





Xj 



^f. 



(Entered an second-class matter Jaly 30. 1907, at the PoBt-Otncc at Ohlcago, 111., unrierActof March 3, 1)179.) 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, 117 North Jefferson Street, 



GEORGE W. YORK. Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE, 1911 



Vol. LI- -No. 6 



Editorial 



Comments 



National i'oiixoiitioii at iVIiniie- 

 apolis, An;;. :{<> and :{1. 



We suppose that all our readers are 

 bearing in mind the next annual meet- 

 ing of the National Hee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation in Minneapolis, Aug. ;iO and 31, 

 1911. It is a little early yet to know 

 just what the honey harvest is going to 

 be for inil, but certainly all will hope 

 that it will be sufficient to permit every- 

 one to attend the ne.xt meeting of the 

 National who desires to go. It is to 

 be held right in one of the best honey- 

 producing districts of the United States 

 — where bee-keepers are accustomed 

 to attend conventions; surely it ought 

 to be the best attended of any meeting 

 the National has had in many years. 



There are some very important ques- 

 tions to be decided at this meeting, 

 which will atTect bee-keepers of the 

 whole country in various ways. The 

 Constitution should be thoroughly re- 

 vised so as to permit the Board of 

 Directors to take some progressive 

 steps in the interest of the whole mem- 

 bership. It is to be hoped that the very 

 best ability to be found on this conti- 

 nent will be present, so that such nec- 

 essary action may he taken looking to 

 the advancement of the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry, as shall have the unanimous 

 vote of the membership of the National 

 next November. 



The Executive Committee — which is 

 composed of the President, Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Secretary and Treasurer — will be 

 glad to receive suggestions from any 

 and all members who think they can 

 help to put bee-keeping on a better 

 business basis than it occupies to-day. 

 We hope there will be no hesitation on 

 the part of any member to send in any 

 recommendations that he or she may 

 feel is important. 



The time of the meeting — Aug. .'iO 

 and 31 — may be a little early and some- 

 what inconvenient for some bee-keep- 

 ers, but we doubt not that a great many 

 will be able to get away from their 



work and homes for a few days at that 

 time of the year. We hope that a large 

 number will feel that tliey ought to 

 make some sacrilice in order to be 

 present. In the meantime, we trust 

 that there may be such a great harvest 

 of honey gathered that all who have 

 the least desire to attend the Minneapo- 

 lis convention will feel that they can 

 afford to spend the necessary time and 

 money to make the trip. 



We expect to be able to announce 

 the railroad schedule next month; and 

 no doubt by the time of onr August 

 issue a full program of the convention 

 will be ready for publication. Secre- 

 tary Tyrrell has an opportunity now to 

 build a fine program, and we have no 

 doubt he will be equal to the job. 



Color of Queens 



Of two queens alike in all other re- 

 spects, the lighter-colored one is likely 

 to be preferred. K. Ueuhne, at a meet- 

 ing reported in the Australasian Bee- 

 Keeper, gave instances in his own ex- 

 periments where, in choosing the light- 

 colored queen and keeping separate 

 records, he proved that out of the same 

 batch of queens the darker ones proved 

 equal to the lighter, and longer lived. 



.S|>a<-o |{et\v«oii <)l«l Coiiihs 



In the Irish I'.eo Journal, lidilor 

 Digges says that according to Ur. 

 Miller cells do not become smaller with 

 age, the bees prolonging the cells as 

 the septum becomes thicker, and Mr. 

 Digges then says : 



"Now in combs 30 years old. in frames 

 Willi fixed siijiers. can the cellwails be ex- 

 ti;nded indefinitely witliout closini; the bee- 

 space between the combs ? OneeiKliili Inch 

 or more leads to ^4inch or more off the J«- 

 iiicli space between the combs, reducini: tlie 

 space to >iiincli or less." 



Undoubtedly, as the septum increases 

 in thickness, if there is no change in 

 the spacing of the combs, from center 



to center, the space between the combs 

 must become smaller. But our es- 

 teemed cotemporary must have been 

 suffering from a (it of carelessness 

 when he did his figuring. He I'imires 

 that Is inch added to the septum takes 

 '■i inch off the space between combs. 

 There's only one septum for each space, 

 so that Is inch added to the septum can 

 take away only '/^ inch from the space. 

 He assumes % space between two new 

 combs. That can only be if the combs 

 are spaced I'A inches from center to 

 center, which is not the usual spacing. 

 With the usual spacing of l,!s from 

 center to center, the space between two 

 new brood-combs is K inch, and >s 

 inch taken from that leaves )k ; so that 

 Mr. Digges' final result is all right. 

 Trust an Irishman to land on his feet! 



r>o I5«e.s Pi-cCei- Salt<Ml Water? 



This question having been asked, 

 Herr .Schachinger- the man who an- 

 swers questions in Bienen-Vater put 

 the matter to the test. He put in one 

 vessel pure unsalled water, and in a 

 similar vessel by its side he put water 

 slightly salted. Some '20 observations 

 in the following afternoon showed the 

 unsalted water well visited (30 to 40 

 bees, sometimes), while very few bees 

 visited the salted water. At the same 

 time the bees were thick upon the 

 liquids coming from his pig-pen. He 

 says he does not know whether the 

 bees worked upon this lif|uid because 

 of some elements it contained or 

 merely because it was warm. 



Stiii(7leKM Jtee to Ite l>evelo|>e<l ! 



Under this heading the following 

 item is going the rounds of the daily 

 press : 



"The new bt-'ekeepini,' l)iu'e;ni of the 

 Massachusetts AkTiciiltural Collejje lias set 

 itself the task of lieveloiiinif a bee that will 

 not stiiii.'. and that at the same time will be 

 twice or three times as iiidiislrioiis as the 

 bee of today." 



In an editorial of half a column the 

 Chicago Record-Herald discusses the 

 change, and counts as one of the ad- 

 vantages the fact that the barefoot boy 

 trudging his way to school need no 

 longer fear to step upon a bee. But 

 losses from the change will not be 



