November, 1913. 



American Hee Journal j 



369 



Wilmon Newell, State Entomologist, 

 conducted experiments on " Artificial 

 Division and Swarm Control." The 

 experiments cover the year 1911. 



Several colonies were artificially 

 divided, the queen and five frames of 

 brood and bees being put on a new 

 stand, the parent colony being left on 

 the old stand with queen-cells. The 

 crop harvested by both the parent and 

 divide, as well as by colonies which 

 had been left undivided, was carefully 

 weighed. The average amount pro- 

 cured from parent and increase was 

 114 pounds of extracted honey, while 

 that produced from those not divided 

 averaged 127 pounds, showing a gain 

 in favor of those not divided. There 

 was, however, the value of an extra 

 swarm to be counted in, which would 

 make the results, if anything, in favor 

 of the divided colony. 



Mr. Newell also experimented with 

 swarm control. Part of the colonies 

 were controlled by giving increased 

 room, while the balance were con- 

 trolled by "shook swarming." The 

 former retarded swarming, the latter 

 prevented it almost entirely. 



Mr. Paddock has an excellent paper 

 on the " Life History of Bee Moth and 

 Wax Worm." He finds that sulphur 

 fumes kill the grown moth but not the 

 eggs, and very few larvae succumb. 

 Carbon-bisulphide, on the other hand, 

 kills everything but the egg, so that 

 where combs are exposed a whole sea- 

 son to the moth, they should be treated 

 more than once with the carbon- 

 bisulphide fumes. 



" Statistical Study of Beekeeping in 

 Texas," is the subject Mr. Dean takes 

 up. Twenty-eight hundred beekeepers 

 keep in touch with the department. 

 They own a total of 90,000 colonies of 

 bees valued at $434,000. The total pro- 

 duction of honey of these beekeepers 

 in 1911 was 2,400,000 pounds. Of this 

 over one and one-half million was bulk 

 honey, and nearly all the balance ex- 

 tracted. The value of wax for 1911 

 was $8000. Seven hundred and five 

 beekeepers in Texas claim beekeeping 

 as their profession. 



The greater bulk of Texas honey is 

 consumed within the State. 



A copy of this bulletin may be ob- 

 tained by Texas beekeepers by apply- 

 ing to the department at College Sta- 

 tion, Tex. 



^ 



Go West Young Man, Go West Most 



of our readers will recall the short edi- 

 torial in the October number in which 

 the editor described some of the large 

 potato vines he had seen while in Eu- 

 rope. Not to be outdone, Mr. George 

 W. York, former editor of the Ameri- 



Mr. S. McCrea and His Northern Idaho Potatoes. 



can Bee Journal, wrote as follows 

 about potatoes which grow in the West 

 and grow and grow and grow : 



SOME TALL I'OTATO VINES. 



On page 329, I notice that our good 

 Editor found some long potato vines 

 away over in Europe. I am enclosing 

 a picture of a resident of Sandpoint, 

 Idaho, who had some long potato vines 

 this year, and without irrigation, too. 

 He got a few potatoes, also. On his 

 patch back of the house, 16 by 26 feet 

 in area, he secured 350 pounds of pota- 

 toes, or at the rate of 600 bushels to 

 the acre. And some of the vines were 

 over 6>^ feet long. Mr. S. McCrea, the 

 grower of these potatoes, is 5 feet and 

 9 inches in height, so the vines were 

 easily the length I mention. The po- 

 tatoes he calls the " Early Sunrise." 

 This is a part of Idaho that does not 

 need irrigation. George W. York. 



News Item from Minnesota. — The 



Minnesota Legislature, at its last ses- 

 sion, appropriated a certain sum of 

 money for the purpose of "establish- 

 ing a department of apiculture" in our 

 university. In fulfillment of the re- 

 quirements of this act, A. F. Wood, 

 Dean of the Agricultural Department, 

 has recently appointed Francis Jager 

 to the chair of apiculture. As nothing 

 practical has ever been done with bees 

 at our Agricultural College, the api- 

 arist will have to "build from the 

 ground up." and for the first year or 

 two this will involve a vast amount of 

 labor and effort. However, Prof. Jager 

 is a thoroughly practical beekeeper as 

 well as an all-around scientist and 

 lover of nature. 

 Minnesota offers a wonderful field 



for beekeeping on an extensive scale. 

 We have never had an entire crop fail- 

 ure in tlie State. Basswood abounds 

 in three-fourths of its area, and with 

 the increase in dairying, white clover 

 is traveling north at a rapid rate. 



Now that we have a definite center 

 for the beekeeping industry in our uni- 

 versitv, where practical and scientific 

 methods will be taught to any one 

 wishing to take up beekeeping, the de- 

 partment invites the co-operation of 

 all beekeepers in building up this great 

 industry in our State. Beekeepers 

 should make it a point to visit the 

 apiarist at the State farm whenever 

 they are in the " Twin Cities," and the 

 office will always be open to corres- 

 pondence. 



Minnesota is going to be heard from 

 in the next few years as a honey-pro- 

 ducing State, and information in re- 

 gard to it can be had by writing to 

 Prof. Francis Jager, St. Anthony Park, 

 Minn. L. D. Leonard, M. D. 



Minneapolis, Minn. 



Eastern Illinois Convention. — The 



next meeting of the Eastern Illinois 

 Beekeepers' Association will be held 

 at St. Anne, III, on Dec. 8 and 9. The 

 recent good crop of honey has resulted 

 in a desire on the part of many bee- 

 keepers to attend the convention. 

 Bring along your questions and have 

 them answered. Mr. Sorenson, Mr. 

 Sherrill, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Timmon, 

 besides the State Bee Inspector, will 

 be with us. We are making efforts to 

 get the editor of the American Bee 

 Journal to attend also. 



H. S. DUBV, Sec. 

 T. G. Willis, Pres. 



