370 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



of boiling the supers, separators and 

 section holders, to remove the pro- 

 polis. They come from the bath as 

 clean and white as new. This saves 

 much labor and the work is done 

 much better and quicker. To elim- 

 inate the most disagreeable job con- 

 nected with comb-honey production 

 in such a simple way is a stroke of 

 genius. 



There are many extensive bee- 

 keepers in Northern Michigan and 

 numerous localities are fully stocked 

 with bees. But there is a vast terri- 

 tory where conditions are similar 

 and where few bees e.xist. However, 

 there are also numerous disadvan- 

 tages. The forest fires are a constant 

 menace, to the property, if not the 

 lives, of the beekeepers in some sec- 

 tions; the winters are long and cold 

 and snow lies until late in spring. 

 The soil is sandy and underlaid with 

 coarse gravel, which makes it un- 

 promising as a farming country. The 

 season is too short to grow corn suc- 

 cessfully. The exclusive honey pro- 



ducer who likes rigorous winters is 

 doing very well and no finer country 

 can be found in summer. The man 

 who is fond of fishing and hunting 

 should enjoy life here to the full. 

 Fo.xes are plentiful and bear and deer 

 are still to be found in remote neigh- 

 borhoods. Towns, roads and schools 

 are surprisingly good and there is 

 little to ask in these directions. The 

 people are wide-awake and hospita- 

 ble and as good neighbors as one 

 could find. We cant forget the trout 

 that Mrs. Gordon served, fresh from 

 the stream, or the wild red raspber- 

 ries and maple syrup that Mrs. Hub- 

 bard provided, along with such din- 

 ners as make one feel that it is good 

 to be alive and on the road. The 

 roar of the bees among the milk- 

 weeds still sounds in our ears as we 

 close our eyes and fancy ourselves 

 among the hills of Michigan. Such 

 memories insure that no opportunity 

 will be missed to go once again to the 

 north country in vacation time. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 



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



Entered as second-class matter at the 

 Hamilton, Illinois, PostofSce. 



C. P. Dadant, Editor. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, Associate Editor. 



Frank C. Pellett, Staff Correspondent. 



IMPORTANT NOTICE 



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



THE EDITOR*S VIEWPOINT 



Our Cover Picture 



Many beekeepers, especially be- 

 ginners, do not think of the best 

 place to locate an apiary till they 

 consider for the first time the win- 

 tering of their bees. Our cover pic- 

 ture, which was used similarly in the 

 American Bee Journal several years 

 ago, represents an apiary which is 

 ideally surrounded by buildings and 

 shrubbery to serve as windbreaks 

 for the sharpest winter winds. 



Apicultural Experiments 



Prof. R. L. Webster, State Ento- 

 mologist, who has charge of experi- 

 mental work in entomology in the 

 Iowa Experiment Station, is planning 

 some extensive experiments in bee- 

 keeping. Mr. E. W. Atkins, formerly 

 experimental assistant to Dominion 

 Apiarist Sladen, of Canada, has been 

 selected for direct charge of the ex- 

 perimental work and has been at 

 work since March. 



Among other lines of investigation 

 they are considering making com- 

 parison of the package bees from the 

 south with wintered-over colonies to 

 ascertain whether it is cheaper to 

 buy bees in packages than to winter 

 on natural stores. This will require 

 several years' test to secure satisfac- 

 tory data. A comparative test of the 

 various races of bees in commercial 

 honey production under Iowa condi- 

 tions is also planned. Much objec- 

 tion has been raised to the Carniolan 

 bee on account of excessive swarm- 

 ing and tests will be made to see 

 whether this can be controlled by 

 means of large hives and deep 

 frames. 



A careful survey of bees now in 

 Iowa apiaries is under way and a 

 comparison of the best colonies from 

 apiaries in various parts of the State 

 is being made. Measurements are 

 taken of the tongues of workers from 

 these best colonies. Tests already 



made have shown that bees making 

 unusual showing have slightly longer 

 tongues, as a rule. When the most 

 promising colonies have been lo- 

 cated it is the plan to rear queens in 

 an isolated location where they can 

 be mated to drones selected in sim- 

 ilar manner. In this connection we 

 would suggest that beekeepers with 

 colonies that have shown unusual 

 qualities correspond with Prof. At- 

 kins with a view of furnishing a few 

 workers for these measurements. 

 Other experiments, including some 

 special tests of hives in wintering, 

 will be undertaken. 



The beekeepers of Iowa are to be 

 congratulated on the practical nature 

 of the work which Prof. Webster and 

 Mr. Atkins have outlined. The re- 

 sults of these experiments will be 

 watched with interest. 



Isle of Wight Disease 



The British Bee Journal for Sep- 

 tember 20 gives a very gloomy view 

 of the condition of beekeeping in 

 England, in an article copied from 

 "Nature." It says that "the mortality 

 among bees which passes by the 

 name of 'Isle of Wight Disease' con- 

 tinues with unabated severity and 

 has now spread to nearly every dis- 

 trict in England, destroying innumer- 

 able colonies in its progress and 

 threatening to annihilate, or at least 

 reduce to insignificant proportions, 

 the beekeeping industry." 



In the same number we find an ar- 

 ticle by W. H. White, strongly con- 

 demning the feeding of sugar to bees 

 and claiming it to cause the disease, 

 in the following words: "I am one of 

 those who can see a connection be- 

 tween sugar feeding and the Isle of 

 Wight disease, and the practice of 

 stripping brood chambers of their 

 honey, and substituting sugar syrup 

 is worthy of severe condemnation. 

 What sort of progeny can one rea- 

 sonably e.xpect from a queen which 

 has been feeding all winter on an ad- 

 mittedl}' inferior food?" 



A similar argument was extended 

 a few years ago by our old and ex- 

 perienced friend, Ulrich Gubler, then 

 editor of the "Bulletin," of French 

 Switzerland. Numerous are the men 

 who claim that sugar syrup is an in- 

 complete and injurious substitute for 

 honey. It must be acknowledged 

 that, if we consider honey as safer 

 and healthier for human beings than 

 artificially made sugars, it must be 

 also, and with greater probability, 

 healthier for bees. But from this to 

 the statement that sugar syrup weak- 



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