March, 1915. 



r^^^^^ 



85 



Amarican Hee Journal 



tions for the cooperative purchase of 

 bee supplies. It was thought possible 

 that a carload might be purchased. 



The association adopted the stand- 

 ard, 4'.jx4'.txl% inch section as the 

 standard for the association, and also 

 the double tier shipping case. 



It was interesting to note that the 

 majority are using the 4.\5 plain sec- 

 tion ; but realizing that uniformity will 

 be necessary when carload shipments 

 of comb honey are to be made, which 

 will be very soon, they voted unani- 

 mously for the standard section. Some 

 of the members will begin at once to 

 change their equipment. 



The Montana association voted to 

 affiliate with the National Beekeepers' 



Association, and elected Mr. S. F. 

 Lawrence delegate and Percy F. Kolb 

 alternate to the National convention 

 in Denver. 



The Montana association starts off 

 under very auspicious circumstances. 

 It is made up of men who are bound to 

 make a "'go" of it and do much for 

 Montana beekeeeping. 



One provision that will help out the 

 treasury of the association is that the 

 executive committee may assess each 

 member up to 5 cents per colony each 

 year. One cent per colony was as- 

 sessed at organization, and paid in as 

 a protective fund. This assessment 

 can be used cnly for special protective 

 purposes. 



SKVENTY BEKKEEPERS AT THE LUNCHEON GIVEN BY THE COLORADO 

 HONEY PRODUCERS' ASSOCIATION AT THE AUDITORIUM HOTEL. 



DENVER. DEC. 20 



Conducted by J. L. Byer. Mt. Joy. Ontario. 



Dysentery Shows First in Italians 



Bees are wintering none too well 

 here, and many colonies living on 

 natural stores are in need of a flight. 

 Sorry to have to say so, but as usual in 

 our apiaries the Italians are the first 

 ones to show signs of dysentery when 

 poor stores are in the hives. 



and other places where buildings and 

 fences catch it as the wind drives it 

 along. 



About two weeks ago we had over a 

 foot of snow at one fall, and right after 

 it a light rain. This froze and formed 

 a thin crust that ended chances of 

 drifting. 



sale sugar feeding. I would gladly 

 feed none at all if always sure that the 

 honey was all right, but experience has 

 taught us that in our northern sections 

 properly made sugar syrup is the very 

 safest food that can be given to bees 

 lor ;i hitcriiig. This year the great 

 majority of our bees have no sugar 

 syrup stores, and I fear we will regret 

 it before spring. 



As an instance that the bad efTect of 

 feeding good syrup in the fall in large 

 quantities, is insignificant, I will cite the 

 case of one our very best known bee- 

 keepers in Ontario. He runs hundreds 

 of colonies, and always manages so 

 that in the fall the brood-nests have 

 very little honey. He feeds every col- 

 ony about %) pounds of sugar, which 

 means 30 pounds of syrup for winter 

 stores. He has averaged that amount 

 to each colony everj fall for at least 

 15 years, and I would like to take the 

 two professors to these apiaries at any 

 ti I'e of the year, and ask them to de- 

 tect any kind of weakness in these 

 bees, caused by the heavy sugar feed- 

 ing. This man is one of our best win- 

 terers alicays : and his crops are prob- 

 ably second to none in the province. 



I feel positive that ear/y sprhig feed- 

 ing of sugar syrup rapidly tells on a 

 colony, but as for fall feeding, the man 

 in our country who follows the prac- 

 tice is the one who will come out 

 ahead in wintering, one season with 

 another. Nothing is better than good 

 honey for wintering, but, unfortunately, 

 we often get some honey in the hives 

 that will cause trouble every time in 

 places where no flight is possible from 

 Nov. 1 until late in March, as is often 

 the case here. 



Much Snow But Nice Weather 



We have had nice winter weather for 

 the past month, and to date, Feb. 9, we 

 have not had nearly as severe weather 

 as last year. There is a large amount 

 of snow, which will be good for the 

 clover; in fact, we have probably more 

 snow on the level than for a number 

 of years. I say " on the level " because, 

 as a rule, since the forests have been 

 cut down our snow lands in the roads 



Is Fall Feeding of Sugar Syrup to Be 

 Discouraged ? 



Professors Jager and Bartholomew 

 may be right as to the effect of sugar 

 feeding, page 53. In fact, they must 

 be right or they would not make the 

 claim they do. But I insist that the 

 bad effect of feeding sugar syrup to 

 bees in the fall, even feeding lots of it 

 year after year, is so small as to be 

 only noticeable to a scicn/is/. I do not 

 wish to pose as a defender of whole- 



Spreading Frames tor Wintering 



Mention is made on page 66 of taking 

 one comb out of a broodnest for win- 

 tering and spreading the remainder 

 further apart. H. G. Sibbald takes two 

 frames out of a 10-frame hive before 

 feeding heavily for winter. The eight 

 combs are "bulged out" so that only 

 the regular space is left. In the spring 

 he gradually forces these combs back 

 into normal position, and the bees re- 

 move the stores to get the proper 

 space again. 



The fact that he does this work and 

 says it is all right makes it safe to try, 

 for Sibbald " does things." When the 

 bees are making room between the 

 combs at the top, they move the stores, 

 and "stimulation" of the best kind is 

 provided. 



That Iowa Report 



Our thanks are due to Frank C. Pel- 

 lett for a copy of the inspector's report 

 and proceedings of the Iowa beekeep- 

 ers' convention. I think this is the 

 best effort in that line that I have yet 

 seen, and is well worthy of the State it 

 represents and of the men who were 

 instrumental in its publication. 



Best Wishes to Former Editor York 



Pleased and surprised to learn that 

 our mutual friend, George W. York, is 

 now State Representative for Idaho. 

 Not "surprised " because Ididnotthink 



