April, 1912. 



American Hq^ Journal 



in the same neigliborhood, where 18 

 hives of bees were destroyed. 



The editor, in commenting upon the 

 recital of this extraordinary occur- 

 rence, enquires: Are there no hunters 

 in that vicinity ? This should certainly 

 encourage the organizing of a battle to 

 exterminate such unwelcome visitors. 



In our own United States bears 

 are becoming rare curiosities since 

 Uncle Sam has found it advisable to 

 protect and feed the wild bears of the 

 Yellowstone National Park. But even 

 in that region, it seems to me that it 

 will be necessary to limit their pro- 

 duction, for they will soon be a menace 

 to other preserved game. 



The Steam-He.\ted Honev-Knike. 



The same number of L'Apicoltore — 

 which is a magazine well-known for 

 the judicious selections it makes of in- 

 ternational information — gives a quo- 

 tation from J. E. Crane, in Gleanings 

 in Bee Culture, regarding the steam- 

 heated honey-knife which is mentioned 

 as one of the greatest improvements of 

 the year 1910. L'.-Xpicoltore calls at- 

 tention to the fact that two Italian in- 

 ventions — the one of the solar wax-ex- 

 tractor by Leandri, the other of the 

 steam honey-knife by Tonelli — have 

 been taken by foreigners without men- 

 tioning the names of the inventors, 

 but, on the contrary, by changing the 

 names to some of their own people. 

 There is some truth in this, and people 

 are too prone to take up other per- 

 sons' ideas without credit being given. 



Regarding the solar wax-extractor, 

 however, when I mentioned it as an 

 Italian invention, years ago, at a meet- 

 ing of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, Mr. O. O. Poppleton was very 

 much displeased, as he asserted to me, 

 then and there, that he had discovered 

 this, years before, without any sugges- 

 tions from any one else, and that he 

 claimed it as his own discovery. 



A similar coincidence of invention 

 took place with the Vandervort spur 

 for pressing wires into comb founda- 

 tion. This was the " eperon Woiblet " 

 invented in Switzerland at the same 

 time, and I yet remember the remarks 

 made by Mr. Bertrand as to the exact- 

 ness with which the thoughts of brainy 

 inventors many miles apart could meet 

 on a given subject. 



Regarding the invention of the 

 steam-heated knife, Mr. Tonelli was 

 - kind enough to send me, at great ex- 

 pense to him, two of these knives, in 

 190t). I gave the American Bee Jour- 

 nal a cut of these, and the invention 

 was noticed, giving the name of the 

 inventor in the Dec. iJ7th number, page 

 104t). That same year the Tonelli knife, 

 so courteously furnished to me by its 

 inventor, was prepaid by him, and I 

 might here add that our express com- 

 panies in this instance earned the apel- 

 lation commonly given them of " or- 

 ganized swindles," by charging exorbi- 

 tant tolls for an article which had come 

 as far as New York by cheap Italian 

 parcels post. 



The Tonelli knife was good, but the 

 steam-heating apparatus attached to it 

 was hardly adequate, and we could not 

 succeed in heating the knife to its 

 point. The electric knife was not 

 practical in apiaries, as there is no 



electric current to be had in our coun- 

 try places, up to the present time. 



The new steam-heated honey-knife, 

 vvliich is praised by Mr. Crane, Mr. 

 France and some others, is evidently 

 copied from the Tonelli knife, but it 

 has some advantages over it. The 

 water-reservoir for the production of 

 steam is of greater capacity. It may be 

 placed outside of the building with a 

 hose long enough to reach through the 

 wall. In this way the operator does 

 not suffer from the heat produced. In 

 addition to these differences, the new 

 Tonelli-American knife has its con- 

 nection with the steam hose at the heel 

 of the blade, thus leaving the handle 

 cool at all times. The original Tonelli 

 knife has a hollowhandle, andthe steam 

 passes through it. A large amount of 

 steam would make it too hot for com- 

 fort. 



Since every country in the world 

 contributes to progress, and since the 

 discoveries of one country are promptly 

 noticed in other countries, new inven- 

 tions are likely to be copied and im- 

 proved upon. But I hope and trust 

 that our bee-people will give honor to 

 whom honor is due, for nothing is 

 more unpleasant for an inventor than 

 to be ignored when his invention is 

 copied in any of its parts. Neither is 

 it pleasant for any one to be accused 

 of rapacity or plagiarism. 



Hamilton, III. 



The Future of Nichigan's Bee- 

 Keeping 



Xcad at Ihe Miclusan Bcc- Keepers' Convention, 

 BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



There is no way to judge of the 

 future only as we compare it with the 

 past. In writing of the future of Michi- 

 gan's bee-keeping, I do not think I 

 can do better than touch some of the 

 "high spots" of my 36 years of bee- 

 keeping in this State. 



In 1876, when I began bee-keeping in 

 Clinton county, much of hat part of 

 the State was a virgin forest. Most of 

 the lower counties of th State were 

 then being converted into farms. In 

 the majority of cases small clearings 

 were made, and as fast as the timber 

 was removed wild white clover came 

 in in profusion. At this stage, as is 

 the case in clearing up new land, many 

 waste-places, such as around stumps 

 and the like, furnished ample oppor- 

 tunity for the wild white clover to 

 abound. .\t the present time, on ac- 

 count of more intense farming, not 

 nearly so much white clover is pro- 

 duced as of yore. 



At this early period, in many loca- 

 tions in Michigan, thousands of acres 

 of basswood timber abounded, and the 

 conditions seemed to be ideal for the 

 secretion of nectar. Especially white 

 clover could be depended upon to yield 

 nearly every year, so a surplus could 

 betaken from the bees. Then some 

 seasons (we looked for it to yield every 

 other year) basswood woiild yield won- 

 derfully. These two sources taken to- 

 gether were hard to beat, either from 

 the standpoint of quantity or quality. 



Basswood was always a fickle yielder. 

 Some seasons it yielded very abun- 

 dantly, but in many others very spar- 



ingly, or none at all. With the ad- 

 vance of time basswood has almost en- 

 tirely disappeared from most locations 

 in Michigan, so it can not be consid- 

 ered as a honey-yielder, except in a 

 very few locations. 



Generally speaking, white clover is 

 not so very abundant in this State at 

 the present time, but we have in alsike 

 a much better source of honey than 

 white clover, and alsike clover is the 

 future dependence of Michigan for its 

 honey supply. Michigan clover honey 

 is the finest in the world. It is white 

 enough for table use; the fact is, there 

 are few honeys that are whiter. Clover 

 honey has an aroma and flavor unsur- 

 passed by any other honey on earth. 



I repeat, it is the alsike 41over we as 

 honey-producers in most locations in 

 Michigan will have to depend upon for 

 our honey-resources in the future. One 

 who is located in a good alsike clover 

 region, preferably where a considerable 

 quantity is left for seed, has the best 

 location the State affords. Such a loca- 

 tion is likely as good as any one has in 

 any State. It might not be out of place 

 for me to say that Saginaw is in the 

 center of the best clover location in 

 the State. 



In the north part of the State the 

 raspberry and willowherb district is 

 changeable. The bad fires of the past 

 few dry seasons have played havoc 

 with a considerable portion of this 

 once famous location. The rough and 

 hilly portion of the raspberry district 

 seems to be hit the hardest by fire. .-Xs 

 a considerable portion of this region is 

 of this character, it will be seen that 

 many once good locations are very 

 poor now, and the most of these hills 

 are mere sand-dunes, nothing in par- 

 ticular growing upon them at the pres- 

 ent time. Still, there are many good 

 raspberry locations that may produce 

 for a good many years to come. I hope 

 and believe this will be so. 



I predict that the future honey of 

 Michigan will be mostly gathered from 

 alsike clover. It produces well upon 

 very heavy clay, also about as well 

 upon sandy loam ; the latter should be 

 of rather fertile soil for the seed to 

 " catch." 



We will suppose that you are located 

 in some place that for some reason or 

 other you do not think is as good as 

 it might be, or perhaps as it was once ; 

 can't yon tliink of some location, per- 

 haps not more than 5 or ti miles from 

 home, that may be a good one .•■ The 

 out-yard will solve your proposition 

 for you. We produce and recommend 

 the production of extracted honey for 

 out-yard work, although comb honey 

 can be produced in out-yards without 

 any attendant to hive swarms, as we 

 proved with two years' trial. 



During the last few rather poor sea- 

 sons we have proven to our own satis- 

 faction that there is more money in 

 the production of extracted honey than 

 in comb, with less labor. I would pro- 

 duce extracted honey in out-yards. Try 

 to make it a point to locate your out- 

 yards not so far from home, so you can 

 drive to them and do the work, and 

 back home that night. A yard loca- 

 tion like this can be worked to much 

 better advantage, and at much less ex- 

 pense than one further away where 



