862 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 22, 1904, 





Those who are in arrears on their Bee Journal subscription, and 

 desire to take advantage of our liberal American Farmer offer, will 

 need to pay all that would be due on their subscription to the end of 

 this month (December) and also $1.00 for 1905. 



Those who are now paid in advance extending into 1905, can 

 send us $1.00 for another year, and also have the American Farmer 

 for one year. Address all orders to 



GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 



334 Deapborn St., CHICAGO, ILL. 



!b<>0<>0(>OOOQO(>QCCOOOQCOO<>OQd? 



acreage required to take care of 100 

 colonies. Just what this acreage may 

 be I could not say, and therefore leave 

 it to some of our alfalfa-honey pro- 

 ducers to give us any available data 

 they may have. 



This is an interesting problem, and 

 it has some practical bearing, because 

 this question of overstocking has come 

 to be a very serious one. In the alfalfa 

 localities it can be definitely known 

 how many thousand acres there are of 

 this plant for a range of I'/i miles. 

 One can, therefore, determine pretty 

 closely how many colonies can work 

 profitably on a given number of acres 

 of alfalfa.— Editor.] — Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture. 



Bee-Sting Poison an Article of Com= 

 merce. 



Can you tell me anything concerning 

 the formic acid which is said to be col- 

 lected by bottling bees, agitating them 

 and killing them with alcohol 7 This 

 product is said to be sold to eastern 

 druggists at a good price. I should 

 like to get the names of such pur- 

 chasers. This bee-sting business looks 

 to me like a hoax, as I have been per- 

 sonally acquainted with parties who 

 have been stung many times, and still 

 have the rheumatism ; but as all such 

 fads have a day it may answer to sell. 

 W. W. Rich. 



[The active principle of the bee-sting 

 poison, whatever that may be, said to 

 be formic acid, is used largely by the 

 homeopathic school of medicines. 

 Some years ago we used to do quite a 

 little business pulling bee-stings by 

 the thousand. We have supplied a 

 New York firm with stings in lots of 

 10,000, the same being dipped in a 

 small vial of sugar of milk as fast as 



I ^ 200 Ego 

 <»'JNCUBATOR 



action. liatchea every feriilo 



egg. Write for catalog to-day. « 



GEO. H. STAHU Qulncy, III 



BEE-KEEPERS ! l%^^^^°;'.]°ltMl\ 



year'suse, and get the discount: Oct.,() percent; 

 Nov., 5 percent; Dec, 4 percent. The above dis- 

 count does not apply to honev-packages. Send 

 for catalog. W.J.iVIcC.'iRTY, Emmetsburg, Iowa 

 44Etf Please mention the Bee Journal. 



Very Low Excursion Rates for 

 Cliristmas holidays 



to all points on the Nickel Plate Road 

 between Chicago and Buffalo. Excur- 

 sion tickets on sale Dec. 24, 25, 26, and 

 31, 1904, and Jan. 1 and 2, 1905, good 

 returning Jan. 4, 1905. Three through 

 express trains daily. No excess fare 

 charged on any train. Also lowest 

 rates and shortest line to Cleveland, 

 Buffalo, New York, Boston, and all 

 eastern points. Modern sleeping and 

 dining cars. Individual Club Meals, 

 ranging in price from 35 cents to $1.00, 

 served in Nickel Plate dining-cars ; 

 also service a la carte. All trains leave 

 from La Salle Street Station, Chicago. 

 City ticket office, Chicago, 111., Ill Ad- 

 ams Street, and Auditorium Annex. 

 For further particulars address, John 

 Y. Calahan, General Agent, 113 Adams 

 Street, room 298. 33--47A5t 



HONEY AND BEESWAX 



When coasigr°!ng, baying' or selling, consult 



R. A. BURNETT & CO., 



ir>o noii-^u WftTpn St, CMir-no,^. ii i_. 



Please metttlon Bee Journal 

 when wrltius. advertisers. 



the stings were removed. At other 

 times we have taken bees in lots of five 

 or ten pounds, shaken them up until 

 they became thoroughly angry, and 

 then immediately dumped them into a 

 large vial of alcohol. But because the 

 pulling of the stings poisoned the 

 operator pulling them, causing a 

 swelling of the face, we refused to 

 accept further orders of the kind. 



We have had some reports, appar- 

 ently showing quite remarkable cures, 

 where one was suffering from rheuma- 

 tism after he had been stung in the 

 affected parts. We have had a good 

 many other reports from those who 

 have tested the stings and could see 

 no benefit whatever.] — Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture. 



Moving an Apiary Less than a Mile. 



I see so many questions asked in re- 

 gard to moving bees that I should like 

 to give my experience in that line. 

 While the requirements are simple, yet 

 some of them are frequently overlooked, 

 and a failure is the result. In the last 

 seven years I have moved five whole 

 apiaries for myself and others, the 

 distance in every case being under a 

 mile. Two of the apiaries were my 

 own, consisting of 100 colonies, and 

 were moved a little over SO yards, in 

 warm weather. In all this number, 

 less than a gallon of bees went back to- 

 the old stands. 



I thing March is the best month io 

 the year for moving an apiary. If you 

 have work of this kind to do, put it off" 

 until winter if you can. If you are 

 obliged to change your location in 

 warm weather, leave the hive-entrances 

 open while on the road. This may 

 seem like a dangerous matter to one 

 who has never tried it ; but if the road 

 isn't too rough it is perfectly safe. 

 Take a small load, not over a dozen 

 colonies. Let one man watch the 

 hives with a lighted smoker, and 

 another do the driving. You have no 

 idea how easy it is to smother bees by 

 shutting them up in warm weather 

 until you have killed a few colonies 

 that way. If the temperature is below 

 40 degrees it will be safer and easier ta 

 shut the bees in. 



Don't leave anything but the bare 

 ground at the old location. If the dis- 

 tance is under a mile, a large number 

 of bees will usually go back to look 

 around ; but if they have marked the 

 new home properly they will always 

 return. If they are to be moved in 

 warm weather it should be done very 

 late in the afternoon, so they will have 

 no chance to fly until the next day. If 

 it is done in cool weather, leave them 

 shut up until sundown. Put them on 

 the new stands ; leave them alone until 

 some of them begin to fly, then ga 

 around and give every one a good 

 smoking so they will know there is 

 something doing. Then set up a board 

 in front of each one so that a bee can 

 not easily get out without bumping its 

 head. I believe this is the most impor- 

 tant part of tlie work, but it seems 

 such a little thing that it is often neg- 

 lected. It causes them to notice that 

 there has been a change, and to mark 

 the spot before leaving it. Many of 

 them will go back to the old stand ; 

 and if there is a hive there, or any- 

 thing that looks like one, they will en- 

 ter it and forget all about the new loca- 

 tion. If there is none they seem to 



