August, 191G. 



American Hee Journal 



hives were built similarly but were not 

 shallow, neither did they have a mov- 

 able ceiling. 



Afew beekeepers, like Friend Greiner, 

 use exclusively shallow sectional brood- 

 chambers. Perhaps the most success- 

 ful man with these hives is our Texas 

 friend, Louis H. Scholl, who claims 

 that at least 10 percent more honey can 

 be produced with his method and his 

 shallow brood-chambers than in any 

 other way. The management has much 

 to do with the success. — Editor ] 



Serious Effect of Stings 



BY W. S. PANGBURN. 



IN the American Bee Journal for No- 

 vember, Mr. Frank C. Pellett de- 

 scribes the serious illness of his 

 wife, caused from being stung on the 

 neck by a bee. Two cases somewhat 

 similar occurred in this neighborhood 

 a number of years ago. 



In the first case, the man had kept 

 bees in a small way all his life until a 

 few years previous to the incident. He 

 had purchased two swarms of bees 

 at a sale in the fall, and the next spring, 

 while working with them, he received 

 a sting on top of the head. In a very 

 short time he commenced to get sick, 

 body and limbs swelled; his fingers 

 swelled until they stuck straight out, 

 and his ears were about twice their 

 natural size. His eyes were bloodshot, 

 and his throat and tongue swelled until 

 he could hardly breathe, and his body 

 finally got spotted all over. He told me 

 that he never suffered so in his life. 



The other was a mpn who was helping 

 me in haying, and on the last load that 

 evening he got stung by a bumblebee 

 on the calf of his leg. Nothing was 

 thought of it until after the load was 

 off and we were in for supper, when he 

 was taken with a terrible itching sensa- 

 tion. His face, hands and arras resem- 

 bled red flannel in color, and the swell- 

 ing was similar to the first case only 

 not so bad. I never saw a man get in 

 such a condition in so short a time. I 

 did not know what to do, for at that 

 time I had had very little experience 

 with stings. I wanted to take him 

 home, but he said no, that he could 

 walk. He lived just one mile from us. 

 He did not seem sick, as he was joking 

 and laughing all the time. On the road 

 home he stopped at a neighbor's about 

 80 rods from our house and told them 

 the circumstance, and the lady brought 

 out a pan of sweet milk, and told him 

 to bathe his hands and face with that, 

 which he did. It relieved him and the 

 itching stopped almost immediately. 



It is very evident that some people 

 cannot stand the poison from the sting 

 of a bee, no matter where it is in- 

 flicted. I know people who were 

 severely stung in childhood and who, 

 if they receive a single sting now, suf- 

 fer the same effects as with the first 

 severe stinging. 



In the footnote to Mr. Pellett's letter 

 Mr. Dadant says : " It looks as if, in 

 the above mentioned case, the poison 

 had reached an artery or a vein so as 

 to get into the circulation instanta- 

 neously. Luckily, such instances are 



rare." I would like to ask .Mr. Dadant 

 if he thinks the same thing would 

 occur with the veteran beekeeper who 

 had stood the "shot and s'lell " for 

 years." If that was the case, we would 

 hear of it more frequently. Very few 

 persons who keep bees for any length 

 of time get along without getting a 

 severe stinging at some stage of the 

 game, and we all know the bees are not 

 at all particular where. In the writer's 

 opinion // is impossible to work irith 

 bees and aToid all stings, as some brag 

 of doing. The beekeeper who cannot 

 stand a few stings without getting the 

 effects described is treading on dan- 

 gerous ground. 



Personally, I had rather be stung by 

 a bee than bit by a mosquito. But, then, 

 I think I am inoculated. In the past 



five years I have been letting the bees 

 treat me for rheumatism ; the beauty 

 of it is one can take a treatment at 

 any time and it doesn't cost anything. 

 As to results, I have nothing to say ex- 

 cept I do not care to express myself in 

 the presence of Dr. Bonney. 

 Center Junction, Iowa. 



[I believe Mr. Pangburn answers his 

 own question, when he says " I am in- 

 oculated." As Mr. Langstroth said: 

 " It may be some comfort to novices 

 to know that the poison will pro- 

 duce less and less effect upon their 

 system. Old beekeepers, like Mithri- 

 dates, appear almost to thrive upon 

 poison itself." — Editor.] 



Miscellaneous ^ News Items 



New England Meetings When this 



number of the Bee Journal reaches the 

 subscribers, the Editor will be in New 

 England, and neighboring States, mak- 

 ing his proposed visit organized 

 through the kindly efforts of Prof. Bur- 

 ton N. Gates, of Amherst, Mass. 



Up to the present time, July 18, the 

 following meetings have been planned : 



July 29 — Massachusetts Society of 

 Beekeepers, Glenwood Farm, summer 

 home of Frank R. Swert, West Mans- 

 field, Mass. 



July 31 — New Jersey meeting. Mount 

 Holly, N. J. 



August 1— New Jersey meeting at 

 Elizabeth, N. J. 



August 3 and 4 — Connecticut meet- 

 ing at the Agricultural College, Storrs, 

 Conn. 



August 5— Worcester County Bee- 

 keepers and Eastern Massachusetts 

 Society at W. E. Parker's, West Boyl- 

 ston, Mass. 



August 10 — Berkshire Beekeepers' 

 Association at Pittsfield, Mass., at Hon. 

 W. Murray Crane's estate. A three- 

 minute walk from trolley. If it rains, 

 meeting will be held in Y. M.C. A. Hall. 



August 11 — Eastern New York, phce 

 not yet named. 



August 12— Adirondack Beekeepers' 

 Association at Moreau Farm, one mile 

 from the station, H. E. Gray, Fort Ed- 

 ward, N. Y. 



August 14— Vermont Beepeepers' As- 

 sociation, Addison House, Middlebury, 

 Vermont. 



Correspondence for the Editor should 

 be addressed in care of Prof. Gates, at 

 Amherst, Mass. 



A delightful time is anticipated. 



Lockport, or 10 miles northwest of 

 Akron, or four miles south of Gasport, 

 N. Y. A good program is in prepara- 

 tion, and a most enjoyable time is 

 looked for. Bring your friends, your 

 veil, and don't forget the basket lunch. 

 All beekeepers welcome. 



William F. Vollmer, Sec. 



A Busy Spot The Dadant family 



has produced during this clover crop, 

 more honev than it ever did. We have 

 just put up the 125th barrel of clover 

 honey. 



Our largest day's extracting yielded 

 5700 pounds, and we did not use a 

 power extractor either. 



Correspondence. — We are receiving 

 the American Bee Journal regularly, 

 the May number having arrived yester- 

 day, and I thank you for your kindness. 

 The blooming season has been very 

 fine so far. The black locust {Robinia 

 Pseudo-acacia) has just closed its bloom- 

 ing, which has been hurried a little 

 early by a storm. We had ample fruit 

 bloom and kale. Now the tulip trees 

 (Liriodendron tulipifera) are about to 

 bloom, and we expect the sweetly per- 

 fumed lindens to open next week. 



My father spends much time with his 

 bees. He had but few swarms this 

 year, so we are expecting a good honey 

 crop. 



With my thanks I send my compli- 

 ments and those of my father. 



[Miss] Valentine Visconti. 



Cernusco, Province of Milan, Italy. 



The Western New York Honey-Pro- 

 ducers' Association will hold its annual 

 basket picnic and field meeting on Sat- 

 urday Aug. 12, at the apiary of Roy 

 Wisterman, at Dysinger's Corners, N. 

 Y., which is located on the Lockport- 

 Akron road, six miles southeast of 



Honey Crops in Russia. — According 

 to the Russian Beekeepers' Review, a 

 Mr. Kormiljcew harvested from one 

 colony 688 pounds of extracted honey. 

 At the close of the crop the colony 

 had a working force with a weight of 

 37 pounds. From this he tries to show 

 that the crop of anyone colony is in 

 direct proportion to the working force, 

 such proportion being one-half of the 



