(Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Office at Hamilton, 111., under Act of March 3, 18Ta.) 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by American Bee Journal, First National Bank Building 



C. p. DADANT. Editor. 



DK. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



HAMILTON, ILL, APRIL, 1913 



Vol. LIIL-No. 4 



Editorial 



Comments 



Parcel Post ou Queeu-Cage.s 



Queen-bees are now to be mailed 

 according to tbe new rates for all 

 fourth class matter. This allows a 

 package of cages weighing up to 11 

 pounds to be sent at the new Zone 

 rates. 



Do not forget that the stamps made 

 especially by the Government for par- 

 cel-post packages, must be used on 

 queen-cages. 



Cages should probably be made 

 stronger than heretofore, or at least 

 care should be taken by the shipper to 

 see that all cages are in good condition 

 when mailed. They should be tied 

 securely together when more than one 

 is sent to the same address. The labels 

 and wire-screens should be well fast- 

 ened. 



We have often noticed a package of 

 a half dozen or more cages arrive 

 untied. In some cases one or more 

 from such a package would arrive on 

 the following day or be lost entirely. 

 The increase in weight of mails should 

 be taken account of, and cages securely 

 packed before mailing. This caution 

 applies to other merchandise going by 

 mail. Live bees may be mailed only as 

 samples, and must not have a salable 

 value, according to the Postal Laws 

 and Regulations. This does not affect 

 queen-bees with attendants, but pre- 

 vents the wholesale shipping of bees 

 by the pound or more. As long as 

 mail matter is carried in sacks, bees in 

 bulk would not transport successfully. 

 We learn there are some packages now 

 carried outside the sacks, and whv not 



bees by the pound when properly 

 packed, just as they do by express 

 The use of hampers for packages, in 

 combination with the sacks for ordi- 

 nary mail matter would solve theprob- 

 lem. 



The special parcel post stamps are a 

 ma'sainc as far as the public is con- 

 cerned. Postage stamps should be 

 legal tender on all postal matters. 



Let us make our wants known before 

 the next step is taken by Congress and 

 the Postal Department to correct and 

 improve the parcel post regulations 

 for the benefit of the people at large. 



Stimulative Feediiif? 



The idea that by feeding a certain 

 amount every day, or every other day, 

 the activity of a colony may be greatly 

 increased is a very attractive one to a 

 beginner. Yet it seems necessary to 

 repeat again and again that stimulative 

 feeding is a two-edged sword by which 

 more harm than good may be done, 

 and that there are experienced bee- 

 keepers who never find it advisable to 

 practice it. Exception may be .nade of 

 localities where there comes a dearth 

 of such duration that the queen stops 

 or greatly decreases laying. The time 

 between fruit bloom and white clover 

 is the one over a large region of terri- 

 tory in which there is a dearth of pas- 

 turage. But it seldom happens that 

 the dearth continues long enough to 

 affect materially the laying of the 

 queen, for in the spring of the year it 

 seems natural for the queen to go right 

 on laying for some time after a flow 



ceases. If the beginner wants to try 

 stimulative feeding, let him try it on 

 only a part of his colonies, leaving the 

 others severely alone after seeing that 

 they are abundantly supplied with 

 stores. Then he may be able to tell by 

 comparison vvheth(.r stimulative feed- 

 ing is a good thing in his case. 



c. c. M. 

 The beginner will probably ask why 

 stimulative feeding is called a two- 

 edged sword. Because there are reefs 

 in the method that require a good judge 

 to avoid them. 



1. You may feed a colony which is 

 too weak to take care of what you give 

 it, be it ever so little, and which may 

 allow the robber-bees of the vicinity to 

 take it away. No colony which is 

 weak and cannot cover more brood 

 than it possesses, should be fed unless 

 previously strengthened in some way. 



2. In stimulative feeding, there is 

 danger of over-feeding, feeding enough 

 to crowd the colony for room, so that 

 the queen will have to reduce her lay- 

 ing. This is exactly the reverse of 

 what we want. Then if the feeding is 

 done at a time when the new crop is 

 soon to begin, some of this feed might 

 be carried up into the super at the first 

 yield of the harvest. 



3. If you feed in early spring, when 

 the weather is too cold for the bees to 

 fly, you will lose more bees than you 

 will gain, for the feed will induce them 

 to go abroad, for a few hours at least 

 after each feed. 



If your colony has plenty of honey, 

 some of ivhicli is unsealed^ so that the 

 bees need not hesitate to supply the 

 larvae, feeding is a detriment. But if 

 the supply, though ample, is all 

 sealed honey, and not in sufficient 

 quantity to crowd the bees for more 

 room to breed, you will cause an in- 

 crease of activity by either uncapping 



