April, 1913, 



American "Bee JonrnaTj 



Miscellaneous m) News Items 



Bee-Inspection in Ontario Under the 



lead of the progressive Provincial Api- 

 arist, Morley Pettit, some things have 

 been done in Ontario that are worthy 

 of imitation. A very serious difficulty 

 in the way of foul-brood inspectors is 

 the difficulty of getting over the ground 

 fast enough, with so much ground to 

 get over and so few men to get over it. 

 If the inspector could spend a half-day 

 or a day with each bee-keeper, giving 

 him full instruction and showing him 

 just how to do in treating a diseased 

 colony, much advance could be made. 

 Failing of time to do that, those Onta- 

 rians are gathered in bunches, and 

 demonstrations are given. As Mr. 

 Pettit wisely says in his report in the 

 Canadian Bee Journal : 



The inspector can not afford to show 

 every one individually how foul brood is 

 treated. He must simply give an explana- 

 tion, leave printed instructions, and go on 

 But if a score or more people, by appoint- 

 ment, meet in an apiary, he can meet with 

 them and show the lot at one time exactly 

 what the disease looks like, how it should 

 be treated to cure, and how wax can be 

 saved from the diseased combs. 



Twenty-seven demonstration meet- 

 ings were held in various parts of the 

 Province, with from 10 to 75 bee-keep- 

 ers in attendance at each meeting, the 

 average attendance being about -30. It 

 will be seen that by this method of pro- 

 cedure 30 times as much is accom- 

 plished as by the usual method of tak- 

 ing each bee-keeper separately. 



As Mr. Pettit has not taken the pre- 

 caution to copyright the plan, it would 

 be nothing strange if it should be 

 brought across the line. 



The Ivy Bee-Rranch, near Phoenix, 

 Ariz., is shown on the first page this 

 month. It is near the Salt River irri- 

 gation project. A profitable industry 

 is being developed on many of the 

 Government irrigation projects in the 

 production of honey, and press reports 

 from State and County fairs held last 

 fall indicate that the quality of this 

 honey is superior. The flavor is ex- 

 ceptionally fine, and the color clear and 

 sparkling. Alfalfa is the chief source 

 from which the bees secure their sup- 

 ply, and as it blooms constantly from 

 early spring until late in the fall the 

 bees have something to work on all 

 the time, allowing a greater amount of 

 honey to be stored. 



Many of the projects are located in 

 famous fruit-sections, and the combi- 

 nation is found to be of mutual advan- 

 tage. The trees furnish some honey 

 during the blossoming period, and or- 

 chard men say that the economic im- 

 portance of the bee, from the stand- 

 point of its value in the poUenization 

 of fruit, can not be overestimated. 

 White clover and small fruits, and in 

 the plains regions many varieties of 

 wild flowers also furnish sources of 

 supply. 



The bee-industry is a lucrative side- 



line for the regular farmer, but there is 

 also a wide field for the bee-men on 

 these projects where everything tends 

 toward specialization, and where the 

 farmers organize for the standardiza- 

 tion and marketing of their crops. On 

 nearly all the projects small tracts for 

 the purpose may be purchased at rea- 

 sonable rates. On many of them there 

 are model towns laid out at intervals 

 of a few miles. The business lots are 

 grouped around a central square, and 

 near the outer boundaries of the two 

 townsites the lots contain several acres 

 each. These large lots, surrounded by 

 wide areas of new agricultural lands 

 devoted largelyto the raising of alfalfa, 

 are ideal locations for apiaries. They 

 are sold at very reasonable rates, and 

 afford opportunities for engaging in a 

 business which pays large returns on 

 the investment. 



The average price of bees in the 

 West is probably about $5 a colony. 

 The manager nf a large apiary on one 

 of the irrigated tracts gives the average 

 production of his colonies as 76 pounds 

 of surplus honey per annum. At 10 

 cents per pound the returns would be 

 $7.60. In addition to that the increase 

 averages 100 percent from year to year, 

 doubling the original investment and 

 making a total of about l-jO percent 

 profit each year on the original invest- 

 ment. 



The Statistician of the Reclamation 

 Service at Washington, D. C, will fur- 

 nish detailed information concerning 

 lands irrigated by the Government, 

 upon request. 



Bees and Poultry in the U. S Ac- 

 cording to the report of the Bureau of 

 Census, in the year 1910, for every dol- 

 lar invested in bees in the United States 

 there was invested in 



Chickens $13-52 



Turkeys 64 



Geese 31 



Ducks IS 



♦■ 



" Sweet Clover, or Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. -ISo," was recently received at this 

 office. It is of uniform size with other 

 bulletins issued by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, and con- 

 tains 39 pages. It was prepared by J. 

 M. Westgate, Agronomist In Charge 

 of Clover Investigation, Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, and H. N. Vinal, As- 

 sistant Agrostologist, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry. It is indeed a most valuable 

 addition to the literature already pub- 

 lished on sweet clover. There are 16 

 illustrations. It gives detailed direc- 

 tions for growing sweet clover, and 

 also tells of its great value for pastur- 

 age, hay and honey. Some years ago 

 sweet clover was considered a noxious 

 weed by those having a surplus of 

 ignorance. The opposition to it was 

 one of the most senseless things imag- 

 inable. Sweet clover is of such great 

 value, and in so many different ways, 

 that it is surprising that it has taken so 



long a time to discover it. It will pay 

 every bee-keeper, as well as farmer, to 

 send for a copy of Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 485, and read it carefully. The 

 more general growing of sweet clover 

 will not only be of great benefit to 

 farmers, but to bee-keepers as well. 

 Address, U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington, D. C. 



Honey-Guide Bird of Africa. — John 

 Burroughs, naturalist, wrfter and hor- 

 ticulturist, when in Chicago last sea- 

 son, told of Theodore Roosevelt's or- 

 nithological attainments, and of how at 

 one time when the e.x-president had in- 

 vited the naturalist to his country place 

 the two came out even in the number 

 of birds they could point out and name. 



" He could teach me as many new 

 birds as I could teach him," said Mr. 

 Burroughs. "When he was preparing 

 to go to Africa, I asked him to investi- 

 gate the story about the 'honey-guide' 

 bird, which is supposed to lead the 

 hunter to a tree where bees deposit 

 honey, the so-called honey-tree. I did 

 not believe the story. 



"I hardly thought Mr. Roosevelt 

 would remember my request, but at his 

 son's wedding, after his return, when 

 he cought sight of me, he came rush- 

 ing up and exclaimed enthusiastically, 

 'It's true about the honey-guide; we 

 tried it 19 times, and it always worked. 

 The bird does it to eat the comb we 

 leave. It was just as if it had been 

 waiting expressly for me.' " 



Lying in Advertisements Dr. A. F. 



Bonney sends us the following on mis- 

 representations in advertisements: 



Editor American Bee Journal:— Since 

 my last article about advertising, in the 

 ' Old Reliable." I have done considerable 

 "writing in regard to the matter of deception 

 in advertisements, and tind that there is a 

 widespread interest in the matter. All over 

 the United .States business men are taking 

 an interest, and I foretell that withina short 

 time it will be impossible to tiiid a publica- 

 tion which will allow the word "cure "to 

 be used in an advertisement in connection 

 with medicine, apparatus or mental effort. 

 It will, also, 1 believe, be criminal to send 

 such an advertisement through the mails. 



1 have from time to time in the past half- 

 year made notes from proposed laws in re- 

 gard to advertising, seeing the time coming 

 when I might need them, and the law pro- 

 posed below is the result, copied almost or 

 quite as it was proposed before the Des 

 Moines Admen's Club. Possibly it maybe 

 improved on. but it looks good to me: 



" Any person, corporation or association 

 who. with intent to sell or in any manner 

 dispose of merchandise, securities. services, 

 or anything offered by such person, firm, 

 corporation or association, directly or in- 

 directly to the public for sale or distribu- 

 tion, or with the intent to increase the con- 

 sumption thereof, to induce the public in 

 any manner to enter into any obligation re- 

 lating thereto, or to acquire the title thereto 

 or an interest therein, makes, publishes or 

 disseminates, circulates or places before 

 the public in this State, in a newspaper or 

 any other publication, or in the form of a 

 book, notice, handbill, poster, bill, circular, 

 pamphlet or letter, or in any other way. an 

 advertisement of any sort regarding mer- 

 chandise, services or anythingoffered to the 

 public. iL-hich advertisement iOJttains any asser- 

 tion, representation or statement of fact which is 

 untrue, deceptive or misleading, shall be euilty of 

 a misdemeanor." 



Several States have passed laws forbid- 

 ding the word "cure " to be used in a" pat- 

 ent-medicine " advertisement, other States 

 will do the same, and even now a National 

 law has been proposed. If I remember, a 

 Bill was recently introduced in the House 

 of Kepresentatives. 



This is as it should be. for speaking from 

 more than 30 years' experience in experi- 



