334 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 



First Nat'l Bank Bldg., Hamilton, 111. 



Entered as second-class matter at the 

 Hamilton, Illinois, Postoffice. 



C. P. Dadant, Editor. 



Dr, C. C. Miller, Associate Editor. 



Frank C. Pellett, StaflF Correspondent. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



IMPORTANT NOTICE 



THE SUBSCRIPTION PRICE of this Jour- 

 nal is $1.00 per year in the United States of 

 America and Mexico; 3 years, $2.25; 5 years, 

 $3.00; in Canada, 10 cents extra, and in all 

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THE WRAPPER LABEL DATE indicates 

 the end of the month to which subscription is 

 paid. For instance, "dec 17" on your label 

 shows that it is paid to the end of December, 

 1917. 



SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.— We do not 

 send a receipt for money sent us to pay sub- 

 scription, but change the date on your ad- 

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 received and credited. In case of errors, 

 please write us. 



(Copyright: 1917, by C. P. Dadant.) 



October S 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



Morley Pettit Resigns 



Mr. Morley Pettit, of the Ontario 

 Agricultural College, has resigned as 

 Provincial Apiarist, and after No- 

 vember 1, 1917, will devote his atten- 

 tion to the Pettit apiaries, with 

 headquarters at Georgetown, Ont. 



The system of teaching of bee- 

 keeping, as well as the active advance- 

 ment of beekeeping in Ontario can be 

 traced largely to the thoroughness 

 and personal application of Mr. Pet- 

 tit since he was appointed there. 



A close student and a practical bee- 

 keeper as well, Mr. Pettit has insti- 

 tuted a system in Ontario which has 

 been the working model for many 

 State institutions in this country. We 

 wish him well in his private endeav- 

 ors. 



No announcement has been made 

 as yet as to who will be chosen to fill 

 the vacancy left in the department 

 by Mr. Pettit. 



New Honey Plant From China 



When our stafif correspondent vis- 

 ited Washington last winter he 

 learned of some new plant introduc- 

 tions which looked promising for the 

 beekeeper. Arrangements were made 

 for trial of these plants at his garden 

 in Iowa. Because of nematodes the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry decided not 

 to 3end out any specimens of some 

 which it had been expected would be 

 given a trial. 



About fifty specimens of Vitex ne- 

 gundo incisa reached Atlantic in time 

 for planting last spring. These were 

 at that time mere switches about a 

 foot high, but they have made a fine 

 growth the past season and have 

 bloomed profusely considering their 

 small size. 



The plant was found at Shantung, 

 China, by Mr. Frank N. Meyer, an ex- 



plorer for the Department of Agri- 

 culture. He describes it as follows: 



"A sage which may prove to be a 

 good plant for the arid southwestern 

 States. It is able to resist alkali re- 

 markably well. The Chinese use it 

 for basketry manufacture, taking the 

 annual shoots for this purpose. It 

 has pretty blue flowers and is dili- 

 gently visited by all kinds of bees, 

 and as such it might be grown in gar- 

 dens as a semi-ornamental shrub and 

 as a honey plant. It grows when left 

 alone, up to 20 feet tall." 



The thing that makes it of special 

 value to the beekeeper is its long 

 period of bloom at a time when (in 

 Iowa) there is little nectar to be had. 

 It began blooming the last week in 

 July and the last blooms have not en- 

 tirely faded on the 10th of September. 

 Generally grown as an ornamental 

 in cities and towns, cemeteries, etc., 

 it should add materially to the bee 

 pasturage of the localities. As yet it 

 is uncertain whether it is sufficiently 

 hardy for the Iowa winters, but bee- 

 keepers in the southwest can try it 

 with confidence. We are informed 

 that the Bureau of Plant Industry at 

 Washington has a limited number of 

 plants ready for distribution, which 

 will be sent free to beekeepers who 

 will give some care to testing and re- 

 porting the value of the new intro- 

 duction. 



Bindweed for Honey 



On page 380 of the Xovembcr. 1915, 

 issue of this Journal, reference is 

 made to the fact that a member of 

 our staff had received a specimen oi 

 black bindweed, Polygonum convol- 

 vulus, with the statement that the 

 bees were working on it. In leaf and 

 vine the plant is very similar to 

 morning glory, but the blossom is very 



small and the seed somewhat resem- 

 bles buckwheat. At that time we 

 could find no record of the bindweed 

 as a honey-plant and asked for notes 

 from any of our readers who had ob- 

 served the bees on it. 



Although this reference has been 

 borne in mind since that time, not 

 until recently have the bees been ob- 

 served working on this plant. In our 

 plant garden in Iowa there is a lib- 

 eral amount of this species, and for 

 a time, in early September, the bees 

 worked on it eagerly. So many bees 

 were working on the plant that it 

 seemed evident that under certain 

 conditions it might be valuable. 



We will be glad to hear from any 

 observer who has noted similar con- 

 ditions, as we are anxious to learn 

 more about the value of this plant. 

 In this connection we are always 

 glad to receive specimens of any un- 

 usual plant on which the bees are 

 observed to work freely. 



Change in Supply Firms 



We have just received news that 

 the majority of the stock in the bee 

 supply firm of Kretchmer Manufac- 

 turing Company at Council Bluflfs, la., 

 has been acquired by Mr. J. T. Cal- 

 vert, of the A. I. Root Company. 



Mr. E. Kretchmer, the president of 

 the former concern and one of 

 America's oldest keekeepers, has dis- 

 posed of practically all his holdings 

 and expects to retire from active 

 business life. He has been a ster- 

 ling friend of beekeepers throughout 

 his career. 



Just what the Root Company pro- 

 pose to do with their new plant we 

 are not informed, whether it will be 

 run under its present incorporated 

 name or merged into the larger com- 

 pany as one of its branches. 



Advance in Cost of Supplies 



Recent quotations from supply 

 dealers show an advance in prices on 

 bee supplies ranging from 20 to 40 

 per cent over those in effect during 

 the present year. 



The advance has been greatest in 

 all articles of metal, since the metal 

 has been extremely hard to get and 

 the price is abnormally high. 



Raw lumber has also advanced in 

 some instances as much as SO per 

 cent. 



We would urge beekeepers to an- 

 ticipate their needs as much in ad- 

 vance as possible and buy early. 

 Early order discounts apply in the 



