Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 



H. H. ROOT, Assistant Editor E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Manager 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. Calvert, Business Manager 



Entered at the Postoffice, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter 



VOL. XXXVIII 



JULY L5, 1910 



NO. 14 



Editorial 



Word has just been received from Gen- 

 eral Manager N. E. France, that the next 

 Convention of tlie National Bee-keepers' 

 Association will be held in the Common 

 Council Chamber of the City Hall, Albany, 

 N. Y., October 12 and 18. We presume that 

 full particulars will be forthcoming later, 

 including the program, etc. 



FIRE LOSS. 



Mr. F. .T. Strittmatter, of Ebensburg, Pa., 

 was burned out of house and home, includ- 

 ing his bee-supply house. The loss was be- 

 tween $5000 and $6000, about half covered 

 with insurance. Included in the list was 

 about 6000 pounds of honey and his honey- 

 melting and bottling outfit. His stationery, 

 ledger, correspondence, and desk were also 

 burned. He desires us to make mention of 

 this so that his customers may enable him 

 to straighten out his records. 



TWO BULLETINS ON BEES FROM THE GOV- 

 ERNMENT. 



The United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has issued Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 397, entitled "Bees," by Dr. E. F. Phillips, 

 in Charge of Bee Culture in the Bureau of 

 Entomology. This bulletin contains near- 

 ly 50 pages of live helpful matter on the 

 care and management of bees. It takes up 

 the following subjects: Location of an Api- 

 ary; Equipment and Apjiaratus; Equip- 

 ment in Bees; Bee Behavior; Directions for 

 General Manipulations; Transferring; Unit- 

 ing; Robbing; Feeding; Spring Manage- 

 ment; Swarm Management; Preparations 

 for Harvest; Honey Production; Production 

 of Wax; Wintering; and last, but not least. 

 Diseases of Bees. On this latter subject Dr. 

 Phillips is probably our best authority now 

 in the United States. He has traveled over 

 all the country, and knows more about the 

 location of disease than perhaps any other 

 person. 



This bulletin is for free distribution, and 

 may be obtained by addressing a postal card 

 to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. Ask for Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 397, entitled "Bees," by Dr. E. F. Phillips. 



The Anatomy of the Bee is the subject 

 of miother bulletin, Technical Series No. 18, 

 of t.xe United States Department of Agri- 



culture, Bureau of Entomology, by R. E. 

 Snodgrass. This is probably the most com- 

 prehensive work, going into the general 

 anatomical structure of the bee, that was 

 ever published. Mr. Snodgrass, besides 

 having the work of all the other scientists 

 before him, has done a prodigious amount 

 of original work in dissecting the honey- 

 bee. While this bulletin may be too tech- 

 nical for the average bee-keeper, yet there 

 is a large number among our ranks who en- 

 joy going into the science of these things. 

 It contains 160 pages, and it can be secured 

 by sending 20cts., addressing the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



THE PART THAT THE BEES PLAY IN FERTI- 

 LIZING APPLE-BLOSSOMS. 



One of our subscribers, Mr. .J. A. Yeo- 

 mans, of Spokane, Wash., recently made a 

 trip to Wenachee, Wash., talking bees to 

 the orchard men of that district. An inves- 

 tigation was made at the request of one of 

 the leading citizens of the town, who was 

 largely interested in orchards, Mr. R. E. 

 Trumble, Professor of Horticulture in the 

 High School, having charge of the work. 

 His conclusions as given in the newspapers 

 are of great interest to bee-keepers. The re- 

 port in abbreviated form follows. 



The apple-blossom drop is due largely to 

 three causes: First, many of the young 

 terminal shoots set fruit this year. This is 

 unusual; and where it happens, most of the 

 blossoms normally fall from these young 

 shoots. 



Second, unfavorable wind conditions dur- 

 ing the blossoming period reduced the wind 

 l^ollination to a minimum. 



Third, we have very inadequate bee polli- 

 nation in this valley, because we have very 

 few bees compared with the great number 

 of trees to be cross-pollinated. When going 

 through the orchards during the blossoming 

 time I have found only two or three bees in 

 a five-acre orchard. While there are over 

 68 different insects that cross-pollinate ap- 

 ples, these insects are not here in numbers 

 great enough to cross-pollinate the great 

 number of bearing trees we have. Another 

 thing that made bee-pollination difficult 

 this spring was the fact that all the varieties 

 of apples bloomed so ..early at the same 

 time. This was unusual, ordinarily there 

 being considerable variation in the time of 

 blooming among the varieties and even 

 among the blossoms of the same kind of va- 

 rieties. 



Counts were made of three varieties of ap- 



