April, 1&13 



American l^ee Journal 



bols are to be used, the first being descrip- 

 tive of tlie finisli. the second of color, and 

 the third of weight. As for example; Fancy 

 white, heavy K. W. H. ; No. i amber, me- 

 dium I A. M.!. etc. In this way any of the 

 possible combinations of finish, color and 

 weight can be briefly described. 

 CULL HONEY, 

 Cull honey shall consffet of the following: 

 Honey packed in soiled secondhand cases, 

 or that in badly stained or propolized sec- 

 tions containing pollen honey, dew honey, 

 honey showing signs of granulation, poorly 

 ripened, sour or "weeping" honey; sec- 

 tions with comb projecting beyond the box, 

 or well attached to the box less than two- 

 thirds the distance around its inner sur- 

 face; sections with more than 60 unsealed 

 cells, excluslveof the row adjacent to the 

 box, leaking, injured, or patched-up sec- 

 tions; sections wtighing less than ten 

 ounces, 



Mrs. Harriet France, a highly respect- 

 ed resident of Platteville, Wis., died 

 Feb. 13, 1913, age 78 years, at the home 

 of her only son, N, E. France. Her life 

 had been despaired of for some time, 

 and the devoted care and loving atten- 

 tion of her family could hold her no 

 longer. Mrs. France was born July 6, 

 1834, in the State of New York. When 

 Iti years old she joined the Methodist 

 church, of which she has been a de- 

 voted member. 



At the age of 22 she came alone by 

 lake boats and overland stages to 

 Platteville, Wis. July 23, 1856, she was 

 married to Edwin France, formerly of 

 New York. From here they went by 

 stage to their pioneer western home in 

 Iowa, Mr. France farming during the 

 summer and trapping valuable furs 



years Mr. and Mrs. France have re- 

 sided in Platteville. E. France, aged 

 84, died five years ago. There is left to 

 mourn their loss, N. E. France and 

 wife; also five grandchildren. 



This ever kind mother has run the 

 journey of life well, the path marked 

 with deeds of kindness and cheer. 



Progress in Ontario, — That the de- 

 partment of bee-keeping at the Ontario 

 Experiment Station is not going to let 

 that of the States excel in progress is 

 evident from what they propose to do 

 this season. 



Mr. Morley Pettit, the director, is 

 asking for volunteers in the ranks of 

 the Ontario bee-keepers to aid him in 

 a series of experiments under the su- 

 pervision of the department as follows : 



1. Method for the prevention of nat- 

 ural swarming in extracted honey pro- 

 duction by holding the colony together. 



2. Method for the prevention of nat- 

 ural swarming in comb honey produc- 

 tion, by artificial shaken-swarming. 



3. Method for the prevention of nat- 

 ural swarming by manipulation of 

 hives rather than combs. 



4. Method of spring feeding to stim- 

 ulate brood-rearing. 



3. Method of packing bees when 

 taking them from the cellar. 



Of these, the first three were tried 



The Late Mr. E. France and Wife. 



during winter. He became expert with 

 the rifle. Tlie Iowa ranks of sharp- 

 shooters for the Civil War being filled, 

 Mr. France, with his wife and little 

 boy, returned to Wisconsin in hopes 

 of here enlisting. It took over two 

 weeks to make the journey with their 

 ox team. His health at once failed. 

 Unable to join the ranks, or return to 

 their western home, he engaged in sell- 

 ing sewing machines, and producing 

 choice fruits and honey. Over 48 



last season bv a number of bee-keep- 

 ers with the result that in the first the 

 swarming was decreased from 48 per- 

 cent to 21 percent; in the second the 

 swarming was reduced from 100 per- 

 cent to 57 percent; in the third the 

 swarming was but 14>^ percent as 

 against 39 percent when the bees were 

 left to swarm naturally. A resultant 

 increase in honey with colonies man- 



aged according to plans of the depart- 

 ment was very evident. 



The department figures, from statis- 

 tics gathered last season from the bee- 

 keeper experimenters, that there is an 

 annual profit in bee-keeping of 58 per- 

 cent on capital invested. This, of 

 course, does not take into account the 

 cost of labor involved. 



Pure Italian stock is recommended 

 to everj one, owing to its ability to 

 resist European foul brood. 



Spring Notes. — The following from 

 Morley Pettit, Provincial Apiarist of 

 Ontario, is applicable to warmer lati- 

 tudes also. 



" If the hive is warm they can spread 

 out and cover more brood. This means 

 more young bees will be hatched in 

 the same time. Then when summer 

 comes there will be more workers in 

 the hive to gather honey. Any one 

 who thinks about this for a moment 

 will see why all hives should be kept 

 warmly packed and sheltered from 

 cold winds during what bee-keepers 

 call the spring breeding up time, right 

 up to settled warm weather. 



On the other hand, entrances must 

 not be closed. There is that about 

 bee nature which does not brook con- 

 finement, and except when bees are 

 screened in for moving, they must 

 have 'free ingress and egress' to 

 their hives. On bright, cold days it is 

 well to shade the entrance, however, 

 lest the sunshine tempt some bees to 

 come out and be lost on the snow." 



Illinois Bulletin Issued. — ^Foul Brood 

 Bulletin Xo. 1, of the Illinois State Bee 

 Inspection Department, has just been 

 issued. Copies may be obtained by 

 addressing Mr. A. L. Kildow, State 

 Bee-Inspector, Putnam, 111., or by ad- 

 dressing the American Bee Journal 

 office, Hamilton, 111. 



Death ol Oliver Foster. — Just as we 

 are going to press, we learn of the 

 death of Mr. Oliver Foster, of Colo- 

 rado. Mr. Foster was a large honey- 

 producer and an authority on comb- 

 honey produx:tion. .A sketch of his 

 life will be given in the Mav issue. 



Honey-Bread in Europe — The food 

 value of honey seems to be better un- 

 derstood in the "old countries " than 

 over here, and enormous quantities 

 are used. Cakes and sweet-breads made 

 with sugar soon become dry and 

 crumbly, and to get the good of them 

 they must be eaten when fresh ; but 

 where they are made up with honey, 

 they seem to retain their moist fresh- 

 ness indefinitely. In France, honey- 

 bread a year or 18 months old is pre- 

 ferred to that just made. They say "it 

 has ripened." It is the preservative, or 



