276 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 14, 1904. 



the wire under the cake, back, say, two inches. He draws it around 

 the cake, crosses the two ends of the wire, grabs the handles, then 

 pulls slowly, when the wire passes easily and nicely right through the 

 whole cake. A paddle or thin-bladed knife is then inserted in the 

 crack where the wire passes, cleaving a slab of honey two inches 

 thick, the size of the top of the square can. Another slice is taken off 

 in a like manner. These slabs are then resliced the same way into one- 

 pound bricks. They are next wrapped in paraffin paper. Another 

 paper wrapping with suitable label, and directions how to handle, 

 makes a very neat and pretty package that costs almost nothing. The 

 only expense is the sacrificing of the can. But this is offset by the 

 saving of the labor of melting the honey to get it out, and then re- 

 £andying after it is poured into paper bags. 



Editor Root suggests that two-inch cubes of honey sold at 5 cents 

 each would be a profitable thing, amounting to 13Jo' cents a pound. 



Why could not i series of wires, after the manner of a gang-saw, 

 make a wholesale business of cutting? 





Miscellaneous Items 





Wisconsin Bee-Keepers, in the locality of Glenwood, Saint 

 Croix county, will meet in Gymnasium Hall, at (Uenwood, April IS, 

 at 10 a.m., for the purpose of organizing a bee-keepers' association. 

 Headquarters will be at Central Hotel, and meals 25 cents. General 

 Manager France will be present. It is hoped that every bee-keeper 

 that can do so will be there. For further information, address Leo 

 F. Hanegan, of Glenwood. 



Mr. Geo. W. Brotlbeck, Secretary of the National Bee- Keep- 

 ers' Association, writing us March 30, said that it was an error, pub- 

 lished some time ago, that he " had almost recovered '' from his long 

 sickness. He says : 



" I have been in the house now for three months, and with the 

 best of care in every way possible I am only strong enough to walk 

 about the house, so you see my sickness was a severe one, and my 

 recovery slow. I thank God, though, every day, that I am coming out 

 of this so uicely, and the present conditions seem to indicate that I 

 will be in much better shape physically than I have been for years." 



Surely, all will rejoice with our good friend Brodbeck, over the 

 excellent prospect of his speedy and complete recovery. The world 

 needs him, and more like him. 



Mr. B. is planning the program for the next National convention, 

 to be held in St. Louis likely some time in September. The exact 

 date is not yet fixed. But all bee-keepers will do well to arrange 

 their affairs so as to be present when the time comes. 



" Critters," Bees, Honey, and Catolaw. — We have re- 

 ceived the following from Mr. H. H. Hyde, of Wilson Co., Tex., dated 

 Feb. 10 ; 



Mb. Editor:— Honor bright, now, don't you think it time for me 



to be after that Yankee " critter " that has been so " Hasty " as to get 

 oil that horrid attempt at poetry, on page S? and then goes on, and, 

 to tell you the truth, can't say complimentary or not Well, Mr. 

 Hasty, look out! If ever you get very far South I " have it in for 

 you" now, and will put all those "critters" onto your trail, and 

 make it hot for you, sure. But let me tell you, they will not run you 

 oft if you will lie nice, and not use too much smoke, especially of the 

 wrong sort. 



I see on page 71 that that Hasty man leaves the impression that 

 those Holy Land bees are on their good behavior, and that they have 

 been especially treated for the occasion. Not so, Mr. Hasty. Pure 

 Holy Lands are as easy to handle as, if not more so than, the average 

 Italians. Yes, I would rather handle them. That picture was taken 

 because so many erroneously believe them to be vicious. The Cyprians 

 are a very different race, and while they may be slightly superior in a 

 few respects, their bad temper leaves them out of it fur me. 



I note also that Mr. Hasty says that the mesquite hardly looks as 

 he thought. Let nie say that you can form but very little opinion of 

 it from the pictures shown. 



On page 72 the same chap takes me to task about bulk comb 

 honey. Yes, Mr. Hasty, we need the pure-food law that has passed 

 the Lower House again, and let us all pull for it. With this law we 

 can pack our bulk comb under the law, and doubts of its purity will 

 cease. 



Now, as to that nou-tcranulating sort of honey : Yes, sir, we have 

 a method we are experimenting with that will enable us to pack the 

 honey so that it will not granulate for several months, and we have 

 the question solved, whether or not we get the pure-food law. You 

 speak of the bicycle hobby catching cold, and hint that bulk comb 

 may do likewise. Well, it is a fact that last year we had a little over- 

 production, and some have their honey yet; however, if not sold as 



bulk comb it's an easy matter to extract the honey and sell in that 

 form. As soon as we extend our selling territory — and we are fast 

 doing it — we shall have a market for all we can supply. We are now 

 looking towards suitable glass packages for small amounts, and we 

 expect by their use to increase the market materially. Wherever once 

 introduced, bulk comb rapidly gains favor and headway. 



Mr. Hasty, to refer again to the Holy Land bees, let me give you 

 a record. First let me say that our average spring count last year was 

 about 70 pounds per colony. We had one apiary of pure Holy Land 

 bees in an* average location — certainly not better than any other, and 

 not as good as some of our locations, if I am a judge of localities in 

 this county. This apiary consisted of 8.i colonies in s- frame hives, 

 spring count. They were transferred into 10-frame hives, and we sold 

 50 full colonies, and closed the season with m3, or about 115 percent 

 increase. We took off some 8000 pounds of comb honey, valued at 

 $600 from this apiary. How is that ? Counting increase at -$5 per 

 colony, it amounts to about $15 per colony revenue, counting spring 

 count. 



I also note that Mr. Hasty is interested in Western honey-plants, 

 judging from his remarks. Here is a picture of one of our honey- 

 plants — catclaw. This was taken a few days ago, and you may judge 

 of the size of the plant by the young man in the picture. I will say, 

 however, that catclaw is usually not so tall, running all the way from 

 3 to 10 feet in height. 



Nearly all the small bush in the picture is honey-yielding. Imagine 

 what a honey country we have ! 



Well, Mr. Hasty, I am coming North some of these days, and will 

 take the liberty in advance to tell you that I shall call on you. 



HoMEK H. Hyde. 



Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Smith, of Millelacs Co., Minn., are " por- 

 traited " on the first page. When sending the picture, Mr. Smith 

 wrote as follows, March 3: 



Editor York: — I send you a photograph of myself and wife. 

 Mrs. Smith can work among the bees and handle them just as well as 

 myself, and she takes great interest in them. We wanted a picture 

 of our apiary taken, with ourselves among the bees, in the working 

 season, but it was so difficult to get an artist to do it that we gave it up. 



I will be SO years old next month, and Mrs. S. will be 75 in Novem- 

 ber. We were married 5s yeays ago last November, and have kept 

 bees for over 50 .years, and have become so attached to them that we 

 can't think of living without them. I can't call to mind the date 

 when I commenced to take the American Bee .Journal, but it was 

 many years ago, and I intend to take it to the end. And our age 

 admonishes us that the end is not far off, but we commenced over 60 

 years ago to lay up treasures in that Country to which we are travel- 

 ing, and are ready to go when we are called. S. B. Smith. 



Mr. P. J. Strittniatter, of Cambria Co., Pa., whose two 

 pictures appear on the first page, wrote us as follows when sending 

 them: 



Editor York : — I send two photographs which I took last 

 August. I am a beginner both with the kodak and with the bees. 



I became interested in bees about six years ago, but circumstances 

 would not permit me to engage in bee-keeping until the spring of 

 1903, when I purchased two colonies in S-frame chaff hives. 



Previous to this time I had carefully read " Langstroth on the 

 Honey-Bee," and four or five pamphlets on bee-keeping, as well as 

 one of the leading bee papers for about IS months. I increased to 7 

 colonies by the fall of UI03, and took 191 pounds of comb honey, be- 

 sides losing one good swarm that went to parts unknown, May 31. 



I commenced the season of 1903 with these 7 colonies, and turning 

 to my apiary record I find I had a natural swarm May 7, and by May 

 16 my -7 colonies had all swarmed. The swarms were hived on the 

 returning plan (the queens' wings having been previously clipped). 

 I then run the swarms for honey, and the parent colonies mostly for 

 increase. By May 26 I had divided the 7 parent colonies, making 15 

 nuclei. One of these nuclei formed May 20 with 4 combs of brood 

 and placed in a 10-frame chaff hive was run for honey, and gave 105 

 pounds of comb honey in sections, and 30 pounds of extracted. (This 

 colony was ted back 15 pounds of granulated sugar.) 



All of my increase was put into 10-frame hives, and I feel con- 

 vinced these are none too large in my loca ity, even for comb honey — 

 indeed, many of my ciueens were crowded in them. Several queens 

 kept 9 combs filled with brood to within about -j inch of the top- 

 bars, and the 10th one fully two-thirds filled, throughout most of the 

 breeding season. And these were the colonies from which I got im- 

 mense returns, for this locality. In one of my 8-frame hives the 

 queen filled the S combs with brood and also about 7 of the sections. 



In all, I increased from 7 colonies to 50, and took 714 pounds of 

 extracted and 600 pounds of comb honey. 



I used full sheet.s of foundation in all the brood-frames, pur- 

 chused about 20 queens, and fed 300 pounds of sugar for winter stores. 



I sold about all my comb hcney at wholesale, at 17 cents per sec- 

 tion, or about 20 cents per pound; and the extracted found ready sale 

 in Mason quart jars at 40 cents per jar. Of course, a very large crop 

 could hardly be sold at such prices. 



Photo No. 1 shows the greater part of my apiary. The hives face 

 south. No. 2 shows a swarm returning to its old stand. 



1 am m\ich pleased with the " old reliable " American Bee -Tour- 

 nal. I read regularly four bee-papers, and have most of the bee- 

 books published in this country. 



I wish to emphasize the importance of keeping a record of all colo- 

 nies of bees. 



In picture No. 1 will be seen, in the foreground, an apiary stool 

 and a tool-box standing on a hive-cover. F. J. Strittmatter. 



