June, 1908. 



American ^ee Journal 



can form a conception of such a condi- 

 tion. Of course, I know the quality of 

 the honey I write of, but as to the food 

 of the gods — well, 'tis rather paganish 

 to write that way, but we all do so (and 

 also speak that way, too) when we get 

 the chance. 



And so the long, dry days came and 

 went, until here it is May-day, the "glad- 

 dest of the year," or at least it should 

 be so. But on the calendar of this por- 

 tion of the world it may be well always 

 to write across that date : "Look out for 

 rain." Otic out of three will surely be wet. 

 Many a gathering that went to the coun- 

 try in summer costumes for a May-day 

 outing came home all drenched and be- 

 draggled, withal the morning was sun- 

 shiny. But this morning was not a 

 bright one ; clouds were gathering in 

 the southwest in the direction of the 

 great fleet of war-ships coming up the 

 coast to the Pacific metropolis. Then a 

 good gale came up; it became cold, and 

 by 4 o'clock in the afternoon began the 

 welcome rain. At this writing it is 

 falling in a steady downpour, so at last 

 the parched earth will get the soaking 

 that it needed — a wetting that the faith- 

 ful were called upon in the churches to 

 pray for. So our honey-bowls are out 

 right side up. 



I trust the rain is general, and that 

 the southern counties where those big 

 apiaries are, will be benefited, too. 



Advertising Honey-Plants. 



The past spring I devoted more than 

 usual of mv time to Rardcninct of a 



more or less high-pressure degree. In 

 years gone by it was one of my recrea- 

 tions, and sometimes it was my business 

 to be mixed up with the fruits, flowers 

 .and plants. But for quite a number of 

 years previnus to the big San Francisco 

 fire the nature of my business was such 

 that I was one of those commuters that 

 just go and come; eat, sleep and then 

 rush along with the everlasting business 

 grind of commercial life, and never have 

 time to enjoy life as it should be en- 

 joyed. But the past winter and spring 

 I had been getting a good deal of satis- 

 faction out of the rural side of what we 

 call existence ; and what a pleasure it is 

 to be able to lead such a life ! I have 

 not tried to be a specialist in this simple 

 life; there is not pleasure enough in it 

 for me — it is little better than the mad 

 rush for the nimble dollar in the city 

 marts. 



Well, I was going to state that in my 

 gardening preparations I sent for a score 

 or so of nursery and seedsmen's cata- 

 logs. In studying them I notice that a 

 couple of them (and they deserve special 

 notice) in listing certain kinds of plants 

 took occasion to mention that they "are 

 good for bees." That's good ; and why 

 not? It is customary to sell seed of 

 fodder plants for cattle and swine ; why 

 not for the bees also? They are part of 

 the equipment of many a farm, and they 

 deserve to have some forage, even if it 

 is in an out-of-the-way corner. Unlike 

 the other money-getters of the place, 

 the bees will seek their feeding places — 

 no watering or feeding, or other trouDle 

 do they demand of you. 



s 



'Beedoitv^ ^^ 

 foiled 1>owiv. 



Liquefying Honey with Hot Air. 



Endorsing the idea of keeping honey 

 in a heated room for several days, J. E. 

 Crane says this in Gleanings: 



"We have put in steam apparatus for 

 this purpose the past season, and find it 

 is easy to keep the temperature of our 

 tank-room from go to no degrees. Hon- 

 ey kept there for a day or two is much 

 more readily liquefied when placed in a 

 water bath at 140." 



queenless two days or more will stay 

 in satisfactory numbers, wherever put, 

 without any imprisonment. If only 2 

 frames are taken, the entrance should 

 be plugged with green leaves or grass, 

 which may be removed in 3 or 4 days, or 

 the bees may be allowed to dig their 

 way out as the leaves dry. No danger 

 of smothering in a full-sized hive.— 

 Stray Straw in Gleanings. 



Starting Nuclei. 



When bees are placed on a new stand 

 to form a nucleus, they will promptly 

 desert their brood, according to what we 

 are sometimes told. I have formed hun- 

 dreds of nuclei, and have had very lit- 

 tle troulilc from desertion. There is an 

 immense ilifference between queenless 

 and queen-i i,i;ht bees. While bees taken 

 directly from a laying queen are anxious 

 to get oack to their home, queenless 

 bees will mo-tly stay where they are 

 put. The strength of the nucleus also 

 makes a difference. A very few bees 

 seem lonesome, and feel like hiking out. 

 Three frames of brood with adhering 

 bees taken from a colony that has been 



Bottom Starters in Sections. 



Dr. Miller, tlie originator of bottom- 

 starters in sections, gave it as his opin- 

 ion that in order to make a success of 

 them it was necessary to have the sec- 

 tion filled with foundation, because if 

 the top-starter was not promptly fast- 

 ened to the bottom-starter the latter 

 would topple over. H. M. Jameson, in 

 Gleanings, knocks the "foundation" from 

 under the doctor's opinion by saying 

 that he has used many thousand sections 

 with a 3-inch space between the 2 start- 

 ers, and has no trouble. He says : 



"In a cool time the bees invariably 

 begin at the bottom, and in the T-super 

 they start earlier than in one with slats. 

 I think they will fill the T-super earlier 



than the others. The T-super is warmer. 

 In building up from the bottom the bees 

 start with an extremely broad case, and 

 usually are the full width of the section, 

 or i]/2 inches thick when not half way 

 up. 'They make some drone-comb with 

 a perfect union wherever the two parts 

 meet. This building from below, in all 

 cases that I have seen, is caused by lack 

 of heat in the upper part of the super, 

 while the sections or frames are warm 

 close to the cluster. Give me 2 starters 

 and T-supers. I could give some fine 

 samples of up-building." 



Editor Root comments as follows on 

 the above : 



"We would inquire whether this build- 

 ing of the bottom-starter first is not 

 unusual. Is it true that the T-super is 

 warmer than the other styles? We can 

 see no reason why it should be. It does, 

 however, permit the sections to stand 

 closer to the brood-nest, and this may 

 account for the bees favoring the bot- 

 tom-starter." 



Nailed Sections. 



G. M. Doolittle prefers these because 

 less inclined to get out of square and 

 to break down in shipping. — Gleanings. 



New Zealand Bee-Bulletins. 



From that far-off and very up-to-date 

 land. New Zealand, come Bulletin No. 

 5 and Bulletin No. 18 on bee-culture. 

 They are written by that experienced 

 veteran, Isaac Hopkins. 



The first, a revised and enlarged sec- 

 ond edition, contains : I. Practical Ad- 

 vice. II. Apiculture in Relation to Agri- 

 culture. 



The second contains : I. Advice to Be- 

 ginners. II. Bees in Relation to Flow- 

 ers and Fruit Culture. 



Practical details are such as would 

 pass current on this side of the globe. 



It is pleasant to note the kindly man- 

 ner in which American bee-keeping and 

 bee-keepers are recognized. 



Differences in Feeding Bees. 



.As to the matter of feeding sugar 

 for winter stores, no small difference 

 obtains in practice, and a still greater 

 difference in opinion. Some are of the 

 opinion that, if possible to avoid it, one 

 should never feed sugar. Others believe 

 it a good plan to feed sugar every year. 

 All, however, are agreed that in places 

 where unwholesome honey-dew is in the 

 combs for winter stores it is better to 

 rephce such unwholesome stores with 

 sugar. Equally all are agreed that it is 

 better to feed sugar than to let the bees 

 starve. 



With regard to the proper density of 

 sugar syrup, and the proper time to feed 

 for winter, opinions differ. The opin- 

 ion is perhaps gaining ground that it is 

 better to feed early, using equal parts of 

 sugar and water; others favor late feed- 

 ing with 2 to 2>2 parts sugar to i of 

 water. An interesting discussion of this 

 part of the subject is given by O. S. 

 Rcxford in the American Bee-Keeper, 

 as follows: 



"October 4th I set a colony of bees on 

 scales, weighed them carefully and fed 

 them eight pounds of granulated sugar 



