(Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Offlce at Hamtltou. 111., under Act ot March 3, 1879.) 



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



C. p. D.-^D.AN'T, Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



HAMILTON, ILL, AUGUST, 1913 



Vol. LIII.— No. 8 



Editorial 



Comments 



Ordering- Queens from Europe 



A number of our friends have writ- 

 ten asking that Mr. Dadant take or- 

 ders for queens to be sent to them 

 from Europe. He has not gone there 

 to buy bees. He goes only to examine 

 the bees of different countries and re- 

 port in the .-American Bee Journal in as 

 impartial manner as possible. He 

 hopes to make his information useful 

 to all the bee-keepers of America. 



Distance Droue.s Fly 



Lehrer Kiefer says, Pfaelz. Bztg., 

 page 0, that in 1871 some 70 to 80 colo- 

 nies of Italians were at Steinwenden, 

 and no other Italians far and wide, yet 

 June 1.5, at Schwedelbach, 3 miles dis- 

 tant in a straight line, where there was 

 an apiary of pure blacks, not a few Ital- 

 ian drones were seen flying in and out 

 of the hives. It is generally believed, 

 is it not, that queens fly farther than 

 drones ? If that be so, it seems there 

 can be no certainty against impure 

 mating if other bees be within 6 miles. 

 For all that, it may be true, as some 

 claim, that g'enera/fy dronesand queens 

 do not meet at a greater distance than 

 l}i or 2 miles. 



Size of Magazines 



The popular magazines are in gen- 

 eral of two sizes: a large size about 

 16 by 11 inches, and a small size about 

 10 by 6>j. Until very recently the 

 American Magazine was of the smaller 

 size. Its publishers realized that with 

 this form some desirable results could 

 not be obtained, especially in the way 



of illustrations. But to enlarge to Iti 

 by 11 would give the unwieldy size of 

 the Ladies' Home Journal. Woman's 

 Home Companion, etc., a size espe- 

 cially disliked by many readers. 



After much experimenting of a some- 

 what expensive character, the Ameri- 

 can Magazine has settled upon 12^s by 

 8js inches as the ideal size and form 

 for best results, and has received many 

 congratulatory letters from delighted 

 readers upon this change of form. The 

 special point of interest in the matter 

 is that for years, without any parade 

 about it, the American Bee Journal has 

 been appearing in its present well- 

 known form, which is precisely the 

 same in width as the American Maga- 

 zine, and only N of an inch shorter. 

 Whatever other improvements may be 

 striven for, perhaps there is no chance 

 for improvement in the matter of size. 

 When bound it makes a book of the 

 same size as the Century Dictionary. 



Crosses of Bees 



In Pfaelzer Bienenzeitung it is as- 

 serted that the first cross of two dift'er- 

 ent races of bees is more vigorous than 

 either of the parent colonies, but that 

 with the second generation degenera- 

 tion begins. The first part of that as- 

 sertion has been the generally received 

 opinion in this country for many years. 

 J. E. Crane does not keep pure Italians, 

 but constantly introduces pure Italian 

 blood, from which he rears young 

 queens to meet his dark drones. Thus 

 he has a first cross for a working force, 

 one of the parents being of pure stock. 



That there is degeneration after the 

 first generation is likely true where 

 bees are left to their own devices, but 

 there are not wanting those who claim 

 to keep up the vigor of the first gen- 

 eration, and even to improve upon it 

 by careful and continued selection in 

 breeding. 



Motli and their Development in 

 Combs 



.An interesting discussion has taken 

 place in "L'Apiculture Nouvelle " con- 

 cerning the presence of moths in 

 combs. Mr. Audrain holds that if the 

 frames contain combs of pure wax only, 

 without pollen, there is no danger of 

 moths. He reported having repeatedly 

 kept combs all summer where the 

 moths could have access to them, with- 

 out danger, whenever these combs 

 were free of pollen. Foloppe Brothers, 

 who are very accurate observers, take 

 exception to this statement, and hold 

 that although the moths need nitro- 

 genous food in order to develop, they 

 may find such food in other matters 

 than pollen, as in the dejections of the 

 bees, or in the wood of the hive. 



It is true that moths need nitrogen- 

 ous food to perfect their development. 

 They can live but a short time on wax. 

 As Mr. Audrain states, they cannot live 

 on cakes of pure beeswax. But if two 

 cakes of wax are laid flat on one an- 

 other and they contain some residue, 

 whether this be propolis, dead bees, 

 cocoons or pollen, the moths may har- 

 bor and thri\e in them, and will bore 

 their way quite deeply into the wax. 

 We have seen thin cakes of wax 

 shipped to us from the warm southern 

 countries pierced through with the 

 galleries of the moth. 



Our comb-honey rearing bee-keepers 

 who know the bad eff'ects of a single 

 moth larva upon filled combs are con- 

 vinced of the necessity to protect these 



