84 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 4, 1904. 



least five times as much as that of a commoa bellows smoker, I should 

 judge from its general construction. 



The tendency in this country has been steadily toward a larger 

 smelter with capacity for a greater ciuantity of fuel. Togo bacli to 

 a smoker carrying only a tenth of the usual quantity of fuel would 

 hardly be tolerated. Add to this the small blast and great cost, and 

 Mr. Root is probably correct in thinlsing that such a smoker will not 

 find general acceptance in this country. 



That Honey and Water Problem. 



An inquisitive member of the Journal family writes us as follows 

 on this subject : 



On page 30, . J. E. Johnson says: "Crystals and dry substances 

 do absorb moisture from the air, but the same law in chemistry which 

 furnishes moisture tor the air would take from, and not add to, any 

 liquid.'' Please tell us what that law is. 



He also tells us that honey becomes thinner in a moisture-laden 

 atmosphere, not by the addition of moisture from the atmosphere, but 

 by decomposition of the honey, that decomposition being favored by 

 the presence of the moisture in the atmosphere. Now, suppose we 

 have a sample of thick honey in a moisture-laden atmosphere at a 

 temperature of bO degrees. Then suppose we take a sample of the 

 same honey and thoroughly mix with it one-fourth of its weight of 

 water, and put it in ordinary atmosphere at 100 degrees. In the first 

 case tlie moisture that favors decomposition can acton the surface, 

 while in the second case it is thoroughly incorporated with the whole, 

 and can act on all parts at once, thus favoring more rapid decomposi- 

 tion, while the higher temperature is also more favorable to decompo- 

 eition. Now, please tell us: Will the second sample, in the higher 

 temperature actually become thinner with greater rapidity than the 

 first? and, if so, how much more rapidly? Suhscriber. 



Will Mr. Johnson kindly reply to the foregoing ? 



Visiting Apiaries Only Three Times a Year, 



E. D. Townsend tells about it in the Bee-Keepers' Review. Extract- 

 ing-colouies pass the winter in chafl hives, or packed in chail packing 

 cases, each having 25 or 30 pounds of honey, are left untouched 

 whether weak or strong, through spring and until June, when they 

 are unpacked and upper stories put on. One apiary thus treated had 

 only two more visits for the season, although he says he would prefer 

 to visit them once a week. 





Miscellaneous Items 





Mr. Noah Thomas, of Horatio, Ohio, for many years a bee- 

 keeper, died recently at the age of nearly "8 years. His apiary con- 

 tained over 40 colonies. He was a regular reader of the American Bee 

 Journal for many years. 



The California State Bee-Keepers' Association held its an- 

 nual meeting In Los Angeles Jan. 4 and 5. The officers elected for the 

 ensuing year are as follows : 



President, T. O. Andrews; Secretary-Treasurer, J. F. Mclntyre, 

 of Ventura; Vice-Presidents, E. Hart, L. E. Mercer, George Hawley, 

 George Emerson, J. K. Williamson, Delos Wood, F. E. Brown, L. L. 

 Andrews; Executive Committee, Geo. W. Brodbeck, M. H. Mendle- 

 son, and G. S. Stubblefleld. 



The South Dakota Bee-Keepers' Association held its 

 fourth annual meeting in Yankton, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. The election of 

 officers resulted as follows: President, Thos. Chantry ; Vice-President, 

 C. F. Lingo; Secretary, Jessie Mattison, of Tabor; General Manager, 

 J. J. Duffack; District Presidents, Ben Schlalfle, L. A. Syverud, and 

 R. A. Morgan. 



A vote of thanks was extended the retiring officers for their effi- 

 cient work during the past year, and Manager Duffack was handed a 

 $b bill as a slight recognition of services rendered. The members of 

 the Association report a most profitable gathering, and that they had 

 enjoyed the convention exceedingly. 



IVlr. G. F. Merriani, of San Diego Co., Calif., writing us Jnn. 

 19, said: 



EuiTOH Yokk:— Southern California has had a rain at last — the 

 first— but it was so light that it was little or no good. Here, we got 

 about 14 inch, but this morning a cold north wind is blowing. We 

 never get any rain while the wind is in the north. 



A man put out a fire last week which burned over a fine bee-range 

 for me, at one of my out-apiaries. G . F. Meekiam. 



Surely, the prospects for the bee-keepers in Southern California 

 are far from flattering. In fact, if sufficient rain fails to come by the 

 right time, the honey-flow will be doomed, and the bee-keepers will be 

 in despair. How dependent we all are on water. What a great bless- 

 ing it is. 



Editor H. C. Morehouse, of the Rocky Mountain Bee Jour- 

 nal, writes : 



" Becoming effective Feb. 10, the price of the Rocky Mountain 

 Bee Journal will be advanced to jl.OO per annum, and enlarged to 28 

 pages." 



This probably means what we have known for a long time, that 

 DO one can publish for any great length of time, a bee-paper worthy 

 the name at 50 cents a year, where it is wholly dependent upon its 

 receipts from subscriptions and advertising. If a bee-paper is worth 

 anything at all it is worth $1.00 a year to any bee-keeper. 



A Dry Time in Southern California.— Mr. W. A. Pryal, 

 one of our valued California readers, wrote us as follows Jan. 13, from 

 San Francisco Co. : 



Deak Mr. York : — The clipping herewith sent you is from one of 

 our local papers. It presents rather a dark picture of things climati- 

 cally in the lower part of the State. It may turn out, though, that 

 there will be abundant rains through February and March, and I trust 

 such will be the case. It is not only the bee-keepers that need the 

 rain, but all other persons as well, who depend upon the products of 

 the earth drawn through roots of the vegetable kingdom. If I mis- 

 take uot, the fruit-growers require more rain than others, as the 

 ground has been dried out so deep that the soil will have to be well 

 saturated to make up for four or five dry years that have gone by. 

 While we had a fair rainfall in this portion of the State last year, still 

 there are places where fruit-trees suffered, owing to the fact that the 

 rain did not penetrate deep enough into the soil. .So far this year, in 

 the counties above here and pn the eastern side of the Bay, but not 

 inland, there has been plenty of rain. I have been told that some- 

 thing like 35 miles of here the rainfall has been less than half of what 

 there has been in this city. Why, here the ground seems to be thor- 

 oughly saturated. No one here looks for a bad year, though the out- 

 look in the San Joaquin and other valleys in the central and southern 

 portions of the State, the prospects are gloomy. Yet, as I have stated, 

 old Jupiter Pluvius — I think that's what they call him — may conde- 

 scend to favor the whole State with a liberal dispensation of the fluid 

 that makes plant-life grow, and thereby, cause the wheels of commerce 

 to hum. 



While on this matter of climate, I shall take this opportunity to 

 add a few lines that will make you wish you were out here by the 

 Western Sea. I was over to the old home on both Christmas and New 

 Year's — I never missed a Christmas at the old home, the scenes of my 

 childhood, etc. Well, I went out with a l.^dy who was at our home 

 (she is from Los Angeles, I may add) to look through the raspberry 

 patch — a large sized one it is, too. I thought I would be able to get 

 some nice, ripe berries. And I was not mistaken. Some canes had 

 large clusters of large, ripe fruit. The lady was surprised— though 

 her people had been in the small-fruit growing business near the City 

 of the Angels, she never saw ripe raspberries on the bushes at Christ- 

 mas-time. And this lady is a native of Wisconsin. 



Again, on New Year's, I had more berries off the same patch — 

 there were boxes of them. And the bees were merrily humming amid 

 the flowers of these raspberries. Then the callalilies were in bloom at 

 the same time — and they and heliotropes, nasturtiums, and such-like 

 semi-tropical plants, were in bloom, too. .Just think, right about this 

 bay of San Francisco you can gather luscious oranges from the trees 

 in midwinter! 



I notice by the papers that it is excessively cold in and about Chi- 

 cago. Say, wouldn't you like to be out here where the sun shines 

 nearly every day iB the year, and where the thermometer seldom 

 reaches as low as 26 degrees above zero! 



But enough. We can not all live in one place. 



San Francisco Co., Calif., Jan. 13. W. A. Pryal. 



Now, look here, Mr. Pryal, if you don't stop holding up such 

 alluring temptations right before our eyes, as mentioned in your last 

 two paragraphs, we don't know what we will do to you. What do 

 you think we are made of, anyway, to withstand such suggestions? 



But you don't say anything about the beautiful snow, and eight 

 weeks of fine sleighing, such as we have here this winter. Who'd want 

 to be melted all the year around, and befogged, and covered up with 

 dust, besides? No'p; we're going to 'Slangeles, some time, just to 

 rest up ; and may be to Catalina again. But that will likely be all 

 we can do, for on a weekly paper like the American Bee Journal we 

 can't be away very long at a time. 



Oh, yes, here's that clipping you sent along with your good 

 letter: 



DROnTH IN SOUTHLAND IS BECOMING SERIOUS. 



Los Angeles, Jan. 13.— The drouth which has continued through- 

 out Southern California for more than three months, just at the sea- 

 son when under normal conditions there is the most plentiful supply 



