April, 1913. 



115 



American IBae Journal 



using as his last words a parody of the 

 short and solemn address of the glad- 

 iators to the Emperor in the old Ro- 

 man arena: "Moriturus vos salutat " 

 (He who is about to die salutes you). 

 His successor in the editorial chair, 

 Vincenzo Asprea, selected by the Asso- 

 ciation, is also an able writer, and we 

 predict that L'Apicoltore will continue 

 with him the progressive work that it 

 has carried on for 4.5 years. The Jan- 

 uary number still contains some of the 

 work of Rauschenfels, and our readers 

 may have an idea of the diversity of 

 his researches, when we inform them 

 that, in that number alone, he quotes 

 foreign bee-journals in 17 different in- 

 stances, 3 of them being from the 

 American Bee Journal, and 2 from 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture. 



struction is sufficient to keep the bees 

 from annoying the neighbors, for the 

 bees rise above the fence as they take 

 flight. So slight an obstruction would 

 appear inadequate, but when we think 

 it over, we perceive that the bees like a 

 free, open space, and when once ac- 

 customed to following a course, they 

 never hesitate. Many a neighborhood 

 feud might be prevented by the timely 

 use of some such protection. 



The Bees vs. the Neighbors 



Mr. Thos. Buckley, an old, experi- 

 enced apiarist of Peoria, 111., has a 

 novel metiiod to protect his neighbors 

 against his bees, which are located in a 

 back yard in close proximity to an- 

 other back yard. He has erected a 

 fence of wire-netting of about an inch 

 mesh and 8 feet high. He says the ob- 



Trifoliuin luoaruatuiii 



The above named clover, crimson 

 clover, is highly recommended by Prof. 

 Surface, who spoke quite at length at 

 the National meeting concerning the 

 high quality of this peculiar and still 

 rare clover. When we say "rare "we 

 mean in the United States, for it is 

 quite common in Europe. Bonnier, in 

 his " Nouvelle Flore," mentions it as 

 "excellent early hay " and "much vis- 

 ited by the bees." In his " Cours D'Api- 

 culture"he gives it third rank, men- 

 tioning only the esparcetand the white 

 clover before it as honey yielders. In 

 view of its enriching qualities for the 

 soil, this clover should be accorded a 

 trial wherever possible. 



Miscellaneous <^ News Items 



Water for the Bees I was visiting 



in the country. The neighbor's wife 

 was much incensed. She was a good 

 old mother, plump and kind hearted, 

 but on that day she was gesticulating 

 all alone by the cistern pump, and was 

 addressing an invisible enemy: 



"Isn't that going to stop? What do you 

 think of it ? C^an't get near the pump ' Those 

 miserable bees are there all the time, if 

 you happen to leave a little water in a pail, 

 at the end of an hour there are hundreds 

 of them drowned in it." 



She threw out a big bunch of bees. \vet 

 and almost inert. I came near and smiled. 

 This irritated her still more: 



"They'll sting the children: they climb 

 up one's legs; we might swallow one of 

 them and that would kill us. I am going to 

 complain to the police." 



She was hardly to blame. I watched and 

 saw the direction the bees took. They 

 made a continuous line between the pump 

 and an apiary of a few hives belonging to a 

 man not far off. I went to him and explained 

 to him tliat his bees, during brood-rearing, 

 needed water to make the pap. He was 

 much astonished and somewhat displeased 

 that a stranger should attempt to teach him 

 something. His bees were thriving, and had 

 never needed any water. His parents had 

 kept bees before him. and he ought to know. 

 However, he consented to place water in a 

 dish with a a few shavings in it. In a short 

 time the trouble was ended.— CrcSpieux- 

 Jamin. in L' Ahcille de t Aube. 



A jug filled with water, inverted over 

 a \voolen cloth in a dish will supply 

 quite a number of colonies with a suffi- 

 cient amount of water. Capillarity will 



draw the water out of the jug into the 

 cloth in the same manner as the wick 

 draws the oil from a lamp. It is well 

 to have the jug slightly raised, so the 

 air may get in when a vacuum is cre- 

 ated. Some apiarists use a long trough 

 with boards floating in it. 



St. Lawrence-Jefferson County Fleet- 

 ing of New York About .jO apiarists 



attended the sessions of this live bee- 

 keepers' association held Feb. 20 and 

 21 at Ogdensburg. This is a fine at- 

 tendance for a county organization ; 

 so large a number is seldom found at 

 State meetings. Bee-keepers will find 

 these local meetings very valuable, for 

 little time is spent to reach them, and 

 their business sessions are short, giv- 

 ing the members plenty of time for 

 their program and informal talks and 

 discussions. 



The prodtiction of extracted honey, 

 and how he winters his bees in Can- 

 ada, was interestingly treated by R. F. 

 Holtermann, of Brantford, Ont. Pro- 

 ducers of e.xtracted honey are fortu- 

 nate in hearing this subject treated by 

 so successful a bee-keeper. Chas. 

 Stewart, a New York State Inspector, 

 urged the keeping of Italian bees in 

 preference to any other kind to ward 

 ofif European foul brood. His experi- 

 ence proves pure Italians seldom con- 



tract the disease, even when an apiary 

 is surrounded by infected yards. 



Many bee-keepers took active part 

 in the discussions, among whom are 

 A. A. French, Chas. S. Phelps, Mr. 

 Hammond, and N. L. Stevens. 



The meeting in 1914 will be held at 

 Watertown, N. V. 



The Census of New Zealand. — Mr. 



Isaac Hopkins has a very interesting 



report in the New Zealand Farmer on 



the "Status of Bee-Keeping in New 



Zealand." In that country, census is 



taken every five years. The figures for 



1911 are as follows : 



Bee- Colonies Output Output 

 keepers of bees, honey, lb. wax. lb. 



luOI. ,. . . U.SOb 74.341 1,001.040 31.682 



igll 11.002 71.584 1,457.272 28.061 



During the preceding 12 months 31,- 

 73(1 colonies were inspected by the 

 government inspectors, of which num- 

 ber 3027 colonies were found to be in- 

 fected with foul brood. Mr. Hopkins, 

 in commenting on these figures, states 

 that while the percentage (10 percent) 

 diseased seems large, yet it is satisfac- 

 tory since the inspectors are only 

 fairly started with their work. The 

 percent of disease should decrease ma- 

 terially with each season's inspection. 



Although there is a law against 

 keeping box-hives, there are a number 

 kept on the sly. They would not prob- 

 ably exceed 2 percent of the total, how- 

 ever. 



^ 



National Grading Rules The follow- 

 ing grading rules were adopted at the 

 National convention in Cincinnati, 

 Ohio, Feb. 13, 1913: 



Sections of comb honey are to be graded: 

 first, as to finish; second, as to color of 

 honev; and third, as to weight. The sec- 

 tions of honey in any given case are to be so- 

 nearly alike in these three respects that 

 any section shall be representative of the 

 contents of the case. 



I.— FINISH. 



1. F.XTRA Fancy.— Sections to be evenly 

 filled, comb firmly attached to the four 

 sides, the sections to be free from propolis 

 or other pronounced stain, combs and cap- 

 pings white, and not more than six unsealed 

 cells on either side. 



2. Fancy— Sections to be evenly filled, 

 comb firmly attached to the four sides, the 

 sections free from propolis or other pro- 

 nounced stain, comb and cappings white, 

 and not more than six unsealed cells on 

 either side, exclusive of the outside row. 



3. No. I.— Sections to be evenly filled, comb 

 firmly attached to the four sides, the sec- 

 tions free from propolis or other pronounced 

 stain, comb and cappings white to slightly 

 off color, and not more than 40 unsealed 

 cells, exclusive of the outside row. 



4. Standard —Comb not proje 



yond the box. attached to the sid.js, not less 

 than two-thirds of the way around, and not 

 more than 60 unsealed cells exclusive of the 

 row adjacent to the box. 



II.-COLOR. 

 On the basis of color of the honey, comb 

 honey is to be classified as: first, white; 

 second, light amber; third, amber; and 

 fourth, dark. 



III.-'WEIGHT. 



1. Heavy —No section designated as heavy 

 to weigh less than fourteen ounces. 



2. Medium. — No section designated as me- 

 dium to weigh less than twelve ounces. 



3. Light.— No section designated as light 

 to weigh less than ten ounces. 



In describing honey, three words or sym- 



