(Entered as second-class matter at the Post-ofBce at Hamilton, 111., imder Act of March 3, 1879.) 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by American Bee Journal, First National Bank Building 



C. p. DADANT. Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER, Associate Editor. 



HAMILTON, ILL, NOVEMBER, 1915 



Vol. LV..^No. 11 



Editorial ^ Comments 



Our Front Cover 



On our front cover we give one of 

 Frank C. Pellett's photographs of his 

 wild garden. The young lady in the 

 photograph is Miss Mildred Neff, a 

 younger sister of Mrs. Pellett. 



Aster Uouey 



It is our impression that the main 

 reason why aster honey is bad food for 

 winter is that it is harvested so late 

 that much of it remains unsealed and 

 becomes watery during moist winter 

 weather. Will others take notice of 

 this and give their experience ? 



A number of beekeepers have given 

 a favorable report on wintering bees 

 with aster honey, in Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture for Aug. 15. 



Beekeepiug — A New Book 



This is the title of a work of 457 

 pages by Dr. E. F. Phillips, the Apiarist 

 of the Department of Agriculture, who 

 has been in charge at Washington, D. 

 C, for a number of years, and whose 

 studies of bee diseases, queen-rearing 

 and colony wintering have already 

 rendered great service to American 

 apiculture. 



This book occupies a special place in 

 the beekeeper's library, for it is neither 

 an arduous scientific work unintelligi- 

 ble to the average man nor a solely 

 practical treatise. Dr. Phillips handles 

 apiarian questions in his own way, 

 says nothing positively of which he 

 cannot furnish proof, but gives his 

 readers some very decided information 



on the most important subjects. The 

 book is interesting and captivates the 

 attention. Here are a few of our im- 

 pr^»ssions gathered in pencil notes 

 while reading it. 



In the opening chapter, " Beekeeping 

 as an Occupation," the author shows 

 that there is at present no likelihood 

 of overproduction of honey. The value 

 of the United States honey crop is 

 about $20,000,000, or about 20 cents 

 worth of honey per inhabitant. On the 

 question of who should keep bees, he 

 suggests that those enthusiasts who 

 love out-of-doors and intimacy with 

 these insects will make a success, and 

 that those who have no liking for the 

 pursuit should never consider it. 



His experience on the fertility of 

 queens is in line with that of other 

 practical men. He says that a prolific 

 queen may lay as many as 4500 to -5000 

 eggs in 24 hours. He very clearly sup- 

 ports the idea of independent personal 

 odor of hives, bees and queens, which 

 has been denied of late by critics, but 

 which is strongly sustained by most 

 experienced apiarists. 



In the matter of apiary supplies, 

 Phillips deprecates investment in com- 

 plicated implements. With our most 

 successful apiary workers he holds 

 that the hives and all supplies should 

 be strongly built, simple in construc- 

 tion, uniform and interchangeable. We 

 certainly commend such advice which 

 is exactly in line with our own practice. 



The book contains a very interesting 

 description of the embryonic and larval 

 development of the bee, as also of the 



structure of the perfect insect. The 

 statement is made that the early flight 

 of the young bee, a week after birth, is 

 necessary to void the feces. This state- 

 ment strengthens our view that young 

 bees which have never yet left the hive 

 are undesirable as escort for a queen 

 on a protracted journey. 



The opposite views of Schiemenz 

 and Schoenfeld on the origin of the pap 

 or royal jelly are mentioned by him 

 without the expression of personal 

 opinion, neither side having as yet 

 made positive proof of the correctness 

 of its statements. Schiemenz, sustained 

 by Cheshire, asserts that the larval 

 food is a product of the salivary glands, 

 while Schoenfeld, sustained by Cowan, 

 gives it as a product of the second 

 stomach or ventriculus, from which the 

 jelly is regurgitated. The fact that 

 Phillips does not take side with either 

 scientist, one of whom must be right, 

 shows that he does not wish to sup- 

 port anything without proof. 



Regarding the organs of smell, Phil- 

 lips sustains the recent studies of Mc- 

 Indoo, in which the assertion is made 

 that these organs are not located in 

 the antennae but in "olfactory pores " 

 on the bases of the wings, on the legs 

 and on the stings. As we have given 

 a description of the Mclndoo studies, 

 pages 197-200, June, 1914, we will add 

 nothing to this subject. But the sup- 

 port of Phillips will strengthen the 

 Mclndoo assertion in the minds of 

 many beekeepers. 



Dr. Phillips believes in evolution 

 and in a note at the foot of page 82 

 criticises the egotistical belief that the 

 honeybee, as well as the rest of the 

 universe, was made solely for the bene- 

 fit of man. He says: 



" Not until one realizes that every 

 species of plant and animal is in a 

 struggle for its own existence, without 



