4C0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



Object:— To promote and protect the interests of its mem 

 bers; to prevent the adulteration of honey. 



OmCERS:— E R. Root, President, Medina, O.; K. C. Aikiu 

 Vice-president, Loveland, Col.; Dr. A. B. Mason, Secre- 

 tary, 3512 Monroe St.. Sta. B, Toledo, O.; Eugene Secor, 

 General Manager, Forest City, Iowa. 



Board OF Directors:— E. Whitcomb, Friend, Neb.; W. Z 

 Hutchinson. Flint, Mich.; A. I. Root, Medina, O.; E. T. 

 Abbott, St. Joseph, Mo.; P. H. Elwood, Starkville, N. ¥.; 

 E. R. Root, Medina, O.; T. G.Newman, San Francisco, 

 Cal.; G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. ¥.; W. F. Marks, Cha^ 

 pinville, N. Y.; J. M. Hambaugh, Escondido, Cal.; C. P. 

 Dadant, Hamilton, 111.; C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Fees:— Annual membership fee, Cl.OO. Remittances may be 

 sent here or to General Manager as above. 



Don't fail to read J. M. BLankin's article 

 on foundation, page 391. 



To raise the freight rates on comb honey to 

 double first-class as is proposed by the West- 

 ern Classification Committee, " would strangle 

 the honey business . . . on long hauls, " 

 says Mr. York. Bee-keepers should "line 

 up" and fight for their rights. See Special 

 Notices elsewhere, and then act in accord- 

 ance with instructions. 



The American Bee Keeper is rapidly forg- 

 ing ahead. In spite of the fact that its editor 

 is hundreds of miles away, the editorials are 

 a strong feature of our cotemporary. They 

 are fairly redolent of honey, wax, and of pro- 

 polis ; and I should not be surprised if some 

 of Bro. Hill's were written on hive-covers, 

 with a pencil daubed with bee-glue. Bee-lore 

 written under such circumstances is bound to 

 smack of practical experience. 



Among other publications, the Cou7itry 

 Gentleman, one of the very best farm papers 

 issued, contains a warning against spraying 

 fruit-trees while in bloom. It seems as if by 

 this time that all progressive fruit-growers and 

 farmers, to say nothing about bee-keepers, 

 ought to know that spraying during fruit- 

 bloom, so far from being an advantage, is a 

 positive waste of time and chemicals as well 

 as a serious menace to the lives of their best 

 friends, the bees. 



The question has been asked in some cir- 

 cles whether it is positively known that the 

 spraying of trees during bloom actually does 

 kill bees. The chemicals that are ordinarily 

 used do kill them by the thousands. There 

 have been numerous reports showing how al- 

 most entire apiaries have been ruined just 

 about blooming-time. Strong colonies will 

 suddenly begin to dwindle, and keep on 

 dwindling until nothing is left but young bees. 

 But, thanks to a good many of the • farm pa- 

 pers, fruit-growers on every side are being in- 

 formed of the uselessness of spraying during 

 bloom, and the terrible destruction visited on 

 the bees. 



Mr. Hutchinson says in the Review, 

 ' ' The Rocky Mountain Bee Journal is the best 

 bee-journal that has been started in many a 

 long year." I have been looking over several 

 numbers of this new bee-paper, and conclude 

 that Mr. Hutchinson's judgment is about 

 right. It is a very creditable publication, 

 well edited, and nicely printed. Colorado is 

 one of the greatest honey -producing States in 

 the Union, and it may possibly be the greatest 

 one, in the aggregate of honey produced, be- 

 fore another decade passes by. There is a 

 splendid field for bee-journalism up among 

 the Rockies, and we wish our cotemporary 

 every success. 



Our re-reviews of Prof. Cook's reviews of 

 the ABC book, in the American Bee Jotcrnal, 

 are not for the purpose of showing that Prof. 

 Cook is wrong, as he appears to be in some of 

 his points, but for the purpose of drawing out 

 and calling attention to some important facts 

 or truths. Prof. Cook's criticisms have been 

 and are models of courtesy, and we intend 

 ours shall be as much so. He has done much 

 to enrich and add to our bee-literature, and I 

 wish to say that there is very much of value 

 in his criticisms on the A B C, in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. In the revision of the new 

 work, where the new edition has not already 

 been corrected we shall keep his corrections 

 before us. 



those bees under the machine-shop. 



At this writing we still have the bees in the 

 cellar under the machine-shop, and they are 

 wintering perfectly. Next year we shall dou- 

 ble the number of colonies ; and if the results 

 in the future prove to be as satisfactory we 

 shall find it to our advantage, doubtless, to 

 winter all our bees that way. The fact that 

 potatoes are stored in another portion of that 

 cellar, and the further fact that it is necessary 

 to keep this cellar as cold as possible, makes 

 it all the better for the bees The temperature 

 goes as low as 40, and up as high as 55. When 

 it is very warm outside, the outside windows 

 are closed, and when it is cold they are open- 

 ed ; but if it becomes very cold, they are clos- 

 ed to prevent too great a drop in temperature. 



THE HEAVY SNOW-STORM OF APRIL 20. 



On the 20th we had one of the worst storms, 

 or what some might call a blizzard, that we 

 have ever had. The snow continued piling 

 up for 48 hours. While the temperature did 

 not get below freezing at any time, yet the 

 wind was very chilly and raw. From reports 

 that we gather from the paper, it is evident 

 that this storm is general. It seems to have 

 made its appearance in the West first, particu- 

 larly in Colorado, then veered northward. As 

 it did not reach us on schedule time we thought 

 it had spent its force ; but, lo and behold ! on 

 the morning of the 20th it had circled around 

 and was hurling its force with unrelenting 

 fury on the Central and Eastern States. So 

 far as the bee-keeping industry is concerned, 

 it will do no harm. The very heavy snowfall 



