September, 1912. 



263 



American 'See Jonrnal 



colony will also be found bees of all 

 ages. It is wll that it is so. If none 

 but old bees were to go with the swarm, 

 considerable readjustment would be 

 needed to have work go on as it should 

 in the new home. For "old bees" 

 would hardly include those less than 

 16 days old, and at this age housework 

 has ceased and bees are fielders. So 

 these fielders would have to make a 

 radical change and go back to the 

 work of comb-building and brood- 

 feeding. 



In the Irish Bee Journal J. Tinsley 

 says that the bees of a swarm " are all 

 at the best age for work in the fields." 

 Is it possible that in Ireland, as well as 

 in England, only field-bees go with the 

 swarm ? 



Bee-Keeping and Honey 

 Fairs 



In our last number we mentioned 

 the large amount of premiums given 

 by the Minnesota State Agricultral 

 Society to bees and their products, the 

 total aggregating $1062, divided into 

 158 awards. Other neighboring States 

 are very far behind. Wisconsin leads 

 with $')()0 in premiums, an increase of 

 some $200 over last year, owing to a re- 

 monstrance made by the Wisconsin 



Mk. F. Wii cox. Supt. of the Bee and 



Honey Exhibit at the Wisconsin 



State Fair. 



State Bee-Keepers' Association to the 

 management of the State Fair, and to 

 the untiring zeal of Mr. F. Wilcox, 

 who is both superintendent of that de- 

 partment and a director in our Na- 

 tional .Association. 



Illinois follows with $453 in premiums 

 and 61 different awards under 21 differ- 

 ent heads. As young a State as Okla- 

 homa is awarding $311 to bee-keepers 

 with 57 different awards. Kansas ap- 

 pears to have two State Fairs, one at 

 Hutchinson, with J. J. Measer as super- 

 intendent of the honev exhibit, offering 

 $290 ; the other Fair at Topeka, with J. 

 P. Lucas at the head of the bee-depart- 

 ment, offers $200 for bee-exhibits. In- 

 diana gives $248, while Missouri ex- 

 tends a paltry sum of $148 to its bee- 



keepers. The Missouri State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association has just taken 

 notice of this, and proposes to ask for 

 an increase. Missouri is reported in 

 the census as having 40.000 bee-keepers, 

 and can afford more money for pre- 

 miums. As small a district as that of 

 Greater St. John, N. B., gives $100 to 

 bee-culture. 



There is no reason why the bee- 

 keepers' associations should not ob- 

 tain recognition by an increase in the 

 number and amount of premiums at 

 Fairs. As Mr. Herrod, of England, 

 says : " There is no better way to push 

 the sale of our products than good Fair 

 exhibits." Each State association 

 should keep this in mind, and take 

 Minnesota as a model. 



obliging bees to take salt at a time 

 when they cannot fly to quench their 

 thirst. In Bien. Centralblatt it is re- 

 ported that two apiaries, one of them 

 containing 38 colonies, were entirely 

 wiped out, and analysis showed no dis- 

 ease present, but a notable quantity of 

 salt; in one case as much a 1 percent 

 in the syrup that had been given. The 

 bees did not die upon the combs, but 

 were mostly upon the bottom-board, as 

 if they had left the cluster in a vain 

 search for water. 



at the gjj^u Pj^jjj, ^^^ ^^^^ 



There is a more or less general be- 

 lief that it is important to give salt to 

 bees. As proof of this it is pointed 

 out that bees frequent objectionable 

 places as drinkingplaces, and it is 

 supposed that they do so because of 

 the salt contained in the liquids found 

 there. It has been claimed, however, 

 that bees do not go to such places be- 

 cause of the salt, but because the liquid 

 is warm. However that may be, it 

 seems that great harm may be done by 



Ijegal Honey in Australia 



From the Australasian Bee-Keeper 

 we learn that according to the pure- 

 food law of New South Wales, honey 

 may contain 26 percent of water as 

 against 25 percent in this country. 

 Here is the requirement : 



■' Honey shall be nectar and saccharine 

 exudation of plants, gathered, modified and 

 stored in the comb by the honey-bee; it 

 shall contain no more than 2t) parts per cen- 

 tum of water, not less than 6o parts per cen- 

 tum of reducing sugars, and shall not yield 

 more than three-fourths of one part per cen- 

 tum of ash. It shall not include the product 

 of the bTees fed wholly or in part on sugar or 

 glucose, artificial sweetening substance, 

 added coloring matter or other foreign sub- 

 stance." 



It is also required that a copy of the 

 pure-food law be posted conspicuously 

 in the honey-house. 



MiSCELUNEOUS ^ NEWS ITEMS 



Death of Hon. R. L. Taylor 



We are very sorry to have to inform 

 the readers of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal of the death of Hon. R. L. Taylor, 

 of Michigan, which occurred at Lapeer 

 Aug. 17. He was almost 73 years old 

 at the time of his death. 



Hon. R. L. 1..,. ,. 

 R. L. Taylor was born at Almont, 

 Mich., Nov. 3, 183!t, being one of 14 



children in the Taylor family. At the 

 age of 10, the loss of his father threw 

 the burden of the farm work on Mr. 

 Taylor. Being of that sturdy and in- 

 dustrious Scotch stock, however, he was 

 able to meet the situation, besides pre- 

 paring himself for a college education, 

 which he in time acquired by attending 

 the Michigan University. 



Hon. Taylor pursued a business voca- 

 tion for some years, but finally drifted 

 into law, and was admitted to the bar 

 in 1860. He was at various times Re- 

 corder of Deeds, District Attorney, as 

 well as State Representative, all of 

 which positions he filled with the great- 

 est degree of efficiency. 



Like many others, Mr. Taylor grew 

 gradually into the bee-business, begin- 

 ning in 1878 with only two colonies of 

 bees. Devoting the best of his ability 

 to the bees, as he had alwavs done to 

 his other business, he soon grew to be 

 a large bee-keeper, one of the largest 

 in Michigan, producing tons of honey 

 each season. He always maintained 

 that the successful bee-keeper must be 

 a specialist, and he proved his point by 

 his own experience. 



Being at different times President of 

 the National Association, President of 

 the Michigan .Association, State In- 

 spector of Apiaries for Michigan, as 

 well as holding many other important 

 offices in the large associations, he al- 

 ways fulfilled bis duties towards the 

 people he was serving, as well as to his 

 own conscience, so ably that his re- 

 election was no uncommon occurrence. 



Although the bee-keeping world suf- 



