(Entered as second-class matter at the Post office at Hamilton. HI . under Act of March 3. 18-0 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by American Bee Journal, First National Bank Building 



C. p. DAD ANT, Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER, Associate Editor. 



HAMILTON, ILL, FEBRUARY, 1914 



Vol. LIV.— No. 2 



Foul Brood auci 3Ioths Combined 



On our front cover we give the pho- 

 tograph of two brood-combs taken by 

 Inspector Frank C. Pellett, on one of 

 his tours this summer. Aside from the 

 fact that the combs are examples of 

 the worst possible type of American 

 foul brood, they a re also being devoured 

 by the moths. Notice the honey at the 

 top of each comb. Even if hives be 

 completely closed from bees, as soon 

 as the moths destroy the comb suffi- 

 ciently, the honey will run, leak out of 

 the hive, and spread infection. 



Deimith's Goldeu Words 



Right in the center of page 15 are 

 given some words of G. S. Demuth, 

 that should be the central thought of 

 every beekeeper. He recommends tite 

 bt'eeding of a bee ivhich has the storing 

 instinct to an intensified degree. And 

 that is a work, not alone for experts or 

 specialists; but every beekeeper, begin- 

 ner, as well as veteran, should have his 

 part, whether his colonies be few or 

 many. Let it be earnestly urged upon 

 the young beekeeper, ambitious to be 

 in the lead, that he can now make his 

 plans for the coming season to breed 

 from his best stock. He may have no 

 exact knowledge as to how his colo- 

 nies compare for efficiency, but he can 

 make a fair guess as to which colony 

 or colonies exceededthe others in their 

 performance in 1913; and then let him 

 make up his mind that during the sea- 

 son of 1914 he will keep close tab of 

 all colonies, putting down in black and 



white their performance, and then he 

 may know definitely what stock to 

 breed from in 1916. 



Pouder's Parcel Post Package 



One of these packages, as illustrated 

 on page 10, was received at Marengo. 

 A slit was made down through the 

 paper with the small blade of a pen- 

 knife, allowing it to be easily peeled 

 off. Then the cone was stood upon a 

 plate to be placed on the table. Can- 

 died honey could hardly be put in a 

 more tempting form, only the cone 

 looks pretty tall for the size of the 

 base. 



Bees of Same Colony Fighting 



On page 21, Arthur C. Miller says 

 when combs with adhering bees are 

 taken from the hives of some colonies 

 and leaned against convenient objects, 

 and then returned to the hive after 10 

 minutes or more, a violent fight takes 

 place between the bees of adjacent 

 combs ; and on page 8 Dr. Miller says 

 this is something new to him. Per- 

 haps the kind of bees has something to 

 do in the case. Arthur C. Miller writes : 

 " The bees that did the fighting were 

 pure Cyprians. Later I had similar ex- 

 periences with crosses of that race, 

 and some ' Goldens ' now and then will 

 do more or less quarreling among 

 themselves.'' 



J. L. Byer Kight— and Wrong (?) 



Mr. J. L. Byer, you are quite right in 

 thinking that we had a wonderful flow 



of honey in 1913, page 14. I never 

 knew its equal. But in comparing On- 

 tario with Illinois it sounds as though 

 youthinki have a better place for good 

 crops than you. If so, I think you're 

 wrong. You have other things than 

 white clover to depend upon. I have 

 no basswood to speak of, and little of 

 anything else that can be counted on 

 for a crop. True, alsike is beginning 

 to come in, and fall flowers make a nice 

 little supplement to the white-clover 

 crop — when there is a white-clover 

 crop — but everything aside from white 

 clover amounts to so little that when 

 white clover fails I count it a year of 

 failure. And years of failure are un- 

 pleasantly frequent. If I were to start 

 afresh in beekeeping, I wouldn't be 

 likely to pitch my tent at Marengo. 



But when you speak of "the woman 

 in the case " deserving credit, you are 

 dead right without any "if" whatever. 

 Miss Wilson did nearly all the work, 

 and when you want work thoroughly 

 done just set a full-blood Scotchwoman 

 at it. When Miss Wilson tackles a job 

 I can feel a good bit easier about its 

 being done right than if I tackle it 

 myself. 



Early Breeding In and Out of 

 Cellar 



On page 20, Dr. Bonney speaking of 

 chaff hives, says : "If given a choice 

 between dovetail hives for out-of-door 

 wintering and putting the bees in a 

 cellar, I will take either of these hives, 

 because being warm the bees begin 

 breeding early, earlier than in the cel- 

 lar." On the face of it the beginner is 

 likely to understand that bees in a chaff 

 hive breed earlier than in a cellar, be- 

 cause bees in the chaff hive are warmer, 

 which is entirely true; and he is likely 

 to understand further that the chaff- 

 hive bees are warmer than those in the 



