February, 1910. 



American 3ee Journal 



by this time was a mere nucleus, and T had no 

 brood nor even drawn combs to give them, 

 they were very slow building up. The weather 

 was so cool and windy all summer tlie bees 

 could not work more than half the time. 

 There was not a day, however, that I can re- 

 call, suitable for bee-flight, that they did not 

 bring in considerable honey, so I managed to 

 get the combs built down and the hives heavy 

 with stores for winter use. I have them in 

 the cellar, but believe they would winter very 

 well on the summer stands. 



We have no alfalfa-, no clover, nor any 

 other artificial pasturage here. The entire 

 valley. \<^here susceptible to irrigation, is going 

 into fruit, and the trees ore too youn;^ to be 

 any help to the bees. 



I was in the bee-business in South Texas a 

 good many years, but the seasons her-^ are so 

 different from what 1 have been accustomed to 

 it is almost like starting over and leatniug 

 everything anew. 



Mr. Grigsby, of California, touched on a 

 point of much interest to me, but his opinion 

 differs from mine. I would say, if possible, 

 give us more pictures. I always like a peeT 

 at the apiaries, if neatly arranged, no matter 

 how few the hives. And if I might make 

 another suggestion, give us more pictures and 

 descriptions of honey-plants from different 

 parts of the world. 



J. D. Yancey. 



Bridgeport, Wash., Jan. 17. 



Why Honey Brings the Same Price 

 as 20 Years Ago. 



In answer to the question, "Why Are These 

 Things So?" by G. M. Doolittle, in the Jan- 

 uary number, I will try to give an answer 

 why I think prices have not changed. 



First, because we depend too much upon 

 the commission merchant to sell our crop for 

 us. Another thing is, the man who does not 

 care how he puts his honey on the market. 

 Then, honey is not used as other foods, but 

 more as a luxury. Honey also has many sub- 

 stitutes, while other foods have not. If we 

 would try to sell our honey by advertising 

 in some good journal or paper, we soon find 

 we have better prices. But in order to do this 

 we must send out samples of what we have, 

 and be surp it is all right. And after we 

 get our customers we will have no trouble in 

 keeping them and getting a good price for our 

 product. That is, if we still give them good, 

 ripe honey. 



Mr. Doolittle said that honey does not ad- 

 vance in prices with other farm produce, but 

 still takes a "slump" when those things do. 

 I think he must be mistaken in this, for 

 honey is governed as to the amount produced 

 as are all other things which we raise. If 

 Mr. D. had taken the market price on eggs 

 and butter along in the month of May, he 

 would find that eggs were not 40 to 50 cents 

 a dozen, as stated here. 



I will say again, put your honey up in good 

 order; have it good and ripe; sell direct to 

 the consumer, and- it will not be long till we 

 have better prices. There are now also 5 bee- 

 keepers to where there was one 20 years ago. 



Now, I have told you how we can get better 

 prices, and why I think they do not rise; 1 

 would like to hear from others on this ques- 

 tion. Ray A. Hamilton. 



Donovan, 111. 



Pictures of Apiaries — Non-Swarming. 



Editor York: — I have read the November 

 number of the "Old Reliable" with the usual 

 pleasure, and the best of all was that nice, 

 kind reproof you gave me concerning the little 

 protest I offered regarding pictures of faces 

 and apiaries. Although it made me feel j ust 

 a little ashamed of myself, I must confess that 

 it did me good to read it, in more ways than 

 one. Mr. York, you are certainly an artist. 

 Send on your pictures. I have no more to 

 say. I suppose I have gotten myself into 

 business by speaking of the compliments that 

 have been passed on my apiary. I have re- 

 ceived a number of cards and letters already 

 urging me to send the picture of that beau- 

 tifu I apiary for publication. 



One sister bee-keeper in Ohio says she wants 

 "to see the photo of vou," underscoring the 

 word "you" twice, "and of your 164 colonies, 

 in the American Bee Journal," signing her 

 name. -A lady bee-keeper in Texas writes: 

 "I earnestly request you to send the photo- 

 graph of yourself, family and apiary, to the 

 editor of the American Bee Journal for re- 

 production," and solicits my subscription to 

 another bee-paper. 



Like the Feast at Cana, the best came last. 

 It is a letter from Mr. B., a Minnesota bee- 



keeper, who sent his picture and the picture 

 of '40 colonies of his apiary, if I mistake not. 

 He wrote me quite an extensive letter, and 

 really iie said so many kind things to mc 

 about it, and all he said was said so very 

 courteously, and in such gentlemanly style, 

 that I enjoyed it, and filed it away to look 

 at later. It really made me love him, and 

 1 wisli I could meet him. 



I believe that bee-men are generally, above 

 all, gentlemen. If I did misbehave a little, 

 I must confess that Mr. B. made me feel just 

 as if I had been a little rude. I offer my 

 apologies to anyone whose feelings I may 

 have touched. 



Just a word to those good sisters who so- 

 licit my picture, and that of my apiary. If 

 I should reconsider and send it (which I do 

 not like to after all I have said, someone be- 

 ing sure to think I was simply seeking an 

 invitation), it would be after I have made 

 some clianges in my apiary grounds, which 

 cannot be done before the fall of 1910. 1 

 will in the near future write for publication 

 in the columns of the American Bee Journal 

 a pl.in I have discovered and put into practice, 

 which has proven with me to be a sure and 

 unmistakable preventive of swarming in an 

 apiary run solely for extracted honey. I 

 iiLnitd r ;ich and cvl-iv c'luny (110) that i 

 began with in the past spring, many of which 

 had sealed queen-cells, and just on the verge 

 of swarming, all of which cells I found cut 

 duwii 1 t( \N (lr*ys Inti r. ami all ideas of su'arm- 

 ing abandoned. While the past spring this 

 part of Southern California seemed to be in 

 I he t'tip of 7\ svvarmiiijj; <pidcmic, not one ol 

 my colonies showed any further disposition to 

 swarm after being treated. It is simple and 

 ab«nluif|\ in- xpensivt. C. L. GrigSBY. 



El Casco, Cal., Dec. 6, 1909. 



[We will be pleased not only to have the 



picture of Mr. Grigsby's apiary, but also the 



description of his non- swarming methods. — 

 Editor.] 



Moisture Above Brood-Nest, Etc. 



I have watched the columns of three bee- 

 journals to learn the thickness or thinness 

 of lumber used to cover the brood-nest. I 

 was using inch boards, until several of them 

 warped, one allowing the condensed moisture 

 to accumulate on the sawdust and run baqk 

 into the hive, and chilled the queen into a 

 drone-layer. Then I made all new covers ol 

 ?/i-inch lumber with three cleats nailed across- 

 wise. T just e.xamined to see results. All 

 lie flat and sealed. I believe much moisture 

 will escape through this thin cover, and pass 

 up through the 18 inches of sawdust above. 

 I never want paint or any of its relatives, 

 nearer than 3 inches of a brood-chamber 

 where winter-cases are used. I used quilts 

 until the bees gnawed through. A good queen 

 crawled up between quilt and cover, and I 

 found her dead. I generally lay a rock on 

 the cover in summer, but if left on in win- 

 ter it will condense moisture that will soak 

 a cover in one spot where it touches. I give 

 all hives one inch slant to the south, that 

 accumulating moisture may run out of the 

 entrance. There are very few days but that 

 snow will pack here. No danger of entrances 

 clogging with ice. 



Seven to One Eggs in a Cell. 



I received a queen August 13, 1909, that, 

 to all appearances, was just a good, ordinary 

 3-band producer. She had traveled about 2000 

 miles. I gave her to some good-positioned 

 3-banders to eat out of the cage. A sectional 

 hive of 8 combs, 4 inches high, all honey 

 but 3, that were partly filled, was her lay- 

 ing ground. I looked in 5 days after, and a 

 very few cells had one egg in it, the rest 

 had from 2 to 7. Then I found the queen. 

 Of all the monstrosities in the shape of a 

 queen, she "took the cake." Her body was 

 longer from tip of wing back than toward 

 the thorax, and distended like a Baltimore & 

 Ohio locomotive. "Good young lady, you 

 fill the bill." Then I gave her more bees 

 and 6 empty combs that she filled one egg to 

 the cell. Now some would condemn, but I 

 reasoned she is healthy, prolific, and in a cooler 

 climate, that she has acclimated to at once. 

 Her bees hatched out one bee to a cell, 

 3-banded, gentle and good workers. I wrote 

 to the man that sent her, but he misunder- 

 stood and offered to replace her, but I de- 

 clined the offer. Such queens are good enough 

 for me. 



Feeding Bees. 



I have dropped onto a plan for feeding at 

 anvtime consistent with necessities, but am a 

 little in debt to Dr. C.C. Miller for that al- 

 most indispensable 2-inch space under the bot- 



tom-bars. I have the best success here in 

 sight of snow-capped mountains, by keeping 

 all hives in well-painted wintering-cases^ 

 packed with sawdust all the time. Many con- 

 trivances used in the single- walled hive I can 

 not use. 



I cut a slot 2 inches deep, and 12 inches 

 lorig for an entrance. My hives sit on a rim 

 2 inches high. Here, where timber is plenty, 

 I make a dummy to fill up to within J^-inch of 

 the brood-frames. This dummy is slanted on the 

 front end, the lower edge comes flush with 

 the outside of the case. I drive 2 staples in on 

 the front end, have 2 wire hooks, that 1 hang 

 on the outside of the case, when not in use, on 

 the back side of the case. I make an en- 

 trance-block to cover the opening 14x2J^x2, 

 with a 2x^^ notch cut out of the under side. 

 With this device one can feed whenever con- 

 sistent without danger of robbers, or bees 

 rushing out. by closing the entrance tight. 

 There will be sufticient air in this large space. 



I use the unprecedented brood-comb of only 

 4-inch depth, Langstroth length the other way, 

 and 16 combs in 2 sections completes a hive. 

 For extracted, comb, or increase, the sectional 

 hive for me. F. F. George. 



Fraser, Idaho. 



Eastern New York Bee-Keepers* 

 Convention. 



The second annual convention of the East- 

 ern New York Bee-Keepers* Association was 

 held December 8, 1909. in the Common Council 

 Chamber of the City Hall. Albany, N. Y. The 

 president, W. D. Wright, called the meeting 

 to order. At the calling of the roll of 53 

 members, only 20 were found to be present. 



The minutes of the last convention held at 

 Catskill, N. Y., were read and approved. At 

 the collection of dues, 20 members responded 

 and paid their dollars. 



A motion was adopted that all dues shall be 

 payable from January 1st of each year. 



The president presented an interesting and 

 entertaining address. 



The annual election of officers resulted as 

 follows: President, W. D. Wright, of Alta- 

 mont; Vice-President, T. D. Moores, of 

 Athens; Second Vice-President, A. L. Fisher, 

 of Central Bridge; Secretary, S. Davenport, of 

 Indian Fields; and Treasurer, M. A. Kings- 

 man, East Greenbush, N. Y. 



The president, W. D. Wright, and secre- 

 tary, S. Davenport, were elected delegates to 

 the State Convention of Bee-Keepers' Societies. 



The secretary suggested the propriety of 

 taking a statistical report from members, of 

 their bee-keeping and its results; but on 

 soliciting the same, some discussion developed 

 much opposition, and the subject was Iiid on 

 the table. 



Geo. B. Howe and Irving Kinyon, delegates 

 to the State Convention, also Alden Hilton, 

 made extended remarks on interesting topics. 



The time of the convention was mostly 

 taken up with routine business, as it was to 

 be followed in the afternoon by the conven- 

 tion of the New York State Association of 

 Bee-Keepers' Societies. 



S. Davenport, Sec. 



Indian Fields, N. Y. 



Honey as a Health-Food 



This is a i6-page honey-pamphlet in- 

 tended to help increase the demand for 

 honey. The first part of it contains a 

 short article on "Honey as Food," writ- 

 ten by Dr. C. C. Miller. It tells where 

 to keep honey, how to liquefy it, etc. 

 The last part is devoted to "Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Hon- 

 ey." It should be widely circulated by 

 those selling honey. The more the peo- 

 ple are educated on the value and uses 

 of honey, the more honey they will buy. 



Prices, prepaid — Sample copy for a 

 2-cent stamp; 50 copies for 90 cents; 

 100 copies for $1.50; 250 copies for 

 $3.00; 500 for $5.00; or Tooo for $9.00. 

 Your business card printed free at the 

 bottom of front page on all orders for 

 100 or more copies. Send all orders 

 to the office of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



