324 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 21, 1903. 



brood in the new hive is a much mooted question, upon which the 

 " doctors " disagree. I have always done so, and without disastrous 

 results. For me it prevents absconding, and makes sure that no pol- 

 len will be deposited in the sections. 



The new hive should be contracted according to the size of the 

 swarm, so as to force the bullj of the bees into the super at once. Con- 

 traction will, also, discourage building of drone-comb in the brood- 

 chamber. The best bive to use in this connection is the Heddon hive, 

 or some other hive employing the shallow brood-chamber principle. 

 This admits of more rational contraction, and forcing the swarm 

 above. Before the close of the flow, or as the queen needs more room, 

 the hive should be gradually expanded to its normal size. 



Each old colony should be examined for preparations for swarm- 

 ing every six days until the swarming season has passed, and when 

 found should be promptly dealt with in accordance with the foregoing 

 directions. This gives the apiarist almost perfect control of the 

 swarming fever. Instead of becoming an evil and a loss it becomes 

 a blessing and a profit, as it enables the apiarist to throw a preponder- 

 ance of the bees into the supers at precisely the right time to secure a 

 crop of handsomely finished section honey. 



Foul-broody colonies should be shaken at the beginning of the 

 flow, regardless of their strength of fitness for swarming. Weak colo- 

 nies may b»united until their force is sufficient for business purposes. 





Miscellaneous Items 





Hon. Eugene Secor, the former General Manager of the National, 

 has gone into the greenhouse business as aside line, at his home in 

 Winnebago Co., Iowa. We notice this from a column article in his 

 local newspaper. It says that, about two years ago, Mr. Secor adver- 

 tised for a partner to start a greenhouse, being desirous of carrying 

 out a long-cherished idea. He finally found the right man-|-in Illinois, 

 of course. His name is Stitz. The newspaper says he •' was raised 

 In a greenhouse," but judging from his success he does not seem to be 

 as " green " as the house he was " raised " in. 



Their greenhouse business has developed so that they now have 

 two, one of which is devoted to the growing of carnations, the demand 

 for this beautiful flower having increased so rapidly that it may be 

 necessary to use two houses for their production alone. They have 

 all the fashionable colors of this flower, including the famous " Mrs. 

 Lawson.'' They also have the McKinley and Roosevelt varieties. No 

 mention is made of the " Woolley," which will be the purest and 

 most beautiful of all, when once secured. 



Mr. Secor is to be congratulated on his success in the floral line. 

 Not many are so well situated financially as to gratify their desires in 

 this inspiring line. Few earthly things are so beautiful as flowers. 

 Of course, to the bee-keeper, the white clover, basswood, sage, the 

 buckwheat, and some other blooms, are more to be desired than carna- 

 tions, and roses, and " sich." But all have their uses, and are beauti- 

 ful to look upon — bright emblems of purity, and sweetness, and truth. 



The Farmers' Handt Wagon Co., of Saginaw, Mioh., are 

 anxious to obtain some farm views showing their Handy Wagon in use 

 on the farm. They think that, among our thousands of readers, there 

 must be a great many amateur photographers who would be only too 

 glad to enter such a friendly contest. They offer S7.5 in cash to the 

 successful contestants. By addressing the advertising department of 

 the Farmers' Handy Wagon Co., full information as to the conditions 

 governing the contest can be obtained. When writing, kindly men- 

 tion the American Bee Journal. 



Delays in Mailing Qceens are very annoying, not only to the 

 queen-breeder but to the customers as well. We had expected to be 

 able to fill all our premium queen orders by May 15, but the weather 

 has been so unfavorable that several of the best breeders who had 

 agreed to furnish us queens could not do so. We regret the delay ex- 

 ceedingly, but of course we cannot help it. We will fill all our orders 

 just as soon as we can possibly get the queens. We trust all who are 

 entitled to receive queens from us will be patient. 



Thought it Was a Bee. — A guide in the Maine woods was 

 bragging the other day about his indifference to the attacks of the 

 black flies, from which those in his party were suffering greatly. A 

 $10 bet was made that he couldn't let the flies settle for five minutes on 

 his bare back. 



The guide stripped, and the insects came in good numbers and be- 

 gan to bite. He did not wince. Then one of the party got behind 



him, took a burning glass out of his pocket and, the sun being out, 

 focused it on the guide's shoulder. Theguide squirmed and wriggled. 

 He stood it for some seconds, then he blurted out: 



" I can stand all the black flies in Maine, but brush away that 

 blasted bee!'' 



He won the bet. 





Association Notes 





How We Got Our Foul Brood Law. 



First, we had Mr. N. E. France of Wisconsin, at the last meeting 

 of the Chicago-Northwestern Convention, and he addressed the con- 

 vention on the subject of Foul Brood and answered all questions 

 raised by the members. 



Then we said, " Let us have a foul brood law," and we went at it. 

 We put ourselves in touch with the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, which had formal charge of the matter, and corresponded 

 with Messrs. Jas. A Stone, J. Q. Smith, Chas. Becker, and others who 

 were engineering the Bills before the House and Senate at Springfield. 

 Then we subscribed money, and mailed a printed appeal for funds to 

 all our membership, and to those on the mail-list of the American Bee 

 Jourual in Illinois, besides. 



The writer has the honor of a personal acquaintance with several 

 of the honorable members of the Legislature, and he used his influ- 

 ence with them where he could. We were fortunate enough to dis- 

 cover the Hon. Henry W. Austin, of Oak Park, through Mr. C. F. 

 Kannenberg, one of our members, and a member of the foul brood 

 committee. Mr. Austin is a new member, a banker, and a man of af- 

 fairs. He made a personal matter of our Bill from the start. He con- 

 sulted with the writer a number of times about it, and when he was in 

 Springfield to appear before the House and Senate committees, Mr. 

 Austin introduced him to a large number of the members. He did 

 more for us than any one else, and should be tendered a vote of thanks 

 by the entire bee-keeping fraternity. 



Our hearing before the Appropriations Committees of the Senate 

 and House was most interesting. Pres. Smith, Secretary Stone, and 

 Treasurer Becker, of the Illinois State Association, and the writer 

 from Chicago, made our representation. Mr. Stone brought a hive 

 and super, and they were opened and explained to the Senate Com- 

 mittee, who took great interest in them, and gave us an hour's time 

 and full opportunity to make our case. Pres. Smith got a frame of 

 foul brood from the State museum, and it was also exhibited and ex- 

 plained at length. The Senate Committee took no action at the time, 

 and we did not know for over a month whether they favored us or 

 not. 



After our hearing before the Senate Committee, we went before 

 the Appropriations Committee of the House. They were overwhelmed 

 with business, and our hearts failed us at this point. The University 

 of Illinois and Judge Tuthill took up two hours, and (it seemed to us) 

 appropriated everything in sight ($800,000). However, our time came, 

 and they gave uafive vtlnutcs, and heard us, and moved that the Commit- 

 tee report the .Bill to the Houae^ and reeommeitd itA pannage. 



Then following the long, tedious wait of more than a month, dur- 

 ing which time we knew nothing of our fate, and imagined the worst. 



Messrs. Stone and Smith, who live near Springfield, arranged to 

 call at the capitol every week and see some ol the members, and show 

 them that our interest was unflagging. We sent out over SOO postal 

 cards to bee-keepers all over Illinois, urging them to do what they 

 could to help get a law. The officers of both Associations mailed per- 

 sonal letters to all the members of both Senate and House. This 

 aggregated a total of about TOO letters from this source, making a total 

 of nearly lr>00 pieces of mail transmitted in the interest of our law. 

 Added to this is the number of letters from bee-keepers all over the 

 State, to the Senators and Representatives, of which no estimate could 

 be made. 



The writer entered into the plan for a law at first with lots of en- 

 thusiasm and confidence of success. But, as the magnitude of the 

 undertaking opened up in front of us it seemed more and more a hope- 

 less task to get a bee-keeper's law in Illinois — this stronghold of poli- 

 tics. But here we are at the goal, having run a successful race. Not 

 one penny has been spent for anything but ordinary legitimate ex- 

 penses. I believe the combination of two Associations made an im- 

 pression on the Legislature. In our letters to them we said 35,000 

 farmers in Illinois keeping bees are interested. These figures are from 

 the United States Census Report. There is no doubt, in any State, 

 if 25 bee-keepers unite their work, any needed laws can be secured. 



We are under great obligations to the members of the Houses who 

 have taken a personal interest in our Bills. We need our friends, and 

 greatly appreciate their efforts in our behalf. 



Herman F. Moore, 

 Chairman Foul lirood Committee^ 

 (^hirago-Xorth western Jlee- Keepers^ Association. 



Later. — Since the above was written, the news says that the 

 Governor has signed our Bill, so we have $3000 to spend in Illinois the 

 next two years for bee-keeping interests. 



Let us so administer our trust that the entire industry will be 

 benefited, (!//(/ <J</('fi'ri,sf i7 so thoroughly that the Leyi.ilature of Illinois 

 will nnvrfail to aid ns. H. F. M. 



