FEBRUARY 1, 1 i) I : 



Dr. C. C. Miller 



ITMAY STMAW! 



larengo. 111. 



I TiiK WET OR DRY issue is the 

 oliief factor in the election of a 

 speaker in the Illinois legislature, 

 and it's which and t'other who 

 wins. " Tlie world do move." 



j That carload of beekeepers from 



Chicago to Denver makes me feel 

 homesick that 1 can't go. What a glorious 

 time those Colorado fellows gave us when 

 tlie National convention was at Denver be- 

 fore ! 



" If we are all successful in producing a 

 croj) of honey each j'ear, we should fail 

 from overproduction," says P. C. Chadwick, 

 p. 53. May be, m-a-y be. But so long as 

 the average isn't more than 20 cents' worth 

 of honey per capita we'll have to o.verpro- 

 duct a big lot before there will be any honey 

 to throw away. 



•' The eight-frame is not worthy of men- 

 tioning as a beehive. It may do for a home 

 for a nucleus for a short time," p. 36. Don't 

 be too hard on us eight-framers, friend 

 Janes. I humbly concede that a larger hive 

 may be better; yet with the eight-frame I 

 get crops that don't exactly look like the 

 work of nuclei. 



Quadruple winter cases are getting such 

 a boom now that it might be worth while to 

 try them two deep, eight in a case, as I saw 

 thom at Jesse Oatman's many years ago. 

 [Dr. E. F. Phillips, or, rather, his brother, 

 is trying out precisely this thing. Perhaps 

 we can get them to report on it next spring. 

 —Ed.] 



J. G. Brown, your testimony in favor of 

 the Alexander plan of increase, p. 27, is 

 excellent, but beside the mark. Of course, 

 the plan of increase is good: but please give 

 us names of tliose who have increased by 

 that or any other plan so that "you can 

 have two good strong colonies in place of 

 one ready to commence work on your clover 

 harvest." 



W. L. Roberts warns against rearing 

 queens in an upper story over an excluder, 

 as too much trouble and perhaps loss. I 

 don't find it so here. Several times I've 

 had queens thus reared and fertilized when 

 there was no intention on my part to have 

 them reared, and it was all gain. But when 

 I deliberately put brood there for the ex- 

 press purpose of rearing a queen, it's a 

 failure. I wish I knew why. 



R. F. HoLTERMANN, p. 56, says with the 

 straight rows of hives facing the same way 



the general result is drifting. My bees are 

 that way, and for years there was drifting 

 bad. For years there has been none. Let 

 me tell again what I think prevents it. As 

 soon as a hive is iilaced on the stand and 

 dead bees cleaned out, the entrance is closed 

 down to an inch square or less. That's all 

 — no drifting. [See editorials. — Ed.] 



" Even if Dr. Miller has a continuous 

 flow during the sirring, surely he must be 

 very exceptionally favored if he has not 

 adverse weather at times when stimulation 

 would be an advantage," says R. F. Holter- 

 mann, p. 12. I don't have a continuous 

 flow, friend Holtermann, and I suspect I 

 have as much adverse weather as you. But 

 it isn't so bad as to prevent the queen laying 

 right along; and the chief effect of feeding 

 in adverse weather would be to make the 

 bees fly out to their hurt. 



My son gave me a vest-pocket flashlight 

 for Christmas. I had a sort of dai'k lantern 

 before that I thought fine for looking into 

 hives in cellar; but the flashlight beats it a 

 mile, just as you find it in Medina. Nice, 

 too, to see the time of night, [These little 

 flashlights are extremely handy; fine for 

 looking down children's throats to see if 

 there are any white patches indicating seri- 

 ous trouble. They are also very convenient 

 for running around buildings or barns on a 

 dark night; but the light must not be kept 

 on continuously, otherwise the batteries will 

 soon wear out. The kind that we are using 

 with such satisfaction very much resemble a 

 good-sized fountain pen with a clip to hold 

 it in the pocket. It is 5 inches long and 

 % inch in diameter, and costs $1.00. Extra 

 batteries are 25 cents each. — Ed.] 



Geo. W. York, formerly editor of Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal^ is now a member of the 

 Idaho legislature, where he is likely to get 

 in some good licks for beekeepers and pro- 

 hibition. The governor is also strong for 

 prohibition. [Yes, and he is in the legisla- 

 ture at the right time. A member has in- 

 troduced a bill prohibiting the keeping of 

 any bees within one hundred yards of the 

 line of the other property. While we do 

 not believe it can get beyond committee, we 

 can't afford to take chances. All our sub- 

 scribers who see this should write at once 

 to Hon. Geo. W. York, General Assembly, 

 Boise City, Idaho, offering their protest to 

 House Bill No. 18. 



Later: This has been killed 11 to 47; 

 thanks to Mr. York. 



