410 



December, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



Wanted — Back Numbers of the Bee 

 Journal. — We are in need of back num- 

 bers of the Bee Journal to supply re- 

 quests for full sets. Our readers who 

 have back numbers will confer a favor 

 by writing us with full information as 



to the dates of all copies which they 

 can supply and which they are willing 

 to sell. Some especially needed imme- 

 diately are listed in a classified adver- 

 tisement in this number. When writing 

 please give a list of what you have. 



Bee-Keeping <^ For Women 



Conducted by Miss Emma M. Wilson, Mareneo. 111. 



Basswood Seedlings 



On page 372, propagating basswoods 

 is discussed, a subject in which women 

 should be interested as much as men. 

 There are practically no basswoods 

 growing wild about Marengo, but we 

 have a beautiful row of them growing 

 on the place. Under this row thou- 

 sands of seedlings come up every year 

 from the seed that is bountifully pro- 

 duced. They never, however, appear 

 the second year. They are not pas- 

 tured down, and what becomes of them 

 is a mystery. But there is a bountiful 

 crop of fresh seedlings every year, so 

 that the germination of the seed does 

 not seem such a difficult thing. It is 

 quite possible that the seed lies on or 

 in the ground over a year, coming up 

 the second spring after it has fallen. 



If this supposition be correct, then 

 it seems that the proper thing would 

 be to plant the seed where it may lie 

 in the ground over one summer. In 

 many cases it would be undesirable to 

 have the ground thus occupied, that is 

 to have the seed planted where it is to 

 remain permanently, and this might 

 answer: In the fall, or as soon as the 

 seed ripens and falls, gather it and 

 bury it in the ground in a mass; then 

 after having remained thus buried dur- 

 ing two winters and a summer, it may 

 be taken up in the spring and planted. 



Canna seeds are difficult to start on 

 account of their hard shell, and some- 

 times a hole is filed into each seed. 

 Gladiolus cormels have a hard shell 

 which is sometimes peeled off with 

 scarce sorts. It would hardly be 

 practicable either to file or to peel 

 basswood seeds, although they might 

 be lightly cracked ; but another thing 

 might be done with them that is prac- 

 tised with both canna seeds and gladio- 

 lus cormels, that is to pour boiling 

 water upon them. This seems all the 

 more plausible from what is said on 

 page 369, about immersing sulla seed 

 in boiling water for five minutes. 



Fall Treatment of American Foulbrood 



In an item on page 376, when speak- 

 ing of the intended treatment of Ameri- 

 can foulbrood, it is said, "They are to 

 be left until they have no longer any 

 unsealed brood. Then their frames 

 are to betaken from them (not burned) 

 and replaced by combs of sealed 

 honey, and that's all the treatment they 

 are to have." How that "not burned" 

 got there is a mystery. Did it so ap- 

 pear in the manuscript, or did the "in- 



telligent compositor" take liberties 

 with the copy? Anyhow, that "not" 

 should be changed "to be" or some- 

 thing else to show that those frames 

 were to be burned into a very burnt 

 condition. 



Now that the treatment has been ap- 

 plied, and is no longer a thing in pros- 

 pect, it may be well to say particularly 

 how it was done. Another hive was 

 provided with combs of sealed honey — 

 an abundant supply for winter and 

 spring — and set in place of the old 

 hive, the latter being of course set ofif 

 the stand. On top of the yet beeless 

 hive on the stand was placed an empty 

 hive-body. The combs with adhering 

 bees are now lifted one by one from 

 the old hive, and the bees brushed into 

 the empty hive-body upon the combs 

 of honey. Very simple, yet just as safe 

 as the usual plan of shaking while 

 there is a full quota of brood in all 

 stages in the hive. For there is no dis- 

 eased honey in the hive, and what 

 honey the bees have brought in their 

 sacs will be all used up long before 

 brood is again in the hive. The combs 

 taken away are to be burned after the 

 honey is extracted from them. With 

 any considerable quantity it might pay 

 to melt the combs and save the wa.x. 



Inthis method of treatment, a method 

 given by the late W. E. McEvoy, there 

 is no hindrance to the work of the 



bees, while the usual shaking method 

 is a serious setback. Of course there 

 is the loss of the combs in either case. 

 While it would not be advisable to de- 

 lay treatment when a colony is found 

 diseased early in the season, it would 

 seem quite advisable to wait until there 

 is no longer any brood in the hive 

 when the disease is found late in the 

 season. 



Good cS the plan is, it is not one of 

 universa application. Mr. Le Sturgeon, 

 of San .Vntonio, Tex., says that he has 

 neve r found a time in the year when 

 there wai not at least a little brood in 

 his hives. The plan is therefore barred 

 from those far enough South to have 

 no broodless period. 



*-•-» 



Boltom-Starters in Sections 



Bottom-starters in sections, which 

 originated "in this locality," seem to 

 be growing constantly in favor, and 

 as there is more or less misunder- 

 standing about them, it may be well to 

 give here some particulars. More than 

 one otherwise good authority has ad- 

 vised to use bottom-starters M-inch 

 deep. T:ie conductor of this depart- 

 ment has probably put in bottom-start- 

 ers for a longer time than any other 

 beel(eeper aside from Dr. Miller, and 

 does not hesitate to say that the one 

 who advises so small a starter as X- 

 inch is h.jrdly speaking from much ex- 

 peri(;nce. 



Foundation is probably fastened in 

 sections most generally by the hot- 

 plate machine, the one most commonly 

 in use being the Daisy fastener. With 

 this machine it is so difficult to put in 

 so narrow a starter as to be well nigh 

 impossible. A yt starter is much more 

 easily managed, but still very trouble- 

 some. With a 7S starter the work may 

 be done very rapidly. 



But the ease of putting in the starter 

 is not the only thing to be considered. 

 If it were, a 2-inch starter would be 

 better than a smaller one, but a 2-inch 

 starter would not do at all, for it would 

 promptly topple over when given to 

 the bees. Much experience has shown 



ORANGE COUNTY EXHIBIT 



