312 



Oetob»r, 1912. 



American Hee Journal 



tlieir : but it appeared rather that they were 

 prclendiriK to sting. Wlien one worker 

 stings anotlicr you do not need to watch 

 very louK before you see tlie stung worker 

 curl up and die. I never snw a drone have 

 this appearance after a worker liad pre- 

 tended to stint; it. If I am riirhtly informed 

 tlie workers, aside from teasing and driving 

 the drones, merely withhold food from 

 them, and ihey die. Kor a drone cannot, 

 like the workers, live by helpingitself to the 

 stores in the ceils, but must be fed partly 

 digested f'.>od by the workers 



It is possible that you may say that there 

 was no failure of tlie harvest. Well, some- 

 times it happens that individual colonies do 

 not wait for the general slaughter, as it is 

 called, .'^fter a colony has swarmed, the 

 old queen having gone off with the swarm, 

 the young queen in the mother colony be- 

 comes fertilized ready for laying. After 



this there is no further need of drones for 

 the currentseason. and they meet their fate. 



Whether the driving out of the drones 

 occurs at one time or another, not only does 

 the colony become rid of the flying drones, 

 but all dronebrood is destroyed by the 

 w.-irkers. 



You will do well to prevent the rearing of 

 these drones in all but a very few of your 

 best colonies. I'^ven one colony in a hun- 

 dred will rear enough drones to dO for the 

 whole apiary. If there is no drone-comb in 

 a hive, there will be no drones. You can cut 

 out any drone comb and put in its place 

 patches of worker-comb or of worker foun- 

 dation. Some, however, think it is well to 

 satisfy tlie bees to the extent of leaving 

 them one or two square inches of drone- 

 comb. Vou can behead these drones in the 

 comb after Ihey are sealed over, or sprinkle 

 a little salt on them before they are sealed. 



The Value of a Bee Journal 



When I took up bee-keeping I read every 

 thing I could hnd on the subject with the 

 hope of finding some system of management 

 that would suit me and my environments. 

 Needless to say I did not find it. but by pick- 

 ing up an idea here and yonder from the ex- 

 perience of others as given in the bee- papers 

 and from observations of my own. I was able 

 to evolve a system of myown that suited me. 

 i'hen. a few years later. I moved about a 

 thousand miles, and the first season showed 

 me that my system was not good in my new- 

 location. I was up against the question of 

 how to prevent swarming, make a reason- 

 able amount of increase, and get a crop of 

 honey while operating out-yards. I had to 

 either solve that question or quit 



1 read everything on the subject that I 

 could find, and finally by combining the sys- 

 tems of two prominent writers, with some 

 ideas I had gained by experience. 1 evolved 

 a new system of my own that I am still fol- 

 lowing. It has been worth more to me than 

 the subscription price of all the bee-papers 

 published in .America will amount to as long 

 as I live. That is just one instance 1 am 

 constantly picking up new ideas that I con- 

 sider worth all the papers cost me. 



And if I knew all there is to be known 

 about bee-keeping. I should still want the 

 papers in order to keep in touch with other 

 beekeepers and see how they are getting 

 along, their prospects, successes and fail- 

 ures, hopes, etc t should want to know 

 about markets, about legislation, favorable 

 or unfavorable to bee-keeping, and about 

 diseases of bees and the manner of treat- 

 ment for them and all the news of the api- 

 cultural world. 



When a man says he has no time to read 

 bee-papers, it simply means thai he has lost 

 all interest in beekeeping It does not 

 necessarilv mean that he has found the pur- 

 suit unprofitable, but that he has become in- 

 terested in something else. I do not have 

 time lo read agricultural papers or medical 

 journals, and yet I know farmers and doc- 

 tors who are making more money than I am. 

 I do not read those papers tor the reason 

 that 1 am not directly interested in those 

 pursuits When a subscriber tells you he 

 has no lime to read bee-papers, vou might 

 just as well tell him' So long, t wish you 

 success in your new vocation. ' It never 

 was intended that we should all be bee- 

 keepers or all farmers, or all doctors, and a 

 man is liable to change his vocation and ac- 

 quire new interests to the exclusion of old 

 ones. 11 ri. MiRRv. 



Mathis. Tex. 



Not All Illinois Reports this Good 



Bees are dotng fine I have one colony 

 that was treated for foul foul brood the first 

 of June. It has filled g supers of 24 sections 

 each. Frank Hinijukkk, 



Frederick. III.. Sept. o. 



Another Bad Report from California 



Our honey crop is again a total failure in 

 this locality. The condition this year has 

 been the same as two years ago My Ho colo- 

 nies of bees made about ijoo pounds of comb 



honey. Some bee-keepers south of here 

 lost half of their bees by starvation One 

 traveling salesman and farm produce buyei . 

 who has traveled through the central coast 

 country, told me that there was practically 

 no honey in the country, and that the bens 

 were dying at an alarming rate, generally 

 from starvation. B. Schnuckel. 



Lone Oak. Calif.. Aug. 30. 



Seeking a Bee-Location 



I made tracks in the snow last winter 

 seekini" a bee-location. I went towards the 

 South. It was 40 degrees below zero at Great 

 Falls. Mont-. 27 at F.dgemonl. S. D . 17 at 

 Libertv. Nebr . 7 at Anderson. Mo . and < be- 

 low al Sarcy. Ark As I stayed there a week. 

 I made tracks in the mud after that. But I 

 did not remain in the South, as I found too 

 many bees for the pasture in the localities 

 visited In June I returned to this place. 

 As ! traveled by dav only. I noticed the 

 change in bloom from one place to anolher. 

 and the great variety of flowers. 



t believe that, from Ogden north to this 

 place is the best heecoiiniry But in many 

 spots too many bees are kept. 



Looking for a country where milk and 

 honev flow, vou will sav Sure, and I have 

 fonnd if. too. Thev flow in the irrieation 

 ditches and make the land sell for $:n() per 

 acre, even where the wild sage brush still 

 grows 



However, some good bee-man sooUe about 

 the land boomers in the American Ree Totir- 

 nal. He fold the Irulli.and the truth has 

 not been half told for much of the wp=tern 

 irri»ateH land isa delusion or a fra"d Come 

 and s*^e before vou sell out in the Kast 



White clover dops well here. .\s to alfalfa, 

 our seedsman here sold ^ tons of seed in 

 1012 so fa*- 



There will be half a million tons of alfalfa 

 hav out UP within 2n miles of Riinert. Td^ho 

 Thousands of stacks are in sight. Tn field 

 corners along the ditch banks, there is 

 plentv of bloom which cannot be cut down. 

 Then there is alsike clover, sweet cloA-er. 

 and white riovpr in oastures- Here wild 

 alfalfa, dandelion, rabbit brush and wiUow 

 is the wild flora There are no trees for 

 strav swarms; another good point Where 

 bees are olentv. honev is found, but where 

 too manv hees are. honev beromes scarce 

 So a good bee. country is not alwavs best for 

 bee-men. 



1 euioved and endorse what Mr Rver said 

 about foriner F.ditor York But York's wish 

 about Dr Miller. " Mav he enjov anotlier 

 twentv vears." seems too short- It made me 

 feel sad Better send him a handful of 

 flowers now. however, than a basketful 

 when he is pone. L. W. BENSON. 



Rupert. Idaho. -Tuly 2=;. 



of the other books, but says three times as 

 much as another book. Everything is short 

 and sensible, and comes right down to the 

 point; therefore. I think the public will like 

 this book the best. John Pashek. 



The Dalles. Oreg. 



Poor Crop in the South 



There was but little honey produced in 

 this part of the country this year. I believe 

 that it has been the poorest year for bees 

 and honey that I have ever seen in any place. 

 Broom corn, corn and the hay crop were 

 very good The cotton crop is being cut 

 short on account of the extreme drouth that 

 we are having. 



I believe that I have taken the American 

 Bee -Tournal for 35 years or more. There 

 have been many changes since that time. 

 Many pioneers in bee-keeping (among whom 

 was my falheri have passed away during 

 that time. Best wishes for the success of 

 the " Old Reliable." W. C. Nutt, Tn;is. 



Texas. __^_^__^__ 



Rain in California 



California has had quite a surprise, and 

 something T'r/'v unusual. Rain fell here Sept 

 3. and a good, heavy rain today. In 26 years 

 rain has fallen only nine times in summer 

 prior to .Sept i. and the last time we had 

 rain before the date mentioned was in IQ06. 

 The rains will do great damage to the 

 prunes and raisins, but will be of benefit to 

 the bee-keepers 



The alfalfa blossoms are now yielding nec- 

 tar, and the extractors and the bee-men are 

 busy, but not up to expectations. 



.John C. Frohliger. 



Berkeley. Calif.. Sept. 5. 



A Good Bee-Book 



I received a copy of " First T^essons in Bee- 

 Keeping" and I must say it is iiist the right 

 thing for a beoinner or a more advanced 

 bee-keener What I like about it is if a 

 person wants to find out about something 

 lie doesn't have to read 3 or 4 pages before 

 he finds what he wants, as in some of the 

 other books. It has less pages than some 



Prospects in Iowa 



Continuous rains here give promise of a 

 flow of honey from hearts-ease for the first 

 time ill four >ears. There seems also to be 

 considerable white clover in bloom, and I 

 have already seen bees on a few blossoms. 



Sweet clover was the great stand-by this 

 summer. There was an abundance of it in 

 this vicinity, which yielded well. However, 

 if there is any surplus put up it will be from 

 now on. so far as I know. A. F. BoNNEV. 



Buck (irove. Iowa. Aug. 



Dividing Decreases the Amount of Honey 

 Stored 



My bees did fairly well this summer, and 

 did not swarm at all but I divided and 

 doubled the number of colonies 1 had and 

 got j-(w/c surplus honey. P. A. Norman. 



Puyallup. Wash.. Aug. 21- 



Glowing Report from Kentucky 



I have colonies that ha\-e given me 114 

 pounds of comb honey this year, and will 

 give me at least 50 pounds more. I have 

 been working with bees 3S years. 



Visalia. Ky.. .Aug 2; (j. W. Chessman. 



Fall Flow Good 



Bees are booming on fall flowers. Have 

 600 colonies in about the same condition as 

 last year Good, big prospects. Bees want 

 to swarm. V. B. Cavanagh. 



Hebron. Ind.. Aug. 24. 



Large Crop 



There has been a large honey crop here, 

 both early and late honey, and bees are in 

 fine shape E. E. MoTT. 



CJIenwood. Mich. 



An OIT Year in California 



This has been an off year for California. 

 Only 8 tons of honev from 500 colonies. 



Golden Ri'i.e Bee Co. 

 Ferris. Calif.. Aug. 20. 



Some Fall Honey in Missouri 

 Bees no good all summer; no clover, but 

 since the rains they may gather some fall 

 honey. H. Mansi'ERGER. 



Lewistown, Mo,. Aug, 10. 



GINSENG AND GOLDEN SEAL 



Grow those v.iluable iilaiUs. Ihey go well 

 with bee-kee|iing- Write me for prices on 

 Seeds and Roots. 



F. GENT, Rockford, Minn. 



