Marcli, 1910. 



American Hee Journal 



oncl place, it was impossible at the time 

 to get helpers qualified to do the work, 

 and she simply itiststtd on being pres- 

 ent and having the work cleared up as 

 fast as possible. However, if we should 

 be blessed with a crop this coming sea- 

 son, I believe it will need more urgent 

 excuses than the foregoing to allow me 

 to let her do so much uncapping again, 

 as I really believe the work is too 

 heavy for any woman, when a good 

 crop is to be handled. At the same 

 time, I cannot but feel that the work of 

 Mrs. Byer was, in the words of Mr. 

 Scholl, " Not so bad for a woman ;" and 

 I wonder how many men did much bet- 

 ter than that last season. 



Divisible Style of Hives 



Mr. Scholl's article on hives used by 

 him for bulk comb honey, serves to 

 arouse my interest again in the divisible 

 style of hives. Not for the production 

 of bulk-comb honey, though, but I see 

 many points in their favor for the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey, and, if 

 starting all overagain, I am not so sure 

 but what I might adopt that style of 

 hive entirely. As there is no likelihood 

 of my having the privilege of starting 

 all oyer again, there is not so much 

 satisfaction in considering the ques- 

 tion, so I will have to be content with 

 the "contraptions " on hand for some 

 time yet, at least. 



Dr. Jones' Non-Swarming Method 



I have been reading Dr. Jones' meth- 

 ods of preventing swarming, with feel- 

 ings — well, I hardly know how to de- 

 scribe them. Dr. Jones is certainly a 

 radical of the extreme type, ever to 

 have thought of such a scheme. Really, 

 I do not known whether to /rv the plan 

 or not, as it seems so cruel and waste- 

 ful in the extreme. Of course, we can- 

 not carry the sentimental too far in 

 any business, but because of the repul- 

 siveness, if for no other reason, I 

 hardly think that the plan will be re- 

 ceived with much enthusiasm. 



This reminds me that there are, seem- 

 ingly, restrictions as to just how far we 

 may comment on the work, so perhaps 

 I had better not commit myself too far 

 in the matter, lest I repent for so doing. 



Winter Everywhere— Bees All Right So 

 Far 



" Lots of rain, cold weather, s//oz^' 

 and ice have made the outlook fine for 

 a bountiful crop of honey." That is 

 from Mr. Scholl, and he is talking 

 about Texas, mind you — not of Can- 

 ada, where we expect snow and ice 

 every winter — in fact, would be disap- 

 pointed if they failed to make their an- 

 nual appearance. After this scribbler 

 having had a longing to go to Texas or 

 some other warm clime for the winter, 

 such a declaration from the " man on 

 the spot," certainly has a tendency to 

 Clio/ off such sentiments considerably. 

 Judging from many reports to hand, 

 the middle and south parts of the con- 

 tinent seem to be having a more than 

 usually severe winter, while, on the 

 contrary, we here in Ontario, are en- 

 joying simply ideal winter weather. Of 

 course, we have had cold weather — 



without that feature the weather here 

 would be unseasonable — but all things 

 considered, so far the season has been 

 as nearly perfect as we can look for in 

 this part of the globe. 



If I am correct, we have had but (i 

 days so far (l-eb. 16) that the thermome- 

 ter has reached below the zero point ; 

 while, on the other hand, there has been 

 scarcely warm enough weather to be 

 called a real thaw. A pleasing feature 

 has been the excellent sleighing ever 

 since the middle of December, with an 

 almost total lack of drifted roads so 

 common with us since the timber has 

 been cut down. 



How are the bees progressing dur- 

 ing this steady cool weather? A little 

 too early to make a statement yet, but 

 from all outside appearances the bees 

 outdoors seem to be wintering fine. I 

 have been in very few cellars, but the 



40 colonies I have in a neighbor's eel - 

 larare not nearly so quiet as was the 

 case last winter. The cellar in ques- 

 tion is a damp location, and while it 

 has always been on the cool side for 

 wintering bees, yet, with a furnace in 

 part of the basement, the bees have al- 

 ways wintered well. This winter the 

 furnace was not started till Jan. lb. and 

 although the weather was milder than 

 during the same period last season, yet 

 the thermometer registered about 4 de- /" 

 grees lower this year than last, and ^ 

 that factor may be the one that is mak- 

 ing the difference in the actions of the 

 bees. However, they may be all right, 

 and it will not be long any more 

 before the worst will be known in the 

 matter, so I will console myself for the 

 present with the knowledge that there 

 are only 40 of the colonies in the cel- 

 lar, anyway. 



By W. A. PRYAL, Station K. Oakland, Cal. 



Air-Ships for Out-Apiaries 



A few days ago it was my good for- 

 tune to see the celebrated Mons Paul- 

 han.the wonderful French "bird-man," 

 gracefully navigating in mid-air at 

 great speed a few miles south of San 

 Francisco. His biplane traveled more 

 evenly and with less discomfort to the 

 rider than does any means of convey- 

 ance used on land or water, and the 

 byways of the atmosphere were unob- 

 structed. It has occurred to me that 

 when this means of travel will be with- 

 in the reach of the average person, one 

 of the first who should make use of it 

 would be the bee-keeper. What a 

 pleasure it would be for him to soar 

 away to his distant apiary over the 

 mountains. Distance, time and obsta- 

 cles of mountain-passes would be ob- 

 literated ; the tediousness of. travel 

 would be reduced to a minimum. 



The possibilities of the aeroplane in 

 bee-keeping is great; who will be the 

 first apiarist to make use of one? 



Some months ago I heard that a com- 

 bination of men were going to unite all 

 the large apiary interests in California, 

 with a view of controlling the output 

 of the bee-hives, and boost prices. It 

 is likely that such a combination is not 

 so easily brought about. For my part, 

 I hope it will not be. The price of 

 honey will largely have to be regulated 

 by locality; the nearer such price is 

 kept within the reach of the common 

 people the better it is for the bee- 

 keeper. 



The Coming Season 



Of course, it is far too early to pre- 

 dict that we are going to have a glori- 

 ous honey-year. So far all indications 

 point to a prosperous season. The 

 rainfall has been bountiful ; if the 

 spring is propitious then will the com- 

 ing crop be large. But we must remem. 

 ber that there is " many a slip," etc. 



High Prices for Honey 



This looks well on paper; tariff tink- 

 ering may have made it better for the 

 producers of vile, filthy honey, but no- 

 where do I notice that really fine honey 

 is selling any higher during these 

 troublous times of soaring food-prices 

 than heretofore. And, perhaps, it is 

 well that the product of the bee-hive is 

 one of the fixed commodities, for more 

 of it will be sold and greater will the 

 demand become at a fair, remunerative 

 price than if it were to be sold at the 

 boosters' figures. 



One reason, I suppose, that the price 

 of honey has not taken to flying-ma- 

 chine prices is that it has not fallen 

 into the hands of the so-called trusts. 



A Bee-Keeper's Utopia 



From a gentleman in Bavaria, Ger- 

 many, I received a letter asking about ,-' 

 the conditions of bee-keeping in this ^ 

 State, that is so full of hopes and in- 

 spirations that I reproduce it here al- 

 most entire, as follows: 



Dkar Mk. Pkvai.:— I intend to go to .■\mer- 

 ica ill .ibout two months with the view of 

 biivinga small apiary \yith all tlie hNtiires 

 and the land needed. Of course, the location 

 oiit'lit to he tood. bnt need not be excellent, 

 anil be able to stand considerable increase 

 withoiil redncing the surpUis per colony 

 very considerably. 



In seleclink' an apiary, if I had the choice 

 I would consider the climate just as impor- 

 tant as the sources of nectar. Not too hot, 

 not too much wind, and a Krcat deal of sun- 

 shine. 'I'lie location wouUl ha\'e to be so 

 that I would haye no trouble with the bee- 

 keepers in the ncii,'liborlioo(l. as soon as I 

 would increase the niitnber of colonies. In a 



