348 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



of sealed combs to give to the bees 

 next spring, for with 8-frame hives 

 there is always need of more or less 



feeding in spring. Even more im- 

 portant in spring than winter it is to 

 feed honey rather than sugar. 



LEGAL SERVICE 

 1 DEPARTMENT « 



"I have my bees in an outyard 

 about six miles from here, but no one 

 lives there. My brother-in-law goes 

 there on week ends and I visit the 

 place about once a week. An Italian 

 family has been renting a farm for 

 some years about a mile away. They 

 have three very bad boys; they have 

 been stealing my bees with the con- 

 nivance of their parents, so I am told. 

 I have sufficient proof to have them 

 arrested, but the other ranchers in 

 the neighborhood advised me not to 

 because they say the Italian is liable 

 to burn the ranch house and the 

 apiary. The boys go at night and 

 shake the bees into an empty box, 

 and in most cases get the queen. 1 

 hate to move the bees to a new loca- 

 tion, as it is hard to find good pas- 

 ture." California. 



Answer: Petty thieving is one of 

 the most difficult things with which 

 to deal effectively. Often the penalty 

 is so small that the punishment does 

 not amoupt to much even when a 

 conviction is secured. However, it is 

 usually a mistake to put up with this 

 kind of thing indefinitely, and the 

 better element of a community should 

 be able to co-operate to such an e.x- 

 tent as would make it so hot for the 

 offenders that they would find it 

 greatly to their interest to behave 

 themselves. 



As to just what action may be 

 taken should be determined by local 



authorities. The matter should be 

 brought to the attention of the prop- 

 er officers without delaj' and resi- 

 dents of the locality should unite in 

 taking such action as the officials ad- 

 vise. 



"I would like to know whether 

 there is any law to prohibit a man 

 from moving bees, badly infected 

 with foulbrood into a healthy locality 

 in the same county, in California. We 

 are overrun with foulbrood bees 

 moved from about fifty miles in the 

 same county." California. 



Answer: Section 9 of the Califor- 

 nia law provides as follows : "It shall 

 be unlawful for any person owning or 

 controlling bees within the State, 

 which are known to be infected with 

 foulbrood or other contagious or in- 

 fectious disease, to remove said bees 

 to a new location, without first giving 

 ten days' notice to the county in- 

 spector of apiaries, stating when and 

 where he intends removing such 

 bees." 



Section 2 of the law gives the in- 

 spector ample authority to compel 

 proper attention to diseased colonies. 

 The law provides for the appointment 

 of county inspectors on petition of 

 ten resident beekeepers. 



Note. Those wishing immediate 

 answer to legal questions by mail 

 should write direct to Frank C. Pel- 

 lett at Atlantic, Iowa. 



Miscellaneous ^ News Items 



Western New York Honey Produc- 

 ers' Association. — The field meeting 

 and basket picnic of the Western 

 New York Honey Producers' Asso- 

 ciation, which was held August 11, 

 1917, at the apiary of J. Roy Lincoln, 

 at Niagara Falls, N. Y., was quite 

 largely attended considering the very 

 busy season, beekeepers from all over 

 western New York being present. 

 Refreshments were served by Mr. 

 Lincoln, and after dinner the crowd 

 journeyed to the apiary, several hives 

 were opened and honey removed. 

 This in turn was taken to the honey 

 house and put through Mr. Lincoln's 

 up-to-date extractor, steam knife 

 capping melter, etc. 



The Secretary spoke on the "Use of 

 Honey," also "The Food Value of 

 Honey." It was pointed out that 

 honey, even at 25 to 30c per pound, 

 was much more economical to buy 

 for the housewife than butter, eggs, 

 cheese, meats of all kinds, oranges. 



bananas, milk and other staple arti- 

 cles of food, thus sliowing that honey 

 should not be considered a luxury, 

 but a staple food of high calorie 

 content. Honey also has one advan- 

 tage over all the other articles inas- 

 much as it will keep almost indefi- 

 nitely, whereas other foods deterio- 

 rate very rapidly. 



There was much discussion of the 

 diseases of bees, especially the new 

 one, paralysis, as members reported 

 some. A beekeeper from Ohio told 

 of the experience he had with it, and 

 recommended putting slacked lime 

 over the bees every few days; this 

 he claimed would hold it in check, 

 at least. 



Several new members were added 

 to the association. 



WM. F. VOLLMER, Sec'y. 



Organization of the Virginia State 

 Beekeepers Association. — Blacksburg 

 is the seat of the Virginia Polytech- 



nic Institute, which is also the State 

 School of Agriculture. August 15, 16 

 and 17 the State Farmers' Institute 

 was held under the auspices of the 

 Institute. More than 1,200 delegates 

 were in attendance and enjoyed a 

 fine program.. Dr. W. J. Schoene, one 

 of the professors in the entomolog- 

 ical department, being interested in 

 bee culture, arranged a program with 

 Dr. Phillips, of Washington, as the 

 lecturer, and invited the beekeepers 

 of Virginia to attend. Dr. Phillips 

 found at the last minute that he could 

 not be there and his place was ably 

 filled by Dr. Geo. S. Demuth, of his 

 department in the national bureau. 



A goodly number of Virginians lis- 

 tened to his fine talk on wintering in 

 this climate. He advocated the use 

 of the packing case inclosing four 

 hives and also the feeding of 8 or 10 

 pounds of good sugar syrup, to be 

 stored next the brood-nest, and so 

 consumed by the colony during the 

 time in which they could not be ex- 

 pected to ordinarily take a flight. 

 The syrup to be at least two parts of 

 sugar to one of water. 



After the lecture the State Bee- 

 keepers' Association was organized, 

 with Mr. T. C. Asher. of Brookneal, 

 as President; Mr. Cocke, of Danville, 

 as Vice President, and Dr. W. J. 

 Schoene, of Blacksburg, as Secretary- 

 Treasurer. These three, and Dr. W. 

 H. Dunigan, of Gratton, and Mr. E. 

 G. Spane, of Church Road, constitute 

 the E.xecutive Committee. 



The meeting then adjourned to the 

 bee-yard, where Dr. Demuth demon- 

 strated how to find a black queen 

 that was hiding, and after she had 

 been found and removed F. M. Bald- 

 win, of Sanford, Fla., demonstrated 

 the introduction of a queen by the 

 smearing method. A fine queen that 

 had been furnished for the purpose 

 by Mr. Henry S. Bohon was im- 

 mersed in about a third of a cup of 

 honey, and after she had been well 

 rolled around in the liquid she was 

 poured down over the combs and the 

 hive at once closed and the request 

 was made that it be allowed to re- 

 main undisturbed for at least three 

 days. The front of the hive was 

 raised enough to prevent the honey 

 from running out and starting rob- 

 bing. 



It was claimed for this method that 

 it did not need an expert, that it was 

 fool-proof and that it took less of 

 the time of the bees than any other 

 method. The statement was made 

 that in recent introductions the 

 fourth day had developed hatched 

 larvae. 



Mr. Asher, of Brookneal, the new 

 President, is an enthusiastic bee- 

 keeper. He has a farm a little way 

 from the station at Brookneal and 

 500 colonies of bees in nine yards. 

 He uses a motor truck in getting 

 about and hauling supplies and 

 honey. Last year, 1916, was a poor 

 one with him and he fed up to May 

 17, last, when yellow poplar began to 

 yield. Bees bred upon this and were 

 ready for the sourwood flow in July. ■ 

 Cold weather in the spring and al- 

 most daily rains during the July 

 flow cut this year's crop down to be- 

 tween 9,000 and 10,000 pounds for 1917. 



