164 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar 3, 1904. 



will decide to continue taking- the Bee Journal, and try to profit more 

 from reading it in the future than he has in the past. Our principal 

 aim is to make the old American Bee Journal a real help to its readers. 





Miscellaneous Items 





The Ohio Foul Brood Bill, we learn from Mr. Fred Vf. 

 Muth, has passed the House of Representatives without a single vote 

 against it. This is very encouraging, indeed. We trust the Senate 

 will do as well by the Ohio bee-keepers as did the House. 



Dr. G. P. Hachenberg, of Austin, Tex., died Jan. 8. He was 



SO years old. He was an occasional contributor to the columns of this 

 journal years ago. He served as a surgeon in the Civil War. " In 

 1864 an article on telephony, written by him and published in Godey's 

 Ladies" Book, gained him a world-wide reputation, containing as it did 

 the tirst plans for the practical application of the principle.'' 



Mr. C. H. Gott.sch, of Long Island, New York, sent us the fol- 

 lowing item dated Feb. 19, taken from the New York World: 



Cold Killing the Bees. — Honey which is an important product 

 of farms in all parts of New Jersey, promises to be scarce. The bees 

 live during the winter months on honey stored in surplus boxes. The 

 unprecedented cold weather has frozen this honey, and owing to alack 

 of nourishment the bees have died by the thousands. 



Mrs. J. Q. Smith, of Lincoln, 111., passed away a few days ago. 

 She had been a great sufferer for some time. She leaves a husband and 

 two sons to mourn their loss. Mrs. Smith was a member of the Metho- 

 dist Episcopal Church, Daughters of Rebekah, and Woman's Relief 

 Corps. She was a model wife and mother, a consistent Christian, and 

 a valuable friend and neighbor. Her husband is the well-known Pres- 

 ident of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, and also State foul 

 brood inspector. The heartfelt sympathy of all is his in his great 

 bereavement. 



BIr. W. A. Pryal, of San Francisco Co., Calif., writing us Feb. 

 15, had this to say about the rainfall in that part of the State: 



Dear Mr. York :— Talk about dry years in this part of California ! 

 Why, hless your heart, it now looks as it we shall have to pray for the 

 rain to stop. Less than a fortnight ago prayers were being offered in 

 the churches for rain. It came — in this end of the State, and continues 

 to do so. About the middle of last week it rained good and hard for 

 27 hours at a stretch. To-day it has rained more than six hours, and 

 it is still coming down. I trust the storm will extend southward 

 where it is badly needed. W. A. Prtal. 



We certainly join with Mr. Pryal in the hope that the abundance 

 of rain may also visit Southern California where it is needed so much. 



3Ir. Jay Smith, of Knox Co., Ind., suggests the following on 

 hatching hen's eggs over liees: 



American Bee Journal: — I note that some have h:id trouble 

 in hatching hen's eggs over bees. It must have been liecause their 

 special strain of .ees were non-sitters. This is tlie way it should be 

 done : 



Make some queen-cells on the Doolittle plan, using the end of a 

 pitchfork handle tor the purpose. Then put in the hen's egg and in- 

 sert this in the hive. When it hatches the bees will feed it lil)erally 

 with royal jelly, and you can raise a fine hen that will lay from 2000 to 

 40UO eggs per day. 



I see Mr. Kane had a failure. Don't you think fowl brood was the 

 cause? Jay Smith. 



No, it was the whole scheme that wa,s/ouJ.' 



Gus Dittmer's Loss by Fire. — On Feb. 34 we received the 

 following from Mr. Dittmer: 



Augusta, Wis., Feb. 23, 1904. 



Friend York;— I met with a terrible misfortune last Saturday 

 (Feb. 20) in the burning down of my factory and office. Over 8000 

 pounds of beeswax went up, GOOO of which was comb foundation ready 

 for the market. I shall have a very substantial loss, as the insurance 

 will not cover it. My friends, however, have turned up in a way that 

 has cheered and encouraged me in every possible way. 



What I need first is lots of beeswax. Can you do anything to help 

 get it for me ? 



I have lost most of my papers, etc., including my mailing list. All 

 of my Saturday morning's mail, except the remittances, was burned. 



I have no way of notifying any one, as the names and addresses are 

 lost. I want to hear from every one who has an order with me, or who 

 has written me any mail that should have reached me Saturday, or 

 any one looking for an invoice, or letter of any Idnd from me. I also 

 want a card from every one of my friends and patrons, and from any 

 one who has been receiving my catalog, for the reason that I have lost 

 my list of customers. I also want all my friends and patrons to help 

 out by giving me a chance to get started again, and not crowd me tor 

 comb foundation. As soon as we are ready, we will, it necessary, run 

 night and day until we catch up. 



I would like to have orders for goods to come right along, as if 

 nothing had happened. We can furnish everything but comb founda- 

 tion the same as before. 



I shall have a two-story house, 24x36 feet, moved here this week 

 yet, and next week a big crew will fix it up for the machines, engine, 

 etc. 



Any one expecting orders or invoices in response to mail received 

 since the fire must not be impatient because they are kept waiting. 



Our catalogs were burned, but we will have a, new supply very 

 soon. Yours truly, 



Gcs Dittmer. 



P. S. Another thing: I want every one who owes me to write 

 me at once. G. D. 



Mr. Dittmer's many friends will regret exceedingly to learn of his 

 loss by fire. Having passed through a somewhat similar experience a 

 little over three years ago, we know how to sympathize with him ; but 

 we know Mr. Dittmer well enough to assure everybody that he will 

 come out all right. He is not a man that is easily downed, no matter 

 what the occasion may be. 



We hope that all who are interested will read carefully what he 

 has written in the above letter, and try to comply with his requests. 

 Surely all will do what they can to help out Mr. Dittmer in his present 

 trying condition, especially all those who owe him anything will pay 

 at once. There is nothing like having ready money to start with after 

 such an experince as Mr. Dittmer has passed through. He deserves 

 any and all kinds of help that can be extended to him. 



The Apiary of J. W. Culvey, of Laporte Co., Ind., appears 

 on the first page this week. He writes us as follows about it: 



Friend York:— I had 133 colonies when the picture was taken, 

 and have at this time 130. I run tor both comli and extracted honey, 

 using the S-frame dovetailed hive, but I think it is too small. As I 

 make my own hives I will malie 10-frame ones this winter. 



The hives in the yard are set in rows 13 feet apart one way, with 

 entrances facing each other; then another row 2 feet apart, back to 

 back, and 3 feet between the hives, as shown below : 



I have a home market for all our honey at 15 cents a pound, comb 

 and extracted. 



The American Bee Journal is a great help to me. I read it as 

 it comes on Thursday morning. J. W. Culvey. 



Mr. W. H. Pain, for the Sandwich Islands Honey Co., wrote 

 us as follows, on Feb 4: 



Editor American Bee Journal. — 



Dear ,Si.r .-—On page 35, you say there must be a cipher too many in 

 the report of W. H. Pain, when referring to big crops of honey. Your 

 doubt is quite rea.sonable, judging from the way they have put it. 

 The mistake made when compiling the returns arises, I think, in the 

 following way : First, the reported output is quite right, viz., 300,000 

 pounds, but the number of colonies should have been given as 2500, 

 and that for the Sandwich Islands Honey Company. Personally, I 

 had at the time of making the return some "200 colonies of bees, wliich 

 I also reported. Now what I think has occurred is this: The Com- 

 pany's output of extracted honey has been given, while the number 

 of colonies personally owned by me have been given as producing it, 

 which is not a fact. By correcting this in your next issue you will 

 oblige. 



"This year we have 3500 colonies, and I have increased to 1000, so 

 that if we have anything like seasonable rains the report of 300,000 

 pounds should be left far behind. Yours sincerely, 



W. H. Pain. 



We are glad to make this correction, and wish to thank Mr. Pain 

 for writing about it. We took our data from the last Annual Report 

 of the National Bee-Keepers' Association . 



