60 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



February 



body, well ripened even to stringiness, 

 with a flavor that can be described only 

 as eucalyptus flavor, which of course 

 means nothing to one who has never 

 tasted it. Those who prefer honies of 

 light color are not likely to approve of 

 it; those who like the darker honies 

 may. In Australia, the home of the 

 eucalyptus, the flavoris highly esteemed, 

 and Australian beekeepers cannot un- 

 derstand why eucalyptus honey does 

 not class with the best in London, 

 where they have been anxious to estab- 

 lish a market for it. Some years ago a 

 leading beekeeper of Australia brought 

 to our place samples of several differ- 

 ent kinds of eucalyptus honey, which 

 varied no little. This California sam- 

 ple would probably rank with the best 

 of the Australian. 



Those are fine views. With every- 

 thing in northern Illinois covered with 

 snow, and the thermometer for days 

 playing about the zero point, it takes 

 some imagination to fancy one's self 

 sitting under those palms. The other 



picture awakens awe at the grandeur 

 of the sight, and it would be fine to be 

 there to work with the bees, but to 

 live there the year around would seem 

 a rather lonely thing, for it doesn't 

 look as if neighbors were very plenty. 

 You are right in liking the newspa- 

 per plan of uniting. It is so effective, 

 so successful, and so little trouble. 

 Just put a sheet of common newpaper 

 over the top-bars of one hive, set the 

 other hive over that, and you may trust 

 the bees to do their own uniting; first 

 gnawing a very small hole through the 

 paper, and uniting so gradually that 

 there is no fighting. You can put all 

 the brood of both stories into one 

 story in three or four days, taking 

 away the paper, but if you forget them 

 for two weeks or more it will not mat- 

 ter. They will tear the paper all out 

 and carry it outdoors. One thing that 

 is no small advantage is that after the 

 imprisonment in the upper story, the 

 bees will not return to the old stand 

 as they would if not thus imprisoned. 



ined by the inspector or his deputies. 

 Of these 360 colonies were found in- 

 fected and ordered treated. Mr. Blaker 

 has a very efficient system of records 

 by loose leaf cards, which aids in 

 checking the spread of disease. 



Through cooperation with the Divis- 

 ion of Bee Culture at the Agricultural 

 College, efforts are being made to perm- 

 anently keep free from disease apiaries 

 within reach of the University Farm 

 beekeeping region. 



Miscellaneous <^ News Items 



Government Bulletin on North Caro- 

 lina Beekeeping. — "A Survey of Bee- 

 keeping in North Carolina," is the title 

 of a 10-page government bulletin writ- 

 ten by E. G. Carr, of New Jersey, who 

 made a survey of conditions in that 

 State from Oct. 1 to Dec. 22, 1915 under 

 Dr. Phillips' Bureau of Bee Investiga- 

 tions at Washington. Unfortunately 

 Mr. Carr's survey covered only a por- 

 tion of the State. 



North Carolina ranks fourth among 

 the States for number of colonies with 

 a total by the census of 189,178 colonies. 

 She ranks eleventh in value of bee- 

 products ($230,586). A large propor- 

 tion of the bees are German or black 

 bees, and are kept in log hives or gums, 

 which are either placed on log benches 

 or flat rocks. Most gums are kept in 

 thick shade for fear of melting combs, 

 much of which could be averted by bet- 

 ter ventilation. 



Swarming is uncontrolled generally, 

 resulting in reduced crops, and in 

 much loss from wax-moths which have 

 a longer season in which to extermi- 

 nate many of the weaker colonies of 

 black bees. 



Fortunately, foulbrood (American 

 only) is found in only a few counties, 

 and to a limited extent. Its ravages in 

 box-hives, unexamined, might be tre- 

 mendous. Sacbrood and paralysis are 

 also found, though to what extent is 

 not known since very few beekeepers 

 have movable-comb hives, and an ex- 

 amination of colonies is infrequent. 



Winter protection for bees is prac- 

 tically unknown, although it might be 

 practiced to advantage. The crops 



average probably from 40 to 80 pounds 

 per colony, depending upon the season 

 and on the kind of honey secured. 

 Comb, extracted, bulk comb, chunk 

 and " strained " honey are produced. 

 Beeswax is rendered from box-hives, 

 but only in a crude way, a large pro- 

 portion of the wax being lost. There 

 are three commercial queen-breeders 

 in the State. 



The honey-flora of North Carolina is 

 abundant, some of the main producers 

 being sourwood, linden, poplar, the 

 clovers, gallberry, black and tupelo 

 gum, etc. Honeydew is also abundant 

 occasionally. 



In summing up the situation Mr. 

 Carr says: 



" North Carolina has a large number 

 of bees. The pollen and nectar pro- 

 ducing flora are abundant, and the 

 honey, when properly produced, is high 

 grade. There is a good market in the 

 State for honey, and many more bees 

 could be profitably kept. The beekeep- 

 ers of North Carolina are now in 

 proper attitude to accept and niake the 

 best use of information which will 

 enable them to secure good profits 

 from bees." 



Copies of this booklet may be ob- 

 tained by addressing a request for Bul- 

 letin No. 489, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



Minnesota Inspector's Report. — The 



1916 report of the State Inspector of 

 Apiaries for Minnesota is just out. In- 

 terested parties may get copies by ad- 

 dressing the inspector, Mr. D. C. 

 Blaker, 4420 Grimes Ave., Minneapolis 

 A total of 8519 colonies were exam- 



Food lor the Child.— "The Rural 

 School Lunch " is the title of a 24 page 

 bulletin gotten out by the Domestic 

 Science Department of the University 

 of Illinois. The booklet contains much 

 of interest to the parents of school 

 children. 



One item, mentioning honey, is 

 worthy of notice. It is as follows: 

 " When we understand what is essen- 

 tial and vital for the growth and health 

 of a child, it yet remains for us to 

 know what foods will furnish these 

 essentials." 



" If an average boy were offered his 

 choice between a lunch of bread and 

 honey or one of bread and milk, he 

 would, without doubt, choose the 

 former — there is no question but the 

 former would more completely supply 

 the complex demands of a growing boy 

 or girl." 



^ 



Accident Insurance for Beekeepers. — 



The Societe Romande d'Apiulture, in 

 Switzerland, supplies its members with 

 a monthly magazine, a library of books 

 on bees, lectures, meetings, and an in- 

 surance against accidents. Here is what 

 one of its members had to say, in the 

 November, 1916, "Bulletin" concern- 

 ing losses: 



This season, I undertook the trans- 

 portation of my bees to the mountain. 

 Along the road, an accident happened; 

 four hives were upset and opened. The 

 driver was stung to such extent that he 

 was incapacitated for a week, and his 

 horses were stung so severely that one 

 of them died within 24 hours and the 

 other was hardly well after two months. 

 It had cost $240 before the accident, 

 and sold for only $160 afterwards. 



The Winthertour Insurance Com- 

 pany having a contract with our asso- 

 ciation, paid the damages, $380 for the 

 lost horse and for decrease of value of 

 the other; $102 for treatment of the 

 other saved horse, repairs of harness, 

 carriage, loss of time, etc., a total of 

 $482. 



This incident is a sufficient evidence 

 of the usefulness of our association, to 

 which we must remain faithful. It was 

 my fourth year of bee transportation 

 and the second year with the same 

 drayman. We might have said : Noth- 

 ing ever happens. But something did 

 happen this time. J. Tallant, 



Swiss Bulletin D'A piculture. 



Honey on the Farm — A recent bulle- 

 tin of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture is devoted to an analysis 



