March, 1916. 



American Vae JourEal 



^^|kM3^3^©AS^^ 







PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 



Ist Nat'l Bank BIdg. Hamilton, Illinois 



Entered as second class matter at the 



Hamilton. Illinois, Post-office. 

 C. P. Dadant. Editor 

 Dr. C. C. Miller. Associate Editor. 

 Franit C Pellett. Staff Correspondent. 



IMPORTANT NOTICE. 



THE SUBSCRIPTION PRICE of tiiis 

 Journal is $1.00 a year in the United States 

 of America and Mexico; 3 years. $225; 5 

 years, $3 00; in Canada. 10 cents extra, and in 

 all other countries in the Postal Union. 25 

 cents a year extra tor postage. Sample 

 copy free. 



THE WRAPPER-LABEL DATE indi 

 cates the end of the month to which sub 

 scription is paid. For instance. "deci6" on 

 your label shows that it is paid to the end 

 of December. 1016. 



SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.— We do not 

 send a receipt for money sent us to pay sub- 

 scription, but change the date on your ad- 

 dress, which shows that the money has been 

 received and credited. In case of errors, 

 please write us. 



Copyright: IQ16. by C. P. Dadant 



THE EDITORS VIEWPOINT 



Annoimeeiiieut 



We are glad to inform our readers 

 that our editorial staff is now increased 

 by the addition of Mr. Frank C. Pellett, 

 who will act in the capacity of Staff 

 Correspondent. 



He will need no introduction to the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal 

 of the past few years, for he has been 

 a regular contributor and his articles 

 are appreciated. Mr. Pellett, who is 

 now State Inspector of apiaries of 

 Iowa, a born naturalist and author of 

 the new book, " Productive Beekeep- 

 ing," has been furnishing us with a 

 series of articles on " Honey-Produc- 

 ing Flora in the United States." In 

 his new capacity, he will not only con- 

 tinue this series but will also supply 

 additional writings and ideas on bees, 

 both popular and technical. He will 

 also act on the Advisory Board of the 

 Bee Journal. 



Mr. Pellett spent a few weeks with 

 us, but his address remains, as before, 

 Atlantic, Iowa. 



Honey Day 



We note that Honey Day was ob- 

 served throughout South Africa two 

 years ago on Aug. 20. There has been 

 some agitation for a National honey 

 day in this country, but as yet not 

 enough beekeepers have become inter- 

 ested to make it a success. Poultry 

 Day has also been observed in Africa 

 with much apparent interest. 



To Destroy Aiits 



We often hear complaints, from bee- 

 keepers in warm climates, that the ants 

 are destructive to the bees. In parts 

 of Africa they are said to drive strong 

 colonies from the hives and to remove 

 the honey and brood. Fortunately the 

 species of ants which are common in 

 most parts of the United States do little 

 real injury to the bees. 



The South African Beekeepers' Jour- 

 nal recommends the use of fat pois- 

 oned with arsenic and placed in tin 

 cans with small holes to permit the 

 ants to reach it while keeping every- 

 thing else away. This remedy is said 

 to be very effective, but since arsenic 

 is a very dangerous poison, great care 

 should be used with the poisoned bait. 



Texa.s Field Meeting-.s 



The senior editor, C. P. Dadant, ex- 

 pects to attend the series of Texas 

 field meetings which are planned early 

 this month. March in the North is a 

 cold and disaagreeable month with 

 most of the bees still in winter quar- 

 ters, but in Texas the honey flow is 

 usually beginning. A numberof county 

 meetings are to be held during the 

 coming two weeks, and we regret that 

 we are unable to announce the dates 

 and locations of these meetings. Mrs. 

 Dadant expects to accompany her hus- 

 band on this trip and will enjoy meet- 

 ing the women folks. 



Locusts and Honey 



We already knew that when John 

 the Baptist lived in the desert, he sub- 

 sisted on "locusts and wild honey," 

 Matthew III, 1-4, but it remained for 

 Mr. John D. Whiting to tell us about 

 locusts themselves eating bees and 

 honey. 



This writer, in the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine, for December, 1915, 

 gives a very interesting account of the 

 modern " Jerusalem Locust Plague," in 

 191.5, with splendid half-tones and vivid 

 descriptions of the manner in which 

 these insects invaded Judea, obscuring 

 the sun and making a noise like "the 

 distant rumble of waves." All the vege- 

 tation was destroyed within a very few 

 hours and they even ate each other. 

 Then — 



" Nor was the craving for flesh re- 



stricted to locusts themselves, for they 

 entered into beehives, and are reported 

 to have spoiled them by eating both 

 bees and honey. They likewise were 

 seen eating ants." 



We believe this one article is worth 

 a year's subscription to the National 

 Geographic Magazine. And we are not 

 paid for saying it either. 



Oar New England Number 



The April issue of the American Bee 

 Journal will be a special New England 

 number. We have in mind to give at- 

 tention to a particular section, in this 

 way, from time to time, and thus give 

 our readers more information about 

 the advantages of the various States. 

 We believe that even our Texas and 

 California readers will find this num- 

 ber of interest, though their local con- 

 ditions are very different. Among the 

 special contributions which we are 

 promised for our New England num- 

 ber are the following: 



" New England's Contribution to the 

 Advancement of the Industry" — Dr. 

 Burton N. Gates. 



"Honey Flora of New England"^ 

 John H. Lovell. 



" New England Beemen I Have 

 Known " — J. E. Crane. 



" New England Beekeepers' Socie- 

 ties"— Miss Josephine Morse. 



"New England Honey and Honey 

 Markets" — Allen Latham. 



"Honey at New England Fairs" — A. 

 W. Yates. 



Minnesota Apiary Inspection 



The printed report of the Apiary In- 

 spector of Minnesota, Chas. D. Blaker, 

 is on our desk. It contains a state- 

 ment of the Census of Beekeeping in 

 Minnesota, a report of the number of 

 apiaries visited, colonies treated, etc., 

 and lastly a description with cuts of 

 the symptoms and cure of the brood 

 diseases. 



In this report, Mr. Blaker quotes an 

 argument, by Inspector Frank C. Pel- 

 lett, of Iowa, in the Iowa report, which 

 shows very forcibly the value of bee- 

 keeping when compared to poultry 

 raising, and is worth reproducing and 

 remembering : 



" Quite frequently one can hear the 

 total production of poultry and bees 

 compared, to the disparagement of the 

 beekeeping industry. Such persons 

 forget that 75 percent of the total fig- 

 ures represented by the product of 

 poultry have already been counted as 

 corn, wheat or other grain which had 

 been fed to the poultry to produce the 

 product, while with the honey produced 

 we have a net resource. The bees 

 gather the nectar from which the 

 honey is produced direct from the 



