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American Vee Journal 



Iowa State Beekeepers' Association, 

 Des Moines, Iowa, Dec. 10, 11, and 12. 



Indiana State Association, Indiana- 

 polis. Ind., Dec. 3. 



California State Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation, Los Angeles, Calif., Dec. 9, 10, 

 and 11. 



Southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon 

 Beekeepers' Association, Ontario, Oreg., 

 Dec. 9. 



Missouri State Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion, Excelsior Springs, Mo., Dec. 16 

 and 17. 



Chicago - Northwestern Beekeepers' 

 Association, Chicago, Dec. 17 and 18. 



Northern California Association, 

 Sacramento, Calif., Dec. 26 and 27. 



Washington State Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation, North Yakima, Wash., Ian. 7 

 and 8. 1914. 



Ohio State Beekeepers' Association, 

 Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 14 and 1.5, 1914. 



Wisconsin State Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation, Madison, Wis., Feb. 3 and 4. 



Short Course in Beekeeping The On- 

 tario Agricultural College offers a two- 

 weeks' course in bee-keeping, begin- 

 ning Jan. 13 and ending Jan. 24. The 

 following subjects will be studied: 

 " Care and management," " Swarming," 

 " Queen-rearing," " Diseases and treat- 

 ment," Quality of honey," "Marketing," 

 etc. The course will be under the 

 direct supervision of Morley Pettit. 



Decoy Hive. — The following ques- 

 tions on decoy hives were asked of Dr. 

 Bonney, and he has been kind enough 

 to answer them through the columns 

 of the Bee Journal : 



1. Will strips of foundation do as 

 well as " old comb for the decoy hive ?" 



2. Is the decoy hive worth while in a 

 locality where wild bees are not espe- 

 cially plentiful .' 



3. Would a huckleberry pasture, with 

 high bushes and a good growth of all 

 kinds of trees, form too thick a growth 

 to place a decoy hive ? 



4. Would it be worth while where 

 there is a very good supply of ex'ei;ifree)i 

 trees / 



b. Is there any good way to place the 

 decoy hives so that bees will find them 

 and people not see them ? 



The reason I ask some of these 

 questions is because I know a man out 

 in the country who keeps bees in old 

 box-hives. Swarms get away each 

 year. He gets little if any honey, and 

 doesn't care as long as he is at no ex- 

 pense. There have been those in times 

 past who put up boxes to catch bees 

 not far from his farm. He took pains 

 to find them and blow them to pieces 

 with a gun. 



I am a law-abiding citizen, and do 

 not mean to steal from any man, but if 

 I could get some of his "escaping 

 swarms" they would be a great deal of 

 help to me, instead of eventually being 

 the prey of the bee hunter who destroys 

 all. There is a great deal of bee hunt- 

 ing done here in Rhode Island, the 

 most successful ones locating from 10 

 to 12 in a season. 



The bee-inspector tells me that there 



Home Apiary of 1 K. Pyles. of Putnam. III.— Mr Pyles Hai i.s is .All "Crippled" 

 Hives from His Oit-apiaries so that He May Repair Them at Home. 



shade. You will catch bees in propor- 

 tion to the number of hives you have 

 out. 



are about 400 individuals in this State 

 that have one colony or more. But 

 strange to say, the great majority are 

 still in the " old-fashioned box-hives, 

 and bee-keeping is looked upon as a 

 joke. I do not think there are more 

 than 24 successful beekeepers in the 

 whole State. Gardner B. Willi?. 

 Providence, R. I. 



1. Strips of foundation would be of 

 no use in a decoy hive. It is the smell 

 of the old comb that would attract the 

 bees, if anything. Personally 1 do not 

 care for the comb, as my observation 

 has been that the bees go as well into 

 an empty box. However, they do go 

 to a house which is full of comb and 

 honey, and a large amount of comb 

 may be an attraction. 



2. Yes, a decoy hive is valuable where 

 wild bees are not especially plentiful, 

 for bees come a long distance to a box. 

 You may know that it is pretty well 

 established that bees send out scouts 

 to find a new homt- when ready to 

 swarm, and sometimes bees will go 

 many miles, stopping. I suppose, on the 

 way to take a rest. I think the small 

 trunk of a tree, hollow, would make an 

 ideal decoy hive, and would be apt to 

 catch a swarm where bees are seldom 

 seen. 



3. No; the bees will find a home in 

 any kind of a growth of timber. 



4. I see no reason why bees should 

 not seek a cavity in an evergreen tree, 

 and so find a decoy hive. 



5. I would make decoy hives of round 

 boxes covered with bark, so that your 

 farmer would have trouble to find them, 

 I think. Hovi-ever, it is not necessary 

 to go near his place to catch his bees, 

 even if he were able to identify them, 

 for they are apt to go 20 miles before 

 they stop the second time. Unless 

 he follows them and recovers them he 

 loses all title to them. They belong to 

 any one who hives them. Just put up 

 your decoy hives where you know they 

 will not be disturbed, as on the farm of 

 a friendly farmer, your own yard, or, 

 if in town, on top of your house, in a 



Minnesota Meeting. — Following is a 

 program of the Minnesota Beekeepers' 

 meeting w^hich is to be held in Minne- 

 apolis Dec. 3 and 4: 



WEDNESDAY FORENOON. 



g:oo — Hour for getting acquainted and 

 " seeing the Treasurer." 



io:oo— President's address. 



low— " How My Bees Produced lo Tons of 

 Honey this Season ' — E. L. Hofmann. of 

 Janesville. 



11:30— "Sweet Clover as a Honey Pro- 

 ducer"— R. F. Hall, of New Auburn. 



WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. 



i:?n— 'Carniolans i.c Italians "—Rev. Fran- 

 cis Jager. St. Bonifacius. 



2:w-"The Honey - Producing Plants'— 

 Prof. Edwin J. Freeman, of the Stale Farm 

 School. 



3 30— Question Box. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 



8 00— Popular Proeram— Rev. Francis Jager 

 in charge. 



THURSDAY FORENOON. 



000— Wintering Bees"— Dr. L. D. Leonard, 

 of MinneaDolis. 



10:00— " Whv We Use Smoke on Bees' — 

 Hamlin 'V. Pobre. of Bird Island. 



11:00— 'Suggestion in Regard to Organizing 

 a Honey Exchange"— L. F. Sampson, of Ex- 

 celsior. 



THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 



i:3o-Report on State Fair— Scott LaMont. 

 of Park Rapids. Superintendent of Apiary 

 Department. 



2:00— Report of the Inspector of Apiaries 

 — J. A. Holmberg. of St. Paul. 



2:30— Business Session— Election of Om- 

 cers. 



England Short of Honey — "Honey 

 Shortage in England" is the title of a 

 report by Vice Consul Loop in Lon- 

 don, writing for the Daily Consular 

 Reports. The reason for the shortage 

 is attributed to the prevalence of Isle 

 of Wight disease throughout the coun- 

 try, which has in many instances wiped 

 out whole apiaries. Most of the honey 

 imported by England comes from the 

 British West Indies with the United 



