October, 1912. 



American ^ae Journal 



a liive containing comb, they may be trans- 

 ferred to it after tliey have been in an empty 

 one ionsr etioui:h to lonstititc all the hont-y they 

 ha-ce carried with them." 



E. P. .^bbe, of Massachusetts, in 

 September, 1879, reported in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for that year, page 

 4."i0, that he successfully practiced the 

 confining of bees until they had used 

 up all their honey, as a cure for foul 

 brood; L. C. Whiting, in the National 

 convention of that year made a similar 

 report. 



It was probably at this meeting that 

 the attention of D. A. Jones, of Canada, 

 was drawn to the " starvation method," 

 which resulted in its being adopted by 

 Canadian apiarists and becoming 

 known as the " McEvoy cure." Many 

 of us have read about it. but so many 

 different methods were claimed as suc- 

 cessful that but little attention was 

 paid to it by the general public until 

 the !)0's. 



Schirach is said to 'have been the 

 first man to try this method and suc- 

 ceed. 



Comb Honey. — Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 .503, of the Department of Agriculture, 

 has been sent to us by Dr. E. F. Phil- 

 lips, to whom we extend our thanks. 

 This bulletin was written by Geo. S. 

 Demuth, Apicultural Assistant. It is 

 quite exhaustive, contains 48 pages and 

 20 illustrations, some of which are 

 original. 



In perusing this work we notice that 

 Mr. Demuth lays stress upon what we 

 consider a very important point in 

 honey-production, too often neglected. 

 It is the necessity of securing the force 

 of workers at the proper time for the 

 honey-flow, building up the colony 

 early enough, providing sufticient stores 

 and available brood-space, preserving 

 the heat of the brood-nest, etc. There 

 are also most judicious instructions 

 for preventive measures in regard to 

 swarming. Three pages are devoted to 

 caring for the crop. 



The bulletin may be obtained free 

 by addressing the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, D. C. 



Northern Illinois and Southern Wis- 

 consin Meeting.- The annual meeting 

 of the Northern Illinois and Southern 

 Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held in the Court House at 

 Rockford, 111., on Tuesday, Oct. 1.'), 

 1012. All those interested in bee-keep- 

 ing are cordially invited to attend. 



B. Kennedy, Sec. 



2.507 W. State St., Rockford, 111. 



A New Cage for Shipping Bees. — The 



Eclitor received, from Mr. ¥.. K. Root, 

 Sept. \'.^, a 3-pound cage of bees, of 

 which we give cuts, both full and 

 empty. The cage was accompanied by 

 a letter, stating that experiments were 

 being made of shipping bees in hot 

 weather without combs, for migratory 

 bee-keeping. A tin water bottle and 

 vertical wooden slats are the principal 

 new points of this method. The bees 

 came through in splendid shape, but 

 the liot weather had just abated, and 

 the temperature at the tiine when the 

 bees were received was only about ().5 

 degrees. But as there were not more 



than a dozen dead bees in the cage,-^ 

 and the swarm was apparently con-1 

 tented and had ventilation all around, "• 

 it is our opinion that this method will 

 prove a success in almost any kind of 

 summer weather, and our thanks are 

 heartily extended to Mr. Root for his 

 judicious experiment. It cannot fail 

 to be useful to bee-keepers all over the 

 country. 



Judges Kansas Exhibit. — Mr. C. P. 



Dadant was judge of the honey-e.xhibit 

 of the Kansas State Fair at Hutchin- 

 son, Kan., Sept. 18. The exhibtt was 

 very fine. An account of it will be 

 given in our next number. 



Fire at Cincinnati A fire destroyed 



a part of the F. W. Muth Co.'s stock of 

 honey and supplies Sept. 10, but Mr. 

 Muth reports that most of the loss was 

 covered by insurance, and that they 

 will sulTer but little in consequence of 

 this. They are moving to 204 Walnut 

 Street. 

 , ^ 



1 Illinois Bee-Keepers to Meet The 



Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will hold its annual meeting at the 

 State House in Springfield Oct. 30 and 

 31, 1912. Matters of importance to the 

 bee-keepers of the State will be dis- 

 cussed, and a large attendance is ex- 

 pected. 



Bee-Keeping ^ For Women 



Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Mareneo. 111. 



Not Afraid of Bees 



We have received the following let- 

 ter and photograph from Mr. J. C. 

 Mosgrove, of Medina, Ohio : 



Will you permit mere man to contribute 

 something for your page in the Bee .Journal. 



The enclosed photograph was taken in my 

 apiary. The young lady shown never had a 



finds a more economical and healthful 

 substitute for sugar, but also for the 

 reason that the bees fill the honey with 

 a natural preservative that keeps cakes 

 fresh for an indefinite period. In fact, 

 the Germans use honey in their salad- 

 dressing, which not only gives it a de- 

 licious flavor, but it has also been 

 found that it satisfies the child's crav- 

 ing for sweets so that he has no desire 

 for any subsequent dessert, — Lathes' 

 Home Journal. 



Oh. PsjiAw I VVims AiKAip? 



frame of bees in her hands before, but she 

 had the grit to hold it and pose for her 

 picture. 



*-*-^' 



The Value of Honey as a Food 



We do not as yet begin to realize the 

 wonderful food that the bees offer us 

 in their honey, and no child is apt to 

 overeat it, owing to its cloying nature. 

 Ill Germany the intelligent housewife 

 uses honey in her cakes, puddings and 

 gingerbread, not only because she thus 



Queer Doings of Bees 



Bees are freakish things. Sometimes 

 they seem to be practical jokers, doing 

 some unusual thing to discomfit the 

 bee-keeper and then chuckling over it. 



July 20, this year, a queen-cell with .3 

 eggs in it was found in colony No. 2. 

 The presence of more than one egg in 

 a queen-cell is a sure sign of laying 

 workers, but this case, instead of a sure 

 sign, proved a joke, for 10 days later 

 brood showed that the queen had been 

 present. 



August 12 a swarm was seen issuing 

 from this same hive. No. 2. Pretty soon 

 a queen was caught issuing from the 

 entrance, but instead of having clipped 

 wings, her wings were whole — she was 

 a virgin ! She was caged, and the cage 

 was stuck in the entrance. E.xamina- 

 tion showed that no queen-cells were 

 in the hive, nor any unsealed brood. 



The swarm returned after a time — it 

 was a big one — and the queen was lib- 

 erated in the evening. So far as we 

 know they did not swarm again, and 8 

 days later she was found laying nicely. 

 The question is whether the bees in- 

 tended to abscond, leaving no sign of 

 a queen or a queen-cell in the hive, 

 whether they were trying to accompany 

 the young queen on her wedding-flight, 

 or whether it was all a joke. 



August 10, a swarm issued from No. 

 49, and returned. The next day the 

 hive was opened and a virgin was 

 found present. A day later a large 

 swarm issued again, settled on a tree, 

 then arose and settled on anotlier tree. 

 It stayed there so long that it looked 



