Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, 0. 



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



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



Entered at the PostofiEice, Medina, O., as Second-class matter. 



VOL. XLI. 



I^IARCH 1, 1913 



NO. 5 



Editorial 



Xo one can say, now, that women do not 

 make good beekeepers. 



THE NATIONAL CONVENTION FEB. 12, 13. 



This was held at the Grand Hotel, Cin- 

 cinnati. While the attendance was not large 

 it was representative. At the fii-st session 

 it looked as if there might be an " irrepres- 

 sible coixfliet." The delegates i^resent were 

 not agreed as to the best policy to pursue. 

 But all is well that ends well, for the points 

 of difference were referred to a committee, 

 and the reports of this committee were 

 finally agreed to. A brief report will be 

 given later, together Avith a half-tone view 

 showing the members and delegates present. 



FEEDING HARD CANDY TO BEES. 



We have been giving paper pie-plates 

 filled with hard candy to some of our colo- 

 nies that seemed to be running a little short, 

 for the last three months. This candy is 

 made of twenty parts of sugar to one part 

 of honey, the whole moistened with water 

 enough so that it can be boiled. It is then 

 heated to a tempeature of 275 degrees Fahr- 

 enheit, and as soon as it reaches this point 

 it is poured into the pie-plates mentioned. 

 These are turned upside down right over 

 the cluster, and so far they are giving ex- 

 cellent results. They are not affected by 

 moisture, as Mr. A. C. Miller feared would 

 be the case. Indeed, they preserve their 

 shape perfectly, even when empty. As this 

 winter has been somewhat open in most 

 localities, there is danger of starvation. 



Soft candy may be as good. We have 

 tried it to some extent, but prefer the hard. 



BEES ESCAPING FROM A BROKEN PACKAGE 

 MADE TROUBLE AMONG POSTAL CLERKS. 



As we have intimated before, we have 

 feared that some one not acquainted with 

 the difficulties would attempt to send bees 

 by parcel post, and that the cage would be 

 broken and trouble be made at once. This 

 is exactly what has happened. Just as our 

 editorial form for the last issue was going 

 to press, as mentioned briefly on pag'e 106, 

 we received a clipping from the San Fran- 

 cisco Chronicle, of Monday, Feb. 3, telling 



of a lot of bees that took possession of a 

 postofifice at San Rafael, on Feb. 2. Par- 

 ticulars were not given, except that, when 

 the postal clerk opened the parcel-post 

 pouch, the bees flew out of it, and stung 

 liim on the face and hands. The box in 

 which they had been confined was smashed 

 in transit, giving the bees the run of the 

 mail-iDouch, and, later on, of the postoffice. 

 As stated in our last issue, there seems 

 to be no provision, at present, authorizing 

 the shipment of bees by parcel post; and 

 if the cai'eless experiments along this line 

 do not cease, there is danger that bees may 

 be altogether barred from the mails, thus 

 bringing about a serious state of affairs for 

 queen-breeders and beekeepers as well. 



IN MEMORIAM OF D. H. COGGSHALL. 



It seems but a few weeks since we spent 

 a very pleasant half-day with Mr. D. H. 

 Coggshall the last time he was in Medina. 

 We had met him several times before at 

 conventions, but we became much better 

 acquainted with him at this time, and it 

 was with a shock, therefore, that we learn- 

 ed of his very sudden death as mentioned 

 in our Feb. 1.5th issue. It seems that our 

 friend had made all preparations for spend- 

 ing the winter in Florida, as was his cus- 

 tom. His home west of Groton had been 

 closed for the winter, and every thing had 

 been arranged for a long absence. How lit- 

 tle anybody thought at the time that these 

 preparations were then made for the last 

 time, and that the departure was a final 

 one, the return to the home-place to be 

 only after death! 



The party, consisting of Mr. and ]\Ii's. 

 Coggshall, and their daughter and her hus- 

 band. Mr. H. J. Blanchard, had already 

 left Groton, and had proceeded on their 

 way south as far as SajTe, Pa. While wait- 

 ing for the connecting train for the South 

 at tlie Lehigh Valley station, Mr. Coggshall 

 died very suddenly of heart failure. He 

 had anticipated another pleasant winter at 

 his southern home at Stuart, Fla., where 

 he had spent evei-y winter for eight years. 



Mr. Coggshall was born Dec. 1, 1847, in 



