January, 1910. 



American ^ec JonrnaJj 



product that I could get as an even ex- 

 change 20 to 3(i years ago? Have I 

 been guilty of lying when I have told 

 my brother agriculturist and friends 

 having large families, that bread with a 

 little honey spread on it would be rel- 

 ished, and be better for the children 

 than b\itter? And was I wrong when 1 

 told them that honey was cheaper than 

 any kind uf sauce, because it would 

 keep indefinitely, so as to be just as 

 good a week, a month, or a year after 

 putting on the table, if all was not 

 eaten at a single meal ; while sauce that 

 was not eaten up was poor or worth- 

 less unless eaten soon after it was 

 made, or a can containing the preserved 

 product opened? 



But I will not enlarge further. If 

 there is one in the bee-keeping ranks 

 who can solve the question, why honey 

 does not advance in price in something 

 nearly an equal ratio with other farm 

 products; and why it is that when farm 

 products drop somewhat in price, 

 honey generally takes a "slump," we 

 should like to hear from him. 



I am very anxious to hear through 

 the columns of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal the '■ unravelling " of the mystery, 

 and ask in the heading of this article, 

 " U7iy are lliise things so.'" 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Apiarian Exhibit at Kansas 

 State Fair 



BY J. C. FR.^XK. 



I am sending a view of " The Golden 

 Apiary " exhibit at the Kansas State 

 Fair, held at Hutchinson Sept. 11 to 17, 

 1909. The judges were C. P. Dadant 

 and Dr. G. Bohrer. 



The premiums awarded were as fol- 

 lows : 



Best 3-banded Italian bees and aueen in 

 observatory hive— ist. Golden .\piary. S?; 2d. 

 W. I. Measer. S3: 3d. J. J. Measer. S2. 



Best 3-banded Italian queen in maiHn^- 

 cage — 1st, W. [. Measer. S3; 2d. Golden Api- 

 ary. S2; 3d. J. J. Measer Si. 



Best Golden Italian bees and queen in ob- 

 servatory hive— 1st. W. I. Measer. S5: 2d. J. 

 J. Measer. S3; 3d. Golden Apiary. $2. 



Best Golden Italian queen in mailing-care 

 — ist. Golden Apiary. $3; 2d. J. J. Measer. S2. 



Best display of beesand queen— ist. Golden 

 Apiary. Ss; 2d. J. J. Measer. S3; 3d. W. I. Mea- 

 ser. S2. 



Best case of white comb honey. 20 sections 

 or more— ist. J. J. Measer. $5; 2d. W. I. Mea- 

 ser, $3: 3d. Golden .\piary. S2. 



Best case of amber comb honey. 20 sec- 

 tions or more, any variety— ist. Golden Api- 

 ary Ss; 2d. J. J. Measer, S3; 3d. W. I. Mea- 

 ser, $2. 



Best case of white clover hones', 20 sec- 

 'tions or more— ist, W. I. Measer. Ss; 2d, J. J. 

 \Ieaser. S3- 



Best case of alfalfa comb honey, 20 sections 

 or more— ist. Golden ."Vpiary. Ss; 2d. W. I. 

 Measer. S2; 3d. J. J. Measer. $2. 



Best display of comb honey— ist. Golden 

 Apiary. Sio; 2d, J. J. Measer. S8; 3d. W. I. 

 Measer. $5. 



Best special designs in comb honey— ist, 

 J. J. Measer. $8; 2d. Golden Apiary. SS- 



Best comb of white honey for extracting— 

 ist. Golden Apiary. Si; 2d, J. J. Measer. S2; 

 3d. W. I. Measer. Si. 



Best comb of amber honey for extracting— 

 ist, J. J. Measer. S3; 2d. Golden Apiary. S2; 

 3d. W. I. Measer. $1. 



Best dozen i-pound jars of white extracted 

 honey— ist. Golden Apiary. S3: 2d, J. J. Mea- 

 ser. S2; 3d. W. I. Measer. Si. 



Best dozen i-pound jars of amber extracted 

 honey— ist. Golden .\piary. S3; 2d, J. J. Mea- 

 ser. $2; 3d. W. I. Measer, Si. 



Best sample of sweet clover extracted 

 honey, i-pound jars- ist. W. I. Measer, S3; 

 2d. Golden .■\piary. $2: 3d. I. J. Measer. Si. 



Best display of extracted honey— ist. Gold- 



en .-^pi.iry. Sio; 2d. J. J. Measer. 58; 3d. W. I. 

 Measer. Ss. 



Best ^pounds of yellow beeswax— ist. 

 Golden .Apiary. Ss; 2d. J. J. Measer, S?: 3d. 

 W. I. Measer. $2. 



Best designs in beeswax— 1st. J. J. Measer. 

 S«; 2d. W. I. .Measer, S5; 3d. Mrs. Delia Mea- 

 ser. S2. 



Best sample of houcy-vinegar, with recipe 

 for making— 1st. Golden Apiary, S3; 2d, J. J. 

 .Measer. $2; 3d. W. I. Measer, Si. 



Best display of bee-keepers's supplies— 1st. 

 W. R. Randle Seed Co.. Sio; 2d. Golden .-Api- 

 ary. $8. . 



Best and most attractive apiary display— 

 ist. Golden Apiarv. Sio; 2d. J. J. Measer. S8; 

 3d. W. I. Measer. S^. 



Kor best manipulation of swarm of bees in 

 cage by any person— ist. Golden .Apiary. $10. 



Best collection of honey-producing plants 

 and flowers, mounted— ist, J. J. Measer. $5; 

 2d. Golden -Apiary, S3. 



This was said to be the best exhibit 

 that was ever put up at the Kansas 

 State Fair. 



Dodge City, Kan. 



1.— Bee-Talks for Beginners 



I3V JIMSU.N RAGWEED, OF INDI.\N.\. 



I am a bee-keeper, honey-dealer, sup- 

 ply-dealer, office boy, janitor, and I 

 look after a number of other details. I 

 have even expended some money in 

 advertising bee-supplies, but I have re- 

 solved that if Carnegie wants to die 

 poor just let him try advertising bee- 

 supplies. I have just finished a good 

 dinner, consisting of Dutch potato 

 salad, pigs' feet, and fruit salad with 

 whipped cream, and three candied 

 cherries in the whipped cream, and 

 now I feel like talking. 



Beginners .and Bee-Liter.ature. 



I have helped to initiate a whole lot 

 of beginners in the mystic realm of 

 bee-keeping, and am still at it, and 

 what a pleasure it is to watch some of 

 them grow and secure the very best re- 

 sults — and how aggravating to see 

 others who never cease making blun- 

 ders! Many of these beginners are 

 readers of the bee-publications, and 

 many of them never will subscribe, 

 although a bee-paper and a text-book 

 ought to be a part of the first outfit 

 with any beginner, especially since our 

 bee-publications are now gotten up so 

 beautifully and so elegantly illustrated. 

 Some claim that they cannot under- 

 stand the terms used in the bee-papers, 

 but I believe that with even a limited 

 experience this would all reveal itself. 



Bee-Keeping Without Veils. 



One man explains that he would be 

 fascinated with the business were it 

 not that all the engravings which come 

 before him in the bee-books, where 

 one is manipulating a hive, show the 

 operator bundled up with veil and 

 gloves, and that he thought the busi- 

 ness must therefore be very dangerous. 

 In looking over my books I find this to 

 be true, and it just spoils the engrav- 

 ings, too, as well as alarming the be- 

 ginner. Can it be that Dr. Miller, 

 Ernest R. Root, and VV. Z. Hutchinson, 

 don a veil every time they open up a 

 hive? Judging from various engrav- 

 ings I infer that they do, and that re- 

 minds me that if I had the three of 

 them engaged in my apiary I could not 

 afford to pay them as much as the 

 other boys who do not require veils. 

 However, it would be gratifying to 

 know that they were not smoking 



cigarets as soon as my back was turned, 

 for they cannot smoke cigarets and 

 wear a veil. 



I have always advised beginners to 

 use a veil, and I always keep a surplus 

 for visitors, but with me the charms of 

 bee-keeping would disappear if I had to 

 continue the use of a veil. I do not 

 use a veil, and I do not get stung, and 

 I use the least possible smoke, but this 

 cannot be learned from books — it re- 

 quires actual experience, and one can 

 become so familiar with their bees that 

 a fighting, stinging bee can be picked 

 up before the bee can get. a foothold 

 with its feet, which it must do before 

 using its sting. Of course, some of the 

 foreign races are very vicious, and a 

 veil would be required, and one must 

 learn, for his safety, to consider weath- 

 er conditions, the time of day, and the 

 honey-flow; I do remember an early 

 experience where a foreign bee that 

 had not yet become Amercanized, 

 stung me inside the nostril, and it hurt 

 so badly that I felt that to take my pen- 

 knife and cut my nose ofT would be a 

 relief. 



Robber-Bees in the Apiary. 



I am frequently asked how to stop- 

 robbing, and it is aboui the most diffi- 

 cult question that is ever presented, 

 for, after robbing is started, it is very 

 difficult to stop it, and it should be im- 

 pressed on all that prevention is the 

 best remedy. In visiting good, progres- 

 sive bee-men I have been greatly sur- 

 prised how much robbing was tolerated. 

 Many have the habit of placing any 

 waste honey in the open air to be taken 

 by the bees as a matter of economy, 

 not realizing that this will demoralize 

 a lot of bees, for it seems to me that 

 " once a robber always a robber," and 

 the robbers have a way of reporting 

 any '" find " to their comrades. 



I have observed some peculiar inci- 

 dents in connection with robbers. 

 Once I overlooked a brood-comb con- 

 taining some honey which I left at the 

 base of an apple-tree. On returning to 

 the yard I found that the bees had car- 

 ried away the honey, and a throng of 

 bees were hovering about the base of 

 all trees in the orchard. I wondered 

 if the first scout, on returning with its 

 morsel, had not told one of the senti- 

 nels, in the bee-language, that the loot 

 was to be found at the base of one of 

 the trees. 



On another occasion I left a dish of 

 honey in a south window of my honey- 

 house, and in a little while there was a 

 throng of bees at each south window 

 of my house, and the same thing pre- 

 vailed at my neighbor's, a block away. 

 Evidently the discoverer had stopped 

 and shouted at the top of his voice, 

 "Come on. kids! right out here at a 

 south window !" 



If I should spill a few drops of honey 

 or sryup on a hive cover I would im- 

 mediately wipe it away with a wet 

 towel, rather than have my bees take it 

 up and then become demoralized ; and 

 I am very sure this would be good 

 economy. 



Chunk Honey Increasing. 



Because bees are so very interesting 

 we find a great many men keeping a 

 few colonies just for the pleasure of 

 studying their wonderful ways. If de- 



