October, 1912. 



American liee Journal 



(late, and 12 percent more than his 

 colony wlien at its maximum in May. 



It may be remarked in passing that 

 13 does not prove to be an unlucky 

 number with Dr. Bruennich or me. No. 

 V^ is his best colony, and my 1:5 one-of 

 the very best. 



It should be mentioned that this year 

 the season is e.xceptionally late, the 

 latest I think I have ever known, and 

 other years I might not find so much 

 brood present July 30. As Dr. Bruen- 

 nich says, and as every observant bee- 

 keeper has found, the amount of stor- 

 ing done by a colony is not always in 

 proportion to its strength or the 

 amount of its brood. It' will be noted 

 that in my apiary No. 13 had only 11 

 percent more brood than No. 10, while 

 No. 13 had .5 supers and No. li> only 2, 

 and I think No. 13 was more nearly 

 crowded for surplus room than No. 10. 



If nothing else is to be learned from 

 these observations and comparisons, 

 there is at least confirmation of the old 

 saying, that bees do nothing invariably. 



^larengo, 111. 



Bees in the City— Roof Apiary 



BY .WGrST THOMMF.X. 



Some •") or 6 years ago I read a book 

 entitled, "Three .Acres and Liberty," 

 written by Bolton H-all, wherein it said, 

 among other things, "Many people 

 make a living by keeping bees, and if 

 you have not a place' for them in your 

 backyard, put them on the roof." In 

 the same book I also found the ad- 

 dresses of se\eral bee-papers. I sent 



downs with the bees. I had a swarm 

 the first year, and lost some of my col- 

 onies through mismanagement, but 

 every year I learned a liltle more about 

 bees. Now I have 10 colonies, about 

 all I can keep upon my roof. 



The hives you see in the picture are 

 double boarded, and made to hold 12 

 frames. So far, I have had very little 

 trouble with swarms. As far as I know 

 I have had only two, one the first year, 

 and one early this spring. The hives 

 are never taken down, but stay up 

 there through the coldest winter. I 

 never yet had any loss from the cold. 

 The entrances of the front row face 

 southeast, while the back row faces the 

 roof. I notice that the back row 

 always is much stronger in bees, and 

 yields more honey than the front row. 



This year, for the first time, the bee- 

 inspector came to inspect the bees and 

 see about foul brood. To my surprise 

 there is foul brood in almost every bee- 

 yard in my neighborhood, with the e.x- 

 ception of two or three, but I am glad 

 to say that the inspector found mine 

 all right. 



This spring I had trouble with my 

 young queens, some of them did not 

 mate until after 4 or -5 weeks, and one 

 proved to be a drone layer. 



That essay written by A. C. Allen, in 

 the August number, "How to Secure a 

 Good Crop of Honey," is just the 

 thing. Accidentally I did about the 

 same thing early this spring, only in a 

 little different way, and the result was 

 fine. I never had stronger colonies 

 than this year, and never more honey. 



Paterson, N. J. 



Roof Apiary of Mr. Thommen. 



for a sample copy of the American Bee 

 Journal, and I think I hit the right 

 thing that time, for I would not be 

 •without it as long as I keep bees. 



The next spring found me with tl 

 colonies of bees on the back part of 

 my roof. The colonies were all hived 

 in very old Quinby hives, which I soon 

 discarded for the regular Langstroth. 

 It was not very much fun to transfer 

 the bees, but I learned a whole lot by 

 it. From then on I had my ups and 



Habits and Value of Bees 



Delk'tred at Kansas Slate Asrirultural ColUuf 

 BY DR. G. BOHRER. 



Some 34 years ago I delivered a lec- 

 ture on the habits and management of 

 honey-bees before the students of this 

 college, at the request of Prof. John 

 Anderson, then in charge of this in- 

 stitution. He informed me that it was 

 the intention to teach bee-keeping at 



the college along with other industries 

 and give open-air or field demontra- 

 tions, and thus place this pursuit on 

 common ground with all other indus- 

 tries of merit. Bees were purchased, 

 and, I am informed, have been kept on 

 the college grounds ever since. But 

 soon after the date of my lecture here, 

 Mr. Anderson was elected to a seat in 

 our National Congress, and practical 

 bee-keeping has been omitted. I hope, 

 however, that at no distant period it 

 will receive its just and full share of 

 attention among the industrial pur- 

 suits. 



Not that it is meant that all the stu- 

 dents of this college (some IdnO in 

 number) are at all likely to become 

 practical bee-keepers, for it is almost 

 absolutely certain that they will not, 

 nor are they likely to become sheep- 

 raisers, swine breeders, or variety farm- 

 ers, but it is very desirable indeed that 

 all should possess a fair amount of 

 knowledge of each industry engaged in 

 by our people in every section of our 

 great country. When thus equipped 

 all will understand the needs of every 

 other pursuit, and when legislative sup- 

 port is needed, the different State legis- 

 latures will be competent to give our 

 needs intelligent consideration and ac- 

 tion. Short of this they will not be 

 able to do any pursuit justice e.xcept at 

 great labor and expense of those who 

 seek aid, and who must spend both 

 time and money in giving the informa- 

 tion wanted by our legislative assem- 

 blies. 



I will also say that not all persons 

 are physically adapted to bee-keeping, 

 for occasionally a person is found who 

 is susceptible to the influence of bee- 

 sting poison, so much so that their 

 lives are in danger when stung by 

 honey-bees. I knew of a case in which 

 a single bee-sting produced death with- 

 in l-i minutes. But such occurrences 

 will probably not average one in a 

 hundred thousand, so that, as a rule, 

 there is more alarm when a person is 

 stung by these insects, than has a real 

 foundation in actual danger. I have 

 seen the time when one bee could have 

 chased me over an entire school dis- 

 trict. In fact, I remember that a full 

 battery of Confederate cannon were 

 firing at us in Texas, during the Civil 

 War, and I felt much less alarm than I 

 have felt by a single honey-bee. 



In time I was given a practical les- 

 son in the matter of being stung. 



In Kansas the acreage of alfalfa is. 

 rapidly increasing, as well as fruit- 

 bloom and other honey-producing 

 flowers. Alfalfa is one of the greatest 

 honey-yielding plants in all the Great 

 West, and in one instance a bee keeper 

 informed me that he had taken 350 

 pounds of extracted honey from one 

 10-frame 2-story hive, all of which had 

 been gathered by one colony of bees. 



In view of the foregoing facts let our 

 educational institutions give our young 

 men and women a fair share of knowl- 

 edge in this branch of industry along 

 with others, and thereby rid it of that 

 midnight darkness which has hitherto 

 kept it in the back-ground. 



In the matter of handling bees, as we 

 sometimes see them handled on Fair 

 grounds in cages, without the operator 

 getting stung, it is necessary only to 

 alarm the bees by blowing smoke 



