March, 1908. 



American liee Journal 



every bee-keeper in Michigan ought to 

 join at once, as $1.00 will pay his dues 

 for a year in both the Michigan and 

 National Associations, Send your $1.00 

 to Elmore M. Hunt, Red ford, Mich. 



We are hoping there may be such a 

 bountiful honey crop during the coming 

 season that every bee-keeper who has the 

 least inclination to attend the conven- 

 tion in Detroit will be able to do so. 

 We would like to see it the largest and 

 best meeting tlie National has ever held. 

 Detroit is an ideal convention city, and 

 the fact that it is located so near the 

 Canadian border where there are so 

 many excellent bee-keepers, would seem 

 to insure the most representative gath- 

 ering of bee-keepers of all America. Per- 

 haps our California bee-koeping friends 

 will be able to get together a special 

 carload to start from Los Angeles. Of 

 course they could pick up lots of big 

 bee-keepers all along the way, so that 

 possibly by the time they arrived in De- 

 troit, they would have increased to a 

 whole train-load. That would be making 

 "increase" — not by division, but by the 

 more natural way of "addition." 



We may possibly be able to get a car- 

 load to start from Chicago, although, of 

 course, the distance is hardly long 

 enough to insure as enjoyable a time as 

 was had when going from Chicago to 

 Los Angeles or to San Antonio. But 

 undoubtedly the Michigan bee-keepers 

 will be able to make up for any shortage 

 in enjoyment, after we all get there. 



Ikst 10 pounds of Extracted Honey — Best New Invention for Bee-Keepers 

 1st, Aspinwall Hive; 2d, Bingham and Honey-Dealers — ist, 500 sections; 



Smoker. 



Best 5 pounds of Beeswax — ist, Wood- 

 man hive ; 2d, Bee-Keepers' Review one 



year. 



2d, "A B C of Bee Culture," 



For further information address the 

 Secretary, E. E. Coveyou, Petoskey, 

 Mich. 



Northern Michigan Convention 



The Northern Micliigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold it's next meeting 

 in Medalie Hall, Mancelona, Mich., 

 April 8 and 9, 1908, beginning the fore- 

 noon- of the 8th. The convention head- 

 quarters will be at the Handy Hotel, 

 with a rate of $1.50 per day. A picnic 

 dinner will be served at the Hotel on the 

 second day of the meeting. The papers 

 on the program are as follows : 



"Producing Extracted Honey" — S. D. 

 Chapman. 



"Out-door Wintering" — Ira D. Bart- 

 lett. 



"Why I Use the 12-Frame Hive" — 

 J. X. Harris. 



"The Certainties and Uncertainties of 

 Honey Production in the Extreme 

 North"— C. F. Smith. 



"Deciding Which to Produce — Comb 

 or Extracted Honey" — W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



"What is the Object of Holding Bee- 

 Keepers' Conventions" — Hon. Geo. E. 

 Hilton. 



"How to Extract Honey with the 

 Least Help" — E. E. Coveyou. 



"Cellar-Wintering of Bees" — O. H. 

 Townsend. 



"Red Raspberry Honey: How Its 

 Name may be Improved or Abused" — 

 Geo. H. Kirkpatrick. 



"Management in the Production of 

 Comb Honey for Profit" — A. H. Guern- 

 sey. J 



"The Non-Swarming Hive" — L. A. 

 Aspinwall. 



Prizes for making exhibits are offered 

 as follows : 



Best Case Comb Honey — ist, Danzen- 

 baker hive, nailed and painted ; 2d, 

 American Bee Journal one year. 



Conducted by EMMA M. WILSON. Marengo. 111. 



A Living Hive-Lifter. 



This from Mr. J. L, .\nderson of 

 Harvard. 111. : 



"Speaking of 'hive-lifters,' we have 

 had one in use for 44 years. Is good 

 yet. Perfectly adjustable to all condi- 

 tions. .Apparently good for a long time 

 yet. It belongs to the 'genus biped.' 

 Think every lady ought to have one. 

 Don't you ?" J. L. .\nderson. 



Well — now, Mr. .'Anderson, perhaps. 

 Do you think they would all prove 

 equally satisfactory? 



Rats and Bees. 



A rat can do a whole lot of mischief 

 in a hive in winter, as well as mischief 

 elsewhere, and any help towards getting 

 rid of these unwelcome" visitors will be 

 welcomed by the sisters. Mrs. L. B. 

 Shank thus reports in Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture: 



"A year ago we moved on to this 

 place, and it was the worst-infested 

 place one can imagine, and has been 

 for the last 24 years that we have been 

 acquainted with it. We were fully de- 

 termined to get rid of the rats. We 

 got four different kinds of traps, and 

 then tried every thing we could hear 

 of; and when }0U said 'rat biscuit' my 

 husband laid in a supply at once ; but 

 they were like all the rest — just seemed 

 to act like a tonic, and still the rats 

 came. At last one of our hired boys 

 told me he had seen a sure cure for rats, 

 in a paper. I told him to tell me quick. 

 a;s we were at the point of collapse. He 

 said, pour syrup, or any thing the rats 

 are fond of, on to a board and sprinkle 

 with dry concentrated lye. As I had 

 found the rats preferred nice, firm ripe 

 tomatoes to any thing else I had on 

 hand, I sliced up several about one- 

 half inch thick, and placed in different 

 parts of the house. In the morning 

 they had eaten all I put out. The sec- 

 ond night they ate half as much. The 

 third night only a few pieces were gone. 

 The fourth night they did not touch 

 the tomatoes nor anything else, and 

 we have not seen nor heard of a rat or 

 mouse in the house since, about six 

 weeks ago. A couple of weeks after- 

 ward Mr. Shank said there were as 

 many as ever in his barn and granary, 

 and he thought I had only driven them 

 out to the corn ; so I fixed the tomatoes 



the same as before, with the same effect. 

 The third night was the last. We think 

 it is truly wonderful to be without the 

 horrible things, so we just concluded 

 to let you tell others. 



"Just sprinkle the dry concentrated 

 lye (I use the Banner, as it is so 

 handy) on the top of the tomatoes. 

 Other articles may do as well." 



Entrance Treatment of Robber-Bees. 



Mr. .Allen Latham says this in the 

 American Bee-Keeper: 



"I suppose that someone, probably 

 many, will say that I am maltreating 

 the truth when they read my next state- 

 ment. But here goes : 



"Last summer I stepped out to my 

 apiary to find one of my colonies fight- 

 ing robbing, and fighting it unsuccess- 

 fully. This colony had had its 13 by I 

 entrance cut down to 4 by H because 

 it was not over-strong. It was a hot 

 day. I studied the situation a mo- 

 ment and decided upon a bold move. 

 I pulled out the entrance-block, leaving 

 thus the full entrance. 'Goodness!' I 

 hear some one exclaim, the mildness 

 of the word signifying that that person 

 is of the sister's department in the 

 'Old Reliable.' But I did it. I watched 

 a moment, and noted that the home- 

 bees seemed relieved. Also noted that 

 the robbers seemed confused. Appar- 

 ently the robbers had lost the trail, for 

 they no longer darted into the hive as 

 they were doing a minute before. I 

 went away and did not return for about 

 half an hour. Upon my return I could 

 not see any robbing in progress. RoD- 

 ber-bees still came about the hive, but 

 every one which essayed to enter was 

 severely and warmly received." 



My goodness, gracious! is the man 

 crazy? Well, after hearing his ex- 

 planation there really seems to be some 

 "method in his madness." He claims 

 that contracting the entrance increases 

 the strength of the odor at that point, 

 the very thing which attracts robber- 

 bees, and when he enlarged the en- 

 trance he lessened the strength of the 

 odor, thus attracting the robber-bees. 

 At any rate, he says it worked all right 

 in this case, and it might in some 

 others. 



Here is a good kink that he gives 

 by which he contracts the entrance with- 

 out increasing the strength of the odor: 



