Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, First National Bank Building 



C. p. DADAN 1'. Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



HAMILTON, ILL, MAY, 1912 



Vol. LII -No. 5 



Special Announcement 



Chic.\go, III., April 1, UH2. 



We have this day transferred to Mr. 

 C. P. Dadant, of Hamilton, 111., the 

 American Bee Journal, including its 

 mailing lists and good-will, and also 

 the future business of George W. York 

 & Co., with good-will. 



All arrearages due on subscriptions 

 should be remitted to the American 

 Bee Journal, Hamilton, III. .Ml amounts 

 on advertising that have been billed up 

 to April 1, 1912, are due and payable to 

 Georg( IV. ]or/.\ 117 N. Jefferson St., 

 Chicago, 111. All advertising that has 

 not been billed up to that date will be 

 payable to the American Bee Journal, 

 Hamilton. 111. 



Any correspondence that is intended 

 for George W. York should be ad- 

 dressed to him fersonalh; as above, till 

 further notice. 



Mr. York, of course, will always be 

 interested in the success of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, with which he has 

 been connected 28 years, and which he 

 has edited and published for 20 years. 



We bespeak for Mr. Dadant the 

 hearty support and co-operation of 

 bee-keepers everywhere. He is abun- 

 dantly able to produce a bee-publica- 

 tion second to none, and doubtless will 

 in a very short time make the old 

 American Bee Journal better than it 

 has ever been before. 



Thanking all who have co-operated 

 in any way with us during the past 20 

 years, and wishing all our friends and 

 readers of the old American Bee Jour- 

 nal a bright and happy future, we are, 

 Yours very truly, 



George W. York & Co. 



Our Editorial Policy 



It is a pleasure for the writer to as- 

 sume the control of a publication with 

 which he has so long had friendly rela- 

 tions. 



The American Bee Journal will aim 

 to continue the independent course pur- 

 sued by Mr. York. It will include C(.mr- 

 teous discussions of useful subjects, 

 hints to beginners, answers to questions 

 of daily importance on apiary incidents, 

 description of new implements, anatom- 

 ical and physiological researches on the 

 honey-bee, treatment of bee-diseases 

 and their eradication, honey markets 

 and prices. With the help of able cor- 

 respondents, there is enough in all these 

 subjects to make interesting reading. 



As far as we know, every one of the 

 former contributors will remain with 

 us; and new ones will come. The kind 

 replies already received from the few 

 who have been informed of the change 

 indicate that the o/ii craft will have 

 smooth sailing and will be in no danger 



of icebergs. Dr. C. C. Miller remains as 

 associate editor, and Miss Godfrey as 

 head of the composing room. 



C. P. D.\DANT. 



Timely Hiut.s for May 



This is the month for spraying fruit- 

 trees. If you have neighbors who 

 spray their trees while in bloom, you 

 should urge them to desist and wait 

 till the bloom has dropped. Not only 

 would they destroy the bees, the best 

 friends of fruit fertilization, but they 

 also blight a part of the fruit by pois- 

 oning the pollen. The proper time to 

 spray is both before and after the 

 period of blossoms. A number of 

 States have passed laws upon this sub- 

 ject, and more are needed. 



Colonies that are found queenless in 

 May are worthless unless they are still 

 quite strong in bees, and are given a 

 a queen without much delay. It is at 

 this time that queens reared in South- 



ern countries are most valuable to the 

 Northern apiarist. However, little 

 success is achieved in mailing queens 

 before May 15th, owing to the irregu- 

 larities of temperature. 



A swarm in May 

 Is worth a load of hay- 

 provided it is a bona-fide swarm, and 

 not an absconding colony which has 

 left its hive for want of food, or be- 

 cause its quarters have been befouled 

 by diarrhea during the cold days. 



Now is the time to overhaul all the 

 empty combs in the apiary. Put into 

 the wax-rendering boiler all drone- 

 combs, or irregular combs. Melt up 

 also all combs of colonies that have 

 died of doubtful brood-diseases. 



According to nine-tenths of the bee- 

 writers, two drones cost as much as 

 three workers to rear, and eat more 

 without ever producing anything. 

 Therefore, it will well repay your time 

 to remove all drone-comb. But be 

 sure to replace it with worker-combs, 

 as the bees would probably refill the 

 same space with drone-comb again. 



Combs of colonies that have died in 

 the early part of the winter, or during 

 the coldest weather, have nothing to 

 fear of the moth at present, as the eggs 

 and larva: of the moth which they 

 might have contained are lifeless also. 

 But colonies which have died late in 

 the winter, or from spring dwindling, 

 may yet contain some live worms or 

 chrysalis. Brimstone burnt in a stone 

 or iron vessel within a closed box or 

 closed room will kill the moths. Bi- 

 sulphide of carbon, or carbon tetra- 

 chloride, poured on a rag and enclosed 

 with the combs will have the same 

 effect. 



This is the month when bees should 

 breed plentifully, if you expect a June 

 crop of honey. It takes not less than a 

 month to make an active field-worker 

 from the time the egg is laid. Worker- 

 bees hatch in 21 days, but they after- 

 wards remain in the hive as nurses for 

 a week or more. 



The most practical horticulturists 

 know' that the honey-gathering insects 

 are indispensable to the fertilization 

 of fruit-bloom, and they either keep 



