February, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



sunshine and the bees have taken 

 flight just as in May, but it will not last. 



" My own 2i) colonies, which I fed be- 

 fore my departure, are in good shape 

 with plenty of food. I trust they will 

 all be living next spring. 



" Foulbrood appeared here in UU2, 

 but thanks to the activity of the inspec- 

 tor and the willingness of the owners, 

 it was overcome and we think we are 

 are rid of it. It did not have a chance 

 to do much damage. 



"Joseph VValthf.r. 



"Delemont, Switzerland." 



We glean the following from a letter 

 just received from our venerable 

 friend, Edouard Bertrand, formerly 

 editor of the Revue Internationale, liv- 

 ing at Geneva, Switzerland : 



" Thus far, in Switzerland, we have 

 been spared, but all our youth is in 

 arms at the frontier and business is 

 paralyzed. Many people are without 

 work, incomes are stopped, and one is 

 compelled to reduce expenses. We 

 keep our servants though unable to 

 pay them wages, for they would be out 

 of work. My wife has joined the ' Pris- 

 oners' Agency,' which has undertaken 

 the finding of information concerning 

 soldiers that have either been killed or 

 made prisoners, whether French En- 

 glish or German. This agency has 

 helped many families to find out the 

 fate of their sons or husbands. It has 

 received as many as 15,000 enquiries in 

 a day, and it often has requests of 

 fathers who have four or five sons, 

 whose fate is unknown. War has ter- 

 rible results, even in our neutral coun- 

 try, and the suffering is great. Our 

 health is good, but I am exceedingly 

 nervous, owing to these cruel circum- 

 stances." 



-^ 



House Apiaries — A Plea for Them. — 



The following letter, concerning the 

 "Notes from Abroad" for September, 

 was not intended for publication, but 

 as it gives in very forcible words a 

 plea for house apiaries, we hope our 

 correspondent will forgive us for pub- 

 lishing it. Hear all sides, then decide : 



"Dear Mr. Dadant — Your point of 

 view, in judging our apiary methods, 

 has much interestedime. It proves the 

 well-known fact, that the appearance 

 of things changes according to the 

 position of the observer. You recog- 

 nize that our method of beekeeping 

 has great points of convenience, but 

 you doubt its adaptabilityto American 

 conditions, and you say: 'Would it 

 be possible to combine the use of a 

 bee house with the expansible hives 

 and supers which enable us to secure 

 our large crops .'' You doubt whether 

 it be possible for us to extract as much 

 honey in a day as you do. I do not 

 know how much honey you extract in 

 a day, but it is a fact that here, the api- 

 arist removing the combs can supply, 

 without help, as many of them from 

 the hives as the reversible e.xtractor 

 can extract. In the leaf hive, where 

 each comb is as accessible to the api- 

 arist as in the Uadant hive, when har- 

 vesting, we do not touch the empty 

 combs or the half filled ones, but only 

 the full ones, replacing them at once 



with already extracted combs. When 

 the extracting is over, our hives are 

 already thus supplied with empty 

 combs. The only difference between 

 our work and yours is that you do it 

 all at one time, while we do it in three 

 or four different times, according to 

 circumstances, always at the proper 

 lime, whether the weather be good or 

 bad. 



"To know whether it is advisable to 

 extract, all we need to do is to open the 

 rear door of the hive and glance at the 

 appearance of the combs. An exami- 

 nation is unnecessary. Besides, the 

 honey being extracted from warm 

 combs is quite liquid. It is at once 

 strained through three sieves of differ- 

 ent meshes, the finest being at the bot- 

 tom. By this process we obtain very 

 pure honey, which is promptly put into 

 tins. In our well closed bee houses 

 the work may be done without any 

 annoyance from the bees and without 

 risk of robbing. 



"I have never used gloves, and years 

 may pass without the need of even a 

 veil. It is the strange bees flying 

 about the open hives which cause sting- 

 ing. In closed house apiaries, they 

 have no access to the operation. It is 

 true that our apiaries are more expen- 

 sive than yours, but with us everything 

 is more expensive. For instance, a 

 Dadant hive costs us between $5.20 

 and $5.00 ; a leaf hive costs $8.40. You 

 may readily see the difference. 



"I read that in America many bee- 

 keepers use bee houses in which to 

 extract the honey. Why then do you 

 not place leaf hives in them, where they 

 will be protected against weather 

 changes and where wintering is less 

 difficult; where examinations are so 

 easy that one never needs help ; where 

 a very small bee smoker, and even only 

 a light cigar, is sufficient to quiet the 

 bees, and the handling of them is a 

 pleasure ? H. Spuhler. 



"Zurich, Switzerland." 



Mr. Spuhler's leaf hive is a hive from 

 which the combs may be drawn from 

 the end of the frames instead of from 

 the sid ', as in most of the Berlepsch 

 style of hives. The frames in it are at 

 right angles with the entrance instead 

 of parallel with it. Hence, his ability 

 to draw out any frame he wishes, leav- 

 ing the others in the hive. 



The Akron, N. Y., Meeting.--The bee 



keepers' meeting which was held at 

 Akron, N. Y., Dec. 15, 1914, was a suc- 

 cess as far as the purpose of the meet- 

 ing was concerned. \Vhile the weather 

 was very inclement, snow and bitter 

 cold, the beekeepers who are real 

 honey-producers were there in suffi- 

 cient numbers to form an association 

 to be known as the Western New York 

 Honey Producers' .Association. 



It was repeatedly brought out that 

 the beekeepers must stick together 

 and try to increase the sale and con- 

 sumption of honey as a food. They 

 must also buy their supplies coopera- 

 tively and apply business principles to 

 beekeeping as well as they are applied 

 to other lines of occupation. 



Another argument taken up was the 

 difference in the prevailing prices of 



honey which would not be so if sound 

 principles were applied. 



The following officers were elected: 

 President, John N. DeMuth, Pembroke, 

 N. Y. ; vice-president, J. Koy Lincoln, 

 Niagara Falls, N. Y. ; secretary-treas- 

 urer, William Vollmer, Akron, N. Y. 



It was also decided to hold a field 

 meeting and basket picnic at the api- 

 ary of the president the first Saturday 

 in August, 1015. 



William Vollmer, Sec. 



National Beekeepers' Association 



.V preliminary announcement of the 

 annual convention and official meetings 

 of delegates from affiliated societies, 

 to be held at the Auditorium Hotel, 

 Denver, Colo., Tuesday, Wednesday, 

 and Thursday, Feb. 16, 17, and 18, 191.5. 

 It is to be held jointly with the meet- 

 ing of the Colorado State Beekeepers' 

 Association. 



HOTEL RATES. 



Room without bath, single, $1.00 per 

 day and upwards. 



Room with bath, single, $1.50 per 

 day and upwards. 



Excellent cafe and meal service may 

 be had. The hotel is convenient to all 

 street car connections and adjacent to 

 railroads. 



The convention apparently will have 

 ample, comfortable quarters with a 

 large assembly hall, reception room, 

 committee room, etc. The reception 

 room will doubtless be used as an ex- 

 hibition hall. 



NOTICE TO DELEGATES. 



The secretary has mailed to each 

 affiliated association delegates' cards, 

 to be used as credentials. It is abso- 

 lutely essential to send the original 

 direct to Mr. George W. Williams, Sec- 

 retary, Redkev, Ind., on or before 

 Feb. 1. ■ 



The program will consist of official 

 executive meetings and of lectures, 

 demonstrations, etc. 



PROGRAM. 



Tuesday. Feb. i6. 



Q-.w A. M —Meetin,} called to order and or- 

 Kanization of the convention, aopointment 

 of committees, presentation of credentials, 

 report of Credentials Committee, and an- 

 nouncements and invitations. 



i;oo H NL — President's report 



Transaction of business which shall regu- 

 larly come before the session. 



Papers 



8:00 P.M —General session of the associa- 

 tion for the reading of papers and for dis- 

 cussions. 



Wednesday. Feb. 17. 



q:oo A. M —Delegates' session for the tran- 

 saction of business followed by the reading 

 of papers. 



I :oo p M.— General program, continuing the 

 reading of papers. 



8 00 P.M. — Public session. At this lime it 

 is hoped to provide illustrated lectures and 

 a program of general interest to the public. 

 .Arrangements are in hand for this. 



Thursday. Feb. 18. 



i);oo a m.— Business session, concluding the 

 transactions of the association, followed by 

 the reading of papers. 



1:00 P.M —Session for discussions and the 

 reading of papers to be followed by adiourn- 

 ment. 



It may be desirable to hold a special 

 session in the eveningforthose who do 

 not leave town that night. Special ar- 



