American l^ee Journal 



November, 1915. 



regard for the welfare of any other 

 species, can one get a correct concep- 

 tion of the facts of Nature. The honey- 

 bee was evolved from less specialized 

 insects because the changes fitted it 

 better to its environment; they store 

 honey because the instinct to do so lits 

 them better for their environment. The 

 fact that man can take some of this 

 honey should not cause him to think 

 that all this course of evolution is for 

 his benefit." 



In regard to the location of apiaries 

 thi' author suggests that the selection 

 should be made so that the colonies 

 may store the maximum profitable sur- 

 plus, and this depends upon location. 

 The number of colonies to be kept in 

 each apiary should depend upon this 

 factor and also upon the number which 

 the apiarist may be able to manipulate 

 in a single day. In connection with 

 this subject, a map of the Dadant api. 

 aries, published in Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture in 1891, is given. A reproduc- 

 tion of our present system of apiaries 

 has been suggested to us in this con- 

 nection, and will probably be published 

 in the Bee Journal before long. 



On this subject of honey extracting. 

 Dr. Phillips mentions the advantage de- 

 rived from saving the combs, and 

 states that it is estimated that beeswax 

 costs from (! to 20 pounds of honey for 

 each pound of comb secreted. Thig 

 has been a much debated subject, some 

 old school apiarists holding that in 

 some cases a pound of comb costs less 

 than two pounds of honey. 



On wintering, which is one of the 

 subjects most studied by Phillips, the 

 statement is made that, during cold 

 weather, any disturbance which excites 

 the bees causes brood-rearing, and 

 that this should be avoided as long as 

 there is to be no opportunity for the 

 young bees to take a flight. The Lang- 

 stroth frame is considered by him as 

 rather shallow for best results out-of- 

 doors. A double story, with ample 

 stores in the upper portion, is recom- 

 mended. The annual consumption of 

 honey by a colony, for their support, is 

 estimated at 200 to (100 pounds. He 

 quotes Hommel, a French experimen- 

 ter, as giving an average of 480 pounds 

 for the needs of a colony in a season. 



A very full list of the principal honey 

 plants is given. The foulbrood chap- 

 ter is thorough. Phillips is an author- 

 ity on this subject, since he has helped 

 Dr. White in studying the disease. The 

 treatment he advises is popularly 

 known as the " shaking treatment," 

 and is recommended by him for both 

 American and European foulbrood, 

 with the additional advice, in the latter 

 disease, to change the queen for a 

 young, vigorous Italian queen. The 

 removal of the old queen and keeping 



FIG. 1. -AFTER THE FLOOD AT THE LOUIS WERNER APIARY 



the colony queenless for a few days, is 

 mentioned as often sufficient, in treat- 

 ing European foulbrood. 



Several queen rearing methods are 

 given with insistence upon the neces- 

 sity of rearing queens from choice 

 stock of pure race, owing to the vari- 

 ability of crosses. 



We find only one subject for criti- 

 cism, and it is a matter of opinion in 

 connection with the Dzierzon theory 

 of parthenogenesis. As the discussion 

 of this subject will require a statement 

 of past experiences, we will give it a 

 special mention in a future number. 

 Some comments by Dr. Miller will also 

 be given. 



Impoverisbed by Flood 



One of our well-known Illinois bee- 

 keepers, Mr. Louis Werner, has been 

 impoverished by the floods of the past 

 summer. The accompanying engrav- 

 ings show the extent of the loss. Fig- 

 ure 1 represents the home. The water 

 was 6)4 feet deep in it on Aug. 21. The 

 torn down building next to it was his 

 summer kitchen. The apiary of 75 col- 

 onies was almost entirely destroyed. 

 The honey house shown in Fig. 3 con- 

 tained 650 pounds of comb honey and 

 400 pounds of extracted honey. This 

 was lost as well as about 400 pounds 

 still on the hives and 23 nuclei for 

 queen-rearing. The water came so 

 fast, he says, that they had no warning 

 of the danger. The barn, shown in 

 Fig. 2, was moved, as shown, upon the 

 railroad track, and had to be torn 

 down to be removed. The cut shows 

 carpenters in the act of taking off the 

 roof. 



Of the entire apiary only four or five 

 hives were saved with a few bees in 

 them. But they were queenless. The 

 traps and implements saved from the 

 flood are shown to the right of the 



house, in Fig. 1. All his bee-supplies 

 are gone. The 400 pounds of extracted 

 honey was in a tank, and this was 

 tipped over when the honey house was 



Fig. 2.— Louis Werner's Barn Moved up 

 ON THE Railroad Track By the Flood 



moved by the water 100 feet. The 

 depth of the water is shown on the 

 house by the upper slat nailed across 

 the window. 



Mr. Werner is aged and a crippl.;, 

 and we believe deserves relief at the 

 hands of his brother beekeepers. The 

 American Bee Journal proposes to 

 start it with a subscription of $20. All 

 sums remitted will be acknowledged in 

 these columns. In these times of strife 

 and war, we ought to help the unlucky 

 friends. 



Tbe Haiuilton-Keokuk Meeting 



Press of work prevented us from 

 commenting in the October number 

 upon the discussions that took place 

 at the above-mentioned meeting. 



The paper read by Dr. Pammel, State 

 Botanist of Iowa, at Keokuk, will be 



