232 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 9, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 JkTioiig-an St., - CHICAGO, ILL, 



REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS : 

 G. M. Doolittle, Of New York. Prof. A. J. Cook, of California. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, of Illinois. Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Georgia. 



J. H. Martin, of California. Kev. E. T. Abbott, of Missouri. 



Chas. Dadant & Son, of Illinois. 

 B. Taylor, of Minnesota. 



$1.00 a Year — Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Entered at the Post-Offlce at ChicaRo aa Second-Class Mail-Matter.] 



Vol. inVI. CHICA&O, ILL,, APR, 9, 1896. No, 15. 



Barly Bee-Supply Orders are the ones that are 

 apt to receive the most prompt attention on the part of deal- 

 ers. Better make out your order and get them to your supply 

 dealer before the busy time comes on. It will be very annoy- 

 ing to be compelled to wait for goods when you need them at 

 once. Consult our advertising columns for prompt and re- 

 liable dealers. Get one of their catalogues, and then mail 

 your order in time to get the goods you want before you will 

 actually need to use them. 



Xhe Next North Aniericau Meeting.— Just 



as we were mailing the last number of the Bee Journal, we 

 received this letter from Mr. E. Whitcomb, of Friend, Nebr., 

 dated March 30: 



Deak Mr. York : — I am not a little surprised that you 

 are advocating the removal of the North American Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention to Minneapolis, Minn. Do you not think that 

 this would be a serious mistake? The convention at St. 

 Joseph practically promised to come to Lincoln, and at this 

 time it occurs to mo that they should not think of anything 

 else. It occurs to me that as cheap railroad rates can be 

 secured to Lincoln as to any other point, and a marked ad- 

 vantage in entertainment. The fact that the American Bee 

 Journal is advocating the removal to another point, must in 

 all events tend to keep a great many away from Lincoln who 

 otherwise would be in attendance. 



We had been in hopes to be able to treat our visitors, next 

 fall, to a real specimen of true Nebraska hospitality, to have 

 a good meeting, and that all would return home feeling that 

 all Nebraska, and especially Lincoln, had for a time, at least, 

 been theirs. 



I sincerely hope that you will not farther advocate this 

 move, but that you will, as much as is possible, endeavor to 

 undo what injustice has already been done. 



Your friend, E. Whitcomb. 



As we are not running the North American, a very short 

 reply from us, to Mr. Whitcomb's letter, will suffice. 



If Mr. W. will guaranlce s. \}i railroad rate to Lincoln 

 for those attending the bee-keepers' convention, we will pitch 

 right in and " whoop her up " for the Nebraska city. But we 

 cannot, as in former years, urge bee-keepers to attend, ex- 

 pecting to get the lower rate on the return trip, and then be 

 disappointed. Some $300 was lost to bee-keepers at Toronto 



last September, where we fully expected there would be over 

 the necessary number to secure the reduced rate. 



If the E.Kecutive Committee (who were given the deciding 

 power at Toronto) say that the convention shall be held in 

 Lincoln, all well and good. The Bee Journal will help 

 to have a good meeting, no matter where it will be. But it 

 does seem to us that our Nebraska friends should be willing 

 to sacrifice a little in order that the rest of the country may 

 be enabled to take advantage of the assured low rate of o?ie 

 cent a mile (which the G. A. R. has already been granted for 

 their meeting the first week in September, at St. Paul, Minn.), 

 unless they can guarantee at least the 1>3 rate. 



The " Neboiden House- Apiary " is shown by 

 two pictures on our first page this week. It seems quite a 

 number of bee-keepers use this means of caring for their bees. 

 It certainly has its advantages, and we shouldn't be surprised 

 if more apiarists would use house-apiaries in the future. The 

 one illustrated in this issue of the Bee Journal, belongs to Mr. 

 E. Goulding, of Wellesley, Mass., and he tells us about it in 

 the following communication : 



As I have been very much interested, the past year, in the 

 house-apiaries that have been shown in the American Bee 

 Journal, I will send pictures of mine — "The Nehoiden Api- 

 ary." 



No. 2 is the house open for summer. Around the house 

 the loam was taken out 8 feet wide and 6 inches deep, and 

 filled in with sawdust, which Ijeepsthe weeds down and makes 

 a, clean place for the bees, if they happen to alight on the 

 ground. The sides are all made in doors, and hung with steel 

 hinges. By filing off the head on one side, I can pull the rivet 

 out with my fingers, and take them off very easily. By being 

 buttoned on to the bottom I can swing them up, as the north 

 end ones are. 



The inside of the house has a floor made in three parts, so 

 I can walk in and not jar the bees at all. The bees are set 

 up 5 inches from the floor. 



The house is 8 feet wide and 16 feet long, and holds 28 

 colonies, with the 2 in the gable end. The side shelves are 

 2}4 feet wide on each side, and a 3-foot walk in the center. 

 Each side of the walk there are sliding screens that will slide 

 all to either end. I can open the hives just as I can out-of- 

 doors. 



No. 1 is the house closed for winter. The " little houses " 

 seen on the outside are covered in front, and the entrance is 

 on the south side. In the spring and fall the front comes off. 

 There is an entrance to the little house from the hive 6 inches 

 long and "^ wide, and from the little house out 3 inches long 

 by 5 wide. The hives are all packed with leaves or fine hay, 

 6 inches on all sides. E. Goulding. 



California Bee-Notes. — Prof. Cook, of Claremont, 

 kindly sends the following : 



Bee-Keepeks' Exchange. — The California Bee-Keepers' 

 Exchange is moving on in a manner very satisfactory to its 

 friends. There is a hearty co-operation, just as was expected, 

 and it looks now as though almost every bee-keeper of South- 

 ern California would give hearty co-operation. It is fully be- 

 lieved that with all our bee-keepers as members of this organ- 

 ization we shall have made a stride in apicultural advance- 

 ment which has seldom been equalled in this or any other in- 

 dustry. 



Scant Rainfall. — The bee-keepers of Southern Califor- 

 nia are somewhat anxious regarding the scant rainfall of the 

 present winter. Of course there is time for heavy rains even 

 yet ; but some of our friends feel that with heavy rains during 

 the last of this month (March) and next month, we cannot ex- 

 pect a first-class season. They say that observation in the 

 past has shown, that, in order to secure a heavy honey-flow, 

 there must be early rains as well as a heavy rainfall. The 

 needed rainfall is usually put at 15 inches. As yet we only 

 have about half that amount. 



Pukb-Mating of Queens. — It will be remembered that 

 Mr. D. A. Jones, some years since, established breeding apia- 

 ries on the islands in Georgian Bay, in the hope of securing 

 pure mating. Because of the heavy winds and severe cold 



