Marcli, igio. 



American Bee Jfoarnaij 



queen-rearing. In the average apiary 

 the expense of requccning is about S 

 cents per hive. It should never exceed 

 10 cents, and all for labor. 



The expense of requeening an apiary 

 is prcpondecantly overbalanced liy hav- 

 ing colonies of the same strain, and all 

 queens of the same age. Uniformity of 

 work is thus secured throughout the 

 apiary, which saves an endless amount 

 of head-work and annoying labor. In 

 connection with a system of wintering 

 fitted to the locality, it amounts to the 

 elimination of spring overhauling. 



With the number of colonies the 

 honey-producer has from which to make 

 a selection, there is little difficulty in 

 finding a few especially adapted to cell- 

 building. Or, we can, directly after the 

 swarming season or harvest is ended, go 

 through the colonies of an apiary and re- 

 move their old and debilitated queens. 

 In four or five days we come along with 

 a comb of larvae from the choicest col- 

 ony. Remove the larva; from their two 

 best cells, dipping into their places those 

 of our own selection. Then destroy all 

 cells except the best two. Further ex- 

 amination of colonies receiving such 

 treatment is unnecessary, unless we wisli 

 to see if the young queens have begun 

 laying. 



Sebastian Co., Ark. 



Report for Season of 1909— 

 Bee-Stings and Rheumatism 



BY WM. STOLLEV. 



The season of I'pog was partly favor- 

 able, and party unfavorable, for bees in 

 this section of the country. Up to the 

 middle of July, everything went well, 

 and from 30 colonies I secured 2,797 

 pounds of white extracted honey, of 

 which 544 pounds were white clover, 

 and the rest sweet clover, with an ad- 

 mixture of alfalfa honey. 



After the month of July, drought 

 stopped the flow of nectar entirely, and 

 I had to feed 395 pounds of a mix- 

 ture of honey and cane-sugar, viz. : 275 

 pounds of dark honey of the previous 

 year, and 120 pounds of cane-sugar. By 

 Nov. 1st all the bees were ready packed 

 for winter, in all 38 colonies. I re- 

 queened about two-thirds of my colo- 

 nies, and the rest have queens of the 

 year 1908, all of my own rearing, and 

 first-class, as far as I was able to test 

 them. 



We have had some very cold weather 

 alread)', and also two heavy snows. The 

 rainfall during the entire season was 

 I l7->i inches. 



' The first light frost we had October 

 nth to i2th, but on Nov. 12th and 13th, 

 we had the first real snowstorm ; 4 de- 

 grees Fahr., above zero, and about 20 

 inches of snow on the level. From 

 Xov. i6th until the end of the month 

 we had fine, mild weather, and all the 

 snow disappeared by Xov. 25, and the 

 bees had several good flights. On Dec. 

 I, it again turned cold, and rain fol- 

 lowed by snow kept coming right along 

 until now. 



December 5, 7, 8, and 9, were zero 

 days, and at sunrise the thermometer 

 registered 10 Fahr., below zero. We 

 now have about 15 inches of snow on 



the level once more, and still the snow 

 is falling. 



I have kept bees now for 30 years, 

 and have an accurate account of all ex- 

 penditures as well as of the income of 

 my little apiary. The following is a 

 condensed statement of results: 



During the 30 years I realized out of 

 my hees $8,641.21. I paid out on ac- 

 count of them, $1,867.19; hence I have 

 the amount of $6,774.02 for my labor ; 

 and, in addition to this, I have my lit- 

 tle apiary, w'ell equipped in every re- 

 spect. But the money I got out of my 

 bees, is by no means the best part of 

 what I obtained by keeping them. My 

 bees have been a source of great pleas- 

 ure to me all these many years, pleas- 

 ures such as the mere making of money 

 never had for me. 



Bee-Stings for Rheum.atism. 



Besides this, / knoiv that I have been 

 greatly benefited by the effect of bee- 

 stings received during all these years, 

 when handling bees, as there is no 

 doubt in my mind, that I would have 

 been a sufferer from rheumatism with- 

 out them. My mother was a great suf- 

 ferer from rheumatism, and I believe 

 that I inherited the inclination from 

 her, to be afflicted likewise. But al- 

 though I am now nearly 79 years old, 

 I am, owing to the bee-stings received, 

 entirely free from that terrible ailment ; 

 and what is more, I have relieved and 

 cured many a sufferer from rheuma- 

 tism for many years. 



Now, it is no wonder that I noticed 

 Dr. A. F. Bonney's article (page 300, 

 of the September, 1909, issue), and when 

 reading it I at once decided to pay to 

 the Doctor my respects, as soon as time 

 would permit me to do so. 



After reading Dr. B.'s rather pre- 

 sumptive criticisms on the matter at is-^ 

 sue, referring to Mr. Louis H. Scholl's 

 standpoint (page 236, and the Doctor's 

 subsequent letter to Mr. Scholl, page 

 365). I would refer to a case in point, 

 published many years ago in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, which, however, bears 

 re-publishing, so as to enlarge the medi- 

 cal knowledge of the Doctor, and to 

 set him to thinking, instead of assert- 

 ing things. 



The only question is. Will bee-stings 

 cure rheumatism? 



Dr. Bonney claims, that they will not 

 cure, but I say, Ihcy will in very many 

 cases, that is, inHammatory rheumatism, 

 and ivill alivays subdue and ease the 

 pain. Of very many cases, which in 

 the course of 30 years, came under tny 

 personal observation, the following is as 

 good as any : 



A gentleman by the name of Geo. Loan, 

 at that time the street commissioner 

 of Grand Island, and still among the 

 living, was suffering terribly from in- 

 flammatory rheumatism, at about 70 

 years of age. 



For about 8 months Mr. Loan was 

 confined most of the time, and several 

 of our learned doctors were pumping 

 medicines into the sufferer, and kept his 

 legs well greased with their useless lini- 

 ments ; but in spite of all the doctors 

 were able to do for him, the ailment 

 got worse and worse. The children of 

 Mr. Loan had heard of the "StoUey bee- 



sting cure," and they insisted on him 

 giving the bee-stings a fair trial. 



At last Mr. L., to please his children, 

 consented to be taken to my farm. He 

 was utterly unable to walk, and had to 

 be lifted out of liis carriage. The rlicu- 

 matism had finally settled in one knee. 

 Tihc swelling was simply fearful, and 

 the pain, as Mr. L. said, was terrible, 

 He told me that he had not the least 

 faitli in the bec-sting cure. I told him 

 that that would make no difference as 

 to the effectiveness of stings, and that 

 lie would not be a cent out of pocket in 

 trying it. So I gave my patient to be- 

 gin with, 7 stings on his sore knee, and 

 told him to call again a week later. 



The next Sunday Mr. Loan was 

 brought down to the farm again. He 

 got out of his vehicle without help, and 

 said, "Mr. Stolley, I begin to believe in 

 your bee-stinging ; the pain in my knee 

 was almost gone before I got back to 

 town, (i}-2 miles), and, you see, my 

 swollen knee is shrinking some." 



That day Mr. L. received 9 stings, 

 and it was agreed' upon that he should 

 come again the next Sunday, when he 

 was on hand promptly; he got out of 

 his carriage, and walked almost without 

 limping and said, "Your bee-stings have 

 done wonders; why, now I want a whole 

 lot of bee-stings." I objected to his 

 request, but agreed that I would give 

 him 15 stings. As it happened he re- 

 ceived but thirteen stings, while two 

 went into my own fingers. 



Mr. L. was under orders to call again 

 the Sunday following. During the week 

 I did not hear how he was getting 

 along, but went to town on Saturday, 

 the day before he was to come out 

 again to my farm. The physicians in 

 the city, of course, heard of what was 

 going on with Mr. Loan, and watched 

 the case closely. So, when I got to town 

 on that Saturday, one of the doctors, 

 who had been dosing Mr. L. with medi- 

 cine, and kept his legs greased, for 8 

 months, approached me thus ; " Say, 

 Stolley, have you heard of Loan?" 



I answered, "No, I have heard noth- 

 ing aibout him for a week." 



"Why, Loan is dying; he has an awful 

 fever. Look here, Stolley, if L. dies 

 you can be held responsible for it. You 

 have no right to practice medicine." 



Now, while this conversation took 

 place, I noticed Mr. Loan coming, 

 walking as though nothing ailed him, 

 along the street towards us, but the 

 doctor could not see him, for the simple 

 reason that he had no eyes behind, and 

 talked right on. 



So I knew my Mr. Loan was all right, 

 and not dying, and I told the "learned" 

 doctor that I always should insist that 

 I had the constitutional right, in this 

 free country, to give to sick people bee- 

 stings, if they were in need of them, 

 and asked me to apply them, in particu- 

 lar, since I was not charging anything 

 for stings, time and trouble. 



Meanwhile Mr. Loan had come up, 

 right to where I talked with the doctor, 

 who, being blind behind, was not aware 

 of his presence. 



At this juncture I lifted my hat, and 

 gravely addressing the doctor, I said, 

 "My dear colleague. Dr. E., I have the 

 pleasure of introducing to you my pa- 

 tient, Mr. Loan;" and turning to Mr. 



