596 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 1, 1904. 



swarming-. On the edge of a comb is the usual place, a 

 new comb being preferred to older ones. But if there is a 

 jog or a hole in the central part of one of the central combs, 

 that's the place the bees will be sure to start cells if they 

 start any. They may start a number in other parts of the 

 hive as well, but if none are started there, no need to look 

 elsewhere. George Demuth, in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, 

 gives the following plan to lessen the labor of searching for 

 cells : 



" Place a comb in the center of the brood-nest, said 

 comb having an opening in its center formed by means of 

 two pieces, Jsx'sxG, spaced ^s or )4 inch apart by being 

 tacked to blocks of that thickness. This little frame is in- 

 serted in the comb horizontally, and the top-bar of the 

 frame is painted red, or otherwise marked. On opening a 

 hive, draw out this comb. If no cells appear in this open- 

 ing, there are none in this hive. All other combs must be 

 perfect (not contain openings), and it is better if they are 

 built solid to the bottom-bar by having been inverted." 



The Dadants and French Bee-Keeping. 



C. P. Dadant has been secured as one of the chief con- 

 tributors of I'Apiculteur, the oldest and most thoroughly 

 established of the 22 bee-journals of France. To those who 

 know something of the history of French bee-keeping dur- 

 ing the last half of the nineteenth century, that is a won- 

 derfully significant statement. 



Thirty-five years ago the elder Dadant began to advo- 

 cate advanced methods of bee-keeping in the French jour- 

 nals, and met with severe opposition. M. Hamet, at that 

 time editor of I'Apiculteur, was especially bitter in his 

 opposition, maintaining the use of skeps, or box-bives, in 

 preference to movable-frame hives. Mr. Dadant, however, 

 from his home in Illinois, sturdily kept up the fight all 

 through the years, and to him is mainly due the advance in 

 French bee-keeping today. The giving of the place of 

 honor to the son by the same journal, which was his father's 

 bitterest foe, is a graceful acknowledgment of the great 

 debt owed to that father by all the French bee-keepers. 



c 



Miscellaneous Items 



J 



Mp. T. F. Bingham, of Clare Co., Mich., wrote as fol- 

 lows, Aug. 17 : 



" We have a small early crop of finest honey. Bees are 

 getting a little from buckwheat, etc., now, but not much. 

 The weather is cool, dry, and windy — no honey in the air." 



Mp. C. H. Hare, of Pawnee Co., Nebr., gave us a short 

 call last week. He reports a good honey crop in his part of 

 the country, and also a good bee-supply trade. It seems 

 that at least in some parts of the country the bees have done 

 well. We are inclined to think that there will be a fair crop 

 of honey generally. 



Mp. J. L. StPOng, of Page Co., Iowa, on Aug. 26, sent 

 us a clipping, which is in substance as follows : 



Harry Strong and Roscoe Flowers were out on a hunt- 

 ing and fishing excursion, when one of the saddest acci- 

 dents it has been our duty to chronicle occurred. When 

 they reached the river near the Thomas Whitehall farm, 

 Roscoe got out of the spring wagon in which they were 

 riding, and had gotten the boat which they were going to 

 use, when he heard the report of a shotgun. Harry had 

 started to drive over the bridge which crosses the river at 

 that place, holding a small single-barreled shotgun between 

 his legs, when a jolt of the wagon jarred the trigger, send- 

 ing a charge of shot into his left arm and shoulder. Harry 



was taken to Mr. Whitehall's home, to which a physician 

 was immediately summoned, and the boy's father was sent 

 for. Everything possible was done to save Harry's life, 

 but he lived less than 24 hours after the accident, and was 

 laid to rest on the evening of Aug. 25. Harry was 17 years 

 old, and the son of Mr. J. L. Strong. 



Mr. Strong, the father of Harry, is one of our queen- 

 advertisers. If there has been any delay in filling orders, 

 his customers who read the American Bee Journal will now 

 know the cause. All will join us in extending sympathy to 

 the bereaved parents of Harry Strong. 



Wisconsin and Minnesota Bee-Keepers to St. Louis. 



— Mr. L. F. Hanegan, of Glenwood, Wis., writes as follows 

 about taking a carload of bee-keepers to the St. Louis con- 

 vention this month : 



I am planning to get together a car of bee-keepers to 

 go to the St. Louis convention, to leave St. Paul the morn- 

 ing of Sept. 26, via Chicago. If we get 20 members we get 

 a car direct to World's Fair gates from here without change. 

 Car-fare for the round-trip is S13.00 ; no sleeper. Sleeper 

 can be had Chicago to St. Louis for $2.00. Already 12 are 

 planning to go with coach party. I intend to spend some 

 time at the Minnesota State Fair in talking up this trip and 

 the National Association. Any one can join this car at any 

 point on the Wisconsin Central Railway or at Chicago. 



L. F. Hanegan. 



Amerikanische Blenenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer, is 

 a bee-keeper's handbook of 138 pages, which is just what 

 our German friends will want. It is fully illustrated, and 

 neatly bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00 ; or with the 

 American Bee Journal one year — -both for $1.75. Address 

 all orders to this ofUce. 





Some Expert Opinion 



' In the multitude of counsellors there is safety." — Bible. 





Collective Name for Queen-Bee and Her Progeny. 



13. — (a) Is it desirable in inodern bee-literature, to adopt ajixed nom- 

 enclature or name for the mother {queen) bee arid her progeny, wheji domi- 

 ciled in the hivef 



(6) What word, words, or name, should be in common use whett 

 speaking of the mother (queen) bee and her progeny or attaches, when lo- 

 cated i7t a hivef 



G. M. DooLiTTLE (N. Y.)— b. Colony. 



P. H. Elwood (N. Y.)— a. Yes. b. Colony. 



Mrs. J. M. Ndi,i. (Mo.) — a. Yes. b. Colony. 



Eugene Secor (Iowa) — a. Yes. b. Colony. 



C. H. DiBBERN (111.) — a. I think not. b. A colony. 



C. Davenport (Minn.) — a. Possibly, b. I hardly know. 



N. E. France (Wis.) — The average bee-keeper does not 

 care for it. 



J. M. Hambaugh (Nev.) — a. I don't know. b. I don't 

 know. 



L. STACHEI.HAUSEN (Tex.) — I am not competent to an- 

 swer these questions. 



C. P. Dadant (III.) — The names " queen " and " colony" 

 seem to answer sufficiently. 



S. T. Pettit (Ont.) — a. Yes. b. Before swarming, " a 

 stock ;" after swarming, " a first swarm." 



Prof. A. J. Cook (Calif.) — a. Yes. b. Queen, as dis- 

 tinct from virgin queen. This is a long custom, and is O. K. 



Adrian GKTAz(Tenn.) — a. Yes. b. I don't know. Nor- 

 mal colony. Queen-family. Bee-family, or something like 

 that might do. 



Dr. C. C. Miher (111.)— a. Well— er— yes, as nearly 



