February. li'lH 



February, 1915 



f 4^^=«^ ^^^1 ^^rican liee Jonrnal 



done more than another. We have 

 worked in unison, and in this way 

 have received recognition and respect 

 from University authorities and the 

 State Legislature. Like ours has been, 

 so I suppose most Universities in 

 America are still skeptical as to the 

 importance of the bee industry. Here 

 is our record : First year, lill3, 25 

 students ; second year, 1914,70 students. 

 What will the third year bring us at 

 this rate of increase :^ 



"The University has realized what 

 the bee industry really means and has 

 secured two more professors for 1015. 

 Mr. L. V. France, of Madison, Wis., is 

 one of them. The name of the other 

 has not yet been announced. They are 

 not going to allow the experimental 

 work to suffer for lack of funds. The 

 address of Dean Woods belore the 

 Beekeepers' Association Dec. 4, leaves 

 no room for doubt on that important 

 point. With the artificial fertilization 

 of queens, the law of heredity and 

 Mendel's law will be studied with a 

 view of improving the present stock. 

 Statistics of disease, of honey plants, 

 of honey and wax production will be 

 obtained and published. A bee library 

 and museum will be established. A 

 botanical garden is going to be laid 

 out with a complete collection of all 

 Minnesota honey plants. A model 

 apiary of some 100 hives is going to 

 be a featvire of the University campus. 

 Field meets will be held in various 

 parts of the State. You already know 

 of the plans for a queen-rearing yard. 

 to furnish queens to the beekeepers at 

 25 cents each. 



"But please give our beekeepers 

 proper credit. They pushed the laws 

 in favor of the bee industry; they or- 

 ganized ; they planned ; they worked ; 

 they put me there to work for them as 

 I know how." 



Professor Jager was born in Car- 

 niola, and educated in Vienna. He is 

 a Slav, and proud of it. The country 

 of his birth should be proud of him, 

 for his quick gain of our language and 

 his progressive ideas show him to be 

 a man of action. Speaking of his race 

 he says " I hope the Slavs in Europe 

 will win and get a foothold, just to 

 teach Europe the spirit of serving the 

 common good. So far they are a 



sealed book to the rest of the world." 



We commend the action of the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota to those of other 

 States that have not yet made any steps 

 for instruction and improvement in 

 apiculture. 



The following officers were elected 

 at the annual meeting of the Minne- 

 sota Beekeepers' Association : 



President, Rev. C. D. Blaker, Minne- 

 apolis; vice-presidents. Rev. J. Kim- 

 ball, Duluth; Mrs. J. A. DeLameter, 

 Hopkins; secretary and treasurer, F. 

 W. Ray, Minneapolis; executive com- 

 mittee, L, C. Pilcher, St. Paul ; L. F. 

 Sampson, Excelsior; and Mrs. M. Mc- 

 Cabe, Minneapolis. 



Wisconsin State Beekeepers* Asso- 

 ciation Report 



The annual convention was held in 

 the Assembly Chamber, Capitol Build- 

 ing, Madison, Wis., Nov. 24 and 2.^, 

 1914, and was called to order by the 

 president, Mr. N. E. France at 8:00 

 a.m. Visiting and getting acquainted 

 was the order until \) :15, when the con- 

 vention was called to order for busi- 

 ness. 



Officers present : N. E. France, presi- 

 dent;. Harry Lathrop, treasurer; Gus 

 Dittmer. secretary. 



About 80 beekeepers were present 

 during the two days of the convention, 

 including a number of ladies. 



The president appointed as Commit- 

 tee on Resolutions and Recommenda- 

 tions, Gus Dittmer, E. B. Rosa and A. 

 L. Kleeber. The minutes of the last 

 annual convention were read and ac- 

 cepted. 



Secretary's report was read and 

 adopted. 



The annual report of the treasurer, 

 showing cash on hand of $318, was read 

 and accepted. 

 The question-box was then taken up. 

 How many present here who have 

 their bees in the cellar ? Ans. — Twelve. 

 What is the best method for keeping 

 moths out of extracting combs while 

 not in use in warm weather ? Ans. — 

 Keep them on colonies. Keep paper be- 

 tween each two bodies, and sprinkle 

 with sulphur. Use bisulphide of car- 



bon and fume with burning sulphur. 



Are the Italians worse robbers than 

 the blacks ? Ans.— Italians do not rob 

 during a honey flow, and are less liable 

 during a scarcity of nectar. They will 

 also fight better to protect themselves. 

 Blacks rob at any time, and are not so 

 good to protect themselves. 



What do the beekeepers here prefer, 

 a large or regular entrance ? Ans. — 

 Almost all of the members present pre- 

 fer a large entrance, from 1 to 2 inches 

 high, the whole width of the hive, and 

 only one entrance. 



How many p»unds of honey will a 

 reasonably strong colony consume in 

 the cellar and how many will it con- 

 sume out-of-doors ? Ans.— It will con- 

 sume in the cellar, before putting out. 

 from 8 to 15 pounds, but will consume 

 more after it is put out than those win- 

 terered out-of-doors. Those wintered 

 out-of-doors will consume more dur- 

 ing winter, but less during spring. On 

 the whole, they will consume more 

 during spring and winter than those 

 wintered in the cellar. 



What is the best way to increase 

 colonies ? Ans — One beekeeper said 

 swarming, but most of them practice 

 artificial increase. No particular plan 

 was specified. 



How many colonies can be kept in 

 one place without overstocking? Ans. 

 — It depends upon the location, cli- 

 mate, natural resources, etc., with 

 which the beekeeper must make him- 

 self familiar. The difference may be 

 such that anywhere from 100 to 300 

 might be kept in one place. 



How can extracted honey in fruit 

 jars be kept liquid ? Ans. — Heat the 

 jars with the honey in hot water at 

 about 150 degrees before it granulates, 

 leaving it in the hot water for some 

 time. 



What should be done with pollen- 

 clogged conbs? Ans.— Put them in 

 a strong colony during the spring sea- 

 son. If possible, select one short of 

 pollen, and it will clean them out for 

 breeding purposes. 



.AFTERNOON SESSION. 



Two papers on "How to Produce 

 Extracted Honey" were read by the 

 secretary, the first by Frank Kittinger, 

 of Caledonia, and the second by A. P. 



Raymond, of Greenwood. These will 

 be published later. 



Dr. E. F. Phillips explained the net 

 weight law in reference to comb 

 honey. Net weight must be marked 

 within the fraction; for instance, 14?:. 

 ounces may be marked 14 ounces, but 

 must not be marked 15 ounces. One 

 ounce should be the tare for each sec- 

 tion. The person shipping directly 

 out of the State is responsible for the 

 marking of the net weight, and not the 

 producer who may have first shipped 

 to him. The producer is responsible 

 only if he ships out of the State directly. 



Mr. E. B. Rosa spoke on the conven- 

 ience and economy of the auto truck 

 in working the out-yards. 

 ^^ Dr. Phillips spoke at length on 

 "Foulbrood, and how to know doubt- 

 ful cases and treatment forsame." This 

 subject was thoroughly discussed. 



EVENING SESSION. 



Dr. Phillips read a paper on the sub- 

 ject of "Temperature and Humidity in 

 the Wintering of Bees." This paper is 

 too lengthy for reproduction in these 

 columns. 



This was followed by five minute 

 talks on "Wintering" by F. Kittinger 

 and N. E. France, from which it ap- 

 peared that young queens, plenty of 

 young bees and an abundance of good 

 stores are the essentials for good win- 

 tering. The cellar should be all un- 

 derground. Mr. Kittinger puts his 

 hives into the cellar and winters them 

 without the bottom-board. 



Lewis Post then read a short paper 

 on "Wintering." [Thif article appears 

 in our contributions. —Editor.] 



WEDNESDAY— MORNING session. 



The subject of foulbrood was first 

 taken up by N. E. France, explaining 

 the symptoms. This was followed by 

 J- J. Angel, who gave his experience 

 and methods used to eradicate it. 



L. y. France demonstrated with maps 

 American foulbrood, showing location 

 and extent of the disease by counties. 

 N. E. France then spoke on European 

 foulbrood and how to know it. 



A paper on European foulbrood by 

 lau! Scheuring was then read by the 

 secretary. [This paper appears else- 

 where in this number.— Editor.] 



A paper on American foulbrood by 

 Gus Gust was read. 



The election of officers for the ensu- 

 ing year resulted as follows: Presi- 

 dent, N.E.France; vice-president, F. 

 Wilcox ; secretary, Gus Dittmer ; treas- 

 urer, Harry Lathrop. 



Committee on Resolutions reported 

 the following : 



A'esoived, That the date and arrange- 

 ment for the next annual convention 

 be left to the Executive Committee. 



Kesoh'cd, That N. E. France be rec- 

 ommended for the appointment of 

 judge of the apiarian exhibit at the 

 next State Fair. Gus Dittmer. 



A. L. Kleeber. 

 E. B. Rosa. 



Adopted. 



"A Short History of Beekeeping," 

 by C. P. Dadant, was read by the sec- 

 retary. This paper was received with 

 much interest. 



Miss Mathilde Candler read a paper 

 on "The Production of Comb Honey." 

 [See " Woman's Department," this 

 numbei.— Editor.1 



The convention adjourned at 12 m. 

 Gus Dittmer, Sec 



N. E. France, Pres. 



The Quebec Beekeepers— A Trip to 

 Lower Canada 



On the 2d of November, we went to 

 Chicago and then in the later after- 

 noon, boarded a through train for 

 Montreal. Reaching that city the next 

 day, we remained overnight and, the 

 following morning again took the 

 train for Quebec. 



If our reader possesses a map of 

 Canada, he will readily see, by referr- 

 ing to it. that a trip to Quebec from 

 western Illinois brings us 6 degrees 

 farther north. The difference in 

 climate is very marked. 



Along the St. Lawrence River, be- 

 yond Montreal, the land is flat, irregu- 

 lar in fertility, interspersed with 

 small forests of birch and pine, but 

 very thoroughly cultivated in all fer- 

 tile parts. The farms extend in a 

 northwest direction, at right angles 

 with the course of the big stream. As 

 this was one of the first settled dis- 

 tricts of North America and they had 

 to contend with the Indians (the 



FIG. 4.-NUMBER TWO. (NATIONAL RULES., 



