43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, NOV. 5, 1903, 



No. 45. 



c 



Editorial Comments 





An Invitation to Subscribe. 



This number of tbe American Bee Journal will go to sereral 

 thousand bee-keepers who are not now getting it regularly. Will 

 such please consider this an urgent invitation to subscribe? We want 

 vou on our list of regular weekly readers. A good time to begin to 

 read the Bee Journal is now. Read during the coming winter, and 

 thus get ready for (bee) business next spring. 



Get a Book About Bees. 



In replying to a set of questions sent io by a subscriber, the British 

 Bee Journal prefaces Its answers by saying: 



"The first advice we otter to beginners is to procure a ' Guide- 

 Book ' on bee-keeping, without the help of which it is like groping in 

 the dark with bee-operations." 



That bit of advice is one that holds good as well on this side the 

 Dcean, aad applies to all localities. Whether you call it a " text- 

 book," " bee-book," "guide-book," or what-not, a book of instruc- 

 tion in bee-keeping is indispensable, and the bee-keeper who tries to 

 get along without one is penny-wise and pound-foolish. 



Smoking Hives at tlie Entpanee. 



This is condemned by some as seldom or never necessary. It is 

 well to be considerate of the feelings of the bees, and drenching with 

 a volume of smoke sufficient to drive them out of the hive is to be 

 deplored; but if smoke is to be used at all. it should be used where it 

 will do the most good, and where the least amount will sutBce. Many 

 of the veterans make a practice of giving a preliminary puff at the 

 entrance, and they seem to have good reason for it. For the bees, 

 whose special duty it is to guard against intruders— tbe ones that dart 

 out to attack an approaching enemy — are not stationed in the inner- 

 most recesses of the hive, but at the entrance. The tirst jar caused 

 by the opening of the cover is the signal for them to rush forth, and 

 once out they are not easily paciBed. A little smoke at the entrance, 

 before the hive is touched, may prevent their issuing at all. 



Ventilation of Hives in Winter. 



How much ventilation shall I give my bees for winter J is the 

 question that svill now be asked by many. If your bees are to be cel- 

 lared, you can not give too much ventilation, and it matters little 

 where it is given — this referring to the ventilation of the hive, not of 

 the cellar. In the time of box-hives, the right thing to do was to turn 

 the hive upside down, leaving it entirely open above. It the ventila- 

 tion is given in the usual waj- — at the bottom — the bottom-board may 

 be left oft and the hive raised in some way so air will have free access. 

 Or, the hive may be raised from the bottom-board by blocks at the 

 corners. An excellent way is to have bottom-boards two inches deep, 

 with the front entrance entirely open. 



For outdoor wintering, give strong colonies an entrance of 3 

 square inches— weaker colonies in proportion. That would mean an 

 entrance ',xS, '• ,x6, etc. 



The Bee-Keepers' Convention Season. 



This usually opens with the annual meeting of the National, 

 which, this year, was held in Los Angeles. Then follow, a little later, 

 the Illinois State, Chicago-Northwestern, Minnesota, Colorado, Onta- 

 rio (in Canada), Michigan, California, Wisconsin, etc. 



We notice that several other States are planning to hold conven- 

 tions, notably Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, etc. Some day we hope there 

 will be a bee-keepers' organization in every State. 



Bee-keepers in this country have not begun to attend conventions 

 as they do in Europe. We have all been too busy with other things 

 to get away, it seems. At least it appears that such has been the case. 

 But bee-keepers need to " turn over a new leaf " in this regard. Con- 

 ventions are a wonderful incentive and inspiration. They are sug- 

 gestive, too. One often hears things said on such occasions that, if 

 remembered and practiced, are often worth several times over the ex- 

 pense involved in attending the convention. 



And then the personal contact with others in conventions. How 

 invaluable is that. We would not take a great deal for the pleasure 

 and help it has been to us in meeting the leaders and experts of bee- 

 dom at the conventions we have attended. The only time we ever saw 

 Father Langstroth was at a convention— the last one he ever attended, 

 for he died about a month thereafter. 



Plan to attend just as many conventions of bee-keepers as you 

 possibly can. You will not regret it, either in the present or after 

 years. 



Keeping Ants Out of Hives. 



In Gleanings in Bee-Culture, H. A. Higgins tells of beating ihe 

 ants in the following manner: 



Stakes are made ?' . inches long, and made of 2x4 scantling; and 

 instead of being sharpened and driven into the ground they are sawn 

 flat, fastened on the ends of the 2x4, on the bottom-board, and the 

 ends inserted into old (or new) quart fruit or tomato cans: and each 

 morning the cans are filled with fresh water. The ground around the 

 hives is sometimes alive with ants, but they never get into the hive. 

 I have seen only one aut on the hive since I have used the cans, and 

 that was caused by neglecting to fill the cans for two or three days. 

 The only trouble to speak of is filling the cans, and that is not much 

 when you take into consideration the good derived from it, as the 

 bees will water at the cans, and will not have to go far tor water. 1 

 have never seen a bee at my watering-trough, which stands about ao 

 steps from the hives. They all water from the stakes. 



There is nothing particularly new in this, and in the North ants 

 are seldom so troublesome as to warrant taking so much pains, but in. 

 the South they become a serious matter. 



Why Do Bees Ball Their Own Queen ? 



It is not an infrequent thing to find bees balling their own queen. 

 Why? Some say they are roused to anger by being disturbed, and 

 then attack the queen. Others say they cluster about the queen to 

 protect her. There seems rather more reason for the latter view. The 

 queen is the most important " personage " in the queendom, and why 

 should they not be solicitous for her welfare? The outcome favors 

 such a view, for when the queen is found balled by her own bees, if 

 tbe hive is quietly closed at once, the queen will be found all right at 

 the next visit. That, after all, is the important matter to know— that ■ 

 the thing to do to insure the safety ot the queen is to close up the hive 

 at once. It disturbance is continued, the bees may hug the queen 

 long enough to starve her. even if they do think they are thereby 

 saving her. 



