eaiimgs ae 



e l^iuKeFe 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. Calvert, Business Manager. 



H. H. Root, Managing Editor E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Manager 



Entered at the Postoffice, Medina, Ohio, as second-class matter. 



VOL. XLIII. 



OCTOBER 15, 1915 



NO. 20 



EDITORIAL 



Our Cover Picture 



The picture on our cover shows an api- 

 ary near Oak Point, Wash., belonging to 

 Mrs. L. Schmitt. Mrs. Schraitt, since the 

 death of her husband, has been managinj? 

 the yard herself with the help of a hired 

 man. 



The hills back of the apiary look like 

 burnt-over timberland. As might be ex- 

 pected, the willowherb, or fireweed, as it is 

 called iEpilohium angusti folium), is the 

 chief honey plant, the main flow coming in 

 .July and August. 



The Smoke Method of Introducing Not 

 an Unqualified Success 



For some reason the smoke method has 

 not proven to be as successful this year as 

 last. Whether the season has had anything 

 to do with it we cannot saj'. Howe\er, in 

 our own apiaries we have gone back to the 

 cage method, which, all things considered, 

 seems to be the most reliable. We do use, 

 however, the smoke method of introducing 

 virgins. But most virgins are allowed to 

 run into the entrance of the hive when a 

 day old, care being taken not to allow them 

 to come in contact with the fingers. This 

 method of introducing is used mainly with 

 nuclei and not with full colonies. 



and 



the bees consume sugar stores first, 

 later on well-ripened aster honey. 



It is safe to say that sealed honey of any 

 kind is better at any time than unsealed. 

 The same can be said of sugar stores. 



Death of Another One of the Veterans 



Just as we go to press we learn that Mr. 

 H. R. Boardman, of Collins, Ohio, the mau 

 who had the reputation for many years of 

 never losing any bees during winter, passeil 

 away Oct. 1 at the ripe age of 80 years. 

 Quite fortunately we had prepared a little 

 slcetch of his life before he died, and it 

 appears on page 322 of last year. 



Mr. Boardman was one of the best bee- 

 keepers in the United States — one of the 

 early advocates of sweet clover as a forage 

 plant for bees as well as stock, and a man 

 who seemed to have the faculty of winter- 

 ing bees year after year without any loss. 

 lie also was the first to show that the sun's 

 rays, when properly applied, would prevent 

 the granulation of honey. 



He was a keen obsei'ver, a successful 

 honey-producer, and occasionally wrote for 

 these columns in years gone by. 



So it goes. One by one the veterans are 

 leaving us. 



Aster Honey — when it Can and Cannot 

 be Safely Used for Food 



It came to oiu* knowledge a few days ago 

 that one of the old veteran beekeepers who 

 has used a great deal of aster honey as a 

 winter food in years past has found that 

 this honey is perfectly safe when it is all 

 aealed. It is when much of it is unsealed, 

 according to this same veteran, that it 

 brings on dysentery and death to the bees. 

 When he finds much of it unsealed because 

 the asters have ceased to yield nectar he 

 forces the bees to fill the cells, and cap them 

 over by feeding sugar syrup. In this way 



Filtering Honey 



I>ARK honeys in general do not sell as 

 readily as clear water-white honeys, sueli as 

 alfalfa and wliite clover. An inexpensive 

 method of filtering and refining extracted 

 honeys like buckwheat and aster is being 

 sought by the Federal Carbohydrate Lab- 

 oratory in Washington. The laboratory 

 workers have passed dark-colored honey 

 through bone char and secured a product 

 as clear as crystal. 



The only drawback to a general employ- 

 ment of this method of filtering is that the 

 cost of bone cliar is about $60 a ton. Ordi- 

 nary charcoal is clieaper, but not so effec- 



