October, 1914. 



a chicken house, from which the chick- 

 ens are now excluded lor the benefit 

 of the bees. In this house the bees are 

 wintered, as I will e.xplain farther on. 

 The bees are actually occupying only a 

 a space GOxfiO feet. They do not annoy 

 the neighbors, for they are all of a 

 peaceable strain of Italians. They have 

 no European foulbrood for the same 

 reason, although this disease is in the 

 vicinity. 



The hives are 8 frames. To those 

 who are aware of my predilection for 

 very large hives, I will say that this is 

 perhaps the only stumbling block in 

 Mr. Gallagher's path. His bees swarm 

 more than he likes. But he knows how 

 to produce honey, comb honey, and 

 get his sections well filled. When he 

 puts on a second case, he usually puts 

 it on top of the first. When the first is 

 nearly sealed, he shifts them. He does 

 this from time to time as occasion re- 

 quires. As a result, he secures most of 

 his sections well sealed. He rears his 

 own queens from his best stock. We 

 don't do that. We don't think we can 

 spare the time. But I believe it pays, 

 for if you breed from your most pro- 

 lific, most active, and most peaceable 

 stock, you will be likely to secure pro- 

 lific, active and peaceable bees. 



We think 100 colonies is enough for 

 'a locality. Either the vicinity of Ma- 

 quoketa is better than our own for 

 pasture or the smaller size of the colo- 

 nies makes a larger number possible. 

 Mr. Gallagher had a fair crop of clover 

 in the supers. It is true that they 

 have had very good weather and plenty 

 of rain, while in our own locality the 

 absence of rain had dried everything. 



Mr. Gallagher clips all his queens, as 

 do most of the apiarists who are un- 

 able to be always there when the bees 

 swarm. His method of clipping is his 

 own. He does not pick her up. With 

 a pair of jeweler's tweezers in the left 

 hand, he catches the queen by one of 

 her wings while she stands on the 

 comb. Pulling a little on it causes her 

 to grip the comb and try to pull away. 

 Then with manicure scissors in the 

 right hand, he cuts the projecting wing. 

 This he illustrated for me on a worker- 

 bee with great expedition, showing 

 that he was an expert at the job. 



Now as to wintering. His cellar has 



The Gallagher Chicken House Used to Wlster the Bees.— (See article.) 



The Gallagher Home at Maquoketa 



a hot water furnace in it, and is too 

 warm. The chicken house is close to 

 the apiary, and our friend hit upon the 

 plan of making it a winter repository. 

 This was done with trifling expense. 

 The inner walls were lined with 4 or 5 

 inches of fine straw, held in place with 

 wire netting, so as to make a non-con- 

 ducting siding. About 2 feet of the 

 same material is used overhead. For 

 ventilation, two stove pipes are set up 

 in the upper packing and draw off all 

 the moist air into the space under the 

 roof. 



Mr. Gallagher said that often in very 

 cold weather the underside of the roof 

 was coated with frost produced by the 

 moist air arising from the cluster. For 

 the entering air, he relies simply upon 

 the porosity of his straw packing. Dur- 

 ing the past five or six winters, he has 

 thus wintered some 150 colonies with 

 insignificant loss. The hives are 

 brought in without their cover and 

 piled along, in rows, leaving just a pas- 

 sage between the rows for inspection 

 purposes. This is the cheapest winter 

 repository I have ever seen. 



After our trip to the Coverdale farm, 

 mentioned in the August number, Mr. 

 Pellett, the inspector, joined us. We 

 enjoyed the hospitality of thfe Galla- 

 ghers, and were shown the surround- 

 ings in an automobile evening tour. 

 We visited some remarkable grottoes, 

 about 10 miles away. I had no idea 

 that such specimens of natural wonders 

 could be found in Iowa. 



The growing of sweet clover is given 

 an impetus throughout the country, but 

 more so in that part of Iowa, owing to 

 a number of farmers following the ex- 

 ample given by Mr. Coverdale. The 

 use of this plant in agriculture is going 

 to prove a boon to the beekeeper 

 throughout the land. 



A NewUncappingKnife.— Mr. Stephen 



Anthony, of New Zealand, sends us the 

 translation of the description of a ro- 

 tary uncapping knife invented in Rus- 

 sia, by A. M. Loginof. The invention 



is based upon that of the foot-power 

 dental drill, a steel disk being used for 

 blade. We do not believe this inven- 

 tion would appeal to those who have 

 used the steam-heated Bingham knife. 

 However, it shows that human ingen- 

 uity is at work in bee-culture, around 

 the globe. 



Illinois State Meeting.^The 24th an- 

 nual meeting of the Illinois State Bee- 

 keepers' Association will be held at the 

 State House in Springfield on Thurs- 

 day and Friday, Nov. 19 and 20. 



Mr. N. E. France, of Wisconsin, will 

 be with us. His subject will be " Short 

 Cuts." Prof. J. G. Mosier, of the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, will speak on the 

 subject of "Sweet Clover." Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant, of Hamilton, 111., and Dr. E. 

 F. Phillips, of Washington, D. C. Sub- 

 ject, " Temperatureand Aloistureof the 

 Hive in Winter." Come prepared to 

 help make it a good meeting. 



Jas. A. Stone, Sec. 



The New Jersey Summer Meeting — 



The summer meeting of the New Jer- 

 sey Beekeepers' Association is growing 

 in interest and attendance, which prom- 

 ises well for the improvement of bee- 

 keeping within the State. 



On July 8, more than 70 people gath- 

 ered from all parts of the State to make 

 new acquaintances and renew the old, 

 and to learn whateverwas to be offered 

 by the beginners, and, no less, by the 

 veterans. 



Mr. Robert B. Spicer, at whose queen- 

 rearing yards, located among the moun- 

 tains of northern New Jersey, and 

 about two miles from Wharton, the 

 meeting was held, gave talks and prac- 

 tical demonstrations on queen-rearing. 

 Many beginners were heard to remark 

 upon the value which these demonstra- 

 tions would be to them Without re- 

 flection upon the professionals, it may 

 be said the association is composed 

 largely of "back-lotters," who con- 



