December, 1912. 



American Hee Journal 



361 



greenhouse crops. Particular empha- 

 sis will be laid upon the most recent 

 and approved appliances and systems 

 of manipulation. The fine collection 

 of appliances of the college will give 

 exceptional opportunity to the serious 

 apiculturist. 



For further information apply to the 

 Director of The Extension Service, M. 

 A. C, Amherst, Mass. 



Honigloesmaschine. — Heather does 

 not grow in this country — more's the 

 pity — but in the countries in which it 

 does grow the honey secured from it 

 is considered the best in the world. It 

 has one peculiarity which is at the 

 same time a strong recommendation 

 and a drawback: It is so thick and 

 tough it cannot be extracted. Now, 

 however, the German bee-journals are 

 in great glee over the fact that a ma- 

 chine has been invented which will 

 loosen the honey in the cells so as to 

 make it capable of being extracted, an 

 invention whicli is hailed as being 

 worthy to be classed with the invention 

 of movable combs, the honey extiactor 

 and comb foundation. 



The machine is called f/onij^loes- 

 mtischiiir " Triumph," or "honey-loos- 

 ening machine." To operate, the comb 

 is uncapped as usual, then laid flat upon 

 the table of the machine, when the 

 operator turns the crank of the ma- 

 chine for a short time, turns the comb 

 over and operates on the other side, 

 and the comb is then ready to go into 

 the extractor. 



It would seem that when the con- 

 tents of the cell are slightly stirred, the 

 cohesiveness of the honey is broken up, 

 making it possible to throw it out. 

 Over the table of the machine is a sys- 

 tem of long needles, but without sharp 

 points, 160 in number, standing per- 

 pendicularly. When the crank is 

 turned the comb is raised and the 

 needles enter the honey, 3 or 4 in each 

 cell. So delicately do they act that if 

 one of them strikes a cell-wall it is 

 either turned aside or raised up. When 

 one comes in contact with the bottom 

 of a cell, or with the wood of a frame, 

 it is raised up. The result is that the 

 honey is "loosened "in the cell and 

 the comb is entirely uninjured. The 

 continued turning of the crank drops 

 the table, moves table and comb along 

 about half an inch, the comb is again 

 raised, and so on. The cost of the ma- 

 chine is about $9.00. 



Page-Kenkel MIg. Co. — In the adver- 

 tising columns of the Bee Journal will 

 be found the advertiseme'nt of Page- 

 Kenkel Mfg. Co., of New London, Wis. 

 This firm is the successor of the old 

 Page & Lyon Mfg. Co., who have been 

 in the bee-supply manufacturing busi- 

 ness for 30 years, and with whom many 

 of our subscribers are already ac- 

 quainted. 



California Meeting It was decided at 



a recent meeting of the State .Associa- 

 tion to hold the annual meeting in Los 

 Angeles, Dec. 12, 13 and 14, with eve- 

 ning sessions on the 12th and I3th. 

 From letters received a large number 

 of prominent bee-keepers from north- 

 ern and central California are expected, 

 and arrangements are being made by 



the committees to entertain them roy- 

 ally, and to arrange for a program 

 which will be exceptionally interesting. 



Men of national repute will be pres- 

 ent. The California bee-keeper who 

 misses this meeting will be unfortunate. 



The Los .\ngeles County Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold its meeting 

 on Dec. 11, just previous to the big 



meeting. 



^ 



Iowa Bee-Keepers to Meet The fol- 

 lowing is the program of the first an- 

 nual convention of the Iowa State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, to be held in the 

 Club Room of the Savery Hotel, Des 

 Moines, Dec. 12 and 13, 1912: 



Thursday lo a.m.— Address ^f the Presi- 

 dent-W. P. Southworlh. Sioux City. 



Report of Secretary-Treasurer— C. L. Pin 

 ney. LeMars. 



Greeting from Illinois— C. P. Dadant. Ham- 

 ilton, III. 



Committee Appointments. 



Thursday 2 p.m. — " Production of Comb 

 Honey "-F. W. Hall. Colo. 



" Production of Extracted Honey "— D. E 

 Lhommedieu, Colo. 



" WinterinfProblems"- C. H. True, Edge 

 wood. 



"Helpful Suggestions"— T. W Blackman 

 Nevada. 



Friday 10 a.m.— "Fuss and Fun of Bee 

 Keeping "—Eugene Secor. Forest City. 



"The Foul Brood Situation "-P'rank C 

 Pellett. State Inspector. Atlantic. 



"State Aid for the Industry"— E. E. Town 

 send. Ft. Dodge. 



" Is Improvement Possible?"— Dr. A. F. Bon 

 ney. Buck Grove. 



Friday 2 p.m — Ouestion-Box. 



" Making the Most of the Home Market " — 

 .J. L. Strong. Clarinda 



"Cooperation in Marketing. Increasing 

 the Forage and Bettering Locality " — Frank 

 Coverdale. Delmar. 



" Exhibits at Fairs as a Means of Adver- 

 tising "—G. W. Nance. Anthony. 



Open discussions led by prominent bee- 

 keepers. 



Making the most of the home market. 



Increasing the forage and bettering the 

 locality. 



Exhibits at Fairs as a means of advertis- 

 ing. 



Election of officers. 



Let every bee-keeper bring samples 

 of his best product to put on display, 

 and come prepared to demonstrate any 

 new kink or short cut that is likely to 

 prove of value to the fraternity. 

 BIHeadquarters will be at the Savery 

 Hotel. 



A Socialist Bee-Keeper Candidate for 



Governor of Idaho A small handbill is 



before us giving the portrait of Mr. L. 

 A. Coblentz, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, a 

 very neat-looking man, and his pro- 

 gram as candidate for Governor. We 

 quote : 



" The candidate for Governor has been a 

 grain farmer, a fruit farmer, and is now an 

 affitirist. It may seem a joke to vote for one 

 of your own class Custom makes the most 

 sensible program seem foolish if we do not 

 stop to think. But think. Would it not be 

 a far greater joke for a working man to vote 

 for a big business man. a banker, or even a 

 lawyer, who. nineteen times out of twenty, 

 is the servile tool of capitalism ?" 



Strength of Bees in Uniting An in- 

 structive article on uniting bees, by 

 Ernest Eaton, appears in the Irish Bee 

 Journal, page 96, in which we find this 

 sentence : " Success lies in having the 

 bees about the same strength, in the 

 same condition, and quite free from 

 irritation." That equality in strength 

 of the two lots to be united should be 

 placed first as a requisite of success is 

 something new. Coming from the 

 source it does, it is worth considera- 



tion. Yet it is only fair to say that the 

 experience of the writer in hundreds 

 of cases would lead to the belief that 

 there is no disadvantage in having the 

 two lots of different strength, if indeed 

 there is not a positive advantage in it. 

 By far the greater number of cases have 

 been in the spring, when a single frame 

 of brood and bees would be united 

 with a weak colony, the frame being 

 placed at the side of the brood-nest 

 with no precaution whatever, and with 

 never any fighting. 



Giving Swarms Extra Room Below. — 



There is nothing very new in the idea 

 of allowing a swarm to have an empty 

 story under the brood-chamber for a 

 few days, in order to prevent desertion, 

 but it has perhaps not received the at- 

 tention it deserves. R. Beuhne, Aus- 

 tralasian Bee-Keeper, page 8, has this 

 to say about it : 



" I find bees are more contented if allowed 

 to hang in a cluster for a few days after be- 

 ing hived, instead of being divided by the 

 intervening full sheets of foundation. Some 

 swarms which I hived on full sheets or on 

 drawn combs actually built combs for a few 

 days from the bottom-bars of the frames 

 down into theempty hive-body below before 

 they commenced drawing the foundation or 

 storing in the drawn combs. 



" P'or the average season I find the best 

 plan is to hive swarms on clear drawn 

 combs, with an empty body underneath, in 

 which they can hang in a cluster. They may 

 build a little comb on the bottom-bars of the 

 frames, but thisthey will soonneglect. In a 

 week or so I put a set of full sheets on top 

 and withdraw the empty box from below. 

 It is natural for bees to hang in a cluster for 

 some days aft^r swarming, and when given 

 this opportunity they are less inclined to 

 turn out; that is to say. swarm again within 

 a few days.'as they do some seasons." 



Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association 

 Meeting. — The 34th annual convention 

 of the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held at the Capitol 

 Building, Madison, Wis., Dec. 17 and 

 18, 1912, beginning at 10 o'clock a.m., 

 Tuesday the 17th. 



As usual, an interesting program 

 consisting of papers and questions will 

 be presented for discussion. 



Important legislation, to be presented 

 to the next Legislature, will be dis- 

 cussed. 



(The Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association holds its annual 

 convention in Chicago Dec. 19 and 20, 

 thus giving all members an opportunity 

 to attend both conventions at very lit- 

 tle additional expense. 



Headquarters for the bee-keepers will 

 be at Simons' Hotel. To secure a room, 

 write in advance enclosing $1.00. 



GUS DlTT.MER, Sec. 



Coal Cinders in Front of Hives — Coal 

 cinders are excellent for the surface 

 soil of an apiary location. Cinders un- 

 der the hives and in front of them keep 

 the moisture away and prevent the 

 growth of weeds. They also form a 

 more solid foundation than earth. 



Stings as a Means of Ascertaining 

 Death. — The "Journal de la Santc'is 

 quoted by L'.-\piculteur as recommend- 

 ing bee-stings for ascertaining death 

 in doubtful cases. They say that in 

 case of death the sting sho\ys no re- 

 action whatever on the skin in the im- 



