(Entered as aecond-class matter July 30, I'JOT, at the Post-Offlce at Chicago, 111., under Act of March 3, 1S7S.) 

 Published Monthly at 50 cents a Year, by George W. York & Co., 118 West Jackson Boulevard. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, AUGUST, 1908 



Vol. XLVni— No. 8 



itorial ^ofc' 

 and Commenfs 



XationnI Convention at Detroit 



It is only about 2 months until the 

 next annual meeting of the National 

 Bee-Keepers" Association at Detroit, Oc- 

 tober 13, 14, and 15. 



Are you planning to be present? 



Why not get together a special car 

 of bee-keepers from Texas and other 

 parts of the South? 



And another car from the far West? 



Yes, and still another might start in 

 the East — say near New York City or 

 Philadelphia ! 



Of course, Canada will be represented 

 by more than a car-load of her best 

 bee-keepers. 



It promises to be a great gathering 

 of the clans of beedom. 



Remember, Detroit is the place. 



And the time is Oct. 13, 14, and 15 — 

 only two months away. 



Cartons for Comb Honey 



The best grades of comb honey should 

 be put on the market in neatly printed 

 cartons. They are a great convenience 

 for the dealer ; they serve to keep the 

 honey free from dust, and also prevent 

 marring the delicate comb when handling 

 from the grocery to the consumer's 

 kitchen. 



Cartons are so inexpensive, and so 

 useful, that it is surjirising that more 

 of the best comb honey is not put on 

 the market in them. 



Of course, those using cartons should 

 be very careful to see that only the 

 most perfect sections of honey are put 

 into them. A honey-purchaser will sel- 

 dom buy cartoned honey the second time 

 if she has been once deceived — by get- 

 ting, for instance, a partly filled comb 

 in a carton; or, perhaps, a dirty -htoking 

 comb. 



Cartons should be used more exten- 

 sively than they are now, as they also 

 furnish an added opportunity to send 

 out printed honey-information with each 

 comb of honey sold. 



Ventilating Section-Supers 



It is well known that it is much hard- 

 er to keep down swarming when work- 

 ing for comb than when working for 

 extracted honey. Perhaps the chief rea- 

 son is that when bees have plenty of 

 extracting-combs to fill they are not so 

 crowded as when obliged to build comb 

 in sections. Another difference, at least 

 with some, is that when working for 

 extracted honey, space is given for ven- 

 tilation between each 2 stories, while a 

 colony working on sections has no ven- 

 tilation given except at the entrance. 



It may not be generally known, how- 

 ever, that to a small extent ventilation 

 has been given with section-supers, the 

 super being shoved forward enough to 

 make a space of about ^ inch for ven- 

 tilation at the back end. Sometimes the 

 result of this is that the back row of 

 sections is not so far advanced as the 

 others, and sometimes it seems to make 

 no difference. 



PaUnre of Non-Swarming Plan 



On page 70 was given a plan for the 

 prevention of swarming, with the re 

 mark that if it proved successful in gen- 

 eral it would be a step in a '.vance. Dr. 

 Miller, the originator of the plan, now 

 reports that he has had cases of failure 

 this year, the bees swarming within a 

 very short time after being treated. He 

 still thinks, however, that the plan has 

 the advantages over the shaking plan 

 that were given on page 70, and that 



there is less danger of bees swarming 

 out than there is after shaking. It is 

 quite probable, too, that the season has 

 sometliing to do with it — probably much 

 to do with it. He reports the heaviest 

 flow from white clover in his whole long 

 experience, and with it a general inclina- 

 tion to swarm such as he has never 

 known before. 



It is generally understood that a col- 

 ony will not swarm with a queen of the 

 current year's rearing, especially if the 

 queen be reared by themselves. Previous 

 to this year. Dr. Miller says he never 

 had such a case, but this year he has 

 had more than one case in which a col- 

 ony has reared a young queen, and then 

 after the young queen had well stocked 

 the hive with brood the colony has 

 swarmed. Even 2-frame nuclei have 

 swarmed, although having some excuse 

 in the fact that the bees had plumped in 

 so much honey that the queen had no 

 room to lay. 



As before intimated, only trial will 

 show whether the plan is of real value, 

 and no doubt locality and seasons will 

 have an important bearing. 



Influence of Abundant Stores 



Considerable has been said of late as 

 to the stimulating effect upon the bees 

 of an abundance of stores in the hive, 

 Mr. J. E. Hand, in Gleanings, having 

 commented rather severely upon the un- 

 reasonableness of anything of the kind. 

 The following upon the subject is from 

 the American Bee-keeper : 



"In connection with the article by Mr. 

 Latham in our January issue, page 4, 

 and Mr. Hand's criticism, page 90, 

 April number, the following, by Dr. Mil- 

 ler in Gleanings for June I, is of in- 

 terest : 



'Something I never noted before, I 

 learned this year. May 1. On that date 

 we went to the Wilson apiary and 

 watched the bees at the entrance of each 

 hive. If they flew strong, carrying plenty 

 of pollen, we judged them queen-right. 

 Several did not fly well, and we opened 

 their hives. They were strong in brood 

 and bees, but had very little honey. 

 They showed no signs of starvation, 

 having enough honey for immediate use. 

 One would have supposed they were the 

 very ones that should have been out and 

 hustling, but the scarcity of stores 



