il.Vr. lOfiS 



American ^Bee Journal i 



lessness or negligence, lose half or more 

 of its value by not preparing it prop- 

 erly for safe shipment ? Crates may cost 

 n little extra, but in the end they pay 

 well — both in satisfaction to the shipper, 

 and in greater convenience for handling 

 the honev. 



Western Honey Quotations 



The following letter, largely explains 



lis 



I\i>lTOR Vo&k: — In the Aiiicricaii lice Jour- 

 nal for October, on the first editorial page, is a 

 ■comment entitled, "The Honey Market Un- 

 usual," wherein it is claimed that comb honey 

 stands firmly in San Francisco at 17 cents. By 

 the way, I see Gleanings niakes the same 

 claim. 



Now the above quotation is very far from 

 the truth, in proof of which I enclose 2 let- 

 ters, one from a commission firm in Sacra- 

 mento, and tile other from a bee-keeper in 

 Nevada. Note the commission man informs 

 me that Mono County and Nevada have had 

 big crops of honey. VVell, I know that Mono 

 County had less than 400 cases of comb honey; 

 and Mr. .T. W. Carter of Nevada, informed me 

 in September that this was the poorest honey 

 season he had known in his bee-keeping ex- 

 perience of 17 years. So far as ray own experi- 

 ence goes, this is my first season in this part 

 of the country. 



I don't know how to run a bee-paper, but 

 it seems to me you ought to be in a position 

 to be better informed as to the real condition. 

 I have been a subscriber of the "Old Reliable" 

 ever since you became its editor, so I know 

 very well it was not the intention to misrep- 

 resent. 



I am hoping for better honey-prices. 



H. ChbistiiNSi:n. 



Coleville, Mono Co., Cal., Oct. z6. 



The letter Mr. Christensen enclosed 

 from the Sacramento house claims there 

 is a large supply throughout Nevada, as 

 well as in ^lono and Inj-o Counties, 

 California, with little demand ; saying 

 that they deal only on coinmission, and 

 can get about 12 cents for fancy white. 

 The Nevada bee-keeper says all he can 

 get is 9^2 cents for first grade and 8J^ 

 cents for second. 



The desire of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal is always to give the truth as nearly 

 as it can find it ; and so our corres- 

 pondent has our thanks for his letter. 

 If 17 cents is too high a quotation for 

 San Francisco, it is best that we should 

 know it. The authority for 17 cents 

 as the highest price for water-white 

 comb is the Pacific Rural Press. While 

 there is a wide margin between the pri- 

 ces sent by our correspondent and that 

 quoted by the Pacific Rural Press, the 

 question is still an open one as to the 

 correctness of the latter, for Sacramento 

 prices and prices in Aevada may vary 

 no little from prices in San Francisco. 

 Still, it is hard to understand so much 

 difference in so short a distance. Per- 

 haps some of our San Francisco friends 

 can help us out. 



liarvae for Queen-Rearing 



For a long time Editor Hutchinson 

 and Dr. C. C. Miller have been at outs 

 as to the wisdom of the bees in selecting 

 the right larv<Te for queen-rearing, the 

 former insisting that when bees are 

 made queenless they are in such haste 

 to rear a queen that they select larvse 

 too old for best results, the latter in- 

 sisting that this is a libel on the bees. 



Dr. Miller has for a long time been 

 trying to get Mr. Hutchinson to try an 

 experiment, but without success, al- 

 though, he says, "I have coaxed him, I 



have defied him, to make a very simple 

 experiment that I think would convince 

 him — simply to unqucen a colony, and 

 then look 24 hours later and say how 

 old were the larv;c he found in queen- 

 cells." To this Mr. Hutchinson now re- 

 plies (Bee-Keepers' Review, _page 313), 

 "I don't know how large a larva is at 

 one day old, nor at 2 days, nor at 3. 

 Perhaps it is to my shame that I don't, 

 but I don't. I know when a queen does 

 not come up to the mark, but I don't 

 know how large is a 2-day old larva." 

 Then Ke gets back at Dr. Miller after 

 this fashion : 



"I have repeatedly asked him to explain why 

 some of the queens were inferior when the 

 bees were given larvae of all ages to choose 

 from, and why the queens were all excellent 

 when the bees had only just- hatched larvae from 

 which to make a choice, and he has never at- 

 tempted a reply." 



It is now up to the Doctor to come 



forward with an answer. If he begins 

 his answer as does Editor Hutchinson 

 with "I don't know", will the two an- 

 swers put together be sufficiently illum- 

 inating to enable us to decide whether 

 the bees arc sufficiently wise to select 

 proper larv;c for queen-raising? 



To Prevent Bee-Stings 



When about to handle bees, wash the 

 hands with weakened carbolic acid. — 

 Praklischer Wegweiser. 



Nothing is said as to how long the 

 effect of the acid remains, or how often 

 the hands should be thus perfumed if 

 one is to work with bees all day. If 

 one washing will last long enough, and 

 it pipves effectual in preventing stings, 

 some who use gloves may find it worth 

 W'hile to try the proposed preventive. 



Oliscellane 

 Jleijus - Items 



Visitors from Austria 



Mr. and Mrs. A. Schroeder, of Trieste, 

 Austria, visited us October 23. They 

 arrived in this country Oct. i6th, and 

 expected to remain only a very short 

 time. Mr. Schrceder now has 32 colo- 

 nies of bees, while sometimes he has 

 50 colonies. He has been a subscriber 

 to the -American Bee Journal for over 

 30 years. He was unfortunate in not 

 coming to this country in time to at- 

 tend the National convention in Detroit. 

 Mr. S. speaks 5 languages, and both 

 are verj- pleasant to meet. 



That is contrary to common belief in 

 this country ; for certainly many count 

 combs entirely safe that have been left 

 out to endure the freezing of winter. 

 It would be interesting if we could learn 

 how far south this holds good. 



Among the means for prevention 

 given in the article mentioned, it is 

 rather strange that the two most im- 

 portant means — at least considered the 

 most important in this country — namely, 

 strong colonies and Italian blood, are 

 not mentioned. 



The Detroit Convention Photograph 



The secretary of the Xational Bee- 

 Keepers' .\ssociation, Air. W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson of Flint, Mich., went to consid- 

 erable expense to get an expert pho- 

 tographer to take a picture of those at- 

 tending the National convention at De- 

 troit, Oct. 13, 14, and 15. The picture 

 is 20x24 inches in size, and will be sent 

 by prepaid express for $1.50. It is a 

 most beautifully finished photograph, 

 every face being very clear and dis- 

 tinct. .■\s Mr. Hutchinson says in his 

 advertisement on another page of this 

 number, it would be a fine picture to 

 frame and hang up in any bee-keeper's 

 home. It is the best picture ever taken 

 of any National bee-keepers' convention 

 in this country. We hope that Mr. 

 Hutchin.son wil receive a large num- 

 ber of orders for it. 



Bee-Moths and Their Endurance 



In an article in Praktischer Weg- 

 weiser, it is said that the eggs, larvae, 

 and pupx of the bee-moth are so tena- 

 cious of life that they will endure the 

 cold of winter without being destroyed. 



The C. M. Scott Co. Won First Prize 



The C. M. Scott Co., of Indianapolis, 

 Ind.. was awarded the first prize on 

 display of bee-supplies over the strong- 

 est competition ever exhibited in In- 

 diana, at the State Fair in Septem- 

 ber.^ The line of goods handled by the 

 Scott Company is the famous Lewis 



Bee-Ware. 



* 



Illinois State Fair Apiarian Exhibit 



It was our privilege as well as honor 

 to be selected again as judge of the bee 

 and honey exliibits at the Illinois State 

 Fair, held at Springfield, Sept. 25 to 

 Oct. 2, 1908. We have seen a number 

 of apiarian exhibits at various fairs, but 

 with the exception of those at the 

 World's Columbian Exposition here in 

 1893, we believe the exhibits in the de- 

 partment of "Bees and Honey" at the 

 Illinois State Fair this year were the 

 best w'e ever saw. 



There were only 6 exhibitors in all, 

 and only 4 who really competed in every- 

 thing in the apiarian line. They were, 

 .•\aron Coppin, of Wenona ; Chas. Bec- 

 ker, of Pleasant Plains; Jas. A. Stone 

 & Son. of Bradfordton: Geo. Rumler, 

 of Indiana; Louis Werner, of Edwards- 



