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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 18, 1903. 



to bee-keeping- at that time was the reason why I dropped 

 out of the business. 



My health had been injured and ray constitution shat- 

 tered while in the army during our ever-to-be-regretted Civil 

 War. Health was one of my chief objects of search in com- 

 ing here. 



Now alfalfa has become a common crop here, and thous- 

 ands of fruit-trees and other honey-yielding plants are com- 

 mon, and the bees are rapidly becoming a source of income 

 and profit. 



On re-entering the pursuit of bee-keeping I note several 

 changes of great importance. The most prominent and 

 noteworthy is the amount of knowledge that has been ac- 

 quired by the masses of our people concerning the habits 

 and management of honey-bees. 



Forty years ago I sometimes found it out of the range of 

 possibilities to purchase a colony of bees, it being regarded 

 as decidely a forerunner of bad luck to sell a colony of bees. 

 Especially was it held as true that any one selling a colony 

 of bees could never hope to keep bees with any sort of success 

 again. That such superstitions have been superseded by a 

 degree of knowledge and scientific advancement resulting 

 in profit, pleasure and luxury, is most certainly a source of 

 gratification to all our people, and especially to the bee- 

 keepers who were active participators in this grand march 

 of progress. 



I have not on hand data that will enable me to present 

 a tabulated statement as to the difference between the num- 

 ber of colonies of bees kept now and 40 years ago, together 

 with the enormous increase in the amount of honey, wax and 

 profit derived from the same annually ; but to the most cas- 

 ual observer of the difference in the conditions then and now, 

 the contrast will appear very great. In the meantime, many 

 of our most prominent leaders have quit the stage of action. 

 Among them, Mr. Langstroth — the greatest of them all — 

 is no longer with us. Adam Grimm, Dr. Hamlin, Elisha 

 Gallup, Samuel Wagner,' Chas. Dadant, Thomas G. New- 

 man, and others, have been cut down by the Scythe of Time. 

 Prof. Cook, Alley, Baldridge, Root, and possibly a number 

 other prominent bee-keepers, I am happy to know, are still 

 with us. And I sincerely hope to meet most of them at 

 Los Angeles, Calif., in August, at the National Bee-keepers' 

 Convention. 



During the early 70's, at the solicitation of Prof. A. 

 J. Cook, I discussed what was then known as the " Drone 

 Question," before the Michigan State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. Mr. Eangstroth, myself and others, took the position 

 that the fertilization of the queen did not affect the purity 

 of her drone progeny, which position drew the fire of several 

 among the bee-keeping fraternity. I do not know whether 

 this is any longer a question or not. But I note the fact 

 that Elisha Gallup has drawn the fire of a number by as- 

 suming the ground that the maturing queen has an " um- 

 bilical cord." That there is a channel through which she 

 receives the necessary nourishment to keep up the develop- 

 ment process will not be questioned ; but under the accepted 

 definition of what is understood to be an umbilical cord, the 

 term applied, as Mr. Gallup has used it, must be construed 

 as largely figurative. An umbilical cord proper consists of 

 an artery, a vein, a sheath and connecting tissues, and when 

 performing its proper function is attached to a fetus at one 

 end and a placenta at the other, which latter organ con- 

 sists of two portions, viz,, a maternal and a fetal portion ; 

 the former being attached to both the mother and the fetal 

 portion, and when thus connected is the channel through 

 which the fetus or prospective offspring receives its sub- 

 stance until the period of birth has arrived. That there is no 

 such connection between the mother queen and the queen 

 in process of development is of course well known. Hence, 

 to use the term as Mr. Gallup used it, must either be done 

 in a figurative sense, or an additional definition to the term 

 umbilicus must be added. 



In conclusion, Mr. Editor, please permit me to state 

 that in re- entering the circle of bee-keepers I shall not again 

 engage in breeding queens and bees for sale as I once did, but 

 to keep them for honey-gathering, and to be among the fra- 

 ternity of bee-keepers is my sole object. I have passed my 

 70th year, and have abandoned the practice of my profession 

 (medicine), and farming as well, and do not care to give any 

 pursuit the unceasing attention required in breeding queens 

 and shipping them. Lyons Co., Kaus., May 22. 



Queenle Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. 



[ Our Bee-Keeping Sisters | 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Bees Cleaning' Out Comb. 



When I was about 10 or 12 years old I had an uncle who 

 kept bees in what is now a rather old-fashioned way, but I 

 always enjoyed being around his bees, and some way (he 

 thought it queer) they were never cross to me. Three years 

 ago last fall I had quite a notion that I wanted honey for 

 ourselves. I had a chance to buy one colony to bring home 

 in the spring, so I bought it. They sent out a swarm the 

 next season, but we got only about 30 pounds of surplus 

 honey that year. We packed them for the winter in chaff 

 hives, and they came out fine in the spring. Both colonies 

 just doubled the next summer. We packed them as before, 

 but out of the 4 colonies one died in the winter, so we put 

 out but 3 colonies last spring. They doubled, and furnished 

 us with all the honey we could eat, besides sellingSlS worth. 



When I first bought the bees I subscribed for the 

 American Bee Journal, and we have read it ever since. We 

 also got a book, " A B C of Bee-Culture," and studied it 

 until we thought we knew a little of the business. Last fall 

 my husband made up his mind that he could care for bees 

 better than do what he was doing (market gardening), and 

 he let all his tillage land except a little garden, and bought 

 54 colonies, making 60 in all, so we are"bee-ing" now. 

 This spring has been extremely hard on the bees, there 

 being so much rain. There have not been over four or five 

 days that they could work. 



1. In the last Bee Journal I noticed that you said bees 

 would clean out comb without making holes through it, if 

 properly handled. Now, we have fed ours honey in the 

 comb this spring, and the combs were cleaned without in- 

 juring them, so I infer that either we or the bees 

 handled it right — perhaps both — and what I want to know 

 is : What would be an improper way ? The way we did 

 was to put the comb on top of the frames, and put cloth 

 over it, and let the bees do the rest. 



2. You asked what my work is now. It is to put sec- 

 tions together, and put in foundation, and put foundation 

 in frames (self-spacing Hoffman). I use full foundation in 

 every place. Are we doing right ? 



My husband says that if this weather continues we 

 shall have to put the stands on stilts, and feed the bees 

 with a bottle before fall ; and then he thinks we shall know 

 about bees ! Grace W. Sager. 



Benton Co., Minn., May 18. 



Answers. — 1. From what you say I suppose you put 

 brood-combs over a colony and let the bees take the honey. 

 No danger of combs being torn in that way. The danger 

 comes when you expose the combs away from the care of 

 any colony. Even then old black combs will not be torn. 

 But if you want to know " an improper way," just take a 

 section of honey or a frame filled with new comb and put it 

 where the bees can make a free-for-all attack upon it, and 

 see if they do not chew a good part of it into bits. 



2. Yes. 



Begrinning- With Bees. 



1. I am " the mother " in a large family, and wishing 

 to " go into bees " with the idea of providing honey for my 

 own family only, I write to ask you if you think it practi- 

 cable for me, with hands already full, to try it. I have the 

 book " A li C of Bee-Culture," and am taking the American 

 Bee Journal, but I can't find much for beginners. In your 

 department some answers to the following might be very 

 timely to others besides myself. 



2. What examination is needed to know that bees are 

 satisfactory ? We bought two colonies that were ?toi — 

 worms, etc. We destroyed hives and all. 



3. What ought one to pay, and what kind of hives ? 



4. When ought they to be moved to gather honey this 

 season ? 



5. What supplies besides the bees will it be necessary to 

 have at the start ? Will you tell me what I should look up 



