December, ldl4. 



■*^-:i:=jTfa&'j*a 



American Bcc Jonrnal 



viously pure nonsense, as no bee- 

 keeper would use dirty, rusty tins 

 when he could get bright, clean second- 

 hand (if you can call a tin which has 

 just been emptied of petrol second- 

 hand) cans, or tins as we call them, for 

 6 cents each. 



" As I said, the regulation was brought 

 into force, but was found impractica- 

 ble ana is now a dead letter. The regu- 

 lation would just cause the very trou- 

 ble it was expected to avoid. The tins 

 here have to be given away with the 

 honey. 



"Good, bright second-hand tins cost 

 only H cents each, and if any get rusty 

 or dirty the beekeepers pitch them 

 awav. New tins, specially made, cost 

 22 cents each, and if they get rusty or 

 dirty they look at the cost before they 

 decide to sacrifice them. Another 

 thing, these tins are so costly that bee- 

 keepers will take them back and fill 

 them a second time, but he will not 

 take back any petrol tins. 



"The regulation was a stupid one, 

 made by officials who did not know 

 anything of the apicultural business. 

 Victoria is only a small part of Austra- 

 lia, and the latter is as large as the 

 United States." 



ers' Association will be held in the 

 Commercial Club Rooms, Topeka, 

 Dec. 4 and 5. Mr. Frank C. Pellett, of 

 Iowa, will deliver a lecture on the sub- 

 ject of " Wintering." Every one in- 

 terested in bees is requested to at- 

 tend these meetings. 



O. A. Keene, Sec. 

 Topeka, Kan., Nov. 5. 



Missouri Meeting The 12th annual 



convention of the Missouri Beekeepers' 

 Association will be held Dec. 7 and_8 

 in the Commercial Club Rooms at St. 

 Joseph, Mo. 



PROGRAM 

 Monday, Dec. 7—10:00 a.m. 



Address of President— J. W. Rouse, of 

 Mexico; Report of Secretary-Treasurer— 

 J. F. Diemer. Liberty; .Appointment of Com- 

 mittees; Reception of members. 

 Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. 



Rearing Good Queens— J. F. Archdekin. 

 of St. Josepti. , , t- , 



How to Introduce Them and the Smoke 

 Method Described-C. P. Dadant. of Hamil- 

 ton. 111. 



Artificial Increase— Dr. G. Boher. Chase, 

 Kan. iFifty years' experience.) 



Management of Bees During a Good Honey 

 Flow— L E. Altwein. of St. Joseph. 



Disposing of theHoney Crop- M. E. Darby, 

 of Sprinsfield. Mo. (State Inspector of Api- 

 aries.) 



Evening. 8:00 p.m. 



Preparing Bees for Winter— Frank C. Pel- 

 lett. of Atlantic. Iowa. (State Inspector and 

 Vice-President of National Association ) 



Sweet Clover— S. P. Halsey. of Nemeha 

 Co . Kan. 



Question Box. 



Tuesday. Dec. 3— q a.m. 



L. Haseman. of Columbia. Mo.. Entomolo- 

 gist and Chief Inspector of Orchards and 

 Nurseries, will tell us about the Interde- 

 pendence Between Bees and Horticulture, 

 and Dr. C R. Woodson. Superintendent of 

 the Sanitarium. St. Joseph. Mo., will tell us 

 about " Orchard Spraying." etc. 



C. B. Baxter, of Nauvoo. III., a very exten- 

 sive fruit grower and apiarist, will tell us 

 about " Bees and Fruit." 



A. V. Smith, of St. Joseph, will read a 

 paper on " Shook Swarming." 



O. S. Mullin. of Holton. Kan., on "Carnio- 

 lans." 



N. M. Jennings, of Franklin. Ind.. a vet- 

 eran, will describe "His Method of Win- 

 tering." 



Report of standing committees, incorpo- 

 rating, etc. 



It will be well worth your time and 

 expense to attend this meeting. To the 

 novice, wintering bees is the hardest 

 problem. Frank C. Pellett, of Iowa, 

 and N. M. Jennings, of Indiana, will 

 tell you how it is done. 



^ 



Kansas Annual Meeting — The annual 

 meeting of the Kansas State Beekeep- 



Pellett, the efficient inspector for Iowa, 

 is to be on the program of both meet- 

 ings. His subject at the horticultural 

 meeting will be, "Our Backdoor 

 Neighbors." 



Washington State Meeting in January. 



—"The Washington State Beekeepers' 

 Association will hold their 21st annual 

 convention in the Farmers' Room in 

 the Court House in North Yakima, on 

 Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 6 and 7, 

 191.5. We expect a large gathering, 

 and are in hopes to have some cele- 

 brated visitors in attendance. We de- 

 sire the attendance of every member, 

 as we shall discuss the foulbrood law 

 which the committee is now working 

 on and wishes to have passed at the 

 coming meeting of the Legislature. 

 J. B. Ramage, Sec. 

 North Yakima, Wash., Rt. 7. 



Massachusetts Wax Rendering Sta- 

 tion Dr. Burton N. Gates, Associate 



Professor of Beekeeping at the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College, informs 

 us that the college has installed at .A.m- 

 herst a plant for rendering beeswax 

 for the beekeepers of the State of 

 Massachusetts. They have a capacity 

 of several hundred pounds per day. 

 Beekeepers of that State who desire to 

 try their services should write to Dr. 

 Burton N. Gates, Amherst, Mass., be- 

 fore sending any combs to them. 



Kansas Horticultural and Bee Meet- 

 ings.— The Kansas State Horticultural 

 Society and the Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion of that State are planning to co- 

 operate in holding their meetings this 

 winter. The horticultural meeting 

 will occur on Dec. 2, 3 and 4, and wili 

 be followed the same week by the bee 

 meeting. 



We understand that Mr. Frank C. 



National Meeting at Denver.— The Na- 

 tional Beekeepers' Association will 

 hold its annual session at Denver, 

 Colo., some time during the month of 

 February. The exact date and pro- 

 gram will be announced later. Denver 

 being situated in the center of the pro- 

 ducing country, and many of the larg- 

 est producers of the country within 

 easy reach, we may well expect a meet- 

 ing of "live wires." Present indica- 

 tions promise well for a big attendance. 

 Come and 'get together and boost." 

 Geo. W. Williams, Sec. 



Redkey, Ind. 



BEE-tftEPiNG ^ For Women 



Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. Marengo. 111. 



Failure With Smoke Method 



Mr. Arthur C. Miller says that the 

 failure to introduce queens by his 

 method was emphasized in this depart- 

 ment in the October number. There 

 was certainly no desire to emphasize 

 it as a matter to be proud of. It was 

 rather a matter of humiliation to both 

 Dr. Miller and his assistant that they 

 should have failed with a plan which 

 was so signally successful in the hands 

 of others. But generally we may bene- 

 fit by our mistakes, and so it has been 

 the policy in this quarter to report 

 failures as well as successes. 



The trouble in this case is to know 

 just why there was a failure. There 

 was no attempt to make an improve- 

 ment on Mr. Miller's plan, but every 

 effort was made to follow implicitly 

 his instructions. Mr. Miller inakes 

 two guesses as to the cause of failure; 

 first, that the bees were not in a state 

 of distress from choky smoke and 

 close confinement; or, second, that the 

 bees were in a disturbed condition 

 from getting the queen out. The sec- 

 ond guess can hardly apply, for the 

 queens had been out at least the day 

 before the introduction. It is quite 



possible that the bees were not in a 

 state of sufficient distress; but why ? 

 The smoke was given exactly accord- 

 ing to directions; at least it was the 

 earnest intention to follow directions 

 implicitly. He is quite right in saying 

 our hives are not smoke-tight. In hot 

 weather there is a 2-inch entrance and 

 a 'i -inch ventilating space at the back 

 of the hive next the super. But at the 

 time of operating these were closed. 



In trying to think of what should 

 make the difference it was natural to 

 think of that deep space under the bot- 

 tom-bars, and then to think that this 

 would give the queen less chance to 

 pass directly through the hostile peri- 

 pheric bees. Mr. Miller rightly says 

 the idea of this outer wall of bees was 

 not from him. Xo, it will be found on 

 page 38.5 of this journal for November, 

 1013, where Dr. Bruennichsavs in part: 

 " On the periphery outwardly of the 

 pollen-garland, we find the old, malign, 

 suspicious bees are always snuffing 

 treachery. * * * With the direct 

 method of introduction, the peripheric 

 bees on the board are intimidated by 

 the smoke; therefore, the queen may 

 pass those ill-tempered guardians and 

 penetrate to her kingdom, the center, 



