298 



September, 1914. 



American Hee Journal 



John L. Byard in the Experimental Apiary. 



the Greco-Roman period to the mod- 

 ern times. 



There were numerous displays by 

 beekeepers, especially by Ross Bros., 

 of Worcester, who had a well-selected 

 assortment of beekeepers' implements, 

 including hives, smokers, and other 

 tools of the business. 



Mr. Earl M. Nichols, of Lyonsville, 

 queen-breeder, also had a display. Mr. 

 Nichols had specimens of queen-bees 

 in their mailing cages. 



At the demand of the beekeepers. Dr. 

 Yates and Dr. John I. Baird, a former 

 inspector, but now superintendent of 

 apiaries at the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural College, demonstrated the pro- 

 cedure in treating bees for infectious 

 diseases. 



O. F. Fuller also demonstrated his 

 method of queen rearing, which is 

 markedly different from the commer- 

 cial methods. By this method Mr. 

 Fuller has been able to secure queens 

 when others fail, especially late in the 

 season. In his specially constructed 

 hives he has kept drones as late as 



January. 



— ^ 



Bees Attack Dr. Bonney. — While Dr. 

 Bonney, of Buck Grove, Iowa, was tak- 

 ing down a decoy hive full of bees last 

 evening (June UO), Master Claude Welch 

 came to assist him, when the bees at- 

 tacked the lad. The Doctor, to save 

 the boy, took his veil off and put it 

 over the boy's head, when the angry 

 insects assaulted the Doctor. The 

 Doi tor wears but few clothes in warm 

 weather, and the bees found many vul- 

 nerable points. However, ."lO or (iO 

 stings do not bother him much, and 

 he went on with his work. — Ex. 



Concerning this accident Dr. Bon 

 ney writes : 



I send this only because there was 

 no swelling on my face, neck and arms, 

 and possibly I have discovered some- 

 thing. 



I was stung 10 or W times; a few 

 more or less do not figure. Twice over 

 one eye, once on the nose, twice on 

 the cheek, and once on the cl.in. By 

 this time I got my handkerchief over 

 my head, then picked up a dozen or so 

 on the neck and where my chest was 

 exposed, also on the arms. 



Getting away from the bees I went 



to the yard with the decoy hive, and 

 going into the honey house began 

 to look for something to stop the hurt- 

 ing, for it did hurt like the very devil. 

 Spying a bottle of 40 percent solution 

 of formaldehyde I applied that, only 

 because it was the only thing in sight 

 save some denatured alcohol. 



Did the formaldehyde prevent the 

 swelling ? Try it ? 



BeeKeepers' Field Day The bee- 

 keepers of northern Illinois and south- 

 ern Wisconsin will hold a Field Dav at 

 Black Hawk Park, Rockford, 111.,' on 

 Wednesday, Sept. 9. C. P. Dadant, edi 

 tor of the American Bee Journal, A. L. 

 Kildow, State Inspector of Illinois, and 

 if possible N. E. France, State Inspec- 

 tor of Wisconsin, will be present. 



A colony of diseased bees will be 

 shown and the disease discussed. 

 Every beekeeper is cordially invited to 

 attend this meeting. A profitable and 

 enjoyable day is anticipated. A large 

 attendance is expected. 



A. L. KiLDOw, 

 Stale Insfieclor of Afiaries. 



The Des Noines Meet. — This conven- 

 tion was the fifth of a series of summer 

 meetings being held throughout the 

 State by the Iowa Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion. The event took place at the 

 Dustman apiary, July 15, when an at- 

 tendance of about 126 persons ex- 

 changed experiences. 



The program was featured by prac- 

 tical bee talks by Frank C, Pellett, 

 State Bee Inspector; Prof. Bartholo- 

 mew, of the Iowa Agricultural College ; 

 Judge A. P. Chamberlain and Prof. C. 

 H. Tye, of Des Moines, and by practi- 

 cal beekeepers. 



Few beekeepers held out much hope 

 for a good honey year this season, but 

 the poor prospects did not seem to 

 lessen their enthusiasm for keeping on 

 in their work. Last year was excep- 

 tionally profitable in most sections, 

 and they said it would make up for this 

 year. 



Mr. Tye spoke of the bee asan econo- 

 mic friend of man. Bees, he said, are 

 one of the greatest agencies in trans- 

 ferring pollen from the male to the 

 female flowers. The body of the bee 



is covered with fine, hair-like particles, 

 and when the bee enters one flower 

 to get nectar, these hairs collect pollen 

 and leave it on and fertilize other flow- 

 ers. Prof Tye said no section could 

 be a good fruit country unless it had 

 plenty of bees, making the bees useful 

 and important not only for honey pro- 

 duction, but for successful fruit grow- 

 ing. 



An important point brought out by 

 Mr. Tye was that fruit growers should 

 be very careful in their spraying, to do 

 it at a time when the bees are not 

 working in the blossoms. He said the 

 object of using poisons in the spray 

 mixture was to kill insects, and that 

 what would kill the harmful ones 

 would be strong enough to kill the 

 bees. To avoid killing the bees, the 

 speaker recommended spraying before 

 the blossoms appeared, and then de- 

 lay the second spraying until after the 

 fruit forms. This plan would be just 

 as effective against the pests, and it 

 would protect the bees which are so 

 essential in fruit growing. 



Foulbrood, which is putting so many 

 beekeepers out of business, was the 

 subject of the State Bee Inspector, Mr. 

 Pellett. He mentioned three promi- 

 nent bee diseases, sacbrood, American 

 foulbrood and European foulbrood. 

 The first is a very mild disease, and 

 never causes very serious loss. 



The only way to combat American 

 foulbrood successfully is to melt up all 

 the honey and wax, says Mr. Pellett. A 

 light chocolate color in the larvae 

 makes the disease easy to recognize 

 when it first breaks out. In the ad- 

 vanced stages the colorbecomes darker 

 and resembles roasted coffee. The dis- 

 ease usually begins at about the time 

 of capping. Decaying larvae which 

 have died have the odor of a poor 

 quality of glue. 



If European foulbrood is discovered 

 in time, it need not be so serious as 

 the American. Mr. Pellett said the 

 best way to get after this is to kill the 

 old queens and replace them with Ital- 

 ians, as they are more resistant to the 

 disease. "The European foulbrood 

 seems to be an entirely different dis- 

 ease, and larv.-e are attacked at an ear- 

 lier stage than with the American. 

 There is a small yellow spot on the 

 body near the head of the larvs when 

 the disease first breaks out, and very 

 few of the cells are capped. After death 

 occurs the larvae (urn yellow, then 

 brown, and finally almost black. 



Marketing of honey was discussed 

 by Mr. H. B. Miller, of Marshalltown. 

 Although Mr. Miller has been in the 

 bee business only a few years, he has 

 built up a profitable market for his 

 product. 



The annual convention of the State 

 association will be held at Ames Nov. 

 17. 18, and 19 in connection with a short 

 course on apiculture. A feature will 

 be a beehive products exhibit in which 

 all beekeepers are invitedto compete. — 

 ITallaces Farmer. 



When the Trouble Started.— Slagg 



had lived all his life in the city. Never 

 had he seen anything in the vegetable 

 line except factory made grass until 

 he decided to spend the summer work- 

 ing on Cousin Hiram's farm. Not 



