July, 1908. 



American Hee Journal 



to secure his promise to tell us, at the 

 coming National convention, all about 

 the bee-keeping of Hawaii, illustrating 

 his talk with stereopticon views taken 

 while at the islands. Those who are 

 fortunate enough to be present may ex- 

 pect a treat. 



Live Bee Demonstrations. 



Few things will attract and hold a 

 crowd better than the handling of bees 



instrumental in making the occasion a 



success. 



"Odessa Apiary" 



The picture I send you is part of my 

 Odessa Apiary which is located near 

 Williamsport, Pa. The man in the pic- 

 ture is Charlie Propst, hunting for a 

 queen. I have 50 colonies of bees, all 

 Carniolans bred from imported queens. 

 P. H. Propst. 



"Odessa Apiary' 



in a wire cloth cage. A good demon- 

 strator can do very effective missionary 

 work at such times, or, if at fair, large 

 quantities of honey may be sold at such 

 demonstrations. Of course, to a bee- 

 keeper, the handling of bees is no nov- 

 elty, but not every one of us knows 

 how to handle bees in a cage in the 

 most successful and agreeable, yet novel 

 manner, hence it will be interesting to 

 know that E. R. Root has consented 

 to bring a cage to the National conven- 

 tion, and give an actual demonstration 

 of how he makes this exhibition. 



Surely there are three very interesting 

 things, and especially the latter cannot 

 be printed on paper so that those who 

 remain at home will get a very clear 

 idea of it. Better arrange to be at 

 Detroit, if at all possible. Remember 

 the place and time — Detroit, October 13, 

 14 and 15, 1908. 



OF P. H. Propst. 



Apiary of Freeman Davis 



The picture I send was taken just as 

 the peach-bloom was commencing to 

 open. I packed 19 colonies for winter 

 last fall, and all were alive this spring, 

 but 3 were queenless. The two piles 

 of hives without tar-paper wrappings 



It has not been needed, so they have 

 "millions of honey at their house" and 

 are strong, powerful colonies. The hives 

 are all home-made. The covers are vari- 

 ous patterns, some fiat, some air-spaced, 

 and covered witli tin, others with nepon- 

 set, and some just plain wood. It was 

 a chilly morning when the photograph 

 was taken, and no bees were flying, so 

 the photographer, who is something of 

 an artist, drew some bees on the nega- 

 tive. . 



In the background you are looking 

 over Salt River Valley about a mile 

 away. 



The two little girls (my niece and my 

 daughter) brought Kitty Blue out to get 

 her in the picture, but at the critical 

 moment she got partly behind a hive. 

 You can see her Isack behind the third 

 hive from the front. 



Last February, when the snow was 

 on, I stood boards in front of the hives 

 to keep the bees from flying out to their 

 death. I utilized anything that came 

 handy. Snd among the rest got hold of 

 an old, discarded washboard. After the 

 photo was finished we discovered it oc- 

 cupied a very prominent place in the 

 picture. 



My little son on the right, takes a 

 great interest in the bees. He has start- 

 ed a bee-yard several times with bum- 

 ble-bees in fruit-cans, but they decline 

 to stay. 



We are all tenderfoots, having kept 

 bees only 4 years. They have all been 

 bad years for bees. The only good flow 

 we have had in that time was last fall 

 from Spanish-needle and heartsease. 

 We got about 600 pounds, which made 

 us step high and feel very important. 



We have our hives and supplies all 

 ready, and are in hopes that this will 

 be a good honey-year. 



Freeman D.wis. 



Center, !Mo., May 27. 



Lecture on Bee-Culture in Cincinnati 



John C. Froliliger, a well-known bee- 

 keeper of Cincinnati, delivered a lecture 

 on bee-culture on May 29, 1908, under 

 the auspices of the Linwood Improve- 

 ment Association. His lecture was illus- 

 trated with stereopticon views of scenes 

 incident to bee-life, the views including 

 apiaries in Mexico, Peru, Algeria, Den- 

 mark, etc. Ancient and modern bee- 

 keeping were touched upon, and the 

 methods uf handling bees were ex- 

 plained. The admission was entirely 

 free, as it was given for the benefit of 

 the members and friends of the Lin- 

 wood Improvement Association. From 

 the circular we received announcing the 

 above pleasant affair, it appears that 

 Mr. Fred W. Muth, one of the leading 

 hcc-supply dealers of Cincinnati, was 



AriAKv OF Fkefm.vn Davis, uf Ckniek. .Mi 



are empty hives. The 2 hives in the 

 foreground and the second beyond the 

 peach-tree are 2-story hives. Every 

 spring since I have kept bees I have 

 had to feed mgrc or less, so I had these 

 store their honey in full-sized frames to 

 draw on this spring in case of need. 



The .\piary of L. B. EUiston 



This apiary is located at Princeton, 

 Bureau Co., 111. His apiary was begun 

 21 years ago by the purchase of one col- 

 ony, which was increased, by natural 

 swarming, to 242 colonies. This increase 



