale of other grades to a
large extent. Beeswax is firm and sells on ar-
rival at from 2>i(a'29c.
HiLDRETH & SBGELKEN.
Buffalo. May 18.— Fancy 1 lb. comb, 15(§il6c;
dark very dull indeed, 8(Sil2c. Berries hurt sale
of honey now. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, May 4.— Practically no ship-
ments arriving, and very little selling. We are
getting $3.50 to f3 (.5 per case of 24 sections No.
1 white; amber. $3.00 to $3.25. Beeswax scarce
at 25c. W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemous & Co.
Albany, N. Y., Mav 3.— Honey market very
dull. Very little call for anything but choice
comb honey, of which there is a scarcity. Ex-
tracted quiet. H. R. Wright.
San Francisco, Mayl5. — White comb ll@
12 cents; amber, S@liic; dark, 6fe'7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5iatic; light amber 4v'a)4>4c;
amber, 3J^@4c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
No large quantities of new honey have yet
put in an appearance, but the .inticipation of
heavy receipts at an early day is imparting a
weak tone to the market. Free purchases are
not possible, however, at current quotations,
and dealers may find it necessary to pay better
prices than now nominally current before se-
curing any considerable portion of this year's
crop.
For Sale
I.V Sdl'TUKK.N CALIFORNIA.
Good Bee-Ranch
and General Farm
O. C. GEARN. San DieKo, Calif.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVE. INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
352
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
May 30, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of evervthing, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
«S- W. M. Gerkish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog- prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee.lournal when writins
HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
BEE
LEARN TO SING
iirse I puarantee to train and cul-
ate your voice or refund your
>iiey. The best musical knowledge
arranp^d especially for Home Stndy.
Has iliirhe»>t EndorsemeDt. Beautifal
,lt.v,-ri]'tive bfi kUtetntfree. Addreia
Prof. G. M. Whaley, KalamazoOp Mich-
Flease meiiti
aeii ■writing.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5tb 10ft 2Sft soa
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.TS $5.00
Sweet Clover Ivellow).... $1.50 2.S0 6.25 12.00
Alsike Clover." 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I ARISE
DOOUTTLE...
fol-
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in
during 1901, at thi
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . $1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
a. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Ple?«e mention Bee Journal when writing.
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation, lear
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAQQlNa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^^^Ar
so well? ^^
Because it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OP ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecj,
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, bv mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writina-
Pan=flni6rlcan timiM
...AT BUFFALO...
THE J^. I. IFLOOT OO.
3
win have an Exhibit showing a
COMPLETE LINE OF BEE-KEEPERS' SDPPLIES, •
Also some NEW GOODS that have not yet been advertised. The
exhibit will be conspicuously placed in the Gallery of the Agri-
cultural Building.
If you have never seen a
Ball-Beariug Cowau Honey-Extractor,
Here is your chance.
We expect that HUBER ROOT, the youngest member of the
Root Co., will be the man in charge of the exhibit. He will be
pleased to meet all our old friends, and make new ones wherever
possible.
Gleanings in Bee=Culture
Will contain a very interesting series of articles on Queen-Rear-
ing, giving New Methods and Short Cuts. There will also be a
series on
BBSS IIST LiA"W.
E. R. Root will tell of his trip through Texas, Colorado, Ore-
gon, and California. Better subscribe now.
Six months' trial subscription for only 25 cents.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
;u. s. A.)
SW GEORGE W. YORK & CO. "^a'litJi^'fLLr'-
are headquarters for ROOT-S BEE-KEEPERS' bUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
^
^®»f-f-f-f-f)-f-f-f-f<f'f-f-f)-f-f'f^^
pjAEffle%
Bee J51RNAL
CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 6, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 23.
354
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
June 6, 1900.
WEKKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post^Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-iu-Chief .
Dr. C. C. Miller, It,
E.E. Hasty, U Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, f Editors.
IIWPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price ot this Journal
is ¥1.00 a year, in the Lhiited States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
Indicates the end ot the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end ot December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OnJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Thos. G. Newman,
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HUTCHIN
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
C. P. Da
\NT,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
||f^° If more convenient. Dues may be .sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [ot the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-ijutton that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 0 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
Weekly Budget. I
When Lilacs Bloom.
When lilacs bloom, the winds grow still ;
The velvet deepens on the hill ;
The bee turns giddy as she greets
With long-drawn, [happy liiss, the sweets
The lavish, love-flushed blossoms spilL
The daisy dons her whitest frill ;
The oriole his gladsome trill
Sings loud, and oft his joy repeats.
When lilacs bloom.
Then lives with careless rapture till :
Then hearts with joy of living thrill;
And Fancy weaves her golden cheats —
Ah ! who would doubt the fair deceits ?
No room for reason, thought, or will,
When lilacs bloom.
— Jesse F. O'Donnell,
In The Chautauquan.
Mr. G. Spearman, says the British Bee
Journal, probably has the largest apiary in
Great Britain, containing more than 300 colo-
Mr. a. p. Raymond, writing from Clark
Co., Wis., had these kind words to say :
Friend York : — I am still reading the
American Bee Jourtfal, and am much pleased
with the improvements you are making from
time to time in its bright pages, and which
make it more enjoyable, if such a thing be
possible.
I sincerely appreciate the successful efforts
you are making to keep it " up to date " and
abreast of the times. A. P. Raymond.
Prof. A. J. Cook, the editor of the depart-
ment of " The Home Circle " in this journal,
is a man who has long been before the bee-
keeping public. We think we can hardly do
better than to copy what the " A B U of Bee-
Culture " has to say concerning Prof. Cook
and his work :
Albert J. Cook was born Aug. 30, 1842. at
Owosso, Mich. Those who are intimately
acquainted with the man will not be surprised
to learn that his parents were thoroughly up-
right Christians. The daily reading of the
Bible, with comments by the father, rein-
forced by the constant example of a chaste,
honest, and industrious daily life, left its im-
press for life on the character of the son.
At the age of 15 he entered Michigan Agri-
cultural College, where he graduated at 20,
having been oljliged during his course to
suffer the sharp disappointment of suspend-
ing study a whole year on account of sick-
ness, his health having been rather delicate
during his earlier years. Upon his gradua-
tion he went, on account of poor health, to
California, where for three years he labored
very successfully as a teacher. He then
studied a portion of two years at Harvard
University and Harvard Medical College with
Agassiz, Hazen, and Dr. O. W. Holmes as
teachers. In 1866 he was appointed instruc-
tor at Michigan Agricultural College, and in
IsiiS Professor of Entomology and Zoology in
the same college.
He has done and is doing a work unique in
character, for he instructs the students, not
only about insects in general, but about bees
in particular. Every student that graduates
goes all over the theory of bees, studies the
bee structurally from tip of tongue to tip of
sting, and goes through with all the manipu-
laticms of the apiary — that is, if tliere is any
honey to manipulate ; handles the bees, clips
queens, prepares and puts on sections, ex-
tracts, etc. Probably in no other institution
in the country, if in the world, is this done.
Prof. Cook was an active and influential
member of the North American Bee-Keepers'
Association, of which he has been president;
was one of the originators of the Michigan
State Bee-Keepers' Association, of which he
was president for a number of years, and
helped to start the State Horticultural Society,
i:)eing a member of its board for some years.
He is widely known as a writer. His "Manual
of the Apiary " has reached a sale of 18,000
copies, and "Injurious Insects of Michigan,"
3000 copies. He is also the author of " Maple
Sugar and the Sugar-Bush," of which 5000
copies have been published. He has written
much for bee-journals, as also for the general
press. He is a clear, practical writer, with a
happy style.
In the battle waged against insect-foes, he
has rendered valuable service. Remedies
which he flrst advised are now common, and
he was probably the first to demonstrate the
eflioacy and safety of Paris-green for codling-
moth.
Prof. C'ook is of average height and weight,
a charming conversationalist, and an intensely
interesting lecturer. His very pleasant man-
ner is only a fair index of a genial and loving
spirit that, in an unusual degree, strives to
put the best construction on the conduct and
motives of every one, and throws a mantle of
charity over their faults. His spirit of kind-
ness extends to the brute creation ; and on
his farm, in which he is much interested, he
has some tine-blooded stock ; and in attempt-
ing to engage a hand to work upon the farm,
the writer once heard him stipulate as essential
that the employee must be kind to animals,
and free from the use of liquor, tobacco, and
profane language.
In December, 1S93, Prof. Cook removed
from Michigan and went to Claremont, Calif.,
where he now fills the chair of Entomology in
Pomona College.
We can add hardly anything to the fore-
going, except to say that we heartily endorse
its every commendation of Prof. Cook. We
are glad to count him among our friends. We
believe that he is doing some of his very best
work for Ijee-keepers in his department in
this journal. His careful early training, and
long years of experience with young people,
both in and out of college, eminently fit him
to advise wisely in everything that pertains
to the home and its members. If what has
already appeared from his pen in the new
department is a prophecy of things to come,
we may all expect many a rich feast during
the future weeks and months. Our hope is
that all who read his sage teachings may
profit by them, and thus cause many a home
and home life to be better and sweeter because
of his efforts.
Worse Than Wasted. — The drink bill of
this nation is, for the year, $1,0.59,565,787, or
.$13.9'! for every man, woman, and child. — [I
believe the drink evil is the worst problem
that civilized countries have to contend with,
and sooner or later all right-thinking men
must line up, either for or against the saloon.
So far as I am individually concerned, I pro-
pose to fight the saloon through any organized
effort that will mitigate this terrible evil. —
Editor.1 — Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
No one ever need apologize tor being
against the saloon. It's the other fellow
that ought to be ashamed of himself. Chi- .
cago is one of the hotbeds of the saloon curse,
and such havoc as it produces! The only
reason it is here is because the good people
don't stand together and cast it out. Some
day they will unite, and then — good-by to
the greatest vice, crime, and Ipoverty breeder
in the world. We believe every reader of the
American Bee Journal is ready to join in the
final overthrow.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 6, 1901,
No, 23,
i ^ Editorial. ^ f
Renewing Queens. — Bee-keepers differ
IQ opinion and practice as to the matter of
renewing queens. Some say it is best to
leave the matter entirely to the bees. In a
state of nature they always renew their
queens when they have attained an age of
perhaps not more than three years, in rare
cases allowing them to become four or live
years old. Others saj- it is best to have only
young and vigorous queens, never tolerating
a queen more than two years old, while still
others put the age limit lower yel. They say,
" Breed only from your best, and never allow
a queen to reach an age of two years, and
your stock will be constantly improving."
All agree that it is right to breed from the
best, but it is not always easy to tell which is
best if an age of less than two j-ears dooms a
queen to death. A queen would hardly be
replaced earlier than some time in June, and
the harvest of that year would be largely the
work of the progeny of her predecessor. So
that leaves only the harvest of one year to
judge from, and that is not so good as more,
for accidental causes sometimes come in the
way of deciding that would not occur a sec-
ond year.
The matter of wintering is to be considered.
There is no doubt a difference in colonies in
this respect, and a queen whose bees should
winter well for three or four winters in suc-
cession, other things being equal, should
have the preference.
It is possible that longevity should be con-
sidered. It is well known that sometimes a
colony exceeds the average in storing, while
at the same time its queen has not reared as
many young as the average, and some think
this is because of a difference in longevity, a
worker living a week longer than the aver-
age being able to store a fourth more than
the average, for a bee is not expected to do
more than four weeks of field-work, usually.
Itisalso true that some queens live longer
than others under the same conditions, some
queens doing as good work in the third year
as the first. It is not unreasonable to sup-
pose that if a queen is longer-lived than the
average that her workers will share in that
characteristic. !So it might be safer to breed
from a queen that had done good work for
three years, and such queens would not be
known unless superseding were left to the
bees.
Still another point in favor of leaving the
matter of supersedure to the bees is that it
interferes the least with the work of the
bees. When a new queen is given by the
bee-keeper, it may \>e so introduced that there
will be very little interruption in the laying,
but there will be alriiostcertainly some degree
of interruption, and it may be serious;
whereas, in the case of supersedure by the
bees there need be, and generally is, no inter-
ruption, mother and daughter often laying
for a time side by side.
Along with all this is the fact that it is a
good deal easier for the bee-keeper to leave
such matters to the bees, and so it is no great
wonder that many of the most experienced
say that supersedure is a matter that right-
fully belongs to the bees.
Scientific Breeding. — Arthur C. Miller,
in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, broadly hints
that editors of bee-papers and authors of
bee-books are ignorant upon the subject of
heredity and scientitic breeding — a charge
which he is probably pretty safe in making ;
but the reading of his article does not add much
to the reader's stock of knowledge upon the
subject. About the only paragraph that
gives any instruction up the subject is the
following:
'•'Thoroughbred' is not 'crossbred,' as
any high-class stock-raiser will testify. Thor-
ough breeding is cautious, careful, scientific
in-breeding (do not confound this with in-
and-in breeding) ; and when alien blood is
introduced the result can never be foretold
with certainty, the chances being toward
atavism, the reverting to a previous type."
Even that does not explain the difference
between in-breeding and in-and-in breeding —
merely says they must not be confounded.
The seeker after the difference who goes to
the dictionary will not be helped much, for
he will And one of the definitions of " in-
breed" to be "breed in-and-in." But Mr.
Miller's object is probably merely to call
attention to the prevailing ignorance, and in
that view of the case his article is timely.
Never, probably, was attention so much
drawn to breeding for improvement of stock,
and Mr. Miller is quite right in saying, " It is
high time we began to be scientific in our
work. The haphazard, guess-at-it-rule-o'-
thumb ways have prevailed altogether too
long."
■♦
Introducing Airgin Queens. — George
Vt, Commins says in the Australasian Bee-
Keeper, " A virgin queen can be introduced
if there are queen-ccUs in the hive, by just
running her in." Editor Pender replies in a
foot-note :
"Virgin queens can not be introduced with
any certainty of sui-ccss when more than an
hour or two old. Any colony, having queen-
cells started several days, will receive a virgin
queen that has just emerged, and often such
queens will be accepted by bees if allowed to
run into the hive immediately the laying
queen is removed, but there is so much un-
certainty the practice is not usually adopted.
Try a virgin say 12 hours old and I think you
will fail every time."
It may be remarked that on this side the
globe there is good authority for saying that
a virgin queen just from the cell (not one
that has been held in the cell by the bees)
will be kindly accepted in any colony,
whether queen-cells are present or not, even
in a colony with an active laying queen.
That is meant in the broadest sense, that
such a queen will not be disturbed in any col-
ony whatever, and yet such a statement with-
out any additional word would be very mis-
leading. Put such a virgin in a hive with a
laying queen, and although she may be re-
ceived ever so kindly, you may find her miss-
ing a day or two later. It looks as if the bees
did not recognize any royalty about her till
she attains a few hours of age, after which
she will not be tolerated. If, however, it is
late in the season, when supersedures are
likely to take place at the close of the harvest,
then the bees ma,v take the new-comer and
allow her to dethrone the old queen.
Securing Control of a Territory is
sometimes an easy matter, and sometimes not
so easy. In making plans for extending by
way of out-apiaries, Harry Lathrop says in
the Bee-Keepers' Review that his first step
would be to secure a suitable location where
he would lease a small piece of ground in a
sheltered nook, and then says :
" Having secured the land for a term of
years, I will erect a small, cheap building
that will serve as a shop, extracting, and
bunk room. A cellar will be dug, in sloping
ground, of suliicient size to winter 150 colo-
nies, which would be the maximum number
that I would expect to keep in that yard. I
would fence and clean up the ground and
make it as neat and handy as I could at a
small expense. Then I would l)uy up all the
bees that were for sale on the field, and begin
to form my ajjiary One can usually buy
at a fair price what few bees the farmers have
on such a field.'"
Perhaps ; and yet in many cases the very
fact that farmers knew a man was engaged in
establishing an apiary of considerable size
would arouse in theiu the thought that more
was in bee-keeping in that locality than they
had supposed, resulting in an immediate rise
in price. Inileed, it has very frequently been
the case that the establishment of a prosper-
ous apiary bus induced others to go into the
business to a considerable extent who never
thought of such a thing until they saw the
establishment of that prosperous apiary.
356
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 6, 1901.
\ Convention Proceedings.
Report of the Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Convention.
BY DR. L. D. LEONARD.
The Minnesota State Bee Keepers' Association held a con-
vention Dec. 5, ] 9U0, at Minneapolis. The meeting was
called to order by H. G. Acklin, the chairman of the execu-
tive committee, the president, J. P. West, being ill,- and, there-
fore, unable tobe present.
After preliminary exercises, Vice-President G. H. Pond
took the chair. The first business of importance was the
report from a special committee consisting of Wm. Russell,
H. G. Acklin and J. P. West, on the adulteration of honey.
This committee had collected samples of honey from different
parts of the State, and took them to the Dairy and Food Com-
missioner for analysis. It is due to this society, through the
efforts of this committee, that the Dairy and Food Commis-
sion have taken a more active interest in the suppression of
the adulteration of honey during the last year, than they ever
did before.
QuES. — Is it well to extract all the honey from the brood-
frames at the end of the white honey season ?
Mr. Turnbull would not extract from brood-frames at all ;
Mr. Shepherd said the same ; Mr. Perry would take part of
the honey out; Mr. Russell thought that in small hives one
should not extract from the brood-frames ; and Mr. Acklin
believes in extracting from the brood-frames, and that sugar
syrup is better for the bees to winter on than honey.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
This session was held jointly with the Horticultural Soci-
ety which was holding a convention in Minneapolis at the
same time. Dr. L. D. Leonard reviewed the literature relat-
ing to the mutual relations of bees and horticulture, and the
following paper written by Pres. West, on the same subject,
was read by Mrs. .\cklin :
BEE'KEEPINQ AND HORTICULTURE.
There are a great many things which are of interest to
the bee-keeper and horticulturist, and if I were present I
think I could say some things which would interest you, all
applicable to both occupations ; but to write them is another
thing.
1 take for granted that every up-to-date horticulturist
believes that bees are great agents in fertilizing flowers that
are not capable of self-pollenization, and that they are a
great benefit where cross-fertilization is a benefit and is
desired.
Honey, as a general thing, is secreted only in such flowers
as are incapable of self-fertilization ; while those capable of
being fertilized through the agency of the wind secrete no
nectar to entice the bees. As examples, we see wheat, oats,
barley and herds-grass, all capable of being fertilized by the
rustle of their stalks by the wind. All the clovers and buck-
wheat must be fertilized by insects. The poet puts it thus:
" Bees kissing- the flowers ; they sip its sweet.
But make the buds more fruitful and better to eat."
Prof. Bailey, of Cornell University, a very eminent horti-
culturist, says bees are much more efficient agents in polleni-
zation than wind, in our fruits, and their absence is always
deleterious.
Mr. Morton B. Waite, of the Division of Vegetable Path-
ology of the Department of .\griculture, says many varieties
of apples require cross-poUenization, and the pollen must be
from different varieties ; and further he says (and from deci-
sive experiments), plant mixed orchards, or at least avoid plant-
ing solid blocks of one variety, and be sure there are sufficient
bees in the neighborhood to visit the blossoms properly.
Mr. A. C. Berry, horticulturist commissioner of Tulare
County, Calif., has had great experience in this matter and
has an orchard of several hundred acres. He says that bees
and fruit go together ; that he can not raise fruit without
bees; and that he has them all about his orchard.
A Mr. Mclntyre, in a horticultural meeting in California,
relates his experience in starting an orchard, which was very
large. It was started 35 miles from any bees, so far as he
knew ; when his trees were old enough, they blossomed but he
did not receive any fruit. As the trees did not bear fruit he
was advised by other fruit-men and horticulturists to get bees,
which he did. and his orchard bore profusely, and he said he
had bees all around his orchard. Where there is a large area
of orchard, clover, or blossom^ of any kind, which require
insects to fertilize them. Nature has not supplied a sufficient
number of insects to perform the work, hence the necessity
of keeping bees. I have about four acres of strawberries.
In the season of 1899 and 1900 when they were in bloom
they were very fragrant, and as the weather was very favor-
able for visits from bees and insects, they were literally cov-
ered with bees, and my berries were never so perfectly ferti-
lized. Generally there are not many bees to be seen on the
vines.
My market and money-making berries are the Warfield
fertilized with the Bederwood. I have the plants in rows
four feet apart and about two feet in the rows. I mow the
vines after the season is over, stir up the mulch and burn
when there is a good, brisk wind. Last fall, one year ago, I
put 48 big loads of rye-straw on my beds; the straw made
me S300. That is, I cleaned up that after paying for picking
at one and one-half cents. The crop was about one quarter
of a crop, and without a heavy mulch I would not have had
anything. It was so dry. We had no spring rain, and none
whatever until I was about through picking. I never saw
such a sight of blossoms, and never saw so much fruit set on
vines as there was on this bed. If the good Lord had given
me the usual rain in the spring I would have had an imtnense
crop.
My land is a black, sandy loam, with clay subsoil, and
with 20od rains in April I can raise a fine crop of berries.
The Warfield set so many berries that but few matured, not
more than one quarter as many as the Bederwood. I have
tried, on a small scale, a great many kinds of berries, but
never any that will make me the money as the two-named.
My customers, as well as myself, prefer the Warfield, and it is
a wonderfully profitable berry on my land ; but the Beder-
wood, in such a season as this, is more so. It produced ber-
ries every day, week after week, when everything else was
drying up, and it looked for awhile as if the Millerites were
going to have things their way, sure.
There has always been a great mystery in almost every
apiary, why one colony of bees should gather so much honey
in a season, when one right by its side, in apparently as good
condition, and having the same management, will produce
only about one-half as much honey. The learned editor of
the Gleanings in Bee-Culture, Mr. Ernest Root, thinks he has
discovered the reason, and I am inclined to think that he is on
the right track. Time will tell. To-wit, the difference in the
length of bees' tongues. In measuring many tongues he
finds there is a great difference in the length. In measuring
the tongues from Dr. Miller's two best queens — those that
produced the largest quantity of honey per colony— one meas-
ured 18-100 and the other 19-100; this is much better than
the average. A Kentucky man sent; some bees, and their
tongues measured 2U-1<jO and 21-1 00, and one measured
23-100. It takes long tongues to reach honey in red clover
blossoms, and in many other flowers. If it should prove that
Mr. Root is right, the man who has a queen that will produce
bees with tongues 23-100 long, or longer, uniformly, has a
Klondike right at home.
Perhaps Prof. Lugger, of the State experiment farm,
would help the bee-keepers of Minnesota by measuring the
tongues of bees sent him for that purpose. This matter will
be thoroughly tested next season, and probably decided, and
if there is anything in it I would like to see some Minnesota
bee-keeper win the prize.
I am often asked, Does bee-keeping pay? Mr. N. C.
Alford, of Colorado, says it paid him. He kept bees for eight
years and cleared S6,o00, after paying for all the bees and
supplies and for labor hired. He generally had 250 colonies.
He also owned 1000 acres of land and 500 head of cattle.
The alfalfa fields of Colorado furnish an immense amount of
bee-pasture, and Mr. Alford is not the only enterprising man
who has made big money in keeping bees in Colorado.
Twenty-four maiden ladies arrived at Denver on one train
recently to engage in apiculture in that State.
In some localities in other States, during the past season,
bee-keepers met with great loss by having their bees poisoned
by those who sprayed the blossoms on apple and plum trees
when in bloom. This matter was thoroughly discussed, and it
seems from letters received from the experiment stations in
Missouri, Indiana, New York and Ohio, that such trees should
not be sprayed when in bloom. Laws have been passed in
some States to prevent the spraying of trees when in bloom,
and bees are visiting them. Spraying just before and just
after bloom seems to be sufficient. This is a matter that
should be understood by the horticulturist, and apiarist, par
June 6, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
357
ticularly in those sections wbcre there are large quantitios of
fruit raised, and bees are Ic^pt. The interests of both tlie
apiarist and horticulturist are the same, and both are neces-
sary that the most good should come to each ; they go hand in
hand, and are the most interesting and ennobling occupations
that man or woman can follow on God's green earth.
J. P. West.
This subject was discussed by the horticulturists, and con-
siderable ignorance was shown by them in regard to it. The
bee-keepers then adjourned to their own room, where tin-
question-box was again opened.
QUESTIOX-BOX.
QuKs. — Will cross bees gather more honey than gentle
ones ? Those in attendance were about equally divided on
this question.
QuES. — What time in the spring is the best to put out the
bees ? Answer. — The iirst warm day after the snow has gone.
QCES. — Is the mammoth clover a good honey-plant ?
Answer. — The second crop will often yield honey.
QuES. — Would it pay the average bee-keeper to strive to
rear long-tongued bees ? Answer. — No.
QuES. — Is there foul brood in Minnesota at present ? No
member knew of any.
(Continued next week.)
I Contributed Articles, l
Transferring Bees From Box-Hives— Pollenizins
Fruit.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A CORRESPONDENT says he has purchased several
colonies of bees in bo^-hives, and wishes Doolittle to
tell throug-h the columns of the American Bee Journal
the best method of transferring- them to frame hives. The
majority of our most practical bee-keepers of the present
day believe that what is known as the " Heddon plan " of
transferring- is the best, taking all things into consider-
ation, so far given. This plan is as follows :
Drive the bees from the box-hive and run them into a
hive furnished with frames of wired foundation, the fur-
nished hive to be placed on the stand the colony had occu-
pied up to the time of transferring, while the box-hive with
its combs of brood and honey, with the few adhering bees,
is to be placed close beside the ne%v hive. In 21 days after,
when all of the brood shall have emerged into worker-bees,
drive the bees again from the bos-hive, driving clean this
time, and, after destroying the queen with this last drive,
or the one in the colony driven before, according to which
is the more valuable, unite the bees with those first driven
out, thus getting the bees all on nice, straight combs, and
in good shape to give a good yield of surplus honey.
The combs are now taken out of the box-hive, the
honey extracted from them, and they are rendered into wax
to help in making more comb foundation.
Now, while the above is the best known plan where the
combs in the box-hives are crooked or poor, and the season
of the year that when the bees are securing honey from
the field, yet if the combs in the box-hive are good, straight
ones of the worker-size of cell, or we do not have the
foundation, or we wish to do this work early in the season,
before the bees have much brood or are getting honey from
the fielils, so that they will not draw out the foundation
readily, then, decidedly, the old plan or method given in
nearly all the standard works on bee-culture is the proper
one to use. I never could understand the logic that melted
up good, straight worker-combs, made the wax from them
into foundation, wired the fratnes to keep that foundation
from sagging, and then "transferred" the foundation into
those wired frames, with an amount of labor nearly equal
to that required to transfer the original combs, all for the
fun of saying we had used a plan of transferring different
from that of Ouinby's and Langstroth's day.
Straight worker-comb, properly transferred into a
frame, after being fastened by the bees, makes just as good
a frame of comb as is the one finished from foundation ;
and a frame properly filled with comb, without any wires in
it, is just as good for all practical purposes, as is the one
having wire in it, while the wire is a positive nuisance, if,
from any reason, holes get in the combs from moldy pollen,
mice or anything of the kind, so that we wish to put in a
"patch " of worker-comb to keep the bees from building in
drone-comb. I do not wish to be considered cranky, but
when a thing savors of more money out than profits in, I
have always felt it a duty, as well as a privilege, to enter a
mild protest, after which I am not to blame if any see fit to
use anything recommended which may result in a financial
loss.
BEES AND FRUIT-POIXENIZATION.
I have read twice the article by Thaddeus Smith, found
on pages 279 and 280, and the second reading only empha-
sized the impression of the first, which is, that while he
says, " I am set for the defense of fads," he seems entirely
to ignore them or else is wholly ignorant of many things
along the lines of which he is writing, that have transpired
during the past. I will take space to speak of only two or
three.
He wholly ignores those experiments made by Gregory,
of Massachusetts, the great squash-grower, wherein he
proved positively that not a single squash could be raised
where insects were excluded from the female blossoms of
that plant. And yet all Mr. Gregory did was-to place net-
ting which would have admitted millions of those "infini-
tesimal particles of pollen " which Mr. Smith tells us are
the ones which float in the air and do the work of fertiliza-
tion without the aid of insects or bees, if they are only
stirred up with a stick, or by a breeze created by the bees'
wings, in which case bees and insects may help a little.
Then he ignores the Wenham episode, which, through
iealousy, excluded all the bees from that township, during
which exclusion fruit was nearly or entirely absent in the
interior of the township, while on its borders, to which the
bees had access, fruit of usual quality or quantity obtained,
the same as of yore.
And he can not have forgotten the importation of our
bumble-bees into the continent of Australia, at a cost of
thousands of dollars, after which importation clover seed
obtained in fair cjuantities, when none perfected before.
And with these facts within easy reach of his understand-
ing he asks, "Who knows it to be a fact f" and says
such claim " is all conjecture based upon preconceived
theory." I believe that Mr. Gregory and history are as
unimpeachable witnesses as any which Pelce Island can
produce.
I do not care to notice Mr. Smith's trying to " hold me
up to ridicule," for any intelligent reader would know from
the drift of my article in the March 14 American Bee Jour-
nal, that only nectar-Xov'va^ insects were intended, where I
s,a.i6." insects of all kinds." Trying to hold another up to
ridicule does not count anything in an argument.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Swarms Selecting a Location Historical.
B-y A. p. RAYMOND.
A KNOTTY problem has been discussed in the Ameri-
can Bee Journal, regarding the time when swarms
select their future home, whether before or after
emerging from the parent colony. There are many ques-
tions pertaining to bees that, at the present day, we can
answer with absolute certainty. There are more, perhaps,
that we have been guessing at for many, many years, and
are still as far at sea regarding them as were our grand-
fathers, 100 years ago.
The above question is one of those " stickers " that I
think will never be solved until some bee has been educated
to talk, and tells us all about it. After reading "Rip Van
Winkle's" ideas on this subject, I thought I would consult
John M. Weeks, whose work, published in 1836, I have in
my library, and I found that he was probably about as near
the truth regarding this matter as we are to-day, after a
lapse of some 6i years.
Prof. Cook thinks (page 530-1900) that their future tene-
ment is selected by the bees before swarming, but after
issuing ; they first cluster and wait until the queen is suffi-
ciently rested before proceeding thither. How about sec-
ond swarms, which are accompanied by virgin queens that
are as able and ready to lly as far as the most nimble
worker-bee that ever spread a wing ?
Rip Van Winkle, (page 77T-1'»00), thinks that they wait
until after clustering before making a move toward making
a domicile. How about those occasional swarms that leave
for the woods before clustering .'
358
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL
June 6, 1901.
Let us gfive it up and admit that we do not know a
thing- about it.
By the waj', speaking of John M. Weeks, few living-
apiarists know that such a bee-keeper and author ever
existed; and yet I think he should be accorded a place in
history alongside of Father Langstroth and Moses
Quinby. He began keeping bees about the year 1800 in
Salisbury, Vermont, and struggled along with log-gums
and straw-skeps with varying success until somewhere
about the beginning of the thirties, when he invented and
patented a hive which was, in the matter of convenience,
far in advance of anj'thing before in use.
In 1836 he published a treatise on bees and their man-
agement— a very practical work, which, I suppose, was not
very widely distributed, for two reasons : First, meagre
transportation and advertising facilities ; and second, the
work was unpopular, because the author did not accept any
of the superstitious theories so prevalent at that period,
but gave them solid facts, which, even to-day, relating to
bees, seem stranger than fiction.
There were no railroads in Vermont at that time, and it
was 13 years afterward before the State could boast of one,
in fact it had been only six or eight years since the locomo-
tive made its first appearance on this continent, conse-
quently the mail service was also very poor at this time.
According to Mr. Langstroth's biography in the " A B
C of Bee-Culture," this work appeared two years before he
(Mr. Langstroth) became the owner of his first colonies. I
almost wonder that Mr. Langstroth, who was scouring the
world for bee-literature about this time, never ran across
this work. As a proof that he did not, I will quote from
his work, page 244 :
"Mj- attention has been recently called to an article in the Ohio
Cultivator for 1849, page 185, by Micajah T. Johnson, in -which, after
detailing some experiments, he says :
" ' One thing is certain, if l)ees. from any cause, should lose their
queen, and not have the means in tlieir p<:iwer of rearing another, the
miller and the moth-worms soon take jios^essiou. I believe no colony
is destroyed by worms while an etlicient queen remains in it.'
"This seems to be the earliest published notice of this important
fact by any American observer."
Now hear what Mr. Weeks says, 13 years before this,
on page 51 :
" Large colonies, that never swarm, are never destroyed by tl)e
moth unless they lose their queens, melt down, or meet with some casu-
alty out of the ordinary course of managing them.... The colony of
bees are so numerous that their combs are all kept well covered dur-
ing the moth season, so that no miller can enter and deposit her
eggs."
Quoting from Mr. Langstroth's biography in "ABC :"
"Mr. Langstroth at that time (ISSS) had never seen or heard of a
book on bee-culture; but before the second year of his bee-keeping,
he did meet with one, the author of wliioh doubted the existence of a
queen."
Now, Mr. Weeks not only admitted the existence of a
queen, but he reared them, and had a method of his own of
introducing them into queenless colonies.
Mr. Quinby in his work mentions T. B. Miner as being
the author of a work on bee-culture which appeared proba-
bly a very short tinre before his own. Without a doubt, Mr.
Weeks' work is the earliest treatise on bee-culture ever pub-
lished in America, and I am convinced by his knowledge of
bees, and the methods he employed in their management,
that they were acquired only after years of untiring perse-
verance and hard study.
He seems to have done all in his power to advance and
promote the interests of bee-culture — the art he loved so
well ; but the people were not as ready to accept the true
facts as we are to-day, consequently his labor was, to a
large extent, in vain ; everything pertaining to bee-man-
agement at that early day being attributed to luck, and the
almost universal answer to the query, " Why, don't you
keep bees ?" was, " I have tried them but they don't do well
for nie.'^ No amount of reasoning could induce them to
make another trial.
Considering all the obstacles that lay in his way, and
the difficulties he had to overcome, I think that Mr. Weeks
made a good fight, and he should not be entirely forgotten.
Peace to his ashes, and all honor to the memory of John M.
Weeks. Clark Co., Wis.
^-•-»
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
Out-Aplaries— Their Management for the Preven-
tion of Swarming.
BY F. GREINEK.
IT does not lie within the scope of this article to advise
nor to discuss ways and means to bring our colonies up
to the required standard of strength. It is supposed
that at least the majority of our colonies have already
attained that state of development.
The principal drawback in running out-apiaries is that
the bees are apt to swarm, and that the swarms are apt to
go to the woods. It is therefore imperative that our man-
agement be such as to prevent all swarming.
We might run our out-yards for extracted honey, giv-
ing plenty of room to both queen and bees, always supply-
ing empty comb, etc. ; there would then be no swarming.
However, we wish to produce comb honey, principally, as
we can find a more ready sale for it. Giving plenty of
room alone does not have the desired effect, and we must
adopt a different management. It would be of great advan-
tage to have only young queens in our colonies — we would
then not be troubled with swarms out of their season,
which appear frequently, when colonies supersede their
queens. All swarms that would appear during the regular
swarming period we try to head off. We seldom have any
indication of swarming in this locality sooner than June
15. Nearing this date we watch a few of the best colonies,
and when we find them constructing queen-cells our oper-
ations must soon begin. Hives and supers must of course
have been gotten in readiness before this time.
About June 20 — some years not till June 25 — I go to the
colonies most likely to cast swarms. First I give a little
smoke at the entrance, then rap on the hive. I aim to give
the bees time to fill themselves with honey. The hive is
now opened ; it may be set to one side first and an empty
hive put in its place. This latter should contain but six
Langstroth frames or their equivalent, supplied with start-
ers only. This super is placed on top over an excluder,
which, however, may be taken out after a week's time.
The danger of a queen entering the super is generally past
after that time, and the excluder may be needed on some
other hive, and may be removed.
After the bees have all filled themselves they are not
apt to offer any resistance, and, without using much smoke,
I now shake all the bees from their combs in front of the
eraptj' iiive. I have " an eye out " for the queen and note
her condition. After she has gone in with the majority of
the bees, I place an entrance-guard over the entrance.
Sometimes these shaken-off swarms leave their hive after
the apiarist has left, and then the bees leave for other quar-
ters. The entrance-guard is to prevent ,such an occurrence ;
it should be removed when making the next visit. The
apiary is gone over in this fashion, always selecting the
strongest colonies first to be manipulated as stated. A
visit is made each week. If honey is coming in, even but
moderatel}', the section-cases on these treated colonies will
fill up surprisingly, especially if we have filled the sec-
tions with comb foundation, and, unless the season con-
tinues through a verj' extended space of time, there will be
no trouble with such as to their swarming that season.
If buckwheat is a source to be relied upon, each of
these colonies should receive four frames of comb or foun-
dation at the beginning of the buckwheat flow, which will
end the manipulations of the brood-chamber of the shaken-
off bees.
The question now arises : What shall we do with the
brood-combs we gain from week to week by our shaking-
off method ? I utilize them in two different ways, viz : For
increase and for the purpose of getting- extracted honey.
At the beginning of the season I set apart a number of
good colonies to take care of these brood-combs. They
need not be the very best colonies, and still they must be
populous enough to be able to take care of a full set of
combs full of brood, for they are to receive, each in its
turn, such a full story of brood as we gain it by shaking ofif
colony after colony. I have said before that I always select
the most prosperous colonies first for shaking off, so each
successive week we have some colonies to treat in this
fashion — have some brood-combs to dispose of. Our nurs-
ing colonies, which had received a set of combs full of
brood one week, may receive another after a week's time,
and a third after another week. Even a powerful colony
given this brood from week to week, will not think of
swarming — they are kept too busy taking care of the
young. They become very populous and also store much
June 6, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
359
honey as the brood hatches, which may be extracted after
all brood has hatched.
Should we have full sets of combs full of white honey,
and we have more colonies to shake off, I practice givin;;- a
set of these heavy combs instead of a hive full of empty
frames. I nei>er hive a young swarm on empty combs — not
in my locality. I give either empty frames with starters or
solid honey-combs. The honey in the latter will always go
up into the sections as soon as the room is needed for breed-
ing ; but of course the honey must be of good color or it
will spoil the looks of the nice white clover or basswood
honey the bees may be storing in the sections at the time.
Some bee-keepers advocate and practice hiving young
swarms— and shaken-off colonies come under the same
heading — on frames of foundation. Aside from getting
perfect combs I can see no advantage in this practice.
Foundation in the sections pays well, however.
In case I want any increase in the out-apiary I take the
colony that has two or three extra brood-chambers and
move it to a new location : the two uppermost brood-cham-
bers, neither one containing brood young enough for queen-
rearing, I place back on the same stand, giving queen or
queen-cell in a protector. Of course we must be sure that
the queen is in the part moved. If we have placed an
excluder on, a week previous, we can be very positive where
the queen is. The queen must always go to the new loca-
tion. Extracting combs are given to the divided colonies
as well as to all colonies not working in sections.
If it should seem desirable to reinforce any of the
shaken-off colonies, a hive full of brood, after it has stood
over an excluder for two weeks, answers the purpose well ;
I take it, bees and all, and place it over an escape on top of
the colony to be re-inforced. — American Bee-Keeper.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
The Dzlerzon Theory of Parthenogenesis-
Digestion.
BY PROF. A. J. COOK.
IT has always pained me to read anything reflecting upon
one of the greatest discoveries ever made in natural
history, that of Dr. Dzierzon, of Germany. The
thoughtful bee-keeper may wonder at this remark. He
says we may all note that virgin queens lay eggs and that
these prove fertile. Yet they always produce male bees
and none other. Old queens also frequently become wholly
drone-layers. Laying workers are exclusively drone-pro-
ducers. Surely, if we think carefully upon all these facts
we would not wonder that the theorj' of parthenogenesis in
regard to the production of drone-bees might be suggested
to so thoughtful a bee-keeper as was the great German
priest. Strange others had not made the discovery before
Dzierzon did. Yet we would have supposed the circulation
of the blood would have been easier of discovery. Yet it
was not made until 1616. And this discovery by Harvey is
considered one of the greatest ever made.
It is also easy for us to prove the correctness of the
Dzierzon theory. Every extensive and observant bee-
keeper has had ofttimes in his apiary queens that have
failed to mate. He has noted that these queens would lay
eggs, and he has also been disgusted to note that the entire
progeny were drones. Whenever we read, then, that some
apiarist of an experimental turn of mind has removed the
eggs from drone-cells into worker-cells, and vice versa, and
in so doing has changed the sex, we have a perfect right to
put a large interrogation point after all his statements.
Like the matter of mating in confinement, we may well
write, "Interesting if true," but undoubtedly not true.
Dzierzon's theory is a very great one, and all praise is due
the great German bee-keeper.
As the readers of the bee-papers know, the Dzierzon
theory has recently been called in question over and over
again by no less authority than F. Dickel, of Darmstadt.
He was editor of the Nordlinger Bienenzeitung. He holds
that his experiments prove that normally all eggs were
fecundated. He claims to have transferred eggs from drone
to worker cells, and that these latter developed into work-
ers. The reverse he also claims to have found true. It will
be remembered that von Siebold and Leuckart proved by
microscopic examinations that Dzierzon was right in his
conclusion. Dickel contends that the dicta of these great
scientists is no longer to be accepted. He says truly that
the sperm-cell or spermatozoa would not be seen except at a
very early stage in the development of the egg, and that
very likely these observers made their investigation so lato
that they would not have noted the sperm-cell although it
may have been there at an earlier period. This is true as
Dickel states, yet it is also a fact that in case of fecunda-
tion the spermatozoa are succeeded by the sperm nucleus and
a starlike body known as the sperm aster. These are
obnoxious, and their presence makes certain that a sperm-
cell was previously in the egg.
Recently A. Weismann, under the title, " Uber die Par-
thenogenese der Bienen." in Anat. Anzeiger, gives the
results of three years' investigations. Weismann urges that
there is no ground to doubt that von Siebold saw semi-
nal filaments (even two to four in a single egg). Blochman,
by sectioning eggs with the microtome, has seen the same,
and these results have been confirmed later by Petrunke-
witsch. These, however, von Siebold could only have seen
in the freshest eggs, which were all taken from worker-
cells. The 27 drones-eggs which von Siebold studied, were
all above twelve hours old, and so the failure to find the
sperm-cells in these was not proof that they might not
have been there at an earlier period.
The material that Weismann used in his experiments
was principally obtained from Dickel himself. The eggs
were taken from the cells, put at once into a preservative
fluid, and sent to Weismann. Weismann finds that whether
the eggs are fecundated or not can only be determined with
certainty when it is killed at the time of the second matur-
ation spindle. In the stage of the first maturation spindle,
the nucleus of the sperm-cells is either without radiations,
or else the sperm filament has not been transformed into a
sperm nucleus. In either case there is great doubt if the
sperm-cell can be recognized with certainty. In the second
spindle stage, however, the radiations of the sperm aster
are complete, and there is no danger of either overlooking
or misinterpreting them. Petrunkewitsch sectioned one
hundred and twenty-three eggs, which were in the first
spindle stage. Twenty-nine of these were worker-eggs,
and twenty-three showed the sperm nucleus with evident
radiation. On the other hand, not a single sperm aster was
found in any of the ninety-four eggs from drone-cells.
The result from the study of sections of eggs taken in the
second spindle stage was still more conclusive. Of the
sixty-two eggs taken from worker-cells, there was no mis-
take regarding the presence of the sperm aster. Two hun-
dred and seventy-two eggs were taken from drone-cells and
only one of these contained the significant radiation. As
every bee-keeper knows, occasionally a worker-bee comes
forth from a drone-cell. As I show in my " Bee-Keepers'
Guide," the queen adds or withholds the sperm-cell at will.
She may occasionally make a mistake. As I show in my
book, she often does when she first commences to lay, as
we frequently find at such times, drones scattered through
the worker-brood. That, as Weismann suggests, she should
occasionally make a mistake in depositing drone-eggs is no
marvel. In the case where Weismann found the sperm
aster in the egg from a drone-cell, no doubt the queen made
such a mistake when she laid the eggs. Weismann, after
making these elaborate experiments, concludes that Dzier-
zon's views are fully confirmed — normal eggs laid in
drone-cells are not fecundated, and that those laid in
worker-cells are always fecundated.
Dickel makes the observation that as soon as the queen
lays eggs, workers enter the cell and busy themselves in
some kind of manipulation. He thinks that they add
saliva. In case he is correct in this observation, his con-
clusion that this has something to do with determining sex
does not follow. Dickel further adds that if the eggs are
covered at once after being laid, so that the bees can not
visit them, they will not hatch even though left where the
warmth of the hive would seem to make the conditions
favorable. It has been suggested that in this case the eggs
are coated with saliva and thus the escape of moisture is
prevented which would otherwise prevent their hatching.
I think there is some doubt about this, but in any event the
determination of sex is in no way dependent upon these
early visits of the bees. If the eggs are fecundated, either
queens or workers will result ; if not, we may as surely
expect drones. The determination of the queen or work-
ers is unquestionably dependent upon the ciuantity and
quality of the food furnished them.
Dickel urges that there isadifterence between drones pro-
duced by laying workers and those produced by queens, and
he believes that the former arc functionally imperfect. I
have never believed that we knew that this was true.
Weismann says that he sees no proof that it is so. There is,
however, a slight though constant difference in the devel-
opment of the eggs from the two different sources. This
being true, it would not be surprising if we should find that
360
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 6, 1901.
drones from laying- workers vrere unable to furnish sperm-
cells that would fecundate the eggs. That the drones from
the two sources may differ would not be exceptional, as
there is a wasp which has two kinds of drones. It is not
known, however, whether or not these drones have a differ-
ent parentage.
ARTIFICIAL PARTHBNOGEXBSIS.
The interesting experiments of Morgan and Loeb,
which show that by the addition of certain salts the unfer-
tilized eggs of sea-urchins may be made to develop more
or less completely, have attracted very general attention
among naturalists. Recently, some further experiments
by Fieri and Winkler have been made in somewhat the
same direction. These scientists took the sperm, shook
the same up in either sea or distilled water then filtered it
and added the filtered portion to unfertilized eggs. As a
check, other unfertilized eggs were placed beside the former
and treated the same way, except the decoction from the
sperm was withheld. Many of the eggs to which the
sperm extract had been added, partially developed, which
was true of none of the others. It was found that the
sperm extract made in sea-water was more efficient than
that made in the distilled water. To any one who has
studied marine organisms, this is no surprise. These
experiments are interesting to bee-keepers. It would seem
that in certain cases other stimuli than sperm-cells may
induce the commencement at least of development. How
it is that the drone-eggs develop without any stimulus at
all is still a mystery which possibly may never be solved.
WHAT IS DIGESTION ?
I am surprised at what the Editor states in the opening
paragraph on page 195. He says that Mr. Root is still in
doubt about my criticism of his definition of digestion. I
doubt if Mr. Cowan claims to be a physiologist. He quotes
in giving his definition of digestion. He certainly quoted
from a very able physiologist. I am sure, however, that
this physiologist and no other would defend the definition.
In all our physiologies we find a chapter set apart for the
discussion of the subject of digestion. This chapter con-
fines itself to the explanation of how food is fitted to be
absorbed, and nothing further. In vertebrate animals, the
digestion is done partly in the stomach and completed in
the intestines. In the stomach the gastric juice is the
agent of this digestion, and the proteids, like the albumen
of egg, etc., are the food elements that are transformed.
These are changed into peptone — a substance which differs
from all other albuminoids in being very osmotic. Other
nitrogenous substances will not dialize, that is, they will
not pass through organic membranes.
Digestion is to change substances so that they may pass
through and escape from the stomach into the blood. In
the intestines, starch, sugar, and the fats, and possibly pro-
teids not digested in the stomach, are digested. The agent
in this work is the pancreatic juice. It has three distinct
substances, one of which digests the starch, one the fats,
and the other, proteids. This, then, is digestion.
Assimilation is quite a different thing. Another term
for this is anabolism or constructive metabolism. This
work goes on everywhere in the body. It is the changing
of the nutritive elements into tissue and is the direct work
of the cells which are found in all the tissues of the body.
Where anabolism is very active, there the cells are very
numerous, as seen in brain and muscle. Where the con-
structive metabolism is less active, there the cells are less
abundant, as noted in bone and cartilage.
Surely, if Mr. Root will consult any physiology, or
inquire of any of our leading physiologists, he will no
longer remain in doubt regarding the correct definition of
digestion. True, our dictionaries do speak of assimilation,
as though it might be akin to digestion. Physiologists do
not use it in this sense. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get_ this journal? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
CONDUCTED BY
Die. C. C, SilLLER, Jkfareng-o, m.
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Jcuraal office, or to Dr. MlUer
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Drones Reared from Laying-Worker Eggs.
In examining my bees this spring I found one queen
had died during the winter, and a laying worker was busy.
Will the drones produced from that laying worker be a fit
specimen for a queen to mate with ? New Jersey.
Answer. — Instead of one laying worker there were
probably many. As the eggs that produce drones are
always unfertilized, I know no reason why the unfertilized
eggs of a laying worker might not produce fully developed
drones. Yet I should rather not depend upon drones reared
in such an abnormal way.
Workers With Drone-Eyes.
I send you a sample of bees that have heads like drones.
These bees are just from the cells. The queen is one year
old that produced them. They have heads like drones, as
you will see. Just about one-third of the working force are
like these. One head is all right, like others. This is some-
thing I never saw before. Texas.
Answer. — The case is one beyond my knowledge —
workers with eyes like those of drones. Are you getting up
a new breed of bees with increased powers of vision ?
Prevention of Swarming— Otlier Questions.
1. We wish to increase our apiary to 200 colonies this
season, and thereafter we desire to prevent a further in-
crease. Will you give us the most practical method of the
prevention of increase ? We wish to know a method that
has succeeded. We use the 10-frame Simplicity hive.
Would it be practical to allow the swarm to come out and
hive it in the usual way in a " hiving-box " on the old
stand, take the parent hive away under a tent, cut out all
queen-cells, take it back to the old stand, shake out the
swarm in front of the hive, and then give them plenty of
super room and ventilation ?
2. Our hybrids seem to be inclined to swarm more than
our pure Italians. Is this their inclination generally ?
3. We would ask your approval or disapproval of a ven-
tilator bottom-board as follows : Cut a hole through the
bottom-board about the center 8x10 inches. Over this hole
tack wire-cloth, and underneath the board place a slide made
of wood that will close the hole or open it at will. This
slide may be drawn to any extent as the heat of the hive
may demand. Would such a device retard or discourage
swarming? We have just constructed one such bottom-
board and placed it under a populous colony. We find that,
when the slide is drawn, the number of fanning bees is
diminished. Our hives are on individual stands, about 12
inches from the ground. We regard this bottom-board as a
perfect remedy in a case of robbing. The hive-entrance
may then be closed completely, and the slide drawn to give
the bees plenty of air. The colony that is doing the robbing
may be served in like manner. This will stop the robbing-
at once.
4. Which are the better honey-gatherers, the hybrids or
the pure leather-colored 3-banded Italians from imported
mothers ? North C.\roi.in.\.
Answers. — 1. The probability is that the bees with
your plan would immediately start queen-cells and swarm
again. You will have better success to remove the old
queen and cut out all queen-cells but one. As you wish to
know a method that has succeeded, you might try this :
Just before queen-cells are started, lift the old hive ofl' the
stand and put in its place a hive with foundation or starters ;
find the queen and put her in this empty hive ; put an ex-
cluder over, and then set the old hive with its contents over
the excluder.
June 6, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
361
2. Perhaps so ; but there is not much difference.
3. Anything- that allows entrance for more fresh air is
a help toward prevention of swarming-, but the same end
would be more easily and more fully attained by raising the
hive on four blocks.
4. Some of the hybrids will be better, and some not so
good. The pure stock will be more uniform and more
permanent in character. The pure stock is better to breed
from, and will not run out so easily as the hybrids.
* The Afterthought. * \
The '^Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By B. e. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
TALKING BEES 400 B. C.
One would say that every intelligent bee-man, ancient
as well as modern, knew that it took honey to rear drones,
as well as more of it to feed them after they were reared.
The two different sizes of comb-cells in the hive are too con-
spicuous to be ingnored except by pronounced dullards —
and it's easy to conclude drones too big to be reared in
worker-cells. I would say then that perhaps it's not quite
certain that Socrates knew of apiculturists who habitually
practiced reducing drones by cutting out drone-comb. It
may have been not much more than a dream of his active
mind, that if he kept bees he would save honey by cutting
out what drone-comb could be got at. Drone-comb is not
usually in the heart of a normal colony. All the same, it's
interesting to hear a man talk bee-manipulation correctly
four centuries before Christ. Page 254.
MORE ANENT THE SCORE-CARD.
Mr. Greiner, on page 262, laudably tries to fix things so
judges of bees at fairs can not ignore the drones. He
hardly " gets there." Drones will still be mostly ignored,
except under the fourth item. Suppose we change :
Color and markings of workers and drones 2.5
Size of workers and drones 2U
and make it :
Color, markings and size of workers (10-10-10) 30
Color, markings and size of drones (5-5-5) 15
KEEPING YOUNG QUEENS CONTINUALLY.
The reform chariot of keeping young queens continually
in every hive runs against quite a "hestle," against two
hestles, in fact, when Doolittle and J. B. Hall both emphat-
ically denounce it. But if you do remove old queens for that
purpose, be sure and destroy all cells capped at five days.
Page 263.
HIVING S-^'ARMS A LA GEHRING.
And so Teacher Gehring would have his class hive bees
by placing swarm and limb carefully in front of the en-
trance, as close as possible, and then blissfully watch re-
sults. I would respectfully put in a pretty strong protest.
No doubt that succeeds nicely oftentimes : but, if I am
right, a large percentage of swarms will refuse to move in
as they ought — will just remain in a provoking-to-patience
pile partly on the front of the hive and partly on the limb.
What's the use to follow a method that fails half the time,
when it's just as easy to succeed all the time? I don't say
you can always succeed in making them stay, but you can
practically always succeed in making them run in. The
full details would be rather long for this department. With
a big pot-spoon dose the hive — small doses and often.
After awhile increase the dose, and anon fall to shaking
instead of spooning. But keep most of the bees on the
limb until they are running in lively. Most important of
all, keep poking the entrance clear as often as it threatens
to get blocked up. Waiting for stationary bees to start up
is mostly a humbug. Make 'em "git furder" right straiglit
along. To some extent, and with due moderation, the
smoker can be used to hustle them ; but too much of it
makes them fly badly. A brush of green twigs, to whip
them and sweep them and stroke their backs, is better.
And always smoke a cluster of bees gently (just what you
can without making them lly) before you do anything with
them. Just about as bad practice to manipulate swarms
without smoke as it would be to open hives without smoke.
Both can often be done ; but what's the sense of it ? Our -
smoker dog doesn't charge anything for barking, and why
should we bark ourselves — or go barkless, with three thou-
sand thistles thrust through our bark ? Took me about
half mj' bee-keeping life to get this much of horse-sense
through ray noddle.
GIVING CELLAR-BEES A FLIGHT.
Whether it is profitable or unprofitable to give cellar-
bees a winter flight is an important question. It is regarded
by some, it would seem, as one of the unsolved questions.
My impression is that the heavy old chaps are mostly in the
negative. May be I count 'em wrong. F. W. Hall's experi-
ence, page 268, seems quite decidedly in the affirmative —
and with this quite healthy Irish bull I'll rest a bit from my
afterthinking.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
SOUL-GROWTH FROM READING.
There was one advantage — the greatest one — which comes,
from reading that space crowded out of our last "chat" in
" The Home Circle." I refer to the moral uplift — the soul-
growth. We all agree that valuable as is bodily vigor, and
desirable as is mental growth and power, both pale be-
fore spiritaal development and influence. The outcome of
Samson's colossal muscle was to pull down ; Shakespeare's in-
comparable mental grasp which so enriches our literature and
quickens thought, did not lift the whole world to a higher
plane. Christ's life, which touched the spiritual that is in
man, raised the whole world to better thought and purpose.
It is the transcendent glory of any soul to be able to lift
spiritually a brother soul. It is the most blessed gift that any
of us can receive, to gain inspiration tovyards a more Christ-
like life. The reading of good books is the mightiest force in.
moral development and spiritual uplift. May I speak of our
own college '?
We have about 200 students. A majority of these (61
gentlemen and 4"2 ladies) are engaged in voluntary Bible
study. Many of these not only meet with one of their number,
selected for special fitness as leader, for an hour each week,
but all study the lesson for a half-hour each day, many taking
the time just before breakfast. I believe that there is no one
thing that promises more for the real success of our College
than does this fact— nothing that so surely bespeaks a useful
future for our students.
To spend an hour each day in close mental touch with
Elijah, with Paul, with Christ, gives an equipment for life
that is beyond estimation. The inspiration that comes from
reading good books secures to the world such nobility of soul
as was in Lincoln ; such purity, sweetness, and such wealth of
vital, moving spiritual force, as came to us in Longfellow and
Whittier.
Soul-culture is the richest adornment that any person can
possess. Soul-culture makes a great people, a worthy
nationality. Soul-culture alone can rightly solve the China
and Philippine problems. The reading and study of good
books will bo the greatest force to bring to us this priceless
soul-culture. Mr. Coggshall, none of us can overestimate the
value that ever comes itrom the reading and study of our best
literature. Whatever wo do, let ns not neglect the matter of
reading in the homo circle.
BOOK AND MAQAZINE^CLUBS.
It is good to have several of our best books, magazines,
and papers — more than many of us can afford to subscribe for.
May I tell how wo manage this? I like the daily paper,
which usually takes about ten minutes of my attention each
noon-time. I cut the price in two by taking it with my next
neighbor. Do all in our home circles know how much tliey
lose by not joining in friendly co-operation with the good
neighbors? We all have tho very best neighbors in the
world. Many of us do not know it because we do not know
them.
To digress : Three of my neighbors and I own a cow
together. Such friendly partnerships make a pleasanter
n(Ughborho<id atmosphere, and I believe brighter home circles.
Eight of us neighbors each take a magazine. Thus, we have
the Century, Atlantic, Scribnor. Popular Science Monthly,
362
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 6, 1901.
Harper's, The Forum, North American Review, and an art
magazine. These are passed each week, and each one has his
magazine to keep in the end. I take and keep one magazine.
I have the reading, or opportunity to read, eight of our best
magazines. I feel rich in this arrangement, and I am glad to
suggest that many of our home circles enrich themselves in
some such way.
Our book club is another of our neighborhood co-operative
institutions, which is now several years of age. This has a
still larger range. Eighteen of our Claremont "home circles'"
profit by this admirable arrangement. We all wish to see.
possibly to read, surely "to thumb over," all the best books of
the year. We each pay $1.50. This secures 18 books. We
all unite in securing the volumes, and as we are all alert dur-
ing the year, we are likely to make a good selection. We
rarely secure a book that we regret later to have purchased.
There are one or two such each year. We each keep a book
two weeks, and must date the day we receive it. Each day
that a book is kept beyond the specified time requires a fine of
5 cents. At the close of the circuit the books are sold to the
members by auction, and always bring in more than half cost.
[ recommend this, or some kindred plan, to all our home
circles. It is very popular, and deservingly so, with us. I
presume I read about one-fourth of the books, and " thumb
over" all of them. Mrs. Cook reads many more, and daughter
Bertha some more than do I. Thus we get as a family quite
an insight into the best that is written in America and England
each year.
Anything that incites those in our American home circles
to read more and more thoughtfully the best books and papers,
should receive the fostering care of all of us. May not our
bee-keepers profit by something like our magazine plan ?
There is always something in each of the bee-papers that is
valuable to each of us. There are articles in each, and some
number of each, that some of us do not care for at the time.
To have them all would be a signal gain. In almost every
neighborhood are there not five bee-keepers that get mail at a
single post-office ? In such case, five magazines or journals
could be taken, and by a convenient exchange all have all. If
such an arrangement could be generally carried out, can any
one doubt but that it would be a substantial gain to our in-
dustry ? When any one reads, and so handles his business
more wisely, all are gainers. The slovenly, unlettered bee-
keeper slumps the market with his inferior product. The up-
to-date, thoroughly-read bee-keeper advances the market, as
all first-class products are sure to raise prices.
THE FARM FOR CHILDREN.
Mr. Coggshall keeps his farm at a loss because Mrs. Cogg-
shall wishes it for the children. God be thanked for such wise
mothers as Mrs. Coggshall. Such mothers will not have to
grieve over wayward children as the years roll on. A distin-
guished writer, and college president, says in one of the last
month's magazines, that our cities would soon die of rot were
it not for the fresh blood from the country that pours an-
nually into them. Strange that the city business man does
not recognize that his virility comes from the vigor of body,
mind, and integrity, which was bred in the country home of
either his or his father's boyhood. If he recognized this he
would do business in the city and live in the country. It
would take time to come and go. Mrs. Coggshall would say
time given that our " best crop," the boys and girls, should be
a truly " best crop," is time best employed.
The country home builds industry, purity, truthfulness,
righteousness, into character. The country home is the very
saviour of our country. The rush from country to city is full
of menace. May we not hope that a better judgment may
swing the tide, and that we shall soon see a flood, at least for
the boyhood of our people, from city to country ? I wish Mrs.
Coggshall's words could be sounded into the ears of every
parent our country over.
COMMITTINQ SCRIPTURES TO MEMORY.
My fortunate boyhood's home circle was richer, better,
for hearing the Bible read each morning. I would not have
had that part of my early culture omitted for a fortune of
what the world calls riches. I, to-day, can hear the words
and comments of my dear father, though he has been dead for
years. These memories are a priceless legacy. I could not
deny my children what had been so precious to me. So I
have always read daily from the " Book of books." I have
often wondered if my words read, and my comments, would
be such a benizen to my children as were my father's to me.
Some parts of the dear old Book are so incomparably precious
that we have learned them. Thus we have the Ten Com-
mandments, many verses from Isaiah, the 1st, •2d, 8th, 19th,
23d, 24th, 121st, and llTth Psalms, the Beatitudes, Romans
12th, and 1st Corinthians iSth, etc. We often, instead of
reading, repeat. It is blessed to know these chapters by
heart. It is blessed frequently to repeat them in concert in
the home circle, after the morning or evening meal.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is the ^'cli- Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife.— When oideriug-, be sure to say just what name and
address jou wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies In the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as g-lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg-ed out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linines are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Xovelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the " Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and id
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanviug cu' gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this'beautiful knife, as the "Novelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for fl.2S, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending usIrtREE new subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $.".'».) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.'X).
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
fl^Please allor' --bout two weeks for your knife order to be bin
St., Chicago, IlL
Lanostirollion...
Ttl6H0n6llB66
*■
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug'ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant cSc Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 ,i 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
June 6, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
363
Farm Wagon Economy.
The economy of this proposiiiun is not all
found in the very reasonable price of the wagon
itself, but in the grreat amount of labor it will
save, and its great durability. The Electric
Wheel Co., who make this IClectric Handy
Wag-on and the now famous Klectric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
durable low-down wagon at a reasonable price.
Thi!
thruout-
agon is composed of the best material
white hickory axles, steel wheels, steel
§ hounds, etc. Guaranteed to
any height desired and any
With an e-xtra set of these
low-down wagon at will.
Write for catalog of the full " Electric Line" to
Electric Wheel Co., Box 1(,, Quincy, 111.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal when ■writing
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturage and Nectar-
Producing Plants; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 Xorth Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal
Please mention Bee Journal 'when ■writina.
The AmericanPoultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
century old and i-. a- - ■•
ing must possess intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must be a valuable one. Such is the
Ameriean Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHIRERY
Read what J. I. Parent, of
Charlton, N. Y., savs: "We
cut with one of your Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
50 chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a great deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
. to make, and we expect to do
■ith this Saw. It will do all
you say it will." Catalog and price-list free.
Address, W. F. & John Barnes,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal -when \^rriting.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department. Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Fle£ise mention Bee Jotimal when "writing
A Report from Massachusetts.
This is more of a niarket-t^artlening coimtr.v
than auythin;.;- t'lse, with dairyin;,^ as a side-
issue. There is iici liuckwheat raised to speal;
of, and very little white clover. About 50
colonies, I shoulil judge, are kept within a
radius of two miles from here. Are " kept,"
I say, but most of them keep themselves.
They are in box-hives owned by people who
never saw a bee-paper, and would not look at
one if they could, because their fathers never
did. In extra-sjood years they sometimes get
a little surplus honey, but in poor years their
bees starve. I bought one colony in a box-
hive tor ?2..t0 last spring (hybrids, I should
think), from which I took 20 pounds of fine
comb honey. The combs were very white
and well tilled out. but the honey was rather
dark, almost of a greenish color, but very
thick. I do not know what it could have
been gathered from. The bees did not swarm
last year, but will probably do so this year,
and I hope they will do still better. They
have wintered well on the summer stands.
Mrs. E. C. Fo.x.
Middlesex Co., Mass., April 10.
Prospect for a Successful Season.
\\'e have ',H colonies, and the season bids
fair to be a successful one. Many of our
liives are already so full of bees that they are
banging outside considerably. None have
swarmed as yet.
I find the American Bee Journal very use-
ful. S. M. Ali.'ex.
Pierce Co., Wash., May 11.
Clover and Bees Wintered Well.
Bees wintered well, and the prospects for a
honey crop are good. Clover was not winter-
killed as it was the two previous winters.
W. J. Brown.
Ontario, Canada, May 13.
Prospect for a Good Honey Crop.
Colonies of bees are getting very strong it
it is cold, and the prospect is good for a large
honey crop. H. W. Lee
Winnebago Co., 111., May 24.
Migratory Bee-Keeping-Moving-
Bees.
I have done more or less migratory bee-
keeping for a number of years, and have
hauled bees over all kinds of roads, in all
kinds of weather, and in every style of hive.
The hive matters but little, except that if it
is large and cumbersome it will make a differ-
ence in the number that can be hauled at one
time. I have only one large horse, and a
wagon made expressly for hauling bees,
heavy but with very easy springs, thus caus-
ing very little jar, and never breaking down
combs, although I have carried some very
frail ones.
In the clover season my bees are taken to
my " Tucker " apiary, and at the close of this
flow I take them to the Zack Chandler marsh,
where there are thousands of acres of Spanish-
needle, which grades with clover in this
market.
In jjreparing the bees for removal I have
only the bottom-lxiards fast. Nothing else is
done to them excei>t to remove the covers if
the hives will not tier up easily with them on.
I use no wire-cloth, and never close the bees
in. 1 drive to the yard, unhitch the horse,
and about dusk begin to load up. I usually
select a moonlight night, thus combining
pleasure with business. I have never had an
accident in moving them in this way, for if
they tind themselves at liberty, and therefore
settle ilown conteMtcd. while if they are shut in
Italian Queens
reared from the old reliable Leaiber-Colored
Stock by the best methods. I keep 100 colonies
of Ilaliaas to select my breeders from, and I
breed from uone but the very best honey-g^ath-
erers. Untested, 5Sc each; I dozen, $0.00. Safe
arrival. Send for price-list. Address,
W. J. FOREHAND,
l'iD9t FORT DEPOSIT, ALA.
^*^f RUMELY
I thinking about
flRACBON ENGINES
r We present "THE HEW RUMEIY" which is the cli-
r max of 44 year b experience m enRino building.
: Embodying all the best InventionB of oar own and
► many others. IT IS STRONQ-SIMPLE-OURABLE
► and IASILT operated. But there is more to it-
► explained in detail in onr new catalogue— FREE.
► M. RUMELY CO., LAPORTE, IND.
please mention Bee journal "when ■wnting.
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN™
Tills pen consists of a Iiai'd
niUber holder, tapering to a
round point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point and needle of the pen
arc made <if platina, alloyed
with Iridium— substances of
H'rcat iluraliility which are not
affected ijy the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write iu.lXiO words, and <lo not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of iini-
form ^vidlii at all times
they are iineiinaled lor
ruling' purpose!^.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best Maxifoldino Pen ox
TUE .MaHKET.
m.OOO Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
Ihe "Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Sind T\V(i N'EW srnsriiiHEUS
til Ihe American Bee .Journal for
om- year, with .<!2.0I1; or send
•>-.Miii for till- Pen and your own
Miliscriplion to the .American
lice .lournal for one year; or,
for .si. 2.1 wc will mail the pen
alone. Address.
Z"' QEORGE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
364
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 6, 1901,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A;A;
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Br
. St., Indianapolis, Ind.
■ig-ht rates for Southern;
NOTICE
THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY have a Branch Store at 10 Vine St.,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.,
Where they have direct steamboat connections with Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida,
and low freight rates.
As this is a main branch, order from any catalog or quotations given
from Medina.
Also booking orders for healthy ITALIAN BEES, shipped this month. Full
colonies, 8 frames and queen, S6.00. Wholesale rates on application.
Please niention Bee Journal "when writing
paid
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
^^ This is a good time
x,«)> j,v to send in your Bees-
''4»' VK wax. We are paying
^^ 26 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO.
ilai'shfleld MaDiitactiiriiig Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
sA26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Red Glover Queens
LONG-TON&UED BEEsIrE DEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium for sending us TWO new subseribeps
to the American Bee Joupnal fop one yeap
(with $2); OP, one Tested Queen fpee as a premium fop sending
us FOUR new subscpibeps with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy.
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " queens will be filled in rota-
tion— "first come, first served" — beginning about June 10th. It is
expected that orders can be filled quite promptly, as a large number
of nuclei will be run. All queens will be guaranteed to arrive in
good condition, and all will be dipt, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows: Untested,
SI. 00 each : Tested, S2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Epie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
they will worry and ^'iiaw, and if there is a
possilile chance they will rush out and cause
trouble. I remove tliem regardless of strength ;
some of the hives may be full ol bees, but
there will be no dansrcr of trouble.
The most important thing to be considered
in moving bees is which way the combs shall
be placed — toward the horse or crosswise.
Many of the readers w ill remember our good
old friend and bee-master, J. H. Townley,
who in the early 'SO's gave me, as well as
many others, our first lessons in bee-keeping,
and who advocated placing the combs length-
wise. But after years of practical experience
on all kinds of roads, hilly, stony, up-and-
down, trotting the horses, etc., I find that
combs placed crosmHse are more safely carried.
There are more or less ruts, sticks, stones,
etc., on any road, while up or down hill one
alwavs walks a horse or team.
Ingham t'o.. Mich. A. D. D. Wood.
Ppospeets Good.
Bees are doing well. Clover is plentiful.
Prospects in general are good.
D. J. Blocker.
Stephenson Co., HI.. May Iti.
Bees Worliing on Dandelion Bloom.
Our l>ees have been doing very well the past
two weeks on dandelion and other bloom, some
of the colonies having .50 pounds or more of
surplus honey in the extracting-combs. A
northeast wind and rain prevails at this time,
which is.interrupting their work; but if the
storm does not end in a killing frost there
will no doubt be an abundant flow of rasp-
berry and other honey as soon as the weather
is warm enough. H. W. Corxelisos.
Washburn Co., Wis.. May 23.
A Nopth Carolina Report.
We have an apiary situated in eastern
North Carolina, whicli is being run for comb
honey. Last year the spring opened with 75
colonies in very poor condition, owing to the
fall bloom being cut off by storm the August
before. Last year was one of the finest
honey-years ever known here, and our 75
weak colonies built up and gave us 5.000
pound sections of honey. About three-fourths
of this was white honey.
We wintered our bees last winter in single-
wall hives on the summer stands without the
loss of a single colgny, except that two were
found queenless. This brought us out this
spring with 12'J colonies with queens. Nearly
all of these were in good condition. April
was a cold, wet month, and the bees pulled
through under dithculties.
The apiary is situated in a pine thicket
bordering on a farm. The trees are 50 or 60
feet high, hence we have to clip our queens
that we may be able to control the swarms.
We have had 24 swarms up to date.
Occasionally a queen will emerge with her
wings, which is the result of superseding. One
such came out to-day and lit in the top of a
pine .50 feet high. We were anxious to bring
her down, fearing other swarms nught join
her. We tried jarring the tree with an ax,
thinking that she would get tired of flying
and alight lower ; but she resisted our efforts
until we despaired of being able to capture
her alive. When she became an "outlaw,"'
five shots from a Winchester repeating shot-
gun brought her to the ground, together with
many of her followers.
Baxter & Farxell.
Pamlico Co., N. C, .May IS.
A Colorado Lady's Experience.
I lioitght Ui colonies of bees and united to
IS. a year ago last fall. This was too large a
start, according to all the advice I could get,
tint I wanted to go in that deep. I spent
about -*(50 on bees, new hives, etc., and last
year I spent -SlOO on all sorts of supplies. The
bees have yielded honey enough to pay for
themselves and the cost of keeping them. I
now have 3.3 colonies in fine condition, so I
think. □ _ "^ : "^ ~ c^^ ^_3 J
I have read so many bee papers and books
that I am just bursting with information, but
June 6, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
365
BEES AND QUEENS
Haviag been is vears rear-
intf Queens for ihe trade on
the best known plans, I will
le to rear the best.
PRICES:
One Untested Queen $ .80
One Tested (Jueen 1.00
One Select Tested Queen 1.25
OneBreeder 2.00
One Comb Nucleus 1.20
BelgianHares
Choice, pedigreed and common stock; voung'-
sters, $3.00 per pair. Write for description and
prices. J. L. STRONG.
llAtf Clarinda, Page Co.. Iowa.
Please mention Bee Journal -wnen ■writina:.
Every Year's Use
adds to the popularity of Patre Fonces. This season's
sales surpass all previous recnnls.
VXm: WOVKN WIKK FENCK CO., ADRIA>, MICH.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool Iflarlcets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writina
Dittmer's Fouudatioii !
Retail— Wholesale-Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mr PRO-
-CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
-own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonnilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wntiuE^
B66§=Syppii6S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
.105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mentiou the iiee Journal.
4 BINGHAM SMOKERS. ^
J BKASS. to order, 4.infh. .fl.T.i; a>..-ineh, L
^ $l.:t.i;_3-incli,ijl.25. TIN-4-inrh. $I.,'io; 3>«- ^
1
^ Uncap
^ (tth Nn
1 creu.
Bingham & Iletlie
■ 'sthe best also. See May
Bee Journal, or send for
T. K. BINUHAM. Va
rtease mention Bee Journal when ■writing,
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We ran furnish you with '1 lu' A. I. Knot To's
Koods at wholesale or retail at tlieir prices. We can
save you freitfbt. and ship proinptly. Marketprice
paid tor beeswax. Send for our li^n catalog.
M. U. HUNT & SON, Bell Branch. Wayne Co., Mich
when confi-oiitcd by a live bee, or a practical
situation, I feel very ignorant and helpless. I
had such a queer experience in iutroducinj;
(lueens last year. There was no pasteboard
over the ca;,'c-hole. One colony had been
loni:: queeiiless. though I had just found it
out. and the other had an iniperfeet queen. I
didn't luiotv that, cither. Some time before, I
knew their queen was dead, and gave theiu a
frame of eggs, which were 'too old, I think.
Well, the queens came at night, and I was too
impatient to wuii till morning, so opened the
hives and placeil the cages between the
frames. I waited a week and then looked in to
discover that neither queen had been re-
lersed ! I waited three days longer, and found
that the bees having the drone-layer had
killed her and accepted the new queen. 1
found out then for the first time that they
had a drone-layer.
Looking in the other hive I found the
queen still imprisoned, and so I let her out
myself. Two weeks later both hives were full
of young brood — an astonishing quantity !
Neither colony was worth requeening, appar-
ently, but 1 wanted to try an experiment.
Then I was very anxious for fear the brood
would chill and the queens wouldn't go
through the winter, for I saw they were won-
ders. I fed both colonies, and covered them
up snug and left them. Now they are run-
ning over with bees.
Imprisonment didn't seem to injure those
queens. I am afraid I will lose track of
them when they swarm. I have never tried
clipping, but do not fancy it.
(Miss) Josephine Field.
Las Animas Co., Colo., May 13.
The Uses of Honey.
Mr. Herman Cook, of Wyoming Co.. Pa.,
sends us the following, taken from the New
York Tribune, contributed by .1. F., of Pres-
ton, Conn. -.
The ancients regarded honey as a celestial
food, and they used it at all religious cere-
monies. The Egyptians used it as a remedy
for various diseases. To judge from the
Bible, honey was for the Hebrews as indis-
yiensable as milk and flour, and it served
them as an excellent medicine for the gout,
coughing, and all kinds of wounds. For the
Arabian, honey is of great importance, as is
shown in the Koran by the story of the man
who one day came to ask Mahomet what to
do for his brother, who was suffering great
pain, and about to die. The prophet pre-
scribed honey, and the man followed his
advice. After a short time, however, the man
returned and told Mahomet that the remedy,
instead of alleviating the evil, only made it
worse. But the prophet answered. ''Go
home and continue to give honey to your
brother, for God speaks the truth, and your
Ijrother's body has lied." And the patient
recovered after a continued use of the remedy.
The ancient (ireeks used honey as a means
to prolong lite. Pythagoras lived only on
honey in order to keep healthy his body as
well as his miml. Other examples are those
of DemocritUE, who died at the age of l()!l,
and Anaereon, wlio died at the age of 11.5.
Both were very fond of honey, and con-
sumed it in large quantities.
Therapeutically, honey is much employed
in diseases of the mouth. It is known that
these diseases (thrushes) very soon dis-
appear after the aiiplication of honey in com-
bination with alum or borax. When children
are teething their gums are rublied with n
decoction of marsliinallow (themcit of .Milma
orticinalis). or sull'ion with honey, l-'or pains
in the throat gar^ding with honey ami Icitiou-
juice is an excellent remedy. As curatives
are further known the O.^yme seilliliea (vine-
gar and honey) . ami the sanative wine (chevril,
knapweed, white wine and honey). Also the
application of diluted honey to burns, chil-
blains (in this ease the honey is combined
"THE GARDEN BOOK."
A NEW BOOK ON GARDENING,
I;V r. i.KKI.NKH.
This is a new book on gardening. Mr. Greiner
has for 30 years been preaching and practicing'
the gospel of good gardening with marked suc-
cess, and hence is well qualliied for the task.
Thirty years of actual soil-contact bv a man
who loves his work and follows it in all its de-
tail with indefatigable patience, means much
when it comes to teaching others. In the " Gar-
den Book " the author epitomizes that .^J years'
work in a most entertaining and instructive
The man who has a garden, large or small,
and the man who intends to have one, will be
e(iuaIlT interested and profited by a studv of its
pages. It is one of those books which inspire
its readers to reach out for better results
through more thorough work, and is in line
with the previous writings of Mr. Greiner,
which have done so much to advance the trar-
dening interests of the United States. The book
IS handsomely printed in clear type on fine
paper, containing 12') practical illustrations. It
is right for everv-day reading, and right for
every -day reference.
Price, postpaid, SO cents: or with a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal, both for
f 1.30: or we will mail it free as a premium for
sending us ONE NEW SUBSCRIBER to the
Bee Journal for a year with ft. On.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & m, Erie Street. - CHICAtlO, ILL.
Ten Days on Trial.— In the past several years
certain manufacturers and others, with that
knowledge and unbounded faith borne of e.xpe-
rience have been sending out all sorts of things
to the farmer to be first tried bv him and paid
for onlv alter he is convinced'of their merit
and satisfied with the bargain. So far as we
know, however, the Kalamazoo Carriage and
Harness Co., of Kalamazoo, Mich., is the first
hrm in the United States offering to send out
carriages, bujfgies, wagons, harness, etc., on
this plan. Those of our readers who have fol-
lowed their advertising as it appeared from
time to time in our paper, will have observed
the proposition. The plan is to send articles
which appear in their catalog to anvbodv, any-
where, on 10 days free trial. The piirchaser or-
ders the vehicle he may wish, and when it is
shipped, he goes to the railroad station, hitches
up to it and drives home. He can use it in any
legitimate way and subject it to aav test aris-
ing from reasonable use for the space of 10
days. If at the end of that time he is satisfied
with the job, he simply pars the catalog price
for it. If not, he ships it back to the factorv.
This appeals to us as being about js l.iir aud
open a method of doing business as it is possi-
ble to adopt. It is certainly a most gracious
compliment to the honesty and fairness of the
farmers of our country. It gives them the op-
portunity to see and try just what thev are buy-
ing and to test it in everv way before being
obliged to pay for it. Certainly the manufac-
turers, who will offer their (roods to people on
such liberal terms, have unbounded confidence
in the value of their wares. We should expect,
under these conditions, that the Kalamazoo
Carriage and Harness Co. made onlv first-class
vehicles, ami trimmed and finished them only in
a first-class and enduring manner. .\ny of our
readers who are in need of a vehicle or harness
of any kind should write them at once (or illus-
trated and descriptive catalog. They mail it
366
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 6, 1%1.
with oil of turpentine), inHanimations, and in
many cases of veterinary practice, are almost
generally known.
To preserve the complexion there is nothing
better than honey-baths, which, a hundred
years ago, were much in use among the ladies
of the stage, and have to-day again come in
vogue in Paris.
Spring Feeding in the Fall.
The Canadian Bee Journal reports that
very practical bee-keeper, J. B. Hall, as say-
ing:
•' As far as spring feeding is concerned I am
a lazy man, and I have found it is better to
give the spring feed in the month of Septem-
ber previous; and as I have advocated in the
past, never open your colonies until the fruit
blossoms, unless there is something wrong
with them. If you want to know their
strength, and can not tell by the noise they
make, tip up the hive and look underneath —
do not break the quilts. This may make the
difference of a crop of honey or no honey.
You open them in the spring to see if they
are queenless — what good can you do them if
they are queenless ? Let them be."
Money Not the Highest Success.
W. A. H. (iilstrap utters some good sense
in the Bee-Keepers' Review when he says ;
•' Many make more than a living at home,
mainly from bees, who could make more
money to scatter their time and business all
over the country, and still have less of life's
real success than at present.
" To illustrate, you can Hnd places, isolated
perhaps, where you can make more money
with a system of out-apiaries than you are
doing at present; but you would necessarily
have to be away from home more, would be
worth less to your family, to society and your-
self, than in your present capacity. To make
the suggested change would be very unwise.''
In-Breeding.
The opinion is commonly held that without
occasional introduction of fresh blood one's
stock will run out, and that continued in-
breeding means final decay. Under usual
circumstances the opinion is probably correct,
but it should be known at the same time that
in-breeding under skillful and intelligent
management may produce very desiralile re-
sults. The editor of Gleanings in Bee-Culture
says:
" Very recently my attention has been
called to a series of articles in the Jersey
Bulletin on the subject of in-breeding to get
prize-winning stock. I was surprised to note
how the Ijreeders of high-class Jersey blood
in-breed. In one or two instances I noticed
that a mother had been bred to her son, and
sisters to brothers, for the express purpose ot
accentuating certain desirable traits. I ob-
served, further, that this practice has been
carried on to great advantage for many years.
Bee-keepers have much to learn frojii tlu-
breeders of other fine stock. But we liave
one difficulty to contend with, and tliat is.
that of getting a particular queen mated to a
particular strain of drones."
In the same paper J. H. Gerbracht says :
" I think I will say a word right here about
in-breeding. There is not in existence to-day
a single strain of unusual superiority of either
cattle, hogs, or chickens, in which this prin-
ciple has not been employed to secure a fixed
type ; and after this has been done, the fixed
type can be maintained only by the most care-
ful and scientific line-breeding. Crosses be-
tween different strains produce just the same
unreliability and tendency to degeneration as
crosses of distinct breeds do, excei)t in the
few cases in which, either by accident or the
exercise of most unusual good judgment, the
two strains happen to ' nick ' well. In cattle
and swine breeding, the infusion of one-
eighth new blood is considered enough to off-
set whatever ill effects close in-breeding may
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Oueeus reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3% miles apart, and
mated to select drones, fl.SO
each ; untested warranted
(jueens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
ZS years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN iH. DAVIS.
6A2ot Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal wlien writing.
Bee=Keepers^ Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
free.
THE A, I. ROOT CO.,
H. G. ACKLIN, manager,
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn,
14Atf
Please i
1 the Bee Journal.
.^MANUFACTURER QF>&
BEEHIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money bv sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
Flease mention Bee Joumai -when -writma:.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send Jl. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping'
Device is a fine thing- for use in
catching' and clipping- Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for$1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORGB W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicag-o, IlL
Bee=Supplies
We are distributors for ROOT'S G GODS
AT THEIR PRICES for southern Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and theSouth,
MUTH'S SQUARE CUSS HONEY-JARS.
LANGSTROTH BEE-HIVES, ETC.
Successor to C. F. Muth & Son,
2146 4S Central Ave., CINCINN ATI.O.
I am Now Prepared
to lill orders promptlv for Untested Oueens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.00 for (., or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Atf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentior Bee Jotimal when wntina.
POULTRr BOOK FREE, 64 panes, illustrated
with 3 mos. trial aubscription lu imr paper, loc
INLAND POULTR? JOUKNAL. Inrtmnapolis. Ind
Please mention Bee Joumai when writing.
produce, the idea beiii;^ to use the least possi-
ble amount to maintain the vigor and stamina
with as little disturbance of characteristics
and type as possible ; and the success of the
breeder depends to a great extent on his
ability to do this accurately.
In poultry-breeding, particularly in the
varieties which have variegated plumage, in-
breeding and line-breeding are the only ways
by which any fixity of type can be secured ;
and some breeders boast of not having gone
outside of their own yards for breeding-stock
for 20 years. Of course, the results are some-
times the same as those attained by some
breeders of five-banded bees — good to look at,
but of no utilitarian value: but this Is by no
means necessarily the ease ; and the best lay-
ing and most vigorous-growing stock we have
to-day is from this same line-breeding."
Assaulting the Bees.
A writer in Badminton says that in India,
al.)out eight miles from the town of Jabalpur,
is a place called The Bee, from the fact that
swarms of the insects live there and defend
their holding against the world. Shocking
are the tragedies which have resulted from
invasion of the spot. Some men who had
unwittingly disturbed the bees were set upon
by stinging millions, and plunged into the
river. But every time they showed their
heads above water, the insects settled upon
them in clouds, and they chose drowning to a
more hideous death. Deer, pigs, and even
the lordly tiger, have paid the same penalty
for their indiscretion. Says the Englishman
who described the spot :
I determined to invade the home of the
bees, and I began by designing a suit of de-
fensive armor. It was a sort of overall suit,
tied round the neck with tape, a bee-veil to be
tucked into the garment, riding-boots, gaunt-
lets, and two pairs of gloves. Into this suit I
was sown by the tailor, so that there should
be no chink or crevice.
Abram. a native, and I, armored and carry-
ing a bucket and two coils of rope, were to
climb up to the back of the hills so as to get
above tire bees, and Percy, who was in charge
i)f the boat, ascended the rocks. He went to
the bank of the river, which was under the
point of attack, and made his lx)at fast.
Abram and I climbed to a well-considered
height, and then I left him and crawled cau-
tiously forward. I could hear a sort of all-
pervading hum, dominating even the roar of
the water beneath, and my nostrils were filled
with that sweet smell which is made up of
lioney. wax and be(?.
I decided that the point of attack was about
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75cts. each: 6 for S4.(X>.
Long'Tongued 3=Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
il.Oii each, or 6 for $5.W. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincixn.^ti, O.
flease mention Bee Joumai -when writina
ALBINO QUEENS U^Q^i^^^r^^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honey-gatherers you ever saw — try ray Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, $1.1X); Tested. $1.50.
iiA26t J, D. Gl VENS. Lisbon, Tex.
3-Fraill6NUGl6r°^
Sale
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita. E. St. Louis, 111.
Mention the American Bee Journal.
BEE
June 6, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
367
a hundred yards farther on ; sd 1 returned for
Aliram. and together we made our way there.
The cliff was sheer, and even uverhangins. A
dense mass of bees and comb lay about 50 feet
below me. and 50 feet below that were the
boat and my faithful ally.
I put one end of the rope round a tree grow-
intr at the edjre of the cliff, gave the other end
to Abrani, and went over. I found I should
have to get a swing to reach the ledge on
which I meant to stand. Hanging down on
this ledge from above was 10 or 15 feet of
comb.
I reached the rock with my hand, gave a
push, swung out. then in again, struck iu the
middle of the comb, and gained my feet with
a scramble.
The bees were upon me. The air reeked
with that curious acrid smell familiar to those
who have been stung. The noise of the
water lielow was drowned by the hiss of the
angry bees. I was completely blinded, for
they had swarmed over my veil, blocking out
the light. When I touched my body it seemed
to lue, through my glove, that I was covered
by thick, soft fur, all bees.
For a few moments I was stupefied, fright-
ened. Then I realized that my armor was
trustworthy, and that I was safe. Aliram
lowered the bucket, and lilindly I felt about
for the comb, and as well as I could, scraped
it into the bucket. I lowered it to Percy, and
shouted to Abram to lower me. He told me
afterward that he could not see me. In the
place where he knew I must be was nothing
but a brown, whirling mass.
I swung out into the dark, bumping as I
went. At last a man clutched me, and I
knew I was at the bottom. I brushed the
bees from my veil, and through a ilriving
mist of them saw a cluster of other bees in
the shape of a man. This was Percy.
We cut ourselves ach*ift, and rowed to a
convenient place, where we made for the
shore. There, five mile away, we made a
sulphur smoke, and were freed from the last
of our enemies.
Our dresses had held, none of us were
stung, and we had just 15 pounds of honey.
For that, three of us. for six hours, had held
our lives in our hands. — Youth's Companion.
Standard Belgian flare Book !
BV M. D. CAPPS.
THIS book of 175
pag-es presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
g-ian Hare industry;
and kinds; the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding-
stock; care of the
youug-. feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of 50,-
tHtC) copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only $1.10.
GEORGE VV. YORK & CO.,
144 & IM, Erie Street,
.CHICAGO, l:
BEE=SUPPUES!
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVE.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, i^Ianiial of tlie Apiary,
BY
PROF, A, J, COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition-18th Thon-
sand— $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Kkepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new .subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with ti.OO), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
A Home iu Colorado Iale
I have a fine Fruit-Ranch of 14 acres here at
Fruita, all set to fine fruit, principally winter
apples, with plenty of small fruits, peaches,
pears, plums, cherries, apricots, prunes, and
about 700 grapes ; 100 colonies of bees, mostly
Italians, and about 100 fine Belgian hares that
I will sell with the place. The orchard is in
fine bearing, being about 10 years old, and is
clean and free from weeds. The house is a
good 7-room one. nearly new, with bath and
water; a good new barn for two horses and
two oows ; good brick hen-house and two good
cellars, good lawn and shade. I have a paid-
up water-right with the place, with an abun-
dance of water at all times for irrigation. I
am desirous of making a change in my occu-
pation, and will sell the place at a bargain.
With the proper party the yield from the place
this year will be about S2,000. It joins up to
within 20 rods of the town site of Fruita,
where we have one of the best high schools in
the State, employing 7 teachers. It is only ^.,-
mile to the depot, churches, schofil and jiost-
ottice, and has telephone connections with all
parts of the State. This is a good, healthy cli-
mate, and good society.
Address for terms and further particulars,
J. C. CARNAHAN,
Box 64. FRUITA. Mesa Co.. COLO.
Please mention Bee Journal when WTitinp
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the ,\merican Bee Journal one
j'ear — both for SI. 30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 50 cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
118 Michigan St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
|ftON&y MD BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, June 1.— Market is nominal in al-
most all lines; a little comb sells at 15(gii6c for
choice white, with the amber grades ranging'
from 2(a'5c less. No movement of any conse*
quence in extracted, all dealers seeming^ to be
e.Kpecting a lower range of prices. A little
fancy white clover and basswood sells at TfV^Sc,
dependintr on flavor, quality and quantity
taken; ambers, 6(aj7c; dark and buckwheat, 5@
5J^c. Beeswax steady at 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Detroit, May 21. — Fancy white comb, 14@15c;
No. 1, 13@i4c; dark and amber, 10@12c. Ex-
tracted, white, 6!^@7c; amber and dark, 5@6c.
Beeswax. 27@28c.
Very little desirable honey in sight. The new
crop will find the market well cleaned up. The
demand is always light at this season of the
year. M. H. Hunt & Son.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from ^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W.Weber.
Boston, May 21.— Oar market continues dull
on honey with very light stocks on hand. Our
normal prices are as follows: Faccy 1-pound
cartons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, 15c; No. 2, 12@
14c. Extracted from 6!^@7Hc.
Blakb. Scott & I^bb.
Omaha, May 1. — Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00, Peycke Bros.
New York, May 3.— We report aquiet market
on all lines. While the old crop of comb honey
is well exhausted, still there is some arriving,
which has been carried by the producers, ev
denily, for a higher price. Values are mostly
nominal now, and it is only a first-class fancy ar-
ticle that will sell at quotation prices. We quote:
Fancy white, 15c; No. 1, 13c; amber, ll(gil2c;
buckwheat, 9@10c. Extracted is decidedly dull,
and very little inquiry. Old crop of California
light amber and partly white, is now being of-
fered as low as 4J4c a pound f.o.b. coast, which,
of course, hurts the sale of other grades to a
large extent. Beeswax is firm and sells on ar-
rival at from 28{si29c.
HiLDRETH & SeQBLKBN.
Albany, N, Y., June 1.— Honey market qniet.
No stock, no receipts, and no demand now. It
is between seasons. We look for good prices
the coming season, for in this vicinity the foul
brood has nearly exterminated the bee-keepers.
H. R.Wright.
Buffalo, May 29.— Very light trade in all
grades of honey. Strictly fancy sells fairly, at
14(«)15c; dark dull at any price, and S(((iOc about
the range. Beeswax, fancy, 27@2J<c; dark, 23@
25c. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, May 4.— Practically no ship-
ments arriving, and very little selling. We are
getting $3.50 to $3.65 per case of 24 sections No.
1 white; amber, $3.00 to $XZ5. Beeswax scarce
at 25c. W, R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
San Francisco, May 22. — White combll^@
12^4 cents; amber, 'i@lOc; dark, 6(a'S cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@6c; light amber, 4@4>6c;
amber. 3J^@4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Market presents a weak tone, with dealers,
large and small, holding off as much as possi-
ble, in anticipation of liberal ofiEerings from
producing sections at an early day. There is
not much new honey now here, either comb or
extracted. For some very choice white comb
13 cents is asked. New amber extracted has
been placed at 4 cents, which is the utmost fig-
ure obtainable in a wholesale way in the local
market for this grade.
Good Bee-Ranch
and General Farm
ForSal
IN SOt'THKRN CALII'ORN I.\,
2141 Address. G. C. QEARN, San Diego, Calif.
C alitf\fnil* f If you care to know of Its
V/dlllUrillct i Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leadinjr Horticaltnral and A^ricultnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, • San Fkancisco.Cai,.
368
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 6, 1901.
We have a Large Stock oa hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, tmmim
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Kkeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER WFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' as- W. M. Gerrish, East Notin^ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Flease mention Bee Journal wy.en wrltins
LEARN TO SING
t AT IIOMEby my thorough mfth'"l
' ^ " r. With my complete
arantee to train and oul-
te your voice or refund your
icy. The best musical ltnowledy;e
Tanged especially for Home tiady.
Ilae lliehest EadorBemeDU Bt^autiful
descriptive botkltlseot free. Address
^Prof. G. M. Whaley, Kalamazoo, Mich-
f ieoiie ineution B«e Jouriiiil -wneu wntiag.
ITALIAN QUEENS — Warranted.
21Atf
Please mention Bee Journal when, writing.
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft 10ft 2Sft SOtt
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
AlsikeClover Wc 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.S0
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.25 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I AEISE
the Bee Journal that
DOOUITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in theirseason
during- 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices:
1 Untested Queen ..$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best.. 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co.. N. V.
PleP«a mention Bee Journal when writing.
24tll
Year
Dadant's Foundation. It^
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINQ.
Why does it sell v<>v
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send Dame for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstrobh on the Honey-Bee — Rc:\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing
I Pan=flni6rl6an Exposiiion
^ ...AT BUFFALO...
^ THE .A.. I. ROOT 00.
will have an Exhibit showing a
COMPLETE LINE OF BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES,
Also some NEW GOODS that have not yet been advertised. The
exhibit will be conspicuously placed in the Gallery of the Agri-
cultural Building.
If you have never seen a
Ball-Beariug Cowan Houey-Extractor,
Here is your chance.
We expect that HUBER ROOT, the youngest member of the
Root Co., will be the man in charge of the exhibit. He will be
pleased to meet all our old friends, and make new ones wherever
possible.
Gleanings in Bee=Culture
Will contain a very interesting series of articles on Queen-Rear-
ing, giving New Methods and Short Cuts. There will also be a
series on
BEES II>T I-iA'W".
E. R. Root will tell of his trip through Texas, Colorado, Ore-
gon, and California. Better subscribe now.
Six months' trial subscription for only 25 cents.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
,U. S. A.)
§«-
#<-
I ILL.,
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
|)»(|)-f)-(f-(f'(|)-(|)-(|)-f)-f)-(|)-f)-^-(|)-(|)-t|
iiiAERie%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 13, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 24.
^>N.» 'J'^
ATlf^
■^^
M
mmmm
Kli9^^^°~'
■^•S[i=t1#jt
izmsrrmsm
JIK. 1!. (;. HAUX AXD HIS APIART, KITTITAS CO., WASH.
370
AMERICAN BEE jOUENAL.
June 13, 1900.
GEORGE W. YORK 0 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Ghicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Secoud-
Class Mail-Matter.
BOITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) T^
E.E. Hasty, ' I Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is 81. UO a year, in the United States. Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to paj' subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcome,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newman
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Ha.mbai-gh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Maso.n, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi(
Eugene Secor, General Manag-er and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
ItW If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will ha forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on hiscoaHapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
*' I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
^ood idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a- superior opportunity to
enlig-hten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weekly Budget. I
Mr. W. J. PicKARD, of Richland Co., Wis.,
called on us recently, and reported quite dis-
couraging prospects at present in his locality.
Their 400 colonies require feeding to tide
them over until the basswood How.
.Mr. Ht'BER Root, who so faithfully and
siiecessfully managed the stereopticon at the
Chicago convention last fall, will have charge
of the exhibit of the A. I. Root Co. at the
Pan-American E.xpositlon. He is the youngest
of the A. I. Root family, we believe.
The W. T. Falcoxer Co. and the A. I.
Root Co. will have exhibits at the Pan-Ameri-
can Exposition, in the Agricultural Building.
These exhibits will be conspicuously placed in
the gallery, this gallery being reached by
means of a traveling sidewalk. The two ex-
hiljits are placed^together in the same booth,
as it were, facing each other. — Gleanings in
Bee-Culture.
Opposers of Long-Toxgue Bees. — One
of our subscribers writes that it is a " silly
ttitemenf that some bees' tongues are longer
than others, but it may turn out to be a very
important thing for bee-keepers, and then
there may be some unpleasant eating of crow.
One curious thing is that the bitterest opposi-
tion to long tongues comes from the same
quarter where the most frantic efforts have
been made to get bees from India j ust because
they have longer tongues. Long tongues
may not lie of any consequence, but then they
mav. Let us wait and see.
Mr. R. G. Haun is one of our far-away
Washington subscribers. When sending us
the nice picture of his apiary, shown on the
previous page, Mr. Haun wrote us as follows;
I am TO years old, and have always led an
active and laborious life. Several years ago I
gave up the ranch to my two sons, and that
left me nothing to do, which I consider a bad
thing, even for old people. In looking
around for some sort of employment suited to
age and acquired habits of life, bee-keeping
seemed to be the thing. First, because I
dearly love it, and, second, because it would
make me financially independent.
Several attempts had been made to intro-
duce bees into this (Kittitas) valley, but
each had proven a failure, and I was the first
one to succeed in getting them to winter all
right, and in securing a fair yield of honey.
Our honey is of the finest quality when one
knows how to secure it. Our first yield in
the spring is mainly pollen from willow, then
we have fruit-bloom and dandelion, and our
surplus comes from white clover. After that
there is not much to be gathered, unless one
has long-tongued bees that can work on red
clover.
I aim to keep from 40 to 50 colonies, in S-
frame Simplicity hives, and get an average
yield per colony of lietween 4(1 and CO pounds,
spring count. There are three drawbacks to
the bee-business here, namely, excessive
swarming, dampness and mould in winter,
and a poor market for our honey, our market
Iwing flooded with cheap honey from outside.
When I first started in the business I pro-
duced chunk honey, then I changed to section
honey, and now I am producing extracted
honey, which candies almost immediately
after being extracted.
I believe that swarming can be partially
checked by giving plenty of ventilation. I do
this by inserting blocks between the hive-
body and bottom-lioard, making the space
one inch to begin with, and enlarging it as
the season advances, until sometimes there is
a 3-inch opening in front. Then in real hot
weather I give ventilation at the top.
I extract before the combs are all capped
over. Honey from fruit-bloom and dandelion
is a little strong, and somewhat bitter. This
honey, when extracted, soon candies, and I
let it candy as hard as it will, then melt it by
setting it on the stove in a vessel of water,
heating it pretty thoroughly, then set it away
until it again candies, when I repeat the
operation, and set it away in open cans cov-
ered with netting to keep out the files, and it
is not long until I have a very fine quality of
honey that sells readily, and gives good satis-
faction. I peddle my honey in the home
market. At first I had trouble in selling it,
as nearly everyljody was afraid of adultera-
tion. But as soon as people came to know
me, and that I produced the honey in my own
apiary, the adulteration scare helped me to
sell it.
One day I opened a jar of honey for a lady
to sample, and found a bee's leg in it. Several
children were standing by, and I said, jocosely,
■' You see this is genuine honey because there
is a bee's leg in it.'* I made the sale. I went
up the street a little further, and when going
to one house a little girl from the group came
running into the yard, screaming, "O mamma,
come quick ; here is the man with genuine
honey with bees' legs in it !" R. G. Hacn.
The Bee-Keepers' Society of Erfurt,
Germany, will hold its 50th anniversary this
summer. An interesting exhibition is planned
in connection with this convention or celebra-
tion. Bee-keeping of a hundred years ago is
to be shown. One hundred and fifty colonies
of bees will be on the ground, which will be
prepared and started for the heath in Thur-
ingia at the close of the festivities. A por-
table apiarj- of 30 colonies (wanderwagen)
will also be on exhibition.
Mr. F. Greiner reports this in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture. The oldest bee-keepers organi-
zation in America is only about 30 years old,
and it has had its name changed several times
though only "married" once, we believe.
The nest meeting will be held in Buffalo,
Sept. 10. 11 and 12. Are you going to attend ]
Mrs. Geo. Jacksox, in the Bee-Keepers'
Review, speaks thus about boys and girls
taking up bee-keeping :
■'I, too. believe that bees combine best with
bees ; therefore, get more bees. If you have
children to help, keep iimre bees. Bring up
your boys and girls in the business. Have
them work, study and think, the same as they
would do in preparing for any other profes-
sion or trade ; for it is distinctly a business of
itself, and a paying one, too. Then, why let
your young folks leave home ? Have plenty
of out-apiaries; plenty of profit. I believe
there is a better opening in bee-culture to-day
for a young man or woman than in almost
any other line. It is equally good for girl or
boy.''
Advanced Eggs. — An amusing mistake
occurs in the Progressive Bee-Keeper. A sub-
scriber asks how soon after a swarm has
issued it will be advisable to take away the
queen to let the colony rear a queen. The
editor replies not to disturb the old queen till
four frames are filled with eggs, that in this
case some of the eggs will be far advanced ;
that some think that such advanced eggs as
the bees would choose will not make the best
queens, etc. f)f course, larva; were meant in
place of " advanced eggs."
^tSt B^lPA^^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, JUNE 13, 1901,
No, 24,
\ * Editorial. * I
Sivarthinore's System of Queen-
Rearing, as given on another page, is well
worth a trial. The part that costs, as
he well says, is the part after the young queen
emerges from her cell up to the time she com-
mences laying. If Swarthmore's plan proves
a practical success— and it certainly has a
promising look — it will require a much smaller
force of bees thau has heretofore been used
during this expensive period, and it is the
size of that force that has caused the expense.
It is given now in good time for a thorough
trial.
A " Large Force " of Bees— AVhat
Constitutes It '.'—Speaking of strong colo-
nies, the editor of Gleanings in Bee-Culture
said, " By a ' large force ' I mean a colony the
bees of which will weigh S or '.I pounds, or
what would aggregate in numbers 40,000 to
.50,000," Dr. Miller replied :
■' Are you not a little modest, Mr. Editor, in
demanding only 40,000 to ,50.000 bees for a
'large force J' L. Staehelhausen says, 'I
have, in large hives, many times observed that
the queen had laid, during the previous 21
days, 3400 eggs daily, on an average.' Three
weeks later about all the bees from that 21
days' laying ought to be on hand, making
ri,400. It ive count the life of a worker six
weeks, then there ought also to be present
bees from the eggs of the preceding 21 days.
Say the (|ueen during that time laid 2000 eggs
daily, and allow that half that number had
been lost by fatalities, we should have 21,000
to add to the "1,400, making 02,400 \a all.
Perhaps that is not often reached, but I sus-
pect it is nearer the right mark than 40,000."
That answer seems to be carefully built, and
yet it is only reasoning that such a number cf
bees ought to be present, which is a different
thiug from citing a case in which such a num-
ber of bees has been present. Editor Root re-
turns to the charge by citing actual cases. He
says that when they bought swarms by
weight the average weight was .5 or 0 pounds,
and some tremendous swarms that had to be
hived in a two-story chamber weighed from
S to S'^4 pounds. As 8J4' pounds at 4,500 to the
pound would make 38,2.50 bees, he thinks his
estimate of 40,000 to .50,000 none too low. He
thinks the Doctor wrong in assuming that all
eggs laid by the queen are matured as bees,
because bees certainly in some cases destroy
eggs, and he says: " I should think we would
be safe in saying that, out of 70, 000 to SW.OOO
eggs laid by a queen, we could not cxiieot over
40,000 or .50,000 bees."' The Doctor, in reply,
questions whether eggs are destroyed l.iy bees
unless ([ueenless, and the editor closes the
controversy by challenging the production of
a colony of bees that will weigh more than 9
pounds, equivalent to 40,500 bees.
There are two questions of fact in this con-
troversy that it would be interesting to have
settled. What is the largest force of bees that
may be secured as the progeny of one queen i
That ought not to be a very difficult thing to
determine by actual weighing. Certainly it
ought not to be difHcult to determine whether
40,000 or 90,000 is nearer the right mark. The
other question may not be so easily deter-
mined. Is it true that of all the eggs laid
only 56 percent mature as bees ! If it is true,
it would seem a very wasteful thing. But if a
queen lays 3000 eggs daily for six weeks, and
her colony weighs only 9 pounds, it is hard to
get away from the conclusion that nearly half
the eggs have been wasted.
Moving Bees Together for Winter.
— In the Bee Keepers' Review is given a pic-
ture of an apiary of E. B. Tyrrel, the space
between the hives in a row being just enough
to allow another hive to be placed between,
the object being to move the two rows to-
gether into one solid row for winter. Before
packing the bees for winter the two rows are
now moved together, a little at a time, one
row being moved backward, the other for-
ward. Of course, this takes only about half
the labor, and very much less than half the
packing material it would take if the two rows
were allowed to go through winter as in sum-
mer.
Here is another way that gets them into
still more compact fortn :
00 00 ()i) 00 00
00
00
00
0()
00
00
00
00
00
00 00
Here are 3ti hives in four rows, and, of
course, the rows could be continued to any
length. The first row of 10 hives and the
second row of S hives both face the same way
— toward the top of the page. The third row
of S hives and the fourth row of 10 hives both
face the same way — toward the bottom of the
page. That makes the central two rows stand
back to back. When winter approaches, the
first row is gradually moved back until in a
straight line with the second row, and the
fourth row is moved liack in line with the
third row, the four rows now standing in two
rows thus:
000000001 »( )00O000C)O
OOOOOOOt )()( )00000000
Foot! of Queen.'*, Drones, and Larvse.
— Among American bee-keepers there is a
feverish anxiety fur ithmediate results, and
they pride themselves on being intensely prac-
tical, but they would have better success in
the long run if they would take the trouble to
inform themselves upon some of the elemen-
tary matters that have been carefully sought
out by scientific men, especially in Germany.
In the Progressive Bee-Keeper, L. Staehel-
hausen gives in a succinct manner some things
about the prepared food which although by
no means new, are probably new to the ma-
jority of bee-keepers. Asked whether at the
time of contemplated swarming the workers
withhold from the queen the egg-producing
food, he leads us up to an affirmative answer
by giving the fcl'.owing information :
The queens and drones never eat pollen,
but are fed chyle by the workers, which is
fully digested pollen, and is identical with
the blood of the bees. They may also help
themselves to honey, which is fully digested
nectar. So the queen does no digesting,
being entirely dependent upon the workers.
This freedom from the burden of digestion,
and being fed so freely with food that is con-
centrated and nourishing, explains how it is
that a queen, whose body without eggs weighs
only 0,20 grains, can lay in 34 hours 3000 eggs
weighing 0.60 grains, or three times the
weight of her body.
"The larvse receive quite the same food,
that is, chyle regurgitated from the stomach
of the worker-bee, Xevertheless, we find the
necessary difference in nourishing of the
different kinds of larv*. Queen-larvic are
supplied with pure chyle till the cell is
capped in large quantities: we call this food
•royal jelly,' Worker and drone larvip re-
ceive the same chyle during the first three
days only, afterwards the food is less digested
t)y and by, and we call this food chyme. From
the fifth day, till the cell is capped, honey
and pollen is fed to worker as well as to drone
larvic."
3Iichigan Bee-Keepers will serve their
own interests if they will read the following,
and follow the suggestion made :
To THE Bee-Keei'ers of Micuk-.an: — '
I take this method of informing the l>ee-
keepers concerning a few points in regard to
the .Michigan fcnil-hrood law.
A locality must be reported to the Dairy
and Food Commissioner, Lansing, Mich., be-
fore it can be inspected, and as our funds are
limited it would be a great saving if the bee-
keepers would work with the inspector by
repcirting all kicalities where foul brood ex-
ists, or where it is thought to exist, as soon as
possible. If this is done, it will en!il)le the
inspector to plan a trip through the State and
cover the whole territory to be inspected at a
much smaller traveling expense. Localities
first reported will receive first attention, and
those who neglect to report their localities
until late will in all probabilities be obliged
to wait until next year for assistance.
.loHX M. Rankin, limpector.
372
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 13, 1901.
I Contributed Articles. |
Early or Late Requeening of Colonies.
BY C. P. DADANT.
MR. C. P. DADANT ;— In the American Bee Journal of Feb. H, 1
had an article, one paragraph of which related to the introduction
of queens in the fall. I said that I requeened one-fourth of my
apiarv last fall, and that most of the work was done in October,
pn<3 the early part of November. I also said that one reason why I liked
l.ido this work so late in the season was because the colonies were in
jilraost every instance broodless (the printer made me say " two deep *'
for broodlessi, and that because the bees had no means for starting
<l-ieen.cells I did not have to be so particular about the time of giving
the new queens. I had requeened some broodless colonies as late as
November in years before, and did not see but that they did as good
^vork the following season as any other colonies in the yard.
On the same page (10.: are given Dr. Mason's views regarding the bes*
time to requeen an apiary. He says that just as the honey-flow is clos-
ing up, and before it closes, is the best time to requeen an apiary, and
frives as a reason that the bees must have the vim and energy they have
when the honey-flow is on.
Now, if 1 ara very much in error in preferring to do the work later in
the season, I would like to know it, and the reason why.
I write this to request that you give your views and e.'fperiences on
the subject of the best time to requeen an apiary, in the columns of the
American Bee Journal. I want particularly to know what disadvan-
tages, if any, result from late requeening? Edwin Bevins.
Perhaps I am hardly fit to pass an opinion. I will
frankly acknovpledge that I never did but once chaiitje
queens in any of my colonies late in the season, either
during or after the flow. I have always allowed the bees to
do their own "requeening," except in cases where the
queens were infertile or of impure blood. At the time
when we were breeding Italians for sale, this had quite an
importance. But since we have been keeping bees only for
honey, we have had less reluctance in allowing the impurely
mated queens to live, if they are prolific. My reasons for
not requeening an apiary, when the queens become old and
possibly near their decrepitude, date back a good many
years. I will have to tell you how this came about.
The much lamented Mr. Quinby, about 1868 or 1870,
invented what was called the "queen-yard." It was a shal-
low square box, set in front of the alighting-board of each
hive, walled with tin about four inches high, and with a
tin edge projecting inward horizontally all around, to pre-
vent swarming. The queen's wings were clipped so that
she could not possibly jump over the walls of the queen-
yard, and as the tin projection prevented her from climb-
ing out, she was practically a prisoner in the front yard of
her own hive. This was securing the same result which is
now secured with the queen-trap, but with the greater con-
venience for the bees, of having nothing in the way of
their flight or of their free access to the hive for ventila-
tion, etc. The only objection was that the queen's wings
must all be clipped.
We used this queen-yard largely, and it was owing to
this method of clipping queens' wings that we ascertained
how readily the bees would supersede their old queens with-
out the knowledge of the apiarist. Often, yes, in many
cases, we find that the clipped queen had been replaced by
a younger one, without our even suspecting the change.
And yet, at that time, we were very prone to examine the
hives from end to end on the slightest pretest. We spent
more time then on one hundred colonies than we would
think of spending on 400 to-day. But I must say that it
paid, in dollars and cents ; for the extra attention was
rewarded by extra results.
The reader will now perceive why we did not practice
requeening. We found that in many instances we might
be destroying young queens which the bees had reared in
anticipation of the old age and failure of the mother.
But requeening is certainly a very good method, if it
is not carried to extremes, for inferior stock may thus be
replaced by selected stock from the very best colonies.
Only I would not limit this to anj' particular moment, but
would do it whenever I had a stock of good queens to
spare.
The methods pursued by Dr. Mason and Mr. Bevins, as
mentioned at the head of this article, both have their good
points. The only objection that I can find to that of Mr.
Bevins is the possibility of a shortage of drones, if we
wait till the season is nearly over. One time, years ago,
we had occasion to sell ten tested Italian queens after the
end of the harvest, some time late in October. We had no
queens except in full colonies, but as the price was high,
we did not hesitate to remove that number, expecting the
colonies to rear young ones, and they did. But by the time
our queens were ready for fertilization the drones must
have been too scarce, although we had taken pains to keep
all we could in a few queenless colonies, for not one of our
young queens was fertilized, and the following spring we
had ten drone-lavers of the very best quality in ten of our
very best colonies. And, by the way, let me here remark
that this is a very good way to have early drones. We took
advantage of this to rear early queens, and they were all
purely mated before the impure drones hatched in our
neighborhood. The possibility of the queens failing to
mate seems to me to be the only really strong argument
against requeening an apiary late in the fall.
There is perhaps another objection arising from the
difficulty of manipulating hives much in cool weather, and
when robber-bees are as alert as they generally are at that
season. But these objections fail to embarrass a practical
apiarist, because he will take his time, and use enough pre-
cautions to avoid disturbances. In out-apiaries, however,
where a man can give his personal supervision only at
times, I should not like to do much of this handling after
the honey crop has ended.
I would suggest that the most economical plan to
requeen would be to rear queens more or less during the
entire season, and requeen as we go. If, however, we
choose to do it all at one time, I would hardly wait till all
the brood was hatched out, unless the season was particu-
larly favorable, and we could make sure of securing a suffi-
cient number of drones as late as desired. Since Mr.
Bevins has succeeded, it shows that the thing can be done,
and it has the advantage of not disturbing the bees during
the crop. If the queen is removed before the end of the
harvest the brood that hatches out will give room for honey
in the brood-chamber, and quite a portion of the crop may
be placed there, out of the reach of the apiarist, unless he
resorts to the extractor. Hancock Co., 111.
Scientific Names— Nellifera Not Mellifica.
BY PROF. A. J. COOK.
WE have all become used to the name, Apis mellifica,
to designate the honey-bee. Some will wonder why
we change to " Apis mellifera." The specific name
in both cases comes from the root for honey, and either
would seem appropriate. Why, then, give up a name which
has been so long in use, for one no more apposite, and
which is an entire srtanger to us ?
Our present method of naming animals and plants was
originated by the great Swede, Linna;us. It is called the
binomial system of nomenclature, as two names are always
used in designating plant or animal. Thus we have the
generic name and the specific name. In the honey-bee the
generic name is Apis. This is broader in its significance
than the specific name. We have Apis dorsata, the great
bee of India, as well as the ordinarj' honey-bee, of which,
as we well know, there are many races.
The specific name, on the other hand, refers to only
one kind of bee. All the individuals of a species will be
very nearly alike. Where any species is placed under
varied conditions the individuals will tend to vary, and
thus we have what are known as races. In our domestic
animals, where man places them under such very dift'erent
circumstances, they will vary much more than they would
in nature, and so races are very common among our domes-
ticated animals.
I think the races of our bees — Italians, German, or
black, etc. — were generally formed by nature alone. The
races will have habits and general peculiarities that are
mvich more similar than will the dift'erent species. I think,
too, they will be more apt to vary in their own characteris-
tics. Our dogs and horses are good illustrations of the
variations often seen in our domesticated animals. All
dogs are one species — Canis familiaris. Yet how diff'erent
are the poodle and the Saint Bernard, and how numerous
and how varied are all the intermediate breeds. Our
horses, likewise, are one species — Equus caballus. We all
know how wondrously dift'erent are the individuals of the
horse species. The Shetland pony and the Norman well
illustrate what a dift'erent environment with careful selec-
tion may do in modifying a species. The old idea that
only animals of the same species would interbreed was
found to be untrue. The mule — a cross between the don-
key and the horse — two obvious species — made it necessary
June 13, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
373
to modify the old notion. But as we all know, the mule is
infertile. It was then stated that only animals that would
interbreed and the offspriiif,'- prove fertile belong to the
same species. I think this is pretty generally true among
the higher animals. But I think there are numerous excep-
tions among the lower plants and animals. I think there
are cases on record where different genera interbreed, and
the offspring are fertile. Of course, such cases are very
rare.
As we understand from the above, the nature of a
genus and a species, which may be better understood by
comparing them to our own names, the genus standing
for our surname, and the species for the given name, we
are now prepared to discuss the change of name in the
honey-bee. This change of names, not only of insects but
of all plants and animals, is very common. I know of
some insects where the names have been changed two,
three, or even four times during the last few years. It
comes about in this way :
Two or more persons describe the same insect or other
animal. Of course only one of these names can be selected.
It has been decided that only the first name should be
adopted. It is unfortunately true that sometimes the first
name and description appeared in some obscure publication
and were for a longtime unknown. Therefore the second,
third, or even fourth name was for a long time used in
speaking of the insect. After a time, it may be for years,
some one discovers the name and description, given third in
order, we will say. Of course the old name gives place to
this. Afterwards the second one may replace this, and
finally the first and rightful name is unearthed and mani-
festly this takes precedence of all others. It is obvious
that this frequent changing of names is a great hindrance
to science, and a tremendous annoyance to the student ;
yet it is certainly the lesser of two evils.
It is now stoutly urged that every first description of
an animal, where, of course, the name will be given, be
published only in some standard scientific paper that every
student of the science may have ready access to it, and
may know of its existence. It is also equally important
that every person in naming an insect and describing it
take all possible diligence to make sure that the same
species has not been previously described.
The father of this system of naming, who may almost
be said to be the father of both botany and zoology — Lin-
nseus — was the first to describe our honey-bee. He described
it as Apis mellifera, and so, of course, this name has pri-
ority and must be accepted. Three years later, he described
the same insect again under the name Apis mellifica, the
name which has been used ever since. It is strange that
the same person should describe the same insect twice under
the same name, yet when we remember the amount of
work Linnieus did, and the astounding number of descrip-
tions he made, it is not strange that he should have forgot-
ten that he had made a description, and so should have
named and described the same animal or insect a second
time.
It is to be hoped that all our bee-papers as well as
writers, will make a point of bringing this new name
prominently forward, that very soon it may seem as right
and natural as the old one. We are certainly fortunate in
the name, which means honey-bearing. This name, then,
will suit those nervous people who proclaim in the face of
the truth that the bee simply gathers honey and does not
produce it. Neither is the truth maligned in this new
name, for although honey is certainly a digested product,
and so is produced by the bee, we can still say that the
honey-bee is a honey-bearing insect.
So hereafter we will all unite in the name Apis mellif-
era for our pets of the hive. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
The Swarthmore System of Queen-Rearing.
BY "SWAKTH.MOKE."
A(iREAT deal has been written, said and done to sim-
plify and cheapen methods for cell-getting, until now
queen-breeders have about all that can be desired in an
almost perfect system of cell-work, from the egg to the
mature queen, her care after hatching, and all that. But
cell-getting is not the espetisive part of queen-rearing ; in
fact, it does not represent an eighth part of the work con-
nected with the securing of a laying queen, ready for post-
ing to the customer far or near.
The great expense in (luecn-rearing is that necessary
for the proper fertilization of the young queens after they
are reared. The queen-breeder, heretofore, has been obliged
to tear asunder large numbers of full colonies to form
nuclei of a frame or two each to receive the young queens,
each in a seperate colony for mating purposes only.
Now. all this is expensive— not alone in bees but in
time, labor, care, and a hundred other ways. Full colonies
are ruined, and all revenue from bees thus treated is entirely
cut off until a laying queen is secured, sold, caged and
mailed. All this woeful waste has set me to thinking
about a plan of operation to lessen the expense and labor
in queen-rearing at the mating period.
Some years ago I succeeded in mating a number of
queens from 4'4x4'4 section-boxes, each supplied with a
teacupful of bees ; but not until the past season have I
been able to say that I have discovered a practical method
of mating young queens by the section-box plan, although
I have used them now for about 13 years.
The plan I have at last adopted is as follows : Hive a
good-sized swarm (natural or forced) into a body containing
ten all-wood or Simplicity frames, each frame filled with
4'4s5-3Xl inch one-piece plain sections, thus:
FRAME WITH FOUNDATION.
Each section should be supplied with a starter of brood-
foundation, as shown, and the frames are set rather close
together until fully drawn out by the bees. Unless honey
is coming in rapidly the bees should be fed constantly dur-
ing comb-construction, in the event of the swarm being
a forced one.
In a few days a good, prolific queen will have filled the
most of these little combs with eggs, and in due time it
will be found that each little comb has its supply of brood,
honey, and bee-bread — the exact condition necessary for
the successful formation of nuclei for queen-fertilization.
At this point take away all the section-holding frames,
supplementing them with full sheets of capped brood,
honey, etc., taken from other colonies ; put on the surplus
arrangement, and close the hive. That colony will yet
show you honey before the end of the season ; even though
you have borrowed every particle of their work from the
time of hiving. Let them work on ; you will not need to
molest them more.
Remove the section-holding frames now clear of bees,
just as taken from the hive, to the honey-house, and adjust
TOP OF FERTILIZER NUCLEUS-BO.X.
A, lid; U, section box frame; C C C C, hive-staples, for guidao
D, perforaleU zioc; F, cork in fli^lit-taole.
374
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
June 13, 1901.
to each side of each little comb, containing brood, a cover
made of the stuff, -ivith '4 -inch strips nailed all around the
edges ; as shown at A. Fig. 1. Four small staples, C C C C,
driven part way into each corner of the lid, so as to project
or telescope into the section-box, will serve to hold the lids
in place until they have become glued a bit by the bees.
When the lids are all in place, each little comb will be
in a compartment bj* itself, and each compartment may be
entered bj' the bees through the perforated zinc that covers
the two 1,'4-inch auger holes in the center of each lid, as
shown in the drawing, E E, Fig. 4. The zincs are nailed
^ Fig. 4.
BOTTOM OF FERTILIZER XUCLEUS-BOX.
Fig.-4 is a view of the under side of H, showing holes uncovered; B, part
of section-box: E E, holes covered inside with perforated zinc;
F, flight-hole uncorked; dotted lines show position of
thin board when excluder-holes are coveted.
fast to the inside of each lid. Pieces of section stuff do
very well to close the zinc-covered holes when occasion
demands (see dotted lines in Fig. 4). A 'j-inch flight-hole
is cut just below the two large holes in one lid only. This
is stopped with an ordinary druggist's cork, which is easily
drawn when queens are to be introduced.
Z^i Now run a perfect-winged and sound-legged young vir-
gin queen into each compartment ; then recork the flight-
holes and expose the zincs on all sides so that the bees can
readily enter all the compartments from the sides, yet no
queen can leave the compartment in which it is intended to
restrict her. Then hang the frames in the hives of such
bees as you may have just used in getting a batch of cells,
or any queenless and broodless bees you may have at hand.
Be careful, however, that there is no sort of queen with
them, virgin or otherwise ; and if they have been over three
days queenless, a little tobacco smoke should be used.
i^r A very simple way of supplying the compartments
with young queens is to attach a ripe queen-cell to each
comb before adjusting the lids; then hang the frames
among queenless and broodless bees with flight holes
corked, and zincs exposed. The bees will at once occupy
the compartments, and in due time a young queen will
hatch inside each compartment.
I — I Any queenless bees will soon enter the compartments,
and care for the brood and queens ; and as soon as they
become settled, feeding may begin. Feed a little sugar
syrup (no honey I each day : and at the end of the fifth, if
the^weather is fine, remove the frames carefully, bees and
all.'? Close all the entrances so none can escape from the
compartments. If the weather is very warm, cover the
holes on the flight side with wire net, as shown in the
ALLEY CONFINING-SCREEN.
engraving, taking- in as you do so, as many bees, that may
be on the outside of the boxes, as possible.
Take these frames some distance from the old stand.
and set them out separately on stakes driven into the
ground, thus :
•F
SWARTHMORE'S FERTILIZING-FRAMES, WITH NUCLEUS-
BOXES IN PLACE.
Toward evening open the flight-hole to each compart-
ment— three on one side and three on the other, as shown
above by the letters F F F. If the next day or two be fine,
each and every queen will leave its little chamber to mate,
and just as large a percentage will return safely as by any
method of nucleus management now in vogue. The life of
these little colonies may be sustained several weeks by
feeding lozenges of " Good " food everj' three to five days.
Press the food into the holes at the back of each box. The
blocks of Benton mailing-cages may be filled with " Good "
food attached to the back of each compartment by two
staples driven into the ends of same and hung on two cor-
TOP VIEW OF COVER.— G, food feeder.
responding wire-nails driven into the back lid, as shown in
engraving at G, Figs. 2, 3.
Examinations for eggs may be made quite well through
the back-most holes, which are easily uncovered by unhook-
ing the Benton-cage feeders ; and when it is found that the
young queens are laying, thej' should be removed and other
young virgins supplied : or the frames may be again col-
lated and placed on a single stand where the laying queens
will keep in good health for an indefinite period. — Glean-
ings in Bee-Culture.
Bees and Fertilization of Blossoms
Comments.
Other
3V ALLEN LATHAM.
ON page 262, is an important as well as interesting
article on the subject of bees and the fertilization of
fruit-blossoms, by Thaddeus Smith. This article is
bound to raise a controversy if not hot words. I hasten to
put in my word in support of the writer in hopes to stem
the wrath to come from the other side.
Provincetown, Mass.. is the town at the extreme end of
Cape Cod Peninsula. The land here is from one to two and
one-half miles wide. It is swept by sea-breezes almost all
the time. It is thus a poor place to keep bees. No bees at
all are kept, as far as I can find. I have my summer cottage
there, and in the two summers that I have spent there I
June 13, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
375
have not seen a single honey-bee. Right in front of my
cottage is a fertile meadow in which the white clover
stands nearly knee-high. Many bumble-bees may be seen
on this, but not a honey-bee.
You naturally ask what this has to do with the matter
which I began with. Just this — that region is extremely
fruitful. Never have I seen small fruits in such abundance
as there. Bushels of wild strawberries are gathered in
June, while in July the shadbush berries fairly bend the
bushes to the ground. There are blueberries, huckleber-
ries, blackberries, raspberries, wild cherries, and last but
not least, beach-plums. The shadbush berries, or June-
berries, or sugar-plums as they are known in many places,
or as they are called in Provincetown, " juicy pears," are
the most wonderful fruit (unless I except beach-plums) I
have ever seen wild. I left the cottage one day to get some
for pies. I was gone less than an hour. I rode on my
bicycle awhile, then walked one-third of a mile, then
picked two five-pound honey-pails full, then walked and
rode back. You can see from this how thick the berries
are. I have seen the smaller bushes lying flat on the sand,
dragged there by the weight of the fruit. One could easily
gather a bushel in an hour.
But, oh, the beach-plums 1 The sand-hills are covered
with the scrubby plum-bushes ; and the bushes are loaded
with the plums. The Portuguese women and children
gather these plums by the bushel. The plums are about
the size of cultivated cherries. I have seen a cluster of
these plums that would yield a pint or more at two scoops
of the fingers. One small bush the size of an ordinarj'
currant-bush will often yield four or five quarts.
Now how do these fruits form if there are no bees
there ? I shall not attempt to answer that question. I
merely state the facts as they are, and ask how it is done.
KBEPING QUEENS OVER THE WINTER.
The question, " How can I winter my surplus queens ?"
is often asked. Though I can oft'er no easy way of winter-
ing a large number, I can tell how one or two choice
queens can be saved. It not infrequently happens that a
beekeeper has an extra queen or two which he would like
to winter. More than that, he can often profitably use such
queens in the spring. Many a time have I had a fine,
strong colony in spring queeuless. Unless a queen can be
given, that colony is not of much value. With a queen it''
will be ready for the June and July harvests.
Last fall I had two surplus queens of excellence. I
could not think of killing them, but I had no colony with-
out an equally good queen. I still have those queens in
good health. I took from two strong colonies two frames
each of brood with adhering bees. I placed these in a
hive prepared as follows : A tight partition was put in the
middle of the hive lengthwise, the partition extending into
the portico of the hive. In each side I placed a cushion of
such thickness as to allow two frames between it and the
partition. The four frames spoken of above were disposed
of in this way. I gave each side a queen. Most old bees flew
back to the parent hives, only a pint or less remaining in
each side.
The care of the hive was then the question. All
through October and November (the nuclei were made in
September) I either placed a heavy carpet over the hive on
cold nights or carried it into the kitchen. The hive had
been set close by the back door. On cold days the carpet
was left on the hive. When settled cold weather came the
hive was taken to the cellar and placed close to the hot-
water heater with the entrance away from the light. Here
it had a temperature of about SO degrees. When a warm
spell came the hive was put out so that the bees could fly.
There were two months in which the hive was not touched.
The bees did not get restless. They came through with
small loss in numbers and are breeding up slowlj'. It so
happens that none of my queens died last winter. I shall
try to build the little colonies up. They were put out in
March, being carried into the kitchen in cold spells. The
entrances are provided with screens.
You say, of course, that this is too much bother.
There is work in it, but it is that pleasant puttering work
that every bee-keeper loves. More than that, it will save
the lives of valuable queens, which in turn may save the
existence of valuable colonies.
LONGEVITY IN BEES.
I am glad to see a word from Mr. Doolittle in regard to
long-lived bees. Prolificness at the expense of strengtli
has been too long the vogue. We have all had a colony
occasionally that had its frames packed with brood. Wt
have fondly looked for great results. They did not come.
The colony failed to gain in numbers though the frames
were kept full of brood. All the honey gathered went into
more bees — more short-lived and ivorthless bees. On the
other hand, we have seen a colony with only five or six
frames of brood. We have turned from it in disgust.
Behold that colony a month later. Still only five or six
frames of brood. But where did all those bees come from ?
They crowd the hive and they have stored two cases.
Those are long-lived and the-right-kind of bees. Let us
rear that kind. I do not mind if they have ten frames of
brood, but let the bees be long-lived.
I scarcely need to say more in favor of long-lived bees,
but will offer a few more words. It is easy to see why
these bees are of so much more value than short-lived bees.
First of all they winter well, coming out strong in the
spring, and do not spring dwindle. A single bee is worth
two or even more of the other kind. Why? In the work-
ing season let the short-lived bee live six weeks, the long-
lived one nine. Each costs the same to rear. One works
from two to three weeks, the other from five to six. The
short-lived bee is a provider about one week ; the long-
lived bee is a provider about four weeks. Do we not find
the secret of a honey crop right here ?
I have a colony that has bees which winter and then
give noble aid in filling the first sections. I honor those
bees. They are my pets. Norfolk Co., Mass.
No. 6.
-Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
(Continued from paffe 343.)
NOW, see here !" began Mr. Bond. " I am not the least
bit sure that I can remember all the things you have
been telling me to-day ; but I am here to learn all I
can. You shut me off twice when I asked questions — or
put me off, rather. Now, I'm going to ask some more ques-
tions, and I think you ought to answer them right on the
spot.
" First, then, you've told me all about putting supers on
this hive until you had five of them on, all in a pile. I'd
like to know what you do that for. I can see no sort of
sense in it. To me it seems like boy's-play to lift off and
then lift back again a whole stack of supers weighing 28
pounds each. Now, tell me, if you please, what do you do
such a cranky-looking thing for ?"
" I am glad to have an opportunity to enlighten you on
that subject, Mr. Bond," I replied. " But first I will inform
you that the cranky-looking performance isn't boy's-pla3'
at all, in any sense of the phrase — surely not the lifting
part of it ; that you can readily see for yourself.
'•You will not object to my using an illustration that
must be familiar to you, in order to impress my answer to
your question upon your mind so that it will stick. Well,
you know that hens will always choose a nest to lay their
eggs in which has at least one nest-egg in it — the more the
merrier, in fact. They will generally avoid an empty, or
an unused nest ; and hence the fact has been generally
accepted by poultry-men. and ^onXtry-wometi, especially —
that it pays to furnish the nests with natural or artificial
nest-eggs. The women, at least, think that it encourages
the hens to lay. I must confess, however, that I have never
known a hen to lay more than one egg a day on that
account. And I presume you can say the same, Mr. Bond."
"That I can," he replied. " But, for all that, I can't
quite see the point where the illustration applies. Some
illustrations don't illustrate, you know. I've heard lots of
that kind preached. But, of course, bee-keepers aren't
preachers."
"Well, perhaps there is no point for you to see, and my
effort is lost," I replied. " I shall therefore give you my
answer ungarnished :
"The fact is no invention or discovery of my own,
that bees will work better and carry in honey faster when
they have lots of it stored in the hive. Bearing this fact
in mind, it has become the regular rule with many bee-
keepers to ' tier-up " the supers on their hives as fast as the
bees fill them, and to take none of them oft' before the
honey-flow is played out.
" Those who have been doing this, year after year,
have become satisfied that it pays to do it ; and that it
doesn't pay to do otherwise.
" Of course, I am aware that there are bee-men who
stoutly maintain that there is no difference ; that they have
376
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
June 13, 1901.
always been in the habit of taking the honej' off the hives
as fast as the bees tinish the sections in the supers, and
that the bees always beg-in to work promptly in the empty
case, put on in place of the one that was removed. But,
you see, such testimony doesn't weigh a feather, because it
is one-sided : for, if those bee-men have never thoroughly
tried both ways, they have no right to say that there is no
difference.
"Now. Mr. Bond, I am fond of testing things, for the
mere sake of the thing, sometimes. Hence, when I read
about ' tiering-up " the supers, leaving them all on until the
end of the honey-rush because of several reasons given, I
at once tried it. But. in order to test the trial, I made a few
experimental observations bearing on the questions. One
of these was a case where one of my colonies had gone
out on a strike, as it were. They, for reasons known only
to themselves, refused to work. All the other colonies in
my apiary were rushing the honey into the supers at a
lively rate. Some of them had tilled from one to three
supers each, while this balky one had not even drawn out
the foundation in the sections of the super on their hive.
I had tried everything I could think of to induce them to
"get a move" on themselves, but without the result sought.
It was a strange case, for the hive was full of bees — even
the super was full during the day-time— and the eight
frames were solid with brood and sealed honey.
"Well, sir, I don't now remember how the idea came to
me — whether I dreamed it, read it in the bee-papers, or
heard it related at a bee-keepers' convention — but, at any
rate, I did this :
"I opened that hive one beautiful morning and took
their empty super away from them. Then I took out two
frames that had more brood than honey in them, and gave
them to another colony, from which I took, instead, two
frames nearly filled with honey, some of it unsealed, and
put them into the hive of lazy bees. Nest, I took out the
frames that had the most honey in them, and with my
honey-knife shaved oft' the capping, thus unsealing a large
patch on each frame. This drastic proceeding set a lot of
honey loose, of course ; but it also broke up the strike. I
watched them nearly the whole of that day. and I tell
you, Mr. Bond, I had to laugh out loud to myself several
times to see those bees hustle themselves to keep that loose
honey from going to waste. Of course I was on the look-
out all the while to prevent any of the honey from running
out at the bee-entrance and tempting other bees to come
and investigate matters.
"The nest morning those bees went to work in the super,
which I had replaced the evening before ; and they didn't
let up until the end of the honey-flow, when they had
filled two supers, and a third partly.
" Another experiment I made — no, I beg your pardon,
it wasn't an experiment, but an experience — and it hap-
pened in this way :
" Before I adopted the tiering-up system I always put
on only one super at a time, and then "looked through the
glass in the side to see when the bees were sealing the out-
side sections. When I saw them do that I took that super
off and gave them an empty one. Well, I had often before
noticed, when I had performed this operation, that there
was a very marked slacking-up of work in those hives from
which I had taken full supers ; but I did not stop to study
about the cause. It %vas not until that same season when I
learned how to break up a strike in a colony that I took
particular notice of this streak of loafing, or sulking — I
am not sure which it was.
"When I was taking off full supers one morning I
found that one of the colonies had put in spare time in
building brace-combs between some of the frames, and
had extended that kind of work to the top of the frames,
for I found that they had filled the space between the brood-
frames and the bottom of the super almost solid with
honey. Well, in taking the super off, this extra arrange-
ment was of course' broken up, and a lot of honey let
loose.
" There were several important things about bee-keep-
ing which I hadn't then learned yet, hence I was not aware
of the fact that those bees did that extra job because they
were short of honey-storing room for several days before I
thought it was time to give them a fresh super. Thinking,
however, that the extra comb had to be removed before a
fresh super was placed on top the frames, I took the honey-
knife and bee-smoker and went at it. It was a sweet job of
work, now I tell you 1 But I got through with it without
getting more than a dozen stings on my hands ; and then
put on the super, and cheerfully closed the hive.
" While doing that little job of work, Mr. Bond, I
learned something that was new to me. When I first began
slashing into the comb with my honey-knife I got quite a
number of hot stings on my naked hands; As I proceeded,
my hands became daubed with honey, and I noticed that
the bees did not attempt to sting where there was honey.
Taking the hint, I daubed honey all over my hands, with
the result that I got no more stings doing that job.
" This recipe I throw in extra, without cost. You can
tell by trying it — should occasion call for self-defense some
time when 3'ou find it necessary to do such work — whether
it will pay for the wasted honey or not. There are occa-
sions, you know, when a bee-keeper can't keep his hands in
his pockets and yet do the work that calls for their use."
(To be continned.;
\ Questions and Answers. \
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. AHLLER, Mareago, Ul,
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Building Up Colonies.
My bees wintered well — 47 colonies out of 49. A few
of them are very strong. What is the best way to build
them up ? Give them a frame of brood from a strong col-
ony, or exchange hives in the middle of the day when the
bees are flying the strongest ? Ontario.
Answer. — Take from a colony that has five brood or
more, leaving it only four frames of brood. Do not give
these frames of brood to the weakest colonies at first, but
give a frame to each colony that has only three frames,
until these are all supplied, then give to the weaker ones.
Take the adhering bees with the frame of brood, but be
sure you don't take the queen. If you give more than one
frame to any colony, let them be from dift'erent hives, for
if you should give two frames with adhering bees from the
same hive it would endanger the queen.
Pilling Combs With Syrup for Feeding— Fastening
ttueen-Cups.
1. I am the newest and " greenest " of bee-keepers.
On page 310, Allen Latham writes of filling brood-combs
with sugar syrup from a coffee-pot at the beginning of the
apple-bloom. How does he hold the comb during the oper-
ation— upright, as it is in the hive, or does he turn it from
side to side ?
2. In making queen-cups a la Doolittle, I suppose the bot-
tom, i.e., the thickest part of the cup, is fastened to the
stick, is it not ?
3. My bees pay no attention to the syrup I try to feed
them. How shall I get them to notice it ?
Mrs. Bee-Keepkr.
Answers. — 1. You are no greener than the rest of us
have been, but are perhaps a little smarter in finding out
sooner your greenness. You are very wise to pocket your
pride and ask questions that may betray some degree of
ignorance. When you do not find instruction in your text-
book upon any given point, 3'ou may gain that instruction
through experience, but sometimes that is expensive, and
by asking questions you not only gain the desired informa-
tion for yourself, but help others as well.
Mr. Latham gives no particulars, but you may be sure
he does not have the comb hanging, as in the hive, when
filling it. Lay it flat in a tub ; pour the syrup into it from
a height of three or four feet, and the fall from such a
height will make the syrup force its waj' into the cells. It
will work better if the syrup is hot, but you must look out
not to melt the comb. When one side is filled, turn the
comb over and fill the other side. Then hang the comb in
a hive-body that stands over something to catch the drip.
Years ago I fed many gallons of syrup in combs, and
to make the work easier I had hung three or four feet above
the tub a large baking-powder can, or something of the
kind, the bottom of the can being punched full of nail-
holes, the holes being punched through from the inside.
June 13, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
377
With a pitcher in one hand I poured the hot sj-rup into the
can, while the other hand kept the can moving about over
all parts of the comb. Having the can thus suspended by
strings made it much easier.
2. Yes, mouth down.
3. Generally there is no trouble in getting bees to take
syrup whenever they can reach it. Perhaps it was too cold
weather for them to leave the cluster. Sometimes they will
take hot syrup when they will not take the cold. The
nearer the cluster the surer they will be to take it. If put
in combs they will be sure to take it. For fear of starting
robbing, don't give the combs till nearly dark.
Probably Superseded the Queen.
I have a colony of black bees to which I introduced an
Italian queen last July, and in the fall they were mostly
yellow bees, but this spring they are almost as black as
ever. What is the cause of that? Mixx.
Answer. — It is quite possible the bees may have super-
seded the Italian queen with one whose progeny is darker.
It is even among the possibilities that a queen from outside
may have gotten in, but such a thing is not at all probable.
Material for Cell-Cups-What to Feed to Work
Them Up.
1. In making cell-cups for queen-rearing, what is the
wax mixed with ?
2. In the dry season when the bees will not work up the
cups, what is best to feed them so as to induce them to work
them up ? Jamaica.
Answers. — 1. The wax is not mixed with anything,
but used pure.
2. Nothing is better to stimulate bees to work than
honey, unless it be a mixture of honey and pollen. In the
absence of this, a syrup of sugar does very well.
Dividing for Increase.
1. I don't care to let my bees swarm. Would it be safe to
take one, two, or even three frames of brood from each hive,
and when I get 10 framesput them in a hive, making sure that
I have not taken a queen from any of the hives ? Does it
make any diiference if there are any bees on the brood-
frames ? Do you think the bees would tight with each
other, because there will be bees from different hives, such
as Italians, blacks, and Hybrids, or would you brush the
bees off when you take out the brood-frames ?
2. What would I do for queens for each new colony thus
made? Colorado.
Answers. — 1. It will be safe to take one to three frames
of brood from each strong colony so far as those colonies
are concerned, but very unsafe for the brood if you take no
bees with the brood. Even if you take with each frame all
the adhering bees, all but the youngest will return, and
you may not have enough bees to protect the brood. There
will be no trouble as to bees from different colonies fighting
if this is done when honey is yielding well. But taking
one, two, or even three frames of brood from a colony of
bees will by no means make it a sure thing that there will
be no swarming. To make sure that there will be no
swarming, you must take all the brood away. One way is
as follows :
Suppose two colonies, A and B. Take all the brood
from A, brushing the bees back into the hive, and replac-
ing the frames of brood with frames of foundation. To
prevent the bees from being too much dissatisfied, leave
one frame of brood, to be taken away a day or two later.
Put these frames of brood into an emptj- hive, and put it
on the stand of B, putting B in a new place. This should
be done early in the day, the earlier after bees are flying
the better, unless you take the time when bees are having a
play-spell after dinner, which is the best time of all. I'or
a day or two all the field-bees of B will return to the new
hive. A will not swarm, but the case of B is not so sure.
2. You can buy untested queens for a reasonable
amount, and you will do well to have your queen on hand
before forming your new colony. Or, j'ou can in advance
rear queens as instructed in your text-book. If you have
no good text-book on bees, by all means get one at once and
make a thorough studj' of it. It is hardly a safe thing to do
much in the way of artificial increase without some knowl-
edge of the whole field of bee-keeping as given in the bee-
books. Even if you have explicit instruction just what to
do, some unforseen incident will occur, and if you have no
general knowledge of the subject some little thing may
knock all your plans endwise.
You will do well carefully to examine back numbers of
this journal also. See pages 345, 328, 312, 297, 264, etc.
\ Convention Proceedings. |
(Continued from page 357.)
Report of the Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Convention.
BY 1)1'.. L. II. I.KuNAlil).
SECOND DAY — Fokesoox Session.
The first thing on the program was Pres. West's address,
read by Mrs. Acklin, as follows :
PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS.
The Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Association was organized at
Minneapolis about eight years ago, by a few determined and
loyal bee-keepers, under the laws of Minnesota. Wm. Urie,
Wm. Danforth, and B. Taylor, successful bee-keepers who
have since passed to their eternal homes, were present at that
meeting. There had been previous attempts made to organize,
and meetings had been held ; the Association got into debt,
and was in bad repute. Under the present management the
debts have been paid, and there is a surplus in the treasury.
Compared with other societies in importance, ability and
influence for good, our Association stands in the front ranks.
It is now a strong and vigorous society, having increased its
membership, which includes some of the most noted apiarists
in the West. When thoroughly organized the society at once
took steps to put the honey department at the State Pair —
which had become a disgrace to the bee-ieepers of the State
— under the supervision of honest bee-keepers. From that
time until the present that department has gradually grown
in size, quality and importance — in fact, no department of the
State Fair has shown such marked improvement with the
same amount of money expended.
Through the influence of this society a grand exhibit of
the products of the little "busy bee "was made at Omaha,
which demonstrated that the finest honey — as well as butter —
comes from the grand, young State of Minnesota. The
exhibit was a grand surprise to every one, and won great
honors for Minnesota. Exhibits were made by some of our
bee-keepers which scored 100 points.
Through the influence of this society a law was passed
by the State legislature, making it a crime to sell or offer for
sale adulterated honey, unless the package containing the
same is marked, represented and designated as such. The
enforcement of this law by the State Dairy and Food Com-
missioner has been of great benefit to the honey-producers of
Minnesota, and his report upon this subject made in .January,
ISyy, is quite elaborate. Our influence has also been felt
among the commission men of the twin cities, and good has
resulted therefrom for the bee-keepers of the State.
Organizations are necessary in all branches of industry,
to protect aud educate those engaged in such industry. No
bee-keeper has arrived at that stage of perfection and success
in his occupation where he can afford to dispense with the
benefits derived from such an organization as this. Here we
meet for friendly discussion and mutual profit.
The rapid advancement of apiculture during the past 50
years is in keeping with the rapid strides made in all other
departments of life where genius and invention have been
developed, due to the energy, enterprise, and self-sacrificing
labors of such men as Father I/angstrolh, Moses Quinby.
Adam Grimm, Capt. J. E. Hetherington, Lyman C. Root, Edwin
France, Chas. Muth, H. R. Boardman, G. M. Doolittle, P. H.
Elwood, A. E. JIanum, Prof. .\. .1. Cook, Dr. A. J. Boardman,
Dr. A. B. Mason, Chas. Dadant, I). A. Jones, W. Z. Hutchin-
son, Dr. C. C. Miller, A. I. Root, E. R. Root, and a host of
others, whose bright and inventive minds and consistent
lives have made, or arc making, the bee-papers of to-day
suierior to the papers printed in the interest of any other
line of business. What other branch of learning or occupa-
tion has had such honest, heroic, self-sacrificing, devoted and
eminent workers '? Their influence and superior qualities of
heart and mind have blessed all other departments of life in
378
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 13, 1901.
which they move. And what a pleasure it is oil such an occa-
sion as this to speak kindly of them, and to accord them a high
place in our history !
Instead of the old straw hive and the log gum the inven-
tion and skill of Father Langstroth have given us the frame so
admirably adapted for the home of the ever busy bee, wherein
every kind of manipulation and theory are developed, and
from which all other hives in a measure have been evolved.
The large, unwieldy and unmarketable honey-boxes have
given place to the white and beautiful one-piece section — a
convenience and blessing to the apiarist, and which in its sim-
plicity and cheapness is within the reach of all. From the
swinging of the dinner-pail in which there was a piece of
comb honey, around and over his head, by the ever restless
and uneasy boy — which operation his father noticed threw the
honey outward of the comb — came the honey-extractor now
so generally used, a great help to every well-cared for apiary,
and indispensable to its success, as is also its companion, the
honey-knife. Comb foundation, and the foundation-press by
which it is made, are also great inventions, and universally
appreciated by the successful apiarist.
Then comes the little queen-cage with candy — a great
improvement and source of profit — a means by which the
queen — indeed and in truth the most wonderful and inter-
esting of all insects known — is transported from all parts of
the globe, and we have thus been able to improve oar race of
bees. The drone-trap, the self-hiver. the self-swarmer, the
queen-excluder, and the Doolittle method of rearing queens :
the honey-board, the wax-extractor, the queen cell protector,
wired frames, the foundation-fastener machine, bee-feeders,
bee-escapes, swarming devices, the smoker, the drone-excluder,
separators, and the improved method of procuring comb
honey ; and very many other improvements and devices help to
make the labor easy, successful and more profitable, and are
valuable helps to energetic apiarists in some department of
this most interesting occupation.
Invention, then, as we look at the old log gum and straw
skep, and as we remember the sulphur pit where the faithful
and innocent little creatures were murdered for their stores,
in days gone by, has performed wonders for our occupation,
and for the comfort of the noblest little creature which God
has given to man.
The tendency of our occupation, then, like all other in
such hands, is upward, and toward the light. This is an age
of intense activity and progress — the tide is fast bearing us
onward and upward. Some are wishing for the good old days
gone long ago, but these are the best days since the stars first
sang together, since the Messiah was found in the manger,
and I, for one, am glad I am living now. Bee-keeping is
wonderfully interesting and fascinating to the successful
apiarist. It brings us in contact with one of the most won-
derful little creatures in God's glorious universe. The man
who is wise, happy and content, sees the eternal God in every-
thing around him : the seasons, the fields, the hills and val-
leys, and all the creatures on the earth are clothed in glory ;
but nowhere, nor in any other creature, is the wonderful and
all-wise adaptation and design manifested as in the little " busy
bee." The manner and thoroughly practical government in
the home, the power and adaptability of the queen with her
body-guard, in that home for its good and success : the tiny
eggs which she never tires of depositing by the thousands
until old age shall claim her : the care and attention of those
eggs by the nurses of the family ; the food and growth of the
young bee from the time it begins to show life until its birth
into that home: its care after birth; the different kinds of
departments, and food which produces from the same mother
the workers (neither male nor female), the drones (the male
bee), and the queen, which produces respectively the worker
in 21 days, the drone in 2i days, and the queen, much larger
than the worker, in 16 days; the wonderful mechanical con-
struction of the cell for strength and economy ; the ability of
the workers to gather nectar from the blossoms and flowers of
the fields and trees, which, when stored in the home becomes
one of the best foods and medicines for man — 1 say all these
traits of the bees, and many more that might be named,
unfold a world of thought and investigation.
Honey has great healing and soothing properties, and is
an excellent medicine for sore throats, lungs, cuts or sores of
any kind. The poison of the honey-bee is an antidote for
rheumatism. Dr. McDonald, of this State, informed me sev-
eral years ago that he used the poison successfully for rheu-
matism and dropsy. Honey as food is very strengthening and
heating to the system. It is said that during the Russian and
Turkish war in crossing the mountains the soldiers were weak
and cold from lack of food. The Russian general ordered
that the soldiers be fed with honey every day — a ration which
at once revived their spirits, and strengthened and warmed
their bodies. In ancient times it was regarded as almost
sacred, being the best food, medicine and drink, when pre-
pared, to be found upon the earth. In Abyssinia, Russia,
India. Palestine and other countries, refreshing drinks are
made from it. In ancient Egypt It was valued as an embalm-
ing material, and in the East for the preservation of fruits
and the making of cakes. In India a mixture of honey and
milk is a respectful oflFering to a guest, or to a bridegroom
upon his arrival at the door of the home of his bride's father.
Bees are also a benefit to every farmer and horticulturist
wherever kept, as their value in fertilizing blossoms of fruit
and clover can not be estimated. Our occupation brings us in
contact with one of God's best gifts to man. and opens up afield
for labor as flatteriug as any other where the same amount of
capital is invested. Yes, more than this, it offers a source of
making a living, and support to the sick, that no other occu-
pation does. The labor and work is of such a fascinating
character that it at once becomes a medicine and tonic to the
weak and sick, and many have found health and success in
following it when everything else had failed. As a combina-
tion with fruit-growing it can not be excelled. In fact, every
one who lives in a locality where there is plenty of bee-pasture
should keep bees if the locality is not already overstocked.
There is nothing that will pay better, and bring such rich
returns to the health of the family.
My friends, it has been nine years since I was first elected
president of this society, and the time has come when I must
leave you as such, and another must take my place. Who-
ever it may be it should be one who has plenty of time to
devote to the interests of the society, and who is able to spend
a little money. The society can only be kept up and in the
front ranks by those whose work is a labor of love in its
behalf. This and kindred societies can only be kept in the
advance guard by the personal devotion of those whose hearts
love the society and the calling it represents. The meetings
which we have held during all these years have been pleasant
and profitable to me. I have regarded you all as my friends ;
I have tried to do my duty, and have found you all ready to
assist me ; and I shall be pleased at all times in the future to
hear of your happiness and prosperity. If there Is ever a
time when I can be of any service to any of you in any
capacity it will make me happy to serve you. and I shall also
be happy to hear from each one of you personally at all times.
It is my wish that success and happiness may follow each one
of you always. .1. P. We-st.
The address was well received, sympathy expressed for
the president in his illness, and regret that he was unable to
attend the meeting. The secretary was instructed to express
the warm sentiment of the Association toward him.
The proposition to join the National Bee-Keepers' Associ-
ation in a body was brought up and discussed. Owing to
changes which would have to be made in the constitution if
this were done, it was decided to postpone action uutil the
next meeting.
Mr. Longfellow, a Minneapolis commission man, next
gave a talk on shipping and selling honey. He said the best
packages to use in this market for extracted honey are the
10-pound and the tJO-pound tin cans ; and for comb honey,
12 and 16 section cases.
.Continued next week.;
* The Afterthought. * |
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By B. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
LOAD A WOKKER-BEE CAN CARRY.
Your editorial note on page 286 assumes that Astor's
bees carried more of honey than of nectar because they
could carry more. That may be it. A vial completely full of
honey is heavier than the same vial filled with nectar ; but I
think we may wisely suspend judgment a little. Certainly the
theory ceases to work if we try to account for the rest of
Astor's figures that way. If bee-loads are 50 mg. (say.lune
15) and 2-J mg. (say July 15) it won't do to say that on the
earlier date the nectar was twice as heavy. The figures
referred to have the appearance of having been selected or
doctored in someway; but they are probably true in a gen-
eral way. A bee securing a load all in one place may be
expected to take about what it can. If the load is secured at
a hundred different places, with as many flights between, we
June 13, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
379
may exi)i>ct the bee to realize that the weight is tiresome and
go home quite a bit before the limit of what it can carry is
reached. Still more so when a thousand or several thousand
flights must be made. Apparently this consideration ceases to
govern after awhile; and the bee comes home occasionally
(say each two hours or so) with whatever it may happen to
have. To teach that there is a steady and regular declini' of
the amount of honey in the flowers with the advance of the
season, would manifestly be incorrect ; but, with a great
many ups and downs, the general trend is that way, probalily.
HOLDING QUEENS AND CELLS BETWEEN THE LIPS.
Doubtless perfectly dry lips will do no harm either to a
queen or to a cell. It should be kept in mind, however, that
the human saliva is a poisonous fluid (greatly variable in the
degree of its poison) and we don't want our queens soaked in
poisonous fluid, as bunglers would do it, should you tell them
to hold queens that way. Even for delicate plants and seeds
the mouth is a good place to keep them out of. Try it on
nails, which can give and take in the matter of dirtiness and
poison. If a high and refined degree of dirtiness is desired,
with a spice of danger thrown in, try nickels and pennies.
Page 2B6.
AN APIARIAN ROBINSON CRUSOE.
Mr. H. T. Hanna, we shall have to compliment you as an
apiarian Robinson Crusoe, if you have a good location and no
other apiary for eight miles. Page 285.
THAT bee-keepers' CLUB FOR QUEEN-REARING.
To have 100 bee-keepers club together and employ an
expert queen-rearer at fair wages to rear 50 for each, is a
decidedly new departure. Certainly there are some very mani-
fest advantages and savings about it. Sure market in the
place of a glut of uncalled for queens. Reasonable in the
place of unreasonable dates. Fair lot and turn and ''divy"
in the place of clamor — or would the order of precedence be
a specially hard thing to adjust without ill-feeling? There
are also some weak points. I think I would rather collect my
wages from one man than from a hundred. And, while the
enlisting of half a dozen in the new SQheme might be very
easy, the fife and drum might be pretty well worn out before
man Xo. 100 "swore in." Page 291.
FIRED AT LONG-TONGUED QUEENS.
I'm right glad Mr. Doolittle fired himself off as he did on
page 293. Little guns are excellent for many uses ; but when
an enemy develops that needs (badly needs) to be intimidated
somewhat, then the heaviest gun in the service is just the
piece to turn loose. Exactly how much good will come of the
cultivating of long tongues by tneasure we don't know just
yet. Quite a bit I hope (notwithstanding the ''bang"), but
it's plain to be seen that inaccuracy, and pretense, and con-
jectures that hardly amount to more than pretense, were
going to get thick as the smoke of the pit. Long-tongued
bees were going to mean just about as much as "pure white
ead," or " pure baking-powder," or " pure gum drops," mean
where no officer looks after frauds. Attention, ye buyers I
When you get your long-tongued queens, get them with the
same circumspection that you get the pure lead to paint your
house. Testing the actual reach of bees at work is not so
hard as to be beyond the reach of the ordinary apiarist ; and
'spects it will have to come to that. Mr. D. pushes things too
far in claiming that long tongues are of no profit except in
red clover regions. Many long-tubed flowers have something
to do with furnishing the total of nectar supply.
\ ^ The Home Circle. >^ \
Conducted bij Prof. fl. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
THE TOBACCO HABIT.
Over 100 of our collefce folks — almost half of us — went
to Los Angeles last Saturday to attend the Intercollegiate
Oratorical Contest, and the second contest of three arranged
with one of the colleges to decide who were champions in
base-ball. I was proud, as our fellows won the trophies in
the ball game, as they had won in the tirst, with a great
score of 15 to 2. I was still more proud as we achieved vie-.
tory in the oratorical contest. But I was most proud of the
gentlemanly character of our students. One way this was
shown, was in the entire absence of smoking among our
fellows. The others smoked. We did not. I rejoice that we
have no smoking at our college. I wish tobacco was
eschewed in all our homes. Our friend, A. I. Root, in "Our
Homes," has done splendid service in urging against this
habit. I wish I could be like happy in these " Home Circle "
columns. To the hundreds of students that I have taught
physiology, I have always spoken, as best I might, against
all use of tobacco.
Boys and girls — and I rightly include girls — may I not
have your ears a little to talk tobacco ? We all wish to be
sweet and clean. The tobacco user is usually neither. We
do not wish to be offensive — a nuisance — to the most sensi-
tive lady with whom we may seek or find companionship.
The tobacco sot, certainly, the user of tobacco generally, is
just that. We do not desire, certainly, to acquire a habit
that will tend to dethrone health and court disease. Every
wise physician will condemn tobacco as guilty of both these
serious counts. Can we afford, in these days of keen com-
petition in business, to strike at our chances of success?
Several railroad companies no longer employ the cigarette
smoker, and many employers will tolerate no one as an
employee who uses tobacco at all.
The money spent for tobacco — though to my mind the
least weighty argument against its use — should be thought
of. The sura is enormous. If saved, how quickly it would
pay all debts. How well it would clothe our people. How
generously it would " bread and butter " us all. I would I
might say the blessed word that would stay this frightful
expenditure.
The worst count that perhaps can be brought against
this arch enemy of the well-being of our people, and espe-
cially of our youth, is the tendency of the habit to make its
patrons thoughtless — regardless of the comfort of others,
and thus to destroy the gentlemanly instinct among us.
How often in public places our ladies must endure the poi-
sonous fumes from cigar or pipe. Only a few days ago I
was presiding at a large picnic gathering, where speaking
was going on, when some ladies appealed to me to relieve
them from just such an annoyance. I have had to do this
unpleasant duty over and over again. Can people acquire
the tobacco habit, and preserve their gentlemanly instinct,
all unimpaired ?
There is a verj' serious side to this question — that of
heredity. If, as many of our best scientists insist, the
taste, inclination, and diseased tissues consequent upon the
use of " the weed," are all likely to be transmitted to the
dear children, then how can any of us acquire —how can
any of us persevere, in this, oh, so common habit ? If, as
seems proved, wives and children are seriously poisoned by
simply breathing the emanations from fetid breath and be-
fouled clothing, then, indeed, we have most eloquent appeal
to do all we can to stay the evil. And so I say, girls as well
as boys. God be praised that our girls are saved from this
danger.
But the girls have a proud privilege. The3' cin in-
fluence against the habit that will tend so greatly to impair
their happiness and well-being. God help all our girls to
say boldly. "Yes, the cigar is offensive to me." For
surely it must be offensive, morally at least, to every right-
minded girl.
THE BOYS.
I read a pathetic account yesterday of a boy, just at
that awkward age of 13, who was the victim of neglect and
ridicule of his sisters. Home, that should attract, almost
drove him away. One of the sisters heard a lecture on
"Treatment of brothers." The words smote her to the
quick. She went home, surprised her brother by the re-
quest to tie his necktie, and soon more by a present of a
beautiful one. Within a day or two the big, awkward boy
found his room neatly fixed with some pictures and other
dainty attractions, which only the deft hand of girls can
fashion. Wasn't the sister paid when the great boy threw
his arms about her, and blubbered out, "Oh, but it's good
to have a sister care for you 1"
We would all like to practice one kind of theft. We
would all like to rob the slums, the saloons, the street cor-
ners, and all other questionable resorts, where the dear
boys are led to the bad. Loving attention at home, the
words of kindly sympathy, the neatly fixed room, loving
interest in game or any plan that is dear to the boy, will
almost always result in this blessed robbery. The sister
almost more than mother can be the proud agent in this
worthy work. From 12 to 15 is the rapidly growing, awk-
ward, blundering, bashful age with the boy. This is the
time of sunshine. Let all in the home circle unite in the
efi'ort to make the boy, that it may be a good crop.
380
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 13, 1901.
QUEENS!
Improved Golden and Iveather-colored : Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one of Root's best lone'-tong'ued Red-
Clover Breeders from their $21*0 queen, and a
Golden Breeder from Doolittle,who says if there
is a BREEDER of golden bees in the U.S. worth
$KK), this one is worth that sum. The above
breeders have been added to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the coming- season.
J. L. Gandv, of Humboldt, Nebr., wrote us on
Aug". 5th, 19tVi, saving that the colony having
one of our queens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostly comb); he states that
he is certain that our bees woik on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiary.
A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our queens from time to time. We have files
upon files of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering the above evidence, need
you wonder why our orders have increased each
year ? Give us a trial order and be pleased. AVe
have years of e.'fperience in mailing and rearing
queens. Safe delivery will be guaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with each lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Prices before July ist:
1 6 12
Warranted stock $ .75 $ 4.25 $ S.OO
Selected warranted 1.00 5.00 9.50
Tested 1.50 8.00 15.00
Selected tested 2.00 10 50
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 4.00
Folding Cartons, with >our address printed
on in two colors, $4.00 per 1,000; 500 for $2.75.
Address all orders to
H. G. QUIRIN, Parkertown, Ohio.
iParkertown is a Moaey-Order Office.
Bv contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. UE13t
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported Hothers.
Our stock is so carefully bred and selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality free
from foul brocd and other bee-diseases. Prices:
I untested Queen, Sl.tlO, 6 for fS.OO; 1 tested
Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50: best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $5.00.
ADA L. PICKARD,
ISETt RICHLAND CENTER, WIS.
Mease mention Bee Journal "when 'wrriting.
THOSE
Lon^-Ton^ue Adols
BE.iVEK, P.I., April 4, 1901.
From Ode J-frarae nucleus you sent me I took
213'i pounds of e.xtracted honey.
W.M. S. B.^KCL.iY.
Each Queen, $1.C0.
Essay, " How Xot to Rear Oueens," sent free.
2-tA4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
3"lraiii6lHiicl6i For Sale
Can supply luo or 15n at $2 Oo each, wiih one
empty extra comb; 2-frame Nuclei, $1.50. All
W.T.LEWIS, Lewlsburg, Miss.
Money Order Office— Olive Branch, Miss.
24A3t Please mentiou the Bee Journal.
$13.00 to Buffalo and Return, $13.00,
via Nickel Plate Road from Chicago,
for the Pan - American Exposition.
Tickets on sale daily, good leaving
Buffalo up to midnight of tenth day
from and including date of sale. Also
tickets on sale daily Chicago to Buffalo
and return at S16.00 for the round trip,
with 15-day limit, including date of
sale. S21.00 Chicago to Buffalo and re-
turn good for 30 days.
On all through tickets to points east
of Buffalo, privilege of stop-over at
Buft'alo for 10 days may be granted by
depositing ticket with Joint Agent and
payment of fee of $1.00.
Write John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
particulars and folders showing time
of trains, etc. 11 — 24A3t
Bees Wintered Fairly WelL
I could not get alon^r without the Bee .Jour-
nal. My bees wintered fairly well last winter,
and they are in good condition. I now have
14 colonies. I commenced three years- ago,
hut lost the most of them the first two win-
ters. I tried to keep them in an out-house,
hut it was too cold. Last winter I had them
in the cellar under the house, and they did
well, and came out very strong this spring.
This country is very good for bees. There
are lots of all kinds ot flow'ers. and white
clover that blossoms all summer. My bees
carried in pollen the last of March, but it is
quite cold in the winter, and the bees must
have a good cellar, when they will do well
here. I have had two swarms of bees this
spring.
This was written by my son, Winfred
Schmidt. I gave him a swarm of bees to
start on, and he is going to be a bee-keeper
when he gets bigger. F. C. Schmidt.
Price Co.. Wis.. May 27.
Bees in a Hemlock Tree.
I was in the woods all winter, and the first
tree that I cut down was a very large hemlock,
out of which I got a colony of bees. They
were in a hollow 62 feet from the ground. I
cut out the wood around the bees, making a
block about 3 feet long, which I rolled onto
the sleigh, and took home. W. E. Youxo.
Ontario, Canada, May 20.
Honey as Food and Medicine.
I agree with Mr. Doolittle about honey
being good for both food and medicine. We
eat it the year around, and have no sickness
to speak of. It is so good for children, curing
colds, sore throat, and almost everything that
a child is subject to. We eat an average ot a
pound and a half a day.
Our honey crop was very poor last year.
Jefferson Co.. Colo. Mrs. F. Bussekt.
A Report from Tennessee.
I caught a swarm of bees a few years ago,
subscribed for the "Old Reliable,'' became
interested, and now have 10 strong colonies
and one new swSrm. I have bought about a
dozen ([ueens, but don't have very good luck
with them, so we still have blacks and hybrids.
1 do not expect, nor desire, many swarms this
spring, but have nine new hives awaiting
occupancy. I use the .S-frame Simplicity, and
plain sections and fences. I don't think there
is any money in bees in this section, but there
is much pleasurable pastime.
White clover is abundant, and has been in
bloom for two weeks. Bees are busy, but
have not done much work in the sections yet.
R. H. Strickland.
Perry Co., Tenn., May IS.
From Wisconsin to Washington.
Bees did not winter very well in this locality
as a general thing: some bee-keepers lost
(luite heavily while others did not lose any.
The spring has been very favorable tor them
to build up, and the prospect is for a good
honey-year. The weather has been very
warm, and somewhat dry, but lately we have
had plenty of rain.
On the morning of May 16 I left home for
the Pacific coast, going by way of St. Paul,
passing through a portion of northern Wis-
consin, across Minnesota, North Dakota, Mon-
tana, a portion of Idaho, and into central
Washington — a jaunt ot nearly 4000 miles —
and I did not see a single bee-hive, although I
was on the lookout for bees. While in Lin-
coln Cotmty, central Washington. I heard ot
a man 15 miles away tlmt had some bees. I
Standard Bred (Jiieeus.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputatiiui. 75 cts. each; 6 f or $4.iXt.
Long=Tongued 3 = Banded Italians
bred from stock whose toiiij^ues measured 25-
100 incb. These are the red clover bustlers of
America.
$1.00 each, or 6 for $5.(-HI. Safe arrival g-uaraa-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog- on appUcatiou. Cincinnati, O.
f lease mention Bee Journal -wiien ■wntina
.^MANUFACTURER OFi^
BEEHIVES
Sections, Shippidg-Cases— Everytbidg used by
bee-keepers. Orders tilled promptly. We have
the best shippiag' facilities in the world. You
will save money bv seadiag- for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Be'e=Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
l6Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
sendtl.25to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
** Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade,
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3H miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 254
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
23 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
pecialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
Spring Hill, Tenn.
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers*
Supplies on hand. -Bees and Queens. Catalog
free.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, nanager,
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14At£ Please mention the Bee Journal.
ftll -
t)l
e*r
- /,
ana- -
Tojio-i
C'Cl
Queens
by
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nail
fl.ltt.
Addres.
,
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VAl
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MORE. P
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Dou You^Want a'^High Grade
iaiTQueens,
CHOICE STRAWBERRY?
Prices for flay and June:
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $1.00 $5.00 $9.00
Tested 1.25 7.00 11.00
Select Tested 2.00 10.00 17, 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $l.tX) $5.00 $0.00
Tested 1.25 7.00 11.00
Select Tested 1.50 8.00 13.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free.
D. J. BLOCKER, Pearl City, 111.
14Eot Please mention the Bee Journal.
June 13, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
381
BEES AND QUEENS
Having been ^s years rear-
inj^ Queens for the trade oil
the best known plans, I will
continue to rear the best.
PRICES:
One Untested Queen $ .80
One Tested Queen 1.<X)
One Select Tested Queen 1.25
One Breeder 2.00
One Comb Nucleus 1.20
BelgianHares
Choice, pedig-reed and common stock; young--
sters, $3.00 per pair. Write for description and
prices. J. L. STRONG,
llAtf Clarlnda, Page Co., Iowa.
Flease mention Bee Journal "when ■writinff.
' — \-
f^--=ii±:-
prj
:;
M
PACE ^-
s-|
ri
YOU CAN'T GO WRONG
500,01X1 stockc
ind
,. ..,,1 tiilie the ad..^^ ...
farmers and buy PAGE Fence. .-. --
PA(iK.\VOVKN WIKK KKXCK CO., A Dltl A>, JUtH.
Please mention Bee Journal when writins.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
Sanipie S
vartiH
oro
Q
uco
1-Verti-
lizin-s Bo
V, bv ma
1, 25 cts.
Address,
" The
SWAKTHMORE
A
lARl
iS,
Su
.IR
THM
IRE, P.4.
Dittffler's Foundation !
Retail— W holesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL, necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fori fax Into Fonniiatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal when wntiue^
B66S=SUDDI16S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
I05 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A201 Please mention the Bee Journal.
Low Rates to Buffalo Exposition
via the Nickel Plate Road. 3 through
trains daily, with vestibuled sleeping-
cars and excellent dining-car service,
meals being served on the American
Club Meals plan ranging in price from
35 cents to SI. 00. Chicago Depot, Van
Buren Street and Pacific Ave., on the
Elevated Loop.
Write John Y. Calahan. General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
information and beautifully illustrated
descriptive folder of the Exposition
Buildings and Grounds. 11— 24A3t
did intend to make liim a visit, but did not
have the time. He was on the Columbia
River, and in the midst of a fruit-growing
region.
I did not see any alfalfa growing, though iu
umw sections of Washington it is grown
((uite extensively. Broom-grass is Ijeginuing
to Ije sown in central Washington, but clovers
do not seem to grow. There is no irrigating
done in Lincoln and Douglas Counties. These
counties are in the famous wheat-growing
region Ivnown as the Big Bend country.
No person, I care not how good he may be
with a pen, can give an adequate idea of that
wonderful country. It must be seen in order
to t>e a]>itreciated.
I intend to make Washington my future
home, and have purchased 320 acres of land
all under the plow, part of it in wheat, a
house and barn with outbuildings, and an
orchard, tor the consideration of .?14 per acre.
I do not intend to part with my old and tried
friend, the American Bee Journal, t.liough
some ties must he severed and friendly asso-
ciations liroken. L. Ai.len.
Clark Co., Wis.. May 3.
Of the Waterleaf Family.
1 enclose a plant that is getting into the
fields here. What is it I JoHX M. Seii.ek.
Hennepin Co., Minn.
[The plant in question Is EUisia Nj'ctelea,
and belongs to the Waterleaf familj-. It is
quite common in more southern States, and is
prfibably enlarging its borders by taking in
choice sections of Minnesota. I do not know
whether or not it furnishes food for bees.
Watch it.— C. L. Walton.]
Heavy Locust Bloom in Kentucky.
The prospects tor a good honey crop here
are not as good as I wish they were, but per-
haps everything will come around all right
yet. We have had an unusually cool, gloomy
spring, and everything is from 1.5 to 3.5 days
late. White clover is beginning to bloom,
and we are having the heaviest locust bloom I
ever saw, but the weather is so bad that the
bees work on it but little. W. S. Feeback.
Nicholas Co., Ky., May 29.
A Beginner's Report.
I have 9 colonies of bees, and one of them
swarmed April 37. They wintered on the
summer stands without loss. They are stor-
ing in the supers now.
Prospects are good in this locality. The
liillsides are white with locust bloom, and
Helds are covered with white clover.
I am a beginner 16 years old, and love my
bees and I)ee-papers. R. W. Smith.
Botetourt Co., Va., May 2".
Bees in Fine Condition.
Bees are building up nicely at present. The
early spring was too cool for them to do much
on maple and willow, but they have done
unusually well on truit-bloom, and are get-
ting in fine ccmdition for the white clover
harvest, which, from present appearances,
will be good. L. Jones.
Floyd Co., luwa. May 3:1.
Queen Visiting a Deserted Hive.
While going through my hives on May It! I
found one deserted, and moved it out of the
bee-yard, back of my implement house, about
lUU feet from where it had been. I was tak-
ing out the comlis. and hunting and destroy-
ing tlie moth-worms that had a start in them,
and while at work a black queen lit on one of
llie comljs. 1 tried to catch her, but she cir-
cleil around and lit on the side of the hous»,
when I caught and caged her. 1 tlien exam-
iiu'd the rest of my colonies, but could find
none without a i|ueen. Where do you think
she came from '. and is it not very rare for one
to My around like that?
The past wiiitir was very hard on my bees.
They were Hying. ilmost every day, and used
XJN-TE3STE3ID
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with SI. 00. we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Oueen free as a premium. This offer
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for S2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us two new subscribers, and $2.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 141, Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
I am Now Prepared
to Till orders promptly for Untested Queens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; f4.00 for o, or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22\tf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentior Bee Journal when ■writing,
ALBINO QUEENS U°S.T^^^-i,r;i\
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
houey-gatherers you ever saw — try rav Albinos.
Untested Queens in April. fl.OO; Tested, J1.50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal "when writing.
We have a few at $3.(iii each. AddiL-ss
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 140 Erie Street, - CHICA(;0, ILL.
HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Biij Catalotr Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
Sal6
BEE
Mention the Ac
QUEENS
Now ready to supply bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be E.XCELLED '.'.'.
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. "Sc each; ii for $4.ii0.
REDCLOVBR QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in FATHERING UONEY, $1 each; 6
for $.^. Safe Arrival tiCAKANTi-:Kn.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Mutii,
214(i * 214,s Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Ooods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
f^ease mention Bfie Journai when writin&
382
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 13, 19( 1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OuF New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copv. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabam:
Excellent shipping facilities and very low fr
Eastern territorie
St., Indianapolis, Ind.
ight rates for Southern :
BEST
Basswood^ Alfalfa Honey
in 60-pound tin cans, f .o.b. Chicago — two cans in a box — at these prices : 9
cents a pound for one box of two cans ; two boxes (4 cans) or more at one
time, S'z cents a pound.
We have only a limited quantity of the Basswood honey,
either kind, postpaid, 10 cents. Address,
Sample of
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W ^^r;^:^^
* CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Marsbfield Manufacturipg CompaDy.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Red Glover Queens
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium fop sending us TWO new subscpibers
to the Amepiean Bee Joupnal fop one yeap
(with $2); OP, one Tested Queen fpee as a ppemium fop sending
us FOUR new subscpibeps with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke, (if-mi
They stored red clover honey last season. f*^A
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be f^^
clipped, unless otherwise ordered. (<4t^
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows • Untested K^,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to f<AlA
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^
144 & 146 Epie St., CHICAGO, ILL. (^
u]) all their stores, and I have lost 13 colonies
through spring dwindling, and expect to lose
more. I have been feeding, but the bees are
not there to build up.
I think there is no better country in the
Tnited States for all purposes than the Chero-
kee Nation country. R. X. C'R.iFTOX.
Cherokee Nation. Ind. Ter.. May is.
The Weather Hard on Bees.
My bees were in splendid condition in
March, breeding up strong, and they worked
three days on maple blossoms, the trees hav-
ing the finest amount of bloom on them that I
ever remember seeing, the blossoms being as
large as peach-blossoms. But suddenly it
turned cold, and thousands of the poor little
bees were caught napping, they could not get
to their hires, and perished. The frost killed
all of the bloom that was far enough advanced
to be affected, and all through the greater
part of April we had cold rains and frosty
weather, then there was a great profusion of
fruit-bloom ; but the bees did not seem to be
strong enough to take advantage of it, and in
the midst of it came a heavy, cold rain and
hail-storm which destroyed the bloom.
The bees have had a hard time of it, though
most of them are in good condition now.
Some are weak, but most of them are clus-
tered at the entrance waiting for white clover,
which is looking first-rate, and there are a
few blossoms here and there.
We have had no swarms so far this year.
D. C. McLeod.
Christian Co.. 111., May 27.
Bees Starved in Iowa.
A good many of the bees in this part of the
country starved last winter. I have 30 colo-
nies in good condition, and increasing fast
I clip all queens, cut out queen-cells, give
plenty of rooiu — two or three supers at once —
and have very little swarming. I sell all my
honey in the home market, and stamp every
section. George C. Durr.
Jasper Co., Iowa, May 30.
Bees and Olives.
These are suggested by- W. A. H. Gilstrap
in the Bee-Keepers' Review, as a desirable
combination. He says :
The bulk of the work with olives is done
between Oct. 1 and March 1, then for three
months the work is moderate with both bees
and olives. Some time in June or July the
honey harvest commences and lasts until Oct.
I, when the fruit is about ripe. By that plan
one man can put in his time the year through
at one place, having no idle spell. Perhaps
that would be more protitable than any other
method iu some cases, while in other sur-
roundings, with other men, it would not.
Smothering a Colony of Bees.
This is a much easier thing than the novice
would suppose. Nearly every one must suffer
a personal loss in order to learn the lesson.
Possibly some may be induced to be careful
without any personal experience by reading
the following case reported by Dr. C. S.
Phillips, in the Southland Queen :
I want to tell you how we lost a large, fine
swarm. There was a swarm that came out
and my wife hived them, and they came out
and went back. They did this two or three
times, and the last lime was on Saturday, and
when I came home from the office she told me
of it. I said, " All right ; I'll fl.x 'em. Sun-
day they will not come out.''
So Sunday morning I got some wire-cloth
I and fitted it over the entrance to keep them.
June 13, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
383
ill. and sakl. '■ Nuw I'vt! tjot you." auJ weut
vn to SunJay-sehool aud church content.
When I retured I went to see our bees, aud
noticed that the ground in front of the hive
was wet. and the bees lool<ed lifeless. I
opened the hive, and they were all dead.
They had smothered to death. What a fine
swarm lost, for they had in 13 hours built the
eiffht frames of foundation halt full.
Giving Combs of Honey to Swarms.
Editor Hultbiuson says in the Bee-Keepers'
Review :
Combs of solid honey may be placed in the
brood-nest when hiving swarms, and the
honey brought in will of necessity be carried
into the sections. Friedeniann Greiner men-
tioned this at one of the New Yorli institutes,
saying that he had frequently practiced the
plan, and in addition to being compelled to
put the new honey above, the bees are also
oljliged to remove mucli of the honey from
the combs put in the brood-nest, and carry
it up into the sections, in order to malie room
for a tirood-nest. By this management not
only is the newly-brought-in honey put into
the sections, but any combs of first-class
honey may be " worlied over," so to speak,
into section honey.
Queen Accepting Bees.
Editor Pender says in the Australasian Bee-
Keeper :
During a honey-flow bees are so much en-
gaged as hardly to notice a change of queen,
provided the queen does not disturb the bees
herself. I have had liees too busy gathering
even to start cells when made queenless. Dur-
ing a scarcity of honey queen-introduction is
not at all certain, the bees are idle and resent
interference. The editor of Gleanings does
•■ not understand how fasting for 30 minutes
on the part of the queen should induce a
friendly behavior on the part of the bees."
In queen-introduction I find success is due
quite as much, if not more, to the disposition
of the queen. I never introduce a queen if
she is excited, and runs about madly in the
cage. I simply withdraw the candy and
starve her until she is prepared to beg for
food, and thus i>rei'.\ke hek to acrept of the
bees. We usually prepare bees to accept of a
queen. Cause a queen to run excitedly over
the combs and the bees will ball her at once,
even their own queen, how much more a
stranger.
Bees of a Swarm Living Longer.
Knowing what a short lease ot life worker-
l)ees have in the busy season, it seems a little
strange that the bees of a swarm hold out as
well as they do. lu the British Bee Journal
H. B. Buckston reports some experiments
concerning the matter, and concludes by
saying:
The reason, then, why bees in a swarm live
longer than usual seems to be that the younger
bees of the swarm have to serve as indoor
workers for a longer time than they would
do in a hive containing eonstantly-liatching
brood, and they thus are not exposed to the
accidents and hard labor experienced by field-
workers.
Shall Hives Be Painted?
In defense of )minted hives, A. C. Miller
says in the Bee-Keepers' Review :
An unpainted board will absorb moisture
freely; coat it with paint or varnish and it
will not. When it is thus coated, the en-
closed cellular structure is a fair non-conduc-
tor; hence, a hive coated with varnish on the
inside and paint on the outside is. in a limited
way. the same as a chaff hive. /. e.. a porous
poor conductor between two better conduc-
tors. When the pores in the wood of a sin-
gle-walled hive are filled with water, which is
a good conductor, the hive becomes a little
better than if it were made of metal or stone.
After 28 Years. -We are not much ia sympa-
thy with advertisers who make use of extrava-
f^adt claims as beiiitr '' biggest," the ''best on
earth," " none so t.'.iL.d," etc. When, however,
these or similar claims are borne out by tbeact-
ual tacts we believe that the advertiser has not
only a perfect right, but that he should make
the facts public. This is brought to miod by
the advertiseraeul of the Elkhart Carriage and
Harness Manufacturing Co., of Elkhart, Ind.,
who regularly use this paper in season. These
people for the past several years have been lay-
ing claim to being "the largest manufacturers
of vehcles and harness ia the world selling to
the consumer exclusively." To one who will
take the pains to iavestigate, or what is better
still, if it is possible, go to Elkhart and look
over this institution and examine their methods
of doing business, this statement will appear as
modest and entirely within the bounds of
truth. Of course this result is not one of sud-
den attainment; it has taken more than is years
of hard and persistent effort to bring this insti-
tution up to its present high plane, ilaving de-
Upen Driving Wayoti.)
cided loag ago that the public would much pre-
fer to deal direct with the manufacturer, the
man who made the goods, if the people but
could be convinced that they were getting the
best goods at the lowest procurable price, the
Elkhart people inaugurated their present sys-
tem of doing business. That their methods
have been approved and appreciated is evi-
denced by the growth, magnitude and prestige
of their "present business. In their two large
factories at Elkhart they manufacture 178 styles
of vehicles and i>5 styles of harness. In vehicles
they are prepared to supply the public with
every conceivable article from the open buggy
through -phaetons, stanhopes, a long line of top-
buggies, surreys, two and tliree seated carriages,
traps, spring - wagons, etc. — to wagonettes,
busses and all classes of delivery wagons. In
harness they have anything from single-strap
buggy-harness all down the line to best double-
team harness for farm work. Remember that
they make every article they sell in their own
factoi ies, and that they employ no agents or
middle men, but sell e.xclusively to the con-
sumer at wholesale prices. Every article is
guaranteed in a way that removes all element
of chance. Everything is made of good mate-
rial in the most substantial way. in the best and
latest style, and sold to the consumer at the
most reasonable of prices. Write them for their
large illustrated catalog which they will take
pleasure in sending to our readers free, not for-
getting to mention seeing their advertisement
in the American Bee Journal.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We ran turnixh you with The A. t. Root Co's
roods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
i you freitiht. and ship promptly. Market price
POUI.TRy BOOK FREE. 64 pages, illustrated
with 3 mos. trial subscription to our paper, inc
I.NI.AND POULTRV JOURNAL. Indianapolis. Ind
ImjyrnK'ed .Su-«r
.ser3' Oaii'e, by 1
dress. The Swahthmoke Api.4
BEE^SUPPLIES!
AT KOQTS f=Rlc£^J.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVEi' — ■""
iJ Sit >t4 >t<. ilt ste sli itt >lt >li >Ji >ii sti^
I HONEY rtND BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Chicago, June 7. — Not any new comb honey
has come to this market up to date hereof, but
promises are being made for some before the
month closes. A little g^ood while comb still on
sale, which easily brings l<-c; not much of any
other kind here. Extracted very dull, practi-
cally no sales made. Beeswax tirm at 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Dktroit, May 21.— Fancy white comb 14@15c;
No. 1, 13f3H4c; dark and amber, 10@12c. Ex-
tracted, white, 6!^@7c; amber and dark, 5@6c.
Beeswax, 27@28c.
Very little desirable honey in sight. The new
crop will find the market well cleaned up. The
demand is always light at this season of the
year. M, H. Hunt & Son.
Cincinnati, May 17. — No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from J^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, May 21.— Our market continues dull
on honey with very light stocks on hand. Our
normal prices are as follows: Faccy 1-pound,
cartons, I7c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, 15c; No. 2, 12@
14c. Extracted from 6J^@*7^c.
Blake. Scott & Lbb.
Omaha, May 1. — Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per caee, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, June 1.— Extracted honey is ex
ceedingly dull and verv little moving. We quote
for the present: Whi'te, 6j^f<' 7c; light amber,
S\i&.i>c\ amber, 5(^5'4C. Some demand for comb
honey at unchantjed prices. New crop is now
beginning to arrive from the South, and sells at
from 12fctl5c, according to ijuality and style.
Beeswax, 2''c. Hildreth & Segelken.
Albany, N. Y., June 1.— Honey market quiet.
No stock, no receipts, and no demand now. It
is between seasons. We look for good prices
the coming season, for in this vicinity the foul
brood has nearlv exterminated the bee-keepers.
H.R.Wright.
Buffalo, May 29.— Very light trade in all
grades of honey. Strictly fancy sells fairly, at
14@l5c; dark dull at any price,'and 8'rt9c about
the range. Beeswax, fancy, 27fa.^2vSc; dark, 23@
25c. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, May 4.— Practically no ship-
ments arriving, and very little selling. We are
getting $3.50 to $3 65 per case of 24 sections No.
1 white; amber, $3.00 to $3.25. Beeswax scarce
at 25c. W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
San Francisco, May 22.— White combllK®
\2% cents; amber, 'i@10c; dark, 6f^as cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5(2 (tc; light amber 4@4^c;
amber. 3H@4c. Beeswax. 26@28c,
Market presents a weak tone, with dealers,
large and small, holding off as much as possi-
ble, in anticipation of liberal offerings from
producing sections at an early day. There is
not much new honey now here, either comb or
extracted. For some very choice white comb
13 cents is asked. New amber extracted has
been placed at 4 cents, which is the utmost fig-
ure obtainable in a wholesale way in the local
market for this grade.
For Sale
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
214t Address, Q. C. GEARN. San Diego, Calif.
Please iiientioit Bee Jountal ■when writing.
Good Bee- Ranch
and General Farm
For Sale
200 CRATES OF 2
'ti'-pijund canseach; been
used once; in good condi-
tiou ; 111 lots ot \" orates. 35 cents a crate.
FRED W. MUTH & CO.,
S.W. Cor. Front .t Walnut Sts., Ci.nci.nxati, O.
24A2t Please mention the Bee Journal.
f nlifnrnijl f I'yoa care to know of its
WdlllUrillct 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San FniNCisco.CiL.
384
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 13, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everylbiog, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-K?;eper free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. V.
as- W. M. Gekrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our groods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal -wJ-en -writins
ITALIAN QUEENS — Warranted.
Tested $100 1 —By-
Untested 75 i RETURX MAIL
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
21Atf River Forest, Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Illinois Day
at the Pan American Exposition.
Tuesday, June 25. 1901, has been se-
lected by the Governor of Illinois, as
"Illinois Day," at the Pan-American
Exposition at Buffalo. In order to
make that occasion a greater success,
the Nickel Plate Road will lend its as-
sistance by making the following rates:
$13.00 for tickets good 10 days.
$16.00 for tickets good IS days.
$21.00 for tickets good 30 days.
Tickets at above special rates will be
available on any of our three through
daily express trains from Chicago at
10:35 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 10:30 p.m..
which carry through vestibuled Pull-
man sleeping-cars and afford excellent
dining-car service, on the individual
club meal plan, ranging in price from
35 cents to"$1.00.
For further information and illus-
trated descriptive folder of the Pan-
American Exposition grounds, write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 13— 24A2t
I ARISE
me r>t,t. juukivai^ 1110.1
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in theirseason
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . fl.OO
.5 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M." DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
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year
Dadant's Foundation.
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Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRiVlNESS, No SAQaiNO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCBSS SHEETINQ.
^^
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OP ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslr-oth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
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i Pan=f\iii6ri6an timiM t
'X —AT BUFFALO... ^
■»# THE -A.. I. PIOOT 00. #-
will have an Exhibit showing a
COMPLETE LINE OF BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES,
Also some NEW GOODS that have not yet been advertised. The
exhibit will be conspicuously placed in the Gallery of the Agri-
cultural Building.
If you have never seen a
Ball-Bearing Cowan Honey-Extractor,
Here is your chance.
We expect that HUBER ROOT, the youngest member of the
Root Co., will be the man in charge of the exhibit. He will be
pleased to meet all our old friends, and make new ones wherever
-^^^ possible.
-^B
Gleanings in Bee=Culture
Will contain a very interesting series of articles on Queen-Rear-
ing, giving New Methods and Short Cuts. There will also be a
series on
BEES irr I-iA-W.
E. R. Root will tell of his trip through Texas, Colorado, Ore-
gon, and California. Better subscribe now.
Six months' trial subscription for only 25 cents.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., fledina, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 'tmJUol^lT-
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
■f-f)-f-f'f)-f)-f)-f)<f)'^-f)»f)«f'f)'f)#.
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JUNE 20, 190L
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 25.
386
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
June 20, 1901.
GEORGE fi. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Oflice at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
DK..C. C. Miller, ) -r,
E.E. Hasty. I Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, f Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OHJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. 'Whitcomb.
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newmai
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Ha.mbaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKiN, Vice-President.
Dh. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
E^*" If more convenient. Dues may te sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a Ijee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-la]iel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for everv bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the bus.v bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 2.5 cents. Send all orders to the ofSce
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weekly Budget. I
Mr. F. Greiner, of Ontario. Co., N. Y.,
writing us June 9, had this to say ;
"The season so far has been exceptionally
unfavorable. However, we take it stoically,
as we look for a yield only from buckwheat
later."
Dr. Jas. McLean, whose interesting article
on " Medicinal and Xourishing Properties of
Honey " appeared on page 324, writes us that
a slight error occurred therein, referring to
the indigestion formulae regarding the quan-
tity of honey, which should be one teaspoon-
ful instead of one tablespoonful. He thinks
it might be well to rearrange the whole sen-
tence as follows :
''One teaspoonful of pure honey dissolved
in a glass of cold or tepid water, into which
mix one teaspoonful of tincture of myrrh, to
drink shortly after eating."
Mr. Thaddeus Smith, whose picture is
shown on page 389 this week, is a retired bee-
keeper, though he has from 10 to a dozen col-
onies. He begins, in this week's number, a
series of reminiscent articles which we have
no doubt will be read with much interest by
all. He is between 70 and SO years old,
though no one would believe it if compelled
to judge from the picture alone. It must be
that the Pelee Island climate, in connection
with a luscious fruit diet, contributes to
longevity ; and very likfily honey also plays
an important part in helping to keep him so
young in appearance.
Mr. J. M. Kankix, as previously announced,
is the recently appointed inspector of api-
aries for the State of Michigan. We are
pleased to present so good a likeness of him as
on our first page this week. He is 26 years of
age. He began bee-keeping at the age of 12,
with two colonies, one in a Simplicity hive
and one in a box-hive. During his first ex-
perience he made the acquaintance of a Ger-
man bee-keeper by the name of Andrew
Hunt, to whom he is indebted for careful and
interesting teaching, and for a great deal of
his early training in bee-culture.
When IS years of age Mr. Rankin met foul
brood for the first time, and it resulted in the
loss of half of his 40 colonies, but the disease
was finally stamped out.
lie took charge of the experiment station
apiary at the Agricultural College of Michi-
gan in April, 1S{*7. and during the past four
years has been a student there. He has done
some good work with foul brood, and has
gone several times to dijierent parts of the
State to assist bee-keepers in treating their
apiaries to rid them of foul brood, so the
work is not entirely new to him.
We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Rankin
at the Chicago convention of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association last August. We
feci that Michigan has made no mistake in
ai)pointing him to so important a position in
the interest of bee-keeping. He will not dis-
appoint those who labored so hard to secure
the foul brood law, and who also recom-
mended his appointment. On account of his
investigating turn of mind, and decided in-
terest in the subject, we bespeak for Mr.
Rankin an honorable career in the l)ee-keep-
ing line, r r^ — ■ ;^
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, ^laniial ol tlie Apiary,
BY
PROE A, J, COOIC
460 Pages-16th (1899) Edition— 18tli Thou-
sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unaec-
essary — it is simply- the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Goide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to GIVE away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO. ILL.
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphlc
PEN„„
Tliis pen consists of a Ii»r<l
rul»I»er holder, tapering to a
round point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point and needle of the pen
are made of platina, alloyed
with iridium — sul^stances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufiicient ink to
write 10,001) words, and do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of iini*
form M'idlii at all times
they are une«|ualed tor
ruiingr purpo$ies.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
filler and cleaner.
Best Manifolding Pen on
THE .Market.
1»,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. ■ The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
iSend TWO NEW SUBSCRIBERS
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with s^'i.OO; or send
S2.00 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the Americaa
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for ¥1.25 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
'^Z°^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
I4« & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, JUNE 20, 1901,
No, 25,
^ ^ Editorial. ^ \
The Season seems to be unusually un-
favorable. Cold and dry weather has pre-
vailed over a large area, while some portions
complain that it has been too wet. There is
some complaint that white clover is plentiful,
but that the bees get little or nothing from it.
Unless very close watch is kept, there is dan-
ger that some colonies will be starving in
June.
Starting Bees in Sections. — Mrs. Bar-
ber and others are warm in praise of the plan
of giving bees an extracting-super to start
them to work, and a day or two later repla-
cing the extracting-super with a super of sec-
tions. Referring to this, M. A. Gill says in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture :
In advising the use of an extracting-super
to start to work in sections, are you not
aware that thousands of us bee-keepers do
not have an extracting-super on the place?
I would advise any bee-keeper working for
comb honey to exchange supers with colonics'
that are tardy about working in sections with
one that has made a (food start, and be sure to
carry along some of the comb-builders (young
bees) which are the last to leave the super.
The colony given the super with full sheets
of foundation will at once resume work, from
the force of the same habit you say they have
acquired by the use of your extracting-super.
A Satisfactory Hive-Cover — at least
one that is satisfactory in all climates — is
hardly yet on the market. Editor Root says
that the perfect hive-cover is yet to be made
for Colorado, Cuba, and other countries that
are different from the northern part of the
United States. He hardly need to have made
any distinction, for objections against a cover
in Colorado would still lie against it in New
York, only in less degree. Possibly one
trouble in the case has been that there has
been too strong a feeling that the expense of
a cover mus,t not much exceed the cost of a
)ilain board. Something must not be expected
for nothing, and a good cover being so essen-
tial a part of a hive, the wise bee-keeper will
hardly object to some extra expense Per-
haps it would lie a good idea to have a pretty
thorough discussion as to the points of a
good hive-cfjver. Some of them may be as
follows :
Lightness : a cover must be lifted a good
many times, and it makes a big difference
whether it weighs five pounds or twenty-five.
A freedom from warping and twisting: a
plain board cover may be firmly clcated at the
ends that it can not possibly warp, but the
cleats can not in the slightest degree prevent
it from twisting so it will not lie flat on the
hive.
A dead-air space: this will make it cooler
for sunuuer aud warmer for winter. To be
sure, a shade-board can be put over in sum-
mer, and something of the same kind may be
effective for winter, but it is more convenient
and satisfactory if cover and shade-board can
be all in one.
A hive-cover with these requisites would
make a perfectly close fit, and, if made per-
fectly rain-proof, ought to give pretty good
satisfaction. In spite of the expense, some
have covers covered with tin, so as to make a
sure thing against leakage. Lately Neponset
roofing-paper is mentioned as a close competi-
tor of tin. Gleanings in Bee-Culture reports
it still doing good service after 13 years' use.
Of course, it must be painted ; but so must
tin.
Improvement of Stock is in the air
nowadays. Unfortunately it is " in the air ''
in too literal a sense. There is a general
reaching out after it, and a feeling that some-
where in the air about us there is something
like improvement if we only knew enough to
get hold of it. We are just now getting alorg
so far in the matter as to begin to realize that
we know nothing about it. The editor of the
Rocky Mountain Bee Journal says :
" Who among us will deny that darkness,
black as Egyptian night, envelops the whole
bee-keeping world on this subject ? This in-
cludes iiueen-breeders, bee-journal editors,
and all others."
Well, it is a hopeful sign when one begins
to feel his ignorance, and the reaching out
after light gives promise of good things to
come. If control of mating becomes an
established fact, why should there not be just
as intelligent work done in breeding bees as in
breeding any other class of stock ? Even
without control of mating, if enough interest
can be aroused to get all the bee-keepers to
breed only from the best, there will be a
great gain.
Sections Filled with Foundation
have an argument in their favor sometimes
not thought of. If you are wise, you will
probably have in the brood-chamber much
less drone-comb than the bees desire. It is
the natural thing for them to fill out largely
with drone-comb for storing, and the two
kinds of comb do not look so well in a sec-
tion. You probably have thought of that,
but that is not all. The bees desire drone-
brood, and if yuu keep careful watch you
will find that sometimes as much as halt or
quarter of the section has not a drop of
honey in it when sealing is well along in the
super, because the bees are holding these cells
open for the queen to lay in. If the .section
is filled with worker foundation, then there is
no chance for drone-comb there. Those who
use full sheets of foundation in sections do
not find it necessary to use excluders to keep
the queen down.
Size of Entrance. — Editor Doolittle says
in the Progressive Bee-Keeper that he regu-
lates the entrance to suit the size of the col-
ony. After the first fiight in the spring he
allows to the strongest colonies an entrance
of 2x-'g inches, and from there down to ,^ax^
for the weakest, leaving them thus during
early spring. When the bees begin to work
on early pusturage, the entrances are enlarged
as needed to allow free passage.
Box-Hives and Skeps in other coun-
tries seem to be more common than in this. A
writer in the British Bee Journal says: "I
can get as many driven bees as I like for the
trouble of 'driving."' The writer says he
makes his hives out of used boxes, and he
has taken the first prize for the best hive
made by an amateur. Most bee-keepers on
this side would hardly feel they could afford
to make their own hives from common boxes.
Yellow Sweet Clover. — Successive
crops of this clover from one sowing are re-
ported in Gleanings in Bee-Culture by M. M.
Baldridge. December 2, 1897. seeds were put
in a shallow trench and covered with one or
two inches af soil. From this sowing came
three distinct crops, the last in 1899, which ,
must all have come from the same sowing.
He says it sometimes winter-kills, and, like
the white variety, it is a biennial.
Getting Light Extracted Honey. —
Mrs. Harrison tells in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture about some extracted that she put on
exhibition in competition with a number of
other samples, and upon which she obtained
a premium. Hers was distinctly whiter than
the others, which did not at all differ from
each other. Her competitors thought there
must have been some trick about it, and she
told them the trick. She extracted from none
but pure-white combs. Holding the comb
up to the light, if she saw a few cells of dark
honey, those few cells were not uncapped.
All utensils were clean and free from other
honey. That was her "trick'' for getting
the whitest honey. This trick is a familiar
one across the water, but bee-keepers on this
side are hardly equal to their foreign cousins
in getting up extracted honey for exhibition.
388
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 20, 1901.
Convention Proceedings. |
(Continued from pag'e 378.)
Report of the Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Convention.
KV DU. I,. I). I.KUNAHI).
SECOND DAY — Afternoon Session.
Mr. Corbett. of the Dairy and Food Commission, talked
of the work done by that Commission in the State. Of 150
samples of honey examined in two years, 25 percent has
been found to be adulterated. Four dealers have been prose-
cuted for selling adulterated honey, and fined to the amount
of $ij5. The following letter in regard to the matter, was
read :
Hon. .J. P. West—
My Dear Sir: — Pursuant to your request to Major Bowler, I send
you the following: names of those who have been convicted and fined
for selling adulterated honey this year :
Sahmauss & Zeigler, Duluth, Feb. 33, 1900 $\h
Die A. Berer. '■ March 13, " 15
Mallough & Son, " '■ 15, " 15
The second named was lined for selling imitation honey.
Yours very truly.
Mat a. Grin'dall,
Sienographer Dairy and Fovd Vovimiadon.
Miss Moeser then gave a talk on cooking and canning
with honey.
The advisability of having a Minnesota honey exhibit at
the Pan-American Exposition, at Buffalo, was next discussed,
and Dr. E. K. Jaques was appointed to take charge of the
matter for the Association.
The following paper by G. H. Pond, was then read :
DISPOSING OF THE HONEY CROP TO THE BEST
ADVANTAGE.
In considering this subject we must first decide whether
we want to get the most for our honey regardless of the time
required ; or, is our time worth so much that it is best to sell
our honey the easiest and quickest way? If we come to the
latter decision the bee-keepers of Minnesota have an excel-
lent outlet for their honey through the commission merchants
of Minneapolis and St. Paul ; and I think we can obtain bet-
ter prices for our honey through them, than do those who
ship to the large Eastern cities.
But perhaps most of us will decide that our time is not
worth so much that we feel warranted in following this plan,
and if by spending more time in disposing of our crop we
can get a better price, we would better do so. Now I do not
propose to advance a theory, but to give a few facts from
experience, and as I have had no experience in producing or
selling comb honey, I shall dwell only on disposing of
extracted honey.
Honey is an article that people in general do not buy
unless it is brought to their notice, so, in order to sell, it is
necessary for us to put it up in a very attractive way, and
then bring it to the notice of the people as much as possible.
In peddling honey among farmers I have found that the
oftener I go, the more I can sell ; and this rule holds good
wherever I have sold honey. " Keep going" is a good motto
for any one who would sell honey.
A satisfied customer nearly always tells a friend or two,
and shows them the honey, and in this way the business is
extended, so that the more one sells the more he can sell.
I have learned by experience not to try to induce people
to buy more honey than they wish at one time, because some-
times when they buy too much it candies, or gets in an untidy
condition otherwise, and thus they get set against it. It is
strange how many people there are (who ought to know bet-
ter), who think that when honey candies it is spoiled. For
example, I have supplied a certain hotel with honey for two
or three years and they take over lOU pounds at a time,
getting it three or four times a year, and I supposed they knew
how to care for candied honey. But this fall their kitchen-
man told me that the last honey I brought them was not good,
and on examining it I found that all that ailed it was that it
was candied. A new kitchen-man had been employed and he
did not understand about it.
In selling honey put up in glass packages to retail grocers,
I find that if the honey candies on their hands their sales of
it about come to a standstill. And aUhuugh I tell them that
heating will restore it to a licjuid form, and they say that they
will try it. I do not remember that a single one of them ever
did. So I have found that the best way is for me to exchange
it for honey freshly put up, and take the candied home and
reliquefy it myself.
To sum it up, then, the most important points in dispos-
ing of our honey crop to the best advantage are :
1st. Produce a first-class quality of honey.
2d. Put it up in as attractive form as possible.
yd. Bring it to the notice of customers constantly.
4th. Keep your customers satisfied. G. H. Pond.
Next, a paper was read by Dr. Mary McCoy, on
BEE=KEEPINQ NEAR DULUTH.
Years ago I became interested in the bloom in and about
Duluth, as a possible profitable field for the support of the
honey-bee. The spring season of Duluth is always about
three weeks later than that of the southern part of the State,
our earliest bloom being the dandelion, which is an abundant
producer of pollen and some very bitter honey that is
claimed to be very stimulative. We have some fruit-bloom —
apples, cherries and plums — but there are not enough trees,
all told, to make a fair-sized orchard. I do not think that
basswood is indigenous to the c^iuntry about Duluth, and there
are but very few trees planted in and about the city. Until
the past summer buttercups have been very plentiful, and
have always ushered in the white clover which formerly liter-
ally carpeted the whole surrounding country, as well as the
vacant lots, squares and parks of this city. Wherever a fire
sweeps the country Nature attempts to cover the charred and
blackened foliage with a profusion of the fragrant white
clover bloom, and as Duluth has only recently been reclaimed
from a wilderness, and fire has been one of the reclaiming
agents, it has had plenty of barren spaces to beautify.
There are a few other wild flowers, such as the wild straw-
berry, the wild cherry, and the wild rose, which all help very
materially, and I could not help noticing how heavily the wild
cherry-tree bore which grew near where the bees were placed.
In the early fall the fireweed puts in an appearance and
the honey stored from it is as fine as that from the white
clover.
The weather is cool enough here so that the bees do not
care to hang outside of the hive, and the first summer we
kept them they did not loaf more than one or two days. The
past summer was a little warmer, and they loafed a little in
the middle of the day, but their loafing is not to be compared
with what I have seen of it in the Michigan apiaries.
We have had no experience with any bee-diseases in
Duluth, and have had no spring dwindling. I do not think
the bee-moth inhabits Duluth, or, if it does, perhaps the bees
(like the people of our city) are too wide awake to let it get a
foothold. Suffice it is to say that since the first summer that
we purchased the bees we have discovered none of the moth-
larva\ We know nothing about foul brood ; it is a disease
that has not yet gotten into our part of the State. 1 don't
think there ever has been any In this section, and I hope
there never will be.
There are about 10 people in and about Duluth that keep
bees. One family has kept them over 20 years. I asked the
head of this family — she is a widow — if it paid, and she
replied, " Well, I've paid ofi: the mortgage on the farm, sent
the children through high school, and one through business
college, and built a kitchen on the house, and all I've had to
do it with has been my 09 colonies of bees." So she has found
it profitable.
We have been keeping bees for about four years, starting
with two colonies. White clover began to blossom about May
15, the spring being unusually warm and early, and as we
had plenty of rain throughout the summer, and the frost was
late in appearing, our honey season lasted till September.
That year we increased to six colonies, and secured ITS
pounds of beautiful white clover comb honey, which was sell-
ing in Duluth at that time at 1 5 cents per pound. The next
summer the yield was fair, but as the bees were five miles
from our home they did not get the attention they should have
had, although we increased to 12 colonies, and secured about
3U0 pounds of honey. We had scarcely any snow last win-
ter [1899-1900], and the white clover was badly winter-
killed, so much so that we thought for a while that we would
have none at all ; but if clover was scarce, the price of honey
was high, so we did not do so badly, after all. We sold one
colony to a friend, and with the honey which we sold and ate,
we figured that our debit and credit sides have come out about
even. We discouraged swarming all we could the past sum-
June 20, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
389
iner, doubling up any colonics that were weak, and liav(; 24
colonies in winter quarters [Dec. 1. IfOO].
We have kept our bees in the heart of the city for the
past two years, but we will hardly dare to do so any longer, as
they are getting too numerous, and, besides, I am afraid tlic
grocers and candy manufacturers would not stand their
onslaughts another season as well as they did the past one.
A grocer informed me that he never knew so many bees to b(>
shipped with fruit as was done this past year. I kept dis-
creetly silent, as he laughed and told me of one of his custo-
mer's antics when she picked up a peach and stiueezed a bee
which had alighted upon it. By-and-by they found that we
kept bees, within two blocks of the main street of the city,
and then it was not so funny.
Of the 10 families in and around Duluth who keep bees,
I think that all, with possibly two or three exceptions, have
made it pay. The field is a good one so far as clover is con-
cerned, but it is not so good in some other respects. The
absence of fruit-bloom, the lateness of the spring seasons,
the early frost and abundant rains, make prolonged feeding
necessary, and this reduces the profits. But then the quality
of the honey must be considered — none finer is produced. It
is as white as the driven snow, and I believe Duluth stands at
the head of the world for the whiteness and purity of its
honey. The fireweed and the white clover, which are honey-
plants par excellence, grow profusely. I feel certain that if
I had the time to devote to the bees which I should like to
have, I could clear at least 70 pounds per colony in a season.
While the yield here may not be so great as in some other
places, the superior quality of the honey and tlie greater
price which it commands, make the industry enticing.
(Dr.) M.^ry McCoy.
question-box.
QuES. — What plant can be sown with good success for
bee-pasturage ?
The opinion of those present seemed to be in favor of
sweet and alsike clovers.
QuES. — What is the cause of foam rising on extracted
honey? Ans. — Unripe honey.
QuES. — For bees wintering in the cellar, are quilts under
hive-covers an advantage ? Aks. — Yes, as the quilt absorbs
moisture.
QuES. — What is the best method of protecting extracting-
oombs from the bee-moth ? Ans. — By fumigating with bisul-
phide of carbon, and freezing.
(Concluded next week.)
Contributed Articles. |
No. 1.— Some Reminiscences of an Old Bee-Keeper.
BY THADDEUS SMITH.
I PROPOSE to give some recollections of the time, inci-
dents, and persons, connected with bee-Iteepins: over a
quarter of a century ago, and some incidents of my
own personal experience of 30 and 40 years ago, with
notices of prominent cotemporary bee-keepers and the
great changes and improvements made in the science of
bee-keeping within my memory — the introduction of the
movable-comb hive, and the Italian bee. This first article
will be given to the writer's early experience and the con-
dition of bee-keeping at that time, but in future numbers
he hopes to be not quite so prominent a figure.
I was brought up on a farm in Woodford Co., Kentucky,
ten miles from the city of Lexington, and as far back as
my earliest recollection my father kept a number of liives
of bees, and I became interested in them when quite young.
The first hive of bees that I owned was about 60 years ago.
In coming home from school one afternoon I found a swarm
of bees clustered on a low elder-bush not far from our
house. It was duly hived, and the colony always went in
my name.
My father having but one liand I had to assist him with
the bees when quite youtig. The management of bees in
those days consisted mainly in caring for them in the com-
mon box-hive with a cap on it for the surplus honey, and
removing this cap when it was full of honey ; and no liner
or better honey than that was, can now be obtained by the
most elaborate modern surplus arrangement, though we
now get it in much better sl^ape for market.
The wintering problem that now enters so largely into
bee-management, did not seem to give us any concern in
that climate. The hives all remained on their summer
stands, without protection, all winter, and I don't remem-
ber any loss sustained, except some late swarm that was
neglected to be " taken up " in the fall had starved to
death.
The hives were large, and as no honey was ever taken
from the interior, unless the bees were ail sulphured, they
usually had enough to winter on. The hive that was the
first one that I called mine, already mentioned, was about
14-inches square, and the same in hight, somewhat larger and
of different proportions as to width and depth than those
in general use. It was placed on the north side of a long
building where the sun never shone upon it except a little
while in the early morning, and according to my best recol-
lection it remained there without change or renewal of
bees for some eight or ten years. So there could not have
been much trouble in wintering.
But there came a time, for a number of years, when
the moth worm or miller became very bad indeed. Whole
:MK. THAI)llEr> -MITH.
apiaries looked as if they would be destroyed by them.
We did not know then, as we know now, that it is only the
weak and queenless colonies that are destroyed by the
moth. Such is undoubtedly a fact where movable-comb
hives are used, and some assistance can be given the bees
in getting rid of the moth, but it did seem, in those days,
that some of the colonies would succumb to their attack.
It has been said that wherever there is a demand there
will be a supply. So we soon had offered us patent moth-
traps, and patent moth-proof and moth-catching bee-hives.
Agents with models, beautifully made of mahogany or
rosewood, perambulated the country. The worms, (perhaps
Prof. Cook would say I ought not to call these things
"worms" — I may learn after a while, but excuse me for
the present), when matured or dislodged by tlie bees, would
fall to the bottom-board and take refuge under the bottom
edges of the hive, and under the combs that came near
the bottom, and I had to go early every morning and tilt
the hive back and kill the worms. This was a pretty good
non-patented moth-trap, but required close attention and
work, accompanied sometimes with bee-stings.
My father set about to devise a better plan to get rid of
these worms that fell to the bottom-board, and to break up
their hiding-place and prevent them getting up into the
combs again. He had the hives all raised from the bottom-
board by driving a big nail in each of the four corners,
leaving them to project three-quarters of an inch, forming
an entrance that high all around the hive. These he set
390
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 20, 1901.
upon smooth flat stones, that were easily procurable, from
one to two inches thick, and laid flat on the ground, dis-
tributed all about over a large yard. Now when the worms
fell to the bottom they had no place to hide, could not
get back on the combs, so had to go to the ground, and
many were picked up by the chickens and birds— the little
brown house-wrens were often seen busy around the hives
gathering these worms for their brood.
My father tried other projects — had hives placed in a
house, and had the entrance to them through long flat tubes
extending a foot or so outside the walls of the house, so the
moth-fly could not find her way into the hive, 1 suppose.
He had a theory that it was necessary for the worms to
have access to wood for material to form their cocoons
with, as we often see them scrape and cut into the wood of
the hive to enclose themselves ; and he got the idea of hav-
ing hives made like common crockery or stoneware, but
not being near to any crockery manufactory he failed to
try the experiment. The hives placed upon the stone with
an open entrance all around that was never closed or con-
tracted, winter or summer, seems to have given the best
satisfaction, for they were used in that way until I adopted
the Langstroth movable-comb hive in 1863.
I remember some curious devices of my neighbors"
One had a hive suspended by chains in a tree some 20 or 25
feet from the ground — to imitate the natural abode of bees
in hollow trees, I suppose. Another had a bee-house with
arrangements for getting surplus honey from below the
hive instead of the usual way from the top. A trough-like
box 12 or 14 inches square extended around the inside of the
house, and was divided into compartments, and upon this
box the hives were set, the bees having to pass through the
box to get out. When they had filled the hives, they would
fill the box below, and a trap door was arranged on the box
so the honey could be cut out. He claimed that it worked
well.
There was another curious bee-house in his front yard.
It was a section of a very large hollow sycamore tree,
probably four feet in diameter and eight feet high. It was
placed upon a post a foot above the ground with a floor in
it, and a neat, conical roof of shingles, with a staff in the
top, and was quite ornamental. A door was sawed out and
was hinged so that one could go into it ; and in it an ordi-
nary box-hive of bees was placed. When the bees filled
the box they would build comb all over and around the out-
side of it. The door to the big "gum" was opened, and
the honey outside of the hive cut off whenever needed, or
as cool weather came on. I don't know whether this col-
ony ever swarmed or not. Ontario, Canada.
(To be continued.)
Bee-Keepers' Exchanges— Organization and
Co-operation.
WAUai for the Wiseotisui State £ee- Keepers' CoHvention held at Jfadi.sun.
BY C. A. HATCH.
WE have so often heard it said, "In union there is
strength," that it has lost its power to affect our
understanding. A single straw would not be much
to match against a man's strength, and yet if that single
straw be increased by numbers enough it can defy the
strength of the strongest man.
An army would not accomplish much if each soldier
ware allowed to go and do as he pleased regardless of every
other soldier ; but it is only when the soldier ceases to be
an individual, and becomes a unit of the whole, that it
becomes an army and ceases to be a mob, that effective
work can be done, and it becomes a power.
ORGANIZATION.
Concentration and organization are the effective means
of progress in the beginning of the new century. Unor-
ganized labor is being pushed to the wall by organized.
The manufacturer who is not in a syndicate, trust, or some-
thing of the kind, has a hard row to hoe. He may make
just as good an article, and may be able to sell it for the
same price as the trust article, but then comes in the item
of freight-rates which is sure to down him if nothing else
will. The large concerns have larger quantities to move,
and therefore can ship by car or even train load, thereby
getting lower rates, to say nothing of treaties with rail-
roads whereby special rates may be obtained.
WHOM IT HBLPS.
The small bee-keeper with only a small output is the
one that an exchange can help most. He is one of the
small straws that are to be bound together to make the
strong rope. Ten men having one-tenth of a car-load each,
by organizing, can have almost the advantages of him
who produces a car-load himself. The large producer gains
by having small lots where they can be controlled, and not
put on the market at ruinous prices, to demoralize all
prices.
Bee-keepers are of necessity more or less isolated, and
hence can not avail themselves of the help of organization
as readily as some other callings. But even these difficul-
ties can be overcome.
ADVANTAGES.
The advantage of lower freight, both on goods shipped
by members and goods shipped to members, is one of the
advantages of bee-keepers' exchanges. Also the difference
between buying at retail and in car-lots or large quantities
is another advantage. This will apply to all supplies used
by the members, as. for example, hives, sections, founda-
tion, cans, and barrels.
Another of the advantages of a well-managed ex-
change is in the uniform grading of the bee-keepers'
products. Few men are capable of grading their own
honey in a proper manner, for they are either too partial to
their own production and grade too high, or they are too
diffident of their own success and modestly put it too low,
and yet others are downright dishonest and think anything
they can work off is all right ; whereas, an honest, capable
grader has none of these influences to draw him one side
and warp his judgment, and therefore can give a uniform
and honest grade. One of the trials of a dealer is in not
getting a uniform quality from different producers, owing
to their different ideas as to grading, and if an exchange
could do nothing else this one thing would pay for all the
trouble.
Not every bee-keeper, however good he may be at pro-
ducing good crops of honey, is a good salesman, many a
bee-keeper losing heavily in mismanagement in selling
what has cost him so much hard labor.
In an exchange one can have the advantage of the
concentrated wisdom of all the membership in selling, by
selecting one of the best business men for business mana-
ger.
Uniformity of packages for both comb and extracted
honey is another of the benefits of an exchange ; being all
bought at the same time and place, of course all would be
alike, and, therefore, many of the trials over tare on pack-
ages would be overcome, dealers would become familiar
with the packages used, and know just what shape it would
come to them in. In fact, uniformity is the word that
expresses most of the benefits. Uniformity of products as
to grading, uniformity as to packages, and, last but not
least, uniformity of price.
One kind and grade of honey would always bring the
same price, no matter from what part of the State it came,
and not as it now is — one producer competing against
another producer, or even against his own products, as
would be the case where shipped to two dealers in the same
city.
COST OF CO-OPERATION.
Everything in this life costs time, labor, or money, and
a honey exchange is no exception. It will cost both money
and self-denial to accomplish anything worthy of the
name. Postage, paper, and some one to carry on the cor-
respondence, must be paid for ; a room large enough to
store a car-load of honey in, at some central point in the
State, would have to be secured, and also the services of a
salesman. But in my experience with honey exchanges,
which has been quite extensive and varied, all these obli-
gations of the members are more easily met than the self-
denial required to say oitr honey is not a little nicer than
neighbor B's, our opinion is of a little more value than any
one else's.
If an exchange is to succeed, there must be a full and
complete surrender of individual opinion to the rule of the
majority. We must think our honey just what the grader
makes it, and no more. Be honest yourself, and give
others the credit of being the same, and half the troubles
of organization will vanish.
There are other advantages in an exchange not men-
tioned in this paper, and on account of its length the plan
of organization has not been mentioned, although much is
June 20, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
391
to be said on that subject; but if there is enough interest
to start one in Wisconsin, there will then be time enoug^h
for plans of organization. Richland Co., Wis.
Can a Queen-Bee Be Worth $30, $100, $300,
or $1,000?
BY G. M. DOOI.ITTLE.
OF late years there seems to have sprung-, from the minds
of some, the idea that if they would let the world
know about a certain queen-bee which they have, the
only way in which this can be done is to give the estimate
they place on her in dollars and cents, that, apparently,
being their highest idea of expressing value. And from
this it comes about, that we frequently see in print that
some have queens which they value at $25, $50, $100, and
some even as high as $200 ; and so the question has arisen
in the minds of some, if there is such a thing possible as
that any queen-bee can be worth these figures ; and
whether such expression should be an inducement to buy-
ers.
Commenting on this matter, the editor of the American
Bee-Keeper wrote as follows :
" When a queen-breeder offers as his greatest inducement to buy-
ers to send out queens from a mother valued at .51*, 100, 200, .500 or
1,000 dollars, he should be rej^arded with suspicion. If he is not a
fakir pure and simple, he is not what he appears to be in the eyes of
the honest business world."
And what is a fakir? The Students' Standard diction-
ary says a fakir is " a street vender." But coupled with
this is the idea, in the minds of most people, that this street
vender does not scruple about recommending his goods in
such a way, or in any way, which will enable him to dis-
pose of them at a large margin of profit, relying on his
ability to " hawk them up," rather than on the real value or
merit there is in his goods, in proportion to the price asked
for them. And this is the light in which the editor of the
American Bee-Keeper looked at the matter of selling
queens from a mother having only a dollar-and-cent value
attached to her, according to my opinion, in reading that
editorial. There is no value in a dollar. It is only a
medium by which we can exchange values.
Commenting on this editorial from the American Bee-
Keeper, Gleanings says among other things ;
" Suppose at the beginning of the season some one should say to
him [having a queen valued at from S200 to $1,000], ■ I'll give you $50
for that queen.' He might reply, ' I'll get §1.00 extra on each queen
of that stock. I expect to sell 1000 queens this season at that
advanced price. It I hold on to her I shall be worth $1,000 more at
the end of the season than to let her go and breed from another queen.
I should be foolish to take ^50 now for the prospect of .?1.000 at the
end of the season.' ''
If we take that comment alone, it is just such an argu-
ment as any fakir would use, and it was just the point Edi-
tor Hill was striking at, if I read his editorial aright. And
such an argument does not rise much above the definition
of what a " fakir " is, as given in that same editorial in
Gleanings.
But, happily, Mr. Root comes to the rescue near the
close of his comments where he says :
'' The laurels of our [$300] breeder do not rest solely on the long
tongues of her bees. But long tongues or no long tongues, she [her
bees] rolled in the honey last year, and is doing the same thing this
spring in a way that eclipses everything else in the yard."
In this we have something of value expressed, while
the simple saying that this queen "is worth $200," without
any qualification, (save that, because she has been
"hawked" upas worth $200, "I can sell $1,000 worth of
queens from her "), expresses no value, save that which
comes from the wear and tear of the lungs doing the hawk-
ing.
But let us take this value part and look at it a little,
and see if it is possible for a fine breeding queen to produce
value enough, (that may be exchanged for other vaUiesi,
which can be represented in terms as high as $50, $100,
$500 or $1,000.
CZ) Take a queen in any of our apiaries which gives bees
that do as Mr. Root says do the bees from his " breeder,"
and if they store 10 pounds more honey than do other colo-
nies having common queens, that extra 10 pounds of honey,
according to present prices, would represent $1.25 as food,
or to exchange for value some one in some other calling
may have produced, which we desire. Then, if that quccu
lives three years, her bees do equally as well each year.
then she has a value, speaking in common terms, of S3. 75,
over and above the average iiueen in the apiary. If the
average queen is worth SI. 00 at producing values, then this
queen is worth S4.75 for the real value of her bees, just for
honey-gathering. So, then, we have it possible that a
queen may approach nearly or quite to the $5.00 point of
value, just from the honey her bees may gather.
Now let us suppose that we use this queen for the pur-
pose of rearing other queens, that we may increase on the
value there is in her bees over and above others for honey-
gathering purposes. And to be fair we will say, (accord-
ing to the way I find it in my apiary), only one queen
in four will prove as good as her mother. If we rear 40
queens from this one, and 10 of them prove of equal
superiority over the average queens in our apiary, as did
their mother, we have the value of that mother-queen esti-
mated in dollars and cents as $37.50. Now suppose we
have 4,000 colonies we wish to requeen, (or we go out into
the world to bless it with that number), and one out of
every four proves as good as the mother, then we have
$3,750 as the worth of that queen, from the extra value in
honey the bees from her daughters bring in for the mouths
of those famishing with "honey-hunger" in the world.
But can 4,000 queens be reared from a single mother ?
Oh, yes. With our present methods of queen-rearing, it
would be easy for some of our largest breeders to rear
10,000 or even 20,000 queens from a single mother. Then it
is possible, by keeping this mother-queen in a nucleus of
bees the most of the time, to prolong her life to five, and
even six, years, as some of our breeders can testify. And
thus it will be seen that the value there is in a really good
queen — one that is head and shoulders above the average of
those in the country — may go even much above $l,tOO, as
we commonly express ourselves.
But not to appear as a fakir, we should know that the
queen has real value in the work accomplished by her bees
and those from her queen daughters, putting that work out
to the world as her real worth, rather than saying that " we
value her at so many dollars." Onondaga Co., N. Y.
The Afterthought. * \
'Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By e. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
BEES AND PEAR-BLIGHT.
That the bee might have carried the blight
Is a doctrine that some will indorse ;
But between " might " and •' did "
Quite a chasm lies hid.
The saint migld have stolen a horse. — Page 294.
RUBBING A STING OFF QUICKLY.
I think Dr. Miller deserves credit for telling a questioner,
297, to dash out a sting instanter by striking the spot against
the leg with a sliding motion. By not pinching the poison-
bag, according to the directions usually given to beginners in
the art of getting stung, one saves a little (imaginably) on the
amount of poison received. But he gets a .jolly increase of
the amount by the time which following directions inevitably
consumes. The sting, it should be remembered, is built on
the model of a fire-engine, and keeps squirting as long as
there is anything to squirt. And when there isn't anything
more to squirt, why, then, what profit can there be either in
baste or in methods of removal ? People who remember and
try to obey the injunction to remove a sting speedily, and to
do it with a sharp knife-edge, I think they generally do so
long after it is too late to gain anything by so doing.
ATTRACTIVE API.^RIES.
"The Home Circle," on page 298, suggests among other
things this inquiry : How much pains would I take to have
my apiary looli nice if it stood so isolated that I was sure no
Qne but myself would look upon it? If my power of accom-
plishment is small, and every day finds me compelled to choose
between several things whicli seemingly must be done, and
the one which " must be done" the most, well, then the mere
looks of the apiary will probably "get left." But we will
suppose tlie conditions are not tjuite so trying as that. For
our own sokes we should cherisli .ind keep alive the capacity
to take real pleasure and comfort from having our things look
392
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 20, 1901.
nice. When that capacity is gone the man has degenerated.
Pain is usually an evil thing ; but sometimes it is a good thing.
It would be "money in their pockets," and chips of salvation
in their souls, if certain persons could feel real pain in seeing
how their apiaries look. Very few of us fail to be influenced
in some degree by the idea of a future life ; and in the light
of that hope it is a shocking beastiality to allow ourselves to
lose our faculties. And it is a fool's flippancy to assume that
some power over beyond will set right again all those inner
qualities which we should have preserved and cultivated our-
selves.
It is not likely that Prof. Cook intended to throw into
very great prominence the idea of surpassing our neighbors.
That should hardly be the leading thought. Do well, and
then you will surpass all that do ill. If you have many
wealthy and tasteful neighbors, presumably you can not sur-
pass them all. and the attempt to do so will make you an ill-
doer in the line of undue expense and neglect of things more
important. In so far as we can rightfully take pleasure in
being first, we may say, Blessed are those who don't live in
Kalamazoo — blessed are those who live in Valley-hack :
Much easier to be first in Valley-hack than in Kalamazoo.
Did you ever notice in railroad traveling how sordid- and
unattractive things look for miles and miles, even in regions
where you rather expected nice views? Well, my apiary and
garden is in the Valley-hack which faces car windows : and it
did me lots of good to hear of one of the car-hands remark-
ing, "This is the nicest place we pass on our route" — plots of
vegetables (and weeds) with beds of phlox between, and
hives of bees, half hidden by trees, for background.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDnCTKD BY
DR. C. O. MILLER, Marengo, ni.
tThe Qnestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Management for Increase and Honey.
I have an apiary of 70 colonies, and would like to in-
crease them to 140 this season. I would also like to g-et as
much honey as possible at the same time (mostly extracted l.
I have enough brood-comb on hand to give each one almost
a complete hive of comb. I have also abundance of ex-
tractiug-combs, and a good many sections full of nice,
white comb. The surplus obtained in this locality is from
white clover, linden and goldenrod. The prospects for a
good flow from linden are excellent. Supposing- this to be
your own case, how would you proceed to obtain the best
results? ■ ■ Minnesota.
Answer.— I don't know what will be the best way for
j'ou. What is best for one person may not be best for
another. What may be best for you in one place may not be
best in another. On the whole, probably the very best way
would be for you to study carefully all you can find in text-
books and bee-papers so as to be familiar with the whole
subject, and then block out your own plans. It may be
that your best plan will be to allow each colony to send out
one natural swarm, and prevent after-swarms' by the plan
given so many times in this department, which may again
be given here for the sake of the newcomers who will need
it about this time of the year :
W^hen a swarm issues hive it and set the hive on the
old stand, setting the old hive close beside it. A week later
move the hive to a new stand. That will strengthen the
swarm, and it will so weaken the old colony that it will give
up all further thought of swarming. Of course, the swarm
is what will give the crop of honey, and if an excluder is
put between hive and super the super should be put on as
soon as the swarm is hived. If no excluder is used, then
the super should not be put on for a day or two for fear the
queen may go up into it.
It is possible you may prefer to take matters into your
own hands, for left to themselves you are not sure that
every colony will decide to swarm. This plan may suit
you : Take from No. 1 all its brood-frames but one, brush-
ing all, or nearly all, the bees back into No. 1. Fill up No.
1 with empty brood-combs or frames of foundation. Put
the frames of brood in a hive we will call No. 3, and set No.
3 in place of No. 2, removing No. 2 to a new stand. Do this
in the forenoon, unless you do it in the afternoon at a time
when large numbers of the bees are out for a play-spell.
For a day or two all the field-bees that go out from No. 2 to
forage will on their return enter No. 3. If you have made
no other provision for young queens. No. 3 will take the
matter in charge, and will start a number of queen-cells.
About a day after forming No. 3, take from No. 1 the frame
of brood that you left there, and give it to No. 3, of course,
giving No. 1 foundation or comb to replace it. (If you do-
not leave No. 1 this frame of brood, the bees may be dis-
couraged and desert the empty hive, and if you leave it
more than a day or so they may swarm.) In seven, eight,
or nine days after forming No. 3, take from it one more
than half its combs with the adhering bees, putting them
in a hive we will call No. 4, setting No. 4 on a new stand.
About a week later than this take from No. 2 frames of
brood, and give to No. 3 and No. 4 one. two, or three to
each, depending on the strength of the different numbers.
This will strengthen your newly-formed colonies, and it
will prevent No. 2 from swarming. Circumstances may
make it desirable to depart from these instructions, and
they are not given with the feeling that it will be right to
follow them in all cases. For if No. 2 should not be strong
enough to n>ake swarming feared, it might be better to take
no brood from it. trusting Nos. 3 and 4 to build up without
any help, and getting as much honey as possible from No. 2.
Colonies Visited by Robber-Bees.
The season here is excellent for honey. Bees are work-
ing early and late, but fail to get ahead — in fact, are losing^
on account of robber-bees from a neighbor's. To make
sure, I closed my hives (two in number) yesterday, and the
robbers were thick ; being a different type of bees it is easy
to know where they are from. Will you kindly tell me how-
to destroy or get rid of them ? Also, what causes bees to
go robbing ?
My bees have not swarmed this season, while the
robbers have swarmed twice, and are filling super after
super. We are told the owner feeds the bees to make them
rob. Subscriber.
Answer. — Your neighbor could not start bees to rob-
bing yours by feeding his bees in his own yard. Putting-
feed in your yard would do more in that direction. Bees.
start to robbing when flowers are scarce for them to work
on, and when a weak or queenless colony is within reach,
especially if the hive of such colony is too open, so that the
bees can not defend themselves. Exposure of frames of
honey, as when hives are opened in a time of scarcity, will
help to start robbing. .\s has been said lately in this
department, if A's bees rob B's bees, B is the one to blame,
and not A. You have no more right to kill your neighbor's
bees that come to rob yours than you have to kill his cow
that passes by on the highway. The thing to do is to keep
your colonies so strong, or so closely shut in their hives,
that robbers get no chance for a start at them ; and. if rob-
bing does begin, resort to the plans mentioned in your text-
book, such as closing the entrance so as to allow only one
bee at a time to pass, and piling up against it wet grass or
hay ; seeing that a good queen is present, etc.
Preventing Increase— Other Questioiis.
1. How would it do, to prevent increase, when the bees
swarm get the queen and kill her, or take her away from
the swarm and return the bees to the original colony ?
2. When the bees are smoked they fill themselves.
What do they do with that honey ? Do they retain or re-
deposit it where it came from ?
3. Does it matter whether the bee-space is regular
between the lower frames and the sections above ?
4. Will the bees work above when the spaces between
the frames and the sections are irregular, or partly closed
by misfit of the sections ? Mississippi.
Answers. — 1. It will not do at all, if you stop at that.
It will do all right, if you follow up the matter in the right
way. If you return the swarm without the queen, in about
eight days the bees will be sure to swarm again with a
young queen, and perhaps two days later another swarm
will issue, and there may even be three or more swarms.
To prevent that you may do one of several ways. You may
return each swarm as fast as it issues, and when all the
queens have hatched out the swarming will cease. You
June 20, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
393
may cut out all queen-cells but one, a week after the first
swarm. You may listen for the pipinj^ of the young queen
in the evening- of the seventh day after the swarm issued,
and if you do not hear her then, listen every evening till
you do, or till the sixteenth evening ; when you hear piping
cut out all queen-cells next morning. You may hive the
swarm when it issues with the young queen, and put it ir.
the cellar till the evening of the next day, and then return
it to the old hive. By that time the bees will have disposed
of all the queen-cells.
2. It is probably redeposited, in most cases.
3. It matters much. If the space is less than about '4
inch, the top-bars will be cemented to the parts over them
with propolis or wax. If the space is more than about '4
inch, burr-combs will be built and filled with honey.
4. The bees will work in the super no matter how irreg-
ular, even if half the spaces are so close together that they
can not get up through them.
Using Old Combs for Swarms.
If you had empty combs that the bees had died on last
winter, would you put in as many such frames as the hive
would hold to hive new swarms on, or would you put in
some frames with only starters or foundation in them ? I
work for comb honey. Wisconsin.
Answer. — I would fill up with combs as long as they
last. There is no better place for combs to be protected
than in the care of the bees, and the sooner the bees get
the combs the better.
Bees Deserting the Hive.
I had a swarm of bees leave a hive June 1. In the
spring I transferred the bees from an old box into a new
hive ; for a while they seemed to be doing well, building up
their broken combs, and were gathering honey. About
noon June 1 they left the hive, taking the queen, young and
old bees with them, and leaving unsealed fresh honey,
young bees just gnawing out, and bees in the larval state.
There were no mice or ants to bother them. The hive was
clean, and they had plenty of honey, and when I looked in
the hive there were only five or six bees — robbers, I sup-
pose. ■ Colorado.
Answer. — I don't know what the trouble was. Very
likely it was a case of what is called spring dwindling. I
have had colonies desert their hives just as yours did, leav-
ing honey and brood in all stages, with no apparent excuse
that any self-respecting colony would give for leaving, and
the only thing that I could guess in the case was that the
old bees had died off. and there was more brood present
than the young bees could take care of. You may have
trouble of the same kind again, and you may not have
another case in years.
Too Rapid Increase— City Bee-Keeping.
I started the season with four colonies, which, up to
date, has increased to ten, and one ready to swarm. I have
one colony that is working in the supers. We have plenty
of white clover, and I think will get some honey soon.
1. I have one colony which has cast two swarms, that
seems to be about half drones. What is the cause of so
many, and what will be the result if let alone ?
2. My bees are a good quality of Italians — the best in
this section. I live in the city, and don't branch out very
strong. Now. what would you advise me to do ? I am a
dr)' goods clerk, and have not much time. I can sell a few
colonies now. Would it be a good idea to rent pasture close
to town, and try to take care of the over-supply, or not ?
Illinois.
Answers. — It may do no great harm before answering
your questions to make the gratuitous suggestion that you
may make the mistake that many a beginner makes, and
increase too rapidly. When you increase from four to ten
or more, your colonies will not be as sure to live through
the winter as if you were satisfied with a more moderate
increase. Neither will you get as much honey. Of course,
if you are anxious for increase, and will give them the
proper care, feeding all that is necessary, you maj- piill
through all right.
1. If the drones are so plentiful immediately after cast-
ing the swarms, the trouble probably is that there is a great
deal too much drone-comb in the hive. If the drones ap-
peared in plenty not until two months or so after the last
swarm issued, then the trouble may be that you have a
drone-laying queen, or laying-workers. If the trouble i&
from too much drone-comb, then your bees will gather less
honey than they otherwise would, and much of it will be
wasted in rearing and feeding those useless consumers. If
laying-workers are present, or a drone-laying queen, it
means the destruction of the colony.
2. What do you want to rent a pasture for? If you
mean for the bees to feed upon, they will not thank you ta
rent it, but will find it if it is within two miles of your
home. You can keep in a city yard as many bees as can
find pasture within reach.
Bees Not Worlting.
Bees are building up fast. I have a colony that has a
queen, but the bees work hardly at all. scarcely any of them
coming out. What is the matter ? They have some honey.
I will Italianize about the middle of this month. I lost
heavily the last winter, because of short stores last fall.
Oklahoma.
Answer. — There may be nothing the matter except
that the colony is very weak. The presence of a queen can
not of course warrant a goodly number of bees flying unless
there are plenty of bees present. Look and see whether the
queen is a drone-layer. If not, you will probably see bees
flying well as soon as the colony is a little stronger. If it
should turn out that there are plenty of worker-bees in the
hive, and very few of them flying while other colonies are
busy, then it may be well to change the queen and give
them one of more industrious stock.
Perhaps Pickled Brood.
I bought five colonies of bees this spring in movable-
frame hives. Three of which I looked into and found dead
brood, which looks watery, and lies on one side. There is
no smell about it yet. It doesn't seem rubbery, or anything
like that, and will not draw out with a toothpick. Will the
swarms have the same disease ? What will become of foul
or pickled brood if not attended to ? M^hat can be done for
them ? New York.
Answer. — When anything so serious as pickled brood
is suspected, it is too serious a matter to be treated by a few
words in this department, especially as it would take up
too much room. Study up the subject fully in back num-
bers, and get the leaflet on pickled brood, if you do not
have it already. Very likely as honey comes on now plenty
you will find the disagreeable symptoms largely to disap-
pear, but none the less you should inform yourself so as to-
battle it, for it will be a safe thing to count on its reappear-
ance in the future.
Thinks Late Thin Honey Injures the Bees.
There is a plant here that has yielded honey in October
for the last two years. The bees have filled the brood-
chamber full of this thin honey, and when they had the
first flight in the spring they soiled the hive badly, both
inside and outside around the entrance. I lost half of my
bees, and the other half are weak. It seemed to affect the
queens. I would like to know how to keep this thin stuff
out of the brood-chamber. If I put sections on would they
not put it in the brood-chamber as long as they had room ?
How would it do to run it through the extractor without
uncapping it ? If there would be any brood in the hive at
the time would it not kill it ? I believe the honey is from
the asters. Ohid.
Answer. — I'm afraid I don't know enough to help you
out. There is a possibility that you may be mistaken about
the honey from that late plant being the cause of the mor-
tality among your bees. But if you are satisfied that ex-
tracting without uncapping would help matters, you can do
so without hurting the brood. So long as you do not turn
the extractor fast enough to throw out the brood you are all
right. ^^^^
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
394
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 20, 1901.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^ I
Condocted Iju Prof. fl. J. Gook, Glaremont, Calif.
The Treasures of Nature.
• From the drift of a star to the drift of a soul.
The world is all miracle under control ;
The buttertlj's wing and man's reverent awe.
Alike wear the chain of inscrutable law ;
A law that allures us, but ever eludes.
That baffles our groping, but never deludes ;
We never can hold it; it holds us secure:
And the wisest in reading shall longest endure ;
A Faith-bow of promise, a promise replete —
Forever fulfilling, but never complete ;
We chase where it beckons, and gather the gold.
And lo, on before us, new treasures unfold !"
THE STUDY OF NATURE.
In my teaching in college, I find in some of the students
an almost insurmountable disrelish of handling insects, and
they come veith no alacrity to the work of dissecting, Others,
no whit less refined and sensitive, in a general way, show no
such squeamishness. We dissect cats at first, and then other
animals. I regard this knowledge secured, not from books
but from handling the real things, as of great value. The
same is true in regard to the study of caterpillars, beetles,
and bugs. The distaste is often erratic in the extreme. Thus
nearly every girl will take into her hand, even at first, the
beautiful, little lady-bird beetles, while she will shrink away
appalled at a ground-beetle or caterpillar— will shudder if a
myriapod is handed to her, and actually turn pal.e at the very
thought of touching a spider. I think all this unreasoning,
and unreasonable disgust, is unfortunate. The possessor,
unless cured of it — and it is a malady difficult of cure — will
lose much of the beauty that she would otherwise get.
Every girl may be required, as a duty, to dress a chicken or a
rabbit; to dissect carefully a cat will teach her to do the
other more intelligently, and will give her an insight into her
own structure and physiology that will be of great value, and
which can be gotten in no other way.
The insect world touches us in many ways. They annoy
us and our domesticated animals. They prey upon our crops
to the annual tune of millions of dollars. The best success
in life demands that every home circle shall know — and so
study— these myriads of friends and foes— for all are not ene-
mies—that they may prepare to wage battle in case the
intruder comes with intent to injure. Insects are ubiquitous
—that is, everywhere. We run against them at every turn.
Not to know them is surely most unwise neglect. Indeed,
that man is best equipped who knows most about the things
that he runs against in all his daily walk. The little malarial
animal is very small, but it can destroy the red blood cor-
puscle. To know of it and its work enriches the world. To
know that a mosquito inoculates us with this often fatal pro-
tozoan, by its bite, is even more valuable, for it shows us how
we may fence off disease and even death.
Thus this knowledge of these hosts that everywhere
encompass us about is vastly practical, and stupid indeed is
he or she who does not grasp every opportunity to gain such
knowledge.
Again, no study does more to quicken and develop obser-
vatfon than this. The person who sees everything, and sees
it well, is mightily strengthened for life's big fight. As stu-
dents work in geometry, they often say that they can almost
feel their brains grow- So students of entomology often
remark, on their increased facility to find insects, and to find
and see correctly minute and obscure parts, as the study goes
on.
Just here is suggested a duty for every home circle. I
have shown before the value of the walk in the woods, the
Sunday stroll with the children by wayside and meadow.
These are very golden days to foster this love of nature.
They are often times when it is hopelessly crushed. The
mother, mayhaps, is takihg her first walk with the little boy
or girl. They come upon a lovely caterpillar or beautiful
beetle. The mother shrieks and jumps back. The little one
has a lesson and an impression that it will take long school-
ing to correct. It has then and there gained an abhorrence
that will rob it of great pleasure, and will very likely prove
a handicap in life's work. I have always rejoiced that my
mother was not appalled at the sight of grub or spider, and
that she early taught me to see the beauty in both. I shall
never outlive the pleasant memories which came with teach-
ing my own little ones to admire and love these gems, sown so
thickly about us by God's own loving hands. I rejoice the
more as I know that my dear ones are much better equipped
for life's journey, and are much better prepared to get more of
pleasure and profit from it.
I urge all in our home circles to be interested in every-
thing about them, to study and observe, and I am free to say
that nothing offers so rare an opportunity as these myriads of
wonderful insect forms, of which our honey-bees stand at the
head. I question if we can bequeath a more blessed legacy
than to awaken In the minds of our children a love for and
interest in these gems of the landscape. No father or mother
is foolishly employed who spends generous hours in encour-
aging the little ones to just such observation and study.
In a future article I will give some hints as to methods of
procedure. I will explain how valuable collections may be
made, and how such work begets a love of nature, order, and
beauty.
THRIFT.
Thrift, I take it, is earning more than we spend, and
never purchasing until we can pay. That is what my father
taught me. He urged it as a most important rule of life.
Does not our friend, Mr. Doolittle, recognize this as a certain
basis of happiness ? The thrifty — honestly thrifty — man holds
his head higher, walks more erect, feels more self-respecting,
is more a man. While thrift may not be, is not, the best gift
to covet, it is a worthy one. So of our nation. Shp for
the past few years is purchasing far less than she sells. That
is, her income is far in excess of her outlay. In other words,
her exports of bread-stuffs, manufactured articles, and raw
materials, are far in excess of her imports — of tea, coffee,
sugar, and such other articles as she needs. She is thrifty.
And Mr. Doolittle and I are both rejoiced. We are happier
than though she were buying more of value than she were
selling.
I believe Mr. Doolittle is exporting in excess of his
imports. That is, his honey-sales, etc., are greater in amount
than his purchases of clothing, supplies, etc. Thus he, like
our goodly country, is thrifty. I rejoice that it is so.
I hope this explains my logic. I regret that I did not
make my meaning plain to all before. I thought as I com-
menced reading Mr. Doolittle's criticism that he was going to
say : Why rejoice, for our thrift means unthrif t for our
neighbors across the water? I do regret that. The entire
world looks enviously at our commercial progress. They are
alarmed at our increased thrift. They watch our continued
and rapidly increasing prosperity with almost consternation.
That should make us no less energetic, or frugal. It should
make //lem hasten to study our methods, and to adopt our
practice.
QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS.
Mr. Doolittle's kindly paragraph causes me to urge others
to ask questions and make suggestions as to these "Home
Circle" papers. I wish to make them helpful to all the read-
ers of the " Old Reliable." One reader kindly urged me to
read Henry George's " Progress and Poverty." This friend
actually sent me the book. I am studying it carefully, and
when it is digested I shall bring it into "The Home Circle."
It has valuable suggestions.
Will not all contribute ? Send me valuable recipes, hints
as to living and economies, gems cut from newspapers — any
and every thing that will help to make our homes more bright
and happy. Send to me thus : A. J. Cook, Claremont, Los
Angeles Co., California.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly ofl'ering as rewards for
such effort.
June 20, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
395
SI 5,000 in Cash to be Given Away
Press Pub-
lishing
Associatiot]
2,000,000.v«TEs,
A RECKON, IN OHIO,
^MSS.. AND IOWA.
WttAT DO YOU ESTIMATE- ?
Our Offer:
The Press Publishing Association will give $15,000
in 1,000 Cash Prizes to those making the nearest esti-
mates on the combined Official Vote of Ohio, Massa.
chusetts and Iowa, cast for Governor on the Sth daj- of
November, I'lOl.
Estimate the total vote in these three States com-
bined for Qovernor and send your estimate and sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal, and you will re-
ceive a certificate, which will entitle you to participate
in the distribution of the $15,000 to be awarded by the
Press Publishing Association, of Detroit, Mich., to those
making the nearest estimates of the Official Vote for
Governor in the States of Ohio, Massachusetts and Iowa,
to be determined by the Election held on the Sth day of
November, 1901.
We have made arrangements with the Press Pub-
lishing Association, of Detroit, Mich., to enable our sub-
scribers to participate in the distribution of these mag-
nificent prizes, amounting to $15,000.
Until Further Notice, every
one who sends us a suffi-
cient amount to pay his or
her subscription to the American Bee Journal to the end
of this year (1901,) provided the subscription is in arrears
at least since Jan. 1, 1901 ; or to any one sending us $1 for
a year in advance of next Jan. 1, 1902, will receive a certi-
ficate which will entitle him or her to participate in the
distribution of the Prizes. No advance is made in the
price of our paper ; you get the certificate absolutely free.
YOUR ESTIMATE When you send in your sub-
scription you also send your estimate. Be careful to
write your name, address and estimate as plainly as possible. As soon as we receive your subscrip-
tion we will send you a certificate of the Press Publishing Association, of Detroit, Mich., contain-
ing your estimate, which will insure you any prize your estimate may entitle you to claim. We will
file a duplicate certificate with the Press Publishing Association. Every subscriber may make as
many estimates, and will receive as many certificates, as he sends dollars on subscription to the
American Bee Journal.
Valuable Information. To aid subscribers in forming their estimate, we furnish the following data :
PRIZES to be Awarded as Follows:
The combined Official Vote in these three States in
1891 was 1,537 4')3
1892 was 1,684,420 increase 9.56 percent
1893 was 1,616,422 decrease 4.04 percent
1894 was 1,533,887 decrease 5.10 percent
1895 was 1,576,452 increase 2.77 percent
1896 was 1,926,71S increase 22.22 percent
1897 was 1,S72,10<) decrease IS 40 percent
1898 was 1,532,540 decrease 2.52 percent
1899 was 1,653,389 increase 7.8'i percent
. 1,%5,610 increase 18.88 percent
IOWA
1900 was
The certificates of the Secretaries of the States named showing the
Combined Official Vote will determine who are entitled to the Prizes, and
the awards will be made within 30 days after the Official Vote is known.
The American Bee Journal will publish the names of the successful
Estimators.
To the 3d
To the 4th
To the 5th
To the 6th
To the 7th
To the Sth
To the 9th
To the 10th
To the next
To the ue.xt
I the 1
Statement of Mr. W. A. Pungs.
President of the Central Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich.:
I HkrKbv Certify, that the Press Publishing Associa-
tion has deposited $15,000 in the Central Savings Bank,
Detroit, Mich., for the express purpose of paying the Prizes
in their contest on the Combined Official Vote of the States
of Ohio, Massachusetts and Iowa, and that this fund can
be used for no other purpose.
I'l nearest $15 each = ISO
35 nearest 10 each = 350
_ 142 nearest 5 each-= 710
To the next loO nearest 4each= 640
To the next 180 nearest 3 each = 540
To the next 200 nearest 2 each= 400
To the next 260 nearest 1 e3ch= 260
Total, 997 prizes, amounting 10 $12,800
In addition to the above Prizes, the following Special
Prizes will be paid.
To the person making the nearest correct estimate before July 10..$i,ooo
To the person making the nearest correct estimate between July 10
and Aug. 10 700
To the person making the nearest correct estimate between Aug. 10
and Sept. 10 Soo
Total, 1,000 prizes, amounting to S15,000
In case of a tie, or that two or more estimators are equally correct,
prizes will be divided equally between them.
SUBSCRIPTION BLANK.
})<A.a
President Central Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich
My Estimate.
The cash must accompany your order. The American Bee Journal costs you only SI. 00 a year. You get the Certifi-
cate absolutely free. Address your orders to
GEORGE W. YORK St CO., 144 & 146 Erie Street, Chicago, 111.
396
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 20, 1901.
XJISTTESTED
Itnliaii ilmm Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with SI. 00. we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free as a premium. This offer
"iS^y^
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 7.^ cents : or 3 for S2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another pagre which
refers to Red Clover (Jueens. For send-
ing- us two new subscribers, and S2.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK &: CO.
144 & 14ti Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Go/f/en - all - oi'er -
I-ono- - Torjgrued
Queens, bv return m
ail. fl.ixi. Address,
The Swarthy
ORE Apiaries.
SwARTHMORE, Pa.
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptly for Untested Oueens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated totiolden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.00 for i., or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
2^Atf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentior Bee Journal when -writlna.
ALBINO QUEENS ]^JZ^^^^.r^^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honey-gatherers you ever saw— try mv Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, $1.00; Tested, $1.50.
nA26t J. D. GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 3415
AltaSita, E. St. Louis, 111.
BEE
6A2i.t
.Me
the Ar
-ican Bee Jo
oal.
QUEEMS
Now ready to supply bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED ! I :
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIA.NS, the' GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each; 6 for $4.00.
REDCLOVER QUfcENS. the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIAN.-^, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for i5. Safe Akki\-.al Guaranteed.
C. H. W WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
314t, .V :14^ Central -Ave., Cixcinn.ati. O.
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Catalog free; send for same.
Please mention Bse Journal -when -writing
Good Honey-Flow Expected.
Wi- have just hail a couple of good rains,
and it looks as if we would have a good, old-
fashioned flow of white clover honey. We
have had no rains t.i amount to anything for
nearly two months, and I had about given up
hopes of a clover crop. A. N. Draper.
Madison Co., 111.. .June 7.
Drouth Will Cut the Honey Crop.
Our bees have been storing honey nicely for
aliout two weeks, but the protracted drouth
will cut our honey crop short, as the white
and alsike clovers are drying up or dying,
and there is but little sweet clover growing
near. David Sharp.
fais Co., Mo.. June S.
Bees Did Not Winter Well.
The tiees eanie through the winter very
weak indeed, but have built up much better
than I expected, so 1 can hope to get some-
thing, at least. Mathilde Caxdleb.
(irant Co.. Wis.. June 6.
Keeping Down Increase.
I see a good chance for Dr. C. C. Miller to
get into a dispute in regard to an answer to a
question on page 32s, in which he says :
" It your object is to keep down increase,
perhaps this plan might suit you better:
When the colony swarms kill the old queen
and return the swarm. A week later cut out
all the queen-cells but one, and the work is
done. There will be no more swarming for
that colony until another year."
That may be so in some locations, but it
will not work everywhere, as I have had
swarms many times after hiving first swarms
by themselves and cutting out every queen-
cell but one 7 days after the swarm issues.
And I have then had swarms from the same
colony again in from 6 to S weeks. I also
have virgin swarms from almost every prime
swarm. C. H. Harlan.
Kanab'ec Co., Minn.. May 27.
Good Outlook fop a Honey-Crop.
Jly winter and spring losses have been very
heavy and it has been cold with much cloudy,
rainy weather (it is raining to-day), and the
wind seems to hang in the northeast. But
the hcmey outlook is fine; clover is very plen-
tiful as none of it was winter-killed, and
liasswood seems to be setting full. The big-
gest drawback with me is the bees, but they
seem to be building up fast now, and may be
in good condition for the flow.
I visited R. L. Taylor's apiary. May "J.H. and
his 200 colonies are in excellent condition,
most of them ready tor the supers, with the
clover flow two weeks ahead. He wintered
his bees in the cellar, and I wintered mine
outdoors. E. B. Ttkrell.
Genesee Co.. Mich., May 29.
Long-Tongued Bees.
From a Southern standpoint 1 read with
some satisfaction (i. M. Doolittle's article on
page "293, and Dr. .Miller's reply on page 3'26.
I feel quite sure tliat Mr. Doolittle is very
willing that the people of the red-clover belt
shall get the benefit of this bloom, and am
also sure that he meant to cast no reflections
on the honesty of the people at Medina. I
am of the opinion that these articles will do
good. While no sensible man will doubt the
advisability of having long-tongued queens
in sonie locations, there are other places
where no benefit whatever would be derived
from them. In my own locality (southern
Georgia! bees w-ith a '2.5-100 reach would store
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL.
FOUNDATION and
fori fax Into Foiinflatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and sami
BEESWAX WANT^
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Jotimal ■wh.en -wntme^
IT'S NO JOKE
when we sav that PAGE Fences require less posts
than others, and that they do Dot saK.
l-A(iK HOVE.\ HIUE FESCE CO., A1»K1AS, MICH.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writina.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are yon interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICA60. ILL.
,S,'
„
le S^
vartilmore
Q
acea-
Fertl-
;
n
r ti,>
V, by mail
25 cts.
Addr
ess.
The
SWARTHN
ORE
A
PIARIES,
S\\
AK
THMOh
E, Pa.
B668=S»PDII6§
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangetuents so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sits lOtb 25tb SOBS
Sweet Clever (whitel "Oc $1.20 $2.TS 15.00
SweetClover(vellow)....$l.SO 2.80 6.25 12.00
AlsikeClover 90c 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 90c 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alfalfa Clover 80c 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Japanese Buckwheat 30c .50 1.00 1.60
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 ceuts more than the 5-poand
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 ceuts to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 1-k. Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Low Rates to Buffalo Exposition
via the Nickel Plate Road. 3 through
trains daily, with vestibuled sleeping-
cars and excellent dining-car service,,
meals being served on the American
Club Meals plan ranging in price from
35 cents to SI. 00. Chicago Depot, Van
Buren Street and Pacitic Ave., on the
Elevated Loop.
Write John Y. Calahan, General
Agent. Ill Adams St., Chicago, for full
information and beautifully illustrated
descriptive folder of the Exposition
Buildintrs and Grounds. 11 — 24A3t
June 20, 191 1.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
397
jio iiioiv liuiu'v Iluin our sliorter-tdnsjfued
lx»e^. otliLT qiuilitioatiuns. of eoiii'sc. beiiiir
the smni'. Although Root closes his ailverlise-
iiieiit with an '• X. B.,"' saying thai the I'aiik
aud lile of begiuners have no use for such
nueens, still Ihey will buy theni, and it was
this class of bee-keepers that Mr Doolittle
was desirous to halt.
If some enterjirising queen-breeder w'ill get
up a non-swarming strain, a greater benetit
will lie conferred upon the bee-keeping tra-
teruity than tongue-reach. By this improve-
ment all of us. from the red clover fields to
the orange lilossoms. and from buckwheat to
.sage of the West, %vill jump for joy.
Hurrah for long-tongued queens, for Dr.
Miller aud the red clover folks! aud hurrah
for l)ees that don't swarm, for " we 'uns !''
Dodge Co. (ia. F. M. Creighton.
Best Honey-Flow in Years.
Bees are booming on white clover, aud the
honey-How is llie best we have had in years.
"White clover is literally taking the country,
for which I am sorry ( '.).
Vi'e are in sad need of foul-brood legisla-
tion in this part of the State.
W. T. Stephenson.
Mas.sacC'o.,Ill.,May 31.
At Work on Raspberry and Clovers.
Bees are working ^ery busily i.m rasjilierry.
white clover and red clover, both clovers be-
ing in bloom now. The prospect for bas.s-
wood is not as good as In former years, but
the clovers are better. L. G. Bl.iir.
Grant Co., Wis.. June '.i.
Bees Will Not Eat Pasteboard.
Tell Dr. Miller that bees will not eat paste-
board in this country, so I lost one of the
<iueens he sent me last year. The other one
is doing well.
Bees wintered poorly, but are doing nicely
this spring. J. Kexoyek. '
Whitman Co.. Wash.. .Tune 1.
■" Are There Any Queen-Breeders?"
This is the heading of an article in the Pro-
gressive Bee-Keeper, by F. L Thompson, in
which he says:
It is about time that bee-keepers understood
that queen-6r<'«to-.v are a different class from
<iaeen-rearers. There are plenty of queen-
xearers. who will tell you they breed q ueeus
by the most approved methods— artificial
fups. nurseries, specially prepared colonies,
and what not. But rearing is not breeding.
Are there really any queen-6/-f«?f)-.\-.'' Itliink
there are a few — I really don't know whether
there is uim who applies those principles of
selective breeding which good stock-ljreeders
inbreeding.
This has brought ruin to many an apiary
where bees were left entirely to themselves,
the bees "running out'' for want of fresh
Wood, and yet some of the greatest triumphs
of scientific breeding have been through that
.same inbreeding. The following from the
Rocky Mountain Bee Journal is by F. L.
Thompson :
It is well known that stock-breeders prac-
tice inbreeding largely, in order to secure a
greater proportion of prepotent individuals,
and a higher degree of prepotency, than
would be the case by watching for chance
cases. But there is a popular idea thai in-
breeding is bad. very bad. There is some
truth in the popular idea, but also consider-
able error. Hence, it will pay to be posted
Standard Bred (Jueens.
Acme o( Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide repulalion. 75cts.each; 6 for $4.(H1.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
51.00 each, or 6 for f.^.ml. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. WUTH & Co.
Headquarters ft.r Uee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. F-ront and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on applicatimi. Cincinnati, O.
^^MANUFACTURER OFJ^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders lilled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities ia the world. 'Vou
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
ISAtf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send Jl. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reated 3J<i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, fl.SO
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2]^
iles
No
npur
ithi:
d but fe\
2^ years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
pecialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
Spring Hill, Tenn.
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a coasitrument of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, Hanager,
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
3-lraiii6 Nuclei For Sale
Can supply liiO or 15" at $1 .^0 each, with one
empty extra comb; 2-frame Nuclei, fl.25. All
W. T. LEWIS, Lewisburg, Miss.
Money Order Office— mive Branch, Miss.
24A3t Please mention the Bee Journal.
$■3.00 to Buffalo and Return, $13.00,
via Nickel Plate Koad from Chicago,
for the Pan - American Exposition.
Tickets on sale daily, good leaving-
Buffalo up to midnight of tenth day
from and including date of sale. Also
tickets on sale daily Chicago to Buffalo
and return at Slii.nO for the round trip,
with IS-day limit, including date of
sale. S21.00 Chicago to Buffalo and re-
turn good for 30 days.
On all through tickets to points east
of Buffalo, privilege of stop-over at
Buffalo for 10 days may be granted by
depositing ticket with Joint Agent and
payment of fee of -1.00.
Write John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
particulars and folders showing time
of trains, etc. 11— 24A3t
also on inbreeding; for even now some queen-
breeders largely control the drones, and hence
could, and perhaps do, practice selective in-
breeding; and in the near future it is prob-
able that mating in eontinement will be at-
tained, whereby the drones will be absolutely
controlled.
Now, the experience of the best authorities
is that inbreeding is not, in itself, of any
detriment whatever. The instances of vigor-
ous animals which have been iubred tor many
generations are too numerous for the popular
idea to be altogether true, for this reason: :It
the two parents have any common tendencies,
their offspring will have those tendencies
doubled. Of course, this is more liable to
happen with related parents than when they
are not related. Hence, if any of those com-
mon tendencies are bad, they will be approxi-
mately twice as bad in the offspring. On the
other hand, if they are good, inbreeding lias
none but good effects.
The practical application of this is, that If
one wants a fixed and prepotent strain of
bees, the breeder who breeds closely is more
apt to be able to furnish it than those who do
not. always ]jrovided — and this is important —
that he is thoroughly ac(|uainted not merely
with the details of queen-rearing, but also
with the application of the principles of
selective breeding. It should be remembered,
also, that there are various degrees of in-
breediug. To mate parent and offspring has
only halt the effect, for good or evil, of mat-
ing brother and sister. At present, on the
whole, it may be better to avoid stock in bees
likely to be inbred, but as soon as queens will
be mated iu confinement, the ease will be
altered.
Best Averages from New Colonies.
A Stray Straw iu Gleanings in Bee-Culture
says:
Sometimes it is said that a beginner ggts a
yield of honey that he never after equals, be-
cause his first enthusiasm is gone. I believe
that's a libel on many of the veterans. A Ijee-
keeper may ride his hobby so hard as to kill
it, but they don't all do it. Just 40 years ago
I took the bee-fever, and the temperature is
just as high now as it was then. I'm looking
forward to some things 1 want to do with bee's
next summer with just as keen a relish as I
had 40 years ago. The extra results achieved
Ijy a beginner are largely to be credited to the
fact that he has a small number of colonies,
and so the Ijees have a better harvest. — [i'our
last sentence explains it. In the •■ABC"
book the statement is made to the effect that
the average yield per colony will be much
larger in a small aiiiary. remote from any
other yard of Ijees. than in larger apiaries. —
Editor.]
Wax-Worms in Pure Wax.
It has generally Ijeen considered that pure
wax, as in foundation, is in no danger of
lieing troubled by the wax-moth, at least some
jiollen being necessary to support the larv*.
(t. M. Doolittle reports in the Progressive Bee-
Keeper that he found the work of wax-worms
in foundation that had been kept iu a warm
place near the roof.
Sweet Clover Not a Weed.
The following question and answer appeared
in the Wisconsin Farmer :
Mk. Editor:— Will you please tell me all
about sweet clover'.' 1 would like to know
whether it is good as a fertilizer or pasture, or
whether it is good for nothing. Some tell me it
is nothing but a weed. Others tell me it is the
same as red clover.
Ans.— Sweet clover (Melilotus albal is a
legume, as are other clovers, and because of
this tact exerts a similar effect in the renova-
tion of worn-out soils. In the North, generally,
it is regarded as a weed. Some States have
legislated against it as one of the uo-Kious weeds
to be destroyed, along with the Canada and
Russian thistles. In the South one or two
experiment stations have commended it, both
as a foraee-plant aud as a souice of fertility. It
very early becomes woody, and loses whatever
value it has as a forage-plant. It has a peculiar
taste of its own to which cattle have to become
398
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAl-
June 20, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A::^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
; Co
, 1') S. Alabam
tid very low fr
itera territorie
. St.,
1
BEST
t
1 Basswood wi Alfalfa Honey f
A in ()0-pound tin cans, f.o.b. Chicago — two cans in a box — at these prices : 9 L
3 cents a pound for one box of two cans ; two boxes (4 cans) or more at one L
1 time. S'i cents a pound. F
^ 'Wt' Viavp onlv a limited Quantity of the Basswood honev. Samole of '
We have only a limited quantity of the Basswood honey. Sample of
either kind, postpaid, 10 cents. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.. 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicag-o, III.
\
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. ¥' Si^JSCt
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
narshlieid Mannfacturing Compaoy.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
>^
Red Glover Queens
LONG-TONQUED BEEsTrE DEMANDED NOW.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium for sending us TWO new subscpibeFs
to the American Bee Journal for one year
(with $2); or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be
clipped, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL. {1^}
accustomed before they will eat it; g-enerally
they have to be starved into eating it. While
there are some differences of opinion about the
place the sweet clover should occupy, our judg-
ment in regard to it in the middle West is that
it is a weed, which only means, according to
the old definition, " a plant om of place."
It is our opinion that the plant is not so
imioh " out of place "' as the man on whose
farm it grows ; for the man in this age who
has not learned the value of sweet clover as a.
fann crop would lietter not farm until he has
called on some intelligent bee-keeper who can
tell him the value of this wonderful legume.
Another man would seem also to be " out of
place," and that is the agricultural editor
who does not know any more about sweet
clover than this answer would indicate. — E.
T. Abbott, in Modern Farmer and Biisv Bee.
Feeding in the Open Air.
This is objected to because colonies that
need least get most, and because neighbors^
bees can not be excluded. It has the advan-
tage that it seems a little more like a natural
harvest than feeding in the hive. M. A. Gil!
says in the Rocky Motintain Bee Journal;
I hardly dare advise beginners to feed in
the open air, but practice that plan myself.
I feed in troughs filled with alfalfa stems, or
open vessels with a piece of burlap thrown
over to prevent the bees from drowning. I
feed at 2 to 3 o'clock p.m., giving each colony
from one-half to a pound of honey or gyrup
made as thin as raw nectar. After feeding in
this manner for a couple of days, if I have
any brood-combs tilled with honey, I uncap
them and hang not more than three in an
empty hive, equally spaced apart, and let the
bees have it. If properly done, there will be
no trouble from robbing. 1 had as soon feed
100 colonies in the open air as 100 pigs, pro-
vided my neighbors do not have too many
bees.
The Lowest Temperature for Comb-
Building.
S. E. Miller reports in the Progressive Bee-
Keeper that he had comb built in March when
the outside temperature varied from 18 to T'i
degrees, the average being about 45 degrees.
He asks what is the lowest temperature at
which comb-building can be carried on, and
answers from three different men are given.
J. W. Rouse frankly says he does not know,
but thinks it can hardly be below 50 degrees.
G. M. Doolittle says that bees can build comb
in zero weather. Dr. Miller goes still lower,
and practically says that no colony of bees
has ever lived through a temperature so low-
that it would not admit of comb-building.
Mr. Doolittle says the heat imide the cluster
necessary for comb-building and brood-rear-
ing is from 90 to 98 degrees, and Dr. Miller
explains how it is that the colder the weather
the warmer it is in tne center of the cluster.
His answer is as follows :
If you mean at what temperature of the
brood-nest bees can build comb, it may be
replied that it is somewhere in the nineties,
])robably. From your accompanying re-
marks, however, it seems that you mean the
temperature of the atmosphere surrounding
the hive. That's another thing, and the tera-
Iierature depends somewhat upon the strength
of the colony.
If a single bee is exposed to a freezing tem-
perature, it will lie a dead bee in a short time.
Possibly it ought not to be called a dead bee,
for it can be revived if brought into a warm
place if it has not been left frozen too long.
If there be a cluster of bees, the bee in the
center of the cluster will not succumb to the
cold as soon as a single bee, but it will suc-
cumb. If there be 50,000 bees in the cluster,
with plenty of stores within easy reach, a
freezing temperature will not affect them un-
favorably at all. And a much smaller cluster
June 20, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
399
than 50,000 will withstand withuut injury the
same temperature.
Somewhere between the sintrle hee and the
cluster of 50.000 there must Ije found the
smallest cluster that will withstand a tempera-
ture of 33 degrees, and a cluster of any less
size will succumb. What the size of that
cluster is I do not know. I wish I did.
It is also true that a cluster of .50.000 bees
will stand a temperature much lower than 82
degrees, for bees, to a certain extent, make
their own temperature. Somewhere in the
neighborhood of .50 degrees is as low as bees
seem to like in winter, for the temperature
of the outer part of the cluster. When it gets
below that there will be a stirring of the clus-
ter to increase the heat, each bee being a little
furnace with honey as fuel.
Sui)pose that the air surrounding the clus-
ter is at 40 degrees. Suppose. als(_>. that the
temperature of the cluster is 5o degrees, and
that the bees are entirely' dormant. In that
case it is quite clear that the cluster will
gradually cool down till it is of the same tem-
perature as the surrounding air. But the
bees are not dormant, and they will at once
proceed to bring up the temperature. Just
so long as the cluster is warmer than the
surrounding air, heat will be given off from
the cluster, and a continual production of
heat will be necessary to replace that which
is lost by radiation. That radiation is always
of necessity from the outer surface of the
cluster, so the outer surface will always be
cooler than the center, or, in other words, the
center will be somewhere above 50 degrees.
Now, suppose the outer temperature keeps
getting lower and lower. The lower it gets
the more rapid the radiation from the surface
of the cluster, and the heat in the center of
the cluster that was sufficient when the sur-
rounding air was at 40 degrees will no longer
suffice. So the heat must be increased in the
center of the cluster, and when the outer air
becomes cold enough the heat in the center of
the cluster will rise to that of summer, and
we have the paradox that the colder the
weather the warmer the cluster.
It must not be understood that the heat in
the center of the cluster must depend entirely
on the surrounding temperature. Anything
that excites the bees to greater activity will
increase the heat of the cluster, so that tem-
perature may be brought up at any time; but
as the outside temperature lowers, the inside
must be brought up, if the colony is not to
perish.
With these principles fairly understood, we
are ready for the question, '• What is the
lowest temperature of the air surrounding the
cluster that will allow the bees to build
comb f The answer is that the colder the
surrounding air the more nearly will the heat
of the cluster be to the point of comb-build-
iTig, so there is no degree of cold so severe
that comb-building may not take place unless
so severe as to stop all vital action, a degree
that is never reached under the natural con-
ditions when a strong colony has plenty of
stores within easy reach.
It may occur to some one to inquire:
'■Why is it we are so constantly told that
about 45 is the proper temperature for a cel-
lar, if .50 degrees is the temperature to which
the cluster must be raised ? Why not have
the cellar at .50 degrees, and save the bees the
trouble of raising the additional 5 degrees ;"
The answer is easy. Practical experiment has
shown that bees are (luieterat 45 degrees than
at .50 degrees. That answer may silence, but
with some it will not fully satisfy. Well,
then, the answer may be something like this :
The bees are never entirely dormant, so they
are always producing a little heat, and it the
surrounding air be at 50 degrees, then the
additional heat produced by the bees will run
it above .5t( degrees. Moreover, it is not pos-
sible to keep the air of the cellar constant,
and if it is a little loo cold the bees can bring
it up, but if it is too warm they can not cool
it down.
Send for circular s^JK^'f^
improved and orig'inal Bidfrhara Mee-Smoker.
For 23^ ears the Best on Kakih.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM. Harwell. Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -whtoi -writing.
THE WHEEL OF TIME
Metal Wheel.
e them in aU sizis aii.l vari-
:. 1 « FIT AN V A .X l.K. -vny
rspoke. Can FIT VOUK
\V AGON perfrellv wilhmit .hni.L'e.
>NO BREAKING DOWN.
No drvlas ooL No resetting tires. Olieup
I beca'u(»c they endure. Send for catji.
Inoue and prices. Free upon reqoest.
Electric Wheel Co.
Box 16 Qurncy. Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
t?h:ose3
Long-Ton^ue Adels
BlAVEK, P-4., April 4, IWl.
From one 3-franie nucleus you sent me I look
213K pounds of e.xtracted honey.
Wm. S. Barclay.
Each Queen, Sl.uii.
Essav, " How Not to Rear Queens," sent free.
24A4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■WTitlng
LEARN TO SING
► ,U K by my thorough method
iiiiiif;. With my complete
I f?uarantee to train andcul-
ttic your voice or refund your
•ney. The best musical knowledge
-—need especially for Home Stody.
..... Highest Enaorsemeat. Beautiful
!descripllve bockteteeat free. Address
'Prof. G. M. Whalfly, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
A Home in Colorado
FOR
SALE
I have a fine Fruit-Ranch o( 14 acres here at
Fruita, all set to tine fruit, principally winter
apples, with plenty of small fruits, peaches,
pears, plums, cherries, apricots, prunes, and
about 700 grapes ; 100 colonies of bees, mostly
Italians, and about 100 fine Belgian hares that
I will sell with the place. The orchard is in
fine bearing, being about 10 years old, and is
clean and free from weeds. The house is a
good "-room one, nearly new, with bath and
water ; a good new barn for two horses and
two cows ; good brick hen-house and two good
cellars, good lawn and shade. I have a paid-
up water-right with the place, with an abun-
dance of water at all times for irrigation. I
am desirous of making a change in my occu-
pation, and will sell the place at a bargain.
With the proper party the yield from the place
this .year will be about $2,000. It joins up to
within 30 rods of the town site of Fruita,
where we have one of the best high schools in
the State, employing " teachers. It is only Jij-
mile to the depot, churches, school and post^
oflice. and has telephone connections with all
parts of the State. This is a good, healthj- cli-
mate, and good society.
Address for terras and further particulars,
J. C. CARNAHAN,
Box 64. FRUITA. MESA Co.. COLO.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal -when WTitiiip
Please lueHtlon Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
il stt itt >{< >!i >ti sit iJt >lt ite >Ji sli ili!#
|HON&y AND beeswax!
■?]>??>}? >p >p- yjtf >!«• >j? Tpr^^v 75? Tp-Tp:^
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, June 7.— Not any new comb honey
has come to this market up to date hereof, but
promises are being made for some before the
mouth closes. A little good white comb still on
sale, which easily brings 1(jc; not much of any
other kind here. P^.xtracted very dull, practi-
cally no sales made. Beeswax firm at 30c.
R. A. BnRNHTT & Co.
Detroit, June 8.— Strawberries are taking-
the attention, and very few sales of honey are
made, but prices seem to keep up on good' lots.
Beeswax in fair demand at 27@2.Sc.
M. H. Hunt & Soir,
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well e.\hausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from M to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Wbbbr.
Boston, May 21.— Our market continues dull
on honey with very light stocks on hand. Our
normal prices are as follows: Faccy 1-pound
cartons, 17c; A No. 1, 16c; No. 1, ISc; No. 2, 12®
14c. Extracted from 6H®>7}4c.
Blakb, Scott A LiBB.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, June 1.— E-itracted honey is ex
ceedingly dull and very little moving. Wequote
for the present: Wh'ae, h%(n~c; light amber,
S!4fgi6c; amber, Sras^c. Some demand for comb
honey at unchanged prices. New crop is now
beginning to arrive from the South, and sells at
from 12W ISc, according to quality and style.
Heeswax, 3')c. Hildrbth & Segelken.
Albany, N. Y., June 1.— Honev market quiet.
No stock, no receipts, and no demand now. It
is between seasons. We look for good prices
the coming season, for in this vicinity the foul
brood has nearly exterminated the bee-keepers.
H. R. Wright.
Buffalo, May 29.— Very light trade in all
grades of honey. Strictly fancy sells fairly, at
14@15c; dark dull at any price, and SfcQc about
the range. Beeswax, fancy, 27@2Kc; dark, 23®
25c. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, May 4.— Practically no ship-
ments arriving, and very little selling. We are
getting $3.50 to $3.05 per case of 24 sections No.
1 white; amber, $3.00 to $3.25. Beeswax scarce
at 25c. W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
San Francisco, June S.— White comb, 115i@
125^ cents; amber, ')@liic; dark, 6(a).s cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@6c; light amber, 4@4Wc:
amber. 3M@4c. Beeswax. 26®28c.
Dealers are very bearish in their ideas, but
are not securing much honey at the prices they
name. In a small way to special trade an ad-
vance on quotations is bein^^ realized.
For Sale
200 CRATES OF 2
t»0-pound cans each; been
_ _ _ used once; in good condi-
tion; in lots of 1(1 crates, 3.^ cents a crate.
FRED W. MUTH & CO.,
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, O.
24A2t Please mention the Bee Journal.
irtiif/ioro Quoon-A'ur-
V mail. 75 cts., complete. Ad-
, Pa.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our 19<u catalog.
M. U. HDNT & SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich
Cftlifnrnla \ I' you care to know of its
WdlllUrilld J Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Call-
fornia^s Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS.
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Ple?se mention Bee Journal when -writing.
400
AMERIC\N BEE JOURNAL
June 20, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAHi IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
«»- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g-oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing
ITflLlflN QUEENS, warranted
Tested, fl. Oil; Untested, TScents, bv return mail.
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
21Atf River Forest, Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Illinois Day
at the Pan American Exposition.
Tuesday, June 25, 1901, has been se-
lected by the Governor of Illinois, as
" Illinois Day," at the Pan-American
Exposition at Buffalo. In order to
make that occasion a greater success,
the Nickel Plate Road will lend its as-
sistance by making the following rates:
$13.00 for tickets good 10 days.
S16.00 for tickets good 15 days.
$21.00 for tickets good 30 days.
Tickets at above special rates will be
available on any of our three through
daily express trains from Chicago at
10:35 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 10:30 p.m..
which carry through vestibuled Pull-
man sleeping-cars and afford excellent
dining-car service, on the individual
club meal plan, ranging in price from
35 cents to $1.00.
For further information and illus-
trated descriptive folder of the Pan-
American Exposition grounds, write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 13— 24A2t
I ARISE
the Bee Journal that
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in theirseason
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen ..$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best.. 5.00
g particulars regardiag
,, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
24tll
Year
Dadant's Foundation, fur
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^t^j.
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-BeG — Re\/isGcl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHA5. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Joxirnal wtien writing
i Pan=f\iii6rl6an Exposlllon i
...AT BUFFALO...
# THE .A.. I. ROOT 00.
^
%
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
will have an Exhibit showing a
COMPLETE LINE OF BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES,
Also some NEW GOODS that have not yet been advertised. The
exhibit will be conspicuously placed in the Gallery of the Agri-
cultural Building.
If you have never seen a
Ball-Beariug Cowan Honey-Extractor,
Here is your chance.
We expect that HUBER ROOT, the youngest member of the
Root Co., will be the man in charge of the exhibit. He will be
pleased to meet all our old friends, and make new ones wherever
possible.
Gleanings in Bee=Culture
Will contain a very interesting series of articles on Queen-Rear-
ing, giving New Methods and Short Cuts. There will also be a
series on
BEES IJT TjA.-W.
E. R. Root will tell of his trip through Texas, Colorado, Ore-
gon, and California. Better subscribe now.
Six months' trial subscription for only 25 cents.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., fledina, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
SW GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '1,mJ^,Goi^l['''- ^
are head.iuarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEf ERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO. •
Send to them for their free Catalog. ^5U-
i^^S*^%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JUNE 27, 1901,
Dr. C. C. Miller »*
AM) so to-day I'm seven times ten.
And hence 'tis said I live on " borrowed time."
Well, what do I have that was not lent
By Him who made me what I am;
My life, and all that goes to make it up —
From deepest joy to sorrow's cup —
These all are borrowed from His gracious store.
But some day He will give me better things —
Yes, the best He has, and they shall all be mine
Throughout unending ages.
You say I'm on the " shady " sidS (M life.
Not so, my friends; the shadows are behind,
Along with all earth's troubles.
I see ahead the Sun of Righteousness,
Whose beams already light my path,
And render it more pleasant to mj' tread
Than aught that this world has to give.
But even if the shadows do at times
Fall o'er my pathway, dark and deep,
I'll pause a moment, wipe my brow,
And then press on, not to the light,
But in it and toward it.
The best of life is still ahead.
And, I am sure, it always will be so;
For morrow's sun has something for the child of God
Far better than the things to-day has brought ;
So don't condole with me on ripening age.
For that is but another name for labor done.
And an advance toward that gladsome day
When we shall gather up our jewels.
And wc. in turn, as jewels, .shall be gathered u]i.
W. r. KooT.
402
AMERICAN BEE /OURNAL,
June 27, 1901.
EEKLV BY
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144&l46ErieSt.,Ghicaoo, 111.
Entered at the Post
Clas
( )lliic at Chicago as Second-
Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Gbobge W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) ,-,„ ,„,„„t
E.E. Hasty, P^.Y. "l^'''
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) ^'1"°'^^-
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The "Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Ha
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Da
E. R. Root, Dr. C. C. Mi
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Chi.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Tren-
ttrer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
1^" It more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat^lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the offle*
of the American Bee Journal.
Weeiily Budget. |
Dr. C. C. Miller, of course, is different
from some ladles in the usual number of par-
ticulars, and also has another distinguishing
dissimilarity. 7K' still has birthdays. He had
one the 10th of this month. He is now 70
years old — or, we should say, "0 years young,
for he's on the sunny side of 70 now. At
least he would tell you that if you were to
ask him on which side he is.
OMr. W. P. Root, known as "Stenog'Mn
Gleanings in Bee-Culture, has sent us the
poetic statement on the first page of this
number. He has expressed for Dr. Miller
quite clearly just what the Doctor could say,
though perhaps in a different manner.
Dr. Miller is the most prolific writer on the
subject of bee-keeping to-day. He has been
in the bee-business over 40 years. And he
doesn't claim to know it all yet. To many a
question relating to Ijees and bee-keeping he
is compelled to [offer the laconic reply, '' I
don't know." And yet his fund of actual
information, gained from his years of practi-
cal experience in the apiary, is something
remarkable.
Further, we were going to say that Dr.
Miller is the best loved bee-keeper in America,
but we won't say it, for the Doctor wouldn't
thank us for it. He is the quintessence of
modesty, and so we must not say too much
at this time. And yet to say the good and
well-deserved thing now is much better than
to wait and place them in bouquets upon the
casket that some day will contain all that is
mortal of him.
We can truly speak not only from our own
heart, but for many others, who appreciate
Dr. Miller, his life and work, and pray that
he may be spared to'us all yet many years ere
he is called "up higher."
Mr. R. Wilkin, one of the oldest and most
prominent bee-keepers of California, died at
Newhall, Calif., May 30, 1901. He was father-
in-law of J. F. Mclntyre, another leading bee-
keeper of the same State. We hope soon to
be able to present a more extended sketch of
Mr. Wilkin in these columns.
Mr. John W. Bauckman's East Side api
ary is shown on page 410 this week. It is
located in Fairfax Co., Va., and all but two
of the hives used are the double-walled. The
apiary faces east, and is beautifully situated.
The little girl at the first hive is his youngest
daughter, and the lady to the left is Miss
Castell, his helper in the apiary. Mr. Bauek-
man says she can find a queen as quickly as
the most experienced apiarist, and ie a good
bee-keeper, besides being a fine seamstress.
The two lads in the background, carrying the
colony of bees, are his two sons who are run-
ning the; farm. The lady to the right is
another [daughter, and the man with the
smoker is Mr. B. himself.
He; thinks his; hives are the finest in the
United States, as they are a perfect piece of
cabinet • workmanship, being thoroughly
made, then primed with white lead, the nails
being all sunk, then puttied, then sand-
papered, and tlien painted with the white
lead. They are on stands H Inches from the
ground. He would not have his hives on the
ground, nor would he have them on tight
stands, but wants them so that the cats and
chickens can get under them, and so that
there will be free circulation underneath. In
this way the hives keep dry, the bees are
healthy, and there are no ants or mice to
bother.
The day that the picture was taken there
was a fierce fire raging just at the left of his
place, and his wife and youngest son were
badly frightened, and were watching the fire,
BO that is the reason they do not appear in
the picture. Two of his houses were within
30 feet of the fire, but no damage was done to
his property.
Mr. J. H. HoDGKiNS, of Winnebago Co.,
111., writes us that he thinks he is about the
oldest subscriber to the American Bee Jour-
nal, as he has taken it continually ever sine*
its first editor, Samuel Wagner, began to pub-
lish it in 1861. He has never missed receiving
one number in all those years, and he has
preserved nearly every copy.
We suppose there are not very many of our
subscribers who have such a record as Mr.
Hodgkins can show.
TJISTTESTBID
Italian Qneens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a iine Untested Italian
Queen free as a pretnium. This offer
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us two new subscribers, and $2.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &. 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, 11,1,.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, JUNE 27, 1901,
No, 26,
\ * Editorial. * I
What Is a Tested Queen?— The an-
swer will probably be that it is a tiueen whose
worker progeny have three yellow bands. At
any rate, that was what the term ■' tested
tiueen'' originally was understood to mean,
and with that meaning it served a good pur-
pose. It was understood that when the three
bands were shown on the workers the queen
was of pure descent, and had l:>een fecundated
by an Italian drone, and so when one pur-
chased a tested queen he was sure of pure
Italian stock. The value was not in the
three bands /)«■ 5«, although beauty has value
to some extent, but the bands were the O. K.
mark, showing that the colony was of pure
Italian blood, and, therefore, possessing cer-
tain valuable traits belonging to Italian
blood. A tested queen, then, was a pure
Italian queen.
Taking the same test to-day — the three yel-
low bands — is a tested queen an Italian ;
Perhaps. There are queens to-day whose
worker progeny have live yellow bands. We
can also find workers with four yellow bands;
some with two, and some with one. It is not
difficult to find colonies whose workers have
for the most part three bands, some of them,
however, having only two Ijands. Possibly a
colony might be found whose workers showed
uniformly two bands. In either case, with
any considerable number of workers having
only two bands, the colony would be con-
demned as possessing black blood in some
degree. Now, suppose a queen from one of
these colonies whose workers showed the
presence of some blacK blood, but in no case
showed less than two bands, should mate with
a drone of five-banded stock, would not the
worker progeny of such a queen be likely to
show three or more bands ? Clearly, she is
not of pure Italian blood, but according to
the rule she is a tested queen.
The test of three yellow bands has no
longer the same value it originally had, and
there is a possibility that there may be a
shaking up of the whole matter.
Ijong Tongues Not Always Best. —
Gleanings in Bee-Culture reports that A. T.
McKil)ben found upon measuring the tongues
of his bees that some of his scrub colonies
had just as long a tongue-reach as his best
honey-gatherers. This is the first case re-
ported in which it appeared that bees with
long tongues did not excel.
Questions for Discussion at the Buf-
falo convention may be sent in at any time
from now till Sept. 10, to Secretary A. B.
Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. For more
than one reason it will be better to mail your
questions in advance than to wait until you
are present in person at the great meeting of
the National Bee-Keepers' Association. You
may forget a question if you wait, and if sev-
eral offer the same ciuestion the duplicated
can be thrown out in advance. This feature
of the convention is a very commendable one.
The live discussions in a convention are what
give it its greatest value.
your manipulations, by way of spreading of
the brood, giving colonies which are short'of
stores frames of honey, etc. . O^J
Repression of Drones. — Perhaps no
one has kept hammering away on this subject
more than G. M. Doolittle, and no one has
gotten it down to more practical shape. He
discusses the matter in the American Bee-
Keeper, and although there may be little he
has not already said in this journal, it is
worth repeating for the sake of some of the
beginners, and more especially for some who
are not beginners, but have not given the
matter sufficient heed. He says:
I have yet to see the hive containing a pop-
ulous colony, one strong enough to send out
a prime swarm during June and July, that
had not a few cells of drone-comb in it ; and
I do not believe that these few cells can be
kept out, for worker-comb will be cut down
and drone built in its place it a few cells can
not be gotten otherwise. From my experi-
ence in the past, I would say that it is not
practical to try to keep all drone-comb out of
any hive, but rather have just one frame in
each and every hive, having from 10 to 20
square inches of drone-comb in it, and have
such comb in a certain place in each hive, so
that the apiarist may know just where it is;
then every 20 days open the hives from which
it is desired that no drones shall fly, and
decapitate them, thus making a sure thing of
the matter, and fully satisfying the bees. In
this way you will not have a few drone-cells
scattered all through the hive, nor will you
have to use a drone-trap at the entrance of
such hives to catch undesirable drones, the
same making quite a cost and much work for
the bee-keeper, in putting them on and
emptying the same; besides a general bother
and disgust to the bees, when first put on,
and at times of the flight of drones and young
bees.
If this comb with drone-cells is placed near
the outside of the liivc, and the drone-comb
is near the top-bar of the frame, you will not
have to decapitate the drones more than two
or three times during the season, for the
queen will be slow in depositing eggs in it;
and when honey conu-s in so the bees begin
to prepare for winter stores, they will fill it
with honey, thus keeping the queen from
depositing any more eggs in it that season.
If, in addition to the above, the top-bar to
the frame, directly c.mt this spot of drone-
comb, is painted wliitcor red, you will know
just where this I'onili is without taxing your
memory with the matter; and this will tell
you exactly where such frames are, should
they become displaced at any time through
Is It Profitable to Use Foundation ?
— S. E. Miller discusses the question in the
Progressive Bee-Keeper, and while not ques-
tioning its use in sections, be does question
the profit of using it in the brood-chamber.
He figures that an 8-frame hive filled iwith
medium-brood foundation, freight and all,
will cost 55 cents or more, and thinks |in
many cases the 55 cents is never gotten back.
In reply to the claim for straight combs with
no drone-cells, he says.
I have in my apiary as nice all-worker
combs built on starters as any one can show
built on full sheets. I have others that con-
tain partly drone-comb, and some nearly all
drone, but these are by no means useless, as I
use them in the upper story for extracting
from, or, if I wish to, I can cut out the drone-
comb and fit in worker-comb, as Mr. Doolittle
does, but I must confess that I have never
done this as thoroughly as I should have
done.
Mr. Miller argues that he can cut out the
drone-comb and replace it with worker, and
then with charming frankness confesses he
has not thoroughly done this. Ay. there's
the rub ! Bee-keepers can cut it out, but do
they i Those who have had much practice in
the job know that it is some time and trouble,
and it is easier and surer to prevent than to
cure. The probability is that if Mr. Miller
would count what he has done, he would
admit that his 55 cents came back with in-
terest.
Suppose, however, that we take the case of
a man who promptly cuts out all drone-comb,
or removes it to the extracting-chamber.
Before that drone-comb is cut out it must be
built, and that building costs wax and labor
for the bees, to say nothing about the time of
the bee-keeper in repairing. But the waste
of the drone-comb is not all. As fast as it is
built it will be more or less filled with drone-
brood — generally more — and that brood is a
waste. Unless the man is very careful and
prompt, a good deal of the brood will arrive
at the sealing stage before it is cut out, and
that will be much the same as throwing away
a comb of honey of the same size.
The argument that drone-comb can be put
in the extracting-chamber may have some
weight where there is an extracting-chamber
in the case, but can not apply in comb-honey
production.
After all this is said in favor of foundation
in the brood-nest, it should be added that
there are good authorities who think it
economy to use for a swarm nothing but
starters for the first half of the frames. If
hived on these there will be very little, pos-
sibly no drone-comb built, the building of
drone-comli coTiiniencing after the first halt of
the hive is filled. To preveut the building of
drone-comb in this second half, full sheets of
foundation are given after the first half are
filled.
404
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 27, 1901.
Convention Proceedings. \
(Continued from page 38'>.)
Report of the Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Convention.
liV DR. I.. D. LEONARD.
THIRD DAY— FoRENOos Session.
The first thing on the program was a paper by George A.
Forgerson, on
MIGRATORY BEE-KEEPINQ.
Migratory bee-lieeping with me was a child of necessity.
Living as I do about two miles from any timber, and that tim-
ber mostly oak. my only honey-flow was from white clover,
and that was by no means certain.
So reading one. day about migratory bee-keeping set me to
thinking and figuring. My figures ran about as follows : 10
colonies 2U days on white clover — 50 pounds per colony ; then
load them on the wagon and move them six miles to the bass-
wood flow, there to remain 25 or 30 days — 50 pounds per
colony more ; then load up again, and in the silent hours of
the night drive 20 miles east to the buckwheat fields, there to
remain from 35 to 40 days — an easy lOO pounds more.
Result, 2U0 pounds per colony ; 100 colonies, 20,0U0 pounds,
to be sold at lO cents per pound. The figures ran away with
me, some of them got lost, and I have not yet found them.
Like hatching chickens by steam, it figures up nicely on
paper.
But, alas ! after three years of migratory bee-keeping I
awoke to find that my dream of wealth had not been realized.
The move to the basswood never paid for the trouble ; the
move to the buckwheat fields was better, as, for instance, the
first year from 10 colonies I extracted 13S5 pounds of honey
in 85 days, leaving sufficient stores for winter. Although I
did not do as well the next two years, it led me to establish
an out apiary at Hastings, where I have had paying crops for
the past three years. George A. Forgerson.
This paper was followed by one written by Mr. Wm. Rus-
sell, as follows, on
PREMIUMS AT OUR STATE FAIR.
It is generally understood that the principal objects aimed
at by the Minnesota State Agricultural .Society are largely
educational in their character — the bringing together of all
that is best and most fully developed in each particular line of
agriculture in this and adjoining States. Those who have
attended the State Fair for a number of years can not fail to
be impressed with the improvements that are apparent in
every department, and if they are at all observant they will
carry away with them some ideas that will be of use in the
particular line in which they are engaged.
It is from the standpoint of a bee-keeper, however, that I
would like to say a few words to those assembled here. I am
looking back to my first visit to the Fair, and also to my first
exhibit, and comparing them with the Fair of 1900. lean
see a vast gain for the better. It is true that some of the old
familiar faces are not to be seen any more, having laid down
the burdens and pleasures of bee-keeping, to be taken up by
younger, if less experienced, hands. Not being a farmer, I
suppose almost any one can grow good potatoes, cabbage,
onions, and all that sort of things, if he has good land to
begin with, but 1 need hardly tell this audience that the
inability to produce a really first-class article of comb honey
is something of which no one need be ashamed, for it requires
more skill than the average bee-keeper is possessed of, judg-
ing by the specimens that one sees offered in the honey mar-
ket. I think quite a number of those present will bear me
out in saying that there is a material improvement in this line
on honey seen at the Fair, and it is to be hoped that, as in the
past so in the future, bee-keepers will vie with eao'h other to
produce only a first-class article of both comb and extracted
honey, and that their best efforts will always be directed to
making a more creditable exhibit at the next Fair than at the
previous one.
One of the most important features of these exhibits is
the opportunity offered us of measuring ourselves with our
fellow exhibitors, and thus enabling us to decide pretty accur-
ately just what ground we occupy as honey-producers and suc-
cessful exhibitors.
Another feature of tlie Fair, and one not to be over-
looked, is the premium list. I find by referring to the
premium list for 1900 that the sum of .S281 divided into 79
premiums, comprises the list which is composed of ,23 lots,
beginning with the "most attractive and finest display of
comb honey." and ending with the "grand sweepstakes,"
which means the most attractive exhibition in this department,
all things considered.
In order to understand this matter properly it is necessary
to compare the Minnesota list with one or two others, whose
shows, by the way, do not come up to that of Minnesota by
any means, for instance :
Minnesota. lllbwifi. WiKconsin.
Finest display of Comb Honey ?12-8-5-3— 28 ?20-15- 5=40 .«8-4— 12
Finest display of Extr'd " 12-8-5-3—28 20-15-10=45 6-3— 9
Granulated Honey 5-3-1— 9 20-15-10=45
Beeswax 5-3-2-1—11 12-8-4—24 2-1=3
Honey-Vinegar 3-2-1— B 4-3- 1— 8
Extraoting-Frames 5-3-1— 9 .5- 3- 2=10
Nucleus of Yellow Bees 3-2-1— 6 4- 3- 2= 9 8-4—12
Nucleus of Dark Bees 3-2-1— 6 4- 3- 2= 9
Carniolan Bees 4-3-2—9 8-4=12
Total for bees. - - - 13 27 24
It will be seen from the foregoing that in some particulars
our premiums are considerably behind those of Illinois, while
they compare favorably with those of Wisconsin. For
instance, Minnesota pays a total of .$12, divided into six
premiums, for bees, while Illinois pays a total of $27, and
Wisconsin a total of $24, divided into four premiums. It is
to this part of the premium list that I would like to call
special attention. It is a well-known fact that a person can
always get just about what he is willing to pay for, and this
holds as good in exhibiting bees as in other walks of life. I
will venture the assertion that there is not a bee-keeper pres-
ent that would care to take a choice queen with a nucleus of
her bees, and shut them up in an observatory hive for a week
in an overheated room like that at the State Fair, for a
premium averaging from $3 to nothing. It simply will not
pay, and that accounts for the poor showing made at the
Fair of 19U0, and I consider the remark of the judges that
it was the poorest lot of bees they had ever seen, was per-
fectly justifiable. Were tlie same policy pursued with other
kinds of stock the result would undoubtedly be the same in a
very short time.
I hope that anything said in this paper will not be
regarded as a complaint against the premium list or any one
connected with the management of the Fair, for it is not so
intended. In the main, the premiums are liberal, that is,
while only a few bee-keepers make exhibits, but suppose 50
should decide to make exhibits, then there would not be
enough to pay the expenses of half of them. Should we ever
be blessed again with a good honey-crop and a pushing assist-
ant superintendent, it is safe to say that 50 entries would be
secured. While our present assistant superintendent holds
ofSoe I can assure you that there will be but very few bee-
keepers in the State that will not have an invitation to attend
the State Fair.
The Fair has been quite a success, its finances are steadily
increasing, and it seems to me that tlie time has come for this
Association to take some steps to secure more money for the
premium list. It is not my intention to say just what should
or should not be done in that line. My main object in writing
this paper is to outline a few of the more important features
of the premium list where they might be amended, in order to
start discussion : for I consider that unless the reading of a
paper does that it fails entirely in its purpose, for "In a mul-
titude of counselors there is safety." Wm. Russell.
Following this paper was one by Dr. E. K. .Jaques, on
"Bee- Keeping for Pleasure."
The election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as
follows :
President, Wm. Russell ; first vice-president, G. A. For-
gerson ; second vice-president, G. H. Pond : third vice-presi-
dent. Dr. Mary McCoy ; secretary, Dr. L. D. Leonard, Syndi-
cate Block, Minneapolis ; and treasurer, L. E. Day. Execu-
tive committee, H. 6. Acklin, Wm. VanVliet, E. K. Jaques.
L. D. Leonard, Sec.
Please send us Names of Bee=Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get tlieir
subscriptions, for which work we ofl'er valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending- in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
June 27, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL,
405
.^«>^:C^.^:C^<>^:C^'t^itJiC^^^k!
Contributed Articles.
"SsT^^^w^^r^^^^T'W'^srsr^'^T^'^K
Thick vs. Thin Brood-Frame Top-Bars.
BY S. T. I'ETTIT.
IWOUL,D like to reply to Dr. Miller and Editor Root, who
seem to be not a little excited over my article on top-bars
(see Gleanings in Bee-Culture, pages 227 and 380.) In
the first note the editor says, " We first tried top-bars that
were wide and only '+-inch thick. We had trouble from
such bars sagging, and the building of burr and brace
combs." In reply I wish to say, had these V-inch thick
and 9 8 wide top-bars been kept straight by some means,
they would have remained as clean as the cleanest the edi-
tor ever looked upon, I haven't the shade of a doubt about
it.
I can not understand how it possibly can be that the
editor's experience shows him that brace-combs are more
plentiful with the use of top-bars ;s-inch thick than with
%-inch thick. Can it be that the length of the Langstroth
top-bar allows it to sag when only --s-inch thick ? With all
due respect to the editor, I firmly believe he is mistaken in
that. My experience with ^s-inch top-bars covers a period
of IS or 16 years, and it is altogether difi^erent from his. I
have made many tests with the different kinds, so it is not
theory but long experience from which I speak.
On page 380, Dr. Miller says, " His strong point is that,
by having '4 -inch more depth, the space of IbOO to 2000 cells
is lost." Yes, that is my strong point, which I will take
further notice of later.
No, I did not make the mistake of reckoning that the
same number of bees were occupied brooding those sticks
as would be occupied in brooding '4 -inch depth of comb. I
neither thought it, nor said it, but this is what I did say,
"The saving of that space in each hive is a matter worthy
our best consideration." I think most bee-keepers will
agree that 1600 to 2000 cells in a hive are of more value
than useless lumber, adding weight and unnecessary
expense. I hope after due consideration the Doctor will
agree with this also.
Then the Doctor proceeds to use about half a column,
and proves nothing, except that he "don't know " what he
is talking about — it's all wasted energy. Further on he
says, " So if the prevention of burr-combs by deep top-bars
be all a delusion (which I do not believe)" — well, I suppose
I can show the reason why he does not believe it. He did
not make personal, practical experiments for himself and
for the benefit of the public for whom he writes ; but — well,
perhaps I can do no better than to give the words of Edi-
tor Root, as follows :
" Dr. Miller was greatly struck with the idea, and after
some extended correspondence with the Doctor we decided
that we would launch forth, for the ensuing year, the new
top-bar."
Then later he said that he and Dr. Miller had evolved
the new top-bar, by revolving around each other by the
coat-tail — a clear case of conviction and prejudice not
founded upon personal, practical experience, hence the
Doctor's complaisant "which I do not believe."
I quote from a letter sent me from the U. S. A., dated
April 4, 1901 ; " I have read with much interest your article
in CJleanings for March IS, and want to say that I endorse
all you say in regard to Zi'ide and t/tin top-bars ; and bot-
tom-bars '4 -inch wide. For a number of years I have been
using a top-bar '4 -inch thick, and 1 's-inch wide, and not a
burr-comb on a single frame in 8 jears' use." I may add
that a few days ago Mr. Cruikshank, who takes Gleanings,
and lives near me, called upon me, and in alluding to this
discussion said : "I use js-inch thick top-bars, and have no
bother with burr or brace combs."
But Doctor Miller says, "I still want the % top-bars for
the sake of having the sections so far from the brood-
combs that the bees will not find it convenient to carry up a
lot of black wax to spoil the snow-white sections." This
statement reveals the fact that the Doctor has not yet
learned all the valuable uses to which the queen-bar or per-
forated metal queen-excluder may be put. My practice is
to get the sections just as close to the brood as I can, pre-
serving all the necessary bee-spaces. To this end I want
thin top-bars. Then, to prevent the bees from moving up
dark wax, and to bar the drones with their filthy habits,
and the queen from the sections, and to restrain pollen, I
use a queen-bar, or, if you please, an all-metal perforated-
zinc queen-excluder, which has a '4 -inch thick rim and two
cross-pieces. This arrangement gives the same distance
between the top-bars and sections as he wants, with all the
advantages enumerated. But I would bring the sections
closer down if I could and not dispense with the queen-bar.
On page 380, Editor Root says, " It seems to me that
Mr. Pettit assumes, or indirectly assumes, that those 1600
to 2000 cells are lost because of the brood that might have
been reared in them." Exactly so, and that is what hurts.
Continuing, he says, "but it is very seldom that brood is
reared any closer than within an inch of the top-bar, with
ordinary Langstroth frames." If that be so then the man-
agement is faulty ; yes, very bad. Eet me explain by giv-
ing my practice :
All colonies, whether weak or strong, are kept warm by
a warm cushion over each. Then when the early flow sets
in, a super filled with comb is given to all the strong colo-
nies, with that warm cushion on top, and a queen-bar to
keep the queen down. Then the surplus honey will go into
the super, and the brood and pollen will generally fill every
cell to the top-bar, and of course the thinner the top-bar
the less the burr-combs and the more the brood. While the
weather is cool a few cells along the top-bar, especially
when the bees are not in the best condition, will contain
unsealed honey and pollen ; but as the heat increases brood
will come to the top-bars. About 25 or 26 years ago I com-
menced to use a cushion on top of my hives, and when the
comb or extracting super goes on, the cushion goes up. It
stays right on, summer and winter.
Mr. Root is just now finding out the benefits of a warm
cushion, and so mill it be with the thin top-bar; but I hope it
will not take a quarter of a century. Ontario, Canada.
Cross Bees at Swarming-Time, Etc.
BY WM. M. WHITNEY'.
SOME one asks why bees are sometimes cross when
swarming. Tell him to examine the hive they came
from, and if he finds little or no honey, the question is
easily answered. Who wouldn't be cross, crowded out of
home with the whole family in a starving condition ? Or,
possibly the swarm has been clustered a long time. Pull
one of the crossest ones in two, and see how little honey it
has in the honey-sac. If they have plenty of honey, they
are gentle as kittens — wouldn't sting if they could, and
couldn't if they would.
INTRODUCING QUEENS.
The communication on page 311, entitled. " Introduc-
ing a Queen-Bee," etc., is really amusing. The gist of the
whole article seems to be a posteriori attempt to show that
the honey-bee is actuated by pure, unadulterated selfishness.
Now, it occurs to me, that, taking the effects indicated in
the communication as causes, and reasoning a priori, it
would not be a difficult matter to show that the honey-bee
is prompted by the highest type of love and patriotism. A
colony of bees is very much, in many respects, like a com-
munity of individuals, in which individual rights and privi-
leges must be held secondary and subject to the well-being
of the body collectively.
Among enlightened and Christian people, places of
comfort are provided for the unfortunate and infirm ; but,
the time was when such persons — whether their condition
was the result of heredity, accident, or old age — were dis-
posed of in the most convenient manner possible, as
thought for the good of the majority. In fact, we occa-
sionally hear the thought expressed that such might still be
a good practice.
The community of bees, either by instinct — if any one
can tell what that means — or by some other power, seem to
know when any member among them has ceased to be of
use to the body as a whole, and take the only possible
means to perpetuate the existence of the colony. Why,
how long do you suppose a colony of bees would live, were
it to provide an asylum — to illustrate the idea— in the sev-
eral corners of the hive, with nurses to care for the worse
than worthless drones, the dear old mother-queens, and the
ever faithful, huX weak and worn-out workers? Does it
show a want of love, to do the only possible thing neces-
sary to preserve an existence ? How persistently the little
heroines defend their hearthstone against all intruders,
even to the sacrifice of life itself. How carefully they
406
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
June 27, 1901.
nurse and care for the younpf, from the egg to the emerg-ing
of the young bee, which is to perpetuate the existence of
the family in the same manner in which they are doing it.
Do not these acts imply the highest type of love and patri-
otism ?
But this is sufficient to serve the purpose intended ;
hence, I will not pursue the subject further than to add,
that probably neither position is wholly tenable, but that
the whole matter is governed by a principle, or law in
Nature, or evolution, if you please, which simply, in a
sense, means the "survival of the fittest."
One can scarcely refrain from admiration of the grace-
fulness of that stately old queen, as she makes her debut
into the residence of total strangers, and is so gracioush'
accepted, and immediately crowned sovereign of the realm.
Yet, it is a little surprising to think it necessary to
use a /if//f s7iioke just at the right time. It tends to divert
the attention ; to pervert the sense of smell ; to set the
whole colony to gorging themselves with honey, of course,
and, possibly, may have something to do in helping them
to form an opinion of the graciousness of her stateliness.
However that may be, try introducing this same old stately
queen into a queenless colony that has queen-cells forming,
however imperfect they may be, and note how little impres-
sion her stately figure and graceful movements make upon
the occupants of the hive. Try the same experiment with
a colony having the worst of all pests — laying-workers —
and note what will become of that magnificent old queen
in about a minute and a half.
My I But enough. Allow me to say, in passing, to
beginners : Don't try any such experiments with j'our
$200 long-tongued red clover queens. If j-on do, you will
have your disappointment and misfortune to remember as
long as you live. Yes, this reminds me, that there seems
to have been raised, simultaneously, all over this country,
during the last year, an immense number of l-o-n-g-
tongued queens. When I think of it, it seems surprising —
but, then, I don't know as it is either. My bees have
alwaj's gathered nectar from red clover. Now let nobody
build hopes high that he can get a $200 queen from me for
SO cents. I have none for sale.
My belief is, that such honey is of very little value
except possibly for brood-rearing. When a boy, as I got it
from the bumble-bees nest, while it was sweet, it was very
watery, and not specially of fine flavor. I believe in let-
ting the bumble-bee monopolize the red clover honey busi-
ness. Kankakee Co., 111.
Circulation and Respiration in Insects.
BY PKOF. A. J. COOK.
RESPIRATION and circulation, or the securing of oxy-
gen and elimination of waste, and the conveying of
elements from one part of the body to another, are
exceedingly important functions in all the highest among
animals — so important that we denominate the cessation of
these functions as death. A chicken in Michigan lived for
weeks with its head cut off. That part of the brain—
the medulla oblongata — which is the centre of breathing,
remained intact, and so the chicken continued to breathe,
and the heart ceased not to beat, and so the chicken lived.
Of course, it could do no thinking, nor could it walk ; but
so long as breathing and the circulation of the blood con-
tinued, we say the chicken lived.
In insects, and so in bees, respiration looses none of its
importance ; but because of its peculiar character, the cir-
culation of the blood becomes much less complicated.
Indeed, we may say that the respiratory system is inversely
proportional in its complication, to the circulatory appa-
ratus.
In us, as with nearly all vertebrate animals, breathing
is specialized, and restricted to narrow limits. The lungs
are the organs, and in mammals the thorax is their seat of
action. These limitations make a ver3' complete circula-
tor}- apparatus very necessary, and so we have the great
force-pump — the heart — the conductors leading from it, the
strong arteries ; the minute capillaries which unite arteries
to veins, and which serve to bring the blood close alongside
the tissues ; and the veins, the great conduits, that return
the blood again to the heart. The oxygen, which is really
the most important food, if we may so designate it, is only
received in any considerable quantities by the lungs ; (the
skin respires in a small way, and so we get a modicum of
oxygen through skin respiration) the blood then must have
two circuits— the one to the lungs to get this vitalizing oxy-
gen, the other to the body to give this same oxygen to the
tissues. Equally important is circulation, in bearing the
waste from the tissues, and equally important are the lungs
in separating this waste — the ashes of work, if we may so
speak — from the blood. In all these higher animals the air
comes to the lungs in a single tube — trachea — and enters
this either from mouth or nose through a single aperture —
the glottis.
When we come to insects, we find a very different
arrangement. The bee and all insects must have the oxy-
gen, and if very active, as are bees and all other insects of
their order, they must have a large amount of this vitaliz-
ing element, the most important food-product. The insect's
breathing-organs are not localized : they are everywhere in
the body. Nor does the air enter at the opening, but rather
from several breathing-mouths, situated in pairs along the
sides of the body. These spiracles, as the breathing-
mouths are termed, are doubly guarded, first by hairs, and
also by membranous valves, so no dust is likely to gain
access to the insect lungs, or, in other words, to the intri-
cate breathing-tubes. These breathing-tubes, or trachea;,
as they are called, branch and rebranch, so everywhere in
the body we find them. Thus the life-giving oxygen goes
everywhere in the body, and there is no need of a complex
system to circulate it.
These tracheal' are curious in their make-up. They are
made of spiral threads, lined with an epithelial or cellular
membrane, as are our own bronchial-tubes. Thus the ulti-
mate structure of the insect lungs is not essentially differ-
ent from that in higher animals. In both cases we have an
intricate and extensive ramification of tubules, lined with
a cellular membrane. The spiral thread which forms the
tubules in the insect respiratory system, is in appearance
and construction, as if we should wind a fine wire closely
about a lead-pencil, and then remove the pencil without dis-
turbing the wire. We note, then, that the insect's require-
ments are met in that air, or rather oxygen, is carried
everywhere to the tissues.
The circulatory apparatus, then, need not be very com-
plex or energetic. It has not to carry the all-important
oxygen. Thus we understand why the insect blood is not
red. Blood is red because of a coloring element called
haemoglobin. This is large in amount, which shows its
importance. It is emphasized as we know its function, and
it is to carry oxygen. In insects there is no need to
carry oxygen, as the air with its oxygen goes everywhere.
We understand, then, why insects have no red blood.
Were it there, it would be like Othello in the play — its occu-
pation would be gone. The only organ of circulation in
insects is in the heart. This is dorsal, and lies close along
the back. The blood in this always passes from behind for-
ward. Valvular openings along the side permit the blood to
enter. The heart contracts and sends this blood-stream
forward. It is emptied near the head end of the central
opening — the ctelome, as it is called. There are no special-
ized vessels to carry it back. It crowds along between the
visceral organs, and rushes into tlie tubular heart, to be
driven again towards the head. This heart action is to
keep the blood stirring, so that as active tissues take out
the nourishment, no portion may be depleted of nutritive
elements. All is constantly being mixed. And so all the
blood is kept as rich as any of it. Thus we see how an
intricate or elaborate air-system makes unnecessary a com-
plex circulatory apparatus. The machinery in all organic
nature is always simple, unless there is call for something-
intricate. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
Scientific Breedinj^ as Applied to Bees.
BY ARTHUK C. M1I.I.ER.
IN an editorial on page 355, reference was made to an
article of mine entitled " Scientific Breeding," and just
criticism was made of my expression, " Do not confuse
in-breeding with in-and-in-breeding." When writing that
article I had in mind in-and-in-breeding as that term is com-
tnonly understood, and I ought so to have expressed it. It
is commonly understood to mean the promiscuous breeding
together of animals closely related, and as the results of
this in ignorant or careless hands is generally disastrous, it
is supposed to prove that the breeding together of such
relations is disastrous per se. On the contrary, it is the
chief reliance of the skilled breeder for intensifying desir-
able tendencies.
The article was not intended to be an essay on thorough
breeding, but was intended to do exactly what it has done.
June 27, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
407
i. e., call attention to the then present status of the sub-
ject, and arouse interest, comment and study. The breed-
ing of stock in such a way as to develop and establisli
desirable traits, or, in a word, thorough breeding, is a sub-
ject on which many volumes have been written, and to
endeavor to give any satisfactory exposition of it in the
space available for an article in our bee-papers is impos-
sible. The best we can do is to call attention to the sub-
ject, refer those interested to the standard works on it, later
discuss salient points, and study it as applied to bees. We
shall certainly meet some variations of the laws applied to
higher animals, for with bees the drone does not represent
two lines of blood, as does the queen, and other factors are
also different and will require much study and research.
I believe the breeding of queens is passing into the
hands of a comparatively few persons, and these well edu-
cated and skilled in the art. It is for the best good of all
concerned that it should be so, and Mr. Martin's plan is in
this direction. For a time it may cause some personal dis-
tress and necessity for readjustment by those who have to
drop the business, but bee-keeping will be benefitted
thereby. It is only the working out of the natural laws of
specialization and the survival of the fittest. Those who
kick against it will only show their ignorance of great fun-
damental truths.
The exact details under which the system will be con-
ducted are properly a subject for debate, and the more full
the discussion the more readily will the change be made.
The average honey-producer is certainly not in a position
to study into the traits of individual colonies, nor when he
observes desirable characteristics has he the time or skill to
develop them. But if he can turn that queen over to the
queen-rearer with a statement of all the observed traits,
and of the pedigree so far as known, then is she placed
where the man with the time and training can observe, and
act on his observations. Suppose each of twenty skilled
producers were every season turning over to the queen-
specialist his best queen, would he not then be in a posi-
tion where, even if not able to control the drones, he could
produce queens far beyond anything we now have ? The
skilled queen-breeder of to-day need not fear this plan, for
if he is worthy to survive he will quickly find his place as a
queen-specialist. Rambler's plan is entitled to our serious
consideration. Providence Co., R. I.
No. 7.-
Pmctical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
iContinued from page 376.)
" ATOW, Mr. Bond," I continued, " if you will please
l\j come a little closer I will show you how I take a
super off the brood-chamber."
Mr. Bond took two or three rather timid steps away
from the apple-tree, against which he had been leaning
while I was explaining things, and then halted when he
saw me using my old chisel at one end of the super to
loosen it from the frames.
" O, come along I" I called, when a side glance showed
me his action. " These bees are as tame as kittens now.
They'll make no sign of a fight while they are full of
honey, you know. Don't forget that, Mr. Bond. And, let
me remind you, also, don't forget that you are wearing the
best kind of a bee-veil, and are at liberty to keep your
hands in your pockets, if you prefer to do so."
" As I was saying this I had reached the last frame in
my prying operation, and, as that frame stuck to the super
worse than any of the others, it came loose with a snap and
a bang, the usual result -with which all practical bee-men
are familiar — following so quickly that I hastily reached
for m)' smoker, standing near by. A few puff's of smoke,
only, were required to drive the out-rushing bees back. My
quick movement in reaching for the smoker must have
looked to Mr. Bond like the effect of sudden fright, for he
uttered a hearty guffaw, and then said, banteringly :
"Say, Mr. Gehring, how long will bees stay tame after
you've made them gorge themselves on honey ? Those in
that hive act as if they hadn't had a lick of honey to eat to-
day. Do you know that it is now 4 o'clock ? and that it
wasn't quite 2 o'clock when you left them to 'tend to that
swarm ?"
Mr. Bond was rig-ht. But I wasn't quite willing to
acknowledge that I had made a mistake by forgetting the
point he made. I, therefore, attempted no direct reply to
his bantering questions, but said :
" I'll show you in a few minutes, Mr. Bond, that these
bees will behave all right when they have become satisfied
that no harm is being done to them. If you'll come here
and take this smoker while I take the super off, it will be a
good lesson for you for future use."
Mr. Bond did as requested, and I continued : " Now,
when I lift the super the bees mav make another rush. If
they do, just blow a few gentle puffs of smoke over the top
of the frames — that will send them back. But if they make
no rush, nor act ' fightish,' don't use the smoker on them."
With a steady, even motion I raised the super clear of
the frames, and carefully deposited it on a near-by hive,
keeping a watchful eye, meanwhile, on the hive, and on
Mr. Bond in particular ; for I could not be certain what
either the bees or the man with the smoker might, or might
not, do. A few of the bees, either from the hive or from the
bottom of the super, of course took wing, but made no
vicious demonstration. Mr. Bond, however, did not know
how to interpret the actions of bees, hence he did not waste
a moment's time in watching to see what these flying bees
would do. Before I had time to turn, after setting the
super down, he was pumping the smoker with frantic
energy, and sending dense volumes of smoke down between
the frames of the open hive.
" Quit that, Mr. Bond !" I cried — not taking time to be
polite. " Stop that smoke ! Don't you see the bees are not
doing any harm ? Never use the smoker unless it is abso-
lutely necessary ! Remember that, now and always, Mr.
Bond. It has a demoralizing effect on them, and makes
them harder to handle, because smoke-treatment like that
frightens and irritates them. You can see that for your-
self," I concluded, pointing, as I approached the hive, to
the bee-entrance where the poor, confused little things were
pouring forth, in a frantic rush to escape the smoke.
" I beg pardon if I didn't do the right thing at the
right time," meekly replied Mr. Bond, as he handed the
instrument of possible torture to me. "But, you see,
these practical lessons you're giving me are hard on the
nerves — my nerves, I mean."
"That surprises me. Mr. Bond," I replied. "I always
had a sort of an idea that ' fair-fat-andforty ' people, like
yourself, carried their nerves out of sight and out of reach
of attack from any source. But let that pass, Mr. Bond.
The lesson is the important thing to consider, hence I am
not at all sorry that you have had a part in this 'little
fracas ' — as, I believe, you would call it — because you'll be
less liable to forget it."
" Do you mean the fracas, or the lesson ?" queried Mr.
Bond, mischievously. "I mean the lesson suggested bj'
the fracas, Mr. Bond," I replied. "The main point of inter-
est in the lesson is, the use and abuse of smoke in the api-
ary. Owing to the unintentional abuse — or misuse — of
smoke in this particular instance two undesirable effects, to
put it mildly, were the direct and indirect result, thus :
"Your furious bombardment with a bee-smoker dis-
turbed and excited a whole colony of otherwise docile bees.
That was the direct effect. The indirect effect of it was, or
is, that your lesson will have to be postponed for to-day. It
is now too late in the day to keep the hive open longer for
the purpose of demonstrating this part of the lesson.
Besides, it would not be wise, or even merciful toward the
bees, to trouble them further while they are unduly excited.
"You needn't keep your veil on any longer now, Mr.
Bond. There is no danger at all after I get this super back
on the hive," I said, as I was replacing the super, and then
closed the hive.
" That means, then, that school's out and I'm dismissed.
Is that it?"
"Not exactly dismissed, Mr. Bond," I replied; "fori
want 3'ou to come again as soon as you can, on a bright,
warm day. Remember to come as early as seven in the
morning, when yoa do come.
" By the way, Mr. Bond, lest I forget to ask you : Do
you take the American Bee Journal ? I name that, in par-
ticular, because I read it in preference to any of the other
bee-papers, and because I think it's the best in most re-
spects ; though others, as far as I know them, are good, too.
The fact is, bee-papers are somewhat like bee-men — they're
all good — some more, and some less."
We were walking toward the honey-house as I talked.
On the waj' Mr. Bond removed the bee-veil and carried it in
his hand until we had reached my work-room. I requested
him to take a seat, but before doing so he handed me the
veil, and then said :
" If you had asked me that question about the Bee
Journal the first thing this morning, I would have seen no
reason for hesitating to tell the truth about it. But after
408
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 27, 1901.
the experience I have had to-day, and the lesson I've had
in practical bee-keeping-, I'm ashamed to confess that I
have never taken the American Bee Journal as a regular
subscriber. The fact is— and perhaps I ought to be
ashamed of that, too— I've never before felt, as I now do,
that I needed a bee-paper of any kind. My good old father
never took any, and he got along- very well with his bees —
that is, I always thought so before to-day."
" You have done no worse in that," I replied, " than
hundreds of others are doing all the time, without ever feel-
ing a pang of guilt, or showing the least sign of repentance.
And most of them are otherwise good and sensible men and
women, too, Mr. Bond. The Missouri gentleman I told you
about was one of that class of bee-keepers. He sneered at
the very idea, when I asked him that same question I've
just put to you. But you know what he lost by being wise
in his oven conceit, if you haven't forgotten what I told
you about his bee-business transactions with me. Why,
Mr. Bond, that man actually laughed at me when I tried to
convince him, one day, that bees have eyes and could see
as well as he or I could. To prove that I was wrong he
stepped before the bee-entrance of one of his hives and said :
" Now. don't you see how these bees run against me as
they go and come ? Would they do that if they could see
me?" he asked triumphantly.
" Couldn't you convince him that he was wrong ? Or
didn't you want to?" Mr. Bond asked.
" My friend," I replied, " I didn't even try to do that,
because I knew that a man who refused to take a bee-paper,
not because he couldn't afford it— that's often a valid ex-
cuse— but because bee-papers couldn't teach him anything,
was too far gone in conceit to be cured, either by argument
or actual demonstration.
" No, Mr. Bond." I concluded, " it never pays to try to
get along successfully in the bee-business, on a large or on
a very small scale, without a bee-book to begin with, and a
bee-paper to continue on."
(To be continued.]
\ Questions and Answers.
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. MILLER, Afareng-o, 111.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.]
Exchanging Old Colonies With Nuclei.
I had a mind to form nuclei from a colony that swarmed
a week ago. Rather than to destroy queen-cells I thought
to form nuclei with them. Then to remove other hives and
place these nuclei in their places, but a friend told me if I
did, the returning bees would be likely to kill the bees and
destroy the queen-cells. Would that likely be the result ?
On going through it to-day I found one queen, but three or
four cells, and they all empty, so I could not have carried
out my project had I wished. It appears I got that idea
from Gleanings in Bee-Culture, but haven't it to refer
to now. Iowa.
Answer. — Put a nucleus with a young queen in place of
a strong colony, and there is danger that the queen may be
killed, but I think it would not be likely that a queen-cell
would be disturbed by the returning bees.
Effect of Too Many Stings May Have to Abandon
Bee-Keeping.
I have been keeping bees three seasons, and had many
stings. The spring of 1900 I was troubled with burning
and itching for about two months. I thought no more
about it, but last March I received quite a lot of stings on
the head and face, and now I am troubled terribly with
itching, burning, and breaking out over the body as well.
The doctors here say it is some kind of poison. I am 65
years old. What is my trouble ?
I visited relatives in east Virginia three years ago,
who have many bees. I had rheumatism badly, and they
assured me if I would get bees, and work with them, and
receive stings freely, the formic acid would certainly cure
me ; and to my hope I do not have any rheumatism now.
I have frequently thought if Dr. Miller would caution be-
ginners against too much bee-poison, it would have bene-
fited me.
Let me add that I at first rather encouraged stings.
Now I am seeking a remedy to eradicate the poison. I am
reasonably sure that tny blood is heavily charged with bee-
sting acid. I think Prof. Cook doesn't claim it to be formic
acid. Kentucky.
Answer. — Your case is a very exceptional one, and it is
among the possibilities that you may never be able to work
with bees without suffering too much inconvenience. No
remedy, however, will be needed for the stings received in
the past. It is not supposed that the poison remains in the
system, and all you need to do is to avoid stings in the
future. It is also possible that in time you may become
habituated to the stings so as to be able to continue work-
ing with bees. It will certainly be well for the present to
take some care not to have too many stings, at least until
you find that no serious effects result. If you find no abate-
ment with time, but every sting bringing just as much suf-
fering as ever, then your only course is to give up bee-
keeping entirely.
.*-•-#
Management for Increase.
As I am trying the Newman plan of increase it hardly
suits me, as he says to put the queen-cells on a new stand.
I wonder if that is what he meant, or is it a mistake in the
print ? He says remove the frame on which you find the
queen and three other frames of brood, and put into a new
hive on the old stand, removing the old hive to a new
stand, then put in a queen-cell 24 hours later. Don't you
think that would depopulate the old colony so there would
be danger of the cell getting chilled ? Wisconsin.
Answer. — There might be some danger in the direction
you indicate. Do this : Put the queen with half the con-
tents of the hive on a nevr stand, and a day or two later let
the two hives swap places, giving a cell to the queenless
part. In that case, as you put the queen on the new stand,
enough bees for safety will remain with her, and by the
time you make the exchange some of the bees will have
marked the new location so as to return from the field to it,
and the part without the queen will have learned their
queenlessness by the time the exchange is made, so that
there will be no danger of their deserting the brood.
Feed for Weak Colonies— Foul-Brood Question.
1. Is there a good substitute for honey with which to
feed weak colonies? If so, what?
2. In what way does foul brood manifest itself ? There
are young bees lying on the outside of some of my hives.
They are still white, and do not have their wings formed
yet. Pennsylvania.
Answers. — 1. Granulated sugar with water, or a syrup
therefrom, is probably the best. In the spring, after bees
are flying daily, almost any sweet that bees will take can
be used.
2. It is hardly the place to give here all about foul brood.
Consult your text-book on bees. But you need not fear foul
brood because young bees still white are lying outside the
hive. If there are only a few, it may be the work of wax-
worms. More likely, especially if there are many of them,
the trouble is starvation. In that case, you will find some
of the skins carried out with the insides sucked out.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
June 27, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
409
The Afterthought. ^
' Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Qla sses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
EARLY QUEEN-REAEING IN THE NORTH.
Swarthraore, you're a "clever chiel," but, all the same,
queens in the North are not eoing to be reared for sale six or
eight weeks ahead of natural season. The weather (we have
all found this a phenomenally backward spring) is a fearful
antagonist to buck against. Why, this spring seeds planted
in pots in the window, inside the house, refused to come up.
I suspect you would have had some fun making your colonies
rear many drones in March. I can readily believe that drone-
eggs would mostly get through the mails all right — except
when subjected to freezing. If I remember aright, those who
have tried to destroy drone-eggs and drone-brood, without
destroying the combs also, have found it a very ditticult thing
to do. But we'll give you a good, long credit-mark for your
experiments and success. A queen-breeder might think it
worth his while to gain a much more moderate time than six
weeks. And the amateur breeder might wish drone-eggs from
afar to cross stock on hand. Page '601 .
THIN BOARDS AND SECTIONS FOR KEEPING HIVE- RECORD.
Mr. Davenport's thin boards, 4x18, make excellent rec-
ords, no doubt ; and " sponging them off " with a plane, when
the record is no longer needed, is simple and effective. I use
for this purpose the broad side of a section— carry one or sev-
eral in my pocket — and renew the surface on occasion by
shaving it with my pocket-knife. Either his way or mine is
excellent to preserve things which are eventually to be put
down in a book. Quite inconvenient to be running to a book
to write as often as a poor memory demands. Say, dear
reader, don't you need a wooden pocket-book ? There's lots
of " money in it." Page 309.
APPLE-BLOSSOM HONEV.
Allen Latham's way (page 310) is all right to get choice
tit-bits for home table. Hardly do to amplify it so as to boom
the main harvest that way. A section two-thirds from apple-
nectar and one-third sugar-honey would be still more exquis-
ite than apple-honey pure and simple. Apple-honey inclines
to have a little too much flavor. He's right that it is delicious
the day it is brought in ; but I would hardly agree that it is
the only nectar good at once. He must have forgotten the
basswood. Probably no nectar whatever is fit to ieep if
extracted when only one day old.
FEEDING BEES IN .4. TOPLESS WIRE ENCLOSURE.
If it is really true that all that is needed to feed any col-
ony in the open air is a wire fence around it six feet high (top
all open to the sky), we certainly ought to know it. Very
uniiiue and remarkable gun for our arsenal. But let's not tell
our brothers that it never kicks till we have fired it off sev-
eral times with our own shoulders against it. You see, Mr.
Latham, you said the home bees quickly learned the way out
and in ; and it strained my believing " machinery " to believe
that robbers would not learn the same. But the more I think
of it the more I relent : and the bent machinery revolves a
little slowly in a jiggle-joggle sort of way. If it does work
as stated, at all times, and in other people's hands, the more
credit to you. Page 31U.
RIDDLE.
A living maehiae without a heart.
With no tender throb in any part,
Of iron rules a slave, I ween.
It bows at the throne of Kinir Routine;
It's born of the crowd, and dies alone,
.\uil spares no lite, not even its own.
I think it probable that W.W. McXoal is right in claiiniii!,'
that the bee is entirely destitute of love for any other living
thing. It has lots of love of country to atone for its lack of
personal affection. But when he comes to speak of the lice's
reasons for action he gets woefully beyond his depth, it seems
to me— as most of us do. In consciousness and mode of mind
action, living creatures differ much one from the other ; and
all dilTer, almost immeasurably, from the human creatnr<''s
way of thinking and feeling and intuition. A squirrel is
conscious that a surplus of food can be turned to future stood
account. Many other animals will wantonly destroy then-
own food (all but a few mouthtuls immediately in front of
their eyes) even with starvation as the very next thing on the
books. A swine likes a clean bed, and is conscious of the
personal rules required to keep it so. A cow equally likes a
clean bed, yet with disgusting unconsciousness defiles it and'
everything else in the vicinity. A man sees a fellow man with
a crushed limb, and is conscious of his pain — to such an
extent often as to be obliged to turn away his eyes. A bee
sees a fellow bee half crushed, and in all probability has not
the slightest idea that there is any pain involved at all. If I
am right, it is only in few and rare instances that a few of
the most intelligent of creatures have shown any comprehen-
sion either of death or of silent suffering. Many creatures
seem to be able to comprehend cries ot pain. Even the apa-
thetic bee is still a little in doubt on that point. Among swine
an angry attempt to silence the cries takes the place which
should belong to intelligent pity. As to the bees blaming the
queen for her sudden disappearance when caged, and remem-
bering it against her to punish her when she comes back, I
fear that is getting into a pretty high grade of comedy. But
say, in this matter of assuming that bees look from a human
stand-point, don't you go to looking my writings over to see
how many cases of it you can find ! Page 311.
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ \
Conducted bu Prof. fl. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
CLAREMONT A MODEL CITY.
We have a very exceptional society here in Claremont.
The motto of our college is, "Our Tribute to Christian Civili-
zation." The unwritten law of the college is, " No Tobacco ;
no lewdness." I rejoice to say that out of eighty graduates
which will be our number now in a few days — our first class
graduated since I came here in 189-4 — all but five went forth
as active Christians. Two of those five were members of
churches, and one of these is nov preaching the gospel ; two
others, though not professing Christianity, were very Intimate
with me. They possessed the Christ spirit in a^ marked
degree. Of our 200 students, one-half the residents are in
voluntary Bible-study classes. We see, then, that our unwrit-
ten laws are, and will be, more potent and influential than
written laws usually are. Thus it will be easily understood
why Claremont streets are so free of tobacco. Rarely is the
smoker seen, and almost never Is a young man, and never a
boy, seen with the insignia of slavery and short life — the cig-
arette— reaching from his lips.
I need not say that Claremont is a good, clean place in
which to bring up boys. The great army of smokers is not-
being recruited in Claremont. Every head of every home
circle wishes his boys — how good that I do not need to say
girls ; (God bless the girls, and help them) — that they stop
not with avoidance of the dirty habit, but work with all their
great power to keep the boys from its filthy clutch — to let
tobacco entirely alone. Even the man enslaved to the habit
hopes his boy may be kept from it. I never heard but one
smoker say that he wished his boys to follow In his steps. I
am glad Indeed that he was so exceptional. But there are
few Claremonts. And the great question is : How can we
keep the young from this befouling habit, that strikes even at
the very health and life of our splendid American boys?
And how from the other dangers that lurk to entrap and tar-
nish our dear ones ?
THE BOY AND THE GARDEN.
It has ever been true — it is true to-day — that Satan is on
the eager watch-out for idlers. He knows that they are easily
caught. To get the boy or girl thoroughly Interested in some
good work will more surely rob Satan of his power than
aught else. The home circle can undertake no more hopeful
or Important study than that which will employ all the hands
and moments of the boys and girls. Even the city will fur-
nish gardens. We all remember how the governor of Michi-
gan helped the poor by stimulating the growing of potatoes
on the vacant lots of Detroit. Can we as fathers occupy our-
selves better than in securing the garden, helping at first to
cultivate, to plant, and to glean? Let us Insist, however,
that It all belongs to the children. Let us praise the neat cul-
tivation, the straight rows, the beautiful, thrifty plants; and
let us so advise and direct that there may be no, or few oth-
410
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
June 27, 1901.
ers. Let the children seek the market, prepare the vege-
tables, etc., in neatest fashion, do their own selling, and, most
important of all, let them have every cent of the proceeds, to
spend as their very own. If rightly guided — and the thought-
ful home circle will always keep guidance in mind — the money
will not go for tobacco, nor nonsense. Very likely it will go
for books or papers that will guide to better profits. How
rich is the culture that comes from such a scheme, well and
successfully carried out I It will surely be the best school the
child will ever attend.
I believe in education. I am sure no class can have too
much. Were all our people thoroughly and wisely educated,
most of the evils of our present society would disappear. I
believe the educated
farmer may exert a
power forgood that any
man might .justly envy.
I talked this to my boy
long before he entered
college. I believe that
the teaching that fol-
lows boyhood is the
teaching that tells.
My boy, before lif
hardly reached h i ~
teens, had such a gar-
den as suggested above.
He also had a valuable
partner — his younger
sister. He also had two
very interested specta-
tors to advise, direct
and encourage. They
were the "tother" part
of the home circle.
That boy not only se-
cured spending money
— he got habits of thrift, of industry, of systematic work ; and,
best of all, he acquired such a love of the work, that he looked
towards agriculture during all his college course, and to-day
is an enthusiastic tiller of the soil. He has no use for tobacco,
and if he ever uses profane or unclean language, a knowledge
of the fact has never reached his father's ear. That little
garden was a garden indeed. In it grew richer and better
plants than celery or asparagus.
There are gardens and gardens. Setting the table may
be the garden for the girl, or she may have a veritable flower-
garden that perchance may take her into the sunshine and
pathway to robust health. We must secure employment for
our dear children. Their good and the safety of our country
demand it. He or she that lets the club, business, society, or
y^^k^MMM
fA
Bw 8fr IkI'^
!£!r
\I'IiRT OF MH. JOHX W. BAUCKMAN, OF FAIRFAX CO..
(See page 4ti2.}
even church duties, rob the children of the care and thought
that will secure to them habits of thrift, industry, and
" patient continuance in well-doing," is making a perilous
mistake. He or she who keeps the little hands wisely
employed, and the little mind interested in all that the hands
find to do, is the good angel of the child. May we not hope
that there will be just such good angels in all our home circles ?
May these good angels be so wise and happy that the work of
the child may be at the same time its best play.
MIMICRY.
I don't mean making faces. Bees and wasps are usually
beautifully yellow and often brilliantly striped. They love
sweets, and so gather
thickly about the nec-
tar - bearing flowers.
Two-winged flies hover,
and for like purpose,
about the same flow-
ers. These flies are
also yellow and beau-
lifully striped. Often
they are so like the
bees that only sharp-
est eyes can tell which
is fly and which is bee
or wasp. Why this
semblance in color and
markings ? The bee
and wasp have a sting.
The bird picks up the
handsome wasp only
to feel the cruel smart,
and spit it out, with
a lesson that will save
all other wasps from
attack bv that bird.
The fly has no sting. It could not hurt the bird, and doubt-
less would be a delicate titbit for bird or youngling. Yet the
fly has the wasp color, and the bird is fooled by this, passes
the fly, loses the tender steak, and so the fly owes its life to
its color-markings.
It is good to get our children interested in just such inter-
esting things that are thick all about us. The cabbage but-
terfly in its black-dotted robes of white drops its green eggs
on the green cabbage-leaves. Their green hides them from
bird and insect ; and so they are saved to life by mimicry.
The weasel is white in winter and brown in summer, and
so profits by its color. Polar animals are white. Who of the
children can tell why this white helps the weasel and the
polar bear?
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being- a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
The Combination Desk
J?c J?c and Book^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
Tlie Royal Star GoiiiDinallon ^
Game-Board Co., ^I^^?
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO. ILL.
Combined Desk and Book-Case
Size, 6<i-in. high. 36 in. wide,
19 in. deep.
Price, $13.7.5.
[The above firm is entirely reliable.
*«■ Please mention the Bee Journ
-Editor.]
Ladies' Desk.
Size, 40 in. hig-h, 25 in. w
in. deep.
Pi'iec, .$a.S.5.
June 27, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
411
$15,000 in Cash to be Given Away
2,000,000.voTz^
■ RECKON, IN OHIO,
MASS.. AND IOWA.
WMAT DO YOU ESTIMATE- ?
The Press Publishing Association will g^ive $15,000
in 1,000 Cash Prizes to those making the nearest esti-
mates on the combined Official Vote of Ohio, Massa-
chusetts and Iowa, cast for Governor on the 5th day of
November, 1901.
Estimate the total vote in these three States com-
bined for Qovernor and send your estimate and sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal, and you will re-
ceive a certificate, which will entitle you to participate
in the distribution of the $15,000 to be awarded by the
Press Publishing Association, of Detroit, Mich., to 'those
making the nearest estimates of the Official Vote for
Governor in the States of Ohio, Massachusetts and Iowa,
to be determined by the Election held on the 5th day of
November, 1901.
We have made arrangements with the Press Pub-
lishing Association, of Detroit, Mich., to enable our sub-
scribers to participate in the distribution of these mag-
nificent prizes, amounting to $15,000.
Until Further Notice, every
one who sends us a suffi-
cient amount to pay his or
her subscription to the American Bee Journal to the end
of this year (1901,) provided the subscription is in arrears
at least since Jan. 1, 1901 ; or to any one sending us $1 for
a year in advance of next Jan. 1, 1902, will receive a certi-
ficate which will entitle him or her to participate in the
distribution of the Prizes. No advance is made in the
price of our paper ; you get the certificate absolutely free.
YOUR ESTIMATE.— When you send in your sub-
scription you also send your estimate. Be careful to
write your name, address and estimate as plainly as possible. As soon as we receive your subscrip-
tion we will send you a certificate of the Press Publishing Association, of Detroit, Mich., contain-
ing your estimate, which will insure you any prize your estimate may entitle you to claim. We will
file a duplicate certificate with the Press Publishing Association. Every subscriber may make as
many estimates, and will receive as many certificates, as he sends dollars on subscription to the
American Bee Journal.
Valuable Information. To aid subscribers in forming their estimate, we furnish the following data :
PRIZES to be Awarded as Follows:
To the nearest correct estimate $5,000
IOWA
Our Offer:
The combined Of&cial Vote in these three States in
1891 was 1,537,493
1892 was 1,684,420 increase 9.S6 percent
1893 was 1,616,422 decrease 4.04 percent
1894 was 1,533,887 decrease 5.10 percent
1895 was 1,576,452 increase 2.77 percent
1896 was 1,926,71s increase 22 22 percent
1897 was 1,572,109 decrease 18 40 percent
1898 was 1,532,540 decrease 2-52 percent
1899 was 1,653,389 increase 7.89 percent
1900 was 1,965,610 increase 18.88 percent
The certificates of the Secretaries of the States named showing the
Combined Official Vote will determine who are entitled to the Prizes, and
the awards will be made within 30 days after the Official Vote is known.
The American Bee Journal will publish the names of the successful
Estimators.
Statement of Mr. W. A. Pungs,
President of the Central Savings Bank, Detroit, Mich. :
I Hereby Certify, that the Press Publishing Associa-
tion has deposited $15,000 in the Central Savings Bank,
Detroit, Mich., for the express purpose of paying the Prizes
in their contest on the Combined Official Vote of the States
of Ohio, Massachusetts and Iowa, and that this fund can
be used for no other purpose.
M^. e.
To the 2d
To the 3d
To the 4th '••■•• 500
To the 5th 300
To the 6th 200
To the 7th 100
To the 8th 75
To the9lh =0
To the 10th 25
To the next 10 nearest $lSeach= 150
To the next 35 nearest 10 each = 350
To the next 142 nearest 5 each= 710
To the next 160 nearest 4 each= 640
To the next ISO nearest 3 each = 540
To the next 200 nearest 2 e.ich= 400
To the next 200 nearest 1 e3ch= 2(.0
Total, 997 prizes, amounting 10 $12,800
In addition to the above Prizes, the following Special
Prizes will be paid.
To the person making the nearest correct estimate before July 10. ■ $1,000
To the person m.iking- the nearest correct estimate between July 10
and Aug. 10 700
To the person making the nearest correct estimate between Aug. 10
and Sept. 10 _5.'IS
Total, 1,000 prizes, amounting to S15«000
In case of a tie, or that two or more estimators are equally correct,
prizes will be divided equally between them.
SUBSCRIPTION BLANK.
Name.
State
President Central Savings Bank, Detroit, Micii. My Estimate
The cash must accompany your order. The American Bee Journal costs j-ou only 51.00 a year. You get the Certifi-
cate absolutely free. Address your orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie Street, Chicago, 111.
412
AMERICAN BEE TOUKNAL
June 27, 1901.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Amonii^ Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each: 6 for $4.ik;i.
Long-Tongued 3°Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
lOo inch. These are the red clover bustlers of
America.
$1.00 each, or 6 for $5.00. Safe arrival gnaratt-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
.^MANUFACTURER GFi^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
3-!raiiiG Nuclei For Sale
Can supply 100 or 15o at $2 00 each, with one
empty e-xtra comb; 2-frame Nuclei, $1.50. All
f.o.b. R. R. Bees on Langstroth frames.
W. T. LEWIS, Lewlsburg, Miss.
Money Order Office— Olive Branch, Miss.
24A3t Please mention the Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Book
Tennessee Queens
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
f
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3K miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 25^
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
ffith dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A26t Spring Hill, Tenn.
^^^^M^^^^^^^^^^^
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consigameat of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies oa hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. a. ACKLIN, Hanager,
1024 Miss, street, St. Paul, Minn.
$■3.00 to Buffalo and Return, $13.00,
via Nickel Plate Road from Chicago,
for the Pan - American Exposition.
Tickets on sale daily, good leaving-
Buffalo up to midnight of tenth day
from and including date of sale. Also
tickets on sale daily Chicago to Buffalo
and return at S16.00 for the round trip,
with IS-day limit, including date of
sale. $21.00 Chicago to Buffalo and re-
turn good for 30 days.
On all through tickets to points east
of Buffalo, privilege of stop-over at
Buffalo for 10 days may be granted by
depositing ticket with Joint Agent and
payment of fee of SI. 00.
Write John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
particulars and folders showing time
»f trains, etc. i . 11— 24A3t
Prospects Poor— Queenless Colony.
There is no prospt'ot of a honey crop here,
as it rains nearly every day, and all bees that
haye swarmed go strai^rht for the woods. We
had an open winter, and bees wintered with-
out loss. Four of my colonies lost their
queens, and have been robljed out. I
think it better it rolibers get started on a
queenless colony in the spring, to let them
go, as they are never worth trying to save, for
the bees are all old, and it spoils a good col-
ony to open the hive before fruit-bloom here.
C. G. ASC'HA.
Berkshire Co., Mass.. .June S.
45 Pounds from One Colony.
My bees are doing well, and I have had live
swarms so far this spring. I have taken
about 45 pounds of honey from one colony,
and there is that much more that is not quite
ready to be taken off. C. C. Yost.
Berks Co. Pa., June 10.
Has Had 3 Swarms Up to Date.
My Ijees are in good condition. 1 have had
three swarms up to date, and now have 20
colonies.
Most of my neighbors lost from 50 to 75
percent of their bees in wintering. The
honey-erop last vear was a total failure here.
J. H. Rupp.
Washington Co., Kans., June S.
Bees Wintered in Fine Condition.
We have 84 colonies of bees whieli came
through the winter in line condition, only
four being lost; but the spring being wet and
cold has thus far been very unfavorable for
them. We have had no swarms as yet.
Crawford Bros.
Oscoda Co., Mich., June 1.
Prospects of a Good Honey Crop.
The past year was very disastrous to the
bee-business in this locality, as there was no
honey gathered last season, and fully half of
the bees died of starvation. But the outlook
is good for a honey-crop this season, as white
clover is doing well.
I fed my bees last fall. I lost one colony in
eight through spring dwindling, and now
have 10 colonies, most of which are in fair
condition. J. Seibold.
Champaign Co.. 111., June 3.
Imported Queens— Transferring.
The weather has been so dry that the pros-
pect for white clover honey is slim. Bees
have built up quite well, and are ready for
work. There was considerable loss among
some of the bee-keepers here, one man losing
34 colonies out of "o. while others lost 10 or
12 out of 40 or 50. The loss was caused
mostly by the queens dying.
My imported queens wintered well. I have
received some more queens from Italy in the
finest condition of any I have yet had. It
pays me to get the best of queens, as it was
the imported stock that gave me all the sur-
plus honey I got last season* and it I get any
this year it will be from them, if strong colo-
nies count for anything.
Some bee-keepers stand up for the little
Ijlack bees, which may he all right for their
locality, but not for ours, or at least I have so
found it. I have three colonies of blacks on
trial that I transferred about two weeks ago.
I have read of a good many different ways
of transferring, so I will give my plan : I
first tit up a light board larger than the brood-
frames, by laying on it four or five strings of
Tni
Dittnier's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
T use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessarv to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Wl Wax Into Fonnflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
NO USE LOOKING
for Pa"H Poultrv Fpn-'f in hardwart- stores, they
dnn't keep it. See our nisi-ut. or writ.- iir.Hho.it It.
PA(iK tVOVK.NWlUK KKN( K CO., AIIKU.\, .llltH.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
Sample Sn-artbi
lizinif Box, bv ma
■ The SwAKTi
"jrt? Qoeen-i-'orti-
, 25 cts. Address,
lOKE Apiaries,
S\V.\KTHMORE, Pa.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
n^ool markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mentiou the Bee Journal.
Standard B6laian flare Book !
pages presents a
i.r and concise
itnientof theBel-
n Hare industry;
e"rowth, orig-in
nd kinds: the san-
on and construc-
lon of the rabbitry ;
election of breeding-
tuck care of the
uung- feeding, dis-
tases and their
keting-, shippiag,&c.
t irst edition of 50,-
(MHi copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation
Pric- lu Uandborae jiper
paid or with theAni-*rn,a
year — both for only il.iO.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, LI..
QUEBNS
Now ready to supplv by returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED 1 1 1
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the' GREAT HONEY-
GATUERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each; 6 for $4.(X).
RED CLOVER QUbENS. the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 5
for $5. Safe Akkiv.1l Goakaxteed.
C. H. W. WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2140 i; 2148 Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for 1 Root's Ooods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
June 27, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
413
ooiiinion wrappinif-twiue Ion;,' eiuiiif;h to tie
around the frame. Then la.v a frame on tlie
strings and take the ends of thestrin^'s that ari-
under the bottom-bar and lift them on top.
Against the l30ttom-bar of tlie frame on the
strings I la3' a thin strip of wood the same
width as the bottom-bar, and just long enough
to fit inside of the end-bars of the frame, and
I am then ready to place the combs in the
frame. I have them as near the full size of
the frames as the combs will permit, keeping
the combs against the top-bar, and then cnt-
ting them even on the lower side, so that the
strip that fits inside the brood-frarae will
touch the lower edge of all the pieces of the
comb, always fitting as nearly square as pos-
sible. In tying the combs in I press the strip
of wood firmly against the bottom of the
comb, so as to tighten the comb against the
top-bar of the frame, and hold it firmly till
my helper ties the strings, trimming off the
strings to within ^^ of an inch of the knot,
always having the knot come on the edge of
the top-bar.
I then take another board larger than the
brood-frame, and press hard enough with it
to level the " crinks '' out of the comb. I
next take the first board, comb, frame and
all, to the hive I wish to put the bees into,
put the frame into the hive, and proceed thus
until all the combs are used, and the work is
done for a week. After that length of time I
take the stick off, and what strings the bees
haven't removed, and as a rule I get as nice
combs as if the bees had done the work in the
first place, full sheets of foundation excepted.
It is always easiest to transfer during fruit-
bloom. ARTHfR A. HorsER.
McDonough Co.. III., June .5.
Cold Spring Hard on Bees.
I have had to feed my bees a good deal this
spring, because it has been so cold until now,
when they are beginning to store a little
honey. D. J. Blocheh.
Stephenson Co., 111., June 6.
First Honey Taken Off.
I took off my first section of honey to-day.
It is light amber, and has a very fine rtavor,
but I have had nothing In my past experience
that will aid me in determining what source
it was gathered from. Can you or your
Pennsylvania readers give me any assistance i
I planted two acres of buckwheat. May 24,
1900, and kept record of the work done on it
by the bees. Do you want the notes ? It was
successful owing to fortunate .showers, but
would not always prove so.
Bees wintered very poorly in this locality.
I have 36 colonies left out of 52, and all but
five of these are strong enough to store sweet
clover as soon as it blooms.
L. C. S.4LiSBruv.
Bradford Co., Pa., May 30.
[Perhaps some of our Pennsylvania siili-
scribers can answer as to the source of that
first honey.
Yes, we are always glad to receive notes of
an interesting or helpful kind, bearing on the
subject to which the Bee Journal is devoted.
— EUITOR.]
80 Percent of the Bees Dead.
This is a very poor year for honey in this
locality, and .SO percent of the bees are dead.
It is so dry that most of the blacks have
starved. 1 still have 16 colonies.
Geo. W. Shrader.
Carroll Co., Mo., June 6.
Comments on the Score-Card.
.\s a member of the committee on score-
cards. I wish to say to Mr. Hasty that the
reason why I ignore drones is because the
County and State fairs are lield in September,
andthe drones are mostly killed off in August.
I believe it is a rare thing to see drones in
nuclei in September, unless they are <iueen-
less.
To that item of "Color and Markings.'' 1
would prefix the word "Uniformity," so that
Lon^-Ton^ue Adels
BlAVER, P.A., April 4, IIUI.
From one 3-franie uucleus you seat me I took
213Ji pounds of e.\tracted honey.
Wm. S. B.^kclay.
Each Queen, SI.cii.
Essay, " How Not to Rear Queens," sent free.
24A4t HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal when •writinB
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported riothers.
Our stock is so carefully bred and selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality free
from foul brocd and other bee-diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, $1.00, 6 for $5.00; 1 tested
Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $S.0O.
ADA L. PICKARD,
l.SETt RICHLAND CENTER, WIS.
Vlease mention Bee Journal when -wrltine.
Gnld&n - all -
Queons, by r
The Sv
-er - tonir - To/ig-ued
[rn mail, $l.iM(, Address,
*THMOKE AriARIES,
SWAKTHMOKE, Pa.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing,
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson " no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptly for Untested Queeas
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.00 for 6, or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Atf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentior Bee Journal when writing.
ALBINO QUEENS I'^ZZTenl^'-.Z
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honey-gatherers you ever saw— try my Albinos.
Untested Queens in April. $1.00; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t d.D. GIVENS. Lisbon, Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
BEE
HIVES,SECTIOHS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalofr Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
6A26t Mention the American Bee Journal.
Send for circular S'^r°'-''«'^^
and most
improved and ortt.'-inal Biufrham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Ye-^ks the Best on Earth.
2SAtf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing
Low Rates to Buffalo Exposition
via the Nickel Plate Road. 3 through
trains daily, with vestibuled sleeping--
cars and excellent dining-car service,
meals being served on the American
Club Meals plan ranging in price from
35 cents to f I.nii. Chicago Depot, Van
Buren Street and Pacific Ave., on the
Elevated Loop.
Write John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
information and beautifully illustrated
descriptive folder of the Exposition
Buildings and tirounds. 11 — 24A3t
it would read " Uniformity of Color and
Markings," especially where the golden Ital-
ians and the leather-colored compete in the
same class.
I like to see the comments and criticisms on
the score-card, and hope it will be perfected
at the next meeting of the Association.
Juneau Co., Wis,, June 10. F. Wilcox.
Bees Numb With the Cold— Clovers.
Early yesterday morning (June !1) I noticed
bees around their drinking-places numb with
the cold. I have many times warmed up the
water to prevent them from getting chilled.
Last fall white clover was very abundant —
almost like blue-grass sod. But it was not
protected by the snow during the winter, and
much of it was destroyed. It is only to be
found in hollow places, and where it was
protected.
Basswood trees have no buds, as far as I
have been able to ascertain. Sweet clover is
very rank and abundant; the yellow variety
is gaining a foothold yearly, and its friends
are increasing. We have had no swarms as
yet, and there are no prospects of any.
Mrs. L. Harrison.
Peoria Co., 111., June 0.
Frost and lee the Last of May,
We had a frgst here last night, and ice
formed. Bees are killing oft drones this
morning. C. J. Anderson.
Cook Co., 111., June 1.
Influence of Queens.
D. B. Norton says in the American Bee-
Keeper:
It is a notion with me that a young Italian
<iueen from good stock is a panacea for all
Iwe-diseases. Many a colony dwindles in
spring, or is robbed during a dearth of honey
in summer because its (lueen lacked spirit,
either from age or some other cause. If you
would see the influence of a queen on her
bees, take the mildest colony that you have,
and also the most irritable, and exchange
their queens and note the effect SO hours after
the queens are liberated.
Wintering in an Inside Cellar.
Ira Barber claims that for the best success
in wintering not the slightest quantity of air
should be allowed to enter directly from the
outside, the slightest breath of outer air mak-
ing the bees anxious to get out. An experi-
ence at Mediaa makes Editor Root seem in-
clined to become a disciple of Mr. Barber.
Thirty-eight colonies were wintered in au in-
side cellar in the basement of the machine
shop. This basement (perhaps it ought to be
called a cellar) is SlixOtj feet, with a floor
above 7 inches thick, and inside of this was an
apartment .S feet square with no provision for
entrance of air only as it entered through
several thicknesses of heavy matting and
carpeting which formed one of the inside
walls. The temperature in the bee-chamber
stood at -ts degrees, and there was plenty of
fresh air in the surrounding larger room at 40
degrees or more, outer doors or windows
being opened whenever necessary to keep
down the temperature to 40 or 45 degrees.
Notwithstanding the bees were left entirely
alone, subject to the trampling of feet and
the rumbling of machinery above, the first
examination (Feb. 21) showed the bees per-
414
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
June 27, 19. 1-
1
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES J^A:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 11 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
BEST
1
Basswood m Alfalfa Honey
in faO-pound tin cans, f.o.b. Chicago — two cans in a box — at these prices : 9
cents a pound for one box of two cans ; two boxes (4 cans) or more at one
time, 8'-2 cents a pound.
We have only a limited quantity of the Basswood honey. Sample of
eitlier kind, postpaid, 10 cents. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicag'O, lU.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
• 4 /• w~> -«^ '»■> wax. We are payine
paid for Beeswax. * » -ly, c-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
MarshMd Manufacturing Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
I Red Glover Queens
long-tonguedIeesTre demanded now.
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium fop sending us TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for one year
(with $2); OP, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be
clipped, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
SI. 00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
feetly quiet and healthy— not half a pint of
dead Ijees were on the floor. In Gleanings In
Bee-Culture we are told how the hees came
out, as follows:
On the 1st, 2d, and 3d of May we took all
the bees out of the cellar under the machine-
shop. They were in tine condition, and ap-
parently iust as strong: as when they were put
in last fail, about the first of December, but
had little or no brood. They had been con-
fined just about five months. During all this
time they were very tjuiet. and the number of
dead bees on the cellar bottom was the small-
est I ever saw. Well, now for the results :
Our Mr. Wardell says that those colonies
are away ahead of the outdoor-wintered ones
of the same strength last fall. The larger
force of bees has enabled them to take care of
large ([uantities of brood, now that they are
outdoors; and the probabilities are that,
when the honey-flow comes on, they will be
worth nearly two of the colonies wintered
outdoors. We estimate that our outdoor bees
lost very heavily during the great storm of
April 20 — a storm that was a record-breaker,
and which wiU go down in history as one of
the heaviest ever known. While the weather
was not very cold, yet after the snow had
fallen the Ijees flew out on the warm days fol-
lowing, dropped on the snow, and never got
back. Thousands and thousands of bees were
housed during this big storm, and were not
put on the summer stands till atjout ten days
later.
Ira Barber, in our last issue, recommends
putting more bees in the cellar and raising
the temperature. Our cellared bees were
kept in a higher temperature than any bees
we ever wintered indoors : and they wintered
the best, irrespective of the noise above in
the machine-shop. But I am afraid that, if
the temperature had been as high as Mr. Bar-
ber recommends, they would not have fared
as well as they did. Nevertheless, we shall
test his ideas on a small scale next winter.
Co=operative Queen-Rearing.
The editor of the American Bee-Keeper
mentions the scheme of the California bee-
keepers to have one man rear a definite num-
ber of queens for the crowd at a cost of la to
25 cents each, but does not grow very enthu-
siastic over it. He says :
We have great faith in the possibilities of
co-operation ; but our prayer that Mr. Martin
mav live to see his plan in successful opera-
tion, we confess, is not Imeked by the implicit
faith which we should be pleased to entertain.
Principles of Breeding.
Like those who raise sheep and cattle, bee-
keepers are breeders of live-stock. The first
principle in breeding— the one which every
breeder accepts as sound and worthy of all
acceptation — is that "like produces like."
This is a rule as old as the Scripture that
aftirms its truth by asking, " Do men gather
grapes of thorns or figs of thistles*'' It is
even older, lor you all remember Jacob, the
thrifty keeper of the flocks and herds of his
father-in-law Laban, and how wisely he man-
aged the breeding, with the inevitable result
that " the feebler were Laban's, and the
stronger .Jacob's.''
We expect the offspring to be like the par-
ents. We are sure that the little will not
produce the great ; we are no less sure that
the large will not produce the small. We ex-
pect the striking characteristics of the par-
ents to be repeated in their children.
The first rule, then, to be kept in mind by
the breeder is, that to have the best he must
breed from the best. This is the law. He
who violates it suffers the penalty which most
of us must bear as best we can, and get along
with what is worse than the best.
But the law that "like begets like "must
not be interpreted too rigidly. Each of the
higher animals has two immediate parents,
and grandparents without number, and they
all have their influence under the same law.
The father and the mother are never exactly
alike, and the differences in the grandparents
June 27, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL.
415
are likely lobe ijreater itt iiuuilier, it not in
decree. You have seen children with the
appearance of the father and the disposition
of the mother — the outer characteristics of
one parent and the inner ciualities of the
other. One child may inherit the weakness
of the father and the strength of the mother:
another may receive the endowment of the
unfortunate, the imperfections of both; while
one in ten thousand may unite in himself all
the rood gifts which both his parents could
transmit. These choice products of fortunate
unions are the hope of the human race;
among the domestic animals they are the seed
and the secret of progress and improvement.
The great breeders of cattle, horses and
sheep recognized these facts, and realized
that it they would improve their stock they
must breed toward an ideal. To be able to
predict results, they must be able, in a meas-
ure, to control conditions. This control of
conditions in breeding means nothing less
than to control the mating of the animals.
Without such control there can be no system-
atic progress in breeding. The intelligent
breeder must know his animals, their weak
points, as well as their characteristics of
strength, and he must bring such animals
together as will neutralize each other's de-
fects, and accentuate the points of superiority.
I have spoken of heredity and ot what is
called variation. These are the fundamentals
in breeding. Heredity determines the type.
It holds to what has been gained. It declares
that the young shall be what the parents are.
Variation provides for progress. It does not
annul the law of heredity. It supplants it
and makes possible the improvements we
hope for. just as it has made possible the
development that has brought all organized
animal and vegetable life to its present stage.
Heredity is conservative, holding to the doc-
trine that it is better to retain what is good
than to run the risk of spoiling it by strug-
gling toward the unknown. Variation is not
satistied. It insists on making experiments.
It has built the breeds.
The breeder has his evil genius. Heredity,
or conformity to type, is at the bottom of his
business. Given the breed or type suited to
the man and the situation, and heredity will
keep it substantially as it finds it. Given a
man who is a real breeder, and he will take
advantage of heredity and variation, and im-
prove his animals by selection, by In-and-in
breeding, by cross-breeding, and by feeding
and care. All the while he must guard against
his evil genius, which the wise men call
atavism or reversion. Every observant
breeder has seen its effects. It is also called
'■ breeding back," " crying back," " throwing
back," and other self-e.\plaining names.
Some otyou, no doubt, have supposed that
I would speak ot breeding bees or breeding
queens. How could I, knowing nothing on
the subject '. To open the subject for discus-
sion, let me ask a few questions, first remind-
ing you that I have already called attention
to the necessity of controlling conditions in
breeding.
There are many who advertise tested
queens and inire queens of the several well-
known strains, and I believe that there are
some who advertise pedigreed queens. Do
you know any breeder who controls the mat-
ing of his queens '. Do you know any one
who can say with confidence that his queens
have been fertilized by strong, healthy
drones from colonies that are "successful
honey-producers * Or, is it true that the
breeding of bees is practically natural > Is
it true, as I in my ignorance have been led to
suspect, that the breeders of queens for the
market are not true breeders at all — that they
are not sure of the ancestry ot the queens
they sell, and know nothing ot the mating <
Is it possible to control the breeding ot bees
and provide a pedigree that will be a trust-
worthy record along both male ami female
lines ; — Read by D. W. Wchikixg. at the
Colorado .State Convention.
■pOULTRT BOOK FREE, 64 panes, inustraled
X^ with 3 moa. trial Bubscrlption to our paper, ntc
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL. Indianapolis. Ind
Jmproi-ocJ Sn-ar(7i/iir»rt' f »fi,^>'^"- v.,^-
sc'r>' Oa;i-e, by mail, 75 cis..
dress, The Swakthmoke Ai
QUEENS!
Improved Golden and Leather-colored - Ital-
ians are what H. G. QUIRIN rears.
We have one of Roofs best long^-tongued Red-
Clover Breeders from their $200 queen, and a
Golden Breeder from Doolittle,who says if there
is a BREEDER of trolden bees in the U.S. worUi
$100, this one is worth that sum. The above
breeders have been added to our already im-
proved strain of queens for the coming- season.
J. L. Gandv, of Uumboldt, Nebr., wrote us on
Aug-. 5tb, 19{M), saying- that the colony having-
one of our queens had already stored over 400
pounds of honey (mostly comb); he states that
he is certain that our bees work on Red Clover,
as they were the only kind in his locality and
apiary.
A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has g-ood reports from
our queens from lime to time. We have files
upon files of unsolicited testimonials.
After considering- the above evidence, need
you wonder why our orders have increased each
year? Give us a trial order and be pleased. We
have years of experience in mailing and rearing
queens. Safe delivery will be guaranteed, and
instructions for introducing sent with each lot
of queens.
QUEENS NOW READY TO MAIL.
Prices after July ist:
1 6 12
Selected $ .75 $ 4.00 $ 7.00
Tested l.i.>0 5.00 9.00
Selected tested 1.50 8 00
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 3.00
Folding Cartons, with your address printed
on in two colors, $4.00 per 1,000; 500 for $2.75.
Address all orders to
H. G. QUIRIN, Parkertown, Ohio,
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.)
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. 14E13t
>i >ti >te. >!<^ >Ii. >te. >li. >li >ti >Ii >Ji >li >teV
IfiONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
aplete. Ad-
Flease mention Bee Journal when writma.
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. 1. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save y(JU freight, and ship promptly. Market price
Said lor beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
[. H. UUNT & SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writinp
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and (Jneens?
j.frame ^ucreus with Untested Queen, $2.00,
purchaser paying express charges.
Naperville, 111., May 28, 1901.
De.^rSik: — Bees arrived in g'ood codditioa.
Transferred them to hive and ^ave them honey.
Have reinforced them with hatching brood.
Are working when not too cold. Have right
color, and are satisfactory. D. B. Givlek.
I like your way of packing bees to express.
E. K. Meredith, Batavia, 111.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $.90 $4.50 $8.00
Tested 1.2S 6.50 10.00
SelectTested 2.00 9.00 16 00
Breeders S.OO
Honey Queens.
Untested $.90 $4.50 $8.00
Tested 1.25 6 50 10.00
SelectTested 1.50 7.00 13.no
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCMER, Pearl City, III.
26Etf Please mention the Bee Journal.
YELLOWSTONE PARK.
Extended tour, leisurely itinerary
with long stops in the Park. Private
coaches for exclusive use on the drive.
Pullman sleeping and dining cars.
Established limit to number going.
Escort of the American Tourist Asso-
ciation, Keau Campbell, (General Man-
ager, 1423 Marquette Bldg., Chicago.
Colorado and .\laska tours also.
Tickets include all Expenses E?erywliere
Train leaves Chicago via Chicago,
Milwaukee A- St. Paul Railway, Tues-
day, July 9, M:i1() p.m. 2hA2t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
Chicago, June 19.— New comb honey has not
yet reached this market. It would sell at 15@
Kic if choice white, and the ambers at 12@13c.
The market is entirely bare with exception of a
few cases of a lot that we had held for us, ex-
pecting it would be needed. Advices are that
shipments will be started by July 1. Very little
trading is being done in extracted, as large
dealers will not contract this season unless at
low figures; some sales of amber have been
made at 4!HS(ai5c for early autumn delivery;
white is held at 5>ic. Beeswax sells at 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Detroit, June 8. — Strawberries are taking
the attention, and very few sales of honey are
made, but prices seem to keep up on good' lots.
Beeswax in fair demand at 2~id'Z'<c,
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from J4 to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, June 14.— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm
weather very little call for it. Are expecting
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at (}ii@~Hc.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Omaha, May 1. — Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, June 1.— Extracted honey is ex
ceedingly dull and very little moving. Wequote
for the present: White, 65^(S 7c; light amber,
55^(a>6c; amber, sas'.ic. Some demand for comb
honey at unchanged prices. New crop is now
beginning to arrive from the South, and sells at
from 12(2il5c, according to rjuality and style.
Beeswax, 29c. Hildreth & Skqelkbn.
Albany, N. Y., June IS.— Honey market is
dull with no receipts or stocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R. Wright.
Buffalo, June 14.— No demand at all. Few
old lots here almost unsalable. When new is
ready it will sell moderatelv well at fair ooen-
ing prices. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at IS cents'for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25(3)300.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons A Co.
San Francisco, June S.— White comb, 11K@
12>^ cents; amber, 9@n.ic; dark, 6@s cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@0c; light amber, 4@4Hc;
amber, 3J^@4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Dealers are very bearish in their ideas, but
are not securing much honey at the prices they
name. In a small way to special trade an ad-
vance on quotations is being realized.
C.ali'tnmist f Hyon care to know of its
^aillUrnia l rtaUs, riowers, CUmate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agrlcultnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
PleP'^e mentioii Bee Journal -when writing.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SIZ MASS. AVE. INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
416
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
June 27, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAHi IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everythioy, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
Thk American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
tS" W. M. Geerish, East Noting-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal w>.en writina
LEARN TO SING
,V'l' IIOM K by my thorough nieth'^d
tntiiiiut,'. With my complete
iir.so 1 guarantee to train and dil-
ate your voice or refund your
iiiey. The best musical knowledge
arraaged especially for Home btady,
Una IMffhefit EndOFBemeot. Beautifal
descriptive bockletBent free. Addrtba
Prof. G. M. Whaley. Kalamazoo, Mich
Please mention ±See Joiirnd.i ■wnen "writiae..
ITflLlflN QUEENS, warranted
Tested. $1.00; Untested, TScents, by return mail.
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
21Atf RivEK Forest, Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
sWilTCLOVlR
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
2.80
6.25
12.00
1.70
3.75
7.00
1.70
4.00
7.«)
1.4<l
3.25
6.00
.50
1.00
1.60
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft lOtb 2Sft soft
Sweet Clover (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (vellow).... $1.50 " " "
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & GO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I AEISE
LDc x>t,ii juuKNAL, xnai
DOOUTTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in theirseason
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices:
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Hease mention Bee Journal wlien writing, i
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation, year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY.
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
^^
Why does it sell
so well ?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Jonrnal %«■!!«» wntiu^.
A Bee=Keeper's Paradise.
En route to El Paso. — I have just come from a county about
40 miles square that has more bee-keepers to the square mile tha^
any other locality of its size I ever visited. The inhabitants talk
bees at the hotels, on the streets, and everywhere, just as farm-
ers talk crops and business in the North. This county produces
more honey than any equal area, I believe, in the United States.
Some say that its yearly output is a whole trainload of honey : but
many aver that this is too low, and that two whole trainloads
would come nearer the truth. Of course this great amount doesn't
go all in one lot, but in large and small shipments.
The average per colony is high, and there is a honey crop
every season. It is estimated that in this one county, outside of
the towns, nearly one-half the population are bee-keepers.
The great bulk of the honey is of the very finest, and some of
it is literally water-white. There are thousands and thousands
of acres of honey-plants on cheap land : and bees — there are not
enough to gather it all.
The bees commence swarming early in the spring ; and, when
the main honey-flows continence, actually stop swarming, destroy
cells, kill off the drones, and commence business. Did you ever
hear the like of it before ? You say, " No, and no one else."
Well, I think I can prove every statement ; but for the present I
am not at liberty to give the place or other details ; but very
shortly I'll tell the whole story, with some fine pictures.
This is only one of the good things in store for readers of
tileanings in Bee-Culture. Send 15 cents for three months' trial
or 25 cents for six months' trial, or $1.00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian Queen. Send S2.00 and we will send Gleanings one
year and one of our Red Clover Oueens. Speak quick if you want
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 'tml'lSSlSLT-
headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
d to them for their free Catalog.
ivjAERie^/V
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JULY 4, 1901,
FORTV-FIRST YEAR
No. 27.
.k^^^-'Y% , [weekly
^#=-
"*hv . C
IM
1
rm:T^-^'r^^ -m^ ■
MH. TOPIELD LEHMAN HIVING A SWARM ON THE RASPBEKKY
BUSHES. — (Seejpage 418.)
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
July 4, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Ghicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Oflice at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Geobge W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) nenartment
E.E. Hasty. h Frm"
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editois.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price o( this Journal
is S^l.UO a year, iu the United States. Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 5(1 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The ■Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
*'dec01" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newman,
g. m. doolittle,
W. r. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. Aikin, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
irer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
5t^" It more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and fretiuently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to Ijee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I >Veelily Budget. |
r. Mehring, of Germany, the inventor of
comb foundation, is also the first one who
ever transferred larv.-e. He described the
method and his experience minutely in the
Dorf-Zeitung for ISBC. — Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture.
Dr. C. C. Miller, of McHenry Co., 111.,
wrote us as follows, June 35:
Yesterday the 100 degree mark was reached,
which is just the thing for bee-weather, only
we need rain. We started in the season witli
a shortage, and have never caught up. Red
clover leaves curl up with the drouth.
Mr. R. V. Goss, of Jasper Co., Ala., has
sent us a picture of his home bee-yard, called
■• Wildwood Apiary," which will be found on
page 426 of this number. Mr. Goss keeps
bees for pleasure, preferring them to horses,
dogs, etc. The people seen in the engraving
are Mr. Goss and his two little " queens" —
Mabel and Lois.
W. Wankler, of Germany, makes the
claim in L. Bienenzeitung, 1893, page 112, to
have invented and used an implement of his
own for measuring bees' tongues, in 1882. He
says he exhibited the same at a bee-keepers'
meeting and exhibition in Frankfort, in 1883.
where he sold the instrument to Frank Ben-
ton.— Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Editor E. R. Root is at present doing his
work on the fly, and at long range. He is a
progressive editor, making a progress of a
good many miles some days through the
■'South countree." He complains that a 40-
mile rate of speed on a railroad with its
accompanying lurches is not conducive to
straight writing, but the lines in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture appear straight enough.
Mr. Tofield Lehman, of Fayette Co.,
Iowa, besides being a bee-keeper, is also an
amateur photographer. On the first page of
this issue, as well as on page 421, will be
found samples of his own work.
He began to keep bees in 1892, and has
been quite successful during all that time.
His bees have been working wonderfully well
lately, white clover being plentiful. He looks
for a good crop of honey this season.
Mr. 1 J. M. Rankin, the new foul-brood in-
spector of Michigan, is an energetic sort of
chap — one^who is bound to succeed in his
work. The Bee-Keepers' Review has this to
say concerning him : C^ C3JII73_[__ -l_l^^
oHe has nearly completed a course at the
Michigan Agricultural College, working his
way through, turning a penny in any way
that was honorable, even it not always so
uHe was one of the first, if not the first, to
call attention to the difference in length of
the tongues of different strains of bees, and
to urge the breeding of bees with this end in
view.
He is very enthusiastic in his work of fight-
ing foul brood ; so enthusiastic that, when
called away last year to help in its extermina-
tion in distant apiaries, he would go out
moonlight nights and shake off the bees, so
as to avoid trouljle from robbers. A man that
will do that is going to " get there." It is in
this enthusiasm that I build my hopes.
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:'^f,°' GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, ^laiiiial of tlie Apiary,
■ BY
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sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fullv equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This lf)th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding-, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting ^IEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given !or TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new. subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bec Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every-
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, Ihh,
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, JULY 4, 1901,
No, 27,
\ ^ Editorial. ^ \
lOOO Members in the National Bee-
Keepers' Association ! Are you one of ttiat
"ten hundred r' If not, now's your chance
to be counted in the firat thousand. Read on.
The National Association of bee-keep-
ers meets this year at Buffalo, N. Y., Sept. 10,
11 and 12 — only a little over two months from
now. We have just learned that the Associa-
tion at present has a membership of about
800. We have long felt that it ought to have
at least 1000 good and true bee-keepers on its
membership roll. Why not make it that
number by the time of the Buffalo conven-
tion ; It could very easily be done, and in
this way ;
Let each of over 200 of the host of readers
of the American Bee Journal who are not
now members, send to us his or her dollar be-
fore Sept. 1, and the thing will be done.
Don't wait until the last week of "August to
do that, but send the dollar to us now. Upon
its arrival here we will forward it to Mr.
Secor, the treasurer, who will mail you a re-
ceipt therefor.
It seems to us that this ought to be done. Is
it impossible to have a national organization
of bee-keepers in this country with a member-
ship of 1000 ; If so, we are done with the
whole thing. But we believe it can be done.
We are certain that with the matter placed
properly before the readers of the American
Bee Journal alone, at least 2000 of theui
would be glad to join the National Bee-Keep-
ers' Association, and thus aid by their influ-
ence and dollars the cause in which they are
so much interested.
We will begin to publish a list of nanus o(
all who send us their membership dues, be-
ginning next week (provided any come in by
the time our next issue goes to press), and
will continue to do so until the 1000 member-
ship is secured, or at least until the time of
the Buffalo convention. We have faith
enough to believe that there are i)leDty
among those who read these lines to raise that
membership roll above the 1000 mark. Is our
faith too strong? Wait and see — ajlrr yun
have sent us your dollar.
Of course, the foregoing applies only to
those who are not now members of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association. All such
are hereby invited to send on their dues to ««
at oiu-e, so we can begin to publish that list of
names next week, or at latest in two weeks.
Hurrah for 1000 members!
Pan-American Apiarian Kxhibit. —
We have received the following from Superin-
tendent 0. L. Hershiser, which he desires to
have read by the New York bee-keepers espe-
cially :
NEW TORK STATE APIAKIAN EXHIBIT AT THE
PAN-AMERICAN.
Nearly al! the honey in the New York api-
arian exhibit is to be replaced by honey of
this year's productiou, as soon as the latter
can be obtained from the bee-keepers of this
State. A goodly number of New York bee-
keepers are now represented, but it is desir-
able that many more participate. Let all bee-
keepers of this State, who are so fortunate as
to be favored with fine honey, both comb and
extracted, correspond with the superintendent
of the New Y'ork Apiarian Exhibit, with a
view to sending in an exhibit. There will be
absolutely no expense to the exhibitor further
than the extra pains he takes -to produce fine
exhibition honey, and in the extra care taken
to ship the same in a manner to minimize
danger of breakage.
Orel L. Hershiser, Superinteudmt.
1106 D. S. Morgan Bldg., Buffalo, N. Y.
Mr. Hershiser writes us that everything
points to a good convention for Buffalo. The
use of the lecture room, committee rooms,
etc., of the Buffalo Society of Natural Science
has been tendered for the use of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association, so they are there-
fore ready with a good hall. He believes that
entertainment will be reasonable, and looks
for a very large attendance. We hope there
will be even a larger gathering than met here
in Chicago last August. But that was a
record-breaker. Will Buffalo equal it ': Hav-
ing the extra attraction of the Pan-American
the Buffalo convention ought to equal the
one held here in 1893, during the World's
Fair.
Fat and Lean Bees. — W. W. Case talks
about this in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, ex-
plaining how it is that a bee-keeper may be
mistaken about the bees of a certain colony
being larger or smaller than the average. He
says that bees get tat or thin according to
food conditions, although the fattening pro-
cess does not enlarge the thorax. He might
also have added that a bee may increase per-
ceptibly in size within a few minutes by fill-
ing its honey-sac. He says :
In going through my apiary when honey
has not been gathered for a month. 1 have
often been struck with the thought, ■■ Are my
bees degenerating i" they seeming smaller in
apijearance than usual ; but after a week's
run of honey I am struck with the thought,
■■ What fine, large, sleek-looking bees they
Strong Colonies for Big Yields.—
More than one reason can l)e given why strong
colonies should be kept, liut it is a very hard
thing for a beginner to get away from the
thought of the numlicr (if hives he has with
bees in them rather than the total number of
bees in his apiary. Give him his choice be-
tween 10 colonies of 40,000 each, and 18 colo-
nies of 20,000 each, and it is quite possible
that he may prefer the latter. The 18 colo-
nies look more to him from the outside. It is
true that in the latter case he will have eight
more colonies, but he will have 40,000 less
bees.
Even some with more experience might
make the mistake of thinking that 20 colonies
of 20,000 bees each would store just as much
honey as 10 colonies of 40,000 each. Without
thinking, he may say, "There will be just the
same number of bees in either case. 400,000,
why will they not gather the same amount of
honey ?" Let us figure. Schachinger's ex-
periments showed that when
20,000 bees stored daily Ja pound of honey,
30.000 •• ■■ l',< "
40,000 •• •• 4 ''
According to that, a colony of 40,000 bees
will not merely store twice as much, but eight
times as much ! That does not mean that
doubling the size of the colony will in all
cases give eight times the stores, for a colony
of 80,000 bees would not be likely to store eight
times as much as a colony of 40,000, and the
ratio would vary as the size of colonies would
vary, but the general rule will hold good, that
in all cases there is great economy in having
a large number of bees in each colony rather
than to have them divided up into a number
of smaller colonies.
This matter will appear less strange when
it is remembered that a certain number of
bees are needed at home to keep up the heat
and take care of the brood, and the proportion.
of these will be less in a strong colony. It
can easily be seen that it will not require
twice as many bees to protect two frames of
brood as it will to protect one.
It is especially commended to beginners to
give this matter careful consideration, and lo
remember that their success does not depend
on the number of hives with bees in them,
but upon the number with a strong force in
each.
Placing Combs on a Wagon.— Con-
siderable discussion has occurred, especially
in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, as to the proper
way to place combs to prevent breaking in
hauling. All agree that on a car the frames
should be placed parallel with the rails, the
ends of the frames pointing to the engine.
As to hauling on a wagon, however, there
was not entire agreement. But a great deal
of testimony is to the effect that cither on
suiooth or rough roads the greatest joling is
sidewise, and that the frames shouhl be cross-
wise, with the ends pointing toward the
wheels and not toward the horses.
420
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 4, 1901.
I Contributed Articles.
" Jouncing " Bees Out of Extracting-Supers.
BY C. DAVENPORT.
THE editor of the Bee-Keeper's Review, one of the most
prominent men in our ranks, has said that freeing-
combs from bees is one of the most laborious parts of
the work in producing extracted honey. Probably all will
agree with him in this, for it is certainly a great deal of
work to brush the bees from each comb separately, and for
a number of reasons escape-boards are far from being as
satisfactory to clear full-depth extracting-stories of bees
as they are comb-honey supers. Why this is so I will not
take space to explain, for I wish to describe the method I
practiced last season, to clear full-depth extracting stories,
also comb-honey supers, and what I shall say about this
may, in my opinion, be of more practical value to many
who are engaged in our pursuit in a large way than the
subscription price to this journal would amount to in 25
years.
I feel perfectly free to say this, because the method was
not original with me, and I claim no credit whatever for
practicing and describing it. Rambler, of California, is
the man to whom all honor about this is due. and this mat-
ter illustrates not only the value of taking our bee-papers,
but also of reading all there is in them. For years I have
read those rambles of the Rambler, in many of which
there was little said about bees, or anything connected with
them, and in some of them he had more to say about girls
than about bees — not that I have any objection whatever to
reading about girls, (far from it,) but if it was otherwise I
should be many times repaid for reading all he wrote.
If some one was to offer me $50 not to practice this
method for 10 years, I would not think of accepting.
This thing, or method. Rambler called a "jouncer,"
and having, I trust, given full credit to its inventor, I will
describe my method of using his invention.
Mine is simply a box about 20 inches long, 12 inches
wide, and 10 inches high, ends made of lumber 1 inch
thick, and the sides of boards 'i-inch thick. That is all
there is to it — simply a box without top or bottom. Ram-
bler's was better, and made somewhat differently, but mine
works well enough.
The method of using it is to set it down in front of a
hive which has a super or extracting story we wish to clear
of bees. After taking off the cover and giving the bees a
few good, strong puffs of smoke, the upper story is taken
off and set down on this jouncer, so it rests across the
side pieces, which should not be over ';-inch thick. Now
by the cleats or hand-holes at each end, the super is raised
up an inch or so, and then suddenly dropped on the thin
side-pieces of the jouncer. This is repeated a few times,
and the results are surprising. With full-depth extracting-
stories a half-bushel or so of bees will be on the ground
around the jouncer.
As I have said, this is set right in front of their hive
and the bees soon crawl in. Until one tries it he would not
believe the ease and rapidity with which bees can be jarred
or jounced out in this way, after one acquires the knack of
doing it just right. It takes longer and requires more
jouncing to clear a super of comb-honey than it does an
extracting super, for many of the bees, when they fall
from the combs, strike the bottom of the sections, which
prevents them from falling out. With extracting-combs
there is nothing to prevent their falling out on the ground.
But most of the bees in the sections can be jarred out in
this way more easily, in my opinion, than the supers can be
cleared by escape-boards. Besides, what I regard as a
great advantage of this plan over escapes is, that the work
is done at once, in one operation. It is the method I
employed exclusively last season with all surplus that came
off the hives. And, seriously, I consider it one of the most
valuable things I have learned in regard to our pursuit in
many years.
Of course not all the bees can be jarred oft' in this way,
but near enough so I pay no attention to what are left.
The honey-house is right in the yard, the windows of
which are arranged to allow bees inside to escape, but they
prevent those outside from entering ; so after jarring out
in this way what bees I readilj' can from a super, it is car-
ried in, and what bees are left soon find their way outside.
When a large number of supers are carried in at one
time, they are piled cross-wise of each other. This is
important, to have the bees leave the supers and house
readily. When the supers are tiered up tight in the regular
way, many of the bees will range up and down the whole
tier a long time before they seem to feel convinced that
they can not find their friends and mother somewhere in
the piles.
I have seen it advised where the honey-house was in or
near the yard, to carry in the supers — bees and all — or at
least as many of them as would not readily leave by the
use of smoke. But this plan, as no doubt those who have
practiced it in a large way will be willing to testify, is a
very poor method to practice. It will work in a small way,
but when a good many bees are in each super, and a large
number of supers are carried in at one time, there is such
a mass of bees inside that they can not very soon leave by
an ordinary escape ; and when there are such great num-
bers they do not, for some reason, seem to wish to leave. I
have had large bunches of them hang around to the rafters
overhead for days, when there was nothing to prevent their
es:;aping, and after being thrown outdoors many of them
would hover around the door and windows, and again enter
if they got a chance. When such a great horde are carried
in, the noise and confusion that occurs, or something else,
seems to effect or derange many in some way so that they
take little interest in the world afterwards, or even seem to
know where they are or belong. Some may think that
these young bees are not old enough to know the location
of their hive ; they are bees of all ages — young, middle-
aged, and old — and during the working season it is not
difficult to tell pretty closely how old a bee is ; but the worst
part of this method with section-honey is that considerable
of it may be consumed and damaged by these bees that
stay in the house and supers so long, for they do not hesi-
tate to eat what honey they need, or rather apparently, all
they can possibly consume.
But what bees I can not jounce out leave the house
readily, and with extracting-frames what few bees are left
bother but little, even if extractingis commenced as soon
as the supers are carried in.
It would be natural for one to think that it would be
hard, heavy work to jounce in this way full-depth stories
that are well-filled. It is not, though, for a man of average
strength with 8-frame hives; and it is a great pleasure to
see the bees roll out.
Still, man}' who read this, and try the plan, may regret
that I ever wrote anything in regard to it, for by this
method it is a very easy matter to break extracting-combs,
especially new, unwired ones. I broke a number before I
acquired the knack of doing it right, and found out just
how hard a jounce new combs could stand. But this was
little loss, for I fastened them in the frames again with
twine, and the bees attended to the rest even to cutting off
and carrying out the strings after they had the combs fas-
tened.
Sections, the combs of which are but slightly attached
at the top only, can also be readily broken loose by jounc-
ing ; but I use bottom starters in sections, which insures
the combs being fastened to the wood more than strong
enough to endure what jarring is necessary to clear them
of bees. This jouncing does not need to be heavj- and
hard — a very quick, light jounce will accomplish more.
The super should be raised but sliglitly each time. It is the
quick, rapid jars that cause the bees to loosen their grip and
roll out. Southern Minnesota.
Prove Theories Before Acceptins— A Correction on
tlie Diciiel Tlieory.
BY F. GKEIXEK.
ON page 359, Prof. A. J. Cook gives us a very interesting
article on the Dzierzon and Dickel theories. After
reading it carefully I am satisfied that no one else
would write it as ably and use all the scientific terms cor-
rectly. The article contains two minor points which,
according to my conception, are not fully true, to which I
draw the attention of the Professor as well as the thinking
reader.
Prof. Cook says in regard to the queen laying ferti-
lized and unfertilized eggs : " The queen adds or withholds
the sperm-cell at will." It is pretty clearly proven by the
late experiments of Weisman, that the queen does lay fer-
July 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
421
tilized and unfertilized eggs, hut that she should do so at
will is nowhere proven, to my knowledge. It is very doubt-
ful in my mind that it ever will be. Without any fear of
being proven incorrect, I might claim that the queen al-
ways acts compulsorily, that she can not do any differently
than add sperm to the worker-egg, and withhold it from the
drone-egg. In fact, it seems more reasonable to suppose
that these delicate and peculiar organs of the queen act
involuntarily, the same as they do in other living beings.
We have heard it and read it so much, that a queen can
fertilize eggs at will — we have been brought up with this
idea — that we scarcely give it any thought. We take it for
granted that it is so. Where is there any proof? All we
really do know is that she lays both fertilized and unferti-
lized eggs, and places them in diii'erent sized cells, each
kind in a special cell ; but we jump to the conclusion that
she does it knowingly.
It is misleading to speak positively of a thing we do
not know. As long as we consider it a theory, an assurap-
PAKT OF HOME APIART OF T0FIEL11 LEHMAN. — See page 418.
tion, some inquisitive mind may be induced to ferret the
matter to the end.
As to the worker-bees determining the sex of the egg,
the Professor quotes and criticises Dickel as follows :
" Dickel thinks that they [the bees] add saliva [to the egg after it
has been deposited in the cell. J In ca6e he is correct in his observa-
tion, his conclusion that this has something to do with determining
sex does not follow."
On this point I beg to say that Dickel does nof claim
that saliva added to the egg determines its sex ; he claims
this for another secretion, the product of a special set of
glands (of systems II and III, according to Dickel), the
secretion of one determining the male, of the other the
female, the secretions of both systems combined determin-
ing the sex or nature of the worker. On this basis Dickel
attempts to explain how it comes about that abnormally-
built workers develop. Perhaps not many of us have
observed these funny-looking workers with a drone-like
head. Under " Questions and Answers," page 360, such
are spoken of. It would be interesting to know how the
queen that produced these bees would behave in some
other colony.
It is not my object to criticise Prof. Cook — I simply
wish to draw attention to these facts as I understand them.
Ontario Co., N. Y.
An Italian " Atlas of Bee-Culture."
BY C. P. D.MIANT.
MR. A. DE RAUSCHENFELS publishes in Milan, Italy,
a new edition of the magnificent chromos of the anat-
omy of the honey-bee, drawn by the Signer Clerici,
after the microscopic studies of Count Gaetono Barbo,
which were originally published some 25 years ago, under
the auspices of the Central Association of encouragement
to bee-culture in Italy. A copy of this work is before me.
The present issue, instead of being in detached plates, as
formerly, is in the shape of an Atlas (Atlante Di Apicol-
tura) and gives, not only the 30 chromos, in book form, but
also a descriptive text opposite each plate. In addition, an
extensive and thorough treatise on bee-culture, of the same
size, and containing 380 pages and numerous engravings,
accompanies the atlas. The title of the latter work is,
■' L'Ape e la sua coltivazione " — The Honey-bee and Its
Cultivation."
Although many have been the microscopic studies, and
many have been the publications on the honey-bee, nothing
more extensive and more accurate has ever been produced.
Girard's cuts, as is well known, are all reduced copies of
these chromos. Others have borrowed from them also.
The work is now in such a fine shape that it is to be
regretted that it has not been published also in a more uni-
versal language than the Italian.
The following is a synopsis of the contents of the
Atlas :
Plate 1. — A comb with worker-cells, drone-cells, queen-
cells, both sealed and unsealed.
Plate 2. — An Italian queen, magnified to 7 inches in
length.
Plate 3. — The head of a queen magnified to 2'2 inches.
Plate 4. — The genital organs of the queen, the ovaries,
ducts and spermatheca.
Plate S. — Eggs and larva;, highly magnified.
Plate 6. — The curved sting of the queen-bee. showing
the very diminutive poison-sac, and abortive poison-glands.
Plate 7. — The drone magnified to 6 inches in length
(Italian drone).
Plate 8. — The head of the drone, showing the large
compound eyes, ocelli, and small mandibles.
Plate 9. — The ocelli, or smaller eyes, of the drone,
magnified 45 diameters.
Plate 10. — Sexual organs of the drone, the penis,
sperm-glands, etc.
Plate 11. — The penis of the drone magnified 15 diame-
ters. Spermatozoa of the fertilizing fluid, magnified 150
diameters.
Plate 12. — The worker-bee, Italian.
Plate 13.— The head of the worker-bee, diameter 3
inches, the antenna magnified to 2^3 inches in length.
Plate 14. — The composite eye of the worker-bee magni-
fied to 4 inches.
Plate 15. — The tongue of the worker-bee, magnified to
a length of 7yi inches.
Plate 16. — The wing of the worker-bee magnified to the
length of 7'2 inches. This is hardly up to Cheshire's cut
of the same thing, as it does not show plainly the plait and
hooklets by which the parts of the wing are hinged
together in flight. This is most thoroughly shown in
Cheshire's work.
Plate 17. — Anterior and posterior legs of the worker-
bee. This is not quite so much detailed as Cheshire's.
Plate 18. — Main artery, which, as we understand it, is
practically the heart of the bee (Vaso pulsante).
Plate 20. — Salivary glands of the worker-bee. These
are the glands which are believed to help prepare the royal
jelly, and give the peculiar bee-flavor to honey. Much
discussion among scientists has taken place concerning
this matter.
Plate 21. — The breathing apparatus of the bee — air-
sacs, trachea?, and breathing orifices.
Plate 22. — Digestive apparatus of the worker-bee show-
ing the tongue and its appendages, the honey-sac, stomach,
Malpighian tubes, and intestines to the end of the rectum.
Plate 23. — Sexual organs of the worker-bee. Atro-
phied ovaries of a worker ; ovaries of a drone-laying
worker.
Plate 24. — The wax-producing organs.
Plate 25.— The sting of the worker-bee.
Plate 26.— Nymph or chrysalis of a worker-bee, during
its transformation, or metamorphosis.
Plate 27. — Microscopic view of foul brood, now called
" bacillus alvei."
Plate 28. — Magnified cut of bee-moth, miller and worm.
Plate 29. — Braula coeca or bee-louse, magnified. Also
mandible of fruit-piercing wasps.
Plate 30.— The death-head moth (Sphinx atropos), a
large moth which is said to enter the hives, in Europe, and
feed upon the honey in spite of the bees.
The price of the work, both volumes, is 12 lire. It
could probably be furnished to American students for
about ?3.00 per copy. It is a fine work of art, well worthy
of the country in which it has been produced — the birth-
place of fine arts. Hancock Co., 111.
422
AMERICAN BEE lOUFNAL
July 4, 1901.
No. 2.— Some Reminiscences of an Old Bee-Keeper.
BV THADDEl'S SMITH.
IT is not my intention to go into the history of the first
invention or use of the movable-comb hive, as I have
not the statistics, and it does not come within the scope
of these papers. Mr. Langstroth's patent, I think, was
issued in 1852, or about that time, and he admits that some
kind of movable combs were used in hives in Europe by
Munn, Huber, Dzierzon, and perhaps others, some eight or
ten years before his invention or improvements on the hive.
I have not even Mr. Langstroth's book before me to refer to
on these matters, and I do not wish to go beyond my own
memory, assisted by reference to some numbers of the old
American Bee Journal.
The invention and introduction of movable-frame
hives certainly created a new era in bee-keeping in this
country, and the introduction of the Italian bee about the
same time gave a still greater impetus to the business.
But the Italian bee would have made slow progress in this
country had it not been tor the movable-comb hive — proba-
bly it never would have been disseminated here at all to any
great extent.
When Mr. Langstroth offered the first practical work-
ing movable-frame hive to the country, involving prin-
ciples that had never been used in any hive in Europe,
there were many, I might say hundreds of imitators and
those who professed to have made improvements upon the
standard Langstroth hive by making all sorts of changes,
mostly of little, and many of no, importance ; and on
many of these changes and so-called improvements patents
were taken out when the only thing of real merit about
them was the movable-frz.me principles of Mr. Langstroth's
patent. Scores of these hives, patented and non-patented,
were offered and highly commended to the bee-keeping pub-
lic, the most of them taking the name of their introducer.
We had the Ouinby hive. King hive. Alley hive, the Flan-
ders three-cornered or Diamond hive, Thomas hive, Ameri-
can hive, Adair's "New Idea hive." "The long Ideal
Hive," Gallup hive, Heddon hive, and Price's Reversible,
Revolvable hive, and — I think I would better end the list
here, for time and space forbid the mention of all of them.
Mr. H. R. King was probably the most persistent of
these so-called new hive inventors, in trying to invalidate
Mr. Langstroth's claims to originality in his hive. He
made a trip to Europe and spent thousands of dollars for
the purpose of collecting evidence to disprove Mr. Lang-
stroth's claims. He found, as I have stated in the begin-
ning of this article, that frames of some kind had been
used by certain ones in Europe some years previous to Mr.
Langstroth's invention : but they all proved so different
from Mr. Langstroth's hive, and so crude in comparison,
that Mr. Langstroth's claims were sustained in the suit
brought to test the matter. N. C. Mitchell was another
hive patentee who violently assailed Mr. Langstroth's
claims, and established a new bee-paper for that purpose.
In the early seventies the battle of the bee-hive men waxed
warm indeed.
The onl3' hive besides the Langstroth, of the new
patents, that I was ever induced to try, was that of J. H.
Thomas, of Canada. Mr. Thomas set forth the claims of
his hive in numerous letters to the American Bee Journal
and other prints, and boldly stated that he had " the best
hive in America." About that time I had left "my old
Kentucky home, far away," and was located in the ijueen's
Dominion, on Pelee Island, and although I had brought
with me the Langstroth hive as made in Cleveland, Ohio, I
concluded to try the Thomas hive, and ordered half a
dozen.
This hive was an admirable adaptation of frames to
the form of the old box-hive — tall in proportion to length
and breadth, was well made, and of neat appearance. For
surplus there was the ordinary cap, covering a neat honey-
box with glass in each end. There were but eight frames,
and they were fixed so as to be stationary, but still by a
peculiar arrangement were very easily handled. It had a
sloping bottom-board with a lot of minor " fixings " of no
especial value. The frames, of course, were large. Soon
after this I became the owner of a Peabody honey-
extractor, and the Thomas hives did not suit me. I aban-
doned the use of them, although I had made a number
besides those I bought. There is one about now, in first-
rate state of preservation for having laid in the lumber-
room of my barn for the past 20 years ; others went for
hen's nests and chicken-boxes.
As so many were getting up new hives — patented and
non-patented— your humble servant thought he could get
up one, too — of course, an improvement on anything that
he had seen or heard of 1
I early became greatlj- interested in Mr. Gallup and
his writings, of whom I maj- have more to say under
another head ; and took his hive and descriptions for my
model — ivilh changes and improvements, of course .' May I
be pardoned for giving an extract from an article on "The
Hive Ouestion," printed over 30 years ago, descriptive of
my hive, as I wish to make some comments on it in connec-
tion with other hives. Here is an extract :
•' 1 have made a hive on the plan of Mr. Gallup, that I believe
possesses many advantages, and is capable of being used more way8,
with the same size frame for all the different stj'les. than any hive I
have seen described. The brood apartment is the plain box of Mr.
Gallup — 11 inches wide, 14 inches deep, IS inches long, or as much
longer as may be desired. The frames are hung across the narrow
way We can use this hive, 1st, as a simple frame hive with large.
room on top for surplus boxes; 3d, by extending the length to any
desired number of frames ; frames for suri)lus honey may be put in
each end for emptying with the extractor ; 3cl, it can easily be made a
two-story hive with tlie same size frames in the upper story; 4th, by
having movable side-boards it may be made a non-swarmer, on Mr.
Quinby's and Mr. Alley's principle, and piles of honey-boxes may be
put on the sides and top. I have one with 13 frames. 10 five-pound
boxes form the sides, and three r2-|)ound boxes on top — all enclosed
in a suitable case. From all that I have read on the subject of hives.
I think that I have hit the golden mean in width and depth. , . .1 call
this hive, with its non-swarming and box arrangements, the •Quim/iu-
plexal - Duplex- ('ombiuation- Xoit-pateuted - S uper-floora- Hoitey - pfoducmy
Him.' It Is said there is nothing in a name, but if I could only get
Mr. Price's ' Beverslble-Iievolvable ' attachment, with the privilege of
adding the name, there would be considerable improvement in adopt-
ing this compilation for the modified arrangement."
Of course the name was intended as a burlesque on
the many claims of some other hives. But I was in
earnest in thinking that I had the " golden mean " in size,
and a good thing in a hive that could be used in so many
different ways with the same frame, but I never applied for
a patent nor offered a hive or a " territory " for sale, though
I had material got out in the flat for 50 hives for ray own
use.
I had a hive made with open side and side-boxes, as
described — the non-swarmer ; I put two hives together end-
wise, and had the "long-ideal" hive. I put two side by
side, with one side of each open, and had the "twin hive,"
and by putting one on top of the other I had the two-story
hive, or three stories, if desired, as I have sometimes used
them.
I have recently read where the writer of the article
said in effect: "Before you go into side-storing surplus
arrangements extensively, first find out if you have the
side-storing kind of bees." I was not long in finding out
that my bees were not the side-storing kind, and all my
hives except the two stories went to the lumber-room. I
think some are there yet — have been for 20 years. I am
using some of these hives now as twostory — 25 frames for
extracting ; and they make good supers for my chaff Lang-
stroth hives. For better wintering I made some with
double walls with air-spaces.
I have found it to my advantage to use the extractor,
and these frames work well in it. I bought the Peabody as
soon as I heard of it on the market. It looks as if it would
never wear out, but I got a better one a number of years
ago — the Cowan reversible.
It is undoubtedly true that there have been many
improvements made upon the original Langstroth hive in
the first form given to us, especially the box that contained
the frames. The introduction of the extractor, the more
general use of section surplus boxes, and general advance-
ment that has been made in bee-keeping in the last half
century, demanded something different — more simple in
construction, and better adapted to present wants, but man-
taining the same principles of the movable comb that Mr.
Langstroth invented ; and the great majority of the hives
now in use have the same size frame, with the same rela-
tive proportions as first recommended by Mr. Langstroth,
and those in which but small changes have been made from
the Langstroth frame are in almost universal use in this
countrj'.
And where are the hives of King, of Thomas, of
Flanders, and of the whole list of these so-called improved
hives? Echo answers, " Where ?" We certainly hear but
little from them now through the press. And their makers
and inventors? Many no doubt, like Mr. Langstroth, have
passed over the border to the Beyond, where they are free,
we hope, from toil, envy and strife. And the rest of us
old fellows — their cotemporaries — must, in the nature of
things, soon follow. Ontario, Canada.
July 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
423
SwarminS— Moving Bees— Oiueens, Etc.
BY J. M. DAVIS.
*' T OOK ! thar's a whoppin' big swarm, whars ver cow-
1, bell? Guess I ken stop 'em."
"Ohl Tom, don't hop so excitedly, and don't
punch a hole in the bottom of my wax-extractor. Just let
them alone, and j'ou will soon see they will settle without any
music. Hand me that little wire cage off the shelf, and
come with me, no danger at all. See. here's the queen
climbing this blade of grass. Ah I that's accommodating.
Just to walk right into the cage, off the grass. See, Tom,
they are clustering in the top of that apple-tree ?"
" Wal, Kunnel. that's the fust swarm of bees I ever saw
stopped without a racket. Thet's the purtiest and longest
bee I ever saw, why, she is as yeller as gold. Wat was she
skirutin' in the grass fur ? Tho't kings went up with the
swarm."
" Well, Tom, you stick to your kings, loyally — but you
will have to desert your cullors. Queens rule here. I keep
one wing clipped off all my queens to prevent them leav-
ing with the bees. See this one has her wing clipped."
" I declar, the idee of cuttin' off a bee's wing. Sara
Jane cuts her chickens' and turkeys' wings off to keep
them out of the gardin ; but I never'd a tho't of cuttin' a
bee's wing. Whar's yer saw ? I'll jist clime that tree and
saw off the limb for you, Kunnel."
"Ohl never mind doing that, Tom. Please just help
me move the old hive back here — that's alright. Now,
kindly help me place this new hive in place of the old one,
there, now place the caged queen at the entrance over at
that shadv corner. You will now see how I hive bees."
"Yes, and I told you Kunnel, to let me rap on the old
basin, or they will lite out."
" No, Tom, you just wait, see they are coming down to
the new hive on the old stand, and are going in nicely —
now you may unstop the cage and let the queen go in with
them. See how quick she went in; now the job is done,
they will all be back in a few minutes, and soon be at work
again. I think we have given the imported bees time to
have their flight; so let's take a look at her ladj'ship, the
queen.
Why, yes, they are working as nicely as any colony in
the yard, although they haven't been here two hours. I
will first remove the screws that hold on this frame cov-
ered with wire-cloth, you see they have all gone down.
This frame is two inches deep, but when we arrived it was
full of bees clustered so as to relieve the brood-chamber of
as much heat as possible. In warm weather they need
fresh air, therefore when we move them far, an extra space
for a part of them to cluster in should be furnished, and
the hive covered with wire-cloth, then there is less danger
of overheating and melting the combs down."
" What's thet sponge for Kunnel, tha don't cypher do
tha ?"
"No, Tom, that held their drinking water, see [squeez-
ing] they used nearly all of the water. This enabled them
to keep the young brood alive during the journey. A few
folds of old linen, or cotton cloth, answers very well
soaked with water, and laid on the frames as was this
sponge.
These corrugated sticks were put in to hold the frames
apart, one at each end on top and one in the center at the
bottom. I will place them in this new hive as I remove the
frames and then I won't be bothered with the corrugated
stick on the bottom."
"Why, Kunnel, they seem to fit jist as well in this gum
as t'other. How did you hapen to git 'em so alike, four
hundred miles away ?"
"Tom, these hives are made and shipped all over the
<;ountry ; every piece fits any hive, no matter if you buy it
in Australia. It would be a great help to us for all bee-
keepers to use a standard frame ; and I will be glad to see
one adopted. See, here is the queen and a fine one she is."
"Thet's tru', Kunnel, she's a whopper, broader between
the shoulders and longer than t'other one, but not so purty
gold-like, as t'other one, and these bees are longer too,
but three strips of gold around them. T'other was nearly
all gold lookin'. Say, Kunnel, what on airth is she craw-
fishin' into thet cell fur, has she sot down to rest ?"
"Hal ha 1 why she is depositing an egg. Tom, see,
she is through, and peeping into other cells to find an empty
one — there, watch her."
" Now, if that ain't funny, didn't she hump thet long
back and crawfish as purty like. Say, Kunnel, I hev heard
-of hens layin' two eggs a day, but I never bleved they culd
doit. Look, thet old huzzy ishumpin' her bak agin. Well,
that's three in a minute and a half, is she all eggs ?"
" Very nearly so, Tom ; at least she can deposit from
three to four thousand eggs in a day of twenty-four hours.
You see, they do not stop at night. These eggs would
make a pile about as long as the queen I think."
"Gee, whiz 1 Wish we could get some Italian chickens
and geese and turkeys an' ducks. Can't you 'port 'em
Kunnel ?
"We could get them, Tom, but they would be no better
than yours, probably not as good. I see my wife at the
window waving her handkerchief, and here I've been over
two hours without going up to see whether she was dead
or alive. I became so engrossed with my bees that I forgot
everything, and I just now remember I haven't had my
breakfast and dinner. You see she pets me some when I've
been away."
" Thanks, Kunnel, I jist thot of it, Bil Johnsin sed he'd
cum to my house at ten o'clock to buy my yearlings and I
reckon he thinks I have left these diggens. I will hev to
hurry on. I got that ocypide with the bees that I forgot
everything 'cept Sara Jane, and I jes wish she war here to
see 'em."
"Very glad to see you take such an interest in them,
and you seem not to be afraid of them now. I will need
some help this summer, and if you can come over and
bring Jake to-morrow, we will extract some honey, and see
if I can't give you some further instructions. Say, Tom,
you need not wear out your cow-bells ringing down your
swarms, just spend that time getting your hive ready, and
you will spend it more profitably."
"Kunnel, I will be ded sho to come and bring Jake
to-morrow an' help you. Jake is a peart lad, jist twelve
yest'day an he's mity fond of bees. I see your wife
shakin' thet 'kerchief at you, and you had better go, or she
will be after you. Good evening, Kunnel."
"Good evening, Tom, I shall expect you."
"Good mornin', Kunnel, Jake and me hev been here
/zi'o /lOurs and Sara Jane she thot we would de late."
" Good morning, Tom, and Master Jake, I am especially
glad to see little boy bee-keepers. They make the best ones
in the end. Tom, you see the bees are cross early in the
morning. The sun has warmed them up now, so we will
get to work, everything is ready."
"Well, Kunnel, Jake he's mighty struck and ses he's
goin' to be a bee-keeper and get some hitalan bees."
"Alright, my boy. I will help you get started. Now
bring out the wheel-barrow, and nine dry combs, while I
start the smoker. I always have it handy — but use it as
little as possible. I find cedar bark, well packed, lasts
longer, and gives the best volume of smoke of any fuel.
Here is number one, see, I gently pry off the top, and use
just a little smoke, push several frames just a little nearer
together, so as to get room to draw out a frame without
crushing the bees. Now I give the frame a quick jerk,
which you see clears the comb of most of the bees, and
this long turkey feather soon gets off the balance ; now as
we have out three frames of honey, I will put in one of the
empty combs every time I take out a full one. Here is one
full of honey, but not capped ; we will leave that, as it is
too thin when not sealed to make a good grade of honey.
It is not '■ripe.' After extracting this honey, we will
exchange the empty combs with number two, for her full
combs, and so on through the apiary. Tom, draw your
honey-knife across the sharp edge of the cross-piece over
the uncapping can, to clear off the honey, and when the
knife gets gummy put it in a bucket of water, wliich dis-
solves the honey, and you will find that it will then shave
ofi' the cappings nicely. Here is a new tender comb, and I
will have to turn the extractor much slower to prevent
breaking the comb."
" Kunnel, sum of these combs are made of black wax,
and sum of white wax, whar do they get the different
culors ?"
" All combs are like this new one when first made, but
become black with age. I have old black combs just thirty
years old, but I get just as nice clear honey from them, as
from these new ones — besides they are tough and stand
more rough handling than new comb."
"Kunnel, here is a low gum. What we goin' to do
here ?"
" Let us see how they are getting along. Ohl nicely,
they are sticking on little bits of white wax along the top
cells, and are crowded with bees. Hand me that queen-
excluding zinc oft' the wheel-barrow, and I will put on
these freshly extracted combs, which will put them right to
424
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 4, 1901.
work in the super. Jake, you run up into the extracting
room, and g^et us nine empty frames for the next hive.
Well, this is the last hive, and we have taken about four
thousand pounds in ten and a half days. Now, I want to
arrange cells for a few hundred queens. We will not need
our smoker, as I do not breed from cross bees."
"Wat's them little yaller things vou're g'ittin,' Kun-
nel?"
" Queen-cells, Tom."
" They are mity purty, Kunuel. Does the queen stick
them on the little stick that way ?"
•' No, Tom, the queens do nothing- except deposit eggs.
My little daughter, Annie Dane, makes these for me, it is
just fun for her, and saves me a great deal of time, as I
use hundreds of them."
" Well, I declar, thet child is only eight years old, an
makes such nice little things ? Looks to me like it would
take a regler jueler to do sich work, how on airth does she
make them so thin and smooth at the mouth and so round
and nice?"
" I will lend you a book, written by Doolittle, that
explains this fully, and let me say right here, Tom, I would
not go back to the old method of queen-rearing for one
thousand dollars cash. That book is worth its weight in
fine gold."
" Well, Kunnel, I will put it under my piller every nite
and bring it back soon as Sara Jane and me and Jake reads
it ; an we will be mity proud to read it. Wat's thet quill
spoon for, Kunnel?"
" This is to transfer the larva; from the worker-cells to
the queen-cells. I will show you the modus operandi.
Here are eighteen cells in this hive nearly ready to cap
over. See, twelve are large and rough, four are smaller
and rather smoother. I alwaj's destroy such cells, so I will
take these four, and use their royal jelly to put in these
new cells — hand me the stick, Jake."
" Why, Kunnel, here's a worm in this one, is it a
moth?"
"No, Tom, it is a young queen, see I can throw them
out this way, and dip up a small quantity of the royal jelly
with my quill spoon, and place it in the bottom of the new
queen-cells, thus ; now, I have fixed thirty-two cells. I will
get the larva; from the ' Berberini ' imported queen. See,
I remove this dummy first, and find the queen."
"There she is, Kunnel, on thet frame."
"Thanks, Tom, your eyes are keen. You see I can not
afford to risk dropping so fine a queen in the grass or to
injure her, therefore I never take any chances. I will just
take this frame and leave her in the hive. See, here is
plenty larvK just the right size, about twelve to twenty-
four hours old. I slip my quill spoon under them this way,
raise them out and slowly lower them into my queen-cells,
until the point of the quill just touches the royal jelly at
the bottom, and by drawing it back, the little larvae sticks
to the royal jelly, which is in its nature glutinous. Now
all the cells on this stick have larv» in them. I will place
it between these two combs of brood in super of number
SO. See the stick fits tightly in this frame half filled with
comb, and the brood on both sides will help keep the little
queens warm, as the bees cover these combs all the time."
" Why, Kunnel, won't the little queens fall out, with
the mouths of the cells down thet way ? And how on airth
do you take little worker-bees an make queens outen
them ?"
" No, Tom, they won't fall out, the jelly holds them,
and its their nature to grow with their heads down. Never
horizontally, like a worker-bee. The peculiar food given
them in great abundance, and developing in large perpen-
dicular cells, transforms them into queens.
Now, that I have my one hundred queen-cells stocked
with larva:-, I will take out some ripe cells."
"Wat do you mean by ripe cells, Kunnel ?"
" A ripe queen-cell is as easily distinguished as a ripe
apple. See this stick of queen-cells. The points are all
light-colored and pointed, these will be not be ripe for sev-
eral days. Now here is a stick of cells that will hatch
to-morrow. See they have blunt flat ends that are brown,
and rough. The bees knowing that the young queens will
want to come out to-morrow, are helping them by trimming
off the points of the cells. I take them off the day before
they are due, and carefully place them in the half-inch
holes you see in this block, with the points resting on the
little wool cushions so as not to jar, or injure the young
queen. I have only twelve ripe cells this time. Tom, here
is what we call a queen-nursery, which is merely a very
small swarm of bees — enough to cover well, two or three
Langstroth combs.
See this patch of brood? I place the cells thus, jus
above the brood and press it into the comb. See, no dange
in pressing a Doolittle cell into a comb that way, but a very
light pressure would destroy a natural cell. This nursery
has been queenless two days, and will gladly accept the
cell. Now here is a nursery containing a queen that I wish
to mail to-night. Here she is ; see I remove the cOrk in the
end of this cage, and pick her up by both wings poke her
head in the hole from which I took the cork. thus. See, she
went in nicely, and to keep her there, I place the end of my
thumb over the hole until I can put in ten or a dozen work-
&rs' not too young. Now all are in, I replace the cork, tack
on the cover, thus. Now I will put on a one-cent stamp and
send them to the post-office. I will have to protect the cell,
or the bees will destroy it before they miss their queen.
This wire-cell protector prevents this, and by the time the
young queen emerges from the cell, they will have discov-
ered the loss and will gladly receive her. In two days she
will be laying and I will ship her, give them another cell,
and continue to do this until the season is over."
" Well, Jake, here is the new hive with foundation,
all ready to hive your swarm on. You shall have a nice
queen, a descendant of the Berberini stock. 'as soon as your
colony is ready for her, and I predict that a progressive
young bee-keeper will make his start with this colony." —
Progressive Bee-Keeper.
\ Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DTi. O. O. ailLLER, afareng-o, HI.
CThe Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Swarming— Long-Tongued Bees.
I take some encouragement from the letters of C. H.
Harlan and F. M. Creighton, page 396, in knowing that
sharp eyes are upon me with kindly hearts behind them.
Mr. Harlan's statement is exceedingly interesting, and I am
wondering whether he has exceptional bees or an excep-
tional locality. I wish he would give a little fuller light
upon it When he hives the first swarm in a new hive, if I
understand him, he cuts out all queen-cells but one in the
old hive, and then a little after this a swarm issues with the
young queen from the cell that was left. Now, how long
after the cutting out of the cells does this swarming occur ?
Then does he mean that from this same old colony a third
swarm will issue six or eight weeks after the issuing of the
second f
Mr. Creighton thinks that long tongues would be of no
advantage in his locality. He is no doubt in a very large
company who think only of red clover as the one honey-
plant to give value to long tongues. A correspondent in
the Southland Queen speaks of a honey-plant with tubes
so deep that the bees only get part of the nectar, and he
thinks long tongues are needed to get it. Mr. Doolittle
says, page 293, " long-tongued bees would be an advantage
to those residing where red clover and other long-tubed
floivers abound." (Italics mine.) Is it not possible that
these long-tubed flowers are generally distributed every-
where? Does Mr. Creighton l:now that within the range of
his bees there are no flower-tubes so deep that his bees can
not reach all the nectar in them ? If he does not kriow this,
then he does not know that long-tongued bees " would store
no more honey " for him. If he does know it, will he kindly
tell us /;oi£' he knows it? But I'll throw up my hat with
him, and hurrah for the bees that don't swarm, in prefer-
ence to the ones that get the red clover honey.
C. C. Miller.
Swarm Left After Being Hived.
At noon to-day I hived a large swarm of bees, then set
the hive beside the old one that the bees came from, intend-
ing, when I came home from the shop at n o'clock, to change
places with them, putting the new one where the old one
was ; but at 6 o'clock there were no bees in the new hive.
Do you think they went back into the old hive, or left for
July 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
425
the woods ? The entrances both faced the same way, and
were close together. The new hive contained full frames
of comb with a little honey in some of them.
Connecticut.
Answer. — I don't know, but I'm afraid they went to
the woods. At any rate, without knowing anything about
the cases except that 100 large swarms after being hived
had deserted their hives, I should feel pretty safe in saying
that not more than one or two of them had gone back to the
hive from which they came. You ought to be able to tell
something about it by the appearance of the old colony. If
the swarm did not return to it, the scarcity of bees ought to
be easily noticed. The position of the hive had nothing to
do in the case, except that it would help to make the bees
desert if the hive stood in the hot sun. The chief factor in
inducing a swarm to desert its hive is heat. Be sure that
the hive is very open at the bottom, and for a day or so it is
well to have the cover a little open, and if the hive does not
stand in a shady place use some means to shade it, if noth-
ing better to cover it with an armful of long grass or hay,
anchored down with two or three sticks of stove-wood.
Some make a practice of giving to a swarm a frame of
brood.
Self-Hiving Arrangements for Swarms.
Can bees, when swarming, be transferred to a new hive
by closing the opening in the old and new hive so as to be
queen-tight, except a wire gauze connecting the two hives
through which the queen could pass into the new hive, and
the worker-bees to pass out and in as usual ? If this plan
would not work at all, please say what the objections would
be. W.\SHINGTON.
Answer. — Several different arrangements have been
gotten up on the principle you mention. I don't know
enough to tell you exactly as to the objections, but I think
none of them have given enough satisfaction to be con-
tinued.
Are Bees Taxed in Wisconsin '
Are bees assessable for taxation in Wisconsin ?
Wisconsin.
Answer. — I don't know. A lawyer, or an assessor,
ought to be able to tell you. There is no reason why they
should not be taxed as well as other property.
Wants to Be a Big Bee-Keeper.
I am a boy of 16, and I love to handle bees. I have an
apiary of six colonies, and would like to enlarge it to 75 or
100 by next spring. I can buy bees in this county at from
50 cents to $3.00 per colony in box-hives, and I think there
will be a boom in bee-keeping in this part of the country in
a couple of years, as the common red clover has gone out of
existence, and the famous alfalfa is taking its place. There
will be thousands of acres in alfalfa. My apiary is situated
on the banks of Big Pipe creek, and its fertile valley will
yield acres of alfalfa. The farmers can't get a stand of red
clover any more, and almost every farmer has a patch of
alfalfa started for seed, and in three years the Big Pipe
valley will be all alfalfa. Will the bees work on alfalfa in
this country ? How can I start a big apiary here ? I have
the bee-fever, and nothing will stop it but hundreds of colo-
nies of bees. Maryland.
Answer. — Alfalfa is grown on a large scale in the
West, and many tons of alfalfa honey are secured, but I
have never known of its yielding honey anywhere east of
the Mississippi. To decide the matter for your locality,
wait till alfalfa has been in bloom a few days, then watch
to see whether bees are busily engaged upon it on bright,
hot days.
If you want to run your six colonies up into the hun-
dreds, it will be advisable for you to gain a full knowledge
of the business by carefully studying one or all of the books
on bee-keeping you can get, and also gaining practical
knowledge by actual work with the bees. By studying a
good bee-book you will learn something about the principles
of bee-keeping that will allow you safely to take into your
own hands the matter of increase if you do not prefer in-
crease by natural swarming. If you want to increase from
six to 75 or 100 this year, it should be mainly by purchase.
Aside from'what you purchase, it will hardly be advisable
for you to increase the six to more than 18, and 12 would be
better. Your increase of knowledge and experience should
keep pace with your increase in bees, if indeed it does not
outrun it, and unless you have had considerable experience
with bees it might be better not to increase this year, either
by purchase or otherwise, to more than 25 or 50. When you
have thoroughly studied your text-book there will be ques-
tions arising to trouble you, and it will be a pleasure to
help you out ^n this department.
Any Nectar in Mullen?
Is there any nectar in the mullen-bloom ? Iowa.
Answer. — I don't know. I never saw a bee at work on
it, but it is not plenty where I live.
Requeening by Hiving Swarms.
I have some colonies of bees that are building up
slowly, the queens being probably old or inferior. If I re-
move the queens and in a day or two hive a new swarm in
with them, would you approve or disapprove of this plan
of requeening them ? If it meets your approval, would you
give them a first or second swarm ? Pennsylvani.a.
Answer. — It would probably work all right. Unless
the colonies are very small it would be as well to use second
swarms.
*-•-♦
The Gehring Bee-Veil.
A correspondent writes in defense of the Gehring bee-
veil, referring to page 313, and says that he has used just
such a veil himself in the hottest days without inflicting
punishment on himself, and thinks it "the all-around best
for beginners." He says :
" A beginner doesn't want a patent bee-veil, nor an expensive
one, nor one that is hard to make, bunglesome to wear, or easily torn
when worn among trees and bushes. A veil, the whole of which is
made of bobbinet or cape-lace, may do very well for a regular bee-
keeper who has clear sailing every day in his'well-kept apiary ; but it
will not do so well for a man or woman needing one only occasionally,
and then perhaps in climbing a tree after a swarm. Did you ever try
a Gehring bee-veil, Doctor '. If not, your criticism is not up to your
usual grade."
I may say in reply, that I hardly see why a beginner
should not have the same kind of a veil as a regular bee-
keeper. The bobbinet veil I spoke of wearing is not pat-
ented, nor expensive, it is simpler to make than the
Gehring, and it is not bunglesome to wear. I suppose it is
more easily torn than cheese-cloth, but I have little trouble
with its tearing, even when climbing trees. I do not know
that there is likely to be clearer sailing in the apiary of the
beginner than in that of the veteran. The beginner in
bee-keeping is likely to have his place just as well kept as
one who has kept bees for years, and in either case I should
rather have a veil that requires care to prevent tearing,
than one that would be uncomfortably warm.
No, I do not remember ever to have worn a veil of
cheese-cloth. Neither have I ever worn one made of woolen
flannel. But I know without wearing a woolen-flannel veil
that it would be warmer than one of cheese-cloth. Do you
really think I can not know that a cheese-cloth veil would
be warmer than one of open lace-work, without actually
wearing it ? For me the most open veil I have ever worn is
a punishment on a very hot day, and I doubt that I am
more sensitive in that respect than most persons. So I
should not advise the general use of cheese-cloth for bee-
veils, either for a beginner or a veteran. If any one is so
exceptionally constituted that he will feel no inconvenience
on the hottest days from a cheese-cloth veil, by all means
he should use the closer, firmer material.
C. c. Miller.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper^
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering ,as rewards for
such effort.
426
AMERICAN BEE lOUPNAL.
July 4, 1901.
^ ^^ The Home Circle. ^ ^
Conducted bii Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
THE TRUE HOME THE CORNER=sfoNE.
I need not say in these " Home Circle " papers — I need
not say anywhere, for it surely goes in all our blessed country
without saying — that the true home is the very corner-stone
in every true society. The best society is builded on its
homes. The child that knows no home is bereft indeed. The
child that knows not the truest harmonies that alone can
make the true home, loses the best that can enter into the
life — the soul — of any child.
I dare say I have said all this in other form before. It
will bear repetition. I may wisely say it over and over. I
hope my readers may take up the song and give it warm, glad
utterance. Let us wake in the hearts and minds of all our
dear children, the idea of the blessedness of the best home,
that we may beget in them an absorbing ambition each
day to be the head or centre of the very best home felicity.
To this end let me have all your ears to-day as I press the
importance of our
SPEECH IN THE HOME.
I am a believer — a sincere believer — in prayer. The man
whose life is not braced and anchored in prayer lacks a best
help to make his own life superlatively excellent, and his own
home what the '-Loving Father " wishes it to be. I wish we
might all daily pray, "Oh, God, may the words of my mouth
this day and ever be such as becometh the gospel of peace."
Of course, good words mean a good heart. "Out of the abun-
dance of the heart the mouth speaketh." So we may build
onto that prayer, "Create within us a clean heart, oh, God !"
I am led to all this by the statement in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture that $l,(i59,5ti5,T8T is the annual drink-lDill of our
people. I hope Gleanings made a mistake. I fear it is all too
true. Oh, friends 1 is there not a terrible pathos in those fig-
ures ?
A woman comes to our house each week to help us. She
has great energy, has marked intelligence, and has a family
of bright, winsome girls. She has had a hell of a home. An
intemperate husband is her ill — her terrible — fortune. When
drunk he is a very fiend, and no one's life is safe. She loved
the father of her precious children. Over and over she
received him back as the prison-doors unlocked and let him
forth as sentence for repeated debauches expired. At last, in
sheer despair, she ha.~, with broken heart, sent him forth to
return no more. Who of us that have been saved from such
woes and anguish, can possibly appreciate the misery and
despair of those hearts and that home ? Who of us will not
say with deeper anguish. We will do even more to drive that
anachronism of our day and civilization — the saloon — from
our country ? And I wish here to speak of one way.
Do we Joke at intemperance ? Do we laugh and exclaim
In merry mood as the poor, besotted wretch passes us by? Or
the rather, does our face sober, and our whole demeanor tell
of our sorrow and regret for the fallen soul ?
Xot long since I was in a Los Angeles street-car. At a
stopping, we were brought to face a policeman leading a
young soldier in soiled uniform, who was staggering drunk.
His maudlin utterance and reeling gait caused almost all in
the car to laugh, and even jokes were made at this awful
sight. I wondered then — I wonder still — how any one could
even think to laugh. A soul on the down grade .' Or how
such a scene could suggest the lightsome word. I rode away
sorrowing, and have sorrowed ever since when the picture has
returned to memory.
Oh, can we not commence so early to impress our children
with the horrors of drunkenness, and the awful evils of the
drink habit, that they will not only abhor the saloon and all
its vile belongings, but will sadden, and sorrow, and speak
grave words, at sights such as I have just depicted ?
There is another evil greater than intemperance. It is
well called "the social evil," as all others sink befoie it. Yet
who has not seen the grimace, and heard the joke even from
lips that claimed to be those of Christian gentlemen? Oh!
fellow parents, let us pray, study, think, plan, that we may
so culture and refine our dear boys and girls that they may
ever walk in ways of cleanness and purity, and that they
may sorrow with unutterable sorrow as they become conscious
of the ruined, hopeless lives that cloud even our American
society. And may never help, by look, word, or act, to add
to the grewsome company that form the sorest blot on our
body politic.
CHURCH=Q01NG.
I hope there may not be too much sermonizing in this
manifesto to our homes. Nearly everybody goes to church
here in Claremont. The same is true of Pomona. I have
heard it stated that over 90 percent of the Pomonaites,
including children, are church-goers. Though Pomona has
several thousand people, like Claremont she has no saloon.
Church-goers and saloons do not flourish on the same soil.
One of our Claremont citizens is a nice man, and has a
nice family. His wife always goes to church. She formerly
brought all the children. I often remarked to Mrs. Cook,
" Oh '. that that man could see his mistake." Later the oldest
boy ceased to come with the mother. This summer that boy
with two others ran away from home. No one knew where
they were for days. There was solid grief in those homes.
Would not that father, had he gone to church, given the dear
wife the richest of comfort ? Would he not have been likely
to have received inspiration that would have helped him to
say better words and do better things before those bright
children ? Would he not, more than likely, have prevented
that sorrowful episode in the home that all felt to be a dis-
grace ?
Now I notice that the second boy is not coming, and only
the little girl keeps the mother company. Here, where nearly
every one goes to church, how easy to have kept the boys in
church and Sunday-school. We have a model Sunday-school
in which splendid men and women in prospective are being
beautifully fashioned. I truly believe that if our fathers only
knew how much such meetings helped to make grand men
and women, as well as beautiful and obedient boys and girls,
not to say worthy and excellent citizens, they would soon be
found of a Sunday morning leading tlie family to the house
of worship. And. oh I how that would rejoice the yearning,
longing heart of the mother.
Two years ago I stepped off the train in the great Grand
Trunk depot of Chicago. I had written our friend, Mr. York,
that I would come on that train. He had written me that I
was to wait till he came. It was in the early evening of Sun-
day. I waited long. It was not tedious. I never am lonely
in such places or at such times. The people, some good book
or magazine, always make the hours, like birds, fly by.
Later our good friend came. He was just from church,
where he and his delightful wife always aid in the worship.
God be praised that the old American Bee .Journal has a
Christian editor, who fears God and desires above everything
else to keep his commandments. This fact makes for the
refinement and betterment of every reader of our beloved
American Bee Journal.
-See page -418.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at fl.OO.
July 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 427
->^)
To Our Shippers.
Nos, 265=267 Greenwich Street,
and Nos, 82, 84, 86 Murray St., New York, KY.
Respectfully yours,
@
"^^ About May l.st last, we removed our business from the buildin,!j;s 120- V
^^^ 122 W. Broadway to lari^er and more commodious quarters at Nos. 265-
267 Greenwich St., and 82, 84, 86 Murray St., and we duly sent to our
friends in the trade a notice of our removal. Shortly after we vacated the
premises (120-122 W. Broadway,) one Joseph M. McCaul, rented a portion
"^^ of our old quarters, and huntr out a sign, " Hildreth, McCaul Co., Jos. M.
'^^ McCaul, Prop.," with other large signs to the effect that his business is
"headquarters for honey, beeswax, maple sugar and maple syrup."
The mercantile agencies report that Jos. M. McCaul is the sole pro-
prietor of the new business, and that he claims to have paid to one Henry ^
P. Hildreth (who has no connection with our business,) a consideration for
the use of his name.
We will not comment upon the act of leasing our old quarters and e.x-
posing thereon the sign, "Hildreth, McCaul Co.," further than to state
that we have instructed our attorneys to apply for an injunction restrain- g
ing the said McCaul from using the name of ' ' Hildreth ' ' in connection with
his business in any manner whatsoever.
We value highly the good name and business we have established by
many years of satisfactory dealing with our friends in the trade, and we
therefore send this notice so that you may not possibly confound us in any
manner with the so-called "Hildreth, McCaul Co."
(Jur firm name remains as heretofore, and all our business is carried ' ^^
on at our new quarters — ^(.
m-
Hildreth & Segelken. ^.
Wease mention! Bee .roumal when wnUng.
428
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 4, 1901.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising- Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writinK
The Aflierican Poultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Aiciitftliil ^^^^ is over a quarter of a
*'""' "<*' century old and is still grow-
ing must possess intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must be a valuable one. Such is the
AmeFiean Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturagre and Nectar-
Producing Plants; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal
Please mention Bee Jotimal -when -wrltine.
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHINERY
Read what J. I. PARENT,of
Charlton, N. Y., savs: " We
cut with one of your Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
50 chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a ^reat deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
nake, and we expect to do
rith this Saw. It will do all
'ill." Catalog and price-list free.
W. F. & John Barnes,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal when "writing.
POULTR? BOOK FREE, 64 paiies, illustrated
with 3 mo8. trial eubscription to our paper, lOc
INLAND POULTRY JODRNAL. IndianapoliB. Ind
tr'lease mention Bee Jovimal when writina
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
Said lor beeswax. Send for our 19<il catalog.
[.TI. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Journal -when writinp
you say i
Address,
YELLOWSTONE PARK.
Extended tour, leisurely itinerary
with long stops in the Park. Private
coaches for exclusive use on the drive.
Pullman sleeping and dining- cars.
Established limit to number going.
Escort of the American Tourist Asso-
ciation, Reau Campbell, General Man-
ager, 1423 Marquette Bldg., Chicago.
Colorado and Alaska tours also.
Tickets inclnile all Expenses Everywiiere
Train leaves Chicago via Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, Tues-
day, July 9, 10:00 p.m. 26A2t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
Prospects for a Large Yield.
Bees wintereil well thnuig-hout this country,
and are very strong, working on alfalfa aiid
cleome. The prospects are good for a large
yield of honey.
The American Bee Journal comes regularly,
and is a welcome visitor. W. H. Hough "
Santa Fe Co., N. .\Iex., .June 15.
No Neetar In White Clover Bloom.
We have the finest crop of white clover
bloom in this section that I ever saw, but
there is not a drop of nectar in it, and as this
is the only source lor a honey-How at this
time the bees are starving. There has been
just about enough rain to be seasonable, and
plenty of nice, hot, sunshiny days, and it
does seem as though everything wasfavorable,
but there is no honey. I would like to ask
the reason for this, if any one can tell.
M. D. An-des.
Sullivan Co.. Tenn.. June 1.5.
Queens Galore In One Hive.
On Saturday, June 1, 1 assisted a neighbor,
Mr. Balk, in dividing a colony of bees, divid-
ing them as nearly equal as possible, and
moving the queen from the hive to anew
stand. Yesterday two swarms emerged from
the hive on the old stand, one after the other,
each having a queen, and all being in the air
at the same time without mixing. Imme-
diately after hiving them he examined the
hive from which they came, and took from it
nine queens, three of which he brought to me.
Next.
If there is any bee-keeper who can beat that
let us hear from him.
My bees are working on red clover for all
there is in it. Wm. M. Whitney.
Kankakee Co., III., June 17.
Honey Coming in Fast.
The prospect is for a good honey crop. I
have 48 colonies, and 42 of them have supers
on filled with clover honey ready to cap. It
is coming so fast that 1 have two supers on
some of them to keep them going. I took oil
two pounds of comb honey and foiu" gallons
of extracted June 16.
Sweet clover will be in bloom in a week or
two. H. C. Finn.
Kane Co., 111., June 19.
An Aged Bee-Keeper.
Two years ago 1 had 24 colonies of bees.
This year 1 took eight out of winter quarters,
and have had two swarms.
I am in my 80th year, and like the Bee
Journal very much. Christ Blough.
Somerset Co., Pa., June 17.
Black Bees vs. Italians.
I expect to stir up a veritable hornet's nest
with what I am about to say, nevertheless
here goes :
In looking over the advertisements in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture and the American
Bee Journal, I can not help noticing that
everybody seems to be either rearing Italian
queens (and they are always " the best "), or
is just about to Italianize common black
bees. Now, I wish to make the assertion that
the black or brown bee are the best bees for
this locality, and for the average person who
keeps a few colonies and doesn't pay close
attention to them.
In the first place, they always winter better
here ; and the reason for it is that they have
more good, sound, common-sense, and use
more judgment, than the Italians, and do not
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale-Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL-
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Fonnflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal when •writing.
A SMALL SNAKE
may po thrnueh PAGE 25 wire -'^ inch Fence, but nc
rabbit, chicken, pitr, ho^, hnrse nor bull can.
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., ADRIAN,MICH.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
QUEENS
QUIRIN— The Queen-Breeder — has
now oa hand, ready to mail, 500 youdgr. lon^-
tongued Red Clover Queens, Golden or Leather
Colored.
We have one of Root's best breeders from his
$2'Xi, long-tong-ued. Red Clover Queen, and a
Golden Breeder which we are told is worth SlOO,
if there is a queen in the U. S. worth that sum.
J. L. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., tells us that
the colony having- one of our queens, stored over
400 pounds (mostly comb) honey in a single sea-
son. A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fine, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our stock from time to time.
We have years of experience in mailing and
rearing Queens. Queens positively by retnrn
mail from now on. Prices for balance of season
as follows:
1 6 12
Selected $ .75 $ 4.00 $ 7.00
Tested 1.00 5.00 9.00
Selected tested 1.50 8 00
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 3.00
H. Q. QUIRIN,
Parkeptown, Ohio.
[Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.)
27D6t Please mention the Bee Journal.
QUEEMS
Now ready to supply bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED : I !
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colouv.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the' GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each; (, for $4.U0.
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for $5. Safe ARKIV.4L Guaranteed.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
214* A: 2148 Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for Root's Goods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
BEES
Wo will p:iy SGc. cash, per lb. for
pure, brit^lit yollow beeswa.x,
and 20c. citsh. pi-r lb. for pure,
T*T A V (lark bofswax delivered here.
WW fX \ IHAMBERI.-41N MEDICINE COn
'» ^»'*»- Des.Moine-. luw;u
27AUt Please mention the Bee Journal.
July 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
429
try to work in such bad leather as the Ital-
ians do. consequently they do not dwindle so
in the spring, and they rear more brood late
in the fall.
In the second place, they will enter a super
more readily than the Italians.
In the third place, they cap their honey
white, and I believe they build their comb
just as clean and straight as any bees.
Fourthly, they are much easier to shake oft
of extraeting-combs.
I commenced buying Italian queens four
years ago, and have bought about two dozen
in all from that time until now, have only one
of the lot left alive to-day, and she is a
complete failure. They have had as good a
show as the blacks in every respect, and were
bought from different breeders, all the way
from Texas to the State of Michigan.
If any queen-breeders take exception to
this, all right; but I am through buying Ital-
ian queens. Geo. B. Wiiitcomb.
Linn Co., Oreg., .June IH.
Experiences of a Beginner.
Last fall I went to an auction .sale where
there were a few colonies of bees for sale, and
bought one colony for the small sum of Sl.Otl.
I wintered them in the cellar with another
colony which we got in the woods, keeping
the temperature at about .5.5 degrees.
This spring I went to a bee sale where
there were about 45 colonies to be disposed
of. I bought the first five at S2.00 each, but
when I got them home the next morning I
found I had only four colonies and one empty
hive.
They are doing very nicely now, and have
thrown off five swarms, which we managed
to hive in good condition. The first swarm
issued June 5.
White clover has been in full bloom for
about a week, and red clover is doing well.
I like the American Bee Journal very much.
John B. C.^i.pow.
Winneshiek Co., Iowa, June 17.
Outlook for a Fair Honey Crop.
Last March we moved our bees from Fond
du Lac County to Richland County, there
being but little bee-pasturage in the former
county, and the locality was also overstocked,
consequently they have had but two fair
honey crops in the past 10 years.
There is a good outlook for a fair crop of
honey in Richland County. It has been quite
cool all spring, and colonies did not build up
very fast, but we are having warm days and
nights now, with a little rain about once a
week, and there is more clover bloom than
there has been in the past two years. Brood-
chambers are filled with honey, and the bees
are working in the supers. Practically all
bee-keepers here are working for extracted
honey, we being the only ones working ex-
clusively for comb honev. Albert Reis.
Richland Co., Wis., June IK
Good Report from Michigan.
Michigan is to the front again with a large
honey-yield. Last year my colonies averaged
12u sections each of comb, and 15 pounds
each of extracted honey — the finest I have
ever tasted And now, notwithstanding the
late spring, it bids fair to outrank last year.
I did not remove the winter packing until
June 1. on account of the cold weather. The
bees had a hard struggle to feed the young
brood up to that time. June 3 they cast their
first swarm — one day earlier than last year.
In just one week this young swarm had seven
brood-frames filled with honey and brood,
and that without comli foundation being
furnished them. To-day they have 11 brood-
frames filled, and 30 one-pound sections. The
old colony cast the second swarm — larger
than the first — on June 1.'^. and has filled 3(5
one-pound sections besides. My largest col-
ony— that is, it seems to be the most populous
— has not swarmed in two years, but it has
filled r6 one-pound sections since June 3, and
I will put "4 more on to-morrow. I do not
know where they procure the honey, as 1
have not had time to investigate. There is
THOSE
Lon^-Ton^ue Adels
Bkavek, Pa., April 4, I'lUl.
From one 3-f rame nucleus you sent me I took
213J4 pounds of extracted honev.
^_r^ Wm. S. Barclay.
, Each Queen, $1.00.
Essay, " How Not to Rear Queens," seat free.
w.^4t HENRY ALLEY.Wenliam, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writing
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thin^ for use in
catchiug and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year St $1.00; or for f 1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one year
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GBORQB W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, lU.
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptlv for Untested Queens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.00 tor b, or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Att Creek, Warren Co , N. C,
Please mentior Bee Journal -wben ■writing.
BEE
HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now, Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
6A2ot Mention the American Bee Journal.
Send for circular s^l'°^H
improved and orig-'inal Bintrham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Years the Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a cousijrnment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queeus. Catalog
free.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. G. ACKLIN, Hanager,
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
.^MANUFACTURER QFi^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shippiug--Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shippiu^ facilities in the world. You
will save money by sendiag for our Price-List.
Address, MIon. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co..
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
Hease mention Bee Journal when ■writins
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send *1. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal wh<-i) ■wrrit.i".e»
ALBINO QUEENS ];rizz^i^ir:^^
want the (fentle^t Bees— If you want the best
honev-galherer^ vou ever saw — try my Albinos.
Untested (Jueens in April, fl.OO: Tested. $1.50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS, Lisbon, Tex.
Please mention Bee Jouroal when ■writing.
white clover in abundance, but I have failed
to ?ee the first bee on its blossoms this year.
I am not using comb foundation this sea-
son, but have a much better and cheaper
device, which I will describe later.
D. H. Metcalf.
Calhoun Co. Mich., June 17.
Weather Hard on the Bees,
I had 18 colonies of bees, sprins^ count, but
two of them were very weak, and have since
died.
The weather this spring has been the most
unfavorable for many years. April came in
cold, rainy and cloudy, with only .>3 hours of
sunshine the whole month. May was a little
better, there being only 6" hours of sunshine,
and very cold. Apple-bloom first appeared
May 21. and May 23 it commenced to rain,
and continued cold and rainy, the bees having
only one day in which to work on it. The
weather has been very fine for the past two
weeks, and although I can not see from what
source they are gathering, they are storing
honey very fast.
I have had only five swarms so far this sea-
son, but they are working hard, having just
started in the sections.
Basswood is very scarce here, but there are
hundreds of acres of raspberry and while
clover: also goldenrod in great quantities.
I find many useful hints in the Bee Joarnal.
F. K. Webster.
Cheshire Co., X. H.. .June U.
Bees Working on White Clover.
There is an abundance of white clover, and
bees are doing flue. We have had only one
swarm, but have divided four colonies.
Some of the colonies have the third super
nearly full of honey. C. A. Fairbanks.
Jones Co., Iowa, June 17.
Bees Rolling in the Honey.
Jl\' bees are just rolling in the honey now,
and it keejjs me busy with new swarms. I
have 711 colonies in all. D. E. Lane.
Washtenaw Co.. Mich.. June 11!.
Do Bees Select Their Future Home
Before Swarming?
We are all interested in anything pertaining
to the habits of our bees, even it it does not
have a commercial aspect: and any one hav-
ing a new fact, or who can explain an old one,
is contributing something of value to natural
history. Hence, th^ question of bees select-
ing their future home before swarming is not
altogether without interest. Prof. Cook thinks
they always do, and mentions having seen
scouts investigating a cornice on a building,
and the next day a swarm took possession.
I had the temerity to question the state-
ment that they always select their home be-
fore swarming : Mr. O. B. Griffin, of .Maine,
on page 141, thinks that, " in the majority of
eases," they do not. And now comes Mr. D.
H. Metcalf, of Michigan, who thinks (page
1,57) that "first swarms always do — second
swarms never," and mentions two instances
of seeing "scouts'' (asl, beingan old .soldier,
call them) investigating a bee-tree, and one
where the swarm actually came and would
have taken possession only he had felled the
tree. This looks pretty solid, on the face of
it, for the aftirmatlve side of the question, and
yet it is only what the lawyers would tall
" prima facie.'' or first-view, evidence. If
Mr. Metcalf had seen the swarm issue, and
followed it up to the bee-tree, the chain of
evidence would be more complete: but I
would ask in this case, as I did in the one
mentioned by Prof. Cook, Have you any evi-
dence to show that the swarm was not already
fluttered somewhere at the time the scouts
were seen ; This will cover the whole point
of contention.
I would like to ask the fundamental ques-
tion, Why does a swarm cluster at all?
There would be no need of it if they had
already selected their home. Prof. Cook says,
" To rest the queen." I can't think the Pro-
fessor was serious when he made that state-
ment, for if bees have as much sense as tliey
430
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
July 4, 19C1'
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low f reig^ht rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
OverstocKed witii Bee-Hives
I am overstocked
with hives. Will
sell 2000 at pri-
ces you can not duplicate. St. Joe, Dovetailed, Wisconsin, Champion, or Lang-
stroth Simplicity. Ask for prices, and say how many you want. CAN SHIP
AT ONCE. CAN SAVE YOU MONEY, NO DIFFERENCE WHERE YOU
LIVE. OTHER GOODS AS CHEAP AS ANYBODY. Supply Business for
sale cheap. Address,
EMERSON T. ABBOTT, St. Joseph, Mo.
Tennessee Qneeas !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden qiaeens,
reaied 3% miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2}4
iles. No
mpur
i-ithii
ithii
ailes.
3, and but few
2S years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A26t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Jotu-nal -when writing.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid'Aniong Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each: b for $4.1X1.
Long-Tongued 3°Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
■ica.
$1.00 each, or 6 for $5.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers" Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
Marsbfield ilaDnfactnring Compaoy.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
sA26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
I Red Glover Queens
LONG-TONGUED BEEsIrE DEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppc-
mium for sending us TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for one year
(with $2); or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be
clipped, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
Please Mention the Bee Journal "^^-^ ^"*'°«
are usually orediteil wiili. they would cer-
tainly know that a flight front the hive even
to the top of a tall tree (possibly from 100 to
:iOO feet) would not tire an old queen with
perfect wings. If swarming bees or queens
ever do get tired it is more reasonable to sup-
])ose it would be after they had started on
their journey to a home, and maybe they do;
l)Ut to '■ stop to rest before they are tired !" —
well, I can't see the sense in it.
In conclusion, I do not think bees select
tlieir future home before swarming, for the
following reasons:
First, 99 percent of all swarms cluster a
certain or uncertain time before leaving. We
have no definite information on the subject,
as most observed swarms are hived as soon as
possible by the bee-keeper; but in most cases
it is from one hour up to 72. Bees fly very
rapidly — I think I am within the limit when I
say a mile in three minutes. There is ample
time for a thousand scouts to explore and
report every possible bee-tree within Ave
niiles of the cluster inside of an hour. Sec-
ond, the uncertainty of the time in clustering
indicates to my mind the greater difficulty in
one case over another, in finding the future
liiitne, and the greater probability that they,
like some human beings, do not cross a bridge
until they come to it, or do not select a home
until there is strong need of it.
This is my view of it. But I'll change my
mind any time the weight of evidence is the
other way. Rip Van Winkle.
Cook Co., 111.
Drone.Traps.
W. H. Pridgen says in the American Bee-
Keejier :
In using the combined queen and drone
trap on hives that are sending out objection-
able drones, I usually have trouble in separat-
ing the tiueen from the drones in case a swarm
i.'^sues, without allowing the escape of many
drones. This can be overcome by a double
or combined trap. There should be a divi-
sion made of drone-excluding zinc through
which the t|ueen can freely pass, with an addi-
tional trap with ordinary cone above, to
catch the cjueen. That is, to separate the
queen from the drones, we want two traps,
one above the other, with the slide in the top
of the drone-trap, with perforations large
enough for the queen to pass through without
allowing the drones to do so.
Advertisers
Cost of Drone=Comb.
Froljably the majority of bee-keepers dis-
courage the presence of much drone-comb,
.lust as probably the majority have a good
deal more drone-comb than is profitable. The
Ijee-keeper who has supplied his bees with
full sheets of worker foundation is not safe
for all future time. Here and there a mouse
will nibble a hole in a comb in winter, and by
line means and another there will be holes
that the bees must fill in, which holes will
almost invariably be filled with drone-comb.
If no attention is paid to the matter this will
increase from year to year, but the bee-keeper
lierhaps gives it little thought. If his atten-
tion is called to it, he will say, " Yes, there is
-i.mc ilrone-comb in most of my hives that
liaM' romh of any age. but it doesn't amount
lo much. There isn't an average in each hive
uf luiirc than enough to fill a pound section."
l.i't us figure up the cost of a piece of drone-
,• 1) I if that size — t inches square, or 16 square
inclies. Counting 18 cells to the square inch,
iir :-l6 for the two sides, Iti square inches will
contain .itti drone-cells. Suppose only one
brood of drones is reared, and that each drone
lives 150 days; what will be the cost of those
.■)Tt) drones? Taking the estimate that it costs
.0141 ounce of honey to rear a drone, and
that it consumes .0O63."i ounce of honey daily,
it will consume in 00 days .381 ounce of
honey, which, added to the cost of rearing.
July 4, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
431
makes .3951 ounce of honey that each drone
costs. Multiply this by 576, and you have
227.5776 ounces, or 14.2236 pounds of honey
that it has cost to rear and support the drones
from that piece of comb the size of a pound
section.
•■ But," you say. " I don't stand all that
expense, for I slice off the heads of the sealed
brood every time I go over them, so I stand
only the trifle that it costs to rear them."
Suppose we figure on that. Multiply .0141
by 576, and you have 8.1216 ounces of honey
that each slicing has cost you. Remember
that this cost has occurred before the cells are
sealed ; and as fast as you slice off the heads
of the brood a fresh lot will be started so long'
as there is a moderate degree of storing. Sup-
pose you begin slicing June 1, and slice every
two weeks, making the last slicing July 13.
That will make four times, costing you a
trifle more than two pounds. Don't you be-
lieve you could go over 25 colonies in a day,
cutting out the drone-comb and putting
patches of worker-comb in place thereof J
That would give you a payment of 50 pounds
of honey for the day's work, to say nothing
of the saving in future years. <^Ht out the
ilroiie-comb. — Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
A New Bee-Keeping EI Dorado.
It is in Arkansas, and L. E. Kerr .says in
the American Bee-Keeper ;
The flow begins here the first of April and
continues till November. It is not spasmodic,
but comes in a slow, steady stream for about
seven months, enabling a wide-awake bee-
keeper to secure from 100 to 800 pounds of
comb hone.y, of first-class quality, as an aver-
age yield per colony.
With a honey-fiow lasting seven months
many would naturally suppose that the mat-
ter of keeping the colonies in shape to do the
best work would be no little item ; but really
all we have to do is to keep good (|ueens and
let them aloue, and they remain strong them-
selves, with no swarming except during April
and May.
Editor Hill comments as follows:
" From 100 to 300 pounds of coTnb honey of
first-class quality, as an average yield per col-
ony," is truly wonderfid. In this day of
small yields, it is refreshing to read of such a
locality. Jli-. Kerr's idea, as to the superior
finish and quality of comb honey where the
bees have seven months to devote to the work,
is something entirely new and quite at vari-
ance with the experience of nearly, if not
quite, all experienced producers of comb
honey. We should decidedly prefer a location
where all the finish and trimmings were
applied in ten days. It is a magnificent theory.
indeed ; but we have never learned to admire
"a slow, steady stream,'' when " first-class "
comb honey was the object.
Long Tongues and Their Value.
Dr. Miller thinks long tongues may be of
value for other blossoms than those of red
clover, but that longest tongues are not neces-
sarily best in all cases. He says in Gleanings
in Bee-Culture ;
Why should it be considered a strange
thing that other flowers should have tubes of
the same depth as red clover '. It is possible
that many of the flowers commonly visited
for nectar have tubes of different lengths,
some of them accessible only to tongues of
unusual length, thus giving long tougues the
advantage aside from red clover. Again, a
flower-tube may be of such depth that only
part of its contents can be reached by a
tongue of ordinary length, while one a little
longer may drain it to the bottom.
Please don't understand that I believe that
length of tongue is the only thing to be con-
sidered. I should prefer to inalie selection by
noting the amount of stores gathered rather
than by measuring tongues. It is possible
that, among several colonies, the one with
longest tongues maybe the ]ioorest. (Ine col-
ony may excel it because of greater diligence.
Another may work earlier in the day. Another
may excel because of greater I'jngeviry. So
I think it would have been unwise to depend
upon tongue-length alone. But I do insist
that the advantage of long tongues has not
been proven to be exclusively associated with
red clover ; and it is possible — not probable, 1
think — that the gain from other flowers with
long tubes may he even greater than from
red clover.
Straining Extracted Honey.
Ellas Fox gives his plan in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture as follows;
I have six large barrels, holding about 600
pounds each, arranged around my extracting-
room on a strong bench, with heads out, and
molasses-gates near the bottom. Each barrel
is supplied with a Jine cheese-cloth strainer
tied securely over the head. I draw the
honey from the extractor into an ordinary
water-pail, and transmit to these barrels
through the strainers. This takes out the
minutest specks. It is left in these barrels
from one to six weeks (according to the time
in the season of extracting), when it is drawn
off into 60-pound cans, caps screwed down
tight, and placed in cases, and securely nailed,
ready for shipment. I have practiced this
method for the past 18 years, and have never
had a word of fault found.
XJlSrTBSTE3ID
Italian Qneeos Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free as a premium. This offer
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us two new subscribers, and $2.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14(j Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
S66 How Simple 5iss
cells and uut
them into SWARTHMORE FERTILIZING BOXES.
Attach the boxes '. to loj to the outside ot that
hive, ami ia a few day^ nearly all the <tueens
will be found mated and laying-. Any child can
use this device. Sample box, 25c; Swarthmore
Xursery Cage, T-"c; r,,.,lden all-over-Queens, fl.
Swarthmore Apiaries,
E. L. PkAI 1 . SW.^KTHMOKE, Pa.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -fmuns.
iJ Stt SJt >t<. ite. >Jt >14. >lt >tt >K >lt ili Sltt*
I HON&y AND BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, June 1*J. — New comb honey has not
yet reached this market. It would sell at 15@
K.c if choice white, and the ambers at U@13c.
The market is entirely bare with exception of a
few cases of a lot that we had held for us, ex-
pecting it would be needed. Advices are that
shipments will be started by July 1. Very little
trading- is being done in extracted, as large
dealers will not contract this season unless at
low figures; some sales of amber have been
made at 4}^(ft'5c for early autumn delivery;
white is held at 5Hc. Beeswax sells at 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17. — No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from /^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, June 14.— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm.
weather very little call for it. Are e.xpecting'
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at 654@"Hc.
Blake, Scott & I«bb.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros,
New York, June 1.— Extracted honev is ex
ceedingly dull and verv little moving. Wequote
for the present: White, 6M'" "c; light amber,
5!^@6c; amber, 5'" 5\c. Some demand for comb
honey at unchanged prices. New crop is now
beginning to arrive from the South, and sells at
from 12(«15c. according to qualitv and style.
Beeswax, 2'^c.
HiLDRETH & SbQELKEN.
Albany, N. Y., June 18.— Honey market is
dull with no receipts or stocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R. Wright.
Detroit, June 24.— Very few sales of honey,
but prices are well sustained on good lots. The
new crop will start out at good prices, and with
little old honev to interfere. Beeswax in fair
demand at 27@28c. M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, June 2o. — Honey not wanted till
cool, fall weather. Little old honey here and
dragging, oc/ U)c. Extracted not wanted. Fruit
takes place of honey now. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged bv being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents'for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons 6l Co.
San Francisco, June 5.— White comb, 11}^@
12!^ cents; amber, '>@10c; dark, 6@8 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@0c; light amber, 4@4j<c;
amber. 3^@4c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Dealers are very bearish in their ideas, but
are not securing much honey at the prices they
name. In a small way to special trade an ad-
vance on quotations is being realized.
At the Pan-American
I can accommodate five or si.x persons who
wish to attend the Pan-American E.xpositiod.
Rates reasonable. Good car service half a block
away. It any wish to enjrajre rooms in advance,
address, M. RICKARD,
254 Dodge Street, UrFFALO, N.Y.
[Mr. Rickard is a bee-keeper, and will take
good care of h's patrons. — Editok.]
WALTER S.POUDER.
512 MASS. AVE. INDUNArOLIS. INO.
432
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 4, 1901.
We have a Large Stock ou haud
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANl IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
flO' W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee .Journal wl^en writing
BEES, QUEENS,
and Belgian Hares....
We have some choice
stock for sale at the fol-
lowing prices :
One Utttested Queen j; .60
One Tested Queen So
One Select Tested Queen 1.00
One Breeder 1.50
One-Comb Nucleus,
(no Queen) 1.00
One Pair Belgian Hares. 3.00
Write for Catalog.
J. L. STRONG. Clar
27Alt Mention the Am
, Page Co., Iowa
in Bee Journal.
B66S=SUDDli6S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t IMease mentiou the Bee Journal.
ITflLlflN QUEENS, warranted
Tested, $1.0-'; Untested. "Scents, bv return mail.
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
21Atf River Forest, Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when, -writing.
I AEISE
IDC r>b.k. juuKWAL. mai
DOOLITTLE...
ha.s concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen ..$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.2S
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens ... . 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
E-xtraselected breed-
ing, the very best..S.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
a. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Hease mention Bee Journal when writing
24111
Year
Dadanfs Foundation, yea"
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAOQINa. No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell _^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli*
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OP ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/i&ec],
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Flease mention Bee Journ^
A Bee=Keeper's Paradise.
En route to El Paso. — I have just come from a county about
40 miles square that has more bee-keepers to the square mile than
any other locality of its size I ever visited. The inhabitants talk
bees at the hotels, on the streets, and everywhere, just as farm-
ers talk crops and business in the North. This county produces
more honey than any equal area, I believe, in the United States.
Some say that its yearly output is a whole trainload of honey ; but
many aver that this is too low, and that two whole trainloads
would come nearer the truth. Of course this great amount doesn't
go all in one lot, but in large and small shipments.
The average per colony is high, and there is a honey crop
every season. It is estimated that in this one county, outside of
the towns, nearly one-half the population are bee-keepers.
The great bulk of the honey is of the very finest, and some of
it is literally water-white. There are thousands and thousands
of acres of honey-plants on cheap land ; and bees — there are not
enough to gather it all.
The bees commence swarming early in the spring ; and, when
the main honey-flows commence, actually stop swar-ming, destroy
cells, kill oiT the drones, and commence business. Did you ever
hear the like of it before ? You say, " No, and no one else."
Well, I think I can prove every statement ; but for the present I
am not at liberty to give the place or other details ; but very
shortly I'll tell the whole story, with some fine pictures.
This is only one of the good things in store for readers of
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. Send 15 cents for three months' trial
or 25 cents for sis months' trial, or SI. 00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian Queen. Send $2.00 and we vfill send Gleanings one
year and one of our Red Clover Queens. Speak quick if you want
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^%ii^^.M\l^T-
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to ihem for their free Catalog.
pjAEWe/l/v
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JULY 11, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 27.
434
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
July 11, 190..
PUBLISHED
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Otflce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, 1 r>„„„„f„, . t
E.E. Hastt, (Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, f Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Siibscriptioa Price of this Journal
is $1.(10 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
*'dec01" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
embers.-
To prevent the adulteratioa of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Thos. G. Newman
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HOTCHIN
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
VEST R. Root, President.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
^^^ If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will lie forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-l<eei)er or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes;
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
fiTOod idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
Weekly Budget. I
HOT "WEATHER HINT.
' Hot weather ? yes; but really not
Compared with weather twice as hot.
Find comfort, then, in arguing thus.
And you'll pull through victorious:
For instance, while you gasp and pant
And try to cool yourself — and can't —
With soda, creatn, and lemonade.
The heat at ninety in the shade —
Just calmly sit and ponder o'er
These same degrees, with ninety more
On top of them, and so concede
The weather now is cool indeed 1"
—J. Whitcomb Rilet.
Mr. C. a. Hatch, writing us June 22, had
this to say;
"We had poor luck in wintering bees the
past winter, so we have not an extra-large
force of honey -gatherers. I think fully .50
percent of the "bees in this part of Wisconsin
are dead. My own loss was about 30 percent
— the heaviest for many years. We hope for
better luck next time."
Dr. a. B. Mason, secretary of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association has been appointed
judge of the bee and honey department of
the Ohio Exposition, which will be held at
Columbus next month. A total of only S74 is
to be awarded in that department, so the Doc-
tor ought not to have a very long or hard job.
The Doctor wrote us, July 1, as follows
about his bees :
" No honey from the world of white clover
we have, but sweet clover is getting nicel.v in
bloom, ^nd the bees are busy on it. We have
colonies with two, three, and three and a half
stories, to give room to the bees, and running
over at that, and no disposition to swarm."
Mr. W. W. Whipple and his apiary, of
Arapahoe Co., Colo., are shown on our tirst
page this week. Mr. W. is a native of Michi-
gan, and in his lioyhood days learned the
printing business. He drifted into western
Iowa in the early fifties, and went to Colorado
in 1S59, during the Pike's Peak gold excite-
ment. He has worked as printer, job printer,
miner, and lastly as a bee-keeper, and will
probaljly follow the latter occupation the
remainder of his days.
Mr. Whipple has met with varied success
in liee-keeping, but is fairly well satisfied,
although he says the bee-keeper has no picnic
in Colorado. He must be constantly on his
guard to keep clear of that pest— foul brood.
When he first went to his present locality
there were many farmers who had a few colo-
nies of bees, and when a colony died they
would not know the cause, or even that it was
dead (and in most cases it was foul brood that
killed it), until the colony was robbed of its
stores, and they were spread far and near,
making trouble for the bee-keepers. Bee-
keeping there would be a pleasant and profit-
able business were it not for this, so Mr.
Wnipple says.
They are expecting a good alfalfa honey
•season this year, as the crop of alfalfa is very
forward and seems likely to bloom abun-
dantly. He expected the flow to be on about
June 20. when there would be busy days, and
the "hum of the bees in the alfalfa bloom"
could be heard on all sides.
Premium
A Fester
Stylo^raphic
PEN
1 his pen consists of a liarct
rubber holder, tapering to a
ruiinti point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point andneetlleof the pen
are made of piatina, alloyed
with iri«tiiini — suljstances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write 10,000 words, and do not.
leaU or blot.
As they make a line of iini*
foi-iii ^vitilii at all times
tliey are iiiieqiisiletl for
ruling purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ae-
ciiMipanied with full directions,,
filler and cleaner.
Best Manifolding Pen on
THE Market.
19,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with $2.00; or send
SI. 90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for si. 00 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
Z°^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or^ IVIamtal of tlie Apiary,
BY
PROF. A. J. COOK.
460 Pages-16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
8axid—$1.2d postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given lor TWO New Subscribers.
The following ofifer is made to present sub-
scribers only, aud uo premium is also ^iven to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us TWO NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee
Journal (with li.OO), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for$1.2S, or we club
it with theBee^ournal for a year— both for only
fl.75. But surely auybodv can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to "the Bee Journal fof a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every-
body try for it. Will YOU have one?
GEORGE VV. YORK & CO.,
144 & l-tb Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILI.
4Ist YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, JULY 11, 1901,
No. 28.
^ ^ Editorial. ^ \
Are You a Member of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association ? If not. you should
be. But perhaps you would like to know
more about it before beeominj; a member. If
so. write to the general manager. Mr. Eugene
Seeor. Forest City. Iowa, for circulars ex-
plaining the objects and work of the Associa-
tion.
You will remember that last week we be-
gan the effort to secure a membership of an
even 1000 by the time of the Buffalo conyen-
tion, in September. Send in the dollars ff>r
dues, so we can begin to publish the list of
names. We want to receive over 200 during
.luly and August.
Are you a member of the Association ;
The Buffalo Convention. — We have
received the following notice and information
in reference to the next meeting of the
National Bee-Ke«]jers' Association at Buffalo :
Station B, Toledo. Ohio, July 1.
Mk. EiiiTOK: — Please say in the American
Bee .Tournal that the next convention of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association will be
held in the Lecture Room of the Buffalo
Society of Natural Sciences, on the 10th, llth
and rjth of next September, commencing on
the evening of the 10th. The place of meet-
ing is in the Buffalo Library Building, corner
of Washington and Clinton Streets, near the
business center of the city.
Kailroad rates will vary in the different
passenger association territories from one
cent a ndle each way to one and one-third
for the round trip. Each one can readily
learn the rate on enquiry at his or her rail-
road station.
The Buffalo bee-keepers will try to provide
entertainment at reasonable rates for all
attending the convention who will notify Mr.
Sidney S. Sleeper, Holland, N. Y., by Sept.
2. In a letter recently received from Mr.
Sleeper, he says:
'■ We want all who can to come, for we
wish to make the Buffalo meeting the most
pleasant and instructive one that was ever
held in America. We will have the co-opera-
tiou of all the sciences, as well as the school
lioard ; then he names some professional men
who are interested in our specialty, and will
be at the convention to help; and a long let-
ter frotn Mr. Hershiser closes by saying,
•' Call upon me for whatever further assist-
ance I am able to render;" and Mr. Penton.
an ex-president of the Erie County Bee-Keep-
ers' Society, and others, have promised to do
all they can to provide for the comfort of the
delegates.
As stated in my previous convention notice
in the American Bee Journal, there will be no
lixcd pi'dgraiii, and no papers, the time being
fully iic( iipii-d in asking, answering, iiml dU-
ciissinu' Mucstioiis. except that mi tlii- fvciiing
of the r.'lli there will be a joint s<-'.>ion of our
Association and the American Poniological
Society, to disscu.ss ■■ The Mutual Relations
of Bee-Keepiug and Fruit-Growing," and
Prof. Beach, of the New York Agricultural
Experiment Station, and Prof. Fletcher, of
the Central Experiment Farm of the Domin-
ion of Canada, will help talk for the bees at
that session. It is hoped that much good
will result to fruit-growers and bee-keepers
from this joint session.
If any bee-keeper who can not attend the
convention has any questions he would like
to have answered at the convention, will send
them to me, I will see that they are presented.
I made this same request in my previous con-
vention notice in your journal in April last,
and perhaps you'll remember of writing me
to the effect that with such a request in all
the bee-papers I would be deluged with ques-
tions, and in the last week's American Bee
Journal you talk very nicely editorially on the
same subject, and still I've not received a
single ciucstion, except about 20 I've sent
myself, and I have several more in my mind
that I'm going to send to the secretary.
A, B. Mason, Hec.
In-Breeding, as treated by C. P. Dadant
in this journal, seems to puzzle Deacon Hard-
scrabble, a bright writer who has suddenly
appeared in the horizon of the American Bee-
Keeper. He is confused at the two state-
ments that nature abhors in-breeding, and
that " in natural conditions a colony may be
several miles from other bees and probably
requires all the drones that it may produce."
You didn't notice that "may be," Deacon.
You know there are exceptions to all rules,
and nature doesn't in all cases find things to
her liking. She'll remedy that by planting a
colony at next swarming-time between the
two distant colonies, so that the drones can
pass the distance between.
Several Laying Queens in One Hive.
— Swarthmore says in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture that the secret of success in having sev-
eral laying queens kept throughout the sea-
son in one hive, lies in the giving them all at
one time to bees that have been queenless lor
but three days. "An indefinite number of
queens may be confined in boxes or cages
arranged in such a way that none can come
in contact, yet allowing the bees freedom to
go and come, to do as they will."
Watercress Honey. — W. A. D. Pern re-
ports in the British Bee Journal that he gets
quite a quantity of honey of very good
quality from watercress bloom. He says the
bees store very fast from this source, and will
fill a super in a few days. We have never
heard of watercress yielding honey in this
country. Perhaps .some of our readers can
report on it. We understand that watercress
is shipped to Chicago by the barrel, being
used as greens.
The Illinois State Fair premium list
for 11)01 is now issued. A copy of it can^e
had by addressing W. C. Garrard, Secretary,
Springfield, 111. It will be the 48th annual
exhibition, under the auspices of the Illinois
State Board of Agriculture.
Under the heading, " Bees and Honey," we
find the following list of premiums offered,
which are " open to the world:"
iBt 2d 3d
prm.prm.proj.
Display of comb honey -*20 .*1.^ $10
Collection of labeled cases contain-
ing 12 or more pounds of white
honey from different flowers .... S .5 8
Collection of labeled cases contain-
ing 12 or more pounds of amber
or dark honey from different
flowers 8 5 3
Case white clover comb honey, 12
to 24 pounds 4 3 2
Case of sweet clover comb honey,
12 to 24 pounds 4 3 2
Case basswood comb honey, 12 to
"24 pounds 4 3 2
Display extracted honey 20 1.5 10
Honey extracting on the grounds. 5 3 2
Frame of comb honey for extract-
ing .5 3 2
Display of candied honey 20 15 10
Display of beeswax 15 10 5
Otie-frame observatory hive dark
Italian bees 4 3 2.
One-frame observatory hive Golden
Italian bees 4 3 2"
One-frame observatory hive Car-
niolanbees 4 3 2
Honey-vinegar, i.i gallon, with
recipe for making 4 3 2
Display of designs in honey or
beeswax 12 S t>
The judges will be governed by the code of
rules adopted by the Illinois State Bee-Keep-
ers' Association.
500 pounds will receive full score for quan-
tity in displays of comb and extracted honey,,
and 300 pounds in displays of candied honey-
50 pounds will receive full score for quantity
in display of beeswax.
Only one entry will be allowed by each ex-
hibitor for any one premium.
There is over jSOO offered to bee-keepers in
the above list. For some years there have
been very creditable apiarian exhibits at the
Illinois Fair, and we trust that this year will
be no exception. All who can possibly
arrange to do so, should begin to plan to
make an exhibit.
The State Fair will be held' at Springfield
Sept, 30 to Oct. 5.
Hot Weather for Honey.— Editor Root
says that in the Salt River valley, Arizona,
the bee-keepers want the heat to be from i»5
to HO in the .shade to get the best results in
honey storing. When the temperature is be-
low 90 there is .[uite a perceptible decrease in
the inflow of honey. " Apparently," he says,
"the Arizonians want more heat than we of
the North. Yet the hottest days, ami the hot-
test nigUtu, seem to be the best in the North
for a big flow."
436
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 11, 1901.
I Contributed Articles, l
Storing Comb Honey and Surplus Combs.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A CORRESPONDENT wishes me to tell, through the
American Bee Journal, how I would fix for storing-
comb honey and surplus combs in some building
already on a new place he has just moved to, he
wishing to make what changes are necessary. As I quite
frequently have this question or similar ones asked, I will
gladlj' comply with the request.
For a honey-room the first thing necessary to know is
that there is a good foundation under that part selected for
the room, and sleepers of suitable strength, so that should
we happen to place several tons therein, there will be no
danger from breaking down. Knowing this, the next
thing is to make the room mouse-proof. This I would
have, let it cost what it would, even if I had to line every
inch of it with tin, for the filth from vermin about honey
is not to be tolerated at all. Having the room mouse-proof,
all that is necessary afterward is to be sure the door is kept
shut when not in use.
It is better to locate this room in the southwest corner
of the building, and paint the outside of the two walls
which come nest to it, black, or some very dark color, so
that the rays of the sun raaj' be so absorbed as to heat the
honey-room as much as possible, as the hotter and dryer
the honey can be kept, when off the hives, the better it will
ripen and keep afterward.
The door to the room should be on the side nearest the
general entrance to the building, so as to save as much
travel and lugging as possible. Then there should be two
windows in the room, one on the south and one on the west
side, which are to be opened on warm, dry days, so as to
ventilate thoroughly the room and pile of honej'. Over
these windows, on the outside, is to be placed wire-cloth, so
the windows can be left open at pleasure, without any fears
of robber-bees. To let the bees out, which may chance to
come in on the honey or in any other way, let this wire-
cloth run eight or ten inches above the tops of the win-
dows, nailing on strips of lath, or other strips -s thick, so
as to keep the wire-cloth out that far from the sides of the
building, thus giving space for the bees to crawl up on the
cloth to the top when they are on the outside. With me. no
robber-bees ever think of trying to get in at this entrance,
their efforts being directed toward the open window, where
the fresh scent of the honey comes, and, by so iixing, your
room is kept clear of bees, flies, and other insects all the
while.
In hanging the door for this honey-room, do not make
the mistake that some do, of having it swing into the
honey-room, for if you do j'Ou will regret it some year when
j-ou have a bountiful crop of honey, as it will be greatly in
the way at such times, and more or less at all times. Let
it swing out into the main building, and hang it so that
when you wish, it will swing clear around against the side
of the room, thus being entirely out of the way.
On either side of the room fix a platform for the sec-
tion honey, which should be at least six inches above the
Hoor. This platform should be built nearly as solid as the
floor has been, and should be so arranged that the air can
circulate up between and around each section or tier of sec-
tions. Or if you store the honey away in the supers, then,
no matter what style of super you may use, this platform
is to be so arranged, that each super is separated from its
neighbor an inch or so at the bottom, top, and all around,
so that the air can circulate all through and all about the
honey, thus curing and ripening it thoroughly. Many fail
here, and after working hard to produce a crop they let it
deteriorate from one to three cents a pound in not properly
caring for it after taking it from the hive. And not only
that, but such poor honey generally bought cheaply, injures
the market to quite an extent for others. When fixing it
costs little more to liave it so your crop is always growing
better, instead of becoming of less value, and after once
fixed, the labor required for universally sending off a good
article is not so great as it is to fix up that which has partly
spoiled after its production.
Then you wish your honey stored and piled as above, so
that the fumes of burning sulphur, or something of a simi-
lar nature, can penetrate the whole pile, should it be neces-
sary to fumigate on account of the larvit- of the wax-moth
being liable to injure it. Don't be afraid of a little extra
work or expense in fitting up this room, for on it hangs as
much of your success as the producer of fine comb honey,
as on any part of the pursuit.
And now about the room or closet for all frames of
comb not covered by the bees, or not in use in the hives.
In some convenient place, on one side of the building,
spike on 2x4 scantling, just as far apart as the top-bar of
your frame is long, using as many of these as you think
you will ever have use for. Now nail strips of stuff, 2)4
feet long by five inches wide to these studding, letting them
.stand out into the room in a horizontal position. Let the
distance between each strip trom top to top be two inches
greater than the depth of your frame, so as to give suffi-
cient room to manipulate the frames handily. Three
inches from the ends of these strips run a partition clear
across the space occupied for the purpose of storing these
combs, which partition is to have close-fitting narrow doors
placed in it, spaced so as to be most convenient. Close up
the ends, and see that top, bottom, ends and sides are as
nearly tight as possible, so that in fumigating there shall
be as little waste of the gases as may be.
Now hang in the combs whenever you have any not
occupied by the bees from any reason, and see that all
combs not in use are in their place, and not I.ving about
somewhere else. As often as any signs of worms are
found, put in a pot of burning sulphur, close the doors, and
the work is done. Onotidaga Co., N. Y.
Is a $200 Oueen a Fake?"Oueen Values.
BY DK. C. C. MILI.EK.
ON page 391, G. M. Doolittle has gone be5'ond anything I
have seen in print in showing that there may be justi-
fication in placing a very high price upon a queen.
Granting his premises, the extra 10 pounds of honey and
the 4,000 queens, it is hard to get away from his conclusion
that " we have S3, 750 as the worth of that queen."
Coupled with that is a repetition of the strong intima-
tion on page 293 that the A. I. Root Co. are in the fake busi-
ness when they advertise that they have a $200 queen. Mr.
Doolittle refers to it as being like the work of a fakir, and
says a fakir is a "street vender." Looking at the diction-
ar)' I find that a f-a-k-e-r is a street vender, and a f-a-k-i-y is
"one who originates a fake, humbug, or swindling contri-
vance." Mr. Doolittle's line of argument is somewhat
hazy, but clearly discernible through the haze is the inti-
mation of dishonesty on the part of the A. I. Root Co.
Mr. Doolittle makes the rather strange assertion,
"There is no value in a dollar.^'' If that be true, then
there is no value in S200, and he should hardly find fault
with attaching to a queen a price of "no value." But he
seems to object to a queen " having only a dollar-and-cent
value attached to her," and says, " the simple saying that
this queen 'is worth 5200' without any qualification....
expresses no value, save that which comes from the wear
and tear of the lungs doing the hawking.'' Elseivhere he
says, " But not to appear as a fakir, we should know that
the queen has real value in the work accomplished by her
bees and those from her queen daughters, putting that
work out to the world as her real worth, rather than saying
that ' we value her at so many dollars." "
It is not entirely clear just what it is to which Mr. Doo-
little is making objection, but it sounds a little as if he
were objecting to placing upon an article a value in dollars
and cents. Surely he can hardly object to a thing which is
absolutely necessary to the transaction of business, and
without which the wheels of commerce would stand still.
Mr. Doolittle himself puts a dollar-and-cent price on the
queens he sends out. O. L. Hershiser told me he got a
queen from Mr. Doolittle that Mr. Doolittle said was worth
$50 to a breeder. What wrong was there in that ? The dol-
lar is the unit of value, and there is no other way bj' which
he could in so few words express the value he placed upon
that queen than to say how many dollars she was worth.
And if it was right for him to say she was worth $50 because
her progeny were beautiful (I saw them, and they were
beauties), is it wrong to say another queen is worth $200 if
she really possesses such value? Again, on page 380 of
the American Bee Journal, H. G. (Juirin advertises a Golden
Breeder from Doolittle, saying that Doolittle says. " If
there is a breeder of golden bees in the U. S. worth $100,
July 11. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
437
this one is worth that sum." Notwithstanding the condi-
tion attached, there is the value " at so many dollars."
There seems no impropriety in the universal custom of
naming- values in dollars and cents, the only question being
whether the article is really worth the price named. The
fact that some one else may lyingly say he has a queen
worth J?1000 when she is not worth one-tenth of that sum,
although it may have some bearing upon the policy of the
case, has none upon its honesty, and it is the honesty rather
than the policy of the iV. I. Root Co. against which Mr.
Doolittle is training his guns.
If he thinks S200 is too large a valuation for the queen
in question, he has a right to say so, and to show cause why
it should be lowered. That valuation appears to be based
upon length of tongue and increased harvests. Taking
Mr. Doolittle's figures and using a simple proportion, we
have $3,750 is to $200 as 10 pounds is to 8"; ounces. So accord-
ing to Mr. Doolittle's estimate, if 4000 queens are reared
from the queen in question, and one out of four of them
makes an increase of a little more than half a pound in
the annual harvest, then S200 is none too high a valuation
to place upon such a queen. McHenry Co., 111.
Co-operation
What it Has Accomplislied for Our
Bee-Keepers.
Jita'i at t/ie Luuf/niuttt meeting/ of the t'uforado State JJee- Keeper.s^ Ax-sori-
atiuii, April 30, L'Ml.
BY W. L. PORTER.
I PRESUME there are few bee-keepers present who have
not been thinking of a plan by which we may sell our
honey and buy our supplies in a co-operative way. The
fact that we are so far from markets in the East, where our
honey is to be sold, makes it quite necessary that we should
sell our honey in a combined way. Freights are so high
that we must ship our honey in car-load lots.
Over two years ago the State Association called a
special meeting for the purpose of organizing a co oper-
ative association. On investigation it was found that, to
do business under the statutes of Colorado, it was neces-
sary to form a stock company. Hence the bee-keepers
organized themselves into a stock company with a capital
of SIO.OOO, a share being SIO. It was voted to name this
" The Colorado Honey-Producers" Association." A consti-
tution and by-laws were adopted and the Association was
incorporated in Januarj-, 1899.
Before co-operation was entered into, the tendency was
for the price of honey to be lower each year. For ten
j'ears I have noticed this to be the case, so that in 1897 I
was compelled to sell my crop of fine honey at $1.70 for 24-
pound cases. At this time the Denver Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation decided that something must be done to better this
condition. We advanced a small sum of money and one of
our number opened a correspondence with parties in the
East. At the same time we pledged our honey, provided
we could get the purchaser to come on and examine the
honey and pay cash on delivery, if satisfactory. We were
successful in getting buyers to come on and we sold our
honey in the far East at better prices than we could other-
wise have realized.
The Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, upon open-
ing for business, found it a difficult task to get the honey
together, as it was very much scattered through the coun-
try, and we at once saw that it was necessary to have a
warehouse, and a room was rented. The tirst year, the
manager was at the wareroom two days in a week to receive
the honey, and it was brought and placed on deposit, a
receipt taken for the same, and the honey was kept fully
insured. There was some opposition from the commission-
houses, as they thought we would have all the honey-busi-
ness and leave them out. But at present they are very
friendly, as they say the price of honey is more stable
since we have organized. They see that it is a real con-
venience ; when they have a jobbing order to fill, they know
where they can get the honey to fill it, and can see the
honey displayed, and gel just what they want.
At this time it was hard to make many of the bee-keep-
ers understand that it would be to their advantage to sell
through the Association. They were also skeptical as to
receiving any rebates.
Perhaps it would be well for me to explain here that at
the first meeting of the Association, it was voted that one-
half of the dividend should go to the stockholders, and tlie
other half to be divided pro rata per case of honey, 'l^his
was found to be an unjust division as some of the stock-
holders did not sell any honey through the Association.
Yet when the adjustment was made the man vpho had a
ten-dollar share got $8.50 dividend. So at the annual meet-
ing, 1900, the by-laws were changed so that Sec. 10 reads :
" .\iiy surplus money accruing over and above the expenses of
the Associatiiin shall be (iivided as follows:
1. A dividend of one dollar shall be paid on each share of stock
issued.
2. All surplus honey reniainint; after said dividend has been
declared shall be rebated to the stockholders in proportion to the
amount of commission paid by them during the year, said dividends
and rebates to be paid only to those who have become stockholders
previous to August 1 of the year in which surplus accrues."'
As you will see by this plan, it is to the stockholder's
interest to sell as much of his honey crop through the Asso-
ciation as possible, as by so doing it would not only
increase the volume of the Association's business, but also
insure him a large share of the rebates. As a consequence,
the past year's business of the Association was greatly
increased and the rebates covered nearly all the commis-
sion charged, so that the members had their honey stored
in a proper place where it was always on display, insurance
was carried on the honey while in storage, and the honey
was sold and loaded on the cars, the money collected for it,
and all of this was done at an expense of only one-tenth
of one percent to the stockholder. This proved very satis-
factory to the members. It was also satisfactory to the
buyers, as it is better for them to have the honey stored
where it can be displayed and they can see it before buying.
It saves them time and expense in canvassing the country
to buy the honey, and when the honey is s*ored at the rail-
road it can be easily loaded at short notice.
The producer is benefited in another way. When a
buyer comes here he is at an expense of at least $10 per
day, and that must be paid by the bee-keepers.
Our difficulties have not been with competitors or in
finding market for honey, but to inspire faith in the doubt-
ing bee-keeper. Instead of its being hard to find a market
for the honey, it has been hard to get the honey to fill the
demand created. But the two years" business has given us
confidence. I don't know of a single member who has
given his patronage, that would wish to sell outside another
year. Of cour.se we must take into consideration that last
year was very favorable for us. Honey was scarce in most
sections, and we may have years when it will take the
whole ten percent commission to run the business. But
should we have an unfavorable year, there are still great
advantages in associated work. Buyers, when honey is
cheap and plenty East, will not come here as they did last
year. But if we are organized we can take our honey
East and lay it do%vn in the market at whatever price the
producer is receiving. We are on an equality with him,
and the rare excellence of our honey is in our favor.
I have now given you a brief history of the workings
of the Colorado Honey-Producers' Association. I wish
now to point out the possibilities of co-operation, and the
obstacles in the way. As to the possibilities, I believe we
can find a market through the Association for all honey
except that which is required to fill our local demands.
Each bee-keeper should try to encourage home consump-
tion, and sell as much in this way as he can, at the same
time holding up the market. After that is done, he can
market his remaining crop through the Association cheaper
than he can do it himself. This has been my experience.
In past years it took a good deal of time to deliver in small
lots to my customers, and very often I had to stop in the
midst of urgent business to deliver a single case of honey.
Trade is exacting and must be attended to. Now I deliver
to the Association, have no more bother, and receive a bet-
ter price. This can be true of every bee-keeper in the
State. To illustrate this I wish to give you an example :
Lately, a bee-keeper in a remote place, wrote us that he had
a large amount of comb honey. He had sent agents to
Denver several times, and they could not place the honey.
He finally put it in our hands. By the time the honey
reached Denver, it was sold in.the East at good figures,
and the draft was on deposit at the bank in Denver to pay
for it. This I consider quick work.
I wish now to point out some of the difficulties: It
costs money to do this work. To go into the office you will
see on file hundreds of letters that have been promptly
answered, telegrams and long-distance telephone messages
that have been expensive. We issue, also, a crop report.
We receive bulletins, posting us on the crop of honey from
Colorado, Utah and Arizona. This report is paid for.
Money, money, is what it takes to carry on business. We
438
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
July 11, 1901.
seem to have some members who do not understand this,
and more that are not members that don't understand it.
They come to us like this : What are the prospects for
honey this year, and what is the condition of the market ?
I have a crop of honey to sell. I wish to cooperate with
you. I wish to sell my honey myself. I don't wish to
undersell you. What price shall I hold at ?" All this infor-
mation he conies for has cost the Association hard money.
But wherein does he co-operate when he does not offer a
cent for this valuable information ?
The question that is to come before you is, " How can
we org-anize throug-hout the State and make an equal and
just distribution of expense to all concerned ?" To make
co-operation a success, all must co-operate, otherwise there
is friction. To have a successful, intelligent and just
co-operation throuffhout the State, there should be a certain
office with a manager in charge who will find out, first, the
supply of honey throughout the country, so as to know the
condition of the market. He should then be posted on the
amount of honey we have in our Association. He is then
in shape to negotiate in different parts of the East so as to
sell at the best possible advantage.
Now that we have the central office working, we will
proceed to organize local associations, which are to be a
part of the main association. This local association shall
have an office the same as the main one ; shall also have a
management to correspond with the main office. He shall
receive all the honey and see that it is properly graded and
classified. He should ascertain how much each member
has, and report the same to the general office as soon as
possible. The manager of the local point should rent a
place for storage and should send a printed notice to each
member, saying on what day or days of the week he will
receive the honey. Then on the designated days (say Fri-
day and Saturday) he can be there and take the honey.
One day in the week will make the expense light, and in
small towns storage can be rented quite cheaply.
When the honey is ready he should see to loading the
car and billing it out. All this to be done under instruc-
tions from the general manager. This expense of rent,
salary, insurance and of loading should be paid from the
general office.
The freight from all points in Eastern Colorado is the
same, hence all will pay to the central office the same per-
cent for selling the honey. That is, the general office pays
all expense for storage, salary, etc., and the producers in all
parts of the State pay the same for handling. To be sure
to have all expense paid, we will say we make the commis-
sion ten percent. Then at the annual meeting in January,
we have the business summed up and a rebate declared to
each member, proportioned according to commission he has
paid. This will be absolute justice to each member, and if
our local association has only a part of a car it can be
loaded and shipped to the association in the next town. In
such a case, there is a charge of five dollars for switching
the cars ; this to be paid by the local association that has
only part of a car, and in case each town has only a part of
a car this expense should be borne equally by them.
Co-operation carried on in this way will enable the gen-
eral manager to do all the corresponding with parties East,
and perhaps sending a few telegrams. Unless there is har-
mony among the local associations, such as I have des-
cribed, there must be friction, the same as we had when
selling as individuals. Buyers will take advantage of this
and we lose the good that should come through co-oper-
ation.
So far, I have not touched on the supply business.
This can be managed the same as the honey. If local
points wish part of a car, they can have the car so loaded
at the factory, that part can be discharged at one station
and part at another, and pay a little extra to have the car
moved to the next point, and parties at this point should
pay the extra charge. I would also suggest that the local
managers be directors and should meet in conjunction with
the board of directors, elected by the Association. The
membership fee of the local association should be the same
— ten dollars. This shoifld go to the State Honey-Pro-
ducers' Association. Each division should be known by
letter, as, for an illustration, Longmonl, Division A ; the
next locality that organizes, Division B. Such an organi-
zation throughout Colorado will enable us to do business in
a very intelligent way. The expense for negotiating the
sales of the whole crop done through one head will be but
very little more than for a part of the crop. The price can
be maintained because we are not selling against each
other. The larger we can make our Association, the more
widely will our influence be felt throughout the country.
We soon would be a concern that would be known by
every buyer throughout the land. We would be a powerful
factor in selling honey in our own State, as we would have
strength enough to push our products into the most remote
parts of it. We would classify our honey and have a
brand, which, when established, would be always called for,
as people would know exactly what to order, and would
know that the honey would be the same each time.
I hope that we may have an organization that will be
patronized by all. It is surely true that an organization of
this kind will benefit every bee-keeper that produces a
pound of honey to sell, whether he supports the organiza-
tion or not.
No. 7.-
Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
(Continued from pape 40S.)
MR. BOND drove into our yard the next morning while
we were yet at the breakfast table, and proceeded to
unhitch his team without waiting for an invitation.
Hastily excusing myself to my family, I went out and
found him tying his horses at the watering-trough, about
50 feet distant from his wagon. As he came to meet me he
began the following explanation :
" I'm on hand earlier than you expected, you see. Well,
when I got home last night and explained things about my
all-day's absence my wife laughed and told me that she
and Harry had done some bee-business, too. ' The little
fellow,' she said, 'while playing in the grove, found a
large swarm of bees hanging to a limb of a small tree ;
and we hived it.' Well, when I went to look at it the
idea came into my head like a flash, that the best thing for
me to do with that swarm would be to bring it along with
me this morning and get you to put it into one of your
hives for me. Then I could take it back home with me in
the evening. There it is," he concluded, pointing to the
wagon. " I tied it up in a sheet to keep the bees in the
hive. But some of them got out in spite of my precaution.
"I expected they would attack me and the horses, but
they didn't ; they just flew around about the hive, and
somehow managed to keep up with the wagon till I got
here. But, you see, more and more kept coming out.
That's the reason why I was in such a hurry to get the
horses unhitched."
"That's a new idea of yours, Mr. Bond," I replied.
"But I'm thinking that the scheme will not work out as
you have planned, because I have an idea of my own about
it : I'll furnish the hive and tell you what to do, but I shall
expect you to do the work of transferring the bees. First,
however, it will be proper to put your horses in the stable,
for the job will have to be done right here ; or near by, at
any rate.
" You see, Mr. Bond," I continued, seeing by a look in
his face that he did not approve of my plan, " if we carry
that bundle of yours over to the apiary and you do the
transferring there, all these bees here that are flying
around where they know the hive to be, will be lost to the
swarm, because we can't make them follow us. That loss
you can't afford, for, as you see, there are now several
thousand outside, and more coming out all the time. There
is no help for it, that I see, and no time to be thrown away
in discussing the matter ; therefore, while I go and get a
hive, and my smoker, and a bee-veil for you, you hurry
those horses into the stable. I'll be back inside of five
minutes."
Well, to tell the story as briefly as possible, inside of
30 minutes Mr. Bond's bees were contentedly humming
within and near one of my 10-frame hives. Quite natur-
ally he regarded those flying bees as very dangerous ene-
mies until I explained to him that bees thus situated never,
or seldom, attack any one.
After carefully adjusting his bee-veil I assisted Mr.
Bond in lifting his unique bundle out of the wagon, and
together we carried it to a shady corner of the barn-yard,
where I had placed my hive. Setting it down he — follow-
ing my instructions — untied the corners of the sheet and
laid, the ends out flat, one end toward the new hive and as
close as possible up to the bee-entrance. Then he tipped
the box over and carefully laid it on its side, with the open
end, or bottom, toward and near to the bee-entrance of the
new hive. In the top-end of the box-hive had been bored
two one-inch holes for bee-escapes, which were plugged.
Withdrawing these plugs Mr. Bond began blowing smoke
July 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
439
into the hive, thus driving the bees out and toward the
receiving-hive.
One thing, however, I did to assist Mr. Bond : With a
small copper scoop, such as grocers use in handling teas,
which I had brought from the house with me, I transferred
a lot of bees from the body of the box-hive to the new
hive, putting two scoop-fulls in among the frames. This
established bee-coonection between the two hives ; and the
bees were not slow in seeing it.
Let it be understood, however, that I did not forget to
direct my pupil's attention to the fact that there was only
one right way to use that scoop without irritating the bees
and killing many of them.
" It wouldn't do at all to scoop up bees as you would
potatoes," I explained to Mr. Bond. " It has to be done in
such a gentle, careful, and yet quick way, that the bees will
not find out they are being scooped.
"Now, Mr. Bond," I said, after most of the bees had
been driven out of his hive, " there are quite a lot of bees
inside that box of yours yet, and the best way to get them
out and into the new hive is to tip your box bottom-side up.
They will soon all be on the wing, unless the queen is yet
with them — that, however, is not probable. In a few min-
utes you will see that these, and the bees flying about
where the wagon stands, will have united, and gradually
all of them will go in where the queen is with the swarm.
'• This evening j'ou can take them home with you safely
and in good shape ; but not done up in a sheet, Mr. Bond.
I'll show you a better way."
" What do you do that for ?" asked Mr. Bond, when he
saw me set a piece of board slantingly against the front of
the new hive.
"I do that," I replied, " in order that the bees that fly
out will mark the location of the hive before leaving it.
It is not necessary to do this when a swarm is first hived.
But when a hive of bees is moved from one location to
another, or a colony is transferred from one hive to another
and the location changed, it is always best to take this pre-
caution ; because without it many of the worker-bees will
never find their way back to the hive after leaving it from
a location they have never marked.
•' Well, Mr. Bond, you have had a very important prac-
tical lesson in bee-keeping this morning ; and without get-
ting any stings, I believe. We are now ready for some-
thing else. I want you to learn about drones to-day. I pre-
sume you remember what I said yesterday about looking
after drone-brood in the parent hive of that swarm we
hived. Well, that's where you will get your next lesson.
" Here you see the lesson that's before you now," I
said to Mr. Bond, pointing to the super on the brood-frames
of the old hive, after I had removed the cover."
•' That super has to be removed before we can properly
proceed with our drone-lesson. That is plainly apparent to
both of us. Well, here you have a first-class chance to
learn one of the important lessons in bee-keeping. It is
something that can't be avoMed without detriment either
by the great or small bee-keeper. If you should conclude
to keep only one colony of bees you must, if you want
surplus honey, learn how to put on and take off supers.
This interesting and important lesson is now before you."
'• All right. I'm ready I" exclaimed Mr. Bond, enthusi-
astically. '■ What shall I do first ? Smoke into the hive
to make them fill up ?"
" No," I replied, '• the bees in this hive are nearly all
baby-bees and don't require heroic treatment. The first
thing is, to pry the frames loose from the super with this
chisel. If the bees then make a rush toward you, don't
dodge, but give them a little smoke. They are rather
timid, and easily subdued.
" Then you lift the super off and set it down on top of
the cover there " — pointing to the cover I had just removed
from the hive — " but in setting it down please be careful
that none of the bees on the under side are crushed. That
can be avoided by setting the super down rather slowly,
and very carefully, thus giving the little things time to
get out of the way.
"Be careful now, Mr. Bond 1" I cautioned, when he
bent down to lift the super. "Make sure that you get a
good hold at each end before you lift : because if your hold
slips you would quite likely have another fracas with my
bees, worse than the first."
" I thought you said, just a minute ago, that baby-bees
wouldn't sting," remarked Mr. Bond, looking up, his eyes
twinkling mischievouslj'.
" I beg your pardon, Mr. Bond ; but I did not say that,
exactly. Such an event as your dropping that super was
not then thought of. I think there are lots of bees in that
super, and in the hive, too, that are old enough to sting if
you hurt them and smash their treasures.
" Besides that, Mr. Bond. I wish to impress this upon
your mind to serve you in the future as a bee-keeper : Bees
rank very high in the insect world in the degree of intelli-
gence they possess. I have always been guided by that
idea — which to me is a fact — in any manner of handling
my bees. I believe that bees — young bees — can be spoiled
for life by ill-treatment ; about as babies are generally
spoiled by the wrong kind of treatment, beginning almost
as soon as they are born. Now, right here we have a good
illustration, which I shall use in order to fix the prin-
ciple of the matter upon your mind.
{To be continued.)
\ Questions and Answers. \
CONDUCTE
DR. O. O. MILLER. Afareng-o, 111.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oJBce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.!
Swarming-Time Troubles.
What is the matter with me or my bees ? I have had
eleven swarms and have but two left. They all settled
once, except one, and were easy to hive. Some would
come out again the same day, and others the next day.
Some I put in the third time and then they went away. I
clipped the wings of one queen, and still they went away
and left her.
My hives are of my own make — Langstroth size, made
of white pine with white poplar frames, and foundation
starters. I1.LIN01S.
Answer. — I don't know what is the trouble, but can
make a pretty safe guess. The great probability is that
your bees would not stay in the hive because it was too hot
for 1^em. A cool, shady place for the swarm will help mat-
ters. Even in a dense shade it may be so close, with so
little chance for a breeze, that I have known combs to melt
down in a hive where the sun never shone. On a very hot
day, after a swarm is hived, it helps to cool them oflf to
sprinkle well the hive with water. Perhaps more than
anything else it is important to see that there is abundant
ventilation in the hive. Raise the hive on blocks half an
inch to an inch, and at least for a day or two leave the
cover partly open, so the air can pass readily through the
hive from bottom to top. If the hive must be out in the
sun, provide shade for it in some way. Boards laid across
the top, weighted down with a stone will do in place of a
regular shade-board. An armful of long grass laid on top,
held down by two or three sticks of firewood, will answer
a good purpose. Some give a frame of brood to a swarm.
They are not so likely to desert brood.
I can hardly think the bees absconded without that
clipped queen, or some other queen. They may have gone
back to their old hive ; they may have gone into another
hive ; or they may have gone off with a young queen which
joined them.
A Half-Dozen Questions.
1. How do you separate the honey from the comb in
old combs, without an extractor ?
2. What is a Van Deusen wax-tube ? What is it like,
and how used ?
3. How do you fasten foundation in shallow extracting
frames, 5x18 inches with a groove in the middle of the top-
bar, and how do you use wax and rosin in fastening founda-
tion ?
4. There was an article in the American Bee Journal of
June 6, by F. Greiner, on the management of out-apiaries,
where he furnishes them a new hive with six Langstroth
frames, with starters. (The supers, he says, should be put
over an excluder, which, however, may be taken off after a
week's time.) What is the super for? I suppose it has
been on the hive and he is putting it back.
5. I have some Langstroth frames with thick top-bars,
440
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
July 11, 1901.
and grooved for wedges. When the wedges are taken out,
doesn't the partition come out and make the frames of no
account ? It looked that way to me.
6. How about the beveled top-bar ?
Tennessee.
Answers. — 1. I don't know of any satisfactory way
except to let the bees empty out the honey. Of course you
can melt the whole business, but you will not get a nice
article of honey.
2. One of the bee-supply catalogs,, says of the Van
Deusen wax-tube: This is a very convenient tool for fas-
tening foundation by the melted-wax plan. It is a tin tube
for holding and running out melted wax.
3. Slip the edge of the foundation into the groove,
then run melted wax along, or drop a few drops at inter-
vals. Another way is to crowd a string down into the
groove beside the foundation. You can use wax and rosin
half and half, but it is much better to use pure wax. Years
ago I used wax and rosin, and then when I wanted to melt
up an old comb I had to throw away the upper part, for I
didn't want wax mixed with rosin.
4. The super is for the bees to store surplus in. The
excluder is to keep the queen from going up into the super.
After the brood-nest is established in the lower story the
excluder can be taken away, but of course the supers
remain.
5. I don't see why the partition should come out when
the wedge is taken out, and I don't see that it would mattt r
much if it did. What do you want to take the wedge out
for? When it is put in once it ought to be built in by the
bees and last a lifetime. If the time should ever come
that yon would want to replace the comb with foundation, I
think you would want a new frame, too. I have had combs
that have outlasted the frames, and I have put old combs
into new frames, but I don't remember ever putting foun-
dation into old frames.
6. I think they are not liked as well as formerly. For
my own use I much prefer no bevel.
Newly-Hived Swarms Deserting.
I have had two large swarms. Of the first one I put
some comb in the frames before I hived it, and a couple of
hours afterward they left. On examination I foun j the
comb had broken from its fastenings, and lay in the bot-
tom of the hive. The second I let go a week before dis-
turbing, and then only to straighten the comb, of which
there was a large quantity partly filled with brood and
honey. Two days afterward they left the hive ; after set-
tling I put them into a new hive, and they are apparently
contented. On examining the hive they left, I found comb
that had broken down — a piece about six inches square.
The weather is warm. Do you think it the right thing to
work with them in hot weather ? The hive they left had a
double handful of bees, part of which are working.
Would they develop a queen ? I have no frame of bees to
give them. Indiana.
Answer.— There is very little for doubt that there was
no trouble except that the hive was insufferably hot. At
all times it is important that a newly hived swarm shall be
kept cool and well ventilated, but the remarkably hot spell
that occurred at the time you mention made it especially
emphatic. Ordinarily a swarm is safe to remain after the
queen has begun laying, but in such exceptionally hot
weather, resulting in the breaking down of combs the heat
may be sufficient to drive the bees out of a hive in vphich
even a good start has been made. The breaking down of
that comb did not drive the bees out of the hive, but the
heat that made it possible for the comb to break down was
what did the business.
Yes, a double handful of bees may rear a queen if they
have eggs or larva? less than three days old, but it is not
likely to be a very good queen reared by so small a number
of bees. It is likely, however, to be a better queen reared
in such scorching weather than one reared by the same
number of bees in cooler weather.
As to its being right to work with bees in hot weather,
if there is anything to be done with them the hotter the
better so far as the bees are concerned. The only thing
against the hot weather is the discomfort of the bee-keeper.
As I write this the thermometer stands 99 degrees in the
shade with a chance that it may be higher later in the day,
and I am eager to get out to work at the bees. But that
does not say that the bees should be kept as hot as possible
in their hives. Raise the hives half an inch to an inch
from the bottom-board by putting a block under each
corner. It may be well to raise a hive still higher when a
swarm is hived, and the cover may be left partly off for
two or three days, so that a draft of air can pass directly
through the hive. Sprinkling the hive with cold water
will bring temporary relief. In the case of your swarm
which left the hive after occupying it a week, the proba-
bility is that there would have been no such desertion if
the weather had been normal, or if you had raised the hive.
^ The Afterthought. ^
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By e. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
.MR. DONALDSON S SWARM-CATCHEKS.
Nice-looking swarm-catchers for a nice-lookiiis apiary»
and a nice report Mr. Donaldson makes of their success.
Pages 305, 312. Other swarm-catchers of the same patent
have been known to fail, however. Get to olay — and then no
sound less than thunder, and no sight less flamboyant than a
regiment of soldiers marching close by, would be altogether
sure of attention.
W.4.TER, POLLEN, AND HONEY.
Man's mouth calls for two indispensables — food and
drink; and therefore he easily forgets that the bee's mouth
calls for three indispensables — water, honey and pollen. It
appears that when he supplies the two former abundantly,
and they can not find the latter in the fields, nuclei swarm
out at a terrible rate, and he, perchance, scratches his head
and can't imagine whafs up. Page 319.
THAT PROPOLIS CHAP.
Aha ! That chap offered 25 cents a pound for propnlig.
because he didn't intend to /)aj/ anything. Told you so. Put
the price high to get many offers: and figured (correctly),
that some of them would consent to the bargain of pay on
delivery. Page 322.
native breeds not always best.
The maxim that the native breeds of a country are the-
most fit for that country (as per page 323) is liable to some
very heavy discounts. That which is the most fit to run wild
is usually not the most fit under man's care. Again, aborigi-
nal fitness is often only the lack of severe competition. Most
countries have their native rats; but they all have to yield to-
the Norway rat when he comes around. Most countries have
their corresponding little birdsr; but they all have to yield to
the English sparrow when he comes around. .South America
has a great many species of honey-storing bees (Meliponas,
Trigonas, etc.), but they will doubtless yield the ground, to a-
great extent, to the foreign bee with which we are familiar.
The same may apply to breeds as well as to species. Had
South America a breed of Apis mellifera it might be nearly
on a level with the Meliponas and Trigonas, and much
inferior, even on its own soil, to the foreigner.
COM.MENTS ON DR. M'LEAN'S SUGGESTIONS.
I incline to tell the doctor (Dr. McLean, page 324) that
if he mixes a pound of honey with a quart of water it will be
likely to get spoiled long before a family will take it up a
spoonful at a dose. Say one-fourth of the quantities.
Canton flannel to hold honey on the skin for medicinal
objects, eh ? Thanks. But when honey is used for stings it
will hardly do to have it in the nap of flannel, as the main
object then is to keep the pores of the skin from letting in
air.
MR. DOOLITTLE and OUR COUNTRY.
Anent Mr. Doolittle's lost $4,000,0^0,000. I'm glad the
old motto has been amended, It used to be, "Figures can not
lie." Now it reads, "Figures seldom do anything else but
lie." Not quite sure we need the amendment this titne^
Thousands go pleasuring in Europe with full pockets and
come home with empty pockets. Millions of cash have been
sent here for investment, won large profits, and then went
home profits and all. Many millions every year are sent
abroad as interest on all sorts of bonds and things — and that's
the last of those millions. Once in awhile a rich Amerian
(Waldorf Astor fashion) expatriates himself, millions and alL
July 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
441
Oftener still, a rich American si-nds millions to a wortliloss
foreign count — and throws in a daushtcr. (Last item small
loss to the continent.) If \vi' added all this together without
any rebates we should get quite a total, sure enough, (ilad wo
have a country big enough to stand it all — stand it all as ox in
pasture stands the loss of blood the flies take — stand it all
and yet make actual progress in changing from a debtor
nation to a creditor nation. And when the aforesaid change
is complete some of the above bootses will be on other footses.
Page 326.
THE LOSS OM SHCONI)II.\NI) C.\NS.
Perhaps you've heard the prosy preacher (who has an
hour to fill and not the matter to fill it) say — "a-a-and" —
with pauses and emphasis. It seems Mr. Whitney lost a
few dimes on some second-hand cans he bought, " a-a-and "
ten dollars on the honey he ventured to put inside. "And "is
sometimes a major instead of a minor among the parts of
speech. Page 306.
*
The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. rt. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
THE KALAMAZOO OF CALIFORNIA.
I have spent Sunday in the Kalamazoo of Southern Cali-
fornia. Some one will say Pasadena, but it is not. It is even
more to my mind than is lovely Pasadena. It is none other
than
BEAUTIFUL REDLANDS.
As we look up from San Bernardino to the East the Sierra
Madre Mountains form a U, and the incompai-able city of
Redlands nestles right in the bend of the arch. San Bernar-
dino Mountain, "Old Gray Back," the highest mountain of
Southern California, ever stands close by, and ever looks
down in kindly mien upon beautiful Redlands. The Smiley
brothers — Alfred H. and Albert K. — visited this place years
ago, and sighted a thin, barren hill reaching high up on the
southwest of the town, and overlooking a deep pass to the
south, through which the Southern Pacific Railroad trends as
it stretches eastward between the two great peaks, San Ber-
nardino and San Jacinto.
These great-hearted and far-seeing brothers, whom to
know is to love, at once saw the possibilities of what are now
famous as " Smiley Heights." They purchased the barren hill
site, carried thither brains, taste, water, cultivation, and all
kinds of beautiful plants, and to-day those old, barren hill-
sides are transformed into marvels of beauty. To stand on
"Smiley Heights," and to look down upon the beautiful
homes often almost hidden amidst the most beautiful and
thriving orange orchards known to the world, is to view a
scene of incomparable beauty.
I hardly need to say that all Redlanders take pains in
adorning street, home grounds, and homes. All this touches
the refinement and sweetens the life and heart. I have been
privileged to look in upon those homes, and share their hospi-
tality. Theirs are such homes, and theirs such home-circles,
as taste and beauty must ever fashion. Oh, that there were
more Smiley's to set the pace, and more laymen to follow
in their wake, that we might have more of beauty and love-
liness about our homes ; that we might have more of cheer
and loveliness in our hearts. Few of us have the wealth to
fashion such grand parks as are seen on " Smiley Heights."
but all of us can help to make a lovely home, and can thus do
our little part to make a more beautiful world, and more
lovely people.
As I write I look out from my window over the city. I
can only see parts of houses, for trees are everywhere.
Indeed, all Redlands is a magnificent park, set down in which
are cottages, or palaces, as the pocket-books of the owner>
permit, but all are chaste and t-eautiful.
Why are there not more Redlands in the way of wooded
street-sides and home surroundings? Only because we do
not arouse to the fact that such beauty gives richest pleasure,
and, better still, touches th(^ heart only to refine and sweeten.
There is another side to this picture. Redlands is per-
haps the most thrifty city in Southern California. Of course,
that must follow as light the sun. Men everywhere are
touched by master-pieces of beauty. They look upon them to
admire, to long for, to possess. The uncanny features of
wealth are softened, subdued, often erased altogether by' a
love of beauty. Thus our Redlands, while they capture tho
wealth, secure the best and only true aristocracy of wealth.
And thus the wealth is turned into the best channels, and wo
find a society not only cultured in mind but in heart. It has
been my happy privilege to address the people of nearly every
part of Southern California, and, as we should expect and
know, I find no folk anywhere more delightfully responsivo
and eager to know than are those of beautiful Redlands.
THE GARDEN.
I wonder if all our home circles appreciate as they should
the wealth of satisfaction that comes from a well-kept and
productive garden. I have thought of this over and over, as
I have picked of late, morning after morning, the luscious
blackberries and the great, meaty Logan berries. I have
wondered where they all come from. Only a few bushes, and
get all we want, and some for the neighbors. How little work
and how much fun. I wish all the home circles could hear my
merry whistle as I pluck those great handfuls of delicious
berries. I am sure they would all wish to whistle in like
environs. True, the prickers are there, but the smart is
dulled at thought of luscious pies at noon-time, and delicious
jam at the tea-table.
I love the blackberry garden. It warms up my whistle
in the early morning ; it gives me just at the wake-up of the
day a chance to be useful, and all for the loved ones who may-
haps are yet all unconscious in sleep; it rejoices me that it
will relieve the burden of the dear housewife as she marvels
how she can add to the savory dishes or break the monotony
of the tea-table, or help out at the dinner hour. If I had
small boys — my boy has now his own berry garden — how good
to let them hoe, and water, and pick, and receive from papa
the very top figure for the very finest berries ever grown !
AND PEAS, ALSO.
I said berries, but I did so only because they seem a little
more "tony." I think my whistle is quite as merry among
the great rows of prolific peas. It is so difficult to get pea&
right from the market. It was old Izaak Walton, the man
who loved to fish, who said, " Doubtless God might have made
a better fruit than the strawberry, but doubtless God never
did." Change fruit to vegetables, and' strawberries to peas,
and I will give a good, warm amen to the sentiment. There
is something pretty satisfactory in a right good mouth-water.
Well, I just have that all the minutes I am picking the peas.
It just seems to hang on the whole forenoon in a kind of
unconscious anticipatory getting ready for the most savory
dish of peas, that graces most the dinner-table.
ASPARAGUS.
I sometimes wonder if the peas are jealous as they see me
look longingly over to the asparagus plants, or hear me
whistle jubilantly as I cut the great fleshly stems, that seem
to rival Jonah's gourd as they stretch up in a night. I commis-
erate the home that has not its asparagus garden.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending' us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may became acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it. thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering- as rewards for
such effort.
442 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. July u, i9oi.
■m^
^
-mi
To Our Shippers.
About May 1st last, we removed our business from the building's 120-
132 W. Broadway to [larger and more commodious quarters at Nos. 265-
^g. 267 Greenwich St., and 82, 84, 86 Murray St., and we duly sent to our V
• friends in the trade a notice of our removal. Shortly after we vacated the ^
■^ . , m^
^ premises (120-122 W. Broadway,) one Joseph M. McCaul, rented a portion ^
-£. of our old quarters, and hung out a sign, " Hildreth, McCaul Co., Jos. M. ^
-># . . . %^
^ IMcCaul, Prop. , " with other large signs to the effect that his business is ^
^ "headquarters for honey, beeswax, maple sugar and maple syrup." s^
his business in any manner whatsoever.
We value highly the good name and lousiness we have established by
many years of satisfactory dealing with our friends in the trade, and we
therefore send this notice so that you may not possibly confound us in any
manner with the so-called "Hildreth, McCaul Co."
Our firm name remains as heretofore, and all our business is carried
on at our new quarters —
The mercantile agencies report that Jos. M. McCaul is the sole pro-
prietor of the new business, and that he claims to have paid to one Henry
P. Hildreth (who has no connection with our business,) a consideration for
the use of his name. j^
We will not comment upon the act of leasing our old quarters and ex- >^
posing thereon the sign, " Hildreth, McCaul Co., " further than to state j^
..... ^^
<s. that we have instructed our attorneys to apply tor an miunction restrain- >^
^ . . ' . . . . ^
ing the said McCaul from usingf the name of "Hildreth" in connection with ^
^ Nos* 265=267 Greenwich Street, ^
-y% and Nos, 82, 84, 86 Murray St., New York, N,Y, ^
^ Respectfully yours, A.
^ Hildreth & Seqelken. |.
July 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
443
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and (Jueens?
2-frame Nucleus with Untested Queen. $2.oo,
purchaser paying express charges.
Naperrille, 111 , May 2S, 1901.
Dear Sir:— Bees arrired in tfood condition.
Transferred them to liive and srave them honey.
Have reinforced them with hatching- brood.
Are working- when not too cold. Have ri^ht
<;olor, and are satisfactory. U. B. (tIvlek.
I like your way of packing bees to e.xpress.
E. K. Meredith, Batavia, 111.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $.7? $4 00 $7.00
Tested 1.25 0 50 10.00
SelectTested 2.(X) 9.00 16 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.25 6 50 10.00
SelectTested 1.50 7.00 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
28Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittmer's Fonndatiou !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal ■wiicjn "writing
FENCE A LAWN
■ PAGE Fence, and it is wel
Write for descriptions.
PACiE WOVEN WIUE FENCE CO., AIHtUN,5nCll.
Flease mention Bee Journal vrhen "writing.
lEENS
Now ready to supply by returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED : ! I
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each; h for $4.00.
REDCLOVER QUhENS. the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
liehind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for $5. Safe Arki\-al IJuaranteed.
•C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2146 a: 214S Central Are., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Goods
Bee-Supplies. ! at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
QUI
INLAND POULTRY JOURNAL, Indianapolis, Ind
l^lease mention Bee Journal -wtien ^n-itina
Low Rates to Buffalo Exposition
via the Nickel Plate Road. Also special
reduced rates Chicago to New York and
return. Three through daily trains
with vestibuled sleeping-cars and ex-
cellent dining-car service, meals being
served on the American Club Meals
plan, ranging in price from .vt cents to
SI. 00. Chicago Depot, Van Huren Street
and Pacific Ave., on the Elevated Loop.
Write John Y. Calahan. General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
information and beautifully illustrated
descriptive folder of the K.xposition
Buildings and Grounds. 17— 2>iA3t
Prospects for a Large Honey-Flow.
The prospect is i,^0(>d for a larij^e Ijasswood
flow, which will be out in about a week.
.\lsike and white clover are yielding well
DOW. I. A. Travis.
Wood Co., Wis.. .In lie 29.
Bees Doing Fairly Well.
Bees are doiug fairly well here. I wintered
6 colonies, and have increased to 12. I have
prevented all swarming, though they are very
strong in Ijees. They iave already stored six
supers of honey.
I have three kinds of bees, and the leather-
colored Italians are the best.
Jas. H. Knotts.
Preston Co., W. Va., June 32.
April Weather Hard on Bees.
I put i'i colonies of l>ees into winter iiuar-
ters, and 40 of them oame through safely, but
one died in April of spring dwindling. April
was a very hard month on bees, only I'.j days
out of the first 23 being sunshiny. On April
6 last year I moved my 29 colonies of bees
from "Tyngsljoro to this place, and there were
not two days in succession that the bees did
not go out "foraging. This year there were
five days in succession that no bees were
flying. ■ John T. Cobirn.
.Middlesex Co., Mass., June 2'2.
White Clover Dried Up.
White clover is about dried up, three weeks
ahead of its usual time. Basswood is just
beginning. 1 can't tell what it will yield yet,
but it looks well. E. M. Johnson.
Dane Co., Wis., July I.
Finds Bee-Keeping a Pleasure.
1 was born in Hillsdale Co., .Mich.. April
16, ISIifl, and lived on a farm until aijout 18
years of age, when I began attending high
school in Hillsdale. From that time until
1897 I was in school work, either as student
or teacher. In the fall of 1S9B I married Miss
Mazie E. Harmon, ot Mason County.
Because of the confinement of school work,
my health began to give way, and we decided
to locate on a fruit-farm. So here we are in
the midst of the Michigan fruit-belt, with
more than 2U00 trees to look after. We have
daily mail delivery, teleiihone connections, and
are pleasantly located to enjoy life.
During the fall of 1899, while making a
small business transaction with one of my
neighbors, he proposed to turn three colonies
of Ijees over to me in the deal. I knew noth-
ing about bees, that is, so far as management
was concerned, Ijut I have a honey-tooth, and
am somewhat curious to learn the habits of
plants, insects, etc., so the deal was made.
The neighbor agreed to deliver the bees and
pack them for winter, and he did as he agreed,
but he packed them too tight.
Of course, as soon as I purchased some bees
I began reading everything I could find on
tliat subject, getting ready to manage them
the next spring. Spring came, and one fine
day my neighbor came over to unpack the
bees and get me started. As I said before, he
had packed them too tight, and all were
smothered. The honey was there, but the
bees were dead. My neighbor was perplexed
and disappointed, and of course I was. But
he left me the honey, and gave me another
colony ill a very poor box-hive, and 1 began
to work with my bees.
During June they swarmed, and I hived the
new swarm on the old stand, and soon trans-
ferred the old colony to a movable-frame hive.
1 did not get much surplus last season, but
lioiighlanotlicr good colony in the fall, and
TheiJueenEstablislimeut
0. p. Hyde & Son, Hullo, Texas,
IS FOK. SA-XjE.
This establishment consists of 3 entire apia-
ries, 500 nuclei, and everything connected with
the business. Hyde's superior long-tongued
stock of straight Goldens and light home bred 3-
banders, have no superiors. Full particulars,
prices, cause for selling, etc., made known on
application. If interested, write at once.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■'^rriting
THE WHEEL OF TMJTe
1 fur nil time is the
Metal YVheel.
make them in all sizes and vari-
eties.'I « FIT AN V AXLE. Any
lieiij;ht. any width of tire desired.
(Hir wheels are either direct or
stapper spoke. Can FIT TOUK
W'AOON perfectlv without chaDge.
NO BREAKING DOWN,
.cMi. No resetlirie tir^s. Cheap
..e they endure. Send for caLv
Injue and prices. Free upon reqaect.
Electric Wheel Co.
^_^ Box 16 Quincy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal "when writing.
DAVENPORT, IOWA,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLY HOUSE.
Dadanfs Foundation, (I.B.Lewis' Hives,
Sections, etc., at manufacturers" prices.
LOUIS HANSSEN'S SONS,
213-215 W. 2d St., - Davenport, Iowa.
Send for catalog.
SA5t Mention the Ar
Be
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported nothers.
Our stock is so carefully bred and selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality free
from foul brocd and other bee-diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, $1.00, 0 for $5.00; 1 tested
Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $5.<H).
ADA L. PICKARD,
18E7t RICHLAND CENTER. WIS.
>r'lease mention Bee Jotirnal "when writing-
Standard BelQian Hare Book !
reatn
pag-es pn
ind
ts a
ftheBel-
i Hare industry;
growth, origin
nd kinds: the san-
ition and construc-
3n of the rabbitry ;
lection of breeding
ock; care of the
iuiig, feeding, dis-
ises and their
mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of 50,-
iHM.) copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome jjaper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only H.iO.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, Lw.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
%Vool ]?Iarket»>» and Nlieep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost ana all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
ir^ease mention Bee Journal ■wiien writing.
444
AMERICAN BEE lOUENAL,
July 11, 190..
.^MANUFACTURER 0F>4.
BEEHIVES
Sections, Sbippinir-Cases — Everjlhing used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We bave
the best shippiog- facilities in the world. You
will save money bv sendioer for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co ,
Nicollet Island Power Bldj;.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
Mease mention Bee Journal when -WTitina
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptly for Untested Queens
reared from a breeder of the UUTCUINSO.N
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, aud mated totinlden drones, at 75 cents
each; f4.00 for l., or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Atf Creek. Warren Co . N. C.
Please mentior Bee Journal when writms.
HIVES, SECTIONS AND AIL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
BEE
6A2i.t .Mention the An
Send for circulars i,?,'°f£1
improved and orig-inal Binirham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Y EARS THK Best ox K.^rth.
25Atf T. F. BINQHAM, Farwell. Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal when writini?.
Bee=Keepers' Supplies.
Just received a consignment of the finest up-
to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They
are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers'
Supplies on hand. Bees and Queens. Catalog
free.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.,
H. G. ACKLIN, Hanager.
1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn.
14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
ALBINO QUEENS U^oi^^^i^;'^:.
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-^atherers you ever saw — try my Albinos.
Untested Oueens in April, $10(1; Tested. $1.50.
llA26t J. D. GIVENS. LISBON, Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Farm Wagon Economy.
The economy of this proposition is not all
found in the very reasonable price of the waRon
itself, but in the great amount of labor it will
save, and its ereat durability. The Electric
Wheel Co , who make this Electric Handy
Wa^od and the now famous Electric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
durable low-dow-n wagon at a reasonable price.
This wagon is composed of the best material
Ihruout— white hickory axles, steel wheels, steel
hounds, etc. Guaranteed to
carrv -IDiK) lbs. These Electric
Steel Wheels are made to fit
any wa^on, and make practi-
cally a new wagon out of the
old one. They can be had in
any height desired and any
width of tire up to 8 inches.
With an e.xtra set of these
wheels a farmer can inter-
change them with his regu-
lar wheels and have a high or
low-down wagon at will.
Write for catalog of the full " Electric Line" to
Electric Wheel Co., Bo.x 10, Quincy, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers
packed them all on the summer stands for
winter. Two of tliem came through the win-
ter in good condition, and the otheronenot
5-0 good. Tvfo have swarmed, and all are
working well on clover now.
I consider that the knowledge gained and
the pleasure derived from the bees pay well
for the venture, and I expect to eat some tine
honey this year, and continue to study the
habits of the little bee. H. D. Stowell.
.Mason Co.. Mich.. .Tune i4.
XJKTTESTBID
Some Kinks In Bee-Keeplng.
Tack a piece of tine wire-cloth over the
valve on the smoker bellows. This will keep
other people from spoiling the spring by
sticking their fingers through, as well as to
serve to keep bees, etc., from getting in anil
preventing the valve from closing.
In wiring frames start the tack slanting.
Then fasten the first end of the wire to the
bottom, and the last one to the top. Driving
the tack draws the wire tight. The •■ABC
iMok says, " Do not have it tight," but an
experience with over 10,000 frames this sea-
son shows that the tighter the wire the more
good it does.
Two horizontal wires seem to be enough
even with 10 sheets to the pound, except for
swarms. Then the weight of the many bees
will make almost anything sag on a hot day.
Put the spacing staples on the bottom end
of the end-bar iustead of the top. By so
doing one will avoid smashing bees when
lifting the frames out in a hurry. This is the
method used by the Coggshalls and other
rapid workers. These staples should be used
on all frames, whether short top-bar or not.
They also keep the end-bars from getting
stuck fast at the bottom.
Wear a pair of bicycle pants' -guards when
at work in the apiary, and thus keep the bees
from getting inside of your trousers.
Always give the visiting small boy (aud the
big ones, too,) some honey. When they
know that they can get it by going when the
owner is there, they will not visit his apiary
for it when he is absent. Harrt Howe.
Cuba, June 18.
Big Clover Crop Bees Booming.
W'e have the biggest crop of white clover
that I ever saw. Bees are booming, and I am
putting on the second supers.
L. HiGUBAHGER.
Ogle Co., 111., June 26.
An Old Time Honey-Flow in Ohio.
The past spring here was a very poor one.
and we had to restock some of our nuclei the
second time.
We are having an old-time honey-How for
the first time in three years, and we appre-
ciate it very much. The prospect tor its con-
tinuance is good. H. li. QriRis.
Erie Co., Ohio. June 20.
Bees. Bears and Turtles in the
Mangrove Swamps.
Bees are in fair condition, but the honey
season is very late here, and but little honey
has been stored yet.
I have moved two apiaries to the mangrove
swamps, where we elevated the stands about
seven feet above ground, so as to be sure to
have them above water in case of a gale. I
am now fixing to move 150 more colonies to
another mangi-ove swamp, where there are
about 100 acres of solid mangrove trees within
a mile of the bees. You can imagine what a
job it is to build stands seven feet above the
srround for 150 colonies, and have room to
work with them. Also to build a barbed-
wire fence around them that is bear tight and
bull strong.
Bears are quite plentiful here. W. A. Mar-
tin and F. C. Prang heard queer noises across
the creek from Mr. Prang's home the other
day, aud upou investigating found two
bears and two cubs. They shot the bears,
and took the cubs, that would weigh about 25
pounds each. .\Ir. Martiu took the ctibs to
I't. Pierce, where he sold them for .*10. He
Italian (jiieens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with £1.00, we will send, by-
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free as a premium. This offer
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us two new subscribers, and 32.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 A 141, Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than auv other published,
send 11.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
Plea?.p menuon Bee .ronrnal when \xrfitiT'.iy
California! 'r\lZ,
__ ^ knowof it8
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
Eornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFiC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street. ■ San FrancisccCai.
PleP*^f^ mention Bee Jotirnal when ■writing.
$13.00 to Buffalo and Return $13.00
via the Nicl<el Plate Ii!oad from Chicago,
for the Pan-American Exposition.
Tickets on sale daily, good leaving
Buffalo up to midnight of the 10th day
from and including date of sale. Also
tickets on sale daily Chicago to Buffalo
and return at SI 6 00 for the round trip,
with 15-day limit, including date of
sale. S2l 00 Chicago to Buffalo aud re-
turn, good for 30 days.
Tickets Chicago to New York and re-
turn at special reduced rates. Write
John Y. Calahan. General .\gent. Ill
Adams St., Chicago, for full particulars
and folder showing time of trains, etc.
16-28A3t
Tuly 11, 1%1.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
445
■was on tlie ocean beach hunlint; lurtle-ey:gs
jesterday, and found a place that was l)adly
mixed up with bear and tui'tle tracks, which
showed a severe struggle had talven place.
Following a trail leading back in the bushes
for half a mile he found a 200-pound turtle
partly eaten. He dressed the turtle and took
the meat home, bringing me a generous mess
of it. The.se turtles come out on the ocean
beach at this time of the year to lay their
■eggs, which are about as large as hen's eggs,
l)ut not so good. They lay from 100 to aOO,
and then go back into the ocean again. The
turtles sometimes weigh 1000 pounds, but I
never saw one that weighed more than 400 or
500 pounds.
I was shot on Feb. 16, and have hardly got-
ten my usual strength back again. I was in-
tending to commence extracting to-day, but it
has rained hard all day. H. T. Gifford.
Brevard Co., Fla.. June 11.
Amount of Honey Stored in a Day.
My bees came through the winter in rather
poor condition, but they are doing well at
present. I have two colonies of pure Italians
that occupy three S-frame brood-chambers.
I have Ijeen away to school, and did not get
home in time to give my bees the attention
they should have had. I have Ijeeu surprised
to find how ignorant and afraid most people
are of bees when the.v come in contact with
them, but how much they know about them
if they never have had anything to do with
them I
My father became anxious to know how-
much honey the bees stored in one day. so he
made what he calls a pair of "scales." lie
measured off one-half of a plank and rested
the middle on the edge of a board. On one
end he fastened a colony of bees that had
been hived only a short time before, and on
the other enti a rock that would just balance
the weight of the hive and bees at dusk. He
put on bricks as the hive grew heavier, claim-
ing that as he weighed the bricks he could
tell just how much honey was gathered in a
day. One evening the scales showed about
S}{ pounds gain, but it was 4 pounds lighter
inthe morning. Leslie Hazex.
Nemaha Co.. Kans.. June 10.
lf^:'ii^EEPOM BOILED!
':^^Sb^
Supersedure and Control of Queens.
Dr. C. C. Miller says in the American Bee-
Keeper:
It is undoubtedly cheaper to let the bees
themselves do the superseding than to replace
queens with others, either home-reared or
purchased; but the wise bee-keeper will still
keep the whole matter under his control by
suppressing all poor stock and encouraging
the good. From time to time he will seek to
improve by introducing fresh stock from the
best queen-breeders ; but he will not stop at
that. He will keep tab on the performance of
every colony, and be able to tell you just
what the progeny of each of the queens did
during the preceding year, or years, of their
lives; and knowing this, he will know from
which queen he is to rear. This matter of
keeping a careful record of the performance
of each colony is at the foundation of build-
ing up an apiary that is to bring in the best
returns. How many bee-keepers do you sup-
pose keep any such record >.
If you have never given the matter any
attention, perhaps it may be well to recall
some facts that you have proljalily noticed
without carefully considering their bearing.
You may have noticed that, as a rule, the col-
onies most given to swarming have not been
among the best for storing surplus, and that
those which have made the best super records
have not wasted much time in swarming. If
you have paid nf) attention to this, but have
left the bees to run things their own way, the
bees most given to swarming are the ones that
have given you increase almost entirely,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:jr^C
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Seud for a copv. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W iinl^HiS
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Teuuessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3% miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2S years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS.
6A2(jt Spring Hill, Tenn.
t'lease mention Bee Journal when -writing.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 7.^ els. each; 6 for $4.i».
Long'Tongued 3°Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongrues measured 2S-
\<M) inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
$1 .00 each, or 6 for $5.00. Safe arrival guaran.
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cinci-nn.iti, O.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
llarshMd Mannfacturipg Compaoy.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
sA26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., MarslifJeld, Wis.
I Red GloverQueens
LONG-TOMUED BEES ArFdEMANDED NOW,
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Pre-
mium for sending us TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for one year
(with $2); or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers with $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her vrorker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be
clipped, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
Please Mention the Bee Jouroal iJl^n^Ji".?.
446
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Julj- 11, 1901.
while your best oolODies have triven no in-
crease. Don't you see that such a course.
continued indefinitely, will inevitably result
In run-out bees: By keeping matters under
your own control, you can make the current
run the other way.
Introducing Queens With Tobacco-
Smoke.
Here are instructions that I am sending
out this year for introducing queens, and
yruaranteeing the safe introduction. After
giving notice of the date when the queen
will be sent, I say ;
As soon as you receive this notice, remove
the queen from the colony to which you ex-
pect to introduce the new queen. When she
arrives, put her away in a sate place until
after sundown, just at dusk, then light your
smoker, and when it is well to going put in a
pipeful of smoking-tobacco, put on the cover,
puff until you get an odor of tobacco, then
puff one or two good puffs into the entrance
of the hive. Wait two or three minutes, then
send in another good puft". remove the cover,
drive the bees down with a pull of smoke,
open the cage and allow the queen to run
down between the combs, following her with
a putT of smoke, and put on the cover. Half
an hour later, light up the smoker again, put-
ting in the tobacco as before, and blow two
more good puffs in at the entrance. If no
honey is coming in. feed the colonj' a pint of
syrup each night from the inside of the hive,
but don't disturb the brood-nest for four or
five days. — Bee-Keepers' Review.
Weight of Wax-Scales.
E. F. Robinson gives this interesting bit of
information in the Canadian Bee Journal :
While making a display of the natural his-
tory of the bee a few weeks ago, I took the
trouble to sort out a lot of wax-scales from
some fine refuse, and arranged these, the
natural scales, into the word WAX, but be-
fore doing so I weighed a number on a pair of
jeweler's diamond scales to find out how
many went to the pound, for I could not find
any reference to this inanv of the many books
on the bee. I find there are just 192 to the
grain, and of course 1.4r4,.'](iO to the pound.
Inversion of Brood-Combs.
This has been found profitable by Mr. L. L.
Esenhower. of Pennsylvania. In the fall he
takes away all combs not covered by the
bees, taking good care of them, and in the
spring he returns them, upside dvwn. He uses
an invertible frame of his own make, and
slightly opens the eappings of the combs
when he returns them to the hive. He be-
lieves that he has prevented many cases of
spring dwindling by this practice. He ad-
mits that inversion has been cast off long
ago, but. very wisely, .says that we sometimes
cast away something that we think we have
tried, whereas, we have scarcely made its
acq uaintance. — Bee-Keepers' Review.
Co-operation Among Bee-Keepers.
The .Tune number of the Rocky Mountain
Bee Journal is almost entirely taken up with
the matter of co-operation among bee-keepers.
Those Coloradoans are not merely theorizing
on the matter, but have been putting in prac-
tice some excellent co-operative work, some-
what to the advantage of their pockets. It
seems that they have so enlarged the work
that they now have, under the title of " The
Colorado Honey-Producers' Association." an
office kept open the year round in Denver,
with Frank Rauchfuss as its energetic mana-
ger. The following interview with Mr.
Riuchfuss is given in the paper mentioned :
"1. What advantage, it any, accrues to
stockholders in the Colorado Honey-Pro-
ducers' As.'Ociation, besides dividends on their
Lanostroilion...
TI16H0n6l)B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over SOO pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thorol)- ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writina
stock, in the purchase of supplies through
that Association ;"
■• You should emphasize the fact that the
Association was formed to enable its members
to market their honey profitably. We kept
up the price of honey last year very success-
fully. We handled a large share of the
honey crop. Our members got the best prices
for their honey ; and at the close of the sea-
son we were able to return them 95 percent of
the usual commission. Handling only honey
we could not afford to keep a store open the
whole year. By expanding our business we
are able to keep the store open all the year ;
to keep in closer touch with the bee-keepers
and the trade, and to handle the business
more successfully, because more intelligently.
You know that supplies are cheaper than last
year. We claim part of the credit for that.
The State Association deserves part of the
credit, perhaps the larger part. Any one who-
will compare the price-list of last j'ear and
this year can figure out the advantages for
himself."
■"2. Has the handling of supplies by the
Association tended to cheapen the price of
supplies in the city of Denver ;"
"Compare the lists,'' said Mr. Rauchfuss. I
compared. Eight items from last year's price-
list footed up s;9.42: the same eight items
from the price-list for this year amount to
sS.34. These are staple articles. The differ-
ence amounts to a trifle less than 13 percent
of present prices — a saving worth considering.
" 3. Would you favor the establishment of
branch associations for the handling of sup-
plies, subsidiary to the main association in
the smaller cities throughout the State ;"
Mr. Rauchfuss answered with an emphatic
" Y'es!'' and then walked away to wait on an
impatient customer.
Horehound Honey. •
II. H. Hyde says in the Southland Queen
that horehound is in his locality in Texas,
" and sometimes it ruins a good deal of honey
in the fall, but in the spring it fortunately
l:ilooms early enough so that all the honey is
consumed in brood-rearing."
Fastening Foundation.
C. Davenport fastens foundation in brood-
frames or sections by means of something like
a large medicine-dropper or pipette. He says
in Gleanings in Bee-Culture:
Mine is made of a tin tube about 4 inches
long, aud not quite '.j inch in diameter. The
lower end of this tube is gradually tapered
dowu toa point, so the hole at the extreme
end is a little less in size than what it would
be on an ordinary lead-pencil if the lead were
removed to the upper part of the tube. A
rubber nipple or bulb is attached, and it is
important to have this rubber fit over the
tulie tight enough to exclude air. When the
lower end is placed in melted wax, or any
other liquid, with the rubber bulb compressed
between the thumb and finger, as soon as it is
allowed to expand by air suction, it draws
some of the liquid up into the tube. By
allowing the rubber to remain expanded the
tul)e will not leak when withdrawn, no mat-
ter what position it is held in. Pressure on
the rubber forces the liquid out slow or fast,
just as desired.
Does a Queen Carry Foul Brood?
The editor of the Australasian Bee-Keeper
says :
ily opinion on the matter is so decided
that should I need a queen from a foul-broody
apiary I would introduce her into a healthy
colony of bees without the slightest hesita-
tion or fear of conimunicating the disease. I
would, however, deal very deliberately with
any bees accompanying the queen. Every
one would be crushed and afterwards burnt.
In my opinion, it is the bees only that com-
nuinicate the disease, and not the ciueen. To
back up my assertion, I may say I know of
numerous queens from foul-broody colonies
having been introduced to healthy bees, and
July 11, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
447
have yet to tiud the queen ViliiTiied for com-
municating; the disease. When I i^et a queen
from elsewhere, or an imported (|iieen, I open
the cage before a closed window, and after
the ciueen is caged I destroy every bee. Most
of them are readily crushed when flying
against the window glass.
Extracting^ Supers Over Winter.
In the Southland Queen, Louis Scholl tells
that he practiced putting enamel cloth over
his brood-frames and piling the extracting-
supers above for winter. He says further:
But this had to be removed in the spring,
so last year I tried some of the heavy brown
paper used by butchers, and putting a sheet
on top of the brood-frames, liy just tilting
back the supers and all above. If honey is in
the top supers, a hole can be torn in the sheet
of paper to let the bees go for it above.
I would prefer to have the sheet of paper
a little narrower than the hive is wide inside,
leaving a passageway next to the walls.
In spring, as soon as the colon3'gets more
poijulous, and more room is needed, the bees
will attend to the paper, gnawing it away,
and saving the apiarist the laljor of removing
it.
file Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this ** Emerson " no further binding- is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14D Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Reduced Rates to New York City.
From July 1st till further notice the
Nickel Plate Roart offers round trip
tickets Chicago to New York City, re-
turning same route or going- and re-
turning by different routes, at option
of passengers. No excess fare is
charged on any of its trains. Meals
served in up-to-date dining-cars, rang-
ing in price from 3.^ cents up, but not
exceeding SI. 00 for each person served.
Secure tickets and sleeping-car berths
at Citv Ticket Office, 111 Adams St.,
Phone' 20,^7 Central. 15-28Alt
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for SI. 30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for SO cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & l-lo Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Bee Books
ElvT POSTPAID BV
George W. York & Co.
Ohicaco.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.—Ii is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pages,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in clotli. gold-lettered. Price, in
floth, 75 cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant,— This clas!,ic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything.'- relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by' Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth—the Father of American Bee-Culture. 1'.
has 520 pages, bound iu cloth. Price, St. 25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?rv,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral Colk'ge.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and tliuroly practical and scien-
tific- It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiology- of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
paedia of 41.0 pages, describing ever3'thing per-
taining to the care of the honev-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially fot
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1-20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical arid entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Uzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, Sl.tW.
Blenen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— ThU
is a Curtnan translation of the principal portion
of llu- lH.uk called "Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamplili-t. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neuesten methode (German) by J. F. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia. — A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound iu paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, bv Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
*' new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or extracted honev." SO pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman.—
Devotes two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for SO colonies, $1.00; for IOC colo.
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gi
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the •
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
esthe
X peri-
Winter Problem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
'ierce.— Result of 25 years' experience. 30 cts.
Foul Brood Treatment, by Prof. F. R. Che-
lire.— lis Cause and Prevention. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, bv .\. R. Kohnlie.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing. by Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others.— Illustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fanny
Field. — Everylhin-r about Poul'.ry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. «
Poultry for iVIarket and Poultry for Profit, b.
anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish ymi with The A. I. Knot Co'b
goods at wholesale or ret.iil at their prices. We cftn
save you freight, and snip promptly. Market price
Said tor beeswax. BenM inr our l90i catalog.
[. U. UUNT & 80.N. B. 11 Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich
Please mention Bee Journal when WTiting
>1 >ti >li >fe >ti jte >tt >li >ti >te Mt >li afe V
I HON&y AND BEESWAX l
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, June 19.— New comb honey has not
yet reached this market. It would sell at 15®
K.c if choice white, and the ambers at 12(ai3c.
The market is entirely bare with exception of a
few cases of a lot that we had held for ns, ex-
pecting it would be needed. Advices are that
shipments will be started by July 1. Very little
trading is being done in extracted, as' large
dealers will not contract this season unless at
low figures; some sales of amber have been
made at 4^(ai5c for early autumn delivery;
white is held at 5Hc. Beeswax sells at 30c.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand tor comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from M to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Webbs.
Boston, June 2').— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm
weather very little call for it. Are expecting
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at o54@7i^c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per cate, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25: am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, June 1.— Extracted honey is ex
ceedingly dull and very little moving. Wequote
for the present: White, OS^faTc; light amber,
55^®6c; amber, J'aS'iC. Some demand for comb
honey at unchanged prices. New crop is now
beginning to arrive from the South, and sells at
from 12@lSc, according to quality and st3 le.
Beeswax, 2';ic. Hildreth & Segelkkn.
Albany, N. Y., June 18.— Honey market is
dull with no receipts or slocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R. Wright.
Detroit, June 27— Very little old honev in
market, and no new honey come in yet. Splen-
did showing for a good yield of white clover
honey. Beeswa.x, 2b7(i'27c; demand light.
M. H. Hunt i Son.
Buffalo, June 26.— Honey not wanted till
cool, fall weather. Little old honey here and
dragging, b('l lOc. Extracted not wanted. Fruit
takes place of honey now. Battbrson <fe Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 2S@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
San Francisco, June S.— White comb, 11^®
1254 cents; amber, '>(gil0c; dark, 6(g.s cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5@6c; light amber, 4@4)<c;
amber, 35i@4c. Beeswax, 26@2Sc.
Dealers are very bearish in their ideas, but
are not securing much honey at the prices they
name. In a small way to special trade an ad-
vance on quotations is being realized.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases: also Kx-
tracted Honey. State price,
ueiivcit-u. We pav spot cash. Fi<ED W. AU-th
& Co.. Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati. Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
2.'*A17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
BEES
WAX
e will pay aic. rasli, pep 11). for
Lire, bright yellow l)oi-sw:ix.
11(1 'iOr. cnsli. per lb. for pure.
Ilk lioosw:ix di-liviTfd liere.
vMiiKKi.AiN Medicine Co,
, .Mn
•;i.
: Bee Jo
nal.
Please meutlou Bee Journal
wheH writing advertisers.
448
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 11, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly,
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Extraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANl IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
r Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everylhingr, and cost no more
Iban other makes. New Catalog" and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r «- W. M. Gekrish, East Noting-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our groods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freiprht.
Please mention Bee Journal -wl.en -wrritiii.T.
LEARN TO SING
AT HOME by my thorough method
f trainini;^. With my complete
irse I guarantee to train and cul-
;ite your voice or refund your
iiey. The best musical knowledge
firraDped especially for Home Stndy.
Has llltfhest Endorsement, Eteaatiful
liescriptlve bockletseot free. Address
Prof. G. M. Whaley, Kalamazoo, Mich-
m
Please mention Bee Journal whea writing,
ITflLlflN QUEENS, warranted
Tested, $1.0i>; Untested, 75 cents, bv return mail.
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
Oak Park P.O. Rivek Forest, Cook Co., III.
21Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
1.70
1.70
1.40
"We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft lOtb 251b soft
Sweet Clever (white) 70c $1.20 $2.75 $S.OO
Sweet Clover (yellow).... $1.50 2.80 6.25 12.00
Alsike Clover Wc
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or ID cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 1-k, Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
.1.75
7.00
4.00
7..MI
H.2S
6.00
1.00
1 60
I AEISE
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
a. M. DOOLITTLE,
UA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
flease mention Bfie Journal when writing.
year Dadant's Foundation.
24tll
year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAOaiNQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETINQ.
Why does it sell _^_jv
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re^/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when "writing.
A Bee=Keeper's Paradise.
Efi route to El Paso. — I have just come from a county about
40 miles square that has more bee-keepers to the square mile than
any other locality of its size I ever visited. The inhabitants talk
bees at the hotels, on the streets, and everywhere, just as farm-
ers talk crops and business in the North. This county produces
more honey than any equal area, I believe, in the United States.
Some say that its yearly output is a zvhole trainload of honey; but
many aver that this is too low, and that two whole trainloads
would come nearer the truth. Of course this great amount doesn't
go all in one lot, but in large and small shipments.
The average per colony is high, and there is a honey crop
every season. It is estimated that in this one county, outside of
the towns, nearly one-half the population are bee-keepers.
The great bulk of the honey is of the very finest, and some of
it is literallj' water-white. There are thousands and thousands
of acres of honey-plants on cheap land : and bees — there are not
enough to gather it all.
The bees commence swarming early in the spring ; and, zvhen
the inatn honey-flows covimencc. actually stop swarming, destroy
cells, kill off the drones, and commence business. Did you ever
hear the like of it before ? You say, " No, and no one else."
Well, I think I can prove every statement ; but for the present I
am not at liberty to give the place or other details ; but very
shortly I'll tell the whole story, with some fine pictures.
This is only one of the good things in store for readers of
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. Send IS cents for three months' trial
or 25 cents for six months' trial, or $1.00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian Queen. Send S2 00 and we will send Gleanings one
year and one of our Red Clover Queens. Speak quick if you want
one.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. Chicago ^llT''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
#^S^^A'
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, JULY 18, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 29.
450
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
July IS, 1901.
PCBLISHED
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) i^a«ois.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a j-ear extra for post-
age. Sample cop3' free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pa.v subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Thos. G. Newm.-in,
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
E. WhiTCO!
W. Z. HuTC
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
NSON,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. p. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
U;^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keejjer or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons!
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees.**
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
\ Weekly Budget. I
■• Mt Wife came pretty near calling nie
honey last night."
• Yes. She called me beeswax.'
Dr. C. C. Miller, of McHenry Co.. 111.,
wrote us July 10 :
•■ 102 degrees in the shade to-day. I don't
remember a day so hot before. Neither do I
remember so dry* a summer before. Much of
the grass looKs as dead as in winter. A very
blue time for bee-keepers.''
The ArsTRALiAX Bee-Keepers' Review
is the latestjcandidate for the favor of bee-
keepers. Pity that a journal so neatly gotten
up could not have had a name all its own,
without the danger of its getting mixed up
with a very excellent bee-paper put)lished on
this side of the globe.
Mr. J. T. Haikstox, of Cherokee Natioiij
Ind. Ter., wrote us July 9, as follows:
'• We are having the most disastrous drouth
and hot weather ever experienced here. Corn
and hay are beyond help, bees are doing
nothing, so no surplus honey.
•■ I was waylaid and shot April 12. my
thigh being broken, and also badly cut. I am
crippled for life. Six weeks later my little
girl, Jennie, had her hand crushed in a feed-
mill. It had to be amputated.
•• I have 175 colonies of bees."
Surely. Mr. Hairston has more than his
share of troubles. All our readers will sym-
pathize with him in his many misfortunes.
Mr. George B. Whitcomb's home apiary
is shown on page 455. It will be observed
that he has both the unpainted and the
painted hives, preferring the former in that
excessively wet climate. The stands used for
them are the best kind for there, and he
thinks the advice given that person in
Multnomah County was poor, when he was
told that hives on the ground or near it, and
covered with isnow, were all right. Mr. W.
has seen the snow so full of water there that
it would fill the hives and drown the bees. In
fact, a neighbor bee-keeper, Mr. Christensen,
lost 40 odd colonies just that way. Also an
observatory hive containing one comb would
not work there, as the nights are too cool at
any time of the year.
Mr. Whitcomb had just bought the apiary
of Simon A. Nickerson, situated in Linn
County, and spent a few days in knocking
out the swarming-fever ; he believed he had
succeeded completely. Mr. Nickerson is one
of the old subscribers to the American Bee
Journal, and has been counted one of the
best I bee-keepers in,Oregon in his time, but he
has been rapidly failing for the past two
years, until now his lower limbs are com-
pletely paralyzed, and he is bedfast, being
able to move only the upper part of his body,
with a cord suspended from the ceiling, to
which a handle is fastened. This is sad in-
deed.
Inilooking over Mr. Nickerson's apiary, Mr.
Whitcomb can see the history of bee-keeping
for a number of years past. The majority of
his colonies were in modern dovetailed hives
of the 8-frame and dummy-board pattern, but
a few were in the old 10-frame chamfered-
edge A. I. Root pattern of 15 years ago, of
which there are 30 or more neatly piled up
along the fence.
The solar waX'Cxtractor is there, and so is
the Porter bee-escape ; the Alley queen and
drone trap, and numerous other things have
been tried, but the best thing Mr. W. has seen
for real, downright good service is a pair of
frame-tongs. They are like pliers, made just
wide enough when open to slip over the top-
bar and hold it firmly between two lugs (one
in each jaw) that are pressed into the wood
when closed ; while one of the jaws is longer
than the other, so as to be used in prying
apart supers, hive-covers, etc. In fact, he
thinks it is the best tool for handling cross
bees 'that he ever saw, as with it he can
manipulate the frames with one hand while
keeping the smoker in the other.
Mr. a. I. Root is in danger of making
trouble for the government. He is not en-
tirely satisfied with its course in the liquor
problem, and he thinks the Agricultural
Department might issue a bulletin about
tobacco just as well as about beans, sugar,
eggs, etc., giving its value as an article of
steady consumption. He says in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture :
I wish I had influence enough with the
Agricultural Department at Washington to
induce it to publish a bulletin with a heading
something like this:
" Tobacco, and its General Effect on the
Human Family. Should its Cultivation and
Dissemination be Encouraged or Discour-
aged ?"
Then I should like to have a closing chapter
something like this :
'• The Effect of Tobacco on Children and
Young People. Should its Use be Prohibited
to those under a certain Age ; If fo, what Age?
Also a Consideration of the Cigarette Habit."
Robert W. Pollet, of Middlesex Co.
Mass., writing us June 10, said:
" I have successfully transferred, united,
Italianized, and fed up weak colonies all from
items taken from the American Bee Journal,
besides wintering bees safely: and, in fact,
all the good I know about bees I have studied
out of that paper. It is needless to add that
I am very much pleased with it."
Mr. E. E. Hasty, of Lucas Co.. Ohio, wrote
us July 5, as follows :
'•I didn't think, with such bad wintering
and bad spring, that such a rush of swarms —
the greatest for some years — would ensue. I
thought there would be almost no swarming
at all. That's the way when we, keep bees.
The unexpected happens."
Queen-Clipping
Device Free..,.
The MoNBTTB Queen-Clippiiijf
Device is a fine thing- for use in
catching- and clipping- Queens
wing-s. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a. year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping- Device. Address,
OEORQE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, JULY 18, 190L
No, 29.
^ Editorial. ^ \
The Thousand Members of the Na-
tional Bee-Keepers' Association (or the bal-
ance of about 300) which we are trying to
secure amony: the readers of the American
Bee Journal, are coming in slowly. As prom-
ised, we begin to pubish the list of those that
are going to help make up the number neces-
sary to have an even 1000 by the time of the
Buffalo convention in September. Since we
began this effort, we have received the follow-
ing names with a dollar each :
W. D. Phillips.
W. J. Forehand.
H. B. Shoonover.
C. H. Harlan.
We hope by another week to have a much
larger list of names of new members to pub-
lish.
Are We Doing Our Best in Breed-
ing?— While the theorizers are having their
say, and are doing some good by stirring up
to a full knowledge of what is required in
scientific breeding, are the rank and file of
bee-keepers doing their best with what they
do know ? It is not difficult lor any one to
understand that if he has a colony that gives
twice as much as the average in surplus, and
another that gives only half as much, if he
makes his increase by swarming, and gets
more swarms from the poorest than from the
best, that his stock will grow worse instead
of better. And yet are there not thousands
who will get their increase just by allowing
the bees to have control of swarming ? And
in that case is it not generally the case that
the poorest storers do the most swarming <
AVe can not control the matter of mating to a
very great e.Ktent, but are pains taken to con-
trol it as far as possible \ Are drones super-
seded in poor colonies and encouraged in the
best S If we do the best we can with what
we have and with what we know, will we not
be doing a good deal better than we are now
doing ; These are trite words, but it is none
the less important to stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance.
Bee-Keeping on Paper. — If a bee-
keeper is down with a fit of the blues, one
way to cheer him up is to give him a good
supply of reading-matter about bees, taking
an average lot as found in agricultural and
other papers. It is true that some agricul-
tural paiiers have bee-depart nients that are
reliable, but most of them ari' more or less
re-lie-able. In the Twentieth I cntury Farmer
is an article of some length telling about
"traveling bee-colonies" owned by C. I.
Graham, in California. Some of the items
may be of interest to the readers of the
American Bee Journal, who are left to sep-
arate fact from fiction.
The renascent activity of bees depends upon
the coming of spring flowers, and early in the
season it is easy to move them before they
have aroused themselves from the winter's
listlessness. When Mr. Graham moved his
bees in April, it was predicted that they
would desert him by the wayside, for while
bees may be moved in winter, it is generally
considered impossible to move them in the
active season. The difficulty was solved by
traveling at night. He has a wagon the size
of a flat-car with crate on it holding 300 colo-
nies. Cnder cover of darkness the crate is
slipped from the car to the wagon, and the
bees taken to some sweet bower before day-
light. When the combs are full the honey is
" strained."
The same paper contains an extract from
the New Orleans Times, describing the Cuban
bee. It says " he " is quite different from the
American bee. The Cuban bee is lazy,
trifling, almost slovenly, looking like a drone
when compared with the American bee.
" The Cuban bee has a sort of oxcart move-
ment when he goes about his work. The
American bee is snappy, quick, and almost
electrical. Now, why is this ? 1 have my
own theory, and I base it upon the broadest
principle of science, a principle universally
recognized for its potency in the shaping of
character. It is a matter of environment.
"The Cuban bee has been surrounded by
slow methods and awkward, crude ways of
doing things. He simply reflects the life, the
mannerisms and the methods about him. He
is still the bee of the oxcart age, and buzzes
about his business in an oxcart gait. He is a
Cuban to the manor born. The American
bee's industry may be accounted for in the
same way. He is a natural-born hustler. He
is an American, full-blooded and full-fledged."
What Do We Know About Breed-
ing?— Several writers have had considerable
to saj' as to the ignorance of bee-keepers with
regard to anything like the intelligent breed-
ing of bees. It is probably a fact that among
the breeders of horses, cattle, swine, poultry,
etc., there will not be found so much ignor-
ance as to the laws of breeding as is to be
found among breeders of bees. So it is well
that of late so much has been said by way of
arousingatteiiliiin to thesuljject, albeit it may
be in the wnsh nf many that more of instruc-
tion had been given by those who find fault
with the lack of knowledge. To the ques-
tion : " What do we know about breeding V
the plain answer probably must be, little or
nothing.
After all, mc bee-keepers so greatly to
blame for this ? In intelligence they will
probably rank with breeders of other classes,
and other things being equal, they should
know as much about the laws of Iweeding.
But other things are iiut equal. The breeder
of horses may make himself acquainted with
the laws of breeding, and in applying those
laws for best results one of his chief cares, if
not his chiefest care, is to malvc a wise selec-
tion of the two intended parents of his future
stock. Without this care in selection his
efforts will count for little. In the case of
the bee-keeper such selection has been con-
sidered next to impossible of accomplishment.
Of what avail to study carefully just the drone
that should meet a certain queen, if the con-
trol of that drone is entirely out of the ques-
tion >. There is excuse for the fact, if it be ti.
fact, which is not here denied, that bee-keep-
ers know less about breeding than the breeders
of any other class of stock.
At the same time it would be a gain if more
were known as to the laws of breeding. Pos-
sibly we are just on the eve of entire control
of fertilization, and it would be a wise thing
to prepare for it in advance. Even if we have
only a very limited control of the mating of
queens, it will do no harm to have all the
knowledge that can be used in that limited .
control.
■*■
Are Ijong Tongues of Value Per Se ?
— In' an able article which we copy on page
453, Frederick B. Simpson says :
" To my mind the long-tongue agitation is
too much like treating a symptom instead of
the disease itself. I believe that long tongues
are of value only in so far as they represent
an increase in vigor; or, in other words, only
when such increased length is the direct result
of increased use of the tongue, indicating
greater activity and vigor."
That might be understood as meaning that
in and of itself there is no value in a long
tongue, only as it is a sign of other qualities,
just as there is no value in the bands of the
Italian only as they are a sign of special
qualities possessed by the Italian. It is
doubtful that Mr. Simpson meant just this,
for elsewhere he says, " Other t/iiui/s being
equal, I want long tongues.''
Given two bees exactly alike in all other
respects, one having a longer tongue than the
other, and there is no question that the longer
tongue would have the advantage wherever
there were flower-tubes a little deeper than
the reach of the shorter tongue, and yet with-
in reach of the longer tongue. At the same
time it is a mistake to suppose that the length
of tongue is an exact gauge of the value o£
two different bees. The bee with shorter
tongue may have extra diligence to make up
for shortness of tongue.
452
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 18, 1901.
I Contributed Articles, l
Number of Frames in an Extracting Super.
BY C. v. DADANT.
CIIAS. DADANT i SON :— We lake the liberty to ask you for your
valued advice and experience in regard to frames to use in extracting
supers. The object is, whether or not you consider it advantageous
to use less frames in an extracting super than in the brood-chamber
below, when the extracting super is of the same width as the brood-
chamber which commonly takes 10 frames. Kindly give the number of
frames you would recommend as most practical to use in an extracting-
super of the above-mentioned description. — J.\cob W.^gner.
The combs containing honey are usually thicker than
those used for brood, and for that reason apiarists have
universally adopted a wider receptacle for extracting supers
than for the brood-chamber. The honey-sections used gen-
erally are the l'\ inches in width. In an eight-frame hive,
six sections are used in the width, leaving a small space for
followers. In the ten-frame hive only seven sections are
used, and this leaves a still greater space for followers.
In an extracting super the number of shallow frames
to be used should be at least one less than in the lower
story. For this reason we do not like any super frames
which occupy fixed distances. We want to be able to use
more or less frames, according to their condition. In an
ordinary ten-frame hive, we would not begin with more
than nine frames in the super, equally distanced. After
the combs are built out by the bees, they are thicker, and
the number can be reduced to eight in the space formerly
occupied by nine. The bees lengthen out the cells and
make a thicker comb out of each. There is less handling,
less uncapping, and more honey. We used old style Ouinby
hives years ago, which contained only eight frames of
brood-comb. In some of these hives we successfully har-
vested extracted honey on six combs Those combs there-
fore occupied about two inches each from center to center.
With a hive in which the combs occupy fixed distances,
such a spreading of the frames would be inconvenient,
and in some styles of hives it would be entirely impossible.
So the loose-hanging frame hive, which has sneeringly
been called a "rattle-box" by some apiarists, is certainly
advantageous in this case.
In our large hives, measuring IG'i inches in width, we
use a super slightly narrower — 16 inches inside — and this is
supplied with 10 frames at the outset. Then the number is
often reduced to nine after the combs have been built out.
The extra comb is employed to start some new colony in its
super. It is a bait.
One has to experience the advantage of wide extract-
ing-combs to realize fully the gain in time and honey
secured by this method. It is no more labor to uncap a
comb weighing five pounds, than to uncap one of the same
surface weighing only three pounds. It is really easier to
uncap the former than the latter, for there is no danger of
running the knife into the edge of the wood of the frame,
and a single stroke suffices to remove the seal from an entire
side of the comb.
In inducing the bees to build thick super-combs, we are
not running counter to their instincts, for they will of their
ow,n accord build very thick combs where the opportunity
offers. I have measured a comb built in a corner of a box,
the cells of which were 2 '4 inches deep on one side, the
other side being only a trifle more than the usual depth.
In addition to the advantages above enumerated, there
is another advantage in the deep cells, in the fact that they
usually efficiently keep the queen out of the supers, for she
does not lay — can not lay — in deep cells. It is true that if
she is short of room, the bees will sometimes cut the cells
down to the proper depth for her laying, but this is very
exceptional.
My advice for extracting frames in a ten-frame hive is
to use not to exceed nine of the, former, over the ten brood-
combs. Hancock Co., 111.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year m advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
(Continued from page 422.)
No. 3.— Some Reminiscences of an Old Bee-Keeper.
BY THADDEUS SMITH.
THE Italian bee was introduced into this country about
1860, or soon after the introduction of the movable-
frame hive. I have not the statistics or the history of
either event before me to enable me to give the exact dates,
and can speak only in a general way from recollection ; but
both came about the same time, and in so doing gave a new
interest in bee-keeping and in bee literature, and that won-
derful impetus to the growth of the business in this coun-
try that the last half-century has witnessed.
Many persons engaged in other pursuits — some who
had never kept bees, and others who had only a few colo-
nies—now became greatly interested iti the subject ; and
this interest led to an investigation, both theoretical and
practical ; and as this investigation proceeded some became
quite fascinated with the business. The ease with which
one could examine the internal economy of the hive with
the movable-combs, and to introduce to a colony of native
bees a queen 01 a new race and color, and seeing the
natives gradually disappearing until in a few weeks they
would all be gone and the new race occupying their places,
afforded means of verifying and demonstrating many
interesting facts in the natural history of the bee. The
short life of a worker-bee in the working season was a
revelation that astonished many who always supposed bees
lived several years ; but the ocular demonstration of this
by the introduction of an Italian queen would convince the
most skeptical. And so were many other facts in the his-
tory of this wonderful insect demonstrated.
This new interest in bees caused by the Italian bee,
resulted in adding many new workers to the ranks of bee-
keepers. Some thought they would find it a pleasant and
profitable occupation in producing honey on a large scale
for the market, as the Italians were said, by the vendors, to
be greatly superior to the natives as honey-gatherers.
Others saw a prospect of gain in rearing queens for sale at
prices from S5 to i?20 each ; and the country was soon
Hooded with queen-breeders until the price got down to one
dollar or less, and profits still made at that.
Manufacture of patented and non-patented hives, also
sprung up all over the country. An impetus was given to
every department of the business. The literary depart-
ment was greatly augmented, and we had new authors of
bee-books, and pamphlets numerous, and many new con-
tributors to the bee-papers from all classes and professions,
some of whom have been of great advantage and a bless-
ing to the fraternity.
I think it can safely be said that had it not been for the
Italian bee, Mr. A. I. Root would never have gotten up that
interest and sustained enthusiasm on the subject that led
him to give up a pleasant and profitable occupation to go
into the bee-business. And just to think of the conse-
quences I The bee-keeping public would never have seen
those wonderfully interesting and instructive letters of
'■ Novice " printed in the early volumes of the American
B:!e Journal. Gleanings in Bee-Culture would never have
appeared ; neither would that standard work on the honey-
bee— the "A B C of Bee-Culture" — have been printed;
nor would those great manufacturing and industrial estab-
lishments with all their various branches and departments,
be in existence to-day. Under the stimulus of the mov-
able-comb hive and Italian bee, many others were induced
to go into the business who became prominent writers for
the bee-papers, or large honey-producers and queen-breed-
ers and hive patentees, whose names are worthy of record,
and a sketch of their work would be interesting if time
and space would permit.
The movable-frame hive caused much rivalry, and
some jealousies, between the patentee and vendors, and
they spoke and wrote of each other in not very complimen-
tary terms — in fact, in language hardly admissible in polite
society ; but there were still more rivalry and jealousy, and
bickering, between the queen-breeders and sellers of Italian
queens that had now sprung up all over the country. The
matter of contention was the purity of their queens and
their offspring. Each party would contend that he had the
only Simon-pure article, and intimate, sometimes in broad
assertions, that the bees of competitors were impure and a
fraud. Various tests of purity were advocated that added
still more confusion to the matter. One writer, greatly
perplexed over the matter, said :
■■ One dealer in Italian bees says ' the workers are distiiiffuisbed
from the natives by a yellow band around the abdomen ; ' another sajs ,
July 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
453-
'three yellow bauds or rings;' a third makes the iiiarldugs of the
queen a test of purity; a fourth tests the purity of a queen by her
progeny ; and a fifth makes the Vf ry amiable disposition of the worker,
or the ' impeccability of temper.' a test of purity. A person entirely
unacquainted with Italian bees, after hearing the ditl'erent opinions of
these doctors, if he purchased a i|ueen. purity guaranteed, would
hardly know where to look for a reliable test."
As a matter of course, the writer became very much
interested in these new bees, I had kept bees all my life,
and as soon as I heard of the Langstroth movable-comb
hive I adopted it — in 18b2 or 1863, I think — and I determined
to have some of these new bees.
As I have stated in another article, I came to Pelee
Island, Lake Erie, in 1866, and one of the first things I did
was to inquire about bees, and I found that there was only
one colony on the Island, and I bought that, and went to
the main shore of Ontario and bought two more colonies.
These I soon had transferred to Langstroth hives. I found
that the Island abounded in good bee-pastures, especially
the unbroken forest of basswood, and I am a great lover of
honey as well as bees.
About this time a number of breeders of Italian queens
had come to Kelley's Island, Ohio, because there were no
black bees there, and it was beyond the flight of black bees
from the main shore, consequently they could rear pure
queens without the possibility of having them mated with
black drones. Kelley's Island being only a short distance
from Pelee Island — just across the international boundary
line — I had a fine opportunity to see these bees, and was
not long in taking advantage of it. I found a number of
queen-breeders there — Aaron Benedict, W. A. Flanders —
" Professor " Flanders with his Apiarian Institute and bee-
charm ; and my friend, Charles Carpenter, one of the earli-
est settlers of Kelley's Island, and the first person to demon-
strate the adaptability of the Island to grape-growing,
was also engaged in rearing queens. I paid Mr. Carpenter
SIO for two queens, fine and beautiful ones, of course. I
got them home all right and successfully introduced them
to two of my colonies.
The humorous side of queen-rearing on Kelley's Island
was given by the editor of the Ohio Farmer in his paper in
1867, after a visit to the Island. He tells what he saw there
as follows :
'W. A. Fl.\n'ders the Bee-Man'. — Prof. W. A. Flanders — you may
have heard of him — has his Apiarian Institute on Kelley's Island, and
of course we visited his institution. Mr. Flanders has a host of bee-
families dwelling in busy harmony under every green tree in the
neighborhood. Talk of bigpricestor Merino rams! Flanders can get
more money tor an Italian queen-bee, with three rings around her tail,
than any ram-peddler can get for the best Vermont Merino in his
flock, Flanders showed us (in a vial of alcohol) one of these amiable
little female sovereigns that had lately fallen in a duel with another
amiable little female sovereign, for which, he declared with a sigh —
which came from as low down as the seat of his broad pantaloons —
that he would not have taken .^ISO I Bugs is riz I But then the thing
can be settled by arithmetic. Here are Hi other anuable little sover-
eigns, bred from this insect in the vial, for each of which Flanders
can take from .<'20 to S'2.5. The demonstration is plain— a little insect
not so big as a toothpick, worth more money than a shorthorn bull !
The idea wouM be ridiculous if it were not true. But Flanders has
improved upon the (jriLriiial Dr. Jacob Townsend, aiul instead of being
satisfied with the orthodo.x full-blood Italian with three rings, has
gone one better, and showed us a queen of his rearing with four rings
around her body, all of the royal purple and gold."
(To be continued.)
In-breedinj^— If Practiced, it Should Be Sparingly
and With Good Judgment.
BY FREDERICK B. SIMPSON.
IT is to be regretted that those friends who have been
foremost in agitating the subject of in-breeding, have
not yet gone beyond vague generalities, and given us
some specific information which would be of direct benefit
to the. practical bee-keeper. In this connection Mr. A. C.
Miller, in May 1 Gleanings, might well make his require-
ments for a successful queen-bee breeder more complete by
adding a college education as another requisite. There is
no possible doubt about the great aid these requirements
would prove to the queen-rearer ; but is it not very excep-
tional when a bee-keeper possesses all these requirements,
and is it not a little unfair to predict failure for all except
the exceptionally favored .' Is not the commercially suc-
cessful bee-keeper and queen-rearer practical rather than
theoretical, commercial rather than scientific ? Andean not
the best results followed by those who have the educational
advantages which make it possible for them to be familinr
with the general laws of biology, and therefore strong on
theory but in many cases being prevented from being
broadly practical (on a large scale) by reason of occupation
or circumstances— can not these students formulate plans
based on scientific truth, which the practical man can use
as a basis for systematic breeding, making such modifica-
tions as future results may indicate— such results to be
made known to these students that they may be able to con-
tinue to give what aid lies in their power ?
In this manner a systematic method followed by a prac-
tical man who thoroughly understands all the practical
methods of queen-rearing, and who can secure the greatest
yield of honey from the greatest number of colonies with
the least manipulation, and who can have the best knowl-
edge of the qualities of each individual queen— this man
should be able to make the greatest success of queen-rear-
ing and should be able to rear queens so skillfully that no
large honey-producer could afiord to do anything except
requeen from such bred stock. To the end that some such
method may eventually be formulated, I will contribute my
mite by saying some things about in-breeding ; although
be it understood from the start that I do not believe we will
ever get any really conclusive knowledge on this subject
except by actually breeding the bees ; the more so from the
fact that we have nothing in the nature of a domesticated
animal which forms any real parallel to the bee,
Herbert Spencer says: "Remembering the fact that
among the higher classes of organisms fertilization is
always effected by combining the sperm-cell of one indi-
vidual with the germ-cell of another, and joining with it
the fact that among hermaphrodite organisms the germ-
cells developed in any individuul are usually not fertilized
by sperm-cells developed in the same individual, we see
reason for thinking that the essential thing in fertiliza-
tion is the union of specially fitted portions of different
organisms. If fertilization depended on the peculiar prop-
erties of sperm-cell and germ-cell, as such, then in hermaph-
rodite organisms it would be a matter of indifference
whether the united sperm-cells and germ-cells were those
of the same individual or those of different individuals.
But the circumstance that there exist in such organisms
elaborate appliances for mutual fertilization shows that
unlikeness of derivation in the united reproductive centers
is the desideratum."
Mr. Darwin says : "I will venture to add a few remarks
on the general question of close interbreeding. Sexual
reproduction is so essentially the same in plants find ani-
mals that I think we may fairly apply conclusions drawn
from one kingdom to the other. From a long series of
experiments on plants, given in my book, 'On the Effects of
Cross and Self Fertilization," the conclusion seems clear
that there is no mysterious evil in the mere fact of the
nearest relations breeding together : but that the evil fol-
lows (independently of inherited disease or weakness)
from the circumstances of near relations generally possess-
ing a closely similar constitution. However little we may
be able to explain the cause, the facts detailed by me show
that the male and female sexual elements must be differen-
tiated to a certain degree in order to unite properly and give
birth to a vigorous progeny. Such differentiation of the
sexual eleinents follows from the parents and their ances-
tors having lived during some generations under different
conditions of life.
" The closest interbreeding does not seem to induce vari-
ability or a departure from the typical form of the race or
family, but it causes loss of size, of constitutional vigor in
resisting unfavorable influences, and often of fertility.
On the other hand, a cross between plants of the same sub-
variety, which have been grovrn during some generations
under different conditions, increases to an extraordinary
degree the size and vigor of the offspring.
•■ Some kinds of plants bear self-fertilization much bet-
ter than others ; nevertheless it has been proved that these
profit greatly by a cross with fresh stock. So it appears to
be with animals, for Shorthorn cattle— perhaps all cattle-
can withstand close interbreeding with very little injury;
but if they could be crossed with a distinct stock without
any loss of their excellent qualities, it would be a most sur-
prising fact if the offspring did not also profit in a very
high degree in constitutional vigor."
Until we can get some absolute proof that these argu-
ments are untrue in the specific case of bee-breeding, it
would seem unsafe for any (pieen-bee breeder to do any
in-breeding with the intention of selling the resulting
stock ; but only as a matter of research until some abso-
lute proof could be obtained Ijy experimental work through
several generations of bees. Few queen-bee breeders will
454
AMERICAN BEE ICURNAL
July 18, 1901.
consider that they can afford to do even this amount of
experimenting in view of the fact that outcrossing has
none of the objectional features in the public mind that
in-breeding possesses.
One of the bottom facts of in-breeding is. that Nature
never does it unless compelled to. It is more than likely
that in-breeding as originally practiced by man, and in the
majority of subsequent cases, has been largely due to the
same cause — the absence of an unrelated individual at the
time. Also the fact that in distinct breeds, uniformity can
usually be accomplished quicker by in-breeding than by
outcrossing (where breeds are dependent upon one or a few
characteristics, of which vigor, fertility and size are among
the least essential) which is a very considerable incentive
where it takes several years for an animal to reach matur-
ity. But with bees these two propositions would seem
entirely inapplicable ; for we seem to be able to obtain an
ample number of unrelated individuals of equal value with
which to outcross. besides which, the vast number of gen-
erations that can be obtained in a short time renders the
second reason of little or no force.
Writers in bee-journals have been so prone to allude
vaguely to in-breeding in Jersey cattle, and in trotting-
liorse pedigrees, that a few words on these subjects may
not be out of place here, although there being nearlj' as
much pro as con, we can expect little new truth from these
sources ; especially as in the one case there is almost no
parallel to bee-breeding, whereas, in the other, the breed
has not been established a sufficient time to secure any
amount of uniformity.
The Jersey cow possesses a pleasing color and form —
with the frequent exception of her degenerated horns
which often require an expert to trim them to a regular
shape — and at her best gives a very large quantity of very
rich milk, of which a comparatively small amount is
required to make a pound of butter or cheese. These are
the principal qualities in which she diflfers from other
breeds, and to which she owes any peculiar merit she may
possess. To offset these she is very nervous, undersized,
very subject to disease and to great mortality in disease,
besides which she is extremely deficient in the regular
bringing forth of living offspring ; and so far as I am able
to ascertain, no outcross has yet been found equal to those
outcrosses of other breeds in which the Jersey is not a fac-
tor. Her good qualities have evidently been brought about
at the expense of vigor, fertility and size, for which it
seems evident that in-breeding is responsible.
But is the Jersey a fair comparison ? Nature so situ-
ated her in the narrow confines of a small island where
eventual in-breeding was inevitable, and therefore is it not
possible that Nature endowed her with some inherent
power by which the evil effects of in-breeding would be
mitigated to a certain degree — sufficient with the aid of
skillful selection on the part of man, to preserve to us a
breed which if left entirely to Nature would have long ago
become extinct ? For on an island of such fertility that
animals are staked out instead of being turned loose for
pasturing, it would naturally follow that the greatest per-
sonal care and attention would be bestowed on such ani-
mals so continuously handled.
Then, too, the pedigrees of renowned Jerseys abound
in renowned ancestors to so great an extent that it is prac-
tically impossible to find a line of demarkation between
what has been the result of in-breeding and that which is
due to skillful selection independent of in-breeding. And
if it had been possible to breed these animals with as much
care, to equally desirable unrelated animals, is it not rea-
sonable to suppose (see the quotation from Darwin) that
equally good results would have been obtained, not onlj- at
no expense of these qualities, but even with an increase in
vigor, fertility and size ?
With regarci to trotting-horses, the general proposition
vyill be found to be true that where in-breeding exists in a
good individual that is able quite uniformly to transmit his
good qualities to his offspring, such in-breeding is merely
an incidoil of locality or opportunity, and is seldom close,
whereas the rea! cause of quality is skillful selcciion.
Then, too, the sources of trotting families are compara-
tively few, which renders the incident of in-breeding more
frequent than in many others. But this in-breeding, when
successful, is seldom close, and, therefore, has but little
effect. When trotting-horses were a " fad " they were largely
bred with no other quality than that of speed, so that,
although speed was often obtained, where we failed to
obtain it we had only a failure that did not possess enough
other good qualities to make it valuable. But as soon as
the " bottom dropped out," the lesson was learned, since |
which time our greatest aim has been to produce such an
animal as will possess that balance of qualities which will
make him the highest typical representative of his species.
At any rate we quite uniformly get a high tj'pe of horse.
If his speed and racing quality are sufficient, we have that
which, from our standpoint, is the most valuable. If not
of this high grade there may be sufficient qualitj' for a
first-class roadster, or an excellent carriage-horse; lacking
this, the barbarously inclined can cut off his tail, blind-
fold him, and, by training on an inclined plane, behold the
highest type of English Hackney 1 And, finally, if some
physical injury should occur we will, often, still have a
good individual to breed from.
From all the observations I have personally made
where we have done any close in-breeding, in trotting-
horses, I am led to believe it is a total failure ; except, per-
haps, in exceptional cases where two individuals somewhat
over-sized, with a tendency towards coarseness, possessing
exceptional fertilit)- and vigor, and having immediate
ancestors which have uniformly inherited these character-
istics for several generations ; these individuals, being
possessed of about an equal balance of other good quali-
ties, but the good qualities of the one being the comple-
ment of those of the other, and vice versa, which qualities
should be proved to be hereditary in each pedigree so far as
possible. Besides this, the common ancestor, or ancestors,
must have proved to be the most successful cross in each
case for that animal with which it was mated. Whenever
such a case presents itself we will try in-breeding, but in
no other.
Here are some cases that have come under ray observa-
tion : A mare so mated that her offspring had but one
grandsire, has uniformly given undersized animals of too
fine bone and of no great merit in any respect, although
both parents were individually excellent. A stallion that
had but one grandsire and whose granddams were half sis-
ters, was quits a fair individual but not possessing any
great amount of speed or exceptionally good gait, although
apparently physically in perfect health. On examination
he was found to secrete not over ten percent of the number
of spermatozoa that an average horse did ; and it was found
that, compared with his chances, he produced not over five
percent as many offspring as the average horse. I have
not been able to get any information concerning his off-
spring, but would not be surprised if they proved absolutely
sterile. Of course, there is one chance in a million that
this was due to some unknown cause, but I gave the case
sufficient study so that I am satisfied that it was solely due
to in-breeding.
Does it not seem reasonable to believe that, in general,
in-breeding can be successful only in cases where the
merits of the breed depend very largely on only one, or a
very few, qualities for which we can profitably sacrifice to
a considerable extent, vigor, fertility and size ?
In the trotting-horse we can not afford to do this, for
we want the best type of horse which is not dependent
upon any one or a few qualities. Is not the bee somewhat
similar? Will not the best bee get the most honey? Is
not the best bee the one that possesses the best balance of
good and bad qualities without any necessarily prominent
showing of any one quality ? The qualifications of a good
bee are so complex and variable as to locality, and so inter-
dependent upon each other, that it is very difficult to differen-
tiate them : but, given a good "all round bee," and it is
very likely that she will prove herself better in any locality
than one that is bred for any one particular quality.
I have written the foregoing on in-breeding, simply
because none of the regular contributors to bee-journals
have yet shown any desire to give us any specific aid on
this subject ; and some one should start the ball rolling no
matter how incomplete the start maj' be. Can not those
who have had extensive experience in breeding other ani-
mals, give us the benefit of their experience and opinions ?
Other things being equal, I want long tongues, but if I
were rearing my ideal of a bee for sale, the " long-tongue "
part of my advertisement would be in smaller type, while
with great "scare heads" I would proclaim "Superior
Suckers." Above all, I want a bee that can suck and carry
as large a load as possible, or else make it up in increased
number of loads. To my mind, the long-tongue agitation
is too much like treating a syinptom, instead of the disease
itself. I believe that long tongues are of value only in so
far as they represent an increase in vigor ; or, in other
words, only when such increased length is the direct
result of increased use of the tongue, indicating greater
activity and vigor. Doubtless the direct issue of the origi-
nal (priced) queen possessed this increase, but is there not
July 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
455
some question whether the length of tongue may be trans-
mitted without any corresponding^ly increased vigor, and
therefore increased ability to use it ?
In conclusion, my opinion, based on the above points,
is as follows : Whenever a colony of long-tongued bees is
superior to a colony of bees with shorter tongues, as shown
by the gathering of nectar from red clover, such superiority
is due to increased vigor, which (other things being equal!
shows that the greater length of tongue is due to increased
use of, and energy in the use of, that member, usually
through several generations, it being apparent that it takes
more energy to use a long tongue than a shorter one. It
naturally follows that in a locality, or at a time when red
clover fails to yield nectar, this increased energy of the
HOME APIARY OP GEO. B. WHITCOMB, OF LINS CO., OHEG. — See page 4.i0
long-tongued colony will not go to waste but will be used to
advantage in the more rapid storing of more easily reached
nectar, regardless of its source. And it is quite pertinent
to the subject, that the colony which has given me the most
nectar to date, this season, from fruit-bloom, contains by
far the longest-tongued bees I have, many having a reach
of 22-100. And this also is a point in favor of my idea
that the best bee is the best regardless of locality. — Bee-
Keepers' Review. Fulton Co., N. Y.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us otie new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
CONDUCTED BV
OR. C O. MILLER. Mareago, 111.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Catching a Swarm on the Wing.
Is there any way of catching a swarm of bees after
they leave the tree they first settled on ? If so, what is the
quickest and best way ? Minnesot.\.
Answkk. — I suppose you mean is there any way to stop
a swarm when it has started to leave. It isn't the easiest
thing in the world, but it is always worth trying. Perhaps
the best thing is to take a looking-glass, run ahead of
them, and reflect the sun upon them. That has been
reported successful in driving them back in a number of
cases. Some, however, will tell you that a better plan is to
have a spray pump and throw a good shower of water upon
them.
A Small ttueen— Thick Combs.
1. I divided a strong colony of Italians in fruit-bloom, as
you suggested some time ago, and the queen-cells started
were all small. I left the largest ones, and, when hatched,
the queens were not much larger than worker-bees, and
leather-colored. I killed one of the queens and put the
nucleus back into the old hive, and left the queen in the other
division. The queen is two weeks old, and has not com-
menced to lay yet. Would you advise me to remove her
and give them a larger queen ? The old colonj' swarmed
two days after I put the nucleus back, and the queen-cells
started are large ; the queen looks sleek, and is large like
her mother.
2. I have considerable trouble getting straight combs,
most of the frames having brace and burr combs on them. I
don't think the frames were spaced properly when first put
in. Would you advise buying an extractor, uncapping the
deep ones, spacing the frames over again, and feeding sugar
early in the fall ? Would it pay me to get an extractor ? I
am running for comb honey and have eight colonies.
^^ New York.
— Answers. — 1. If a queen does not begin to lay till after
she is two weeks old, she will generally turn out very poor,
and you will risk very little to kill her.
2. It might pay you to get an extractor, but not for the
sake of straightening out your combs. Neither do you
need to take any such trouble. If the center of the comb
is in the center of the frame, and some of the combs are
too thick (which I understand is the case), all you need to
do is to keep crowding the combs together a few times on
different days. The bees will trim off the parts that touch,
all but a few points of attachment which you can remove,
and a few operations will make all right. But you will be
likely to have some brace-combs in any case.
Finding the Queen, Etc.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth
ing for. Look at them.
jrk-
I have a very strong colony in an S-franie hive which I
wish to divide andean not find the<iueen. having looked
the frames all over five different times. They have about
seven queen-cells, most of them being capped.
1. What is the best way to find the queen ?
2. Will a colony swarm if it has laying-workers in the
place of a queen ?
3. Will the bees build more drone-comb in the spring
than in the early fall ?
4. Can I divide, and use queen-cells ? Illinois.
Answers. — 1. Usuallj' all that is necessary is to look
somewhat carefully over the frames. Avoid the use of
much smoke, for if you smoke the bees till you get them to
running, you may about as %TelI give up finding the queen
till another time. If you do not find the queen after look-
ing over the frames once or twice, better close the hive and
leave them for half an hour or longer. For the queen has
probably hidden in such a way that it is impossible for you
456
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
July 18. 1901.
to see her, and she will stay hid till the hive is closed up
and all is quiet. It may help to put the frames in pairs,
using a different hive for each pair. After waiting a very
few minutes, you may confidently expect to find the queen
between the two frames in one of the pairs. Lift the one
nearest you, and as you do so keep j'our eye on the nigh
side of the frame in the hive, and then examine the farther
side of the one in your hand. If you wait long enough,
you can tell which pair of frames has the queen, for the
bees will show uneasiness, as if missing the queen, in the
pairs where she is not.
If you want to make a sure thing of it, use a queen-
excluder. Take an empty hive body and put into it one of
the frarties of brood, after getting all the bees off, or at
least enough of the bees so you are sure the queen is not
on the comb. Put a queen-excluder over it, and over that
an empty hive body. Now brush into this all the bees
from the combs, and if they are too slow in going through
the excluder into the empty hive below brush or smoke
them a little. The queen, not being able to pass through
the excluder, will be left in the upper hive.
Often in an ordinary search the queen will escape
detection by being among the bees on the side or bottom
of the hive while you are wasting your energy by looking
over the combs.
But you can not find a queen when none is in the hive,
and " seven queen-cells, most of them being capped,"
forms a ground for pretty strong suspicion that the colony
has swarmed and that the queen is gone.
2. You need not fear swarming with laying-workers in
place of a queen.
3. Probably.
4. Yes.
Swarm Deserting the Hive.
I have one colony of bees that has acted strangely this
spring. It swarmed on Monday while I was in the field,
and got awa^'. Then the following Saturday the bees were
acting all right at the hive in the morning, but at 11 o'clock,
when I came home from town, there were bees all over the
house and trees. We sprinkled them with water and they
went to the hive, and about 2 o'clock they came out. We
put them into a new hive, but about dark they came out
again, and we could not find them. We watched them, and
the next day about 3 o'clock they came up out of a plum
thicket, and went in the direction of the others, right
against a strong wind. The last I saw of them they
crossed through a hedge, and no one has seen them, so far
as I can learn. I have kept bees for years and never had
such luck. Now it is a week since the last ones went, and
they are acting as if they are going to swarm again. Do
you think there were two swarms, or did the first one come
back ? Why did they not stay in the hive, as it was a new
one and is all right, as far as I can see ?
South D.\kota.
Answer. — The probability is that the first time they
swarmed it was a prime swarm, and then on Saturday there
was a second swarm, the only unusual thing in the case
being that it was only five days from the first to the second
swarm. If that supposition is correct there will be no
more swarming, and the bees are hanging out because the
weather is hot and the hive close. When you hived the
swarm you ought to have raised the hive and left the cover
partly open. They left because it was too hot and close for
them.
Swarming Questions.
1. Suppose a colony swarms during the honey-flow, and
the old clipped queen is taken away, how many days before
the old colony will swarm again ?
2. Is the young queen of the old colony fertilized before
the second swarm issues ? Illinois.
Answers. — l. Generally in about eight days, but if the
weather had been severe for some days before the time of
tl.e first swarm so as to delay it, that would make the time
just so much shorter from the time of the first to the next
swarming. If the first swarm should occnr before the
usual time (at the sealing of the first queen-cell) the sec-
ond swarm would be delayed to that extent.
2. No. When the second swarm issues, a young queen
issues with the swarm, and the young queen that is to
reign as the mother colony is still in her cell, so of course
could not be fertilized.
Some Swarming Troubles.
Will a colony of bees swarm without a queen ? I
assisted my father in hiving two swarms of bees this
spring. The first swarm we put into a clean new hive with
foundation ready for work. They stayed three hours and
then left the hive, and we hived them three times in the
course of the day, and each time in a new hive. The third
time they moved out as quickly as they would, all right. We
looked them over and could not find the queen, and before
we could hive them again they all started for the timber.
The second swarm we hived twice, and the third time
we put a comb of honey in the hive and shut the entrance,
and put them down cellar over night. The next morning
they were all dead but about a pint, and we could not find
a queen among them. What do you think was the cause ?
" Lalr,\."
Answer. — I knew one case in which a swarm issued
when there was no queen in the hive. But I had removed
the queen from the hive only a short time before, and I sup-
pose the bees had not yet learned of her absence. So it is
safe to say that a swarm will not issue from a hive without
they have, or suppose they have, a queen present. But
even should a swarm issue in such z't'iy exceptional case
without a queen, they will not go off without a queen, but
will return to their hive or to some other hive in the apiary.
It is not always easy to find a queen in a swarm, and tl e
likelihood is that there was a queen present.
The probable trouble was that the weather was very
hot and you did not shade and ventilate the hive. Putting
that swarm in the cellar was not a bad stroke, but you
probably shut them up so tight that they smothered. After
putting them in the dark cellar you should have given them
a very large entrance, raising the hive well. A frame of
brood is better than a frame of honey to give to a swarm.
\ ^ The Afterthought- ^ |
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. B. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
FINGER-ITCH FOR RECONSTRUCTIKO.
What shall be done to me for my everlasting meddlesome-
ness ? Can't see a good thing without finger-itch to see if I
can't make it better by reconstructing it. Now there's the
striking verse on little neglects, which W. Z. Hutchinson
quotes to open his excellent paper on page 3^7. I want it to
run :
■' For the want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For the want o( a shoe the horse was lost ;
For the want of a horse the rider was lost;"
And a friend his slain friend did bewail
When he might have been saved by a horseshoe nail —
And, if that rider had been De Wet,
A nation lost in the end we'd get.
STING-POISON IN HONEY.
And so (according to page 334) in each 6"2 pounds of
honey the bees put an ounce ol sting-poison. The Geiman
writer didn't think of the thing in that shape, or the euor-
mity of the pilgrim lie would have halted him from passing it
on. Although it is the same thing, it looks much more believ-
able to say <i. 1 percent. For all the bad company it is in, the
statement that sting-poison is probably a non-volatile alkaloid
dissolved in volatile but rather harmless fluids, may very well
be correct. Hut even on that we must remember that breath-
ing the volatile part has a very bad effect on some persons.
DEKI--TUBED ALSIKE AND WHITE CLOVER.
E. R. Hoot contributes a good point in a red-hot contro-
versy when he says he has seen both alsike and white clover
too deep-tubed for average bees to fully reach bottom. Page
843.
PARTHENOGENESIS.
It was more than a hundred years after Columbus sailed
before so wide-open and vitally important a truth as the cir-
culation of the blood was discovered ! It's amazing. And
one of the <-onstitnents of the atmosphere remained undiscov-
ered until the American Bee Journal had become an old paper.
Why should man, a reasoning creature, be so great in fantas-
July 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
457
tic uses of his reason and so small in common-sense applica-
tions ? We need not specially wonder, therefore, that Parthe-
nogenesis among bees was late in being discovered, or that an
occasional '• Thomas " turns up even now. Page 359.
NOVEL PARTNERSHIPS.
It is a little in the line of a novelty to find four families
in joint ownership of a cow. And eight families each taking
a different magazine, and passing it on weekly are certainly
getting a great deal for a little money — if the partnership is
not wrecked by some wrong-doing of its sailors. \'9Tien souls
are sulficiently cultured, Prof. Cook, many new, as well as
old, partnerships can be sailed without wreck and without
injustice. A family worship with the scripture lesson recited
instead of read is certainly a remarkable and pleasant novelty.
Page 361.
MOVING WIDE-OPEN HIVES WITH BEES.
Glad to see A. D. D. Wood advocate liberty for bees while
being hauled from place to place. I have seen a little of this.
Possibly it may not be practical for a big two-horse wagon
load ; but for one or two colonies to be taken in a buggy I am
quite sure it is much the better to let them have their door
wide open. .Smoke them just enough before starting, and
keep the smoker ready for action on the road. Page 363.
SHOOTING SHOT INTO SWARMS.
Shooting charges of fine shot through a high-minded clus'
ter till the queen is killed and the cluster broken up — well, it is
somewhat ingenious ; but I do not understand it to be
preached for general practice. Certainly not " twen. een."
Interesting to see they could not be jarred lower by any kind
of bunting. Cousins to my bees, I reckon — and swarms have
been unusually high-minded the present season. Page 364.
>l.J«.JiL^.JiCJ!LJitJiL^.JsCJ&tViC^!L^!LJiL^.,;sC^.j!C^!&
The Home Circle.
5K
Conducted by Prof. ft. J. Cook, Clareiiiont, Calif.
ORDER.
I doubt if "Order is heaven's first law;" but I have no
doubt that it is so well up to the front that whoever first
asserted it got nearer the truth than most of us do. A more
homely phrase was sounded in our ears, or ought to have been,
even from the cradle, viz. : "A place for everything and
everything in its place." I wonder if more energy is lost any-
where else in life's experience than in looking for things. We
put things anywhere, and must, as a consequence, look every-
where when we want them. What a saving to the world if in
all our home circles were taught order.
I have an assistant in my laboratory. He is a gem. First,
he is a model of industry — always at work, and at good work.
How much that means in any life. Yoke such habit to any
life and that one becomes a rich storehouse of precious truths.
More, my assistant is a very scholarly man. He graduated at
the Indiana University, took a second degree at Stanford Uni-
versity, and last a Ph. D. at one of the Cierman universities,
and yet he was of a family of no wealth. What a glorious
country. I mean glorious, as much as that word means. A
poor boy of parts can secure, all unaided, the best educa-
tion. It seems to me that were I to live my life over again. I
would do just as Dr. Shaw did. Life is too good a thing — too
responsible, as tiod looks at it — to be entered into with any
but the best preparation. Yet Dr. .Shaw's culture is not his
most telling characteristic. He has system in all his work.
Our laboratories are large. We have apparatus with all kinds
of reagents, stains, instruments — hundreds of things. At a
minute's uotic(? Dr. Shaw invariably places the desired thing
right in my hand. Little time is lost in hunting for things in
our work-rooms.
We often wonder how some people can accomplish so
much. The secret lies in just this habit of order. Js'o home
circle can afford to minimize its importance. Has each of
our children his room, his drawers, his closet? Do we as
mothers, and fathers, look to see that these are always in
order ? We may sometimes think that this takes time and
effort, that we in our hurry and press of life's burdens can ill-
afford ; but for our own good, for our own future peace of
mind, we can not afford to neglect it. The very success of
the dear ones God has given us may turn, very likely will, on
just this point.
It is often said that the competition in life is constantly
becoming more and more severe. That likely is true. Rut it
is even more true that the competition is very slight among
those thoroughly prepared to do the work that comes to them.
And in almost all lines the habit of perfect order, of thorough
system in all work and action, will stand up among the first in
importance.
I have no hesitation in saying to any young man, " Y'ou
need have no worry — not the least anxiety — as to a good posi-
tion in any line of useful work, if you are well fitted. In all
lines the thoroughly competent man is at a big premium.
Let us all work to inspire our dear children to this per-
fect preparation. Urge early that they know how to do, that
they shall be interested, enthusiastic to do their best, their very
best, in all their work. And never neglect to teach them that
if order is not success's first law, it is a very close second.
A very able and successful college president once said to
me: "I can go into my library in the dark and takedown
any book I may wish to use." I always wondered if he could.
Yet I knew him well, and if he were not wholly correct, the
assertion marked a characteristic which did much to lift him
to the high position which he so successfully maintained for
many years.
PETS.
In our busy lives, I wonder if we are as careful as we
should be to see to it that our homes are cheered and enlivened
by numerous pets. We have two little kittens now in our
home. They are so full of their antics that they have won
all our hearts. We all are so thoroughly interested in them
that they receive very careful consideration. Nothing in the
home is too good for " Kitty Glide " or " Kit Carson." I often
wonder as I see people harsh to their faithful horses and
cattle, what their bringing up was. Did they have pets when
little ? and were they led to care for them as our wee kittens
are cared for ? I doubt if in our country the watch-dog is of
much account as a watch-dog. I am as sure that mousing is
not the kitten's best use. Then let dog -or cat, horse, cow or
bird, have its best use in awakening and developing the sym-
pathies, in quickening the affections and calling out that love
and thoughtful care that is the best establishment in any life.
Is it Eliza Cook that says in speaking of our pets of the
home?
" XnA it to us one precious thing
Not theirs — a sou! — is given.
Kindness to them will he a wing
To bear it up to heaven."
I have a feeling that my horse and cow are happier and
feel safer when I am around. I know they are a pleasure to
me, and that I am a better man for caring for them. Even
the ants have pets in their homes, and they are the wisest
among insects. May we not say truly that the wisest people
will, have numerous pets for their children ?
KIND WORDS IN THE HOME.
I know of one of the most spiritually minded Christian
ministers that I have ever known, who believes that if we
brought up our children as we should, they would need
no change of heart. They would be right-minded and true
to the sweetest and purest in life from childhood up. I won-
der if harsh, unkind words are ever in place in the home.
The ones who have influenced me most sweetly and truly never
come at me with harsh look or bitter speech. I have taught
school ever since I was fifteen years of age. I never yet used
a whip. I have sometimes lashed with my tongue. I have
ofteil wondered if such scourging was not almost always evil.
I have a sort of theory that if we have love enough for our
dear ones, we may push the harsh word and fault-linding tone
out of the house, to the betterment of all left within. Hut
we must be sweet ourselves always if we would win by this
better way.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
458 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL July is, 1901.
4 To Our Shippers. ^
• About May 1st last, we removed our business from the buildings 120-
• 122 W. Broadway to larger and more commodious quarters at Nos. 26d-
#*^ 267 Greenwich St., and 82, 84, 86 ^Murray St., and we duly sent to our
• friends in the trade a notice of our removal. Shortly after we vacated the
^ premises (120-122 W. Broadway,) one Joseph ]\I. McCaul, rented a portion
^ of our old quarters, and hung out a sign, " Hildreth, McCaul Co., Jos. M.
^^3 , . ...
-1 McCaul, Prop.," with other large signs to the effect that his business is
'^^^
JL "headquarters for honey, beeswax, maple sugar and maple syrup."
*^^ . .
^ The mercantile agencies report that Jos. M. McCaul is the sole pro- >i^
*S . r . . %
^ prietor of the new business, and ,that he claims to have paid to one Henry
j^ P. Hildreth (who has no connection with our business,) a consideration for
^^ the use of his name.
^ We will not comment upon the act of leasing our old quarters and ex-
1^ posing thereon the sign, " Hildreth, JNIcCaul Co., " further than to state j^
^ that we have instructed oUr attorneys to applv for an injunction restrain- ^
*^ ing the said McCaul from using the name of "Hildreth" in connection with js^
#^ his business in any manner whatsoever. J^
(A We value highh^ the good name and business we have established by J^
jA^ many _years of satisfactory dealing with our friends in the trade, and we As^
_^, therefore send this notice so that you ma}' not possibly confound us in any ^,
manner with the so-called "Hildreth, McCaul Co."
Our firm name remains as heretofore, and all our business is carried
on at our new quarters —
^ Nos. 265=267 Greenwich Street,
4 and Nos. 82, 84, 86 Murray St., New York, N. Y.
Respectfully yours,
^
Hildreth & Segelken. |I
Please mention Bee journal when writing.
->^>
July 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
459
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and (|iieeiis?
2-franie Nucleus with Untested Queen, $2.00.
purchaser paying: express charges.
Naperville, 111., Mav 3X, 1901.
De.^r Sir:— Bees arrived in jrood cooditioo.
Transferred them to hive and gave them honey.
Have reinforced them with halchinjr brood.
Are worl<ing when not too cold. Have ri(;rht
color, and are satisfactory. D. li. Givlek.
I like TOur wav of packing bees to express.
E. K. Meredith, Batavia, 111.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.25 6.50 10.00
Select Tested 2.00 9.00 16 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey QtjEENS.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.2S 6 50 10.00
Select Tested 1.50 7.00 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
2SAtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittnier's Fonndation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessarv to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Wort fax Into Fonnilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal "Wlaen "writine
ASK ANY HORSE
^rliich fencp he daniat-^e>: least, or lea^t damaires hiui
when hf runt; Intuit. He will say, "PAGE."
PA«E WOVEN WIUK FENCECO., ADKIAN, MICH.
Please mention Bee journal ■when -writiuK
QUBEIMS
Now ready to supplv bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED :'.<
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colonv.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the' GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. Thev have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each; t. for $4.00.
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIAN.'?, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for 15. Safe Akriv.il Guaranteed.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2140 J.: 214M Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Ooods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
Low Rates to Buffalo Exposition
via the Nickel Plate Road. Also special
reduced rates Chicago to Xew York and
return. Three through daily trains
with vestibuled sleeping-cars and ex-
cellent dining-car service, meals being
served on the American Club Meals
plan, ranging in price from 3,t cents to
§1.00. Chicago Depot, Van Buren Street
and Pacific Ave., on the Elevated Loop.
Write John Y. Calahan. General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
information and beautifully illustrated
descriptive folder of the Exposition
Buildings and (irounds. 17 -2SA3t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
|»S>ig«s:gii7^i^ss^s3'iaa^;^gag!^gi^\^
Bees Doing Well.
Bt-es have been iloini:: well siuce .June 1. I
have a hive ou scales which is 13U pounds
heavier now than it was then ; the colony has
had extractinsf-eoniljs to store in, and has not
swarmed. There have been four days when
the bees of that colony stored 8 pounds per
day. The honey is very fine, being all from
white clover.
Swarms have issued from all colonies
worked for comb honey. J. L. Strong.
Pare Co., Iowa, June 28.
Bees Working on White Clover.
We have had a busy time this spring and
summer looking after our fruit and our api-
ary.
I put 2,5 colonies of laees into the cellar last
fall, and took out the same number this
spring, most of them in tine condition. Three
or four of them were a little weak, but I soon
strengthened them Ijy feeding for a few days,
and the early blooin helped to get them iu
good condition. The bees throughout this
part of Iowa were extra-strong in numbers
when the white clover came into bloom. I
believe we are having the heaviest crop of
white clover we ever had in the State, and the
Ix-es have been making it count, both in
swarming and in storing fine honey.
J. W. Sanders.
Marshall Co., Iowa, .July i.
Swarms Selecting a Home Uniting.
I have been handling bees for about three
years, commencing with three colonies which
a good friend gave me. I got the "ABC of
Bee-Culture,'' Dr. Miller's " A Year Among
the Bees," Prof. Cook's work on bees, and
several other books, and also subscribed for
the American Bee .Journal. I now have about
60 colonies, and find the study a most inter-
esting one.
I make all my own hives. The first year I
made box-gums. 14x12 inches, inside measure,
and 10 inches deep. The style of hive I am
now using is l-lisXl2',^, and 9\ inches deep,
inside measure. A larger hive than this it
would take the bees two years to fill up be-
low, as this is no bee-country.
On pages 357 and 35S of the American Bee
Journal I find an article by A. P. Raymond,
on swarms selecting a location, and whether
they select it before or after they issue. Of
course, every bee-keeper has his own opinion
on the subject ; I will not express mine, but
1 will relate a freak of my bees along this
line. I was in my apiary about 10 a.m. when
a swarm issued. Alter the usual excitement
al)out half of the swarm clustered and the
other half took to the woods. This confused
me a little, but I finally concluded to hive the
part that had clustered, thinking that perhaps
the queen was just as likely to be with them
as with the part that had left. After hiving
them I decided to follow in the direction the
rnnawavs had gone, hoping that I might
locate them in a small piece of woodland,
where they were last seen. After hunting tor
some time I found what I took to be my run-
aways up in a large poplar tree, going in and
out of a knot-hole. This tree was on a bee-
line from the hive they had just left.
I went home regretting the loss of the bees,
but consoling myself with the thought that I
had half of tliem at home safely hived.
Evervthing went along smoothly until abcjiit
2 or "3 o'clock in ilu- afternoon, when this
half-swarm came forth in great excitement,
and after circling iilioutfor a few minutes
thev, too, took to tin- woods, and in the same
direction the first oiu's liad gone. It occurred
to me that they w<rr making for the same
place, so I kept pn-tiy close behind them, as
the distance was not over 300 yards, and along
an open route. Th'-'. finally reached the old
To make rows pay. usp Slmrplfs Cream .Separalnrs. Book
"Businesn Dairying" \ 1 ;,i. lji2 free. ■(V.Chester.I'B.
Adel Queens and Bees!
Note the Date of these Te.stimonials:
Jamestown, N. Y., June 17, l')01.
Then Adeliiueens are beauties. The breed-
ixi; ouEi.N is the finest queen I ever saw, and I
have^bougUt queens from 11 of the most promi-
nent queen-breeders in the land. At present
the Alley queens are ahead for bees, honey and
gentleness. tj. W. Carter.
AsTOR, IND., June 17, 1'Wl.
The Adel bees beat all 1 have in the yard.
Just took off 48 one-pound .sections, and there
are left two more supers half full. This colony
has the largest force of bees in my yard, and
shows no indications of swarming.
Isaac Grubb.
Pine City, Minn., June 21, IWl.
The Adel queen you sold me last year is very
prolific. Her bees are the gentlest and best
honey-gatheri
you a large oraer.
Kingston, Jamaica, -W.I.. June 11, 1'lOl.
Find *2 for two Adel queens. Years ago when
I lived in Florida I got first-class queens from
you, and J. S. Morals, this island, is never tired
of praising your Adel bees and queens.
■^ H. G. Bennett.
One breeding queen, $1.00; half dozen, $5.50.
By return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
nNCE IN A LIFE TIM^
I I isolTn"out'h to do some thinirs.lfsof ten eiioul-'ll
W to buy a iv.-igon if you buy the rifht kind. The
ELECTRIC "fiJ'SipN
IT!;",;!." '1 ., ' .'. ^",.'':i^.,•-l-k. • i-'-'i- 1 -f.Vei-
, pg , I . ,,, ,,,, \.; '1. .-..! li.mnds.
THOUSANDS NOW IN DAILY ^^
tXtCTKit'"" HEEL Coi. Box 16, Quliicy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing-
The(|ueenjstablishnient
0. p. Hude & Son, Hullo, Texas,
IS FOR. SA-I-iB.
This establishment consists of 3 entire apia-
ries, sue nuclei, and everything connected with
the business. Hyde's superior long-tongued
stock of straight Goldens and light homebred 3-
banders, have no superiors. Full particulars,
prices, cause for selling, etc., made known on
application. If interested, write at once.
Please mention Bee Jotu:nal when -writing
DAVENPORT, IOWA,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLY HOUSE.
.B.Le
'Ui
l).ldaut's Found;
Sections, etc.. at manufacturers' price-
LOUIS HANSSEN'S SONS,
213 215 \V. 2.1 M., • Davenport, Iowa
Send for catalog.
Men
on the American Bee Jv
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From lionev-u';u tiering stock. Tested, fl.'Kl; un-
tested, 75 cents. " Shady Nook Atiakv."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
i.iA1.3t Sag Harbor, .Ni;« ^ ork.
Please mentlou Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
460
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL,
July IS, 190..
XTN'TESTESD
Italiau Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending- us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with SI. 00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free as a premium. This offer
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for S2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us two new subscribers, and $2.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St.,
CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other published,
send*1.2;to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal Tvhen \xrriiir^
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, • San Francisco, Cal.
Ple?«e mention Bee Journal when writing.
$■3.00 to Buffalo and Return $13.00
via the Nickel Plate Road from Chicago,
for the Pan-American Exposition.
Tickets on sale daily, good leaving
Buffalo up to midnight of the lUth day
from and including date of sale. Also
tickets on sale daily Chicago to Buffalo
and return at S16.00 for the round trip,
with 15-day limit, including date of
sale. S21.00 Chicago to Buffalo and re-
turn, good for 30 days.
Tickets Chicago to New York and re-
turn at special reduced rates. Write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago, for full particulars
and folder showing time of trains, etc.
16-28A3t
poplar and joined the others. Then I was
convinced that the bees I first found in the
poplar tree were my runaways.
Bear in mind that it was 10 or II o'clock
when the first swarm left, and 2 or 8 o'clock
when the others joined them, making from 4
to 6 hours between the leaving of the first and
the second lot of Ijees.
Now, then, here is an instance which con-
tradicts t^oth theories, one about ijees first
clustering to let the queen rest, and the one in
regard to their selecting their future home
before swarming, as one-half of the swarm
clustered and the other half ■• lit uul " without
clustering.
My opinion on the subject, based on my
own experience and what I have read, is, that
whenever they do select their future home it
is before swarming: Ijut I think they very
frequently issue without having selected a
home. My experience has Ijeen that about
one swarm out of every 2.5 leaves without
clustering. A friend of mine, some distance
from me, tells me that his bees acted very
strangely this year, nearly every other swarm
leaving without clustering at all.
Mr. Raymond says — or at least we are to
infer that he says — that the virgin queens can
and do always fly without having to rest, and
that it is the old queen that the swarm has to
give time to rest. 1 had supposed from my
own experience that just the reverse was
true, for I have frequently found a young
queen trying to fly and join an after-swarm.
Sometimes they could not rise, and I have
occasionally picked them up and either put
them back into the hive or into a bottle until
I could hive the swarm, and I would release
the queen as the bees were going in. But I
do not remember ever seeing a prime swarm
W'ith a tjueen that had to be assisted or cared
for. One thing is certain, and that is, that
with each prime swarm there is an old or fer-
tile queen, and with after-swarms there is a
young and unfertile queen. I have frequently
found such a queen hopping about in front
of the hive trying to fly, and have returned
her to the original hive. There is no telling
how many such queens get lost or destroyed,
for the hive is often too high for her to crawl
Imck to the entrance.
As the sul)ject of prevention of swarming
seems to be an all-important one now among
bee-keepers, I would like to ask why it can
not be done in the following way : Whenever
an after-swarm issues, manage to catch the
queen and either bottle her up for use some-
where else, or destroy her, and return the
Ijees to the old hive, where they will be re-
ceived without any doubt. Does this not pre-
vent increase and swarming in a very simple
and practical way, as we know the bees will
not leave without a queen ?
I notice that some writers claim it to be a
very simple thing to unite two small colonies
successfully where each has a queen, but I
have nut found it so. It is anything but sim-
lile and easy. Of course, I can do it, but they
go to fighting and killing each other, and that
1 dislike more than anything I know, unless
it lie to crush a lot of bees myself when work-
ing with them.
I wish some experienced bee-keeper would
reply to this, and at the same time give the
QIEENS:
Having caught up with niv nianv orders at
last, I am now prepared to send LONG-TONGUED
RED CLOVER QUElNS by return man. My bees
cannot be excelled for beauty and for honey-
gathering qualities.
This is a Post-Office Money Order Office. Re-
mit to cents and get one of the nicest and best
Queens you ever owned, from the Queen Spec-
ialist— DANIEL WLIkTH.
a')D:t Co.iLCKEEK, Anderson Co., Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal when jvriii"'
\
PFince Leopold. Ivanhoe,
[
J room for young stock. W
1 GROVE CIRY RABBITRY.... f
A 153 South Schuyler, Kanl<akee, 111. ^
.^MANUFACTURER OFJ^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders tilled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee=Keepers' Supply iMfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
flease mention Bee journal •when ■writina
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptlv for Uutested Queens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; J4.00 for 6, or, f7.5Ct per dozen.
Money order office, Warreutown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22h.lt Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentlor Bee Journal when writing.
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
BEE
6A2'>t Mention the American Bee Journal.
Catnip Seed Free!
■We have a small ciuantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to oflfer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
inail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for $1.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 50 cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 .V 140 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL,.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Send for circulars
Be
regarding
the oldest
and most
e-Smoker.
improved and original Biugha
For 2.^ 'i'EARS the Best on Earth.
2;Atf T. F. BINQHAM. Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal when writinsfc
ALBINO QUEENS ^UTc QueeU'^^nTo^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-gatherers vou ever saw — try rav Albinos.
Untested Oueens in April, $1. HO; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
The EuiersoD Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson " no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 1+t) Erie Street,
CHICAGO, ILL.
Tulv IS, 191 1.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
461
best plan to unite two or more weak colonies,
wliere eacli lias a queen and some comb and
boiiey. 1 desire to unite some of mine before
fall, as that is the only way I know of to pre-
vent the moth and miller from destroying
them. Acoordin*^ to my experience, no bee-
keejier can have his colonies too strong,
whether he is working his bees for jirolit or
l)leasure. The stronger the better, and one
extra-strong colony is worth about three
ordinary colonies, everything else being
equal. Such a colony will be able to give the
owner more honey than three weak ones,
which are almost certain to be destroyed by
the moth along in July or August. I have
.seen some weak colonies build up to a re-
spectable size, but it was a hard pull before
they stored any surplus honey, and it is the
surplus we bee-keepers are after, I believe.
John" Kexsedt.
Adams Co., Miss.. June 12.
Winds Cut honey Crop Shopt.
Our crop is about M or ".^.5 pounds tii the
colony of extracted honey. Hot. dry winds
dried up the basswood and clovers on short
notice this year. F. F. Zii.i.mek.
(irant Col, Wis.. July li.
A Downpour of Sweets.
Williamson County, in which we did not
drown the elephant last spring, is now re-
ceiving a heavy downpour of sweets, and we
believe that the How now on is the heaviest
since IMi? or 1S9S. We have every iirosjject
that it will continue until frost. Bee-keep-
ers are smiling a regular " bee-smile.''
O. P. IlTDE & Sox.
Williamson Co., Tex.. Julv ti.
Long-Tongued Queens and Red
Clover.
Considerable has been said. j>ro and con,
about long-tongued queens. Why not get
sodie red clover seed from Sweden ; A man
who was born there told me that the bees
•work on red clover there all the time.
Bees are doing pretty well now. There is
lots of white clover, and it is full of nectar.
A. AxnEKSON.
Greene Co., Iowa, June 25.
Outlook Discouraging.
The outlook for a honey crop in this
locality is very discouraging. It has been so
dry, and there have been such hot winds, that
there are scarcelj' any flowers in bloom,
although the bees are bringing in some honey
from alfalfa.
A good many colonies starved to death last
winter. The spring was cool and wet until
about May 1. There is some surplus being
stored along the creek bottoms, but none in
the uplands. R. C. SrrPE.
Woodson Co., Kans.. Julv 15.
Losses Heavy— Large Yields Per
Colony.
Our losses were heavy last winter. On ac-
count of the mild weather bees flew u]ost of
the time, and therefore became aged, and
<Ued from spring dwindling. I lost 2.t out of
15U colonies in this way, sold 25, and 24 were
queenless, leaving 76, spring count, as none
that were queenless have built up so as to
.store any surplus.
All colonies that were strong early in the
season have done remarkably well, consider-
ing the fact that basswood did not yield on
account of hot winds and dry weather; white
clover secreted well during the early ))art of
June, but is now yielding very little, if any.
Catnip is about the only source from which
we are getting any honey, and it is not yield-
ing as profusely as last season.
The greatest yield of extracted honey from
one colony up to July 1, is 40O pounds;
auother has finished 205 one-pound sections.
We are not expecting a fall flow, as the ex-
tremely hot weather has prevented the growth
of the fall nectar-secreting plants.
J. L. G.\xi>Y.
Richardson Co., Nebr., July 1.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, IVIauii;il ot tlie Apiai-y,
BY
PROE A, J, COOK,
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simplv the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing' style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
Mo bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Hee-Keepeks' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
aal for one year;
Send us TWO new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W, YORK & CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL
QUEENS
QUIRIN— The Queen-Breeder — has
now on hand, ready to mail, 500 youug, long--
tongued Red Clover Queens, Golden or Leather
Colored.
We h.ive one of Roofs best breeders from his
200, lontr-tongued. Red Clover Oueen, and a
Golden Breeder which we are told is worth $100,
if there is a queen in the U. S. worth that sum.
J. L. Gaudy, of Humboldt, Nebr., tells us that
the colony having one of our queens, stored over
400 pounds ^mostly comb' hone.v in a single sea-
son. A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra fiae, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our stock from time to time.
We have years of experience in mailing and
rearing Queens. Queens positively by return
mail from now on. Prices for balance of season
as follows:
1 6 12
Selected $ .75 $ 4.00 $ 7.00
Tested 1.00 S.OO 9.00
Selected tested 1.50 8 00
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy. 2:0'*
H. Q. QUIRIN,
Parkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. 14E13t
27D6t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Foundation Sagging in Brood-Frames
C. DaveniiLirt describes in lileanin^'s in Bee-
Culture his plan to prevent this, which does
not require wiring nor splints, as follows :
This sagging or stretching of the founda-
tion, as those who have had troulile in this
respect know, is next to the top-bar. a strip
two or three inches wide. After foundation
has lieen fastened in a frame, and while it
still remains in position on the board, the
point of a wax-dropper is held close up to the
foundation, two or three inches above the
top-bar; then a small stream of wax is forced
out. As the point is lowered to the top-bar,
this adheres to the foundation ; and if the
operation is repeated at intervals the whole
length of the top-bar, it will prevent the
foundation stretching when the bees first get
on it; and by the time they do, these strips
of wax oflf the foundation are usually drawn
out enough to hold it from sagging.
Hive^Covers and Bottom. Boards.
W. W. .Somertord says in (Jleanings in Bee-
Culture that he prefers the plain reversible
lioard cover for the climate of Cuba. Because
it is cheaper, and because they warp with less
force, he uses boards X"iicli thick in prefer-
ence to thicker.
His bottom-boards are somewhat novel.
Alter struggling with difficulties connected
with ordinary bottom-boards, he says:
I scratched my head, got on my wheel, and
started off with a Spanish-talking American
bee-keeper to a tile-brick factory. We soon
found the jolly owner, and told him just what
we wanted — smooth and straight flat-pressed
brick, 16 inches wide by 21 long. He smiled,
and said he had just the " American ma-
chine " to make them with, and made them.
And, gentlemen. I can tell you now. as I
place them on nice, flat ridges of earth, it is
with a feeling that I shall be grown old and
gray before the meanest one begins even to
show decay. The man who made them said
they would last forever. .Just think of a nice
bottom-board lasting forever, and costing
only 10 cents ! If you have no tile factory to
apply to. concrete or cement will make them
— are cooler than the coolest in summer, and
warmer than the warmest in winter.
Please mention Bee Journal -when vrritinft
Some Things About Queen-Rearing.
The following conver.sation. taken from the
Australasian Bee-Keeper, will interest be-
ginners:
Fred—'- 1 say. Will, you have introduced 24
queen-cells to-day — will they be laying in 10
days ; I think you said a queen commences
to lay in 10 days."
Will—" Yes, Fred. I suppose I did say so.
but those were not queens I distributed, but
queen-cells, and most of them will not. emerge
until to-night, so I will count full 10 days
from then. /. c. I will e.xpect to find them
laying on the eleventh day. and will look
them up after that time."
" Will you not look at the nuclei tefore
then ;"
'• Oh. yes, I will make sure the cell has not
been destroyed. I will look up the virgin
queens in atjout two days, and if I find them
I will Hvt disturb them before the eleventh
day."
"Have you any object in not looking
through them often ;"
'' Yes, I have, and if it were not for the
frequent loss of queen-cells I would prefer
not to touch the hives until the queen was
due to lay. My rule is, doii'l disturb any hive
having a virgin queen— first, it is an unneces-
sary loss of time, iirid, secondly, the young
queen often gets exiited on the opening of
462
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
July 18, 19' 1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a;
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a g-ood time
to send in your Bees-
• J _^ l^ _ _ 't*^ f^ wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax. * «-»„■, c--
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
v)S'4>f
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3^i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
iles. No
apur
■ithi
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2S years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS,
6A2t.t Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Standard Bred (|iieens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Amon^ Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QGLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long'Tongued 3°Banded Italians
bred from stock whose toufrues measured 25-
1011 inch. These .ire the red'clovei hustlers of
7Sc each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinn.\ti, O.
Please mention Bee Journal -wtten writing
MarshMd MannfactnrlDg ConipaDj.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield MaMufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Red Glover Queens
LONG-TON&UED BEESARE DEMANDED NOW.
■♦-
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppe-
mium for sending us TWO new subscribers
to tlie American Bee Journai for one year
(witli $2); or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers witli $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be
clipped, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
$1.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORG-E W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
Please Mention the Bee Jwirnal
when writing
Advertisers,....
the hive and rushc- over the combs; the bees
chase her, and the result is she is balled and
probably killed."
■' Is the queen always to blame for the loss
in getting excited !"
" Xo, not always. There is something-
about a colony of liees haying a virgin queen
that makes them different from other colo-
nies, and these colonies reqnire great care and
cautious manipulation. Sometimes the bees
are uot contented to wait until nature re-
quires a queen to make her wedding-flight,
but seem intent on driving the virgin out of
the hive. There are other bees that will tear
down every cell given them, and others that
will Ijall their queen, whether laying or vir-
gin, every time the hive is opened."
" Do you get many colonies that give you
trouble in that way '"
•' It may not be often such trouble arises,
but when it does I frequently find more than
one nucleus so disposed, and usually trace it to
the whole of the bees having been taken from
one colony to form nuclei."
■' If you have such troubles you must lose a.
few queens. "
" Certainly. If I could only get SO percent
of my virgin queens mated and laying every
year I would consider I did well. Some years
I do much better, and others worse."
" Would there be a greater loss than 20 per-
cent ;"
" Oh, yes, during some seasons: if there is
no honey being stored the loss might be 50
percent or more during certain portions of
the season. I frequently have had almost
total losses of several hatches of cells dis-
tributed. This would occur very early in the
spring, when there was a return of almost
wintry weather. chiefl,v cold winds. The
results depend greatly upon the season. Dur-
ing the past season I had excellent results,
almost every cell producing a queen ; but
then honey was plentiful."
" I always thought the prices charged for
queens were too high, and to tell you the
truth, I intended to rear (lueens to sell after
I got a little practice. I can now see that it
is not all gold that glitters."
Cold Winters and Brood-Rearing.
A Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
sajs ;
The colder the weather in winter the
warmer the cmter of the cluster. That being
tlie case, theory would lead tis to expect
brood-rearing earlier in cold than in warm
winters. I've often wonderetl whether that
theory was indorsed by practice. Now comes
L. Stachelhausen, in the Southland Queen,
and says: '"When I kept bees In a cold
climate, more than 80 years ago, I observed
in outdoor wintering that, the colder the
winter the earlier brood-rearing commenced."
Section-Honey Without Separators.
Editor Root says in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture:
1 once heard an extensive bee-keeper get up
in convention and say he had no use for sep-
arators— that he could and did dispense with
them; and, what was more, he got just as
good prices for his non-separatored honey as
he did for that produced with them. It so
hajipened that, months afterward, I ran
across some of this man's non-separatored
honey; and, of all the " kicks" I heard from
the buyer ! The long and short of it was, he
would never buy any more of that honey
again. It was too crooked, too bulged, too
everything; so when I hear a non-separator
Tiian" talk, I wonder whether he holds his
trade.
Bees That Are Rustlers.
E. H. Schaethe says in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture:
At present the efforts of the queen-breeders
seem to be confined to stretching the tongues
of their stock to the utmost limit. While
this elongating of the bee's tongue may be of
benefit to those bee-keepers living in red-
clover sections, to the average apiarist the
working qualities of the bee are of far more
July 18, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
463
importance. It is a well-kuown fact that
some colonies of hees will put up several hun-
dred pounds of honey in a season, while
others in the same apiary will not give a
pound of surplus. I hold that the bee
wanted is one that will give the most honey
under average conditions. When I sit down
by one of m.v best colonies and compare its
movements with that of the average colony, I
tind that the rustlers come out of the hive on
the run. stop an instant to gather themselves
for tlie sjiring. and then are away like a bul-
let. Turning to the average cohuiy I see that
the bees come out leisurely, slowly crawl half
way up the front of the hive, stop tor the
spring, and then, springing out slowly, circle
and leisurely wing their way to the fields.
Returning, the rustlers come down on the
alighting-board with a bounce, and rush into
the hive as though the queen's business could
not wait, while the bees of the average colony
drop on the alighting-board exhausted, rest
there for several seconds, and then slowly
crawl into the hive.
Now, I can not go with the bees to the
" fields and far away," but it is safe to assume
that they work in the field as they do at the
hive. If this is the case, the rustlers will
make two trips to the sluggards" one. I be-
lieve we can, by careful selection, produce a
strain of rustlers just as the fast trotter has
been developed.
Red Clover Queens !
bred from a daughter of the A. I.
Root Co. long--tongue $2tX).00 Oueen,
and mated in my apiary where there
is nothing- but the best Italian stock.
I have drones Hying in mv apiary from seven
different States. Untested, 5(ic each, $5.50 per
dozen. Safe arrival.
W. J. FOREHAND,
29D6t FORT DEPOSIT, ALA.
Please mention Bee Journal when "writine:,
COnPLETE POULTRY BOOK FREE.
Contains ZOs pages, profusely illustrated, plans
for houses, incubators, brooders, coops, etc.
Given, free if you send this advertisement and
25 cents for a year's subscription to our Journal.
Inlaxd Poultkv Journal, Indianapolis, Ind.
2^Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
LanQSMHon...
Ttl6fiOI16llB66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
f
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug-ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we njail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for SI. 75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICWtJO, ILL.
6ee= Books
siENT POSTPAID BV
George W. York & Co. Ghicaso.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.— It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pages,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and bliund in cluth. jfold-lettered. Price, in
flolh, 75 cents; in paper,' 50 cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of evervthiiitr relating to bees and bee-
keepingf. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. 1<
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api7.rv,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiologv of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Cuiture. by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
paedia of 4110 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honej'-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee^Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book'; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee.>Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest (lerman
boolc on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, $l.tKl.
Bienen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— ThW
is a (ierman translation of the principal portion
of the book called " Bees and Honey." loO-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
BJenenzucht und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neuesten methode (GermanJ by J. F. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
met^Jods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Crown, of (ieorgia.— .\ practical' and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of :uanagement in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G. L. Tinker.
— Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
" new system, or ht)w to get the largest j-ieldsof
comb or e.xtracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, b.y Thomas G. Newman.—
Devotes two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 50 colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.- Gi
McEvoy Treatment aiul reviews the
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
es the
s peri-
Winter Problem in l!ee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce.— Result of 25 years' e.Kperieuce. 30 cts.
Foul Brood Treatment, bv Prof. F. R. Che-
•ihire.-Ils Cause and Prevention. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, by .\. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing. bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others, lllu-trated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, anil iliu^ how to make the most
money in poultry-raisin^'. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, bv Fanny
Field.— EvervthiuT ab.iut Poultry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. I'rice, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, b.
•'anny Field.— Tells e^.•rything about Poultry
business. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies I
We ean furnish you with The A. 1. Root Co'8
goods at nholesale or rit.ol iit their prices. We can
save you freiKht. and sm,,. promptly. Mtirket price
paid t<»r beeswax. Hen. I l ■ >r our 1901 catalog.
M. II. UDNT & SO.N. Bt II Uranch. Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Journal 'when -writinft
2>] >Ji Jjt Jte >li Jte. iti >J4 >ti Jte >li >li jlty
I ttON&y AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, July s.— The new honey is arriving-,
and some uice lots of white clover comb have
sold at lt.c per pound. The urgent demand has
been supplied which is very light at this sea-
son of the year', and we find shipments begin-
ning to accumulateso that 15c would beaccepted
if offered; amber grades are nominal at l^Ccpnc.
Extracted, white» is selling slowly at 55^@6c;
amber, 5@5^c, according to body, flavor, and
style of package. Beeswax, 30 cents for choice
yellow. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock' of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from J^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Webkr.
Boston, June 29.— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm
weather very little call for it. Are expecting
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at 6M@"Hc.
Blake« Scott Sl Lbb.
Omaha, May 1. — Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3,40; No. 1, $3.35; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, July 8— Our market is practicaUy
bare of comb honey, and demand good for white
comb. Fancy stock sells readily at 15c; No. 1
white at froni 13@14c,and amber at ll@12c. Ex-
tracted not in much demand, with plenty of
supply; white, 6(a'(.Hc; light amber, 5^c; dark,
4>^(Sj5c. Beeswax iirm at 2'>c.
HiLDRBTH & SbOELKBK.
Albany, N. Y., June 18.-
dull with no receipts or sti
mand. It is between season;
good crop in this vicinity fr
are left, the greater portion
by foul brood exterminators
■Honey market is
cks and little de-
now. Prospect of
m what bees there
laving been killed
H. R.Wright.
Detroit, June 27. — Very little old honey in
market, and no new hotkey come in yet. Splen-
did showing for a good yield of white clover
honey. Beeswax, 26@27c; demand light.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, July 10. — No demand for honey yet
unless a very small amount of fancy white at
perhaps 15fail('C. Some old lots still about, un-
salable, almost, at b, 8 and ic cents. Beeswax,
22(S'28c. BattersonA Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey-
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
San Francisco, June !•?.— White comb, n%@
12^ cents; amber, '>@lOc; dark, 6@S cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5K@tt^c; light amber, 4@4^c;
amber. 3^@4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Market shows no quotable improvement, but
there are no large quantities obtainable at the
prices generally named by dealers. In a small
way. for especially desirable quantities, slightly
higher prices than are quoted are being realized.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases: also Ex-
tracted Honey". State price,
delivered. We pav spot cash. Fkei> W. Mitth
& Co., Front Jc Walnut Sts.. Cincinnati. Ohio.
Reference— (ierman National Bank, Cincinnati.
2><A17t Please mention the liee Journal.
"D li^li^O ^^^ ^^'" '"''y 2Cc.eash, per lb. for
|\ r^r^^ pure, bright yellow beeswa.s",
*'*'***-' ami L'Oc. cash, per lb. for pure,
TAT A V ''■"'■^ liopswax <l.-Uvpri-rt here.
WW /\ A^ ( II SMIIKUI.AIN JlKUIClNE CO
Wanted.
Comb and Kxir;icled Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, slate quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
Bromptly on receipt of goods. Refer you to
righton German Bank, this citv.
C. H. W. WEBER.
21M, 214S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
2*>Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
464
AMERIC\N BEE JOUKNAL
July 18, 1901.
We have a Large Stock ou hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAtti IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Kkeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' «S- W. M. Gerkish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog- prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal vr>.en "writmty
LEARN TO SING
r IIOMK by my thorough method
traiiiint.'. With my complete
iirso 1 griiarantee to train and cul-
:ite your voice or refund your
>i]ey. The best musical knowledge
(vrranged especially for Home Study.
Has lli^heist Endorsement, Bea'utifal
descriptive bocklctsent free. Address
Prof. G. M. Whaley, Kalamazoo, Mich
Please mention Bee Journal when, writing.
ITflLlflN QUEENS, warranted
Tested, $1.00: Untested. 75 cents, by return mail.
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
Oak Park P.O. River Fokest, Cook Co., III.
21Alf ^Mention the American Bee Journal.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
12.1X1
1.70
4.00
7.50
1.4<)
3.25
6.00
.50
1.00
1.60
We have made arrang^ements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft
Sweet Clever (white) 70c
Sweet Clover (yellow) . . . .$1.50
Alsike Clover 90c
White Clover 90c
Alfalfa Clover 80c
Japanese Buckwheat 30c
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pouud
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, lor cartaife. if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK A CO.
144 & 140 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I AEISE
To say to the reaaers of
the Bee Journal that
DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices:
1 Untested Queen ..$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1,25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best . . 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, condition.s, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co.. N. V.
Mease mention Bfie Jotimai -when writing
24111
Year
Dadant's Foundation. Vm
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^^^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli*
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslrolh on the Honey-BeG — Re\/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Cc.III.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing
Red Clover Queens
We have been telling you through our advertisements of the
superior stock of queens we are furnishing this year, and we have
abundant testimony from others corroborating our opinion.
Look at the following which is only one of the numerous endorse-
ments received.
July 5. 1901.
The bees are working as I never saw them work before, and
already there is over IdO pounds of hone5' in the hive, and all
from clover. I am led to believe that long tongues and good
working qualities go together.
Yours very truly, Orbi. L. Hershiser,
Slip/. N. y. State Apiarian Exhibit, Agricultural Building.
Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, N. )'.
This refers to a colony of bees on the Pan-American grounds
with one of our Tested Red Clover Oueens reared last season.
Our Prices are as follows :
Gleanings in Bee=Culture one year and one Untested Red
Clover Queen. S2 00.
Gleanings in Bee=Culture one year with Tested Red Clover
Queen. S4.00.
Gleanings in Bee-Culture one year with Select Tested Red
Clover Queen. £6.00.
If you want something good you can not do better than to
order one of these queens. All orders are filled promptly. No
extra postage on these offers to foreign countries.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
Wm" GEORGE W. YORK & CO. "^HiiAGTMLu!"'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPl'LIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
#^s^%
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, JULY 25, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 30-
466
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL,
July 25, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George "W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) „„„.„, „»
E.E. Hasty. '(Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, f ^'^'^"'•^•
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1,110 a jear, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a ye&v extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. "Whitcomb.
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
ThoS. G. NEW.M.iN-
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President,
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
It^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr, Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for everv bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, l>y mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weeiily Budget. I
Mr. F. B. Simpson, whose article on in-
ijreeding appeared in last week's number of
this journal, desires to make the following
correction :
1 wish here to correct the error 1 made in
my article on in-breeding, on page 452. When
1 wrote, " My idea that the best bee is the
best regardless of locality," I had in mind all
the limitations mentioned in the 4th full
paragraph in the 2d column on page 454. but
failed to put them on paper, as they should
have been if again mentioned, for 1 am a long
way from believing the way the last sentence
was printed. F. B. Simpsox.
Editor E. R. Root passed through Chi-
cago on his homeward journey Monday even-
ing, July 15, stopping in the city only be-
tween trains. He had covered about 6000
miles, making some 45 stops, and was feeling
well, having gained several pounds in avoir-
dupois. The Texas " bee-keepers' paradise."
mentioned by him in a recent editorial item
in his paper, is already greatly overstocked
with bees and bee-keepers, so no one need get
ready to move there right away. In Colorado
and Utah, however, there are unoccupied
locations that are excellent for bee-keeping.
LosG-ToxgtED Hoxet-Bees. — I am mak-
ing a study of the length of tongue in the
honey-bee, and its relation to honey-produc-
tion. I shall be glad to have all readers of
the American Bee Journal, who are interested
in the subject, send me bees from their best
and their poorest colonies for honey-produc-
tion. Send not less than 10 or 15 alive in a
queen-cage. Do not put bees from different
colonies in the same cage, and do not send
bees from colonies where a new queen ha?
been introduced this season, unless within
two weeks, as it will be best to have all the
bees in a cage from the same queen. If any
have bees from queens that have been reconi-
mended to produce specially long-tongued
stock. I shall be glad to receive some of the
bees and measure their tongues. Send full
information with each lot of bees. 1 shall be
glad if some can send specimens of the Ger-
man or black bee, also Carniolans, Cyprians,
and Syrians, Address, C, P. Gillette,
Experiment Station, Ft. Collins, Colo.
Mr. S. W. Hall, of Wyoming, has been
offering Editor Hutchinson, of the Bee-Keep-
ers' Review, some suggestions. One of them
is referred to in the following paragraph :
■• Boil it Down," is what Mr. S. W. Hall, of
Wyoming, would be pleased to havens editors
and correspondents do. He says that he takes
the bee-journals to get new ideas, but he is
obliged to scratch over so much chaff for a
few grains of common-sense that he is some-
times tempted to forego the reading of all of
the journals until they learn to boil it down.
Long articles are sometimes necessary and
valuable; but, if I understand the spirit of
Mr. Hall's criticism, it is not to these that he
objects so much as to giving space to articles
that are of little or no help to real, practical
honey-producers.
Mr. Hall should read the American Bee
Journal. If too busy to do that he is likely
too busy to waste his time keeping bees. He
reminds us of many a beginner in bee-keeping
who thinks he can't afford to spend one dol-
lar for a good bee-book and another dollar for
a good bee-paper. A man who can't afford
to start right in any business (especially when
it costs so little) can't afford to start in it at
all. And yet, such a man usually thinks he
can afford to waste his neighbor bee-keeper's
time by asking a hundred questions that are
answered by the book and paper.
Of course, in a measure, Mr. Hall is correct,
and for that reason we have our department
of •■ Beedom Boiled Down,'' so that bee-keep-
ers really need read only the American Bee
Journal, and thus save time and money, and
also get practically all the latest and best
ideas on the subject of bee-keeping.
Lanoswiion...
Ttl6H0I16llB66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
librar)' of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas, Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for SI. 25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1,75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with £3.00,
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, JULY 25, 1901,
No, 30.
\ ^ Editorial. ^ \
One of a Thousand. — Are you one of a
thousand members that the National Bee-
Keepers' Association ought to have before
the convention to be held in Buffalo, in Sep-
tember ; Last week we reported the names
of four persons who had sent us their mem-
bership dues. This week we record the fol-
lowing:
■John Baluss. John S. Dowut.
New names will have to be sent in more
rapidly than during the past two weeks if we
are going to secure the necessary 300 among
the readers of the American Bee Journal.
That was what we thought could easily be
done. And it can be — if only 200 among all
the thousands who are not yet members of
the Association would simply send in the one
dollar each.
Of course, it is not necessary to send your
dollars to us — send them direct to General
Manager Eugene Secor. Forest City. Iowa, if
you prefer. But we can publish the names of
only those who send to us. We will then for-
ward the money to Mr. Seeor.
Now, can't we have a long list of new
names next week ;
Grading Honey.— Mr. I). W. Working
has an article on this very important subject
in this number of the American Bee .Journal.
Every bee-keeper ought to read it, and then
heed it. We have handled enough honey to
know that most bee-keepers know very little
about the grading business. Of course, each
l<nows that no other bee-keeper ever pro-
duced as fine honey in every way as his '. And
no one grades as honestly as does he ! It's
always the "other fellow" who puts the
finest and whitest sections of honey in the
front row, next to the glass, and then fills in
back of them with ■• any old thing 1"
One needs only to see the promiscuous lots
of honey that are received by a honey-dealer,
to be convinced that on the subject of grad-
ing there is much to be learned by most bee-
keepers. And uniformity of grading— well,
you might almost as well talk of controlling
breeding so that all calves or colts will be of
the same size and color!
But it will pay to continue to call attention
to this subject that really does mean so much
to honey-producers.
Read Mr. Working's article, and then see if
jou can't hereafter do better work along the
line of grading honey.
Bees Superseding Queens. — G. M.
Doolittle says in the American Bee-Keeper
thai fully three-fourths of his queens super-
seded by the bees are so superseded during
the three weeks immediately following the
linden flow. So any queen that he wishes to
replace at that time is disposed of. and a ripe
cell given a day later, unless a cell-protector
is used, in which case the cell is given at the
time of removing the queen. A plan not
generally known he further gives :
Another plan which I have often used since
my apiary became very much improved be-
yond what it formerly was, is to rear a lot of
cells from my best queen at the time given
above, and 24 to 48 hours liefore they are booked
to mature, give one to each colony having a
queen more than one year old, using a cell-
protector for each one. and placing this pro-
tected cell in one of the sections on the hive,
or anywhere I best can where the bees
can cluster about it, without hunting out the
old queen at all: when, if the bees have any
notion to supersede their queen, they will
accept of this young one and destroy the old
queen. If they destroy the young queen I
allow the old one to remain, thinking that the
bees know what is right, and in 19 cases out
of 20 where the bees decide on keeping the
old queen, I find she proves par excelleitre till
after the houey-fiow of the next year is over.
This is something which does not cost much
labor, and which I iiractice often to my satis-
faction.
-*^
In-Breeding is generally supposed to be
a thing that should in all cases be avoided,
and bringing evil and only evil in its train.
Those who are well-informed tell us that
some of the best results in breeding have been
obtained through the very closest breeding,
and this has been emphasized so strongly that
some might be led to think that no care what-
ever is needed to avoid in-breeding. A very
wide gulf lies between the two teachings. On
one side lies the teaching : in-breeding must
never he allowed. On the other side lies the
teaching: pains must be taken to practice in-
breeding if the best results are to be obtained.
The truth in such cases is generally to be
found in middle ground. In this case the mid-
dle ground would be very welcome to the lazy
breeder, who would interpret it as being:
take no pains to avoid in-breeding, and take
no pains to practice it, but let nature take its
own course. In this case certainly the mid-
dle ground so interpreted is not a safe ground.
We are told that iri-hreeding is not a bad
thing per if. Perhaps. How can in-breeding
be a bad thing when such grand results have
been obtained throuL'h its practice ; But
were the results obtaiiii-d because o( in-breed-
ing or in spite of it ; Darwin says there is no
mysterious evil in the mere fact of the nearest
relatives breeding to--<-ther. but the evil fol-
lows from ihecircuiii.-iaEices of near relatives
generally possessing a closely similar consti-
tution, and that however the fact be ex-
plained it seems a fact that for the most vig-
orous progeny there must be a certain differ-
entiation between sire and dam. That sounds
like saying there is no evil in in-breeding
per se, but it comes perilously near it if at-
tendant circumstances are so commonly such
that evil results. It would be unwise to dog-
matize with none too much knowledge on the
subject, but there may be no harm in asking
a few questions:
Did those breeders who obtained such good
results from in-breeding breed from near rela-
tives because they were near relatives, or be-
cause they possessed, in common, qualities
desired to be perpetuated I Would a father
ever have been bred to a daughter as sire and
dam it another than the father could have
been obtained posessing the same qualities as
the father without at the same time being
nearly related to the daughter < Is it not the
safe thing for those who do not take great
and special care, that they shall take all the
pains possible to avoid in-breeding * Is it
not well that more should be known about
the laws of breeding, so that a goodly num-
ber of the craft could be engaged in an intel-
ligent attempt to improve our bees*
The Saw Palmetto is an important
honey-plant. That same remark about white
clover would perhaps elicit a smile of ])ity.
for every one is supposed to know .white
clover honey, yet saw palmetto is to the
Florida bee-keeper, the editor of the Ameri-
can Bee-Keeper says, what white clover is to
the Northern producer of honey. "Hun-
dreds of thousands of acres of Florida sand
are covered with a scrub growth of it. while
in moist and richer localities it grows in im-
penetrable jungles, and is one of the most
beautiful of our sub-tropical palms," so .says
.Mr. Hill.
In the same journal, W. S. Hart says it is a
tree whose trunk may lie under the surface of
the ground or upon it, or it may rise 10 or 12
feet high in the air. .It is one of the cheapest
and best sources of tannic acid for tanning
leather. The pinnated leaf is used to make
paper, especially of finest quality, and capable
of holding oil and other liquids. It also
makes a very clean and springy filling for
mattresses. The bloom is composed of small,
cream-colored /lowers on racemes from one to
three feet long, and the honey is of a fine
light-amber color, heavy in weight, and of
good flavor. Another grade of honey is ob-
tained by the bees from the juice which oozes
through the sliin of the berries, which are
from the size of an olive to twice that, and
seem to be a wholesome food for hogs, cat-
tle, bears, and jieople. '
468
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
July 25, 1901.
Contributed Articles. I
fur^'^K
Grading Honey— Its lniportance,*Rules, Etc.
BY D. W. WOKKIXG.
Secretary of the Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Association.
THE bee-keeper is a partner in a co-operative business ;
he furnishes the hive and its accessories and markets
the honey and wax which the bees produce But he
does more. Between the work of preparing- the hive for
the bees, and marketing- the product of their labor, the bee-
master has other work to do. He is more than a partner in
a co-operative establishment — he is both manager and joint
worker, and on the wisdom and skill with which he works
and manag-es depend in a large measure the success of the
business venture.
The bee produces the honey. But will it make straight
combs, even, white, and well-capped, if hive and sections
are not properly prepared for its use, and if they are not
properly cared for during that use ? And if all the pre-
liminary work is well done, will the product be ready for an
exacting market without additional work and care ? The
fruit-grower picks his berries and his apples when they are
in the best conditioti for the trade ; he sorts them carefully
and puts them up in attractive packages in order to com-
mand the best prices the market affords. Skill in raising,
experience in handling, wisdom and foresight in catering
to a varying demand — these are the secret of his success.
The bee-keeper must do more than to induce his bees to
put their product into clean sections ; he must keep the sec-
tions clean and unbroken ; he must meet the demands of
the trade. To do this he must take the honey from the hive
at the right time, must make each section as clean and
inviting as possible, and then assemble the sections prop-
erly in attractive packages. People like what is good, and
like it better if it looks good. What is clean suits them
better if it looks clean. A stain on the outside of a sec-
tion does not make the honey less sweet or less wholesome,
but does make it less attractive to the buyer. The stain,
therefore, must be removed before the section is offered for
sale.
Uniformity counts ; therefore the bee-keeper must make
his packages uniform — in size, in shape, in color, in
arrangement. A few leaking sections are too many ; a
single badly graded case may spoil the sale of a ton of
honey. So the individual must be careful in grading, in
handling, in packing, and in selling his products. But
this is not enough. The market is too big for one man to
supply. Honey is bought and sold by the car-load — even by
the train-load — and the buyer is wise enough to insist on
uniformity of grading in the whole lot. The packages
must be uniform or he will complain ; the packing must be
uniform or he will find fault ; the honey itself must be uni-
form or he will not pay the highest price for
it. He is a kicker — the buyer is — and he ought
to be ! So the uniformity of grading and pack-
ing which is necessary to the individual is nec-
essary to all who help supply the market.
The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion has undertaken to provide a system of
grading rules that will make Colorado honey as
famous for evenness and honesty of classifi-
cation as it is for quality. It is hoped and in-
tended that '■ No. 1 Colorado Honey " shall have
a meaning as definite and precise as any other
trade name may boast. To this end, every
member of the Association is furnished a copy
of the rules and recommendations, and urged
to follow them as faithfully as if he were to be
paid liberally for doing so in addition to win-
ning an honorable name for himself and his
State. Indeed, the man who follows the rules
carefully and wisely will be paid for his faith-
fulness in the higher price he is sure to get for
his products.
The rules are not supposed to be perfect ;
but they are believed to be better than those
of last year. I may venture, myself, to add a
uggestion : In case of doubt in classifying,
ivi the low er grade the benefit.
The rules and recommendations of the Colorado State
Bee-Keepers' Association are as follows :
COMB-HOXET RULES.
No. 1. — Sections to be -n-ell filled and capped, honey white or
slightly amber, comb white and not prujeeting lieyond the wood,
wood to be well cleaned; cases o( separatored honey to .iverage "21
pounds net per case of 24 sections, with a minimum weight ot not
less than 20 pounds for any single case ; oases of half-separatored
honey to AVEiiAOE not less than 3IJ-4 pounds net per case of 24 sec-
tions, with a minimum weight of 20% pounds for any single case;
cases of unseparatored honey to average not less than 22V^ pounds
net per case of 24 sections, with a minimum weight of iV., pounds
for any single case.
No. 2. — Includes all amber honey of a pronounced tinge, and all
white and amber honey not included in No. 1 ; to be fairly well sealed,
uncapped cells not to exceed fifty in number exclusive of the outside
row. wood to be well cleaned ; eases of separatored honey to aver-
age not less than IS pounds net per case of 24 sections.
extracted-honet rules.
Extracted honey shall be classified as white and amljer. shall
weigh 12 pounds per gallon, shall be perfectly free from particles of
wax. and shall always be marketed in new cans. .\11 rendered honey,
whether obtained by solar heat or otherwise, shall be classed as
■' strained " honey and not as ■•extracted."
RECOMMENDATION'S.
It is recommended to sell all cull honey around home as much as
possible ; to grade only in daylight, near a window : to use the stand-
ard 414x414x1^;^ inch'section and the 24-pound double-tier shipping-
case, in order to have unifornuty in loading cars; to stamp all cases of
No. 1 honey with the owner's name above the handholes ; to mark all
eases of No. 2 honey with two dashes in the handholes at each end ot
the case, and with no other marks whatsoever; to use no .second-hand
eases for No. 1 and No. 2 honey ; to pack all sections with paper below
and above, and in double-tier cases to put a sheet of paper between
the tiers; to store comb honey in a warm, dry place, protected from
flies and dust; and to hatil carefully, well protected from dust and
rain.
Do Bees Spread Pear-Blight ?-Tlie California
Bee and Fruit Case.
BY E. R. I-eOOT.
T ROUBLE has been brewing for some months between
the fruit-men on one side and the bee-men on the other
at Hanford, in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif. On the
part of the first-named, the contention was that the bees,
the property of the other parties, were the principal means
of spreading the pear-blight, which had been working such
awful havoc among the pear orchards in the vicinity men-
tioned. The bee-men, on the other hand, took the ground
that their stock were not carrying the pear-blight ; and,
even assuming that they might do so, averred that other
insects, and birds, as well as the wind, might and could do
all the mischief laid to the door of the bees, and that,
therefore, the removal of the insects under the direct con-
trol of man would not afford the relief sought. The con-
tention waxed warm. Each side called special meetings to
discuss the matter. Bitter words as well as threats were
used. Some of the more rabid of the fruit-men proposed
1-3.-. -: ■l-l^.H
No. 1 HOSEY
July 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
469
No. 2 Honey.
to use poison to exterminate the bees in case they were not
speedily removed by their owners. This only tended to
aggravate matters. The bee-men retorted that, if any one
were foolish enough to resort to such a procedure, not only
killing the bees but endangering the lives of human
beings, they would meet them on the issue half way; that
they had, as backing, the National Bee-Keepers' Associ-
ation, which had hundreds of dollars to its credit, had
fought many cases in court, and had always been success-
ful; that, moreover, it had decisions already on the ques-
tion of poisoning bees, and that the fruit-men " could drive
ahead " if they wished to. The latter maintained that
they " had looked up the law," and that they knew what
they were about.
It appears that those who indulged the most freely in
this war of words were not those who had the largest
interests at stake, either in the bees or in the pears ; that
the large pear-growers as well as the largest bee-keepers
were men who indulged in no threats, but who believed
that a compromise might be effected between neighbors
who were men of fairness as well as men who are willing
to listen to reason, and so the sequel proved.
The president of the National Bee-Keepers' Associ-
ation was asked by resident members to make a visit to the
scene of the impending trouble ; investigate, and take
such action as might, after a conference, seem most advis-
able. Accordingly, on the 18th of June, that officer
appeared at Hanford, Calif., being dropped, as it were, into
that " nest of hornets " by the redoubtable John H. Mar-
tin (Rambler), and J. C. McCubbin, who came with him
officially and unofficially to see that no harm was done him ;
but, be it said, they deemed it advisable to go home that
same day, although they did participate in one or two
little" skirmishes '' on the street. Unfortunately the Ram-
bler didn't have along his invincible umbrella and stove-
pipe hat ; for with such offensive and defensive weapons
he Jwould surely have come off victorious. As it was, it
was a •' draw " and he departed with John C. under his arm.
It appears that the local members of the Association
had made a great handle of the coming of the president of
the National ; of the strength of our organization, how it
had never lost a case in court, and that it had secured valu-
able decisions from the high courts. But as he did not
come at the time expected, and days went by, and still he
did not come, the fruit-men began to think that this talk
was all " bluff ;" and when he did appear, there seemed to
be a feeling on their part that he had come, not to bring
peace, but war, and that an organization that would send a
" walking delegate " clear from Ohio surely meant busi-
ness. After a little sparring on both sides, a truce and a
compromise began to be talked of. On our side was a
special committee appointed by the Central California Bee-
Keepers' Association, at its last meeting, to meet the repre-
sentative of the National Bee-Keepers' Association ; and
on the other was N. W. Motheral, Horticultural Commis-
sioner, of Hanford, Calif., who seemed to represent the
fruit-men, but who some jokingly said was the mother of
the whole trouble.
When both sides got together it was suggested by one
of the fruit-men that, as a compromise, the
bees be moved from the vicinity of the pear-
trees during the time they were in bloom, and
that, after they were out of bloom, and when
the alfalfa began to yield nectar, they be re-
turned to take the heavy or main crop. This,
it was thought, would give the bee men time to
investigate for themselves, and if, after inves-
tigation, it was shown that the claims of the
fruit-men were well-grounded, afford in the
meantime the necessary relief. This was finally
agreed to, although it would entail a big ex-
pense on the bee-men.
It may be wondered why the latter were
willing to listen to a compromise at all. In
the first place they desired to be fair ; and, in
the second place, the fruit-men had the testi-
mony of Prof. M. B. Waite, Assistant Chief of
the Division of Vegetable Physiology and
Pathology at Washington, D. C. This official
takes the position that bees do carry the mi-
crobes of pear-blight from flower to flower
while the trees are in bloom. In this opinion
he appears to be supported by Prof. N. B.
Pierce, Pathologist of the Pacific Coast Lab-
oratory, Santa Ana, Cal.
The following letter, directed to N. W.
Motheral. Commissioner of Horticulture at
Hanford, Calif., from Prof. Pierce, explains the position of
the scientists, in a nutshell :
Mr, X. W. Motheral^ Horticultural Cominissioufr, Hanford, Calif, —
Dear Hir: — In fuliillment of my former letter, and in reply to your
I request, I herewith give the main facts upon which are based the
claim that bees take an active part in spreading the disease of trees
variously known as pear-blight, twig-blight, fire-blight, etc.
1. Pear-blight is a bacterial disease which affects pear, apple,
crab-apple, quince, and related trees. It is induced through the
action of a specific micro-organism belonging to the bacteria, and
known as Bacillus amylovorus (Burrill), de Toni.
These facts have been demonstrated by many scientific workers by
careful inoculation, experiments conducted with pure cultures of the
bacillus. The cause of the disease has therefore been well known for
many years.
2. The identity of the blight of pear-trees in the Clow and Taylor
orchards near Hanford (these particular orchards are cited only for
the sake of accuracy, as there are many others affected) with true
eastern pear-bliglit has been demonstrated at this laboratory. Bacillus
amylovorus was isolated in pure oultiu'e Ijy the plate process from
blighted branches from Mr. Clow's trees, and a young and thrifty pear-
tree was inoculated, and died to within a few inches of the ground of
true pear-blight. A control tree treated the same way as the inocu-
lated tree, except that the bacillus was not introduced, remained per-
fectly healthy.
Mr. M. B. Waite, Assistant Chief of this Division of the Depart-
ment, has kindly supplied the following additional facts bearing on
this matter :
3. " The occurrence of the blight on the blossoms in great quan-
tities, and the great rapidity with which the disease spreads from
flower to flower, indicates a normal and very effective method of dis-
tribution."
4. "The germs were found growing freely in the nectar of the
blossoms."
h. " Bees were seen repeatedly visiting the infected flowers, and
some were caught taking infected nectar, and, by means of plate cul-
tures, the pear-l)light germs were isolated from their mouth parts."
6. " By covering parts of the trees with sacks of various kinds of
material, and then artificially infecting certain fiowers on the tree, the
blight was observed to spread very freely over the uninfected and
uncovered blossoms, but was entirely absent in the blossoms covered
by mosquito-netting."
r. "Blossoms were infected, and at once covered with sacks, and
the blight, in such cases, was retained in the infected blossoms."
8. "Pear-blight germs died very soon after being dried up, and
lived for only a lirlef period on exiio>ure to weather conditions out of
doors, hence they can not live in dust, and be blown around to any
great extent by the wind."
9. " Pear-blight virus, particularly that which occurs on blossoms,
is a very sticky substance, and is readily carried by insects, birds, or
other animals, but can not be blown by the wind."
This brief presentation will, I helieve, furnish your board with
the main facts needed to show the connection existing between the
visits of bees to pear-flowers and the siiread of pear-ltlight.
Sincerely yours, Newton B. Piekce.
April 23. lilOl. rathvloyist in Cliaryi.
Prof. Pierce happened to be in the city at the time, and
in an interview which we had with him he gave utterance
to substantially the statements as are given above. If
anything, his verbal statement incriminating the bees was
even stronger. So far as I could judge, he seemed to be a
competent scientist, and a fair-minded gentleman : but.
unconsciously, he is prejudiced, I think, in favor of the
pear-men, with whom he has come much in contact of late.
470
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
July
I asked him if it were not true that wild bees, insects and
birds, over which man has no control, could do all the mis-
chief ascribed to the bees. He admitted that this was pos-
sible, but not probable. Did he not think that bees were
valuable as fertilizers of the blossoms, especiallj' of those
of the Bartlett pear? He thought they were. Well, did
not this service of the bee, year in and year out, more than
counterbalance the alleged mischief done by them in the
occasional year when pear-blight was so prevalent ? He
could not say, although he was of the opinion that, by a
certain alternation of varieties, the services of the bee
might be dispensed with entirely ; but of this he was not
sure.
From Prof. Waite's statements it would appear (to
express it in common parlance) that the bees have been
caught " red-handed," bearing the marks of the alleged
criminal act. If I understood Prof. Pierce, he had not found
the bacteria of pear-blight on the tongues of the bees, nor
had he himself seen the microbes in the nectar. If this
be true, we have, as the onlj* real incriminating chain of
evidence, the statement of Prof. Waite. Without detract-
ing in the least from the skill of the professor, it is proper
to remark that even the best of scientific men make mis-
takes, and we, as bee-keepers can not accept the unsup-
ported statement of Prof. Waite without further investiga-
tion by some of our men equally competent and fair.
This is a nice question, as a lawyer would say, and we
need to go at it carefully and candidly to get at the truth,
cut where it may.
There is some evidence that goes to show that Prof.
Waite is mistaken. For instance, there are young pear-
trees, acres and acres of them, that have neve)- been in
bloom, and yet these young trees are blighted to death.
How in the name of reason did the bees carry blight to
these trees when it is apparent that they never went near
them ? And then there are little shoots that have pushed up
from the ground since the big trees were in flower, and
yet these shoots are blighted like the rest. Assuming, for
argument's sake, that bees may carry the blight on old
trees, we must admit that there is some agency, possibly
the wind. Prof. Waite to the contrary, that carries the
destructive microbe to the young shoots and the young
trees. There are some things that are not explained yet.
Again, I believe we have the right to insist, for the
present, until we have more corroborative evidence, that
wild bees, other insects, and birds, over which man has no
control, may be able to spread the blight just as much as
the bees under the control of man. For example, this illus-
tration was used : If a barrel full of water has two plugs
in it near the bottom, the larger plug, represented by the
tame bees, and the other plug (the small one) by insects,
birds, and wild bees, will not the small plug exhaust the
barrel just as surely as the large one ? If this be true the
removal of the bees controlled by man would not bring the
relief expected, by a long way.
In conclusion, let me saj' that I visited the worst-
affected large pear-orchards in tlie vicinity of Hanford,
Calif. The large pear-growers were fair, intelligent men.
While they thought the bees were to blame, they also
thought the pear-men had some responsibility in the mat-
ter.
I visited one orchard of 120 acres, and every tree was
badly blighted, and no mistake ; but in this orchard we
found the badly-blighted little shoots I have referred to. —
Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
California for Bees— Motherwort, Etc.
BY PROF. A. J. COOK.
PROF. C. P. GILLETTE, of Colorado, desires me to give
the comparative merits of the di&'erent parts of Califor-
nia for bees. The southern portion of the State would
be incomparably superior were it not for the too frequent
drouths. When we have good years the crop is immense, and
the honey — mostly sage — is very superior in color and flavor.
But the dry seasons are too common. In the 7 years since
I came here there have been but 3 excellent seasons, while
two of the seasons were complete failures. It is possible that
at some time in the future we may be prepared to water
large sage areas, in winter, when there is too little rain,
and when water can be had cheaply, and so remove this un-
certainty. In such case Southern California would lead the
world.
Central California — the great San Joaquin Vallej- — is
becoming very noted as a locality for bees. The extensive
fields of alfalfa in Fresno, Tulare and Kings Counties,
make the honey crop almost certain ; and the quality of the
alfalfa honey leaves nothing to be desired.
In Northern California there are always abundant
rains, and in some sections, as along the Sacramento river,
there are extensive areas of alfalfa. If the North had as
fine honey-plants and in as rich profusion as the South,
then Northern California would be at the head for honey-
production.
Prof. Gillette asks especially about Sonoma County. If
one is sure of honey-plants he may have no fear. It would
be wise, if possible, to locate close by a large acreage of al-
falfa, as then failure would be almost sure of elimination.
There must be generous watering in winter to insure nec-
tar-secretion. The owners of alfalfa will look to the water-
ing, and so the honey crop will be assured.
MOTHERWORT AS A HOXEV-PLANT.
Mr. Arthur A. Houser, of McDonough Co., 111., sends a
nice sample of this plant, of which he writes :
'•I send you a flower wliioh grows abundantly here. I haven't
been able to find a botanist that can give me its name. Will you
please name it through the American Bee JournaU The bees are on
it from early morning till late at night. I feel sure it must be a very
rich honey-plant. Do you not think I would better encourage its
growth here, as it flourishes well with Italf a cliance?"
This is one of the best mints of the East. It is the com-
mon motherwort — Leonurus cardiaca. It is illustrated in
my ■■ Bee-Keeper's Guide," page 357, where I fully explain
its excellence as a honey-plant. It is one of the mints, and
so has excellent relatives in the horse-mint and white and
ball sages. It belongs to the family Labiate, so named
from the two-lipped or bi-labiate form of the flowers. Such
irregular flowers have developed, as we are assured, that
bees, etc., might the better cross-pollinate the flowers.
Other families with irregular flowers are familiar in the
Scrophulariacea' and the Legumes. In the first is the ex-
cellent honey-plant — figwort — and in the latter all the clo-
vers. The irregular flowers are so formed that the bee, as
it reaches in to get the nectar, is sure to become dusted
with the pollen, which, as the bee flies away, will be borne
to the stigma of the next flower visited. The very fact of
irregular flowers tells that we have honey-plants.
CORRECT rSE OF XAMES.
I doubt if we can be too careful in using names cor-
rectly. I have a theor3' that to use terms loosely tends to
beget untruth, and, conversely, to use words precisely
works to make one more truthful. This, and to be more
correct in our language, is surely enough to influence us
all. Thus I would urge all to help to correct some very
common faults of expression. I say faults, though the
dictionaries may permit some of them. Our dictionary
makers are conservative, and follow rather than lead in
nice distinctions. The best waj- to gain the latest and best
is to study the works of specialists. They must be accurate
and precise.
The entomologist would never call a larva a worm. In-
sects are a branch separate from worms, and are very dif-
ferent in every way. A worm — an angle-worm is an exam-
ple— is aUvays the same in form and appearance. Thus a
worm just hatched from the e^g is like the mature worm,
except it is small. Worms have no feet, nor any specialized
organs for breathing. We may rightly say angle-worm,
sea-worm, tape-worm, round-worm. etc.
The larva? of insects are dift'erent. They are very un-
like their matured selves — usually have feet — have respira-
tory organs. If these are to develop into butterflies or
moths, we call them caterpillars. These always have from
10 to 111 legs, usually the latter number. If they are to de-
velop into two-winged flies, like house-flies, we call them
maggots. These are footless. If they are to become bee-
tles, we call them grubs, when they usually have 6 legs,
though some, like the grubs of weevils, are also apodous or
footless. Another mistake is to call insects bugs. Onlj'
one order of insects are bugs. We may say chinch-bug cor-
rectly, but to call a beetle or locust a bug is as much an
error as to call a rat a hippopotamus. Let us do all we can
to secure more accuracy in the use of such names.
Los Angeles Co., Calif.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallennieyer. a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy
of this song.
July 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
471
No. 9.
Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHKING.
I BELIEVE it is safe to assert. Mr. Bond, that in all the
intelligent universe, so far as our knowledge extends,
there is not a creature so low in the scale of intelligence
that it does not in some degree appreciate human kindness,
gentleness, sympathy — all expressed in the word love. Of
course, it is easy to deny this statement ; but it is by no
means easy to prove it false, in theory and manifestation.
Only a moment's reflection brings before your mind the
fact that it requires but little effort on your part to make
your horse, j'our dog, or even one of your hogs, love you —
as far as an animal is capable of manifesting that quality
of intelligence."
" But I came to the conclusion a few years ago that we
have no safe guide by which to draw the line of limitation,
in the scale of intelligence downward, beyond which we
find no evidence to support my statement, when I read in a
journal of science of a man in England who had trained
quite a number of fleas .' — to such an extent that he could
hitch them to a cart purposely made for them, and to draw
it, as horses do a wagon. And several other things he had
taught those little creatures to do — all by the constant and
persistent exercise of tact, patience and kindness toward
them.
"I don't pretend to know how a flea can appreciate
human kindness — I am only speaking of the fact as
reported. I am convinced, however, mainly by personal
observation since I began to handle bees, that in some
mysterious way they can and do appreciate kind treatment.
In the same way I have also learned that they have a keen
appreciation or comprehension, of the other kind of treat-
ment ; and you know as well as I do how promptly and
effectively they resent it.
"Looking at the matter, therefore, from the point of
view here indicated, Mr. Bond, it is surely not a waste of
time on mj' part to make the explanation of this principle
a feature of our lesson.
"Several times, on various occasions, visiting friends
have asked me, when they saw me at work among my bees,
how I could do it all without getting stung to death. My
answer nearly always is, Because my bees know me. They
seem to know my touch. Possibly they also know my
voice. Certainly they know me by their keen sense of
smell.
"Mark that last statement well, Mr. Bond," I con-
tinued, looking sharply into his eyes through the meshes of
his bee-veil as I spoke. "It is of greater importance than
)'OU may think ; not because it is a controverted propo-
sition among the most intelligent class of bee-keepers, but
because as a positive statement between you and me, it
implies that I mean it, that I believe it because I have been
convinced of its correctness by evidence that satisfied my
reason.
" Yes, Mr. Bond," I continued, impressively, " it is one
of the articles of my bee-keeper's creed, that, Bees have a
keen sense of smell, and I'm not ashamed of it — neither am
I fanatical enough to be ready to fight for it. And — let me
tell 3'ou this in strict confidence, Mr. Bond — whenever I
hear of an intelligent, well-educated man who, as a pro-
fessed bee-keeper, denies, point-blank and on foot, that
article of my creed, I intuitively suspect him of all, or at
least some, of such unprofessional habits as the smoking
and chewing of tobacco, drinking of whiskey, and eating
of garlic and limburger cheese.
" I know very well that it sounds like a silly paradox to
make a statement of that sort," I hastily commented, when
I saw through his veil a plainly outlined expression of
ironical incredulity upon his otherwise jovial face. " Be-
cause, the thought naturally suggests itself that the best
trained and most loving bees in the world would be sure to
' go for ' such a man, hot-end foremost, if he ventured
within bee-smelling distance. I saj', the proposition nat-
urally assumes a paradoxical look of that sort. But the
paradox is at once seen to be a delusion, in a practical
sense, when I explain that it is because of that fact of the
bees refusing to own him as a friend, that a bee-keeper thus
guilty of offending their olfactory nerves persists in deny-
ing that the sense of smell is an inherent part of bee-
nature. They do go for him.
" I fear I have wasted time in an effort to make you see
the point of my argument, which I can so plainly see and
feel. But, nevertheless, I trust that mv effort to handle a
delicate subject through the texture of the proverbial ' kid
gloves ' is not wholly lost."
This conciliatory comment was offered because I knew
that my friend and pupil was guilty of the tobacco habit ;
though not of the other two.
" Beg your pardon for this digression, Mr. Bond, and
for keeping you waiting to proceed with the drone-lesson.
If you'll now examine the smoker to see that it is in work-
ing order, we will finish taking off that super. Of course,
you remember mj' caution not to lift before you are sure
you have a secure hold at both ends, and to be careful not
to crush any bees when you set the super down."
Following my directions, Mr. Bond lifted one end of
the super high enough above the frames so that he could
blow a little smoke underneath it among the bees, to pre-
vent them from making a demonstration when the super
was finally lifted clear of the hive.
" This as a precaution," I explained. " It is better to
do that, though it's a little more trouble because you must
handle the smoker and one end of the super at the same
time. You see, if you lift the super suddenly, the bees
underneath are startled, not knowing what is going to hap-
pen, and, as a rule, they make a rush. The result is that
often, before you can properly take care of the heavy
super — supposing it to be full of honey — and get back to
the hive, thousands of the bees are flying just where you
want to take your stand to do the work you came there to
do. To say the least, it may cause some unneccessary
annoyance to have it that way. But there are times and
circumstances when something very much worse than
annoyance may be the result. As, for instance : the entire
colony may become alarmed and assume a belligerent atti-
tude, especially when you are handling old bees, and at a
time when there is only a light honey-flow. Or, the colo-
nies nearest the hive you are working at may be aroused by
the alarm-signal given by the flying bees. In that case
they will first mingle with those in the air to investigate
the cause of the commotion ; but, almost invariably in
such an instance, these neighbor-meddlers will next pro-
ceed to investigate the open hive, with the result, well-
known to all practical bee-keepers, that you have a case of
robbing on your hands when you were least expecting it.
" I am telling you all this at this time, Mr. Bond, in
order that you may be on your guard for such emergencies
whenever in the future you have a job like this to do. ' An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' applies
here, Mr. Bond, in the sense that a little precaution, with
a little smoke judiciously applied, will often prevent — well,
it's hard telling what not. Every experienced bee-keeper
will endorse that, I think.
"Now for the drones," I said, after Mr. Bond had
deposited the super, without crushing bees or getting stings
on his hands, and had returned to my side near the hive.
"Please take this prying instrument " — handing him
my old chisel — " and show me how nicely, carefully and
gently you can loosen the ends of those brood-frames with
it without alarming the bees. They are all glued fast,
more or less securely, hence you must avoid sudden snaps
and jerks."
Mr. Bond took the chisel and bravely began the job.
He was getting along very well until he reached the last
frame. The bees had done a little more work on that, seem-
ingly, than elsewhere, and as a consequence my friend had a
little more trouble with it, and was obliged to use a little
more force to loosen it. Ouite suddenly — as such mishaps,
especially in the apiary, always do happen — his chisel
slipped and down went the frame with a bang. Before I
had time to use the smoker, or he to realize what had hap-
pened, about a score of bees make a dive at his naked
hands. Fortunately, I had told him the day before that
when ever bees did that, to keep his hands perfectly still
for a moment and not to jerk them back ; for if he did that
they would surely sting. This he now remembered and put
into practice, with the result that, though most of the
assaulting bees went through the maneuvre of stinging,
not one of them made earnest of it.
"Good! good 1" I shouted approvingly. "Now you
are initiated, Mr. Bond. That kind of an experience is to
a bee-keeper recruit what the first charge in the first battle
is to an army recruit. I think yon can stand fire now, Mr.
Bond, when you and any man's bees get into a fracas.
"Go ahead now and lift those frames out for inspec-
tion. You can do it as well as I can. Begin with the one
you have just loosened and hand it to me ; I want to see
whether there is any drone-brood on it or not."
iTo be continued.)
472
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 25, 1901.
^ ^ Bio^raohical. ^ |
MR. ROBERT WILKIN.
We present on the iirst page this week the latest picture
of one of the leading pioneer bee-keepers of California — R-
Wilkin. His son-in-law, Mr. J. F. Mclntyre, has kindly sent
us the following biographical sketch :
Kobert Wilkin was born near Londonderry, Guernsey Co.,
Ohio, July 4, 1829, and died at Newhall, Calif., May .30,
1901. He leaves two daughters, Mrs. J. F. Mclntyre and
Mrs. J. M. Owens, and 8 grandchildren.
He was educated at Westminster College, New Wilming-
ton, Pa. Soon after leaving college he married Eliza Will-
iamson, who had attended the college at the same time. He
had one daughter, Harriet, by this marriage, his wife dying
when the child was 9 months old. About 4 years later he
married Isabella Gordon, by whom he had one daughter, Mary.
His second wife died in 1888.
Mr. Wilkin made a specialty of the bee-business for nearly
•iO years; he left a journal of the business from 1862 to
1901. in which I find many interesting items. His first in-
vestment in this line was to buy the patent-right to make and
sell the Langstroth hive in several counties in Ohio. This
venture was not a financial success. The next venture was
to buy up a lot of black bees, transfer and Italianize them,
and commenced the business of selling Italian queens, and
colonies, at Cadiz, Ohio.
I find among the first items that he paid L. L. Langstroth
•S25 for an imported Italian queen, and sold 20 colonies of
Italian bees at S20 each. An item in November, 1871, says :
'■ I have 300 nuclei, and have sold this year over 800 Italian
queens at $6 each. Nov. 5, 1872: I reared this season 2,000
queens ; 400 of these were sold at $250 per hundred, and the
balance at S5 to .S6 each ; and bought of A. Grimm 72 colo-
nies of pure Italian bees at $11 each."
This was too good to last, for on May 15, 1873, he writes:
"Of my 315 hives of bees in the fall, only 61 are alive now."
".lune 5, 1873, bought of Dr. J. J. Adair, 85 colonies of
bees at $6 each." He continued to lose his bees in winter and
buy more in the spring to carry on queen-rearing, until the
spring of 1874, when he moved all of his bees and family to
Oskaloosa. Iowa, to try producing basswood honey. After
two seasons of failure and loss of bees here he moved all of
the bees he had left — 240 colonies— and his family, to San
Buenaventura, Calif., arriving Nov. 6, 1875.
In 1871 he wrote a book of 96 pages, entitled, "Hand-
Book of Bee-Culture;"' price, 25 cents. But he gave away
more than he sold, to save himself the trouble of answering so
many questions while selling queens. The book is now out of
print.
After coming to California he turned his attention entirely
to the production of extracted honey. California honey had
not made its reputation at this time, and it was hard to dis-
pose of large crops, and on Nov. 1, 1878, he left his bees in
charge of E. Gallup, while he went to England to sell his crop
of 4o,000 pounds of extracted honey. Subsequently he made
trips to Boston and Texas to sell honey. His largest crop was
100,000 pounds from 1,000 colonies in 3 apiaries in 1884.
He retained his interest and enthusiasm in bees to the time of
his death, and was actively engaged in hiving swarms when
he was taken with cholera morbus, and after 12 days' sick-
ness died on May 30, at the age of 71 years and 11 months.
Mr. Wiikin was president of the California State Bee-
Keepers' Association during the last two years. His hobby
was co-operation. He was always willing to lend a helping
hand in a good cause, and served his country during the Civil
War in the 42d Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
J. F. McIntyre.
One by one the bee-keeping pioneers are passing away.
Soon there will be none left to give personal reminiscences of
the days of Langstroth, and Quinby, and Wagner.
California has perhaps led in the line of extensive apiaries,
Mr. .1, S. Harbison (still living, we believe) leading at one time
with his 6,000 colonies of bees — the largest bee-keeper in all
the world. Next to him likely came Mr. Wilkin, at least in
the size of his honey crops, as mentioned by Mr. Mclntyre.
But what of the future of bee-keeping ? Will there arise
worthy successors of the noble ones who have lived, labored,
and then passed on ? Yes, we believe there will be. Already
a new interest is being taken in bees and the production of
honey in many localities. The bee-keepers of the present are
taking advantage of the experiences of the past, and with the
progress of the present will undoubtedly surpass even the won-
derful results attained by those of the years gone by.
Our pursuit is an honorable one. Indeed, "Our toil doth
sweeten others." And as the years come and go, "others"
will include more and more of the sweet-loving public that
now know not the taste of " nectar fit for the gods " — deli-
cious honey.
Above all things let us strive to emulate the grand exam-
ples as shown by the lives of those who have been translated
to that Heavenly sphere, such as Langstroth, Quinby, Cary,
Wilkin, and many more that might be named did time and
space permit.
Tbe "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
LIVING ON HONEY ENTIRELY.
I wonder how nearly a man could come to living entirely
on honey — a man not a laborer, but one whose work is mainly
mental. In other words, I wonder how much of a lie that is
on page 365 where it says Pythagoras lived only on honey. I
have hung up in my den a funny picture entitled, "George
Washington trying to tell a lie." May it not have been that
this was the one he was trying to tell ?
A QUEER KIND OF ORNAMENT.
We've seen many sorts of things to ornament apiaries,
but never strings of decapitated human heads before. Ask
Mr. Haun if his State has " done gone " and annexed itself to
Borneo. Frontispiece No. 24.
COUNTING BEES BEFORE THEY'"RE HATCHED.
My parents came to Ohio in 1843. Suppose I should rea-
son on how many Hastys of the stock there ought to be here,
instead of saying how many there are. When a chap starts
in to count a colony of bees by saying : " The queen has laid
so many eggs per day for so many days ;" then's the time to
hustle him toward the door — just a little, you know. Count-
ing bees before they are hatched is not better mathematics
than counting chickens before they are hatched, but decidedly
the reverse. Amount of inside surface In the hive, and gen-
eral number of bees to the square inch, will yield a better ap-
proximation than, egg-counting can do. Yes, we'd like to
know who's got the most numerous straight colony ; and it's
sadly awkward that weighing bees Is so much trouble except
at swarmiug-time. Page 371.
A HOMELESS QUEEN.
I would say to Mr. Crafton, page 381, that it isn't very
common for queens to be 'lighting down upon us at our work.
As for one way it might have happened, perchance a colony
had been superseding its queen, and as usual reared several of
them. Two chanced to emerge about the same time. One
was accepted ; and the other (the bees not wishing to swarm)
was driven out of the hive. Finding herself homeless she
prospected the open hive you were at work at to see what it
might offer in the way of a home.
BEES .\ND GROCERIES.
Dr. Mary McCoy writes up an exceptional location in an
entertaining way on page 387. Abundant pasturage on two
first-class honey-plants, and scarcely anything else. One
could well afford to do some feeding in spring if tolerably sure
of a midsummer and fall with fair honey-flow of white honey.
It looks as if grocers as well as other men are reasoning crea-
tures. Unusual (juantities of bees shipped with the fruit,
when a masked apiary close by begins to need shipping. In
a small city, where the number of dealers having exposed
July 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL
473
sweets is small, something is possible in the way of posting
each one as to the habits of bees. Tell them sweets in a store
will be as sacred as sweets in a home pantry if you " shoo"
the first ones away and don't let them get begun. Tell them
also that screening often is only needed for two or three days,
until a mysterious change in weather conditions makes the
flowers " give down " — after which the flowers have the pref-
erence.
QUEEN ACCEPTING THE COLOKT.
I think Editor Pender is on the right track in jogging our
minds concerning the fact that the queen must accept the col-
ony as well as the colony accept the queen. Curiously hunger
is the best peace-maker on her side, and the opposite of hunger
a very necessary peace-maker on their side. Page 383.
PARTLY FILLED SUCTIONS FOR B.\IT.
Let's sing some more about taking partly filled sections,
bees and all, to start laggards at storing honey. No expe-
rience myself (so I can sing more freely). I have wondered
just a little if the wise old chaps who recommend this have
figured high enough on the hinderment the good colony suf-
fers. You see, if we let a good hand spend half his day mak-
ing a tramp work, and said tramp does J^ of a day's work, we
have scored a loss of 2.") percent. My practice is, and my
advice is strongly in the same direction, to keep bees for comb
honey that don't need any such fussing. Page 387.
HINTS ON SELLING EXTR.^CTED HONEY.
On page 388, G. H. Pond strikes the heart of an import-
ant matter when he deprecates too large sales at one time. A
lot of old candied honey well punctuied with dead flies and
ants — well, if an adversary wanted to keep a honey-loving
family from buying any honey 8U0 years he couldn't contrive
any better way. " Got a great lot of it on hand and can't buy
till we eat it up." And it looks so repulsive they never eat it
up. His experience with grocers is also interesting. Told
many of them just how to reliquefy — they said they would —
no one ever did. 'Spects that would be pretty much the same
everywhere. So if a fatal drooping of sales is to be prevented
at all, the man who furnishes the honey must see to it that it
is kept in liquid condition.
Conducted by Prof. n. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
NATURE STUDY.
•• Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the cranny ;
I hold you here in my hand.
Little flower; and it I could but understand
What you are. root and all, and all in all,
I would know what God and man is."
Those beautiful lines from the great author, Tennyson,
are rich in suggestion, and show the heart of the great poet-
laureate of England. It is beautiful for us all to know the
flowers, to know the birds, to be intimate with butterfly, moth
and beetle. These gems of God's handiwork are intrinsically
beautiful. To be on speaking terms with them, to look deeply
into their beauty and mysteries, day by day, is to enrich and
refine the life. Peering into their wondrous secrets is ever
full of sweetest and best entertainment, is ever startling us
with surprises, is ever bringing us to know more of God's
wondrous ways.
And how we constantly learn to see more and more as we
study these wondrous fashionings right from God's own hands.
Did the great poet overstate the truth when he said that to
know the flower thoroughly was to know God and man ? 1 ara
sure, to know the flower and insect will bring us as near (iod
as will anything we may study, and will make us more alive
with human sympathy. If, as we are often told, the country
folk are more pure and true than others, may it not be that
the influence of plant and flower has worked to sweeten and
ennoble life ?
New York, through a beautifully wholesome work of Cor-
nell University, is bringing nature study into all the country
schools, and so into all the homes. God be praised for this
splendid undertaking. We may well bring it into all our home
circles. Can we not get all our States to follow New ^■^l•k's
most admirable example, and all have the leaflet, the lesson
helps, and every bid to foster this glorious nature study ? Let
us all urge it upon our colleges and legislatures. A little seed
here will bear a most bountiful harvest.
In the meantime, let us all get the children to study
flower, insect and bird. Let us with the children see just when
the birds come back in spring : when and how they build their
nests ; how they move on the ground ; how attentive and
faithful the male is to his mate ; how the color of the male
compares in brightness with the female ; which of these do
the singing, and when they sing sweetest and best.
Again, let us note what insects seek and sip nectar: why
wasps are about the sticky mud near well or hydrant ; how the
butterfly fixes her wings when she alights ; whether moths do
the same ; why the leaves of our plants are ragged: and count-
less other things that will be so full of interest that we shall
find our days too short, and will sing with new meaning Fa-
ber's beautiful hymn :
"There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea."
THOROUGH 'WORK.
It was a great compliment that a young man received in
my hearing from an older person, a day or two since: "I
must have you at any price. You do your work so well." Do
we as parents appreciate the meaning of these words—" good
work ?" I had a boy work for me for 3 years. He was a joy
every day. He never slighted anything nor did he do one
thing less perfectly because no eye was looking on. It was a
great misfortune that I could not secure his help this year.
He could do better elsewhere. He will constantly progress.
Promotions will come thick and fast. People will fairly tumble
over each other in their eagerness to secure his services. His
life will be a happy one, because successful. He will always
be wanted, as he will always have something most valuable to
give. His work will always be speaking his praise.
Can we devote time more wisely than by use of both pre-
cept and example, to beget in our children the fixed and cer-
tain habit of doing everything well— the very best that they
can ? Can we use a better means than to be generous with
approval '? Mrs. Cook often asked me if I were not afraid of
spoiling Mr. by my words of approbation. I never saw
any evil in dealing out such just praise in great, liberal, allo-
pathic doses. In my observation, nagging, fault-finding, sar-
castic jeers go very little towards making people better. I do
have great faith in the use of timely and honest praise for
work well done. True, we may overdo our praise of virtue,
but I think we are oftentimes far too chary in awarding it.
I am sure that there are very few things that count so
largely in making life a great success as the habit of doing all
that comes to our hands in the very best possible way. Christ
was perfection. He always did his best— and the best.
QRIT.
I have always admired the stanza from the Irishman who
told how he secured so good a shillalah for use in his police
duties :
•• I take for stick the seraggedest.
The thorniest, knottiest, raggedest.
The thorniest, knottiest, snaggedest,
Be it buckthorn, be it oak;
I pluck the flowers so swatly.
Leave knot and thorns so nately.
And tor seven long days eomplately
It must soak, and soak, and soak."
There is a whole lot of philosophy in this. Our worst pas-
sions and most forbidding traits may become our ornaments
if held in check and made to bless and not curse. We may
well leave the knots "eomplately " if we will only use enough
of the hard polishing to smooth them down. The great thing
to remember, we must let the hard, forbidding sticks of
character "soak, and soak, and soak."
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not- now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
474 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. Juiy25, i9(i.
■^
-^
>s
■m^.
To Our Shippers.
About May 1st last, we removed our business from the buildings 120-
122 W. Broadwa}- to larger and more commodious quarters at Nos. 265-
267 Greenwich St.. and 82. 84, 86 Murray St.. and we duly sent to our
his business in any manner whatsoever.
We value highly the good name and business we have established by
many 3'ears of satisfactory dealing with our friends in the trade, and we
therefore send this notice so that you may not possibly confound us in any
manner with the so-called " Hildreth, McCaul Co."
Our firm name remains as heretofore, and all our business is carried
on at our new quarters —
^
friends in the trade a notice of our removal. Shortly after we vacated the
premises (120-122 W. Broadway,) one Joseph M. McCaul, rented a portion
of our old quarters, and hung out a sign, "Hildreth, McCaul Co., Jos. M.
^NlcCaul, Prop.," with other large signs to the effect that his business is
■" headquarters for honey, beeswax, maple sugar and maple syrup."
The mercantile agencies report that Jos. M. McCaul is the sole pro-
JL prietor of the new business, and that he claims to have paid to one Henrv
tȤ . ..."
P. Hildreth (who has no connection with our business,) a consideration for
j^ the use of his name.
(A. We will not comment upon the act of leasing our old quarters and ex-
igs posing thereon the sign, " Hildreth, McCaul Co., " further than to state
#5< that we have instructed our attornevs to applv for an iniunction restrain- j\
^'S . . . ff . J ^
..Ov iiiff the said McCaul from usintj- the name of "Hildreth" in connection with
1^
^
^ Nos, 265=267 Greenwich Street, ^
■^ and Nos, 82, 84, 86 Murray St., New York, N,Y, ^^
•^ ^
-^. Respectfully yours, ^
^ Hildreth & Seqelken. |.
-^ ^
flease mention Bee journal when writing.
July 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
475
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and (jiieeiis?
2-frame Nucleus with Untested Queen, $2.oo.
purchaser paying express charg:es.
Naperville, 111 , Mav is, 1901.
Dear Sir:— Bees arrived in trood condition.
Transferred them to hive and -rave them houey.
Have reinforced them with hatchinj^ brood.
Are worUin^ when not too cold. Have ritrht
color, and are satisfactory. D. B. (.llVLEK.
I like your way of packing bees to express.
E. K. Meredith, Batavia, 111.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 Q 12
GoLDEK Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.2S 6.50 10.00
Select Tested 2.(X) 9.0U 15 00
Breeders S.0O
HoxEY Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.i10 $7.00
Tested 1.25 6 50 10.00
Select Tested 1.50 7.*) 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
28Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittmer's Foiindatioii !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL, necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable In all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Liue of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application,
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta^ Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal ■whc;n ■writinff
NO OTHER CO.
has ever tried to weave a Iieavv fence so closely
spaced as PAGE Rabbit Proof or Cemetery Fence.
P\(ii: WOVEN WIRE FENCE C<h, AI»RIA.\,MICH.
Please mention Bee journal -when w^ritins
QUEEINIS
Now ready to supplv bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED ll!
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony'.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each: b for $4.00.
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, »1 each; 6
for $5. Safe Akkiv.^l (Vuar.anteed.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2140 A: 214S Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
headquarters for Root's Uoods
Bee-Supplies. at Root's Prices.
Catalog free: send for same.
Low Rates to Buffalo Exposition
via the Xickel Plate Road. Also special
reduced rates Chicago to New York and
return. Three throug-h daily trains
with vestibuled sleeping-cars and ex-
cellent dining-car service, meals being
served on the American Club Meals
plan, ranging in price from .^5 cents to
SI. 00. Chicago Depot, Van Buren Street
and Pacific Ave., on the Elevated Loop.
Write John Y. Calahan. General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for full
information and beautifully illustrated
descriptive folder of the Exposition
Buildings and Grounds. 17 — 2SA3t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Good Honey-Flow.
Bees are cluing' will, and are in frood condi-
tion. The lioney-llow is good — never better.
From June .5 to .Ume 1.5 it was cold and
windy. We have bad no swarms to amount
to anything:. I have taken off nearly 3000
pounds of honey. G. W. Vanguxdt.
Uinta Co., Utah. July 7.
Short Crop of Honey.
The basswood lioney-flow is over with us,
and a very short crop. We are having a
drouth in this part of the State, that is hurt-
ing everything. The pastures would burn.
W. J. PlOKARD.
Richland Co., Wis.. July 13.
Queen-Rearing.
The greatest truul^Ie in queen-rearing is
making up the nuclei to receive the cells.
Many good colonies have to he divided in
forming these nuclei, and there is always a
loss to the apiarist. I have used the follow-
ing plan for a good many years, with very
little trouble :
I have two extracting supers on every
brood-chamber, and after the honey season is
over I take from the top super two combs,
and put two brood-combs in place of them.
The next day I give thehi a cjueen-cell. and
raise the cover a little to make an entrance.
As soon as the queen hatches the bees will
gladly receive her. ilating soon takes place,
and I have a laying queen in the super. As
soon as the queen is taken out I destroy all
queen cells, and the work is done.
Year after year 1 have succeeded in rearing
a number of queens in this way without any
loss or hindrance in my apiary.
Jamaica. JosEPnrs Small.
Do Bees Select Their Future Home
Before Swarming?
This subject is attracting some attention
among the readers of the American Bee Jour-
nal, and I have been amused at the various
views expressed by " Rip Van Winkle," on
page 429.
I have been a bee-hunter ever since the
'60"s and have found hundreds of swarms un-
der almost every conceivable condition, from
a hole in the ground to a whole lot of
other places, and my opinion is that it de-
pends altogether upon circumstances.
It the parent colony happens to be located
near, or within a mile or so of a timber lot,
and if the bees have visited it for honey, and
the trees are large, with suitable holes to
make homes for bees, if you are in those
woods during the swarming season you will
see bees looking the trees over. These
searcher bees are from a colony near by about
ready to swarm, or they are from a swarm
that has clustered near by that may have
come many miles without discovering a home
to suit them.
I have kept bees for uianj- years, and have
been situated near the timber and also on the
prairies, and have st\idied their haliits. On
the prairie four miles from timber I have had
swarms strike out. and they must have gone
many miles before finding even a bush to set-
tle on, and they were Hrst swarms, too. They
certainly had not selected a future home.
When located near tlie timber I used to go
into the woods in curly swarming-time and
see the searcher bees h>oking the trees over
tor a home, and would find them cleaning out
a hollow tree, or siiinctimes two or three of
them, and have soiiietinies followed theju
from the hive to the tree they were preparing
twoortnree days IwiHre, and in these cases,
of course, they h:cl selected their future
homes before swarmin:,'.
.\gain, 1 have followed aswarni.«™7( ikIIix
Northern Italian Queens !
Reared from Imported Hothers.
Our stock is so carefully bred and selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality free
from foul brocd and other bee diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, $l.ii<i, 6 for $5.00: 1 tested
Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $5.00.
ADA L. PICKARD.
18E7t RICHLAND CENTER. WIS.
f lease mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
GOOD WHEELS
IMAKE A COOD WACOM.
Unless a waKon has prood wheel" It Is
"the electric vWHEELS
arei^oodwheelsandthej'maKea v.jxiiini
last indeflnitely. They are made hUrli or
low. any width of tire, to fit any eWein.
They C'on't Ket loone, rot op breuk
don D. They last alway8.C'-ata log free.
Electric Wheel Co.. Boy 16 Qalocy. UK-
DAVENPORT, IOWA,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLY HOUSE.
LOUIS HANSSEN'S SONS.
213-215 W. 2d St., - Davenport, Iowa.
Send for catalog-.
2.SA5t Mention the American Bee Journal.
Standard BelQian Hare Book !
clear
ctse
:nt of the Bel-
gian Hare industry;
its g-rowth, origin
and kinds; the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding"
stock; care of the
voung-, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scorings, mar-
keting, shipping, &c.
First edition of 50,-
iHHi copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year — both for only Jl.iO.
GEORGE \V. YORK & CO.,
144 4& 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, LL.
FREE FOR A MONTH •...
If you are Interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets* aod Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
li^ease mention Bee Journai "when "writing
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-leathering- stock. Tested, fl.iKl: un-
tested, 75 cents. " Shady Xook ArlAKV.*"
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
29A13t S.\G Harbok, Xew Yokk.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE ^ueen-Clipping
Device is a line thing- for use in
catching- and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium tor sending^ us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal for
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Jonraal one yeaj
and the Clippintr Device. Address,
QEORQE W YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
To make cows nay. use s!i;ir|ili-s Cream .Spparators. Ifook
"Business Dairying" \ r;tt. -J12 free. W.Chester.Pa.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
476
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July:
through the timber, where there were fine
places for a home for it. and would at last find
it iu an inferior place not tit for bees to win-
ter in. This swarm went about five miles be-
fore reaching the timber, and had clustered
twice before selecting a home. But" had the
parent colony been situated near the timber
the swarm probably would have selected its
home before swarming.
So. I think, as I said in the beginning, that
it depends altogether upon circumstances,
whether they select their home before swarm-
ing or not : and I have come to this conclu-
sion from an experience second to none west
of the Mississippi River, on this particular
subject. If Mr. " Rip Van Winkle " doubts
mv source of information I can refer him to
anv bee-keeper in this part of South Dakota.
J. M. HOBBS.
Yankton Co.. S. Dak., July 8.
Sweet Clover— White Eyed Drones.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of
visiting a bee-keeping friend, one of the vet-
erans in our State, whose painstaking and
methodical thoroughness in all that pertains
to the craft may well be an inspiration to
those of more slipshod ways. He is modest
and unassuming, and as ready to listen as to
talk. He remarked that he had seen nothing
from me in the bee-papers for a long time,
and I had to own it as a fact that the little
creatures keep me so busy that I have not
much inclination to write. They are doing
better than usual for the time of year, and I
ascribe that largely to the yellow sweet clover
that I am growing. I have a small field of it,
and also have it scattered in nooks and cor-
ners. It blooms here early in June — just
about a month ahead of the white variety,
which I have had for years. It promises to
be quite a boon to my locality, coming as it
does when ordinarily there is little for the
bees to gather from. I have had to feed bees
in June more than once, but this year I must
either divide colonies or take care of swarms.
I had been thinking that my enthusiasm
was waning somewhat under the pressure of
crowding duties, but it all comes back to me
when I get after a swarm.
I have been puzzled lately over some
drones that seem to be normal, except that
they have white eyes. I don't remember
noticing any of that kind before, and don't
know what to think of them.
Mrs. a. L. Amos.
Custer Co., Nebr.. June 27.
Second-Hand Cans, Ete.
Friend York: — I notice on page -441 that
•• Afterthought " thinks it important to com-
ment on an item contained in a private letter
to you, which you thought proper to publish
in May 16th issue. Now. there was no theory
advanced respecting bee-keeping, nor any-
thing else, but a simple statement of fact, and
what poiut he seeks to make I am too dull of
comprehension to discover. If he intends to
cast discredit on the statement of fact, he
simply advertises himself as anything but a
gentleman.
It may be that the item " winged '' him — as
sportsmen would say — as he may be a dealer
in SECON'D-HASD CAN'S — old Standard Oil Co.
cans — any old rusty can that he can palm oil
on honey-canners. When he talks about time
or space to fill, and nothing with which to fill
it, the idea may be aptly applied to the col-
umn over which he presides, in numberless
instances which might be referred to.
For instance, take the item headed, " Mr.
Doolittle and Our Country." The entire Bee
Journal could be filled with arguments, facts
and figures, to show the falsity, or fallacy, of
the idea intended to be conveyed, if one can
be gathered from what he says. If foreigners
come over here and invest their money, some-
body gets it ; if they are successful, so much
the better for every one concerned in the
business, from the highest to the lowest
laborer; if they finally sell out and take their
money back to a foreign i laud, some one has
made enough to buy them out, and has the
business ; if they invest in any of oiu' bonds,
their money goes into large business enter-
prises, like railroads, or manufacturing in-
.^MANUFACTURER 0F>^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases — Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders fiUed promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money bv sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Be'e-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
rtease mention Bee Journal -when writiiiB
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptlv for Untested ijueens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; f4.00 for 6, or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Atf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentior Bee Jotimal wben writing.
BEE
6A26t Mention th
HIVES.SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big Catalog Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Slta, E. St. Louis, 111.
ican Bee Journal.
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for $1.30 ; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for SO cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL,
B668= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
,nd
Send for circulars;
improved and original Bingham Bee-Smoker.
Fob JSIears thr Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM. Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
ALBINO QUEENS I'J^.lZteLl'^^rX
want the gentlest Bees — If you want the best
honev-gatherers vou ever saw — try my Albinos.
Untested Queens in April. fl.OO; Tested. 11.50.
iiA26t J, D. GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents: or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only fl.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
ilustries; if their bonds are finally paid with
the accrued interest, it only shows success of
great enterprises.
No one need worry, nor have any sleepless
nij^hts over our ability to stand all such
drains upon our life-blood — the old '■ ox in
the pasture " doesn't realize that it's even.rfi/
tiiiu. But why pursue the subject ;
A^'ain. referring to the " daughter thrown
in." in the manner in which he does it.
There are many wealthy Americans, as well
as many who are not so wealthy, whose
daughters, worthy of every mark of consid-
eration and respect, exercise the right — as I
presume •'Afterthought" would claim for
himself— to select a partner for life from
among those they think proper, and many of
them marry husbands of foreign birth.
But to return to the cans. Those cans were
bought of George W. York <fe Co. How does
■■ Afterthought " know, or what does he care,
how many •' tUriifs " were paid for, or lost on,
them r Of what interest is it to him, or the
public, whether much or little was lost on
them, unless, as suggested, he may be lathe
SECOND-HAND bUSlneSS i
Wm. M. Whitset.
Kankakee Co.. III.. July 15.
Good Season for Bees.
This has been a very good season here, and
the bees are doing nicely.
J. Warres Shermax.
Suffolk Co., N. Y., .Iidy r>.
Dry and Hot.
I have 45 colonies of bees, all in fine condi-
tion, although it is very dry and hot, the tem-
perature being 104 degrees in the shade. Yet
mv bees are gathering some honey from sweet
clover, Samuel H. Hitt.
Jo Daviess Co., 111., July 16.
Selecting a Home Before Swairming.
Two vears ago I had an empty hive under a
shed not more than 10 feet from the working
colonies. One day my wife said that she saw
bees coming out of that hive, and wanted to
know if I had put a swarm into it. I replied
that I had not. That afternoon a swarm
issued from one of the old colonies, and we
put it into that hive. The next day a swarm
came to us from the northeast, and settled on
a small cherry-tree not more than 20 feet
from where the empty hive had been. It
looks very much as though that stray swarm
had intended to take possession of that empty
hive, but finding it gone they settled on the
cherry-tree. (I got 'em.)
On June 15 I had two swarms go together,
and in 1" days the brood-chamber was filled,
and I took off H fine sections of clover honey.
YorxG Bee-Keeper.
Logan Co., 111.. July 8.
Heavy Losses— Ahead of Dr. Miller.
I find that some l>ee-keepers in this locality
have had bad luck, having lost all they had.
A great many colonies died in the fall, or
soon after, as there was no honey around here
at that time. I saved 10 out of 22, and this is
the first time I ever lost any in wintering.
My bees are swarming more- than I want
them to this season. I have one colony that
has not swarmed in live years, and they have
always stored more than any other two. but
they are very weak now, and I think the
(|ueen must be worn out.
I have worked with bees, off and on. ever
since I was a boy. and I am now "8 years old,
and never have ti> wear glasses. I can take
dog and' gun and hunt from morning till
night, and am as good a shot as ever. My
wife is 74, and iiuite strong. We have been
married 56 years, and have had 15 children.
I think that beats Dr. Miller's TO years.
I keep bees because I like them. Sometimes
they are somewhat ugly, but if 500 were to
sting me it would not hurt.
Henry White.
Humboldt Co. Iowa, July 1.
Tuly 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
477
TJlSTTEJSTEirD
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending- us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free as a premium. This oflfer
is made only to our present regular
subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us two new subscribers, and $2.00,
we will mail free as a premium an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 1*. Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send f 1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Ceek,Clareinont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal -when w^itine
CltXitnmift ! I'yo" care to know of its
^dlllUrilld I Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam.
pie copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Ple?=ie mention Bee Journal -when writing.
W Z ^ .^-d-^ ^ By two Apiarists of 10
Wantea and 12 years- experience
*^ *^^^** with bees, to correspond
with some party who has about 4^Xi colonies of
bees to let on shares to run for e.xtracted honey
for 1^02, in a location free from disease— irriga-
ted alfalfa region preferred. Reference given
and required. Address either Er\'in Baktox,
West Township. X. Y., or P. W. Stahlman,
West Berne, X. Y. .^)Alt
Please mention Bee .Journal
when writing advertisers.
An Overgrown Putty = Knife.
This is a tool used with great satisfaction
by S. E. Miller in the apiary. He tells of it
in the Progressive Bee-Keeper :
Made of abinil one-sixteenth inch steel, 2'.^
inches broad at the sharp end, tapering to
about li'4 inches 15 inches from end or where
the handle commences. The handle is made of
two half-round pieces of wood riveted on
each side, the same as handles are put on
hutcher-knives or table-knives. It is ground
alike on both sides, so that it does not matter
which side is up when I go to use it.
When I get this blade between two bodies,
or a body and cover, and begin to pry, it has
to come, no matter how much propolis. The
tool being large and strong (nearly a loot
long) gives a great leverage, and no great
effort is required in using it. I can take it
slow and steady and bring two bodies apart
without a snap. It will take the burr-comb
from two top-bars at once. It is handy to
clean bottom-boards, queen-excluders, and,
in fact, almost anj'thing where scraping is
needed. I frequently use it to dig with when
leveling up hives.
Improving Our Stock.
Here are some words well spoken by " The
Worker,'' in the Australian Review:
Were I forming rules for judging Italian
bees, I would place the points about like this :
Honey-gathering, SO; prolific ness, 10; gentle-
ness, 5; color, .5; total, 100. It is so much
easier to breed for color than for honey-pro-
duction, that it will be some time before all
of the bee-keepers in our land get into line.
Some will say, " Oh, the Italian bees are good
enough as they are, so long as we keep them
of the three-banded strain." Others will say,
•• We want our bees to look beautiful; they
will get the honey it there is any in the
Howers." This is a mistake a great many
make. I have had a lot of people say to me ;
•' What is the use of all your fussing, and
breeding this and that l If there is no honey
in the flowers the bees can't get it, no matter
Avhere they are."
I admit that, but when there is honey in
the flowers the good strains will gather much
more than the poor ones will. It is not so
noticeable in a good season as a rather ])00r
one. Before I commenced breeding for honey-
gathering my colonies would vary much in
the quantity of honey stored. I remember
one year one colony gave me over 100 pounds
of honey, while others only gave 30 pounds,
and the average of the whole yard was under
30 pounds per colony. How I wish I had that
queen now.
By careful breeding I now have my bees as
nearly alike as regards honey-gathering as
one could desire. Last year there was
scarcely a pound of difference in the whole
yard, and it was only a fair season for honey.
Brethren, let us be ever on the watch for the
<iueen whose bees excel in storing honey, and
then breed from her, thus ever improving our
stock.
Stimulative Feeding in Spring.
Tins has sonietimes been spoken of as a
two-edged sworil, cutting both ways. Prac-
ticed at a time when bees are tempted to fly
out in bad weather only to be lost, it may
tend to dimini-sh rather than increase the
number of bees in the hive. (i. M. Doolittle
gives in the Progressive Bee-Keeper another
phase of the matter, as follows:
During all the past we have heard much of
stiiuulalive f'^diug. with no hints that such
might be a fiii. lie at certain times, but from
jiast i-\peririi' ii.i^ and experience, I tind there
are times when feeding, or other slimulalive
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a hard
rubber holder, taiiering to a
rounO point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point and needle of the pen
are made of platina, alloyed
with iridium — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write 10,000 words, and do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of uni-
form ■width at all times
they are unequaled tor
rulings purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
filler and cleaner.
Best Manifoldixg Pen' on
THE Market.
19,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster," You should have
one also.
How to Get a " Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new St"BSCRIBER3
to the American Bee .Journal for
one year, with .*'2.00; or send
S1.90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for isi.oo we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
'1^/" GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVE. IN0IAN«rDLI5. IND.
Please mention Bee .Tournal when writing
$13.00 to Buffalo and Return $13.00
via the Nickel Plate Koad from Chicago,
for the Pan-Atnericau Exposition.
Tickets on sale daily, gfood leaving
Buffalo up to midnig-ht of the 10th day
from and including date of sale. Also
tickets on sale daily Chicago to Buffalo
and return at S16.00 for the round trip,
with l.^-day limit, including date of
sale. S21 00 Chicago to Buffalo and re-
turn, good for 30 days.
Tickets Chicago toXew '^'ork and re-
turn at special reduced rates. 'Write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent. Ill
Adams St. .Chicago, for full particulars
and folder showing time of trains, etc.
16-28A3t
478
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 25, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:J^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copv. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W SHfEiS
low, upon its receipt, or 2/ cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reaied 3% miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1,50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS.
6A2t)t Spring Hill, Tenn.
flease mention Bee Journal when writing.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long=Tongued 3 = Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth Sc Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Bee Journal w^hen writing.
AlarshMd MaDufacturing Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Red Clover Queens
LO'NG-TOMUED BEES *ARE DEMANDED NOW.
♦
ONE Untested Italian Queen FREE as a Ppe-
mlum for sending- us TWO new subscribers
to tlie American Bee Journal for one year (^^<j
(with $2 1 ; or, one Tested Queen free as a premium for sending
us FOUR new subscribers witli $4.00).
We have arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breed-
ers (having many years' experience) to rear queens for us the coming
season. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of
any yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy,
having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, somewhat
leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
They stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be
clipped, unless otherwise ordered.
CASH PRICES of these fine queens will be as follows : Untested,
.00 each ; Tested, $2.00 each. Send all orders to
GEORG-E W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., CHICAGO, ILL.
Please Mention the Bee Journal
when writing
Advertisers... »» I
work, brings no adequate returns. The queeu
lays only as she is fed stimulative food by the
wurl<ers, and the worlcers will feed her only
this stimulative food when there is some
reasonaljle prospect for a successful outcome.
And while feeding will bridge over three or
four days of bad weather, or even a week, yet
there comes a time when they seem to lose
hope and settle down on the firm determina-
tion that they will make no further efforts at
•' expansion " till they see some sign that
there is to be propitious weather in the
future. And during such long-eontinued,
cold, wet spells as the present. I have found
that tlie colony which was fed every day had
very little, if any, more eggs or larviv in the
hive at the end of two weeks than did the one
having a reasonable allowance of stores,
which had not Ijeen feed at all. But when
we have fairly comfortable weather, but a
dearth of nectar from no flowers bein^ in
bloom, or those in bloom not yielding any
nectar, then good results can be obtained in
feeding, or other ways of stimulating.
Close Imitation of Natural Swarming.
This is given as follows by G. M. Doolittle,
in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, in a conversation
with a neighbor, the first question being asked
by Mr. Doolittle:
"Have you any queen-cells on hand ;"'
" 1 suppose there are plenty in any of those
hives which have swarmed during the last
week."
•■ You will see why I asked about the queen-
cells before we get through. Now, to the
plan : Take a box holding from three pecks
to a bushel, and place it on a wide board a
few feet from the hive you wish to make the
swarm from, raising the front edge on a little
block, enough so the bees can run under.
Now open the hive you wish to make th&
swarm from, and find the (jueen, caging her
on one of the combs, when all the frames are
put back in the hive again. If you do not see
plenty of unsealed honey, uncap some along
the top-bars of the frames and close the hive.
Now blow in quite a little smoke at the en-
trance of the hive, and rap on the sides of it
as you would in driving bees, rapping at in-
tervals, and leaving the entrance open so that
the bees returning from the fields may enter
the hive. In from five to eight minutes open
the hive and take out the frames and shake
the bees in front of the box, and thus con-
tinue till you get at least three-fourths of the
bees in the box. When you come to the
frame which has the queen on it, place her at
the entrance of the box, and let her run in
with the bees. When you get the desired
amount of bees in the box, put the frames
back in the hive and close it."
•• Why do you run the bees into such a box
instead of into a hive all prepared for them .'"'"
'■ If you will not be impatient I will tell you
so you will see the reason. Now, we will
suppose that you have three-fourths of the
bees and the queen in your box. You are
next to take the box of bees to the shade of
some tree and lean the box against the tree
in an inclined position, with the open side of
the box outward, leaving it there three-quar-
ters of an houi', at which time you will find
them clustered in the upper part of the box
as they would be on the limb of a tree, if they
had swarmed naturally. During the three-
quarters of an hour, if you have more to
make, keep on making from other hives in
the same way. At the end of the time, hive
the bees that are in the box. the same as you
would hive any natural swarm. Put the hive
on the stand you wish them to occupy, and
see that all of them go into the hive, and they
will stay and work the same as a natural
swarm would,"
'■ Then this leaving them the three-quarters
of an hour with the open side of the box out
is to make them think they have left home, so
they will mark their location as does a
swarm T'
•• Exactly."
" 1 see now why mine would not stay when
I shook them into a hive. But what about
what is left in the old hive ?"
•■The next day, after making such a swarm,
give the old colony a queen<'eU from one of
July 25, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
479
the hives you say have such, giving- cells from
the colonies which have those the nearest
ripe, and the work is done. If yovi have
stopped to think as we went along you will
see that you have bees of all ages in your
■ made swarm.' just as there would be in a
natural swarm, and that each bee has its sac
full of honey the same as they do when they
come out themselves, the druiuming causing
them to till themselves full more completely
than they do when swarming. By being left
three-quarters of an hour to cluster in the box
they mark their location anew, the same as a
natural swarm, as you expressed a few
momentsago.'"
" But is the old colony in as good condition
as if it had swarmed naturally J"
"I think so. fully, and more so; for in nat-
ural swarming the tirst young queen does not
emerge from her cell in less than seven days.
unless the swarm has been kept back by bad
weather; while with our made swarm, and a
ripe cell being given, they will have a queen
in two days from the time of making. If
preferred, and you have them, a laying queen
can be given to the old colony."
■* Why would not this be a good plan to
work an out-apiary, where there is no one to
take care of swarms when they issue ?"
'• It would. And it is equally adapted for
those who can not be at home between the
hours of S a.m. and 4 p.m. to care for their
bees when swarming naturally."
—THE—
Bee-Reeper's Guide
Or, manual oi the Apiary,
BY
PROE A. J, COOK,
460 Pages— 16tli (18991 Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two new subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2-00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.35, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street.
CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted
A position
sistaiit in
arv; bovlT
Bee Books
SUNT POSTPAID BV
OeorgeW.York&Co.
Ghicaeo.
ALBERT RICHTER.
le Street, Chii-a<.(i, Ii
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.—Itis nicelv illustrated, contains 160 pafres,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, gold-lettered. Price, in
floth, "S cents; in paper, SO cents.
Langrstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything' relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. I',
has S2t> pages, bound in cloth. Price, SI. 25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Apipry,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral Coll,-ge.— This bonk is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and tliuroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omvand physiology of bees. 460 pages, bound
ia cloth and 'fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
ScientKic Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the verv best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
pedia of 4i;0 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this wark is a practical and entertaining writer.
Yon should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 35J pages, bound in
paper covers, SI.OO.
Bienen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— Thii.
is a (ierman translation of the principal portion
of the bnok called "Bees and Honey." lUO-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Iloniggewinnung, nach der
neuesten methnde (German) by J. F. Eggers. —
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of managemetit in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, bv Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
** new sj-stem, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or extracted honey." 80 pages, iUust'"ated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotes two pages to a colonv. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 5) colonies, fi.OO; for 100 colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood. — Gives the
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Foul Brood Treatment, bv Prof. F. R. Che-
shire.—lis Cause and Prevention. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons andCaponizing. by Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others. Illustrated. All'about cap-
onizing fowls, and tlius how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 2Uc.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fanny
Field.— Everythiii" about Poul'.ry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. «
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, b.
'anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
Jusiuess. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can tarnish ynu with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale "T retail at their prices. We can
save you freigbt. ami Biiip promptly. Market price
Said lor beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
1. II. UDNT & SI IN. Hell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Jotirnal when ■writing
il Sfe. sli >1» ili >tt ili Sit >te. ite >ti Jli ilit^
|fiON&y MD beeswax!
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, July 18.— Choice white comb honey
is arriving- rather more freely and briug-s ISc.
There is no accumulatioti at this writing,- as re-
ceipts sell within a week after arriving-, some of
them on the same day. Amber g"rades bring-
about 12c. Extracted dull and slow of sale at
anything over ^<qS%c. Beeswax steady at 3('c
with good demand. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from J^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Webhr.
Boston, June 20.— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm
weather very little call for it. Are expecting
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at 654@7Hc.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Omaha, May 1. — Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, July 8— Our market is practically
bare of comb honey, and demand good for white
comb. Fancv stock sells readily at 15c; No. 1
while at from 13@14c,and amber at ll(ai2c. Ex-
tracted not in much demand, with plenty of
supply; white, 6(soHc; light amber, S^Ac; dark,
4^®5c. Beeswax firm at 2'>c.
HiLDRBTH & SbOBLKBN.
Albany, N. Y., June 18.— Honey market is
dull with no receipts or stocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R. Wright.
Detroit, July 18.— Fancy white, 15c; No. 1,
13@14c; no dark to. quote. Extracted, white,
6'« "c; dark and amber, 5<s''6c. Beeswax, 26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, July 10.— No demand for honey yet
unless a very small amount of fancy white at
perhaps 15@l(:ic. Some old lots still about, un-
salable, almost, at 6, 8 and lo cents. Beeswax,
22(^28c. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
San Francisco, June 10.- "White comb, IVA&
125^ cents; amber, "it^lOc; dark, 6@s cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5^@6''3c; light amber, 4@4!^c;
amber. 3^@4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Market shows no quotable improvement, but
there are no large quantities obtainable at the
prices generally named by dealers. In a small
way, for especially desirable quantities, slightly
higher prices than are quoted are being realized.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases: also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
?d. We pay spot cash. Fked W. AU^th
A: Co., Front A Walnut Sts.. Cincinnati. Ohio.
Reference— (German National Bank, Cincinnati.
iSAlTt Please mention the Bee Journal.
¥J fj*¥>0 We will pay 2t)c.cash, per lb. for
IS I'^p^^ pure, bright yellow lji-eswa.\,
*'***'»-' and 20c. casli. per lb. for pure,
»»T A V (lark beeswax delivered here.
WW /\ A^ ClUMBERLAIN MEDICINE CO,
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptlv on receipt of goods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. H. W. WEBER,
214*>-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
480
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
July 25, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything', and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r tS" W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight,
please mention Bee Journal ■w>ien ■writin®
River Forest Apiaries !
P'ILL ALL ORDERS
By Return IVIaiil.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $l.iii): Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
RivEK Forest, Oak Park Post-Oftice,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
516 10ft 25tt 50ft
Sweet Clover (white) $.70 Jl.20 $2-75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... l.CO I.SO 4.25 s.w
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 l.')0 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I AEISE
To say to the reaaers of
the Bee Journal that
^^^ DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . $1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens .... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queeus 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best. .5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llAZit Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. Y.
t^ease mention Bfte Journal -when ■writing.
naTDadant's Foundation.
24111
year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAOaiNO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell ^^
so wen? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
I-angstroth on the Honey-Bee — Re^/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when wntiug.
Red Clover Queens
— » —
We have been telling you through our advertisements of the
superior stock of queens we are furnishing this year, and we have
abundant testimony from others corroborating our opinion.
Look at the following which is only one of the numerous endorse-
ments received.
July 5, 1901.
The bees are working as I never saw them work before, and
already there is over 100 pounds of honey in the hive, and all
from clover. I am led to believe that long tongues and good
working qualities go together.
Yours very truly, Orbl L. Hekshiser,
SufiL N. V. Slate Apiarian Exhibit, Agricultural Building.
Pan- American Exposition, Buffalo, N. Y.
This refers to a colony of bees on the Pan-American grounds
with one of our Tested Red Clover Queens reared last season.
Our Prices are as follows :
Gleanings in Bee-Culture one year and one Untested Red
Clover Queen, $2.00.
Qleanings in Bee°Culture one year with Tested Red Clover
Queen, $4.00.
Qleanings in Bee-Culture one year with Select Tested Red
Clover Queen, $6.00.
If you want something good you can not do better than to
order one of these queens. All orders are filled promptly. Xo
extra postage on these offers to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedlna, Ohio.
U.S.A.)
SW GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '"cHiitlo'iLLT''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
pjAEffle%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, AUGUST I, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 31.
482
AMERICAN BEE ;OUKNAL,
Aug. 1, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Po6t-( illici- al Chicago as Secood-
Class Muil-Mtttter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) t\
E.E. Hasty, '[Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AV rapper-Label Date of this paper
Indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"deed" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
, I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newman,
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hameaugh,
C. p. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Managrer and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
U^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat^lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttoasj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weelily Budget. |
The Thousand Members for the Na-
tional Bee-Keepers' Association are coming.
Since our last report we have received the
membership dues from the following:
B. H. Tripp. H. A. Dott.
Rev. M. Mahin, of Henry Co., Ind., wrote
us July 23, as follows:
" My bees have boomed this summer. When
I get time I will tell you more about it. In a
month I will complete the 60th year of my
ministry, and I can easily preach four or five
times a week."
Mr. Mahin deserves to be congratulated on
his good health and ability to continue in his
work. May richest blessings be his.
The Official Emblem of the Pan-Ameri-
can Exposition was designed by Raphael Beck,
of Buffalo. It was accepted as the most
artistic and suitable from several hundred
designs submitted, and has the special merit
of effectively symbolizing one of the chief
Offlchil Einhleia—run-Amerkau Expusih
purposes of the Exposition, which is to bring
in closer social and trade relationship the
Republics, States and Territories of North
and South America. The emblem shows a
fair maiden typifying the North, extending a
kindly hand to clasp that of her brunette sis-
ter of the South, thus forming a bond of con-
tinental sisterhood, and establishing a unity
of sentiment and interest among the countries
of the Western Hemisphere.
Mr. E. M. Hates, of Sauk Co., Wis., be-
gan to keep bees ten years ago, with one col-
ony in a dry-goods box, somewhat larger
than the hive he is now using, and the bees
wintered well in it without protection. He
now uses the 13-frame Langstroth hive, prin-
cipally, and has adopted the tiering-up plan.
While he does not consider his an ideal
location for bee-keeping, he never gets less
than 60 pounds of honey per colony, and he
has secured as high as 160 pounds per colony,
and some increase. lie sometimes gets light
lioney from clover and bergamot; there is no
basswood in reach.
Mr. Hayes says that buckwheat is a much
more valuable honey-plant than many give it
credit for being. It comes late in the season,
thus giving all colonies that were weak In
the spring a chance to build up strong.
While some think it fit only for manufactur-
ing purposes, he has a good many customers
who buy it year after year for table use.
Some tjuy it because they prefer ' it to white
honey, and some because they can get it a
little cheaper.
The greater part of his dark honey he sells
in barrels at 6 cents per pound, f. o. b. there.
The last two years he has sold Eome of it at
7y^ cents per pound.
The illustration on the first page shows a
part of his apiary, the single-walled hives
being in the cellar at the time the photograph
was taken.
The Buffalo Convention, as has been
announced several times, is to be held Tues-
day, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 10, 11
and 13. in the Lecture Room of the Buffalo
Society of Natural Sciences, in the Buffalo
Library Building, located at the corner of
Washington and Clinton Streets, near the
city business center.
Secretary Mason has sent us the following
additional "good thing" on the program:
Editor York : — Since sending you the last
notice of the Buffalo Convention, which ap-
peared on page 435, I have invited Mr. H. W.
Collingwood, editor of the Rural New Yorker
(who is a staunch friend of bee-keepers and
of our Association, as well as a pleasing
speaker), to give an address at the joint ses-
sion, on "The Pomologist and the Bee-
Keeper." Of course, he'll be at the Pomo-
logical meeting, and I doubt not will be glad
to talk for us.
Every indication is that we are to have a
good meeting at Buffalo. A. B. Mason.
We are glad to see that the Buffalonian peo-
ple can count on a good-sized crowd of bee-
keepers. Of course, Supt. Hershiser will have
good arrangements made to care for all, and
at reasonable rates. If he doesn't he'd better
get ready to go over the Falls of Niagara.
Mr. John M. Rankin, of Lansing, the
State inspector of apiaries for Michigan, writ-
ing us July 20, said :
" I am finding foul brood, good and plenty,
in every locality I have been in thus far.
Fully 75 percent of the apiaries I have visited
have been more or less diseased."
Surely, Michigan needs a foul brood law
and an energetic inspector. Now that she has
both, her bee-keepers may expect to see the
bee-disease "move on" — perhaps over the
Canadian line, only to fall into the hands of
that veteran bee-disease killer — Wm. McEvoy.
Prof. A. J. Cook and family have been
taking an outing in the mountains of San
Bernardino Co., Calif. In a letter dated July
19, he wrote :
" We are having a lovely time here in the
mountains. I wish you and all .the American
Bee Journal friends were with us."'
Oh, but wouldn't Prof. Cook have a crowd
around him if " all the American Bee Journal
friends" were to congregate there ! Well,
there would be several present — and it would
be mighty hard to find Prof. Cook in such a
crowd as Uiat would be.
"The End op the Deal" is the title of
an unusually good liusiness serial story which
is to begin in an early number of the Saturday
Evening Post, of Philadelphia, Pa. A famous
transaction on the Chicago Board of Trade is
the basis upon which the author, Mr. Will
Payne, has founded this striking romance of
the wheat pit. A charming love story runs
through the stern and stirring plot.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, AUGUST 1, 1901,
No, 31,
^ Editorial. ^ \
Honey in Cans vs. Barrels. — Although
we fear having our motive misjudged, we feel
that we ought to say another word on this
important subject. We certainly would re-
frain from referring to it now were it not for
the fact that additional experience simply
confirms us in the belief that extracted honey
ought to be put into 60-pound tin cans rather
than in wooden barrels.
We received two 400-pound barrels of very
fine honey from Florida recently, and this
after we had almost positively declared that
we would not purchase any more honey in
barrels. One of the barrels leaked, as usual !
Both absorbed a number of pounds of the
honey, also.
True, a tin can will occasionally burst, and
thus cause leaking. But when it does, you
can't lose more than 60 pounds out of one 60-
pound can. But a barrel — well, we have more
than once seen over a half-barrel of honey
lost through leaking, or from the head burst-
ing out.
Yes, tin cans do cost more than barrels, but
they are worth more, and for several reasons.
The honey in them can be re-liquefied without
digging it out and putting it into something
else, as must be done with honey in a barrel.
Honey in 60-pound cans is in better shape for
the cash honey-dealer to handle. It is a
((uantity that many a family feels it can afford
to buy at one time. Other excellent reasons
might be given.
It may do to put dark or cheap honeys into
barrels, but the fine white extracted honeys
we think ought always to be put into 60-pound
tin cans. We believe the day will soon be
here when such honeys will be retjuired in tin
cans, and perhaps at a slight advance in price
over that of the same grade in barrels.
.\nother Victory for the National. —
The National Bee-Keepers' Association has
won another notable victory in the courts.
General Manager Secor sends us the following
condensed account;
Editor Americas Bee Journal.—
In December, liWO, the city of Rochester,
N. Y.. had under consideratiou the passage of
an ordinance prohibiting the keeping of bees
within the city limits. W. K. Taunton, a
member of the National Association, living in
tlie city, and whose business and liberties
would l)e interfered with by sucli an ordi-
uance, appealed to the general manager for
advice and assistance. Such printed matter
as it was thought would be of service to him
was forwarded, and, with the assistance of
able legal counsel, Mr. Taunton succeeded in
having the proposed ordinance withdrawn.
But in April, 1901. the matter was revived,
and through the persistent efforts of one of
the aldermen, and in spite of all objections
and remonstrances, the ordinance passed.
Mr. Taunton was advised not to remove his
bees, and assured that if he got into trouble
the Association would defend him.
Mr. Marks — a director of the National Asso-
ciation— was requested to go to Rochester and
make a complete investigation. He did so,
and reported that in his opinion Mr. Taunton
was handling his bees in a manner not to
annoy neighbors, and thought he ought to be
protected.
In corresponding with our attorney, Mr.
Dutcher, the latter stated that the police
Judge, before whom the case was likely to
come, was an able man-, and thought the
Association would better risk it there.
The ease was tried upon a warrant of arrest
for refusing to comply with the ordinance,
and the Judge of the Police Court rendered
his decision, setting aside the ordinance, and
discharged the defendant.
The Judge did not file a written opinion.
The counsel's brief is enclosed herewith.
EcGENE Secor,
General Maanijer XnVl B.-K. AttsociutUm.
The above case was referred to editorially
on page 323, Surely, another victory is won
by the "Old Guard," But such victories can
not be won without expense to the Associa-
tion, And the only source of revenue is
from membership dues. So every bee-keeper
who cares for his own rights, or that the
rights of others shall be protected, should be
a member of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation, Y'ou may not have to call on it to
aid in defending you — and then you may. No
one can tell at what time he may be unjustly
prosecuted or threatened. Better " get in the
dry " before it rains, and thus take no
chances of being caught unprotected.
See the first column of the second page of
every issue of the American Bee Journal for
information concerning the Association.
Forcing Honey Into the Super. —
The Australian Bee-Bulletin says:
Putting frames with eggs and unsealed
larvip at the outside of the cluster the bees
don't want to store right in the middle of the
brood-nest, so put all surplus in the super.
That will work all right some of the time,
but when a heavy Bow is on, bees will often
allow solid combs of honey right in the mid-
dle of the brood-nest.
Bottling Honey.— J. R. Schmidt tells in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture about the practice
of C. H. W. Weber, the successor of C. F.
Muth, who succeeded in building up a good
trade in granulated honey. Instead of fol-
lowing that up, Mr,. Weber goes to the other
extreme, and sends out honey that »"V' not
i/niiiuliilr. That he succeeds in doing so
" may be readily seen from the fact that some
honey put up and sealed last summer had
been kept on ice since bottling, and after
passing through the present winter, is just as
clear as it was the day it was put up, and not
a case of granulated honey had to be replaced
this winter."
The secret lies in putting up the honey in
much the same way that fruits are put up —
having everything hot at time of sealing. The
apparatus used by Mr. Weber cost about ?100,
but it is probable that apparatus for putting
up on a smaller scale might cost very much
less. There is for heating the honey a tank
within a tank, with a three-inch space be-
tween the two for water. When the granules
are all melted out of the honey, and when for
five or ten minutes the honey has been kept
at 180 degrees, it is drawn off into the bottles,
the cork is hammered in with a mallet of solid
rubber, and then dipped into a melted prep-
aration of rosin and beeswax, making it per-
fectly air-tight. If honey thus put up will
keep indefinitely without granulating, it will
much simplify matters for those who now go
about taking up from grocers bottles of honey
for re-liquefying.
An Artificial Swarm is thus directed
to be made, in Bienenvater :
Take from the hive all the combs with ad-
hering bees, except the comb on which the
queen is found and a comb of honey. Fill up
the hive with frames containing starters, and
close the hive. The combs taken from the
hive, with their adhering bees, are to be put
in a new hive and placed on a new stand,
having water furnished to them for four or
five days. The field-bees will all join the old
queen on the old stand, and the colony on the
new stand will rear a new queen.
In this country it would be considered a
gain to give the new colony a laying queen or
a mature queen-cell.
Steam AVax-Presses vs. Hot Water.
—Rambler lauds steam wax-presses in Glean-
ings in Bee-Culture, but thinks they may b&
excelled by those in which the material while
in press is all the lime kept under hot water.
These are in use in (iermany. where steam
presses have lieen in use a number of years,
and it is said that those who have tried both,
prefer the hot water.
A Cheap Bee-Stand certainly is the
one recommended by Loyalstone in the Aus-
tralian Bee-Keepers' Review. He says:
" Nothing better, and cheaper, to my mind,
than making mounds of earth, well battered
down, rising about four inches above the
lowest level of the ground." In some locali-
ties— perhaps rather in some soils — this may
work all right.
484
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 1, 1901.
Vx^sCJsC^sC^iLJiCJilx^iC^.^iC^iC^^^^^^sCJsCJ'C^^^^il.J^^i^
Contributed Articles, i
f^-pr^-^K
Moving Bees Into the Buckwheat Fields.
BY F. GREIN'EK.
PERHAPS the reader may think that there isn't any-
thing to be said on the subject of moving bees into
buckwheat for " moving bees is moving bees," and
vehat applies to moving to out-apiaries in the spring also
applies to moving into buckwheat sections. I admit, in a
measure, this is true, but when we take into consideration
that our bees toward August 1 are in altogether different
condition than we find them in the spring, it may not seem
out of place to offer some suggestions in regard to how we
may manage this matter.
If there has been a honey-flow previous to buck-
wheat time, our hives will be found quite heavy, and the
handling of them is not mere boy's play ; they are also
overflowing with bees, making it necessary to give more
ventilation than is necessary in the spring moving. These
different conditions must be met. My friend, E. H. Perry,
of this (Ontario) County, N. Y., has been instrumental in
bringing out a plan by which the moving of these heavy
hives may be avoided, so that more colonies may be carried
on one load, etc. In the following I will give the details of
the plan, with some modifications :
Let us suppose the buckwheat honey-flow commences
Aug. 5. We then xomraence to get ready about Aug. 1. It
will be necessary to have as many empty hives on hand as
we wish colonies to move. Said hives should be of the
capacity of five or six Langstroth frames, and be filled
with comb. We also need ventilating screens. These
may be made by taking hive-bodies and sawing them into
2'2-inch sections, nailing wire-screen over each. These
ventilators answer a double purpose when fastened to the
top of the hive. In the first place, they give plenty of air
while moving ; secondly, they allow the smoke to escape
and give ventilation while driving the bees out of their
old home into a new one, which is our first step in the pre-
paration for moving our bees into the buckwheat section,
for we prefer to leave all these heavy brood-combs at home,
and take only the naked bees. So, accordingly, we proceed.
The "driving " requires but little time, but some skill.
The colony is raised up from its bottom-board and so placed
as to give us easy access to the underside of the frames.
The new hive with combs, the section-case and the venti-
lating screen, all fastened together, are placed on top, and
by the judicious use of smoke from the bottom, and pound-
ing on the brood-chamber, the bees are forced up into the
empty hive, etc., in a very few minutes. When this is
accomplished we lift off the new hive with fixtures and bees,
and place it upon the same bottom-board and stand the
colony previously occupied. We put on the cover and let it
remain thus until we are ready to move three or four days
later. We wish to let the bees become acquainted with, and
adjust themselves, to the new state of things before mov-
ing them, or else some might swarm out as soon as opened
up in the new location. Occasionally one of the colonies
will swarm out the next day after " driving," and must be
hived back with queen secured by an entrance-guard.
The old hive full of brood and honey is placed right
back of the hive containing the bees, for a little while,
perhaps an hour, not more, or till we have evidence by the
■ behavior of the bees of the forced swarm that their queen
is with them. When we feel sure a queen is left in the old
hive, we are obliged to make a search for her, and when
found place her where she belongs.
The hives with their brood-comb may now be placed
around on other colonies, left at home, two or even three
upon a single colony. Excluders are used to keep the
queen from below to enter the brood-chambers above. We
manage these sets of brood-combs for increase, as explained
later on.
The question might be asked. Why not furnish these
forced swarms only with foundation starters? Indeed this
might answer as well, or even better, as far as the securing
of comb-honey is concerned. However, it is not safe to
move newly-hived swarms long distances— the combs give
the bees a chance to cling to during the journey : and then
we wish some honey stored in these small brood-chambers
for wintering. We are quite sure to accomplish this end
by furnishing the combs instead of starters.
When selecting the colonies to be moved we pick out
such as have old queens. We may have to double up in
order to get all colonies in proper shape for winter ; if all
have old queens we avoid the possible sacrifice of young
queens. When the season is getting near its end, this
doubling-up may commence. It can better be done at this
time than later when no more honey is coming in from the
fields. Instead of this doubling-up we may re-unite them
with the parent colonies, providing we do not wait too long
before we take them back to the home yard.
It has not been fully explained just what was done
with the sets of combs full of honey and brood, except
that they had been placed upon other colonies over queen-
excluding honey-boards. Our practice is to leave them
alone for five or six days. (Juite a good many young bees
will then have hatched, and the larger part of the brood is
sealed. We then take them off, bees and all, place each
one on a bottom-board and move to a new location. If we
have any queens on hand, we supply them with such ; if
not, we have taken the precaution 10 days previously and
started queen-cells from our breeding queens. These are
then just ready, or ripe, and each new-formed colony
receives one. In due time these will hatch, and the young
queens will fill the hive with brood sufficiently to insure a
good lot of bees to go into winter quarters. If they should
not be as strong as desirable, then those colonies brought
back from the buckwheat pasture may be united with them
as mentioned. We kill the old queens, of course; thus we
have practically requeened all our colonies that were moved
into the buckwheat.
I can recommend the above plan as one giving us bet-
ter results in comb honey than any other, and an increase
in bees, if we desire the increase. Ontario Co., N. Y.
Advertising High Values for Queen-Bees.
BY FREDERICK E. SIMPSON.
HAVING been much interested in the recent discussions
regarding high values for queen-bees, I will venture to
give some of my ideas on the subject, and if I am
mistaken I trust some one will show me wherein the errors
exist.
Naturally, most criticisms have been directed against
the A. I. Root Co., and personally it is of course no one
else's business how they advertise : but from another view-
point their extensive business interests place them in a
position in which they are expected to represent all that is
good, practical and progressive in apiculture, and their
acts become a proper subject for public discussion,
especially as by imitation these acts become much more
far-reaching than would seem possible at a first glance.
Custom has made $5.00 the standard selling price for a
" best breeder. " The qualifications of such a queen vary
greatly with the seller. For instance, I last spring pur-
chased one from a man who gave nie her pedigree for two
generations, and the honey-yield of herself, her mother,
and her grandmother, and also indicated where the strain
originated. On the other "nand, a New York breeder sold
me one before fruit-bloom this season, and said she emerged
last August (last year being the worst in 33 in this State),
therefore greatly restricting the opportunity for determin-
ing her value as a worker-mother, let alone a queen-mother.
I am merely pointing out the variation, as I have no fault
to find, for I think the buyer of such queens will average
fully as much satisfaction and return for his money as buy-
ers of any other kind of well-bred live stock. .
I have always thought bee-keeping quite a staid, con-
servative and dignified calling, far removed from those
expensive avocations which are indulged in solely as recre-
ations. I have felt that the bee-keeper usually applies the
same amount of business abilitj' to his avocation as he
does to his regular calling, whereas the faddist, or he who
is in search of recreation only, tries to get away from his
business and commonly fails to make a financial success of
his fad. The future of bee-keeping will depend largely on
what is now being done, and if we are to continue to
advance, perhaps slowly but steadily, it is well for all to
look to it that they do nothing that will have a tendency to
make bee-keeping or any branch of it a mere fad, or to
allow our bee papers to make any approach towards yellow
journalism.
By their 5200 valuation the Roots have obtained a great
deal of free advertising, but as this has been largely by
Aug. 1, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
485
adverse comment it is doubtful if it has paid well, and I
hardly believe they knovs-ingly used this valuation for the
purpose of gaining such notoriety. In the American Bee
Journal for June 20, Mr. Doolittle gave us some figures, but as
he failed to notice that the mother of the drone vfith which
a queen mates is entitled to probably the same share in the
results as the queen's mother, and also that the mother or
mothers of the drones with which the breeding queen's
daughters mate, are also entitled to some share, his figures
are of little value. Some years ago I tried to estimate the
profit and loss in the case of horses, by the returns and
expenses of their parents and produce, but I gave it up as
a bad job, and I think the same fate will follow such esti-
mates regarding bees. Possibly some one who is capable
of compiling insurance statistics could help us out.
In regard to this matter, I believe the Roots are pri-
marily merely guilty of bad advertising, but by their influ-
ence I believe they are establishing a faulty precedent.
For instance, it is unlikely that the average bee-keeper
who will buy queens of them, would refuse $5, or at the
most SIO, for his best queen, at the same time he is proud
of his best queen, and he naturally doubts whether he can
purchase her equal. He does not know her monetary value,
but he does know her comparative real value, and if she
has proved extra-good it is highly improbably that anj-
one's " say so " will convince him that there exists a queen
which is really worth from twenty to forty times what he
would take for her, especially as there is no logical reason-
ing back of the advertiser's estimate. If an advertise-
ment fails to convince it will fail to sell the goods, and in
this case it will likely cause antagonism. All things con-
sidered, and realizing the high reputation and great experi-
ence of the advertisers, would not the mere straightfor-
ward statement that this queen has proven beyond a doubt
to be '• by far the best breeder that we have ever owned " —
would not this, or some similar expression, coming from
such a source, make a far stronger, higher and more accept-
able and pleasing appeal, and might it not sell more
goods ?
It strikes me as quite an innovation for one to adver-
tise anything that he finds it necessary to warn any por-
tion of the public against purchasing, and the rhetorical
figure including the pig and the wheelbarrow, is likely to
cool the ardor of some enthusiastic amateur. Why the
beginner with but few colonies should not get compara-
tively as much satisfaction out of such queens as the other
bee-keepers, I can not see. Naturally, he will not have as
much chance for comparison as the large honey-producer,
which perhaps in three cases out of four may prove favor-
able to the queen ; but he will not ordinarily put so much
money in a queen without giving it careful previous con-
sideration, and having purchased a queen at the highest
price from a reliable firm, is it not likely that he stands
quite a little more chance for satisfaction than the big
man ? To put it plainly, that warning looks to me like a
real insult to beginners, many of whom will become our
best amateurs ; and who has more time for research than an
amateur? Consider the proportionate amount of advice
which has been made in photography due to the researches
of amateurs as against professionals (although there are
millions who are mere dabblers), and should not everything
be done to encourage and stimulate the enthusiasm of ama-
teurs in bee-culture? No, Mr. Root, you ought to balance
that by saying something real nice in favor of amateur
" enthusimussy," and if the beginner is " begigged " to
buj' one of your high-priced queens, please let him do so,
for, just think of it, if he did not have the chance he might
get to drinking and spend that money in whiskey!
But in Mr. Doolittle's article, above mentioned, does it
not look as if he were hurling missiles from a very fragile
point of vantage ? To show the power of example, I will
merely meiation that I have recentlj- noted four different
advertisements in which the greatest inducement offered to
secure purchasers is the Root Co.'s opinion of the monetary
value of the queens' grandmother 1 I Another uses Doo-
little's estimate in the same way in regard to the mother of
the queens he sells, except that Mr. Doolittle was doubtful,
and said. "If there is a breeder worth i?inO, this one is:"
still another does likewise as to Mr. Doolittle's assumed
monetary value of the grandmother 1 1 And if my tastes
ran that way, and if I were selling queens, I would quote
what the same gentleman wrote me of a queen I bought of
him — "This queen is worth fifty dollars to any one as a
breeder."
Now, so long as people will attempt to place monetary
values on queens, are they not just as much to blame as
those who merely quote them ? I far more highly prize the
opinion of one man who sold me a queen, and said, " She
is the best breeder we ever sent out." I know the man to
be honest in his opinion, and therefore that he really
believes I have the best queen that he ever sent out up to
that time ; whereas, if he had valued her say at fifty dol-
lars, there would always be a doubt as to whether or not he
had sold another that he valued at one hundred.
In view of the fact that it is really impossible to fix
with any degree of accuracy a monetary value on a queen-
bee, could not our veterans and leading lights who stand
for all that is upright and honorable in apiculture, afford to
set a good example and be sufficiently philanthropic to
forego the pleasure of using such alluring figures, and, by
failing to assume such values, in a measure to discourage
the use of them for advertising purposes?
Oueens are being advertised up to S25. and the scale of
prices is based on an arbitrary standard the value of which
is unknown — as I understand it they are not even guaran-
teed to be " best breeders." Now, I believe that a " best
breeder " averages the value placed upon it up to S5 ; but it
seems to me that if Mr. Doolittle's contention that only
one queen in four is equal to her mother (and I see no good
reason to doubt such a statement!, and it is evident that
where a queen is inferior it shows a lack of progression,
and that the offspring are likely to keep on retrograding, it
would seem that there is a great tendency towards a lottery
in this scale of prices, and that satisfaction ought to be
guaranteed on all queens sold for higher prices than best-
breeder rates, so that by returning a queen the purchaser
could get his money back, for, if Mr. Doolittle's experience
is repeated, only one man in four will get thorough satis-
faction.
As to the scale of prices, I have puzzled over it with-
out any satisfactory results at all. Will not some one
please tell me how you work it out ? This is all I can get
A queen giving bees of .19 tongue length is worth. . .SIO
" " " " .20 tongue length is worth
(a $5 increase) IS
A queen giving bees of .21 tongue length is worth
(an increase double the last or SIO) 25
Therefore, a queen giving bees of .22 must be worth
(increase double last, or S20) ' 45
and it follows that a queen giving bees of .23 tongue
length is worth 85
That is to say, that theS200 queen is only worth S85,
and her bees would have to have a tongue length
between .2+ and .25 to be worth $200.
Or, let us assume that she is really worth S200, and
using the same scale of increase as we have above (between
.22 and .23 it was $40), we get the following values :
.23 is worth S200 ; .22. S160 ; .21, $140 ; .20, $130 ; .19, $125,
From which naturally follows the query. How can
they afford to let them go at the advertised prices ?
Allegheny Co., N. Y.
[Since the above was written, Editor Root has an-
nounced that his firm will hereafter place no values on
breeders which they propose to keep and will not sell ;
therefore a portion of the above becomes inapplicable, but
as "there are others " it is deemed best to publish the'
article in full as written, — Editor.]
Brood in Sections How to Avoid it.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
WHAT is the cau<e of bees tilling- the sections with brood, and
drone-brood at that? What is the remedy for it ? I put on one
mrplus arrangement of sections some time affo. Ihinkinjr that
the bees were crowded for room, and perhaps would be forced to
swarm when there was no bloom to sustain the swarm, and to-daj I find
the above results. Would you destroy the drone-comb, or shave off the
heads of the drones in the cells? Please tell us throujrh thecolumsof
the American Bee Journal, as I think others would be benefited as well
as myself.
AxswER. — The querist seems the more surprised that
the brood found in the sections was drone-brood, while if I
should find any but drone-brood in the sections I should be
surprised perhaps more than he, for I have yet to find
worker-brood in sections, unless the colony was a new
swarm and commenced their brood-nest " upstairs " when
they began to build comb, as is sometimes the case where
sections filled with foundation are placed on the hive when
the swarm is first run in, with nothing but starters or
empty frames below. Where swarms are hived on empty
frames, the sections should not be put on till the bees get
486
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 1, 1901.
well started at comb-building- below — say in three or four
days after the swarm is hived, unless a queen-excluder is
used between the frames and the surplus arrangement.
But where frames of comb or frames filled with comb
foundation are used below, then the sections can be put on
at the time of hiving the swarm, if desired.
But as to the cause of drone-comb and brood in the sec-
tions : If. as is usually the case with most of the bee-keep-
ers of the present time, the questioner has restricted the
drone-comb below, the natural consequence would be drone-
brood in the sections, if the bees were allowed to build
combs in the sections without the use of foundation, and
especially so with a light flow of honey and plenty of pol-
len ; for at such times the bees rear large quantities of
brood, and prepare for swarming by starting as much
drone-brood as possible, the same being limited only by the
amount of drone-comb the queen has access to, and if she
had little below there would be all the more incentive for
her to occupy that being built in the sections.
Having spoken of the cause we will now proceed to the
remedy. There are two ways to remedy this matter; and
the one which I use most is the filling of the sections with
very thin section foundation. This keeps all drone-comb
out of the sections, and where there is no drone-comb there
will be no drone-brood, providing we have a good, prolific
queen ; consequently this trouble with brood in the sec-
tions is remedied by thus using sections full of foundation
having the worker-size of cells. Then, by thus using sec-
tions filled with worker foundation, we have very much
nicer section honey as to appearance, after the sections are
finished by the bees, for the capped combs having the
worker size of cells are much mcwe beautiful to look at
than those of the drone size, as all who have compared the
two side by side are willing to admit.
The other plan of keeping the queen from the sections
is by the use of the queen-excluding honey-board between
the sections and the brood-chamber. This will effectually
prevent brood in the sections at any and all times, but such
honey-boards are quite expensive, both in time of putting
on and taking from the hive; room for storage when not
on the hive, as well as in the money used in the purchase,
or of the material from which to make ; for they do not do
away with the undesirable looks of the finished product,
unless the sections are filled with foundation ; besides,
many claim that they should not be used in any event, on
account of the believed lessened amount of our honey
crop on account of the bees being loth to pass freely
through the perforated metal. Regarding this latter claim
I have my doubts as to its correctness, but consider all of
the others as important.
Having given the remedy, what shall be done where we
find brood in the sections before we knew of, or have
applied, the remedy or preventive ? This all depends upon
what stage the brood is in when we find it. If it is found
before any of the brood is sealed over, we have little waste
except our time in taking the sections from and putting
them back on the hive again, for it is well known, that, if
this unsealed brood is taken from the bees and kept in a
cold place for a week, the same is dead, and such dead
brood will be removed bj' the bees as soon as they have
access to it. My plan used to be, before I learned of the
prevention as given above, to take sections, found with
eggs and unsealed larva; in them, to the cellar, and there
leave them four or five days, when the3' were returned to
the hives again, and if the queen did not deposit more eggs
in them, they were filled with honey, and when finished
vrere as good as if no brood had been in them.
If the brood in the sections has been sealed long
enough so that the larva? have begun to spin their cocoons,
then the best thing to do is to cut the comb, or that portion
having brood in it, from the sections, for honey stored in
combs having cocoons in the cells is not just the thing for
table use, nor to put on the market, unless this honey is
separated from the combs by the use of the extractor, even
though the same be sold as a second or third grade of comb
honey, which it would have to be if sold at all, on account
of the dark color the cocoons would give to the combs. It
is never best, under any circumstances, to put upon the
market that which will tend to injure the same, as is
always the case by putting on honey of very inferior
quality. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last.
(Continued from pape 45,>.)
No. 4. Some Reminiscences of an Old Bee-Keeper.
BV THADDKUS SMITH.
HAVING Italianized my little Island apiary, I now found
myself in a favorable position for rearing pure Italian
queens for sale, without a possibility of having them
mate with black drones, for, as far as I could ascertain, I
had the only bees on the Island, and it was an occupa-
tion that I knew I would greatly enjoy, and there ought to
be money in it at less than half the price that I paid for
my queens. Then why not do as they were doing on Kel-
ley's Island ? I concluded that I would, and accordingly
began preparation to become an Italian queen-bee breeder.
I spent the nest winter in Kentucky at my old home,
and in order to advertise my queen-rearing establishment a
little, I talked bees, and wrote articles for the State agri-
cultural paper on the " New Era in Bee-Keeping," '' The
Movable-Comb Hive." "The Introduction of the Italian
Bee," etc., and I advertised queens reared (or to be reared)
in my Island apiary, where there was no possibility of
their getting mixed with black bees. I am afraid that the
spirit of humbuggery that was so prevalent then among
hive-patentees and queen-breeders was contagious, and that
I had caught it in a mild form.
As I anticipated, I greatly enjoyed the work of queen-
rearing, and as I was an enthusiast on the subject, I had
fair success on the comparatively slow process then in
vogue ; and I had orders for them, too.
But my career as a queen-breeder was soon to meet
with difficulties that finally brought it to an untimely end.
My Island home was an admirable place for rearing queens,
but I had not given full consideration to the facilities for
shipping them, and I found that an Island without steam-
boat communication with the rest of the world was a poor
place to ship queens from promptly. It so happened, last
season, that we had no steamboat connection with the
States I tried making a few shipments by sailboat to the
nearest United States postoffice, but this was not satisfac-
tory. And on this account, and other personal matters, I
announced my inability to fill all orders, and returned what
money I had received.
Though I did not make enough, above expenses, to pay
for the two queens I had bought, I still felt well repaid for
all my trouble and expense in the matter for the pleasure it
gave me and the practical information gained in the nat-
ural history of the bee ; I did not lose interest in the sub-
ject, and it afforded me a delightful recreation for every
hour of leisure that I had, as well as honey enough for all
to eat, and some to spare.
I increased my apiary until at one time I had between
SO and 60 colonies, but as I never again offered queens for
sale, I have made no change in the stock in the last 30
years by introducing new Italian queens. I did, many
years ago, buj' a Holy Land or Syrian queen, but as I
could see but little difference between them and the Italians,
I did not try to keep them from mixing. I think I can now,
sometimes, see in some colonies some indications of the
Syrian cross, in the light-colored segments adjoining the
yellow bands.
I sometimes had swarms to leave me, and they found
ao trouble in finding homes in the hollow trees of the
heavy timbered portions of the Island, and in clearing up
the land many colonies have been found, from some of
which small apiaries have been started by a number of my
neighbors, and they all show the three-ring test for Italians.
As I have heretofore noticed, the great contention
between queen-breeders as to test of purity was the color of
the queen and the markings of her progeny. These mark-
ings were found to varj* even in the direct produce of the
imported queens from Italy, and, in fact, were found to vary
in that country. Breeders in America were therefore led to
try to improve on the imported stock in regard to color, by
careful selection in breeding ; and they did succeed remark-
ably in getting brighter yellow queens than the imported
ones, and, like Prof. Flanders, not only " went one better
on the orthodox standard of three rings," but claimed also
to have queens that would produce //z'f-banded workers.
Not only that, but that these beautifully colored bees were
more gentle and less liable to sting, etc. The importers,
who had only " leather-colored " queens, with their three-
banded workers, now claimed that the "improvers" had
gained in beauty and color, and perhaps in gentleness, at a
sacrifice of industry and other qualities that made the
darker stock the better honey-gatherers. Of course this is
Aug. 1, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
487
denied by the other side, and the controversy is still kept
up to this day.
In the earlier days of the introduction and dissemina-
tion of the Italians, great stress was laid upon the claim
that these new foreigners were able to get honey from
flowers that the black bee could not, especially from the
bloom of red clover, which, in the immense fields of it in
this country •' was wasting its sweetness on the desert air,"
that would all be saved by the Italians. There is no reli-
able authority that a large crop of surplus honey from the
June or first bloom of red clover was ever gathered, and it
is now generally admitted that too much was claimed by
our ardent queen-breeders along this line. The Italians
have been known to work on the second bloom or seed crop
of red clover, but generally the black bees, in the same
vicinity, work on it at the same time, and the largest yield
from this source that I know of on record, was gathered by
black bees where there were no Italians at that time. The
fact is that neither race works at all times upon this sec-
ond crop of red clover, and, when the bees do work on it,
very little is secured in the surplus boxes. The efl^ort now
being made by certain prominent Italian queen-breeders
and importers to obtain by selection and breeding a strain
of Italians with longer tongues than ordinary, so that they
may be able to get honey from red clover, is tantamount to
an admission that the present race or strain is not able to
get it — not, at least, in any appreciable or paying quanti-
ties.
Another claim of superiority of the Italians was, that
they were much more prolific than the blacks, and would
increase more rapidly, and swarm more frequently. Now,
there is a great desire to find some way to prevent this
rapid multiplication of colonies, and that claim is no par-
ticular recommendation.
It has been found necessary to keep continually trying
to improve the Italian bee, or to keep them up to the best
standard of their kind : First, by constant new import-
ation from Italy ; then again, by careful selections of
queens for breeders of large size and full development,
and whose colonies have proven the most prolific, or the
best honey-gatherers; and, third, by frequent crosses of
different strains from the best breeders in different parts of
the country, so as to have a constant infusion of new
blood. All of these means are advocated and practiced at
the present time by the best queen-breeders, in order to
keep the Italian bee at its best, and prove its superiority to
other races.
If all this is necessary to keep the Italian bee from
retrograding and to show its superiority, it is not to be
wondered at that the discarded and neglected black bee
stands a very poor show when compared to its much-
coddled rival. I think it safe to say that no attempt has
been made in this country to improve the black bee, after
the manner the Italians have been improved, viz.: by for-
eign importations and crosses, and by queen-breeders
selecting from the hardiest and best honey-producing colo-
nies. No, none of these things have been done for the
black bee, and there are some who believe that, even in
their neglected condition they will store more comb honey
than the Italians, when both are given the same attention
and management ; and that they possess some valuable
traits of superiority over the Italian. I will not saj' that
in several respects the Italian is not superior to the black,
but I will say that the black has never been coddled, and
given an equal chance in all respects to do her best, as has
her more fortunate sister.
(To be continued.)
(Questions and Answers.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. p\ill directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of SI. 00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year tn advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will menticKi it.
iJWTfTfTfTrTfT'fTr^r
DR. C. O. MIl.l^Eie. A/areng-o, HI.
[The Qnestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Uniting Colonies in the Pall.
I have more colonies of bees than I care to winter, and
there is no verj- ready sale for them here. What is the best
way to dispose of the bees and secure the honey ? When is
the proper time in the season for doing it ?
New Brunswick.
Answer. — Perhaps as good a way as any is to unite
colonies. Consider to some extent the position of colonies
in uniting, other things being equal uniting two colonies
standing close together. A day or two before uniting kill
the poorer queen of the two, and unite on the stand of the
living queen. As the season is now fairly along, the unit-
ing may be done at once, unless you are likely to have a
good fall crop, in which case unite about the beginning of
the fall flow. ^
Bees that Fought and Killed Each Other.
Yesterday (July 7) one of my colonies cast a swarm. I
was at church at the time (it being Sunday), and one of the
boys hived it, and left the hive where they clustered. When
I came home, an hour or so later, I put the hive on the
stand where I wanted it to stay. A little while afterwards
I noticed quite a few bees flying where the swarm had clus-
tered. I took an empty hive and comb and set it where the
bees were flying, and in a short time I had them all on that
comb — a quart or so of bees. I shook them off in front of
the entrance of the swarm, and all went in nicely. Shortly
after this they comtnenced killing each other until there
were about a quart of dead bees in front of the hive. I gave
them a good smoking, and they seemed to quiet down. At
this writing all' seems to be peaceable. What caused this
fighting and killing each other ? S. Dakot.^.
Answer. — I don't know. It is possible that the quart
or so of bees were a small second swarm, and having a vir-
gin queen were not kindly received. Of course, all would
be peaceable under that presumption after all the bees of
the second swarm were killed.
Diseased Bees.
1. I put about 20 colonies of bees into winter quarters
last fall, and all but one were apparently in a healthy con-
dition, and about half of these died during the winter and
spring. A large percent of the bees died in this section,
some losing every bee.
My bees did not seetn to build up in the spring, and
about the first of June every colony had more or less dead
brood. I supposed at first that the brood had died from
lack of nurse-bees, as the bees that were in the hives were
very old. for the reason that the fall frosts were about two
weeks early, and no flow from goldenrod, so brood-rearing
had stopped at least three weeks earlier than usual.
At first, scattering dead larva- would be seen among
the brood, which were a sort of yellowish white, and very
soft, but from the worst colonies no offensive odor was
present, and no ropy appearance when a toothpick was
withdrawn from a dead larva, as described in foul brood.
Some of the colonies are so bad that there is hardly a hatch-
ing bee. when all the frames are filled with brood and eggs.
About the first of May I bought five colonies of black
bees for the purpose of rearing some of my best queens
from colonies having only a handful of bees, and to these I
introduced the queens, uniting the few bees with a frame
or two the}' were on.
From one to a dozen of these dead larv.t were in the
frames thus introduced. At tliat time I did not think this
was any disease, but supposed the brood had died from
starvation, as there were long-continued spells of cold,
rainy weather in April and May. To-day, I find, in looking
488
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 1, 1901.
throug-h these hives, that dead larva; are scattered throug-h
other frames, and one colony is bad enough to interfere with
the increase of the colony. From one of my old colonies
that was so bad that scarcely a bee was hatching, while all
the frames were filled with brood and eggs, I removed the
frames, giving empty combs, and in two days introduced a
new queen, and now (about three weeeks) there are no signs
of disease.
How would you treat the strong^ colonies? Some are
very strong, covering 20 Langstroth frames, and have two
28-pound supers nearly full. I have plenty of empty combs,
as I run for both comb and extracted honey.
What can I do with the frames of brood and honey
taken from the diseased colonies ? They are all wired and
built on foundation, except the five new ones, and only
three of these are affected.
What do you think this disease is, that would make its
appearance in every colony at once.
Do you think the weather started it, and then it became
contagious? I have never known foul brood in this locality.
I have not been able to get any odor from the worst
cases. When first noticed, the larva^ is about one-third
grown, some looking a soft, greasy white, and some a yel-
lowish white, and later turns brown, drying up in the cell —
some curled up and some lying lengthwise,
2. Do you think these combs can be used another year
by placing them under water in a current ?
Massachusetts.
Answers. — I'm afraid there is disease among your
bees, which, although now apparently overcome while the
honey-flow is on, will reappear in the future. In the mean-
time it will be advisable for you to get all the literature you
can on the subject, especially the leaflet on pickled brood,
and back numbers of this journal relating to diseases of
bees, and being thus informed upon the subject you can
form a better judgment of the case than can one at a dis-
tance.
2. Placing diseased combs under running water would
not be likely to do any good.
Storing in the Brood-Nest— Swarming Out.
1. In the months of November and December here the
queen greatly diminished her egg-laying, and the bees filled
up nearly every comb with honey. ' If extracted, the bees
store in honey all the same, and very little brood would be
kept up. This greatly I'educes the' force of the colony.
What must I do to prevent the bees storing honey in the
brood-nest in such season of the year ?
2. When ray colonies swarm I destroy all queen-cells and
turn back the swarm (with the exception of the queen,
which I give to some queenless colony). A few days after
I destroy the remaining cells, such colonies now being left
without queen or fells. About two weeks after I give them
a cell each ; every one of the colonies swarmed out with the
virgin queen. What must I do to prevent such swarming ?
J.'VM.A.IC.^.
Answers. — 1. It is not easy to prevent the bees from
filling the combs with honey in some cases. Having young
queens will help. If you give empty frames or foundation
it will give the queen a better chance to get in her work.
2. Instead of desroying all cells and then giving
another cell two weeks later, if you leave one cell — or if
you want to give a cell from choice stock give it at the same
time you kill the cells— you will not be likely to have so
much trouble with the bees swarming out. With your
present plan there is no brood, or at the most a very little
sealed brood, in the hive, and when the queen goes out on
her wedding-trip the bees go along.
Bait-Sections— Extracting, Etc.
1. I have the Ideal super and sections; some have been
on my five hives over two months, but the bees have not
yet worked in them at all. The frames are irregularly filled,
average two-thirds ; Hframe hives. The books say bait
with old or used section-boxes, but I am a beginner, and
have only the one kind — new. I can borrow 4% xl/s, but
they are no fit, if that makes any dift'erence to bees.
2. How can I extract honey from comb without an ex-
tractor ? It could not always have been done with those
machines. I scrape out the honey and comb together with
a tablespoon, on each side of the foundation, cut it into a
dish or pan, and separate it as we eat it. I want to put it
into jars.
3. By the way, the foundation goes to pieces in scrap-
ing, though I use great care ; some breaks in carrying to
the house, about 20 steps. I use what is called in catalogs
"medium brood foundation." I am told it ought to remain
good in the frame at least eight years. California.
Answers. — 1. So long as the brood-frames do not aver-
age being more than two-thirds filled, you hardly ought to
expect bees to do much in sections. Indeed, without any
bait in supers you ought not to expect them to make any
start at all until the brood-chamber is filled, and even with
bait they will confine their attention in the super to the
bait alone until they have more honey than they can get
into the brood-chamber. You need not be thwarted in the
matter of bait becasue you have no partly filled sections of
the right size on hand. If you can get sections of another
size, cut out the comb and fasten it into one of your sec-
tions. You may even cut a piece of comb with brood in it
out of a brood-frame and fasten it in a section for bait. It
will not make a desirable section when completed, but noth-
ing can be more seductive to the bees in the way of bait.
2. I don't know of any way by which you can get honey
out of a comb without an extractor that will leave the comb
intact, unless it be to let the bees empty it.
3. If I understand you rightly, when you are scraping-
the honey away from the septum the latter gives way.
Foundation may become dry and brittle through age, but
after such foundation is put in use by the bees I doubt its
being specially different from other. It is probably not so
much brittleness as tenderness of which you complain, and
the freshest foundation would have the same fault, the
natural comb being still worse.
Honey-Plant Questions.
1. Is yellow sweet clover better than white for bees ?
2. Is crimson clover good for bees ? Does it bloom the
first year ?
3. When is the best time to sow either?
4. Does cleome bloom the first year ? If so, about what
time of the year does it bloom ? Subscriber.
Answek. — 1. I don't know. Although I have sowed
some this year it can not blossom before next year, and
there is such a terrible drouth that none of it may be alive.
It would be of interest if the readers of this journal, who
have had both white and yellow sweet clover, would give
us some idea of their relative merits.
2. It is a fine honey-plant. It is usually sown late in
summer, blooming the next season before white or red
clover. If sown early in spring, some of it may blossom
the same season.
3. Sow sweet clover about the time of sowing oats in
spring ; crimson clover in August. Sweet clover may also
be sown in the early fall.
4. Cleome Integrifolia, or Rocky Mountain bee-plant,
if I am not mistaken, blooms the first year toward the latter
part of summer.
Cleaning a Mice-Infested Hive.
Can a hive be cleaned that has been infested with mice?
If so, how ? Wisconsin,
Answer. — If you mean the combs, the bees will clean
them up. If the hive without combs, use soapsuds.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song j'et written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us 07ie new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
Aug. 1, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
489
I ^ The Home Circle. ^ |
Conducted by Frof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
THE BABY.
What is the little one thinking about ;.
Very wonderful thinjrs, no doubt.
Yet he laughs and cries, and eats and drinks.
And ohuekles and crows, and nods and winks
As if his head were so full of kinks
And curious riddles as any sphinx !
Warped by colic and wet by tears.
Punctured by pins, and tortured by fears,
Our little nephew will lose two years ;
And he'll never know
Where the summers go.
He needn't laugh for he'll find it so !
This is from the genial pen of that wholesome writer. Dr.
.T. G. Uolland. I would have his books grace the table of all
our home circles. "Boy Path" and his other stories are
always inspiring, and inspire our young people to pure
thought and purpose. The poem from which the above is
taken is so full of humor, of unflagging interest, of real phi-
losophy, that all our children and young people may well read
— the children portions of it, and the older ones all of it.
Like .lob, it discusses the problem of evil, and will help to get
a philosophy of life and thought that can not come too early
into the heart and life.
I hope all our mothers will see that "Bitter Sweet" is
among the volumes that the children prize as among their
best belongings. Then side by side have " Kathrlna " and
"Timothy Titcomb's Letters to Young People" — all by the
same author. All are good to read with the children ; all will
develop in pure wholesome lines; all will invigorate, and give
a start-oil from a right, true foundation.
But we have almost forgotten the baby. Luther said he
loved and felt awed before the baby. For in every bahy is the
promise of so much of good or evil. Every infant is poten-
tially so pure, true and noble, or so base, depraved, and
ignoble, that no wonder we are alert at the very cradle to
start the little craft in best courses.that baby, mind and soul,
may all trend towards the fairest port. The poem further
traces the little craft —
Out from the shore of the great unknown, I
Blind and wailing, and alone.
Into the light of day.
Out from the shore of the unknown sea.
Tossing in pitiful agony.
Of the unknown sea that reels and rolls.
Specked with the barks of little souls —
, Barks that were launched on the other side,
And slipped from heaven on an ebbing tide.
And how beautiful this reference to the mother :
What does he think when her i(Uick embrace
Presses his hand and buries his face,
Deep where the heart-throbs sink and swell.
With a tenderness she can never tell.
Though she murmurs the words
Of all the birds-
Words she has learned to murmur well.
We have seen that influences towards truth-telling, self-
control, unselfishness — the blessed trio of human virtues —
must push for a hearing at the very cradle. The sad experi-
ence of the last few days of heated summer weather, in
thousands of our American homes — experiences which force
their unwelcome presence — to darken the lives and hearts of
bereaved parents over and over with the years, shows that the
slender, delicate little bodies, even more than the mind
and soul, need a first thought in these early, fragile months.
So many of the little souls that fleck the sea of infancy floun-
der and are lost to all infiuenee and usefulness in the world.
The baby is full of most sensitive nerves. Every one of
these seems to reach to the surface, each seems tied to the
other. If one is pinched, all cringe. So ready and active is
this sympathy, that a toothprick or a lunch which the digested
machinery fails to reach, brings the si asm, or the fatal bowel
complaint. Almost before we know it the little craft sinks
beneath the waters, and we are loft hopeless to mourn our
terrible loss.
The very functional sympathy just referred to makes
infancy the critical stage of life, and explains the mortality
which is so startling at this period. Paul's words are now
emphatically and peculiarly true. If one member suffers, all
the members sufl'er with it. A fall from a chair, which one
older would scarce notice, brings the spasm, and, mayhaps,
death : the cutting tooth, which with years would scarce
prove a pinprick, now blocks the stomach and brings the
fatal bowel complaint. A change of food that later would
come with relish, now smothers digestion and blows out the
life-light. The excitement of too many attentions from
admiring friends, which with more of age would be all invig-
orating and life-giving, now wearies till the energies flag, and
the bodily functions, tired out, cease their action.
We must ever remember that infancy is the critical age ;
that the very sympathy between the organs is a menace to
life itself. Teething, which comes at its worst phase at about
the first year-mark, is ever to be dreaded. The heat of sum-
mer is full of menace. Change of place and companions at
this susceptible age is too stimulating, and fraught with dan-
ger. Change of food is often the very last straw, and the
back severs. Comnine all these, and what wonder that the
fragile little craft goes to the bottom '?
It may be wise to leave home in summer. This is vaca-
tion time. But if a baby adorns our home and gladdens our
arms, we better think twice, especially if at about the year,
date when the great molar is trying to push through. Then
if we must go, we must seek a cooler place, a quiet nook, and
plan that there be no change in the food. Often the plunge is
from country to city, to the dear old home friends, who rightly
appreciate the little waif as a very treasure, and thus keep it
waked and going till excitement and ex'naustion have done
their work. Usually the food is changed perforce, and with
the heat, excitement, change, enfon/ed by the offending molar,
the foe is too numerous and strong, and the struggle very
brief. The wise, thoughtful parents will see that the little
jewel which gives charm to the home and life is too rare and
precious to permit even vacation pleasure and change to bring
threatening dangers. They will forego even the visit to the
old home for baby's sake. They will plan with all the astute-
ness of love to minimize the dangers that menace infancy, and
will gladly forego the change or visit — even the rare, gracious
pleasure of re-living the gladsome life of the old home, for
the sake of the life and health of the blessed baby.
Catnip Seed Free!
W'e have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both forSl.SH; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 50 cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W.YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL,.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
fVool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, GHIGAQQ, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writing
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, ■ NEW YORK, N. Y.
Standard Belgian Hare Book !
nv M. D. CAPPS.
THIS book of 175
pa^es presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
;:ian Hare industrv;
it.s uTowth, orijiritt
and kinds: the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection (if breeding
stock; care of the
voung^, feeding", dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
ketings, shipping, iic.
First edition of 50,-
I.NI11 copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only il.iO.
QEOROE W. YORK &. CO.,
144 & 14(. iCrie Stifpl, - CHlCAtiO, ILL.
490 AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL, Aug. i, I90i.
i ADVERTISEMENT. I
^B
-^M
To Our Shippers :
#■
We were obliged to notify 3'ou a few weeks ago that one Joseph M.
McCaul had leased our old quarters at Nos. 120-122 West Broadway, New
York City, and had there started up business under the name "HiLDRETH,
McCaul Co., " and had distributed a multitude of circulars so worded as to
create the impression that his business was a successor to or a branch of
the business of Hildreth & Segelken.
For the protection of our shippers and ourselves, we at once instruc-
ted our attorney to commence action to enjoin the said McCaul from using
the name Hildreth in any manner whatsoever in connection with his busi-
ness. On the 10th day of July, 1901, Hon. David McAdam, Justice of the @^
"*^ Supreme Court of the State of New York, after a full argument upon the ^^
■^^ merits, issued a peremptory injunction, of which the following is an ^<-
■^ extract : ^<-
>^^ ''And it appearing that the plaintiffs have for a long- time been and now are carrying on busi- ^SU-
*!' ness under the style of ■ Hildreth iv: Segelken.' and that the defendant has recently opened a business ^^
-^^ at 12(1 122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan. City of New York, and is carrying on the ^i^
» same under the style of ' Hildreth, McCaul Co.,' and that such act is in violation of the plaintiffs' «
-*^^ rights, and that the commission or continuance thereof, during the pendency of this action will pro- ^^
^^ duce irreparable injury to the plaintiffs : it is J^
"*(^ ORDERED that the defendant (Joseph M. McCaul) and each of his agents, servants and em- ^^
j>S^ ployees and all other persons acting under his authority and direction be, and he and they are here- ^SL.
w^ by restrained and enjoined from showing, displa3'ing or otherwise using during the pendency of this ^^
)j!^ action ill or upon any papers, devices, sign or signs, or otherwise, in the business conducted by the ^^t-
^■^ the defendant at No. 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan. City of New York, or «.
->^^ elsewhere the name of " Hildreth " separately or conjunctively with any other name, designation or ^^<-
^^ description." J^
■^ ^^
V Outside of our desire in our own interests to protect the name which ^
V^ we have built by years of satisfactory dealings with our customers, we t*
"^tJ hastened to procure this injunction as soon as possible, to prevent our ^^
"^^ shippers from being misled into sending their goods to one who would ^'
->^ make an attempt to gain their trade by such a trick and device. i^^
• ... *
-^^ With thanks for the many expressions of good- will we have received ^v
j,^ from our shippers concerning this attempt to trade under our name, we ^<.
-^ are. Sincerely yours, 0^
4 Hildreth & Segelken, f^
V 265-267 Greeawich Street, NEW YORK, N. Y. ^
-^ %^
i'lease mention Bee journal when writing.
Aug. 1, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
491
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and (|ueeiis?
2=frame Nucleus with Untested Queen. $2.00,
purchaser paying; express charges.
NaperviUe, 111 , iMay 28, 1901.
Dear SiK : — Bees arrived in g-nod condition.
Transferred ihem to hive and pave them honey.
Have reinforced them with hatching- brood.
Are working- when not too cold. Have ripht
color, and are satisfactory. D. B. Givlek.
I like your way of packing- bees to express.
E. K. Meredith, Batavia, 111.
Months July and Aug-ust.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $ .75 $ 4 00 $ 7.00
Tested 1.25 6 50 10.00
Select Tested 2.00 4.00 16 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Qijeens.
Untested $ .75 $4.00 $ 7.00
Tested 1.25 6 50 10.00
Select Tested 1.50 7.00 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, III.
28Alf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittnier's Fonndation !
Retail— Wholesale^Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fork fax Into Fonnilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Uae of Supplies,
with prices and samples, free on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal ■wn-^n -writinff
IT'S NO TROUBLE
for us to tell why PAGE Fences outlast others, nor
why they etay up and don' t sagr. Ask us.
I'AfJK W'OVKX UIKK FKNCICO.. AmtUX.MICH.
Please mention Bee j-ournal -when ■writing,
QUEEMS
Now ready to supplv bv returned mail. STOCK
. which can not be EXCELLED :::
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
■GOLDEN ITALIANS, the" GREAT HONEY-
GATUERERS. Tliev have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each: t for $4.00.
RED CLOVER QUfc-ENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, SI each; 6
for $5. Safe Akkiv.\l Guarantked.
C. H. W.WBBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2141. A: 214S Central Are., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for Root's tioods
Bee-Supplies. | at Root's Prices.
Caialofr free; send for same.
Wo will pay Stic, oasli. por lb. for
"■■ru. bright yoilow l>eeswax,
d 20o. cash, per II). for pure.
BEES
pure, bright yoilow l>eeswax,
and 20o. cash, per II). for pure
Tir A Y (lark beeswax <U-livcred here
WW /\^l ClI AMBEBI.AIN MEDICINE €0.
FOR SALE
i) 3 5 acres, well fruited to cherries, peaches,
-J plums, pears, apples, currants, raspberries,
blackberries, and strawberries. Good house,
barn, vegetable green. house, honev-house. So or
100 colonies of bees, situated in ^ood bee-local-
ity. Title clear. For particulars address,
31D3t A L. KILOOW, Shelfteld, III.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Breed from the Best.
A Stray Straw in tileanings in Bee-Culture
Scientific queen-rearing requires careful
selection of sire and dam, adapting one to tlie
other. Little can be done at that till fecunda-
tion can be controlled. In the meantime, if
eyery bee-keeper i)ersistently breeds from
(lueens whose colonies store biggest crops,
I'm sure he will bring up his ayerage.— [Yes,
that is true. J. F. Mclntyre, of California,
has a row of hiyes in hisapiary. each of which
has a queen from his best breeder. He says
it was easy to see that this row of hives giyes
a larger yield than any other row of an equal
number or strength. — Editok.]
Bees as Fertilizers.
Some testimony has been giyen to show
that bees may be dispensed with as fertilizers
of fruit-bloom. J. W. Rouse gives in the
Progressive Bee-Keeper some testimony on
the other side, as follows :
We made some experiments during fruit-
bloom with our bees by covering the limbs
that would bloom of peach, pear, plum and
damson trees, and had intended also to ex-
periment on apple-bloom; but I was away
from home when they began blooming, so I
did not get to work on them. Contrary to
expectation, on peach-bloom there were some
peaches that set. but not quite so many per
bloom as on limbs with bloom uncovered.
We also noticed more dwarfed fruit on the
covered limbs than on those not covered, that
of course will not mature. We used a mos-
quito-netting. On the pear, plum and dam-
son limbs covered, there was not a single
fruit set. so we conclude that bees help the
peach some, anyway, and that they, or some
other insect, are necessary for pears and
plums.
Brood in Sections.
Some ijroducers of comb honey find no
need for queen-excluders, while others find
excluders necessary. Referring to this, a
Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture says:
Complaint is made by some that, when no
qneen-excluder is used the queen goes up and
lays in the sections. The curious part is.
that A says he has no trouble at all, while B
hasln-oodina fourth of his sections. Pos-
sibly this explains it: There is no drone-
comb in the brood-chamber In either case.
B's bees have only starters in the sections.
and they will build drone-comb there, and
the queen will come up to lay where the
drone-comb is. A's sections are tilled with
worker foundation, and there will be no
drone-comb there to bait the (|ueen up. — [In
California, so far as I have gone, perforated
zinc seems to be generally used, even for
comb honey.— Editou.]
Prevention of Swarming.
H. I). Kurrell uses the Heddon hive, and
rives in the Bee-Keepers' Review this method
(if preventing swarming, which, with .some
modifications, he thinks would work with
other hives. He says:
Eight frames are fastened in a case, and any
desired number of cjim's may be used for a
brood-chamber. 1 usually use two. which
gives a horizontal bee-space entirely through
the middle of the luood-chamber. This bee-
space is a line place lo build queen-cells in,
and if the bees are prejiarlng to swarm, queen-
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at $1.00, and
25 cts., we will mail you free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14t. Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
nNCE \^^ A LIFE TIM^
■ ■ is often en- luizh to do some things.U's of ton enough
^0 to buy a wat'on if you buy the ricrlit kind. Tlie
ELECTRIC "^"^"^
(.'qUIj.I-
loes <
WAGON
. fel-
lids.
THOUSANDS NOW iM DAILY USE.
ELECTlht'SvilliliL CO.. Box IB, tiuinoj, IIU.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing
492
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug. 1, 19(il.
QUPSS
QUIRIN-The Queen-Breeder — has
now on hand, ready lo mail, 500 youo^r, lonc-
tongued Red Clover Queens, Golden or Leather
Colored .
We have one of Root's best breeders from his
$2(X), loue-todgrued. Red Clover Queen, and a
Golden Breeder which we are told is worth $UK),
if there is a queen in the U. S. worth that sum.
J. L. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., tells us that
the colony having- one of our queens, stored over
400 pounds (mostly comb) honey in a single sea-
son. A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra tiae. while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has g-ood reports from
our stock from time to time.
We have years of experience in mailing- and
rearing- Queens. Queens positively by return
mail from now on. Prices for balance of season
as follows:
1 6 12
Selected $ .75 $ 4.i>0 f 7.00
Tested 1.00 5.00 9.00
Selected tested 1.50 S 00
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 3.00
H. Q. QUIRIN,
PaFkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.)
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only. 14El3t
27D6t Please mention the Bee Journal.
J Davenportp Iowa l
J Is the nearest to you. Send us your or" [
4 Se(
J ma
: Bee-Keepers' Supplies. We have m
■'.. B. Lewi« Go's Hives, T
Dadant's Foundation at W
'prices. Send for catalog. I
N's Sons, Davenport, Iowa W
28A5t Mention the An
Red Clover Queens !
bred from a daughter of the A. I.
Rout Co. long-tongue $2ULi.OO Queen,
and mated in my apiary \vhere~there
is nothing but the best Italian stock.
I have drones living in my apiary from seven
different States. Untested, 5oc each, $5.50 per
dozen. Safe arrival.
W. J. FOREHAND,
29Dot FORT DFPOSET, ALA.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■wntme.
COnPLETE POULTRY BOOK FREE.
Contains 208 pages, profusely illustrated, plans
for houses, incubators, brooders, coops, etc.
Given free if you send this advertisement and
25 cents for a year's subscription to our Journal.
Inland Poultry Joukn.il, Indianapolis, Ind.
aODtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
QUEENS!
Having cauffht up with nivmanv orders at
last, I am now prepared to send LONG-TONGUED
RED CLOVER OUEeNS by return man. " y bees
cannot be exct- lied Ivr beauty and for houey-
gatherintr qualities.
This is a Post-Office Money Order Office. Re-
mit 65 cents and get one of the nicest and best
Queens you ever owned, from the Queen Spec-
ialist— DANIEL WUKTH.
29D2t CoalCkeek, Anderson Co., Tenn.
Pieas^j mention btje joiirnal wGhd ATnir".
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
.sendll.2Sto
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mentioTi Bee .roumal wtteu wri-)Ti*^.o,
cells will surely be found here. In fact, if
the frames are well filled with combs, as they
usually are in this hiye, queen-cells are rarely
found in other parts of the hive.
When the season and weather conditions
are favorable for swarming, we look in this
bee-space. It there are queen-cells that show
egffs only, we mash them down and close the
hire. That colony is safe for another week.
If there are queen-cells eontaininfj larvse, we
proceed to divide the colony at once. A few
vigorous puffs of smoke into the top of the
brood-chamber will usually drive the queen
into the lower part of the hive. We place
this part of the hive at one- side, with its en-
trance facing at right angles to the old stand.
On the old stand place the balance of the
brood-chamber on another hive-boltoin. put-
ting a case of empty combs, foundation, ur
starters under each part of the divided colony.
Divide the surplus cases between the two
hives, and give more surplus room if it seems
necessary. Treat each colony in the yard
that is Ukely to swarm in the same way.
It convenient to look at the hives just be-
fore dark, it is easy to tell where the queens
afe. The queenless bees will be uneasy, and
crawling about the front of the hive, appar-
ently hunting for their queen. It it should
appear that she is in the part of a colony left
on the old stand, exchange places with the
removed part. By morning the queenlessness
will not be so apparent, iff is better to have
the titieen removed from the former stand, as
most of the field-bees will return to the old
home, although this is not really essential.
The weakening of the colonies, and the addi-
tional room given, will almost always cure
them of the swarming-fever.
At the next examination, a week later, it
will lie easy to determine in which part ot the
divided colony the queen is, by the eggs in
the brood-combs. Place all the surplus cases,
and the hive that has the queen, on the old
stand, and put the queenless brood and a few
bees in a hive at one side. This small colony
may be used for strengthening a weak colony.
as a nucleus for queen-rearing, for increase of
colonies, or as a surplus case on any hive in
the yard.
Bait-Sections.
1 was glad to see Mr. Doolittle standing up
so staunchly tor these. Several emiuent bee-
keepers some time ago contended that they
were fit onlj' for being smashed up and made
into wax. I woukl have every single un-
finished section carefully preserved, and one
or two placed in the center of every super.
But I would have them all nicely cleaned up
by the bees before storing them away, as I
fear any granulated honey they might eon-
tain would be a source of •• infection." and
granulate the new crop stored in them. This
seems to be a moot point, however. I ■• blue-
pencil " all these sections, and seldom find
that they show any detect of construction
or finish. — British Bee Journal.
Prolong Lives of Best Queens.
Says a Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture :
Longevity in bees is coming to the front.
Assuming that in harvest time a worker lives
six weeks, and goes afield when 16 days old,
if its lite were prolonged a week it could store
•J7 jicrcent more. If one queen lives twice as
long as another, will not her workers live at
least a little longer ; Is it not possible that,
by proper selection continuously exercised,
we might add that week to the life of the
worker ? If we could add a sixth to its sum-
mer life, that ought to add & sixth to its winter
life. In that case, a bee born Oct. 1. which
now lives till April 1, would live till May 1—
quite a help in the wintering problem.
Another thing: We can tell better what a
c|ueen is by two or three seasons' work than
we can by a single season's work. The one
tliat shows herself best for three seasons is a
<afc cMie to breed from. I have queens born
ill l^'.ii that are among the best — one ot them,
1 tliiuk. the very best I have. — [While this is
true, the average queen, I think, would better
lie displaced in two years by a young one. —
Editor.]
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with.
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To ititroduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising' Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writtne
The American Poultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, C
A Journal "'^'
r a quarter of a
ury old and is still grow-
less intrinsic merit of its own, and
be a valuable one. Such is the
Amepiean Poultry Joupnal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Joui
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honev; the Pasturage and Nectar-
Producing Plants: the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells ym all about California
Agriculture and Horticuliure. $1.00 per year; 5
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Lus Angeles, Cal
Please mention Bee .Tou.Tnal -when Tjsrritine.
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHIBERY
ENT, of
"We
cut witb oue of your Com-
bined Machines, last winter,
50 chaff hives with 7-in. cap»
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2.000 honey boxes, and
a trreat deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
to make, and we expect to do
it with this Saw. It will do all
you sav it will." Catalog- and price-list free.
Address, W. F. & John Barnes,
905 Ruby fcit., Rockford, 111.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
BEE
6A2t)t -Mention tl
nd
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improved and orij^iual Biuirhara Bee-Smoker.
For 23 "i' eaks the Best o.n E-4kth.
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Please mention Bee Journal -when -writins.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The Monette Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thtn^ for use in
catching and clipping Queens
winjjs. We mail it for Z5 cents;
or nil! send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending_^ns ONE NEW
subscriber to the liee Journal lor
a year at $1,00; or for $1.10 we wiii
mail the Bee Journal one yeaf
and the Clippings Devce. Address,
CiEORQE W VORK & COMPANY.
Chicago, IlL
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Aug-. 1, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
493
Lanoswiion...
TI16H0116UB66
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pag^es, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for SI. 25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 140 Erie street. - CHICAGO, ILL.
r'alifrtfnia f If yott care to know of its
VrxHIIUrilld 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
Eaper of ilie Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
andsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam.
pie copv free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - SiN Fsancisco, Cil.
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From h.itiey-fratheridir stock. 'IV'sted, *l.i»; uu,
tested, 75 cents. " Shady Xook Aiiakv."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
jo.^ljt Sag Harbok, Xkw York.
Mulberries and Bees.
It may not have oceurred to some of your
readers what a remarkable honey-plant they
may have, right at their doors, irrespective of
locality.
In the coldest halntable region the white or
Russian mulberry may be depended to thrive.
In the heat of the South it flourishes and sup-
plies abundant shade. In the more temper-
ate climate of the East it spreads its long
limbs, like an eagle poised in flight. In the
barren sands of the extreme West its glossy
foliage revives hope as does the date-plant in
the Sahara Desert, yielding abundant fruit
after the flfth year.
It is so easy of cultivation that no one need
fear failure. It is easily propagated from
seed, and cuttings take root in moist soil as
readily as willows, attaining a height of from
BU to 100 feet, and girth of trunk from one to
two feet in diameter. Planted a toot or two
apart it affords an attractive hedge-fence, as
effective as the osage orange.
The availability of the mulberry for shade,
post-timber, and fire-wood, must appeal to all
sensible farmers. Though a comparatively
soft wood, it is of tough fiber, successfully
resisting the force of the winds when less
yielding trees breaK off. Its far-reaching roots
are great foragers for this tree's sustenance
and anchorage. The fruit is a creamy-white,
and 60 sweet (8" percent saccharine) that one
must acquire a taste tor its enjoyment. Not
least of its virtues is the ease of its harvest.
Simply spread a sheet under the tree and
shake well to bring its luscious fruit. No
sugar is required for their preparation for the
table. Milk or cream greatly improve their
delicacy. Made into jam, no fruit is healthier,
more cheaply prepared, nutritious, or more
relished by young or old who are fond of
natural sweets. I can only liken the berry
to a vegetable honey, so pure its flavor and
agreeable its sweetness.
To touch upon the economic value of mul-
berry leaves in fostering the culture of silk
industries is ancient history. The Egyptians,
the old Greeks, the Romans and their deseend-
ents have profited through careful attention
to this vegetable loom of Nature.
I intend simply to suggest as a result of my
personal experience, that its ripe berries are
eagerly pounced upon by the bees as they
would a broken comb of honey. The manner
of feeding is e.iieeedingly simple. I crush the
ripe white mulberries in any convenient dish,
and with a piece of shingle, large spoon, or
any light carrier readily at hand, I place a
quantity of the heny-pulp upon their alight-
ing-board. The bees will naturally investi-
gate for some moments, but when they have
tasted the sweet juices a very craze seems to
possess them to completely cover the mass,
and extract every vestige of its sweetness.
It is possible that here we may glean a hint
that will, in great measure, forestall the
almost complete honey failure of the last few
years, and bring our industry back into the
channels of success and profit.
Cook Co., 111. Dk. Peiiio.
I The Doctor brought to us a sample of the
mulberries, and we fed it to our bees after
crushing. Well, they just carried it in slick
and clean from the alighting-board in double-
<iuick time. We should like; to] taste the
lUiVor of the honey iiroduced from mulberries.
—Editor.]
A Swarming- Experience.
I do not know lluii I can give the ex|>lana-
ti(in asked by Dr. I . C. Miller, on page 424,
iti anj better way than to give a part of my
sHMirming record for this year.
Sivarnis issued: No. 23, May 30, hived in
No. 15; No. 15, June 30; No. '.'3. July 7.
You will see by this that my new or prime
swarm cast a swariii, as most of my new or
prime swarms do. and that the parent colony.
.^MANUFACTURER UF>^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shippiag-Cases— Everything- used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We bave
the best shipping- facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending- for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "
■itins
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptly for Untested Oueens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.00 for o, or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Atf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
Please mentior Bee Jouxnal Tirben writing.
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a Iiard
■■libber holder, tapering to a
vountlpoint, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point and n wtl le of the pen
are made of plalina, alloyed
with iridium — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write lO.OUO words, and do not
lealt or blot.
As they make a line of iini-
form M'idlb at all times
they are iiiieqiisiled ior
ruling' purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best Manifolding Pen on
THE Market.
10,000 Postmasters use this
kind (.f a pen. The Editor of
tue .\nic-iiiiui Bee Journal uses
the •• Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a " Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new srnscHiBERS
to the American Bee.lournal for
one year, with .s'J.Wl; or send
•iil.aO for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for $1.0U we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
c 146 Erie St.. Chicago, III.
ALBINO QUEENS HJZq:;^^^:^^
want tbe u'eiitlest Bees— If jou want the best
hoaev-eratberers you ever saw— trv mv Albinos.
Untested Oueeos in April, ft. ml; Tested. $1.50.
iiA26t d,D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee ,lourual
when writing advertisers.
494
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug. 1, 19(1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a;
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., l^ S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freig-ht rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal -wlien -writina
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W EsS^SB
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Tennessee Queens !
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3}i miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1.50
each ; untested warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2%
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2^ years' experience. Discount
on large orders. Contracts
with dealers a specialty. JOHN M. DAVIS.
6A2ot Spring Hill, Tenn.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Ttiem.
inPRGVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; b for $4.00.
Long'Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stoclf whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hostlers of
America.
VSc each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinn.-vti, O.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Marshlield Mannfactnripg Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfleld, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
ASiiperioiledCloverilneen |
For sending: us One New Subscriber and 25
cents ($1.25 in all.)
We arranged with one of the oldest and Ijest queeu-breeders (havinij: many »|
years' experience) to rear queens tor us this season. His bees average quite a ^!
ijood deal the longest tongues ol any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di- ^^
reel from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, some- ^;
what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. They ^•
stored red clover honey last season. ^
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped, ^.
unless otherwise ordered. ^ •
We would like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine &:
Queens. Simply send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer- ^',
ican Bee Journal for one year, and 25 cents extra, and the Queen will be mailed ^^
to you. Our queen-rearer is now caught up with orders, and expects to be able ^.
to mail them hereafter within 4S hours after we receive the order. He is in an- ^.•
other State, and we will send him the Queen orders as fast as we get them at this ^;
ortlce. He is prepared to rear and mail a large number. ^'
The cash prices of these Queens are f 1.00 each : 8 for .«2.70 ; or 6 for $r,m. ^
Send all orders to i^.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., cJ
144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL. ^
Please Mention the Bee Jonrual I^^irS^I'.l
after getting a young laying queen, cast a
swarm 39 days after throwing off the prime
swarm. This is the quickest that I ever had.
It is usually between six and eight weeks, and
a common occurrence with my bees; and
swarming is not their only motive, as I am
getting lots of honey. I think I am in an
exceptional locality. I came here from the
southern part of this State, and bees never
swarmed that way there, to my knowledge at
least. C. H. Harlan.
Kanabec Co., Minn., July 12,
Bees Doing Fine— Alfalfa.
Bees are doing tine. I send a sample of
honey. Please let me know what it was
gathered from, as we are unable to find out
where the bees go. I think they must go a
long distance. I rather think it is alfalfa
honey, as the farmers are beginning to sow it
here some. The bees are busy from early
morning until late, and seem to be the only
ones that are not complaining of the heat and
drouth. The temperature has been from 98-
to 103, the last two weeks.
Mrs W. S. Yeaton.
Woodbury Co., Iowa, July 20.
[The sample of honey has the color and
flavor of alfalfa. It is very fine. Get all you
can like it, as such honey never need wait
long for a buyer. — EiiiTOR.]
Good White Clover Flow.
The white clover honey-flow has been un-
usually good, but is probably at an end.
From 33 colonies, spring count, and an in-
crease of 20. I have harvested 818 sections,
and there are on the hives some 2000 sections,
most of which are full, besides some half
dozen extracting supers full. I have several
colonies that have produced upward of 150
sections, and three or four have done still
better than that. F. W. Hall.
Sioux Co., Iowa, July 22.
Too Hot and Too Dry.
We are suffering with heat and drouth here.
1 had 21 colonies of bees, spring count, and
have 30 at present in fine condition. My crop
of white honey will not exceed 400 pounds,
and there is no sign of rain, consequently we
can not expect a fall crop; but I must have
my American Bee .Journal.
Mrs. Paul Barrette.
Crawford Co., Wis., July 19,
Another Honey Crop Failure.
I am sorry to have to report another failure-
of the honey crop. It seems as if there would
be nothing this fall, either, in the way of
honey, for our fields are parched. The corn
is tasseling out without any prospect of ears,
and the crop of weeds, which are generally
luxuriant at this season, seem to be just as
bad off as the more valuable plants. This is
probably one of the worst drouths ever seen
in this section. C. P. Dadant.
Hamilton Co.. 111., Julv 19.
Hot, Dry Weather.
We had a good start of white clover honey,
but the hot, dry weather has nearly finished
the flow. Basswood yielded but little, and as.
it is so very dry but little can be expected
from heartsease and buckwheat. "■ ;. czi
Linn Co., Iowa. July 13. G. H. Fret.
Don't Report Glowingly or Too
Soon.
There is a report from this county (Mar-
shall), in a recent number of the American
Bee Journal, from J. W, Sanders. He says
that we are having the heaviest crop we ever
had in the State. Now. 1 have not found it
so. We had a few dayj- that were extra good,
but the dry weatlier and strong, southwest
wind killed the clover, and made what little
Ijasswood bloom there was barren of nectar.
1 consider that my crop was cut one-half from
Aug. 1, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
495
what it would have been, if we euuld have
had 10 days more of the right .kind of
weather. I thinlv bee-l<eepers should be very
careful not to give too glowinfj a report, and
not report too soon.
I put 42 colonies into the cellar last fall,
and took out 40 good ones. I have increased
to 6H. I will have about 50 pounds to the
colony, spring count; about one-fourth ex-
tracted, and the balance comb honey.
C. P. McKiNNON.
Marshall Co., Iowa, July 20.
Too Wet for a Honey Crop.
On account of too much rain tliere has been
no honey taken in this locality yet. White
clover, linden, and chestnut are in full bloom,
and bees work nicely when the weather is
fair. All my colouies are very strong, and in
good condition to work, but so far no honey.
S. F. Sampson.
Greenbrier Co., W. Va.. .July 17.
Bees that Bave a Record
(See page 45'' American Bee Journal.
Have long-est toag-ues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen, liy return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
31Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
—THE—
Bee-Keeper's Guide
Or, Manual ot tbe Apiary,
BY
PROR A, J. COOK-
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
tUustratedf and all written in the most fascinat-
ing- style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW snescRiBEKS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus ^et the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
GEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CUICAliO, ILL.
Please meutloii Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
6ee= Books
RENT POSTPAID BV
George W. York & Co.
GhicaGO.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.— It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pages,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, gold-lettered. Price, in
floth, 75 cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadani.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. V.
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?,fv,
by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College,— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thorol^" practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiology of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing^, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root,— A cyclo-
paedia of 4()0 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1-20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
Yuu should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, $1.00.
Bienen-Kultur. by Thos. G Newman.— Thlt.
is a (ierman translation of the principal portion
of the book called "■ Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Blenenzucht und Honiggewlnnung, nach der
neuesten methode (German) by J. K. Eggers. —
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure lb*» mo«t
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G, t,. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It "details the author's
*' new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or extracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotes two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 50 colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvo3' Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in Ilee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce.— Result of 25 years' experience. 30 cts.
Foul Brood, bv A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons andCaponizing, by Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others.— Illustrated. All about cap-
oniziug fowls, and thus how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fanny
Field.— Everythiti'T about Poultry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, b^
^anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
Justness. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnlBh you with The A. I. Root Co's
poods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and Hhip promptly. Market price
Said for beeswax. Send dtr our 1901 cataloK.
[. U. HUNT & SON. BeU Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich
Please mention Bee Journal "when "WTitinR
>i >li >!i >K^ >li >a >li >li >!i :s!i >liili>liV
|fiON&y MDBEESWflXl
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, July 18.— Choice white comb honey
is arrivini; rather more freely and brings ISc.
There is no accumulation at this writing, as re-
ceipts sell within a week after arriving, someof
them on the same day. Amber grades bring
about 12c. E.xtracted dull and slow of sale at
anything over •i<fS}ic. Beeswax steady at 3"c
with good demand. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from }^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W.Weber.
Boston, June 20.— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm
weather very little call for it. Are expecting
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at i.}4@">^c.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Omaha, May 1. — Comb honey, extra white,
24-frame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, July 8— Our market is practically
bare of comb honey, and demand good for white
comb. Fancy stock sells readily at 15c; No. 1
white at from 13(ail4c,and amber at ll@i2c. E.x-
tracted not in much demand, with plenty of
supply; white, 6®(, He; light amber, 5^c; dark,
4K®Sc. Beeswax Arm at 2'lc.
Hildreth & Seoelkbn,
Albany, N. Y., June IS.— Honey market is
dull with no receipts or stocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R.Wright.
Detroit, July 18.— Fancy white, ISc; No. 1,
13@14c: no dark to quote. Extracted, white,
6(s^7c; dark and amber, 5(g^6c. Beeswax, 26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, July 10.— No demand for honey yet
unless a very small amount of fancy whi'te at
perhaps lS@16c. Some old lots still about, un-
salable, almost, at 6, 8 and 10 cents. Beeswax,
22to28c. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. demons & Co.
San Francisco, June 19.— White comb, ll}^@
12^ cents; amber, iigioc; dark, 6@S cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5M@6^c; light amber, 4@4^c;
amber. 35^@4c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
Market shows no quotable improvement, but
there are no large quantities obtainable at the
prices generally named by dealers. In a small
way, for especially desirable quantities, slightly
higher prices than are quoted are being realized.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Kx-
tracted Honey. State price,
delivered. We pay spot cash. Fked W. Mtth
& Co., Front i Walnut Sts., Cincinnati. Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
28Al7t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. W^ill
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
iustify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Faikfield, III.
Wanted.
Comb and Extr.icted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what cjuantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of goods. Refer you to
Brighton Germ.in Bank, this city.
C. H.W.WEBER,
214(.-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
2')Atf IMease mention the Bee Journal.
496
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 1, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAKTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r <»" W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal V7>Len "WTitins.
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return IVIail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $1.00: Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft 10ft 25ft 50ft
Sweet Clover (white) $.70 $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) .... 1.00 1.80 4.25 .s.OO
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartag^e. if
wanted by freig-ht, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK St CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I AEISE
To say to ihs reaaers of
the Bee Journal that
^^^ DOOLITTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in their season
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens.... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.0O
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best. .5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co.. N. V.
Wease mention Bfie Journal when writing.
24in
year
Dadant's Foundation. Im
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY.
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED^PROCESS SHEETINQ.
^^
Why does it sell
so well ?
Because it has always g"iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Rcv/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHA5. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
More Bee-Keeoers'
Paradises....
E. R. Root has just returned from a 6,000-mile trip through
some of the best bee-locations in the world, and has already be-
gun his series of write-ups, accompanied with fine photos, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. The following editorial appears Aug.
1, and will give something of an idea of what he will describe :
Some little time ago I promised to tell about the bee-keepers'
paradise in Texas. I have this on the docket, and it will appear
as I take up the line of my travels. But since running across
that paradise I have run into two or three others. There is one
west of the Rockies, in Colorado, that is not yet overstocked with
bees or bee-keepers ; another one in Central Idaho — in fact. I do
not know but the whole State. These will be described in turn.
The fact is, millions of capital are being invested in irrigation ;
irrigation means alfalfa ; alfalfa means a paradise for bees. But
I found all along my trip that alfalfa-growing preceded bee-
keeping by two or three years, for it seems to take about that
length of time before bee-keepers find these gold-mines that have
been hitherto unoccupied.
If you are dissatisfied with your present location, and for
financial reasons, or on account of health, will be compelled to
leave, subscribe for Gleanings in Bee-Culture, and learn .some-
thing about the great South and the great West. There are many
locations in the West that are not yet occupied — splendid bee-
locations. If you wish to learn about them, send 25 cents for a
six-months' trial subscription, or SI. 00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian queen. Or, send $2.00 and we will send Gleanings
one year and one of our celebrated Red Clover <Jueens.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.
riedina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '"^mc^Goi^l""'-
triers for ROOT'S I!EE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO,
u for their free Catalog.
T^^S'^^A'
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, AUGUST 8, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 32.
498
AMERICAN BEE jOUPNAL
Aug. 8, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post^Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George 'W'. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
fRfp.'i'l'cooK, \ Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. 00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AVrappep-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance.
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to paj' subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. 'Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
ThOS. G. NEWM.4N,
G. M. DOOLITTLE,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
Dk. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Tti
irer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
11^° If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes;
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
^ood idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, Ijy mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
ASnperioi'RedClowifneen |
AN iNTEsrEi> Italian; t^'
For sending' us One New Subscriber and 25 ^
cents ($1.25 in all. I &
S We arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breeders (having many •;
^ years' experience) to rear queens for us this season. His bees average quite a ^.
5 good deal the longest tongues of any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di- C^
•^ rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, some- ^-
5 what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. 'They ^"
S stored red clover honey last season. S^
^ All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped, ig-
9 unless otherwise ordered. «> •
S We would like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine S;
^ Queens. Simply send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer- ^1
5 ii^'ii Bee Journal for one year, and 25 cents e.xtra, and the Queen will be mailed 5^
^ to you. Our queen-rearer is now caught up with orders, and expects to be able lef-
5 to mail them hereafter within 48 hours after we receive the order. He is in an- ^ ■
iS other State, and we will send him the Queen orders as fast as we get them at this ^;
^ office. He is prepared to rear and mail a large number. Z3 I] crTJ C7~ ^'
5 The cash prices of these Queens are SI. 00 each ; a for ?2.70; or 6 for $5.00. ^:
^ Send all orders to ^;
S GEORGE W. YORK & CO., >
^ 144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL. >.
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson " no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing- for use in
catching and clipping- Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal tor
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Jonrnal one jeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORGE W. VORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, la
The Novelty Pocket= Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
I HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is the i-'ULL Size of the Knife.]
derlug, be sure to say just what name and
Your Name on the Knife.— Wh
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies In the handle
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as gla
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the "Novelty" is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the " Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cut gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation ol
this^beautiful knife, "as the *' Novelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.2S, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us ihkee new subscribeks to the Bee Journal {with $.''.'».) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
JW"Please alloi^ -"bout two weeks for your knife order to be filieu.
St„ Chicago, 111.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, AUGUST 8, 1901,
No, 32,
I ^ Editorial. ^ I
General vs. Special Knowledge. —
The tendency nowadaj's is toward specialism.
Even in bee-keeping there are special lines,
and a man is likely to do his best when he
confines himself within certain limits. But it
is a serious mistake to think that one should
study up only what comes directl.v within his
line. It is not likely that any bee-keeper be-
came very proficient in any one line without
being pretty well informed in all other lines
pertaining to bee-keeping. A good, all-around
bee-keeper makes the best basis for a good
specialist. Dr. Miller's advice in another
column is good. Inform yourself in advance,
even upon subjects that you think may never
have any interest for you. Study all of your
text-book until it is familiar. Don't omit a
knowledge of the Dzierzon theory. Lay a
solid foundation, and then when the time
comes that knowledge upon any point is
needed, it will be ready.
Northern vs. Southern Queens. — A
wordy discussion upon this subject occurs in
the Southland Queen between S. E. Miller and
E. J. Atchley, which, if it proves nothing else,
proves that men may have very different
views. What one claims for the North the
other claims for the South. Mr. Miller
claims that people of a temperate climate are
superior to those of a trojiical climate in
strength, hardiness, industry, and otherwise,
and that where a Northern and a Southern
army meet on equal terms the Northern army
is victorious. Mr. Atchley says late history
proves that it takes ten Northern men to con-
quer one Southern man ; that the men and
women of the South, as a rule, are .'^iroug and
robust, capable of enduring great hardships,
and less subject to disease than those of the
North; that Southern queens lay more and
live longer, and the bees live longer, are more
hardy, and gather more honey.
Feeding Back — Editor Hutchinson is
one of the limited number who has made a
success of getting sections conijiletcd by feed-
ing back. In the Bee-Kecpers" Review he
gives some excellent hints. If the feeding is
begun just as the flow from basswood is be-
ginning to slack up, the work will go on
apace, whereas every day's delay after that
time will make it necessary for the bees to
fill up again in the brood-chamber. Contract
to five Langstroth combs at i he most. Three
are better, Ijut in that ease there will be a
weakened colony unless it is strengthened by
adding to it cases of sections, bees and all.
from other colonies. Add boiling water to
the honey to he fed until it is thin as nectar.
With 100 pounds of unfinished sections and 100
pounds of extracted honey, Mr. Hutchinson
gets 160 pounds of finished sections. He says
further:
Black bees do the best work ; hybrids next;
then comes the dark Italians. Light Italians
do very poor work in feedingback.
Sort over the sections, making two grades
of them as regards their completion. Con-
tract the brood-nests of the colonies that are
to be employed. Set the cases of sections
around, one on a hive, but not on the hives
containing the colonies that are to be em-
ployed in feeding back. The bees will go up
and occupy the sections. Now gather up the
cases, bees and all. and put two cases on each
hive. This is done to secure populous colo-
nies, as they do the best work in feeding back.
I have never had trouble from the bees quar-
reling. Put a case of nearly finished sections
next to the brood-nest, and those that are not
so nearly finished on top, and then the feeder.
Note the peculiarities of the different colo-
nies. One will take down the feed and draw
out the combs much better than will some of
the others. Another colony will be a poor
" feeder," but will cap the honey much bet-
ter than some other colonies will cap their
honey. As the work progresses, and fewer
colonies are needed, throw out those that do
the poorest work.
A Putty-Knife as a Hive-Tool, to
scrape propolis off the hives, pry frames apart
with, and for scraping off burr-combs, is rec-
ommended in the Progressive Bee-Keejier.
" Somnambulist " suggests that a small trowel
with the edges sharpened is hard to beat.
Moving Bees for Fall Flow.— An in-
teresting discusssion upon this topic at the
Ontario convention is reported in the Cana-
dian Bee .Journal. Among the points brought
out was one that even if no surplus is gained
there may be pay for the trouble in the better
supply of winter stores, and still further there
may be a great advantage in the greater num-
ber of young bees to go into winter quarters.
It was urged that, although for spring and
fall moving a large-sized entrance covered
with wire-cloth may give sufficient ventila-
tion, this will not do when moving to the
buckwheat fields in hot weather. There
should be a space of two inches over the
brood-frames, with wire-cloth over. Some
preferred a hay-rack with a layer of hay with-
out springs; others preferred heav}' springs.
A board platform may be used with common
carpet tacks sprinkled over it. The tacks will
sink into the platform and into the hive-
bottoms, preventing the hives from sliding
about.
To prevent Irotilile with a nervous driver in
case any hives should spring a leak, mosquito
net may cover the entire load. On a close,
warm day, it bees begin to stick their tongues
up through the wire-cloth, they should be
well sprinkled with water. The bees will
suffer less if hauled at night, or if the start
be made in the middle of the night. Frames
should run crosswise on the wagon. Some
hauled the bees home late in the fall, putting
them immediately in the cellar without oppor-
tunity for a Hight, and found no bad results.
Alfalfa Honey, although always of good
Havor, says Editor Root, varies in color, in
some localities being light amber, and in
others almost water-white.
5Ieasuring Bees' Tongues. — It has
more than once been suggested that it is no
safe criterion to judge the value of a worker-
bee by mere length of tongue alone, because
there may be a difference in the energy of two
bees having tongues of the same length. This
difference can be measured by the difference
in the amount of stores gathered by two colo-
nies. A. .J. Wright, in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture, proposes a more expeditious method of
measuring this energy, and without taking
all the bees of a colony. He has constructed
an ingenious glossometer, which gives meas-
urements to the thousandth of an inch, and
says:
' ' The energy of the bees is clearly shown
in their efforts to reach the candy. While
some are easily discouraged, and give up
without much effort, others will persevere,
and work and stretch their tongues to the
utmost limit ; and when the candy is clearly
beyond their reach they seem loath to yield."'
Mr. Wright is perhaps the first to suggest
the advisability of measuring the capacity of
the honey-sacs of different bees, in doing
which only one bee must be taken at a time
and allowed to fill its sac from a receptacle so
small that the amount taken can be accurately
determined. While in general larger honey-
sacs go with longer tongues, two bees having
tongues of the same length may have honey-
sacs of different capacities. It is not hard to
believe that a bee with a small honey-sac
must make more journeys, hence consume
more time, in storing a given amount, than
one with a larger sac. He says that the liv-
ing bee, when reaching for nectar, can pro-
trude its tongue further than the tongue of
the dead bee can be stretched without rup-
ture, and that the bees of a queen, if pure.
differ but little from each other in tongue
meastire. capacity of the lione.v-sac, and
working energy. Objection is made to using
wire-cloth in a glossometer. as the apertures
are by no means uniform in size or shape.
500
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
Aug. 8, 1901.
I Contributed Articles, l
Width of Top-Bars of Extract! ng-Frames, Etc.
BY C. P. DADANT.
MR. DADANT:— I would be very much obUgeA to hear from you as
to what width of top-bars you would advise to use when only '*
frames are used on a ten-frame hiveV Then another question:
Which do you consider the best way to have combs in extracting^
hives cleaned by the bees when they are not to be used ag'ain the
same season? We have sometimes put such extracting hives back on
the colonies, but frequently a good many bees remained in them, and
again at other times they gathered the honey all right but did not take it
down in the brood-chamber.— Jacob Wagner.
In replying to these questions, I will refer the reader to
an article previously written by me on page 452, on the
spacing of extracting-frames, and the number of them to
be used in a super.
The thickness and width of top-bars has influence, in
only one particular, as far as I know, that is, it helps con-
trol the amount of burr or brace combs built by the bees.
With a light top-bar, of narrow width, the bees will often
build a great number of brace-combs, joining one comb
with the other and filling every available space with honey.
This makes the handling of the combs more or less incon-
venient. When the fratnes are made with a wide top-bar,
leaving only a narrow bee-space between the combs, and
especially when the top-bar is also thick perpendicularly,
there is much less brace-comb built.
But, in extracting, the wide top-bars have the great
inconvenience of being in the way of the uncapping-knife,
until the combs are built out far enough to remedy this.
Many of our friends prefer the ordinary narrow triangular
top-bar for this very reason. In our own practice, we have
used both the I's top-bar and the "s, and we find very little
difference in practical results. If the frames are kept as
far apart as is necessary to secure thick combs, the bees
will build brace-combs anyhow, even if we use wide and
thick top-bars. But we do not find much inconvenience
resulting from it, because we keep our bees sufficiently
supplied with space to prevent them from building brace-
combs. The latter are usually built when space is getting
short in the super and seem to be the finishing touch which
the bees give to their supers. If we forestall their aim, by
adding more combs or by extracting, no brace-combs will
be built. So, in our estimation, the width and thickness of
the top-bar of extracing-combs is not of any particular
importance.
CLEANING SXTRACTING-COMBS.
Concerning the giving back of the extracted combs to
the bees to be cleaned at the end of the season, I am
decidedly in favor of the aflirraative. The question was
discussed at length last spring in the International Review
of Bee-Culture, of Switzerland. My readers well know
that, over there, they produce extracted honey almost
exclusively, and many different methods are followed.
There seems to be about an equal division on the matter of
returning the combs to the hives. But the advantages of
the method, in my mind, very greatly overbalance the dis-
advantages.
It is held by those who are in favor of not returning
the combs to the hives, that they are just as easily kept
when sticky with honey ; that it saves a great deal of time,
and quite a great deal of trouble, and that when the supers
are given to the bees in the spring, they work in them tnuch
more readily if these combs are rendered attractive by the
honey sticking to them.
On the other hand, the combs which are left smeared
with honey when put away for winter attract mice much
more readily than if they have been thoroughly cleansed by
the bees. Mice will make very little effort to enter a sur-
plus case, if there is no smell but that of the wax ; but if
they can perceive the odor of honey they will take special
pains to work their way in, for they are very fond of it.
Whenever I have had combs damaged by the mice, I have
almost invariably found them to be combs that contained
honey, especially honey that was strong in flavor and odor.
Another objection is, that when you put the supers on
the hives, in spring, you run the risk of exciting the bees
to rob, for it is very often before the opening of the erop
that the supers are put on the hives. It is true, the same
precaution might be taken in the spring to put the supers
on the hives as is taken to return them to the bees in the
fall, by doing it at the end of the day's work, just before
night, so that any excitement caused by the running honey
will soon be quenched by the shadows of night. But it is
much easier to do this after a day's extracting when you
have a force of four or five people on the spot, than to do it
in the spring, when the apiarist is usually alone to do the
work.
There is also another objection to leaving all the combs
daubed with honey for four or five months — it is the danger
of causing a fermentation in this honey. We all know
that honey has a strong tendency to the absorption of mois-
ture— it then becomes watery, and ferments easily. When
it is spread over a considerable area, as is the case after
extracting, there is a very great danger of this fermenta-
tion, and though the quantity is very insignificant, it pro-
duces numerous germs on the combs which are to contain
the next crop, and it seems to me that there is but little
doubt of the danger arising from this for the following
harvest, especially if the honey was watery when gath-
ered.
It is true that it takes a little more labor to put the
supers back on the hive, when we know that they must be
again taken off before winter, but it is thus with every pur-
suit— we can have nothing without labor, and those who
take the most pains are usually those who succeed best.
Hamilton Co., 111.
Long-Tongued Bees— A General Rejoinder.
BY G. M. DOOI.ITTLE.
MY article on long-tongued bees, on page 293, seems to
have stirred them up quite generally, if what has
appeared in print on this subject since then gives a
true indication in the matter. And I have waited a little,
till " the storm had passed away," so that I might send in
a general reply to all, for I see that I did not make myself
fully understood in my former article. Some seem to get
the impression that I was accusing advertisers of making
"false statements " regarding long-tongued bees, for the
sake of gain. I did not intend so to do. What I did intend
was this :
Gleanings in Bee-Culture, through "Stenog," said,
"The movement for longer tongues is simply to get the
red clover crop of the North, which now is practically all
wasted. The bees, no one claims, would be any better except
on that account ;" while in the same number of Gleanings
were advertisements stating that long-tongued bees were
better for all parts of the country, red clover or no red
clover, or at least with no qualifications regarding the red
clover matter. And as these statements were directly
opposite, I wished to show that one or the other was, and
must of necessity be, " actually false." If this showing or
conclusion was wrong, or if I wrote in a manner tending to
convey any other impression, I am sorry, and ask pardon.
I certainly had no desire to do injustice to any.
Next, to offer prizes, and so put things by editorials or
otherwise, as to draw out only one side, without putting the
other side on an equal footing, is what I call misleading,
and especially so where this is done in the reading columns
of a paper in a way tending to point toward some financial
interest of the promoter. If so calling was wrong, or if I
wrote in a manner giving a different impression, I regret it
more than any one else. Not till the " fad " for long
tongues had nearly "spent itself," was there any call made
for tongues to measure from colonies which had proved
themselves inferior for honey-gathering. To have been
fair this should have been done at the outset.
Then, when a person writes from an opposing side, and
a foot-note is used so as to turn what the opponent says
that it may point toward the fad — this is what I call twist-
ing, and something our bee-papers of to-day should not
stoop to doing it. If I am " off the track " here, I am sorry.
I do not wish to look at things through a distorted vision.
Again, in closing my article I said, "There are times
when it is necessary that a ' halt should be called ' by some
one, and as no one had seen fit to do this, I felt it my duty
to do so." Replying to this part, both Dr. Miller and E.
R. Root point me to a certain editorial on pages 295-296 of
April 1st Gleanings, to show that a halt was there called,
which I had made no mention of, and if I would be fair I
would have noticed it. Well, if I had considered that edi-
torial a calling of a halt I should have noticed it. Allow
me to quote from it, similarly to the way Dr. Miller and Mr.
Root did :
Aug. 8, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
501
'•The breeder who sells an untested iiiother of long--reach stock
sells her tor just what shi- is Unfortunatelj', the biiyinj'- of
(lueens, even from the best of breeders, is something of a loliery;
but if one will pay enoug-h, and get tested stock, he then has some
reasonable assurance of getting what he orders. The A. I. Root Co.
will, if desired, sell tested queens whose bees will have a tongue-reach
of a certain specified length— the longer the reach, the higher the
price, of course ; and I have no doubt that other breeders will do the
same, providing that they learn how to measure the bees' tongues, or
get some one who knows how to do it for them. We will undertake
to measure the tongues of any bees of our subscribers for ten cents
per cage of one dozen bees.''
It seems strange that Dr. Miller, or even E. R. Root
(who wrote that editorial), can see anything but a semi-
advertisement in it, especially as immediately on the eve
of this editorial, advertisements of the A. I. Root Co.
appeared quoting queens at $10, $15 and $25, according to
guaranteed tongue-reach, and thus writing editorials which
can be read either as the " calling of a halt " or as an
advertisement, is what I called " rubbish," in my article. I
do not like to see the reading colums of any paper thus
prostituted, and so " spoke right out in meeting " about
the matter. If. in any of these matters, I was too caustic,
or did not use becoming language. I am sorry, for I do not
wish unnecessarily to wound or offend.
Then Dr. Miller and W. Z. Hutchinson call my atten-
tion to the fact that they both "called a halt," the Doctor
in " Stray Straws," and Mr. H. in the Review, which is
right. But when they come to know that my article was
written the first half of April, and that neither April ISth
Gleanings nor the April Review reached this post-office till
April 20, or later, it will be seen that I had seen neither of
these at the time of writing my article.
Mr. Root seems to think that I am " way off " in think-
ing that any "fad" has been the means of wasting
" thousands of dollars." Has he forgotten, or has he never
read in back volumes of Gleanings, how a top-bar made of
J's lumber and sawed only '4 inch thick was pushed ? and
how folded-tin bars were, later on, placed between top and
bottom bars, in the center, to keep it from sagging? And
when thousands and millions of these frames were in use,
because Gleanings pushed this thin, narrow top-bar. he
"wondered how bee-keepers ever tolerated such a nuisance (?)
and told of the awful job it was to pry off upper stories and
supers from them 1 Then Gleanings swung around to the
other extreme and pushed a top-bar as much too thick (in
my opinion) as the other was too thin. And all this time
Doolittle was using a top-bar one and one-sixteenth wide by
five-sixteenths thick for the Gallup frame, and the same
width by seven-sixteenths thick for the Langstroth, and I
so use them to-day, and so advocate, and have advocated for
the past 30 years, notwithstandihg Mr. Root's thinking that
I have changed my views on the subject. And would not
the using of millions of such "tolerated nuisances," and
the changing over to a thicker nuisance (to say nothing of
the vexation resulting from using such), cost up into the
thousands of dollars ?
Again, Mr. Root seems to think that I have been the
chief promoter of "the rage for Golden Italians," but not he,
nor any one else, can find where I ever advertised them, by
circular or in any bee-paper ; and unless I am greatly mis-
taken (I have not time to look the matter up now), he can-
not find a single word in print, coming from my pen, where
I have even mentioned them during the past five years. I
once gave what I considered their origin, and once set
right some mistakes regarding them, but no one can truth-
fully accuse me of "pushing" them. If I had desired to do
so. the editorial colums of the Progressive Bee-Keeper have
been open to me during the last five years.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that there is a vast
difference between a contributor or an advertiser " having
his say " in a paper, and the editor of the same paper, by
foot-notes and editorials, pushing the same thing. With
the former, there are other contributors and other adver-
tisers to offset the first, but with the latter the editor stands
supreme, and can, if he chooses, turn the current of
thought in the direction he wishes, without any one eflectu-
ally to gainsay in the matter.
In conclusion, I wish to say that I am not opposed to
long-tongued bees, long-winged bees, or bees having large
honey-sacs, etc., but I am opposed to the pushing of any of
these in a sort of one-sided way, without at the same time
trying to draw out the truth in the matter by giving the
contrary side an equal chance. 'Tis time enough to push
things after they are kticnvn to be right, and, to my mind,
a thing should never be pushed by the editor ox publisher of
a paper until it is so known. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Continued fr
No. 10.
Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
NO drone-brood was found on any but the third and the
fifth frames. When Mr. Bond inquired why there was
none on the frame between these two, nor on the
frames on the outside of the brood-nest, I reminded him of
what I had previously told him about giving a new swarm a
few frames without full sheets of foundation, for reasons
also then stated.
"This frame to which you direct my special attention,"
I explained, " serves, better than any other in the hive
could, as an illustration of the way my theory works, as
applied to the drone question in bee-keeping.
" You see, here," I continued, as I took the frame in my
hand, "how bees will sometimes take advantage of oppor-
tunities in their efforts to outwit the intermeddler. and to
carry out their intuitive perception of the fitness of things
in their household management. Had I given them a frame
containing a full sheet of comb foundation, in place of
this with a starter only two inches in width, they couldn't
have made any drone-comb in it. They can not convert
comb foundation into drone-comb — at any rate they have
never been known to do it.
" Well, here is the explanation, Mr. Bond : When I
hived that swarm I put only these two frames having start-
ers in them into the hive — near the center. Four of the
other ten had full sheets of foundation, and four were
newly finished comb — not a drone-cell in any of them —
taken from another hive, all nearly solid with ripe brood.
So, you see, this colony had no chance fo build drone-comb
on any of the frames except these two ; and here they tried
to make up for it by using nearly the whole space of the
frames, below the starters, for that purpose."
" But I don't understand." remarked Mr. Bond, quizzi-
cally, "why you allowed them to rear drones on these two
frames when you could have prevented it, just as well as
not. Didn't you say that you didn't want any drones
here?"
" Perhaps I did say that," I replied, " and I confess
that the whole matter has a queer look — must have to you.
But the contradictions all disappear when I say : I forgot
about those two frames, otherwise I would have exchanged
them for drone-proof frames before the bees had time to
build the drone-comb. It is true that I don't want these
drones ; neither do I want any more to hatch out in my
apiary this summer. There are plenty on hand now to
answer the only practical purpose that a sensible bee-keeper
rears drones for.
"But, let me tell you, Mr. Bond, the regulating or
controlling of the drone-business in an apiary of even 20 or
30 colonies, is, I believe, the most difficult task a bee-keeper
can put upon his business program. It demands eternal
vigilance to make the problem a success. It's a light
against nature, and therefore against many obstacles ;
some of them unknown until learned by experience, and
nearly all of them hard to overcome.
"One of the most serious of the obstacles has just
been pointed out by intimation when I said I forgot about
these two frames. If every bee-keeper who tries to climb
to the top of the business had a good, reliable memory,
instead of a first-class forgettery, that alone would go half
way, at least, toward success in the matter of regulating
the production of drones by the bees."
"But I don't understand." remarked Mr. Bond, "why
you should go to so much trouble to prevent drone-increase
if, as you say, all the harm drones do is, that they eat
honey and don't work."
"Mr. Bond," I replied, impressively, "it is honey I
keep bees for. As far as drones are a help to me in getting
the largest possible yield each year, I tolerate them, and
don't interfere with the bees in their efforts to produce
them. But when I know that my bees are rearing more
drones than are needed for the only legitimate purpose, I
am disposed to interfere, because I know that the honey
eaten by useless drones is lost property. Besides, all the
drones in a hive that are not reallj' needed are a nuisance,
because they are in the way of the workers during busy
limes."
" But," queried Mr. iiond, mischievously, "if bees have
intuitive sense — as you have been trying to convince me —
how can you make out that they don't know, intuitively,
how many drones they really ought to have ?"
" Mr. Bond," I replied, " bees have intuitive sense
502
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 8, 1901.
enough to know that they can't get along without drones ;
but they don't seem to have enough of it to guide them to
the fact that more than enough is too many. However,
let us get down to business, Mr. Bond.
" I wish you to take a good look at this drone-comb and
the brood in it, and compare it with the worker-brood just
above it. You can easily see the difference in appearance,
so that you will always know the one kind from the other.
The principal distinction between them is, that the drone-
comb projects out beyond the surface of the worker-comb.
And that enables me, when I am destroying drone-brood, to
slice oft the heads of the matured but unhatched drones
with my sharp, thin-bladed honey-knife, without injuring
any of the worker-brood."
" That looks easy enough." remarked Mr. Bond, after
seeing me perform the operation. " But, how do you get
the beheaded drones out of the cells ?"
" I don't try to get them out. The bees can do that, so
I simply replace the frames as they are, and close the hive.
Before sunset you will find most of those headless corpses
out in front of the hive. How they manage to drag them
out of the cells I don't know, never having watched them
at the work.
" But here is another thing that I want you to look at,
Mr. Bond," I said, holding the frame in my hand up before
him and pointing to three queen-cells on one side of the
comb. You told me yesterday that you had never seen a
queen-cell. Hereafter you will always know one when you
see it."
" So those queer-looking things are queen-cells," said
Mr. Bond, meditatively. " Well, I declare I I never thought
they were anywhere near so large — nearly the size of a
small sewing-thimble, and full of little holes on the outside,
too. Does the old queen build those cells?"
" The question took me by surprise, coming as it did
from a man past middle age, and in dead earnest, too.
But I repressed a strong inclination to smile, and told him
the truth about the matter :
" No," I said, " the old queen has nothing whatever to
do with it, except to lay the eggs from which the young
(jueens develop. The worker-bees build the queen-cells,
and when they are completed they fill them with bee-food,
or royal jelly, as bee-keepers usually call it. The cells are
then sealed up at the small end and the queen-larva lives
on that jelly and grows until it is able to eat or gnaw
itself free, and soon after crawls out to begin her career as
a queen."
" Do you mean to tell me that a queen grows from the
same kind of an egg that a drone or a worker comes
from ?" asked Mr. Bond, somewhat excitedly.
" Yes, and no, Mr. Bond," I replied. "A queen is reared
from the same kind of an egg that produces a worker under
ordinary treatment — that is, when reared in an ordinary
brood-cell. Both are female eggs, but the workers are
undeveloped female bees. But the drones are reared from
male eggs. A fertilized queen can lay both kinds ; and
either kind at will."'
" How do you mean that ?" queried Mr. Bond.
" By that I mean that a laying queen can lay either
female or male eggs, as she pleases. When she inserts the
small end of her body into a worker-cell she usually depos-
its a worker-egg ; and when she deposits an egg in a drone-
cell it is seldom a female egg. That's the whole story, Mr.
Bond ; but it's a long way from being an explanation of
the mystery, or, if you prefer, the philosophy, of the fact.
Mr. Bond looked very serious as he remarked, " I
didn't think those things were possible. I begin to see
that I know as little about bees as I do about bee-keeping.
I see now, that to be really successful with a hundred colo-
nies I must first learn how to manage one colony, up-to-
date, as the saying goes.
"But tell me, please," queried Mr. Bond, "what are
you going to do with those queen-cells ?"
" I am going to put the frame they are on back in its
place in the hive," I replied. "One of the young queens is
beginning to gnaw the cap oft her cell, you see " — showing
him the cell, on the small end of which a slight movement
was discernible — "and she will be making an inspection
tour of the hive before to-morrow noon, I think. She will
have to be watched or she'll destroy the other two young
queens in their cells."
(To be continued.)
I (iuestions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. C AIILLER. afareng-o. 111.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Advice to Beginners.
If you want to be in the front rank as a bee-keeper, you
will do well to inform yourself upon all phases of bee-keep-
ing. Some of you make the mistake of thinking. " Oh, that
subject, or the other subject connected with bee-keeping,
may be well enough for those particularly interested in that
direction, but it doesn't come in my line, and I'll not waste
reading it. " And so you miss reading some of the very
things you most need.
" How do I know you don't read everything ?" I'll tell
you how I know. Nearly every week — well, say once in
two weeks — I get a question from some one when that
question was answered not two months before. This sum-
mer the question that has come oftener than any other is
the one referring to swarms absconding after being hived ;
and many has been the swarm lost because the loser didn't
think he needed to know anything about absconding
swarms until he had one of his own abscond.
Now, I don't want to choke you off from asking ques-
tions in the least ; some of you don't do as much of it as
you ought ; but I want to suggest that you would be the
gainers if you would read up in advance what is written for
others.
Not so very long ago it was said to me, " I suppose you
don't read a large portion of what you find in the American
Bee Journal." That supposition could not have been wider
of the mark. Except what was written by myself, I dare
not omit the reading of any word. The short letter
from some beginner may have no word of information to
pay for the trouble of reading it, and then again one time
out of a hundred it may ; and I don't know which one out
of the hundred may give some hint of value ; so the only
safe plan is to read the whole hundred. C. C. Miller.
Swarms Absconding from the Hives.
The Premiums offered this week are well wot-th work-
ing for. Look at them.
Can you give any information about bees leaving the
hive after hiving them ? I have lost about half the swarms
this year in that way. Wisconsin.
Answer. — The absconding of swarms this year seems
to be unusual. Doubtless it is on account of the unusual
heat. Do all you can to keep your swarms cool by shading
and plenty of ventilation. Raise the hive on blocks, and
for a few days let the hive-cover be partly off.
Painting Barrels for Hoiding Honey.
Will it do any good to paint alcohol barrels that I
intend to use for holding extracted honey ?
Minnesota.
Answer. — 1 don't know. I doubt if it will pay, and
will be glad to be corrected if I am wrong.
Slie Has Troul)les of Her Own.
I winter my bees in a shed, long and narrow with a
door in the west end. I pack them in as warm as possible,
and open the door on pleasant days. Last winter I put in
10 colonies, part Italians and part blacks. I gave the Ital-
ians the warmest places, and near the door where it was
almost to the cold I placed a strong black colony. Last
spring, on taking them out, the colonies near the door were
just overflowing with bees, both blacks and Italians, while
some of the other colonies seemed to have scarcely bees
enough to keep them warm. One Italian colony, espe-
cially, had a queen and a mere handful of bees. As soon as
the weather was favorable I divided the large colony,
intending to give the queenless half to the small Italian
Aug-. 8, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
503
colony, but before I could do it the Italians were all dead.
I immediately sent South and got two queens, thinking that,
as I had the colony divided, and there were such a lot of
bees, it would be a g-ood time to Italianize them. I success-
fully introduced both queens, but those two colonies have
just dwindled down to nothing. Yellow bees would hatch
out and I would find them crawling around outside of the
hives. One queen turned up missing. The other deserted
her hive with a handful of bees. Now, where did I make
a mistake ? and will those combs do to give to other colo-
nies ? Do bees make a practice of going into diiferent
hives in winter ? Illinois.
Answer. — To be entirely candid, I don't know enough
to say just what mistake you made, or whether indeed you
made any. Possibly a fuller knowledge of particulars
might help in the diagnosis; possibly not. It is quite
likely that the season had something to do with it, espe-
cially if you operated somewhat early, for the spring was
unusually bad. It happens only too frequently that bees
desert their hive and enter another, especially in a bad
spring when there is more or less spring dwindling. It
will be all right to give the combs to other colonies.
Swarming— Wintering Bees.
1. I started last spring with three colonies of bees, one
of which has sent off two nice swarms, another cast one,
and the bees issued from the third hive, and returned to the
hive without clustering. In how many days thereafter may
I expect them to issue again ?
2. I have a room in the southeast corner of my house,
with one window on the east side, and a door opening into
a small, warm hall. Would it make a suitable place in
which to winter my bees ? If so, ought the window to be
darkened entirely, and should a curtain or blanket be hung
at the door, as it does not fit very tight ? There is no way
of warming the room, except by opening the door into the
hall, but nothing ever freezes in it unless in the very cold-
est weather. New York.
Answers. — 1. Hard to tell. It depends altogether on
conditions. If the old queen was in the hive, they may
come out the next day or so, or they may not issue again
till a young queen is matured eight or ten days later. It is
possible that the old queen was gone, and the swarm issued
with a young queen, returning because the young queen
could not fly, or for some other reason ; in which case they
may come out any time within two or more days, when
another young queen is matured. It is also possible that a
young queen was present and that the swarm was merely
something like an escort for the young queen when she
took her wedding-trip, and no further swarming will take
place. So the full answer is that there may be no further
issue, and that there may be one on any one of the follow-
ing sixteen days.
Building Up Colonies for Winter— Buying Bees.
1. I have an apiary of six colonies. I purchased three
large swarms two weeks ago, for $3.00. and hived them in
Hubbard hives, and I think they have stored SO pounds of
honey each. I have three others that are not doing so
well ; they are weak in numbers. How can I build them up
for winter ? I take the American Bee Journal and think it
is a great help ; I also have Prof. Cook's " Bee-Keepers'
Ouide." I am very new in the business, and need all the
help I can get.
2. I can purchase colonies of black bees at $1.00 each, or
can purchase this year's swarms in good, standard hives at
$3.00 each. Which would be better to purchase, the early
swarms at S3. 00, or wait till next season and get them at
Sl.OO ? I want to go into the business heavy next season.
Virginia.
Answers. — So many things are to be taken into
account, that it would almost take a book to tell all the
diff^erent things it is possible might be done in order that
your weak colonies have the very best chance to build up
strong for winter. As the most valuable piece of advice in
the case, I should say the very first thing is to study care-
fully your text-book. Then you will be competent to judge
what is the best thing to do much better than one who has
no opportunity to see the bees. It is quite possible tliat
nothing need be done but to let the bees alone; and that
they will of themselves build up^strong for winter. See
that each has a good laying queen. If you find four to six
of the brood-combs mostly tilled with worker-comb, it is
likely no interference is needed. If you find everything
not all right in this respect, it may be that something is
wrong with the queen, and that she should be replaced.
2. If I understand you rightly, you can get colonies in
hives now for S3. 00, and next year you can get the swarms
when they issue, without any hives, for SlOO each. It is
hard tc^ tell which would be best. Possibly a compromise
might be a good thing, getting half the number now. and
filling out the quota with next year's swanns.
Pays to Get Fresh Blood— Bee Veils and Gloves.
1. I have a few swarms of bees, the most of which I
gave Italian queens, which I purchased from an Iowa
breeder last year, because it was not far to mail them, and
I am well pleased with them, they having built up very
strong colonies of good workers. I intend to buy some
more queens this year, and the question is. Shall I buy
from the same place, or from somewhere else, so as to get
new blood in my apiary ? What would be your advice ?
2. I have a veil I made myself that I like the best of
any I have seen. I first take a straw hat with medium rim,
then I get a piece of common window-screen about eight
inches wide and long enough to go around the rim of the
hat, and sew the ends together ; then sew a piece of cloth
over the top a little loose, so the crown of the hat will set
up in the cloth ; then sew a piece of mosquito net or cheese-
cloth on the bottom about 14 inches wide ; slip the hat
inside, and put it on and button the coat or vest over the
bottom, and it is bee-proof, and will not blow against the
face nor tear easily. I find I can see better through it than
almost anything else. For gloves I take a pair of soft,
cheap leather gloves, and sew on some long wrists made of
thick cloth that will come nearly to the elbows. With this
and my bicycle guards on my pants' legs, I can handle bees
with as little fear as if they were chickens.
Minnesota.
Answers.— 1. Other things being equal, there will be
some advantage in getting in fresh blood.
2. If you make much use of a veil you may injure your
eyesight by looking through wire-cloth. If I remember
correctly, one of the veterans had a very bad time with his
eyes years ago in that very way. It is better to have a veil
that does not require either coat or vest, for bee-keeping is
too hot work a good part of the time to wear either.
i ^ Biographical. ^ I
MR. FRIEDEIWANN GREINER.
On the first page of this number appears the portrait of
Friedemann Greiner, one of the American Bee Journal's
best contributors.
His love for insects and insect life manifested itself
early in his younger days. As a boy of six or seven he
well remembers spending hours and hours at the old bee-
shed of his grandpa's, watching the bees go in and out of
the straw-skeps ; and what pleasure it afforded him ! The
school-lessons, and he regrets to say hours, were clean for-
gotten many a time. Too often did he have to hear the
chiding words from the teacher when his home study had
been neglected: " Well, Greiner had to take his grand-
father's bees out to pasture ; couldn't attend to his study."
Mr. Greiner was not all concentrated in bees, but other
insects shared likewise. His collections of butterflies, bugs
and beetles aroused the envy of his schoolmates. Many
days did he spend in the search of rare caterpillars, which,
when captured, were fed daily with such food — leaves,
plants, etc. — as comprised their accustomed food. When
finally the caterpillar had gotten its growth, spun its
cocoon, it was with much anxiety that the forthcoming of
the butterfly or moth was awaited. When this happy
moment did come, the specimen vras treated to ether, thus
killed, and then prepared for the collection. He always
knew where to find rare specimens of water-beetles, etc.
When his grandfather died, the bees went into other
hands, and for years not much thought was given them.
504
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Aug. 8, 1901.
But soon after he arrived on the shores of America, at the
age of 20 years, his interest in the little busy worker was
rekindled, and developed into a disease known otherwise as
" bee-fever."
With great enthusiasm he took up the bee-business as
his life occupation. Not being sufficiently conversant with
the English language, the German bee-literature was
studied first. Standard works and bee-keeping periodicals
were read through. Bee-keeping was gone into with great
anticipations and enthusiasm. Finally, the study of the
American bee-literature was taken up, and, by reading the
leading bee-papers regularly, he tried to keep up with the
procession.
Two hundred colonies are the most he has owned at
one time, keeping them in several apiaries. Two years
were also spent in Virginia in search of a more favorable
location for bees. He finally decided to stay in New York,
where he owns a small farm devoted principally to fruit-
growing.
Mr. Greiner's anticipations to become rich through bee-
keeping, did not materialize, but, loving them, he sticks to
them, alwaj's having some experiment going, sometimes
being on a wild-goose chase, sometimes after realities, but
the pleasures he secures, he says, are many times greater
than the profits.
^ The Afterthought. ^ |
The '*Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
bee-keepers' exchanges.
.Sometimes an argument is a sword which cuts both ways
when the one who uses it thinks it cuts only one way. Mr. C.
A. Hatch, in arguing for exchanges, says it is only when the
soldier ceases to be an individual that the army becomes a
power. That sounds conclusive — perhaps is conclusive — but
those of us who value our individuality too much to give it up
might quibble a little thus : The British soldier is more an
individual than the Russian soldier ; the American soldier is
more an individual than the British soldier; and the Boer sol-
dier is more an individual than the American. We do not
consider the above succession a diminuendo, but the opposite.
And is it not true that the individuality of the Boer is the
very thing that makes him terrible ? Now if the Russian and
German armies overdo the business of taking away individual
initiative, may it not happen that our bee-keepers' exchange
will do the same thing?
REPUTATION AS A HUMORIST.
I shall get a reputation as a humorist if the proof-reader
keeps on helping me. On page 473, in the place of ■' 800
years "during which the family was to abstain from honey
read— something else — probably simply for years. Also in-
stead of punctured with dead flies read punctuated with dead
flies.
SWEET CLOVER.
The Wisconsin Farmers' reply about sweet clover, on page
397, seems to me to be, in the main, a calm and reasonable
article. Being brief it did not detail the good points as we
might have done. I fear that rejoinders like Mr. Abbott's are
loo well calculated to make the great, big outside world of
mankind think that we are a small group of cranks — cranks
incapable of recognizing beans, when the ligature of the bag
has been duly loosened before our eyes. Many years ago I
introduced sweet clover into our garden. For most of the
time it did practically no harm — that is to say, made me little
if any more work than the other plants would, which, in the
absence of the sweet clover, would have been claiming the
same space. Quite recently it has made itself a sad nuisance
in the ground occupied by asparagus and winter onions and
strawberries. Too tough to hoe out, or chisel out, too strong
to pull, and with multiplying powers like the potato bug's.
This power gradually to fit itself into new situations is a
dangerous one. In my early enthusiasm for sweet clover I
sowed some by the roadside (not beyond my father's estate,
however) and to the best of my knowledge not one plant from
that sowing ever came to bloom. But after say a dozen years
it began of itself to travel out from the garden along the
road, and is now abundant for quite a distance.
DR. MrLLER AND HIS 70 YEARS.
And so our beloved Dr. Miller, senior member of the staff,
is seventy years old. The burden of declining years is but.
poorly got rid of by pretty speeches, but we will hope that th&
" labor and sorrow " of which Moses speaks so pathetically
may be specially lightened in his case by that Power which
overshadows and holds all our lives. It turned out so in
Moses' own case. Moses probably wrote that psalm when he
was a little past seventy, expecting the next ten years to b&
weary ones, with death somewhere near. It turned out that
he didn't begin to live on a grand scale until he was eighty,
and that he finally died at a hundred and twenty without his
eyes being dim. Courage and cheer, O comrade ! When on
earth heaven shall be open, and the servants of God ascend
and descend upon the Son of Man, you and I shall come from
one of the planets of Alpha Centauri, where we have been tell-
ing good news (and introducing bees ?). and our eyes shall not
J)e dim, and our hands shall not tremble. Pages 401 and
402.
BREEDING BEES.
It looks possible, dear " boss," that a cross between poor-
looking hybrids and five-banders might result in three-banded
bees — to the confusion of the purity rule. Let's not be too
sure of it, however, till some reliable observer has seen it.
From what we know of crossing, and its relations to sporting,
we would be much more likely to get a colony of all stripes
and colors from five bands to none — no evenness in anything.
Page 408.
HOW TO " SPOT " DKONE-COSIBS.
Red spot painted on the bar right over a patch of drone-
comb. Thanks, Mr. Doolittle. Those who wish to do the
utmost in the line of controlling drones will do well to take
heed. Page 403.
^ The Home Circle. ^ \
Conducted bu Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
RECREATION.
If the various home circles could now (July 17), look in
upon me and mine at this delightful vacation time, no one would
wonder at my theme which I bring into the homes to-day. Where
are we ? Away up among the Sierra Madre mountains. While
we read daily of the terrible heat in all the Eastern cities, I
am writing this early morning with my heavy winter overcoat
about me, and half wishing it were warmer. While our
friends of Kansas are mourning because the rain comes not,
our tent is pitched close by a rapid mountain stream, whose
waters, fed by the snows hard by. are as cold as they are pure
and refreshing. As we lie in our beds, the rippling waters,
as they dance over the rocks, sing to us all the night long.
This swift-running mountain stream divides just above where
we have fixed our vacation sojourn, so that they hem us in,
and we are really on an island. The little valley in which our
rest-days are flying so rapidly by, that we sigh that the end
will come so soon, are so heavily wooded that both shade and
seclusion are ever awaiting those who wish to enjoy them.
The great mountains, which shut us in on all sides, are also
heavily wooded, and we rejoice constantly in the soft, green
landscape which holds us in its embrace.
Northwest of us is " Old Baldy," which reaches nearly
11,0U0 feet skyward. Its snowy summit is only sixteen miles
away, and tomorrow our party of eighteen are. to scale its
heights. It is a cool, delightful, restful place.
I think I have before counted our Southern California
blessings in these home papers. The marvelous scenery every-
where ; high mountains, grand as beautiful ; lovely valleys
verdant with alfalfa fields, and resplendent with beautifully
kept orchards : incomparable climate, which knows no winter,
no sunstroke, but which hands forth warmth and sunshine
every week the year through ; delicious water that comes pure
and sparkling right from the mountain rocks. If typhoid
germs, or other taint from water, ever come to blight our
Southern California homes, it will speak of gross neglect or
carelessness in the homes that are shadowed ; most luscious
fruits, our party right from our own orchards and gardens
bring for our refreshing — oranges, lemons, poraolas, plums,
apricots, apples, peaches, and I might have added strawber-
ries, blackberries, raspberries and nectarines. And all these
Aug. 8, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
505
so sweet and delicious that they nearly melt in the mouth ;
and, as I usually say, best of all, a grand, true, splendid citi-
zenship. Doubtless God miaht have made a better people
than sojourns in our beloved sunkissed California, but doubt-
less God never did.
This usually completes iny summary, but I desire to add
another. Almost all our Southern California homes are so
close by sea and mountain that either are within a day's
journey by horse, or a few hours by cars. Thus if heat does
>'ome, we can flee its presence, and bathe in the clear, pure
delightful mountain air, or the warm, refreshing water of the
ever restless Pacific. This is no mean advantage. How
many hundreds of homes and hearts have been recently sad-
dened in the East, as drouth. hurried on by the crushing heat,
has snatched the loved ones, forever away. Here such crises
never come to menace, for at the seashore, or in the moun-
tains, we are safe — always safe — from their evil work. I
hardly know which I enjoy most, the wondrous air of the
mountains, or the luring breeze and bracing waters of the
ocean. When here, I think the mountains hold forth superior
charm ; when there, the sea seems to ofifer most that enamors,
and invigorates. Either is delightsome, and we rejoice with
fervent thanksgiving that we can taste so easily and often of
both.
Do we in all our home circles think enough of recreation ?
We are a very earnest people. So intense are we in our busi-
ness that I fear we often lose sight of the good that may come
from the picnic, the camping out, the mountain sojourn, or
the weeks by the seashore. We are so fashioned, that the
wheels of our human machinery run more smoothly, and will
of a surety run longer, if we trend them ever and anon in
different grooves. .lust as the stomach wakes to greater
strength and added energy when given a variety to work
upon, so the whole body craves new scenery, new activities,
a halt in the everyday round : and a push into work or play
that recreates, because new and fresh.
Let us all, in every home circle, plan as best we may to
find time to break from the usual routine of work and duty,
and in some forest, or by some lakeside, alone, or better, with
other families, seek out a different life, and thus make the
young younger, and carry youth into old age. And more than
this, we will find that we will come back to the usual duties
with so much of added strength and vigor that oftentimes we
shall soon more than make up for the days of absence, as we
will easily do more and better work.
In planning our outing, let us not only arrange for pleas-
ant friends, and wholesome fellowship, but plan for games,
music, and reading. Last night we met with many other
campers, and had a splendid concert. A piano had in some
way reached this retreat, and we did sing with genuine spirit.
I heard more than one say as we said our adieus, " It has been
the pleasantest time since we came." For the children. Cap-
tain January, Dear Daughter Dorothy, and .lohn Halifax Gen-
tleman, will be a valuable part of the company. Fishlines,
croquet balls, and hammocks galore, should not be forgotten.
Let us all remember about .Tack and the all work and no play,
and endeavor to make the too just criticism of our English
friends — that we think too little of rest, recreation and a good
time — less true.
THOUQHTFULNESS.
There are few things that will reveal character like a few
weeks' camping. We soon find that some of our party are so
thoughtful, so helpful, that we could not have spared them.
They are always just where needed ; they are ever planning,
and successfully, to make all more happy. They are so handy
in fashioning the conveniences about the camp, so fertile in
preparing meals, so handy in keeping all neat and tidy, that
they really are like "a thing of beauty." Were I a young
man or woman, and in pursuit of information regarding the
character and temperament of some special person of the
opposite sex, I should arrange to be for a month in a camping
party with them.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at Sl.OO.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we oifer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
.*-♦-♦.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year tti advatice,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
Combined Desk and Book-Case
!, Mj-in. high, 36 i
1** in. deep.
Price, .$13.7
The Combination Desk
vc J?c and Book^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
Tti6 Royal Star Goiiibinalion ^
Game-Board Co., %^
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO. ILL.
[The above firm is entirely reliable. — Editor.]
*5" Please meniiou the Bee Journal
Ladies' Desk.
Size, 40 in. Uig-h, 25 in. wide, 15
in. deep.
I'riic, Sa.S.-i.
#
->^Ȥ
^
To Our Shippers : f
506 AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL. Aug. s, i90i.
I ADVERTISEMENT. |
We were obliged to notify you a few weeks ago that one Joseph M. ^^
McCaul had leased our old quarters at Nos. 120-122 West Broadway, New ^
York City, and had there started up business under the name "HiLDRETH, ^<.
McCaul Co., " and had distributed a multitude of circulars so worded as to ^^
create the impression that his business was a successor to or a branch of ^^
the business of Hildreth & Segelken. ^
For the protection of our shippers and ourselves, we at once instruc- ^^
ted our attorne}^ to commence action to enjoin the said McCaul from using
the name HiLDRETH in any manner whatsoever in connection with his busi-
ness. On the 10th day of July, 1901, Hon. David McAdam, Justice of the
Supreme Court of the State of New York, after a full argument upon the
merits, issued a peremptory injunction, of which the following is an
extract :
.j^^ "And it appearing that the plaintiffs have for a long time been and now are carrying on busi- ^!^
S; ness under the style of • Hildreth & Segelken,' and that the defendant has recently opened a business tT
->^^ at 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, and is carrying on the ^^<-
jS same under the style of ' Hildreth, McCaul Co.,' and that such act is in violation of the plaintiffs' «
-^^^ rights, and that the commission or continuance thereof, during the pendenc.v of this action will pro- ^^^
duce irreparable injury to the plaintiffs ; it is ^^
ORDERED that the defendant (Joseph M. McCaul) and each of his agents, servants and em- >^^
j^i plojees and all other persons acting under his authority and direction be, and he and they are here- ^Su.
'^ by restrained and enjoined from showing, displaying or otherwise using during the pendency of this ^'
■>j^^ action in or upon any papers, devices, sign or signs, or otherwise, in the business conducted by the ^^
^^ the defendant at No. 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, or i.
'»^^ elsewhere the name of " Hildreth " separately or conjunctively with any other name, designation or ^^
JL description,"
^
^
Outside of our desire in our own interests to protect the name which
we have built by years of satisfactory dealings with our customers, we
hastened to procure this injunction as soon as possible, to prevent our
■*^ shippers from being misled into sending their goods to one who would
■»^ make an attempt to gain their trade by such a trick and device. ^<-
•^^ With thanks for the many expressions of good-will we have received ^r
j^h from our shippers concerning this attempt to trade under our name, we ^<.
^ are. Sincerely yours, ^
f Hildreth & Segelken,
265-267 Greenwich Street, NEW YORK, N. Y.
f iease mention Bee j ournal wtien writing.
%.
Aug. 8, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
507
A Fine Honey-Flow.
My bees were just able to make a living up
to .juneiS; since then we have had a fine
honey-flow from basswood and sumac. I will
have lOtK) sections from this flow, and at this
date about oue-half has been sold ri-rht at
home. L. B. McDaxiei..
Athens Co., Ohio, July i'J.
Bees Carrying Eggs Down.
Is this anyling new ; Two weeks ago I
noticed a colony of my bees, which had
swarmed in the spring, -had failed to provide
themselves a queen, so, as they had a super
on, I experimented by cutting a comb about
a stiuare inch containing eggs from another
colony, and grafting it in one of the sections
in the i|ueenless colony's hive. Three days
later I looked at the job. and the eggs were
gone. To-day I looked among the brood-
frames, and found a little patch of sealed
brood about an inch square, and a queen-cell
nearly ready to hatch. Clear case of carrying
Ijrood (or eggs) down, isn't it *
Walker Co., Ala., .July 13. R. V. Goss.
Best Honey-Year— Swarming.
This is the best honey-year we have had in
northern New York for three j'ears. There is
lots of white clover and basswood. It has
been almost impossible to stop swarming ;
when I returned them, the second night, they
would come out again, so I lift up the back
part of the hive and run them in that way,
and they almost always stay. I have not had
a swarm come out when put back in that
manner. J. S. Deax.
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., July 11.
Very Dry in Indian TePFitopy.
The bees here in Cherokee Nation are doing
nothing on account of dry weather. Out of
48 colonies, spring count, I got 4 swarms.
The bees loaf and cover the hives. I have
raised the hives an inch from the bottom-
board. If cotton-bloom has any honey there
ought to be great quantities of surplus, as no
swariidng has made them very strong. So
far this season we have had nothing for them
to gather. If the cotton proves a failure, not
half the bees will have enough to winter on.
The hot winds are burning everything up.
The fruit burns or bakes on the trees ; corn
and grass look as if a heavy frost had struck
them. The leaves on the trees are falling
like in October. The oldest people living
never knew the rivers and streams so low, and
many are dry. The Indians are " conjuring ''
and burning great bonfires and all the big
drifts on the rivers, for rain. All over the
Indian country there is almost a total failure
of crops, and unless it rains in a very short
time corn and grass will burn up.
R. N. Cr.\ft(in.
Cherokee Nation. Ind. Ter., Jnlv IH.
A Report from Arizona.
On page 43.t we read what Editor Root says
about the heat of Arizona, which probably is
correct, but I deaire to call attention to the
fact that there is just 31P degrees difference in
the effect of the heat between a damp and a
dry atmosphere. At Chicago, my former
home, or in most of the Northern States, if
you wrap a thermometer with a damp cloth
it will register about the same, but here it
will drop 31) degrees. I am now making but-
ter by keeping the milk in a cupboard out-
doors, with a tank on top filled with water,
which drips down on burlap on all sides; the
air passing through the damp cloth lowers
the temperature.
I have been running the extractor eon-
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and Queens?
2-fraine Nucleus with L'ntested Queen, $2.o>),
purchaser paying express charges.
Naperville, 111., May 28, 1901.
De.ak Sik:— Bees arrived in good condition.
Transferred them to hive and gave them honey.
Have reinforced them with hatching brood.
Are working when not too cold. Have right
color, and are satisfactory. D. B. Givlek.
I like vour way of packing bees to express.
E. K. Meredith, Batavia, 111.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $."5 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.2S 6.50 10.00
Select Tested 2.00 0.00 16 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.txi $7.00
Tested 1.25 6,50 10.00
Select Tested 1.50 7.00 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCMER, Pearl City, III.
28Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
WorkfaxMoFonnilatioiiForCasli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, tree on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Bees, Queens,
...AND BELGIAN HARES...
IE have some choice
stock FOR SALE at
these prices until
the close of the season :
One Untested Queen $ .60
One Tested Queen 80
One select Tested Queen 1.00
OneBreeder l.SO
One Comb Nucleus,
(no (iue?n l.OO
One Pair Belgian Hares. 3.tXi
Write for Catalog.
<J. L. STRONG. Clarinda, Page Co.. Iowa.
32Alt Please mention the Bee Journal.
QUEEMS
Now readv to supply by returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED 1 : 1
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colon V.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the' GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. Thev have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each: 6 for $4.00.
REDCLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, SI each; 6
for $5. Safe Akki\-ai. tluARANXEED.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas, F. Muth,
2146 & 2148 Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for Root's Goods
Bee-Supplies, at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
IT'S NO TROUBLE
fnr US to tell why PAGE F.-ii.i-s nnthirt othi-rs, n.ir
wLy they stay up and di tn' I ^:il'. Ask us.
I'AtJK HdVKX WIltK FI;N( 1 (O., AltltlAN, >ll(il.
Please mentloa Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
tiiiiially while the thernioiueter has been reg-
istering from 104 to 114 degrees for the past
three weeks. The frames must be wired to
e.vtract when over 110 degrees.
The niesquite was only half a crop this
year, and as last year was very dry the bee-
keepers lost heavily in bees, by the queens
dying from old age, and the drones having
been killed early. The young queens failing
to mate caused heavy losses, hence the honey
crop this year must be short.
The bee-keepers held a meeting and decided
not to ship any honey until it will bring what
it ought to be wcjrth. The banks advance
money to all wh(j must have cash to meet
present needs. Eastern bee-keepers need not
fear our demoralizing the price of honey. In
the first place, we haven't more than half
a crop ; secondly, we propose to hold what we
have until it brings a fair price.
Water for irrigation is now scarcer than
was ever known, and the country is over-
stocked with cattle, hence no more alfalfa
bloom for this year, unless heavy rains come
soon. B. A. Hadsell.
Maricopa Co., Ariz., July 18.
Poor Honey Season.
It is an awfully poor honey season here; I
will get but little comb honey. It was too
wet and cool until about the last of June and
first of July, then it was too hot. We are
now having a wet time, and our wheat is cut
and unshocked. I have a large crop of wheat,
but little hauled in. My hay and corn prom-
ise a large crop. L. A. Hammond.
Washington Co., Md., July 15.
Good Season for Honey.
So far it has been a good season for honey,
plenty of rain and the most hot weather I
remember ever seeing in one season — tempera-
ture from 100 to 106 in the shade a number of
days during the past two weeks, yet the bees
are storing honey very fast. I have about
300 pounds ready to take off, and shall com-
mence to take off to-day.
I started in the spring with nine colones. I
now have '20 strong and good, and several colo-
nies have cast two swarms each, and. be-
sides, have filled from 24 to 36 one-pound sec-
tions. Several of the after-swarms have filled
the hive and are working in the boxes. One
old colony has cast three swarms, stored 36
pounds of section honey, and are now filling
the second supers. S. B. Smith.
Millelacs Co.. Minn., July 22.
Management for Little of No
Increase.
Of course, there will always be more or less
weak colonies in the spring, but never rob the
good ones of brood to build up the poor ones.
Hive your apple-blossom swarms in the hives
in which colonies have died during winter.
The brood reared in these combs will be
clover workers in late June and July.
Real swarming will usually begin before
the full honey-flow, frequently two weeks, or
even more. These swarms should be hived iit
tlie weak colonies, after removing and caging
the queens in the weak colonies, and given
plenty of room in the surplus chamber. The
next day, between noon and 3 p.m., when
most of the old bees are in the field, remove
all queen-cells from the colony from which
the swarm issued, smoke thoroughly, and
turn the caged queen loose on the combs.
The former weak colony is now one of the
best in the yard, and the colony from which
the swarm "issued, having been supplied im-
mediately with a laying queen, in two weeks'
time, or less, is about as good as ever. Colo-
nies so treated will rarely swarm again dur-
ing the season; but don't forget to give
lilenty of surplus room.
Continue thus until all the colonies in the
apiary are ready for a rush of honey at an
hour's notice, or less. Then, if a slight in-
crease in the number of colonies is desired,
remove one-halt the brood from the colony
that swarms, till up with comb foundation
and rehive on the old stand, raise the front
of the hive one-half inch for ventilation, and
place the removed combs in a hive on a new
508
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug. 8, 1901.
stand. The next colony that swarms treat in
the same manner, and place the brood re-
moved in a hive close beside that taken from
the former hive. Give these nuclei ripe cells
from your best colonies, and when both
queens have laid their brood-chambers full,
remove one queen and unite. This is now a
first-class colony at once. The surplus queen
should now take the place of the poorest one
in the yard.
Should no increase be desired, hive as be-
fore, and set the brood one side. Hive the
ne.ft swarm that issues also with this swarm
by shaking the bees down a yard from the
entrance, and catching the queen as she
attempts to run in. Return her to the hive
from which she came, and give her the extra
brood from the other colony. \ow place
plenty of sections on the double colony, give
plenty of ventilation, and you will be sur-
prised at the honey stored in a brief time.
Should the season warrant, in about one
week contract No. 2 to six combs and put on
sections.
Usually a heavy run of honey (here at least)
coming on suddenly puts a stop to swarming.
I have known more than one-half of my colo-
nies to start cells on a light run of buck-
wheat honey, but the main crop coming with
a rush has prevented a single swarm issuing.
If in a locality where there is a run of buck-
wheat, or other honey, rom the middle of
August through September, do not let brood-
rearing slacken after clover, but keep all
queens busy, as only eggs laid before July 20
can be of much account for such a honey-flow ;
also, know approximately the date of com-
mencement of the different honey-periods,
and remember that it is work done by the
queens five or more weeks previous, and" not
during the honey-flow, that gives the surplus,
and that at the commencement of a honey-
flow every cell in the brood-nest should eon-
tain a young bee, so that the surplus has to be
stored in the supers.
Be ready for the season, and when your
time is worth from five to ten or more dollars
per day in the apiary, don't be caught any-
where else. Wm. W. Case.'
Hunterdon Co., N. .J.. .July 1.=).
Beginning Bee-Keeping Again.
The spring and winter of IDtlO I lo.st all of
my bees from some cause, and became dis-
couraged and stopped all of my bee-papers
except the "(Jld Reliable." I have again
made a start in bees, buying two colonies in
box -hives, and increased to six in movable-
frame hives. I have 25 hives and fixtures that
I made two years ago when the wreck came.
We have an old-time honey season now, the
first in four years. If it doesn't get too dry
it will be a glorious honey-year. I took oft
some fine honey yesterday— the first in two
years, and you may be sure, Mr. York, it
tasted good. You can imagine a lover of nice
clover honey, and don't think he was not
.thankful. F. McBride.
Hardin Co., Ohio, .July 21.
Harvest Rich, But Short.
The honey harvest has been rich, but rather
short. At the beginning of the white clover
bloom the weather was cool and wet, and the
flowers did not yield much nectar, but after
a while it turned warm, and the bees made
up for lost time. With the yield of honey
the bees commenced to swarm. I have not
had so much swarming for a long time. I
have several large colonies, where two prime
swarms went together. I put two of them on
scales, and kept a record for several dajs.
One was hived .June IS on empty combs in a
10-frame Langstroth hive, with two upper
stories filled with nine combs each. On the
morning of Junelil they weighed 91 pounds;
June 20, 96 pounds, the day being cloudy aud
showery: June 21, clear and warm, 'llB'..
pounds; June 22, 12.5'; pounds; June 28, ln'l
pounds.
The other was hived on empty frames with
two surplus cases of 32 one-pound sections
each, filled with comb foundation ; weight on
the morning of June 22, 111 pounds; June 23,
114 pounds; and June 24, 122 pounds.
I had 29 colonies to start with, but there
was enough honey in the fields for 200 colo-
XJN"TE3STE3r>
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, vfith $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at $1.00, and
25 cts., we will mail you free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St.,
CHICAGO, ILL.
Steel Wheels
Staggered Oval Spokes.
Jml A SET TO FIT YOUR NEW OR OLD WACOi
CHEAPEST AND BEST
el, any width tire. Catal. FREE.
^Electric Wbeel Co., Box 16 Ouiccy. 1U»
Please mention Bee Journal vrhen ■writing-
BEES
WAX
We will piiy 2(ii-. i':isli, jmt Hi. for
pure, briKht yi-lhiw liieswiix,
;ind 20c. casli. per Ih. fur pure,
dark beeswax d<li\t'rcd Lure.
Chamberlain Meuicine Co,
l>i's Moines. Iowa.
^ied,..t- iiieiuiuu itie Bee Journal.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
niestohave cUjiie eciually well. Last .year I
had 15 colonies, and it was all they could do
to get one-half as much honey.
Since the close of the white clover harvest
the ijees have been working some ou red
clover, not alone the long-tougued, but also
the short-tongued, the 5-banded and 3-banded.
hyl)rids, and other bees. In fact, bees will
work to some extent on red clover in this
part of the country for a few days every year,
if they have the right kind of weather.
Say, Mr. Editor, if we stretch the bees'
tongues is there no danger that we may
shorten their stings ?
The weather is extremely hot and dry at
present, the thermometer ranging here from
100 to 108 degrees in the shade. My bees are
expo.sed to all the rays of the sun ; there are
no shade-trees over them. In ordinary warm
weather they usually hang out. but this is too
much tor them, and during the heat of the
day they all go into the hive and come out
again as the day draws to a close. How they
keep the combs from melting down is more
than I can understand. My hives are painted
white, are set on pos
and the grass and weed:
a lawn-mower. The
the old style "'.^inch, telescoped caps, resting
on cleats like the Dadant hive.
I have extracted 1460 pounds, with about
•JOO pounds more on the hives; and I took off
•-'00 one-pound sections, with 120 more to take-
off as soon as the weather gets a little cooler.
Fkei) Bechlt.
Poweshiek Co., Iowa. .Fuly 2'j.
\
id. My hives are painted ,,
osts about 4 inches high, ii
eeds are kept down with I
i covers of my hives are- ||
Question on " Jouncing " Bees.
I am quite taken with Mr. C. Davenport's-
" jouncing" out the bees (page 420). I find
that a frame B'*„xir''K solid full of honey,
lifted from a fourth 10-inch story, is more
than I can manage to shake the bees out of
into the hive. Perhaps an old and experi-
enced bee-keeper could. Then, a hive with
10 such frames has quite a tendency to
" jounce " down on the ground, when lifted
from its resting place, and to attempt to furry
it to the honey-house — I would rather wheel
00 such frames in a cart. But there, to me,
appear difficulties. I sometimes find a frame
with just a little rim of honey over the top,
and the balance of the frame full of unsealed
brood and eggs, or perchance a nice queen-
cell. I do not want to injure, nor do I want
to put them through the extractor or
"jounce;" while some of the frames in the
same story are full of honey that ought to
come out. Then, again, not using an ex-
cluder the queen may be in any story, and, of
course, " jounced " out with the rest, or pos-
siljly carried to the honey-house. Isn't she
liable to be lost, and not get back into the hive i
In brushing them off she is of course brushed
off with the rest into the hive, but when
there are 2, .3 or 4 stories (and I would use
still more if I could handle them so high), a&
each story is emptied it is set off on the
ground to get at the one below — a frame I do
not want to extract from is left in the hive. 1
have occasionally found the queen turn up
missing. How would Mr. D. do in such
cases ?
This is my first experience with bees, and I
am after all the information I can get on bees
and their management. All I have learned of
bees so tar I have gotten from text-books and
bee-papers. As to papers, something new is
coming up in every paper, and I want to
know all about them. I met a man a few
days ago who said he had been keeping bees
six years — said he had been taking a certain
bee-paper, but had quit : intimating that the
papers could not teach him anytliing. Where
do vou class such a man ! A. J. Burns.
San Diego Co., Calif., .luly 10.
Northern Italian Queens I
Keared from Imported Hothers.
Our stock is so carefully bred and .selected,
as to secure car-loads of honey. Localit.v free
from foul broi d aud other bee diseases. Prices:
1 untested Queen, ft. 00, 6 for $5.00; 1 tested
Queen, $1..S0, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens,
$6.00; fair imported, $5.00.
ADA L. PICKARD.
LSETt Richland center, wis.
flease mention Bee Jovimal when writing.
Aug. 8, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUBNAL,
509
] Davenportp Iowa
1 Is the nearest to vou. Send us youror-
■4 ders for Bee-Keepers' Supplies. We have
2 evervthinsr. G. I!. Lewis Co's Hives,
■< Sections, etc. Dadant's Foundalion at
1 manufacturers' prices. Send for catalog-.
•^ Louis H.\nssen's Sons, Davenport, Iowa
2SASt Mention the American Bee Journal.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool I?larl£ei» and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
bis industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAQO, ILL.
i'lease mention Bee journai "wlien ■writing,
B66§= Supplies
CATALOQ FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
• OS Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Beok
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send Jl. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal wh»^n ^xrr^iti•>\v
BEE
HIVES,SECTIONS AND ALL
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES.
Big- Catalog: Free. Write
now. Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415
Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111.
6A2tit Mention the At]
Send for circulars
regrarding'
the oldest
and most
improved and origrinal Biapham Bee-Smoker.
Fob 23 Y ears the Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell. Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writins.
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-gatheriujj stock. Tested, $1.00; un-
tested, 75 cents. " Sh.^dv Nook Atiakv."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
20A13t Sag Harbor, New York.
Please mention Bee Jonrnal when wriune.
Catnip Seed Free !
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for f 1.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for, SO cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
THE—
A Queen. Rearing Agent.
If that is the projier tt'rm to apply to the
man foutemplated in .1. U. Martin's scheme,
he is strongly endorsed l>y Mrs. A. J. Barljer in
the Rocky Mountain Bee .lournal. Referring
to the difference in bees,, she says that last
year one of her colonies produced 216 sec-
tions, two others 168 each, while the rest pro-
duced from nothing to !Hi sections each, and
continues;
Now it seems to me that if we had a kind of
iiueen-rearing station somewhere, in charge
of a competent person, that it would pay us
to look out for such queens and send them to
the place to breed queens from, thus securing
stock that had been tested as to its working
i|uality. I would gladly furnish two or three
of my Ijest queens every year for the sake ot
being able to get queens that were reared
from a really well-tested stock. I mark my
hives of the colonies that make an extra
record every year, always expecting to rear a
lot of queens " next year," Next year always
finds me just a little busier getting a honey
crop than I was the year before, so I am
lucky if I get a dozen queens from any
selected stock, after all. I would rather pay
a good price for queens from stock that had
had a practical test as honey-gatherers, than
to have the kind of queens we usually get,
given to me. If all my queens last year had
been as good as the three best, I should have
been several hundred dollars ahead. Can't
we do something along this line ? Have the
honey-producers furnish stock that has had a
practical test, and get somebody to take it tar
enough from common bees to keep them sep-
arate, and rear queens for us.
Please mentiotj Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Staying Foundation with Wood-
Splints.
B, F. Averill speaks very highly of these in
Gleanings iu Bee-Culture. His plan seems to
be an improvement on that of Dr. Miller. He
says there is no need to have the splints
waxed, although Dr. Miller says when they
were not waxed the bees tore them out. Mr.
Averill says further ;
These splints were 3-32 by 1-16, and l-i inch
longer than the inside depth ot the frames. A
saw-kerf is required in both top and bottom
bars for the insertion ot the ends ot the
splints. These should be 'g deep. No fasten-
ing is required it the sheets of foundation
touch the top-bars the entire length. Other-
wise the foundation bulges from the weight
ot a new swarm, and irregular, wavy combs
are the result. Seven splints will answer to
the frame with medium-brood foundation;
for light-brood, eight splints would probably
be required. With foundation wired from
the mill, the foundation would still have to
t]e attached to the frames; with the splints,
the foundation is put in the frames, and
securely stayed at the one operation. I could
put in fraiiies from lOU to 12.5 sheets per
hour, with the splints, and I never have seen
more perfect comljs, all things considered.
They stand extracting remarkably well. No
cracks appear in the conilts from this strain.
as with horizontal wiring. I wrote you a
few years ago about this matter, and again
am prepared to say that you can advocate the
general adoption of wood-splints for founda-
tion brood-coombs, without hesitation as to
tlieir giving any dissatisfaction.
In putting in the splints, aboard of suitable
thickness is placed inside the frame. Put
four splints in place, tlun lay on the sheets of
foundation; then put the other splints in
place, and roll them ilown with moderate
pressure. Turn the frame and roll down the
first splints; and this completes the jot>.
Bee-Keeper's Guide
Or, ITIauiial ot the Apiary,
-BY
PROF, A, J- COOIC
460 Fa^es-16th (1899) Edition-18tli Thon-
8and-$l-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing- style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
\o bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Kkepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pag-es, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding', we propose to give awav
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting- NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following- offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Bees that Have a Record
iSee page 45'' An
t Bee Journal.
Have longest tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen. By return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
ol^tf Mention the American Bee Journal.
.^MANUFACTURER OFi^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases — Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
f lease mention Bee Journal ■when writlna
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptly for Untested Queens
reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.00 for (., or. $7.50 per dozen.
Money order oflice, Warrentown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22Atf Creek. Warren Co , N. C.
Please raeutloti Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
510
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAJL
Aug. 8, 19( 1.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES ::^A:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St.,
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "Writiii^
paid
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
25 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Standard Bred Oiieens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.on.
Long=Tongued 3<=Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong-ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts-
Catalog" on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Bee Journal ■w^hen writing.
Marshfield ManHfactnriiig Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. Write for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writing.
A HANDY TOOL-HOLDER !
Sent by Express, for $1.50 ; or willi tiic Bee JournaS
one year — bolli Tor $2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller, Carpenter.
Cabinet Maker, Machinist. Wheelwright and
Quarryman. Farmer, or any one using a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work of two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will bold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chisel to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachment lor sharpening scythe
blades included iu the abore price. The work
Is done without wetting the hands or soiling
the clothes, as the water flows from the opera-
tor. Jt can be attached to any size stone for
baud or steam power, is always ready for use,
nothinar to get out of order, and Is absolutely
worth 100 times Us cost.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-liulder. Pays
'or itself in a short time, j
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool Is fas-
tened securely In the Holder by
a set-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevel by insert-
ins the arm of the Holder into
a higher or lower notch of the
standard While turning the
crank with the right band, the
left rests on an steadies the
Holder ; the Tool is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if held in th> hands.
Forgrinding Koiiiid - Edge
Tools, the holes iu the stand-
ard are used Instead of the
ootcbes
UKOROE W. YORK .V <'<»., 144 A: 14W I
Why not get out a few of these splints, and
■rive them a trial ', I am convinced that they
will meet with your approval.
Artificial Swarms.
The editor of the Rocky Mountain Bee
.Journal says:
The method we use and prefer is to place a
new hive filled with foundation starters on
the old stand ; shake off about seven-eighths
of the bees, including the queen ; put on a
super of sections filled with full sheets of
foundation. It honey is coming in the bees
will at once enter the super and work there
clear through to the end of the flow. A queen-
excluder should he placed between the super
and the brood-chamber. The old hive con-
taining the brood and remaining bees should
be moved to a new stand and given a ripe cell
or a laying queen. By this plan we get a
rousing colony composed of all the field-bees
and a large force of nurse-bees and comb-
builders. If the division is made at the l)e-
ginning of the flow, the old colony will hatch
out bees enough in 15 da.vs to be apparently
as strong as ever. With us this plan of in-
crease is preferable to natural swarming. a&
it can be attended to at lust the right time to
seriire the best results. .
Swarming, and Section lloney.
■■ Hello, Doolittle! Awful hot to-day. My
liives are covered with bees hanging out. and
1 fear they are going to have a swarming-time
iust when basswood is at its best, as it will bo
in ten days now. What method do you use
in order to keep the bees from swarming just
when it is important to keep the hives
crowded with bees in order to secure a good
yield of section honey ?"
■'You are not the first one to ask such a
question, Mr. Brown, for this is something
bee-keepers have been asking during the past
quarter of a century. If the apiarist has done
what he could to get his hives full of brood
at the proper time, he will have lots of bees
in time for the honey harvest — hives over-
flowing with bees, as you say j-ours are now.,
and in order to be successful with them, all
swarming should be done before the height
of the season arrives."
" But I supposed you did not allow your
bees to swarm, for. I am told, no large
amount of section honey can be obtained if
we let our bees swarm."
" In this you err, for the swarm and parent
colony, if rightly managed, will do fully as
much with the average bee-keeper, when just
one swarm is allowed to issue, as could be
gotten were they not allowed to swarm : and.
besides, if we tried to keep them together by
cutting out queen-cells, giving extra section-
room, etc., we would, as a rule, only delay
swarming, so it would come during the last
half of the honey harvest, when it would be
the most detrimental to our interests."
" But is there no such thing as non-swarm-
ing hives, used when working for section-
honey ?"
■• Whenever I hear men talking about non-
swarming hives in connection with producing'
see lion-honey, I feel quite a little like doubt-
ing their practical experience as apiarists."
^' Well, what is your method, if you do not
use non-swarming hives, and let your bees
swarm at will '."
■' All my early swarms ace hived singly in a.
hive having but five frames in them, contain-
ing a starter of comb foundation about half
an inch deep, and the sections are put on at
time of hiving, as five frames give hardly
room enough for a large prime swarm."
■■What do you mean by those coming-
early ?"
•• Such as come out from 10 to 15 days be-
fore the main honey harvest, which, in this-
locality [Onundaga Co., N. Y.,] is generally
from tiasswood."
■■And do all of your colonies obey and
swarm during those five or six days ?"
"No; I do not have all swarms come out
just as I might wish, but I have a different
plan of management for those that come
later, say from five to eight days before the
harvest. These later ones are united, so that
two are put in a hive filled with combs, the
Aug. 8, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
511
section-boxos being put from one of the old
colonies on tlie liive containing the united
swarms. Then this old colony is put on a
new stand, and the hive containing the two
swarms put in its place, thus giving all tlie
field-bees from this colony, in addition to the
two swarms, which makes a colony which
will do wonderful work during the honey
harvest, a colony from which I take 100. 150.
and even 200 one-pound sections of the
choicest of honey, according as the season
proves.'"
" But what about the queens I Do you let
both go in with the double swarms T'
"No. The queens, having their wings
clipped, give me the power of disposing of
them as I think best, and so I let the queen
go back with the colony which was moved
to a new stand, and allow the one from the
colony not moved to go with the united
swarms. The moved colony losing not only
the swarm, but also all of its field-bees, feels
so poor that the queen-cells are torn down,
and all idea of swarming is given up; but
this colony soon picks up from the multitu-
dinous emerging brood, so that often it will
do quite good work in the sections."'
" But will there not be alter-swarms from
the other parent colony '.''
"The hive furnishing the queen for the
doubled swarms is not disturbed in eight
days, at which time the first young queen will
have emerged from her cell, when the hive
should be opened and all queen-cells de-
stroyed, which will entirely prevent any
attempt at second or after swarming.'"
" But if all have not swarmed up to within
a day or two of the opening of the harvest,
what do you do with them — keep on uniting
two swarms ?"
"No. All that have not swarmed at the
commencement of the honey harvest are made
to swarm in this manner : A liive is filled
with frames of empty combs, or those par-
tially or whollj' full of honey, and placed
upon the stand of one of the colonies which
has not swarmed, and all the sections are
taken off and placed thereon ; then all the
bees are shaken and brushed off their combs
of brood and honey in front of this prepared
hive. Thus we have the queen, bees, partly
filled sections, etc., which make a colony
ready for business at once. Previous to this
a few nuclei should have been started, so that
we may have the needed laying queens to use.
Now take all the combs from which the bees
were brushed except one. arrange them in
the hive, carrying it to the stand of another
colony which has not swarmed. Next take
the comb of lirood which was left out. and go
to a nucleus, taking out the frame having the
laying queen on it. and put the coiubof brood
in its place. Take the frame (bees, queen,
and all) and set it in the place left vacant for
it when arranging the combs of brood. Put
on the sections, and when all is complete
move the colony, not having swarmed, to a
new stand, and set the prepared hive in its
place. Thus we have a laying queen and
enough of her own bees to protect her. combs
full of brood, and all of the field or old bees
from the removed colony, which make a col-
ony that is ready to go into the sections in a
very few days. The removed colonj' has sim-
ply lost the old or field bees, so as to stop the
swarming impulse, and in a week will be
ready for work in the sections again."
" That sounds good, and I believe I will try
some of my colonies that way. But don't
you tliink non-swarming would be desirable
under any circumstances ?"
■' Yes, I certainly do, especially for out-
apiaries. We have many of our best bee-
keepers at work in the matter, and I fully
expect that, before the year 192.5 shall be
ushered in, something of universal value will
have been brought out for the benefit of the
fraternity. But the above is as good as any-
thing in sight at present for the home apiary,
such as yours." — G. M. Doolittle, in Glean-
ings in Bee-Culture.
ALBINO QUEENS I'JZZ^eL'^-^r^Z
want tbe ireotlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-patherers vou ever saw — trv rav Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, $1.00;' Tested. 11.50.
iiA26t J. D, GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when, "writing.
6ee= Books
George W. York & Go.
Chicaso.
Bees and Honey, or Manag-ement of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. Nevr-
man.— Uis nicelv illustrated, contains 160pag-es,
beautifully printed in the hig-hest style of the
art, and bjund in cloth, ^^old-lettered. Price, in
£loth, 75 cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fnUy illustrated. It
treats of everj-thing relating to bees and bee-
keeping-. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. V.
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?.ry,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
orav and physiologv of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practicallv Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle. -A method by which
the very best of queeii-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's wa3'. Bouud in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
piedia of 4(i0 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
Yon should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, ^ cents.
Rational Bee- Keeping;, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-cnlture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, $1.00.
B!enen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— ThU
is a tiernian translation of the principal portion
of the book called '' Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Honiggewlnnung, nach der
neuesten methode (German) by J. F. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive stj-le, with illustrations to suit the subject.
SO pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of tieorgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Qee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G. L. Tinker.
— Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
*^ new system, or how to get the largest j-ields of
comb or extracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman.—
Devotes two pages to a C".»lonv. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for SO colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in IJee-Keeping, by G. R,
Pierce.— Result of 25 year>' experience. 30 cts.
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing. bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others.— Illustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus h.iw to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 04 pages. Price, 20c.
Out Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fanny
Field.— Everything about Poultry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and i'oultry for Profit, b*
■"anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
business. 04 pages. Price, 20 cents.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you witii The A. I. Koot Cu's
poods at wholesale or ret ml iit their prices. We can
save you freight, and t^h\]> promptly. Market price
paid tor beeswax. Serul tnr our 1901 catalog.
M. U. HUNT &80N, Bell Britnch. Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writinft
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, July IS.— Choice white comb honey
is arriving rather more freely and brings 15c.
There is no accumulation at this writing, as re-
ceipts sell within a week after arriving, some of
them on the same day. Amber grades bring
about 12c. Extracted dull and slow of sale at
anything over 5i'_' 5J^c. Beeswax steady at 3iic
with good demand. R, A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
honey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from ^ to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, June 20.— There is practically no
comb honey in our market, and owing to warm
weather very little call for it. Are expecting
some new comb early next month. Market for
extracted dull, at 6J4@7!^c.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Omaha, May 1.— Comb honey, extra white,
24-f rame cases, per case, $3.40; No. 1, $3.25; am-
ber, $3.00. Peycke Bros.
New York, July 8— Our market is practically
bare of comb honey, and demand good for white
comb. Fancv stock sells readily at 15c: No. 1
■white at from 13@l4c, and amber at ll@12c. Ex-
tracted not in much demand, with plenty of
supply; white, 6@64c; light amber, 5^c; dark,
4J^@5c. Beeswax firm at 2*^c.
HlLDRETH & SbGELKEN.
Albany, N. Y., June IS.— Honey market is
dull with no receipts or stocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R. Wright.
Detroit, July IS.— Fancy white, 15c; No. 1,
13@l4c: no dark to quote.. Extracted, white,
6(jp7c; dark and amber, 5^6c. Beeswax, 26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, July 10.— No demand for honey yet
unless a very small amount of fancy white at
perhaps 15@16c. Some old lots still about, un-
salable, almost, at 6, 8 and 10 cents. Beeswax,.
22^28c. Batterson & Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25@30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
San Francisco, June 19.— White comb, llK®
12i4 cents; amber, *i@lOc; dark, 6@d cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5J.ii@oHc; light amber, 4@4Hc;
amber. 3J^@4c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Market shows no quotable improvement, but
there are no large quantities ( btainable at the
prices generally named by dealers. In a small
way, for especially desirable quantities, slightly
higher prices than are quoted are being realized.
YVanted
vered.
Fancy White Comb Hooey
in no-drip cases: also Ex-
tracted Honey. State price.
We pav spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
2SA17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot ca^h. .\ddress, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Wi'll
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
iustifv. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf F.^iRFiEi.D, III,
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of e.Ktracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of (roods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. M. W. WEBBR,
2\M,-2UH Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mentioa the Bee Journal.
512
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 8, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAMTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
f J»- W. M. Gekrish, East Notinffham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g^oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal ■w>ien ■wxitinff
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return IVIaiil.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, II.IW: Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
RivEK Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing,
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clovep Seeds.
■We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
sm lOBs 2Sft SOUS
Sweet Clover (white) $.70 $1.20 $2. 75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) ... . 1.00 1.80 4.25 8.00
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
-White Clover 1.00 l.W 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
I ARISE
To say to the readers of
the Bee Journal that
DOOWTTLE...
has concluded to sell
QUEENS in theirseasou
during 1901, at the fol-
lowing prices :
1 Untested Queen . .$1.00
3 Untested Queens.. 2.25
1 Tested Queen .... 1.25
3 Tested Queens .... 3.00
1 select tested queen 1.50
3 " " Queens 4.00
Select Tested Queen,
last year's rearing. 2.50
Extra selected breed-
ing, the very best.. 5.00
Circular free, giving particulars regarding
each class of Queens, conditions, etc. Address,
Q. M. DOOLITTLE,
llA26t Borodino, Onondaga Co., N. V.
Hease mention Bfie Journal -when -writins.
Dadant's Foundation. Im
We guarantee
satisfaction.
^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS. No SAaQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINQ.
Why does it sell ^^ >v
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk,
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very lo-w prices.
Langstrolh on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., in.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
I More Bee-Keeoers'
Paradises....
E. R. Root has just returned from a 6,000-mile trip through
some of the best bee-locations in the world, and has already be-
gun his series of write-ups, accompanied with fine photos, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. The following editorial appears Aug.
1, and will give something of an idea of what he will describe :
Some little time ago I promised to tell about the bee-keepers'
paradise in Texas. I have this on the docket, and it will appear
as I take up the line of my travels. But since running across
that paradise I have run into two or three others. There is one
west of the Rockies, in Colorado, that is not yet overstocked with
bees or bee-keepers ; another one in Central Idaho — in fact, I do
not know but the whole State. These will be described in turn.
The fact is, millions of capital are being invested in irrigation ;
irrigation means alfalfa ; alfalfa means a paradise for bees. But
I found all along my trip that alfalfa-growing preceded bee-
keeping by two or three years, for it seems to take about that
length of time before bee-keepers find these gold-mines that have
been hitherto unoccupied.
If you are dissatisfied with your present location, and for
financial reasons, or on account of health, will be compelled to
leave, subscribe for Gleanings in Bee-Culture, and learn some-
thing about the great South and the great West. There are many
locations in the West that are not yet occupied — splendid bee-
locations. If you wish to learn about them, send 25 cents for a
six-months' trial subscription, or $1.00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian queen. Or, send S2.00 and we will send Gleanings
one year and one of our celebrated Red Clover Queens.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
GEORGE W. YORK & GO. ^tiicA,fuiLlT'
be.tdquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
id to them for their free Catalog.
T^^S^^A'
DEE JOURNAL
CHICAGO, ILL,, AUGUST 15, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 33-
514
AMERICAN BEE jOUPNAL,
Aug. 15, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Enteredatthe Post-( illimit Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matler.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) t\
E.E. Hasty, (Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscriptiou Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for nost-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
Indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt lor money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. "Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newman
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. A. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
EoGENE Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
11^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the otiice of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloitl Queeii-Button is a very
pretty thing for a Ijee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
'* I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
pive the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto ciueen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weelily Budget. I
Hon. Eugene Secor, of Winnebago Co.,
Iowa, writing us July 25. said :
Friend York : — The past month has been
unprecedentedly hot and dry. Bees loafing
outside the hive to prevent combs melting.
The following lines express part of what we
have endured in the last two weeks:
some JULY DATS.
From out the burning east
Comes firy Sol ;
At God's first call
He climbs the heavens to feast
On wilting corn and ripened grain.
Turned yellow ere its time for lack of rain.
The lolling cattle seek
The airy steep.
Or wade knee-deep
In nearest friendly creek ;
The pastures, shorn and parched to brown,
In vain appeal for the rain to come down.
The hot earth shrinks and cracks
Beneath the glare.
And men shun care
.\s deer shun hunters' tracks.
And every beast on hill or plain
Is praying in animal language for rain.
Outside the hive the bees
Are forced to rest
To cool the nest.
And wait for nect'rous trees
And llowers to yield the dainty drop
Which heat and drouth have caused to dry up.
No woodland song is heard
From feathered throat —
His wonted note
Is dead within the bird ;
He pants and seeks the spring in vain —
The fountain itself is thirsting for rain.
Thus wears the torrid day,
The round, red sun
His course has run.
And no man Ijids him stay.
For night is welcome since 'tis plain
Such days will never bring the longed-for rain.
Eugene Secor.
Mr. Ellis E. Mason and Miss Anna E.
Hirth. both of Toledo, Ohio, were married
July 24, 1901. Mr. Mason is a son of Dr. A.
B. Mason, secretary of the National Bee-
Keepers' Association.
May long life and much happiness be
theii'S.
Mil. Harry S. Howe, who has been known
as Coggshall's lightning operator, has been
sick in Cuba, able to do almost nothing for
two months, and the doctor says he will
never be able to do any more hard work.
The; moral of which, says Editor Root, seems
to be that it doesn't pay to work so hard. Let
us earnestly hope that this time the doctor
may be wrong in his prognosis.
Mr. H. W. Cornelison, of Washburn Co.,
Wis., has a very nice apiary, as is shown on
the first page of this issue. The picture was
taken from the northeast corner of the apiary
looking to the southwest. The bees are
located against the hillside, and the ground
being rough Mr. C.-has elevated some of the
hives in order to level up and avoid washing
Ijy heavy rains. The row of posts in the raid-
die row of hives were used to support poultry-
netting. The trees in sight are Initternuts,
and his bee-supply house is at the right,
obscured by the trees. The hill sloping to
the north affords protection from strong south
and southwest winds, and a tight board-fence
extends along the north side of the apiary.
Mr. Cornelison calls it "Summit Apiary,"
as the town is situated on one of the highest
points in the State. The lake on the shore of
which the village is located was formerly
called "Summit Lake." It is al»ut 3 by 4
miles in size.
"The Home Circle." — A. I. Root quotes
approvingly a passage written for "The
Home Circle " of this journal, and says :
"There is one special point in the abov
that is worth noting. In any contest requir-
ing the fullest development, both of nerves
and muscles, and especially alertness as well
as strength, the young man who does not use
foljaceo will, as a rule, come out ahead; ex-
pert cyclists learned this a long time ago;
and in every department of business where a
clear head and a cool, ripe judgment are re-
quired, the boy or man who lets stimulants
alone has the advantage. Long live ' The
Home Circle ' in the American Bee Journal;
and may Prof. Cook be spared for many
years to conduct it."
Mrs. Judge E. G. Bradford, of New-
castle Co., Del., is making quite a success of
bee-keeping. A local newspaper, dated Aug.
2. says she has an apiary of 20 colonies, and
that from one colony she took 140 pounds of
honey recently. The other colonies were
also in good condition, and promised an
equally fine yield. Continued success to the
" Mrs. Judge."
Mr. a. I. Root, no doubt to the delight of
his old friends, perhaps forced into it by the
absence of his son Ernest, has been giving
considerable attention to the columns of
Gleanings in Bee-Culture of late, and hence
to the subject of bee-keeping. He seems to
be skeptical as to the great difference in bees,
and wants the experiment stations to tell us
whether 40,000 bees in one hive gather more
honey than 40,000 bees in another hive. If he
will let cabbages and posies alone long
enough to give continued attention to bees,
he will probably find that there is as much
difference in them as in folks.
The National Association of bee-keepers
is still growing in membership. Since our
last report we have received the following
names, and one dollar each :
John Schueman, Jas. Poindexter,
H. H. MoE, F. M. Brandenburg, .
W. W. Westcott.
General Manager Secor, in a letter dated
Aug. 6, says that the Association membership
list "will crowd 1000 Ijefore September.'"
That's good. Now, if only a lot more bee-
keepers would feel sufficient interest to send
in their dollars for dues, we would be glad to
announce their names in this column.
We started out to get 200 members before
the Buffalo meeting, which convenes Sept. 10
— less than a month left yet in which to send
in names and dollars. Why can't we receive
an average of five or six per day from now on.
and thus insure having an even 1000 mem-
bers of the National Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion * It ought to be the largest and best
organization of bee-keepers in the world. It
will be if all who ought to be interested will
step up and enroll their names on its honor-
able list.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, AUGUST 15, 1901,
No, 33,
I ^ Editorial. ^ I
Shipping Comb Honey. — As the list
of readers of the American Bee Journal is
constantly increasing by the addition of new
and inexperienced bee-keepers, it seems
almost necessary to mention some things at
least annually. One of the "things " is that
of preparing comb honey for shipment.
All comb honey should be put up iwe think)
either in 12 or 34 pound single-tier cases, the
former showing three sections through the
3-inoh glass front, and the latter showing four.
After placing the sections in the cases with
a follower back of the last row, and news-
paper crowded in back of the follower, to act
as a cushion, then put say a dozen of the 12-
pound cases, or nine of the 34-pound, into a
large crate. First, however, there should be
several inches of straw put in the bottom
of the crate to act as springs or cushion
under the cases of honey, to insure safe hand-
ling.
It is best, also, to have say 1x3 inch boards
nailed edgewise along the top of each side of
the crate, and extending six or eight inches
beyond the ends, to be used as handles by
two men to enable them to carry it between
them when loading or unloading.
Some firms send out the following direc-
tions to shippers of honey:
1 . Put your name on the crate. Xu name
on rases.
2. Put a caution card on each crate.
3. Put the gross weight, tare, and net
weight on the front of glass side of each case
before packing the honey in crates.
4. Put the total weight of all cases on the
upper side of the crate, so this can be found
without opening the crate.
.'). Mark each case with the grade.
I'l. Mark each crate with the grade.
r. Put only one grade in a case.
s. Put only one grade in a crate,if possible.
Comb honey put up as above, should go
safely anywhere with almost any kind of
handling. It pays to prepare it properly, for
it iirofiteth the bee-keeper nothing to produce
a lot of nice comb honey and then have it
brof<en and smashed in shipping, on account
of careless or inadetiuate preparation for
safe transportation.
The Building of Drone-Comb.— The
editor of the Bee-Keepers' Review deserves
thanks for calling attention loan error in these
columns which should not have occurred.
He says;
Drone-comb is seldom built by a newly-
hived swarm for the purpose <if rearing
drones. As a rule, such comb is used for
store-comb the first season. I mention this
as I see an editorial in the American Bee
Journal in which one objection urged against
the use of starters in the brood-nest is that
drone-comb is built, and. " as fast as it is
built it will be more or less filled with
drone-brood— generally more— and that brood
is a waste." If frames furnished with starters
are placed in the brood-nest of a colony just
before it is ready to swarm, these frames will
almost surely be filled with drone-comb, and
the cells filled with drone-brood ; but when a
swarm is hived upon starters, no drone-comb
will be built so long as the queen keeps pace
with the comb-builders; but let the queen
get behind, or go back to fill the cells from
which the bees are hatching in the center of
the brood-nest, and comb is then built to
store honey in, it is quite likely to be store or
drone comb; but it is very seldom that it will
be filled with drone-brood' at the time that it
is built. By sorting over the combs in the
fall the drone-comb can be taken out and
used after that in the supers. Contrary to
the belief of some, I believe that, under such
conditions, combs are built at a profit even if
they are to be melted into wax.
Mr. Hutchinson isquite right in saying that
drone-comb when built by a swarm will not at
once be filled with brood. The question,
aside from that, whether it is advisable to
allow such comb to be built, afterward to be
cut out by the bee-keeper, is an open one.
For one who has plenty of time for the work,
and who will do it. the plan may be all right.
It should be understood that it is possible to
have all combs worker-combs without the use
of foundation at all, and there may be some
exceptional cases where labor and time are in
so much greater supply than money to buy
foundation that it may be economy to dis-
pense with the latter. Given a lot of combs
containing patches of drone-comb of greater
or less size, it is certainly paying work to cut
out all the drone-comb and replace it with
patches of worker-conih. It is well, however,
even for one who thinks it advisable to dis-
pense with foundation, to take .some pains to
limit the amount of drone-comb built. It is
usually practicable to do this by taking ad-
vantage of the fact that Mr. Hutchinson men-
tions, that so long as the laying of the queen
in a swarm keeps pace with the building of
comb there will be w drone-comb. Hive a
swarm on four or five frames, and little or no
drone-comb will be built until these are filled.
Then foundation or drawn combs may be
given to fill the hive, or. if only starters, the
drone-comb will be limited to these latter
combs.
It is well to know, also, that nuclei or weak
colonies may be depended upon almost surely
to fill in holes with worker-comb, whereas if
a patch of drone-comli is cut out of a brood-
comb, and the comb ii'lurned to a full colony,
the hole will be most likely to be filled again
with drone-comb. Tlie age of the queen
makes a dilTerencc, tiit- older the queen the
greater the inclination to build drone-comb,
even a very weak colony with an old queen
sometimes insisting on building drone-ccmib.
But when all the trouble and inconvenience
of mending combs are taken into account, the
number is very large to those who think it
cheaper in the long run to forestall the
actions of the bees by filling the frames with
worker foundation.
Utilizing Cappings. — Efforts have been
made at different times to get bees to use
wax in building combs, the wax being
furnished by the liee-keeper. Success has not
always attended the efforts. E. Puffy now
reports in the French journal. Revue Inter-
nationale, that he has had excellent success.
He gives back cappings to the bees. The
secret of getting the bees to use them lies in
the honey between the layers of the cappings.
It is essential that the cappings be not
washed. Taken just as fliey come from the
uncapping-knife. they are packed into a ball
from the size of a walnut to the size of one's
head, and put in the hive beside the feeder.
Combs are then built out rapidly.
The Honey Crop of 1901.— Editor
Root has been scanning- the field, and con-
cludes that bee-keepers need not be in haste
to dispose of their crop for fear of glut. Even
if the season were better than last year, there
were fewer bees to gather it this year, espe-
cially in Southern California, where probably
three-fourths of the bees have died through
neglect or starvation, their discouraged
owners thinking they could not afford to con-
tinue feeding them year after year. Else-
where in general there is a falling off in bees,
and he thinks prices should not fall below
those of last season.
A significant fact is that the A. I. Root Co..
which is one of the largest buyers of honey
in small lots, has had no more honey offered
this year than last. The well-informed bee-
keeper will be in no hurry to sell his honey
for less than it is worth. Editor Root says :
Let me give one interesting fact in this
connection. The Root Co. finds it can buy
liouey. from those who do not read bee-iour-
nals, at a lower figure than from those who
take one or more and keep track of the mar-
ket. It is not inir rule to set prices. We ask
for a sample aiul the prices asked ; and it is a
fact that Ihe.t'fllow whothinks lie ran nut tiffonl
to take aliee-journal will sell his honey eiioin/h
lower in one srasuH to pay for all the bee-Joar-
nah for ten t/ears.
And yet there are people who say that bee-
papers arc of no value to them ! Of course
not, if they ■ know it all," or are too lazy or
careless to read them and profit by the infor-
nuition whicli the papers furnish.
516
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL
Aug-. 15, 1901.
I Contributed Articles. |
Pear-Blight and Bees in California.
liV I'ROF. A. J. COOK.
THE relation of bees to the spread of pear-blight has
become a very important question, not only in Califor-
nia, but everywhere in our country. For if there is
any section where this microbe disease of the pear is not
now in evidence, there is no knowing when it may break
out. Thus a right or wrong position taken now, and
defended and carried out, not only concerns California but
every fruit-grower and every apiarist the country over.
The disease has existed in our country for many years.
It was long a serious menace to pear-culture, in many sec-
tions, even before its nature and cause were known or even
dreamed of. It usually commences early in the season,
soon after the trees bloom, and first manifests itself in the
dying back of the twigs. This continues till the whole
ti.ssue of the tree seems affected, as shown in the close, con-
tracted bark on the trunk and main branches. The dis-
eased tree is soon lost to usefulness, and is a centre for the
spread of the disease to adjacent trees. All this was well
known years ago. It was also known, as is generally true
of microbe diseases, whether of plants or animals are the
victims of their attack, that some kinds of pears and some
trees seemed more susceptible to the encroachments of this
foe than were others.
Some years ago Prof. Arthur, then, I think, connected
with the Geneva, N. Y.. Experiment Station, determined
that there was a bacterial affection. He not only identi-
fied the specific microbe, if I remember correctly, but he
inoculated trees at will, and always produced the malady.
Prof. Arthur then suggested — though as I remember he did
not prove it — that bees and other nectar-loving insects very
likely carried the germs from affected to healthy trees ; and
that this was a probable cause of the rapid spread of the
evil. This conjecture seemed more than plausible, for the
rapid spread seemed to occur just after the time of bloom,
and it would seem very probable that the active, tender
stigma would be a good seed-bed for the germs. If these
latter were in the nectar or the pollen, it would certainly be
easy to convey them from diseased bloom to those that are
yet exempt.
Prof. BurriU, or the Illinois University, who was first to
discover and describe the microbe, did much to give us more
knowledge of these bacteria of the pear.
More recently. Prof. Milton B. Waite, of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture (the same who demonstrated that
many varieties of pears are sterile to their own pollen, and
must be cross-pollinated to bear fruit, and who recom-
mended with emphasis that the honey-bee, as the most sure
agent in this important and necessary work, be kept in the
near precincts of the apiary, in large numbers) has given
attention to this pear bacillus, known to science as Bacillus
amylovorus, BurriU. He discovered it working freely and
multiplying rapidly in the nectar of the flowers, and even
collected the germs from the tongues of the bees, and. from
these, started artificial cultures of the bacillus. His
experiments seemed to show that while the microbes could
be carried easily by insect or other flower-loving animal, it
was of such a nature that it could not be carried easily, if
at all, by wind. By carefully conducted experiments, cov-
ering the flowers. Prof. Waite seemed to show that nectar-
loving animals, and not the wind, were almost exclusively
the agents to spread this disease.
Prof. Milton B. Waite is assistant chief of the Depart-
ment of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, of the
Department of Agriculture. That he is a very able au-
thority goes without saying. While it is desirable that oth-
ers confirm the conclusions of Prof. Waite— for in these do-
mains of minute life the problems are too intricate and too
complicated to be easily settled— yet there seems little
probability that he is wrong.
Prof. H. B. Pierce, government pathologist, stationed
at Santa Ana, Calif., has in some measure confirmed Prof.
Waite's conclusions. He has investigated the pear-blight
of Banning and Hanford, Calif., and proved it to be the
genuine pear-blight of the East, and has, by inoculation,
produced the disease. He is a very able, careful and con-
scientious worker in this field, and his opinion is very valu-
able. He accepts Prof. Waite's conclusions, and thinks
that the reason that pear-blight in California acts differ-
ently from that of the East, in often taking a fresh start
late in the season, is owing to the fact that the pear-tree
here often blooms twice in the year, and thus aftords the
ready opportunity for its spread late as well as early in the
year.
It has been argued that Prof. Waite is, or may be,
wrong in his conclusions, as young trees in the nursery,
which from age could not have borne blossoms, still sufl:'er
and die from this disease. We know that buds as well as
bloom are tender and active in the early spring just as they
are pushing forth. They also are covered with a glue
which the bees gather for their propolis. These should be
examined for the microbes. It is quite likely that they
share with the bloom in furnishing a nidus and nutrient
for the germs, and by luring the bees may also be active
instruments in the fatal spread of the germs,
WHAT SHALI, WE DO, THEN ?
The bee-keepers of the great San Joaquin Valley have
agreed to remove their bees in the time of orchard-bloom.
I am glad of this, for it shows that they are ready and will-
ing to do the right thing. But is this the wise thing?
There are myriads of other insects, as also many colonies
of escaped bees, that can not be removed. Were it not
true, the pears would not be pollinated, and, as Prof. Waite
has also shown, these are necessary to a crop. Better the
trees go. than to cumber the ground in fruitless state.
These being present, the removal of the apiaries will not
remove the evil. Their removal will soon demonstrate this
when the fruitmen, who are so desirous to be fair and just
as are the bee-keepers, will ask that the latter be left undis-
turbed.
While I feel sure that we need apiaries near large
orchards to cross-pollinate the bloom properly, and thus aid
to secure a full crop, I am just as sure that there are quite
enough other little nectar-loving insects, to scatter the
disease. Pollination must be wholesale ; only a few inocu-
lations per tree are necessary to work the havoc. Thus
while removal of the bees will interfere with the crop, it
will not materially check the spread of the dread disease.
I believe it will be a more sure remedy to try to breed
pears that are immune, as Prof. Pierce is doing with the
walnut. This will insure trees that are invulnerable, will
leave the bee-keepers undisturbed, and will preserve to
the orchardists the bees, which, in their grand work of
cross-pollinating the bloom, are invaluable aids in all suc-
cessful agriculture. Los Angeles Co., Calif.
Rendering Combs— A Method of Doing It.
BY ADRIAN GETAZ.
DURING my thirteen or fourteen years of bee-keeping, I
had my old combs, drone-comb cut out, combs (I must
say to my shame) more or less eaten by the moths, and
full of webs, etc., accumulate until something must be
done. Some two or three years ago, I rendered by the ordi-
nary process, all that could be advantageously treated so,
and inade comb-foundation out of it with the help of a
home-made cement mold. A full description of the process
was given at the time in the American Bee Journal.
But I had yet some of the worst combs and some of the
refuse of the melting of others. And here let me tell you
that the moth-eaten combs are the very meanest thing to
deal with that can be found in that line. I did not want to
go into much expense, as the wax to be obtained was not
worth very much ; at least I thought so, but I got consider-
ably more than I expected.
All the materials needed to construct the apparatus I
used, were an old tin bucket, a piece of old tin to make an
outside jacket to confine the heat of the oil-stove around the
bucket, some scraps of wire and strong galvanized iron, a
scrap or piece of wire netting, and some nails in place of
rivets.
While on the subject, it may be well to say that wire
nails heated red hot, and then slowly cooled, become soft
enough to make excellent rivets. I had the oil-stove
already.
If j'ou melt some combs in a receptacle of any kind
with a quantity of water, and let it cool, and then investi-
gate carefullj', you will see that the wax has come entirely
above the water, being lighter. The refuse, cocoons, moth-
webs, etc., being somewhat lighter than water, form amass
Aug-. IS, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
517
partly above the water-line, and partly below, something
like this :
Pure Wax.
Refuse aud Wax.
Water Line.
Refuse and Water.
I said that below the water-line there would not be any
wax. That is true only when by sufficient stirring and
boiling- the wax has had the chance, or rather the time, to
disentangle itself entirely from the refuse. Now when the
quantity of wax is considerably larger than the amount of
refuse, all that needs be done is to take the cake out and
scrape off the under part composed of wax and refuse mixed.
The scrapings can be added to the next melting.
But when the amount of refuse is considerable, there is
not enough wax to rise over the refuse, and the cake you
take up is a mixture of refuse and wax. The problem was
how to keep all the refuse under the water-line. I first
melted the combs in the tin bucket with water enough to
fill it about two-thirds, stirring and boiling long enough to
disaggregate the combs entirely. I then put in the sieve
made of wire-netting re-enforced by bands of galvanized
iron, and fastened it there. Then 1 added enough boiling
water to bring the wax entirely above the sieve, and let the
whole boil long enough to give all the wax time to come
through the netting. When cold it is something like this :
Wax.
Water Line.
Water.
Netting or 8ieve.
Refuse and Water.
Some of the finest refuse came through the netting,
but not enough to be objectionable.
One difficulty I met. I had to boil the whole thing
quite a time in order to get all the wax to rise. After think-
ing about it, I concluded that by adding a considerable
quantity of salt to the water the wax would rise much
quicker. And it did.
Somebody may want to know how that can be. Why
does the wax come on the top of the water ? It is because
the wax is comparatively lighter than water. That differ-
ence of weight is the force that pushes the wax above the
water. That force amounts to about 3-100 of the actual
weight. That is, if a vessel full of water contains 100
ounces of it, the same full of wax will contain about 97
ounces of wax. And as I said, that slight difference of
weights — three otic-hiuidreths only — is the force that pushes
the wax above the water.
Now let us add, say one pound of salt to the gallon of
water. The volume of the water will not be increased, but
its weight will be increased by about 12 percent. That is,
the same vessel which contained 100 ounces of pure water
will now contain 112 ounces of salted water. The differ-
ence between the comparative weight of the water and the
wax will now be 15-100 of its weight, instead of 3-100, that
is, five times greater.
And the force that pushes the wax above the water will
also increase in proportion, and be five times greater with
the salted water.
Do you wonder now if the wax does actually rise faster
when melted in salt water ? Knox Co., Tenn.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth work-
ing for. Look at them.
Cheap Packages for Extracted Honey.
BY C. DAVEXl'liKT.
IN a previous article I mentioned that I expected to be
able to use for retail trade, a package for extracted
honey that, aside from the, work of preparing it. would
cost only about half a cent for a package holding a few
pounds. At that time I did not intend to say anything
more in regard to the matter until I had experimented
with, or tried, the package in a larger way, for as yet the
whole matter is in the experimental stage with me, as it
was too late in the season, or rather, my extracted honey
was nearly all sold last season before I thought about
using these packages. Upon reflection, I have, however,
decided to tell what I know in regard to the matter in the
hope that it will lead others to experiment in this line.
Possibly I have already solved the most important part
of the problem, or perhaps upon further trial in a larger
way some serio\is defects may be found about it. As the
reader has probably surmised, these packages are paper
sacks, and probably many who read this know that a heavy
grade of tough glazed manilla paper will hold, or resist the
action of, honey almost as well as tin will, for how long a
time I am unable to say, though the grade or kind of paper
used would have much to do with this, for there are a good
many kinds of paper called " manilla," many of which are
entirely worthless for this purpose, and if the paper of
which the sacks are made will not itself hold honey, I have
found that these poor grades of glazed manilla paper are
inferior for being waxed, to hold honey, to other grades or
kinds of paper that are not glazed.
So far as I have gone at present I believe that if the
sacks are to be waxed they are better if made out of tough,
unglazed paper that is slightly porous. Such paper will,
when waxed, resist the action of honey for some time ;
again, I am unable to say how long, but certainly long
enough to serve for a retail package to the producer who
delivers direct to the consumer.
Whether it can ever be perfected so that it will answer
for the retail grocery trade, I am unable to say, but I have
hopes that it will ; but whether this occurs or not, these
packages will, in the near future, in my opinion, be used
largely, and answer a most useful purpose to producers who
retail in small amounts, and have, as I have, a large class
of customers who are so frugal and ei'onomical that they
will not buy a glass or tin package, and seldom return one
lent them.
Whether paraffine would answer in place of wax is
another thing I do not know, for I had none on hand last
fall. If it would, besides being cheaper its color would
make a more attractive and inviting looking package,
though a waxed sack is not defective in this respect, and it
is a clean sanitary package. Perhaps a mixture of, or
preparation of, both wax and paraffine might answer bet-
ter than either alone. A small amount of rosin might also
be a benefit. There is room for much experiment in this
respect, and I hope that all others who experiment in this
or any other way in regard to the matter will report results,
whether favorable or otherwise, for it would no doubt be of
interest to many besides myself. I do not have the time to
do but a very small amount of the experiment work about
many things in regard to our pursuit that I should very
much like to do, but I shall this season try these sacks in a
larger way than I did last year. I have little doubt but
what they will, with me, solve a perplexing problem.
When using them, if the honey is delivered, all that
would be necessary to insure their safe carrying would be
to pack, or lay, the filled sacks in a large tin can or case,
that has a tight cover to exclude dust. The sacks can be
tied up and then wrapped and tied up in another piece of
paper, on which has been written the number of pounds,
and who the package is for. A large number of these
sacks could be laid in one large can, and handed out as
handily as any package. But with customers that come to
the apiary it would not do simply to tie a sack up in paper
this way, for in many cases, unless care was used, it would
be torn, or get a hole in it, and allow the honey to escape.
This, besides raising a howl of disgust and protest from
customers, would not answer, for we would surely lose
trade if we furnished a package that failed to carry safely.
To overcome this would be quite easy. I have not tried
it except in a limited way, but I have no fears whatever
that this part of the system will work all right in every
way. All that is necessary is to make an outer package or
covering from strong cardboard, or what is called " build-
ing paper " is what I used ; this is about like cardboard or
pasteboard, but instead of being stiff or brittle like the
518
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. IS, 1901.
former, it is pliable and can be bent in any shape without
breaking. This was cut into shape on about the same
principle as all folding- cardboard boxes, only one side has
to be glued. The ends are cut to fold together, and are
held in place after the sack of honey is put in, by strings
around the packages. This outer covering or case makes it
practically as safe to carry honey in a paper sack as in a
tin pail or stone jar — perhaps safer, for with either of the
latter the honey is lost if it is tipped over.
Probably most of those who read my first article on
this subject smiled incredibly when I said that possibly
extracted honey might be shipped in sacks, but I have not
much doubt but what it can be done. What will you give
me, Mr. Editor, for honey shipped in sacks, I to guarantee
that it reaches you in good condition, without leakage
occuring for one month after you receive it? Make me a
good offer. In after years, if most of the extracted honey
should be shipped this way, it might be quite an honor for
you to be able to say that you were the first one to buy in
sacks; and, for me, that I was the first to ship it in this
form. If I had only thought last fall when I had the honey
in those large sacks, to find out how much of a jar and
rough handling they would stand, I should know something
more definite about whether it could be shipped safely in
sacks. It would have been an easy matter to find out what
a sack could stand, by taking one and raising it up and
dropping it down at different heights inside a large can or
barrel until it would burst. Perhaps those would have stood
as much in this line as tin would — possibly more. Or, if those
I had in use were defective in this respect, it might be, and
is, by no means improbable that sacks might be made of
material that would stand as much, or more, strain and
rough handling than a 60-pound tin can. Then all that
would be necessary to insure safe shipment would be to use
wooden cases, the same as with tins, and pack two or three
inches of clean straw or hay all around between the case
and sack.
The object in using sacks, it is probably needless for
me to say, would be the very great saving in the cost of
the package. Probably at least two dozen 60-pound sacks
could be sold for the price of one 60-pound tin can. And
the saving in freight would also be great. The empty
sacks could be rolled up and shipped to the producer, and
the freight on enough to hold many thousand pounds would
be but a few cents. And if one did not wish to make his
own cases, they could be shipped in the flat for less than
half what they can he nailed up.
What about candying ? some may ask. In regard to
this I have only space enough left to say that I have lique-
fied candied honey in paper sacks.
Southern Minnesota.
[We are not quite ready yet to order shipments of
honey in paper sacks, and thus get honor unto ourselves I
But some day it may be just the thing. — Editor.]
No. S.—Some Reminiscences of an Old Bee-Keeper.
BY THADDEUS SMITH.
I HAVE been in the habit of making such frequent visits
to "My Old Kentucky Home" that I hardly feel that I
have lost my citizenship there, and I have not forgotten
or lost my interest in her citizens, especially those who may
be classed as belonging to a former generation ; and as I
purpose to notice some cotemporary bee-keepers of 30 years
ago, in whom I felt most interest, it is but natural that I
should call up the Kentuckians first.
My neighbors, Dr. John DiUard, and Mr. D. Burbank,
of Lexington, and Prof. R. A. Broadhurst, principal of the
Kentucky Female Orphan School at Midway, were intelli-
gent, enthusiastic bee-keepers, well informed in the science
as far as it was then developed ; and so was Mr. Nesbit, of
Cynthiana, and Mr. (i. B. Long, of Hopkinsville. But
these did not keep themselves very prominent before the
bee-keeping public by frequent communication to the bee-
papers, because they had no " ax to grind " in the sale of
patent hives or Italian queens.
The most clever writer and original inventor of that
State was Mr. D. L. Adair, of Hawsville, who contributed
many interesting and instructive articles to the columns of
the old American Bee Journal when published in Washing-
ton, D. C. Mr. Adair had originality with a bright, inves-
tigating mind, well stored, and a fluent, agreeable way of
expressing his ideas ; but some of his ideas and conclu-
sions were peculiar. For instance, he held that bees could
live, if not indefinitely, yet for a long time, without admis-
sion of /;■«/; air to their compartment— that they could be
sealed up tight in a box, and they would live and remain
perfectly quiet without injury for a number of days. I do
not remember the limit of time he gave to their confine-
ment, or how long they would continue satisfied thus
excluded from fresh air. It was a singular position to take,
yet from the facts he gave and his plausible reasoning, one
could hardly dissent from his conclusions. I would like to
know if others have observed this fact, or if the theory
has ever been thoroughly tested and confirmed, or exploded.
Mr. Adair was the inventor of an original controllable
movable-comb hive, quite different in principle from Mr.
Langstroth's hive, or from the hives of Mr. Langstroth'
many imitators. His hive was composed of a number of
sections, put together side by side and held in place by a.
simple and ingenious device. These sections were made of
thin stuff, just as wide as the width of a comb and the
space between combs together, and a triangular comb-guide
placed in each, and when put together formed a box, or the
hive proper — using boards for the ends. The sections were
about the size of a Langstroth frame, being somewhat
deeper and shorter, and could be taken apart easily, and
each comb separated from the other and examined— the
size of the hive depending upon the number of sections
used. Sections were placed at each end for surplus, either
for extracting or for comb honey in sections ; and thus I
think originated the "long ideal hive," or the long hive
with side-storing surplus arrangement. As this section
hive was made of thin material, an outer receptacle had to
be provided for its protection ; and these were made of
wood, brick, stone or cement, of such a size as would hold
the section hive with its surplus receptacles, that were
shoved into it through a door in the rear, and had to be
withdrawn for examination.
I once made an Adair hive. It looked all right, but
somehow I never had the courage to put a swarm of bees
into it. It remained in my honey-room for a number of
years, and I kept thinking I would try a colony in it, but I
never did. In comparison with the Langstroth-Simplicity,
and with Smith's " Ouinqueplexal- Duplex- Combination,
etc., hive," it seemed too much bother.
I think Mr. Adair really believed, at that time, that his
hive possessed advantages over the Langstroth, and other
frame hives. Hundreds of his hives were used in Kentucky
and Tennessee, but I doubt if anj' one uses them now by
preference.
So far as I know, Mr. Adair should have the credit of
inventor, or original user, of the section honey-box. He
used sections for surplus both on the sides and top of his
brood-chamber. His section-boxes, no doubt, differed in
size and finish from the beautiful, polished white-wood sec-
tions now in use, but they involved the same principle, and
it was probably from them that the sections of to-day were
evolved.
Mr. Will R. King, of Franklin, Ky., was a hive paten-
tee, or a vender of a patent hive, that he called " The Tri-
umph Hive," and an Italian queen-breeder. He took every
opportunity to call attention to and advertise his wares
through the reading columns of the American Bee Journal,
with which he claims that he has succeeded in having
queens fertilized in confinement, and the general way he
had of pushing his business, made me strongly suspect
him of being a Yankee. However, I do not believe he was
any kin to H. A. King, of New York, the hive-man who
disputed and contested Mr. Langstroth's claims so strenu-
ously, and, as some thought, not honorably.
As far back as 1872, W. R. King claimed that he had
succeeded in having queens fertilized in confinement, by
having the queen and drones fly in a tent, excluding all
workers from it, and he gave a detailed account of the con-
struction of his tent and process in the old American Bee
Journal of that date. The plan and principle involved is
the same as that of Mr. Davette. that has lately been
resurrected and given a prominent place in several bee-
papers. The point strongly empliasized by Mr. King was
that all worker-bees should he kepi out of the lent, and the
queen and drones must never have been outside their hive
before set to flying in the tent. He accomplished this in a
different way from the plan of Mr. Davette, and I should
judge that Mr. Davette's way is the best, but they both
acted on the same principle — "keep the workers out."
Thirty years ago, when the countrj- was full of black
bees and comparatively few Italians, there was great diffi-
culty in getting Italian queens purely mated, and the sub-
ject of controlling fertilization was an important one for
Aug-. IS. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
519
the numerous queen-breeders that then sprung- up all over
the country, and hence many were led to experiment to g^et
queens mated within the hive, or in some other enclosure
where they could meet only selected drones. A number of
persons claimed that they liad succeeded in getting queens
mated within the hive, and also in a tent with just such
drones as they selected. But the more reliable apiarian
teachers did not come forward to endorse these claims, and
the general bee-keeping public were slow to believe that
the thing had ever been done. As the Italians increased in
the country, and the blacks decreased in proportion, there
was not so much danger of queens mating with black
drones, and as to prevent this was then the only object of
seeking fertilization in confinement, the subject was not con-
sidered of so much importance. Although Mr. King claimed
success with his tent, he said as far back as 1.S72, that he
would not use his tent the nest year, as the place where he
intended to rear queens had but a few colonies of black
bees in the neighborhood, and these few he intended to
Italianize, and he would not consider it necessary to take
his tent with him.
Thus the matter has been suffered to lie dormant these
many years, until Mr. Hutchinson heard of Mr. Davette
and his tent, and published an account of it a few months
ago. It is now considered that the Italian bee itself, and
probably all other races of bees, can be improved in their
honey-getting qualities, and in their dispositions, by select
breeding ; and it is claimed that much has already been
done in improvement of the Italians by selection of queens
only, and it is believed that much greater improvements
could be made if the drones could be selected also. Hence
the new interest now found in this old subject of fertilizing
queens in confinement with select drones. It is to be hoped
that the thing will be fully and fairly tested, and all doubt
removed from the possibility, or else the whole thing con-
demned as impracticable.
Mr. R. M. Argo was another intelligent Kentuckj' bee-
keeper, who sometimes gave us the benefit of his knowledge
through the columns of the American Bee Journal ; but I
have not seen his name or that of any of the others in the
papers lately, and I don't know how many of them are
still alive.
(The End).
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, ni,
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. MiUei
direct^ when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Requeening an Apiary Now.
Would it be of any use to requeen my colonies at this
time ? Would they produce any more honey ? Some of the
old colonies are loafing around in a listless manner, while
the new swarms are working full tiine ? Penx.
Answer.— It depends upon circumstances. If you
requeen with better stock it would be a good thing. It is
very advisable for you to keep a close record of the work of
your colonies, and try to have queens in all the colonies
from those that have done the best work.
tietting Bees Into the Sections— Uniting Colonies, Etc.
1. How late in the summer do bees build comb? Is
there any particular time for them to cease building ?
2. I took some honey from some of mycolonies in June,
and they have not replaced the comb or rebuilt anything.
What is the reason ?
3. My bees don't seem to take to the supers that have
one-pound sections in them, where they had starters, etc.
Would it be any inducement to remove everything above
the brood-chamber but the super with the one-pound sec-
tions ? or would a super of shallow frames filled with honey
and merely left on the hive till wanted for use, cause the
bees to go into the pound sections to work, giving them
that much more to cover and care for?
4. Would it be a practical and successful way of uni-
ting two weak colonies, each having a queen, to put one
hive over the other, placing a piece of wire netting between
for a day or night, and then let them regulate which queen
they shall retain ?
5. Is there any way of telling when a colony has lost
its queen and is growing weak, without going into the hive
to examine ?
6. Can the presence of the moth-worms be known with-
out opening the hive to examine for them ?
Mississii'Pi.
Answers. — 1. The most of the building is done during
harvest-time, but there is no particular time for them to
begin or quit. They will build comb whenever needed, in
rare cases even in quite cool weather.
2. The probability is that no honey was coming in, and
they felt no necessity for filling the vacancy.
3. What you say in the previous question makes it
probable that no honey was coming in, in which case they
would not do anything in sections. If there was a super
of shallow frames on top, those frames being partly filled
with honey, the bees would not so readily enter the sections
unless they got more honey than they could easily store in
the shallow frames. In the same way, if a super of sec-
tions partly filled were on the hive, they would not touch
another super of empty sections But if you remove the
super of shallow frames, the bees will begin on the empty
sections sooner than if the frames had not previously been
there, alwavs providing any honey is coming in.
4. It will be likely to work all right, but you will be
safer against fighting if you remove one of the queens a
day or two in advance. There must be an entrance to both
upper and lower hives.
5. Not for certain.
6. Not certainly. If you see worms dragged out, you
will know, but you don't always see that.
Late Wax-Secretion and Laying— Killing Drones.
1. How late in the fall can bees make wax ?
2. How late does the queen lay eggs ?
3. Is it profitable to kill the drones now, when we want
no more swarms ? Illinois.
Answers. — 1. Very late if it is necessary, although
there is generally' no occasion for it. I think bees might be
forced to secrete wax in the middle of winter.
2. The time varies greatly. A queen may stop laying
in September, or she may continue till frost. Much de-
pends upon the yield of nectar. Sometimes queens continue
to lay although no brood is reared. It is a more common
thing than is generally supposed, to find eggs and sealed
brood in the hive, but no unsealed brood. The queen keeps
on laying, but the bees do not take care of the eggs : per-
haps eat them. My place is in the region that suffered so
terribly from the July drouth, and brood-rearing was almost
entirely suspended, although the queens continued to lay.
In some hives were found neither sealed nor unsealed brood,
although eggs were always present. If I had been a better
bee-keeper, I suppose I would have fed to keep up brood-
rearing (I did later on), but I had never had such an experi-
ence before, and was expecting a change every day.
3. Yes.
A Beginner's Bunch of auestions.
1. I use the s-frame hive. I have only eight colonies of
bees, having bought five last spring, all Italians. I had
two hybrid colonies. Now there are four hybrids. Is there
any way to keep them from mixing or becoming hybrids ?
2. Can I breed them back and make them all Italians
again ? If so, how ?
3. I haven't had any swarms issue yet. They are all
strong, and working well. What is the cause of their not
swarming ?
4. What is the best time of day to " rob " the bees ?
5. I would like to increase my colonies to IS or 20. As
they will not swarm, what and how shall I do ? Is it too
late now to transfer ? The cotton-bloom here is our main
honey crop.
6. What is the best way to catch the queen and handle
her without hurting her?
7. How many colonies can one man attend to ?
8. How much honey is it expected that a strong colony
will store in one season ? Tex.\s.
Answers. — 1. So long as there are black or hybrid bees
within two or three miles of you, the likelihood is that most
520
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Aug. 15, 1901.
of your colonies will be of mixed blood. Rear from pure
stock each year, and eventually you may work out the black
blood.
2. As in the previous ansvrer, your most hopeful plan is
to breed your queens from pure stock, and when you run
out of pure stock get a pure queen. A careful study of
your text-book may be of some help.
3. Hard to tell. Possibly they are not getting- enough
honey.
4. Right in the heat of the day, when the bees are busy
at work. If there is danger of robbing, however, it may be
better to take away the honey in the after part of the day,
so that darkness may cover any tendency to robbing.
6. It is difficult to advise just what is the best way for
you. If you will carefully study your text-book you will
probably be better able to judge for yourself. One way is
to take all but one frame from the hive and put them in a
new hive on a new stand. Leave the queen on the old
stand. Let all the adhering bees be taken with about half
the frames, and shake off into the old hive the bees from
the other half. It is not too late to transfer.
6. Catch her by the wings or by the thorax (what, per-
haps, you would call the shoulder)— never by the back part
or abdomen.
T. Probably five colonies are as many as would be wise
for you to have till you gain some experience. An experi-
enced bee-keeper may care for 100 colonies or more.
8. Very often more is expected than realized. There is
no definite amount. It may run from nothing to 200
pounds or more. If you average 50 pounds you need not
complain.
^~*-*^
Importance of Pure Drones.
Is it not a fact that our bees ought to have three dis-
tinct bands to show their purity ? If so, I want to know
why our drones from the same mother are not purely
marked ? While bees and queens are purely marked our
drones are not. What I mean by that is this : We have
some drones that are black, and some of these are yellow-
banded, which I believe shows impurity. If this is not
impurity, I do not know what you call it. In breeding bees
I do think the drones are the ones we ought to be particular
about. I think if we can get our bees, queens and drones
all with the same marking, we will have better bees and
more honey, as my experience of about 20 years with bees
has shown. Texas.
Answek.— You are right in thinking that there should
be uniform markings in the drones of pure stock, and also
that it is just as important to have good drones as good
queens to breed from. One reason, and perhaps the only
reason, that so little attention is paid to the drones, is the
difficulty of controlling the mating. But that is not a suffi-
cient excuse for neglecting what can be done in the way of
suppressing poor drones and encouraging good ones.
Replacing a Drone-Layer.
I had a colony of bees in my apiary with crooked
combs, and I cut them out and straightened them. The
bees had swarmed some time before. I found that the
capped brood was raised, and also some of the cells had
two and three eggs, and some had none, so I looked up the
queen and stuck a pin through her, and then gave them
some brood from another hive for rearing a queen. Was it
right to give them the brood at that time, or should I have
waited some time and then cut out queen-cells, and then
give them fresh brood ? Idaho.
Answer.— It is not likely that you would have gained
anything by delay, but would have lost. It would have
been just so much loss of time, the colony meanwhile
becoming weaker, the bees older and less fitted for rearing
a young queen.
Brood-Chamber Crowded With Honey, Etc.
1. I have a colony of bees whose queen was old, and
let them store honey in the brood-nest. I have requeened,
but the new queen has little or no place to lay in. How can
I make the bees remove the honey from the brood-nest ?
2. Has not the Danzenbaker reversible frame this
advantage, that as the bees will not allow honey at the bot-
tom of the frame, when you reverse it you force them to
store it in the supers ?
3. Can you tell me if we have a fall flow in Minnesota ?
There are no buckwheat fields near.
4. My bees worked on lilacs this spring. It this usual ?
Minnesota.
Answers. — 1. You can hasten the matter by uncapping
the honey where you want the queen to lay. All the better
if you do not make a very smooth job of it. One way is to
take a saw, or a piece of a saw-blade, and scrape the surface.
2. At one time much was made of this feature of the
Danzy and other reversible frames. I don't know whether
it is now much valued.
3. I think in most parts of Minnesota there is more or
less of a fall flow.
4. I think it is not unusual for bees to work on lilacs,
but the number of lilac bushes is never large enough to '
make the plant an important honey-plant.
The Afterthought.
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
GARDENS FOR THE CHILDREN.
Anent page 409, where Prof. Cook talks of a garden for
each child, there are two children at the home in which I live.
They were fond of planting things, but seemed to manifest
almost idiocy as to the details of the matter. Surely, I
thought, it would be no use to give them gardens. Well, this
summer their father took it into his head to do just that.
And he didn't give them little and worthless bits, either, but
large plots of very fertile gi-ouud. The result is that with a
very moderate amount of advice and assistance they are hav-
ing some success. Their crop will not total much in money ;
but when we come to consider things worth more than money,
no equal area of the farm will produce so much. Had the
plots been smaller, so as not to oversize the amount of hoeing
they enjoy doing, it would have been a little better.
A HOUSE-CELLAR FOR BEES.
Some have doubted whether a house-cellar, with footsteps
and children's play immediately over the bees, could be any-
thing else than a very poor place to winter bees in. As a,
counterblast to this it is interesting to see that the Gleanings
cellar, with machinery overhead, proved a first-rate place.
The fact seems to be that bees will get used to almost '
anything if it is only experienced hourly or very frequently ;
but when noise or jar occur irregularly, and not much oftener
than once a week, then they are disturbed and injured. Page
413.
OUEEN FERTILIZING EGGS.
F. Greiner may be right, page 420, that the queen fertil-
lizes eggs, or omits to do so, entirely without volition. Some-
thing other than space, or curvature of the iiueen's body, may
deftly produce effects. I opine, however, that a " straw
vote '■ would show him badly in the minority.
".TOUNCIKG " EXTRACTING-SUI'EKS.
I don't want to make sport of any manipulation which a
practical brother finds to succeed even tolerably well. If I
did I might try to be funny over Mr. Davenport's method of
jouncing out the bees of an extracting-super. I'll be respect-
ful ; but I'll wait till a lot more of the brothers find it a suc-
cess before I jounce. Page 420.
SWARMS GOING BACK.
Tell Dr. Miller, page 425, that among Ohio bees more
than two swarms go back to the old hive after hiving, for each
98 that go to the woods. Of unmixed swarms, with laying
([ueens, and the queen all right, perhaps his proportion would
answer. Swarming and going back into the old hive again
has been abnormally in fashion the present year — ?oing back
before clustering, and going back after clustering, and going
back during attempt to hive, and going back after hiving — all
sorts of going back. When bees from different hives get
mixed in swarming (a very common tiling in a large apiary
with swarm-fever raging) the queen or queens will often be
balled — at least half the time if the bees are light of honey —
which is also a common thing, at least in this yard. The lit-
tle ball of bees and queen often falls from the cluster to the
Aug. IS, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
521
ground, and is liable to be left unnoticed. Then, of courst',
the queenless bees go home, either before or after hiving.
Sometimes the ball is formed after hiving, or deposited with
the rest of the bees at the door of the hive, and carelessly left
there when they run in. In these cases also the bees go back
to the old hive— never to the woods, I think. While we are on
the subject of swarming let me •' swat " another old and
popular fallacy — the idea that bees load up with honey pre-
paratory to starling out. They go just as they happen to be,
I am pretty well convinced. A swarm imprisoned will some-
times <|uickly begin to die of starvation. On the other hand,
after three days and two nights of imprisonment, they will
often be found with a good piece of comb built and honey in
it. This imprisonment trick is a hobby of mine, and thus I
know.
WINTERING OF DIFFERENT STRAINS OF BEES.
I suspect it is easy to be mistaken when we say that one
kind of bees winters better than another. In a mild climate,
however, which may happen nevertheless to be a climate in
which staying quietly indoors is much more profitable than
hustling around, it is reasonable to expect that blacks might
winter better than Italians. But, Mr. Whitcomb, mightn't a
poor and lazy strain of Italians idle and prosper just as well
ac. blacks could do ? Might not prosper as well next .Tunc,
eh ? Then I guess you're pretty much altogether right.
Your fourth point is hardly important enough to rank with
such important things as the first three points comprise.
Page 428.
^.^it.^:l>^.JiLj!Cj!t.J^.^.^.
^ ^ The Home Circle.
Conducted by Prof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
STRAWS POINT THE WIND.
We all court or desire popularity. Few of us get it in as
generous proportions as we would desire. We all have among
our friends those whom we not only love and admire, but who
are general favorites. Everybody is quick to take them up,
and even more slow to let them slide out of their social circle.
I have often thought, and as frequently said, that no fortune
could be justly said to out-rank that of having for our life's
work that which we enjoyed most to do. It is almost as benef-
icent and helpful to be attended in our life-journey by those
who rwimire, respect and love us, and who are ready to trust
us to the full, for they know us, and the knowledge has begot-
ten faith. I know of no single thing that gives such full
satisfaction as the sure thought that those who know us best
believe in us. There is no show of wavering in their faith.
We all have known public men whose presence among
their neighbors and friends is sure to bring loud acclaim.
They are ever greeted by their constituents with loud and
heartfelt cheers. All this is most grateful to him who is so
happy as to receive it, and must be a most potent influence,
not only in making the life more pleasurable but also in caus-
ing it to yield richer and more abundant fruit.
So great a factor in the happiness and success of our
lives is well-earned popularity, that we are all wise to study
the ways and lives of our most esteemed friends, that we may,
if possible, discover what attracts and wins, and then may
strive with unflagging effort to crown our own lives with like
virtues. Camp-life furnishes most excellent opportunity for
such study. The " straws which point the wind" are ever in
evidence.
We are in camp. Many other campers are near neigh-
bors. The meals are to be provided ; the wood chopped ; the
dishes washed ; the camp to be kept neat and tidy : not only
our friends but others who have not such evident claim on us
are, or ought to be, entertained. The books brought to camp
are very entertaining ; the many magazines abound with fas-
cinating recitals or stories ; special friends are so attractive ;
how much there is to make selfishness assertive, how many
straws will show the trend of character. Here is where the
one who has grown into a life of thoughtfulness for others
shines forth as the noonday sun. Such a one takes no heed to
tind the exact bounds of his allotted tasks, but is ever reach-
ing out with helpful hand to lessen the burdens of every otlier
one. Ill' is (luick to lay asid<' the entrancing story to h.'lp
some other in a wearying task, or to entertain some older per-
son, or. possibly, some visitor who has come to the camp fnr a
recreation which the home camp has failed to furnish.
Some one in camp has been olT on a long tramp, climbing
the ever-alluring mountains, or seeking some pool where the
trout are more quick to bite. He returns weary, and, oh '. so
hungry. Yet his it is to see that the meal is prepared, or the
wood chopped, or the dishes washed. The dragging step and
tell-tale pallor are quickly noted, and he finds his work is
snatched from his tired hands, by those more than eager and
willing to do it for him. This straw of thoughtful unselfish-
ness is a very jumbo, and tells a whole chapter of character
trend, which ever charms, wins, and sweetens. If one ever
gets just " dead tired " and "dead gone " with hunger, it is
on the long tramps along the mountain streams of the deep,
wooded canyons, or climbing the steep mountains, where
lured on by beauty and awful grandeur the tramp carries us
often away beyond our strength, and yet we must retrace our
whole rugged journey before either rest or food — possibly
before water — can bring the longed-for refreshment.
Here is where the Mark Tapleys shine out.
Here is another colossal straw. Some so thoroughly hold
themselves in fullest control, that they " burn all their own
smoke." Tired, used up, every bone and joint crying out
with the hard ache of sorest exhaustion, yet we hear not a
word of murmur ; indeed, they have still cheer and sunshine
for others who seemingly are more weary than are they.
Surely, these are heroes that see no battle-field, and whose
praises are all unsung on History's page. Yet camp- life
shows their status. " Straws point the wind."
"OLD BALDY" (San Antonia Mountain).
Where is it ? and what ? It is one of the three highest
peaks of the Southern California mountains. It reaches up
10,000 feet, and lies 23 miles north from Claremont. It is
le' miles west of our camp, which is something over 3,00O
feet above the sea-level. Seven of us scaled it on Monday
last, three of whom were ladies. Horses or mules, and one
pack-mule, carried us and our belongings 12 of the 16 miles.
Then we must walk and carry our food and blankets, for we
must sleep that night on the very crown of the lofty summit.
What a climb— 4000 feet; or lOOO feet to the mile ! Two
and one-half miles more on the very ridge-pole of a great
roof-like mass of granite— a mere narrow path often hardly
a foot wide, and steeper on each side than steepest roofs ;
often almost perpendicular on one side, reaching down more
than 1000 feet— more than one-fifth of a mile. Often this
path stretched upward as fast as onward, and yet our party
flinched not, but all slept that night on the very crest of this
grand mountain peak. Only one took to hands and knees, and
she but once. But more than one wondered if they could do
it. And almost all drew long breaths as the most trying
points were scaled. So rare was the air that ever and anon
all would pause to draw a half dozen quick breaths in rapid
succession, before the onward march could be resumed.
It was a tremendous climb but the outcome warranted the
labor, the fatigue, the tremor of fright, for the outlook from
the crest, as also the sunrise, were entirely indescribable. If
one ever seems right in Clod's very presence it is while on some
such towering peak as " Old Baldy." As I gazed entranced at
the grand, varied, far-reaching landscape, I uttered the truth
that I would rather have given 825 than to have had my
daughter miss the experiences. She made the trip with easy,
lightsome steps, and hardly knew her weakness till the race
was run. Our beds were on the small broken rocks that mark
the bald summit ; with a good camp-fire and our blankets we
kept the chill away, and slept some.
At 5 a. m. we enjoyed the transcendent sunrise, which
alone paid for the journey. We then proceeded at once to
make the homeward march. We reached camp at 12:30.
Oh, we were so tired ! All our party kept their cheer, their
smiles, and their tempers. I guaged all by my own tired
muscles, and was proud that I had such friends and comrades.
Those light of weight, and used to labor, endured it well ;
those great with avoirdupois, and unused to such exercise,
almost fainted on the home stretch. Yet we all have even
now lost sight of the hard effort and wearisome climb, and
now think only of the beauty and grandeur.
We seemed, and will ever seem, nearer to God, for we
were a night and a day in the very glory of his most magnifi-
cent handiwork.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song- in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last.
522 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL Aug. 15, i90i.
ADVERTISEMENT.
•>^}
To Our Shippers :
We were obliged to notify you a few weeks ago that one Joseph M. ^^
McCaul had leased our old quarters at Nos. 120-122 West Broadway, New ^
York City, and had there started up business under the name "HiLDRETH, ^<.
McCaul Co., " and had distributed a multitude of circulars so worded as to ^^
create the impression that his business was a successor to or a branch of
the business of Hildreth & Segfelken.
^
^
-2. For the protection of our shippers and ourselves, we at once instruc-
->^ ... - . ^<-
^ ted our attorney to commence action to enjoin the said McCaul from using t*
V^ the name HiLDRETH in any manner whatsoever in connection with his busi- V
■*@ ness. On the 10th day of July, 1901, Hon. David McAdam, Justice of the %^
-^ Supreme Court of the State of New York, after a full argument upon the ^t
-»^ merits, issued a peremptory injunction, of which the following is an ^<-
•^ extract : ^«-
.v^Si ''And It appearing that the plaintiffs have for a long time been and now are carrj'ing on busi- ^i^
V*^ ness under the style of ■ Hildreth & Segelken,' and that the defendant has recently opened a business ^^
■^^^ at 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan. City of New York, and is carrying on the ^^<-
» same under the style of ' Hildreth, McCaul Co.,' and that such act is in violation of the plaintiffs' «
->^^^ rights, and that the commission or continuance thereof, during the pendency of this action will pro- ^^^
^. duce irreparable injury to the plaintiffs ; it is
"*^' ORDERED that the defendant (Joseph M. McCaul) and each of his agents, servants and em-
_^^ ployees and all other persons acting under his authority and direction be, and he and they are here-
w^ by restrained and enjoined from showing, displaying or otherwise using during the pendency of this
.^^^ action in or upon any papers, devices, sign or signs, or otherwise, in the business conducted bj' the
s^ the defendant at No. 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, or
-»^^ elsewhere the name of " Hildreth " separately or conjunctively with any other name, designation or
^^ description."
Outside of our desire in our own interests to protect the name which ^
we have built by years of satisfactory dealings with our customers, we t'
"^•^ hastened to procure this injunction as soon as possible, to prevent our %^
"^l^ shippers from being misled into sending their goods to one who would ^^
->^ make an attempt to gain their trade by such a trick and device. "^f*"
->^ With thanks for the many expressions of good-will we have received ^<-
4^ from our shippers concerning this attempt to trade under our name, we ^^.
^ are. Sincerely yours, ^
4 Hildreth & Seqelken, ^
"^ 265-267 Greenwich Street, NEW YORK, N. Y. V^
^ @^
f lease mention Bee journal when writing.
Aug. IS, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
523
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale- Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
add MOST desij-able in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fort Wax Mo Foundation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving-
Full Line of Supplies,
applicatioa.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
QUEEINIS
Now readv to supply bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXi I'.l.LED : : I
Bred under the SUPERSKDI NO CONDITION of
the colon V
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the '.K EAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. Thev havf n . SUPERIOR
and few equal. "Sc e 'c >. for f4.(X).
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the Lc ING-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for $5. Safe Arrival t.uAK.ANTEED.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Mcth,
2146 & 2148 Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Goods
Bee-Supplies. | at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
Please mention Bee Jotimal when ■wTitlng-
Standard BelQiaQ Hare Book !
BV M. D. CAPPS.
THIS book of 175
pages presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
gian Hare industry;
'gin
d kinds
the
tat
a and construc-
f the rabbitry ;
ion of breeding
stock; care of the
voung, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping, &c.
First edition of 50,-
()(Ni copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
aid; or with the American Bee Journal one
ear— both for only il.lO.
GEORGE \V. YORK & CO..
44 & 14t, Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
B6es=Syppii6s
CATALOG FREE.
1. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
IT'S NO TROUBLE
for UB to tell why P.\GK Fences cmfhist otliera, nor
why they stay up and don' t satr. Ask us.
I'MiV. WOTKN WIRE FEXC'K CO.. ADKIAX, MICH.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
* $13.00 to Buffalo Pan = American and
Return— $1300.
Tickets on sale daily via the Nickel
Plate Road, good returning 10 days
from date of sale. Especially low rates
for 15 and 30 day limit Chicag-o to Buf-
falo and return. Tickets at lowest
rates to all points East. John Y. Cal-
ahan, General Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 'Phone Central 2057. Chi-
cago Ticket Office, 111 Adams St. 18-3t
(^to^;S^/^J.U^^Iimi«^,/^!^\^
^EgaEBlC'i^^/^^i
w^m//'/;^Jiii^
Is the " Wide-Open " Faip a Finan-
cial Success?
The Civic Coaiiiiittee of Boston has sent a
series of iiuestions to the secretaries of all the
State Boards of Agriculture, asking'whether,
in their opinion, tlie purely legitimate Agri-
cultural fair or the " wide-open " fair pays
better in the long run financially, socially and
educationally. Opinions in reply have been
received from 24 Slates, including two Prov-
inces of Canada.
Without excciition these ofBcials say that
the purely legitimate Agricultural fair pays
better financially in the long run ; that the
" wide-open " fair i,s not a financial success,
that it is offensive to the better class of peo-
ple on whom the fair must rely for continued
support, and is demoralizing to the surround-
ing community.
They are also unanimous for rigorously
excluding all games of chance; for strictly
prohibiting all alcoholic liquors, except Cali-
fornia; and they severely condemn vulgar
tent-shows and suggestive demonstrations on
the outside of tents.
As to whether " circus " features tend to
absorb time, strength and interest of patrons
to any disadvantage to the exhibitions of
farm, home, school and factory products, the
majority believe that they do. and therefore
should not be encouraged. One-half of the
writers lean to the view that entertainments,
those foreign to the real features of the fair,
should be done away with as fast as the peo-
ple can be educated to appreciate the fair for
its own sake. The Civic Committee.
Boston, Mass., Aug. 1.
Very Dry in Idaho.
It is very dry here now. but the bees are
doing some great work on catnip, buckwheat,
and mignonette. I have nice, strong colo-
nies from two colonies I purchased a year
ago. I try to prevent swarming as far as
practical. 1 use S-frame hives, but the best
helper I have is the American Bee .Journal.
J. C. Larkee.
Nez Perees Co., Ida., Aug. 1.
Good Season for Honey.
1 am a beginner in the bee-business, and
hope, in time, to make a success of it. I
worked for increase this year, so I do not ex-
pect to get much honey, although this has
been a great season for honey here. There is
an abundance of sweet clover, which the bees
are working on. I hope and expect soon to
be a member of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association, as I think it is a worthy cause.
LlSCOLX WHITSEY.
Will Co.. 111.. Aug. 6.
Building a Mouse-Proof Honey-
House.
G. M. Doolittle tells how to build a honey-
house, on page i'Si'y, emphasizing the necessity
of having it "mouse-proof."' I think I can
tell the readers of the American Bee Journal
how to erect such a building and have it
mouse-proof without the trouble and expense
of " lining it with tin," and I can do it best
by telling how 1 I'uilt my own.
After laying the sills on good-sized rocks,
three feet apart, and placing the joists on top
of the sills. I then laid the floor — good,
matched material, free from knot-holes —
Hush with the outride of the joists all around ;
then spiked 'Jx-l scantling flatwise on top of
the floor clear mound the outside, like a
plate; tlien toe-nailed the studding to this;
sided it with good, matched drop-siding,
painting the tongues with titick paint as fasi
as it was put on. CZi
The building iv provided with five window.s
and a door, all provided with screens, the
latter self-closiii;.'. luul which I leave on sum-
mer and winter, -o that if the door is care-
THE
Bee-Keeper's Guide
Or, JTIaniial of tlie Apiary,
BY
PROR A- J. COOK,
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition-lSth Thou-
sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given lor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00], and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
Bees that Bave a Record
tSee page 45'> Aruerican Bee Jouraal.
Have lotigest tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen. By return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
31Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
.^MANUFACTURER OfiS^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
rtease mention Bee Journal when ■writlns
I am Now Prepared
to fill orders promptly for Untested Queens
reared from a breeder "of the HUTCHINSON
SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN
breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents
each; $4.iX) for 6, or, $7.50 per dozen.
Money order office, Warreutown, N. C.
W. H. PRIDGEN,
22.\tf Creek, Warren Co , N. C.
> win ));iy aif. cash, per 11). for
ro. brlK'it yellow beeswax,
fl 20i'. cash, per lb. for pure,
l;ulc bccs\v;ix tli'livcrcd here.
IN Medicine Co,
l<
BEES^^^^^^^
WAX if'!^5^'iiiJJ
Please mention the Bee Journal.
524
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug:. 15, 1901.
FOR SALE
k) 3 5 acres, well fruited to cherries, peaches,
-^ plums, pears, apples, currants, raspberries,
blackberries, and strawberries. Good house,
barn, vegetable green-house, honey-house, SO or
H.K) colonies of bees, situated in good bee-local-
ity. Title clear. For particulars address,
31D3t A. L. KILDOW. Sheffield. 111.
Farm Wagon Economy.
The economy of this proposition is not all
found in the very reasonable price of the wagon
itself, but in the great amount of labor it will
save, and its frreat durability. The Electric
Wheel Co, who make this Electric Handy
Wag-on and the now famous Electric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
durable low-down wag^ou at a reasonable price.
This wag-on is composed of the best material
thruout— white hickory axles, steel wheels, steel
.MHa fW carrv 4CMK) lbs. These Electric
^^2x1 IJW, Steel Wheels are made to fit
^mnl \l £f«k "^"^ wagron, and make practi-
■rmrwWB oidone. They can be had in
Br^S^nC JBh width of lire up to S inches.
wL/l N flw "^^'^^ ^° ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^
^^^J^^ lar wheels aud have a hig-h or
low-down wagon at will.
Write for catalog of the full *' Electric Line'' to
Electric Wheel Co., Box lb, Quincy, 111.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other published,
send Jl.JSto
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wrritfn.g^
Send for circular s[?/S
improved and original Binfrham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 "Years the Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Harwell, Mich,
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-gathering stock. Tested, $1.00; un-
tested, 75 cents. " Sh.idy Nook Apiary."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
39A13t Sag Hakiior, New York.
Flease mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to oflfer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with $1.00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for $1.30 ; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for SO cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
lessly left open the screen will close, keeping
out mice, cats, or anything of this kind.
The building has been in use three years,
and I can say, truthfully, that not a single
mouse has eyer been inside of it. My house
was built in the same way, except that between
the joists is filled with grouting level with the
top, with a double floor. In the six years
that we have occupied it, not a mouse has
found its way into any part of it — up-stairs,
down-stairs, or between the walls.
Another advantage is claimed for a house
built in this way, that is, in case a tornacjo
twists the building into kindli'Hg-wood. the
lloor will be left, so that it the family take
refuge in the cellar they will be safe; but I
am very glad to be able to say that we have
not yet been compelled to test the truth of
the statement. A. F. Fuote.
Mitchell Co., Iowa.
Good White Clover Flow.
I have 'J.^ good colonies, have taken off 02".'
pounds of fine white clover honey, and have
about 100 pounds more to take off. We have
had a tine flow. Bees are in fine condition.
I nave not lost a swarm this summer. Sev-
eral colonies swarmed four times apiece. I
put them back, and cut out the queen-cells.
Honey sells readily at 12'.j cents per section. I
have 500 pounds yet in cases put away for
sale. My brother. D. D. Cole, has taken off
82.5 pounds — all very fine honey.
J.'W. B. Cole.
Audubon Co., Iowa, July 23.
No Honey-Flow.
I have been interested in bees for some
time. Two summers ago I bought a colony
with a tested Italian queen; last year my in-
crease was a prime swarm and an after-swarm,
which wintered well. Two of them cast two
swarms each this year. Last year I had a
surplus of 40 pounds of honey, but as yet I
have no surplus, as there has been no honey-
flow in this section. I want to try feeding.
Chas. Hardix.
Greene Co., Tenn., July 22.
Treatment for Bees Supposed to be
Diseased.
On pages 487 and 488, I notice that a bee-
keeper in Massachusetts has trouble with his
bees, which seems to be a disease, or some
consider it so. Thus far I consider the
trouble arises, first, from a lack of vitality in
the queen; second, chilling of brood; and
third (and principally), starvation in its vari-
ous stages. Care should be taken to keep
bees dry and warm in the spring, or the whole
season ; plenty of good food supplied when
thej' are short in honey, and a good watering-
place in the apiary kept going from early
spring until quite late in the fall. New blood
should be introduced, and to make sure work
of it, where bees are bad, they might be put
on full sheets of foundation. This followed
carefully will make a great improvement, aud
should rid the bees of dying brood. Many
have this same thing in their yards in a
degree, and do not notice it until it becomes
quite bad. When the case becomes serious
the bees will amount to nothing.
D. J. Blochek.
Stephenson Co., 111.. Aug. 8.
The Mulberry as a Honey-Plant.
Do you believe in telepathy * Then how do
you explain the fact that since I accidentally
discovered the value of the white mulberry as
bee-food for honey-producing — before the
article in reference to mulberries had appeared
in the American Bee Journal (page 493) —
enquiries have been received, special explana-
tions being desired ;
If the editor will permit me space I will
cheerfully add the result of recent and more
extended experiments. I should have been
more explicit in some of my details in the
first article, to which I will advert in this. I
am not certain as to how large dimensions
the white mulberry tree attains. The black,
I know, grows to be large, in some sections
used for saw-logs, but the white may not
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a liard
i-iil»bcr holder, tapering to a
round point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point and needle of the pen
are made of platina, alloyed
with iridium — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write 10,000 words, and do not
lealc or blot.
As they make a line of uni-
form widlli at all times
they are unequaled lor
ruling purpossesi.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best Manifolding Pen on
THE Market.
19,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the '• Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new stescribers
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with $2.00; or send
SI. 90 for the Pen and 3'our own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for -SI. 00 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
Z°^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
ALBINO QUEENS J-UTc grn^'^nTo.l
want the gentlest Bees — If you want the best
honev-gatherers you ever saw — try rav Albinos.
Untested Queens in April. fl.iXl; Tested. $1.50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS. Lisbon, Tex.
Please mention Bee Journal when, writing.
please mention Bee Journal "when WTitinc
Low Rates to Buffalo Pan-American.
The Nickel Plate Road are selling'
tickets at exceptionally low rates to
Buffalo and return, g-ood for 10, 1.5 and
30 days. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
'Phone Central 2057. City Ticket tlf-
fice, 111 Adams St. 19— 3t
Aug. 15, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
525
'%^^%^
BEE/KEEPERS' SUPPLIES
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OuF New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. Ii is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
_ Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal when wntinft
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
• ■* e> ¥~* '♦' '*'• wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax, * - -i- ni,T
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Cttiifnfrtia I If yon care to know of its
^aillUrnid I Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricaltnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Please ttiention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. TScts.each; 6 for $4.01.
Long=Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for J4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor, Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog- on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when writing.
ilarsliMd Mannfactnring Company.
Our Specialty is making SECTIONS, and they are the best in the market.
Wisconsin BASSWOOD is the right kind for them. We have a full line of BEE-
SUPPLIES. M'rite for free illustrated catalog and price-list.
8A26t Marshfleld Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal wiien ■writing.
A HANDY TOOL-HOLDEB !
Sent by Express, for $1. SO ; or ^villi tlic Bee Journal
one year — bolli for $'2.00.
fivery Manufacturer, Miller. Carpenter.
Cabinet Maker, Machinist. Wheelwriglit and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one using: a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work of two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will bold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chisel to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachment lor sharpening- scythe
blades included in the above price. The work
la done without wetting the hands or soiling-
the clothes, as the water flows from the opera-
tor. It can be attached to any size stone for
baud or steam power, is always ready for use,
nothin? togetoutof order, and is absolutely
nrorth 100 tiiMes its cost.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
*or itself in a short lime. ,
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool Is fus-
tened securely In the Holder by
aset-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevel bylnsi-rt-
iDft the arm of the Holder Into
a higher or lowernotch of the
standard. While turning t In-
crank with the right hand, the
left rests on an steadies the
Holder ; the Tool is moved to
the right or left .across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if huld in th-» hands.
For grinding Koniid - Edi:e
TooIh, the holt s In the stand-
ard are used Instead of the
ootches-
grow so Liig. but large enough to produce
abundant shade and bear quantities of luscious
fruit.
The berries begin to ripen about the first to
the sct-ond week in June, and continue to
ripen \intil nearly the last of July— according
to the season. If cool and wet. the berries do
not Tiiature .so quickly. But the greatest
advantage is that the fruit ripens gradually,
affording extended feeding-time — so unlike
other nectar-producing fruits, of few days'
duration. The simplicity with which the
berries can lie utilized — easily gathered and
crushed— that a small child can readily be
taught to feed it to the bees.
The fact that the bees take kindly to this
new product is beyond question — they simply
devour every ristige that can be made avail-
able, leaving only the seeds.
Now as to the kind of honey produced. I
opened up a hive the other day and found
both comb and honey which I have good rea-
son to believe was the result of the mulberry
harvest. The comb was new. beautifully
white, and especially translucent: the honey
was as pure and white as any sweet clover
honey, and the flavor much like that of
alfalfa, but innocent of the slightest •■ foxy "
taste of the basswood and pungent blossoms,
not to mention buckwheat. I can imagine
no more delicate flavor, and in appearance it
is ideal.
( )t course, the natural argument will arise :
■'How do you know it wasn't white clover
honey ?'' WeW. I'll have to resort to woman's
final reason — -''Cause." I may as well at-
tempt to explain the sound of a violin — you
can only know by heai-ing it; the honey you
can only appreciate by tasting.
You can. by no possibility, miss doing a
good thing in planting white mulberries in
every available place around your home.
Stick cuttings in the ground and let Ihem
grow.
To the good wife let me say. that white
mulberries stewed with about one-fourth
currants — or pie-plant — makes one of the
most delicious jellies, or jams in the world.
No sugar needed. Dr. Peiko.
Cook Co.. 111.
UEORGE W. VOICK A: CO., 144 &: 140
St Cliicagro, III.
As to Editors of Bee-Journals.
It seems to some a matter of reproach that
editors of bee-journals are not completely in-
formed on all topics nearly or remotely con-
nected with the subject of bee-keeping.
Arthur C. Miller complains of the silence of
the text-books and the ignorance of editors
as to the laws of heredity and the principles
of breeding! and now F. L. Thompson, in the
Progressive Bee-Keeper. takes up the refrain
at still greater length. This reproach against
the ignorance of bee-editors does not seem to
be bitterly resented by at least one editor, for
the editor of the Progressive makes no word
of reply, and it is not likely that any other
will attempt to deny the charge. No one is
more likely than the editor of a bee-journal
himself to be conscious of his need of infor-
mation ; and the reproach that he has not yet
learned all that is to be known about bee-
keeping is likely to strike him much as would
the reproach that he has not strength to live
on without eating.
The mistake that Mr. Thompson seems to
make is in supposing that editors of bee- jour-
nals pose as the repositories of all knowledge
on the subject of bee-keeping. If bee-keepers
had any such view, then their journals would
be made up entirely of editorials. But at the
present day no bee-journal is conducted on
any such line. Instead of being filled up en-
tirely w-ilh what the editor has to say, the
bee-journal of the present day seeks contribu-
tions from all quarters. If any bee-keeper
has had special opportunity for becoming
particularly well informed on some one sub-
Book
526
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 15, 19' 1.
ject connected with bee-keeping, conliihu-
tions (rom liim upon that subject will I'e
eagerly sought. Instead of a bee-jourmil
being a mouth-piece through which one uiau
seated on a pinnacle may deal out wisdom to
the common herd below, it is, rather, a clear-
ing-house through which may pass in ex-
change the gathered wisdom of all.
Still greater is the mistake that a bee-jour-
nal should seek to repress knowledge upon a
subject with which the editor is not entirely
familiar. Having learned that an article hav-
ing some reference to the matter of scientific
ciueen-rearing had been sent to appear in the
columns of this journal, Mr. Thompson says:
■• I fear that either it will never get there, or,
if it does, it will be accompanied by a crush-
ing footnote, written more in sorrow than in
anger." If he will turn to page 382, he will
tind the article in question, with a footnote
not at all "crushing,'' containing neither
sorrow nor anger. So far from that, he will
be rejoiced to tind the footnote only conutien-
datory, saying, " Bee-keepers have much to
learn from the breeders of other fine stock,"
and his joy will be iucreased to find that suili-
eient progress has been made to commend
heartily in-breeding on the lines indicated.
Xo, the bee-journal that seeks to repress
knowledge that may benefit bee-keepers in
general would be committing suicide. The
watchword with all should be, and probably
is. "Let there be light."— Gleanings in Bee-
Culture.
Red Clover— How Important is It?
The desire to obtain the nectar secreted by
red clover is one of long standing; and the
common impression is that a very large quan-
tity of nectar per acre would be secured from
it if the flower-tubes were not too deep for the
reach of the honey-bee. Latterly some dis-
credit has been cast upon red clover as a
honey-plant, even supposing that all its nec-
tar could be secured, by the fact that it is not
a plant of universal cultivation.
There are a few plants that yield an enor-
mous amount of nectar ; but as they are kejit
only in greenhouses, averaging less than one
plant to the acre, they are valueless from a
bee-keeper's standpoint. If, however, any
good honey-yielder were widely distributed in
dense quantity over a single State, then it
would assume some degree of importance.
The buckwheat crop of the State of New York
would be no trifling matter, even if not
another acre of buckwheat were found else-
where in the United States. If it were pos-
sible to obtain certain bees that would double
the buckwheat honey crop of New York, the
amount of money gamed by that would war-
rant no small outlay. Is it not possible
that there are single States in which the nec-
tar secreted by red clover would amount to
several thousand dollars !
But is red clover confined to a rather limited
area! It would be interesting to know just
what is the average acreage. Lacking that,
some estimate may be made from the amount
of clover seed raised. The government statis-
tics give us the figures, and it is probably safe
to infer that by " closer .«<■«< " is meant that
from red clover. According to the last cen-
sus available, that of liloO, an amount of
clover seed, large or small, is given as being
raised in every State and Territory of
the United States except Montana and Wyom-
ing. Certainly that shows that it is not con-
fined to so small an area as some suppose.
The North Central division leads with a
product of •2,.>14.S64 bushels. The South Cen-
tral comes next with 77,783 bushels; the
North Atlantic, 71,1'28 bushels ; South Atlan-
tic, 35,155 bushels; Westfrn, 24,250. Total.
3.753,180 bushels.
That sho%vs a very unequal distribution ;
but this distribution of the growing plants is
by no means what the figures would indicate.
From the States that are the greatest pro-
ducers, as New York and Pennsylvania, large
quantities are exported, and, of course, other
States import, thus making the acreage grown
in the different States much more uniform
I ban the amount of seed produced.
If all the seed raised is sown again — audit
is not likely that it is ever used for any other
purpose — and if a peck of seed is sown to the
acre, it would cover a little more than 11,000,-
000 of acres. To speculate as to the amount
ASiiperiorRfdCloverijiieen |
For sending- us One New Subscriber and 25 ^
cents ($1.25 in all.)
« We arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breeders (having many
^ years' experience) to rear tiueens for us this season. His bees average quite a
5 good deal the longest tongues of any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di-
^ rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, some-
^ what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. They
^ stored red clover honey last season. ^
-^ All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped,
5 unless otherwise ordered.
2 We would like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine
^ Queens. Simiily send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer-
5 lean Bee .lournal for one year, and "25 cents extra, and the Queen will be mailed
^ to you. Our (lueen-rearer is now caught up with orders, and expects to be able
^ To mail them hereafter within 48 hours after we receive the order. He is in an-
^ other State, and we will send him the Queen orders as fast as we get them at this
^ otllce. He is prepared to rear and mail a large number.
5 The cash prices of these Queens are .«il.00 each : 3 for S2.70 ; or 6 for ?.5.00.
^ Send all orders to
S GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
2 144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool Jnarkets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first,foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
QUPSS
QUIRIN— The Queen-Breeder — has
now on hand, ready to mail, 500 youogr, loue"-
tongned Red Clover Queens, Golden or Leather
Colored.
We have one of Root's best breeders from his
$200, loner-tongued. Red Clover Queen, and a
Golden Breeder which we are told is worth *100,
if there is a queen in the U. S. worth that sum.
J. L. Gaudy, of Humboldt, Nebr., tells us that
the colony having- one of our queens, stored over
400 pounds (mostly combl honey in a single sea-
son. A. I. Root's folks say that qur queens are
extra fiae, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our stock from time to time.
We have years of experience in mailing and
rearing Queens. Queens positively by return
mail from now on. Prices for balance of season
as follows:
1 6 12
Selected $ .75 $ 4.00 $ 7.00
Tested 1.00 5.00 3.O0
Selected tested 1.50 S 00
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 3.00
H. G. QUIRIN,
Parkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.)
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only.
27D6t Please mentioa the Bee Jon r
al.
COnPLETE POULTRY BOOK FREE.
Contains 20s pages, profusely illustrated, plans
for houses, incubators, brooders, coops, etc.
Given free if you send this advertisement and
25 cents for a year's subscription to our Journal.
Inland Povltky JotJRN.AL, Indianapolis, Ind.
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Red Clover Queens !
bred from a daughter of the A. I.
Root Co. long-tongue $2011.00 Queen,
and mated in my apiary where there
is nothing but the best Italian slock.
I have drones flying in my apiary from sevel*
different States. Untested, 5Uc each, $5.50 per
dozen. Safe arrival.
W.J. FOREHAND,
2iDt3t FORT DEPOSIT, ALA.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writiue
SWEET CLOYER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Stt ions 25* SOUS
Sweet Clever (white) $.70 $1.20 $2.75 $5 00
Sweet Clover (yellow).... 1.00 1.80 4.2S S.OO
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 1.00 l.'iO 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save vou freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send tor our latil catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON. Bell Br anch, Wayne Co., Mich
Daily Excursions to Buffalo and
New York,
via Nickel Plate Road. Through trains
to New York City without change.
Vestibuled sleepers Chicago to Boston.
Dining-cars on all trains. Meals served
on American Club plan, at from 35
cents to $1.00. Write John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St. .Chicago,
for particulars. 20 — 3t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Aug. 15, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
527
of honey that ouukl be obtained from this
acreage would be outside of the present in-
quiry, and it is doubtful as to there being
sufficient data to justify anything like a
reasouable estimate. It is only desired to
show that the aggregate of red clover terri-
tory is no triHitig affair, and that it is widely
ilistribiited.— Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Distance of Apiaries.
At a conference of the Vietoriau Apiarists'
Association, as reported in the Australasian
Bee-Keeper, it was adopted as a rule of this
Association membership, that in the "./'«7k)t
I'stfihlixlimeHt of apiaries a distance of o^ hnxl
three miles should be preserved from any ex-
isting member's apiary unless by mutual con-
sent, and that failure to observe this rule,
should, on being properly brought before the
executive of the Association, disqualify for
membership."'
Another rule added, provided that "any
member practicing adulteration of the pro-
ducts of the apiary, or guilty of fraudulent
preeeedings as a bee-keeper, should be dis-
iiualified."
It was pointed out by one and another that
the very grave mistake of crowding close to
another apiary, often of superior numbers,
was made by beginners in the industry be-
cause they were kjuorant of the severe loss it
entailed on themselves, especially; and by
others who lacked that moral sense of honor
and fair play that even rabbiters will observe
in keeping at a fair distance from their
neighbor. Several bee-keepers thought the
distance should be five miles apart, and no
doubt was expressed that this is in all but
the very best of bee-country quite close
enough, and that three miles in the off or bad
season is' very much ?oo close for apiaries of
any considerable size.
The Bee in Law.
I'nder this caption has begun in Gleanings
in Bee-Culture a series of articles by F. D.
Fisher, with a view to having them afterward
in book form for convenient reference. This
will serve a convenient purpose, especially as
laws of different States are by no means alike.
As to ownership, Mr. Fisher says :
With regard to bees, Blackstone, the great
law-giver, says:
" Bees also are A'l'"' uatune (wild by nature) ;
but when hived and reclaimed, a man may
have a (|ualitied property in them by the law
of nature as well as by the civil law.''
And to the same purpose, not to say in the
same words with the civil law. speaks Brac-
ton ; " Occupation, that is, hiving or includ-
ing them, gives the property in bees; for,
though a swarm alights upon my tree, I have
no more property in them till I have hived
them than I have in the birds which make
their nest thereon ; and. therefore, if another
hives them, he shall be their proprietor; but
a swarm which flies from out of my hive is
mine so long as I can keep it in sight and
have power to pursue them ; and in these
circumstances no one else is entitled to take
them.''
But in respect to such animals as are in the
habit of going and returning, as pigeons and
bees, which are accustomed to go into the
woods ami fields, and come again, we have
this traditional rule that, if they cease to have
the intention of returning, they also cease to
be ours, and become the projjerty of the first
taker, because they cease to be what are termed
animus ren'rtetali when they have discontinued
their habits of returning.
Ownership in bees is rathme wH — that is,
bearing reference to the soil, and is said to be
the ground of ownershi(5 in l)ees. So in the
civil law, if a swarm of bees had flown from
A'shive they were reputed his so long as
they remained in sight and might easily be
pursued: but they do not bei<ime private
property until they are actually liivc-d. Bees,
along with other wild animal*, lurnish the
only distinct class of challcl.- whicli have
been made the subject of primajy occupancy.
Even here, notwithstanding the universal
principle of law, that all mankind may pur-
sue and take animals, whether of the air,
earth, or water, in a wild state, the first occu-
pant becoming the owner, there is found a
restraint which ownership of the soil imposes,
and which fastens the closer as population
grows and civilization advances.
DO YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and Queens?
2-fraine Nucleus with Untested Queen, $2.00,
purchaser paying express charges.
NOTICE.
Having sold my pi-operly I am required to
give possession soon,. -is well as move my entire
apiarv. Therefore I will quit filling orders
Sept.'t. Our bees will be put in a more roomy
place, and there prepared for winter.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
Golden Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.2S 6 50 10.00
Select Tested 2.00 9.00 16 00
Breeders S.0O
Honey Queens.
Untested $ .75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.25 6 SO 10.00
Select Tested 1.50 7.00 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
28Alf Please mention the Bee Journal.
■ ir_ A. I Fancy White Comb Honey
fW/llltl^n in no'drip cases; also ^l
" till I Vll traded Honey. Slate price,
delivered. We pay spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
2.SA17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay hie^hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, aad price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is larg-e enough to
iuslify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
3lAtf Fairfield, III.
Wanted.
Comb and E.ttracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly ou receipt of groods. Refer you to
Brighton German liank, this city.
C. H W. WEBER,
2146-214S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Gonib and E,x-
,.a.eo,.eelffiSnft9"^y-
R. A. BURNETT & ca. iw S. Water St., Chicago
33K\i Please mention the Bee Journal.
ii Sfe. >ti >l;i >li JOt >tt Sli >lt >!< Jtt. >li iltt*
|HON&y AND beeswax!
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
The Enierson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" uo further binding is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Streel, CHICAGO, ILL.
Daily Excursions Via Nickel Plate Road
Chicago to Biitl'alo and New York.
Special low rales and favorable limits
to all points iCast. Call on or address
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 21— 3t
Please raetitlou Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
Chicago, Au^*-. 3. — For choice white comb
honey the demand is equal to the receipts at 15c
per pound, but off grades are slow at 1 to .Scents
less. Extracted is selling' more freely at 5'2^fl.('C
for white; amber, 5^-5J4c. Beeswax' steady at
30c. R. A. BURNKTT & Co.
Cincinnati, May 17.— No demand for comb
hooey, also stock of it well exhausted. Ex-
tracted very dull; sales are more or less forced;
lower prices from K to 1 cent per pound.
C. H. W. Wbber.
Boston, Aug. 3.— The honey market is prac-
tically nominal, demands being nothing owing
to the warm weather. We have had one lot of
new honey in that sold at 17c. Extracted, light
amber, 8c; amber, 66i»7c.
Blake, Scott & Lee.
Omaha, Aug. 8.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4J^@4Kc per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Aug. 7.— There is some demand
for new crop of comb honev, and receipts are
quite numerous for this time of the year. They
have been principally from the South, but we
are now beginning to receive shipments from
Xew York State and near-bv. We quote: Fancv
white, 15c; No. 1 white, 13f!i 14c; amber, llral2c.
No new buckwheat is on the market as yet. and
we do not expect anv before next month.
Extracted is decidedly dull. Plenty offerings,
with only a limited demand, and "-luotalious are
rather nominal. We are selling at from 5(g(.'-^c,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55"' (j5c per gallon. Beeswax dull and
declining; for the present we (juote 2~ta2Sc.
HiLDRETH & SBOBLKBN.
Albany, N. Y., June 18.— Honev market is
dull with uo receipts or stocks and little de-
mand. It is between seasons now. Prospect of
good crop in this vicinity from what bees there
are left, the greater portion having been killed
by foul brood exterminators. H. R. Wright.
Des Moines, Aug, ".- There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at %3>.^\i to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaxey.
Detroit, July 18.— Fancy white, 15c; No. 1,
13@14c: no dark to quote. Extracted, Tirhite,
6@7c; dark and amber, 5@6c. Beeswax, 2oc.
M. H. Hunt & Son,
Buffalo, Aug. S. — Fancy new 1 pound comb
honev, Itii" ITc; darker, proportionatelv lower,
from'l5c down. Old not wanted, and neglected.
Beeswax, 22^<_) ZSc. Batterson"& Co.
Kansas City, June 14.— Very little old honey
on our market but what is damaged by being
granulated. Sales are light at 15 cents for best
grade No. 1 Colorado. Amber, 13c. Beeswax
firm at 25#30c.
W. R. Cromwell Produce Co.,
Successors to C. C. Clemons & Co.
San Francisco, July 31.— White comb, 11@
\2% cents; amber, 8@10c; dark, 6(ni7>^c. Ex-
tracted, white, 5H@— ; light amber, 4H@5c;
amber. A^^Mc. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Only very moderate quantities offering and
nothing in spot supplies to indicate that this
year's yield wa^ of liberal proportions. Much
of this season's honey, however, is being held
back at producing points. Bids of large opera-
tors continue uuder the views of holders.
Kansas City, Aug. ().— Some very fine Mis-
souri honey is now on the market, selling at
10Coil7c per pound for fancy white comb. Colo-
rado and Utah shippers are offering new comb
honey in carlots for first half of August ship-
ment at lOc per pound for No. 1, and *>'o'»^c for
No. 2, f.o.b. shipping-point. The market for ex-
tracted hor.ey is as yet rather unsettled, asking
prices ranging from 45i(^4',c, f.o.b. shipping-
point. IIuYcrs-. however, seem to be in no hurrv
I to make contracts. Pkycke Bros. '
528
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug. 15, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAhTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everj-thing, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy o£
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
f IS" W. M. Gerrish, East Notiogham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal w>ien -vn-ltmff.
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested. Jl.OO; Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
River Forest, Oak Park Post-OfSce,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Jonrnal when -writing.
"CJN"TE!STEiD
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at SI. 00. and
25 cts., we will mail you free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 140 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll
Year
Dadant's Foundation, m.
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY.
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAOaiNQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
^^
Why does it sell
so wed?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Revfised,
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamnton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when "writing.
More Bee-Keepers'
Paradises....
E. R. Root has just returned from a 6,000-mile trip through
some of the best bee-locations in the world, and has already be-
gun his series of write-ups, accompanied with fine photos, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. The following editorial appears Aug.
1, and will give something of an idea of what he will describe :
Some little time ago I promised to tell about the bee-keepers'
paradise in Texas. I have this on the docket, and it will appear
as I take up the line of my travels. But since running across
that paradise I have run into two or three others. There is one
west of the Rockies, in Colorado, that is not yet overstocked with
bees or bee-keepers ; another one in Central Idaho — in fact, I do
not know but the whole State. These will be described in turn.
The fact is, millions of capital are being invested in irrigation :
irrigation means alfalfa ; alfalfa means a paradise for bees. But
I found all along my trip that alfalfa-growing preceded bee-
keeping by two or three years, for it seems to take about that
length of time before bee-keepers find these gold-mines that have
been hitherto unoccupied.
If you are dissatisfied with your present location, and for
financial reasons, or on account of health, will be compelled to
leave, subscribe for Gleanings in Bee-Culture, and learn some-
thing about the great South and the great West. There are many
locations in the West that are not yet occupied — splendid bee-
locations. If you wish to learn about them, send 25 cents for a
six-months' trial subscription, or $1.00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian queen. Or, send $2.00 and we will send Gleanings
one year and one of our celebrated Red Clover Queens.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.
riedlna, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '"^ml^AiottLT-
are head.juarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send tu lUem for their free Catalog.
pj\Effle%
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, AUGUST 22, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 34.
530
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
Aug. 22, 1901.
EEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK H COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the PostrOfflee at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
g.''E'H'.sfr"^^"''iDepan.ne„t
Prof. A. J. Cook, f ^'^""'^^•
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a j'ear, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, Thos. G. Newman,
W. Z. Hutchinson, G. M. Doolittle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Marks,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Hambaugb,
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
1^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
■when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
'* I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees.'*
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-lieepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
\ Weelily Budget. \
Closed Saturday Afternoons.— It seems
that some of our customers have forgotten
that our office and store are closed Saturday
afternoons from July 1 to Oct. 1.
Mr. E. M. Hint, son of M. H. Hunt, of
Wayne Co., Mich., was married to Miss Jessica
Sawtell, Tuesday, Aug. 13. Heartiest con-
gratulations to them.
On to tue Thousand. — Still they come —
those who are helping to make up the first
1000 members 'of the National Bee-Keepers'
Association. These names have come to this
office, Jwith the dollar each, since our last
issue:
Geo. W, Harrison, John Consek,
H. P. Hexningsen, Frank L. Goss.
Theo. J. Woodward.
Mr. H. W. Congdon, of Hardin Co., Iowa,
called on us Aug. 9. He was on his way to
Buffalo, to visit the Pan-American Exposi-
tion, and also his parents who live near
there. Mr. Congdon has between 40 and 50
colonies of bees, and hopes next year to estab-
lish out-apiaries. His crop this year, owing
to the drouth, has not been very much. Still
he is not discouraged.
Dr. William Crenshaw, of Fulton Co.,
Ga.. dropped in to see us Friday, Aug. 2,
when on his way home from the national
meeting of the dentists of America, at Mil-
waukee. Dr. Crenshaw has about a dozen
colonies of bees, and is doing nicely with
them. Of course, he keeps them more as a
pleasurable pastime, in connection with his
profession, rather than as a source of finan-
cial profit. ^ The] Doctor is a very pleasant
gentleman to meet. Success to him.
Mr. N. E. France, of Grant Co., Wis., in-
spector of apiaries for that State, will be the
judge of the apiarian exhibits both at the
State Fair in Milwaukee, Sept. 9 to 12, and at
the Fair at Platteville, Sept. 17 to 20. The
judging will be well done, and all will be
satisfied.
Mr. France] says he has been quite busy
treating foul brood, and has had many ob-
stacles to overcome the past year. But he
says further that he has now gotten the dis-
ease pretty well stamped out of the State, and
all remaining cases under quarantine control.
Oh, that levery State had a bee-inspector,
and every one equal to this one with a French
name !
Pan-American Buildings. — On the pre-
ceding page we show two of the many beauti-
ful buildings of! the Pan-American Exposition.
The Agricultural Building contains exhibits
of agricultural products, processes and articles
pertaining to the farm, of a most interesting
character. In these days of scientific farming
the successful agriculturist finds it necessary
to acquire a fair knowledge of many of the
sciences. The agricultural exhibits show
many of the wonderful possibilities in farm
work.
At the Pan-American Exposition, we under-
stand, are shown the largest display of electri-
cal machinery and appliances ever presented.
Nearly every article is the very latest design,
and the visitor will find novelties without
number in this interesting division. The
Electricity Building is of very rich and beau-
tiful design, having a broad loggia on the
southern side, while the roof-line is broken
with domed towers.
Doubtless many of our readers will have an
opportunity to see the Exposition while at-
tending the annual meeting of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association at Buffalo, next
month — Sept. 10, Hand 12.
He Works Stands. — In one of the recent
issues of a certain bee-paper an old and ex-
perienced writer says, " I work 200 stands."
Just think of working the '^ staiuh.'" Wonder
what he does with them ? But quite likely he
meant colonies instead of stands. It's almost
beyond understanding how some bee-keepers
stand around and still talk about their stands
of bees. Or, perhaps they'll say they had so
many Idves in the spring, and increased to
twice as many ''hives." They don't say
whether they bought the extra hives from
some bee-supply dealer, or got them by " in-
breeding!"
Of course they mean colonies, and not
" stands" or " hives."
A Badge Pin for the members of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association is thus
suggested by Mr. N. E. France:
■• I wish the National Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion would adopt some design for a badge
pin, and every member have one to wear.
The one used at Chicago is good enough. I
could relate several instances where persons
have asked what that l:iee-keeper's badge
represented. (I wear one all the time.) I
answer always, ' National Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation.' In one case I was called to settle a
dispute about bees, and was introduced as
State Inspector and member of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association. The fact that I
belonged to said Association seemed to settle
all dispute, and both were willing to leave
their troubles for my settlement. Neither of
them belonged to the State or National
organization of bee-keepers, but they will
join them both at our next meeting."
Hurrah for a badge pin for the members of
the Natioual Bee-Keepers' Association ! Why
not adopt one at the Buffalo meeting ? True,
the badge pin tised at the Chicago conven-
tion last year is all right. Why not adopt it J
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clovep Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, c?-sh with
the order:
Stts 10ft 25ft soft
Sweet Clover (white) $.70 $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) .... 1.00 1.80 4.25 S.OO
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.(10 l.')0 4.50 8.S0
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 2S cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILI*.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, AUGUST 22, 1901,
No, 34,
Beware of Honey-Dealing Frauds!—
.Such caution, not many years ago, was abso-
lutely necessary. It was our privilege, as
well as enthusiastic pleasure, to help drive
out of business a few of the most daring
honey-sharks that ever "sharked." And so
far as we know they are not " sharking " bee-
keepers now, we are glad to say. Many of
our readers have at least pecuniary reasons
for remembering the Horrie-Wheadon-Mc-
Conkey crowd that a few years ago so suc-
cessfully fleeced the unsuspecting honey-
producers, here in Chicago. Just now we are
not aware of any here that are getting ready
to "do up'' the "easy" bee-keeper. And
yet it is always well to be on one's guard, for
no one knows just when the wolf will show
his claws through his sheepish covering.
It is a pretty good rule to make a thorough
investigation before shipping hone.v — or any-
thing else, for that matter — to new firms or
strangers. The facilities are fairly ample in
these days, to learn of the financial responsi-
bility and character of those who solicit the
products of the apiary and farm. Also, it is
generally true that an old and established
firm can do as well, if not better, with any
produce entrusted to them, than can new
firms. At any rate, we should hesitate a long
time befere changing from " the old and
tried " to the new and untried. The latter
may he all right, of course; and then, again,
they may not. But if you must experiment
with new dealers, our advice is to ship no
more at a time than you can alTord to lose —
until you are satisfied they are honorable and
satisfactory in their business conduct.
We can assure you that it isn't pleasant to
feel the necessity of giving such caution as
the foregoing, as it may be an injustice to
some splendid new firms; and yet, the good
and well-meaning uiust sometimes suffer on
account of the fraudulent actions of those for
whom they are not in any way responsible.
But snch is the stern law of public trade and
dealing. It is hard, and yet there seems to
be no other safe way of escape.
Seasonable Articles, that is. articles
given at the right time for putting into prac-
tice the suggestions contained in them, have
been strongly urged at times. What is the
use of giving advice about a thing just as the
time of year has ended when that advice can
lie put into practice, and nearly a year must
intervene before the next opportunity to try
it ; In spite of that, F. L. Thompson advo-
cates in the Progressive Bee-Keeper that the
close of the swarming season is the best time
to discuss tlie swarming problem. And he
gives reasons for it that are not to be des-
pised. Right when a thing is yet fresh in
mind with all its particulars is a better time
to give it than to wait till particulars are
partly forgotten, and enthusiasm has died
away. One trouble is, that if a year is allowed
to elapse, in many cases, if not in most cases,
the bee-keeper concludes he will not write
at all.
A horticulturist once gave as a rule for the
best time to prune trees, " Prune when your
knife is sharp." It may be a good thing for
the readers of this journal to follow some-
thing like the same rule.
Whenever you have anj' item that you
think would benefit some other bee-keeper,
sit right down and write it off, in season or
out of season. Sometimes some little thing
will be learned, and just because it is a little
thing it is not thought worth while to send
it. Bee-keeping is largely made up of little
things, and many a beginner strikes upon a
little thing that some of the veterans have not
yet learned, and will be glad to know.
When you have gained some new light,
send it in. If it is something that is so gen-
erally known that it is not worth while to
print it, you need not feel hurt that it does
not appear in print. But the danger of that
is small. A good many things bear repeating.
Don't be afraid to add your mite.
A Xovel Method of Feeding Back
to get unfinished sectious completed is thus
given in the Bee-Keepers' Review Ijy Freil 11 .
Fargo :
The honey to be fed back, which may con-
sist of unfinished sections, or any combs of
suitable honey from three to four pounds in
quantity, is daily placed in a hive (the en-
trance to which must be contracted to admit
only one or two bees at a time) a few rods
from the apiary, and not a great distance '
from the colony upon which are placed the
unfinished sections to be completed. A sec-
tion of honey, bruiscil so that the honey is
ready to run. and covered with bees, is then
taken from the colony upon which are the
unfinished sections, and placed in the hive
containing the honey to be fed. Or, we can
place a section or i>iece of comb honey on the
alighting-board ami leave it there until suffi-
cient bees from this colony are taking the
honey, then place in the hive as above stated.
These bees, thus carried from their home
and placed in a hive containing honey, will
work iiack and forth between this hive and
their home, carrying the honey to the latter,
and the strange part of it is that they will
defend both hivex Jrinn robbers.
In selecting the colony to do this work,
choose one containing good workers that will
protect their own Imme against the intruding
robber-bees. Tlie fact that the work of carry-
ing away the honey is commenced by bees
that are all frum one rukmy accounts for their
combining in a defense of the spoil.
Commenting upon this. Editor Hutchinson
says:
" If one had broken pieces of comb honey,
that method might be all right; but for the
feeding of extracted honey I think that I
should prefer a regular feeder that could be
set upon the top of the hive in which the
work is being done."
It is barely possible, however, that in some
cases there would be an advantage in Mr.
Fargo's plan, even when feeding extracted
honey. May there not be an advantage in the
fact that the bees are getting something from
otitude the hive '? Some have complained that
after a time the bees showed some weariness
about working on feed in the hive, although
it is possible this was only when feeding on
sugar syrup.
There is one view of the case in which Mr.
Fargo's plan might be an advantage, even if
most of the feeding were done in the usual
way. It is probably always the case that
when there are sections to be finished, there
are at the same time sections that contain
only a small amount of hone,v, that amount
being so small that instead of trying to get
them finished by feeding back it is better to
have them emptied out by the bees so as to
he used as baits the next season. // it is
true that in all cases the bees will defend the
robbed pile as Mr. Fargo sa.vs (there seems
some reason to believe it when it is remem-
bered that there is often severe fighting
among robbers) , then two birds may be killed
with one stone. When the light sections are
put in a pile to be emptied out for baits, as is
the practice of many, instead of letting all
the bees of the apiary work upon them, just
take Mr. Fargo's plan, and let the honey be
all used by one colony.
Washing Black Combs. — It is well
known that combs become black with age,
especially those in which brood is reared, but
it is not so generally known that when such
combs are filled with water and allowed to
stand a few days the water becomes inky
black. It is reasonable to suppose that when
so much of the dark color is soaked out liy
water, at least some of it will be absorbed by
honey, hence it has been the practice for some
time, when a choice article of white ex-
tracted honey was wanted for show purposes,
to use only new combs for extracting. It is
suggested in Gleanings in Bee-Culture that
the same end may be reached by washing the
coloring-matter out of the old combs. " Lay
the combs fiat, fill the cells with water from
the nose of a watering-can, then after soaking
throw the water out with an extractor."
532
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 22, 1901.
I Contributed Articles.
Making Swarms— How It is Done.
BY DR. E. GALLUP.
ON page 478, is au extract on " Close Imitation of Nat-
ural Swarming-," by G. M. Doolittle. A Langstroth-
Simplicity hive makes a very convenient box with the
entrance closed, and a board nailed on the bottom, for a
clustering-box. You can set up the box open side outward,
as he says, and shake the bees from the combs directly into
the box, instead of waiting for them to run in, as in hiving.
They will begin to cluster at the top end of the box at once.
If you have two or more swarms come out at one time and
cluster together, or you have after or second swarms with
more queens than one, and you wish to separate them, shake
them into the clustering-box and let them stav for half or
three-quarters of an hour, and the bees will ball the surplus
queens, and roll down to the lower edge of the box, and you
can cage them and then measure out the bees with a tin
dipper, pour them down in front of the hives, and let them
run in, the same as hiving a natural swarm.
I once caged eight virgin queens from one after-swarm,
and saved them all. They are naturally reared, and usually
good ones. In that case the bees hunt out the surplus
queens for you. Sometimes they ball every queen, but not
usually. It is an easy matter to tell whether every division
you make has a queen, by the actions of the bees. Bees in
a clustering-box, or hived on empty frames without a queen,
will very soon manifest uneasiness, and begin to run about,
etc. But if they have a queen they remain quiet. They
will accept any strange queen — even virgins will be
accepted, or a queen-cell, or a frame of brood containing
eggs and unsealed larvs.
Four years ago I had an observation hive in the wood-
house, and the bees were passingout and in through a knot-
hole. One of the boys wanted to see bees flying out and in
through that knot-hole, so I went to work. I set up my
clustering-box in the shade, went to a populous colony,
carefully took out a frame of brood and adhering bees,
shook the bees into the clustering-box, and as the bees were
gathering nectar rapidly there was enough shaken on the
bees and in the box to cause them to gorge themselves com-
pletely. I placed the comb back in the hive and closed it ;
I had not disturbed the old colony, either with smoke or
drumming, so they went right along with their labor as
usual. I went to four different colonies and took the bees
from one comb, each in the same manner. I had my smoker
on hand in case I needed it, but I did not have to use it. I
was careful not to get ttie queen from any hive. I took a
frame of brood from twodifferent hives, inserting an empty
frame in their places. It was in the middle of the day, so
the old bees were nearly all in the field.
I placed the two combs with the adhering bees in a hive,
and hived the cluster, and placed them in the wood-house,
and now the boys have the satisfaction of seeing how the
loaded bees throw themselves into that knot-hole instead of
alighting on the outside and crawling in. as one would nat-
urally suppose they would. The two boys take a great in-
terest in the bees, so I am giving them lessons by actual
demonstration.
One can make nuclei for queen-fertilizing or introduc-
ing at any time, in the above manner. If there is no un-
sealed nectar to shake out with the bees, sprinkle them with
diluted honey or melted sugar of the right consistency, so
the)' will fill themselves. Be careful not to excite rotibers
at any time when the bees are not gathering freel)'. If
there is danger, go through the operation just at night. I
learned all those kinks of making swarms, nuclei, introduc-
ing queens, etc., in old box-hive times, from my old friend
Wellhausen, years ago. It takes all the fight out of a bee
when gorged with sweet, and shaking them into a cluster-
ing-box and letting them stand awhile. They can then be
hived and placed where we want them. They are to all in-
tents like a natural swarm. One can take a pint of bees,
more or less, from a populous colony, and. for that matter,
from a dozen colonies, mix them all up in a clustering-box.
and make a good swarm without perceptibly weakening the
old colonies, and you get bees of all ages, the same as in
natural swarming; and I have always thought that it makes
them work with an extra vim.
I have occasionally received a queen from some friend,
and have no colony that I wanted to introduce her to. So I
would make a swarm for her from several different colonies.
As soon as the bees manifest their queenlessness, hive them
and let the queen run in with them, and the job is done.
In introducing a virgin, hive them on empty frames,
and let them stand for a few hours, say over night, before
giving them a frame of brood and honey. For I always
like to " set them up in housekeeping," as sometimes they
are not satisfied and will start queen-cells if given eggs and
larva? at once. When we hive a swarm, sometimes the
weather turns bad for a few days, and then they need honey
in the hive, or ought to be fed.
I have moved my bees at times from one position to
another by shaking and brushing them from their combs
into a clustering-box, moved the hive to the new stand, and
then after letting them stand awhile run them into the hive,
and they are moved. Orange Co., Calif.
Itaiianiilng Coienies of Biacii Bees.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A CORRESPONDENT writes thus: "I am a beginner in bee-keep-
ing and wish to know how I can best raanag-e to Italianize ten or
twelve colonies of black bees, with the view of being least liable
to go wrong. I am taking the American Bee Journal and am so
captivated with it that I read each number over and over before I file
it away for binding. And so I should like to have you answer through
that paper, and then I shall have your answer where it will not get lost."
Well, your last thought is one not often hinted at, and
I must confess it is a good one, where bee-papers are prop-
erly filed away for future reference. I have mine so filed,
and there are few things in the back volumes of these
papers, which are of practical value to the apiarist, but
what I can turn to them in a very short time. If more of our
bee-keeper^ realized the value of the back numbers of the
bee-paper they are taking, there would be more wisdom in
our ranks than is often manifested, and less bee-papers
found among the bundles the " paper-rags-buyer " carries
off after visiting their homes.
But to the question : The Italianizing of your apiary
depends upon whether you are desirous of doing all the
work yourself, and thus learning all the little kinks of
queen-rearing, or whether you simply wish to have all of
your bees of the Italian variety as speedily as possible,
with no further attention being paid to the matter. If the
latter, then I would advise buying untested queens of some
reliable dealer ; learn through him how to introduce them
safely, and when introduced successfully you will have
solved the matter.
If, on the other hand, you would like to know some-
thing of queen-rearing yourself, (and no bee-keeper is fully
a competent bee-keeper until he is perfectly familiar with
this part of the work), then buy a queen of tvro different
queen-breeders, each one being good enough to stock an
apiary with, and rear queens from one and drones from the
other. Keep down all black drones by using only worker-
combs in the brood-chambers of the black colonies, except
a little piece three or four inches square in one comb, keep-
ing that comb in a certain position in each hive, so that
once every three weeks you can take these combs from the
hives and shave the heads from the nearly mature drones.
Then if you paint that portion of the top-bar red, right
over where the drone-comb is, you can at once tell where
this comb is, should the frame get misplaced, from any
reason, and if you have this comb near the top-bar to the
frame, and keep the frame next to the side of the hive, you
will rarely have to decapitate the drones more than twice
any season, for it is natural for the bees to store honey at
the top of the outside frames, and as soon as honey is
stored in the comb, that ends the drones for'that year. In
this way VOK will have no black drones, and if your neigh-
bors do not keep bees, and there are no colonies of black
bees in the timber in any woods not nearer than four miles
of you, you will have little difficulty in having the major-
ity of your queens purely mated, after which your apiary
will keep Italian, no matter whether you increase to 1,000
colonies, or allow them to remain at their present number.
But should there be black and hybrid drones in your
neighborhood, do not become discouraged, for your young
queens would give, practically speaking, pure Italian
drones, so that the next year the most of your queens will
mate with these, when, by selection after you have seen
the progeny, you can soon have tlie apiary stocked with
none but Italians.
By adopting this plan of rearing your own queens you
Aug. 22, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
533
will get a schooling which, in after life, you would not
part with for a considerable amount of money.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
iContinued from page 5('2.)
No. 11.
Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
" T BELIEVE, Mr. Bond, I promised yesterday to tell you
I about robbing in the apiary, when I could get a good
opportunity to do so. Well, I've just noticed some-
thing about this drone-beheading business that has
brought the matter to mind again — I mean those shavings
from the drone-comb which I carelessly allowed to fall to
the ground at my feet. This is a good time to direct your
attention to it, because I believe that fully seven out of
every ten instances when robbing breaks out among bees,
it is owing to some violation of an important rule — some
thoughtless transgression of the law of vigilance, which in
an apiary is always in force.
" The sight of those drone-head shavings reminds me
of an experience with the worst case of robbing I have
ever been compelled to deal with. It was my first experi-
ence in api-surgery — the process of drone-decapitation. I
went from hive to hive in my search for drones and sliced all
the drone-brood I could find. I found it harder work than I
had anticipated, and it took more time than I had counted
on. And, several other things that proved to be of consid-
erable importance in the course of that experience I failed
to see — or foresee, I would better say.
" Well, I was at the sixth hive in the course of my
work when, suddenly I thought — but the fact is I had been
too eagerly engaged in the work to notice anything else
going on around me — I heard a noise like that of a swarm
of bees going over my head. For the first time since I had
begun the job I looked up — and for about a minute by the
clock I kept looking. It took that long for my startled
mind to realize what was going on in my little apiary.
"Robbing!" I exclaimed aloud to myself, when I had
finally taken in the most prominent signs and symptoms of
the case.
" Under ordinary circumstances I would have tried to
figure out the cause, or course, of this sudden outbreak,
before doing anything else — my mental machinery is built
that way — but I had quick wit enough, for the moment, to
see that this was no ordinary case of robbing. This was
plainly evident to the naked eye, for the air was full of
bees, as I had never seen the like before ; and they were
darting — not merely flying, mind you, Mr. Bond — in every
direction, and with a noise which I can't describe, but
which sounded in my ears for weeks after.
" It is not usual for me to lose my head on the occasion
of an accident, or a sudden, unexpected, frightful occurence,
but on this occasion I was completely ' upsot ' for — I can't
exactly say how long. I noticed, however, that the greater
part of the flying bees were near the two hives I had first
operated on, so I went there to investigate. On my way I
noticed a great many bees crawling around on the ground,
and, on looking down to find out the cause. I saw that they
were busy on the drone-brood shavings. These, it seemed,
contained more or less honey, and as I had carelessly scat-
tered them about each of the six hives treated, they made
quite an attractive mess for the bees.
" But that was not all, as I found when I came near the
end of the row, for there stood the second of those hives
open — I had forgotten to replace the cover. This alone is
often enough to start robbing in an apiary, but here it was
aggravated by a combination of circumstances. These
circumstances, however, could not have combined to oper-
ate against me had I been thoroughly informed as to cer-
tain details. I did not then know that the afternoon would
not do as well as the forenoon for such a job of manipula-
tion. Neither did I then know that it was not a good time
for such a job when all the colonies are comparatively idle
and apparently quiet. And I was also ignorant of the fact
that bees are never idle or quiet during the daytime unless
there is no honey in the fields.
"The fact is — and I may as well own it, Mr. Bond- I
had at that time a slight attack of a complaint known as
' big-head.' Nearly all bee-keepers have had it, more or
less severely — usually during a fever caused by unexpected
success. I imagined that I had already mastered the intri-
cate science of bee-culture when, in truth, I had many of
the most important things yet to learn. I had made the
mistake, too, of supposing that because I had read two or
three kinds of bee-books I had nothing more to learn. I
have since learned that many essentials in the course of
successful bee-keeping can not be found in bee-books — not
because those who write bee-literature are not thoroughly
informed, but because many things come to our knowledge
by experience, and can be learned in no other way.
"'Well,' I said to myself — I thought out loud during
that exciting experience, Mr. Bond — 'this /'i a sweetness 1
If only I knew what to do I But I can't think of a blessed
thing I ever knew about robbing; ! And it's getting worse
and worse all the time, too I The fracas is on all along the
line — and getting worse at the other end, I declare I'
" At this moment I heard some one shouting my name,
and on looking around I saw my dear little wife — any pos-
sible source of help was dear to me just then — standing in
the kitchen doorway, gesticulating, and shouting : ' Shut
the hives, John ! Shut the hives, quick !'
" I didn't at once understand what she meant by
' hives,' not being aware that more than one was open, but
I had sense enough return to me so that I could see the hive
right before me and the cover by its side. I had been too
completely dumbfounded to see that first important thing
to be done toward controlling the robbers ! I quickly put
that cover on, and then looked to see where my wife had
seen another all the way from the house. She pointed
toward the end of the line of the six hives. I ran in that
direction and slapped the cover on that hive in a jifi'y. In
the first flush of excitement ensuing my discovery of rob-
bing going on, I had left the hive without replacing the
cover, and the robbers had discovered my mistake before I
did."
" What did you do next ?" queried Mr. Bond. We were
walking toward the honey-house as I was talking ; and, as
I opened the door and asked him to walk in and take a seat,
I answered :
"The next thing I did was promptly to execute another
suggestion my wife made to me, and partly executed her-
self when she came running toward the apiary with an
armful of quilts and pieces of carpet, calling as she ran,
'Here, John I Take these and throw one over each of the
hives most in danger. It will confuse them a little for a
while, anyway.' And then she wanted to know whether
she hadn't better get her bee-veil and help me get out of
the scrape ! I tell you, Mr. Bond, it never pays to ignore
our women-folks in this business. They remember things
better than most of us men, and they nearly always know
what to do in sudden and perplexing emergencies."
"Did that put a stop to the robbing?" Mr. Bond
inquired, as though not having heard the last sentence.
"Well, no," I replied, "not altogether; though it
seemed to bother the robbers for awhile, as my wife sug-
gested if would. But by this time I had recovered my wits,
and was now ready for further development. I didn't dare
to close, or even to contract very much, the entrance-spaces
of the hives, because of the heat in the hives and outside.
I had smothered a fine colony in that way the year before,
and by the same process also ruined two supers full of
nicely finished section-honey.
" Not knowing what I could do further to stop the rob-
bing I got my sprinkling can and for an hour or more kept
the hives where the bees were the most aggressive wet all
the time. Soon after, night came on ; and that put a stop
to the business for that day.
" Before I went to bed that night I got out my bee-
journals and looked them over for articles on ' robbing.' I
found some good things on the subject, and stored them
' for keeps ' in my memory. No doubt I had read these
articles when the nurnbers containing them first came to
hand, but not having an acute case of robbing on my hands
at the time I did not charf^e my memory with the subject-
matter, and hence my forgettery took charge of it instead.
"Well, one of the articles on robbing advised the put-
ting of straw or hay in front of the entrance of the hive
that was being robbed, and then keeping it wet by sprink-
ling water on it at frequent intervals. That struck me as
a good idea and I determined to try it next day if robbing
recommenced.
" Another of the articles said, ' Take the hive that is
being robbed and carry it into your cellar, if you have one
and it's handy, and leave it there for a few days.' I
thought that was a capital scheme, too, and resolved to try
it next day, if necessary.
" In another article I found the prescription highly
recommended, to change the location of the beleaguered
hive, reverse the entrance-front, and cover the hive with a
534
AMERICAN BEE ICuRNAL
Aug. 22, 1901.
piece of carpet to disguise it. I am not now certain that
this triple-advice was given by the same author, but I am
sure that I used it next day in that combination, and with
satisfactory results.
"The straw recipe I used next day on those of the
hives that were not badly afflicted, and it worked splen-
didly. I liked it especially because it called for no lifting
or carrying of the heavy hive. I have often tried that
since, and always with success.
"But the cellar recipe took the cake, of course — that
is, as far as effectiveness went. It suited me too, because I
wanted to test all these methods, and because I had a cel-
lar : and also because it happens to be handy for emergen-
cies caused by bee-fracases, as you probably remember,
Mr. Bond.
(To be continued.)
The People of Rochester, IN. Y., vs. The Bees.
On page 483 we published a statement from General
Manager Secor concerning the lawsuit between the city of
Rochester, N. Y., and Mr. W. R. Taunton, a bee-keeper
residing there. The National Bee Keepers' Association
helped defend Mr. Taunton, and of course won as usual.
Mr. Secor has forwarded the following copy of the
brief submitted by Attorney Frederick L. Dutcher, counsel
for the defendant :
POLICE COURT, CITY OF ROCHESTER, N. Y. i
The People, fs. Taunton. i
Memorandum for Defendant.
The defendant was arrested upon a warrant based upon an ordi-
nance passed by the Common Council of the City of Rochester on
April last, which provides in substance that no bees shall be kept or
maintained within tjie limits of the City of Rochester, wiihont the per-
mission in writinr/ of tlie lot owners oindutj lots within one hundred feet of
the hives within which any bees ore desired to be kept ur maintained.
At the trial, the defendant moved that the warrant be dismissed
and the defendant discharged, upon the grounds:
First. — That the ordinance upon which the warrant is based and
which defendant is accused of violating, is uncotistltutioiml and void.
Secondly.— That the ordinance in question is not fair, impartial
and reasonalile, but is uppressim.
Thirdly.— That the ordinance in question is an nnlamfnl attempt on
the part of the Common fonnril to delegate its powers to private individu-
als.
Upon this motion, the defendant will not discuss the question
whether the Common Council has pfiwer to ]irohibit the keeping of
bees, as that question does not arise under this ordinance.
In the first place, the question whether the ordinance is unconsti-
tutional, or whether it violates some other principle of law. is a ques-
tion of law for the Court, and must be decided irrespective of the
facts in any particular case.
In People ex rel. Kemmler v. Durston, 119 N. Y.. at page 578, the
Court says: " If it can not be made to appear that a law is in con-
flict with the Constitution, by argument deduced from the language
of the law itself or from matters of which a court can take judicial
notice, then the act must stand. The testimony of expert or other
witnesses is not admissible to show that in carrying out a law enacted
by the legislature, son)e provision of the constitution may possibly he
violated."
In the Matter of Elevated Jiailroad, 70 N. Y'., at page 8^7, the
Court holds that a Court can not take proof of facts for the purpose
of showing a statute valid and regular upon its face to be unconstitu-
tional.
So that the question whether the ordinance is fair, impartial and
reasonable must be determined from the ordinance itself.
In Jieaeh on J'uhlic Corporations, Sec. 512, the learned author
says: " It is a well-settled principle that a municipal by-law or ordi-
nance must be reasonable. The Courts will decline to enforce it, it
will be declared void as a matter of law."
And again at Section 514, the same author says: "It is. of
course, a question of law and not of fact for the Court, and not for
the jury, whether any specific ordinance is so unreasonable as to be
void."
The ordinance is passed under the so-called police powers of the
City, but the police powers of the City are not above the Constitution
and are subject to the control of the Courts.
In J{e Jacobs, 9« N. Y'. 98, at page HO. the Court says: "These
citations are sutlicient to show that the police power is not without
limitations, and that in its exercise the legislature must respect the
great fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. If this
were otherwise, the power of the legislature would be practically
without limitation. In the assumed exercise of the police power in
the interest of the health, the welfare or the safety of the public,
every right of the citizen might be invaded and every constitutional
barrier swept away. Under the mere guise of police regulations, per-
sonal rights and private property can not be arbitrarily invaded, and
the determination of the legislature is not final or conclusive. It
matters not that the legislature may, in the title to the act or in its
body, declare that it is intended for the improvement of the public
health. Such a declaration does not conclude the courts, and they
must yet determine the fact declared and enforce the supreme law."
SECOND.
The ordinance is unconstitutional for two reasons. First, it is an
attempt to take property without due process of law; and, secondly,
the ordinance denies the equal protection of the law, as guaranteed by
the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution.
In stcieart v. Palmer, 74 N. Y'. 183, due process of law is defined
as follows: " Due process of law is not confined to judicial proceed-
ings, but extends to every case which may deprive a citizen of life,
liberty, or property, whether the proceeding be judicial, administra-
tive, or executive in its nature."
In Pe Jacobs, supra, the facts were that the legislature passed a
statute prohibiting the making of cigars in tenement houses in New
York and Brooklyn. The Court of Appeals set the statute aside as
unconstitutional upon the ground that it was depriving persons of
propertj' without due process of law. The Court says, at page 104 ;
" What does this act attempt to do i In form, it makes it a crime for
a cigar-maker in New Y'ork and Brooklyn, the only cities in the State
having a population exceeding .500.000, to carry on a perfectly lawful
trade in his own home. Whether he owns the tenement house or has
hired a room therein for the purpose of prosecuting his trade, he can
not manufacture therein his own tobacco into cigars for his own use
or for sale, and he will become a criminal for doing that which is per-
fectly lawful outside of the two cities named — everywhere else, so far
as we are able to learn, in the whole world."
In the case at bar, the ordinance makes it lawful to keep bees in
one part of the city, provided certain consents can be given ; but to
keep the bees in another part of the city would be unlawful if the
consents were not obtained.
The Court further says in the case cited, at page 105: "The con-
stitutional guaranty that no person shall be deprived of his property
without due process of law, may be violated without the physicial
taking of property for public or private use. Property may be des-
troyed, or its value may be annihilated ; it is owned and kept for some
useful purpose, and it has no value unless it can be used. Its capa-
bility for enjoyment and adaptability to some use are essential charac-
teristics and attributes without which property can not be conceived;
and, hence, any law which destroys it or its value, or takes away any
of its essential attributes, deprives the owner of his property."
In Butchers' Union Co. >: Crescent City Co., Ill U. S. 746, Judge
Field says: "The common businesses and callings of life, the ordi-
nary trades and pursuits, which are innocent in themselves, and have
been followed in all communities from time immemorial, must, there-
fore, be free in this country to all alike upon the same terms. The right
to pursue them without let or hindrance, except that which is applied
to all persons of the same age, sex and rundition, is a distinguishing
privilege of citizens of the United States, and an essential element of
that freedom which they claim as their birth-right." In the same
case. Judge Bradlej' says: " I hold that the liberty of pursuit, the
right to follow any of the ordinary callings of life, is one of the privi-
leges of a citizen of the United States, of which he can not be
deprived without invading his right to liberty within the meaning of
the constitution."
In the case at bar. the ordinance attempts to deprive a person of
his property and prevent its use at the mere will of a private individ-
ual. The duly constituted authorities of the City do not act in the
matter at all, but turn over their powers to private citizens who are
taking the liberty at their own sweet will to destroy the property
Aug. 22, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
535
lielonging to another. Can tliere be any question but that this is talk-
ing propertj' withont due process of law?
Secondly. — The ordinance is unconstitutional because it denies
the equal protection of the law, as guaranteed by the fourteenth
amendment of the United States Constitution. Upon this point, we
will call the attention of the Court to the case of Yh-k Wo v. /Ii>jil.iiix.
lis U. S. 3.56. In this case, the Board of Supervisors of the City and
County of San Francisco passed an ordinance which provided that it
should be unlawful for any person to establish, maintain or carry on
a laundry within the corporate limits of the City of San Franci.sco.
without first having obtained the consent of the Board of Supervisors,
except the same be located in a building constructed either of brick
or stone. It will be noticed that in the San Francisco ordinance the
consent of otlicials was required, while in the' ordinance which we are
discussing, only the consent of private individuals is required. An
ordinance which requires the consent of otlicials is certainly more
reasonable and proper than one which requires the consent of individ-
uals. Public otlicials are bound not only by the dictates of their
consciences, but also by the weight of their judicial oath, and are
responsible to the people for their actions; while private individuals
can act at their own sweet will. In spealiing of this ordinance passed
by the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, the Supreme Court of
the United States says, during the progress of its opinion : " We are
not able to concur in that interpretation of the power conferred upon
the supervisors. There is nothing in the ordinances which points to
such a regulation of the business of keeping and conducting laun-
dries. They seem intended to confer, and actually do confer, not a
discretion to be exercised upon a consideration of the circumstances
of each case, but a naked and arbitrary power to give or withhold con-
sent, not only as to places, but as to persons. The power given to
them is not confided to their discretion in the legal sense of that
term, but is granted to their mere will. It is purely arbitrary and
acknowledges neither guidance nor restraint."" And, again: ''It
does not prescribe a rule and conditions, for the regulation of the use
of property for laundry purposes, to which all similarly situated may
conform. It allows without restriction the use for such purposes of
buildings of brick or stone; but as to wooden buildings constituting
nearly all those in previous use, it divides the owners or occupiers into
two classes, not having respect to their personal character and qualifi-
cations for the business, nor the situation and nature and adaptation
of the buildings themselves, but merely by an arbitrary line, on one
side of which are those who are permitted to pursue their industry by
the mere will and consent of the supervisors, and on the other those
from whom that consent is withheld, at their mere will and pleasure.
And both classes are alike only in this: that they are tenants at will,
under the supervisors, of their means of living." And, again : " For
the very idea that one man may be compelled to hold his life, or the
means of living, or any material right essential to the enjoyment of
life, at the mere will of another, seems to be intolerable in any coun-
try where freedom prevails, as being the essence of slavery itself."
And. again; "The same principle has been more freely extended to
the (|Uasi-legislative acts of inferior municipal bodies in respect to
which it is an ancient jurisdiction of judicial tribunals to pronounce
upon the reasonableness and conseciueut validity of their by-laws.""
And, again : "Though the law itself be fair on its face and impar-
tial in appearance, yet, if it is applied and administered by public
authority with an evil eye and an unequal hand, so as practically to
make unjust and illegal discriminations between persons in similar
circumstances, material to their rights, the denial of equal justice is
still within the prohibition of the Constitution." And, again : ■' The
discrimination is therefore illegal, and the public administration
which enforces it is a denial of the equal protection of the laws and
a violation of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution. The
imprisonment of the petitioners is therefore illegal, and they must be
discharged."
. No authority is needed except the case cited. A reading of the
complete opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States will
show that that high judicial authority condemned in the most severe
terms ordinances like the one which we are discussing, as being not
only not reasonable, but a denial of the equal protection of the law.
THIKD.
The ordinance is void, because it is not fair, impartial and reason-
able, but is oppressive.
In JSeaeli on Public Corjioratiotu, Sec. 90, the author says: "A
city, although fully authorized to enact ordinances, can not pass
unreasonable ones. The ordinance of a city must be reasonable. It
must not be oppressive; it must not be partial or unfair." The same
author says, at Section 512: "It is a well-settled principle that a
municipal law or ordinance must be reasonable."
In Dillon on Municipal CoriMnitions, Sec. 319, the author says :
'' In this country, the courts have often affirmed that general inci-
dental power of municipal corporations to make ordinances, but have
always declared that ordinances passed in virtue of the implied power,
must be reasonable and consonant with the general powers and pur-
poses of the corporation, and not inccmsistent with the laws or policy
of the state."'
In the ease of Yicic Wo v. Ifopkinx. supra, also held that munici-
pal corporations must be reasonable.
Can it be said that the ordinance which we are discussing is rea-
sonable ?
It does not provide that citizens living within one hundred feet
must give their permission to keep bees, but that the owners of lots
wherever they may live must give such permission. These owners
might live in New York, Buffalo, or in Europe, and have no personal
interest in the matter, and yet their permission is required. Again,
under this ordinance, permission might be obtained, and then, imme-
diately afterwards, the lots within one hundred feet of the place
where bees are to be kept might be sold, and permission would have to
be obtained of the new owners.
Under this ordinance, a person who owns a lot in the outskirts of
the City, a mile from any dwelling, might not be permitted to keep
bees, while a person living in a thickly populated district can keep
bees, if he get the requisite permission. In other words, under this
ordinance, the owner of a lot in the center of a city or adjoining a
school-house, may be permitted to keep bees, while a person owning
a lot in the outskirts of the City would not be permitted to keep bees.
In fact many illustrations might be given, and will readily suggest
themselves to the mind of the Court, of the purely arbitrary character
of this ordinance and the unjust manner in which it may operate.
The private citizen, from "mere caprice or ill-temper or bad feeling
against the bee-owner may deprive him of the use of his property.
In fact, the right depends wholly upon the personal inclinations
and caprice of adjoining lot owners.
FOIRTH.
The ordinance in question is an unlawful attempt to delegate the
powers conferred by law upon the Common Council to private indi-
viduals.
Article Two, Section 12, of the City Charter, provides that the
Common Council " has authority to enact ordinances not inconsistent
with the Laws of the State, for the go\ernment of the City and the
management of its business, for the preservation of good order, peace
and good health, for the safety and welfare of its inhabitants and the
protection and security of their property."'
This statute plainly contemplates that the discretion as to whether
a certain thing is or is not a nuisance must be vested in the Common
Council ; but in the ordinance in question, that body has not deter-
mined that bees are a nuisance, or that they should only be kept in
certain prescribed portions of the City, but the Common Council has
turned its powers and its discretions entirely over to private individu-
als. That the Conmion Council has not passed upon the question as
to whether or not bees shall be kept, is illustrated by the fact that
with the requisite permission of adjoining lot owners, bees can be
kept in every lot in the City of Rochester. There is an ordinance in
force which provides against intoxication in public places; but sup-
pose an ordinance should be passed which would provide that a per-
son might be intoxicated in a public place, provided he could get the
written permission of every person owning property within a certain
distance of the place where he desired to get drunk— could such an
ordinance be supported in the Courts' And yet, such an ordinance
would be precisely like the one in question.
In JSirdsiill c. Clark. 73 N. Y. 73. the Court holds that public
powers of trusts devolved by law or charter upon the Common Coun-
cil or governing body of a municipal lorporation, to be exercised by
or when and in such manner as it shall judge best, can not be dele-
gated by such body to others.
The ordinance is not a determination by the Common Council that
the preservation of good order, peace and health, the safety and wel-
fare of the inhabitants of the city, and the protection and security of
their property demands that bees shall not be kept; but the ordinance
leaves such questions entirely to the determination of private individ-
uals. Under the ordinance, there is absolutely no restriction to the
keeping of bees in any part of the city, providing the bee-owner can
j obtain the consent of his adjacent lot owners. There can be no ques"
536
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Aug-. 22, 1901.
tion but that under the several points made above, the ordinance in
question is void and can not be enforced ; and it follows that the
defendant should be discharged.
Frederick L. Butcher,
John A. Barhite, of Counsel. Attorney for defendiml.
Rochester, N. Y.
Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. O. SlILLER, Slareago, Ul,
[The Qnestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Late Transferring— Feeding for Winter.
1. Would you advise me to transfer (by the " Heddon
short method ") those colonies in box-hives to dovetailed,
with full sheets of foundation ?
2. If I should, and they failed to gather stores enough
for the vfinter, what should be done with them ?
Nevada.
Answers.— 1. It will probably be better to wait till
next year before transferring.
2. If you transfer upon foundation, and the bees do not
gather enough for winter, the only thing is to feed. The
danger is that you will feed too late. Better feed in August
or early September, then if the bees do gather enough no
harm will be done.
Transferring Bees.
I have just transferred a colony of bees as described in
the catalog of the A. I. Root Co., and while the bees are
working well in the new hive, there seem to be a great
many hanging around the old box, going in and coming
out, with dead bees and larva?. Is this right ? The old box
is about 10 feet from the new hive. Mississippi.
Answer. — As you say you have just transferred, I take
it that the second drive has not yet been made, in which
case it is all right that the bees left in the old hive should
be still at work there. As to their carrying out dead bees
and larvae, there may be something wrong and there may
not. A few dead bees and larva; do not signify. If many,
the danger is that you drummed out too close! not leaving
enough bees in the old hive to keep alive the larvK and
young bees just ready to emerge. But there is nothing to
be done for that now. Ten feet is rather too far to have the
old hive from the new one. One or two feet would be bet-
ter ; then when you make the second drive the bees would
more readily find the new hive than if their location were
ten feet away.
Sowing Sweet Clover Seed.
When is the best time to sow sweet clover for bees, in
the fall or spring ? Michigan.
Answer. — I don't know. Sweet clover is a contrary sort
of thing. It seems to grow with no trouble under the most
adverse circumstances (as by the side of a hard road where
some effort is made to suppress it), and seems to fail where
it has the very best chance. One year I sowed a piece with
oats in the spring, the ground having excellent preparation.
A fine stand came up, although it did not make a strong
growth that summer. The next spring not a plant was left
to tell the tale. Every one winter-killed. I think the soft
ground was against it, allowing it to heave. Last spring I
sowed a few acres with oats, and it never came up ; at least '
not more than two or three plants to the square rod, leaving
me $6.50 out for the trial. I'm inclined to believe that
either fall or spring will do ; only I think the ground ought
to be very solid. From what I have seen, I suspect that the
ideal thing would be to sow it in the fall on ground that is
not even plowed, allowing cattle or horses to run over it
and tramp it in. I don't believe many have made as bad a
failure with it as I have, and I wish some one would tell me
what was wrong.
Caging the Queen During the Honey Season.
1. If you wish to cage a queen in the honey season, do
you cage her in a fine wire cage, or in a cage made of queen-
excluding zinc ?
2. If you had a queen that you could not use at the
time, if you put her in a wire cage, and then in a hive,
would the bees feed her 7 If so, what kind of wire should
be used ?
3. If you had a young swarm, and only wanted what
honey you could get that season, would you cage the queen ?
If so, in what kind of wire? Smith Hill.
Answers. — 1. In a wire cage.
2. Generally they would feed her. You could give her a
supply of honey or candy, and then she would be independ-
ent. Put her in a cage of common wire-cloth about 12
meshes to the inch.
3. I think in most cases I would not cage the queen. It
is possible, however, that if the honey harvest lasts not
more than three weeks, you would get more surplus by
caging the queen in common wire-cloth, or excluder zinc.
Increase from Poor Honey-fiatherers.
I read on page 451 about a colony that gave twice as
much surplus honey as the average does ; and if an
increase was made by swarming, it would be by the poorest
surplus gatherers. Do you think that a good colony could
not come from the poorer surplus gatherers ? I do, for I
bought a colony of bees where two small swarms clustered
together, which were hived in an eight-frame hive. The
colony got a good start last fall, but this spring it was
weak, I think, because their queen was old. My bees did
well this summer (for I think they have 50 pounds of
extracted white clbver honey), considering where I have
kept them. Michigan.
Answer. — I'm not sure whether I get the drift of your
question, but I certainly should not expect as good results,
other things being equal, to breed from the queen of a col-
ony of poor gatherers, as to breed from the queen of a col-
ony of good gatherers.
When to Buy Bees in Box-Hives, Etc.
1. If I bought bees in box-hives (the old kind), could I
buy early next spring, and transfer to dovetailed hives
before swarming-time ?
2. What month in the spring would you advise buying ?
3. How much sealed honey should be in eight frames to
winter one colony? Give about the depth, as I am no
judge of pounds in frames, as I am a beginner.
South Carolina.
Answers. — 1. Yes.
2. If close by, say less than a mile, better buy before
the bees get to flying much. If more than a mile away,
then it doesn't matter if you do not buy till time of fruit-
bloom. That's safer than to name the month, for months
change.
3. Three or four of the outside frames should be pretty
well filled with honey, and the others should have honey to
a depth of two or three inches.
Hiving Swarms.
1. I noticed in answer to Ben Avon, in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, page 239, about hiving bees on empty combs,
he puts four frames in the hive and then fills it with dum-
mies. What are dummies ?
2. Do you put on the hives of prime swarms surplus
fixtures as soon as they are hived, with a honey-board be-
tween the brood and surplus ? Tennessee.
Answeks. — 1. Take a board the size of your brood-
frame without top-bar, and nail on it a top-bar, and you
have a dummj-. I prefer a dummy half an inch shorter
than the brood-frame. In thickness it may be anywhere
from ^4 inch to an inch. If thin, it is better to have a cleat
on each end to prevent warping.
2. When working for extracted honey it is advisable to
have an excluder over the brood-chamber, in which case the
surplus arrangements may be put on at time of hiving. In
working for comb honey with full-sized starters in sections,
Aug-. 22, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
537
excluders are not necessary ; and when excluders are not
used then the surplus arrangements should not be put on
the swarm for perhaps two days, so as to allow the queen
time enough to become established in the brood-chamber
below. If the surplus arrangements are put on at time of
hiving there is danger of the queen going above, if no ex-
cluder is present.
^ The Afterthought. *
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By B. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
CO-OPERATION IN COLORADO.
W. Ii. Porter's account of co-operation in Colorado, on
page 437, seems to show considerable success — a sort of boy-
woodchuck success — had to succeed, their local prices being
cut down so low, and lilcely to go lower. Their being driven
by their distance from market to act together in selling may
eventually have an important effect on honey-selling almost
everywhere. The boy who does not /lave to catch woodchuek
may also go in to catch one.
WIBE-CLOTH OVER SMOKER-VALVE.
So to keep that bungling "other fellow " from half spoil-
ing your smoker-valve with his bedaubed finger-tips — so simple
— just a bit of wire-cloth put over. I'd go to work and thank
Harry Howe for that, only no one ever uses my smoker but
myself. Page 444.
BEARS AND TURTLE'S EGSS.
We sometimes envy those who have the very best ranges
of the world without thinking of the drawbacks. Where the
ocean occasionally blows in almost ala Galveston, and bears
are pretty sure to come in, and both contingencies must be
provided against — well, unless a fellow was pretty enterpris-
ing he might wish himself somewhere else. Stands seven feet
high and bear-fence of barbed wire — say, dear Hoss, ask him
for a photograph of it.
From Mr. Gifford's saying that sea-turtle's eggs are about
as large as hen's-eggs but not as good, I .iudge they use them
— the better article being scarce in howling wildernesses. In a
swamp near Fort Wayne, Ind., there used to be enormous
turtles whose correspondingly big eggs provoked one to see if
they could not be eaten. I have eaten them, but only a pretty
hungry man would vote them worth eating. Page 444.
NATURAL INCREASE BY NATURAL SWARMING.
Dr. Miller touches a very sore spot, on page 445. Nat-
ural increase by natural swarming has many things in its
favor. Perhaps the most important thing (most important if
true) is, that the man who undertakes to improve bees,
improves them the other way — disimproves thetn — and
nature's process will obviate the most of that. But we have
to pause before the fact that the Oest colonies seldom swarm,
and therefore we do not get increase from them but from
poorer ones.
"DEAR BOSS" OR "DEAR BEESWAX."
And so instead of saying " Dear Boss," shall I say " Dear
Beeswax 7" Page 450.
THE CROPS OF WAX-SCALES.
If it takes 1,474,560 wax-scales to the pound, and the
bee produces six at a crop, the number of crops is ^i45,7(iO.
Conundrum : How many crops will one bee produce as the
result of a flow of honey lasting say seven days ? I was going
to say about three. But that would call for 81,920 bees.
What's the matter ? At least three things may be the matter.
Possibly the secretions bees add to the scales in making tlii-in
up into finished wax largely increase the weight. Perhaps it
seldom happens that so much as a pound of wax is made dur-
ing one run of honey. And perhaps my three crops from each
bee should be increased. Who knows in how rapid succession
crops of scales are raised? Possibly it may be already in
print somewhere.
Let's begin again at the other end of the puzzle. A five-
pound swarm (22,000 bees) need, in addition to the start
their keeper gave them, a pound of wax to fill their chamber.
If they really need 245,760 sets of scales, and nearly but ndi
quite all the bees secrete, that is twelve crops for each bee.
So it looks as if when once begun the scale harvests came
oftener than once a day. Page 446.
EVILS OF IN-BUEEDING.
Anent the Simpson article on in-breeding, I am glad to
see in-breeding opposed. Decidedly harmful — and "just
awfully " handy. Often the ambitious breeder seems to have
only the choice of breeding close, or giving up the thing he is
working at. It is in us all to minimize too strongly the evils
of a practice which we find very convenient indeed. The wise
man should deplore necessary evils, not warp his judgment
into praising them.
I can hardly agree that long tongues are merely a symp-
tom. The long pole brings down the persimmons ; it is not a
symptom of the gale which blows them down. Pages 453-5.
^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Frof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
I have already, perhaps more than once, referred to
thoughtful care and kindness in the treatment of our animal
friends. I love the " Beatitudes" — the preface to that grand-
est, sweetest and best of sermons, "The Sermon on the
Mount" — the incomparable 5th chapter of Matthew, with the
chapters following. I once heard a superintendent of pub-
lic instruction, of Michigan, say that he would not grant a
teacher a certificate who could not repeat the words to
"America." Such a one would be incompetent in the line of
patriotic instincts.
One is certainly better equipped for all life's struggle who
has the "Beatitudes," not only fast locked in memory, but
also enshrined in his heart. It is suggestive that of the nine
Beatitudes the fifth, or pivotal one (and the one next to
"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God,"'
which is surely best, as it may be said to insure all others) is
this : '• Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy." The dear old Book does not leave us in the dark as
to who the merciful man is, or at least as to his character.
The merciful man is merciful to his beast. It always makes
me grieve to pass a horse whose ribs cry out loudly against
his care and treatment. Just think of twenty-eight— a horse
has fourteen pairs of ribs— living indictments against one for
breaking the 5th Beatitude ! What a comfort to drive, to
care for, to be with our horses, when they are fat, round, sleek,
and beautiful. The added pleasure is enough to urge one to
give the care necessary to .secure the blessed results. It is
real economy thus to feed and care for these faithful servants.
The well-conditioned horse is comfortable, and discom-
fort preys upon energy and competency. The ribless horse,
so far as vision is concerned, is the efficient horse.
Then, too, we ought to give earnest heed to our own repu-
tation. The same blessed Book says : " Avoid the appear-
ance of evil." How sadly must everyone be judged— who
drives a lean, hungry, decrepit old horse. I can but think
that such a one may well pray. " Lord be merciful unto me a
sinner." Cruelty to a man, who can speak and defend his
right, is indefensible ; to a child unable to defend himself, it
is despicable. What shall we say, then, of him who neglects
or mistreats his horse or cow ? These faithful friends can
neither defend themselves nor voice their ills. Shakespeare
might well have said of such a one, as he did of the miser,
" I'd rather be a dog and bay the moon, than such a man."
Surely, if we could all realize that our own pleasure, our
profit, our reputation, were being weighed in the balance, we
would clothe up the uncanny old ribs of the faithful old
horse, and would feel more like men, in the assurance that we
were not treading under foot that best precept— the golden
rule.
All this is written because of an object lesson which our
canyon experience brought to us. Each of two men— both
splendid men— had their horses with them. These men were
both of our party. They are men of high Christian character,
and possess, deservedly, the love and sincere respect and
esteem of all their neighbors and acquaintances. Yet in one
respect there was a contrast. The horses of one were fat,
fine and beautiful. Their round, plump bodies, and fine
sleek, shining coats, showed that they were subjects of thought-
538
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Aug.
ful care and attention. There seemed to be a happy under-
standing between horses and master. Feeding and watering
were always prompt, regular and generous. When out with
the saddle, in climbing the steep, rugged mountain trails, a
halt and rest was often necessary. If these were at all
prolonged, the cinch was loosened. No wonder those horses
were ready for the hardest climb, and stoutest pull, and it
was a pleasure to note the pride which all in the family
seemed to feel in these horses. I believe the horses felt the
appreciation. It is a united family, and the horses may be
counted in.
The other man's horse had ribs — great, big ribs — twenty-
eight of them all standiug out in boldest relief. He also had
a sore shoulder. The feeding was not prompt, was not regu-
lar, was, I dare say, at times omitted entirely. This horse
did not seem in love with life. Were I his master I should
fear he did not love me. I am sure I should take no pride in
driving him. And I hope I should have disturbing dreams, in
which the 5th " Beatitude " and the Golden Rule would play a
conspicuous part. I doubt if this horse was uncinched in the
rest times, as he bore his owner or other up the steep moun-
tain sides. " Old Don " refused to draw his load as he came
to the steepest, hardest climb. He seemed to say, "I can't
do it: it IS too hard."
J wish again to repeat the lines of Eliza Cook :
" Oh, if to us one precious thing
\ot theirs — a soul — is given ;
Kindness to them will be a tiling
To bear it up to heaven."'
MUSIC IN THE HOME.
I wonder if we all appreciate the added charm that music
gives to the home. Charles Darwin made the lamentable con-
fession that, whereas he, as a boy and young man, was very
fond of music, art and poetry, he gave his life so exclusively
and so energetically to scientific research that he lost his love
and taste for the other things. He did such grand work in
science that we may the less regret the atrophy of the other
qualities. He regretted this withering-up process, and said
that were he to live his life over, he would give time to culti-
vate these other desirable faculties of his being. Does not
the parable of the talent and the napkin urge us to round out
our being and lives by cultivating all our faculties ? I have
had a somewhat similar experience to that of Darwin, and I
also reeret it. In my early life I was not only very fond of
music, as I am still, ijut I quickly learned music. Hearing a
piece sung once or twice, would make me able to sing it cor-
rectly. My daughter now sings, and some of her pieces
delight me beyond expression. Yet. though I have heard
them sung a score of times, I can not sing them. Were I to
live life again, I should keep this music in my soul, rich and
full. I have missed much.
Again, 1 know of several who seemed to have little taste
or aptitude in music, who, by study, have become fine musi-
cians. Music is so rich a gift and so priceless an adornment
in the home that its cultivation may never wisely be neglected.
It refines performer and listener. It gives the healthiest and
best recreation, the keenest and most wholesome entertain-
ment. If anything will fasten the love of children in the
home, and stay their footsteps from wandering away, it is
music.
I wish all our home circles might be the center of fine
and oft-recurring concerts, that all the members might be the
more knit into one bond of love and good fellowship.
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
togfether, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
I tog'ether, and will please every puiund&ci. j.iic_y aic cm «_nLia.uicin. \.u any
home, as well as being a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
The Combination Desk
^C J/(t) and Book^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
Ttie Royal Star GomDinalion ^
Game-Board Co., ^^
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO, ILL.
Combined Desk and Book-Case
Size, 06-in. high, 36 ia. wide,
19 in. deep.
Price, $13.75.
[The above firm is entirely reliable. — Editor.]
Ladies' Desk.
Size, 40 in. high, 25 in. wide, 15M
in. deep.
Price, $3.85.
When writing to any of our Advertisers, please mention the American Bee JournaL
Aug. 22, 1901. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 539
ADVERTISEMENT. |
To Our Shippers : f
"^ We were obliged to notify 3'ou a few weeks ago that one Joseph M. ^^
•^ McCaul had leased our old quarters at Nos. 120-122 West Broadway, New ^
-^ York City, and had there started up business under the name "HildreTH, ^<-
4^ McCaul Co., " and had distributed a multitude of circulars so worded as to ^
_^ create the impression that his business was a successor to or a branch of ^1^
_^^ the business of Hildreth & Segelken. ^1^
^ For the protection of our shippers and ourselves, we at once instruc- ^
^X ted our attorney to commence action to enioin the said McCaul from using ^
4^ . .... ^«-
V the name HiLDRETH in anv manner whatsoever in connection with his busi- V
•^ ness. On the 10th day of July, 1901, Hon. David McAdam, Justice of the #"
-^ Supreme Court of the State of New York, after a full argument upon the ^t
^^ merits, issued a peremptory injunction, of which the following is an ^^
-^ extract : ^<-
.^^^ '• And it appearing that the plaintiffs have for a long: time been and now are carrying on busi- ^1^
S: ness under the style of "Hildreth cS: Segelken,' and that the defendant has recently opened a business >"♦
.^^ at 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, and is carrying on the ^^
« same under the style of ' Hildreth, McCaul Co.,' and that such act is in violation of the plaintiffs' <»
->^^ rights, and that the commission or continuance thereof, during the pendency of this action will pro- ^^
^Ay duce irreparable injury to the plaintiifs ; it is ^\
■*^ ORDERED that the defendant (Joseph M. McCaul) and each of his agents, servants and em- ^^
igs plojees and all other persons acting under his authority and direction be, and he and they are here- (^L-
\^ by restrained and enjoined from showing, displaying or otherwise using during the pendency of this ^^
j)^^ action in or upon any papers, devices, sign or signs, or otherwise, in the business conducted by the ^>^
i» the defendant at No. 120-122 West Broadwaj', in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, or m^
->^^ elsewhere the name of " Hildreth " separately or conjunctively with any other name, designation or ^^<-
gjL description."
Outside of our desire in our own interests to protect the name which
we have built by years of satisfactory dealings with our customers, we
hastened to procure this injunction as soon as possible, to prevent our ^^
shippers from being misled into sending their goods to one who would ^^
make an attempt to gain their trade by such a trick and device. ^^
With thanks for the many expressions of good-will we have received ^<-
from our shippers concerning this attempt to trade under our name, we ^^.
are, Sincerely yours, ^^
Hildreth & Segelken,
265-267 Greenwich Street, NEW YORK, N. Y.
^•^Hf'f)-f)-f>(f-f)-^-(f-^-f)-f)«f)-(|)-(|)'f)-f)-f)-f)-f)-(|)'f)-f^^
^
^
^
f lease mention Beu journal when WTiUn&
540
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Aug. 22, 1901.
00 YOU WANT A HIGH GRADE OF
Italian Bees and Queens?
2-frame Nucleus with Untested Queen, $2.00.
purchaser paying express charges.
NOTICE.
Having- sold ray propertv I am required to
give possession soon, as well as move mv entire
apiary. Therefore I will quit fillidpr' orders
Sept, 1. Our bees will be put in a more roomy
place, and there prepared for winter.
Months July and August.
Number of Queens 1 6 12
fioLDEN Queens.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.2S 6.50 10.00
Select Tested 2.00 9.00 16 00
Breeders 5.00
Honey Qdeens.
Untested $.75 $4.00 $7.00
Tested 1.2S 6.50 10.00
Select Tested l.SO 7,00 12.00
Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price-
list free. D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III.
28Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Worl[ Wax Mo Fonnilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, tree on application.
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
QUEENS
Now ready to supply bv returned mail. STOCK
which can not be E.XCELLED 1 1 1
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 7Sc each; 6 for $4,110.
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for $5. Safe Akkivai. (iuAKANTEED.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
214(. vV: 214S Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for { Root's Qoods
Bee-Supplies. | at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOQ FREE.
I. J. STRINGHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
WHEN YOU SEE
"HOIiSEniGH, BrLL-STHdNG, PIO TIGin"'
B|>pli<-d to fenclne, It alnavs m.-ans The PAGK.
■'AGt: WOVK.N \VIKKFKN(:l':(:0.,AIIKlAN,.1llCll.
Please laention Bee Journal ■when, ■writing,
$■3.00 to Buffalo Pan-American and
Return--$i300.
Tickets on sale daily via the Nickel
Plate Road, good returning 10 days
from date of sale. Especially low rates
for 15 and 30 day limit Chicago to Buf-
falo and return. Tickets at lowest
rates to all points East. John Y. Cal-
ahan, General Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 'Phone Central 2057. Chi-
cago Ticket Office, 1 J 1 Adams St. 18-3t
Bees Did Fairly Well.
Tlie bees did fairly well here tlie forepart
of the season on while clover, tint it all dried
up. We did not liave any rain for three
weeks. It has rained now, and I think we
will have some biicli wheat honey yet.
John C. Schveman.
Monroe Co., Wis., July 26.
From an Amateur Bee-Keepep.
Xumljer 30 of the American Bee Journal is
just at hand; it is a splendid paper, and I
would not be without it. I have taken it for
tour years now. Although I am an amateur
I take great pleasure in its columns. I now
have about 2.5 colonies, with 12 of them in old
boxes ot all sorts, and from which I get very
little honey; but I have taken about 70
pounds from some of the others this season-
al! alfalfa honey. J. Rot Bradshaw.
Humboldt Co., Nev., Aug. 2.
Drouth and Little Hone.y.
There is but little honey in southern Iowa,
and in Missouri I think it is still scarcer. I
had alMut 1,000 pounds from colonies enough
to have stored 3,000 in a good season. The
gathering came to a sudden stop in the early
days of .July. I have had swarms some sea-
sons as late as July 15 that filled the brood-
frames of a Jumbo hive. Our July was the
hottest and driest anybody remenibers. No
rain from June 21 to July 28. We are having
some rain now. Corn will make less than
half a crop. Potatoes and garden vegetables
are wiped out. Swarming was quite free in
June. I will have to feed some of the
swarms now. I am hoping for a fall flow. If
it does not come I have the choice of heavy
feeding or starved bees. Edwin Bevins.
Decatur Co., Iowa, Aug. 9.
Bees Have Done Well.
My bees have done well this .season, giving
me a nice surplus of white honey, with the
fall flow now commencing, and prospects
good. E. B. Ttrrei.i,.
(renesee Co.. Mich.. .\ug. 12.
Bees Selecting a Home Before
Swapming.
Rip Van Winkle says, on page 429, he does
not think that Ijees select their future home,
for certain reasons. And I know they do,
under certain conditions. Still, as a rule,
they do not.
Years ago I kept bees in Canada, in box-
hives. All increase was by natural swarming.
When the hives became crowded I raised them
on blocks at the corners. The day before a
first swarm issued, the bees that were clus-
tered on the outside of the hive would go into
the hive, fill themselves with honey, and pack
closely in and under the hive. I had a colony
prepare for swarming, and it set in to rain,
and continued more or less cold, windy and
wet for eight days. Then the bees swarmed,
and went directly to their selected (or where
their selected) tree stood. The sun came out
for half an hour the day previous to their
swarming, and the scouts went out and
selected the tree. I had two men chopping,
and they reported that they had found a
swarm of bees. So we cut the tree down, and
not a bee was there. It was raining lightly
when we cut it down. In that case the bees
all let go at once, almost like emptying a
bucket of water by turning it upside down.
They never even stopped to circle about, but
went straight for their selected tree. "They
hazed about for quite awhile, and finally clus-
Bees that Have a Record
(See page 459 American Bee Journal.)
Have long'est tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen. By return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
31Atf Mention the American Bee Journal.
.^MANUFACTURER OFJ^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shipping facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List,
Address, iVlinn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co.,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Hea.se mention Bee journal ■when ■writins
¥* Ij^U^CJ ^^'"^ ™'l' I'^'-V ^L". cash, per lb. for
IJ I' I' J pure, bright yellow beeswax,
*'^*^^*' and 20c. cash, per lb. for pure,
liT A V dark beeswax delivered here.
Vy f\ A Chamberlain Medicine Ck>_
'•**•**• Des Moines. lowii.
27A13t Please mention the Bee Journal.
TENNESSEE
QUEENS....
Fide lot of Choice Tested
(Jueens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3yi miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1 50
each; T^ntested Warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2H
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
2S years' experience. Discount on large orders.
Contracts with dealers a specialty.
JOHN M. DAVIS,
34A3t SPRING HILL, TKNN.
Pleas© mention Bee Journal when -writinf
THE WHEEL OF TIME
Metal YVheel.
ike them in all
and varl-
(»tir wheels are either direct or
.tjic-perspnke. Tan FIT YOUK
\VAO<»N perffcllv without chanRe.
IP BREAKINC DOWN,
dryias
_ _ ^ Clieap
«e they endure. Send for cata-
loeae aod prices. Free upon rwjnest.
Electric Wheel Co.
Box le Qulncy> Ills.
! journal ■when ■wrltlngt
AreYou^Qoing PAN = AMERICAN
If so, I have accommodations for persons
wishing to visit the e.xposition. Rates reasona-
ble. Good car-service to any part of the city.
If any wish to engage rooms in advance, ad-
dress,
M. M. RICKARD,
254 Dodge Street, BUFFALO, N, Y.
[Mr. Rickard is a bee-keeper, and will take
g-ood care of his patrons.— Euitok.] 34Alt
The Eoiei'soD Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jottr-
nal as fast as they are received. If you hare
this *' Emerson" no further binding is necea-
eary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie Street, CHICAGp, ILI<.
Aug. 22, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL,
541
tered, and we hived them and took theni
home.
Another similar ease was in Iowa. A swarm
was prepared to come out, but the weather
turned Imd for ei^ht days, and wheu they
finally eanie out. they left in just such a
hurry. I ran about a mile into the woods and
came up to them as they were troing into
their tree. They could be heard by their loud
hum or roaring at a distance of ten rods. I
ran in the right direction, and then would
stop and listeo. The last run I made I passed
them about six rods. Of course I cut down
the tree at once, and took them home.
A man at Tustin reported a swarm of bees
in his pile of fruit-boxes ; that was four years
ago, and he wanted rae to get them, so I
went, and no bees were there. But they
came the following day. The man saw the
scouts there, and supposed they had already
taken possession. They were probably scouts
from a clustered swarm. I do not believe
one swarin out of a thousand looks up its
locality before clustering, in this climate, as
there is no necessity for it on account of the
weather being always favorable.
I found a swarm on the 19th of last April.
They had been clustered for two days, had
daubed the limb of the tree where they clus-
tered all white with wax, I now ha%'e eight
colonies. Dr. E. GALLtP.
Orange Co., Calif., .July 1.5.
No Rain for Over Two Months.
There has been no rain in this vicinity in
over two months, and corn is ruined; there
are few vegetables, and bees may have to be
led for winter. Water in wells and cisterns
is giving out, and fruit is scarce. Honey will
bnng a good price, or should do so.
E. T. Flanagan.
St. Clair Co., 111., Aug. 7.
The " Jouneep "— by the Original
Jouneer.
Upon receipt of the American Bee .Journal
for .July 5, I was a little surprised — gratified
more than a little, and actually felt flattered
over the kind words that Mr. C. Davenport
uses in his euthusiastic praise of my quick
method of getting bees out of an extracting-
super — via the " jouneer."
The " jouneer," in my practice, was devised
for the purpose of quickly ridding a shallow
Ileddon super of bees, and the crudi affair
illustriited in Gleanings in Bee-Culturj some
three years ago, worked so well that I made a
ueat, substantial device, constructed with a
cloth tray upon which all of the bees were
caught, reducing the killing of bees to a
minimum, and getting them in such shape as
to dump them on the top of the brood-frames
instead of scattering them all over the ground.
It seems to me that three years after
description is a long time to wait for bee-
keepers to catch on to such a very short cut.
But wheu I consider that my own enthusi-
asm over my device was somewhat ruI«1uciI
by the sort of half-way ridicule with wliicli
my statement in relation to its benefits were
received by some of my brother bee-keepers
here, I do not wonder, then, that only one
man, so far as heard from, has taken kindly
to it.
Perhaps the name "jouneer" has some-
thing about it that excites the risibilities, or
the fact that the Rambler used it had some
adverse efTect. Any way, the bees are not
shaken out. they are given a sudden, ([uick
jar, or for a more euphonious word. •■ jounce,"
and tlie device, a "jouneer."
I have used the principle more or less for
the past few years, and have kept mum about
it for a'mut three years.
When I left my own apiary in the southern
end of this State, in charge of other parties.
I had some misgivings about turning over my
jouneer to them. As the parties were very
sensible young men, I ran the risk, first
showing tbeni by practical demonstrations the
u.se of the device and its cllects. After the
ixtracting season had well advanced, I re-
leived a letter from the parties, saying. "We
are falling in love with yourshallow super aud
the jouneer." That settles it as far as the
Shaflner Bros, are concerned: they know a
BEE/KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal when ^Tritinft,
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. '* EsS^cB
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each ; 6 lor $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongrues nieasured 25-
100 iuch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaraa-
teed. Fred W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. CiNciNN.iTi, O.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
Daily Excursions to Buffalo and
New York,
via Nickel Plate Road. Through trains
to New York City without chang-e.
Vestibuled sleepers Chicago to Boston.
Dining-cars on all trains. Meals served
on American Club plan, at from 35
cents to $1.00. Write John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St. .Chicago,
for particulars. 20 — 3t
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnlBh you with The A. I. Boot Co'a
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and siiip promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
M. H. UUNT & SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Coek,Claremont, Cal.,
FOB HIS
** Bee=Keeper's Guide.'*
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when "WTiUT».ff
e^ardingr
the oldest
aad most
Bee-Smoker.
Send for circular s[
improved
For 23 Ye
35Atf
ig-inal Binpha
if: Best on Ea
-. BINQHAM, I
ell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when -writing.
BEE^SUPPUES!
OT-3 '^°£°^^
I AT ROOTS f^fticE^L
Everyfhinfj used by bee-keepe:
POUDER'S HONEY-JARS. Prompt
service. Low Frei|?ht Rates.
NEW CATALOG FREE.
WALTER S.POUDER.
A Superior Red Clover Queen |
For sending- us One New Subscriber and 25
cents ($1.25 in all.)
•^
We arranged with one of the oldest and l)est queeii-breeders I having many
years' e.Kperienee) to rear ciueeiis for us this season. ' His bees average quite a
good deal tlic longest tongues of any yet nieasured. The Breeder he uses is di-
rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, some-
what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. They
stored red clover honey last season.
.Ml quceiis guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped,
unless otherwise ordered.
We wouIlI like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine
(Queens. .Simply send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer-
ican Bee .loiiriial for one year, and 'ih cents extra, and the Queen will be mailed
to you. Our i|ueen-rearcr is now caught uj) with ordcr.s. and expects to be able
to mail them hereafter within -is hours after we receive the order. He is iu an-
other State, and we will send him the tiuecu orders as fust as we get them at this
otllce. He is prepared to rear and mail a large number.
The casli prices of these Queens are Jl.du each : :i for $2.70: or 6 for ?o.OO.
Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
^/'ff>(fy(fy(fvtvfy(fy(fy(f>(f>(fMfy(ti(»vf>(f>''fMfy'ffy(f\'ffMfy(fy(f>'ffi»s^
542
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Aug. 22, 1901.
good tbinj,' after they have used it, and hare
^tten rid of the slow process of brushiag-
bees from the combs.
It is just possible that others besides Mr.
Davenport have used the plan, or have tried
to use it; perhaps a ounibor two has broken
down in the first attempt. I think they are
more likely to break in a frame deeper than
the Heddon— that may have condemned the
plan in their estimation: but what if a comb
does break now and then, has there not been
an immense saving of time 1 And the more
the plan is used, the more skill acquired and
less combs broken.
I think Mr. Davenport is entitled to some
credit for the use of the principle, for I have
used it only on shallow supers, while he goes
further and" uses it on deeper frames. Any
way, I hope the plan will be useful to other
bee"-keepers. J. H. Martin.
Kresno Co.. Calif.
6o Pounds Red Clover Per Colony.
G. M. Doolittle says in the Progressive Bee-
keeper ;
For the past 20 years red clover has failed
to blossom in central New York, owing to an
almost infinitesimal insect which works in
great numbers in each head, just before the
blossom would appear. This causes the head
to harden and no blossom to open. But this
year, owing to our continued rainy weather,
or some other cause, we had fields red with
clover bloom again, and when the hot weather
came on the bees began to roll in the honey at
a rate never known here before, outside of a
good basswood yield, and for three or four
days it was equal to any basswood yield. I
could leave combs of honey out in the bee-
yard all day long and not a bee look at the
honey, though several might be seen collect-
ing propolis oft the ends of the frames where
they come in contact with the hive. And as
brood-rearing was pretty good, 3" days before
this clover yield began, from 60 to 70 pounds
of section hoTiey is the result from colonies
which liad not been robbed of bees and brood
to make nuclei with, to rear queens for the
trade.
I think I hear some one asking about the
"long-tongues." Well, I have not had time
to have any measurements taken, as I have
been too rushed this season hardly to sleep
nights, but if any have long tongues all must,
as I see little difference in the working of any
colony which was in a proper condition to
work. And this from the first crop of red
clover. The most claimed by those having
red clover queens is, that they work on the
second crop, that having shorter corrollas than
the blossoms of the first crop.
The Root German Steam Wax'»Press.
This is now put upon the market by the A.
I. Root Co. Copying after the Germans, who
have been ahead of us in this matter, a very
substantial wax-press has been completed,
which is perhaps an improvement upon any
in Germany. It is of large size, holding more
than a bushel of combat a time. Its manipu-
lation is given in Gleanings in Bee-Culture as
follows:
To use, the can is placed on a common
stove, and is filled with about three inches of
water. The wire-cloth basket is filled with
old comb, slumgum, or any wax refuse. The
water is brought to a boil, when the basket
with its contents is set down into the can,
The handle is unscrewed until the pressure-
plate rests against the cover-plate. This is
then set down on top of the can, and the
water is allowed to boil. The steam gen-
erated passes all through the mass, and when
the wax in the basket settles down, more re-
fuse is put in. After all the free wax is
steamed out, the screw and plunger-plate are
turned down. One person grasps the two
handles of the can, and another one turns the
screw down until a tight squeeze is exerted.
all along to keep up brood-rearing, and some-
times we get some surplus), we again go
through all; and, taking off the top (or third)
story, we go throuu'-h the brood-chambers.
It is then left for a little while when another | putting all combs with honey in the top, or
squeeze is applied, and so alternately for a
period of 15 or 20 minutes. The screw is
then raised up, and the slumgum is poked
over with a stick, and again pressure is ap-
plied. By this time every particle of wax is
pressed out. The basket is dumped, and the
operation is repeated as before.
It is advisable to use a sheet of burlap or
cheese-cloth to line the inside of the basket
during the process of rendering, otherwise
the cocoons will be forced between the meshes
of the coarse wire-cloth, A finer mesh of
cloth would not stand the enormous pressure,
and hence burlap or cheese-cloth in connec-
tion with a coarse wire-cloth should be used.
Comb and Extracted Honey from the
Same Hive.
Louis SchoU, as he tells in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, produces both comb and ex-
tracted honey from the same colony. He uses
divisible brood-chambers, and early in the
season (which in his Texas climate is in Fel>
ruary) he sees that each colony has sufficient
stores and a good queen. He says further:
After all are in proper order they are let
alone for a few weeks ; and when the weather
is warm and favorable, and honey coming in
(%ve generally have enough honey coming in
PpRESS J
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed whicli we wish to ofl'er our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal /or a year with SI, 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for SI, 30 ; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 50 cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 .V 14(iErieSt,, - CHICAGO, ILL.
QUEENS! QUEENS
• gathering stock. Tested, f 1.00; un-
tested, 75 cents, " Sh.idv Xook Apiary,"
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
JOAlJt Sag Hakuok, New York,
Low Rates to Buffalo Pan=American.
The Nickel Plate Road are selling
tickets at exceptionally low rates io
Buffalo and return, good for 10, IS and
30 days. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
'Phone Central 2057. City Ticket Of-
fice, 111 Adams St 19— 3t
ALBINO QUEENS 'Uzr^eL?-\ry°^^
want the g-entlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-galherers vou ever saw — try mv Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, $l.iiO; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t J. D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
Please Jlention the Bee Journal ^^""^ ^'"^^
Advertisers
Aug. 22, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
543
the third super, and all the empty combs in
the two chambers of the brood-nest, arrang-
ing the combs so as to spread the brood, and
to push brood-rearing, as we want a great
force of bees just at the beginning of the main
tlow, which with us is about the Hrst of May.
The other super, containing the combs of
honey, is now set on top. This operation will
generally be done at about swarming-time in
the month of March, sometimes sooner or later,
depending on the earliness or lateness of the
season; and at this examination, if some col-
onies are overpopulous, combs of hatching
brood are taken from them and used' either to
strengthen weaker colonies or for making
nuclei. If some of the colonies hare already
started queen-cells they are destroyed or oth-
erwise as the case may be. I have already
said something about swarming; but with
such a large brood-chamber, and providing
plenty of room for the queen, there will be
very little if any swarming; but I gave the
foregoing for the "e.xoeptions. "
Now comes the time of our main flow, which
is just beginning; and if everything has been
favorable we shall have strong colonies with a
large force of bees ; and, besides having had
plenty of honey for breeding purposes, they
will liave some surplus stored in the shallow
extracting-super above.
We must now hurry and get on the comb-
honey supers; so, taking the section-supers,
which we had all nice and ready, with foun-
dation in the sections, and an extra Danzen-
baker reversible bottom-board, we proceed as
follows :
First set one of the section-supers down,
and on this set the upper (or third) case of
the hive, without removing the cover. Then
move the two lower chambers, bottom-board
and all. to one side of the stand, and in its
place put the extra Danzenlmker bottom — the
deep entrance-side up — putting on this the
upper one of the two brood-chamber cases,
and on this the lower one, thus cutting the
brood-nest in two, thereby putting the honey
in the upper frames in the center of the
brood-nest for the bees to remove, while the
upper frames now contain brood.
The two other supers, the section super
with the extracted-honey super above it, are
now set on top of the brood-chamber. Here
are two features with which I am greatly
pleased ; namely, in having bees first used to
storing in shallow extracting- supers ; and
when the section-super is put in between this
and the brood-nest, they go right on to work
in the sections without losing anytime; and
I have also found that nicer and fuller boxes
of honey can be produced between such a
super than where the cover is directly over
the sections. Then by using shallow extract-
ing-supers during the lime before the main
tlow, as we have honey coming in nearly all
the time, and sometimes a little more than is
necessary for brood-rearing, it is stored in
these supers, leaving plenty of room for the
queen, while otherwise it would have to go to
waste or the bees would store it in the brood-
chamber, thereby crowding out the (|ueen.
With a set of these frames above, too. it a
colony has more honey in the hrood-chambtr
than is needed, the bees, when providing
room, will carry the honey up into these
frames, also bringing the brood up closer to
the top of the frames.
California ! i? y°° "■'^ •" '""'"' »' "«
Vi/dlllUI llld t Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Call-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
pacific' RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Please mention Bee Journal when writjr.R
Daily Excursions Via Nickel Plate Road
Chicago to Buffalo and Xew York.
Special low rates and favorable limits
to all points East. Call on or address
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 21 — 3t
SXJPER-IOK,
Red Clover Queens
We have obtained, this season, 150 pounds of
comb honey per colony, one-third red clover
honey. Untested, 75 cents; J^ doz., $4.iXi. Tested,
$h:h.i; 54 doz.,$5.5i>.
LEININGER BROS.,Ft.Jenninos,0.
34Etf Please mention the Bee Journal
Wanted.
Comb and E.xtracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptlv on receipt of goods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. H. W. WEBER,
2146-214» Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
WRITE US
If vou have large or small lots of HONEY
to sell.
State quantity, how put up, kind of honey,
price expected, and, if possible, mail sample.
We pay spot cash.
Reference— Wisconsin National Bank.
E. R. Pahl dcCo.
34Atf niLWAUKEE, WIS.
Vlease mention Bee Journal ■whc^n ■wnritjnfr
6omD and tx-
iraGtetlfioneu!
Id qua .
R. A. BURNETT & CO.. IW S. Water St., C
33Alf Please mention the Bee Jo
Wanted — Honey.
Car lyots or otherwise: will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating- quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
PleP'^e mention Bee Journal ■when -writing.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested»in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool ma,rket» and Sbeep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing
Standard Belgian ttare Book !
BY M. D. CAPPS,
HIS book of 175
pages presents a
n d concise
at of the Bel-
re industry;
d kinds
the
origM
san-
a and construc-
)n of the rabbitry;
lection of breeding
stock; care of the
young, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of 50,-
0(W copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with til-' Amarican Bee Journal one
year— both for only fl.lO.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 14(j Erie street, - CHICAGO, ITJ..
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
I fiONE,y AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Aug. 3. — For choice white comb
honey the demand is equal to the receipts at 15c
per pound, but off grades are slow at 1 to 3 cents
less. Extracted is selling more freely at F%(qif)c
for white; amber, 5^5^c. Beeswax steady at
30c. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5@(,c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from s(w'^>c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from 1354@15^c.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, Aug. 3.— The honey market is prac-
tically nominal, demands being nothing owing
to the warm weather. We have had one lot of
new honey in that sold at 17c. Extracted, light
amber, 8c; amber, 6@7c.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving-
by express in small quantities from Iowa and,
Colorado, and selling at $3 50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4l4@'4^ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bkos.
New York, Aug. 7.— There is some demand
for new crop of comb honev, and receipts are
quite numerous for this time of the year. They
have been principally from the South, but we
are now beginning to receive shipments from
New York State and near-bv. We quote: Fancy
white, 15c; No. 1 white, 13(«i4c; amber, IKqUc.
No new buckwheat is on the market as yet, and
we do not expect any before next month.
Extracted is decidedlv dull. Plenty offerings,
with only a limited demand, and quotations are
rather nominal. We are selling at from 5^654c,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55"' o5c per gallon. Beeswax dull and
declining; for the present we quote 27(&28c.
Hildreth & Sboelkbn.
Des Moines, Aug. ".-There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at S3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaxey.
Detroit, Aug. 12. — Fancy white comb honey,
14@15c; No. 1, 13@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6fs-7c. Beeswax, 25(a26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10,— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, 16@17c, and lower grades, U^14c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co.
San Francisco, Aug. 7.— White comb. 11®
12J^ cents; amber, s@i0c; dark, 6@7Hc. Ex-
tracted, white, 5J^@— ; light amber, 4Ji@5c;
amber. 4@4^c. Beeswax, 26@28c.
The market shows the same (juiet state as for
some time past, bids of wholesale operators not
being of a character to encourage free consign-
ing from producing points. The <ierman
steamer Herraonthes, sailing this week via the
Cape Horn route for Europe, took 152 cases ex-
tracted honey, destined for Germany.
Kansas City, Aug. 6.— Some very fine Mis-
souri honey is now on the market, selling at
Uif« 17c per pound for fancy white comb. Colo-
rado and Utah shippers are offering new comb
honey in carlots for first half of August ship-
ment at 10c per pound for No. 1, and ^(ft'ij^c for
No. 2, f.o.b. shipping-point. The market for ex-
tracted honey is as yet rather unsettled, asking
prices ranging from 45ife4'iC, f.o.b. shipping-
point. Buyers, however, seem to be in no hurry
to make contracts. Peycke Bros.
To Buy Hon6U
What haveyou to offer
J4Atf ED WILKINSON, WMtOtt.'wis.
Please mentior Bee Journal "when •writing,
Faocy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases: also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
pay spot cash. Fkei* W. Muth
& Co., Tront A: Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— Oerman National liank, Cincinnati.
2SAl"t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted
544
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
Aug. 22, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everTthiag, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
f «- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal ■wJien ■writins
River Forest Apiaries !
riLL ALL ORDERS
By Return IVlail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75cts.; Tested, Jl.Oii: Select Tested,
$!..=». Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., 111.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
XJN'TESSTEjID
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Oueens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at SI. 00, and
25cts., we will mail j'ou f ree an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &. 140 Erie St..
CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation. Im
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQOINa. No
LOSS.
PATENT WEEO-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell ^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In as years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli*
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on Ihe Honey-Bee — Re\/iseci,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co.. III.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when "writing.
More Bee-Keepers'
Paradises....
E. R. Root has just returned from a 6,000-mile trip through
some of the best bee-locations in the world, and has already be-
gun his |eries of write-ups, accompanied with fine photos, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. The following editorial appears Aug.
1, and will give something of an idea of what he will describe :
Some little time ago I promised to tell about the bee-keepers'
paradise in Texas. I have this on the docket, and it will appear
as I take up the line of my travels. But since running across
that paradise I have run into two or three others. There is one
west of the Rockies, in Colorado, that is not yet overstocked with
bees or bee-keepers ; another one in Central Idaho — in fact, I do
not know but the whole State. These will be described in turn.
The fact is, millions of capital are beitig invested in irrigation ;
irrigation means alfalfa ; alfalfa means a paradise for bees. But
I found all along my trip that alfalfa-growing preceded bee-
keeping by two or three years, for it seems to take about that
length of time before bee-keepers find these gold-mines that have
been hitherto unoccupied.
If you are dissatisfied with your present location, and for
financial reasons, or on account of health, will be compelled to
leave, subscribe for Gleanings in Bee-Culture, and learn some-
thing about the great South and the great West. There are many
locations in the West that are not yet occupied — splendid bee-
locations. If you wish to learn about them, send 25 cents for a
six-months' trial subscription, or $1.00 for one year and one un-
tested Italian qtteen. Or, send S2.00 and we will send Gleanings
one year and one of our celebrated Red Clover Queens.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
lU. S. A.) .
a^" GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '"^ml^^GulLL.T'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
1ijAERie/i/v
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, AUGUST 29, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 35.
546
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL,
Aug. 29, 1901.
GEORGE YV. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-iu-Chief. .
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) n„„„„,„„„f
E.E. Hasty, [^P^s
Prof. A. J. Cook, i Editois.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is 81.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AV rapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription Is paid. For instance,
*' decOl " on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To -promote and protect the interests of its
met^bers.
Xo prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, Thos. G. Newman,
W. Z. Hutchinson, G. M. Doolittle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Makkb,
E. T. ABBOTT, J. M. Hambaugh,
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. K. Root, Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
ip^° If more convenjeut. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
*' I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons!
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weekly Budget.
Another Five Names have been received
the past week at this office to be counted
toward the 1,000 that we are working for as
the membership in the National Bee-Keepers'
Association. The second thousand will come
more easily than the first thousand, we be-
lieve. But let's get the first 1,000 before start-
ing on the second. Here are the honorable
five:
Samuel Switzer, John M. Seiler,
John C. Stewart, P. Munko,
Geo. W. Hauber.
Mr. C. p. Dadant and Wife made' this
office a pleasant call on Wednesday, Aug. 21,
when on their way from a visit to Sturgeon
Bay, Wis., where they had gone with Mr.
Chas. Dadant (C. P.'s father), where he
makes an annual stay to avoid the hay-fever
which " gets " him every .fall when he re-
mains at his home in southern Illinois. The
senior Dadant is now 84 years of age, and
holds his health and strength exceedingly
well. Mr. Dadant reports a fairly good comb-
foundation trade the past season, though
their honey crop was next thing to a failure.
Hon. Eugene Secob, of Winnebago Co.,
Iowa, general manager of the National Bee-
Keepers' Association, was recently nominated
as representative to the next State Legislature
from his district. He expects to be elected.
But it he doesn't, he can still have his office
of general manager for the bee-keepers, to
fall back upon. This latter is a higher posi-
tion, too, than the other one for which he is
" trotting " — in our humble opinion.
Mr. Rupus Porter, of Schuyler Co., 111.,
although the inventor of the Porter bee-
escape, has never used one about a hive in
any manner whatever.
A Variety of Minds make up the readers
of any periodical. The American Bee Jour-
nal is no exception. And the editor is likely
to learn — sometimes in a very emphatic man-
ner—just what some people think of him
and the paper which he tries to edit.
But these things have never disturbed this
particular editor, even so much as a slight
bee-sting. He is trying to do what he con-
siders his duty in furnishing a helpful, read-
able bee-paper every week, and so far as he
has ability — both financial and intellectual —
he will continue to do his best.
We are led to say that much on account of
having received several letters recently which
indicated great dissatisfaction with certain
departments found in this journal. Now we,
personally (and we think that ninety-nine
one-hundredths of our subscribers would
agree) , believe that there is not a department
in this paper but what is helpful. Of course,
with some of the opinions expressed all may
not agree. But that is all right. Few people
agree in every particular. We read several
different papers not devoted to bee-keeping,
and they have many departments that we
don't read at all. We don't feel compelled to
read them, neither do we consider It our
duty to write to the editor a complaining let-
ter about them. It is our privilege to read
whatever we like, and let the rest go.
Isn't it a little strange that certain so-called
bee-keepers aren't real happy unless they can
fling at somebody or something i Our ex-
perience has been that among the most un-
reasonaljle and cantankerous of them are
found the little 2x-t fellows who think they
are wonderfully wise.
Please do not misunderstand us — we wel-
come suggestions and criticisms that are
sensible, and honestly intended to be helpful ;
but the kind that are sent in just to exhibit a
mean spirit, or to show off some personal
conceit or egotism, better be left unwritten,
for they simply go into the waste-basket at
once.
Honet-Bees are winged merchants: they
keep stores and cell their honey.
Mr. Joceltn S. Morales, of Jamaica, has
been asking for information concerning the
Buffalo convention of the National Bee-Keep-
ers' Association, Sept. 10, 11 and 12. He
wants to attend. Good for Mr. Morales. We
hope he will be present.
Mr. W. E. Baker's residence and. apiary
are shown on the first page of this issue. He
has been keeping bees for about five years,
and has been very successful with them. For
the past three years or more his daughter
" AUie " has had entire charge of the apiary,
Mr. Baker being a carpenter and devoting
only a portion of his time to the bees. How-
ever, his number of colonies has so increased
that he Has decided to devote his entire time,
hereafter, to bee-keeping and market garden-
ing.
There are 50 colonies of bees now at work
in Mr. Baker's ajiiary, and 17 swarms have
been hived since spring, and these are also
doing good work. He is making a specialty
of section honey, which sells readily in the
homematketat 1" cents per pouni White
and sweet clover are grown Abundantly in
his locality, insuring a good crop of honey
almost every year. By July 10 he had already
taken 56 pounds of new honey from one
colony. His average net profit per colony
last year was $10.50. He says in writing to us:
" I keep the American Bee Journal on my
table, and find it of great benefit to me in
my work. I also have all the latest standard
works on bee-culture in my library, and I
read and study them, too. 1 use the Lang-
stroth hive principally."
New Kinks in the Apiary are con-
stantly being reported. J'ust think how
many have been furnished by others who
have reported them in your favorite bee-
paper.
But perhaps you are using some apiarian
kinks — best ways of 'doing things with
bees^that have never been reported, so
far as you know. Why not describe them for
the benefit of others who have helped you by
their hints and suggestions ?
The American Bee Journal is here to help
all by recording the best things from all.
What can you offer that has been helpful in
your own experience ;
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, AUGUST 29, 1901,
No, 35,
I ^ Editorial. ^ f
The Buffalo Convention opens a week
from next Tuesday evening, Sept. 10, in the
Lecture Room of tlie Buffalo Library Build-
ing:, at the corner of Washington and Clinton
Streets, near the business center of the city.
■We are looking forward to the largest
gathering of bee-keepers ever held in the
East. Chicago has set the pace, there being
about 500 in attendance at one evening session
last year when the National convention met
here. There never had been anything like it,
we believe — at least not during the past eight
years, as we have attended every national
meeting during that time.
• There are to be no papers read at this Buf-
falo convention. All the time is to 1» con-
sumed in the discussion of questions. Such
an impromptu program often proves to be
one of the most interesting and profitable,
when properly conducted. At least, the Chi-
cago Bee-Keepers" Association has found it so.
But the main thing just now is to begin to
get ready to go to Buffalo.
Pictures of Apiaries. — Some time ago
we called for photographs of the apiaries of
our readers, and quite a number have been
sent to us. They will be used as time goes
on. But we want more of them. If you
have a picture of your apiary, why not send
it to us ? If it is not good enough to make a
creditable engraving, we will tell you so, and
return it, if j'ou so request.
When sending, please remember to write
your name and address on the back of the
photograph, to avoid mistakes after we get it.
Sometimes we receive several at one time,
and desire to use every precaution to prevent
errors.
■•
Tot» Mu<-h Room in Spring has made
sad tlie heart of H. H. Hyde, as he relates in
the Progressive Bee-Keeper. It is the custom
in his part of Te.\as to leave all the extract-
ing bodies on the hives during the winter, as
the easiest way to take care of them. He
says ;
I had been drifting along like the lialanee,
giving the (|uestion very little thought until
this spring, which was a very late, cold, back-
ward spring — the bees being very laic and
dilatory in breeding up. I very soon noticed
that the single-story colonies, or such as had
only as much room as they could occupy as
needed, were outstripping those tiiat had a
large surplus in room. Single-story colonies
soon built up strong and ready for the honey-
flows, while the others were dragging along,
and for a good part of the time only holding
their own, the result being that when the
honey-flow came on they were weak and in
no position to harvest the honey crop. I
think that this has taught me a valuable les-
son, and it should teach a lesson to every one
else in this part of the country.
It is not difficult to understand why a col-
ony should not do well In winter or early
spring with a large empty space above it. It
is too much like being outdoors. Heat rises,
and in the winter time a thermometer will
show the upper part of a living-room several
degrees warmer than near the floor. If it is
thought desirable to have vacant room in
cool or cold weather, let it be below and not
above.
♦^ • —
Some Big Reports are assembled iu The
Pacific Bee Journal, including just a little to
discourage bee-keepers in regions less favored
than California. Emerson Bros, increased
from S35 to 1,000 colonies, and took 40 tons of
honey. C. A. Pyle increased TO colonies to
103, and took 14 tons (400 pounds per colony.)
J. B. McClure started in the spring with 230
colonies, and took 45 tons. A. Jopliri with
225 colonies took 24 tons. G. Dombrowsky
took 14 tons from 170 colonies, spring count.
Mercer it Son, 50 tons from 525 colonies.
The Price of Honey is something that
the bee-keeper sometimes finds it hard to set-
tle upon. He is at a loss to know what price
he should put upon his product when selling
to a grocer or a private customer. It is a clear
case that if he is to hold the trade of the gro-
cer it will not do to sell to private customers
as low as to the grocer, and it may be the bet-
ter way to sell at retail at the same price as
the grocer. But what shall determine the
price to the grocer? (1. M. Doolittle, in a con-
versation in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, dis-
cusses the matter very sensibly as follows:
'•Find the quoted price for each grade of
honey which you have, in the city to which
you would send your honey, did you ship any
away, and then figure the expenses for freight,
cartage, and commission out, and you will
have what it is worth at your nearest railroad
station. For exanqik'. the rates on comb
honey from Skaneatch-s to New York City is
50 cents per 100 pduiids. As this is gross
weight, we find by a lilllc figuring that about
55 cents per 100 pounds is what the freight
will cost, and the cartage will bring it up to
60 cents. Quotations during the months of
July and August urc generally little more
than nominal; but fiuni them we will guess
that fancy honey will luiiig from IHto 15 cents
this year. But unless your honey is excep-
tionally fine I should not put it above 14.
Then as most commission men charge 10 per-
cent for selling, we have S1.40 as the cost of
selling 100 pounds. This, added to the tiO
cents freight and i-iir;iige. makes a cost of
about 2 cents per pouu.ito get our product to
market, and the cash f"r it in .our possession,
so that, on the basis of these figures, if you
can not sell the honey you have in Skaneateles
and surrounding towns at 12 cents per pound,
you had better send it to New York."
"Well, I had never thought of reasoning it
out in that way. I thought I ought to have
13 cents for it, or only one cent less than New
York quotations."
" It is an old saying, that ' a nimble six-
pence is better than a slow shilling;' and X
fear you will find that your honey will go
very slow at 13 cents, while it would sell rap-
idly at 12 cents. Then there is a possibility
that, when the market comes to be established
this fall, honey may go still lower than the
nominal prices we have used, in which case it
would be better to move it off rapidly by put-
ting the price at \l]:, cents, where a party
would take a whole crate."
One phase of the case, however, Mr. Doolit-
tle does not touch upon. In some places and
in some years it happens that the local supply
is so short that grocers send to the large cities
for their supplies. In that case the bee-keeper
would be foolish to follow the same rule as in
years of full supply. It may be that grocers
in Skaneateles never send to New York for
honey, but it is certain that grocers within
100 or 200 miles of Chicago often send to Chi-
cago for their supply. For the sake of illus-
tration suppose the same thing should occur
at Skaneateles^ The crop is short, and the
bee-keeper, following the general rule, sells to
the grocers the few hundred pounds he has at
12 cents, the New York price being 14. When
these few hundred pounds are exhausted, the
grocers must send to New York for a further
supplj', paying 60 cents per hundred freight,
making the cost a little more than 14^. _. cents
per pound. By what rule of right should the
bee-keeper sell to the grocer for auy less than
this price? If he sells at 12 cents he is losing
2'i' cents on every pound he sells. So when
the crop is so short that part of the grocers'
supply must be secured from the large cities,
the rule should be. not to deduct freight, com-
mission, etc., from the city price, but to add
to the city price the amount for freight.
Foundation SpIintfS (instead of wiring
brood-frames) have been warmly advocated
by some bee-keepers. Splints about one-six-
teenth of an inch thick are soaked in hot wax
for the purpo.se. B. F. Averill says in Glean-
ings in Bee-Culture that he does not find it
necessary to have the splints coated v\ith wax.
He merely presses the wooden splints into the
foundation, having them lon;fer than the
inside depth of the frame so that the ends of
the splints rest in saw-kerfs in the top and
bottom-bar. fhcy are put alternately on
opposite sides of the foundation, six or seven
to a frame, and no other fastening for the
foundation is needed. Ooe advantage is that
the foundation is built right down to the bot-
tom-bar.
548
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug. 29, 1901.
Contributed Articles. I
t-fr^^^K
A Trio of Questions— Bee-Book Reviews.
BY I'KOF. A. J. COOK.
I REGRET if an}- -have questioned the wisdom or cour-
tesy of my reviews of the bee-books. I believe we all —
Dadant, Cowan. Root, and myself — wish only the truth.
If we have made mistakes — and. of course, we all have — we
are only too thankful that they be corrected. I always
rejoice with exceeding joy at any kindly criticism of my
books, or my journalistic articles. As Mr. Root says, I am
not always right. If any earnest student thinks me wrong,
I like to know, that I may re-examine, re-test, and very
likely find I am in error. Then how quick I will be to cor-
rect.- I am sure all our authors in question are of like
mind.
There are two good reasons why these criticisms should
not be withheld, viz :
1. It brings mooted questions before us to be studied
and rightly decided.
2. Though possibly corrected in latest editions, the
hosts have only the older editions, and surely they are
entitled to have their text-books corrected.
BEES EVAPORATING HONEV IN TRANSIT TO THE HIVE.
The criticism of my position on this subject warrants
reply. Surely. I seem to be almost discourteous and dog-
matic, when I say, " I know bees never do this." I do not
mean to call in question the truthfulness of those who
claim to have seen the falling mist. I have never seen it,
though I have tried to discover it often. When I say, "I
know," I refer to the appended theory, "Evaporation of
the nectar." If some one should report seeing a bee car-
rying a large substance, and should add that he believed it
an iron wedge weighing a pound, I would have no right to
doubt the first part of the statement. I would have a per-
fect right to say I know regarding the second part.
The water of nectar holds the sugar in solution. It is
a close integral part of the liquid. It can only be sepa-
rated, so far as we know, by force, heat, or centrifugal
motion. The bee can not possibly exert any of these on
nectar within its honey-stomach. The statement of falling
mist we may not dispute. The impossibility of evapo-
ration we may affirm, and so say "we know." I repeat, if
such droplets do fall from the bees, they are fecal, or
respiratory — shall we say sweet atoms?
KILLING BEES TO STING.
I also speak with a sort of offensive dogmatism on this
point. I have over and over suggested to ray students to
perform the following experiment :
With a glove on anger the bees, till a dozen, more or
less, sting the glove, and actually pull out their stings.
Then they were to catch as many from the combs by taking
hold of the wings. Each lot was put into a cage provis-
ioned with honey or "Good " candy. In a few days allot
the first lot would die, while all of the others would live
for weeks. Often the second cage was peopled with bees
taken as they were about to fly from the hive in quest of
nectar.
This explains why Mrs. Clark's bees that stung her cow
to death were so generally destroyed. She reports that her
apiary was seriously depleted, while thousands of bees
were dead near the carcass of the cow. We all know that
bees may sting and not lose the sting. Of course, such
cases may not prove fatal.
SCIENTIFIC USE OF TERMS.
The dictionaries are conservative. They allow expres-
sions which expert usage would not permit. Physiologists
do not confound digestion and assimilation. It would not
be exact, and so would be unscientific to do so. Is it not
wise to go to the best and latest specialists in physiology
for our definitions ? If we do so we vcill say that digestion
is to fit the food for absorption ; and that assimilation has
to do with metabolism or tissue changes. The entomolo-
gist is wise in not calling a larva a worm, for it is not.
The entomologist might possibly use the term miller for
moth ; it would be rare, however, but he surely would not
say moth-miller. He would as correctly speak of a female
■woman. Are we not wise to consult the up-to-date special-
ists in our use of scientific terms ?
Los Angeles Co., Calif., May 20.
[The above article was received at this office the latter
part of May, and through some unexplainable way was
overlooked until now. We regret the long delay exceed-
ingly, but trust it has not entirely lost its value. — Editor.]
Valueless Figures as Applied to Bees-
Breeding.
In-
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
FREDERICK B. SIMPSON is one of the comparatively
new writers for the bee-papers, yet his articles are full
of life and "spice." I have read them with much
interest, and hope he will continue to write more and more,
especially so as he may gain more and greater light on
many of the vexatious problems with which apiarists have
to deal. I judge from his writings that he is more thor-
oughly conversant with the vexatious problems relating to
horses, than he is with those relating to bees. But if his
life is spared he will doubtless learn all about many, if not
all, of the bee-problems. And I bid him " Godspeed," that
he may know of the height and depth, of the length and
breadth, of this most fascinating, as well as often most
vexatious, pursuit — bee-keeping.
On page 485, I find these words from his pen :
'■ In the American Bee .Journal for .June 20, Mr. Doolittle gfave us
some fljjures, but as he tailed to notice that the mother of the drone
with which a queen mates is entitled to probably the same share in
the results [greater, in my opinion — G. M. D.] as the queen's mother,
and also that the mother, or mothers, of the drones with which the
breeding queen's daughters mate are also entitled to some share, his
figures are of little value."
Just so. And even at the risk of appearing " sassy " I
wish to say that his, " whereas the real cause of quality is
skillful i<'/t'rf/o?;," and, " which qualities should be proved
to be hereditary iii each pedigree," as given in his
" in-breeding " article, are equally of little value, as applied
to bees. And all the illustrations which have been given
in the bee-papers during the past 30 years, no matter by
whom given, as comparing the breeding of horses, cattle,
sheep, poultry, or swine, with that of breeding queen-bees,
have been equally valueless, for there is no common ground
(on vfhich to stand) between them.
Suppose Mr. Simpsdn, with all of his horse knowledge,
was obliged to turn his highly bred mare out into a 10,000
acre forest, filled with twice that many stallions of all
grades, sizes and colors, she going way out of his sight and
hearing before she met even a single one of them ; of how
much value does he think would be any words he could say
about his "skillful selection " the "hereditary in each pedi-
gree," or about the " mother of the stallion with which his
mare mated ?" The fact is, the breeder of queen-bees is
" all at open sea " in this matter of the selection of drones,
and all talk along the line of what drone any queen mates
has no value attached to it whatever.
I have had a standing offer, out for years, of $500 to
the man or woman who would give me a practical plan
whereby I could mate a queen-bee to any individual drone,
with the same certainty that a horse-breeder could mate his
stock. And I know of several other queen-breeders who
would give from that to twice tiiat amount. Here is your
chance, Mr. S. And not only a chance to get the S$SES, but
also to receive the heartfelt gratitude of thousands of bee-
keepers of the present age. and those who are to come after
us during the centuries yet to come. And, until this prob-
lem is worked out, it is useless to talk about " hereditary,"
" variations, how started, intensified, and established." or
anything of the kind. And the " great big tent " plan,
lately agitated, should it prove successful, would not at all
meet the requirements of the Simpson horse-breeders, nor
claim my S500 ; for that would be like turning out the
mare, in the supposed case, into a forest containing from
50 to 1000 stallions, with the simple guarantee that they
were raised from one mother. Some would be weaklings
along some or all lines, lacking of proper form, propor-
tions, etc., and would be something that no careful stock-
breeder would ever listen to, although it might be some-
what of an improvement over the first, or what we now
have.
Those who have accused the present race of queen-
Aug. 29, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
549
breeders of simplicity, and lack of insight into matters
which go toward making a scientific breeder of other stock,
have failed, in that they have not taken this mating ques-
tion into consideration as they should. I know that there
are queen-breeders of the present time who have put as
much thought into it, and spent as much time thoroughly to
equip themselves, for their business, as any breeder of any
of our domestic animals. And because they could not con-
trol the mating of their queens, is no sign why they should
be classified with the ignoramuses in breeding domestic
animals. This last is not thrown at Mr. Simpson, for he
has treated the queen-breeders of the present very fairly, as
far as I have seen.
And now I wish to say a word about that " in-breed-
ing " matter. The reason, Mr. Simpson, why " the
regular contributors to the bee-papers have not shown any
desire to give us any specific aid on this subject," is,
because, under the present state of affairs, there can not
well be any in-breeding with our bees. With thousands
and millions of drones, from scores and hundreds of hives,
within a circle of five to ten miles in diameter, all congre-
gating together, as the stallions in the forest, there is very
little chance that any queen could possibly mate with a
drone from her own mother. But suppose she did ? Does
not Mr. S. know that it would be only her mating with a
//^//-brother ? The drone is " the son of his mother " while
the queen is the daughter of her mother and father. And
as the drone is always, practically speaking, the son of his
mother, in-breeding could be carried on for several gener-
ations, even with a full control of both queen and drone,
before we could practically mate a brother and sister. And
with the present conditions of mating, and with no chance
at all of having " our say in the matter," it is simply folly
for bee-keepers to talk about in-breeding, or to say very
much regarding the mating of their queens any way, as
to what drone she mated with.
The very best I have been able to do on the drone-side-
has been to keep a lot of drones from my best breeder, not
nearly akin to the queen-mother, till fall, after other drones
were killed off, then " hand pick " them, culling out all the
inferior ones, when I had some reasonable assurance that
queens reared at this time would mate with some of these
drones, providing that some other colony within the circuit
of the flight of "drone and queen," did not have a failing
queen, or was queenless, in which case there would prob-
ably be hundreds of drones from such a colony to where
there was tens of my hand-picked specimens.
I spent much of the time during the later seventies and
early eighties in trying plans for the control of fertiliza-
tion, thinking them out nights and trying them days,
besides nearly all the plans advised by others, and after
having to write " A failure " after each experiment, I
settled down to try to do the best I could from the queen
side, which thing I have been doing ever since. But I am
free to admit, with Mr. Simpson, that, if I could have had
complete control over the drone which mated with any
queen during all these years, there would have been more
" value in the figures " than there is at present ; although
a yield per colony of from dO to 80 pounds of comb honey
from red clover this year, with little or nothing 20 years
ago, proves that I have not labored entirely in vain.
Onondaga Co., N. Y.
, Continued from pape 534.}
No. 12.
Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee-
Culture.
BY J. D. GEHRING.
ONE of the most serious of the short-comings among
those who keep bees on the farm is, that they don't
know what to do with them in case of sudden emergen-
cies. Robbing is one of the worst of these, please remem-
ber, Mr. Bond. Even if you reduce the present number of
your colonies, as you now contemplate doing, down to one
or two, you will need to be informed on this subject in order
to be ready for business when the bees furnish the occasion.
" A few years ago I sold a colony of bees to a man who
lives about a mile south of here. He said his wife was
crazy to have some bees, but didn't know anything about
managing them. But as he knew how, and wasn't afraid
of them, he thought they could risk it to begin with one
colony.
" Well, he took the hive I sold him home early in April.
It was one of my best colonies. I instructed him how to
make the bees mark their new location, and how to man-
age when a swarm should issue — the colony having a
clipped queen.
"A large swarm was secured all right some time dur-
ing the month of May, and the queen taken care of accord-
ing to directions. When it was time to put supers on I
went and showed him how to put them on. All seemed to
go well, except that no honey was stored in the supers, save
a few pounds during the late season. I also instructed
both of them one evening how to prepare the colonies for
wintering, either outdoors, or in the cellar.
" Well, they thought 'twould be a capital idea to try
both methods of wintering, so he carried one hive — the one
containing the new swarm- -into the cellar, leaving tlie
mother colony out in the cold. The phrase, 'out in the
cold,' was severely emphasized by the fact — not known to
me till the following spring — that my friend neglected to
carry out my instructions as to how the hive should be pre-
pared for the outdoor siege. He didn't even have time, he
said, to take the super of nearly empty sections off before
cold weather set in.
" One day in early April he came to me and requested
that I should come and tell him what ailed his bees. The
old colony, he said, was about played out, and the other
hadn't seemed to act right since he had brought it out of
the cellar.
"When I had finished examining those hives I found
no queen in the latter, and not a spoonful of honey in the
first, though I found a small and feeble-looking queen
there. I told him to feed the honeyless bees at least a pint
of syrup a day until fruit-trees were in bloom ; and more if
necessary. I furnished him a feeder and full instructions
with it. But those bees were all dead when I saw him
again — about two days later. His wife thought it was too
expensive to feed bees so much syrup ; and he, being more
liberal, thought it took too much time. These points I got
later, and from an outside source.
"I also furnished that man a frame of brood, put it in
place for him, and cautioned him to watch the hive very
closely until a new queen could hatch out. He didn't do it,
although I had fully explained why it would be necessary.
The result was that he lost that colony also, and as follows :
" One day, soon after giving him the foregoing advice,
he sent me word by telephone to come up as soon as pos-
sible— the bees were robbing. When I arrived on the scene
an hour later I found the reverse of his statement to be
only too true : The colony had been robbed 1 Not only the
honey was gone, but all the bees also.
"On inquiring for particulars, I learned that early that
morning the colony seemed to be all right, and busily work-
ing— ' lots of bees in the hive,' he said. Here, then, was an
entirely new — new to me then — feature in this case of rob-
bing. I couldn't conclude otherwise than that, after realiz-
ing that resistance was useless, or worse, that colony of
bees made a full surrender, filled up with honey, as they do
when about to swarm out, and went with the robbers in a
body. This is not a groundless theory, but evidently a fact.
There was no other sensible explanation, as but a few
dozen dead bees were found near the hive, and none in it.
" Before I left for home I requested my friend to show
me the place in the cellar where the colony had wintered.
There I found the solution of the cause of the robbing :
the dead queen on the cement floor of the cellar, among
perhaps one-third of the bees, also dead ! The foolish man
had neglected to screen the bee-entrance, and had given the
bees no ventilation in the hive ; and he had also allowed too
much light in that part of the cellar. And yet, to this day,
those people can't understand how it was that I had an
average, the previous season, of 75 pounds of honey to the
colony, while they, only a mile away, and with two colo-
nies of i/iy bees, didn't get a pound !
" I have related this case in detail, Mr. Bond, to show
how absolutely essential to success it is to attend to at/ the
details in the management of even one colony. It is even
more important when you have one or two only, instead of
50 or 100 ; because, if you lose one, or both, you are out of
the business entirely."
"That's a very interesting case," remarked Mr. Bond ;
and instructive, too, as far as it goes. But in telling the
story you failed to tell me just what you told your friend to
do with those hives, to prepare them for winter, each in a
different way and place. I think I ought to know those
details," concluded Mr. Bond.
" I should have overlooked that fact if you hadn't men-,
tioned it," I replied ; " and it's the really valuable part of
the story to you, too. Well, I can repeat the substance of
550
AiMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Aug-. 29, 1901.
what I told that friend to do, and you can apply it next fall
when it's about time to prepare your new colony out there
for winter — either outdoors, or in the cellar.
" Be sure to avoid, at the outset, the too common mis-
take of waiting- with the winter-preparation work until cold
weather has set in. Here in Kansas it is generally safe to
wait until the middle of October — seldom as late as Novem-
ber.
"The first thing you must do has to be done whether
the colony is to remain on its summer-stand, or to be trans-
ferred to the cellar, and that is this :
"Prepare your bee-smoker as I have already shown you.
Then you put on your bee-veil, remembering that at that
season of the year the bees are much more touchy and
liable to sting- than during a honey-flow. Then you take
your prying instrument and go out to your hive — smoker in
full blast in your hand. If you prefer to quiet the bees
before beginning operations you rap sharply a few times on
the outside of the hive. Then you wait about five minutes
for the bees to fill themselves with honey before you
remove the cover in order to get at the super, which I will
suppose you put on in time to catch the late surplus honey.
This super you then take off, in the manner I have shown
you, and set it, for convenience, on top of the hive-cover,
where it is safe — if securely covered — until the rest of the
job is done.
" You are now ready to loosen the ends of the brood-
frames, with the tool you have brought with you for that
purpose, blowing a little smoke over the top of them while
doing so, should the bees crowd to the surface and get in
the way.
"When this is done you begin the real business to
which the foregoing was merely introductory ; namely, you
begin in the middle of the brood-nest and take out the
frames, one by one, examining each in succession to find
the queen. It is the queen you are really after, more than
anything else, because the prime object of this whole per-
formance is, to ascertain — not to guess at, as many keepers
of bees do — the fact that the colony has a queen. It is very
important for you to be sure of this, not because the colony
couldn't live through the winter without a queen, for it can ;
but because they can't begin house-keeping o.perations in
early spring without a mother-queen. You could not very
well go through such an operation in February or early
March in order to find out what you should know before
you shut the hive for the winter. I hope you'll never for-
get that, Mr. Bond.
"Of course the fact will suggest itself that, after you
have found the queen, and have estimated the honey in the
frames to be fully sufficient to last them till spring, you
replace all the frames and cover them snugly with a piece
of fine burlap. You then put a rim — such as I use in tier-
ing-up supers — on the hive and pack the space inside with
chaff or soft forest-leaves. Next you put on the hive-cover,
placing a stone on top of it to keep it in place ; contract the
entrance-space to about the right width to suit the weather
at the time, and your work is done for outdoor wintering in
Kansas.
" For cellar-wintering you do no packing on top.
Neither do you take the hive to the cellar before cold
weather has begun. Then you remove the entrance-blocks
and tack a piece over the brood-frames for the same pur-
pose. Prepared in this manner your bees are safe in a dry
cellar. But if the cellar is too cold — that is, below 45
degrees at any time — place a piece of burlap or a piece of
old carpet over the screen on top of the frames. It will
keep them warm without depriving them of needed air.
" I have kept bees both ways for years, and have never
lost any irn winter-quarters on account of cold, want of air,
lack of food, or on account of inexcusable neglect.
" Here endeth the lesson."
Mr. Bond took dinner with us and then departed for
home, taking his colony of bees with him, as happy as I
had ever known a farmer to be.
(The End.)
Why Not Help a Little — both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
.send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
I Questions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C. C. MILLER, Marengo, 111.
[The Qaestioas may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Mulberries for Bees.
What Dr. Peiro says on page 525 leads me to think that
it is possible there may be two kinds of white mulberry,
and if any one is thinking of planting largely it would be
well to make sure of having the kind that he speaks of as
bearing luscious fruit. In Pennsylvania I was familiar
with the black mulberry, of which I was very fond. When
I came to Illinois I found white mulberries growing wild
(not in this county, but further south), but the fruit was
insipid, and to mj' taste hardly fit to eat. I do not suppose
it would be difficult to get bees to work on the crushed pulp
of mulberries or any other fruit, but the question is
whether what the bees would store therefrom would pay for
the gathering and crushing. It would probably take a good
deal to make old bee-keepers believe that bees could store
good honey from the pulp of any fruit.
c. c. Miller.
Milkweed Pollen-Masses on Bees' Feet.
I send a sample bee. By using a microscope you will
see a foreign substance attached to its feet, which prevents
walking or working. The other bees are pulling them out,
and carrying them off in large numbers. What is it ?
What particular plant or flower do they get it from ?
Pennsylvania.
Answer. — The milkweed is the culprit — Asclepias Cor-
nuti. The pollen-masses become attached to the feet to
such an extent that the bees appear not to be able to climb
upon the combs. At any rate, their sisters drive them out.
It is possible that enough is gathered from the milkweed
more than to pay for the damage done ; at any rate the loss
is not serious, and there is nothing- you can do about it.
Loss in Introducing: aueens.
A queen sent me arrived in good shape, and I intro-
duced her according to directions, but the bees did not
receive her. I have kept the colony supplied with fresh
eggs to prevent laying workers, if possible, and to give
them a chance to rear a queen, but the queen-cells they
have started have all been with eggs that were too old. I
examined them carefully before I introduced the queen, and
destroyed all their queen-cells, and I am very sure there
were no laying workers.
1. Do you suppose the presence of fresh eggs in the
hive would prevent the workers from laying ?
2. What is my trouble ? Nevi^ Hampshire.
Answers. — 1. Laj'ing workers are not likely to occur
if the bees are kept supplied with eggs or young brood.
2. In asking what is your trouble, you probably mean
to ask what was done wrong that resulted in the killing of
the queen you were trying to introduce. Perhaps there
was nothing at all wrong on your part. The attempt to
introduce a queen is not always successful. Nineteen
queens out of twenty may be accepted all right and the
twentieth rejected, although exactly the same plan was
used with the twentieth as with the other nineteen, and no
one can tell just why the twentieth failed. I don't under-
stand what you mean by saying they started queen-cells
with eggs that were too old. When bees are without a
queen they rarely start queen-cells from the egg ; nearly
Aug-. 29, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL.
551
always from larvw ; and an egg could not be too old unless
dead. Neither would they start a queen-cell from too old a
larva if constantly supplied as you say with fresh eggs.
But the presence of eggs and _voung brood would be no help
toward the acceptance of a queen, for they might think
they could rear a queen of their own, and thus reject the
one offered.
If you want to take the trouble, you can make the
acceptance of a queen a sure thing. Take two or three
frames of just-hatching brood, with no unsealed larvae, put
them in a hive without any bees, put in the queen and shut
the hive up bee-tight, and keep it for live days in a warm
place in the house, or over a strong colony with wirecloth
between, so that the heat but no bees can pass up through.
You can make sure of frames of the right kind of brood by
putting frames of brood eight days in advance in an upper
story over a queen-excluder.
Late Swarming.
July 25 I opened hive No. 1 and killed the queen ; July
27 I gave a new queen to the colony, and Aug. 10 this same
colony swarmed. I caught the queen and had the bees to
return to their hive. Two days later I opened the hive and
found one queen-cell ; I cut it out, and handed it to my
daughter, when, to her surprise, the queen left the cell and
was born, as it were, in her little hand. I caged the young
queen and returned the old one.
1. Now, why did they swarm so late, when the flow is
almost over with us here in Pennsylvania, and starvation
staring them in the face ?
2. Is the young queen of any value to me, as I see no
drones flying any more ? Pennsyi.vani.\.
Answers. — 1. You do not say whether you know that
the queen which you caught Aug. 10 was the same one you
introduced or not. It is possible it was the same, and that
the bees were nearly ready to swarm when you introduced
her, but the break in laying postponed their action. The
flow being near its close would not hinder the swarming,
so long as the flow continued, for the bees might expect it
to continue indefinitely. If, however, it was a normal
prime swarm, the old queen issuing with the swarm, a
young queen would hardly have issued from the cell so
soon as two days after the issuing of the swarm. It is
more likely that the queen you introduced was killed, and
that a young queen issued with the swarm, for when young
queens are reared upon the killing of a queen, the colony is
likely to swarm when it might have had no notion of
swarming if the old queen had remained. Bees seem to be
more reckless about swarming with a virgin than with a
laying queen.
2. The young queen is probably all right. Even when
you think all the drones are killed off, a few are still likely
to be flying until cold weather actually comes. Indeed,
they are sometimes allowed to go into winter quarters.
Fall Transferring.
I have several colonies of bees, purchased in box-hives,
and I want to transfer them to dovetail hives. Would you
advise me to do so immediately, or would it be preferable to
wait until spring ? California.
Answer. — You will probably do well to wait till spring.
An Introducing and Swarming Experience.
1. I had a colony swarm a week ago (June IS,) and when
I hived them everything seemed to go all right. But, alas,
towards evening they killed their queen, so I let it stand a
day and I introduced a laying queen. But they killed her,
too, so I was almost crazy, because it was a valuable queen.
So I got a little hybrid queen, laid her above the frame for
a day, and then I put her in an introducing-cage, but they
would not eat her out. So I let her out myself, and she
went to laying. Now the point is this : Yesterday they
cast a big swarm. What was the object of their swarm-
ing? They had the old queen with them, because she was
''lipped. They have five sealed queen-cells. They had
supers on, and lots of ventilation, and they had not worked
in the super very much.
2. Do you think they will go right to business ? There
was a flow from basswood and button-ball. Illinois.
Answers. — 1. I don't know. When a strange queen is
introduced, either because the bees are not quite satisfied
with her, or for some other reason, they very often start
queen-cells, and when these cells are sealed they sometimes
swarm. But if I understand you correctly, these cells were
in the hive of the swarm, and they were sealed within a
week after the swarm was hived. This could not be, unless
you gave a frame of brood to the swarm, in which case cells
were probably started at once when the brood was given.
Of course, these cells were not started from the egg, but
over larvie already there, and cells being called post-con-
structed or emergency cells.
2. Very likely they will now settle down to business.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last.
552
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 29, 1901.
The Afterthought. % \
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and UnrelrableQIasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
PETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD.
In "The Home Circle," page iST, Prof. Cook talks entranc-
ingly of pets. I wish for our profit to add somewhat thereto.
It's a scandal on the human judgment that we do not choose
our pets (at least in most cases) instead of so uniformly letting
thera choose us. At our house the children, with great excite-
ment and glee, drove home from the fields an enormous puppy
some one had cast ofl'. Nearly starved to death, poor fellow.
Attlicted with a sort of St. Vitus dance, making it impossible
to hold himself still. No beauty that any one should desire
him. Backbone seems to think dragging on the ground the
progression for the midships of a dog. He looks a cross of
St. Bernard and Dachshund, And now (to share my private
troubles with you, brethren) I am disgusted to find that this
repulsive, diseased and useless giant is likely to become a per-
manent member of the household. Professor, can't you train
folks a little, in regard to this admirable longing of humanity
for pets, so they won't choose such pets in such a kind of
way ?
SWARMS SELECTING THEIR HOMES.
As to how bees select their home in a tree, all theories
seem open to strong objection ; but the stubborn fact remains
that they do select them somehow. ,lohn Kennedy, page 459,
contributes a novel fact ; but I am not sure it gives us much
additional light. I mean the case where half a swarm went
straight to a hollow tree 60 rods away, and the other half
followed five hours later. Apparently those bees, many of
them, knew the place beforehand. They seem to have had
two young queens, although that is not sure. Testimony
about bees being seen frequenting a hollow, and coming to
occupy it later, seems to be sufficiently abundant to show that
they sometimes do so. The above shows no more— in fact
does not show at all — the first part of the process. My
impression (not a very strong one) has been that swarms usu-
ally keep moving from place to place until they finally blun-
der into a place that will answer. Some would consider that
the most improbable of the three leading theories. Some hol-
lows are ancient, and have at a previous date been occupied
by bees. I suggest that masses of propolis are likely to per-
sist in such hollows even after the moth has cleaned out the
comb. Going to such a place for propolis may have familiar-
ized now and then a swarm with the hollow it went to. A
hollow, of which the upper end will do for a home, sometimes
in spring has water at the bottom. Bees are said to frequent
such hollows for water. Like some folks they prefer their
water "with a little suthin in it." Shortly before swarming,
carrying water is a heavy and constant job employing a great
many bees. Anon their favorite supply dries up. Then it
would be very natural for them to prospect all the hollows in
the attempt to find more, and so get a wide familiarity with
hollow trees which would soon come in good play for another
purpose.
Taking away queens to make after-swarms go home is
practiced to some extent. It is not very satisfactory. You do
not know whether there is one queen or more. The supply
of young queens at home holds out too long. The hunting
often takes too much time when time is precious. And unless
you put them back yourself (which you can't do in the fre-
quent cases where you don't know where they came from)
they wait too long before they go, and are liable to be alighted
on by the next swarm that comes out. In a quite small
apiary, however, these objections would be much mitigated,
BEESWAX SPLINTS FOB FOUNDATION.
If I understand C. Davenport, page 461, it's a new kind
of splints made out of beeswax, and made right on the spot
where wanted. Seems to promise being just as good as
wooden splints, and easier to put on.
TILE AND STONE BOTTOM-BOARDS.
Tile bottom-boards costing only 10 cents, and that in
Cuba ! Perhaps a great invention. But will they fit tightly?
Termites may drive me to something of the kind ; and I have
even been thinking of sawed stone flagging. W. W. Somer-
ford, page 461.
RUSTLEK BEES AND AVERAGE BEES.
Anent the two pen pictures of the rustler bees and the
average bees, on page 462, I hardly know whether to applaud,
or scold. Guess I'll scold. It seems to mo that where colo-
nies are not queenless, not excessively weak, and nothing
special the matter with them, the working of the bees does
not differ very greatly — or if it does the keeper needs a
thrashing. Mr. SchaetHe, hadn't the heads of those average
queens ought to come off — hadn't the heads of their grand-
mothers ought to have come off long ago ?
^ The Home Circle. ^ \
*K It
Conducted bij Prof. fl. J. Gook, Claremont, Calif.
WASTE-PAPER BOXES.
Our good friend, that prince of California bee-keepers, J.
F. Mclntyre, has left his canyon home, which has harbored
him and his for near a score of years, and has gone to the city,
which in the future is to be honored by having him as a citi-
zen. What could lure him from the restful quiet of that
grand canyon, where he has always had Nature at her best,
and at first hand ? Then, too, his bees, which he loved so
well, and has cared for so fondly and so wisely, must be left
behind. He and the rippling .Sespe must part company. This,
at times, was a rapid, roaring, resistless torrent, which then
swept grandly by his very door. This grand and no less beau-
tiful environment must have become very dear to all the
Mclntyres — must have crept in with its refining, elevating
influence to make more rugged the honesty, more prompt the
sympathy, more pure and high the aspirations towards better
things. How could they leave such environs ? Why did they
hie away, even though it was to move to a beautiful city by
the sea ? It was not to change grandeur for grandeur, the
close mountains for the equally close ocean, whose surf Is
ever beating the shore, and whose breakers are ever chasing
each other landward, as if tired of their own restless plung-
ing. It was a good purpose — that the dear children might
have better school privileges.
Oh ! but this love of children is a most blessed thing ;
though it call for heaviest sacrifice, its call is not in vain, but
gladly heard and heeded. Mr. Mclntyre, as in all his rela-
tions, shows here his good sense and wisdom. Education —
the best — is the most precious treasure he can bestow on those
lovely girls. To sacrifice, that such treasures maybe granted,
is the greatest gain. Those fortunate daughters will ever
remember it gratefully — the justly proud parents will ever
rejoice that they could do this good thing.
Well, I. too, have tasted our friend's kindness. He drove
me during the cool evening eastward to meet several of the
ranchers in the rich, beautiful " Mound District." And the
next morning he accompanied me to look in upon the incom-
parable begonias of Mrs. Theodosia Shepherd, who by her
wonderful skill in breeding plants and developing new vari-
eties, has gained a world-wide reputation. How much pleas-
Aug. 29, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
553
A rAX-AMEHICAN EXPOSITION' BUILDING.
lire and health thp work has given her, and through it what a
wealth of riches has come to the others of us, who look so
fondly on what she has so skillfully wrought.
As Mr. Mclntyre and I were passing down the street, we
saw on the corners neat zinc boxes with an ample slit in the
top, ala a mail-box. On these is written: "Gift of the
Native Daughters ;" and all to foster neatness in the town.
God be thanked for daughters. I know this thought is often
in Mr. Mclntyre's mind, and I believe voiced by his lips, as I
saw those neat boxes. I said, "God be thanked for the native
daughters of Ventura." What a happy suggestion was this.
I even went out of my way to pick up a piece of paper that
must have blown in from the outside, that I might do my part
to keep tidy the streets, and show my appreciation of these
fair daughters of fair Ventura. The half-filled boxes, and
the neat paper-and rubbish-free streets show full well that the
ladies' efforts are not unheeded. This means a whole lot
more than clean, tidy streets, it means a toning up of the
whole child population of \'entura. Need I limit it to the
children? We children of larger growth need Just such ton-
ing up. If all parents had time and inclination to instruct
the children tiever to throw the paper-scrap, the banana peel,
or other filth and rubbish, into yard or street, then our walks,
paths, streets aud yards would be a " a joy forever," and not
the unkept reservoir for rubbish and rot that so often oflend
and disgust us in our strolls and rides.
As we parents are too often remiss in this, or else fail to
impress our wishes, it is good that such as the Ventura Native
Daughters should come to the rescue. May we not all take a
hint from them, and go and do likewise ? as also do all we
may by word and more telling example to aid in this good
work of a wholesome cleaning up ? Surely, Ventura is happy
and fortunate, in having this ever-present reminder — I should
have said reminders, for these boxes are very plural — not to
throw the litter on walk and street, and to pick up any that
more thoughtless, careless hands have cast away to disfigure
the landscape.
How many of us, as we see the disgusting scratch of
many matches en beautiful walls, or see the scattered matches
on floor or walk, rejoice that the fond, eager, loving mother in
the long years past, busy though she was almost to the limit
often of strength and endurance, yet was not too busy to
train us in better and neater ways. The little child that is so
taught that it will never mark a wall, never scratch a match
where it will mar and disfigure, never cast the refuse paper or
fruit-peel where it will offend good taste, has received a hs-
son that will make it more a lady or gentleman, as it comes to
maturity, and more a patriot as it pushes out to fight lifi''s
battles. I feel sure that one taught care and thoughtfulness
in these matters, will have such respect for law and oi'cler
that it will take great temptation to move him to join mob or
engage in riot. Surely, such teaching must be rife in the fair
homes of Ventura. For only from neat homes could come
the impetus that fixed these boxes on the many street-corners
of beautiful " Ventura by the Sea."
I wish these words might move others to act for home and
city, that we may become a neater people in our home, as iilso
in our surburban life.
PROF. L. H. BAILEY.
And do some of you— not many, I am sure — ask, Wlm is
Prof. L. H. Kailey? Well, he is an old friend and studeiitdf
mine, who by hard, earnest work has become known the
world over. He is perhaps the most noted and best known
horticulturist in the world. He is prosessor in Cornell Uni-
versity and has written some of the best books on growing
and caring for fruits that are to bo found. He is also at the
head of the great movement in New York State that has suc-
ceeded so gloriously in taking " Nature Study " to thousands
of children in the rural and city schools. He has inspired the
teachers to this same nature study, so that they can interest
the children.
And not content with this, he has pushed on to the farm-
ers and has inspired in them a desire to know more and much
of nature. So that thousands of them are again in school, so
to speak, and are happy in quest of truth as found in study of
plant, insect, soil, and rock. This nature study, as carried on
in New Y'ork, is full of promise. It is making life fuller,
brighter and better in thousands and thousands of homes.
Prof. Bailey even prepares the leaflets and booklets that are
to be used as lesson helps in this grand quest of truth. More
still, he either goes or sends some one to schools and homes,
to give added help and inspiration in this great and benefi-
cent work. May we not pray that the Lord of the harvest
may send more Baileys, and may waken to more nature study
every section and State in our beloved country ?
I have had Prof. Bailey lecturing with us for two days in
the University Extension work in agriculture. It was a great
treat to hear him, and the great audiences just hung on his
words. Prof. Bailey says his whole life has been turned,
brightened and tremendously influenced by a lady teacher,
who very early incited him to observe and study the trees. I
visited his home while he was but a lad, and was delighted to find
him authority on all the birds of his neighborhood. Later it
was ray delight to be for four years his teacher, and to watch
with profoundest joy, his leaps and bounds into the realm of
knowledge. Will not the nature-study work, inaugurated in
New York by Prof. Kailey, discover to the world other Bai-
leys who will walk in his footsteps, and thus multiply the glad
fruit that is sure to come from all such well-directed effort ?
The home circles in the great Empire State who have tasted
of this blessed nature study fruit, may well help to incite
other places and States to "go and do likewise."
LAKE IN THE I'AN-AMEKiCAN EXPOSITION GROUNDS.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song' — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, vpe will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not novr
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
554 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL Aug. 29, 1901.
ADVERTISEMENT. t
■m
■^^
To Our Shippers :
We were obliged to notify you a few weeks ago that one Joseph M.
McCaul had leased our old quarters at Nos. 120-122 West Broadway, New
York City, and had there started up business under the name "HiLDRETH,
McCaul Co.," and had distributed a multitude of circulars so worded as to
create the impression that his business was a successor to or a branch of
the business of Hildreth & Segelken.
For the protection of our shippers and ourselves, we at once instruc-
^
^
fm-
V ted our attorne}' to commence action to enjoin the said McCaul from using
Vr the name Hildreth in anv manner whatsoever in connection with his busi- %*
'^ ness. On the 10th day of July, 1901, Hon. David McAdam, Justice of the ^
Supreme Court of the State of New York, after a full argument upon the ^^
>^ merits, issued a peremptory injunction, of which the following is an ^<-
>^ extract : ^«-
1^^ "And it appearing that the plaintiffs have for a long time been and now are carrying on busi- f^!^
^T ness under the style of ■ Hildreth & Segelken,' and that the defendant has recently opened a business ?*
♦^^ at 120-122 West Broadwaj', in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, and is carrying on the ^V
"• same under the style of ' Hildreth, McCaul Co.,' and that such act is in violation of the plaintiffs' <>
■>^^ rights, and that the commission or continuance thereof, during the pendency of this action will pro- ^|{^
^L duce irreparable injury to the plaintiffs ; it is
■*^^ ORDERED that the defendant (Joseph M. McCaul) and each of his agents, servants and em-
<gS ployees and all other persons acting under his authority and direction be. and he and they are here-
•>jf' by restrained and enjoined from showing, displaying or otherwise using during the pendency of this
>j^ action in or upon any papers, devices, sign or signs, or otherwise, in the business conducted by the
~»^ the defendant at No. 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, or
■>^^ elsewhere the name of " Hildreth " separately or conjunctively with any other name, designation or ^^
^t description." jl^
^ ^ . „ m^
^ Outside of our desire m our own interests to protect the name which ^
we have built by years of satisfactory dealings with our customers, we
hastened to procure this injunction as soon as possible, to prevent our ^^
"^^ shippers from being misled into sending their goods to one who would ^t
•^^ make an attempt to gain their trade by such a trick and device. ^<-
->^ With thanks for the many expressions of good-will we have received ^«-
j^k from our shippers concerning this attempt to trade under our name, we ^<-
^ are. Sincerely yours, ^
4 Hildreth & Segelken, f^
"^V 265-267 Greenwich Street, NEW YORK, N. Y. V^
->@ %^
l-'lease mention Bee journal "wtien ■wnting.
Aug-. 29, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
555
A Good, Growing Season.
This has been a very good, growing season
here. I feel sorry for such as Dr. Miller and
otliers who have suffered from lack of rain-
fall. If the Doctor had seut his bees and
pasture here last spring I think Nature could
have furnished the liquid tonic to have kept
them going. White clover was fairly good,
and bees worked well on it; basswood the
same. Buckwheat is to be heard from. There
is a large acreage sown, and as the weather
has been congenial for its growth, we may
expect a good flow of honey.
M. P. LOWRY.
Armstrong Co., Pa., July 29.
The Outlook in Washington.
All the spring and to the tirst part of July
it was very wet and cold here. All through
the clover bloom the bees did nothing more
than make a living, although they were very
strong in bees, but now they are getting some
honey from tireweed. I think some of my
best colonies have about 50 pounds ready to
extract, but I think thehoney-tlow will be cut
short considerably by the forest fires now
raging here. The last three days I have been
out in the timber with several other men
lighting tires, and I was surprised to see bees
working on the flowers where the smoke was
so thick that we could hardly stand it. But
even if the bees do work in the smoke, I
think it will cut down the yield some.
Hans Chbistensen.
Skagit Co., Wash., Aug. 10.
Don't Make Wild Honey Reports.
I think it is utterly wrong for bee-keepers
to make such enormous reports as, "A good
year for honey," " Best honey-fiow in years,"
" Heaviest crop ever known," etc. Any man
with brains in their proper place can very
plainly see that all such reports have a ten-
dency to lower the price of honey, and while
some may be quite true, I fear a great many
report too early, having a large crop in view,
with perhaps two or three dozen colonies of
bees kept in a half-way manner, and thus
they find themselves minus their honev
crop, and buyers don't care to raise the price
after it is once down. Hence it is folly to
report.
Bee-keepers should put their minds on a
level basis, and keep them there. We rarely
see a, bee-keeper who keeps bees for business
making such a whoop, whoop, hurrah boys !
It is the still waters that are deep, and where
we catch our largest fish. I caught 22 nice
ones, Aug. 16. P. W. 8taui,man.
Albany Co., N. Y., Aug. 19.
Ancient Ideas of Honey.
I send a clipping which would doubtless
amuse the readers of the American Bee Jour-
nal. We laugh at the a,ssumed knowledge of
this educated man of three and a (luarler cen-
turies ago; but many of the notions which
we cherish and hug to our bosoms at this
dawn of the 20th century will appear just as
ridiculous to our descendants at its close.
Columbia Co., N. Y. James McNeill.
The following is the clipping referred to by
Mr. McNeill :
HONEV FOR SCHOLARS.
" Honey and bread was a great Meat with
Pythagoras and his Scholars, and counted a
sufficient food for a temperate life. For bread
strengthens the body, and honey both nour-
ishes much and also cleanseth away super-
fluities. Pollio Homulus being asked by
Augustus the Emperor how he lived so long !
By. nourishing Isaith he) my insvards with
To make cows pay. usp Sbarplf)
Book
4i^\^/\i/il/VlAlAiAl/\iAl/\lAiAl/\i/\lAlif\l/VlAi/\i^
I umm Honeu For sale |
■^ ALL IN f50-POl]ND TIN CANS. ^'
BEST-
Alfalfa
Honey J?c
This is the famous
White Kxiracted
Honey g-athered in
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honey, and
nearly everybody
who cares to eat
honey at all <
get enough of
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
HoneyJ\^
Thii
the
veil-
known light-colored
honey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, T'i cents per pound. Basswood Honey, fi cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if vou so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELV PURE HOMEV
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
_ -npled the honey you sent, and it's prii-.
something of a heretic, lo sell several tbousand^pounds
and then buy honey of you for
honey of his own region, ther
. Thank you. I feel that I'm
_.. , of honey of my own production
ny own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the
_, _- - - - -^ --- _'s no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very e.x'cellent quality
of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more
marked flavor, according to mv taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
QEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-gathering stock. Tested, $1.(>0; u
tested, 75 cents. " Shady Nook Apiakv."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
20A13t S.^G H.\RBOR, New York
ALBINO QUEENS 'UZZ^eLl^'Jir^o^
want the gfeatlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-gatherers vou ever saw — try mv Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, $1.00; Tested, $1.50.
iiA26t J, D. GIVENS, Lisbon. Tex.
of its
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and AirricuUnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
130 Market Street, San Francisco, CAt.
$13.00 to Buffalo Pan-American and
Return $1300.
Tickets on sale daily via the Nickel
Plate Road, good returning 10 days
from date of sale. Especially low rates
for IS and 30 day limit Chicago to Buf-
falo and return. Tickets at lowest
rates to all points I'.ast. John Y. Cal-
ahan, (leneral Ai^i nt. 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 'Phone Central 2057. Chi-
cago Ticket Ofiicc, 1 1 1 Adams St. 18-3t
.^MANUFACTURER 0F>^
BEE-HIVES
Sections, Shippiag--Cases— Everjthiag- used by
bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have
the best shippiag^ facilities in the world. You
will save money by sending for our Price-List.
Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg^.Cc,
Nicollet Island Power Bldg.,
16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.
Hease mention Bee Jotirnal when ■writina
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
s» lOK 25)is son
Sweet Clover (white) $.70 $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (vellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alsike Clover'. 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
WhiteClover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pouud
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage. If
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK A CO.
144 &.146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
556
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug. 29, 19(.'l.
Bees that Have a Record
(See page 45'' An
an Bee Journal.:
Have longest tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen. By return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass,
31.ASI Mention the American Bee Journal.
¥» E^l^O ^^"^ ^'" v:iy SOc.casli, per lb. for
Jj£^|J^J5 IHii;e.__briKht yc-Uoy '
beeswax,
nd 20c. casli. per lb. for pure,
XkT A V ''•"■•' beeswax delivered here.
■W f\ A ClUMBKHLAIN MEDICINE CO-
'» •»»•»»• Des Moines. Iowa.
27A13t Please meuuuu the Bee Journal.
ENNESSEE
QUEENS....
Fine lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
and select golden queens,
reared 3^ miles apart, and
mated to select drones, f 150
each; Untested Warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than 2J4
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount on large orders.
Contracts with dealers a specialty.
JOHN M. DAVIS,
34A3t SPRING HILL, TENN.
Please mention Bee Journal t^hen -wrritinp
COnPUETE POULTRY BOOK FREE.
Contains 20S pages, profusely illustrated, plans
for houses, incubators, brooders, coops, etc.
Given free if you send this advertisement and
25 cents for a year's subscription to our Journal.
Inland Poultry Journal, Indianapolis, Ind.
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
■CJN"TE3STE3ID
Italian Queens Free
BY RETURN M^klL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at $1.00, and
25 cts., we will mail j-ou free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
Honey, and my outward partswith Ayle. The
like answer likewise made Dgmocritus, being
demanded the like i|\iestion. Furthermore, It
is so jjeneral a .Meat through Russia, that the
Children eat it on their bread every morning
as ours do Butter to their breakfast: with
whom, and with Old Men it agreeth exceed-
ing well, cleansing their breasts, opening
their pipes, warcning their stomachs, resisting
putrefaction, and engendering sweet and
eommendable blood; Raw honey is never
good, therefore clarify it thoroughly at the
fire ; also let it be honey that ran and was
never puffed out of the combs, and of young
bees rather than old, feeding upon thyme,
rosemary, flowers, and such sweet and whole-
some herljs. Then may you boldly give it as
meat to young children, to cold and moist
complexions, and to rheumatick old men,
especially in Northern Countries, and eold
climates, and in the winter months. — From
Dk. Thomas Muffett, 1575.
Poor Season for Bees.
It has been a po<:ir season here this year.
What little honey there is is of good quality
and flavor. It is worth about '20 cents per
pound. There is nothing but pollen for the
bees to get now, but they seem to be making
good use of it. and are rearing lots of young
bees. Wm. Martin.
Lafayette Co., Wis., Aug. 12.
Dreadfully Dry.
We have had dreadfully hot weather here.
The thermometer registered 112 degrees in
the shade. It completely dried everything
up that the bees could get a drop of nectar
from. The weather is much more favorable
now. W. T. Stephenson.
Massac Co., 111., Aug. 13.
Very Short Honey Crop.
In this section of country, with not half a
crop of bees to start with last spring, I have
taken 2'20 one-pound sections from six colo-
nies, spring count, and increased to 15. The
weather was very dry, and white clover and
many other plants yielded almost nothing. I
know of but one bee-man that has taken any
honey, and he had 50 pounds from 18 colo-
nies. The bee-men here don't take bee-
papers — can't afford it, they say. They have
just as good pasture and bees, although my
bees work on red clover.
What I know about bees I learned from the
American Bee .lournal. I bought six colonies
from one of those fellows that don't read bee-
papers. I paid 90 cents per colony for pure
Italian bees in 10-trame hives. They worked
on red clover for 53 days. I get 15 cents per
pound for honey, and have sold 1.S2 pounds,
and the rest will be gone in a few days, I
sell it right at home. While my crop of
honey is not big, 1 give the good •' old re-
liable '' American Bee Journal full credit for
my success, and lots of pleasure besides.
Without it I, too, would have said, " It don't
t>ay to tal^e bee-papers!" and keep bees.
Hurrah for the American Bee Journal !
?ike Co., Ohio, .\ug. 12. J. M. West.
44 & 14« Erie St.,
CHICAGO, ILL.
An Experience in Bee-Keeping.
Three years ago I sent to a Tennessee firm
fur four 2-frame nuclei, at |i2.50 each, after
being assured that the express charges would
not exceed 45 cents apiece; but when they
arrived there were $7.75 express charges on
them, and one of them was queenless, and of
course died. I never could hear from that
firm again, although I wrote several times to
them.
The other three nuclei built up strong, and
filled the eight brood-frames. They wintered
on the summer stands all right, and the next
spring, about June 1, they commenced swarm-
ing, and they did everlastingly swarm. I was
away from home, and my wife, who had had
no experience with bees, had her hands full.
She succeeded in hiving six swarms, and she
says five or six got away. As a result of ex-
eessive swarming the original colonies were
I reduced so that they did not store much
QUPKS
QUIRIN The Queen-Bheeder — has
now on hand, ready to mail, 500 youog, lonp-
tongued Red Clover Queens, Golden or Leather
Colored.
We have one of Root's best breeders from his
$200, lon^-tongued. Red Clover Queen, and a
Golden Breeder which we are told is worth iflOO,
if there is a queen in the U. S. worth that sum.
J. L. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., tells us that
the colony having oue of our queens, stored over
400 pounds (mostly comb) honey in a single sea-
son. A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra line, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our stock from time to time.
We have years of e.-iperience in mailing and
rearing Queens. Queens positively by return
mail from now on. Prices for balance of season
as follows:
1 6 12
Selected $.75 $ 4.ii0 $7.00
Tested 1.00 S.OO 9.00
Selected tested l.SO 8 00
Extra selected tested, the
best that money can buy, 3.00
H. Q. QUIRIN,
Parkertown, Ohio.
(Parkertown is a Money-Order Office.)
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only.
2'Tibt PJease mention the Bee Journal.
FOR SALE
fc) 3 5 acres, well fruited to cherries, peaches,
—J plums, pears, apples, currauts, raspberries,
blackberries, and strawberries. Good house,
barn, vegetable green-house, honey-house, SO or
100 colonies of bees, situated in good bee-local-
ity. Title clear. For particulars address,
31D3t A. L. KILDOW, Sheffield. III.
A Good Wagon
bcrfiis Uitll K 1 «ii.-.-ls. l„le«8
till' ,vlu-(l» HI-,- >.'""'l iIh' wuiron Is
II l.iiliir.. 11 Vor Itl V THE
ELECTRIC STEEL WHEEL
ini.il ■ 111 lit ariv \mil;oil yi.iii-wajTon
willnKvMv..li,Lv,-i:,„»l « Is. I'an't
div .HI ..ir.it. N" I""-.- tir>-, .\ny
lieiL-ht. ftiiv w iilthf irr I'll till. Ik' free,
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO.
Bos li; unXlY. ILL.
Please mention Bees journal -when writing-
QUEEINIS
Now ready to supply by returned mail, STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED 1 1 1
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. Thev have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 7Sc each: 6 for $4.(X).
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for $S. Safe Arrival Gcakanteed.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2146 & 2148 Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Ro.ot's Goods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
Low Rates to Buffalo Pan-American.
The Nickel Plate Road are selling-
tickets at exceptionally low rates to
Buffalo and return, good for 10, IS and
30 days. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
'Phone Central 2057. City Ticket Of-
fice, 111 Adams St 19— 3t
Please metition Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
Aug. 29. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
557
lioney. We got about 50 pounds of comli
lioney from the new swarms, but none from
the old colonies. Two of the old ones be-
came iiueenless, and died during the .summer.
The seven remaining colonies wintered all
right on the summer stands, but last season
they did nothing. I got no increase and no
honey, and they were so light in the fall that
I did not expect any of them to survive the
winter. I think that fully 50 percent of the
bees in this vicinity died during the winter.
But by feeding mine pretty lilx'rally during
the warmer days of winter and early spring,
they all came through in pretty good condi-
tion, and, notwithstanding the excessive
wind, heat, and drouth, my bees have done
much better than could have been expected
considering the very unfavorable season.
They have increased just 100 percent, and
most of them are beginning to work in the
supers.
One of the old colonies, I think, is iiueen-
less, at least I failed to find any (jueen.
although I may have Overlooked her. They
have considerable honey and unhatched
brood, but no newly laid eggs. I found quite
a number of old, torn-down (|ueen-cells, but
no new ones. H. A. Cheney.
Barton Co., Kans.. .July 25.
Drouth and Heat in Iowa.
The drouth and heat have been hard on
bees, and I had trouble holding swarms after
being hived. I got three swarms from one
colony in five days, and they are doing well
for the chance they have. The forepart of the
season was good, the bees having basswood
and white clover to work on. I am in a good
location, on the Des Moines river.
W. Irvine, Sk.
Webster Co., Iowa, Aug. 12.
Should Bee-Keepers Encourage Cir°
culation of Bee=Journals?
The Australian Bee-Keepers' Review uses
the following good logic :
Some think that the increase of the circu-
lation of the bee-journals is a damage to the
business by increasing the number of bee-
keepers. I wonder if these good people
stopped to think that a man doesn't subscribe
for a bee-journal until after he commences
keeping bees. It's the ignorant bee-keeper
who does tuost harm to the business, and
every new subscriber means the exchange of
an ignorant man for one better informed.
The Two Kinds of Queen-Cells.
These cells are called by the (iermans yu'e-
foniitrncted and jiustronstructei/, and were thus
designated by Samuel Wagner, the able edi-
tor of the American Bee Journal, in the first
volume. The two kinds are thus described in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture in a Stray Straw :
When bees rear a young (|ucen for swarm-
ing or superseding, a cell is built whose bot-
tom is quite different from the bottom of a
worker or drone-cell, being smoothly con-
cave like the inside bottom of a teacup. The
cell is much, larger than a worker or drone-
cell, its diameter being about 5-16 of an inch.
Because it is built of this large size before it is
occupied, it is called a /yceconstructed queen-
cell. After a preconstructed cell is built out
to a certain extent it is called a cell-cup. and
many cell-cups are started that are never occu-
pied. If a colony becomes Mueenless when
no occupied i|ueen-cells are present, the bees
proceed to rear one or several queens fnjni
larva- in worker-cells. The first change
noticed in one of these worker-ceils is that
the outer part of the cell is enlarged, the
walls having the appearance i.f being pushed
apart so as to increase the diiinieter. Then a
Please mention Be
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :x:X
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Our New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copv. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, lad.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Journal -when writina
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. "W iHT-7
r CASH — for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among: Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long=Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
IW inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application, Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Dally Excursions to Buffalo and.
New York,
via Nickel Plate Road. Through trains
to New York City without change.
Vestibuled sleepers Chicago to Boston.
Dining-cars on all trains. Meals served
on American Club plan, at from 35
cents to $1.00. Write John Y. Calahan,
General Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago,
for particulars. 20 — 3t
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Boot Co'8
goods at whoiesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writir.t?
regarding
the oldest
add most
Bee-Smoker.
Send for circular s'j
improved and original Bingha
For 23 "Years thk Best on Karth.
25Atf T. F. BINQHAM, Farwell. Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when -wTiting,
A Superior Red CI overQneen |
For sending' us One New Subscriber and 25
cents ($1.25 in all.)
We arranged with one of the oldest and best (|iieen-breeders (having many
years' experience) to rear c|ueens for us this season. His bees average quite a
good deal ttie longest tongues of any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di-
rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worl<er-bees are large, some-
what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smolte. They
stored red clover honey last season.
All. queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped,
unless otherwise ordered.
We would like each of our i)resent readers to have one or more of these fine
Queens. Simply send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer-
ican Bee .loiirnal for one year, and "25 cents e.xtra. and the Queen will be mailed
to you. Our queen-rearer is now caught up with iiiilers, and expects to be able
to mail them hereafter within 48 hours after we reeeive the order. He is in an-
other State, and we will send him the f^ueen orders as fast as we get th«ui at this
ottice. ill' is prepared to rear and mail a large number.
15 The lush prices of these (Queens are $1.IN) each : '.i for ?2.rO; or 6 for $.5.00.
.^ Send all onlers tci
5 GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
^ 144 & 1 46 Eple Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
558
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Aug-. 29, 1911.
bood is l)uilt over tht> ct'll. and this is built
downward to miil;e tlie full size desired. In
the meantime llie larva lias been lavishlj' fed
so tliat it is Iloateil out of the narrower part
of the cell. Because such a queen-cell is
built from a cell :itter it has been started as a
worker-cell and is occupied by a larva, it is
called apo.s(constructed cell.
You may not always be able to tell from
outside appearance whether a cell is precon-
structed or posteonstructed, but you can
always tell by tearing it down and seeing
whether it has a smoothly concave base, or an
angular and smaller base like a worker-cell.
A precoDstructed cell has an egg deposited in
it, never a larva at the start. A posteon-
structed cell is built over a worker-cell con-
taining a larva, although in very rare cases it
may contain an egg.
Editor Root thinks it would be better to
call them vwarnihig-ceJla and enieryency-ceJh,
The name emergencij-ceUs is entirely appropri-
ate, as applied to cells that are built to meet
an emergency, and there is just as much
appropriateness in the term swarmhtg-celh
when such cells are built for swarming. But
to use it for cells that are meant for super-
seding, when there is not the slightest inten-
tion of swarming, seems exceedingly inap-
propriate.
Bees and Alfalfa.
The introductiim of alfalfa into Kansas has
made the State richer by one million dollars.
But the discovery that the honey-bee can feed
on alfalfa blossoms has added another mill-
ion. Bees and alfalfa are an ideal combina-
tion. Experiments have been made by raisers
of honey-bees and they report most favorably
upon the blossom of the alfalfa.
Alfalfa contains a certain degree of sweet-
ness not found in either the sweet clover or
white clover. Every stock-breeder knows
that in-and-in breeding will cause a deteriora-
tion in the strain of stock. Infusions of new
life are required to give a new life and vigor
to the breed. As it is with animals so it is
with plants. Cross-fertilization must take
place to keep up the standard. It was once
, supposed that within each flower are the nec-
essary means for assuring the formation of
the embryo within the seed. The truth is
that many plants, instead of endeavoring to
facilitate self-fertilization, are so constructed
as to prevent it. Alfalfa is of this class.
The pollen or fertilizing agcul must be car-
ried from one blossom and placed where it is
needed in another to insure a full crop of
seed, and some foreign agency is depended on
to accomplish the purpose. In the case of
alfalfa, currents of air are unable to carry
the pollen and accomplish the cross-fertiliza-
tion, and most insects do not carry it. Here
is where the bee is useful. The alfalfa blos-
soms offer the bee a sweet drop, and in return
for the favor the bee leaves a few grains of
pollen, unconsciously brought from another
blossom. So the exchange goes on, to the
mutual profit of the owner of the alfalfa and
the keeper of the bee.— Saturday Evening
Post.
Cane vs. Beet Sugar.
The authorities tell us that there is no diff-
erence between sugar made from beets and
that made from sugar-cane. That seems to
be the accepted view among the bee-journals
of this country. But the British Bee Journal
has persistently urged that beet-sugar should
not be fed to bees. Although chemical analy-
sis shows no difference, it insists that there is
a difference that has its effect on the welfare
of the bees to which it is fed. Chemical
analysis shows no difference between dia-
monds and charcoal, but a pound of diamonds
would buy a good many pounds of charcoal.
The refined article, in the form of granu-
lated sugar, is the kind universally recom-
mended as best for bees. VV. K. Morrison
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— VNholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonndation For Cash
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Be6S=SUDDli6S
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place,
13A26t Please
NEW YORK, N. Y.
:ntion the Bee Journal.
Lanosiroiti on...
TI16ll0I16yB66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
1+4 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
IVool ]VIark:et«!i and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
FARMERS SAY
•'P.IGE FENCES liav tlir most fi-iive virtuea
andlhe least fei»o<* l";,!iHi.." Ask :iny ns'i.
PAGE WOVEN WIltK KKNCE CO., AIH{U>,.1IICI1.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing,
thinks an article less retined would be better.
He says in Gleanings in Bee-Culture:
The best wliite suf^ar sold is very highly
reflued, be it eane-suirar or beet. The bee-
men of Europe carefully avoid it because, in
the process of refining, it has been robbed of
some of its finest constituents.
Here is an analysis of a good quality of
highly refined cane-sugar:
Percent.
Cane-sugar 98.00
• ilueose 50
Water 1.00
Ash 30
Organic matter 20
Now notice the difference in a sample of
muscovado sugar which has not been refined
to the same extent:
Cane-sugar 84.00
Glucose 6.00
Water 5.50
Ash ■ 1.50
Organic matter 3.00
Note the difference. The large amount of
glucose makes it more agreeable to the bees,
and the three percent of organic matter con-
tains Havoring extracts or etheis that give to
muscovado sugar its honey-like flavor, so
much appreciated by the bees. The first
sugar is the best from a chemist's point of
view, but from the point of view of a good
Italian bee the muscovado is healthier, and
nicer to the taste.
I believe that, in this matter, we have been
too hasty in following the crowd. American
and English housewives buy sugar from its
look ; but the careful bee-man ought to con-
sider that bees do not judge by looks: and in
buying a sugar with a high percentage of
natural glucose he is pleasing the bees and
conforming to their wants. For my part I
believe the larger the percentage of glucose
in sugar the Vietter it is for the bees; and,
seeing that it is cheaper than white sugar,
why should we not usa it ?
Barbadoes makes large quantities of this
kind of sugar, which is exported to New
York to be refined into white sugar. It is the
old-fashioned sugar, but nevertheless a good
one for some uses. .laggery, or palm sugar,
would be oetter still ; but it is not easy to get,
being mostly produced in India. But any
sugar having a high percentage of glucose
ought to hav6 the preference, as it is more
readily assimilated by bees, being nearer
their natural food, and therefore less likely to
cause derangement to their intestines, ending
in bee-diarrhea and perhaps other troubles.
There is no trouble in getting all the musco-
vado sugar that is required, hence the way is
plain.
Confining Laying Queens Bad Prac-
tice.
That is the opinion of F. Greiner, as e.Y-
pressed with some emphasis in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, He thinks the injury to queens
sent by mail is not so much due to the rough
handling as to the confinement, and says:
The confinement in the mailing-cages dur-
ing transit can not well be avoided, as bad as
it is ; but if to this we add days or possibly
weeks of unnecessary confinement in nursery-
cages, then good-by queen-business, I for
The Eniersou Binder
This Emerson stifif-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding' is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Aug-. 29, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
559
oue would qiik'kly drop any queen-breeder
who stores queens in this wholesale fashion.
The only proper plaee to keep layingr-qvieens
is in small colonies ; or, if they can be thus
safely kept, in separate compartments inside
of a "hive where they may follow their natural
int'lination by depositing egj^s.
6ee= Books
.\T POSTPAID BV
George W. York & Go.
Ghicago.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.—Il is nicely' illustrated, contains 160 pag-es,
beautifuUv printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, g"old-lettered. Price, in
£loth, 75 cents; in paper, SO cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant. — This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth—the Father of American Bee-Culture. U
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, ?t.25.
Bee-Keepers' Cujde, or Manual of the Api?,ry,
bv I'rof. A. J. i;.)ok, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral CoU.'ge.— This bonk is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and tliorolv practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full" delineation of the anat-
omy and physiolngv of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1'.25.
Scientific Queen=Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Uoulillle.— A method by -ft-hich
the ver3' best of queen-bees are reSVed in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
paedia of 400 pages, describing ever^-thing per-
taining to the care of the honev-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. , Pricfe, S1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agenient, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author oi
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, So cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, Sl.OO.
Blenen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— This,
is a (Jerman translation of the principal portion
of the boolt called " Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Honiggewlnnung, nach der
neuesten raethode (German) by J. F. Eggers.-
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
SO pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia. — A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, bv Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
** new system, or how to get the largest 5-ields of
comb or e.xtracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotes two pages to a colon V. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for SO colonies, si.cW; for 100 colo-
nies, 51.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Prol>lem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce.— Result of 25 years' e.\perience. 30 cts.
Foul Brood Treatment, bv Prof. F. R. Che-
Shire.-Its Cause and Preveution. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing, bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others.- Illustrated. AU'aboutcap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
■V'ard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, bv Fanny
Field. -EverythiU'j' about Pouf.rv Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, bv
?anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
Justness. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
Wanted.
Comb and E.xtracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what (quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of poods. Refer you to
Brighton German Hank, this city.
C. H. W. WEB^R,
2146-214S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
2iAtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Buy J^oneu
What haveyou to offer
34Atf ED WILKINSON, WiUonVwis.
Please mentior Boe Journal -when writing.
"ancy White Comb Honey
n no-drip cases; also Ex-
»«■■«. -^^vm Lracted Honey. Slate price,
ut.i.ered. We pay spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
28A17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted
Wanted
A party to manufacture
PATENT COMB FOUN-
DATION on a royalty.
Also, 105 colonies of bees to sell at $1.50 each.
H. VOGELER, New Castle, Calif.
35Alt Mention the American Bee Journal.
WRITE US
State quantity, how put up, kind of honey,
price expected, and, if possible, mail sample.
We pay spot cash.
Refekence— Wisconsin National Bank.
E. R. Pcihl &: Co.
34Atf ' niLWAUKEE, WIS.
Please mention Bee Journal -when "writinp
Goiiib and Ex-
tracted Honey!
State price, kind and quaninv.
R. A. BURNETT & CO.. no S.Water St.", Chicago
33Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Wi'll
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Plef^^e mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
Standard Belcjian Hare Book !
THIS book of 175
pages presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
gian Hare industry;
its growth, origin
and kinds: the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding
stock; care of the
young, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shippi a g,&c.
First edition of 50,-
, Ol» copies was sold
'* in advance of publi-
Price, in handsome Maper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only }l.io.
GEORGE \V. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie St
CHICAGO, ILL.
Daily Excursions \ia Nickel Plate Road
Chicago to Bit Halo and New York.
Special low rates and favorable limits
to all points East. Call on or address
John Y. Calahaii. (ieneral Agent, IH
Adams St., ChicaLTO. 21— 3t
>j ste. >li >t<. ili >M. ili >Jt sk >te ili. iK. iltU
IhONEY AND BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Aug. 22.— White comb brings ISc
per pound for the choice grades, with other lines
not grading N'o. 1 selling at 13(n'14c; light am-
ber, 12wl.V; dark, 10@llc. Extracted, fair de-
mand at 54(aiijc for white, and 5}i;(S)5!^c for am-
ber; dark grades, Sc. Beeswax steady at 30c
for choice yellow. R. A. Burnktt & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5(a'(,c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
(itgiTc; white clover from X(q,<tc. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ]35^{ffll5}^c.
C. H. W. Wkber.
Boston, Aug. 19.— Our market to-day is about
lfi(a'17c for fancy; A No. 1, lSi^@li.c; No. 1, 14@
1.5c. Extracted, full supply, light demand.
Several lots of new Vermont honey in cartons
have thus far been received, meeting a ready
sale at 17c, although of course in a small way.
The trade generally seems disposed to hold off,
looking for larger receipts and lower prices.
This is somewhat due, of course, to the fact
that the demand is still light owing to the warm
weather. Cooler weather will make a better de-
mand and naturally make a better feeling.
Blake, Scott & hsB.
Albany, N. Y., Aug. 20.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, lt.((!tl7c; No. 1, IStolf.c; No. 2, 13®
14c; mixed, 12(>il3c, Extracted, light, 7m 7Kc;
mixed, b}i@~c. H. R. Wkight.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 SO per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honev is being
offered catlots at 4M@4)ic per pound,' f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
NewYork, Aug. 7.— There is some demand
for new crop of comb honey, and receipts are
quite numerous for this time of the year. They
have been principally from the South, but we
are now beginning to receive shipments from
New York State and near-by. We quote: Fancy
white, ISc: No. 1 white, 13i<M4c: amber, llfcUc.
No new buckwheat is on the market as vet, and
we do not expect any before next month.
Extracted is decidedly dull. Plenty offerings,
with only a limited demand, and quotations are
rather nominal. We are selling at from SS^OJ^c,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 5S«i oSc per gallon. Beeswax dull and
declining; for the present we quote 27@28c.
HiLDRETH & SBGELKHN.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market a'nd selling in a retail way' at $3..5(:) to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. 0.ur marJ<et does not
consume a great deal of extralrted honey.
P^YCKli'BROS. & Chaney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancy white comb honey,
14@15c: No. 1, 13(ai4c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6(3>7c. Beeswax, 25^2f>c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, lofad7c, and lower grades, 12(a^l4c;
old neglected, .\dvise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co.
San Francisco, Aug. 14.— White comb, 11@
12^ cents; amber, 8® 10c; dark, 6(a7!.sc. Ex-
tracted, white, Sii@—; light amber, 4!<@Sc;
amber. 4@4J.^c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Market continues quiet, with apiarists, as a
rule, unwilling to unload at prices generally
named by wholesale operators. Quotations rep-
resent as nearly as possible the values ruling
at this date for round lots, although free sales
could not probably be eCtecled at full figures,
while, on the other hand, higher prices than
quoted are being realized in the filling of some
small orders.
Kansas Cirv, .\ug. 6.— Some very fine Mis-
souri honey is now on the market, selling at
lOM 17c per pound for fancy white comb. Colo-
rado and Utah shippers are offering new comb
honey in carlots for first half of August ship-
ment at 10c per pound for No. 1, and 'ha'^^c for
No. 2, f.o.b. shipping-point. The market for ex-
tracted hocey is as yet rather unsettled, asking
prices ranging from 4K@4»4C, f.o.b. shipping-
point. Buyers, however, seem to be in no hurry-
to make contracts. Peycke Bros.
560
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Augr. 29, 1901.
We have a Large Stock ou hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives, Euraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r >»" W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our gfoods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freig^ht.
Please mention Bee Journal ■w>ien WTitint^
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $l.CKi: Select Tested,
$L50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Jovirnal -when -writing.
—THE—
Bee-Keeper's Guide
Or, Manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROE A, J. COOK.
460 PageB-16th (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ing style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of g-et-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given ior TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also g^iven to
the two new subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let^every
body try for it. Will YOU have one?
aEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
24111
Year
Dadant's Foundation, ml
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell ^^^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been an^
complaints, but thousands of complt-
Send name for our Catalog-, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Revised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
^ ANOTHER^ — ^
i ENDORSEMENT I
4 Roou m Clover Qyeeos j5
5$
4
Alexandria, Ind., Aug. 1, 1901.
The a. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.
Dear Frievds: — The tested clover queen came in good condi-
tion and has filled seven frames with brood two weeks from the
day she arrived, which is better than the combined efl^orts of three
" yellow " queens purchased two years ago. I believe she is going
to be the counterpart of the queen purchased of you in 1896, in
which case money could not buy her.
Yours Fraternally,
Evan E. Edwards.
PRICES OF RED CLOVER QUEENS:
Gleanings in Bee-Culture one year and I'ntested (Jueen $2.00
" " " " Tested (Jueen 4.00
" Select Tested Queen . 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to
order one of these queens. All orders are filled promptly. No
extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.
riedina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & lie Erie Street,
CHICAGO II<L.,
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send tu ibem for their free Calalotj.
^^^^^^'^'^^^^^^^^^K
TSjAEffleq/v
DEE Journal
aEOROE W. YORK,
CHICAGO, ILL,, SEPTEMBER 5, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
562
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
Sept. 5, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK 6 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-OtBce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) t^ ., *
E.E. Hasty, P?fuT
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) ^^^'^'"^^■
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this .Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States. Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt tor money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, Thos. G. Newman,
W. Z. Hutchinson, G. M. Doolittle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Marks,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Hambaugh,
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
ttrer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Does, $1.00 a year.
IpW° If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-kee))er or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
NoTE.~One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons!
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
I Weeiily Budget. |
Two More ox the 1000. — We have two
more names to report before the Buffalo con-
vention, which meets next week. We hope
the membership will reach the 1000 mark very
soon. We have tried to do something toward
raising the number to that figure during the
past two months. We will not fe.el that it is
our fault if the desired number is not secured
within the time mentioned. We still believe
that every bee-keeper ought to be a member
of the National Association, which has done
such excellent work for the benefit of bee-
keeping.
The two names to be reported are these :
Chas. E. Kemp. A. J. Stratton.
Buffalo Cosvextion Lodging.— Secre-
tary Mason writes us that he can secure for
such, who desire, " a good, nice, clean place to
less the yard including his home were given.
His house is one of the finest in the city
where he lives, and to protect his property he
bought 100x100 feet running from the rear
of his house lot to another avenue, and this
he has for lawns and apiary. The small,
long building seen in the rear is a bee-house
with doors in front and rear, which opens as
a shade in summer. This is for queen-rear-
ing, etc.. as well as honey.
The photograph was taken by Miss Mary E.
Bickmore, who is a teacher in the High
School in New York City. Bee-culture comes
in her line. Mr. Ferry has an observation
hive, whichi is used in schools before the
classes.
Daniel Wcrth's long-tongue five-banded
queens — you can hardly afford to let this sea-
son pass without trying a few of them. See
his advertisement on another page of this
number.
Dr. a. B. Masox, secretary of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association, has declined to act
as judge of the apiarian exhibit at the Ohio
State Fair, on account of the Fair being
sleep and get your breakfast at Buffalo for 75
cents." He says he can get such places for
about 60, if they will apply to him at the con-
vention. If more places are needed, The Dr.
Pierce's Free Bureau of Information, at 653
Main Street, will furnish them in such style
and at such prices as will be satisfactory, pro-
vided th&y will call for Sydney S. Sleeper,
for arrangements have been made to accom-
modate all on reasonable and satisfactory
terms, provided the applicant is not unreason-
able in his demands; and the information
furnished will be free to all convention mem-
The Apiart of Mr. H. S. Ferry, of
Westchester Co., N. T., appears on our first
page this week. At least a portion of one is
shown, which gives a pretty good idea of how
Mr. Ferry has his neat bee-yards arranged.
The surroundings can not be appreciated un-
opened on Sunday. That is the kind of a
stand to take. Some Fair managers need to
be taught a lesson, and the Doctor has had
the courage of his convictions, and let the
Ohio Fair managers know that he doesn't
countenance Sunday desecration. He will
have no part or lot with them. Fairs or
expositions that can't succeed without open-
ing on Sunday better " die a-borning."
The Niokle Plate railroad is the one
over which Dr. C. C. Miller and the editor of
the American Bee Journal will go. The lat-
ter expects to leave on Friday evening, Sept.
6, and spend the following Sunday with his
mother, about .50 miles south of Cleveland.
Dr. Miller will likely leave Chicago Monday,
Sept. 9. Mrs. Miller and Mrs. York expect to
accompany their respective " partners " — to
keep them straight.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, SEPTEMBER 5, 1901,
No, 36,
i * Editorial.
The Buffalo Convention — next week,
beginninjf Tuesday evening, Sept. 10.
Place — Lecture Room of the Buffalo Library
Building, corner of Washington and Clinton
Streets.
Question — Will you be there?
Rearing Queens for One's Own Use
is the subject of an article in the American
Bee-Keeper. The first thing is to select two
best queens, one to rear queens from, the
other for drones. He greatly prefers the Al-
ley plan for starting cells, not only because it
requires less labor, but because there is more
danger of getting inferior queens by the Doo-
little plan. He gives no reasons in support of
this latter view, and it would be nothing
strange if he should be asked for something
more than a mere assertion.
As to the simplicity of the Alley plan, how-
ever, there can hardly be question. One who
would make a bungling job of forming cell-
cups and transferring larvae might easily suc-
ceed by the Alley plan, which in brief is as
follows:
Take a piece of comb containing eggs:
shave away half the depth of the cells on one
side; cut it intostripsof onerow of cells eacli;
twirl the head of a match in every alternate
cell so as to destroy the egg on the shaved
sjde; then dip into melted wax the other side,
and fasten it upon the lower edge of a half-
depth comb, the edge of the comb being cut
rounding so the cells will not be built too
close together ; and it is ready to be given to
thequeenless bees.
Honey and Beeswax Market. — The
following is offered by Mr. Stoughton Cooley,
one who has read this paper for some years :
Editor American Bee Jocrxai.: —
Permit me to offer a criticism of one fea-
tui"e of your ver}' good paper. The general
excellence of the paper is such that I would
not offer this but for the fact that the fault
can be easily corrected.
In the column headed "Honey and Bees-
wax— Market Quotations,'' you publish quo-
tations of various dates. In the issue of Aug.
S appear quotations from Chicago. July 18;
Cincinnati, May 17; Boston, June 2;l; Omaha,
May 1 ; New York. July 8; and so on. wind-
ing up with San Francisco, June 1!1. The
criticism I offer is that these quotations should
be kept nearercurrent quotations, and should
be from a different source if ])0^sit:)le. For in-
stance, the Chicago market has a regular
trade bulletin quotingthe prices of honey and
wax as sold on South Water Street from day
to day. A glance at this paper would enable
you to quote prices from a disinterested
source, and, if you so wished, on the very day
you go to press. The other large cities issue
similar trade bulletins, and if they would not
exchange with you, a single copy a week
would surely not cost much.
I merely offer this as a suggestion for mak-
ing this column of the American Bee Journal
one of great use to bee-keepers, and should
like to hear expressions of opinion from other
friends of the paper. Stoughton Coolet.
We wish to thank Mr. Cooley for his sug-
gestion. For some time we have been in the
habit of sending out return postal cards every
two weeks to those quoting the markets for
this paper, and if the report was not changed
it was evidence that there' had been no change
in the market prices for that particular city.
The hint that interested dealers might not
furnish as reliable quotations as others,
doesn't appeal to our idea of the matter. As
practically all who quote in our market col-
umn are commission men, it would seem that
it would be to their interest to quote as high
prices as can be secured, for the more they
get for the honey the more will their com-
mission amount to.
Again, those who make a specialty of sell-
ing honey ought to be able to secure higher
prices than other firms, as they naturally must
have a line of customers developed who de-
pend upon them for their honey supply.
The trade bulletin suggestion may be well
to investigate. We will do so, and see what
the Chicago bulletin has to say about the
honey and beeswax market. If as good, or
better, service can be secured for bee-keepers
in that way, we must have it, as nothing is
too good for our subscribers.
We hope our readers will feel free to offer
any further suggestions or criticisms they
may think valualjle. When presented in as
courteous a manner as Mr. Cooley has done,
they will be welcomed, and acted upon favor-
ably if deemed advisable.
llobbers and Thieves among bees are
perhaps generally considered as one and the
same thing. W. W. McNeal, in the American
Bee-Keeper, calls attention to the fact that
they differ greatly, and it is probably true
that few bee-keepers suspect the existence of
thieves among bees. A robber is one which
enters a hive and takes honey by force: a
thief takes it by stealth. Robbers prey upon
the weaker and quecnless colonies, being more
especially troublesome in a time of scarcity;
thieves find their bc^t foraging ground in the
hives of strong colonies at a time when honey
is coming in in a llocid. There seems to be no
way to circuinvcni. this quiet stealing. The
practical point in the matter is the danger of
giving credit to a colony lor extra-storing
ability when that storing comes from thiev-
ing; and then breeding from such stock.
Some times a colony is found storing when
other colonies must be fed; and Editor Hill
suggests that it would be a good thing to pom-
pare the honey stored by such a colony with
the feed given to the others, to see if it might
not be the same.
Keeping Over Extra Queens from
one season to another, Editor Root thinks,
can only be successful by keeping the queens
in nuclei in a good cellar.
Pasteboard on Queen-Cages has been
in use for some time, the object of the paste-
board being to delay the bees getting at the
candy to release the queen. But it has been
found that sometimes the bees fail to gnaw
the card, and so the queen is not released.
The A. I. Root Co., who originated the paste-
board plan, now instruct to tear off the paste-
board in 24 hours, if not already removed i)y
the bees.
Fumigating Section Honey is insisted
upon as absolutely essential by some, while .
others say it is not at all necessary. One
thing upon which there can be no disagree-
ment is that it will not do to put upon the
market section honey with worms in it. It is
possible that the difference in bees has some-
thing to do with the difference in experience.
A good strain of Italians or hybrids may keep
the combs so clean of worms that fumigation
may not be necessary. Close watch should be
kept by the novice to see whether there be
any evidence of worms in the way of a white
powder on the edge of the unsealed cells, es-
pecially on the bottom part of the section
close to the wood. When anything of this
kind is to be seen, fumigation should bo re-
sorted to at once.
The common plan is to use sulphur, which
easily destroys the young larvse, but is less
effective against those of larger growth,
while it makes no impression at all upon
eggs. This makes it necessary to fumigate
a second time. Some are enthusiastic as to
the use of bi-sulphide of carbon in preference
to sulphur, claiming that it kills eggs as well
as larv;i'. So the sections can be fumigated
as soon as taken from the bees, or as soon
thereafter as may be convenient or desirable,
and no further attention will be needed.
Another advantage claimed for the bi-sul-
phide of carbon is that it does not discolor the
sections, while too much sulphur will give a
coating of green. But care must be taken to
avoid having a light come near the bi-sul-
phide, as it is very explosive.
564
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. S, 1901.
I Contributed Articles. ^
Hints on Hired Help in tlie Apiary.
BY HOMER H. HVDK.
TO the bee-keeper who has an extensive system of out-
apiaries, or is extensively engaged in queen-rearing,
the question of hired help is a very important one. I
believe I have had as large experience with hired help as
the next man.
It is a very difficult matter to get just the right man,
for a great many reasons. The right man is one that is
not afraid of stings — one that even when the bees do sting
him does not care ; one that is thoroughly immune from |
the poison of the bee-sting. The right man must be indus-
trious, not afraid of work, one that will do as much, accord-
ing to his ability, when you are away as he will when you
are around. He must not object to any kind of work that
you may put him to. He should not always be looking to
see what time it is, but, on the other hand, should work
steadily on until the proper time, and then quit. The best
man does not use tobacco in any shape, as it is very injuri-
ous, especially to the nerves. The right man will not use
intoxicating drinks even in the lightest form. The right
man is one that is thoroughly moral, and strictly a gentle-
man. The best man is an ingenious fellow, one that is
quick to learn and will " catch on;" one that when told
what and how to do a thing does it just as his employer
directs him do it.
r — : The man who reads will be the most useful. Let me
quote the following from W. L- Coggshall :
"The man who reads is the man who succeeds. The
young man who does not read never amounts to much in
my employ."
I can heartily endorse Mr. Coggshall's views.
The right man is careful, painstaking, one that
is ever ready to further his employer's interests.
A man that has all the qualities above enumer-
ated will be a success, and his services will com-
mand the highest price.
I once had a man that you could show nothing,
and /lis plan was always the best. He would
"mouth around," and half do his work, unless his
plan was adopted. He was also a man that when
we went out to work considered himself the boss,
simply because he was older than I was. He did
not seem to realize that while I was much younger
in years I was much his superior when it came to
bees.
Another man once in our employ was very
careless, although industrious ; he would scatter
things about and lose them. We had to furnish
him a new veil about every week, to say nothing
of the other tools lost. He also seemed to think
that when put on a piece of work it was your bus-
iness to pitch in and help, no matter what your
other duties were.
The owner or manager always has numerous
little duties to perform, and numerous little ends
to keep up, to say nothing of the management, and
it is often necessary to put your men at something
while you are attending to these things.
The right man will not want too many days
off, and will want to work all his time.
On the side of the employer— he should treat
his help fairly and honorably ; he should be social
and pleasant to all his men ; he should treat them
right, and so well that he gains their entire confi-
dence, esteem, and respect. Where a man is so
treated he will be much more useful, agreeable, and
ready to further his employer's interests.
There is very much more that could be said on
the subject, which I will leave for some future time.
Williamson Co., Tex.
The Premiums offered this week are well worth
.working for. Look at them.
Tlie Art of Bottling and Selling Honey.
HV |. C. WALI.KN.Mi;%ER.
HAVING had an experience of eight years in bottling a
dozen different kinds of honey in a dozen different
kinds of packages or containers, I thought I would
give the benefit of my somewhat varied experience to the
readers, that they might possibly profit by avoiding the
usual mistakes of beginners in using unsalable packages.
I have bottled honey from alfalfa, basswood, willow-
herb, white clover, California sage, Florida mangrove, saw
and cabbage palmetto, wild aster, and smartweed (or hearts-
ease) mixed ; dry-weather honey-vine, and fall flowers.
For containers I have used pint and quart Masons, costing
SO and 60 cents per dozen ; 6 and 8 oz., and 1 and 2
pound square flint-glass jars, costing $5.70 and S7.S0 per
gross (corks included); 13 and 16 oz. jelly-glasses; 'j-gallon
fruit-tablet jars costing S cents each ; lard-buckets ; glass
bowls, and Root's No. 25 round flint-glass one-pound jars —
quite a variety to select from.
I found Root's No. 25 jar the best and quickest seller of
all, because, after being emptied, it could be used as a self-
sealer for jelly, preserves, jams, etc.; only flint-glass jars
should be used, as they show the honey off to perfection.
Amber honey will sell nearly as well in quart Masons on
account of the universal use of the package; but it is hard
to sell 3 pounds of honey to every-day consumers. Most
people prefer a small, cheap package. Our market demands
a honey of light or light amber color, heavy body, mild
flavor, and fine bouquet or aroma. It does not pay to bottle
a poor grade of honey. The people generally get accus-
tomed to the kind of honey produced in their own locality.
I found this out to my sorrow when I tried to sell three bar-
rels of mangrove and palmetto honey from Florida,
although I thought it fine indeed. This matter of selection
is very important. If you happen to run short of honey,
and must buy. procure an article as near like your own as
possible. I have found that patrons grow suspicious when
they get different honey. I find honey from white clover,
dry-weather honey-vine, and fall flowers, to give the best
satisfaction for bottling, in my locality.
HIS LKJIEFTIXI
Sept. 5, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
565
Briefly stated, there are three essentials for
success in bottling- honey :
1. Best quality of well-ripened honey. .
2. Neat, attractive package, useful when empty.
3. Ag-gressive selling methods.
You might have the very finest honey, but if it
is not put up attractively, it will not sell. You
might have a poor article put up in a showy, gaudy,
labeled package, but no one will buy a second time.
Again, you may have a fine article of heavy body
and fine flavor, put up in the right kind of package ;
but if you leave it at home, what good will it do ?
Be up-to-date ; be agressive ; talk honey everywhere
you go. I built up an enormous trade in the fall
of 1894 with a well-ripened crop of honey from dry-
weather vine and fall flowers. I controlled at that
time a large portion of the drug trade in Evans-
ville, and probably half of the grocery trade. I
bought 5 barrels of Root's No. 25 1-pound jars, and
one gross each of the 5-oz. and 8-oz. square flint
Muth jars, and S gross of l-pound, and 3 gross of
2-pound Muth jars, all at one time. I had every
kind of package to please the most fastidious. I
sold both the 1-pound square and round jars at $2.00
per dozen, to retail at 20 cents. The 5 barrels of
Root's No. 25 jars were gone in a jifFy, while I have
nearly all the 5 and 8 oz. jars yet. These I use at
fairs to give away as samples. I often sold a dozen
of the round jars to housewives who wanted a set
for jelly, etc., but never sold more than one or two
of the square jars at one time to any lady. They
are considered worthless when empty, although my
wife likes them for small pickles and catsup. I use
the No. 50 label, costing $1.75 per 1000, for both
round and square 1-pound jars. This label is
showy, and will not soil easily in fly-time. I find
the 2-pound square jar an easy seller to parties who
mix their own cough medicine every winter.
I have now dwelt at length on the merits of various I
packages, as I think it a very important item to help sell
our honey. I forgot to say my worst-selling package was
the tin lard-bucket, Mr. R. C. Aikin notwithstanding.
They might be all right to sell to old customers ; but the
main objection is that people can not see the contents
unless it is opened. To get new customers to buy your
honey, invest 5 cents in a " glass show-case." As honey is
not a staple, instruct the grocer to place conspicuously, and
you will have the pleasure of selling both " show-case "
and honey at the same time.
HOW TO UQUEFY ; HOW TO WASH THE BOTTLES.
We will now proceed to the process of bottling. Have
your honey liquefied, if candied, holding the same at ISO
degrees for two or three hours. By using a gasoline stove
you can regulate to a degree, almost. Be sure not to over-
heat it. It will stand 170 to 180 for a short time, but I pre-
fer not to risk losing the aroma and injuring the delicate
flavor. If you are compelled to buy honey, always buy in
60-pound tin cans, as they are more convenient to handle.
While you are liquefying your honey, wash your bottles,
using clear, soft water with sal-soda and shot to remove
dirt and particles of glass if new. Then rinse in clear
water, and place bottom upward in racks to drain. This
will make flint jars clear and sparkling. I did use a ten-
gallon filling-can, bought of Mr. Muth, but now prefer to
use my extractor (with cross-arm and basket removed),
raised to a convenient height. I prefer to bottle honey
hot, as it runs quicker, retains its aroma, and will stay
liquid longer than if bottled cold.
Have the rack containing empty jars at your left.
Place the pan under the honey -gate to catch any drippings.
You will soon learn how to cut oft' the flow just right the
first time. Pass the jar to an assistant at the right, who
presses the cork (cost 75 cents per gross) in the mouth, then
dips the jar into melted wax and paraftine, half of each.
A second assistant puts on the tinfoil (costs 75 cents per
gross) in place ; winds a capping-strap around the jar with
the right hand ; then holds the jar with the left hand, run-
ning the head up and down on the strap until the cap is
nicely smoothed down. A pasteboard, about 12x20, cov-
ered with dextrine (costs ten cents per pound), is covered
with labels in front of the operator. She lays the jar down
flat, deftly catches the label by the corner, removes it from
the board, attaches it to the center of the jar, smoothing it
out with a soft cloth ; then she places the jar in the case at
the right, holding a dozen each.
After a little practice, three persons can easily fill, cork,
No. 2. — FILLING THE .lARS. AND CAPPING.
wax, tinfoil, label, and pack 800 pounds a day, and not spill
a drop of honey, by this method. The corks used for
honey-jars are seconds, and ought to be covered with wax
to effect an air-tight sealing while the honey is hot.
HOW TO SELL THE BOTTLED GOODS.
Now, then, we are ready to sell. Tog up a bit ; for if
you will notice you will see that all successful salesmen are
well dressed and well groomed. Take a sample jar of each
kind, and go to your grocer. If he is busy, see if he has
any honey in sight. Don't attempt to sell to him while he
is busy. If he is not, tell him you have a fine article of
honey, fine flavor, and good body ; that the crop of honey
is very short this year, and you will not have very much to
sell. If you tell him you have five tons he will expect to
get it for nothing. Hold your jar to the light ; turn it
upside down to show how thick it is ; talk honey, talk busi-
ness, and stick right to him. Have one price for every-
body. It will pay you to allow a good margin of profit,
and he will then try to make more sales than if he made a
very small percenf of profit. But be sure to have your
honey placed where every one can see it on entering the
store, as people hardly ever ask for honey unless they see it.
Remember, in conclusion, that he who tooteth not his
own horn, the same shall not be tooted.
LIQUEFYING-APPARATUS — SEE FIG. 1.
In presenting a photo of ray liquefying-apparatus I
have tried to make it conform as nearly as possible to the
requirements of the average bee-keeper. Although I usu-
ally liquefy on a gasoline range, the cut shows 500 pounds
of candied honey liquefying, without interfering with the
preparation of meals. Two 60-pound cans are placed in
two common wash-boilers, then filled with water, and
heated gradually. After all the honey in the can is lique-
fied it is drawn off into an extractor-can (with the baskets
and crank removed), by means of a rubber hose, the can
being covered to prevent foreign substances lodging
therein. I had a Muth ten-gallon filling-can, but I like the
extractor better, as it has a much larger honey-gate, which
is very essential in rapid filling. If the honey is cold, the
flow can not be cut off a third as fast ; therefore with honey
at about 140 to 150 degrees Fahr., and a large honey-gate,
we attain the maximum of rapidity in filling. Besides, X
found, at least in my experience, that, in filling with cold
honey, a large number of air-bubbles formed, thus prevent-
ing our getting the desired amount in the bottles. It would
also run over the sides when heated to the right degree.
Of course, no one would attempt to seal until the
566
AiMERICAN BEE IOUi?NAL
Sept. 5, 1'" 1
bubbles had risen to the surface, which they will do in a
few minutes with hot honey. If the honey is then sealed,
and either dipped or corks sunk, and any kind of good seal-
ing-wax poured on, thus effecting a hermetical sealing, the
honey contracts when it gets cold, thus causing the much-
talked-of vacuum, especially if a tinfoil cap is properly
applied, making it absolutely air-tight.
I found, only the other day [February], 2-pound Muth
jars which had been waxed, that candied, while others on
the same shelf, sold to the grocer the same day (Oct. 5,
1900), were nice and clear on account of the tinfoil cap. I
find that if, after sealing, the jars are left in a warm room,
thus preventing the too sudden cooling of the wax on the
corks, we shall have no cracks. If one-half paraffine is
added to the wax it will not crack nearly as easily, besides
being much cheaper.
WASHING THE BOTTLES WITH SHOT.
In regard to the washing of bottles, I had a good laugh
oyer the little boy punching the little pieces of glass out of
the bottles, especially new ones. I used to do the same
thing. But how much nicer, and far more easy, and
quicker, to take about 3 or 4 oz. of No. 6 shot, and the bottle
half full of warm soft water I A few shakes, turn the
bottle, then pass to helper, who rinses in clean cold water,
and we have a clear sparkling jar which is then set upside
down in a large tray to drain.
If using jars like the No. 25 and the No. 100, where
it is impossible to cover the top with wax, I now pour into
each a large tablespoonful of beeswax and paraffine, right
on top of the heated honey, which, when cooled, effects the
air-tight sealing. This is an additional inducement to ray
patrons, as they thus secure a nice piece of wax to slick up
their irons for laundry work ; while, if put on the cork, it
prevents the cork from breaking to pieces while being
drawn out the first time.
If I am compelled to reliquefy any bottles of honey
(which is very rare) I always .set the jars in vats of water
deep enough to come up to the necks, as I have seen honey
scorch in the lower half of a jar while the upper half was
yet candied.
I would say in conclusion to those readers who have no
honey to bottle, better order a few cans of extracted, and a
barrel of the No. 100 or No. 25 jars, and canvass your near-
est town. You will be surprised how easy it is to sell a
barrel put up in this neat, useful, and attractive package.
It pays to work up a trade in a bad season, for. if you sell
no honey in a bad season, how can you expect to sell three
or four tons when you have not previously worked up a
foundation for the disposal of your coming crop ?— Glean-
ings in Bee Culture.
along the east side of the clearing, up close to the brush,
leaving a space near the middle of the rows for a honey-
house. I built the house so that I can pass through it with
the wheelbarrow, and all the time be in between the rows of
hives and at the back end of them, as one row fronts east
and one west.
The hives are of the lock-corner 10-frame style, some
having flat and some gable covers ; 70 colonies are on
the north of the honey-house and 30 on the south, and 60 of
the 70 melted, and I lost 30 of them, while only eight fell of
the 30, and I lost four of them, making a loss of 40 colo-
nies, except that I hived the largest swarm I ever saw.
Most of the summer breeze here is from the southeast,
so the brush and honey-house kept it from the ones north of
the house.
I watered the bees in the yard by letting the water drip
from a barrel into a flat trough. The barrel would take
about two days to leak dry. I left the apiary July 2, to
spend the " 4th " in town ; I know the bees would be out of
water before I returned, but thought it would make no dif-
ference, as they had nothing else to do but carry water from
the old apiary, which is about 11+ miles on a line from the
new one.
I returned July 8, to see a sight I had never dreamed of
seeing; the trouble was easily seen. I walked into the
honey-house, lit the smoker and put on my veil, and then
took a good look before venturing out. The air was so full
of bees I could hardly see across the yard. I expected
they would drive me off the place, but I stepped out and
walked boldly along between the rows. Looking over in
front I could see where the little lakes of honey had been
the day before. I began to count the wet spots in front,
but when I counted ten in succession I concluded all was
lost. I looked all about, not knowing what to do. Well,
what could I do ? To my surprise, the bees offered no
objections to my presence, in fact, they did not seem to
know I was there. There was a great honey-flow on, and
they did not care what I did with them. But what could I
do but let them alone ?
I looked into four or five hives where the most bees
were going in and out ; they were so nearly cleaned out that
I let them finish the job. Near by I saw about an ordinary
wash-tub full of bees settled on a bush near the ground. I
thought to hive them, so I went at it just as in swarming-
time, only I prepared three boxes instead of one. I put
nine combs each in two of them, and an empty one on top
for air, and room. They hived nicely. I shaded them well,
and left them until the next day, when I gave them about
ten pounds of honey in the top box. They seem to be con-
tented now (July 27). That was all I did in that yard for
10 days, when I started in to do my part of the cleaning up.
I was surprised to find honey in some of the robbed
Da Bees Use Water to Cool the
Hive?
BY J. A. GERELDS.
JULY 6 Wi
I I Countv,
was the hot day in Uvalde
Texas — 106 degrees in
the shade— and I had a heavy
loss of bees on that day by the
combs melting, the honey drowning
many bees and causing them to be
robbed. I have heard of no other
loss in the country, and some of the
best bee-men have told me it was
for the want of water.
I would like to state the partic-
ulars of the case in the American
Bee Journal, and have the opinion
of others on the subject.
I had been running about 200
colonies in one yard until last win-
ter, when I concluded they would do
better divided into two apiaries, so,
finding a suitable location about
2 miles from the old yard, I cleared
the brush off of a piece of ground
150x200 feet. The brush is thick all
around, and six or eiglit feet high.
I drilled a well and found water.
Then I moved 100 colonies and
placed them in two rows, seven feet
apart, running north and south
FUi. 3. — LABEI.IM. AMI TISFOILING WITH
il'TIXU sTKAl' (TI-NFi'II
Sept. 5, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
567
ones, and no bees about thera. I could look into the hives
with bees in without smoke or veil, leave the top off, and
other bees would not go about thera. What was the mat-
ter? Were they tired, ashamed of themselves, or disgusted
with the size of the job? Even now (20 days after) they
won't smell around the old, robbed boxes left in the yard— I
think because the weather is so dry and hot. There hasn't
been a blossom of any kind for nearly two months.
The hives in the old apiary are the same as in the new
one — arranged in the same way, two rows running north
and south, fronting east and west, with the honey-house at
the north end of the rows, with a clean, open ground south
and east of thera ; but no combs melted that I know of.
Now will G. M. Doolittle, Dr. C. C. Miller, Prof. Cook,
or any others, tell me if the result would have been differ-
ent had the bees in the new yard been supplied with water
July 6 ? It was not the first time they had carried water
from the old apiary ; they knew where it was. I think the
surroundings had more to do with it than the water.
Uvalde Co., Tex., July 27.
The In-breeding of Bees.
BY GEO. SHIBKR.
NOTICING the editorial on page 355 on the subject of
in-breeding, and also having read in the other bee-
papers what has been printed on the same subject,
prompts me to add a word on the subject.
I have wondered in the years past, since I have been
interested in bees, that it has never received consideration
by the leading queen-breeders, that is, I suppose it has not,
for I have never read anything of it until lately.
For instance, a leading queen-breeder advertised, a
year or so ago, that his drones were not akin to his queen-
mothers ; that new, selected stock was added from time to
time to furnish drones. You see, he was constantly select-
ing choice queen-mothers, and selecting choice drone-
mothers, but not akin. A breeder can make some progress
in this way, but it seems to me its mighty uncertain.
Breeders of all thoroughbred stock tell us that two bloods
coming in contact (though of the same breed) produce a
shock that tends to stamp out the desirable quality — the
bloods do not harmonize where coming in contact.
For illustration, take two queens whose bees are long-
tongue, (admitting for argument's sake that long tongues
increase the honey crop); choose one for drone-mother, the
other for queen-mother. Now, when the queens and drones
meet, there will be some that will be as good as their pa-
rents, but I should think few, for, from the standpoint of
other stock breeders, it would be making progress back-
ward. I would give twice as much for queens reared from
a long-tongue mother, and have said queens mated to her
sons — that would be harmony. Some would be as good as
their parents, some would be better, sure — no doubt about
that.
Perhaps my bee-keeping friends will think I am specu-
lating too much. Not at all.
Let me call 3'our attention to another kind of stock
that I have bred for years as a sort of hobby. I refer to
homing pigeons. The great aim with these " couriers of
the air " is to breed for speed and longdistance. A bird
that can fly 500 miles in a day is a prize. Do they
in-breed? Well, yes ! Father and son, brother and sister,
grandfather and granddaughter, and so on. Are they weak
and scrawny from such in-breeding? Pick up a bird of
mine that I have in mind now, which flew from Hagerstown,
Md., (a distance of over 250 miles, air line) to the home loft
here ; released at 9 a. m., he was back in the loft (home) at
4 p. m. Some days, when he is picked up he feels hard —
" hard as nails," as the fanciers say. How was he bred .'
Why, from a brother and sister. Mind you, this was a hard
fly, as he had to come over the Allegheny mountains, diag-
onally across the State of Pennsylvania. Most of the lead-
ing pigeon fliers in-breed ; of course this can not be car-
ried on indefinitely ; new blood has to be added, gradually,
say a quarter, an eighth, or a sixteenth.
In-breeding, you see, tends to harmonize and intensify
the two bloods. It is an old saying, if you in-breed stock it
would soon decline and weaken. It is no doubt true; but
the breeder unmercifully culls his stock. Say one season
breed drones and queens together from the same mother ;
the next season use the same mother for queens. For
drones use one of her daughters, she mated to good stock
in a different yard. Then her daughter mated to a drone
from the first mother of the previous year. Then you have
a small fraction of new blood added, that will tend to give
your stock added vigor, and will not affect the desirable
qualities of the strain you are building.
I am aware of the fact that this mating of queens is
hard to control, but the only thing that can be done is to
make the best effort towards that end. until mating of
queens in confinement is an assured fact. But not much
headway will be gained by the "direct cross" spoken of by
some breeders. Why, if it were not for in-breeding we
never would have had White Leghorn, Plymouth Rock,
Wyandotte hens, or other breeds of " made " stock, so well
known by everybody. Take the Buff Leghorn hen — a new
breed which was produced by in-breeding, and selection
and in-breeding. There are hundreds of other illustra-
tions.
I think this matter would best be left to queen-breed-
ers. I have — and I suppose others have — a dozen or more
different strains of Italian blood, in my apiary, but I
expect to make more of an effort to rear drones from the
same mother I rear queens from.
Cattaraugus Co., N. Y.
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. ailLLBR, Mareng-o, DI.
(The Qnestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Keeping Chickens from Bees— Italians.
1. I have some bees about four rods from the chicken-
house. If I clip the queens' wings, would the chickens eat
them, when they swarm ? They walk around the hives a
good deal.
2. If I can't do this, what other method would you ad-
vise, to keep swarms from going away ?
3. My bees have five yellow bands on them, but to stand
far away and look at them they look pretty black. What
kind do you think they are ? Minnesota.
Answers. — 1. It is not likely that there would be any
trouble.
2. If you should find that the queens were endangered
by the chickens, it would be an easy thing to fence the
chickens out from the bees, or rather to fence in the bees
from the chickens. A fence around the bees, of poultry net-
ting 18 inches high, over which you could easily step, would
fence the chickens out. You cannot fence chickens in with
such a low fence, but I have used it successfully around
flower-beds, and not a chicken would cross it.
3. However dark they may look, the five yellow bands
indicate Italian blood.
Two Ways of Putting on Supers.
There are two methods of manipulating supers during
a honey-flow in common use, as follows :
First, by raising the supers when partially filled with
comb honey, and putting the empty super underneath and
directly upon the brood-chamber.
Second, by placing the empty supers on top of the par-
tially filled super or supers, when additional sections are
needed.
Which of the above methods do you use ? and why ?
" Out West."
Answer. — Both. When a strong flow is on and there is
every reason to expect its continuamce. a second super is
added as soon as the first is half filled. If the bees seem
crowded for room it may be given before the first super is
half filled. It is put under the first super, because that will
oblige the bees to occupy it promptly, for they can not
enter the upper without at least passing through the empty
one. If the room seems still to be needed, a third super
may be given before either of the first two are finished,
and I have had as high as five or six on at a time, and not
one of them finished, the last one put on always being the
lowest. But it is a risky business to have so many unfin-
ished sections on at a time, for if the flow suddenly stops,
568
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Sept. 5, 1901.
there you are. with the cold chills running down your back
at the thought of a big- lot of honey on the hives and none
of it in marketable condition. If, however, the flow will be
accommodating enough to continue till all are finished,
there may be a decided gain in having on so many sections,
for the bees will have more room to work, and will do the
better for it. But never get on so many at a time that all
will not be crowded with bees. On the other hand, there is
a loss when in a full harvest there are bees enough to crowd
two or three supers and only one is on.
Toward the close of the harvest, or at any time when it
is doubtful about much more being done, it is often difficult
to tell whether another super should be given or not. At
such times it is better to put the empty super on top, for
the bees will not crowd up into it unless they really need it.
A Glucose Question.
Among other ideas I have had this one : that one reason
why bee-keepers opposed the use of glucose is that it is un-
wholesome, if not injurious, as an article of food.
Dr._ Howard Miller, editor of The Inglenook, says in the
June 15th issue of his magazine, in answer to the question,
" Is glucose unhealthy ?" asked by one of his readers:
" No. The only thing about it is, it is not as sweet as
the sugar it usually takes the place of."
Now, as the editor of The Inglenook is pre-eminently a
scholar, and you are in addition a practical bee-keeper, and
have reason to be thoroughly acquainted with all the prop-
erties of glucose, I would like very much to know how you
consider it. ' Missouri.
Answer. — Chemically pure glucose is one thing, and
the commercial article quite another. However correct the
scholarly editor may be in thinking that chemically pure
glucose is a wholesome article of diet, if he should get a
swallow of some samples of the commercial article, he
would be likely, after vainly trying to get the taste out of
his mouth, to decide that it was neither tit for man nor bee.
An Amateur's Bunch of Questions.
1. When the honey-flow is plentiful, why do some
apiarists place a second super between the brood-chamber
and a filled super ?
2. I have my colonies on trestles, made of 2x3 stuff
nailed together in stretcher form, with legs nailed so the
hives are about 12 inches from the ground, placeing three
colonies in a group. What objection is there to this olan ?
Why? *^
3. I use a common white table-cloth with smooth
or glazed surface on top of sections as a sort of cover or
blanket. Is it a good or bad thing to do ? What objections
can be offered to such use ? Why ?
4. Does the queen ever leave the hive except at swarm-
ing-time ?
5. When (at what age) does the virgin queen leave the
hive, and how long from the time she mates does she pro-
duce eggs ?
6. Why do we find more drones in some colonies than
in others, although apparently about equal in numbers ?
7. Is it possible that a colonj' will carry over one or
more drones during winter ?
8. If two colonies with brood-chambers well filled with
honey, and supers containing sections with starters, were
given SO pounds of extracted honey, how much would be
stored in the sections ?
9. How can honey be made more liquid, or thinner, or
gravity lessened ?
10. What is honey-dew ? Indiana.
Answers. — 1. To give room for the bees to store more
honey, of course. Perhaps you mean to ask why they put
the empty super under the one partly filled instead of put-
ting it over. Because the bees will begin work in it sooner
if the empty super is under instead of over ; and because
the sections in the filled super ma3' be capped a little whiter
when raised up. Perhaps, however, you mean to ask why
the empty super is put on at all before the other is finished
and taken off". Because after the sections are all filled the
bees take some time to finish up the sealing at the outer
parts, and it would be a waste of time to wait till the first
super can be taken oft.
2. In the height of the honey-flow the bees often fall to
the ground in front of the hive as they come from the fields
heavily laden, and they must rest quite a little time before
they can rise and fly to the entrance. With the hive on a
stand near the ground they can crawl in at once without
waiting to fly in.
3. I formerly used enameled cloth over the sections, and
the bees not only put propolis in the angle where the oil-
cloth rested on the sections, but crowaed it under the oil-
cloth and on the section^. I find tlie sections less daubed
since there is nothing over them but the board cover with a
bee-space between.
4. No, not after she begins laying.
5. She makes her bridal trip when about five to eight
days old, and begins laying about three days later.
6. In some hives there is little or no drone-comb, so of
course few or no drones will be reared, while in other hives
a large amount of drone-comb gives opportunity for many
drones. A colony with a young queen is not likely to have
as many drones as one with an old queen.
7. Yes.
8. I don't know. Some say they can get ;?+ of it in sec-
tions, others say not more than %.
9. Add water to it.
10. The secretion of plant or scale lice, and also, ac-
cording to some authorities, an extra-nectarine secretion of
plants without the presence of plant or scale lice.
^ The Afterthought. *
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qiasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo. O.
SUPERSEDING QUEENS BY RULE.
Procrustes kept a nice lodging-house — leastwise he had an
iron bed with chopping-off arrangement and power stretchers
attached. Every lodger had to be made to fit the bed, no mat-
ter at what cost of blood and groans. Distant cousins of
Procrustes are those brethren who supersede every queen at
the same exact and early date of her life. She may be good
for a month yet, or may be good for three years yet — all'ee
same chop goes the Procrustean bed. Who knows but what
the longest tongued bees in the country have their line termi-
nated by that chop? Jlr. Doolittle's way of giving a pro-
tected ceil, and letting the bees decide whether they want the
young queen or the old one, seems to be much the wiser way.
Bees show more practical sagacity in such matters than to
most of us seems possible. Page 467.
PEAR-BLIGHT AND THE BEES.
It is evidently quite a "peck of half bushels "our cause
is getting into in California about the pear-blight. If the
fruit-men not only have assurance that the saint might have
stolen the horse, but star testimony that the horse won't let
sinners ride him under any circumstances, why then the case
begins to look a little dark for the saint F.rnest Root is evi-
dently sound, that there must be more evidence than one
scientist as to the impossibility of blight traveling on the
wind. The fact that extensive young orchards which have
never bloomed yet are as badly infected as any is a tower of
strength to us which we should make the most of. I'll ven-
ture the guess that the smallest size of bark-louse-eating
birds do most of the infection — getting the infected viscus on
their feet, and leaving some wherever they go in search of
little insects. Prof. Cook's opinion, expressed on page 516,
is important. He feels sure that there will be plenty of means
whereby infection will be carried, even after the removal of
the bees — and witliout calling on the wind, either. Leastwise
let us not "get off the earth" with any needless haste. Pos-
sibly a little silent inertia will do us good — let the other fel-
low do nine-tenths of the talking, and most of the acting.
Perchance most of this is merely a cloud, and it is the ten-
dency of clouds to roll by. Page 468.
QUEEN SUPERSESSIONS AND LINDEN BLOOM.
Three-quarters of all supersessions within three weeks of
the close of the linden. I wonder how widely that is true in
other yards than Mr. Doolittle's. Perhaps where there is no
linden the last strong flow of the season would be its equiva-
lent. In my yard I "kind o' thinlc " that more than the
remaining one-quarter occur in swarming-time just before the
linden. I may be quite wrong — only go by my guess as to
how many prime swarms have virgin qneens. . I suppose the
general principle is that when bees are rearing little brood.
Sept. S, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
569
and want but little, they are much more patient with a declin-
ing queeu than when everything is on the boom. Probably
linden would have no relation to the matter where there is
only a tree or two of linden — or no flow from a larger number
of trees. And also in a very bad year (I think we have
heard) queens live over, and supersessions come in a pile next
year. Page -iGT.
didn't .select this home before sw.\rmino.
Yes, Mr. Hobbs, the swarm that (lies seven miles, two
miles of it through timber containing numerous good homes,
and locates finally in a cavity not fit to winter in — they mani-
festly didn't select their home before swarming. Page 475.
" MAKING " NATURAL .SW.\^RMS.
The imitation of natural swarming given by Doolittle on
page 478 may be quite valuable. Very little things oft turn
the scale between failure and success, and the ji hour spent
homeless and clustered like a swarm may be one of them.
The crucial point, of course, is whether the bees in a body
actually do stay put, or whether a large fraction of them
return to the old stand. Not unwise to hold the thing as an
experiment until many brethren have had continued success
in making all the bees stay.
^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
OUR SOCIAL LIFE.
The Good Book is well named — The Bible — which means
" the book." It is //le book. The other name — the Gospel —
means "good news." And it is good news, indeed. It always
advises us rightly and so, of course, wisely. How good to
have a friend, ever close at our elbow, that will ever have the
wisdom and the interested sympathy always to advise us
aright. Many of us have been thus blessed in our life com-
panions. How well we have learned our good fortune and our
blessing.
The dear, old Bible may be just such a treasured friend to
every one. It, like its author, is too wise to err, too good to
be unkind. This dear old volume says that he that neglects
those of his own household is worse than an infidel. It is sug-
gestive, as it puts action ahead of belief. I suppose for the
same reason that James, in his epistle, exhalts works. Our
actions bespeak the heart's status. Ever to ask aright means
ever to be right. I am glad that the precious old book exalts
the home love. The home at its best, where all the heart-
throbs are true, and all the life sympathies are quick and
responsive, where each truly holds other better than himself,
and is happiest in ministration — such a home is earth's dear-
est and best boon. It is one of the things most to be sought
after — and, when won. most to be prized.
But the dear old book does not stop there. It urges us
not to forget to assemble ourselves together. It is our blessed
privilege, no less than our sacred duty, to give our first
thought and best love to home and its members. If that
home is what it should be, and rightly influences us, as it
ought and will, then it will never fence in our love to keep it
all to itself. It will so touch life with the spirit of sweet help-
fulness that all in the home will reach out to bless and help
those of other homes.
It was my good fortune to be in Columbus, Ohio, when our
beloved and martyred president, James A. Garfield, was elected
to the United States Senate. I heard his speech as he
responded to the notification of his great, good fortune. He
said, in short, that it had given him pleasure, when he had
been so fortunate as to act in a way to meet the approval of
his countrymen the country over. It brought a deeper grati-
fication to know that he pleased the people of his own State —
Ohio. He was yet more pleased at the applause of those of
his own district; and the heart-beats were stirred more at the
plaudits of those of his own homo— his very neighbors. A
still keener relish greeted the approval of the dear ones of
his own home circle, and the best satisfaction of all canif
when he wholly pleased James A. Garfield. I suppose it is
the best satisfaction, when our own consciences say without
let or hindrance, " Well done."
So in our ministrations. Our greatest duty is to ourselves.
We can never give to our bi-st friends so dear a gift as our
own best manhood. Next we should reserve our most benefi-
cent thought and bestowraents for the home circle. No man
can give his best to his neighbors who has not already given
better thought and attention to his very own loved ones.
Next, the arms of our love should encircle our neighbors.
The man who does not gild the pathways of his own town
with acts of thoughtful, unselfish love, which attracts all to
him, is not the truest patriot who will best serve his State and
nation. And may I not say that the best, truest lover of
country is one whose face brightens most as kind, true things
are said of his own beloved State. If the State love of the
South had been as wise as true, their patriotism would have
been broader, and the fearful havoc of war might have been
stayed.
Our home circles, then, if sweetest and truest, will cast
about to brighten, refine and elevate all the neighboring
homes. This will surely react and every home circle will
sound a truer note of worth and virtue, because all the homes
are in unison. I suppose we must have different churches,
just as we are told that divorce was suffered because of hard-
ness of heart. But I have often thought wistfully of the
good time when we should have only one church, for all would
wish to be in one fold. How delightful when some one neigh-
borhood club, literary and social, takes all into its fond
embrace. Claremont has but one church. Claremont has a
literary club and a horticultural club, both of which take in
nearly all. .-ill are welcome to each.
Michigan is forging ahead as few other sections in the
country are. Even her people in the rural regions are acting
together in a most wise and sensible way to secure the best
thTngs. Her hundreds of farmers' clubs, and other hundreds
of granges, explain the rapid advance.
Southern California is holding up to the view of the world
an example of successful co-operation among her fruit-men
that must prove of immense value to us and to others, who
surely will soon hasten to follow our example. Southern
California has many successful, active clubs. These are
mainly horticultural or pomological. A few are more in the
trend of dairy interests. These clubs unite the people
socially, make them pull as one in business affairs : tend to
make the best work and methods of the community the com-
mon work and method ; insure wise effort to direct and influ-
ence. These clubs are wonderful promoters of co-operation.
Our Southern California Fruit Exchanges surely owe much of
their phenomenal growth and success to the work of these
clubs. They prepare the way.
In our " Farmers' Institutes " of Southern California we
always aim to form a club, in case one is not already in exis-
tence, at each place, and we rarely fail to do so. These
become social as well as economic functions, and their power
for good in the community is tremendous. In some cases
these monthly club meetings, which are usually held at the
•homes of the members, are held in the daytime, and the host
furnishes a dinner for all. This, of course, involves some
expense and much work, yet if there are 24 members or fami-
lies in the club, this only comes once in two years, and. when
once over, two vears of sumptuous monthly dinners are a cer-
tain expectancy. These frequent visitations keep the place
fixed up, and are wonderful promoters of good fellowship in
the community. In some cases they have served to advance
the price of property, so valuable have been their work and
influence. They have come to stay, and will hasten the glad
time when farmers will no longer be handicapped by entire
lack of organization, but will, through such organization, be
as able to co-operate as are those of other crafts and business.
These frequent and pleasant meetings insure a united and
harmonious community, and will react to bring more of love
and accord, I am sure, in every home.
There is just one impediment in the way of the success or
these organizations, and this is the great bar to the best frui-
tion in all enterprise and progress. This is selfishness. Our
work pushes. Business seems imperative in her demands, and
when club-dav comes, we often forget, even though we may be
on the program for the day, tliat our work is then at end for
the club, and our business is to be there : and we stay at
home. Very freiiuent mistakes of this kind will surely sap
the interest "in any club. Thus, for our own good, and for the
good of our club and community, we must all pledge our full
sympathy and support to the club. . ^ »
These clubs have been so full of energy and so abundant
in good fruits in Southern C^lifo rnia, that they are becoming
substantial factors in our rural life, and promise much for the
future. Let it be a part of the good work of all our home
circles, to help to inaugurate, sustain and make successful in
all our communities such clubs. They promise much for our
homes, our neighborlioods, and for our country. Their pro-
motion will be among the best part of our work and duty.
570 AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL. Sept. s, i90i
ADVERTISEMENT.
To Our Shippers :
^rt<-
#
m-
We were obliged to notify you a few weeks ago that one Joseph M
McCaul had leased our old quarters at Nos. 120-122 West Broadway, New ^
York City, and had there started up business under the name "HiLDRETH, ^<-
McCaul Co., " and had distributed a multitude of circulars so worded as to ^<.
create the impression that his business was a successor to or a branch of ^|^
the business of Hildreth & Segelken. ^^i^
For the protection of our shippers and ourselves, we at once instruc- ^,
ted our attorney to commence action to enjoin the said McCaul from using ^
the name HiLDRETH in anv manner whatsoever in connection with his busi-
ness. On the 10th day of July, 1901, Hon. David McAdam, Justice of the
Supreme Court of the State of New York, after a full argument upon the ^^
merits, issued a peremptory injunction, of which the following is an ^<-
extract : ^<-
" And it appearing that the plaintiffs have for a long time been and now are carrying on busi- ^gl<-
ness under the style of -Hildreth & Segelken,' and that the defendant has recently opened a business T^
at 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, and is carrying on the ^^<-
same under the style of ' Hildreth, McCaul Co.,' and that such act is in violation of the plaintiffs' "^
rights, and that the commission or continuance thereof, during the pendency of this action will pro- ^^
duce irreparable injury to the plaintiffs ; it is ^^.
ORDERED that the defendant (Joseph M. McCaul) and each of his agents, servants and em- '^
ployees and all other persons acting under his authority and direction be, and he and they are here- ^Su-
by restrained and enjoined from showing, displaying or otherwise using during the pendency of this ^j*
action in or upon any papers, devices, sign or signs, or otherwise, in the business conducted by the ^^<-
the defendant at No. 120-122 West Broadway, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, or ^^
elsewhere the name of " Hildreth " separately or conjunctively with any other name, designation or ^%<-
description." J^
Outside of our desire in our own interests to protect the name which •
I . ... ^^
we have built by years of satisfactory dealings with our customers, we
hastened to procure this injunction as soon as possible, to prevent our
' shippers from being misled into sending their goods to one who would ^**"
I make an attempt to gain their trade by such a trick and device. ^^
I With thanks for the many expressions of good-will we have received ^<-
) from our shippers concerning this attempt to trade under our name, we ^<.
I are, Sincerely yours, ^!^
' Hildreth & Segelken, f^
' 265-267 Greenwich Street, NEW YORK, N. Y. V^
f lease mention Bee journal when writing.
%
m^
Sept. 5, 19J1.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
571
Bee-Keeping In British Columbia.
It may interest some of the readers of the
American Bee Journal to I<now I have
initiated the successful keeping of bees in
this section of the country. I know of no
other bee-keeper in this whole district— cer-
tainly there are no bee-keepers nearer than 40
miles, that is, at Nelson, and I do not know
of any there.
I was told that bees would not do here. A
Mr. Powers brought some here a few years
ago, and they could not find food, and he
assured me I would fail. But I am a man
" wonderfully wedded to my own opinions,"
and my present success is not going to make
me have less faith in my own ideas.
I bought a colony of hybrid-Italians in
Vancouver last spring, and they have given
me three swarms, the first of which is doing
remarkably well. They have two supers over
a 10-frame Langstroth hive filled with honey
already. That means between 60 and 70
pounds of honey for me, and it is 25 cents a
section here. The original colony is not
doing so well. They will not take to the
supers, and appear lazy. Yesterday I tried
to stir them to activity by taking a frame of
honey from the brood-chamber and replacing
it with an empty frame.
The other two colonies are doing pretty
well, and have their winter supply, but noth-
ing so far for me.
I think that when Mr. Powers first brought
bees here there may have been no proper food
for bees, but since then the town site has
been cleared ofT, and the white clover is
occupying the ground.
While writing this letter I have had a visitor
from Xelson, who tells me he has bees there.
QUEENS,.
Long^-Tongue
Qolden 5-Banded..
Now
i the time to requeeu,
when you can g-et the very-
best strain of untested cjueens
for 50 cents each, or $5 50 per
dozen. Tested, Ho cents each,
the rest of this season; breed-
ers, $2.25 each. I make a
specialty of queen - rearing-
having- had 35 yeirs of prac-
tical experience with bees. I
have over 400 fine Queens, and can fill orders on
the same day 1 receive thera. We have five
mails a day.
This advertisement will not appear ag-ain. Re-
mit by post-office money order.
DANIEL WURTH,
Coat Creek, Anderson Co., Tennessee.
[Mr. Wurth is perfectly reliable. -Ehitok.]
The Eaierson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only 11.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
BEST-
I uimM mm for sale |
•^ ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^
i Alfalfa
% Honey
This is the famous
White E.\lracted
Honey g'athered in
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honev, and
nearly everVbody
who cares to eat
honey at all can't
get enough of the
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey ^<^
his is the well-
twn light-colored
ey gathered from
5 rich, nectar-
in basswood blos-
lad^
[ t has
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7J4 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, j4 cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELV PURE HONEY
The finest oi their kinds produced in thii
ntry.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm
something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of ray own prodnction
and then buy honey of you for ray own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the
^ honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
i^ drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality
^ of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more
id marked flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Millkk.
^ McHenry Co., 111.
^ Ordep the Above Honey and then Sell It.
^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
■5 enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
.S above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
\ QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Farm Wagon Economy.
The economy of this proposition is not all
found in the very reasonable price of the wagon
itself, but in the great amount of labor it will
save, and its great durability. The Electric
Wheel Co , who make this Electric Handy
Wagon and the now famous Electric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
durable low-down wagon at a reasonable price.
ed of the best material
.xles, steel wheels, steel
ids, etc. Guaranteed to
V 4*10 lbs. These Electric
1 Wheels are made to fit
wagon, and make practi-
.■ a new wagon out of the
iTU>. They can be had in
lietght desired and any
h of tire up to s inches.
et of the
h,-,.U
a far
L'e thera with his regu-
■iieels and have a high or
lown wagon at will.
Write for catalog of the full " Electric Line" to
Electric Wheel Co., liox Id, Quincy, 111
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
SXJFER-IOK,
Red Clover Queens
We have obtaiaed, this season, 150 pounds of
comb honey per colony, one-third red clover
honey. Untested, 75 cents; % doz., $4.LX). Tested,
$1.(N); H doz., $5.50.
LEININGER BROS.,Ft.Jenninos,0.
34Etf Please mention the Bee Journal
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honev-gathering stock. Tested, $l.tlO; un-
tested, 75 cents. " Sn.-tDV Nook Apiary."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
29A13t Sag Hakiiok, New 'i'oRK.
ALBINO QUEENS "^^J^^J^^ii^^^
want the gentlest Bees— If you want the best
honev-gatherers vou ever saw — try my Albinos.
Untested Queens in April, fl.flil; Tested. $1.50.
iiA26t J, D. GIVENS. Lisbon. Tex.
){lt8
Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
gaper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
andsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
UO Market Street, • San Francisco, Cal.
r'silifnrni*! ! if you care to kn
WaillUnild 1 Fruits. Flowers.
572
AMERICAN BEE lOURiMAL.
Sept. 5, 1901.
Bees that Have a Record
(See page 459 American Bee Journal.)
Have longest tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honej, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen. liy return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
31A8t Mention the American Bee Journal.
D IJ^Ij^O We will pay 20c. cash, per lb. for
IlIVI'.J pure, bright yellow beeswax,
'^ '-"^^^ iirid 20c. cash, per lb. for pure,
d.'irk beeswax delivered here.
Chamberlain Medicinb Co,
Dos Moines. Iowa.
2"A13t Please meuuuu ihe Bee Journal.
WAX
TENNESSEE
QUEENS.
Fide lot of Choice Tested
Queens reared last season,
daughters of select imported
an:3 select g-olden queens,
reared 3?4 miles apart, and
mated to select drones, $1 50
each; Untested Warranted
Queens, from same breeders,
either strain, 75c each. No
bees owned nearer than VA
miles. None impure within
3, and but few within 5 miles.
28 years' experience. Discount on larg-e orders.
Contracts with dealers a specialty.
JOHN M. DAVIS,
34A3t SPRINi; HILL, TENTN.
Please mention Bee Jovimal when -wntiuf
m-w r J J Parties to make PATENT
W i\\\\C\\ COMB FOUNDATION on
^ ^ •-».»«•-*'** rovaltv. Also. 108 colonies
of bees for sale {on 8 L. frames), at S1..^0 each.
H. VOGELER, New Castle, Calif.
36Alt Mention the American Bee Journal.
XJISTTESTESID
lyiaii ^!tm Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending: us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return maU, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at $1.00, and
25 cts., we win mail you free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14<, Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
and he is the only bee-keeper in that locality.
He_beats me, forjie has had five swarms from
one colony, making six in 'all," and "they are
doing- well.
I have only to add that he and I are both
beginners, and I value highly the hints I get
from the American Bee Journal.
British Columbia, .Tuly •>\. H. Beek.
The Honey Market in California.
The honey season is ended for this year in
this locality. Our honey is in packages, and
the most ditiicult problem for the bee-keeper
is upon us — disposing of our honey at a price
that will give us honest remuneration for the
labor expended and capital invested.
I have heard some say the market is demor-
alized; I do not consider it so. A demoralized
market is one where the product is thrown
on the market and sold for what it will bring,
and where there are uiore sellers than buyers.
I am pleased to note that such is not the case
in Southern California at present. There is
very little honey moving, not because there
are no buyers, but because the buyers are not
offering what the producers think they are
entitled to.
While there is uo organization or general
understanding amongst bee-keepers, yet there
seems to be a general feeling that we ought
to have, and will get, 5 cents a pound for this
year's crop of extracted honey, and. they are
almost to a man living up to their feelings,
and holding their honey ; and I think if they
hold on for 60 days longer they will realize
their expectations.
Every little lot that is sold at the price the
buyers are ottering, the report of that sale is
hawked all over the country, and made the
most of to scare holders. J. W. George.
Riverside Co., Calif., Aug. S.
An Experience and a Question.
I am not one of those lucky bee-keepers
who get large yields ot honey, yet I get fair
yields. I keep a record of every colony, the
date of swarming, etc. My hives are all num-
bered. It they have prolific queens it is so
marked on the book, and those thai are extra
honey-gatherers are also marked. I started
in the sirring with nine colonies, and now I
have 36, and have taken off .300 pounds of
comb honey. I will give the record ot one
colony, and then ask a question for Dr.
Miller to answer :
.May -'0 I bought a colony ot bees in a two-
sLory hive for $2.00. When I got them home
I examined them, and found the upper story
full of brood. June 19 they cast a swarm ; it
was very large, and when hived it filled a 10-
frame hive apimrcntly full. The hive of the
old or parent colony is No. 21. The new
swarm was hived in No. 1.5, In nine days
after the first swarm No. 21 cast a second
swarm, which was hived in No. 11. About
five days after this, when I was absent from
home, my son-in-law saw a swarm ot bees in
the air, but could not tell what hive they
came out of. They clustered, and he hived
them ; it was a very small bunch. There was
a space of about six inches between hive No.
loandNo. 11. .\ day or two after this little
swarm was caught, I saw bees going on the
alighting-board from No. 11 to l.">, and on
looking into No. 11 I found some comb, but
no bees. On the 13th— 24 days after the
Dittffler's Foundation !
Retail— W holesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonndatlon For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
BEESWAX WA
samples
NTED.
tree on applicatii
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
LanQStrottion...
TI16H01160B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug^ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for SI. 75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 .t 146 Erie street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets* and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAeO, ILL.
please mention Bee Jotirnal -when -wTitiiiK
IT'S UP TO YOUI
NOW will you try I'AGK F.-nceV It's a (.'.mtl one.
PAtlH \VOVE.> \\\V.V. lE.MEtO., ADIHAS, .IllfH.
Please Liention Bee Jountal when ■writing.
'm
Sept. S. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
573
swarm was hived in No. lo—they cast a large
swarm, and also had 2S sections nearly full,
which they soon finished, and I took it off
and gave them 'iS empty sections, which they
now have nearly filled. The old colony, after
casting two swarms, filled the upper story
with honey, and I extracted 3,t pounds from
them. I now have four colonies of bees and
<H pounds of honey, and more to take off,
from my .?2.00. Now here is my question for
Dr. Miller ; If it takes 31 days from the lay-
ing of the egg to mature a bee, and a few
days to make comb for a queen to lay in, how
do you account for the large amount of bees
in No. 15, so that they cast a large swarm in
25 days after being hived ; also nearly filling
2S sections ' And yet, after casting a swarm
they continued to work in the boxes without
any apparent loss of bees '. The second
swarm in No. 11 was almost as large as a
prime swarm. Did a part of them swarm out,
making the little swarm I have mentioned ;
If so, what became of the balance ? AVould
they be received into No. 15 ;
S. B. Smith.
Millelacs Co., Minn., Aug. 5.
An Amateur Transfer of Bees.
Having purchased a colony of bees in a
box-hive the tall of ISflS, and failing to secure
any surplus in honey or swarms in 1S99 and
li tW, I decided to transfer this colony, win or
lose. I read much on transferring, and
sought to put in practice a part, at least.
About May 1 (apple blooming) I made
preparations. A box eight inches deep and
the same size as the bottom of the box-hive
was made. An 8-frame dovetailed hive was
gotten ready in this style: Four frames filled
with comb were taken from four other hives
(one from each hive), the outer frame being
taken. No attention was given as to selec-
tion of frames. They contained in part some
honey, empty cells, and perhaps eggs or
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHINERY
lead what J. I. Parent, of
arlton, N. Y., says: '* We
with one of your Com-
'bined Machines, last winter,
chaff hives with 7-ia. cap,
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a e^reat deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
nake, and we expect to do
.■ith this Saw. It will do all
" Catalog- and price-list free.
W. F. & John Barnes,
9')5 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Vleai?e mention Bee Journal when -writing.
you say i
Address,
Catnip Seed Free I
We have a sinall quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with $1.00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for $1.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 35 cents. As
our stock of this seed is very small,
better order soon.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copv. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal -when WTitLat*
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
■^ This is a good time
>]y viy to send in your Bees-
. jj _C T^ _ _ ^ •K ffi wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax. * « -- e-t
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Standard Bred (Jueens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN QOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 els. each ; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
1011 inch. These are the red clovei hustlers of
America.
7Sc eacl
teed.
dquar'
SAV. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
QUEENS
Now ready to supply by returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED 1 1 1
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. They haye no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 75c each; 6 for $4.00.
REDCLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, $1 each; 6
for $5. Safe Arkivai, Guaranteed.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2146 & 214S Central Aye., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Qoods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalog free; send for same.
Please mention Bee Journal
when wrltlnsr Advertisers.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send f 1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee .roumal ■when ^jrHti-n.ff
Send for circulars
regarding
the oldest
aad most
improved and orig-inal Biatrham Bee-Sruoker.
For 23 "Years the Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINQHAM, Farwell, MJch.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
WALTER S.POUDER.
"— — INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
A Superior Red CloverQueeD |
I'NIESTEI) ITALI
Fop sending- us One New Subscriber and 25
cents ($1.25 in all.)
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, IL,L.
We arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breeders (having many
years' experience) to rear iiueens^for us this season. His bees average quite a
good deal the longest tongues of any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di-
rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worl<er-bees are large, some-
what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiriBg veil or smolce. They
stored red clover honey last season.
All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped,
unless otherwise ordered.
We would like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine
(^leens. .'^iinply send us the name and address of a new subscriber tor the Amer-
ican Bee .I.iiirnal for one year, and L'5 cenis extra, and the Queen will be mailed
to you. ( inr queen-rearer is now caught up with orders, and expects to be alile
lo mail tlicui hereafter within 4S hours after we receive the order. He is in an-
other State, and we will send him the Queen orders as fast as we get them at this
otllce. He is prepared to rear and nmil a large number.
The cnsh prices of these (^leens are SI. 00 each ; :t for ?2.r0; or 6 for $.5.00.
Send all orders to
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
574
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 5, 1901.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising- Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mentk>n Bee Journal "when ■writliia.
The American Poultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
that is over a quarter of a
century old and is still ^row-
itrinsic merit of its own, and
its"field m'ust be a valuable one. Such is the
Amepiean Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey: the Pasturage and Nectar-
Producing Plants: the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
thisthe paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal
Please meutlou Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
ng must possess i
brood. These four frames were placed in the
center of the new hive, and two frames with
starters were placed on each side of this brood-
nest. With a blanliet, smoker, cold chisel,
and hatchet, we went to destroy and to build.
The blanket was spread, and the old hive
was placed on it. the new hive occupying
al)out the same plai-e as the old. while the old
hive was placed about three feet and at right
angles to the new hive. After suioke came
the battle. I now turned the old hive bottom
end up, and placed the box aforesaid on top,
after removing the Iwttom-board. Then more
smoke and hammering on the box to get the
bees to move upward into it.
After ten minutes of such coaxing I lifted
the box to see the catch. A surprise — about
a good, big handful only. These were
dumped out on a blanket in front of the new
hive. Part started into the new hive while
part went in the air, I sighed, and wondered
how long it would take to get this colony
moved into their new home-to-be at this rate.
I unread myself, as it were, and proceeded on
my own '• hook."
The old hive was returned bottom side
down, less the bottom-board, and cold chisel,
hatchet, and man soon removed two sides
and laid bare the comb and bees. I cut out
those old combs, rusty and crusty. The
combs, when out, one by one, were given a
jar at the front of the new hive, and clinging
bees were soon off. The third comb removed
had the queen — she went in like a lady.
When all combs were removed I found I
had a plenty — I think enough to fill 20 Hoff-
man frames. It was old, perhaps containing
comb that had been built 20 years, as the hive
had been made of yellow poplar that now was
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
[This Cdt is the
-Who
UXL Size of the Knife.]
ordering, be sure to say just what name and
Your Name on the Knife.-
address you wish put on the K
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies 1
It
he handle,
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire: the linings are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? Id case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destrov the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the " Novelties," your Pocket-Kxife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will al once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a sonfa wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu/ gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this beautiful knife, as the " Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for$l 25, or give it as a Preniium to the
one sending us -kiiREENKw scbscrieers to the Bee Journal ^with ST.-Oi).) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for (
■ year, both for il.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
^i*Please allor ■■bout two weeks for your knife order to be flli
so weather beaten and checked as to be
through in places.
While queen and workers were surveying
the new quarters, I arranged a super with the
fence separators, leaving out the sections. I
now took up the cumb pile and cut out all
sealed worker-brood into strips of no particu-
lar length, but (our inches wide, and put it iu
place of the sections. I put t his in the brood-
chamber, spread over the top a woolen blan-
ket, put on the cover, and let them go at
that. In a hall hour from the time of begin-
ning all was complete, and house-cleaning-
was in full progress.
The honey in the old comb was unfit for
table use. so it was placed in three or four shal-
low pans about the yard, and the five colonies
soon had the honey home. About two pounds
of beeswax was rendered from all the combs
after they were cleaned by the bees.
Twenty-one days later I examined the new"
home, and found most of the sealed brood
hatched. I removed the old strips and put on
a super filled with sections containing starters.
Now as to results: June 29 I took from
this colony 24 full sections of well-capped
white clover honey, and gave another super.
July 15 I took this super with the same re-
sults as before, making in all 48 pounds for
this colony, besides a fuU house below, and
lots of bees.
Our honey season closes about the middle
of July. We have had the best honey-year
since 1898 — an abundance of white clover till
the drouth began. Our prime swarm, cast
June 3, has done as much as this transferred
colony. I feel that I have been successful in
this transfer, and would like to know if such
a way would always be successful, say in a
poor honey-year. T. F. Weaver.
Fountain Co.. Ind.. Aug. 'S.
St., Chicago, Ill>
A Pretty State of Things.
Mr. Editor will remember my new hive,
that I was at so much pains to make.
Twenty frames and painted a gentle clover
green I Well, what do you think ! About
two weeks ago 1 gazed into its inwardness
aud beheld what could be not less than 50
pounds of luscious honey in those combs.
One afternoon, this week, I noticed that
iiuite a lot of bees seemed aimlessly flying be-
fore the entrance, neither Ijringing in stores
nor flying to the fields for supplies. I
thought appearances strange, and forthwith
inspected that colony again. I raised some
of the most attractive frames, and, lo 1 they
were remarkably light, just heavy enough to
account for the wax they contained. I tried
another with the same results. Now, why is
this thusly ! In handling all the frames I
found but few with a little .brood, and not
three pounds of honey to that colony. Ha '.
hal I have the secret. Robbers I But how
can that occur with a pretty strong colony
and a small — three-inch— opening to guard *
But presently I saw the cause of the whole
trouble. I thought I had made the hive-
cover perfectly tight, but the thing had
warped, and one corner failed to connect,
leaving a space quite large enough to admit
several bees at once, and then ray conclusions
were clear and rapid.
1 transferred that colony into a 10-frame
hive at once, before the little honey that was
left could entirely disappear, closed up half
the entrance, and saw to it that no more ex-
Sept. S, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
575
tra openings were left. Up to date that fam-
ily seem liappy and industrious, trying to lay
in stores enough for the winter.
I am twirling my thumbs and pondering
how my carelessness will cost me a halt hun-
dred weight of nice honey, at least, and a
weakening of a comparatively strong colony,
besides.
But most of us learn by our mistakes more
than from our successes. Dk. Peiro.
Cook Co., 111., Aug. 27.
Rocku Mouniain Bee-Plant Seed!
{Cleome integYifolia.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: **This
Is a beautiful plant for the flower-g-arden, to
say nothing- of the honey it produces. It g-rows
fromtwo to three feet in hight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a J4-POund package as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL,
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We pan furnish you with The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
Said for beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
[. U. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co., Mich
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a Iiard
rnl»l>er lioldi-r, ttipi'iinix to a
roun<I ]>oiiil. and writes as
sniootlily as a leail-pi-ncil. Tlie
point andiiee«lieo£ tiie pen
are made of platiiia. alloyed
witli iridiiiiii — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufBeient ink to
write 10,0U0 words, and do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of uni-
form M'itllli at all times
they are iineqiialed tor
ruling' purpo»>fs.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
filler and cleaner.
Best Mamifolding Pen on
THE Market.
I0,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new sinsnuBERS
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with 5;2.0{i; or send
$1.90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for SI. 00 we will mail the pen
alone. Atklrcss,
;'^f,°' GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrang-ements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freig^ht
or express, at the followIng^ prices, cash with
the order:
5ft 10ft 2Sft soft
Sweet Clover (white) $.70 $1.20 $2.75 $5.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.£0
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8,50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK A CO.
144 &;i46 Erie Street, . CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of poods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. H. W. WEBER,
2146-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Bud fioneu
What haveyou to offer
__ and at what price ?
34Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton, Wis.
Please mentior Bee Journal when ■writing
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
. ^ tr.icted Honey. State price,
aelivered. We pav spot cash. Fked W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
28A17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing- for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or for $1;10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
md the Clipping Device. Address,
QEOROe W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicag'O, lU.
WRITE US
State quantity, how put up, kind of honey,
price expected, and, if possible, mail sample.
We pay spot cash.
Reference— Wisconsin National Bank.
E. R. Pcihl <S:Co.
34Atf niLWAUKEE, WIS.
flea.se mention Bee Journal wnen writing
Gomb and Ex-
tracted Honey!
St.Tle price. Knid and quantity.
R. A. BURNETT & CO . l'"S.Water St.. Chica.
33Atf Please mention the Bee Journal
Wanted^Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, slating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Wi'll
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
IflONEY MD BEESWAX E
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Aug. 22.— White comb brings ISc
per pound for thechoice grades,with other lines
not grading No. 1 selling at 13(<i 14c; light am-
ber, t2@13c; dark, 10@llc. Extracted, fair de-
mand at S4(Si6c for white, and SJi(gi5!iic for am-
ber; dark grades, 5c. Beeswax steady at 30c
for choice yellow. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
E.xtracted sells only to manufacturers from
5@oc; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from 8@9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from 13J4@lS^c.
C. H. W. Wbbbr.
Boston, Aug. 19.— Our market to-day is about
l(.(al7c for fancy; A No. 1, \5%@\bc; No. 1, 14®
15c. Extracted, full supply, light demand.
Several lots of new Vermont honey in cartons
have thus far been received, meeting a ready
sale at ITc, although of course in a small way.
The trade generally seems disposed to hold off,
looking for larger receipts and lower prices.
This is somewhat due, of course, to the fact
that the demand is still light owingtothe warm
weather. Cooler weather will make a better de-
mand and naturally make a better feeling.
Blakb, Scott & Lbb,
Albany, N. Y., Aug. 20.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, 16@17c; No. 1, I5(mlOc; No. 2, 13®
14c; mixed, 12(ail3c. Extracted, light, 7(ai7}4c;
mixed, 0>^(a7c. H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3.y1 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4^@4'4'c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. PeyckeBros.
NbwYork, Aug. 7.— There is some demand
for new crop of comb honey, and receipts are
quite numerous for this time of the year. They
have been principally from the South, but we
are now beginning lo receive shipments from
New York Stale and near-bv. We quote: Fancy
white, 15c; No. 1 white, 13(ai4c; amber, ll(ai2c.
No new buckwheat is on the market as vet, and
we do not expect any before next month.
Extracted is decidedly dull. Plenty offerings,
with only a limited demand, and quotations are
rather nominal. We are selling at from .smi.J^c,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55%65c per gallon. Beeswax dull and
declining; for the present we quote 2"C«i28c.
HiLDRETH & SBOBLKBN.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail way at fJ.Sn to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancv white comb hooey,
14@15c: No. 1, 13rail4c; no 'dark to quote. E.x-
tracted, white, 6(y7c. Beeswax, 25('fl'26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, l(,@17c, and lower grades, 12@14c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co.
San Francisco, Aug. 14.— White comb, 11®
12^ cents: amber, 8@10c; dark, 6(a7>^c. Ex-
tracted, white, 55^®—; light amber, 4i4@Sc;
amber. 4®4^c. Beeswax. 26®28c.
Market continues quiet, with apiarists, as a
rule, unwilling to unload at prices generally
named by wholesale operators. Quotations rep-
resent as nearly as possible the values ruling
at this date for round lots, although free sales
could not probabl.v be effected at full figures,
while, on the other hand, higher prices than
quoted are being realized in the tilling of some
small orders.
Kansas City, Aug. 6. — Some very fine Mis-
souri honey is now on the market, selling at
lt)(ail7c per pound for fancy while comb. Colo-
rado and Utah shippers are offering new comb
honey in carlots for first half of August ship-
ment at 10c per pound for No. 1, and 'Hh'i^c for
No. 2, f.o.b. shipping-point. The market for ex-
tracted hocev is as yet rather unsettled, asking
prices ranging from 45i@4'ic, f.o.b. shipping-
point. Buyers, however, seem to be in no hurry-
to make contracts. Peycke Bros,
576
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 5, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r <S- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal ■w>.en writiii.'^
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, fl.Oii; Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
River Forest, Oak Park Post-OfRce,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal •when writing.
—THE—
Bee-Keeper's Galde
Or, Manual oi the Apiary,
BY
PROE A, J, COOK,
460 Fages-16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
Band— $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book kere is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng- style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Kbepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
mag-nificent book of 460 pag-es, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting- NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal {with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
J1.75. But surely anybody can g-et only TWO
new subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
24ttl
year
Dadant's Foundation, lear
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINO.
^^
Why does it sell
so well ?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been an^
complaints, but thousands of comph-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEB-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, SI. 25, by mail.
Beesvrax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co., 111.
^▼▼▼▼VV ▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼ ▼▼ ^'▼▼W
Please mention Bee Journal wlien -writing,
^ ANOTHER^— ^
^ ENDORSEMENT £
3 Root's M Glover Qmm j^
4 ...................... j^
■^J^ The a. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. y
g Dear Friends: — The tested clover queen came in good condi- i.
.A tion and has filled seven frames with brood two weeks from the v^
%W^ day she arrived, which is better than the combined efforts of three MV
-JA " yellow " queens purchased two years ago. I believe she is going w^
^^ to be the counterpart of the queen purchased of you in 1896, in r
d which case money could not buy her. Vq^
W^ Yours Fraternally, VW
^1 Evan E. Edwards. ^^
^ PRICES OF RED CLOVER QUEENS: V^
w\ Gleanings in Bee-Culture one year and Untested Oueen $2.00 W
'^ " " " " Tested Queen 4.0) '
/ " " " " Select Tested Oueen. 6.00 ^^
\W If YOU want something good you can not do better than to A%
■^^a order one of these queens. All orders are filled promptly. No y
^ extra postage on these^o foreign countries. >k ^
\J THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio. iV
▼*^ (U.S.A.) /
.L SQT GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '^^cml^tSol^LT' ^
ml .ire bead.|uarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO. ^%
.^\ Seud lo ihem for their free Cataloj/. ^ ^
^^Ewe/i/v
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, SEPTEMBER 12, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 37.
578
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL,
Sept. 12, 1901.
A Superior Red CloverQueen | j
UNTESTED ITA
GEORGE W. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post^Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Geobgb W. .York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
S^^ir'r-..^'''^''"' I Department
E. E. Hastt,
Prof. A. J. Cook,
f Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is 61.00 a year, in the United States,»Can-
ada, and .Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts.— We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To orosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, Thos. G. Newma
W. Z. Hutchinson, G. M. Doolittle
A. I. Root, W. P. Marks,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Hambaugh
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, Dr. C. C. Miller
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
For sending- us One New Subscriber and 25 «-:
cents ($1.25 in all.) &
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
Brer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
J^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-kee))er or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
Note.— One reader writes:
** I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery beekeeper
to wear one (of the buttousj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
(five the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reprodnc-
(lon of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin oa the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
oi 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
S We arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breeders (having many ^:
^ years' experience) to rear queens for us this season. His bees average quite a ^.
5 good deal the longest tongues of any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di- ^I
^ rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, some- ^;
S what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. They ^'
S stored red clover honey last season. _ &|
^ All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped, ^^
^ unless otherwise ordered. ^ •
2 We would like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine &|
^ Queens. Simply send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer- ^i
5 lean Bee Journal for one year, and 25 cents extra, and the Queen will be mailed ^;
s> to you. Our queen-rearer is now caught up with orders, and expects to be able ^^
^ to mail them hereafter within 48 hours after we receive the order. He is in an- ^•
^ other State, and we will send him the-Queen orders as fast as we get them at this ^^
^ office. He is prepared to rear and mail a large number. ^'
5 The cash prices of these Queens are SI. 00 each ; 8 for S2.r0; or 6 for $5.00. ^^
^ 'Send all orders to ^^
S GEORGE W. YORK & CO., s!
2 144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL. ^
35 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
VtvVK
This is a g^ood time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. F Sk-^fHT
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife —When oideriug', be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put ou the Kuite.
I a dovelty The novelty lies iu the handle. It is
e celluloid, which is as transparent as g-lass. Un-
; of the handle is placed the natne, and residence of
side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
The Novelty Knife is inde
made beautifully of iadestructi
derneath the celluloid, on one si
the subscriber, and on the othe
shown here.
The Material entering" into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg-ed out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the lining-s are plate brass:
the back spring's of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a g-ood kni'fe is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destioy the knife. If traveliup, and j ou meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the *' Novelf.cS," vour Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and ic
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
to could a mother
□, the knife having
How appropriate this knife is tor a present! What more lasting- raemt
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentlen
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying" cu' e' *'ps a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation ol
this beautiful knife, as the " Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife. -^We send it postpaid for $1.25, or g-ive it as a Premium to the
one sendin;»- us ',. riKiie new subscribers to the Bee Journal (with$.'i-00.) We will club the Novelty
r, both for $1,90.
life and the Hee Journal for t
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
*®^Please allor ■'bout two weeks for your knife order to be tiln
St, Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL., SEPTEMBER 12, 1901,
No, 37,
^ Editorial.
"ffsr-prvK
Glucose Not a Wholesome Sweet. —
Dr. J. H. Kellogg, of the Good Health Pub-
lishing Company, and widely known as an
authority on health foods, answers the ques-
tion, •' Is glucose a wholesome sweet?" in
this way :
No. The glucose of commeroe is manu-
factured from corn and other starchy sub-
stances by boiling them with sulphuric acid.
This form of sugar is quite unlike the sugar
formed by the digestive processes. There is
no doubt that the large use of glucose, or
grape-sugar, in the form of candy, syrups,
adulterated bone}', and various other meretri-
cious products which have been put upon the
market, is responsible for a large number of
eases of diabetes — a disease which is rapidly
increasing.
We are often asked concerning the advisi-
bility of feeding glucose to bees for winter
stores, or to keep them goingduring a drouth.
Our answer is, invariably, Don't. A certain
Ijee-keeper who numbers his colonies by the
hundreds, experimented in this matter last
fall, by trying to feed something like a ton of
glucose to his bees. He won't do so any
more. We have been trying to get him to
write out the results of the experiment for
publication, but so far have failed to get him
at it. We imagine that he is trying to forget
his mistake as soon as possible.
In our opinion, bee-keepers can't get and
stay away too far from the whole glucose
business.
Big Money in Bees. — In the American
Bee-Keeper, F. G. Herman does his full share
toward inducing a venture into bee-keeping.
He began with one colony and now has 60.
He says :
It has been my experience and that of bee-
keepers generally that there are fewer risks
and larger profits in comparison to the
amount of capital Invested in bee keeping
than in any other business. Of course, emer-
gencies do arise, but if they are met by ordi-
nary foresight and common-sense, they are
not likely to result disastrously.
Now, that's encouraging. One prefers a
safe business, even if the prolils are less: and
there are fewer risks in bee-keeping ■' than in
any other business.'' But it is cheering to
know that in bee-keeping we are not confined
to small profits, for there are larger profits
upon the capital invested " ihan in any other
business." If J. Pierpont Morgan had only
had the foresight to invest his money in bees,
he might to-day have been a rich man !
Without any desire whatever lo harbor any
doubts as to bee-keeping bting ihe business
of fewest risks and largest profits, one still
has a secret longing for definite figures.
There is comfort in looking them over and
making estimates for the future. Fortunately
Mr, Herman has given us just what we want.
He says :
It is a conservative estimate of the bee-
keepers generally, however, that each colony
should bring in at least five dollars a year,
and as each colony also throws off a swarm
annually, it is easy, to see how a little capital
invested in bees will grow and multiply, be-
sides yielding a very fair percent of profit.
Let us figure upon this basis, and see what
Mr, Herman's income should be five years
from now. As the number of colonies doubles
each year, his present 60 colonies will in five
years increase to 1020, and as each of these
'■ should bring in at least five dollars a year,
his income will be ?9,600, and in 10 years
from now it will be .$307,200. Note that this
is not the wild vision of a dreamer, but the
estimate of bee-h-eepm gexeraHy. Note, too,
that it is a couKerualipe estimate. Each col-
ony should bring at least five dollars. That's
in the poorest years. There are good years
when the income is ten, twenty, fifty times
as much as in one of the poorest years. Let
us continue to be conservative, and say the
income will be only ten times as much. That
will make the income in ten years from now a
round three millions, with $72,000 left for
loose change.
The only wonder is, that with all this there
is such careful concealment of the names of
all the millionaire bee-keepers.
Wild Statements About Bees are
often made in the general press, and some-
times are copied unchallenged in bee-journals.
The following paragraph occurs in the Pacific
Bee Journal :
It is interesting to note in a northern Cali-
fornia paper mention is madeof a fruit-grower
hautiiti/ with (I sijr-hin'.fe team a biftitm. ur fnort'
bees ^'iuculoHize them ill hia iirchanis tu aid in
jertUiziiHi the ijear-b/ossoms."
If each colony contains .50,000 bees, a billion
of bees would make 20,000 colonies* Esti-
mating the weight of each colony at 50
pounds, the whole weight would be 500 tons.
Inless the six-horse team would make more
than one trip a day. it would take the biggest
part of the year to do the hauling.
Extractins-Supers. — '• Loyalslone," of
whom the Auslialian Bee-Keepers' Review
I says he is a practical apiarist, all of whose
I writings are will worth reading, dilfers in
I some of his views from many if not most of
the bee-keepers on this side the globe. He
advises against the use o( shallow frames in
extracting-supers, saying, ■' Full-depth frames
pay best, as they hold more honey and require
less handling." He also objects to barring
the queen out of extracting-supers, because
if the ciueen is allowed full range the bees
will work better and not be so likely to
swarm.
The editor of the same journal doubts very
much that it requires less brains to work for
extracted than for comb honey.
Hive-Covers. — A good cover is a very im-
portant part of a hive. At the present time
the most popular cover is probably the plain
board cover. Editor Hutchinson thinks there
is nothing better for the North, and finds it
hard to believe it is not the best everywhere.
To this the editor of the Rocky Mountain Bee
-Journal rei>lies:
Editor Hutchinson says in the July Review,
that for hive-covers, " in the northern part of
the United States, there is nothing better than
a plain board of white pine, thoroughly
cleated and painted; and it is hard to believe
that such a cover is not the best cover in any
climate." That sort of a cover may be all
right in the rain-belt, but if Mr. H. will come
out here we will show him hundreds of such
covers so full of checks that they afford little
more protection than a sieve. We have ex-
perimented quite largely with covers for this
climate, and have concluded that a plain, flat
cover made of rough boards and covered with
" Neponset Red Rope Roofing," is about as
good as can be devised. This fabric, when
painted white, is a very poor conductor of
heat, and if a new coat of paint is added every
spring, will remain water-proof indefinitely.
Another merit it possesses is cheapness, cost-
ing only about 3'o cents per 10-frame cover.
However well satisfied Editor Hutchinson
may be with the plain board cover, it is not
alone in the trying climate of Colorado that
murmurs are beginning to arise against it.
The plain board cover has its advantages. It
is not expensive. No quilts or sheets are
needed with it, and it is light to handle.
When new, it makes a close fit, leaving noth-
ing to be desired. But it will not always stay
new. With time it will eurl up at the edges,
allowing cracks large enough for cold to
enter, and sometimes large enough for robbers
to enter. Still worse, it will twist so that it
will not lie llat. Making the cover of several
pieces (although it takes it out of the list of
plain covers), and beveling the edges, will
help against the warping that makes the
edges curl uji, but it will not prevent twisting.
The bee-keeper who has thrown aside his
bungling telescoping cover with its quilt is
greatly pleased with the simpler plain cover,
but he can not resist a yearning for the
greater warmth of the discarded cover iu cool
weather, and when the sections melt down in
his superb because the hot sun shines upon
the plain board covers, he remembers that he
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 12, 1901.
iievei' had any trouble of that kind in the
olden time.
Some have expressed a desire for, or have
already used, a cover approaching the plain
board cover in lightness and convenience
without its objections. It is a cover made of
two surfaces with an air-space between. An
upper surface of ■'., inch stuff with the grain
running lengthwise, and a lower surface of
the same stuff with the grain running cross-
wise, have between them an air-space made
by strips of '-'n inch stuff between the mar-
gins. In other words, a shallow box closed
top and bottom, the inside of the box being fig
inch deep. Of course it must be covered by
tin or some cheaper material. The grain of
the two surfaces running in opposite direc-
tions makes all warping and twisting impos-
sible. The dead-air space is a good non-con-
ductor, making the cover warm in cool or
cold weather, and cool in hot weather. Such
a cover may possibly be the coming cover to
be what Editor Hutchinson believes the plain
cover already is, " the best cover in any
climate."
*■
Deep -Tubed Honey - Plants. — Until
lately it is probable that most bee-keepers —
probably nearly all — have thought of red
clover as the only honey-plant with tubes too
deep for the reach of ordinary bee-tongues.
Red clover is far from being the only one.
Editor Root says this in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture:
In addition to the great honey-plants, red
clover, buffalo clover and horsemint, of Texas,
that have long corolla-tubes, I can now add
to the list the mountain sages of California,
especially the white sage. This last has quite
deep corolla-tubes; and I was told, while on
the coast, that unless these corolla-tubes are
very full the bees do not get much honey
from this source. This Is exactly the case
with red clover. So it appears that long-
tongued bees, if good in the North, will be
in great demand all through the South,
throughout Central and Southern California,
as well as throughout all those States that
grow red clover ; and I have been surprised
to find so much of it in the West. It appears,
then, that i;' long-tongued bees are an advan-
tage on red clover, they will be equally advan-
tageous in the case of all the other honey-
plants I have named.
i Weekly Budget. |
Mr. Charles Clarke is a bee-keeper. He
is a bee-keeper of not many years' experience,
but he is a good bee-keeper. He knows how
to produce honey. He knows how to handle
foul brood, too.
We made our second visit to Mr. Clarke's
apiary Thursday afternoon, Aug. 22. He lives
about 12 miles south of Chicago, in a splendid
sweet clover district. He began last spring
with about 30 colonies, has increased to nearly
60 colonies, besides taking off something like
4000 pounds of as fine comb honey as we ever
saw, and will likely have 1000 pounds more.
Mr. Clarke had just coTiipleted a new honey-
house, in which he had the honey all tiered
up on shelves made of plankson edge and 3x2
inch stuff on top of them. It was a splendid
arrangement for the very best curing possible
before being put into cases for market.
Everything was in as neat condition as pos-
sible. The apiary is at the rear of the dwell-
ing house, in a veritable flower-garden, ex-
cept that around the hives there was not a
flower, weed, or blade of grass. All was
clear, and each hive easy of access.
Mrs. York accompanied us on this little
trip. We spent a very pleasant time with
Mr. Clarke and his parents, with whom he
lives. They are about 70 years of age. Mr.
Chas. Clarke is the only "child" at home.
Of course he is quite an old "child '' himself.
He has never taken unto himself that which
would make him to be the " lesser half." We
suppose his good mother could hardly spare
him, as he is as handy about the house as
most daughters would be.
Mr. John W. Clarke, his father, has a jus-
tice court in that part of the city where he
lives. He has been " handing out " justice
for nearly 30 years, and, we believe, has never
had one of his decisions reversed. When he
"decided" to "allow" "Charles" to go
into the bee-business, It was a wise piece of
" justice," as has been clearly proven by the
good crops of honey the bees have gathered
for him.
Moke on the First 1000. — Still they come.
We mean members of the National Bee-Keep-
ers' Association. During the past week we
have received the following names with iSl.oo
each ;
H. K. Beecham, a. L. Jenks.
Richard Chinn, W. A. Frank,
Jos. Beaudry, O. p. Hendrix,
Wm. A. Taylor, F. Z. Dexter.
Dr. C. C. Miller, of McHenry Co., 111.,
wrote us Aug. 27, as follows:
" After the terrible drouth which nearly or
quite stopped the rearing of brood in July, it
seems a great blessing to have a steady and
fairly good fall flow which will leave the colo-
nies with plenty of young bees for winter. I
have also taken advantage of it to make some
new colonies."
Mr. C. H. Lake, residing near Baltimore,
Md., wrote us Aug. 27:
" Bees did poorly here this season, except
in one instance. Honey-dew has ruined my
crop of honey for three seasons past."
Mr. Geo. A. Ohmert and Apiary, of
Dubuque Co., Iowa, are shown in our front-
jiage illustration this week. When sending
the photograph, Mr. Ohmert enclosed the
following;
Friend York:— I started in the spring of
I'Ml with 18 fairly strong colonies, and 10
very weak ones. They built up through April
and May to be quite strong; then white clover
came, which was very abundant, and the bees
began to swarm. There would be from three
to five swarms out at the same time, and
mixed together. We would have a great time
dividing them, but we Anally got them set-
tled down to work.
We harvested about 900 pounds of white
clover honey. The basswood flow lasted only
about four days, and then our great drouth
was on, and the honey-flow stopped.
We had 4!50 well-filled sections, leaving all
the partly filled ones on, and the most of it
was carried down during the drouth.
We have now 45 strong colonies, with
plenty of honey, providing we get any kind of
a fall flow, which I think we will, as the
drouth was broken to-day (July 28) with a
very heavy rain.
I was expecting to go to Buffalo this fall at
the bees' expense, but we lost our raspberrries
and blackberries, so the bee honey-money will
have to go towards making up that loss.
I send a picture of a part of our apiary. We
could not get it all in. The little boy up
towards the house is my main assistant. Mrs.
Ohmert is sitting on a chair under a tree. Our
youngest is standing by .me. We have one
more little girl in the picture, and the
rest are neighbors' children.
In front you will see my home-made ex-
tractor. It works all right, and is away
ahead of the small extractors I have seen
around here. The cost, outside of the work,
was -*3.25. I can extract partly filled seciion.s
very rapidly. Geo. A. Ohmert.
Mr. F. Danzesbaker wrote us Aug. 29.
that the severe illness of his wife makes it
impossible for him to attend the Buffalo con-
vention. We trust she may soon recover. It
will doubtless be quite a trial to Mr. D. to be
deprived of being at the convention, for he
enjoys such gatherings.
Mr. Thos. Dougherty, of Bureau Co., 111.,
called at our office last week. He has been
keeping bees, off and on, for 40 years. He
now has 2.5 colonies, and reports a good sea-
son. Mr. D. says he can get one or two cents
per pound more for honey in the tall 4x5 sec-
tions than for honey in the square sections.
in his local market.
Hon. Eugene Secor is on the program of
the 21st annual session of the Farmers'
National Congress, to be held at Sioux Falls,
S. Dak., Oct. 1 to 10, IflOl. His subject is:
" Some Problems Confronting the American
Farmer." Surely, he has an extensive text,
and one that permits of considerable latitude
in its discussion.
The Apiary of Louis C. Koehler (see
page 585) is situated in Manitowoc Co., Wis.,
and contains 185 colonies of bees, all in 10-
frame Langstroth hives, except a few which
he uses for experimental purposes. This api-
ary was started 20 years ago with five colonies
of bees, and it has proved to be a success,
although there have been set-backs and poor
seasons. His father calls it the " big circus,"
and their farm he calls the " side-show."
The apiary is run entirely for extracted
honey, which is all disposed of in the home
market, being sold direct to the consumer.
The white clover and the basswood honey are
sold at 10 cents per pound, and the goldenrod
at 9 cents. In the neighboring cities he has
disposed of about three-fourths of a pound
per capita on an average ; he thinks this a
pretty high average, and would like to hear
of any one who has done any better.
Mr. Koehler has a honey-house 16.\28 feet
floor-space, and 12 feet high. The lower floor
is divided into two rooms; one is the ex-
tracting-room, 16x10 feet, and the other is
the honey storage-room, 12x16 feet. The sec-
ond floor is used as a store-room for empty
boxes, frames, etc., and as a paint-shop. He
uses extractors of his father's own invention.
Mr. F. Wilcox, of Juneau Co., Wis.,
dropped in to see us, Sept. 2, when on his
way East to attend the Buffalo convention,
and visitthat part of the country. He reports
the fall honey crop a failure in his region, but
the yield from clover was good, especially
alsike clover. There being several days of
cool weather just at basswood bloom, the
yield from that source was not very good.
Sept. 12. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
581
I Contributed Articles, l
Transferring Worker-Comb for Drone-Comb.
BY C. P. DAD.\NT.
IN repl)' to a question on this subject, I would say that it
is indispensable for the novice to learn how to transfer
combs properly, for many reasons. First, he may have
bees in old boxes, swarms hived in haste, in any kind of a
receptacle — a dry goods box, a cracker box, a keg, or per-
haps even a hollow tree, though the latter are getting
scarce when compared to 35 years ago.
Then, there is the exchanging of drone-comb for
worker-comb, as mentioned in the query. It is also some-
times necessary to straighten combs, or even to take them
out entirely, if not built true in the center of the frames :
for a movable-frame hive deserves its name only when each
comb hangs true on a seperate frame. Before the inven-
tion of comb foundation, it was much more ditficult to
secure straight combs, and apiarists had recourse to all
sorts of devices to compel the bees to follow the straight
line. These devices were more or less successful, and for
that reason the handling of the frames in the management
of the apiary was more difficult than today.
It must be borne in mind that drone-comb may be
removed with the best results when the combs are dry, and
so the time for this work is early in the spring or during a
dearth of honey.
When examining the frames, set aside all that have
more drone-comb than worker-comb, and cut out every-
FASTESISG TRASSFEBREI) WOBKER-COMB.
thing. This will give you a number of pieces of good
worker-comb to use. The frames that have been thus
emptied can be supplied with either a strip or a full sheet of
foundation, and placed in a hive in which a swarm is to be
hived.
It does not matter how small a piece of worker-comb
you may have, do not destroy it, unless it is absolutely too
old and dirty or crooked. Small pieces may be used as well
as large ones. I remember that my father, when I was vet
a boy, used to transfer into our hives the combs of small
boxes in which we had received imported queens from
Italy. At that time the exporters put up the queens for
shipment in small boxes with two frames of comb, each
comb about 3x4', inches. My father would make a very
decent frame of comb with some 16 of those pieces
arranged symmetrically in the 'frame, four in the length
and four in the height of the frame. With a little labor
from the bees, we had a very good comb with no drone-
cells, except an occasional one at the seaius, and it is cer-
tain that those combs could still be found in our hives,
showing plainly the suturf or seam made by the bees. I
may say that at one time we imported as many as 300
queens annually from Italy.
To hold the combs in place, we use a light wire, say No.
16, of about the height of the frame, and with both ends
bent at right angles, so the wire may be driven into the
the wood at the top and bottom. It is well to punch a small
hole previously, with an awl, for it helps in driving the
wire into the wood. A number of these are put on one side
of the frame, and the frame is laid on the table with the
wires on the underside, then the piece of comb is fitted, and
more wires nailed on top of it.
To fit a piece of worker-comb into a gap from which a
drone-comb had been removed, lay your spare piece of
worker-comb on the table, then put the frame down upon it
with the empty space over the comb, you can thus mark the
exact size and shape of the piece to be cut. This is marked
with a sharp knife. If the cut is made exact and the combs
are rather old, the fit will be so good that no support will be
needed, and the bees will have them fastened together
before there is any danger of the patch coming to pieces.
In putting in small pieces shorter wires may be used. (See
engraving).
There is no need of leaving the wires on after the
combs have been repaired by the bees. If you leave them,
it will spoil a row of cells all the way up and down along
each wire. Usually a week is amply sufficient to have the
combs patched and in good order, unless the colony is weak
and there is no flow of honey.
If transferring is to be tried during a honey-flow, it is
necessary to extract the honey out of the combs first.
Under no circumstances would a good apiarist transfer
combs during a hot spell of weather, especially if there
was much honey, unless the combs to be handled were old
and tough.
Never destroy good worker-combs, unless they are so
exceedingly dirty that it is evident that the queen would
not, or could not, lay eggs in them. That is usually the
case with the lower edge of the combs of a very old hive.
But if the combs are clean, age makes no difference ; we
have combs over 40 years old that I would not exchange for
the same area of foundation.
Some writers will tell you that bees can build combs so
fast, and so cheapl}', that a swarm hived on empty frames
will succeed about as well as one hived on combs already
built ; but you must class them with the farmers who tell
you that land without manure can be kept as productive as
land that is well manured. Such talk makes a diversion, it
cau.ses discussions, and breaks the monotony by causing
the heads to warm up : but in the long run, all the fine-spun
theories give way to plain facts. Hancock Co., III.
Hiving Two Swarms in One Hive.
BV C. DAVENPORT.
LAST year I wrote an article for the American Bee
Journal, in which I stated the fact, and endeavored to
explain why a good deal more surplus white honey
could be obtained here if two swarms were hived together
in one hive than could be if each were given a separate
hive. In commenting on this in his inimitable way, Mr.
Hasty compared it to Hamlet with Hamlet left out; and
from what he further said I infer that he has had, or thinks
there would be, trouble on account of the queens being
balled. But in the hundreds of natural swarms I have
hived in this way I do not remember a single instance
where any trouble of this kind occurred, and no precaution
whatever was ever taken to prevent it ; that is, when both
swarms issued at or about the same time. It would be of
interest to me, if Mr. Hasty would say whether he ever had
any trouble of this kind, or only thought there might be.
Of course, with artificial swarms, or when two natural
swarms that issue on different days are hived in one hive,
precautions have to be taken to prevent the bees from fight-
ing, but this is not done with any special regard to prevent
the queens being balled.
What leads me to say more on this subject is that soon
after what I wrote last year was published, a friend of mine,
who keeps bees in a small way, came to my place and
wanted to know much more in regard to the matter than I
had explained, and was much pleased to find out that nat-
ural swarms that issued a few days apart could be put
together so they would work as well as they would when
they both swarmed the same day ; when this occurred he
had no trouble in getting both swarms to work peacefully
together in one hive, in which case he knew from his own
582
AMERICAM BEE lOURNAL
Sept. 12, isxl
experience that nearly as much again white honey could be
secured than if the forces were divided up.
It is a simple and easj- matter to unite successfully
swarms that come out within three or four days of each
other. All that is necessary is to hive the swarm that
issues last in a separate hive, and leave it in this till even-
ing, then carry it to the hive that contains the swarm which
it is desired to unite it with. The tiees of this swarm, that
issued first, are now smoked enough so they will thoroughly
fill themselves with honey : or the plan will work if there
is no honey in the hive for them to fill up on. if they are
smoked enough to take the fight all out of them.
They are now all shaken, in any way most handy, down
on the ground in front of their hive. Then the bees of the
last swarm are dumped on top of them and all allowed to
crawl into the hive together. The whole operation need
not take over five minutes, and has always been a success
with me. The bees of the last swarm need no smoke if
they are united the same day they swarm, but the plan will
also work just as well as if the second swarm is left until
the second or third daj- ; but in this case the bees of both
swarms would need to be well smoked, and, of course, the
hive that contained one swarm would, the first day. have to
be set close beside the other, or the bees from the swarm
moved would return to the location or place where their
hive was first set. if there is a laying queen with each
swarm, and as I have no particular preference as to which
survives, no attention is paid to them. Of course, one is
always killed, and this is almost invariably done the first
night. Whether this murder is committed by the bees, or
settled by royalty itself, I am not able to say. but my opin-
ion is that the bees are not guilty, for I have often noticed
these queens that would he found dead in front of the hives
the next morning, and their wings and the hair or fuzz on
their bodies was not gnawed or marred up, which, so far as
I have observed, is usually the case when a queen is balled
and worried to death by the bees. However this may be, I
never knew one queen to fail to survive, though when one
swarm has a virgin queen it is usually the virgin that sur-
vives and she may be lost on her wedding-trip. Such cases
have occurred with me. but of late I always have a laying
queen with these double swarms, for it may be a number of
days before a virgin queen gets to laying, when all goes
well, and a swarm with a laying queen does much better
section work than one with a virgin, and a very few days in
a good flow may mean a great deal with these allied forces.
But Iwould advise all who try this plan of hiving two
swarms in one hive, not to have a laying queen only, but
also .to have her wings clipped, or else use an entrance-
guard until fully satisfied that they have settled down to
work and intend to stay : for these big double swarms are
more liable to desert than a single swarm is. I lost an
immense one last year ; there were nearly three full
swarms in it. Of course it was carelessness, and might
have been prevented.
The hiving of two swarms together is very profitable
with me. Others may not meet with the same success ; we
can not all obtain the same results with the same plan.
For instance, in the American Bee Journal for May 24.
1900, is an extract from the Canadian Bee Journal in which
Mr. Hail — one of Canada's largest and most succesfnl bee-
keepers— is quoted as follows :
"We hived every swarm on half combs and half foundation, full
sheets of foundation ifour sheets to the pound), placing the old colo-
nies alongside the new swarm : six or seven days after we shook all
the young bees that had hatched in that time into or in front of the
swarm, making it very strong, and took the brood away and hived a
swarm on it. There were no eggs and little or no uncapped larvae.
Every swarm of bees we put upon those combs stayed and went right
to work : we carried that out throughout the season. We started with
200 colonies of bees and we finished with 212. and we took 2.5.0tio
pounds of honey.'"
Previous to what I have quoted he said that this was
comb honey. I was much impressed with this plan, and
the results obtained from it. and last season I tried it in
quite a large way, but the whole thing was practically a
failure in my hands, compared with the results I can obtain
in other ways, and it would no doubt be of interest to many
if others who tried the plan last season would report
results. I do not mean that the plan may not be all right —
I only wish to insinuate in a mild way so as not to injure
my own feelings too much, that I do not know enough to
make the method a success. With me, swarms would in
some cases refuse to stay on those combs containing, as
they did. (and must when this plan is practicedi a great
deal of sealed brood. If forced to stay by an entrance-
guard or clipped queen they did not work with anything
like the vim and energy that a swarm hived on starters
would, and the results in section work was less than even
the languid, indifferent way in which they in some instances
worked would lead one to expect.
The method, in brief, by which I can" obtain the best
results in section work with swarms, either natural or arti-
ficial ones, if, as is the case with ine. sections filled with
white honey is the object fought, regardless of increase or
stores in the brood-chamber, is to hive a large force in one
hive with small starters in the brood-chamber, and use full
sheets in the sections. The queen, if a good one. will
occupy most of the comb below as fast as it is built, so the
honey must of necessity be stored in the sections ; and,
what is of more importance, the bees under this system
work with great energy from the start to the end of the
flow.
There are some disadvantages about this plan, such as
pollen in sections some seasons, and all seasons a good
deal of drone-comb below. Southern Minnesota.
Bee-Keeping on the Island of Sicily.
BY F. GREIXER.
THE peasants of Sicily, in particular those living along
the Southern coast of the island, have followed bee-
keeping as a business for a great many years. The
movable comb and the divisable brood-chamber have been
in use atnong them for centuries. Indeed, it would be difii-
cult to trace up who the originator, or originators, of their
hives and methods were.
The bee-knowledge these people possess has been trans-
mitted to them by the Greeks and Romans, and. according
to their ideas, can not be improved upon, putting Dzierzon,
Langstroth, Hoffman and Heddon clear into the shade.
From the following the reader can judge for himself. The
Long-Idea-Hive is the hive in use ; and long it is — only
about five feet long, single story, of course. The size of
frame is eight inches by eight inches in the clear. The
frames theraseU-es are made of a sort of bamboo species.
Ferula). This bamboo is selected of such thickness as cor-
responds with the thickness of the combs, or about 1 = s inch.
It is said that the bees build their combs into these frames
with regularitj- without any other comb guide than the nat-
ural shape iroundingi of the material they are made of.
The peculiar feature of the hive is, that the frames
form the hive. Nothing more simple could be thought of
in the shape of a frame hive. Of course the frames must
all be of exact size: they are fastened one to the other by
small wooden pins. As many as 42 such frames are thus
united, and all the interstices and joints are filled and cov-
ered with a mixture of clay and fresh droppings of cattle
in order to exclude insects and rain. Only two small
entrances at one end are provided for this 5-foot tunnel.
The method of managing these hives is as unique as
are the hives themselves. It is a well known fact that the
brood-nest in a hive is generally located near its entrance,
the honey being stored in the further end. So. accordingly,
if honey is wanted, a part of the frames from the end
opposite the entrance are separated, and empty ones are
substituted : if increase of bees is desired, a part of the
frames at the front are separated, and thus the division is
made.
The dead-airspaces in the frame material, as well as
the covering above mentioned, seem to be sufficient pro-
tection to prevent the melting down of the combs, even in
as hot a climate as Sicily. Ontario Co., N. Y.
P. S. — The above information was gained from an
article written bv V. Kauschenfels. in Imkerschule.
F. G.
Rearing aueens— Help for Those Who Fail.
BY G. M. DOOLITILE.
A CORRESPOXDEXT writes as follows: "I have attempted, the
past snmmer, to rear queens as you give in yonr book, bnl the bees
refused lo accept the prepared cups. As far as I know I have fol-
lowed your directions. Where does the fault lie, with me or the
bees?"
It seems a little strange that about one in 100 who try
the plan of rearing queens as given in my book make a
partial or entire failure of it. Of the other 99 who try,
ninety report a perfect success, while the other nine are
puzzled and perplexed over not being able to do better than
to secure from three to five perfect queens out of every lot
Sept. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
583
of cell-cups tried. But while this is so, there is one thing-
worth mentioning-, which is, that the longer those who have
poor results try the plan, the better they succeed. From
this I feel compelled to say that the fault, when a failure
occurs, must be in the operator, for, so far as I am aware,
bees behave very much the same along this line of cell-
building, whether it be in York State, Maine, Florida, Cali-
fornia, Canada, Europe, Australia, or Africa, as I have
reports of perfect success and also of failures from all the
places mentioned, and from many others also. If any man
or woman makes a perfect success of the plan in Ohio,
should not another make the same success in Ohio, provid-
ing he did exactly the same thing ?
As f)0 out of 100 make a success with the plan, it would
look as if those who make a partial or entire failure in the
matter, failed, in some respect, to work in all the rainutia
of the matter, in the same way the successful ones do.
As I mistrust that more fail in the matter of transfer-
ring the larva; than anywhere else, I am constrained to give
the fullest possible directions in this matter.
To those who have not succeeded as they desire, I would
say, make a colony queenless and then wait three days till
queen-cells are formed having plenty of royal jelly in them,
and, after having removed the larva; occupying these cells
from the royal jelly, transfer larva; from your select breed-
ing queen to the royal jelly, left just as you removed the
original larva from it, marking the cells worked upon by
sticking an inch and a quarter wire nail about a half inch
above every cell thus grafted, when you will return the
combs to the bees. If this is a success you may know that
there is no trouble on your part in the transferring process ;
but should it not prove successful you may rest assured
that you killed the larva; in some way in manipulating
them, for with me every one is accepted under such circum-
stances.
If you succeed here, try the same way again, only set
the frame having larva; transferred to the (-ells built by the
bees, in the upper story of a tiered-up col'ony ; and, if I am
not greatly mistaken, you will succeed here also, unless
your trial is made in early spring or late in the fall. If you
succeed in this way and can not with the artificial cell-cups,
then you may know that there is some mistake in your
manipulation of the roj'al jelly, or else the was used in
forming the cell-cups is offensive to the bees, or not fash-
ioned as it should be in some way. To find out which of
these is the cause of failure, instead of using royal jelly,
transfer the larva; to the cell-cups by the Willie Atchlej'
plan of removing cocoons — larvee and all to the cell-cups.
If j'ou now succeed you may know that the trouble was in
manipulating the jelly. If you do not, then the cups are at
fault.
If you have made no success with any of your trials
till you transferred the larva; by means of the cocoons, then
you may know that you handled the larva; in transferring
in such a way that you killed the same, and here is where
you are to look for the trouble. If you know that you
failed in handling the larva;, allow a few suggestions :
Make the point of the quill used in transferring very
thin and three-thirty-seconds broad, rounding the extreme
point. Having this done, give the point much curve by
soaking it in water for some time and then pressing it,
while soft, on the thumb-nail till it will fit the bottom of
worker-cells nicely, when it should be laid away for 24
hours.
Now, before trying to transfer the first larva, dip the
point in royal jelly till it is thoroughly moistened with the
same, when you will note that, as you pass it under the
larva, said larva is floated up on this royal jelly adhering
to the curved point of the quill, so that it does not touch
the quill at all, so can not be injured if you use any care in
setting it down in the royal jelly in the cell-cups. If you
are bothered about seeing, shave the piece of comb contain-
ing the larva; down almost to the septum of the comb, or
base of the cells, when no one should have any difficulty in
seeing perfectly who can read the print of these pages.
But perhaps you tried the plan of queen-rearing too
early in the spring, or during cool weather in September or
October. Or perhaps you did not feed the colony when
honey was not coming in from the fields, or did not have
unsealed brood in the upper story ; any or all of which
would tend toward a failure.
If the weather is cool and no honey coming in from the
fields, the bees should be fed till they are all alive and
active, the same as they are when honey is coming in from
the fields and at swarming-time ; for, if we would rear
good queens at any time of the year these conditions should
be brought about as nearly as possible.
Of late years, for spring and fall rearing, I slip a sheet
of perforated zinc down into the hive so as to confine the
queen to one side of the same, when queens are reared in
the other side, or the side not having the queen, the same
as in upper stories. This can be done when there are not
enough bees to fill properly two stories so as to rear queens
to the best advantage. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
\ Questions and Answers.
CONDUCTED BY
r>K. O. O. MII^LER, Marengo, Ul,
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. MlUer
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Transferrins Bees from Bex-Hives.
1. I have several colonies of bees in box-hives that I
wish to transfer to movable-frame hives. They have each
considerable honey in the brood-chamber, and I suppose
brood also. Would it be as well, or better, to- do it now
(Aug. 5), or wait till next swarming season ?
2. In cutting the combs to fit the movable frames,
which end of the combs would be best to trim off and throw
away, if any — the upper or lower edge ? Supposing the
combs are too deep for my frames for one, and not deep
enough for two.
3. Would there be any danger of robbing, were I to
undertake this job, on account of my hives being situated
so close to each other ? They are only about three or
four feet apart in rows.
4. If I find any of them too weak to protect themselves
from the moth, could I safely unite two or more weak ones
at the time of transferring ?
5. My hives are scattered over a lot of about 1-16 of an
acre. How would be best to bring the hives together for
uniting ? and should I take one and carry it to another to be
there united and transferred ? Suppose No. 5 and No. 10
are two weak colonies, and I wish to unite and transfer
them at the same time from their box-hives to movable-
frame hives. Must I take No. 5 and carry it to No. 10 to be
proceeded with ?
6. Ordinarily, when two colonies are desired to be
united, how would it do to move at night, one of them, to
the side of the other, and wait a few days till the moved
colonies become accustomed to the location, before uniting
them ?
7. Is it too late in the season for bees to build comb ?
If -your answer should be no, I wish to ask why have my
bees not rebuilt the combs I robbed them of a month ago ?
8. Is there any limit to the time of comb-building ?
9. If you advise transferring from the bos-hives now,
when must I remove the wire or strings used to hold the
combs in place in the movable frames ?
10. Will it make any difference whether the comb is
placed in the movable frames in the same position it has in
the bos-hives ? That is, which side or edge goes up or
down ?
11. How am I to overcome the trouble of the bees of
each hive returning to the old stand ? If I move one hive
to another to be united, won't the bees of the hive moved
be apt to return to the old stand before they get used to the
new order of things ?
I read all the standard bee-books and it seems I ought
to be able to answer all these questions myself, but these
little points are not covered in the works on these subjects.
I have about 30 colonies in box-hives, and about the same
in movable-frame hives, and wish to transfer them now if
you so advise, or wait till next swarming-time. I greatly
fear robbing may get started. I have handled bees for
three years, and can do the work all right if given the
advice asked for. Mississippi.
Answers.— 1. It will probably be better to wait till
next season.
2. That depends on the combs. Very likely the lower
part will be best to retain. Cut away the lower edge so it
will fit perfectly true on the bottom-bar, and then cut away
584
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Sept. 12 1901.
enough of the upper part to make a snug fit in the frame.
If, however, there is drone-comb at the lower part and none
above, of course you will discard the lower part.
3. There is as much danger of robbing at three rod^
apart as three feet.
S. It will need great care, especially if done late this
season. If the hives stand close together the danger will
be less.
5. Don't try to unite and transfer at one operation two
colonies that are a considerable distance apart. Get them
located together first.
6. Your idea is all right, only moving at night will not
be any different from moving in daytime. You can't fool
the bees by that trick. But you may shut up at night the
hive to be moved, keeping it shut up for 24 hours (look out
you don't smother them I, then move them to the new place
at once, or any time within the 24 hours, and pound on the
hive so as to stir them up thoroughly before opening.
7. It is never too late to build comb if it is needed, and
the reason your bees build none is without doubt because
they need none. Even if you take a comb right out of the
middle of the brood-nest, the vacancy will be allowed to
remain if they have so much room elsewhere that they are
not desirous of more.
8. No, in rare cases where there is special reason for it,
the}' may build comb in winter.
9. Almost any time at your own convenience. If you
use strings the bees will remove it themselves, although it
will be a help to them if you find it convenient to remove
it. If you use fine wire, it will do no harm if you leave it
for weeks, so you can remove it any time you happen to
have the hive open. Either wire or strings may be removed
just as soon as the bees have fastened the combs in the
frames just a little. In the working season, this will be in
a day or two. It is a good plan to look at the work in a day
or two, for sometimes the combs will not be located cen-
trally in the frames, and you can easily crowd into place
before thej' are too firmly fastened in.
10. Yes, and no. The part of the comb that is used for
brood-rearing will be about the same when turned upside
down, but the deep cells in the upper part of the frame
that may have been used for storing honey will be found to
slant so much that the downward slant will be objection-
able when reversed. It will also give the bees some trouble
to cut down these deep cells to the proper depth for brood-
rearing. So it will be well to try to keep the combs right
side up, but if it makes much inconvenience to do so put
them in any way that comes hand}-.
11. As already mentioned, if you shut up the bees for
24 hours it will greatly help to make them stay in the new
place. If the bees are made queenless a day or two before
moving, they will stay better in the new place. When the
change is made, make the old spot look as unlike home as
possible by taking away the stand, and perhaps making
other changes. Or, you may do nearly the reverse of this.
Leave on the old stand a hive with a frame of comb in it
for any returning bees to cluster on, and in the evening
return them to the new place. You will not need to repeat
this many evenings.
"The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25-cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at SI. 00.
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
Queenle Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last.
^ The Afterthought. %
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By e. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
TRYING TO CORRECT POPULAR TERMINOLOGY.
No. Prof. Cook, it's entirely a waste of energy to try to
make the general pubiic quit saying '• worms" and " bugs "
for larvie and beetles. To give up the effort is the only sen-
sible thing that can be done — excepting of course in distinctly
scientific papers. The people have won a great many such
fights with specialists — the betting on their side 100 to 1.
The people love short, smoothly-sounding words ; and
" larvte" is " out of court" to begin with, by its un-English
look and sound. Worse than all, many folks take a revengeful
delight in using words that they know scientists " froth at the
mouth" about, to pay them up for the jaw-crackers they have
made us, and which we all have to mouth because there is no
alternative word. Deep and penitential reform will have to
begin with the Solons themselves before the people will seri-
ously lhi?ik of reforming. Page 470. .
MOVING BEES TO BUCKWHEAT FIELDS.
F. Greiner has a decided " method " in getting bees to the
buckwheat fields. One would be tempted to thin'K it would
run'olT the track at the same point, and be less satisfactory
than the old " just move 'em " method ; but his assurance that
he finds it an improvement, and can recommend it to others,
should go a good way. (Forced swarms carried on empty
combs, reuniting later or not reuniting later according to cir-
cumstances, and according to one's desires in regard to
increase.) Page 484.
HIGH VALUE OF QUEERS DEPENDS ON THE OWNER.
As to the $200 queen racket, I guess I won't say much —
just stand by and laugh. 0 yes, there's one thing I will say.
The real cash value of an extra queen depends most of all on
who has her. Page 484.
THE BLACK BEE AND CAREFUL BREEDING.
Black bee never coddled, and fussed with, and " bred" as
the Italian bee has been. You're right about that, Mr. Thad-
deus Smith. If somebody would breed out their miserable
habit of running down and dropping in little bunches from
the comb, the black bee would be an admirable and desirable
variety. "Spects the real gains of bee-breeding are mostly in
the future (if anywhere), and may be the black bee will get
an even chance yet. Page 486.
BEES TOO LONG QUEENLESS.
So the circumstances may be such that bees left too long
([ueenless before giving a cell get so excited and lunatic on the
subject that they will all take their young queens and go when
said queens do emerge. We will do well to make a note of it.
I doubt somewhat whether they waited for wedding-tlight. as
Dr. Miller suggests. I may be quite wrong; and anyway
that is not important. Page 488.
MULBERRY HONEY.
Fruit honey has a dreadful reputation for killing bees in
winter ; nevertheless a fruit 87 percent sugars, and affect-
ing the human palate as a pure sweet, may deserve further
trial. Would have to go it pretty strong in raising mulberries
else the birds would harvest them for you. Say, try them in
Southern California, where there is no wintering problem
except to ward off starvation. Destroy the brush surround-
ing the bee-ranch and cover the hillside with mulberry bushes.
Then when a famine year comes tell the bees to go. harvest tor
themselves. Page 493.
SOME "hot" POETRY' REVIEWED.
If it were a youth publishing a poem for the first time I'd
have mercy, but (having a little of the David and Goliath
spirit) I'm going to go for Eugene Secor as he stands on page
514.
" And flowers to yield the dainty drop
Which heat and drouth have caused to dry up."
That is not doggerel; it's prose. The writer should have
taken timely warning from the fate of Stenog, whose sin was
smaller than this one. Usually false rhyme and lame metre
and reckless changes of form go in company with emptiness
Sept. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
585
of thought and substance ; but it is not so in this case. The
thoughts are not all above criticism, but there Is a good supply
of them, some of them rather striking. The trouble seems to
be that he was too mortally lazy (probably on account of some
hot July days) to correct the metre of a few lines.
" Is praying in animal language for rain,"
is a nice amphibrachtic line — but, as there isn't another one
in the poem, it rather jars us when as rocking back and forth
in iambics we unexpectedly come upon it. The time has
entirely gone by when one could afford to be " slouchy " in the
technical finish of his published poetry. — fWe thought some
one else would "straighten out " this matter, so we let the
'• poem " appear just as it was written. Hot weather is often
responsible for over-heated brains — and some other things. —
Editok] .
colont and prime s\varm "repeaters."
On page 493, C. H. Harlan contributes an extreme case
of the repeating of both prime swarm and old colony. One
year in the long ago (not very far from 35 years ago) we had
the same sort of swarming here. It was a warm and showery
summer; and the crop that year was not very large. I have
no records going back so far as that, and so can not tell
whether his bees made better time than ours or not.
^ ^ The Home Circle. ^ ^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Gook, Glaremont, Calif.
THE BIBLE.
To our friends — all the American Bee Journal home
circles I count as my friends — we enjoy to talk of those we
love, of what we love. A man of old who had visions of
truth said, " Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh." What more fills our hearts than our real, true
friends. We tnust talk of them. What will make the genu-
ine American patriot light up with gladness and enthusiasm ?
The mere mention of such names as Washington and Lincoln.
They were — ever will be — glorious friends of us all. How our
eyes brighten, and how our faces kindle at thought or mention
of them. How our tongues are loosened as we speak of the
nobility and grandeur of their lives. They were friends
whose blessed acts touch each and every one of us with bless-
ings that ever grow with the ages. We ought, we must, we
will, always sound forth their praises with most hearty accents
and with fullest accord. It is good for us and the world that
we are all ever ready to voice their incomparable virtues.
And so our friends in all the walks and relations of life
must be in our words, as they are in our hearts. We must
voice the praises of our country, our State, our neighborhood,
the dear ones of the home circle. Why will the coming
reunion of bee-keepers at Buffalo be such a glad occasion ?
Why will all be so enriched, and why will all we that stay at
home lose so much? Only because we love our
work, and we love to talk of its needs, its suc-
cesses, its projects. To talk of these to those
who are so fondly enlisted as are we, gives new
impetus to our life and work.
I love my new home in Southern California.
If we may judge from its rich gifts, it loves me.
Ought I then to tire in singing its well-merited
praises?
In my visit to the home circles last week, I
referred to a friend who, like its Author, is "too
wise to err ; too good to be unkind." Who next
to its Author is our very best friend. Who with
its Author is ever coveting for us the best gifts,
and ever urging us to such life and action as will
as surely bring such gifts, as will the breathing
of pure air bring life and vigor to our bodies?
I hardly need say that I refer to "The book of
books"— the blessed Bible— for there is no other
such friend.
Few of the blessings of my childhood and
early youth rank at all in my esteem witli the fact
that daily I heard ray dear old father read from
God's Word. To-day the very accents and the
oft-repeated comments on various passages are
among my most treasured memories. Had my very busy
father neglected this opportunity, how much of richest value
and blessing would have been omitted from my life. Thus
early I learned to love the grand old volume. In all my col-
lege life it was my daily companion, and ever urged mo to my
best work. Latei-, as I came to California, it came with me as
my dearest friend; and as I went to teach, away up in the
mountains, in a rude mining town, where there was no church
and no profession of Christianity, its aid stayed by me.
As I started a Sunday-school, and gathered the dear,
eager children together, it was from choice my first and best,
and most excellent, assistant. There were great temptations
in those days. But there wore two precious friends ever
close, to sound in my ear the ringing word, " Don't." Need I
say that these were the mother-love and the blessed Word? I
am glad that later my own home repeated the good habit of
my father's home; that my children, like his, daily heard the
blessed word of truth. I rejoice that my own children, who
now have their own homes, and their own special temptations,
continue the habit. This, of course, takes them to the Sun-
day-school, and makes them its earnest supporter.
Oh, it is a good and a blessed thing for all our children to
receive into their hearts and lives the blessed truths of this
most blessed of books. I wish I might be so happy as to say
the magic word that would open its pages, and speak its sav-
ing messages in every home circle of our land I What a power
this would become, to check untruth, to stay dishonesty, to
snatch away the victims of idleness and the horrid saloon ; to
wiie out the foulest blot of all on our history's pages — the sin
of impurity and the blasting social evil.
How certain is it that the authors of this grand book
spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of God, else we would
not have had the oft-repeated invitations to what all experi-
ence proves to be the highest virtues — would not have been
urged over and over, to a life that all experience shows will
bring happiness ; would not have been warned, almost on
every page, against ' those evils and sins which surely imperil
the soul. How black is untruth and dishonesty; how thick
the Bible warnings to thrust them wholly from our lives and
thoughts. How blasting and full of menace is intemperance
and lust, and how over and over the dear old Book points the
warning finger, and says, " Touch not.''
Oh I I would not only read it, but with the children I
would learn so we could often repeat the Ten Commandments,
the many grand passages from Isaiah, such Psalms as the 1st,
8th, 19th, 23d, 'J-tth, 12 1st, etc. Such portions of the New
Testament as the Beatitudes, yea, most of the Sermon on the
Mount, the 12th Chapter of Romans, and l3th of 1st Corin-
thians. " For if these be in us and abound, they would make
us that we could not be barren or unfruitful."
That grand chapter from Paul's great heart — the 13th of
1st Corinthians— is almost enough in itself to guide us in all
life's perplexities. Learned aright, and we can not go astray.
I like to repeat it often together about the morning table. It
is easy, by use of such transcendent passages as these, to show
our dear children the glories of this the very Word of God,
that they will hunger to know more of its divine truth, which,
if well and rightly learned, will make us all "wise unto sal-
vation."
AI'IAIiV OF Lor:
KOKUi.EK -fSee page .580.)
586
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Sept. 12, 1901
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :X:X
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
Oup New 1901 Fifty-Two Page Catalog Ready.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis,, U.S.A.
Branch, G. B. Lewis Co., 19 S. Alabama St.. Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Bees that Have a Record
(See page 459 American Bee Journal.]
Have longest tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen. Hy return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass,
31A8t Mention the American Bee Journal.
r'alS'frkfnia I If yon care to know of its
^dlllUrilld t Fruits, Flowers, Climate
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RUF?AL PRESS,
330 Market Street, • San Francisco, Gal.
GOOD WHEELS
MAKE AOOODWACON
Unlessa waRon has good wh^-el'^ U Is
useles.'i. CI CPTDIP STEEL
THE CLCblnlU WHEELS
aregnod wht'elsandthey make a v.'a^'on
last indeflnitely- They are made hit'li or
low, any width of tire, to fit any ekein.
They <'nn*t fret loose* rot or break
down. They last alwaya-C&ta tog free
Electric Wbeel Co.. Bov 16 Qnlacy- IH^.
Please mention Bee Journal ■wh.en ■writing
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-gatherini; stock. Tested, $1.IX); un-
tested, 75 cents. " Sh u.v N'ooK Apiarv."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
29A13t Sag Harbor, New York.
DIM^O Wewill p:iy SOc.casli, pprll). for
IJI< I' ^ pure, bri!,'li_t yellow bt'eswax.
WAX
and 20c. cash, per 11). for pure,
dark beeswax delivered here.
Chamberlain Medicine Ckj,
Des Moines. Iowa.
Plea&c uicuLiuu luc liee Journal.
4»N\t/Xl/\lAiAlAiAiAiAl/V^Ai/\iA^Ai>iiAiAi/\iA^^
BEST-
I &xira6l)6fl Honeii For Sale |
f5 ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^;
9 A <c fr ^ ^'°
5 Alfalfa
'\ Honey J?c
Thii
the fan
White Extracted
Honev gathered in
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honev, and
nearly everybody
who cares to e a
honey at all can'
get enough of thi
Alfalfa e.xtracted.
Basswood
Honey J/c
This is the well-
known lig-ht-colored
honey g'athered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
It hz
Dger
Alfalla, and is pre
ferred by those
like a distinct flavo:
in their honey,
than ^
ho ^;
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Money:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7'^ cents per pound. Basswood Honey, !> cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELV PURE HOMEY
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
r^ Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey: ^
;^ I've iust sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm ^
•^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honev of my own production ^•
-.^ and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the ^:
•^ honey of his own region, there's no denying tlie fact that for use in any kind of hot' ^*
'.^^ drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality ^^
' ^ of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more ^'
:^ marked flavor, according to mv taste. C. C. Miller. ^:
•^ McHeury Co., 111. ^;
i^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. %'.
\^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^]
^ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^
:^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^
\^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^i
!^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. %.
Bees Did Better this Year.
Our bees have done better this year than
for two or three years past, after all the dry,
hot weather. We coninienced the spring with
11 colonies, and increased to 17. We have
taken off over .500 ponnds of comb honey,
and have about 150 pounds on the hives yet
to take off, whieh is pretty good for this
locality. We can sell our honey at a pretty
good price — comb honey at *20 cents per
pound, and extracted at 10 cents; and custo-
mers furnish their pails.
Richard Chinn.
Dixon Co., Nebr., Aug. 2ii.
Working on Buckwheat.
Bees are working on buckwheat and queen-
of-the-meadow at present. I have taken oft'
nearly 40 pounds of honey per colony, so far.
Howard H. House.*
Oneida Co.. N. Y., Aug. 21.
Horsemint.
I send a flower that grows here on the sand
hills. The bushes are just covered with bees
from morning till night. I think it gives
considerable honey, although a light amber.
Henry Roobda.
Cook Ck)., III., Aug. 19.
(The plant in question is the horsemint —
Monarda punctata— and lielongs to the large
and important mint family, the members of
which are usually aromatic and honey-pro-
ducing. A goodly number of these plants
blossom from July to November in sandy
fields and dry banks, and furnish a rich sup-
ply of nectar for the bees during the drouth
season.— C. L. Walton.]
Continued Drouth.
No rain yet. We never experienced such a
drouth. Bees may get enough to winter on.
E. T. Flanagan-.
St. Clair Co., III., Aug. 30.
Season In North Carolina— Dollar
Queens.
This has been the wettest and driest season
I ever saw. Up till July 1 it rained nearly all
of the time. Then there was a drouth for
nearly five weeks, so we have had a short
honev season. The linden bloom commenced
to open about July 4, and was very rich in
nectar for about 15 or 20 days, then the sour-
wood coiumenced to yield nectar, and was
never better, until the rain cut it off, two
weeks ago. It has rained nearly every
day since. Some bees are in very good con-
dition. I never saw better prospects for a
fall crop ot honey, the fields and woodland
being covered with honey -yielding weeds. I
have taken only about 1400 pounds of fine
honey up to date, mostly extracted. I will
take more in Septemlier. if the- weather is
favorable.
I want to say a few words in regard to
" dollar queens.'" In my opinion nothing
else has done as much harm to the bee-busi-
ness as this sale ot one dollar queens. They
are reared- for the trade, not for business. A
queen ought not only to be tested for purity,
but tor business in egg-laying, and that her bees
are honey-gatherers, before she is offered to
the public for business. If each queen had a
good guaranty for egg-laying, her bees for
honey-gathering and hardiness for wintering,
it would improve the bee-business more than
any other one thing that could be done, in my
opinion. Let us hear from some of our big
Sept. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL
587
LanQstroilion.-
Tll6f10I16yB66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug-ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We ran furnish you w[th The A. I. Root Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freiKht. and ship promptly. Market price
paid tor beeswax. Send for our lyol catalog.
M. II. U0iNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. .Mich
$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re-
turn-$i3,
via the Nickel Plate Road, daily, with
limit of 15 days ; 20-day tickets at $16,
and 30day tickets at $21 for the round
trip. Through service to New York
and Boston and lowest available rates.
For particulars and Pan-American
folder of buildings and grounds, write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent. Ill
Adams St., Chicago. 22 — 37A3t
guas in this respect. Don't understand nie
to mean that there are no good riueeiis —
there is about one j;ood one in 50, aceordini^'
to my experience. I have bou^'lil more than
that numlier. iinii only one was of any value
wortli inentitMiiriL^. Bees in a state of nature
d(jn"I have tln-ir dnllar qtieens but one season,
for they fall by the wayside the first winter,
as only the titiest survive.
I have been in the bee-business for .33 years,
and have learned some things, but there is
much to learn yet. A. J. McBride.
Watauga Co,, N. C.
Too Dry fop Honey-Ppoduetion.
I think the .American Bee .Journal is splen-
did, and I don't think I could do without it.
We have but little honey in north Texas this
year, as it has been too dry. I have 20 colo-
nies, and will have to feed some of Ihem.
B. F. T1N11LE.
Dallas Co., Tex., Aug. 2S,
Mulbeppy Pulp for Bees.
Yes, as Dr. Miller says, page .5"i0, "It would
jirobahly take a good deal to make old bee-
keepers believe that bees could store good
honey from the pulp of any fruit.''
Then, again, some of them would be suffi-
ciently industrious and investigating, when,
lo ! they may learn that pulp from white mul-
berries, containing, as they do, 87 percent
sugar, would reveal mysteries in honey-gath-
ering that would astound thein '
We live in an age chock-full of surprises,
and old bee-keepers may as well wake up to
the fact before their children urge it upon
their attention.
And as the experiment of planting a hun-
dred cuttings of white mulberry would be
hardly a dollar, would not such a beloved
seer in bee-lore — our esteemed Dr. Miller — do
a worthy act to employ his benign inlluence in
encouraging his readers at least to attempt a
venture that at its worst would leave bee-
keepers in possession of delightful shade-
trees, serviceable timber, and delicious fruit .'
I know that the best impulses of his good
heart strongly tend in this direction, but
years of observation have compelled sober
discretion, even to timidity and distrust, I
fear.
But let courage and hope, yea. faith also,
lead on to untried but reasonable measures,
trusting, thereby, to develop resources hith-
erto unknown. It is to spirits possessing
these qualities we owe most beneficent dis-
coveries. Dk. Peiho.
Against Zine Honey-Boards.
It is not very often that I give my views on
the methods of manipulating bees, but as
each bee-man plods along the dusty road to
fortune, if he sees, or thinks he sees, some-
thing in the shape of a mote in his brother's
eye, he forthwith proceeds to pluck it out, or
at least feels he ought to do so.
I do not use honey-boards. The queen has
the liberty of the hive. I do not use them
because they are in the way of the workers.
The field-bee comes in heavily loaded, tired
Catnip Seed Free!
We have ;i small quantity of Catnip
Seed vphich we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. 'We will
mail to one 'if our regular subscribers
one ounce o( the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with $1.00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the .Vmerican Bee Journal one
year — both for $1.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 35 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14()Krie St., - CHICAGO, ILL. I Please menuon Bee Journal when writing;
XJISTTESTEID
Italian Qneeos Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at $1.00, and
25 cts., we will mail you free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St.,
CHICAGO, ILL.
TAKE YOUR TIME,
but when you do decide, be sure it is The PAGE.
PAtJKtVOVKN WIKK KK>'CK€0., AIMtl AN. .IIICII.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOQ FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A2()t Please mention the Bee Journal.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the beet
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool lYlarketN and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICA60. riL
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing:
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
—FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
568
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Sept. 12, 1%1.
out: she falls heavily at the entrance of the
hive. Is it not hard enoush to climb into the
upper story without crawling through a nar-
row crack in a zinc board ! If you do not
think so, try crawlinjr through a fence where
one board is off, with a load of stove-wood
for your wife, while she is crying to you to
hurry up. It is a similar case.
Who recommends honey-boards ' The suc-
cessful bee-keeper ; Not he. Those who
have the largest yields in this locality per
colony refuse to use them.
If the queen lays eggs in some of the
combs in the upper story, do not extract from
them, but as soon as they are ready to hatch
use them for strengthening nuclei. Or. if
you extract from them, turn the machine
Tery gently. Strain your honey, and by all
means settle and skim it. It is more impor-
tant to let honey settle in a tank for a week,
if not more, than everything else.
A writer in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
makes the assertion that the workers of a
colony do not kill the drones. He says they
commit suicide. I am glad to hear this.
Murder is a dreadful thing, even in the insect
kingdom. As he is a bee-keeper of very high
standing, I hope all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal will have more sympathy
with the " lady " bees. At least try to think
that instead of stinging their brothers to death
they are hugging them, and trying to dissuade
them from so rash an act.
The season has been good here in some
localities, in places sheltered and away from
the coast winds. But the amount of honey
produced will not inflate the market in the
East, if it does here. .Most bee-men will hold
their crop perhaps for a year.
T. ARCHIB.iLI>.
Los Angeles Co.. Calif., Aug. 25.
Results of the Season.
I started in last spring with 28 colonies, in-
creased to 48, and have taken off 1300 pounds
of comb honey.
I enjoy the American Bee Journal very
much, and would not like to get along with-
out it. C. E. RocKWEi.i,.
Otero Co., Colo., Aug. 27.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cenis tor a vear's subscription to our
Journal, and we nill send book of plans for
poullrv-houses free. Si.x months trial subscrip-
tion to Journal. 10 cents.
Inland Poultry Journal, Indianapolis, Ind.
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journ a
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 7.= cts. each; 6 lor $4.(H1.
Long'Tongued 3 -Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
"5c each, or 6 for 14 00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. MuTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cinci.n-.xati, O.
Standard Belgian ttare Book !
BY M. D. CAPPS.
THIS book of 175
pages presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
(Tian Hare industry;
its growth, origin
and kinds: the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding
stock; care of the
voung, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of 50,-
(TOO copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year — both for only $l.lO.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14* Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Extension of Limit
on Buffalo Pan-Atnerican tickets via
Nickel Plate Road. $13.00 for round
trip, tickets good 15 days ; $16 00 for
round trip tickets good 20 days. Three
daily trains with vestibuled sleeping-
cars and first-class dining-car service
on American Club plan. Meals rang-
ing in price frotn 3.5 cents to $1.00.
Address, John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
23— 37A2t
Where the Nectar Comes From.
Prof. B. Shimek says in Home and Flowers:
The nectar-glands are extremely variable in
form. size, color, etc. In phlox it is the
inner moist surface of the slight swelling at
the very base of the tube of the corolla: in
the columbine it is the surface of the inner-
most base of the spur on each of the five
petals; in the larkspur, violet and pansy it is
apart of the inner surface of the spur; in
the barberry there are two orange-colored
glands at the base of each of the inner petals,
etc. In some cases the nectar is produced in
such quantities that it can readily be tasted.
Nectar-glands, however, are not always con-
spicuous, indeed as a rule they are more or
less concealed, and other means must be
employed first to secure the attention of the
insect. This is most commonly done by
special odors and by color. Very often both
color and odor attract insects, as in roses,
lilac, etc., but the buckthorn, mignonette and
other inconspicuous flowers secure recog-
nition chiefly by their color.
Bee-Keeping as a Sole Business.
One of the questions likely to occur to
every young bee-keeper who has made a sub-
stantial success with a few colonies of bees
may be worded in some such terms as the fol-
lowing: "Can I make a good living at bee-
keeping alone?" On this account comes very
frequently the question as to what may be
depended upon as the average yield or profit
from a single colony of bees, or the question,
" How many colonies of bees shall I need so
that I may depend upon them alone for a liv-
ing?"— questions which no man living can
answer definitely.
C. Davenport gives the matter some discus-
sion in the American Bee Journal, and settles
the question as to whether one can make a
living at bee-keeping alone by saying he /ios
done it. But he says his is a good locality,
and that he has no wife or family to support,
and adds, " While I would not advise a young
man to take up bee-keeping as a life work, in
my opinion there is no question but that a
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
Combined Desk and Book-Case
Size, tjl.-in. high, :* iu. wide,
1^ in. deep.
Price, .$1:J.7.->.
rpi
^HESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
1
The Combination Desk
^ jr«^ and Book/'Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
TI16 Royal Star Combination ^
Game-Board Co., ^*
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO, ILL.
[The above firm is entirely reliable. — Editor.]
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writinK.
Ladies' Desk.
e, 40 in. high. 25 in. wide. 15>^
in. deep.
Price, .$ii.S.-,.
Sept. 12. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
589
living can be made at it in a good locality if
one understands the business."
While he may be entirely right in this,
there are those who would not be in accord
with his ideas when he says. "If I had my
life to live over I would not be a bee-keeper;
for 1 believe the work I have done to make
what might be called a success in our pursuit
would, in some others, have resulted in better
success financially, and also in other ways."
It is just possible that, if Mr. Davenport
could live his present life through, and then
live another life without bees, in some busi-
ness at which he could make more money, he
might give his judgment as follows: ''I
must say that, after having lived the two
lives so that I am now able to judge between
them, I prefer the bee-keeper's life, which,
although giving less opportunity for amassing
wealth, gives one the opportunity for a
greater amount of happiness.
Taking the expressions of some of the vet-
erans who have been in the business many
years, we might suppose one of them near
the close of life to e.xpress himself as follows:
"Judged from the standpoint of those who
measure success in life only by the amount of
wealth accumulated, my life has not been a
great success. Folks compare me with my
brother John, and have a feeling for me akin
to pity. John and I started life with etiual
chances ; and. if I may be allowed to judge,
John had no more business ability than I.
He went into merchandizing, and devoted all
his energies to making money. He said he
did not care for money, only as it would allow
him to have something he could enjoy ; and
when he got enough he would give up the
drudgery and enjoy lite. But somehow he
kept on piling up more and more, turning his
business talents in this direction and that:
and although to day he could buy and sell me
many times over. I don't believe he enjoys
life any better than I. I have all I can eat.
and that's all he has in the way of food. He
may buy dainties that I can not afford, but
his dyspeptic stomach will punish him for
eating them: and, having spent so much of
my time outdoors all these years, I have a
hearty appetite that makes me relish plain and
wholesome food more than he relishes dain-
ties. The great difference, however, between
John's life and mine is that, in the past years,
his has been one of continual drudgery, and
QUEENS
QUIRIN— The Queen-Breeder — has
now on hand, ready to mail, 500 young-, long--
tongued Red Clover Queens, Golden or Leather
Colored.
We have one of Root's best breeders from his
f (X), long--tong-ued, Red Clover Queen, and a
Golden Breeder which we are told is worth $ItX),
if there is a queen in the U. S. worth that sum.
J. L,. Gandy, of Humboldt, Nebr., tells us that
the colony having- one of our queens, stored over
400 pounds (mostly comb) honey in a single sea-
son. A. I. Root's folks say that our queens are
extra liae, while the editor of the American Bee
Journal tells us that he has good reports from
our stock from time to time.
"We have years of experience in mailing and
rearing Queens. Queens positively by return
mail from now on. Prices for balance of season
as follows:
1 6 12
Selected $ .75 $ 4.00 $ 7.00
Tested 1.00 5.00 9.00
Selected tested 1.50 8 00
Extra selected tested^ the
best that money can btjy, 3.00
H. Q. QUIRIN,
Parkertown, Ohio.
fParkertown is a Money-Order Office.!
By contract this ad. will appear twice per
month only.
27D6t Please mention the Bee Journal.
yo. 4 ^^ BarJ^r IdeaV* Oil-Beater.
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year I
NO ODOR 1 NO SMOKE I NO ASHES I
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee Journal is using the
" Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
Vie liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
fill our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one we
recommend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
for heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back iu a substantial way, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon of
kerosene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
wouldn't be without it for-twice its cost, after once having
one of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
but this one doesn't. Its bight is 2).; feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, fob. Chicago. $6.00 ; or, eonibined
with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal— both for only $6.50. Full Dikectioss
GO WITH EACH Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
" Barler Ideal " Oil Stove, as it can easily be carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
Chicago, m.
Buffalo Pan= American
13-day tickets for $13.00 via Nickel
Plate Road ; 20-day tickets $16.00.
Lowest rates to all eastern points.
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. City Ticket Of-
fice 111 Adams St. Chicago. 24— 37A3t
Send for circular s[J/S
improved and original Bingham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 ■* ears the Best on Earth.
2SAtf T. F. BINQHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
A HANDY TOOL-HOLDEB !
Sent by Expre§8, for $1.50 ; or with the Bcc Joiirna!!
one year — bolli for $2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller, Carpenter,
Cabinet Maker. Machinist. Wheelwright and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one using a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work ot two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will hold any kind ot tool, from
the smallest chi.'el to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachiueut lor sharpenin? scythe
blades included iu the above price. The work
iB done without wetting the bands or soiling
the clothes, as the water flows from the opera-
tor. J t can be attached to any size stoue for
hand or steam power, is always ready for use,
nothini; to get out of order, and Is absolutely
"vorth 100 times lis rost.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
'or itself in a short time. ,
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool is fas-
tened securely In ttje Holder by
a set-screw a rill cnu be ground
to any desired bevel by Insert-
ing the arm cf the Holder Into
a higher or lower notch of the
standard Wliilo turning the
3rank with the right band, the
left rests on iiu steadies the
Holder ; the Toi il Is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, orexamlriiii while grind-
ing, as readily ami in the same
way as it hild iu ih-> hands.
Forgrinding Itound ■ Edge
TooIh, the hobs in the stand-
ard are used Instead of the
aotcbcs
UKORtiE «V. YORK & CO., 144 A: 1 lO Erie St C'liicag:o, III.
590
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 12, 1901.
Bee= Books
tENT POSTPAID BV
George W. York & Go.
Chicacc
Bees and Honey, or M.inag^ement of an Apiarj
(or Pleasure and Profit, bv Thomas G. Nev-
man.— It is nicelv illustrated, contains 160 pag-es,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, gold-lettered. Price, io
tloth, 75 cents; in paper, SO cents.
Lanestroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-wr!tten, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. I'
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?ry,
by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral ColU^ge.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
oniv and physiologv of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Uoolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
aud illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
pedia of 400 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honev-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Uutchinson.— The authc.rof
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, SO cents.
Rational Bee-Keeplng, by Dr. John Uzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
b>'ok on bee-culture. It has 35J pages, bound in
paper covers, Sl.OO.
B!enen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— Thi^
is a German translation of the principal portion
of the book called "Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 23 cents.
Bienenzuclit und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neuesten meth«tde (German) by J. h\ Eggers.-
Thls book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
SO pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management In order to secure the must
profit. 110 pages, bound In paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, bv Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised aud enlarged. It details the author's
*' new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or extracted honey." 80 pages, lUusfaied.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman.—
Devotes two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 5J colonies, $1.00; for lUC colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Boole on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvoy Tieatment and reviews the ejperi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pieice.— Result of 25 years' experience. 2j cts.
■5hi.e.~Iis Cjuse and Prevei
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.- Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizlng, by Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, aud otheis. — Illustrated. All about cap-
ouizing fowls, and thus how to make the mot-t
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and llow to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fann\
Field.— Kverytliiu'^ about I'oul'.ry Diseases aud
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for IVIarket and Poultry for Profit, b.
.v'anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
liusiuess. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
mine has been one mainly ot enjoyment.
I've had my good times as I went along.
Worldng at the Ijees has been just as good
sportas going hunting or fishing, and it's a
sport of which one never wearies. So you
see my playtime has not been something to
look forward to in the future, but something
I've had all along. No. with all his wealth I
wouldn't swap places with John."
Some one may say, " That's very pretty
talk ; but my experience has been that there's
hard work in bee-keeping, and lots of it.''
Sure. But isn't there hard work in nearly all
kinds of play? Do you work any harder at
bee-keeping than you do when you hunt or
flsh all day; Do you begin to work as hard
as the man who plays ball till he is as red as
a beet in the face, and is so sore and lame at
night that he can not be still?— Gleanings in
Bee-Culture.
Doubling Up Storing Forces.
Under the head of " How to get the bees of
two ((ueens to work in one super,'' Jas. Ham-
ilton gives in the Bee-Keepers' Review his
plan of precedure. It contemplates uniting
in such a way as to have only half of the colo-
nies working in supers. While it might be
very much better to have all colonies strong,
there may l^e, and often are, cases in which
all colonies are not sufliciently strong to make
good work in supers, when some sort of unit-
ing is desirable. In such cases Mr. Hamil-
ton's plan is well worth considering. He
says:
If you expect a honey-flow by the first ot
June, say, examine all your colonies and
mark those that are strongest. They have the
best queens. Do this some time previous.
These colonies are the ones upon which you
expect to put supers. Remove all coniljs not
occupied' with brood. Now go to your sec-
ond weakest colonies, draw well-brooded
combs therefrom, putting one in place of
each empty comb taken from your best colo-
nies, replace these empty combs where you
drew the brood from. If your hive is an 8-
frame, you now have S frames of brood in all
of the strongest colonies. The bees in these
hives will soon be so strong ahat you may
put an upper story, which is simply to pre-
vent over-crowding and to hold other frames
of brood. This time I would draw two
frames from each of the third weakest colo-
nies, having two brood-frames in each hive
having an upper story. I would also put one
comb of honey beside these two brood-frames.
This is to prevent the bees from starving, in
case there might be a few cold or wet days.
Now each colony intended for comb honey
has, all told. 10 frames of brood. The brood
is rapidly hatching out, and by the lime
clover or ijasswood is ready the colony will be
ready.
This is uniting in the brood form, and it is
the form in which the work can be safely and
easily performed. This force of brood will
soon be young field-bees and will be good for
a three weeks' honey-How, or about as long
as clover will yield.
But there is another plan, and I only rec-
ommend it when you have been negligent in
the performance of the former and the season
of honey is nigh at hand:
Kill off the queens that have but the equiv-
Rocku Mountain Bee-Plant Seed !
iCkuiiir iiileyiifutia.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: "This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-garden, to
say nothing of the honey it produces. It grows
fromtwo to three feel in bight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it Is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mall a K-pound package as a pre-
mium for sending us 0^E NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mall for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Wort Wax Mo Fomiflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Premium
A Foster
Stylo§raDhi€
PEN
This pen consists of a liard
rubber holder, tapering to a
rouiKl point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
puin t and need le of the pen
are made of platina, alloyed
with iriUiiim — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
I ind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write lO.OUO words, aud do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of iini-
foi-ni Width at all times
they are imequaled tor
ruling purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
lompanied with full directions,
t Her aud cleaner.
Best Manifoldinq Pen on
THE MaUKET.
I9,000 Postmasters use this
1 ind of a pen. The Editor of
the Aiuericau Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee .Journal for
one year, wilh $2.00; or send
S'l.OO for the Pen and your own
subscription to tlie American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for i^l 00 wo will mail the pen
alone. Address,
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
& 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
$■0.50 to Buffalo and Return $10.50
Account, ILLINOIS DAY
at Buflfalo Pan-American Exposition,
via Nickel Plate Road. Good only in
coaches. Tickets on sale Sept. 14 and
15, good returning- to and including-
Sept. 22. Three through trains daily,
leaving Chicago forenoon, afternoon
and night. Specially low rates, with
longer limits, available in sleeping
cars, on same dates. Through service
to Ne%v Y'^ork and Boston. For particu-
lars, call on or address John Y. Cala-
han. General Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 25— 37Alt
Sept. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
591
alent of five frames of brood and bees. Four
or five days later put on an upper story on
each alternative hive of the class of colonies
from which you removed a queen, alternating
the frames of brood and bees, both in the
lower and upper story, and there will be no
lighting. If your hives are standing close in
pairs, nearly all the bees will remain where
you put them. At this time I would intro-
duce a young laying queen to each of these
double colonies. Let them thus remain until
most of the brood is hatched. When the
time for supers arrives contract the brood-
chamber to five combs, give each colony a
case of drawn comb or foundation, and watch
the honey-How. If it is slow, one super is
enough. My faith in tiering-up is about torn
up.
But to return to the second weaker colonies
from which we drew our batch of brood.
This class of colonies has each a second-
class queen, a little patch of brood, and some
field-bees. What shall we do with them '.
Let them alone until the time you expect
your best colonies to swarm. At this time I
would draw frames of brood from each colony
likely to swarm, contract the brood-chamber
to five frames, and use the frames of brood
and weak colonies in building up colonies.
Such colonies will do good work in closing up
the season.
QUEEMS
Now readv to supply by returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCELLED I ! 1
Bred under the SUPERSEDING CONDITION of
tbe colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. Thev have no SUPERIOR
and few equal. 7Sc each; 6 for $4.iXl.
RED CLOVER QUbENS. the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, fl each; 6
for $5. Safe Arkiva::. Guaranteed.
C. H. W.WEBER, Successor to Chas. F. MnTH,
2146 & 2U8 Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Goods
Bee-Supplies. { at Root's Prices.
Catalog: free; send for same.
The Eoierson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only 11.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO. ILL.
Illinois Day at the Pan-American
Exposition.
The Nickel Plate Road will sell tickets
for that occasion at rate as low as
$10.50 for the round trip, good going-
Sept. 14 and IS, and returning to and
including Sept. 22. For particulars
regarding tickets at specially low rates,
with longer limits, available in sleep-
ing cars, on same dates, call on or ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, General Agent,
111 Adams St., Chicago. 26— 37Alt
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTK Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing' for use in
catching" and clipping- Queens
wing-s. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Jtturnai lof
a year at $1.00; or forJl.lO we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping- Device. Address*
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicag-Q, IlL
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrang-ements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sib 10ft 2Sft S0»
Sweet Clover (white) $ .oO tl.OO $2 25 14 tO
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.;o
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.7S 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.S0 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &:i4« Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted.
Comb and E.ytracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of eoods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. H. W. WEBER,
2146-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Buy Hon60
What have jou to offer
_ _ __ and at what price?
34Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton. Wis.
Please mentior Bee Joximal -when •wntina
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
delivered. We pav spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co.. Front & VValuut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
28A17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
WRITE US
State quantity, how put up, kind of honey,
price expected, and, if possible, mail sample.
We pay spot cash.
Reference— Wisconsin National Bank,
E. R. Pahl & Co.
34.\tf niLWAUKEE, WIS.
flease mention Bee Journal ■wticjii ■writing
GomD and Ex-
tracted Honey!
.■^i.nf t'[ ILK. kind and quantity.
R. A, BURNETT & CO., 199 S. Water St., Chicago
33Alf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, statintr quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is larg-e enoug'h to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Faikfield, III.
PleP'^e mention Bee Journal when -writing.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SI2 MASS. AVE. INDIANAMLIS.IND.
FJease mention Beo Journal when writing
>] ste. >!i >K >li >K >li >li >te. >li >ti ^K >te.to
I fiON&y AND BEESWAX l
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Aug. 22.— White comb brings 15c
per pound for the choice g'rades,with other lines
not grading No. 1 selling at 13(«!l4c; light am-
ber, UMl.^c; dark, 10@llc. Extracted, fair de-
mand at .^^s(aJ6c for white, and S'4C05iic for am-
ber; dark grades, 5c. Beeswax steady at 30c
for choice yellow. R. A. BnRNETT & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5(gJt.c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from .Sfgt9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from J3^(015'4c.
C. H. W. Wbbkr.
Boston, Aug. 19.— Our market today is about
16@17c tor fancy; A No. 1, IS^foiK.c; No. 1, 14@
15c. Extracted, full supply, light demand.
Several lots of new Veiniont "honey in cartons
have thus far b^en received, meeting a ready
sale at 17c, although of course in a small way.
The trade generally seems disposed to hold off,
looking for larger receipts and lower prices.
This is somewhat due, of course, to the fact
that the demand is still light owing to the warm
weather. Cooler weather will make a better de-
mand and naturally make a belter feeling.
Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Albany, N. Y., Aug. 20.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, I6(a)17c; No. 1, ISIglt.c: No. 2, 13(^
14c: mixed, 12(s'13c, Extracted, light, 7wi7}ic;
mixed, (,'A(qt^c. H. R. Wrioht.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 45^@45<;c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycee Bros.
New York, Aug. 7.— There is some demand
for new crop of comb honey, and receipts are
quite numerous for this time of the year. They
have been principally from the South, but we
are now beginning to receive shipments from
New York State and near-by. We quote: Fancy
white, 15c; No. 1 white, 13(ai4c; amber, ll(ai2c.
No new buckwheat is on the market as yet, and
we do not expect any before next month.
Extracted is decidedly dull. Plenty offerings,
with only a limited demand, and quotations are
rather nominal. We are selling at from 5^0^c,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55(^1 65c per gallon. Beeswax dull and
declining; for the present we quote 27(g;28c.
HlLDRETH & SbOELKBN.
Des Moi.nes, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way' at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honev.
Peycke Bros. & Ch'aney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancy white comb honey,
14@15c; No. 1, 13@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6@7c. Beeswax, 25(g^2bc.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, 16@17c, and lower grades, 12@14c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Battbrson <& Co.
San Francisco, Aug. 14.— White comb, 11®
125^ cents; amber, 8®10c; dark, 6@7!^c. Ex-
tracted, white, S%(s) — ; light amber, 4i<(S5c:
amber. 4(rii4^c. Beeswax. 26(a2.8c.
Market continues quiet, with apiarists, as a
rule, unwilling to unload at prices generally
named by wholesale operators. Quotations rep-
resent as nearly as possible the values ruling
at this date for round lots, although free sales
could not probably be effec'ed at full figures,
while, on the other hand, higher prices than
quoted are heing realized in the hlling of some
small orders.
K.-iNSAS City, Aug. 6. — Some very fine Mis-
souri honey is now on the market, selling at
16@17c per pound for fancy white comb. Cdlo-
rado and Utah shippers are offering new comb
honey in carlots for first half of August ship-
ment at IHc per pound for No. 1, and owii^c for
No. 2, f.o.b. shipping-point. The market for ex-
tracted hor.ey is as yet rather unsettled, asking
prices ranging from 45i@4\c, f.o.b. shipping-
point. llu\cr.':, however, seem to be in no hurry
to make contracts. Pevcke Bros.
592
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 12, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everylbidg-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r ^r W. M. Gebrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal w>ien writina
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $l.l*i: Select Tested,
J1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
—THE—
Bee-Keeper's Gnide
Or, JVIannal ol the Apiary,
BY
PROR A, ], COOK.
460 Pages-ietli (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
Band— $1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng- style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pag-es, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to GIVE away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given ?or TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year;
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $i.OO), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation, ml
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^^^
so well? "^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Sei]d name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Revfi&e^d,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
f lease mention Bee Journal -wlien ■writing
i ANOTHER
a ENDORSEMENT
4
i Roots Red Clover Queens j?
Alexandria, Ind., Aug. 1, 1901.
The a. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.
Dear Friends: — The tested clover queen came in good condi-
tion and has filled seven frames with brood two weeks from the
day she arrived, which is better than the combined efforts of three
" yellow " queens purchased two years ago. I believe she is going
to be the counterpart of the queen purchased of you in 1896, in
which case money could not buy her.
Yours Fraternally,
Evan E. Edwards.
4
PRICES OF RED CLOVER qUEENS:
Gleanings in Bee-Culture one year and Untested Oueen $2.00
" " •• Tested Queen 4.0)
" " " Select Tested Queen. 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to
order one of these queens. All orders are filled promptly. No
extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO.
Jledina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
IW GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '^HiitJo'fLr"'
head.iuarlers for ROOT'S HEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO,
d to them for their free Catalog.
I^^S^^^A/
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, SEPTEMBER 19, 190L
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 38.
594
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL.
Sept. 19, 1901.
PUBLISHED
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Oflice at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. Tork, - - Editor-in-Ciiief.
n^iT'r;.'^"^"'[De^p-tj.«.nt
E. E. Hasty.
Prof. A. J. Cook,
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is §1.00 a year, in the United Slates, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a 3'ear extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AVrap^er-Liabel Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance.
" decOl " on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December. 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We dp not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To orosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcom^» Thos. G. Newm.^n,
W. Z. UdtchbBon, G. M. Doolittle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Marks,
E. T. Abbott, J. M. Hambaugh,
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dk. A. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
Hf^" It more convenient. Dues ma.v be sent
to the ofllce of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honej'-seller
to wear on liis coat-lapel. 1 1 often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
*' I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
^ood idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin ou the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by maU, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
A Superior Red Clover Queen |
For sending us One New Subscriber and 25
cents ($1.25 in all.)
S We arranged with one of the oldest and best queen-breeders (having many
^ years' experience) to rear queens for us this season. His bees average quite a
S good deal the longest tongues of any yet measured. The Breeder he uses is di-
■^ rect from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees are large, some-
9 what leather-colored, very gentle, and scarcely requiring veil or smoke. They
S stored red clover honey last season.
^ All queens guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and all will be clipped,
^ unless otherwise ordered.
S We would like each of our present readers to have one or more of these fine
^ Queens. Simiily send us the name and address of a new subscriber for the Amer-
5 lean Bee Journal for one year, and 25 cents extra, and the Queen will be mailed s'.
^ to you. Our (lueen-rearer is now caught up with orders, and expects to be able ^;
5 fo mail them hereafter within 4S hours after we receive the order. He is in an- ^•
2 other State, and we will send him the Queen orders as fast as we get them at this S^
^ office. He is prepared to rear and mail a large number. '^'
5 The cash prices of these Queens are .?1.00 each ; 3 for .?2.ro ; or G for $.5.00. ^
^ Send all orders to g^
S GEORGE W. YORK & CO., ^
< 144 & 1 46 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL. ^.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
• .g ^ 1^ '♦» "1^ wax. We are payine
paid for Beeswax. % - -i- ^r^-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 St 146 Erie St., Chicago, ill.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Vour Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is tjiis i'oi-r. Size of the Knife.]
Vour Name on the Knife.— When ordering-, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knlte.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies lo the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, \.'hich is as transparent as ^lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield spring-.steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the ** Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destrov the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for.
tunate as to have one of the " Novelt;es," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will al once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
the
ife to a husband,
; of the recipient on one sii
The accompanying cllt gir
iister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
sact represeatatioQ of
faint idea, but cannot fully convey ;
this^beautiful knife, as the " Novelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us three new suBSCRinERS to the Bee Journal (with $.■<.*.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK d CO,
*WPlease allor -■bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled.
St., Chicago, IH
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, SEPTEMBER 19, 1901,
No, 38,
^ Editorial. ^ I
•^-■^-sfr^K
Discoui-ageiiients anil Knt'ourajje-
iiients in Queen-Rearing. — Nevei- be-
fore wfts so iiiueli said and tboujrlit as now
about improvement o( stock, and as a eonse-
iiuenie about (|ueeu-rearing'. In probably the
jjreat majority of cases little or iiothinfj is
done to rontrol in any way the actions ot the
bees in the rearing: of queens, be^'ond the
occasional introduction of a queen from else-
where, with the hope of improvement.
Even those who are wiilinf!: to do all in
their power to make improvement are handi-
capped as ill no other line of breeding, b}' the
lack of control of the sire in mating. The
man who attempts to breed a good horse or
cow can do just as much toward controlling
the sire as the dam. while the bee-keeper may
take all the pains possible to select the dam
and then have her meet a mate of the poorest
sort from some colony two miles away. To
lie sure, he may succeed to a degree by hav-
ing his young queens tly out to mate at a
lime of day when drones in general are not
Hying, or he may go to the expense of having
a Davitte cage, but even then the control is
only partial, for instead ot a single drone
being selected, a hundred or more will be on
the scene ot action.
But with all the discouragements there is
much to encourage, and a man with the
smallest allowance of ability and experience
may do something, if not to improve his
stock, at least to keep it from becoming worse.
For, left entirely to itself, the greatest
amount of increase coming from colonies
most given to swarming and least given to
storing, the chances are more in favor of
deterioration than improvement. By pur-
chasing a single queen of Italian blood, the
owner of black bees may, inside of two
months, have all his workers clianged at least
to half-bloods. No such rapid change can be
made in any other kind of stock, so, in spite
of discouragements, in this one respect the
bee-keeper has the advantage over tjreeders of
other stock.
While the discouraging fact is emphasized
constantly that inferior drones within two
miles or more may make trouble, the con-
verse of this should not be forgotten. For if
the inferior drones of a neighbor lower one's
chances for improvement, it is also true that
one's own superior drones will steadily be
raising the grade ot the neighbor's bees, so
that as the years go by the damage from out-
side drones will be less and less.
Even it no attention be given to the drones,
it can not be denied that a queen of superior
stock mating with an interior drone will give
better results than would be attained if queen
anil drone were both of inferior stock.
Locality or Kind of Bees? — Those
who write for beginners in bee-culture need
not expect that their writings will be scanned
only by those without experience. Witness
some ot the following questions :
Some of the teachings of J. D. Gehring.
when considered in the light ot my own ex-
perience, are somewhat puzzling. An in-
stance occurs on page 550. The first item
given in the line of winter preparation is to
look in the hives about the middle of October
to ascertain the tact that the colony has a
queen. Ra]) sharply a tew times on the out-
side ot the hive, wait live minutes for the bees
to fill them.selves, then take off cover, give a
little smoke, and then proceed with the
search tor the queen. Now in my experience
I should expect a rather long search after
treating the bees iu that way. In the first
place, about the first thing I should do after
rapping sharply a few times on the outside ot
the hive would be to take to my heels if I
didn't want a lot of cross bees about my ears.
Perhaps, however, Mr. Gehring smokes before
he runs. He doesn't say. In any case, if I
should rap on the hive enough to make the
bees fill themselves, and then should give a
little smoke, my bees would be ready to run
like a flock of sheep, making the chance for
finding a queen very poor. Now I want to
ask. Is there a difference in bees that makes
.Mr. Gehring's bees hold still when mine would
be sure to run '.
Also, what is the object of finding the
([ueen, seeing that it makes no difference in
the treatment i for he doesn't say a word
about doing anything different with a colony
if the i|ueen should not be found.
Oi.dEasteunek.
There is a good deal ot difference in bees
in their deportment under the satne kind of
treatment. An amount ot smoke or jarring
that would have very little effect upon some
bees would make others run so that the task
of finding a queen would be difficult, if not
impossible. The object ot ascertaining the
presence ot a (|ueen is no doubt so that a
i|ueen may be furnished where needed, or the
(lueenless colony united with another. It is
doubtful, however, that the practice of bee-
keepers in general would agree with that of
Mr. Gehring. When looking tor a queen it is
of first importance that the bees should be
smoked or disturbed in any way as little as
possible. Once the bees get to running it is
better to give up the search till another time.
A single puff at the entrance, before opening
the hive, and a very little smoke over the
tops ot the frames after the cover is removed,
will be suflicient to keep the bees from flying
out at the operator, and that is all that is
required. Indecii. with some bees no smoke
at all is necessary, and all jarring ot the hive
should be carefully avoided.
I'robably few bee-keepers make a practice
of looking through the hives tor queens in
the fall. If there is young brood in the hive
the presence of the <nieen is known without
seeing her. H no brood is jiresent, which is
likely to be the case, the queen will be small
and very hard to find. Not finding her is by
no means positive proof that there is no
(iueen: so if no queen is found, and another
queen is given, there is a fair chance that a
queen is thereby wasted. On the whole, it is
not likely that many would consider it advi>-
able to make the search.
Getting Bees Off the Combs is rated
by Editor Hutchinson as the most disagree-
able jiart ot producing extracted honey. He
gives the practice ot Mr. Miller, a Canadian,
as follows :
Give the bees a good smoking, which drives
down most of them, then get the super down
near the entrance, when the rest of the bees
will leave the super for the hive. When rob-
bers are troublesome, use the escape. Mr.
Hutchinson says he uses the same plan in
removing surplus comb honey.
Dr. C. C. Miller uses somewhat the same
plan. He writes:
" When a su))er ot sections is to be removed
from the hive, the plan ot procedure depends
upon whether robbers trouble 'or not. During
the height of the season, and until the flow
wanes, there is usually no trouble from rob-
bers, and a super of sections may often be
left exjiosed for an hour or more without any
danger. Still, there is always a possible dan-
ger, and a close watch ninst be kept. After
removing the cover I blow smoke lively
upon, or rather down into, all parts of the
super, taking halt a minute or more, the time
depending somewhat ujion the amount of
smoke the smoker is yielding at the lime, and
to an extent upon the bees themselves. When
there has been anything like a stampede foi-
the lower story, so that all the joungest bees
have gone down, there is noje'fcd to smoke
longer, and there is some danger of affecting
the flavor of the honey by too much smoke.
Then the super is taken off, and after the
cover is replatred the super is set endwise
upon it, well toward the trout, with one edge
ot the super iirojecting over a little. After a
time the liccs will start a line of march from
this projecting part down to the entrance of
the hive, and not many bees will be left. It
is possilile that there would be an advantage
in setting the super close down against thi>
entrance, but when it is on the top of the
hive it is easy to keep watch of it from any
part of the apiary, so as to see the first
attempt at robbing, whereas a land-otlice
business might be going on unseen if a super
stood on the ground.
"After the liees are mostly out of the
supers, they are stacked up in a iiile until the
pile contains jierhaps ten supers, a robber-
cloth escaiie being used to cover the pile from
the time it is started. This escape is simply
« robber-cloth h.ivlng in its center a very
596
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. V\ 1901.
lar'e coue escape of wire-clotli. It ought
hardly to be called a cone escape, for instead
of being a cone it is a pyramid, each side of
the pyramid being an equilateral triangle, and
each side of the triangle measuring 10 or 1 1
inches. This allows the light to shine freely
on the top super, and the remaining bees
inalie their way out with no danger of robbers
entering. If "robbers are troublesome, then
the supers are taken immediately from the
hive (a liftle more smoke being used than
usual), and put directly on the pile under the
escape. The robbers may be in thick clusters
at the base of the escape, but they do not
seem to know enough to enter at the top.
■• Some one may ask why I do not use
escapes on the hive, to which I reply that,
like some others, I haven't time to wait for
them.'' _^
Rather Serious Accusations against
the editor of the American Bee .lournal are
contained in the following paragraph from
the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal ;
Under the head of '• Contributed Articles "
the American Bee Journal recently published
Mr. VV. L. Porter's paper on "Co-operation,"
which appeared originally in the June issue
of the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal. The
article was not credited to the R. M. B. J.,
and appeared as original correspondence to
the A. B. J. We have no objection to the
republication of articles from the R. M. B. J ,
but we do insist most strenuously that proper
credit be given. So far as we are aware the
\. B. J. has never mentioned the existence of
the K. M. B. J., and it would seem that to
carry his policy of unfriendliness toward
Western bee-journals lo the extreme limit,
Editor York deems it legitimate to take from
iheir cohinins free-handed and without ren-
dering credit. Whatever may l)e the motive,
this is a species of piracy roundly condemned
Ijy all reputable journalists, and we are sorry
lo see it indulged by a member of the apicul-
tural press. All we ask is, treat us fairly,
Mr. York, or hands off, please.
We haven't read anything in a long time
that has amused us so much as has the above.
And yet we do truly feel sorry for our new
brother editor. He didn't notice that right at
the head of the article in (|uestion we had this
credit :
■'Read at the Lougmont meeting of the
Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Association,
April 80, 1901, by W. L. Porter."
You see, we did not publish it " as original
correspondence in the A. B. J.," as he
charges. No other credit than what we
Ijave was needed. Of course, our good brother
editor didn't know that anything read at a
convention is public property — even the re-
port of discussions is, also, unless the journal
publishing it has paid for such report, as we
have done for that of the National Bee-Keep-
ers' Association.
So it is clearly seen that Mr. Porter's article
wasn't even written originally for the Rocky
Mountain Bee Journal, but for the Colorado
State convention. If it had been written e.\-
pressly for that paper, why was it necessary
to have at its head these words when appear-
ing there also ?
•• A paper read at the Longmont meeting of
the Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Ass'n., Apr.
ao, 1901:
Again, our worthy fellow editor says this :
•So far as we are aware, the A. B. J. has
never mentioned the existence of the R. M. B.
.1,. etc."
Of course, again he wasn't "aware," for he
evidently did not know of the following
notice, which we printed on page 212 of this
journal for April 4, 1901 :
■ The Rocky Mountain Bee Journal is the
name of the latest claimant to the patronage
of the bee-keeping public. It purports to be
published ' For Colorado and the Great Inter-
Mountain Region.' It is to be issued monthly,
is neatly printed, and presents a good general
appearance.''
Our hist inclination, upon reading the accu-
sations made Ijy our fellow editor, was to
ignore them entirely, as they deserved to be
treated. And yet. after second thought, we
felt it was an opportunity for us to enlighten
him in a kindly manner, which we felt sure
he would appreciate, for even editor's have
much to learn, especially young ones.
Now, after having said that much, we will
go further, and say that we wish the Rocky
Mountain Bee Journal all kinds of success in
the very difficult Held in which it has chosen
to enter.
But we would also like to suggest, that,
sometimes it is better to write privately to a
supposedly offending brother, and see if with
his help a rather ridiculous side-show of one's
self can not be avoided.
I YVeekly Budget. |
w. /.. in rcuissox.
TuK ExECfTivE Committee of the Na-
tional Bee-Keepers' Association for 1902,
elected at Buffalo last week, are as follows:
President— W. '/.. Hutchinson, of Michigan.
Vice-President— O. L. Hershiser. of New
York.
Secretarv— Dr. A. B. Mason, of Ohio.
The Koof-Ai>iaky of August Asmussen,
of Pottawattamie Co., Iowa, helps out our
tirst page this week. Here is what he wrote
us about himself and his bees :
Editor Americas Bee JOLUXAL:~Ten
vears ago I started with one colony of bees,
and. finding it both pleasant and profitable, I
liave kept bees ever since.
I am a harness-maker by trade, and since
last spring have lived on the main street next
to my shop. In order to care for the bees
properly I decided to keep them on the roof.
and I was forced to move them at night, as
some of the citizens strongly objected to bee-
keeping in town.
If it were not for the swarming habit of the
bee, no one would have known the bees were
on the roof. I have prevented the bees from
swarming, to a great extent, by giving them
plenty of room, and controlling them by clip-
ping the queens' wings.
The bees did well during the month of
June, but on account of lack of rain during
July they decreased instead of increased,
judging by the hive on the scales
August Asmussen.
Mr. Wm. Duncan, of Dupage Co., Ul.,
began in the spring with 10 colonies, now has
15, and will likeiy harvest 100 pounds of comb"
lioney per colony, spring count, in 4x5 sec-
tions. Mr. Duncan combines bee-keeping
v^ith the office of Justice of the Peace, and it
seems to be a good arrangement.
■We had the pleasure of visiting Mr. Duncan
and his apiary, Aug. 29. He lives 17 miles
southwest of Chicago, in a fairly good sweet
clover district, so his. honey is mainly from
that source. He will have no difficulty in
selling all he can take off the hives at $3.50
per case of 20 .sections. He now uses the
Danzenbaker hive, but expects hereafter to
use the regular Langstroth 10-frame brood-
chamber with Danzenbaker super. Some
other bee-keepers find such a combination all
right for the production of comb honey. One
great advantage is that in buying or selling
bees, there is no difficulty about the brood-
frames, as the Langstroth size is practically
standard. And, then,'some tear the Danzen-
baker frame is too shallow for safe wintering
of bees in a cold climate.
Mr. Duncan has a very neat apiary. But,
then, if you knew the man you would expect
that. He lives in a neat and pretty town. It
is a peaceable town. too. He has not had a
case on his court docket for months. Very
likely one cause of this happy condition of
affairs is "no saloon." The people in that
beautiful Chicago subtu-b have better sense
than to tolerate the presence of that pest-hole.
Mr. Duncan tot>k us to see several other
near-by apiaries, in one of which (the elder
Mr. Schramm's) was a colony in a straw-skep
—the first occupied skep that we had ever
seen. Mr. S. said he got nothing but swarms
from it, but this year he has not had even
that from It, though it was a powerful colony.
It is a novel and interesting sight.
About 3 p.m. Mr. D. ordered up a good
horse and buggy, and took Mrs. Duncan
along, to visit Mr.' G. W. Stephenson's apiary,
about three miles away. We found Mr. S. at
home with his nearly SO colonies of bees. He
also expects to harvest an average of 100
pounds of comb honey per colony, spring
count, which was tiO colonies. Mr. Stephen-
son not only knows how to produce a good
crop of honey every year, but all the sections
are always uniformly lilled. Perhaps one
reason why he secures such good results is
because he has strong colonies in 10-frame
Langstroth hives, and only 24 bee-way sec-
tions in the regular 'JS-section T-super, leav-
ing a large open space at each side to be filled
with bees. In this way the outside rows of
sections are sometimes sealed over first, and
all are as evenly filled as could be desired. To
hold the sections in the super he has a 3V,j
inch follower board at each side of them, with
wedges between the followers and the sides of
the supers. He also wedges the sections up
to one end of the super, so there is an open
space at the opposite end also. Mr. Stephen-
son is well satisfied with this arrangement, as
he well may be, for with its use he gets the
results he wants.
Sept. 1", 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUFNAL
597
I Contributed Articles.
A Bee-Keeper's Vacation Spent in Wisconsin.
BV C. I'. DAIIANT.
IT is a nice t-hing to take a vacation if one can find the
time and opportunity, but one must feel that nothing-
left behind will suffer from his absence, and that the
money the trip will cost would not be absolutely needed for
some indispensable purpose. When you can reasonably
combine these requirements, it is easy to figure, on the
other hand, how much health and prolongation of life you
can secure l)y a short absence from the daily routine.
My father is subject to hay-fever — a dreaded complaint
with which probably a number of my readers are acquainted.
This disease, it appears, is a sort of asthma or catarrh,
caused mainly by the pollen of the ragweed. The hay-
fever sufferers of the United States have formed an associ-
ation, and have ascertained that their premises in this mat-
ter were right — that the disease is unknown where the rag-
weed does not grow, or grows in such small quantities as to
be inoffensive. Sturgeon Bay is one of those privileged
spots.
My readers, who are accustomed to observe the blos-
soming of all plants, since their pet pursuit depends upon
the blossoms, have certainly noticed that in our middle
States the ragweed grows in most abundant quantities in
the stubbles, together with the knot-weed, and Spanish-
needles, (which by the way, yield considerable honey), most
of the growth of those vs'ceds taking place after harvest.
But in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, up in northern Wis-
consin, the small grains — wheat, oats, rye and barley —
grow so slowly, and ripen so late, that there is not time for
any plant like these to grow, bloom, and ripen their seed,
after harvest. So Sturgeon Bay is immune, and it is that
point which my father has selected for his annual outing to
avoid hay-fever. For 14 years he has regularly spent six or
seven weeks there, in August and September, returning
home by the ena of the latter month.
If the reader will hunt up the map of Wisconsin, I will
point to him the pretty spot of which I am about to speak.
I do not enjoy reading of a place unless I can " place " it on
the map. and I take it that others are like me in this
respect.
If you have the map, start with your finger on Lake
Michigan, from Chicago northward. You will soon come
to the peniusula which forms Door County, Wis., and which
separates the waters of Lake Michigan from those of Green
Bay. About half way along this peninsula you will notice
a narrow neck of land, with a little bay indenting the
shore of (rreen Bay. This is Sturgeon Bay. At this
point the neck of land is only I'i miles in width and a deep
canal has been cut in the land, joining the two lakes, so
that the boats that go from Chicago to Green Bay, Oconto,
Marinette, Menominee, and Escanaba, are no longer com-
pelled to go up to the point and run down again, passing at
the north end. through what is called " Death's Door," (an
ugly name), but you run from Lake Michigan through the
Sturgeon Bay canal into Green Bay, and vice versa, saving
an extra trip of a hundred miles or so, and the peninsula
has practically become an island.
The city of Sturgeon Bay. on the bay of the same
name, is thus surrounded by water — Lake Michigan on one
side and <jreen Bay on the other. The air is pure and cool.
always refreshed by lake breezes coming from either side,
and our Illinois. Iowa and Missouri friends must readily
realize what a wonderful treat it is to get away from our
parched, dusty plains and overheated fields, roasted by the
August sun, and reach an oasis where everything is green
and fresh, where mosses and ferns grow all over the forest
and form a green carpet 'under your feet ; where the water
is cool, and the thermometer is considered high when it
reaches ''0 degrees in the shade.
Well, business was dull at home, the bees were idle, the
small clover honej' crop harvested, and our boys were will-
ing to undertake to do all that had to be done, and talve
from our shoulders the home responsibilities. So wife and
I accompanied "Grandpa " Dadant on his usual trip.
The city of Sturgeon Bay is not a fashionable resort.
It is a plain, every-day looking little town of 3500 inhabi-
tants, with plenty of grit and lots of "go." The folks are
not spoiled by rich tourists, and are willing to accept reas-
onable sums for entertaining the confiding visitor whose
pockets are not overflowing with dollars. Fish is plenty,
and the water is clear yes, as clear as that of Lake (Jen-
eva, Switzerland ; but we miss the snow-capped peaks that
form the back-ground in that beautiful spot.
I found four bee-keepers, two of whom are subscribers
of the American Bee .Journal, and all seemed well pleased
with their bees and the crops they harvest One of them
lives right in the city, and has an apiary of 59 colonies.
He is employed as a skilled mechanic in one of the large
sawmills of the town, but was unoccupied just at the time,
as the mill had closed for a few days. We visited him one
evening and found that he follows our plan of running the
bees for extracted honey — with large hives.
"This is the only way in which lean keep bees and
make it pay, and. still continue at my work," said he. " I
could not expect to run a large apiary and leave to my wife
the care of harvesting the swarms, and following the bees
in the harvest of a crop of comb honey, while, by using
extracting supers, I can be away from home all day and
feel sure that the swarms will be few, and that the bees are
supplied with plenty of room ; and it takes but a short time
to harvest the crop, when the bees are through with honey-
gathering. This is certainly the best method of bee-keep-
ing for a man who is away from his home most of the
time."
The honey resources seem to be very similar to ours.
White clover is the main crop, but it seems to come later, as
wheat does. When we were there, the crop was just over,
and but little more honey was expected, and this only from
fall bloom which is. they say, rather irregular. Yet there
is an abundance of weeds, and the climate seems mild
enough to keep moisture in the ground at all times, for the
woods are full of ferns, mosses, and plants that can only
live in moist ground. But it seems so queer to us Illinois
farmers, to see the amount of labor involved in clearing a
piece of ground. After the brush has been either grubbed
off or burned off. the big stumps from the ancient pines
have still to be extirpated, and. after that, the stones must
be carried out. These are usually made into fences, as in
New England, and when one of them is too large to be
removed, others are piled up on top of it, and stone heaps
like this loom up in every direction. Many Swedes and
Norwegians have settled here, and have very neat farms,
and the women work out-of-doors about as regularly as the
men.
At the point of land formed by the junction of IJreen
Bay with Sturgeon Bay, the United States government has
established a light-house on the edge of a fine grove, and
near to the finest fishing grounds in the country. This
spot is called " Idlewild," and on the shore of tlreen Bay
almost under the light-house is a projecting ledge of rock,
called. "Lover"s Leap." I do not know whether or not this
name is connected with any Indian adventure. There are
so many " Lover's Leaps " in the country that this may not
have any very authentic legend, but it is a romantic spot.
Together with a half dozen friends, we visited this spot and
598
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Sept. 19, 1%1.
went up into the light-house, the lady keeper treating us
with the most exquisite politeness and kindness. We saw
the fog-bell, which tolls every half minute during the fogs,
to warn the passing boats. We ascended the tower and saw
the big light, which is only a very ordinary lamp encased
in a large globe of cut glass, some three feet in diameter,
and with indentures in the glass intended to increase the
power of the light, which can thus be seen over 20 miles,
and throws alternately a white and red flash over the waters
of the Bay. This light, with its clock apparatus which
causes it to revolve slowly, we were told was made in Paris,
and cost $3000.
After roaming about over the woods, we suddenly found
ourselves at a pretty summer resort hidden in the trees, and
kept by a Mr. Haines, who proved to be another bee-keeper,
and we had no sooner made ourselves known, than we were
at home with him and had a splendid dinner served — and
•'clover honey," if you please, of the very best quality. I
thought it quite worthy of notice that this man could keep
bees successfully on this lonely spot, with three miles of
bay on one side and 20 miles on the other. Hut the entire
country around him being still svild, or nearly so, the wild
blossoms must abound.
Well, shall I close with a "fish-story ?" We went fish-
ing a number of times, but, somehow, when we had the
ladies along, we could not get much. For one thing, wife
would not risk herself in a skiff, which she called a "little
peanut shell," and we had to fish from a launch, and could
not go anywhere and everywhere to the best fishing spots.
Finally, a friend and myself managed to get away from
our party one fine afternoon, got a row-boat and a boy to
row it, and plenty of bait, and we started out on an inde-
pendent expedition on the Bay. We stayed away some
four hours, and had right good luck, and came back to the
hotel with a splendid string of perch and pickerel — some 20
pounds. We felt very proud, and called the ladies to the
hotel lobby so they might have a chance to admire them
before we handed them over to the cook. " Oh what a fine
lot," said my wife, " Where did you bu)' them ?"
I will say no more about the fish of Sturgeon Bay, and
the nice catches we made, for yoii also might ask me,
■ Where did you buy them ?" Hancock Co., III.
Co-operative Effort Among Bee-Keepers.
BV W. T. STEPHENSON.
TRUSTS are the order of the day. Almost every line of
industry, except farming and bee-keeping, is being
trusted. Why not these ?
Not long since some one writing on this subject gave
the exact reason why farmers" organizations did not suc-
ceed— they havn't confidence enough in each other. They
are afraid to risk their commodities in the liands of a rep-
resentative, even though they would get a higher price.
Let us, as bee-keepers, be careful lest we join their grew-
some (in the respect spoken of) company.
So much for a prelude ; now to the point.
I was greatly surprised when T read the article by Mr.
ti. M. Doolittle in a recent issue of the American Bee
Journal. I was not so much surprised at the stand he took,
as I was at the manner in which it was written. He says
he is going to call a halt, and proceeds to accuse E. R. Root
— (the man who holds the highest and most responsible
position among American bee-keepers) of iiiisrepresenta-
tion. So I am going to call a " halt," but among hypercritr
ics, instead of in the ranks of the long-tongue advocates, as
Mr. D. has done.
If Mr. Doolittle had been the fortunate possessor of
that $200 queen, it is more than likely that that article
would not have appeared, as it would have been to his inter-
est to keep mum.
We are led to think that Mr. Doolittle hasn't been read-
ing the bee-papers very closely, or he would know that he
was not the first one to call a "halt." The editor of the
American Bee-Keeper thinks it deceptive to value an extra-
ordinary breeding-queen at $50, $100, or $200. and to sell
her daughters at $10, $1.5 and $25. Remember. Mr. Hill,
these daughters are red r/oz'^r queens. For an illustration,
suppose you had a quantity of very deep jars filled with
apples ; wouldn't you be willing to pay a fancy price for
boys with arms of extra length, if all of the apples they
could reach were yours ?
He asks if any one knows of an instance where fine
stock sold for twenty times the price of the very best com-
mon stock. Not long since I read of a race-horse (" Flying
Fox,") selling for #40,000. It was not because he could
implant his good qualities in his oftspring, but because of
his speed.
If I were a queen-breeder I would promptly send $25 for
a queen whose bees had a tongue-reach of 21-100 of an
inch ; nor would I be afraid of any one applying a $10
" pressure " to the head of a bee from a $15 queen to make
the latter a $25 queen.
I'm very glad that at least three of our bee-editors are
friends. I wish they were all friendly enough not to" spat "
so much. Unless a better feeling is cultivated, our co-op-
erative efforts will never amount to a "row of pins."
Farmers' organizations go to pieces because they doubt
each other. Bee-keepers' organizations would do better if
they did not accuse each other of misrepresentation and
deceptive practice.
After having said all of this, I know of no three gen-
tlemen that I have more confidence in than R. R. Root, G.
M. Doolittle, and H. E. Hill. Massac Co., 111.
Introducing Queens~Side-Light$ on a Criticism.
BY W. W. M'NEAI,.
WITH the permission of the editor I wish to consider
the criticisms by Wm. M. Whitney (page 405) of my
article on page 311.
I stated therein that, judging from her rule of action,
the honey-bee could not be called a creature of love ; that,
instead, her ways were harsh and unyielding, and that she
is never turned from her given course by that most beauti-
ful qualification — love. It will be remembered that this,
was said in connection with a plan given for the introduc-
tion of queen-bees. I will say here that I am firm in the
belief of the correctness of this deduction ; for if the bees
do have love for one another their love is of such form as
to necessitate its being called by another name from that
which makes men and women divine.
Mr. Whitney says he was very much " amused " at the
fact of my arriving at this conclusion from a study of the
habits of the honey-bees ; and thinks that he could easily
prove the bee to be prompted by the " highest type of love
and patriotism." as known and experienced by mankind. I
regret the evident lack of the proof of this in his argu-
ment ; so of course he will excuse me for telling him that I
have not been turned from the error(?) of my ways.
When Mr. Whitney compares the cold, heartless meth-
ods— the iron methods — of a colony of bees, with the prin-
ciples of true love as revealed in Christ, or with the basic
principles of truly christian government, he assumed a
wonderful stretch of ability to make extremes meet.
Mr. Whitney was pleased to call particular attention to
the fact that " Cliristain governments provide for the unfor-
tunate and infirm ;" and then says further, " but the time
was when such persons were disposed of in the most con-
venient manner possible, as thought for the good of the
majority,"— y«.f/ as the bees do now.
If it be true that the honey-bee " knows from instinct "
how to manage her affairs, then why need any one expect
to see her decrees mingled with mercy for the needy and
the afflicted, if their requirements run counter to those
interests or conditions that give the greatest freedom " to
perpetuate the existence of the colony ?"
Back of the love of country is selfishness, pure and
simple, for the bee well knows that she can not exist alone
in the world. This is possible for her only in swarms, and
best in large swarms ; hence is her "devotion " and " patri-
otism " laid bare.
The real complexion of the honey-bee's nature must be
admitted, accordingly, when we look squarely at the facts,
and note that all her acts of kindness are directed to that
end which tends to promote the greatest individual security
through the strength of the colony : also, upon the other
hand, that the honey-bee invariably follows the stolid rou-
tine of utter disregard of the suflerings of the worthy
though afflicted members of the colony, is it not a logical
conclusion that no ties of love or bonds of sympathy exist
between or among them ?
The fact that the "bee tenderly cares for her young "
simply argues nothing to the point Mr. Whitney seeks to
gain. If it were love and not avarice that prompts her to
do this, then in time of famine she would not keep back the
last mite from those young hopefuls — the larval bees ; nor
would she tear them from the cells and consume them.' In
more prosperous times we catch another view of the bee's
"devotional " nature. The larval bee that is cared for so
tenderly till it emerges from the cell is at once banished
Sept. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
599
into outer darkness, if some phj-sical defect unfits it for
duty- a queer kind of love, indeed I
In the fourth parag^raph Mr. Whitney virtually denies
the correctness of his position by saying- that the honey-
bee 7.? " governed by a law in Nature that means simply
the ' survival of the fittest.' " Now what does the survival
of the fittest mean in Nature but that the strong shall
oppress the weak ? This is exactly what I said was the rule
of action with the honey-bee — that it's impelling power
was greed and not love.
Mr. Whitnev's idea of love becomes " amusing " when
he tells us to look to the bees for the " highest type of love
and patriotism."
Does Mr. Whitney favor a return to those primeval cus-
toms for the betterment of social conditions? We will be
■' sjracious " enough to suppose that he does not.
There is at least a shadow of inconsistency in the
exceptions Mr. W. has taken to those statements of mine.
Believing as he says he does, that the honey-bee is gov-
erned bv the law of the " survival of the fittest," or, in
plain language, the law of selfishness and might, wherein
is Mr. Whitney justified in telling the readers of the Amer-
ican Bee Journal that said statements of mine were all fol-
de-rol ? Would it not stand to reason that since being
guided by such a law the queen that is in the best physical
condition, or when she is in her best condition to serve her
colony, she would receive the kindest treatment from the
bees of a stranger colony ? Then, why should Mr. Whit-
ney seek to ridicule my instructions for introducing a
queen-bee by a method that is in perfect harmony with the
law which he says governs the honey-bees ? This he does
not only with a laugh, but speaks of the plan as being an
•■ experiment." and a " misfortune " to any who would dare
to put it in practice.
Now the truth of the whole matter is, Mr. Whitney
knows naught whereof he essays to speak. If he is disin-
clined to give any credence to the practicability of intro-
ducing a queen-bee by running her in at the entrance of
the hive as quickly as possible after taking her from the
combs of another colony, but wishes to pursue the old-fogy
method of caging the queen, I feel sorry for him.
From my experience with, and knowledge of, the habits
of bees, I feel like saying that the greatest folly bee-keep-
ers in general are guilty of is the habit of caging the queen
when wishing to introduce her into a stranger colony of
bees. This caging of the queen takes from her the bloom
which is her greatest safe-guard in the midst of stranger
bees.
The method I here advise using is so free from fussi-
ness that I can not see why any one should want to bother
■with a cage when introducing a queen-bee. All that is
required to make it a success is. to take away the reigning
queen and then thoroughly frighten the colony immediately
and run the queen into the hive from the entrance. Never
let the colony realize for a moment that it is queenless, but
get the stranger queens into its hive before she, too, real-
izes what is being done. Smoking the colony while pound-
ing upon the hive with some object is the most practical
way of frightening the bees. This does not pervert the
sense of smell so much as it diverts the attention of the
bees till the queen has time to reach the combs. Then
when the Misses Bees have wiped their mouths and turtied
about, Mrs. Bee is " at home " to them upon their own
combs ; and they don't care a tinker what she smells like.
I do not advise introducing laying-queens into colonies
having capped queen-cells. The queen can be introduced
all right, Mr. Whitney notwithstanding ; but too often the
young queens are allowed to hatch, and a laying queen has
no chance in a fight with a virgin.
Let those who wish to try the method, use their more
inferior queens first, till they become conversant with tlie
regulations. It will require but a little time to determine
how much smoke and how much pounding upon the hive is
necessary to insure the queen's safety.
I believe that the readers of the American Bee Journal
will not be long in learning the practical beauty of this
quicker and better way of introducing a queen-bee.
Scioto Co., Ohio.
: Convention Proceedings. \
Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now
get the American Bee Journal, and we will-send them sam-
ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their
subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums
in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much
by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on
other matters.
From the Report of the Last Colorado Convention.
ABOUT BKE8 AND BREEDING.
Question. — Should we have good queens, and what con-
stitutes a first-class queen '? Drones should cut a large figure
in a first-class apiary.
Mr. Gill — No other point is more neglected and is more
profitable. I now have a strain of bees that has been care-
fully selected for 16 years. I don't care if they are not so
prolific. I want them long-lived, with strong wing-power. 1
want them to live three months, and they will do it. The
sources of success lie with the queen.
Mr. Harris— If a iiueen is weak in honey-production, the
quicker you get rid of her the better. We do not dwell on
this subject in our meetings as we should. I kn^iw, by my
own experience, that one (jueen excels others. The trouble
with many queen-breeders is that they do not pay enough
attention to the drones.
Mr. Collins — We are all inclined to overlook some things
in condemning a queen. Often, when some colony has pro-
duced a big crop, it is nearly out of honey. Some of my best
colonics have honey in their outside combs, and no brood at
any time.
Mr. Lytle — Have we a right to expect brood in the outside
combs? The idea is to get a large force in each hive. I have
gradually drifted into using Heddon hives, but in my Lang-
stroth hives I usually get eight or nine frames of brood. I
put the honey-combs on the outside of division-boards.
Mr. Dodds— I have noticed that colonies that did not
breed so much produced more honey. One colony, in particu-
lar, bred but little brood last season, but produced nine supers
of honey. I think there is more in longevity than in numbers.
Mr. Harris— How does Mr. Gill know that some bees live
three months in the working season ? We can have queens
that are both prolific and have long-lived progeny. We should
take both into consideration.
Mr. Gill — I once got an imported queen from Mr. Heddon.
I introduced her in a full colony, and thus had two strains of
bees in the hive at once, which it was easy to tell apart. I
have done so several times. It is easy to tell the old bees,
with their black, shiny appearance and ragged wings. I have
noticed many times that the colonies of long lived bees are the
best lioney-gatherers. Some colonies get to the lowest ebb in
spring, 90 days before .lune, and yet come to the front.
Mr. Lytle — I am not quite convinced.
Mr. Gill— To one (|ueenless colony I gave a frame of brood
with a queen-cell on it. They tore it down and would not
accept any others, and remained queenless all summer, longer
than 90 days, and yet had bees left.
Mr. Lytle— That is not the point. Those bees were not in
a normal condition.
Mr. Adams— Their longevity is largely accounted for by
the fact that weakling colonies can not do much work.
Mr. Collins— You could settle that by making a swarm
artificially, by removing all the brood and only leave the new
queen to furnish brood.
H. Rauchfuss— How do you know that bees from other
hives would not enter? The front row of colonies in an
apiary is always the strongest and produces more honey than
the other rows. In a heavy wind bees will alight at the wrong
hive without knowing it.
Mr. Collins— In one of my yards the hives face every way.
The bees would not go in the wrong hive there.
H. Rauchfuss— 1 set a hive with a pure Carniolan queen
away off from the others, at one side, and still it showed some
yellow bees. In testing queens I frequently notice this mix-
ing. We also know that bees live long in (lueenless hives. I
believe it wears them more to rear brood than to gather honey.
Mr. Gill— I used to cage queens in the basswood flow in
Wisconsin, and have had (lueens caged from .lune to Septem-
ber, and made observations in that way. I agree that the
front rows mark more strongly than the others.
Mr. Harris— We need to have pedigrees with our queens,
and should make queen-breeders furnish them. It would
make them more careful.
Mr. Devinny— A number doubt that any change can be
made in the nature of insects and other animals. Hut it can
be done. Look at the silkworm and the canary bird. The
600
AMERICAN BEE [OURNAL.
Sept. 19, 1901.
silkworm can not now exist without the aitl of man, and if
the canary bird is turned loose in its native country it jicr-
ishes. The potato bug was not a potato bug at all !ft first. It
lived on a different plant here in Colorado. Then'it traveled
and took to potatoes, and now it is called the Colorado potato
bug and no longer lives on its original food.
Mr. Ijytle — I have one colony of pretty black stock. I
know the queen was changed three times by swarming. Yot
the colony now is as black as it ever was. I have thought
that perhaps the queens of this colony mated with their own
drones.
H. Rauchfuss — I think that occurs very seldom. I once
requeened a yard of -40 colonies with queens from one queen.
and used that queen to furnish drones. Those drones should
nave been pure. But not more than one out of twenty of
those queens was purely mated, and there were but few colo-
nies in the neighborhood, either, and they were not close by.
Pres. Aikin — To sum it up, select the best colonies, dis-
playing vigor and other good qualities, and breed from them.
The average apiarist can not do much to control the drones.
I have practiced the method of unqueening for years with
hundreds of colonies, on whole apiaries at once, so that it
made no difference about the bees mi.xing. The colonies
retained their normal strength 21 days, and then they went
down, and it only took three or four weeks for them to be
materially reduced.
Mr. Gill — That may apply to whole apiaries, and yet a few
individual colonies may be longer lived than others.
Mr. Harris — I offer the following resolution :
Resolved, That the Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Associ-
ation recommends to its members, in buying queens, to buy
only of queen-breeders who furnish pedigreed queens, mated
by pedigreed drones.
Mr. Honnett— I am opposed to that resolution, not on
account of the good it may do, but ( know of no such thing as
a registry for pure-bred queens. It may be a good thing for
experts, but it will put the common people into the hands of
sharpers, who will advertise pedigreed queens, when there is
no way to pedigree them.
Mr. Harris — You might change the phraseology and do
good. All lines of stock are brought up to higher excellence
in that way.
Mr. Lytle— No one here has spoken of the National
Queen-Breeders' Association. Any competent and honest
queen-breeder can furnish the information. No one can be a
member of the National Queen-Breeders' Association and be
dishonest. I believe the resolution is in the right direction.
I think we can get a pedigree of drones. 1 second the motion
to adopt the resolution.
F. Rauchfuss — You can control fertilization. There
are plenty of places here in Colorado where it can be con-
trolled as surely as on an island. A man could go out a hun-
dred miles on the prairie, and be absolutely sure that there
were no other bees within reach but his own. Of course, he
could not produce queens for a dollar a piece. He would have
to feed.
Mr. Honnett — I am in favor of improving the breed. The
question has been discussed by eminent breeders, and they
agreed it was impossible to keep <iueens pure within a certain
distance. But it won't be 30 days after you pass this resolu-
on before you will see advertisements of pedigreed queens.
Mr. Large — We don't all practice what we preach.
Pres. Aikin— The resolution does not bind, it only recom-
mends.
The resolution was adopted.
TUE KIGnTFUL 8HAKK IN HEE-KKEPING.
Question.— \w working bees on shares, what shall the
owner furnish, and what shall be the share of each— comb
honey, extracted honey, and increase 1
Mr. Harris — There is a great variation in the share one
should have, owing to different conditions. The parties
should fix that between themselves.
Mr. Poster— I have had a little experience in that line
that was not altogether satisfactory. A year ago I gave lO
pounds apiece, or$l per colony for the season, to the owner.
When the colony was above the average I gave i^l.SO, or 15
pounds. But last year I shared half and half all through,
expenses and profits, and when I figured up I found that I
liad paid the owner .$3 per colony, and it was now my turn to
cry too much, for he did nothing but look on.
Mrs Brock — I have always leased on halves, and received
half the honey and half the bees. It is a question with me
how the honey should be divided. Should the lessee take his
<liare as he pleases, or should both parties be there?
Mr. Dodds — I have been leasing bees, and my custom is to
stack the honey in a pile, and, if we do not sell together, give
the owner the choice of what he wants for his half, say every
other case. I furnish my own hives for my increase and he
his. If artificial swarms are made, and one of mine doesn't
build up, I lose it ; if one of his does not, he loses it.
Mr. Collins — I have offered the first 20 pounds from each
colony, just such as comes.
Mr. Pattee — I have given half of the honey and half of
the increase, the owners furnishing their own hives. We
divide the honey.
Mr. Dodds — I think Mr. Collins" is the most desirable
plan. There is another way, to have the owner furnish every-
thing and own everything. Then there is no chance for the
owner to say that increase has been made with discrimina-
tion. The apiarist does the work and gets half the honey.
He simply puts his work against the capital.
Mr. Pattee — I cleared eight colonies and $110 off of 17
colonies, spring count. I took 2500 pounds of honey.
F. Rauchfuss — Now, let us hear a few bad reports.
Mr. Honnett — 1 started with llO colonies, spring count,
and had a return of 1 Kt cases of honey.
Mr. Brock — In my early experience I bought 40 colonie.s
of a man who was to.run them on shares. They increased to-
66. Next spring I had three left and was i^SuO out.
Mr. Honnett — I endorse that plan of the owner furnish-
ing everything. Then there is no clashing about swarms.
The hives offset the swarms and fixtures. It is very equit-
able.
F. Rauchfuss — The most satisfactory way is for both par-
ties to rent on a cash basis. Say there are 100 colonies. I
pay $1 a year apiece, cash rental, and have an impartial per-
son examine them on the first of October to see that I return
bees, supers, hives and fixtures in exactly the same shape that
I found them. The lessee ought to be expected to furnish
a bond or security. Of course, common law will protect the
owner if damage is done. By this plan all increase goes to
the lessee.
Mr. Harris — In 185^8 I put into winter quarters 85 colo-
nies. The next spring I had 35 colonies, and got 8o0 pounds-
of surplus honey.
Mr. Collins — By my plan, if then- is not much honey, you
are not out, and there are no bees to divide. 1 would not fol-
low Mr. Rauchfuss' plan for one year alone, if there is foul
brood in the neighborhood, for it might appear in the apiary
the next year, and I be held liable for introducing it.
F. Rauchfuss — Circumstances alter cases.
Mr. Honnett — In my locality I catch at least as many
swarms from outside as come from my bees, and there would
be a chance for a clash there.
Mr. Collins — I would have that covered by the agree-
ment.
FAULTS THAT .JUSTIFY UEyEENING.
Mr. Martin — A colony with a drone-laying queen should
be requeened, providing it is populous. Otherwise, it should
be united with another. If a queen is lost during the flow,
or when the colony is populous, the colony should be requeened.
1 often requeen a colony soon after it has swarmed (if J find
one that has swarmed without my knowing it) and cut out the
cells at the same lime. When I find a colony with an unpro-
lific (lueen, I sometimes kill her. I also reciueen colonies that
show inferior traits in capping or finishing honey, or in some
way are not good workers.
Mr. Collins — Do you not replace the old queens on account
of age ?
Mr. Martin — Not if they are prolific. Sometimes it is not the
faultof the queen if the colony is weak. It is hard to lay down a
rule. Then sometimes a colony with a laying worker does
not wish to accept a queen-. In such a case, I advise doubling
up or stocking up with hees. One can follow no general rule.
This year I had two colonies whose honey was capped quite
differently from that of the others. The combs were of a
" washboardy " shape, and did not fill the sections. In one
hive I had three supers of that honey all capped, but it was
all second grade. Such colonies I would advise requeening.
Mr. Kruger — Last May I found a colony with a drone-lay-
ing queen. It swarmed in June, and I gave one of the cells
to the swarm and left two with the old colony. The swarm
did well, but a queen hatched in the old colony that never
laid.
Mr. Sylvester — Queens are sometimes imperfect.
Mr. Harris — When 1 find laying workers, I move the hive
some distance and put another colony in its place. Then I
shake off the bees in front of the hive and introduce a queen,
which is accepted.
Mr. Collins — I had a colony of laying workers that refused
to accept queen-cells. Then I took a band-cutter and slashed
the brood all up, after which they accepted a cell.
Mr. Dudley — I used to move such a eolony about lOO feet
Sept. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
60i
away and then shake oflf the bees. I think a better way is to
put the hive on top of another colony which is not strong
enough for the super. In a few days the bees will kill off the
laying workers. Yon can then return the hive to its stand
and introduce a queen.
II. Kauchfuss — That plan is a good one, but one thing was
omitted. A sheet of paper with a hole in it should be placed
between the two hives, to keep them from fighting. Then the
two hives might be left together. Some will say that makes
one less colony. 15ut if you want increase, you can raise up
some brood into it from below, move it, and introduce a queen.
Mr. Dudley — I forgot to say that 1 use the paper in unit-
ing. As to having one less colony, I consider that as soon as
laying workers are found, that is a lost colony.
Mr. Lytic — It is wise to supersede every queen that will
not give as much proflt as the average. It is not wise to
supersede any queen that has given good satisfaction. Two
((ueens that I received by mail I introduced with tobacco
smoke. The way to do is to smoke thoroughly until every
bee in the hive has been reached, then open the hive and let
them run in. The theory is that the inside bees are stupefied,
including the old queen, while the new queen is vigorous, and
hence overcomes her rival when they meet. In one instance I
found the old queen lying outside of the entrance a few min-
utes after the new one was introduced.
Mr. Kauchfuss — Is there not danger of robbing when this
is done outside of the flow ?
Mr. Lytic — There is, and in three cases in which I did so
after the flow, I reduced the entrance to a one-bee space.
Mr. Harris — I tried introducing six queens with tobacco
smoke, and lost five. I used tobacco stems, and gave it to the
bees vigorously, and let the queens run in. Two or three
days afterwards they were not there.
Mr. Kruger — I use a cloth dipped in peppermint and
water, and laid over the frames. 1 have never lost one queen.
Mr. Rhodes — Has any one tried smoking with cloths
soaked in saltpeter water, and dried?
H. Kauchfuss — Yes, that practice is common in Germany,
and has long been known. It stupefies the bees so they drop
ofl' the combs. There is another use of those salt-peter rags
that I will call attention to, though it is not connected with
the subject. They are ,just the thing to light asinoker with,
since they do not go out after being once lighted. A small
piece is sufficient to start a fire.
VALUE OF FREliUENT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN BEE-KEEPERS.
Mr. Foster — I find that I secure my best points in bee-
keeping by button. holing my bee-keeping acquaintances. It
also is of value in one's own neighborhood, especially when
foul brood is about. In this way I discovered and got rid of
a bad case that otherwise would have been a menace to my
bees. Free communication with reference to foul brood has
such a value that it almost pays one to carry it on as mission-
ary work.
Mr. Martin — I moved 100 or more colonies into a new
locality, where I had no time to look around. I noticed they
were gathering honey very early, investigated, and found a
neighbor's colony being robbed that had foul brood. In
another case I found a hive s<^t out in which bees had died
from foul brood, and bees working on it, though mine had not
yet found it. I have had several such experiences, and have,
therefore, made it a point to have freciuent communication
with my neighbors, whether it is very welcome or not.
Mr. Collins — I found a foul-broody (colony once in a school-
house, where the bees had been for five years.
Mr. Honnelt then gave two instances, mentioning the
names, of foul brood being moved into his neighborhood in
former years, and added :
Mr. Honnett — This convention also proves the value of
free communication, for many of us have ideas that we luc
not able to express until they are brought out by discussion.
Mr. Foster — A friend of mine, who is slow to accept i;iw
ideas, came to me once and said he had lost 40 or 50 swarms
by absconding. On investigating I found that he had hived
his swarms in hives with little ventilation, and set most of
them in the hot sun without shade-boards. Those set in the
shade stayed. I gave him the needed instruction, which com-
munication was probably of value to him in tlu^ futures —
Annual Report of the Colorodo Hoard of Horticulture, lt(O0.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song' in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last.
i ^ The Afterthought. ^ \
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By e. B. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THE GOLDEN BEES.
It's a very singular state of things, to say the very least,
which Mr. Dooliltle narrates on page 601. A leading breeder
of golden bees, he has never, he claims, pushed them in any
way, and never even advertised them ! One can hardly avoid
saying that if they are desirable bees better say so — "in sea-
son and out of season," as the phrase runs — in advertisements
and out of the same. On the other hand, if they are unde-
sirable bees, sphynx-like silence while selling them by hun-
dreds looks too much like the spider-and-fly sort of ethics.
KXTRACTING IN HOT WEATHER.
When it gets to 110 degrees in the shade you must not
extract unless combs are wired in for keeps. Arizona con-
tributes this slice of wisdom ; and we can believe it very easily.
Most of us would prefer the hammock to the extractor at
those figures. Page 5oT.
REL.\TION BETWEEN SWARMING AND HONEY-rt.OW.
I take considerable interest in the experience of Wm. W.
Case, page 507, that a heavy run of honey coming on sud-
denly stops swarming. At my yard this year swarming was
violent, and stopped very suddenly : but my mind did not con-
jiect this with any change in the honey-flow. Perhaps if I
had watched the honey-flow more minutely some relation
between flow and swarming would have appeared.
A NEW BEE-SOCIETr SUGGESTED.
Mr. Bechly, we shall need a society for preventing cruelty
to bees if you do not extemporize some sort of shade whet
the thermometer goes up to lOy degrees. The " Light Brig-
ade" were hardly more worthy of fame than those bees that
hung out during the cooler portions of the torrid days, and
marched "into the gates of hell," when it got its hottest, to
save their brood by watering and fanning — if that's the way
they did it. Page 508.
HIVING SWARMS WITH WEAK COLONIKS.
As to hiving in swarms with weak colonies, I am still
undecided as to whether it is worth while or not. Tends
towards having " all colonies strong;" but don't believe I'd
practice it very much if I was sure of an abundant supply of
hives ahead. Saving the queen of the weak colony, and giv-
ing her immediately to the colony that gave the swarm, is a
kink which will bear thinking of. If she was to blame for
her colony's being weak, the other colony would better rear
their own. In the much more common cases of bad food or
bad keeper, it looks good practice— provided experience does
not find it originating a second series of swarms. Page 507.
SPLINTS vs. WIRE FOR FOUNDATION.
Splints standing in saw-kerfs at top and bottom, eh?
Little by little a method gets the additional touches it needs to
make it complete. Who knows but what wire for staying
foundation will eventually take a back seat and let splints see
the play from the front row? Page oOiJ.
PAPER .SACKS FOR HOLDING HONEY.
I doubt if Mr. Davenport's tombstone will say anything
about his adopting the paper sactk to the carriage of honey.
The little packages " will come to grief" at the hands of the
hired girl, and the big ones at the hands of the freight
handler, methinks. If everybody read and obeyed directions
it might he different. Page 5 17.
UKNiiKitixG WAX wrrii niiiNV watku.
For rendering wax, the inside fitting sieve of .\driau
Getaz, to boil the wax up into, looks a good thing. And to
increase fivefold the rising force of wax is (|uite a brilliant
thought. Good boy— but! Even a good boy sometimes has
to be sent back to his seat to finisli a problem. Will brine
take hold of dirty refuse and break it up as well as soft
water? The two are quite different fluids, chemically. Pos-
sible that brine may be the better of the two, but the proba-
bility looks strongly the other way. Perhaps the salt must be
added after the soft water has done its work. Boiling brine
602
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
Sept. 19, 1901.
might be poured in after the dirty soft water has been drawn
off through a faucet. But then, perhaps the advantage of
this method over other methods was its simplicity ; and when
we have put all the improvements on it, will not the simplicity
be gone ? Wires have a high specific gravity, consequently a
strong gravitativc attraction, much more than threads. I
suspect this originates some of the difficulty in getting the
wax to rise. A sieve bottomed with cheese-cloth instead of
wire.s might be tried. Page 516.
HONKY FROM .M0LBERBY FKUIT(?|.
If Dr. Peiro has honey that was stored from white mul-
berry fruit, and it is good, he has done experimental apicul-
inre a proper good turn. But I hope he will pardon the grain
of salt slowly melting on our tongues. If we knew he fed a
colony at least five pounds in 48 hours — if we knew said col-
ony didn't get over a pound of nectar meantime — if wo knew
•' the man on the fence "' found a marked difference in flavor
between the honey and the honey in the next hive — I am not
4sking him these (juestions, I am only ruminating them. On
the whole, I think I have more faith in that currant mulberry
jam. Page 52-1:.
I Questions and Answers. ^
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. MLLLEie. Afarengx}, m.
CThe Qnestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor,1
Pelt Roofing For DouWed-Walled Hives.
Has any one had experience with felt-roofing-? If so,
what satisfaction does it give? I want to build some
double-walled hives and try it. Also state whether two or
three ply is required. Michigan.
Answer.— I know nothing about the matter from
experience, but should expect good results. Can any one
tell us anything about it from actual practice ?
Keeping Bees on Sliares.
I have 16 colonies of bees — 11 in dovetail hives. I have
winter-cases for 25 colonies, foundation- fastener, bee-
escapes, and some other appliances. The colonies are
all strong and healthy, as they were examined by J. M.
Rankin, July 21. I expect to let the bees on shares to a
neighbor, he having the whole care and all the sales to
make. What share should each one have? Michig.\n.
Answer. — Your conundrum is a tough one. So much
depends upon the knowledge and skill of the man who has
the bees in charge that about the only thing to do is to shut
one's eyes and make a guess. Taking into account what
Tou say of your neighbor in a private note. I should guess
that you should be satisfied if he turns over to you one-
third the amount of his sales. But mind you, I don't guar-
antee my guess : neither do I agree to replace it with a new
one in case this should not give satisfaction.
Perhaps No Disease at All.
I send a small piece of brood-comb for your examina-
tion. Can you tell me what it is? It does not seem to have
the symptoms of foul brood, nor pickled brood, as I think
they both attack and kill the larva?, and you see the bees
are perfect and nearly ready to hatch. I might think it a
case of chilled brood, but I had a colony similarly afflicted
July 16, and I would not think brood could be chilled at that
time. I have two colonies afflicted with it now, and both
have been, and are now, weak, but the first colony, affected
in July, was very strong. I treated it a/a McEvoy for foul
brood, and it is all right now. I shall treat these in like
manner, but I would like your opinion as to what the
trouble is. The bees do not seem to carry out the dead
brood, and the queens are laying only in one comb. Is it a
new disease ? Northern Illinois.
. — Answer. — You give no descripition of the trouble, and
the" only thing^to judge from is the sample of brood sent.
Giving a hasty glance, I should say there was no trouble
whatever ; the smell is sweet and good, and healthy bees
are now emerging, two days after mailing. A closer exam-
ination shows nothing wrong with the sealed brood, but
something wrong with the few specimens of unsealed
brood, they being well advanced toward maturity. If you
had made no mention of any trouble, I should still have said
there was none. The young brood has no diseased look,
but the appearance of having been partly torn out by the
bees, as in a case of starvation or chilling. It would
hardly seem likely that there would be chilling or starva-
tion, yet until you say there was no possibility of such a
thing my guess would lean that way.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^ i
>i>^^rT'rirTrT'r>r'WT^>rT'r>=rTrT'r>ri'fT'rirT!r!f
Conducted bu Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
SYMPATHY IN SPORT.
•• The Home Circle."" page 569, urged recreation. Let us all
sympathize fully and truly with our children in their varied
sports. I visited my sou two years ago. Though 2-t years of
age. he was a member of a base-ball club, which played
match games quite frequently. He was the man behind the
bat, and his side usually won, and he was a prominent factor
in the success. I rejoiced that he wrenched himself from his
regular duties for this neighborhood outing. First, it rested
and recreated him. It did the same to many others. It gave
the whole community a rest-day of pure, unobjectionable
pleasure. It robbed other attractions, not so wholesome, of
their power to lure and demoralize.
The next day I found the players in the Sunday-school,
and rejoiced that my son showed the same enthusiasm in
teaching a large class of young people as he exhibited on the
ball-ground, the day before.
I thank God for all wholesome sport.
THE STRIKE.
Among the many beautiful, wholesome, and inestimable
fruits or uses of our American homes is that of making senti-
ment. In our prayer-meeting last night we discussed rever-
ence, its use, and how it might be cultivated. A home with
the spirit of reverence ever gilding its precious environs —
reverence for God, for the Christ spirit, for truth, honesty, and
purity, will be one of the most gracious seed-beds of genuine
reverence for all that is holy and good. It should be the
happy privilege of all our home circles to foster and
strengthen every good sentiment.
How excellent and frequent are the opportunities to do
this most beneficient work. My father had the reverent
habit. I am sure his life helped all of us children in this good
way. He hated tobacco, and the saloon. I never put tobacco
into my mouth, and I always feel like crossing the street to
avoid the saloon, which my father taught me was a very pit-
fall of wickedness and lust. With my father"s example, I
could never have used profanity, and vulgar language, and
slang has ever been distasteful. My own experience vivifies
and glorifies in my mind and thought the power of the good
home to make sentiment.
Is it not unwise for us to magnify in our thought this
phase of home infiueuce and blessedness? Is it not wise to
discuss great questions as the times bring them before us.
that we, and all in the home circle, may gain and carry with
us from the home correct views of life, its duties, and func-
tions ?
To-day the strike is the great theme in everybody"s
mouth. It comes from the widespread unrest, and the far-
reaching grievances among the laboring classes. Mr. Chauncey
Depew said, years ago — and he is in position to know — that
the laboring men have a grievance. 1 believe he was right.
That grievance does not down with the years; nor will it
cease to raise its threatening visage till the laboring classes
are as able to assert and maintain their rights as are those
who employ them. J assert a truism, when I say that for hon-
esty of purpose, real, genuine integrity, unswerving patriotism,
and unselfish desire to promote the good of all, the laboring
people, as a whole, are now, and will ever be, greatly superior
to the people of wealth — the employers of labor. Abundant
means to gratify every wish, with no let or hindrance; pos-
sessions not won by one's own .efforts; ability to overreach
Sept. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
603
and hold down thf one who may seem to oppose — all tend to
breed selfishness.
The poor mnn — the average laboring man— early learns
self-denial. Ue is not pampered, and becomes thoughtful and
kindly towards others. He is trended by very rirciimstanL-e
in the way of unselfishness. The rich person in the cradle
has equal potency to a worthy, unselfish life that the poor
man has. Condition of life is what swerves him to the wrong
and unfeeling. Hence the words of Shakespeare. -'I'd rather
be a dog and bay the moon than such a man." And Christ's
•■ how hardly shall a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven :"
and James' "Go to. ye rich men ; weep and howl for the mis-
eries that shall come upon you."
Are riches, tiien, worthy the coveting ? Are we wise to
bond all to their getting ? The comfortably well off poor man
is in best hope of character development. With a nation of
such we are safe. We may all hope and pray that our people
may all be in comfort. We may well work and legislate that
few gain extravagant wealth. The laborer gains his ends by
worthy effort that always adds to the world's wealth and
blessing. He also has the dignity of position that comes from
independent maintainance. The very rich, with few excep-
tions, either have had their wealth poured into their laps, or
else have gained it through questionable methods, and with-
out giving value received. In either case they are not to be
envied, and have not the best citizenship.
That the poor man labors under the burden of a fearful
handicap, is shown in the report from one of the iron-mill
towns, where the taxes of the mill property were fixed at less
than a what the laborer had to pay on his property. True,
this was granted by the town. But the company was able to
pay more'than any other, and able, also, and willing— to their
shame be it said — to secure this unfair and wickedly inexcus-
able reduction. Can these unfair advantages which now are
as thick as pebbles on the beach, ever be stopped? They can
and will be. I hope soon. The power to do this will only
<'orae through complete cooperation; when the laborers,
through the wise management of their truest, ablest, best
men, shall have equal voice and influence with the men of
capital who employ them. The laborers are so many, and so
scattered, and often so ignorant, and so blind to their own
best interests, that it will take long to bring this blessed eon-
summation. Complete union with education to make it safe.
and its behests right and wise, is what the country and the
laborers most need. I believe it was to promote such union
that this strike was ordered. If it helps even a little to bring
it, it will be worth all it costs. If it was ill advised, and does
not hasten the day of fullest co-operation, then it is greatly
to be regretted.
I long to have the "other half " in such complete union
and accord that they will act as one man. Then they can
hold up their heads, and can dictate equally with the rich
employers. Then, and not till then, will the laborers cease to
have a grievance. .\ny discontent that hastens education and
fosters union is haliyon, and should receive our sympathy. A
strike that hastens on complete union — at least complete
enough so that the laborer may have equal voice and influence
in the settlement of all disputed questions — is to be desin^d, if
there is no other way, even though it bequeathes a legacy of
business disasters and commercial interference that may touch
our industries grievously, and far and wide.
It is to be regretted that arbitration rather than strikes
can not be used to hasten effective union. The men who
inaugurated the strike expected that their action would hasten
and strengthen more complete co-operation. If they were
correct in this judgment, then they acted wisely, even though
the great public is wholly against them. It they judged
wrongly, and so delay the day of fullest union and oneness,
then their action is greatly to be regretted. The injuries to
others, and general suffering, are most unfortunate, but our
greatest reforms often mount upward on the stairway of pain
and suffering.
Let us all in our homes strive to beget in our children
right views and feelings regarding all these great issues.
THE ARMY CANTEEN -PROHIBITION.
I am glad our old friend. A. I. Root, sounds forth such
wholesome views regarding the canteen. While 1 have
always voted with the Itepublican party, and am not ready
yet to sever my connection, I have great sympathy with pro-
hibition. If I thought voting prohibition would hasten it, I
should not hesitate a moment. The prohibition of the liquor-
traffic is the greatest issue before our people. The saloon
men always light the canteen in the array, prohibitory laws,
local option, every effort to stay the liquor-tralllc. If the
canteen were favorable to temperance, why would the saloon
interests be solid against it ?
I hope the law against the canteen will hold its gripe in
our statute books.
[We would like to suggest to Prof. Cook that it is not a
question whether voting prohibition will bring prohibition ; it
is rather how a conscientious Christian man can continue to
vote zvil/i saloon-keepers, brewers, etc., and still retain a
clear Christian c'onscience, and also see any hope of staying
the saloon evil.
A bigger iiuestion just now than the saloon iiuestion is
this ; Are the Christian voters of this country going to do
(heir dufy^'wf Tight up to their church resolutions on the
great subject of prohibition, or, are they going to continue
to stand before the world as inconsistent people, talking one
thing and doing another ?
Personally, we are consistently and eternally against the
saloon, and intend to continue to use the heaviest possible
weapon for its overthrow, namely our t'o/c. ll'e don't have
to win in this fight, but we do have to do the right, and our
consistent duty. — Editok].
100 Colonies ot Leather- Colored
Italian Bees Por Sale....
From stock which took first premium at the
Miunesota Slate F^air, I'.JOl. All in standard
hives, ia iiae condiliod, and with abundauce of
seated stores for winter.
W. R. ANSELL,
.^A2t ST. PAUL, MINN.
Please mentiou Bee Joumai -when writiiitt
1901 — Bee-Keepeps' Supplies!
We ran furnish you with The A. I. R.iot Go's
KO«>ds at wliolesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
£aid tor beeswax. Send for our lyol catalog.
I. U. UDNT & SON. BellBranch. Wayne Co., Mich
i-lease nieution Bcje journal ■wfien ■writing,
$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re-
turn $13,
via the Nickel Plate Road, daily, with
limit of IS days ; 20-day tickets at Sib,
and 30-day tickets at $21 for the round
trip. Through service to New York
add Boston and lowest available rates.
For particulars and Pan-American
folder of buildings and grounds, write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 22— 37A3t
Much Interested In Her Bees.
A queen I sent fur came safely to hand last
Friday forenoon. 1 introduced her in the
afternoon. To-day I looked into the hive and
found her laying nicely. She isa fine looking
queen, and I am much pleased with her. I
feed them a little syrup every night. I think
the colony had been queenless some time. I
had been away from home a couple of weeks
and found Iheni iiuecnless upon my return. I
hope to do well with her another year. This
is my second summer with bees, and I become
more and more interested in them.
Mrs. W. .r. Uii.i.MAN.
Kichland Co,, Wi?.. Aug. 311,
Best Honey Crop in Two Years.
The honey crop in Kankakee county can lie
called good this yciir — the first good crop in
two years. The (iiiality of the honey is line —
mostly from sweet clover, white clover, and
basswood : but as In the latter two items, we
would have but little surplus it we depeniii'd
QUEEMS
Now ready to supply by returned mail. STOCK
which can not be EXCEI-LED : : I
Bred under the SUPERSEDINQ CONDITION of
the colony.
GOLDEN ITALIANS, the GREAT HONEY-
GATHERERS. Thev have noSUPEKIOR
and few equal. 75c each; 6 for $4.i)0.
RED CLOVER QUEENS, the LONG-TONGUED
ITALIANS, which left all RECORDS
behind in GATHERING HONEY, Jl each; 6
for $5. Safe Arriv.\l Goaka.nteed.
C. M. W.WEBER. Successor to Chas. F. Muth,
2146 & 2148 Central Ave., Cinci.nnati, O.
Headquarters for I Root's Goods
Bee-Supplies. I at Root's Prices.
Catalotr free; send for same.
THE WHEEL OF TIME
Metal Wheel.
make the
etics.'lO KITAN V AXLK.
height. I
«r|.
njr
desired.
heels are either direct or
stsB^er spoke. Can FIT YWDK
WACON ptrfecllv "llh™i chance.
NO BREAKING DOWN.
.drylazout, No rrA.-[H!;i; tir.«, 4'heap
I because they endur*-. S^nii f.ir raiA-
loffue and prices. Fre*- upon rt^neat.
Electric Wheel Co.
Box 16 Qulnoyi Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -when wntmg.
604
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 19, 1901
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:::^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
<'I'R NICW I'lOl FIFTY-TWO PA(;E CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
special Apency, C. M. Scott A Co., 1004 East Wasbiogtoo Street,
Indiaaapolis, lad.
Kxcellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Bees that Have a Record
(See page 45*' An
Bee Jourual.
Ha
; longest tongues, handsome, gentle, great
hustlers for honey, all tested queens, and sold
at rate of $8 per dozen, liy return mail.
HENRY ALLEY, Wenham, Mass.
31A8t Mention the American Bee Journal.
C alitrtmia ! If you care to know of its
V^dlllUrnid 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Call-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam.
pie copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Gal.
SXJFE3K,IOK-
Red Clover Queens
seasod, 15m pounds of
, one-third red clover
; ^A doz., $4.w. Tested,
We have obtained, thi
comb honey per coloni
honey. Untested. 75 cent
$l.tH>; ^4 doz., $5.50.
LEININ&ER BR0S.,Ft.JenninQ6,0.
34Etf Please mention the Bee Journal
Extension of Limit
on Buffalo Pan-American tickets via
Nickel Plate Road. $13.00 for round
trip, tickets good 15 days ; §16 00 for
round trip tickets good 20 days. Three
daily trains with vestibuled sleeping-
cars and first-class dining-car service
on American Club plan. Meals rang-
ing in price from 35 cents to SI. 00.
Address, John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
23-37A2t
4!^ii/\lAlA<nt/\l> \l/UAt>\l/ \l/\lAl>Vi> \l/\t/\iAlAl/\iA
BEST=
I UimM Honey For Sale |
•<* ALL IN Rn-POtIND TIN CANS. ^-
Alfalfa
Honey JV
^ Th
be famous
"White Extracted
Honev gathered in
the great AlfaHri
regions of the Cem
ral West. It is .,
splendid honey, aii<l
nearly everybody
who cares lo eai
hoaey at all can'i
get enough of the
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
HoneyJTdJ
laden basswood blos-
voms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honev.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound : four
or more cans, 7'z cents per pound. Basswood Honey, yi cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if vou so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOIMEY
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
^5 Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey: ^
:^ I've .iust sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm ^
*^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of ray own production ^ ■
:^ and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the ^;
*^ honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot ^*
:^^ drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality ^^
*^ of alfalfa honey I have received from vou is better suited than the honeys of more ^"
:^ marked llavor, according to my taste. C. C. Millkk. fc
;^ McHenry Co., 111. «•
:< Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^.
i^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^\
^ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^
'.^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^
.^ this honej' and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^|
i^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. *;
on Ihem. Sweet clover is our (jreat staple lor
surplus honey. It grows in jrreat abundance
here along the roaclways. railroad right;,' of
way, and around our stone (|uarries.
From reports. I Ijelieve the average honey
<rop will be 50 poiHi'ls per colony. One bee-
man reports an average of 100 pounds from 36
colonies. Also another has two colonies that
have produced l.iO and 175 pounds each, re-
spectively.
Let the honey-producers plant the white
and yellow sweet clover in their vicinity, and
they will have to do nu fall feeding to winter
their bees. We average one super of honey
from heartsease in the fall. " Kankakee."
Kankakee Co., 111.. Aug. 28.
Bees Working on Buckwheat.
.My bees are rolling in the honey now from
buckwheat. I got more clover honey this
season than ever, .\lmost all colonies that
didn't swarm tilled two supers, and most that
swarmed filled one; and I will get two more
from the most of them yet, if nothing hap-
pens to the buckwheat. My bees started the
second swarming fever this week. I have
been returning the swarms. (i. W. Bei.l.
Clearfield Co., Pa., .\ug. '-'S.
An Expepienee in Transferping.
Ei>iToK York: — I recenth wrote to know
it you could supply me with some back num-
bers of the American Bee Journal, and you
kindly sent nie a few. Since becoming a sub-
scriber I find them useful, and every bee-
keeper should have one of the Emerson
binders to keep from misplacing them as I
did.
For instance, to show ibeir usefulness, 1
wanted to unite, and at the same time trans-
fer two weak colonies from boxes or " gums "
to movable-frame hives, and I readily found
advice by looking over some of the back
numbers, and went to work. It being ray
first lob, I began about as timidly as a young-
surgeon would when amputating his first
limb from a human being. However, I made
a coijiplete success, which I will tell for the
benefit of beginners like myself.
I first moved one of the box-hives close
lieside the other to be united, several days
beforehand, tor them to get acquainted with
all the surroundings before transferring them.
When the proper time arrived I went to work
as follows:
First. I prepared a table by placing a wide
lioard over a flour-barrel aiul folding a crocus
sack several times over the table, and on top
of that I spread a paper. Of course I had
provided myself with all the necessary tools,
etc. — a honey-knife, narrow chisel, and the
clamps — made l)y tying two narrow strips of
thin wood together at one end, and leaving
the other two open to be tieil after placing
them around the comb.
Xext, I moved both hives back about two
feet and placed a movable-frame hive about
half way between the location of the two box-
hives.
1 next opened one ot the hives and took out
a comb and fastened it in a frame of the new
hive, having wired the brood-frames first, and
then cut the combs to fit into the fratues the
best I could; and then the wire on the under-
side holding the combs till I could fasten the
clamps.
In wiring my ftanies I jilaired the wire to
one edge of the frames instead of placing it
in the center. This gives room for the comb
to rest well in the frame, which I find much
better than to have it in the center.
1 took pains to put the brood in the center
of the hive. I firsi used up all the comb ot
one l)Ox-hive, and then Ijrushed the bees in
front of the new hive, and they soon ran in. I
then opened the other box-hive and went
through the same process, by using up first the
best and fullest cuuibs. Kemember, I brushed
the bees utf of the rombs ba»'U into the old
hive until 1 completed the first box-hive, and
after beginning on the second hive I brushed
the bees off of the combs into the new hive,
and by the time I used the last comb of the
second hive I had nearly all the bees in th»
Sept. 19. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
605
iirtwliive; but wlia( were left, after takiiif;-
•lit all the combs, I brushed dIT in front of
i.he new hive.
1 paid no attention to the qu reus, as each
txix-hive colony had a laying f|ueen. 1 left
ihat to the bees to regulate.
By uniting the two colonies I had a hive
junning over with bees, and more comb than
the brood-chamber of the new hive would
hold, so I got a super and tilled it with the
I'emaining comi). There were no supers to
either of the box-hives, and each had eight
combs fastened to eight slats laid like frames
in the box-hives, but were without bottoms
•r end-pieces —merely the top of a frame.
Of course I found considerable crooked
<-omb, and had to fasten some pieces of comb
in the frames of the new hive. This is a
mighty sticky, messy job. If one is not
patient and capaole of using good judgment
he is very apt to make an ugly job of it.
I will say for the benefit of others who may
have had less experience than myself, that
the best time of all to transfer bees into a
new hive is the first of the swarming season,
when the combs are light and mostly empty.
But I am so much opposed to little, weak
colonies that I was willing to double them
up, even at a risk of failure, in order to fix
them better for winter. However, many bee-
men are opposed to uniting weak colonies on
the ground that after being united they may
noon become as one weak colony at last, un-
less the queen keeps up the numbers, which
she is not likely to do, and in the end you
will have only one ordinary colony, where
you had two that miijlii have built up to be
•rdinary colonies.
I find that my two colonies united peace-
jibly, without smoking them, and have gone
nicely to work as one powerful colony.
John Kenneht.
.\dams Co., Miss., Aug. S.
Report for the Season of 1901.
i put into winter r;{ colonies, and last
spring I had about .")0 good, bad, and indiffer-
ent. It was the worst spring on bees of any
in my experience, which dates back to 189^.
From 5(0 colonies, or thereabouts, I secured
ibout 3000 pounds of honey, nearly all comb,
»nd increased to 6!i colonies. Less then 20
percent of my comb-honey colonies swarmed,
though this was a great year for swarms for
most bee-keepers here.
The prospects are that bees will go into
winter in good condition, though the pros-
pects for next year are very poor, on account
of the drouth which still continues.
E. S. Mii.ES.
I'rawford Co.. town, Aug. 'J3.
Mulberry Growing.
Will Dr. Peiro give answers to the follow-
ini^ questions in the American Bee Journal '.
1. How large do mulberry trees become as
lo height and spread '
2. How long from mailable or expressable
sapling to fruiting ?
3. Is the white variety better than the
black ? Is there a difference in hardiness ?
4. Is " Russian " mulberry the right name ;
I can find other names of white varieties, but
no " Russian.''
5. Is any kind better adapted to dry i>laces
than others ?
fi. Is it liable to attacks of any pests ;
7. Do bees work on the blossoms ?
S. Cyclopedia says it is closely related to
figs. Has it similarly enclosed numerous
seeds, the " fruit" being the fleshy receptacle *
Monterey Co., Calif. A. Norton.
Dr. Peiro has kindly replied to .Mr. Norton's
questions as follows:
1. Black mulberry trees grow to 'iO inches
in diameter, while the white variety does not
attain so large dimensions, to my knowledge.
Both spread broadly.
■-'. They bear fruit in about five years from
<>-foot trees (expressable). inch diameter.
4. The white variety is licst at lioney-pro-
ducing, being much sweeter than the black,
f believe both varieties to be equally hardy.
1. " Russian " is the usually accepted name
for the while. It may only be derived from
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among: Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Ban(led Italians
bred from stock whose tong-ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival g-uaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
CLIMB RIGHT ON
PAOE FENCKS. ■[■bat's the Wiiv to fliid out.
E'AtiK WOVK.N WIISK KENCK CO.. ADItI AN.MICH.
Please niention Bee Journal ■when ■writing,
B66s= Supplies
CATALOQ FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, = NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
XJN-TE1STBX3
ItaliaD Qneens Free
BY RETURN MAIL.
For sending us One New Subscriber
for one year, to the American Bee
Journal, with $1.00, we will send, by
return mail, a fine Untested Italian
Queen free. This offer is made only
to our present regular subscribers.
We will mail one of the above queens
alone for 75 cents ; or 3 for $2.10.
Please do not conflict the above offer
with the one on another page which
refers to Red Clover Queens. For send-
ing us one new subscriber at $1.00, and
25cts.,we will mail you free an Un-
tested Red Clover Italian Queen.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14<, Erie St.. - CHICAGO, ILL.
Buffalo Pan-American
13-day ticket.s for $13.00 via Nickel
Plate Road ; 2()-day tickets SIG.OO.
Lowest rates to all eastern points.
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., CUiicago. City Ticket Of-
fice 111 Adams^St. Chicago. 24 — 37A3t
its on paoily to withstand exlrenie cold with-
utit iimlcrial injury.
1 1 liilicvc the various kinds are equally
luii^cly ill dry localities.
(i. I know of no insects that seriously in-
fest the mulberry. It is clean and apparently
free from diseases.
7. I do not know that liees work on its
minute blossoms. 1 would not depend upon
its possibilities.
S. Yes, the mulberry is not remotely allied
to the tig, in general growth, resemblance of
leaves, and minute size of its seeds. The
Havor of the white mulberry is more like that
of tig than the black, though this may not be
apparent to all tastes.
Finally, the cheapest way (and it seems to
nie, the best) is to insert cuttings into places
•*here you wish them to root and remain.
This should be done in .luly or early in
August. Du. Peibo.
Bees and Mathematics.
The construction of geometrically perfect
oells is not the only mathematical operation
performed by bees, according to Abraham
Netter. who read a very interesting paper
on the subject liefore the Paris Academy of
Sciences. The Revue Scieutitique reports
that he brought out the following facts:
■■ Not only is the construction of the cells
carried on by mathematical rule, but many
operations of the insects also; for instance,
the collection of the maximum amount of
honey in the minimum time, and the division
of the workers among the plants propor-
tionally to the number (if plants of the same
species. In the hives, the number of bees
engaged in ventilation is almost rigorously
proportional to the daily increase of weight
of honey, etc. Facts of this order relate to
arithmetical proportion, while those having
to do with cell-building relate to geometric
ratios."
M. Netter is of the opiniou, however, in
spite of this show of apparent intelligence on
the part of the bees, that " all their move-
ments, without exception, are of the nature
of retlexes;" that is, performed without con-
sciousiaetion, just as we close our eyes in-
stinctively when a motion is made toward
them. — Translation made for the Literary
Digest.
" Reviewlets " from the Bee. Keepers'
Review.
Bee-Escapes should be placed at the cor-
ner of the board instead of the center. Mr.
.1. B. Hall, of Ontario, says that the bees race
around the edges of the board in their efforts
to escape.
Ontahio, Canada, lias a good crop of honey
tlii.s year. I think that 7.t pounds of ex-
tracted honey per colony would Ije a safe
estimate; although many report a yield of
lui) pounds, and H. ti. Sibbald secured an
average of 1.5ii pounds from three yards.
WiuE-Ci.oTH supports for the combs are
used ))y F. A. (iemmill. of Ontario, in the
solar wax-extractor. Wire-cloth is tacked
upon frames laid over the metal bottom of the
extractor, and then refuse combs laid upon
the wire-clotli. The wire-cloth catches and
holds mo.-t of the co<'Oons, etc., and prevents
them from running down in the wax.
J. B. Hai.i. likes to have each colony occupy
the same stand year after year ; as it ia much
easier to reiiieinher the characteristics of a
colony that always stands in the same place.
This is one reason why he is particular, when
taking the bees from the cellar, to iilace each
colony upon its old stand.
Fofi, BuouM can be treated late in the
season, after brood-rearing has ceased, by
shaking the bees off upon sealed combs of
honey. What little infected honey ihcy carry
with them will all be consumed in a short
time— long liefore brood-rearing will again be
606
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Sept. 19, 1901.
LangsMtion...
Tll6Hon6yB66
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year— both for $1.75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THIIEE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
D IMi^ O ^^"^ "'" ^'"^y '•*''■ cash, per lb. for
l*!'..!'-^ pure, bright yellow beeswax,
MMM^M^yj .^l,J 20c. cash, per lb. for pure,
»»T A ■%r dark beeswax delivered here.
W A A CHAMBEUi.Am Medicine Co,
»» *»•»»• Jks Moines. Iowa,
27A13t Please meniiun iBe Bee Journal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole ApicuUural Field more
completely than an v other published,
send ti.ZS to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOK HIS
"Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal when wTltit.i
coTrjuienced. Of course, the combs of sealed
honey given the bees must be free from in-
fected honey.
(Jetting Bees Off the Combs is the most
disagreeable and laborious part of producing
extracted honey. Last winter, over at the
Ontario convention, some one said that this
could be greatly avoided by simply taking off
the supers and setting them down near the
hive— the bees would, desert the super for the
hive. Mr. Miller, of Ontario, told me that
the securing of this knowledge had been
worth dollars to him. He gives the bees a
good smoking, which drives down most of
them, then sets the super down near the en-
trance, when the rest of the bees leave the
super for the hive. This is the way in which
I always have removed surplus comb honey
from the hive, until the time came when rob-
bers were troublesome— then I used the bee-
escape. Mr. Miller also uses the escape when
robbers give any trouble.
. Shives (the waste of flax) is regarded by
Mr. Miller, of Ontario, as excellent material
for packing bees in. winter. It is more com
pact than forest leaves, and can be packed
away in summer with less use of space. It
does not wet through readily, even if e\
posed to a heavy rain. A sort of coating 01
crust, that will turn water, seems to form on
the outside of the mass.
WiNTEilixo Bees in the North is still
suthcienlly uncertain to allow of its being
discussed. Practically there are only two
methods — in the cellar and protected on the
summer stands. Mr. Jacob Alpaugh, of
Ontario, proposes to experiment by putting
10 colonies in one big. chatt'-packed box. The
hives themselves will not be packed in chatt
as he wishes to avoid all that labor, but the
bottom and sides of the box are to be made of
thin lumber, double walled, and tilled with
dry sawdust. Three hives will face each end
of the box, and two face each side, the "en
trances being placed opposite openings cut
through the walls of the box. Cushions will
lie placed on the tops of the hives, and the
cushions will be of such a size as to com
pletely All the box from side to side above the
hives. By this arrangement the work of
packing and unpacking consists in simplj
setting the hives in and out of the boxes,
while the combined heat of 10 colonies will
assist greatly in keeping up the temperature
Lightish .k Smoker is a quick operation
if rightly done. Here is a pointer: When
through work don't empty out the tire and
unburaed material. Stuff some grass in the
nozzle to stop the draft, when the tire will
gradually go out, leaving some charred
brands that kindle very easily. Jacob Alpaugh
of Ontario, uses planer-shavings for fuel
When I was at his place he picked up his
smoker, poked a hole at one side in the halt
burnt remains of the last lire, droijped in a
lighted piece of paper, gave a puff or two
sprinkled in some fresh fuel, gave another
puff or two. tilled up the smoker, put on thi
cover, and puffed out perfect clouds of
smoke, in exactly one-half minute liy lli<
ii'iitch. We went out in the yard and opened
hives, and the smoker stayed lighted. This i--
away ahead of lighting fresh shavings sat
urated with kerosene oil.
Fi.Y Est ai'ES are needed on the windows
of a dwelling as much as bee-escapes aie
needed on the windows of a honey-house. It
was the last of July when I visited the home
of Jacob Alpaugh, of Ontario, and, actuallv,
there was not out tly in the house. At each
upper corner of each window-screen the wire-
cloth was pried up (Uie-fourth of an inch by
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Whoiesale— Jobbing.
Send for circulars '£"S
improved and ori{j-inal Bingham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 "Ye-^fs thk Best on Earth.
25Aif T. F. BINGHAM. Farwell. Mich.
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-gathering stock. Tested, fl.iK); un-
tested, 75 cents. "SnAuv Nook Api..iK\.'"
JAMES WARREN SHERIWIAN.
2')Aljt Sag Hakbok, Nkw Yokk.
Please meutlou Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELI*
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Foniiclation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
f^lease mention Bee Journal when -wmtiiig.
FREE=
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a Iiarri
rubber holder, tapering to a
round point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pcucil. The
point "and nee«lleof the pen
are made of platina. alloyed
with iri«li>ini — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink lo
write 10,000 words, and do not
leal< or blot.
As they make a line of uni-
form Widlh at all times
they are Mne«|MaIed tor
ruling purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
comijanied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best Manifolding Pen on
THE Market.
1»,0©0 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee .Journal uses
the '■ Foster.'' You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO sew subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with $2.00; or send
SI. 90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee .Journal for one year; or,
for .*1.00 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
"t'h'e''pen!j'" aEORQE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
$10.50 to Buffalo and Return $10.50
Account, ILLINOIS DAY
at Buffalo Pan-American Exposition,
via Nickel Plate Koad. Good only in
coaciies. Tickets on sale Sept. 14 and
IS, good returning to and including'
Sept. 22. Three through trains daily,
leaving Chicago forenoon, afternoon
and night. Specially low rates, with
longer limits, available in sleeping
cars, on same dates. Through service
to New York and Boston. For particu-
lars, call on or address John Y. Cala-
han. General Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 25— 37Alt
Sept. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
607
pushing in two little blocks of wooil. Flies
^et into a house when the doors are opened.
Sooner or later a fly goes to the window, runs
up to the top, scurries along first to one cor-
ner or the other, and. it he finds an opening,
out he pops, never to find his way in again hy
the same route. What would we think of a
honey-house with crowds of bees hanging
around the door that was opened dozens of
times a day, and no opportunity for the bees
to escape over the toiis of the windows ; We
know that it would lie full of hoes all of the
time. A dwelling with screens on the doors
and windows is an exact parallel. Put es-
capes at the tops of windows antl there is no
necessity for sticky fly-paper.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
Illinois.— The annual meetio^r of the Northern
Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association will be held
in the Court House in Kockford, 111., on Tues-
day and Wednesday, Oct. 15 and 11,, 1%1. All in-
terested in bees are invited to attend.
Rockford, 111. B. Kknnedv, Sec.
B0UI6S.
Jars,
of every
descripo
tion....
Honey
Dealers....
G. G. STUTTS GLftSS GO.,
Manufacturers,
145 Chambers St.. NEW YORK.
Write for illustratioas.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writine'.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL,
Please mention Bee Journal when -writins
Tlie Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as tbey are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Illinois Day at the Pan-American
Exposition.
The Nickel Plate Koad will sell tickets
for that occasion at rate as low as
$10.50 for the round trip, pood going-
Sept. 14 and IS. and returning to and
including Sept. 22. For particulars
regarding tickets at specially low rates,
with longer limits, available in sleep-
ing cars, on same dates, call on or ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, (General Agent,
111 Adams St., Chicago. 26 37Alt
Please ttieutlon Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
fnrnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft 10ft 2Sft soft
Sweet Clover (white) $ .oO $l.O0 $2.25 J4 CO
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.(i0 7.£0
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage. If
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK A CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, stale quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I -pay
promptly on receipt of goods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. H. W. WEBER.
214^-214S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Buy fioneu
What haveyou to offer
__ and at what price ?
:>4Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton. Wis.
■Please mentior: Bee Journal wheii ■writing.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. State price,
delivered. We pay spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front A: Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
2>!A17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
WRITE US
If vou have large or small lots of HONEY
to sell.
State quantity, how put up, kind of honey,
price expected, and, if possible, mail sample.
We pay spot cash.
Referknce- Wisconsin National Bank.
E. R. Pahl dc Co.
."vlAtf niLWAUKEE, WIS.
Vlease nientioii Bee Journal -when ■writinf^
6oml) and Ex-
tracted fioneu!
State price, kind and qui
R. A. BURNETT & CO., 199 S. Water St., Chicago
3jAtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantitv,
quality, and price desired at your station. Wi'll
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Ple?<5fl mention Bee Journal when -writing.
Please mention Bee Journal when w^ntin^
>J >li >li >K. >li >K >li >li >te. >J<>li >ti jlilr
I HONEY AND BEESWAX t
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Aug^. 22.— White comb brings ISc
per pound for thechnice grades, with other line?
not g-rading No. 1 selling at 13tol4c; light am-
ber, 12(s 13c; dark, 10@llc. Extracted, fair de-
mand at S>i(ai6c for white, and S^OSJ^c for am-
ber; dark grades, 5c. Beeswax steady at 30c
for choice yellow. R. A. Bdrnbtt & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market if
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
E.xtracted sells only to manufacturers fron;
Smi.c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
o(s*7c; white clover from H^Oc. Fancy white
comb honev sells from ]3>i(ai5>^c.
C. H. W. Weber.
Boston, Aug. 19.— Our market today is abont
I(.(Sil7c for fancy; A No. 1, 1.=;(4r4>li.c; No. 1, 14^
l.'^c. Extracted, full supply, light demand.
Several tots of new Vermont honey in cartons
have thus far been received, meeting a ready .
sale at 17c, although of course in a small way.
The trade generally seems disposed to hold off,
looking for larger receipts and lower prices.
This is somewhat due, of course, to the fact
that the demand is still light owing to the wariM
weather. Cooler weather will make a better de-
mand and naturally make a better feeling.
Blake, Scott & Lbe.
Albany, N. Y., Aug. 20.— We quote; Fancy
white comb, ]6(ail7c; No. 1, l.=^(a'lt,c; No. 2, 13@
Uc; mixed, 12(<; 13c, Extracted, light, "fa 7}ic:
mixed, 6M(S'7c. H. R. Wrioht.
OM.AHA, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving .
by express in small quantities from Iowa ano
Colorado, and selling at $3 SO per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4'A@4^:,c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Sept. 10.— Comb honey is now be-
ginning to arri*e in large quantities, and, as a
rule, quality is fine. The demand is good, and
we quote as follows: Fancy while, l+fiil5c; No.
1, 13c; No. 2, 12c; and amber, Uc. No buck-
wheat is on the market as yet, but are expect-
ing same within a week or so. Extracted is
selling slowly, with plenty of supply, at S@(,%c
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55@6Sc per gallon. Beeswax dull at 27c.
HiLDRBTH & SBGELKEN.
Df.s Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail way" at $3.50 to
13.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extractod honey.
Pevcke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancy white comb honey.
14(ai5c; No. 1, 13@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6ia 7c. Beeswax, 25(<i'26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, lc^l7c, and lower grades, 12(gil4c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co.
San Francisco, Aug. 14.— White comb. 11®
12>^ cents; amber, .s(a»10c; dark, 6(aj7J^c. Ex-
tracted, white, S'A®—; light amber, 4^@.«c;
amber. 4@4J^c. Beeswax. 26@28c.
Market continues quiet, with apiarists, as a
rule, unwilling to unload at prices generally
named by wholesale operators. Quotations rep-
resent as nearly as possible the values ruling
at this date for round lots, although free sales
could not probably be effec'ed at full figures,
while, on the other hand, higher prices than
quoted are being realized in the filling of some
small orders.
Kansas City, .\ug. (..—Some very fine Mis-
souri honey is now on the market, selling at
10(Q'l'ic per pound for fancy white comb. Colo-
rado and Utah shippers are offering new comb
honey in carlots for first half of August ship-
ment at 10c per pound for No. 1, and 9fa.9^c for
No. 2, f.o.b. shipping-point. The market for ex-
tracted hocey is as yet rather unsettled, asking
prices ranging from 45i®4>ic, f.o.b. shipping-
it. Bujers, however, seem to be in no hurry
nake i
: Bko
Please itientlou Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
60fi
-AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 19, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S. Extraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAhTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process PoundE-
tloii are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
Thk American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN. N. Y.
pna- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of oar goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
flease mention Bee Journal w>.en wTitj.tuT>
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, "S cts.; Tested, $1.00: Select Tested,
11.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
aj^eed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
a)Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal "when "writing-
—THE—
Bee-Keeper's Guide
Or, manual of the Apiary,
BY
PROF, A- J, COOK,
4«0 Pages— leth (1899) Edition— 18th Thoa-
sand- $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Ulnstrated, and all written in the most fasclnat-
Bg style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Beb-Kkkpers' Gdide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
maenificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to GIVE awav
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following' offer is made to prbsent sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
aal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof . Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
HBW SDBSCRiBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
QEORae W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie street, CHICAGO, ILL.
24tr
year
Dadant's Foundation, fm
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell _^_^
sowed? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaintSf but thousands of compll-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Re^/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co., III.
Flease mention Bee Journal when writingi
.^i^
I RED GLOVER QUEENS
Q«iQSQSQQQSQQSQSSSQSQQS<
»ft.«i»ftft'
^^>r
Black Rock, N. Y., Sept. 3, I'K)!.
Friend Ernest:— I will try and tell you what you want to know about that queen. I got
her of you in 1899 as a premium with GLEANINGS. I never saw a small colony of bees build up
as that one did. In the spring- of l^fK) they came out in fine shape, wintered perfect. I raised them
up in May and g^ave them 8 frames more so the queen would not want for room. I never saw such
a colony of bees as Ihey were in June, and they were actually storing- honey when other bees in
my yard were starving. No! they were not robbing. I never saw those two best colonies of mine
trying to rob. THEY CERTAINLY WORK ON RED CLOVER. This is no guesswork, as I
have seen them. As you know, the past two seasons have been very poor, and what honey my
bees did get in 1900 caudied soon after cold weather set in. I packed this colony in a chaff hive
and left them out, thinking that such a strong colony would winter perfect. The snow came on
the middle of November, and those poor bees never a fly until the last of March or the first of
April. When warm weather at last came I thought they were dead, as they did not seem to be fiy-
iug much, so I did not pay any attention to them until in June. I noticed they were working a
little, so I opened up the hive and found them in the upper story. I took the lower story out and
left them in the one body. The queen was laying nicely, and I thought they would make a good
colony to winter. Along the last of J aly I noticed that they needed more room. I gave them a
super, 24 bcxes, and iu a few days they had it full. They have made 72 boxes of as nice honey as
you ever saw, and are drawing out some starters now, Sept. 2-
Very truly yours, Geo. B. Howe.
Prices of Red Clover Queens.
(r leanings in Bee-Culture 1 year and Untested Queen $2.00
'* " " Tested Queen 4.0©
" " " Select Tested Queen 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to order one of these queens. All or-
ders are filled promptly. No extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^liiil'taSlShT'
■ are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUl'l'LIES IN CHICAGO
Send to them for their free Catalog.
iijAEge/|/v
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, SEPTEMBER 26, 190L
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 39.
610
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
Sept. 26, 1901.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, ill.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Gbokge W. York, - - Editor-in-Chiet.
Dr. C. C. Miller. ) Dp,„rtme„t
E. E. Hasty. v department
Prof. A. J. Cook, '
( Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. 00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union,. 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance.
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To orosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HCTCHINSO
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Thos. G.N
G. M. DOOL
J. M. Hamb
C. P. Dada>
Dr. C. C. Mi
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. A. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, i
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
H^" It more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it wottld be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
oi 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
JTo. i " Barler Ideal" Oil-Beater.
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year !
NO ODOR 1 NO SMOKE! NO ASHES I
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee Journal is using the
" Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
V\'e liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arran^'ed with its manufacturers to
fill our t>i'ders. The picture shown herewith is the one we
recoumiend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
for heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial way, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon of
ker<i.sene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
wouldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
c of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
but this one doesn't. Its bight is 3K feet, and weighs
30 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, f.o.b. Chicago. $6.00 ; or, combined
■with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal— both for only $6.30. Full Dikections
GO WITH EACH Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
" Barler Ideal " Oil Stove, as it can easily be carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want It.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
Chicago, 111.
Please MentioD the Bee Journal ^^"" ^"'°^
Advertisers
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your (Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife.~Whe
address you wish put oa the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is iudeed a novelty The novelty Hes lu the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, v/hich is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest Euglish razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destrov the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for.
tunaie as to have one of the " Novelf.es." your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gi res a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation oi
this],beautiful kuife,'as the ** Novelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us 'i. riKi:E nkw subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $.''-'». 1 We will club the Noveltj-
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W. YORK £ CO,
«3-Please allor -bout two weeks for your knife order to be alien.
St., Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, SEPTEMBER 26, 1901,
No, 39,
Editorial. ^ f
Bees and Pear-Blight.— The fruit and
bee men of California seem to be sensiljle
enough to get along without quarreling and
lawing, and certainly some of the bee-men
show an excellent spirit. They have agreed
to move their bees away from the pear or-
chards during the blooming period, so as to
help solve the question whether the bees are
the chief criminals. The views of some of
the scientific men are given in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture. Prof. Waite seems inclined to
pass judgment against the bees, but at the
same time considers them a necessary evil, for
he says he has found as the result of an ex-
tensive series of experiments " that ijees are
indispensable to the pollination and setting
of most of our pomaeeous fruits." Prof. Cook
says:
■'I have little doubt that bees do aid in
scattering the virus ; but I am far from con-
vinced that their removal will abate the
trouble, or is wise and necessary.'"
Prof. (HUette thinks it will be a consider-
able time before we can draw any positive
conclusions. He thinks that if the bees were
the chief operators the late varieties of pears
should sutler more from blight than the early
ones, and he has not observed this to be the
case.
"Honey AVithout Bees."— Dr. R. H.
Strickland, of Perry Co., Tenn., sends us the
following, which appeared in an advertise-
ment taken "from a scientific ( <) quasi-
medical journal :"
HONEY WITHOUT BEES.
This is an age of. marvelous discoveries and
inventions. Every day brings forth some-
thing new, and every year is marked by some
astounding discovery which completely up-
sets all preconceived notions in some depart-
ment of knowledge or industry. Marvelous
iliscoveries have been made in electricity and
the uses of steam and the utilization of the
various forces of nature, but a discovery
which is really more far-reaching in its re-
sults, and perhaps capable of immediately
benefiting a larger number of persons, is a
process worked out by an eminent physician
by years of laboratory research, whereby it is
possible to make honey directly from wheat
and other cereals without the aid of chemicals
of any sort, and by a process essentially
identical with that by which honey is manu-
factured by plants ready to be ruHn-tnl ami
xliireil liij Ike cuntimg little feel of the Iwneij-bee.
Malt honey, or meltose, looks like honey,
tdxirx like ImtwiJ, in rhemicnl rmnpontkm in
rxseiitinlhi the xiime <l« hwLey. and as a f'imtl ix
s„lieriur'ln /i,„irii, since it is fnefrnm f/enns.
pulleii. t'ra;/riiruts itf fiowerx, (lust, and iitlier
foreign iita'ttn-s. and may be eaten without in-
jurious effects, even by most delicate indi-
viduals, whereas many persons can not eat
honey, even in small quantities, without ex-
periencing ill effects. Alalt honetj is (yenuiue
lioneii ; 7wt an imitation, or a substitute, but tlie
real thing, derived from the original source—
the plant — Ijut without the assistance of bees,
and by a jirocess which renders it absolutely
pure and wholesome. It is the only sweet
which can be eaten in liberal amounts with-
out injurious effects. — [Italics are ours. — En. |
We feel a just pride in the perfection of this
very remarkable and useful product, after
spending some years and thousands of dollars
in research for the purpose.
Dr. Strickland says in his letter accom-
panying the foregoing, " It may not be worth
noticing." Well, it certainly wouldn't be
•' worth noticing " were it not for the manner
in which the thing is described and adver-
tised.
If its discoverer doesn't know any more
about food products than he does about the
way bees gather and store honey, he is truly
a fine specimen of ignoramus. Think of bees
collecting and storing the nectar of flowers
with their "cunning little feet!" If that
were true, they ought to store about six times
as much as they do, as they have six times as
much feet as tongue. It this learned (?) food
inventor were right, bee-keepers would be
breeding for more and longer feet than for
longer tongue-reach in their bees.
Well, we secured a sample of the wonder-
ful (?) "meltose" that is said "looks like
honey, tastes like honey, and in chemical
composition is essentially the same as honey."
etc. If honey were like It, we would care for
no more honey. It has a taste (to us) almost
like sorghum molasses, is thick and cloudy,
resembling in appearance a poor quality of
glue or mucilage. If we were to put up for
the Chicago grocery trade stuff like it, and
call it honey, we would expect to kill our
trade on the first round among our custo-
mers. And yet, the great inventor of " mel-
tose " says It is " genuine honey " — " the real
thing I" True, he says bees had nothing to do
with its manufacture — and we believe him.
Bees wouldn't degrade themselves by turning
out a product like " meltose" — not from the
blossoms of white clover, basswood, sweet
clover, etc. The idea of man claiming he can
make honey equal, or superior, to that pro-
duced by bees'. (Of course we mean the best
grade of extracted honey, not honey-dew.)
From the glowing advertisement of "mel-
tose," one might be led to think at is a sort of
comb honey. It isn't. It is simply an imita-
tion of extracted lioney, and we consider it a
poor one at that.
We do not say that meltose has no valuable
food qualities — we know nothing about that
part of it. What »e object to, is the claim
that the stuff is the" same as honey'' (bee-
honey), " the real thing,'' etc. Also, the
attempt to prejudice the public against
genuine bee-honey, by claiming that it con-
tains injurious "germs, pollen, fragments of
flowers, dust, and other foreign matters,"
deserves to lie severely condemned. No hon-
orable man or flrm would do that.
It's a pretty safe thing to shun people who
claim they have "genuine honey" that was
produced " without bees !"
Sugar for Bee-Feed.— For years a dif-
ference of opinion has prevailed as to the
best kind of sugar to use in feeding bees.
Those who are supposed to know tell us that
granulated sugar made from beets is identical
with that made from sugar-cane. But things
that are identical from a chemical standpoint
are not always the same, as witnessed by the
familiar instance of diamond and charcoal ;
and across the ocean it has been earnestly
insisted that sugar from beets was unfit for
bees, and that cane-sugar alone should be
used. If it were easy to be sure of getting
cane-sugar, the safe thing would be to use
that alone, Ijut one can not be sure of what
granulated sugar is made, and the amount of
beet-sugar is all the time on the increase.
Since we are in a manner forced to use what
is very likely to be beet-sugar, we may take
some comfort from the experience of Editor
Root, remembering that the proof of the pud-
ding is the eating. He says in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture :
Personally I do not have any uneasy feeling
about the sugar (luestion. It is not proper
for us to boast; but for the last 10 or 13 years
we have used beet-sugar for feeding our bees;
and if any one can show a higher wintering
average than we — one who has used cane-
sugar — we should like to have him hold up
his hand. Our wintering losses very often do
not exceed 2 percent, and the verj- highest is
1.5 percent, I believe. This covers a period of
about '30 years. I suppose a fair average
would be between 3 and 4 percent. If Mr.
Morrison is correct, the beet-sugar is better
than cane. But my honest impression is
that, with either sugar, we shall get good
results. The trouble from sugar-fed colonies
is more because the syrup is fed too late or
too thick, and the bees do not have oppor-
tunity to ripen it. If it is fed during warm
weather, when they can tlv, half and half,
other things h.ing what they ought to be. I
would not give two cents to have the colonies
insured.
^
A New Honey-Plant is announced
every now and then, and at different times
there has been a sounding of trumpets over
some new plant that was to be kept by the
acre and give wondrous yield, as, for instance,
the Simpson honey-plant, figwort, and Chap-
man honey-plant. Acres of ground were
planted with these, and at the instigation of
bee-men the Government made an appropria-
612
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 26, 1901.
tion to distribute the seed of one of tliem, but
at the present day little is heard of them, and
it is not likely that any one considers it advis-
able to make a plantation of either of them.
It seems pretty well settled that to make it
profitable to occupy tillable land with any
honey-plant, that plant must have a value
aside from its honey-yielding properties.
Hopeless as the case may be considered with
regard to any plant for honey alone, there is
always a possibility of the discovery of some
plant of value for other purposes which has
the additional value of being a honey-yielder.
Even the remote possibility of such a thing
makes it worth while to experiment with a
large number in the hope that out of the
many there may be found one that will be
profitable.
In the National Stockman and Farmer, the
winter or hairy vetch receives high praise as
a plant for feeding and other purposes, but no
mention is made of its honey-yielding quali-
ties. In a late number of that excellent farm
journal J. A. Macdonald speaks upon that
point after this wise :
Some months ago I made mention of the
winter or hairy vetch in ati article in the
National Stockman and Farmer, but in men-
tioning many of its various points of value,
as a soiling" plant, pasture plant, manurial
value, etc., I did not observe that this vetch
was a' splendid honey-plant, and that clover
does not begin to compare with it in this
regard, for the reason that the time of bloom
of clover is comparatively short beside hairy
vetch. I wonder if any of your readers have
noticed this new value of this vetch; if they
have, they have taken very good care to keep
the inforniation to themselves. Your valued
correspondent, Mr. Lighty, and a bee-man,
too, has spoken, in your columns, of the
many valuable attributes of the hairy vetch,
but I, at least, have failed to see any mention
by him of the honey-yielding qualities of the
plant, and I would now ask him to say if he
ever noticed this point of value.
First, let me say that there is no more beau-
tiful sight than to look upon a field of hairy
vetch in its full purple bloom, and this view
presents itself for a very long time, and this
is why such a remarkably fine honey-plant,
supplving nectar to the bees for weeks. You
see this vetch, when sown in spring, is very
tardy m maturing seed, but continues to put
forth new bloom from week to week, and a
bloom which the bees are exceedingly fond
of. (In a patch of this vetch sown May 10, I
notice bloom about the first week in July, but
it was not until three weeks later, or the last
week in .July, that it appeared in full bloom,
and still at this date (Aug. 9) it is showing a
brilliant bloom, though pods are maturing on
the lower portions of the plants. For the
last ten days the plants are literally covered
with bees. A few days ago I tried to esti-
mate the number of bees flitting from bloom
to bloom, and as far as I could reckon there
was an average of ten bees to the square
yard, that is, in the immediate vicinity of the
particular spot where I was standing. Some
say there are no more than four or five bees
working to the .square yard, but no matter
what time of the day I go into that vetch
patch (which, by the way, we are cutting for
partial soiling of cows and pigs), there are
lots of bees working industriously.
Hairy vetch is a wonderful plant indeed, so
manv points of value has it. As a soiling
plant mixed with a little oats it's a wonder,
and ahead of anything I ever saw. Peas don't
begin to compare with it at all. As a pasture
for swine it is fine, and though I never cured
any of it for liay, I can not but believe it
must be gooil for this purpose, too. As a
spring crop with melt is ahead of aiwinter
crop, and produces about seven tons of green
forage per acre, and lastly comes its wonderful
value as a honey-plant. I wish bee-men
every where would give the plant a trial for
its "honey-giving qualities; and I would
greatly wish to hear from those who have the
hairy vetch growing to report its value in
this regard.
Now in the hands of others this plant may
or may not be found of value. .Jhe proba-
bility is that in some localities it will deserve
the kind words with which Mr. Macdonald
speaks of it, while in others it will be of little
value. But the possibilities in the case war-
rant a thorough trial on a small scale. Its
long period of bloom, and its continuance in
bloom after white clover is done are special
points in its favor wherever it is found to be
a success.
Has any one of our readers had any experi-
ence with the plant >. Has any one any
further knowledge of it ? It so, let us have
all the light possible about it.
I Weekly Budget. I
President William McKinlet— the most
widely respected and honored president of
the United States in two decades — was shot
down by an anarchistic demon in human
form, while he was holding a reception at the
Pan-American Kxposition at Buffalo, Sept.
6. The terrible wounds resulted in his death
early Saturday morning, Sept. 14.
Of course, this is no news to the most of
our readers, as the daily press has been
crowded for almost two weeks with columns
upon columns of matter bearing on this awful
event. It is almost too sad and terrible to
write about. There should be no room for a
single anarchist in this " land of the free and
home of the brave." We strongly favor the
suggestion that all the anarchists in this
country be exiled to two high-walled islands
of the sea, the men to be assigned to one
island, and the women to the other. Give
them sufficient to eat as long as they live.
After that the " breed " would beat an end.
We have not the slightest sympathy for
those who would shoot down any one placed
in othcial position, and the sooner such das-
tardly cowards are humanely and effectually
disposed of the better for all concerned.
(iETTiN'G Late i-dk Quees-Okdehs.— On
account of the season getting late— cool
weather, etc. — we wish to announce that we
will be unable to accept any more queen-
orders to be filled this season. We appreciate
very much the queen-patronage that has been
extended to us this year, and trust that it may
continue next season. We also hope that all
the queens received through us may prove
entirely satisfactory, as we believe they will.
Hon. J. M. Hamhaugh, writing us from
San Diego Co., Calif., Aug. 31, had this to
say :
Fkiend York:— The reliable, old American
Bee .Journal, boon companion to the wide-
awake bee-keeper, cometh regularly, and is
always welcome here in this far-away land of
the Sunny Pacific Slope. I am afraid there
are very few bee-keepers that can fully appre-
ciate the energy and grit of the Editor who so
faithfully compiles and prepares a weekly
intellectual feast for its patrons upon topics
relating almost exclusively to the honey-bee.
Long may the old. faithful American Bee
Journal live and prosper under the guidance
of our -'auld lang syne" friend, George W.
York, is our sincere wish.
It seems that fate has placed me at the ex-
treme western limit of Uncle Sam's domain,
where I am isolated from the haunts of my
early life. Yet I can truthfully say I have no
regrets, and have many reasons to be thank-
ful, chief among which is an added lease upon
life. Myself and family have enjoyed much
better health here than we did in the East.
The daily visitations of the cool, invigorating
salt-bree"ze atmosphere is a panacea for
almost every human ill, and hundreds and
thousands at this season of the year hie away
to the banks of the ever-rolling, restless
ocean, to bathe in its cooling serf, and rest
from the business cares of life. I imagine
that could you but be suddenly transferred
from your murky, blistering Chicago furnace
to the banks of our Pacific clime, you would
be suddenly impressed with the wide con-
trast, and would only wish to tarry here the
balance of your mortal career.
Respectfully yours, J. M. Hambai'gh.
Thank you, Mr. Hambaugh, for such ex-
pressions of kindly feeling and appreciation.
Such go far toward resting the tired head and
hand that often become so through the inces-
sant efforts necessary to be put forth in order
to send out the old American Bee Journal
every week in the year. But, after all, it is
a pleasant work. And one can keep on doing
it with an honest feeling that he is really and
truly helping some one— yes, helping many,
who want and need just such aid as this jour-
nal gives.
To all our increasing thousands of readers
we pledge continued effort and devotion,
health and strength permitting.
Home and Apiary of J. W. Adams. — On
page 615 will be found a picture of " Oak
Grove Apiary," belonging to Mr. J. W.
Adams, of Montague Co., Tex. He took his
first lessons in bee-keeping from his grand-
father when he was a mere boy, but never
kept bees until after he was married. He
moved to Texas in 1S84, and seeing so many
bees there the old desire to keep them wag
revived, and so he bought some black ones in
box-hives ; these he transferred to Langstroth
hives, and by making a study of the bees, and
reading all the books he could secure, he has
made a success of the business. He is also a
farmer and stock-raiser.
Mr. Adams secured about 100 pounds of
comb honey per colony last season (1900),
which he sold at 12>.< cents per pound; he
gets 9 and 10 cents per pound for extracted
honey, and has no trouble in selling all the
honey he can produce, at these prices, and
the middle of June he was behind 1000 pounds
on his orders. He is the only practical bee-
keeper in that locality, but through his efforts
some have become interested in bees, and
others have begun to improve their stock, and
adopt the standard hives.
In the picture, the little girlsto the left are
Mr. Adams' daughters, the little one in the
buggy is the baby, and the young man in the
background is his eldest son, who has charge
of his queen-business.
Mil. A. N. Tyler, of Tyler Bros., located
in Sutter Co., Calif., called on us last week.
This firm of bee-keepers have ISOO colonies
of bees, and their crop this year was about 20
tons — only about a iiuarter of a crop, so Mr.
Tyler says. He thought the total amount of
honey in California this year would be about
250 car-loads. This is perhaps half of a full
yield. Quite a lot of sweetness, however,
and will likely have noticeable influence on
the honey market of the country.
Sept. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
613
,j!L^:C^!LJ!C^'L^!C^!LJiC^!l>J^^K
Contributed Articles.
■•gr'9r'9r'9r'prvnfr'pr'pr^''pr*gi''pfK
The Honey Market and Crop in California.
BY GEO. \V. BROrBKCK.
WE bee-keepers of Southern California have been
forced to confront conditions in the marketing of
our product this year that we have never been
obliged to face before ; and I firmly believe that if the
majority of our bee-keepers were patrons of our leading
bee-papers, this state of things could not exist.
Every season we are informed from outside sources (and
sometimes within), that Southern California will have an
enormous crop of honey, and it matters not whether the
conditions are favorable or not (last year as an illustration),
with the consequent result prices are established before the
honey is ready for the market and the amount produced is
unknown. This year has not been an exception in this
respect to the past, but that which has lent additional inter-
est and more than all else to depress the market, has been
the action of some within our own ranks. The object, of
course, is self-evident, for the circulation of the rumor of a
large crop has a depressing influence upon the bee-keeper
who is forced to sell, and when the middleman quotes a
well-known bee-keeper as authority, it lends force to the
statement ; and as the former has no means at hand to
know of the vast quantity of honey that has been shipped
to the United States from Cuba, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico,
(this information is supplied by the buyer or go-between),
knowing not whether it is true or false as to state of
market, etc., he quietly submits and sells for the price
offered.
We all know beyond question, that at the beginning of
this season we had less than one-half of the bees to pro-
duce a crop with than four years ago. and yet the state-
ment has gone forth that we produced as much, and more,
than we did four years ago. I know beyond question that
we have many honest buyers, and I know of bee-keepers
who have been aiding these men in a legetimate way, but
when men from our own ranks circulate statements with
the express view of depressing the market, and thereby
affording them a profit, I think it is time the California
bee-keepers were warned against their practices, and it is
this which prompts this article.
While I am not disposed to pose as authority in regard
to this year's crop, information from some of our leading
bee-keepers, and other sources, indicates that we have pro-
duced about 150 car-loads of honey, all told. Over half of
this has been marketed. Comb honey has been produced
in limited quantities, due to unfavorable conditions, and
this has nearly all been disposed of. The remainder of
our product is in the hands of men who can hold it indefi-
nitely. Los Angeles, Calif., Sept. 7.
How Do Bees Manage to Sur\ive tlie Winter ?
BY " \^ OBSKKVEK."
BEES survive the winter by packing themselves in clus-
ters between combs of waxen cells filled with honey.
The low temperature a cluster of bees so situated can
resist and still keep alive is really marvelous, and is only
paralleled, in the other extreme, by the degree of heat a
bacillus spore can withstand without losing its vitality.
Water, if kept from circulating, is as bad a conductor
of heat as eider-down (see " Encyclopedia Britannica,"
ninth edition) ; and honey, for the same reason, contained
in wax cells 1-5 inch in diameter and 'z inch deep, must be
an exceedingly bad conductor. We can, therefore, presume
that although some heat must be lost, the loss through the
combs may be reckoned as nil. The cluster loses heat
around the outer circle, at the periphery ; the circumference
is the radiating and cooling area.
Now, if we take a cluster of bees, say 10 inches in diam-
eter and '2 inch thick — about the distance between the
combs — we find that the cluster would be very nearly 40
cubic inches in volume, and the radiating or cooling area
would be 15'. superficial square inches; three cubic inches
of bees, therefore, only expose to the cold a little over one
square inch of surface. If we take a cluster 5 inches in
diameter we find the volume to be 10 cubic inches, and the
radiating surface or area 7^ square inches ; and, if we take
a cluster 4 inches in diameter, the volume would be 6'4
cubic inches and the cooling area 6'^ square inches. The
10-inch cluster has, therefore, three times the advantage of
the 4-inch cluster, and, in proportion to volume, three times
more heat will be required to keep up the temperature of
the smaller cluster.
The relation of volume to cooling area may be shown
thus : It would take the bees contained in four clusters of
4 inches in diameter to make one cluster 8 inches in diam-
eter, and the cooling surface of the 8-iuch cluster would be
one-half of the cooling area of the total of the separate 4-
inch clusters. The bees, therefore, in the larger cluster
would require only one-half the heat to keep up their liv-
ing temperature that they would in the smaller clusters.
If we take a cluster one inch in diameter the volume
would be the half of .7854, say four-tenths of a cubic inch,
and the cooling area the half of 3.1416, say 1'4 square
inches ; the cooling area is, therefore, proportionally four
times greater than in the 4 inch cluster, and is too large to
allow of much fall in temperature with safety to the bees.
So small a cluster could not exist in winter, except at the
equator or near to it.
The individual bee is very sensitive to cold, but we
must remember that a cubic inch exposes 6 square inches
of radiating surface, and that the volume decreases or
increases as the cube, and the surface as the square. A bee
in mass or volume is less than the sixty-fourth of a cubic
inch, and its radiating, cooling, or heating surface is more
than one-third of a square inch. Assuming the sixty-
fourth of a cubic inch to be a cube, its sftrface would be
three-eighths of a square inch. This cube would therefore
expose a radiating surface proportionally twenty-four
times greater than the 4-inch cluster. The single bee,
when incorporated in the 10-inch cluster, must be afforded
over sixty times more protection from cold than it would
possess outside the cluster.
The space between the combs is important. We will
consider the distance between the combs in reference to the
cooling area, and at the same time the supply of food, as
these are closely related. The 10-inch cluster, between
combs '+ inch apart, is surrounded by 80 cubic inches of
honey supposing the cells to be full — and as a cubic inch
of honey weighs .05 of a pound there are 4 pounds of honey
within reach of the cluster for the bees to feed upon. We
will now suppose the combs to be one inch instead of ';
inch apart : the bees clustering close would occupy 7 inches
instead of 10 inches— the volume is not changed, it remains
40 cubic inches. The cooling area, however, has been
increased to 22 superficial inches, and the honey within the
immediate reach of the cluster has been reduced to 2
pounds ; in place of 2 cubic inches of honey to the cubic inch
of bees, we have only one cubic inch of honey to the cubic
inch of bees. The food supply has been diminished SO per-
cent, and the cooling area of the cluster increased 40 per-
cent. The bees must therefore consume 40 percent more
honey to keep up their temperature ; and this increase of
consumption and decrease of supply would necessitate
their change of quarters in search of food in one-fourth the
time required had they remained at the 'i-inch distance.
It must be understood, in reference to increasing the cool-
ing area and the correlative consumption of food, that the
capacity of the bees to keep up temperature by feeding is
limited, and in a badly proportioned cluster, i.e., a cluster
radiating more heat than the bees can generate, the bees
will die with an abundance of stores around them.
When the depth of the combs allows the bees to locate
their stores above the brood-cells, they always lengthen the
store-cells so as to leave only '4 inch space between the
combs. Let us see what the bees gain by diminishing the
distance. Taking the 4-inch cluster between combs ■> inch
apart, it would have to extend itself to nearly 5^+ inches to
remain the same in volume at the '4 inch distance. The
cooling area would now, from diminishing the distance, be
reduced 30 percent, and the honey within the immediate
reach of the bees would be increased, from 2 cubic inches
to the cubic inch of bees, to 5 cubic inches to the cubic inch
of bees— that is, 150 percent.
From the facts here stated I think it is evident that the
size of the cluster and the depth of the combs are really the
essential requisites for wintering, and that, as a general
rule, the size of the cluster and depth of combs must
increase with the degrees of latitude. As the combs
increase in size, they must, of course, be diminished in
number, and if the construction of the hives should not
614
AMERICAN BEE ICXJRNAL
Sept. 26, lycl.
admit of the requisite sized combs for the latitude in which
they are to be used, the bees will not be able to winter suc-
cessfully in them.
The fecundity of the queen, so far as we know, does
not vary with the latitude and can not, therefore, be brought
to bear on the subject in regard to the general area of
combs used.
The bees survive through the winter by preserving as
well as they possibly can the heat of their clusters ; and as
the general interior temperature of the hive can only be
raised by the loss from these clusters, it follows — paradoxic-
ally, as it may appear — that the colder the general interior
of the hive the better are the bees wintering, through the
preservation of heat in their clusters ; and it also follows
that if upward ventilation, or draught, through the hive is
prevented — which draught the bees dread above all things
— the entrance to the hive can not be too large.
In the spring, however, when the bees extend from the
cluster over their combs, warmth in the general interior of
the hive has its advantage ; but if great enough to cause
the bees to leave the clusters too soon, it might be produc-
tive of more harm than benefit.
The controversy concerning the merits and demerits of
cold and warm hives by the presentation of the above facts
is reduced in importance. The main object to be consid-
ered is their construction to admit of combs adapted to the
size of bee-clusters required in various latitudes. — British
Bee Journal.
No. 2.— A Bee-Keeper's Vacation in Wisconsin.
BV C. P. DADANT.
FRIEND reader, last week I left you after telling you a
fish story, yet I have no doubt that you wish you had
been along with me when those fish were caught. But
this happy neighborhood has other attractions besides good
fishing, for they tell me that there are both deer and bear
in the woods around Sturgeon Bay. I was rather inclined
to doubt the existence of the latter in a section alreadj' so
well populated, but having had occasion to take a drive into
the country for a visit to an apiarist, the ladj' who accom-
panied us showed us the spot where she had been badly
frightened by the appearance of a bear while walking
along the road. " And," said she, " though I turned to run,
the bear was as badly frightened as I was, for he also
turned and ran the other way."
The woods are indeed wild, in spots, more brush than
timber, for all the good timber has long ago been cut, and
made into lumber, and the forest fires have destroyed what
had not been despoiled by human wastefulness. The
thickets are so dense that it is, in some places, almost
impossible to get through, and they say that in the deer-
hunting season it is not very safe to travel about in those
woods, not on account of the bears, but on account of the
careless hunters who are apt to shoot at anything that they
see moving in the thickets, before they have ascertained
what sort of game it is.
Those woods contain all sorts of evergreens and many
deciduous trees, chief among which are the beech and
birch. There are also shrubs, blackberries, and the inevit-
able red raspberry, which I am told exists all over the North,
clear up to Alaska and the Klondike. This is certainly a
very nice thing for the bees, and if the honey from the
raspberry is half as fragrant as the wild berries them-
selves, it must be delicious. But it may be with this as it
is with the early fruit-bloom in Illinois, perhaps the colo-
nies are not sufficiently powerful at the time of the bloom
to take any advantage of it. But there is plenty of this
bloom, for the waste land and the woods are full of red
raspberries.
The white pines that formerly composed the bulk of
the forests in those parts have disappeared, and if you
accidentally notice one, towering above the rest of the for-
est in lonely majesty, you may be sure that its trunk is
defective and rotten at the core, for that is the only thing
that could have saved it from the ax. When the first set-
tlements were made, the main puzzle for the white man was
how to get rid of the wood, and we can still see traces of
an awful waste of timber that would now be valuable. I
saw a small apiary in an enclosure made of trees two to
three feet in diameter. Two logs had been rolled side by
side, and a third one put on the top of them, making a bar-
rier about four feet high and four feet in diameter at the
base. Of course this fence was old, probably 25 years or
A TIGBOAT TOWINCi SAILBOATS OX TUE LAKE.
more, but it was still sufficient to keep out stock, and stood
as a witness of the haste with which people destroyed the
forest. May we not, as a nation, be sorry later on, for not
having retained at least a part of those beautiful forests ?
The pine timber is getting more expensive, and experienced
lumber-men predict that within ten years most of the pine
will have to be purchased in British America. Already
most of the timber on the shores of the big lakes has been
picked over, even on the Canadian side, and although many
and many a boat-load is seen coming southward towards
Chicago and the big centers, yet the quantity is less than
formerly. Some saw-mills are cutting only hemlock, such
timber as was considered worthless 20 years ago.
But the destruction of the forest does not seem to injure
the bee-industry, for if many wild plants are thus des-
troyed, it is there as in our prairie States, many of the cul-
tivated plants are honey-yielders, and the white clover
steadily gains a foothold wherever cattle graze. So the
prospect is rather for an increase of honey-production than
for a decrease. And the Golden Age, in a country "flow-
ing with milk and honey," is certainly more in the pros-
pective future than in the past, in all these hills that have
seen the Indian disappear when the white man came.
But, dear reader, it is now time to go home, and our
vacation is coming to an end. At ten o'clock, Monday
morning, the whistle of the "Chicago" boat announces to
us that she is at the dock, waiting for her passengers, and
we bid farewell to our new acquaintances, and embark.
" Grandpa " Dadant, who is to stay till the end of Septem-
ber, accompanies us to the boat. In another hour we pass
through the Ship Canal, and are afloat on the blue waters
of Lake Michigan. We give you herewith a view of one
of the many sights we encounter — a tug drawing three sail-
ships loaded with lumber, bound for some southern port.
This view may be familiar to many of our Chicago friends,
but it will surely interest our prairie bee-keepers, who have
no occasion to visit the lakes.
On the second day of our trip we had a little storm,
just enough to give our ladies an idea of seasickness, and
its pleasures!?); but this was soon over, and gave them
just that much more appetite for a hearty supper in a
Chicago restaurant.
When we arrive in Chicago, the romance is at an end.
There is nothing left but noise 'and bustle, smoke and dust.
No, no, don't talk to me of Chicago I We hurry home as
soon as we can, barely taking time to pay a short visit to
our worthy friend, Mr. York, the kindly editor of the
American Bee Journal. In a few hours, through smoke
and dust, we are again at home, resuming the daily duties
of life. Hancock Co., 111.
" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is
the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hem.
Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is
thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr.
Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can
furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies
for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for
sending us one new yearly subscription to the American
Bee Journal at $1.00.
Sept. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
615
Report of The Texas Bee-Keepers' Convention.
BY LOUIS SCROLL, SEC.
THE seventh annual meeting- of Central Texas Bee-Keep-
ers' Association was held at College Station, Tex.,
July 22 to 26, 1901. It was really a joint meeting of
the Central Texas, North Texas or Texas State, and South
Texas Bee-Keepers' Associations. The three were consoli-
The call for new members was ordered postponed, as a
committee appointed by the chairman, on constitution and
by-laws, was to make its report at the afternoon session.
This committee consisted of Louis Scholl, H. H. Hyde, and
F. L. Aten. Then the regular subjects on the program
were taken up, E. J- Atchley speaking on
BBK-KEEPING FOR FARMERS.
He hardly knew whether to encourage farmers to keep
bees or not. He mentioned some of the things he had seen
at a neighbor's, who was a good farmer, trying to keep
bees, and making blunders. If they would only keep a few
colonies, and produce only enough honey for their own use
use and table, it would be all right. When keeping more, and
during an extra^good year, they have a surplus, which they
rush to a town, lump it oif for any old price, and it being
dated into one, viz: "The Texas Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion," with new officers elected, and new constitution and
by-laws adopted.
The meeting, in general session assembled, was called
to order by Pres. O. P. Hyde, of the Central Texas Associ-
ation, July 24, at S a.m., with Pres. Stachelhausen, of the
South Texas, and J. M. Hagood representing the North
Texas Association, in the chairs; Secretary E. J. Atchley,
of the South Texas, apd Sec.-Treas. Louia Scholl of the
Central Texas, at the desk. Pres. Hyde spoke briefly on
the honey-bee, after which Mr. Atchley offered prayer.
The presidents next made their reports, followed by
that of the secretaries, each giving an account of the
standing of their respective organizations. Next, the
election of officers of the Central Texas Association
ensued, and resulted in electing, for the ensuing year, J. U.
Salyer, president ; H. H. Hyde, vice-president ; and Louis
Scholl re-elected Secretary-Treasurer.
mostly honey of an inferior quality, besides their not being
informed in regard to the price of honey and the condition
of the market, never reading a bee-journal, they run down
the price of honey, and are ruinous to the experienced bee-
keeper, who is in it to earn his bread and butter ; therefore,
Mr. Atchley said, it should be discouraged.
J. M. Hagood is in a strictly farming district and is a
a farmer. He said that the fanners ought to encourage
the bee-keepers to keep bees for the good purpose of fertil-
izing the flowers. He has his home-market and sells most of
his hone-y there, so the effect of the farmers' ignorance and
inferior honey, containing old, dark combs with pollen and
such, has ruined his market and lowered the price.
G. F. Davidson moved that we invite Prof. Mally,
State entomologist at the A. and M. College, to speak before
the bee-keepers at the afternoon session, in regard to assist-
ance from the bee-keepers in going before the next special
session of the legislature in August, asking for an appro-
616
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 26, 1901.
piation sufficient to help cover the costs of establishing a
department for the study of bee-keeping-, and the location
of an experimental apiary on the grounds. After some
discussion concerning the great need and usefulness of
such an establishment, and the great good that could be
accomplished, the motion was unanimously carried, and a
special committee appointed, composed of H. H. Hyde, Ct.
F. Davidson and R. C. Knowles, to invite Prof. Mally to
appear before the bee-keepers. Another committee to assist
Prof. Mally. and to go to Austin (Texas) before the legisla-
ture, was appointed, viz : G. F. Davidson, Louis SchoU, J.
M. Hagood, and E. J. Atchley.
The regular subject under discussion was then resumed.
Z. S. Weaver said that bee-keeping must be followed
altogether as a business. He does not encourage farmers
to keep bees, but how many would be here now as bee-keep-
ers if not started on their farms? It just depends whether
the bees or the farm is the thing one should follow, and of
course the one not the best paying is turned loose. Some
keep bees as a side-issue, become enthusiastic and succeed.
while others fail. If the farmers keep a few colonies of
bees for their own use it is all right ; otherwise it is'not.
O. P. Hyde makes a whole business out of bee-keeping
and keeps bees for the dollars and cents there is in it ; he
has no objections at all to farmers keeping bees, for if he
had 100.000 pounds of honey at his home, not 1000 pounds
of it would be sold there, as all of his honey is shipped to
markets in North Texas. Just let farmers keeping bees go
on, and the matter will adjust itself some way in the
future.
To this Mr. Atchley objected, as new ones coming in all
the time the matter could not adjust itself, but must be
done by the experienced bee-keepers discouraging the kind
who won't succeed.
There were many who gave their opinions in regard to
this matter. Some discouraged farm bee-keeping, while
others proclaimed it all right. Some of our greatest apia-
rists started on the farm. But to keep bees, and a farm, too,
was not deemed practicable ; that either one should be fol-
lowed as a profession and not divide one's attention. Either
be a bee-keeper or a farmer ; they can not be made to har-
monize, as the bees need one's whole attention to make
them successful, and either the farm or the bees must be
neglected some time, especially in the spring. At the time
the bees need attention the farm needs it ; and as nobody
can be hired to attend to a business as one himself would,
something will be neglected. And what is the use of only
half attending to each, instead of following the one most
suitable ? There are many sections most excellent for bees
but not for farms; others just the reverse. Then, again,
there are men more fit for one than the other. This ought
to govern as to which line should be followed.
The discussion ended, that if farmer bee-keepers would
keep bees in up-to-date ways, produce their honey by the
latest methods, putting it up for market rightly, and keep
informed in regard to the market price of honey, by read-
ing the bee papers and books to keep up with the times,
there will be no harm done. So it will be the duty of the
more experienced to teach them all this. Encourage such
as will succeed and will try to make a success at it. But
the others that can't be taught, won't read a bee-paper,
won't learn, and come in with their inferior stuff, to lump
it off at any old price, should be discouraged in any way
possible. Bees really belong on the farm as well as poultry,
hogs, cows, and such, and should be kept, but rightly kept[
PRODUCTION OF CHUNK COMB HONEY.
This was next taken up, on which M. M. Faust gave
his method of production, and disposing thereof. He
wants the strongest colonies for producing all kinds of
honey, but more for bulk comb honey. He lets them get
strong and gives them more room, by adding half-depth
supers with shallow frames containing foundation starters
one-half inch wide. If the bees are slow to go up, he puts
on another half-depth super, putting up some frames of
brood from the brood-chamber below, and putting the shal-
low frames in their stead, until well started, when all is
readjusted. He used to produce about one-half extracted
and one-half of bulk comb, but the past season he has had
to buy extracted honey to fill up his comb-honey cans. Bv
giving all frames containing foundation he has had some
trouble by the queens depositing eggs in the supers.
0. P. Hyde followed with a good paper on this same
subject. In its different phases, this subject would natur-
ally divide itself into these three parts, viz. :
1. How to produce bulk comb honey.
2. How much more bulk comb can be produced than one-
pound sections ?
3. Why should we produce bulk comb honey ?
On the first part, have all your bees in 10-frame dove-
tailed hives of standard size ; Italian bees, and rousing^
colonies. Then when the flow begins, he puts on one
" Ideal ■' or 5:'4 -inch-deep super with 5'sinch-deep frames
filled with full sheets of extra-thin foundation. By using-
full sheets of this foundation the bees enter the super at
once, and it will not be detected in the honey. When the
first super is about half full, another is put under it, and so
he keeps on tiering-up. He gives plenty of room and some-
times has as many as four or five supers on his strongest
colonies.
The above size of frame is preferred, as when one is
full, it will just make a complete layer in the five-gallon
eight-inch screw-top 60-pound cans, when cut in two in the
middle. The 4'4-inch frames are too shallow, requiring^
strips of comb to be cut to fill up the space.
The advantage of shallow frames over full-depth
frames is that more capped honey can be obtained.
Secondly, he asserts that twice as much bulk-comb ran
be produced as one-pound sections, believing that he can
prove it. The bees enter open frames more quickly, work
harder, and almost fill two supers as quickly as one section
super. Also, the advantage of the extra amount of
extracted honey that goes in at comb-honey rate.
Thirdly, the keeping of bees from the dollar-and-cent
stand-point, wanting all the honest dollars that are in it,
the bee-keeper must produce the kind of honey that sells
the quickest and gives the best returns. If his customers
were wholly or mostly for section honey, he would be forced
to produce that kind ; if bulk-comb, then that kind ; if
extracted, then it wonld be extracted. As it is the demand
that keeps us in the market, we must produce the kind
there is a demand for.
He was once an advocate of section honey — the kind
that has a thin strip of wood around it, thinking it so
nice, and it could be sent to market just as the bees made
it. He is still an advocate of comb honey, but the kind
that is cut from the frames, placed in cans and that
delicious, sweet extracted poured all over it. Then you
have not only extracted on the inside, but on the outside of
the comb also, which makes it more desirable to the taste.
When he was for sections, the Northern brothers said he
was a practical apiarist, but now he is for bulk-comb, and
they say he has retrograded 30 years, which, however, does
not matter with him, as he is not for popularity, but for the
dollar.
He also gave some figures and some idea of the
immense quantity of such bulk comb honey that is in
demand over only a small amount of other kinds.
A question was asked in regard to keeping it over win-
ter, whether it would granulate, and if it could be taken
out in layers then. The answer was that this was the only
drawback that bulk comb honey had, but the demand for it
is so great that it can not be supplied, hence none is kept
over winter to become granulated.
Mr. Davidson seriously criticized Mr. Hyde's paper,
saying that he did not want it to be understood
that the production of section honey should be as-
sailed in any way, and that the production of sections
should not be discouraged ; besides, the production of fine
section honey stands above all others, and is the highest
art of producing honey. He intimated that the reason
why others were not producing section honey was because
they did not know how ; and that the day will come when
more section honey will be produced than bulk comb, as it
is the more wealthy people, anyway, that eat the most honey.
All three grades are good, but fine section honey can not be
procured during slow flows, as it takes fast, rushing flows,
and a locality with such. There is just as much in dollars
and cents to be made with section honey as bulk-comb, and
the former should be encouraged. O. P. Hyde ended the
discussion by saying that he was not at all discouraging
the production of section honey ; that he is willing to pro-
duce only what is in greatest demand, and gives the great-
est profits. He is not pushing this, but it is his customers
that choose it, or demand it of him.
Before adjournment, H. H. Hyde moved to appoint a
committee of three to judge the bee-keepers' exhibits, and
these were named : D. C. Milam, W. O. Victor, and Mrs. C
R. West.
Adjourned for dinner, until 2:00 p.m.
(Continued ne.xt week.;
Sept. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
617
I Questions and Answers.
CONDUCTED BY
r>R. O. O. MILLER, Mareago, Ul.
(The QnestloQS may be mailed to the Bee Joarnal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Combs Melting Down— Swarming Mix-Lp
Transferring, Etc.
Replying to J. A. Geralds (page 567), I think he has
made the right guess in concluding that the combs melted
down in his hives because the dense growth surrounding
them prevented the free passage of air. I never yet had
combs melt down when hives stood in the full blaze of the
sun, but one year I had a few cases where the hives were in
dense shade all day long. A dense growth of tall corn was
on one side of them, and close bushes on the other.
In reply to S. B. Smith (page 573), he has no doubt made
a close guess at what transpired. Of course it can only be
a guess, but I should put my full guess in this way : The
young queen in No. 11 went out on her wedding-trip, ac-
companied by enough bees to make the small swarm that
was hived ; the remaining bees of No. 11 then walked over
to No. IS. thus making No. 15 of extraordinary strength.
An item that tends to confirm this opinion is the fact that
bees were seen going on the alighting-board from No. 11 to
No. 15, and it is likely that close observation would show
the bees doing that same thing two weeks later. The bees
on coming from the field would not go direct to No. 15, but
would enter No. 11, and then crawl across until that gener-
ation died off ; at least a certain number of the bees would
go through that performance.
T. F. Weaver (page 574), would like to know whether
his plan of transferring would work all right in a poor
honey-year. It would likely be all right except the danger
of robbing, for if he should do exactly as appears from his
description at any time when honey was not freely coming
in, he might have a lively time of it.
Dr. Peiro (page 574), lays a very heavy burden on that
poor little crack under the cover. You say. Doctor, that
after seeing that crack your " conclusions were clear and
rapid." Rapid, very likely, but it is somewhat doubtful
about the clearness. A reasonably strong colony will not
only guard a full-sized entrance in the ordinary place, but
also an entrance equally large right under the cover. For
a number of years, following the example of Adam Grimm,
I allowed, besides the regular entrance, an opening over
the frames at the back end of the hive 15 inches by '4 to -s,
and there was no trouble about the bees protecting them-
selves. If at a time when robbers were bad an opening
should suddenly be made under the cover, there might be a
little danger of trouble, but if the opening were made in a
time of plenty, there should be no trouble ; and there should
be no danger either in scarcity or plenty if the crack were
made by the gradual warping of a cover. C. C. Millek.
Perhaps Larvae of the Bee-Moth— Chilling Brood.
1. On Aug. 3 I made the first " drive " in transferring
a colony to a new hive, supplying them with full sheets of
foundation, and after they started storing well I gave them
an Italian queen. I have fed them lightly by putting a
small dish of granulated sug^ar syrup under the frames at
night, and removing the empty dish in the morning. At
present they have six "Danz. frames nearly filled, and two
more started, principally from sweet clover, but they are
destroying brood. In the morning there will be young bees
sometimes to the number of 30 or 40 scattered around the
entrance, ranging in color from clear white through all the
shades and markings of brown, up to those which will be
struggling to free themselves from the dewy entrance-
board. What is the cause and cure 7
2. Is there dangef of chilling the brood by removing it
from the hive in the morning or evening of cool days at
this time of year ?
I can find nothing on these subjects in my books.
Illinois.
Answers. — 1. L,ooks like worms, or (begging Prof.
Cook's pardon) the larva- of the bee-moth. They work
their galleries through the cappings, and the larva; of one
kind work at the bottom of the cell. When very bad, the
young bees will be dragged out as you describe. The rem-
edy is to get Italian blood. Possibly, however, a fuller
knowledge of the case might suggest some other trouble.
2. No danger when it is warm enough for bees to fly,
unless the brood is kept out an unreasonable length of time.
Ordinarily there is no need to have a frame of brood in the
hands more than a minute at a time.
The Afterthought.
Tbe "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By E. E. HASTY, SU. B Rural, Toledo, O.
NO BROOD BUT EGGS TRESENT DURING DKoUTII.
Dr. Miller's experience in the great July drouth — no brood
either sealed or unsealed, but eg'j^s always present — adds a
crumb to a pertinent and interesting bee-fact which we have
to figure with. Page 519.
PURITY IN MARKINGS OF PABENT8.
It sounds to me as if "Texas," on page 520, was after
strictly three-banded queens and drones. Won't get em.
Doubtful if they could be called any purer than the present
ones if he did. He should remember that nature often differ-
entiates the sexes remarkably. Sometimes it even occurs
that the male is a winged creature and the female a crawling
worm. Wild birds are pure, yet often the male is brilliant in
colors while the female is plain looking.
"BURNING ONK'S OWN SMOKE."
Prof. Cook, on page 521, passes to us some important
teachhig clad in very pungent words — let us burn all our own
smoke. Won't make quite so much smoke if we have the .job
of burning it in view. And what rent have we paid for our
neighbor's eyes and lungs that we should warehouse our
smoke in them ? Ahem ! not forgetting that what we try to
call entertaining conversation is sometimes the worst smoke
we make.
MAKING ROO.MS .MOUSE-PROOF.
Mr. Foote is on the right track about mouse-proof rooms.
Mice first get into the spaces between walls. From that van-
tage ground they see the Promisi^d Land through cracks, and
lay plans to get there — would not so often dodge through
doors had they not their minds made up previously that it was
a good place to go. And usually, as we know, some little
defect in plaster or base-board proves capable of enlargement,
/and in they come. Flooring plump to the outside of the build-
ing, and studs set on a narrow plank, would keep them out of
the wall-spaces to start with, and so mainly prevent after con-
sequences. Page 523.
WORKING HIS "STANDS."
How does he work his stands, Dear Boss? Why, he
makes them li/L And if he makes them lift about lUO
pounds more In August than they do in May, is it not all
right? Virgil is praised because he called a bee-hive twelve
different names : and ever since I read Virgil (if not before) I
have had a leaning in that direction — toward an elastic appli-
cation of terms. True, lack of precision is a bad thing; but
it is also a bad thing to have our vocabulary too limited — too
lean and bald. May we not all be poets to the small extent of
having a Utile versatility to our speech? Let us not groan
nor scold even if one comrade does catch a nice siring while
another catches a nice lot of fish — and another catclies a din-
ner, and another catches a cure for sore eyes. Page 530.
TUE LEGISLATION OF THE AUSTRALIANS.
Those Australians are continually solving things the rest
of the world failed to solve— or failed to try to solve. We
cannot very well legislate the apiarian pig to his own end of
the territory trough ; but we can give him a " bar-sinister "
by refusing him membership— and see whether his hide is so
tough that he cares nothing for a blow of that kind. Alas,
American societies seem rather too nebulous to hit anybody,
even to the small extent of refusing membership. Member-
ship is anybody that happens to come to a meeting— and so
few that the proposition to bar people out would seem gro-
618
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Sept. 26, 1901.
tesque — last rose of summer forbidding the pips to bloom.
Page 527.
WRITING Xr THINGS WHILE FRESH IN JIIND.
I also incline to "Amen " the plan of writing up things
while they are fresh in the mind. Writer needs the help most
even if it was a case of writer versus reader, which it isn't
exactly. Reader's ears have been dug open by his experi-
ences, and will have wax in them ten months hence. Also, if
the would-be writer forgets a thing before it gets in print
there is no back number to go to for it. Page 531.
^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
THE TABLE.
"Ah! but wasn't that an elegant table?" That was my
daughter's query. We had' just broken doughnuts with a
good friend — one of those splendid women who is ever dispen-
sing cheer and comfort. And well did she ask. First, the
linen was so entirely immaculate and of such proportions that
It just seemed made for that special table. Each marginal
inch seemed impressed by gravity just as strongly as every
other, for none had reached down nearer the floor than had
any other. And the table per se — what a piece of art I The
plates with accompaniments, each was like a well arranged
bouquet. Nothing was crowded, yet there was no wide desert
area, and we were all glad that room was found for a single
lovely spray of wild roses. These were sweet as they were
chaste and beautiful. The whole combination was so pleas-
ing to the eye, that one could be content to sit and gaze.
Of course we all like good things to eat. Do we all appre-
ciate as we may, and ought, the utility of beauty about and
on the table ?
I know a dear old farmer who would never sit at the
table, nor would any of the children, without collar, clean
coat and necktie. The children grew up simply to respect and
copy that parent. The mother rarely omitted the Dowers.
She appreciated the courtesy of the loving, thoughtful hus-
band. Flowers of discord could never grow about that table.
Other better flowers had preoccupied the territory.
Do we all know and realize what a prominent part appear-
ance—inviting viands — play in the work of digestion ? Let
the table look well, the eatables offered savory, so that one loves
to sit and linger, because, simply, of the environs, and the
digestive organism laughs at its work, and feels it no burden.
Ought we not to make the dining-room the very pleasantest in
the home ? There we are all together. There we sit long —
most of us ought to sit mucli longer. For reasons of health.
I would have the room, the table, the good things on it, the
very atmosphere, all as elegant and delightful as time and
means would permit. We can none of us afford ever to be
cross, surly, petulant— certainly not in the home, assuredly
not at the dear home table. There is no lubricant that so
nicely oils the wheels of digestion and assimilation as does
good cheer. Nothing so adorns the home table like never-
failing courtesy, cheerful demeanor, sweetest temper. It is
an undoubted fact that nothing breeds incurable dyspepsia
like crabbedness. Nothing shuts it out from the home and
life more surely than an atmosphere of purest love and har-
mony.
GATHERING AT THE MEAL.
A day or two since. I was entertained at two of the most
lovely rural homes in California. That is saying much, for no
urban homes can surpass in comfort and elegance some of the
ranch homes of this favored region. At one I was only pres-
ent at the dinner hour. It was a family which sounded no
discord in that lovely home. As we gathered, all were pres-
ent and sat at once. It was easy to see that this was their
wont. Only well-drilled soldiers are always in line. One can
see so quickly in the preparation for meals whether they are in
habit of unison, or whether they struggle along, with no
thought of one another, a
In the other home, equally elegant, it was not so. I was
present at two meals, and at both each came as convenience
set the pace. It was obvious that this was custom. I sor-
rowed for.all. In my home, and at my table, I would as soon
the steak, the coffee, or the bread, were omitted as to be
deprived of son or daughter, and the whole table would in no
wise compensate for the absent, or lack of the good wife.
REGULARITY.
This gathering at the table marks one phase of life that
counts for much in our success or failure. Are we regular in
our habits ? Do we accustom ourselves to act promptly, and
on time ? Even in our physical functions this contributes
immensely towards health and vigor. In the mental activi-
ties it means much more fruitage. To rise, to eat, to retire, etc.,
at irregular times, means enfeebled health and poor work. To
study haphazard, means poor mental work, and a shabby brain.
This is one of the good things about college life. There lunch
must be exactly on time. Often this will suggest and secure reg-
ularity in all the life. Then organic wheels all turn easily — no
friction anywhere. Each organ does its best, and most, and
all the time. We know not why, but the body works much
more energetically when it is always in its special grooves. I
think most of the great genuiseg have had habits of wonderful
regularity. Men like Gladstone could not have so moved the
world had any other course been chosen.
CARPENTERIA.
The ride on the " Espe " shore line from Ventura to Santa
Barbara is charming. I took it to-night by moonlight. On
one side the tall hills — beginnings of the Sierra JIadre — hug
close as if to shut all danger away. On the other, the break-
ers keep pushing up as if to hold us on the narrow rock ledge.
With the moonlight to gild all, it seems a fairy scene. Car-
penteria — pronounced Car-pen-te-r^-a — is a delightful little
burg aDout midway on this line. The word is said to come
from the Spanish for " carpenter." There are several expla-
nations for its adoption. I like this one : The red-winged
flicker or yellow-hammer like the golden-winged of the East,
except red replaces gold on the wing-feathers, is thick here,
and is a winged carpenter, as all over California it pecks into
buildings. One church is surely very "holey " because of this
bird's desire of entrance.
If we can trust to appearances at Carpenteria the bird is
a Baptist. The worshippers there have been compelled to tin
the church steeple, to protect from the flickers. The bird is
also a sap-sucker in California. He taps the walnuts, as does
the real, genuine sap-suckers the various orchard and forest
trees here and elsewhere. He is also unlike his close relative
East — a fruit lover. No wonder any bird that once tasted
California fruits would surely change its food habits, and
become frugivorous on the spot.
Like the other flicker, if we take this bird's eggs away
daily, she will lay as many as 30.
SICK PLANTS.
Do our plants talk tons? If not, let us get acquainted
with them, and then they will. I love the poet Bryant. Isn't
he called " the Poet of Nature ?" He loved the great, spread-
ing trees, with their grace and grateful shade. The brooks
sang for him, and to him ; and trees, brooks, hills, mountains,
sky and air, had their stories to which his ears gave fine atten-
tion. He wrote the great " Thanatopsis." I read it so
much to my children, that they learned the poem, and to-day
my daughter loves Bryant most of all our poets. That he had
a listening ear for Nature's finest thoughts appears from the
exordium of that masterpiece:
'•To him who in the love of Nature holds communion with her forms.
She speaks a various language."
The little child wakes before the day, and awakens our
keenest anxieties by his little "I'm sick." As Day draws her
curtains, we peer down to the little trundle-bed, and we see
the pallor that drove away the pink and the rose,- and the " I'm
sick" is spoken just as clearly.
My wife is anxious. The great, splendid sword-fern
which is the glory of our parlor, tells her it is sick. It speaks
in the yellowing tint of the leaves. And what shall we do ?
As in all plant sickness, so now. First, are there any insects ?
Does grub or caterpillar sap the roots, or scale or aphid the
leaves? ;:<Iy wife is too wary to make that probable. We
examine very carefully and find nothing.
Next the water. Has there been too little or too much ?
Wife has learned to guage the water. We decide the water
has been right.
Then we add nitrogen, sodium nitrate or Chili saltpeter i&
excellent, and, all at once, as by magic, new green appears,
life brightens, and our plant fairly sings, " I'm well again!"
Plants, like children, must be generously fed.
Sepl. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
619
Standard BelQian Hare Book !
THIS book of 175
pa[,'es presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
gian Hare industry;
its growth, origin
and kinds; the san-
itation and construc-
liua of the rabbitry;
setection of breeding
^lock; care of the
Touug, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of 50,-
LXX) copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
jear— both for only 11.10.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
1901— Bee-Keepeps' Supplies !
We ran famish you with The A. 1. Root Go's
.goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
Said for beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
[. U. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
■-$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re=
turn— $13,
via the Nickel Plate Road, daily, with
limit of IS days ; 20-day tickets at $16.
and 30-day tickets at $21 for the round
trip. Through service to New York
and Boston and lowest available rates.
Tor particulars and Pan-American
folder of buildings and grounds, write
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 22 — 37A3t
100 Colonies o? Leather- Colored
Italian Bees For Sale....
From stock which took first premium at the
Minnesota State Fair, 1901. All in standard
hives, in fine condition, and with abnndauce of
■sealed stores for winter.
W. R. ANSELL.
3.sA2t ST. PAUL. MINN.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when WTitir.t;
Bees Did Well.
My bees have iluue very well this season,
and not much swaruiing. Fsom one ooUniy I
took 8* filled sections of ioney. We get
very little tiark honey.
John' Gerthoffer,
Onondaga Co.. N. Y., Sept. 9.
From Two Washington Girls.
We have done so well in the i.iee-hushiess
this summer that we thought we would write
again. We are going to send a picture of
our apiary this fall.
By buying queens and comb foundation we
increased from 7 colonies to 21. Thej' have
filled :^50 sections. We ran out of sections,
and so we put on empty supers and boxes.
They have them nearly full of honey now.
We get 16 cents per section, and could sell all
we could produce at that price, even it we
had lUO colonies, and that is what we are
going to have before we quit. We wish you
could see some of our honey. It is white,
and of the finest quality.
Edn.v and Alice Yovnt.
Spokane Co.. Wash., Aug. 31.
The " Jouneer "— Queen-Excluders.
Permit me to join Mr. Davenport in com-
mending Mr. Martin's ■' jouneer." Noticing
reference to it in a recent number of the
American Bee Journal, I thought it worth a
trial in removing bees from cases of comb
honey. The first attempt was so satisfactory
that i thought aloud that ■ ■ that little bit of
information was worth several years' sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal, to
1 any bee-keeper whose time is of value.'' It
does not need a heavy jar. but a quick, sharp
one, such as may be given by a little practice.
If Mr. Martin's cloth tray could be placed
so as to be jounced with the super or case, it
seems to me that there would be practically
no killing of bees. I use a little smoke before
removing the case from the hive: a little
To make cows pav. use Sharpies Cream Separators. Book
'Business Dairying" & t;at.212 free. W.Chester.Ptt.
ONCE IN A LIFE TIME
■ I is often enmik'h todn snme thiiiKsTlPsof ten enoueh
^^ to bny a wufna if 3 ou buy the right kind. The
ELECTRIC "wagon
laijts that long under ordinury conditions. First the Ufe
of a wagon depends upon the wheels. This one is
equipped with our EleetrleSteel Wheel*, with straight
or stagger gpokesftnd wide tires. Wheels any height
. It lasts because
auyh
;t loo
. ^.setting, hubs can't crack or .-spokes become loose. feN
loes can't rot. swell or dry out. Angle steel hounds.
IHOUSAMOS NOW §N DAILY USE,
Pon't
, wa^.
KLECTKIC WHEEL CO.. Itoi 16, Quiney, 111*.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clippinp
Device is a fine thm^ for use la
catching- and clipping- Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal rof
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one year
ind the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicaffo, lit
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are ititerested in Sheep in any way
yon cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
fVool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first,foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHIGASO, lU.
Please mention Bee Journal when writinft
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-fathering- stock. Tested, Sl.tXl; un-
tested, 75 cents. "Shadv Nook Apiary."
UAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
2'iA13t Sag Harbor, New York.
Please meutlou Bee Journal
"when writing Advertisers.
DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIE5!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
The Combination Desk
J^ J/<^ and Book^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
Ttie Royal Star Combination ^
Game-Board Co., ^^
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO. ILL.
Combined Desk and Book-Gase
e, 6b-in. high, 36 in. \
19 in. deep.
Price, $13.73.
[The above firm is entirely reliable.— Editor.]
Please mention Bee Jotimal when writinK-
Ladies' Desk.
,40 iu. biRh, 25 in. w
in. deep.
Piiic, $3. S3.
620
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 26, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:::^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OITR NEW IWl J'lFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Ajrency, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
« 4 /• »-~fc '♦^ "''^ ^ax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax. ^ ^ys-,, .^eTjei
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Calitnmia f if you care to know of its
WaillUrnid. l Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly;
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send »1. 25 to
Prof. A. J. CookXIaremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing
I umm Honey For sale |
^ ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. >;
^ Honey A^ ^. ^^'^^^'^'''^W^^ Honev A: f
known lig-Iii-colored
hodey g"aihered from
Alfalfa
Honey J^v
This is the famous
White Extracted
Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honey, and
nearly everybody
who cares to eat
honey at all can
get enough of tt
Alfalfa extracted.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight— two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7"; cents per pound. Basswood Honey. H cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOINIEV
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I. I feel that I'm
y own production
ought to be to the
any kind of hot
excellent quality
I've iust sampled the honey you sent, and it s prime. Tha
something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of hon
and then buy honev of vou for my own use. But however lov
honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that foi
drink, where one prefers the more wholesome houey to suga" '
of alfalfa honey'I have received fron
marked flavor, according to my taste.
McHenry Co., 111.
i better suited tha
of
more at the top when on the jouncer, so as to
drive the Ijees down, then by giving the ease
two or three quiel! jars, the bees are nearly
all out, and one is saved hours of labor by
this simple operation. Mr. Martin, thanks!
There is one other matter which is of more
or less importance to bee-keepers, and in re-
gard to which there seems to be a difference
of opinion, that I would like to refer to. It
is that of (lueen-exL-luders over the brood-
frames. I have never used one, neither for
comb nor extracted honey. Sometimes the
queen has gone into the surplus chamber
when run for extracting purposes, but very
seldom into a section-case, and not often in
the super. This yoar. after removing a large
number of cases, I have found that the queen
had occupied but two sections of the hun-
dreds taken from the hives.
I attribute this freedom from intrusion of
the queen to the use of thick top-bars, care-
fully spaced, so that only a bee-space is left
between any two of them. 1 may be mis-
taken, but it my impression is correct, what
a saving of time, money, and trouble putter-
ing with zinc excluders.
By the way, say to Mr. Baker (page 546) to
keep tallv of the sections from the colony
referred to. I have some long-tongued bees,
and shall strive to be at least a •■ close sec-
ond " when the season closes.
Kankakee Co.. 111. Wm. M. Whitnet.
:< Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^
;^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^;
?5 enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^
•.^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can f,'et ^•
;^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^.
i^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. ^
A California Report.
I started the season of 1901, in March, with
340 colonies, increased to 2~0 colonies, and
have taken off 51, TOO pounds of extracted
honey, besides leaving the supers full.
J. A. Odeblis.
Orange Co., Calif.. Sept. 1'2.
Faiply Good Season.
The season was good until the drouth set in
in .July, when the excessive hot weather cut
the linden flow short. I secured 4000 pounds
of mostly extracted honey, from 61 colonies,
spring count, and increased to 110, which are
in good shape for winter. All of my honey
is sold in the home market. .1. M. Doudna.
Douglas Co., Minn.. Sept. i:^.
The Bee in California.
Bee-keeping in parts of California is not
only a success but a real pleasure. The mild,
temperate climate does not necessitate the
careful housing of the bees, nor is it necessary
to And food for them during the winter sea-
son. The colony is placed in a. convenient
spot under some tree in the fence-corner.
They have shade, and also a wind-break.
Here they gather the nectar which we read
.lupiter sips. What men eat has somewhat to
do with their disposition, and those who eat
honey are blest with the kindliest disposition.
Therefore, if more honey was produced, and
more eaten, the race would reap a rich benefit.
This is no vague theory— it is a scientific
truth.
The honey taken late in spring is often-
times of the very finest quality. The locust
blossom has given a generous contribution,
and this is one of the finest honey-producers.
The honey taken in the fall is enriched by
the alfalfa blossoms, and also from the blos-
soms of the mullen-weed. This weed does
not grow east of the Rockies. It also keeps
close to the ground, and is" of a very light-
blue color. The honey-gatherers seek out its
tinv blossoms with the same diligence that
the doves seek out its seed. It grows abun-
dantly on the pasture-lands. IZ^
Honey retails for 10 cents a pound, or two
dollars a box. The.se boxes contain about 30
pounds when full. They do not have the
frames, and the honey is not in a condition
to retail as is the case with that made in
frames.
Among the various! other sources from
which the California rancher may look tor an
income.he should give attention to bee-culture.
He l<nows and keenly realizes that he can not
ilepend any longer tipon wheat at the low
price of recent years, and, while he is looking
after other sources from which to receive an
income, he may do well to remember the bee.
Sept. 26. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
621
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only $1.40. It is
a fine^thing- to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this *' Emerson " no further binding- is neces-
sary.
QEOROE W, YORK & CO.,
144 i 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
^
, , , IS THE KING OF
^ (iJ >X FOUNTAIN PENS.
j^ ' ^^^^ Has been endorsed by over
--^^^hundred of America's foremost ma
zines, and received recommendations from celebri
the world over. Without doubt tlie pen of the age
Agents Wanted,
New Style Old Style.
POST FOUNTAIN PEN CO..
120 W. 14th St. , New York City.
Pluase mention Bee Journal "when ■writinp
Standard Bred (Jueens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S. W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog^ on application. Cincinnati, O.
Hease mention Bee Journal when -writins
IF IT'S COT TO
stand USEand ABUSE, you'd belter huv "PAOE."
PAOK HOVKN HlUKKENCKCO.,Al»ltlAN,}IRII.
please mention Bee Journal when writing.
lie has but to (jive them a small amount of
attention, and at the proper time take what
they have stored up for his well-being. It is
au industry that needs to be understood in
order that the prejudice in the minds of those
who are ready to exclaim, " How hot its little
feet are, begorrah I'' be removed. There is
no more interesting study than one may find
right in this industry. With the present im-
proved methods of liee-keeping. the highly
heated " pedal extremities" need not incon-
venience any one.
There is in this land of fruit and flowers—
this land of fair climate — a large future for
the bee. It should be the very paradise (as it
is hoped it may be) of the bee. It will also
be a great help to tlie debt-burdened, hard-
working farmer. " Rancher."
California, Aug. 5.
Something fpom Arkansas.
1 have Ijeen a suljsrriber of the American
Bee .loin-nal for nearly a year, and am indeed
impressed with the fact that it is peculiarly
in the interest of the apiarist.
While Arkansas may not be as good a bee-
State as some others, yet with the proper care
and interest in the work, honey can be relied
upon as an industry sutHciently paying to en-
courage any one to embark in the business
here.
The moth seems to be the pest to the api-
aries of Arkansas, as is also the borer to the
orchard. Part of my hives are the old-fash-
ioned box-hive, an(^ part are movable-frame
hives, mostly the old " Kidder " hive; both
do well, but \ have no doubt that the frame
hive is much the better. However, many peo-
ple who have tried the frame hives on a small
scale, have gone back to the box-hive again,
declaring the former to be a failure. This,
of course, is because they gave their bees no
attention.
This is purely a cotton country, and but
little attention is paid to any other industry.
1 have for several years been studying and
reading about the bee, and intend to join the
National Bee-Keepers' Association, and hope
to be of some use to the bee-industry of this
country. A. E. Ston'e.
Yell Co., Ark., Aug. al.
Treating Hive-Covers— Other
Matters.
Mr. E. H. Schaettle, in Gleanings in Bec-
Culiure, proposes to boil hive-covers in lin-
seed oil to prevent warping. This may be a
very good way for water-tight hives. My
way has been to paint hives and covers inside
with raw linseed oil. Oil makes it easy to
scrape and clean hives out, as well as to pro-
tect the wood. For the outside, two coats of
pure white lead mixed with raw linseed oil.
White lead is a cool paint. I have some red-
wood hives ten years old thus treated, that
are almost as good as new, while hives that
were not painted have mostly gone to wreck.
Bu: nothing suits me like the dovetailed
hive and gable cover for moving, as well as
for the dry climate of central and southern
California.
For bad cases of robbing I use the follow-
ing plan ; Remove the covers of the hives
being rolibed, and put on an empty frame
covered with wire-cloth, such as is uiscd in
moving bees. Then brush a little coal-oil on
the entrance, and a large part of the robbers
will be attracted to the top of the hive. This
also affords the little " soldiers " air.
The honey-flow from the lima beans of
Ventura county has been very light — only
enough to put the bees in good condition for
winter. We mined 200 colonies 50 miles for
the beans, at the close of sage-bloom.
The honey croi> near Newhall was a good
average one, but not so close to the coast, as
a cool fog lasted while the sage was in bloom.
I was told that San Diego county would not
have honey enough for its own use.
E. Archibald.
Ventura Co., Calif.. Aug. 34.
Please mentloii Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELI<
FOUNDATION and
Wori fax Into Fonnilation For Cash
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a hard
rubber holder, tapering to a
round point, and writes as
.•-nioothly as a lead-pencil. The
point andneedleof the pen
:ire made of platina, alloyed
with iridium — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write 10,000 words, and do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of uni>
form >vidlli at all times
they are unequaled ior
ruling' purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best MASiFOLniso Pen on
THE Market.
19,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the '* Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new subscribers
to the American Bee Journal for
4jue year, with ^2.00; or send
>:l.ttO for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
fur SI. 00 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
e'^^)°' GEORQE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St, Chicago, III.
Send for circulars 1^'
regarding
Idest
and most
improved and original Bingham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Tears thk Best on Earth.
2SAtf T. F. BINQHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wrtttno'
Buffalo Pan-American
l.^day tickets for $13.00 via Nickel
Plate Road ; 20-day tickets S16.00.
Lowest rates to all eastern points.
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
.\dams St., Chicago. City Ticket Of-
fice 111 Adams St. Chicago. 24— 37A3t
622
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Sept. 26, 1901.
Bee Books
bENT POSTP
George W. York* Co.
Chicago.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.—It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pag-es,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and baund in cloth, fold-lettered. Price, m
floth, "S cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything- relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. I',
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, St.2S.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?.ry,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiology of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully iliustrated. Price, $1.25.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Uoolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, Sl.W.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
paedia of 400 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book: 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Uzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, $1.00.
Bienen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— Thia
is a German translation of the principal portion
of the book'called " Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neuesten methode (German) by J. F. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of Georgia.— A practical and condeust
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G. I,. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
*'new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or e.xtracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotes twt) pages to a colonv. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for So colonies, Si.OO; lor 100 colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvoy Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce.— Result of 25 years' experience. 30 cts.
shii
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons andCaponizing, bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, aud (.thers.-lllustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fanny
Field.— Kverythiii'j' about Poul'.ry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Pi ice, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, b?
;?anny Field.- Tells everything about Poultry
:iusiness. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for a years subscription to our
Journal, and we will send book. Plans for
Poultry-Houses, free. Six months trial subscrip-
tion to Journal, 10 cents.
Ini-and PorLTKY JOURNAL, Indianapolis, Ind
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
5ize of Queen^RearinK Nuclei.
Efforts have been made to use as small a
number of bees as possible in queen-rearing
nuclei from the time the joung queen
emerges until slie is laying, but it is possible
the waste of a larger number of bees is not so
great as might be supposed. Dr. Miller says
in (ileanings in Bee-t'ulture:
The greatest part of the cost of rearing a
■ meen has been considered the time occupied
in the nuoleils to get her to laying; and, lilie
others, I have made some effort toward seeing
how few bees might be successfully used in a
nucleus. But is not the cost of nuclei mag-
nified J If I am not mistaken, a colony with
a virgin queen will work just as vigorously
as one with a laying queen, and a field-ljee
will carry just as much nectar to a nucleus as
to a full colony. It that is correct, and if a
cell is given at the time of removing a laying
queen from a nucleus, then there will not be
more than two days when the nucleus will not
be in good storing condition, and when too
much honey is in a nucleus a full frame can
be exchanged for an empty one. Of course
there will be some loss from the larger pro-
portion of bees required to keep up the heat
in a small nucleus. But I suspect that the
gain from fewer bees in a nucleus is overrated.
To Prevent Swarming.
Mr. Doolittle says in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture he is trying several plans, but has only
one which is as yet perfect enough to give
out. It is as follows :
Give lots of room, with as many bait-sec-
tions as possible, so as to discourage early
swarming as much as you can. When you
think you can hold them from swarming no
longer, cage the queen. Now wait from Ul to
11 days, when you will shake the bees off
their combs so you are sure to see wery
i:iueen-cell started, and pull every cell off.
Now make a hollow plug to fit one end of the
cage the queen is in, and fill the hollow with
candy, such as is used in shipping queens,
having the plug about !}.< inches long, so the
bees will be about two days in eating out the
candy, and liberating the queen. This does
away with all desire for swarming from that
colony."
Feeding Medicated Syrup to Bees.
It is time to feed bees in the central and
northern States; and if feeding has to be
resorted to I would strongly urge medicating
all the syrup with the naphthol-beta solution.
Such a precaution becomes exceedingly nec-
essary just now when foul and black brood
have been extending their ravages in every
direction. The medicated syrup will not kill
the spores of either disease, but it will de-
stroy the bacilli as soon as the spores develoi>
into the active stage.
Into an eight-ounce bottle (halt pint) empty
a one-ounce package of naphthol-beta in the
form of a fine while power. Pour in just
enough wood or common alcohol to dissolve
the powder, and till the bottle full. This
quantity of chemical in solution is just right
for 140 pounds of sugar dissolved in 14(1
pounds of water. To mix, put 140 pounds of
water in a conmion honey-extractor; then
add sugar gradually, dipperful by dipperful.
until there are about 140 pounds of sugar.
While the sugar is Ijeing added, keep turning
the handle of the extractor so there will be a
rapid agitation and thorough mixing. After
the sugar is all in, keep on turning the handle
until it is all dissolved, and, last of all, pour
in the naphthol-beta solution already referred
to. Stir this into the mixture thoroughly by
running the extractor for several minutes
longer.
In handling the naphthol-beta solution, be
Lanosiroilion...
ineHoiieyBea
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and oug-ht to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains^
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly atid thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
B66s= Supplies
CATALOG FREE.
I. J. STRINQHAM,
105 Park Place, - NEW YORK, N. Y.
13A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
strengthening up
weak or queenless colonies, I will send one col-
onv with queen for $1.00; two or more, 75c each;
Oueens, 25c each. H. H. PORTER,
■'3')A2t R. R. No. 1, Bak.\hoo, Wis.
flease mention Bee journal when wntlng.
Sept. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
623
careful not to ^el it on tbe liiis;t-rs : but after
it is mixed with the syrup, it is perfectly
harmless to man or bees. Naphthol-beta can
be obtained for -'.i cents an ounce; and at
this low price no bee-keeper can afford not to
take the precaution.
In making the syrup we recommend half
sugar and half cold water. There is no need
of heating, provided thorough stirring is used,
either with a stick and tub, or, better still, in
an extractor in the manner explained. We
have fed a half-and-half mixture for several
years; and since using it we have never had
any trouble from its going back to sugar in
the cells after the bees have put it into the
comb. For very late feeding it may be advis-
able to use one part of water and two of
sugar.— Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Honey =Cakes.
It seems a good thing that fashion maga-
zines of wide circulation should help to in-
crease the use of honey. The following
recipe is from the Delineator :
Mix thoroughly one quart of honey, ^.,
pound pulverized sugar. ^., pound fresh but-
ter, juice of 2 oranges; then stir in gradually
enough sifted flour to make a dough stiff
enough to roll out easily. Turn out on a
molding-board; beat well for a few minutes
with a rolling-pin ; then roll out into sheets
half an inch thick; cut into round cakes, and
bake in shallow buttered pans.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Illinois.— The annual meel idg of the Northern
Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association will be held
in the Court House in Rockford, 111., on Tues-
day and Wednesday, Oct. IS and Id, 1901. All in-
terested in bees are invited to attend.
Rockford, 111. B. Kennedy, Sec.
Utah.— There will be a meeting of the Utah
Bee-Keepers' Association in the City and County
Building, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 5, 1901, at
10 a m., to which all are cordially invited.
Kindly inform other bee keepers and send the
addresses of your neighbor bee-keepers. We
also desire the address of all county bee-in-
spectors. A full program in the interest of the
industry will be presented. Send in questions.
Amongother questions it is desired to consider,
is a union of interest in the purchaseof supplies
and the disposing of bee-products at profitable
rates. Yours in behalf of the bee-keepers,
E. S. LovKSv, Pres., J. B. F.^gg. Sec,
Salt Lake City. East Mill Creek.
100 Full Swarms ^'^^ good laying
iv/v/ i i«»i kjT. c»im,j queen in shipping-
BeeS at $1.25 box, no hive or
_ o combs: hive extra,
a Swarm, $100 These bees are
for feeding up for winter to make colonies, or
to strengthen weak colonies, or may be used for
requeening. Full directions given. Ordersfilled
as received. Write for further information
regarding these bees. Address,
F. H. McF ARLAND, Hyde Park.Vt.
3'iAlt Mention the American Bee Journal.
Colorado Alfalfa Fielils "^i^^^vr^l^
to be placed in yards of 200 in unoccupied terri-
tory. 2(j years' experience.
39A21 W. E. BRAND, Fort Collins, Colo.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ^Rmti2:.e
WISCONSIN FARM LANDS.
The best of farm lands can be ob-
tained now in Marinette Conty, Wis-
consin, on the Chicago, Milwaukee ■.'i
St. Paul Railway, at a low price and
on very favorable terms. Wisconsin
is noted for its fine crops, excellent
markets and healthful climate. Why
rent a farm when you can buy one,
much cheaper than you can rent, and
in a few years it will be your own
property. For particulars, address,
F. A. Mii.i.EK, Gen'l Passenfjer Apent,
Chicajro, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, Chicago. 3f»A3t
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
S» lOBs 2SBS 50ft
Sweet Clover (white) t .oO $1.00 $2.25 $4 OO
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.£0
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.7S 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14« Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of jjoods. Refer you to
Brighton German Bank, this city.
C. H. W. WEBER,
2146-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
29Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Buy tton6U
What haveyou to offer
and at what price?
34Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton, Wis.
Please mentior Bee Journal wh.en writing
Wanted
ncy White Comb Honey
nO'drip cases; also Ex*
_^ __ cted Honey. State price,
delivered. IVe pav spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front A: Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference — German National Bank, Cincinnati.
28A17t Please mention the Bee Journal.
WRITE US
State quantity, bow put up, kind of honey,
price expected, and, if possible, mail sample.
We pay spot cash.
Referknce— Wisconsin National Bank.
E. R. Pahl «S:Co.
34Atf niLWAUKEE, WIS.
Flease mention Bee Journal wbun -writini;
Warned'"""'*'"
traded fioneu!
m;iie yiiLt^. Kind and quautitv.
R. A- BURNETT & CO.. 1'''' S.Water St.", ChicaG(
33Aif Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted— Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay hig-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating: quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enoug-h to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
3lArf Fairfield, III.
PleP^^ft mention Bee Journal when writing.
BEE=SUPPLIES!
WALTER S.POUDER.
"■- INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
FJease mention Bee Journal when writing
>J ste. >lt sk >Ji Mt ili sJi >te. >te >li iti iltl*
I HONEY AND BEESWAX i
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Sept. 18.— No. 1 white comb honey
is selling at 15c per pound, with occasionally a
little more being obtained for fancy, that which
does not grade No. 1 selling at from 13f&'14c,
with the light amber at 12'" 13c; dark honey of
various kinds selling at 10(gillc. Extracted in
moderate demand at from 5Mf«'6Hc for the vari-
ous grades of white; some fancy white clover
and basswood bringing "c; light amber rang-
ing from S'^f" 5*4c; dark at 5@5^'4C. Beeswax
firm at 2S(q)30c. R. A. Borwett & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
E.\tracted sells only to manufacturers from
5@t>c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
tj@7c; white clover from MC&iOc. Fancy white
comb honev sells from ]3J4@15f^c.
C, H.W.Weber.
Boston, Sept. 14.— Honey is coming forward
in fair quantities and the demand is good, con-
sidering the warm weather we are having.
Strictly fancy in cartons wequote at lt.c; A No.
1. ISc: No. 1, 14@l5c. Very little No. 2 being re-
ceived. Blake, Scott & Lbb.
Albany, N. Y., Sept. 19.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, lt.c; No. 1, 15c; mixed, 13(« 14c; No.
1 buckwheat or amber, 12@13c. Extracted*
white, 7(d)7^c; light, 65^f«'7c; dark, S5^(ai6c. Bees-
wax, 28(a'.29c. H, R. Wright.
Omaha, Aug. 8.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 5i) per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4j4@4^^c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Sept. 10.— Comb honey is now be-
ginning to arrive in large quantities, and, as a
rule, quality is fine. The demand is good, and
we quote as follows: Fancy white, 14^»15c: No.
1, 13c; No. 2, 12c; and amber, lie. No buck-
wheat is on tbe market as yet, but are expect-
ing same within a week or so. Extracted is
selling slowly, with plenty of supply, at ?(a'bl4c^
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 5S(s'-oSc per gallon. Beeswax dull at 27c.
Hildreth & Seoblken.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Brcs. & Chaney.
Detroit, Aug. 12. — Fancy white comb honey,
14@15c; No. 1, I3@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6(a'7c. Beeswax, 25(ai26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, lof5'17c, and lower grades, 12(i3)14c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co.
San Francisco, Sept. 4.— White comb, 10^
12 cents; amber, 7@nc; dark, 6@7i^ cents. Ex-
tracted, white, S%@~; light amber, 4H®-;
amber, 4@— . Beeswax, 26@28c.
Arrivals and spot offerings are of rather mod-
erate volume, but there is as much or more on
market than can be conveniently or advanta-
geously placed. To secure liberal wholesale
custom, prices would have to be shaded in favor
of buyers. In a small way for especially desi-
rable lots slightly higher ligures than are
cjuoted are realized.
Kansas City, Sept. 14.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15@l(>c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and (juutations are issued at f3.10(aj$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14@14J^c; the demand beincr quite brisk,
a lirm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way S%(<p(}C is quotable.
Peycke Bkos.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
624
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Sept. 26, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on Iiand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hiv6§, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAHTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
Thk American Bee-Keepeb free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' «" W. M. Gerrish, East Notin^ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our groods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal ■w>teii 'writmi?
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $1.00: Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed ou. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal -wlien "writing.
—THE—
Bee-Keeper's Guide
Or, Manual «t the Apiary,
. BY
PROF, A, J, COOK.
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thoa-
sand— $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fasclnat-
ng style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Goide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SDBSCRiBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
OEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll"
year
Dadant's Foundation, liar
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAaQINO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^^ >Ar
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been anv
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OP ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstrolh on the HonGy-Bee — Rc\/isedl,
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Cs., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
.^i^
(9
a
if
a
RED GLOVER QUEENS
iSSSQSQSS
^^>r
Black Rock, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1901.
Friend Ernest:— I willtry and tell you what you want to know about that queen. I got
her of you in 1899 as a premium with GLEANINGS. I never saw a small colony of bees build up
as that one did. In the spring of 1'*int they came out iu fine shape, wintered perfect. I raised them
up in May and gave them 8 frames more so the (jueen would not want for room. I never saw such
a colony of bees as they were in June, and they were actually storing honey when other bees in
my yard were starving. No! they were not robbing. I never saw those two best colonies of mine
trying to rob. THEY CERTAINLY WORK ON RED CLOVER. This is no guesswork, as I
have seen them. As you know, the past two seasons have been very poor, and what honey my
bees did get in 1900 candied soon after cold weather set in. I packed this colony in a chaff hive
and left them out, thinking that such a strong colony would winter perfect. The snow came on
the middle of November, and those poor bees never a fly until the last of March or the first of
April. When warm weather at last came I thought they were dead, as they did not seem to be fly-
ing much, so I did not pay any attention to them until in June. I noticed they were working a
little, so I opened up the hive and found them in the upper story. I took the lower story out and
left them in the one body. The queen was laying nicely, and I thought they would make a good
colony to winter. Along the last of July I noticed that they needed more room. I gave them a
super, 24 boxes, and in a few days they had it full. They have made ~Z boxes of as nice honey as
j-ou ever saw, and are drawing out some starters now, Sept. 2.
Very truly yours, Geo. B. Howe.
Prices of Red Clover Queens.
(Meanings in Bee-Culture 1 year and Untested Queen $2.00
" *' " TestedQueeu 4.00
" " " Select Tested Queen 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to order one of these queens. All or-
ders are filled promptly. No extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
B^" GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 'tmJ^GoiHT'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO
Send to them for their free Catalog.
i^ERie%
Ree Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 3, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 40.
626
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
Oct. 3, 1901.
PUBLISHKD WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
G-EOROE W. Tore, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller,
' I Department
Prof. A. J. Cook,
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this .Journal
is $1.00 a. year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries iu the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The W"^ rapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A.I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
Thos. G. Newman,
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
J^" If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
trod uce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes;
*' I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busv bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees.'*
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-ljutton that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
LanQSWtion...
TI16H0I161I-B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & IM, Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
—THE
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, IVlaniiul ol tlie Apiary,
BY
PROE A, J. COOIC
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thon-
sand— SI 25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fasclnat-
ng- style. The author is also too well-known to
tiie whole bee-world to require any introductionk
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Kbepers' Guidh,
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook*8
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, weproposetoGivK away
to our present subscribers, for the work of g-et-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also griven to
the two NEW subscribers— si
nal for one year:
Send us two new sdbs<
Journal (with $2.00), and we ^
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Joumal for a jcar^
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
nply the Bee Jour'
BERs to the Befr
ill mail you a copy
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on tbe other side.
I HOWARD M. MELBEE.
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is the i-'ULL Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife.— When ordering, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies in the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, r/hich is as transparent as gla
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are haud-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. - The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linintrs are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a g-ood knife Is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the '* Novelty " is lost, having- name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy tbe name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the " Novelt'.cs," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and la
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a ladv to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gices a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
thislbeautiful knife, as the *' Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25. or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us \ riREE nf.w subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $3. W.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one vear, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK £ CO-
.^"Please allor •'bout two weeks for your knife order to be fihea.
St., Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 3, 190L
No, 40.
I ^ Editorial- ^ I
A Bee Keepers' Paradise is what
Editor Root calls Uvalde Co., Tex., with some
other counties in that State and New Mexico.
But after having' raised the expectations of
prospecting bee-keepers to the highest notch,
he lets them drop with a dull thud by saying
that Uvalde county is "fearfully overstocked."
The Buffalo Convention Report we
expect to begin publishing soon. There were
no papers read except at the joint meeting of
the poniologists and bee-keepers on the last
evening. So, practically, the whole of the re-
port will be discussions of questions. This
should make it very interesting reading.
Hive-Covers. — Saw-kerfs on the underside
of hive-covers have been successfully used to
prevent warping, but Editor Root says that
after a thorough trial of such covers they
have been abandoned, because in dry climates
these saw-cuts favor checking and splitting
entirely too much. Even in northern Ohio
they give a good deal of trouble.
Meed of Laws on Bee-Diseases. — On
page B31, Hon. J. M. Hambaugh, bee-inspec-
tor for San Diego Co., Calif., offers some
highly important suggestions that should
have earnest consideration.
The careful, up-to-date bee-keeper deserves
to be fully protected from his careless, slip-
shod neighbors whose bees are more likely to
contract deadly disease, and when once con-
tracted is harbored and permitted to contami-
nate surrounding healthy apiaries. Surely,
there should be stringent laws in every State
to compel every bee-keeper to aid in the dis-
covery of bee-diseases, and when found aid in
its complete eradication. This is as much in
the interest of infected apiaries as healthy
ones.
Mr. Hambaugh also calls attention to the
necessity of issuing a certiBcate from a law-
fully appointed inspector, showing the
healthy condition of every colony proposed
to be removed from one locality to another.
This certainly would be a wise provision. It
would help in many instances, no doubt, to
prevent carrying contagion from place to
place.
Mr. J. M. Rankin, Michigan's alert inspec-
tor, has just had an experience in the direc-
tion indicated. He examined a lot of hives,
combs, etc.. belonging to a bee-keeper at
Evart, Mich., and finding ample evidences of
foul brood, he oflicially ordered the bee-
keeper to destroy the disease-infected combs,
etc. Instead of obeying the officer of the
law, he loaded the stuff on a ear and shipped
it to Clyde, 111., near Chicago, where it will
likely become a menace to the healthy api-
aries in that locality.
Now, if Illinois had a good foul brood law,
and an efficient inspector, this ease would be
followed up, and finally be gotten rid of.
But what kind of a bee-keeper is the man
that would ship bee-disease from one State
into another, instead of destroying it, espe-
cially when ordered to do so by one whose
duty and authority it is to clean up such dis-
ease before it is spread any further ? The
offending bee-keeper deserves the severest
condemnation possible by his fellows, and
also the complete destruction of his whole
apiary if even the slightest trace of foul brood
is found therein. Any man who would so
wantonly convey disease from place to place,
rather than obey a wholesome law, should be
held up to the scorn of all good bee-keepers
and citizens, and be made to feel to the fullest
extent possible the result of such wilful dis-
obedience.
We hope that there may be sufficient agita-
tion to secure the much-needed laws In all
the States for the protection of bees from
contagious diseases. In view of the good
work already done by the few State, county
and province inspectors of apiaries, it would
seem that every State would be able to secure
at least one inspector by the passage of a
suitable law.
about 145 sections, the highest average he has
had except in IST". It would be just like
him to say that he now places a higher value
on long tongues than he did.
The Hive-Tool that suits best at Medina
is a putty-knife, says the editor of Gleanings
in Bee-Culture, while Dr. Miller says the
Muench tool is away ahead of any other tool
he has ever tried. Its broad semi-circular
blade is easily wedged in under cover or
super without marring the wood, and the
other end is so constructed that a slight twist
forces the frames apart with the exertion of
very little strength.
^
Red Clover Honey. — A conversation is
reported in (ileanings in Bee-Culture which
is supposedly based on fact, from which it
appears that a neighbor of G. M. Doolittle's,
living two miles distant, finds red clover per-
fecting its bloom for the first time in I.t or 20
years, and his black bees are not to be seen on
it at all, while Mr. Doolittle's yellow beesare
just swarming on it. From some colonies
Mr. Doolittle took as high as 80 one-pound
sections of red-clover honey, while the aver-
age yield was not far from 65 sections. The
linden came, and made the total average from
colonies not interfencl with by queen-rearing
A Special Encouragement in Queen-
Rearing lies close neighbor to the discour-
aging fact that we have little or no control of
the drones. In order to stimulate to greater
effort, it may be well to bring out with some
minuteness wherein this encouragement lies.
While it is true that drones from neighbor-
ing apiaries may meet our young queens, yet
where one has a hundred colonies or more,
especially if neighboring bees be few, the pre-
dominance in numbers of the drones in the
home apiary makes the chance fair for some
degree of safety from outside interference.
Let us suppose that we are so situated that
outside interference of drones need not be
taken into account. Suppose, too, that after
close watch and careful record we have found
one queen whose workers show marked supe-
riority as honey-gatherers. All the better if
the queen be of such age that such superiority
has been shown in two or more years. The
parents of this queen have had characteristics
that made such a combination as to result in
an offspring superior to either of the parents.
Let us call the drone father of our present
queen Dl, the queen mother Ql, and desig-
nate their drone and queen offspring respec-
tively as D2 and Q3. From our superior
queen, Q2, will be reared the present season
drones and queens that we will call D3 and
y3, and it will not be a difficult matter before
the close of the season to have a Q3 queen in
every colony in the apiary. Next season will
then open with an apiary headed by tJ3
queens, whose workers will be from fathers
that vary from each other, hence the workers
will be of varying value, none of them per-
haps coming up to the mark of the workers
of Q2, but taking the apiary as a whole there
will be a noticeable improvement.
Now as to the rearing of queens next sea-
son. If our superior queen, Q2, is still liv-
ing, and we are willing to take the risks of
inbreeding, we may rear queens from her, or
we may obtain a good queen of unrelated blood
from elsewhere. In either case, the drones
that meet our youug queens will be the same,
the sons of the (^3 queeus, and may properly
be called D4. Kight in the character of these
Dt drones lies our special encouragement. As
parthenogenesis prevails among bees, these
drones will not be of the same blood as the
i|ueen and worker progeny of their mother,
but will be of the same blood as the Q3 queens
themselves, and consequently of the same
blood as the worker progeny of our superior
i|ueen (^2. Whatever superiority may have
628
AMERICAN BEE lOUKNAL
Oct. 3, 1901.
been showu iu the worker progeny of that
queen, we have that same superiority in the
drones with which the entire apiary is now
stocked. Some claim that it is more impor-
tant to have good drones than good queens,
and no one denies that the drone is fully as
important as the <iaeen. So whatever the
quality of the queens reared next year, we
are sure of drones of best quality.
As already intimated, all this must be dis-
counted by the chance of inferior drones from
outside, but after making that discount there
is still food for much encouragement in the
thought that only superior drones are in our
own yard.
^
The Best Fuinigator. — A Stray Straw
in Gleanings in Bee-Culture says :
If it is true that bisulphide of carbon will
Isill moth-eggs as well as larv*, why is it not
a long way ahead of sulphur for those who
fumigate their sections '. Bisulphide can be
used once for all when sections are taken off,
or within two weeks, and save the repetition
of the fumigation that sulphur requires, also
saving the danger of making the sections
green with sulphur. — [If the reports are true,
the man who persists in using sulphur in
place of bisulphide of carbon is far behind
the times. The bisulphide is more thorough,
and much less trouble to use. While it is
subject to more or less danger from explo-
sion, the burning of sulphur, even in an iron
kettle, also has its danger.— Editor.]
But even bisulphide of carbon may have to
give way to gasoline, according to J. B.
Rapp, who says in the same periodical:
I have just made an important discovery,
to me at least; that is, that gasoline is as
effective in killing moth-worms in bee-combs
as bisulphide of carbon, and it does not cost a
twelfth as much. My plan is to till a tight
box or barrel with combs, then pour in a
pint or so of gasoline ; close up tight for 24
or 36 hours, and the work is doue. Gasoline
beats sulphur far away, and is much easier
used, and safer. I have used gasoline on
hundreds of l^angstroth combs, and have no
trouble with worms, as I think the gasoline
kills the eggs as well as the worms.
The editor adds that he knows gasoline can
be used in place of the more expensive drug
to destroy ant-nests, but it takes a larger
quantity.
The Production of Beeswa.v.— Harry
Howe thinks there may be profit in producing
wax instead of honey iu Cuba. He says in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture that in the olden
time many apiaries were run entirely for wax,
the honey being thrown away. At present
wax brings it'.j times as much as honey in
Cuba, and the conditions are peculiarly favor-
able there for tlie production of wax, the
honey-flow being eight months long, with hot
enough nights during half that time for
secreting wax without waste of heat. He
says:
My plan is to cut out the combs instead of
extracting them, and return the frames, but
only half from each hive, extracting the
other half so they will at all times have store-
room. Then, when there is no longer a sur-
plus to be had in the fields, contract the
brood-nest and set out honey at one side of
the apiary. As fast as they carry in the
honey, melt the wax which remains; then
' when they have built their combs nearly
down, set them out to be emptied and melted.
I think the improved condition of my bees
in the beginning of the next harvest will
about pay for the extra labor; hut until it
has been tried, no one knows how it will
work.
I Weekly Budget. I
Mr. Jons C. Wilms, of Riverside Co.,
Calif., wrote us. Sept. IS, that he had taken
off 26,850 pounds of extracted honey from l\o
colonies, spring count. Pretty good average
per colony.
The Apiart op Leslie E. Hazes, of
Nemaha Co., Kans., is found on the first
page of this issue. The photograph was
taken from the northeast, so the rows of
hives running north and south in the apiary
can not be seen. We should think, however,
that it is a very neat apiary.
Mr. Harry Howe, the " lightning opera-
tor," has had some sympathy wasted on him
by the report that he was hopelessly broken
in health. It appears that the news of his
ill-health was a year old or more, and his
friends will be glad to learn that he is now as
well as ever, and caring for about 1000 colo-
nies of bees in Cuba. The report and the
correction have both come through Gleanings
in Bee-Culture.
Mr. Wm. Kohriq, of Maricopa Co., Ariz.,
gave this office a call on Monday, Sept. 23.
He had been in the East — New York, Buffalo,
etc. — looking up the honey interests. He is
vice-president of the Arizona Honey-Pro-
ducers' Assocation, which has quite a number
of car-loads of extracted honey for sale, but
they think the prices offered so far are too
ruinously low. Mr. Rohrig has about 900
colonies, in three apiaries. The principal
source of honey there is alfalfa, which iu that
locality seems to yield a light amber honey,
while in Colorado and Utah alfafa honey is
very white. This great difference in color
seems quite unaccountable.
Quoting the Honey Market. — Messrs.
Blake, Scott & Lee, of Boston, write us as
follows in response to Mr. Cooley's letter on
page 363 :
American Bee Journal: — We note with
interest the letter of Mr. Stoughton Cooley in
the issue of Sept. 5, and as we have had the
honor of quoting in the American Bee Jour-
nal for several years past, a word from us
might not be amiss at this time.
Our method has been invariably to quote
from actual sales. During the summer
months — in fact, we might say from May 1 to
Sept. 1 — the demand for honey is so limited
that quotations are practically nominal, and
although we received quotation cards regu-
larly, yet during this interim we very fre-
quently simply state that " the market is
without change."
Now, the (|uestion would seem to arise.
Which is the more reliable, quotations given
by the commission men from actual sales, or
quotations from a trade paper '. When it is
known that the trade papers in the various
centers must dej)end upon the commission
men themselves for quotations, it will be seen
at a glance that both the quotations the
American Bee Journal receives, and those of
the trade papers, are primarily from the same
source, and in that event the former would
naturally be the latest and most up to date.
From our experience with quotations of
other commodities, we know that the quota-
tions in the American Bee Journal are more
apt to be reliable for this reason — you are
quoting one specialty? In the trade journal,
honey is but one of a great many, and for
this reason will not demand the searching
inquiries that the American Bee Journal is in
a position to give.
By referring to the instance mentioned in
Mr. Cooley's letter, it will be seen that it
comes during the inactive period of the year;
while it reference is made to the issue of
Sept. 0, it will be found that the oldest quo-
tation is Aug. H, and from that on to Aug. 22,
during which time we venture to assert that
there could be no essential change in any
market.
We might mention that in our business we
have had occasion from time to time to write
to different markets when for any reason our
market happened to l)e short of supply, an-d
we have invariably found that we were un-
able to buy at a lower price than prices
quoted; thus proving the correctness of the
quotations, and certifying to the value of the
American Bee Journal to our shippers.
Wishing you continued success, we remain,
Yours respectfully,
Blake, Scott & Lee.
We should he pleased to hear from the rest
of those who quote the honey and beeswax
market for the American Bee Journal. We
want to get at the bottom of this matter, and
if there is a better way to get at actual mar-
ket values we desire to know it, and avail
ourselves of it. What have the rest of the
dealers to say *
Apiary of J. W. Tccker & Son.— The
picture on page 634 was taken from the roof
of the barn. The aged lady to the right is
Mr. Tucker's mother, and next are his wife
and daughter Grace. The young man on the
left is his son, and the people in the back-
ground are his next-door neighbors. The
little boys came in at the eleventh hour, but
one can see them by looking closely.
It will be noticed that quite a few of his
hive-covers are flat, and he says they are
made in this way : The two gable ends proper
are made out of '„xl?4 inch wood rabbeted
out ?4 of an inch deep on the lower edge for
the under lid to lie in, leaving 'i inch to
hook over the end of the hive. The center
gable is one inch. The top lid projects one
inch all the way around, and the tin is turned
down over it. There are several layers of
thin paper i'., of an inch under the tin. The
one-inch air-space and the paper make the
cover all right, and it doesn't cost much more
than the other kind.
Mr. John G. Cokey, of Ventura Co., Calif.,
wrote us as follows, Sept. 10:
I had no honey in 1808, 1899 and 1900, but
this year I built up my bees to my original
200 colonies, and have taken 16,500 pounds of
honey. My stock had run down to 135 colo-
nies
I am one of the old bee-keepers, having
been in the business since 1860. My father
kept bees in gums; he got his start from bee-
trees. We lived in Rock Grove, in Stephen-
son Co., III.. 1.=) miles north of Freeport, set-
tling there in ls:i6. We hauled wheat to Chi-
cago, 110 miles, and sold it for 40 cents per
bushel; camped out, and hauled oats to feed
our horses for the round trip, which took
seven to eight days.
Mr. Edwin Bevins, of Decatur Co.. Iowa,
called at this office recently when on his way
to Wisconsin for relief from a severe attack
of hay-fever. We wish him complete relief
from that terrible attiiction.
Oct. 3, lyoi.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
629
^ns..ie^is^j^ie.ja^is,Ji^
Convention Proceedings.
(Continued from page old
Report of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Convention.
BY LOUIS SCHOLL, SEC.
FIRST DAY— Afternoon Session.
The convention was again called to order by Pres. Sal-
yer, at 2:00 p.m., and the first business was the report of
the committee on constitution and by-laws. Secretary
Scholl read the following, which was unanimously adopted.
CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLE I.— Name.
This ort^anization shall be known as '■ The Texas Bee-Keepers"
Association."
ARTICLE II.— Objects.
Its objects shall be to promote the interests of bee-keepers; the
exchange of thoughts, experiments, etc., in apiculture, through the
meetings of this Association; and through a closer relation of its
members.
ARTICLE III.— Membership.
SEC. I. Any white person who is in accord with the objects and
the aims of this Association, may become a member upon the payment
of $1.00 to the Secretary-Treasurer, payment to be made at or before
each annual meeting of the Association ; or not later than 10 days
thereafter. Membership will continue as long as all dues are paid up.
Sec. 2. Any person may become an honorary member of this Asso-
ciation upon a two-thirds vote of the members present.
ARTICLE IV.— Officers.
Sec. 1. The offlcers of this Association shall be a President, a
Vice-President, and a Secretary who shall be ex-oflieio Treasurer.
Sec. 2. The oflicers shall all be elected annually by ballots of the
members of this Association at their annual meeting.
ARTICLE V. — Duties of Officers.
Sec. 1. rrenhhnt. — It shall be the duty of the President to preside
at the annual meetings of this Association, and to perform such other
duties as may devolve on the presiding officer. The President shall be
ex-officio Vice-President of the " Texas Farmers' Congress.''
Sec. 2. Vice-PrfKident — In the absence of the President, the Vice-
President shall perform the duties of President.
Sec. 3. tiecretary. — It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep
the records of this Association ; to make a report of the annual meet-
ings; to receive membership fees ; to make a report at the annual
meetings; and perform such other service as the Association may
direct.
Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President and Secretary shall form an
Executive Committee. Their duties shall be such as usually fall to
such otlicers.
ARTICLE VI.— Funds.
Sec 1. The secretary shall remit to the General Manager of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association, within two weeks after the annual
meeting, the sum of .'lO cents for each paid-up member, as a member-
ship in the National Bee-Keeper.s' Association for one year.
Sec. 2. The Secretary shall receive not less than SIO.OO annually
for his services, and shall receive another sum equal to his legitimate
expenses for the benefit of this Association.
Sec. 'S. The remaining funds of this Association shall be expended
as the members thereof may direct.
ARTICLE VII.— Meetings.
This Association shall hold annual meetings at such time and
place as the members may select by a two-thirds vote at some regular
meeting; but if in any event it becomes impracticable to meet at tlu-
place selected, because of unforeseen events, then this Association
shall hold its meeting at such time and place as the Executive Com-
mittee may select.
ARTICLE VI 11 -Committees.
The President of this Associatinn shall appoint, yearly, the follow
ing committees: Resolutions and Petitions; a Program Committee of
one; and such other committees as may become necessary.
ARTICLE IX.— General.
Sec 1. This Association shall ally itself with the Texas Farmers'
Congress in every way possible, provided that such alliance is never
detrimental to this Association.
Sec 2. It shall be one of the aims of this Association to secure
the passage of a law establishing an " Experimental Apiary " at Col-
lege Station, together with the appointment by the Governor of an
experimenter, who shall be recommended to him by the Texas Bee-
Keepers' Association.
ARTICLE X.— Amendments.
This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the
members present at some regular meeting.
The new association now bears the name of "Texas
Bee-Keepers' Association," leaving the "North Texas"
and " South Texas " associations as "local" bee-keepers'
associations. Every Texas bee-keeper ought to be a mem-
ber of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Association now, as with its
new constitution and a new set of officers a great deal of
good work can be done if the bee-keepers will only lend
that which these men have asked for — the help, assistance
and co-operation of the bee-keepers, and with that the Asso-
ciation could make strides forward as never before ; only we
inus/ have their help. Every beekeeper in our great State
ought to take pride in helping to build up a State associ-
ation that will surpass all others, and this can only be done
if they will give their assistance. Put your shoulders to
the wheel, that is, your dollars into the treasury, paid for
your annual membership, and help to keep it going. The
greater the association, the more members it has, tiie more
can be done.
Now something about what you get if you want to be a
member :
By paying your annual dues of fl.OO, you are not only
a member of the Texas Bee Keepers' Association, but SO
cents of this onedollar issent with all of the other members,
to the general manager of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation, securing membership with that organization also.
Thus one is a member of his State association, and at the
same time can enjoy all the benefits of the National Asso-
ciation at just half the regular rate. Of course, it will be
well to bear in mind that to do this, members must act
according to Article III of the Constitution of this Associ-
ation, in regard to membership and membership fees.
Besides all this, a reduction has been secured in the
subscription prices of our bee-papers, when pay for them
is given to the Secretary of this Association along with
their annual membership dues.
The Secretary was instructed to write to each member,
of the change that has taken place ; of the new name of
the association ; of its new constitution ; its new business,
objects and intentions ; and to notify them of their annual
dues of one dollar.
After this the general subjects on the program were
again resumed, namely : " Manipulating Bees for a Large
Yield of Extracted Honey," by O. P. Hyde, who said the
main objects were, to have good, prolific young queens;
large hives, not less than ten frames, then tier up as soon
as room is needed, three or four stories high, and as soon
as filled and well capped over take out the honey. He
also touched on the minor points connected with producing
large amounts of extracted honey ; the above being the main
objects.
W. O. Victor read an article he contributed to the
Review, which, however, is too lengthy to copy, and the
issue is not before me to make a summary.
FORCING QUEENS TO LAY IN CELLCUPS.
"How Can Queens be Forced to Lay in Queen-Cell
Cups ?" was answered in a paper by H. H. Hyde. He does
not claim to be responsible for being assigned that sub-
ject, and hopes noboay will be disappointed if he fails to
give satisfactory solution of the question. He has not
much experience to prove or disprove this query, but cited
a case where he put cell-cups in top-stories of good colonies
before grafting, to have them polished by the bees, when
he distinctly remembers where in one case the queen laid
an egg in such a cell, which was built out and hatched a
queen. He said further that by placing cell cups conveni-
ently in a hive of bees that wish to supersede their queen,
such queens could be forced to lay in them. Also at swarm-
630
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Oct. 3, iy< 1.
ing time, queens can be forced to lay in such cell-cups con-
veniently placed in the hive ; at other times it would not
seem practical, and hard to be accomplished.
Mr. Stachelhausen thinks that it can only be done dur-
ing swarming-time.
Mr. Atchley told how it could possibly be done, by plac-
ing cell-cups around and near drone-brood, conveniently,
and where queens are mostly found after their regular
season's laying has been at its fullest, when the queens are
almost worn out from the hard work of depositing worker-
eggs. It is then that they are almost crazy to resort to
depositing drone-eggs, as it seems to be easier for them to
do this than that of laying worker-eggs. This of course,
like the other cases cited, will be at about swarming-time.
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD OUKHNS.
A paper from Willie Atchley on this subject was read,
in which he said that too much could not be said about
queens. Good queens, good bee-keepers, and good locali-
ties make beekeeping a success ; and either of these essen-
tials lacking, bee-keeping is a failure. It is highly essen-
tial that all apiarists look sharp to the prolificness of their
queens, and the working qualities of their bees. Give him
good queens, and a good location, and he will turn out a
crop of honey.
Mr. Weaver and others gave some of their experience
about good queens, a good locality, good queens, and good
management, being a sure road to success. Some told
about the difference in queens, some being large and tine
looking, but almost worthless in other qualities, while some
of the very smallest, sometimes called •■ stub " queens, have
done wonders. This, however, is not a rule.
REARING GOOD QUEENS.
This was by Mr. G. F. Davidson, who gave his modus
operandi, which were given at previous meetings of the
Central Texas Bee-Keepers' Association.
He recommends the Alley plan he has so long practiced,
and with which he has been successful.
H. H. Hyde spoke in favor of the Doolittle plan and
method, and although the 6es/ queens can be reared by the
Alley plan, with the Doolittle method good queens, and
more of them, can be obtained.
MOVING BEES."
O. p. Hyde had much and varied experience in moving
bees, as he moves bees nearly all the time. He has also had
some /i/n connected therewith, on which account he began
to study to find out the best way to move bees, and has been
quite successful. To close the entrances, he uses a device
(the idea of which he obtained from a bee-keeper who did
not know anything about bees, only having a colony or
two), with which he can close up the entrances of 10 hives
to one closed in the ordinary way, by tacking wire-cloth
over the entrances. It is simply a piece of tin about two
inches wide, with a cleat or piece of board half as wide
nailed on the upper edge, all as long as the hive is wide.
The lower half of the tin is perforated to give ventilation.
Now with t%vo ,"•(/. wire nails in the cleat, just tack on the
entrances, and it is done.
Next, the cover is nailed down with two more nails, one
on each side, into the side-walls of the hive. Two or more
story hives are held together by means of strips of lath
nailed to the sides of the hive, diagonally across the sides.
In hauling, one should have a wagon-bed wide enough
so two hives can be set end to end across the bed, and other
tiers the same way on top of the^5e. For this purpose they
have an "Electric" handy, low wheeled wagon, with a
wide platform, having low side railings on the outer edges.
If understood rightly, the back ends of the hives rest on
these, leaving them slanting towards the middle from each
side. The second tier, when put on top will then easily
stay in place. In this way he has hauled bees for over 30
or 40 miles, and hardly a quart of bees were lost.
Mr. Davidson and others have used wire-cloth, but it is
much trouble.
Mr. Atchley told about some of their experience, as they
move bees extensively. They keep a large share of their
bees on the migratory plan. Sometimes it happens to rain
hard some distance from their bees, and the country around
being a most wonderful one in regard to the quick growth
of honey-yielding and other plants after a heavy rain, the
flowers appear most abundantly in a very short time. It is
then that they move whole apiaries from dry situations to
the fields yielding nectar. For all this they are extra pre-
pared with bee-wagons, and some 200 regular shipping-
I cases with wire-cloth, provided %vith slotted cleats in
which the frames are hung, with all the bees put in, closed
up, and are then ready to haul on the special bee-wagons.
The empty hives are hauled on any other wagon separate
from the bees.
Mr. Victor makes large frames by ripping hive-bodies
into rims, one inch square, on which wire-cloth is tacked.
This is nailed over the top of the hives after the covers have
been removed. He next sticks moss into the entrances,
nails cleats, one on each side of the hive, and they are ready.
H. H. Hyde recommends cleats nailed on diagonally
across and from opposite corners from the one on the other
side. In winter or cold weather, wooden cleats to close the
entrance are sufficient.
IMPORTANCE OK LARGE BREEDING-SPACE.
In a paper on this subject L,. Stachelhausen said the
secret of successful bee-keeping is to have the colonies at
their fullest development just when the main honey-flow
commences, for which purpose it is necessary to use differ-
ent managements, whether the flow is early or late in the
season. In most localities this honey-flow is so early that
we have to do all we possibly can to develop the colonies at
the right time.
His and other bee-keepers' experience has taught that
in their localities they can get their colonies developed to
the most possible strength before the main honey-flow,
without any work at all, if they give them a large breeding-
space and large comb-surface. This is the reason why Da-
dant recommends large frames and large brood-chambers.
An experience of about 20 years has taught him that, in his
climate at least, the division of the brood-nest into two or
more shallow stories is no hindrance at all for the develop-
ment of the brood ; the queen will pass these " sticks " with-
out any hesitation. On the other side the extension of the
brood-nest to another comb, sidewards of the brood-nest, is
much more difficult. This is easily explained : The combs
on both sides of the brood-nest generally contain a large
quantity of pollen, and can not be used for brood before
this pollen is consumed. To extend a brood-nest of this
character sidewise, we are forced to remove these pollen-
filled combs and replace them with empty ones ; or to set
empty combs into the middle of the brood-nest, as recom-
mended by Mr. Doolittle. All this has to be done at the
right time, not only corresponding to the strength of the
colonies, but empty combs should be given just in the place
where the queen is laying, because, even in this respect, the
bees keep the brood-nest in wonderful order. For this rea-
son the colonies have to be watched closely all during
spring, causing a considerable amount of work, limiting
the number of colonies a man could keep, especially if scat-
tered in different apiaries.
If in large brood-chambers, with a large amount of
comb-surface, all this work is unnecessary, because the de-
velopment of the colony goes on without any work of ours,
showing at once the advantage of such large brood-cham-
bers. More colonies can be kept with the same amount of
work ; and even if the honey crop per colony should be
smaller, which is doubtful, as by other management, the
profit of the whole apiary will be larger. To get strong
colonies in the spring, in such hives, it is necessary always
to have enough honey in the hive, but not too much, with
sufficient number of empty cells, or always enough more
than the bees need at a given time.
Another advantage of large brood-chambers is that
swarming is reduced to a minimum, especially so if the bees
are kept in large hives during several generations. In this
respect the condition of the honey-resources of certain lo-
calities are to be considered ; in some localities swarming
can be practically prevented by the use of large hives, while
in other localities the number of swarms is reduced very
much, and, to prevent these few swarms, other ways can
easily be executed.
Nobody disputes these advantages of large brood-cham-
bers in early spring, but some say that they have disad-
vantages during the main honey-flow. It would seem sea-
sonable to ask. Why not use large brood-chambers in spring,
as long as they are advantageous, and afterwards contract
the brood-nest as soon as thought advisable ? But this ob-
jection can not be overcome by this simple way.
1st. One objection is, when producing extracted honey,
and using an unlimited breeding-space, during a very good
honey- tlow, the brood-nest will be contracted by the honey
which the bees store around the brood. Contrary, in a mod-
erate honey-flow, it is said, that the bees will use the large
space to breed extensively, and will store very little honey,
at the end of the flow leaving a strong colony of useless
Oct. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
631
consumers only. This objection is especially raised in Ger-
many, where small hives are used.
If large hives are used all the year around, there will
be strong colonies in the spring, which will develop much
faster than weaker ones.
When the queen has reached the limit of her egg-laying
capacity, which is a little more than 3,000 eggs daily, it will
be impossible to extend the brood-nest any more ; the queen
■will soon need a rest ; the number of eggs laid daily is di-
minishing, and the now very strong colony will send out a
very strong force of field-bees. Contrary, if we have a
weak colony in the spring, in a brood-nest too small for
proper development, the queen can not reach the limit of
her egg-laying power ; now the honey-flow commences, and
we give the supers, it is only natural that the brood-nest is
extended into these supers, and a large part of the flow is
used to rear these worthless consumers, so much talked
about. This unde»ired condition is caused by the small
brood-chambers used in early spring. During the spring
the queen could never lay all the eggs she would be able to
lay, for lack of empty cells at the right place. Now, by
giving a super with empty combs during a moderate flow,
the queen is given the best occasion to extend her egg-
laying to her fullest capacity. This will be prevented if
the honey-flow is very good, and so fast that the bees fill
the cells faster with honey than the queen can lay eggs in
them, or if she is kept down in a limited space by a queen-
excluder. By the latter manipulation a large or small
amount of honey may be obtained, according to the strength
of the colony ; but development has been hindered in the
spring, consequently the colony is not as strong as could
be, besides the large amount of unnecessary labor expended.
2d. Of more importance is the objection, that large
brood-chambers are in a bad condition for the production of
section honej', when the main flow cnimences. When the
section supers are put on, at the beginning of the main
flow, the combs in the brood-chamber should contain as
much brood as possible, and some bee-keepers want a brood-
chamber of such a size that the queen can keep full of
brood during the honey-flow. Hence they neglect the ad-
vantages of large brood-chambers during spring, and try to
build up strong colonies in small chambers, by manipulat-
ing the frames, a la Doolittle, with some considerable work.
The problem is, how to use the advantages of large
brood-nests in the spring, and the advantages of small
brood nests during the main honey-flow, both combined,
•without their disadvantages.
He solved this problem in a very simple way. It is wel'
to know that no colony is better fitted for storing honey in
sections than a strong swarm issuing just at the beginning
of the main flow; especially if two or more swarms unite
just at the right time, we may get from them a good crop of
comb honey.
Gravenhorst taught, about IS years ago, how to form
such swarms at any time, and have them work with the
same vigor as natural swarms. Consequently, it was easy
for him to combine these two experiences and in this way
to solve the problem.
Since publishing his way of producing comb honey,
more have appeared who use ways similar to his.
The construction of the hive is of less importance, as
we can use large brood-nests in diEferent ways. Those who
have 8 or 10 frame hives may take two stories for a brood-
chamber, one on top of another. He uses shallow cases,
and the bees have brood in three or four of these in the
spring. Dadant prefers large combs in single stories ; all
these managements have advantages and disadvantages.
One thing is important, that the frames are wide
-enough ; fortunately this question is settled for the United
States, for the width of the Langstroth hive is the stan-
dard here, and large enough. Other things could be consid-
ered with the advantages of large brood-chambers.
(Concluded next week.)
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal? We will be glad to send them sample
■copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps yov. can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such effort.
^ Contributed Articles. \
Bee-Dlseases in California— Laws Needed.
I)V HON. J. M. HAMBAUGH.
AL,L is not gold that glitters," but every cloud has its
silver lining. This I have found quite applicable to
our chosen pursuit of bee-keeping here in California,
and among the many clouds that hang about the bee-keep-
ers' horizon is that of bee-diseases.
Here, in this salubrious clime, where every'month in
the year, and almost every day in the year, bees can go
forth in quest of pollen and nectar, opens opportutjity for
the spread of infectious diseases, and this, coupled with the
wild waste of rocky cliffs, canyons, and wooOed districts,
furnishes hiding-places for bees, that can wreak and fester
in diseases unmolested. It is hard for the wideawake bee-
keeper to overcome these dangers beyond his reach, but
there is a danger of far greater magnitude right at his very
door, that he needs to recognize, and which needs a cure, in
the form of a little legislation.
Here is Mr. A, a practical bee-keeper, wiih all his
combs throughout his entire apiary movable, and acces-
sible at any time for inspection, and in appropriate condi-
tion to battle against any disease that may arise. Mr. B,
his next door neighbor, is of the slipshod, go-as you please
bee-keeping make-up, and allows his bees to build their
combs at haphazard, half-moons, and all shapes that may
suit their fancy, in their brood-chambers, and the conse-
quence is, he is locking the door against all knoivledge or
treatment of any disease that is likely to turn up; he is
also in shape to be (as it were) hugging an adder to receive
its fatal sting, and also to dispense its venom amnng his
neighbors. When there is such a deadly foe as foul brood
abroad in the land, these inaccessible hives are a veritable
death-trap, and, so far as inspectors are concerned, they
are simply barren from investigation, save what the
exterior may reveal.
In our route through the country these troubles are so
manifest, and there is such a universal cry against their
toleration, that it seems to me a very easy mattt-r to have a
law placed upon our statutes, compelling every one who
keeps bees to have them upon movable combs, built in mov-
able frames, and, by so doing, minimize the chances for
contagious diseases, besides doing away with the old. slip-
shod way of keeping bees We believe that every wide-
awake bee-keeper in the land should cry down the box-
hive, stationary-corab evil, until every one who dares to
keep bees would understand that to do so meant they must
be upon movable combs, or the penalty of a fine incurred.
We also believe that a little further protection is needed
to the bee-keeper, by statute enactment, and that is, when
a bee-keeper contemplates moving from one location to
another, he should have a certificate from a lawfully
appointed inspector, the said certificate to be an a.'-surance
that each and every colony is free from all infectious or
contagious disease, otherwise let it be a finable offense to
remove them from their old location.
Now, Editor York, I have sounded the slogan of war,
let us hear from you as well as others interested, and see
which one of the sister States will be the first to start this
good and much-needed reform. San Diego Co., Calif.
Robbing in tlie Apiary— Honey-Pacltages.
BY C. D.AVKNl'ORT.
I WOULD like to be allowed to say a few more words in
regard to robbing. Last year I wrote an article in
which I gave some of my experience in regard to bees
robbing, and afterwards in some comments that were made
about it, it was .=aid, in effect, that the advice I gave on the
subject was about like advising one to scatter live coals
among dry straw. But this is a mistake, for I did not
advise any one to practice my methods; in fact, I remem-
ber that I plainly said that I did not advise any one to fol-
low my practice. I only gave my experience in regard to
the matter ; but what I wish to say is that, in my opinion, it
632
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
Oct. 3, lyoi.
will some time be known, and generally recognized by bee-
keepers, that a colony of bees of average strength (and, I
feel tempted to say, quite weak colonies if in normal condi-
tion) are never, as the saying is, "cleaned out by robbers,"
or never molested by them enough to injure them materially
in any way, no matter what has been done to induce rob-
bing, or what the natural provocation to the same may be,
except when they are first set out in the spring.
I have watched this matter very closely the last ten
years, and, besides, from two different incidents I have
witnessed. I know that a colony of average strength will,
before succumbing to robbers, make such a fight as few
would imagine them capable of doing. One of these inci-
dents may be of enough interest for me to take space to
describe briefly.
It occurred in an out yard during a time of great scar-
city. A hive was in some manner tipped over, off its
stand, so that it lay on one side, with the whole top and
bottom fully exposed. Two heavy combs of honey were
broken. How long it had lain in this position I do not
know.
When I arrived, the air near it was black with bees,
and thousands were dead on the ground around it. But the
robbers, so far as I could determine, had secured but very
little of these stores, so gallantly defended, and the colony
was far from being whipped or defeated, though no doubt
they would have been if the hive had laid in this position
long enough. I know that colonies, sometimes quite strong
ones, are often cleaned out by robbers, but they are colo-
nies that are not in a normal condition. Usually in such
cases they are hopelessly queenless, and make but little
effort to resist robbers.
PAPER PACKAGES FOR EXTRACTED HONEY.
There has been a good deal of discussion the last two
years or so in regard to the best package for extracted
honey. I have read with much interest what has been said
in regard to the matter, and I envy those who are able to
make a success of using barrels, for I have never been
able to get any kind of a barrel that would hold honey
in a warm, dry room without leaking. Even when I coated
the inside a quarter of an inch thick with wax or paraffine
it would soon crack and allow the honey to ooze out between
the staves. But my failure in this line was not because the
barrels were not dry enough ; I have kept both those made
from hard and soft wood in a dry, warm room for two years,
and then after driving the hoops as tight as could possibly
be done, they would soon commence to leak after honey
was put in them. I have not only tried different kinds, but
a year ago last fall I had three large ones made to order,
which were warranted not to leak.
I have, however, made what might be called a success
of sacking up extracted honey the same as one would
wheat or other grain. Last fall at one time I had about
1000 pounds sacked up. Possibly in the future extracted
honey may be shipped in sacks instead of cans or barrels.
The way I came to put honey in sacks was this : The
three warranted barrels mentioned, which held about 500
pounds each, got to leaking soon after being filled^two of
them tjadly. I had nothing on hand to put much of the
honey into, but I had observed when using the no-drip ship-
ing cases that if a section become broken or marred so the
honey ran down on the manilla paper tray in the bottom of
the case, this paper seemed to hold it as well as a tin tray
would ; and I had noticed, at the place where I board, a num-
ber of very heavy paper sacks in which flour had been pur-
chased. I found they had a large number of these laid by,
the accumulation of years. The paper they were made of
was very much heavier and tougher than that used in ship-
ping-cases, but, instead of being glazed or smooth like the
latter, it was slightly rough or porous looking. So I took a
couple of these sacks and thoroughly coated the insides
with beeswax, and filled them with honey. They held it
all right, and soon afterwards enough sacks were waxed to
hold all the honey the two worst leaking barrels contained.
The honey remained in some of the sacks nearly a
month, and no leakage whatever occured, except with one
sack, and this was owing to a defect in the sack.
My method of waxing the inside was to pour a large
quantity of melted wax in a sack, then with one hand
gather up the mouth of the sack tight, and with the other
hand take hold of the bottom at one corner, so as to turn it
bottom side up and around in such a way that the wax
would reach and coat all parts of the inside. This had to
be done quickly, or a good deal of wax would adhere to a
sack. It took considerable to wax them, anyway, but after
the honey was taken out, the sacks were cut up and boiled
in water, by this means getting all the wax back again.
My success with these large sacks led me later to try-
small sacks far the retail trade. A good many who come to
the house for a few pounds of honey never bring anything
to put it in ; few of them will buy a pail or jar. and if I
lend them a dish to carry it in all of them will readily agree
to return it and then never do so. I have many customers,
in town to whom I carry a few pounds of extracted honey,
and in this case I either have to wait for them to empty the
dish I carry it in, or else call for it again, when, if there ia
any one at home, we may perhaps find it has been filled
with something else. For instance, last season one lady
ordered three pounds ; I had nothing smaller than a gallon
jar on hand, so I delivered it in that. When I called for the
jar, some time afterward, it was full of butter. She said
she, of course, supposed the jar went with the honey. My
experiments last season lead me to believe that I can reach
this class of customers with a package that will go with
the honey, for it will cost only about half a cent aside from
some work in preparing it, which can be done during the
leisure time in winter ; a package that will give satisfac-
tion to the customer, and be practically as safe to carry or
deliver the honey in as one made of tin.
Southern Minnesota.
The Season of 1901, Sugi^estions, Etc.
BY A. MOOMKR.
AS the American Bee Journal is anxious to have reports,
from bee-keepers, as well as any suggestions they may
be able to make as a result of experience in the man-
agement of bees, I send my report of the season, as well as.
one or two suggestions that may be of use to beginners.
NO HARM IN REPORTING LARGE HONEY CROPS.
My honey crop has been a very good one, but if I tell
what it is, down may go the honey market. Pshaw, all rot t
About the close of the season, which has been a fairly
good one in this Province, a local reporter of one the county-
papers, made some enquiries for use in the weekly report.
A statement was given which appeared in the next week's
issue, that Mr. So-and-So's honey crop would likely be 900O
pounds from some 90 colonies, spring count. Since the
report in the paper appeared, the demand for my honey has
been so great that I could sell ten times the quantity I have,
and at better prices than I have formerly realized.
Since the said report was given, we have about finished
extracting, and find the quantity to be fully 10,000 pounds,
and I am pleased to find that most of the colonies have
a fair supply for winter, so that very little feeding will
have to be done. A considerable number of the colonies, I
find, have superseded their queens.
Having all the bees I was able to take care of, or had
room for, I discouraged swarming, and have only an in-
crease of about 25 percent. I have not practiced queen-
clipping, but, having no help this year, I was unable to keep
so close a watch upon them as is necessary when the queen's
wings are not clipped, and as a result I lost several swarms.
Next season I will try what clipping will do to prevent this.
BUII.DINO UP WEAK COLONIES.
I notice that several correspondents are troubled to
know how to build up weak colonies in the spring, or, in
fact, at any time of the year. I have practiced changing
positions of the weakest and strongest colonies, with good
results. I suggest doing this on a fine day, when the bees
are either gathering pollen or honey — say about noon — and
if I have a colony becoming very strong, and I do not want
increase, then exchange this with the weakest colony in the
way suggested, and the chances are that swarming may be
averted, and your colonies all averaged up and ready for
the honey harvest.
This season I had a very weak late swarm of nice bees,
that I wanted to retain, but they were entirely too weak to
build up. I changed positions with a strong colony a few
days before the honey-flow ceased, with the most satisfac-
tory results — no fighting, nor any disturbance that I could
notice.
CROSS BEES — THE "JOUNCING" METHOD.
My bees were unusually cross this year, there being-
only a day or two at the close of the basswood flow that I
could extract without a veil, and mostly had to use gloves
in addition to being well protected otherwise.
I tried the " jouncing " method of getting the bees off
Oct. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
633
the frames, recommended by Mr. Davenport, but while it
may work with nearly empty frames, or the shallow Hed-
don frame, I am satisfied it will not do with any large-sized,
well-filled frames.
NO USE FOR BEE-KSCAFKS.
I hive also tried bee-escapes, but have given them up
as practically worthless. I have no time to fool away with
them.
The honey-flow exceeding my expectations, I had to
defer extracting for want of tins to put it in, and so tried
bee-escapes, but, being alone, I found it about as much
trouble, and got about as many stings getting the bee-
escapes adjusted, as I did in getting out the combs without
them. My plan has been to start after noon, give the bees
a good smoking, takeout the frames quickly, and run them
into the extracting room, and stack them up three and four
deep, until I had 10 or 12 in ; then extract these. In the
meantime the bees wovild get somewhat quieted down in
the yard, and I would then get off a few more. Any bees
that would go in on the combs would soon find their way
to the windows, and go out of the escapes.
The season being unusually dry, the honey is of very
fine quality, and sells readily in small quantities at 10
cents. Latterly we have had abundant rains, and the bees
are breeding freely, which augurs well for good wintering.
"HIVING TWO SWARMS IN ONE HIVE."
On page 581, Mr. Davenport says he has had no trouble
from hiving two swarms together when both issue at or
about the same time. In July last, when I had a large
swarm nicely hived, but before I could remove it, a large
swarm issued, and there being a elusterof bees on the front
of this hive, it came down and went in with them. I at
once put on a queen-excluder and two cases of sections
with mostly drawn comb, to give them room. On the 5th
day after, one of the swarms came completely away, and
clustered on a limb of the tree exactly where the first
swarm had clustered, which led me to believe that it was
the first swarm that had left the hive, as the others never
clustered at all. The time between the issuing of the two
swarms at first was not more than IS minutes.
My experience thus far leads me to conclude that bees
do not do everything by rule, and we may always expect
them to do something we never knew them to do before.
Ontario, Canada.
The Afterthought. ^
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THE TWO-HIVE FEEDING PLAN.
Yes, Mr. Fargo's two-hive feeding seems to offer fine possi-
bilities. But first we must tind out whether it will work as a
regular thing, or only in exceptional cases. If the open-
topped screen-yard we had up a bit ago will work that will be
pre-eminently the way to feed. Apparently the two ways ivill
combine kindly. I think that one grand trouble about pro-
longed feeding in the home hive is that bees declare it
annexed, and decide to let it be till needed. Some danger of
the same thing in the two-hive method. In the open air a
salutary fear that somebody else may get it will keep all but
the very laziest pegging away. Page 531.
BLACK COMBS DLSCOLORING HONEV.
X agree heartily that black combs will discolor the inclosed
honey somewhat ; yet I fear that the attempts to soak them
clean are entirely unpractical. The situation is this : Many
layers of dried dirt, separated by many exceedingly thin lay-
ers of silk or wax. The best we can do is to keep the whole
thing dry. The first soaking removes part of an outer layer,
and makes the whole wet and nasty. With each successive
soaking more, and always more, dirt keeps coming " from
away back." Ram a two-quart can one-fourth full of dirty
handkerchiefs (such as are fouiid in a bee-keeper's trousf r's
pocket at the end of a hot week); fasten them down so tliey
can not be moved about ; and how long ere the bottom In yer
will be cleaned by turning water in and out the top? I'age
531.
HIVING TWO SWARMS TOGETHER.
To C. Davenport, page 5H1, I would say that my experi-
ence with voluntarily hiving two swarms together is not
large, because I usually avoid it when I can ; but they go
together in spite of me pretty often ; and my troubles with
balled queens when swarms are mixed are by no means imagi-
nary. Quite willing to let his many successes have their due
weight — and also qui(e glad to have so sound a veteran to fall
back upon as Dr. Gallup, page 532 :
" If you have two or more swarms come out at one time and clus-
ter together, or if you have after or second swarms with more (|ueens
than one and you wish to separate them, shake tnem into the cluster-
ing box and let them stay for halt or three-quarters of an hour, and
the bees will ball the surplus <iueens, and roll down to the lower edge
of the box."
I note that Dr. Gallup says, "Sometimes they ball every
queen, but not usually." I think that with me balling every
queen is rather the rule than the exception, if the swarm is a
mixed one. Why this difference? His experience, I think,
has been mostly in fat locations, where bees seldom swarm
except during honey-flow. My experience has been in a lean
\
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MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING — PAN-AMEKICAN.
location, where bees often swarm in lime of dearth. As I see
things, bees carrying little or no honey are not sure to be cross
to their keeper, but pretty sure to be severe on stranger
queens. In a mixed swarm all thp ijueens are stranger queens
to thousands of the workers, and if they balled some of them,
and did not ball all of them, it would be a curious fact calling
for explanation.
Glad to see that Dr. Gallup has had experience in making
a colony into an impromptu swarm clustered in a box for the
purpose of moving their location a short distance Have won-
dered whether that would work. He finds that it does.
HARD TO DESTROY ALL DRONE-BROOD.
I smiled when .1. D. Gehring said that he found destroy-
ing all drone brood harder than he expected, and that unfore-
seen things happened. Been there. My dear bee fever child,
don't you be too sure you can destroy all drone-brood — not
even by the excellent Doolittle plans on opposite page. Page
533.
SHOWING MERCY TOWARD ANIMALS.
Prof. Cook, on page 537, did not pass on from mercy
toward animals to mercy toward be^s ; but there is room for
quite a sermon on that point. This paper surely goes to many
readers who want to do just right in the little things of
life. I have often felt it a difficult problem to decide just
when a bee's little life ought to be spared (at aiipreciable
expense of time, which means money), and just when the
prompt sacrificing of the little life is the real right thing to
do. I have also wondered about the would-be roibers and
stingers, how much less claim they have upon our mercy than
the more quiet members of the hive. I rather think that the
insect door-keeper, doing duty promptly and well, should be a
subject of admiration to a refleitive and right-minded man —
and that the sentence, " He stung me," ought not to be in
such large vocal type as it is often put. Per contra, there
gets afloat at times a considerable amount of sentimental non-
sense and unwisdom, which would fain make us more careful
of insect life than the Creator is himself, and which would
make apiculture impossibh^ before we got to its logical conclu-
sions.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a j-ear. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance,
we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
634
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
^ The Home Circle. ^ !^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
OUR VENICE.
Time and money spent in welding all the home influences
and attractions and loves and sympathies, are well spent. A
year ago I was driven along the " Mountain Boulevard " which
leads from Santa Barbara to charming Montecito. This drive
of seven or eight miles is one of exceeding beauty, it seems to
me of almost incomparable beauty. As we sped along look-
ing now upon the beautiful ocean, now skirting some beetling
•clifi, now plunging into some bower of green that seemed to
block our way, I said over and over, "Oh, that the others of
the home were here I'' I said, " Before a year goes by, they
shall, with me, enjoy this bit of Nature's finest tracery."
The year has been a brighter, happier, better one, as the
memory of the charming landscape has given added charm to
my life, and as the prospect of all of us of our home circle
making that beautiful circuit together has been ever before
me, I have been in a sort of perpetual sight-seeing with the
dear home loved ones the year through. But the far summit
of this pleasurable experience was only reached when last
Saturday we all actually en.joyed together that *onderful bit
•of landscape. It was a red letter day in our family..
Santa Barbara has been called the Venice of America. I
have hever looked on Italian landscape, tiut I am sure it suf-
fers no wrong in the figure. While there is not the thrift and
•wondrous beauty in its entirety that «e so ranch prize and
admire in Redlands, yet here one of the finest hays of the
world lays its inexpressible charm before us. Many neauti
ful homes attract us as no other section of California can or
does. I have never seen such a wealth of adornment in
shrubs, trees and flowers, as this section has to offer. As 1
come to visit these lovely homes each year — and I never i^ass
them by — I feel that I have a real ownership in them. The
graceful cocus palms, the incomparable bamboos, the delicate,
exquisite tree-ferns, and countless other vines, shrubs and
trees, fill one with delight and admiration.
Montecito, the wonderful suburb, has some of the finest
homes and the best adorned residences to be seen any where.
As one drives along among the hills, shaded by live-oaks, he
is ever and anon coming to a place where wealth, taste and
Nature have combined to paint a picture that one loves to
hang perpetually on memory's walls. I am glad when wealth
gives to us such marvels of beauty as lovely Montecito so
proudly exhibits, and I am more glad that Wealth does not
keep them to herself, but seems pleased to share them with
others of us that else would know them not. Surely, no one
will come to California without
feasting on the rare, exquisite
beauties that make Santa Bar-
bara and its lovely suburb so
famous the world over.
TWO FORTUNATE WOMEN
" Ventura by the Sea " is
the county-seat of the county
by the same name. It is only a
few miles from our American
Venice. Scarce more than an
hour by cars, which connect
the two cities along the sea and
give one a ride that is never to
be forgotten. Here two women
live that I am proud to know,
proud to honor, proud to in-
troduce to our readers. One of
these women is Mrs.(iould. who
has produced petunias that
have startled the world. The
other is Mrs. Shepherd, who has
been equally happy in adding
to the world's wealth of choice,
incomparable begonias. If there
is anything in the way of floral
loveliness that outvies Mrs.
Th. Gould's petunias, it is Mrs.
T. B. Shepherd's begonias. If
there are flowers and foliage
any where that rival Mrs.
Shepherd's begonias, they are in the not distant garden of her
neighbor, Mrs. Gould. The whole world is enriched by the
fond efforts of these two women. We have rarest, richest
beauty that else we should not have known, for they would
not have been.
Again, two women have done this beneficent work. We
expect new, rich, rare developments from men. We have not
usually found our grand women stepping to the front in such
realms. We glory all the more when such strides are taken.
I wish every home in the land could enjoy Mrs. Shepherd's
begonias, and every househould know more of God and pleas-
ure because Mrs. Gould's petunias were daily compani ms. I
know of one home that is so blessed, and its inmates are very
grateful.
HOME FLOWERS.
I know of an orange orchard, ten acres, which recently
sold for $L'2,| '0'). I thought it a great price, and so asked
the recent owner how he was so fortunate in his sale. He
replied: "My roses and palms did it." His entire place is
skirted by great fountains of green in the magnificent Phoenix
palms, and alternating with these are most lovely roses, which
grow and bloom as only California roses can do. Why can
not every home rejoice in such loveliness ?
I know that next to wife and the dear children, nothing
so weds us to home as the flowers. I heard a lecturer say, a
day or two since, that it was his business a few years agone to
visit all the homes of a certain region. He said he found the
home yard and porch the most certain index to the refinement
and courtesy that would greet him in the home. He said he
fancied that even the dogs in the flower-decked homes were
more kindly in their reception. I believe it. Flowers i^eget a
kindly, genial spirit, and every dog even is quick to feel and
sure to be mellowed by such* spirit. Were the flowers to be
taken from our house, porch and yard, we would all wish to
go with them.
THE ANT=UON.
A queer insect ! What strong, sharp jaws I What a
fierce, dating temper '. A very rat-terrier among its kind. A
unique home is his. He always dwells in the loose, shining
sand. Above him is only space, for he rests at the very bot-
tom of a funnel in the fria le earth. His threatening jaws
are alone visable ; for all else is covered ny the sand. Above
hira the side walls of his funnel are so steep that even the
quick, wary ant passes its margin at its peril. Once our eager,
daring, fearless ant-lion feels the tell-tale, falling sand, and
he knows that another victim has had the temerity to brave
the lion in his lair. He at once throws a harsh shower of
sand, which surely brings the intruder down to the very jaws
of death. No sooner has he the luckless wanderer in his
merciless jaws than the latter is shaken as never a rat-terrier
shakes his prey, until the poor victim has daylight and life
shaken from him.
Thus these ant-lions are our good friends, for they take
their often meals of insects that would else feed on our fruit
APiAHY OF .1. \\. TrcKEB & soK, OF JEFFERSON' CO., PA. — See page 6iS.
Oct. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
635
and vegetables. The mature insect — the imago — that loiups
from these fierce, formidable ant-lions, looks much like a
dragon-Hy or darning-needle, but is easily told as the latter
has very small antenniv, which are hardly visible, while
those of these insects, though not large or long, are plainly to
be seen.
I have just been visiting a sandy tract where these fun-
nel-shaped holes and homes of the ant-lions were very much
in evidence. 1 hoi>e all our boys and girls will hunt them up,
and collect the fully grown ones, that they may rear the flies.
Questions and Answers, i
auestions on Breeding of Bees.
1. In selecting queen and drone mothers, what is the
most important part to look to, to improve the stock ?
2. Why do the most of queens produce drones not uni-
formly marked ? And some queens will produce uniformly
Tnarked drones. Does it denote impurity with those that do
not produce uniform drones ?
3. Do you think it best to have the queen mother and
"the drone mother of no kin ? or does it not make any differ-
■ence if they are closely related ?
4. Are the drones pure from a queen that is mismated,
but reared from a pure mother ? South Carolina.
Answeks. — 1. In either case the important thing for
practical purposes is to have mothers whose worker progeny
show good results in the harvests gathered. All the better
if of pure-established blood, but in any case the workers
should be good honey-gatherers.
2. I don't know why. I hardly think that a difference
in the appearance of drones is a sure proof of impurity.
3. Other things being equal, it is decidedly better that
■there shall be no close relationship. Those who breed for
improved strains make some of their greatest triumphs
through using closely related blood, because it is easier to
find the same characteristics in two animals nearly related ;
but while it is easier to perpetuate good qualities through
•close relationship, it is also easier — perhaps I ought to say
it is still easier — to perpetuate bad qualities through close
relationships. On the whole, I believe it is a pretty safe
thing for common bee-keepers like you and me to let close
breeding alone.
4. If I should be obliged to answer that question in a
single word, I should say yes, and for all practical purposes
that is the right answer. But if you draw the matter very
fine, it will be said that when a dam has borne an offspring
her own blood may to a slight degree be affected by the
blood of her offspring, and hence the drone offspring may
be slightly affected. Dzierzon, however, always counted
that the mating of the queen had no effect upon her male
■offspring.
Several aueen Questions.
1. I have been working a few colonies of bees for six
years. I now have 30 colonies, and this season I have been
more perplexed than ever at their actions. In the first
place, my text books and papers teach me that with the seal-
ing of the first queen-cell the old queen will issue with a
swarm ; but I have had several instances this summer where
it failed to be true, after watching them for several days,
after the cells were sealed, for swarms. I either killed or
■caged the old queen and destroyed all but one cell. What
was the cause of their acting so ? Was it a case of
intended supersedure ? If so. how am I to tell which is
intended to swarm or supersede ?
2. The queen of one of my best colonies disappeared,
and they swarmed with a very small virgin queen. My
wife caught her, but she got away and the swarm returned
to the old hive. This was about S o'clock p.m. The next
morning I looked through the colony and found a very fine
virgin queen, and several capped cells, so I closed the hive
and watched for a swarm. The queen kept peeping, off
and on, all day, but no swarm issued, and after watching
for two days I opened the hive again and found the fine
<}ueen gone, and a small one in her place, and cells all des-
troyed. What was the cause ?
3. I had several colonies in normal condition, that
sealed queen-cells without anything in them ; or, at least,
after waiting beyond the required time I opened them and
found them empty.
I received a premium queen and tried to follow direc-
tions very carefully, but after eating the pasteboard off
and part of the candy, they quit and kept clustered very
tightly over the cage. After waiting three days I smoked
them and turned the queen loose, but they balled her imme-
diately, so I re-caged her and took four frames of hatch-
ing brood and set over a strong colony, with a flour-sack
between, for several days. I kept her caged with her
attendants for a day, then turned her loose, and after two
or three days I set the hive on a stand by itself, and opened
the entrance ; but the next time I opened the hive she was
gone. Now, what became of her ? She acted like a virgin.
Nebraska.
Answers. — 1. " Bees do nothing invariably," and there
are exceptions to all rules. It is impossible to say whether
queen-cells are intended for swarming or supersedure by
the appearance of the cells, but you can generally make a
pretty good guess from attendant circumstances. If you
find only two or three cells, you are pretty safe in guessing
that swarming is not intended. Of course that refers to
cells well advanced, for when first begun for swarming
there may be only one or two. If 8, 10, or more cells are
started, you may feel pretty sure that swarming is in con-
templation. The time when cells are found will help you
to make a guess. Early in the season, when swarms are
issuing every day or so, the presence of queen-cells points
pretty strongly toward swarming; when the honey-flow is
about over, they point toward supersedure.
2. A little hard to say. It is just possible that the
small queen you saw last was the fine queen you had pre-
viously seen ; for sometimes a queen just out of the cell
looks quite different in size and color from what she does
later. But it may be that the bees concluded not to swarm,
and allowed all the queens to emerge, or to be destroyed.
The piping of a queen is usually an indication of a forth-
coming swarm, but not always. To be a reliable indica-
tion of a swarm, there must be the piping of the free queen
and the quahking of the young queen or queens still in the
cell. A young queen may pipe if no other queen is in or
out of a cell in the hive, and a young queen may quahk
before emerging without the piping of another queen.
3. Are you sure that nothing had been in the cells ? It
is a common thing for bees to fasten the cap on again after
the young queen has emerged, and sometimes they play a
practical joke on a worker that happens to be in a cell from
which a virgin has emerged, by fastening the worker in the
cell.
4. It is possible that in some way the colony had a vir-
gin queen — one might fly into the hive without your knowl-
edge, or a queen-cell may have escaped detection — and so
there was an unconquerable hostility to the stranger, which
would be in a less favorable condition for acceptance
through the journey in the mail and the prolonged impris-
onment. Such a queen may look very like a virgin, and
then after commencing to lay become as large as she was
before mailing. The probability is that the bees killed and
dragged her out.
Dividing Colonies in Double Hives.
I have three double colonies. Would you recommend
giving the top chambers a queen, and putting it where the
bottom chamber is. and putting the bottom one on a new
stand ? Or what is your plan ? Indiana.
Answer. — In this case the supposition is that a colony
in two stories is sufficiently strong to be divided. As to the
best procedure, conditions must be consulted. The plan
you suggest is all right if the upper story is weaker in brood
and bees than the lower. In other words, leave on the old
stand the weaker of the two stories, giving it the new
queen, putting the stronger story with the old queen on the
new stand. If the desire be to have the two colonies more
nearly equal in strength without considering the honey
crop, you might make the division at a time of day when
most of the bees were in the hive, and put the stronger half
on the new stand with the old queen, fastening the bees in
the removed hive for a time, perhaps till the middle of the
next forenoon, and carefully guarding against smothering.
Of course the new queen must be caged as a newly intro-
duced queen. But it's pretty late in the season to talk
about dividing now.
636
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL-
Oct. 3, 191 1.
^'REVERSIBLE WALL MAP^
UNITED STATlSlND WORLD,
WITH SPECIAL INSET MAPS OF
GDina, Cuba, rorio Rico, The PHllipplnes, Hawaii, and fllasRa,
Especially prepared to meet the demand for a first-class map that will give a quick, f^eneral idea of location of events the world over, and par-
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The A. a;
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PerFec-
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style of govern-
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area, products,
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It has been pronounced a X. X. X-
Photograph of the World
The 1900 Census A: A:
of the largest American Cities is given.
One side shows a irrand map of our great country, with countie!«, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctly located. The other side shows
an equally good map of the world. iSlatistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, business, etc., a veritable photo-
graph of the UNITED STATES .\ND WORLD.
The map is printed on heav3' map paper and is mounted on sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
1901 ElU'I'lO.^t. — Every reader islioiild oonsiilt it every ttay. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to the topography of the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and peaks are plainly indicated. The leading cities and towns are shown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brunswick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The Southern portion of the map includes the Northern States of the Republic of Mexico, and the
Bahama Islands.
On ilie rever.we settle l!» llie Ijihrary ITIap oi llie ^Vorld. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
ever produced. The political divisions are correctly defined and beautifully outlined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
named. Ocean steamship lines with distances between important ports are given. A marginal index of letters and figures enables one easily to
locate every country in the world. A series of short articles iu alphabetical order is printed around the border of this map in large, clear type,
containing valuable information concerning agricultural, mining, and manufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports in dollars.
The area, population, form of government, and chief executive of every country in the world is given up to date, also the names of the capitals
and their population. Xlie luiiet IMapK are elegantly engraved and printed in colors. They are placed in convenient positions around the
United States map, and will be invaluable to every person desiring a plain nnderstanding of our possessions. An inset map of China on the
"World side of map adds to its value.
?■?■• Two maps worth five dollars each, on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium for sending us Three New Subscribers at $1.00 each ; or for S2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
637
A Good Yield of Honey.
I have a small apiary of ;t7 colonies. I
started with two a few years ago. Some sea-
sons they have done fairly well, and in others
producing but a very little comb honey.
This has been the best season that we have
had for three years in this section.- The two
years previous to this there were very light
flows of honey, and during this time many
bee-keepers lost yearly half of their bees,
most of the loss being due to moths; before
being noticed the hive would be literally tilled
with large, white larvae, that would consume
the honey, and even the comb. But, as I
«aid before, this has been a fairly good season
in this section, and I have taken from one
colony 'MO pounds of nice section honey, well
filled and capped; besides 10 pounds in sec-
tions that were not tilled or capped, making
a total of :ibO pounds. I would like to ask if
this is not the best record that you have ever
heard of from one colony; although out in
California, where the honey-flow is better,
and the seasons longer, they may beat this.
John Lennet.
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y.. Sept. 14.
[Vours is certainly a good yield of honey,
but we believe Mr. Doolittle once secured 5B6
pounds of comb honey from one colony in
one season. — Editor.]
A Hive Roof and Shade.
Bees did well here until about .July 1. .luly
and August were so dry that they consumed a
great deal more than they gathered during
those two months. They gathered scarcely'
any pollen from the corn, which is generally
a great source of pollen.
I will give a description of a roof tor a bee-
hive that I am using, and like it very much.
Take barrel-staves from any barrel that has
become useless for any purpose but kindling.
Use one at each end crosswise of the hive to
nail the other staves on. Then where the
cracks are, nail on another stave. It is light
and handy, and will turn the rain as well as
the sunshine. Please do not understand that
this is a lid or top for a hive, but a roof to
turn the water and sun.
Harky S. Harboi.t.
Clark Co., Ind., Sept. ».
"Making" Natural Swarms.
In answer to Mr. Hasly's " Not unwise to
hold the thing as an experiment until many
brethren hav^had continued suece.ss in mak-
ing all the bees stay" (page .569). here is a
little experience I have had in that direction :
I started last spring with 41 colonies; I
hived four swarms, knew of two or three
going off, got one out of the rocks, so that I
closed the season with 4ti colonies; ti or S,
however, for various reasons, did not do any
good, either in honey or brood-rearing, for
causes that are now remedied, but at the
time I did not know what to do in the several
cases. The rest were all very large, strong
colonies, 2, 3 and 4 stories full of bees from
top to bottom. I saw Mr. Doolittle's article
on artificial swarming, in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture, and I determined to try it on some
of my very large colonies, before the main
flow was all over, and just aliout the time I
made my last extracting the latter part of
.July, I began. I found it a most ditlicult
matter, in such large colonies, to tind the
queen to cage her. In a few instances I
made the division without finding the queen,
the bees indicating where the queen was;
sometimes I saw her in the ujanipulation, but
I found the queen if I could.
The first operation was quite successful;
succeeding operations were ecjually success-
ful, but having to allow tin* bees to rear their
Farm Wagon Economy.
The ecouomv of this proposilion is not all
found in the very reasonable price of the wagon
itself, but in the great amount of labor it will
save, and its irreal durabilitv. The Electric
Wheel Co, who make this Electric Handy
Wagon and the now famous Electric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
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This wagon is composed of the best material
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^KAfinm, carry 4<)00 lbs. These Electric
^rOCf IJ^ Steel Wheels are made to fit
^Wv \l l^wm auy wagou, and make practi-
Mr^^XMmt °^^ °°^' '^^"y '^^'' be had in
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■r^^^X ■/ width of tire up to S inches.
wL /\ vC^Wl ^'fJ !"i e.xtra set of these
^ms I l\^7 wheels a farmer can inter-
^^1 XjV change them with his regu-
^^L^jJ^ lar wheels and have a high or
low-down wagon at will.
Write for catalog of the full " Electric Line" to
Electric Wheel Co., Box 10, Quincy, 111
Please mention Bee Journal -whexi. -writing.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturag-e and Nectar-
Producing' Plants: the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field i.s
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal.
BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHIBERY
■ith
of
' We
, last
bined Machi
50 chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
1(X) honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a great deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
to make, and we expect to do
it with this Saw. It will do all
Catalog and price-list free.
W. F. & Jc
r Ba
915 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
Vlea.=!e mention Bee Journal -wiien ■writing.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor.
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited b)' one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■wrlttne.
The American Poultry Journal
325 Deaib.>rn Street, Chicago, III.
AIniirnal """ '^ "'''='■ ^ quarter of a
.JUUI lltli century old and IS still grow-
ing must j)os-,-^s intrinsic merit of its own, and
its field must b.- a valuable one. Such is the
American Poultry Journal.
60 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Journal.
Please mention Bee Journal "^vhen writing
own f|ueen, and not wantitig to rush along
until I could see how it would succeed, I
waited to see the success of a previous opera-
tion before I tried the next. In this way
time slipped by that I know I could have im-
Iiroved.
In these large colonies, after taking out the
queen and a big, strong swarm, I had bees
enough left for several more, but I waited
until they had a new queen in full swing be-
fore I attempted another. I thought if this
strong remainder could rear a queen for
themselves, perhaps a smaller number could,
and I could divide faster, so I took out two
swarms and left a third on the old stand, tak-
ing care that the queenless portion had some-
thing to rear a queen from ; the colony left on
the old stand being left comparatively the
weakest, for some might return, and fleld-
bees came in so that this one was soon as
strong as any of the others.
Later in the season I was not so successful
in taking out more than the queen and one
swarm, the queenless portion either going
with the c|ueen or back to the old stand ; but
if I could have had a new queen to have run
in with them, I think they would have been
all right. Then, as time went by, I found the
drones disappearing, and I was afraid the
young <iueens might not be fertilized, and I
halted somewhat; some I gave queen-cells.
Recently I found one colony with a good
many drones — two frames nearly all drone-
cells, and full of eggs, and one frame of
worker-comb with just-hatched larvae, all of
which seemed odd to me at this season,
though it may be all natural.
I made my last division Sept. 14, putting in
a cell about ripe with the queenless portion.
In all I found the bees "staid"' put, the
queen almost invariably going immediately
to work, and brood-rearing started off at
once, the most trouble being to get new
queens in that portion that was queenless.
As I said before, I think if I could have had
a new queen to have given at the time of the
division it would have been better. I lost
two of such new colonies, one that had a
queen and one that had none, mainly, I
think, because I did not give them honey
enough at the time of the dhrsion. I had
plenty of honey in other hives, and ought to
have kept closer watch and changed frames
so all would have had enough, the main ttow
being over, and not enough coming in to keep
them going.
If I eould do it over, with the experience I
now have, I could have at least half as
many more as I now possess, which is 81. All
seem to be doing nicely now. I expect to
have to watch closer to see that all have feed,
but even in winter in this climate we have
days that it is safe to look into the hives.
During the main flow my colonies were big
and strong, and gave me about three tons of
extracted honey, and at its close I had lots of
bees to divide. A. J. BcKSS.
San Diego Co.. Calif., Sept. 17.
Once More the Mulbeppy.
Oh, that wicked brother. Hasty f He, too.
must needs consider his cunning little stom-
ach, just like all horrid men. Hence, his
greater faith in mulberry jam. ■Ta, I belief!
me !''
Well. I shall not urge him, or any one else,
to accept the views I have stated regarding
the honey product from white mulberries. It
is the privilege of all to doubt. Indeed. I
esteem it a wise provision of Nature that we
tuay feel uncertainties regarding many things
if, happily, we are thereby stimulated to in-
vestigate and thus lay bare the facts. If
what I have written on the sut)ject leads t<>
intelligent efforts to arrive at the exact truth.
TOUCH
Please mention Bee Jotimal when •writing.
638
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 3, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW IWl FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, WateFtown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Apency, C. M. Scott ^i- Co., 1004 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis. Ind.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Flease mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
paid
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
25 cents a pound -
CASH— for best j el-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
■'St*, fi^,
or Resonrces, send for a sample copy of Call
fornia^s Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural F^ress,
The leading- Horticultural and Agricultural
gaper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly;
andsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS.
330 Market Street, San Francisco. Cal.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOB BIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writine
i UimM Honey For Sal6 1
i^ ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^[
Alfalfa
Honey iTd^
This is the famous
White Extracted
Honey gathered in
the great AlfaUa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honey, an<i
nearly every b.uli
who cares to e a i
honey at all can
get enough of tbc
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey jr«C
This is the well-
known light-colored
hooey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. Ithasa
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred bv those who
like a distinct flavor
n their honey.
:.£ Prices of Alfalfa or Basswuud Honey:
• J A sample of either, by mail. 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
•^ age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
■^ or more cans. T'ii cents per pound. Basswood Honej', '2 cent more per
•gi pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
■^ order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
^5 This is all
:■$ ABSOLUTBLY PURE HONEV
;^ The flnest of their kinds produced in this country.
•^
j§ Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
:^ I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm
•^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production
:^ and then buy honey of you for my own use. But h.iwever loyal one ought to be to the
'^ honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
VS drinli, where one prefers the more whole.some hone; to sugar, the very excellent quality
'^ of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more
liS marked flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
;^ McHenry Co., 111.
f5 Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
i^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
^ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
liS above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
i^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
I shall feel abundantly repaid for the expres-
sion of my convictions.
Also, let me state that I sowed some of
the white mulberry seeds the middle of
last month (August 1. and that at this date
(Sept. 20), the plants from those seeds are an
inch high, and look vigorous. This is only
another way of suggesting that the readers
fan as readily propagate their plants at a
nominal cost for seeds. I hope to have seed
to spare next July to give, with my compli-
ments, to all bee-ljeepers, and to such others
as may write for some. Postage is all that
will 'oe required. Dr. Peiro.
rs State St., Chicago.
Golden Honey-Plant.
I send a honey-plant which I desire named.
There is much of it growing here on the bot-
tom lands, and it is the greatest honey-plant
we have in this part of the country. The nec-
tar flows in it for about one month. It grows
about 4 to 6 feet high. The honey from it
has a yellow cast.
Our bees did no good this year in storing
surplus honey. J. L. BiDER.
Coffee Co., Kan., Sept. '20,
[The plant in question is the famous
fiolden honey-plant — Actinoineris squarrosa —
and Ijelongs to the great Composite family.
It grows tall and branching in rich, loamy
soil, and is a boon to the apiarist. Prof.
Cook, in the "Bee-Keepers' Guide," page
371, mentions the plant as possessing great
attraction for bees. Many other composite
flowers are good honey-producers, such as the
boneset. asters, goldenrod. etc. — C. L. Wal-
ton.]
Honey-Dew on the Hickory
Leaves.
Editor York: — I send some shellbark
hickory leaves for 3'our inspection. They
were plucked at 11 o'clock a.m., covered with
honey-dew (0- For weeks the hickory leaves
have been covered mornings with this stuff,
sometimes so thick it would run down and
fall in big drops. The bees gather it indus-
triously. Toward noon it dries up consider-
ably, but I have some leaves on my desk that
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each: 6 for $4.00.
Long^Tongued 3°Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clovei hustlers of
America.
T5c eiCh, or 6 for 14 uo. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Ms
Catalog on application. CiNClNN.-ixl, O.
regarding
the oldest
and most
improved and original Bingham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Y ears the Best on Earth.
2SAtf T F. BINQHAM, Farwell. Mich.
Dittmer's Foniidation !
Retail— W holesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY"
ESSENTIAL necessarv to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINESare my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work Wax Into Fonmlation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, tree on application
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta. Wis,
flease mention Bee JoiuTial -when writlns
Send for circulars i
Oct. 3, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
639
have lain there till they are dr> unJ brittle —
over a week— and there is still honey (0
stieliing on them. I have not found it on
any other Kind of leaves. It seems light in
color — about like white clover honey— and
perfectly clear. It has been so long since we
had any rain that I don't know when it was.
Bees have done uo good here this season.
C. W. McKows.
Knox Co., 111., Sept. 10.
[The leaves arrived while we were in Buffalo,
but on our return the sticky sweetness could
still be plainly seen on them. It must have
been quite thick on the trees.— Editor.]
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Illinois.— The annual meet in? of the Northern
Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association will be held
in the Court H.mse in Rockford. 111., on Tues-
day and Wednesday, Oct. IS and 16. 1901. All in-
terested in bees are invited to attend.
Rockford, 111. B. Kennedy, Sec.
Utah.— There will be a meeting- of the Utah
Bee-Keepers' Association in theCitv andCountv
Buildinif, Salt Lake Citv, Utah, Oct. S, 1901, at
10 a m., to which all are cordially invited.
Kindly inform other bee keepers and send the
addresses of your neighbor bee-keepers. We
also desire the address of all county bee-in-
spectors. A full program in the interest of the
indn-try will be presented. .Send in questions.
Amongr other questions it is desired to consider,
is a union of interest in the purchaseof supplies
and the disposintr of bee-products at profitable
rates. Yours in behalf of the bee-keepers,
E. S. LovESY, Pres., J. B. K.\gg. Sec,
Salt Lake City. East Mill Creek.
It Brings More Eggs
~ aI>nndj«reenItoneCiitUr '
ble your eug yield. Our new <
Sold Direct """
on so (lays' trial. and up
Stra.ton Mfg. Co., Box 2i, Erie, Pa.
fieaie meutiou Bee Journal wtien T^ritine
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We an furnish you witli The A. I. R"Ot Co's
goods Ht wholesale "r retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship proraptiy. Market price
paid for beeswHX. Send for our IHOl catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich
flease mention Bee Journal when -WTitlng.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool TlarUetM and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first,foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAEO. ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writina
00 colonies of bees
amed on shares,
to be placed iu yards of 200 in unoccupied terri-
torv. 2ti vears' experience.
39A2t ' W. E. BRAND, Fort Collins Colo.
please meutioti Bfie Jonrnai when wrntirjr
WISCONSIN FARM LANDS.
The best of farm lauds can be ob-
tained now in Marinette Conty, Wis-
consin, on the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul Railway, at a low price and
on very favorable terms. Wisconsin
is noted for its tine crops, excellent
markets and healthful climate. Why
rent a farm when you can buy one
much cheaper than you can rent, and
in a few years it will be your own
property. For particulars, address,
F. A. Mii.i.EK. Gen'l Passenfrer Apent,
Chicagro, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
way, Chicago. 3"*A3t
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
fnrnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft 10ft 25ft 50ft
Sweet Clover (white) $ .t.0 $1.00 $2.25 $4 00
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.£0
Alsike Clover 90 L70 3.7S 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 3.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Houej. Will buy your
honey no niaiter what quantity. Mail sample
of extracted, state quality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of eoods. Refer you to
Brighton German e»ank, this city.
C. H W. WEBER,
2146-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
40Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Buy fioneu
What haveyou to offer
and at what price ?
34AII ED WILKINSON, Wilton. Wis.
Please mentior Bee Journal ■when ■writme.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-dnp cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. State price.
We pay spot cash. Fked W. AiuxH
& Co.. Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincianati.
40A51 Please mention the Bee Journal.
WRITE US
State quantity, how put up, kind of honey,
price expec'ed, and, if possible, mail sample.
We par spot ca'-h.
Reference -Wisconsin National Bank.
E. R. Pahl &; Co.
411 \tf niLWAUKEE, WIS.
t^lttase mention Bee Journal wnen vrrjtint^
warned '*'"'"^-
traded fioneu!
r St.. Chicago
Wanted — Honey,
Car Lots or otherwise: will pav highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, siatiuff quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to r^rei ve when lot is Urg-e enouyh to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY A SON,
3lAtf Faikfield, III.
PleP^e mention Bee Journal -wtien -writing.
FJease meui. -t:i Beu journal when wTitinc
^ >Ji >Ii >t<. >K >K. >!i >ti >ti >t<>li :>tl >lii*
|tiON&y MD BEESWAX I
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Sept. l.s.— No. 1 white comb honey
is selliogr at 15c per pound, with occasionally a
little more being obtained for fancv, that which
does not grade No. 1 selling at from 13fg)14c,
with the light amber at 12(" l.'ic: dark honey of
various kinds selling at llKoJllc. Extracted in
moderate demand at from S'^(i6iicfor the vari-
ous grades of white; some fancy white clover
and basswood bringing 7c; light amber rang-
ing from S'4(.>S',c; dark at r-iqif^'ic. Beeswax
firm at JSto3Uc. R. A. Bhrnbtt & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5to>6c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
bfaTc; white clover from .s&Oc. Fancy white
comt honey sells from 13>4fe'154c.
C. H. W. Wkbbr.
Boston, Sept. 27.— We quote our market as
follows: Fancy white in cartons, 16c; A No. 1,
15c; No. 1, 14*^c. Extracted, white, 8}^c; light
amber, 8c; amber, 6J6@7^c.
Blakb, Scott Si Lbb.
Albany, N. Y., Sept. 19.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, 16c; No. 1, ISc; mixed, 13ia I4c; No.
1 buckwheat or amber. 12(al3c. Extracted,
white. 7(a7i4c; light, 6J4(«7c; dark, SS<(a)6c. Bees-
wax, 28@2')c. H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 50 per case iu a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4!4(a*4^ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, tJtah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
Nbw York, Sept. 10.— Comb honey is now be-
ginning to arrive in large quantities, and, as a
rule, quality is fine. The demand is good, and
we quote as f.olli.ws: Fancy white, 14tol5c: No.
1, 13c; No. 2, 12c; and amber. He No buck-
wheat is on the market as yet, but are expect-
ing same within a week or so. Extracted is
selling slowly, with plenty of supply, at S&bhic,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55(S65c per gallon. Beeswa.x dull at 27c.
Hildreth & Sboblken.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is verv little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honev.
Peycke Bros. & Ch'aney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancv white comb honey,
14@15c; No. 1, 13(a'14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6Cai7c. Beeswax, 25(<i^26c.
M. H. Hont & Son.
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, 16@17c, and lower grades, 12@14c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co.
San Francisco, Sept. 4.— White comb, 109
12 cents; amber, 7(a'<c; dark, 6(S'7'* cents. Ex-
tracted, white. s%(g)—; light amber, 4K@— ;
amber. 4fffl— . Beeswax 26(S)28c.
Arrivals and spot ofYerings are of rather mod-
erate volume, but there is as much or more on
market than can be . onveniently or advanta-
geously placed. To secure liberal wholesale
custom, prices would have to be shaded in favor
of buyers. In a small way for especially desi-
rable lots slightly higher figures than are
quoted are realized.
Kansas City, Sept. 14.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15(5 16c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at t3.10(af3,25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14tol4i4c; the demand being quite brisk,
a lii m rti.^rlcet is anticipated. Inijuiries for ex-
traced are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5}i®6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
Please mention Bee .lournal
when writing advertisers.
640
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 3, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
hives, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WAHTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
Cloo are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
Thb American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
' «a- W. M. Gerkish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bt^pi Journal w>ien writing-
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return IVIail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $1.01-1: Select Tested,
11.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
RivEK Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee journal when -writing. .
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson '* no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
If Vnil Want Hybrid Bees or Queens
IT YOU want for strengthening up
weak or queenless colonies, I will send one col-
onv with queen for $1.00; two or more, 75c each;
Queens, 25c each. H. H. PORTER,
3')A2t R. R. No. 1, Baraboo, Wis.
QUEENS! QUEENS!
From honey-gathering stock. Tested, $1.00; un-
tested, 75 cents. " Shady Nook Apiary."
UAMES WARREN SHERMAN,
?)A13t Sag Hakhor, New York.
Standard BelQlan ttare Book !
THIS
pai!
D. CAPPS.
book of 175
pages presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
t^ian Hare industry;
its growth, origin
and kinds; the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding
stock; care of the
vnung, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of 50,-
(MM) copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only Jl.iO.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation. Im
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
^^
Why does it sell
so well ?
Because it has always given better satis*
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compll-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PUYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Re^/isc^d,
The classic in Bee-Culture — ;Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Cs., III.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when writing.
.^i^
I RED GLOVER QUEENS
^^^>r
BiACK Rock, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1901.
Fkiend Ernest:— I will try and tell you what you want to know about that queen. I got
her of you in 1890 as a premium with GLEANINGS. I never saw a small colony of bees build up
as that one did. In the spring of I'^iX) they came out in fine shape, wintered perfect. I raised them
up in May and gave them 8 frames more so the gueen would not want for room. I never saw such
a colony of bees as they were in June, and they were actually storing honey when other bees in
my yard were starving. Nol they were not robbing. I never saw those two best colonies of mine
trying to rob. THEY CERTAINLY WORK ON RED CLOVER. This is no guesswork, as I
have seen them. As yc-u know, the past two seasons have been very poor, and what honey my
bees did get in 1900 candied soon after cold weather set in. I packed this colony in a chaff hive
and left them out, thinking that such a strong colony would winter perfect. The snow came on
the middle of November, and those poor bees never a fly until the last of March or the first of
April. When warm weather at last came I thought they were dead, as they did not seem to be fly-
ing much, so I did not pay any attention to them until in June. I noticed they were working a
little, so I opened up the hive and found them in the upper story. I took the lower story out and
left them in the one body. The queen was laying nicely, and I thought they would make a good
colony to winter. Along the last of J aly I noticed that they needed more room. I gave them a
super, 24 boxes, and in a few days they had it full. They have made 72 boxes of as nice honey as
you ever saw, and are drawing out some starters now, Sept. 2.
Very truly yours, Geo. B. Howe.
Prices of Red Clover Queens.
ngs in Bee-Culture 1 year and Untested Queen $2.00
" Tested Queen 4.00
" " Select Tested Queen 6.00
f you want something good you can not do belter than to order one of these queens. All or-
re filled promptly. No extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 'tai' ag^oIll?'-
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO
Send to them for their free Catalog.
pjAEWe/l/v
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 10, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 41.
.(i4)»(i4Kl)<i>-(i)-(i)<l-i)-A-(i)4>'(i"i).i).^
642
AMERICAN BEE ;OURNAL
Oct. 10, 1901.
EEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK S CONPAINY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post^Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Gbobge W. Tokk, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) r)p,,„rtment
E. E. Hasty, ]- "^fu.!?
Prof. A. J. Cook, | Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States. Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra tor post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Liabel Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance.
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HOTCHINSON,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
Thos. G. Newmax,
G. M. Doolittle,
W. P. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
It^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat^lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
*' I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
(five the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees.*'
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
LanQswtion...
Tll6H0I16l)B66
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
THE-
The Bee-Reeper's Guide;
Or, JVIaniiuI ot tlie Apiary,
BY
PROF, A, J, COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition— 18th Thou-
sand—$1.26 postpaid.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt- on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fasclnat-
ng style. The author is also too well-known to
tlie whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Kkepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook^s
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following- offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also griven to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jonc-
aal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
fl.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Jourual for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W, YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILI*.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is tij-b i-'ULL Size of the Knife.)
Your Name on the Knife.— When ordering-, be sure to say just what name ami
address you wish put on the Knife.
The Novelty Knife ts Indeed a novelty The novelty lies \n the handle. It is
made beautifuU.v of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as g-lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
Bhov
her
The Material entering- into this celebrated kmfe is of the very best quality;
the blades are haud-forg-ed out of the very finest Eug-lish razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are platebrass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a pood knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the "'Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the "Novelties." your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and. io
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a ladv to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gtves a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this^beautiful kuife, as the ''* Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us i hree new subsckihers to the Bee Journal (with$.^'W.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
4®"Please allor" •»bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled.
St„ Chicago, IlL
^ERICA.^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, OCTOBER 10, 1901.
No, 41.
\ * Editorial. ^ l
Bee-Keeping in the West Indies is
the title of a pamphlet of about SO pages,
issued in Auffust of this year by Mr. D. Mor-
ris, Commissioner of Agriculture for the West
Indies. It is written by Mr. W. K. Morrison,
who was engaged for the purpose of prepar-
ing the booklet, after visiting several of the
principal islands of the group. Mr. Morrison
was formerly connected with the I'nited
States Department of Agriculture, and is
specially fitted for such an undertaking. In
introducing the pamphlet, Mr. Morris says:
'' After a careful study of the circumstances
Mr. Morrison is of opinion that the outlook
for bee-keeping in the West Indes is very
encouraging. At present, with the single
exception of Jamaica, a bee-keeping indus-
try can hardly be said to exist. At Urenada,
St. Vincent, Barbados and Antigua a few bee-
keepers were met with, but in the other
islands, as at St. Lucia and Dominica, with
an abundance of honey-bearing flowers to be
found all the year round, little or no atten-
tion has been devoted to bee-keeping."
Mr. Morrison gives hints suited to bee-keep-
ing In the tropics, illustrations of the more
important implements required, a list of the
principal nectar-yielding flowers of that re-
gion, and a glossary of bee-terms.
The hope is expressed that the pamphlet
■• will serve the objects in view, and that a
bee-keeping industry of a thriving and per-
manent character will before long be estab-
lished in these islands."
Cuba and Jamaica are foremost in bee-
keeping among the islands of the West Indies.
The Honey Crop of 1901 in the
I'nited .States seems to be a rather uncertain
iiuantity, if we may judge from the reports
that we hear from various parts of the land.
In view of this condition of honey affairs, we
requested Messrs. R. A. Burnett & Co. I whom
we regard as the largest wholesale dealers in
honey in Chicago), to furnish a statement for
publication, giving their honest opinion con-
cerning this very important subject. Here is
their response:
Chicago, Sept. 27, ISCH.
Editor of Amekican Bee Jours.m,. —
There seems to be unusually conflicting
accounts of the honey produced, and being
produced, in the season of 1901. We are just
in receipt of a special circular datecl at
Medina, Ohio, Sept. 2.i, entitled. " An Un-
mitigated Shame; More Monstrous Tales
About the Prices on Honey." Inasmuch as
this circular is to appear in the next issue of
Gleanings in Bee-Culture, we will not (|Uote
verbatim therefrom, but in the letter that
accompanies this the A. I. Koot Co. says:
" We believe that when you know the facts
you will be governed accordingly." Now we
(luite agree with this statement — we certainly
desire at all times to be governed by the facts,
and all that we seek to know (and we judge
it to be the same with other people) is, that
we want to be sure we have the facts.
It is probable, from most reliable informa-
tion that we get, that the Middle and Eastern
States have produced more honey than for
some seasons past, with the exception of
southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
Those localities'suffered the most severely of
any during the dry time that was so long con-
tinued in those localities; but even there,
none of our correspondents claim they will
not have suflieient honey to winter the bees,
and it really looks to us as if there will be a
surplus from the autumn flowers which have
been profuse this autumn.
The State of Texas has produced more
honey than California did in ordinary seasons
10 or \h years ago ; then, even Ohio has pro-
duced some honey ; Pennsylvania, New Vork,
and the New England States have had very
good yields. Even the conservative Mr. Doo-
little, of New York, admits that there has
been an abundant flow of honey in his
locality, and from sources that have not
given honey for many years past. There have
also been some unusually large yields per
colony in different parts of the country ;
while in locations not far from those favored
ones the yield has been light, thus showing
that atmospherical conditions were not always
the same over an entire State.
Furthermore, the producers in the less
favored sections or localities early told of
their failure to get a crop, thus carrying the
idea to those who were more fortunate that
perhaps they had all the honey there was to
be had. This has tended to make holders of
the favored apiarists, resulting in the honey
being held off the market longer than usual,
as they naturally expected higher prices even
than prevailed last year, which season was
the nearest to falling below a sufficient sup-
ply of any year in the past fifteen.
The Western States, especially Colorado,
Nevada, and Utah, are finding that there is
not the demand from the East that has ex-
isted for the past two years, and are begin-
ning to get anxious about marketing their
honey, in consequence of which the associa-
tions are making a broad canvass for a pos-
sible outlet at prices somewhat near those
obtained last year.
If it is true that the newspapers of the
country have been telling that there has been
a great honey harvest secured this season, it
will result in benefiting the producers more
than anything else ; for, let the public get the
idea that honey is plentiful, good and cheap,
and they will call for it as they would not
otherwise do; for who amongst us does not
feel more inclined to purchase an article
when it is good and cheap, rather than when
it is scarce and dear ; We can see great help,
if this be true, that the information is broadly
circulated, that there has been an abundant
harvest of honey, for people must use more
of it this season than ever before it the crop
of 1901 is to be inurketed before the coming
crop of 190'i is due.
We are of the opinion that prevailing prices
are not too high, and that honey will be used
freely, unless the in-ople begin to believe that
there has not been a good crop, but that it is
scarce and dear, us, the terms " short crop "
or "short yield " implies advanced prices to
the average mind : hence they look for a sub-
stitute, which, once adopted, takes the place
of the article that was scarce, until the time
for another harvest.
We do not seek by the foregoing to advise
people what to do with their property, but
give it as our opinion, which, when compared
with others, may enable those having honey
to sell to ascertain what are the facts.
Very truly yours,
R. A. Burnett iV- Co.
It will be noticed that Messrs. Burnett it
Co. refer to a circular appearing in Gleanings
in Bee-Culture. We have thought it best to
copy it, so that our readers may have the
advantage of both views. It is as follows:
In our last issue I stated that there had
been gross exaggeration as to the honey crop
of the southern counties of California; but at
that time the inflation buyers claimed a maxi-
mum output of only 500 ears; but now they
have boosted it to 2000. As I have before
stated, there seems to be a combination which
has induced some of the daily papers to cir-
culate such rep9rts right and left. (In its
best years, indeed the very best, the entire
crop has not exceeded .500 cars, and this year
was only fair, with less than half the bees to
get the honey. ) These glib falsifiers even go
so far as to say, " This year's crop is esti-
mated at 2000 cars;" that while the prices
last year ruled at 8I4 cents, they are now
down to less than half that, and they will
probably have to go lower; and, as if to add
insult to injury, they further state that Hono-
lulu honey is being poured into California,
and from there it is being sent East.
Such stories have a strong tendency to un-
settle the market ; and the animus back of it
all is very apparent. The Western "bears'"
are anxious, of course, to have the prices go
down. They know the crop is light; and
then when they get the producers under their
thumbs, they propose, no doubt, to scoop up
the honey at a low figure, and then hold it
until it advances.
Moreover, the Eastern buyers are being
scared; and one man, whose honesty is above
reproach, wrote, asking for my private opin-
ion. He is a large buyer; and he says if
these stories are true he would not dare to
take on any more honey. But it is evident
that there are some other men in collusion
with the Western buyers who are anxious
that these inflated yarns shall be scattered,
because, forsooth, it will depress the Eastern
market as well. If, for example, there were
2(100 cars in California, and as much more of
Honolulu honey, it would be perfectly clear
that a large portion of it would have to go
East. But no one need be alarmed over the
matter. The facts are, I doubt whether .5t>
cars could be sci-aped up and sent eastwarti
from California, all told. The large baking
concerns have laid in (|uite a stock — probably
all they will rci|Uire; for when the price was
down they snapped up every burgain they
could get hold of; but now producers with
business heads on them are holding the rest
of the crop back.
For some weeks back we have been having
men on the Pacific coast make a careful eon-
vass ; and it is very evident that the crop is
light in comparison with those of some of
the big years. I do not believe there is an
aggregation of responsible producers any-
where in California who would guarantee to-
644
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 10, 1901.
tlay io deliver more than 25 cars, and as
uearly as we can estimate tliey are holding back
till these exaggerated reports have run their
course, and the market seeks its natural
level. It is most unfortunate that these
canards should have been started at this time ;
(or this is usually the ftry season for dispos-
ing of honey, and it may take months to cor-
rect the false impression.
The situation in the East, briefly told, is
this: There is actually less comb honey pro-
duced this year than last; and what there is,
seems to be of an inferior grade. We have
advocated in these columns repeatedly that
bee-keepers are running too much for ex-
tracted honey in the East; at least, good
comb honey sells all the way from 2',; to H
times as much as extracted for a like quality.
The market on extracted has become a little
unsettled, owing to aforesaid " bears " who
not only love honey, but are contriving to get
it for nothing. Yes, we are even told that
the markets of the East were being glutted:
but some of our friends went into some of
those markets to buy honey in car lots. Do
you believe they could get any ; There was
not any in sight. To state the matter fairly,
there is iirobably a fair crop of extracted
honey of Eastern production ; and the prices
on extracted will, therefore, rule about the
same as last year, for tlie same season of the
year. Colorado honey is evidently being
held until the market recovers itself from
these conflicting statements. The crop has
been lighter, and so far offerings that have
been very meager are as high or liigher than
a year ago. There is only a moderate crop in
Arizona — about 2.5 cars all told ; and this is
likewise being held for the same reason.
Texas, one of the big honey States, will show
up well; but much of its product will be
marketed at home, while Arizona honey, a
large portion of it, will have to lie sold in the
East.
Returning to California, latest advices show
that the season has been a flat failure in the
central portions of the State. Our men can
not hud more than three car-loads all told. In
Southern California it would be a large esti-
mate to allow for 75 cars, if the general re-
ports we get are true, and they come from
men who are not inclined to " bull " the mar-
ket. I know they are very close to the truth,
because I was tlu-ough much of that territory
myself, and perhaps two-thirds of the crop
had been harvested.
I shall send copies of this statement, pre-
pared this day, to all the large buyers whom
I believe to be reliable and honest, and will
seek their advice and help.
Later. — Since the above was written one
of the best bee-keepers in California, who was
sent by a San Francisco firm through the best
honey country around Los Angeles, to get
samples and Cjuantities of honey, writes, after
a careful canvass, that he could scarcely find,
all told, 2.50 tons (20 cars), and that he is in-
formed by reliable parties, that the cro))
further south and east is very light. More-
over, he finds that some of the buyers, in the
papers at Los Angeles, credit to a bee-keeper
as many cars of honey as he has in tons. As
to prices, the honey is being held firm at 5
cents or more. E. R. Root.
Like Messrs. Burnett & Co., we hesitate to
advise those of our readers that have honey
to sell, what to do about marketing it. And
yet we think we are safe in saying that when-
ever you can get as good prices as those of
last year, it would be well to accept them very
promptly.
Having said that, we may also venture the
opinion that before honey is higher in price
again, it will likely go lower than the prices
([uoted now. This we believe because of the
feeling that more honey is being held back by
bee-keepers this season than in many a year
Ijefore.
It is exceedingly unfortunate that there
seems to be no reliable way in which to get at
the exact amount of honey produced. Were
that a possibility, the matter of prices could
the more easily he controlled.
A Phase of In-breeding Among Bees
— in which there is a difference as compared
with other stock — deserves consideration.
Where breeders of cattle practice in-breeding
for the sake of fixing certain characteristics,
they seem to prefer mating a heifer to her
father rather than to her brother. There is a
good reason for this. The father and mother
of the heifer being of unrelated stock, the
heifer is not of the same blood as either, but
may be said to have half the blood of each ;
so when the heifer is bred to her father there
is not as close iu-breeding as when bred to her
brother, which is of the same blood as herself.
Now it we have a certain queen of superior
blood from which we rear young queens, and
then allow these young queens to mate with
drones from the same mother, it might look,
to a careless observer, the same as breeding
the heifer to her brother. But parthenogene-
sis must be taken into con.sideration, and in
reality it is the same as breeding the heifer
to her father. For the drone is not of the
mingled blood of his mother and the drone
with which she mated, but he is of the same
blood as his mother. If this year we stock
our apiary with young queens from a certain
queen, and the next year rear young <iueens
again from that same mother, allowing them
to meet drones of the queens reared this year,
we will have practically the close in-breeding
of brother and sister that would obtain in
cattle-rearing, but the mating of a queen and
drone from the same mother will not be so
close breeding.
\ Weekly Budget. I
The Chicago Bee-Kebpers' Association
will hold its next semi-annual meeting on
Thursday, Dec. 5, instead of Thursday. Nov. ".
This is the result of a meeting of the execu-
tive committee on Oct. ;i. The date a month
later was decided upon because of the Live
Stock Exhibition to be held in Chicago Nov.
yO to Dec. 7. Low railroad rates will then pre-
vail, which should help greatly to swell the
attendance of bee-Keepers.
Look out for a fuller notice by Secretary
Moore, next week. In the meantime, begin
to plan to be in t:hicago Dec. 5. No effort
will be spared to make it the largest and best
meeting of bee-keepers in IflOl — the recent
Buflfalo convention not excepted.
Ai'iAKY OF Mr. C. G. Heai.y.— In writing
us about his bee-keeping, Mr. Healy had this
to say (see page IMS) ;
On May 22, 1900, I moved three small api-
aries, one consisting of 52 colonies, another
of 41, and another of 15, from Walworth Co.,
Wis., to Wood county, arriving at my desti-
nation ou May 24.
Owing to poor seasons in Walworth
county, and the losses sustained in moving
the apiaries, they were in very poor condition
when I arrived here. But as the season was
very favorable the lOS colonies increased to
169. and I shipped two tons of comb honey.
I put the bees in winter quarters. Nov. 25,
in an outside cellar. After regulating the
ventilation to what I supposed to be right, I
left them until spring, returning March 20.
when 1 found the temperature to be 71 degrees
in the cellar, and the loss at the outset 9 colo-
nies. But because of the high temperature in
the cellar during the winter many of the bees
left their hives, clustered on the ceiling, and
of course were lost. As a result I lost 63
colonies from spring dwindling, a total loss
of 3 colonies more than the increase of last
year. Those that are left are doing well, and
at present there is a good outlook for a fair
crop. C. G. Healt.
Wood Co., Wis., Julys.
Messrs. Salter, Hyde and Scholl — the
officers of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion— were shown on page 609. Since then
we have received a few personal items con-
cerning each, which, unfortunately, were
delayed so they could not appear in the issue
with the pictures.
All three of those in (luestion are yet young
men, Mr. Salyer being the only one married.
Messrs. Hyde and Scholl are just out of their
teens, and not yet of age; nevertheless all
three have done a great deal for Southern
bee-keepers, and perhaps there are not many
such "youngsters" that have gained so much
fame.
Mr. Salyer was vice-president of the Central
Texas Bee-Keepers' Association the last tw»
years, until elected president of the new
State association at the last meeting. He has
been in the bee-business for many years, com-
bining it with farming and stock-raising, as
he has fine herds of cattle.
Mr. H. H. Hyde has been in the bee-busi-
ness ever since nine years old, helping his
father during summer and attending school
during winter. As the junior member of O.
P. Hyde & Son, and at the head of the queen-
rearing department of that firm, besides being
an interesting and instructive correspondent
to the bee-papers, he is already well known
to the bee-keepers of our land. He is of a
temperate disposition, abhoring the use of all
intoxicants and tobacco. Mr. Hyde is a mem-
ber of the Baptist church. At home he has
held several minor offices of trust, and has
been assistant secretary of the Central Texas
Bee-Keepers' Association, at the last meeting
elected vice-president.
Mr. Louis Scholl has been actively engaged
in apiarian association work for several years.
At the age of 17 he was chosen as the associa-
tion's secretary-treasurer, and to keep him as
such, certain clauses in the constitution of
the association, restricting an officer to only
one year's term, had to be ruled out. He has
held his office ever since that time.
His bee-keeping career began while yet
(|uite young, and, on account of his studious
habits, he has mastered more about the
honey-bee than many another of his age; and
if he lives the bee-world may yet hear more
about him. He has already made great
strides towards enviable notoriety, especially
among the bee-keepers of the South. His
contributions to apicultural literature have
appeared from time to time.
Mr. Scholl is a total abstainer, and an earnest
Christian.
Under the able, conscientious management
of these three men, the Texas State Bee-
Keepers' Association should flourish " like
the green bay tree."
Ai'iAHY OF Mit. C. L. King.-— The picture
shown on page r>41, was taken from the south-
cast end of Mr. King's bee-yard. He and his
little boy are standing near the center, his
father at the right, and his brother at the left.
Mr. King has on a bee-veil of his own make.
He never wore a veil until this season. Mr.
King has kept liecs since 1S93, and likes it
well. He has about 75 colonies, but the past
season has been the poorest for honey that he
has ever seen in Tennessee.
Oct. 10. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
645
Convention Proceedings. ^
(Continued from page 631.)
Report of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Convention.
BY LOUIS SCHOLL, SEC.
BEGINNERS RUINING THE HONKY-MAKKET.
"How can beginners best be educated how not to ruin a
market for those more experienced?"
D. C. Milam said the selling' of honey is the most impor-
tant subject connected with our industry, the important
part being- that it depends upon that which brings the cash
on which success is based. By producing a first-class
article, it should be put up in the best marketable shape,
and so as to attract the attention of buyers. The price
seems to be almost universal over Texas. Beginners
should be taught all this ; especially when an experienced
bee-keeper has a market established, he should see to the
beginners. Teach them. Either help them along, buy
their honey, or help them to establish a market for it.
When beginners have a surplus of honey during a good
year, they just zvant to get rid of it, and then they do harm
through their ignorance.
The demand for Uvalde honey is so great that it has
never been filled. Of course, while their honey is of such
tine qualit3' as to have such a wide reputation, they also
have some very inferior honey, from a few localities. Some
of it is not even edible, and if it should be put on the
market, it would ruin it. Such must never be done, for any
person that should happen to eat such inferior stuff would
lose all desire for any more honey. Some make a big mis-
take by extracting too soon, before the honey is well
ripened. He cited a case where some honey was bought in
barrels, by a dealer who handled honey extensively, and
opening a barrel at one time, the vile stuff shot out all over
his person and dress, and made him feel so badly that he
could not even bear to think about honey — so much so that
not one pound did he ever buy again. Besides this, he gave
several other experiences.
He also spoke about organization and the prices of
honey. Then all the honey could be bought for a little less
per pound to sell again for enough to make sufficient for
the trouble, and thus it would save much to the experienced
bee-keeper, especially those that have a good market for
their product. He said that all honey put up for sale should
be a first-class article, and every package should contain
the name and address of the producer, to show that it is
such. He also told of a firm that bought and sold any kind
of honey, just as it would happen along. But that firm
does not sell any more now.
W. O. Victor's experience has been quite varied. He
related a case where a large bee-keeper sold his honey, of
fine grade, for 10 cents per gallon less than wholesale
prices, and that in his home market, which ruined his
entirely. He tried to buy the honey from this bee-keeper,
offering him the real wholesale price, which was 10 cents
more per gallon than his wholesale price, but he refused to
sell, for the reason that he had to supply his customers with
honey.
WHAT IS THE BEST RACE OF BEES ?
W. O. Victor said he believed he was perhaps not well
informed on the different races of bees, he having begun
with the Italians; they treated him so well that he stayed
with them. He never had any other race in his yards, and
hardly knows which is the best race of bees. He told of
the many " strains " of Italians, and how they could be
bred to possess some of the good qualities. He spoke about
certain strains of Italians, the bees of which start to run all
over everything whenever a hive is opened. These he calls
■' race-horses " on account of their running, and thinks it
the proper name for them. These he culls out as soon as
he can.
The dark, leather-colored Italians he thinks the best, as
they are the gentlest bees, sticking to their combs, and for
honey-gathering they are the best all-around bees, always
ready when honey is to be had. watching even for the buds
to open, so that the first sip of nectar might be takeni
Some of the other strains are so vicious that he is afraid of
them, for the reason that they are dangerous.
He also touched on the long-tongue hobby and believes
there is something in it, as there are so many fluwers with
long corolla-tubes, requiring a longer tongue-reach to get
all of the nectar out of them. He has tested bees possess-
ing long tongues, and although some with longer tongues
did no better than some with shorter tongues, yet he thinks
that long tongues are no disadvantage, for those with the
longest tongue-reach outstripped anything in his yards in
storing honey. The three-band Italians averaged longer
tongues ; while the goldens have some of the very shortest,
blacks not excepted.
O. P. Hyde — What is meant by different strains of Ital-
ians? It seems that there are only the three-band Italians
and the "Golden " Italians.
Mr. Victor meant by different strains of Italians, the
difference of management and selection by certain breed-
ers, causing a different strain of Italians in the end ; by
always selecting another that produce certain traits, would
cause a strain, in the end, possessing those traits, and dif-
ferent from other strains bred on other lines.
Others spoke on this line, and the great difference there
is in the daughters of the same mother.
Mr. Atchley said that much depends upon locality,
as to which is the best race.
For all-around purposes the three-band Italian is the
bee, and especially for his locality, if restricted to a pure
race. Cyprians and Holy-Lands he thinks best for localities
where strong colonies of bees are needed through the
greater part of the year, as their queens are so prolific that
they keep up rousing colonies all through the season. He is
an old friend of the three-band Italian, but not for comb
honey, as they so crowd out the queens in the brood-nest.
They are all right for only one flow, as a rule, for, by crowd-
ing out the queens, there is no force of bees to secure the
honey of later flows. Hence, for a locality with inore than
one flow, queens are desired that keep a " standing army ''
all the time, and this will be a race of bees with queens so
prolific that, if a queen is remoN'ed from a colony, laying
workers will take her place at once, their desire for brood-
rearing being so strong. These would be Holy-Lands or
Cyprians; and, besides, he thinks that their wings are
stronger, and the bees have more power, thus making them
better for gathering honey, than others.
Ouestions were asked, what to do when bees crowd out
the queen in the brood-nest. Some advised putting empty
combs in the middle of the brood-nest, between combs of
brood, to let the queen lay in them. Others, again, o.b-
jected to this, as such combs were sometimes filled with
honey even there.
Mr. Atchley cited the experience of his son, Charlie,
who runs their apiary of three-band Italians. He had had
trouble with these putting all the honey into the brood-
combs instead of the supers above. So he tried a new idea,
that of putting the super below the brood-nest, and there
it was.
So Mr. Atchley thinks that if we might strike out the
right way, we might succeed all right with the three-band
Italians.
H. H. Hyde asked if a cross between the three-band
Italians and Holy-Lands or Cyprians would not be a good
one. Mr. Atchley answered that it would.
L. Stachelhausen said that it took different races for
different localities, the three-band Italian not being good
for his place, as there are not enough bees left for the flows
that follow the first one. It might be best to cross them.
H. H. Hyde told of his experience with different races
and their average yields, the best being from Holy-Lands.
The Italians choked the brood-nests too much.
Mr. V^ictor said that plenty of room given during slow
flows does not give any trouble. Supers should always be
given a little ahead of time for the flow to begin, and the
brood in the brood-chamber should extend from side to side,
so the bees are bound to store above. Then always give a
little more room than needed.
MISCELI.ANEOrS .MATTERS.
Upon motion of Mr. Davidson, it was decided to send four
representatives to Buffalo, N. Y., in September, to rep-
resent the Texas Bee-Keepers' Association, at the meet-
ing of the National Bee-Keepers' Association. Udo Toep-
perwein, G. F. Davidson. Louis Scholl and H. H. Hyde
were elected as such representatives.
W. O. Victor was appointed a committee of one to pre-
pare a program for the next meeting.
646
AMERICAN BEE lOUPNAL
Oct. 10, 1901.
The committee on " Resolutions and Petitions " handed
in their report, which was adopted.
The South-Texas Bee-Keepers' Association, meeting in
conjunction with the other associations, asked that they be
allowed sufficient time to transact some of the Association's
business, and to elect officers for the ensuing year ; also to
decide upon a place to meet the next year. Officers elected
for the coming year : E. J. Atchley, president ; W. I ). Vic-
tor, vice-president ; W. H. Lewis, secretary.
The next place of meeting will be at Beeville, Tex., on
the first Wednesday and Thursday in September, 1902.
The committee judging the bee-keepers' exhibits
handed in their report of awards, as follows :
AW.\RDS AND WINNERS.
Coi,i,EGE Station, July 25, 1901.
JJtj Louis ScfioU, fSn-retiiry-Trfiisnri'r, Tcxn.s Bre-Keepers^ Associaliitn
Single-eomb nucleus. Golden Italians, 1st prize, S2.50 — 0. P. Hyde
it Son.
Single-comb nucleus, 3-band Italians, 1st prize $2.50 — O. P. Hvde
A Son.
Single-comb nucleus, Holy-Land, 1st prize, $2.50 —O. P. Hyde A:
Son.
Sweepstakes on bees, greatest number of different races, 1st, Sur-
prise package of valuable articles— O. P. Hyde tV: Son.
Best section comb-honey exhibit — 1st, one-comb honey hire — G.
F. Davidson; 2d, Golden breeder queen — J. B. Salyer.
Best sample case section honey. Special, 50 cents — G. F. Davidson.
Best bulk comb-honey exhibit — 1st, 5 cases honey-cans — (i. F.
Davidson ; 3d, Golden breeder queen — J. B. Salyer.
Best sample bulk comb honey. Special, .50 cents — G. F. Davidson.
Best extracted honey exhibit — 1st, 5 cases honey-cans — G. F. Da-
vidson; 2d, Holy- Land breeder — J. B. Salyer.
Best specimen extracted honey, Special, .50 cents — G. F. Davidson.
Best exhibit beeswax — 1st, solar wax-extractor — Louis SchoU:
2d, Apiary tool-chest — J. B. Salyer.
Best sample cake bright yellow wax. Special, .50 cents — Louis
SchoU.
Best display honey-plants, pressed and mounted, 1st, Brass Hig-
ginsville smoker — Louis SchoU; Special .50 cents — Louis Soholl.
Largest and best display apiarian implements, tst, Cash jirize,
S.5.00— Udo Toepperwein; 2d, Foundation fastener — O. P. Hyde &
Son.
Sweepstakes, largest, best and most interesting and instructive
exhibit, all things considered, 1st, Cowan honey-extractor — Udo Toep-
perwein ; 2d, cash prize of $10—0. P. Hyde & Son.
Best exhibit bee-keepers' supplies, Ist, blue ribbon — Udo Toepper-
wein : 2d, red ribbon — O. P. Hyde & Son.
The other business was then all settled, and just before
adjournment, upon the entering into the room of the bee-
keepers' section of the Farmers' Congress, of Prof. Connell.
he was presented with a case of beautiful white section
comb honey, by the Association, from Mr. G. F. Davidson,
with very appropriate words by Mr. Atchley. Prof. Con-
nell accepted the same with words showing very pointedly
how this kindness was appreciated by him, and he thanked
them all for their kindness.
The convention then adjourned.
J. B. Salyer, Pres. Louis Scholl, Sec.
\ Contributed Articles, i
Queen-Breeding— A Review of the Subject.
liV ADRIAN' GF,T.\Z.
JUST now, in some bee-papers, a certain class of critics
have chosen to criticise our queen-breeders severel)',
intimating that they don't know the fundamental prin-
ciples of the art. Some have even intimated that a college
course of study should have been taken, or at least a full
study of Darwin, Huxley, etc. Exactly what advantage a
college education in Greek, Latin, baseball and higher
mathematics would be to a queen-breeder, has not been
shown. It is even questionable if a full knowledge of Hux-
ley's and Darwin's theories concerning the " Origin of Spe-
cies " and " Descent of Man " would be of any use at all.
Again, the fact that our leading queen-breeders are not
filling the bee-papers with learned (?) contributions on the
subject, is not at all a proof that they are a lot of igno-
ramuses. Some of them undoubtedly know a good deal
more than their critics suspect. The fact is, that these
critics who speak so learnedly (?) about in-breeding, and
other similar topics, do not seem to know so very much,
after all ; and while they have succeeded very well in criti-
cising what is done, they have lamentably failed to show
what ought to be done.
To-day it is raining, and I have nothing pressing to do,
so I will take my chances and dabble into the subject, run-
ning the risk of showing my own ignorance just for the fun
of it.
HEREDITY.
It is hardly necessary to say that heredity is a short
word to state the fact that any living being is similar to
his father and mother, or ancestors. So a cat is a cat simi-
lar to his ancestors. A plant of corn is similar to those
that furnished the grain from which it grows, and the pol-
len which fecundated the grain. (In writing this I use
common words in place of scientific terms, as far as pos-
sible).
VARIABILITY.
But the offspring is never the exact image of its ances-
tors. There is always some minor difference, sometimes
one way, sometimes another, sometimes in one particular,
sometimes in another — in size, color, different aptitudes,
etc. It is that disposition that enables us to improve our
stock. For instance, suppose we want a stock of cattle
especially good for producing milk, we first begin by choos-
ing the best milking cow procurable, and a bull a descend-
ant also of good milking stock. In virtue of heredity, their
descendants will be generally better milk-producers than
any kind of cattle taken at random. In virtue of the vari-
ability, some will be better, and some not so good, some
may be even better than their immediate ancestors, and
some may be worse. We choose the best, those, if possible,
better than their immediate ancestors, and repeat the pro-
cess again and again. Eventually we will get a stock
superior in aptitude to produce milk.
It is almost needless to say that all our noted breeds of
stock — cattle, horses, chickens, dogs, etc. — have been pro-
duced, I might say created, by that process.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
This is called a theory and often criticised or made fun
of. But it is a fact, not a theory. Let me give some
examples : Suppose some deer were put in a country
where there are wolves. Suppose some very fleet on foot
and some quite slow in running. The wolves will undoubt-
edly catch up with and kill the slow runners. The fleet-
footed will escape and breed. The result is that the next
generation will average a better running stock. Of these,
again, the slowest will be destroyed, the quickest remain.
The result is that eventually a swift-running stock will be
the result.
Take the quails and partridges. They may have been
of any and all colors at the beginning. But the bright-col-
ored ones were the easiest to see, and were caught by the
hawks and other enemies. The brown and gray remained.
The striped ones, as we see them now, are the least distin-
guishable from the brown earth and dead grasses, and
finally remained alone. In domesticity, where all are pro-
tected, all colors stand an equal chance, except what choice
the breeder may make.
ACQUIRED QUALITIES.
Not only the peculiarities inherent to the animals them-
selves at their birth, but also those acquired, are, at least to
a certain extent, transmitted to their offspring. Take, for
instance, the pointer dogs. The first were evidently trained
to that mode of hunting birds — a very unnatural one.
Their descendants, or rather some of them, inherited that
disposition, at least, to some extent. The best were chosen,
and more thoroughly trained, and the processpursued until
now we have a breed of dogs in which it has become a sec-
ond nature. There is no doubt that the thoroughly trained
race-horse stallion transmits to his offspring his acquired
qualities as well as those he possessed at his birth.
TR.^NSMISSION.
There are some laws governing the transmission of
faculties and peculiarities from ancestors to descendants.
1. The same circumstances and environments tend to
preserve the characteristics of animals from generation to
generation, while a change will increase the tendency to
variations.
2. This can be expected if we consider that the pecu-
liarities of the animals were formed under those circum-
stances and best adapted to them in virtue of the law of
the survival of the fittest. Bnt let the animal be put in a
Oct. 10, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
647
different position — for instance, a wild animal be domesti-
cated— and variations in size, color, disposition, etc., will
appear at once.
3. The more alike the father and mother, the more
strongly and surely will their characteristics be transmitted
to their offspring-. And if they are very different, all sorts
of variations may be expected.
The more fixed the characteristics and peculiarities,
the more surely will they be transmitted. A " sport " — that
is, an animal or plant showing some extraordinary peculi-
arity— is not at all sure to transmit it to its descendants,
while the " fixed "' qualities will nearly always be trans-
mitted.
A fixed characteristic is one that has been transmitted
from generation to generation either through the natural
operation of the survival of the fittest or through the
choice of the breeder.
IN-BREKDING.
That is, breeding between close parents or relatives.
This is said to be injurious to vitality. The fact is quoted
that in natural process of reproduction of plants and ani-
mals, in-breeding is avoided. On the other hand, all our
best breeds of horses, cattle, fowls, etc., have been obtained
by in-breeding. Numbers of bulls and stallions have done
service as long as they lived, with their own mothers,
grandmothers, daughters, granddaughters, etc.
One thing is certain, in breeding from close relatives,
we breed from animals having the same characteristics and
same peculiarities, and, according to the above rules, such
will more likely be transmitted, and even intensified ; for
the fixingof a characteristic generally intensifies it. Now
any defect which that breed maj' have, will thereby be
fixed and intensified until it may eventually endanger or
destroy the very life of the animals themselves.
INFLUENCE OF THE MALE.
In breeding horses, cattle, etc., it is found that the male
has more influence on the offspring than the female. This
is due in a great measure, if not altogether, to the fact that
the male used is of a superior stock, with qualities better
fixed and more intense than those of the females. If the
process was reversed, that is, if the females were of the
improved stock, and the males of the common stock, the
reverse would probably take place. In the human race we
do not see that the children inherit more characteristics
from their father than from their mother.
INFLUENCE OF THE FEMALE.
The horse-breeders tell us that the male gives the quali-
ties and the female the size. That is true, more or less, of
all the animals that are developed in the mother's womb,
but more of the horse than any other.
All those familiar with horse-raising know that a colt
at his birth has nearly the full length of his legs ; and that
when full-grown his height (if he has not been stunted by
lack of food or other hindrance) is about twice the length
of his fore legs. It is easy to see that the colt born of a
large mare has a start at his birth that he will keep during
all his growth.
In plants and animals born of eggs or seeds, such an
advantage does not occur.
In bees, the size is limited also by the size of the cell.
It is a well-known fact, that drones born in smaller cells
than the regular drone-cells are smaller in proportion to the
size of the cells.
AS TO BEES.
In our attempts to improve our races of bees, we have
to meet several difficulties that do not occur in other lines :
1. We have not the same control of the reproductors.
If we desire to improve a herd of cattle we have the choice
of the very individuals. We choose the best cow, and a
bull descended from a superior stock. In improving our
stock of bees, we want to improve the qualities of the
workers. But we can not use the workers themselves. We
have to fall back on their mothers, and use for reproduction
drones and queens ivhose mothers have produced ^ood ivork-
e?-s, and lake our chances.
2. We have only an imperfect control of the drones, and
if we could breed from an individual drone of our choice,
how could we tell that this drone would give better workers
than that one? There is nothing to show. At best we
could eliminate the weakest and undersized one. The only
point where " hand-picking " of drones could help is in
regard to color. The yellowest drones will undoubtedly
produce the yellowest workers.
3. We are to work in the same line as Nature. In
improving cattle, for instance, in getting up a good milking
stock, we are developing a quality that in the wild state
was completely undeveloped, hence we can obtain wonder-
ful results. In the wild state, the animals (something like
the Texas steers) have developed chiefly hardiness, health
and strength. If we were to take the Texas stock and try
to increase the same qualities of hardiness, strength, etc.,
we would make but little headway, because Nature has
already developed them almost, and perhaps up, to the limit
attainable.
In bees, what we want chiefly is hardiness and honey-
gathering qualities ; that is, the very qualities that Nature
has been developing for thousands of years, and we may
expect that the limit has been nearly reached, if not alto-
gether. We may perhaps increase the size of the bees and
length of tongue.
CONCLUSION.
After all is said and discussed, all that is to be done is
to get the queens and drones from the very best colonies
obtainable, and rear the cells under the most advantageous
conditions of warmth, feed, etc. It is needless to say that
undersized or defective queens (and, if possible, drones)
should be rejected.
That's all. Knox Co., Tenn.
Size of Hives Not Necessarily in Accord With Lay-
ing Capacity of Queen-Bees.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A CORRESPONDENT writes thus: " I would like your opiaion
regarding the size of hive to use. Should I adopt the eight-frame
LangstrotU hive, so generally recommended, the same would, if
entirely occupied with worker-comb, contain about 1168 square
inches, and g-ire about 5s,'W0 cells. From this we must deduct at least
ten percent of the space for the usual supply of honey and pollen, leav-
ing about 52,51)0 cells, .\llowiog 21 days from the egg to the time the bee
emerges from its cell, and one day for the bees to clean the cell and for
the queen to lay in it again, we have an average of about 34U0 cells for
the queen to fill per day. Now, is 2400 eggs the utmost daily laying capa-
city of a queen in a strong colony? If not, should any queen be
restricted to that amount when she could and would lay more? I ask
these questions to help me determine what size of hive to build the com-
ing winter. Please answer in the American Bee Journal, so it will
appear in time for me to decide what size to malie my hives."
I did not know that it was necessary to make our hives,
as to size, to accommodate the prolificness of the most pro-
lific queens, nor do I so think. Suppose that a queen could
lay SOOO eggs daily, on an average, as some think possible.
What is the price or worth of those eggs ? Does the sum
and substance of bee-keeping depend upon keeping all
queens employed at egg-laying to their fullest capacity ?
Bees, when they come on the stage of action at just the
right time, are very valuable, but eggs are of no value,
only as they tend in the direction of producing these valu-
able bees. Aye, they tend to%vard positive disadvantage,
and, to take away the value we already have, only as
they look toward the end of producing the required bees
in the field at the time of the honey harvest. Here is a
point often lost sight of by the large-hive advocates.
Eggs cost practically nothing ; but as soon as the bees
begin to perfect them toward other bees, then they begin to
cost ; and if this perfecting is going on to any great extent
at a time when the perfected product is placed on the stage
of action, either before or after their presence in large
numbers is needed, we not only have the cost of perfecting
to pay for, but the cost of their consuming, after being per-
fected, as well. This consuming part we alwaj's have to
pay for ; but we willingly do it at any time when the pro-
duction of the individual bee is greater than what it con-
sumes. But I can see no object in doing this at any other
time, simply that the extra laying capacity of any queen
may be gratified. A hive that is large enough to gratify
the greatest aspirations of very prolific queens, at the times
of their greatest aspirations, will have too much capital
lying idle in it the largest share of the year, and be a bung-
ling, unwieldy hive besides.
From all past experience I think that 2400 eggs per day
would be a good maximum average for any queen. Rain,
cold, or other disturbing influences often retard the activity
in the hive, and of the queen, and thus it happens that at
times the best of queens often does not lay more than 1000
eggs in a day, while, with the right conditions, she may
multiply this number by four, and still have plenty of room
in a hive which will give an average of only 2400 daily.
Then, again, as two and one-seventh generations of
bees can be brought on the stage of action to where one
steps ofl", we find that, in a hive giving an average of 2400
648
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 10, 1901.
'• wooTiLANii APiARV'' OF ('. G. HEAi.T, — See pajje C44. ~l
bees daily, we can have in that hive, barringf accidents, if
the hive is properly managed, 108,000 bees on the stage of
action right in the honey harvest, when their productive
power is the greatest ; and at such a time such a number of
bees are a host to roll honey into the sections, with the
combs all filled with brood below : and this rolling of honey
into the sections means the rolling of money into the bee-
keeper's pockets, from which come the necessities, comforts
and luxuries of life.
Experience has shown the men who are advocating an
eight- frame I,angstroth hive that such is the best, as this
keeps the frames full of brood, and puts honey into the
sections.
Again, suppose a colony of bees having a good, prolific
queen is given 30 Langstroth frames, using but eight to
start with, and adding two or three at a time, as the bees
can occupy them, until the 30 are all in, it will be found
that such a queen will lay from 4500 to SOOO eggs daily, dur-
ing the best part of the egg-laying season, and die of old
age or exhaustion when from 12 to 18 months old ; while
with the eight-frame brood-chamber she will give as good
results in comb honey each year, and live from three to four
years. With the large hive the bees are quite likely to get
the start of the queen, and commence to store honey in the
brood-combs before entering the sections at all, and in such
cases the bees seem loth to go into the sections, but con-
tinue to store honey in the brood chamber in preference to
going into the sections, thus crowding out the queen with
honey, in the combs which ought to be occupied with brood,
till we have, as a result, very little section honey in the fall,
and a colony in poor condition for winter. Besides, it is
well to remember that all queens are not equally prolific,
and while 20 percent of our queens would keep the brood-
chamber of a ten-frame Langstroth hive properly supplied
with brood to give the best results in section honey, the
other 80 percent would not be prolific enough to do so ;
hence, in the majority of the hives in the apiary, we should
have a condition working against our best interests, which
could not be overcome by the extra amount of comb honey
produced by the 20 percent, whose queens were prolific
enough to work in these ten-frame hives to advantage.
For these reasons it would seem best to adopt a size of
brood-chamber which any and all queens, that are worth
keeping at all, would have occupied with brood at the com-
mencement of the honej'-flow, thus securing the best yields
of surplus section honey at all times.
Because a queen may lay 5000 eggs daily by using
plenty of comb-capacity and coaxing, it does not neces-
sarily follow that it is to the best advantage of the apiarist
to accommodate or even coax a queen to bring her fullest
laying capacity to the front at any time. Queens, in any
well-regulated apiary, are among the smallest part of the
expense incurred, while labor, hives and combs go toward
making up the largest part of the same.
For these reasons I claim that the capacity of the queen
should rather be above the capacity of the brood-nest than
below it. so that all combs may be fully occupied with
brood before the honey harvest arrives. Unless this is
the case, the outside combs continue, in most cases, to be
dead capital (honey) from year to year. However, all our
questioner (or any one else) has to do is to use part ten-
frame and part eight-frame hives in the apiary, when a
little time will satisfy him which is the better for his
locality. Onondago Co., N. Y.
i % The Afterthought. » \
The '* Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
ANCIENT HONEY IDEAS.
Glad to meet the Pythagoras and honey story with as old
a date as 1575, and in a shape that can be believed.
Undoubtedly scholars might live on bread and honey indefi-
nitely. And Dr. Muffet, of 1575, thought honey, good for
rheumatism. And in the house in which I live a man with a
lame back thinks he must leave off eating honey of which he
is very fond. " Many men, etc." The ancient doctor is right,
that the healthfulness of honey is improved by heat (that is,
by heat properly adjusted); but he is wrong to go to such
extremes as to deny the healthfulness of all unheated honey.
I wonder what he means by honey " puffed out of the comb."
Some verbal error has crept in very likely — otherwise it sounds
like some anticipation of the extractor. In "straining"
honey the last obtained is not as good as the first, and I guess
that is what he is really at. Page 555.
BEES E.TECTING THE WATER OF NECTAR.
I hardly know whether or not it is worth while to pitch
into Prof. Cook some more about his positive opinion that bees
never eject the water of nectar while on the wing. Where
shall they eject waste water then ? in the hive? or shall they
go to the Washington Monument to leave it ? His argument
about the impossibility ot the thing is just too awfully thin.
Tbe water of our own blood holds lots of things in solution ;
but for all that nature can get it out very quickly it there is
too much of it, or if something has got to come out that will
not come unless much water comes along. If nectar had a
less percentage of water than the blood of the bee, then we
could see that the problem of getting the water away from
the sugars and throwing it outside might be a difficult one.
It is probably rare for nectar to have such a low percentage
of water. Through a wide extent of very thin membrane,
viade a-purpose, the water of the blood and the water of the
nectar equalizes rapidly. Then the water in the blood is
largely in excess of what it should be, and the proper organs
go to work throwing it out as fast as they can — nominally
urine, but practically pure water. But of course thafs only
the way it looks to Prof. Hasty when he looks at it in a hasty
way — he never even made the observations himself, merely
accepted them from others. Page 548.
ORDINARY AND EJIERGENCY QUEEN- CELLS.
What's the matter with "ordinary cells " as a term to>
designate queen-cells built when a queen is being superseded,
and swarming cells also? The Boiler is right, page 558,
that " swarming cells " is an exceedingly inapproprtate term
for the former. I didn't think I had any quarrel with " pre-
constructed" and "post-constructed:" but "ordinary" and
" emergency " might please non-literary brethren somewhat
better. Well, yes — six letters shorter, and no alphabetical
hair parted in the middle, ought to count as something with
all of us.
ALFALFA HONEY AND FLAVOR.
Perhaps it is only poor rhetoric (in the Saturday Evening
Post) but it's hardly accuracy to say that alfalfa has a " cer-
tain degree " of sweetness not found in the other clovers.
Say, rather, alfalfa honey has a character ot its own distinct
from the others; or say it often excels in the (juantity of its
yield, if that is what is meant. Page 558.
BROWN SIIG.\R FOR BEES.
Some of W. K. Morrison's theorizing in favor of brown
sugar for bees sounds well ; but the matter is rather import-
ant, and the present impression of intelligent bee-men is
nearly unanimous the other way ; so t guess we must call for
experiments and experience before we all reverse judgment.
Page 558.
SNEAK-THIEVINO DCRING A HONEY-FLOW.
It i.s something in the nature ot a shock to be told that
quiet sneak-thieves prey heavily on strong colonies in the
midst of a honey-flow. Very likely they could, as bees in
flush times are quite tolerant; but the first thing we want to-
know is whether it is • - any great extent a fact. I don't
believe it is in my yard. If a bee did start out to work on
Oct. 10, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
649
<\ich a low moral level I should rather expect him after awhile
to transfer his nationality to the more prosperous nation, and
next to offset things by carrying stealings in the opposite
direction. Page 563.
TR.\.DK BULLETIN (QUOTATIONS.
I should suspect that the trade bulletin of a big city
would be less reliable on honey prices than the leading honey-
dealer of that city — liable to print the figures of somebody's
guess, or figures adjusted from one sale at abnormal prices.
Page 5H3.
>l.j!CJtt^.^t>^CJ!CJtLJitJit^!t>j!Lj!LJit.^tt>^>J«.j!Cj!t^t^
y^t:
The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
MOTHER.
This is surely the most precious word in the home circle.
I am reminded of a sweet, wholesome, delightful story that I
lately read in a magazine. An acquaintance of a motor-man
was riding with his friend on a trolley car as the latter guided
and directed it through the streets of our great metropolis.
He noticed that the car ran very smoothly, unusually so. In
starting and stopping and in making the numerous turns he
was not thrown or pushed or handled at all roughly as is the
wont so frequently in our rides on the electric cars. He asked
his friend, the motor-man, why this consideration was meted
out to the fortunate rider on this special car. His friend
explained as follows :
After he had run the car for a time his mother came to
keep his home for him. He longed to show her his power and
hoped she might take long rides with him on his car every
day. He proudly took her with him the first day after her
arrival, and to give her a rare treat he gave free rein to the
current that was silently and invisibly hurling them over
street and along roadside. Her mother-love and consider-
ation for her dear boy led her to conceal a mortal fear, and
serious pains and aches, as she was pushed, knocked and
jammed hither and thither as they flew around bends or
stopped and started in a break-neck fashion.
On the morrow she as studiously concealed her aches and
pains, and serious lameness. He was saddened, and greatly
disappointed, that his precious mother wished no more to go
with him, as this would turn his work into pleasure, and rare
pleasure if it would bring joy to his beloved parent. Finally
he learned through a third party, of the shock and inconveni-
ence which his mother had received on the occasion of that
first ride. He was dumb with sorrow, chagrin, and contrition.
He successfully urged a second ride, and now his care more
than equaled his previous rashness. Caution made the start
and stop so gentle that those riding felt no jar ; the turns
were so skillfully made that no push was felt. The fond
mother felt no fear, and suffered no harm or inconvenience.
She now takes daily rides to the joy of both her own and her
sou's heart. The son added : " In all of my trips now, I
wonder if some other's mother is not in my keeping, and so
the crank and levers are ever pulled to check the jar and
lessen the shock as the turns are made or the speed varied."
Oh I how few mothers really know or realize the wondrous
influence they exert to make the world brighter and better.
THE CALIFORNIA REU-HEADED WOODPECKER.
This is one of the several beautiful California birds that
belongs to the order Pici. These birds are quickly known, as
two toes oppose two others on each foot, which enables them
to hold fast to fence-post or tree-trunk. Their beak or bill is
a well fashioned chisel, by which they gouge out the hole that
leads to grub, or fashions their nest. Their long tongues are
barbed that fishhook-like they may catch and pull out the cov-
eted grub or caterpillar. Mr. and Mrs. Red-head are alike
capped with red, and, like many other birds, as instanced in
blackbirds and robins, arc ijuite exclusive in their attentions
the one to the other.
Mr. Woodpecker's name is not Koberts. He would not be
excluded from his seat in Congress, if elected thereto. Mr.
and Mrs. Red-head have a pretty and most interesting habit,
working together most delightfully and industriously. They
bore numerous holes in quite regular form and position into
the great mountain pines. They then hie away to seek the
rich, nutritious acorns which they crowd one into each hole,
so compactly that one needs his knife to loosen them. Often
a very large acorn is such a misfit that the hole must be
greatly enlarged, and then one of the pair holds the nut while
the other makes a sort of a bee, calling on other birds to aid.
As soon as the hole is sufficiently large, all return to their own
work except the two that then adjust the acorn snugly, and
proceed with other nuts. Later, as food is scarce, these nuts
are eaten, and form many a hearty meal for this faithful
and deserving man and wife bird.
THE OJAI.
Queer word is that. We pronounce it 0-hz. It means
'•eagle's nest." It is the name of one of the most lovely
spots in California, a veritable basin or nest, whose rim is the
lovely wooded mountains which encircle it on all sides. It is
in Ventura County, hardly more than a half score of miles to
the north of " Ventura by the Sea." In its nest-like form it
is like San .facinto Escondido, where I am now writing, and
El Cajon. The Ojai, however, is peculiar in fondly bearing
numerous great, spreading, beautiful live-oaks. Their nest-
like valleys, which nestle at the very feet of a great ring of
mountains, more beautiful when wooded, with trees and
shrubs, are exceedingly lovely. They hold the fortunate
people who call them home, with a fascination that makes
them ever afterward impatient of any other home. I never
feel more close to the verge of envy than when I visit these
gems of mountain scenery. I often find my lips whispering :
"Oh : always to look upon this grandeur."
BOOTS THAT SHINE.
It is my privilege as conductor of farmer's institutes in
Southern California, to be much with the professors of that
institution, of which every Californian is so justly proud. In
California, where we have little or no rain from April to
October, the dust gets very assertive. To keep one's boots
resplendent with an immaculate shine is no mean accomplish-
ment. One of my colleagues, who happens to be ray compan-
ion for these two weeks, has that exceptional faculty. He
tells me that Mrs. often holds him up to the children—
their two boys — as an example that they should the better
copy. He tells her that in his youth the shine was not so con-
stantly in evidence, but she replies that his mother says not
so. We know that the child is father to the man, and I ween
the dear, fond old mother is quite right. As we wear our
boots in childhood, so we are apt to continue till the locks
whiten. How blessed the mother who can always say : " Do
as thou seest thy father do," in her efl'orts at discipline.
I Questions and Answers. ^
CONDUCTBD BY
£>R. C O. MILLER, Marengo, 111,
(The Qnestlous may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Questions on Nectar-Yielding Plants.
I want to keep a few colonies of bees, and want to pro-
vide a pasture for them. What is the most durable and
quickest seeds to sow ?
How long does it take buckwheat to come into bloom
after coming up (with seasonable weather)? How long-
does it stay in bloom ? Is it fit to cut and feed to stock ?
Alfalfa down here doesn't yield any honey.
What is the difference between white sweet clover and
white clover ?
I had about an acre of crimson clover in the spring-
which the bees worked on as long as it lasted. I had the
seed mixed with alfalfa, but it was no good. Is there any-
thing you can suggest ? Tennessee.
Answers. — Answering your questions somewhat out
of their exact order, I can not say how long it is from com-
ing up till bloom of buckwheat, never having taken exact
observations, but should say at a guess from memory, three
or four weeks might not be out of the way. But that guess
may be considerably out of the way. As to length of
blooming season, my guess would be also three or four
weeks. Very likely both of these guesses might be length-
ened. The blooming season is very often closed by the
650
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 10, 1901.
first frost. I think buckwheat is never cut up and fed to
stock, but the grain is harvested.
The difference between white clover and sweet clover is
about seven feet. White clover grows close to the ground
and has its blossoms as globular heads like red and crim-
son clover: white sweet clover grows tall and has its blos-
soms singly all over the bush. Very likelj' sweet clover
and crimson clover will be as good as anything you can
sow. Crimson blossoms early, and probably closes about
the time sweet clover comes in bloom, and the latter will
bloom till after several frosts. If harvested for hay before
t comes in bloom, the full blooming will be later than if
eft to its own course.
Queer Idea About Rye Flour and Bees.
How do you fix rye-flour for bees to make comb for
their hives? lean not find any one that knows anything
about rye flour. I have read that they make comb out of
rye, but I don't know what to do. I have a quantity of rye
flour. Georgia.
Answer. — I think you must have been misinformed.
Rye flour is used sometimes as a substitute for pollen, but
not as a material from which comb can be directly pro-
duced. Bees make comb only as it is needed, and it is
honey more than pollen that is used in its production. It
will be wise to feed rye flour to bees only in the event of a
scarcity of pollen, and you can most likely make a better
use of your rye flour than to feed it to bees.
Swarming of a Divided Swarm.
After making a divided swarm, as described by Mr.
Uoolittle on page 478, is there danger of them swarming
any more that season, provided they are supplied with
enough supers and sections to keep them from getting
overcrowded ? Louisiana.
Answer. — I should say there was no more danger of
swarming than the danger in the case of a natural swarm.
Honey-Dew for Winter— Insuring Bees.
1. I have 48 colonies with plenty of bees and honey,
but I am afraid they will not winter well, as they have
gathered considerable honey-dew. or bug-juice, if I may
call it such. My bees have been working on honey-dew all
through the month of September, and I think it will last as
long as the weather stays warm enough for the bees to
work. Will they winter all right if I use a Hill's device and
a chaff cushion over them, and packed on the outside with
forest leaves on both sides and back about four inches
thick?
2. Is there such a thing as insuring bees against loss in
wintering in this locality? If so, where and what do they
usually charge per colony ? Say from Nov. 1 to May 1.
Illinois.
Answers. — 1. There is a great deal of difference in
honey-dew. Some of it will do well for winter stores, and
some of it is little better than poison. It would be impos-
sible to say which kind your bees are getting, but if bees
have generally wintered well in your locality you may be
on the hopeful side, for it is quite likely that they have had
the same thi,ng in other years.
2. I don't know of any such insurance, but will yield
the floor to any one who does.
Queen-Introduction— Pure Italian.
1. I was rather unfortunate in my queen-rearing dur-
ing the late summer. Out of 14 queens emerging during
June and the early part of July, all but two were missing
before they began to lay ; after that they did better. I had
to give some colonies three cells before I got a queen to lay,
and in one case I had to introduce a bought one. The
weather during the early part of summer was very cool ; in
only five or six days up to nearly the middle of July did the
highest temperature reach 7iF Fahr., and it was seldom
*nuch over 60". Do you think that would account for the
loss of queens ? If not, what would ?
2. I have bought three queens and introduced them
safely, but I noticed, in one case, on two occasions, where I
looked into the hive, a number of cells with two, three, and,
in a few, four eggs ; on the last look I saw worker-brood
capped over, looking all right. Would you consider that
queen a faulty one ?
3. I think I saw recently in one of your answers that if
a drone was dark it was not pure Italian. I got a tested
queen last year from a well-known firm, and while all the
workers have the three bands, the drones are quite dark,
some showing a dash of dark gold and some none. Would
you consider that queen pure Italian ?
British Columbia.
Answers. — 1. Weather seldom warmer than 60° and
never more than 70° would be enough to account for your
loss.
2. It is not very unusual that a queen on first introduc-
tion after a journey in the mails does something out of the
common line, and afterward does her work in good shape.
It is just possible, too, that the workers rather than the
queen were at fault. If bees were few in number, and if
the queen was a good layer, she might need more room to
lay than the space covered by bees, in which case you
might find a plurality of eggs in a cell. At all events, if
you later found sealed brood in regular order you need have
no anxiety.
3. If I used language to give you the impression that I
thought a dark drone was proof of impure blood, I advise
you not to put too much reliance on the statement. The
looks of either queen or drone can hardly be taken as a test
of purity. Some excellent Italian queens have been very
dark, and the same may be said of drones. The workers
are the ones by which purity is judged.
Don't Peed Sugar to Complete Sections.
1. I have 20 supers about half full. Can I mix honey,
sugar and water and let the bees finish them ? If so, what
proportion of each would be best ?
2. There are plenty of drones flying now. What does
that indicate ? Indiana.
Answers. — 1. Don't think for a minute of using even
the smallest proportion of sugar to finish sections. Just
now about the greatest foe bee-keepers have to fight is adul-
teration, and for them to band together in a national asso-
ciation to fight it, and then feed sugar themselves to get
sections finished would be about as consistent as is the
Christian man who prays 364 days in the year for the down-
fall of the saloon, and then on the 365th day votes to sup-
port it. If you want to feed to have sections finished, use
diluted honey. Very few, however, have been able to make
it pay. Better sell at reduced price sections that are not
finished, and let the bees empty out any that are less than
half full. Pile up outdoors supers of sections you want
bees to empty, and allow entrance for only one or two bees
at a time. If you allow a larger entrance, the bees will
tear the comb to pieces.
2. It does not have any special significance ; at least it
may not. Sometimes colonies that have a good queen will
suffer drones to continue. At the same time it may be that
some colony or colonies have laying workers or drone-lay-
ing queens.
Killing off Drones.
What is the cause of drones in some of my colonies ?
One of the strongest has lots of them. They are killing off
the drones this early, Sept. 24. Indiana.
Answer. — There is nothing strange about it. The
strongest colonies would not feel in so much of a hurry to
kill off their drones as the weakest ones, especially if the
strongest ones had queens and were superseding them.
German or Italian Queen.
Is the queen enclosed herewith a genuine German, or is
she crossed with Italian blood ? California.
Answer. — I don't know. You caia't decide by the looks
of a queen as to her blood. You must have her worker prog-
eny to judge by. I have seen imported Italian queens as
dark as the sample sent, while their worker progeny were
beautifully marked with the three yellow bands.
Oct. 10, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
651
^'REVERSIBLE WALL MAP'^
OF THE
UNITED STATES AND WORLD,
WITH SPECIAL IMSET MAPS OF
Gtilna, GuBa, Porio Rico, IHe PDilipplnes, Hawaii, and f\Md,
illy prepare*.! to meet the demand for a (irst-elasR mai> that will give a (iiiiek. t:reneral idea of location of events the wiirUl over,
lirularlv to the United States and our territorial possessions. Very iiMeiiil in every Home antl 01li«-e.
66x4<i l.liC'IlES M^i SIZF.
Best and Most Necessary Map
Ever Issued.
No Home or Bxisiness House
should be without it.
are works of art.
The engraving is
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work is elegantly
contrasted.but not
gaudy.
Perfec-
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Artistic
Elegance
a salient feature
of this map not ap-
proached by any
similar publica-
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is one of the in-
valuable features.
It gives an al-
phabetical list of
countries, their lo-
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style of govern-
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area, products,
minerals, imports,
exports, etc.
It has been pronounced a
Photograph of the World
The 1900 Census A: ^iC
of the largest American Cities is given.
One side shows a grand map of our great countr.v, with (■ounties, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctly located. The other side shows
an equally good niap of the world. Statistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, business, e'tc, a veritable photo-
(jraph of the rXITEP STATES AND WORLD. .
The map is printed on heavy map paper and is mounted on sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
I90I EI»I'l"IO:\.— Every reader »>lioiild <-<>iikiiII it every day. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to the topogniphy of the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and peaks are plainly indicated. The leading cities and towns are shown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brunswick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The Southern portion of the luap includes the Northern States of the Republic of Mexico, and the
Bahama Islands.
On llie reverse side is tlie IJltrary .Tlap o< ll«e World. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
<>ver produced. The political divisions are correctly defined and lu-iiutifully outlined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
named. Ocean steamship lines with distances between important ports are given. A marginal index of letters and figures enal)les one easily to
locate every country in the world. A series of short articles in iilpliabetical order is printeii around the border of this map in large, clear type,
containing valuable information coni-i-niing agricultural, mining, and rjianufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports in dollars!
The area, population, form of government, and chief executive uf every country in the world is given up to date, also the names of the cai)itals
and their population. Xlie Inset .Maps are elegantly engraved and printed in colors. They are placed iu convenient positions around the
United States map, and will be invaluable to every person desiring a plain understanding of our possessions. An iuset map of China on the
World side of map adds to its value.
.7:-S~ Two maps on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium lor sending us Three New Subscribers at $1.00 each ; or for $2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
652
AMERICAN BEE JOUKlMAL,
Oct. 10, 190..
Bees in Fine Condition.
The honey season is over, and the bees are
in fine condition for winter. Our crop was
23 tons from liOO colonies, spring count, and
increased to 425 colonies. Two of us did all
the work, and found time to do considerable
on the farm besides. L. L. Andrews.
Riverside Co., Calif,, Sept. 11.
Bees and Pear-Bliglit.
I notice in the American Bee Journal an
item in regard to bees spreading- pear-blight.
I see some think the bees spread it, and some
think they do not. I am of the latter opin-
ion. I have an apiary of 11 colonies in the
orchard. Last year the blight appeared on
every pear-tree I had but the Bartlett and
another late pear; this year some of the
trees died almost to the roots, while some of
(he Bartletts blighted just a little. What
makes me think the bees do not spread the
blight is a tree that stands close to others
that died, docs not show a bit of blight, and
is loadi'd with fruit; and a tree of the same
kind, aliout 20 yards away, died clear down.
Another instance is a seedling- 1 let grow some
distance from the others; it did not have a
blossom, and never did. It took the disease,
and died. Now, if the bees spread the blight
why did this tree and any other Bartlett, not
lake it { All were loaded this spring, even
to those that died, showing the bees had
worked on them, if it is true about fruit
needing bees to cross-pollinate. And why did
the seedling take it ? Can you answer that '.
Cutting off the diseased parts seems to stop
the disease to some extent here.
Latah Co., Ida. F. C. Holbkook.
Poorest Honey-Year in Nine.
We have no surplus honey here this season,
but bees are doing well now. It is the poor-
est honey-year we have had in central Cali-
fornia in the nine years I have lived here.
J. W. Steele.
Merced Co., Calif., Sept. 1.
Troubled With Gpasshoppers.
The bees in this part of California have
done no good, hardly made a living. In fact,
I fed mine until the latter part of June, but I
am pleased to say they are doing well now,
and tilling up with brood. They did no good
until the latter part of August. The cause, I
think, was grasshoppers on the alfalfa fields;
the fields were literally covered with the lit-
tle jumpers, and the bloom blasted. The bees
would sit out on the alighting-board and act
as if they were looking for a job. But now
that is all changed ; they are out by the time
the sun is up, fiying hither and yon, gather-
ing the nectar from the alfalfa and carpet-
plant. Most of the grasshoppers have disap-
peared.
I have just received the American Bee Jour-
nal ; it is full of good things for the bee men
and women. I like it very much; in tact, it
is almost indispensable. I have tried the
straw for robbing, and find it very good. It
has stopped it every time for me.
Mrs. Artie Bowen.
Merced Co., Calif., Sept. 2.
The Seasons of 1899 and 1901.
I wish to remind the bee-keepers of the
Mississippi valley what educators to us the
years 1899 and 1901 have been— 1899 with no
surplus honey from clover, but plenty to keep
up good strength from July 1 to "late fall,
which gave us about 40 pounds of nice comb
honey from heartsease — a plant which thrives
.so well here, and nearly always yields nectar
plentifully. This fine crop was gathered all
because the colonies were strong at just the
right time.
Because of a severe drouth, 1901 has yielded
Diltmer's Foundation !
Retail— W holesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog g'r
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
IT IS A FACT
hat poultry pays a Inrgrer profit
iir the iiionev invested than any
ther business; that anybody may
I success of it without long
ig or previous experience;
thattheReTinWeI>iciibiitor-an.l ICrooilerswill^ive
the best resultsiiialleases. Ouraoth Century Poultry
Book tells just why. and a hundred other things you
should know. We mail the bonk for 10 cents. vVrite
to-day. We have 115 yards of thorou-rhbrt'd poultry.
BELtABLE INCUBATOR & BROODER CO., Box r.2. Quincy. 111.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing
BOUIGS,
Honey
Dealers....
G. G. STUTTS GLASS GO..
Manufacturers,
145 Chambers St.. NEW YORK.N. Y.
Write for illustrations.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■wntiiifi'.
A Good Wagon
F Y<M' ISl V TIIK
ELECTRIC STEEL WHEEL
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO.
Boi Hi QIINCY. ILL.
flea.sc mention Bee Journal -wncu vrntius
reK-ardin(f
the oldest
and most
Send for circulars
improved and orig-inal Binybam Bee-Smoker.
For Z3 "Veaks the Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell. Mich.
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I 30 days trial. 85 up. Catalogue fret-. /\\ J^'c:
Stratton Mfg. Co.. Boi 21, Erie, Pa. '
please mention Bee Journal ■when "writinp^
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets each Tuesday, Thurs-
day and Saturday during^ October to
Buffalo Pan-American Exposition and
return, at $6.00, good in coaches, re-
turn liinit S days from date of sale.
Tickets with long^er limit at slightly
increased rates. Three through trains
daily. Chicago Passenger Station, Van
Buren St. and Pacific Avenue. City
ticket office, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
36— 41A4t
(.)nly a light orop from (.-lover, eudinj^ two
weeks earlier than usual, leaving nothing of
much at'Count for bees to work on from July
l."> to Aug. .5, a period of 20 days, when very
few eggs were laid liy the (|ueens — a period
just when all queens should have been tilling
every available cell with eggs. So our bees
came up to an abundant How from heartsease
with only a little over half the strength main-
tained in 1899, which has been, to me, a loss
on every 100 colonies of at least ?800, which
could have been remedied it foreseen. Stimu-
lating to activity from July lr> to Aug. 5.
would have done the job, and with little ex-
pense, as I believe tlie feeding could have
been done outdoors in paraHined troughs at
intervals of three days, and a substitute for
pollen given. However, some honey has been
obtained wherever colonies showed fair
strength, and where anj- colony was very
strong 40 pounds of nice honey in the comb-
is the result anywhere among my yards.
Who will be the first to inform us of a cer-
tain race or strain of bees that will always be
strong and ready for gathering honey from
Aug. 15 to Sept. 20 >: Frank Covekdai.e.
Jackson Co., Iowa. Sept. 12.
Fleabane— " Old Grimes."
1 send a sample of a plant on which the bees
arc now \vorl;ing. It is of low, bushy habit,
u(it unlike our common sagebrush.
Tlie h<uiey crop here is decidedly short.
I wish •• Old Grimes " would take up his
pen again ; his articles were practical.
E. r. Atwater.
Ada Co., Idaho, .Sept. 18.
[Perhaps "Old Grimes" will take your
hint, Mr. Atwater, and " wake up " again.
Our botanist reports as follows: — Editor.]
Here is another good honey-plant, the flea-
bane, belonging to the famous Composite
familj*. If this and many other plants hail-
ing from this justly prized family were scat-
tered freely over the State of Idaho, our good
brother would never complain about the
honey crop being " decidedly short.'' — C. 1..
Waltox.
Short Honey Crop.
The honey crop here is small this yeai-. f
wish all bee-lvcepers could be induced to take
the American Bee Journal, as they are not
informed on the honey market, and ruin the
market for me. But, you see, those are some
of a bee-keeper's pleasures.
Clyde Cahy.
.lackson Co.. Mich.. Sept. 23.
A Fairly Good Bee-Season.
This has been a fairly good bee-season here.
I started with 20 colonies in the spring, and
have increased to 50. I have just talien oft"
about 400 pounds of honey.
There is quite a large acreage of red clover
in this section, wliich affords good bee-pas-
turage. I appreciate the American Bee Jour-
nal very much, and owe much of my success
with bees to knowledge gleaned from it.
J. A. Watkins.
Latah Co., Idaho, Sept. 15.
Of ttie Evening Primpose Family.
I send a sample of leaf and blossom of a
weed that grows sparingly a'round here, oa
which bees work profusely, and from which I
believe they gather both pollen and honey.
1 do not know, and have found no one who-
does know, what it is. It grows about like
goldenrod in size. My attention was first
attracted to it by the hum of the bees on it.
It is undoubtedly a fine bee-plant, and I would
like you to tell me through the General Items
coluura of your excellent paper what the
name of the weed is, and your opinion as to
its value, as I wish to save seed if it is con-
sidered a good honey-plant.
I have kept bees myself for five years, my
father keeping them till 1 commenced, and
my grandfather always kept them. 1 have
Oct. ID. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
653
taken and read with great pleas vac tlie Ameri-
■ean Journal tor about four years, and I have
enjoyed its weekly visits immensely.
1 have only 1.5 colonies, but I am prepared
to increase when spring comes again. Xot
boasting at all, but 1 have the name of keep-
ing the uicest apiary, and being the best
informed bee-man in this section, and I give
the credit to the American Bee Journal, as
that is where I get my knowledge.
This has been an exceedingly poor honey-
_vear in northeast Mis.souri, owing to the
<irouth that has prevailed since in April. Yet
I am not as those who have no hope, and for-
getting the things that have passed I look
forward for better seasons and greater bless-
ings.
Long live the American Bee Journal !
H. S. Carroli,.
Shelby Co., Mo., Aug. 3.
[The plant belongs to the Kvening Prim-
rose family. Its botanical name is (iaurga
biennis, and it goes by its first name — Gaurga.
Writers on honey-producing plants do not
speak of it as being especially productive, but
bees are not easily deceived, and if they are
interested in the flower no doubt it is furnish-
ing them honey or pollen, probably both. — C.
L. Walton.]
Bees Did Fairly Well.
My bees have done very well this year, con-
sidering the very dry summer we have had.
with only a few local showers since April 17,
and none to do much good. We have taken
nearly .500 pounds of comb honey from " colo-
nies.
White clover yielded well until killed by the
drouth. Persimmon bloom al.so was full of
nectar. There was a good deal of honey-dew
this summer. A man told nie that when he
cut his wheat the reel on the machine spat-
tered it over him, and that his horses' legs
were sticky with it. Some of the people here
say that it comes down like mist.
My first swarm came out April 2T, and
went into an empty hive without clustering.
They sent out a swarm Aug. 31, and as there
was no one at home, they left for parts un-
known.
Most of the bee-keei)ers here are of the old-
fashioned kind, and some of them feed their
bees corn-bread. Mrs. R. R. Titis.
Wright Co.. Mo.. Sept. 21.
Introducing Queens.
Without desiring to lu'ovoke further dis-
cussion in respect to the matter of love,
hatred, or selfishness, in the honey-bee (sje
page 598), I wish to say that it surprises me
that any one should take seriously what was
said on pages 405 and 40(5 respecting these
attributes, and attempt to disprove my posi-
tion. It was distinctly stated by me that
neither jiosition is tenable. It is my belief
that such tiualities belong to a higher order
of beings. That love, haired, generosity,
selfishness, are all attributes which inhere to
mankind, but not to any of the lower animals.
Then, so far as I am concerned, that matter
is disposed of.
In regard to introducing a queen, it is no
«loubt true that an expert would succeed
after taking the necessary precautions in
running her into the entrance, but such prac-
tice is not in accordance with the instructions
given in any work upon the subject which
has come under my observation ; yet, it
doesn't follow that it can not be done; in
fact, many things are done with bees out of
the ordinary way with success. However, as
was said before to the beguimr. don't try any
such experiment with a valuable queen.
Wait until you have become better acquainted
with the business. Follow the instructions
given in the recognized works upon the sub-
ject. W.M. M. Whitney.
Kankakee Co., 111.
Please mention Bee Journal
wlien writing advertisers.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Pertection.
Not a Hybrid Among: Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. T.S cts. each ; 6 for $4.(10.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong-ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Sate arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
NO VACATION
for PAGE Fence. It's on dut.v 24 bdurs every day.
PAUi; WOVKV WlltK KK.M'KCO.. AI)ltlAN,.1iirll.
Please niention Bee Journal when -wntins:
$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re°
turn— $13,
via the Nickel Plate Road daily, with
liinit of 15 days ; 20-day tickets at fib
for the round-trip ; S-day tickets at S6
for the round-trip on Tuesdays, Thurs-
days and Saturdays, the latter good
only in coaches. Throug^h service to
New York and Boston and lowest avail-
able rates. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams Street, Chicago.
37— 41A4t
Queens 5-Dand6d
lona-ton[jii6 strain
—the best of their kind, or
any other kind. I have a few
left vet, at ^''d cents each ; S5.00
per dozen. Cdal Creek is a
money order office.
DANIEL WURTH,
The Queen-Rearer,
COAL CREEK,
Anderson Co., TENN.
e arrival of queens.
«^^ I
A Handsome, Helpful Book. "More Money
From Your Uens " \^ the title of a new book is-
sued by the Stratton Mfg-. Co., of Eiie, i*a.,
manufacturers of the well-known line of Dandy
Green Bone Cutters. It is attractively printed
in two colors, well illustrated, and g-oes into the
question of making- poultry profitable, in a very
thorough manner. Of course it places special
emphasis on the value of freshly-cut g-reen bone
as an egg- producer and growth - promoter.
There is no doubt in the minds of poultry-rais-
ers that a little green bone added to the feeding
ration is productive of the very best results in
two ways: it not only saves in the grain-bill [an
important feature this fall when grain is hig-h?,
but it also makes the poultry more productive
in every way. It is a double-headed niouey-
The "Dandy" Hone Cutter has been on the
market a number of years with increasing pop-
ulariiy. It has an automatic feeding device, is
strongly and substantially built, has a large
cutting capacity, and we know that numerous
of our readers have demonstrated that it is a
satisfactory machine in every way. You will
be interested in the handsome book which they
send free. Ask for it, and please mention the
American Bee Journal when writing to them.
QUEENS! QUEENS
hooey-sathering stock. Tested, $1.00; un-
tested, 75 cents. " Sn.\DY Nook Apiary."
JAMES WARREN SHERMAN.
20A13t Sag Harbor, Xew York.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writinK
lOOii colo
of l)S
to be placed in yards of 200 in unoccupied terri-
tory. 2t> years' experience.
S'iAJt W. 1;. BRAND, Fort Collins, Colo.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when wntimt
6EEP0M BOILEDI
Handling Disease. Infected Tools.
Some have written us that, even after they
had used the McEvoy treatment for handling
foul brood, the disease broke out a^ain.
Many bee-keepers do not realize, in spite of
all that has been said, the importance of hav-
insr everything that comes in contact with
foul or black brood either burned up or shut
up in a tight box or room where bees can not
j^et at it. Metal tools, such as screwdrivers,
pries, etc.. should be puton a bed of live coals
for a few .seconds — not long enough to draw
the temper, but to destroy everything in the
way of microbes that may still be hanging
about the articles. Smokers should be
painted over with a strong solution of car-
bolic acid, anil the fire-cup can be disinfected
by making a good, hot. roaring lire in it.
Division-boards and bee-feeders, and things
like that, should either be immersed in boil-
ing water and kept there for a time, or should
be dipped in a strong solution of carbolic
acid— one part of the acid to filty of water.
When I speak of the acid I refer to the crys-
tals, and not to the solution that is ordinarily
obtained at the drug-stores.
In burning old combs I would first make a
good bonfire and get a lot of live coals; then
lay the combs on top of the coals one by one.
But do not put them on too fast; and as a
further precaution (for the wax sometimes
runs down into the ground without becoming
sutticiently heated) I would bury the ashes
and the ground under them. Put them so
far below the surface that neither plow nor
spade will ever dig them up. — Gleanings in
Bee-Culture.
Shallow Frames for Comb Honey.
The tendency among exjiert bee-keepers is
toward a shallower frame than the standard
Langstroth. Some others prefer the Lang-
stroth because it has always given good re-
sults. But the other class consider that the
frame given us by the father of American bee-
keeping is a little too deep. They desire a
frame just shallow enough so that there will
be no honey, or very little at least, stored in
the brood-nest. Said Mr. \'ernon Burt:
■■ With my shallow frames I often have no
more honey in them than the size of a silver
dollar; and I estimate that, if my colonies
had all been in the shallow hive, I should
have secured 20 pounds more per colony."
This is a strong statement, but Mr. Burt
says he is ready to verify it by showing the
piles of honey that have come off the shallow
frames and the amounts that have come off
the deeper ones. While he does not claim
the bees would store any more hone.v in one
hive than in another, if we inrUide hnth the
super and the Ijrood-iiest^ yet he says that, in-
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you -with The A. I. Root Co^s
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
Said tor beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
I. II. IIUNT & SON. Bell Br anch. Wayne Co., Mich
f lease mention Bee Journal ■when writing,
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If yon are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool jVIarketN and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first,foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing; Advertisers.
654
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 10, 1901.
BEE/KEEPERS' SUPPLIES J:^^:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW ITOl FIFTY-TWO PACiE CATALOG RPIADV.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Agency, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, lud.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
9 t fi ■f-'fc "I" '♦•■ wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax. ^ jur^^ ^eTjeT
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Buffalo Pan-American Tickets
via the Nickel Plate Ro d, $13.00 for
the round trip good 15 days ; $16.00 for
the round trip good 20 days. Three
daily trains with vestibuled sleeping-
cars. Meals in dining-cars, ranging in
price from 35 cents to SI. 00. Address
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 38— 41A4t
If you want the Bee-Book
That cofers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send*1.25(o
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please menUon Bee Journal ■wnen writma
4^\i>\l/VI/U/V*A*Ai/\iAlA*A*A*/\lA*AlA*A*A*/\*A*/\^^
=BEST=
I umm Honey For sale i
vS ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^I
^ AlP^lf^ III n J S:
Alfalfa
Honey JTiiJ
This is the famous
White Extracted
Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honey, and
nearly everybody
who cares to e a l
honey at all can'l
get enough of the
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
HoneyJ?!^
Thi!
the
light-colored
honevgathered from
the'rich. nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred bv those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
ell- 5f:
iS Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey: ^
15 A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post- ^
^ age. By freight— two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four ^;
'■^ or more cans, 7'-, cents per pound. Basswood Honey, }i cent more per ^
:S pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. \ou can ^
^ order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed. ^;
j$ This is all 5"'
:$ ABSOLUTBLY PURE HONEY g
:^ The finest of their kinds produced in this country. ^|
.stead of there beiny: from 25 to 30 pounds of
honey left in the brood-nest, -which he does
not -want there, that amount all goes into the
supers, where he does want it, and where he
can eommand the very best market price
obtainaljle. When I asked 'Mr. Burt if it was
not desirable to have honey in the brood-nest,
he said it was not. aceording to his practice.
" I prefer," he said, " to sell my honey, what
I do get, at 12 and 15 cents, and then buy
syrup at 3 or 4 cents; and I not only make a
good trade, but I give the bees a much better
feed. While good honey does very well most
winters, yet there are occasional ones when
the syrup-ted colonies come out much better.
No, sir," said he, very emphatically, '• I do not
■n'ant any honey in the brood-nest in late
summer. I prefer to feed sugar syrup, for
then I h-now my bees have the very best food
for winter."— Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
j§ Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey: S^-
:^ I've iust sampled the hooey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm ^
^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own product on ^_
iS and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the ^
•^ honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use m any kind ol hot ^_
:S drink, where one prefers Iha more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality ^.
^ of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more ^_
^ marked flavor, according to my taste. c. c. iviiLLKh. ^
1^ McHenry Co., 111. ^.
^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^
^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^i
r$ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^
:^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^
;^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^
^ QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. ^
Some Points in Indoor Wintering.
Some that are of interest are given by Mr.
Darling, in the Canadian Bee .Journal. Form-
erly great stress was laid upon the eovering^
in winter, so that the right amount of upward
ventilation could be secured; but of late
many are coming to the conclusion that Mr.
Darling has reached, that it is not a matter
of special importance how the air is intro-
duced into the hive, only so there is enough
of it, and if plenty of good air can enter be-
low, the upper part may be as tight as a drum.-
Mr. Darling says:
In regard to packing. I have used sawdust
and eorkdust. 1 have not tried wintering
outside at all ; I li.ve where it is too cold— too
near the North pole— but for years I took off
the propolized sheet and put on a cotton
cushion filled with sawdust or eorkdust (I
brought the sawdust from the sawmill and
the sash-factory ), and I fail to see very much
difference in their effect, only I thought the
sawdust from the sawmill was not quite as
warm, and the eorkdust is a little drier.
There is so much evaporation from bee.s that
if you take a little piece of lath and leave it
lying on top of the cushion, without anj-
cover ou at all, if you lift that piece of lath
up any time after it has been there a few-
hours, there will be a wet spot on that cush-
ion the size of that piece of lath. It nothing
touches the cushion it is dry all winter long,
and the sawdust is dry. Lift the cushion and
put your hand under it and it is warm and
eosy on top of the sheet, if there is a sheet
underneath.
I had formerly tight bottom-boards, and
that is the reason I took off the propolized
sheet. Lately I have taken off the bottom-
board, left the propolized sheet on, and put
the cushion on ; that allows no moisture to
get through, but I raise up my hive at the
front— I don't like going to the back to let
them down— and I find that they winter just
as well and better than they did without the
propolized sheet, and with the bottom-board
tight there is no danger of there being any
dampness above, and my combs and bees are
not as damp as they were when the boards
were fastened.
Queens Fertilized in an Upper Story.
Our Mr. Wardell, the man who has charge
of our 700 colonies, has evolved a system of
having (|ueens fertilized in upper stories, that
is a perfect success. I do not speak of it be-
cause it may be new. but because it gives ex-
cellent results. He tried it to some exteiit
last year, and now, after having tested it
thoroughly the irlmlr sck.ioh with scarcely a
failure, we are pleased to recommend it. By
his plan he succeeds in getting three queens
fertilized in one upfier story at a time ; that
is to say, there may be three virgins, all of
which will be fertilized within the usual
time. The method is this:
He takes an ordinary Langstroth upper
story, and divides it off lengthwise into three
bee-tight compartments of equal size. On
the under side of this story and a bee-space
below the frames he tacks a sheet of wire-
cloth. The partitions come in contact with
Oct. 10, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE PURNAL
655
wire-cloth at the bottom, and the cover at the
top thus making each little room separate and
bee-tight. On two sides and one end are en-
trances, one entrance communicating with
each compartment.
This super, as constructed, is now put on
over a strong colony, wire-cloth down next to
the bees. Into each of the compartments he
puts two frames of bees, brood, and honey.
He then inserts a i)ueen-cell, or lets run into
each a virgin queen. The cover is put on,
and the bees are left to their own devices.
He now has practically three 2-frame nuclei,
each one with a cell or virgin queen right
over a strong colony, the only separation be-
ing the wire-cloth. And right here is the
feature that makes it a success: The old
methods have used perforated zinc, while Mr.
Warden uses wire-cloth. Now for results :
These young queens fly out from the en-
trances from the upper story, are fertilized,
and come back. If cool weather comes on it
does not make any difference, because there
is a large amount of heat from the cluster of
bees below that rises up through the wire-
cloth.
The great feature in favor of this method is
that, in the fall, or at the close of the season,
when it is desired to unite the bees, and the
young queens have all been sold from the
upper story, all one has to do is to remove
the wire-cloth from the two stories, and let
the bees run together. They all have the
same scent, and there is no fighting.
This scheme has also another advantage:
It economizes room in the yard, and brings
the nuclei up to a nice height for the apiarist
to work. We also make one colony do the
work of three nuclei: and if honey is coming
in, the colony can store just the same; but,
of course, the frames of honey would have to
be removed as fast as tilled with honey. If
one of the nuclei runs short of brood, all that
is necessary is to remove the upper story for
a minute or two, take out the empty comb
from the nucleus, and substitute it for a
frame of brood from the colony below. Set
this, bees and all. into the nucleus, replace
the upper story, and ail will go on as before.
There will be no lighting, because, under-
stand, the bees are all of the same scent. —
Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
WISCONSIN FARM LANDS.
The best of farm lands can be ob-
tained now in Marinette Conty, Wis-
consin, on the Chicago, Milwaukee li
St. Paul Railway, at a low price and
on very favorable terms. Wisconsin
is noted for its fine crops, excellent
markets and healthful climate. Why
rent a farm when j'ou can buy one
much cheaper than you can rent, and
in a few years it will be your own
property. For particulars, address,
F. A. Miller, Gen'l Passeng-er Agent,
Chicago, Milwaukee ilv: St. Paul Rail-
way, Chicago. 3')A3t
l^olf -frkfnio f It you care to know of Its
V^dlllUrilld 1 Frnits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agriculttiral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publishad weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, • San FRaNCisco, Cal.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
$6.oo to Buffalo Pan-American and
Return— $6. DO,
via the Nickel Plate Road, Tuesdays.
Thursdays and Saturdays, with limit
of 5 days from date of sale, good in
coaches only. 15-day tickets at $13.00
for the round-trip, and 20day tickets
at $16.00 for round-trip, good in sleep-
ing-cars. Three through trains daily.
For particulars and Pan-American
folder of buildings and grounds, ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, (ieneral Agent,
111 Adams St., Chicago. .Vi— 41A4t
linnois.— The annual meeting of the Northern
niinois Bee-Keepers' Association will be held
in the Court House in Rockford, 111., on Tues-
day and Wednesday, Oct. IS and 16, 1901. All in-
terested in bees are invited to attend.
Rockford. 111. B. Kennedy, Sec.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft lOtb 2511s soft
Sweet Clover (white) $ .oO $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound S cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
Wanted.
Comb and Extracted Honey. Will buy your
honey no matter what quantify. Mail sample
of extracted, state (juality of comb honey and
price expected delivered in Cincinnati. I pay
promptly on receipt of goods. Refer you to
Brighton German Uank, this city.
C. H, W. WEBER,
2146-2148 Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
40Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
To Buu ttoneu
What haveyou to offer
^ ^*- ws and at what price?
34Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton, Wis.
Please mentior Bee Jouxnal when ■writing.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
_ _ tracted Honey. State price,
delivered. "VVe pay spot cash. FiiED W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40A5t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Gonib and Ex-
traded Honey!
Id quad ,
R. A. BURNETT & CO., I'n S. Water St., Ch
33Alf Please mention the Bee Jour
Wanted— Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay hlg-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Plep'^^e mention Bee Jotimal when vniting.
An Old Friend.— Among the very first of the
incubator and brooder concerns of the country
to advertise in our columns was the "Reliable,''
of Quincy, 111. Although a number of years
has passed since their first advertisement ap-
peared in our paper, there has not been a year
since that first time when they have not been
with us during the regular advertising season.
It affords us, therefore, more than usual pleas-
ure to state that they will advertise with us
again this season, and their announcement ap-
pears on another page of this issue. Our rela-
tionship with these people has been most pleas-
ant through all these years, and while we feel
that our paper has been the means of doing
them much good, we also know that they have
done much good to our readers. The Reliable
goods are reli.ible in works and results as well
as in name, and those of our readers who con-
template the purcha^.e of machines of this class
can do no better than to buy the time-tested old
Reliable. Tlicir Zoih Century Catalog is, as
usual, a work ol great value. Write them to-
day for a copy. Address, Reliable Incubator
and Brooder Co., Quincy, 111., and mention this
paper.
I HONEY AND BEESWflX|
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Sept. is.— No. 1 white comb honey
is selling at 15c per pound, with occasionally a
little more being obtained for fancv, that which
does not grade No. 1 selling at from I3tol4c.
with the light amber at 12'" 13c; dark honey of
various kinds selling at ItKmllc. Extracted in
moderate demand at from S^(S'6J4c for the vari^
ous grades of white; some fancy white clover
and basswood bringing 7c; light amber rang-
ing from 5Uf<'5'4c; dark at 5(gJSKc. Beeswax
firm at 2S@3Uc. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
Stottc; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from 8^9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from i3%@15Hc.
C. H. W. Webkr.
Boston, Sept. 27.— We quote our market as
follows: Fancy white in cartons, 16c; A No. 1,
15c; No. 1, 14^c. Extracted, white, SJ^c; light
amber, 8c; amber, (>%(&7Hc.
Blakb, Scott & I«bb.
Albany, N. Y., Sept. 19.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, 16c; No. 1, 15c; mixed, 13(^ 14c; No.
1 buckwheat or amber, 12(aJ13c. Extracted,
white,7@7%c; light, 6J^(&i7c; dark, 5>^(^6c. Bees-
wax, 28(a29c, H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 5(> per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4J^(Si4>4'c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production o( extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New Yore, Sept. 10.— Comb honey is now be-
ginning to arrive in large quantities, and, as a
rule, quality is fine. The demand is good, and
we quote as follows: Fancy white, 14fa«15c: No.
1, 13c; No. 2, 12c; and amber, lie. No buck-
wheat is on the market as yet, but are expect-
ing same within a week or so. Extracted is
selling slowly, with plenty of supply, at 5@65^c,
according to quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55'g65c per gallon. Beeswax dull at 27c.
Hildreth <& Seqblkbn.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way' at $3.S<^ to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancv white comb ho»ey,
14@lSc; No. 1, 13@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6@7c. Beeswax, 25f«'26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son,
Buffalo, Aug. 10.— Quite a good demand for
fancy honey, lo@17c, and lower grades, 12@14c;
old neglected. Advise moderate shipments only
of new as yet. Batterson & Co,
San Francisco, Sept. 4.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, 7@'»c; dark, 6@i7Vfi cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 514@—; light amber, 4!<@— ;
amber. 4@ — . Beeswax, 26@28c.
Arrivals and spot offerings are of rather mod-
erate volume, but there is as much or more on
market than can be t onveniently or advanta-
geously placed. To secure liberal wholesale
custom, prices would have to be shaded in favor
of buyers. In a small way for especially desi-
rable lots slightly higher figures than are
quoted are realized.
Kansas City, Sept. 14.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15@l{ic per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.10(a$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14@14!^c; the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5%@6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for a year's subscription to our
Journal, and we will send book. Plans for
Poultry-Houses, free. Six months trial subscrip-
tion to Journal. 10 cents.
Inland Poultry Journal, Indianapolis, Ind
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
656
AMERICAN BEE lOUPNAL.
Ocl. 10, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FDR
Hives, Exiraciors
DR ANYTHING YDU WAMTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
P'«S- W. M. Gkrrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g-oods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal "wyien -writi-p^tT
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, $1.00: Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writing.
BEE^SUPPLIES!
7tS cood^ f]
Everything used by bee-keepers
POUDER'S HONEY-JARS. Pre
service. Low Freight Rates.
NEW CATALOG FREE.
Please mention Bee Journal when wrritin'?
A New Bee-Keeper's Songr—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUOENE SECOR.
Music by OEORGE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
♦'THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
Eugene Secor and Dk. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only 15 cents. Or, for SI. 00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free.
if asked for.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
24111
Year
Dadant's Foundation. \m
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^'^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^.^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Rei/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Co., III.
«▼▼ VT ▼'^▼'^^▼^
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
.^i^
11 Qtn ni nutD niictuv |
RED GLOVER QUEENS
•l?l?l*lft*i*l?i*i«lfl«l«i<S«^*l?^<l*l*l*ifi*l*l*lf^«l<t«l!»
^*^^^
BL.'iCK Rock, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1'501.
Fkiend Ernest: — I will try and tell you what you want to know about that queen. I got
her of you in 1899 as a premium with GLEANINGS. I never saw a small colony of bees build up
as that one did. lu the spring- of l'>i)(> they came out in fine shape, wintered perfect. I raised them
up in Alay and g-ave Ihem 8 frames more so the queen would not want for room. I never saw such
a colony of bees as they were in June, and they were actually storingr honey when other bees in
my yard were starving-. No! they were not robbing. I never saw those two best colonies of mine
trying to rob. THEY CERTAINLY WORK ON RED CLOVER. This is no guesswork, as I
have seen them. As you know, the past two seasons have been very poor, and what honey my
bees did get in 1900 candied soon after cold weather set in. I packed this colony in a chaflf hive
and left them out, thinking that such a strong colony would winter perfect. The snow came on
the middle of November, and those poor bees never a fly until the last of March or the first of
April. When warm weather at last came I thought they were dead, as they did not seem to be fly-
ing much, so I did not pay any attention to them until in June. I noticed they were working a
little, so I opened up the hive and found them in the upper story. I took the lower story out and
left them in the one body. The queen was laying nicely, and I thought they would make a good
colony to winter. Along the last of July I noticed that they needed more room. I gave them
super, 24 boxes, and in a few days they had it full. They have made 72 boxes of as nice honey as
you ever saw, and are drawing out some starters now, Sept. 2.
Very truly yours, Geo. B. Howe.
Prices of Red Clover Queens.
Gleanings io Bee-Culture 1 year and Untested Queen $2.00
Tested Queen 4.00
" *' Select Tested Queen 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to order one of these queens. All or-
ders are filled promptly. No extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. 1. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
B^* GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^%^^!tmo^t^:T
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO
Send to them for their free Catalog.
i>jAEffle%
Bee Journal
OeORaB W. YORK,
CHICAGO, ILL,, OCTOBER 17, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
658
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
Oct. 17, 1901.
GEORGE YV. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Geoege W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) n„„„,t„,„„f
E.E. Hasty, 1-°1F?u'"r
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) ^'^"°'^^-
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. 00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Thos. G. Newman,
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Mari
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HUTCHI^
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohic
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
nrer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
t^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the ofBce of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fitr-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
LangsMlion...
TI16H0I1611B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
THE
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for SI. 25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, J9Ia,iiual ol tlie Apiary,
BY
PROE A. I COOK,
460 Pages— 16tli (1899] Edition-18tli Thou-
sand—$1-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fasclnat-
ng style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepeks' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give aw at
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1,25^ or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year — both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
QEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
d Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEEp
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is the i-^CTLL Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife. — When ordering, be sure to say just what
address you wish put on the Knife.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty. The novelty lies In the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, aud Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are haud-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel,
above. It will last a last-time, with prope
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In ca
owner will never recover it; but if the *' N
of owner, the finder will return it; othei
dress, would destroy the knife. If travelii
lunate as to have one of the " Novelt;(
case of death, your relatives will at on<
How appropriate this knife is for a pre
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother,
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu(, gives a faint idea, but cannot fully
h of the handle as described
:ase a good knife is lost, the chances are the
Novelty " is lost, having name and address
erwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
ing, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
" your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and la
be notified of the accident.
What more lasting memento could a mother
lady to a gentleman, the knife having
this>eautiful knife, as the ** Novelty '
How to Get this Valuable Knife.
one sending us i hree new subscrib:
Knife and the Bee Journal for one yea
an exact representation of
must De seen to be appreciated.
We send it postpaid for $1,25, or give it as a Premium to the
Rs to the Bee Journal (with$3,W.J We will club the Novelty
, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
-e^Please allor" '»bout two weeks for your knife order to be filied.
Stf ChicagOf IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, OCTOBER 17, 1901,
No, 42,
* Editorial. ^ \
No Foul Brood — A Correction. — Oa
page 62", we called attention to a reported
case of removing: foul-broody hives, combs,
etc., from Michigan to Clyde, 111., near Chi-
cago. The owner of the alleged diseased
material, mistrusting that he was the one
referred to, called at our office for an expla-
nation of the matter. We told him that our
authority for the statement made were the
foul-brood inspector of Michigan, and another
man in that State.
He stoutly denied that any foul-broody
material had been shipped by him. and said
that the goods were still in the railroad car at
Clyde, the car being unopened on account of
some question about the freight charges.
In order that there might be no further
cause for disagreement, we suggested sub-
mitting the matter to Mr. X. E. France, the
famous inspector of apiaries for Wisconsin.
He was immediately sent for. He came at
once, and the owner of the car of bee-material,
with Mr. France and the writer, spent several
hours in examining very carefully all that the
car contained, and found no evidence uf foul
bruud wluitever.
It seems that there were some foul-broodj'
combs, etc., in the apiary from which the
carload was taken, but those were not ship-
ped. Hence, the unfortunate error.
We make the above explanation for two
reasons: First, because we do not wish to
accuse any man unjustly in public print: and,
secondly, to show how easy it is to be
mistaken.
As we did not give the name of the bee-
keeper in question in our first reference to
the matter, of course we omit it now. The
carload of hives, frames, etc., was shipped
from Rapid City, Mich., instead of Evart, as
was stated on page 627.
We are more than pleased to have the mat-
ter end as it has, as doubtless will be all the
bee-keepers in and about Chicago ; for there
is already enough foul brood in this vicinity
without importing it from another State.
But, all the same, there should be a law in
every State prohibiting the removal of any
apiary, or part thereof, without first securing
a State certificate granting permission, and
also assuring that there is no disease.
Old T8. Young Queens for Breeders.
— Editor Hutchinson calls for the experience
of his readers as to the comparative value of
old and young queens as breeders, in view of
the fact that H. Edwards, of England, says
that all queens making a record have been
reared from the eggs of a comparatively old
queen. One would naturally expect that the
time of life at which the offspring of any
mother would have the greatest vigor would
be at the time when that mother herself is in
the greatest vigor. A queen can do little
toward making a record for herself, usually,
during the same season in which she is born,
for few queens are born before the swarming-
time, and the season will be well over before
the entire force of the colony consists of her
offspring. Her record will not be made before
the end of the second season, and after dis-
tinguishing herself in her second season she
is used as a breeder in the third season.
So it comes about that those who select the
best to breed from will use comparatively' old
queens, and this may go far to account for
the fact that Mr. Edwards' best queens came
from comparatively old mothers. But if he
had reared queens from one of his breeders
while she was yet in her first year, and as yet
had established no reputation, might they not
have been just as good as those she produced
a year or two later '.
Prevention of Early Swarms, says
the Bee-Keepers' Review, is secured bj' some
Ontario bee-keepers by using bottom-boards
of wire-cloth, the abundant ventilation at
least retarding swarming. Some might like
this better than raising the hive on blocks.
Position for Bee-Escapes. — Almost
universally they are put in the center of the
escape-board. It was suggested in the Bee-
Keepers' Review that one corner of the board
is the better place, because when bees become
excited about getting out of the super they
run around the edges. Yet E. W. Brown, of
northern Illinois, reports that in cool nights
a cluster of bees would remain in the center
all night if the escape was in a corner. Per-
haps the best way would be to have an escape
in the center and one in the corner.
Plurality of Eggs in a Cell is noth-
ing very unusual when a prolific queen is in a
limited brood-nest, but the cells containing
more than one e'^';^ each are worker-cells. It
seems, however, that exceptional cases occur
in which a normal laying queen will lay the
second egg iu a queen-cell, according to the
following from Gleanings in Bee-Culture ;
A rule that I supposed without exception
was that, if you found more than one egg in
a queen-cell, you might be sure of laying
workers. The ntlicr day I found two eggs in
a queen-cell uiul a good laying queen present.
" Bees do nothhi;;. invariably."
Thickness of Top Bars.— S. T. Pettit
champions in Gleanings in Bee-Culture top-
bars less than ", thick. He quotes a corres-
pondent who says:
" For a number of years I have been using
a top-bar \^ inch thick and 15^' wide, and 7uit
« burr-comb on a single frame in eight years'
use."
This agrees with Mr. Pettifs theory that
the width of the top-bar and not the thickness
isthees.sential thing to prevent burr-combs;
although Mr. Pettit himself finds it necessary
to use a thickness equal to '% to prevent sag-
ging. Dr. Miller says he still wants thick
top-bars even if they make no difference
about burr -combs, because the thick top-bars
make so great a difference between brood-
combs and sections that the bees will not
carry up black wax to darken the sections.
Mr. Pettit thinks this point can be gained
better by using queen-excluders. Editor Root
thinks that % top-bars gave more burr-combs
in their apiary than %.
Prevention of Winter-Breeding. —
An article from Wm. McEvoy, in the Bee-
Keepers' Review, gives his way of preventing
the bees from beginning to rear brood in Jan-
uary when wintered outdoors. He thinks
that by preventing the bees from starting
brood-rearing iu Januarj- — a thing that often
occurs with bees wintered outdoors — " we
not only saw stores, but the lives of many of
our best colonies, which often dwindle down
and out in spring from the large amount of
brood-rearing that they do at a time when
they ought to be at rest.'' His plan of pre-
vention is to crowd each colony upon five
combs about the first of October, each one of
the five combs being sealed right down to the
bottom. If any combs are unsealed, he feeds
till the bees will take no more. This leaves
no room for brood-rearing.
Cane vs. Beet Sugar. — Some discussion
has taken place with regard to the propriety
of using refined beet sugar for feeding bees,
and some bee-keepers have felt uncomfortable
because they had no means of determining
whether granulated sugar was made from
cane or beets. Bee-journals across the water
have insisted that sugar made from beets was
not safe food for bees. The following letter
in Gleanings iu Bee-Culture seems to teach
that beet sugar is all right :
Mr. HuberRoot called my attention to an
article published in Gleanings Aug. l.'i, and
asked me to read it and give my opinion of
some of its statements. The writer, W. K.
Morrison, seems to think that sugar made
from cano is better than that made from
beets. I do not know how he or any one can
know when he gets granulated sugar whether
it's made from cane or beet. Of course, if he
660
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 17, 1901.
?ees the Dame of a sii^^ar-factory of Nebraska.
Colorado, or Michijran. on the sack in which
it comes, he knows that he has beet sugar,
but otherwise there is no way of knowing,
for. even though it be from the refineries of
Havemeyer or Arbuckle. it may be from
either source, for these refineries handle raw
beet sugar from Germany, Belgium. Holland,
France, Austria, and Russia, as well as raw
cane sugar from Java and the Indies.
One of the statements of the writer is that
cane sugar is sweeter than beet sugar. "' just
as Jersey milk is richer than Holstein milk,
and for this reason alone it commands a
higher price.'' In the first place. 1 will say
that cane sugar does not command a higher
price than beet sugar; for in determining the
price of sugar there is no ciuestion of its
source, but of its quality. In the next place.
I will say that the sweetness of sugar, from
whatever source, depends upon its polariza-
tion of purity of sugar. As the chemical
formula of sugar from both sources is the
same (C12 H-2-2 On ). and their physical char-
acteristics are both the same, it results that
neither one nor the other can be said to be
sweeter. The simile can not hold for the
reason that, while sugar is a fixed chemical
compound of so many atoms of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, with certain physical
characteristics resulting from the atoms of
the molecule uniting in a certain way, milk,
on the other hand, is a variable physical com-
bination of many chemical compounds; and
while the slightest variation in the compo-
nent parts of the molecule of sugar would make
it other than sugar, there can be a great
variation in the composition of milk, and it
wotild still be milk. It might contain more
or less water, more or less casein, more or less
fat. etc.. and yet it is milk.
The writer of the article claims that Dr.
Wiley says that beet sugar is cane sugar, and
cane sugar is beet sugar. I do not think that
Dr. Wiley could say that. He might say that
they are identical, or that beet sugar is cane
sugar, but not that cane sugar is beet sugar.
for the reason that "cane sugar" is the com-
mon name of the article which is chemically
known as *' sucrose." just as " grape sugar '*
is the common name of the article chemically
known as "glucose." The name "cane
sugar " was given at a time when the only
known source was cane; but since then it
has been found in other grasses besides the
cane, and in a number of roots, as the carrot,
parsnip, turnip, and notably in the beet. The
writer of the article further states that, by
the •• same process of reasoning, saccharin,
which is 500 times sweeter than ordinary
sugar, ought to be cane sugar also, but it is
not."' I should say it is not I Saccharin is
not a sugar at all, having none of the char-
acteristics of sugar except that in a dilute
form it gives a sensation of sweetness to the
tongue, while in concentrated form it would
be very bitter, and it is in no sense a food, as
is sugar. I do not know what he means by
" the same process of reasoning.'' but cer-
tainly no process of reasoning could class
saccharin as sugar.
Meltis R. Gilmore.
Supl. of Exhibit of the Amerii-nii Bert Sugar
Association at the PaJi- American Exjxtsition.
Buffalo, N. r., Aug. 31.
It seems that after reading this letter one
may feel easy about the matter, especially
after the following assertion of Editor Root :
I will reiterate what I have repeatedly said
in these columns, that beet sugar, such as we
have used for the last '20 years for feeding our
bees, has been eminently satisfactorv.
The Best Hive-Cover.— There has been
some pleading for a hive-cover that would not
leak, warp, or twist. A strong cleat at the
ends will prevent warping, but it will not
prevent twisting. Two thin boards with an
air-space 'oetween them, the grain of the one
board running at right angles to the grain of
the other, the whole covered with tin or
water-proof paper, will probably solve the
problem, the air-space at the same time mak-
ing the cover warmer in winter and cooler in
summer. The demand, however, for a cover
of this kind is not as general as might be
supposed. Gleanings in Bee-Culture says ;
Some days ago Mr. Calvert sent some sam-
ples of covers, such as I described, to a num-
ber of prominent bee-men. as well as dealers,
located in various parts of the country. A
good many of the replies have now been re-
ceived; and nearly all favor a single-board
cover in place of the double board with air-
space. Indeed, the Excelsior cover with
sides and ridge-board is considered quite good
enough. This is a surprise, as it seems to us
that a double cover would be better on all
accounts.
Westward Ho '. — Editor Root predicts
that within 10 or "iO years the larger amount
of honey will be produced west of the Miss-
issippi; intensive agriculture making bee-
keeping less and less profitable in the East,
while in the great West there is much land
that can never be cultivated, but will produce
good crops of honey. We'U see.
Getting Combs Built to Bottom-
bars, says J. C. Detwiler. in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, is easy with wired or unwired
frames, by using them in S-frame hives in
upper stories. That has been well known for
a long time, but Editor Root might have
taken space for a foot-note to say that in most
cases it would be inconvenient, and in some
eases impossible to use such frames in upper
stories, leaving the advocates for foundation-
splints perhaps the only ones who can get
combs directly built to the bottom-bar with-
out sagging in a lower storv.
■Wanted — A Fonl-Brood Law and
Inspector. — An Illinois subscriber, who
finds good reason to suspect that some serious
disease is getting a foothold in his apiary,
says that disease akin to foul brood is by no
means uncommon in his locality, and adds:
" We, as well as the rest of the State, badly
need a law and an in-yjector. the same as Wis-
consin or Michigan has."
Some bee-keepers will not agree with him.
One will say :
•• I've been keeping bees 25 years and have
never seen a case of foul brood.'pickled brood,
black brood, or any other kind of brood but
healthy brood. What's the use of being to
the expense of an inspector so long as the
disease is not known in the State only in ex-
ceptional localities V
To this it may be answered that one reason
for the need of an inspector is the fact that
without an inspector the scourge may exist
and flourish for a considerable time in any
given locality without its existence being
generally known. It may be a great deal
cheaper — undoubtedly it is a great deal
cheaper to have some one constantly on the
lookout to prevent the spread of foul brood,
than it is to stamp it out^ after it has obtained
a firm foothold. It is better to be at the ex-
pense of insurance than to run the risk of
being burned out. Decidedly, our correspon-
dent is right. Illinois ought to have the law
and the inspector.
The Chicago Convention, to be held
at the Briggs House, corner of Randolph St.
and Fifth Ave., on Thursday, Dec. 5. promises
to be something of a revival of the old North-
western. It is hoped that all who can do so
will arrange to attend.
I Weekly Budget. I
Dr. C. C. Miller, and his sister-in-law.
Miss Emma Wilson, were in Chicago on
Thursday of last week, attending the Ameri-
can Sunday-School Missionary Conference,
where Miss Wilson read a most thoughtful
paper on " Quarterly Examinations in the
Sunday-School.'' Both Dr. Miller and Miss
Wilson are enthusiasts along Sunday-school
lines, and are already leaders in certain im-
portant things in that direction. They find
that Sunday-school work combines well with
bee-keeping. At any rate, both are success-
full in their devoted hands.
A Magazisg for College Men. — " The
Business Side of a Great University," by
President Harper, of the University of Chi-
cago, is the opening article in the College
Man's Number (Oct. 12 1 of the Saturday
Evening Post, of Philadelphia, Pa. '■ Theo-
dore Roosevelt, Harvard 'SO "' is the title of
an entertaining paper on the President's col-
lege life, by his friend. Owen Wistcr. Other
strong features of this number are short
stories by Max Adeler. Jesse Lynch Williams,
and Frank Norris. and a page of droll " Na-
ture Studies," by Oliver Herford. This num-
ber will be of unusual interest to all college
men.
Mr. N. E, Frasce, of Grant Co.. Wis.,
when here to make the inspection referred to
on the previous page, of course called at our
office. He reports about half a crop of honey
in his apiaries this year. He also said that
there would be less foul brood if all bee-keep-
ers would read the bee-papers. Quite a testi-
monial to the value of such publications. Mr.
France is doing excellent work in his posi-
tion as inspector of apiaries, but labors under
many difiieulties. His jiathway will have to
be made easier, or he will decline to continue
in the work. Wisconsin bee-keepers can
never repay him for what he has done in
their interest. Neither can they find another
man who will be likely to do the work so
well, and with so little friction all around.
" Reviewlets " from the Bee=Keepers'
Review.
A BrsCH OF Grass put on top of the fuel
in a smoker cools the smoke, and prevents
the discharge of any sparks.
Keepisi; a Record of each colony, the
breeding of the queen, her age. the amount
of honey stored, any peculiarities of the col-
ony, etc.. has its greatest use in enabling one
to select the best stock for breeding purposes.
Some use a book ; the only objection to a
book is that the leaves are likely to become
stuck together with propolis. " By using
abbreviations, a great deal of information can
be crowded into a small space.
Cappisgs. at the J. B. Hall apiary, are
allowed to fall into a wire-cloth basket of
such a size that it just fits nicely into the
solar wax-extractor, and when the basket be-
comes full it is put into the extractor and
another used to catch the cappings. There is
no need of waiting for the cappings to drain
thoroughly, as the honey is not lost when put
into the solar. It is necessary, however, to
shade the dish in which the honey and wax
are caught, or the heat of the sun will dis-
color the honey.
Oct. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
661
I Contributed Articles.
Quantity of Nectar in Blossoms
by Bees.
Water Used
BV C. P. DADANT.
DO all the blossoms yield nectar that are visited by the
bees for nectar? In other words, are the frequent
visits of bees to blossoms out of which they secure no
pollen an indisputable evidence that they are gathering-
nectar from these blossoms ? This is a proposition just
being debated between two progressive apiarists of France
— L'Abbe Multier. president of the Association of Bee-Cul-
ture of Haute Marne, and G. Collet, the editor of the
monthly " L'apiculture Pratique."
L'Abbe Multier holds that in his section of country,
although the bees work faithfully upon the basswood
bloom, the}' never or almost never harvest any nectar from
this tree. He holds, that although the basswood blossoms
attract the bees, they go there and remain, in a sort of
drunken spree, for hours together, as the drunkard in a bar-
room, while the bees that go to other blooms go back and
forth, from the hive to the field, and vice versa, over and
over without stop.
If the above-named gentleman had not in many
instances shown his observing mind, one might be tempted
to think that he misrepresented matters, but that is out of
the question. He is not the first who has noticed that the
bees may spend much time on blossoms without apparent
results, for Editor Bertrand, of the " Revue Internation-
ale," had, years ago, seen the bees eagerly at work upon
the blossoms of the Eryngium Giganteum, and had ascer-
tained that they secured nothing worth mentioning. He
had marked some of the workers while upon these blossoms
with a slight flour-dust, so as to be able to follow them in
their flight, and had actually seen the same bee on the same
bunch of biossoms, working faithfully and busily, for five
consecutive hours. It is very evident that the quantity of
n'ectar secured, though sufficient to keep up the life of the
bee, was so insignificant as to leave its honey-sac unfilled.
I mentioned this fact in my letters from Switzerland last
year, in the American Bee-Journal.
When the Echinops Spherocephalus was accidently dis"
covered to be a valuable honey-plant (?), the gentleman who
made the discovery noticed the numerous visits to the plant
by the bees, and sat down to an experiment as did Mr. Ber-
trand, only, instead of marking a bee and watching it, he
marked a blossom and watched it. It appeared, if I remem-
ber rightly, that the same blossom was visited some 1600
times by bees during the same day. This experiment,
reported to the North American bee-keeper's congress,
brought the Echinops before the public in the United
States, and a general rush was made towards the produc-
tion of this plant. But it was since ascertained that not
only was this a noxious weed imported from France — a sort
of dwarf thistle — but it was also found, that, although the
bees were always upon it when in bloom, yet no apparent
results were secured. At least this is the final verdict, as
far as I have heard. Mr. Bertrand, through his experi-
ments in Switzerland, had already come to this conclusion,
and had discarded both the Echinops and the Eryngium as
not worthy of cultivation.
In the case of the basswood, the accusation of useless-
ness is not to be considered, except in instances like the
one I have mentioned, where the trees are not numerous,
and the soil perhaps unfavorable. Many portions of
America are plentifully supplied with basswoods, and show
by their honey-crops that basswood honey is not a myth.
Numerous towns, cities and counties in the United States
are named after the basswood tree, and in many of these
the crop of basswood is almost as regular as the crop of
clover honey in others. And the odor of the basswood
honey, as well as its taste, can not be mistaken for any
other. It is stronger in flavor than the perfume of the
blossom whence it is produced, and its smell is no longer a
perfume, but a rank and almost disagreeable odor, which
has caused its being classed as secondary in quality.
But the fact that the basswood bloom is evidently a
useful honey-producer does not, after all, destroy the evi-
dence, that in many cases the bees work upon blossoms
which attract them by their pleasant smell and retain their
attention by probably supplying them with enough nectar
to please their palate, without giving them a sufliciently
remunerative quantity to make these blossoms desirable or
entitle them to a place among our domesticated plants.
But plants and trees which furnish a supply of honey
in certain localities under certain conditions, prove useless
in other places, and it is for the apiarist to ascertain the
resources of his situation and act accordingly.
DO BEES USE WATER TO COOL THE HIVE ?
I see the above question put by J. A. Gerelds, page 566.
In this article Mr. (i. explains that he has lost a number of
colonies from the combs melting down, and that he was
told that the want of water by the bees was the cause of
this. Let me give him our experience on the subject.
In 1878, if I remember rightly, we had established an
apiary of some SO hives of bees at the farm of an old
French gardener, about six miles from our home. The
hives were in the yard near the house, and only a few of
them sheltered from the rays of the sun by apple-trees. A
small number of the hives had roofs, the others (new hives)
were not sheltered in any way, for we had never before
experienced any loss from heat, and had no idea of the pos-
sibilities.
• During that summer the crop was tremendous, and we
were distanced by the bees. We could not pat up our
honey-boxes fast enough to keep the bees with room, and
the combs were exceedingly heavy. I remember going to
that apiary at one time with six or eight extracting supers,
and being unable to give more than three or four empty
surplus combs to each filled hive, and these combs were all
filled at my next visit, a few days later.
These bees needed no water supplied to them artifi-
cially. There was a large creek in close proximity, and they
have always gotten along finely at that place on their own
resources in that line.
One day during the hot weather, I received word by a
messenger sent by my old friend, the gardener, that some-
thing was wrong in the apiary, as the bees were in an
uproar. 1 was unable to go there for two days, in spite of
his warning, and when I arrived on the third day I found
five hives entirely empty, and some 15 others with from
one to five combs broken down. The bees in the partly
damaged hives were already rebuilding combs over the
mass of piled-up broken combs, mixed brood, pollen and
honey. But the five hives that had broken down entirely
had nothing left but a pile of debris, dead bees and rotting
brood. Remember that all these hives had supers on, some
one, some two — supers of our large-size Ouinby, containing
when full some 60 or 65 pounds, and the body of the hives
probably contained as much. All this was gone, and very
certainly the most of it had run into the ground.
It was at this time that we began using straw mats
over our hives, that is, over the oil-cloth, at the top of the
hive and under the cap, summer and winter, and it was on
the suggestion of our old friend, the gardener, who had
been used to straw mats all his life when gardening in
Paris. He knew how to make them, and made for us a
large lot; he said that in Europe they used them to keep
away the frost, to shelter their plants from the heat of the
noon sun, to cover their glass hot-beds on cold nights, and
for many other purposes connected with gardening.
We have used these mats ever since. They not only
keep off the heat of the sun in summer, but they retain
the heat in the winter. They are good non-conducting
shelters, and absorb moisture. We make them of what is
known here as " slough-grass," " marsh-grass," the botani-
cal name of which I believe to be " Spartina," a tall, wiry
grass well known to any one who lives along the Mississ-
ippi. This material is stronger and tougher than straw,
and mats made of it would last for ever if we could only
bind them with indestructible twine.
We had made also, some of these mats, of large size,
two feet high, by six or seven feet in length, and had used
them to wrap up our hives for winter. But they were so
cumbrous that we had to pile them up in a shed, and the
rats and mice destroyed the cord with which they were
made. I believe it would pay to keep such mats in a safe
place so as to use them for wintering.
But the straw mat is not the only thing that we have
used to prevent a recurrence of the accident above men-
tioned. Whenever the hives suffer from the heat, we raise
them from the bottom-board so as to give plenty of venti-
lation. This we think is as necessary as the use of a shel-
ter from the sun. We also use roofs (portable roofs made
662
AMERICAJS BEE PURNAL
Oct. 17, 1901.
of rough boards) over all of our hives, and since we have
used these precautions we have not had any accidents of
this kind to suflfer. Hancock Co., 111.
Exhibit of Bees and Honey at a Fall Festival.
BY JOHN R. SCHMIDT.
A NOVEL and interesting exhibit in the Pure Food
department of the Cincinnati Fall Festival was the
display made by Mr. C. H. W. Weber.
In a tastily decorated booth a complete line of bee-keep-
ers' supplies, consisting of the latest hives, utensils, and
everything of imaginable use in the pursuit of modern bee-
keeping, together with a nice display of comb and ex-
tracted honey put up in a most inviting and catchy way,
was shown.
The exhibition attracted such universal attention, and
was so much admired by the thousands of visitors, that it
might be well to go into details somewhat as to its
make-up, thereby possibly enlightening some interested
readers who may improve upon the same at the next fair or
exhibition coming his waj'.
The display being in a corner of a building, the two
white-washed walls were well hidden behind a mass of
choice comb honey in cases, tiered up over five feet high.
Between each tier of cases, bottled honey was arranged,
showing the different sizes, and also the special registered
labels, a distinct marking for that kind of honey only. If
proven otherwise, a SlOO offer is yours, puts some signifi-
cance into the meaning of these labels. The honey-cases
and bottles were surmounted by numerous one-pound car-
tons colored a light lavender on two sides, and lettered in
gold, signifying the contents a gilt-edged product.
Potted plants (natural palms) furnished by a florist,
and well placed about the display, added much to the
appearance and helped to enliven the exhibit ; not to say a
word about the bees, which made a " hot time " caused by
the ever mischievous boy, this time with a sharp lead-pencil,
which pried apart the wire meshes at the entrance and
allowed bees to escape before being discovered. Luckily,
only one souvenir was carried away.
The three well-known hives, viz : 8 and 10-frame dove-
tailed, Danzenbaker, and the Langstroth portico, all com-
plete and painted a spotless white, making them look as
neat as a pin, were placed near the rear wall, where they
showed up to good advantage. The Cowan extractor,
comb foundation, supers, smokers, and many small articles
too numerous to mention, made up what may be called the
foundation of the exhibit. Last, but not least, each tele-
phone subscriber was furnished with an extra instrument
in his exhibit free of charge, thus establishing perfect out-
side communication with almost every booth in the build-
ing, through a miniature exchange,which was on exhibition
and illustrated the working of this wonderful instrument.
This highly appreciated convenience came in especially
handy when the bees escaped, for it was telephoned
instantly to the office, and help was soon on the scene.
The most conspicuous place of the exhibit — the front —
was occupied by two small tables, one of which contained a
model 8-frame dovetailed hive having four glass sides.
This hive was perfection in the full sense of the word.
It contained a full colony of plain 3-banded Italian
bees upon 8 frames of comb, with brood, honey and
everything just as you would find in any prosperous
colony. The upper story consisted of a4'4x4'4xl'i
plain section super, with fences partly cut away on
either side to show the sections of honey in the vari-
ous stages of completion.
In order that the queen might be seen at all times,
a one-frame nucleus was shown, making it easy to
keep track of this important individual.
Another nucleus illustrated the rearing of a
queen-bee from the tiny egg to the matured product
ready to begin her supreme reign, or be sent through
the mails in one of the well-known cages. This was
also shown and fully explained.
It may not be unwise to say that these observa-
tory hives were very attractive in appearance, which
was largely due to the perfect workmanship. Instead
of being painted they were nicely varnished. The
top, lower-story and bottom-board were held securely
together with nickel-plated fastenings, giving the
whole a handsome appearance. Double-weight glass
on the sides and ends of the full colony, and on the
sides of the nuclei, made things as plain as day, and
revealed the mysteries of the bee-hive to hundreds
with their strange, and, many times, ridiculous ques-
tions.
Now, thoroughly aroused as to how bees " make " honey,
the interested observer passed on to the other table, where a
neat and polite young lady attendant was in charge of two
large glass vessels of honey, distinct in quality and flavor,
viz : the famous Colorado alfalfa, and white clover honey.
Each who wished to sample was provided with a small, flat
piece of white basswood, which served as a spoon. After
once used, the piece was done for, and dropped into a
receiver. This method not only avoided a lot of mussy
work, but was extremely sanitary, and many sampled the
honey who otherwise would not have done so. Quite a
number of orders were booked for delivery, not saying any-
thing of the one-pound sections and the bottles sold every
day at the exhibit. On an average about three gallons of
extracted honey was consumed every day from the sample
table. ' Each little stick held, at most, half a teaspoonful of
honey (many times less), so it is easy to imagine how many
dips were necessary to take away three gallons of honey.
After the first day it was found absolutely necessary to
restrict some of the children " unaccompanied by parents "
who were especially fond of honey, for they actually could
not decide on which should be the last dip.
An unusual and unexpected coincidence developed in
the form of a biscuit-baking booth next door, which adver-
tised a well-known flour, and gave away hot biscuits and cof-
fee. The hot biscuits and the honey soon developed a mutual
attraction, to the tune of several hurry calls over the tele-
phone for " More sample honey to the exhibits I Quick 1 !"
A fortunate misfortune which may be answered by yes and
no.
The exhibit was a success in every way, and the howl-
ing success of Cincinnati's great annual show was largely
due to the exhibitors taking such an interest in their exhib-
its, as this one did in his. May it only serve its purpose
well, and help bring "more business" to the bee-keeping
industry, as well as in other pursuits.
Hamilton Co., Ohio.
How I Managed a Swarm of Bees.
BY DR. B. GALLUP.
ON April 19, I caught a medium swarm of bees. Now 1
propose to tell, for the instruction of the beginner,
how I handled those bees.
I hived them on six empty frames. After seven days I
began to move the outside frames, one at a time, into the
center of the cluster, so the queen would occupy it with
eggs, and have the bees build all worker-comb. It had a
young queen and probably was a second swarm. Bees left
to themselves, especially with an old queen, usually build
more or less drone-comb at the outside of the cluster.
On May 24 I had 14 frames all filled with worker-comb,
and the queen had occupied them as fast as built.
On May 13 I moved the queen and two frames of brood
into an empty hive, moved the old or first hive about the
width of it to one side : set the hive containing the queen
near enough to the position of the first hive so as to throw
OBSERVATOKY HIVES AT THE CINCINXATI FALL FESTIVJ
Oct. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
663
the most of the working- force into the new hive ; placed an
empty frame between the two full ones, and adjusted the
division-board. I sent for an Italian queen for the old hive.
Now, I have two boys, one 12 and the other 14 ; both are
anxious to learn about the bees, so I have opened both hives
three and four times a week, and sometimes twice a day, to
take out the combs and show the bees at work, the queen
depositing- eggs, how the workers unload their pollen, etc.
The bees are hybrids. One scarcely finds a swarm that
is not more or less crossed with Italians.
In examining those bees we have not used a bee-veil or
one particle of smoke at any time. Now, if I should, as
most bee-keepers recommend, puff smoke into the entrance,
we should disturb them and stop their labors entirely for
the time, but as we handle them, they keep right on at
work, and they are not disturbed a particle. If every time
we looked at them, we annoyed them with smoke, we should
soon have them so cross that it would be dangerous for the
children to go about them.
When I had 125 colonies about the house, I never had
my own or the neighbors' children stung by them at all.
We never open a hive too early in the morning^, nor too late
in the evening, when the weather is too cool.
I commenced this article some time in Maj-, and it is
now Aug 3. It was mislaid and forgotten.
Always have your smoker ready in case of any mishap.
But I could never see the necessity of the first thing puffing
smoke in at the entrance, whether it is required or not. It
looks to me like carrying your whip, and every time you
approach your horse or cow, give them a good, smart cut
with it for fear they will kick or hook. When I use smoke
I use but a little at the top of the hive. Let the bees keep
on at work, out and in at the entrance. By so doing we
can keep them gentle.
I admit that there is occasionally' a colony that one can
hardly keep down, no matter how much smoke is used, but
I will not keep a queen that produces such bees. It does
not pay.
I now have 10 laying queens and a good, strong nucleus.
All the combs have been built worker-comb except one that
was built while the bees were rearing a queen. I had one
colony given to me, one that I paid 25 cents for, and one
that I paid 50 cents for. I have transferred about 10 frames
full of ready-made worker-comb, all the rest having been
made without foundation. Bees are yet sending out nat-
ural swarms. One went into the corner of a large fruit-
packing house on July 21, between the outside and chimney.
Being too much trouble to get them, I let them alone.
Bees that were in good condition have done remarkably
well. The honey season is nearly over now. The loss in
the three dry years that have passed has been very heavy
in the mountain apiaries where there was no irrigation.
They will work in the valley until into September.
Orange Co., Calif., Aug. 3.
Preparing Bees for Winter— A Conversation.
BY G. M. DOOUTTLK.
HELLO ! what are you doing with the bees this morn-
ing ? I supposed all work with them was over for this
year."
"In this you are mistaken, Mr. Smith ; for, in my opin-
ion to reap the best results in wintering bees, September is
the month in which they should be prepared for winter.
This gives them a chance to get their stores for winter
placed just where they wish them, so that, by the latter part
of October, they are ready to go into that quiescent state
which is always conducive to the best results."
" Well, this is something new to me, as I always
thought November would do very well as to time to fix the
bees for winter. But what do you do now by way of prep-
aration ?"
" The early preparation consists in opening each hive
and seeing that each colony has a good queen, plenty of
bees, and, mo.st of all, plenty of stores."
" How much do you calculate for stores ?"
" I allow 25 to 30 pounds for each colony, which should
be in the hive from September 10 to 25."
" But suppose some colonies do not have that much."
" If there is not so much as this, feeding must be
resorted to ; and if we have to feed, it should be done in
September, surely, in order that the bees may cap it over
before cool or cold weather ; for unsealed stores often sour
and get thin during winter, thus causing disease. Multi-
tudes of bees are lost yearly, where feeding is put off till
October and November, by being obliged to eat poor, thin
stores, this causing bee-diarrhea on account of the bees not
being able to hold their feces, because they can not evapo-
rate all the water out of their food, it being so thin."
•' But suppose the bees are still getting honey from the
fields."
" In places where fall flowers abound, so that the bees
are storing at this time of the year, of course they should
need no feeding if the apiarist manages rightly."
" Do you think if one needed feeding all would ?"
" This is to be ascertained by looking them over, as
you see me doing. If I find some colonies are heavy with
stores while others are light, the light ones can be fed by
taking from the heavy ; and if there are some light in
stores after so equalizing, then we feed what still remain
without a sufficient supply."
'• Having all fixed as to stores, etc., what next is to be
done? I wish to learn."
"The next thing to do is to put on the quilt, where such
is used, and over this the sawdust cushion, or whatever
packing material is used, thus tucking them nice, snug and
warm for the winter."
" Do you use common enameled cloths for quilts ?"
" I do not during- winter. Some so use, but the most of
our practical bee-keepers prefer some porous substance, like
woolen blankets, pieces of old carpet, or something- of that
kind. For colonies to be left on summer stands, I use chaff
hives, which chaff is left on in the hives both winter and
summer. Over the tops of the frames I prefer a quilt, as
just spoken of, and on top of the quilt a cushion two or
three inches thick, made of common factory cotton cloth,
filled with corkdust, if possible ; if not, then filled with
dry basswood sawdust. Such cushions seem to keep the
bees in better condition than anything else I am acquainted
with. The corkdust allows the moisture to pass up through
it and out at the top of the hive, while the basswood saw-
dust will absorb nearly its bulk in water, so that either
keeps all dry, warm, and nice."
" Do you do anything else by way of preparation ?"
" When winter sets in, a board about S or 10 inches
wide should be set up slanting from the alighting-board to
the hive, in front of the entrance, so as to keep out snow
and cold winds, as well as to shade the front of the hive,
where the hives face south, as they should during winter,
so the bright rays of the sun shall not entice the bees out
when it is too cold for them to fly."
" Do you winter all your bees outdoors ?"
" No. I prefer to winter a part of the bees in the cel-
lar, for I like the idea of ' mixed wintering,' as by this plan
no extreme loss is likely to occur ; for a winter which is
severe on the bees out of doors is generally good for cellar-
wintering."
"At what time do you set the bees in the cellar?"
" Somewhere about the middle of November. At any
time between the 10th of Nouember and the 1st of Decem-
ber, when the hives are dry, and free from frost, I set them
in. If they have a flight along about this time I set them
in the next day, if it does not rain so the hives are wet ;
and I find that this can be done, even if the weather is
quite warm, much better than it can on a cold morning
when the hives come up from their stands with a jar from
having been frozen down."
" Do you give each hive a seperate stand when in the
cellar, or set them on a plank which will hold several
hives? "
"Neither. A cellar stand is made by nailing four
pieces of six-inch boards together so they shall be of the
right size for a hive to rest on. This raises the first hive
six inches off the cellar bottom, and away from the damp
air which is generally found right at the cellar bottom.
The first hive is set on this stand, when hives are piled on
top of the first till the floor is reached, so that each stand
holds from three to five hives, according to the depth of the
cellar. In this way the cellar is filled (if I have colonies
enough), except a passageway through the center to the
back end, through which I pass every two or three weeks to
see if all is right so far as temperature, mice, etc., are con-
cerned. Otherwise they are left undisturbed during the
winter."
" At what temperature should the cellar be kept ?"
" Here practical bee-keepers differ ; but I'have had the
best success with a temperature of from 43 to 45 degrees, or
as near that as can be had. With a cellar in a bank, separ-
ate from any building, the keeping of the temperature at
this point is quite easy ; but with a cellar under a room or
building it is not so easily done, for the changes from the
outside have more effect on the jinterior of the cellar than
664
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 17, 1901.
they do where the cellar is wholly under ground in a bank
or side hill. There are other things which might be said
on this wintering- subject ; but with your consent we will
leave them till December, when I am not so busy, when, if
you will come over, we will talk them over more at length."
— Gleanings in Bee-Culture. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
I Questions and Answers, l
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. AIILLER, Afareng-o, ni,
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Burr-Comb With Honey Between Super and
Brood-Frames.
by driving small nails into each end of each top-bar, not
driving the nails entirely in, but leaving them out enough
so they may easily be drawn after the journey is over.
It will be well to study up what is said in your text-
book on the subject.
I am a beginner in bee-keeping, having 16 strong colo-
nies in hives having 8 Hoffman frames with Js-inch top-
bars, with Ideal supers for section honey, and I am bothered
very much with burr-comb full of honey being built by the
bees between frames and supers ; built so solid that it was
impossible to take off supers without lifting the frames,
although the bees had plenty of room in the supers for stor-
ing honey. What will prevent bees from building burr-
comb and storing honey between frames and supers ?
Subscriber.
Answer — Is the space between each two top-bars and
the space over top-bars V inch or a shade less ? If so,
there should not be very much trouble with burr-combs. I
hardly know what can be the trouble. Perhaps there was
an accumulation of burr-combs over the top-bars from
former years. If there are burr-combs over top-bars when
you put on supers, you may be sure the case will not be get-
ting better, but worse all the while. In any case, the burr-
combs are there now, and if let alone will be there in worse
condition next year. Before putting on supers next year,
scrape the tops of the top-bars clean with a sharp garden-
hoe. Put your foot on the top of the hive at one end, and
hoe toward you. Let an assistant play the smoker to keep
the bees down out of the way.
Foul-Broody Frames Moving Bees a Long Distance.
1. Can frames from foul-broody colonies, after the wax
and honey have been melted out in a solar extractor (the
heat of which is so intense as to cook eggs hard), be safely
used in the apiary again ?
2. What is the best and safest way to prepare bees (in
8-frame hives) for moving by rail a distance of 500 miles, in
April ? Utah.
Answers. — 1. I think it would be safe to use such
frames again, although very unsafe to use the honey again,
and consequently unsafe to use the frames if any honey
were left on the frames. That excellent authority on foul
brood, Wm. McEvoy, tried to make it very clear to us at
Buffalo that it was safe to use, without disinfecting, hives
that had contained foul brood. Other authorities have in-
sisted that it was unwise to use such hives, but the fact that
under Mr. McEvoy's instructions at least 5,000 such hives
have been used with no evil results, makes it seem practi-
cally safe to use them. So I conclude that frames with no
honey on them might be used without harm. While I think
it might be safe to use such frames, I do not think it ad-
visable. Mr. McEvoy advises using the hives and burning
the frames, of course saving the wax.
2. The two items in the preparation are to provide
abundant ventilation, and to provide against moving of the
frames. One way is to provide ventilation by means of
wire-cloth to cover the entire top of the hive, having a
frame two inches deep on which the wire-cloth is fastened.
If fixed-distance frames are used, all that is necessary to
fasten the frames in place is to put wedges between the
dummy and the frames or side of hive. If loose-hanging
frames are used, you may wedge, between the frames, sticks
long enough to reach to the bottom of the hive and project
above the top-bar. Or, you may fasten the frames in place
Drones— Honey-Boards— Sweet Clover, Etc.
I have an apiary of 60 colonies that I am running for
pleasure and a desire to study the nature, habits, etc., of
the honey-bee. I have nearly all the standard books on
apiculture, but can't solve many little things that develop,
and therefore I have to apply to our best authority, and
wish to ask :
1. Why is it that several of my colonies lately have
turned out a full force of drones, after killing them off in
July, as is their customary habit here and elsewhere ?
2. I don't think I have seen a drone since some time in
the latter part of July (it is now Sept. 23), and a few days
ago I was strolling through my apiary, and all at once the
peculiar note of a drone on the wing attracted my atten-
tion, and, on examining, I found the place alive with them,
but they seemed to be confined most to certain box-hives,
but are again being driven off by the bees. How do you
account for this ?
3. Some of my colonies are storing honey in their
supers, while the majority of them haven't stored any after
the principal flow closed, which is generally about the last
of June here. I have tried baiting them, still they seem to
be busily engaged, and carrying in pollen.
4. How would a piece of a crocus-sack do for a cover-
ing for supers to act as a honey-board ? Is there any
objection to it ?
5. How do you prevent the honey-board being- stuck to
the top of the frames?
6. Suppose you use a piece of crocus-sack for a cover-
ing in place of a honey-board, would it be a good way to
give the bees air to raise up the top by placing two cross-
sticks under the top, raising it an inch or so ? Would that
interfere with comb-building?
7. Will yellow and white sweet clover yield nectar in
this climate ? If so, how long after sowing ? When is the
best time to sow it ? Mississippi.
Answers. — 1. I don't know. I may give a guess at it.
It is possible that in your locality, as in many others, you
suffered from the terrible July drouth, causing the bees to
kill off their drones. Then when rains came and started
up a moderate honey-flow, eggs were again laid in drone-
cells. It must be remembered that each year about one
queen out of three is superseded, and this superseding is
usually done somewhat late in the season, so if a colony
with a superseding turn of mind had been left by the July
drouth without any drones, there would be nothing left for
them to do but to rear some.
2. A difference in conditions accounts for the difference
in behavior of different colonies. A colony with a young
queen might be likely to rear no drones after July, while a
colony with an old queen that it was trying to supersede
would be sure to rear them. At the time you saw them the
bees were probably killing off the drones for good, and at
such times the drones being driven out of the hives make
an unusual show of numbers.
3. I suppose you'd like to know why such difference.
Well, there may be a difference in the industry of colonies.
That of itself is answer enough. The condition of the
brood-nest may also make a difference. One colony had an
old queen which did not lay well, and instead of keeping its
combs filled with brood in June filled them chiefly with
honey. Then it superseded its queen, rearing a young and
vigorous one which not only filled all the vacant cell.-> with
eggs, giving no chance for storing below, but obliged the
bees to carry up some of the honey previously stored in the
brood-chamber. Another colony had a queen that laid pro-
fusely during the first part of the season, allowing verj'
little honey to be stored in the brood-nest. As the season
advanced the queen let up in laying, and the vacant cells
left by the hatching bees were largely filled with honey,
leaving no honey to be stored above.
4. I don't know what a crocus-sack is, but it is likely
some kind of cloth, so coarse that bees could pass through
the meshes. Very likely the bees would spend a good deal
of time trying to tear it down, and use a good deal of prop-
olis upon it. A few years ago I discarded honey-boards
altogether, having nothing whatever between the top-bars
and the super above. You will probably be ^pleased if you
Oct. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
665
make such a change ; but you must allow only '4 inch or a
shade less between the top-bars and the sections or frames
in the super. It will also be a help to have only '4 inch
space between each two top-bars, which space you can
secure by nailing strips on each side of your top-bars if
they are too narrow, and most bee-keepers also think it
desirable that the top-bars be from 's to % inch thick or
deep.
5. By having the space between top-bars and supers a
scant quarter of an inch. You can also prevent it by doing
away with honey-boards altogether.
6. Letting air directly into the super has the effect to
make slower work in building comb wherever the air enters.
So it is objectionable for comb honey, but is a good thing
for extracted honey.
7. They are of such universal adaptation that almost cer-
tainly they will succeed with you. You may sow in fall or
spring. They will grow the first year without blossoming ;
the second year they will begin blooming before white
clover is over, and not stop entirely till hard freezing
weather ; and the following winter they will die root and
branch.
\ % The Afterthought. ^ \
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable QIasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
THE HIRED MAN IN THE APIARY.
Homer Hyde, when he wrote that excellent article on the
hired man in the apiary didn't think that he was encouraging
some of us to push right square against Almighty God. Why,
Homer, the man you describe is a man that will not be allowed
to be a mere hired man for any great length of time — that is,
as a general rule he will not. A power above, that oft conde-
scends to steer our little barks, will not allow it. If you have
such a one, consider that you have a treasure lent you for a
very little while — and don't kick (as .leshurun in the Bible
kicked) when the little while comes to an end. But while, as
a general rule, we have to get along with hired men who have
serious flaws, it is nevertheless true that the right kind of a
demand will in lime have a tendency to bring the right kind
of a supply. At least the supply can be discouraged and kept
off by idiotic conduct on the part of employers. See the
farmers and their men. The supply is scant of men that will
take a load to town and come home without danger of getting
drunk and letting the horses run away. I have felt just
amazed to see how easily farmers accept the danger, and how
little extra they will offer, either of cash or other induce-
ments, for strictly sober men. The employments that will
have sober men and no others get them somehow. Page 564.
HONEY AND HONEY CONSUMERS.
And so black mangrove honey from Florida, notwithstand'
ing its high quality and flavor, stirred up suspicion when
peddled in a distant State where no one ever tasted just such
a taste. Apparently Mr. Wallenmeyer has struck an impor-
tant general principle. The ordinary customer wants one of
the honeys he has tasted before — and fears a swindle else.
But it isn't a general principle everywhere that consumers
object to buying as much as three pounds at one time. Liv-
ing within delivery distance of a city grocery does seem to
stimulate the disposition to buy by driblets, but the main
cause lies elsewhere. Most consumers consider buying honey
at all as a piece of extravat;ance. They dash in desperately
to the depth of half a pound : but would consider it wicked to
go much deeper. The remedies are obvious, if we are willing
to use them. In retailing extracted honey I use a five pound
package, and am seldom asked for less. If I remember
rightly we have heard from brethren who sell mostly in a 2()-
pound or 25-pound pac'iiago — to substantial farmers who live
far from town, and who usually have money in their pockets.
"Useful when empty" is a very important phrase.
Shot in every new bottle to break out the shelly, thin glass.
Sure I
Could wish that all the pictures had turned out clear like
the first one. so that we might learn the exact manipulation.
Good wife that will non-colloquially get dinner with 5(KJ
pounds of honey encumbering the range'.
Xo sin to adulterate with paraffine your own usiir-'-^ of
wax, if it makes it better.
Sealing inside, directly on the hot honey, looks rather
like a novelty. Pages 56i — 566.
PROPOLIZING SECTION-TOPS.
Dr. Miller's third answer to Indiana's questions will bear
talking about. lie is doubtless correct that bees often daub
the top of sections the worse when an enameled cloth is laid
on. Angles with a crevice in the bottom of the angle always
have to have some propolizing, unless the bees are awfully
busy at something more important. In doing this job they
ram the material home forcibly, with the result that the sec-
tion tops are soiled quite a distance from the edge. There is
another side to the question, however. Well, it's pretty apt
to come about in fine weather, when no honey is coming in,
that our dont-want-to-be-idle little servants will bring pro-
polis and surface all new wood— surface it in such a workman-
like way that it can not be scraped off as mere hurried chink-
ing can. Something to cover section-tops which can not be
lifted readily is the desideratum where sections are to stay on
the hive any great length of time. Page 568.
THE "oneness" of CLAREMONT.
Happy Claremont! One church, one literary club, one
horticultural society ! I don't know but such a town ought to
pray never to grow any bigger. I'm sure they have a right to
pray a little: " Lord, we thank thee that we are not in the
sin of split-up-edness as other towns are." Page 569.
RKITI.SH COLUMBIA BEE-KEEPING.
And so in British Columbia one man says bees can not
find supplies — has tried it — and another man gets 60 pounds
of sections. Page 571.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^ |
Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Gook, Claremont, Calif.
CORONADO.
There are three places that every visitor of Southern
California should certainly see before he leaves this fairest
part of our country. I hardly need to say that one of these is
Redlands, with her incomparable " Smiley Heights," wealth
of verdure, beautiful homes, and show of thrift everywhere.
That one is Santa Barbara, with its lovely bay, its splendid
climate, matchless combination of mountains and sea, and its
incomparable suburb, beautiful Montecito. I have just spent
Sunday at the third, beautiful Coronado. This is across the
bay from San Diego. The climate here is wondrous even tor
California; never hot in summer, never cold in winter. San.
Diego and Coronado enjoy and rejoice in one perpetual sum-
mer.
Off San Diego are two long peninsulas. The outer. Point
Loma, stretches southward, is some miles long, and high and
precipitous. The inner, Coronado, stretches northward more
miles, is often very narrow, and is low and level. All of
Point Loma holds the ocean from the beautiful Harbor of San
Diego. Only the south end of Coronado feels the pulse-beats
of the great Pacific.
Coronado Hotel, and Coronado Tent City, mark the limit
where the ocean sweeps this peninsula. So it is opposite the
point of Loma. On one side the huge breakers thunder along
the shore ; on the other the long, quiet bay nestles, and is in
striking contrast to the restless, resistless ocean just a few
rods across the very narrow stretch of land. The great ocean
steamers, or the more powerful war vessels that are wont to-
enter San Diego Harbor, must round the magnificent Point
Loma, then pass northward in the narrow channel between
the two peninsulas, then round the extreme northerly point of
Coronado, when they may drop anchor in the ever peaceful
waters of San Diego Harbor.
Coronado Hotel is one of the grandest in the world. Its
prices are equally renowned, yet the moderate purse may still
enjoy this wondrous bit of Nature's rarest tracery. The same
company that controls the great and far-famed hotel, are like-
wise proprietors of Tent City, where neat-floored and car-
peted tents can be rented very reasonably. A fine tent for
three can be secured for $25 a month. In this are good beds,
all the utensils for light housekeeping, gasoline stove, dishes,
table, etc. Table and bed linen are also furnished. A good
and very reasonable restaurant may be made to supplement
bt>6
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct 17, 1901.
the home fare if one desires. A good literary and reading-
room, with all the papers and magazines, is free to all. A
very fine band discourses most beautiful music each evening.
All kinds of bathing — surf, still water, or indoor warm water
plunge bathing are at the command of all. All the attractions
of the great hotel are shared with the occupants of Tent City.
For one of my simple tastes. Tent City offers as inviting a
menu as does the great hotel. I know of no place in Cali-
fornia, or elsewhere, where as much can be had to gratify
wholesome desire as at this beautiful retreat at delightful Cor-
onado.
CULTURE.
At the pretty little hamlet of Chula Vista, on the main-
land opposite the south end of Coronado peninsula, I had the
pleasure of being entertained by Judge A. Haines for two
days the past week. At the dinner table one evening. Judge
Haines, who has a family of delightful and promising children,
two of whom are making an enviable record in college,
remarked upon the tremendous importance of the parents
gaining and holding the fullest confidence and sympathy of
the children. To do this we parents MUST be able to enter
fully into the plans, thoughts and feelings of our children;
must give heartiest sympathy to all that pleases and interests'
them. This, said the Judge, is the key to all right training
in the home.
I was greatly interested in his further remark, that the
best use of education was to make us able to extend these
sympathies. Nothing, said the Judge, will help us so much
to give and gain this fullest and best sympathy, as will rich
culture. Thus education, broadest and best, will, as its best
fruit, make possible such training as will result in grandest
men and women. Such will most exalt our citizenship, and
most bless the world. Judge and Mrs. Haines' own home and
family are the best proofs that his philosophy is correct.
The .Judge made one other remark : Anarchy, whose
foul presence has struck such a cruel blow not only at us, but
the world, feeds on sensation and superstition. Culture is the
arch foe to both these blots of character. Culture, then,
should rid us of the dastardly presence, that so seriously
menaces our peace and safety.
EVERGREEN TREES.
The mother-love is one of the most holy and sacred of
instincts. It impels the mother bird to fashion her nest where
the younglings will be most secure against discovery and
harm. Thus the pine and other evergreens are most sought
for purposes of nest-building. Thus on every home grounds
we may well plant a group of evergreens. I have only two
lots for my home at Claremont, yet down by the barn I have a
vigorous Monterey pine, Lawson cypress, Norway spruce,
silver cedar, giant sequoia, and graceful arbor vitae. Already
the birds have found my grove and appreciated it for nest-
building. Thus this grove has three advantages : It gives
real beauty, gives a touch of evergreen landscape, brings the
cheering, beautiful presence of our feathered friends. Hur-
rah for the little grove of ever verdant conifers !
THE GARDEN.
Every bee-keeper, every rancher, should have a garden.
What a superb place to give the children the needed whole-
some employment ! What a chance to give them responsibility
and opportunity to earn money ihat shall be all their own !
What a rich addition it gives to the family table as the best
corn and peas are only known to him who raises them in his
own well-cared-for garden. What a rich pleasure for the
family as a whole, to plan, plant and glean in this little best
corner of the home grounds. With what pride we note the
growth of the luscious pie plant and vigorous asparagus. A
friend — a very busy man of Escondido — a great bee-section,
has Just told me how he helps the purse by his garden. He
has only three lots, all told, yet his monthly income is very
helpful. One month it reached .3:^9.80. His cabbages sold
readily for two cents per pound, when lemons sold for only
one cent.
IF YOU WANT
Fence to laet lone, buy the lonK-lawtlnt; PAGE.
PAGE WOTEM WIRE FENCECO.,ADUIAN,MICH,
Please mention Bee Journal •when ■writing.
ii 20HENS
working steadily at one time can.
3t hatch so many chicks as
one of our 200-epB size
Lj Successful IncubsLtors.
- You'n know exactly why when
you read a copy of our ]r>8-pai;e
for four cents. K. ve Caul. EUeB In five
Urn Moines Inciibiitor Co..
1 UeoMolnps, la. orHot78 Buffnlo.^.V.
f lease mention Bee Journal when Tyntlng.
A FRIEND
to poultrynien— tochickens.
■iiTis easily because it has
1 lirnnitKA. It cuts clean,
iimi perfet'ly. Makes a fine
avint; such as chickens re-
Before you buy send for
■*free catalogue No. 0
'W.J.ADAM, JOLIET,ILL.
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DESKS FOR GENTLEMEN AND LADIES!
THESE DESKS are made of quarter-sawed oak, first-class finish, well put
together, and will please every purchaser. They are an ornament to any
home, as well as being a useful necessity. Would make a FINE GIFT
for father, mother or sister.
The Combination Desk
J/<C ^C and Book^Case
is just the thing for a farmer or business man of
any kind, to keep his private papers in, and for his
books, etc. The drawers have locks, and there are
a number of pigeon-holes inside each of the desks
shown herewith.
The low prices quoted are f.o.b. Chicago. Send
for free catalog. Address,
Tti6 Roual Star Combination m
Game-Board Go., ¥^
773 to 779 Carroll Ave., CHICAGO. ILL.
Combined Desk and Book-Case
!, Mi-in. high, 30 in. x
I'i in. deep.
Price, $l;J.75.
[The above firm is entirely reliable. — Editor.]
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
Ladies' Desk.
Size, 40 in. high, 25 io. wide, 15%
Price, .$3;85.
Oct. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEH fOUPNAL
667
^REVERSIBLE WALL MAP>^
OF THE
UNITED STATES AND WOELD,
WITH SPECIAL INSET MAPS OF
GDlna, GuBa, rono Rico, lUe rnillDPines, Hawaii, and fliaska,
illy prepared to meet the demand for a first-class map that will give a quick, general idea of location of eTents the world over,
ticularly to the United States and our territorial possessions. Very iiMeiuI in every Home :tn<l Olliee.
Best and Most Necessary Map
Ever Issued.
No Home or Business House
should be -without it.
The JSC X
Plates
are works of art.
The engraving- is
plain, bold, and
decisive. Thecolor
work is elegantly
contrasted, but not
gaudy.
Perfec-
tion and
Artistio
Elegance
a salient feature
of this map not ap-
proached by any
similar publica-
tion.
/ ^'^i ^l' s =
A X: ^ ^
IVIarginal
Index.
is one of the in-
valuable features.
It gives an al-
phabetical list of
countries, their lo-
cation on map,
style of govern-
ment, population,
area, products,
minerals, imports,
exports, etc.
It has been pronounced a ^XX
Photograph of the World
The 1900 Census ^C ^%.
of the largest American Cities is given.
One side shows a grand map of our great country, with counties, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctly located. The other side shows
an equally good map of the world. Statistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, tjusiness, etc., a veritable photo-
graph of the UNITED STATES AND WORLD.
The map is printed on heavy map paper and is mounted on sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
lOOl Kmi'ION. — Every reader should consult it every day. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to the t(jp(.igraphy of the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and peaks are plainly Indicated. The leading cities and towns are sliown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitulia, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brunswick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The Southern portion of the map includes the Northern States of the Republic of Mexico, and the
Bahama Islands.
On (lie reverse side is the l.ihrsiry .Tlap of tlie IVorld. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
ever produced. The political divisions are correctly defined and beautifully outlined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
named. Ocean steamship lines with distances between important ports are given. A marginal index of letters and figures enables one easily to
locate every country in the world. A series of short articles in alphabetical order is printed around the border of this map in large, clear type,
containing valuable information concerning agricultural, mining, and manufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports in dollars.
The area, population, form of government, and chief executive of every country in the world is given up to date, also the names of the capitals
and their population. 'B'lie Inset illaps are elegantly engraveil and printed in colors. They are placed in convenient positions around the
United States map, and will be invaluable to every person desiring a plain understanding of our possessions. An inset map of China ou the
World side of map adds to its value.
^?^~ Two maps on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium for sending us Three New Subscribers at f 1.00 each ; or for $2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
668
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 17, 191 1.
The Drone's Folks.
■' The drone,'' says a Straw in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, " is always a half orphan, for
his lather is always dead before he is born.
He never has a full sister, for the father of
his mother's female children is never his
father. In fact, he never has any father ex-
cept his grandfather, and he never lives to
see any of his children."
In<.Breeding.i
The worst dangers of in-breeding are where
two beings are mated that are of exactly the
same blood, having the same father and
mother. Fortunately, the bee-keeper need
take no pains to avoid .such close breeding;
Nature takes care of that. A drone and a
queen from the same mother are not full
brother and sister, for the father of the queen
is not father of the drone. The only way to
mate two of exactly the same blood is to mate
a drone to his mother, and the drone is horn
too late for that. — Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Bees and Pear-Blight.
Regarding the bee and pear-blight question
in central California, I am pleased to an-
nounce that many of the fruit-growers are
coming to (or appear to be coming to) the
conviction that the removal of the bees dur-
ing the time the trees are in bloom will not
materially abate the destructive effects of the
pear-blight virus. It appears that the reso-
lution passed by the bee-keepers in their con-
vention, to move the bees out of the region of
the pear-orchard during the time they were in
bloom, required some ratifying action on the
part of the fruit-men in tilling out certain
blanks. These blanks were laid hrforr them
some time ago, but nothing has lire n ,1 , [i
is probably true that the peai-i.rrli:ir.ii-i an-
not very sanguine as to the biiirlicial rtl'.i-is
of the proposed removal, and many of them
are fair men, and therefore disinclined to put
the bee-keepers to this expense unnecessarily.
I talked with Prof. Waite (who, it will be
remembered, originally declared the bees to
be guilty), while in Buffalo, regarding this
case. He was not .sure the removal of the
bees would bring about relief, owing to the
presence of wild bees and numerous other
insects that would, undoubtedly, spread the
disease. He was sure, from extended experi-
ments, that the bees were very necessary for
the fertilization and proper maturing of the
fruit, although he admitted that possibly con-
ditions in California might be different.
Prof. Waite is a careful, candid man, and a
friend of the bees, and so much so that he
deems it necessary to have a few colonies of
them in his own pear-orchard, pear-blight or
no pear-blight.
Taking everything into consideration, it
appears now there will be no conflicting of
interests between the bee-keepers and pear-
men ; and it is hoped that the matter will
rectify itself when the pear-blight disease
loses its hold or '^ runs out," as we sincerely
hope it may.— Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
"Reviewlets" from the Bee-Keepers'
Review.
Beeswax is the last thing that I should
think of using for a lurjricant, yet when I
took my spectacles to a jeweler because one
of the joints turned so hard that it was difti-
cult to move it, he simply rubbed beeswax
around the joint and held it over a lamp until
it melted and penetrated the joint. Since
then it has worked all right. He says that
when the hinge to a watch-case works hard
Be treats it in a similar manner.
ExTRACTixG-CoMBS are better when they are
thicker than the ordinary brood-combs. There
is less capping for the bees to do, and less
uncapping for the bee-keeper — besides, it is
easier to uncap a thick than a thin comb.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale-Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL, necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Work fax Into Fonndation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, tree on application
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal -when ■writine.
THE WHEEL OF TIME
Metal Wheel.
it,'ht, any width of tire desired,
„_jr wheels are either direct or
S'stapcerspoke. Can FIT YOUK
WAGON perfectly without chaDge,
^NO BREAKING DOWN.
No dryia^ out. No lesi^tting tirea. Cheap
I beco'une they endure. Send for catv
lo£Qe and prices. Free upon reqnest.
Electric Wheel Co.
Box 16 Quincy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when wnunf
O J f ' 1 regarding
bend lor circulars j,-^//;^-?
improved and orig^inal Biueham Bee-Smoker.
FOK :;3 Years the Best ox Eakth.
2SAtf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writing..
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i SWEETENED
California Honey g
^
Be
g PACIFIC BEE JOURNAL,
?4 Los Angeles, Calif.
« Special— This year and next, $1.00,
•' 6 months trial, 35 cents.
42A4t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing' for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium foi sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal lor
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
ind the Clipping Device. Address^
QEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets each Tuesday, Thurs-
day and Saturday during October to
Buffalo Pan-Americau Exposition and
return, at S6.(I0, good in coaches, re-
turn limit 5 days from date of sale.
Tickets with longer limit at slightly
increased rates. Three through trains
daily. Chicago Passenger Station, Van
Buren St. and Pacific Avenue. City
ticket office. 111 Adams St., Chicago.
36— 41A4t
With thick combs there are fewer to handle.
Most bee-keepers put one less comb in the
super than in the brood-nest. With the Hed-
don hive Mr. J. B. Hall, of Ontario, uses onlj-
seven combs in a super, tacking thin strips of
wood to the edges of the end-bars to make
them of such a width that seven will take
the place of eight ordinarj' frames. If the
frames are needed for brood-rearing, it is an
easy matter to remove the strips of wood.
Packing put around the bees in winter
simply confines and retains the heat that
radiates from the cluster. How it does this
is well illustrated by the house that Mr. Jacob
Alpaugh, bee-keeper-like, built for himself,
in Ontario. The walls are of matched lum-
ber, packed between with dry sawdust, and
lathed and plastered on the inside. The house
is only one story high ; and the spaces be-
tween the joists overhead are packed with
dry leaves. For all the world, it is a big
chaff hive. Storm windows and doors are
used in winter. A little home-made furnace
in the cellar warms the whole house, with a
fire kept only part of the day — none at night
— and sometimes it is necessary to open ^
door to cool off the rooms.
HiVE Faith in your business, and stand
by it. If you haven't faith in it, and will not
stand by it through thick and thin, better get
some business in which you have faith. Mr.
Jacob Alpaugh, of Ontario, told me of an ex-
perience of his when the season was an entire
failure, and colonies not fed died in Septem-
ber, Although already in debt, he went in
still deeper by getting several hundred dol-
lar's worth of sugar to carry his bees through
the winter. There was a great loss of bees
the next winter from lack of stores, but his
bees came through in excellent condition.
The next year proved to be one of the l:)est.
Prices were good, and there were only a few
bees in the Province, and his bees not only
put him out of debt, but left him with
money in his pocket.
A Stout String, or even a piece of wire,
attached to the end of a stick, is a most effi-
cient device for starting a screw-cap on a
honey-can, or loosening the cover of a fruit-
jar. Wind the string around the cover three
or four times, draw up the slack so that the
string will not slip, and then use the stick as
a lever for starting the cover. Simple, isn't
it ? But bad you ever thought of it '! I saw
this device at the home of R. H. Smith, of
Ontario.
Equalizing Colonies and contracting the
brood-nests of old colonies just at the opening
of the honey harvest is something that is not
usuall.v practiced, but A. E. Hoshal, of Onta-
rio, says that with the Heddon hive he finds
it an advantage. He looks over both eases of
the brood-nest, filling one case with' combs
that contain the most brood, leaving this
case upon the stand. The combs of honey
are put away to be given the bees again after
the harvest is over. The more populous colo-
nies will contain more than one case of brood,
while the weaker colonies will contain less
than one case of brood ; and, by the time that
each colony is given one full case of brood,
not much of any brood will be left. This
method crowds the bees into the sections and
curtails the production of bees at just about
the right time.
Pedigreed Queens are something that
may be found in the apiaries of Mr. Miller, of
Ontario. For the last ten years he has kept
a record of each colony, the breeding of the
queen, the amount of surplus secured, etc.
One colony, this year, made a spurt, and
furnished ten supers of surplus He hasn't
looked up the breeding of tlie queen yet, but
says he can trace it back ten years.
The Best Colonies devoted to comb
honey production, and the others to extracted
hone.v, will allow the bee-keeper to requeen
his yard from his most desirable stock ; as
the bees worked for comb honey will swarm,
and thus furnish the queen-cells for use in
making increase. This was suggested by A.
E, Hoshal, of Ontario.
Cushions are usually used on top of colo-
nies that are wintered out-of-doors, but M, H.
Hunt says that he prefers to lay a large piece
To make cows pay. asf Sliarpli's Orftani Separators, Book
'Business Dairying" & Cat,21i; tree, W.Chester.Pa.
Oct. 17. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
669
of cloth in the upper story, over the brood-
nest, and pour the chaff into the cloth . lie says
that he can tuck the packing down more
snugly at the corners than with the cushions.
In the spring he can grasp the cloth by the
corners, lift it out, and dump its contents into
a box. The cloths can be packcil away in a
small space for the summer, and are easily
protected from the ravages of mice.
A Portico, four or five inches deep, having
a wire-cloth front, and large enough to cover
the whole front of the hive, is the best thing
possible with which to fasten in bees when
moving them or shipping them. Nothing
worries bees more, or sooner puts them into
a ferment, than to find the entrance closed.
While such a portico does not allow the bees
to fly, it does not close the entrance, and
allows the bees to cluster in it. off the combs.
When hives are arranged in this way they can
be stacked up without shutting oft' the venti-
lation. Jacob Alpaugh. of Ontario, has such
porticoes as these for use in moving bees, ami
one of them can be fastened to the front of
the hive in about live seconds by means of a
hook made of wire. He had two colonies
swarm once when being moved, and the por-
ticoes were filled so full of excited bees that
the latter disgorged the honey in their sacs
and perished as a result.
Drawn Combs in sections can be very
profitably secured near the close of the bass-
wood by leaving on one super of partly
finished sections, raising it up and putting'
beneath it a case of sections filled with foun-
dation. By keeping close watch this case
can be removed as soon as the combs are
partly drawn, and before much honey has
been stored in them, or the sections are
scarcely soiled with propolis. If the flow
continues longer, another case of sections can
be put in the place of the one removed, and
another set of drawn combs secured. Such
supers of half-drawn combs are very valuable
for use the next spring.
Hives in Groups of four is the arrange-
ment in the apiary of J. B. Hall, of Ontario.
The groups are named from the letters of the
alphabet; thus there is group A, group B,
and so on. The two north hives in group A
face north, the two south ones face south. In
group B the two west ones face west, the two
east ones face east. In group C the hives
face north and south the same as in group A.
By this arrangement no two hives standing
near each other have the same relative posi-
tion, and there is little danger of a returning
swarm getting into the wrong hive. When
the bees are placed in the cellar in the tall,
each hive is marked with a pencil on the
front in such a way as to indicate its posi-
tion; thus: "G — SW" means that it is the
southwest hive in group G. In order that the
position of group G may not Ije forgotten, a
big letter G is printed on a piece of section-
box, and tacked to a tree just north of the
group. Other groups are marked in a similar
manner.
Standard BelQian fiare Book !
M. D. CAPPS.
TUIS book of 175
pag^es preseats a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
g-ian Hare industry;
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding^
stock; care of the
ydiiiig', feeding-, dia-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping, Ac.
First edition of 50,-
CKXJ copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome pat)er cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only $1.10.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14b Erie Street, - CUICAGO, ILL.
Please raetitlou Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:::^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW IWl FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Agency, C. M. Scott & Co., HX)4 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writing.
35 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W ^rceZn^n^i
f*^ ^* ix^* M^-^-^*^ TT *^y^» 'jx CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Buffalo Pan-American Tickets
via the Nickel Plate Road, $13.00 for
the round trip good 15 days ; $16.00 for
the round trip g-ood 20 days. Three
daily trains with vestibuled sleeping-
cars. Meals in dining-cars, ranging in
price from 35 cents to $1.00. Address
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 38— 41A4t
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Please mwnuuu tieo -Juurn^. wiiou WTitiafit
4StAi/Vi/VI/\l/\l/\l/i)/\t/\i/\l/\l/il>\li\l/\l/\lAi/\ii\^^
=BEST=
1 uimm fioneu For §ai6 1
•■-' ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^
Alfalfa
Honey J/c^
This is the famous
White Extracted
Honey g-athered m
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honey, and
nearly everybod\
who cares to eat
honey at all can't
get enough of the
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood g
Honey J^ ^
This is the well-
known Ug-ht-colored
honey g-athered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
strontrer flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7j^ cents per pound. Basswood Honey, pi cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HONEV
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
T^ Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
.^^ I've just sampled the honey you sent, and ifs prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm
•^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of ray own production
:^^ and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the
■^ honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
^^ft drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very e-xcellent quality
'^ of alfalfa honey I have received from yon is better suited than the honevs of more
'.^ marked flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
•^ McHenry Co., 111.
[^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
[^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
^^ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
:^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
1^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
f^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
670
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 17, 1901.
The New vs. the Old.
I started in the spring- with 47 colonies, 6 of
them too weak to give any surplus: increased
to 85, have doubled back to 79, and taken off
3800 pounds of honey, mostly extracted, and
plenty of stores left for winter.
The above has been done where bees in five
box-gums could not exist together for want
of flowers. I give the improved hive and the
Italian bee credit for the above.
L. W. McRae.
Washington Co., Ala.. Oct. 2.
Honey Conditions in Nevada.
The Nevada State Journal (Washoe Coun-
ty's leading paper), says:
" Nevada's honey crop is almost a failure.
Around here the bee-men are telling the same
story."
Such is the fact, all things considered. I
have averaged 40 pounds per colony, and for
the season I think I have taken the prize in
this locality. I know of some who have
secured only 50 cases of comb honey from 200
colonies; others have secured none at all.
Although honey is scarce, buyers are offering
only from 9 to 10 cents for comb, and 4 to 5
cents for extracted. The A. I. Root Co. have
a man in the field that is offering the best
prices— 10 cents for comb, and 5 cents for ex-
tracted. No sales have been made as yet, as
we are after higher prices, if possible.
"Nevada Sage-Brcsh."
Washoe Co., Nev., Oct. 2.
Slow Honey-DealeFs.
I shipped to B. Presley & Co., St. Paul,
Minn., on .July 31, 1901, 675 pounds of as nice
white honey as was ever put into cases, and
lor two months I could not get a word from
them— not even an acknowledgement of the
receipt of the honey. Finally, after getting
an attorney to write them, they sent me the
sum of S6S.50, or a trifle over 10 cents per
pound. C. H. Harlan.
Kanabec Co., Minn.. Oct. 5.
Good Season for Honey.
This has been a fairly prosperous year, not-
withstanding the extended drouth. The
weather during the summer was fair and free
from storms and wind, thus giving an unusual
number of working days. We had a heavy
run early in the season from catnip ; white
clover, also red clover, being dwarfed by the
drouth, was visited more frequently than
common by the bees; and we also had a fairly
good fall flow from heartsease, goldenrod, and
many other flowers that secrete only during
dry, hot weather.
My surplus at home is 407 pounds to the
colony, spring count, from 75 colonies; one
colony stored 629 pounds, one-fourth of it in
sections. Another finished up 437 one-pound
sections. I hived 50 swarms, which will amply
pay all expenses. I sold 105 colonies for ?;525,
and the latter part of May I had a chance to
sell .500 colonies for S3.500, but during the
negotiations the heavy June How came on,
and I refused to sell. I produce section
honey, extracted, and chunk honey, and sell
all of it without regard to color for 15 cents
per pound, mostly to local dealers in this and
adjoining towns.
I am engaged in quite a number of other
enterprises in connection with bees. Many
neighboring farmers, who own their own
farms, valued at .?8000 to S14,000 each, inform
me that their average annual profits do not
exceed -5800, while my average profits from
sales of honey and bees from my home apiary
have been for 16 years 300 percent on the in-
vestment.
I am one who believes bees pay, and pay
better than almost any other kind of business.
I am in the business because it is profitable
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long°Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong-ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies^
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog- on application. Cincinnati, O.
IT WILL PAY YOU
to send f..r our new poultry book de-
^ liT"" DANDY"&7„'e CUTTER
IV* It tells how to increase the epp yield.
-■^The I>unilr, the easies" ' —
ingot all bone cutters,
direct on 30 days' trial. I'dce, »6 up.
Handvoiiie Itoob Free.
STRATTON MANFG. CO., ^^i
Box 21, Erie, Pa.
Flease mention Bee journal wnen ■writing
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool JVIarkets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry^ first,foremost and all the time.
Are yon interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only $1.40, It is
a fine thin^ to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this " Emerson " no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re-
turn—$13,
via the Nickel Plate Road dailj', with
limit of IS days ; 20-day tickets at S16
for the round-trip : S-day tickets at S6
for the round-trip on Tuesdays, Thurs-
days and Saturdays, the latter good
only in coaches. Through service to
New York and Boston and lowest avail-
able rates. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams Street, Chicago.
37— 41A4t
tinancially, and not tor health or pleasure. I
think an industrious person who would ordi-
narily succeed in other affairs will do so in
handling bees, but the man who has failed at
farming or mercantile business I would not
advise to go into the bee-business.
J. L. Gandt.
Richardson Co., Nebr., Oct. 3.
An "Infallible" Method of IntPO-
dueing Queens.
Bees are subject to more modes of manipu-
lation than any other domestic animal we
have. There are all kinds and shapes of
hives, all sizes of frames and sections, differ-
ent makes of foundation, and different ways
of introducing queens, all of which go to
"rattle'' the amateur, and place him in a
state of flux. A will say, " My hive is the
only one." B says, " My way of manipulat-
ing bees is the best way ;" and now here I am
saying that my way of introducing queens is
infallible. Yes, infallible only in colonies
where a laying queen has been taken out
within a very few days, say not to exceed
four, and there is lots of hatching brood, and
this may be done just as soon as the old
queen is removed. When you have found the
old queen, and killed her or disposed of her
in some other way to suit your convenience,
take every bee out of the cage containing the
new queen, and lift a frame from the hive
and put into the cage from 1.5. to 20 youny
been from one hour to one day old, being
doubly sure there are no old bees put into
the cage. Remove thecorkor cardboard, and
in from 24 to 48 hours the queen will be liber-
ated and laving. I have had them out in six
hours.
Queens are very nervous little things, and
when the cage is "filled up with the little in-
nocent, fuzzy things, she is contented, and
the colony at once will say, " Look at the
new queen; why, the cage is full of our own
bees;" and they do not molest her. '• So we
will hustle her out," and surely they will,
and when she emerges from the cage her
nervousness has all disappeared, and she takes
up her duties and commences laying in a very
short time. I even take my imported queens
now and introduce them in this way. This
may not be my own invention, yet I have
never seen it mentioned, but perhaps it has
been ; but some amateur may profit by it,
nevertheless. A. D. D. Wood.
Ingham Co., Mich.
PooraSeason— Old Bee-Books, Etc.
I am a new scholar in J*ee-keeping. I
bought two colonies last fall ; one swarmed,
and I captured it. The season was poor, and
I will feed to carry them over winter. I did
not get a taste of honey. Although my
first attempt is a failure I will continue; that
is the reason I sent my dollar for membership
in the National Bee-Keepers' Association.
I have been deeply impressed b.v the high
character. Christian spirit and brotherly love
shown, each to the other, at the bee-keepers'
conventions and rallies. I would have en-
joyed meeting the brethren (and sisters, too)
at Buffalo, and receiving advice and pointers
(though I have received some pointed ones
from the bees).
I love to read the American Bee Journal so
much that I feel lost when I do not have it
with me.
I have just read three old books on bee-
keeping— one by Moses Rusden, .July 18, 1679,
dedicated to the "King's Most Excellent
Majesty." This book is in four sections, has
143 pages, gives very clear the habits, and
nature, and functions, of the "king-bee;"
tells how to handle bees (iip-to-ilate, l!M)l.'),
how to construct hives, treats on diseases of
bees, etc., and closes his volume with, " If
any man knows anything more than I impart,
let him disclose it; otherwise, improve with
me this art."
The next book is by Thomas Wildman,
1770, " A Treatise on the Management of
Bees." His writings are very clear and en-
joyable to peruse. He describes a movable-
frame hive (^wiVc np-lo-ilate .'). The engrav-
ings are remarkable and fine. He quotes many
of the older writers. I wish you could read,
this book for its many interesting points.
Oct. 17, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
671
The third book is bv John Kf vs. of Bee
Hall, near Pembroke, 1796. Title: -'TheAn-
tient Bee-Masler"s Farewell." He telle about
the selection, care, feeding, etc., of bees,
describes the observatory hive, artificial
swarming, honey-dew, how the queen-cage is
made; diseases, thefts, wars, enemies of bees,
extracting, etc. The engravings are excel-
lent, showing the movable-frame hive to per-
fection.
I have the " A B C of Bee-Culture " and
" Langstroth on the Honey-Bee.'" I believe
we all are conceited about what we know
about the busy little bees. After reading the
modern works, and then the ancient, it sort
of knocks the props out. We ought to give
those old fellows some honor. I feel that we
have borrowed it all, or almost all. from
them. These books were loaned me by one
of our most proficient and oldest bee-keepers,
Mr. Charles H. Lake. He hastiuite a museum
of old books, some of the very first experi-
ments in hives in this country. With all the
material and facts which Mr. Lake possesses,
a most interesting history could be compiled.
Ch.is. E. Kemp.
Baltimore Co., Md., Sept. 21.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. — The executive committee of the
Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association has ordered
that the next meeting' be held all day and even-
ing, Dec. 5, l'>01, at the Brig-g-s House club-room.
This is arranged on account of the low rates to
be in force then for the International Live-
stock Exposition in Chicago at that time [Nov.
30 to Dec. 7 , beine one fare plus $2.iNJ for the
round-trip This notice g'oes by mail to nearly
300 bee-keepers near Chicago, and should result
in the largest attendance we have ever had. Dr.
C.C. Miller and Mr.C. P. Dadant have promised
to be present. Let all come.
George W. York, Pres.
Herman F. Moore, Sec.
Colorado —The Colorado annual meeting
promises to be a genuine success. The program
has been made out for a number of weeks, and
is almost ready for publication. It has come to
be a privilege and an honor to read a paper be-
fore our Association, and so very few decline
who are invited to write or speak for instruc-
tion. One paper is already in the hands of the
secretary. On two or three nights a big magic
lantern will illustrate talks by famous students
of bees and the bee-industry. And then we are
going to have an exhibition of the choicest
honey in the United States [made in Colorado,
you know), and wax, with bees enough to show
" how the thing is done."
If you want to know more, or have forgotten
the dates (Nov. 18, 1% 20), write to the under-
signed, box 432, Denver, Colo.
D. W. Working, Sec.
C a 1 if rkfn Sal ^* you care to know of its
WdlllUnilct ; Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural F^ess,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast, Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal ■when "writing
$6.oo to Buffalo Pan-American and
Return— $6. oo,
via the Nickel Plate Road, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, with limit
of 5 days from date of sale, good in
coaches only. 15-day tickets at $13.00
for the round-trip, and 20-day tickets
at S16.00 for round-trip, good in sleep-
ing-cars. Three through trains daily.
For particulars and Pan-American
folder of buildings and grounds, ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, General Agent,
111 Adams St., Chicago. 39— 41A4t
Please metitloii Bee Journal
when writing; Advertisers.
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
Sft lOtb 2S«s soft
Sweet Clover (white) $.60 $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.U0 7.£0
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Prices subject to nlarket changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
To Buy fioneu
What haveyou to offer
and at what price?
34Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton, Wis.
Please mentior Bee Journal "when ■writins.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
delivered. We pay spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference — German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40ASt Please mention the Bee Journal.
Gomb and ^i-
tracledHoneu!
i3ij.if yi ii„e. kind and quantity.
R. A. BURNETT & CO., 199 S.Water St., Chicago
33Aif Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay hiffhest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating- quantity,
qnality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
PleP=5ft mention Bee Journal "when ■writing.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can furnish you with The A. I. Koot Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our 1901 catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writina.
The ''Successful" Branching Out —Perhaps
one of the strongest arguments in favor of the
use of the Incubator, is the immense success
and growth of some of the more successful
firms. People would not buy Incubators as they
have been buying them by the thousand, if they
were not as nearly perfect as it is possible to
make them. One of the firms who are deserv-
ingly getting a large slice of this success is the
Des Moines Incubator with their famous " Suc-
cessful " Incubators and Brooders.
This business is growing so rapidly that they
have found it necessarv to open a branch office
at 101 and 105 Erie St., Buffalo. N.Y.. to enable
them to take care of the large Eastern business
that is coming to them. Buffalo is chosen be-
cause of its central location, facilities for ship-
ping, and low freight rates, all of which will
materially benefit purchasers of Successful
machines.
This office is in charge of Mr. Wm. C. Denny,
who needs very little introduction to most of
our readers. A master mechanic in the hatch-
ing and raising of poultry, as well as secretary
and treasurer and pioneer organizer of the P.uff
Rock Club. He is at the same time a broad,
*' fourteen carat " business man. You eastern
fellows will be taken care of in a way that will
warm the cockles of your hearts when you visit
the Successful plant ai Buffalo, and you are in-
vited to make this vour headquarters when in
Buffalo. If you are not planning to be in Buf-
falo in the near future, write Mr. Denny a letter.
He will gladly supply any information you may
want on the artificial hatching and raising of
poultry.
Finally, let us say that the Successful ma-
chines for l''Hl 1''02. are up to the high stand-
ards always set by this house, and are backed
up bv an un.]ualirie.l and unequivocal guaran-
tee. Write and let them tell you their story,
not forgetting to say that you saw their adver-
it in the American Bee Journal.
>1 jA^ »t< j>!< j»to >M >te >te >V. >i^- >t;r >t^ y^_\B
I HONEY AND BEESWAX l
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Oct. H'.— There is a very good trade
in No. X comb honey at 15c per pound; that
which win not grade No. 1 or fancy sells at
from IS^'jHc; some small lots of fancy have
brought more than I5c; light amber selling at
12@13c; the dark honeys of various grades
range at from lOfgllc. Extracted sells fairly
well at S%<&b%c for white, according to quality
and flavor; white clover and basswood bring-
ing 7c; light amber, 5J4^5-\'c; dark, 5@5Kc.
Beeswax steady at 2sc. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10. — The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
S@6c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from S@9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ]3M@15!^c.
C. H. W. Wbbkk.
Boston, Oct. 12.— Fancv 1-pound honey in car-
tons, 16c: A No. 1 in glass or cartons, 15c; No.
1, 14^(a'15c; very little No. 3 being received.
Light amber extracted, 7J^c.
Blakb, Scott & Lbb.
Albany, N. Y., Sept. 19.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, 16c; No. 1, 15c; mixed, 13(ti 14c; No.
1 buckwheat or amber, 12@13c. Extracted,
white,7@7J^c; light, 6^<at7c; dark, 5J^fa)6c. Bees-
wax, 28@29c. H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Aug. 8.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3-50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4J^(a»4:'4C per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Sept. 10.— Comb honey is now be-
ginning to arrive in large quantities, and, as a
rule, quality is fine. The demand is good, and
we quote as follows: Fancy white, 14tel5c; No.
1, 13c; No. 2, 12c; and amber, lie. No buck-
wheat is on the market as yet, but are expect-
ing same within a week or so. Extracted is
selling slowly, with plenty of supplv, at 5^6J^c,
according to' quality, and Southern in barrels
at from 55(a65c per gallon. Beeswax dull at 27c.
Hildreth & Sboblkbn.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail way" at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honev.
Peycee Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancy white comb honey,
14(ail5c; No. 1, I3(al4c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6('i'7c, Beeswax, 25f«'26c.
M. H. Hunt <& Son.
San Francisco, Sept. 4.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, ~@^c\ dark, 6@7H cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5M@— ; light amber, 4^®—;
amber, 4@ — . Beeswax, 26@28c.
Arrivals and spot offerings are of rather mod-
erate volume, but there is as much or more on
market than can be conveniently or advanta-
geously placed. To secure liberal wholesale
custom, prices would have to be shaded in favor
of buyers. In a small way for especially desi-
rable lots slightly higher figures than are
quoted are realized.
Kansas City, Sept. 14.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15(gil(,c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are e.x-
pecled and quotations are issued at $3.10@$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14^14J4c; the demand beidg quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5J4(^6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
Please ineutlou Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
672
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 17, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SENO US YOUR ORDERS' OR
H1V6S, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r *a- W. M. Gefrish, East Notidgham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal -wJien WTitui.(?>
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, "5 cts.; Tested, Jl.OO: Select Tested,
$1.50. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
River Forest, Oak Park Post-OfBce,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Jonmal -when "wrriting.
Please mention Bee Jovimal when writins-
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
Eugene Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Pricks— Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for Si. 00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
QEOROE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll'
Year
Dadant's Foundation. \t
We guarantee ^i^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do7 BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAOOINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINO.
Why does it sell v, >v
sowed? ^^
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compll-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee— Revised,
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock C«.. 111.
Please mention Bee Journal -when wTitin&
.^i^
9SSSQSSQSQSS«SSSQQQQQSSQS
RED CLOVER QUEENS
QSSsssssQsssQsssQssssQsssQsssssQQSs;
^^^r
Black Rock, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1901.
Friend Ernest: — I will try and tell you what you want to know about that queen. I got
her of you in 1890 as a premium with GLEANINGS. I never saw a small colony of bees build up
as that one did. In the spring- of I'^iXi they came out in fine shape, wintered perfect. I raised them
up in May and gave them S frames more so the queen would not want for room. I never saw such
a colony of bees as they were in June, and they were actually storing- honey when other bees in
my yard were starving-. Nol they were not robbing. I never saw those two best colonies of mine
trying to rob. THEY CERTAINLY WORK ON RED CLOVER. This is no guesswork, as I
have seen them. As you know, the past two seasons have been very poor, and what honey my
bees did get in 1900 candied soon after cold weather set in. I packed this colony in a chaff hive
and left them out, thinking that such a strong colony would winter perfect. The snow came on
the middle of November, and those poor bees never a fly until the last of March or the first of
April. When warm weather at last came I thought they were dead, as they did not seem to be fly-
ing much, so I did not pay any attention to them until in June. I noticed they were working a
little, so I opened up the hive and found them in the upper story. I took the lower story out and
left them in the one body. The queen was laying nicely, and I thought they would make a good
colony to winter. Along the last of July I noticed that they needed more room. I gave them
super, 24 bcxes, and in a few days they had it full. They have made 72 boxes of as nice honey as
you ever saw, and are drawing out some starters now, Sept. 2.
Very truly yours, Geo. B. Howe.
Prices of Red Clover Queens.
Gleanings in Bee-Culture 1 year and Untested Queen $2.00
*' *' ** Tested Queen 4.00
** " " Select Tested Queen 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to order one of these queens. All or-
ders are filled promptly. No extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Hedina, Ohio.
(U.S.A.)
0^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '^^ifii^Jo'iLLr''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO
Send to them for their free Catalog.
iijAEme%
Bee J51RNAL
CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 24, 1901,
FORTV-F1R5T VEAR
No. 43
674
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
Oct. 24, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Gbobge W. Tork, - - Editor-in-Chief.
De. C. C. Miller, ) ,->„ ► »
E.E. Hasty, P^Tti?
Pkof. a. .J. Cook, f Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.0U a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico : all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To orosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. UUTCHINSON,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
p. U. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
Thos. G. Newman
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
irer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
Ilgf" If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey: at any rate it would
(five the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees.**
The picture shown herewith is a reprodue-
Hon of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 8 lor 25 cents. Send all orders to the offica
i.f the American Bee Journal.
LanosMtion...
TI16H0I1611B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
THE—
This is one of the standard boolcs on
bee-culture, and oug-ht to be in the
library of every bee-lceeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pag-es, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14* Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
The Bee-Reeper's Guide;
naniial ot the Api:
BY ■
PROE A. J, COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition-18tli Thou-
eand— $1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite nnnec-
cssary — it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng- style. The author is also too well-known to
ttie whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give awav
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following ofifer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Jouraal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife,
side — Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELeEE
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is tub i-'uLi. Size of the Knife.]
Vour Name on the Knife —When ordering, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knife.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies lu the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, v.'hich is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are haud-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the lining-s are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty *' is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it: otherwise to try to destroy the
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and jou meet with a se
tunate as to have one of the "Novelties,'' your Pocket-Knife will
case of death, ^-our relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gi res a faint idea, but cannot fully convey
this^beautiful knife, as the " 5fovelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending usihree new subscriheks to the Bee Journal (with $.''-'».) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
and ad-
accident, and are so fot -
as an identifier; and in
nore lasting memento could a raothei
L ladv to a gentleman, the knife having
I exact representation oi
GEORGE W, YORK & CO,
*F*Please allor ■•bout two weeks for your knife order to be filled.
St., Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, OCTOBER 24, 1901,
No, 43,
i ^ Editorial. ^ I
"Too Previous " Unqueening. — Quite
a number of bej^inners in bee-I\eepinjj malie a
big mistake when, after they have ordered
queens from a dealer or breeder, they imme-
diately kill the queens of the colonies where
they wish to introduce the new queens when
they arrive. This is a risky and unnecessary
thing to do. Never destroy a reigning queen
until the i|ueen sent for is received. Very
often queens can not be sent by return mail,
even if so advertised. A breeder may be able
to send by return mail almost invariably, but
more than likely the bee-keeper who has been
so hasty as to kill the old queen before the
new one arrives is so unfortunate as to have
the mailing of his queen unavoidably delayed
several days or a week. Even a queen-
breeder can not control all circumstances at
all times. So the safest way is to wait until
the new queen is on hand, then proceed to
remove the old queen and introduce the new
one according to directions.
Discrepancies of Apiarian AVriters.
— There is not entire unanimity among the
writers of bee-literature. Views are held that
seem diametrically opposed. Sometimes they
are really just as much opposed as they seem
to be. Sometimes wrong views are held.
Sometimes a difference of locality or a differ-
ence in conditions may give rise to opposite
views, both views being right. Sometimes,
however, a fuller understanding may show
that there is really no discrepancy where dis-
crepancy appeared.
A case in point is that of getting unfinished
sections cleaned out by the bees. The Miller
plan is to have the sections in a pile with an
entrance so small that only one or two bees
can pass at a time. The B. Taylor plan is to
spread out the sections so as to allow the
freest apjiroach. One plan seems to be the
exact opposite of the other, yet a little ex-
planation will show that both plans have the
same basis for action.
In a time of scarcity expose a single section
of honey, and in a little while it will be so
thickly covered with bees that no jiart of the
comb can be seen, and the cotnb will be
chewed up into little bits. If by any means
it can be so managed that the bees shall not
beat all crowded upon the comb, the bees
will deliberately empty the honey without
marring the comb.
The Miller plan says: Admit so few bees
at a time that they will not be crowded upon
the comb. The Taylor plan says: Spread
out so many sections that there will be
no crowding. Each plan strives tor the
same thing — to prevent the bees crowding
upon the comb. The Miller plan is safe in
any case; theTaylorplan works more rapidly,
but can be used only when 8 or 10 sections
can be put out for each colony.
The Illinois Fair Premiums were
awarded by C. P. Dadant this year. Secretary
James A. Stone, of the State Bee-Keepers'
Association, has sent us the list, which is as
follows :
Display of comb honey — 1st, J. A. Stone &
Son, ?20; 2d, Chas. Becker, 5;15; 3d, G. M.
Rumler, SIO.
Collection labeled cases containing I'i or
more pounds of white honey from different
flowers — 1st, Chas. Becker, $8 ; J. A. Stone &
Son, ¥5; G. M. Rumler, ?3.
Collection labeled cases containing 13 or
more pounds of amber or dark honey from
different rtower.s— 1st, Chas. Becker, S8 ; 2d, G.
M. Rumler. $b.
Case white clover comb honey, 13 to 24
pounds — 1st, Aaron Coppin, S4; 2d, Geo. A.
Hunt, s:3; 3d, J. A. Stone & Son, ?2.
Case of sweet clover comb honey, 12 to 24
pounds — 1st, Chas. BecKer, S4; 2d, J. A.
Stone it Son, ?3; 3d, Aaron Coppin, S2.
Case of basswood comb honey, 13 to 24
pounds — 1st, Chas. Becker, 84; 2d, J. A.
Stone & Son, §3; 3d, G. M. Rumler, .*2.
Display of extracted honey — 1st, Chas.
Becker, .?30; 3d, J. A. Stone & Son, glo: 3d,
G. M. Rumler, .?10.
Honey extracting on the grounds — 1st, C.
Becker, ;S5; 2d, J. A. Stone & Son, S3.
Frame of comb honey for extracting — 1st,
G. M. Rumler, S.t: 2d, Chas. Becker, ¥3; 3d,
J. A. Stone & Son, •?2.
Display of candied honey — 1st, C. Becker,
$20; 3d, J. 4. Stone & Son, ?15; 3d, G. M.
Rumler, SIO.
Display of beeswa.x — 1st, J. A. Stone it
Sou, $15; 3d, Chas. Becker, 810; 3d, G. M.
Rumler, $b.
One-frame observatory hive of dark Italian
bees— 1st, G. M. Rumler, |4; 3d, C. Becker. ?3.
One-frame observatory hive of golden Ital-
ian bees — 1st, Chas. Becker, §4; 3d, G. M.
Rumler, i?;:i.
One-frame observatory hive of Carniolan
bees— 1st, J. A. Stone & Son, S4; 2d, Chas.
Becker, SS.
Honey-vinegar, one-half gallon, with recipe
for making— Ut. G. M. Rumler, S4; 3d, J. A.
Stone & Son, Rl; 3d, Chas. Becker, $3.
Display of designs in honey or beeswax —
1st, J. a'. Stone it Son. $12; 3d, Chas. Becker,
?8; 3d, G. M. Rumler, .?6.
The Colorado Convention. — The 32d
annual session of the Colorado State Bee-
Keepers' AssoL'iiuion will be held in Repre-
sentatives Hall. State Capitol, Denver, Nov.
18, 19 and 20. 'I'he following program has
been prepared liy tlie program committee.
The secretary, D. W. Working, says it is
probable that there will be a few minor
changes in the program, but nearly all the
papers have been definitely promised, and
that a profitable and interesting meeting is
assured.
In addition to the usual officers' reports,
discussions of questions, etc., the following
papers, addresses, etc., will be given:
Grading Honey — J. S. Bruce.
Summary of the Recent Discussions on
Breeding— F. L. Thompson.
President's Address— R. C. Aikin.
Stereopticon Talk, Illustrating Bee-Keep-
ing in the United States and Canada — E. R.
Root.
The Interests of Isolated Bee-Keepers —
Frank Drexel.
Advice to Beginners — H. C. Morehouse.
Methods of Wintering Bees — L. F. Jouno.
A Good Honey-House — T. Lytic.
Abnormal Swarming-Fever — Mrs. A. J.
Barber.
Stereopticon Lecture — The Anatomy of the
Honey-Bee— Prof. C. P. Gillette.
Long-Tongued Honey-Bees — Prof. Gillette.
When to Produce Extracted Honey — A. F.
Foster.
Extension of State Association Benefits — D.
W. Working.
The National Bee-Keepers' Association — R.
C. Aikin.
An attractive feature will be the exhibit of
bees and bee-products. The premium list
(a copy of which we have not seen) should
attract a large and representative showing of
the work of our little storers of sweets.
It is earnestly hoped that there may be a
large attendance. The Colorado Association
Is practicallj„the only rival of the National,
both in mfeftbership andKvalue to the bee-
keeping industry of' the United States. Some
day we trust there may be others to claim
such a distinction.
How Long are Brooil- Combs Good?
— To this i|uestion a bee-keeper replies in
Centralblatt, that at the most they should not
be used more than three or four years, one
reason therefor being that the queen shows
her preference for new combs in Wfiich the
bees are better developed. It would be very
hard to convince the mass of bee-keepers that
just as well developed bees do not proceed
from combs 20 years old. And that queens
prefer to lay in fresh combs is decidedly
against the observations of many bee-keepers
on this side.
Correct Use of Bee-Keeping Terms
is a matter of some consequence. It has been
a matter of no little dilliculty to have the use
of ''hive " for " colony " eliminated from our
bee-literature. " Swarm '' for " colony " was
also quite common. Now that the tendency
toward correctness in terms has become some-
what general, there seems to be a letting-up
under the plea that several names for the
same thing gives a pleasing variety. This is
676
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 24, 1901.
much to be regretted. Variety secured at the
expense of perspicuity can hardly be pleasing.
A reputable journal has so many times used
the word "stand" when "colony" was
meant that it can hardly be otherwise under-
stood than that such use is approved. The
word "stand" having a specitie use in bee-
keeping as designating the thing upon which
a hive stands, its use in another sense serves
just as much for confusion as for variety. Is
there any argument for the use of "stand"
when "colony" is meant, that will not
equally support the use of " hive " in the
same way f A single word for each idea, and
a single idea for each word, gives a clearness
of understanding for which no amount of
variety will compensate. Two words for the
same idea and two ideas for the same word
are common enough, let us not add to the
confusion.
I Weekly Budget. I
Mr. Walter R. Assell, of Ramsey Co.,
Minn., sent us the photograph from which
was taken our front-page engraving this
week. He had this to say about it :
" I enclose a photograpli of a honey-comb I
caused my bees to produce for the Minnesota
State Fair exhibit. It took first premium for
novel design. My little boy was placed by
its side in order to show its relative size. The
weight is about 40 pounds. With the aid of
a glass my descriptive card can be easily read
on the photograph."
The card attached contains the following
information :
"CIRCUMAPOLIS."
" These concentric cylinders of honey-comb
all rest on the same base, the inner one
being 9 inches deep. When made by the
bees, they occupied an inverted position, the
present base then forming tne cover of the
hive."
Mr. W. W. Lathrop, of Fairfield Co..
Conn., writing us recently had this to say
about " The Home Circle " department in
this journal :
Editor York :— Ever since Prof. Cook be-
gan his home circle papers I have intended to
write and tell you how well I like them. If
there was nothing else in the American Bee
Journal I would still keep on taking it. They
alone are worth a dollar a year to me. 1 hope
some time they will be published in huuk
form, for I should like to have such a book
in my library.
I have had so much to say to my wife about
Prof. Cook, and have read to her from his
home papers at different times, until now,
whenever I am cross and say or do something
that I ought not to, she says, " Is that the
way Prof. Cook would do ;" or, " Come now.
Prof. Cook, you have forgotten yourself."
Of course, this stops further trouble. So you
see, Mr. York, the home circle papers do good
in one home, at least.
The November Dei.ineatoh.— A season-
able atmosphere rises from the various useful
and valuable features of the November Delin-
eator. The styles shown are those for early
winter; the dressmaking article tells about
the making of coats; the fancy needlework
article bears upon Thanksgiving and Christ-
mas gifts; the crocheting articles are those of
a winter character; the gardening article
deals with the pruning and protection of rose-
trees throughout winter. Every woman who
wishes to get splendid value for her expendi-
ture should buy the Delineator for itself. It
in turn will help her to economize in house-
hold matters at every point. Published by
the Butterick Publishing Co., New York. N.
Y.
I The Buffalo Convention. I
^ 5"
^ Report of the Proceeding* of the Thirty-Second Annual C-
^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^
^ elation, held at Buffalo, New York, ^
^ Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^
The 32d annual convention of the
National Bee Keepers' Association was
called to order at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 10,
by Pres. E. R. Root, of Ohio, who
called on Rev. E. T. Abbott, of Mis-
souri, to oiler prayer. Mayor Diehl,
of Buffalo, was then introduced to the
convention and delivered the following
Address of Welcome.
I don't know as the Mayor can enter-
tain you very long, but I wish to ex-
tend to you a most hearty welcome to
our city, and I am sure that your delib-
erations will be of benefit to your-
I has been of great benefit to the people
of Alsace." And he took me into an
I addition to his barn and showed me a
I large tin tub and showed me how the
I Americans had taught them to get the
honey out of the combs by the centrif-
ugal method, and it, of course, pleased
me as an American citizen very much,
and shows me that your meeting
to-night must be of benefit to you and
of benefit to everybody.
I hope that, in the interval between
your deliberations, you may have an
opportunity to see our beautiful Expo-
sition, which will certainly show a
large number of exhibits that will be
of interest to you ; and not alone the
exhibits but the beauty, the advance-
ment, so to say, of civilization, in our
color schemes and everything that per-
tains to that; and, aside from that, I
hope you will also, as time permits,
see not alone the Exposition, but our
beautiful city. I think we have the
most beautiful city in the world ; we
certainly have as nice homes, more
asphalt streets and the finest break-
water in the world ; and our commerce
will certainly be enhanced by all the
advantages we now have, and which
our good Government has done for the
city of Buffalo by placing that very
extensive breakwater before our city
gates.
In closing.I wish to inform you that,
havingjust heard from the President's
bedside, I think I can safely tell you
that the danger line has passed, and
the President will get well. And now,
extending to you all the courtesies of
our city, and the freedom, I hope you
will accept the same, so that when you
return to your homes you may have a
pleasant remembrance of our city.
PRES. E. R. root.
selves, and not alone to yourselves,
but to others. A small incident comes
to my mind, which is no doubt very
familiar to you, but to me. as a city
man. it was very strange when I first
saw it. Some twelve or thirteen years
ago I happened to be in a small Alsa-
tian village, and all of a sudden there
was great consternation, and the word
came that the bees were swarming. I
had nothing else to do except to be — as
any boy might be — ready to see any-
thing that came along, and it amused
me to see the farmers in this small vil-
lage flock to where the swarm was
alighting on a tree, and, with mittens
on, gather the bees into baskets and
carry them off with satisfaction. I
inquired about it and told him I was
from America, and he said, "I would
like to show you something that your
country is responsible for, and which
Rev. E. T. Abbott, of Missouri,
responded as follows to the Mayor's
address :
Response to the Mayor's Address.
It is surely a source of exceedingly
great pleasure to me to respond to such
an address of welcome, on account of
its significance. Bee-keeping has not
always received the recognition that it
should at the hands of Government, at
the hands of the cities where we have
held our meetings. I have thought
sometimes that the citizens of the
large cities were too indifferent to what
I believe to be the most excellent work
which we are doing, and when it was
said that the mayor of a great city,
like the city of Buffalo, was expected
to stop his many duties and appear
among the bee-keepers to welcome them
to the city, I said there must be some
mistake about it. I don't know that
we have ever gotten such a recognition
from any city government of this size
Oct. 24 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
677
during- all of my experience in attend-
ing the meetings of the National Bee-
Keepers' Association, and I have at-
tended all of them for a number of
years, and I said this means well ; but
a remark by the Mayor has explained
the whole matter to me. I understand
why it is. The Mayor is of German
descent, and the Germans are the best
bee-keepers there are in America, and,
notwithstandinf;^ the fact that America
is in advance of Germany in bee-keep-
inff, yet there is more enthusiasm in
Germany with regard to the industry
than in America, and there are more
Germans who have a clear and intelli-
g-ent conception of farm bee-keeping
than any other class of people ; there
are more Germans who are making it
profitable in connection with other
agriculture — for I look upon it as a
branch of agriculture.
And now I am glad that the people
of Buffalo have had the good sense to
elect to this high office the gentleman
who was so closely in touch with
Mother Earth — so closely in touch with
the soil, from which all the wealth of
the land, and out of which all the glory
and beauty of this great city have
been builded. I say I am glad to know
that the people of Buffalo have had
the good sense to do a thing of that
kind. It speaks well for the future of
the country, for what is needed is to
bring the country and the city in close
touch which each other, to get the
farmer to understand that he is not a
" hayseed," to get the citizen of the
great city to understand that all the
brain doesn't walk abroad on asphalt
pavements ; to get these facts, these
two facts, clearly before the American
people will be worth a great deal; when
commerce and trade and traffic join
hands with the man who holds the
handles of the plow, when rural pur-
suits and citv commerce move hand in
hand and co-operate with each other,
then we will have reached what I
believe to be the ideal nation.
I am not surprised, of course, that
the Mayor welcomes us to the city.
M'e are a great people and deserve
to be welcomed I We may be farm-
ers and ordinary professionals, a great
many of us, but we are the sweet-
est people on top of God's earth.
There isn't any sweeter people that
walk the earth, men and women both,
than the bee-keepers ; they deal in the
sweetest, purest, healthiest, noblest
sweet that the world has ever known.
It is distilled by the chemistry created
by the Almighty alone; it is drawn
out of the vital energies of the uni-
verse ; it is made in a retort created by
the hands of the Almighty and gath-
ered by insects that has inhabited
the world away back into geological
ages, and stored away by them in a
way that baffles the skill of man and
defies the most expert scientific man
to imitate. It is true we are told that
they manufacture comb honey out of
chips and fill it with glucose and sell
it to the ignorant people of the citj- for
the pure article, but we bee-people
know that it is a newspaper canard.
They do not do that. There isn't any
manufactured comb honey. I hope
that will get in print to-morrow in big
letters. But I tell you what they do :
The unscrupulous city man takes a
little bit of real good honey and puts
a great deal of real dirty, stinking
mean glucose into it, and puts it into
a nice-looking bottle and labels it with
a nicer-looking label, " Pure Clover
Honey," and sells it to the people who
are green enough to buy it, and this
has greatly injured our industry.
Now, to get back to my original
propisition, that I was glad the city
government was taking notice of us.
Here is where the city government can
greatly aid us, here is where the
national government can aid us, when
they come to our rescue and make it
impossible for a man to sell anything
for what it is not. Here is a work that
the government of the city of Buffalo
can take in hand and make it a
criminal offense to sell a man a spoon-
ful of honey and four spoonfuls of
glucose all for honey. Anybody who
wants four spoonfuls of glucose mixed
with a spoonful of honey has a right
to buy it, but call it what it is, a mix-
ture, and let peopl<; use it as a mixture,
but the bee-keepers protest against
having it sold for honey, for it is not
honey ; it is a fraud, that is what we
call it out West.
Now, friends, I think I have said
enough and have taken enough of your
EMEHSUN T. ABBOTT.
time. I think we all appreciate the
words of welcome that have been ex-
tended to us, and I want to say to you,
Mr. Mayor, that we will avail ourselves
of them, we shall walk on your streets,
we shall go out and see the great Pan
American, and, of course, this has been
the greatest exposition of the kind
that has ever been held, except one we
shall hold in St. Louis, in 1903, the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition. We
wish Buffalo (iodspeed, and all suc-
cess, but we now, in behalf of the
I great, large- hearted people of the
I great State of Missouri, invite you to
I come and receive our welcome in that
State of Jesse James, if you please,
but of intelligence, progress and vir-
tue, in 1903. We will have an exposi-
tion that will astonish not only the
United States, but the world, for they
are coming from all over the world,
just as you have them here. I thought
Buffalo could ]icver have an exposition
like Chicago, but I want to say to Mr.
York, who lives in Chicago, that when
he gets out to the Pan-American he
will see that the last is the best : and
it looks now as if we were going to
get just as many bee-keepers together
here, and if we don't get so many in
number we will make up in enthusi-
asm for what we lack in numbers, and
we will have the best North American
meeting we have ever had in the his-
tory of this society. I thank you for
your attention.
Dr. A. B. Mason, of Ohio— I notice
here several Ontario Bee- Keepers'
Association badges, and I am so well
pleased with it that I am going to
move you that we give to all the mem-
bers of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation that are present with those
badges on, the privileges of this floor,
and to participate in all our discussions
and answer questions, and to feel per-
fectly free and at home. I move you
that we extend that privilege to them.
The motion was seconded by Mr.
Abbott and carried.
Mr. John Newton, of Ontario, presi-
dent of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation— In behalf of our Association
I would thank you for your kindness
to us, and this invitation to take in the
discussions the same as your own mem-
bers. I am sure that we will be
pleased to do so, and I know that we
will feel at home, just as we tried to
make your society at home when we
had you in our midst.
Pres. Root — We have no set pro-
gram. We are trying the experiment
of having just a question-box, and it
possibly may be a failure, but we have
some men here who, we know, if they
have a mind to, can make it a grand
success. A good supply of questions
has been handed to the secretary. Dr.
Mason, and as we have no commit-
tee on question-box, he will read the
first one. " ^ l^
Dr. C. C. Miller, of Illinois— I think it
would be well to mention in connection
with this matter that any member is en-
tirely at liberty to hand in any question
that he wants discussed.
AX APIARY OF CROSS BEES.
' Dr. Mason then read the first ques-
tion, " What is to be done with an api-
ary of cross bees ?"
Dr. Miller — I overheard a lady right
here saying, "Kill them." If I had
an entire apiary of cross bees I should
want, first, to introduce some new
blood of a kind that would be more
gentle. This, however, is what will
come in the experience of any bee-
keeper who has any number of colo-
nies ; he will find after a time that he
will go out some day and there will be
a lot of cross bees after him, and if he
takes pains enough to watch closely
he will find that all those cross bees
come from one or two colonies, and
then all he needs to do is to kill one
queen and introduce another queen ;
and a curious thing about that is, that
a change in the disposition of the bees
has seemed to be much more rapid
than the change in the blood of the
bees ; that is. if I find one such cross
colony and kill the queen and intro-
duce another, within two weeks' time,
although there would be no change yet
in the bees, that is, the same bees
would be there, there would be a very
decided change in their deportment,
and although it seems rather unrea-
sonable to suppose such a thing to be
678
AMERICAM BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 24, 1st. 1.
the case, it looks to me as if the simple
presence of the queen had something
to do with the disposition of the bees.
Pres. Root — Sometimes the cause
sugg'ests the remedy. Sometimes bees
are very cross in an apiary under cer-
tain kinds of management. Speaking
about cross bees, it seemed to me that
the Grossest bees I ever saw were the
bees in southern California. It seemed
to me that they were trained to be
cross ; I could not get anywhere near
the apiaries without protection, and
sometimes if I was half a mile away
they would come out to meet me. I
fell to wondering why they were so
cross. The great majority of bee-
keepers there produce extracted honey.
Their hives are any old box, and they
leave one or two inches of space be-
tween the extracting and the brood
frames. When they separate the upper
story from the lower one and get ready
to extract they break all this comb,
and it irritates the bees. The bees are
what we would call a very good grade
of hybrids, and they are not naturally
very cross bees, but tearing the combs
to pieces is apt to irritate them more
or less.
N. A. Kluck, of Illinois — I have had
a little experience with cross bees. In
working around them, should they get
cross, thoroughly smoke them and
then kick the hives. I whip my bees
when they are cross, and smoke them
till they don't know anything.
W. L. Coggshall, of New York — I
would not give them that treatment.
I may kick the hives, but the bees are
subdued before I kick the hive. I had
a boy take off 80 top stories last Tues-
day, and after the bees were subdued —
you may have a wrong impression
about the kicking — when the bees are
subdued, they are just as peaceable as
can be, and kicking them doesn't affect
them ; to kick off the top story wouldn't
hurt anything.
Pres. Root — I have noticed that in
cutting down a bee-tree, as soon as the
tree falls the bees are apt to be very
cross, but when one takes an axe and
begins to chop away at the tree the
bees seem to be demoralized. Severe
smoking is liable to induce robbing.
SPRING DWINDLING AND THE REMEDY.
" Is spring dwindling a disease ? If
so, what is the remedy ?"
Dr. Miller — How manj' think it is a
disease ?
Mr. Kluck — Old bees, is it not ?
Mr. Abbott — What do you mean by
disease ?
W. Z. Hutchinson, of Michigan — My
idea of spring dwindling is imperfect
wintering. They need to have good
food. Good food is the pivot of suc-
cessful wintering. If you have good
food and protect the bees you will not
have spring dwindling. I think spring
dwindling is the result of poor winter-
ing. I would not call it a disease, un-
less an overloading of the system from
confinement constitutes a disease.
Mr. Abbott — Doesn't a cold spring
have something to do with it ?
Mr. Hutchinson— I think it would
have something to do with it.
Mr. Abbott — I would like to suggest
that spring dwindling is fretjuently
the result of foolish feeding. I have
known a great many people to kill off
their bees with feeding. Take the
average farm bee-keeper and he is just
as likely to cause spring dwindling by
feeding his bees as to do them any
good, if he feeds them late in the fall.
A great many bees are provoked to fly
out in the spring by foolish feeding,
when, if they were left alone, and not
fed at all, would not break the cluster,
and the result is they wear themselves
out before it is time for the queen to
lay any eggs. Some people wonder
why it is, and say they followed the
bee-books, but the man who isn't in-
tending to use brains in connection
with bee-books would be better oft'
without them, especially when it comes
to feeding. Farmers come to me and
say, '■ I thought my bees were a little
short, and I fixed them up some syrup
and put it under the hive, and I have
been feeding them for a long time,"
when the mercury was standing down
below freezing all the time, and a man
who feeds bees when the mercury is in
that condition is simply producing
spring dwindling ; and if you should
define disease as an abnormal condi-
tion, I should say it was a disease.
Pres. Root — As I understand Mr.
Abbott, feeding in the spring has a
tendency to cause the bees to fly out,
and they become chilled and do not
get back.
Mr. Abbott— Not only that, but the
over-activity of the bee exhausts its
vitality.
Mr. Hutchinson — I thought it was the
result of imperfect wintering.
Mr. Abbott — I don't believe it.
Mr. Hutchinson — Mr. McEvoy, in
Canada, has very good success in win-
tering his bees, and he crowds them
down on five or six combs of solid
honey, and does that so that they can
not breed towards spring, and if those
combs are not full of honey he feeds
them till they are full, and will not
take any more food. He feeds that in
the fall.
Dr. Miller — I confess, to begin with,
that I do not know what is the cause
of spring dwindling. It is a matter
of exceeding consequence sometimes to
all of us, and I would like very much if
we could get at what is the cause of it.
In the first place, I think we all would
be very likely to agree that it is not a
disease. It is a condition. Not such
a condition as would be called a dis-
ease, however, and the facts that have
been started are all in the line with the
observation of any one who takes
pains to make any observation about
it at all. It would be worth something
to us if we could get down to find out
what is the condition that is produced.
Now, it may be true, for instance, that
food of a certain kind brings about
that condition, but what is that condi-
tion ? Will feeding and making them
fly out at inopportune times make
spring dwindling ? and is that all
there is of spring dwindling ? Is it
simply the fact that a number of bees
have flown out and become lost ? That
is not spring dwindling according to
my observation. It is something more
than that. I don't know that I know
what that condition is, but I will say
this much about it, that when you find
spring dwindling I think you will
almost always fina that the number of
bees present in the hive compared with
the amount of brood is always small.
Now, I would like to know, as a matter
of fact, whether the observation of my
friends here agrees with that. Is that
the common thing? It has appeared
to me to be the case that, whenever I
had a case of spring dwindling, there
were too few bees in the hive to take
care of the brood that was there. Now,
if that is a common thing, I would like
to know it.
H. L. Case, of New York — A few
years ago, in the latter part of April
and forepart of May, I lost 80 colonies
of bees by what I called spring dwind-
ling. The fall before my bees gath-
ered a large quantity of honey-dew,
and the winter was a severe one ; it
kept them in the hives perhaps four
months without giving them a flight.
Now, I believe the reason I had spring
dwindling that winter, or that spring,
was on account of improper food, and
the conditions were improper for their
prosperity ; if they had had one or two
good flights in the autumn, so that
they could fly right out on a warm day,
and have a good flight, I think it would
have been better. I saved only 20
small colonies, and after the first good
day that we had when the bees could
fly out I didn't lose any more bees to
speak of. Now, I agree with Mr.
Hutchinson, that improper feeding and
the conditions through winter, confin-
ing them to their hive and they con-
suming too much food, made them lazy,
and they could not get out to relieve
themselves, and the result was that I
lost the 80 colonies.
Pres. Root — It is very evident that
there are a good many causes that in-
duce spring dwindling.
Mr. Kluck — Would the gentleman
state the time when the bees gathered
that honey-dew ?
Mr. Case — It was the forepart of
September. I went bee-hunting at the
time. I spend some time in the fall
hunting wild bees, and there was so
much honey-dew on the forest leaves
in my section that they would not pay
any attention to honey. I could not
get a bee to return to the box, and you
could go into the forest and it would
seem as if there was a swarm of bees,
and they filled the hives full, from 25
to 30 pounds of that honey-dew in the
course of, as I remember, five or six
days, and they sealed it nicely, but I
couldn't do much, and let it go, with
the results that I have stated.
Pres. Root — How many have had
experience with spring dwindling ?
Dr. Miller — Now I wish, Mr. Presi-
dent, you would ask how many have
had cases of spring dwindling in which
little or no brood was present in the
hive.
Pres. Root — If I understand the Doc-
tor, he finds a condition which we
sometimes find in our apiary along in
March, when the bees evidently see
that their numbers are small, and that
they must have some brood to keep up
the animal heat, and the queen lays a
little more than they can take care of,
and they spread out too much and die
on the outside edges. I have seen the
bees so spread out on the batch of
brood that they would all die.
Dr. Miller — Further than that. I have
had a number of cases where there
were too few bees, and they have tried
to cover the brood, and have appar-
ently had a consultation and decided it
was too much for them, and then all
swarmed out.
J. S. Callbreath, of New York— I had
a colony very strong with bees. I sent
for a good queen and introduced her
the next spring. I happened to be
there so that I could watch, and I
Oct. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
679
looked in occasionally. I noticed, with
that colony, that had so many old bees
in the field, it began rearing brood
much earlier than any of the others,
and in a little while they were dead.
It was a condition of exhausted vital-
ity, as you have just said. They get
in a hurry about rearing brood to see
if they could not possibly save the
colony.
Pres. Root — The remedy, it would
seem, would be implied from the dis-
cussion. It would be protection, proper
feeding, food given at the right time ;
and those are conditions that we can
very well meet.
Dr. Miller — If there is anything like
correctness in my diagnosis, then one
thing in the remedy would be to have
a large quantity of young bees in the
fall, and anything that would tend to
that— but I confess that I do not know
whether my diagnosis is right.
Pres. Root — Proper feeding, proper
protection, food properlj- given — and
when I say protection I mean in double-
walled hives or indoors, a proper in-
door repository with sufficient ventila-
tion. All these things may help to
offset unusual conditions that we can
not control in the way of weather, and
the cause suggests the remedy.
J. S. Barb, of Ohio — I had experience
in spring dwindling, and I find that
double-walled hives are not very much
better than single ones. As a general
thing you will have a lot of old bees to
start with in the fall, and that condi-
tion prevents them from rearing brood
in the spring.
Pres. Root — I have noticed that the
colonies were liable not to get in con-
dition without protection. Last win-
ter, by oversight, we left out 10 small
colonies without double walls, and
nearly every one of them got down to
a handful. Those that were right
alongside of them in double walls got
through all right. It all depends upon
what we understand by disease. If we
take Mr. Abbott's definition of abnor-
mal condition, then it is a disease.
Dr. Miller — Suppose you had a col-
ony with nothing but drones in it,
would you call that a disease ?
Mr. Abbott — A bad one, worse than
a convention with no women.
Dr. Miller — How many think that
spring dwindling is a disease ?
Pres. Root — Let us have a show of
hands. How many think spring
dwindling is a disease ? Now, how
many think it is not ? Evidently the
convention doesn't think it is a dis-
ease.
DISINFECTING FOUI,-BROODY HIVES.
■' Is it best to disinfect foul-broody
hives ?"
Dr. Mason — Yes, it is just as impor-
tant to disinfect a hive as it is to dis-
infect foul honey.
Wm. McEvoy, of Ontario — Why not
burn it up ?
Dr. Mason — It doesn't pay. It is
cheaper to disinfect it. Understand
me, the question is, "a foul-broody
hive."
Pres. Root — The question as I under-
stand it implies a diseased hive in
which there have been bees that have
had foul brood, that naturally was the
intention of the question.
Dr. Miller — Whatever the intention
may have been, I think that Dr. Mason
raises a good point there, and there is
a prior question to be answered. When
a colony of foul-broody bees has been
in a hive, is that hive always a foul-
broody hi ve ? that is the point he wants
raised.
Pres. Root — Is a hive that has con-
tained bees that have had the foul-
brood disease necessarily a foul-broody
hive ?
Dr. Mason — I can answer that just
as easily by saying no.
Mr. Kluck - According to Mr. France,
the foul brood inspector of Wisconsin,
he claims that a foul-broody bee in a
hive would make it necessary to disin-
fect that hive. He gave us to under-
stand in our bee-convention of north-
ern Illinois that that was so.
Mr. McEvoy — It is not possible. Un-
derstand, I have thousands of experi-
ence in the test cases for pretty nearly
25 years, and I have never had a single
old hive disinfected in any way.
Mr. Abbott — Wouldn't it be a good
idea if we would bring out exactly
what foul brood is, and what is the
nature of the disease, and where it
manifests itself? If it is a germ, un-
der what condition is that germ devel-
oped ? That is, where do they locate ?
We know that the germ of tuberculosis
locates itself in some of the glands of
the human body. Now, let us get an
answer fron Mr. McEvoy, or some one
else that has had experience with foul
brood. I never had any experience but
once. I know from scientific investi-
gation that it is a germ. Now, where
is that germ developed ? Let these
people who do not understand the the-
ory of foul brood see why it should not
get into the hive.
Mr. McEvoy — This man has asked
one of the most important questions
that I have ever heard put in my life.
Honey, to become diseased, must first
be stored in the stain-marked cells,
that is, a cell where the foul matter
has dried down, or where the bees are
making room for more honey, when
they move the honey from an unfilled
cell to cells not finished ; but when
honey is gathered from the fields and
stored side bj- side with these stain-
marked cells, the honey in the next
cell is sound. It is the only possible
way to spread.it. Now, take combs
from a diseased colony, I don't care
how badly it may be affected, if the
honey is stored in these new combs
that never had brood in, and extracted,
and the combs given back to the bees
when they are clean, these combs can
be used in any hive in the world and
not give disease.
Mr. Abbott^Now, then, germs ap-
pear in two conditions, the active or
germ condition, and the sporadic con-
dition. A germ, when it is active, can
be destroyed — I might say in the egg
condition. Now. is the germ of foul
brood in the egg condition in this dry
cell, or is it in the sporadic condition
and carried out with the honey and
developed with the honey that is put
into this cell wlien it is in that condi-
tion ? Is it practically a germ dormant
in that cell and can not carry or com-
municate itself to another cell, and
can only be imparted to another cell
by honey being put on to it, and such
a condition created as will hatch the
egg and thus spread it out ?
Mr. MciCvoy i >r that honey moved
to another cell and spoil it. As far as
I ever went, I know that the honey
falling from these cells will give the
disease.
Mr. Abbott — Now, then, if that spore,
as the scientific men would call it, is
placed in another cell, evidently it will
develop. If that spore was lodged on
the side of a hive, there would not be
any possible condition by which that
spore would develop on the side of the
hive. If it would, why, then, you
would have to change your answer?
Sidney S. Sleeper, of New York —
Now. are these germs vegetable or ani-
mal ? In speaking of spores, that
would indicate that they were vegeta-
ble germs; in speaking of eggs, that
would indicate that they were animal
germs.
Mr. Abbott — I simply wish to say
that I used the word egg so that those
people who haven't spent 25 years
studying science will know what I
mean.
O. L. Hershiser, of New York— Can
this dried matter move itself ? What I
mean is, that when the bees are moved
from diseased cells, then one honey is
diseasing the other; but as far as it
going out from these cells through the
hive to enter other cells, I do not think
it is possible.
Dr. Mason — What do you mean by
its going out ?
Mr. Hershiser — What I mean is, that
it would sort of rise and go through
the colony.
Pres. Root — What he means is,
whether the disease would pass through
the hive from one cell to another.
Mr. McEvo)- — It does not do that.
Dr. Mason — I don't believe it does.
Dr. Miller — I want to confess that
the President at one time straightened
me out on that. I had gotten it into
my head that these things were ani-
mals, and that they were eggs.
Mr. Abbott — Germs are animals,
sometimes.
Dr. Mason — Are foul-bood germs ani-
mals ?
Mr. Abbott — I don't think anybody
in the house knows.
Dr. Miller— I think if we talk of
them as seeds there will be less danger
of misapprehension. Suppose the
spores had gotten upon the sides of a
hive. Now, if those spores were there
in connection with honey, and the bees
would take that honey, then you might
get the disease from that hive, but I
can't conceive of it in any other way.
If there are spores there on the sides of
the hive the bees are not going to take
them up in any way. I understand Mr.
McEvoy to hold that view, and it seems
to me that that ought to make it pretty
clear; and I confess to you that I never
saw it as clearly as I do tonight. It
makes me see more clearly than I ever
did before, why he insists upon it in
opposition to the views of a great many
practical men, that it is not necessary
to cleanse the hive, because if the
spores are there — if the bacilli are
there — they are going to die, aren't
they, Mr. Benton ?
Frank Benton, of District of Colum-
bia— Not necessarily; the spores might
stay there and retain sufficient life to
develop. But there is no bee going to
take a spore from a dry hive and take
it where it will grow.
Pres. Root — The spores are in an in-
active state; the bacilli are in an active
state.
Mr. Hershiser;— I have frequently,
in working around a hive, spilled a
good deal of honey and it has run down
the sides of the hive. Suppose these
680
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 24, 1901.
spores were present and the bees would
carry it into the cell where there was
a larva. Isn't that a case where the
disease could develop ?
Mr. McEvoy— Certainly.
Mr. Hershiser — Sometimes we are
working with a hive where we do not
give them the opportunity to secure
the honey. Suppose they take the
honey that is running down the side of
a hive, and take it into a cell where
there is a larva, wouldn't that com-
municate the disease ?
Mr. McEvoy-~Ninety-nine parts out
of a hundred of it are pure.
Pres. Root — As I understand Mr.
McEvoy, where he speaks of a small
portion of the honey being diseased his
recommendation is that all the combs
or wax be burnt. In order to be sure,
he considers it safe to burn every
comb.
Mr. McEvoy — Yes, sir. every comb.
Dr. Mason — I have had a good deal
of experience with foul brood, and I do
not exactly agree with Mr. McEvoy
because he is the best authority we
have on earth. I do not consider it ad-
visable, in my experience, to take foul-
broody bees, comts, etc., out of a hive
and use that hive without disinfecting.
I would not do it. You may lift a
frame out of there witli the greatest of
care and crush a bee with foul-broody
honey in it and leave it there, and when
it is so easily disinfected, I don't see
why it should not be done; but if a hive
has foul-broody honey on it, or in it
anywhere, it is a foul-broody hive and
needs disinfecting, and even Mr. Mc-
Evoy will admit that.
Dr. Miller— I want to ask Mr. Mc-
Evoy if he ever tried using a hive
again that had had foul-broody bees
in it.
Mr. McEvoy— Oh, thousands of them.
Dr. Miller— I would like to knovp defi-
nitely. I want to know something
definite in numbers. Did you ever have
half a dozen hives used in that way, or
how many ? Give us something defi-
nite about it.
Mr. McEvoy — I don't know, I sup-
pose I could put it safely at 5,000.
Dr. Miller— Of that 5,000 how many
of them ever succeeded in giving the
disease ?
Mr. McEvoy — Not one, that I ever
knew. Not a single case, that I ever
knew.
Dr. Miller— Now. if in 5,000 cases
that you have tried there has not been
a single failure. I am willing to take
what risk there is.
Pres. Root — After I had learned of
Mr. McEvoy's experience, in which he
had tested something like three or four
thousand hives at that time, I con-
cluded that we would try to cure the
disease without boiling the hives, and
ever since that time we have found
that we could cure it just the satne
without boiling the hive. Some years
ago, when we had the disease all
through our apiary, we boiled all our
hives, but we left about 10 of them and
thought we would see what would re-
sult. I think that tRere were four or
five out of the ten that we left that had
the disease, but I have thought since
that that experiment did not amount
to anything, in view of what Mr. Mc-
Evoy says that he has tried it in 5,000
cases.
Mr. Hershiser — I would like to ask
how many of those apiaries have been
treated more than once, and how many
times those apiaries have been treated
that have had foul brood ?
Mr. McEvoy — That is a close ques-
tion, and it is all right. You know it
is one thing to handle a disease and it
is quite another thing to handle the
men. Some men would make a perfect
cure, others, again, you would have to
go to several times, and it is just how
they do the work. Some of them will
blunder once in a while, but it isn't the
hive; they don't do their work: they
often put it like this. "Well, how long
will I boil the hive? " Now, that de-
pends upon how long you intend to
boil the bees; surely, you are not going
to do one without the other. Are you
going to take these bees that have
walked all over the putrid eggs, with
their dirty little feet, without boiling
them ? If you are going to boil the
hive half an hour. I think you ought to
boil the bees an hour 1 And I don't
know a place in Ontario where they
boil now.
Dr. Mason — Foul-broody hives need
disinfecting just as surely as do foul-
broody bees, and they can as surely,
and more easily, be disinfected with-
out boiling than can bees.
Pres. Root — Perhaps it ought to be
stated in this connection that Thomas
William Cowan, and quite a number of
scientists across the water, feel that it
is very necessary to disinfect the hives,
but, as I have stated, we haven't disin-
fected our hives since, and we haven't
had any trouble.
Dr. Mason — You haven't had foul-
broody hives, then.
Dr. Miller — It seemed to me that it
was a foolhardy piece of business for
Mr. McEvoy to insist that there was no
necessity fordisinfecting. forit seemed
to me there must be plenty of spores,
but if you come to think about it, what
is going to take those spores where
they can do any harm ? And the fact
remains that if he has had so many
cases, and inozcs that no evil results
have come from them, we ought to be
able to go on and do what he has done.
W. H. Heim, of Pennsylvania — I
should like to know whether those are
the only two remedies for the disease —
by burning the combs or boiling ?
Mr. McEvoy — Do you mean that you
think that they can be disinfected?
Mr. Heim — Yes.
Mr. McEvoy — You can use the disin-
fectant till those combs will fairly
smoke, and you try them over again
and it will break out.
Pres. Root— I talked with Mr Gem-
mill and one of the other inspectors,
and asked if his experience coincided
with Mr. McEvoy's, and he said it did.
A Member — Do I understand Mr.
McEvoy that the combs should be
burned up, or made into wax ?
Mr. McEvoy — I think they ought to
be all turned into wax, and if made
into comb foundation it is all right, too.
fContinued next week.]
I Contributed Articles.
Ants Fighting Bees— A Colorado Experience.
BY D. W. WORKING.
(Small ante often make their nests about hives, to have the bene-
fit of their warmth. They are annoying to the apiarist, but neither
molest the bees nor are molested by them. — Dadant's Langstroth, 1900
edition, page 476.)
YESTERDAY I went out to look at a beehive where I
had often noticed black ants running about as if they
were perfectly at home. There were the ants, as usual,
going in and out of the hive and climbing up some other way
— whether to help themselves to honey or just for the fun of
the thing, I may not say. Possibly their object was to get
the benefit of the warmth of the hive. The day was fairly
warm and sunny for early October in this land of sunshine.
Comparatively few bees were passing in and out of the hive.
I went out to look, as I have said. I did more; I got down
on my knees to watch, for there seemed to be some excite-
ment.
Watching quietl}', as is advisable when you are close
enough to see bees and ants "shake their fists" at each
other, I saw what made me feel sure of a thing I had be-
fore suspected — that everything you may read in a book is
not absolutely true because it happens to be in that particu-
lar book. There were the ants actually molesting the bees.
Of course the bees were not "molesting" the ants; for an
uninvited and unwelcome intruder is not "molested " even
when you kick him out of doors for trying to carry off your
property. My bees evidently did not like the assurance of
the ants, and it appeared to me as if they were trying to put
them out of the hive.
Now, what do you suppose these visiting old-maid ants
did when they were told at the door that it was not " com-
pany day " at that house? Did they make their apologies
and go liome? Not they. They actually insisted on going
in, as if the hives were a post-office and not a private dwel-
ling. When a bee opposed the entrance of one of these bold
intruders, she would rise on her hind feet in offended dig-
nity, as much as to say, "Would you get in the way of a
lady? " And when the bee answered that the queen's house
was to be entered only by those having special invitations,
this six-legged Amazon actually attacked the guard and
drove it back. The same ant would attack several bees in
succession, never seeming to be afraid of the sting of the
bees or of their buzzing or scolding. Indeed, it seemed that
it was not possible for the bees to injure the ants.
Of course I did not like the insolence of these brazen fe-
males. To force their way into my bee-hive was to insult
me. Indeed. I suspect that their purpose was robbery. So
I picked up the hive and set it a foot or so away from its
place. Then there was excitement in antdom. On the bare
ground where the hive had stood was a pile of pupa; lants'
eggs) looking like a handful of barley-grains, which the
Oct. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
681
ants immediatel}' began to move to places of supposed
safety. The terror of the ants did not soften my hard
heart. Calling- the chickens, I soon had the satisfaction of
seeing a Brown Leghorn pullet begin the work of destroying
the prospects of the colony of ants that had been making
their home under my bee-hive. How she did seem to relish
every fat pupal And how quickly the other chickens
learned to like ants' brood!
Now, this is not a verj' valuable contribution to bee-lit-
erature. Perhaps the black ants which fought my bees are
not the "small ants" which " neither molest the bees nor
are molested by them. " At any rate, it seems worth while
to report the fact. Perhaps the wise men will explain it.
Perhaps they will tell me that I ought to have killed the ants
long ago. At the risk of needlessly exposing an ignorance
which is frankly confessed to be great, I venture to add that
this particular hive became queenless during the summer,
and that the colony failed to rear a queen, although sup-
plied with two frames containing brood in all stages from
the egg to the hatching bee, and that at one time there were
two or three well-developed queen-cells in the hive. Is it
possible that the ants might have robbed the queen-cells?
Arapahoe Co., Colo.
Horking for Italian Bees— Pure Mating of Queens.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
QUESTION— I have spent much time duridtf the past summer to Ital-
iaaize my be»-s, and think they are now all pure Italian. But my
neighbors all about me have black and hybrid bees, many being
kept in box-hives, so that hosts of drones are reared in these dur-
ing the summer season. What I wish to know is, how I, rearing queens
for my own use, can secure them purely fecundated.
Answer. — There are several plans for the pure mating
of queens, but, up to this time, all are more or less faulty.
The best of these plans are the following :
In the earl}- spring, as soon as you can find colonies
which can spare it, give capped brood to your drone-rearing
colonies, and this, together with a little warm feed, given
each day, will cause the desired queens to lay in the drone-
comb early, through the stimulation given, thus giving you
strong colonies with plenty of drones, before your neigh-
bors' colonies rear any drones.
To secure the best results, one or more drone-combs
should be placed in the center of the brood-nest at the time
you give the sealed brood. As soon as any drone-brood has
been capped from 3 days to a week, start to rear queens,
and in this way you will have your queens ready for the
first drones which appear. The main objection to this plan
is, that such rearing of queens comes at a time when it is
likely to interfere with your crop of honey ; for in all queen-
rearing the colony is thrown out of its normal condition ;
and whether the old queens are taken away from their colo-
nies to give place for the desired qtieen-cells, or nuclei
formed to take care of these cells, this interference comes
at a time when all should be booming as much as possible
along the line of rearing the bees in time for the honey
harvest, which, as a rule, will be from 30 to 50 days ahead.
If I may be pardoned, I will say that I should consider
impure stock, with a good yield of honey, very much more
preferable than absolutely pure stock and little or no sur-
plus honey.
Another plan is, to wait till fall about rearing queens,
if you can preserve the desired drones, till all of your neigh-
bors' drones are killed ofif, when, if there are no other drones
except those you have, you will have every queen to mate
with those you have.
To preserve drones, gather all the drone-brood you can
find from the queens yoit have decided shall be drone-
mothers, and mass this brood in one hive, tiering it up, if
necessary, to accommodate this brood and an abundance of
honey ; for, the larger the hive and the more honey it con-
tains, the better your chance of having the drones preserved
in large numbers. When this drone-brood is massed, the
queen should be taken away from the colony ; and as often
as a new queen commetices to lay she should be taken away
also, and this colony kept supplied with sufficient worker-
brood to keep it in a prosperous condition, for on its pros-
perous condition depends the freeness of the flight of the
drones on every suitable day. If you wish all of the drones
which your queens are to mate with to be strong, robust
fellows, on some cloudy day when the bees are not flying
so as to endanger robbing, look this hive over and hand-
pick the drones, killing all which you think are not such as
you would desire. To do this best, take out the first comb
and pick out as above, when it is to be put into an empty
hive, set on the stand originally occupied ; and thus when
you have gone over every comb, and such drones as may
cling to the sides and bottom-board to the hive, your colony
is just where you want it, without any extra handling of
frames.
You are now, in a measure, quite sure that the queens
reared will come as near perfection as is possible along the
line of right mating, and were it not that this plan requires
much extra work, and care in feeding the queen-rearing
colonies, so that fairly good queens may be reared out of
season ; and, also, that this late manipulation of colonies
forfeits our chances of successful wintering, this would be
the plan above all others to use. And with this plan I have
reared queens which have proved of great value to me.
Another plan is to take a hive containing only the best
hand-picked drones to some locality isolated S miles or more
from all other bees, and as often as may be, take a load of
nuclei, supplied with virgin queens from the best mother,
these being from 3 to S days old, to this isolated place, leav-
ing them there from 8 to 10 days, when they can be brought
home with laving queens, which will, as a rule, be all mated
with the desired drones. With a proper rack fixed on any
light spring wagon, from 12 to 25 nuclei can be carried to
and fro at one time, so that this is not so very laborious as
it at first appears, and it has this advantage : The queens
can be reared at a time when nearly every queen will be
perfectioti itself, as in this way all can be reared in the
height of the honey season, when the best queens can be
reared with the least work.
Still another plan is to rear the queens and drones in
the best part of the honey season, and, when ready, take
the drone colony and as many of the nuclei as have queens
of mating age, to the cellar, or some darkened, cool room,
cairrying them in before they begin to fly in the morning,
and leaving them there till 4 o'clock in the afternoon, or
till after all other drones have ceased flying for the day. If
each nucleus and the drone colony are fed a little warm di-
luted sweet just before setting out, and the hives face the
western sun, queens and drones will fly something as they
usually do in the early afternoon, and the results will prove
quite satisfactory. Onondaga Co., N. Y.
Ttie Afterthought.
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
"unreading" one's self.
Yes, Mr. Weaver, it is sometimes a good plan for the be-
ginner to " unread himself " and go in on his own hook. Bees
differ very greatly as to their amenability to "drumming."
There are some {and very provoking ones they are) that will
all get in army formation and march out of the hive wherever
they can get out, if you but manipulate their frames a little.
Others are like yours. Howsomever. a beginner should take
a watch along for such a .job, and give them a reasonable
number of actual minutes before unreading everything — other-
wise his 10 minutes might be about 'l minutes. " All's well
that ends well," but the main danger of your method is that
the queen may keep your strips of old comb full of brood all
the while. Even if zinc is used there is some danger of get-
ting some new honey in very undesirable shape.
glucose can be fed, but don't.
It is somewhat in the line of news to be told that one can
feed a ton of glucose to his bees. Editorial, page 579.
MIELIONAIRE BEE-KEEPERS.
Want the names of millionaire bee-keepers, eh? Well,
I'm one— own a million dollars' worth of Independence and
good hopes — and none of . I. IMorpont Morgan's paper brings
In larger returns. Few vocations have so hirge a proportion
of real millionaires as onrs, I take it. Page 574.
THE VIKOIN VUEEN SURVIVES.
It is an interesting bit of experience from C.Davenport,
that when two colonies are hived together, one with a laying
queen and one with a virgin, it is usually tlie virgin which
survives. That would naturally ho the case where the bees
do not ball either of them, but just let them fight It out them-
selves— virgin too spry for heavy old dowager. Page 582.
682
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 2+, 1901
HOW THK SICILIAN BEE-KEEPKKS DO.
We have closed standing frame hives both with and with-
out outer shells ; but the Sicilians are unique in plastering on
an outer shell upon movable standing frames. The plastering
is to be repeated after each manipulation, I suppose. With a
frame ouly 8xS bees are not so anxious to curve the comb
around as in frames horizontally long, so quite possibly a
bamboo top-bar might need no comb-guide. Page 582.
CAUSES OF QUEEN-REARING FAILURES.
And so Doolittle suspects that wrong moves in transfer-
ring the larv;i? are responsible for most of the failures — the
quite moderate percent of failures — in rearing queens by the
Doolittle method. It is a shrewd test experiment which he
suggests — take out the larvie from some natural cells which
the bees undoubtedly cherish and see if you can put others in
successfully. Page 582.
HUGGING TO DEATH.
We know that the same facts can oft be read in different
ways. We are pleased to hear (pleased in one sense of the
term) that bees are not trying to worry the drones to death —
only hugging them in the affectionate effort to dissuade them
from suicide. And if, to dissuade Mr. Archibald from the sui-
cide of extracting from combs with brood in them, just the
right body would didactically and effectively hug him — well,
it would be a good deed. Page 587.
POSITION OF NECTAR-GLANDS.
I think Prof. Shimek is hardly wise in his choice of words
when he says that nectar-glands are concealed. The condi-
tions of the case make it necessary that they be placed behind
the spots which bees are being lured to touch unwittingly, and
concealmenteomes in as an undesirable result. Page 588.
"EN.70YIN6 life" — SELFISHNESS.
I like the talk from Gleanings in Bee-Culture, on page
589, about the philosophy and plan of human occupation and
life; but, still, I greatly wish some one could give, intelligibly
and victoriously give, just a little different turn to the phrase
"enjoying life." A man wrongly devoted to the enjoyment
of life is a kitten running after its own tail. And in just that
sort of a quest multitudes of well-bred, intelligent people
make their lives into wrecks — make themselves unfit persons
to be in any imaginable world which God is to stay in over
night. We w?<5/ have some banner before us which does not
have "self, self, self," written all over it.
\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ |
Conducted bij Prof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
EDUCATION.
What a wealth of philosophy, and what a mine of truth.
are to be found in the familiar scriptural adage, " It is the
little foxes that spoil the vine." Is it not equally true that
some little word, or apparently trifling event, makes a life a
man ? A fond teacher in my early boyhood — one of those rare
persons who take by storm the love, respect, admiration of all
whose lives they touch — said a word that aroused in me a
quenchless ambition for that which else I would never have
secured. That word was "College." She said, what I have
seen illustrated in many lives since that time, "If you wish it
hard enough, you can get a college education ; a thorough ed-
ucation would be worth more than a gold-mine to you."
I wish some happy parent, or some fortunate teacher, or
some other good angel, could blaze this truth into the mind of
every bright boy and girl the country over. We should wish
most fondly and most earnestly that all our children should
covet the very best gifts. Certainly high among the best treas-
ures of any life is a rich, broad culture of the mind. Unly one
thing transcends it, and that is a rich soul-culture.
Were I to be a ditcher, or a stone-crusher in the hot sun
by the roadside, I should wish a good, thorough education to
be my companion then and there. The education would not
only soonest lift me out of the ditch, and away from the stone-
pile, but it would do even better, it would help me to enjoy the
life with the spade and the hammer. One thoroughly educa-
ted can find real pleasure in the opening ditch or the break-
ing stone. Shakespeare was, as always, wise. Those with
eyes to see can find books in the running brooks.
A good friend writes commending my "Home Circle"
teaching, but wishes I could be brought to see that Saturday,
not Sunday, was the sacred day. Another wishes I could be
consistent and vote for prohibition. I have no retort for either.
We may well remember Paul's word, " Some esteem one day
better than another ; some esteem all days alike." Paul did
not follow this with a thrust at either. He said, "Be well
persuaded in your own minds." That is very wise advice. Let
us all study both these questions, and all others that divide
public opinion as thoroughly as we may, then decide as care-
fully as we have studied, and then act upon our convictions.
If we do this we shall please God, I am sure. If this results
in our keeping Saturday, then well ; if in keeping Sunday,
then well. If it makes us vote prohibition, God will smile ; if
it makes us vote other tickets, God will also smile. God does
not demand perfection of any of us. "Only one, your father
in heaven, is perfect." He does demand earnest, honest study,
as a requisite to right judgment. The good education makes
the hard study easier, and the succeeding judgment more cor-
rect. The good education does, or ought to do, a better thing.
It makes us charitable, tolerant towards others who also have
studied and decided differently. It recognizes that all fail of
deciding wisely and rightly at times ; and instead of a word of
condemnation to those who differ from us, we re-examine our
own views, lest, perchance, we may be in error.
I keep Sunday, and generally vote the Republican ticket.
I believe I please God in doing so. If my friends have studied
as best they may, and have decided as conscientiously as the
importance of the questions demand, then they, too. please
God. (iod be praised for the best mind-culture. That not
only helps us to right decision, but makes us kindly, charita-
ble towards him who is led to different decision.
One of the most blessed things of our day is the greater
tolerance which we give to those who think not as we do. Ed-
ucation, clarified and sweetened by the Christ spirit, is the
glorious parent of this broader charity.
LANDSCAPE QARDENINQ.
In my institute work of late, I have been happy in being
associated with a bright landscape gardener and floricultur-
ist. In his lectures he gave three principles which he said
should control in all laying out of home grounds, whether in
the restricted city lot or in the more spacious environs of
country.
First, " Avoid straight lines."
Second, " Preserve open lawn centres."
Third, " Plant in groups, not singly."
I have listened more pleasantly as we have followed two
of these rules in our own landscaping. We have no straight
lines in walk or drive, and I am glad curves are more pleasing
than right lines. Our little white clover lawn is all the richer
and more thrifty in having all to itself. A tree or shrub in a
lawn almost always looks as if it fell out of place. Its foliage
looks pale and sickly. My plants are isolated, and not in
groups. They are not regular. On my small place I doubt if
grouping would have given us more pleasure. Of course it
would if more artistic, more after Nature's pattern. Is this
true in such confined limits?
"DEAR DAUGHTER DOROTHY."
This is a charming story for the children. Like that fas-
cinating book, "Captain .January," it should be in all our
home circles where children abound. The book makes a child
do impossible things, but in such a realistic way that we for-
get that it could not be realized in life. It is charming, too,
to see how perfect is the union in thought and feeling between
father and daughter. Such a uicturo of home life is beautiful
to hang on memory's walls. I urge every home circle to get
these two books, and read them aloud in the home circle. It
the scene in " Captain January," where separation is pro-
posed, brings tears, and raises the heart throatward, we shall
be all the better for it.
I remember how our whole household, years agone, gen-
erated dampness under the eyebrows, when we read "Uncle
Tom's Cabin" aloud in the old home. It was good to cry.
Such scenes were common wherever this great classic was
read. They were good tears, and were not without influence
in the stormy days of the early sixties.
Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song- in sheet
music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee-
keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the
copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as
long as they last.
Oct. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
683
FOR GETTING NEW SUBSCRIBERS.
Red Glover Queens L°s1 902 Free
Long-Tongue Variety — Warranted Purely Mated.
We have already arrang-ed with the queen-breeder who furnished Long--Tong-ue Red Clover Queens
for us during the past season, to fill our orders next season. Althoug'h fully 95 percent of the untested
queens he sent out were purely mated, next season all that he mails for us will be warranted purely mated.
We want every one of our present subscribers to have one or more of these money-maker Queens. We
have received most excellent reports from the queens we supplied during- the past season. And nest year
our queen-breeder says he expects to be able to send out even better Queens, if that is possible. He is one
of the very oldest and best queen-breeders. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of any
yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees
are large, of beautiful color, very gentle, scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " Warranted Queens will be filled in rotation — " first come, first
served" — beginning as early in June as possible. It is expected that orders can be filled quite promptly
(even better than the past season), as a much larger number of queen-rearing nuclei will be run. (But never
remove the old queen from the colony until you have received the new one, no matter from whom you order
a queen).
All Queens will be guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and will be clipped, unless otherwise
ordered.
A Warranted Queen for sending us Only 2 New Yearly Subscribers
In order that every one of our subscribers who wants one of these Warranted Queens next season can
easily earn it, we will book your order for one queen for sending us the names and addresses of two new
subscribers to the American Bee Journal and $2.00. Furthermore, we will begin to send the Bee Journal
to the new subscribers just as soon as they are received here (with the $2.00), and continue to send it until
the end of next year, igo2). So, forward the new subscriptions soon — the sooner sent in the more weekly
c6pies they will receive.
This indeed is an opportunity to get a superior Queen, and at the same time help swell the list of
readers of the old American Bee Journal.
We are now ready to book the Queen orders, and also to enroll the new subscriptions. Remember, the
sooner you get in your order the earlier you will get your Queen next season, and the more copies of the Bee
Journal will the new subscribers receive that you send in. We hope that every one of our present readers
will decide to have at least one of these Queens. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 &:i46 ERIE STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.
Send for circulars
improved and oi
For Z5 Years ti
25Atf T. I
regardiag
the oldest
and most
ginal Binfi-ham Bee-Smoker.
R Best on Earth.
. BINGHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Bushels of Eggs
if you get a fast cuttinp DaiKly B
Oiiltcr. Pricoi?.T up. Hold direct o
days trial.. Handsome catalogue free
STRAHON MFG. CO., BOX 2l. ERIE, PA,
liiii^i^i§]ii§i^M]ii§mi^miMii^i^iiimi^iPii^^^
f
set
m.
m
»JA
fl
'm
m
Farming by Lottery.
fig!
NSS!
gi
The reeeDt drought has emphasized the element of chance in farming under j^p
ordinary conditions, whereas on j^
♦^ AN IRRIGATED FARM ^
crops never fail or are damaged by bad weather in haivest.
qualitj- better and prices of the products hi;
The yield is larger,
-her.
Our Irrigation Settlement Plan
Fords an opportunity fur securing a well-liicati'il, irrigated tai-m at halt the
usual prices, on easv terms, with AlU ND.WT \\ ATEI5, KICH SOIL
HOME MARKETS at good i)rii-es. Wlu-at yields. M bu. ;
oats, 100 bu. ; potatoes, MHO liu. ; alfalfa, n tons
per acre regularly each year.
Write for full detailed information. Agents wanted.
Homestead Land and Irrigation Company,
70 Dearborn Street. CHICAGO. ILL.
, W. Wll SOrS, Manager. t-laaso lUeiiUuu l^ee j uui ,i..l
"When -wntinp.
m
m
m
Had Good Honey-Flows.
My bees hare done well this year. We had
a good honey-tluw the last of .June and the
first part of .luly from mesquite, catclaw, and
alfalfa, and now have a good How from
alfalfa and wild flowers.
The American Bee Journal has been a great
help to uie in my bee-business. I do not see
how I could have done without it.
J. S. Britjenstixe.
Maricopa To.. Ariz.. Sept. 4.
Hairy Vetch as a Honey-Plant.
In response to the request for information
regarding the hairy vetch as a honey-plant, 1
can say this:
.Miout six years ago I received from the
.Agricultural Department at Washington a
imckage labeled, '• Sand or Hairy Vetch." I
sowed a small plot with the seed, and it has
grown there ever since, coming up every
spring from seed grown there the year before,
1 suppose. It yields a tine forage, and blooms
:ill summer — beautiful blossoms — but I never
saw a honey-bee on one of the blossoms in
nil these years. Bumble-bees and butterllies
684
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 24, 19i 1.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— W holesale—Jobbing.
T nse a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELI*
FOUNDATION and
fort fax Into Fonmlatioii For Cash
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Please mention Bee jotimal -when -writina
li THE KING OF
FOUNTAIN PENS.
been endorsed by over on
hundred of Ameri:a's foremost maga
dalinns from celebritie
Without doubt tiie pen of the age.
Agents Wanted.
New Style. Old Slyl:.
POST FOUNTAIN PEN CO.,
I20 W. i4th St., New York City,
'^lease mention Bee Jotirnal when writing
I THE WORLD
I SWEETENED
"Xi^ California Honey g
Be
g PACIFIC BEE JOURNAL,
at Los Angeles, Calif.
I
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thm^ for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORGE W. VORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
■will sell tickets each Tuesday, Thurs-
day and Saturday during- October to
Buffalo Pan-American Exposition and
return, at Sb.uO, good in coaches, re-
turn limit S days from date of sale.
Tickets with longer limit at slightly
increased rates. Three through trains
daily. Chicago Passenger Station, Van
Buren St. and Pacific Avenue. City
ticket office, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
, 36— 41A4t
are freiiuently seen there, but never a honey-
bee, although my apiary is within a few rods
of there.
J. A. McDonald may refer to some other
variety of the vetch, or his location may
modify the length of the tubes of the blos-
soms. I think the vetch I have produces
nectar, but the bees I have are unable to
reach it. However, as I have recently pur-
chased a long-tongued queen I am in hopes I
can make a more favorable report for the
vetch in a year or two. There are still a few
vetch blossoms to be found, and I send you
two herewith, and a spray of the leaves: also
an alfalfa blossom for comparison.
It has been a poor honey season here, no
surplus to speak of. J. W. Steele.
Merced Co., Calif.. Oct. ".
The Mulbeppy for Bees.
When we wrote before we had taken off
•Mil pounds of honey, and thought we would
have about 150 pounds more. When we took
it off we had 500. making 1000 pounds in all,
from 11 colonies, spring count.
I .see (luite a good deal in the American Bee
.Journal about the mulberry for bees. I think
if we had nothing else for them but mulber-
ries we would never get any honey. We never
see bees working on the mulberry only when
they can't find anything else to do, then they
will work on the white mulberry a little.
Dr. Peiro said, oo page 605, we should in-
sert cuttings in July or August. If we were
to do that here, it would be very few trees we
would get. We have hundreds of mulberry
trees, and have bushels of berries every year.
I bought a package of seed for 10 cents, and
from these I raised 500 trees. I think this is
the cheapest way to get mulberry trees. You
can buy one-year-old trees from the nursery
for about -?3.00 a 1000. There are male and
female trees, and when they blossom the bees
will work on the male trees, and get pollen
from the blossoms, but those don't have any
berries. If Dr. Peiro can find any cheaper
way to get mulberry trees, we would like to
hear from him again. R. Chinn.
Dixon Co.. \ebr., Oct. 4.
Quoting the Honey Market.
I wish to enter a protest against the state-
ment made in the market report from Omaha
and from Kansas City, and signed " Peycke
Bros." They say Colorado and Ctah shippers
are offering honey for 10 cents per pound,
and in the Bee Journal of Aug. 22, at A2.40
lier case. Xow, as a matter of fact, the
Honey-Producers' Association of Denver have
lieen jjniiiiiy $2.~b per case all the fall, and
Peycke Bros, knew it, for their man has been
at Denver and called at the Association
rooms. Such statements are not only an in-
jury to the bee-keepers here, but all over the
country, as having a tendency to lower the
price of honey.
Peycke Bros, say in the same report that
honey is selling in Kansas City for 16 to 17
cents per pound. Is not 6 to 7 cents per
pound a pretty good profit I
We look to the American Bee Journal to
help the bee-keepers, not to injure them, and
certainly such a report does Injure them.
"COLOKAUO."
[The foregoing was not sent us for publica-
tion, but as we have not used the writer's
name, we think he will not object to its
appearance.
We certainly do not want our market col-
umns to injure producers, and are indeed glad
that " Colorado " has written to us. We
imagine that the " 10 cents " referred to was
an error on the part of " Peycke Bros." Sup-
pose we invite them to explain the matter. —
Editor. 1
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We I an furnish you with The A. 1. R,,ot Go's
poods at wliolesale or retail at their prices. We ran
save you freitjht. and snip promptly. .Mnrket price
paid tor heeswH.x. tfend for our 191.U catalog.
M. U. HUM' & SO.N. Bell Branch. Wayre Co.. Mich
tr'iease mention Bee Journal ■when -writina.
HNGE \^ A LIFE TIME
mm is often enough to d" some thlnprs.lt'sof ten eiioupll
^^ to I'uy a way:oa if you buy the riclit kind The
ELECTRIC "wAcoN
ELECTKIC WHEEL CO.. Box 16, Quiiicy, Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing^
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputatioa. 75 cts.each; 6 for $4.00.
Long^Tongued 3«Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong^ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
One-Pound Square Flint-Glass
HONEY-JARS
with patent air-ti^ht stoppers.
Cheapest and best. Shipped from New York at
$4.50 per gross. Send for catalog- to
J H. M. COOK.
«A.lt (.2 Cortlaudt Street, New YoKli, N.Y.
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this '* Emerson " no further binding- is neces-
sary.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
^^ IT IS A FACT
at poultry pavs a larger profit
r the money invested than any
ler business; that anybody may
Ike a success of it without long
litiing or previous experience;
tibntora and Brooders will give
i-esOurSOth Century Poultry
itdok tells just why, and a hundred other thin grs you
sh.aild know. We mail the book for 10 cents. Write
to-.ia,-. We have 115 yards of thoroughbred poultry.
BEUABLE I8CUBAT0B & BROODER CO., Box b.2. Quincy, HI*
flease mentaon Bee Jotirnal ■when writius
that the Kellahlelnc
Oct. 24. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
685
Development of the Queen.
In lileaniu^s in Bee-Culture, Dr. C. C.
Miller discusses the matter of queen deTeloji-
ment. After considering the time from the
laying of the egg to hatching, and to the
sealing of the larva, he says :
The most important of the questions, from
a practical standpoint, is, " How long from
the laying of the egg to the emerging of tlie
<iueen V In the American Bee Journal, Vol.
I., page Itlfl, in a chapter of the able series of
articles on the Dzierzou theory, by the Baron
of Berlepsch, after detailing some experi-
ments, he says:
•• These experiments show that the opinion
generally entertained, that the queens emerge
between the 17th and ISth day after the eggs
are laid, is correct."
The time of writing this, however, ante-
dates the publication of the Journal, 1.S61 ;
and elsewhere in general throughout the vol-
ume 16 days is accounted the proper time.
Indeed, on page 26l5, Dzierzon gives a detinite
case in which the time was only 15 days.
Sixteen days has of late years been accounted
the orthodox term. I think, in general, in all
the books excepting Cowan's, which gives l.i
days. This year I though: I would refer the
two latter questions to the bees, so as to get a
positive answer in at least one case. July is.
at 10 a.m., I took from No, 85 its brood, leav-
ing in the hive foundation and one comb con-
taining some sealed brood, this comb having
been kept for more than a week where there
was no possibility of a queen laying in it.
Four days later I gave this comb to No. 35,
after having removed from No. 35 its queen
and brood. July 26, at 10 a.m., when the
oldest brood could not have been more than
eight days old, I found 20 sealed queen-cells
on the comb, and seven unsealed. The proof
is clear and positive that these 20 cells that
were sealed contained larv;e not any more
than eight days from the laying of the egg.
It is reasonable to suppose that the seven un-
sealed cells contained younger larvie. Desir-
ing to save all the cells. I did not wait till
any of the occupants were quite 15 days old
from the laying of the egg, but opened the
hiveatii:45 a.m.. Aug. 2. I was doomed to
disappointment, for seven young queens had
already emerged.
In this case there could be no question.
The cells %vere sealed in eight days; and
allowing three days in the egg, there were five
days of feeding; and the queens emerged l.-i
days from the laying of the egg. These fig-
ures agree with those of Mr. Cowan. It
should not for a minute be supposed that
they admit of no variation. But it is prob-
able that, under normal condtions, they may
-J—,
g
p
im_
„
, — ,
S
j
i
s
PACE
1
1
m
OURS IS NOT
mly "Llk.-tli.. I'll-.-,'' hilt IS th.- f.Tiulne P.\QE.
l'A<iK(K)Vt.\ \VIKKFK.N(Kl()., AI)ltH>',MKH.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the beat
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool markets and Staeep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP, CHICABO, ILL.
Please metitiou Bee Journal
when writing advert^^«ers.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A:a:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW 1101 FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
special Agency, C. M. Scott & Co., ir)04 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping* facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. W ^s^c.^r;^:^
r***** »v^M «_-»'^^^4^ TT %*.rm.. ♦ CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Buffalo Pan*American Tickets
via the Nickel Plate Ro d. S13.00 for
the round trip good 15 days ; $16.00 for
the round trip good 20 days. Three
daily trains with vestibuled sleeping-
cars. Meals in dining-cars, ranging in
price from 35 cents to SI. 00. Address
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 38— 41A4t
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
Flease mention Bee Journal -when writinftf
4i^VI/\tAl/\lA^/\i/(lAii\lAi/\i/\^ntAi>U/\l/\t/\iiit^
I umm Honeu For sale i
■^ ALL IN AO. POUND TIN CANS. >.'
=BEST=
Alfalfa
Honey J/(C
This is the famous
White E.xiract
Hoaev gathered
the great Alfalf.n
regious of the Ceni
ral West. It is
splendid hooey, an
a e a r 1 V everybod
pho
hon
at all
Basswood
Honey jr<C
This is the well-
known light-colored
hooey gathered from
the'rich. nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to paj' for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7)4 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, yi cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOIMEY
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and ifs prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm
something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production
and then buy honey of you for my own use. Bnt however loyal one ought to be to the
honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality
of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more
marked flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
OEOROE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
686
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 24, 1901.
be relied upon as coming as near the average
as anvthing- that can be given. The question
may arise, why it is that 16 days for the full
development of a queen has so generally been
agreed upon. Many of the observations have
been made, not upon full colonies, but upon
nuclei. Development will be retarded^ in
nuclei. In the American Bee Journal, Vol.
I., page 1-13, Father Langstroth reports a
case in which a queen in a nucleus was 21
days incoming to maturity. In my early
days of bee-lveeping I knew no better than to
have queens started in nuclei, and I had cases
like ihat of Father Langstroth. But in full
colonies I have had many, many incidental
proofs that 1.5 days was the limit. Ought we
not to change our belief from 16 to 15 >.
Hiving on Foundation.
Foundation, full sheets of it, is something
that a newly hived swarm does not like; at
least, Messrs. Hall and Alpaugh, of Ontario,
assert that such is the case ; that they are
much more likely to swarm out when hived
on full sheets. Mr. Alpaugh says he believes
that bees don't realize at first what founda-
tion is for — that they don't comprehend at
first that they can make combs of it. When
they find themselves in a hive filled full of
sheets of wax placed \'., inches apart, they
say to themselves: " This is no place for us.
There is no opportunity to build comb here
with the space all divided in this way. Let's
get out of it." Mr. Alpaugh prefers to hive
in an empty box, which gives the bees an
opportunity to cluster contentedly Iq a nat-
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphiG
PEN
This pen consists of a Iiarci
rnl>l>er holder, tapering to a
i-uiin«l point, and writes as
smoothly .-is a load-pencil. The
point aii'i ii<-»-«ll»'uf the pen
are made of pl:>liii:i. alloyed
with iri«liiiiii— !-ulistancesof
great durability which are not
allected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write lO.OUU words, and do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of iini*
roi-ni widili at all limes
they are iineqiialecl lor
ruling purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best M.^nifoldisg Pen on
THE Makicet.
10,000 Postmasters use this
Kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO KEW SUBSCRIBERS
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with .S2.00; or send
.*1.90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for Sl.Ol) we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
S:')"' QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Bee- Books
:nt postpaid bv
George W. York & Go.
Chicago.
Bees and Honey, or Management of an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New.
man.— It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 paees,
beautifully printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, gold-lettered. Price, in
floth, 75 cents; in paper, SO cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth—the Father of American Bee-Culture. I',
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $t.25.
Bee.Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api?ry,
by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide iu bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thorolv practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
orav and physiologv of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, S1.2S.
Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the verv best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Root.— A cyclo-
p5edia of 400 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.30.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, SO cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a tr.anslation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, Sl.OO.
Biehen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— Thi^
is a German translation of the principal portion
of the book called " Bees and Honey." luO-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
B:enenzucht und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neuesten methode (German) by J. !■'. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
^ pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee=Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brcjwn, of Georgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honev-bee, giving the best modes
of management in' order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
*' new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or e.vtracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotes two pages to a culonv. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for SO colonies, il.OO; for 100 colo-
nies, $1.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.- Gives the
Mciivoy Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce. — Result of 25 years' experience. 3^ cts.
Foul Brood Treatment, by Prof. F. R. Che-
shire.—Its Cause and Prevention. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, bv A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing, by Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and others.— Illustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, by Fannv
Field.— Everything about Poul'.ry Diseases and
>heir Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. 9
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, bv
i^anny Field. — Tells everything about Poultry
liusiuess. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for a vear's subscription to our
Journal, and we will send book. Plans for
Poultry-Houses, free. Six months trial subscrip-
tion to' Journal. 10 cents.
Inland Poultry Joornai,, Indianapolis, Ind
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
ural manner, and then set a hive, furnished
with sheets of foundation, over the box.
Gradually the bees clamber up on the founda-
tion, discover its nature and their oppor-
tunities, and box below will be deserted — but
sometimes not until quite a little comb has
Ijeen built.— Bee-Keeper's Review.
Introducing Queens.
Mr. Alley has introduced thousands of vir-
gin queens by the following method : The
nucleus is kept cjueenless for three days — 72
hours — then the entrance is closed with a
plantain leaf, the bees given a dose of tobacco-
smoke through the feeS-hole in the top of the
hive, and the queen immediately run in
through the same place, and the hole is closed.
By morning the leaf is dry enough to blow
away, and offers no obstruction to the bees.
He uses the leaf to keep the liees in, and so^
that they may not recover too quickly from
the effects of the tobacco. He says failure is
practically unknown. One of his plans for
immediate introduction of a fertile queen is
to remove the old queen, drive all the bees
from the combs into the cover or a box, drop
the new queen into the cluster, and let the
bees go back to the combs at their pleasure.
Again, pick the oM queen from the swarm,
and let the new queen drop among the bees
as they are entering the hive. — Arthur C.
Miller, in the Bee-Keepers' Review.
Prevention of Increase.
Although not prevention of swarming, it is
given after this fashion in the Bee-Keepers*
Review:
Hiving swarms so as to prevent increase,
ajid secure good results in honey, is managed
as follows by Mr. J. B. Hall, of Ontario ; The
first swarm is hived upon the old stand, and
the old hive placed by the side of it. On the
eighth day all the bees (queens and all, if
any are hatched) in the old hive are shaken
down in front of the swarm that was hived
eight days before on the old stand ; any re-
maining queen-cells are mashed down, and
Standard BelQian Hare Book !
BY M. D. CAPPS.
HIS book of 17S
pages presents a
' and concise
ment of the Bel-
ndkii
indu
th, origin
5; the san-
d construc-
f the rabbitry;
lection of breeding
ock; care of the
ngy feeding, dis-
ses and their
;s, scoring, mar-
ket ing,shippin g,&c.
First edition of 50,-
tWO copies was sold
in advance of publi-
cation.
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year- both for only tl.tO.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re-
turn—$13,
via the Nickel Plate Road daily, with
limit of 15 days; 20-day tickets at $16
for the round-trip ; S-day tickels at S6
for the round-trip on Tuesdays, Thurs-
days and Saturdays, the latter good
only in coaches. Through service to
New York and Boston and lowest avail-
able rates. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams Street, Chicago.
37— 41A4t
w
■ILL SKLL my half interest in one of my
apiaries consisting of 300 colonies, 20 miles
)ff N. G. R. R. Have too manv irons iu the fire
o attend to is the rea^^on. At your command.
GEO. kOCKENBAUGH, Vaguajay, Cuba, W. 1.
Oct. 24, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
687
the next swarm that issues is liived on these
combs of sealed brood. Mr. Hall says that
a swarm won't stay if hived on rombs of un-
sealed brood, but that it will stay on combs
of seiilnl brood. He says further, that swarms
don't like full sheets of foundation.
Returning Swarms to Parent Stand.
Editor Root, in Gleanings in Bee-Culture,
giyes a modified plan which some may lilte,
only it must always be borne in mind that
there would be severe loss if enough bees did
not promptly hatch out to take care of the
brood, especially it a cool night should come.
He says:
Our neighbor, Vernon Burt, has succeeded
as usual in getting a good crop of honey. He
returns all the swarms to the parent stand,
giving the swarm a hive of empty combs,
then putting the super from the old hive on
top of the new one. If the weather is warm,
he shakes or brushes 'ill the bees oil the
combs of the parent hive, and then moves it
to another location. Hatching brood will
usually come out in time to take care of the
young brood. In this way he gives the
swarm all the strength itorigiaally possessed;
and by so doing he finds he gets the best
working force possible. This plan is a com-
bination of the returu-swarm plan and of the
Stachelbausen brush-swarm idea. But he
says he is always careful to see there is hatch-
ing brood to make sure that the unsealed
brood will not starve. He takes the further
prevention of brushing only during hot
weather. Of course, during the swarming
season there will be no robbing, and no fear
need be entertained from that source.
Rocku Mountain Bee-Plant Seed!
( t'leome iitteyt ifuUa )
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: *'This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-g-ardeu, to
say nothing- of the honey it produces. It y^rows
fromtwo to three feet in hight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink tlowers. It grows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a J^-pound package as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or M
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & GO.
144 & 146 Erie Street. - CHICAGO, ILL
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. —The executive committee of the
Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association has ordered
thai the next meeting be held all day and even-
ing, Dec. 5, 1'>01. at the Briggs House club-room.
This is arranged on account of the low rates to
be in force then for the Inlernational Live-
stock Exposition in Chicago at that time (Nov.
30 to Dec. 7, beinff one fare plus $2<m.i for the
round-trip This notice gues by mail to nearly
300 bee-keepers near Chicago, and should result
in the largest all*-ndance we have ever had. Dr.
C. C. Miller and Mr. C. P. Dadant have promised
to be present. Let all come.
Herman F. MooKii, Sec.
Gkorge W. York, Pres.
Colorado —The Colorado annual meeting
promises to be a genuine success. The program
has been made out for a number of weeks, and
is almost re^dy for publication. It has cometo
be a privilege and an honor to read .i paper be-
fore our Association, and so vet y few decline
who are invited to write or speak for instruc
tion. One paper is alread.i in the hands of the
secretary. On two ur three nights a bij^r magic
lantern will illustrate talks by famous students
of bees and the bee industry. And ihen we are
going to have an exhibition of the choicest
honey in the United States (made in Colorado,
you know), and wax, with bees enough to show
" how the thing is done."
If vou want to know more, or hive forgotten
the dates (Xov. IS, l'», 20), write to the under-
signed, box 432, Denver, Colo.
D. W. Working, Sec.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arraagemeots so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5Mi ions 251ts soft
Sweet Clover (white) $.60 $1.00 $2.25 $4.C0
Sweet Clover (vellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alsike Clover'. 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.2S 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, • CHICAGO, ILL.
To Buu Hon6U
What haveyou to offer
_ and at what price?
34Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton, Wis.
Flease mentior Bee Journal -when ■wntina
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
'We pay spot cash. Fred W. Muth
fc Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40A5t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Gomb and E,x-
iractedfioneu!
state price, kind and qua
R. A. BURNETT & CO., 199 S. Water St., Chicag
33Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive wlien lot i^ large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Ple."'=!e mention Bee Journal when writing.
Co
and B(
G. H. W. WEBER,
4,'-Atf ::i4ii 214N Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Ree Journal v^hrfn -wntjnc^
$6. CO to Buffalo Pan-American and
Return— $6. oo,
via the Nickel Plate Road, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdajs, with limit
of S days from date of sale, good in
coaches only. 1-^ day tickets at fl3.00
for the round-trip, and 20 day tickets
at $16.00 for round-trip, good in sleep-
ing-cars. Three through trains daily.
For particulars and Pan-American
folder of buildings and grounds, ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, General Agent,
111 Adams St., Chicago. 39— 41A4t
Catnip Seed Free!
■We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wi.sh to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. 00 ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year — both for 51.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 35 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
il >te >ti sJ<. ili >K. ifc. >li ste. >!< itt iti alit*
I HON&y AND BEESWAX l
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Oct. 10.- There is a very ifood trade
in No. 1 comb honey at lr>c per pound; that
which will not grade No. 1 or fancy sells at
from 13((M4c; some small lots of fancy have
broufjht more than 15c; light amber sellinff at
12@13c; the dark honeys of various grades
range at from MM He. Extracted sells fairly
well at SM&ihVic for white, according to quality
and flavor; white clover and basswood bring-
ing 7c; light amber, S"4(a'S<4c; dark, S(ffl5Kc.
Beeswax steady at 2Sc. R. A. Burnett 6l Co.
Cincinnati, Aug. 10.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather. '
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5W6c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6(Si7c; white clover from S(a9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ]3>^@15^c.
C. H. W. Wbbbr.
Boston, Oct. 12.— Fancy 1-ponnd honey in car-
tons. 16c; A No. 1 in glass or cartons, I'Sc; No.
1, 14'.4telSc; very little No. 2 being received.
Light amber extracted, "i^c.
Blake, Scott & Iibb,
Albany, N. Y., Sept. 19.— We quote: Fancy
white comb, 16c; No. 1, ISc: mixed, IStoHc; No.
1 buckwheat or amber, 12(a;i3c. Extracted,
white,~(f7'/4c; light, 6)i@7c; dark, 5J^(a»6c. Bees-
wax, 28(3'29c. H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Aug. 8. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 51) per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4'^(gJ4-'ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, fJtah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Oct. 18.—Comb honey is in good
demand and finds ready sale at the following
quotations: Fancy white, 15c per pound; No. 1
white, 13®14c; amber, 12c; buckwheat, lOfflllc.
Extracted rather quiet at 6fa6Hc for white, and
S^tob'^c lor amber. Beeswa.x rather quiet at
27@28c. Hildreth & Seoelken.
Des Moines, Aug. 7.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way' at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honev.
Peycke Bros. 6i Ch'anev.
Detroit, Aug. 12.— Fancv white comb honev
14@15c; No. 1, 13(S'14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6(S 7c. Beeswax, 25W'26c.
M. H. Hunt <& Son.
San Francisco, Oct. 9.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber. 7(a9c; dark, 6(S'7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, sa®—; light amber, 4>^@ — ;
amber. 4@ — .
Offerings of both comb and extracted, espe-
cially of otber than most select qualities, are
ahead of the immediate demand at full current
rates. There is little selling pressure, bow-
ever, and market is ruling steady as to values.
Kansas City, Sept. 14.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honev have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15@loc per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.10(a$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14ri'14'/^c; the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for e.v-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a smiU way 5M(S6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
r'.nllfnrni Jl 1 if you care to know of its
^aillUrnid l pmits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Publishe>d weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam
pic copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
J30 Market Street, ■ San Francisco. Cai.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when -writing.
688
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 24, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS' OR
w\m. tumim
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FALCONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r tS- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our g-oods at catalog^ prices.
Order of him and save f reig-ht.
please mention Bee Journal wyieti writiaff
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, fl.W: Select Tested,
il.SO. Halt dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES.
RIVEK FoKEST, Oak Park Post-OfEce,
30Atf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when •writing.
BEE=SUPPLIE5!
'AT KOQT-S f^RICE^J.
WALTER S.POUDER.
SIZ MASS. AVE. INDIkNArbLIS.iND.
Please mention. Bee Journal •when •writine
A New Bee-Keeper's Song*—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
In the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Eugene Secok ;
tten by
tid Dr. C. C. Miller
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advatice payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free.
if asked Jor.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
24tll'
year
Dadant's Foundation. \m
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. '♦^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINQ.
Why does it sell _jv^v
so well? ^^
Because it has always g-iven better BatU-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been, any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very tine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee — Rc\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■WTitin&
.^i^
I RED GLOVER QUEENS
Black Rock, N, Y., Sept. 3, 1901.
Friend Ernest:— I will try and tell you what you want to know about that queen. I gfot
her of you id 1899 as a premium with GLEANINGS. I never saw a small colony of bees build up
as that one did. In the spring" of l'>00 they came out ia fine shape, wintered perfect. I raised them
up in May and gave them S frames more so the queen would not want for room. I never saw such
a colony of bees as they were ia June, and they were actually storing- honey when other bees in
my yard were starving'. Nol they were not robbing. 1 never saw those two best colonies of mine
trying to rob. THEY CERTAINLY WORK ON RED CLOVER. This is no guesswork, as I
have seen them. As you know, the past two seasons have been very poor, and what honey my
bees did get in 1900 candied soon after cold weather set in. I packed this colony in a chaff hive
and left them out, thinking that such a strong colony would winter perfect. The snow came on
the middle of November, and those poor bees never a fly until the last of March or the first of
April. When warm weather at last came I thought they were dead, as they did not seem to be fly-
ing much, so I did not pay any attention to them until in June. I noticed they were working a
little, so I opened up the hive and found them in the upper story. I took the lower story out and
left them in the one body. The queen was laying nicely, and I thought they would make a good
colony to winter. Along the last of J jly I noticed that they needed more room. I gave them
super, 24 btxes, and in a few days they had it full. They have made 12. boxes of as nice honey as
you ever saw, and are drawing out some starters now, Sept. 2.
Very truly yours. Geo. B. Howe.
Prices of Red Clover Queens.
Gleanings in Bee-Culture 1 year and Untested Queen $2.00
*' " Tested (jueen 4.00
» " " Select Tested Queen 6.00
If you want something good you can not do better than to order one of these queens. All or-
ders are filled promptly. No extra postage on these to foreign countries.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., fledina, Ohio.
(U. S. A.)
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^"^^^^k^'^MZT'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO
Send to them for their free Catalog.
iij\Effle%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL,, OCTOBER 31, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 44.
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
Oct. 31, 19U1.
EEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post^Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, 1 Denartment
E.E. Hasty, ^ F,mor«
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is ?1.00 a j-ear, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"deeOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a' receipt lor money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
, label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OP DIRECTORS.
Thos. G. Newman,
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi(
Eugene Secor, G
irer. Forest City, I
ral Manager and Treas-
embership Dues, $1.00 a year.
U^" It more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or "honey-seller
to wear on his coatrlapel. It often serves to in-
trod uce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons!
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more cr less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the offica
of the American Bee Journal.
LanosMiion...
TI]6H0[I6l)B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
THE
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, Jnanual ot the Apiary,
BY
PROF, A, J, COOK,
460 Pages— 16th (1899) Edition-18th Thon-
Band— $1.25 postpaid.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK St CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAtiO, ILL-
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bek-Keepers* Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
mag'nificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding', we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two new subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
it with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. L,et every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL-
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is the e'lM.T. Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife.— When orderiug-, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a oovelty The novelty lies in the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, v,'hich is as transparent as g-lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The JVlaterial entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest Eng-lish razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the lining-s are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield sprina--steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the ch
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty" is lost, having name
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the n;
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a
tunate as to have one of the "Novelties," your Pocket-Knife wi
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is tor a present! What more lasting- memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cul grves a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation o<
thjslbeautiful knife, as the ** Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us^hkee new subsckiiikks to the Bee Journal (withfaw.) We will club the Noveltj
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
ces are the
nd address
le and ad-
accidenl, and are so for-
• as an identifier; and in
GEORGE W, YORK d CO,
/^"Please allor" -"bout two weeks for your knife order to be filieo.
St., Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 31, 1901,
No, 44,
i ^ Editorial. ^ I
National Association Elections are
held annuallj' in December, that is, the elec-
tion of general manager and the successors to
three members of the board of directors,
whose terms expire with the end of each year.
The executive committee (composed of the
president, vice-president and secretary) are
elected at the annual meeting of the organi-
zation.
Referring to this subject, though more par-
ticularly to nominations in advance of the
election. Editor Hutchinson said this in the
Bee-Keepers' Review :
Nominations in advance of the election of
a general manager, and the directors of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association, would be
very desirable. As it is now, when a member
receives a voting-blank, he does not know
for whom any other member will vote. In
his desperation he voles for the man whose
term of office is about to expire. As a result,
each officer succeeds himself, year after year.
Should it ever become desirable to elect a
new man, it would be well-nigh impossible
with the present system. This question was
discussed by the directors present at Buffalo,
but they were unable to devise a plan that
seemed wholly satisfactory, and it was finally
decided to have the matter taken up in the
bee-journals for discussion.
The foregoing was sent to E. R. Root, one
of the directors, for his criticisms or sugges-
tions. He considered it brief and to the
point, and passed it on to Bro. Abbott, who
is chairman of the board of directors. He
penciled on the back of the sheet the follow-
ing:
"While it is desirable to keep the same
parties in office as long as they attend to
business, and give satisfaction, yet it is impor-
tant not to have too many directors in one
locality, and to place in ollice men who will
attend the annual meeting as often as possi-
ble."
The suggestion that we put in directors and
a general manager who will attend the annual
conventions as often as possible, is worthy of
consideration. At the Buffalo convention six
of the directors were present (one more would
have given us a tiuorum), and we did more
business than could have been transacted in
weeks or months of correspondence. There
is nothing like a face to face discussion of a
knotty question. Other things being equal,
we should give our preference to those men
who are usually present at the annual con-
vention.
This is a matter that we fear will never be
satisfactorily arranged. To nominate a cer-
tain man (or men) in the bee-papers in
advance of the election will hardly do. Who
will name them I How many nominations
are there to be i Suppose a hundred mem-
bers nominate as many different candidates,
what is to be done ?
We noticed last year that some of those
whose terms of otlice did not expire at that
time received quite a number of votes. This,
of course, was useless. It might be well to
print the list of holdover directors, and above
them put this:
'■Don't vote for any of the following, as
their terms of office do not expire this year."
Nothing need be said about those whose
terms do expire — not even mentioning their
names ; then let the members vote for whom
thej- please.
It might not be a bad idea for each annual
convention to nominate three candidates for
general manager, and nine candidates to suc-
ceed the three whose terms expire with the
following December. Then these nomina-
tions could be announced to the members
when sending out the voting blanks. Of
course, any others could be voted for if pre-
ferred, but very likely one of the three would
be elected general manager, and three of the
nine would be elected directors.
We commend the foregoing suggestion to
the consideration of the membership of the
Association, to be acted upon next year, if
thought best. Of course it is too late to
make use of it this year. The old method
will likely have to prevail once more.
We feel perfectly free to speak out on this
subject, as we are not now an officer, nor are
we seeking any office in the Association, be-
lieving that the more prominent and wiser
ones should manage its important affairs.
Long Tongues I'er Se. — In the Bee-
Keepers' Review for September, F. B. Simp-
son disclaims the intention of teaching that
long tongues are of no value per «c. It was
said On page 451 of this journal that it was
doubtful if he meant to teach just that thing.
But his words — "I believe the long tongues
are of no value only so far as they represent
an increase of vigor'" — seem to teach just
that thing, at least a Straw in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, and an " Afterthought" in this
journal, show that others so understood. But
a man who is doing as good work as Mr.
Simpson may easily be forgiven for failing in
a single case to make mimself rightly under-
stood.
-*■
Deficiencies of Bee-Books. — Every
now and again the novice makes the charge
against his text-bnok that it lacks the very
thing he most wants tn know. The text-book
on bee-culture that is perfect is yet to be
written, and the pri)l)ability is that it will
never be written. Yet it is doubtful that
more truth about bee-keeping could well be
gotten into the same space. It must be re-
membered that no matter how full and com-
plete a bee-book may be within the limit of a
certain number of pages, there can not of
necessity be full minuti^ upon all points that
may arise. New complications will always
be arising that will raise questions which can
only be answered by some one of experience,
and for the very purpose of answering such
questions a department in the American Bee
Journal and in some other journals is con-
stantly maintained. The readers of this jour-
nal need never hesitate to make free use of
the department of "'Questions and Answers."
Especially are questions allowed, and even
solicited, from our regular subscribers who
have made careful study of the text-books.
Study carefully your text-book, and be-
come familiar with it; for the question
department is not intended to take the place
of the text-book, and after you are familiar
with the contents of any good work on bee-
culture, you will ask intelligently questions
whose answers will be useful to many others.
But don't ask too much of the text-books,
and don't expect' a study of them ever to
leave you without some question that needs
answering.
Warming Combs. — When Wm. McEvoy
gives additional combs of honey in the spring,
he takes the precaution to have these combs
warmed before being put in the hive, by
keeping them in a very warm room until they
are warmed clear through, as he relates in the
Bee-Keepers' Review. If one stops to think,
this will appear a rational proceedicg. The
combs in the hive, whether full or empty,,
will be of about the same temperature as the;
cluster of bees, so far as the combs are in-
cluded in the cluster or touching the sides of
cluster. Now suppose the cluster is divided
to receive a fresh comb of honey, or even if
it be placed close up against the cluster, it is
easy to see that the bees would be thereby
chilled, and perhaps serious damage done.
Mr. McEvoy is doing a wise and paying thing
to warm the combs that he gives. Of course
these combs are given in the evening, and
then there will be little fear of robbing.
Hairy Vetch was mentioned on page 611
as a possible new honey-plant. Mr. M. M.
Baldridge, of Kane Co., 111., called recently
and brought with him a sample of the vetch,
which was still in bloom. It is a sort of
trailing or vine-like plant, growing as much
as four feet in length, and has long, purple
flowers. He has not seen a bee on the bloom,
so is inclined to doubt its value as a honey-
plant in his locality.
Mr. Baldridge says the vetch is the same
plant as tares referred to in th» Bible as hav-
ing been sown among the wheat by the Evil
One. It is almost impossible to separate the
692
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 31, 1901.
tares (vetch) from the wheat without destroy-
ing the latter.
Vetch is usually sown with timothy or
some other tall-growing plant which aids it to
stand up.
If any of our readers know vetch to !)<■ a
nectar-yielder in their locality, we should be
pleased to have it reported ; also time of sow-
ing, and how to grow it successfully.
Introducing Queens with Tobacco,
Editor Hutchinson says, has resulted in occa-
sional failures, and he adds: "1 am be-
ginning to think that we will never find an
infallible method. There will always be some
bunglers in the ranks."
I The Buffalo Convention. I
I Weekly Budget. I
Mb. R. a. Hendeuson's Ai'iakt is shown
on our first page this week. He is in this
(Cook) county. He began last spring with
11 colonies, and he says ; "With the Ameri-
can Bee Journal and ' A B C of Bee-Culture '
as my guide, I increased to 4,5 colonies, by
rearing and buying c|ueens; and took off 1.5U0
nice, finished sections." Mr. Henderson suc-
ceeds because he puts sense and enthusiasm
into his work with bees. Of course, his good
location makes up the rest, as nothing else
could replace the lack of that.
Mr. A. L. BOTDEN, of the A. I. liootCo.,
is soon to visit the West Indies — Barbados,
Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad, etc. Also Rambler
(John H. Martin) is to " trip it " through
Cuba with bicycle, camera, etc. There is no
more enterprising concern on the continent
than the publishers of Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture. And that elegant periodical shows the
wonderful amount of work and expense con-
stantly bestowed upon it. It richly deserves
all the success with which it is meeting these
autumnal days.
Mrs. Claua West Evans, one of the
subscribers of the American Bee Journal, has
been nominated as a candidate for superin-
tendent of schools for Allamakee Co., Iowa.
The local newspaper where she lives, besides
giving an excellent picture of the nominc^e,
has this to say among other endorsements:
" Mrs. Evans has the health, energy and
ability which fit her for the duties of superin-
tendent of schools, and if elected would do
her best to meet the requirciiienls of that
otlice. As a business woman slir is tliunnigli,
honest and reliable. After llic ilcatli of her
husband, three 3'ears ago, she a.ssuiucd tlic
management of his business, and by reason
of study and close application, ranks to-day
as one of the most successful apiarists in tlie
State of Iowa. She has held various olHces of
trust and responsibility in church and lodge
wherever residing."
Some people don't believe in women going
into politics. Neither do we — in the kind of
politics most in evidence to-day. But some
day politics will be cleaner. It would lie
cleaner now if only men and women of llic
.stamp of Mrs. Evans were allowed to have
ollicial power. What is needed is less poli-
tics and more manhood and womanhood in
our ofHcials— less party blindness and more
righteousness in the voters.
^ Report of the Proceeding's of the Thirty-Second Annual ^
^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^
^ elation, held at Buffalo, New York, ^
;$ Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^■
(Continued from page (.SO.)
FUMIGATING COMBS WITH BISUI<PHIDE
Ol' CARBON.
"How soon may combs that have
been fumigated with bisulphide of car- (
bon be given to bees without killing
the bees ?"
Mr. Benton — I have frequently used
bisulphide of carbon and used the
combs an hour after that; but if you
put a whole colony of bees in, there
would be a chance of killing the bees.
I don't think there is any danger in a
few hours. It evaporates very rapidly.
Mr. Abbott— I don't think that bisul-
phide of carbon would affect anything
in 3 minutes after if it is not confined.
Bisulphide of carbon won't affect any-
thing if it is not confined, and you can
pour all the bisulphide you please on a
comb in the open air and it will all be
gone in three minutes, and I don't see
how you could kill the bees without it
being confined.
Mr. Benton — The odor would be dis-
agreeable; I don't think it would kill
them.
Mr. Abbott — I use it for keeping the
moth from eating up the paste that I
paste my papers with. I pour a little
in a saucer and in a few minutes the
moths are all killed. I do not hesitate
to open the can and breathe it, but if
it was confined I wouldn't want to stay
there.
Dr. Miller — I would like to ask this
question: Does bisulphide of carbon
kill the eggs of the bee-moth ?
Mr. Benton — I think it does. I never
have had them develop in combs that
were thoroughly subjected to bisul-
phide of carbon. I would stack up
eight or ten hives and put half a pint
of bisulphide in there and let it stand
several days; some of those combs that
had stood two or three months in hot
weather; there were eggs there I know
because other combs developed.
Dr. Mason —I had some extracting-
combs that I noticed the worms work-
ing in, and I piled them up and put a
teaspoonful of bisulphide of carbon in
a dish on top of the frames, and in two
or three days when I examined them
there wasn't a sign of any worms but
dead ones.
Dr. Miller — We have been using sul-
phur, and now we are told bisulphide
of carbon is better, and we want to
know about how much better. Now,
in using sulphur, if the combs have in
them the larva' of the bee-moth, I wish
Mr. Benton would tell us a single word
that vfe can use. At any rate, these
worms, when they have attained any
size — say if they are half an inch or an
inch long — you may sulphur them so
thoroughly that you will have every-
thing green, and those big fellows will
still be alive and happy after they come
out again. Now, will the bisulphide
kill those old chaps?
Dr. Mason — It will kill every one of
them, every time. I overlooked a hive
this summer that had wormy combs in
it, and when I discovered it they were
great big fellows, and in an hour's
time after using the bisulphide every
one of them was dead.
Mr. Barb — I would like to ask Mr.
Benton whether he applies that bisul-
phide above or below.
Mr. Benton — On the top, because it
is heavier than the atmosphere. I put
an empty super there and set a little
tin can in there — perhaps half a pint,
or teacupful, for quite a stack of hives.
Mr. Abbott — Did I understand Dr.
Miller to say that sulphur gas will not
kill the big worms? I have never
seen anything that I could not kill by
sulphur gas. Seriously, I think you
are laying down a proposition that
seems to be contrary to all scientific
investigation. If there is anything
that breathes that can live in sulphur
gas, I have yet to see it. I used to be
in the patent medicine business, and
we had a vat in which if you had hung
anything from an elephant down to a
mosquito it would kill it.
Dr. Miller I don't know of any way
to get it sufficiently strong by ordinary
means.
Mr. Case — My business down in
Ontario County a few years ago was
raising hops. I found a colony of bees
one time, when I was drying hops,
that the worms had destroyed, and I
says, "Now I have a chance to fix
you. " So I took the combs that were
a mass of worms, and put them into a
small sack and put them into that kiln
which was perhaps 20 feet square,
where we burn all the way from 25 to
50 pounds of brimstone in about three
or four hours, and I took pains to hang
them on the wall with a stick so that I
could get them up as near as possible
to the ceiling to get the benefit of the
brimstone; and I left them there all
night and burned the brimstone my-
self, and when I took them out in the
morning the worms were alive.
Mr. Abbott— Was that kiln air-tight?
Mr. Case — There is ventilation at
the bottom, but the air is full of
brimstone.
Mr. Hutchinson — Has any one used
gasoline for killing moth-larva^ ?
Pres. Root — We have used it for kill-
ing ants. We made holes in the nests
and poured gasoline in instead of bi-
sulphide of carbon to kill ants.
Dr. Miller — The statement was made
in an obscure (?) journal, (I think it
is called Gleanings), the statement was
made that it had been used to kill the
larvae of the bee-moth, and in connec-
tion with that the editor stated that he
had used it to kill ants.
Oct. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
693
Dr. Mason — Will the sulphur fumes
kill the eggs 7
Dr. Miller — No, sir.
Dr. Mason — Well, the bisulphide
will, and there is no sense in using sul-
phur when you can get the bisulphide.
Now I pile up the hives as high as I
can r%ach, eight or nine. I don't think
I poured over two teaspoonfuls in, and
it killed every worm.
W. J. Craig, of Ontario — I have been
making some experiments with the bi-
sulphide, and have piled the hives up
in the same way, but I found that the
eggs developed into a grub inside of a
week, while it killed the larger larvic.
At the same time, when I used the
drug in an air-tight vessel it killed the
grubs and destroyed the vitality of the
eggs as well, but with piling the hives
up I find that only the grubs were des-
troyed.
Mr. Benton — Of course, it would be
better to be absolutely air-tight.
Mr. Craig — I am sure that I used two
ounces of the liquid to ten supers, and
I put it top and bottom.
Pres. Root — Then you probably had
only an ounce on the top, if you divided
the amount. That would hardly be
sufficient, would it, Mr. Benton ?
Mr. Benton — I think it would be, if
of good quality.
Pres. Root — We have found a good
deal of difference in the quality of the
bisulphide. Sometimes we have had
it good and sometimes bad.
Mr. Benton — I would like to state
that it is extremely explosive, and if this
were used in a room one should never
go into the room with a lighted lamp,
or candle, or pipe, or any fire what-
ever. It is to be handled with great
caution. I called attention to it in a
publication of the Department of Agri-
culture about five or six years ago. I
would like to know whether it had
been mentioned before for this purpose.
Pres. Root— I don't remember see-
ing any mention of it.
On motion the convention adjourned
until 9 a. m. the next day.
SECOND DAY— Wednesday Fork-
noon.
The meeting was called to order by
Pres. Root at 9 o'clock.
ANNUAL PROCEEDINGS IN PAMPHLET
FORM.
"Should the proceedings of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association be
published annually in pamphlet form
for distribution to its members ?"
Mr. Hershiser — I feel very much in-
terested in the work of the Association
and the extension of its membership,
for the reason that in order to carry
out its aims it is necessary to have a
fat treasury, and be able to have funds
on hand to use when necessity re-
quires. In order to get members it is
necessary to show them that they get
something. Almost everybody when
approached to join an association like
this, the question immediately occurs
to them. What is there in it for me ?
Now, there are a great many beekeepers
in the country districts that should be
members of the Association, but they
are not members simply because they
do not see that they are going to get
anything out of it. They don't expect
to be prosecuted for keeping bees.
The chances are very remote for peo-
ple living in country districts to be
prosecuted; it is only in the case of
some difficulty arising between neigh-
bors. Now, if you can show a bee-
keeper that he is going to get some-
thing out of it, it is very much easier
to get hira to join the Association; and
anticipating that these proceedings
might be published in pamphlet form,
I have induced seven or eight people to
join the Association with the idea that
they were going to get something val-
uable. A discussion of these questions
of bee-keeping by the different bee-
keepers from the different parts of the
country are very valuable if the bee-
keepers can get them. I think tliat it
would be a good idea to have these
proceedings published in pamphlet
form, and every member to get a copy,
and, if that is the case, I think that
that is the best means of extending the
membership and making the Associa-
tion strong, and getting the two or
three thousand members that so many
of us ardently' desire.
Franklin Wilcox, of Wisconsin — In
addition to what has just been said, I
might say that I think that every mem-
ber of the Association that pays his
dues is entitled to a knowledge of all
the proceedings of the Association.
He should have it in some form. The
question as to whether it should be
published in pamphlet form is the
question in my mind. If it is pub-
lished, as heretofore, in the American
Bee Journal, or any other journal, and
each member of the Association fur-
nished with a copy of that journal,
whether a subscriber or not, it covers
all the requirements, in my mind, and
would save some expense. The expense
of publishing it in pamphlet form is
the only objection.
Mr. Hershiser — I would say in an-
swer to the question of expense, that it
is for that reason we want to go to the
expense. If it is profitable to go to the
expense, then we want to go to that
expense.
Pres. Root — As I understand, the
American Bee Journal containing the
copy of the report has heretofore been
sent to every member.
Mr. Wilcox — That covers all the re-
quirements, as far as I can see.
C. J. Baldridge, of New York — Last
year I didn't get the American Bee
Journal.
George W. York, of Illinois — I think
last year I offered to send all the copies
of the American Bee Journal contain-
ing the report upon receipt of 10 cents.
Perhaps some of the members didn't
get notice of it.
Mr. McEvoy — I think that would
cover all— ten cents — and have it pub-
lished in the American Bee Jonrnal;
and those who aren't members could
get it for 10 cents.
Mr. York — I had no idea when I
made the offer that the proceedings
would run through so many numbers.
I wouldn't care to make such an agree-
ment again. I might say that I agree
with Mr. Hershiser, that it ought to
be published in pamphlet form, and I
know that the expense would not be
any more than the Association could
stand. It is nnich nicer to have a
pamphlet with the proceedings to hand
to a new member, than to try to get
copies of a beepaper with the report.
For instance, six months from now, if
you had this report in pamphlet form,
the secretary could mail a copy to a
new member. I think that the pro-
ceedings published alone, as they were
published after the World's Fair con-
vention in 1893, would be much more
satisfactory. I think it would be for
the best interest of the Association to
get it out in pamphlet form, and have
extra copies so that every new member
could receive one during the year.
You then have something to offer to
new members, otherwise you have sim-
ply nothing until they get into trouble,
or see that they are helping the general
cause of bee-keeping by paying their
dollars.
Pres. Root — Of course, you under-
stand that this discussion is advisory
for the Board of Directors.
Dr. Mason— I may say that hereto-
fore the Association has shared the ex-
pense of the stenographer with the
American Bee Journal, but at the Phil-
adelphia convention the bill was paid
by Mr. York alone, and this year also
he pays the stenographer. If the Asso-
ciation expects to get any of it out-
side of what he puts in the American
Bee Journal, I suppose the members
will have to pay for it.
Mr. Abbott— I wanted to say that I
have felt all the time that we were
making a blunder by not publishing
the reports in pamphlet form indepen-
dent of the American Bee Journal. I
believe that such reports give tone and
character to a society. I have felt all
the time as though we were a kind of
Cheap John affair, simply because we
trusted to the papers to circulate our
literature, as though we were not able
to stand alone. I have intimated as
much to the general manager, but he
and some of the Board of Directors
seem to think that a Cheap John ar-
rangement is just as good as any other
arrangement. There are some bee-
keepers who are keeping bees accord-
ing to the old methods that prevailed
SO years ago, and 50 years ago we
would not have needed any report of
that kind in order to promulgate our
interests, but the time has come now
when we need a report, bound and sep-
arate, independent and distinct from
any paper, any journal or anything
else, and as a newspaper man I know
that there can be enough advertising
put in the back of the pamphlet, if nec-
essary, to pay for issuing the pamph-
let ; in fact, I am not so sure but I
can find an advertising solicitor who
will undertake to issue the pamphlet
for the sake of the advertising that he
can get in it. I understand that we
are near the thousand mark in mem-
bership, and we are going to pass it at
this convention, and if you have not
given your dollar to help pass this
thousand mark, we would be glad to
have you do it now. I am glad that
this matter has been brought up. We
can get character and influence outside
of the bee-keeping fraternity by hav-
ing a thing of this kind. For instance,
a man down in Kansas City is adulter-
terating honey. I want to sit down
and write to him with regard to it. I
say to him: " Dear Mr. Smith. I mail
you today under another cover a copy
of the proceedings of the last National
Bee-Keepers' Association. It includes
the names of officers, and the constitu-
tion, and explains our aim and pur-
pose, and shows what we are trying to
do. Now, we don't want to make any
warfare on your business, but you will
notice that we are a thousand strong,
and unless you stop your adulterating
we shall have to bring the law to bear
694
AMERICAISi BEE lOURNAI,
Oct. 31, 1901.
on you." A business man sometimes
is known by a letter-head. If I get a
letter from a business house on a Cheap
John piece of paper I generally chuck
it into the fire and pay no attention to
it. But if I get a neat letter, printed
nicely, on good paper, written in good
style, proposing something in a busi-
ness way, I say, " There is a firm that
stands for something," and I write to
them. These things tell in the world,
and we want to use the things that are
used by other business men. The
spending of a few dollars for a report
will do more, in my opinion, to help
the bee-keepers of the United States
than anything else we can possibly do.
Dr. Miller — I am convinced by some
of the arguments presented now, as
well as some other things, that the use
of such a report might be an excellent
investment; that, even if it does cost
something, it will bring in more than
goes out, and on that same line I en-
dorse the thought that we don't want
it on the Cheap John line. We have
taken in the money and can get out a
clean report. 1 believe if we are going
to go on the dignity order, we would
better keep it clear of everything but
the reading.
Dr. Mason — Mr. York informs me
that a thousand copies of the proceed-
ings can be published in pamphlet
form, and a copy mailed to each mem-
ber, for $100.
N. D. West, of New York— If we get
the pamphlets printed, would it not be
a good plan to have more printed than
our membership, so that others could
obtain them for a certain stated price,
the amount to be thrown into the treas-
ury to help maintain this organization?
And notwithstanding the report is
printed in pamphlet form, we would
expect it and want it in the American
Bee Journal just the same. In regard
to the advertising in the back part of
the book, I do not see that that would
materially injure our pamphlet, if it
was gotten up in a neat and attractive
shape. It is necessary for us to save
all the expense we can in regard to
these things, and yet we do not want
to do anything that would be any in-
jury or injustice to the pamphlet itself;
but there are a great many not here
today that would like a pamphlet that
belong to this Association, and which
might be an encouragement to get
others to join the Association later on.
Mr. Hershiser — I move that this con-
vention request the Board of Directors
to print the proceedings of this con-
vention in pamphlet form, and to issue
a sufficient number to supply each
member with a copy, and such addi-
tional number as they may think best.
Dr. Miller — I second that motion.
The motion was carried.
Dr. Lee H. Smith, President of the
Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences,
was then introduced to the convention,
and gave the following- address of
welcome:
Dr. Smith's Address of Welcome.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle-
men:— I trust you will continue to re-
member me as plain Smith, not the one
who adulterates honey, but the one
who is doing all he can for the advance-
ment of information and of science in
the city of Buffalo. It was with very
great pleasure that we received infor-
mation from the National Bee-Keepers'
Association that they would meet in
Buffalo, as we desired very much to
entertain this organization, and hence
we wish to state to j'ou that these
rooms are yours during your stay here.
We have this meeting room, and also
several other rooms in connection
therewith, in which your directors and
committees may meet, and, of course,
anything that we can do to render your
stay here agreeable and pleasant we
will be very happy to do.
Nearly 20 years ago the citizens of
Buffalo subscribed nearly three quar-
ters of a million of dollars for the erec-
tion of this building. It was to be the
home of the Public Library, of the
Academy of Arts, of the Historical
Society, and of the Society of Natural
Sciences. Since then the Fine Arts
have outgrown the limits of the build-
ing, and a public-spirited citizen of
Buffalo, Mr. Albright, has provided
them with a very beautiful building,
which you will notice as you enter the
Pan-American grounds. This will be
the headquarters of the Fine Arts.
Their place in this building has been
taken by the Public Library, which
was formerly supported entirely by
private subscription and membership,
but within the last ten years it has
grown so great that the city has fath-
ered it, and now devotes nearly $75,000
per year for its maintenance. The
ground upon which this building
stands was donated by the city.
Of course, this is simply an idea of
what the spirit of the citizens of Buf-
falo is in regard to educational and
scientific work. Everything is being
done by the city that they can to favor
and further the work of such organiza-
tions as this. The presence of the
bee-keepers is simply another step in
the interest that is felt in this city in
the subject of bees. Nearly ten years
ago one of our most lovely members,
the Hon. David F. Day, a man of great
learning and of ability, a botanist,
perhaps without equal in the United
States and in the world, suggested
that it would be a very interesting and
valuable thing if the subject of the
honey-bee could be brought more
nearly to the understanding of the pub-
lic. The matter was canvassed by the
board of directors of the Society of
Natural Sciences, and it was thought
that possibly the general public was
too busy with other affairs, and had
lost interest in such matters, and that
it would, be better to begin with the
young. After considerable considera-
tion, the question of giving an exhibi-
tion, in these rooms, of the- honey-bee,
to the children of the advanced grades
in the public schools was taken up.
The Society made the offer to the Su-
perintendent of Education, and to the
Board of Education, and it was very
agreeable to them.
We had long known Mr. Sleeper,
who was familiar with the bee from A
to Z. I entered into correspondence
with him, suggesting that he bring
here some bees and give a public dem-
onstration to these children of the dif-
ferent classes, answer questions, and
give them an idea of the interest, the
usefulness and the wonderful instinct
of the honey-bee. Mr. Sleeper very
kindly accepted this invitation, and
came on here in winter and these
rooms were thronged with the pupils
of the public schools in the 8th and '>th
grades, with special classes from the
high school, and with classes from the
various private schools. At that time
we had in the city also a school of ped-
^go^y in which advanced teachers
were given courses. This school also
came down here and went over the ex-
hibit very carefully. The result was a
profound success of the enterprise. I
don't think that any departure made
by the Society of Natural Sciences'
brought it more valuable returns in
the way of interest of the public in its
work. We extended that system of
teaching to other departments. We
sent, for instance, collections of Indian
relics, of animals, of birds. We have
classes here from the schools that meet
to study birds. But it began with the
honey-bee. It was a case where the
sting of the bee opened the ball, and
our department in this line is the most
successful of the branches of the So-
ciety of Natural Sciences.
Mr. Sleeper, I may say, almost made
himself a martyr to this cause of
science, in that one of the very coldest
days he was due here to lecture at the
rooms, and in getting his bees to the
station and in getting them in here he
was taken with pneumonia, and lay at
death's door for some time. It was a
matter of very serious sorrow to us all,
and we had then to call upon Mr. Her-
shiser, who very kindly offered to con-
tinue the course of lectures, owing to
the illness of Mr. Sleeper. This de-
partment will steadily be continued.
You see, therefore, that we owe a
great debt to the bee-keepers, and in
inviting you among us, and being able
to offer you some little entertainment
— a place to meet, or some few little
things — we can. in some measure, give
you an idea of the debt of gratitude we
owe to the bee-keepers. I have also
given you a little suggestion of what
is being done here in regard to the
study of the honey-bee. of what great
interest the study of this subject is to
the general public, and I hope to see
the time when every school shall have
in its course a study of the honey-bee,
with a practical demonstration. It is a
wonderful creature and the subject is
fraught with the greatest scientific in-
terest in all its departments.
The diseases of the honey-bee are
something that every scientist views
with the greatest interest, and you
gentlemen with practical knowledge
of those subjects can do so much to
advance the scientific inquiry in regard
to the diseases that are common to the
lower orders of insect life. Of course,
the same general line of diseases that
kill the honey-bee kill many of the in-
sects that are destructive to vegetation,
and a whole world of inquirv is opened
up by the study of this one little insect
whose cunning- is so marvellous.
I wish to thank you most kindly for
your attention, and again I wish to
welcome you most heartily to our
rooms.
(Continued next week.)
Kequeening Kvery Year is couimg
more in favor all the time with Adrian Getaz
(Bee-Keepers' Review), although bee-keepers
quite commonly prefer to leave to the bees
the task of requeeuing. With young queens
he has fewer drones and less swarming. But
some will object that annual requeening
gives less chance tor thorough establishment
of a reputation tor queens to breed from.
Oct. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
695
Contributed Articles. I
f-^^^^-^K
No. I.-APICULTIRE AS A BUSINESS.
Plant-Growth Conditions in the Arid and Irri-
g-ated Reg-ions.
BY K. C. AIKIN.
FOR two years the general honey crop has been rather
limited. The great forage-plant of the West — alfalfa —
is not much grown outside of the irrigated districts.
Drouths and other causes have worked against the main
source of the East — white clover — and the Eastern short
crop has made a demand for honey from the irrigated
districts.
I observe that the people are prone to jump at conclu-
sions, both in general and in particular; and, regarding
honey-production and apiculture as a source of a living in-
come, an analytical discussion dealing with facts and fig-
ures touching the industry as a business seems timely and
much needed. Among the things that lead me to this dis-
cussion, are the rash ventures made by inexperienced ones
going into the business without due investigation and con-
sideration. But. how are we to reach these people ? My
thoughts through bee-paper channels will entirely miss the
most of these rash enthusiasts, for they do not read such
literature, many of them possibly but little of any kind,
especially of a scientific nature. However, many now in
the business more or less, and who do read our literature,
some who are planning to extend their business, or, per-
haps, to change locations, may be benefitted by a discus-
sion such as I am about to undertake.
ALFALFA.
Two things that need to be understood better are
sources of honey and the dependence to be placed in them.
There is a prevailing opinion throughout the East — many
Westerners share in it — that the two main sources of the
irrigated districts — alfalfa and sweet clover — are a certain
supply, never failing. This is one of the things that must
be considered in the business calculations. If an annual
yield of a given number of pounds per colony can be ob-
tained, we have somewhat to build upon.
When I came to this place the farmers here were mak-
ing an effort to grow red clover, and many fields of it were
to be found all over this district, although alfalfa was the
main hay crop. Two years I obtained quite a crop of red
clover honey, then the clover ceased to exist. So far as soil
is concerned, any and a/l the clovers do exceedingly well.
I have never seen anywhere such immense growth and
blootn on white clover as I have seen here; but while this is
decidedly a clover soil, white and red clover will never suc-
ceed in general. Our climate is so dry — so many months in
the late summer, fall and winter without sufficient rain to
keep the ground moist — that the clovers do not get started,
or, if started, are soon killed out by drouth. Irrigating
water begins to get scarce in August, and in September and
October we can scarcely get any. Just now — October —
there is but a very limited water supply. I get many in-
quiries from the East about our country — this answers
many.
In winter and spring — particularly late winter and early
spring — is when most of the snows fall upon the mountains.
When they are having their greatest precipitation in the
Missouri and Mississippi valleys, we are having ours, too,
but ours mostly falls upon the mountains. The general
trend of air currents is from west to east, and the high, cold
mountain tops condense and precipitate moisture from the
Pacific; thus the moisture is, as it were, strained out of the
air before it gets to us, hence the country at and near the
mountains on the east is a dry one.
Beginning at the "foot-hills" (first hills of the moun-
tains, and I use distances on a magnificent scale), is the
dry or arid region. This arid region continues arid, but
gradually changing to one of more humidity as distance in-
creases from the mountains, until when the Missouri valley
is reached, 400 to 600 miles from the mountains, the rain-
fall becomes sufficient to make farming a reasonable suc-
cess. Precipitation varies as air currents vary because of
high or low mountains and other physical arrangements of
the country.
The reader will comprehend that in the spring, as the
weather begins to warm, the accumulated snows begin to
melt and flow out of the mountains; but keep in mind the
great altitude of the " Rockies " and you will understand
that spring up there is late. Comparatively little water
gets down before April, the greater part coming in May and
June. We depend upon spring rains to start the crops
growing, and, by the time they are started, melting snows
above bring water for irrigating. There are other reasons,
however, for starting crops without irrigation, but not nec-
cessary to discuss them here.
Remembering, then, that there is but little water to
apply to the soil in early spring, rather from early fall_ till
late spring, you will see how almost an impossibility it is
for white and red clover, or any shallow-rooting plant, to
live here. The red clover fields planted here 10 to 12 years
ago soon winter-killed, simply atid purely for lack oj moist-
ure. Only such as send long, thick tap-roots deep into the
ground, and such plants as by nature are fitted to withstand
drouth, these only can survive here. As an illustration,
buffalo grass will become almost perfectly dried, yet retains
vitalitj' and responds when moisture comes again.
These conditions necessarily limit our flora to such
plants as are peculiar to arid districts, and the principal of
these, aside from the California region, are alfalfa, sweet
clover, and cleome. The former is grown of necessity, be-
cause timothy, clover and ordinary hay and pasture grasses
cannot be grown here. Sweet clover is just in its element
of soil and climate here, and while an unwelcome addition
so far as the farmer is concerned, yet it flourishes along
ditches, roadsides and everywhere where there is plenty of
moisture, if it is not cultivated out. While sweet clover en-
dures much dry weather when once started, it is not by
nature an arid-region plant. It grows most luxuriously by
ditches and water-courses, and around the edges of swampy
lands. Because the alkaline soil is its natural soil, and its
long tap-root can reach deep to moisture, it makes quite a
growth in quite dry soils, though depending upon rains to
start the new plants. It is a biennial. Alfalfa is of the
same nature as sweet clover, but will not stand quite so
much moisture in the way of a wet, soggy soil. Alfalfa is a
perennial, whereas the other clovers are more truly bien-
nials, hence the former once established grows on and on
indefinitely, roots becoming one to two inches thick, and 10
to 20 feet long, penetrating almost straight down. Alfalfa
never reaches its best until about the third year.
Now, while in some localities there is more or less wild
bloom that gives a surplus honey, so far as the irrigated
regions are concerned as a whole, we have but three sources
of honey — alfalfa, sweet clover, and cleome, in the order
named. The first is now famed the world over, the second
is a common and well-known plant in all beedom — so far as
its reputation goes— and the third is probably confined to
the mountain regions, including- all arid districts. Cleome
is decidedly an arid region plant, likes a sandy soil, and
growing where neither alfalfa nor sweet clover will. Not
one of these plants is absolutely sure as a honey-yielder.
Each needs its peculiar conditions to make it succeed, both
in making a growth, and in nectar-yielding. My own field
has the three sources; first in importance is alfalfa, second
sweet clover, and last cleome— this latter not in quantity to
give a surplus with the great numbers of bees to work
upon it.
As to conditions necessary for the plants, I will briefly
give my opinion, but consider this only as an opinion, for I
am not certain. Alfalfa needs to be well irrigated, and have
a rich, healthy growth, then bright, hot weather while
blooming. It does not yield well in the morning. Sweet
clover is much the same as alfalfa, though to yield well I
think it needs a more humid air, and probably less heat,
showery weather seeming best. Cleome yields pollen in the
morning, is visited by the bees before alfalfa is scarcely
touched, and evidently does best with cool, moist weather.
While cleome will grow almost from the dry, hard road, yet
I believe it secretes best with rather cool weather and occa-
sional showers. Not living in a region with abundance of
cleome I am not so well qualified to speak of it.
I have harvested much alfalfa, also quite freely of
sweet clover, and a little cleome. Because of irrigation
keeping some fields of alfalfa in /r/jw^ condition every year,
we seldom fail to get more or less honey from it ; but that
it yields a paying crop every year is not true. In 12 years I
have not taken at most more than six fair to good crops,
and of these, generally speaking, I may say two were
alfalfa, two red clover and two sweet clover. But, while
two were almost exclusively alfalfa, four were mainly so,
696
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 31, 1901.
and all were more or less mixed. Two seasons, if sweet
clover had not come to my aid, my crop would have been a
failure. Three and four years ago sweet clover gave me
my surplus, while this year and last alfalfa was almost the
entire crop, sweet clover growing in abundance but almost
a complete failure so far as nectar was concerned.
These things are facts and conditions to be considered
|n our business calculations, hence I discuss them in this
initial article on apiculture as a business. The irrigated
regions are more certain to have some honey every year,
but what is an abundant or partial crop and no income
from it ?
We will continue the business aspect of apiculture.
Larimer Co., Colo.
Introducing ttueen-Bees by the Improved Method.
BY W. W. M'nE.\L.
It devolves upon me to write further of the method of
introducing queen-bees, recently submitted for the benefit
of the readers of the American Bee Journal, and which was
referred to Wni. M. Whitney.
I wish to say that I have no ill feelings whatever to-
wards my opponent; neither is it love for discussion that
brings me before this intelligent audience of bee-keepers.
In taking up the subject again I do so because there is a
practical principle involved which honey-producers cannot
afford to ignore.
Mr. Whitney now professes to be very much surprised
(see page 653) that I should take seriously his statements
antagonizing one of the grandest truths which have been
given to the bee-keeping world. If he knew the position he
took was not "tenable," then what motive had Mr. Whit-
ney in taking the position at all? If the assertion be true—
" love,_ hatred, generosity, and selfishness" are unknown
qualities in the make-up of the honey-bee, how does Mr.
W. harmonize this with his former statement that the
honey-bee is " prompted by the highest type of love and
patriotism?"
This, however, is not the point directly at issue and I
must not linger here. I did not " take seriously " the words
of my esteemed fellow bee-keeper, though it seems that he
is pleased to place a lower estimate upon his writings than
I was wont to accord him.
Now, what I specially wish to ask of Mr. Whitney, and
all who are interested in apiculture, is to try the method I
give you for the safe and practical means of introducing a
queen-bee. In the name of progress, I ask of you, at least,
to try the plan and see if it is not good.
I have tested it and find that I can introduce a queen-
bee safely into any colony where a queen-bee can be intro-
duced by any other method; and, in many instances, more
successfully than by any plan of caging. I know others
can do what I have done if they pursue the same course.
One does not need to be an " expert ;" in fact, the system is
pre-eminently adapted to the " beginner. " The fact that
these teachings are not recorded in the pages of any of the
recognized works on bee-culture does not signify that they
should not be there.
I hope no one of the readers of the American Bee Jour-
nal is so impractical as not to be able to recognize a good
thing till it is written in some text-book.
Instead of throwing cold water on a principle that has
real merit, why doesn't Mr. Whitney come out and do the
proper thing and advise those beginners against the folly
of purchasing such valuable queens as he seems to have in
mind? What use has a beginner with a queen so valuable
that he cannot make use of her?
Consider the rapidity with which queens may be ex-
changed, and the time thus gained, when time means honey,
eventually stored by bees reared from eggs laid by the
queen during the interval the advocator of the caging
method would have her confined in a cage 1
When the queen of a strong colony is taken away and
introduced into another by caging her, I believe that "it will
be safe to say that a week's time will be required for the
queen to reach her former proficiency in egg-laying. Now,
all this causes the new queen to appear at her worst at the
very time when she should be in her best physical condition.
The colony thereby becomes impatient from the inability
of the strange queen to fill the place of the one taken away,
and shifts its hopes to the rapidlj'-developing larval queens;
thus, in a measure, she becomes a prisoner awaiting execu-
tion by her younger rivals.
To show further the utility of immediate introduction
of the queen, let me relate that I have found no difficulty in
thus introducing queens into colonies from which the old
queen has not been removed. This is no " idle dream,"
and what I have done you can do.
Where a colony occupies two sets of combs, take the
old queen and a frame or two of the brood and place them
in the upper story over a queen-excluding honey-brood.
Now close the hive and smoke the colony from the entrance
while pounding lightly upon it to frighten the bees thor-
oughly. Do not use smoke enough to drive out the bees,
but a moderate smoking while pounding on the hive
frightens them so efticiently that the stranger queen may
be allowed to run right into the hive from the entrance;
and she will occupy the lower apartment as wholly as if the
former queen had been removed.
These are facts, and I give them as freely as the air we
breathe, because I want to help as I have been helped.
Suppose you do make one or two unsuccessful attempts,
is that sufficient cause for you to cast the thought aside as
being destructive to the best interests of both the bees and
bee-keeper?
Lest some should even yet not understand, I repeat in
all simplicity: Have your stranger queen at hand when
j'ou take away the reigning one. Disturb the colony as lit-
tle as possible while catching the old queen; when she is
found, close the hive and smoke the colony from the en-
trance, pounding on the hive, of course, while doing this.
Do not smoke the bees constantly, but smoke and pound
alternately, for two or three minutes only; then allow the
new queen to run into the hive by holding the cage up close
to the entrance so that she may not escape in the air. Send
a pufl" or two of smoke into the hive after her, but don't
pound on the hive any more. The object is to frighten the
bees as much, and the queen as little, as possible. See?
Next, be content to let a good job alone for a few days
and do not disturb the colony. A frightened queen is
almost certain to run up against her doom, be it in her own
hive or in the midst of stranger bees.
I cannot continually call your attention to these living
truths; so again I ask that they be tested upon the earliest
opportunity; test them thoroughly, and I know that they
will stand with you as they have stood with me.
Scioto Co., Ohio.
\ Questions and Answers.
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. MILLER. Marengo, III.
[The Qiiestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
dfLrect, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.!
Troubles of an Amateur-Uniting Colonies and Intro-
ducing Queens.
I have subscribed to the Bee Journal and invested in
the " A B C of Bee Culture " in the hope of being able to
answer my own questions, but, unfortunately, I find mj'self
farther at sea than ever, from the fact that the experience
of nearly every bee-keeper is directly at variance with that
of every other, and even the directions given by the same
apiarist contradict themselves constantly.
For instance, my first instructions were, " Keep your
colonies strong ; " so, having several small colonies, I con-
cluded to look up " Uniting Bees. " After getting some
general directions, I came to " I would advise deferring the
uniting of bees until we have several cohl, rainy days in
October; " but further on I find, " Beware of having weak
colonies to be united in the fall. Much safer to have them
all united long before winter comes. " Now, which shall I
do — " defer until winter, " or " unite long before winter ? "
Again, I intended to introduce an Italian queen, so I
ordered one and got directions to "remove the old queen
at least three days before introducing the new one. " I did
this, but the queen was killed. So I ordered another, and
read that the proper way to introduce a queen was to "get
the old one out, thoroughly frighten the bees, and run in the
new one before the bees know what has happened. " I tried
this, and also failed. Now, should you wait three days or
not wait at all ? The advocate of each plan says he has
succeeded with 99 out of 100. I have failed twice out of
twice.
Oct. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
697
The trouble with bee- books seems to be that either they
tell everything- except what you want to know, or they pre-
suppose that you know all about it and merely want the
book to see how much better we know it than the authors.
Mississippi.
Answer— I enjoyed your letter with a broad smile, and
am thankful that you could not answer all your own ques-
tions. Yours seems such an intellig-ent sort of ignorance,
if I may be allowed the expression, that it is a pleasure to
answer your questions, and I may say to you that whenever
you reach the point where you can answer all your own
questions I have a whole lot that I'd like to have you an-
swer. But it is to be a secret between yoa and me that I
don't know all about bees.
Now I'll see what can be done toward reconciling- the
apparent contradictions that seem to trouble you. " Keep
your colonies strong- " is Oettl's golden rule, and if any one
of the four words in it should be emphasized, it should prob-
ably be the first, making it read •'Keep your colonies
strong. " Now, if you keep all colonies strong there will be
no need of uniting at any time. But the best you can do
will always be likely to have some colonies that are not
strong. If you use the nucleus plan of building up colonies,
of course they will be weak at the start, building up as the
season progresses, and there will be some that fail to build
up satisfactorily ; some colonies will become queenless and
weak: indeed, there are different ways in which good bee-
keepers may have, each year, colonies so weak that they
should be united. But you must try to prevent having weak
colonies late. " Beware of having- weak colonies to be
united in the fall. " Better unite not later than August,
while bees are gathering and not inclined to quarrel, and
while brood-rearing and other work is going on, so that the
united colonies will have plenty of time to be fully settled
into one harmonious whole before cool weather comes.
"Much safer to have them all united long before 'winter
comes. "
But through carelessness, ignorance, or, perhaps, for
some entirely satisfactory reason, October may come and
find you with some colonies so weak that thev will stand a
poor chance of getting through the winter. It doesn't do
any good to say reproachfully that they ought to have been
united in August. They were not united in August, and the
question is what to do now. They are not gathering and so
are inclined to be quarrelsome, and if united at a time when
very active a good many may be killed. A few days' wait-
ing will make no material difference, for everything is at a
stand-still: so " I would advise deferring the uniting of bees
until we have several cold, rainy davs in October. " Then
the bees will be inclined to be somewhat dormant and little
inclined to fight ; and, besides, they will be more likely to
cling to any new location without flying back to the place
from which they were taken. Now, don't you think I have
made a pretty good job of reconciling what seemed to you
contradictions ?
But when it comes to the matter of queen introduction,
I'm afraid I can't satisfy you so well. All the different
ways of introducing queens, with various modifications and
adaptations, would make a book of itself; and constantly
new plans are being given that are said to be infallible,
which, upon further trial, are not found to be always suc-
cessful. I know of only one way that may not fail one time
in a hundred, or oftener. Take two or three combs of just
emerging brood (no unsealed brood, which would only die of
starvation ), close them in a hive with the new queen,'so that
no strange bee can enter, keep the hive in a warm place if
weather makes it necessary, and, after five or six days, open
the hive on the stand which it is to occupv. You will see
that there is no chance for the queen to be 'molested, for not
a bee is present which has ever formed allegiance to any
other queen, and, of course, every worker born in the hive
will be loyal to the queen present. Other plans have their
exceptions. You tried two plans, each of which had suc-
ceeded 99 times in a hundred, and in each case you happened
on the one time in a hundred, or else there was some little
thing in which you did not minutely follow out instructions.
One plan may put the new queen in the hive at the time of
removing the old one; another may leave the hive queenless
several days: and one plan may be as successful as the
other, providing the proper instructions for each are fuUv
carried out.
It may be some comfort to you to know that you are not
the only one who has made a failure. " There are others. "
But as you gain experience your failures will become less
in number. Yet, unless you do better than I have done, you
will fail occasionally in introducing a queen as long as you
\ ^ The Afterthought. ^ \
*Old Reliable" seen througrh New and Unreliable Glasses.
By B. e. H ASTV. Sta. B Rural, Toledo. O.
LONG TONGUES AND LONGEVITV.
Having duly " banged " the long tongues, I begin to think
we must choose some big gun and bang him against " longev-
ity." 'Pears like certain brethren approve the work of cer-
tain colonies in the yard and credit it to longevity, when they
have never tried to know anything definite about it beyond
their own imagination. Has any careful, scientific-minded
brother ever published any set of experiments showing two
side-aud-side colonies as differing much in longevity "? We
may not find all bees rigidly alike in term of life, but at pres-
ent there is too much possibility of it for such jumping at con-
clusions. Perhaps what is usually credited as short-livedness
in a colony is really such a lack of constitutional health that a
large percentage of the young bees emerge alive but worthless.
Page 59y.
MR. DADANT AN EXE.MPLAR YACATtONIST.
For bee-keepers on vacation bent, C. P. Dadant is an ex-
cellent exemplar. Go to some nice town which has not been
spoiled by tourists. Page 597.
EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS THAT " SPAT-TEK. "
And so our editors must not " spat " so much, but just fol-
low Paddy W. T. S., and hit every head in sight. Page 598.
A PACE FOR GUESSERS.
Thank you. Comrade Miller, for setting a good pace in the
matter of guesses. We don't agree to replace them with new
ones in case they fail to give satisfaction. Page 6u2.
SETTING MULBERRY CUTTINGS IN JULY.
Mulberry cuttings to be set in .luly, Dr. Peiro says. Some
of us so dull as to think that all cuttings should be set in the
spring, of course. And we would make a total failure of it,
very likely — and then scold the man who said mulberries could
be raised easily from cuttings. Page 605.
A NEW "BEE-SOCIETT."
I'm afraid that the bee has a life-membership in the Got-
your-name-up-and-lie-abed-till-noon Society — this in respect lo
accurate mathematics, and in respect to neatness, and possi-
bly in respect to some other things. Page 605.
BEE-ESCAPE IN CORNER VS. CENTER.
I am no authority at all on bee-escapes, but my conjecture
is that escape in corner is a great improvement on escape in
the center of the hoard. With a quiet mass of bees above and
below, which feel in communication with other — why should
they do anything special to change so satisfactory a situation?
Looked at theoretically we should suppose that the main thing
is to make them want to get out, which they will not do until
they feel isolated. Page 605.
FLAX-WASTE AS PACKING MATERIAL.
In my boyhood I saw flax-waste, and my memory is
(nicely prodded up by page bdfi) that it does repel water
somewhat. If we could only turn the wheels of time and civi-
li'/iation backward, and again have a flax-patch on each farm
and fiax-waste in each barn, how nicely we should pack bees
for winter in an improved material ! But mv impression is
that some materials which take water reluctantly will take it
in the course of a few weeks, and then be as stubborn about
drying out as they were about getting wet. How is that
with flax?
TU.VT CAN.\DI.\N WINTERING-BOX.
As Mr. Alpaugh (page 606) has not yet put his wlntering-
bot to test, only invented it, we are quite in order if we tell
our minds as to how it will turn out. I'll say that the joint
heat of the colonies will keep up the temperature inside quite
^ bit— when there is no need of it— also in severe weather be-
fore the bees hav(> got to worrying, and much of the mischief
has been already done: but when there is the most need of its
working— in severe weather before the bees begin to worry —
perchance he will find a thermometer in an empty box and one
in his ten-colony box just about the same.
698
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 31, 1901.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^ i
Conducted bij Prof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
FRAUDS, HUMBUGS AND SUPERSTITIONS.
Is there anything in this world of ours that is grander,
and more delightful to the soul, than genuine truth, entire
absence of pretense, perfect ingenuousness ? On the other
hand, is there aught that is more repellant, more discouraging
in society, than fraud, humbug, superstition, all — or anything
that maketh a lie ? Among the most blessed fruits of our high
development of science is that she unearths frauds, reveals
humbugs, and dethrones superstitions. She stamps her great,
honest foot hard on whatever maketh a lie. How generously
education touches her patrons to bless and to help. Is not one
of her brightest crowns, that she so summarily dumps out of
the mind its superstitions ?
PATENT HEDICINES.
No doubt Holmes voiced a grand truth when he said that
it would be a blessed thing if all the medicine of the world
was dumped into the ocean; but, he added, it would be awful
on the fish. As a learned and experienced physician. Holmes
was entitled to speak. If he had prefixed medicine with •' pat-
ent " how much more of truth would have been uttered. It is
fearful to note the great floods of advertisements of patent
medicines that fill the pages of our newspapers. Millions of
dollars are poured annually into the cesspool of the newspaper.
It is_ awful to think of the amount of these vile compounds
that are gulped down by a too trusting and suffering people.
A synonym for patent medicine would be FRAUD, in capital
letters and underscored. This is patent, for are they not
heralded forth as cures for all maladies ? And are not all the
tricks of the most artful, skillful and expert advertising
agents employed to get these concoctions of the Evil One into
the hands and stomachs of poor, suffering humanity? The
poor, sick one grasps at a straw, and is too feeble often to
judge, and so jumps from the frying pan of aching members
and lacerated tissues into the fire of diseased tissues and or-
gans swathed in poisons or hurtful concoctions.
How difficult for the most learned and competent physi-
cian to rightly diagnose a disease: and, when rightly deter-
mined, how difficult to find in medicine a cure or palliative.
And yet the deluded victim of the patent-medicine vender
gulps down the atrocious potion, all ignorant both of disease
and remedy. It seems strange that any one possessed of
judgment and reason can ever be duped into patronage of the
patent medicine chest. The discouraging feature is that sick-
ness dethrones judgment and reason as her first legacy. Will
we not all, in our various home circles, lift our loudest voice
against this greatest fraud of the century ?
THE MOON.
At our Farmers' Institutes a very frequent question is
asked, even in cultured Southern California, to-wit: Should
the farmers observo the moon's phases in planting and glean-
ing ? Of course, I always say plant when condition of soil,
cultivation, and season of the year are right; and only watch
the moon to see when to take evening rides with the "gude
wife " or one's best girl. And yet when I say this, I see many
a head shake which speaks dissent. It is passing strange-how
any such superstition hangs on when it once gets a foothold
in one's beliefs. This belief, so utterly void of any scientific
basis in truth, I suppose comes down from our credulous fore-
fathers, and from the fact that good tillers who practice
watching the moon usually have good crops, as they surely
would had they never heard of the moon, or noted whether
they saw it over the right or left shoulder. It is good to talk
all such absurdities over with the children and bury them in
wholesome laughter, for such burial is rarely followed with
resurrection.
FRIDAY, AND THE RIGHT SHOULDER.
It seems impossible that in our day, when science shows
the absolute absurdity of all such nonsense, that anyone
would be disturbed by seeing the new moon over the left
shoulder. Yet such is often the case. The person is usually
advanced in years, for the science of today is hard on such
tomfoolery. I have known not a few, some of them men of
intelligence, who would never commence a new work or enter-
prise on Friday. They usually blush to own the fact, and do
not pretend to have any reason for the opinion; but supersti-
THE STADIUM AT THE PAS-AMEniCAN.
A quarter mile of racing tracl<, and seats for li-'.OOO people.
tion is usually so inwrought in their make-up, that they feel
that it will be dangerous to disregard this old law. Such per-
sons still dread ghosts, and are haunted with the hundred and
one other nonsensical beliefs in signs and sayings that are
utterly without foundation, and which, like belief in witch-
craft, will soon be only known to history. It will be a good
riddance. There arc so many grand beliefs that take hold of
our very lives and help us to better thought and nobler action,
for us to waste thought or energy on all such baseless claptrap.
ROAD-SIDE TREES.
What is there in this world that is more worthy of admi-
ration than a fine avenue of trees ? There is one of peppers
and another of blue-gums not far from Claremont. I always
drive to these and through them when I have visitors. Often
the visitors will exclaim in surprised delight as we turn upon
these lovely vistas. Can anything be finer than such avenues
of trees ? Ask the students who have enjoyed the elms of
Cambridge and New Haven. Would not our home circles be
philanthropists of the best kind, if they would undertake to
secure such avenues along all our highways ? I believe that
if we combine utility and beauty, we show still better sense
and judgment. So iu the East, why not add to the honey-re-
sources by planting great rows of fine lindens, or the equally
umbrageous tulips ? In the South the tulip and the .ludas-
tree are not only beautiful, but each comes each season with
beautiful flowers laden With most delicious nectar. In Cali-
fornia the eucalyptus is very handsome, is a strong grower,
stands drouth well, and by a judicious selection of species we
can have blossoms and nectar each month of the year. All
have showy flowers, which, in some species, are very beautiful.
USE OF PROPER WORDS.
I have learned to have such respect for our good and
genial friend, Mr. Hasty, that I rarely skip anything he
writes, and as rarely find aught to criticise. So I was sur-
prised that he suggests to let a bad use of words alone, as it
will be useless to combat it. I say, Never. If a word is
wrongly used, so as to mislead or work mischief, " go for it"
with all the might, coat off, and shirt sleeves rolled up.
Yesterday our pastor spoke of coral insects. He might as
well say " wdolly birds, " or " hairy snakes. " Indeed, he
would not have been as wide of the truth. Coral animals be-
long to a branch wholly distinct from that of insects. The
old word " strained " rarely peeps up now in descriptions of
honey. Why? liecause it was a mischievous misnomer. We
hit it hard blows, and, happily, knocked the very life out of it.
" Larva " is correct. ■' Worm" means a thing wholly ditferent.
The added syllable with truth to stand on should not vex
anyone. The recent bulletins regarding our beloved Presi-
dent did not confuse the terms digestion and assimilation. Of
course not, the physicians know and practice the right use of
words, and do they not show good sense ?
I should like to hear from our good friend. Dr. Miller, on
this point.
Why Not Help a Little— both your neighbor bee-keep-
ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending- to us the
names and addresses of such as you may know do not now
get this journal ? We will be glad to send them sample
copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper,
and subscribe for it, thus putting- themselves in the line of
success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe,
send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of
the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for
such eifort.
Oct. 31, lyoi.
/VMERICAN BER lOURNAL.
699
REVERSIBLE WALL MAP^
UHTED STATES AI^D WORLD.
WITH SPECIAL, INSET MAPS OF
Gdina, Goba, Pono Rico, TDe PliiiiDDlnes, Hawaii, and fliaska,
Especially prepared to meet the demand for a flrst-elass map that will give a quick, seneral idea of location of events the world over, and par-
ticularly to the United States and our territorial possessions. Tei-y ii»><-iul in every Home and Ollice.
«wx46 ix'vciiES inr siKi:
EX-jE-V^EIT BE.iLXJTIFXJI-1 003L.0PIS.
Best and Most Necessary Map
Ever Issued.
.^
No Home or Business House
should be -without it.
^5^
The X. iSC
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are works of art.
The engraving^ is
plain, bold, and
decisive. Thecolor
work is elegantly
contrasted, but not
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Perfec-
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a salient feature
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' °'f-GOA; / ^X. " ; 0 A K O T A "j A° f^"^
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I^tah I t'r—fii-i-iNoisi
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7\ »X: 7%, JSC
IVIarginal
Jnciex
is one of the in-
valuable features.
It gives an al-
phabetical list of
countries, their lo-
cation on map,
style of govern-
ment, population,
area, products,
minerals, imports,
exports, etc.
It has been pronounced a *<i,^iTi,
Photograph of the World
The 1900 Census A: A:
of the largest American Cities is given.
One side shows a errand map of our crreat country, with ("oianties, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctly located. The other side shows
an equallv {jood map of the world. Statistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, busiuess, etc., a veritable photo-
graph of the UNITED STATES AND WORLD.
The map is printed on heavy map paper and is mounted on sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
lOOl Kni'l'IOH. — Kvery reader slioiiltl consult it every day. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to the topography of the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and pealcs are plainly indicated. The leading cities and towns are shown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitolia, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brun.swick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The Southern portion of the map includes the Northern States of the Republic of Mexico, and the
Bahauia Islands.
On llie reverse side is tlie Library ITIap ot tlie World. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
ever produced. The poIitii"il divisions are correctly defined and beautifully outlined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
named. Ocean steamship lines witli distances between important ports are given. A marginal inde.>: of letters and figures enables one easily to
locate every country in the world. .\ scries of sliort articles in alphabetical order is printed around the border of this map in large, clear type,
containing valuable informatiou concerning agricultural, mining, and manufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports In dollars.
The area, population, form of government, and chief executive of every country in the world is given up to date, also the names of the capitals
and their population. XUe Inset .flaps are elegantly engraved and printed in colors. They are placed in convenient positions around the
United States map, and will be invalualjle to every person desiring a plain understanding of our possessions. An inset map of China on the
World side of map adds to its value.
pTT- Two maps on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium for sending us Three New Subscribers at $1.00 each ; or for $2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
700
AMERICAN BEE lOURiVAL
Oct. 31, 1901.
Great CoiiibinatioD Subscription Offers.
Combination and concentration in business are the mag-ic watchwords of
the age in which we live. Why should it not be applied to the matter of sub-
scriptions to magazines and periodical literature in general ? We believe it is a
wise move, especially when it is in the line of economy for the reading public.
Now, if we can be the means of saving our subscribers several dollars a year on
their reading matter, and at the same time help them to the best literature pub-
lished to-day, we shall feel that we are doing a good thing, indeed.
We have entered into an arrangement whereby we can furnish the follow-
ing excellent periodicals at greatly reduced prices :
Jieflular
Review of Reviews $2.50
Current Literature 3.00
New Eng-land Magazine 3.00
Leslie's Weekly 4.00
North American Review 5.00
THE DOLLAU PAPERS.
Cosmopolitan Magazine 1.00
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly 1.00
The Household 1.00
Good Housekeeping 1.00
The Designer 1.00
Success 1.00
PLEASE NOTICE that in all combinations Success and the American Bee
Journal must be included.
Here is our List of Liberal Offers :
American Bee Journal and Success
with any one of the above dollar magazines .¥2.50
with any two o£ the above dollar magazines 3.00
with any three of the above dollar magazines \ \ 3.50
with the Review of Reviews (new) \\ 3.00
with Current Literature (new) 3!oO
with New England Magazine 3^00
with Review of Reviews (new) and any ««<■ of the dollar magazines 3!50
with Leslie's Weekly 3 75
with Review of Reviews (new) and Leslie's Weekly i.7b
with North American Review (new) and Review of Reviews (new) .'...'..'...'.'.....'. 5^00
pS~ If a renewal subscription is wanted for the Review of Reviews, Curreut
Literature, or the North American Review, add $L00 for each renewal subscrip-
tion to the combination prices named above. On all the other combinations a
renewal counts the same as a new subscription.
pS" No foreign subscribers can take advantage of these combination oflFers.
We shall be pleased to have our readers examine carefully the above list,
and send us their subscriptions. Address,
GEORGE "W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
STERN OLD MOTHER EXPERIENCE^
»n enabled us after If. years to make iMTf.ct The Re liable Incubators
id Brooders. Von ounht to hav our aotli <'ei,I..rj I'o.illry l!o.>L
»j.. ... tlie house. It will cost you but 1(] rents anil will make you a master m
}^ th poultry business. ^^y,^^\^ Incubator & Brooder Co.. Boi B-2. Qumcj. Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writinp
i^Mi^iKjSIS
Wi
m.
ti
•m
set
^»
n
fit*
Misfit.
Garden of Eden Was Irrigated.
When God made man and appointed him His most perfect condi-
tion He placed him on a piece of land watered by irrigation. Farm-
ing- by irrigation still remains the most scientific and successful.
With control of the water-supply the element of chance is completely
eliminated, crops are sure, larger, and of better quality and com-
mand higher prices. The most successful and profitable farms in
the United States are irrigated, SO bu. of wheat, 100 bu. of oats, 300
bu. of potatoes, 5 tons of alfalfa per acre per year are regularly pro-
duced.
UNDER THE WILSON PLAN
such farms can be had for little monev on easy terms, possessing the
retjuisite of Abundance of Water, Rich Soil, Home Markets, Good
Society.
We share profits with those who can advance cash for land.
Profits large; uo risk.
Address for Bulletin giving full detailed information.
Homestead Land and Irrigation Company,
79 Dearborn Street. CHICAGO. ILL.
JAS. W. WILSON. ManuKer. riBasB meilUon iiee jounij.! when wntlnp,.
m
Better Report this Year.
I have a better report for the season of IStOl
than for 1899 and 1900. The bees came
through in very poor shape, short of stores
and bees, half of the colonies with practically
nothing; but they built up in June nicely,
making up my loss in winter, and storing
about 'Si) pounds of surplus honey, spring
count; and all hives were well filled for win-
ter with good honey, and nearly all colonies
had young queens. C. H. Chittenden.
Middlese.x Co., Conn., Oct. 16.
Honey a Light Yield.
The season here was good until the drouth
set in July 10, when the excessive hot weather
cut the (low short. The dr.vness of the air
has caused the honey to be of heavy body and
flneijuality. I started with IS good colonies
in the spring, increased to 24, and have taken
off ,5.t0 pounds of comb honey — about 30
pounds to the colony. It is a rather light
yield, a little above an average with my neigh-
bors. Bees are in good condition tor winter.
JoHN Cline.
Lafayette Co., Wis., Oct. 23.
Crop Not as Good as Expected.
The honey crop is not as good as was ex-
pected by the bee-keepers of this section.
With a late, wet spring the bees did not
swarm very early, and, therefore, were not
ready to catch the first honey-flow. However,
the basswood honey was a better crop than
last season, at least in some parts of Pennsyl-
vania. Buckwheat honey was almost a fail-
ure this season, there being very rainy
weather at the time it was in bloom. I find a
good sale for comb and extracted honey.
Bees are in fine condition for winter.
W. H. Heim.
Lycoming Co., Pa., Oct 14.
Poop Year for Honey.
This has been a very poor year for honey on
account of the drouth, but I think most of
the bees are well fixed for winter. I started
with 3 colonies, spring count, and increased
to 11, and got about 75 pounds of nice comb
honey. Our spring honey-How lasted only
about two weeks, then came the drouth; but
I think the fall flow will prove suffieient for
wintering. W. H. Ellis.
Calhoun Co., Iowa, Oct. 12.
Crop Nearly a Total Failure.
Through smelter smoke, drouth, and grass-
hoppers the bee-industry in this county, as a
rule, has been nearly a total failure. I liave
56 colonies at Pleasant Green, where they
have hitherto always done well, but this sea-
son, owing to the grasshoppers eating the
crops off bare to the ground, 1 have not taken
off a pound of honey, and the bees are several
hundred pounds lighter — perhaps 10 to 15
pounds to each colony less than they were
last year.
No. 1 comb honey is worth 13.00 per case,
and extracted is worth 6 to 7 cents a pound,
according to quality. The Omaha report of
Peycke Bros., in the .\ineriean Bee Journal, is
a bnrlesque as far as Utah is concerned.
E. S. LOVEST.
Salt Lake Co., Utah, Oct. 22.
The Honey Crop and Prices.
We note in the American Bee Journal of
Sept. 12 some dealers i|iiote Utah comb honey
at Ul cents for No. 1, and 9 to 91,, cents for
No. 2. This is a ini.stake. We have this sea-
son a iiuarter of a cnip of what it was last
Oct. 31. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOUBNAL,
701
Dittmer's Foundation !
ReUil— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fork fax Into Fonnflation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal when "writing.
(FL
^^- . IS THE KING OF
_^ UJ ^J^ FOUNTAIN PENS.
am ^ ^^^^^ Has been endorsed by over one
^*^^^hundred of America's foremost maga-
zines, and received recommendations from celebrities
the world over. Without doubt the pen of the age.
Agents Wanted.
NewSlylc. Old Style.
POST FOUNTAIN PEN CO.,
120 "W. 14th St. , New York City.
Please mentidn Bee Journal ■when writine
iTur;
%
%
a
a
if
*xi^ California Honey g
^ THE WORLD
SWEETENED
e men active; bees more s
ad for sample copy.
PACIFIC BEE JOURNAL,
Los Angeles, Calif.
Special— This year and next, $1.00.
42A4t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clippine
Device is a fine thing for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NESV
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or for$t5lO,we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeal
and the Clipping Device. Address,
QEORae W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, la
BEE=SUPPLIE5!
year, and priee.s have been from S2.65 to $2.8.5
for cases of 24 sections, which means 13 to
IH'.j cents per pound.
Of extracted honey we have half a crop of
what it was last year, and producers are hold-
ing tirni at li cents. This, of course, is too
high for present Eastern marlsets.
Knowing what we do about the crop condi-
tion of comb honey in the Western States,
and what information we have gathered from
the bee-papers, we consider comb honey good
property this season.
VooEi.ER Seed & Produce Co.
Salt Lake Co., Ttah, Oct. 11.
Dark Combs and Color of Honey.
" Darl< old combs give to honey a darker
color. This is the experience of some — others
say no. Why this difference of experience ?''
— Bee-Keepers' Review. May there not be a
difference as to careful observation ? Will
not the length of time the honey is in the
comb also make a difference in color >. Fill a
black comb with water, and immediately
throw it out, and the water will be clear.
Let it soak for a nnmber of days and it will
be like ink. — Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
" Reviewlets " from the Bee=Keepers'
Review.
Too Many Irons in the Fire, is a bad
condition of things. I saw it illustrated in
several instances in my recent trip through
Ontario. So many made excuses about the
appearance of things, and of the way in which
they were obliged to work, and of how they
were behind, and always driven with work,
all because they had so much to do; as one
man said, he was " tired out all of the time."
For instance, Mr. MoEvoy has an apiary of
about lOU colonies, several acres of berries,
and is inspector of apiaries for Ontario. All
need his attention at the same time, and be
was free to acknowledge that had he turned
his attention to bees, years ago, his financial
success would have been many times greater.
Those men who had bees alone, and a lot of
them, were making the most money with far
less worry.
A HiviNG-Box made from a cheese-box
was one of the handy things that I found in
the apiary of .Jacob Alpaugh, of Ontario.
Two staples on the side of the box are for
slipping in the end of a long pole, whereby
to raise the box up under the cluster on the
limb of a tree. The bottom of the box is
covered with muslin. The cover is also of
muslin, but it is fastened at only one edge,
opposite the side where the staples are, and
can be drawn over the top of the box by
means of two strings passing over the edge of
the box and down the pole. When there is a
swarm to get down, the box is put upon the
pole, the cover slipped back, the box raised
up under the cluster, and the limb given a
sharp jar by inean.s of the pole. This causes
the bees to drop into the box, when the cover
is quickly drawn over them by means of the
string, making them close prisoners. The
box, bees and all, may be slipped off the pole,
and set to one side in the shade, where it may
be left until the bee-keeper has leisure to
20 HENS
orkin fc steadily a t one t irne raii-
DOt hat^-h BO many c-hicksaB
,) Successful IncubaLtors.
■^ Y..UM1 know exactly why ivl„r,
you read a copy of our I.W [.n^r.-
Moino Incubator Cof,"" °
< Ilnlni'i.Ia. orlto.Jg ilu(ri\ln,W.
t^Xaase meution Bee Journal ■when vmtinA.
It Brings More Eggs
■ - aKundjCr
loi.'ue t<--lls all
bone, and tin
for cutting
Sold Direct ""'
oil KO d.,y»' trial.
Stratton Mfg. Co., Box 21, Erie, Pa
Please mention Bee Journal "when -writing
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each : 6 for $4.00.
LongoTongued 3-Banded ItaUans
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red' clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. MuTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -WTiting
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Prescription Free!
Yon will Hid it 111 mir nou cataltif. Ittellfall
abmil thH rcnipdv. and l,nu In usi. It. S«nd for it.
PKJk WOVKN " ritl. l-hVCKt'O., AllltUN.niCII.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writingr
$13 to Buffalo Pan-American and Re-
turn—$13,
via the Nickel Plate Road daily, with
limit of 15 days ; 20-day tickets at $16
for the round-trip ; 5-day ticket.s at S6
for the round-trip on Tuesdays, Thurs-
days and Saturdays, the latter good
only in coaches. Through service to
New York and Boston and lowest avail-
able rates. For particulars and Pan-
American folder of buildings and
grounds, write John Y. Calahan, Gen-
eral Agent, 111 Adams Street, Chicago.
37— 41A4t
702
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Oct. 31, 1901.
BEE/KEEPERS' SUPPLIES :X:X
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW WOl FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Ag-ency, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washiogtoii Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
•^ This is a good time
jrfjT j,V to send in your Bees-
• % fi T"* W5 VjS wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax. ^ sisHiVr nlei
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 St 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Buffalo Pan-American Tickets
via the Nickel Plate Road, $13.00 for
the round trip good IS days ; $16.00 for
the round trip good 20 days. Three
daily trains with vestibuled sleeping-
cars. Meals in dining-cars, ranging in
price from 35 cents to $1.00. Address
John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 111
Adams St., Chicago. 38— 41A4t
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send *1. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
Please inHDUoD HHB luorua, wnoi. vvnuna
^NVlAi/\*/\*A»/\i/\i/\ii\i/\*/\*/\*A*A*A*/\*Ai/Vi/\i/\^^
BEST-
I E.xira6t6(l Honeu For Sal6 1
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
Alfalfa
Honey JTiiJ
^ Th
Whit
is the famoti
; E.xtractc
Honev gathered i
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Cen
ral West. It is
splendid ho
rly
5-bod
honey at all can
get enough of tl
Alfalfa extracted.
Bass wood
Honey J^<C
This is the
known light-colored
honey gathered from
tbe rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight— two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7,'< cents per pound. Basswood Honey, Yz cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOMEY
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
fS Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey: ^
•^ I've iust sampled the honev you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm ^
^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production ^•
•3- and then buy honey of vou for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the &;
•5 honev of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot ^■
•^ drinli where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality ^:
•^ of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited thau the honeys of more ^;
:£ marked flavor, according to my taste. C.C.Miller. ^
•^ McHenry Co., 111. ^r .
• 3> Sto-
^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^
■^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^;
)$ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^.
•^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^
;^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^'.
f5 QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & m6 Erie St., Chicago, III. *;
hive them. It is well to have several boxes,
and poles of different lengths.
Caltionart Labels seldom cut much
flg-ure with freight handlers. They must be
very striking to attract attention. Mr. A. E.
Hoshal, of Ontario, has certainly chosen a
heading that will quite likely be read. Here
is the label that he uses on packages oT comb
honey when he ships them :
DANGER!
J3r MO.K'T UROP. 'I'liis Pack-
age Contains^ CO.nB IIO.>(K%',
and it will I>e Krolteii if Uropped,
ISoiiglily Handled, or .Uoved in
a Dray or Wagon Witliout
Sprins'!$.
Kindly I^ift llie Crate by the
Handles, and Set UoM'n Care-
tully.
I suppose when the freight handlers read
the heading they think they have got hold of
dynamite or gunpowder, but when they read
on and find it is only sweet and harmless
honey, the question is, it they will not be
disgusted at the ruse that has led them to read
the laljel, and get back at the shipper by
giving the package an extra tumble.
Politeness in Business is a great factor.
When visiting at Mr. F. A. Gemmill's, in On-
tario, Mrs. Gemmill's mother, an old Scotch
laily, was telling rae how well a neighbor
across the way was succeeding as a florist, while
his predecessor had been compelled to sell out
for lack of patronage. I expressed my sur-
prise, and asked how it was that the first
man had failed. "He hadna' the sense to
speak gentle to the people," was the compi'e-
hensive reply. Then she went on to explain
that he waited upon customers with a con-
descending air, as though he were bestowing
a great favor. It he had more flowers than
orders, or the flowers were beginning to fade,
he would never give one to a neighbor, but
■would throw them away — even burying them
in the ground that they might not Ije picked
up. The man who now has charge of the
business delights in giving to neighbors any
flowers for which he has no sale. Such
flowers are often sent to the hospital. These
things become noised abroad, and beget a
kind feeling for the giver.
Bee-keepers can do much to keep their cus-
tomers by having the sense to '• speak gen-
tle"' to them. Many an order is lost (and
many a one secured) just from the character
of the letter sent in reply to an inquiry. I
don't believe in fulsome flattery, nor in a ser-
vile prostration of one's self at the feet of a
customer, but there is a pleased politeness
that lowers no one's self-respect, yet sends
every one awaj' a pleased customer.
Keep More Bees.— For years bee-keepers
have been asking how to do lliinc/s, and the
matter of manipulation, hiving, supering,
extracting, wintering , etc., has been brought
to a high degree of perfection. Specialists
can better afford to turn their efforts in some
other direction than that of petty details.
Great success must be looked for in some
radical change. As I bring before my mind
man after man whom I have met on my Cana-
dian trip, I ask myself, " Which ones have
been the most successful ?" Invariably the
answer is forced upon me, " The ones that
have tbe most bees." It is a simple thing,
isn't it i
Foundation is put into Heddon frames by
Mr. Miller, of Ontario, in the same way that
the Daisy puts starters into sections. There
is this difference, however, that there is some
difliculty with such a long strip, in getting it
in straight and exactly in the center of the
top-bar. To overcome this, the frames are
flrst wired, and when the foundation is put
in they are supported Ijy a tilting framework,
at a slight angle, so that the wires support
the foundation and l;eep it from toppling
over while the wax is cooling. If the foun-
dation does not strike the frames exactly
right, a straight edge is pressed against the
folindation. forcing it into position before
the wax sets. Afterwards the wire is im-
bedded. A stiff, upright wire is used in the
Oct. 31, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
703
center of the frame to prevent any saj^K-ingof
the top-bars. Mr. Miller likes a battery for
imbedding the wires ; the only objection be-
ing that it becomes weak and requires renew-
ing so often. I think the little spur-wheel
arrangement works well.
Finding Queens without the tedious
operation of looking over the combs one at a
time, some sure, short-cut method would be
very desirable. The nearest approach to this
that I know of is one employed by A. E.
Hoshal, of Ontario. He first removes the
cover from the Heddon hive, puts on a break-
joint honey-board, then a queen-excluding
honey-board, and on top of that an empty
super, or a box the same size as the top of the
hives. The bees are then smoked at the en-
trance, which frightens and drives the queen
into the upper case of the brood-chamber,
which is now taken off, honey-boards, empty
super and all, and set upon a frame-work
supported upon legs. Smoke is then puffed
up under combs, which soon sets the bees
to running up through the honey-boards
into the empty super on top. Of course
the queen attempts to follow, and readily
passes up through the break-joint honey-
board, but farther progress is barred by the
queen-excluder, and she is easily found be-
tween the two honey-boards. When the bees
are in a single case of a brood-chamber, there
is no necessity for even removing it from the
bottom-board; simply remove the cover, put
on the honey-boards and empty super, and
apply the smoke at the entrance. A queen
can often be found by simply removing the
cover and honey-board and pufHng a little
smoke in at the entrance. It is astonishing
how little smoke will send a queen up on top
of the frames; where a little close watching
and spryness ou the part of the operator will
enable him to pick her up before she slips
back again.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. — The executive committee of the
Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association has ordered
that the nexl meeting be held all day and even-
ing, Dec. 5, I'Xn, at the Briggs House club-room.
This is arranged ou account of the low rates to
be in force then for the International Live-
stock Exposition in Chicago at that time [Nov.
30 to Dec. V), being one fare plus $2-00 for the
round-trip This notice goes by mail to nearly
300 bee-keepers near Chicago, and should result
in the largest attendance we have ever had. Dr.
C. C. Miller and Mr. C. P. Dadaut have promised
to be present. Let all come.
Herman F. Moork, Sec.
George W. York, Pres.
Colorado ~ The Colorado annual meeting
promises to be a genuine success. The program
has been made out for a number of weeks, and
is almost ready for publication. It has come to
be a privilege and an honor to read a paper be-
fore our Association, and so very few decline
who are invited to write or speak for instruc-
tion. One paper is already in the hands of the
secretary. On two or three nights a big magic
lantern will illustrate talks by famous students
of bees and the bee-industry. And then we are
going to have an exhibition of the choicest
honey in the United States (made in Colorado,
you know), and wax, with bees enough to show
" how the thing is done."
If vou want to know more, or have forgotten
the dates (Nov. 18, Vi, 20), write to the under-
signed, box 432, Denver, Colo.
D. W. Working, Sec.
The Cyphers Incubator Co. October 1st the
factory and home offices of the Cyphers Incu-
bator Company were moved from Wayland to
Buffalo, N. Y., where they have largely in-
creased space and every modern facility for
conducting their increasing business. We are
pleased to inform our readers that this Com-
pany received the Gold Medal and highest
award at the Pan-American Exposition. They
have been liberal patronizers of our advertising
columns for several years, and expect soon to
begin the pushing of their business for next
season. Look out for their advertisement, and
if in need of anything in their line write them.
Please mentloii Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
SMS lOlts 2Sft SOIb
Sweet Clover (white) $.60 $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alslke Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound S cents more than the S-ponnd
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &14« Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
To Biiu tton6U
What haveyou to offer
_ and at what price?
S4Atf ED WILKINSON, Wilton. Wis.
Please mentior Bee Journal when writing.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Kx-
tracted Honey. State price,
We pav spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40A51 Please mention the Bee Journal.
6omt3 and Ex-
tracted Honeu!
State price, kind and quantity,
R. A. BURNETT & CO., I'll S. Water St., Chicago
33Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay hig-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating- quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is larg-e enoug-hto
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Fairfield, III.
PleP'=5e mention Bee Journal -when writing.
Comb Honev and Hees-
wax. State price de-
livered in Cinctanati.
G. H. W. WEBER,
43Atf 214<. 214S Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
O -I C ' i regarding
Send tor circular s^^„^/;^^|j
improved and original Bing-ham Bee-Smoker.
FoK 23 Years thk Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell. Mich.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furniah you with The A. L Root Co's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save yon freight, and ship promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our 1901 cataloR.
M. U. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
IVooI Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested ? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL.
$6.00 to Buffalo Pan-American and
Return— $6.00,
via the Nickel Plate Road, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, with limit
of .S days from date of sale, good in
coaches only, l.^-day tickets at $13.00
for the round-trip, and 20day tickets
at $16.00 for round-trip, g-ood in sleep-
ing-cars. Three through trains daily.
For particulars and Pan-American
folder of building-s and grounds, ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, General Agent,
111 Adams St., Chicago. 39— 41A4t
I MONEY AND BEESWAX i
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Oct. 10.— There is a very good trade
in No. 1 comb hoaev at 15c per pound; that
which will not grade No. 1 or fancy sells at
from 13(i>14c; some small lots of fancy have
brought more than 15c; light amber selling at
12@13c; the dark honeys of various grades
range at from 10@llc. Extracted sells fairly
well at 5J^(ai(.J4c for white, according to quality
and flavor; white clover and basswood bring-
ing 7c; light amber, SJirgS'ic; dark, 5@5Kc.
Beeswax steady at 3.^c. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct. 25. — The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5@6c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from H(p*9c. I'^ancy white
comb honey sells from ]354@15^c.
C. H. W. Webbr.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 25.— Honey in good de-
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late they only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, 15(a*l(,c; mixed,
14@lSc; buckwheat, 12(s'13c. Extracted, white,
t.54@~54c; mixed, b@o)4c. H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 5() per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is bein^
offered carlots at 4^@43<c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Oct. 18.— Comb honey is in good
demand and finds ready sale at the following
quotations: Fancy white, 15c per pound; No. 1
white, 13<a>14c; amber, 12c; buckwheat, 10(&lllc.
Extracted rather quiet at 6(qi(>}4c for white, and
S^wtKc for amber. Beeswax rather quiet at
2"@28c. HiLDRETH & SBGKLKEN.
Boston, Oct. 21.— There is a fairly good de-
mand for stocks with ample supplies at the
present writing. Fancy No. 1, in cartons,
15}^(?16c; ANo. 1, in cartons, 15tgil55^c; No. 1,
15c; very little No. 2 is being received; glass-
front cases will bring about He per pound less.
Light California extracted, V^l&.sc; Florida
honey, bJ^iffTc. Blake, Scott <fe L,at.
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at $3.5ti to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Oct. 25.— Fancv white comb honey,
14@lSc; No. 1, 13(gil4c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6(s'7c. Beeswax, 25Wi26c.
M. H. HoNT & Son.
San Francisco, Oct. 16.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, 7@")c; dark, 6(417 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, S'A®—; light amber, 4)^®— ;
amber, 4@ — .
Values are ruling steady, with no very heavy
spot offerings and a fair inquiry, more espe-
cially for extracted. A sailing vessel, clearing
the past week for England, took as part cargo
575 cases of extracted honey, and 453 cases ex-
tracted went by s^il for New York.
Beeswax— Ciood to choice, light, 26@2Sc. No
heavy quantities arriving, and stocks are given
little or no opportunity to accumulate to any
noteworthy extent. Values are without quota-
ble change.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of t5@16c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at J3.10(a$3.i5
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about I4(ail4'/^c; the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way S'Adfbc is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
its. Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
Caper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
andsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, ■ San Francisco, Cal
704
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Oct. 31, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS' OR
H1V6S. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANTIN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
Thb American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
la- W. M. Gkrrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Be^
River Forest Apiaries !
FILL ALL ORDERS
By Return Mail.
Italian Queens Warranted
Untested, 75 cts.; Tested, fl.OO: Select Tested,
fl.SO. Half dozen or larger lots as may be
agreed on. Address,
RIVER FOREST APIARIES,
River Forest, Oak Park Post-Office,
30.\tf Cook Co., III.
Please mention Bee Jovirnal -when ■writing.
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets each Tuesday, Thurs-
day and Saturday during October to
Buffalo Pan-American Exposition and
return, at $6.00, good in coaches, re-
turn limit 5 days from date of sale.
Tickets with longer limit at slightly
increased rates. Three through trains
daily. Chicago Passenger Station, Van
Buren St. and Pacific Avenue. City
ticket ofBce, 111 Adams St., Chicago.
3f>-41A4t
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
EOGENE Secor and Dk. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only 15 cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., ■ CHICAGO, ILL.
24111"
year
Dadant's Foundation. fZ
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY.
PURITY. FIRMNESS, No SAOaiNO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETING.
^^
Why does it sell
SO well ?
Because it has always giveti better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compll-
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
.The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, HanHlton, Hancock C«., lU.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writing.
Texas Bee-Keepers.
npp We beg to anuounce the opening of a branch oftice and warehouse at
Ibui 4as W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Medina in less than car-load lots are high, and it takes a long time for a local shipment to
reach Southern Texas points.
Low FreigM ai
Quici Delivery,
than San Antunio.
San Antonio as
SMpDinE-point.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
ij To secure these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
ll livery — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
It has four great railroads— the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
. International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
i tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
Pacific Express Companies.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, Jr., both of whom are well known to the
bee-keepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
bee-keeping and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
prompt, careful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-litting
material. Every year brings us maiiy proofs that our policy of " the best goods " is a correct
one.
flllP PtltPlfKT ^'t'lv few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
Ulll uQldlU^. your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
arc uiade, and iii case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, it any, you will secure the
benefit t)y ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
flnn Iniritatintl Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
Ulll illVlldllUlli make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not equaled elsewhere in Texas. You will also find on file the leading bee-journals to
l.iass pleasantly your leisure time.
^nonioh Patalnrr Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does.
OlldlllilU UuldlU^i If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Factory and Home Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
XOEPPKie« Ki:\ A W AI.XOl^, Managers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '"'dil'lSSl^u:''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to ttaem for their free Catalog^.
P^Egie^/V
DEE Journal
CHICAGO. ILL, NOVEMBER 7, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 4S.
706
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
Nov. 7, 1901.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-Ofllce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. ToKK, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) t-i„„„..„.,^.,*
E.E. Hasty, ^^'J^jTtoT'
Prof. A. J. Cook, j Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscriptioa Price of this Journal
is ?1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
*' decOI " on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HnTCHINSON,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
■ R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
^ Weeliiy Budget. I
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
I^' If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" X have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttons]
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
five the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to hooey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith Is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the oS&sa
of the American Bee Journal.
We (this time the ''we", includes Mrs.
York) had a splendid visit last week, for a
day and two nights, at Dr. C. C. Miller's, in
McHenry Co., 111. We expect to have more
to say about it later. Dr. Miller is well, and
enjoying life better than most young men
who are on the other ?ide of 70.
Mr. Geo. W. Riker, of Lucas Co., Iowa,
writes us that he expects to be. present at the
meeting of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion, on Dec. 5. He will then be on his way
to New York — his old home — where he com-
menced bee-keeping in 1868, six miles north
of Auburn. Next spring he expects to go to
Colorado with his 200 colonies of bees. Rev.
Jasper — the colored preacher — said, "The
sun do move." Surely, bee-keepers "do
move," too. They are more and more going
to locations where they can " keep more
bees." Success to them all.
Mr. J. W. Ferree is the foul-brood inspec-
tor for Los Angeles Co., Calif. " Rambler "
has this to say about him, in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture :
" Mr. Ferree is a genial bachelor, a member
of Dr. Bresee's church; will go a long way to
serve a friend; generous every day in the
week ; polite and condescending to the ladies ;
always shows an even temper; and the man-
tle of foul-brood inspector could not have
fallen upon more worthy shoulders.''
Mr. Ferree has inspected 148 apiaries, 8010
colonies; 284 foul-brood colonies. He esti-
mates that there are 300 bee-keepers and 20,000
colonies in Los Angeles county. Mr. Ferree
seems to Ije the right man in the right place.
The Apiary of J. M. Paxtox, of Brooks
Co., Ga., is shown on page "11. He com-
menced l3ee-keeping in 1899, buying an apiary
of 29 colonies of Italian and black bees. In
May he bought the bees and honey crop of
about 1000 sections of comb honey. He had
but little or no experience in bee-keeping,
but sent for the book, "A B C of Bee-Cul-
ture," and did fairly well the first year. The
bees were kept about one-half mile from his
home. He paid ?l.iO cash for the bees and
outfit, and sold about $120 worth of honey
the first year. He moved the bees home the
following winter, and lost five colonies, hav-
ing 22, spring count. He increased them to
41, and sold S;113..=)0 worth of honey that year,
which was a very poor one for bees in that
part of the country.
Horsemint— Monarda Punctata. — The
engraving of this honey-plant, shown on the
first page, is kindly loaned to us by Gleanings
in Bee-Culture, from which periodical we also
take the following paragraph :
" Horsemint begins to bloom in May, some-
times a little later, June, depending on the
season, such as a very dry and a backward
spring The honey is compared with that of
the basswood of the North, on account of its
peculiar strong flavor which it resembles ; it is
of light color; one of the best honey-plants of
the South, and tremendous yields have been
obtained. I have just gone out to procure
some of the flowerets, and send some to you
herewith. Perhaps you remember what you
said aiiout a chance for long tongues while
taking the shot at the horsemint on our
porch. I have been interested in this cjues-
tion, and can not see how short-tongued bees
could ever get everything that is nectar out
of those long tuljes. What do you think
about it ? Red clover not alone for long
tongues.''
Editor Root took the picture while in the
South, and also wrote the above paragraph
there.
Pears in California. — Mr. B. S. Taylor,
of Riverside Co., Calif., writing us Sept. 16,
said : .
"1 enclose a small picture that will give
some idea of how pears grow in California.
The branch was taken from a small tree
growing in my front yard. I think they are
the Bartlett, but I am not certain. It is one
limb, and there were 67 of them in the two
clusters at the time photographed, though
about 20 had previously fallen off."
Surely, California is a wonderful fruit
countr.v. We think we never saw such clus-
ters of fruit growing anywhere as are shown
in the pictut'e. It wouldn't take long to pick
a few bushels of them when growing so
thick. (See page 714.)
Mr. John H. Martin (Rambler), of Cali-
fornia, writing us Oct. 26, said:
" I am packing up and going to move over
into Cuba to sojourn there through the win-
ter. By so doing I secure a continuous honey-
yield all the year round, thus: Field No. 1,
in southern California, from April until July;
Field No. 2, in central California, from July
until Octotier; Field No. 3, in Cuba, from
October until April."
Rambler ought to be the sweetest rambling
man in all the world — continuously sweet.
But isn't it rather risky for him to go over
into Cuba ? Some of those chocolate-colored
young ladies in that " Pearl of the Antilles "
will be making " goo-goo eyes " at him, and
then where will Rambler be 2
And, just think, if a Cuban girl should be
able to accomplish what no Californian belle
has been able to do !
Rambler, you'd better come to Chicago.
The Thanksgiving Number of the Ladies'
Home Journal is replete with good fiction and
interesting and novel features. It opens
appropriately with an article which tells
" Where the President'sTurkey Comes From.'"
Then there are delightful stories by Hezekiah
Butterworlh and Laura Spencer Porter, and a
new love story called " Christine," by Fred-
erick M. Smith. Cleveland Moffett has an
interesting story about Ira D. Sankey, the
great evangelist, and Edith King Swain re-
counts the famous ascents she has made in
various parts of the world'. Will Bradley's
original designs for a house begin with the
breakfast-room, and Wilson Eyre, Jr., pre-
sents plans for a country-house and a garden.
Mr. Bok gives much good advice to young
married couples in his editorial. Another
most timely feature is, "Why Should a Young
Man Support the Church T' by the Rev.
Francis E. Clark. Many home-made Christ-
mas gifts are shown, and the first of " The
Journal's Amusing Puzzles " appears. The
regular departments are exceptionally good,
and the illustrations superb. By The Curtis
Publishing Company, Philadelphia. One dol-
lar a year; ten cents a copy.
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 7, 1901,
No, 45.
I ^ Editorial. ^ I
The Chicago Convention, — One of our
correspondents, who evidently is interested in
the next session of the Chicago Bee-Keepers"
Association, writes us as follows :
"Mr. Editor: — In the notice of the con-
vention to be held in Chicago, Dec. 5, it is
said that the railroad rate is ' one fare plus
?2.00 for the round trip.' That is given as
the reason for holding the convention at that
time. But if it is a conveution of Chicago
bee-keepers, a rate of that kind would not be
any benefit to them, nor indeed to any one
living within less than 70 miles of the city.
Is it to be understood that Chicago includes
all the surrounding States ?"
Plain Bee-Keepek.
No, Chicago has not expanded to quite that
extent. But there's nothing small about
Chicago bee-keepers, and residence in Chicago
is not essentially requisite to membership in
their society. Indeed, at their previous meet-
ings, bee-keepers from a considerable dis-
tance have generally taken a prominent part.
The live-stock show will bring to Chicago
quite a number who are more or less inter-
ested in bees, and the low railroad rates will,
it is hoped, attract others. There is no rea-
son why there sh(mld not be the same gath-
ering of bee-keepers in Chicago Dec. b as
were formerly gathered at the meetings of the
Northwestern Association, so pleasantly re-
membered by many as among the most suc-
cessful bee-conventions ever held.
»■
Fastening Frames for Hauling may
be accomplished by driving a nail partly in at
each end of each top-bar, or by slipping
wedges between the top bars at each end. R.
F. Iloltermann gives, in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture, a plan that may be better, as follows :
A separator cut into four pieces will do.
Lay this across the ends of the frames and
drive a small tack through this into the bar,
and they will not only keep from moving
.sidewise, but the piece across will prevent the
frame from swinging at the bottom.
Glucose Feeding. — A remark in "The
Afterthought " calls forth the following:
Mr. Editor:— On page OSI, Mr. E. E.
Hasty, referring to an editorial on page 579,
says: " It is somewhat in the line of news to
be told that one cm feed a ton of glucose to
his bees." Does that mean that it is news
that bees will take so large an amount, or
that they will take glucose at all !
Slbscriber.
It is hardly news that bees will take glucose
at all — sometimes. They are not likely to
feed upon it voraciously when good, honest
nectar is within easy reach. Whether under
any circumstances a very large amount could
be fed at one time may be questioned. The
editorial does not distinctly say what our
sharp-eyed " afterthinker" seems to under-
stand it to say, namely: "that one can feed
a ton of glucose to his bees. It says that a
certain bee-keeper tried to feed that amount.
That does not say whether the whole of that
amount was taken by the bees. Even if that
amount was all taken, it would not neces-
sarily be such a very large amount for each
colony, when it is noted that the colonies
were numbered " by the hundreds."'
Glucose as bee-food Is reported in Le Prog-
res Apicole as producing diarrhea in some
cases and constipation in other eases. Some
across the Atlantic report no inconvenience
to the bees from its use, while others report
heavy losses by death where glucose has been
fed. These discrepancies are accounted for
by the inconstancy of the product, some sam-
ples being pure, or nearly so, while many
others contain free sulphuric and hydrochloric
acids, etc., and often traces of arsenic.
The safest thing for bee-keepers to do with
glucose is to let it entirely alone. "Touch
not, taste not, handle not,"' is good advice.
Price of Honey receives further atten-
tion in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, without,
however, materially adding new light; at
least there seems no reason to change the
View heretefore given in these columns, and
it may be well to repeat that one will not
be likely to go far astray if one closes
promptly with any offers made at last year's
prices. A note from Dr. Miller has some
bearing on the subject. He says:
" I'm sorry to say I had not tirue enough to
call on you either on my way to Jacksonville
or on my return. I did, however, make a
pop call on R. A. Burnett in passing. He
promptly introduced the subject of prices on
honey. I had considered his theory that
rumors of a big crt)p helped to increase sales
without lowering prices, and thought it
utterly untenable. I do not know that I have
entirely changed my views, but I must con-
fess that after hearing him give cases right
out of his experience that seemed to support
his theory, I don't feel so sure of my ground
as I did. It seems, however, that in the long
run the greatest good to the greatest number
ought to be secured by having ' the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." ''
"The Ijife of the Bee;" by Maurice
Maeterlinck, translated by Alfred Sutro, is a
unique work. It is not intended to supplant
or to supplement any of the text-books as a
text-book. The author says: " It is not my
intention to write a treatise on apiculture
or on practical bee-keeping." The man who
has mastered the contents of one of our ex-
cellent text-books will learn nothing' new
from this work. But he will find the every-
day facts about bees, with which he is already
familiar, painted in such exquisite fashion
that they will seem almost new to him.
The book contains 427 pages, with an undue
amount of white paper, for the page measures
7'., by 5 inches, while the printed portion is
only 4'. J by 2J„'.
One wonders at such spelling as " labour,''
"favour," "savour," and "waggon" in a
book fresh from the press, and still more to
find "swarm" used for "colony,'' and
" hive ■' with the same meaning. But these
are minor matters, and we must remember
that the book is a translation.
The author says: "I shall state nothing,
therefore, that I have not verified myself, or
that is not so fully accepted in the text-books
as to render further verification superfluous.
My facts shall be as accurate as though they
appeared in a practical manual or scientific
monograph.'' Yet the practical bee-keeper
will hardly forbear some doubt as to the
accuracy of some of the supposed facts.
Dzierzon's hive, " still very Imperfect, re-
ceived masterly Improvement at the hands of
Langstroth;" when, as a matter of fact,
Langstroth completed his invention before
ever hearing of Dzierzon's hive, and no after-
improvement was made. (Page 15.)
Our author will delight the heart of the
Rev. W. F. Clarke, when he teaches that the
bees " ensure the preservation of the honey by
letting a drop of formic acid fall in from the
end of their sting." (Page 43.)
Sixty or seventy thousand as the number of
bees in an average swarm will stretch the
credulity of the average bee-keeper, to say
nothing of our good friend, the editor of
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. ( Page 46. )
In speaking of preparation for swarming,
the author says: "The bee-keeper has only
to destroy in their cells the young queens that
still are inert, and, at the same time, if
nymphs and larvae abound, to enlarge the
store-houses and dormitories of the nation, for
this improfltable tumult instantaneously to
subside, for work to be at once resumed, and
the flowers revisited ; while the old queen,
who now is essential again, with no successor
to hope for, or perhaps to fear, will renounce
this year her desire for the light of the sun."
(Page .56.) Beautiful as is the language in
that sentence, and much as the practical bee-
keeper would like to believe it, he will hardly
believe it a general rule that when prepara-
tions for swarming are made, all he has to do
is to destroy queen-cells and give more room
to secure the abandonment of all further
thought of swarming for the season.
Do swarming bees carry with them " a cer-
tain amount of proplis," as stated on page
708
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 7, 1901.
58 I. G. M. Doolittle must change his prac-
tice if he believes the teaching on page 8",
that the worliers accompanying a queen sent
by mail should be " selected as far as pos-
sible from among the oldest bees in the hive."
On page UK), we are told the workers will
never sting a queen. The bees of an issuing
swarm " have abandoned not only the enor-
mous treasure of pollen and propolis they had
gathered together, but also more than 120
pounds of honey." (Page 133.)
After a swarm is sutticiently settled, the
queen begins to lay. " From this moment
up to the first frosts of autumn, she does not
cease laying; she lays while she is being fed,
and even in her sleep, if indeed she sleeps at
all, she still lays." (Page 215.) When a
young bee has gnawed open its cell, "the
nurses at once come running; they help the
young bee to emerge from her prison, they
clean her and brush her, and at the tip of their
tongue present the first honey of the new
life." (Page 23li. ) Other errors can be
found for the seeking.
Beauties can also be found, and with less
seeking. In fact, they abound. Take a pas-
sage, selected almost at random, from page
234. A swarm has issued, and the old home
seems deserted :
" And for all that the moment may appear
gloomy, hope abounds wherever the eye may
turn. We might be in one of the castles of
German legend, whose walls are composed of
myriad phials containing the souls of men
about to be born. For we are in the abode of
life that goes before life. On all sides, asleep
in their closely sealed cradles, in this infinite
superposition of marvellous six-sided cells, lie
thousands of nymphs, whiter than milk, who,
with folded arms and head bent forward,
await the hour of awakening. In their uni-
form tombs, that, isolated, become nearly
transparent, they seem almost like hoary
gnomes, lost in deep thought, or legions of
virgins whom the folds of the shroud have
contorted, who are buried in hexagonal
prisms that some inflexible geometrician has
multiplied to the verge of delirium."
A con.siderable portion of the book is taken
up with philosophizing about things remotely
connected with bee-keeping, if connected at
all, many successive pages having no refer-
ence to bees, and the philosophy is by no
means of the most optimistic character. The
last 60 pages are occupied with a plea for
evolution, the whole (iO pages being to the
man who seeks practical instruction about
bees an utter void. As arguments to show
progress in the development of bees Is cited,
the fact that flour will be used in place of
pollen, cement in place of propolis, and the
fact ( 0 that black bees transported to Cali-
fornia, where summer is perpetual, after one
or two years "will cease to make provision
for the winter?"
But when the author confines himself to
bee-talk, his work is commendable in the ex-
treme for its exquisite beauty. If the pub-
lishers were to cut out perhaps a third of the
book, giving only the part relating directly to
bees, it would no doubt be more relished by
bee-keepers in general.
The book is published by Dodd, Mead &
Co., 372 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. Price
SI. 40, postpaid. It can be ordered from the
office of the American Bee Journal.
Green were the leaves at sunset;
To-day they're sear and red ;
Like men they play their proper iiart.
Then fall to earthy bed.
— Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
I The Buffalo Convention. I
r5 ^
^ Report of the Proceeding's of the Thirty-Second Annual ^
^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^
^ elation, held at Buffalo, New York, ^
i$ Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. J;
(Continued from pa^e i>''4.)
Response by Dr. C. C. Miller.
Just a little while ago Pres. Root said
to me that he wanted me to say a few
words in response to Dr. Smith's ad-
dress of welcome, and my heart sank.
I said that I didn't know that I could
put on dignity enough for that: but
when I found that I was to respond to
plain, unadulterated Smith, it made
the task easier, and I must say that
there has come to me something of a
surprise. If there is one thing above
others that I don't want to see the time
taken up with in a convention of bee-
keepers it is an address of welcome and
the response thereto; and in trying to
make a response the thought generally
will be, now what shall be said differ-
ent from what has already been said?
In what has been said today there has
been an intellectual word of welcome,
recognizing with a great deal of intel-
ligence something as to what we are
trying to do for the world, so that I do
really feel that we are welcome. We
are welcome to this room, which is
something that we are really receiving,
something of real value, and the word
that has been spoken of encourage-
ment as to our work has been some-
thing that is of value, and I do hope
that fruits may grow from it.
Now, if you please, allow me to turn
the tables just for a moment and speak
a word of welcome — let me make an
address of welcome. We do welcome
such words from such men; we do wel-
come a feeling of recognition, of intel-
ligent appreciation, and I want to say,
as a citizen of the ITnited States, a
word that I have said in private, that
we welcome our brethren from across
the line. I don't know whether the
Canadian brethren know how kindly
we feel toward them. I trust that the
feeling of brotherly affection that
these words of welcome that our plain
friend Smith has spoken to us will
make us feel this stronger than we
ever have felt it before; and that in
the moving of a kind Providence the
good work that may be done will
be a pleasant thing for us to remember
all the remaining days of our lives.
The convention was then favored
with a song by Miss Ethel Acklin, of
Minnesota, entitled, "My First Music
Lesson."
Mr. N. D. West, one of the inspectors
of black brood and foul brood, of the
State of New York, then read a paper
on the subiect. as follows:
Black Brood, Foul Brood, and Bee ln =
spection in New York.
The bee-keepers in several counties
of eastern New York have had a hard
fight with a new contagiou.s befe-dis-
) ease.. Dr. Howard, of Fort Worth,
Tex., has made many examinations of
diseased brood sent to him by myself
from different apiaries. Dr. Howard
said, the disease being new and differ-
ing from the old time foul brood, he
would, for convenience, call it "'Black
Brood." It is very similar to foul
brood, which we have known for years,
and the treatment for its cure is about
the same, but it does not yield so kindly
to treatment, and it spreads more
rapidly.
Wtih us the black brood started at
Sloansville, in the northern part of
Schoharie County, some six or seven
years ago. Many whole apiaries died,
and the disease kept spreading on and
on until it had reached other counties,
and it seemed as if all bees mus( die.
The disease spread rapidly, and ruined
all of the surrounding apiaries for
many miles. It was known as " foul
brood," and surely it was a./oul brood.
Finally, Charles A. Wieting, Com-
missioner of Agriculture of the State
of New York, appointed Mr. Frank
Boomhower as his agent for bee-in-
spection, to exterminate the disease in
Schoharie county.
Mr. Boomhower went to work and
inspected apiaries, and he caused a
great many colonies to be burned,
hives, honey, bee-stands, etc., wherever
he could find the first trace of the dis-
ease. The apiarists became more and
more alarmed and they were dissatis-
fied with the inspection which caused
so much destruction to their bees and
bee-fixtures that many of them would
claim that their very best colonies were
unnecessarily destroyed by fire. Many
apiarists who knew they had diseased
brood would not admit it, and they
considered the bee-inspector an enemy
who delighted in destroying their bees
because the law gave him the oppor-
tunity to do so.
Quite late in the fall Mr. Boomhower
was laid oft from his work as bee-in-
spector. In 1899 the bee-law was
amended so it gives the apiarist a
chance to cure his own bees, and if he
is successful the bees will not be de-
stroyed. Commissioner Wieting has
since appointed four agents as bee-in-
spectors for the State of New Y'ork.
These agents are inspecting apiaries
and are instructing the bee-keepers as
best they can how to treat their apiaries
if they have diseased colonies, only
destroying those colonies that are weak.
If their owners will treat them prop-
erly, and do all they can to prevent the
further spread of the disease, according
to instructions given by the agent, the
diseased colonies are not destroyed.
This diseased territory, having
Sloansville for it,s center, is about 65
miles east and west, and about 45 miles
north and south. Many apiarists have
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
709
so learned to treat and handle their
diseased colonies that our apiaries are
improving-. The prospects are better.
Bee-keepers in the midst of the dis-
eased territory are, many of them, very
much encourag-ed. The Italian bees
do not get diseased as quickly as do the
black bees, and they stand it better
vphen they do get diseased.
Diseased colonies of Italians, vrhen
very strong, and having a good, young
queen, and the honey season is favor-
able, the disease does sometimes dis-
appear of itself, but this is seldom.
But the season has much to do with
the progress and curing of the disease.
I tind that bee-keepers have been
much more successful in treating their
bees and etTecting a cure this year than
ever before, on the territory where I
have been working. Bee-keepers
should not allow any colony to become
weak and die or get robbed on their
summer stand. All colonies should be
kept strong during the summer, and in
the spring and fall seasons the apiaries
should be looked over, and all weak
colonies removed from the apiary
where disease exists.
Colonies treated for black brood, by
shaking the bees into new hives (Mc-
Evoy method) should have plenty of
young bees, and there should be plenty
of honey in the field, or the bees should
be fed with a syrup or good honey for
some time after treatment. There is
something peculiar about black brood;
it does not show much with the first
brood in the spring, but it will show
more and more from May 1 to June 15.
If the honey-flow is good after July 10
the disease in many strong colonies
will begin to disappear, and bj' Aug. 1
will not show diseased brood, but often
have a good, full brood of hatching
bees, while other colonies go from bad
to worse: these should be destroyed.
Many apiarists have been studying
various ways and means to bring
about the best possible results and they
are now very anxious to have the bee-
inspector come and see their results,
and have him instruct them and in-
form them of any new methods of
treatment and the results in the hands
of others.
I have faith to believe that we will
have better times. Today the bees at
Sloansville and Central Bridge, where
the disease first started and was worst,
the apiarists now have their bees
nearly all cured, so the disease does not
show very much at present, but it will
break out some again in the spring. But
those who are practical will take care
of it. They get a very good crop of
white honey, but not over half a crop
of buckwheat honey.
The following is a report from the
Department of Agriculture:
" Commissioner Wieting, of the State
Department of Agriculture, under the
provisions of Chapter 223 of the laws
of 1899. appointed four agents to carry
out the work of inspection of bees. Up
to the present time the work has been
mostly confined to a few counties where
the diseases have been the most injuri-
ous to this great industry. The agents
of this department are all experts in
bee-culture, and have done a great
amount of good work among the own-
ners of apiaries, giving instruction on
the subject, and especially suggesting
remedies for the disea.ses. The Com-
missioner has had a bulletin prepared
on the " Black-Foul-Brood Among
Bees," and will send copies to appli-
cants. A compilation of the reports of
the agents sitice the work began on the
first of May to the 21st of July, 1900,
shows as follows:
Xuniber of Ajiiaries visited (jBI-t
Number of Colonies exaaiined H.TIB
Nunihpr of Colonies diseased 4.(;s'.}
Number of Colonies condemned '.'.liiH
Number of Colonies destroyed -H
"The colonies destroyed were so
badly diseased that no treatment could
save them, and those condemned were
simply set aside for treatment.
" The Commissioner will be pleased
to receive letters from those in this
State who have bees, and he is anxious
to do anything in his power to increase
the products of apiaries."
The names and addresses of the four
New York State Inspectors of Apiaries
are as follows:
M. Stevens, Pennellville, N. Y., for Os\vet;o
County.
Charles Stewart, Sammonsville, N'. Y.. for
Fulton County.
W. D. \Vright, Altamont, N". Y.. tor Albany
County.
N. D. West, Middleburg-h. N. Y., for Scho-
harie County.
All of these are anxious to do all
they can to exterminate bee diseases
and advance prosperity to the bee-
keeping fraternity. N. D. West.
Pres. Root — This matter of black
brood is before you. Perhaps before
we go on to the general discussion we
should hear from Mr. Stewart, one of
the inspectors.
Charles Stewart, of New York — I
don't know as I haveanythingto add to
what Mr. West has said. except that we
find throughout the locality where
black brood is at its worst that it is a
case of the survival of the fittest. As
he said, the yellow race of bees is in
much better condition than the blacks
or the Carniolans. Then, too, it is a
survival of the fittest among bee-
keepers. Those who were negligent or
careless have lost nearly all their bees,
especially those who have black bees,
while those who have the Italians, or
even those who have the blacks, and
have watched them carefully, have
reaped a very nice profit during the
past season, and their bees are in fine
condition, also. I think the other in-
spectors will agree with me that the
disease has not spread as it has for-
merly, owing to our work about April
1st, and our going about and cutting
off all colonies that were weak, seeing
that they were destroyed and put out
of the way, and no robbing took place
last spring, the result being that black
brood has spread in my section but
very little during the past season, and
all who are practical bee-men are
greatly encouraged and feel that they
now have it under control, so much so
that many talk of buying bees again
and going back into the business.
Pres. Root— It is very gratifying to
know that this disease is now being
got under control, and I believe is now
under control. A question I would like
to ask is this: Do you have any diffi-
culty in distinguishing black brood
from foul brood, or is there a differ-
ence? and, if so, what is the difference
between the two diseases?
Mr. Stewart There is a difference,
you will notice, particularly in the
stage in whicli the brood dies. In the
late autumn, foul brood — a large per-
centage of it — died after it was capped
and was usually ropy or stringy. I am
speaking now of foul brood. Black
brood lacks that ropiness, and it dies
before it is capped, the greater part of
it, not much dying after it is capped.
Occasionally you will find a combina-
tion of the two diseases, black and foul
brood, or, again, a combination of
black brood and pickled brood, and so
we have sometimes a confusion of dis-
eases, but the main difference between
black brood and foul brood is the time
at which the larva dies, and its ropi-
ness: also that the black brood is much
more contagious than the old-time foul
brood. We sometimes find a place
where they have had foul brood for five
or six years, and, perhaps, it has not
spread to adjoining apiaries: whereas,
if it had been black brood, it would
have spread over a whole county,
showing that the black brood is much
more contagious than the foul brood.
Pres. Root — Is it necessary to disin-
fect the hives in the case of black
brood?
Mr. Stewart — We always advocate
that, using corrosive sublimate or nap-
thaline, or something of that charac-
ter, but it is possible to get rid of it by
simply shaking them once on starters
in the same hives, and they are healthy
up to date: but this, prrhaps, is not a
wise thing to advocate among bee-
keepers, because some of them are a
little careless and they would not be
successful, and we would be censured
for it, so we advocate shaking twice
and also disinfecting the hives. We
think it is safer to be over-careful than
not to be careful enough.
Edwin B. Tyrrell, of Michigan— Does
the black brood spread in the same
manner as the foul brood?
Mr. Stewart— It is spread by the
honey being robbed from one colony
by another, but sometimes it is spread
we hardly know how. I have had an
instance called to my attention in a
locality where the bees were all healthy,
you might say, and found only one or
two cases: and within a short time a
man that had a large apiary found
combs of honey near him that some-
body had thrown out for the purpose
of infecting his bees. You may have
an enemy, or someone you have never
injured in any way, yet he feels that
he has lost his own bees and is a little
envious of you because yours are in a
flourishing condition, and, occasion ally,
it spreads in that way. It is something
I dislike to mention, but it has been
brought out and such a case will occa-
sionally occur. But, it is spread in
some other way, because it will spread
quite a distance, two or three miles,
when vou can discover no robbing.
Possibly it is by drones. Possibly the
germs may be carried by the bees to
the flowers and other bees get those
germs from the pollen. What we know
we are able to tell you, but what we
don't know, that is something no one
can tell.
A Member~I would like to know
something about the treatment.
Mr. Stewart— Our most successful
treatment has been shaking them on
to comb foundation, and in about four
days taking those combs away and
shaking the bees on to another set of
starters, and by disinfecting the hive,
or using another hive. The bees from
that time on will be healthy unless
they reach some infected honey.
710
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 7, lyi 1.
F. J. Miller — Do I understand that it
is simply the McEvoy treatment for
foul brood?
Mr. Stewart — With the difference
that we recommend being on the safe
side by disinfecting the hive by boiling
or the use of some strong disinfectant.
Mr. Case — How can you manage to
get the bees from the combs or the
starters on which you first shake them,
on to the foundation that you are go-
ing to leave them on, without their
killing themselves with the honey that
is ted?
Mr. Stewart — That is a chance you
have to take. Of course, it would, per-
haps, be better to confine them in a
box in the cellar until they have thor-
oughly used up the honey in their
honey-sacs, and then put them on comb
foundation. Of course, you will, occa-
sionally, but the chance is small, have
a colony infected by taking honey even
a second time; that is why we use a
second treatment, in order to do away
with all the germs in the honey, and
usually are successful, although once
in a great while there may be an ex-
ceptional case; so, perhaps, it would be
better to confine them in a box in the
cellar for 48 hours, or something like
that.
N. N. Betzinger, of New York — They
usually retain the honey that they take
with them 14 days before they let go
of it.
Mr. Callbreath— What time of the
year is best for treatment? Should the
same treatment be given when they
are gathering honey, as when they are
not gathering honey?
Mr. Stewart — The better time is
when they are gathering honey. In
that case we recommend using some-
thing like formaldehide in the honey.
Mr. McEvoy— I think that Mr. Stew-
art and I could agree on most points,
but speaking of putting the bees into
the cellar for four days, it kind of un-
fits them for business; they become
lean and poor and have to be built up
by feeding afterwards to get them into
good condition. The four days upon
the starters, and after that the new
foundation will answer every purpose.
There is nothing like feeding the bees:
give them plenty.
Mr. Stewart — Yes, I do.
Mr. West — There is one thing in re-
gard to this black-brood business, and
with the treatment, and the shaking
the first and second time, that I think
is a little different in some cases
from what it is with the real, old-time
foul brood. Our black brood, when
shaken the first time and let remain
four days, and then shake them again,
and put them on foundation, I find in
the hands of other people who are do-
ing this work, that the bees are very
reluctant about staying in their hives
so many times, and swarm out and
sometimes go to the woods, and if this
is done in the swarming season, when
bees are swarming, they may swarm
with other colonies that have a young
queen, notwithstanding that these bees
may have their queen caged. Notwith-
standing all this, when other swarms
issue, it has a tendency to draw these
bees out of the hives and they unite on
the wing and mix with other bees and
thereby spread the disease to other
hives. Now, I prefer, with a good
many men that haven 't real experience,
to put them into the cellar and continue
to feed them for four or five days. And
when I shake them on foundation and
put them into the cellar for fouror five
days and feed them while they are
there, I have had very good results this
year; and if strange bees are put to-
gether, it improves the work, and I find,
too, that the colony does better when
treated in the swarming-time, if it is
moved from the apiary some ten or
twelve rods, out of the reach of the
others. It is best, in my experience,
to cure this disease in the swarming
season, or when you have a continuous
flow of honey, and if the colony, after
shaking, has been carried off some ten
or twelve rods from the rest of the
apiary, when swarms from the apiary
come out, the others are less inclined
to leave the hive, and, if they do, and
the queen is caged or clipped, they re-
turn without spreading the disease.
Mr. McEvoy — I agree with Mr. West
on that point, when he puts them in
the cellar he feeds them.
THE USE OF COMB FO0ND.\TION.
" Is the use of foundation profitable
in the production of comb and ex-
tracted honey ?"
F. Greiner. of New York — I would
say that it is undoubtedly profitable to
use comb foundation, in the production
of comb honey as well as extracted
honey, and the question in my mind
is. Do we produce as good an article of
comb honey with comb foundation as
we could without? That is the only
point why I hesitate sometimes in ad-
vocating and using comb foundation
in sections. I have used the very best
comb foundation that could be pro-
cured; and yet I will say that I did not
use the flat-bottom foundation — there
might be a difference in favor of that.
I have used the regular comb founda-
tion as it is manufactured by other
manufacturers. I can detect the comb
foundation in almost all my comb
honey, and my wife very seriously ob-
jects to my using comb honey or bring-
ing such in the house for use, on
account of this comb foundation.
Otherwise, I should say it was profit-
able to use. Of course, in the produc-
tion of extracted honey, if you don't
have the combs there is no other way.
If you have not the combs, the way to
do is to use comb foundation.
Dr. Mason — Wouldn't the bees build
it if they didn't have any?
Mr. Greiner — They would, but it
would not be as profitable, and we want
as tough comb as possible. In the
brood-chamber certainly it is profitable
in more than one way to use comb
foundation. You get splendid combs,
and a good deal quicker, and the drones
are excluded almost entirely; but there
is no other way that we can prohibit
the rearing of drones than by this
method.
Dr. Miller— I don't doubt at all the
importance of the question. I do doubt
the advisability of taking much time in
discussing the reasons for the differ-
ences of opinion. It occurs to me that
if we could have two or three intelli-
gent questions asked and simply get
opinions how many think so and so;
and it occurs to me that if Mr. Hutchin-
son, who has digested the whole mat-
ter pretty thoroughly, would put the
different questions that are required,
and ask us where we will put ourselves
on record, I believe it would be of use.
Simply get the number of those who
think they want to use foundation, and
so on.
Mr. Hutchinson — Is it profitable in
working for extracted honey, to hive
swarms upon full sheets of foundation
in the brood-nest? How many would
favor hiving swarms on full sheets of
foundation in the brood-nest when
working for extracted honey? Evi-
dently, most of us use full sheets. How
many would use full sheets for comb
honey? How many would use starters?
Is there any one here who would use
starters in the supers only?
Mr. West — I would use starters, but
I would make a half sheet of it by
using it saw-tooth fashion.
Mr. Hutchinson — How many would
fill their sections full of foundation?
You see most of us would put in full
sheets of foundation. Is there any
one here that would allow the bees to
build their surplus combs in producing
extracted honey?
Mr. Wilcox — The foundation costs
me nearly a dollar a hive, and by using
a few sheets of foundation starters they
will build a few combs, and it is more
economical in the brood-chamber. I
use old combs in the supers.
Mr. Betsinger — I voted for using full
sheets of foundation in the sections.
Now, I don't know anything more
about it than before I voted. The
question is why I use them.
Mr. West — We haven't got the time
to tell why. We have got to take the
expression in this way.
Mr. Hutchinson — I fill them full in
my locality, because they can finish
the combs so much quicker and take
care of the harvest. I think if the
honey-flow was slow it might be profit-
able to allow them to build combs in
the sections, but when it comes in with
a rush, and they can fill the super in
three days, they haven't the time to
build the combs and gather the honey,
and for that reason' it is profitable to
use foundation, because they can get
storage room quicker; but I have found
it profitable not to use full sheets of
foundation in the broodnest when hiv-
ing swarms and working for comb
honey, in my locality. I have taken
the sections off the old hive and put
them on the new, and have the same
bees working in the sections again in
20 minutes, with all the enthusiasm of
a new swarm, and all the honey that
goes in must go up in those sections,
and they will build brood-combs, and
as fast as they build the queen will fill
them with eggs, and I have gotten as
nice honey as by allowing them to
build their own surplus combs. But,
as far as results are concerned in sur-
plus honey, I can get more by allowing
them to build their own combs in the
brood-nest. I would confine a swarm
to about five combs.
Mr. Abbott — As we seem to be estab-
lishing a precedent, I want to express
my opinion about this voting business.
It seems to me like school-boy play. I
cannot see anything to gain by it, can-
not see any instruction to be gotten
out of it, and I cannot see any good in
it — a lot of people holding up their
hands that they would do this and that.
A National beekeepers' meeting, it
seems to me, is to impart instruction
and information at the same time, and
to hear from these people who are not
in the habit of talking. I want to hear
Dr. Miller and we want to see him.
Dr. Miller— I think there are certain
Nov. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
711
things that we can get at a convention
that we cannot get elsewhere, and this
makes it worth while to come a long
distance, and it is the men we don't
see much of, it is the men whose writ-
ing's we do not see much in the jour-
nals, that we want to hear from here.
But there are certain things that some-
times have been discussed so thor-
oughly that we are not likely to get
any new light upon them, but it is of
very great importance to me to know
something about what the bee-keepers
in general do think about them. Now,
if we were to have a long discussion
about whether it is best to do this or
that, and the reasons are given (and
we have heard all those reasons before)
there is more or less waste time in
that. And it is worth while for me to
know there are 37 who think so and so.
and 13 others who think differently.
Of course, an old man like Mr. Abbott
doesn't want us children to be playing
here, but it is not child's play when
we know what is the weight of opinion
upon that. Then we can go on and
get ideas that we will not get else-
where.
W. L. Coggshall— What is the ques-
tion under discussion?
Dr. Mason — We want to know
whether the use of foundation is profit-
able in the production of comb and
extracted honey?
W. L. Coggshall — Surely, it is indis-
pensable.
Dr. Mason — Would you use it in the
brood-nest?
W. L. Coggshall — Most assuredly.
Dr. Mason — Would you use it in the
sections?
W. L. Coggshall— Yes, sir, full sec-
tions.
A Member — At what cost?
W. L. Coggshall — No matter what it
cost.
D. W. Heise, of Ontario— I think Mr.
Coggshall has almost settled this ques-
tion. We can discuss this matter day
in and day out and at the end of all the
time it would resolve itself into the
hive question. We know it is profit-
able to use foundation, and we know it
from our own experience, and I think
every one in his locality and according
to his honey-flow will experience for
himself whether it is profitable, and an
expression from this convention by a
show of hands that they all think it is
profitable, gives me encouragement to
do it myself.
fCont'mued next week.)
Contributed Articles. |
sf^^'vr'ir^sr^r^ir'W^^^'^^^^ir^^'^r^^^^fr^rw^'^r^^r^K
Difficulties in Breeding for Long-Tongued Bees.
BV C. P. DAD.VNT.
THERE has been considerable discussion of this subject for
some time past in all, or nearly all, the bee-papers. There
was a time when I loved a hot debate, and would throw
myself head first into the battle on the side which I thought
right. But that time has gone, and, although I still love to
have my say, I much prefer to say it when the folks are
through and the matter seems very nearly settled one way or
the other. Yet it is much pleasanter to discuss bee-culture
now-a-days than it was in years gone by, when each man
thought those who did not agree with him on any particular
question on the natural history of the bee must have a special
spite against him. Hot words and epithets in scientific dis-
■cussions are becoming a thing of the past.
The question of long-tongued bees is not new. When the
Italian bees were first imported into American apiaries, it was
held by many that they could gather honey from the red clover,
while the black bees could not. I remember an old neighbor
who had bought Italian bees of us, when I was hardly yet a
man, and came one day in great glee to tell us that his Italian
bees were working on the second crop of red clover. " And,"
said he. "the black bees see them at work on it and try it, loo.
but they can't get anything out of it. Their tongue is not
long enough." I went with him to see this wonderful per-
formance, but it seemed to me as if botli the Italians and the
blacks were industriously at work and sliared alike, for.
although some bees seemed to fly about over the field without
any result, others would stop long enough on a blossom to
show that they harvested some-
thing. And this seemed to be
quite uniformly the case with
either race. And our old friend
could hardly be relied upon for
something very positive, as he
was in the habit of readily be-
lieving what he earnestly de-
sired. But, later on, I have seen,
without doubt, many Italians
at work in a field of red clover,
while the blacks were totally
absent. In that case there was
either a difference in length of
tongue or a difference in tastes
and affinities. Yet the actual
results in pounds of harvest
could hardly be proven to the
advantage of the red clover,for,
even without red clover, we
have always seen a better re-
sult with the Italian bees than
with the black. But it can
not bo doubted that there is a
perceptible tendency to longer
tongues in the Italian race.
The discussion of the long-tongued bees will have the re-
sult of causing investigations in that direction, and breeding
as much as possible from the bees showing the greatest dis-
position to harvest honey from flowers with long corollas, or
from the breeds of bees producing the largest results. After
all, is not this what we are seeking?
But, can we expect to get a set type, an invariable breed
of long-tongued bees, readily? Can we make sure of a distinct
race, in a word, upon which we may positively rely to harvest
honey from red clover whenever the honey is in it? I think
not. It seems to me that, handicapped as we are by the
almost impossibility of controlling the selection of the male in
the fertilization of queens, we cannot for a long time expect
to duplicate our best breeders and produce an invariable race.
But, aside from the dilBculty due to this obstacle, we have also
before us the tendency of all beings to return to the original
type.
Those who have persistently worked for years — for a life-
time— to the change desired in breeds of horses, pigs, cows,
chickens, and in fact in the improvement of any domestic ani-
mals, or plants, or trees, those men know how little can be
accomplished in a single man's life. If you take a breed which
has already well-marked traits in the direction you seek to
follow, you can only hope to make a very slight improvement
by years and years of persistent effort. Have any of my
readers ever tried to produce a new kind of potatoes, or a new
grape, by artificial fertilization? If they have they will remem-
ber how many worthless specimens they have brought for-
ward, and how few good ones. Many of us have made such
trials in the hoi,e of producing something far ahead of our
neighbor's stock, but how many disappointments?
So it must be with the bees, and worse, since we cannot
control the reproduction as we control that of most of our
domesticated animals.
But, nevertheless, it would be an error to discourage those
who try, for they are certainly on the right road. It is not
only by repeated trials and by selection, long-continued, con-
stantly discarding the inferior subjects, and constantly keep-
APiAiiy OF J. M. PAXTON, OF BROOKS CO., GA. — (See page 706.)
712
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 7, 1901.
ing thfi same aim in view, that we can hope to produce fixed
traits in our bees. And it would be well if we all tried, as
those who keep in the rear only retard the others that much.
That we can succeed, sooner or later, is evident, if we consider
what has been done in other lines. Compare the Norman
horse with the broncho or the Shetland pony; compare the
.Tersey with the short-horn cow; compare the Berkshire hog
with the wild boar; the Hantam chicken with theCochin-China
or with the game fowl; compare any of our domestic animals
with some different breed raised for a different purpose, or
with the original progenitor of the race whose match still
roams about the wild woods, and you will soon come to the
conclusion that we can, with domestication and artificial
selection, succeed in producing bees that will be far ahead of
our present stock; but let us remember that before we secure
fixed results, we will have many days of trial and many re-
turns to the original stock, for we are only at the initial stage
of bee-domestication. Hancock Co., 111.
An Experience with Black Brood in New Yorli.
BY P. W. ST.illLMAX.
SOME time ago I promised to report my experiments on black
brood, the following being those of the past season. This
is my third year with the disease. In the fall of 1900 I
moved two colonies of black bees (apparently clean and free
from any disease) from an infected apiary. Both were very
successfully wintered out-of-doors, and the fore part April,
1901, the packing was removed and an examination made.
Sealed brood in three combs was found in No. 1, and a few
cells were rotten; No. '2 was found to contain some sealed
brood also, but free from disease. The hives of the two colo-
nies were about eight feet apart, and painted in two different
colors to avoid any bees entering the wrong hive. Two weeks
later another examination was made, and No. 1 contained a
good many rotten larvie, while No. 2 was yet clean and breed-
ing rapidly at this time. No. 1 was taken from its stand and
all the bees shaken out; as an experiment, the bees were kept
in the cellar about six days and fed with boiled honey. While
this was going on, I cut from the combs of the same hive five
pieces of comb about six inches square, on an average, con-
taining neither honey nor pollen, and fastened these pieces of
comb in a new hive, contracted to about five frames, and then
turned the bees onto these combs, only to find about two weeks
later, the disease again in its first stage.
I now took what few bees were left (perhaps two quarts
or more) and put them on starters of comb foundation, and
contracted to three frames, leaving them in the same hive,
just as it was, and using the same frames, and all was well. I
thus fed this small colony boiled honey every evening, and the
disease never appeared again. This was taking bees from their
winter iiuartens to treat them at once. Today (Aug. 19) the
swarm is a " dandy," and I have installed a famous Italian
queen as a safeguard for next year.
No. 2 bred up to contain nearly six frames of brood, but
when I put the last outside comb, full of honey, in the center
of the hive, the whole thing was struck with the disease, and,
of course, had to be treated. The bees were shaken off the
combs in front of their hive, on a large newspaper, and as
soon as they crawled into the empty hive the newspaper was
burned. In all cases theshakijig was done at nightfall. The
colony was left to work at liberty for four days, and then,
without smoke, the hive containing bees (which contained no
frames) and what comb they had built, was quietly set on the
ground and a clean hive containing starters, a la McEvoy, was
placed on the old stand, and then the bees were suddenly
jarred out of the box and were left to enter the prepared hive
and go ahead.
All was well for about seven weeks, when, from some
cause or other, the disease again began to appear. After a
few days the colony, which was strong, was again treated in
the same way, and today, after seven or eight weeks, all is
clean and good. The combs were cut out and destroyed,
brood, honey and all, and two tea-kettles of boiling water was
poured over the frames and hive, giving it, a thorough scald-
ing, and, on July IH, No. 3 (being also a treated colony that
a friend had given me, and which I had treated in the same
manner) cast a swarm. This swarm was hived on these
scalded frames, with starters, the same cover and bottom-
board being used, and today all four colonies are healthy
and populous, open for inspection to any one, as the season
was especially good for experiments.
It has been a wet season, and not of the best for honey.
My colonies, four in number, are now headed as follows: No.
1, a queen from Kentucky; No. 2, one of a California stock;
No. 8, a daughter from the Kentucky queen, and No. J:, a
Carniolan. By this I mean to keep them free from disease
next year, and increase my colonies. It takes Italian bees to
fight black brood. Black ones are " no good."
Albany Co., N. Y.
\ Questions and Answers.
DR. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, 111,
[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Millet
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1
Wintering Bees on the Summer Stands.
I wish to ask about wintering bees on the summer stands.
I have the " Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," but 1 can't find
much about wintering bees on the summer stands in it. I am
going to winter two colonies on the summer stands; they are
eight feet apart and have plenty of stores; they are in eight-
frame dovetailed hives and I have wintered them in the cellar
two winters. How must I pack them and when? The winter
here is usually cold, sometimes 30-^ below zero. Last year I
put the bees into the cellar Nov. 26, and took them out Apr. 2.
The hives face south. What shall I pack with?
Minnesota.
Answer — You must have overlooked what is said in
Langstroth. beginning at page 326, and especially pages 336
to 344. If you have always been successful in cellar-winter-
ing, it is doubtful that you can do better outdoors. The pack-
ing should be done early enough so that they will not suffer
from any very severe freezing. Langstroth recommends for
packing material, chaff, straw, forest leaves, woolen rags, and
corkdust. The last is probably the best, but it is not always
easy to be obtained. Planer-shavings are quite popular, and
are not generally difficult to get.
Introducing Qiueens.
A queen 1 ordered some weeks ago arrived in good condi-
tion. I introduced her according to directions, the colony be-
ing queenless one day. After 24 hours the bees had done
nothing to the cage, the weather being rather cold; so I pulled
off the card at the end. The following day, it being still
colder, the queen was still in the cage, and almost frozen. I
then took her out and dropped her among the bees. A few
days ago I examined the hive but found no queen, eggs, nor
unsealed brood. Was I at fault in my way of introducing, or
how do you account for the disappearance of the queen?
Oregon.
Answer — Were you entirely certain about the disappear-
ance of the queen? Many a time has an experienced bee-
keeper looked in vain a long time without finding a queen,
especially a queen that is not actively engaged in laying. Of
course, you may now be sure, some weeks later, for if present
she would be laying. Dropping an almost frozen queen among
the bees was hardly the wisest thing. From what you say it
would appear that the queen was more or less separate from
the bees, otherwise she would not have been chilled. The re-
sult probably would have been different if you had put the
cage right in the cluster of bees so that there would be no
question as to warmth, and then at their leisure the bees
would have liberated the queen.
Baked Sweet Potatoes for Bees— Finding Black Queens.
1. Are baked sweet potatoes good , bee- food? They are
almost entirely sugar and starch, and the bees eat great holes
in them.
2. Is there any way of finding the queen in a colony of
black bees besides shaking them all off the combs in front of
the hive protected with a queen-excluder? I have hunted
mine over a hundred times and never could find one.
3. Why are queens dearer In the spring than in the fall?
Louisiana.
Answers — 1. I don't know. D I should suppose they might
answer a very good purpose if consumed while bees are
actively flying, but they might be bad for winter stores.
Nov. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
713
2. Thp. usual way is to look over the combs till the (jueeii
is found, and 1 suppose that is the way you mean you have
done a hundred times over. After you have looked over the
combs two or three times without finding the queen, it is
hardly worth while to continue. Close up till some future
time, not sooner than half an hour, and yon may then find her
the first thing. Another way is to put the combs in pairs.
Put two of them into an empty hive, the two close togethm'
but an inch from the wall of the hive. Put another pair at
the other side of the hive. Dispose of the rest in the same
way, using another empty hive, only leaving one pair in the
hive on the stand. Now look at the first pair, lifting out the
frame nearest you. If the queen is on either of these combs,
you may be sure she is on the side ne.xt the other comb, so as
10 be out of sight as much as possible. As you lift out the
comb glance over the side of the comb left in the hive, and if
you do not see the queen on that comb look quickly at the
comb in your hands on the side from you. If unsuccessful in
your search through the different pairs, let them stand for a
time, and you will find the bees showing signs of uneasiness
when the queen is missed. The pair that has the queen will
remain quiet, and your search will now be brought down to
those two combs.
3. Like other commodities, the law of supply and demand
affects the price of queens. Queens are plentier in the fall; it
is easy to have them in nuclei, and it is not easy to winter
thera except in full colonies.
Queens Killed in Introducing— Saving Queenless
Colonies.
1. .Vbout Sept. 5 I ordered half a dozen queens, but did
not get them until the 2bth. The breeder sent no directions
for introducing, so I followed as closely as possible the direc-
tions in the ■' A 15 C of Bee Culture." I put in five queens,
one being dead when received; -iS hours after I put them in I
looked in and found a lot of queen-cells which caused me to
feel uneasy, and 1 examined the front of the hives and found
two dead queens. I think all the others were killed, as there
were cells in each hive. Why was it they were all killed?
Ttie bees had a good lot of honey and were getting honey from
asters.
2. What can I do at this sea'^ou of the year to save the
queenless bees? Virginia.
Answers — 1. It is impossible to tell what may have
caused the loss without more particulars, and it is not certain
that full particulars would allow an answer to be given.
2. You can buy queens to introduce to the queenless
colonies, and as they will have been queenless a considerable
time they ought to accept queens readily. If, however, they
have reared young queens already, they will make trouble.
It is possible you have colonies with laying queens that are
weak in bees, and it would be a profitable thing to strengthen
them with these queenless bees.
^
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
MONUMENT FOR THE BEE-FLY-ESCAPE IDEA.
But Mr. Alpaugh's adaptation of the bee-escape to keep-
ing a room clear of flies — that seems to have gotten beyond
theory to practical success. Who knows but we shall some-
time vote him a monument for that? And he needn't use the
monument for a good long spell yet, either.
MKLTOSE, HONEY, TUBS, ETC.
Yes, and do you see that not only Dr. Strickland, of Ten-
nessee, but also the Battle Creek Sanitarium, of Michigan, are
pushing meltose as a substitute for honey 7 Well. ••Every
tub on its own bottom;" but tlie venders of the good old tul)
need hardly be expected to lead in singing hallelujahs to the
poor new tub. Page 6 LI.
CONDUCTIVITY OF HONEY.
Honey is queer about its conductivity. Perchance it is
partly because of the speed with which both the ab^iurpiinn
and exhalation of water from it goes on. If we try u> khi-I
warm honey, recently cooled air (practically sure to be ilamiii
i ^' The Afterthought.
at once envelops the surface. Surface seizes the vapor, and in
changing it from gaseous to liquid condition sets free the
latent heat — practically manufactures heat. If we try to heat
cold honey we are liable to find that a thin film at the surface
has got very thin in the other sense of the term. This liquid
water rapidly changes to vapor of water (providing »e apply
the heat to the surface) and so practically manufactures cold
at a rapid rate. The amount of heat which an ounce of water
vapor will change to the latent state, and so cause to disap-
pear, is great almost beyond belief. And that may be in part
the how and the why of it that it takes such an amazing spell
to get cold combs fit to extract. Hang them far apart — uu to
the top of the room — and give them two days if you possibly
can spare it. Another good way is to extract what you can
while in a half-warm condition, warm them some more, and
then extract again.
WATER AS A CONDUCTOR OF HEAT.
" Water, if kept from circulating, is as bad a conductor
of heat as eider-down." That's a big sentence. Better we
keep it on probation awhile before we swallow it whole. An
ounce of water distributed in the chaff of a cushion is pretty
effectively kept from circulating. Would it, or would it not,
affect the cushion like mixing in an ounce of eider-down? I'll
choose the down for my bees. But when it comes to honey,
I'll admit without argument that honey is a poor conductor —
and tbe lack of mobility in its particles helps it to be so, very
likely. Page 6 i 3.
POSITION OF BEES IN WINTERING.
'•Observer" does well to call our attention to the fact that
wintering each individual bee in a four-inch cluster must fur-
nish heat twice as fast as a bee in an eight-inch cluster. Also
we have thought that spacing the combs a little further apart
for winter was a help. I, for one, feel about ready to tumble
to his argument that it is not a help, but a disadvantage. But
the case of bees massed in a " Hill's device," with their backs
up against a warm, dry cushion, and getting honey from be-
low— "Observer" does not handle that case, I should say.
Page 613.
BULK COMB HONEY VS. SECTION HONEY.
Mr. O. P. Hyde, bees do not create honey out of nothing.
If your bees store twice as much bulk comb honey as of sec-
tion honey it must follow that somehow or other, actual or
potential, there is a waste of one-half by the section-storing
bees. That's not the way bees do at my yard. Y'et I'm not
sure but some strains of bees will do just that when you try to
get thera to work in sections. Page 61t5.
CRABBEDNESS .\ND DYSPEP.SIA.
" Zatso," Prof. Cook? Does crabbedness breed dyspepsia?
The popular impression is that dyspepsia breeds crabbedness.
Perhaps the bottom fact is that they mutually foster each
other. Page 618.
SCREEN HIVE-TOP AS A ROBBER BOTHERER.
Take off the cover of the hive, and fasten on the screen
top as if for moving. We had several excellent devices to
bother robbers before, and this evidently adds another. Good
plan to " have our quiver full of them " — and wit enough to
select quickly the right one to shoot in sudden need. Page 621.
THE IJUFEN AND LAY'ING OF DRONE-EGGS.
The sharpness of the queen's desire to have some drone-
comb to lay in is alluded to by Mr. Atchley, on page 630.
Probably many of us have noticed this. He thinks the queen
finds It easier to lay drone-eggs. How about the probability
of that, brethren? If not the precise fact, I think it at least a
near approximation. May be supposed that a sort of nerve-
exhaustion has been run up by the long laying of myriads of
fecundated eggs, and that the laying of unfecundated eggs
does not make so large a demand for nerve force, nor exactly
the same kind of a demand. She is taking a rest not by
quiesence, but by change of action. Even ye sapient editor
may write, and write, and write, until it is a rest to saw dry
hickory wood. Howsomever, it is also imaginable that the
(|ueen stops laying worker-eggs simply because there are no
more spermatic particles ripe enough to use.
Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the
copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent
by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee
Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and
thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of fl.OO
for your Bee Journal subscription a full year tn advance,
we -will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it.
714
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Nov. 7, 1901
^ The Home Circle. ^^ i
Conducted bij Prof. fl. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
KINDLY INFLUENCE OF FLOWERS AND BEES.
I want to thank Prof. A. .1. Cook for the "Home Circle "
in general, and in particular for what he said about flowers,
on page 63-t. The ladies — wife and daughter — of this ranch
are great lovers of flowers, and have about if) plants of differ-
ent varieties in the house; but I never thought flowers had any
particular moral eftect on the behavior of our farm dog— a
thoroughbred shepherd ( 15 years old now), that has always
been very strict about keeping the other animals about the
farm out of mischief, and keeping all strays from intruding
on the premises; but it is a fact that he never barks at people
when they turn into our yard; on the contrary, he always
goes out to meet them, wagging his tail, to strangers as well
as friends, as much as to say, "That is right: come right in;
you will find a welcome." He even allowed a thief to carry
off a super of honey from my apiary one night a few years
ago; but I don't want that trait of his to be known very
widely.
Instead of giving flowers the credit of " begetting a more
kindly, genial spirit," 1 have been inclined to come at it from
the other way, that people who are naturally kind-hearted
and genial, exerting theiflselves to cultivate those traits, are
the ones who, most naturally, take to flowers. It doesn't mat-
ter which way you take it, the influence is good both ways.
But what about bee-keeping and the influence for good
that the " busy bee" e.\erts over those who engage in that
business? It may be a little on the order of "compulsory
education," but it is certainly a great school in which to learn
patience and self-control — elements very essential toward the
possession of a "genial, kindly spirit." Who ever knew a
beekeeper and real lover of bees who lacked these traits? As
a rule, I find them the most sociable people I meet; even
though perfect strangers to each other, it does not take long
to get acquainted when it is known that each is engaged in
keeping bees. There seems to be that fraternal feeling exist-
ing between bee-keepers that does not obtain with people of
almost any other calling
I got out my paper and pencil to make a report of my do-
ings with the bees the past season, but ray mind persisted in
running off that track, all on account of that article of Prof.
Cook's, consequently my report will have to wait.
Mitchell Co., Iowa. A. F. Footk.
INDIO, THE SUBMERGED.
There is a very curious thing about the soil of California.
Dr. Hilgard — the distinguished scientist of our State Univer-
sity— puts it very graphically. He says that we have several
farms, one under the other. He means that our soil is fertile
away down. If we should bring a four foot soil to the top it
would be immediately productive; or, if we would expose a soil
four or five feet down, by removing the top soil to that depth,
it would at once grow — if watered and cared for — a full crop
of grain. This is why California is so immensely rich in its
soil. It is an arid region and the soils have not been leeched
of the valuable fertilizers.
Where 1 now live, illustrates this truth. When I came
here I graded my lots. I cut down two feet or so at one place.
1 commenced removing the surface soil as I would have done
in Michigan, moving it to one side, expecting to return it when
I had the grade to my liking. A neighbor, seeing my work,
<iueried as to my purpose. I explained, when he told me that
I need not take that trouble: that the subsoil and sub-sub-
soil, etc., were equally fertile with the top soil. I acted on his
suggestion, and, though I planted a part of my lots on this
sub-subsoil, yet all my neighbors have wondered at the mar-
velous growth on my lots. A white clover lawn right on this
undersoil took full shape, vigor and beauty in three months.
Tacomas, two years from planting, cover the whole front to
the very roof, and are the admiration of passers-by. Thus, an
apparent desert, if watered and cultivated, will show marvels
of plant growth and vigor.
This is a good preface to a write-up of wonderful Indio.
It is a little over lUO miles east of Los Angeles, and is '^0 feet
below the ocean level. Thus I spent two days recently be-
neath the horizon. Yet it is not in the extremest depths.
.Salton, a few miles fartheraeast, isj.many feet lower. This
was all, not long agone, covered with the "mad sea waves,"
and so, as the country around was raised, rich deposits, as
well as those poisonous to the plant life, were left stranded
on the desert sand. Lower Salton has since received the
washings from Indio and the other higher areas, and so they
are emptied of their salt and other alkalis, and are now im-
mensely productive. Indeed, could we be sure that these
higher acres were entirely cleansed of the noxious salts, we
could buy land at Indio and know that we were getting a ver-
itable garden. Indio is only a yearling. A year ago it was a
bleak, arid desert, only known as an eating station on the
"Espee " railroad. A little more than a year ago it was dis-
covered to be an artesian valley. Wells were bored at slight
expense, and a great flow of the most beautiful water was the
result — wells costing but $8UU or S-IUO gave, in some in-
stances, 4n inches of water. The water is said to be of the
very best quality.
The climate at Indio is, in summer, exceedingly warm —
11S° Fr. in the shade being not exceptional. Y'et it is so dry
that people do not mind it, and those suffering with pulmo-
nary troubles find here a paradise. The microbes of tuber-
culosis find this place too hot, " throw up the sponge," and
their victims rejoice in newfound health and vigor. Thus we
PEAKS IN CALIFORNIA — (See page 70(i. )
see that Indio is a veritable green-house, a plant conservatory.
Cantaloupes and water-melons grow here in a perfection that
makes Rocky Ford, Colo., envious. Oh, but they are sweet
and delicious I Melons just like the dry heat of Indio, and, if
well watered, give a sugar content that makes them savory
beyond compare. They come into market in June and July
and thus antedate all other regions, except it may be Florida
and when it comes to quality, Florida simply "is not in it."
Last year — Indio's first year — she sent 2,tiuO carloads of this
luscious pulp to market, mostly to Chicago. The crop sold for
upwards of .S'-i5,OnO, and the cultivators received over .$10,-
Ov)U. Single acres produced, it is stated, over §250 worth of
these incomparable cantaloupes.
Here, as elsewhere, the traffic took all she dared to. But
with reasonable traffic rates, we see tbat Indio has a great
prospect ahead. Even with the present exorbitant express
charges, the returns were most encouraging. If alkali does
develop — and the Lower Salton region and the excellent water
makes this danger improbable for much of the section — then
Indio, so late a desert waste, will in the future be prized as
a most valuable agricultural section. We had a two days' In-
stitute in this yearling town. The people are bright, intelli-
gent, and full of hope and enthusiasm, which latter we visitors
caught in good measure.
I am glad to give this picture, as it makes us all in love
with our grand country, more to marvel at its inexhaustible
resources. If the veriest desert can blossom out with scores
of carloads' of cantaloupes, what may Jwe expect when our
Nov. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE PURNAL.
715
water systems are fully developed? Let us talk around the
home tables, at the social meet, on the street corner, every-
where, in favor of more energetic action on the part [oi the
government to conserve and develop our invaluablewater-
supply.
JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.
Wasn't that Sunday-school lesson of yesterday a most
interesting one? A divided home, a partial father, a proud
boy, ana envious brothers. No wonder all this gave birth to
bitter rancor and hatred, and stayed not until murderous in-
tent against a brother stole into those jealous hearts. Aren't
we glad that we have so many homes where discord is not
known? Isn't It good that Uncle Sam set his great, splendid
foot on polygamy in our fair territories? Don't we all rejoice
that the Christ spirit is so rife among us that partial fathers
and mothers are rarely found? All the children in the most
of our homes receive the best that is to be given by fond, lov-
ing parents. Can we give too much thought, study, or even
money, if it tends to cement the love of brothers and sisters
for each other? No doubt, .Jacob's misdeeds and trials devel-
oped a character that has enriched the world. We believe
that even .loseph, as true and chaste as be was, was ennobled
by his great trials That trials and afflictions may have a
most blessed ministry in the building up of a proud character,
who can doubt?
nOCKlNQ. BIRDS.
The mocking-bird is one of our delights. Closely related
to thrush and oat-bird of the East, it out-sings either. Ours Is
the very same that charms the bird-lovers of the Carolinas.
It sends out its sweetest carols morning, noon and night, and
even at midnight it wakes to sing. Its heart is full as it
watches its little fledglings. Five growing, promising little
birdlings 1 No wonder the wondrous song makes musical the
very sunshine, and gladdens all our hearts. I rejoice that my
evergreens, down by the barn, are so vigorous. Soon they
will harbor more of these lovely singers. A happy pair, in
these October days, give us lovely music the entire day
through.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are Interested in Sheep ia any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Call
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated. J2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy tree.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
J30 Market Street, SiN FRiNcisco, Cal
Please menuon Bee jouirnai when writine
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send SI. 25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
fleaae mention Bee Journal T^nen ■wxitinft
Red Clover Queens ml 902 Free
Loug-Tougue Variety — Warranted Purely Mated.
We have already arranged with the queen-breeder who furnished Long-Tongue Red Clover Queens
for us during the past season, to fill our orders next season. Although fully 95 percent of the untested
queens he sent out were purely mated, next season all that he mails for us will be warranted purely mated.
We want every one of our present subscribers to have one or more of these money-maker Queens. We
have received most excellent reports from the queens we supplied during the past season. And next year
our queen-breeder says he expects to be able to send out even better Queens, if that is possible. He is one
of the very oldest and' best queen-breeders. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of any
vet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees
are large, of beautiful color, very gentle, scarcely requiring veil or smoke. 1 z:Z2 ' J_j
firders for these fine, " long-reach " Warranted Queens will be filled in rotation — " first come, first
served "—beginning as early in June as possible. It is expected that orders can be filled quite promptly
(even better than the past season), as a much larger number of queen-rearing nuclei will be run. (But never
remove the old queen from the colony until you have received the new one, no matter from whom you order
a queen).
All Queens will be guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and will be clipped, unless otherwise
ordered.
A Warranted (|iieeii for sending us Only 2 New Yearly Subscribers
In order that every one of our subscribers who wants one of these Warranted Queens next season can
easily earn it, we will book your order for one queen for sending us the names and addresses of two new
subscribers to the American Bee Journal and S2()0. Furthek.moke, we will begin to send the Bee Journal
to the new subscribers just as soon as they are received here ( with the S2.00), and continue to send it until
tlie end of next year, igo2). So, forward the new subscriptions soon — the sooner sent in the more weekly
copies they will receive.
This indeed is an opportunity to get a superior Qaeen, and'at the same time help'swell the list of
readers of the old American Bee Journal.
We are now ready to book the Queen orders, and also to enroll the new subscriptions. Remember, the
sooner you get in your order the earlier you will get your Queen next season, and the more copies of the Bee
Journal will the new subscribers receive that you send in. We hope that every one of our present readers
will decide to have at least one of these Queens. Address,
GEORGE W. YOBK & CO., I4i &;i46 ERIE STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.
mm
%mm
1
Please mention the Bee .Journal when writing advertisers.
716
AMERICAN BEE lOUKNAL
Nov. 7, 19( 1.
Standard BelQian flare Book !
ItY M. D. CAPPS.
THIS book of ITS
pa(?es presents a
clear and concise
treatment of the Bel-
prian Hare indnstry;
its (jrowth, origin
and kinds: the san-
itation and construc-
tion of the rabbitry;
selection of breeding-
stuck; care of the
young, feeding, dis-
eases and their
cures, scoring, mar-
keting, shipping,&c.
First edition of SO,-
000 copies was sold
in advance of publi-
Price, in handsome paper cover, 25 cents, post-
paid; or with the American Bee Journal one
year— both for only Jl.iO.
QEORQE W, YORK & CO.,
144 & IM, Erie Street,
CHICAGO, ILL.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor
A live, up-to-date Farm Jotirual with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited by one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. IJest
Advertising- Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
Please mention Bee .Tournal -when -wntina.
riiH 200-Egg incubator
for $ 1 2-80
Please mention Bee Journal ■when -writina.
The American Poultry Journal
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
A Journal
ing must possess it
its field must be a -^
Amepican Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year Mention the Bee Journal.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturage and Nectar-
Producing Plants; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an expert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells vou all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per vear; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal.
BARNES' FOOT POWER JWACHIRERY
ir'wlffc Read what J. I. PAKENT.of
'SS^fesaitfBT Charlt.)n, N. Y., says: "We
with one of your Corn-
ed Machines, last winter,
chaff hives with 7-in. cap,
100 honev racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a great deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
nake, and we expect to do
-ith this Saw. It will do all
JOB say it will." Catalog and price-list free.
Address, W. F. & John Baknes,
Wi Ruby ht., Rockford, 111.
''^ease mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
Fairly Good Season.
Bees did fairly well the past season, consid-
ering- the drawbacks. White cloyer did not
amount to anything. I had 40 eolonies,
spring count, and increased to 60, and have
taken off, up to date, 3,084 pounds of honey,
l.ruO of which is comb. I haye sold most
of this from my honey-room, at 13 and 1.5
cents per pound. I kept further increase back
by caging the queen in the parent colony.
After 9 days I destroyed all cells, and then re-
leased the queen. Honey is what I am after,
not bees. Silas Johnson.
Marshall Co., W. Va., Oct. 21.
Purity in Queens.
1 saw an answer to my article on page .530
as to the purity of drones. Mr. Hasty, on page
liir. does not understand me. I said that 1
did not believe that a queen that would pro-
duce black and golden drones was pure, and
he goes on to say that wild birds are pure, yet
the male, in manytases, is brilliant in color,
while the female is plain looking. But sup-
pose we take lots of our White Leghorn
chickens that are pure, and we will then pro-
duce white chickens still. What I meant was
that our bees will, if pure, produce either
golden or black drones, and not two kinds
from the same mother. I meant that if our
queens and bees are three-banded, then our
drones should be one color. I am not after
three-banded queens, but I wanted to know if
it could be possible that they were pure.
R. C. Abernathy.
Fannin Co., Tex., Oct. 16.
Honey Crop Not Extra.
The honey crop has not been very extra here.
[ got 1'., tons from 4a eolonies, spring count,
only .500 pounds of this being comb honey.
" The Home Circle" is very delightful read-
ing. Herman Ahlehs.
Clatsop Co., Oreg., Oct. 31.
Poorest Year in Seven.
This has been a very poor year for bees in
this part of the country. Although reports
have been good, 1 fear they have been made
only to keep the price of honey down. I have
ISO colonies, and had 12 swarms the past sea-
son. I have extracted once and got only 13
cases, and will not have half a crop this year.
I am in one of the best localities in the
county. I have kept bees for seven years and
this has been the poorest we have ever had.
1 have taken the American Bee Journal for
one year, and like it very much.
W. M. Wilson.
Tulare Co.. Calif., Sept. 10.
Where Bumble-Bees Winter— Poor
Season.
On page 108, I notice a letter from Thomas
Wallace in regard to bumble-bees in winter.
I suppose the majority of people think they
go South, but I do not agree with them. Last
spring 1 was grubbing stumps, when I found
proof to the contrary. I found one nearly 14
inches below the surface of the ground. 1
caught it by the wings when it started to
•• se-se," like all bumble-bees, and in 15 min-
utes it flew away. I found them the same
way the latter part of .September. The first
thing bumble-bees work on is the gooseberry,
and I have not seen them fly until that bush is
in bloom.
The hornets, also, winter between the bark
of old, rotten trees, fur 1 have found them
there very late in the fall. They were weak,
the same as the bumble-bees. I think they
must winter here, the same as grasshoppers,
snakes, toads, frogs, etc., which arc never
seen in winter. Last winter I found a snake
which was covered with a few leaves, where I
was chopping cord-wood. I cut it in two with
HNGE IH A LIFE TIM^
KB is often enoujrh to do some things.It'sof ten enouprh
^^ to buy a wayun if you buy the right kind. The-
ELECTRIC "wAcoN
long iiiider ordinarj' conditions. Firt^t the life-
of a wagon depends upon the wheels. This one is
equi pped with our ElectrlfStet'lWbeelB. with straiB^ht
or stagger spokes and wide tires. Wheels auy height
from 21'to 60 in. It lasts because tires can't get loose, no
re-setting, hubs can't crack or spokes become loose. feU
ioes can't rot, swell or dry out. Angle steel nounds.
, THOUSANDS MO W IM DAILY USE.
ELECTICIC'WIIEEL CO.. Box 16, «uInoy, ills.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Amon^ Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each ; 6 for $4.00.
Long=Tongued 3°Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong-ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
7Sc each, or 6 for $4,fa Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cincinn.4ti, O.
Premium
A Foster
Stylographic
PEN
This pen consists of a liard
ruljbei- holder, tapering to a.
■■»un<l point, and writes as
sntoothlj as a lead-pencil. The
point andneetlleof the pen
are made of platina, alloyed
with iricliiini — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write 10,0110 words, and do not
leak or blot.
As they make a line of iini>
foi'ni -witllli at all times
they are «in«-qiiale«l tor
rilling- purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best Manifoldinq Pen on
THE Market.
10,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO NEW st bscribers
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with $'2.00; or send
$1.90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for ^1.00 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
'*"e Fenj°' QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, IIL
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
717
the ax, but there was no life in it ; but just as
if you would cut a sausage in two. So I think
the bumble-bees must winter here. If not, I
think it would be quite a hop for the frogs,
toads and grasshoppers. I have noticed sev-
eral times, when in the timber on a warm day,
that the grasshoppers, spiders. Hies and other
insects, could be seen Hying and hopping
around me; and I have seen them as early as
March 2, before the frost was out of the
ground.
I would like to know if any of the readers
of the American Bee Journal can explain
where the frogs and toads winter. I opine
that they go deep enough into the ground so
that the frost can't reach them.
I had poor luck with my bees last winter,
as all froze to death. I now have three colo-
nies in good condition, and am hoping for a
better crop in 1902. 1900 was the poorest
year for bees since 1894. It was too wet. The
roads were not tit for a rabbit to cross, for I
have seen more than one stuck in the mud.
One of njy calves, even, got stuck, and in try-
ing to help it out I got stuck myself.
I receive the " old reliable" American Bee
Journal every Thursday, and it is a welcome
visitor. B. F. Schmidt.
Clayton Co., Iowa, Oct. 12.
Catching the Bee-Moth.
I saw in the Bee Journal an item from A. E.
Stone, of Arkansas, about bee-moths. I set a
lamp in a dish-pan of water; the lamp at-
tracts the miller, which flutters about the
lamp until it falls into the water. This pan
and lanjp are set in such a part of the house
(with open door) so that the lamp, turned to
a dim light, reflects a little towards the place
where my bees are located, so that the light
•does not reflect to the front or entrance. It
is surprising what a difference it makes it done
at the first appearance of the moth in the
spring. I. L. Miller.
Wyandot Co., Ohio, Sept. 2?.
Poor Season for Bees.
We had a very poor honey season the past
summer. I got very little hone3', and had to
feed my whole apiary to bring them through
the winter, as we had no fall flow. Being
very busy cutting my corn and seeding my
wheat crop, I neglected my bees when they
needed attention, and lost half a dozen colo-
nies. A great many colonies in this locality, I
think, will starve this fall and the coming
winter. L. A. Hammond.
Washington Co., Md., Oct. 14.
The Vetch as a Honey-Plant.
I read an article in the American Bee Jour-
nal about hairy vetch. I have raised both the
winter and the spring vetch, and both kinds
are very valuable plants for stock. But the
spring vetch beats the hairy, for cattle and
hnrses like it better, green or dry, and the
bees are thicker on it it they have their choice
of both. I have never seen a been on the
Jloip^rs of the vetches. They' alwa^'s go on the
stems, generally between the stem and leaf.
Thej" are after the sap. While the bees are
very thick on the vetches, the hives do not
gain in weight. It only keeps them busy, but
rearing very little brood meanwhile. That is
the experience I have had with vetches. I
have two acres of them, and 60 colonies of
bees. J. HiLLEK.
Pierce Co., Wash., Oct. 2.
Bee-Keeping and Poop Health.
My health being poor, I thought I would
try bee-keeping, so Oct. 10, 1899, 1 boughtflve
colonies in Baldwin hives. The size of hive
14'.2 by 17'.;, and 11 inches deep, inside meas-
ure. It is an odd size. In the spring of 1900
I heard of the American Bee Journal and sent
for a copy. In it I saw bee-books advertised,
and so got " A B C of Bee Culture." But I
let the bees have their way. They di.1 not
swarm, and I got 211 pounds of i-oinb honey
from two of the colonies, and iKithing from
To makfl cows pay. Qse Shsrple^ Cream St^iarators. Book
^'Business Dairying" & Cat.:il2,free. W.Chesler.Pa.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST de.sirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fori Wax Into Fonnilation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee jovrmal -when ■writin&
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back tor the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both tor only il.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. It you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
>SQQSSQQSQSSSSSQQSSQQSSSQ(2
THE YVORLD
SWEETENED
'Xi^ California Honey
Bee msn active; bees i
Sead for samyle copy.
g PACIFIC BEE JOURNAL, g
(If Los Angeles, Calif. (S
yt SPEClAi.-This year and next, $1.00. g
S 0 months trial, :5 cents. g
42A4t Please mention the Be
"GET A DANDYJ
the fastest cuttin
and double yourei
on 30 days trial. »
Sfratton Mfg. Co., Box 21, Erie, Pa.
Hease mention Bee Journal -when ■WTifir-
r bnne cutter made,
ield. Sold dlreit
Catalogue free.
the rest. Last spring I still had live colonies,
and the first of May I overhauled them. The
two colonies that gave me the 211 pounds last
year had each a nice yellow ((Ueen and a fine
lot of brood. The other three were dark in
color, and had no brood started; I think they
were old bees. I took one of the yellow
<iueens and three frames, and put them into
another hive. I soon had a fine lot of cells
started in the hive I took the queen from. X
killed the three dark queens, and the second
day I gave these colonies a queen-cell each in
queen-cages. In two days they had hatched,
and 1 released them. In \h days they were
laying and 1 clipped them. The other colony
I reared drones from, not allowing any other
to rear them. This one gave me a nice swarm
on May 2(5. It is now filling its third super of
24 4.x5 sections. I have increased to 1.3 colo-
nies by dividing, with the exception of the
swarm spoken of. They are all doing nicely
and storing in the supers. I think it has paid
me well to take the American Bee Journal
and to have the " A B C of Bee Culture," and
I feel proud of the pocket-knife I got with
the Journal last spring — it is all right. I
want to say that any one keeping bees makes
a mistake if he does not take some good bee-
paper. Jonas Wolf.
.iackson Co., Mo., Sept. 2.
The Beet vs. Cane Sugar Question.
This is one which seems quite unwilling to
stay settled. The following editorial upon
the sul3ject is from (ileanings in Bee-Culture:
I have received a letter from ,Mr. Thomas
Wm. Cowan (now sojourning in California),
editor of the British Bee Journal, and who,
through the columns of that paper, has rec-
ommended cane in preference to beet sugar
for the feeding of bees. In a letter just re-
ceived, he writes :
Dear Mr. Root : — I have just been staying
at a fruit-cannery in the Santa Cruz Moun-
tains where they use nothing but guaranteed
cane sugar for canning purposes, and their
experience with beet sugar is very similar to
ours in England. It may be that the humid
climate may have something to do with it;
but it is (luite certain that beet sugar is bad,
not only for bees but also for preserving fruits
in England. I suppose in the laboratory it is
possible to get perfectly pure cane sugar from
lieets so that, chemically, it would be identical
with that obtained from sugar lane. but in
luactice it is found tliiu tlicre are certain
iM
m
P
P
P
Farmino Du imQation
Is scientific and devoid of the element of chance. Crops are
sure, yields larger, quality better, and prices higher, with no risk
of wet weather, damage in harvest.
Wheat yields SO bu., Oals 100 bu.. Potatoes, 300 bu., Alfalfa, 5
tons, regularly each year, under the popular and successful
WILSON IRRIGATION SETTLEHENT PLAN.
It is impossible to get a well-located, irrigated farm, possessing
the requisites of Abundance of Water, Rich Soil, Home Markets,
Good Society, etc., for little money and on easy terms.
■\Ve share profits with those who can advance all cash. Profits
large. No Risk.
Write for Bulletin giving full details. .-Agents wanted.
Homestead Land and Irrigation Company,
79 Dearborn Street. CHICAGO. ILL.
JAS. VV. WILSON, Manager. Mease mention Bee journal when writing.
718
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Nov. 7, 1901
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW 1901 FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Seod for a copv. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
special Ag-eucy, C. M. Scott & Co., 10U4 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low treight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal "when •writing.
paid
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
■^ This is a good time
wjrjV to send in your Bees-
Vp VJS wax. We are paying
^& 25 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies I
We ran furnish you with The A. I. R"Ot Co'8
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freipbt. and ship promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our !9<tl catalog.
M. H. HUNT & SON, Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich
O If ' 1 regarding
bend tor cir cular s^^^^^/,^-!
, improved and original Binffbam Bee-Smoker.
For 23 "yEARS the Best on Earth.
25Atf T F. BINGHAM. Farwell. Mich.
FOR HARD USAGE
we .l.Hi't 'hiiik VI. 11 fan tiiid aiiylhintr lullcr.
I'Alih. WOVI.N \U1!K H:N(K(:<I., A1)KIAN,.11UH.
Please mention Bee Journal vrhen ^sn-itln?
i uimM Honey For Sale i
1^ ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^[
3 Alfalfa '"""^iHl^mj^^agta^. Rpi<:cwonH ii
^N\i/\tAl/\l>\lAiAl>\li\l/U/UAl/U/\iiU/U/\l>\l/\i/\^^
=BEST=
Alfalfa
Honey JTtJ
Thisis thefamoii'i
White E.xlractf.
Houev gathered i
the great Alfall
regions of the Cen
ral West. It is
splendid honey, an
nearly everybod
honey at all c;
get enough of
Alfalfa e.\tracte
Basswood
Honey J/c
This is the well-
l<nown light-colored
lioney gathered from
the rich, nectar-
ladeu basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger Haver than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7,'2 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, )4 cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HONEV
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm
something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production
and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the
honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality
of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more
marked flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
potash salts in sii(,'ar from beet which do not
occur in those from suffar cane. Leather and
lieefsteak have chemically the same composi-
tion, but there is a diflerence between them.
Thos. W.if. Cowan.
It may be possible, as Mr. Cowan suggests,
that the humid climate of England may have
something to do with the matter. It it is not
too much trouble I should like to have him
give me the address ot the cannery to which
he refers — not that I in the least iiuestion his
word, but because I should like to get a de-
tailed statement from them, explaining why
their experience with beet sugar has not been
satisfactory.
California vs. Australia for Honey.
Why tliere is so much more honey produced
in California than Australia, and why a much
larger number of hives can be kept in one
place there than in Australia — In Australia
the highest mountain does not reach S.llOt)
feet, while in California they attain an alti-
tude of from 16,000 to 18,000 feet. The white
sage of the valleys precedes the black sage of
the canyons, and the bees commence working
in the valleys and then gradually Hy higher
up as the blossoms climb the mountain sides.
It gives a much longer honey season than in
regions not so mountainous. There is an-
other fact that greatly extends the period of
bloom in California — many flowers, like the
white sage, are in long racemes which bloom
centrifugally, that is, the outside flowers, or
the lower howers, blossom earlier than the
upper. This, of course, greatly prolongs the
period of bloom, and, consequently, the honej-
season. — The Australian Bee-Bulle!in.
Tarred Paper for Packing.
Last winter I had two colonies, each in a
ten-frame dovetailed hive, with a half-story
full of saw-dust over the enameled mat, and
the whole hive from the under edge of cover
to the ground surrounded by a single thick-
ness of tarred paper. This was secured by
strips of wood tacked around where the paper
lapped. The entrance, ot course, was left
open. The results were all that could be de-
sired. The two colonies wintered perfectly,
were strong in bees, stores sound and combs
dry, and were the first to have supers put on.
So well pleased am I with the results that I
shall try the experiment on a larger scale this
fall.
The tarred paper is virtually air-tight, at
least it is wind and water proof ; but when
the sun shines on it its blackness causes it to
absorb much heat. I often saw bees at the
entrances of these hives when none could be
found stirring in any ot the others, and dur-
ing the winter months I began to fear that
the results would be disastrous, but they were
quite the contrary.
Of course, this is only with two hives for
one winter, and it is not safe to put too much
dependence on the method until it has been
more extensively tried. — A. C. Miller, in the
American Bee-Keeper.
Uniting Bees for Wintering.
A friend inquires of G. M. Doolittle as to
the best way to unite two or more weak colo-
nies for wintering. The following conversa-
tion upon the subject is given in Gleanings in
Bee-Culture, Doolittle being the first speaker:
'' Well, I will tell you of a plan I have used
successfully for a score or more of years. The
first thing to do is to place an empty hive
where you wish a colony to stand; and if you
can allow that to ije where the stronger of the
weak colonies is now standing, so much the
l^etter, as in this case the bees from this one
will not have any desire to go to any other
place, as this is where they have marked their
old home."
" But how can I set an empty hive there
when the stand is already occupied?"
" If you do this work as you should, oa
some day when the bees are not fiying, and
yet when it is not cold enough to chill bees
generally, say on some cloudy day, or near
sundown, when the mercury stands at from.
Nov. 7, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
719
50 to 55 degrees, you will have no trouble in
setting this stronger colony to one side of its
stand, and taking your time in arranging the
empty hive thereon."
" Yes, I see now. B.ut go on."
" Having the empty hive arranged, go to
the several hives having the colonies which
are to be united to form one colony, and blow
quite a volume of smoke in at the entrance of
the hive, at the same time pounding with the
doubled-up hand, or with a stick, on top of
the hive."
'■ What do you pound on the hive fori"
"This pounding on the hive causes the
bees to fill themselves with honey, upon which
filling depends the successful uniting of bees."
"How long should I pound?"
"I pound on them for about a minute;
sometimes two, it it has been cool for some
time before, so the bees are quite compactly
clustered, as in this case it takes them some
time to cluster and fill themselves."
" Do you keep on smoking all the time you
are pounding the hive?"
" I smoke only enough to keep the bees
from coming out aft«r the first few volumin-
ous pulls. As soon as you are through with
the last one, take a wheelbarrow and wheel
the hives to where you wish the united colo-
nies to stand, which wheeling helps, by its
jarring, to augment the fear of the bees, thus
causing them more effectually to hill them-
selves with honey. After thus wheeling them
together, do not delay in opening the hives,
else the bees may disgorge their load of honey
Imck into the cells again."
"Would not an assistant be good at this
time;"
" One would do no harm ; but I generally
do this work alone. Having all near together
by the hive they are to go in, open the hives
and take a frame of comb and bees from one
hive and place in the empty one ; then take a
frame from the next hive, placing it beside
the first, and so keep on alternating the frames
from the different hives till the empty hive is
filled. In doing this, select such combs as you
desire, either for brood, honey, all-worker
comb, etc., thus putting the united colony on
the best combs. Having the hire filled with
cotnb, close it, when you will next take a
frame from the first hive opened, and shake
the bees off from it down in front of the en-
trance, holding close down so the bees are in
or as near the entrance when leaving the
combs as possible."
" Why this close holding and shaking?"
" So the bees will take wing as little as pos-
sible, and so that none need to fall so far
from the hive but that they can readily run
in with the majority. Having them oil the
first frame, next shake the bees off from a
frame to the next hive, and so on, alternating
in the shaking the same as in filling the hive,
thus mixing the bees from the several hives
all up."
" Why do you wish them mixed up?"
" The mixing of the bees takes the disposi-
tion to fight and kill one another all out of
them when filled with honey as above; for
when each bee touches another it is a stranger,
so that the individuality of each colony is
lost, and the combined two, three or four col-
onies unite within two or three hours to make
one individual colony again, which will pro-
tect itself from all intruders, the same as the
separate colonies did before."
" Is that all there is of it ?"
"Not quite. As soon as the bees are all
shaken off their combs, gently blow a little
smoke on the outside bees to make them all
enter the hive, should any be slow in doing
so; and as soon as all are in the hive, place a
board about half as wide as the hive against
it, standing the bottom out a piece from the
entrance so it stands slanting over it."
■' What do you do that for?"
"This is done so that the next time the
bees fiy they will bump up against it, as it
were, thi« causing them to know that it is a
new location they occupy, when they will
mark the place the same as a new swarm
does, after which they will adhere to it instead
of going back to the old location they used to
occupy before uniting. And to help in this
matter further, it is always best to remove
everything from the old stands; so that noth-
ing home-like remains to entice them back."
"What about the queens? Do you put
them all together?"
" If there is a choice of queens in any of
the colonies to be united, hunt out and kill or
dispose of the poorer ones, so that the best
may be preserved. This bunting-out of the
(lueens is better done some day before the
uniting, for in the smoking and pounding
process the queens will not be where they are
readily found when uniting. If there is no
choice in queens, and the extra queens are of
no value, the bees will attend to the matter,
killing all but one of them."
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. -- The e.xecutive committee of the
Cbicaifo Bee-Keepers' Association has ordered
that the nexi mealing be held all day and even-
ing, Dec. 5, I'lul, at the Briggs House club-room.
This is arranged on account of the low rates to
be in force then for the International Live-
stock Exposition in Chicago at that time [Nov.
30 to Dec. 7), being one fare plus $2 0() for the
round-trip This notice goes bj mail to nearly
300 bee-keepers near Chicago, and should result
in the largest attendance we have ever had. Dr.
C.C. Miller and Mr.C.P. Dadant have promised
to be present. Let all come.
Herman F. Moore, Sec.
George W. York, Pres.
Cotorado — The Colorado annual meeting
promises to be a genuine success. The program
has been made out for a number of weeks, and
is almost rciidy for publication. It has come to
be a privilege and an honor to read i paper be-
fore our Associalioa, and so very few decline
who are invited to write or speak for instruc-
tion. One paper is alread> in the hands of the
secretary. On two or three nights a big magic
lantern will illustrate talks by famous students
of bees and the bee indusiry. And then we are
going to have an exbibitibn of the choicest
honey in the United States [made in Colorado,
you know), and wax, with bees enough to show
"how the thing is done."
If you want to know more, or have forgotten
the dates (Nov. 18, 1'), 20), write to the under-
signed, box 432, Denver, Colo.
, D. W. Working, Sec.
JJ stt >14 Mt itt >lt jJi >!4 stt jte ils. alt ilt*
I flONEY AND B&ESWflX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases: also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
delivered. We pay spot casb. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front &. Walnut Sts., Cincinnati. Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40ASt Please mention the Bee Journal.
yyg[Hg(|6on,bandEx.
iraGletlfioneu!
I the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay hig-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating- quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. AVill
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Fairfield, III.
43Atf 214(. :i4
Comb Honey and Bees-
wax. State price de-
livered in Cincinnati.
G. H.W.WEBER,
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
fnruish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5tt 101b 251b soft
Sweet Clover (white) $.60 $1.00 $2.25 J4.C0
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3,25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the Spound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK A CO.
144 &;i46 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
been
Chicago, Nov. 1.— The market is
tone, while prices are nominallv the
would be shaded to effect sales.' Son
honey enroute to the Eastern cities 1
diverted to this and surrounding points, which
is having a depressing effect. Comb brings
l4(Sl5c for best grades of white: ligbt amber,
12({?13c; dark grades, 10(" lie. Extracted, white,
B%(&i0^c, according to quality, flavor and pack-
age: light amber, 5'i(a5'4c; amber and dark.
5^5J4c. Beeswax, 2Kc. R. A. Burnhtt & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct, 25.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5Mt»c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6(m7c; white clover from s@^9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ]35^@l5!^c.
C. H. W. Webbr.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 25.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocery men are stocking up and will
buv lines, when late they only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, 15^? 16c; mixed,
14@15c; buckwheat, 12@13c. Extracted, white,
6H@7'^c; mixed, b(a}(j^c. H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4}4@4^ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
New York, Oct. 18.— Comb honey is in good
demand and finds readv sale at the following
quotations: Fancy white, 15c per pound; No. 1
while, 13(ml4c; amber, 12c; buckwheat, 10@llc.
Extracted rather quiet at 6(Si6!^c for white, and
5%(g)b%c for amber. Beeswax rather quiet at
27@28c. HiLDRETH & Skqhlkkn.
Boston, Oct. 21.— There is a fairly good de-
mand for' stocks with ample supplies at the
present writing. Fancy No. 1, ia cartons,
]5^(ai6c: ANo. 1, in cartons, 15(^15^c; No 1,
15c; very little No. 2 is being received: glass-
front cases will bring about ^c per pound less.
Light California extracted, 7!^@8c; Florida
honey, 6^@7c.
Blake, Scott & Lbh
Des Moines, Oct. 25.~There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail wav" at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1, Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Oct. 25,— Fancy white comb honev,
14@l5c; No. 1, 13@i4c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6(«*7c. Beeswax, 25(n2t»c.
M. H.HuNT & Son.
San Francisco, Oct. 16.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, 7@^c; dark, 6@7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, SH@~-; light amber, 4}^® — ;
amber. 4@ — .
Values are ruling steady, with no very heavy
spot offerings and a fair inquiry, more espe-
cially for extracted. A sailing vessel, clearing
the past week for England, look as part cargo
575 cases of extracted honey, and 453 cases ex-
tracted went by sail for New York.
Beeswax— Good to choice, light, 26(a.28c. No
heavy quantities arriving, and slot ks are given
little or no opportunity to accumulate to any
noteworthy extent. Values are without quota-
ble change.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15(gil6c per pound for fancy
white. I-'or next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.10(5j$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14^'14J^c; the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way SJ4@6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for a year's subscription to our
Journal, and we will send book. Plans for
Poultry-Houses, free. Six months trial subscrip-
tion to Journal. 10 cents.
Inland Poi;ltry Journal, Indianapolis, Ind
29Dtf Pleas« mention the Bee Journal.
720
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 7, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHINB YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
4S- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and saTe freight.
Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free...,
The MoNETTK Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thin^ for use in
catching- and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
QBORQE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, 111.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
Eugene Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only 15 cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked for.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
24tll
year
Dadant's Foundation. \Z
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell _^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 33 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OP ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstroth on Ihe Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock C9., 111.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing
Texas Bee-Keepers.
We bejr to announce the opening of a liranch office and warehouse at
4MS W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Medina in less tlian car-load lots are high, and it takes a long time for a local shipment to
reach Soutliern Texas points.
T nW FrPJirht Illlll ^° secure these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
iiUn 1101^,111 flllU livery — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
fllliPV npliVPrV friends, is our reason tor establishing this new branch office. No other
IJUiuP. UCliy ul J I point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
tliaii San Antonio. It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
np n International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
dS d tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
Pacific Express Companies.
StilppiDE-point,
fllir MHIlPn'PPI! ^^® have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein. formerly of Leon
UUl IuaU(l}!,Ul Di Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, Jr., both of whom are well known to the
bee-keepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
hee-keeping and all matters associated with it. and any orders sent to this tjranch will receive
prompt, caieful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the Irest goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a bive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that our policy of '■ the best goods " is a correct
one.
rilir Piltlllnn' ^^^I'.v few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
UUl udldlU^- your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
arc made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
benefit liy ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
belnw.
Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not equaled elsewhere in Texas. You will also find on file the leading bee-journals to
pass pleasantly your leisure time.
Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who, does.
If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Spanisti Catalog.
Factory and Home Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
XOEPPKRWKi:^ A: ^VAI.XOW, Blanagei-s.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^^i^^.l'^M'C:''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for iheir free Catalog.
#^s^%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 14, 1901,
FORTV-FIRST YEAR
No. 46.
722
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL,
Nov. 14, 1901.
i Weekly Budget. I
EEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Oeosoe W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) T)p„„rtmpnt
E. E. Hasty, (department
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price ot this Journal
is 11.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date ot this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
" decOi " on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
* a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote aud protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
Thos. G. Newman,
G. M. Doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
Jt^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or houey-seller
to wear on his coat^lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
jive the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
aud bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to Uie offlca
of the American Bee Journal.
Mb. a. N. Draper, of Madison Co., 111.,
called on us recently when in Chicago on
business. He reported a very poor honey
crop from his 250 colonies of bees.
Mr. E. B. Gladish, secretary of the Leahy
Mfg. Co., gave us a short call last week,
when on a trip among the bee-supply manu-
facturers ot Wisconsin. He reports doing the
largest volume of business the past season in
the history of their firm, even exporting a
carload or so of supplies to Cuba.
The Chicago Convention, Dec. 5, gives
good promise of being a genuine " hummer."
Already we have had notice from several bee-
keepers from Iowa who are planning to be
present. Of course, Wisconsin and Indiana
will be well represented. We wouldn't be
surprised if Ohio would be on hand, too.
Editor Hutchinson, over in Michigan, wrote
us as follows, Oct. 31 :
Friend York : — I am pleased to see the
indications that your Chicago convention
promises to develop into something like the
old Northwestern meetings I am going to
give a good send-off in the next Review, and
then take a run over myself and attend the
meeting. W. Z. Hutchinson.
There's nothing the matter with that. As
Dr. C. C. Miller and C. P. Dadant have also
promised to come, a splendid meeting is
already assured.
But there must be a big turn-out of bee-
keepers living near Chicago. The coming
convention can easily be made to equal the
Buffalo convention, both in attendance and
profitable discussion. All in the Northwest
can not attend the annual meeting of the
National Bee-Keepers" Association, but every-
body wants to come to Chicago, and can gen-
erally do so if a real desire to come exists.
The Revere House, southeast corner of
Clark and Michigan streets, will rent rooms
at "5 cents or SI. 00 per night, depending upon
the kind of room taken. This is the hotel
where many bee-keepers stopped when attend-
ing the Chicago meeting of the National
Association in ISIOO. Of course, there are
many other places besides the Revere House.
The Bridal Party, shown on our first
page this week, will be a complete surprise to
the quartette represented, for their consent to
it was not secured, but we think they will not
protest very seriously, as such a fine wedding
group is not seen every day.
We need hardly remind many of our readers
that the girls are the twin daughters of our
brother editor. W. Z. Hutchinson, of Genesee
Co., Mich. They had a double wedding, Oct.
It), so Mr. H. that day added "twin boys" to
his family, which was quite in keeping with
the coming ot the twin girls 23 years ago.
The couple on the right in the picture is
Mr. and Mrs. (Nora) A. (;. Hartshorn; the
one on the left Mr. and Mrs. (Cora) E. F.
Hannenian. Quite a wedding was made for
them, but instead of paying a florist a high
price to decorate the house, most of it was
done by the Hutchinson family, including
"the l»ys." The parlor was trimmed with
asparagus and palms. Then there was a
double arch ot srailax, with a floral bell of
white carnations suspended from the top of
each arch. The sitting-room was trimmed
with pine Ijoughs. Mr. Hutchinson himself
went up the river two or three miles into
the woods and gathered the branches of pine.
Then he went to his old home, where there
was a large mountain ash, climljed the tree
and brought home a basket of the bright red
berries; these the girls mingled among the
dark green of the pine twigs. They covered
the walls of the dining-room with sheets ot
thick, heavy paper, tacking them on. Paste
was then applied to the paper, and bright
autumn leaves stuck on, overlapping them
like the shingles on a roof. Pains were taken
to get bright colors — yellow, red, brown, green,
etc., mingling them together. It took the
boys and girls, with Mr, H. himself, one en-
tire day to decorate this room, but it was
novel and beautiful, and "brought down the
house."
We learn that a large number ot beautiful
and useful presents were received; and the
girls and their husbands have gone to house-
keeping in homes of their own, in a style
quite a little beyond the humble beginning of
Mr. Hutchinson and his wife. We under-
stand that the young men are good, honest
and upright, and tree from any bad habits.
Of course, such girls wouldn't choose any
other kind. Mr. Hartshorn has always lived
in Genesee county, and is a clerk in a leading
dry goods house. Mr. Hanneman was born
in Germany, came to this country when eight
years old, served Uncle Sam two years in the
Philippines, coming home last April, and is
now a trimmer in a carriage factory.
One very pleasant feature is that "Nora"
is to live right next door to her father, while
" Cora" is to be only one block away.
We wish to extend our heartiest congratu-
lations to all concerned, and hope that any
troubles that may come to the quartette may
be " only little ones."
Mr. a. E. Willcutt, of Hampshire Co.,
Mass., has his neat little apiary shown on page
72?. When sending the photograph, Mr. Will-
cutt wrote as follows :
1 very much enjoy looking at the pictures
of our bee-friends and their apiaries, which
appear in the " Old Reliable " from time lo
time. Let us thank the several editors of the
existing bee-papers for the many beautiful
illustrations which appear in their publica-
tions.
Not wishing to appear selfish along this
line, I send a photograph ot my apiary,
which will also give at least a "squint" at
" Yours Truly " among the " little pets. '' The
lady in the picture is my " favorite queen;"
the boy is her brother, and is taking a lesson
in handling a frame ot bees. The hive we
have open is not shown in the picture, I
make all my hives, supers, and most of the
brood-frames. I use the Langstroth hive, 10-
trame size, and work for both comb and ex-
tracted honey.
It has been a poor honey season in this
" locality," bee-keepers on all sides reporting
little or no surplus. I have one colony of
black bees which gave me 06 one-pound sec-
tions of honey and 10 pounds of extracted,
also one large swarm. I have three and five
banded Italians in my yard, but the blacks
took the lead this year as honey-gatherers.
I have only one thing new to offer, and that
is the shade-board which I use, one ot which
can be seen leaning against a hive, and shows
it to be No. 14. They are made ot material
that will not shrink, crack or decay in any
climate, not excepting Colorado. They are
made of half-inch material, 24x30 inches. If
painted white they are very prettj', and keep
the hives cool in hot weather. I use a ^.j-inch
plain cover under them. It is easy to form
an air-space by laying a strip under one or
both ends of the shade-boards the desired
thickness. We have had some very hot
weather the past sunmier, but I have had no
trouble from combs melting down, and but
very few bees clustered outside the hives.
These shade-covers need no bricks, rocks, or
any other unsightly thing to keep them from
blowing off, for they are made of stone. We
have a stone-quarry where I get them out,
and the cost is but a few cents each.
A. E. Willcutt.
P. S. — I forgot to say that I took first
money (or prize) on honey at our annual fair
this year. I also had on exhibition an observ-
atory hive of Golden Italian bees, the only
exhibit of bees at the fair. — A. E. W.
4IstYEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 14, 1901,
No, 46.
i ^ Editorial. ^ l
The Cold Snap. — Did it catcli 3-ou ? No
doubt it did a good many. The latter part of
October was so summer-lilie that it was easy
to think that freezing weather might be far
away, and so some last preparations for cold
weather were put off from day to day with
the thought that there was no immediate need
for haste until the weather became at least a
little colder. But that " little colder " weather
never came. From summer weather there
was a sudden jump right into winter weather.
Here in northern Illinois we had in the last
end of October a temperature of SO degrees.
All at once a cold west wind set in the night
of Nov. 3, afld by morning the thermometer
registered 12 degrees.
Now, don't you wish that colony short of
stores had been attended to in September ;
Well, look out another year.
Long Smellers. — A clipping from the
Belfast Blaze, which has been received, con-
tains among other things the following:
Mr. Ballard says that a honey-bee can smell
clover honey two miles away. He cites an in-
stance that once the nearest clover to his bees
was over a mountain in the Hell Hollow dis-
trict two miles away, and his bees all went
there to gather honey. He says if you go out
in the woods half a mile from a hive and
burn some honey-comb that within ten min-
utes the bees will be attracted there froiu the
hive by the sense of smell, if the wind is
right. But some of the ways of the honey-
bee are past finding out.
This isacaseof correct prjmises,witha false
conclusion drawn therefrom. It is true that
bees will find a clover-Beld two miles from
their home, and that in a few minutes they
will find burning honey-comb within a half
mile; but it by no means follows that they
can smell anything two miles, or even half a
mile, away. It would be just as reasonable
to say that when a man went hunting and
shot a squirrel two miles from home he saw
the squirrel when two miles away. Bees are
good hunters rather than long smellers.
Profits of Bee-Keeping are sometimes
painted in rather bright colors, even when
there is no real intention to mislead. Refer-
ring to some remarks on page b79 of this
journal, in which some very bright painting
in the August number of the American Bee-
Keeper was commented upon, the editor of
that journal says;
There can be no doubt that the glowing
pictures sometimes painted of bee-culture and
its profits are open to criticism. The begin-
ner— especially the youthful beginner — may
in this way be led to expect too much; yet,
with reference to the question in hand, we
think no bee-keeper of experience would be
inclined to regard ^.00 per colony as big re-
turns. It should always be borne in mind
that any business enterprise is subject to
adverse conditions and casualities. Then,
there is a limit of one's personal capabilities
to be taken into consideration. One apiarist
can not properly attend to several apiaries ;
expense increases in proportion with the
stock ; forage must also be afforded in equal
ratio. One colony might easily produce 100
pounds of comb honey. This might readily
find a market at $16.00; though one does not
often hear of an apiary of 100 colonies yield-
ing 10,000 pounds of honey, and that selling
for $1,600. We do not think it has occurred
in recent years, that any apiaries of 1000
colonies have yielded $16,000 worth of honey
in one season, for reasons intimated above.
This is very appropriately said, and might
well have been said in the August number,
all except the part in which Editor Hill seems
to support the statement: "It is a conser-
vative estimate of the bee-keepers generally,
however, that each colony should bring in at
least five dollars a year." Does our esteemed
fellow editor really believe that >. If it be
true, then it could be hardly out of the way
to say to the would-be beginner: " It you
have 50 colonies, you may be sure of $2.10 at
h^aat in the very poorest year, and much more
in a good year."' Would he say that ?
Temperature for. Feeding Back,
says Adrian Getaz, in the Bee-Keepers' Re-
view, must be that of hot weather, or there
will be loss of honey from consumption to
keep up the proper heat. No one has ever
made a success of feeding back except in hot
weather awl hut niylitx.
Confinement of Laying Queens. — In
Gleanings in Bee-Cullure, a foot-note to an
article by Arthur C. Miller, reads as follows:
You may be right; but is it not putting it
a little strong when you say, " We do /i'«,o«i
that the sudden confinement of a queen when
in the full exercise of her natural functions
almost always works serious injury We
also knuiK that a queen laying slowly, as in a
small nucleus, can be caged with but little or
no apparent injury!'" Vou italicize the word
kw'ii-' as if the tacts were established. Now,
is that true ' There has been a sort of sur-
mise entertained by many good bee-keepers
that both of these propositions might be true;
but has either one of them been clearly and
decidedly demonstrated* Understand, I do
not deny either proposition ; but I raise the
question whether we have so far reported
facts sufficient to prove, beyond a perad ven-
ture, both statements. In partial support of
one statement, I will say that we have sent
out sometimes, from our apiary, queens that
were in full laying', und yet which on arrival
at destination pruviHi to be very unsatisfac-
tory, laid a few i<;;,'s,and disappeared. At
other times we have taken queens from their
hives in the height of the season, put them up
in mailing-cages, and, later on, had most
flattering reports from them. We send out a
good many thousand queens in a season ;
and, unless I am very much mistaken, the
majority of such queens (even when doing
full duty) have deported themselves very
creditably on arrival at their new home. If
there is any queen-breeder, aside from Mr.
Alley, who first cages in a small nucleus
before sending out queens, I shoald like to
have him hold up his hand. Now, under-
stand, friend Miller, this is not offered as a
challenge, but because I do honestly seek the
truth. If it is demonstrated clearly that a
queen removed from the hive when laying to
her fullest capacity, and caged long enough
to make a journey through the mails, is in-
jured, then the sooner we prove the fact the
better it will be for the breeder as well as for
his customer.
It seems pretty certain that when queens
are sent through the mails they are sometimes
much the worse after the journey, and some-
times as good as ever. This has been ex-
plained heretofore, and perhaps satisfactorily,
without laying any blame upon sudden con-
finement. There is a very great difference
between the weight of a queen when laying-
two or three thousand eggs in a day and when
not laying at all. A light-weight queen,
when sent through the mail, has little diffi-
culty in maintaining her footing in the cage,
no matter what jars or jolts. On the other
hand, when very heavy with eggs, a light jar
makes her lose her hold, and a heavy jar may
make her strike against the wood of the
cage in such a way as to be seriously injured.
It is a matter of accident, the light weight
being little subject to accident, and the
greater the weight the greater the danger of
accident. Yet a queen very heavy with eggs
may go through in safety, the next one may be
injured so as to be almost, if not entirely,
worthless.
Ventilating Bees When Hauled. —
R. F. Holtermann, in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture, recommends as the best thing a sort of
portico or cage of wire-cloth at the entrance
of the hive. This was in use many years ago,
and serves a good purpose. For those, how-
ever, who have deep bottom-boards, there is
a cheaper, easier, and perhaps better way. If
the bottom-board is two inches deep, there
will be an entrance of the same depth, and
this can be closed very simply with a single
piece of wire-cloth. Then there will be under
the hive a well-ventilated space in which the
bees can congregate when it is too warm for
them to stay on the combs, that space being,
if an S-franie hive is used, about -ISO cubic
inches in volume.
The Illinois State Convention is to
meet in Springfield, Nov. 10 and 20. Sec
fuller notice elsewhere in thia issue.
724
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 14, 1901.
I The Buffalo Convention. |
^/'MVM) ffyMyMViVM) 'Myim fM)myMVMm^
(Continued from page Til.j
QUEEN-REARING— IN-BREEDING.
"In rearing- queens is in-breeding
objectionable?"
Mrs. H. G. Acklin. of Minnesota —
There are so many present who are
much more extensive queen-breeders
than myself, that I would rather hear
an expression from them. I think it is
objectionable. We get queens from
several different breeders and bring-
into our apiary every year.
Dr. Mason — Then your practice is
not to in-breed?
Mrs. Acklin — Yes.
Dr. Mason — What makes you think
it is objectionable?
Mrs. Acklin — I really don't know. In
getting new queens you change j'our
stock, of course, and get good qual-
ities; in getting queens from different
breeders and bringing in the best
drones from your best colonies, you get
your best stock. Of course, if you have
any bad qualities in your queens at
home you change them to a certain ex-
tent. We watch our queens very
closely.
Dr. Mason — Why not dispose of the
queens that you have that have bad
qualities, and keep those that have the
good, and breed from those right
along?
Mrs. Acklin — I don't know as I am
able to answer that.
Mr. Benton — It doesn't seem to me
that there is the least objection to con-
tinued close in-and-in breeding, of it-
self. That means, of itself. Note well.
In other words, if you have the intelli-
gence to select the queens, and select
the queens to breed drones with refer-
ence to the qualities which they pos-
sess and which you wish to perpetuate
and fix in the progeny, and to avoid
weaknesses, select such queens as
mothers of the drones as will avoid
weaknesses that are inherent in that
strain that you are breeding from.
From in-and-in breeding- we can fix a
type, or character, which we could not
by constantly bringing in different
strains or crosses. In all our hybrid
animals the types have been estab-
lished. We have a beef animal; we
have a milk animal; we have a sheep
that gives us long wool, and fowls that
produce eggs, others produce meat, and
so on, and in every instance all of those
particular-purpose animals have been
produced by careful, intelligent in-and-
in breeding. From the very earliest
start, therefore, I claim that in-and-in
breeding is not harmful, but it is the
lack of ability or experience to apply
it that results badly. When we have a
strain with a weakness and we do not
bring in any other stock at all, we do
not breed intelligently enough to fix
the stronger points in the breed, and
eventually that strain will run out.
Mr. West— In regard to this in-and-
in breeding, the question I was going
to ask is, How much does that mean?
Can we confine in-and-in breeding to
bees with a queen of the same individ-
ual hive and let that constitute an
apiary, and use the drones from that
individual hive from year to year and
remove all other colonies from the
place? Would it be beneficial to in-
and-in breed in that way?
Mr. Benton— I don't suppose such a
case occurs at all, and in actual prac-
tice there is very little in-and-in breed-
ing. It would require great care and
attention, and the controlling of the
drone-production and isolation of the
apiary so that in actual practice there
is more cross-breeding than in-and-in
breeding. I really think it has been
held up as a bugbear, and people that
supposed they were breeding in-and-in
were really not doing so, because there
was such constant out-crossing, and I
don't think that we would be able, with
the greatest care, to confine to as close
in-breeding as Mr. West refers to.
When we speak of it generally, I think
it refers to close breeding more than
in-and-in breeding, confining drone-
production and using perhaps the same
queen mother constantly.
Dr. Mason — Perhaps 30 years ago I
had a brother who kept bees, and I
started in from two colonies that he
gave me. He lived at least fifteen
miles from anybody that kept bees.
He got a good queen and he never
bought any more, but he was con-
stantly getting rid of the queens that
showed poor qualities, and he had the
best honey-gatherers I ever knew. He
kept the bees pure. They were gentle
and as nice as one wishes to see. That
is what makes me believe in in-and-in
breeding. They were Italian bees. I
have a neighbor who raises poultry.
He commenced nine years ago with'a
trio of Buff Cochins. He never has
gotten another fowl of any description
to put with his own. He has bred from
his own and is a prominent exhibitor
at poultry shows, and frequently acts
as judge at large poultry exhibitions,
and he always gets first premium on
his Cochins that are in-and-in bred.
These two things make me in favor of
in-and-in breeding. I got a queen from
a Michigan man last year, and I have
tried to breed from that queen both
queens and drones, and I think I have
succeeded pretty well, and if I have
done what I think I have done I don't
want anything better. I am in favor
of in-and-in breeding, but intelligently,
as Mr. Benton talks about. It cannot
be done at haphazard, taking anything
and everything that comes along in
your own apiary.
Mr. Abbott — 1 feel as if I wanted to
vote on this. I am surprised to know
that a man who has given as much at-
tention to science as Mr. Benton has,
is so in accord with the view that I
have held for years, and which has
been combatted by poultry people, and
by everybody, in fact, wherever I have
expressed it. This idea, which origin-
ated with Darwin, and has been re-
peated without limit since that time,
has gotten such a hold in the world
that it is pretty hard to get it out of
the minds of the people. In fact, some
people think they ought to be against
in-andin breeding because it is for-
bidden in the Bible. They sometimes
give that as a reason. But, so far as
animals are concerned, the best illus-
tration of the result of in-and-in breed-
ing is found in the State of New York.
There is a man who originated what is
known as the American Holderness
cattle, and those cattle originated from
a single cow that came from the Hol-
derness cattle of England, some 40
years ago, and dropped a male calf,
and all the cattle of that herd have that
blood in them, said to be the finest herd
of cattle on this continent. That man
has used intelligent in-and-in breeding.
He has taken out all of the bad quali-
ties, eliminated them as fast as he
came in contact with them, and bred
in the good qualities, and that is what
I believe in. The poultry people, of
course, who have males to sell, would
like to have you believe that it is a
good thing to send across the conti-
nent and buy a male at a high price in
order to keep your poultry healthy. I
have been doing myself just what Dr.
Mason says his neighbor has been do-
ing, breeding Golden Wyandottes, and
I haven't had any new blood for years,
and I am quite sure that if I live for 50
years more (and I hope I will 100), I am
quite sure that there will be no new
blood go into that stock, but I kill every
roopy hen, I exterminate every diseased
rooster, and wipe out with the hatchet
all tendency to disease; I don't tamper
with it; I don't fool with it; I simply
bury it beneath the ground out of
sight. I believe that if bee-keepers
can control bee-fertilization some time
in the future, that they can get the
best results from in-and-in breeding.
I hope that we will get rid of this whole
idea of Darwin, that cross-fertilization
is necessary to perpetuate the race.
There is nothing in it.
Mr. Benton — That person who ob-
tained that trio of Buff Cochins must
have gotten good stock, and then prob-
ably has selected intelligently. Now,
suppose he had found, after breeding,
that there had been some trouble with
the stock, like leg weakness for in-
stance, it is very doubtful if he could
have gotten rid of it by simply killing
off the old stock. It is probable that
he would have had to cross with an-
other lot of Cochins, fowls with good,
strong legs we will say, for instance;
in other words, put good legs on what
is already good stock. I think in ap-
plying that to the bees, we would
want, in some instances, to get a queen
into our apiary of another race. To
show how near qualities can be fixed
by in-and-in breeding, I will allude to
an experience of mine: I had some
Rose Comb Black Minorca fowls, and
I had a male of that breed and a female
of the Rose Comb White Minorca. It
occurred to me that no one had pro-
Nov. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
725
duced Rose Comb White Minorcas, so
I started with that jet-black male Mi-
norca, and the single-comb White Mi-
norca hens. Now, after two or three
generations, I get fowls that are pretty
nearly white all over, by selection. I
selected the lightest always, and by
elimination in that way, in a few gen-
erations I secured a fowl that was en-
tirely white, and reproduced itself and
had a low rose comb, the true Minorca
type, without any crossing %vith Leg-
horns or any other type at all, and pro-
duced with a male that was jet black,
and whose progeny were always jet
black. Occasionally, one of them
would throw back, but that was only
the exception, and that was done by
in-and-in breeding. After this first
cross between the jet-black male and
the white female I didn't get any other
blood into them.
J. H. M. Cook, of New York— What
relation is the drone of a hive to the
virgin queen produced in that hive?
What true relation do they hold to
each other?
Mr. Benton — You might say half-
brother, perhaps.
Dr. Miller— I do believe that there
has been a great deal of misapprehen-
sion on this subject, and yet amongst
intelligent breeders I don't think that
Mr. Abbott has been so much alone as
perhaps he has felt. He has had good
company. I believe that all intelligent
breeders will tell you that if you put
down the dictum that in-breeding must
not be allowed, that it puts an end to
nearly all improvement in breeding.
It should be understood that in-breed-
ing is the thing through which you
will perpetuate the good qualities, and
it is also the thing through which you
will perpetuate the bad qualities. It is
a good thing that a part, at least, of
that old view should remain and to
understand that fresh blood introduced
will be a good thing, and that the
cross-breeding after all is tor the aver-
age layman the safe thing rather than
to continue to breed exactly the same
stock straight along. I believe the old
view, just as bad as it may be, is the
safer view. If you get into a man's
head the idea that he doesn't need to
pay the least attention to in-breeding,
and that no harm can come from that,
you are going to damage that man be-
yond computation.
Mrs. Acklin — We get our queens
from different queen -breeders occasion-
ally to try them, and we test them two
years anyway before we take them in,
but we always get the same strain of
bee; we don't make a cross at all, and
I suppose that there always is more or
less in-breeding, because a great many
times we breed from the same bees.
Mr. McEvoy — I would like to have
Jtr. Benton's opinion on the subject of
crossing good Italians with Carnio-
lans. Would it be profitable?
Adjourned to 1:30 p. m.
Wkdnesd.w Aftkknoon Session.
The convention was called to order
at 1:30 o'clock by Pres. Root, but,
owing to a meeting of the Board of
Directors at the same hour, he called
Mr. York to the chair. The question
asked by .Mr. McEvoy previous to ad-
journment was then taken up.
Mr. Benton — I have never crossed
Carniolans with Italians, so that my
opinion in that matter would have to
be theoretical, and from what others
have told me. As I was rearing Car-
niolans exclusively in one of my api-
aries and have had Italians in another,
and not desiring to cross the two races,
I haven't attempted any experiments
in that line. I have heard, however,
very favorable reports of such crosses,
I and I see no reason why they should
not be successful. The general type
of the two races is alike as regards the
form of the bee and their general
economy in every way. They are not
so radically different as the bees of
Europe and the bees of the Orient.
The Eastern races of bees are an en-
tirely different type, and to cross an
Eastern bee with the races native to
Europe, would be like crossing, we will
say, a race-horse and a cart-horse;
some such comparison might be made,
but when you come to crossing Ital-
ians and the Carniolan bees there is
not that radical departure from the
general type, and I see no reason why
the two races would not amalgamate
well, and having made the first direct
cross I would then keep myself close to
the Carniolan type, and wouldn't make
any other direct cross, but breed from
the best constantly. Incase 1 brought
in any fresh blood after that first cross
I should myself desire to keep close to
the Carniolan, simply because of the
qualities that they possess, but I be-
lieve that the Italian wotild introduce
a disposition in the bees perhaps to
breed a little bit less during the honey-
dearth than the Carniolans, and in
some localities that might be benefi-
cial, provided, of course, 3'ou could get
those bees to breed during a dearth for
a future harvest without having to
feed them too long. The Italians,
when the honey harvest lets up, are
disposed to breed less than the Carni-
olans. The Carniolans are continually
breeding during this time. That is a
good quality, provided those bees that
are produced then can be broLight into
a succeeding harvest. If there is no
succeeding harvest to put them into
immediately, it would hardly pay to
feed them up to the time of the next
harvest. In such conditions I think
such crossing would be beneficial.
Dr. Mason — I had two of Mr. Ben-
ton's queens that I crossed with Ital-
ians, and I think they made the cross-
est bees in the countr3-, outside of Mr.
Coggshall's apiaries.
Mr. Benton — It seems to me that
would be rather an exceptional condi-
tion, and, as I suggested, by keeping
close to the first cross the gentleness
would preserve in the main,
HIVE-COVERS FOR SUMMER AND WINTKK.
"Have we a satisfactory hive-cover?
Is there one made with a dead-air space
so as to be warm for winter and cool
for summer, and that will not warp or
twist?"
Mr. Heise— When that question was
raised I was wondering why any one
wanted a warm hive-cover in winter;
all that I want a hivt-cover for is to
keep dry the packing that I expect to
keep the bees warm with. All that I
use is a half-inch board for the roof,
painted white on the top, which makes
it cooler in the summer. I provide my
bees with suHicient packing- under the
cover, and I don't care much what the
cover is like so long as it keeps the
1 packing dry.
G. F. Davidson — We use in Texas a
flat cover without an air-space, but I
never found one yet that wouldn't
warp. We need an air-space in the
summer to keep the combs from melt-
ing down, but we never have found
one yet that would not warp — in Texas.
We have used the flat board, and the
covers that were made of three differ-
ent boards, " auxiliary covers" they
are called, and they all warp in Texas.
We have there about six or seven
months of sunshine, without any rain
on them.
Mr. Betsinger — I have a cover that
doesn't warp or twist. It is a simple
frame box with a tin cover telescoped
on top of the hive, and is cleated so
that the cover doesn't come down to
the board within half an inch. Now,
the telescope cover is half an inch
larger every way than the hive. That
cover, won't warp or twist I don't care
where you put it. And it is cool in the
summer; I never had combs melt under
it. For experiment I had made another
case just like the cover with the
cover fitted that left a dead-air space
all around the inner hive, then combs
melted. A telescope cover lets the air
all around the interior of the hive, and
although the sun shines directly on it,
the combs will never melt under it.
The covers will cost about 50 cents
apiece if _vou make them right. A 14x
20 sheet of tin makes the cover.
As Mr. York was called out to confer
with the Board of Directors at this
time, Mr. Heise was requested to take
the chair.
Mr. Wilcox — I have a gable-roof
cover that sheds the water and is a
very good' one. I have also such a
cover as Mr. Betsinger has described,
which also sheds water. Either will
do well, but to guard against the melt-
ing of comb in very hot weather you
need the double thickness with the air-
space between, in some localities, but
I would rather have a cover, if possi-
ble, that would make a hive warmer
than to make it cooler. In Wisconsin
we are troubled more with cold
weather than warm weather, but the
difficulty has been with flat covers —
the water would seem to work in it,
ooze in around the hive, unless you
have a gable cover, and I want some-
thing better if there is any.
Mr. Heise — I would like to have the
next person who takes up the subject
of hive-covers to tell us what is a dead-
air space.
Mr. Wilcox. — If you have a gable
cover it is eas.v enough to lay a flat
cover inside of that, and there will be
a dead-air space. A dead-air space is
simply the thickness between two
pieces of boards where the air cannot
circulate.
Mr. Betsinger — That point is very
important. We don't want dead air;
we want live air.
Mr. Wilcox — I want to criticise that.
He says we don't want it. It depends
upon what result he desires to attain.
The dead-air space to keep the cold out;
the opposite to let the cold in, in hot
weather.
Mr. Betsinger — A dead-air space is
colder than no space at all. When the
sun shines more heat will penetrate
through one wall than two walls. The
interior of the hive is dryer where the
sun can shine on one single wall.
Mr. Wilcox — Suppose it is so cloudy
for three months that the sun doesn't
726
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 14, 141 1.
shine, and all the heat comes from the
bees.
HIVING A SW.\RM WITH A NUCLEUS.
" When a swarm issues with a clip-
ped queen, if the hive with the clipped
queen be removed and replaced by a
hive containing a nucleus, will the re-
turning swarm kill the queen in the
nucleus?"
W. L,. Coggshall — If you get foreign
bees with a strange queen, they will
kill it invariably.
Dr. Mason — That is, if it is a swarm
that has gone out, and they come back
to a nucleus that has a queen, will they
kill that queen?
\V. L. Coggshall — Strange bees are
quite apt to kill another queen.
Mr. Betsinger — My opinion is that
they wouldn't kill the queen, for the
very reason that the nucleus wouldn't
let them.
Mr. Wilcox — My experience is that
they will not, nine times out of ten.
Mr. West — If I had swarming that
way, with a nucleus, after removing
the old colony, when the swarm re-
turns I would shake the nucleus bees
off on the ground and let them return
with the swarm. When the swarm is
returning the old queen has been
caged, and removed. Shake the
nucleus — bees, queen and all — and let
them all run in together, and all is
well.
Mr. McEvoy — I don't think you can
do any better if you talk a whole after-
noon to discuss the question.
Mr. Tyrrell — I would like to ask if a
little smoke applied to that nucleus
wouldn't produce the same effect as
shaking the bees?
Mr. Wilcox — Before the others re-
turned I have often poured them down
from the hiving-box, smoked thfe
nucleus and united them with weak
swarms.
Mr. Heise — When that swarm re-
turns, having lost their queen, there is
very little fight in them. They will
accept almost anything — glad to get a
home.
Dr. Mason — If Mr. Betsinger is cor-
rect in that matter, and the nucleus will
protect the queen, and you smoke that
nucleus, that takes the protect out of
them, doesn't it?
KNOWING WHBTHER A VIRGIN OUEKN IS
PRESENT.
" How can I tell whether there is a
virgin queen in a hive if I cannot find
her?"
F. J. Miller — There is no way that
I know except to wait a few days and
look for larvae or eggs.
W. L. Coggshall — You will see the
bottom of the cells polished out where
the brood-nest is.
Mr. Cook — Place a frame of brood in
it and wait three days.
Mr. Davidson — They make a queen-
less noise.
Mr. Benton — Watch the entrance
just at sundown after they have lost
their virgin queen and they will be
running excitedly about seeking for
the queen. I want to ask Mr. Cogg-
shall if the bees begin to polish out
these worker-cells before the time ap-
proaches for the queen to begin laying
eggs. They will begin to remove the
honey and polish out the cells, but they
will not do it until near the time she is
about to lay. The point would be, I
suppose, not to lose any time waiting
for that time.
W. L. Coggshall— That would give
you warning that she is there.
SELECTING LAKV-li FOR OUKEN-RE.^RING
" When a colony is made queenless
will the bees, in their haste to rear a
successor, select larvae too old to se-
cure the best results?"
Mr. Davidson — I think it is very sel-
dom that the bees select that kind of
larva;. I have noticed it only a few
times in my experience with bees, that
they have selected larva; too old. I
have seen some hatched out about the
ninth day and it didn't look as well as
it would if reared from younger larva?.
I think that it is very seldom that the
bees make that mistake.
Mr. Benton — I agree with Mr. David-
son. The conditions under which they
do select rather too old larvje seem to
be when the colony is weakened by
anj' means; for instance, it is a small
colony, or what might be called only a
nucleus, but a colony in good condition
and gathering honey rapidly, will
rarely make a mistake and get the
larvae too old.
Mr. West — In regard to removing a
queen from a colony of bees, I have an
apiary of about 80 colonies that about
June 1 and about the time the swarm-
ing begins, I remove the queens from
these colonies of bees and on about the
10th day I again remove all the queen-
cells that are started in that apiary. I
save the choicest cells for rearing
queens, and from those cells I rear
young queens which are replaced
again in those colonies about four days
later. We do that to control swarming.
We have other objects in view, and
through several years of selecting our
best cells in that way, we rear about
as many queens again as we need, and
we make a selection again by using the
best queens according to our judgment.
I have never had better results in any
apiary than I have had by getting my
queens in this way.
HOW LONG TO REAR A QUEEN?
" How long from the laying of the
egg to the emerging of the queen?"
Mr. West — 16 days, generally.
Mr. Betsinger — It varies from 15 to
17. The largest colonies getting the
most honey will produce queens that
will mature quicker than smaller colo-
nies with less honey.
Mr. West — If colonies are in a nor-
mal condition and everything favor-
able it will not vary from 16 days.
Mr. Benton — It is a question of con-
tinuity of heat in the hive, and I agree
with Mr. Betsinger in the main. The
time varies one wa}' or the other for
a number of hours. It may be less
than 16 days or a little more than 16
days, but in a well-developed colony
where the heat is continuous, I think
the average time is about 16 days. We
find the worker-bees sometimes come
out in 19 days and very commonly in
continuous heat in the latitude of
Washington they emerge on the 20th
day from the time the egg is laid, show-
ing it is due to steady heat which de-
velops more rapidly.
YIELD OF HONEY PER COLONY'.
" Which will give the greatest yield,
a colony and its swarm, or the same
colony if it does not swarm?"
Mr. Hershiser — It depends entirely
upon how early in the season you get
the swarm.
Mr. Greiner — It depends also upon
how it develops. If you have a late
flow I should say the swarm and the
mother colony will produce the most
honey, every time.
Mr. Betsingsr — It depends largely
upon who has hold of the helm.
Mr. McEvoy — It depends a good deal
on how you manage the business.
Mr. Betsinger — I will say to those
bee-keepers who can get the most
honey out of a colony of bees that does
not swarm, they have something to
learn.
A Member — In tny locality they
would say no swarming. Keep them
together.
Mr. Niver — I have always contended
that I like Carniolan bees because they
would swarm. The more they swarm
the better. An Italian colony will
stop breeding at the time of a honey-
flow, and at the end of a late honey-
flow, which comes about July 20 with
us, if they stop breeding for a month,
and we haven't got a good, big colony
to commence the buckwheat with, we
don't get much honey.
W. L. Coggshall — We get more from
the increase and the colonies divided.
Mr. Greiner — Would that apply to
your colony through two or three
swarms?
Mr. Niver — Perhaps that is stating
it a little strong. When you get sec-
ond and third swarms you are weaken-
ing your colonies all around. I always
like the Carniolan bees because they
swarm.
Mr. McEvoy — Couldn't we divide this
question up a little? When the honey-
flow ends early and they have no
buckwheat, how can I manage the bus-
iness to get the most honey from one
colony?
Mr. Betsinger — We have on record
colonies producing from 600 to 800
pounds — single colonies. Now, then,
was there ever more honey produced
from a first mother colony and its in-
crease— extracted honey?
Mr. McEvoy — Was there buckwheat
in that localit)'?
Mr. Betsinger — A moderate supply
of everything right through.
Mr. Benton — ^I think, perhaps, it
might be interesting in this connection
to speak of the practice in Carniola
itself. It is a great buckwheat coun-
try. There are mi'es upon miles of
buckwheat there. The whole practice
of the bee-keepers there is to stimulate
their colonies to the utmost in the
spring and right through the swarm-
ing season by feeding them — feeding
them at times when I wouldn't think
of feeding at all; when the bees are
still gathering they rush them forward
by great stimulation. The point is to
get them to cast t%vo or three swarms
from each colony, to get them into
condition for the buckwheat harvest,
and they get excellent results, and bet-
ter, I think, than they would by pre-
venting the swarming, in that region.
The largest yield on record was where
there was considerable swarming —
seven or eight colonies taken from
one — and all got in condition for a fall
harvest, not a buckwheat harvest; that
is, of Mr. B. F. Carroll, of Texas,
which was 1,000 pounds.
Mr. West — The question depends
upon so many circumstances. If we
have but a very few bees in the apiary
and they are strong and well-to-do in
the early spring, let them swarm and
Nov. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
727
YOU can get more from the swarm and
the parent colony; but where we have
an apiary of 80 to 100 colonies, and all
the bees we need to gather the surplus
honey of the field, I prefer not to have
any increase to amount to anything,
because the old colony will gather the
honey, and it makes us less work in
handling hives and extra fixtures, and
it saves us considerable work.
W. Lr. Coggshall — From what Mr.
Betsinger said about feeding, you
might infer that I feed sugar to stimu-
late. I never fed a pound of sugar in
mv life to stimulate.
WAX-SECRETION.
" Is wax secretion voluntary or in-
voluntary.?"
Mr. Benton — Largely voluntary.
Mr. Betsinger — I'd like to know why.
Mr. Benton — Simply this: If we give
a colony its combs there is not a great
secretion of wax, even though they are
gathering honey rapidly. If, on the
other hand, we give a colony starters
or hive it in an empty hive, it has its
combs to build, and it will use quanti-
ties of honey that otherwise would be
stored, in the secretion of wax to build
those combs. Therefore, I regard it
as voluntar)', since in the one instance
they have used no wax to amount to
anything, and in the other they have
used a good deal when there was the
need of it.
Mr. Betsinger — You plant a little
grain in the ground and it comes up
and grows. Is that voluntary or in-
voluntary? You can hold it back or
you can force it. So it is with bees.
They secrete wax and they cannot help
it so long as they gather honey, but
you can increase that by feeding. But
they are compelled to secrete wax so
long as they live and gather honey.
fContiuued next week.)
l.^:t>^iCJil.J^C^:t.^:LJiL^iC^^.^^'
Contributed Articles.
How to Obviate
Unfinished Sections in tlie Fall
Tliem.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
A correspondent writes thus: "Nearly everj fall I hare half or more of
my sections in the unfinished or uncapped state; and especially has this
been the case the present fall, when very nearly two-thirds of them were
unsalable on account of their not bein^ capped over. Could you not tell
us something about how this can be prevented, through the columns of
the American Bee Journal''"
WELL, I will try my hand at the matter, buti cannot do
quite as well at answering as I misht did I know your
location and your management. How to manage our
bees so as to secure the greatest yield of comb honey is a ques-
tion of great importance to all those who are engaged in pro-
ducing such honey for market, and for this reason we find
many more articles on this subject than we find on other
things, which, perhaps, might help us more, for comb honey
is of little value unless properly finished or capped over.
Therefore, the thing the questionpr asks about, " how to man-
age our bees so as to have few uncapped sections in the fall "
is to very many a question of as much or more importance
than the one regarding comh-honey production, which has
been written on for nearly half a century.
For years I was troubled by having from one-fourth to
one-half of the combs in the sections not fully sealed, at the
close of the honey harvest, which were salable only at a re-
duced price, if at all; but of late years I have but few of such,
even in a poor season. After experimenting several years in
the matter I became convinced that the cause of the trouble
was in giving the bees too many sections; and especially con-
ducive to this was the plan of tiering up sections late in the
season. How often have I, years ago, spoiled a promise of an
abundant yield of comb honey by tiering up four or five days
before the honey-harvest closed. To tier up sections profit-
ably requires considerable tact, and especially do we want a
thorough knowledge of the honey-resources of the field we
occupy.
Another thing, I have often thought there has been too
much injudicious talk in our bee-papers during the past in re-
gard to allowing the bees, under any circumstances, not to
cluster on the outside of the hive, the idea being generally
conveyed that when bees thus cluster out, they need more
room. Now, that depends upon when this clustering-out oc-
curs, whether more room is needed or not, and hence I said
•'injudicious talk." If the clustering-out occurs at the com-
mencement, or in the very heart of the honey -harvest, then
more room should be given, while, if at the latter part of the
harvest, or in a time of honey dearth, no more room is needed,
for more room at such times results in the one case in many
unfinished sections, and in the other an absolute waste of
time used in enlarging the hive. To illustrate:
During some seasons we have but a few days of nectar se-
cretion, and tliat often after the flowers which produce the
honey-yield in our locality are past their prime. At such
limes we often do net have half the surplus room on the hives
wliich we would use in good seasons, and for this reason the
bees bi'gin to be crowded out before they have commenced in
the sections at all. Hoping that the weather may be good during
the rest of the time that the flowers are in bloom, we give
double the room that they had before, only to have it soon
turn bad weather again, thus giving us only part-filled sec-
" RED STAR APIARY," OF A. E. wiLLcuTT. — See page 732.
tions in the fall, while, had we left them as they were, all
would have been finished, and we and the bees have been
happy.
My plan Of operation to secure all capped sections or as
nearly so as may be, when the season closes, is as follows:
When the bees show by building bits of comb here and there
about the hive, and by lengthening the cellsalong the top-bars
of the frames, that they are securing honey from the fields. I
put on sections to the amount of, the smallest capacity of one
of my surplus arrangements — or say 20 to 25 pounds — and
leave them thus until the bees are fairly well at work in them,
when I add more room to the amount of one-half that put on
at first, if possible: and, if not. then the smallest possible
amount consistent with the surplus arrangement I use. gen-
erally putting tills last under the one tlie bees are already
nicely at work in. if this room is needed during the first half
of the probable surplus yield. When more room seems likely
to be needed, by finding that the room now on is fully occu-
pied, it is given by placing wide frames of sections containing
full sheets of extra-tliin comb foundation at the sides of those
sections the bees are already at work in: or. if our surplus ar-
rangement will not admit of doing this, by )>lacing these same
sections over those already occupied.
By working according to this last-naincil ]ilan. the bees
always have plenty of room so that they arc iH'vcr crowded.
yet it is given in such a way that they "will alwiix s complete
all of the sections underneath or betwe<'ii. wliii'li were fully
occupied when' this latter room is given.
By the time more room is needed, the sections first given
are ready to come off, wlien.as they are taken off. more room
is given at the sides or top. as the case may he. and thus the
bees are kept finishing sections the nearest over the broixi-
chamber and cDmnieuciug in those furthest away. In this
way the si'ason will close with a minimum number of unfin-
ished sections, instead of a maximum number, as is generally
the case where the old way of tiering up is u.sed.
1 am well aware that we used to argue that by putting
the empty sections between those already occupied and the
brood-nest, the bees were incited to greater activity, and. as a
result of this activity, a greater result in comb hiuiey would
be secured, but after trying both plans side by side for several
years, I can see no difl'c"rence in thi' yield of honey in thor-
oughlv good years, while in from fair to poor years the plan
aliovedutlinetl L'ives much tlie greater yield of markelabh'
Imnev. OumulagoCo.. N. Y.
728
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL,
Nov. 14, 1901.
No. 2.-APICILTIRE AS A BUSINESS.
Some Colorado Conditions— Averag-e Yield-
Prices and Outcome.
BY R. C. AIKIN.
IWAXT till' fill- of :U1 apiarists who arc in apiculture lo make
it a buslnpss. I know tliore aro a great many who have a few
colonies to obtain honey for their own tables, others for
recreation, and yet others who keep bees as a side-issue to
some otlier business. Those who are playing with the bees
need not read this discussion, but those whose motive is for
either home consumption or for market.surely should consider
the cost. I shall write mainly for Western conditions, and.
for several reasons, principal among which are, 1st. I am
more familiar with conditions here: '2d, more people in tlie
West make a special business of honey-production; and. Sd,
the Western apiarist has more difficult problems to solve.
As indicated in No. 1 , not even in Colorado, where alfalfa,
sweet clover, and cleome abound, do we have a sure crop.
Every Eastern apiarist thinking of coming here to get the
advantage of a field where he can have a honey crop every
year, would better stop and learn if his ideas are right. My
field, and the county in general, as well as other counties and
localities in the State, have both alfalfa and sweet clover in
sufficient quantities, so that either will give some surplus
honey should it yield freely.
The trouble"with alfaffa is this: Being in growth similar
to sweet clover, a strong, rank plant, though not so large as
the latter, if allowed to mature to the extent of getting into
full bloom or any ripe seed upon it. the stems become hard
and woody, so much so that stock will not eat these coarse
stems unless forced to do so by very scant feeding: hence, the
rule is to cut for hay just as the bloom begins to appear. In
this latitude and altitude, spring is a little later than south-
ern Iowa, central Illinois, Ohio and Indiana, probably about
two weeks. The southern parts of this State will be from
2 to 3 weeks earlier than here, and lower altitudes in the
same latitude will be earlier.
Alfalfa delights and grows rapidly in a moist but not wet
soil. A big rain or an irrigation that" fills the soil with mois-
ture puts it in prime condition for rapid growth in hot. sunny
days. Our altitude — 5.00U feet here— causes cool nights,
many nights in April coming close to frost, even in May being
quite cool. The fact is. that, as a rule, all the year tiirough
we have cool nights, and. often, some frost appears in places
almost evei'y month. However, while the nights are cool the
days are warm, the rapid and extreme changes in tempera-
ture between midday and midnight being much greater than
in lower altitudes. In May and June the days become quite
hot. and then the alfalfa " gets a move on it" and grows rap-
idly. In my locality it comes into bloom sufficiently to begin
vielding nectar averaging the date of June 15. ranging from
the mth to the 20th.
About the time the first blossoms begin to appear on tlu'
alfalfa, then begins haying. On account of the large acreage
haying continues for three to four weeks, and by the time the
last fields are cut they have attained just' about full bloom,
hence we have had from one to two weeks of fair honey-flow
from this source — the only bloom and source at this season.
1 say /a2>7?oze/— alfalfa seems to be a spare yielder. I have
never known it to give the rapid yields obtained from white
clover and basswood. especially the latter. This slowne.ss of
the flow and the limited time of its duration, often find us
with the brood-combs filled and possibly just a start in the
supers, and also the swarming-fevcr on, when the first flow is
about over. So far as the great and vast acreage of alfalfa is
concerned, you see it has gone into hay, a very small percent
of it ever maturing to sufticient bloom to yield any nectar.
As soon as the first cutting of hay has been finished, the
mower begins where it started first." for in June and July the
growth is so rapid with favorable sea.sons I have known the
second haying to be done in 30 days after the first, though
usually a longer time intervenes. Unless delayed, the far-
mer never lets his Aaj/ alfalfa bloom.
But there are the fence-rows, ditch-banks and here and
there scattering strips and plants that continue in bloom.
Al.so. there are fields of alfalfa sod broken and put to wheat.
The heavy, tough alfalfa roots are very hard to cut with a
plow, and usually enough of these escape the plow by slipping
by it. in S])ite of three and four horse-power, to make quite a
growth of alfalfa in the wheat-fields. This wheat-field bloom
is necessarily scattering, a field here and there, and thin in
the field, so our flow from this is seldom at all free.
The last of July and the main part of August is wheat
harv<'st here, more being harvested in August than in July:
liut. bear ill mind that these dates vary with latitudi' and alti-
tude, but in relation to each other and general application to
apiculture, the principles and facts apply. In some localities
and some seasons there are variations that make different re-
sults, in some places there is quite an acreage of alfalfa
run for seed-crop, and this, of course, must be allowed to
mature its bloom and seed, and happy indeed is the apiarist
who gets such pasture for his bees, for from the beginning of
the bloom to the maturity of seed is several weeks, ripe seed
and bloom being on the plant at the same time, more so than
red clover, but not so much as sweet clover.
You see. under these conditions we watch anxiously for
the beginning of alfalfa nectar June 15. and hope and wish
for a scarcity of grasshoppers and for favorable nectar-secret-
ing weather' and hope the farmers will not push haying too
rapidly.
Right with the first alfalfa flow comes swarming. The
colony that swarms during the first two weeks of the flow is"
almost sure to do so before the first super is full, many before
it is even started. Now see the drooping hopes of the apia-
rist— super work only just getting started, bees swarming.and.
worst of ail, the blooni and source of nectar rapidly falling
before the mowing machines.
It will be about July lo — one month from the beginning
of alfalfa bloom — before sweet clover comes on. Having
failed of any paying surplus from the first flow (and this is
common), we wiitcli anxiously for a strengthening or contin-
uance of tlie flow from the sparse, scattering alfalfa in
the corners and wlieat-fields, and for the opening of sweet
clover. If the scattering alfalfa has kept up a slow flow that
requires the most strong and vigorous colonies and careful
management to obtain at all fair results in finish of coml>
honey, we are fortunate, and then if sweet clover comes on
with a fair yield added to the other, we may get supers filled
at the rate of about 13^ to 2 pounds daily — say a super every
two to three weeks on very strong colonies, and one in three
to six weeks on the more medium colonies. Contra.st this, if
von will, with getting a hundred pounds surplus in a two to
four weeks" flow, and any experienced apiarist knows such
conditions will not give good finish, and satisfactory and
profitable yields, without the best of management. For ten
years 1 have had just such experiences almost constantly.
"slow and intermittent flows, in duration from about June > 5
to August 15. and in quantity from a li '-pound surplus to
almost a hundred-pound yield. I recall from memory such
yields as H '. 20. 25. 40". 75 and 80 pounds — an average
yield for 10 years of about 40 pounds.
Here I must state that such yields have not been obtained
where swarming and much increase have been allowed. My
yields for my locality, as herein given, have been far in ex-
cess of the average bee-keeper in this vicinity, or even in this
county and adjoining ones. 1 do not allow swarming,
nor much increase of colonies by any method. The
average yield for the past ten years in this county, in the
hands of "any but those having more than average knowledge
of the business and necessary facilities. I think has not e.x-
ceeded 2' > pounds surplus. Now let us see where this places
the investor.
I have in mind a lady who has recently purchased a lot
of bees at S ■> a colony. Ten percent interest on this capital
stock is 50 cents a colony. We will put taxes and interest
both at 50 cents. In tliis county, sections, and foundation
for the same, cost a cent a pound and upwards on the pro-
duct. Let us see if I am correct. Sections in large lots — 2li.-
OOO to 50.111 0 — may be laid down here at about K of a cent
each: foundation ordinarily at close to 50 cents a pound in
25 pound lots, and one po'und supplies full sheets for 100
sections. It costs something to put foundation into the sec-
tions, say, on an average, one person with another will put
up about 1 ,000 sections a day, and at from one dollar to two
dollars a day, let us call it J^ of a cent. There is always a
slight breakage in the sections, but the greatest shriiika"ge is
the unfinished sections at the close of the season. It is, in-
deed, a careful management and bottom prices that will pro-
duce s<'ction-lioney so that the cost of the sections and foun-
dation is kept witiiiu a cent a pound. I buy sections, founda-
tion and cases cheaper than does the average apiarist, yet I
never estimate for these items less than 2 cents a pound as
the cost per pound on cased comb honey aside from the labor
of scraping, and with many apiarists "it costs 23^ cents a
pound, easily.
Let us take the average price of comb honey here for the
past ten years. One year I got $1.-15 a case, again $1.75.
still othei- times such "prices as %i. §2.25. 82.30. $2. HO. and
$2.75. This makes an average of $2. 1+ a case. The past
ten years the average has not been far from %'l.'JX) for No. 1
honey, and 2.t to 30 cents less for No. 2. Now. the lady who
has purchased bees at $5 per colony is not an expert — is not
Nov. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
729
even a practical apiari.^t. We will suppose slu' is alilc tn ob-
tain iiuirc tliaii my estimated yield for the county, wliicli I
have put at 2U pounds for non-experts, say she obtains a casi>
to tlu' colony, and gets it all Xo. i, she has. after dedui'tiny
interest and" taxes on capital invested. SI. TO a colony. 11
she has lUO coloni(^s she has $170 as returns, and she to do
all tlu' work.
Hut. hold on. it is necessary to have a honey-house to
carry on this business, and this. too. costs somethintr. It also
costs soiuetliinir to crpt the honey delivered to market. A
smoker and other tools are needed: these all add to the cost
or capital invested, upon which we must have returns, aiul
the slock should bring again, at ordinary sale, the first cost.
•■ Hee-tixins "' if sold at forced sale, such as administratiM''s
sale, or if the owner desires to •■ unload "' and quit the busi-
ness, ready-cash purchasers are not lying around waiting for
these things at tirst-cost prices. The average apiarist does
well to get lialf lirst cost of stock. I care not whether that
stock !)(> purchased or produced. To buy stock and then in-
crease, the owner supplying new hives and labor to get the
increase, this same increase always costs all we can get for it.
unless possibly we put it into o or lO cent boxes, and even
then there is no profit in producing stock. Bees and bee-lix-
tures as an investment, are of little valiu\ Put your money
into real estate, and ii' you get ten percent dividend, you
are fairly safe: but a dollar in such perishable and uncertain
stock asbees is very poor investment indeed unless i/iat capi-
tal outlay can be made back quickly from the product or in-
come from the stock. Count your stock as nothing, your in-
come as everything, and the income to pay back tlie capital
invested and all running expenses, and pay the apiarist for
his time employed. Any other basis of calculation in thi'
bee-business is not safe. Larimer Co., Colo.
\ Questions and Answers.
CONDUCTBD BY
DR. O. O. airiiJER, Afareng-o, Dl.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. MiUer
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Moving Bees.
1. I wish to move several colonies a distance of 30 or 3.i
miles, either by rail or horses. They are packed for winter
on the summer stands, are in S frame, staple-spaced hives,
with four inches of packing all around and chaff on top the
depth of the supers. The cases are the same size as the
stand. If I leave the hive-entrance open the full width, and
fasten wire-screen over the case, entrance, and to hive-stand,
would top ventilation be necessary if moved now or in March?
•>.. Would frames need fastening if moved on bob-sleighs?
3. Would they have to be moved at night during cold
weather?
i. Would it be safe to move them now, or would they do
better moved toward spring, say February or March?
New York.
Answers — 1. Something depends on the kind of bottom-
board and entrance. With a deep bottom-board and a large
entrance, there would be no need of top ventilation. With an
entrance less than three or four square inches there might bo
danger to a strong colony.
2. Staple-spaced frames, or any fixed-distance frames,
ought to need no fastening.
3. They could te moved in daylight.
4. While they might be safely moved now, there might be
some advantage in moving them in early spring. The combs
would be lighter then and less likely to break. There would
be fewer bees present, so less danger of smothering. Some
think It important that bees should have a chance to fly soon
after being moved, and they would probal)ly be able to fly
sooner in March than in December.
Queens for Breeding Purposes.
I have a lot of queens all reared from the same mother:
of course, the mother's bees are nicely marked and are line
gatherers. But one of th<' young queen"s bees show to lie very
finely marked and are extra-fine gatherers. Xow, if one of
the queens liad to be used as a breeder — the young (|neen just
mentioned or the mother — which would be the better one to
use? If the young queen is used as a breeder the drones will
be principally of her sisters, and if the old queen is used as
a breeder the drones will be of her daughter.
2. Now, if you think I would l)etter get a new queen to
breed from please let me know where I can get one that is sec-
ond to none in every resp(>ct. South C.4^rolin.v.
AsswKRS — 1. Your question is not an easy one. The rule
that has been generally given is to breed from the best. Mr.
F. B. Simpson, who seems to be unusually well informed in
malters of breeding, says that instead of breeding from a
queen whose workers are phenomenally good, it is better to
breed from one which is only a little above the average, pro-
viding the breeder is from a mother whose queen progeny are
nearly uniform in character, the general average being good.
In your case I think I should risk breeding from both the old
and the young queen. The drones prevaiing in the apiary, as
you intimate, will be the sons of the sisters of the young
queen, and will be practically of the same blood as the young
queen. Assuming that these are the drones that will be used,
if you breed from the young q\ieen, her daughters will meet
drones tliat have half the same blood, practically, as them-
selves. If you breed from the old queen, her daughters will
meet drones practically of the same blood as themselves. The
assumption, iiowever, that the said drones will be the ones
used, is, in most cases, not very reliable. The drones from
surrounding apiaries within a radius of a mile or more must
be taken into account.
2. It depends much upon the character of your present
stock as to whether or not it may be again to get a new queen.
If your stock is not good, you could improve by fresh purchase.
But I could not direct youwhere to purchase, and for two
reasons: It would hardly be fair to the other advertisers of any
bee-paper to have one special breeder pointed out as the one
from whom purchases sbould be made. In the second place,
even if the publishers should allow it, I could not tell you
where to get the very best, for the simple reason that I don't
know. There are. no doubt, many who are trying to rear
good queens, and it is possible that a large portion of them
may be nearly on equal footing.
Arranging the Hives in an Apiary.
I am going to move lOU colonies of bees to the country
this winter. How would you arrange them? I will have
plenty of shade and ground. I want to avoid the loss of virgin
queens as much as possible. Al.^b.^m.v..
Answer — With plenty of ground, you could place them
regularly in rows a rod apart, each hive a rod from the near-
est. That would make it all right for the virgin queens, but
it would make it very inconvenient for the bee-keeper. In
order to get at a satisfactory answer, suppose we talk the
matter over a little. It is not so much the distance between
hives that allows a bee to find its own hive as it is other
things. Set a.hundred colonies of bees in a row on a perfectly
level plain, not a tree, bush, stump or anything of the kind in
sight, and if the hives are a rod apart there will probably be
more danger of bees getting into the wrong hive than there
would be in a dense, natural grove with the hives only a foot
apart. Let two hives be placed touching each other, and if
no other hives are about there will be no danger of bees get-
ting into the wrong hive. Have two nuclei in the same hive
with entrances facing the same way and only six inches
apart, and there is little danger that the bees of the right side
will enter the left entrance.
Understanding this we can take advantage of it in placing
our hives. Where shade is plenty, as you say it is in your
case, there are trees present to help mark locations, and there
would be little danger of confusion if hives were placed singly
six feet apart. Suppose we place them so. As already said,
there is no danger of mistake if two hives are set close side by
side. So by the side of each hive already placed let ns set an-
other hive." Now put back of each pair another pair, back to
back. That is, the backs of the second pair are placed
against the backs of the first pair. Now we have our hives
placed in groups of four, and if there is any mistake as to en-
tering wrong hives, it will not Ik; that any bee enters a wrong
hive in its own group, but that it will enter the hive corres-
ponding to its own hive in another group. This method of
grouping I have used for years, and you will sec that it allows
you to have 100 colonies on a given piece of ground with just
as much safety as though you had only 25 placed singly on the
same ground.
730
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Nov. 14, 1901
Bees that Sting Intermittently-
ferring.
Swarming— Trans-
1. I have a few colonies of bees I bought one year ago I
rolibed them the last of June and fjot IT pounds of comb
honey per colony; and auain the last of July 1 got 26 pounds
of comb honey per colony; but the last time I robbed them
thi'y all fouifht and stuny; me awfully. Now I want to know
why they all foujjht me so the last time I robbed when the
lirst time I did not }jet stung at all? How can I manage tci
avoid stings in the future?
2. When is the best time to rob the bees?
8. Why did I have so few swarms this year?
4. When is the time to transfer? Alabama.
Answers — 1. The great probability is that when you took
the honey from them the first time in June that they were at
that time gathering honey freely, and at such times they feel
quite good-natured and liberal, caring little how much honey
you take away. When you attempted to repeat the operation
the last of July, it is likely they were getting little or nothing
from the fields, with plenty of time and disposition to resent
any purloining of their hard-earned stores. Even if they did
considerable storing afterwards, there may have been a lull
in the harvest the latter part of July. It is also possible that
you were not quite so careful the second time about exposing
honey so as to attract robbers. If you do anything with bees
in a time of scarcity, avoid having hives open longer than is
absolutely necessary, and take great pains not to have supers
of honey exposed to the robbers. It may also be a little safer
to work late in the day, so that darkness coming on may close
the efforts of any bees with ambition to obtain a reputation as
highway robbers.
2. Better take away all surplus as soon as the flow ceases,
or as soon as they gather no more than suffices for their daily
needs. Something can be told about this when you find that
the amount of honey in the supers is not on the increase, and
at such times the very fact that the bees are unusually cross
and inclined to rob may make you suspect that they are not
gaining in stores.
3. Very likely the character of the season had something
to do with their not swarming, although other causes may
have prevailed. Without knowing any more particulars, it
would be pure guessing to say what.
4. You may transfer in fruit-bloom, or three weeks after
the first swarm.
^ The Home Circle. ^ I
Conducted bij Prof. ft. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif.
1
USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CORRECTLY.
You might not think it, but a singh' line of Prof. Cook's,
on page 69S, has sent me off into a brown study of many
minutes — minutes that I can hardly afford when I'm so
crowded that there's scarcely a minute to spare. One of the
hardest .jobs I've ever tackled is the one of trying to use the
English language correctly. And in my brawn study I've
gone over a good deal of the whole ground of getting the little
or much that I know of spelling, punctuation, pronunciation,
choosing the right words, putting them in proper order, etc.
As to spelling, I was brought up under the old regime —
stood up in a row and "trapped to the head" as often as I
could, or " spelt on sides," and was always one of the first
chosen — and so I'm rather proud to say that I'm exceptionally
familiar with our present system of spelling, and ashamed to
say that I can do so little to prevent the rising generation from
going through the same drudgery tliat I did in mastering a
spelling that is a disgrace to a civilized nation.
Punctuation — the whole thing is more or less a mystery to
me, and about the most I attempt is to sprinkle in a few com-
mas here and there so the printer will not take exactly the
opposite of the intended meaning ; and then I look up to him
as a superior being who will put in semi-colons and things in
the right places, so that other people can understand what
I'm trying to say.
It would make a book of no small size to tell all the tribu-
lations I've been through in trying to learn to pronounce cor-
rectly. The times that I've consulted the dictionary I And
the worst of it is, that I'm not sure of speaking ten consecu-
tive sentences to day without mispronouncing some word or
words. When to the difficulty of pronouncing correctly is
added the difficulty of choosing the right words and using
them in the right way, I give up in despair. I have no hope
of ever learning to use the English in a faultless manner. But
I am by no means in despair as to improving. I'm not as bad
as I was a year ago, and not nearly as bad as I was 25 years
ago. I'm willing— I'm anxious to learn. I consult the dic-
tionary oftener than ever bi'fore. There is no surer way for
a friend to command my gratitude than to call my attention
to some error in my use of the English language.
And now I'rof. Cook wants me to act as arbitrator be-
tween him and that man Hasty. He wants me to say whether
" larva " or " worm '' is the right name for the thing that
destroys our nice combs when we neglect them. Frankly, I
don't know. But having made this confession of ignorance,
I want to emphasize in the strongest manner the fact that I
believe we should constantly be striving for a single name for
each idea, and a single idea for each name. We may not
achieve that in the present generation, but we ought in gen-
eral to speak and write in such a way as to have little fear of
having any one draw the dictionary on us.
One trouble in the present case is that Prof. Cook speaks
as a scientist, and our sprightly " afterthinker "" as a layman.
An entomologist could hardly be forgiven for calling that
which hatches from the egg of a bee a worm ; a bee-keeper
would not be likely to call it anything but a ■■ larva ;" but the
average person who knows nothing about bee-keeping would
be very likely to call it a worm. And the dictionary would
justify him. For the dictionary says a worm is (third defini-
tion) : "In popular and archaic use, any creeping or crawl-
ing animal, whether large or small, as a serpent, grub, Cater-
pillar, or the like." That same definition justifies Mr. Hasty
in calling the larva of the bee-moth a worm. Prof. Cook is
saying that an added syllable should not stand in the way of
correctness. Mr. Hasty may reply that several syllables
must be added if we would not be misunderstood. If we
should say, " I lifted a comb out of the hive and found in it
hundreds of larvit," he would be understood to be speaking of
young bees. "Hundreds of worms" would be understood
correctly, and is very much shorter than " hundreds of larvae
of the bee-moth." Then think of the ditterence between say-
ing "wormy combs'' and "combs infested by the larv;e of the
bee-moth."
Prof. Cook has scientific accuracy on his side. On the
other side is economy of words and a dictionary definition.
Gentlemen, please settle it between you. C. C. Miller.
McHenryCo., 111.
" HOME. SWEET HOME."
What a picture we have in that home of the old patriarch,
Jacdli. which we have had in the Sunday-school for the past
two Sundays. Jacob commenced life in a bad way. If any
one thing savors more of heaven on this earth of ours than
another it is real accord among children of the same
home. If any one thing smells more of perdition it is hatred
aiul meanness among the boys of any household. Jacob's
Iving iiiid imposture to cheat Esau was morally as black as
lilacki-st iiiglit. No wonder his later years come full burdened
with sorrow. Then, too, polygamy came to blight his home.
What a sorry blot that would" be in any home. Glad we have
wiped it from our body politic. One favorite wife. Only to
think of the sore feelings and bitter heart-aches that would
come into any iiome when a favorite wife held sway. She
must be favorite or there never would have been but the one.
How the record states plainly that she was favorite.
I am superlatively glad that Roberts was pushed from his
seat in Congress. The home circles of our country should
always frown on anything that tends to mar the home or les-
sen family accord. Let it be known that of all "Jacob's sons
Joseph was the favorite. What a blunder : The parent who
has favorites or shows favoritism among his children slumld
never have had a home. Yes, I know children differ, and
some are lovely and wise, and some are otherwise. Then
what a privilege has the parent of talking the less fortunate
so snugly in the arms of his love that the unlovclini'ss will
be surely squeezed out — all out.
Joseph was exceptional in manly strength and beauty;
was alert to get tlie most out of life" and experience; was a
very Herciih's in moral strength and rectitude; yet even
Joseph in such a polygamously tainted household. C(uild not
pass unscathed. Hi's very ambition and confident ability, no
doubt, gave rise to the dreams. His warranted belief in his
own powiu- ami strength, aided, maybe, by liis ambition, gave
him visions wliich made possible a fight interpretation of the
dreams. How lovely it would have been could he have kept the
Nov. 14, lyoi.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
731
dreams and tlioir ineaniiif; to liinisclf. But, no, he must tell.
1 f<'ai- the show of hoasting may have been present to .sting
tlie already jealous and sensitive brotliers. He could but
have noticed tlieir unrest and displeasure at the narration of
Ills dream. Was it kindly, then, or modest, for him to tell of
the second dream? The less was this trin' in that it reachi'il to
the father who was to l)eco!ne subject to the son. 8urely.
those wicked brothers — and they were horribly wicked — were
in the way of some potent inllueuces which must have fed and
nourished powerfullv the rancor, hate and jealousv that re-
sulted so disastrously.
Joseph's misfortunes certainly doveloped in him a char-
acter maguilicent almost beyond compare. That the brothers
were won in part from their evil thoughts and practices is as
surely true. Maybe many of us are most fortunate in the
irritating, vexatious, experiences that come to torment us.
THE SUNDAY=SCHOOL.
I lind a rich treat in the Sunday-school. My father al-
ways went with me to Sunday-school. He was for years the
superintendent. I early learned to love the study aiid discus-
sions. How different it might have been had not my father
cared for these Sunday privileges. Nothing could keep father
away. How could 1 but learn to respect this service? 1 have
always followed in my father steps. My children were the
companions of myself and wife as we almost invariably went
cacli Sunday to study that masterpiece in all literature.
Today my son teaches regularly a large class in a large
and infiuential Sunday-school. A little sou has just come to
that home. How happy 1 am in the thought that "Little
Albert " will grow up to attend and love the Sunday-school
and all the blessed teachings that it hands over to its patron.s.
In just such influences lies the safety of our children. Such
teachings give to our nation a grand citizenship. We stand
appalled before the dastardly act of the anarchist. Anarchy
can not even sprout in the blessed seed-bed of the Sunday-
school.
I am teacher of a large Sunday-school Bible class of over
30. There are seldom less than that number in the class.
Yesterday we had a gentleman and his wife with us who are
not wont to come. The father told me that he did not know
it was so interesting. Hi' assured me that they would come?
regularly. I am rejoiced. They have three bright boys.
One, the oldest, a very promising boy in many ways, with two
other boys, ran away last year, and were gone, to the great
sorrow and agony of the parents, for days. The Sunday-
school does not favor such escajiades. It is almost sure to
replace any wish to ilo so with a better ambition. But if we
wish our children to love and benefit by the school we must
love and benelit by it ourselves. We often need its beneficent
influence fully as much as do the dear children.
Oh. how glad I am that my father loved such things !
How richly have his tendencies and habits in all these good
ways taken hold of my own \\U\ and. through me, they have
been iiassed on to bless my children and my grandchildren.
Can We do a more patriotic thing than to go each Sunday with
our child r<'n to a good Sunday-school ?
A MINING TOWN SUNUAY=SCHO0L.
As a child I was never strong. While [ remi'mber my col-
lege life as most delightful and as the best part of my whole
lif<', my poor health, however, was a constant menace to its
continuance. So this life was not all roses.
I stepped from college much broken in health, and came
to California to mend it. 1 secured a school in a rough
mountain to«n. There was no church there, and so far as I
know I was the only professed Christian. The children, how-
ever, were just as interesting as others, and. I thought, full
of promise. Sunday was the busy day. Stores wc^re all open
and business was at its flood. Drunken brawls were very
common on Sunday. I at once started a Sunday-school. The
mothers — hless the mothers — and the children, largely came.
Only one man. He loved music, and played the little organ
which he loaned each Sunday. It was a good Sunday-school.
I know it did good. I desired a library. The day-school
director, also the leading merchant, came to me one evening.
He said he had heard how interesting the Sunday-school was;
wished he could come, but, of course, he couldn't. Asked if
he could be of service. I suggested the need of a library. He
said " You shall have it." He inquired the amount of money
needed for the purchase. I said anywhere from $.5U to
Si, 000. The next day " A Sunday-School Ball " was adver-
tised. I was invited to the ball, and did look in. We received
over $iOO and an excellent library. I feel sure that Sunday-
school added to the sum total of the world's happiness, and I
know that better citizens were the result of its influence and
teachings.
Reader, may not you be able to work in the same way?
Bees in Fine Condition.
The weather is tine with hees flying nicely,
and gathering pollen yesterday. Honey was
a very light crop through this part of Wiscon-
sin the past season. My bees — S4 colonies —
go into winter quarters in nne condition,
although I had to feed some 20 to get them
so. L. G. Blair.
Grant Co., Wis., Nov. 2.
Honey Crop Short.
The bee-papers seem to strike snags in
e.stiuiating the honey crop. In this locality
it is short; and this locality embraces the
territory in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
about the famous Delaware Water-Gap. We
have calls daily for honey, and some of them
come from considerable distances.
1 handle the bees for my son — I do most of
the "chinnin;;," and he most of the smiling.
But atiout that honey crop; We started last
spring with 11 colonies, increased to 17 by
natural swarming, and averaged Sit pounds of
comb honey, spring count. A wet spring
bnmghl an abundance of white clover, bnt a
drcjuiii followed and killed il. Buckwheat
came on at a 'J:4ti gait, and the frequent rains
wiped tliat out, so that the bees did not get
in over a good weeli's work; they were just
fairly started when their hopes were blasted.
We. with others, had great expectations, and
prospects were unusually hriglit for awhile,
imt the pulling in wimble-wouible failed to
work— we counted the chicks a little too soon.
We are right proud of a certain queen we
Tn makf rows p,-iv. use .Sharfles (mm .Symraton. Book
"Business Uairyinii" & Cat. :il2.1ree. W.Chester.Pa.
^jl^ it will pay you
/7f1iV\ tn sent! t,.r our new poultry b.iok do-
(MmS tie' ^^ DANOY^B-ifn'^e-CUTTER
, |7»V \\L. It tell3 Iiow to increase tlie eftg yield.
^ ' inn of ail bone flitters, is sold/KMJl
direct on 30 days' trial. Price, «5 up. (S^f^^a 1|
STRATTON MANFG.
Box 2{, Erie, Pa.
CO.,''£\J^M^
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
^^^rz^4^^>l Cotnbination
f braiiw, expenenre anil hij^h
Reliable Incubator & Brooder Co., Box B-2 Qulncy.lils.
Please mention Bee Journal ■wtien ■writinf
For Thanksgiving Day
the Nickel Plate Road will sell tickets
within distances of ISO miles Nov. 27
and 28, at rate of a fare and one-third
for the round trip. Tickets good re-
turning until Nov. 29, inclusive. This
road has three express trains daily to
Fort Wayne, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo,
New York and Boston, with vestibuled
sleeping cars. Also excellent dining-
car service; meals served on Individual
Club Plan, ranging in price from 35
cents to SI. '10. For reservations in
sleeping-cars or other information ad-
dress John Y. Calahan, General Agent,
111 Adams St. City Ticket Office, 111
Adams Street, Chicago. 'Phone 2057
Central. 42-4bA2t
bought. We couldn't catch the little black
vixen, so we appropriated her brood and
young bees, and started our new queen on
her way rejoicing. All the little blacks are
gone now, and the yellow ones are pushing.
They are gentle as kittens, and seem very
energetic. We wish all the other colonies
were as gentle.
Now, say, let's have a little gossip behind
the door. Wonder what's become of A. I.
Root's trap-nest. Wonder it he won't blos-
som out next with a rooster having a pencil
over his ear, and a tablet to keep tally, rais-
ing a racket with some old biddy that dis-
putes his account; and, then, again, how
would he decide the matter ! But I believe
he would get the feathers all smoothed the
right way, don't you >. A. C. Hunsberoer.
Northampton Co., Pa., Oct. 28.
Season a Failure— Bee-Management
My bees were a total failure the past sea-
son. I got practically nothing -just a few
scrawny sections from 130 colonies. This is a
jaeklime(0 country, and nearly all soil is
sand, and nearly everything was dried up by
the hot weather; still the bees gathered
enough for winter. I have -used the screen-
wire in the center of the bottom-board for
two years. I think it is a grand thing, espe-
cially in swanning-lime and in winter, that is,
if you put them in the collar.
This is the way I run my bees for honey
and increase: As soon as I see that they are
getting pretty strong in the spring, I prepare
a hive-body with a queen-excluder nailed to
the bottom. 1 put this body on a medium
colony. Now, as fast as I can tiud drone-
corn 1) sealed nil, I take iloul and put it in
uiy prepared hive, boring a "i inch hole in the
back, so the drones or bees can come out. I
use a drone-trap on this as soon as the drones
hatch out; then if I have an extra queen-cell
1 put it in here, and as soon as the queen
hatches I take away the trap.
Now, my theory is, that by taking out
732
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 14, I'* 1.
Please mention Bee Journal when WTiting.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A::?^
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW WOl FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. Il is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Ag-ency, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washing-ton Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
25 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. T S»n -F't
* CASH — for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 27 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than an v other published,
seud*1.25to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
An ELASTIC Elastic
if^nut niorpsrttisfactorythan Elastic Pa^e Fence.
('A(JK WOVKX U IliK KKNCKCO., AKUIA.N, Jill II.
Please mention Bee Jotimai M!r>ieii 'writJt&s
^ B£ST f^
I umm fioneu For sai6 i
'.^ ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^
Alfalfa
Honey jr«^
This is the famous
White Extracted
Honey gathered in
the g-reat Alfalfa
regions of the Cent-
ral West. It is a
splendid honey, and
nearly everybody
who cares to eal
honey at all can't
get enough of the
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey JfiC
This is the well-
known light-colored
honey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalla, and is pre-
ferred bv those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7,i2 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, U cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HONEY
The linest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I've just sampled tbe honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank vou. I feel that I'm
something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production
and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loval one ought to be to the
honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality
of alfalfa honey I have received from you '' ' ■- . . - -
marked flavor, according to my taste.
McHenry Co., 111.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
!^ GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III!" ^■
nearly all the drones, and making a hole
from -4 to 6 inches si|uare in the center of the
Ijottom-board, with wire-cloth nailed on both
sides, ihey keep cool and travel upward into
the sections. It there are many robber-bees
prowlingaround simply make small entrances.
Oscoda Co., Mich., Oct. 21. C. Ckask.
Report for the Past Season.
I have 'SS colonies at present. I wintered
18. The bees did well the forepart of the sea-
son, but it got too dry in .July, and has been
ever since. I sell my honey for 1.5 cents a
pound, and can sell all I have. I sell to the
consumer only. I will have about 1200
pounds this season. I have very good bee.s.
G. W. Kreamer.
Audubon Co., Iowa, Sept. 1.
White Snake-Root— Poor Season.
What is the name of the enclosed flower ?
I think it is sweet clover. The bees work on
it, and as it is a very late bloomer it must be
valuable for honey. The first I have noticed
was this year.
My bees have done very poorly — have not
as many colonies now as I had in the spring,
and from 50 I have not received enough
honey for home consumption.
R. N. Grafton.
Cherokee Nation, Ind. Ter., Oct. 22.
[The flower in question is not the sweet
clover, but the white snake-root — Eupatorium
ageratoides — and belongs to the Composite
family, as the great majority of our late
flowers do. In previous reports we have
taken occasion to say that nearly all the com-
posite flowers produce honey to some extent,
and while we can give no definite reply as to
the quality of this particular species, yet, if
the bees take kindly to it, they are doing bet-
ter on it than they could elsewhere. — C. L.
Walton-.]
Report for the Season of 1901.
I put iix colonies into winter quarters last
fall, but some of them were weak last spring.
I increased to 12 colonies by dividing, besides
having some natural swarms, so that I non-
have 19 colonics in a tolerably good condition
tor winter. I got between 500 and 600 pounds
of first-class white clover comb honey, which
I can readily sell at the house for 15 cents
per i>ouud.
I had two cases of drone-laying workers
this season, from queens that the bees reared
in the colonies I divided. I killed them, and
gave them other ones. I had one case of a
drone hatching out Of a good-looking queen-
cell; lam sure it was a drone, for while I
was examining that colony I killed it. I had
one colony that I made last spring by divid-
ing, thai has filled the hive and given me two
supers of honey, and now the third is all but
full.
I am well pleased with the American Bee
Journal, and the information I have gotten
from it; I will not give il up as long as I
keep bees. James H. Kxotts.
Preston Co., W. Va., Sept. 15.
Every Chacicen Man Needs
a green bone ctitter. ^^ ^i^i^t
The Adam'
Send fi.r our Ulu-traltd fntalo
No. 9. before vou buy. Sent Fre
W. J. ADAM, Jolict, Ills
200*Egg Incubator
for $r2-8o
I i,.*erfect in cnnstructioa and „
faction Hatches evt-ry fertile H
Beptr. Writ6forcataIr»;.'uet(j-day.|
U GEO. H. STAHL. Qutncy. III. |
PleP*^e mention Bee Journal when -WTitiiig.
Nov. 14. 19(11
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
733
Tested Queens.
A question thai will some of these days
ueed to be supplied with a new answer is
this: " What is a tested queen?" The an-
swer/i<(s liii'n, -A queen whose three-banded
workers show that she is pure Italian in ori-
gin and matino;." But since the entrance of
live-banders, as the editor correctly says,
pafje 790, there may be black blood in a queen
which produces three-banded workers. That
knocks out the old answer. What shall
the revised answer be ? Don't ask me. I
don't know. — [This is one objection to the
rearin;;' of flre-banded bees. But that objci'-
lion would haveno weight with me, providing
I could see in color greater longevity or more
pounds of honey. 1 — Editor. — Stray Straw in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Rearing Queens in Nuclei Without
Cessation of Laying.
B. Beuhne, in the Australian Bee-Bulletin,
after telling of failures in introducing queens
in the usual mailing cages, says:
I next tried the nucleus plan. Starting a
nucleus alongside the colony the queen of
which was to be replaced, and after the
young queen in the nucleus had commenced
to lay, 1 removed the old queen of the hive
and united colony and nucleus. Observing
the usual precautions of uniting I never had
a mishap; but the drawback was that it re-
quired the operation of making a nucleus to
be gone through for every colony so re-
queeued. To avoid this I established a num-
ber of permanent nuclei, and whenever I
wanted a queen I went to a nucleus, took out
a frame with queen, brood, and bees, and
inserted it into the place of one received from
a colony, and together with the queen it was
given to the nucleus, where the queen could
go on laying till the young queen emerged
from a cell given it. I may here state that
when a queen is more than two years old I do
not remove her when giving a cell (in a pro-
tector), and in three cases out of four the
virgin queen will take no notice of the old
queen, and in due course comnieuce to lay,
when she may be removed and another cell
given. Thus the nucleus is never queenless,
and gradually increases in population.
In some cases I have had two and three old
queens in a nucleus all laying on the same
combs. The jealousy so marked in a young
queen is quite gone after the second season,
and such a queen is not considered a rival
even by a virgin queen. On this point doubts
of the correctness of this reasoning have
been expressed to me, and to anticipate such
douljts 1 may state that I have proved the
point by ocular demonstrations to many bee-
keepers who have visited my apiary, and who
can bear out my contentions.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fork fax Into FoMdatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis.
Please mention Bee journal -when -writing.
Bees on Shares.
Contrary to the advice of some of the sages
of l)ee-culture. a great many people in Colo-
rado are working bees on shares, and getting
a start in the business without any great cost
to themselves aside from their labor. And
this chiefly follows from the fact that there
are a number of retired apiarists in the State.
Yes, men who have actually accumulated a
competency from the production of honey.
Another class, owners of bees, but unskilled
in their management, lease their bees to
practical apiarists, and uuike a haud.sonu!
percentage on their investment.
In the Eastern States, where bee-keeping is
about as certain to prove remunerative as
rain is to fall on the Mojave desert, and
where winter losses are sometimes appalling,
both parties are apt to be disappointed and
dissatisHed (especially the owner of the bees),
and trouble is liable to follow. But in the
irrigated portions of the West, where reverse
^'alitnfni^» 1 U you care to know of Its
^dlllUrilld 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free,
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
Successful!
f\cubaLtor{TbeEgg)
Brooder (The chick)
of them. Mails loaded with words of
•raise fiom chicken people. Our
rreat catalogue turns tue lime
.mhton the poultry business. Fi^e
different editions, tive languaRea.
English edltioni cents.othersfree.
DES KOINES INCI'BITOR CO.,
fBqxTH Des aiolnes, loira, orBnilS
Buffalo, N. T. Adiirt.'ta nearer i.'Jce.
Please mention Bee Journal when writine.
THE
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, lYIaniiul ot the Apiarj',
BY
PROE A, J, COOK.
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition-lSth Thou-
Band-$l-25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng- style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers^ Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to GIVE away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given lor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also g-iven to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with 11.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. L,et every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 14* Erie Street.
CHICA(;0. ILL
L'Diiriitions prevail, things (j:eiierally go along
Miiijotlily. provliled both parties observe the
leller and spirit of their agreement.
Ill taking bees on shares, the Journal, in all
cases, advises Its readers to have a written
cuutract. covering every feature of the agree-
ment and providing for every probable con-
tingency that may arise. This precaution
should be taken, no matter how hone-^t and
good-intentioned the parties may be; the
chances for misunderstandings and conse-
(|uent trouble will be reduced to a minimum;
and, besides, it is business.
The share given for the use of the bees
varies according to conditions. Where a few
colonies are picked up here and there and
managed with another outfit, 15 pounds per
colony is considered a fair compensation, if
the season is good, and less if it is poor.
Where entire apiaries are leased, including
all necessary fi.'ctures and ground furnished
for apiary, the lessee performs all the labor,
charges the owner with half the expense of
sections, foundation, shipping-eases and new
hives, and at the end of the season the pro-
ceeds are divided; that is, each takes one-
half of the honey and one-halt of the increase.
It is usually stipulated that the share of
honey belonging to the bee-owner shall be
delivered to him cased, graded and ready for
market.
The .Journal will sum up the matter by
saying: If you can not get a start in bees in
any other way. take them on shares. But if
you can borrow money, even though you
have to pay 1.5 to 25 percent for it, better do
that and buy your bees outright. You would
gain financially in an average season by the
latter plan.— Rocky Mountain Bee Journal.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing adverti?»ers.
An Aid in Setting Foundation.
In placing foundation on the wires in brood
or half-depth frames, I find that the imbed-
ding can be done much better with the small
toothed wheel, used for the purpose, by doing
the rolling over a block or board covered
with burlap. A piece of tapestry carpet re-
verse side up, would answer. This is much
better than rolling on a board. I cut a board
just big enough to fit in the inside dimensions
ot an empty frame, and stretch the burlap
over it, tacking around the edges with two or
tour ounce tacks; nail this board on a wider
piece. After the foundation is secured in the
slotted top-bar of the frame, the latter is
placed over the " form '' or block, and the
rolling done as usual. — M. F. Reeve, in
American Bee-Keeper.
The Colorado Convention, to be held
at Denver, Nov. IS, 19 and 20, promises to be
one ot the very best ever held by that excellent
Association. In connection with the interest-
ing program, a summary of which appears on
page 6r5, Seeretarj' D. W. Working has since
sent us the following, which must prove of
special interest to our Colorado readers :
Prof. Gillette will be prepared to measure
"long tongues," and show them under the
microscope.
PREMIfM LIST.
.•\. Best and most interesting general exhibit —
One Improved German Steam Wax-Press,
large size, offered by the A. I. Root Co.
1. Best case {24 sections) No. 1 honey — 1st
premium, So; "id premium, KKIO No. 1
white sections, given by Barteldes & Co. ;
:3d premium, one comb-bucket, offered by
the Colorado Honey-Producers' Associa-
tion.
2. Best case ('24 sections) No. 3 honey — 1st
prem., -i^S.OO; 2d prem., one Root steam
wax-extractor, offered by the L. A. Wat-
kins Co. ; 3d prem.. one dollars' worth of
seeds, offered by The Lee-Kinsey Imple-
men t Co.
:i. Best half-dozen jarswhite extracted honey
in flint-glass jars — 1st prem., ?3.00; 2d
prem.. one Colorado hive with slate cover.
olicred by the Colorado Honey-Producers'
.-\j.>oiialion.
4. Best half-dozen jars amber extracted
honey, in fiint-glass jars — 1st prem., jvi;
2d prem., one dovetailed hive with Colo-
734
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 14, 1901.
Great CoiiiliiiiatlonSubscriptioD Offers.
Combination and concentration in business are the magic watchwords of
the age in which we live. Why should it not be applied to the matter of sub-
scriptions to magazines and periodical literature in general ? We believe it is a
wise move, especially when it is in the line of economy for the reading public.
Now, if we can be the means of saving our subscribers several dollars a year on
their reading matter, and at the same time help them to the best literature pub-
lished to-day, we shall feel that we are doing a good thing, indeed.
We have entered into an arrangement whereby we can furnish the follow-
ing excellent periodicals at greatly reduced prices :
lie;iidar
THE DOLLAR PAPERS. price.
Cosmopolitan Magazine 1.00
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly 1.00
The Household 1.00
Good Housekeeping 1.00
The Designer 1.00
Success 1.00
liegtilar
price.
Review ol Reviews $2.50
Current Literature '. 3.00
New England Magazine 3.00
Leslie's Weekly 4-00
North American Review 5.00
PLEASE NOTICE that in all combinations Success and the American Bee
Journal must be included.
Here is our List of Liberal Offers :
American Bee Journal and Success
with any one of the above dollar magazines 5^2. .50
with any tico of the above dollar magazines 3.0O
with any three of the above dollar magazines 3.50
with the Review of Reviews (new) 3.00
with Current Literature (new) 3.00
with New England Magazine 3.00
with Review of Reviews (new) and any oite of the dollar magazines 3.50
with Leslie's Weekly 3.75
with Review of Reviews (new) and Leslie's Weekly 4.75
with North American Review (new) and Review of Reviews (new) 5.00
f^3j~ If a renewal subscription is wanted for the Review of Reviews, Curreut
Literature, or the North American Review, add $1.00 for each renewal subscrip-
tion to the combination prices named above. On all the other combinations a
renewal counts the same as a new subscription.
j^" No foreign subscribers can take advantage of these combination offers.
W^e shall be pleased to have our readers examine carefully the above list,
and send us their subscriptions. Address,
GEORGE "W. YORK & CO .
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
m
•m
"m-
tuft
m
Oft
m
is
set
;^>t
m
m
m
•m
m
Bee-Fariiiing Du irrigaiion.
Alfalfa, as is well known, is a great honey-producer. As under
irrigation it produces several crops a year, witli bloom with each
crop, the bee-farmer who locates his hives of bees among alfalfa
fields is sure of a large honey crop.
General Faritiitie: Under Irrigation
is also scientific and devoid of the element of chance. Crops are
sure, yields larger, quality better, and prices higher, with no risk
of wet weather damage in harvest.
Wheat yields SO bu.; oats, 100 bu.; potatoes, 300 bu.; alfalfa, five
tons regularly each year.
Under the popular and successful
Wilson Irrigation Settlement Plan
it is possible to get a well-irrigated farm possessing the requisites of
abundance of water, rich soil, home markets, good society, etc.,
for little money and on easy terms.
We share profits with those who can advance, all cash. Write for
Bulletin giving full details. Agents wanted.
Homestead Land and Irrigation Company,
79 Dearborn Street. CHICAGO. ILL.
JAS. W. WILSON, Manager. f lease menUon Bee journal when writing.
i
i
.5Ev5
rado cover, offered by the Colorado
IIoney-Producer.s' Association.
5. Best 10 sections white honey — 1st prem.,
^2\ 2d prem., one Daisy foundation fast-
ener, offered by Barteldes & Co.
t). Best 10 sections amber honey — 1st prem.,
•*2; 2d prem., one Higginsville smoker,
ottered by Barteldes it Co.
7. Best live pounds of beeswax — 1st prem.,
.*'S; 2d prem., one Higginsville section-
press, offered by Barteldes & Co ; 3d
prem., one annual subscription to the
Rocky Mountain Bee Journal, given by
H. C. Morehouse.
8. Heaviest section No. 1 separatored honey
— 50 cents.
9. Heaviest section No. 1 honey — 50 cents.
10. Best quart bottle of honey-vinegar — 1st
prem., SI; 2d prem., one No. 1 bee-veil,
offered by Barteldes & Co. ; 3d prem.,
one annual lubscription to the Rocky
Mountain Bee Journal, offered by H. C.
Morehouse.
11. Best exhibit of honey-cakes and candies —
1st prem., 82; 2d prem., one copy of
'■ Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," offered
by the Colorado Honey-Producers' Asso-
ciation; .3d prem., one annual subscrip-
tion to the American Bee Journal, offered
by George W. York & Co.
12. Best display of combhoney — 1st prem. .one
Rauchf uss section-press, offered by Rauch-
fuss Bros. ; 2d prem , one platform scale,
offered by the Colorado Honey-Producers'
Association; 3d prem., one annual sub-
scription to the Rocky Mountain Bee
Journal, offered by H. C. Morehouse.
13. Best exhibit of bees in observatory hive —
1st prem., five K. D.. Colorado dovetailed
hives, offered by the Colorado Honey-Pro-
ducers' Association.
14. Judges' premiums — One swarm catcher
and one Lewis section-press, offered by
the Colorado Honey-Producers' Associa-
tion; seeds worth $1.50, offered by the
Lee-Kinsey Implement Co. : one annual
subscription to the American Bee Jour-
nal, ottered by George W. York & Co. ;
one annual subscription to the Rocky
Mountain Bee Journal, offered by H. C.
Morehouse; and a number of special
premiums, which can not be definitely
announced at this time, are reserved to
be awarded at the option of the judges
for creditable exhibits not named or not
adequately recognized in the foregoing
list.
RULES AND CONDITIONS.
1. Every article which wins a cash pre-
mium shall become the property of the Asso-
ciation, to be placed on exhibition in the
Association's case in the rooms of the Board
iif Horticulture. Other exhibits remain the
la-npt'i'iv (if the exhibitors.
■J. No article may compete for more than
one jireniium. For illustration, a case of
honey entered for premium No. 1 may not be
included as part of a display entered for pre-
mium No. 12.
3. No honey shall be entered for a premium
unless produced by the exhibitor.
i. Exhibits may be entered at any time dur-
ing the first day of the session, Nov. IS, pref-
erably during the forenoon. Persons desiring
to send exhibits to Denver l)y express may
send them to the Colorado Honey-Producers'
Association, 1440 Market street, and thej' will
be properly entered.
5. Only members of the Colorado State
Bee-Keepers' Association may compete for
premiums; but any bee-keeper desiring to do
so may enter exhibits by joining the Associa-
tion at the same time. The membership fee
is *1.00.
6. Honey entered for premiums numbered
1, 2, .->, 6, S and 9 mustconform to the grading
rules of the State Association. No. 1 honey
will not win the premium offered for No. 2.
Any prospective exhibitor may have a copy
of the rules for the asking.
7. Exhibits are to be entered by number,
and known only by number until after the
premiums are awarded. Entry cards will be
furnished and filled out by the secretary.
The exhibition, with cash premiums offered
by the Association and special premiums
offered by its friends, is a new feature. The
pity is that it could not have been announced
Nov. 14, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUPN.«lL
735
three inontlisag-0, so that the best huiiej' could
have been saved for exhibition. Jleiiibers are
urged to make the best possible use o£ the
opportunity offered, to brinu the best honey
and other products typical of our industry,
and to prepare their exhibits so that they will
show to the best advantage. The place of our
meeting will assure us a large attendance of
bee-keepers and others interested in bees and
honey. The premiums are worth contesting
for because of their value. The honor of
winning will be worth more than the pre-
miums themselves. The judges will be chosen
with a view to secure absolute fairness, as
well as ability to judge justly.
D. W. Working, Sec.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. — The e.\ecutive committee of the
Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association has ordered
that the next meeting- be held all day and even-
id^, Dec. 5, 1901, at the Briggs House club-room.
This is arranged on account of the low rates to
be in force then for the International Live-
stock Exposition in Chicago at that time (Nov.
30 to Dec. 7), being one fare plus $2 dO for the
round-trip This notice goes by mail to nearly
300 bee-keepers near Chicago, and should result
in the largest attendance we have ever had. Dr.
C. C. Miller and Mr. C. P. Dadant have promised
to be present. Let all come.
Herman F. Moore, Sec.
George W. York, Pres.
Colorado — The Colorado annual meeting
promises to be a genuine success. The program
has been made out for a number of weeks, and
is almost ready for publication. It has come to
be a privilege and an honor to read .i paper be-
fore our Association, and so very few decline
who are invited to write or speak for instruc-
tion. One paper is already in the hands of the
secretary. On two or three nights a big magic
lantern will illustrate talks by famous students
of bees and the bee industry. And then we are
going to have an e.xhibition of the choicest
honey in the United States (made in Colorado,
you know], and wa.x, with bees enough to show
" how the thing is done."
If you want to know more, or hive forgotten
the dates (Nov. lit, l'>, 20), write to the under-
signed, bo.x ^5Z-, Denver, Colo.
D. W. Working, Sec.
Minnesota.— The Minnesota Bee-Keepers' As-
sociation will meet in Ply mouth Church, Cor.
Slh St. and Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minn.,
Wednesdav and Thursdav, Dec. 4 and 5, 1901.
Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson will give a stereopticon
lecture on Wednesday e,-ening. and a good pro-
gram is prepared and now in the hands of the
printer. Joining the National Bee-Keepers' .\s-
sociation in a body will be voted on Wednesday.
All bee keepers and those interested in bees are
invited. H. G. Acklin,
Chairman Executive Committee.
Illinois. — The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' As-
sociation will hold its 11th annual meeting
Nov. 1') and 20, lo.ii, in room 17, at the State
House, in Springfield. As there will be no set
program we e.xpect every one to come prepared
to ask questions and answer those asked by
others. Those who attend our meeting can
avail themselves of the Odd Fellows' rates on
the railroads as follows: The Central Passen-
ger Association has made an open rate of one
fare for the round trip. Other roads not in the
Central Passenger Association will at least
give a rate of a fare and a third for the round
trip; and it is e.xpected the roads will all meet
the one-fare rate. There is no better way for
bee-keepers to have a love-feast than to avail
themselves of the cheap railroad rates, and
turn out to the meeting; and, if they wish to
get a discussion on j-ome particular topic, just
write a short paper on same, and rest assured
the discussion will follow.
JAS. A. Stone, Sec.
R. R. No. 4, Springfield, 111.
The "JIagazise-Age." — Never since print-
ing began has periodical literature been so
rich, varied and attractive as at present. A
laudable artistic rivalry among publishers
has brought their productions to a high pitch
of excellence, while unusual activity, ingen-
uity and business energy has pushed circula-
tion frotn city to cross-road the country over.
Keen competition has also brought the price
of excellent magazines to a point so low as to
touch the pocket lightly. All this has re-
sulted in making us a nation of magazine
readers. Where one family formerly indulged
in a single magazine and counted it a luxury,
fifty now looli upon it as a necessity. Pro-
gressive jienple, indeed, feel that they can
hardly keep well abreast of the times without
reading three or four magazines each month.
Ordinarily this would entail no little expense,
but right here the remarkable clubbing offers
arranged by the magazine Success, of New
York City, afford most substantial aid by
making an average cut of one-half on ten
leading periodicals. Through these offers, in
fact, one can in some cases secure totir favor-
ite magazines for the price of one, as may be
gleaned frotn a detailed announcement on
page 784 of this issue. The offer would not
be possible save for the co-operation of sev-
eral periodicals in one advertisement, thus
effecting a material saving to all concerned —
especially to magazine readers.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are ioterested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the beat
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL
Please mention Bee Journal -when writina
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. "Sets, each; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4-00. Sate arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please mentior Bee Journal when -writing,
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies I
We ran furnish you with The A. I. Boot Go's
goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can
save you freight, and sdip promptly. Market price
paid for beeswax. Send for our taut catalog.
M. H. UUNT * SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
hlease mention Bee Journal "wpen ■writing
Wanted
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. State price,
delivered. We pay spot cash. Fred W. iViuTH
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40A5t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Gomb and Ex-
tracted ttoneij!
v-iiaie price, kind and quautitv.
R. A. BURNETT & CO., IW S. Water St.", Chicago
33Alf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car IfOts or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Comb Honev and Bees-
wax. Slate' price de-
livered in Cincinnati.
G. H. W. WEBER,
Thanksgiving Day Excursions
on all trains of the Nickel Plate Road,
on Nov. 27 and 28, to points within 150
miles, and good returning- Nov. 29,
1901. Chicago Depot, Van Buren St.,
near Clark St.. on Elevated Loop. City
Ticket < iflice, 111 Adams Street. Also
Union Ticket Dflfice, Auditorium An-
nex. 'Phone 2047 Central. 41 46A2t
Please mention Bee Journal
when >\ritlng advertisers.
» >tt ite. >K. Mt Mt >li sk >k >K >ii Jit >ltt»
|flONE,y AND beeswax!
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Nov. 1. — The market is easier in
tone, while prices are nominally ihe same, but
would be shaded to effect sales. Some cars of
honey enroute to the Eastern cities have been
diverted to this and surrounding points, which
is having a depressing effect. Comb brings
I4(315c for best grades of white; light amber,
12@13c; dark grades, low Uc. Extracted, white,
5M@6^c, according to quality, flavor and pack-
age; light amber, 5'4(a5''4c; amber and dark,
5(a»5Kc. Beeswax, Mc. R. A. Bdrnbtt & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct. 25.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
StaJbc; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from S(S,9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ]3J4@lS!^c.
C. H. W. Wbbbr.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 25.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late they only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, 15(a'16c; mixed,
14@15c; buckwheat, 13@13c. Extracted, white,
6M@7i4c; mixed, 6@6>ic. H.R.Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4^@4-;ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honey seems to be quite
New York, Oct. 18.— Comb honey is in good
demand and finds ready sale at the followingr
quotations: Fancy white, 15c per pound; No. 1
white, 13((iil4c; amber, 12c; buckwheat, 10@llc.
Extracted rather quiet at 6(g6^c for white, and
5li(a>byic for amber. Beeswax rather quiet at
27@28C. HiLDRETH & SEGKLKEN.
Boston, Oct. 21.— There is a fairly good de-
mand for stocks with ample supplies at the
present writing. Fancy No. 1, in cartons,
15546 16c; ANo. 1, in cartons, 15(gll554c; No. 1,
15c; very little No. 2 is being received; glass-
front cases will bring about 'Ac per pound less.
Light California extracted, 7i^'@Sc; Florida
honey, 654(3'7c. Blake, Scott & XiBB.
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Pevcke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Oct. 25.— Fancy white comb honey,
14(ailSc; No. 1, 13(ai4c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6®7c. Beeswax, 2S(a'26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Oct. 30.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, 7@'ic; dark, 6ffl7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5'A@—; light amber, 4^® — ;
amber. 4@— .
Not much arriving here, nor are spot stocks
of large proportions, either of comb or ex-
tracted. While demand is not brisk at full cur-
rent rates, buyers are not able to obtain note-
worthy concessions in their favor, especially
where most desirable qualities are sought after.
Beeswax, good to choice, light, 26@28c; dark,
24® 25c.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15<Sl(,c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.10((S$3.2S
per case ior large lots, which would be equal to
about 14rd'14i4c: the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inciuiries for ex-
traced are a little more numerous, but large -
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5>4(3^6c is quotable.
Pevcke Bros.
Send for circular s;
improved and oritrinal HintrUara Bee-Sraoker.
For 23 Years thk [iEST on Earth.
25Atf T F. BINOHAM, Farwell. Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal when writiiig.
nd
736
AMERICAN BEE fOUPNAL
Nov. 14, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Extraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
»»- W. M. Gekrish, East Notinffham, N. H.,
carries a full liae of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freitrht.
Please mention Bee journal when -writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fiae thing- for use in
catching- and clipping- Queens
wing-s. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us OJ^E NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal tor
a yeai at $1.00; or for $i;iO we wliJ
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping^ Device. Address,
QEORQG W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicag-o, 111.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung-
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
■Written bj
Eugene Secor and Dk. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
^ISDadant's
oundation,
24ttl
Year
We guarantee
satisfaction.
^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEBTINQ.
Why does it sell ^j.^^.
so well? ^^
Because it has always g-iven better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog^, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstrolh on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock Ca., III.
Please mention Bee Joiu-nal when writing.
Texas Bee-Keepers.
MRrilllPll flfflPP ^^'^ liejT to announce the opening of a Iji-anch oflice and warehouse at
UlQUUll UlllbD. 4:js W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Medina in less than car-load lots are high, and it tal^es a long time for a local shipment to
reaeli Southern Texas points.
T flW PrPJfftlt flUll '''° ^6cure these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
LUlV llulslll flllU livery — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
rillipk TlPliVPrV friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
lylllua UCliy ul J 1 point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
than San Antonio. It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
Pacific Express Companies.
San Aiitfluio as
SlupplDg-pint.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, Jr., both of whom are well known to the
keepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
keel-ling and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
apt, careful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufactm-ers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that our policy of " the best goods ■' is a correct
one.
flnr PfltfllfKT Very few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
Ulll udldlUg,' your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
are made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
lienefit by ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plie.'i not equaled elsewhere in Texas. You will also And on tile the leading bee-journals to
|iass pleasantly your leisure time.
Spanisli Catalog,
Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does.
If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Factory and Home Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO , San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
'r«M;i*I»i:U« Kl.> a « AI/10:\, Mantigers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '"'ciil'liSl^'C:'-
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
i>^ESe/i/v
Bee Journal
QEOROE W. YORK.
CHICAGO, ILL. NOVEMBER 21, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
MISS EMMA WILSON — 1)11. MILLER'S SISTER-IS-LA W
ANP CIIIKK IIEl.l'EK IN THE APIAKV.
738
AMERICAN BEE jOUENAL
Nov. 21, 1901.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK H COMPANY
144&l46ErieSt.,Gliicaoo, III.
Entered at the Post-Oflice at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr, C. C. Miller, ) npnartmpnt
E. E. Hasty. } ^^iPff '"^f °''
Prof. A. J. Cook, j ^>i^tors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. HCTCHINSON,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
AUGH,
J. M. Ha
C. P. Da
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. Aikin, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi(
EuGE^JE Secor, General Manager and Treas-
tirer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
fW If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
** I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of tnore or less honey; at any rate it would
Ifive the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the oiBca
of the American Bee Journal.
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year 1
NO ODORl NO SMOKE I NO ASHES I
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee Journal is using tlje
" Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
We liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
fill our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one we ■
recommend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
for heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial way, and is fhoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon of
kerosene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
wouldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
one of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
hut this one doesn't. Its hight is 2}.> feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated rea"dy for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, f.o.b. Chicago, $6.00 ; or, combined
■with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal— both for only $6.50. Full Directions
GO WITH each Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, ami thoroly comfortable, you should get this
" Barler Ideal " Oil Stove, as it can easily be carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it.
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
JTo. 4 ' ' Barler Ideal " Oll-Eeater.
Chicago, 111.
Please Mention the Bee Journal lJl?xSJ^f..
Ttie Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Tliree Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILLE, O.
[This Cut is tiik i-'ULi, Size of the Knife.]
Your Name on the Knife.— When oideriug-, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put ou the Kuite.
The Novelty Knife Is Indeed a novelty The novelty lies In the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as g^lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg-ed out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass:
the back springs of Sheffield spring--stQel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " ts lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as to have one of the " Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu' gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation ol
this^beautiful knife, as the *' Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us \ hkee new subsckihers to the Bee Journal (with$.VW.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Jo -' ' ' ' " "' ""
aal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
*S"Please alloy •»bout two weeks for your knife order to be filien.
St., Chicago, IlL
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 21, 1901,
No, 47.
i * Editorial.
A Dr. 31iller Xuniber is what might be
called this week's issue of the American Bee
Journal. When we visited him recently we
discovered the original photographs of the
pictures shown, and decided to use them in a
single number, as we now have done.
As we have described quite fully each
illustration, no extended write up by us will
be necessary. Still, if there is anything about
the pictures our readers would like to know
more of, they can easily send in their proper
questions to Dr. Miller, when he will reply to
them in these columns.
We wanted very much to show a picture of
Mrs. Miller, but she said "No "in such a
kind, yet decided, way that we felt we must
respect her wish. She is a most lovely
woman, greatly interested in all the Doctor's
work and writings. Of course, you'd expect
Dr. Miller to have just such a wife.
As our readers know. Dr. Miller is past his
?Oth birthday, and yet no one would suspect
him of being nearly that age. He retains his
youth in a wonderful manner. But that
comes from the Spirit that dwells within,
and that shines forth in his daily lite. It
keeps him 5'oung and happy. May it also
keep him with us yet many years, to bless and
to cheer all who are so fortunate as to meet
him or read his helpful words.
The HA International Congress is to
be held Sept. 9, 10 and 11, 1902, at Bois-le-duc,
Holland, and ihe program is already pub-
lished. Among other topics are : The role
of bees in fertilizing grain and grape-vines;
increase of bee-pasturage ; causes of swarm-
ing; influence of food upon the tjrood;
length of bees' tongues; foul brood legisla-
tion in different countries; adulteration of
honey and wax ; suppression of fumigation
of bees sent from one country to another.
The last topic is to be in the hands of our
esteemed countryman, Mr. Dadant.
Sampling Honey in the best way is a
matter of considerable importance. At fairs
or other exhibitions it is important thai noth-
ing untidy shall be done, and it is Ijy no
means a pleasant thingto have a spoon passed
from one person to another or dipped into
honey after having been in the nioulh. The
luatler is perhaps more strongly accentuated
in the case of selling honey by samples, for a
prospective customer, on being handed a
sample of honey in a spoon, has no means of
knowing who the preceding taster has been,
and in some cases he will piumply say he
wants no honey rather than to put in his
mouth that which may previously have been
in a mouth that was filthy or diseased. The
best way to have no suggession of unclean-
ness is to avoid the use of anything the sec-
ond time — in other words, to throw away
immediately whatever has been used once.
A common wooden toothpick serves a fair
purpose, and for sampling comb honej' there
may be nothing better, for with a toothpick
there is no need to break open more than one
cell. For extracted honey something a little
broader than a toothpick would be better.
Some have splints specially prepared, and it
might be interesting to learn from those of
experience what is the best and most con-
venient thing.
Spraying Fruit-Trees in Bloom. —
An editorial in the Farmers' Review, after
speaking of the harm to bees, says :
It has also been discovered that the poison
is equally destructive to the life of the pollen,
even when the amount of poison is only 9 to
10 parts in 10,000. Even two parts in 10,000
has been frequently found fatal to the pollen.
The danger to the pollen is, however, greatly
lessened by the fact that the blossoms do not
all open at once, but the process extends over
several days. In a clump of five apple-blos-
soms the central one opens first, and spraying
at that time kills the pollen in only these
open blossoms.
Crate, Rack, or Super.— Something of
a controversy is now on in the British Bee
.lournal as to the proper term to use for the
receptacles on the hives that hold sections.
The supply catalogs and some of the corres-
pondents have it " crate," while the journal
insists it should be " rack." They might do
worse than to compromise by using the word
in almost universal use in this country —
'•super." Unfortunately, while there is
unanimity in this country as to the written
word, the spoken word is by no means always
the same. It is just as much out of the way
to say '•sooper"in place of ''super "as it
would be to say " coor" in place of "cure."
Moving Bees. — The distance bees can
safely be moved— that is, without danger of
their returning to the old location unless
special precautions aie taken — is a matter
that depends upon circumstances. It may be
two feet, or it may be two miles, much
depending upon the timeofyear. After bees
stop flying in the fall, and up to the lime
when they begin to ^rather in the spring, they
may be moved any number of inches or feet,
and there will be little danger of any return-
ing to the old place, because each time they
fly out they do more or less marking of the
location.
At a time when they are gathering daily,
if forage iS so plenty that they do not fly as
much as a mile from home — providing such a
supposition is admissable — then a removal of
a mile or more from home would not be likely
to be followed by the return of bees to the
old location. If they should be working
upon basswood five miles away, then a re-
moval of two, three, or five miles in the line
of that flight might be followed bj' the return
of a considerable number of bees to the old
place, for after working on the trees with
which they are already acquainted, it will be
in accord with their former habit to make a
bee-line for the old home.
Late Feeding of Sugar Syrup — as
late as the present date, or at any time dur-
ing the winter — should only be mentioned to
be condemned. If, unfortunately, a colony
is still short of stores, supply the deficiency
either by means of combs of honey or of
"Good" candy. If the work is carefully
done, a hive may be opened and a comb of
honey placed close up to the cluster of bees
/without seriously disturbing them. If you
ffhave no surplus combs of honey, take an
" empty frame and fill it with sections of
honey, trimming off enough to make them fit
in the frame, then hang the frame of sections
in the hive. If the bees of the colony extend
below the bottom-bars, combs or sections
may be shoved under for their use, providing
there is a sufficient space under the bottom-
bars, as there is in many cases at the present
dav in winter.
Honey Jimcracks. — ''The following is
recommended in Progres Apicole," says
Gleanings in Bee-Culture. "For want of a
better name we will call them ' honey jim-
cracks.' They are doubtless good in both
French and English:"
Mix together one quart of honey, one quart
of powdered sugar, one quart of fresh butter,
and the juice of two oranges. Incorporate
with this, slowly, a little fine wheat flour, and
make a dough of it thick enough to be rolled
out ; knead it, and beat it for several minutes,
and Anally roll it out with a rolling-pin in
layers about half an inch thick. Cut out
round cakes, like biscuit, and bake them on a
light plate, greased with butter, with moder-
ate heat.
Do Bees Pierce Grapes '?— Mr. Gerloni
relates in the Austrian Bee Journal that being
in a region where grapes are largely culti-
vated, his neighbors charged his bees with the
destruction of grapes. He invited them to a
test. Clusters of grapes of 28 varieties were
740
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 21, 1901.
placed for the bees Sept. 25, but were left un-
touched the entire day. Next day the clusters
of grapes were sprinkled with honey-water.
They were vehemently attacked by the bees,
the sweetened water licked up clean, yet not a
berry injured. September 29 the clusters
were changed, sprinkled with honey-water,
and five berries in each cluster pierced with a
needle. They were promptly licked ofl, the
punctured berries emptied, and the rest left
whole. The next day ten grapes were punc-
tured in each cluster, and these alone cleaned
out, except two or three berries that had
probably been accidentally injured. Black
Portuguese grapes were an exception ; ripen-
ing early they burst open, especially in wet
weather, and, of course, were then cleaned
out by the bees.
A Good Word for the Blacks is
spoken in the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal.
A. E. Willcutt has blacks with a tongue-reach
of 16-100 inch which gather more than his
Italians with 19-100, and he thinks if blacks
had had as fair a chance as Italians the
blacks would be ahead.
\ YVeekly Budget. I
That Texas Hobsemint paragraph, on
page 706, was written by Mr. Louis SchoU.
instead of Editor Root. The wrong credit is
clearly an error on our part, as we have since
noticed that it is plainly stated in the original
article from which the paragraph was taken,
that Mr. SchoU was requested to write about
the horsemint, after Mr Root had departed
from Texas. We are glad to make this cor-
rection.
Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, writing us Nov.
10, said :
Friend York:— When at Buffalo I prom-
ised Mr. H. G. Acklin that I would come up
to their December convention at Minneapolis,
Minn. I have just received notice that it will
be held the 4th and 5th. This throws me out
of attending the Chicago convention. I am
sorry, as I had anticipated having an enjoy-
able time. Yours truly,
W. '/.. Hutchinson.
Well, that is too bad. But the meeting
will be a good one, anyway. Of course, all
would like to have Mr. Hutchinson present,
but what will be our loss will be Minnesota's
gain. ^
Mr. W. J. C'RAia, the editor of the Cana-
dian Bee Journal, and withal a very pleasant
gentleman, was present at the Buffalo con-
vention, and has this to say editorially :
As was previously announced, the exercises
consisted principally of ijuestions and an-
swers. We were afraid at first that this kind
of program would become monotonous and
tiresome, but the interest continued right
through, and very much valuable information
was imparted. Mr. E. R. Root proved him-
self an ideal chairman, and perfect order and
good humor prevailed during the sessions.
Dr. A. B. Mason, the genial secretary, has a
happy faculty of making people feel at home..
We Canadians were treated with the greatest
possible courtesy and consideration ; pleased
to say we had agood representation.
I The Buffalo Convention. I
i? %
^^(fy(n?t\(fyffyffy(fy(f\(f\(f>(f>(t>(fy(f>'^f\^t>'^f>^f>(t^^t>'^»>'^f>^^>^*>?^^s^
(Continued from page "2".;
USING FOUND.\TION FOR COMB HONEY.
"Is it desirable to use drawn founda-
tion in securing comb honey?"
Mr. Wilcox — Some years ago I was
called upon to conduct some experi-
ments on the subject of the use of full
sheets of foundation and small
starters, and, from those experiments, I
might say that the result showed that
the more comb I gave them the quicker
they were filled and finished, hence the
drawn comb was the first filled and
finished, the full sheets of foundation
next, and the small starters last. This
question probably relates to the prac-
tice of putting in a sheet of foundation
to be drawn out half length or more, to
be cut up and used in sections as
starters for the bees. I am satisfied
with that experiment and subsequent
experience, that the bees produced
more honey if supplied with combs fully
drawn. At the same time, I do not
think it practicable for the majority of
bee-keepers to do it. The difficulty or
trouble of getting them drawn out bal-
ances the gain, and I prefer to put in
the starters and let the bees draw them
out and then fill them.
Mr. Heise— I think probably Mr.
Wilcox has the key to the question. I
thought probably this referred to the
artificially drawn combs. Probably it
does not.
Mr. Betsinger — I hate awfully to let
it stand in that form. My experience
is that they will use foundation, do
better work and fill the section quicker
than they will with the foundation that
has been drawn out previously, espe-
cially if it has been carried over one
season.
FLAVOR OF RED CLOVER HONEY.
" Can any one here tell the flavor of
red clover honey?"
J. F. Moore, of Ohio— We have had
a good deal of red clover honey down
in our section this summer. It is a
thing we have never experienced be-
fore, and generally after the middle of
July the bees seemed to settle back and
think they have done all that is neces-
sary, but this summer they have gath-
ered considerable honey from red clo-
ver. It is very much like white clover.
When you open a hive in which it has
been gathered freshly it reminds you
of white clover. It seemed to be very
white and nice. The bees were at
work on red clover and there wasn't
anything else to gather. It is in Sen-
eca County, Ohio. Some of the bees
were pure Italian; most of them were
hybrids. Hybrids are kept more easily
than Italians in our section. There
was white clover early in the season,
but later there was very little of it.
Mr. McEvoy — Every kind of bee has
gathered honey this year from red
clover.
Dr. Mason — I suppose there are a
good many of those present who have
robbed bumble-bees' nests, and if you
have, and tasted the honey, you know
just about how red clover honey tastes.
It has a real, nice flavor.
Mr. Hershiser — Referring to the sec-
retary's remark about bumble-bees
gathering red clover honey, I would
like to know if bumble-bees do not
gather other honey than red clover
honey.
Dr. Mason — I think the flavor of red
clover predominates. I have tasted of
it quite a good many times in different
apiaries, and the parties have called
my attention to it as having been
gathered from red clover
HONEV FERMENTING IN THE COMB.
"Will honey ferment in the comb?"
Mr. Wilcox — I know it will.
Mr. McEvoy — Yes.
Dr. Mason — That depends on where
it is kept. I believe.
Mr. Wilcox — Whenever it is kept
warm enough to absorb moisture, and
once the moisture clings to the honey,
and if it is continued warm and moist,
it will ferment. If it is kept warm and
dry it is all right. It must absorb the
moisture first to ferment.
COMBS OF CANDIED HONEY.
" What is the best method of hand-
ling combs thatcontain candied honey,
in the spring?"
Dr. Mason — Uncap it and give it to
strong colonies.
Mr. Moore — I would advise uncap-
ping it and pouring water on the comb
where it is candied. Bees will use it up.
Dr. Mason — If the honey is moist
YOU need not pour any water on it. If
it is dry. pour on some water.
W. L. Coggshall — I would just pile
those hives up with the candied combs
outdoors where the bees could have ac-
cess to them, and that honey you can
take and put in a wax-extractor and
liquefy it.
Dr. Mason — If it is moist, you would
not need to do that way.
W. L. Coggshall — I wouldn't pour
any water on the coinbs.
" WHAT IS A TESTED QUEEN?"
Mr. Wilcox — One you have tried and
found to be good for nothing.
Mr. Heise — Is that the only way we
can tell tested queens?
Dr. Mason — The other is when it has
been tried and found to be good.
Mr. Benton — I think some one who
has asked that question would like to
know what a tested queen is. In pop-
ular parlance a, tested queen is one
that has been kept until we have seen
Nov. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
741
her worker-bees and know from their
markings that they belong to the race
they are supposed to belong to. A
queen is partially tested as soon as you
have seen her deposition of e^'-gs, when
you have observed that she has depos-
ited eggs and laid them regularly; but
in the popular parlance, it is a queen
whose workers you have seen and
which come up to the standard of the
race she is supposed to belong to. You
can carry a test somewhat farther and
test her for her queen progeny, test
her for their gathering qualities; but I
think everybody understands the pop-
ular test.
Mr. McEvoy — I like a queen to lay
her eggs so that when they come to
cap the cells they will all be capped in
one day. I do not like an irregular
layer.
Mr. Benton — I want the brood to be
in solid. It develops better because of
its mutual heat. The developing in-
sect develops a great deal of heat, and
we can test a queen from the appear-
ance of her eggs.
Mr. Moore — I have an idea that the
man who asked that last question
would like to know if he has an Italian
queen. How would j'ou know the
progeny? What is the marking of an
Italian bee?
Mr. Benton — The first and prime
point is three yellow bands on the an-
terior part of the abdomen, that is,
directly under the wings or near the
thorax of the insect. Not necessarily
light, because there are dark and light
Italians, and I should say that the
queen that gave workers showing those
three yellow bands and the general
large form of the Italian, with a
brownish tint over the body that is due
to the fuzz on the body, would come up
to the standard of an Italian queen,
and the more even that marking is the
better it would be in that particular
respect. An evenness in the points.
every worker like every otlier.
A Member — I would like to ask Mr.
Benton if he would deem a bee an
Italian that showed four bands?
Mr. Benton — I would say that was a
queen that had been produced by selec-
tion, but I would not require that the
workers had four bands in order to
come up to the Italian standard.
A Member -Suppose most of the
bees had four bands, but once in a
while you saw one with only three,
would that be against her?
Mr. Benton — Decidedly. I would
not call that a pure Italian bee.
Mr. Wilcox -I agree with Mr. Ben-
ton, that uniformity of markings is the
most important point.
MISCELI.ANKOCS MATTEKS.
The secretary then read a letter in-
viting the members of the National
Bee-Keepers' Association to the an-
nual meeting of the Ontario Bee-
Keepers' Association, to be held at
Woodstock, Ont., in December.
Mr. Heise warmly seconded the invi-
tation to the members.
Mr. York — I would move that we as
an association accept the invitation so
courteously tendered by our friends
from across the border, and as many
as possible attend their meeting.
The motion was seconded by Dr.
Mason and carried.
Mr. York-It seems to me it would
be well to have a committee on resolu-
tions to report at the close of the ses-
sion.
On motion, Messrs. Abbott, C. C. Mil-
ler and N. D. West were appointed.
Mr. Benton--I move that the con-
vention adjourn tomorrow at 1 o'clock
and meet at the Epworth Hotel in the
evening.
The motion was seconded.
Dr. Mason — I move as a substitute
that those who wish to go to the Pan-
American can do so, and the others re-
main here.
After a brief discussion the substi-
tute was carried.
Mr. York — I move that the matter of
selecting a badge be referred to the
Board of Directors.
The motion was seconded by Dr.
Mason, and carried.
Mr. York — On the matter of score
card, I would move that the same com-
mittee that acted last year be re-ap-
pointed to act this year. I think Mr.
N. E. France, of Wisconsin, was chair-
man of that committee. Mr. Hutchin-
son was also a member, and Mr. Her-
shiser.
The motion was seconded.
Dr. Mason — If I remember correctly,
the score card committee last year
made a recommendation and it was
adopted by the Association.
Mr. York — They reported after the
close of the convention, by mail, and
that report was printed with the rest
of the proceedings. With the consent
of the seconder, I will withdraw my
motion.
Mr. Hershiser — I move that a new
committee be appointed to revise the
work of the old committee.
Mr. York— I move that this conven-
tion select a committee of five to re-
port on the score card before we ad-
journ, as recommended last year.
The motion was seconded by Dr.
Mason, and carried.
Mr. York — I nominate Mr. Benton.
Mr. Wilcox — I nominate F. Greiner.
A Member— I nominate Mr. Miller,
of Canada.
The score card is a card recom-
mended to be used by judges at honey
exhibits.
Mr. Hershiser — I nominate Mr.
Hutchinson.
Mr. Heim--I nominate Mr. Hershiser.
Mr. Benton--I would prefer to with-
draw in favor of somebody else.
A Member — Then I would nominate
W. F. Marks, of New York.
The motion was put and carried.
It was moved, seconded and carried
that the roll of those present be called
by States. The result was as follows:
Massachusetts 2; New York 42, Penn-
sylvania 8; New Jersey 3; West Vir-
ginia 2; Cuba 1; Texas 2; Missouri 2;
Iowa 1; Minnesota 3; Wisconsin 1; Illi-
nois 4; Indiana 1; Michigan 4; Ohio 8;
Canada ix; Maryland 1; Connecticut 1;
New Hampshire 1: Jamaica 1.
QUESTION ON UUEEN-RE.ARING.
"How many days after the egg
hatches in a queen-cell does the queen
cease to live on the royal jelly, and
what does she then live on?"
Mr. Benton It varies from 5|^ to 6
days; in other words, she lives on this
royal jelly or larval food during her
whole larval period: the cell is then
sealed over, and .she then lives on the
fatty tissues derived from the food she
ate in the larval condition. The tip of
the abdomen, or nymph, is inserted in
the food which remains there. I ex-
press the opinion that by absorption
she does take from this food something
in addition, but for the greater part I
should suppose that she lives from the
food deposits or tissue derived from
the food she had eaten while in the
larval period. The pupai of many in-
sects remain over winter-large num-
bers— and some insects remain two or
three years in this condition before
they come out, and then we have the
17-year locust that remains 17 years in
this condition, living on the absorbed
tissue.
Mr. Betsinger — A similar question
was discussed within the last two
years, and I asked the question how
the queen took this food, and of course
the answer was given similar to what
Mr. Benton gave; but I see he has
added that she takes the balance of the
food through the abdomen.
Mr. Sleeper — I think I have seen in-
dications that this substance called
royal jelly is largely absorbed by the
posterior portion of the abdomen dur-
ing this time after the larvae is sealed.
Mr. Benton--It might be well for me
to say that I expressed an opinion
merely; I have a little basis for that
opinion. I have noticed that if cells
are shaken at a certain period, this
juncture of the pupa in the queen-cell
is broken, and she drops to the bottom:
of the cell and may never emerge after
that — it depends upon the state of de-
velopment if she emerges; and if she
emerges, she may be somewhat infer-
ior through having dropped down. M)'
inference was that she was deprived of
the final part of the nourishment.
Dr. Mason — I think I have seen cases
of that kind where the queen was de-
tached in that way in an early period
of the development. It injured the
queen very materially.
Mr. Benton — The idea would then be
not to handle queens roughly, or to
move them as little as possible until
the perfect queen has emerged.
MEIIBEKSHIP QUERY.
" If I fail to renew my membership
and renew it afterwards, when does
the renewal date from?"
Dr. Mason — The renewal dates from
the time you renew. If you are a mem-
ber of the Association and you fail to
renew that membership by the time
the year expires, 3'ou cease to be a
member; so, those of you who are mem-
bers, don't entertain the idea that 30U
can have the protection of the Associa-
tion and pay at the end of the calendar
year.
DOES COMB COI.OR AFFECT COLOR OF
EXTRACTED HONEV?
" Does the color of comb make any
difference in the color of extracted
honey?"
Mr' McEvoy — Take old combs and
sprinkle them well with water, shake
them, and see if you don't get some-
thing a little the color of tea. Take a
white comb, shake it and see what you
get from that. Now, after a comb has
been used several times and extracted,
the bees have cleaned it out so much
that YOU cannot see much difference,
Mr. Betsinger — I made it a business
to attend a good many fairs and I have
seen some pretty fine honey; I have
made a great point to find out where it
came from, and I believe there is an
exhibition today in our State, and the
742
AMERICAN BEE fOURNAL,
Nov. 21, 14< 1.
extracted honey was taken from old
combs. There was also honey there
taken from new combs. It has not
taken the first premium because of its
lack of color. Now, I will admit that
you can wash old combs and get color
from them, but it is not honey. Honey
doesn't take on color. You can lay it
down in the dirt and it will still be
white.
Mr. Wilcox — I would like to ask you
if your first extracting^ is not a little
darker in color than the next honey-
flow.
Mr. Betsinger — I would say, no, sir.
The honey taken the second time is no
whiter than the first, but the season in
this State is not long- enough to get
honey from any one blossom; you
would have to extract every day to get
the same quality; our flowers vary
from day to day.
Mr. McEvoy — I have been 18 years
an inspector in the Province of On-
tario, and I think very few men have
more thoroughly tested the quality of
old and new combs, and my experience
has been that the old combs do give it
a shade of color. You will get, per-
haps, a little better color of honey from
one colony than another.
Mr. Betsinger — Do you mean to say
that one colony gets whiter honey than
the other from the same field?
Mr. McEvoy — I would not say the
same field.
Mr. Davidson — I would like to add
my experience to that of Mr. McEvoy.
I have been in the extracted-honey
business a good deal, and while I do
not know that honey will takeon color,
I do know that honey taken at the
same time stored in light and dark
combs will have different colors. I
have tested it in our extracting in
Texas. The bees store the honey in
the brood-combs sometimes, and I have
to separate those combs and keep them
separate from my regular extracting-
combs in order to keep from coloring
the whole lot of honey. I know it is
gathered at the same time and by the
same colony.
"Jamaica" — My opinion is that the
comb has a lot to do with the color of
the honey, because down our way all
our honey is pure white. I have known
the same honej' to be stored in dark or
old combs and it brings out a dark
honey with a very inferior flavor.
A Member — It occurs to me that per-
haps there may be a double meaning.
Mr. Betsinger may refer to old combs
that have been used a number of years
for extracting, and some one else may
refer to combs that have been used in
the brood-chamber recently and then
put into the hive and honey extracted
from them. In that case my experi-
ence would be that the honey is some-
what colored.
W. L. Coggshall — Mr. Davidson, in
talking of that matter, said he got more
or less bee-bread in the honey, which
made it a little bit colored. Mine is
almost all buckwheat honey, and, of
course, you couldn't see much differ-
ence there. I think there is hardly
enough difference to make it worth
while to bother with.
Dr. Mason — This is an important
matter. Some of you produce dark
honey only, and that is all, and your
opinion isn't worth much. It is only a
few years since, that I advocated this
matter that it did color, and I was
laughed at; and no longer ago than
two years, in the Philadelphia conven-
tion, when I spoke of this. President
Whitcomb said, " Do you believe that
honey dissolves the wax?" Mrs. Har-
rison recently said something on this
subject in one of the bee-papers, "When
you want nice, light honey get nice,
new combs." Now, I have had a good
deal of experience in this line, and this
year I have been more thoroughly con-
vinced of it than ever. I have combs
that had been used as brood-combs for
years, and that had not been used as
brood-combs for several years past, and
I put them in supers with combs that
were never used for brood-rearing: I
uncapped the old and the new and ex-
tracted, the old combs in one extractor
and the new ones in another extractor
— and the co or was so different that
you wouldn't believe it was the same
honey. Now, I am so thoroughly con-
vinced of this that, although I have
about six full extracting combs to the
colony, I am going to destroy every
one of them and put new ones in place
of them, so that I can have honey not
colored by old combs.
Mr. Betsinger — I may be behind the
times, but I am not behind in long
years of experience. I have extracted,
of course, more or less honey from old
and new combs, and I would not give
a snap of my finger for the difference
between old and new combs.
Mr. McEvoy — I don't wish to be un-
derstood as saying that using old
combs is going to give you a dark-col-
ored honey. I would use it several
times before I would think it suffi-
ciently washed out.
Mr. Terrell — I wish to endorse what
Mr. McEvoy has said. The question
is whether it refers to old combs that
have been used for years for extracted
honey. This season I have taken
combs from old colonies, placed them
on top for extracting purposes, and the
first honey extracted was decidedly
colored, but as I kept on taking off the
honey, the last extracting there was
not very much difference between the
honey from the old combs and the new
ones.
Mr. Benton — When the honey is first
gathered it is about three-quarters
water. Now, if pure water would take
on the coloring, why wouldn't three-
quarters water and one-quarter sugar?
W. L. Coggshall — In sending some
bees down to Cuba I sent along some
combs, and I left from 10 to 12 pounds
of honey in each colony, and it took
them that whole season down there to
get that dark honey out of the colonies.
The bees kept carrying it up, and it
took but a very little dark honey to
color the white honey.
F. J. Miller — If there is any person
who is doubtful about this, if he will
pour water into a comb and allow that
water to stand half an hour and then
pour it out, he will see a decided black
color; and if he refills that comb the
color will gradually grow lighter. I
have invariably found that I could not
make an exhibition article of honey
from those brood-combs. Commer-
cially speaking, it would not matter,
probably, but if you were doing it for
exhibition purposes it would make a
decided score against you.
Mr. Wilcox — AH the arguments go to
show that the first extracting is darker
colored than the second, but they don't
show why, because that color comes
from the comb itself, or the accumula-
tion of dust and dirt that may be in
that comb during the winter season. I
have supposed that it was an accumu-
lation of smoke or dirt which might
have gotten into the combs during the
winter. I don't know yet whether that
coloring is in the comb itself. I shall
be slow to destroy my old black combs.
I shall keep them and extract from
them.
Mr. Betsinger — The gentlemen men-
tion their first extracting as being a
little colored. Honey isn't water; it is
an oil. You can not make a wash with
honey.
Mr. McEvoy — Allow me to explain a
little. A member speaks about the
first extracting of honey. Now, with
me I work so as to have no honey ex-
tracted except clover, and the clover
from the white combs is a shade whiter
on the start than it is from the old
combs.
Mr. Betsinger — If you were in a lo-
cality where you didn't have one drop
of honej' in the brood-chamber — none
at all to come up into the surplus cham-
ber— then I must say you are a happy
man to extract honey.
Mr. McEvoy — I uncap between fruit,
plum and clover, and I convert the
honey into brood feed. Mr. Heise
knows the system I follow, and Mr.
Miller knows it. I think that I can
prove my case.
Mr. Betsinger — Does any mustard
grow in that locality?
Mr. McEvoy — I dare say you could
find some, but I myself don't know
where it is.
N. L. Stevens, of New York — Is the
honey stored in those dark combs af-
fected any in flavor by storing in them?
Dr. Mason — No, sir; it takes a fine
taste to tell it. No man who chews to-
bacco can tell the difference.
SMOKING BEES WITH TOBACCO.
" Is it detrimental to the bees to use
tobacco-smoke whenever necessary to
open hives?"
Mr. McEvoy — I don't think it is nec-
essary ever to use tobacco-smoke.
Mr. Benton — I would say, decidedly,
never use tobacco-smoke on them.
Dr. Mason — I have a strain of bees
with which I don't think of using
smoke or veil. I take out the combs
and shake the bees off without ever
getting a sting.
Mr. Benton — I think there are times
when some have claimed that tobacco-
smoke was useful in introducing
queens, but I should think that being
strong-scented and producing a strong
odor in the hive would probably con-
duce to the receiving of a queen, and I
do not think it is permanently detri-
mental to use tobacco-smoke on queens.
Mr. Moore — Does tobacco-smoke
have a more detrimental effect in con-
quering very cross bees than just ordi-
nary smoke?
Mr. Benton — I think if used on the
ordinary cross Italian bee it is a good
thing, but not on Cyprians.
Dr. Mason — I have sometimes tried
it in introducing queens, and it has
seemed to be a help.
Mr. Hershiser — I tried uniting colo-
nies of bees, or nuclei, to make the
colonies strong enough to winter, some
years ago, and gave them so much that
it made them sick, so that they drop-
ped dovs-n to the bottom of the hive;
but after they " came to " again they
Nov. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
743
proceeded to fight it out in the ordinary
way.
Mr. Davidson — I have introduced
hundreds of queens by using^ tobacco-
smoke, and very successfully, but I
would like to add a word of caution — it
ought not to be done at any other time
than late at night. The way I use it
for introducing is right at night; just
give them a few puffs of tobacco-smoke
and put in your queen — enough to
make them so they all feel the effects
of the smoke. It is the most success-
ful way I have tried in ten years of in-
troducing queens; but it requires cau-
tion to keep down robbing. I use com-
mon smoking tobacco, and smoke them
till I know they all feel the effect of it.
You can tell by the noise they make
running around. I used to use it in
the middle of the day, but when
smoked in the middle of the day a few
strange bees are apt to come in.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
The matter of election of officers for
the ensuing year was then taken up
and the following nominations made:
For President, W. Z. Hutchinson
was nominated by Dr. Mason.
Mr. Abbott moved that the rule be
suspended, and the secretary be author-
ized to cast the unanimous ballot of
the Association for W. Z. Hutchinson
as president for the ensuing year. The
motion was seconded and carried, the
secretary cast the ballot, and Mr.
Hutchinson was declared duly elected.
For vice-president, O. L. Hershiser
was nominated by Mr. Benton. Mr.
Hershiser's nomination was seconded,
and on motion of Mr. Abbott the rules
were suspended and the secretary in-
structed to cast the ballot for Mr. O.
L. Hershiser, who was then declared
elected vice-president for the ensuing
year.
Dr. A. B. Mason was nominated as
secretary, and duly elected in the same
manner.
The convention then adjourned till
7:30 p.m.
fContiaued next week.)
Qiueen-Breedin§ and Improvement in Bees.
BY A. NORTON.
IT is a matter for rejoicing that so much attention is now
being given to the improvement of stock in the apiary. In
one sense the movement is not new. For years individuals
have worked along this line and have done what they could
independently, some in one direction and some in another.
Even yet the movement has not become systematic ; but it has
grown so much in magnitude and is atttacting so many of our
most systematic apiarists and queen-breeders that we may ex-
pect to see it assume more and more systematic shape each
season, if results do not prove too temporary to warrant its
continuance. At least the united efforts of breeders will dem-
onstrate how much dependence may be placed upon this hope
of improving our races of bees, so that more intelligent esti-
mates can be formed in the near future than at present. Even
yet there is room for betterment in the aims of our improvers,
some of whom decry what others are bringing about, and nar-
row their desires down to certain points, to the exclusion of
other desirable ones. But we may hope that broader and so
more uniform aims will soon prevail, and that then all breed-
ers will be pursuing the same parallel paths.
Through but few pages of earth's record can we trace
back bees and breeding. Geologically we know bees of sundry
species as early as the Eocene age of the Cenozolc (or Mamma-
lian) time. The oldest known specimens are found preserved
in the Eocene amber, or fossilized wax, on the shores of the
Haltic Sea. That was about the time of the first appearance
of flowering plants and trees, and before there was any one to
domesticate and breed them. There were none even to love
the sweetness of their garnerings till the cave bear came, un-
less animals of some other then existing orders were fond of
honey.
How long honey-bees have been the associates of man as
domesticated Insects can not be even conjectured. Histor-
ically, the searches Into this ([uestlon that we have seen from
lime to time in the American Bee Journal have carried us well
into antiquity, but have not brought us to any answer. They
have shown, however, that anything like intelligent hand-
ling and careful breeding is by no means ancient, and that
our present improvements have been accomplished within a
short period. While we should avoid over-conservativeness,
or '• old fogyishness," in regard to progress, we may, on the
other hand, get into over-enthusiasm in our visionary hopes.
In considering the subject of breeding bees, and the pos-
sihilllies that lie therein, men are liable to let preconceived
ideas carry their hopes. If not beyond the possible, at least
beyond the probable. Yet any who may have excessive ex-
pectations of what breeding may bring forth, are likely more
wrong in their premises than in their conclusions. If the
theories we are just now lold we must believe or be behind
the times, are true, that life evoluted from dead njattor and
man originated In some monkey, and soon back In formless
protoplasm, why need we limit our ambition In the line of
breeding? Let us produio Apis dorsata, or something just as
good, from the bees we already have, instead of searching
Asiatic jungles for them. l..et us breed bees from wasps, or,
perchance.develop mosquitoes into storers of nectar instead of
probers for blood.
Domestication hastens variation and Increases It: but the
balance of variation and heredity will always continue stable.
Natural selection, therefore, may be considered as tJod's pre-
ventive of degeneracy, and not a substitute for creation ; and,
as surely as Ood circumscribed the ocean. He has also set the
bounds of propagating organisms — " So far shait thou change,
and no f\irther." Logic may lead us astray In these matters.
If we reach the North Pole and keep on traveling, we will be
getting away from It. So it is with truth, which is the ouly
science : for logic, assumption, and speculation are not sci-
ence.
Take, for Instance, the familiar Illustration of the deer
and the wolves. The fastest deer can save their lives and
breed faster offspring ; and thus their speed has been attained,
say logic, assumption and speculation. This necessitates the
assumption that they once were slow. Do we know this to be
a fact ? How did they become slow if not by a process of evo-
lution from some other condition ? But, dismissing this little
dllHculty, we give assumption, speculation and logic full ])lay,
and conceive that once the wolves were so slow they could not
catch the deer : and the deer were so slow they could not get
away from the wolves. But the stern necessity for catching
deer, and the pressing need of eluding wolves, have.tended to
make the wolves so fleet that they can overtake the deer, and
the deer so swift that they can keep ahead of the; wolves.
By like reasoning from assumption, we can prove that
bees once had tongues too short to get the nectar from corolla-
tubes ; so how did they live, unless the corolla-tubes were too
short to withhold their nectar ? Then the flowers so length-
ened their tubes as to bar bees from getting their nectar and
cross-fertilizing them : and the bees' tongues so lengthened
that they could get the nectar and fertilize the flowers. Of
744
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 21, 1901.
course this was all since the time when flowers had no nectar
at all, and bees had no use for honey, but made their living in
some entirely different way. However, we must sadly admit
that no assumption and lo!?ic based on natural selection can
satisfactorily explain the uniformity of color in worker-bees,
especially when we consider how variable in this respect are
both queens and drones — the progenitors — and how shockingly
they disregard all color-lines in mating :' also, how little they
could tell (if they wanted to know) what complexions their
children would have, from the looks of each other.
But coming more directly to tlie subject of breeding- bees.
we really face the fact — which in proportion as it is known
constitutes so much true science — that by careful selection we
may induce changes in our bees in various directions until we
reach the limit which the Creator has established : but beyond
that we can go no further. The evolution of the yacht has
shown continual increase of speed for many years. But the
fact that this year's " Constitution "couldn't outsail last year's
" Columbia " awakens us to the realization of what we should
have already known, that the speed of sailing-vessels can not
increase forever. A swifter yacht than '■Columbia'" might
yet be built; but some vessel must some time be built than
which none can be raad(> any swifter. And so with bees, or
poultry, or anything else domesticated. But we should strive
to improve as far as improvement can be made. If we take
care of the improvements, the limits will take care of them-
selves.
The writer does not assume to tell eminent and successful
queen-specialists what they should do to better their strains;
he will be content if he brings out any established truth that
they may have overlooked, or the "laity" have forgotten. It
is a mistake to assume that development can be carried on in
only one direction at a time. Our Italian bees may be made
(and they have been made) better in more respects than one.
To take any one example among domestic animals: the Hou-
dan fowl was in some period bred into one having a large,
shapely crest and muff, a peculiar comb, regular character-
istics of color, good size, "Teat proliticness in egg-laying, and
small amount of offal, and with the sitting instinct about
entirely bred out. And witli all this the fowl is hardy and
strong. Now all these make a great many features to work
for in the same bre(!d, but tlie result was surely achieved.
And we can find the same to be tru(> of too many varieties of
fowls, cattle, etc., to be mentioned. Henci> we may conclude
that we need not look to long tongues alone in breeding bees.
We can carry on simultaneous improvements in hardiness,
length of life, length of tongue, gentleness, beauty, and other
points, until we reach the bounds of each. Do not, therefore,
di'cry any one of these because it is not what you have been
developing heretofore; and do not be in such great haste to
develop one that you forget to keep up the others. It is true
that inability to control ((ueen-mating is a great handicap:
but <'nougli has already been done to show that progress can
be made despite this obstacle; and, besides, those who make
so much of natural selection must admit that it has less con-
trol of mating of queens and drones than man can exercise.
The idea is often advanced that crossing would be a
means of improving varieties. This does not seem in keeping
with all the facts. If crossing carries the better points of
jiarents into the oft'spriug, it carries the poorer ones as well.
In crossing you cannot say what shall or shall not be perpet-
uated, li'rom its very nature crossing does not carry charac-
teristics bodily from either parent so much as it divides or
averages those of both. If each had one good point carried to
excess, the cross might make a better average; but its greater
variability, resulting in more types to select from, would be
offset by the greater difficulty of making the mongrels uniform
and stable. Hence, there is more hope in selecting from the
best among established varieties, because each step is more
easily kept.
And, tinally, it should be urged upon the masses of apia-
rists to patronize the regular queen-breeder. Especially does
this apply to those who live in districts rich in honey and filled
with bee-keepers. You are far more at your neighbor's mercy
and under the power of wild bees than is the case in any other
kind of stock-raising. The majority of your neighbors will
not try to improve. No matter what you may try to do in the
way of bettering your stock, you must lose it through the
swarms of drones from inferior stock produced around you.
You must, more or less often, have recourse to the permanent
improvements made by breeders who have succeeded in get-
ting places where their own drones mate with their queens.
You thus help yourselves, and at the same time help the
the breeders to maintain the business which you would be sure
to miss should it fail through lack of patronage.
Monterey Co., Calif.
Quotinii the Honey Market— Other Matters.
BY FKANCISCO BROWN.
IWI.SH to add my approval to that portion of Mr. Cooley's
criticism, on page 663, in reference to the commission-
houses quoting fully up-to-date. I am particularly inter-
ested in the market quotations, but I wish them up-to-date.
There is a feature in one of the bee-papers, if 'no more, of
which I distinctly disapprove, in reference to said quotations,
and that is. a house, quoting regularly, depreciating the bee-
keepers'interests by cry of "overstock," or words to that
effect, and creating the impression that the price is going
down, and then saying, "We are not a commission firm.'' This
kind of quotation is simply advertising their own honey. I
wonder if the publishers of that paper would give all the rest
of us a standing " ad " by telling them honey was worth so
and so. I'll warrant the honey-dealer referred to does not tell
his customers that honey is " down," " big crop," etc. I have
dealt with commission-houses in honey for 13 years. Some,
like the Horrie-Wheadon concerns, have treated me scandal-
ously, and others have treated me remarkably fair. Under
the present conditions of business we cannot well get along
without the honest commission men. In some instances the
producers are the gainers by consigning their product — not
selling outright. How? Why, if we have a fancy, gilt-edged
article, it brings the top price when buyers bid against each
other. When we wish to sell outright, maybe only one or two
buyers come along. For my part, I want the commission man,
and I want him to know that I am alive — to my business; that
the house that gets me the best price is the one that handles
my honey. I have been converted to this decision more than
once. To illustrate:
I once had a crop of extracted honey that I wanted to sell
outright. I offered it at 8 cents, and would have taken 7.
After sending him a sample, a commission man wrote: "Send
me your honey — I will sell to best advantage, and you will be
the gainer." I sent it. He put it into small glasses, and sold
it at 16 cents, netting me 1'^ cents a pound. In the course of
time this man sold nearly 50,000 pounds for me, selling my
VO COMBS IN DR. MILLER
Nov. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
745
SAMPLE OF DK. MILLER'S " PAT MUBPHYS."
Half-bushel fl6) Carmen No. 3, weigh 28-!-; lbs.; 3 largest weighed ti lb.
and '>}i oz. The stick lying on them is a foot rule.
Photographed Oct. 11, 1.818.
comb honey for 1(5. IT and 18 cents, when the best cash offer
I received was 11 and 12 cents.
THOSE "HINTS ON HIRED HELP.''
Tell Mr. Hyde (page 564, "Hints on Hired Help in the
Apiary") to be thanlvful indeed that his ideal helper is not to
be found. If conditions would regulate hired help to do all
we want to exact of them. Mr. Hyde and a lot of the rest of
us would be hired help. It provokes rae as much as anyone to
see hired help do things awkwardly, carelessly, or without
thought or judgment, that a little reasoning would obviate.
And yet these very things are necessary, or there would be no
hired help — all would be owners — for it doesn't cost much to
start with bees. Its details, especially, are our capital. So
do not expect hired help to furnish the capital, and give you
the lion's share of the earnings. A banker once asked for a
cashier. Said his friend; " I can send you an honest young
man. who knows nothing- of bankinii;." "That is the man I
want," exclaimed the banker, "for I can teach him my meth-
ods and system, and he will not have to unlearn knowledge
that I do not want in my business." Much so with hired help,
especially in the apiary. Either make a partner of the
man at once, or hold yourself in reserve, and let him realize
he is only a part of the machine.
LOSS OF BEES BY COMBS MELTING DOWN.
In regard to Mr. Gerelds" loss of bees by melting down
(page 5k6), the lack of water I do not believe had anythinir
to do with the bees. All the colonies probably melted down
within the space of an hour: when the breeze lulled had they
been out in a 10-acre field the loss would not have been lO
percent, if that. We have long, hot summers in Florida, often
getting up to 95 and lUO degrees, and last year, in August,
it was 1U5 and 106 degrees on two different days, still I did
not lose a single colony from melting down, and in several
apiaries that I am acquainted with there was no loss whatever
in this line. If Mr. (Jerelds will raise his colonies on benches,
and will put the two rows of hives about eight feet apart,
then put a roof over them, extending it well over the sides, ho
will have a comfortable place for his bees, and also a comfort-
able one to work in.
In Florida a large ant is very troublesome to bees, often
destroying a good colony in a single nijjht. If there are any
to contend with, liang the benches with wire from above, in-
stead of having leas, or attach to the posts of the shed: thou
daub coal-tar on the wires, and the ants will be rid of.
The most serious charge against shed-apiaries — and I have
four in use, some of them several years — is the failure to get
queens mated in colonies so kept. But to offset this, there is
the satisfaction of havinfr cverythinif under cover, out of tho
rain, and the ease of manipulation when all colonies are closer
together. You can have all under lock and key by using 6-
inch fence-boards on the sides, leaving a space of eight incln-s
or a foot opposite the hive-entrances, and then stretch a strand
or two of barbed wire ali)ng this. For lO-frame hives allow
20 inches space each in length of building. At one end have
your work-room, made bee-tight by use of burlap or mosquito
netting— I use old corn and oats sacks ripped up — in which
have a table and your extracting outlit. I mention the use of
burlaji instead of wire-cloth on account of the latter rustintr
out (juickly in our moist climate. Florida, Sept. 7.
The Afterthought. %
The '*01d Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By E. e. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
SPECIAL FACILITIES FOR MOVING BEES.
It seems that the Atchloys are so inclined to tho poram-
liuhitory, pick-up-and-start kind of boo-keeping that they
li;i\c 200 special hive-shells or cases into which bees and
(■(jnilis are put for moving, and taken out on arrival. As
special wagons also are provided I infer tliat the cases are
made (if light materials — so light, and so much wire screen
that they might crush on the road if the wagon body did not
embrace each one and furnish the strength. How about this?
Is it a winning idea; or is it too much expense? It stops, once
for all, tlie smothering of bees — also the crushing of bees, so
far as tliat comes from combs getting loose and thrashing
around; but it can hardly stop new. weak combs from break-
ing out of the frames. Wonder if the imprisonment of each
colony is supplemented by an outside screen over the whole
concern. That would reduce to a ver}- decided minimum the
stinging of horses. I suppose one idea is that bees which do
not got killed enroute, many of them have their lives short-
ened by what they suffer. If that's the case it may pay to
spend some time and money to have the honey-gatherers ar-
rive at honey Canaan in perfect order. Still my fancy hears
some brother saying. "Too many traps and calamities:" and.
"If I had such an outfit I shouldn't actually get to use it, on
account of the time and fuss it calls for." Page 630.
STACHELHAUSEN AND LARGE BBOOD-CHAMBERS.
Stachelhausen seems to favor decidedlv the large brood-
chamber. He strikes an idea pertaining to the matter which
is not familiar to all of us. Let the queon lay all she can for
a spell early in the season and she wants a partial rest when
the main harvest is on. On the other hand, lot the queen be
obliged to ri'Strict her laying to a mere fraction of what she
is capable of. and her time to avenge herself will probably
come eventually; and very likely it will come just when mod-
erate laying should mean more surplus honey. It occurs to
me that the very worst cases of this could happen in a very
big hive with large frames, if the colony itself came through
very weak in the spring. Page 630.
LEGISLATION FAVORING FRAME HIVES.
Ahal Ye legally appointed inspector, inspect he never so
wisely, cannot inspect to any purpose tho apiary where all
the combs are built crisscross. That is, he can't when foul
brood is nicely beginning in 20 colonies, and none have yet
got putrid or weak. To meet this case, our legislative man,
Hambaugh, wants evoryliody comp<^lled by law to have bees
on actually movable frames. Sounds seductive. But if we
begin with tliat kind of legislation where will the end be?
Where, indeed, till every dog is law-bidden to wag tail,
"Down. left, right, up." as the singing-master would have
him? And what shall wr- answer if some one at the state-
Dr. Miller and Miss Wilson in bee-wagon used lor going to and fron
out-apiaries, hauling heme honey, etc.; drawn by
" lieauty " and " Dandy."
746
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 21, 1901
liouse inquires. " Is it acU'isable to pass elevpii laws for ten
men?" Page t)31.
PACKAGES FOR RETAII.ING EXTRACTED HONEY.
It is not so much by shouting our conclusions at one ;iu-
<ither that we shall conjure up the ultimate truth from the
bottom of the well, as it is by candidly laying our real experi-
ences side and side. Mr. Davenport finds his customers don't
return packages worth a cent. 1 find mine, pretty mucli all
of thorn, so carefully conscientious in the matter that keeping
;i memorandum book, to show where the out pails are, seems
rather a waste' of time. Are my customers so much hifrher in
their moral level than his? Improbable. What then? The
full answer to that question is not likely to be reached except
by a o-ood deal of crrubbing — perchance by a good many grub-
bers, ril only just begin a little at one corner of the subject.
Folks of low-average honesty, if they think (rightly or
wrongly) that they have paid too much for the contents of a
package, will gobble the package itself — as reprisal in part.
1 have several times tried to sell in the city by means of an
intermediary, he to fix his own prices, and the result is a
heavy loss of pails. Page 631.
THE LEAKY HOMEY-BARRFL.
Davenport's experience with barrels should be noted. All
leaked; botli soft wood and hard wood, although dried for two
years. Wax and warrant both failed. The wax cracked: and
as for the warrant, honey doesn't seem to understand the
meaning of a warrant at all. Page 631.
Questions and Answers.
CONDUCTED BV
DR. O. O. MILLER, afareng-o, ni.
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor. 1
Packing Bees for Winter— Other Questions-
1 .11 purchased 40 colonies of black bees, 20 in Falcon
chaff hives and the rest in box-hives. TJie entrances of the
chaff hives arc^ only % by 12 inches. Do you think that large
enough for winter and summer?
'z. Would you advise me to take the inner cover off of the
brood-chamber and put burlap over the frames, and pack with
forest leaves?
LT- 3. Would it he all right to raise the brood-chamber say )4
inch in the summer, or would it caus(> the bees to loaf between
the bottom-board and brood-chamber?
4. The frames have never been manipulated in these
hives, and are badly braced and burr-combed. Would you
advise transferring the bees and using full sheets of foun-
dation?
5. The hives are painted red. Do you think it advisable
to paint them white?
6. Would it be well to leave the packing around the
brood-chamber all summer?
7. Is there any danger of using too much bi-sulphide of
no trouble except
waste to transfer.
DR. MILLER *' TOUCHING
carbon in fumigating the honey? Doi-s it taint the honey?
About how much should one use to fumigate 100 pounds?
Does it matter in regard to quality?
8. I wish to prevent increase. What method would you
recommend? New York.
Answers — 1. For out-door wintering such an entrance is
large enough. For hot weather, and for wintering in the
cellar, I should prefer it much largi-r.
2. That's a good plan.
3. It would be all right.
4. If combs are straight and there
the brace and burr combs, it would be
Just cut away all the superfluous burrs and braces.
5. White is generally prefeiTed, but if hives are in the
shade it makes little difference.
6. Most bee-keepers prefer to remove the packing for
summer.
7. An excess is not likely to do any harm, as it evapo-
rates rapidly. Two tablespoonfuls would be enough, or more
than enough, for 100 lb of honey if placed over the honey
and closed up tight. I think you need pay little attention to
quality. See interesting discussion in the report of the Buf-
falo convention, jiage .5it'.i.
8. I hardly know; there are so many ways. One way is
to double up in the fall to nearly the number you want, and,
if none of them die in winter, to do some more doubling-up in
spring. Another way is to remove the old queen when a
prime swarm issues (if your queens are clipped they will be
destroyed if you let them entirely alone), and then as soon as
the first of the young queens issues — which you may know by
liearing the young queen pipe in the evening — destroy all re-
maining cells; or, return the swarm as often as it issues with
the young queen.
The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bu Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
OUR COUNTRY.
If there is any one thing that should make our hearts
well up in gratitude more than any other thing, it is the
thought of our incomparable country. True, the home
comes nearest to us, and touches our hearts and lives with
the best gifts. But our American homes could not exist
outside of America. Britain is the only other country that
comes within telephone call of us in matter of homey
homes. And Britania pales, as poverty crowds comfort,
health, and even life, from so many of Britain's house-
holds. Think I any boy — the poorest — can safely aspire to
his own beautiful home in this grand American country.
Industry and economy are sure to win thrift ; and the
American who does not reach competency, and a cosy, com-
fortable home, hardly deserves either.
I believe the best gift or possession that any boy or girl
may fall heir to, is a good education. It can not be too
broad or liberal. Even the day-laborer would be vastly
better off with a good education. Were I to train a boy for
the farm, I would have him pursue a course as thorough as
that coveted by the would-be lawyer or physician. I would
urge that he get all he could in the college ; that he go then
to the university for graduate work ; and then it would do
him no harm should he study abroad for a year or two. Do
you say that this would illy fit him for agiculture? I know
it need not, for I have the proof. Isn't it the glory of our
magnificent country that any boy of will, energy and deter-
mination can. all unaided, secure all of this, if he is only so
fortunate as to be an American ? I know he can, for here
again I have the proofs.
I have just been rejoicing in some statistics that fill my
heart with gratitude as an American citizen. Our total
debt now is SI, 100,000,000. It was three times that at the
close of the war. Yet this in the face of the fact that the
war cost our Government more than $6,000,000,000, if we
take direct and indirect expenses, such as pensions, etc., into
account. In 1.S60, when our credit was at the worst, we
could not borrow money for less than 12 percent. Now our
2 percent bonds are at 8 percent premium. Our present
debt is S14 per capita, Russia's is $24, with a great army of
people who are wholly impecunious. Even England's debt
is $75 per capita ; and that of France reaches the alarming
Nov. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
747
sum of $150 per capita. More than this : All the debt-
ladened and burden-bearing countries of Europe are sinking-
deeper and deeper into the slough of debt and despondency,
while America is as steadily and surely rising from under
the weight of even her small obligation. Under our pres-
ent wise management our debt will sink to $600,000,000 in
1908, and will be all wiped out in 1920. I do not need to live
to be nearly as old a man as was my father when he left us,
that I may with the fullest expectancy look to see our be-
loved country wholly free from debt.
If there is one topic that may well claim much time
about the dear home circle table it is this : " Our Country ;
the dearest, truest, best the world knows."
DEBTS.
It is a natural and easy step from national to personal
debt. Would it be far from wrong to say that a major
share of the worry and discouragement of the world comes
through debt ? Lifting the mortgage is the burden that
holds many a man in bondage, and that darkens many a
home. It is a privilege which all of us parents ought
richly to prize, so to influence in the home circle that our
dear ones may never smart under the severe lashings of
debt. My father was a living example of the wisdom of the
scriptural text, " The wages of him that is hired shall not
abide with thee over night until the morning." The com-
mand, " Owe no man anything," meant to my father just
what it reads. He taught us children to avoid debt as we
would any other evil, and his example always enforced his
teachings.
How much of unrest and discontent his kindly influence
has saved me. I have never known the worry of debt. Nor
has it stopped here. My children have been taught as I
was, and I rest in the firm assurance that they will never
be harrassed by constable, sheriff, or creditors ; and thus,
as " the evils of the fathers are visited upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation," so, too, are the blessed
influences of parents carried down not only to second and
third generations, but to all our descendants.
It is so easy to contract debts when the habit is once
formed. It is so hard to meet them when due. Apd does
not the debt, like any other evil, court the lie and the fraud ?
And so on to the end of the gruesome chapter.
I heard a story the other day like this : A mother told
a boy he must not go bathing. When he came home she
said, "John, you have disobeyed me." He looked her
sheepishly in the face and denied it. She said, "How,
then, comes your shirt on wrong side out?" He replied, "I
turned it crawling through the fence."
As surely as disobedience courts the lie, just so surely
does debt court untruth, fraud, and imposture.
THE noCKINQ-BIRD.
We have him in California. Just the same one that
regales our friends of the Carolinas in the East, with his
incomparable song. He nests in the pepper near our house.
Who would not plant trees if only to attract the bird-song-
sters ? I am glad he and his spouse have children, and lots
of them. The little nestlings call forth the song. Who
could sing if there were no little nestlings ? He is not con-
tent with hymning his delight in the morning, but pours
out his heart's best gratitude at noon and at night ; and
even in the darksome hour of midnight. Just now one is
singing just out my window, as if he would waken, in all,
the delight and gratitude he feels. He has done just this
for me. I am glad of the tre«s, the birds, and I revel in the
songs of our birds. I do not see how one " with clean hands
and a pure heart " can suffer very serious worry or ennui
with a concert of bird-friends ever sounding in his ears.
Satisfied Peoolci
That's the kind that I uu tbe
MARILLA
& Incubators and Brooders.
I If they ate not aatrntieiJ we refuud their
t regulating temperature. niotBtureiiQd
entilation. All these p u in t« explained
^^^ „,,, og. SentfOT two lie stampfl- *
MARIL'Jt IKCUBATOR COMPANT. BOX o . ROSE HIIX. I. f.
Farm Wagon Economy.
The economy of this proposition is not all
fouad in the very reasonable price of the wa^od
itself, but in the great amount of labor it will
save, and its great durability. The Electric
Wheel Co , who make this Electric Handy
Wagon and the how famous Electric Wheels,
have solved the problem of a successful and
durable low-down wagon at a reasonable price.
This wagon is composed of the best material
fhruout— white hickory a.xles, steel wheels, steel
hounds, etc. Guaranteed to
carry -KXiO lbs. These Electric
Steel Wheels are made to fit
any wagon, and make practi-
cally a new wagon out of the
old one. They can be had in
any height desired and any
width of tire up to S inches.
With an extra set of these
wheels a farmer can inter-
change them with his regu-
lar wheels and have a high or
low-down wagon at will.
Write for catalog of the full " Electric Line" to
Electric Wheel Co., Box lo, Quincy, 111.
Please mention Bee Jourual whea writing.
A Good Year for Bees.
This has been a fjood year for bees, with the
exception of a drouth we had in the middle
of the season. I commenced the season with
four colonies, which I increased to 11, and
ffot about 4.50 pounds of honey. The colonies
are all strong, with plenty ot stores to tal<e
them through the winter. I winter them in
a shed built for that purpose, packed iu
straw, and they seem to do well.
The American Bee Journal comes promptly
every Thursday, and I always watch for it
with pleasure. I could not get along without
it. Fred R. Hawkins.
Edgar Co., 111., Nov. 7.
Selling and Shipping Honey.
Mv allention bus been calleil to a letter on
I ( . 11. Harlan.
speaks of
his treatment by B. Presly i^; Co.. ot St. Paul.
In justice loa linn which, I believe, holds the
highest reputation in the Northwest, I must
say that I have shipped honey and apples to
them for the pa^l three years, and not only
have they always gotten me the highest mar-
ket price for my shipments, and that wU.hout
any unreasonable delay, but I have never had
to ask twice for i> check or a settlement.
I am aware Ihat there are quite as many
black sheep amcing commission men as there
are inexpcrieTiccd shippers among honey-pro-
ducers. To the former I will give no quarter
if I ever come across them ; to the latter I will
Courtesy of the Marengo Republican.
CUrRCIl WHERE DR. .Mir.Ll-;K .4TTKNOS.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If yoo are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
f¥ool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which Is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
Flease mention Bee journal when writing
748
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 21, 19< 1.
BEE/KEEPERS' SUPPLIES
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW ITOl FIFTY-TWO PAGE CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U.S.A.
Special Agency, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washing-ton Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
26 cents Cash
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
m -t ^ T^ • '♦*^ '♦'^ wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax. ^ - « -„, slei
low, upon its receipt, or 2S cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, ill.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than anv other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
CAN'T YOU BEAR
one or two cents moreon a rod for PA(iE Fence?
PA(iK WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., ADRIAN, MICH.
Please mention Bee Journal when •wrttras
^mm\h\kmmi^t\i^i\ii\ihi/^^^^^^^^
BEST-
i umm Honey For Sai6 1
f5 ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^.
=f Honey J?<C t^^^^^^S'^^T^P^^'^^^^gj HonevJ?*^ ^
^ w\''-'f''"t-''^"?"'; ' H This is the well- $^
^ h""^ ^^"""f ^H known light-colored ^
•-^ .".r^^f^^^Yf?,,:'.: ,. ^H honey gathered from •:
It
honey at all (
get enough of
Alfalfa extracted.
This is the
known light-colored
honey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight— two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7)4 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, >4 cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOMEY
The finest of their kinds produced
try.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I've just sampled the honev vou sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm
something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production
and then buy honey of vou for my own use. But however loyal one ought to be to the
honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sugar, the very excellent quality
of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the hone;
marked flavor, according to my taste.
McHenry Co., 111.
. C. MrLLE
sav, consult your "ABC ot Bee-Culture " as-
to"the safe methods of shipping comb honey,
and don't be surprised if you get low prices
for honey which arrives at its destination in
a leaky condition.
Notwithstanding our efforts to introduce
honey as a staple article ot diet, it yet remains
more" or less of a luxury ; and those who can
afford luxuries can afford to insist on their
grocers supplying them with clean and appe-
tizing ones. Who can then blame the grocers
for preferring a case ot honey which looks
clean and fresh, to one that is sticky, and
consequently dirty ? Walter R. Axsell.
Ramsey Co., Minn., Nov. 8.
:^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^
;^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^;
^5 enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^
:^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^
1^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^r.
^ GEORGE W.YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. %
Report fpom Alabama— Bitter
Honey.
I have had fair success this year for this
locality, considering the very limited time I
can give to the bees, working as I do in rail-
road shops, and having only evenings. For
the first time since I have been keeping bees
they stored a surplus from white clover. I
got about 300 pounds. The Bow was stopped
by drouth, which was followed by excessive
rains; then again a very dry spell, so I got
no more honey till this fall, when quite late
there came a good flow, which proved to be
the best fall honey I ever got here, except
2 colonies out ot 26 that had bitter honey
(from yellow fennel). I do not know the
source of the rest, but from the time the flow
commenced I noticed a peculiar, faint, sour
smell from the hives, stronger in the night;
this odor is slightly noticeable in the honey,
which was so very thick that it was hard to
extract, and candied solid in a week or 10
days, exactly the color of butter. I got about
30 gallons. " Have you any idea what plant
they got it from ? Albert E. Isa.\c.
Morgan Co., Ala.. Nov. .5.
[We can not even guess as to the source.
Perhaps some of our Southern readers can
tell.— Editor.]
IntPoduetion of Queens.
.Mr. Editor;— 1 am not greatly interested
in the philosophical discussion between
Messrs. McNeal and Whitney, but I am inter-
ested in the matter of introducing queens;
and if there is some way easier than the usual
ones I want to know it If Mr. McNeal's
plan ot introduction may be relied on as safe,
there will be advantage in using it. but some-
times a little deviation will result in failure.
In one respect his instructions seem hardly
explicit enough. He says: "Do not smoke
the bees constantly, but smoke and pound
alternately, for two or three minutes only.''
That may mean to smoke two or three min-
utes, then pound two or three minutes, then
smoke two or three minutes, and so on. If
that is the meaning, will be please tell us how
long, in all, the pounding and smoking is to
be continued ? it may, however, mean that
the whole time ot pounding and smoking is
to be only two or three minutes. If that is
the meaning, will he please tell us how long
to smoke each time, and how long to pound ;
For it might make some difference whether
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clovei hustlers of
7Sc each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & Co.
Headquarters tor Kee-Keepers' Supplies,
S. W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
Please tueutlon Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
Nov. 21. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
749
the change from smoking to pounding, and
from pounding to smelting, was made every
■two seconds or every thirty seconds.
Another thing: If I understand correctly,
dt is somewhat important that the queen to be
introduced be in the full tide of laying; or, in
•other words, that she be taken from one hive
and put directly into another without any
material stoppage in laying. It that be so, it
will be of very little practical use to many.
At the most, it could only be of value in the
case of taking a queen from a nucleus to be
introduced toacolony in the same yard. But
will Mr. McNeal tell us what about a ([ueen
received through the mail — caged for several
•days ? Or a queen taken to an out-apiary ''.
It will also help to decide as to the value of
the practice, if Mr. McNeal will tell us how
many times he has tried the plan, and how
many failures, if any. he has had. A. V.
Use of Bisulphide of Carbon.
In the convention proceedings, pages Glt2
and 6rt3, Mr. Benton, in speaking of the use
of bisulphide of carbon as a destroyer of the
bee-moth, raises the question whether any
one had advocated this prior to his doing so
five or si.\ years ago. I wish to state that
in the files of the American Bee Journal of V2
to 15 years ago (during Mr. Newman's time),
there is a short statement as to its use for
that purpose by G. R. Pierce, of this State.
Mr. Pierce does not now reside where he did,
and his present residence is unknown to me,
but I thought it no more than fair to make
this statement in his behalf. N. P. Selden.
Benton Co., Iowa. Oct. HI,
Selling Honey and Other Things.
"Good evening, Mr. Hustler, I am glad
you came, for if I don't talk about bees once
in awhile I get lonesome."
Now, Mr. H. lives some 10 or 12 miles from
my place, but he comes this way once in
awhile to buy lumber, as there is a saw-
mill in the woods near us, and he picks what
trees he wants to fill his orders with; so he
stays around town till they are sawed, as he
wants them at once, and then he has a little
time to talk bees.
" i'es,"' says he, " I have been stirred up
lately over some articles of Doolittle's in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture and the American
Bee Journal. In the former he has an article
on selling honey, which coincides with my
idea of the way honey or anything else should
be pushed off your hands, and the ' tin ' got-
ten into your pocket.'"
"That is all right," says I, "but a ^ood
salesman doesn't have to lower the price in
order to sell, as he advises. There are always
two sides to all questions, and both sides
should be made public, for a thing might
work well in one locality and not in another.
For instance, suppose I sold my honey for
one cent per pound less than it would net me
wholesale in the city markets, as I understand
by his advice, that is, to sell at 12 cents per
pound when it is quoted at 15 cents in the
bee-papers, it costing the two cents to mar-
ket it. Now, I have 1000 pounds of honey to
dispose of, and can manage, by a little push,
to sell 700 pounds of it to families in my
vicinity for 12 cents, and have 300 pounds
left to dispose of, what can I do with the
balance * It will not pay me to go over the
ground again, for the sales will be so slow-
that I could not get pay for time, and I do
not want to keep it over till nctt year, so I
would better sell it at some price, and as there
is not enough to sell on commission I go to my
village store and try to get them 'to take it;
they will not handle it short of two cents per
pound, and as I have already sold it under
their noses for 12 cents, I can not expect to
get more than 10 cents for it. so I dispose of
the balance at that price. Now, don't you
see. you have the market price at 12 cents
retail and 10 cents wholesale, which would be
the price every where, should liee-keepers fol-
low Doolittle's advice generally. It might be
well enough in certain localities, where every-
thing else is cheap, but in my section of the
country, where I am getting 20 cents per
pound retail, and .?2.00 for 12 pounds at the
stores, it would not work at all.
" Now, bear in mind that if Doolittle's
ALWAYS READY.
I 1»? A W\ A %M Green Bone
\0Ae AUArl CUTTER
.sal ways clean and ready
I for work. Impossible to
J choke it up. Cleans itself.
iTKeOnly Bone CuUer
1 with all ball bearings.
I Works quickly and easily.
1 No chokingorinjiirinpr of
I fowls by slivers or sharp
pieces. Cutsaclt^an li^'ht
1 shave that is easily di-
I fcestedby smallest chicks.
1 Send for Catalog No. Si.
I Contains much valuable
_^K,^^^^^J information on the cut
I bouei-iuesium. You willbepleasedwith
. Sent free upon request.
W. J. ADAM, JOLIET, ILLS,
.Please mentior Bee Journal when writine.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
add MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
WorR fax Mo Fonniation For Cash
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal -when -WTitins.
200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2-80
feet in construction and
ion. Hatches every fertile
'. Writeforcatalo{;ueto-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy, III.
Ple?=;e mention Bee Journal when writing.
The Emerson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
FENCE!
SifROMGEST
MADE. Bull-
strong. Chicken.
Sold to the Farmer at « h«li'siUo
Fully ^Ynrrnnled. Catalog Free.
COILKD SPRlNft FKVCK CO.,
Wiacbester. Indlaaa, U. S. i«
the Bee Journal.
For Thanksgiving Day
the Nickel Plate Road will sell tickets
within distances of 150 miles Nov. 27
and 28, at rate of a fare and one-third
for the round trip. Tickets good re-
turning- until Nov. 29, inclusive. This
road has three express trains daily to
Fort Wayne, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo,
New York and Boston, with vestibuled
sleeping cars. Also excellent dining-
car service; meals served on Individual
Club Plan, ranging in price from ,?.5
cents to 61.00. For reservations in
sleeping-cars or other information ad-
dress John V. Calahan, General Agent,
111 Adams St. City Ticket Office, 111
Adams Street, Chicago. 'Phone 2057
Central. 42-46A2t
advice is followed throughout the country
(and of course he meant it for all localities),
the selling price would be 10 cents per pound
wholesale, for the storekeepers would pay no
more to the city dealers than to the farmer so
long as they can buy of the latter. But there
might come a time when they could not buy
of the bee-keepers, and, the city dealer, see-
ing his chance to keep the man's trade, sells
him honey for 10 cents per pound, until
linally the price will drop to that figure;
then, of course, the commission men will
have to sell at 10 c-ents or less. The freight
and commission will have to come out of that,
which, according to Doolitlle, will bring the
honey down so the producer will not realize
more than 8 cents, and which will now be the
established price. So you see the bee-keeper
will have to start all over again, and in the
end find himself as bad off as ever. This un-
derselling is one reason why the prices are so
much lower now than they were a few years
ago."
"Oh yes," says Mr. H., " I see now why
men should not jump at everything that is
printed in the bee-papers, or in any other
papers, before considering both sides. I know
I once bought some honey-jars that were rec-
ommended very highly, and what they had to
say about them in their catalog might be all
true, but after they had been washed and
filled with honey they would break standing
still, and so, of course, were good for nothing.
"That 'General Rejoinder' article on
long-tongued bees suited me to a dot. The
way he accused some people of pushing
things in a sort of one-sided way, without at
the same time trying to draw out the truth on
the opposite side, so that both sides would
have an equal show, was pleasing."
" I want to interrupt you there," Mr. H.
" Not that I like to see things presented in a
one-sided way in the reading columns of a
bee-paper in order to sell an article, but when-
ever anybody has anything new I want to see
it shown up in the reading columns of the
bee-papers, for, had I not seen some new
ideas advanced in the body of the papers, I
would be'all behind the times now, for I do
not study the advertisements enough to
■ catch on ;' but I don't by any means believe
in showing up only one side. I believe, when
any one has an article to sell, he should give
the bad qualities as well as the good. I know
it is not always good policy, if you want to
make a sale, to show up the worst side promi-
nently, nor is it natural for people in general
to do so. A salesman who does not show the
good qualities and leave out the bad, is not
considered a good man ; but I am talking for
the interest of the buyer now. There once
lived in thistown (say 50 years ago) two good
men, one by the name of Collar and the
other by that of Chandler. Now, Mr. Collar
had a cow to sell, and Mr. Chandler wanted
to buy one. The latter thought himself a
shrewd buyer, and when he got caught he
would not squeal, as some do. Mr. Collar
told the truth so far as he told anything, but
he did not think himself bound to tell any
more than was asked. He answered all of
Mr. Chandler's questions — that the cow was
orderly, would not kick, gave a good quantity
of milk, and good milk. She was in good
condition, and her teats were not sore, and
she did not leak her milk. Mr. Chandler was
very particular about asking in regard to the
cow leaking her milk. After he had asked
111! the questions he could think of, he bought
her at a fair price. He got her home and
tried to milk her, but at first could not get a
drop, she milked so hard. Well, the next
Sunday, when he met Mr. Collar at church,
he took him to one side and said, ' I thought
you told Mie that cow would not leak her
milk.' Tliat was all the kicking there was
aliout it. Vou can see the moral."
•■(iood Ijye.'' J. L. Hyde.
Windham Co., Conn., Sept. 7.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies I
M. n. HUNT* BON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
750
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Nov. 21, 1901.
Quetns for Breeders.
•■ Breed from the best '' has been the watch-
word with myself as well as others. F. B.
Simpson, in Bee-Keepers' Review, saj's we're
off. Given five queens from the same
mother, which five queens uniformly yield
about 40 pounds more than the average, and
another five from another mother, which five
zigzag: all around from 3.5 below to 90 above
the average, and he will breed from the first
five rather than from the one that runs 90
above the average. Now. if F. B. will tell us,
as I am afraid he will, that all intelligent
breeders of note will agree with him, I'll
promptly 'bout face and stand in line with
him ; but if he's only giving his own opinion,
I've a choice assortment of abusive epithets
laid up for him, and a lot of brickbats to fling
at his battlements. I ought to e.\plain that
he reasons that the one that runs 90 above the
average is a freak that will not give uniform
results, while the five of the other mother,
being uniform, may be relied upon for future
results. — [The recommendation of F. B.
Simpson is one that we have been carrying out
in practice for several years. A breeder
whose queens are irregular, zigzagging
from one extreme to the other, is one that
will cause complaints from customers; but
one that will give uniform results in markings.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clovep Seeds.
We Have made arrangements so that we can
fnrnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
sns ions 2516 50ft
Sweet Clover (white) $.60 $1.00 $2.25 $4.ro
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 ".£0
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3,25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 &. 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for a year's subscription to our
Journal, and we will send book. Plans for
Poultry-Houses, free. Six months trial subscrip-
tion to Journal, 10 cents.
Inland Poultry Journ.^l, Indianapolis, Ind
2')Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
regarding
the oldest
nd most
Send for circulaf s
improved and original Bingham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Years the Best on Earth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Parwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
in prolificness, in gentleness, in every one of
her daughters, Is the one that we select for a
l.)reeder — providing, of course, that these
daughters all score a high average: but if
Mr. S.. or any one else, can find a mother, the
bees of whose daughters will average in num-
ber of pounds of honey about the same under
like conditions — well, we can not do it. The
daughters of our best breeder nearly all score
well in honey, but there is quite a variation.
While the poorest will be no worse than the
average, the best will be considerably better.
— Editok.] — Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-
Culture.
Breeding for Uniformity.
Readers of the Bee-Keepers' Review who
have been accustomed to be told that they
should always breed from the best, will gasp
when told by F. B. Simpson that instead of
breeding from their best they should breed
from those that are only a little above the
average if they are to have an^' perniiiiuni
improvement. He says:
The breeding of queens often recalls to my
mind the '■ fooling the public " adage with
variations : '' We can breed ideal queens once
in awhile, we can average fair queens, and we
too often produce worthless ones, but we can
not uniformly produce superior queens."
Why can we not ? Simply because the ma-
jority have for years bred their bees on a
principle founded on a fallacy — they have
continually bred from the least uniform, hop-
ing to obtain uniformity I
Red Clover Queens ^1902 Free
Long-Tongue Variety — Warranted Purely Mated.
We have already arranged with the queen-breeder who furnished Long'-Tongue Red Clover Queens
for us during the past season, to fill our orders next season. Although fully 95 percent of the untested
queens he sent out were purely mated, next season all that he mails for us will be warranted purely mated.
We want every one of our present subscribers to have one or more of these money-maker Queens. We
have received most excellent reports from the queens we supplied during the past season. And next year
our queen-breeder says he expects to be able to send out even better Queens, if that is possible. He is one
of the very oldest and best queen-breeders. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of any
yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Italy, having imported her himself. Her worker-bees
are large, of beautiful color, very gentle, scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " Warranted Queens will be filled in rotation — " first come, first
served" — beginning as early in June as possible. It is expected that orders can be filled quite promptly
(even better than the past season), as a much larger number of queen-rearing nuclei will be run. (But never
remove the old queen from the colony until you have received the new one, no matter from whom you order
a queen).
All Queens will be guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and will be clipped, unless otherwise
ordered.
A Warrauted (Jueeii for sending us Only 2 New Yearly Subscribers
In order that every one of our subscribers who wants one of these Warranted Queens next season can
easily earn it, we will book your order for one queen for sending us the names and addresses of two new
subscribers to the American Bee Journal and $2.00. Fiirthermore, we will begin to send the Bee Journal
to the new subscribers just as soon as they are received here (with the S2.00), and continue to send it until
the end of next year, f()03]. So, forward the new subscriptions soon — the sooner sent in the niore weekly
copies they will receive. —
This indeed is an opportunity to get a superior Queen, and^at the same time],help swell the list of
readers of the old American Bee Journal.
We are now ready to book the Queen orders, and also to enroll the new subscriptions. Remember, tlie
sooner you get in your order the earlier you will get your Queen next season, and the more copies of the Bee
Journal will the new subscribers receive that you send in. We hope that every one of our present readers
will decide to have at least one of these Queens. Address.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 ERIE STREET, CHICAGO, ILL,
ili
i
i
%m
Nov. 21, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
751
How frecjuently we see tlit- remark:
" Whenever I see one queen's colon}' out-
stripping everjtbing in my yard, I select her
to breed from.'' As an example, suppose 10
colonies have given the following yields in
pounds of honey: 2.^, 20, 1."jO, 4.">, 00, 7.5, 45,
"0, 50, 60. Suppose all are ecjually well bred ;
the 1.50-pound queen is " seleeteti.'' Suppose
we find that the first five queens were from
one mother, and the last five from another,
both of which breeders had given a compara-
tive yield of (SO pounds each. It is evident
that the selected queen is the least miifurm,
individually, and also one whose blood shows
the greatest variation and the greatest num-
ber below the average (it will be noted that
the average for each five, and therefore for
all, is 00 pounds). We know that 00 percent
of her sisters gave yields below that of their
mother, and we also know that the average
we can expect from her must be far below her
own record, and as she is the most variable
(from her mother as well as from the aver-
age), we can naturally look for even a greater
percent of her offspring to go below the aver-
age— in short, we are practically certain to
get retrogression and degeneration instead of
progression; simply because we are breeding
from an htdivlduitJ freaky instead of from the
most consistent representative of the best
blood. On the other hand, the second breed-
ing-(iueen shows but two, or 40 percent below
the average, whereas CO equal or exceed the
average, and. therefore, their mother's yield.
Therefore, I would breed from the 75-pound,
the 70-pound, or the 60-pound queen, from
the second mother.
Light Laying for Feeding Queens.
" Ridiculous '' is the label that F. B. Simp-
son, in Bee-Keepers' Review, puts on the
notion that keeping a queen in a nucleus will
beget longevity in her offspring. Sure. But
it had escaped me that any one advocated
such a notion. He says his breeders must do
their duty in a full-sized hive, so he can com-
pare them with others. All right, F. B. ; but
after a queen has fully established her repu-
tation I like to give her a light job so as to
keep her as long as possible. A queen I'm
now trying to winter was born in 1897. After
doing extra work during four years I felt she
would be insulted it I had said, '■ Now, let's
see what kind of stuff's in you," so I gave
her a soft job for 1901.— [You are doing with
your breeder just the very thing that we are
doing with our best queen. — Editor.] — Stray
Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture.
Beeswax from Different Countries.
This will by no means always be found the
same. An interesting summing up of the
different kinds is given in Gravenhorst's Bien-
enzeitung, and thus translated in the Ameri.
can Bee-Keeper:
In Austria the wax is found or produced in
the southern portion, equalling the wax pro-
duced in buckwheat localities. The provinces
of Bohemia. Moravia and Galieia produce a
soft wax. although a distinction has to be
made between the wax from the western part
of (ialicia and that from the eastern part.
That from the tirst-named locality has a
pitchy odor, while the other possesses the
common odor of wax ; is red or brown-yellow,
and fairly hard. The best of all "known
waxes is that from Turkey; it is red in color,
and demands the highest price. The wax
from Greece and its islands is nearly equal to
it in quality. The southern part of France
produces wax of better (|uality than the
north. The wax from Spain is about as good
as the best produced in France. Italy pro-
duces much good wax.
The wax of India is a grayish-brown, and
has almost no odor. The wax produced upon
the Islands, as Timor and Flores. etc., is of
importance. Quantities of the product have
been exported to China, where a great deal is
consumed and also produced.
Egyi)t, Morocco and the Barbary States
furnish a considerable quantity of very im-
pure wax. Beeswax from the Senegal is
rather poor and dark-brown in color, accom-
panied by an unpleasant odor. Very good
wax is produced in Guinea; it is hard and
yellow, about as good as Russian wax. The
American wax is usually dark and difficult to
bleach. Froin (iuadaloupe black wax from
wild bees is brought into the markets. It can
not be bleached out.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
Chicago. — The executive committee of the
Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association has ordered
that the oexl meeting be held all day and even-
ing, Dec. S, rxn, at the Briggs House club-room.
This is arranged on account of the low rates to
be in force then for the lulernational Live-
stock Exposition in Chicago at that time (Nov.
30 to Dec. 7), being one fare plus $3H0 ior the
round-trip This notice goes by mail to nearly
300 bee-keepers near Chicago, and should result
in the largest attendance we have ever had. Dr.
C.C.Miller and Mr. C.P. Dadant have promised
to be present. Let all come.
Herivian F. Mooke, Sec.
George W. York, Pres.
Minnesota.— The Minnesota Bee-Keepers' As.
sociation will meet in Ply mouth Church, Cor.
Sth St and Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minn.,
Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 4 and 5, 1101.
Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson will give a stereopticon
lecture on Wednesday evening, and a good pro-
gram is prepared and now in the hands of the
printer. Joining the National Bee-Keepers' As-
sociation in a body will be voted on Wednesday.
All bee keepers and those interested in bees are
invited. H. G. Acklin,
Chairman Executive Committee.
New Vorlc.— There will be a bee-keepers' con-
vention (annual) held in Canandaigua, N. Y.,
by the Ontario Co., N.Y., Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion, Dec 13 and 14, I'XH.
Naples, N.Y. Fkikdejunx Greixek, Sec.
Fancy White Comb Honey
in no-drip cases; also Ex-
tracted Honey. Slate price,
delivered. We pay spot cash. Fred W. Muth
& Co., Front & Walnut Sts., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reference— German National Bank, Cincinnati.
40A5t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted
6omD and ^i-
traded floney!
state price, kind and quantity.
R. A. BURNETT & CO., 119 S. Water St., Chicago
33Alf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay hig-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating: quantity,
qnality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enoug-h to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Please mention Bee Jotimal -when ■writiiier,
Comb Honev and Bees-
wax. State' price de-
livered in Cincinnati.
G. H. W. WEBER,
43At£ 2146 214,s Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
Fmits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultnral and AgTicultnral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly^
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing
Thanksgiving Day Excursions
on all trains of the Nickel Plate Road,
on Nov. 27 and 2S, to points within 1.^0
miles, and good returning- Nov. 2'>.
1901. Chicago Depot, Van Buren St.,
near Clark St.. on Elevated Loop. City
Ticket Ollice, 111 Adams Street. Also
Union Ticket < )tfice. Auditorium An-
nex. 'Phone 2047 Central. 41 46.\2t
il sfe >te >te >li srt >Ii sfe >lt >Jt its. jli >lit»
|HON&y AND beeswax!
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Nov. 1.— The market is easier in
tone, while prices are nominally the same, but
would be shaded to effect sales. Some cars of
honey enroute to the Eastern cities have been
diverted to this and surrounding points, which
is having- a depressing: effect. Comb brings
14(a.l.Sc for best grades of white: light amber,
13(ai3c; dark grades, lOci lie. Extracted, white,.
?^<S''Hc, according to quality, llavor and pack-
age; light amber, 5!i(9Si4C; amber and darlc,
S(<»5;ic. Beeswa.x, iSc. R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct. 25.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
StgJbc; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from »{(B'ic. Fancy white
comb honey sells from io%Qvl5^c.
C. H. W. Weber.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 3.=;.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late they only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, 15(a'l6c; mi.xed,
MiatSc: buckwheat, 12(ai3c. Extracted, white.
(>%(S'iic; mixed, b@6>4c.
H. R. Wright.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
Omaha, Oct. 25. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 5(J per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4M@434'c per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. PevckeBros.
New York, Nov. 8.— Comb honey is in good
demand, and while the market is not over-
stocked, receipts are sufficient to supply the de-
mand. Fancy white sells at l.^c, with an occa-
sional sale at li,c for attractive lots; No. 1,
white, at 14c; No. 2, at 13c; fancy buckwheat,
lltaillj^c; No. 1 and 2 at from lOfoiloMc. Ex-
tracted remains quiet at from (ifc^oMic for white,
and Sii'sSHc for amber. -Very little demand
for dark at 5J<(s;5}^c. Beeswax quiet at from
2T@2Sc. HiLDRETH & SeOELKEN.
Boston, Oct. 21.— There is a fairlv good de-
mand for stocks with ample supplies at the
present writing. Fancy No. 1, in cartons,
JSamec; ANo. 1, in cartons, I5@I5)^c; No. 1,
15c; very little No. 2 is being received; glass-
front cases will bring abont iic per pound less.
Light California extracted, 7^^,sc; Florida
honey, (>}i®'c. Blake, Scott & IjBE,
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Oct. 25.— Fancy white comb hooey
14@lSc; No. 1, 13(ai4c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6@7c. Beeswax, 25{&26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Nov. i..— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, 7@')c; dark, •6@7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5M@— ; light amber, 4^® ;
amber. 4@ — .
Shipments from this port by sea for the sea-
son to data aggregate nearly 4,000 cases, mostly
extracted, while for corresponding period last
year the quantity forwarded outward by water
routes did not exceed 1,500 cases. In values
there are no appreciable changes to record,
market showing steadiness.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up 'to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15(aJl(,c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.IO@$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14(al4^c; the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5ii(a,(,c is quotable.
Pevcke Bros.
BARGAIN!
Apiary of .^ii cols. Ital.; 10.fr. I.ang. for Ext.
add comb; good localitv: all fixtures; and farm
if wanted. DR. O W. BISTLINE,
BLY, Titus Co., TE.\.
752
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 21, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda*
tlon are ahead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog- and copy of
Thk American Bee-Kkeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
ja- W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal "when "writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTK Queen-Clippidg
Device is a fine thing for use in
catching- and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us QNE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or forJlSO we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GeORQE W. VORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, III.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey '
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Mus. Dy GEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
EOGENE Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only 15 cents. Or, for SI. 00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked J or.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., ■ CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
24111'
year
Dadant's Foundation, year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQlNa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHBBTINQ.
Why does it sell ^^^^
SO well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 33 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
LanQstroth on the Honey-Bee — Re^/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. Hancock C«.. III.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Texas Bee-Kcepers.
ffinp We beg to announce the opening of a Ijranch office and warehouse at
Uluu, 43s W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
tlian car-load lots are high, and it takes -a long time for a local shipment to
I'l.-xas points.
jiith.
T flW Frpifftlt flUli ''"^ secure these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
LUW Ilul^lil QllU livery — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
flllipV npliVPrV friends, is our reason tor establishing this new branch office. Xo other
Ullluli UCllVulji point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
tbiin San Antonio. It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
■ San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
SliippinE-poinl,
San Antonio and Gulf R. R
Pacific Express Companies.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, Jr.. both of whom are well known to the
beekeepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
bee-keeping and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
prompt, careful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that our policy of '-the best goods " is a correct
one.
fllir PotQlniT ^ ery few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
Uul uuldlUg,- your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund it lower prices
are made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
lienefit bv ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not equaled elsewhere in Texas. Y'ou-will also find on file the leading bee-journals to
jiass pleasantly your leisure time.
Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does.
It so. call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Spanisli Catalog,
FACTORY AND HOME OFFICE:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO , San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
'rOi:PI»KR« I>i:> A^ « AI-XO.^, Managers.
headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-ICEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
AvvEgie%
DEE JOURNAL
CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 28, 1901.
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 48.
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754
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL.
Nov. 28, 1901.
GEORGE YV. YORK & CONPAINY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the PostOfflce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-iu-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) t.
E. E. Hastt, '(Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, f Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is $1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
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The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
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Subscriptiou Receipts.— We do not send
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Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteratioa of hooey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb, I Thos. G. Newman,
W. Z. Hutchinson, I G. M. Doohttle,
A. I. Root, W. F. Marks,
E. T. ABUOTT, J. M. Hambaugh,
P. H. Elwood, C. p. Dadant,
E. R. Root, | Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohio.
EnGENE Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
B^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the olBco of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note.— One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
ijood idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one fof the buttoasj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person ia regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewitli is a reproduc-
tion of a motto quoen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
i Weelily Budget. I
Editor W. Z. Hutcihnson gave us a short
call on Saturday ,JNov. 16, when on his way
to attend the meeting of the Colorado Bee-
Keepers' Association at Denver, held last
weeli.
Eugene Secor, the general manager of the
National Bee-Keepers' Association, was re-
cently elected to the Iowa Legislature by a
handsome majority. He expects to spend the
winter in Des Moines, the State capital.
Mu. C. M. Scott, for some years the mana-
ger of the G. jB. Lewis Co.'s bee-supply
branch at Indianapolis, Ind., has bought the
business at that place, and will continue it
under the name of C. M. Scott & Co. Mr.
Scott is very highly commended by the Lewis
Company, and we trust he may continue to
do a successful business.
Mii. W. L. CoGGSHALL. One of New York
State's most extensive bee-keepers, has been
in very poor health for some time. Lately he
went to a sanitarium about 40 miles west of
Chicago,';where he is receiving treatment. t)n
Nov. 15 he wrote us that in two or three
weeks his physician expected to send him
home well. Mr. Coggshall's many friends
will be delighted to hear this. If well enough
he may attend the Chicago convention at the
Brigg's House, Dec. 5.
MiiS. N. Neilson, of Sac Co., Iowa, died of
cancer Nov. 11, after months of suffering. In
1882 she married Mr. N. Neilson, who, with
five children, are left to mourn her departure.
She was a member of the Congregational
church from her young girlhood. A local
newspaper says Mrs. Neilson was an amiable,
thoughtful, patient, loving wife and mother,
showing in her life the noble qualities of a
high Christian character, aud winning unto
herself a host of warm friends who deeply feel
their loss. Our sincerest sympathy goes out to
the stricken husband and children, who, it is
a satisfaction to note, " mourn not as those
who have no hope."
Dr. C. C. Miller has this to say regarding
the meetings of the Board of Directors of the
National Association at Buffalo, and also
something about certain discussions in open
convention :
Mr. Editor : — Those unfortunate Directors'
meetings held while the convention was in
session at Buffalo, deprived me of the privi-
lege of hearing a considerable part of the dis-
cussions, which probably makes me appre-
ciate all the more the excellent aud full re-
port yon are now giving in the columns of
your iournal.
Kefcrriug to a discussion on page 726, 1 may
say that I have many a time set a hive con-
taining a nucleus in place of a swarming col-
ony, so as to allow the returning swarm to
enter the uncleus, and in no case have I ever
known the i|uccn of the nucleus to be mo-
lested. Of course the old colony was re-
moved, and the ciueen that issued with the
Bwarm was also disposed of.
It is not often that as much real informa-
tion is given in as short a space as in the dis-
cussion of the succeeding topic. .Ml of the
items mentioned are useful in trying to deter-
mine the presence of a virgin queen when she
can not he found. Perhaps none of them
may be relied upon implicitly. But they will
help. The one that I have depended upon as
much as any other for years, is the one men-
tioned by W. L. Coggshall— cells polished out
in the central part of the brood-nest ready for
the queen to lay in ; and this may be several
days before the c|ueen is ready to lay. some-
times when she is hardly a day old. Some-
what strangely. I do not remember to have
seen this mentioned in print, and this shows
one good thing in conventions, bringing out
from such men as W. L. Coggshall things
that they would never take the trouble to
write. C. C. Miller.
Mr. J. M. Hooker, as may be seen in a
late number of the British Bee Journal, has
sailed from England for his new home in
America. His loss will be keenly felt by the
British Bee-Keepers' Association, Mr. Hooker
having been one of the seven who originally
met to organize the Association, and one who
was always foremost in the movement to
establish modern bee-keeping. Mr. Garratt
probably spoke the general feeling when he
said that to hold a conversazione without
the presence of Mr. Hooker was alone a
marked event, and he was sure that everybody
who had been accustomed to see that gentle-
man there would feel that the cause had suf-
fered a severe loss by his absence. Mr. Hooker
is cordially welcomed to these shores.
Mr. J. T. Elliott ajjd Apiart are shown
on the first page this week. When sending
the photograph, Mr. Elliott wrote as follows :
Editor York : — I send you a picture of
my apiary, but it does not show up very well,
as it was impossible to get a good view, show-
ing all the hives, etc.. on account of the trees
and shrubbery. I keep my bees on a city lot.
so I have not much extra room for them. I
have them under young apple and peach
trees, just over the bank at the edge of the
garden. The hives being down just over the
edge of the bank is whj' they do not show up
better.
I have 24 colonies, all in one row, and work
them for both comb aud extracted honey. -•Vs
I am employed as clerk in a railroad ofHee, I
do not get much time to work with the bees,
only a very few minutes at the noon hour,
and a little while mornings and evenings,
when the weather is favorable. I find great
pleasure in working with the bees, and find
them very profitablj, also in supplying my
table three tiraeseverj' day with honey, which
is more healthful than jellies, jams, etc.
Then I can dispose of all my surplus honey to
my neighbors at a fair profit. .My bees diil
fairly well the past season, the surplus all
being from basswood and sweet clover.
J. T. Elliott.
The Delineator. — The Christmas number
of the Delineator is about the first of the spe-
cial Christmas issues. It is a beauty. The
cover is a most artistic production, showing a
beautifully gowned woman, standing grace-
fully in a brilliantly lighted salon. Two cliarm-
ing love stories, <me by Cyrus Townsend Brady ;
plenty of advice regarding Christmas Gifts ;
timely pointers on Cookery: Winter-time
Care of Plants;- all the fashions of the day in-
terpreted into simple language, can be found
in the Christmas number of the Delineator.
It is a splendid magazine, satisfactory inside
and out. There is no magazine for women at
present published that is more practical in all
its pages. Asa Xmas gift ltself.it bears its
own recommendation. HM a year, or 15
cents a copy. Butterick Publishing Co., Ltd.,
7 to 1? W. lath St., New York, N. Y.
^IMIERICA^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 28, 1901,
No, 48,
I % Editorial. ^ I
The Chicago Convention is to be held
next week Thursday — Dee. 5 — beginning at
U) a.m., at the Briggs House, northeast corner
of Randolph St. and Fifth Ave. There will
also be an evening session.
We are expecting a large attendance, as
there are many bee-keepers in Chicago and
vicinity, and we have received notice from a
number from a distance who expect to be
present.
Come, and bring with you as many ques-
tions as you would like to have answered.
Dr. Miller has promised to come, and bring
with him a good supply of answers, which,
with the other able experts that are expected
to be present, there ought to be' no difficulty
about taking care of several boxes of ques-
tions. There will also be a few papers on
practical topics, that will help start interest-
ing discussions.
Come along, and help make this meeting
of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association
equal to the best " Northwestern " ever held.
(^oinb Honey by Weight or Case, —
On another page Messrs. R. A. Burnett tt Co.
write on the subject of selling comb honey by
the case or by weight. We agree entirely
with them. In our opinion there can hardly
be any valid reason advanced in favor of sell-
ing comb honey try the case to wholesale
dealers, or to retailers. We have handletl
quite a good deal of comb honey, but have
never bought any by the case, excei>t in one
instance where we had it sold before getting
it ourselves, and our buyer being willing to
take it by the case. For our own grocery
trade? we do not think that we could be in-
duced to purchase honey by the case. We
would have to sell it out by weight to the
retail grocers.
Sometimes selling by the case jiroves a
great loss to the producer. We remember
once he.iring of a carload of comb honey that
was sold to a certain firm by t/n' i-n.ie, on
which they cleared beyond a fair profit tlie
sum of .S400; and just because they sold it out
Ijy till- jiuhihI, the car of honey averaging
enough more pounds per case to ecjual that
anjount, or enough to pay the freight. Had
that car of honey been sold by weight in the
first place, as it should have been, the pro-
ducers would have Ijcen about .*4U0 better off.
So much for the producers standing in their
own light.
We hope that bee-keepers will see that it is
to their best interest to deal squarely, and not
encourage a kind of buying and selling that
can not well be defended as honorable and
upright. Gains gotten by any other than
straight dealing can be only of temporary
benefit. The linn or individual whose policy
is even tainted with deception, or by what is
known as "smart dealing," has its days
already numbered. •■ What shall it profit a
man if he gain the whole world and lose his
own soul ?" There are some things of more
value than dollars— their worth can not be
estimated in money. A man is really worth
what he i.v, not what he hus. True character
and a good reputation are everything in this
life, and a "blessed assurance ■' of the higher
and better life that is to come.
A Good Hive-Cover is a thing that is
not in universal use, and the interesting dis-
cussion reported on page 725 of this journal
shows that the demand for a satisfactory cover
is becoming so insistent that manufacturers
can hardly afford to ignore it. One trouble
has been that the matter of cost has eut too
large a figure. A plain board with cleat on
each end can be had for a small sum, and in
some respects it makes an excellent cover;
but no matter how many good qualities it may
have, a single bad quality, if bad enough, is
sufficient to condemn it. The plain board
cover has more than one bad quality, but one
that is sullicient alone to condemn it is that it
will twist. Cleats, if strong enour/h, may pre-
vent warping, but cle.its of cast iron can not
prevent twisting, if a board is inclined to
twist. Unfortunately too manj' of them have
that inclination, and when a cover twists so
that one corner lies a fourth inch or more
above the hive, the days of satisfactory service
for that cover are over.
Pcrhajjs the easiest way to secure a non-
twisting cover is to have it consist of two
layers of wood, the grain of the two layers
running in opposite directions. A dead-air
space between these two layees will make the
cover cooler in the hottest weather, and
warmer when the outside temperature is lower
than that in the liive. Such a cover covered
with tin and painted might he furnished at a
cost not beyond reach, and it is possible that
some kind of painted paper might do nearly
or quite as well as tin. Now that attention is
so strongly turned in that direction, the right
thing will probably be in sight before long.
The Minnesota Convention is to be
held Wcdiu-s(l;iy anil Thursday, Dec. 4 ami .">,
liWl, in Plyiiiuuih Church, corner Sth St. and
Nicollet Ave. .Minneapolis. The first session
is at 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday. A really
good program has been published in corimi--
tion with that of the Slate Horticultural
Society. This is a good arrangement, both
organizations meeting on the same dates.
Besides the question-bo.\ and usual business
of the sessions, we find the following special
features on the bee-keepers" program :
Song — " The Honeysuckle and the Bee " —
Miss Edith Dexter.
" Should We, or Should We Not, Join the
National Bee-Keepers' Association ?" — C.
Theilmann.
Song— Wm. Renter aud Miss Mary Reuter.
" Some Facts in Favor of Joining the Na-
tional Bee-Keepers' Association "—J. P. West
and Mrs. H. G. Acklin.
President's Address— Wm. Russell.
Song — " Buckwheat Cakes and Honey" —
Master Eddie Holmberg.
"Some Problems and Queries in Practical
Bee-Keeping" — J. W. Murray.
Song — Miss Julia Mondeng.
Bagpipe Selections — Wm. Russell.
Scotch Dance — Miss Maggie Russell.
Music, Songs, etc., by Students of State
Experiment Station.
Stereopticou Lecture — W. Z. Hutchinson.
" Large Hives and Prolific Queens " — W. J.
Stahmann.
"Queen-Rearing" — G. R. Frye.
" Some Experience iu Keeping Bees Fifty
Years" — Wm. Cairncross.
Song — " Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree
Bloom" — Little Miss Ethel Acklin.
" Disposing of the Honey Crop to the Best
Advantage'' — A. D. Shepard.
"Shade and Ventilation"— Walter R. An-
sell.
" Wintering Bees" — J. B. Dexter.
"Bucking Against Nature with Bees" —
John Collins.
Please do not forget to buy your tickets for
the Horticultural meeting, and take certifi-
cates for them to get the reduced railroad
rate.
Surely, that is a lively program, and ex-
ceedingly musical as well. But why shouldn't
the bee-keepers during tho summer imbibe
the happy hum from the bees, and then pour
it out for convention enjoyment in the win-
ter-time i Those Minnesota folks are coming-
up, and the Colorado people must look well
to their laurels, else the greatest State con-
vention of bee-keepers will he no longer out
near the great " Rockies." Hurrah for Min-
nesota! May its bee-keepers have a glorious
time, Dec. 4 and n.
Nominations for the National.— Edi-
tor Root, in commenting on our suggestion
about having the annual national convention
make nominations for the election of general
manager and three directors each December.
suggests that it might be unwise to change-
general manager very often. All right; then
re-nominate him among the three candidates;,
and also re-nominate among the nine the-
three directors whose terms expire, if thought,
best.
See page (191 for our former editorial on
this subject. It is a matter worthy of earnest
consitlcralion.
756
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Nov. 28, 1901.
I The Buffalo Convention. |
•^ ^•
;^ Report of the Proceeding's of the Thirty-Second Annual ^
i^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^
^ elation, held at Buffalo, New York, S^
|:5 Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^
(Continued from pafje 743. j
The Wednesday evening session was
"treated to an exhibition of stereopticon
views by Pres. Root and W. Z. Hutch-
inson.
THIRD DAY— Morning Session.
The convention was called to order
by Pres. Root, who called upon Dr.
Miller to oflfer prayer.
The Canadian members present were
aslced to rise to their feet, and, on be-
ing- counted, there were found to be 12.
F. A. Gemmill, of Ontario, Canada,
then spoke as follows on the subject of
Wax-Presses and Their Use.
In regard to the matter of wax-
presses, I might say that some years
ago my bees had foul brood. Of course,
that is a bad disease, but it is no dis-
g-race for a man's bees to have it, but
it is a disgrace to keep it; and in melt-
ing up many of the old combs I found
that I could not get all the wax out —
that is, those containing many cocoons
and pollen — without using pressure in
some form. I looked over the bee-
papers and bee-books, and, among
others, the "A B C of Bee-Culture,"
and I saw some illustrations of old
presses, the Hatch press, and I com-
bined the two and made a press, the
Hatch-Gemmill press, which I think it
would pay any one to use. I wouldn't
say that press alone, but a press of
some kind where strong pressure is
used.
I might say that I tried the Doolittle
-plan of melting the old combs in a
gunny-sack, using a large press, and
as the wax was boiling the lever was
brought to bear on the wax and the
wax squeezed out. I tried the plan of
putting them in gunny-sacks and sink-
ing them in water. It was very good;
■of course, it requires quite a little boil-
ing in order to get all the wax out. It
is a better plan, maybe, than using the
steam wax-press where the refuse is
allowed to remain on the bottom, for
this reason, that if the gunny-sack is
sunk in the water at the bottom, the
wax will rise to the top; in the other
■case, if you use the steam, the refuse
will go to the bottom and remain in
the cocoons and stay there unless
pressed out.
Then I tried other machines, the
Ferris and one or two others, and I
have nothing to say against any ma-
chine, only that my experience proved
that where I used either boiling water
or steam I had to use the pressure in
order to get all the wax out of the
refuse.
I also melted combs in the Board-
man, still I found that with old combs
with cocoons and a large pollen-mass
it was impossible to get all the wax out.
If left in the extractor for a week there
would still be some there; the cocoons
acted as a sponge and retaitied it, so
that I think those that have been using
the solar wax-extractor for old combs
and throwing the refuse away have
lost quite a little bit of wax. I was
quite amused at Mr. Root's reference
to Mr. Mendleson buying up the slum-
gum in California and using a press
that paid him to get the wax out of it.
I don't know that there is much that I
can say. If there are any questions
that you wish to ask I would be happy
to answer them. I might say that my
first article in regard to this matter
appeared in the Review, and since that
time Mr. Root has been in California
and he has fallen in line with the same
ideas that I had in regard to the press.
We had some correspondence in regard
to it, and I believe he is now manu-
facturing a press that I believe is a
good thing. I hope to have the pleas-
ure of trying it shortly.
F. A. Gbmmili,.
Pres. Root — This question about be-
ing able to get all the wax out of slum-
gum is a very important matter, be-
cause bee-keepers for years have been
throwing away dollars, and now they
have come to know there is wax in that
slumgum.
A Member — How do you avoid get-
ting propolis in the wax?
Mr. Gemmill— The propolis will
come out with the old combs, to a cer-
tain extent. In our country [Canada],
however, we don't have a great quan-
tity of it.
Mr. Betsinger — How long do you
think it would take to pay for such a
machine? How much does this ma-
chine cost?
Mr. Gemmill — About S3. 50 to S4.
But Mr. Root's machine is an improve-
ment, in some ways. Of course, it will
cost more.
Dr. Jliller— Suppose that you have
combs enough from which you get
about 100 pounds of wax in the ordi-
nary way. Now the slumgum from
that contains yet how much wax?
Mr. Gemmill— That depends upon
the method yott employ. If you use
the plan of sinking the gunny-sacks in
the bottom of the boiling water you
will get more if you boil long enough,
than you will get out of a steam or
solar extractor where you allow the
refuse to remain in the bottom of the
steamer, for the simple reason that it
is retained there the same as a sponge
retains water. I found that I could
get more wax out by boiling according
to the Dadant plan. I would get about
^/i. I can get a third more, easily,
than with the steam process, and
a third more "oy using the press.
Dr. Miller— That is, a third of the
wax is still left in the slumgum? |
Mr. Gemmill— That is, it would be
left in Mr. Root's steamer provided he
didn't use the pressure.
;\lr. McEvoy — No bee-keeper, in your
experience, can afford to do without a
press?
Mr. Gemmill — I say any man that
has any colonies at all, and has any
old combs to melt up. Where one has
any old combs that have been used for
some years, and that contain pollen
and cocoons. I think that that man
should use a press.
Dr. Miller — How many colonies?
Mr. Gemmill — 25 colonies, anyway.
Dr. Miller — How long should the wax
be boiled when the pressure is used
on it?
Mr. Gemmill — I allow it to come just
to a boil, and boil smartly for a short
time. Just get it to flow freely. After
you apply the pressure it doesn't require
boiling very long.
Mr. Betsinger — Five minutes, prob-
ably?
Mr. Gemmill— About that.
Dr. Miller — I see the instructions are,
in making the pressure, to turn down a
certain amount, then wait awhile and
tttrn again. Does any harm come from
pressing too rapidly?
Mr. Gemmill — I find that you have
got to give the wax a little time to
ooze out through the cocoons. Now,
there is just one point there. After
you have pressed all you think you can
out of it, if you use the steam, you can
take a kettle of boiling water and pour
on the refuse that will still remain, and
that will help to free any wax that it
may still contain. Then you can ap-
ply pressure again, or you can turn
over the refuse two or three times and
then apply it, but it will do no harm to
try the hot water.
Mr. Betsinger — By using old combs
and putting it through this pressure
would there be any color in the wax?
Mr. Gemmill — Oh, no, it would be
perfectly yellow. It is squeezed right
through the combs. It is forced right
through, and the dirt is retained. Of
course, you will understand, in the
press it is confined in a small sack that
acts as a filter or strainer.
Mr. Betsinger — Will the propolis go
through that, too?
Mr. Gemmill — O yes, it will go
through.
Mr. Davidson — Do you think such
wax is as good for making foundation
as other wax?
Mr. Gemmill — I couldn't see any dif-
ference. I don't see why it should not
be. There is nothing in it but pure
wax.
Mr. Davidson — I find that with sev-
eral grades of wax used in sections,
some grades are not accepted as readily
as others, and I had the idea that sec-
tion foundation made with old wax,
that is, wax from old combs, would not
be accepted as readily as foundation
made from newer wax, that is, from
newer combs.
Mr. Gemmill — I must confess that I
haven't had any experience in that line.
Dr. Miller — In getting out wax from
combs, we are directed, or have been in
the past, to break them up carefully,
and to soak them beforehand. Now,
is anything of that kind desirable or
advisable in this method?
Mr. Gemmill — It is not required
where you use pressure.
Mr. McEvoy — In regard to wax be-
ing hard and soft — the lighter color
Nov. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
757
the wax from the press the softer the
wax. The wax from cappiiiifs should
always be used in foundation for sec-
tions. It is nicer.
Mr.; Geramill — The capping^s from
combs that are melted in the solar ex-
tractor are a great deal harder. There
are other things in the cappings be-
sides wax.
A Member — I was speaking- of old
wax that is gotten out by any process.
Doesn't wax by age lose something
that it requires?
Mr. Gemmill — I couldn't say in that
respect.
Dr. Miller — Now. I think you are all
such careful bee-keepers that you never
have combs melt in the sun. A cer-
tain bee-keeper who lives where I do
sometimes has that happen, and the
thing that surprises me is the amount
of yellow wax that the sun wax-ex-
tractor will get; and another thing that
surprises me is the softness of that
wax. and I very much doubt if there is
any hardness increased in that wax.
Mr. McEvoy— I think that is correct.
Mr. Callbreath— Should the combs
be soaked beforehand, or doesn't that
make any difference?
Mr. Gemmill — It doesn't make any
difference where you use boiling water
and pressure, provided you use pres-
sure afterwards. Of course, according
to the Dadant plan, you soaked the
combs for 48 hours before, those hav-
ing many cocoons and much pollen,
and then immersing them in the boil-
ing water. But the point is this, that
if you use pressure you don't require
the same amount of boiling, because
you force the wax right through the
pollen.
Mr. Vinal — As I was going to say, I
think this foundation the bees would
not accept was a soft grade of founda-
tion, and my idea was that the wax by
age loses something that the bees re-
quire in order to mould their founda-
tion over: and a foundation not having
that, the bees will not work it as rap-
idly as they will foundation made
from new wax. This is my idea, be-
cause my bees would not work certain
foundation.
Mr. Gemmill — I would like to say
that since using the press, I have
noticed quite a number of bee-keepers
who were retaining old combs that
were defective in some way, and I
might mention Mr. Hall, of Ontario,
for one, who was going to make foun-
dation one day, and I got my son to go
down to assist him. My son took the
press down with him, and all the time
he was making foundation in the fore-
noon he was talking press; and at the
noon-hour my boy went out and got
the press a-going, and got a lot of the
slumgum that Mr. Hall had been throw-
ing away, and began pressing the wax
out of it. Mr. Hall looked at it a mo-
ment, and said he would get a press.
He got a press and has melted up sev-
eral thousand combs since, and he
doesn't want any old combs around his
yard now. He is a very conservative
man in his ideas. I think there are
many beekeepers here who, if they
were using a press with high pressure,
would be pleased with the results.
Mr. Howe — This g-entleman asked
about foundation being acceptable to
the bees after getting old. I had some
foundation that was put in sections
four years ago, and I kept it where it
was dark, and I couldn't see but what
the bees accepted this foundation as
readily as they did new foundation
put in this year.
Mr. Benton— I want to ask Mr. Gem-
mill if it wouldn't answer, in applying
that pressure, to put a heavy weight on
instead of being obliged to watch it
and screw it down, so that it would act
automatically?
Mr. Gemmill — You would have to
use great pressure, and it would have
to be coming down constantly.
Mr. Benton — It would be coming
down constantly.
Mr. Gemmill — You would require a
great weight. People have no concep-
tion of what a screw will do in regard
to the amount of pounds that it will
press down, and you want to be sure,
in getting the press, to get a machine
that will have a strong screw. You
will be astonished at the amount of
pressure you can use. I wouldn't rec-
ommend a weight at all; you would
want to have hydraulic pressure, or
something of that kind, if you were
going to use a weight instead of a
screw. .
Mr. West— I endorse the pressure of
getting out wax. I have used the pres-
sure, as has been mentioned, of press-
ing under water and letting the wax
rise to the top, and in every case I find
it is necessary now and then to raise
the screw to let the water in. But
since using that, we have gotten into
the habit of using a radically different
way of melting our wax. We use the
same tank, put our hot water and
combs in, and let them melt, and then
we have a dish that we lay in a cheese-
cloth, on one side, and we use a large
dipper — a 3 or 4 quart dipper to dip it
— and get that cheese-cloth and put the
pressure on there, and draw the wax
out in another place. We get the wax,
we think, pretty nearly clear in that
way.
Mr. Gemmill — Of course, I am not
informed as to the best methods of ap-
plying the screw, but I say apply the
pressure in some form.
Mr. Benton — The reason why I asked
the question in regard to the weight, it
seems to me we ought to give our Ger-
man friends some credit. We are apt
to poke fun at them and call them slow,
but they have been using the wax-press
all the time.
Mr. Gemmill — I am not a German,
and have not come in contact with any
German bee-papers, but I understand
that Mr. Holtermann, formerly of the
Canadian Bee Journal, had made some
copy of the old German press, and, of
course, they were using the screw there
long before I knew anything about it
in that form.
A. I. Root — The Germans were orig-
inal in the use of this press in connec-
tion with steam and hot water, and be-
cause they were original we named our
machine " (German, " because we
thought the credit ought to go where
it belongs. I found they had used it
12 or 15 years ago.
Dr. Miller — If you are going to quote
the Germans, I think you ought to go
a little further and say that many of
them are beginning to abandon the
steam press for hot water, and they
are now saying that hot water is better
than the steam — under pressure, you
understand.
Mr. Gemmill — By putting the combs
into the guntiy-s-acks and sinking thorn
under water more wax will be secured
than in the steamer; the wax will rise
to the top, and if you do the pressing-
ill the hot water the water will carry
the wax to the surface.
A. Laing — Last spring I melted up
about 100 pounds of wax. I tried the
same, wax-extractor that I had many-
times before, and I got somewhat dis-
couraged and discarded it for a good-
sized, ordinary kettle which I used on
the stove, with hot water, and I found
that I made about three times the prog--
ress with the hot water in melting that
I did with steam.
W. L. Coggshall — Hot water is the
thing to do it with, I think. It will do
it much better than steam, with me. I
use an ordinary caldron kettle, and I
can make 100 pounds of wax in half a
day without any trouble.
Dr. Miller— Does Mr. Coggshall use
pressure?
W. L. Coggshall — No, I haven "fused
pressure, but I think it is the proper
thing to do. I usually put the pres-
sure on by fastening a stick across the
top of the kettle and then put a screen
over the top and take the wax off the
top. It is the proper caper. I just put
an ordinary strainer over the top and
move it around and take the wax off.
Mr. Laing — What kind of a kettle do
you use?
Mr. Coggshall — A four-barrel kettle.-
Dr. Miller— Was that called the old'
Jones extracting kettle? Was there
pressure used?
Mr. Laing — There was pressure used.
I have nothing against the pressure,
but the press I had was too small for
the purpose in the first place, and the
steam melted it more slowly, and for
that reason I melted the wax first, then
poured it into the kettle and put on the
pressure.
Mr. Craig — The first set of wax-
presses that were sent out, that is with
the pressure, was an attachment to
what is known as the old Jones press,
and we found that it required too much
heat to generate the steam and so we
discouraged that, making a machine
with a copper bottom that sets down
in the stuff like an ordinary tea-kettle;
and this, we find, works very much
better, and requires very much less
heat.
Mr. Alpaugh — Mr. Geramill has told
you more than I could tell you, about
five times over. I melted only a few
old combs, and I did it with hot water
and pressure, on Mr. Geramill's prin-
ciple.
Mr. Gemmill — Mr. Alpaugh has an
idea in regard to this matter that 1
should like to hear.
Mr. Alpaugh — My idea would be to
have a large melting tank, soniething-
you could get lots of stuff in, anyway,
and have a division in this, and in the
division a pair of rollers set perfectly
tight so that they would work on the
principle of a wringer, so that you
could wring the stuff' through from
one side to the other and keep the wax
back, which it would do if they were
set tight at the ends; and just keep
feeding it in thin, flat sheets. When
you come to press this old comb the
trouble is to get it in small enoug-h
quantities and not to have too slow a
job. My idea would be to feed it
through rollers in a thin layer and
grind it through under low pressure,
the same as wringing out clothes.
Mr. McICvoy — How would it do to put
the combs through a cutting-box first?
758
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Nov. 28, 1901.
Pres. Root — I believe Mr. Alpaugh is
on the right track. In order to. put
pressure on the combs you have to get
it down to a thin sheet. The bulk of
it perhaps would be the depth of a bas-
ket, and when squeezed down should
not be more than an inch thick. Mr.
Alpaugh has the right idea of having
a wringer, or something of that kind,
that would yield enough so that this
slumgum could go through in thin
layers.
Dr. Miller— I believe that Mr. Al-
paugh has a good thing and a bad
thing together. I believe he has the
right idea in the one respect, that you
vpant a thin layer: but here is the
trouble with the wringer business:
You attempt to put a towel through
a clothes wringer and you' get. the
least start the towel will go through:
but suppose it is torn in'two, only the
half of it will go through, and there is
nothing to catch the next particle, and
it will simply squeeze and pack, in or-
dinary, actual practice. I don't be-
lieve you could get the thing to go
through, but I believe Mr. Alpaugh
lias the right idea, that there should
be some kind of arrangement that will
get the thing through.
D. H. Coggshall — I take a bran-sack
or a gunny-sack and re-sew them so
that they won't rip at the edges, and
put the wax or combs into that: then I
anake a pair of squeezers 3 feet long,
use a large caldron kettle and put the
sack of wax in, and keep the upper
■one going, working back and forth,
through these squeezers — keep work-
ing it back and forth. Of course, if I
have black combs there is not so much
wax in them. I have tried every way,
boiling it under water. There are lots
of little particles of wax in the slum-
gum. You have to work it under
water while you are pressing it. I
keep two sacks, one heating while I
am squeezing the other. I get lots of
water in the can I am cooling it in.
Then draw the water off at the bottom
and take the wax out. I made a divi-
sion in the kettle and put in wax on one
side and boiled it and boiled it; put it
under a weight, thinking that I could
get the wax out that way and leave the
slumgum, but when I came to take the
slumgum out there were lots of parti-
cles of wax in it. To make the squeez-
ers I take a board a foot wide for the
bottom one, and the upper one not
quite so large. Take combs when cold
and pound them all up: put them under
hot water, and squeeze them in these
squeezers. I can get it that way. I
think that is the only correct way to
get it.
Mr. Alpaugh — I understood you to
say there wasn't so much wax in black
combs?
D. H. Coggshall — Of course; there
isn't much refuse in cappings; there
would be a little.
Mr. Alpaugh — You mean to say a
comb that has been used several years
hasn't as much wax in it as one that
is used for a year or two?
D. H. Coggshall — It seems as if there
wasn't so much.
Mr. Gemmill — It is in the slumgum.
I would like you to send me a little of
that slumgum. I know a gentleman
who sent me 20 pounds of refuse, and
I got seven pounds of wax out of it.
Mr. Baldridge — I would like to know
if there is any test to know when we
have all the wax out of the slumgum.
Mr. Gemmill — The only way is to
keep pressing until you can't get any
more out of it. I don't care how much
you press it, if you throw it into the
fire you will see there is a little left
in it.
The chairman was called from the
room, when Mr. Gemmill presided.
Mr. Barb— I would like to know how
the wax is prepared after going
through the press?
Mr. Gemmill — The way I have been
in the habit of doing, after I had all
the wax gathered together and wished
to remold it, I generally used the
steam extractor without the pressure,
just merely to melt the wax. In the
top of that I put a wire clothes-basket
sunk down, and inside of that I laid a
very fine piece of old cheese-cloth:then
I put this into the steamer, and in the
lower portion I put on the lid of an old
pot so as to keep the was from running
down into water, and I retained all the
refuse, and a lot of the propolis, too,
will remain in this cloth. There will
be very little pollen. The wax is
forced out of the pollen and the co-
coons. There will be a little propolis
and some particles of dust.
W. L. Coggshall — To clarify wax, a
teaspoonful of sulphuric acid will do
for 100 pounds. Be careful not to put
in too much.
Mr. Callbreath — What kind of a ves-
sel do you use?
W. L(. Coggshall — Pour it into a tin
vessel.
Mr. Callbreath — Won't the sulphuric
acid eat the tin off?
W. L. Coggshall— It eats the dirt,
not the tin. That is what cleanses it.
PREP.\KING BEES FOR WINTER.
" What is the best method of prepar-
ing the brood-nest for wintering?"
Mr. McEvoy — About October 1. I
like to bring the bees successfully
through the winter with the least con-
sumption of stores, and that is a thing
that I worked on for quite a while in
my early days of bee-keeping. To
make a success of that I found the
only way to do was to send them into
winter with sealed stores, confine them
to about five or six combs, according
to the strength of the colony, and if
there comes a warm spell in January
there isn't the chance for them to com-
mence much brood-rearing, but when
I wintered them on a full set of combs
and left an open center, and a warm
spell came in January, young queens
would start laying-, the cluster would
become broken, and spring dwindling
would take place. I try to send every
colony into winter with sealed stores,
crowded on the least number of combs,
and when I haven't sealed stores to do
it, I feed until they are filled.
Mr. Callbreath — Beginning before
October 1 to feed?
Mr. McEvoy — Sometimes before and
sometimes after, and where I didn't be-
gin to feed until after the nights got
cold, the bees wouldn't go up in the
feeder, but b_v placing the feeder un-
derneath so as to bring the food within
about ^s inch of the frames, a night in
October when the ground was covered
with white frost, they would go down
into this and take up perhaps seven,
eight or nine pounds some nights;
whereas, if I put it above they would
withdraw, and I would lose the colony
by not feeding early. I like the combs
all sealed. It is work, but it pays.
Mr. Callbreath — Do you begin feed-
ing after brood-rearing has ceased?
Mr. McEvoy — Yes; and if I find that
brood-rearing continues, I shut it off.
I give them sealed stores and shut it
off in that way.
Mr. Callbreath — Won't the feeding
start brood-rearing?
Mr. McEvoy — I do it so suddenly
that it won't. If I do it slowly it will
waste the stores, and start brood-rear-
ing. If I can feed them up in one or
two nights, I do it. The sooner you do
it the better.
Mr. West — Is that for wintering out-
side or indoors?
Mr. McEvoy — I have them out and
in, both. Of course, in the latitude
[Ontario] I am in I like outdoor win-
tering: but for indoors it will do equally
as well.
Mr. Barb— Doesn't it make it too
cold in the hive to have the bees on so
few combs?
Mr. McEvoy — No, the bees are
crowded on these, and when they get
any honey, instead of hunting all
through the hive, all they have to do is
simply to lean forward.
Mr. Barb — How far apart do you
have the combs?
Mr. McEvoy — The regular distance,
about lyi inches from center to center.
As soon as the honey is out of them in
the spring I want them ready for
breeding.
E. R. Longnecker — Suppose there
are combs containing brood when you
begin to feed, what would you do with
them?
Mr. McEvoy — At that season of the
year there is very little brood; but if
there is, I take the next weakest colony
and put it in that.
Mr. Callbreath — I would like to ask
Mr. McEvoy if doubling up two col-
onies, one very strong, the bees could
not be left on the full set of combs
with plenty of honey. Will they com-
mence brood-rearing early in the
spring without any bad results?
Mr. McEvoy — Some years I have
been caught with perhaps in a hun-
dred ten of them would be upon the
full set. I would find that I had sev-
eral that was nearly solid with honey.
I would let that one go to the last; but
taking all in all, from year to year. I
found that ten of them would not aver-
age up with ten of those that I pre-
pared. Some of them would be just as
good, but there wouldn't be an average
in ten that would equal ten that I had
prepared, so much so that I do not
want one colony in 100 on full stores,
I want them on less.
Mr. Callbreath — I am not quite satis-
fied. My experience is that the colo-
nies that are heavy with honey in the
fall, without any feeding, without any
attention on the part of the bee-keeper,
are the colonies that have poor queens,
and not a very great many young bees;
and such, of course, would be likely to
drop out in the winter or the spring.
Mr. McEvoy — Sometimes I find it so,
too.
Mr. Callbreath — Such colonies would
be likely to make a poor showing the
next year.
Mr. McEvoy — Do you winter bees
outside?
Mr. Callbreath — Yes, sir.
Dr. Mason — How many frames do
you put a good, fair colony on?
Mr. McEvoy — Five or six, according
to the strength.
Nov. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
759
Dr. Mason — In preparinjj my bees
for winter, about the middle of Sep-
tember, I select what brood there may
be and put it in one side of the hive;
then I commence with combs of honey
and fill the remainder of the hive. I
winter bees in the cellar, of course, and
I don't have an)' spring- dwindling,
and they begin to breed in January. I
wouldn't g-ive a cent for them if they
didn't begin in January. I have had
bees that came out of the cellar
stronger than they went in in the fall,
and no dysentery or spring dwindling.
That is the difference of locality, I
suppose.
Mr. McEvoy — No, it is the difference
between indoor and outdoor wintering.
Mr. Niver — I would like to ask Mr.
McEvoy the cost of this contracting
the brood-nest, how much he would
take to contract Mr. Coggshall's 2,000.
Mr. McEvoy — I don't think I could
ever get through with it, because I
guess he has over 2,000 colonies.
A Member — I would like to ask Mr.
Coggshall at what time, if he ever has
any feeding to do, he does it?
W. L. Coggshall — I never yet fed
any sugar. I always have honey
enough.
^Continued next week.)
Contributed Articles.
Selling Comb Honey by Case vs. Weight.
BY K. A. BURNETT &. CO.
FOR some little time there has been an effort made to sell
comb lioney by the case and count of sections Instead* of
by the actual weight of the honey contained therein.
There is before me as 1 write two letters from parties desir-
iiicf to sell their honey in this way; namely, so much per case
of 24 sections, without reference to the actual weight of
honey contained in the case. Both of these parties (who are
car-load shijipers) were requested to name their price per
pound. In reply to that letter, one of them writes;
" 111 reply. I will state that it is not possible to quote any honey by
the pound, tor the reason that the different honey-producers use dif-
ferent-weight cases, and it would be an endless task to arrive at the
net weight of 1000 or more cases."
The other one writes;
"In reply to your favor of the 2Cth inst.. I bsg to fay that we
make it a rule to sell by the case only, as selling by the pound would
put a premium on the non-separatored honey, which is not as satisfac-
tory to the dealers as Uie nice separatored article, which is much more
even in weight and less liable to injury by careless handling. We hope
that selling by the case will soon come into more general use."
We hardly care to make any comment on the foregoing
quotations, but merely introduce them so that the reader may
know that there is more or less honey in the comb being
offered for sale in thi< way. To say that by selling by count
is more satisfactory than buying by the pound brings to our
memory the old adage so often repeated, that. "It is never
wise to buy a pig in the hag." for, in all proliability. it is a pig,
yet when the bag is removed it may not at all meet the e.xpec-
tations of the buyer.
It may be conceded tliat some, if not many, of our expert
bee-manipulators can get the bees to store in each section a
given quantity, tilling each section with no more, or no less,
than is contained in all the neighboring ones; now if this were
the case generally, the use of scales miglit well he abandoned ;
but if it takes the bees longer to put Iti ounces of honey into
a section than it does 12. and a correspondingly longer time
to put in 12 than it would nine, is it not reasonable to infer
that some man less scrupulous than his neighbor would man-
age it so that he could get a little less honey in the section,
and thus a greater lot of sections tilled in a given time by the
bees than his neighbor could? He would then be able to get
as much money for the number of sections as his neighbor
produced, and, having produced a fourth or a third more tilled
sections, he would be that much better otT tinancially than his
neighbor; and the purchaser would have that much less honey
for an ccpial sum of money; therefore, it would be only a little
time before a case of 24 so-called one-pound sections, instead
of weighing from 22 to 24 pounds, as was supposed to be the
case at the beginning of this method, we soon tind that the
cases, wliile containing 24 sections, in many instances weigh
from IT to 19 pounds.
Although this method of selling honey in any quantity
has not been in vogue more than three or four years, already
we find a 24-section case to weigh nearer 19 to 20 poiiiuls
than 28 to 24; yet there arc some producers in a collection of
a thousand cases of comb honey, whose cases weigh from 28
to 24 pounds, while others run from 17 to 19 pounds, there
lieing no apparent difference in the grade of honey when
viewed through the glass exposure, but there Is, when sections
are compared with on(^ another, a noticeable difference in tire
thickness of the comb.
If all men were evolved up to one standard, there would
be little need of checking one's accounts against another, but
inasmuch as we are not yet, as a whole, at the stage where
we will not practice deceit, for the sake of personal gain — a
false gain to be sure, but. nevertheless, one that is daily prac-
ticed by a very great number of us — and the desire that is so
prevalent to excel our neighbor in getting the best of a bar-
gain, is so constantly in mind that this method of selling
honey by the case without reference to the net weight of the
contents is a great temptation to a moral nature not overly
strong. It would be as fair to buy our sugar and tea by the
bagful without weighing it. because the merchant says, "My
bags hold just so much in weight and it is unnecessary to
weigh the goods I serve you for so much;" while it is true that
since paper bags are made by machinery they vary but little
in size, the machinery being so nicely arranged that it cuts
the paper with great accuracy, folds it with corresponding ac-
curacy; thus the bag when complete, if properly filled, will
each time contain almost exactly the same amount of sugar,
tea or coffee. But there are some merchants who want to
sell a bag of tea. coffee or sugar for a little less than their com-
petitors, and to enable them to do so, and yet make a protit,
they arrange for a bag that will hold a little less than the so-
called live or ten pound hag they have previously been using,
and their neighbor is using, and by this means they are able
to draw those who formerly bought of their neighbor to buy
their goods, for the most of us consider it necessary to buy
where we can buy the clieapest._
It seems to us that it would be just as reasonaMe to aban-
don weighing one of the commodities we have mentioned as
it would the otlier, for, in either case, we would be putting a
temptation in the way of a weaker brother by giving him an
opportunity to cheat without fear of detection.
It has been said in support of buying honey by the case,
that nearly all the retailers sell it by the section and not by
the weight. Let us grant this to be the fact. The sections
are taken out of the cases, or they are arranged in such a way
that the buyer can see what he is getting, if it is sold to him
as weighing a pound, and, if he doubts, he can ask to have it
weighed; if the merchant refuses to do so it would be a tacit
admission on his part that he was deceiving his customer.
Now, there are very few merchants who would take that risk,
for the reason the patronage of the customer would be worth
much more to him than the little he could make on a section
of honey; for how many of us would continue to trade with
any one whom we found deliberately trying to cheat us?
We could cite many other reasons that to us are logical,
against buying or selling honey in what seems to us a very
primitive way, namely, of guessing at what the weights
might be. When nowadays scales are cheap, and busi-
ness is done so closely that the guess is no longer admissible,
if for no other reason than the ill-feeling it is liable to arise
between the parties buying and selling, it should be dispensed
with.
Our purpose in the foregoing is to call the attention of
bee-keepers to this subject, especially when we find that or-
ganizations of bee-keepers in some instances are advocating
the abandoning of weighing their honey and selling it by the
case. Cook Co.. III.
No. 3. APICIILTIRE AS A BUSINESS.
A 200-Colony Basis Estimate— Capital Needed-
No Money in the Business Except in Hands
of Ppactical Apiarists.
BY R. C. .\IKIN.
AT last W. Z. Hutchinson has come to the decision that the
business that best combines with bees Is more bees. He
has yielded to the inevitable — to the march of siieclalism.
We may theorize, and plan, and prospect, but to succeed and
even make a respectable living from any business in these
760
AMEPICAN BEE 10URNAL.
Nov. 28, 1901.
M'Mi:i I I - MILES, OF CRAWFORIl CO., IOWA.
times we must specialize. By this I mean that we must select
one line of business and push that one thing. Even what a
few years ago would be counted as one line of business, we
find now divided into several different and special branches.
One man's specialty is extracted honey, another coml), a third
queen-rearing, and such division and subdivision. It is possi-
ble for one man or firm to handle succes.sfully several lines,
but to do so requires a much larj^er outlay of capital. The
thought is, the specialist, giving his time and energy to the
one thing — mastering all the details and facilitating his pro-
duction or conduct of the business— is able to discount all
competitors who are less well prepared. The specialist hav-
ing acquired the knowledge and facilities for handling the
business, adds to its volume at a very nominal additional out-
lay, and it is this increased volume of business handled from
approximately the same basis of equipment used in the smaller
business, that enables the special and extensive operators to
discount the lesser.
It is the argument in favor of great combinations, that
the multitude of small factories or businesses, when combined
under o«5^t??i£'>-a/ head and management, can be run much
more cheaply than when all run separately and independently.
Combination gives power, and an unjust use of this power be-
comes oppression and extortion. Tlie fact that combination
gives a power that often is used for extortion, does not invali-
date my argument, but strengthens it— there is no disputing
the fact that in union there is strength. The general benefits
of co-operation or combination I will not now discuss, nor the
wrong use of power, which comes of combination; I have in-
troduced the thought here because specialism and combina-
tion are things that must be considered in our business calcu-
lations. My aim in this series of articles on " Apiculture as a
Business" is to get our ideas down to a business basis. The
thing most of all that has prompted this discussion, is the fact
that there is an epidemic bee-fever in Colorado, and very many
are rushing into the business, apparently only to make finan-
cial failures.
I am going to take the proposition of one going into api-
culture as a money-making procedure, calculating cost of
equipment and all necessary expenditures, and analyzing the
business in its details to the final outcome. This will include
a consideration of locality, market conditions, ability of apia-
rist, and methods to obtain results.
One of the very first and most common mistakes made by
all classes, is a failure to consider the cost, final chances of
success, and, whether there is room and opportunity tor their
proposed venture. Suppose some one has a longing to embark
in the business in my territory here. He thinks I am making
money, and surely he is as smart as I am— if Aikin can suc-
ceed so can he. He does not stop to think that I am already
established in the business, that I have spent years of study
and hundreds and hundreds of dollars in investigations, experi-
ments and advertising, have built up a trade— in short, have
spent years laying the foundation for a luisiness. Few stop
to consider that it is not a question simply of mere personal
fitness, but of preparation and becoming fitted by practice and
familiarity with the thing we are to deal with.
I note that many of these investors are paying $> a colony
for their stock to start with. They, being no judges of the
condition of the stock, get good, dad and indifferent, various
sized hives, ill-titting supers, queenless colonies, foul stock —
many undesirable things. In order to have a basis I shall
take the So-a-colony price, considering that this price gets
regular hives and two supers to the hive. 1 shall also consider
that 20U colonies will be all the prospective apiarist can
handle, and that some experience has been had to enable the
owner to begin with a fair foundation knowledge of the man-
agement of bees.
The 200 colonies at $5 is $1000; honey and storage-
room (small) -S 100: smokers, knives, veils, cart or barrow,
solar or other wax-extractor, saws, hammers and tools to
make or repair hives, etc., i:i2^f; total investment, SL 1 2i'.
A 2o-pound yield from the 200 colonies would give 500i)
pounds — but suppose a 50 pound crop — 10,000 pounds. Ac-
cording to a former estimate (see article No. 2) U>.< 'OO
pounds costs in fovindation, sections, and cases, $200. The
bees assessed at $1 a colony and at a general total tax of 2}^
percent, is S-5 — a total outlay of cash for the 10,000 pounds
of honey, S20.5. At the average price noted in article No. 2,
this crop of honey being 4 1 6 cases and a fraction (we will
drop the fraction) brings $915.20. Take from this the $iOb,
cash paid, and yTl0.2o remains to pay interest on the in-
vestment and for the apiarist's labor and living.
Now let us run the calculations through on an average
yield of half the foregoing. We have 2o8 cases at $2.2" —
S45T.H0: taking from this $105 for sections, foundation,
cases and taxes, leaves for the labor and interest $352.(50. A
glance at these figures shows at once that if the owner can
not handle the stock himself and alpne. if for any reason he
has to have hired help, very little will be left of the income.
But I know many will say, "What of the increase? That
is worth something." Let us see what it is worth. A fair in-
crease for 200 colonies would be 100, when handled at all
with a view to getting the surplus yields I have allowed in the
foregoing estimates. 100 new hives, two supers each, will
cost in the flat aliout $1.50 each; nailed and painted, with
starters in the brood-frames, the apiarist doing the labor, the
hives cost about $2.00 each. I allowed at the start $5 a col-
ony for the stock purchased to begin with, but it would not be
a safe price on the increase. There is a limit to all things.
"Vou do not expect to go on increasing and selling your in-
crease to your neighbors to go into business and be your com-
petitors; and not only competitors, but to overstock your pas-
turage and cut down your yields. Even if you did expect to
sell the increase there would soon be no market for it — you
could not continue that line of policy very long. I should say
that $3 a colony would be a good, big allowance for the in-
crease.
So far. we have gone on the assumption that the original
stock remains intact, no losses in winter from queenlessness
or any other cause. A small annual increase is necessary to
make up for the unavoidable losses: it is a rare thing to get
through the winter without a few losses from queenless colo-
nies at least. This necessitates, then, some additional capital
invested in hives. If we must, in order to keep up the stock,
have some extra hives for increase, our capital put into the
business is greater than the $1120. given at the start. To
have a really safe basis to keep up the original stock, one
should have about 25 extra hives, making so much increase
in them to be doubled back or substituted for the vinavoidable
losses.
There is still another item not yet considered. No matter
whether the yield be 5, OOO or I 0. 00" pounds, there will be
of necessity a surplus of sections and foundation, for one can
not time to an exact count. The unfinished sections left over
when you have clean<'(l up 5,000 pounds of marketable honey
or any other amount, will be from 10 to 20 percent, some-
times reaching 40 or 50 percent. This represents only the
sections used or placed on the hives, while there must, of
necessity, be an additional stock carried in order to have
enough. If we anticipate a 10,000-pound yield, we can
scarcely do less than buy and p7ii up at least 1 0,00o sections,
even though we do not get half of them filled. And, if one
expects to do the work and care for the stock himself, it be-
comes a necessity that sMprospectively needed \\\\eii,seQt\ons,
and all supplies except cases, be purchased ahead and pre-
pared, enough to hold the biggest crop expected, for 200 col-
onies will keep one hand hustling during the honey-flow.
These extra supplies needed and carried in stock, must be
added to the investment of bees, honey-house and tools. Two
hundred colonies in one apiary are too many — they should be
in two places. If in two yards, a horse and wagon will be
needed. Witliout any more itemizing I am going to put the
necessary money capital to be invested in a 200-colony busi-
ness where $5 a colon v has to be paid for the bees, at §1500.
Ordinarily it is not done for less.
In the foregoing estimates I have put the figure much
higher than any green hand could accomplish. I have taken
it for granted that a// the product was No. 1 honey, whereas
Nov. 28, 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
761
tlio iiicxiiiTicnced would have from hi to - j No. 2 luid culls.
For llic past ten years I put iny own general averas" at 40
pounds. My {jeneral average price has hccii, for all fjrades,
about $2 a case — SJj cents a pound. Sections, foundation
and casi'S cost 2 cents, or 80 cents a colony. Investment for
"-'00 colonies and equipment being, as per previous tables,
SI.-tOO, I allow on this Lu percent for interest, and l" per-
cent more for wear and tear — '20 per cent of $Lo00 is $ciO0,
or SI, .50 a colony. A 40- pound yield at 8'i cents makes the
^ross income per colony $3.8o. Deduct from this the cost of
sections, foundation and cases, interest and wear and tear —
the 20 per cent on capital invested — $2.30 a colony, leaves
me $1,03 a colony, 2i '0 colonies giving me the sum of S-iOO
for my labor and caring for them.
If this is the way it turns out with one of so large an ex-
perience, what must bi' the result when an inexperienced per-
son is doing the managing? There is no money in the busi-
ness here except in the hands of practical apiarists.
Larimer Co., Colo.
^ The Afterthought. ^ |
The "Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
SELLING EXTRACTED HONEY IN PAPER SACKS.
So she thoug;ht a gallon crock went with three pounds of
honey, and incontinently packed it full of butter I All right
to deliver her honey in a paper sack, if you tell her to pour it
out into somethingelse directly. And the actual storage in
flour-sacks of i ,000 pounds of honey, taken from badly leak-
ing (and badly warranted) barrels is certainly worth putting
in the papers." They were second-hand Hour-sacks at that.
remember. Page 631.
MIXING OF SWARMS.
Boomer's experience, on page 633, touches one of tlic
standing bee-puzzles. When two swarms mix, some think it
well and some think it ill, but whatever happens, they seldom
separate. Yet when a swarm forces Itself into another hive
thev usually separate. Why is this thus? I rather think
that in the latter case they don't really mix. but stand with
their toes on a line making faces at each other. The case
Boomer gives is a little unusual as to the short time No. 1 had
been in possession.
FLORAL DISPLAYS ON HIVE-TOPS.
Looking at the very beautiful apiary of J. W. Tucker &
Son. on page 634-. I see pots of flowers on some of the hive-
roofs. That's not new, but the contemplation of it pops a
a ni'W thought into my mind. Could we put a "Wandering
.lew." <ir some equally rampant vine, into a big pot and make
it weigh down the cover and shade the whole establishment
at the same time? I see some objections, but nuiybc tlii'y
could all be surmounted. They wouldn't l)low away as easily
as tall plants do.
GROWING MULBERRIES FROM THE SEED.
Considering how shy of germination many similar sn-ds
are, it is quite a success to have mulberry seeds sown August
15. not only up but an inch high September 2l). Little ex-
cuse left now for not having all the young plants we think we
need. Page 637.
BOUNTIFUL CROP REPORTS HELP SALES.
Quite interesting to see so competent authority as 1{. A.
Burnett & Co. adopt the opinion that the cry of •Honey
scarc<' and high this year'' scares off customers: and that the
publication of news that there has been a bountiful crop pro-
motes sales. This is not a popular view with our brethren;
but it's well for them to ri'member that there is such a view.
Of course, yarns about an enormous overplus would not comc'
under the same head. I fear there are usually quite as many
trying to lie the crop down as try to lie it up. What does a
liar estimate himself at. anyhow? Manifestly one Ananias
Bull is more than a match for a dozen of Ananias Bear, Ksq.
The latter can not possibly see any less than none in any given
locality. If there are five" car-loads somewhere, tlien live car-
loads Is the limit of his mendacity: while the former chap has
no limit, and can see five car-loads as a tliousand. Belli r we
make il hot for the whole Ananias tribe. Page 643.
HONEY-BEES AND TEXAS CATTLE.
Adrian Getaz says an important but rather disccmraging
thing on page 647. Can we by skilled breeding make Texas
cattle more tough and hardy than they are? Probably not.
Nature has already done the job and finished it. Well, then,
how about bees? Has not nature for thousands of years been
developing hardiness and honey-gathering, the very <iualities
we propose to breed for?
A woodpeckers' "bee."
Thanks to Prof. Cook for his verification of '•l)ees''
among woodpeckers — bees not at all zoological, but indus-
trial. It's ]ileasanl to see how many human things we can
find dujjlicated among our lower down (in this case liigher up)
relations. So the w'oodpecker does sometimes actually "make
a bee " and invite his fellows to help him— and they good-
naturedly respond, and pick away for awhile, and then go
back to their own work. Page 6 49.
EVENING PRIMROSES AS NECT-\R YIELDERS.
How mysterious are the kinds of honey-flow and seasons 1
Why did the evening primroses this year abound with nectar
— both in Missouri (page 652) and here in Ohio— notwith-
standing the fact that they usually do not attract bees very
much. Prize of five cents for the "boy that can tell.
I ^ The Home Circle. ^ |
Conducted bij Prof. fl. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
INDULGENCE.
The greatest lesson Christ taught the world was the bless-
edness of sacrifice. " He'came not to be ministered unto, but
to minister." " My father worketh hitherto, and I work."
" He that saveth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his
life for my sake and the gospel's shall surely find it." He
was not simply willing, but rejoiced to give himself for men.
No wonder his most devoted, and so, of cour.se. his most effi-
cient disciple — the great Paul — could say, " I count not my-
self dear unto myself," No wonder he could rejoice in beat-
ings, shipwrecks", standing the hardest trials and most Dur-
densome sacrifices. He had right in sight the greater sacri-
fices of the Master, "who spake as never man spake," who
'■ went about doing good," and in " whose life was no guile.''
The dear Christ life and nature knew no such word as
selfishness, but were guided and gilded by sacrifice. No won-
der He lifted the world. No wonder He shines in lives and
hearts today. No wonder that He is to work as most blessed
leaven until the world is redeemed unto himself.
I believe that this greatest lesson is one that we keep too
little in mind in our home circles. We as parents love our
children. We love to gratify them. To minister unto them
is easiest, for our greatest pleasure comes when they are hap-
piest. Our love, unless we are wary, will trample our judg-
ment under foot, and will hide the teachings, the life, the in-
comparable example of the Christ standing as a wall between
them and their application to our children. To be served,
petted, indulged, often clothes a child with the murky gar-
ment of selfishness. To serve, to be buffeted for faults, "to
wor'ic out one's own salvation with fear and trembling," all
these go to make character, and develop within the boy or
girl a moral and intellectual jihysique and stamina that will
stand alone if cruel circumstances remove all the props which
kindly hands so fondly place and hold in position.
1 have seen many a boy. and many girls, made pulpy, in-
eflicient. and, worst of all, irredeemably selfish, by just such
indulgence. The finest charact<>rs I have ever known have
been those who have been strengthened in fiber and gripe by
entire self-dependence and self-support in all their college
life. Such persons can appreciate Christ's rugged philosophy,
and, if occasion requires, can rival Paul in battling against
hardships and calamity.
My mother was very indulgent. I tliiiik she enjoyed that
I lay hat. coat or books on chair or sofa that she inight havo
the "joy of putting them in place— of waiting on me. My first
rooin-mate in cullege had not bei'n so treated. He was older
than I, and I justly looked up to him with great admiration
and respect. He (-ould not have clone a kinder thing to me
than he did do. He taught me right at the threshold of our
762
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
Nov. 28. lyOl
most happy, blessed and helpful association that I was to put
up my things instanter and every time. Coat on a chair: not
much. Hat or books on his table: certainly not the second
time. Boots anywhere rather than close side by side in touch
with bed-lei; just under the bed, as I retired; well, if so not
repeated. What if it did seem a little toush then? What if
it (lid make me dream of home and mothiM-.' It was a most
valuable and much-needed lesson.
Mother marveled when I came home on vacations, at the
valuable influence of collefre to make students more orderly
and thoughtful. She did not know until I told her years after
that it was my room-mate. Prof. Prentiss — long the honored
Professor of Botany in Cornell University — that wrought the
reform. To-day he is with God. beyond the river, but his salu-
tary influence is still on earth, and it did much for me.
I know a mother who was left a widow with four children
and a larjredebt. She had been a teacher: indeed, it was she
that first said ■"college" to me, and with a look and emphasis
that made me resolve that it and its invaluable gifts should be
mine. She was determined that all those children should have
a college education. Through indomitable energy and cour-
age, by dint of long, hard hours of severest labor, she lifted
the debts, gained a competency, and sent all her children to
college. She felt that they must not have the hard life that
she had suffered. She sent money to tbem in handfuls. One
of her boys was dubbed "Vanderbilt." This was before her
debt burdens were lifted, and in spite of the fact that the hoy
knew of his mother's trials and hardships. I begged of her to
withhold the money, but she was deaf to my suggestions. The
two older boys were almost ruined. They are now pretty suc-
cessful and valuable men, but it took years, and much more
of the mother's money, to tindo the mischief.
My father gave me to know that possibly he could not
afford means to send me through college. "It would depend
upon the expense." He also said something about my record.
He need not have done this, as I was just athirst for what the
college could give me. As a result, I earned enough while in
college more than to pay half my way, though I was far from
strong. Whatever I may have thought then, I now am sure
that my father was very wise. No father, I ween, can do a
wiser thing than to inculcate in his child a love for work, pas-
sion for industry, and habit of economy of both time and
money. Indulgence will never grow the kind of fiber that
gives us our grandest men and women. A wise requirement
of work, duties regularly, faithfully and promptly done, will
secure noble men, and such requirement is the best heritage
that any son gets from wise and loving parents.
THRIFT.
Can a father give a son wiser advice than that he save
each year a part of his income? I know far more than one
man who spends each year the entire amount of his earnings.
I Ivnow of more than one whose expenses exceed the income.
This course, if a man is rightly endowed with proper sensibil-
ities, will handicap his daily efforts, as with such loss of inde-
pendence comes unrest, and discontent weighs down efficiency.
No father can do a wiser tiling than to furnish a son or
daughter with opportunity to earn money, and then watch for
every opportunity to beget a love and habit of wise saving.
LOVE OF PARENTS.
The fifth, or pivotal, cummandment of all the ten, is
" Honor thy father and thy mother." If Joseph, after his
great honors and opportunities came to him, could have gone
to see that old, loving father: or, if there did not seem insu-
perable objections to his going, then he was a bad, undutiful
son. If, on the other hand, his heart yearned to go, and he
denied himself the great pleasure, feeling that possibly family
discord and greater ill-will and discontent would follow such
visit, made before dvie preparation prepared father, and es-
pecially brothers, for it, then he was truly a grand boy. In
industry, purity, kindness, and generous magnanimity, he was
certainly a model for all the ages.
LanQsirom on...
Tll6fl0n6l)-B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pag'es, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending- us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
g-rand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Krie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
YifH 9 SELF-REGULATING INCUBATORS IN ONEi
30 Days Trial. ioo:i-S9.50?.n;
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Jr'leaso mention Bee Journal when writine
A War Veteran's Report.
I am an old veteran soldier of the Civil War
of is(;i-isij5. serving three years and eight
iiioiiths in Company H, First Michigan Light
Artillery. I was injured in the service, hav-
ing taken part in 15 battles, and now draw a
pension. 1 have kept bees and farmed ever
since. I have a small farm and grow fruit
and general produce. I had four colonies of
Italian and h.ybrid bees, spring count, which
increased to 11 and yielded 80 quarts of ex-
tracted and 00 pounds of comb honey. I have
had a Novice extractor for 10 .years, but have
not used it much, as 1 reduce the number of
my colonies to about 10 or 12, as 1 have no
time to attend to more. I generally sulphur
that number every fall, and use the combs
thus obtained to extract from the following
season.
This has been the best honey season in
years in this vicinity. I have been sowing
sweet clover in waste, out-of-the-way places
of late years, and have gathered a lot of it
this fall, and also catnip seed, to sow early in
the spring of lil02. It yields lots of honey
and bees work on it a month. I use S-frame
double-wall and 10-frame single-wall Sinqjlie-
ity hives. VVii. Martin.
Oakland Co., llich., Oct. 30.
Safe Introduction of Queens.
So much has been written on introducing
(lueens, and .so much dissatisfaction and so
many failures, that I am hereby induced to
give my plan, which, up to the present, has not
failed in a single instance, and it would be
hard for me to believe that any one would
fail who adopts my method and strictly cai-
ries it out. If it is a queen received thr(.)ugh
the mails, 1 follow instructions on the ([iieeu-
cage. and I have never lost a queen by that
plan, unless there happened to be two (lueens
in the hive— not thinking that the old mother
Satisfied People.
at s the kind that i uu the
IMARILLA
Incubators and Brooders.
iifV, Larger hatches, pel teotGystem
j,ot regulating temperature, moisture and
veDtilatton. All these poiotsezplaineA
Hot Air. *'inoarcataloe;. Sentfor two :ic stamps- ^
r.1AR!LLA IKCUBATOR COMPANY. BOX D . ROSE HIU. B. T.
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Manufacturers* price
for our catalog'.
FRED. W. MUTH & CO.
S.W. Cor. Front A: ^Valnut Sts. CINCINNATI, 0.
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CYPHERS INCUBAIOR,
World's Standard Hatcher.
TTsed on 2G Oov. Experiment Stations
Pan-American, Oct. I'.iOl.
circular frt-e. Poultryman's Guide,
224 pages, 8x11 in., maiJed for lOc
Ask i.earest office for book No. .'j>
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Please mention Bee >roiimai when wrinne
Dittmer's FouBdatiou !
Retail— W holesale— Jabbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Wort fax Into Foundation For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog g-iving
Full Line of Supplies,
application
GUS, DITTMEF, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal when ■writing
Nov. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
763
and her daughter were together. In that
caBe I lose the imported queen. Now for my
never-failing plan :
First, I have a wire-cloth tent that sets over
the hive, with room for me to work under. I
take the smoker, and make the bees fill them-
selves with honey by rapping on the hive,
etc., and in five to ten minutes I open the
hive and take out each frame until I find and
kill the old ([ueen; and as I take out the
frames I set each one outside of the hive in a
box the size of the hive, with a bottom-
board attached. I then shake all the bees
from each frame to the ground directly in
front of the hive, with alighting-board re-
moved, and then replace each frame in the
hive.
Understand, the old queen is now dead, the
bees are all on the ground, and the frames
back in the hive.
I now replace the alighting-board, and they
immediately start to crawl in; after about
1-4 or 1-5 of them have crawled in, I take the
queen I wish to introduce and drop her in a
cup of extracted honey, take her out and
drop her on the alighting-board near the en-
trance. I then close the hive (if I failed to do
so sooner), raise a side of the tent and get
out, leaving the tent over them until they are
quiet.
I have introduced in this way at all seasons
of the year, from April to October, and have
yet to lose the first queen, and I have intro-
duced hundreds in this manner. I can guar-
antee safe introduction in every case where
the instructions are strictly carried out. If
bees are thoroughly filled with honey, and
enough smoke used to keep away prowlers,
you can introduce a laying queen at any time,
and I have not yet failed in introducing virgin
queens in this manner. T. .J. Baxtek.
Craven Co., N. C.
Poorest Hone.y Season in 15.
I have kept bees for about 1.5 years, and
this has been the poorest season for honey in
this locality I have ever experienced. People
out West seem to think honey-dew is no
good, but we think it is strictly first<dass.
and are always glad to see it come. Three
cheers for Prof. Cook's article on patent
medicines, on page 698. Hit 'em again, Prof
Cook. ' Harry P. Gkogan.
Scott Co., Va., Nov. 2.
Spring Dwindling and Its Cause.
I have not been in the bee-business long,
and can not compare with those great, big
fellows at the Bullalo convention. It seems
that the bee-keepers «?£ fear spring dwindling,
and that was one of the first subjects dis-
cussed by that worthy body. My experience
has been, that with proper food and all
tucked up snug and warm, yet one thing
lacketh here in southern Ohio. It seems as
if winter and summer have this section for
their battle-ground — first one victorious and
then the other. Bees generally can find pol-
len by March 20, about which time a few
warm days swell the maple-buds, when the
bees rush forth, and, of course, cornmence
brood-rearing. This condition lasts long
enough to stimulate brood-rearing, wheu, un-
expectedly. Old Winter makes a charge from
the north west,and drives the mercury down to
10 degrees below the freezing point, holding
this position for from three to six days. The
bees remain quiet for a day or two, or until
the supply of water in the hive is exhausted,
and the brood is ready to die for want of it;
then the little martyrs go forth, rain or snow,
aud never return, and there you have a gen-
uine case of spring dwindling in the strongest,
well-paeked and provisioned colonies, none
exempt.
I passe<l through just such an experience
last March, and again in April, yet I lost no
t)ees, though some of my neighbors did. I
looked out one evening in March, when the
snow was eight inches deep, and still falling,
and I saw a sight that almost took my breath
— thousands of bees flying, so it seemed to
me. I rushed out to find the siu>w covered
with them. I closed the entrances of the
hives, and in 10 minutes they came up be-
tween the hives and boxes I had them packed
Great Combination SBbscription Oiters.
Combination and concentration in business are the maffic watchwords of
the ag^e in which we live. Why should it not be applied to the matter of sub-
scriptions to magazines and periodical literature in general ? We believe it is a
wise move, especially when it is in the line of economy for the reading public.
Now, if we can be the means of saving our subscribers several dollars a year on
their reading matter, and at the same time help them to the best literature pub-
lished to-day, we shall feel that we are doing a good thing, indeed.
We have entered into an arrangement whereby we can furnish the follow-
ing excellent periodicals at greatly reduced prices :
I THE DOLLAR PAPERS. price.
I Co.siuopolitan Magazine 1.00
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly l.Oil
Regular
price.
Review of Reviews $2. .50
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PLEASE NOTICE that in all combinations Success and the American Bee
Journal tnust be included.
Here is our List of Liberal Offers :
American Bee Journal and Success, $1.75.
with any one of the above dollar magazines (3 periodicals) f2..')0
with any twu of the above dollar magazines 3.00
with any lliree of the above dollar magazines 3.50
with the Review of Reviews (new) 3.00
with Current Literature (new) 3.00
with New England Magazine 3.00
with Review of Reviews (new) and any oik of the dollar magazines 3.50
with Leslie's Weekly 3.75
with Review of Reviews (new) and Leslie's Weekly 4.75
with North American Review (new) and Review of Reviews (new) 5.00
?B' If ai renewal subscription is wanted for the Review of Reviews, Curreut
Literature, or the North American Review, add $1.00 for each renewal subscrip-
tion to the combination prices named above. On all the other combinations a
renewal counts the same as a new subscription.
pS- No foreign subscribers can take advantage of these combination offers.
We shall be pleased to have our readers examine carefully the above list,
and send us their subscriptions. Address.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO .
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
HAVE YOU A BOY?
Why not start him in business! Don't you wish somebody
tiart thought of that when you were a bov! The poultry
business makes more money for capital invested than
anything you can think of. Buy your boy a RELIABLE IN-
CUBATOR AND BROODER. That win insure his startinc
riprlit. You can borrow money from him after the first
year. Send for copy ofourSOIh Oenlurv Poultry Hook
an.l learn more about the subject Mnlh-d foi lo,-. I.i pay
Reliable Incubator & Brooder Co., Box U-.!, Quincy, Ills.
On Rough Ground
use P.tOE F.TK-r.. It tits any surfaro pfrff-rtly.
PA(JK H(»\ K\ \l IKK I KXCKCli.. mlil t N. II ICH.
Please mention Bee Journal w> er wTit'T...n
Successful E
ncuba.tor (TheEgg)
Brooder (The chick)
f "VTZJ-iOk,,,-!, hedil.oi.iccnl-,.,'lhri^rreo;
l| I ■■ ^j MS HOl.NKS IMl KATOU (d.,
(/■' 11 J,-7II..i;b Do JlolDcn, Tiinn, or Riiilt
Bee Journal -wneii wntinff.
Send for circulars^?/
olde
A\ Bii
Bee-Smoke
[proved aud
FOK ZSYEAKS TUK IIF.ST ON l^AKTH.
25Atf T. F. BINUHAM, Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal -when wrriting,
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
SK lotb 2sib san
Sweet Clover (white) $ .dO $1.00 $2.25 $4.00
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 ".£0
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to jour order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, 11,1,.
Please mention Bee Journal
wheu writing advertisers.
764
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 28, 1901.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES A;:?*:
THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
OUR NEW IWl FIFTY-TWO PAe^E CATALOG READY.
Send for a copy. It is free.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis,, U.S.A.
Special A^eac.v, C. M. Scott & Co., iu04 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping' facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Please mention Bee Journal when ■writing.
paid
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
wax. We are paying
26 cents a pound —
CASH— for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 2S cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Why Not Buy the Best?
It costs DO more than iiift-nor styles. Wo clnirn that
Adam's Green Bone Cutter
Istbebest becanseit istheonly Ball Bearing maclime
on the market. It worksontlie shear principle, turns
easier, cuts faster and cleaner, and prepares the bone
In better shape than any other. Write atonce.
Catalogue Ko. tf Is Free.
W.J.ADAM, ■ - JOLIET, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal -wheD writing.
IF
ITS AN
I ADAM
MS THEi
^BE5L
!f B&ST f!
I uimm Honey For sale |
•^ ALL IN An. POUND TIN CANS. ^Z
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
Alfalfa
Honey J^i^
This is the famous
White Extracted
Honey gathered in
the great Alfalfa
regions of the Ceni
ral West. It i^ a
splendid honey, ami
nearly every bud _v
honey at all can''
get enough of ilie
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey J/<^
This is the well-
known liyht-colored
bodey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
strong-er flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred bv those
like a distinct fl.
ho ^^
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7,'2 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, yi cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOIMEV
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
■^ Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey: ^
.^K I've just sampled the honey you sent, and it's prime. Thank you. I feel that I'm ^;
•^ something of a heretic, to sell several thousand pounds of honey of my own production ^ •
^^^ and then buy honey of you for my own use. But however loyal one ougrht to be to the ^;
•^ honey of his own region, there's no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot ^*
1^^ drink, where one prefers the more wholesome honey to sug^ar, the very excellent quality ^;
'^ of alfalfa honey I have received from you is better suited than the honeys of more ^*
^^^ marked flavor, according to my taste. C. C. Miller. ^^
;^ McHenry Co., 111. ^•
:< Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^
\^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^|
i^ enough honey for their home demand this j'ear, just order some of the 5^
:^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^;
1^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^."
^ '^^QE0RQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Cliicago, III. *;
iD, and if ever a fellow felt helpless it was I.
Noticing the bees sucliinfj the snow al»ut the
entrances, I took the hint and made a rush for
the teakettle. I tempered some water and
put it at the entrances; those poor bees just
covered the entrances, crawling over each
other to get that water. In less than '20 min-
utes all were quiet. The weather remained
cold tor several days, but I lost no more bees.
Mr. Root may safely say it is not a disease,
but a condition, namely, young bees to car©
for, and water, one of the great requirements,
not available. It you have prepared your
bees properly, both as to food and shelter, yet
under the conditions I have mentioned you
will still have a fatal case o£ spring dwin-
dling. Therefore, the preventive would b»
plenty of stores — but!/ of Iwuey and water.
Pike Co., Ohio, Nov. 4. J. M. West.
Hand-Pieking Drones.
(Ill pat;e6Sl, .Mr. Doolittle tells about hav-
ing hand-piclied drones for best results,
" killing all which you think are not such as
you would desire."' It may l^e an easy thing
for Mr. Doolittle to decide just what are the
best drones, but a very hard thing for a
novice. Please have Mr. Doolittle inform us
how we are to decide which drones to kill and
which to save. LE.iRSEU.
[In hand-picking drones I look first for
perfect development, and those under size
and imperfect in any way are killed. Next
I look to activity on the combs, Iwlieving
those sluggish in action and motion while on
the combs will be the same while on the
wing, and beget offspring of like import.
Next I look at their markings, and any vary-
ing to an unusual degree to either side of an
average are disposed of. It would seem
hardly necessary for me to say in conclusion,
though some beginners may not know it, that
drones are what are known as " commoners,"
which means that any colony which will keep
their own drones will allow the drones from
other hives in the apiary to enter and be wel-
come. And thus it often happens that when
drones from other colonies are being driven
out, they will enter the colony having the
drones from our select, drone-reared queen;
ami, in hand-picking, these should be selected
out and killed. This can generally best be
done from their color or markings.— G. M.
Doolittle.]
A Successful Wintering of Bees.
This has been a very poor season for bees
in my locality. We had so much rain and
cold winds in the spring that the hees could
work but little on apple-ljloom. and when
that was over it kept right on raining, so that
farmers could not get in many spring crops;
so the summer has been a poor one for the
farmer as well as the bee-keeper. I sold all
but about lUO colonies last spring. I in-
creased them to 17S during the season, but
got very little honey— perhaps 450 or 500
pounds — nearly all from ulsike clover. It
rained so much that buckwheat did not yield
any honey to speak of. and it has been the
poorest season of the 12 that I have kept bees.
I was looking over an old diary to-day,
where I had kept a record of my bees, of
which the following is that of the past four
years: Dec. 2, 1S97, I put 190 colonies into
"winter quarters, and on March 23, 189S, took
out 189, losing one by smothering. Dec. 1,
1898, I put 204 colonies into" winter quarters
just as they were, with no feeding or uniting,
and April 7, 1899, took out 201. losing 3, one
by starvation, and two by dwindling down to
a handful each. 1 again sold all but about 90
colonies; and on Nov. '25, 1899, I put 120 col-
onies into a bee-house, talting out, April 7,
1900, the same number, with no loss. Nov.
17. 1900, 1 prepared 160 colonies tor winter,
all having enough stores for winter; and on
April 13. 1901, I took out 1,59 colonies, one
having played out through loss of the ciueen.
I sold again, and doubled up to about 100
colonies.
Now, it any one who winters his bees above
the ground, can show a better record than
mine, I would like to hear from him. I have
read the American Bee .lournal for several
years, but do not remember seeing any men-
tion of our best bee-keepers making a success
Nov. 28. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
765
It Brings More Eggs
~ nKuniljOr •
pr™ .,.i;.ie ti-Us all
l^j^bune, and the be!
for cuttine it.
Sold Direct ''•"^^-
•on KO.Iiiy»' trial. Bn.Mn
Stratton Mfg. Co., Box 21, Erie, Pa
Please mention Bee Journal when writiag.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook,Clareinont, Cal.,
FOR BIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to tbe Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing.
The Eiiierson Binder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
tack for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year — both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing- to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this *' Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 140 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
200-Egg Incubator
for $ 1 2-80
Perfect in construction and
action. Hatches .-very fertile
ej7p. Write for catalopue to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
Plep*^e mention Bee Journal when WTiting.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among: Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. "Scts.each; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinn.^ti, O.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
wiiiterinj,' llii'ir Iji'fs above ground. My bees
were not ))iciiarecl us Mr. McEvoy e-\piainpd
to us at till' BiilTalo convention — Ihey were
simply put in the bee-house with a full hive
of frames and honey, and tiered four hi^j^li.
Andrew M. Thompson.
Allegany Co., N. Y., Nov. 3.
Bees "Away Up North."
Last tall we had tliree fine colonies of bees,
filling two stories each, but the winter proved
too much tor them. We had 4^^ months of
continued cold weatlier, there being scarcely
a day when they could leave their hives tor a
Wight, so when we opened them it was to find
them all dead except a handful on the top ot
hive No. 2, which we put into a new one and
made them cozy. We did not think it ot any
use to give them a queen until July li— they
looked as it they meant to stay, not losing a
single bee. I was sorry we lost so much time,
but got a queen introduced; two days later I
put a hole through the candy in the cage with
an awl, and waited three weeks, when 1 found
the queen still a prisoner. I opened the cage
and let her down with her attendants, and to
all appearances all were thankfully received.
It was interesting to see those old bees renew-
ing their youth and guarding their hive with
such an air of importance when the few yel-
low babies came out for their first play-spell
— those bees must have been about 10 months
old. I wonder where they have gone. I
would have given them a decent funeral had
they not taken themselves away ; but I think
they died happy, and I am not at all sorry
that this year has been a failure, as I have
had some needed lessons and much enjoj-
ment.
I am as much interested in the bees as ever,
although I am not beyond the one precious
colony. I am as fond of the American Bee
Journal as I am of the bees, and I do not wish
to do without either. Tom Henry.
Muskoka, tint,, Canada, Nov. 5.
Workers Decide as to Brood-Rearing.
A good deal of previous observation, and
closer observation this fall, lead me to believe
that the rule is that queens continue laying
for a time after workers cease rearing brood
in the fall. At least, it is a very common
thing to find eggs and sealed brood present,
but no unsealed brood. — A Stray Straw in
Gleanings in Bee Culture.
Deep vs. Shallow Brood=Franies.
For a long time I have been on the fence —
undecided which to choose. Each kind
seemed to possess some advantages. I did
not want to give up, so I kept using halt-sto-
ries and full stories, shallow and deep (11
inches) frames in equal numbers. I can get
along very well in my home yard with the
shallow hives; but when it comes tooutyards,
give me deep-frame hives, every time. In
stocking up an outyard Iwasohliged to make
out the desired number partly with half-story
hives. I anticipated dilliculties at the time,
and I found them when it came to managing
the hives. When two or more sectional hives
are used as one, the combs or frames of the
upper section will generally be more or less
fastened to the lower one by bits of comb or
otherwise, making it unpleaeant to separate
the two; then it requires so much more hand-
ling of frames to get through a hive just when
time is most valuable that it almost seems like
wasting it. When using only one shailuw
chamljer as a hive, the bees have a way of
boiling over as soon as opened up, which is
very annoying.
r used tij tliink that the shallow frame
would be very nice for nuclei; but after try-
ing it for years by the side of deep frames it
does not suit nu- nearly as well as the latter.
I can And queens much quicker on a deep |
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a hard
rubber holder, tapering to a
round point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point andneedleof the pen
are made ot platina, alloyed
with iritliiini — substances of
great durability which are not
alfected by the action of any
kind of ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write 10,000 words, and do not
lealc or blot.
As they make a line ot iini-
forni M'idlii at all times
they are uneqiialed tor
ruling; purpo»<es.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
filler and cleaner.
Best MASiFOLDrso Pen on
THE Market.
19,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a «< Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new subscribers
to the American Befe Journal for
one year, with S3. 00; or send
S1.90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal tor one year; or,
for $1.00 we will mail the pen
alone. Address,
" QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
I & 146 Erie St., Chicag:o, ill.
A NIQHT EXPRESS TRAIN ON THE
NICKEL PLATE ROAD.
A chang-e of schedule for departure
of train No. 6 from Chicago oti the
Nickel Plate Road, provides a conve-
nient express Strain for Ft. Wayne,
Findlay, Fostoria, Cleveland, Erie,
Dunkirk, Buffalo, New York City, Bos-
ton, and all points East, leaving- Chi-
cago daily at 11:30 p.m., reaching New
York City 6:50 second morning, Boston
10:07 second morning, and all other
points east of Buffalo on same time as
heretofore. Sleeping-car open for re-
ception of passengers to retire at their
convenience, after 9:30 p.m.
Daily train from Chicago at 10:30
a.m. reaches New York City following
afternoon at 3:30 o'clock, Boston 5:20.
Daily train from Chicago at 2:30 p.m.,
reaches New York at 7:35 p.m., next
day. Through vestibuled sleeping-car.
Meals served in Nickel Plate dining-
cars, on Individual Club meal plan,
ranging in price from 35 cents to SI. 00.
No excess fares on anj- train of the
Nickel Plate Road.
Chicago depot. Van Buren St. and
Pacific Ave., on the Elevated Loop.
For further information, write John Y.
Calahan, General Agent, 111 Adams
St., Chicago. 44_48A,lt
766
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAu
Nov. 28, 1901.
frame, bet-ause they are not so apt to hide in
the space between the lower edjje of the
brood-comb and the bottom-bar of the frame.
Particularly is this so with black bees, as they
are inclined to run off the comb and take the
queen with them. When takintra deep frame
out of a hive the bees have not time enough to
run off, while with a shallow one they would.
1 hare decided to decrease my shallow-frame
colonies gradually, and change back to the
deep frame. — F. Gheiner, in Gleanings in
Bee Culture.
Raising Hives from the Ground.
Placing hives on high stands is in most
places a thing of the past, and it is probable
that most bee-keepers would say that there is
no sufficient reason for the practice in any
case. Arthur C. Miller, however, in the
American Bee-Keeper, seems to think there
are many places where it is not advisable to
set hives near the ground, and he gives ft rea-
son for his view. He says:
In my home-apiary all hives are placed close
to the ground ; but in a small one, half a mile
away, they are all on a bench some two feet
above the ground. Both apiaries are stocked
with the same strains of bees and part of the
home apiary is worked on the same system as
the outyard. In the latter I have no trouble
in getting comb honey, but in the home yard
it is difficult and almost impossible. The pro-
duction of extracted honey is also affected,
but not so markedly. So far as I have been
able to determine, the difference is due en-
tirely to the elevation of the hives.
In another small apiary (six colonies) the
owner has two hives about IS inches above
ground, the rest on it. The two have done
tinely, the others poorly. In my own case
this experience has extended over several
years. In the vicinity of my apia"ries at night
a strata of cold fog is often observed close to
the ground, and I surmise that this is the
cause of my home yard doing less well than
the out-yard, the hives of which are above the
cold, damp strata of air.
In another district where I have had a trial
colony to test its resources, periods of honey-
How, etc., I found that the hill-sides were free
from a fog, while the low lands were blank-
eted with it about every night. Though this
latter location is 50 miles from my home
apiary, it would hardly be wise tor one to say
that because the conditions are alike in such
widely separated spots, they must be every-
where; and in no locality should hires be
placed on the ground unless on the hill-sides
well up from the low lands.
TwO'Frame vs. Four-Frame Ex=
tractors.
An editorial in Gleanings in Bee Culture
may help to settle in the minds of those hav-
ing a comparatively small number of colonies
that they would not be greatly better off with
a four-frame extractor. It says ;
Opinions seem to be about equally divided
between a two-frame extractor and a four and
six frame machine. The advocates of the first-
named will claim every time that they can ex-
tract just as much honey, and do it easier;
while those who talk in favor of the big ma-
chines say they cannot afford to fuss with the
little ones. I did sonje extracting while in
California, or at least I helped. My own
opinion is that a six-frame machine is too
large for one man to turn comfortably. Even
a four-frame extractor is large enough. I
came home with the conviction firmly rooted
in my mind that these large machines ought
to be run by some cheap gasoline power of a
half or a third horse-power in size. In the
course of a month or six weeks I think we
shall have something that will run those big
machines, and actually save the time of a big,
strong man. Labor in California is rather
expensive ; and the cost of maintaining a lit-
tle gasoline-engine during the honey season
would not exceed two cents a day while being
operated. Contrast this with the expense of
a .'?l.aO man, and figure out how much would
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year !
NO ODOR! NO SMOKE I NO ASHES!
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee Journal is using the
" Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
We liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
till our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one we
recommend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
for heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial way, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon of
kerosene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
wouldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
one of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
but this one doesn't. Its hight is 2}4 feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, fob. Chicago, $6.00 ; or, combined
with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal— both for only $6.50. Full Directions
Go WITH EACH Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
" Barler Ideal " Oil Stove, as it can easily be carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
N'o. 4 " Sader Ideal" Oil-Heater.
Chicago, IlL
Please Mention the Bee Journal ^^"" ^''"'^
Advertisers
The Novelty Pocket= Knife.
Vour Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife.— Whea oideriug", be sure to say just what name aud
address you wish put on the Kdite.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a noTelty The novelty lies iu the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as g"lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering" into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forg-ed out of the very finest Eng^lish razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back spring-s of Sheffield spring--steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usag-e.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a pood knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the *' Novelty " is lost, having" name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling", aud you meet with a serious accident, and are so foi-
tunate as to have one of the "Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is tor a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
g"ive to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a ladv to a g"entleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompany iug" cu' uives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this^beautiful knife, as the '* Novelty" must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or g'ive it as a Premium to the
one sendiufj- us \ hree new subscribers to the Bee Journal (with S.''. 'JO.) We will club the Novelty
Euife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK £ CO,
^®"Please allor ''bout two weeks for your Uuife order to be tilieo.
Si, Chicago, IlL
Nov. 28, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
767
be saved, of course, a man can do something
besides turn the extractor; but witii a little
power, he cau make his own labor go twice as
far, and at the same time do the work more
thorouy:hIy.
Drones of a Drone-Layer All Right.
''Are the drones from a ijueen who has
never met a drone virile r' is a question su<j:-
gested bj- the editor, p. 778. Dzierzon holds
that they are. On p. 244 of the American Bee
.lournal. Vol. 1., the baron of Berlepsch gives
II poxteriori proof that is ahiiuxt conclusive.
Ou p. 246 of the same volume is given the tes-
timony of no less an authority than Prof.
Leuckart, which, I think, settles the question.
He says :" Those originating from the eggs
of unfecundated or drone-producing queens
are, as I have ascertained, as perfectly devel-
oped and as fully virile as others. So, like-
wise, are those dwarf or diminutive drones,
which are occasionally bred in worker-cells.
Nay, even in a drone hatched in a royal cell,
though prematurely dead, sent to me by Mr.
Kleine, I have unquestionably found seminal
filaments and male organs. The case is pre-
cisely similar also with drones hatched from
eggs laid by laying workers. Mr. Vogel in-
serted in a hive of common bees a drone-
comb containing eggs laid by an Italian
worker (which he had seen laying in a queen-
less colony), and removed the colony to an iso-
lated locality. Italian drones were hatched,
and two common queens, fecundated while
those drones were flying, producing partly
common and partly Italian workers. As
there were then no other Italian drones in
that neighborhood, those queens must have
been fertilized by drones produced from the
eggs of the laying worker." — [This ought to
be sufficient proof. — Ed.] — Gleanings in
Bee Culture.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
New York.— There will be a bee-keepers' con
ventioo (annual) held in Caoandaigua, N. Y.
by the Ontario Co., N. Y., Bee-Keepers' Associa
lion, Dec 13 and 14, 1901.
Naples, N.Y. Fkiedem.\nn Gkeiner, Sec.
Michigan.— The Michigan State Bee-Keepers'
Association will meet in convention at Petos-
key, Jan. 1 and 2, l'W2. This promises to be the
most largely attended meeting of xbe Associa-
tion in years. You are invited to attend. Re-
duced rates on all railroads; tickets can be
bought Dec. 3Li and Jan. 1. good to return not
later than Jan. 4. There will be no set program,
but another of our ''open congress " meetings.
Those who have attended in the past know
what that means, and those that don't should
come and find out. A novel design for badge
has been ordered in honor of " Petoskey."
Geo. E. Hilton, Pres.
" SrccEss ■' A Winner. — One of the fore-
mosteditors of New York announced, a few
mouths ago, that the only magazine that
would win would be the magazine with
a backbone. "Success" seems to be such
a magazine. It has a backbone of which
inspiration, optimism, beauty, and achieve-
ment are notable factors. Its Christmas num-
ber is in many respects the most interesting
its editors have yet published. The table oi
contents for the holiday season is varied,
timely, and interesting, the contributors be-
ing some of the most notable people in liter-
ary aiid public life. Among a few of the
many interesting articles and poems contained
in this number may be mentioned, " America
Should Establish Universal I'eaee," Ijy Prince
YoYunChun; "Greeley's Ambition Culmi-
nated in His Fight for the Presidency," by
Alexander K. McClure; " Envv .Shoots at
Others, but Hits Itself," by Ella Wheeler
Wilcox : " Cultivate the Artof • Fitting-In.' ''
by Cynthia Westover Alden ; "Good Em-
ployers Make Good Employees," Ijy .1. Lin-
coln Brooks; "The Potent Power of Our
Divine Master Still Broods Over Palestine,"
by William Ordway Partridge; " How to Get,
and Keep, a i'osition," by .lames J. Hill.
Frank H. Spearman and Hezekiah Butter-
worth supply two strong fiction stories, and
Sarah Grand tells American women they are
without a superior. The art work is in keep-
ing with the high class of literature which is
a distinctive feature of " Success." The
American Bee Journal and Success — both one
year— for SI. 75.
Gonib and Ex-
tracted fion6u!
oiaitr yi ite. kind and quantity.
R. A. BURNETT & CO., IW S. Water St.". Chicago
3.1Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, station quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enoug-h to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Fairfield, III,
Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writins^
Comb Honey and Bees-
wax. State price de-
livered in Cincinnati.
G. H. W. WEBER,
43Atf J140-214S Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
C^ttttnt^nia T If you care to know oi its
^dlllUI Illd. t Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
530 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
The Sure Hatch
is the incubator for the poultry
raii^er, whether farmer or fancier.
Anyone can run them, iwt-ause they
themselves. Anyone can owq
dreds of
mailed free. When writing address nearest otfire.
Sure Hatch lacnbatorCo. Clay Center, Neb. or Columbus, 0,
— THE—
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, iVIanuuI oft the Apiary,
BY
PROE A. J- COOK.
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition-lSth Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng^ style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
Mo bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given for TWO New Subscribers.
The following- offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also driven to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year;
Send us two new sdbscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.0ti), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with theBee Jiiuriial for ayear— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCKIBKKS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one?
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. ' CHICAGO, ILL.
I HONEY AND BEESWAX !
iVIARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Nov. 19.— Honey is selling- fairly
well at about the prices that have prevailed for
the last 2 months, viz; choice grades of white
comb honey, 14'ACglSc: good to No. 1, 14c; and
light amber, 13c, with darker grades, 10@12c.
Extracted, white, S%(ii-c; amber, S"-t@S;'ic, ac-
cording to quality, flavor and package. Bees-
wa.^ good demand at 2Sc.
R. A. BUKNBTT & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct. 25.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
5@6c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from X{a9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from J3^@15i4c.
C. H. W. Wkbbr.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 25.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late they only bnv enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, lS(?'lt.c; mixed,
14(ailSc: buckwheat, 12feil3c. Extracted, white.
(>'A®TAc;
ed, ()@i,>4c.
H. R. Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3.Sl) per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
oJEered carlots at 4}^(Sl4'ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
°'^. Peycke Bros.
New York, Nov. 8.— Comb honey is in good
demand, and while the market is not over-
stocked, receipts are sufficient to supply the de-
mand. Fancy white sells at 15c, with an occa-
sional sale at loc for attractive lots; No 1
white, at 14c; No. 2, at 13c; fancy buckwheat,
ll^llj^c; No. 1 and 2 at from 10@10}^c. Ex-
tracted remains quiet at from 0(ai6!^c for white,
and S'A@Siic for amber. Very little demand
for dark at 5!4@55^c. Beeswax quiet at from
ZJ@2»C. HlLDRETH & SbGBLKEN.
Boston, Nov. 20.— The demand for honev is
ng up, somewhat due in part to the holiday
which time it is much neglected
uur market at the present time runs 16c for
strictly fancy in cartons; No. 1, 14@lSc; No ">
12^inl3c. Extracted, light amber, 7t^iS8«c-
amber, 7c. Blake, Scott & iTbb".
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail way' at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extractad honev.
Peycke Bros. & Chaxey.
Detroit, Oct. 25.— Fancv white comb honev
14@15c; No. 1, 13@14c; no "dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6@7c. Beeswax, 25w26c.
M. H. HnNT & Son.
San Francisco, Nov. 13.— White comb, 10®
12 cents; amber, 7®9c; dark, 6(ai7 cents Ex-
tracted, white, SH®—; light amber, 4«@
amber. 4@ — . '
Market is moderately firm at prevailing val-
ues, which remain quotable about the same as a
week ago. There is considerable doing, both
on foreign and local account. A shipment of
1,000 cases extracted went forward the past
week per sailing vessel for England. A steamer
took 107 cases for Holland.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honev have
been on the market, and these met w-ith ready
sale on the basis of 15®16c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $.i.IO(a$3.2S
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14(a'14^c; the demand being quite brisk
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted area little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 55i@6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We cnn lurnish you with 'nw A. I. Knot Co'8
Konds at wh.ileaale cr retail at their prices. We can
save yimtreiKht, and ship promptly, .Market price
pain for beeswax. Send for our lyoi cataloir.
M. II. HUNT & SON. Bell Branch. Wayne Co.. Mich
Please meatlou Bee Journal
when writing advertif^ers.
768
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Nov. 28, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hives. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. GO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
«S" W. M. Gerrish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The Monette Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thm^ for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal rot
a year at $1,00; or for If 1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yea«
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORQE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, 111.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey '
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by GEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung-
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
EUOBNB Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only 15 cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
24111
year
Dadant's Foundation, fm
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQaiNO, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCBSS SHEETING.
Why does it sell ^^^,
sowed? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langstrolh on the Honey-Bee — Re^/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, S1.2S, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal when writing.
Oiiick Delivery,
Texas Bee-Keepers.
We heg to announce the opening of a iH'anch office and warehouse at
4:iS W, Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Mciliiiii ill h'>s than car-load lots are high, and it takes a long time for a local shipment to
reacli SdullnTu Texas points.
T nW FrPJirlit Sllll ''"" ^^'"J™ these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
LUlt riul^lll flllU livery — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
than San Antonio. It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West—the
Onn Antniiifl oc 0 International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
odll nlllUlUU do d tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
QlliTlIlitlfr TUlill* San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
OlliyillU^'yUiilL. Pacific Express Companies.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, Jr., both of whom are well known to the
bee-keepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
bee-keeping and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
prompt, careful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may he a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that our policy of " the best goods " is a correct
one.
fllir Pdtfllnfr very few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
UUl balfllU^' your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
are made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
Ijenefit by ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not diualed elsewhere in Te.xas. You will also find on file the leading bee-journals to
pass pleasantly your leisure time.
^Inoiliph PotQlniT Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does.
uydlllSU udldlU^i If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Factory and Home Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
'rOi:PPUKWEII\ & n'AI.,XOIV, Manugrers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '1:ill^^S^'\^\:T'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Seud to them for iheir free Catalog.
T>jAE.se%
Bee Journal
CHICAGO, ILL, DECEMBER 5, 1901-
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. 49.
The Fence or the Ambulance — Which?
BY JOSEPH MALINS.
"Twas a daogerous clitl'. as tbe.v freel.v con-
fessed.
Though to walk near its crest was so pleas-
ant:
But OTei- its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke, and full many a peasant;
So the people said something would have to
bed(
But their projects did not at all tally.
Some said. " Put a fence round the edge of
theelitr;''
Some. "An ambulaneedown in the valley."
But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,
For it spread througli the neighboring city ;
A fence may be useful or not, it is true,
But each heart became brimful of pity
For those who slipped over that dangerous
cliff;
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave pounds or gave pence — not to put up a
fence.
But an ambulance down in the valley.
" For the clilfs all right, if you're careful,''
they said ;
" And if folks even slip and are dropping.
It isn't the slipping that hurts them so much
As the shock down below — when they're
stopping."
So day after day, as these mishaps occurred.
Quick forth would these rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fellotT the cliff,
With their ambulance down in the valley.
marvel
■It'.
Then an old sage remarked,
to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the
cause.
When they'd much better aim at prevention.
Let us stop at its source all this mischief,''
cried he.
" Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally —
If the cliff we will fence we might almost
dispense
With the ambulance down In the valley."'
"Oh. he's a fanatic," the others rejoined;
" Dispence with the ambulance ! Never I
He'd dispence with all charities, too, if he
could ;
No, no ! We'll support them forever ;
Aren't we picking folks up just as fast as they
fall ?
And shall this man dictate to us '. Shall he '.
Why should people of sense stop to put up
a fence
While their ambulance works in the valley ?'"
But a sensible few, who are practical, too.
Will not bear with such nonsen.se much
longer;
They believe that prevention is better than
cure,
And their number will soon be the stronger.
Encourage them, then, with your purse, voice,
and pen.
And (while other philanthropists dally)
They will scorn all pretence, and put a stout
fence
On the cliff that hangs over the valley.
Better guide well the young than reclaim them
when old.
For the voice of true wisdom is calling:
"To rescue the fallen is good, but 'tis best
To prevent other people from falling."
Better close up the source of temptation and
crime
Than deliver from dungeon or galley :
Belter put a strong fence round the toj) of the
clift.
Than an ambulance down in the valley!
— Selected.
f*4 *>v
/ \^<
770
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
GEORGE W. YORK & CONPAINY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) r,„„„,f„„„,
E.E. Hasty. '(Department
Prof. A. J. Cook, ) J^'^""'"^-
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. 00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
To promote ;
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
Thos. G. New
W. Z. Hutchinson,
G. M. Doolitt
A. I. Root,
W. F. Marks,
E. T. ABBOTT,
J. M. Hambau
p. H. Elwood,
C. P. Dadant,
E. K. Root,
Dr. C. C. Mill
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohii
EncENE Secok, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
^^° If more eonvenieut. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloifl Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or houey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subjectof honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note, — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve Ihat it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsj
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rale it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enligrhten many a person in regard to honey
and bees.'*
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the offica
of the American Bee Journal.
Ko. 4 "Barter Ideal" Oil-Beater.
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year !
NO ODOR I NO SMOKE I NO ASHES !
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee Journal is using the
" Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
We liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
till our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one we
recommend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
fur heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial way, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes lor heating water. The brass
fount, or weU, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon' of
kerosene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
wouldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
one of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
but this one doesn't. Its hight is 2J._; feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready lor shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, fob. Chicago, $6.00 ; or, combined
■with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal-^both for only $6.50. Full Dikections
Go WITH EACH Stove.
It you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
"Barler Ideal" Oil Stove, as it can easily be carried
by any woman Irom one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
Chicago, IlL
Please Mention the Bee Journal IfcSS^f.?.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
I HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYVILL.E, O.
(This Cut is this r'tTLL Size of the Knife.]
rderiug-, be sure to say just what name aud
Your Name on the Knife —Who
?.ddress you wish put 09 the Knite.
The Novelty Knife is iudeed a novelty The novelty lies iu the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as grlass. Un-
derneatfi the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name aud residence of
the subscriber, aud on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated kntfe is of the very best quality;
the blades are haud-forg-ed out of the very finest Eng-lish razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rast or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the lininers are plate brass:
the back spring's of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usag-e.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a pood knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the ** Novelty " is lost, having" name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling-, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so foi-
tunaie as to have one of the "Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasti:
™: — . if e to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a ladv to a
ide?
xact representation oS
the name of the recipient (
The accompanying- cu' ujfres a faint idea, but cannot fully convey ;
this beautiful knife, as the *' Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.~We send it postpaid for $1.25, or ^ive it as a Premium to thg
one sending- us_iriKEE new subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $.•'».) We will club the Noveltj
Knife and the Bee Journal for t
r, both for $1.90.
GEOKGE W. YORK L CO.
*#*Please allor ■•bout two weeks f«r your knife order to be tiln
St.f Chicago, IlL
^^ERICA.]^
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, DECEMBER 5, 1901,
No, 49.
\ * Editorial. * I
The Cry of Adulterated Honey,
heard lately in (.hieago, is bound to interfere
somewhat with the sales of the pure article.
The Daily Tribune, of this city, had the fol-
lowinjj in regard lo the subject, in its issue
of Nov. 15, introduced by a heading in large
type, " Law Stops Bogus Honey;''
tilucose honey, under the attractive guise
of " pure clover honey." is invading the Chi-
cago markets to such an extent that the
efforts of the State pure food inspectors are
largely directed toward investigations of this
imposition. t)ne entire carload of " honey,"
consigned to J. Dawson, of the Western
Brokerage Co., 42 River street, from a Cali-
fornia firm, was barred from the markets yes-
terday except as a plainly labeled adultera-
tion.
The analysisof the ■' honey " composing the
consignment showed that it contained from
50 to 60 percent of glucose, and as ' ' pure
honey " the stuff was condemned. The con-
signee had the choice of selling it as a glucose
mixture or of sending it back, and he chose
the latter course, at the same time cancelling
other orders which would have brought other
large quantities of the glucose honey into
Chicago.
HARM IS TO THE PCRSE.
Unlike many of the adulterations which
rtooif the market, the glucose honey is not re-
garded as an injurious mixture, and the Pure
Food Commissioners affirm that the imposi-
tion on the purchaser is one which injures
his pocket-book and not his health. The
dealer has the right to sell the " honey " un-
der the label of glucose mixture, and as such
it is worth about one-fifth as much as real
honey.
One complainant. Dr. A. .J. Park, 52U East
Fiftieth street, said :
" I know of no place in Chicago where one
can purchase a jjound of pure honey. I
called the attention of my grocer to the fact
that his tin cases of "white clover honey'
was nianufactiii'etl stulT made up of glucose
and paraffine. He at once called on his South
Water street merchant aud demanded that his
money be refunded, or that the merchant dis-
close the name and place of the party from
whom he got the mixture, but he declined."
Similar complaints have been received by
the Pure Food Commission, and investigations
have resulted in the preparation of a list of
offenders against whom suit will be brought
for violation of the pure-food laws.
now TO DETECT IMPOSITION.
Commissioner Jones said it was compara-
tively easy for a purchaser to detect the im-
position.
'■Genuine honey," hedeclared, "has brown
coloring around the cells. Glucose honey is
perfectly white. The purchaser can detect
tha fraud by this simple rule. Honey, but-
ter, and vinegar are the three articles in the
purchase of which citizens are most subject
to imposition just at present, and they are
causing most of the work for the commission.
Syrups may be classed with honey in this
respect.
In the issue of the Tribune for Oct. Iti I the
next day) appeared the cartoon which we re-
produce herewith, and which only added in-
sult to the injury done by publishing the in-
terviews with Dr. Park and Commissioner
Jones.
As soon as we could give attention to the
matter, we wrote the following reply to the
foregoing, and took it in person to the
Tribune office, together witB a beautiful sec-
tion of white honey from our own apiary, and
also a glass jar of the absolutely pure article:
Chicago. Nov. 19. 1901.
Editor The Tribune —
Mil Deiir Sir : — I desire to call your atten-
tion, as well as that of your readers, to sev-
eral matters that appeared in your esteemed
paper last week. Quite unwittingly you did
a great injustice to an honest and honorable
industry — that of bee-keeping or honey-pro-
duction. Being somewhat of a representalive \
of the bee-keepers of this country, I deem it
due my constituency, as well as due the gen-
eral reading public, that I endeavor to correct
so far as jiossible the misleading statenu-nls
that were puhished.
First, permit me to say that bee-keepers
as a class are [uost persistently opposed to the
adulteration of honey: their representative
periodicals al^o have done all in their power
to aid not only ilie enactment but the active
enforcement of laws intended to prohibit the
adulteration of honey, or compelling the mix-
ers of the eouibless article to label it ac-
cording to its exact ingredients. Then if
people desire to I'Urchase and eat glucose
combined with honey, they •' pays their
money and takes their choice.''
In the alleged interview with Mr. Jones,
the Pure Food Commissioner of Illinois, as
published, he is made to say :
"Genuine honey has a brown coloring
around the cells. Glucose honey is perfectly
white. The purchaser can detect the fraud
by this simple rule."
Permit me to say that the above would be
important if it were true. Unfortunately, or
fortunately, there is no truth in it. First,
much genuine comb honey is perfectly white
in appearance: and, second, there is no glu-
cose comb honey produced.
Again. Dr. A. J. Park, in the same item, is
credited With this paragraph :
" I know of no place in Chicago where one
can purchase a pound of pure honey. I
called the attention of m.v grocer to the fact
that his tin cases of ' white clover honey ' was
manufactured stuff made up of glucose and
paraffine. He at once called on his South
Water street merchant and demanded that his
money be refunded, or that the merchant dis-
close the name and place of the party from
whom he got (he mixture, but he declined.''
It is almost exasperating to oqe who is at
all ac(|uaiated with the honey business to
read such a paragraph as that. Of course,
even doctors ought not to be supposed to
know everything, and so Dr. Park perhaps
should not be blamed for not knowing where
in all Chicago he could get a pound of pure
honev But there are tons upon tons of abso-
luteh i>uie honey in Chicago at almost any
time of The veil. I can take the innocent
Doc tor to see several carloads of the genuine
ai tide anj time he will accompany me.
Dr Park also conveys the idea that there is
such a thing as manufactured comb honey —
the comb made of paraffine and tilled with
glucose I want to say that the Doctor has
now an excellent opportunity to get a larger
sni^li tee thin he ever has received, or will
111 ( h 1 \ti iec( ive in the future if his medical
knowlciUei on a par with his information
alioul pule honey. There has been an offer
ot 4,1000 standing, but unclaimed, for 20
jeais, to anj one who would find and present
a single pound of comb houev which bees
had no part in manufacturing. That offer is
open yet, and I will personally guarantee that
it is bonafide. or will make a similar offer.
Now. gentlemen, either present that pound of
manufactured comlj honey, " or for ever after
hold your peace '' about it.
It is very unfortunate that the daily press
does not seek its information concerning such
matters from those who are in a position to
know. It certainly would not go to a black-
smith to learn of tiie produclionof silk ; tlien
why should it ae,-ept the liielum of ihose who
don't know a lice from liou.^elly. when tlicy
desire information on honey-production ;
I do not believe that The Tribune would
willingly injure any honest industry, but in
publishing such matter as I have referred to.
and also the cartoon on " How doth the little
busy bee," in the Nov. Kith issue, it is placing
before its readers untruths, and at the same
time doing untold injury lo the producers of
genuine honey throughout the whole country.
Yours very truly,
George W. York.
fAllf„r Amirii-.iN llei' Jonnial.
As a result, a few days later the following
appeared in The Tribune :
772
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
SAYS MUCH HONEY IS PUKE.
EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN BEE JOCRNAI,
TAKES EXCEPTIONS TO STORIES OF
AnrLTERATION.
That the bee-keepers as a class are opposed
to the adulteration of honey is averred by
George W. Yorl<, who, as editor of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal, is in close touch with the
industry, llr. Y'orl< declares that there is
plenty of pure honey on sale in Chicago, and
takes exceptions to statements that have
been made by uieu who are supposed to
know something about pure food. In a let-
ter to The Tribune he says :
" The bee-keepers have done all in their
power to aid not only the enactment but the
active enforcement of laws intended to pro-
hibit the adulteration of honey, or compelling
the mixers of thecombless article to label it
according to its exact ingredients. In an
interview Mr. Jones, the Pure Food Commis-
sioner of Illinois, is made to say :
■•■Genuine honey has a brown coloring
around the cells. Glucose honey is perfectly
white. The purchaser can detect the fraud
by this simple rule.'
"This would be important if it were true.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, there is no
truth in- it. First, much genuine honey is
perfectly white in appearance; and, second,
there is no glucose comb honey produced."
The carload of honey referred to in the
first quotation from The Tribune, is ex-
tracted honey in tin cans. We looked it up
both at.the offices of the Pure Food Commis-
sion and the Western Brokerage Co., and
found that the chemist of the former had
discovered about 2.5 percent glucose in the
sample submitted to them by the Western
Brokerage Co., the latter firm having become
suspicious of the honey. After hearing the
result of th6 analysis, they reported it to the
California firm from whom they bought it
(in Oakland, we believe), and were holding
the honey subject to the orders of the Cali-
fornia firm, it being still in the car. We un-
derstand that the California firm declare it is
pure honey, and that their representative is
coming on to Chicago to prove it. He will
likely have a hard job of it — it he comes.
We believe The Tribune, in publishing the
statements credited to Dr. Park and Commis-
sioner Jones, has done more damage to the
cause of pure honey than it can remedy in a
long, long time to come. Also, the-cartoon,
which pretends to illustrate how so-called
"comb honey" is manufactured, is another
unfortunate thing. Already, we hear that
Chicago grocers are feeling the ill effects of
the misleading reports and misstatements
published by The Tribune, and their honey
sales are diminishing accordingly. One dealer
said that the falling off in the sales of pure
honey would be at least "25 percent. While
all lovers of truth and right will appreciate
the slight correction which The Tribune pub-
lished a few days later, it could hardly have
done less, in justice to the honest people and
industry which it misrepresented, than to
have given in full the letter we wrote for pub-
lication.
It is exceedingly unfortunate that news-
papers do not apply to those who are in a
position to know the facts concerning tech-
nical matters. With all the bee-keepers living
in ard around Chicago, and of such easy
access, there need never be anything mislead-
ing, or the least bit untrue, given in the pub-
lic press concerning bees or hone.v-produc-
tion. But it would not be quite so discourag-
ing, if, when an error has been published,
there would be shown some anxiety to have
it corrected, so that the injustice could be
righted as nearly as possiljle.
Let us hope that more care may be exer-
cised hereafter on the part of those who
think they must write or speak on subjects
with which they are wholly unfamiliar.
I The Buffalo Convention. |
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(Coatiuued from pa^e ~S'^.i I
CRE.^TING A DEM.\ND FOR HONEY.
" How can a demand for honey be
developed in a city -where at present
there is little or none consumed?"
Mr. Niver — I have been for six
months now working- up a demand for
extracted honey in private families by
house-to-house canvassing, and I must
say that I am delig-hted with my suc-
cess, by going direct to the family,
sitting down and telling them how we
get it; showing them pictures of our
extractors, and taking along some
foundation, and so on. (ietting them
interested in the bee-talk, I can sell
them, perhaps, a pound, or ten pounds,
and in about a month I go around
again. I have found that there is a
demand worked up that way which
brings good results, and by going the
third or fourth time I find that the de-
mand is not diminished, but increased.
People do not know that honey is the
cheapest sauce that can be bought.
Everything is very high in the line of
sauce. Fruits are very high, and the
working people feel that very severely.
Now we are having boom times, and
the most prosperous times known to
this country, and the hardest times for
a man to support his family on his
wages that I have ever seen. By go-
ing direct to the people themselves,
and teaching them about extracted
honey, not comb — they look on comb
honey as a luxury beyond their pock-
ets. I have tried this method for six
months and I have two or three differ-
ent towns worked up. I find that the
trade is growing in most towns, and
in a little while we will get so that we
can get our bulk honey into the gro-
ceries. We can not do it now. You
can not sell honey in a bottle, with a
nice label on it, for 25 cents a pound.
You have to offer it at reasonable rates
by the pound, and then you can. sell it.
Mr. Cook — How many of those lec-
tures could YOU give a day?
Mr. Niver — I don't know; I talk sev-
eral hours a day.
Mr. McEvoy — What size of samples
do you usually sell?
Mr. Niver — My method is to take
along the honey in 10-pound cans. I
go into the house with a quart milk-
bottle and a teaspoon inside of it, and
ask for a small dish to put some honey
in; and I get them all in there eating
honey, and I make them use tlieir own
spoons. While they are doing this I
am explaining how we get it. I have
been selling 8 pounds for a dollar, for
fine white honey. The great majority
of people get paid once a month; if you
go just after pay-day you can sell a
great deal more than you can before.
H. C. Ahlers — Would you kindly give
us figures of what you could sell in a
day in that way?
Mr. Niver — I have sold 300 pounds in
a day, and I have sold as low as 35
pounds in a day.
Mr. Ahlers — I sold a thousand pounds
in two days, in 3 lb. Mason jars and
13-lb. pails ; ten cents a lb. straight.
If a groceryman wants my honey it is
worth 10 cents a lb. I sell to private
families for strictly cash, in Milwaukee
and vicinity. I weigh in the pail. The
pail costs 611 a hundred, and I weigh
the pail in. This gives me about 9'z
to 10 cents for the pail. I lose about
1 '2 cents on the pail. I sell the honey
in the Mason jars without the jar. I
go to private families and keep a rec-
ord of them. I know where I am go-
ing when I start. I take a thousand
pounds along, and make the trip in two
days. I sold 8,000 pounds in six trips,
2,000 pounds around home. I sold my
own crop of 6,000 pounds, gathered
from 37 colonies, and bought 2,000 lbs.
Mr. Howe — I feel sorry for a bee-
keeper who produces honey and can't
sell it. I can't produce enough to fill
my orders.
J. H. Fuller— For the benefit of
comb-honey men, I wish to say a word
or two. I retail comb honey, and I re-
tail from 100 to 300 lbs. a day in small
towns in Cattaraugus County. I take
it from house to house, the same as
these gentlemen retail their extracted
honey. I am getting 15 cents a lb. for
No. 1 honey, and for dark honey all the
way from 8 to 10 and 12 cents, accord-
ing to the ciuality. I go on Tuesdays.
Our pay-day is Monday, and I want to
go when they have money.
W. L. Coggshall — The wholesale
price is retail ; no trouble to sell that
way.
Mr. Niver — I have heard a good deal
said on what package we shall put our
honey in, but I have got so that I be-
lieve I don't want any package at all.
I prefer every time to have the lady
produce her own package. She is sure
it is clean, then.
Mr. Ahlers —Well, people offer me a
package and they offer me butter-
crocks. I live about 28 miles from
Milwaukee. I would have to haul their
butter-crocks. I allow them 10 cents
for the pail.
Mr. Tyrrell — I would like to ask Mr.
Niver what argument he uses to an-
swer the question why extracted honey
is cheaper than comb honey.
Mr. Niver — By showing the picture
of the extractor and telling them that
the bees build the comb only once, and
we put it back and they fill it up again.
Mr. McEvoy — I think if every State
in the union, and Canada, had some
one going around in that way, talking
to people, it would be a good thing.
Dec. S, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
773
Huber Root — For the past two
months I have been seeinjf a preat
many people at the Pan-American Ex-
position, and I tind eight out of ten of
them imagine we mash the comb up
and squeeze the honey out through a
cheese-cloth ; they know absolutely
nothing about bees, or anything about
the way extracted honey is secured.
Mr. Vinal — I think it is a good plan,
but we are not all able to hire so smart
a man as Mr. Coggshall is able to hire.
Mr. Tyrrell— It is true that not all
of us are salesmen. The majority of
people who produce honey are not ca-
pable of selling that honey by a house-
to-house trade where we have to take
up the time to explain how the honey
is produced and why it is cheaper.
The plan that I used was to put up my
honey in suitable packages, then tak-
ing a circular which was just as brief
as possible, explaining how the honey
was produced — I would use say quart
fruit-jars — and leave this package and
circular, together with another small
circular telling the people why I left
it in this way. Ninety-nine out of 100
people, as soon as they ?tep to the door
and hear you have something to sell,
say "No." I leave the package of
honey and the circular, take the num-
ber of the house, tell them I will call
again on a certain day, and pass on.
Then I would go over the same terri-
tory a second time, and I found that if
I left it long enough — perhaps a week
— if they were honey users, they had
sampled the honey, found it was good,
and would pay for it.
Mr. Longnecker- I would like to ask
if Mr. Tyrrell ever left a jar of honey
at a place, and when he came again in
a week and the honey hadn't been used
and they didn't want it.
Mr. Tyrrell — I found there was only
one place where anything like that
ever occurred, and that was at the
house of a lady where the honey had
decreased perhaps an inch, and she
said it had run over the top 1 That is
the exception.
Udo Toepperwein — Do you label all
your honey ?
Mr. Tyrrell — Yes, sir. telling where
it is produced.
Mr. Toepperwein— We label all our
first-class honey, and get the groceries
to sell it, and after the people get to
use it it will speak for itself.
Mr. Vinal — I have had a little expe-
rience in selling comb honey, and my
plan has been to put the honey in show-
cases, properly labeled, and place it in
the stores on the commission plan, and
let them sell it at retail. I get 25 cents
for it retail, and 20 cents at the stores.
SELLING HONEY THROUGH THE STORES.
" Would you sell honey through the
stores ?"
Dr. Mason —I think that has been
answered already.
Mr. Toepperwein — If a person has
plenty of time, I think they would do
better to retail it.
Mr. Fuller — I wouldn't take it to the
groceries, for this reason: I don't
want groceries enough to pay for what
honey I have. I would rather have
some money, and most of the grocery-
men in my section want me to take
trade. If I want any trade I have no
objection to selling them one or two
cases of honey, but where I want the
money, and don't want trade, then I
retail it and get the money for it.
Mr. Niver— I would like to ask at
what price he sells to the grocer-vman.
Mr. Fuller — The same price — 15 cents
a pound.
Mr. Niver-And what do they sell it
for?
Mr. Fuller- They make their profit
on the goods they give me.
Mr. Niver- I have been a grocery-
man for many years and you couldn't
teach me that.
Mr. Fuller — You talk about the price
of 15 cents being low; I can go to com-
mission houses today and buy No. 1
\vhite clover honey for 13 cents a pound.
Mr. York — I think it makes a great
deal of difference where you are. I
would by all means work through the
groceries in large cities. Probably
you couldn't do that in small country
places, where there is only one or two
groceries — there you'd have to sell
from house to house.
Mr. Vinal-Speaking about the price
of honey, I would like today to buy 500
lbs. of comb honey at 13 or 15 a cents a
lb. delivered at my place, for my trade
at the stores. I would pay 15 cents a
pound for 500 lbs. I can not get it in
Boston.
Mr. Fuller — I would like to ask one
more question of these gentlemen who
retail their honej' in the cities, whether
they have any trouble with the author-
ities, whether they have to obtain a
license to do their work, or whether
they go on without being molested by
anybody.
Mr. Ahlers — I am a bee-keeper, and
I have a right, at least in Wisconsin,
to sell my own produce. Now, I don't
know if I have a right to buy the honey
and sell it, but those questions are
never asked. I have sold it to several
policemen, who never asked me any
questions, and I think there will be no
trouble at all.
E. Granger — I have noticed one diffi-
culty about retailing honey, and that
is, there are so many bee-keepers who
sell for the same price at retail as at
wholesale. In the district where I live
there are quite a few bee-keepers in a
small way, and they generally run out
of all the honey they have for sale, and
then try to bu3- at wholesale, and find
they cannot : it is all being sold at the
same price, 1 lb. or 100 lbs. When I
have sold out what little I have, and
want to get more at wholesale, I can-
not get it.
Mr. Miller — With us we have to pro-
tect the groceries. If I sell honey at
10 cents retail I must cut to the grocery
trade, and I always protect them by
that means. I still sell at retail, as
much as possible, and at the present
time I am getting 11 cents for my ex-
tracted honey, including the tins.
ARE QUEENS INJURED IN MAILING?
" Does it injure queens to send them
by mail ?"
Dr. Mason — Yes.
Mr. Benton No. It does injure
them if they are improperly packed ; if
well packed it does not, I believe.
Dr. Mason I would agree with him,
but I never saw one well packed yet.
J. M. Rankin — I think the danger to
queens sent through the mail is about
as great as that of a person traveling
on a railroad, i)rovided the bees are
properly handled.
Fred Schmidt — Do you think they
are properly handled today, the way
they are thrown out and kicked around ?
I do not.
Huber Root — I think the trouble is in
the confinement in passage through
the mail, and not particularly from the
rough handling. You take a queen
when she is laying well and shut her
up for several days, and keep her right
in the hive and she will not do so well
after it.
W. W. Lathrop — Take queens and
cage them properly, pack them, keep
them a week, then liberate them and
see if you can not notice a difference.
I have tried quite a good many experi-
ments. I was led to it from buying
queens. My experience is that they
do not lay so regularly. The combs
will not fill so well. There are more
" skippers," and she will begin to fail
sooner.
Mr. Benton--I receive a great many
queens from different countries, and
often as far as the Island of Cyprus,
and those queens were well packed. I
prepared the cages myself, sent them
there and gave careful instructions as
to how the bees should be put into
them, and in no instance have I been
able to perceive that those queens that
had been from 16.to 20 days in the mail
sack, and traveled 6,000 miles,had been
injured by that journey.
Mr. Gemmill-Aside from the pack-
ing don't you think that the caging of
a queen a few days before she is ship-
ped has a g reat deal to do with the safe
delivery of the queen ?
Mr. Benton — I don't practice that.
One point has been brought up. that of
throwing the mail-sacks from the train.
In cases where I knew it was to be
thrown from the train I enclosed the
cage in a cloth-lined envelope, which
would tend to protect the cage in case
of a shock.
Mr. Fuller- What kind of a cage do
j'ou ship in ?
Mr. Benton- It is a small, wooden
cage with three holes in it — a cage
which I invented some years ago. One
end has the food compartment: the
center compartment is a dark chamber
with only indirect ventilation ; at the
other end is the ventilating chamber.
Mr. Fuller — How many bees do you
place in there as an accompaniment ?
Mr. Benton — From 10 to 20, accord-
ing to the time of the journey.
Dr. Mason — One of two things is
certain : The queens are injured in
the mail, or else the queen-breeders
send out poor queens. I have paid as
high as SW.OO for a queen and I would
not give eight cents for it finally.
Every last one of them — except one I
got last year — proved to be poor.
Mr. Cook — There are hundreds of
testimonies that they are good and
they do produce good and prolific bees.
Dr. Mason — Yes, sir, I can give you
one good one out of eight.
Mrs. Acklin — We not only send out
queens through the mails, but we get
in queens, and it is very seldom that
we get one that is not all right.
BEES MOVING EGGS.
" Do bees move eggs from one cell
to another ?''
Mrs. Acklin I think they do. I
think they move an egg occasionally
from one hive to another.
Mr. Geramill — I am quite satisfied
they move eggs from one cell to an-
other.
774
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
Dec. 5, lyi 1.
MATING ()1- yUEENS.
" In queen-rearing-, are the evils of
in-breeding greater to mate father and
daughter, or sister and brother ?"
Dr. Miller — You are asking a ques-
tion about which is the worse of two
things, either of which is impossible.
You cannot breed father and daughter,
because the father is dead before any
of his children are born. You can not
mate sister and brother, for the drone
has no sister except his mother. In
this matter of breeding it is a matter
of close blood you are considering, and
whatever you may call them the queen
is the daughter of her mother, and also
the daughter of the drone with which
the mother mated, but the drone is the
son of his inother. Now if you say he
has any father, it must be his grand-
father. He has precisely the same
blood as his mother. So when you are
considering breeding in cattle the
nearest that you can have is between
brother and sister : and that near
blood in this case is between the drone
and his mother, so that if j'ou take it
in the sense that you are talking about
other animals, the drone is the brother
of his mother.
KED CLOVER QUEENS.
" Are the progeny of what are adver-
tised as red clover queens better honey
producers than the progeny of queens
reared by other queen-breeders ?"
Mr. Greiner — I notice that ail queen-
breeders today advertise the red clover
queens ; none have others.
LONG-TONGUED- BEES.
" Are long-tongued bees desirable ?"
Mr. Howe- As I sent Mr. Root a bee
a while ago, and he sent me back word
that she had as long a tongue as any
he had measured that year, I would like
to tell you the difference between that
colony and common colonies. These
bees with long tongues gathered honev
when my black bees were starving to
death. The black bees were really
starving, and these bees weren't rob-
bing.
SPELLING REFORM.
"Is reform spelling desirable in bee-
keeping ?"
Dr. Mason — Yes.
Mr. Ahlers— No.
Dr. Mason — Desirable everywhere.
SELECTING A HOME BEFORE SWARMING.
" Do bees ever select a home before
swarming ?"
Dr. Miller— Yes.
Mr. Callbreath — Sometimes : not al-
ways.
M.\TING WITH AN IMPURE DRONE.
"Does a pure-blooded queen become
contaminated by mating with an im-
pure drone, so that her drone progeny
will be impure ?"
Mr. Cook— No.
Mr. Benton — I don't think she does,
practically. There are some very curi-
ous effects, but it seems to me that the
question is open to a slight dispute.
That is as far as I would go in it.
Dr. Mason — Now, the queen mates
witli the drone and secures what semi-
nal fluid she wants for life, does she
not ?
Mr. Benton — Supposed to.
Dr. Mason — Can she keep up that
supply without renewing it in anj- way,
so as to fertilize the thousands upon
thousands of eggs that she lays.
Mr. Benton — I should suppose she
might keep up that supply during a
fairly long life, but, as we well know,
that supply is often exhausted, and the
queen is utterly exhausted and lays
drone-eggs.
Dr. Mason-Then she doesn't in any
way add to the supply of that seminal
fluid from herself — no growth of it
at all?
Mr. Benton— No, I don't think that
is possible.
Dr. Mason — Then, if that is not pos-
sible, the progeny can not become con-
taminated in any way?
Mr. Benton -Except by the possibil-
ity of her having mated the second
time.
Dr. Mason — Mr. Doolittle thinks
that the queen does in some way add
to her supply of the seminal fluid, so
that she can keep that up ; if she does,
then may she not be making that im-
pure ?
Mr. Benton — I don't think impurity
comes in that way. It is the presence
in the system of this foreign substance
— a substance derived from the male
bee — which contaminates the blood of
the queen-bee, and thereby the drones.
Dr. Mason — Now, will it do it ?
Mr. Benton — That is the question
that is unsettled.
BEE SI'ACE OVER BROOD-FKAMES.
" Why should the top-bar of the
brood-frame of the Langstroth hive be
below the top of the edge of the hive
instead of even with the top ? Is there
any advantage in having the bee-space
on top of the frames in the brood-
chamber, or under the frames, and
have the bee-space on the under side
of the super ?"
D. H. Coggshall — In extracting
honey it is very essential to have a
beespace on top.
Dr. Mason — There certainly is an
advantage in having the bee-space on
top instead of the bottom. If there is
no bee-space on the bottom, and you
set the hive down with bees on the bot-
tom of the frames, you are liable to
crush them. In my hives I have the
top of the frame even with the top of
the hive.
John Fixter — We have both above
and below, and I wouldn't have a hive
in the yard that didn't have a bee-
space above.
Mr. Betsinger — No hive is perfect
bj' omitting a bee-space on top of the
frames. If the space is omitted on top
of the frames, and the same is added
underneath the frames, where you use
the two in connection, and when the
season is good, and they are somewhat
crowded, they will place burr-combs
between the lower frames and the
frames above. Now, in removing those
frames, if the bee space is underneath
the hive — not on top — then these burr-
combs adhere to the ends. If the bee-
space is omitted on top of the brood-
chamber, and is put in the super, you
are living under the same disadvan-
tage— as 3'ou change supers from one
hive to another those burr-combs must
be removed.
The convention then adjourned until
1:30 p. m.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
The convention was called to order
by Pres. Root.
CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION.
Mr. Abbott — I have a matter I would
like to present, and before I do that I
would like to tell the members of this
Association something that I think
they ought to know. This room is oc-
cupied by a great many societies, and
the janitor who looks after it said that
you had been the cleanest set of people
that he ever had anything to do with ;
that you didn't smoke, or chew, or
make the room dirty, and I thought
you ought to know it. You can see
that it pays to be decent. I have here
a recommendation of the Board of
Directors which I wish to read. The
directors present at this meeting rec-
ommend the following amendment to
the constitution : " Art. IV., Sec. 1, to
be changed to read as follows : " The
officers of this Association shall be a
General Manager, a President, a Vice-
President, a Secretary, and a Board of
twelve directors, whose term of office
shall be for four years, or until their
successors are elected and qualify, ex-
cept as provided in Sec. 2 of this Ar-
ticle.' " Now, the change in that Arti-
cle is this : The present Article says
the Board of Directors shall consist of
the General Manager and twelve direc-
tors, making the General Manager a
member of the Board of Directors.
Now, our reason for wanting to make
this change is that the General Mana-
ger is an employee of the Board of
Directors, and we want to make it so
that the Board of Directors will control
him, and he will not be a member of
the Board, and that gives the Board a
chance to do what they are empowered
to do in the next Article, which I will
read.
Dr. Mason — That simply provides
for removing the General Manager
from the position of a Director.
Mr. Abbott— That is all. He con-
tinues as secretary of the Board and as
General Manager. '• To Sec. 8. of Art.
v., add the following: 'And said
Board of Directors shall have power to
remove from office the General Mana-
ger for any cause they may deem suffi-
cient, and fill the vacancy' until the
next annual election.'" Now, this
amendment lias no reference to the
General Manager at present. It just
provides for a contingency that might
arise. It gives the Board power to say
to him. We don't like this waj' of do-
ing, and we will simply remove you
until the next election. And then the
members can elect a General Manager
just as you have been electing him.
Moved by Dr. Mason, and seconded
by Mr. Benton, that the convention
endorse the recommendations made by
the Board of Directors. Carried.
CARNIOL.iN HIVE-ENDS, ETC.
Mr. Benton then exhibited some
front ends of Carniolan hives which
he stated had been in use many years,
one of them since 1838. He spoke of
the effect of the bees clustering in front
of them, they making no impression on
the board where it was painted, show-
ing that thev were unable to grasp
smooth surfaces, such as the smooth
surface of fruit. He further said :
These hives open at the rear end, and
in Carniola their plan is to feed highly
and stimulate until the time for swarm-
ing- comes, and get them in condition
for the buckwheat harvest. Probably
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
775
19-20 of the bees in Carniola are in box-
hives.
Mr. McEvoy — How is the yield of
honey ?
Mr. Benton — Very g'ood, indeed.
There are miles and miles of buck-
wheat. In extracting- the honey, they
first put it in a sack, comb and all, and
then subject it to great pressure. Of
course, it is ■'strained" honey, and
contains quantities of pollen. It is ex-
cellent bee-food, though. It stimulates
brood-rearing- more rapidly than the
feeding- of sugar.
Mr. Barb — If they were to save their
bees, would the country have too many ?
Mr. Benton— I don't think they
would. They take out their weakest
colonies. Foul-broody colonies are al-
most sure to be taken out.
Mr. McEvoy — What are their winters
like ?
Mr. Benton— Very long and severe.
I saw the mercury once 20 degrees be-
low zero, and very deep snow in most
of the province. It is elevated from
one to ten thousand feet above the sea
level. It is quite cold in October, and
very cold in November, and it lasts un-
til March and April, with a very long,
cold spring following away into May.
The percentage of loss of bees in the
winter is quite small, and spring
dwindling is a thing almost unknown.
The winds sometimes change very sud-
denly, bringing a thick fog down into
the valleys, and thousands of the fly-
ing bees are killed then, but, notwith-
standing that, the colonies are so pro-
lific that they revive very quickl)'.
During the buckwheat harvest the
same thing occurs. I have sometimes
seen all of the working force of a col-
ony wiped away in a single hour, and
thereby the hope of any future yield of
surplus honey during that harvest was
entirely precluded.
(Continued next week.)
I Contributed Articles. ^
Gathering Mot in Proportion to Length of Tongue.
BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.
DURING the spriiij!: and rarly summer of 1901 quite a little
was written regarding the high ijatbering qualities of
bees having long tongues, and many advertisements were
inserted in our bee-papers, holding out inducements to pur-
chasers, prominent among which was long tongues, as the
bees having such were the ones which secured the greatest
yields of honey ; and especially so in districts where the red
clover was grown bv th(' farmer for hay and pasturage for his
flocks.
At that time I did not dream that I should have any
chanci' to know for myself of the correctness of this long-
tongue matter, tor nearly a score of years had elapsed since
red clover liloumed or gave seed in these parts, owing to a very
small weevil, called a "midge," working in the head of the
clover just before the blossoms were to open, this causing the
blossoms, while in the bud, to blast, so that not one bud in a
million came to perfection. But the past season, from some
cause or other, the inidge seemed to be absent, and before I
was hardly aware of it, my eyes beheld hundreds of acres
becoming red with the bloom of red clover.
And at about the same time the weather became hot and
favorable for honey-secretion, so that by .June 20 we had a
yield of honey on, second to none that I had ever known at
that time of the year. In fact, the How of nectar was nearly,
if not quite, as great as any I had ever known from basswood
when at its best, except that the nectar is always thinner
from clover than from basswood. And this How of nectar
from clover continued, in varying degree, clear through the
basswood yield and up to August 1, thus helping greatly to
linish uj) and complete nearly all the partly tinished sections
remaining at the close of the basswood bloom. As a result, I
obtained (together with what was secured from buckwheat,
which gave only a light How) tlie largest average yield, from
colonies not robbed for queen-rearing, of any ever obtained
during the '^.i years I have kept bees, namely : an average of
176 pounds of section honey per colony at tlie out-apiary, and
ISO |)Ounds here In the home yard.
In the homi' yard I had two colonies close to each other,
one being headed by a queen from my original honey-gather-
ing stock, and the other by a very tine-looking (lueen procured
by way of exchange, during 1900. from a bee-keeper in Iowa.
These colonies were as nearly alike as to outward appearances
in early spring as two peas, but as the season advanced the
brood in the colony having the Iowa queen outstripped that
from the other by thousands of cells, till I began to think I
had a prize in this new queen : but when the season closed I
found that I had from the colony headed by tlie queen of my
rearing, 2f) 1 completed one-pound sections, 21 partly filled,
anil 4-J pounds in the brood-chamber : while th<' colony having
the Iowa ipieen gave only -11 poorly lilled sections, none partly
lilled, and had only 12 pounds in tiie hive October 1, so that
they had to be fed 18 pounds for wintering.
Remembering that I hail seen somewhere in the bee-pa-
pers that if we would be fair in testing this long-tongue mat-
ter, bees from the colony giving the poorest yield of linney
-should be sent as well as those from the one giving the great'
est yield, I bethought myself to send a dozen of these bees.
(from each colony) to Prof. Gillette, of the Colorado Agricul-
tural College, as he had asked for bees to measure, through
the columns of the American Bee Journal, and I accordingly
did so. When Mr. Gillette reported he gave as the average of
'• Lot 1 ■' (from ray queen) 2.5.4 ; and Of -'Lot 2" (from the
Iowa queen) 25.6, the same being in hundredths of an inch.
So it will be seen that the colony giving less than one-sixth
the yield of the other, really had the longest tongues.
Both colonies were managed as nearly alike as could pos-
sibly be done, up to about the first of .July, when the Iowa bees
began to swarm, and kept it up more or less, all through ten
days of the best part of the harvest. They were not suscepti-
ble to the management of the apiarist as were the others, but
with the honey harvest they went to an excess in breeding,
and used up the honey which they gathered in breeding a
superfluous number of workers which took to swarming rather
than to honey-gathering, and thus the season was frittered
away to little advantage to the apiarist.
My observation has been the same this year as in years
past, that the bee which is the most susceptible to the man-
agement of the apiarist, so that a maximum amount of bees
can be brought on the stage of action, with little, if any, desire
to swarm, just at the commencement of the honey harvest,
with as few bees at all other times as is consistent with this
object, is the bee which rolls up the honey to the account of
the apiarist every time.
But I hear some one saying that the length of the tongues
of these bees varied only two-tenths of a hundredth of an inch,
anyway. This is right, and from considerable correspondence
of late I am led to believe that Italian bees from various parts
of the country, and from colonies that gather little or much
honey, all have tongues of practically the same length. Had
the tongues of Italian bees from colonies giving the poorest
yields of honey been measured on the start, instead of offering
prizes for the longest tongues which gathered the most honey,
more real facts would have come to light, with less of public
deception.
It is always well to go a little slow until assured of the
ground upon which we stand, lest some one may. be deceived by
statements which are made prematurely; the same being pre-
mature through our not having investigated till we have got-
ten at the bottom facts in the case.
Oiiondaoo Co., X. Y.
A Short Report- Selling Honey too Cheaply, Etc.
UV MUS. L. IIAKIUSOX.
OUR honey is all taken off, and put away nicely (Oct. 2S),
and I estimate that there is a supply for two families,
from our apiary of 40 colonies. Our apiary, prior to this
decade of poor seasons, numbered 125 colonies, but the losses
each succeeding winter were more than the summer's increase ;
and this is the condition of apiaries generally in this part of
the State.
A grocer who advertises largely announced lately thai he
had some fine honey of this year's production, which he was
selling at 15 cents per pound. Honey was worth 20 cents,
but he had a chance to buy 2.")0 pounds cheap, and his cus-
tomers should have the benefit of it.
When there is a short crop of corn or potatoes, the price
goes up, and why should not honey? No tine comb honey
should be sold for less 'than 20 or 26 cents per pound at re-
tail. There has lieen a steady decrease in the number of colo-
nies, and a less secretion of nectar than formerly.
I think thiit there are more sources for honey In the city.
per acre, than in the country. At almost every home a few
' flowers are cultivated ; lawns are sprinkled frequently with a
776
AMEPICAN BEE' JOURNAL
Dec. S, 1901.
hosi' attached to hydrants, and the modest white clover duts
the green. Porches are shaded with Co]iimbin<- or Maderia
vines, which are favorites with bees: there are beds of portu-
laca, mignonette and otlier flowers. Tli^* city parks liave
much bloom, and sweet clover, both white and yellow, have
pre-empted all unoccupied land. A failure of fall honev has
never been reported in this locality.
PBEPARING BEKS FOR WINTER.
I get everything: ready beforehand. I use new sheets of
Indian-head muslin every year : tear it up so large that it will
extend over the ed^res of the hive, so that when the cap is shut
down upon it. it is utterly impossible for a bee to get up into
the cap. I pick oflF all ravellings, iron them smooth, and pile
them up on a board. I gather baskets of dry maple leaves.
When all was ready, on one of our quiet October days.I uncov-
ered the bees, put a Hill's device upon the combs, spread over
the sheet, and set on the cap or upper story, poured in a good
bed of leaves, and a chaff cushion above them : then the cover
with a piece of section between it and tlie cap, thus making a
little crack, so that fresh air will circulate above the packing.
This was all done so quietly that the bees were not disturbed,
and no smoke was necessary. The chaff cushions have been
in use a good many years, so I put in leaves, as chaff is not
handy to get.
The hives were all heavy with well-ripened, sealed honev,
gatliered from sweet clover, goldenrod, Spanish-needles, bone-
set, polygonum, and other wild and cultivated flowers.
JIL'LBERRIES.
One year the last of April, I visited the navy yard at Pen-
sacola, Fla., and while there gathered a handfiil of ripe white
mullierries ; they were very rich, and so juicy and sweet that
they made my lingers sticky. A friend, who was a mission-
ary many years iii Turkey, says that in that country they
press out the juice, boil it down into a syrup, and call it
"honey." The residue— skins and seeds — they dry, and keep
to feed their donkeys during the winter.
Peoria Co., III.
I Questions and Answers, l
CONDUCTED BY
DR. O. O. MILLER, afareng-o, Ul,
[The Qnestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1
Feeding Bees for Winter Stores.
I got caught in that cold spell, and one colony is short of
stores ; that is, it has a little over eight pounds of unsealed
syrup.
1. Will that unsealed syrup cause trouble ?
'J. How can I make sugar candy ? I made some last win-
ter, but it was so hard the bees could not take it. I made it
according to the books.
3. How much candy should I give that colony to carry it
through the winter ? That is, how many pounds of sugar
should I make into candy?
4. Are four Langstroth frames full of honey enough to
winter a strong colony ?
5. Are forest leaves a good, warm packing?
Ml.NNESOTA.
Answers— 1. There is some dangerof it,especially if it was
fed late. There will be less danger of trouble in 'the cellar
than outdoors.
2. I doubt being able to tell you any better than the books.
Two kinds are given, Scholz or Good candy, which is perhaps
the better kind, being a stiff dough made by kneading ex-
tracted honey into sugar: and the old kind made by evaporat-
ing sugar syrup.' It is quite possible that your candy was all
right. No matter what kind of candy you have, the bees in
winter are n'ot likely to take it unless it is very easily within
reach. See that the candy is directly over the cluster, or else
that it is in a frame hung close beside the cluster so as to
touch the bees.
3. Having already 8 lbs. of syrup, 22 lbs. of candy will do
for a full colony.
■i. Yes, if by "full " you mean bulged out from top to
bottom and sealed out to the lower corners. But as you are-
likely to find them in the brood-chamber, six or eight would bft
nearer the mark.
5. Yes, if dry. they are excellent.
Various Questions.
1. Will Italian queens reared from a thoroughbred mother
mated to a black drone produce as good honey-gatherers as if
mated to an Italian drone ?
2. Does it take more honey to winter a colony of Italians
than a colony of blacks ?
8. Do queens lay during the night ?
4. Do the worker-bees work in the hive at night, such as
build comb, feeding larvse, etc.?
5. About how m\ich honey does it take to winter a colony
of bees in this, latitude ? Our bees usually start to swarming
here about the first of April, if the spring is not late.
South Carolina.
Answers — 1. Sometimes they will, and sometimes not.
The first cross are generally good, but after that the improve-
ment generally goes backward.
2. You will probably find no difference, if you compare
100 colonies of Italians with lOO colonies of blacks of equal
strength. You will find considerable variation, however, in
single colonies, whether yellow or black.
3. Yes, indeed.
4. Yes, indeed.
5. I don"t know, but I think it is not safe to have a colony
go into winter quarters with less than about 30 pounds. unli'ss
you expect to feed them in the spring before flowers appear.
If I am wrong in this I wish some South Carolinian would cor-
rect me ?
The Afterthought.
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
DB. .STRICKLAND NOT FOR "MELTOSE.""
I hasten to make amends for a particularly atrocious
meanness of my blundering pen. Dr. Strickland was not act-
ing as the friend of meltose when he sent a sample to tile office.
More care in reading up the whole thing should have shown
me that. 1 heedlessly, though sincerely, located him on the
wrong side of the fence and went on. Monkey at the lever of
a luO H. P. machine is capable of mischief, is he not ?
Page Oil.
THOSE TWIN BRIDES.
Compliments to those twin brides and their grooms on
page 721. Doubtless the boys themselves (on a sliglit inspec-
tion) can tell the brides apart. If the rest of the world makes
a mistake occasionally, why, that doesn't signify.
FIXING UP OTHER PEOPLES L.\^NGUAGE.
And so Dr. Miller wants Prof. Cook and myself to settle
matters between us. Might as well ask Kitty and Towser to
settle their differences by a little private confab in the back
yard ! I just keep getting madder and madder all the time.
It's just monstrous the way Prof. Pharaoh Cook is trying to-
compel 100,000,000 people to make bricks without straw! All
who speak the English tongue come in contact with certain
familiar objects. T/iey have to call them something. Not
one in a hundred of all these people ca?! tell wliich is worm
and which is larva — haven't the entomological knowledge re-
quired to do it. But here comes Pharaoh and says, "You
must, or I'll take your dirty, ignorant lives !'' Leastwise, if
he doesn't put it as badly as that, he is on the road in that
direction — "I'll brand you as disgraceful perverters of tlu'
Englisli tongue." If it was only one case, and entomology was
the only science extant, we might think of yielding just for
the sake of peace in the family. But science has a hundred
branches (going to be); and nobody is, or possibly can be.
familiar with all : but all. I fear, will have Prof. Cooks that
will be emboldened to make similar d<'mands of us, if we do
not stand for our rights. Suppose a few hundred astronomers
should insist that the entire English public leave off saying
"shooting stars" and say " bolides." And what a supreme
Dec. 5, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
777
ass a goolofiist wouUi make of himself trying to mal<i' every-
body use the term " roclv '' preeisely as he uses it 1 Call out
the police and the ambulaiici>. Dear Boss; I'm going to throw
the imposinir stone !
In some things the ric-h man has more riffhts than tlie
poor man : and the learned man has more rights tlian the un-
learned. That may sound shocking to some, but 1 will grant
it freely. But— the right to have a language to exjiress his
ideas — a language in which he can express his i<leas, without
distress, and without annoyance, and without beini; calh'd a
fool — that does not by any means go with the above. That's
one of the inalienable rights of man. like --life, liberty, etc.'"
When it comes to that, the college professor is only 1 divided
by 1UO,OUO,000— same as all the rest of us. He can take his
chances with the language as the millions make it: or he can
have a private dialect for hi? own little company — either one ;
but he can't impose his little dialect on the millions — too big a
dog for so small a tail to wag. It would, indeed, be nice if
everybody knew everything, and used terms in accordance
with his knowledge: but I honestly think it might be well to
accept less for awhile. And possibly the command to "Conde-
scend to men of low estate'' may reach even to the campus
where hats are seen with mortar-board tops. Pages 730 and
698.
UNCAPPING AND RENDERING.
Quite an idea, that of J. H. Hall's — have the basket of the
uucapping-can fit the solar wax-extractor also, and render the
wax at once. But I, for one. hardly believe that shadinj;: the
lower dish will prevent the sun from spoilinu- the honey.
Page 6 HO.
FLOWER.S INTOXICATING -VND HOLDING BEES.
When only few and rare plants were accused of holdinu-
bees by some sort of intoxicant the case sounded strono-cr
than it does now that the attempt is made to accuse the bass-
wood of the same thing. " Don't believe fish-story, too. now,"'
is the frame our minds incline to take. Without much assur-
ance, I rather think that all that the visible facts show is that
bees will sometimes ••board around'' among the flowers. So
diiing, they save the honey which would be used if they took
their meals at home. This, of course, when there is nothing
on the range from which a load can be secured. If it is found
that some bees spree it while others are brinu:ln<j' loads rapidly,
that. I suppose, would be fatal to my suggestion. There is no
intoxicant — nothing but smell — when they spend hours at the
screens of the honey-house. May it not be that flowers hold
them by smell alone, sometimes '.' Page 6H 1 .
^ ^ The Home Circle. ^
Conducted bij Prof. fl. J. Gook, Glaremont, Calif.
THE COW.
Is any home circle quite complete without the cow ? I
would never consent to be without this important adjunct
in every home. In this day of food adulteration it is hard
to know just what we are eating', but if we have our own
cow, and do our own milking, we may be pretty sure on this
point.
We are very fond of milk at our house, and none of us
complain if a good proportion is richest cream. I take
great pleasure in my glass or bowl of milk, and, I believe,
as much in seeing the other members of the family as they
quaff this pure and unobjectionable beverage. We are cer-
tain that in milk there are no impurities. In it, too, we get
perhaps as balanced a ration as we can obtain anywhere.
It is Nature's own concoction. We never grew so fast as
when in our babyhood. Then milk was our exclusive diet.
I suppose in milk we have just about the right amount of
sugar which has no taint of glucose in it ; just the proper
proportion of fat, which is certainly one of the most appe-
tizing and wholesome of all the varieties of oleaginous
material : and in the caseine or cheese of the milk we have
enough and most wholesome albuminoid.
I also like to take care of my own cow and to do my own
milking. So many people are content to keep their cows
covered with tilth, and are so scrupulously careful not to
brush or clean them as they commence to draw the milk,
that I hnd it not at all agreeable to patronize the milkman.
My cow must be as neat and clean as my driving horse, and
I would not think of commencing to milk until the cow was
absolutely clean in all the region about the udder. A pri-
vate dairyman, whom I know, gets the creamery price for
his butter. When asked why, at one of our Farmers' Insti-
tutes, he said, "I never milk without thoroughly brushing,
and, if necessary at all, thoroughly washing the cows, all
about the udders." Neither would I have any one milk my
cow who would wet the teats before or during the milking.
Wet milking and neatness never ride in the same carriage.
We have just secured a new cow. Five of us — nearest
neighbors — share in the milk. Four families own the cow
and share equally the expense and the profit. As I have
said before, I think such partnership among nearest neigh-
bors tends to harmony, and has more to recommend it than
simple economy. Our new cow gives «s nearly 20 quarts of
milk a day. She does a good lot of eating. I like to see
her eat. Of course, she must eat or she could not give us
so liberally of her very substance. Where do we have a
better example of real, personal sacrifice than we see in
the cow ? I fancy our cow has a sort of a benignant look
in her very eyes. Mrs. Cook remarked only a few minutes
ago, " How kindly our cow looks at us ; and what a pretty
face she has.'' I bethought me, " W^hy not ? If any one
has earned a right to look kindly it is surely one who gives
herself, as does our cow, to add to the pleasure and happi-
ness of others."
Our cow has been giving milk only a few days. The
springing into action of the great milk-glands has made
the udder tender, so that as I draw the milk the parts are
irritated, and she raises her foot, often many times, when I
am milking, and not always in gentlest fashion. There
are two ways to meet this not wholly agreeable condition
of things. I could use my boot or stool, and possibly she
might be cowed into quietness. No doubt in doing this,
even though I did succeed in quieting her, I should do it at
the sacrifice of milk. Rough treatment or unkind words
and a full flow of milk never go together. Many times,
generally, I think I would fail to check the uneasiness, and
if my cow was of nervous temperment, it would very likely
ruin her.
The other course is to milk very gently, and perhaps
very slowly, and thus not hurt even the sensitive milk-
glands. I hardly need say that this is the way that I have
proceeded, and I am very happy to state that it has worked
like a charm. lam sure, too, that I am getting the full
yield of milk, and just as sure that I am in no danger of
ruining the cow.
I wonder if we all realize that we are never violent with
our animals, especially with our cows, except at a great
loss. We hardly realize how delicately sensitive our cows
are to any disturbance. A large dairyman told ine a few
days since that he never changed his cows from one pasture
to another without losing several pails of milk : and this
even though he put them in a better pasture. The disturb-
ance attending the change was what reduced the milk flow.
The dog, the milk-stool, and the boot too often bring the
same result.
Apropos to the above is the too common habit of pound-
ing a cow because she does not " give down " her milk.
The philosophy of yielding or withholding the milk is this :
The milk is in very numerous small tubes, which are thickly
set in muscular tissue. These small muscles are of the un-
striated type, and are entirely beyond the control of the
will. Thus, we are absolutely sure that the cow has no
direct control of the matter. Rough treatment, which will
produce a nervous shock, may effect to press the milk down
into the teats. It will just as likely act the other way, and
we have made a bad matter worse, and done a beastly,
mean thing. In all such cases stooling or kicking are
strictly in order ; but the cow should not be the recipient.
CATS AND DOGS.
I don't mean cats and dogs in the sense of " scraps '' in
the home. Oh : that parents who suffer ill-will, fault-find-
ing, family-jars to invade the sacred precincts of the home
could realize their terrible mistake I They are bequeathing
a frightful legacy to the precious ones entrusted to their
care. Divorce has always seemed to me one of the blackest
pages in our social history. Separation between the chief
partners of the home circle is nearly as bad. Yet, I quite
agree with Mrs. Wells, in the October North American
Review. " The daily spectacle of a discordant home is worse
for the child than the known separation of its parents."
Cats and dogs, then, as used to designate fierce word-bat-
tles, where word-tights have no business, is not my theme—
I mean real cats and dogs.
778
AMEPICAN BEE lOURNAL
Dec. S, 1901
AVe have two tiger cats. We all like them, and if pur-
ring- is a sign of contentment — and who can doubt it ? — then
our cats are not pining for a new home. No one would
wonder at this, if he should see the great basin of freshest,
sweetest milk that I give them twice daily, as I come
always attended by them from barn to house. In fact, they
always watch me as I milk. So I have to be neat and par-
ticular, as I am always watched. My wife and daughter
insist on this full milk ration. I suppose they are right in
thinking nothing too good for our cats. I often hint to
them that if I ever do get jealous of those cats it will surely
not be without provocation.
One of these cats is a beautv. He is as boldly striped
as a veritable tiger. Everybody praises " Toots." " He is
such a beaut}'." Toddles is more plain in garb. Few vis-
itors discourse on his handsome fur cloak. I smile to see
how Mrs. Cook and daughter take his part, and warm up as
they portray his good points. These cats are treasures.
Mice used to run riot in the barn, and took too generous
toll from hay and meal bag. Now I never see any mice
except as Toots or Toddles come to show me one that spe-
cially pleases them, and, like well brought up cats, wish to
share the pleasure with me.
c~: Even a better use than this is the pleasure they give
the dear ones of our home circle. It is good for us to lavish
attention and care even on a feline member of the family.
And I am sure that loving them insures more love to those
of the househould more deserving of love. Neither do our
cats disturb any one of our neighbors. Indeed, they are
fondly petted by all.
I don't feel so about dogs. I wouldn't have one. They
do not catch mice, and are only valuable as pets. And are
they not too often a nuisance to all the neighbors? No
hour of night is sacred against their vociferous yelps. And
how few are too well bred to pitch wildly out at the passing
carriage or equestrian ? Unless we can get real gentlemen
dogs — and they are rare in California — let us replace every
dog on the place with a good, handsome cat.
DIVORCE THE LAWN AND TREES AND SHRUBS.
What are so exquisitely graceful as date-palms — the
Phctnix canariensis ? They are great, living fountains of
finest green. A neighbor had one right on the lawn. It
had no business there. An open lawn is too beautiful a
feature of the landscape to be invaded even by handsomest
tree or shrub. Again, the grass seems to have learned this,
and proceeds at once, upon occasion, to throttle the very
life from anj' invader. Thus it was that this date-palm was
yellow and sickly. Why, my date-palm, almost near
enough to shake hands with the other, grew more in three
years than did that one in more than double the time. The
grass wished the water and the fertility, and took it, and
the poor palm could only turn yellow — not. green — with
envy.
A new neighbor has purchased the place. As the palm
was on the edge of the lawn, or to one side, she digged
about it and put the too-greedy grass-blades to route. And,
presto I the palm doesn't look like the same plant at all.
The sickly yellow is replaced with brightest green, and it
has grown more in one short year than in several long pre-
vious ones. It just laughs now, and were it not that its
strong roots had gotten such a hold, I veritably believe it
would dance.
Let us all keep trees and shrubs away from the lawns.
EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor
Send us lO^^^ntsand the t
of five farmers and we will
one vear.
mesand addresses
end you the paper
A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with
a General Farm Department, Dairy,
Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Befes,
Veterinary, Home and General News.
Edited bj' one who has had practical
experience in every department of
farm work. To introduce the paper
to new readers, it will be sent for a
short time to New Subscribers, one year
for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best
Advertising Medium in the Central
West. Address,
MODERN FARMER,
9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO.
The Rural Californian
Tells all about Bees in California. The yields
and Price of Honey; the Pasturage and Nectar-
Producing- Plants; the Bee-Ranches and how
they are conducted. In fact the entire field is
fully covered by an e.xpert bee-man. Besides
this the paper also tells you all about California
Agriculture and Horticulture. $1.00 per year; 6
months, 50 cents. Sample copies, 10 cents.
THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN,
218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal.
BAMES' FOOT POWER MACHISERY
t^i
Read what J.I. Pai
Charlton, N. Y., says
cut
■ith
ed Ma
of
Con
s, last
50 chaff hives with 7-in. capi
100 honey racks, 500 brood-
frames, 2,000 honey boxes, and
a great deal of other work.
This winter we have double
the amount of bee-hives, etc.,
to make, and we expect to do
it with this Saw. It will do all
?ou sav it will." Catalog and price-list free.
Address, W. F. & John Barnes,
995 Ruby St., Rockford, 111.
"lea-se mention Bee Journal -when -writing.
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for a year's subscription to our
ournal, and we will send book. Plans for
'oultry-Houses, free. Six months trial subscrip-
ion to Journal, 10 cents.
NLAND Poultry Journal, Indianapolis, Ind
29Dtf Please mention the Bee Journal.
The Bee in Law.
Bees are ferte natural, i. e., wild by nature,
and classed with such wild animals as have
what is called nuimus reveiiendi, or a usual
habit of returning whence they have escaped.
During this temporary absence they remain
the property of the original owner (2 Kent,
Com. 348). The law, as Blackstone says,
" extends this possession further than the
mere manual occupation ; for my tame hawk
that is pursuing his quarry in my presence,
though he is at liberty to go where he pleases,
is nevertheless my property ; for he hath
iiiiimnm revertendi. So are my pigeons, and
Ijees that are flying at a distance from their
home, and likewise the deer that is chased
out of my park or forest, and is instantly pur-
sued by the keeper or forester; all which re-
main still in my possession, and I still pre-
serve my qualified property in them. But il;
thej- straj' without nij' knowledge, and do not
return in the usual manner, it is then lawful
for the stranger to take them " (2 Blaokstone,
Com. 392).
So, in the civil law, Gaius says: "In re-
spect of such animals as are in the habit of
going and returning, as pigeons and bees and
deer, which are accustomed to go into the
woods and fields and come again, we have
this traditional rule : That if they cease to
have the intention of returning they also
cease to be ours, and become the property of
the first taker; now they appear to cease to
have the anhniis reirrlrndi when they have
discontinued their halnt of returning. This
theory may be compared to the rights of prop-
erty in animals at common law only when
animusreverleiidi is induced by artificial means,
such as taming them or offering them food
and shelter, but not to immigrating animals
which return from natural causes. 'The high-
est authority is that the only ownership in
them is rntinnr xoli. In consideration ot the
fact that the character of the forest allows
every freeman to be entitled to the honey
found within his own woods, affords great
countenance to the doctrine that a <iualfied
property may tje had in bees in consideration
Lanosirom on...
TI16H0I16UB66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ougfht to be in the
library of everj' bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
The Anieriean Poultry Jourual
325 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Il
A Journal "emurv
of a
nd
old and is still g
merit of its own, :
one. Such is the
Amepiean Poultry Journal.
50 cents a Year. Mention the Bee Jourual
Please mention Bee Journal -wlien -writing,
Dec. S, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUFNAL.
779
^REVERSIBLE WALL MAP'^
OF THE
UHITED STATES AND WORLD.
WITH SPECIAL INSET MAPS OF
cnina, GuOa, rorio Rico, Ttie PHlllpDlnes, Hawaii, and fliaska,
lUj prepared to meet the demand for a first-elass map tliat will give a quiek, {general idea of loeatiou of events tlie world over,
lienlarlv to the United States and our territorial possessions. Vi-ry iif^'iiil in ei'ery Home and <»(li«-e.
eex4(i liUCHES HV SIXK.
Best and Most Necessary Map
Ever Issued.
The JSC JSC
Plates,
are works of art.
The engraving' is
plain, bold, and
decisive. Thecolor
work is elegantly
contrasted, but not
gaudy.
Perfec-
tion and
Artistic
Elegance
a salient feature
of this map not ap-
proached by any
similar publica-
tion.
No Home or Business House
should be without it.
7\ ^C Tx- JV
IVIcirginal
Index
is one of the in-
valuable features.
It gives an al-
phabetical list of
countries, their lo-
cation on map,
style of govern-
ment, population,
area, products,
minerals, imports,
exports, etc.
The 1900 Census JTv A)
of the largest American Cities is given.
It has been pronounced a JTtC jV /v
Photograph of the World
One side shows a grand map of our great country, with counties, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctly located. The other side shows
an equallv good map of the world. Statistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, business, etc., a veritable photo-
graph of the L'NITED STATES AND WORLD.
The map is printed on heavy map paper and is mounted on sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
I90I EI>I'riO!V. — Every reader Mlionid <-on»«iiit it every day. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to the topography of the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and peaks are plainly indicated. The leading cities and towns are shown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brunswick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The SoutJiern portion of the map includes the Northern States of the Kepublic of Mexico, and the
Bahama Islands.
4li> I lie rever.se side is tlie Library IVIap of tlie %Vorld. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
ever )^roduced. The political divisions are correctly detined and IjeautifuUy onllined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
naiiieil. Ocean steamship lines with distances between important ports are given. A marginal index of letters and figures enables one easily to
locate every country in the world. A series of short articles in alphabetical order is printed around the border of this map iu large, clear type,
containing valuable information concerning agricultural, mining, and manufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports in dollars.
The area, population, form of government, and chief executive of every country in the world is given up to date, also the names of the capitals
and their population. Xiie Inset ^laps are elegantly engraved and printed in colors. They are placed in convenient positions around the
United Slates map, and will be invalualile to every person desiring a plain understanding of our possessions. An inset map of China on the
World side of map adds to its value.
P?*~ Two maps on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium lor sending us Three New Subscribers at $1.00 each ; or for $2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
GEORGE W YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
780
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Dec. S, 19i 1.
OUR NEW CATALOG, describing and lisUoj.' the FINEST LINE OF
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN THE WORLD, will be ready about Ihe
lirst of the year. If you have not been receivinir a copy annually, send us
your name and address and one will be mailed you free. Prices will be
same as last season with the exception of the narrow, plain sections with
no bee-ways, which will be J.= cents per thousand less.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U. S. A.
Special Ag-eacy, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Flease menuon Bee Journal "when ■writing
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. T Es^-'P^
JT CASH — for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 2S cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
ASTERN OLD MOTHER EXPERIENCE
th poultry business.
; you but 10 cents and
Reliable Incubator & Brooder Co.. Box B-2. Quincy. Ills.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing.
4i^\i/VI/\iAlAt/\tAi/\|/\iAt/\tAlAl/UAlAiAli\|/
BEST-
I Extracted Honeu For Sale i
■^ ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS. ^
Alfalfa
Honey JTd^
This is tbe famous
White Exlracte
Honey gathered i
the great Altai i
regions of the Ceii
ral West. It is
splendid honey, an
nearly ererybud
who cares to e a
honey at all can
get enough of th
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
HoneyJ^c
)wn light-colored
ley gathered from
e rich, nectar-
en basswood blos-
I t
stronger flavor
Alfalfa, and is
ferred by those w
like a distinct fla
in their honey.
han ^
ore- ^
ho ^
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to paj' for package and post-
age. By freight — two 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 8 cents per pound ; four
or more cans, 7;2 cents per pound. Basswood Honey, yi cent more per
pound than Alfalfa prices. Cash must accompany each order. You can
order half of each kind of honey, if you so desire. The cans are boxed.
This is all
ABSOLUTELY PURE HOMEY
The finest of their kinds produced in this country.
Read Dr. Miller's Testimony on Alfalfa Honey:
I've just sampled the honey
something of a heretic, to sell s
and then buy honey of you foi
honey of his own region, there's i
drink, where one prefers the more w
of alfalfa honey I have received f:
marked flavor, according to my fast
McHenry Co., 111.
u sent, and it's prime. Thank ynu. I feel that I'm
ral thousand pounds of honey of rav own production
y own use. But however loval one ought to be to the
no denying the fact that for use in any kind of hot
holesome honey to sugar, the very escelleut quality
rom you is better suited than the honeys of more
e. C. C. MiLLiiR.
^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. >
i.^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^
^ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the 5
^ above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get ^
!.^ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^
!^ ^QEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. S.
Please Jleutioii the Bee Journal I^^?rSsir?H...
of the property of the soil whereon they are
found.*'
IDENTITY.
One of the chief difliculties in reclaiming-
bees is in the almost impossible identiticatioa
thereof. Many curious cases of doubtful or
disputed identity might be cited to illustrate
the singular tortuous resemblance between
bees, not only in their general appearance,
but also iu the strain or accidental mark.
Positive recognition of peculiar habits and
working of bees is too dilBcult to suffice to
prove their identity. Courts judicially recog-
nize photography as a proper means of iden-
titication of the thing in dispute; but there is
no case or record, so far as we^have been able
to discover, where a claimant has been able to
reclaim his bees by means of photography.
Neither can bees be identified or proven by
the concurrence of their several characteris-
tics. This proof is too remote, and the ques-
tion of identity is for the jury. The court
can not presume identity of bees.
The exact character of the contract for the
carriage of animals has been the subject of
much judicial discussion. The prevailing
opinion, however, is that common carriers are
also insurers against all losses except those
resulting from the acts of God or the public
enemy, or from the peculiar nature of the
property carried. Though it may be optional
with railway companies whether they will
accept the full responsibility of trans-
porting bees, yet if they do so without any
express restriction, they are liable as common
carriers. But they may, for a less hire, agree
simply to transport bees, furnish ears, etc. ;
and if the shipper and owner of the bees
agrees to the lower rate, he can not hold
them as common carriers. For a given re-
ward they proffer to become his carrier; for a
less reward they proffer to furnish the neces-
sary means that the owner of the bees may be
his own carrier (Kimbal vs. Ry. Co. "iS Vt.,
247). In the case of Hirly v. Beemar, .54 Fed.
R., 718, the United States court held that,
when a vessel struck a hidden obstruction
and tilled with water, and a cabin containing
bees tioaled to the shore, but no effort was
made by the master to use care in saving
them, the steamboat line was held liable for
damages to them, though the vessel was in-
sured and was abandoned to the underwriters
as a total loss.
BEES THE SUB.IECT OF LARCEST.
Bees in the possession of the owner are the
subjects of larceny, says the Indiana Supreme
Court in State v. Murphy, S Blackf.. 498.
Further, the court holds that, when bees are
in the possession of any person, they are the
subject of larceny. Much depends upon
what constitutes possession. Generally it is
CYPHERS INCUBATOR,
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on::r.i;..v.Ex|.erimtiit Stiitions
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0YPHEK8 INCrBATOR COMPANY,
Bufialo, N. Y., Chicago, 111., ]lo).toa, UaBB., New Vork^N. t»
REDUCED RATES FOR CHRISTHAS
AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS.
The Nickel Plate Road will sell tick-
ets Dec. 24, 25, and 31, 1901. and Jan.
1, l'i02, at rate of a fare and one-third
for the round-trip, to any point located ■
in Central Passenger Association ter-
ritory, good returning to atid including
Jan. 2, 1902. Pulltnan service on all
traitis. Individual Club Meals rang-
ing in price from 35 cents to SI. 00,
served in Nickel Plate dining-cars.
Address, John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for par-
ticulars. Depot, Van Buren St. and
Pacific Avenue, on the Elevated Loop.
45— 49A4t
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
781
regarded that the owner of the soil upon
which the bees may be found is the possessor
thereof. While the rights to unimals f'-rn
iiftiurir, as between the owner of the soil and
others, have been fairly settled by a consider-
able series of eases, the relative rights of par-
ties, both of whom acknowledge the superior
rights of the owner of the soil, seem never to
have been precisely described. But in a re-
cent Rhode Island case (llfjriith v. ''""« 15 R.
I., :i")). the plaintiff, without permission,
placed a hive of bees ui)on the land of a
third person. The defendant, also a tres-
passer, removed the bees and honey which
had collected in the hive. The court found
that there was no cause of action, holding
that neither plaintiff nor defendant had any
title or right to possession to the bees or to
the honey. It needs scarcely follow that a
trespasser can not maintain, on the basis of
mere possession, an action against a later
trespasser. There may be some possible
doubt in a case of this kind where a person
has reduced the bees to possession by collect-
ing the bees in a hive, and left them tem-
porarily on the land or another; and if so it
would seem to give him actual physical pos-
session sufficient for an action against one
who removed them. But about the honey
which the bees had collected while on the
soil of a third person, there would be less
doubt : but. strange to say, in no case which
we have examined does the question seem to
have been discussed, much less decided, as to
how far the law of animals and beesjei-cewitiine
applies to their produce, such as eggs or
honey. The reason on which the law about
the animals is founded is wholly inapplica-
ble to the honey ; but the Rhode Island case
tacitly assumes that no distinction is to be
drawn. Hence, as a dictum, it would appear
that the honey, at least, belonged to the
owner of the soil.
Bees are likened unto wild animals belong-
ing to no one so long as they are in their
wild state, and property in them is acf]uired
by occupancy, hiving, and reclaiming only,
and are not the subject of larceny unless they
are in the owner's custody, as in a hive, bee-
house, or otherwise confined, and within the
control of the possessor or owner. — R. D.
FisuEK. in (ileanings in Bee-Culture.
Fair Honey Crop.
In our locality we have very changeable
■weather in winter -from extremely cold to
■warm. We seldom have over one week that
bees do not tly, if left on the summer stands.
There has always been acjuestion in my mind
whether it would be an advantage to winter
bees in a cellar under such conditions or not.
Our honey crop was fair the latter part of the
season. Bee-keepers in this locality do not
read bee-papers; one reported foul brood,
which, on inquiry, proved to be brood in the
supers. C. W. Sxyper.
Garfield Co., I'tah, Nov. -.'ii.
Bees Worked on Stpawberries.
I was very busy the jiasl summer, in fart. I
lielieve I never worl<ed harder in my life;
but it has been a good year for me. I haii
■StOO worth of strawberries, and they were
nice, big ones, and tine flavored — should have
liked a visit from you in June. My bees did
fairly well, but I did not have time to attend
to them at the proper time. My best colony
filled 10 fraraesand .55 sections, I doubled up
two colonies in lU-frarae dovetailed hives, put
two supers between, and afier reducing them
for winter I tried to weigh the hive, but my
scales weigh only 00 pounds, and I put a
brick on for a weight besides, and as this
■would not weigh them I think they are all
right for winter. My lightest colony weighs
47 pounds, being the only colony my scales
will weigh, so I do not think I will have to
feed for this winter. Basswood bloomed very
Great CoiiibiQatioii Subscription Offers.
Combination and concentration in business are the magic watchwords of
the ag^e in which we live. Why should it not be applied to the matter of sub-
scriptions to magazines and periodical literature in general ? We believe it is a
wise move, especially when it is in the line of economy for the reading public.
Now, if we can be the means of saving our subscribers several dollars a year on
their reading matter, and at the same time help them to the best literature pub-
lished to-day, we shall feel that we are doing a good thing, indeed.
We have entered into an arrangement whereby we can furnish the follow-
ing excellent periodicals at greatly reduced prices :
THE DOLL.\R P.4PERS. price.
i Cosmopolitan Magazine 1.00
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly I.OO
lieyiilar
price.
Review of Reviews S2.50
Current Literature 3.00
New England Magazine 3.00
Leslie's Weekly -4.00
North American Review 5.00
The Household 1.00
Good Hou.sekeeplng 1 .00
The Designer 1.00
Success ■ 1 .00
PLEASE NOTICE that in all combinations Success and the American Bee
Journal nius/ be included.
Here is our List of Liberal Offers ;
American Bee Journal and Success, $1.75.
with any <»» of the above dollar magazines (3 periodicals) .*2..5()
with any tim of the above dollar magazines 3. 00
with any three of the above dollar magazines 3.50
with the Review of Reviews (new) 3.00
with Current Literature (new) 3.00
with New England Magazine 3.00
with Review of Reviews (new) and any o?w of the dollar magazines .^ 3.50
with Leslie's Weekly .' 3.75
with Review of Reviews (new) and Leslie's Weekly 4.75
with North American Review (new) and Review of Reviews (new) 5.00
?■?" If a renewal subscription is wanted for the Review of Reviews, Curreut
Literature, or the North American Review, add SI. 00 for each renewal subscrip-
tion to the combination prices named above. On all the other combinations a
renewal counts the same as a new subscription.
J!S~ No foreign subscribers can take advantage of these combination offers.
We shall be pleased to have our readers examine carefully the above list,
and send us their subscriptions. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
with the "incomparal.te'
BORDEAUX NOZZLElji
worldVbeHt oucbt vou ar<
fall befor,^
the book. Ii la free. Write for it n"
THE DE.IIlNfi CO., SALF.ll, OHIO.
' A Mubbell, Chicago. I
Please meutioa the Bee Journal.
«C
CET A dandy::
the fastest cutting bone cutter nimle,
and double ,V"Ur eiie yield. S-old dlrei-t
on 31) days trial. J.'S up. Catalogue fri'e.
Stratton Mfg. Co., Box 21, Erie, Pa.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when writing
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each : 6 for $4.00.
Long°Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tongues measured 25-
1(» inch. These are the red" clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival g-uaraa-
teed. FRED W. MUTH & CO.
Headq^uarters f<)r Bee*Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog' on application. Cincinnati
O.
Please tueutlon Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
%k TWO OR.EAT F.AFER.S
m " ■
m
The American Bee Journal
° The Ohio Farmer...
-ANC
Both Papers One Year Only $l.i50.
Or with Ohio Farmer TWO years only $2 00.
_ ih the best staff of edito
iSSi feii'i le>^ delender of Ihe farmers' interests, and clean
(§ai i-oUniiii'^. It Helps to make the farm pay
^S A Jii-p.aire
S« fe;;.' ■
Sa Se„,l
i
l:vMil. Ohi,>. for free sample copv, but send all subscri
(JEORQE \%-. VOkK & CO.. 14J .V He. Krie Sire.-;, i H K Ai.i ). II.I, .
782
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Dec. 5, 1901.
Bee Books
tENT POSTPAID BY
George W. York & Co.
Chicago.
Bees and Honey, or M-in-ig-ement ul an Apiary
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas G. New-
man.—It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pa^es,
beaulifuliv printed in the highest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, g^old-lettered. Price, in
flolb, 75 cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadaiil.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-written, and is fully illustrated. It
\reats of everything' relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work by Rev. L. L. Lang-
stroth—the Father of American Bee-Culture. I'
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee=Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Apip.ry,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral Colli'ge.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omv and phvsiologv of bees. 4t.O pages, bound
in cloth and fully iliusirated. Price, S1.25.
Scientific Queen=Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Doolittle.— A method by which
the very best of queen-bees are reared in per-
fect accord with Nature's way. Bound in cloth
and illustrated. Price, $1.00.
A BC of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Koot.— A cyclo-
paedia of 4t:0 pages, describing everything per-
taining to the care of the honev-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially fot
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee=Keeping, by Dr. John Uzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper covers, $1.00.
Bienen-Kultur, by Thos. G Newman.— Thi^
is a German translation of the principal portion
of the book called " Bees and Honey." luO-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Honiggewinnung, nach der
neuesten methude (German) by J. F. Eggers.—
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject.
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of tieorgia.— A practical and condenst
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the most
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
*' new system, or how to get the largest yields of
comb or e-^tracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman.—
Devotes two pages to a colonv. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 5J colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
nies, 51.25.
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gives the
McEvov Treatment and reviews the experi-
ments of others. Price, 25 cents.
Winter Problem in Bee-Keeping, by G. R.
Pierce. — Result of 25 years' experience. 30 cts.
Foul Brood, by A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing, bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, and oihei s.-Illustraled. AH about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
money" in poultry-raising. 04 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultrv
"i'ard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, bv FannV
Field.— Everythin'^' about Poul'.ry Diseases and
their Cure. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, b-
?anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
Uusiness. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
Por 's^l^ Extracted Honeu,
ICO-pound keg:
ketrs, cans, or
4'>Aif
tuber. 6c. Buckwheat, i
a pails, .^'-^c. Sample.)"
C. B. HOWARD, Romulus, N.Y.
A Good Wagon
lu-iriiis Mith t-..M,l wh.-.N. I nlew
tli<. ti lit'< U lo-v t'oo.l lliv n iieon la
11 liiilni-v. IK V<»|- Itl V THE
I ELECTRIC STEEL WHEEL
le to tit any wag-on— yovir watjfon
always iiave puod wheels. Can't
out or rot. No loose tires. Any
he'itrht. anv width tire. Catalofr frea
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO.
Boxlti ' aUINCY. ILL.
Please menliou Bee Toiimal ■when WTitm«,
6UCXEYE INCUBATOR CO.,SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.
INCUBATORS 30 DAYS TRIALS 5
HATCH EVEl^Y GOOD EGG OR DON'T KEEP IT, SEND
2 CENTS FOR NO. 53 CATALOG AND VALUABLE POINTS.
mm,
Jars,
of every
descrip=
tion —
Honeyi
Dealers
G. G. STUTTS GLftSS CO.,
nanufacturers.
145 CHAMBERS ST., - NEW YORK, N. Y.
Write for illustrations.
Please mention Bee journal when wrltine-
CALIFORNIA RED WOOD
a.ultliehestsj
sttm of heat^
what makes
Inlc-h JiKiibutom batch Mire.
Si'iiMC r.roo4le
s'take gooil cure
.s.OnrfrfecaW
al photo^aphs of
he Sure Hatch at
work and is full ot honestpouhry infoni.at on Y' u owiM to nave
it L-t usseod it t> \ou. Wntealonce. aHd>-e!iain5nt>are^t house.
Sure Hatch lDcubatorCo.,ClayCenter,Neb.,orColumbus,0.
please nxention Bee Journal when -WTiting
BEE-SUPPLIES !
•Manufacturers' prices. Complete stock. Send
for our catalOET.
FRED. W. MUTH & CO.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts. CINCINNATI, 0.
f lease mention Bee Journal wlien WTiune
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicullural Field more
completely than any other published,
seudJ1.25to
Prof. A. J. Cook,Clareinont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee= Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts tc the Trade.
Please tnenuoi.. Ke^- Umrnai wrir-r. w-m-,
Dittmer's Foimdatiou !
Retail— Wliolesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELt»
FOUNDATION and
Please mention Bee Journal when writinp
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog- g-i
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal when -writing
profusely this year, but the bees did not look
at it. They worlved on the strawberries for
the first time this year. Lewis Lamkis.
Woodbury Co., Iowa, Oct. 28.
The National Association.
I am a bee-keeper, fruit-grower and tarnier.
I have about 20 colonies of bees, and so far
have succeeded, with the help of the " Old
Reliable,'' to sell a few hundred pounds of
nice comb honey every year, besides having it
on the table at every meal, as my family and
I are very fond of it. I have sold all my
lioney the last few years to the same store-
keeper for 12J.>' cents per pound, and next
year's crop is ordered before this year's is
sold.
Now for a question : Would the National
Bee-Keepers' Association protect and help a
member if he were swindled by a comniission
man to whom he had sold his farm products,
such as apples, prunes, etc., the same as when
he is swindled out of a shipment of honey f
I have had no trouble so far, but I think pre-
caution is better than cure.
A. F. Fluckiger.
Lewis Co., Wash.. Nov. 17.
[Yes, we think the Association would do all
it could for its members to get justice in such
a case, though honey-deals are its speciality. —
Editou]
Hoping for a Good Wetting.
Although I am well advanced in years, and,
unfortunately, an invalid, I manage to attend
to my little apiary. With severe losses and
extra labor-cost during the past drouth, feed-
ing, and fighting bee-diseases, etc.. I am still
" in it,'" and expect to stay with it. with the
American Bee Journal as a welcome visitor
and guide.
The first rain of the approaching winter
season fell here' Oct. 27, and again Nov. S>
and 11, and we are all hoping for a good wet-
ting about the coming holidays. I am win-
tering my bees on tiie summer stands, but, as
a precaution on account of the high altitude
and occasional cold snaps, they are packed a
little warmer. Gustav Voss.
Riverside Co., Calif., Nov. IB.
A Report— Red Clover.
My bees did fairly well the past season,
averaging from 25 to 55 two-pound sections
of nice comb honey per colony, spring count.
I started the season with 24 colonies, increas-
ing to 36, and two swarms left for the woods.
I have sold nearly all my honey in the home
market. My bees worked on red clover as
much as on the white. Clover is in good con-
dition this fall— we are getting plenty of rain,
and things are booming. I would like some
of the " wise heads" to tell me if red clover
yields nectar every year. My experience says
not. here in Iowa ; or is it locality ?
Page Co., Iowa, Nov, 13. Jerry Scott.
Poor Prospect for Wliite Clover.
I do not know what we will do for honey
next year, as the white clover has been killed
by the drouth. No. 1 honey here is worth 15
cents per pound by the case. I sold all I had
at that price. I had no swafms to speak of
this year. I hive the swarm on the old stand,
and remove the old colony to a new location
at once, the swarm catching all the field-bees;
by putting the super from the old colony on
the new I have it full of honey in a few days,
if the low is good. Bees went into winter
quarters in good condition this fall. Although
I can not agree with it in everything, I do not
see how I could get along without the Ameri-
can Bee Journal. J. M. Mote.
Cass Co., Mo.. Nov. 17.
Favors the Honey-Extractor.
The honej'-extractur is an article little used
by farmer bee-keepers and many others who
keep but a few colonies. Yet a good ex-
tractor is one of the very necessary things
every bee-keeper should have, even if one has
Dec. 5, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL
783
but a half-dozen colonies. In most apiaries
there are some colonies that will produce lit-
tle or no honey if run for comlj exclusively'.
Some colonies seem determined not to work
in sections. If such colonies were at once
};iven plenty of extracting-cumbs they would
comnaence filling them immediately, and
prove much more profitable than if compelled
to work in sections. " Locality '" may "play
its part " in this case, as it does in manj- other
instances. In many rural districts, where but
few bees are kept, and where, there are no
larsje producers, extracted honey bringsnearly
or ciuite as much as comb — these are the
places where the houey-extractor should be
doing duty. If our large producers could get
nearl.v as much for extracted as for comb
honey, I don't think they would do very
much puttering with sections.
Hampshire Co., Mass. A. E. Wii.lcutt.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
THE
Vermont— The State Horticultural Social v
and the Vermont Bee-Keepers* Association, wil
hold a ioint meeting: at Verg'ennes, Dec. IT and
IS. I90i; M. F. Cram, Sec.
W.Brookfield, Vt.
New York.— There will be a bee-keepers" con.
pention (annual) held in Canandaigua, N. Y.,
DV the Ontario Co.. N.Y., Bee-Keepers' Associa-
li'od, Dec 12 and l.». I'HU.
Naples, N.Y. FKiiiDii.MAXN Greinek, Sec.
iWichigan.— The Michigan State Bee-Keepers'
.Association will meet in convention at Petos-
key, Jan. 1 and i, I'lOJ. This promises to be the
most largely atteudeil meeting of the Associa-
tion in year's. You are invited to attend. Re-
duced rates on all railroads; tickets can be
bought Dec. 30 and Jan. 1. good to return not
later than Jan. 4. There will be no set program,
but another of our '"open congress " meetings.
Those who have attended in the past know
what that means, and those that don't should
come and find out. A novel <iesign for badge
has been ordered in honor of " Petoskev."
Geo. E. Hilton, Pres.
200-Egg Incubator
for $ r 2-80
Perfect in cnnstrnotion
action. n,attli,8 every fertile
epff. Writeforcatalogueto-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy.lll.
regarding
the oldest
and
Send for circulars
improved aod orig-inal Hing-lJam Bee-Smoker.
For 23 \eaks thk Hest ox Kakth.
25Atf T. F. BINGHAM. Farwell, Mich.
Please mention Bee Journal wiien wTitinK
[gCE
YOU CAN AFFORD
1.. il-er\c;i; IKMi:. ll e..^t6 l>^ Hi. Me, l,ut I1..I
\UV. W lj> [lot li> .1 piece and be cipliviiKed'
l'A(iK\V()V|.:N \\ lltKFKN'CKCO., AI>UU.>,]IICII.
Hease nieurini, Bee Journal wr e.T. .^-rii.n
TheEniersoDliiuder
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back lor the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only il. 40. It is
a tine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mentioa Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, .^laiiiiul ol the Apisiry,
■ BY
PROE A, J- COOK.
460 Page8-16th (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary— it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng' style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 16th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding-, we propose to give away
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting- NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Jonrual.
Given Tor TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and n« premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers — simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year:
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we 'will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.75. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW subscribers to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one ?
GEORGE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAUO, ILL.
Gomb and Ex-
tracted Honey!
Slate price, kind and quantitv.
R. A. BURNETT & CO., iw S. Water St.'. Chicago
33Al£ Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
sead man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Faikfiei-d, III.
Comb Honey and Bees-
G. H.W.WEBER,
ral Ave., Cjnci.n.nati, O.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot aflFord to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
Wool IVlarlcet*^ and Sheep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first, foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets Dec. 24, 25 and 31,l'i01,
and Jan. 1. 19112, at rate of a fare and
a third for the round-trip to any point
located in Central Passenger Associa-
tion territory, account Christmas and
New Year Holidays. Return limit in-
cluding Jan. 2. l'»02. Through service
to New York City, Boston, and other
Eastern points. Chicago Passenger
Station, \'ati lUiren St. and Pacific
Ave., on tlie lOevated Loop. For fur-
ther information address John Y. C"al-
ahan, General .\gent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 46— 49A4t
iJ s!t >tt >fe >!i >K ili >!i >lt >K >ti Jli Jte-t»
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Nov. IQ.— Honey is sellinsf fairlv
well at about the prices that have prevailed for
the last 2 months, viz: choice grades of white
comb honev. W^^ix: (food to Xo. 1, 14c: and
litfht amber, 13c, with darker grades, Kifeljc.
Extracted, white, S>«w7c; amber, S'ilgSijc, ac-
cording to quality, flavor and package. Bees-
wa.x good demand at 2Sc.
R. A. Burnett & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct. 25.— The honev market is
rather dull on account of the warm wealher.
E.\-tracted sells only to manufacturers from
S^6c; belter grades alfalfa water-white from
6®7c; white clover from SlaQc. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ]35^@lS^c.
C. H. W.Weber.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 2.5.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactorv time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late thev only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb. ISM 16c; mi.ied
14®lSc; buckwheat, USUc. Extracted, white,
ti'A(S'Hc; mixed, t.@(,>4c. H.R.Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25.— New comb honev is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 Sii per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4}4@4?ic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. ■ Pevcke Bros.
New York, Nov. S.— Comb honev is in good
demand, and while the market is not over-
stocked, receipts are sufficient to supply the de-
mand. Fancy white sells at ISc, w'ith an occa-
sional sale at loc for attractive lots: Xo. I
white, at 14c; No. 2, at 13c; fancy buckwheat,
n@Uiic\ No. 1 and 2 at from lOliSloJ^c. Ex-
tracted remains quiet at from bi^t'^c for white,
and PA'e^'iC for amber. Very little demand
for dark at 5K(a;55^c. Beeswax quiet at from
27(a>2.Sc. HiLDRETH & SeGELKEN,
Boston, Nov. 20.— The demand for honey is
ing up, somewhat due in part to the holiday
at which time it is much neglected.
Our market at the present time runs 16c for
strictly fancy in cartons: No. 1, 14f«J15c: No 2,
12W? 13c. Extracted, light amber, y^i.isCicl
amber, "c. Blakb, Scott & Lee".
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is verv little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail wav at f3.5n to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honev.
Peycke Bros. A: Chanev.
Detroit, Oct. 25.- Fancv white comb honev
14@lSc; No. 1, 13@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6®7c. Beeswax, 25(G'26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Nov. 13.— White comb. 10@
12 cents; amber, 7(5j'lc; dark, 6@7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 5M@— ; light amber, 4^i®— ;
amber. 4@ — .
Market is moderately firm at prevailing val-
ues, which remain quotable about the same as a
week ago. There is considerable doing, both
on foreign and local account. A shipment of
1,1100 cases extracted went forward the past
week per sailing vessel for England. A steamer
took 107 cases for Holland.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honev have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of l.Vfl'ldc per pound for fancv
white. Yor next week heavier receipts are e.x-
pected and quotations are issued at f3.10(S$3.2S
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about mSWAc; the demand being quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5J^M6c is quotable
; Bh
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We can farnl»h you with 'Ihe A. I. Knot Cob
Koods at wholesale or retail at their prlcee. We can
save you frelk'ht. and ship promptly. Market price
Said for beeswax. Send for our 190] cataloi;.
1. H. lUTNT A SO.V. Bell Branch. Wayne Co., Mich
Please meatlou Bee Journal
when writing advertif»ers.
784
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V6S, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of everything, aad cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
«a- W. M. Gerkish, East Notingham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal 'when ■writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thin^ for use id
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium foi sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORQE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, lU,
BEE=SUPPLIES?
WALTER S.POUDER.
— ' "■• • — INDIANAMLIS.IND.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey '
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
•'THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
EOGENE Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., • CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
24tll
Year
Dadant's Foundation, yal?
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQOINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED PROCESS SHEETINQ.
Why does it sell
SO well ?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, b'lt thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog", Samples of Foundation and Veil Material,
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/isecl,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton. HancodcCo., III.
Please mention Bee Journal wlien -WTitlng.
Texas Bee-Keepers.
fUlPtl flfflPP ^^^ beg to announce the opening of a'branch office and warehouse at
aUull UlllUu. 4:3s W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Medina \a less tlian car-load lots are high, and it talies a long time for a local shipment to
roach Southern Texas points.
Low Freiglit an
Qiiiclf Delivery,
San Autouio as
Sliipiiiiig-Doiiit.
ij To secure these~two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
ll liverj' — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
point in Southern Te.xas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the ,
„ International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
il tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas PassR. R., and
San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
Pacific Express Companies.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, Jr., both of whom are well known to the
bee-keepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
bee-keeping and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
I>romi)t, careful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned tliat it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that oiu' policy of " the best goods " is a correct
one.
Very few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
arc made, and in ease of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
Ijenelil by ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying "to the address given
below.
Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not equaled elsewhere in Texas. You will also rind on file the leading bee-journals to
pass pleasantly your leisure time.
QllQIliull PotQlniT Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does,
UlldUlDll udllllU^i If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
FACTORY AND HOVE OFFICE:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street.
XOKPI»KI£« Ki:% & «"AI/ro:%', Maiiag:ers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^^i^S^^^'
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
#^s*^%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO, ELL, DECEMBER 12, 1901,
FORTY-PIRST YEAR
No. so.
•^^ jpa^. J^^-^^, ^,
786
AMERICAN BEE jOUPNAL
Dec. 12, 1901.
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Entered at the Post-i iH'ht at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
Geobge W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) ti„ ,,„ „»
E.E. Hastt, P?hh-
Prof. A. J. Cook, f ^'^"'«^^-
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscriptioii Price ot this Journal
is §^1.00 a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a year extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The AV rapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
"deeOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows yol that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
E. Whitcomb,
W. Z. Hutchinson,
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. R. Root,
W. P. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller
EXECUTU/E COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi(
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
1^" If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee .Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on liis coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes;
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
yive the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to hooey
and bees.'*
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
4NU/\l/\iAl/Vl/\l/il/\i/\l/\l/\li\i/U/\lAi/\l/\t/\iAl/\^
I E>xira6l)6(l Honey For Sale i
=BEST=
ALL IN 60-POUND TIN CANS.
Alfalfa
Honey J\^
This is the famous
White Exiractt-
Honej gathered i
the great AUali
regions of the Ceu
ral West. It is
splendid honey, an
nearly every bod
who cares to e a
honey at all can
get enough of tb
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey J?!C
This is the well-
known light-colored
honey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
It has a
str
■fla
Alfalfa, and
f erred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
than ^
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey: ^
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post- ^
age. By freight — two or more 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, lYz cents per ^)
pound. Basswood Honey, ^ cent more per pound than Alfalfa prices. ©^
Cash must accompany each order. You can order half of each kind of ^;
honey, if you so desire. The cans are two in a box, atid freight is not ^\
prepaid. ^I
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. ^:
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^i
enougli honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the ^J
above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get £;
this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^!
QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III. S\
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife.— When ordering, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knlte.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies in the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
■ Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for*
tunate as ta have one of the *' Novelties," your Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lastlutr memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a ladv to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient on one side?
The accompanying cu* gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey au exact representation of
this^beautiful knife, as the '* Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending us ihkee new subscribers to the Bee Journal (with $3. 'W.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for fLW.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO,
flS^Please allor^ ""bout two weeks for your knife order to be fihen.
St.f Chicago, IlL
4IstYEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, DECEMBER 12, 1901,
No. 50,
\ * Editorial. * I
The Chicago Convention held its best
meetiug last week. It was also the most
largely attended, the room being crowded at
every session — about 100 present. There were
bee-keepers from three or four different
States. The discussions were taken in short-
hand, so we will be able to place before our
readers a comple.te report later on. It will
easily be worth a year's subscription to the
American Bee Journal. There was only one
pai)er read, all else being interesting ques-
tions, which were discussed in a manner equal
to the Buffalo convention, which report is
now appearing in these columns.
Can We Have Better Gatherers? —
Mr. Getaz, in this journal, having expressed
the opinion that, although we might increase
the size of bees and length of tongue, yet
there was little prospect of increasing honey-
gathering qualities, F. B. Simpson says in the
Bee-Keepers' Review :
" The bee is not a domestic animal, or even
domesticated; and we have done little to
change her condition of lifeexceptto give her
a better home ; but by most careful selection
I think we will be able to continue to increase
gradually the average honey-yield until we
obtain great uniformity, and. possihiy. an
average very near our • present maximum
yield."
Bee-keepers will probably wish that Mr.
Simpson may prove the better prophet.
The Directors' Meetings at the Buf-
falo convention were held during the sessions
of the convention, and a Straw in Gleanings
in Bee-Culture reads thus upon the subject:
I want to say in language somewhat em-
phatic, that some better way should be pro-
vided than to have Directors' meetings that
keep directors out of the sessions of the an-
nual convention of the National. It isn't fair
to the directors; and if they are good for
anything, it isn't fair to the convention.
Kditor Root then follows with this com
nient:
Vou are right; but the time of our National
conventions is so much taken up by general
convention work that it is often difficult to
squeeze in a little side-committee work be-
tween the sessions. 1 think the time will
have to come when the directors will have to
consult by letter, and that ilic discussion of
these questions will have to be done through
correspondence. Such a plan is unsatisfac-
tory, in that it gives the chairman of the
Board almost exclusive power to direct, it he
chooses, the work of the entire Board. (I
speak from an experience Ijased on the time
I was chairman of the Bo;iril ; and at that
time I saw how easy it was to get indorsed
any plan I had. ) If he suggests, for instance,
that such and such a thing ought to be done,
and gives his reasons therefor, in the absence
of any counter-argument, his proposed policy
is sure to carry, when it may not always be
wise.
There is good ground for the objection
raised, especially when, at Buffalo, the presi-
dent happens to be one of the directors. If
the interests of the Association seem to
demand a meeting of the directors' in person,
it might not be a bad plan for them to con-
vene a day or so in advance of the convention,
so that all their business might be concluded
before the opening session of the convention.
This would be asking, perhaps, rather more
than is reasonable from men whose time may
be of considerable value, and who in any case
give their services gratuitously as directors,
and it would not be a very great wonder if in
some cases, since directors are only human, a
director or general manager might be led to
say;
" I don't want to appear mean, but attending
the convention is rather expensive business at
best, and since this extra burden is put on, I
can hardly afford to attend this year."
Certainly it would be nothing more than
fair that an allowance should be made from
the treasury to reimburse at "least the expenses
of the extra time.
A New White Clover is praised in the
foreign bee-journals. It originated in Ger-
many, is called ruloxxal hidino, and is said to
yield a much larger amount of fodder than the
common white clover. Nothing is said of its
value as a honey-plant.
The Poison of the Sting is still
spoken of as being formic acid, and it is even
said sometimes that formic acid from the
sting is dropped into the honey in the cell;
but Dr. Langer's investigations have shown
that the poison is a different matter alto-
gether, having a mere trace of formic acid
in it.
■*
Carbolineuni for Hive-Paint. — This
new acquaintance comes from Germany,
where it is highly spoken of. An editorial in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture gives considerable
information regarding it. Instead of forming
a coating on the surface like other paints,
carbolineum strikes clear through the wood,
so that when one side of a '„-inch board is
painted with it a splinter from the opposite
side will taste of the material 24 hours later.
It costs only half as much as good lead paint,
and it is said that railroad ties saturated with
it last three times- as long as when not so
treated.
Mr. (). O. I'lippleton thinks it objectionable
for hives because of the strong odor of creo-
sote, and because of its almost black color,
yet he has used it for some years to preserve
his hive-bottoms. The dark color would
make little difference where hives are kept
in the shade, although objectionable where
they stand in the hot sun. Even if it be not
desirable to use it for anything but hive-bot-
toms, it may be quite an acquisition for that
purpose, for it is the bottom of a hive that
rots first, and in some places the bottom is
ruined by ants, which would be kept at bay
by the carbolineum.
Those " National " Conventions. — A
Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture reads as
follows:
'• It might not be a bad idea for each annual
convention to nominate three candidates lor
general manager, and nine candidates to suc-
ceed the three directors whose terms expire
with the following December.'' That's a sug-
gestion of Editor York as to the National.
It's worth considering for the future.
The following paragraph contains Editor
Root's opinion on this subject:
I do not believe it would be wise to bring
about conditions or a precedent whereby the
office of general manager, at least, should be
changed as often as once in two or three
years. When we get a good man. as in the
case of our present general manager, we
ought to hang on to him. One who has been
in the harness, and knows how to pul),
should not be made to give place to one who
may be merely popular in the eyes of bee-
keepers or members of the Association, and
yet possibly be entirely unfitted for the exact-
ing and important duties of the office. But I
do believe Bro. York's suggestion is all right
for the Board of Directors. Some of us who
have been so long on that Board could just as
well get out, and thus place the responsibility
for the success of the organization on other
men whose help we need.
In the suggestion made in this journal
there was no contemplation of bringing' about
any condition or precedent looking toward
any change in the office of general manager.
As the matter now stands, the manager is
elected or re-elected every year. His being
nominated in advance at the annual meeting
would not be likely to make any change. So
long as the man already in office was regarded
as the best man for the place, he would be
sure of nomination at the annual meeting as
he would be sure of election if there had been
no i)revious nomination. In general, there
would be no need of any nomination. But
there is need of nominations for directors,
and as the election of manager occurs at the
same time as the election of directors, the
nominations should be made at the same time.
There will, however, come times when it may
be necessary to elect a new manager, either
because the old one dies or will not longer
serve, or because it is thought some other
788
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAl.
Dec. 12, 1901.
man niis-ht till the ofBee more satisfactorily.
In such case will easily be seen tlie advantage
of a previous nomination ; and if there should
be anything like unanimity in the nomination
at the annual meeting, it would be a great
help toward deciding who was the right man
to vote for.
In this connection it may be said that Edi-
tor Root has requested that his name and that
of his father should be dropped at the ex-
piration of their respective terms of ofiice.
Certainly, it does not seem necessary to have
two directors from the same town, although
all would not agree that the younger Root
should be dropped just yet.
Wm. Rohrig, of Arizona, and Editor H. E.
Hill are named in Gleanings in Bee-Culture
as proper persons to be elected as directors.
Mr. Hill, however, asks that' his name should
not be used, giving reasons therefor.
Breeding from the Best has been the
motto with perhaps the most of breeders, but,
as already mentioned, F. B. Simpson would
prefer, for improvement, to take a queen
of stock that showed not such a very
great yield above the average, but rather of
stock that showed a uyiiforriL increase, even it
this increase should not be very great. To
this Mr. Adrian Getaz replies in the same
paper (the Bee-Keepers' Review) as follows :
Mr. Simpson thinks that since an excep-
tionally good queen is necessarily more or less
of a freak, and therefore liable to give an
irregular progeny, it would be well not to use
her for breeding.
It depends upon what the queens are reared
for. If it is for sale, it might be best not to
take any chances, as a very few worthless
queens are enough to ruin a breeder's reputa-
tion. But if the object is to improve the
stock, I should say use her by any means, and
select the best of her progeny until the strain
is fixed.
It is a matter of fact that all of our best
varieties of vegetables and Howers are freaks
that were selected, or sometimes accidentally
found, and perpetuated by close breeding.
Many of our fancy breeds of dogs, chickens
and pigeons originated also in that way. The
silk-wool merinos are descendants of a ram
that was a freak ; and now the race is well
established.
The Ontario Convention was held last
week at Woodstock. We are informed that
it was a good and profitable meeting. We ex-
pect to publish a full report of the proceed-
ings. Our Canadian readers will be specially
interested in this, though it will be of great
interest to all, as Ontario has some of the
best bee-keepers in the world. They attend
conventions, too, and thus •' let their light
shine" for others.
The New York State Meetings of
bee-keepers, to be held this month, should be
well attended. Pres. Marks announces them
on page rW. We trust that our readers will
do all they can to make them a success, and
thus prevent their discontinuance.
Sweet Clover in the Rookies, accord-
ing to W. P. Collins in the Rocky Mountain
Bee Journal, is to play a very important part
in the future, covering all the slopes that are
now barren, and affording Hoods of honey.
I The Buffalo Convention. I
• ^ ^ •
^ Report of the Proceeding's of the Thirty-Second Annual *^
^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^
^ ciation, held at Buffalo, New York, ^
1^ Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^
(Continued from page T75.j
LENGTH OF TONGUES OF BEES.
Mr. Rankin — I had hardly expected
to talk to you this afternoon, and what
I have to say will be entirely extem-
poraneous. It has been my pleasure
to be connected with the Michigan Ex-
perimental Station for about five years
and during that time I have been doing
something in the investigation of the
length of the bees' tongues. The idea
came to me at one time when I had a
single colony that gathered a half more
honey than any other in the yard. I
began making investigations with
crude machines to measure the tongues.
I have been working right along on
that line. I have run across adifficulty
in the mating of queens — getting the
queens mated to the desirable drones is
the difficulty. Personally, I don't
know how it will be unravelled, but I
am confident it will be done some time
or other. I have observed right
straight along that a colony which
gathered an exceptional amount of
honey was one that had correspond-
ingly long tongues, and the tongue for
one bee in the colony is the rating for
the tongues of every bee in that colony;
that is, the tongues are uniform. You
don't get one bee in a colony with a
tongue 7 millimeters or 22-100 of an
inch long, and the rest of them run
away down low. Now, a young bee
hasn't as long a tongue as a full-grown
bee, but if you gather the bees which
you are measuring as nearly the same
age as possible, you will have a uni-
form length of tongue, and I think
this is one of the problems which bee-
keeping will solve in the future, that
is, breeding bees with a longer tongue.
It is true we can produce a strain of
bees just as superior to that we have
now as the strain of live stock we have
now is superior to that our ancestors
began with. Do not let us carry this
thing too far and make a hobby of it
and run it into the ground, but let us
keep our eyes open, and if we have one
colony of bees in the yard that is giv-
ing us exceptional returns, let us rear
some queens from that colony and put
those queens in from the stock that is
doing the best work. I have found out
by talking with bee-keepers all over
Michigan, that bee-keepers rear their
queens from wlierever it happens when
the colony swarms, and no matter if
that be a poor or good colony, that
queen is allowed to go right on and lay
eggs and be the mother of that colony.
If you have an exceptional strain, pro-
duce that strain in yourother colonies :
bring them all up to that standard, and
that is the practical side of bee-keeping
today. In relation to in-breeding, I
don't think we need be very much
afraid of this at present. I don't know
of a single scheme which has been
brought up that a queen will be mated
to drones from the same stock. If in-
breeding were carried on to an extent
that would degenerate live stock, it
would probably degenerate the bee. I
don't think that from any of our sys-
tems—anything that we can get is not
systematic enough to bring this cross-
ing to such a small focus that it will
be possible for us to inbreed enough to
hurt. I do think the bee-keeper of to-
day can improve his stock by selecting
his queens and his drones. If you have
four or five successful colonies, by all
means breed from them.
FOUL BROOD IN MICHIGAN.
Mr. Rankin — As far as foul brood in
Michigan is concerned, we had some
of it up there. I think my record for
any one day this summer was to con-
demn 118 colonies, and that in two
yards. Those people are all going to
treat theirs. I have so far visited per-
haps over 4.000 colonies. I have been
on the road since July 1. and came
directly from the field here, and am
going back to the field to-night.
Dr. Mason — Are you in accord with
Mr McEvoy when he says that a liive
that has foul brood in it, does not need
disinfecting ?
Mr. Rankin— The stand I take is that
if the hive is perfectly free from any
drops of honej', it is probable that the
disease will not be produced by putting
a clean swarm of bees into it ; but on
the other hand, if there is any honey
around the hive the disease will in all
probability be reproduced. But that is
not the point. We have a lot of ignor-
ant people in our State, and w'nen you
talk to a farmer about a bacterial dis-
ease and tell him what the character-
istics of a germ are ; when you tell him
that you can put 25,000 of them on the
head of a pin, they will just stand and
look at you. If you take the ordinary
bee-keeper and tell him that there is
no use of him disinfecting his hive, it
has been my experience that he will
go right out and do something which
there is no use in, and vvhich renders
his treatment a total failure. The
principal reason why I place the stress
on disinfecting hives, and in washing
your hands in an antiseptic after ex-
amining a diseased colony, is, to im-
press upon those bee-keepers more
forcibly the virulency of the germs,
and the precautions they must take. I
use bichloride of mercury. It doesn't
smell so bad as carbolic acid.
Dr. Mason — What do you think of
salicylic acid and borax ?
Mr. Rankin— I don't like it. The
salicylic acid is all right if you have it
in a strong enough solution. I think
it well to convince a man that one
Dec. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
789
thing' is right and have him stick to
that.
Mr. Sleeper — How long- is a bee's
tongue, ordinarily ?
Mt. Rankin- They range all the way
from 14-100 to 21-100 of an inch.
Mr. Sleeper — How long would a
tongue have to be to be a long-tongued
bee ?
Mr. Rankin — Anything- over I.SIOO
is above the average. IS 100 is about
what you will find in the best-bred
bees around through the States.
Mr. Sleeper — Can bees with tongues
18-100 of an inch long- gather honey
from red clover ?
Mr. Rankin — They can when the
corolla-tube fills with honey up to that
point. The red corolla-tube is about
35-100 to 50-100 of an inch long.
Mr. Abbott— The actual fact is that
this year the corolla-tube of red clover
is not more than half as long as it us-
ually is, owing to the dry weather, and
the bees are all working on it now.
Mr. Betsinger— How near must the
bee come to the honey-tube in order to
draw all the honey out of the tube ?
Mr. Rankin— I don't think a bee can
draw honey any further than it can
reach.
Mr. Betsinger— Then if the corolla-
tube is so full of honey that the bee
can insert its tongue half way down
into the honey, it can only draw as far
as its tongue is inserted, and it will
stop drawing from that point. I think
you will find from observation that if
the bee can touch the honey at all, it
draws out every mite of honey that is
in the corolla-tube,
Mr. Rankin — I have done that same
thing, and when you take one corolla-
tube out of a flower and hold it up in
your fingers and let a bee draw honey
from it, it will empty the tube, but will
it do that when it is in a head and
pressed right in that ? Has the bee
power enough to collapse that honey-
tube, which it must do ? The capillary
attraction holds the nectar right in
that tube.
Mr. Betsinger— Isn't it a fact that
the bee takes a tube alone and handles
it separate from the rest ?
Mr. Rankin— But that tube is in the
head and fastened right in there.
After they drop down when they are
ripe, the bee has no more to do vrith
them. They will draw the nectar out
clear from the bottom, but I don't
think they will do it when the corolla-
tube is in the head.
Pres. Root — I have examined a good
many clover-heads when the bees had
gone all over them. I have then drawn
out the corolla-tubes and found consid-
erable honey at the bottom of them. I
concluded from that the bees needed
longer heads.
Mr. Sleeper— In relation to foul-
brood germs, I understood Mr. Rankin
to say that 25,000 could not be seen
with the naked eye. You have looked
through a microscope at these germs
many times ?
Mr. Rankin — Yes, sir.
Mr. Sleeper — Have you found them
anywhere else except in honey ?
Mr. Rankin — Yes, sir : I have found
them in the tissues of the larva- that
were diseased, and, of course, you know
that when you take any material what-
ever, no matter what it is, and put it
under a high enough power microscope
so that you will detect the germs, you
will get anywhere from ten to 500,000
species of germs.
Mr. Sleeper — They exist independent
of honey ?
Mr. Rankin — They exist in the bod-
ies of the larvec which are diseased.
Mr. Sleeper — Don't they exist any-
where else except in the larvse and the
honey ?
Mr. Rankin — I don't think there is
anything in the hive aside from the
honey and the tissues of the larvae
from which the germ will get suste-
nance. This germ will not grow in
acids or anything else.
Mr. Benton — Why confine it to the
larva? alone? Why not say in the
pupa? and the adult bee ?
Mr. Rankin — Do j'ou know that is
so ? I know that this is so in the larva>.
I don't think that you will find any
germs of foul brood in the adult bee
outside of the honey-sac I have looked
for it and failed to find it.
W. L. Coggshall — How many differ-
ent forms of germs do you find — is
there more than one in foul brood?
Mr. Rankin — No; foul brood is caused
by one germ — bacillus alvei — which is
a specific germ, twice as wide as it is
long. I never have examined the germ
of black brood under a microscope.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED.
Mr. Abbott then introduced the fol-
lowing resolutions:
'•Resolveil, That the thanks of this
Association be extended to the Mayor;
to the Buffalo Society of Natural Sci-
ences for the use of this hall and
committee rooms; and to Dr. Smith,
President of this society, for his cordial
address of welcome; and to the janitor
for his careful attention to our wants;
to the local beekeepers of Buffalo for
the beautiful badges they have fur-
nished us, and for the use of a piano."
"Resolved. That we extend to the
Texas Bee Keepers' Association our
thanks for the interest they have shown
in the prosperity of the National Asso-
ciation by sending two delegates to
attend this meeting.
The resolutions were adopted.
BOILING FOUL-BROODY HONEY.
"I have read of boiling honey from
foul-broody combs and feeding back.
How much water should be added, and
how long should it be boiled?"
Mr. McEvoy — I don't like to answer
that question, from the fact that I
never advised the feeding — the public
is too careless. They will give the
disease through it. They merely heat
it, and they might just as well give it
raw; but where I have added nearly a
third water, and sometimes nearly half,
and brought it to a sharp, bubbling
boil, I never noticed any bad effects
from it.
Mr. Rankin — If you could be certain
that the honey would be boiled it
might be all right. Prof. Harrison, of
Guelph, Ont., has within the past year
published a bulletin on foul brood. He
has demonstrated to us that you can
boil the spores of foul brood for some-
thing like two hours and still produce
a growth. The question is here. Do
we have any spores in the honey? I
have never seen any foul-broody honey
fed back that did not produce the
disease, but I have not had the experi-
ence that Mr. McEvoy has had. I
have been in this business only a short
time, and I havn't tested it thoroughly.
but I do not think it is safe to recom-
mend the feeding back of foul-broody
honey in any instance whatever.
Mr. McEvoy — I told a farmer, who
would insist on feeding back foul-
broody honey instead of buying sugar
— I told him how to do it. I went back
to examine that apiary and every one
of the colonies had foul brood. I said,
"Did you boil the honey?" He replied
"Yes, it was boiled." "Who boiled
it?" "The girls." I said to the girl,
"Did you boil it?" She Said, "Yes, it
was that hot that I could hardly put
my finger in it."
Mr. Sleeper — This gentleman speaks
of spores. Now I understand that they
are seeds, are they not? I would like
to kno%v whether these are animal, or
vegetable.
Mr. Rankin — They are the same as
other germs. Some authorities say
they are vegetable and some animal.
Mr, Benton — I think that they are
vegetable and not animal.
Dr. Mason — Is there anything in the
foul-brood line in honey that will not
be killed by being boiled?
Mr. Rankin — We have the statement
of Prof. Harrison that the spores may
be boiled, I think 2>> hours, before
they are killed.
Mr. McEvoy — I was going to say if
they would add about half water and
bring it to a sharp, bubbling boil it
would kill them.
Dr. Mason — Science is a fine thing,
but good, practical experience is a good
thing. I had at one time about 80 col-
onies with foul brood, and the honey
when extracted was so thick that when
you would start to pour it out it would
go in a chunk; and I boiled that honey
and fed it back to the bees and didn't
spread any foul brood. I don't think
there is any living thing in honey that
boiling won't kill.
Mr. Sleeper — How long do you boil it?
Dr. Mason — I make sure it is all
boiled. I boiled it in awash-boiler and
I dipped up boiling honey and poured
it on the sides so as to rinse down the
unboiled honey, and made sure that it
was all boiled; but you want to know it
is all boiled, every particle of it.
Mr. Benton — All of these bacilli
have their certain temperatures to
which they have to be heated to be
killed. Now the whole thing is this,
that the absolute temperature for kill-
ing these is not known. All it needs
is to determine the lowest temperature
and use a thermometer and be sure
that the whole mass reaches that tem-
perature. Water boils at 212 degrees,
and this mass being much thicker was
probably raised to 230 degrees before
it boiled, and that is about the temper-
ature that would kill it. Mr. Cheshire
asserted that the bacilli did not exist
in great numbers in the honey, except
as an accidental impurity, and that
they would not thrive or live there.
R. B. Rians — My experience agrees
with that of Dr. Mason. I have taken
foul-broody honey and reduced it very
little with water and boiled it until it
would almost boil over, and fed it back
to my bees without any bad results.
Mr. McEvoy — You take an old, dry
comb that has had foul brood in it,
that has stood for ten years, and it will
give foul brood.
BREEDING KOR DESIRABLE TRAITS.
"In breeding for desirable traits,
790
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Dec. 12, 1901.
which is the more important, the drone
or the queen?"
Mr. Hutchinson — I think one would
be as important as the other.
Mr. Callbreath — Mj' idea is that there
is a difference in the vitality of drones
and queens, the same as there is in hu-
man beings, the one that has the
greater vitality will affect the progeny
the most.
Mr. Benton — I should consider the
queen more important.
"What is the best way to prepare
barrels for extracted honey?
Dr. Mason — Drive the hoops tight.
BEE-CULTURE IN TKX.\S.
Mr. Davidson — Our Secretary was to
furnish us with a report of the number
of colonies and bee-keepers in Texas,
but he hadn"t furnished it before I left
home. Our State convention instructed
our secretary to furnish us with a re-
port of that convention, but I didn't
get it in time.
Dr. Mason — Make it out and send it
to me. (I have not received it yet —
Secretary.)
Mr. Davidson — I think there are
something over 2000 colonies of bees in
the State of Texas. I don't remember
the number of bee-keepers that own
them. We have a good countrj' for
bees. We have no disease among our
bees — never have had. I think there
has been a bad impression made in the
North in regard to Texas honey. The
northern portion of the State produces
honey gathered from wild fiowers and
woods, and sometimes the honey sours
and is not of good flavor. Our honey
is very white. I saw a good deal of
honey in the exhibit here similar to it.
I would like to thank the bee-keepers
of the Northern States for their kind-
ness to the Texas representatives, and
also to the Canadian bee - keepers.
We wish to extend an invitation to the
National Bee-Keepers' convention, to
have their meeting in San Antonio,
Tex., next year, or any year after that.
Mr. West — In regard to Texas, you
say you have no foul brood or bee-dis-
eases there. Do you have any enemies
to your bees that cause destruction?
You haven't the winter that we have
in the North. Do j'ou have anything
that you have to fight ?
Mr. Davidson — No, sir. We have no
enemies to the bees there that I have
ever found. I have been keeping bees
there for 15 years, and I have never
seen any foul brood there. No winter
loss at all. Our bees work nearly the
whole winter. The moth does not
bother bees in the South where the
man understands his business and
keeps his bees in the right condition.
Mr. Longnecker — Do you ever feed in
the spring to stimulate brood-rearing?
Mr. Davidson — No, sir; we have an
early, light honey-flow that commences
about the middle of February. I never
fed a pound of anything to our bees
yet at any time of the year. The
source of our main honey-flow is the
mesquite and a shrub. We have the
surest country for honey, I think, any-
where in the world. If it rains we get
some honey, and if it is dry we get a
great deal more. The dryer it gets the
more honey we get.
Mr. Baldridge — Do yOu have any loss
from heat melting the combs?
Mr. Davidson — No, sir: I have never
suffered any loss from that cause. I
keep my bees under shade. I hear
some complain, but generally it is
where they leave the hives exposed to
the sun. I have seen plenty of it where
it was not properly attended to.
Mr. Toepperweiii — You can hardly
expect to hear much from bee-keepers
away down in Texas, like Mr. David-
son and myself. We have come here
especially to see what you people up
here do, and see what kinds of honey
you produce and what you do with it.
We intended to bring some good-sized
samples to let j'Ou see what we are do-
ing there, and we produce some very
nice extracted honey, which we want
to dispose of. There is a very poor
market for honey in Texas, and if I
can get any information as to how to
dispose of our hone3' I would like to
learn of it here. I have brought a few
samples of honey just to show what we
have. Mesquite honey is a great thing
in Texas. Whenever we have a drouth
we g'et our honey just the same; and in
spring, if it rains, there is the cat-claw
that produces honey. There is a white
bush which blossoms after every rain.
If it is dry there well be the mesquite,
which is safe every year, so it doesn't
make any difference in our portion of
Texas whether it rains or not, we get
our honey, and if any people from the
North would like to have any informa-
tion about bee-keeping in Texas I
would be glad to give it to them. I
have seen the honey candy within two
or three days after being extracted.
We have a method now of putting the
honey in hot and sealing it in nice
glass jars with a tin cap, and we think
that will keep it from granulating.
Mr. McEvoy — What is your average
yield per colony?
Mr. Toepperwein — A bee-keeper who
understands his business can get all
the way from 60 to 20O pounds per col-
ony. That is, if we have a right dry
season. I don't think it is necessary
to have any less than 60 pounds.
Pres. Root — Do you have any seasons
of complete failure?
Mr. Toepperwein — It has not proven
to be. but it could be if it would rain
just at the time of the mesquite blos-
som.
Pres. Root — Do you allow your bees
to swarm where you run for extracted
honey?
Mr. Toepperwein — Yes, sir; I let my
bees swarm, and get a crop from the
old colony and from the swarm, too.
Mr. Longnecker — I think you will
find one of the points against buying
Texas honey in the North, it is candied
too much. Northern consumers won't
buy candied honey.
Mr. Toepperwein — What we are try-
ing to do up here is to make connection
with some concern, and have stations
where bee-keepers can take their honey
and ship it in carloads, and the agent
comes around and buys the honey
at a reasonable price and ships it up
here in car-loads.
W. H. Heim— I would like to ask Mr.
Toepperwein whether they produce
very much' comb honey there, and
what the average is per colony.
Mr. Toepperwein — The bee-keepers
down there are getting to produce this
chunk honey now. It is cut out of the
frames and packed in cans with eight-
inch screw caps. The people down
there are getting to do that because
they say there is no market for ex-
tracted honey. I wouldn't produce any
but extracted myself. Another thing,
if they produce comb honey, they ought
to produce it in sections.
Dr. Mason — If j'OU can dispose of
chunk honey, why don't you produce
it?
IMr.Toepperwein — Now, chunk honey,
you have to put in foundation. There
is great expense. The bees will have
to build that every time.
[Continued next week.)
Other Conventions
The Colorado State BeeKeepers'
Convention.
BV D. W. WORKING. .SEC.
It was a big thing — this 22d annual
meeting of ours — and all the wide-awake
bee-keepers in the country ought to
hear about it. Will the American Bee
Journal let me tell them?
The introduction must be brief; so
that the really important matters can
be given appropriate mention.
We met, as was advertised, in Rep-
resentative Hall of Colorado's beauti-
ful Capitol building, and had every
convenience that the most particular
bee-keeper could desire. The program
was carried out with very few changes.
Editor Root was not able to be with us :
but Editor Hutchinson occupied the first
evening with an instructive and enter-
taining talk illustrated with magic-Ian-
tern views. The papers and discussions
were of great value, and will be fur-
nished to the readers of the American
Bee Journal, the discussions in con-
densed form.
The address of Pres. Aikin attracted
marked attention, and the paper on long-
tongued bees by Professor Gillette of
our State Agricultural College, was an
exceptionally instructive study of this
seductive subject. I suspect it will elicit
a good many "explanations".
The exhibit of bees and bee-products
was an experiment, but so successful
that it will be repeated under the
management of a competent committee
An interesting outcome was the award
of the first premium for the "best ten
sections of white honey" to an exhibit
of last year's product; and this in spite
of the fact that the winner had new
honey entered for the same premium,
and the additional fact that there were
several other contestants for the prize.
The judges — one of whom was Editor
Hutchinson — did not suspect that the
premium honey was old. Moreover, they
did not seem the least bit annoyed when
told what had happened.
The election resulted in the choice of
a new President, J. U. Harris, of Gran^
Junction ; and a new Vice-President.
J\I. A. Gill. The Secretary and Treas-
urer were reelected. Mr. Harris was
advanced from the vice-presidenc}-, and
Mr. Gill comes up from the ranks.
The Association at the present time
has the largest membership in its history,
and there are good reasons for believing
that it will not decrease in numbers
and usefulness during the coming year.
Mr. Aikc-n. the retiring president, after
eight or nine years of faithful service,
received the unaminous thanks of the
Association for his successful labors. As
Dec. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
791
a private (though not a common) mem-
ber, he will continue to have a large
influence among the bee-keepers of the
State.
It should be mentioned that, during
the last afternoon, the Governor was
hustled away from an important meeting
of the State Land Board, and brought
up stairs to see the largest assembly of
bee-keepers he had ever faced. He made
a pleasant off-hand speech, promising
to be of use whenever it should be
possible. He will have a chance next
year.
The Association did not forget to be
thankful (and to express its thanks) to
all who liad helped to make the three-
day meeting successful and in every
way interesting and profitable.
This brief report makes no pretense
of being complete. Later on — if the
editor will permit — items of information
about the meeting may be sandwiched
in beween formal papers and discussions.
It is not to be forgoten that the meet-
ing was a big thing.
Arapahoe Co., Colo.
Report of the Utah Bee-Keepers'
Convention.
The last convention of the Utah Bee-
Keepers' Association was held in Salt
Lake City, Oct. 5. The meeting was
called to order by Pres. Lovesy. There
was a good attendance, and an interest-
ing session was held.
County vice-president, Geo. Howe, of
Utah County, by request spoke on the
different sizes and kinds of hives. He
said' that he used the Langstroth and
American hives, and that the bees must
be kept dry, as it was the dampness that
killed them in the winter.
\Vm. Blake said that he was interested
in both bees and fruit, and he thought
those two industries should go together;
that a more paternal feeling should be
cultivated, as they were each benefited
by the other.
J. A. Smith, of Wasatch County,
writes : "We have sold our crop of 358
cases of comb honey for $2.65 per case.
The honey season was never better than
the past summer. We had a late spring,
and the bees were weak, and in some iur
stances the mortality ran as high as 75
percent. "
Vice-President Rees.of Weber County,
sent regrets at not being able to be
present. He also said that the first part
of the season was bad, some of the bees
being in an almost starving condition, ex-
cept where they were fed until the second
crop of alfalfa came into bloom. .-Vfter
that time they did very well. He said
he had taken 70.000 pounds of extracted
honey from 1,000 colonies: the honey-
flow, although not heavy, held on late,
which will help the bees to get in good
shape for winter, causing them to rear
lots of late brood, which will furnish
bright young bees — the very thing for
good wintering.
The President's Address.
The bee-industry in our State in this
the beginning of the new conturj-. al-
though we have received some fairly
good reports, on the whole they cannot
be considered as good as might be de-
sired : while in some of the southern
counties the honev-flow has been un-
usually gooil. as also in some
localities in the northern part of
the State. The great honey-pro-
ducing belt in the central part of
the State, which last year and some other
seasons produced, in some instances, an
average of about 300 pounds per colony,
this season, over nearly the entire dis-
trict, yielded from about half a crop to
a total failure. While there may be other
reasons for this falling off, the principal
ones are drouth, a lack of irrigation-
water, and grasshoppers ; and in addi-
tion to this, in Salt Lake County, at
least, is the smelter smoke ; while in
a few instances, in the best honey locali-
ties, the bee-keeper gets enough from
his bees to make it profitable, the bees
always die off through the fall from the
effects of smoke settling on the bloom.
We have been informed that one or
more of the companies are going to
put in smoke-consumers this winter.
We hope all will soon follow their
example, as this question is getting to
be a serious one to dairymen and farm-
ers as well as bee-keepers.
But aside from the smoke, the
grasshopper plague has been the prin-
cipal cause of the destruction of
the honey-flow and other crops in
several counties. We wish to call the
attention of our bee-keepers, farmers
and fruit-growers to -this matter. It
goes without saying that it should be
plain to every thinking mind that some
energetic effort is necessary to suppress
this pest. In some portions of Salt
Lake and other counties, the past season,
the grasshoppers destroyed nearly every-
thing that grew — potato, alfalfa and
other fields were eaten ofif bare to the
ground. In the latter part of July I
visited several orchards, and there was
not a sign of a leaf left in them. Some
of those trees will die. as the new growth
of wood, together with the bark and buds
of the small branches, are eaten off ;
and the alfalfa will die where it is eaten
down into the crown of the plant.
Now for remedies that can be made
effective if carried out intelligently:
Our sacred friends, the gulls, came and
destroyed billions of them the latter
part of July, but as they do not come
until the breeding season, it is too
late to save the crops. Then the next
best remedy which can be used when
desired, are turkeys or chickens. While
either can be made effective, the turkeys
are best if properly herded. Make a
sufficient number of strong, portable
coops that can be drawn where desired,
and that can be closed so' as to protect
the birds at night. If the scheme is
properly carried out, it will not only set-
tle the grasshopper pest, but it will
prove a profitable business in raising the
birds for the market.
There have been some experiments
of late along the line of trying to pro-
tect our bee-keepers and fruit-yrowcrs
by destroying the moth and other
destructive insects, the object being to
destroy the moth and eggs at the same
time, without the use of a poisonous
spray, whicli has not been, and will
never be. a success in reducing the num-
ber of those destructive insects.
While it will be seen, from some of
the reports sent in, this dearth of lioney
has been l)y no means universal over
the state, if we can succeed along the
lines indicated, we believe the old-
time prosperity will again be recorded
generally. Ii is desirable, also, in that
it would be beneficial to all concerned
to have Colorado and Utah bee-keepers
in closer touch with the disposal of their
products.
E. S. Lovesy.
Another method of catching grass-
hoppers is, in cutting lucerne, to leave
a swath every two rods, on which the
"hoppers" will congregate. Make a sack,
out of ordinary sheeting, about six or
seven feet long and three to four feet
wide, and attach the mouth of it to
a wtx>den frame of the same size to keep
it open. Then two persons on horse-
back drag the sack up and down the
swath where the grasshoppers are —
they jump into the sack and are caught.
This sack can be used wherever it can
be dragged around. It should be used
only at night or early morning, as the
hoppers then are not so easily frightened
— they seem more stupid.
E. Johnson thought it would be a
good idea to co-operate in buying sup-
plies and in marketing bee-products. He
also offered a resolution which carried,
that the officers of the association make
an effort to form a closer fraternal
union with Colorado bee-keepers.
Mr. Cornwall said he had lost his
bees for several years on account of
the smelter smoke. He purchased more,
but they always died in the fall. He
said but for the smoke his bees would
otherwise be healthy.
J. Ferry said that nearly all the bees in
that locality were dead ; the smelters
were about five miles distant, but he had
no doubt that the smoke from thern
killed the bees.
Mr Falkman, of Weber County, said
that, taken as a whole, the bee-industry
had not proven a success the past sea-
son.
J. H. Bartlett, of Uintah County,
said the bees in that locality had pro-
duced from a third to half a crop. They
had no foul brood or other disease.
Mr. Chritchlow said he had moved
his bees to Idaho. He had taken 400
cases of honey from ISO colonies.
]\Ir. Wilding thought the Kidder hive
a good one to winter bees in. He
thought the best way to get rid of foul
brood was to destroy hives and every-
thing affected by the disease.
FOUL BROOD CURE — NEW METHOD.
Take the infected colony in the morning,
after the bees have begun flying freely.
Cateh and cage the queen and place her on
top of the brood-frames, where one can get
her readily without disturbing the colony.
Then in the afternoon, about 3 o'clock, get a
clean hive filled with foundation. Leave
space in the center for one frame; now take
a frame of clean, healthy brood, shake most
of the bees off, and take the queen from un-
der the cover whefe she was caged in the
morning. Liberate her on the frame of
brood, place it in the space reserved for it in
the clean hive. Now, quickly and quietly
remove the infected hive to one side, and
place the clean hive on the old stand. The
field-workers will now enter the new hive and
go right on working as usual. Now stop up
the entrance of the old hive and put it on top
of the clean one, with the back of the in-
fected hive to the front. Now bore a hole in
the back of the foul hive. Make a runway
out of a piece of shingle; nail a strip on each
side and on top, making a bee-space; nail
this on front of the hive, and be sure to
cover the hole. This will make a bee-space
so they can come down from the upper story
and go out. Leave the hive on top for about
three weeks; by this lime all brood will be
hatched out. and will be below. The hive
792
AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL.
Dec. 12, 1901.
can now be taken away and destroyed. This
must be done only through a heavy flow.
Inspector Evans.
.Another cure for foul brood is as
follows : Take equal parts of carbolic
and salicylic acids, saturate a flannel
cloth and put it between two thin boards,
so that the bees can not touch the flan-
nel or acid. Put this in the place of
center frame of the hive, removing the
frame.
Mr. Gardner gave an interesting sketch
of a bee-house 9x28 feet and 7 feet high,
holding over 100 colonies. He manip-
ulates his bees in the house, keeping
them in it winter and summer. He
has three tiers of hives on each side
of the house, running north and south.
The house is built with tight board
rustic. The hives are pushed up against
the boards of the house, with the en-
trances opposite corresponding holes cut
in the boards. The walls are painted
several colors, in perpendicular stripes,
after the style of a barber pole, each
stripe being the width of a hive. In
this way the bees have no trouble locat-
ing their hives. He says the house has
proven a success with him, the bees
being eai;y to handle, with much less
work, and his loss in winter, so far,
has not exceeded five per cent.
The honey crop in Uintah County was
short, on account of a small, white,
flying insect, the insect being very nu-
merous in all nectar-producing bloom.
The pest made its first appearance
July I, and remained until the bloom
was killed by frost.
Mr. Neilson gave a very interesting
description of a moth-trap he has in-
vented for the destruction of the cod-
dling moth and other insect pests. He
stated that by this method the moth
and its eggs can be caught and des-
troyed at the same time, which makes
it much more effective than spraying. He
said the old-time poison spray had never
been a success, and never could be,
because of the small percentage of
larvs caught — Often not more than two
per cent — and the harm done often
exceeded the benefits derived. He was
sustained in this view by several practi-
cal fruit growers present, some of whom
said they had given up poison spraying
as an expensive luxury, and not worth
following.
Contributed Articles. I
^'sm-
Long-Ton§ued Honey-Bees.
Head at tlie rn-eiit (\,lunulu Ila-Knjnr.s' (Juiimiithjii at l)i,
BY PROF. C. P. GILLETTE,
of tlie Colorado Agricultural College, at Fort Collins.
Who first suggested breeding for long-tongued honey-bees,
I do not know. It is said that a Mr. Wankler. of Germany,
invented an instrument as early as 1882, for the purpose of
measuring the length of bees' tongues. So far as I have
been able to learn, the first person to bring this matter
prominently before the bee-keepers of this country was Mr.
J. M. Rankin, of the Michigan Experiment Station, at pres-
ent foul-brood inspector for that State. Mr. Rankin at-
tempted to breed up a long-tongued strain of bees and be-
lieved that his efforts were crowned with some measure of
success.
During the past year, or eighteen months, the subject of
"long-tongued" or "red-clover" bees has been greatly agi-
tated in the bee-journals of the country and has come to be
a veritable fad. A person having queens to sell feels that
he IS greatly behind the times— a sort of back number in
this age of progress— unless he can guarantee his queens to
produce a long-tongued variety of worker-bees. The result
is, he so advertises them without knowing the real facts
in the case, but with the belief that his bees have tongues
as long as any.
To a student of biology, particularly if he be an ento-
mologist, the idea of a long-tongued race of honey-bees
coming quickly into existence, seems extremely impro'bable.
There is no more important organ in the anatomy of the
honey-bee than its tongue for the maintenance of life, and
nature has been breeding this tongue to a standard length
for so long a time that it is not likely to vary rapidly under
artificial selection where parentage can be controlled upon
one side only. For these reasons the writer took no in-
terest in the matter when it was first agitated. Finally, so
many bee-keepers of known honesty and sincerity of pur-
pose began to advocate breeding for long-tongued bees, and
to advertise that they had such bees for sale, that it seemed
necessary that some one, having the facilities and the nec-
essary training, should make a careful study of the subject
and report results. The writer began to collect bees for
the purpose of testing tongue-length early last summer. It
was not possible to spare a large amount of time for this
purpose, but I feel warranted in making this preliminary
report, and am expecting to publish a fuller one after con-
tinuing the work farther.
WHAT IS MEANT BY TONGUE-LENGTH ?
The so-called "tongue" of the honey-bee is a very highly
specialized organ made up of many parts. The longest
single piece is the ligula, which is very flexible, yellowish
in color, and thickly set with short hairs. Into this the
nectar of the flower is first taken. It is supported by a
black, rigid, chitinous piece called the mcntum, which is
about one-third as long as the lingula. At the base of the
mentum is a still shorter piece which is also, hard and rigid
— the sub-mentum — and this is attached to the underside of
the head by two slender, stiff rods, jointed at the middle
and known as the cardos or hinges. These medium parts
with the attached portions (the two sets of palpi and the max-
illa:) make up the parts of the tongue. The important qi'es-
tion which presents itself here is. What shall we base our
measurements upon in giving tongue length?
In breeding for long-tongued bees what one would want
to know is the distance the tongue can be made to reach
beyond the jaws or mandibles — "the tongue-reach," as it
has been called. This is the measure which has been given
by i\Ir. Root and most others, so far as I know, who have
reported lengths of bees' tongues.
Glossometers also have been constructed to measure this
tongue-reach in the living bee. This seems to me like
endeavoring to determine how far a man can rench above
his head. If we could catch him putting forth his utmost
efforts to reach in that direction, and could get him to hold
still long enough, we could determine the distance with con-
siderable accuracy. On the other hand, when we have to
determine this point from measurements of the dead
or chloroformed body we can not obtain very accu-
rate results. We would not know how hard to
pull upon the arm just to draw it into the
position of the highest reach ; and if we should not pull
upon it, it would, from the elasticity of the parts, draw
down much too far. The conditions are worse in case of
the elastic and many-jointed tongue of a bee. It would
be true, as a rule, that the longer the arm, the farther a
person could reach above his head, and it would lie much
more certainly true that the longer the tongue of a bee, the
farther can it reach beyond its mandibles, as the ratios be-
tween parts in a bee are far more consant than in man.
For this reason, and for the further reason that it is more
easy to get an accurate measurement of the parts of the
tongue when it is dissected completely out and placed upon
a glass slide under a compound microscope, I have con-
sidered the entire tongue-length the best measurement upon
which to base conclusions as to tongue-reach.
I believe, for practical purposes, it may always be con-
sidered true that the bee with the longest tongue has the
longest possible tongue-reach. As the man with the shorter
arm-reach might secure more persimmons from the tree
than his longer-armed but less active brother, so the bee
with shorter tongue-reach may excel her less industrious sis-
ter in collecting nectar from flowers.
In my first measurements, tongue-length only was taken
into account, but in the later ones the tongue-reach, so near
as I could measure it. was also recorded. An examination
of the figures in the following table will show a far greater
variation in the latter measurements than in the former. If
the tongue-reach seemed too short when first measured, I
could usually increase it by two or three hundredths of an
inch by a little careful stretching. I do not mean a real
stretching, but a straightening of the joints of the cardos so
as to extend the tongue forward as shown in the illustration.
The tongue will not remain in this position unless held there.
HOW TO KILL THE BEES.
Chloroform, alcohol, formalin, cyanide of potassium, and
boiling water, were all experienced with to determine the
Dec. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
793
best killing agent, and it was found the last was the only
one that would always leave the tongue in a completely re-
laxed condition for measurement. The water is first made
boiling hot and then the bees are either thrust into the
water or the water dashed upon the bees.
ME.\SUREMENT OF THE TONGUE.
To obtain the tongue-reach the head of the wet bee is
removed and the tongue pulled out between thumb and
finger as far as it will reach and pressed in this condition
upon a glass slide with the face of the bee uppermost. The
slide is then placed under the compound microscope and
upon a rule graduated to hundredths of an inch, and the
length of li gula. nientum, sub-mentum and total length read
separately and recorded.
WHERE THE BEES WERE OBTAINED.
The bees whose tongues I measured have come from Maine
to Texas in this countr3% and I have also had bees from
imported queens from Germany, Italy and the Isle of Cyprus.
In several cases bees were sent from the best and the
poorest colonies in an apiary, and I took pains to obtain bees
from those who were advertising long-tongued or red-
clover queens. I have not asked permission to use the
names of parties who were kind enough to send me bees,
and sliall not do so except in one or two cases, where I feel
confident there could be no objection.
RESULTS OF THE MEASUREME.NT.
Black Bees : Only four lots of black bees have been re-
ceived. In one lot I obtained a tongue reach of from 13
to t6 hundredths of an inch, and a total length of from 24
to 25 hundredths, and an average of 24.5 hundredths.
Another lot gave a tongue-reach of from 14 to 16 hun-
dredths of an inch, and a total length of from 23.5 to 24
hundredths, and an average of 23.9 hundredths.
A third lot gave a tongue-reach varying between 16 and
,19 hundredths of an inch, and a uniform total length of
24 hundredths.
The lot which gave an average tongue-length of 24.5
hundredths seemed to have some Italian blood.
Carniolan Bees : I have had but one lot of Carniolans.
The range of tongue-reach in these was between 21 and 22
himdredths of an inch, and the total length of tongue
varied between 25.5 and 26 hundredths of an inch, with an
average of 25.6 hundredths.
Italian Bees: Tongues from 24 lots nf Italian workers
have been measured. These have come from various parts
of the United States. Usually from five to ten bees were
taken for this purpose from each of the lots sent. Some of
these bees were rather dark, and others were usually yel-
low, "golden Italians." Those having most yellow upon the
abdomen did not have longer tongues than others.
In the following table I have given the variations in tongue
length and tongue-reach, and also the averages of these meas-
urements in the several lots of bees received :
TABLE GIVING LENGTHS OF BEES' TONGUES.
Cyprians — From Mr. Frank Benton.
Carniolans— Queen from Mr. Frank Benton.
Total Length. Tip uf Ligcla to
Base of Sdbmentum.
Length of Ligula
Onlv.
Tongue Reach
-1
Z '^
Longest.
Shortest.
Average.
Longest.
Shortest.
Average.
Longest.
Shorlest.
Average.
S
26. S
25.
25.40
17.50
16.
16.60
13
26.
25.
25.45
17.
16
16.50
10
26
25 50
10
26.
25
''5 41
11
26.
26.
26.
17.
17.
17.
1
26.
25.
25.56
17.
16.5
16.75
17.50
15.
16.70
3
25. S
25.
25.30
17.
16.5
16.30
18.00
17.50
17.70
0
25.
25.
25.
16.50
16.
16.40
17.00
17.00
17.00
5
25.50
25.50
25.50
17.00
16.50
16.83
19.00
17.00
18.00
3
24.50
26.
25.30
17.50
16.00
16.70
17.00
15.00
16.00
5
26.
25.50 .
25.30
17.
16.5
16.80
16.50
16.00
16.25
5
26.
25.
25.30
17.50
16.5
16.80
18.00
18.00
18.00
a
26.
25.
25.71
17.00
16.
16.79
17.50
17.00
17.10
/
25.50
25.
25.33
16.50
16.
16.42
18.00
16.00
16.80
6
25.50
25.
25.42
17.00
16 5
16.75
21.50
17.00
18.50
6
26.
25.
25.60
17.00
Ih.OO
16.60
22.00
19.00
20.00
3
26.
24.50
25.60
17.00
16.
16.64
21.50
17.00
18.21
7
26.
24.50
25.60
17.00
16.00
16.83
18.00
17.00
17.50
6
26.00
25.00
25.80
17.00
16.50
16.80
21.00
17.00
18.75
a
26.00
24.50
25.40
17.00
16.
16.50
21.00
17.00
18.50
6
26.00
25.00
25.55
17.00
16.50 .
16.90
22.00
17.00
1955
10
25.50
24.50
25.65
17.00
16.
16.50
21.00
17.00
18.60
10
25.00
25.00
25.00
16.50
16.00
16.44
20.00
17.00 •
18.50
8
26.
25.00
25 55
17.00
16.5
16.85
18.00
17.00
17.70
10
27.00
26.00
26.15
18.00
17.00
17.20
22.50
20.00
20.95 1
10
27.00
26.00
26.35
17.50
17.00
17.35
23.00
20.00
22.05
10
26.50
26.50
26.00
17.50
17.00
17.10
23.00
19.00
21.00
10
26.00
25.00
26.00
17.50
16.00
17.00
23.00
20.00
21.90
10
25.50 I 25.00
17.50
17.00
17.15
Black Bees.
25.00
24.00
24.50
16.00
15.50
15.77
16.00
13.50
14.00
3
24.00
33.50
23.90
15.00
15.00
15.40
16 00
14.00
15.37
a
24.50
23.50
23.90
16.00
15.50
15.55
18.00
16.00
17.10
1 11
24.00
24.00
24.00
15.50
15.50
15.50
19.00
16.00
16.90
1 5
Apis Dorsata — Alcoholic Specimens.
26.00 I 25.00 I 25.50
I 18.00
Bumble Bees.
58.00 I 45.00 I 50.80
I 29.50 I 33.75
794
AMEPJCAN BEE JOURNAL.
Dec. 12, 1901.
SOME CONCLUSIONS.
An examination of the above table will show that the
entire tongue-length (from tip of ligula to base of suli-
mentuni) has varied in these measurements between 24.50
and 26.50 hundredths of an inch in Italians ; between 25
and 27 hundredths in Cyprians; between 23.50 and 25 hun-
dredths in Blacks; and between 25.50 and 26 hun-
dredths in one small lot of Carniolans. If we
consider the length of ligula alone we shall see that it
would vary between 16 and 17.50 hundredths of an inch in
the Italians ; between 16 and 18 hundredths in the Cyprians :
between 15 and 16 hundredths in Blacks: and between 17
and 17.50 hundredths in the Carniolans. The tongue-reach
varied in the Italians between 15 and 22 hundredths; in the
Cyprians between 19 and 23 hundredths ; in the Blacks be-
tween 13.50 and 19 hundredths; and in the Carniolans be-
tween 21 and 22 hundredths of an inch.
By striking general averages from the columns of aver-
ages we get, from the Italian tongue, 25.47; for the Cyprian
26.12; for the Black, 24.07.
The extreme variation in tongue-length in the Italian was
but .02 of an inch ; it was the same in the Cyprians, and was
but I'/ hundredths in the Blacks.
The average tongue-length in the Italian exceeded the
average in the Blacks by .014 of an inch ; and the Cyprian
tongue exceeded the Italians by .0065 of an inch.
By comparing the average tongue-lengths of all that were
sent as long-tongued bees with the average length of all
bees received. I find a difference in favor of the former
of .0004 of an inch. The best average length of any lot
sent me as long-tongued was .2555 of an inch, which is but
.0008 of an inch longer than the average length of all the
bees sent. An examination of the table will show eight
lots of Italian hees with an average tongue-length exceeding
that of the best lot of "long-tongued" bees.
I shall have to conclude that, so far as my study of the
subject has gone, there has been no indication of any strain
of the common honey-bee (Ap/is melifera) worthy of the
distinction "long-tongued." If any of the bees examined
are worthy of such a name, it is the Cyprians. It is pos-
sible, however, that the average length of tongue in this
race may be changed by the examination of more material
from other apiaries.
These facts do not disprove that there may be strains of
bees that work more freely than others upon red clover.
It does indicate very strongly that the difference in tongue-
length has little or nothing to do with the tendency of
bees to work upon red clover. In fact, I have received
bees from colonies that were said to work freely on red
clover, and along with them bees from other colonies in the
same apiary that were .said not to work upon red clover,
and have been unable to find any difference in tongue-length
in favor of the clover workers.
It will be noticed in the table that the few tongues of
bumble-bees that were measured are very much longer than
the tongues of any of the honey-bees, the shortest being .45
and tlie longest .58 of an inch. The average length is
almost twice the average length of the tongue of the honey-
hee.
The specimens of Apis dorsata came from Mr. E. R.
Root, and were in alcohol. They were placed in alcohol
and boiled until the tongues seemed perfectly flexible and
to extend to full length. It will be noticed that the length
barely exceeds that of the Italians.
I do not wish to carry the impression that I think it would
not be to the advantage of a honey-bee to have an increased
tongue-length, but I can hardly understand how the addi-
tion of one or two hundredths of an inch is going to help
very much to gather honey from red clover. The length of
the corolla-tube through which the tongue must reach, in the
heads of red clover that I have examined, have varied be-
tween .34 and .37 hundredths of an inch. The extreme reach of
the tongue beyond the mandibles in any bees I have meas-
ured, has been .23 of an inch. It makes me" wonder if it is
possible that those who think bees have gathered- honey
from red clover can be mistaken, and that they visit the
blos.soms of this plant for pollen only. This is only a sug-
gestion, but some one who has the opportunity should
settle it for a certainty.
Neither would I leave the impression that I think it im-
possible to breed up a race of genuine long-tongued bees,
Tjut I am very strongly of the opinion that it can only
he brought about by a long process of careful selection
and breeding. They will not spring into existence all at
■once.
Photographing a Bee— How it was Done.
BV D. W. WORKIXi..
READERS of the American Bee Juurnal may be interested
in the story of the photograph as well as in the photo-
graph itself: lor it is no easy matter to pose a worker-bee
just right and to get as good a picture of her as that shown
on the first page of this number.
I took a number of bees to one of the best photographers
in Denver — Mr. J. C. Collier — who takes pride in doing difficult
work better than anybody else. He shook his head, and said
it would be impossible to get the hee to sit still long enough to
get a satisfactory exposure. ''Why not get a snap sliot?"
said I. Mr. Collier's look convinced me of the stupidity of
my question before he had time to frame an answer. How
could he get the bee into focus? I supposed the thing was
easy enough — for a professional. But we took no picture that
day. When I called a few days later the bees were shrunken
corpses. "Too liad I" said the kind-hearted picture-maker.
I wanted a photograph. So a week or two later. I caught
a few more bees and carried them to tbe studio. Mr. Collier
saw he must make me a picture to get rid of me. And at it he
went I He is a patient man: has photographed dogs, cats,
horses, cows, and cross babies that had to be made to look
sweet. The bee was worse than any of thera. I wanted
something more than a life-sized portrait — as the bee-keeper
will understand from the engraving — and I got it, thanks to
the patience and perseverance of the photographer. But the
bee was dead before we got her posed just right, with that
look of honey sweetness on her face. It is the •'ruling passion"
strong in death. She was cross enough to look at before she
died — poor thing — but it all came back in time to be caught,
and forever impressed on the sensitive plate in the big camera.
In the end. tlie picture was taken by placing the bee be-
tween two plates of glass just far enough separated to hold
her in place without squeezing her out of shape. Of course
she was not arranged "just right'" without many changes and
readjustments. But at last she was posed as you see her — not
perfectly, as she would have posed herself in life, but so near-
ly life-like in appearance that she is worth looking at and
remembering.
Three times did Mr. Collier make a negative. The first
time the plate was exposed three minutes. The result v.-as
not to his liking. Then he gave a new plate a ten-minute ex-
posure. The result was better, but still not satisfactory.
Finally, after an exposure of seven minutes by the watch, the
hard lines of the old man's countenance relaxed as he looked
at the plate and said: "It couldn't be better — with such light
as we have.'' So I was satisfied. Arapahoe Co., Colo.
i ^ Tlie Aftertiiou^iit. ^
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlosses.
By e. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
SMOKING BEES — GETTING WORKER-COMB BUILT.
Two ideas in Dr. Gallup's article, page 662, catch my
attention. One is that frequent use of smoke makes bees
cross. It seems to me that it must be a wrong reading of
the facts that leads to that conclusiou. Letting bees get
the start of you undoubtedly makes them cross — and then
you /lave lo use much smoke — and then you can charge the
smoke with the mischief which the other circumstance did.
The other idea is moving outside frames into the center
to have the comb built worker size instead of drone. I feel
ashamed to confess that that comes to me rather as a new
idea. It worked in his case, and very likely would work in
most cases. It usually doesn't work to take out a center comb
of a colony that swarms, and replace it by an empty frame ;
but that is a different affair. In hiving on empty frames
and letting entirely alone, the outside combs are mostly not
built at all till during a strong flow they are wanted to
store honey. This, of course, tends to drone-comb; while
getting them built promptly, and in the center, would tend
the other way, unless drone-brood was eagerly wanted.
..CABBAGES AND LEMONS.
Cabbages two cents a pound and lemons one cent a
pound, eh ? Pretty good lecture on the law of demand and
supply. Page 666.
Dec. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
795
FOLDED CHAl-F CUSHIONS.
I can back up Mr. M. H. Hunt, page 668, that folded
chaff cushions are a better tit than sewed ones — and also
that mice make holes in the latter when piled to store dur-
ing- summer. I have used folded cushions mostly for man y
years.
SCREEN PORTICOS FOR HIVES.
So, with a big^ wire portico on the hivs, bees think they
can swarm, and sometimes try it and perish. Something
of a drawback on the screen portico for June perambula-
tions. I hardly think the loss of the colony would always
result from such attempt to swarm. I have all along-
thought the screen portico the best device for shutting up
bees. Didn't say much because top screens were so much
more popular — and because I don't perambulate, and there-
fore my own experience is very scanty. Glad to see Jacob
Alpaugh, of Ontario, thinking somewhat as I do. Page 669.
SWARMS GOING INTO WRONG HIVES.
•' Little danger of a returning swarm getting into the
wrong hive." Ah, that's where you miss it, Mr. J. B. Hall.
Swarms return to wrong hive not so much because they
make a mistake, as because they don't want to go home
after having launched forth from it. Page 669.
S.-^FE INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS.
The A. D. D. Wood method of introduction is mani-
festly easier than caging an entire frame. I think we can
accept it as nearly safe, seeing that he finds no failures.
Of course, downy bees just emerged will not hurt the queen
— and equally, of course, she will quit after awhile from
" acting up " and provoking assault, if she has no bee of her
own near her. I should not be surprised if this should turn
out the most valuable practical kink which has been
brought out for a good spell. Page 670.
ALSATIANS AND THE EXTRACTOR.
And so the Alsatians, at least some of them, think we
invented the extractor — probably because they imported a
good one from America. Page 676.
ANCIENT TEMPLES EXEMPLIFIED IN COMB HONEY.
Mr. Ansell's ornamental work in finished comb honey
is quite a triumph in its line. Some of the first great and
splendid temples that were built in the world were built in
that form. Perhaps he had that thought in mind when he
chose the form. Pages 673 and 676.
THE HIVE-KICKERS.
The hive-kickers seem to have had an inning at the
convention. We see, we see. Even kicking bee-hives is
all right if you do it in the right way — as Messrs. Kluck
and Coggshall doubtless do. I suppose kicking King
Edward in his palace would be all right, if you did it just
right. Page 678.
I Questions and Answers.
>« Rn^nfT^TtfTrTfTfT^ >
CONDUCTED BY
DH. O. O. BJILLEIt, Mareago, 111,
(The Qaestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller
direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Reversible Brood-Frames.
What dfi you tliink of the reversible brood-frames? How
sliDuld tliey he used? Do you think they are of any advaii-
ta^'i-? Which is the best style to use? I have not seen aiiy-
thiii;i said of them in the American Bee Journal.
Nkw Jekskv.
A.NSWKH. — If you will turn back far enough you will tind a
u-reat (leal said about reversible frames in the pages of the
American Hee Journal, as also in other journals. To day
tiii-y iiTv seldom mentioned. Quito a number of reversible
frames were in existence, and there were also revcrslbli' hives,
so that the frames could !"■ reversed in a wholesale manner
without opening the hives.
It was believed tliat wlii^n there was hciney in tie- n|i|icr
part of ,-1 hrooci-i-nnili, reversing would make the bees carry up
the honey into tlic super. While tliat result is genei-ally
acliii-ved liy reversing-, there is fouiul to be in the loiiu- run no
special gain.
An<ithi'r advantage was that reversing caused the bees to
build theii' eoinl)s down to the bottom-bars — rather up to the
l)0ttom-l)ars. Either because that point could he gained in
some other way. or because it costs more than it comes to, we
hear nothing nowadays about reversingfor the sake of getting
frami's tilled out.
But the gri'at thing that gave reversible frames and hives
a real boom was the belief that by their \ise we had a sure
means of preventing swarming. It was claimed that when a
queen-cell was turned upside down the bees would not con-
tinue it to completion. Then all that was necessary to do was
to reverse often i-nough and no queen-cells would be sealed,
therefore no swarming. Like many other things in bee-keeji-
ing, it worked better on paper than in actual practice: and it
is doubtful that you canfind any one to-day who practu-es or
advocates reversing as a preventive of swarming. So it is
hardly worth your while to try reversible frames.
Buckwheat Sweet Clover, Etc.
1. Will buckwheat honey make suitable stores for winter-
ing bees? ,
2. About how many colonies could be profitably kept
where they would have a range of ten acres of sweet clover,
and some outside pasturage, the ten acres to be the main
pasture.
3. Would it pay to sow sweet clover for honey alone,
where land would cost to rent $2.50 per acre ? Illinois.
Answers. — 1. At onetime it was said that buckwheat
toney was bad for winter stores, but later observations seem
to show that it is all right.
2. I don't know. One of the hardest things to find out
about is the amount of nectar that can be obtained from a
given area. If I should make a guess in the case, I should say
that ten acres thoroughly covered with sweet clover might
give profitable employment to 20 colonies of bees, but I'll not
quarrel with any one who says it ought to be three times as
large or three times as small.
3. I don't believe it will pay to rent land at $2.50 an acre
to sow with any crop for the sake of the honey alone. But I
may be mistaken about sweet clover. I do believe, however,
that by taking a crop of hay from it once each year it might
be made to pay, tlie honey being so much e.Ktra.
Hive-Entrance in Winter— Keeping Combs of Honey, etc.
1. In looking over the "A B C of Bee-Culture," it advi.ses
leaving full width of the hive open for winter. I have mine
reduced to %\'2. T want to know if that is right.
2. I took off a shallow extracting super of 9 frames full
of uncapped honey. I really don't know what to do with it.
I suppose it will sour before spring. I have one colony in a
liive tiered up (2-story dovetailed hives), or rather a Danz.
hive on the bottom and a dovetailed on top, witli 9 brood-
frames in each, both full of honey.
3. 1 had two others in 2-story dovetailed hives and I put
a bee-escapi^ between them, intending to take them oft' the
next day, but other things called me away, and when I wont
back in a we<'k the honey was uncapped and gone. The bees
got under the hive-cover and cleaned it up. What do you
think of bee-escapes?
4. I don't think there can be any queen in the brood-nest,
as I have not seen any so far. although there is every evidence
that there is a i|U<'en there. Iiut I don't know how to find her.
Tennksskk.
Answers. — 1. Very likely it will be better to have the en-
trance open full-width.
2. The sealed honey in care of the bees will probably be
all right. The combs of unsealed honey will keep all right if
you can put them in a place where it is warm and dry. If
that is not convenient, let them be for a day or two in the
hottest place you can put them (of course not hot enough to
melt the comb), then put them wlierever it is convenient, so It
is not in the cellar ; if you fiiul the honey seems to be getting
thin, give it another roasting. As soon as bees begin to tly in
spring it can bo put in their care.
3. I5ee-escapes are highly valued by a great many, but of
course^ it will not do to allow bees access from the outside to
any honey placed over escape.'. Neither will It work well to
leav(! honey over escapes If thieves understand the situation
796
AMERICAN BEE lOUENAL
Dec. 12, 1901.
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each ; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong^ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival gruaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog- on application. Cincinnati, O.
with the "incomparnhle"
BORDEAUX NOZZLE^
and our world's bcRt outfit yoa art
lute master of the Bituatlon. Insects a
esse fall before this all conqueriofr outfit.^
Seethe book, [i Is free. Write for it d«
THE DEIIING < O., SALF.ll, OHIO.
Weetern Agt*,. Henion A Hubbell, Chicago.
4'1Al3t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Calitrtfrtia t If you care to know of its
^dlllUnild 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Call-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS.
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
one ot our200-epp size
Successful Incuba-tors.
for four cenli
De. Moines Ih
rBoiJS Buimlo.W.
Please mention Bee Jotirnal when writinK.
Por Sfllf Extracted Honeu,
160-pound keg's, 7c; amber, 6c. Buckwheat, in
keg's, cans, or wnoden pails, S'-^c. Sample, oc,
4'iAtf C. B. HOWARD, Romulus, N.Y.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■WTitinp
I STRONGEST
I m4oe.
^^KS5KHEfl COILED SPUING FENCE CO.,
— IMMaM— Box s9 Winchester, Indiana, U. S. A.
Chicken-
t Wholesnie
REDUCED RATES FOR CHRISTHAS
AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS.
The Nickel Plate Road will sell tick-
ets Dec. 24, 25, and 31, 1901, and Jan.
1, 1902, at rate of a fare and one-third
for the round-trip, to any point located
in Central Passenger Association ter-
ritory, good returning to and including
Jan. 2, 1902. Pullman service on all
trains. Individual Club Meals rang-
ing in price from 35 cents to $1.00,
served in Nickel Plate dining-cars.
Address, John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for par-
ticulars. Depot, Van Buren St. and
Pacific Avenue, on the Elevated Loop.
45— 49A4t
IT WILL PAY YOU
to ,'ifnd for our new pi-ultrybook de-
ti;; " DAHDY'i.re-CUTTER
It tflla how to increase the eet' yield.
'The Kundv, -
inirofallbo
direct on 30 days' trial. 1
Uandoome Uoob ]
STRATTON MANFG. CO.,^
Box 21, Erie, Pa
Secured a Crop fpom Clover,
I secured a fiue crop of honey from clover,
but there was no fall flow except just enough
to fill the hives for winter. Honey sells
readily at 1.5 cents— some sold at 20 cents the
forepart of the fall. We had plenty of rain
this fall, so we are looking for a good honey
harvest ne.xt year. The weather has been
exceedingly fine, and we have not put the
liees into the cellar yet, but there is a change
to-day, and I look for colder weather soon.
I have taken the American Bee .Journal for
over a year, and find it very helpful. I do
not see how I could do without it.
Bert Gaxher.
Guthrie Co., Iowa. Dec. 1,
"The Proof is in the Eating."
A Mr. Roegman visited me on some busi-
ness the other day, and, on seeing the bee-
hives, made inquiry as to how much honey
I got the pa-t season. On being told about
.*400 from 23 colonies, spring count, and an
increase to 58, he could not Ijelieve it pos-
sible (as he got no honey at all) : but on
showing him the proof, and explaining that 1
was indebted to the several bee-books and
bee-papers which I was reading, and after
offering to return him his dollar, if, after
reading it a year, he had not gotten his
money's worth, or more, he decided to accept
the American Bee Journal.
My bees are still on the summer stands, and
have been flying nearly every day this month,
though I think it has been detrimental to
them. There has been but little brood reared
since Sept. 15, and the warm sun has coaxed
out a good many bees to perish,
F. W. Hall.
Sioux Co., Iowa, Nov. 2i).
Please mention Bee Journal "When ■wntmff.
Experience with Honey-Plants, Etc.
The past two seasons we have grown
cleome or Rocky Mountain bee-plant, as it
was so highly recommended for bee-food —
"fairly overflowing with nectar." We
watched faithfully, but could never discover
the bees at work upon the plants, nor hover-
ing near. We have succeeded in our section,
however, in growing great quantities of
Scabiosia, or "Mourning Bride," and in the
late summer and early fall the bees swarm
around the blossoms from morning until late
in the evening, and they also seem to revel
among the blossoms of the Centaurea, or
Bachelor's Button, and Summer Savory.
We had a real flght the past season with
the moth-millers — they never were so numer-
ous, t)ne colony was entirely destroyed in
spite of our watchfulness. After opening a
hive and destroying great numbers, in a few
days they were all through the hive again.
The robbers were also at work — bees killed
and honey taken. How can we manage to
save our "bees from these pests '.
Sarah A, Bowerman,
Monroe Co., N, Y.
Wintering Bees in Chaff Hives.
Bees in this locality went into winter quar-
ters with ample stores to last them until
honey comes again next year. The weather
has been very flne the last week, thereby en-
aljling the bees to have good flights, and to
reach the watering-places. Some three or
four days ago I noticed dandelions still in
bloom. I am wintering a part of my apiary
in chaff hives, with the upper story packed
with chaff over the frames, and leaves on the
chaff. Another portion is in the single-walled
Simplicity hives, with tarred paper packed
clear around and over them, leaving the en-
trance so that the bees can get out when
necessary. The tarred paper will keep off the
snow and ruin, and will keep the wind from
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale-Jobbing.
T use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
fork fax Into FoMilatioii For Casi
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal -when ■WTitinE,
THE WHEEL OF TIME
-~ — k for all time is the
Netal Wheel.
o make them in all sizes and vari-
eties, ■> O FIT AN V AXLE. Any
heiprht. any width of tire desired.
Our wheels are either direct or
stnpcer spoke. Can TIT VOEK
WAGON pfrfretlvwUhoot chance.
>NO BREAKING DOWN.
rout. No reaetiing tires. Cheap
I beosuce they endure. Send for cata-
loene and prices. Free npon request.
Electric Wheel Co.
Box 16 Quinciff Ills.
'^.^ss menuon Bee Journal -when writing.
WE ARE MAKING
thmisands of miles of Page Fence anmiiiUy— m'ire
this vear than ever before. Don't you want some?
PA(iK WOVKN H'lUE FENCE CO., ADUIAN,31KH.
Please mention Bee Journal "vjtien ^wiriXijfj^
regarding
the oldest
and most
improved and original Bingham Bee-Smoker.
For 23 Ykaks thk Best on Earth.
2SAtf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell, IHIch.
Please mention Bee Journal wnen writing.
Send for circulars
HOW DIFFERENT
petslure and moisture in the
MARILLA
INCUBATORS AND BROODERS
(torn all olh">- Vou will urJerstand
__ —i^. „«heii you receive our new otalopie.
.Water g Sj^ully guaranteed. Money back if yoo
""' in-anl It. SendSc in Btaiops and wo wUl maU
Hot 41r. "caijlu.oe at once.
BARILLA INCUBATOR COMPANY. BOX 3 ROSE HILL. «. ».
ficd-se meuLiou ±iec3 Journal -wlitin ■writiufc.
SWEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5ft loas ZSBs SOBS
Sweet Clover (white) $.75 $1.20 $2.£0 $4.50
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.S0
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound
rate, and 10 cents e.xtra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, . CHICAGO, ILL.
Please meatlou Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
Dec. 12. 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
797
blowing through the openings in the hives,
thereby keeping the hives dry and warm.
White clover has sprung up with the late fall
rains, and promises to be pretty plentiful
next year. It was never better than last
season.
The "old reliable" American Bee Journal
comes to hand brimful of good things about
bees every week. J. M. Young.
Cass Co., Nebr.. Xov. 39.
Bees and Pear-Blight.
■1 see there is a good deal said about the
pear-blight being spread by the bees. I have
seen it on trees that had no bloom, so I would
^ay that down here it is more on the water-
sj^routs, where there is no bloom, than any-
where else. My observation is, that if there
is a freeze after the sap is up, there will be
blight, bloom or no bloom ; no freeze or chill,
and there will be no blight. I believe this to
lie the prime cause of the blight. I would
like to hear from others of the same opinion.
I have noticed for several years that if there
is no late frost there is no blight. I like the
American Bee Journal very much.
T. M, GiVAX.
Dekalb Co., Tenn., Nov. 2H.
Report for the Season.
As it always interests me to read the re-
ports of others, I take it for granted that
they, also, like to hear of the success of those
endeavoring to make a living through the
agency of the busy bee. I secured 55UII
pounds of honey (lOUO being comb) from .5.t
colonies, and increased to 68 the past season.
I had better success wintering my bees last
winter than most apiarists in these parts, lo.—
ing but 8 out of 68 (they having starved],
when the average loss, so far as I have been
able to ascertain, was 7.5 percent.
I put one colony on the scales last summer.
It was fairly strong, and did not swarm. The
following is their record:
Dull-. Xiii/iihi. Date. Xet gain.
June U 8 lbs. -
15 i
16 7
17 6K
18 0
19 5i»'
20 10 '
21 14
22 12
23 8
24 10
2.i 0
' 26 22K
' 27 15 '
' 28 13K
■ 29 15 '
' 30 1
V 1 lli<f
• 2 1 '
■ H 31,,'
' 4-lU 0 '
Rain
Rain
Total gain, 16s pounds from alsike clover
and raspberry.
July 11 4i.< lbs.
12 7>.;
13 9
July 14 fli
•• l.T 7'.
Total gain, 37^, pounds from basswood.
July 16 to close of season. 27 pounds from
buckwheat and goldenrod.
Total for the season, 232-\ pounds.
Ira D. Bakti.ett.
Charlevoix Co., Mich,
Caught in a Snow-Storm.
We have a foot of snow here, and the wind
has piled it up in our roads so they are nearly
impassable. Our fall was generally so pleas-
ant, up to ten days ago, that I left the bees
out till too late, and those at the out-apiary
are out, nearly covered with snow; over
which I feel rather blue, as in all probability
they will now have to go in all covered %viih
.«now and ice. Those here at home I put i'nto
NO COLLEGE EDUCATION
is needed to run the Kure Halch
Incubator. They are so simple
that they run themselves. Made
of California redwood, beautiful-
ly finished; twelve ounce copper
tank, andhydro-safety lamp. Ful-
■uaranteed. Our catalojfue contains
ds of photn^rruphs uf th
:h]ncuhnto
ork. and valu-
Sure Hatch Incubator Co.. Clay Center, Neb., or Columbus, 0.
Please n.eiitioi. Bee Journal -wheu ■writing.
OUR NEW CATALOG, describing and listiti^r the FINEST LINE OF
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN THE WORLD, will be ready about ilie
first of lUe year. 1 1 you have uot been receiving- a copy anoually, sead us
your name and address and onewll be mailed you tiee. Prices will be
same as last season with the exception of the narrow, plain sections with
no bee-ways, which will be 25 cents per thousand less.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U. S. A.
Special A^encj, C. M. Scott & Co., liX)4 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping- facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Flease mention Bee Journal -when •writing
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
paid for Beeswax. T £«»v"r--
* CASH — for best yel-
low, upon its receipt, or 28 cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
Why Not Buy the Best ?
It costs no more than inferior styles. We claim that
Adam's Green Bone Cutter
is the best b'-cause it is the only B.ill Bearing machine
on the market. It worksonthe shear jirimiple, turns
easier, cuts faster and cleaner, and prepares the bone
In better shape than any other. Write at once.
Catalogrue iNo. » Im Free.
W, J. ADAM, - - JOLIET, ILL.
flease mention Bee Journal -when writing.
IF
IT'S AN
ADAM]
JT'S THE,
SgfX TWO
OR,E!AT FA.FBR.S.
The American Bee Journal
AND fhe ohJQ Farmer...
Both Papers One Year Oaly $1.50.
Or with Ohio Farmer TWO years only $2.00.
A 20-pag-e, SO-column we(
fearless defender of tt
columns. It Helps to
\m
ly,with the best staff of editors and correspondents: a strong, ^3§
farmers' interests, and clean in both reading and advertising- 1 ftfea
ake the farm pav. J^.
eveland. Ohio, for free sample copv, but send all subscrip-'W©
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.. 144 A: 146 Erie Street, CHICAtiO, ILL. I ^j*®,
200'Egg Incubator
for $12-80
feet in constrnction a'hd I
ion. Hatches every fertile!
epp. Writeforcatalopueto-day.l
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
TbeEDiersoD Binder
Daiizeiibaker Uives.
ic« In tlat and made up— at very low price. ;i
SOCtf O. C. MASTIN, Trent, S. D.
Flease mention Bee Journal "when ■wntine.
CYPHERS INCUBATOR,
World's Standard Hatcher.
r-.-'l on L'CCnv.Expeririient .stations
in r. .^,. Canada, Australia and N. w
Zealand; also bv America's k-adink'
poultrymen and thousands of otbtrs.
Gold medal and hiphest award at
Pan-American, Oct. I'.'Ol. y2-paK'3
circular free, Poultninan's Gui(ie»
224 pages. 8sll in-, mailed for 10c
Ask iiBarest office for book No. .oo
0YPIIEK8 INCTBATOn COMPANY,
Bollalcs >'. l.t CfaicagOf 111., Vo&tou, Blats., New \ork,N. Ta
\^i<ii?'<i^. meiitiou Bee Journal when ■WTiUn&
BEE-SUPPLIES !
Manufacturers' prices. Complete stock. Send
for our catalogr.
FRED. W. MUTH & CO.
S.W. Cor. Front .^- Walnut Sts. CINCINNATI, 0.
Please mention Bee Journal when \^itine.
This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Journal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you hare
this "Emerson" no further binding is neces-
sary.
aEORQE W. YORK & CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
798
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Dec. 12, 1901.
the cellar when it first began snowing, and it
is pleasing to hear their merry, contented,
quiet ■' tallv'' to each other, as the.y hang in
clusters below the frames as large as the
crown of a hat. Eight colonies have been
left out, in chaff-packed hives, so that I can
hear them fly, should a day or two of warm
weather occur during the winter.
G. M. DOOLITTLE.
Onondaga Co., N. Y ., Nov. 29.
Experience with Bees.
I came here in March, liiiiO, and commenced
farming on my father-in-law's place, two
miles from town. My father-in-law, Abner
Bliss, has kept a few colonies of bees for
many years, with varying success. He be-
came very much interested lately, however,
and commenced studying the business to
learn it more perfectly. As for me, I have
been interested somewhat in years gone by.
During the winter of ISSa-S-t, I had the privi-
lege of forming the acquaintance of Mr. N.
Johnson, of Douglas County, who was a suc-
cessful bee-keeper, and a reader of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal, if I remember rightlj'.
There 1 saw a Langstroth hive for the first
time, a foundation machine, comb founda-
tion, a press for putting it in the sections,
and many other things. I had a few colonies
of bees at the time, and so became much in-
terested, but lost them in 1S85. I secured a
colony or two afterwards, but lost them, still
I determined to try again.
Mr. Bliss told me if I would get a Danzen-
baker hive he would give me a swarm to put
into it. Accordingly, I sent for one and got a
start again. To be safe, I thought I would
better get another, which I did, and had it
ready. Shortly after receiving it my son
found a swarm on a hedge, and I put it in
the hive. When autumn came I found the
first colony had some surplus honey, but the
other needed feeding, so I fed them and put
them into the cellar, hung up a thermometer,
and kept the temjierature correct through tlie
winter. Mr. Bliss has practiced keeping his
bees in this cellar for some years with excel-
lent success. When we took our hees out of
the cellar last spring we found them in good
condition, but the mice had eaten away some
of the combs.
After I had secured a start in bees again I
subscribed for the American Bee Journal.
Mr. Bliss has the '' A B C of Bee-Culture;'
and Doolittle's "Scientific Queen-Rearing."'
and I have "Langstroth on the Honey-Bee."
Cook's " Manual of the Apiary," and New-
man's "Bees and Honey." And / »-f"(/ last
winter.
Mr. Bliss bought 19 queens, and I 6; we
then began making hives. We ordered sec-
tions and foundation, and I made a machine
for putting in starters, which is adjustable,
and works with a foot-lever and an alcohol-
lamp. I think it is a success, and beats
anything I have seen.
When our queens came we had " business
at home '' for awhile, and I think we were
remarkably successful, but we do not know
it all yet. I saved six queens out of si-\. and
made some mistakes besides. We have learned
something, and appreciate the assistance we
get from the .American Bee Journal and the
books very much. Our honey-yield the past
season was fair, and of very fine quality.
R.,L. WiLDMAX.
Peoria Co., 111., Nov. 1.
"iNVINcVBrrfiATCHER CO./"'^''- ^''sPRrnGFIELD, OHIO.
PleaHe mention Bee Journal "wlirfn "WTitin?
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than an v other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts tc the Trade.
Please mention Bee Journal wtieii vn\\\^}.z
Lanosirollion...
TiieHoiieyBee
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pag'es, being- revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant c& Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for $1.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
1+4 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
/ '" After the theatre or other even-
ing entertainment, the Night Express
on the Nickel Plate Road leaves daily
at 11:20, from the Van Buren Street
Union Passenger Station, .\rrives at
Cleveland at 10:20 a.m. Breakfast in
Dining Car. Makes connections at
Buffalo for all points East. Arrives
at New York City 7:50 second morning,
and Boston at 10:15. Sleeping Cars
open at '•:30 p.m. Ticket office. Ill
Adams Street. 'Phone Central 2057.
47— 50A3t
Hanagement of Foul Brood.
The Rocky Mountain Bee Journal is quite
optimistic with regard to the management of
a colony of bees run for comb honey in case
such a colony is affected with foul brood,
saying :
Some of our largest and best comb-honey
producers have for years made a specialty of
producing fancy honey. It is a well-known
fact that section honey produced over new
brood-combs will be cleaner and whiter than
that produced over combs that are one year
old, or older. In most localities there would
be a big loss in having new brood-combs built
every year. To one who has never tried it,
such would seem to be the case in Colorado,
but those who are practicing it assert that
there is not only not any loss in the number
of pounds of surplus honey produced, but an
actual gain in the superior grading quality of
the honej' secured, and the yield of wax from
the old combs.
To secure new brood-combs each season
and not lessen the crop of surplus honey at
the opening of the honey-flow, each colony is
shaken into a new hive containing only foun-
dation starters in the frames, but full sheets
of foundation in the sections, with a queen-
escluding zinc between the first super and
the brood-chamber. The bees will prefer the
full sheets of foundation to the starters, and
begin to work vigorously in the sections,
building comb in the brood-chamber only
just fast enough to accommodate the mater-
nal capacity of the queen. By the close of
our long honey season the brood-chamber will
be filled, and the best possible work will have
been secured in the sections.
To make a success of this system, colonies
must be strong, and the work must be done
at exactly the right time. It may be said
further in its favor, that it effectually solves
the problem of swarming.
Do Queenless Bees Prefer Too Old
Larvse for Queen 'Rearing?
Last year I attemiUed to get an answer to
this question. I think the result was conclu-
sive; but Hon. R. L. Taylor thought the posi-
tion of the combs was such as to favor start-
ing queen-cells from the younger brood. This
year 1 thought I would make the test in such
a way that no such objection could be made.
At the same time I simplified the question
put to the bees, putting it in this form :
" Which do you prefer for queen-rearing, a
cell in which an egg was laid not less than
six days ago, or one in which an egg was laid
not more than four days ago !" Or, assum-
ing that the larva hatches from the egg in
three days, the iiuestion would be, " Which
do you prefer, a larva three days old or one 24
hours old ?"
July 16, at 10 a.m., I took from a nucleus
the only comb it had, which comb we will
call comb n. The iiueen in the nucleus had
been laying about a week, and during that
time had been confined to one comb, so I
could be morally certain that eggs had been
laid just before removal. The comb was
about two-thirds filled with brood and eggs.
I put it in an upper story of a strong colony
over an excluder, along with other unsealed
brood that had been there for some days, a
feeder being on top, so that it would be well
cared for.
July 18, at 10 a.m., I took from a nucleus
(in which was my best queen) its two brood-
combs, and gave it a comb that had not been
with a queen for more than a week. It had a
few cells of sealed l)rood, and its cells were
well polished, ready for immediate use. This
I called comb b.
July '22, at 10 a.m., 1 took from a full col-
ony its queen and all its brood, putting in the
center of the hive combs n and 6, and filling
Dec. 12, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE lOlWNAL
799
out the hive with combs coutaining some
honey. A feeder was on top.
The combs were thus put on an equal foot-
ing. so far as I could determine, nearly the
same amount of brood being in each comb, (t
having a little the most. Being side by side,
in the middle of the hive, neither one could
have an advantage in position.
.luly -'4, at 10 a.m., I examined comb « and
comb b. ( I must confess that I forgot to look
at them .July 23'.) On comb a I found one
cell started. On comb 6 there were "28, a few
of them not yet drawn out, only the cells
were enlarged. I may as well say here that
no other cells were started later, somewhat to
my surprise. Perhaps the bees thought it
was enough to start 29. All but one were
completed.
In this case the bees had their choice of
brood of all ages from eggs just laid to sealed
brood, exreptiiig larvic between the ages of
one and three days. If it were true that they
were in such haste for a queen that they
would select too old larvie, certainly one
would have expected comb a to have greatly
the preference, instead of their being content
with larvic so young as 24 hours. But their
general preference was for something younger
than the three-day larvie — not onlj' younger,
but very much younger. Just one cell was
started with a larva as old as three days. One
can not b^ positive as to the age of that one,
but one can be very positive as to the other
2S. July 24, when they were inspected, not a
larva on the comb could have been more than
three days old, as it is not possible that a cell
on that comb was at any time started with a
larva beyond that age. As they were all
started bet'urc 10 a.m. of that day, it is certain
that none of them could have been as much
as three days old, and probable that most of
them were much younger.
Some one may ask, " Why are you so per-
sistent in trying toshojv that the universally
accepted opinion Is wrong * What difference
does it make, anyway *'" The simple desire
to have the truth known ought to be incen-
tive enough. But there is something else that
makes it seem to me a matter of very great
consequence.
It is probable that not one in fifty of the
bee-keepers of the land takes the pains to use
the means that are now taught to be neces-
sary to secure the best queens, using cell-cups
and that sort of thing. Nor will they. It
looks like too formidable an affair. So 4i1
out of the .'>0 might be supposed to talk some-
thing after this fashion :
" I am told I ought to breed from my best
stock. I can make queenless the colony hav-
ing my best queen, and start queen-eels
galore, and from these I can have all the
queens I want. But if I do that the bees will
select larvi¥ too good for old queens, and I
can't use the complicated plans that queen-
breeders use, so all I can do is to go on as I
have done." And that means to have hi.?
increase and his queens from swarming colo-
nies instead of honey-gathering colonies. And
so the persistence of the fallacy that queen-
less bees prefer too old larvip cheats that man
out of the chance of easily improving his
stock.
He should be told the truth in something
like these words:
"A queenless colony will rarely, if ever,
prefer larv;t too old for good queens. None
of the most improved methods of modern
times will produce queens a whit better than
those the bees will rear in a colony you have
made queenless, so long as they have young
enough larva- to select from, .\tter the larvic
have become too old they may still start cells,
and these will produce poor i|ueens. If you
give to a nucleus or a colony two or three
good-looking cells, there is small chance of a
poor queen. Or you may give to the ([ueen-
less colony a fresh frame of brood and eggs
flveorsi.x days after being made queenless,
and then you need have no fear of poor cells
on any of the previous frames." — Dk. C. C.
MiLLEii, in (Meanings in Bee-Culture.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
We can furnish you with The A. I. Root Co'8
goods at wholesale cjr retail at their prices. We can
) you treiKht. and ship promptly. Market price
" ' " IT lyiil catalog.
nch, Wayne Co.. Mich
Flease mention Bee Journal when ■writing
CONVENTION NOTICES.
New York.— The 3sth semi-annual meeting of
the Seneca County Bee-Keepers" Association,
will be held at the Bevier House, Romulus,
N.Y., Saturday, Dec. 14, 10(11, at 10 a.m. 1:30 p.m.
Hon. R. L. Taylor, of Michigan, will be pres-
ent and address the meetiner. "Queen-Reariag"
discussion opened by Ira Wilson and C. J. Bald-
ridge: ''Repairing Old Hives or Obtaining New
Ones," J. C. Howard and H. L. McLellan. Din-
ner will be served at the Bevier House, special
rates having been secured.
Fked S. Emens, Pres.
C. B. HowAKD, Sec.
il So
etv
Vermnnt — The State Horticu
and the Vermont Bee-Keepers" Association, wi
hold a joint meeting at Vergennes, Dec. 17 an
18. 1901. M. F. Cram, Sec.
W.Brookfleld, Vt.
Wisconsin — The Wisconsin State Bee-Keep-
ers' Association will hold its annual convention
Jn the State Capitol, at Madison, Feb. .^ and I.,
1902. This promises to be a large convention.
All are invited to attend. There will be excur-
sion rates of 1' i fare for the round-trip, good
for all of the first week in February.
N. E. Fksnck, Pres. Aha L. Pickard, Sec.
Michigan.— The Michigan State Bee-Keepers'
Association will meet in convention at Petos-
key, Jan. 1 and .;, I'lo:;. This promises to be the
most largely attended meeting of the Associa-
tion in years. You are invited to attend. Re-
duced rates on all railroads; tickets can be
bought Dec. 30 and Jan. 1. good to return not
later than Jan. 4. There will be no set program,
but another of our "open congress " meetings.
Those who have attended in the past know
what that means, and those that don't should
come and find out. A novel design for badge
has been ordered in honor.of "Petoskey."
Geo. E. Hilton, Pres.
New York- — Bee-Keepers' meetings and insti-
tutes will be held in this State as follows:
Rochester. Dec. 11: Canandaigua, Dec. 12 and
13; Romulus, Dec. 14; Auburn, Dec. 17; Fonda,
Dec. IS. These institutes are held under the
auspices of the Bureau of Farmers' Io.stitutes,
and will be conducted by prominent bee-keepers
and speakers from home and abroad. Bee-keep-
ers are urged to attend and show by their pres-
ence that they appreciate these institiltes, other-
wise they will be discontinued.
W. F. Marks,
Pres. New York Ass'u of Bee-Keepers'Societies
6omb and Ex-
tracted Honeu!
kind and qua
R. A. BURNETT & CO., 19') S. Water St.", Chicago
33Atf Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pay highest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Wi'u
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Comb Uoney and Bees-
wa.\. State price de-
a H. 11. WEBER,
43Atf 214<,-214,h Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
The Sure Hatch. — We are in receipt of the
Sure Hatch Incubator Compan"s fifth annual
catalog. It is a book of some l(i6 pages, over
200 illustrations, and contains a vast amount of
poultry information, plans for poultry-houses,
yards, etc., chapters on practical poultry-rais-
ing, and how to make money on a small invest-
ment, etc. T^ook up their ad. on another patre,
and write them, and mention that you saw their
ad. in the American Bee Journal.
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets Dec. 24, 25 and 31,1"H)1,
and Jan. 1, Jy02, at rate of a fare and
a third for the round-trip to any point
located in Central Passeng^er Associa-
tion territory, account Christmas and
New Year Holidays. Return limit in-
cluding Jan. 2. l'H)2. Through service
to New York City, Boston, and other
Eastern points. Chicago Passenger
Station, Van ISuren St. and Pacific
Ave., on the Elevated Loop. For fur-
ther information address John Y. t';il-
ahan, (Jeneral Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 46— 49A41
>1 >li >Jt >K. >!t >K. >li >te >ti >li Jte. Sit afe i*
IfiONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Nov. 19.— Honey is selling fairly
well at about the prices that have prevailed for
the last 2 months, viz: choice grades of white
comb honey, 14K<i}'lSc; good to No. 1, 14c; and
light amber, 13c, with darker grades, 10@12c.
Extracted, white, S}^("7c; amber, S't^S-'ic ac-
cording to quality, flavor and package. Bees-
wa.x good demand at 2Hc.
R. A. BtJRNETT & Co.
Cincinnati, Oct. 2.^.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
E.itracted sells only to manufacturers from
S&oc; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6@7c; white clover from 8^9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from i2^(q)15hic.
C. H. W. Wbbbr.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 25.— Honey in good de
tjiand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late they only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, lSfel(,c; mixed,
UfgtXSc: buckwheat, 12W13C. Extracted, white,
t>ii@~}4c; mixed, b@6>4c. H.R.Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25. — New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Ct)lorado, and selling at $3.50 per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4>^(ai4iic per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Pevcke Bros.
New York, Nov. 8.— Comb honey is in good
demand, and while the market is not over-
stocked, receipts are sufficient to supply the de-
mand. Fancy white sells at ISc, with an occa-
sional sale at l(,c for attr.active lots; No. 1,
white, at 14c; No. 2, at 13c; fancy buckwheat
lltollj^c; No. 1 and 2 at from lOiauiJ^c. Ex-
tracted remains quiet at from f.(<it,Lic for white,
and S}4<(}5^iC for amber. Very little demand
foi^ dark at SXfeSMc. Beeswax cjuiet at from
27(al28c. HlLDRBTH & SeGKLKEN.
Boston, Nov. 20.— The demand for honev is
easing up, somewhat due in part to the holiday
season at which time it is much neglected.
Our market at the present time runs 16c for
strictly fancy in cartons; No. 1, 14(aiSc; Xo. 2,
12^(a)13c. Extracted, light amber, 7^(.istic-
amber, 7c. Blake. Scott & Las. *
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail way ' at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept.-l. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Cha.nev.
Detroit, Oct. 2S.—Fancv white comb honey
14@lSc; No. 1, I3@14c; no dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6^7c. Beeswax, 25('i 26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son.
San Francisco, Nov. 2s.— White comb, 11®
12'A cents; amber, sfSiOc; dark, 6@7 cents. Ex-
traded, white, S}i(^t,c: light amber, 4«@5c;
amber, 4@ — , Beeswax, 26(a^2sc.
Not much doiug in this center, but there are
no large stocks here of any description, and cur-
rent values are being, as a rule, well main-
tained. There is more moving outward at pres-
ent from southern producing points than from
here. Some apiarists are reported holding back
supplies, anticipating better prices in the
spring.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15(S)16c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at f3.10(d)$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14(ai45^c; the demand beinir quite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way SM'*6c is quotable.
Pevcke Bros.
:\m RAISED POULTRY
"'" S KKsT. Aiwnys strong and vl(ror-
<I l.n.sl« healthy frt.Hk. \^>^hlponIy fBrm
li. <..t our new pot.Krv Guldi- and make big
1 i«Hiltr>-. Worth #26. W eenlf rotily IGc
JOHN BAUSCHER, JR., BOX 94 FREEPORT.ILL.
Pleas© mentlDn Bee Journal -when wrltine.
800
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Dec. 12, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
H1V68. Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Pounda-
tlon are abead of everything-, and cost no more
than other makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keeper free. Address.
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
F IS" W. M. Gerrish, East Noting-ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee Journal when -writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing for use in
catching and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1-00; or for $1.10 we will
mail the uee Journal one yea«
and the Clipping Device. Address,
GEORQE W. VORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
24111"
year
Dadant's Foundation, fm
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS. No SAQQINa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEEO^PROCESS SHEETINO.
Why does it sell ^^
so well? ^^
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because In 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
Send name for our Catalog-, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-Bee — Re\/ised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, llanHlton, Hancock Co., III.
^^^j^^j sijf ^r^^^^^^r^^^
Please mention Bee Journal ■when ■writing.
Oniclf Delivery,
tliaii San Antnnio.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song—
and Money"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by QEORQE W. YORK.
This song was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
«'THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
■Written by
Eugene Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Texas Bee-Keepers.
We beg to announce the opening of a Ijranch office and warehouse at
438 W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Mi'diiia in h-ss than ear-load lots are high, and it talics a long time for a local shipment lo
reach Soutliern Texas points.
To secure these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
livery— and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
C!nn Antnnin on 0 Iiternational and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
odll nillOIllD do d tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
QlllTmillfr nnitlt San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
OUipiil^'Pllll. Pacific Express Companies.
fllir M/lllIllTPr'! ^^ have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
UUl lilQlla}!,Cibi Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, .Jr., both of whom are well known to the
bee-lieepers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
bee-keeping and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
prompt, careful attention.
Dnr Pnnill as usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
UUl trUUUSi We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that otir policy of "the best goods '' is a correct
one.
flllP PfltslniT ^^^y tCT" changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
UUl udldlUg,. your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
are made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, it any, you will secure the
ijenefit bv ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
fllir TllUitiltinil whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
UUl lllVlldliUlli make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not eciualed elsewhere in Texas. You will also find on file the leading bee-journals to
pasB pleasantly your leisure time.
Some of you may read Spanish, or hare a bee-keeping friend who|does.
If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Spanisli Catalog,
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St.. • CHICAGO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
FACTORY AND HOME OFFICE:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street.
XOEPPEK^VKI.^' & WALI'ON, Managers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. ^t4ii^.^$\t'C^''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS^ SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
iijAEme%
DEE JOURNAL
CHICAGO, ILL. DECEMBER 19, 1901,
FORTY-FIRST YEAR
No. SI.
AMERICAN BEE jOUPNAL
Bee. 19, 1901.
PrBLISHED W
GEORGE W. YORK 8 COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. Y9rk, - - Editor-in-Chief.
E^i^'kA-sTT '''''"'' i Department
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. UU a year, in the United States, Can-
ada, and Mexico; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a j'ear extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance,
*'dec01" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to paj- subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OBJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
F,
Whitcomb,
Thos. G. Nevvmaj
W
Z. HnTCHINSON,
G. M. DOOLITTLE,
A
I. Root,
W. F. Marks,
K
T.Abbott,
J. M. Hambaugh,
P.
H. Elwood,
C. P. Dadant,
E
K. Root,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AlKlN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Ohi.
Eugene Secor, General Manager and Treas-
urer, Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
2^** If more convenient. Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat-lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale.
Note. — One reader writes:
" I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
^ood idea forevery bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
give the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith Is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office
of the American Bee Journal.
4i^il>\l/\t/\li\^/\i/ili\t/VI/ilAl/\l/\l/\l/\l/\lii^
BEST=
I uimM Honeu For sale i
^ ALL IN 60 POUND TIN CANS. ^
Alfalfa
Honey JV
This is the famous
White Exiractetl
Honey gathered in
the jrreat AlfaU;i
regions of the Cent
ral West. It is n
splendid honey, and
nearly everybod\
who cares to eai
honey at all can'i
get. enough of the
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey JTc
Thii
is the
ell-
known light-colored
honey gathered from
the rich, nectar-
laden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
Alfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
•.^ Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Money: ^
vS A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post- ^
.^ a.ge. By freight — two or more 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, Tls cents per ^'.
^ pound. Basswood Honey, }i cent more per pound than Alfalfa prices. S^
:^ Cash must accompany each order. You can order half of each kind of 2;
'.^ honey, if j'ou so desire. The cans are two in a box, and freight is not ^',
^5 prepaid. ^
'^ ^*
^ Order the Above Honey and then Sell It. >:
!^ We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce ^!
^ enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the S^
vS, above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get £;
.■.»[ this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere. ^i
\z\ QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111. S'.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side— Three Bees on the other side.
Your Name on the Knife.— When ordering-, be sure to say just what name and
address you wish put on the Knile.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies in the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as glass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber, and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, aud Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest English razor-steel, and we war-
rant every blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
corrode. The rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
the back springs of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
above. It will last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the " Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so fot-
tunate as to have one of the *' Novelties," \-our Pocket-Knife will serve as an identifier; and ia
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
How appropriate this knife is for a present! What more lasting memento could a mother
give to a son, a wife to a husband, a sister to a brother, or a lady to a gentleman, the knife having
the name of the recipient od oue side?
The accompanying cu( gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this^beautiful knife, as the ** Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Yaluable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending usiriREE new subsckibers to the Bee Journal (with $."^00.) We will club the Novelty
Knife and the Bee Journal for one year, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK L CO.
4®"Please alloy '»bout two weeks for your knife order to be filiea.
St, Chicago, IlL
A Merry Christmas to all Our Readers*
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ILL,, DECEMBER 19, 1901,
No. 51.
I « Editorial. * \
That Hoary Lie about the adulteration
of comb hooey seems still to retain much
vigor. Here is a sample of its cat-like vitality,
kindly sent to us by Chas. F. Hoser and others :
On my vacation in Michigan last summer I
got some real honey — the real sweet kind,
with a comb that chews up beeswaxy.. It
was so good that for three months after I
came back I tried to get, in Chicago, some
honey, but I could not find it. Of course,
every grocery store had what it said was
strictly pure honey, in the nicest looking
combs — too nice looking; it was plain that it
was all manufactured. A few days ago my
grocer told me he had some real honey this
time. I was certain of tliat, too. as soon as I
saw it. I have worked with bees and know
the ear-marks of their handiwork, and that
comb was just irregular enough, imperfect
enough in places to fool me. I bought two
pounds. And when I got it home and took a
mouthful the honey was not very sweet — it
was a poor grade of glucose; and the comb
melted in my mouth — it was paraflin.
No fading away of vigor about that, is
there ? Indeed, it has gained a robustness
that exceeds its former self; for in former
stages it only claimed that a minor part of
the comb honey ii? Chicago was adulterated;
now there is none of the genuine to be found
in Chicago, although it be sought carefully
for three months !
The amazing part about it is that this vig-
orous slander is not found in some obscure
place, spoken by some ignoramus in the coun-
try grocery at the crossroads, but it is an
opinion delivered in all seriousness before a
body of supposedly brainy men. It is an ex-
tract from a paper read Ijy the proprietor of
the Farmer's Call, at the annual meeting of
the National Agricultural Press League, and
published in that sprightly periodical, Agri-
cultural Advertising, published by Frank B.
White Co. Mr. Frank B. White is well known
as a man of untarnished reputation, and the
soul of honor. Taken altogether, after so
many years of battling with a great wrong,
bee-keepers may be excused for feeling just a
little discouraged as to getting anything like
a semblance of justice.
More may be said of this hereafter.
Influence of the Queen,— There has
been some discussion as to wliether the i|iieen
or the workers has the most intluence upon
the character of young royalty, some asserting
that when black workers rear a tiueen from
the egg of an Italian queen it would be the
same as if reared by Italian queens, while
others say the black nurses make of it a dif-
ferent being. Very far from this last view is
that put forth in this country and in Europe,
that a queen not only influences the character
of her own offspring, but produces in some
way, by her presence, a direct change upon
the workers of another queen. The assertion
is made that when the queen of a very cross
colony is removed, and a queen of gentle
stock introduced, not only will the colony be
gentle when all the old workers have died
off, but the crossness will all disappear within
two or three weeks from the introduction of
the new sovereign; in other words, while the
bees of the cross colony are daily hatching
out, and as yet there is hot a single worker of
the new colony.
As the newspapers saj-, "This needs con-
firmation ;'' and it would be well if those
who have the opportunity would observe at
what time a change of deportment may be
seen when a gentle queen is put in place of a
cross one.
♦^
Brood-Frame End-Spacers. — Opin-
ions of bee-keepers are notso diametrically op-
posite as to many things as they are about the
change made in frames which shortens the
top-bars and depends upon staples driven into
the end-bars to hold the frames in place
lengthwise. Some claim that the change is a
real boon. The bee-space at the ends of the
top-bars prevents deposition of glue at that
point, making it much easier to handle the
frames. Others say the staples are constantly
driven further in, and as soon as driven in
far enough there is the worst kind of trouble.
The difference in the thickness of top-bars or
end-bars may account for the difference of
opinion. With a top-bar less than half an
inch in thickness, and a 14-inch end-bar, the
staple will not be Hrmly held, and will soon
be out of place. With a thick end-bar, or
with a top-bar so thick that the staple will be
driven through the end-bar into the top-bar,
there ought to be little or no trouble.
A .Swarming .Story. — The following has
been sent to us as the report of something
remarkable;
A Bee Stort.- James D. Noland, an SO-
j'ear old farmer of Pike townshij), has had
an unusual experience in his apiary this
month. On Sunday, .June il, a swarm of
bees came from one of his hives, and on Mon-
day, Tuesday and Wednesday following,
swarms came out of the same hive— four
swarms in tour consecutive days. Mr. Noland
succeeded in saving all of Iheni, and all were
large, vigorous swarms, and are reported
doing well al this time. This is a bee-swarm-
ing story not likely to be beaten. — Coshocton
Democrat.
There is nothing remarkable In having four
swarms on four successive days from the
same colony. When bees are allowed to
swarm at their own sweet will, there may be
a prime swarm, and then three or four after-
swarnis, possibly five or six. If anything
should happen to the old queen, or if for any
reason she should not be able to accompany
the swarm, the prime swarm would return,
and a week or more later a swarm would
issue with the first young queen; and this
would be likely to be followed by several
after-swarms. But it is an unusual thing for
any swarm after the second swarm to be a
large one, and to have four swarms in succes-
sion from the same colony all " large, vigor-
ous swarms," would be something so farout
of the usual that one may be excused for
supposing that there was in the case a re-
porter with a " large, vigorous " imagination.
Control of Fertilization, if secured,
might not bring all the success expected from
it. In a former number of this journal
Adrian Getaz wrote :
" If we could breed from an individual
drone of our choice, how could we tell that
this drone would give better workers than
that one i"
Quoting this, Mr. Simpson, in the Bee-
Keepers' Review, calls it an overwhelming
truth, and says:
"That is the fundamental fact on which
I base my contention that fertilization in con-
finement is not the suic qua nun (without-
which-nothing) of successful queea-bnediitg.'"
'When to E.vtract Honey. — A writer
in Gravenhorst's Bztg. says: " I extract from
combs that are mostly sealed. In order to
find in the lower part of the comb, where the
cells are yet unsealed, honey sufficiently ripe,
I use the morning hours for extracting. Early
in the morning there is found in the combs
no thin nectar to shake out easily and excite
robbing. All the nectar gathered the previous
day is soitirwfmt thickened. If several rainy
days occur, then the morning of the first
fiight-day after the rainy spell will find the
unsealed honey as thick as that which is
sealed."
' Weeliiy Budget. '
i
"vr^sTvr^K
The Michigan Convention is to be held
Jan. 1 and 'J, liK)2, at Petoskey. Wo have
received a very cordial invitatioii to attend,
and accompanying it there was one of the
most beautiful badges we have seen in a long
time. We would like very much to be there.
804
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Dec. 19, 1901.
but it is quite impossible for us to leave oiii'
office at that season of the year.
A number of the more prominent bee-keep-
ers are to be present, and no tloubt one of the
best conventions of the ,vear will result.
Pres. George E. Hilton knows how to plan for
a successful meeting. There will be reduced
rates on all the railroads leading to Petoskey.
See particulars on another page.
The closing paragraph of the letter we re-
ceived, reads as follows :
There is no place like these conventions for
exchanging views, receiving and imparting
knowledge, and, as we are all more or less
dependent on each other, let us meet in that
spirit of friendship and harmony that has
always prevailed at our meetings, and make
it possible for us to go back to our homes
and tell our friends that we were glad we
went; that it was just that "feast of reason
and flow of soul '' that we needed.
Better go, if you can, and help make it tlie
best that the Michigan Association ever held.
Beginning with the Buffalo convention, there
have been some good meetings of Ijee-keepers
this year. The Colorado, Chicago, Minne-
sota, and Ontario, were all exceptionally fine
ones, we understand. Of course, we know
that the Chicago was all right, as all will
agree when they read the full report to be
published in these columns later.
Apiary of the Misses Yount is shown
on our first page of this week. There are 7
hives that do not show. The girl with the
mandolin in her hand is MissAdnah; the
other is her older sister, Miss Audrey. These
young lady bee-keepers hope by another fall
to send us a picture showing 60 colonies.
Miss Audrey now owns 6 colonies, and Adnah,
21 colonies. We wish them every success in
their effort to become leading bee-keepers in
their great State.
Mk. W. A. Pbtal, whose bees are in Ala-
meda Co., Calif., writing us Dec. B, had this
to say :
I was over to the old place yesterday, and I
noticed that the bees were working as merrily
as they would be in March. They find many
kinds of flowers to work upon. The winter
has been a mild one so far. We have had no
really cold weather yet. This morning has
been the first cold day so far this season.
You may know how warm it has been when
I inform you that tomato plants are still
green and fresh in the open ground. Calla
lilies are growing grandly, and blooming as
if it were spring.
In this portion of the State the rains so far
have been liberal — I might say, abundant.
Within the fraction of an inch the rainfall
has been the same as up to the same time last
year. The difference in the two years is that
it has not been so cold, and we have not had
so much tog, though for a day or two last
week we had fog that was worse than any-
thing we had for years past. It was in one of
these fogs one ferry boat on San Francisco
Bay ran into and sank her sister boat of the
same ferry. This was the first accident of the
kind in over 20 years; the former was not
attended with loss of life, while four are
accounted as lost in this last disaster.
I noticed by last night's paper tliat the
lower counties of the State have lieen having
some heavy fogs, too. One of the very best
counties in the State prides itself on the
amount of its fogs. This county has an
abundant crop every year. I refer to Sonoma
county, a short distance north of this city.
The^south has had but little rain so far, as
the reports show, but in good time I am sure a
fair amount of rain will visit that portion of
the State. W. A. Pkyal.
I The Buffalo Convention. |
f5 Report of the Proceedings of the Thirty-
•"? Convention of the National Bee-Kee
^-Second Annual ^
■Keepers' Asso- ^
ciation, held at Buffalo, New York, S'-
Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^
^/(fi(f>ff>(fvfy(fy(fy(f\(fy(f\ff>(f>(f\(f>(fy(fy(f\(f>(fy(fy(f>(f>(f\(»y(t>s^
(Coutiuued from page 700.j
FEEDING BEKS FOR WINTEK.
''Would heavy candied combs of
honey alone, be safe to winter bees on,
or cakes of candy alone, be safe, with-
out any combs of honey? "
A. I. Root -I think the most success-
ful feeding' I did was with cakes of
maple sugar. I have taken late colon-
ies in the fall with almost no combs at
all, and laid cakes of maple sugar over
the frames and wintered them all right.
But there is a good deal of difficulty
about wintering bees without combs; if
the candy gets damp and sticky, the
bees will stick to it and will die, and if
they get the dysentery they will die.
Candied honey is not exactly satisfac-
tory, but sometimes it will answer. In
sugar feeding, sometimes the sugar
candied in the combs, and I have
known the bees to let a lot out on the
bottom and then seem to die for want
of moisture. The difficult thing is to
furnish enougli moisture along with
the feed. Up here in New York State
where you have colonies by the hun-
dreds or thousands you cannot bother
with candied honey. Maple sugar is a
very nice thing to build up colonies
where they are short of stores. I put
it on in the fall and left it on all during
the winter, and in the spring when
they have been short of stores I have
put it over the frames to stimulate
them. One of our most successful bee-
keepers in Ohio wrote to me that she
had 50 or 60 colonies of bees and they
were short of stores. I told her to buy
cakes of maple sugar and put over the
combs, and she said that she had one
of the biggest yields that they had in
Ohio. She attributed it to the maple
sugar, but it needs watching and care.
BEE-STINGS AND THEIR REMEDIES.
"What can we do if badly stung?
Should every bee-keeper have a bottle
of ammonia? How is it administered?
What is to be done to a horse when
badly stung? "
W. L. Coggshall — I never had any
horse stung.
Mr. Niver — I cover up so I don't get
stung.
W. L. Coggshall^-I feel as if I had
been very successful in that line. I
have handled a good many bees and we
haven't had any accidents yet.
A Member — My mother was very
badly stung at one time when she hived
a swarm of bees, and they gave her
salt and water to keep the poison from
her stomach as much as possible, and
we saved her life in that way. It was
done by a professional nurse.
Mr. Alpaugh — I have a remedy from
an outsider that doesn't keep bees, that
is a complete one, which is simply a
little coal-oil.
Mr. Baldridge — My son was stung
when very much heated, just under the
chin, and so much affected that he
swelled all over. We sent for the doc-
tor at once, but before he arrived my
son vomited and the swelling went
down at once.
Mr. Longnecker — A remedy which
I have seen used is to bathe the part
with a strong solution of soda. It is
very cooling and satisfactory.
Mr. McEvoy — The doctors generally
recommend aromatic spirits of am-
monia, half a teaspoonful ; and if it
doesn't work in a few minutes — don't
wait long — repeat it.
Dr. Mason — I believe that whiskey is
better than ammonia.
Mr. Fuller — My remedy is chloro-
form. Just a few whiffs inhaled al-
ways relieves me.
SECTION SIZE — BLEACHING HONEY.
" Which is preferable, the A%, or the
4x5 section ? "
Dr. Mason — That depends upon local-
ity.
"Can extracted honey be bleached ?
If so, how ? "
W. J. Craig — It can be improved.
We have had extracted honey exposed
in a room where the sunshine could
penetrate and we found that the honey
which we had exposed in that way was
much lighter within a week than the
same honey which was confined in a
dark place. We put it in 5 or 10 lb.
cans.
EXTRACTING HONEY — COMB HONEY
GRANULATING.
"In running for extracted honej-,
should one spread the combs, and then
when uncapping cut deep ? "
W. L. Coggshall — I spread six or
seven combs and uncap them evenly.
" What is the cause of comb honey in
sections becoming granulated soon
after being removed from the hive, or
much earlier in the season than in
former years, in some localities ? "
Mr. Fuller — My experience is with
comb honey, if you will keep it at a
temperature of about 92 to 95 degrees
it won't granulate.
COMB-HONEV BEES.
" What strain of bees is the most
profitable for comb honey ? "
Mr. Alpaugh — I would say a good
cross between Italian and a black.
Blacks are very good of themselves,
but I don't like them, for the reason
that they are a little awkward to
handle ; but I do think that a good
cross between an Italian and a black
would be all right.
Mr. Baldridge — I like good yellow-
colored Italians for all purposes.
Mr. West — The best that I have seen
Dec. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-
SOS
for the past two years was a cross be-
tween the Carniolans and the Italian.
Huber Root — I have found a cross
between a Carniolan and an Italian a
good cross.
Mr. Fuller — lean get the best results
by having full-blooded Italian queens
and let them mate as they please.
Mr. Greiner, chairman of the com-
mittee on the score card, then handed
in their report, but not being quite
completed it was left in the commit-
tee's hands to be completed and for-
warded to the secretary.
Mr. McEvoy moved that the report
be adopted as read. Mr. Smith seconded
the motion, which was carried.
The convention then adjourned to
meet at 8 p.m., at the Epworth Hotel,
in Joint Session with the American
Pomological Society.
(Continued next week.)
Condensed Report of the Illi-
nois Bee-Keepers' Conven-
tion.
The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation met at Springfield, Nov. 19 and
20, 1901, and was called to order by Pres.
J. Q. Smith. The forenoon session
was mostly spent in visiting and get-
ting acquainted, except the usual pre-
liminaries— secretary's report, and re-
ports of committees.
The afternoon session was called to
order by Vice-Pres. S. N. Black.
DARK UNCANDIED HONEY.
" What is the dark mixture in honey
that does not candy ? " was asked. It
was too hard a question to receive an
answer till Mr. Smith came in. He
said his bees stored quite a lot of that
kind of honey one year, and he found.
on the alighting-board, dust from the
milk-weed, and there was a great field
of the weeds in full bloom ; and he
found his bees working on it strong.
Mr. Black — I have seen bees fastened
on milk-weed blossoms, and dead.
Mr. Smith— That honey did not
candy.
I-'KRTILIZATION OF WORKER-KGGS.
Geo. Poindexter had illustrations of
his own pointing in evidence of the
Wagner theory of the fertilization of
the worker-eggs, and not of the same
for the drones. He thought the theory
was correct.
Mr. Black did not think the theory
was correct, as he had seen where the
queen had laid fertile eggs in cells so
near the edge of the comb as not to
have depth enough to cause the con-
traction of the queen's abdomen in de-
positing them; others had seen the same
thing.
HONEY- DKW, ETC,
'■ Is there such a thing as real honey-
dew, aside from the so-called ' bug-
juice ? ' "
Many illustrations were given to
prove that there was, and it was unani-
mously decided that there was real
honeydew honey, and that of good
quality.
"Do bees always select their place
of destination before swarming ? "
Arguments were advanced to prove
both sides, and the question is still
open for argument. Mr. Black cited a
case where bees surely went 20 miles
across a prairie.
SECOND DAY.
The meeting was called to order by
Pres. Smith, and a discussion was
opened on the premium list. Mr. Black
moved that the executive committee,
which is the President, Secretary and
Treasurer of the Association, be made
the premium-list committee, and that
the revision of the same be left to them.
Carried.
Mr. Becker moved that the meeting
proceed to election of oflicers for the
ensuing year, which was carried, and
■resulted as follows :
President— J. Q. Smith ; 1st Vice-
Pres. — Miss L. C. Kennedy ; 2nd Vice-
Pres. — S. N. Black ; 3rd Vice-Pres. —
A. N. Draper ; 4th Vice-Pres. — George
Poindexter ; .^th Vice-Pres. — P. J. Eng-
land, Secretary — Jas. A. Stone. R. R. 4,
Springfield; Treasurer — Chas. Becker.
CELI.ARVVINTKKING OF BEES.
" Is it best to put bees into the cellar
in this latitude ?"
Several said no, not if well protected.
Mr. Smith — I just take slats out of
the super, cover the brood-frames with
a piece of gunny, then fill the super
with dry leaves, and I never lose any.
LONGER-TONGUED BEES.
Mr. Draper — "Do we need longer-
tongued bees ? "
Mr. Black — Yes. The reason our
Italians store honey from red clover is
that our soil is so worn that it does not
produce clover-heads as large, with as
deep cups, as it did of old.
Secretary — I think the whole cause is
the energy of Italian bees, that force
the cups open so that they reach the
nectar just as easily in the largest
heads as in the small ones. I have
watched them and seen them go as
readily to the largest heads as to any
other.
Mr. England — I think we need longer-
tongued bees.
Messrs. Smith, England and Poin-
dexter reported good crops of honey
this year.
The executive committee chose for
the date of the meeting naxt year, the
third week in November, Tuesday and
Wednesday, the 18th and 19th.
On motion the convention adjourned.
Jas. A. Stonb, Sec.
t.^,i*^it.f*.M.M^fi^ii^ii^fi,^tt
Contributed Articles, i
x-^srvi^ffCK
No. 4.-APICILTIIRE AS A BUSINESS.
Localities With Limited Pollen Supply— Slow
Flows and Effects— Why Failures Are Made,
and the Far-Reaching- Effects.
BY R. C. AIKIN.
IKAVE previously referred to a fact which I tlniik i.s jjcn-
erally conceded, that alfalfa is a slow yiclder of honey, and,
so far as I know, I have never seen a bee with a plump
pellet of alfalfa pollen. I think if bees were to depend upun
alfalfa pollen they would starve, if a lack of it would starve a
colony. In the matter of pollen, there is never a suiierabun-
dance of it in my locality — and this is true of many other C'ol-
ora<lo fieUl.s, and at times there is a dearth of it both in and
out of the hives.
P()ll(Mi, in early spring, has much to do in the matter of
building up a colony, and have them in good condition when
the How comes. Here, there is no pollen in the tiehU until
about April lo, nor is there much, often none, in the hive,
either. To supply the ni-ed, bees are greedy for anythin!; in the
nature of flour, fretlinir into chop-feed bins, into horse feed
troughs, mills and granaries, in fact wherever any floury
substance is found. 1 have seen them raking dust out of rot-
ten wood, sawdust, and such. Unless the matter is looked
after by the apiarist, his stock is behind, and that is what
happens with bee-keepers who are not apiarists.
Tliere is also a considerable part of all the spring uu to .June
10 to 15 in which there is no nectar coming in. I call at-
tention to these facts to show that it is business to look after
details, more so when Nature does not provide these. To allow
a colony to lie in a listless condition through the weeks just
preceding a honey-flow is not business, yet there is more
or less of that condition in onr springs here unless obviated
liy the apiarist. Some writers advocate a severe letting alone
in the spring, saying nothing is gained by opening of hives,
feeding or manipulating. If your field has supplied plenty of
pollen in the fall, and if in the early spring and generally pre-
vious to the honey-flow there is pollen and nectar coming in to
stimulate breeding; and, if there is enough open comb in the
right position to keep the cpieen fully supplie<l with hiying-
roora, then there is not much gained by manipulation or feed-
ing. It is a business matter to know the things that tend to
make a success, and getting hosts of bees before the honoyr
flow is one of the biggest things of the business, and is not
Jooked after by the average apiarist.
Having failed to get as many bees as might have been ob-
tained, the flow begins with weak colonies. Supers will be
put on, hut work will not be begun in them, and apiarists— or
rather, bei-keepers — wonder why the bees are not doing much.
They are packing the brood-combs with honey, and while the
<)ueen wants lo lay freely she cannot because she has no more
empty comb in the brood-chamber, and they go about with
sacs full of Fioney, secrete wa.\ freely, start r|ueen-cu])s, fei'd
thi'ir limiteil ;imountof hir,: I freely, queen lays in the queen
806
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Dec. 19, -.9(11.
cups, and so swarming conditions go on rapidly. TliR colony
not having become stronjr enouijh to go out freely into sections,
the conditions for swarming develop the more rapidly, and
much swarming and little honey results.
Let me make a contrast. Suppose a honey-flow comes
with a rush, and in about 5 or 6 days the hrood-chamber is
full. This, with the great activity and overburdened honey-
sacs, crowds the bees to the supers. It is a fact, that colonies
that will not touch super-work with a slow flow, in a more
rapid flow but other conditions equal, will go right into the
sections. Here also is another fact, when the flow is too weak
or slow to cause the colony to enter the super, a few more bees
added will accomplish the result. If this be true, then we can
understand how I may get a medium or fair crop when some
one near me, not taking advantage of the stimulating features
that may be applied to advantage in this locality, would not
have any marketable honey.
I know that my part of Colorado, and some other parts,
too. do have these slow, tedious honey-flows. While in the
white clover and basswood regions apiarists have rapid spurts
of honey-flow, in which one or more supers will be filled in as
many weeks, and even very much less time, we here find our
super-work going much more slowly. I find that for one flow
that will fill two supers in a month, there are several that do
less. I also find that a colony that swarms, and new swarms
as well, do not one in five, nor more than once in five years,
give me a profitable yield. Swarming colonies, to be i rofit-
able, (e.xcept to sell the increase to prospective apiarists at big
prices), must be doubled, or hived in contracted brood-cham-
bers. So true is this that I say, emphatically, the person pay-
ing $5 a colony for bees, and then allowing the bees to swarm
and not practicing some method of contracting or doiibline:
colonies to get. strength, cannot make the business at all profit-
able.
I want to repeat and empasize, that when the honey-flow
is slow and intermittent, very much more skill is required in
management if one gets a fair product, both in finish and
quantity. As intimated hereinbefore, as the flow is slow or
weak the colonies must be of greater strength, both to get
them to work in the supers at all, and to get quality and finish.
A rapid, full and steady flow ca\ises wo'-k to begin more evenly
through a super, and not only to be begun, but to go on I'egu-
larly and evenly ; but. in contrast with this, when the flow is
weak and nectar coming in slowly no matter whether the slow
work is caused l)y a weak colony or a lack of nectar, the work
is of a very irregular and unsaiisfactory character. The re-
sults are so marked that in the hands of an expert apiarist
these weak flows may be made to i.roduce good, marketable
honey that brings fair to good prices; while in the hands of
those not learned in the science, the product, if marketaole at
all, must be a drug upon the market and at bottom prices.
I do not write thes(^ things to keep people from going into
the business, but that when they do go in they do it more care-
fully and intelligently. People entering the business and upon
business principles, and handling it in a way to succeed, need
be no detriment to others in the business ; but to rush in and
fail, injures not only themselves, but others dependent upon
them, and the general public, and damages very materially
others in the same business. If a failure affects solely the per-
son making it, then the good-will towards others and desire
that they be kept from snftering and distress, would be the
only reason why we need concern ourselves about the mat-
ter; but the person making a failure makes it harder for
others, in several ways. A failure in any enterprise leaves
the person failing less able to buy other products — he is less of
a help in a community, hei-ause he has not money nor ability
to make a community prosperous. Usually, a business failure
leaves the one failing unable to pay all his bills, and these un-
paid bills cripple and injure others in their business
Just no* I have in mind a man who this past summer en-
gaged to take care of a lot of bees for my neighbor. He came
to me to buy hives, and was sure he wanted .5i>, for, said he,
" There are .oD colonies and they will all swarm at leastonce.''
He did not have the money, but would pay September I. I
suppose he intended to sell honey to pay for the hives, and had
great visions of the income he was to get from those bees.
The time is now six weeks past the date at which he was to pay,
and payment not made. 1 do not think his crop of honey will
pay even the expenses for supplies, while he has nothing for
time and trouble, and this, too, when I persuaded him that he
would best not buy more than 2.i hives instead of the .tO he
wanted. He did not use even the 'Ih. 1 am out the cost of
25 hives. The man owes me the price of them, and has no
crop to pay it out of; the little honey he has will not
bring a living price in any market ; and the owner of the bees
gels nothing on the capital invested.
I could have handled those bees at a profit to both myself
and the owner, but, handled as they were on altogether a
wrong and unscientific basis, several people are the worse off
because of the unbusinesslike procedure. Those bees have not
profited either the owner or the manager, and they have used
a part of the pasturage that would have been beneficial to me
and to others. Larimer Co., Colo.
Moving Bees Short Distances.
W
3V C. P. DAD.\NT.
: 20 colonies of bees no
OULD it besafe to i
wait till I pack them for winter ? I h ii
feet north and 20 feet east.— John T. V a
October 17, 1'Wl.
fould I better
;o move them only 20
N, Johnson Co., Iowa,
As there are many such enquiries, I will give my manner
of moving bees, and the reasons for it, in more detailed form
than in the private reply I gave to Mr. Paitin.
When we move our bees, we must hear in mind the instincts
and ha'iits of the worker-bees. At its first flight, out of the
hive, the young bee takes a survey of its location by flying in
circles slowly and carefully, evidently to examine all surround-
ing objects, and these first flights of young bees, which always
take place early in the afternoon of a warm day, are well known
to apiarists, because usually several hundred, and sometimes
several thousand, bees thus take flight almost at the same
hour, and their actions somewhat resemble those of the robber-
bees that circle about to recognize the spot where they have
found honey. But the robber-bee is restless and hurried, and
to a certain extent feels ashamed and acts more or less sneak-
ingly, while the young bees have a contented, peaceable flight,
like the actions of a being whose conscience is at ease, and
whom nobody pursues.
At the second flight, the young bee still looks about, but
with much diminished care, as it feels more sure of its location.
After that, the worker-bee strikes out like an arrow, without
looking behind. Its flight is so nearly straight that the ex-
pression. " take a bee-line," is equivalent to saying, "take a
straight, short course over hills and valley."
When *e move our bees it is important that we should
remember this. If the hives are moved during cold weather,
so that before they take a flight they have had time to forget
the slight disturbance; or, if we move them during warm
weather so carefully that they do not realize that anything is
wrong, we may very positively expect that when they issue out
of the hive they will do as usual — take a bee-line without stop-
ping to look back. If the hive has neen changed in position a
shortdistance,.they will vainly seek it on the old spot, and will
wear themselves out in a short time, unless one of the hives is
within reasonable distance, when some t.ees may find it and
will attract the others by tjie drumming of their wings. But
many will get lost, and if the wrong hive is entered many will
be killed.
If, on the other hand, we take pains to let the bees know
that the hive is being moved, by closing up the entrance and
leaving it closed quite a while after the hour when they might
take flight during a fairly warm day ; if we handle the hive
somewhat roughly while they are thus confined, and do not re-
lease them till they have all been warned that something is
wrong ; if we also give them a few pufts of smoke when releas-
ing them, and if they are enabled to take flight at once,
and look over the ground, it is quite likely that the most
of them will fully realize the fact that their location has been
changed, and we may rely on their natural intelligence to
find the spot again. And as many of the bees do not take
flight at once, even after a rough shaking up, it is well to
leave with them a reminder of their change of location, so that
when any bee goes to the door, it may at once realize that
things are not what they were. This reminder we put in the
shape of a board leaned up against the hive, in front of the
entrance, so that tlie bee may be prevented, at the start, from
flying in a "bee-line," toward the fields. This obstruction, of
course, causes the worker to look back and investigate, as soon
as on the wing, and the new location is thus more sure of be-
ing noticed.
Yet in spite of all these precautions, some bees may hover
about the olds ot and insist on going into a cluster, especially
if any empty hive or box is left when^ their home stood.
Should any great number thus congregate, they may be given
to one colony at night-fall, and with this colony they will be
sure to remain.
But if the above-given instructions are carefully followed,
no bad results need be feared. As a matter of course, this evi-
dences the necessity of moving the bees at a time when they
can still fly, and during such weather as will not be likely to
chill them if they remain longer than usual on the wing, as
Dec. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
807
they are sure to do in any case, owing to tlie surprise that the
change will cause among them.
These precautions are of more importance if the bees are
•carried only a few feet, than if they were taken to an entirely
new location, tor in the new location there is no spot to which
they have been accustomed, and they are more readily in-
duced to come back to the place whence they have issued,
without seeking any other.
Now, to evidence the success of the above-given method, I
quote below an extract from the second letter of the man
whose enquiry led to this article:
Johnson Co., Iowa, Nov. 12, loui.
Mk. C. p. Dadant— Dear Sik :— You requested me to let you know
what luck I had in moving my bees according to your instructions. I
received your r.'ply October l-S, and the next morning turning out beauti-
ful, I went riftht to work. The first thing I did was to shut them all in,
then carried them to their new stand and set them down lather roughly;
I was glad thev were shut in, for they made an awful fuss.
The ne.Yt thing I did was to tear down everything around their old
location that I possibly could, after which I put boards, saw-horse, wash-
tubs and limbs of trees, or any old thing I could lay hands on, in front of
the hives on the new stand, and kept them shut in until noon, then let
them out. The tlrst colony started out too lively for me, so I concluded to
smoke the rest, and it was just the thing, for it made them hang around
better even than the first colony. I watched them until sundown, and a
few went to the old stand, but I dou't believe I lost a dozen bees out of rav
20 colonies I am iust through leading the American Bee Journal,
Vols. i883 to 1807. which were given me, and I think I must have this
paper, for I got more information out of those I have been 'eadiug than I
ever would out of books, for out of books I get one man's idea, while out
of a good paper I get the ideas of many writers.
Yours truly, John T. Paitin.
Tliis letter is conclusive as to the method I recommend. It
has been tried many times, but the latest testimony is always
•the best. Hancock Co., 111.
Swarminjj— Eucalyptus Trees—Bailing Queens.
BY DR. E. QAI.LUP.
THE remarks of Mr. E. E. Hasty, on page 633, seem to call
for something more from me. I had to cut down four
eucalyptus trees and move three colonies — one 12 feet,one
23, and one 33. The first two I shook into the clustering box
early in the morning-, before the bees were out to work ; the
last was a very strong colony, and I did not get to work with
it until afternoon, consequently a strong force was out in the
field. Of the first two, not a bee went back to the old stand ;
the other kept coming in until nearly night, but I leaned the
em ty clustering-box against the fence, and the bees hazed
about, finally clustering in" it, whiMi I carried them to the new
stand and shook them in front of their hive ; the following day
not over half a dozen bees returned to the old stand. It was
a novel sight to see from two to three quarts of bees together.
and nearly every one loaded with different-colored pollen.
THE EUCALYPTUS TKEE.
Now, a little about the eucalyptus tree. Eight years ago
last July I set out 8ii small seedlings, and now one of the four
we cut into stove-wood measured 2 1 inches across the stump,
12 inches from the ground, the tree measuring ^0 feet in
length. The eucalyntus blossoms from December to March,
so the bees are humming on it all winter. I have often won-
<iered why bee-keepers do not plant a grove near their apia-
ries. They are self-irrigating after the first season, as the
leave.s condense the moisture from the atmosphere at night,
and one often sees puddles of good size under the trees in the
morning. My trees have never been irrigated, except a few
wettines with a pail the first season, soon after they were set
out. Eucalyptus makes the best of fire-wood, and if cut in
the winter the stumps send up sprouts from « to 1 5 feet in
length the first season. The leaves and twigs make the finest
kind of kindling for starting a fire.
MIXFD SW.-VIiMS BALLING QUKEN8.
Mr. Hasty may be right about a lean honey-flow, but I
have succeeded here and in Iowa, and will give my experience.
In Ventura County, early one morning, a large prime
swarm issued and clustered in a big live-oak tree. I cut the
limb and let it down to within four or five feet of the ground
and fastened it there. I then shook the bees into a clustering
box and carried tlu'in to a liive; while doing this, out came an
after-swarm and clustered on the same branch. Well, I soon
hail fun enough, for I had 14 or 1 (i (I have forgotten which,
it is so long ago) swarms come out, and sometimes three or
four after-swarms were in the air at once. They all clusten'd
on the .same branch, but as soon as I would see a great rush
to the cluster I would shake them into the box, and from that
into a hive placed on the cover, and then closed the hive «ith
a quilt or blanket to keep out the swarming bees. After the
seance was over, I had a tremendous pile of bees. I shook
them into a large clustering-box and then uncovered the
swarms to see if they had queens; I found them all right and
quiet except one.
In the clustering-box I found a balled queen rolled down
to the bottom end of the box. I took a long-handled one-quart
dipper (which, with me, is one of the necessary implements
about an apiary), scootiod up the balled queen, filled the dip-
per with bees from the lower part of the cluster, and carried
them to the queenless swarm ; I poured them down at the en-
trance and ran them in.
The next performance was to examine every swarm, adjust
the frames, and see which needed more bei^s. Some had
plenty and some were quite small in numbers. The next per-
formance was to get bees from the large cluster and e(|ualize
things. To avoid getting the queen I would dip from the
lowi'r part of the cluster, as the queen almost invariably keeps
near the top. I am positive about this from actual experience
in, I might say, hundreds of eases. I scooped them up with
the dipper into a small box so as to know how many I wanted,
by measure, to equalize each swarm. I then carried them to
the hive and poured them down at the entrance. After the
equalizing was done 1 hived the balance, taking care that the
(lueen ran in with the bees, and so knew that all was right
thus far.
The next operation was to insert a frame containing eggs
and unsealed larv;e in each colony ; so if any queen is lost
on her weddiug-tlight we can soon tell tiy their starting
queen-cells — I found cells started in one colony the sixth day.
Now, Mr. Hasty, if you know of a case of bees being more
mixed than in the above, please "Gallup" it out. In all my
experience, I can recall but two cases where thi-y may have
killed their last queen by balling, and in both of these cases
they might have been lost on their wedding-Hight. At all
events, 1 found no dead queens in front of the hives, which we
can almost invariably find in a clean yard, if we look carefully.
You will also notice that I shook that balled queen mentioned
above right down in front of the hive, without taking the
trouble to liberate her. The bees were run into a hive with-
out combs and no other queim. It is a groundhog case with
them, and they seem to realize it almost instantly.
Now, what are you going to do about it?
Orange Co., Calif.
\ Qiuestions and Answers. |
CONDUCTED BY
DR. C C. MILI^ER. Af areng-o, HI,
(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal oflBce, or to Dr. Mille
direct, when he will answer them heie. Please do not ask the
Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1
Rearing the Best Queens.
Can we not get a long-tongue bee, healthy bee. ambitious
worker — and all of these considered good and useful (jualities
— by some one that can control the mating fairly well? Breed,
or mate, the (jueen with the drone from her sister worker? It
looks to mo as if there would be a gain of at least one-half of
a bee-generation, in the preservation of the good qualities of
the workers. Ohio.
AvswER. — Th(^ project of having some one make a busi-
ness of rearing queens on a large scale in something like the
way you mention has had some consideration; but as yet noth-
ing has come of it. It is true, however, that some able men
are engag<'d in rearing queens which they are trying to bring
up to tlie requirements you mention, and there is constantly
approach to the highest standard being made.
Starting With Bees.
I would like tlirections for a beginner to start with bees
in the spring, in northern Illinois. I know nothing about bees.
How shoulti I proc(!ed in order to insure the best success.
Please give explicit directions. 1. G. Nou.\NCE.
Answeu. — I don't know. I'd give a good deal if I did.
I've been tryiiiL; for years to learn just what is the very best
way to do to ii- ire success, but I'm not always suri' of success.
Soi'netimes lli^ >eason is so bad thai I can lay my failure en-
808
AMERICAN BEE JOUBNAL.
Dec. 19, 1901.
tirely at its door. Sometimes I get a notion that some new
way will be an improvement, and it turns out so poorly that I
wish I hadn't tried it on so larse a scale. But ]"11 tell you just
what I think I would do if I were to begin all over again.
The first thing I would do would be to get a good text-book
and study it with care. In that you ought to find much or all
of the "explicit directions " you ask for. Then if you expect
to go into bee-keeping somewhat extensively it will be well to
get another text-book and study that. Also read with interest
what you find given weekly in the American Bee Journal, and
perhaps in other journals. Thus you can sp^nd a very prolit-
able winter, and at the opening of spring be much better pre-
pared to care for your bees than you are now. In the course
of your readings you will find some things hard for you to un-
derstand. After you have puzzled over them a reasonabli'>
length of time, write for answer in this department. Don't be
afraid to ask questions. That's what this department's for.
But there are two kinds of questions that may l)e well for vou
to steer clear of.
One kind of cjuestions to avoid is the kind that vou find
fully answered in every text-book. Such, for instance, as:
" Do the drones lay eggs?" "How long is it from the time
the egg is laid till the young worker hatches out ?"
Theother kind of questions to avoid is the kind that is too
comprehensivf', including those that expect an answer without
giving particulars. In this category would come the ques-
tion : "Give explicit directions for getting a big crop of ex-
tracted honey." "What is the reason my bees stored no honey
this year ? "
Then when spring opens up, and you begin work with the
bees, keep referring to your text-book, and keep asking ques-
tions. I'll try and find answers for all that are not too hard.
Moving Bees in Winter.
I expect to move 150 miles west about December 20. and
want to take my 45 colonies of bees. I expect to charter a
car. Can they be moved successfully at that time ? Iowa.
Answer. — Something depends on the weather. If it
should be exceedingly cold, the combs will be brittle, and there
will be danger that some combs may be broken. 1 can give
you little light additional to what you find in the books, the
chief points to look after being: To have the frames station-
ary in the car ; to have plenty of ventilation (although much
less ventilation is needed than in hot weather) ; and to see
that the hives are loaded into the car so that the ends of the
frames point toward the engine.
Wintering Bees in tiie Cellar.
I put 3G colonies of bees in the cellar this fall, raising
them one inch from the bottom-board. I put burlap over the
frames, and supers without the slats, filling them with chaff.
For ventilation 1 left the covers off. Is this a good way ?
Wisconsin.
Answer. — The preparation you have described is all
right, and is a good deal more preparation than many feel
necessary, for bees will winter well with the covers sealed on
when there is plenty of opening below. Read carefully what
your bee book says about temperature and ventilation of tlie
cellar.
Feeding Bees.
When, what and how can I feed my bees ? I have two
colonies of Italians, and have had them about eight months. I
get lots of information from the American Bee Journal, but it
seems to be for advanced bee-keepers. Missouri.
Answer —This department has its field and its limita-
tions, and it is not hard to account for the fact that some
things will not be found in it, nor indeed in any part of the
.lourual. There are some things — many things— which every
bee-keeper shouhl know when he enters the business. If
these things were told in these pages, it would take several
numbers, without leaving room for anything else. By the
tim(( they were all told a new set of subscribers would" want
them begun over again, and as new subscribers are coming in
all the time the American Bee Jounal would be (>ntireiy oc-
cupied printing over and over again the same things." To
avoid this, instruction books or text-books on liiT-k(!eping
have been published, and one of the first things for a Kcginner
in bee-keeping to do is to get one of these text bonier and ne-
conie familiar with its contents. After lu' has d.pin tins lie
will find plenty of questions still that he would like to ask. and
the very fact that there is no need to repeat the things in the
text-book makes it possible to answer more full upon any
point not fully treated in the text-book.
Upon consulting your text-book you will find that the
best time to feed bees is much earlier in the year than Decem-
ber ; and that the best thing to use for feed is combs of sealed
honey ; and the best way to feed these is to put them directly
in the brood-chamber, in or close to the cluster of bees. Of
course, much minute information is also given, which would
occupy pages, and after yon have studied it all carefully it is
quite "possible you may desire light upon some point not given,
and these columns are freely open to answer any further ques-
tions you may have. If your bees do not have enough to-
carry them through the winter, combs of sealed honey may
be yet given, the next best thing being candv.
Conducted bij Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif.
KINDNESS AND TRUST.
It was a blessed hour. It was a good day. Where ? At
the Bible class. One felt lifted up. The good words spoken,
the impulses felt, the resolves felt but unspoken, came like an
inspiration to the nearly two score in that class. Dear friends
of the home circles, do you enjoy such hours, such days, such
times of precious uplift ? I covet for all of you the very best
gifts, and none more than that these so wholesome and so
precious Bible study hours may make in your lives the best
sympathy, love and trust.
It was our last hour with the great Joseph. And wasn't
he greM? He could bravely push away temptation, and hav&
none of that bitterest grief of yielding to wrong impulse. He
could till a life of bitterest trial and misfortune in most useful
work, so that a prison became an opportunity. Work and
sympath}- for others are good and probable companions. Of
course, he made friends of all whose lives he touched.
Worked on ability, and kindliness of heart, which grew and
ripened fast with much of exercise, made him touch with
blessings great and many all such lives.
Best of all, Joseph was great enough to forgive the sorest
and most grievous wrongs, and by kindness he strove to bury
the memory of the evils in the thought of those who wrought
them. The full forgiveness was more to those brothers whose,
murderous thoughts and deeds struck so cruelly at this splen-
did brother, than was the corn of the full granaries of Egypt.
That only fed the bodily life; the other, the spiritual; and
the brothers were all saved to work evil no more.
Sunday we discussed the priiblems of kindness to evil-
doers, and the great power of trust and confidence. Joseph
gives one of the most glorious examples in history of kindness
to those, his brethren, too, who had raised the murderous
hand against him. And the results, as always, proved the
glory of such conduct. We rightly expect the best love,
sympathy, and appreciation from our brothers and sisters.
Failure in this usually works havoc. The one wronged feels
bitter, strikes back harder blows, if he may ; and that worst
— the family feud — blackens history's page. Joseph struck no
blow, but overcame evil with good. It was a proud day for
the world when he. in its full view, set this grand example.
Christ did more gloriously. He breathed that marvelous
prayer of forgiveness, with far worse evils heaped upou him ;
and when death — their awful fruitage — was pushing life from
his poor. sulTering body.
How well for us all to read — oh, so often — until it is
firmly lodged in memory's pages, those last words of that best
of chapters of the best of books— Matthew 5th. The thief
steals our coat; we must give him our cloak. We must have
the impulse not to crush, not to curse, but to enfold in Kind-
ness' arms, and to bless with sympathy and love. Whv is
" Les Miserables "—Victor Hugo's great novel — the greatest
ever penned V Only because it reveals the power of kindness
and love to waken manhood, and to save a life from sin and
give it to God. The bishop, by his great heart of love, which
could only sympathize and desire to help the poor convict
who had suttered such terrible and multiplied wrongs, won a
great soul back' to virtue and to God.
I like I u read those last verses of Romans 12th. Paul
was a nuisicr soul. That whole chapter is grand: the last
Dec. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
809
verses urge grandly to just this blessed life of forgiveness. I
wish all the children of nur great country raiglit learn the
great sermon, which was spoken from the Mount. As also
Romans 12th, and 1st Corinthians 13th. The last is our
college chapter here at Pomona CoUetrc If wo could all learn
those chapters, and catch practically their si)irit, how (|uickly
we would solve not only the (incslion of anarchy, but of ail
sin and evil.
One in our large class said. ■• lie kind when the desire to
be forgiven was shown." I did not admire his words or spirit
when he replied to the (|uestion, "What will bring the sorrow
for sin and a right repentance so (juiekly as to be enfolded in
the arms of love" — "I might p\il one arm about a wrong-
doer, but I would keep the other ready for other and possibly
wiser use" This remark leads to our second topic —
TRUST AND CONFIDENCE.
If we are suspicious, as voiced in th(! arm r<'ady to strike,
we shall never win. If we trust our children ; our students,
if we are teachers : our neighbors ; if we show a kindly con-
tidence we will find them slow to betray such trust. We must
keep the confidence of all these ;, we can not e.xpect what we
do not give.
•lacob died. The brothers remembered their grievous
oflense — their awful sin toward Joseph — they were afraid.
With no occasion they suspected Joseph. He was full of sad-
ness. Is there one thing in this world that saddens like the
lack of trust, confidence, and belief in one's integrity of pur-
pose from those we love ? In age such a sorrow would press
hardest. And so Joseph met life's evening hour with a real
heart burden. What a woeful arraignment of evil 1 It com-
panions with distrust and suspiciiui, and thus it weights heav-
ily even the liest and truest frienil.
SPORTS.
To-day our college is to meet on the football field the
Indians — a very noted band of redskins who can play foot-
ball. For years we have not lost a game. Last year we met
this same team and vanquished them with a score of I ti to 0.
This year we are stronger, yet we are not sure. "When ye
think ye stand, take heed lest y(^ fall." Last night we all —
students and faculty — held in the gymnasium a meeting to
arouse enthusiasm, and give courage to the team, whom we
all believe in. We know they have practiced hard. We ex-
pect they will lie victors. The team expects to win: the
coach knows they will : we all feel confident. Even the girls
are keenly appreciative of good, hard, honest work, as a
bright, witty speech from one last evening evinced.
A professor spoke. He showed that one ought never to
become so old that he would not find ulay-sport a pleasure.
He said : " We wish you to be defeated when a rival from
harder, truer work has won a right to victory." All applauded,
but the cheers rang out with merrier, louder note when he
adde.l, "but we do not expect defeat. Your hard, telling
work makes us all very expectant."
We all encourage "the games, and all i)ure, honest athletic
sports. None who do not reach high grade in studies can
take part in the games. We believe these contests are good
and helpful, and that they make better, stronger men.
IS PERFECTION DEMANDED OR EXPECTED?
I have received the following from one of the American
Bee Journal subscribers, for reply in this department :
On page 682, Prof. Cook, in discussing the matter of vot-
ing the prohibition ticket, says: "God does not demand per-
fection in any of us. ■ Only one, your Father in heaven, is
perfect.'" I do not know who is the author of the words
quoted by Prof. Cook, and I do not undertake to dispute them,
but 1 do know that it was the great Preacher in his sermon on
the mount who said: " l?e ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect," and I have always had
a feeling that nothing short of perfection on my part would
be entirely satisfactory. In my efforts at perfection I have
not made an entire success, so it will be something of a relief
if a let-np in my efforts is allowable. What I want Prof. Cook
to tell me is, just how much short of perfection is demanded
of me. If I understand him correctly I am not required to do
all I can to kill the saloon, but may stop short of voting
against it. But I would like to know whether the requirement
comes so near perfection that it will prevent me from taking
a glass now and then. Imperfection.
I am glad '" Imperfection "' makes these inquiries. His
very name shows that he sympathizes with my position. One
said to Christ, "Good Master." He answered, Call not me
good. Only one is good, your Father in heaven. Yet, this
same blessed Savior said, " Be ye perfect even as your Blather
in heaven is perfect." I hope I am wrong, but from my own
experience from Paul's words — " When I would do good, evil
is present with me ;" from all my observation from the whole
trend of the Scriptures, I am led'to question the possibility of
a perfect life in this world. Did notChrist, in his " Be ye per-
fect," mean to give us this as the ideal ? Maybe very late in
life, just at the margin of the river, some are so happy as to
reach this ideal. I trow, however, that it only comes as we
reach the other side.
Are we not happier as we strive harder to reach the ideal ?
To let go this effort would only mean less of joy, less of satis-
faction. " Imperfection '■ would find no relief in any abate-
ment of effort. Our joy doesn't come that way.
Ah, ray friend ! you did misunderstand me greatly. You
— we all — are required to do all in our power to kill the
saloon, and any other damnable evil. But it is not my duty
to condemn you if your method and mine are not the same. If
all the good and the true are in the Prohibition party, then.
surely, we are in sorry plight. I do not believe all the wisdom
is there. Does " Imperfection ?"
IS THE KING OF
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n endorsed by over one
hundred of America's foremost maga-
ved recommendatii'ns from celebrities
Wittiout doubt tiie pen of the age.
Agents Wanted,
NcwSlylc. Old Style.
POST FOUNTAIN PEN CO.,
120 W. 14th St. , New York City.
Please mentioii Bee Jotimal ■when -writiiuc.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
%Vool Markets and Sheep
has a hobby which is tlic sheep-breeder and
his industry, first,foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
Please mention Bee Jouriial when writji'r.
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
send $1.25 to
Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal.,
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to che Trade.
REDUCED RATES FOR CHRISTHAS
AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS.
The Nickel Plate Road will sell tick-
ets Dec. 24, 25, and 31, 1901, and Jan.
1, 1902, at rate of a fare and one-third
for the round trip, to any point located
in Central Passenger Association ter-
ritory, good returning to and including
Jan. 2, 1902. Pullman service on all
trains. Individual Club Meals rang-
ing in price from 35 cents to SI. 00,
served in Nickel Plate dining-cars.
Address, John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for par-
ticulars. Depot, Van Buren St. and
Pacific Avenue, on the Elevated Loop.
45— 49A4t
Please mention Bee Jo irnal
when writing advertisers.
THE EMERSON BINDER,
This Emerson siiff-board Binder with clotli
back for the American Bee Journal we mail for
but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee
Jonrnal for one year— both for only $1.40. It is
a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour-
nal as fast as they are received. If you have
this •'Emerson" no further binding is neces-
*"^' QEORQE W. YORK & CO..
144 & 14t, Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
810
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Dec. 19, 1901.
^'REVERSIBLE WALL MAP4
OF THE
UNITED STATES iW WORLD,
WITU SPECIAL INSET MAPS OF
Gdina, Gofia, Pono Rico, TUe miiipplnes, Hawaii, and fliaska,
illy prepared to meet the demand for a flrst-class map that will ffive a quick, general idea of location of events the world over,
ticularlv to the United States and our territorial possessions. Very iisetul in every Home and Ollice.
CGx46 I]^C'IIE$$ li^ SIZE.
Best and Most Necessary Map
Ever Issued.
No Home or Business House
should be without it.
The jTi JSC
Plates
are works of art.
The engraving is
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Perfec-
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Elegance
a salient feature
of this map not ap-
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similar publica-
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It has been pronounced a TC JTv **.
Photograph of the World
^ The 1900 Census A: ^C
of the largest American Cities is given.
One side shows a g-rand map of our gjreat country, with counties, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctly located. The other side shows
an equally •'nod map of the world. Statistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, business, etc., a veritable photo-
graph of the fNlTED STATES AND WORLD.
The map is printed on heavy map paper and is mounted oo sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
lOOl Kni'l'IO^. — Kvery reader slioul«I consult it every day. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to the topography of the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and peaks are plainly Indicated. The leading cities and towns are shown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brunswick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The Southern portion of the map includes the Northern States of the Kepublic of Mexico, and the
Bahama Islands.
On liie reverse side is tite I^lbrary IVIap of tlie World. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
ever produced. The political divisions are correctly defined and beautifully outlined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
named. Ocean steamship lines with distances between important ports are given. A marginal index of letters and figures enables one easily to
locate every country in the world. A series of short articles in alphabetical orJer is printed around the border of this map in large, clear type,
containing valuable information concerning agricultural, mining, and manufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports in dollars.
The area, population, form of government, and chief executive of every country in the world is given up to date, also the names of the capitals
and theii- population. XUe Inset Maps are elegantly engraved and printed in colors. They are placed in convenient positions around the
United Slates map, and will be invaluable to every person desiring a plain understanding of our possessions. An inset map of China on the
World side of map adds to its value.
.T^' Two maps on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium for sending us Three New Subscribers at $1.00 each ; or for $2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
144. & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Dec. 19, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
811
He Did Quite Well.
I started in the bee-business last spring, and
got 1700 pounds of as nice alfalfa comb honey
us anj- one ever saw. I have ()."> colonies, all
in8-frame hives. I transferred all but 15 last
spring. It was very cold here the forepart of
the season, and no honey until the second
crop of alfalfa, so I think I have done quite
well. W. H. HOSEBROOK.
Siskiyou Co., Calif., Dee. 5.
Muslin Hive-Cover.
I have watched the discussions on hive-
covers with much interest, and I thought some
one would report in. favor of a cover I am
using. So far no one has, so I will describe
what I am using in northern Wisconsin.
The cover consists of a rim 1x2 Inches,
enough larger to slip over the top of the hive
easily. This rim is covered with poor lumber,
dressed both sides. After a coat of cheap
paint has been put on, a sheet of cheap mus-
lin is nailed over it with 4-ounce tacks, when
enough paint is put on to close all pores in
the cloth. This cover lasts from five to seven
years without any further attention, after
which time it should be repainted. An extra
cover Is needed to keep the bees out of the
cover. For this purpose I use two boards
running lengthwise of the hive. The cover
is kept a half inch from these boards by a
rim of 1x1 inch cleats. This cover neither
warps nor twists, is cheap, warm in spring,
cool in the hot sun, and almost any one can
make it. The inside cover ( I call it a honev-
board) should be made of cedar, or cork
where it can be gotten, as pine will warp, due
to the dampness from the bees. They can be
kept straight, however, by turning over from
time to time. I have used wood, tin, steel
and paper, but cloth beats them all tor this
country. I have hundreds of discarded
covers of all descriptions lying around.
A. C. F. Bartz.
Chippewa Co., Wis., Nov. 20.
An Alabama Report.
I have kept bees for 20 years, but never
used the frame hive till last year. There was
but one up-to-date bee-keeper here— a Dr.
Tidmore. Since his death last year I have
kept his bees on shares, running for extracted
honey. Last year I got an average of about
tiO pounds per colony, running as high as 120
pounds, aud as low as 12 to 24. The past
season was one of the worst I have known.
The spring was too cold, and April is our
flNCE IN A LIFE TIME
^^ to t'uy a wab'oa jt you buy the right kind. The
ELECTRIC "0.^°^
Kler onlii
I't a watron depends upon tlie ^^ li-'
equipped withourKlectrifSlet I Wht
orstatrger SDokes and wide tires. \^
from 24 to 60 in. It lasts because tires <■
re-settintr, hubs
lues f "
AGON
KI.ECTIJIC WIIKEL co-
Please
Box IC, Uulocy.IlU.
1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies !
We .an furnisti you with Ttie A. 1. R'.ot Ciis
goods at wholesale ■>r retail at their prices. We can
Bave you freitrht. and etiip promptly. Market price
Said for beeswax. Send for our l;*il ratalotf.
I. H. HUNT 4 SON. Bell Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich
flease mention Boe Joiimal wnen ■wTiTinp.
OUR NEW CATALOG, describing add listing the FINEST LINE OF
BSE-KEbPERS' SUPPLIES IN THE WORLD, will be ready about the
lirst of the vear. If vou have not been receiving a copy annually, send us
your name and address .and one w 11 be mailed you free. Prices will be
same as last season with the exception of the narrow, plain sections with
no bee-ways, which will be 25 cents per thousand less.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U. S. A.
Special A^eucy, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washing-ton Street^
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
Flease mention Bee Journal when ■writing
26 cents Cash
for Beeswax.
fif, fpi
This is a good time
to send in your Bees-
» 1 _C 1~> '♦* '♦*■ wax. We are paying
paid for Beeswax, * s»s°i-,o- e1.t
low, upon its receipt, or 2.S cents in trade. Impure wax not taken at any price.
Address as follows, very plainly,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, 111.
FOR THE WIFE
A\n CIlll.DRKN.
incubator that they can run ;
.-..-■^,.,„- i,..dt willdo good work from the
^^3^ start and last for ye "'
Hutch
The Sure
, .. ._ __ _ fornia red
ithl2oz.cold roiled coppertank,
ty LaiiiD, Climax Sa'cty boile
[ UniicB I Corruealfi) Waferregulalor. Send for our big
l^ House. J^f^^^.atalotf.llEivesaauHl phol .irrai-hso. hoo-
dr-ls whoRromnkiiiemoncv with the Sun- Hatch incubator. Our
{ Oitinion Sonsp Itrooili-r is th ■ best. " fud ro>v.
Sure Hatch iDcubetor Cn - Clav Center. Neb., or Columbus.O.
Please mention Bee Journal -when writing
SWEET CIOVER
And Several OtheF Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order:
5» 101b 2Slb 501»
Sweet Clover (white! $.75 $1.20 $2.50 $4.50
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
A Isike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover 1.00 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound S cents more than the S-pound
rate, and 10 cents e.xtra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
The Handsomest Calendar
of the season (in ten colors) six beauti-
ful heads (on six sheets, 111x12 inches),
reproductions of paintinp^s by Moran,
issued by General Passengfer Depart-
ment. Chicago, Milwaukee iSr St. Paul
Railway, will be sent on receipt of
twenty five cents. Address, F. A.
Miller, General Passenger Agent, Chi-
cago. 51A3t
Please mention Bee Journal
when writlne \dvertlsers.
Dittmer's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mr PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'aremy
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
f orlf fax Into Fonndatlon For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal -when -writing:.
200-Egg Incubator
for $12-80
Perfect in construction and
action. Hatches ever? fertile
epe. Writeforcatalogueto-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
al.
fnlifftrnia I n you care to know of its
WctlllUnilct 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate
jr Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper —
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agricultural
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
tiandsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ole copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
130 Market Street. SiN FRiNcisco, Gal
Flease mention Bee Journal when -writing,
Pnr ^alf Extracted Honeu,
» ^■'* ^-'Cl.I^ ^,^,^gr ,,r bas*w,.od, in
16i>pound kegs, 7c: amber, oc. Buckwheat, in
kegs, cans, or wooden oails, ^'^c. Sample, i.c,
4tiAtf C B. HO W AKD, Romulus. N. V.
PleasH mention Bee .lournal when writinp
tm TWO GtR/EAT F-A-FEPe-S
m
m
The American Bee Journal
ANo ihe ohjo Farmer..
Both Papers One Year Only $1 50.
Or with Ohio Farmer TWO years only $2.00.
m
^S A 20-page, Sj-columu weeklv
3*» fearless defender of ihe fa
^S columns. It Helps to mal
'StPk c>-_-» . . /'iv,;.. I." .-...«, r-i^..
vitb the best staff of editors and correspoadents; a stron
mers' inierests, aud clean in both reading^ and adrerti^it]
• ihe farm pav.
l.uul. Olilo. f..r free sample copr, but send all sub^^cri
OEORdE W, VOWK & CO.. 144 .v 14-. ICrie Street, LinCA(;0. 11,1,.
812
AMERICAN BEE lOUKNAL
Dec. 19, 1911.
main honey month. I had but a few colonies,
and about one-fourth as much honey as the
previous season. I ha%'e some black, some
hybrid, one Italian, and two Carniolan colo-
nies. The blacks gave me no surplus at all.
I lx)ught an Italian queen last year, and that
colony produced three or four times as much
hooey as any of the rest, with the exception
of live or six out of about 80 colonies. They
gathered some honey nearly as bright as cas-
tor-oil ; I never saw any like it before, and do
not know what they gathered it from.
Most of my bees spent the season rearing
queens, I think. I, for one, do not want my
•queens clipped. I am a farmer, and can not
be here all the time. It the queen can fly
they will settle and wait till I come home. If
they are clipped they will come out and go
liack before I can get there. I lose one now
and then, but I like them to be able to fly.
I have just read Mr. A. E. Isaac's report in
the American Bee Journal for Nov. 21, in
which he mentions his honey having a sour
smell. I notice it here every year, I think,
but I do not know what causes it. Bees
gather bitter honey here nearly every fall, but
none of mine ever candies.
Several bee-keepers have asked Dr. Miller
about late drones this fall. My bees reared a
lot of them very late. I think it was because
they had a very good flow of bitter honey.
This is my first year with Carniolan bees,
and I do not know whether I will like them or
not. I bought an Italian queen last summer,
and she seemed to be all right until a few
days ago, when I missed her, and found sev-
jt^j^^l^k^ls It Wise
.k:':^^;rite.'i iq Guess att
R.esults
s'lhitely
put the]-
1 may be ab.
e about it r
If the eptrs ju r _ ; , .>ii put them in a
ReliaLble Inc\ibak.tor
and follow InstructiMii^. you ure ^nn- I" ^-.t a siUis-
factory hatch. If v.>u |tut tho chicks inn. a
RELIABLE BROODER
tells whyand a hundred '
try owner should know. Sent fo
10 cents. We have 115 yards o
thoroughbred poultry.
ftC'iable Incubator and Brooder Co.
box It 2 QulDCV, IIU.
P'ease mention Bee Journal -when writing
POULTRY PAPER.
Send 25 cents for
ual, and we
ill
Poult
tion to Journal, 10 cent
Inland Poultry Journ^
29Dtf Please mentii
ir's subscription to o
send book. Plans J
« months trial subscr
, Indianapolis, Inc
I the Bee Journal.
STROMGEST
^^FENGE!^^i^
BuU-
Chicken-
[ticht. Sold to the Farmer at Wholesale
FuUy Warmnted. Catalog Free,
COUiKD SPRING FENCE CO.,
'Baxf
Winchester, ladlaDO, U. B.
eral sealed queen-cells. But it is too late for
them to rear one.
I think the staple-spaced frame is the best
here. We have too much sweet-gum for any
other.
Mr. Brown, in speaking of Mr. (iercld's
loss by melting down, said that if he will
raise his hives on benches, and put a roof
over them, he will have a comfortaljle hall for
his bees. I had part of mine on a small pole
on the ground, in the hot sun. It was WO to
lOS degrees the past summer. I used an inch
plank on the hive, and an inch one on top of
that, and they came through all right.
My bees are in very good shape for winter.
Hale Co., Ala., Nov. 2S. J. S. Pattox.
Growing Pepper-Trees in Illinois.
I have some pepper-trees growing in a box ;
the seed was sent to me last winter by a
friend in California. When I work and water
them I think of Prof. Cook. I make trees
my companions, and I will take these with me
to Florida, to see it they will flourish there.
Mrs. L. Harrison.
Peoria Co., 111., Dec. 9.
Report for 1901— Hive-Covers.
I harvested 31.50 pounds of honey, 400 being
extracted. The buckwheat crop was short on
account of rain. I packed 9" colonies for
winter, having introduced 16 new queens this
fall. My honey was all sold three weeks ago,
Red Glover Queens m] 902 Free
Loug-Tougue Variety— Warranted Purely Mated.
We have already arranged with the queen-breeder who furnished Long'-Tong-ue Red Clover Queens
for us during the past season, to fill our orders next season. Although fully 95 percent of the untested
queens he sent out were purely mated, next season all that he mails for us will be warranted purely mated.
We want every one of our present subscribers to have one or more of these money-maker Queens. We
have received most excellent reports from the queens we supplied during the past season. And next year
our queen-breeder says he expects to be able to send out even better Queens, if that is possible. He is one
of the very oldest and best queen-breeders. His bees average quite a good deal the longest tongues of any
yet measured. The Breeder he will use is direct from Ital)', having imported her himself. Her worker-bees
are large, of beautiful color, very gentle, scarcely requiring veil or smoke.
Orders for these fine, " long-reach " Warranted Queens will be filled in rotation — " first come, first
served" — beginning as early in June as possible. It is expected that orders can be filled quite promptly
(even better than the past season), as a much larger number of queen-rearing nuclei will be run. (But never
remove the old queen from the colony until you have received the new one, no matter from whom you order
a queen).
All Queens will be guaranteed to arrive in good condition, and will be clipped, unless otherwise
ordered.
A Warranted (Jneeii for sending iis Only 2 New Yearly Snbscribers
In order that every one of our subscribers who wants one of these Warranted Queens next season can
easily earn it, we will book your order for one queen for sending us the names and addresses of two new
subscribers to the American Bee Journal and $2.00. Fukthkkmokk, we will begin to send the Bee Journal
to the new subscribers just as soon as they are received here (with the $2.00), and continue to send it until
the end of next year, /go2). So, forward the new subscriptions soon — the sooner sent in the more weekly
copies they will receive.
This indeed is an opportunity to get" a superior Queen, and at the same time help swell the list of
readers of the old American Bee Journal. ^^7?^
We are now ready to book the Queen orders, and also to enroll the new subscriptions. Remember, the
sooner you get in your order the earlier you will get your Queen next season, and the more copies of the Bee
Journal will the new subscribers receive that you send in. We hope that every one of our present readers
will decide to have at least one of these Queens. Address,
GEORGE W, YORK & CO., 144 & 146 ERIE STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.
i
i
i
Please meatioa the Bee Journal when writing Advertisers.
Dec. 19. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
813
LanoswHon...
Ttl6fl0I16l)B66
Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
knoven to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son.
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for fl.2S, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie Street,
CHICAGO, ILL.
.??■ After the theatre or other even-
ing entertainment, the Night Express
on the Nickel Plate Road leaves daily
at 11:20, from the Van Buren Street
Union Passenger Station. Arrives at
Cleveland at 10:20 a.m. Breakfast in
Dining Car. Makes connections at
Buffalo for all points East. Arrives
at New York City 7:50 second morning,
and Boston at 10:15. Sleeping Cars
open at 9:30 p.m. Ticket office. 111
Adams Street. 'Phone Central 2057.
47— S0A3t
and I am still jjuttinji orders fur morf, ami 1
didn't have to advertise, eitlicT. 1 was uiit
ou the mouutains last week on a hunt, and
shot a very tine doe that weijxhed, dressed,
108 pounds. It was the first deer I ever saw,
and I shot it from a distance of ir.J yards.
I have seen so much discussion about roofs
of late that I would like to say a word about
eovers. There is no Hat cover in this coun-
try that will stand without warping or check-
ing. I cover all my gable covers with red
roofing paper and paint them. I make the
gable covers by taking a 6-iuch board for the
ends, then cover with shingles and paint, for
the flat top ; I then put the roof on over that
Hat cover, allowing it to extend two inches at
the ends aud sides. My colonies are always
dry and nice. They aVe cooler in summer and
warmer in winter, and the cost is only a tritle.
Clearfield Co., Pa. G. W. Bei.i..
Yellow Sweet Clover— Sainfoin.
I tried a very small quantity of yellow
sweet clover seed sent out for the first time
two years ago, but I have since left the part
of the country I was then in. I found the
seed all it was recommended to be, coming
intobloora on June 10, so that the beeswoidd
work on it, and with the help of white sweet
50 EGG SIZE.
200 EGG SIZE
SPRINGFIEID. 0.
Bushels of Eggs
if vou get a fast cuttinK l»Biidy Bor
rmtt-r. I'rico «ir> up. B..l(i direi-t un :
iln.vs trial.. Handsome catalogue rre
STRHnON MFC. CO., BOX 21, ERIE,
Standard Bred Queens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among; Them.
inPROVED STRAIN GOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75 cts. each; 6 for $4.00.
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose tong-ues measured 25-
100 inch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
75c each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog^ on application. Cincinnati, O.
BORDEAUx1!lOZZLE||i
our worldV boftt outfit you are al
inaeter of the situation. Insects ami <
fait before this all conquering out
the bock. Tt fs free. Write for It n'
THE DEMlNflCO., SALEll, OHIO.
?tefn Aets., Henion & Hubbell, Chicago. '
4'>A13t Please mention the Bee Journal.
Catnip Seed Free!
We have a small quantity of Catnip
Seed which we wish to offer our read-
ers. Some consider catnip one of the
greatest of honey-yielders. We will
mail to one of our regular subscribers
one ounce of the seed for sending us
ONE NEW subscriber to the American
Bee Journal for a year with SI. Oi» ; or
will mail to any one an ounce of the
seed and the American Bee Journal one
year- both for $1.30; or will mail an
ounce of the seed alone for 35 cents^
"georgeiw^'yorkTco.t^
144 & 14f) rCrie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
42A41 Please mention the Bee Journal.
Bee- Books
beint postpaid by
George W. York & Go.
Chicago.
n Api;
G. N
ary
Bees and Honey, or Manag-ement of :
for Pleasure and Profit, by Thomas
man. — It is nicely illustrated, contains 160 pages,
beautifully printed in the hig-hest style of the
art, and bound in cloth, gold-lettered. Price, in
floih, 75 cents; in paper, 50 cents.
Langstroth on the. Honey-Bee, revised by
Dadant.— This classic in bee-culture has been
entirely re-writteii, and is fully illustrated. It
treats of everything relating to bees and bee-
keeping. No apiarian library is complete with-
out this standard work bv"Rev. L. L. hang-
stroth— the Father of American Bee-Culture. I'.
has 520 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.
Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api/.ry,
bv Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultu-
ral College.— This book is not only instructive
and helpful as a guide in bee-keeping, but is
interesting and thoroly practical and scien-
tific. It contains a full delineation of the anat-
omy and physiology of bees. 460 pages, bound
in cloth and fully illustrated. Price, $1.25.
ScientiUc Queen-Rearing, as Practically Ap-
plied, by G. M. Do
the very best of qu
feet accord with Na
and illustrated. Pr
-A method by whit
en-bees are reared in per-
ire's way. Bound in cloth
:e, $1.00.
A B C of Bee-Culture, by A. I. Koot.—A cyclo-
pa;dia of 400 pages, describing everything j>er-
taining to the care of the honey-bees. Contains
300 engravings. It was written especially for
beginners. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.20.
Advanced Bee-Culture, Its Methods and Man-
agement, by W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author of
this work is a practical and entertaining writer.
You should read his book; 90 pages, bound in
paper, and illustrated. Price, 50 cents.
Rational Bee-Keeping, by Dr. John Dzierzon.
—This is a translation of his latest German
book on bee-culture. It has 350 pages, bound in
paper coyers, $1.00.
Bienen-Kultur. by Thos. G Newman.— ThU
is a (iernian translation of the principal portion
of the book called " Bees and Honey." 100-page
pamphlet. Price, 25 cents.
Bienenzucht und Honiggewinnung:, nach der
ncuesten raethode (German) by J. F. Eggers. —
This book gives the latest and most approved
methods of bee-keeping in an easy, comprehen-
sive style, with illustrations to suit the subject,
50 pages, board cover. Price, 50 cents.
Bee-Keeping: for Beginners, by Dr. J. P. H.
Brown, of (ieorgia. — A practical and condeost
treatise on the honey-bee, giving the best modes
of management in order to secure the niosit
profit. 110 pages, bound in paper.
Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Dr. G. L. Tinker.
—Revised and enlarged. It details the author's
**■ new system, or how to get the largest 3-ie!dsof
comb or e.\lracted honey." 80 pages, illustrated.
Price, 25 cents.
Apiary Register, by Thomas G. Newman. —
Devotos two pages to a colony. Leather bind-
ing. Price, for 50 colonies, $1.00; for 100 colo-
Dr. Howard's Book on Foul Brood.— Gi
es the
s peri-
Foul Brood Treatment, bv Prof. F, R. Che-
•^hiru.-Iis Cdusc aud Prevention. Price, 10 cts.
Foul Brood, bv A. R. Kohnke.— Origin, De-
velopment ^and Cure. Price, 10 cents.
Capons and Caponizing. bv Dr. Sawyer, Fanny
Field, aud others.— Illustrated. All about cap-
onizing fowls, and thus how to make the most
mouey in poultry-raising. 64 pages. Price, 20c.
Our Poultry Doctor, or Health in the Poultry
Yard and How to Cure Sick Fowls, bv Fanny
Field. Kverythin-r about Poultry Diseases and
their Cure. 04 pages. Price, 20 cents. ^
Poultry for Market and Poultry for Profit, bv
'anny Field.— Tells everything about Poultry
business. 64 pages. Price, 20 cents.
GREIDER'S FIHE CATALOGUE
K. U. OUiaUKUt Florin, Vu.
Mention the American Bee Journal.
614
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Dec. 19, 1901.
clover, which bloomed well into September,
there was nothing left to wish for. 1 find
that cattle and horses will eat sweet clover
greedily where pasturage is scarce, b(.)th as
pasture and as hay. I made one experiment
that satisfied me that it is all right. A few
good-sized armfuls of sweet clover had been
cut and allowed to lie on the ground about
three days. I picked it up and threw it to a
neighbor's cows. I then got a dish of water
and put a handful of salt into it, then sprin-
klea ibe clover with the salted water. Those
cows, with pasture all around them, devoured
the sweet clover (it had stood from 4 to (J
feet high before cutting, with stalks half an
inch thick) just as greedily as the finest hay.
Yet I have seen sweet clover in a field, with
catile running at liberty, stand unmolested,
and attain a growth of six feet, while in a
neighboring field it was eaten to the ground,
scarcely getting a chance to blossom and seed.
For myself, I think the American Bee Jour-
nal did a great kindness in introducing this
yellow sweet clover to the notice of bee-keep-
ers.
I would like to know if any one has made
an extended trial with sainfoin, esparcette,
or holy hay (it bears all three names), Mr.
Dadant mentions it in one of his contribu-
tions to the American Bee Journal as being
quite productive of honey in France. I tried
it last year; it came up nicely, and the
young clover plants looked like little
Ijranches of the black locust with their leaves
IF IT'S MADE
in a better wav. ami of h.-lter material, as it really
18, tlien yciu can see h.nvlt Las beciaiif so l">pular.
PAliK HOVHX V.lltK KBNCK CO.. *I>KUN..1II( H.
Please mention Bee Journal w>.ea writif;-
— THE—
The Bee-Keeper's Guide;
Or, Manual ol tlte Apiary,
BY
PROF, A, J, COOK,
460 Pages-ieth (1899) Edition-18th Thou-
sand—$1.25 postpaid.
A description of the book here is quite unnec-
essary—it is simply the most complete scientific
and practical bee-book published to-day. Fully
Illustrated, and all written in the most fascinat-
ng style. The author is also too well-known to
the whole bee-world to require any introduction.
No bee-keeper is fully equipped, or his library
complete, without The Bee-Keepers' Guide.
This 15th and latest edition of Prof. Cook's
magnificent book of 460 pages, in neat and sub-
stantial cloth binding, we propose to give awav
to our present subscribers, for the work of get-
ting NEW subscribers for the American Bee
Journal.
Given ior TWO New Subscribers.
The following offer is made to present sub-
scribers only, and no premium is also given to
the two NEW subscribers— simply the Bee Jour-
nal for one year;
Send us two new subscribers to the Bee
Journal (with $2.00), and we will mail you a copy
of Prof. Cook's book FREE as a premium.
Prof. Cook's book alone sent for $1.25, or we club
It with the Bee Journal for a year— both for only
$1.7S. But surely anybody can get only TWO
NEW SUBSCRIBERS to the Bee Journal for a year,
and thus get the book as a premium. Let every
body try for it. Will YOU have one 7
QEORaE W. YORK & CO.,
' & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
No. 4 '^ Barler Ideal" Oil-Beater.
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year !
NO ODOR I NO SMOKE! NO ASHES I
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of the American Bee Journal is using the
"Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
We liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
fill our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one we
recommend for general use. Jt is a perfect gem of a stove
for heating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial way, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The uru removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon of
kerosene oil. It is just as safe as an ordinary lamp. You
wouldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
but this one doesn't. Its hight is 2}.,' feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, fob. Chicago, $6.00; or, combined
with a year's subscription to the American Bee
Journal — both for only $6.50. Full Directions
GO WITH EACH Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
"Barler Ideal" Oil Stove, as itcau easily oe carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it
Adtlress,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
Chicago, 111.
Mr. B. H. Greider, the well-known poultrvman
of Florin. Pa., a reg-ular advertiser with us, is
breeding 50 varieiits of poullrj to a very high
standard of excellence. Mr. Ureider's catalog
for the year 19U2 is now ready for distribution.
It is one of the besi books of its kind, and is
beautifully illustrated in colors. It describes
all his varieties of prize-winning poultry, and
gives a great deal of interesting and valuable
information on poultry topi
great deal more than the ten
stamps asked for it. Address, B. H. Gi
Florin, Pa., and mention the America
lilver (
aal 1
■iting.
BEE-SUPPLIES !
Manufacturers' prices. Complete stock. Sen
for our catalog.
FRED. W. MUTH & CO.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts. CINCINNATI, 0.
Please mention Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
A HANDY TOOXi-HOLDER !
§ent by Expre§s, for $1.50 ; or vvilli tlie fSec Journal
one year — both for $2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller. Carpenter.
Cabinet Maker, Machinist. Whoelwriyht and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any one usiujf a grind-
stone, should have one of these Tool-flolders.
Oneboy candothe workot two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will bold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chisel to a draw shave or ax.
Extra attachiueut lor sharpening scythe
blades Included iu the above price. The work
Is done without wetting the liands or soiling
tho clothes, as the water flows from theoperx
tor. Jt can be attached to any size stone for
baud or steam power. Is always ready ti r u-,e
nothlnif to get out of order, and Is absolutelj
<vorth lOU times lis <>os>t.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
''of itself in a short time. .
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— Tbe Tool is fas-
tened securely Ln the Holder by
a set-screw and cau be ground
to iny desired bevel by Insert-
ing the arm cf the Holder into
a higher or lower notcli of tbe
dtandard. Wliile turning- the
Drank with the right hand, the
left rests on an steadies tbe
Holder ; the Tool is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if held in ih-^ hands.
For grinding Round - Edge
Tools, the boles iu the stand-
ard are used instead of the
jotches.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
815
on. I did not get a chance to see it blossom,
for the greedy grasshoppers eagerly cleared
it off the ground; but, if spared, I will try
it again the coming year, and perhaps be able
to beat the grasshoppers. I can get sainfoin
seed from seedmen in this country ; it is very
peculiarly shaped, being about the size of
four sweet clover seeds with the hulls on, and
in shape it is exactly like a small black bean,
and inclosed in a large flat hull.
AV. D. H.iRRis.
Ontario, Canada, Dec. .5.
Poor Season for Honey.
The past season was a very poor one; I got
a little over two tons of honey from 111 colo-
nies. Some did not get anything. It is rain-
ing to-night, and there has not been enough
frost to hurt bean vines, so far. We have
had some fog and plenty of rain. The farmers
in this vicinity cut their alfalfa betoi'e it
bloomed, which cut the honey crop short.
Kings Co. Calif., Dec. 5. B. P. Shirk.
CONVENTION NOTICES.
CYPHERS rNCUBATOR,
World's Standard Hatcher.
Used on26Gov.Experiment Stations
in U. S.. Canada, Australia and Kew
Zealanu; also by America's leadinjir
poultrymen and" thousands of others.
Gold medal and highest award at
Pan-American, Oct. rjOl. 32-pafri)
circular free. Poultryman's Guide,
224 pages, Ssll in-, mailed for 10c.
Ask i.earest office for book No. .w
CYPHERS INCUBATOR COMPANY,
Qofialo, N. Y., Chicago, III., Itoston, aiast>., Aew York,N. Y«
flk.^£>C lliolltlUli Dec JUUiilU.- Wli.Cll Wx..t,*ii{^
Premium
A Foster
Stylo^raphic
PEN
This pen consists of a liar<l
rubber holder, tapering to a
rountl point, and writes as
smoothly as a lead-pencil. The
point and needle of the pen
are made of platina. alloyed
with iridium — substances of
great durability which are not
affected by the action of any
kind Oi ink.
They hold sufficient ink to
write lO.OUO words, and do not
leai<orblot.
As they make a line of uni-
Toi-m 'widlli at all times
they are nneqnaled Jor
ruling: purposes.
Pens are furnished in neat
paper boxes. Each pen is ac-
companied with full directions,
tiller and cleaner.
Best Manifolding Pen on
THE Market.
I9,000 Postmasters use this
kind of a pen. The Editor of
the American Bee Journal uses
the " Foster." You should have
one also.
How to Get a "Foster"
FREE.
Send TWO new si'kscrirers
to the American Bee Journal for
one year, with S2.0U; or send
$1.90 for the Pen and your own
subscription to the American
Bee Journal for one year; or,
for i-l.W) we will mail the pen
alone. Address, ,
e'no"' GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
■ 44 & 146 Erie St.. Chicago, III.
Wisconsin -The Wisconsin Stale Bee-Keep-
ers' Association will hold its inn .al convention
In the State Capitol, at Madison, Feb. 5 and i.,
I'lOJ. This promises to be a lart'e convenlion.
All are invited to attend. There will be excur-
sion rates of 1', fare for the round-trip, good
for all of the first week in Febru.irv.
N. E. Fkancf,, Pres. Ada L. Pickakd, Sec.
MichiKan.— The Michigan State Bee-Keepers'
Association will meet in convenlion at Petos-
key, Jan. 1 and 2. 1'I02. This promises to be the
most largelv attended meeting of the Associa-
tion in years. You are invited to attend. Re-
duced rates on all railroads: tickets can be
bought Dec. 30 and Jan. 1. good to return not
later than Jan. 4. There will be no .set program,
but another of our '" open congress "' meetings.
Those who have attended in the past know
what that means, and those that don'l should
come and find out. A novel design for badge
has been ordered in honor of " Petoskey."
Geo. E. Hilton, Pres.
California.— The California State Bee-Keepers'
Association will hold its annual convention id
the Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles, Jan,
15 and lt>, lt)02. ^Ve will try to have a good pro-
gram. Come and exchange your bright ideas
with vour neighbors, and get some of the moss
rubbed off your back. J. F. McIntyre, .Sec.
G. S. Stubblkfield, Pres.
warned'""''^""'"-
iraGtedttoneu!
Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted^Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise: will pa? hig-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating- quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is large enough to
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON,
31Atf Fairfield, III.
Comb Honey and Bees-
wax. State price de-
livered in Cincinnati.
4:.Alf 21-U.-214S Ce
G. H.W.WEBER,
ral Ave., Cincinnati, O.
The Sure Hatch.— We are in receipt of the
Sure Hatch Incubator Com pan's fifth annual
catalog. It is a book of some U.6 pages, over
200 illustrations, and contains a vast amount of
poultry information plans for poultry-houses,
yards, etc., chapters on practical poultry-rais-
ing, and how to make money on a small invest-
ment, etc. Look up their ad on another page,
and write them, and mention that you saw their
ad. in the American Bee Journal.
Rocku Mountain Bee-Plant Seed !
(Vleonte iiitegtifoUa.)
...FREE AS A PREMIUM...
The ABC of Bee-Culture says of it: "This
is a beautiful plant for the flower-garden, to
say nothing of the honey it produces. It grows
fromtwo to three feet in hight and bears large,
clusters of bright pink flowers. It grows natur-
ally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado,
where it is said to furnish large quantities of
honey."
We have a few pounds of this Cleome seed,
and offer to mail a J4-pound package as a pre-
nium for sending us ONE NEW subscriber to
the American Bee Journal, with $1.00; or %
pound by mail for 40 cents.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 i 14b Erie Street, - CHICAGO, I L
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets Dec. 24, 25 and 31,1901,
and Jan. 1, 1902, at rate of a fare and
a third for the round-trip to any point
located in Central Passenger Associa-
tion territory, account Christmas and
New Year Holidays. Return limit in-
cluding Jan. 2 1902. Through service
to New York City, Boston, and other
Eastern points. Chicago Passenger
Station, Van Buren St. and I'acific
Ave., on the ICicvated Loop. For fur-
ther information address John Y. Cal-
ahan. General Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 46— 49A4t
I HONEY AND BEESWAX |
MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago, Dec. 7.— The honey market is of a
slow nature with little change io price ot any
of the grades. At this season of the yea"* many
of the retailers have laid in a supply suflfi 'ent
tn carry them over the holidays, Choice grades
of white comb honey, 14?^fa^lSc; goud lu .\ii. I,
13V4(ail4c; light ambers. 12'4©l-3c: dark grades,
including buckwheat. 10rail2c. Extracted, wh>te,
S^(a^lc; amber, S%(q\5-Uc; dark, SoiS'^c: the
scale of pri -es varjingaccordiug to fliPor.body
and package. Beeswa.x sieady at 2>!c.
R, A. Burnett & Co.
New York, Dec. 0.— Comb honey continues to
be in good demand, and while the market is not
overstocked, arrivals of while hoaev are suffi-
ciently large to meet the demand, while buck-
wheat is ralber scarce. We quote: Faucv white,
15c; No. 1, 14c; No. 2, Uic^Uc: and buckwheat,
from lOf'fUc. Extracted remains dull and in-
active with plenty of supply of all kinds. In
order to move round lots, it is even neces^sary to
shade the <iuotations,which are: White,6r*( 6^c;
amber, 5h"/oc: dark, 5'aJS4c; Southern, 55fdi60c
gallon, according to quality. Beeswax firm at
2SC. HiLDRETH & SEGBLh BN.
CINCINNATI, Oct. 25.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
Sto'f'c; better grades alfalfa water-white from
6fai7c; white clover from S^9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from 13^@15^c.
C. H. W. Webbr.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 25.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Groceryraen are stocking up and will
buv lines, when late the.v only buv enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, 15ra 16c: mixed,
14^1Sc: buckwheat^ 13tol3c. Extracted, white,
bH@~'/6c; mixed, 6@t-J^c. H. R.Wright.
Omaha, Oct. 25.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3 5t> per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honev is being
offered carlots at 45^(3(4^0 per pound,' f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
large this year in Colorado, Utah and Califor-
nia. Peycke Bros.
Boston, Nov. 20.— The demand for honey is
easing up, somewhat due in part to the holiday
season at which time it is much neglected.
Our market at the present time runs 16c for
strictly fancy in cartons; No. 1, 14@15c: No. 2,
12^fs^l3c. Extracted, light amber, 1}i(aiH^c;
amber, "c.
Blake, Scott & L#bh
Des Moines, Oct. 25.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honey are on the
market and selling in a retail way at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. I. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honev.
Peycke Bros. & Ch'aney.
Detroit, Oct. 25.— Fancv white comb honey,
14@15c; No. 1, 13(ai4c; no "dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6^'7c. Beeswax, 25('i-2t>c.
M. H. Hunt &. Son.
San Francisco, Nov. 2S.— White comb, 11®
12M cents; amber, 8(ffil0c; dark, 6^7 ceuts. Ex-
tracted, white, 5i^fr' 6c; light amber, 4^@5c:
amber, 4(2) — . Beeswax, 2t>(«'2.sc.
Not much doing in this ceuter, but there are
no large stocks here of any description, and cur-
rent values are being, as a rule, well main-
tained. There is more moving outward at pres-
ent from soulberu producing points than from
here. Some ajiiarists are reported holding back
supplies, anticipating better prices in the
spring.
Kansas City, Oct. 25.- Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of \S((v\hc per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.1i>fa)$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14(all4!^c; the demand being t^uite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way 5J4(n>6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
Send for circulars "Iv?"!!
improved an
For23 Yeak
iSAtf
d original Hinirham Bee-Smoker
s THK BkST on KaKTH.
T. F. BINQHAM, Fartvpll, Mich.
816
AMERICAN BEE JOUENAJL
Dec. 19, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship promptly.
SEND US YOUR ORDERS FOR
Hiv6§, Exiraciors
OR ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THE
BEE-KEEPING LINE.
WE MAKE ONLY THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Process Founda-
tion are ahead of evervthiag-, and cost no more
than olher makes. New Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Keepek free. Address,
THE W. T. FftLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. V.
F tO' W. M. Gefeish, East Notin^ham, N. H.,
carries a full line of our goods at catalog- prices.
Order of him and save freight.
Please mention Bee journal "when ■writing.
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTK Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thing- for use in
catching- and clipping Queens
wings. We mail it for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending us ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal ror
a year at $1.00; or forJl.lOwe will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
OEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY,
Chicago, IlL
BEE^^SUPPLIES!
Everything used tv bee-keepers.
POUDER'S HONEY-JARS. Prompt
service. Low Freight Rates.
NEW CATALOG FREE.
A New Bee-Keeper's Song-—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by GEORGE W. YORK.
This song- was written specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
in the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
EOGENE Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
Prices — Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for $1.00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked Jor.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
Please meutiou Bee Journal
when writing advertisers.
ni; Dadant's Foundation,
24tll
Year
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQlNa, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
%%
Why does it sell
so well ?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the Honey-BGe — R€:\/isccJ,
The classic in Bee-Culture— Price, f 1.2S, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, Hancock Cs., III.
Please mention Bee Jotrrnal wlien writing.
Texas Bee-Keepers.
jnp We beg to announce the opening of a Ijranch office and warehouse at
IbUi 43s w. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Medina in less than car-load lots are high, and it takes a long time for a local shipment to
reach Southern Texas points.
1 nW PrPidtlt flilll ''° secure these two necessary advantages — low freight and quick de-
iiUil llul^Ul flllU livery — and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
flllirlf riPliVPrV friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
lljllluiv UUliyOlji point in Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
than San Antonio. It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
Qcn Antnnin QP q International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
udll nllll'lllll do d tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
SliiDPing-point.
proi
San Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
Pacific Express Companies.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton, .Jr., both of whom are well known to the
(•cl'irs i>f South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
ccpiu;; and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
pt, careful attention.
As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount Ijy getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that our policy of " the best goods '' is a correct
one.
fllir fstCllnfr ^^^y ^^^ changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
Ulll UfllfllU^. yovu- order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
are made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
benefit by ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and-
make it your headquarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plier nut equaled elsewhere in Texas. You will also tind on file the leading bee-journals to
puss pleasuTitly your leisure time.
Q!TiQnioh PotalniT Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does.
oPqUISU udldlU^i If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Factory and Hove Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
Branch Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
XOKPPKKWKI.^ & WAI.TO:\, .nanagers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '%il^.l$\l'C:''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
i^^S^%
DEE Journal
CHICAGO. ILL, DECEMBER 26, 1901.
818
AMERICAN BEE jOURNAL
Dec. 26, 1901.
PUBLISHED "WEEKLY BY
GEORGE W. YORK S COMPANY
144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-
Class Mail-Matter.
EDITORIAL STAFF.
George W. York, - - Editor-in-Chief.
Dr. C. C. Miller, ) •r.„„„,» ,
E.E. Hastt. '(Deopartment
Prof. A. J. Cook, f Editors.
IMPORTANT NOTICES.
The Subscription Price of this Journal
is SI. TO a year, in the United States. Can-
ada, and Mexico ; all other countries in the
Postal Union, 50 cents a 3'ear extra for post-
age. Sample copy free.
The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper
indicates the end of the month to which
your subscription is paid. For instance.
"decOl" on your label shows that it is
paid to the end of December, 1901.
Subscription Receipts. — We do not send
a receipt for money sent us to pay subscrip-
tion, but change the date on your wrapper-
label, which shows you that the money has
been received and duly credited.
Advertising Rates will be given upon ap-
plication.
National Bee Keepers' Association
OIJJECTS:
To promote and protect the interests of its
members.
To prevent the adulteration of honey.
To prosecute dishonest honey-dealers.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Thos. G. Newma;
g. m. doolittle,
W. F. Marks,
J. M. Hambaugh,
C. P. Dadant,
Dr. C. C. Miller.
A. I. Root,
E. T. Abbott,
P. H. Elwood,
E. K. Root,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Ernest R. Root, President.
R. C. AiKiN, Vice-President.
Dr. a. B. Mason, Secretary, Toledo, Oh
Eugene Secok, General Manager and T
nrer. Forest City, Iowa.
Membership Dues, $1.00 a year.
11^" If more convenient, Dues may be sent
to the office of the American Bee Journal,
when they will be forwarded to Mr. Secor,
who will mail individual receipts.
A Celluloid Queen-Button is a very
pretty thing for a bee-keeper or honey-seller
to wear on his coat^lapel. It often serves to in-
troduce the subject of honey,
and frequently leads to a
sale..
Note.— One reader writes:
*' I have every reason to be-
lieve that it would be a very
good idea for every bee-keeper
to wear one [of the buttonsl
as it will cause people to ask
questions about the busy bee, and many a con-
versation thus started would wind up with the
sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would
yive the bee-keeper a superior opportunity to
enlighten many a person in regard to honey
and bees."
The picture shown herewith is a reproduc-
tion of a motto queen-button that we are fur-
nishing to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the
underside to fasten it.
Price, by mail, 6 cents; two for 10 cents;
or 6 for 25 cents. Send all orders to the offica
of the American Bee Journal.
1 0>xira6l)6(l Honeu For Sale i
•^ ALL IN 60 POUND TIN CANS. ^
^Nil>\l/\^/\i>\t/UAt>\^/VI/\l/\i/\l/U/\iAl/UAl/VI/\l/\l/\^^
=BEST=
Alfalfa
Honey J/c
ted
This is thefam.
White Exirac
Honey gathered
the great Alfalt
regions of the Cent
ral West. It is :
splendid honey
nearly every bod
who cares to e a
honey at all can
get enough of th
Alfalfa extracted.
Basswood
Honey J?<C
This is the well-
known light-colored
boney gathered from
the rich, nectar-
taden basswood blos-
soms. It has a
stronger flavor than
\lfalfa, and is pre-
ferred by those who
like a distinct flavor
in their honey.
Prices of Alfalfa or Basswood Honey:
A sample of either, by mail, 10 cents, to pay for package and post-
age. By freight — two or more 60-pound cans of Alfalfa, 7}i cents per
pound. Basswood Honey, yi cent more per pound than Alfalfa prices.
Cash must accompany each order. You can order half of each kind of
honey, if j'ou so desire. The cans are two in a box, and freight is not
prepaid.
Order the Above Honey and then Sell It.
We would suggest that those bee-keepers who did not produce
enough honey for their home demand this year, just order some of the
above, and sell it. And others, who want to earn some money, can get
this honey and work up a demand for it almost anywhere.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 144 & 146 Erie St., Chicago, III.
The Novelty Pocket=Knife.
Your Name and Address on one side — Three Bees on the other side.
HOWARD M. MELBEE,
HONEYViLLE, O.
[This Cut is tiik t^ULL Size of the Knife.]
iderlug-, be sure to say just what name aud
Your Name on the Knife.— Whe
address you wish put on the Knlte.
The Novelty Knife is indeed a novelty The novelty lies in the handle. It is
made beautifully of indestructible celluloid, which is as transparent as g-lass. Un-
derneath the celluloid, on one side of the handle is placed the name and residence of
the subscriber^ and on the other side pictures of a Queen, Drone, and Worker, as
shown here.
The Material entering- into this celebrated knife is of the very best quality;
the blades are hand-forged out of the very finest Eng-lish razor-steel, and we war-
blade. The bolsters are made of German silver, and will never rust or
^he rivets are hardened German silver wire; the linings are plate brass;
s of Sheffield spring-steel, and the finish of the handle as described
ill last a last-time, with proper usage.
Why Own the Novelty Knife ? In case a good knife is lost, the chances are the
owner will never recover it; but if the *' Novelty " is lost, having name and address
of owner, the finder will return it; otherwise to try to destroy the name and ad-
dress, would destroy the knife. If traveling, and you meet with a serious accident, and are so for-
tunate as tb have one of the "■ Novelties," your Pocket-K>'ife will serve as an identifier; and in
case of death, your relatives will at once be notified of the accident.
rant every
corrode. '^
the back spr
above.
Ho
V appropriate this knife is i
son, a wife to a husband, a s
of the recipient on one side?
orapresenti What more lasting memento could a mother
ister to a brother, or a ladv to a gentleman, the knife having
The accompanying cu( gives a faint idea, but cannot fully convey an exact representation of
this^beauiiful kuife, as the ** Novelty " must be seen to be appreciated.
How to Get this Valuable Knife.— We send it postpaid for $1.25, or give it as a Premium to the
one sending usj. riREE newsuescribers to the Bee Journal (with ST-.')").! We will club the Novelty
Knife aud the Bee Journal for t
, both for $1.90.
GEORGE W, YORK & CO,
iBS^Please allor* ■'bout two weeks for your kuife order to be filien.
St, Chicago, IlL
A Happy New Year to all Our Readers,
41st YEAR.
CHICAGO, ELL, DECEMBER 26,1901,
No. 52.
i * Editorial. ^ I
The Annual Index will be found in
this issue of the American Bee Journal. As
many readers preserve everj- number, the
index will be found a very valuable thing.
In tact, if there were nothing else in this copy
but the index, it would still be worth a good
deal, as it shows the wide range of apiarian
subjects treated in a single year.
Breeding from the Best has been the
motto for so long a time, that when F. B.
Simpson advocated in the Bee-Keepers' Re-
view that a queen of very exceptional quali-
ties being in the nature of a freak could not
be relied upon to reproduce herself, therefore
it was better to breed from a queen whose
progeny were only a little above the average
as to results, but showing greater constancy
in her royal progeny — when Mr. Simpson
advocated this doctrine, it seemed a little like
the explosion of a bomb-shell. No one has
proved that Mr. Simpson's position is wrong,
and yet the fact remains that good results
have been obtained — or at least seem to have
been obtained — by following the old rule, to
breed from the best.
Mr. Doolittle says in Gleanings in Bee-Cul-
ture that he has followed that rule for 30
years — breeding always from the queen that
gave workers most valuable in bringing in
nectar from the fields, rather than from those
of the most uniform markings or purity,
mentioning especially one remarkable freak
from which he reared nearly all of his queens
as long as she lived. Not only has his aver-
age yield per colony increased, but the uni-
formity of yield from his colonies has been
constantly on the increase.
Comb Honey by the Case. — On another
page, Mr. D. W. Working, the secretary of
the Colorado Bee-Keepers' Association, has a
reply to both the recent article by K. A. Bur-
nett & Co. and our editorial on the same
subject.
We fail to see how Mr. Working can expect
to convince any one that it is a fair way to
Sill honey at wholesale by the case — simply
lump it otr — instead of by weight. We wonder
if he'd like to buy coal in that way — by the
box full— may be box even full and shaken
down, and may be not.
It is certainly more nearly fair to retail
sections of honey by the piece than to whole-
sale it by the case (no weighing being done
in either), for the consumer, if he thinks he
is not getting enough for his money, can
have his grocer weigh it right before him.
But the wholesaler has not that advantage
when buying by the case at a distance.
Tes, sir; it was "quite fair'' touse the.?400
illustration we did. The dealer in question
was not guilty of any " smart dealing." But
the people from whom he bought that par-
ticular car-load of honey simply euchred
themselves out of .5400 by not selling their
honey by weight instead of by the case.
Surely, any one, if he desires to do so, can see
the point in our illustration. The only fair
way, as we see it, to all concerned, is to sell
honey by weight, and not lump it off by the
case. The wholesale buyer will sell by
weight to the retail grocers, then why
shouldn't he (the wholesale buyer) buy by
weight ?
What reasonable objection can there be to
selling honey by weight ? We know of none.
Later. — One of our good Colorado sul>
scribers seems to be quite upset over this
matter, and, in fact, becomes somewhat per-
sonal and sarcastic in a private letter. He
seems to think that we were the ones who
made that .*400. Not at all. We never
handled any honey by the case, except about
a halt car-load, and that was sold at the same
price we paid for it — was sold before it was
shipped, as we didn't care for it ourselves.
We don't care to buy or sell honey by the
case, as we don't think it is the correct
method, with all due deference to our Col-
orado friends, aad others who sell by the case.
We could give some more good illustrations
on this subject, but think it unnecessary just
now.
♦-
The Cost of Orones is considerable.
Dr. Bachner estimates that 1000 dones con-
sume a little more than 4 ounces daily. A
Straw in Glearings in Bee-Culture says-
" That means that the drones reared in 28
square inches of comb will, in five weeks, con-
sume about '.) pounds of honey.'"
But the Straw man estimates only a single
generation of drones, whereas there may be
two or more generations, although all the
drones are not allowed to live five weeks. A
considerable amount of honey should also be
figured in what is used to feed the drone-
brood.
■* — ■
Injury to Queens in the Mail is a
subject of some discussion In Gleanings in
Bee-Culture. Two of the somewhat numer-
ous Miller family are not in entire accord as
to the reason why it is that after a queen has
been sent through the mail she will some-
times "go bad.'' although having been all
right before being mailed. Arthur C. Miller
says the trouble is that the cincen has suflered
for want of proper nourishment. He says :
Remember that a queen in the full exercise
of her functions is developing two and a half
times her own weight of eggs every 24 hours.
It is not the sudden taking of the queen from
a place in which to deposit her eggs that in-
jures (for she can and will continue to ex-
trude them as they develop), but it Is the
lack of sutHcient proper food to restore the
drain on her system. If such food is not
available in sufficient quantity, she starves,
and on the duration of such starvation
depends the extent of injury to her vitality.
Knowing these things, and knowing that
a queen free in her hive can ask and obtain
food from thousands of bees, is it irrational
to believe and assert that she must suffer
when compelled to depend on tweloe bees, only
a few of which may be able to supply her
needs * These statements may be readily
verilied by any one who cares to take the
necessary pains.
Dr. C. C. Miller thinks that when a queen
hea%'y with eggs is put in the mails, her great
weight is such that she can not hold on to
her place, and is injured by severe concus-
sions. He suggests the advisability of caging
a queen 24 hours before mailing, so that she
will not be so heavy.
Whichever one is right, or even if both are
right, might not the previous caging be a
good thing ? If the trouble comes from star-
vation, because the queen demands such a
large quantity of food, certainly the caging
ought to help, for after 24 hours cessation of
laying she would not demand so much food.
Educating Tastes in Animals. — At
the Chicago convention there was a decided
difference of opinion as to the liking of stock
for sweet clover, some saying that cattle
would not eat it, and others saying they
would eat it greedily. Both were no dqnbt
correct, the fact being that there is more
than is generally supposed in the matter of
having the taste educated. With no thought
of reference to sweet clover, A. I. Root, in
Gleanings in Bee-Culture, tells about poultry
having educated tastes, so that they greedily
ate raw beans.
It is also said that Texas cattle that have
never eaten corn will refuse to eat it at first.
It is well known that cows in a state of
naiure are quite dainty in their tastes, yet the
family bossy may be trained to eat almost
anything, including dishwater. If sweet
clover hay be fed dry, it will in many cases
be accepted more readily than the green fod-
der, and perhaps in all cases a little persis-
tence may succeed in having stock eat sweet
clover either green or dry.
The Ijaws of Breeding, it is pretty
safe to say, have never before had the atten-
tion they are having from Ijee-keepers and
820
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Dec. 2h, 1901.
queen-breeders to-day. At least, there never
was as much said upon the subject as at the
present time in the bee-papers. Doubtless
much more would have been written and
known on the subject It the mating of bees
could be controlled as in the case of other
animals. It is at least within the range of
possibilities that control of fertilization may
yet become an accomplished fact, apd if it
ever does come it will be well to he prepared
for it in advance. Even if we never reach
any greater control than at present, a thor-
ough knowledge of all that can be learned
about breeding may be turned to account.
Especially let the younger members of the
fraternity inform themselves as fully as pos-
sible. Doubtless more or less that is confus-
ing, and sometimes contradictory, may be
found in the bee-papers, but careful sifting
may get that which will be useful in leading
toward improvement of our present stock of
bees.
I Weekly Budget. I
Apiary of K. Wheeler.— On the first page
of this number is the picture of the apiary of
R. Wheeler, of Alameda Co., Calif. It is
located in the corner of his chicken yard,
showing all the hives but one. In the further
right corner is a nucleus hive, eoulaining
four 3-frame nuclei, under the same roof,
vrhere he boards his spare queens. To the
left will be seen a shade-root made of shakes 3
feet long, nailed to strips of board 2x1, three
in number. It hangs on a pivot one-third
distance from the edge, as shown in the
picture. By throwing forward it gives room
to work at the hives, changes the shade, etc.
In front of the hives is coal-ashes. Between
the two pieces of old boiler-tubing is planted
mignonette and primrose. The hydrant and
hose are in the near right corner. All is eu-
closed by a wire fence 3 feet high. It is a
very neat apiary.
British Estima-TE of Ameuicass. — It
is very pleasant to know that a very kindly
feeling exists between this and the mother
country, especially among bee-keepers. F.
W. L. Sladen, a prominent British bee-keeper
who is spending some months in this country,
writes to the British Bee Journal :
I feel convinced that we have a great deal
to learn from our American cousins. They
are a progressive people, and are fast coming
to the front in almost everything. The evi-
dences of progress throughout the country,
and especially in the cities, have simply
amazed me. Many of the American bee-
keepers' methods and appliances are unsuit-
able for adoption in England, on account of
climatic and other differences, but there are
others that ought certainly to be valuable to
us, and it is to be hoped that our people will
give them a fair trial, so that we may not lag
behind the times.
Mr. Frank RAUCHFrss, the energetic and
wide-awake manager of the Colorado Honey-
Producers' Association, was in Chicago a few
days last week. He had been visiting rari-
(ms cities in the interest of his Association,
which will doubtless result in mutual benefit.
We had several good visits with Mr. Rauch-
fuss. So did Mr. Burnett, of R. A. Burnett &
Co. Of course, the subject of selling comb
honey by case vs. weight was discussed quite
thoroughly, and we think Mr. Rauchfuss
returned feeling that there is more than one
side to it.
I The Buffalo Convention. I
^ Report of the Proceeding's of the Thirty-Second Annual ^
^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^
^ elation, held at Buffalo, New York, ^
i$ Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^j
(Continued from page .S05.J I
THIRD DAY— Evening Sbssion.
The meeting- was held at Epworth
Hotel, and was called to order at 8 p.m.,
by Mr. Watrous, president of the Pomo-
logical Society, who announced that
one of the papers set down for the af-
ternoon session, and which had not
been reached at that session, would be
read then. After the reading- of the
paper, which was of no practical inter-
est to bee-keepers. President Watrous
said: " We have with us to-night the
National Bee Keepers' Association, and
their officers, in conjunction with ours,
have provided a s,eries of discussions
here which we shall next have, and
without further preliminaries we will
now listen to Prof. James Fletcher, of
Ottawa, Ont., Canada."
Prof. Fletcher then delivered the
following address on the subject of
Bees as Fertilizers of Flowers.
At the last annual meeting of the
Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association. I
had the pleasure of delivering an ad-
dress on " The Value of Bees in
Fruit Orchards," in which, among
other subjects, I discussed the burning
question of whether bees did or could
injure the fruit-grower by attacking
sound fruit on the trees. The position
I took at that time was that unless
fruit was first broken or injured,
honey-bees could not gain access to
the juice of the fruits. It appears to
me now, however, that the ability of
bees to puncture ripe fruit need not
take up so much discussion at a bee-
keepers' meeting- as has on some oc-
casions been given to it.
If it is so very doubtful whether they
can or cannot cause injury, it seems
prima facie evident that even if this is
possible — which I do not believe — the
injury occurs so seldom that it need
not be considered. If it were a fre-
quently occurring or important injury,
some of those who have watched bees,
either as friends or enemies, would
have been able to settle the matter long-
before this.
Another subject taken up by me at
the time referred to was, "Bees as
Fertilizers of Flowers." and at the re-
quest of President Root, of the National
Bee-Keepers" Association, I have pre-
pared a short paper for this evening's
meeting on that subject, in which I
shall direct your attention to the strik-
ing interrelation of plants and insects,
and in which I trust that I may be able
to lay before you facts which may be
new to some of your members, must be
of interest to all, and cannot but call
forth admiration for the marvelous
provisions which are to be seen every-
where iti Nature for the bringing about
of good and useful results and prevent-
ing waste. It will be found that not
only are flowers absolutely necessary
to bees, as the source of their food —
nectar and pollen — but that bees and
other insects are no less necessary to
most flowers, so that their perpetuation
may be secured.
This fact should be recognized by the
fruit-grower, above all others, for were
it not for insects, and particularly for
the honey-bee, his crops of fruit
would be far less than they are every
year, and even in some cases he would
get no fruit at all.
Failure in the fruit crop is more often
due, I think, to dull or damp weather
at the time of blossoming, which pre-
vents insects from working actively in
the flowers, than to any other cause.
Flowers of plants are a special devel-
opment of leaf-growth, produced for a
special purpose, namely, for securing
the fertilization, development and ma-
turing of the seeds, which are the chief
means by which a species of plant is
preserved from extinction. A normal
flower consists of two sets of organs —
a protective envelopment made up of
the corolla, which as a rule has highly
colored and showy petals ; and the
calyx, which is mainly a protection
during the time the corolla and the
more important organs contained with-
in it are developing. The other set of
organs, known as the essential organs,
comprise the stamens and pistils; the
former of these represent the male sex,
and the latter the female. The anthers
— the important part of the stamens —
are practically small cases containing
pollen, without the agency of which
the ovules or undeveloped seeds which
are formed in the lower part of the pis-
til cannot come to maturity, or — from
the fruit-grower's point of view — unless
the flowers on his trees are fertilized
in this way, no fruit will form, and his
labor will be in vain. It is necessary
that pollen should be applied to the
stigma or sensitive portion of the pistil
before the seeds can be developed, and
it has been found that it is most ad-
vantageous to a species that the seeds
of a given flower shall be fertilized by
the pollen from some other flower of
the same species.
A study of the devices provided by
Nature to insure this cross-fertilization
forms one of the most charming
branches of the whole study of botany.
It is a branch of the subject which
may be said to have had its origin in
the remarkable investigations of the
great naturalist, Charles Darwin, and
has since been developed in Europe by
Lubbock, Anton Korner, and Miller.
In this country excellent work has been
done by Messrs. Halsted, Bailey, Rob-
ertson, Waugh, and others who are
with us to-night ; so that it will be seen
that the study itself is quite recent, but,
Dec. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
821
now that attention has once been
drawn to it, it can be recogfnized as a
general principle running through all
branches of the vegetable and animal
kingdoms. Although, as was pointed
out by Darwin, some plants can be and
are fertilized by their own pollen, it is
always of greater benefit to their de-
scendants for flowers to be fertilized
by pollen from other flowers of the
same kind growing upon other plants.
He summed up his observations with
the trite observation, "Nature abhors
perpetual self-fertilization," which was
first enunciated in his great work pub-
lished in 1862 on the fertilization of
orchids. The publication of this classic
work marks the beginning of one of
the most important eras in the history
of the science of botany. Since then
endless observations have confirmed
the accuracy of Darwin's law, and it
has been found that in the vast major-
ity of plants special appliances exist
which will secure a more or less fre-
quent inter-cross, and that in many
these appliances completely exclude
the possibility of self-fertilization.
The cross-fertilization of some plants
is insured by the male and female
organs occurring in separate flowers,
either on the same or different plants.
Familiar instances of male and female
flowers on the same plant are the male
catkins of such trees as the butternut,
hickory, the birches, oaks and hazels.
The female flowers are much less con-
spicuous but easily recognizable near
the tip of the twigs. In the vrillows
we find the male and the female cat-
kins on separate trees, each tree bear-
ing either staminate male flowers, or
pistillate female ones. In many cases
where the two sexes occur in the same
flower, self-fertilizing is prevented by
the male and female organs coming to
maturity at different times, sufliciently
far apart for it to be impossible for the
pistil to be fertilized by the pollen borne
on the same flower. In many cases there
are remarkable contrivances which pre-
vent the impregnation of flowers by
their own pollen. In the species of
primrose — and no better example can
be found than the well known house-
plant from the Himalayas— /';-?';««/a
obcotiica—W. will be found that the flow-
ers on different plants are dimorphic,
some flowers having the tip of the pis-
til at the mouth of the tube and the
anthers well down towards the bottom,
while in other flowers this order is re-
versed, and the anthers are produced
at the mouth of the tube and the pistil
is so short that it does not reach half
way up. Darwin proved by growing
many plants from the seeds that by
far better plants were obtained by the
flower bearing long or short pistils be-
ing crossed with pollen from the other
kind of flower. There are some flowers
which are actually sterile to their own
pollen, but can be fecundated readilv
with pollen from flowers growing on
another plant of the same species. It
has been pointed out by Prof. Waugh,
of Vermont, that this is the case with
the red American plums, and it is also
the case with many varieties of apples
and pears. This fact at once indicates
the important bearing the presence of
insects in an orchard at the time of
blossoming has upon the production of
an abundant fruit crop. Moreover, it
can be shown that, owing to its size,
weight and habits, no insect is so well
calculated to insure the fertilization of
fruit-blossoms as the honey-bee, which
plies rapidly from plant to plant, and
by running over the flowers in search
of pollen or nectar, brushes off the pol-
len and carries this vitalizing element
on the hairs of its body to the next
flower visited. The habit of the bees,
which has frequently been noticed, of
confining the visits when collecting
largely to the same kind of plant, is
taken advantage of by the bee-keeper
to store up at certain seasons particu-
lar kinds of honey, such as apple,
raspberry, basswood, clover and buck-
wheat honeys. This habit is also
manifestly advantageous to the plants
on account of the pollen which is car-
ried by the bee being of the kind neces-
sary for the fertilization of its flowers,
which could not be effected if the pollen
were that of some other kind of plant.
A few weeks ago I saw a striking in-
stance confirmatory of this well-known
fact. High upon the summit of Mount
Che-am in the coast range of British
Columbia, are magnificent mountain
meadows, undulating plateaux, thickly
covered during the month of August
with the greatest profusion of brilliant
flowers — wide stretches of golden arni-
cas, crimsom, green and white moun-
tain heathers, beds of veratrus, valer-
ian, lupines, large, white umbillifers,
crimson cartilleias, yellow adder's ton-
gue, lilies, potentillas and waving
grasses and sedges. This gigantic
flower-bed, as might be expected, sim-
ply teemed with insect life. Butterflies
sailed lightly from place to place ; flies,
beetles and small bees hurried and
scurried in every direction, making the
most of the short mountain summer,
and the whole producing a picture of
the greatest delight to the naturalist
whose only, ever-present regret was
that so few others could enjoy the en-
chanting scene.
Co.nspicuous on the purple spikes of
the lupines were numerous, busy,
grumbling, clumsy bumble-bees, crawl-
ing over the gay flowers, rifling them
of their nectar, and filling theirpollen-
baskets with bright red pollen, which
was most conspicious on their black
and white bodies, and strikingly differ-
ent in color from the ordinary pollen
collected elsewhere.
There are endless devices in flowers
to secure the distribution of pollen at
the time it will be of most use, and also
for its protection from moisture after
it had been emitted from the anthers.
This is secured, in most instances, by
the shape of the flowers, or the position
of the floral leaves; again, the male
and female organs of some flowers are
very sensitive, the pollen being cast
forth with some violence as soon as the
stamens are touched by insects.
An instance of this is to be found in
the common Canadian swamp-plant,
called Lambkin or Swamp Laurel ; the
anthers are held down in small depres-
sions round the edge of the corolla,
and when an insect visits the flower,
the stamens spring up, the anthers
burst, and the pollen is thrown against
the insect's body. The same thing may
be observed in the common barberry
flower.
In addition to the classes of plants
already referred to. which are sterile
to their own pollen (and in a few re-
markable instances where the pollen is
actually poisonous to the pistil of the
same flower) th<;re are numberless
species which are partially sterile when
fertilized with their own pollen, and to
a less degree when fertilized with pol-
len from close relatives, such as seed-
lings from the same parent as the plant
bearing the flowers ; and finally, in a
large class where there is no apparent
obstacle to self-fertilization, cross-fer-
tilization often ' occurs from what is
known as the prepotency of pollen
from another individual over a plant's
own pollen.
The agency by which pollen is trans-
ported from one flower to another is
either animate or inanimate, and cer-
tain peculiarities will be found in flow-
ers characteristic of each class. The
inanimate agency with most flowers is
the wind, and in these flowers the pol-
len is dusty and exceedingly light, so
as to be carried on the lightest breeze ;
the flowers are inconspicuous and there
is no nectar nor perfume. On the other
hand, in those flowers which are depen-
dent on an animate agency, which is
mainly insects of various kinds, these
insects must be attracted to the flowers;
and we accordingly find that brilliant
colors and far-reaching odors are devel-
oped.
These alone, however, would be of
small gratification to the visitors ;
consequently, something more satisfy-
ing is provided, namely, nectar and
pollen, which form the food of vast
hordes of the insect world, and particu-
larly of the honey-bee. Moreover, the
remarkable provision is made that
these attractions only appear just at
the time when the visits of insects can
be of a definite benefit to the plant ;
and further than this, an endless vari-
ety in the structure of the leaves, stem
and flowers of plants makes easy the
access of such species as will be of use,
but retards or keeps out entirelj' those
which would only regale themselves on
the sweets provided without conferring
any benefit in return. A pollen-grain
is somewhat analogous to a seed ; as
soon as it reaches the stigma, the vis-
cid portion of the pistil, a sort of
growth begins, and delicate tubes are
pushed out and run down through the
tissues to the ovary. Through these
tubes the vitalizing principle (the
fovilla) reaches and fecundates the
ovules in the ovary. The period dur-
ing which the pollen and the stigma
are in a fit condition for fertilization is
only of short duration. Those insects,
therefore, which can fly quickly from
plant to plant are much better adapted
for this %vork than the slower moving,
wingless, creeping insects which would
be much more likely to have the pollen
brushed from their bodies in their
journey from plant to plant or even
from flower to flower.
The size even of flying insects is also
a matter of importance so that their
bodies may come in contact with the
anthers of one flower and the pistil of
another, and most marvellous contri-
vances will be discovered when looked
for in the blossoms of flowers, the ef-
fect of which is to exclude those visit-
ors which are not profitable. Such are
modifications in the shape and size of
the corolla, the presence of tufts of
hair, barbed spikes and bristles around
the nectary, the secretion of the nectar
at the bottom of long spurs or deep
tubes of the corolla, etc. Wingless in-
sects are kept from getting to the nec-
tar by even more numerous construc-
tions : reflexed bristles, copious hairs,
viscid glands or viscid rings on the
822
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Dec. 26, 1901.
stems, particularly around the flower-
stalks. In some plants, as the fuller's
teasel, the leaves join around the stem,
forming- a receptacle which catches
rain and dew and forms an insuperable
barrier. What is also doubtless a
provision for the protection of the
seeds of plants is the fact that when
plants are eaten by animals or insects,
it will frequently be noticed that
the blossoms themselves are seldom de-
stroyed. This may be due either to a
more abundant production of thorns or
bristles around these org-ans, or that
they are rendered distasteful by certain
compounds which are more abundantly
secreted in the blossoms.
This fascinating branch of my sub-
ject is far too wide for me to more
than refer to it now ; but I am con-
vinced that shape, position, nature and
adornment of every part of a plant has
some special significance if we can
only discover it. That we have not
yet perceived of what advantage these
are, by no means justifies us in assum-
ing that no advantage exists, and the
search for the meaning of the innum-
erable shapes of flowers and leaves,
their positions and behavior under
varying circumstances provide a limit-
less source of pleasure and valuable in-
struction to whomsoever takes the mat-
ter up earnestl}', verifying carefully
each observation and exercising every
care not to be carried away by the sub-
ject and jump to conclusions.
I have with me here to-day some ex-
cellent charts made by my friend, the
Rev. Thomas Fyles, of Quebec, the
president of the Entomological Society
of Ontario. These will enable me to
illustrate some of the points I have re-
ferred to, far better than I could other-
wise have done. James Fletcher.
Some fine, colored charts were here
exhibited, and much information was
given about each in turn. Some of the
points explained, were as follows :
No. 1. — Pollen-Grains. — Although
so small, the minute pollen-grains are
of various sizes and shapes, and have
their surfaces beautifully ornamented
in a varietj' of ways. In fact, these
minute objects are just as character-
istic and easily recognizable under the
microscope as are the different kinds
of seeds. The pollens of several well-
known plants were shown, as illustra-
tive of the different shapes and mark-
ings of pollen-grains. The pollen of
pine trees, which is very light, is pro-
duced in enormous quantities, and
when carried on the wind and deposited
at a distance, has sometimes been taken
for showers of powdered sulphur. An
instance of this was brought to his no-
tice during the past summer at Arm-
strong, in British Columbia. A re-
markable occurrence illustrating the
extreme likeness of the pollen-grains
of pine trees was one of these so-called
sulphur showers on the deck of a ship
nearly 200 miles from land. The doc-
tor of the ship, who happened to be a
botanist, detected the true nature of
the yellow deposit by putting some of
the material under his miscroscope.
No. 2. — MOUTH-P.ART OF THE HONEY-
BEE, the bumble-bee and the wasp. —
The differences in the mandibles of
these insects were pointed out and ex-
plained. The mandibles of the honey-
bee are provided for the working of
wax, and this only when softened at a
high temperature. Those of the wasp
for gnawing wood for the manufacture
of the paper with which their nests are
surrounded.
No. 3. — Flowers of the Pea Fam-
ily.— These were illustrated by figures
of the Bread bean, showing the distinct
contrast of black and white, the Sweet
pea and the Broom. The difi'erent
structures were explained in their bear-
ing on the question of cross-fertiliza-
tion, attention being drawn to the
brush-like stigma and the elastic keel.
No. 4. — A Flower of the Sun-
Flower Fa.mily. — The many points of
interest in these flowers, and the de-
vices by which they are prevented from
becoming self-fertilized, were ex-
plained.
No. 5. — Flowers of the Common
Primrose, referred to above, showing
the two forms with long and short pis-
tils.
No. 6. — Flower of Trop.eolum. —
Attention was drawn to the markings
and tufts of hair in the throat of the
garden flower known as the Nastur-
tium, which acted as path-finders to
insects of a proper size and shape, so
as to secure fertilization to the seeds
when they visited the flowers for the
sake of the copious nectar in the long
hours.
No. 7. — Flowers of Antirrhinum.
— The necessity of a large, strong in-
sect, such as a bee, to open the Snap-
Dragon flower and reach the nectar
was evident, but it was stated that
sometimes bumble-bees gnawed a more
direct entrance to the nectar at the
base of the flower. After this entrance
was once made, honey-bees might be
seen rifling the flowers through this
hole instead of entering by the proper
opening. This Mr. Fletcher believed
was an analogous case to honey-bees
sucking the juice from injured fruits.
No. 8. — The Night-Flowering
Catchfly. — The blossoms of the Pink
family are extremely interesting.
There are 10 stamens. The flowers
open after sun-down, when they are
white and conspicuous. Sweet perfume
is emitted, and during the first evening
of the three in which each flower ex-
pands, five of the anthers are pushed
out of the flower-tube and shed their
pollen, after which they dry up and fall
away. The next morning the petals
curl up and present the appearance of
a faded flower. During th6 day there
is no perfume, but in the evening the
petals again unfold, the scent returns,
and the other five anthers appear. It
is not until the third evening, when all
the pollen is exhausted, that the pistil
lengthens out and exposes itself to re-
ceive pollen from other flowers.
Several other charts of a similar
nature to the above were shown, and
their bearing on the subject explained.
In bringing his remarks to a close. Dr.
Fletcher spoke of the great value to all
classes of workers of the introduction
of "Nature Study" into our schools
and universities. He spoke highly of
the work which had been done by
Profs. Bailey and Craig of Cornell
University. He knew of nothing so
valuable in education as inculcating a
knowledge, and with it a desire for
knowledge, concerning all the common
objects which surround us on every
side, an ignorance of which in most
classes of the community was such a
conspicuous characteristic.
fContinned next week.)
i Contributed Articles.
Selling Comb Honey by the Case.
BY D. W. WORKING.
ACTING on thp siiijorcstioii of the Editor of the Anieriean
Hci' .lournal, I read before the Colorado State Bee-keep-
ers' Association a proof of the article by E. A. Burnett &
Co., publisliod on pag-c 75W. This article, which seems to
have been written i's|iri-i.ill\ fiir thi> I'nlijilitment of Colorado
bee-keepers, was dis.ii--ril ai -nmr length by our members:
and 1 venture to offiTun ali^trin-t of tlieir remarks.
Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, manager of the Colorado Honey-
Producers' Association, said :
" I plead fcullty to writing one of the letters quoted in that
article. If we fjnaraiitee a weight for separatored, half-sepa-
ratored, and uii separatored honey, is it not virtually the same
thing as selling by weight ? In one of Burnett & Co.'s letters
to us, tliey said they were not willing to buy an unknown
quantity. I wrote back that they were buying a known
quantity. In one instance the buyers "rot 200 pounds more
thantliey were figuring on. It is an injury and an imposition
to make the statements in that articl<' without stating the
wliole thing. A house of that standing should know some-
thing of the difference between separatored and unseparatored
lioney. They want to buy light wiij/ht honey by the pound,
and "as soon as concessions are reached they will throw out
the heavy-weight honey. It has worked that way, and it will
work that way again."
R. C. Aikin — I tliink our system is ptrfectiy fair. It
guards against wrong-doing on both sides.
H. C. Morehouse — I fully endorse those remarks. The
article misrepresents the position of our people.
T. Lytle — When the buyer asks for quotations by the
case, he makes a bid on the guaranteed weight. He is not in-
jured or abused in any manner.
Mr. Aikin — Selling by tlie case makes it an oasi<'r matter
to do business. We have rules to sell by.
Mr. Rauchfuss— None of the grading rules but ours have
considered the question of weight. We have a standard sec-
tion, which they do not have in other States. Having a stan-
dard section, we can have a standard of weight. How can
you adopt a set of rules, with a standard section, without tak-
ing weight into consideration ? I can show quantities of
honey in our store now, graded as No. 2 under our rules,
which will be sold as No. 1 in Eastern markets. Selling by
Dec. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
823
the case overcomes hair-splitting dirterences in tare. If a lot
of separatort'd honpy, for example, docs not net 21 pounds,
we throw in a few eases extra : if they net heavier than tliat
weight, we do not charge tin' buyer for the overplus. If the
same conditions existed in Eastern markets, it would be more
satisfactory to the general trade.
Mr. Aikin — I have a suspicion that the writer of that
article has been bitten by some one with grading rules not so
good as ours.
W. Z. Hutchinson — If Burnett <fc Co. knew that you had
such rules, that article is not fair.
Mr. Aikin — If we sell by weight, then they will insist that
we sell them light-weight honey, and they will sell by the
case.
J. B. Dodds — And if you go to Chicago with the light-
weight honey then they will want heavy-weight honey. We
often put in heavy-weight honey. We often put in heavier
weight in packing than we would if it were not for those
rules.
Mr. Rauchfuss — When honey is sold by weight only, no
distinction is made between separatored and unseparated
honey. But by our rules we admit that halt-separatored and un-
separatored honey are less desirable than separatored, which
is easier to lift out without damage, by the grocer. By our
system, there is more uniformity of weights. We guarantee
weights, and give a man every pound he 'luys.
The attentive reader will have noticed that the foregoing
discussion is a defense of the Colorado system rather than a
criticism of the article by Burnett & Co. This is natural.
Our people are familiar with the merits of tlieir own methods :
they could not be perfectly sure of the merits of the argu-
ments favoring another system by a single hearing of such an
article as that read to them.
Burnett & Co. could not well be ignorant of the Colo-
rado grading rules. These rules have been published in the
American Bee Journal. A copy has been furnished to Burnett
& Co.; and it was unjust to suppose that they are too stupid
to understand them. In spite of the knowledge which they
must have had to the contrary, they beg the whole question by
referring to the, '"pig in the bag." Let me quote the Colorado
rule for No. 1 honey : ^
No. 1 — Sections to be well filled and capped, honey white, slightly
amber, comb white and not projecting beyond the wood, wood to be
well cleaned ; cases of separatored honey to average 21 pounds net
per case of 24 sections, with a mimimum weight of not less than 20
pounds for any single case; cases of half-separatored honey to average
not less than 21^4 pounds uet per case of 24 sections, with a minimum
weight of 20''^ pounds for any single case; cases of unseparatored
honey to average not less than 22^^ pounds net per case of 24 sec-
tions, \yith a miaimum weight of 21'.j pounds for any single case.
Will any intelligent reader of the American Bee Journal
believe that the man who buys honey guaranteed to be packed
according to that rule is buying a pig in a nag? Indeed, will
not the reader know that the buyer, whether of one case or a
car-load of cases, is sure to get at least a certain, definite
amount of honey ?
The argument in which the " bag of tea, coffee or sugar"
figures, does not lack ingenuity. But why did not this wise
logician include also the bag of flour ? Does it weigh
exactly a hundred potinds? "Sot at all. And yet flour is
quoted by the hundred-weight. We buy a great variety of
articles by the package. And the grocer who sells a section of
honey as a pound is probably giving as much weight for the
money as he does when he sells certain other " pound "' pack-
ages. People who buy honey by the section can easily be
made to understand that sections are very likely to vary in
weight. Can it be that any one is so lacking in discernment
as to suppose that every section (pound section, if you please)
would be equal in weight to every other section ?
Perhaps I am inexcusably ignorant; but I must confess
that I do not know of a single association of bee-keepers that
is "advocating the abandoning of weighing their honey." I
am sure our rules make it necessary to have the scales pretty
close by when packing comb honey — as the readers can not
but know, having read the rule quoted above.
A word as to the editorial in the American Hee Journal.
Is it quite fair to use the example of a car of honey which
cleared the buyers yiOU "beyond a fair profit" as an excuse
for intimating that the producer was not dealing squarely ?
That dealer might l)e accused of "smart dealing." The pro-
ducer d(iul)tless knew what he was selling, and was satisMi'd
with the price. If I am not blind to its meaning, the e(lil<irial
illustration was simply lugged in to furnish excuse for giving
honey-producers a lot of goody-goody advice, while, if it
really showed anything, it illustrated the readiness of the
wholesale dealer to take the advantage of tho producer.
I am not speaking for the rules of any other association :
but I am snri' the rules of the Colorado State Association can
not be fairly interpreted to the hurt of the buyer. lie is sure
to receive no less than a very definite minimum weight. If he
gets more, no one will lomplain. Of course, there are indivi-
dual bee-keepers who can not or will not grade honestly. I
am not defending them. Arapahoe Co.. Colo.
Apiary Inspection in the State of Mictiigan.
To the Honorable Dairy and Food Commissioner :
Sir: — I herewith submit my report for the work done dur-
ing the months of July, August, September and October as
State Inspector of Apiaries. I have visited in all 206 apia-
ries, having in them a total of 3,286 colonies. I have found
402 diseased colonies, making a total of 1 2. 1 percent of those
inspected. I have found the disease present in 119 apiaries,
which is riT.7 percent of the whole number inspected. It will
be noticed that the majority of the yards that contained the
disease have iu them only a few. and many times only one
colony. It is imposible to tell exactly how many of the dis-
eased colonies have been destroyed by the owner. Perhaps .50
percent of those condemned. I have been compelled to burn
onlv one colony against the will of the owner. These apiaries
were scattered through the counties of St. Joseph, Hillsdale.
Lenawee, Washtenaw, Jackson, Calhoun, Barry, Eaton, Ing-
ham, Livingston, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Lapeer, Gene-
see, Shiawassee, Clinton, Ionia, Muskegon, Montcalm, Wex-
ford, Benzie, Kalkaskia and Antrim.
I have found the disease more prevalent in the older sec-
tions of country, that is, there is more disease in southern and
central Michigan than in the northern part of the State. In
the north it is confined to localties and is not of very long
standing. In almost every case it can be traced back to the
bringing in of diseased bees or fixtures from the south. In
the southern part, however, the disease is scattered promiscu-
ously and breaks out in yards, infecting many colonies, with-
out any source of contamination.
I have found many bee-keepers who are perfectly ignorant
of the disease, and even when it is present in their yards and
a large proportion of theirbees are diseased, they fail to see
that anything serious is wrong. These bee-keepers, of course,
belong to the class who keep a few bees as a side-issue and are
not posted in modern apiculture. Then, again, I have found
the disease present in the apiaries of suecialists in bee-culture,
who are unfortunate enough to be located in the same vicinity
with one of these bee-keepers who are not posted. The unin-
formed man will not listen to the advice and pleadings of the
specialists, but will leave diseased colonies to die, and be rob-
bed out by the bees from the larger yard, in this way working
ruin on the helpless specialist, who "cannot control the action
of his ignorant neighbor. Then, oftentimes, when this special-
ist resorts to the protection of the law to compel his neigh-
bor to clean up the diseased yard, he is looked upon by the
people of his vicinity with utmost contempt.
The most active agents in spreading the disease are, first,
that of robbing out colonies which have become weak and run
down : and, second, that of using old hives in which the bees
have died from the disease.
A grave difficulty arises when treating the bees to over-
come foul brood, in that it is a very hard matter to impress
upon the uneducated man the necessity of careful work, and
the nature of bacteria. He will neglect some small but impor-
tant matter, or fail to take some necessary precaution in
order to insure success. As a consequence, the treatment is
frequently a failure. This is not always the case, however ;
many apiarists are eager to learn all that is to be known about
the disease, and by careful, persistent work have stamped it
out of their yards. The treatment used by many apiarists has
been to kill the infected colony with sulphur, remove the hive
to the cellar, and cut out and save for home usi' all good honey,
scrape clean and disinfect the hive, finally burning all refuse,
scrapings and inside furniture. This method of treatment en-
tails much less work than attempting to cure the colony, and
the honey and also the hive is saved.
The needs are groat, and many localities where the disease
is known to exist have not been visited at all. Many of the
localities visited this summer must be covered again at the be-
ginning of next season to insure the effectual stamping out of
the disease. I have met with the most hearty co-operation o n
the part of the intelligent apiarists of the s"tate. They hav(^
not only manifested an interest in the work, but in many
cases have materially assisted in the eradication of the disease
in their localitv. Uespectfully submitted.
.lolIN M. R.\NKIN.
824
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
Dec. 2b, 1901.
Report for 1901-Sweet Clover and Alfalfa.
BY WM. STOLLEY.
Like most of the readers of the American IJee .lournal. I
also will make my annual report, as usual.
Although drought-stricken as was the entire West, the
past season, the great value of sweet clover and alfalfa as
forage-plants and nectar-yielders is again clearly proven, bv
the crops of hay and honey I harvested.
Reirarding the product of my apiary, my report is as
follows:
From iil colonies run for extracted honey, I got 3 105
pounds, or an average of about 148 pounds per colony. From
5 colonies in Xew Ileddon hives run for comb honey. I got
3S0 well-filled and perfectly capped sections, or an average
of 76 sections per colony, and, besides, 60 pounds of extracted
honey. 1 thus got a total of 8545 pounds of surplus honey
from 26 colonies of bees, spring count, and plentv for the bees
to winter on besides.
I had but 5 swarms, all told. My best colony run for ex-
tracted honey gave me 193 pounds of surplus, and my best
colony run for comb honev gave me 136 sections and 12
pounds of extracted. Tgot'46 pounds of bright yellow wax
from cappings, and reared 19 extra-fine queens from mv
choicest colonies for my own use : and increased, bv the
nucleus plan, from 26 to 36 colonies. Ever since October
18, my bees have been packed for winter, and had a general
flight to-day (Nov. 12.) But I sustained quite a loss, in the
[last season's surplus, on account of the purchase of 5 queens
in the late summer of 1900.' The queens I got were reputed
as of extraordinary value, and a remarkably superior strain.
When these queens arrived, they proved to be undersized ;
but that did not scare me, because I have seen many a small
ijueen which was much the superior of larger queens."
But when one of those queens proved herself to be a most
miserable hybrid, my confidence in this extra "superior
strain'" was greatly shaken, and with considerable apprehen-
sion as to the value and worth of the other four, I waited re-
sults after wintering them.
The hybrid queen was replaced by another (lueen, and
was introduced as late 'as O.-tober 12, 1900. In the spring
following, three queens of that -'superior strain" of bees
proved to be practically worthless, and very poor layers,
while one of them averaged as medium-good. Only the one I
received in October, to take the place of the little black hybrid,
proved to be a really fine queen, and her colony is one of the
very best in my apiary uo^/.
Two of the queens, which I bought as superior stock, I
killed in early summer, and united their colonies with the
colony of the queen that was lacking, to give her a trial in
the season.
The united three colonies of this "superior strain"' did
not average in strength with anyone of my ordinary colonies,
after forming but one colony. The united colonies, if their
queen had been all right, would have given me about 450
pounds of surplus extracted honey for the season that I re-
moved good queens to make room f .r the "suoerior stock '" :
while the three united colonies of this " superior strain " have
actually given me only 43 pounds surplus ! Hence, I ac-
tually lo'^t about 4011 pounds of honey, in consequence of the
inferiority of these 3 queens— a loss of $60. since I sell my
honey at > 5 cents per pound.
I have but a small apiary, but I aim to have a superior
queen in every hive, and if any one of them is lacking, she has
to make room for something that grades well.
Some 18 or 19 years ago a Rev. Mr. Hriggs, of Iowa, (if I
remember the location rightly) made, in substance, the follow-
ing proposition in the American Bee Journal, to breeders of
queens generally :
I (Rev. Briggs) will pay S100 for M^ (5^.r;f 5f?/^^« sent me
by any queen-bee breeder, upon the following conditions,
to-wit :
1.— All queens entrusted to me by any partv, will receive
at my hands, the very best of care and attention, and an ac-
curate record of her work will be kept.
2. — At a certain date (stated) a disinterested committee
(here the widely known parties comprising that committee
were named) will be the judges in the contest, and the party
whose queen is declared to be the premium queen will get the
$100, but the queen thus awarded becomes my (Rev. Briggs')
property.
3.— I (Rev. Briggs) also reserve the right, while making
this offer, to retain any and all the queens sent me. upon the
payment of $2 for each queen retained by me, and I will re-
turn all queens not wanted by me, free of charge, if so desired
.by the party or parties sending me queens.
Xow, I do not remember the name of the party whose
queen won the $100, but I ordered one of the queens reared
in the subsequent year from the $U 'O cpieen by Rev. Briggs
and paid !p5 for that queen, and it was the cheapest and
best qui'cn I ever bought.
Fifteen of the 36 queens now in my apiary are " Briggs
ciueens,'" and they are in the »lead as mothers of honey-
producers.
1 have other valuable strains of bees, obtained from other
dealers in queen-bees, but the " Briggs strain " proves, best of
all of them, that '■ blood will tell."
Now, Mr. Editor, I wish that another Rev. Briggs, as hon-
est and reliable as was the one I have mentioned above, would
work a similar scheme. and-I, for one, will cheerfully pay $5
for one of tlie offspring of such queens reared " in a natural
way'"; but I want the bees to rear the queens under the most
favorable conditions: and I want them to build their own
queen-cells from bottom to tip. too. No stick-made queen-
cups for any queens that I wish to introduce into any colony
in niy apiary !
I read with great interest the proceedings of the meeting
at Buffalo, and always "reach out at once " for the "Old Re-
liable " when it comes. Hall Co , Neb.
% The Afterthought. ^
The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses.
By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O.
TIME OP QUEEN EMERGENCE.
Yes, sir'ee. Dr. Miller, if it's true with regularity, or
anything like regularity, that queens emerge in full cofonies
in I 5 days, and only in nuclei or other depressing circum-
stances take 16 days, then that venerable (not sweet) 16
must come out of the books. But first let us hear from Maine,
and Oregon, and Texas, and other places — honey-flow and
dearth — early, mid-season, and late. Locality, crop condi-
tions and season are normal things ; but nuclei are abnormal
things which should not rule. Page 685.
SWARMS AND FILL SHEETS OF COMB FOUNDATION.
Sounds reasonable that a swarm might consider sheets of
foundation simply as partitions, and oliject to so many ridicu-
lously narrow rooms. But a good many swarms have been
successfully hived on full sheets. I take it. Page 686.
SIX HONEY CROPS IN TWELVE.
Six paying crops in twelve years, as an actual experience;
rather takes us down in our estimate of bee-keeping in the
irrigation regions. And it seems that we can hardly expect
as good as six out of twelve unless there is something else be-
sides alfalfa to prop >ip with. Page 695.
THAT UNFORTUNATE GLUCOSE-FEEDING.
Once more I will refer you to that ton of glucose on pages
579, 681 and 707. I supposed that it marked another mile-
stone on a road that we would prefer fenced up — or rather
never graded out. It used to be the case that pure glucose
would only be taken when bees were in a state of semi-starva-
tion, and that they would stop taking it as soon as they had a
rather small supply — never building comb and storing surplus
with it. When 1 read of so large an amount as a ton I feared
that improvements of the article had changed some if not all
of this. Glad if we don't have to believe so just yet. I must
cry for mercy as to the dull way I read the editorial. The
time of year forbids the idea of fraudulent surplus. We do
not know that he succeeded in feeding it all. And to work off
what he did feed he may have mixed it with something better.
STARVATION FOR BLACK BROOD.
That was a wise remark of McEvoy's on the black-brood
question, page 7 l<>. Imprisoning bees off the combs for four
days without feeding uses up the infei-ted honey all right— so
far, well : but it also gets the bees themselves into such a lean
and inactive condition as they must not be in if they are to
combat disease to advantage : and it takes days to "get them
out of that condition. So it is in doubt whether that particu-
lar manipulation does more good than harm, or more harm
than good.
Dec. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
825
Index to Volume Xll.
SXJBJECT?;
Abandon Ing bee-keeping 408
Absconding bees 106, ri02
Adulte.ation nf honey 3-<, 2ai,292, 771, 8oa
Advice to beginners 5H2
Alfalta a, 139, 152, 264, 558, e4s, 6a5, Knr,
Alfalfa honey ,w„. 4'M
Always plenty uf honey 275
Amateur bee-keepers 51
Ancient bee-talk 3Kl
Anti bee-legislation 131
Ant-lion ... «:)4
Ants 2112,211
Ants and bees tis i 824
Anyone keepingbees 1^2
Apiarian advice 2"6
Apiculture as abusiness 695,728,759
Apiculture at the Pau-American 163
Apis dorsata 102
Apple-blossom honey 31o, 4ii9
April(poem) 209
Arranging hives 729
ArtiHcial swarms 483, 510
Assaulting the bees 366
Asters 46
•■Atlasof bee-culture" 421
Attcaclive apiaries 391
Attractive homes and surroundings 298
Averages from new colonies 397
Baby 489
Bait-sections 3ii7, 473, 488, 491
Basswood for brood-frames 201
Bathtub 1«7
Beai 8 and turtle eggs 537
Beautiful Redlanda 4^1
Be. ause you keep in tune (poem) 346
Bee-escapes 633,659,697
Beginning bee-keeping 2t4
Bee-glue or propolis In paint 179
Beein law ... 527, 778
Bee lawsuit 534
Bee-keepers and bee-supply dealers 69, 118, 138
Bee-keepers' exchanges 504
Bee-keeping as a sole business .',89
Bee-keeping forinval as 298
Bee-keeping for women 195, 197,279,332, 364
Bee-Keepikq in—
Arizona 507
Britisu Columbia 571
California 90, 47o
Clarke Co., Wash 139
Cuba 136, 155
Indian Territory 190, 507
Island of Sicily ...582, 682
Maine 141
Minnesota 388
Nevada 9
South Dakota 182
Texas 790
We^t indies 643
Yazoo Valley 157
Bee-keeping on paper 451
Bee-keeping within city limits 179
Bee moth catching 717
. Bee-paraly-is 213.251, 297
Bee-poison 195
Bees alone for a living 340
Keesandalsike clover 131
Bet-sand Belgian hares 168, 222
Bees and Fe tuization of flowers 820
Bees and Iruit 3,36,41,67, 119, 167,203,262,
279,346.3 7.374 491
Bees and grapes '. 739
Bees and horticulture 37, 356
Bees and m.tthematiCB 6 5
Bees and ■ lives 382
Beesand plants 11
Be^-s and ^t^awbe^^ies 310
Bees deserting the hive 393
*■ Bees do nothing invariably" 51
Bees dying 2' 0, 201,268, 309
Bees in attic window 311
Heei* leaving the brood-chamber 24
Bees moving egiii 507, 773
Bee-smoker 2»1
Bei-spaee over brood-frames 774
Bee-stings and bee-stiiig remedy — 325,349, 391,
4oM 804
Beeswax as a liniment 668
Beeswax production 628, 75o
Bees w II X splints for foundation 552
Bee-tree-.... 137
Beet-sugar f ai-tory and bees 265
Bee-veil 312,425
Ben-veils and gloves 503
" Best crop" 282
Bible 585
Big reports 547
Bigjields of honey 147
Biographical—
Baili-y.Prof. Li. H 553
Cook, I'rof. A. J 354
Crane. . I. K 52
Donalilson, .lease M 312
Oeiiring,J.D 199
Qreiner, F 503
Hull, J.B 41
Haun, II. G 370
Holmes, M B 244
Uy.le.U.H 644
KandratielT, Ghennadj 2K0
Miller. Dr. C.C 40l
Poppleton.O.O 57
Rankin, J. M 3hb
Salyer.J.B 641
Scholl, Louis 644
Whipple, W. W 434
Wilkin, Kobert 472
Bitier boney 74s
Black bees 74o
Black bees ahead 2.52
Black orood 708 712
Black combs dissolving honey 633
Black comb.s-washiug .531
Bleaching honey 804
Hook and magazine clubs 361
Biiotaihat shine 649
Bottling honey 483,564
liottom-boarus 461, 552
Boy and the garden 409
Buys 379
Brand for honey ■ 103
Breediiig for good slock.. ..323. 3i4, 4 6, 491, 504,
5X4, 5!ia, 635. 646, 7 1 1. 729, 730, 7s8, 789 819
Breeding queens and bees 414,449, 451
Bridal party 722
Brood combs and frames 73,84, 154,675, 765
Brood diseases 2i8
Brooii-frame end-spacers 803
- ■■", 491
, 765
Buying bees 503, 536
Caging the queen 536
Calilornia honry-crop 348
Calilorniii vs. Australia honey 718
Candied honey in brood-combs 2 >l
Cane vs. beet sugar ....._, 558,659, 717
Cans vs. " ' " " " ' ' ' "
Can we t
Capping
Carbolineum tor h>ve paint...
Care of plants In spring
Ian hive-ends 774
Carperiteria 618
Catsanddogs 777
Cell-cup'. 377
Chilling brood'.'.'.'.!!'.'.!'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'!'.'.'.!!''.!'.'..'. -^^. 617
Chunk honey. '" "''
393
.3, 35, 92. 95, 1 15, 142, 323
City bee-heeping
City childi
Clarifying
('leome ib."», :;^•*, .^'o
Clipping queens 92, 281, 318
Closed-end frames 200
Comb and extracted honey from the same hive. 542
Comb luunaation...7, 22,56,87, 103,350,403. 7o2,
712 !...!.....-.. 745
Comb honey bees 804
Comb-honey production 9;i. 103, 147, 151, 3 '1
Combs ouilt to bottom-bars 660
Combs meliing down 6i7
Combs ot candied honey 740
Combs of honey lor winter 75
Comb-spacers 6
Committing scriptures 10 memory 363
Commonplace 314
Conductivity of honey 713
" ' of laying queens ' 558,723
CoNVEMioN Reports—
Arkansas 621
California 75, 292, 621
Chicago 329
Colorado 790
Illinois 86, 805
Mi higan 201,213
Ontario. Co., N. y Iii5
South Dakota 152
Texas 329,615.629, 645
Utah - 104,308, 791
Vermont 153
Wisconsin 6, 229
Co-operation 537, 598
Corking a honey-funnel 25
Coronado 665
Corporate greed 87
Correct words or termlnology..584, 675, 698,730. 776
•Cottin • hive 179
Crate, rack or super.
Daft city fathers
Dark combs and color of honey.
•' Dear Daughter Dorothy "
Deflciencies of bee-books
Deseriiug bees 318, 440,
Dickel t.icory -
Digestion :
Discre .ancieaof apiarian writers
Diseased beesand brood 29,487,524,
Disfase-intected tools
Diseases of bees -lawsagainst
Distance of apiaries
Divi.lingc..lonles 10, 218, 297,312,342,
D illar queens
Doubling up colonies
Drawn combs
Drone- bees. . . . I8fl,20n, 228. 246, 254, 226. 276. 295.
:i2-.. 3m I, 41 13, 4~3. 520, 635, 664, 66", 764, 767...
Drone-comD and brood 430,5(H,515,
I by mall 307
Editors of bee-journals 535
Kducatlng tastes in animals 819
Education 682
Kgyptian and Hungarian bees 299
Eldorado for bee-keepers 431
Equalizing colonies 668
Eucalyptus trees 8i'7
European travel notes 8, 21, 100, 135, 231
Kvaporatlng ibeea) honey 548
Evening primrose 652, 761
Evergreen trees 666.
Exchanging old colonies with nuclei 4o8
Exhibits of beesand honey 682
Expelling water from nectar 317, 332
External signs of queenlessness 58
Extracted-honey production 6, 40, 70, 1 17,
156. 167. 173.246.317.387.420 452
Extracted honey— straining 431
Extractors 766, 783, 7it5
Extracilng-frames 500
Extracting honey 215, 340, 488, 801, 8113, 804
Extracting supers and combs 43, 579, 688
Fairs ::,■_■ 523
Fanning bees
Farm bee-k- epers
chlldri
24, 107, 154
. 615
. 362
__ _.. orker-cells 24
Drone-traps 430
Dzlerzon and Langstrotb 339
Earlyqueens .».. 330
Early swarms 6.59
Eating honey and butter itl, 211
Fastening foundation 446, 733
Fat and lean bees 419
February 1 poem ) •-••, 81
Feeding back 499' 723
Feeding bees ... ,, 1,;. . . • J. 7 ) . h8, 106, 108, II",
137.15.5.15 , 17 ', . I - -:, -: I, 265, 369. 376,
3K3. H9.S.40-.4 ., . , . 77, 171.1,691.707, 739,
776.8114 808
Feeding medicate 1 syrup to bees 62i
Felt rooBngftir hives 6»2
Fence or the ambulance 7 (poem) 769
Fermeniing honey ■•.■• 740
Fertilization ot queens 6r,4, wja
Finding queens.. 41,244,4.55, 703, 712
Fleabane ■ 5'?!r
Flowers and bees— kindly influenceoi ^14
F'owers intoxicating and holding bees <77
Fl y escapes 6O8
Forcing honey into the super 4Hd
Forcing queens to lay in cell-cups 629
Fortunate women ■,-',:;^' "
Foul brood 46. 106. 11.5, 1(I5. 213, 214.318, 325,
33:1.3.50,408 446,605, 659, 6011, 664, 679, 708,
Foul-brnod yhoney ?**
Foundation sagging
Frauds, humbugs, and superstitions.,
Freight-rate on comb honey.
French anti-progress ••
Friday, and the right shoulder 59»
Frul -bloom honey ;".;;i"m.,' ?ia
Fumigating combs and honey 562, 628, 092, /*»
Qalv
nized i
.tin
83
Garden .'.' 441.520,666
Gathering at the meal J'h
General vs. special knowledge -a;- JXS
Getting bees nff the combs .■ i; JS,' SVS
Getting bees to work in supers 201,387. 519
Giving cellar-bees a flight 3'^'
Glucole q uest ion and test 1 47, 568, 578, 7o7
Golden bees -'"• £!,a
Golden honey-plant SJ.^
Good example ^™
Good queens ;,WiCT vSJ
Grading honey 25,467, 1^
Graham gems *^i
Granulated honey selling .»°
Granulated sugar and glucose -1'
Grit CO.,
Grouping hives ***^
Hand-picking drones :::,**,;,*V 1^
llaulin^ combs and bees 270,419,707,723
Health and bed-clothing "T^
Hexagonal apiary -v/ -Si
High values for queen-bees iii' 2S' 745
Hired help in the apiary 564,665, T4a
Hiv^"o«r's.':.'.'89!'ii6'.'M7,'461,'579,'<;2'r,'6-i7:6(i6:
725,755.811 *^
Hlvfrentrances 103,387,795
Hlvefor extracted honey f*
Hiv,x.mMkini7 ^ "***
Ive-mattiuK i/to
Hlve-record T^
Hive size and queens ••.•• "^
Hive-tool ■* '
Hives— double vs. single-wall ^s*- 1''^
Hjvpa~in-lrame vs.8-frame '■*
Hiving-box J'J^
Si;i;;i^^aysr""™;;;;:;'36\.53e;58i;-66i;'633.?S6
Home courtesies |'*
" Home, Sweet H
Home the corner-stone
Honey and bee;
6rt4 .
X market'.V.'.'sra, 572, 628,648,
Honey as a remedy ';:■?
Honey astood : ■^'
H'tney at the Paris Exposition 'J
Honey-baked ap.des iu'iaV f»I
Honey-boards »"•="'• S?J
Honey bythe palltul ^:J»
Honey-i:ake8 %f.%
665
^j .,..p Of 19(11 !!!!!!.".!!!!!!!!! 643
Honey-dealing frauds -^i
Honey- eal questions .«• i Vm "«4;"«i!i6" 85
IlolilySanges 229.390.437, 446
Honey for scholars.
Honey for small-pox
.555 64
^ _^_ __._ 76
y. house— mouse-proof 52.*5
Honey In candles 201
Honey Jiracracks 639
Honev-packages • 631
Honey-plant 4Ht
Honey storeil In day 44.t
"Honey without bees" 611
Horehiiund honey 446
Horsemint 237, 586. 706
Hot weather hint 434
House-plants 203
Illinois Fairpremlnms 675
llllnttis State fair 435
Imported queens 413
826
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Dec. 26, 1901
Improvement in beea 74:i
Improvement of Slock 387, 477
In-breeding. . . .366, 3y7. 435, 453. 467, 537 548, 567,
668 724
Increase— method of securing and preventing..
184, :^64. 313, 325, 328,435, 453, 467, 537. 54H,
567, 668 724
Indio, the submerg 7 1 4
Indulgence 7ei
InHaenceof queens, 413
Influence of the good home in?
In love with your business hh
Insect honey ^ns
Insurlns bees. 65u
ntroducing queens 4ii, 58, 111, 152. 156, 218,
274,311. 355,4 5,446. S^O, 551. 598. 650, 653,
670, 686, 692. 696. 712, 713, 749, 763 795
Inverting brood-combs 445
Italian bee "not the whole thing" 41
Italian bees 134,184, 681
Italianizing 250, 281, 538
Italians vs. blacks 313, 422
Joseph and his brethren 715
Jouncine bees and supers. .420, 508, 520, 541, 619/632
June-berry 252
Keeping a record 660
Keeping bees on shires 67, 138,600,602, 799
Keeping combs of honey 798
Keeping extracted honey 102, 186
Keeping little hands busy 2S3
Keeping queens overwinter 375, 563
Keeping well l'48
Keep more bees •2o-^, 702
Killing bees to sting 548
Killing drones. 5 Hi, r.-jO
Killing queens *»ach summer 215
Kindness and trust ho8
Kindness in the home 21 13, 457
Kindness to animals ^37
Kinks in bee-keeptng 444
Kitchen 187
Landscape gardening fiS2
Large brood-chambers 745
Large force of bees 370
Larger breeding-space 630
Large yields of honey 213.220. 46i
Larv« of the bee-moth 671
Late drones 7
Lawn and trees and shrubs 778
Laying capacity of queens 316
Lnying several eggs in a cell 3->s
Laying workers 155 500
Leaky covers 93
Legislation favoring frame-hives 745
Legislaiion in Australia 617
"Life of the Bee" (Maeterlinck) "" 707
Lighting a smoker 606
Liquefying honey .71, 102, 565
Living on honey entirely 472
Loads a worker-bee can carry 286 3"'8
Locality or kind of bees 595
Longevity in bees 375
Longsmell'Ts 703
Long-tOQgue bees . . 136 150. 165, 204, 293. 302,
326.342,370.379,396. 403. 424, 431. 451, 466,
500, 78.S, 792 . .'80-.
Long tongues and short tubes. ..35, 691, 697, 711, 775
Losing the sting 298
Love of parents 762
Mailing queen-bees 11,83, 102, 134,
Making swarms 532. 569,
Management of bees 58, 60, 215,
773
613.747. 49.759.772
Mai-kings of bees
Mating or queens 73. :o3. 181.250, 281, 'sn
318,681 ....
Maxims for the home circle ."...,
May (poem)
Mt'asuring bees' tongues
Medicinal properties of honey.
.251', 333. 499
Medicines
Mellifera, not melliflca
Mercy (showing toward animals
Mice and bees
Michigan foul brood inspection
M igratory ^ee-keeping 363
Milkweed pollen-masses on bees '
■'■ ■ jofs
.170,488, (
Mocking-birds 715'
Mo 'el city '....'
Money in bees
Money not the highest t
Moon 698
Mother 649
Motherwort 470
Moth- worms and combs as. is.'i. 'M7
Mountain climbers attacked by bees
; 73. 251. 363, 423, 457, 484. 499,
Moving bees...
.584. 630. 664. 729. 739. 745. 806. .
Mulberries and bees 463.524, 550,584,587,
6' '2, 605, 637, 684, 761 776
Mullen 425
131.22 .
Naturally built comb vs. t
Nature study of
Neatness and order
Nectar and cane sugar
Nectar-gath'-ring*' mice '
Nectar-glands
Nectar— where it come;
Nectar-yie'ding plants _
Neglects that affect profits 327
New white honey 7k7
Northern vs. soutliern queens 499
Not a bee-hive 1 h4
Nuclei-torming . ^■, 264
Numbering hives and keeping a t
from 588, 661
Nursing in the home.
226
Observatory hive 163
Ojai 64!*
"OldBaldy" ;.. 5^1
Old bee-books 670
OJJ'Ombs... J 291,313, 393
Our Venn
Out-apiaries .
Outside sectit
rthem filled 93
Packages for extracted honey
Packages for honey
Packing bees for winter
Packing material 59. 88, 6d8, 697,
Painting hives "81
Painting hnney-barrels ..............'..". *
Pan-American bee-keeping and exhibit'.si. 147.
Paper-bag feeders 6'
Paper sacks for holding honey .'.'..60V, H3T'
Parthenogenesis 359
Pasteboard on queen-cages
Patent medicines
Fear-blight and bees 294, 391. '468, 576, 568!
611.652.668 v.ovio.
Pears in California ........'.'"
Pedigreed queens
Pepper-trees ....'...'...
Pertection— Is it demanded or expected 7 "!.'.".
Plain sections and fen
Plants for honey
Poisoning a neighbor's bees. . .
Poison of the bee
Poison of the sting
Poli-h up the dark side (poem 1
Polle
Porticos .■.'.'.*.' fi69
Practical lessons for beginners 198,230,261!
294. 343. 37r., 407. 438, 471, 5U1. 533
Prohibitit _ __
ProlonginK Iv
Propolis for i
s. and boots 4i, 158, 179
, crosses.,
Pure fitock 1 __ __
Purity in queens
Putting bees out of the cellar .
Putting on supers
Putty-knife (overgrown one)..
Queen accepting bees ;
Queen accepting the colony !!!!! ^
Queen between the lips 286 ;
Q -een-breeders ;
Queen-cages
Queen-eel Is 123, 345! t
Queen-cells— destroying 265, i
Queen-cups— fastening 376 ;
Queen-excluders (
Queen fertilizing eggs ' ;
flonies 173, 312, 314. 412, 5N4, 713, ■;
, 106. 123, 142, 154. 198,
Queen photograph . . ...
Queen-rearing .6, 55, 71.
247, 291, 292, 307. 373. 379, 409,' 414^ 46i; 475',
59">, 627, 635, 646, 654, 659,682,685,724,726.
741, 743, 750 )
Queen-rearing agent ;
Queen-rearing nuclei (
Queens (many) in a hive .
iluable 391, 423, ■
Races of bees
Raising hives from the ground...;
'" -" .6,55,71,109,562,582,733,
Rearing queens .
Rerreation .
Rfd clover
Red cl-'ver honey 140,542.627,
Red clover qu**en8
Reformed spelling
Regulariiy
Reminiscences of an old bee-keeper 369, 422,
452. 4'^H
Removing supers
Rendering beeswax 3, 34, 59, 159, 172, 222, 269,
Reversible frames
Review of the "A B C of Bee-Culture"
196,232
Ripening hnney ,
Koof-apia
Room (MO much) in
Ruining the honey-i
Saccharin as bee-feed 137
Sainfoin 27, 813
Sampling honey 739
Saw-palmetto 467
School for bee-keepers 339
Score-card forjudging honey .. 166, 250, 262,361, 413
Screen hive-top , 713
Seasonable articles 53t
Second-hand cans 440, 476
Section-combs from foul-brood colonies 245
Se<'tlon honey without separators 462
Sections filled with foundation 3m7
Sections open on four sides 59
Selecting a home before swarming.. .25. 102. 157,
3.S7, 429, 459. 475. 476, 541 >, 552, 569 774
Self-hiving arrangements 425
Selling honey by case vs. weight 755, 759, 822
Several eggs in a cell 659
Several queens in a hive 428, 435
Shad" for bees 218
Shallow frames fo*- comb honey 650
Shipping comb honey 53, h3. 515, 7u2
Shi I'ping extracted honey 53
Shives 606
Short-tubed clover 275
Sickness in the home 248
Sick plants ;.; gts
Sliver linden 25
Simpson honey-plant 345
Single vs. double tier cases 83
Smoking bees 312, 742, 794
Smothering a colony of bees 382
Snake-r-'ot 732
Sneak-thieves 648
Social life ■.;".;; 569
Some July days (poem) 514
Sorghum molasses feeding 265
Soul-growth from reading 36I
Sour or fermented honey 93, i03
Spacing frames and hives 123. 137,328, 803
Spanish-needle honey 94
Speech in the home 426
Sports 809
Sprayinir fruit-trees 103, i2o, 126,217, 242,
2=.!. 302 739
Spreading brood 102
Spring care of bees 259
Spring dwindling 213.678, 763
Standforbees 483
Starting an apiary 20, 244, 251
Starting with bees 807
Starvation for black brood 824
Stimulative feeding no, 219, 377, 477
Sting-poison in huney 456
Storing comb honey 436
Storing combs 436
Storing in the brood-nest 488
Storing supers 447
Strawberries and bees... 781
Straws point the wind 521
Strikes 602
Succeeding by reading 346
Sugar-candy for winter-feeling 202.251, 270, 301
Sugar— don't feed it to complete sections 650
Sugar for bee-feed 611
Sugar for bees 64^, 739
Sugar-honey talk 218
Sunday-school 731
Sunshine in the home 266
Superseding queens 6,377,467, 568
Supers in winter 58. 73
Swarni-'-Mtf-hi^r-* 440
Swarriitn- i _■, ^i. -.., 47. ■.' 1 , 1 n 1 . |u6. 134. 138,
297.313.
617. .i«., bhJ.t„->7, 7.JU. 7ol. 7:-.:>. W--3, 007 8
Swarms going back t
Sweet clover 25. 7s. 1 26, 227, 387, 397,
476,504.536,664,788,795,813 f
Sweet potatoes for bees 1
bympalhy in spirt f
Table f
Tall vs. square sections S
Taxing bees 211,270,341, 4
Telling the bees (poem t 4
Temperature for comb-building J
Tent for breeding J
Tested queens 402, 733, '
Testing barrels for honey :
Thick combs 4
Thin honey , i
Thorough work 4
Thoughtfulness 331, t
Thr.ft 394,';
Time of queen emergence *
Tobacco habit i
Tongue-measurements vs. honey-storage
Tool for apiary i
Too many irons in the fire "
Top-bars 333, 4
Transferring bees and combs 10, ll, 184, 218,
219, 281. 314, 329. 573, 5-<l, 583, 604, 617 '
Treasures of nature ( poem) i
Trust and confidence *
Unfinished sectic .
Unfinished sections in the fall 727
Uniting bees 152,459,487,519,696, 718
Uniting weak colonies 349
Unqueening 675
Vacation in Wisconsin 597, 614
Ventilating supers 137
Vetch— new honey-plant 611, 683, 690, 717
Virgin queens 681, 726
Warming combs
Waste-paper boxes
Watercress honey
Water ejected from nectar —
Watering bees 237, 566,
Waterleaf
Wax-extractors
Wax from cappings
Wax-press 330, 483, 542,
Wax-scales
Wax-secretion '
Wax-worms '.
Weak colonies 19, 170, 213, 231,259, 314,
330, 349,4).>8, 601.
'When lilacs bloon
White-eyed drones '.
Wide-frame supers
Winter-breeding— prevention of (
Wintering bees . .77, 88, 89, 123. 141, 154, 169. 189,
202.229,370,413 5U3. 521, &ie, 613, 654, 663,
697.712.713.746,758, 764. 776, 796, 805 (
Wire-cloth over smoker-valve i
Wire-cloth supports for combs (
Wire-ringing the queen
Woodpe- ker— California red-headed i
Wood-splints f.-r foundation 509, 547, (
Worker-comb- getting it built '
Worker-combs rejected
Worker- with drone-eyes ;
Working according to locality
Worms on trees and in hives
Worse than wasted
Yellow sweet clover
Yield per colony '
Dec. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.
827
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Abbott, Etuerson T 677
Agriculture Building at Paa-American. . . 529
Among Swiss bee-keepers 17
Apiary In Washoe County, Nev 9
Apiary of A. E. Willcult 727
Apiary of C. L. King 641
Apiary of E. M. Hayes 481
Apiary of E. S. Miles 760
Apiary of Frances Ellen Wheeler 279
Apiary of Geo. A. Ohmert r)77
Apiary of H. S. Ferry 561
Apiary of H. W. Cornelison 513
Apiary of J. B. Alexander 321
Apiary J. M. Paxton 711
Apiary of John W. Bauekman 410
Apiary of J. W. Adams 615
Apiary of J. W. Tucker & Son 634
Apiary of Leslie E. Hazen 625
Apiary of L. H. Cremers 183
Apiary of Louis Koehler .585
Apiary of Mr. and Mrs. Jas. R. Conklin. . 65
Apiary of R. A. Henderson 690
Apiary of R. Wheeler 817
Apiary of the Misses Yount 801
Apiary of W. E. Baker 545
Apiary of Wm. W. Cory 538
Bee-shed of F. M. Wagner .- 135
Bee-tongue measurer 151
Bee-wagon ( Dr. Miller's) 745
Birthplace of Chas. Dadant 232
Bonnier, Gaston 1
Bridal q uartette 721
Brood-combs — Dr. Miller's 734
Comb honey — Dr. Miller's. ._. 747
Comb honey — grading illustrated 468, 469
Cook, Prof. A.J 353
Cuban honey-plant — Aguinaldo 337
Cutting (H."D.) and "Duke" 84
Donaldson (J. M.] and apiarv 305
Eaton, Prof. E. N 33
Electric illumination at the Pan-American
Exposition 562
Electricity Building at Pan-American. . . . 529
Elliott (J. T.) and apiary 753
Entrance to Chartres, France 101
Falls of the Rhine 200
Fastening transferred comb 581
Foote's foundation fastener 284
Forestry, Horticulture and Graphic Arts
Buildings at Pan-American Exposition. 562
Gariel, Mr 97
Gehring, J. D 193
German wax-press 542
Greiner, F 497
Hall, J. B 42
Hammersmark and son, J. T 10
Haun (R. G.) and apiary 369
Hershiser. O. L 161
Hiving a swarm 417
Holmes, M. B 241
Home apiary of E. J. Baxter 171
Home apiary of Geo. B. Whitcomb 4.55
Home apiary of Tofleld Lehman 421
Honey-comb showing cocoons of moth. . . 247
Honey design — Mr. Ansell's 674
Honey display at the Cincinnati Fall
Festival 658
Honey-eaters of Australia 212
Horsemint 705
Hutchinson, W. Z 291, 596
Hyde, H. H 809
Jones, Hon. A. H 113
Kandratiefl, Ghennadj 257
Lake in Pan-American grounds 553
Liquefying and bottling honey. . .,564, 565, 566
Load of McHenry County's "best crop". 727
Lover's Leap 597
Manufactures and Liberal Arts building
at the Pan-American 633
Mediterranean flour-moth 247
Miller (Dr.) and a friend 743
iller ( Dr. ) at typewriter 746
Miller, Dr. C. C 401, 737
Miller's (Dr.) fargi- wagon loaded with
hives 724
Miller's (Dr.) home . 737
Niagara Falls ■5.52
Observatory hives 662
Pears in California 714
Pickard, Miss Ada L 225
Plan of Pan-American Exposition 551
Poppleton, O. 0 49
Poppleton's gasoline launch "Thelma".. 58
Potatoes — Dr. Miller's 745
Presbyterian church — Dr. Miller's 747
Queen-bee and egg 1'29
Queen-rearing paraphernalia 373, 374
Rankin, J. M 385
Rendering wux (illustrated) 517
Roof-apiarv of August Asmussen .593
Roof-apiary of C. H. W. Weber 71
Roof-apiary of G. E. Purple 145
Root, Ernest R 291, .590
Salver, J. B 609
Sclioll, Louis 609
Smith, Thaddeus 389
Stadium at Pan-American 698
Temple of Musie at Pan-American .5.53
Tent for controlling mating of queens. . . 177
Tribune's libelous cartoon 771
Tugboat towing sailboats 614
Uncapping and extracting honey 117, 118
Uncapping knife, fork, etc 213, 214
Whipple ( VV. W. ) and apairy 433
White. Frank B 238
" Wildwood Apiary " of R. V. Goss 426
Wilkin. R 4«5
Wilson, Miss Emma 727
" Woodland Apiary " of C. G. Healy 648
Worker-bee 785
York, George W 291
CORRESPONDENTS.
Ahbott. O. L. 75
Abernathy. R.C. 716
AcKlin,H. G.sn
Ahlers, Herman, 716
Aikin. B C. 6, 40. 117,
H3, 167, 302, 695, 72S,
75SI. HI'S
Alder. W.H. 317
Alexander..!. B. 326
Allan, W.S. l.'is
Allen, L. 47. 381
Allen, S. M,363
Alley, Henry, 174,316
AllinKer. G. «'. 46
Amos, Mrs A. L.. 476
Anderson. A. 461
Andes, M. D. 428
Andrews, L. L. 652
Ansell Walter R.748
Archibald. E. 621
Archibald, T. .588
Ascha. C. G. 412
Asmussen. August, 596
Atwater, E. F. 152, 28o,
6,2
Aurinser. Geo. H. 156
Austin, C. H. 239
Axtell.Mrs.L.C. 108.197
Bader, F. W. 220
Baker. C. F. 349
Ball. Mrs. C. *. 300
Banker. Emma, 253
Banker, Fred, 2o5
Barb J.S. 93
Barclay. Wm. S.'Sno
Raker, Ernest B. 94
Barrett. T. M. 311
Barrette. Mrs. Paul, 49 4
Bartlett. Ira D. 797
Bartz. A.C. F. 811
Bauchman.JohnW. 61
Bassett, Geo. W. 155
Baxter, Ibert. 23H
„„ r,T. J.7(i.
Beatty John W. 283
Bechly. Fred. 08
Beer, H. ,72
Bell, G.W.R04, 813
Benson. C H. 205
Bernl. John. 270
Bevins. B 'Win, 101, 158.
54' I
Bidwell, Henry, 184
Binger. H.C. 26
Blackburn. Chas. 60
Blair. L.G. 391.731
Blake. Jos. 12.
Blake, Scott & Lee. 243,
BlouBh. Clirist. 428
Blunk. J. P. 238
Boomer, A. 26H. 632
Bowen, Mrs. Artie. 270,
Brodbeck. Geo. W. «13
Brokaw. Henry. l,5<t
Krown Francisco. 745
Brown. Gilbert. 201
Brown, H. K. 3t8
Brown. W. J. 363
Bunch, C. A. 46. 173
Burnett &('o.B. A. 613,
759
Burns. A. J. 5o8. 637
Barrel l.H. D. 237
Bussert. Mrs. F. 38ii
By Jinks. 237
Caldow.John B. 429
<:andler. Mnthilde, 396
(Jarlzen, 8. M. 92
Ca roll. H. 8. 653
Cary. Robert J. 222
Case. Win. W. .vw
Chapman. S. D. 215
Cheney, H. A. 5 i7
Chittenden. C. H. 70
Chinn, Kiebard. .586. 684
Cliristensen, Hans, 55
Clare, ['. P. 286
Cline. John, 70
Coburn, John T. 443
Cole. J. W. B. 524
" Colorado," 69, 118, 684
Conaway, George. 237
Congdon, H. W. 94. 268
Conklin. Mrs. Jas. R. 72
Cook, Prof. A. J. 72, 90,
119, 148 171, 196, 232,
294. 325, 359, 372, 406,
470, 516. .548
Cooley. H.J. 12
Cooley. Stoughton, 563
Cornelison. U. W. 206,
364
Coverdale, Frank, 206,
718
Coyle. E. 155
Crafton. R. N. 191, 2.52,
382.,.507. 732
Cram. M. F, 1.53
Crane, Geo. G. 333
Crank. C. 732
Crawford Bros. 412
('reech, Joseph. 333
Creighton. F. M. 31,397
Cremers, L. H. 183
Cross, A. B. 155
Danniher, D. D. 14,190
Davenport. C. 150, 245,
3- 19. 340, 420, .77, 581.
631
Davies. Dr. R. P. 220
Davis. J. M. 424
Davison, C.H. 174
Davilte, J.S. 181
Dean, J. S. .507
Dibbern, C. H. 78
Dickson, Mrs. P. R, 78
Dittnier. Gus, 7o
Donaldson. J. M. 63, 172,
312
Doolittie, G. M. 7, 55. 90,
134, 147, 167, 198, 204,
231, 263. 286. 29), 325,
3.57. 436, 485. .500, 511,
532, 548. 582, 646, 663.
681, 718, 727, 764, 774,
Doudna, J. M. 6?0
Douglas, Cyrus. 155
Draper. A. N. 396
Durant. F. 255
Durkee. G. W. i:)9
Durr. Geo. C. 3«2
Dutcher, Frederick L.
536
Khiert. Will. 12
Elliott. J. T. 7.54
Ellis. W.H. 71 PO
Evans, Inspector. 792
Evers. D.E.I 25
Fagg, J.B. 308
Fairbanks, <;. A. 429
Falconer. Mfg. Co., W.
T. 6«
Feebaek, W. a. 381
Fer,!U5on,Mrs. Ben, 269
Field, F.nuene, 449
Field. F 1.. 84
Field. Miss Josephine.
Fin
. 11.
Fisher. R D. 7H1
Flan g»n. B T. .541. 586
Fletcher. James. 822
FluckUer. A. F 782
Foote. A. F. 284, .-.24.714
Forgerson.George A,404
Fox, Mrs. B.C. 3«3
Francis, W. T. :il«
Krey, G.H. i43,"4""4
(iailup, I)r. E. 532, 541,
Gander, Bert. 796
Oandy, J. Li. 461,670
Gehring, J. D, 1.57, 198,
2L10, 230, 261, 294, 343,
375, 407, 439, 471, 5U1,
533. 549
George, J. W. 349, 572
Gerelds. J. A. 566
Gerthotrer. John. 619
Getai, Adrian, 1.50. 516,
646
Giddinga.Theo. F. B.317
QifTord; H.T. 110, 445
Gilbert, H. 189
Gillette. Prof. C. P. 247,
466, 792
Gilmore. Melvin R. 663
Ginner A. B.284
Ginner, B. E. 157
Givan, T. M. 797
Givens. J. D. 27
Gleystone, G. 136
tioetsc , Albert. 285
(Jolden. J. A. 238
Goss, R.V. 507
Graham, Dana H, 63
Grant, Alonzo. 253
Gr-iner, F. 56. 89. 168.
214,221, 2'!2, 341, 358,
4211,484. 582. 766
Greiner. T. 1«9
Griean.O. B. 29. 141 „
Griffith, Mrs. Sarah H.63
Gropan, Harry P. 763
Haag, Elvert W.6T
Haddocks. J. T. 317
Hadsell, B. A. 236, 507
Halght. J. L. 27
Haines, C. A. 30
Haines. G. W. 60
Hale, M. 164
Hall, Francis. 91
Hall. F. W. 26, 155. 269,
349,491,796
Hambaugh, Eugene, 94
Uambaugh. J. M.'612,631
Hamilton, H.W. 349
Hamlyn-Harris R. 334
Hammersmark. J. T. 9
Hammond. L. A. 807,717
Hanna, H.T. 285
Harboli.. Harry 8.637
Hardin, Chas. 524
Harlan, C. H. 396, 494,
670
Harpst, S. 46
Harrington. W. A. 206
Harris. W. D. 28, 815
Harrison. Mrs. L. 255,
301.413.775
Hartwig, Wm. 255
Haskin, Dan N. 26, 318
Haskitt. Rix L. 188
Hasty, B. E. 191
Hatch, C. A. 390
Haun, R. G. 370
Hawkins. Fred R. 747
Hazen, Leslie. 44;j
Healey, C G. 644
HefTron. D. S. 189
Heim. W. H. 7oo
Henry, Gertrude. 332
Henry. Tom. 765
Herrick. J. V. B. 30
Hershiser. Orel L. 3. 34
Hewitt. Harry 1>. 205
Highbarger. b. 444
Hiller. J. 717
Hillman, Mrs. W.J.603
Hilton. 4eo. E 339
Hitt, Samuel H 476
Hobbs, J. M. 476
Holbrook. F. C, 6.52
Holmes M B. 247
Hougb, W. H.428
House Howard H. .586
House], Wm. H 285
Houser. Arthur A, 141,
413
Howe Harry. 1.56. 444
HufTinan, P. 1. 318
Hugentobler, R. C. 136,
140
Hunsberger. A. C. 731
Hum, R. A. 301
Hunter, J. N. 329
Hurley. Theo. 8. 204
Hurt, W. D. 75
Hutobins. H.C 13
Hutchinion, Edwin. 301
lliitcliin....ii. W. Z 327
11yd-, Homer U. .564
"Kankakee," 604
Kemp. Chas. E. 670
Kennedy. John, 481, 605
Kenoyer J. 397
Kerlln.C. W. 62
Kernan. Wn
Kiiotts. Jas. H.443, 732
Knowles. H. B 239
Kreamer, G. W. 154.732
I.aidlaw, James, 141
Lamkin, iiewis, 95, 782
Lane. D. B. 429
liarkee.J.C. 523
Larson. S. O. 46
Latham, Allen, 310, 316,
374
Lawrence. C. M. 204
" Learner." 746
Lee. H. W. 3«3
LeFevre, Fred C. 1.58
Lenney, John. 637
Leonard. Priscllla, 330,
Lloyd, Jr.. Lewis. 12
Lnvesy. E. S. 104, 172
7011. -,9I
Lowry.M P. 15,555
Lyell. John W. 221
Macbrair, A. W. 29
Malins. Joseph, 769
Marks, W. F. 105
Marno, J>. 125
Martin, J. H. 293,542
Martin, Wm. 556. 762
Masin, Dr. A. B. 5. 22,38,
53,74,85. 102, 121, 131.
132. 165,2.58,275
Mavberry, F. M. 301
McBride. A. J. 111,587
McBrlde. F. .508
McCoy. Dr. Mary, 389
Mclntyre. J. F. 472
McKinnon. C. P. 495
McKown, C. W. 639
McLean, Dr. Jus. 324
McLeod, D. C. 46. 382
McNay. Frank, 23H
McNeal. W. W. 76, 205,
311,598,696
McNeil. C. H. 268
McNeill. Jas. 555
McKae, L. W. 670
McBitchie, Dr. Thos. L.
333
Mettler, A. B. 99
Michael, John N. 174
Miles, E. S. 78, 237. 271.
605.
Miller. Amos. 14
Miller. Arthur C. 406,
6H6, 718. 766
Miller. Dr. C. C. 326. 436,
685. 754. 799
Miller. LL. 717
Miller. Noah. 47
Minnick, Frank. 340
Mitchell. Will Ward, 276
Moore, Herman F. 329
Morris. Cyrene E. 14,159
Moss, J. A. 124
Mote. J. M. 782
Mountjoy, J. Wiley. 47.
77
Mutret, Dr. Thomas. 556
Nelson. E. B. 128
"Nevada Sage Brush,"
6 0
Newman, Thomas G. 4
Noeliing, J. 155
Norton, A.60.5, 743
Nye. Ira B. 190
Paitin, John T. 807
Parks, Frank. 2-54
Patton. J. S. 812
Pea emaker, 175
Peck, B W. 173
Peiro. Dr. 493, 525, 575,
6 '5, 587, 638
Pettit, S, T. 45. 405
Pickard, Ada L. 229, 285
Pickard .W.J. 475
Pierce, Prof. Newton B.
469
Pond. G. H. S-*
Poppleton, O. O. 3, 58,
134. 338
Porter. W. L. 437
Pouder, Walter S. 69
Pryal. W. A. 180, 804
Purple, G. K. 148
Qttlrtn, H.G.444
Rambler, 142
"Rancher" 721, 621
Rankin. J M.39. 166, 823
Rauchfuss. Frank. 319
Raymond, A. P. 357
Ream, C. C. 3oo
RMeve, M, F. 733
Rehorst, Theo. 78
Kels. Albert. 429
Rex ford. Eben E. 159
Ridley. J. 313
Riley. J Whitcomb, 434
Roberts. H. ('. 45
Hoby Fred. 252
BohinsoR, Wm.«3
Rockenbaugb. Geo. 138
Rockwell.O. B. >-«
R.ie, K S 27.89
Riorda. Henry. 586
Root. Ernest R 4. 120,
278,3112,333, 342. 468
Rjol, W. P. 401
828
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL
Dec. 26, 1901.
RoolCo.. A. I,l',!1
Rosebroub.W. H. 811
Kosenberger.AuBust,12~
Ross. Dr. J. M. 17y
Koss. Wm.i54
Knsson. LOD, 44
Rowlee. Joseph N. 301
SaKe. Geo. 13
Salisbury, U C. 413
Salsbury, S. N. fi3
Sampson. S. K. 495
Sanders. J. W. 4.".a
Sanlord. A. C. 1>2
Schmidt, B.F. 717
Schmidt, V.C. 3x0
Schmidt, John K.TI, 6'^2
Scholl, Louis, ttK>, 629,
645
Schueman, John C. .')40
Scott, Jerry, 7>*'2
Scott. J. R. 333
Secor Hun. Eugene. 3ft.
81. 117. 11 a, 2U», 228,
273,483. 514
Seibold. J. 412
SeiUr. John M. 381
Selden N P. 749
Sharp, David. 3Hii
Shepherd. M. W. 205
Sherman, J. Warren, 44,
47K
Shiber, Geo. .567
Shield W.S. 155
Shirk, B. P 91,815
Shirley. Dr. L. T. 239
Shrader, Geo. W. 413
Simpson, Frederick B.
453.466,484
Slingerland, M. V. 11:1
Small. Josephus, 475
Smith, K.C.. 76
Smith, K.C.2-<
Smith, R. W. 381
Smith. 8. B. 507, ;
-Snyder, Aaron. 83
Staininger. N. 45. 299
Stalnaker, J. J 268
Sta"nard, (\ A. 28
Steele, J. W. 652, 684
Stephenson. W. T. 95.
3H7, 55H. 598
Stevens, C. B. 62, 156,
254
Stevenson. A.F. 104
Stewart. John C. 255
Stewart, W J, 46
Stolley, Wm. 2115, 824
Stone. A. B. 621
Stone. Jas. A. 86. 805
Stout. Sampson, 142
Sto«ell.H 11. 444
Strickland. E. H. 380
8tr..nE J. L.. 223 4.9
Stuart. D -niel. 301
Stuckev. David, 271
Suppe R.C. 461
" Swarthmore,,' 286, 373
"The Miller o' the Dee."
101
Thompson, Andrew M.
765
Tlndle. B. F. 587
Titus. Mrs. P>. R. 653
'I'rittenb'ach.B. F. 238
Tucker. Earl. 332
Tyler. Fred, 237
Tjrrell. E. B. 396, 542
Van Blaricum, Carson.
VanDuine, Benjamin A.
254
Vangundy. G. W. 475
Van Winkle. Rip. 431
Vogeler Seed Jt Produce
Co. 701
Vogt, M H, 215
Volght, C. H. 61, 300
Voorhies, Win. G. 201,
213
Voss. Gustav, 30, 189,
782
Waale, T. H 139
Waddington. A. 255
Wagar, U. 1. 1 1 1
Wallace. Thoma«. 109
Wallenmeyer. J.C. 158.
172, 179, .564
Watkins. J. A. 652
Weaver T F. 574
Webster. F. R. 429
M est, J. M. 5 H, 764
West, J V P. 3t7. 378
West Mrs C. R. 237, 332
West, N. D 70H
Wheel^r,France5 Ellen,
279
Whitcnmb. Geo. B, 429
White, Archer L. 159
White. Frank B. 228
White, H nry,476
W1I9
Wils
W.ls
n, A. a. 283. 322
n. Edward. 91
n, Jethro, 283
M. W.
Wilson, Wm. IKi
Wing, Jame-H. 139
Working. D. W. 415.4
68O, 79' ', 794. 822
Wray, Wm. 221. 2.38
Wurlh, Daniel, 157
Yandell, A. R. 140
Yeaton, Mrs, W. S. 4f
York, George W. .53.
York & Co , Georjie
Zillmer F. F. 461
CONVENTION NOTICES.
-The Wisconsin Stale Bee-Keep-
ers' Association will hold its anu -al couventiou
]n the State Capitol, at Madison, Feb. 5 and o,
1902. This promises to be a larg-e conveniiou.
All are invited to attend. There will be e.vcur-
siod rates of l'? fare for the round-trip, good
for all of the first week in February.
N. E. FKi.NCF,, Pres. Ada L. Pickard, Sec.
Michigan. —The Michigan State Bee-Keepers'
Association will meet in couyeuiiou at Petos-
key, Jan. 1 and 2, l')02. This promises to be the
most largely attended meeting of the Associa-
tion injears. You are idviled to attend. Re-
duced rates on all railroads; tickets can be
bought Dec. 30 and Jan. 1. good to returu not
later than Jan. 4. There will be no set program,
but another of our *• open congress " meetings.
Those who have attended in the pa^t know
what that means, and those that dou"l should
come and Add out. A novel design for badge
has been ordered in honor of " Peioskey.''
Geo. E. Hilto.x, Pres.
California.— The Californi;
Associa ion will hold it
Ibe Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles, Jan.
15 and 16, 10U2. We will try to have a goi-d pro-
gram. Come and exchange your bright ideas
with your neighbors, and get some of the
rubbed oft" your back. J. F. McI.ntvkk, Sec.
G. S. Sti-bblefield, Pres.
1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies!
save yuu treiKbt. and ship pruruptly. Market price
paid lor beeswux. 8end tor uur i^>i catalnK.
M. U. HUNT & SON, Bell Branch, Wayne Co.. Mich
f lease mention Bee journal wnen -writina
OUR NEW CATALOG, describing and listiau'
BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN THE WORLD, '
first of tiie year. If jpou have not been receivintr
your name and address and one w 11 be mailed
same as last season with thee.vcepttou of the na
no bee ways, which will be 25 cents per thousand less
the FINEST LINE OF
ill be ready about the
copy annually, send us
ou tiee. Prices will be
w, plain sections with
s.
G. B. LEWIS COMPANY, Watertown, Wis., U. S. A.
Special Agency, C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 East Washington Street,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Excellent shipping facilities and very low freight rates for Southern and
Eastern territories.
ou Bee Journal -when "writing
A HANDY TOOL-HOLDER !
Sent by Express, for $1.50 ; or willi tlic Bee Journal
one year — both for $2.00.
Every Manufacturer, Miller. Carpenter.
Cabinet Maker, Machinist. Wheelwriglit and
Quarryman, Farmer, or any oneuslugagrrind-
stone. should have one of these Tool-Holders.
One boy can do the work of two persons, and
grind much faster, easier and with perfect
accuracy. Will hold any kind of tool, from
the smallest chifel to a draw shave or ax.
E.\tra attachii.eiiL tor sharpening: scytiie
blades included in the above price. Tbe work
Is done without wcltinff tbe hands or soiling
1 he clothes, as the waier flows from the opera-
lur. Jt can be attached to any size stone for
hand or steam power, is always ready lor use,
nothin>r to get out of order, and is absolutely
worth 100 limes its <'0&1.
No farm is well-equipped un-
less it has a Tool-Holder. Pays
"or itself in a short lime. ,
How to Use the Holder.
Directions.— The Tool is fas-
tened securely In tbe Holder by
a set-screw and can be ground
to any desired bevtl by Insert-
infe tbe arm ct tbeH<)lder into
ahigheror lowernulch of tbe
standard While turuing the
3rank with the right hand, tbe
left resis on an steadies the
Holder ; the Tool is moved to
the right or left across the
stone, or examined while grind-
ing, as readily and in the same
way as if held in lh> hands.
Forgrindinu Roand - X^dge
Tools, tbe holes in the stand-
ard are used instead of the
■iotcbes
The "Barler Ideal"
OIL=HEATER....
Saves Its Cost Every Year I
NO ODOR 1 NO SMOKE! NO ASHES I
Costs only a cent an hour to run it.
The editor of tbe American Bee Journal is using the
" Barler Ideal " Oil Heater, and it is all right in every way.
We liked it so well that we wanted our readers to have it
too, so we have recently arranged with its manufacturers to
fill our orders. The picture shown herewith is the one w&
recommend for general use. It is a perfect gem of a stove
for lieating dining-rooms, bed-rooms, and bath-rooms. It
hinges back in a substantial way, and is thoroly well made
thruout. The urn removes for heating water. The brass
fount, or well, has a bail, and holds nearly one gallon^ of
kerosene oil. It is just as sate as an ordinary lamp. You
ouldn't be without it for twice its cost, after once having
of these stoves. Most oil-stoves emit an offensive odor,
Irat this one doesn't. Its bight is 2' _; feet, and weighs
20 pounds, or 30 pounds crated ready for shipment,
either by freight or express.
Price, f.o.b. Chicago, $6.00; or, combined
with a year's sub.scription to the American Bee
Journal— both for only $6.50. Full Directios*
GO WITH EAfu Stove.
If you want something that is really serviceable,
reliable, and thoroly comfortable, you should get this
"Barler Ideal" Oil Stove, as it can easily oe carried
by any woman from one room to another, and thus
have all the heat you want right where you want it
Address,
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.,
Chicago, IlL
Dec. 26. 1901
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,
829
CYPHERS INCUBATOR,
World's Standard Hatcher,
Used on 26 Gov. Experiment Stations
in U. S. Canada, Australia and ^l w
Zealand; also Ijy America's ieadiiijr
poultrymen and thousands ot olbei .I.
Gold medal and highest award at
Pan-American,_Oct. 1901. 33-paKo
Jlsk i.earest offlce for booli No. r>9
CYPHEK8 INCCBATOR COMPANY.
BatUlOi K. 1., Chicago, 111,, Boston, aiais., Nenr York,N, !•
The Handsomest Calendar
of the season (in ten colors) six beauti-
ful heads (on six sheets, 1(1x12 inches),
reproductions of paintings by Moran.
issued by General Passenger Depart-
ment. Chicago, Milwaukee iv: St. Paul
Railway, will be sent on receipt of
twenty-five cents. Address, F. A.
Miller, General Passenger Agent, Chi-
cago. .^lA3t
Don't Keep Them
MARILLA
. The largest hatches. Fully explained ia
wcaial"gue. Sent fortwoSc siamps.
MARILLA INCUBjStor COMPANY. BOX 3 ROSE HILL. H. Y.
ridoo ii.cwtiut. £>c^e journal wjifcn wnune..
Hot Ail
If you want the Bee-Book
That covers the whole Apicultural Field more
completely than any other published,
sedd*1.25to
Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal.,
FOR HIS
" Bee=Keeper's Guide."
Liberal Discounts to the Trade.
BORDEAUX NOZZLE
rorldV best on
Q98t«r of the BituatlOQ,
fall before this all i
the book, [t ia free. Write for it i
THE DEJIISGCO., SAI.EII, 01110
^^' Western Apts.. Henioo & Hubbell, Chicago. .,
4')A13t Please mention the Bee Journal.
REDUCED RATES FOR CHRISTHAS
AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS,
The Nickel Plate Road will sell tick-
ets Dec. 24, 25, and 31, 1901, and Jan.
1, 1902, at rate of a fare and one-third
for the round-trip, to any point located
in Central Passenger Association ter-
ritory, good returning to and including
Jan. 2, 1902. Pullman service on all
trains. Individual Club Meals rang-
ing in price from 35 cents to SI. 00,
served in Nickel Plate dining-cars.
Address, John Y. Calahan, General
Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago, for par-
ticulars. Depot, Van Buren St. and
Pacific Avenue, on the Elevated Loop.
45— 49A4t
Queen-Clipping
Device Free....
The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping
Device is a fine thiuff for use in
catching- and clipping Queens
wing^s. We mail It for 25 cents;
or will send it FREE as a pre-
mium for sending ns ONE NEW
subscriber to the Bee Journal tor
a year at $1.00; or for$!.10we will
mail the Bee Journal one yeai
and the Clipping Device. Address,
QEORaE W. VORK & COMPANY,
Cblcngo, in.
Langsirom on...
TI16f|0I]6l!B66
Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition.
This is one of the standard books on
bee-culture, and ought to be in the
library of every bee-keeper. It is bound
substantially in cloth, and contains
over 500 pages, being revised by those
large, practical bee-keepers, so well-
known to all the readers of the Ameri-
can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant & Son,
Each subject is clearly and thoroly ex-
plained, so that by following the in-
structions of this book one cannot fail
to be wonderfully helpt on the way to
success with bees.
The book we mail for fl.25, or club
it with the American Bee Journal for
one year — both for $1.75 ; or, we will
mail it as a premium for sending us
THREE NEW subscribers to the Bee
Journal for one year, with $3.00.
This is a splendid chance to get a
grand bee-book for a very little money
or work.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 A 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
California I U ^°^ "''^ ^° """o^ °^ '"
WctlllUI Illd t Fruits, Flowers, Climate
or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali-
fornia's Favorite Paper—
The Pacific Rural Press,
The leading Horticultural and Agrlcultoral
paper of the Pacific Coast. Published weekly,
handsomely illustrated, $2.00 per annum. Sam-
ple copy free.
PACIFIC RURAL PRESS,
330 Market Street, - San Francisco, Cal
Please meutloti Bee Journal
when writing Advertisers.
fa 200-Egg Incubator
Ml for $12-80
ft
rewrite for catalogue to-day;
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy. III.
SYVEET CLOVER
And Several Other Clover Seeds.
We have made arrangements so that we can
furnish Seed of several of the Clovers by freight
or express, at the following prices, cash with
the order;
51b loas 2Stti SOlb
Sweet Clover (white) $.75 $1.20 $2.£0 $4.50
Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50
Alsike Clover 90 1.70 3.75 7.00
White Clover I.OO 1.90 4.50 8.50
Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00
Prices subject to market changes.
Single pound 5 cents more than the S-pound
rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack.
Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if
wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if
wanted by mail.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 14* Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL.
FREE FOR A MONTH ....
If you are interested in Sheep in any way
you cannot afford to be without the best
Sheep Paper published in the United States.
tVool Markets and Slieep
has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and
his industry, first.foremost and all the time.
Are you interested? Write to-day.
WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICABO, ILL.
Hease meniifin Bee Tourna; whea WTttliife
A'"' After the theatre or other even-
ing entertainment, the Night Express
on the Nickel Plate Road leaves daily
at 11:20, from the Van Buren Street
Union Passenger Station. Arrives at
Cleveland at 10:20 a.m. Breakfast in
Dining Car. Makes connections at
Buffalo for all points East. Arrives
at New York City 7:50 second morning,
and Boston at 10:15. Sleeping Cars
open at 9:30 p.m. Ticket office. 111
Adams Street. 'Phone Central 2057.
47— 50 A3 1
A New Bee-Keeper's Song-—
"Buckwheat Cakes
and Honey"
Words by EUGENE SECOR.
Music by GEORQE W, VORK.
This song was writteij specially for
the Buffalo convention, and was sung
there. It is written for organ or piano,
as have been all the songs written for
bee-keepers. Every home should have
a copy of it, as well as a copy of
"THE HUM OF THE BEES
In the APPLE-TREE BLOOM"
Written by
Et-GENE Secor and Dr. C. C. Miller.
PRiCES^Either song will be mailed
for 10 cents (stamps or silver), or both
for only IS cents. Or, for SI. 00 strictly
in advance payment of a year's sub-
scription to the American Bee Journal,
we will mail both of these songs free,
if asked for.
QEORQE W. YORK & CO.
144 & 146 Erie St., - CHICAGO, ILL.
830
AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL.
Dec. 26, 1901.
^'REVERSIBLE WALL MAP '4
OK THE
UIITED STATES AND WORLD,
WITH SPECIAL INSET MAPS OF
Gtiina, GuOa, rono Rico, The riiiiiPDinGS, Haiall, and ftiaska,
illy prepared to meet the demand for a first-class map that will give a quick, general idea of location of events the world over,
ticularly to the United States and our territorial possessions, ^'ei'y iiM4-'£iifi iu every Home unci Ollice.
Er-.E"V"EKr BE-A.XJTIinxj]L. OOLOPIS.
Best and Most Necessary Map
Ever Issued.
No Home or Business House
should be without it.
is one of the in-
valuable features.
It gfives an al-
phabetical list of
countries, their lo-
cation on map,
style of govern-
ment, population,
area, products,
minerals, imports,
exports, etc.
The a; A)
Plates
are works of art.
The engraving is
plain, bold, and
decisive. Thecolor
work is elegantly
contrasted, but not
gaudy.
Perfec-
tion and
Artistic
Elegance
a salient feature
of this map not ap-
proached by any
similar publica-
tion.
It has been pronounced a
Photograph of the World
One side shows a errand map of our sreat country, with coiiiiliein, railroads, towns, rivers, etc., correctlj' located. The other side shows
an equally good map ot the world. Statistics on the population, cities, capitals, rivers, mountains, products, business, etc., a veritable photo-
graph of the UMTED STATES AND WORLD.
The map is printed on heavy map paper and is mounted on sticks ready to hang. Edges are bound with tape.
1901 Elkl'I'IOl^. — Every reader should c""-.-siilt it every day. The plates show all the new railroad lines and exten-
sions, county changes, etc. Especial attention is given to th_ ::opography ot the country ; all the principal rivers and lakes, mountain ranges
and peaks are plainly indicated. The leading cities and towns are shown, special attention being given to those along lines of railroads. The
Canadian section of the map gives the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia, with nearly all of Quebec and New Brunswick,
the county divisions being clearly marked. The Southern portion of the map includes the Northern States of the Republic of Mexico, and the
Bahama Islands.
On I lie reverse side Is tlie Library ITIap of llie World. The largest and most accurate map on Mercator's Projection
ever produced. The political divisions are correctly defined and beautifully outlined in colors. The ocean currents are clearly shown and
named. Ocean steamship lines with distances between important ports are given. A marginal index of letters and figures enables one easily to
locate every country in the world. A series of short articles in alphabetical order is printed around the border of this map in large, clear type,
containing valuable information concerning agricultural, mining, and manufacturing statistics, also the value of imports and exports in dollars.
The area, population, form ot government, and chief executive ot every country in the world is given up to date, also the names ot the capitals-
and their population. Xiie Inset Vlaps are elegantly engraved and printed in colors. They are placed in convenient positions around the
United States map, and will be invaluable to every person desiring a plain understanding of our possessions. An inset map of China on the
World side of map adds to its value.
^®S~ Two maps on one sheet, all for only $1.50, sent by mail or prepaid express ; or we will
forward it free as a premium for sending us Three New Subscribers at $1.00 each ; or for $2.00 we will send the Map and
the American Bee Journal for one year. Address,
rV «^ »%■
The 1900 Census :X X
of the largest American Cities is given.
GEORGE W YORK <& CO.,
144 & 146 Erie Street, CHICAGO, ILL.
Dec. 26, 1901.
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
831
TuE Christmas Ladies' Home Joirxai,
is the largest number of that popular maf]:a-
zine ever issued, and the quality seems in
keeping with the quantit}-. It opens with an
account of " The People Who Help Santa
C'laus," after which comes a sweet story by
Elizabeth McCracben, entitled, "The Baby
Behind the Curtain.'' .John Fox, Jr., the
clever Kentuckian, contributes a short story,
and the Journal's new serial of the Western
metropolis, "The Russells in Chicago,'' is
begun. Rudyard Kipling tells amusingly
"How the First Letter was Written,'' and
Elliott Flower has a laughable sketch, "The
Lintield's Christmas Dinner.'' The Journal's
two romances, "Christine" and " A Gentle-
man of the Blue Grass," are given their sec-
ond and third installments respectively, and
the library of the ;' Bradley House " is shown.
Mr. Bok's editorial takes the form of a per-
sonal and some\vhat confidential chat with
his readers. There are also a children's
Christmas play by Ednah Proctor Clarke,
some touching stories of " The Other Side of
the Town," by the Rev. David M. Steele, and
an interesting account of the Sistine Madonna
done in needlework. The various depart-
ments are unusually strong, and the whole
magazine is full of Christmas spirit. A note-
worthy feature, pictorially, is the double page
of college girls, on which are shown groups
of college girls from nearly every girls' school
of note in the country. This is only the first
in a " picture story " of one hundred photo-
graphs, which will show " What a Girl Does
at College."' The cover design is a beautiful
piece of work by Thomas Mitchell Pierce. By
The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia.
( )ne dollar a year; ten cents a copy.
To iiiak« cows pay, use Sharpies Cream Separators. Book
"Busineas DairyiDK" & rat. 212 free. W Chester.Pa.
Change of Chicago Passenger Station.
Beg'innitig' December 29, all passen-
ger trains of the Nickel Plate Road
will arrive and depart from Grand
Central Station, Sth Ave. and Hi?rrison
St., Chicago, instead of Van Buren St.
Station, as formerly. 49 — S2A1
Don't You Want To
know iihmit the price and qualit.v of Pa{:e Fence".'
Wi- .^h.nilil be plciised t.. l.-H yon. Writ.- ns.
I" Kit: WOVKN (HI!K hKN( K( O.. \ l>l!H \. II l( II.
AL'WAYS READY.
S^^ ADAM CUTTER
hvavs clean and ready
work. Iinpnssible to
I choke it up. Cleans itself.
(The Only Bone Cutter
with ail ball bearings.
)rks quickly and easily.
I No choking or injuring of
fowls by silvers or sharp
pieces. Cuts a clean lit<ht
shave that is easily di-
I grested by smallest chicks.
Send for Catalog No. 9.
I Contains much valuable
aformation on the cut
I bouequestiuQ. You willbe pleased with
. Sent free upon request.
W. J. ADAM, JOLIET, ILLS.
Standard Bred (Jiieens.
Acme of Perfection.
Not a Hybrid Among Them.
inPROVED STRAIN OOLDEN ITALIANS.
World-wide reputation. 75cts. each; 6 for $4.(X).
Long-Tongued 3-Banded Italians
bred from stock whose lontrues measured 25-
100 iuch. These are the red clover hustlers of
America.
TSc each, or 6 for $4.00. Safe arrival guaran-
teed. Fred W. Muth & Co.
Headquarters for Bee-Keepers' Supplies,
S.W. Cor. Front and Walnut Sts.
Catalog on application. Cincinnati, O.
Dittnier's Foundation !
Retail— Wholesale-Jobbing.
I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY
ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST
and MOST desirable in all respects. Mv PRO-
CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES'are my
own inventions, which enable me to SELL
FOUNDATION and
Wort fax Into Fonnilatioii For Casli
at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving
Full Line of Supplies,
with prices and samples, tree on application
BEESWAX WANTED.
GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis,
Please mention Bee journal wrhen "writinE
iSXICCcSSlill Brooder (Xho chick)
English edition* cents.othersfree.
DF.S nOINES INCl'BATOR CO.,
Box 7 8 Des SIoIdch, Iowa, or Box 78
Buffalo, iN. Y. Adiiretis nearest .jjfu-e.
Bee Journ.a.1 ■
BEE-SUPPLIES !
Manufacturers' prices. Complete stock. Sen
for our catalog^.
FRED. W. MUTH & CO.
S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts. CINCINNATI, 0.
The Sure Hatch
Anyy
■tli.-i- fiilllu'r ..
cuu run tlniii, bff
J tliuy
themsei'
1, because the prii*e'is light. Ma^
B and results guaranteed; you take
sk. Our Coninioii Sense Brooder is the
at any price. and we sell it very low.
ndsome cat.alogi
' ■■ of honest p.
mailed free. When writing address
Sure Hatch locubator Co. Clay Center, Neb. or Columbus, 0.
Please mention Bee Journal ■when "writina
6omD and Ex-
tracted fioneij!
R. A. BURNETT & CO., !')'> S. Water St.', Chicago
33Al£ Please mention the Bee Journal.
Wanted — Honey.
Car Lots or otherwise; will pay hig-hest mar-
ket price, spot cash. Address, stating: quantity,
quality, and price desired at your station. Will
send man to receive when lot is larg-e enoug-lito
justify. THOS. C. STANLEY & SON.
31Atf Fairfield, III.
BIG MONEY BN POlllTRY
Our llammodi I-ouitry fltildr. eii.tnlnt. nIL Fmestand
WORTH $25 S:;,:;,';','^"^:;';''
ou to make poultry poy.
JOHN BAUSCHER. IR.. BOI 94 FRFCPniT.ltL.
Comb Hone.v and Bees-
wax. State jirice de-
livered in Cincinnati.
G. H. W. WEBER,
43Atf 214(,-214S Central Ave., Cincinnati, O.
THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD
will sell tickets Dec. 24, 2,=i and 31,1901,
and Jan. 1, 19t)2, at rate of a fare and
a third for the round-trip to any point
located in Central Passenger Associa-
tion territory, account Christmas and
New Year Holidays. Return limit in-
cluding Jan. 2. 1902. Through service
to New York City, Boston, and other
Eastern points. Chicago Passenger
Station, Van Buren St. and Pacific
Ave., on the IClevated Loop. For fur-
ther information address John Y. Cal-
ahan, General Agent, 111 Adams St.,
Chicago. 46 — 49A4t
IhONEY MD BEESWAX I
AlAR^ET QUOTATIONS.
Chicago ^ -^^^ j^ -The honey market is of a
slow natu r'g ^ith *'ttle change lo price of anj
of the g-ra.jp^ ^j ^iis season of the year many
of the ret ,i]grg [,3^.; laid in a supply sutllcient
to carry t j^em over t'*^ holidays. Choice grades
of white (;omb Uone't !•♦ @15c; good to No. 1,
13%(gkl4c- light amb'^s, \2%(qilic\ dark grades,
includtni/- buckwhea • 10@12c. Extracted, white,
5!^(«i7c; amber. S'4<^5Hc; dark, SfdS^^c; the
scale of prices Varyi ig according to flavor, body
and package. Beeswax steady at isc
R. A. BnRNETT & Co.
New York, Dec. l*).— Comb honey continues to
be in good demand, and while the market is not
overstocked, arrivals of white honey are suffi-
ciently large to meet the demand, while buck-
wheat is rather scarce. We quote: Fancy white,
15c; No. 1, Uc; No. 2, 12'('13c: and buckwheat,
from lOi^'Uc. Extracted remains dull and in-
active with plenty of supply of all kinds. In
order lo move round lots, it is even necessary to
shade the quotations, which are: White,6(n654c;
amber, 5^('((.c; dark, Sfas c; Southern, 55(a60c
g-allon, according to quality. Beeswax firm at
2SC. HiLDKETH & SbOELKBN.
Cincinnati, Dec. :0.— The honey market is
rather dull on account of the warm weather.
Extracted sells only to manufacturers from
S(gJhc\ better grades alfalfa water-white from
6(tti7c; white clover from 8@9c. Fancy white
comb honey sells from ^3}i@l5}4c.
C. H. W. Wkbbr,
Albany, N. Y., Dec. 20.— Honey in good de
mand now, as this is the most satisfactory time
to sell. Grocerymen are stocking up and will
buy lines, when late they only buy enough to
piece out. Fancy white comb, 15(a^l6c; mixed,
14@15c: buckwheat, 12@13c. Extracted, white,
b}i(^~Mc; mixed, o@(.^c. H.R.Wright.
Omaha, Dec. 20.— New comb honey is arriving
by express in small quantities from Iowa and
Colorado, and selling at $3, 5(> per case in a re-
tail way. California extracted honey is being
offered carlots at 4^@4Kc per pound, f.o.b. Cal-
ifornia shipping-points, but we have not heard
of any sales having been made thus far. The
production of extracted honev seems to be quite
Boston, Dec. 20.— The demand for honey is
easing up, somewhat due in part to the holiday
season at which time it is much neglected.
Our market at the present time runs 16c for
strictly fancy in cartons; No. 1, 14@15c; No. 2,
12H@13c. Extracted, light amber, 75^@8>^c;
amber, 7c. Blake, Scott & LiRB,
Des Moines, Dec. 20.— There is very little
doing here in new crop of honey. Some small
lots of near-by produced comb honev are on the
market and selling in a retail way" at $3.50 to
$3.75 per case. We do not look for much trade
in this line before Sept. 1. Our market does not
consume a great deal of extracted honey.
Peycke Bros. & Chaney.
Detroit, Dec. 20.— Fancv white comb honey,
14@15c: No. 1, 13rdJl4c; no 'dark to quote. Ex-
tracted, white, 6@'7c. Beeswax, 25w26c.
M. H. Hunt & Son,
San Francisco, Dec. 2it.— White comb, 11@
12J4 cents; amber, ,s(atiOc; dark, 6^7 cents. Ex-
tracted, white, 55^(36c; light amber, 4!<@Sc;
amber, 4@ — . Beeswax, 2o(a 2.sc.
Not much doing in this center, but there are
no large stocks here of any description, and cur-
rent values are being, as a rule, well main-
tained. There is more moving outward at pres-
ent from southern producing points than from
here. Some ajiiarists are reported holding back
supplies, anticipating better prices in the
spring.
Kansas City, Dec. 20.— Up to the present
time only small lots of new comb honey have
been on the market, and these met with ready
sale on the basis of 15(5)16c per pound for fancy
white. For next week heavier receipts are ex-
pected and quotations are issued at $3.10frt)$3.25
per case for large lots, which would be equal to
about 14(a>14J^c; the demand being <[uite brisk,
a firm market is anticipated. Inquiries for ex-
tracted are a little more numerous, but large
buyers still seem to have their ideas too low. In
a small way S%(g>6c is quotable.
Peycke Bros.
Send for circular s^5"S!
.improved .ind oriifinal Hinirham liee-Smolcer
FoK 25 Years thk Hbst on Earth.
2SAtf T. F. BINQHAM, Farwell. Mich.
832
AMERICAN BEE TOUPNAI,
Dec. 26, 1901.
We have a Large Stock on hand
and can ship prr-nptly.
SEND US YOUR QR'.cRS FOR
Hiv6§. tmx^
OR ANYTHING YOU Vf^NT IN ^HE
BEE-KEEPIN> uNE.
WE MAKE ONf- THE BEST.
Our Falcon Sections and New Procest Founda-
tion are ahead of everytLjuj^. and cost no more
than other makes. Nev Catalog and copy of
The American Bee-Kei-pek free. Address,
THE W. T. FflLGONER MFG. CO.,
JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
r «S- W. M. Gerrish, Ea?t Notiagham, N. H.,
carries a full liae of our groods at catalog prices.
Order of him and save f reig-ht.
Please taention Bee journal "when "writing.
BEE=SUPPLIES?
jr3 Goog^
: AT ROOT s nSJcC^^
„.^rytdiat' ii-eil fcv bee-l
POUDER'S HONEY-JAKS. Prompt
ervice. Low Freight R.-ites.
NEW CATALOG PREE.
^^
Jt^" In order to accommodate the
largely increased passenger business
at Chicago Van Buren Street Depot, it
has been found necessary >o build a
new and more commodious passenger
station. Therefore, commencing De-
cember 29, all passenger trains of the
Nickel Plate Road will arrive at and
depart from Grand Central Station.
5th Ave. and Harrison St., during the
erection of the new depot. 50 52A1
A MILLION TESTinOHIALS!
OOAYS TRIAL
.rs. J:^iiiitumtiat*0,«y.rjOand Jl;'if<>r
'Self- B |fc^.jU. 100 and tiOU egg Bizea. Hatch every good
ReuuIatinzW ~S-^ ^frjf- Send 2ceni8 for No.i3 cttalogce.
BLCKLlEliNCLBATOUCO., Springfield, Ohio.
Please mention Bee Journal -when -writine.
HEADQUARTERS
BEE=SLJPPL1ES!
Root's Goods at their
Factory Prices.
Distributor of same for THE SOUTH, TEN-
NESSEE, KENTUCKY, WEST VIR-
GINIA, ILLINOIS and OHIO.
Complete stock for 1902 now on hand.
The freights from Cincinnati are the
lowest.
Prompt service is what I practice. Sat-
isfaction guaranteed.
Catalog mailed free — send for same.
The Standard Honey-Jars, Langstroth
Hives, etc., at lowest prices.
You will save money by buying from
me.
C. H. W. WEBER,
2U6-214S Central Ave., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
Successor to Chas. F.Muth & Son and A. Muth.
52A26t Please mention the Bee Journal.
A 24111
year
Dadant's Foundation, lelr
We guarantee ^^
satisfaction. ^^
What more can anybody do? BEAUTY,
PURITY, FIRMNESS, No SAQQINQ, No
LOSS.
PATENT WEED-PROCESS SHEETING.
%%
Why does it sell
so well?
Because it has always given better satis-
faction than any other.
Because in 23 years there have not been any
complaints, but thousands of compli-
ments.
Send name for our Catalog, Samples of Foundation and Veil Material.
We sell the best Veils, cotton or silk.
BEE-KSEPERS' SUPPLIES OF ALL KINDS.
Very fine pure-bred BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK Chickens and Eggs
for sale at very low prices.
Langslroth on the HonGy-Bee — Revised,
The classic in Bee-Culture — Price, $1.25, by mail.
Beeswax wanted at all times.
CHAS. DADANT «& SON, Hamilton, Hancock Co., III.
Please mention Bee Journal wlien -writing,
Texas Bee-Keepers.
^A e befT to announce the opening of a branch office and warehouse at
438 W. Houston St., San Antonio, Texas. Rates of transportation from
Medina in less than car-load lots are high, and it takes a long time for a local shipment to
reach Southern Texas points.
T nW PrPiirilt Unil ^° secure these two necessary advantages— low freight and quick de-
LUlV ilCI^Ul QllU 'Jvery— and to be better prepared to serve the interests of our Texas
rilliplf npliVPrV friends, is our reason for establishing this new branch office. No other
UUIUl UCilVul ji point in .Southern Texas is better adapted to serve as a distributing point
than San Antonio. It has four great railroads — the Southern Pacific R. R. east and West — the
Onn Anfniiin riti o International and Great Northern R. R. from Laredo up through San An-
Uflll nlllOll'O dS d tonio and Central Texas, the San Antonio and Arkansas Pass R. R., and
^hlTlTlilirr nnillt *^" Antonio and Gulf R. R. It also has the American, Wells-Fargo and
OUipiU^'llUllll. Piicifle Express Companies.
We have secured as managers Mr. Udo Toepperwein, formerly of Leon
Springs, and Mr. A. Y. Walton. Jr.. both of whom are well known to the
bfe-lu'c|.ers of South and Central Texas. They are also thoroughly familiar with practical
bee-keepiny: and all matters associated with it, and any orders sent to this branch will receive
prompt, careful attention.
fllir fnnrtQ As usual our motto is to furnish the best goods of the most approved pattern.
UUi UUUUo. We do not undertake to compete in price with all manufacturers. Bee-keepers
have learned that it does not pay to buy cheap supplies, for a saving of 10 cents on the first
cost of a hive may be a loss of many times this amount by getting poorly made and ill-fitting
material. Every year brings us many proofs that our policy of "the best goods '' is a correct
one.
niir PatQlnfr Very few changes in prices will be made in our new catalog, so do not delay
Ulll uululUg,. your order, but send it at once. You will be allowed a refund if lower prices
are made, and in case of higher prices ruling in the new catalog, if any, you will secure the
benefit by ordering now. Catalog and estimates may be had by applying to the address given
below.
rillTi Trmitatifltl Whenever you visit San Antonio you are invited to call at our office and
Ulll lUVlldllUUi make it your headciuarters. Here you will find a display of Apiarian Sup-
plies not equaled elsewhere in Texas. You will also find on file the leading bee-journals to
pass i)leasantly your leisure time.
Some of you may read Spanish, or have a bee-keeping friend who does.
If so, call for our Spanish catalog. It's sent free.
Factory and Hove Office:
Snanisli Catalog.
THE A. I. ROOT CO., Medina, Ohio.
BRANCH Office:
THE A. I. ROOT CO., San Antonio, Texas,
438 West Houston Street,
'rOi:Pl»i;KWKi:>i a « AI>'rO.^, Maoagers.
GEORGE W. YORK & CO. '^H^itlolLr,":"''
are headquarters for ROOT'S BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES IN CHICAGO.
Send to them for their free Catalog.
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