314 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



September 



the W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co.) were 

 taken over by me and their mailing 

 lists continued with that of the 

 American Bee Journal. Thus there 

 were three "Americans" in one. The 

 bee papers referred to were the best 

 and longest-lived of any of the new 

 bee papers. 



It is just possible that there were 

 others that were taken over by the 

 American Bee Journal before my 

 connection with it, which began with 

 the spring of 1884. 



For many years practically all 

 copies of the new bee papers were 

 preserved in the office of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and, finally, if my 

 memory serves me rightly, I disposed 

 of the whole accumulation to Mr. 

 Morley Pettit, of the Ontario Agri- 

 cultural College. So I suppose he 

 has the most complete files of all the 

 bee papers that were ever published 

 on this continent. 



I think that the beekeeping indus- 

 try is quite sufficiently well served 

 with the periodical literature of the 

 present day, including, of course, the 

 many excellent standard books on 

 the subject. In fact, I do not see how 

 any of the older publications could 

 well be improved. But if they can 

 be, it will come through larger sub- 

 scription lists rather than by the 

 creation of more new publications. 

 GEORGE W. YORK. 



Blind Horse in Apiary.— A blind 

 horse belonging to Charles Rice, of 

 Durham township, got loose and 

 broke into Mr. Rice's apiary, upset- 

 ting thirty stands of bees, and when 

 discovered the poor animal was liter- 

 ally covered with bees. To aflford it 

 relief, Mr. Rice opened a gate and 

 drove the horse into another lot, but 

 the bees followed, lighting on two 

 other horses, causing them to run 

 wildly about until one fell into a 

 ditch and broke his neck and the 

 other was badly injured, while the 

 blind animal was virtually stung to 

 death,— Warsaw Bulletin. 



This is not the first time that a 

 blind horse has been killed by bees. 

 Do not let any farm animal run free- 

 ly among your beehives. 



Comb Honey is Wasteful.— The 



Missouri department is circulating 

 the following to encourage ex- 

 tracted honey production: 



"Honey may be used as a substi- 

 tute for sugar. Honey offers a po- 

 tential supply of sweets which may 

 be utilized to relieve the shortage of 

 sugar. H. B. Parks, biologist of 

 Palmer College and at present a 

 graduate student in the University of 

 Missouri College of Agriculture, 

 suggests that consumers demand ex- 

 tracted honey, first because the wax 

 oi comb honey is valueless for food; 

 second because the bees when pro- 

 ducing comb use ten times the 

 weight of the wax in honey; third 

 the section in which comb honey is 

 bought is valueless as food, yet it 

 is purchased at foodstuff prices. The 

 sections are made from linn or bass- 

 wood, which is one of the heaviest nec- 

 tar producing plants. By demanding 



extracted honey the linn or bass- 

 wood trees from which the sections 

 are made may be preserved for 

 honey production. 



"By demanding extracted honey 

 consumers obtain clean honey, hon- 

 est weight, and full food value. The 

 extracting combs can be replaced in 

 the hive after the honey has been 

 removed and the bees can refill them 

 without making additional comb. In 

 this way the bees may be kept busy 

 producing honey instead of spending 

 a great deal of their time and using 

 a great deal of honey for food in 

 building new comb. 



"By buying extracted honey the 

 consumer saves human food, which 

 would ordinarily be used by the bees 

 ill making wax, increases honey pro- 

 duction, saves the trees and helps 

 both beekeeper and supply dealer. 

 Bulletin 138 of the Missouri Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, Columbia, 

 will be of value to persons who wish 

 to produce their own honey." 



were discussed for two hours. All 

 present reported their bees in good 

 condition, demand for honey good 

 and the price higher than usual. Ev- 

 eryone left thanking our batchelor 

 beekeeper for his splendid hospi- 

 tality. W. L. COX. 



Medal Premiums at Illinois. — The 



Illinois State Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tio;i will give the following medal 

 premium awards at its next annual 

 meeting, to be held at Springfield on 

 Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 14 

 and IS, 1917: 



On ISO lbs. extracted honey, the 

 first a gold medal of L. L. Lang- 

 stroth ; the second, silver medal of 

 Chas. Dadant. 



On ISO lbs. comb honey, the first a 

 gold medal of C. C. Miller; the sec- 

 ond, silver medal of Moses Quinby. 



Also cash premiums will be given 

 on : 



First, on 24-lb case of comb honey, 

 $5; second on 24-lb. case of comb 

 honey, $2.S0. 



First, on 24-lbs. of extracted honey, 

 $S; second, on 24-lbs. of extracted 

 honey, $2.50. 



Conditions — Exhibitors must be 

 beekeepers, and producers of their 

 own exhibits, and may be from any 

 State or from Canada. 



No exhibit to receive more than 

 one prize, and no two persons to ex- 

 hibit from the same apiary. 



Those who receive medals are not 

 to be considered in the cash prizes. 



Certificates will be issued to each 

 one receiving a medal, giving them 

 a right to hold the medal for one 

 year. In the years following, if they 

 shall have received the third certifi- 

 cate for the same, it shall entitle 

 them to permanent ownership. 



The awards will be made — by bal- 

 lot — by the members present who 

 are not competitors, and who have 

 no interest with those competing. 



It will be necessary for those who 

 exhibit to notify the secretary thirty 

 days previous to the date of our 

 meeting, in order that space may be 

 arranged for. 



JAS. A. STONE, Sec', 

 R. No. 4, Springfield, 111. 



The July Government Crop Report. 



— Of much significance is the crop re- 

 port issued by the Department of Ag- 

 riculture and giving resiime of crop 

 conditions up to July 1, 1917. Ordi- 

 narily a little over SO per cent of the 

 honey crop of the United States is 

 produced before this date. 



According to the report all condi- 

 tions this year are below the normal 

 and very much below those of last 

 j^ear, which was by no means a record 

 breaker. The condition of colonies 

 on July 1 was 86 per cent, as com- 

 pared to 94 per cent of normal in 1916. 

 The condition of honey plants was 71 

 per cent, as compared to 90 per cent 

 last year. 



In 1916 the average per colony yield 

 of the United States was, on July 1, 

 26 pounds. It was 21^ pounds in 

 191S, while this year it has dropped 

 to ISyi pounds, or just half of what it 

 was in 1916. 



There is no doubt but that the sea- 

 son was late over the entire country 

 this year, but certainly not late 

 enough to make such a difference as 

 between 13 and 26 pounds. Thus the 

 report would indicate that the crop 

 is very short. With the demand so 

 exceedingly strong, prices are bound 

 to be high, much higher, probably, 

 than many beekeepers expect. We 

 will await the next monthly crop re- 

 port with interest. 



Washington Field Meet. — The 



Western Washington Beekeepers' 

 met at the apiary of George W. 

 Blair, at Gate, June 22, for their first 

 field day and picnic. After dinner 

 the various phases of beekeeping 



Paper Containers Again. — We have 

 a very interesting letter from one of 

 our valued subscribers in the Repub- 

 lic of Argentina, which we reprint in 

 full for the benefit of our readers. 

 For local sales the paper bottles 

 should be all right. They have yet to 

 stand the test of long shipments: 



"It appears that honey packages are 

 getting to be quite a problem in the 

 U. S. A., as well as here. I used to get 

 all my jars and cans from the U. S., 

 but the war has sent ocean freight up 

 to such an extent that it is no longer 

 possible to import jars or cans. I 

 therefore ordered a trial lot of 1,000 

 paper pint bottles, as the freight on 

 these is very much less, as they are 

 light and occupy a small space. I had 

 many misgivings about their suitabil- 

 ity, but am now sorry I did not order 

 a larger quantity. 



These paper bottles are made of 

 paraffined cardboard, and I found that 

 they held liquid honey quite well, 

 provided melted parafiine is put over 

 the lid. This package sells easily, 

 but it is well to have honey in glass 

 jars as a sample of the kind in the 

 paper bottles. 



I got into some trouble with the 

 content of the pint bottles. As I did 

 not know how much a pint was I 

 looked it up in a table of English 

 weights and measures and found :t 

 to be S88 cc (cubic cm), so I sold the 

 bottles as containing 800 grammes. I 



