January 



American ISee Journal 



pretty sure they will help you out. At any 

 rate. I should advise you to send a sample of 

 diseased brood about 4 inches sauare (like 

 enough you would call it a square decime- 



ter; to Dr. E. F. Phillips. Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington. D. C. U. S. A., and you 

 will at least have a courteous reply from 

 him. 



Pretty Good for a Poor Year 



I had 5300 pounds of honey from So colo- 

 nies, spring count, this year, of which iioo 

 pounds was comb honey. This does not 

 show very well, but some bee-keepers a few 

 miles from me had no honey at all. 



I sold all my honey at home, and could 

 have sold more. The comb honey I sold at 

 $1.00 per case of 24 sections, weighing 21}^ 

 pounds. I put my bees into the cellar Nov. 

 17th. and they seem to be very comfortable. 

 Herman Heurkens. 



Green Bay, Wis., Dec. 28. 



Bees in Big Horn Basin 



Our bees have done as usual. I stacked 

 the supers on top of the hives and they filled 

 them. They averaged from 150 to over 200 

 pounds per colony. They are wintering in 

 good shape so far, on the summer stands. 

 They have not had a flight for 10 days, and 

 this is longer than I ever saw them housed 

 up. The winter here promises to be a steady 

 one. and I am afraid we will not have a Big 

 ■ Horn Basin winter this time. 



Cody. Wyo.. Dec. 20. J. D. Kaufman. 



When Buckwheat Yields Best 



I noticed in the December number of the 

 American Bee Journal something about 

 bees working on buckwheat. I was born in 

 New York State, and had my buckwheat 

 and bee experience in Ulster county, where 

 I was a boy. My father and 1 hunted bees 

 in the woods, and I found out that when it 

 was a bright, sunshiny day the bees didn't 

 do much on buckwheat from 10 a m. to 2 or 3 

 p.m. but in cloudy or lowery weather they 

 would work on it all day. though not so much 

 from 10 a m. as they did after2p.m. I also 

 discovered that they did not work on the 

 honey late in the day. even when there was 

 plenty of nectar in the buckwheat bloom. 



Newcastle. Nebr. A. C, Butler. 



Light Honey Crop 



The honey crop in the Nueces Valley was 

 very light this season. Good spring rains 

 were followed by scorching winds that dried 

 the nectar. There was no rain from the 

 middle of May up into September. The last 

 of October a honey-flow started. Plenty of 

 brood was reared. Bees go into winter 

 quarters in good shape. With a beekeeper's 

 hope we look forward to another season. 

 Four years ago this section was a cow-pas- 

 ture. Now there is a railroad, a town of 

 1000 people, with 1800 colonies of bees on 20 

 miles of the Nueces River. All good loca- 

 tions are taken up here, but many pastures 

 are being opened up where there will be 

 good locations along the rivers and lakes. 

 C. H. Miller. 



Crystal City, Tex., Nov. 28. 



"Karo Syrup" and Selling One's Self 



In reading over the advertisement signed 

 by Marion Harland. stating that "Karo 

 syrup" is as rich and sweet as honey, richer 

 in consistency, and without the cloying 

 dualities of honey, etc.. it has brought to my 

 mind a controversy I used to have with a 

 butcher (about 35 years ago). He peddled 

 meat, and stopped at my place regularly. 

 Me contended that every person " had his 

 price." and would sell if he got his price. I 

 contended that there were a great many 

 people who would not sell at any price; 

 that no amount of money would tempt them 

 to sell out; that they held certain nrinciples 

 that were above price. He argued like this : 

 The strongest man iihysically could he over, 

 loaded, and his strength would break; also- 

 that the strongest intellect would give way 

 under strain, and that the strongest moral 



fibre would yield under sufficient strain; 

 or, in other words, "that a bribe large 

 enough would buy any one." Now. the edi- 

 tor of the American Bee Journal has asked 

 about a dozen questions in November, loii, 

 issue of the American Bee Journal in regard 

 to that statement signed by Marion Harland, 

 and I frankly admit that I am unable to an- 

 swer them; but I wish to ask just one ques- 

 tion in the American Bee Journal, and that 

 is this. " Was the butcher right ?" 

 Carpinteria, Calif. A. L. Dupray. 



[No, we don't think the butcher was right. 

 There surely are many people who can not 

 be " bought;" but there are also many who 

 sell themselves, and very cheap, at that.— 

 Editor.] 



Report for Season of 1911 



I had 7 colonies, spring count, and har- 

 vested 400 pounds of good honey, and in- 

 creased to 16 colonies in good shape for win- 

 ter. J. M. WisMER. 



Jordan Station, Ont., Nov. 30. 



Wintering in the Cellar 



I put into the cellar IQ3 colonies of bees on 

 Oct. 31st. They are in splendid condition. I 

 hope to take them out on May ist after 6 

 long months of confinement, in good condi- 

 tion. Jacques Verret. 



Charlesbourg. Que.. Dec. 28. 



Dry Year for Bees 



This has been a terribly dry year here, but 

 I got a fair surplus of comb honey— 2000 

 pounds from 58 colonies, and increased to 00 

 colonies. Alsike and white clover are our 

 main honey-flows. We are living in hopes 

 for IQI2. Earl R. Burt. 



Eagle, Mich.. Dec. 27. 



Honey Crop Almost a Failure 



I have been keeping bees 4 years. I started 

 with 4 colonies, and now I have 25. I have 

 lost some and bought just about as many. 

 The honey crop was almost a failure this 

 season on account of drouth in the early 

 part of the season, and too much rain later. 

 James Johnson. 



Pocahontas, Ark., Dec. 4. 



Bees Did Well on Honey-Dew 



1 have 25 colonies of bees in very good 

 shape so far. but I think that some of them 

 will run a little short of stores before spring. 

 We are having very nice weather at present, 

 and generally do from thistime up to Christ- 

 mas. My bees did well this year, the biggest 

 run being from honey-dew. The fall now 

 was very deficient. J. K. Barron. 



Springdale. Ark., Dec. 4. 



When Buckwheat Yields Nectar 



Referring to page 358. 1 may say that I have 

 kept bees in a locality where much buck- 

 wheat is grown, for the last 30 years I know 

 only from common observation. When the 

 buckwheat is at the right stage of growth, 

 and the conditions of the atmosphere right, 

 it does often yield nectar all day long. If the 

 soil is a little too <lry. and the air hot and 

 dry. nectar-secretion seems to stop about 10 

 o'clock in the forenoon. I am in doubt 

 whether nectar-secretion has really stopped 

 or whether it has dried down so the bees 

 can not gather it. As soon as the sun lowers 

 — about 4 p.m.— the bees are at work again 

 bringing it in. 



The same rule holds true in regard to 



honey-dew from the leaves of trees. It dries 

 down on the leaves in the middle of the day 

 so the bees can not take it until the dews of 

 evening begin to fall. I suspect it is some- 

 times the same wtth buckwheat. If the air 

 is highly charged with electricity and mois- 

 ture, buckwheat and other honey-plants 

 seem to secrete nectar more freely. Some 

 plants secrete best when the soil is rather 

 dry. The temperature of the air has much 

 to do with nectar-secretion. 



The exact conditions of soil, temperature, 

 and moisture of the air and soil. I do not 

 know. F, Wilcox. 



Mauston, Wis. 



Bee-Keeping Conditions 



It has been necessary to feed the bees for 

 the past 2 months. Last Sunday we had 

 some fine rains, and also on Monday night. 

 Tuesday was cold, and few bees were flying, 

 but on Wednesday the bees were bringing 

 in honey and plenty of pollen, and some of 

 the queens had 3 and 4 frames of brood. 



As they can fly almost every day. the re- 

 sult is that they consume more food or 

 honey than they do back in the Central 

 States, and it is essential that they have 

 more food, else they will not winter. 



We are not pestered with bee-moths here, 

 as our nights all through the year are too 

 cold for the moths, and so the bees are not 

 called upon to guard against them. 



J. C. Frohliger. 



Berkeley. Calif., Dec. 0. 



Regular Use of Honey 



My experience in practise for over 40 years 

 has demonstrated tlie wonderful benefit de- 

 rived from the regular use of honey as a 

 sweetener of foods. 



It is of particular life-giving value to the 

 nerves, and a reliable assistance in the gen- 

 eral maintenance of health. 



Pure honey merits the special attention of 

 every family for their daily use. 



Honey is. the concentrated essence of 

 highest refinement in Nature's green vegetal 

 realm. 



Pure honey is a direct brain and nerve 

 food, and is the best heart-cordial. 



It retains moisture in the blood and circu- 

 latory channels, thus preventing and re- 

 moving over-heated, feverish conditions. 



Honey is a reliable laxative to the intes- 

 tines. 



I know of a number of families who do not 

 use any other sweetening. 



" My son eat thou honey for it is good." 

 " Honey-comb is health to the bones." 



I could write a valuable story full of very 

 interesting, tale-telling details regarding 

 that precious product of our most exem- 

 plary, fleet-winged servants— the intelligent, 

 vita-mechanical busy bee. 



" Honey-mead " is a wholesome beverage- 

 one spoonful of honey in half a pint of hot or 

 cold water, to which add a small pinch of 

 red pepper. 



I would give earnest warning against imi- 

 tated and adulterated honey. 

 ^,- Yours for real, utmltered, bcc-made hoticv, 



Hightstown, N. J. Dr. Victor B. Hall. 



Comb Honey — Cellar-Wintering 



Although I did not attend the Michigan 

 convention at Saginaw with the idea of re- 

 porting it. yet there were some " glittering 

 ideas ' expressed, which, to me. seemed 

 very important. 



Mr. L. S. Griggs spoke on the production 

 of comb honey, first making an apology for 

 his subject by saying that, as he had pur- 

 chased a comb-honey equiimient. he thought 

 he must use it in order to get the worth of his 

 money, even though extracted does pay bet- 

 ter. This seemed to be the signal for every- 

 body to "hand comb honey a lemon." Pres. 

 Townsend capped the climax by saying he 

 had been turiihie his own comb-honey equip- 

 ment this winter. However. Mr. Griggs 

 claims to have had very fair success with 

 comb honey, and his principal expedient, 

 he says, is to use q frames in a 10-frame hive, 

 putting thin division-boards at both sides to 

 give the bees plenty of room to crawl up be- 

 tween the side of the hive .ind the division- 

 board. Supers are similarly arranged. He 

 notices that these spaces are regular high- 

 ways. The result is that the bees begin at 

 the sides of the super first. He puts his 

 baits at the sides. He runs some of his 

 yards for extracted honey, and uses the 

 same expedient. It is a modification of one 

 of Simmins' plans. 



Several present thought that this and the 



