February, 1910. 



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American Hee Journalj 



Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Anderson. 



young. Mr. Anderson, a thorough gentle- 

 man of the New England type, was fortunate 

 in the selection of his life partner, and to 

 her is he indebted in a large measure for 

 many of the excellent qualities with which 

 hischildren and grandchildren are endowed. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the only surviv- 

 ing members of their fathers" families. 



Mr. Anderson bought his first colony 

 of bees in 1862, and has been a bee- 

 keeper ever since, his apiary usually 

 numbering 100 or more. At present 

 112 colonies are peacefully passing the 

 winter in his cellar. He has been for 

 nearly 40 years a subscriber to the 

 American Bee Journal. 



Although having lived for half a cen- 

 tury in the same village where he was 

 married, Mr. Anderson seems to be 

 not without roving tendencies, for in a 

 recent letter he writes : 



" Mrs. Anderson and myself are quite well 

 this winter for persons of our age. The hot 

 weather is the hardest on myself. Possibly 

 we may go to the North Pole next summer. 

 If we do. we shall build a summer residence 

 there, and hope you will all come and see 

 us. I wonder if it will be a good place in 

 which to keep bees I Xo danger of over- 

 stocking. " 



* ■ » 



Coal-Oil as a Bee-Sting Cure 



My cure for a bee-stin^' is to rub out the 

 sting and apply coal-oil. I am a beginner. 

 aud have 77 colonies of bees. 



Mrs. F. McLeod. 



Burnstown. Ont.. Dec. 2a. 



Seventy-seven colonies! That's pretty 

 good for a beginner. Why didn't you 

 tell us what success you have had with 

 your bees? 



A Woman and the Bee-Sting Cure 



About all the cures of rheumatism by 

 bee-stings reported so far involve only 

 the "lords of creation." Now comes 

 one of another sort, reported by W. A. 

 Pryal, in Gleanings. He says : 



Mrs. Mary Ruttenbeck. something less 

 than a year ago. became a sufferer from a 

 very severe attack of articular rheumatism, 

 the main point of attack being in her knees. 

 The malady became so violent that she was 

 not able to walk. The pain at times was ex- 

 cruciating. Her brother. Mr. Piercey. is 

 employed at the Mare Island Navy Yard, 

 this State, and is an ardent tender of a small 

 apiary which he keeps on the island. Hav- 

 ing read that bee-stings are a cure for the 

 disease in question, he sent for his sister 



and had her submit to the " honey-bee-sting 

 cure. The invalid was tenderly brought out 

 to the apiary one line spring day and seated 

 in front of a bee-hive. A bee was deftly 

 caught and made to jab its sting into the 

 lady's knee. The insect performed its part 

 of the operation in good style. Mrs. R. pro- 

 tested at being made a target for further 

 stings. She thought the pain from one sting 

 was sufficient for her for a lifetime— that it 

 was enough to drive the disease from her. 

 But Mr. Piercey thought otherwise. He was 

 not planning to practice homeopathic bee- 

 sting medicine — it was to be allopathic or 

 nothing at all. So the stinging went merrily 

 on. the patient all the while almost fainting 

 with the added pain. Mr. Piercey was fast 

 working his bees to death in this new-fan- 

 gled occupation he had found for them, for 

 he did not desist until 3g stings were duly 

 planted in his sister's knees. Then she was 

 carried away; but in leaving the apiary a bee. 

 of its own free will, gave the patient a ter- 

 rible jab in the neck— perhaps for good luck, 

 or. may be. just to say that Mrs. Ruttenbeck 

 " got it in the neck." Anyway, between get- 

 ting it in the knee and in the neck she was a 

 very sick woman for a few days. It looked 

 for a time as if the cure were going to be 

 worse than the disease. 



The turning-point came; and after a few 

 more applications of a less number of stings 

 she was able to walk. She found that it was 

 not necessary to take drastic doses of 3g 

 stings at a time. In June last she came to 

 Oakland. It was about this time that I be- 

 came acquainted with her. for a friend of 

 hers came to me to procure good, strong. 

 healthy bees that could be vouched for to 

 sting good and plentifully when occasion de- 

 manded. I found a colony of Spanish-blacks 

 that had a small percentage of Italian blood. 

 I gathered some three dozen of them into a 

 cage and told the gentleman to instruct the 

 patient that the bees should be " well shaken 

 before being taken." The instructions must 



still in the land of the living. Last year was 

 a tough one for the bees. In the spring it 

 was so rainy and wet that they had a tough 

 time. I fed the bees in May and .June. In 

 July we had a short honey-flow, and the bees 

 went to swarming like everything. In Sep- 

 tember we had a dry sijell; I had to feed the 

 bees, and I lost 15 colonies by starvation. I 

 still have 44 colonies left and 2 nuclei. Sol 

 still have plenty to start with in the spring. 

 I have all the bees in the cellar now. Tliey 

 gathered 1262 pounds of honey in July, but 

 did not get any fall honey. I have the 

 honey all sold at home, at 12^2 to 15 cents per 

 pound. If I had not doubled the colonies I 

 would not have had any surplus honey. 



Catharine Wainwright. 

 Tilton, Iowa. 



I am very glad to hear from you 

 once more, but sorry you didn't have a 

 better year; still, 12fi2 pounds is much 

 better than no crop. You did much 

 better than we did, as we got only 1000 

 sections ; had to feed too, and fight 

 European foul brood into the bargain. 

 And as your bees seem to be in a 

 healthy condition, that is much to be 

 thankful for. 



I wish more of the good sisters 

 would follow your example, and let us 

 hear how they prosper. 



The Hive-Tool in the Apiary 



In the work of the apiary every bee- 

 keeper finds the need of some kind of 

 a hive-tool. I do not think of any- 

 thing at present that makes so much 

 difference in the work as the tool one 

 uses in taking off covers, prying up 

 supers, and taking out dummies, loos- 

 ening up frames, etc. Often, too, you 

 want to clean out a hive, scraping it 

 clean of propolis or bits of wax, clean- 

 ing the propolis out of the rabbets, etc. 

 These different things need doing 

 almost constantly, and if one hive-tool 

 can be found that will answer all pur- 

 poses, it will be indeed a treasure, and 

 I just believe that we have found it. 



The tool we have used in the apiary 

 for the last 14 years is, we think, an 

 ideal tool. In fact, I don't see how it 

 could be improved upon. I am very 

 sure we would feel utterly lost in the 

 apiary without it. I wonder now how 

 we were ever satisfied to get along with 

 a screw-driver, which was the tool we 

 formerly used. 



The tool referred to was invented by 

 the late Wm. Muench, of Minnesota, 

 and patented, I believe, by him. It is 

 made entirely of malleable iron. 



The accompanying engraving gives 

 quite a good idea of the tool, but you 



The "Ideal" Hive-Tool. 



have been followed, for in a few weeks the 

 lady was able to walk from the electric-car 

 line to my place, something like a third of a 

 mile distant. 



A Sister's Report for 1909 



Dear Sister Wilson:— I thought I would 

 write a few lines to let you know that I am 



will have to try one for yourself if you 

 want to know its worth. ^ —J 



The larger end is wedge-shaped, hav- 

 ing a sharp semi-circular edge, mak- 

 ing it almost perfect in prying up cov- 

 ers, or in prying supers or hives apart, 

 as it does not mar the wood ; while 

 with the screw-driver the sharp edge 



