.ran'iary, 1913. 



American Vee Journal 



7 cents, or one cent more than the in- 

 ternational postage. 



Four ounces of "samples of mer- 

 chandise" will go to the end of the 

 world for 2 cents, but the same pack- 

 age within the limits of our own rural 

 route will cost 4 cents. 



It is worse than ridiculous that the 

 Japanese, or any other nation, be able 

 to send us 4 ounces of samples for less 

 money than we can send the same 

 amount within our own town. 



The people of the United States will 

 not be satisfied with our postal law 

 until we can deliver any postal matter 

 at least as cheafly ivit/iin the limits of 

 our ozvn country as in the Universal 

 Postal Union, We are still behind all 

 other civilized nations, in this respect. 



We owe it mainly to the graft of the 

 express traffic. 



Feeding' Lump Sugar 



Feeding lump sugar is good in many 

 circumstances, but we suggest that, for 

 spring, it is a better plan to dilute the 

 Sugar and feed it warm. There is very 

 little danger of inciting robbing, for its 

 odor is light. Warm and diluted food 

 is of importance during the cool days 

 of spring. It has a tendency to induce 

 breeding, and this watery food saves 

 the bees many trips to the water- 

 trough. Many old bees are chilled at 

 the season when they are of the most 

 value, by trips in quest of water for 

 brood-rearing. Some loss is avoided 

 by the use of this thin, warm syrup. 

 But for winter, dry food is best. 



Miscellaneous ^ News Items 



Iowa Bee-Keepers The first meet- 

 ing of the Iowa State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, held in Des Moines Dec. 12 

 and 13, 1912, was a success in every 

 way. Between 40 and 50 bee-keepers 

 were present. 



Besides the different addresses from 

 bee-keepers at the meeting, talks were 

 given by the State Entomologist and 

 by Prof. Kennedy, of the Extension 

 Department, both of whom gave every 

 encouragement to bee-keepers towards 

 securing what they want from the Leg- 

 islature. 



State grading rules for comb honey 

 were adopted. The necessity for these 

 was evident, as sections offered for 

 sale on the Sioux City market were 

 exhibited at the meeting, some of which 

 contained less than 11 ounces of honey, 

 and could not even be graded as culls. 

 One section was shown which actually 

 had scales of foul brood present. 



The necessity for an appropriation 

 to fight diseases was made plain. Iowa 

 has now a very efficacious law, but no 

 appropriation to carry it out. Ameri- 

 can foul brood is reported as present 

 in at least 34 counties. In addition to 

 an appropriation of $10,000 for inspec- 

 tion, the Association will ask for a 

 chair in bee-keeping at the State Agri- 

 cultural College, an extension lecturer, 

 better premiums and facilities for ex- 

 hibiting at fairs and an Assistant in 

 apiculture under the direction of the 

 State Entomologist, this Assistant to 

 be State Inspector. Legislation will 

 also be asked, prohibiting the trans- 

 portation of bees from one county to 

 another, or from other States without 

 a certificate of inspection. 



Demands for inspection became so 

 insistent last summer that the Gover- 

 nor and the Executive Council sent 

 Mr. Pellett through the State on tours 

 of inspection, his expenses being borne 

 out of the General Funds. 



This shows that it is high time that 



the disease situation be immediately 

 dealt with, in Iowa, with vigor. 



This can be accomplished in only 

 one way, the appointment of an effi- 

 cient inspector and deputies with sufK- 

 cient funds at their disposal that the 

 work be not hampered financially. 

 Every progressive Iowa bee-keeper 

 must impress upon the representative 

 and senator of his district the need of 

 such appropriation. The Governor has 

 already promised his support. 



The officers elected for the ensuing 

 year are : President, Frank C. Pellett, 

 of Atlantic; Vice-President, J. W. 

 Stine, of Salem ; Secretary, S. W. Sny- 

 der, of Center Point; Treasurer, C. H. 

 True, of Edgewood. 



Directors— H. B. Miller, of Marshall- 

 town, A. H. Bonney, of Buck Grove, 

 E. C. Wheeler, of Marshalltown. 



Redwood Lumber tor Bee-Hives.— On 



page 237 of Gleanings in Bee Culture, 

 April 15, 1912, M. D. Price speaks of 

 buying hives made of redwood which 

 were 1.5 years old, and were as sound as 

 a dollar. Commenting upon this, Mr. 

 H. Vogeler, of Oakland, Calif., sent 

 us a newspaper clipping from the Sat- 

 urday Bee, of Sacramento, which says; 



" Redwood is easily worked, takes a beau- 

 tiful polish, and is one of the most durable 

 of the coniferous woods of California. It 

 resists decay so well that trees which have 

 Iain 500 years in the forest have been sent to 

 the millandsawed into lumber. The wood is 

 without resin, and offers a strong resistance 

 to fire. Insects seldom injure it because of 

 an acid element it contains." 



"Redwood timber." says Dr. Hermann 

 von Schrenk. of the Bureau of Plant Indus- 

 try. " possesses lasting Qualities scarcely 

 equaled by any other wood. Although very 

 light and porous, it has antiseptic proper- 

 ties which prevent the growth of decay-pro- 

 ducing funui. So far as is now known, none 

 of the ordinary wood-rotting fungi grow in 

 redwood timber. It is because of its resis- 

 tance to most forms of decay that the red- 

 wood reaches such a great age." 



Mr. Vogeler states that he has seen 



hives 40 years old made of redwood 

 and as good as new. 



Some one will say: How can they 

 tell that a dead tree has been lying in 

 the forest .")00 years. We asked the 

 same question when we visited the big 

 sequoias. But the answer was at hand, 

 for our attention was at once called to 

 younger trees apparently of that age, 

 and already six or eight feet in diam- 

 eter growing right where the head of 

 the giant luust have struck in its fall. 

 But the California climate is especially 

 adapted to the durability of wood, for 

 the rainy season is short. 



When all is said, however, the red- 

 wood has wonderful lasting qualities. 

 We see no reason why it should not be 

 used extensively for hive making, since 

 our white pine forests are rapidly dis- 

 appearing. 



^ 



Pecos Valley Meeting. — The members 

 of the Pecos Valley Association met in 

 annual convention at Roswell, New 

 Mex., at 9 o'clock, Nov. 12, 1912, R. B. 

 Slease, president, presiding. 



About 2.500 colonies of bees in Cha- 

 ves county, and not far from that num- 

 ber in Eddy county, were represented. 



Some of the leading orchardists of 

 the section attended. Mr. Robert J. 

 Beers, of Roswell, a very successful or- 

 chardist, spoke in the interests of api- 

 culture, and recognized the honey-bee 

 to be of great value in the growing of 

 large and perfect crops of fruit. 



R. B. Slease was for the fourth time 

 elected President of the Association; 

 Vice-Presidents, Henry Adams, of 

 Greenfield, Edward Scoggin, of Hope, 

 M. N. Cunningham, of Carlsbad. Sec- 

 retary-Treasurer, Henry C. Barron. 



The proposed amendments to the Na- 

 tional constitution were approved ex- 

 cept Section 3, Article IV, as it was 

 deemed advisable to have all member- 

 ships fall due in January of each year, 

 thus simplifying records. 



Henry C. Barron was elected dele- 

 gate to the National convention to be 

 held at Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 12 and 

 13, 1913. 



The matter of supplies was taken up 

 and discussed to some extent. Spray- 

 ing with arsenic while the fruit-trees 

 are in bloom, was recognized by the 

 bee-keepers as a great damage to the 

 bee-industry. Several hundred colo- 

 nies were killed in the spring of 1912, 

 in the Pecos Valley. 



Henry C. Barron, Sec. 



Honey Selling in Australia — Good- 

 fellow's idea of marketing honey is to 

 ship it to Sydney to an agent, part of 

 whose business is to ship it to Good- 

 fellow's own local storekeeper, to sup- 

 ply Goodfellow's own immediate neigh- 

 bors, and to ship it to towns aiid vil- 

 lages, up the line, beyond Goodfellow's 

 own railway station. 



Now, dear editor, just say, " Look 

 here Goodfellow, there are 5,0o0,000 

 people in Australia, and they have a 

 gob apiece, and they are, every one, 

 ready to stick good honey in it at a 

 bigger price than they pay for the 

 blackest of treacle or handsomest of 

 golden syrup. Just you get busy and 

 get the chap that lives alongside of you 

 to eat honey ; see that the folks in your 

 near-by towns, and the people on the 



