CSbantngs ttt S^^ Culture 



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 PostoflSce, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter 



VOL. XXXVIII 



SEPTEMBER 1, 1910 



NO. 17 



Editorial 



Do not forget the National convention, to 

 be held in Albany, Oct. VI and 13. 



THE MICHIGAN HONEY CROP AND THE WIL- 

 LOW-HERB COUNTRY, 



We have been making a hurried tour 

 through the northern sections of Michigan, 

 takingin the territory about 100 to 150 miles 

 south of Mackinac. In this district more 

 honey has been produced than in the cen- 

 tral portion of the State that has suffered 

 from drouth. We ha\e taken something 

 like 130 photos. These will be run through 

 the year, showing bee-keeping in all its in- 

 teresting phases in what is known as the 

 willow-herb and raspberry districts. 



THE ALEXANDER TREATMENT FOR EURO- 

 PEAN FOUL BROOD. 



Attention is called to the article by Mr. 

 Earl Seamans, in this issue, on the subject 

 of the Alexander cure for European foul 

 brood. So far we have had several reports 

 showing that the treatment is elTective, and 

 w'e have had other reports where it seemed 

 to be an entire failure. Is it possible that 

 these latter have been due to the failure to 

 carry out Mr. Alexander's instructions to 

 the letter? The treatment is a very simple 

 one; and in the cases where the regular ortho- 

 dox McEvoy treatment has failed to elTect 

 a cure, the Alexander jilan can be tried to 

 good advantage. 



PERCOLATOR FEEDERS. 



In this issue our friend Samuel Simmins 

 shows several forms of percolator feeders. 

 If we are correct, this idea has not been ex- 

 ploited to any great extent in America, al- 

 though percolators to make the syrup apart 

 from the hive or feeder have been used to 

 some extent. A percolator on the principle 

 of the ones shown in this issue would be 

 very handy for outyard work. All that 

 would be necessary would be to carry sugar, 

 and take the water from some nearby spring 

 or well at the yard. Possibly the same 

 kind of feeder could be used to advantage 

 at the home yard, as it would eliminate all 

 possible daub — that is, syrup drip])ings that 

 might invite robbers. Most of the feeders 

 sold by supply houses could be made over 

 into iiercolator feeders. 



THE LIGHT NON-REVERSIBLE EXTRACTORS; 

 THEIR ADVANTAGES OVER THE LARG- 

 ER AUTOMATIC MACHINES. 



We have been testing here at Medina and 

 in Northern Michigan a four-frame non-re- 

 versible Novice honey-extractor. In actual 

 output it is clear ahead of a two-frame Cow- 

 an reversible, and, under some conditions, 

 not far behind a four-frame automatic re- 

 versible at almost twice the cost. It has 

 fewer complications, less than half the 

 weight, only 20 inches in diameter as against 

 29 for the larger automatic machine of the 

 same comb capacity. As the small machine 

 is so much lighter it takes much less jiower 

 to give sufficient centrifugal force to throw 

 the honey out of the combs. 



These little light non-reversible four-frame 

 machines, while not as efficient as the four- 

 frame automatics, are much handier for 

 hauling to outyards, and much cheaper, 

 especially when one has to have a machine 

 at each yard. There are no movable parts 

 except the revolving reel; and this, in the 

 estimation of Mr. Townsend, is a very im- 

 portant feature. 



LETTING BEES ROB OUT WET EXTRACTING- 

 COMBS AT AN EXTRA CTING-YARD. 



Two or three times of late we have enter- 

 ed a caution against letting bees clean up 

 exposed wet extracting-combs in the vicini- 

 ty of a common highMay or in a locality 

 where neighboring dwellings are very close 

 to each other. While we still think the 

 caution is a wise one to put before beginners, 

 we are convinced that, under some condi- 

 tions, an exiDcrt can have his combs cleaned 

 out in this way to advantage. When one 

 has a proper extracting-outfit and a com- 

 plete power-extracting equipment at his 

 home yard, it is necessary for him to haul 

 the combs from the outyard to the home 

 yard. After extracting he has a load of su- 

 pers with wet combs. He can do one of two 

 things: haul these combs back to the ex- 

 tracting-yard, put them on the hives to be 

 refilled again, if the flow is still on, or he 

 may place them at the back end of his lot 

 where the yard is located, and allow the 

 home bees to help themselves indiscrimi- 

 nately. Of course, there will be an uproar 

 of robbing for a while, and the bees may be 

 cross, and that is where the danger lies. 

 One can minimize this trouble somewhat 

 by stacking wet supers up in piles, closing 

 all ingress to the supers except at a contract- 

 ed entrance at the bottom. Of course, in 

 two or three days the combs will be cleaned 

 up and dried, ready to lay aside for the fall 



