Dec. 8, 1904. 



TH£ AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



821 



design desired by their customers. Mr. Daugherty was also 

 anxious to explain their facilities for turning out practically 

 all kinds of the finest woodwork. 



By the way, Mr. Daugherty is a man perhaps 60 years 

 old. No, he's that many years young. He will never grow 

 old, no matter how long he lives. He reminds one of Dr. 

 C. C. Miller ; he's mostly sunshine, and no doubt much of 

 the success of the Page «& Lyon Mfg. Co. is due to its happy 

 secretary, Mr. Daugherty. 



Unfortunately, Mr. Keith was not there when we called, 

 so we jnissed seeing him. We were informed that he calls 

 only occasionally, and then just to see that Mr. Daugherty 

 and Mr. Schultz are attending to business ! They are two 

 such lively boys that they need watching, you know 1 Of 

 course, Mr. Keith must be pleased with their efforts, for 

 they do a rattling business in their New London mill and 

 factory. 



New London is beautifully situated on Wolf River. It 

 has a population nearing 5000. It is a thriving little city, 

 and seems destined to rival the largest and most enterpris- 

 ing cities in the State. It has numerous factories and busi- 

 ness interests of large proportions. It is one of the health- 

 iest places known, the death-rate being exceedingly low. 

 There is surrounding it a very rich farming country, which 

 always insures a prosperous and thrifty city. New London 

 is all right. So is the Page & Lyon Mfg. Co. 



The Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association, as will be 

 remembered by many in this State, is an incorporated body. 

 At the recent meeting held at Springfield, Messrs. J. Q. 

 Smith, Aaron Coppin, and Jas. A. Stone were elected 

 directors for the ensuing year. 



Also, on motion, it was decided that the $1.00 annual 

 membership fee should entitle to membership in the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association for one year. 



The executive committee, composed of Pres. Smith, 



Sec. Stone, and Treas. Becker, was chosen as a legislative 

 committee, with power to add to the same as needed. 



Fifteen of the members present reported 26,200 pounds 

 of comb honey, 10,400 pounds of extracted, and 1,007 colo- 

 nies of bees, spring count. Some of the members present 

 did not report. If the 15 members reporting are an average 

 for the membership of the Illinois State Association, then 

 the whole membership (120) would represent 80,056 colonies, 

 and 292,800 pounds of honey for 1904. With this large 

 amount what would be the total for all of the 35,000 bee- 

 keepers said to be in this State ? 



Mf. E. KpetehmeF, of the Kretchmer Mfg. Co., Red 

 Oak, Iowa, has sent us a copy of a very nice booklet describ- 

 ing and illustrating the city of Red Oak. It shows enter- 

 prise on the part of the Red Oak Commercial Club, of which 

 Mr. Kretchmer is the secretary. The booklet contains a 

 picture of his fine residence, and also the following para- 

 graph referring to Mr. K.'s firm : 



Bee-Hives, Water-Tanks, Etc.— The Kretchmer Man- 

 ufacturing Co. has an extensive plant for the manufacture 

 of bee-hives, bee-keepers' supplies, galvanized steel and 

 wooden tanks, and other articles. The business was founded 

 more than 30 years ago by Mr. E. Kretchmer, the manager, 

 who has constantly extended his business until now his 

 goods are shipped over a wide area of country, and from 20 

 to 60 men are employed the year around. Much of the spe- 

 cial machinery required in the economical handling of the 

 work has been made right in their own machine shops. The 

 company was incorporated in 1900, and the prospects are 

 that the output will be considerably increased in the future. 



Mf. G. M. Doolittle, of New York State, so well known 

 to bee-keepers everywhere, has been in very poor health the 

 past three months, and now walks only in misery the most 

 of the time, from a rheumatic hip and knee. We trust our 

 good friend will soon recover from his affliction, and be as 

 well and strong as ever. 



Problem of Wintering Bees— Their Stores. 



BY L. M. GULDEN. 



Now that another winter is before us, it behooves bee- 

 keepers to cast a retrospective glance toward previous win- 

 ters, and to devise means of avoiding the pitfalls which every 

 winter costs so dearly in bees. The heavy mortality during 

 the past winter will brand it as notorious for a time to come, 

 but it should teach a lesson in providing for wintering in the 

 future, and, though the losses were severe, and the setback to 

 beekeeping considerable, yet it should result in better wintered 

 bees in the future, through the extra care which will be be- 

 stowed upon them. 



The chief causes of the heavy mortality in cellared bees 

 were : first, insufficient stores, and second, poor stores. 



The first of these causes is encountered every winter, to 

 some extent, but not to such a degree as the last winter, from 

 the fact that the confinement was exceptionally long, thus 

 necessitating more stores, which, unfortunately, had not been 

 provided. With us, loss of bees through lack of stores has 

 been one of the chief barriers to the building up of extensive 

 bee-yards, and has resulted several times in setbacks from 

 which it took several seasons to recover. In the future we 

 will make assurance doubly ?ure by feeding up on good sugar 

 syrup early in the fall, and in sufficient quantities so there 

 can be no chance of a shortage before flowers bloom again. 

 A flow sufficient for daily needs cannot here be depended 

 upon before May 15, nor can a fall flow be depended upon in 



prairie districts, so sufficient food must be given early in 

 September to suffice for about eight months. 



The second cause of winter loss — stores poor in quality — 

 bids fair to be of even greater moment than an insufficient 

 quantity of stores. This is especially true of our yards, which 

 are located in the timber. Here our flow from white clover 

 usually opens the last part of June, and continues until about 

 July 15, when it is supplemented by the basswood flow. This 

 flow lasts here about ten days. The basswood honey is 

 gathered only to a limited extent from the blossoms, by far 

 the greater quantity coming from the secretion of the leaves, 

 or, in other words, "basswood honey-dew." 



It is this white honey-dew, together with the dark dew 

 gathered later in the season, which causes such disastrous 

 losses in our yards, located in the timbered region. The bees 

 crowd this into the brood-chamber toward the last of the 

 flow, and it is not practicable to extract it and feed good stores 

 in time for winter. It is clear white and apparently nice 

 honey, but when bees are wintered in the cellar it becomes 

 watery, bursts the cappings, and the bees become swollen, 

 daubed, and contract dysentery to such an extent that they 

 sometimes entirely desert the hives, and, at best, come through 

 the winter in a depleted condition, from which they hardly 

 recover before the new harvest is on. 



If anyone can throw more light on this phase of the 

 wintering problem, and make some suggestions calculated to 

 overcome the trouble, they will be gratefully received, and the 

 object of writing this article will have been accomplished. 



Douglas Co., Minn. 



