(Entered as second-class matter at the Post-office at Hamilton. Ill . under Act of March 3. 1879) 



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



C. p. DADANT. Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



HAMILTON, ILL., NOVEMBER, 1914 



VoL LIV.— No. 11 



Editorial 



Comments 



Bee Meetings 



The following meetings are already 

 scheduled for the luture as indicated. 

 Secretaries are urged to write, giving 

 date of meetings so that they may ap- 

 pear in these columns : 



Louisiana Fair and Beekeepers' Cele- 

 bration, Shreveport, Nov. 9. 



Ontario meeting, Toronto, Nov. 11, 

 12, and 13. 



Quebec meeting, Montreal, Nov. 11 

 and 12. 



Indiana State meeting, Indianapolis, 

 Nov. If) and 17. 



Iowa State meeeting, Ames. Nov. 17 

 and 18. 



Illinois State meeting, Springfield, 

 Nov. 19 and 20. 



Wisconsin State meeting, Madison, 

 Nov. 24 and 2.j. 



Minnesota State meeting, Minneapo- 

 lis, Dec. 2 and 3. 



Missouri State meeting, St. Joseph, 

 Dec. 7 and 8. 



Akron, N. Y., meeting, Akron, Dec. 

 15. 



The Wor.st Sea.sou in 51 



We have kept bees for 51 consecutive 

 seasons in this county, and this has 

 been the worst one. The excessive 

 drouth of 1913 continued until far into 

 the summer of 1914. There has been 

 no white clover, and there is none yet 

 in this vicinity. The only honey har- 

 vested has been gathered from persi- 

 carias and asters. We have had to 

 feed thousands of pounds of sugar 

 syrup, and during every month of the 

 the summer. 



Our beekeeping experience covers 

 almost three generations. We hope 

 not to see the like again of so steady a 

 failure. At any rate, we are not dis- 



couraged for we have more bees than 

 ever. 



T. F. BINGHAM 



We have just received news of the 

 death, at Sugar City, Colo., of the well- 

 known apiarist and inventor, T. F. 

 Bingham, formerly of Abronia, Mich. 



Mr. Bingham was born Jan. 22, 1830. 

 in Woodstock, Vt., and was therefore 

 84 years old. .'\s a jeweler, he lived at 



T. F. BINGHAM. 



Gowanda, N. Y., for a few years and 

 there began the keeping of bees in 

 Langstroth hives. He later changed 

 his hives to a shallow closed-end frame 

 hive, first with frames 5x22 inches, in- 

 side, and later with a much shorter 

 but still very shallow frame. In his 

 first efforts at cellar wintering he main- 

 tained that very little ventilation was 

 necessary. But he was soon won over 



to the ideas of thorough ventilation of 

 cellars. In 1900, he reported having 

 kept his bees in the cellar four days less 

 than five months. This was at Abronia 

 Mich. He was a contributor to the 

 .•\merican Bee Journal until 1909. 



Mr. Bingham is best known to the 

 beekeeping world by his famous inven- 

 tion of the direct-draft smoker, now 

 known the world over, under his name, 

 as the most practical bee smoker ever 

 invented. He also invented the Bing- 

 ham honey-knife, the bevel of which 

 plays an important part in the speedy 

 uncapping of surplus honey. Owing to 

 these two inventions which have be- 

 come so popular, the name " Bingham " 

 is likely to remain a household word in 

 every beekeeper's home. 



Matrimony 



We have received the announcement 

 of the marriage of Mr. L. V. France, 

 son of the veteran apiarist N. E. France, 

 to Miss Rena Olson, at Madison, Wis. 

 Mr. L. V. France is himself a capable 

 apiarist and a student. Our best wishes 

 go to the young couple. 



€on»i)arifson of Crops of 1918 

 and li>14 



Farmers' Bulletin No. ii20 gives sta- 

 tistics on the honey crops of 1913-14. 

 The average crop per colony in the 

 United States was 40.6 pounds in 1913, 

 and only 31 6 pounds in 1914. But a 

 very interesting feature is that the 

 crop of extracted honey is increasing 

 as compared with both the section 

 honey and chunk honey. This means 

 more honey for the masses. 



Scent- I*ro<lu<'iug Organ.s of the 

 Hoiie.v Bee 



We acknowledge with thanks the re- 



