February, i 



American Hee Journal 



also through the spring as well. The 

 inexperienced, however, is likely to be 

 caught with some colonies having so lit- 

 tle winter provision that he fears starva- 

 tion. However bad feeding in winter 

 may be, death from starvation is worse. 

 So if danger of starvation is feared, 

 better feed at once. Especially toward 

 spring will these occasions arise. 



After bees get to flying daily one need 

 not be so very careful what or how one 

 feeds; almost anything sweet may be 

 fed if the bees will take it, if it be not 

 absolutely poisonous. But so long as 

 confinement continues, in some places 

 well into April, the better the feed and 

 the less the disturbance the better 

 chance for the bees. 



An outside, empty comb can be taken 

 out, and the adjoining combs moved 

 back until the cluster of bees is reached, 

 and a heavy comb of sealed honey 

 placed next the cluster, and the hive 

 then closed. If this be quietly don«, 

 the disturbance will do little harm. 



Unfortunatel}-, those who have bees 

 likely to starve in winter are not likely 

 to be so provident as to have on hand 

 a stock of sealed combs. Granulated 

 sugar in the form of candy may be 

 used. A cake of hard candy, made 

 simply as when made for children to 

 eat, of any convenient size and J4 to 

 154 inches in thickness, may be laid 

 on the top-bars and covered over. Some 

 prefer Scholz or Good candy, made by 

 kneading powdered sugar with a small 

 amount of extracted honey into a stiff 

 dough. 



While feeding above is generally ad- 

 vised for winter, where bees are cel- 

 lared, and where there is a deep space 

 under the bottom-bars, as is now be- 

 coming more or less common, it may 

 be much better to feed below. One rea- 

 son for this is that there is no disturb- 

 ance from uncovering the bees ; even if 

 the hives are piled up S or 6 high, the 

 feed can be put under the bottom-bars 

 without taking down a hive. Another 

 advantage from feeding below is that 

 there is no danger of the candy becom- 

 ing soft and dripping down upon the 

 bees, as sometimes happens when it is 

 put over the top-bars, although if put 

 in a wooden butter-dish there is little 

 danger. Even if one has combs of 

 sealed honey, it may be much better 

 to shove one under the frames — cer- 

 tainly it is much easier — than to open 

 the hive to put the comb in, especially 

 if the hive to be opened has 3 or 4 

 others piled on top of it. If necessary, 

 something must be under the comb to 

 raise it up so it touches the bottom- 

 bars. The same may be said of candy, 

 whether given in or out of a dish. An 

 especial advantage, when using a dish, 

 is that the feed is toward the bees in 

 feeding below, whereas when feeding 

 above, the bees have the bottom of the 

 dish next to them. 



However the feeding be done, one 

 must see to it that the bees get to the 

 feed, and with a weak colony the bees 

 may go up to it more readily than 

 down. Generally, however, it is bet- 

 ter to have only strong colonies to win- 

 ter. 



0)i5cellaneou 

 fleous - Items 



Reports on Bees and Honey Crop 



As these are still coming in, we 

 thought it best to wait until the March 

 number before publishing them. Also, 

 there is so much other important mat- 

 ter on hand just at this time that we 

 think it may be as well to wait until 

 next month before giving place to the 

 reports on bees and honey that were 

 called for in the December number. 



Queer Place for a Queen-Cell 



Bees generally prefer to build queen- 

 cells on the lower edges of combs or on 

 some part where there is a hole in the 

 comb or some break in its regular sur- 

 face. Occasionally they build a cell upon 



an end-bar or some part of the frame 

 entirely detached from the comb. The 

 illustration shows a queen-cell on the 

 under surface of a bottom-bar, all the 

 more detached from the combs because 

 the bottom-bars were 1% inches wide. 



The picture herewith was sent to us 

 by Dr. Miller. It shows how bees some- 

 times build queen-cells in his "locality." 



Detroit Secures the National Conven- 

 tion 



Secretary Hutchinson, of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, sends this no- 

 tice: 



Editor York : — By a unanimous vote, 

 the Executive Committee of the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association, has de- 

 cided to hold the next annual conven- 

 tion in the city of Detroit, Michigan. 

 The e.xact date has not been decided, 

 but it will be after the hot, dusty, busy 

 season has passed, and before the cold 

 of winter has come — in those glorious 

 days that come only in the autumn. 



The National Association has met in 

 Detroit only once, nearly a quarter of 

 a century ago, but that meeting was 

 well attended — practical, enthusiastic 

 and harmonious. 



The majority of bee-keeping special- 



ists, those who attend conventions, live 

 in the northeastern part of the United 

 States and Canada, and Detroit is very 

 nearly the geographical center of that 

 district. It is easily reached from the 

 middle South, from the East, from the 

 middle West, and from Ontario, hence 

 a great crowd of practical men can be 

 gathered at that point. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



New Bee-Bulletin 



Through the kindness of Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, we have received from the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washing- 

 ton, D. C, a new Bulletin, No. 75, re- 

 lating to bee-culture. It is in two parts- 

 Part I. is devoted to "Production and 

 Care of Extracted Honey," by Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, and "Methods of Testing for 

 Bee-Keepers," by Dr. C. A. Brown. Part 

 II. is devoted to "Wax-Moths and 

 American Foul Brood," by Dr. Phillips. 

 This Bulletin may be obtained from the 

 Superintendent of Documents, Govern- 

 ment Printing Office, Washington, D. 

 C, at the price of 5 cents for each part. 

 All remittances should be made pay- 

 able to him. Stamps, personal checks, 

 or foreign money will not be accept- 

 ed in any case. 



Decision as to Guarantee of Honey 



There has been some question, since 

 the coming in of pure-food laws, as to 

 who is the responsible party in cases 

 where honey passes through several dif- 

 ferent hands. Attorney-General Bona- 

 parte has issued a decision, in response 

 to a request from the U. S. Secretary 

 of Agriculture, that may b^ considered 

 conclusive. He takes a particular case 

 as a type of the class, and says: 



"An examination having been made 

 in the Bureau of Chemistry, in accord- 

 ance with section 4 of the act, of a 

 sample of food purchased from a retail 

 dealer in the District of Columbia, and 

 the food having been found to be adul- 

 terated, the dealer was cited for a hear- 

 ing, and, having appeared, established 

 as a defense under which he claimed 

 protection a written guaranty, conform- 

 ing to the requirements of section 9 

 of the act, from a Maryland wholesaler 

 who had sold him the food and shipped 

 it to him in the District of Columbia in 

 the exact condition in which he sold it 

 here. 



"The Maryland w'holesaler, having 

 been then cited, in turn appeared, and 

 established a similar guaranty, under 

 which he also claimed protection, from 

 a Pennsylvania manufacturer who had 

 sold him the food and had shipped it to 

 him in Maryland in the exact condition 

 in which he had, in turn, guaranteed it 



