November, 1908. 



Amarican ^ee Journal 



trees are not going to be that plentiful ; 

 we may have some when the mam hon- 

 ey-flow comes from sage and other 

 choice sources, but our most common 

 gum-trees bloom at times when other 

 honey-secreting flowers are scarce. It 

 appears to me we will never have any 

 varieties in numerous numbers other 

 than those we already have, although 

 100 varieties have been planted here for 

 experiment. Now, none of them inter- 

 fere with our choicest honey. And so 

 far as I have been able to notice, I 

 do not see that our California eucalyptus 

 honey is a bad article. 



What makes the good Doctor thmk 

 that this honey is going to be so dam- 

 aging to the other honey? Don't think 

 that because the peculiar climate of 

 Australia causes the gum-trees there to 

 produce a dark and strong-flavored 

 honey, the same condition will prevail 

 here. Of course it might be supposed 

 that such would be the result. But I 

 am not so pessimistical ; I have not yet 

 seen any honey injured by gum-tree 

 honey, neither do I think it possible for 

 any injury to be inflicted, as I have al- 

 ready stated. 



So far as I have seen, what eucalyp- 

 tus honey we have been able to get, has 

 been pretty fair ; seldom is it any darker 

 than other honey produced at the same 

 period of the year. But as for me, give 

 me more gum-trees, even if the honey 

 therefrom should be a little dark. We 

 will be getting honey from where we 

 had none before; besides, we will be 

 growing valuable wood, for fuel and 

 lumber. 



■Uniting Colonies of Bees. 



I saw a man (can't call him a bee- 

 keeper) once try to unite two colonies; 

 he dumped the bees of a weak colony 

 in front of another one that was almost 

 equally deficient in strength, hoping 

 that when the added bees entered the 

 other hive he would have a rip-roaring 

 colony. But he worked rather back- 

 ward, for the two sets of bees got to 

 fighting and the loss in dead bees made 

 the colony no stronger than it was at 

 first ; it was worse in one respect, for 

 they became an ugly lot of bees to 

 handle. Some scented water to spray 

 the bees with is excellent. Manage to 

 shake both lots of bees in front of the 

 hive you wish to retain and spray the 

 bees with the perfumed water. Some 

 use sweetened water, or diluted honey. 

 Don't ; it is likely to start robbing. 

 Flour even may be used with good re- 

 sult, especially if some scented prepara- 

 tion has been mixed with the flour. A 

 nice, decent odor will often cause the bees 

 to be on good terms with strangers even 

 of their own kind, as they are believed 

 to be to strangers outside the hive. 



Perhaps this is why the cleanly bee- 

 master is unmolested, while the hobo 

 and the darky whose personal odors are 

 anything but inviting, are set upon by the 

 bees. And the perspiring horse gets 

 more stings than the sleek one. That 

 nasty little rascal of malodorous scent, 

 the skunk, possibly utilizes his obnox- 

 iousness in coaxing the bees to come 

 out and sting him, and in doing so they 

 fall into his trap, which I shall mention 

 hereafter. 



invention 

 Proceed inds 



Report of the Chleago-Northwest- 

 ern Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



(Continued from page 309.) 

 Exhibits of Bee-Fixtures. 



"Can not some more definite arrange- 

 ment be made for an exhibition of uten- 

 sils, etc., at the next meeting?" 



Dr. Bohrer — I believe every State 

 should have a museum where bee-keep- 

 ers' supplies and methods can be on ex- 

 h'bition all the time. Kansas has a fine 

 place. We should have a room in the 

 Capitol for exhibition. Let it be a 

 school — a place of general information. 

 A great many more would engage in 

 bee-keeping if they knew how to begin, 

 what to use, and where to get it. 



Pres. York — -Very few people would 

 ever see an exhibition at Springfield. A 

 State Fair is a good place. Chicago 

 might be a good place. But go to Root's 

 and Mr. Arnd's here in Chicago. 



Gasoline for Foul Brood. 



"Is gasoline a good remedy for foul 

 brood ?" 



Mr. Wheeler — In regard to this gaso- 

 line ..uestion. It is quite a point, worth 

 our experimenting with, at least. A 

 man was telling me his experience. He 

 thought by dipping the combs in gaso- 

 line, then taking them out and letting 

 the gasoline evaporate, it would kill all 

 the germs. 



Mr. Moore — This thing has been dis- 

 cussed. It is not new. This is the 

 proposition : Take a cupful of honey, 

 and down in it somewhere is this germ 

 of foul brood. How long would you 

 have to apply the gasoline to destroy 

 the germ. You never can destroy the 

 last germ, until you have disolved every 

 drop of honey. It is absolutely vision- 

 ary to attempt to cure foul brood by 

 formaldehyde or gasoline methods. 



Mr. Wheeler— He meant only empty 

 combs. 



Bee-Demonstrations at Fairs. 



"Would it be beneficial to the industry 

 to make demonstrations of management 

 of bees at State Fairs?" 



Dr. Bohrer — Not to practical, bee- 

 keepers. Simply to other people for 

 the sake of research. 



Mr. Wilcox — Our State Fairs and Ex- 

 hibits are willing to appropriate money 

 to promote an industry. The question 

 asked is : Will bee-keepers be benefited 

 by paying an amount to make such dem- 

 onstrations? It is a question that has 

 been referred to me, and I would like to 

 hear any definite opinion on the subject. 



Dr. Bohrer— If the demonstrations 

 are made by a man of abiUty, I have 

 no doubt that they would be profitable. 

 He should explain why he does things. 



and not claim to be a wizard, etc. If 

 they will give scientific talks it will be 

 profitable. 

 Increasing Convention Attendance. 



"How can the attendance of our meet- 

 ings be increased?" 



Dr. Bohrer — Every one should con- 

 sider himself a committee of one to get 

 one member, at least. 



Mr. Whitney— Increase the degree of 

 prosperity. 



Mr. Wilcox — Increase the invitations 

 by circular letters. 



Dr. Bohrer — Increase the spread of 

 bee-literature. I will not under any cir- 

 cumstances in the future insist on buy- 

 ing a colony of bees when a man knows 

 nothing of bees. Make sure that he 

 knows something about bees before en- 

 gaging in bee-work. Don't encourage 

 the man who knows nothing about bees. 

 Get people to read bee-literature. Train 

 thj man and then let him keep bees. 



Mr. Moore— I must go directly against 

 Dr. Bohrer. By all means get one col- 

 ony of bees. Bee-keepers as a class are 

 the best class of people in this country. 

 They are nice clean people, and good 

 citizens. I feel that bee-keeping lifts 

 men up from mere money-making. Na- 

 ture study is a great thing. As to cir- 

 culars, etc., we spent $35 for letters to 

 people all over several States. About 

 a year and a half afterward we get $30 

 back. 



Mr. Whitney — I have sold bees to peo- 

 ple who don't know a thing about them. 

 But I find whenever I meet them that 

 they have a bundle of bee-papers under 

 their arms. They are studying up. 



Mr. Lyman — My experience in selling 

 bees is that I first get the money, and 

 after a while I get the bees back again. 



Making HoNEy-ViNECAR. 



"What is the best method of making 

 honey-vinegar?" 



Mr. Wilcox — Can honey-vinegar be 

 profitably made from honey? 



Mr. Taylor— I think not. 



Mr. Arnd— It is not profitable, as you 

 can not get enough money for it. 



Mr. Moore — There is no demand for 

 honey-vinegar. It is hard .to work up 

 a demand. Cross & Blackwell's vinegar 

 brings $1.00 a gallon, or 25 cents a quart. 

 Cider vinegar brings 60 cents. 



Dr. Bohrer — I can not find a sale for 

 my vinegar. 



Mr. Moore— The market is bare of 

 pure cider vinegar. There is too much 

 cheap stuff on the market. 



Dr. Bohrer — You can not make good 

 cider vinegar out of poor apples. There 

 is too little sale to advise making good 

 vinegar. 



Mr. Arnd— I suppose the best methort 



