June, i9o8_ 



American liee Journal 



Last year was a poor one for honey. 

 My bees gathered only 600 pounds from 

 39 colonies, June count, so you see that 

 is poor. I can remember a year like it, 

 which was 1880, when I got 700 pounds 

 from 44 colonies. John Cochems. 



Mishicot, Wis. 



An Apiary in Arizona 



I am sending a photograph of my 

 apiary of 50 colonies. I came to Tuc- 



drogen and oxygen are always present in 

 the proportion to form water. Note that 

 these elements are not present in the 

 form of water, but should circumstances 

 arise they would combine together and 

 form water. Other e.xamples of carbo- 

 hydrates are sugar, starch, glucose, dex- 

 trine, and gum. 



"Now if a carbohydrate — say honey — 

 were burnt, the hydrogen and oxygen 

 would combine to form water, which 

 would pass into the air as steam. The 



crowded and badly-ventilated rooms is- 

 due to the presence of this gas. 



"Fats are also composed of the same- 

 three elements — carbon, hydrogen, and 

 o.xygen. Thej' are rich in carbon, and 

 the hydrogen is present in greater quan- 

 tity than is necessary to form water 

 with all the oxygen. Hence, when a fat 

 is oxidized or burnt, not only the car- 

 bon, but the surplus of hydrogen is 

 available for combination with oxygen 

 from the air. It is this excess of hy- 

 drogen which makes fats in general such> 

 good illuminants and heat-producers. 



"The value of a food depends to a 

 large extent on the amount of energy 

 required to digest it. Before carbohy- 

 drates can become of use to the body 

 they have to be acted upon by the digest- 

 ive juices, which convert them into a 

 peculiar form of sugar, which in its 

 chemical composition cannot be distin- 

 guished from honey. It is well known 

 that the sugar in the nectar of plants 

 has a different composition from that 

 of honey. The process by which the 

 bees convert the cane-sugar of nectar 

 into honey is supposed to take place in 

 the honey-sac, and is therefore a di- 

 gestive process. It is easy, then, to see 

 that honey is a predigested food, and 

 without doubt many of its virtues are 

 due to this fact." 



Comb Honey Apiary ot J. B. Douglas. 



son in February, 1907, and found it to 

 be an ideal place. The climate here is 

 dry and cool. Hundreds of people come 

 here every year for their health. 



I started with 2 colonies of bees, 

 reared my own queens, and increased to 

 21 colonies. This spring I bought a few 

 colonies of bees, and transferred them 

 into good hives, and I now (May 18) 

 have 50 strong colonies, with one to 3 

 supers on all colonies. I had several 

 weak colonies this spring so I will not 

 get more than 100 pounds of honey per 

 colony this year. One swarm I had this 

 spring has stored a super of comb honey. 

 Nearly all the honey gathered so far is 

 water white. 



I use the 4x5 inch section with fence, 

 and handle my bees in up-to-date style 

 as nearly as possible. The mesquite, cat- 

 claw, pala verda, and saguaro all pro- 

 duce abundance of honey. 



This is practically a new location for 

 bees. There are not many bee-keepers 

 here. T am situated about 8 miles from 

 the city of Tucson, Ariz., and have a 

 good market for my honey. There are 

 very few days in a year that the bees 

 can not fly. I expect to build up sev- 

 eral out-yards, and want to keep 700 

 colonies of bees. J. B. Douglas. 



"Mount Nebo" Apiary 



The farm on which I live is outside of 

 town. It is cultivated by my parents 

 and brother. It is titled, "The Mount 

 Nebo," and is a beautiful one. There 



L. J. Bkachy and Swarm of Bees. 



Chemistry of Honey and Fats. 



S. R. P. I'isher, Pharmaceutical Chem- 

 ist, gives in the British Bee Journal, 

 page 65, the following condensed state- 

 ment of facts that should be understood 

 by all hce-kcc]if-rs : 



"Honey belongs to a class of com- 

 pounds called carbohydrates, which are 

 all composed of the three elements, car- 

 bon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and the hy- 



carbon would unite with the oxygen of 

 the air, and form carbon dioxide, which 

 is a gas. The heat given out during 

 the combustion is caused by the oxygen 

 uniting with the carbon and hydrogen. 

 In like manner, when honey is carried 

 by the blood and comes in contact with 

 the oxygen of the air inhaled into the 

 lungs it is converted into water, carbon 

 dioxide, and heat. All digestible carbo- 

 hydrates give the same result. The car- 

 bon dioxide is given off from the lungs 

 in the breath, and the stuffiness of over- 



were 832 acres in the original tract sur- 

 veyed in 1774. 



I teach school from s to 714 months 

 during the fall and winter, and in the 

 summer I follow photographing and bee- 

 keeping, which are both pleasurable and 

 profitable. 



I sell section honey at 15 cents. I 

 am running bees on a small scale, and 

 expect to handle about 25 colonies next 

 summer. 



The swarm in the picture was my first 

 to cluster. May 20, 1907. I have handled 



