1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



345 



pretty much as if it had been "strained " through a dish-cloth 

 — judging from its odor, also. 



No, sir, Mr. Wing, we don't " mind " giving our opinion of 

 such things in a very plain manner. But what's the good of 

 " opinions" when you have no law to help stop the evil? 

 It does about as much good as a church convention "resolut- 

 ing" against the diabolical saloon, and the members failing to 

 vote against it at every opportunity. What is first needed in 

 both cases — against adulteration and saloons — are prohihitive 

 laws. Then full enforcement. With such procedure, we'll 

 guarantee that both evils would be "cured." And we are 

 ready to help secure both the laws and their proper enforce- 

 ment. 



We believe right here is a fine opportunity for the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Union to get in some good work for hon- 

 est honey-producers. It should worli with State and National 

 law-making bodies looking toward the passing of the neces- 

 sary laws against adulteration. Once having the laws, then 

 it could turn its attention and money along the line of their 

 strict enforcement. Every bee-keeper would aid in this work. 

 It is something practical. It 7)iu.sf come before bee-keepers 

 can hope to make the success of honey-production that they 

 are fairly entitled to. 



Let our watch-word be, Down with honey-adulteritiion '. 

 And every bee-keeper help in the fight to put the tamperers 

 with pure honey where they belong — behind iron bars ! 



Bee-Keeping and Fruit-Raising:.— Mr. R. 



Touchton delivered an address on this subject before the 

 California Bee-Keepers' convention held at Los Angeles, in 

 which he said : 



Yes, I think the honey-bee is a friend to fruit-growers. 

 Some trees and plants require the agency of bees or other in- 

 sects to fertilize and make them fruitful. In fact, I believe 

 that they are a benefit to all flowering trees and plants. I 

 have been informed by good authority that the cherry or- 

 chards of this State became unfruitful after the bees were re- 

 moved from the vicinity, and that they became fruitful again 

 after the bees were brought back for that purpose, and I have 

 read of similar instances East. Where the bees were removed 

 out of a fruit-growing belt, the trees became unfruitful, and 

 the orchardists were glad to get the bees back again. There 

 are some varieties of strawberries that are not self-fertilizing, 

 and require the agency of either the wind or bees to transmit 

 the pollen from those that are self-fertilizing. If they were 

 depending solely on the wind, a great deal of the pollen would 

 waste its sweetness on the desert air. 



The foot-hills that skirt the valleys of Southern California 

 from Santa Barbara to San Diego — and I presume in many 

 other portions of the State also (but I am only acquainted 

 with Southern California) — should be the homes of bee-keep- 

 ers and fruit-raisers, living together in harmony. Or, what 

 would be still better, every such fruit-raiser should be a bee- 

 keeper, and vice versa. "There are a great many practical 

 bee-keepers who would like to engage in the business if they 

 could live in society and have the ordinary home couiforts, 

 such as they could have along the foot-hills of our valleys, 

 but if they have to go back into the mountains and away from 

 society, they beg to be excused. I have had numerous letters 

 from Eastern bee-keepers inquiring about the business and a 

 chance for investing in it. But when I wrote them the true 

 facts in regard to the business as carried on here now, they 

 were satisfied to stay at home. Therefore, in the face of the 

 existing facts, it is time to come to the front and defend their 

 interests as against the .encroachment and opposition to the 

 fruit-raiser, and adjust the differences existing between tlu'iii 

 if we hope to maintain our position as the banner honey Slate 

 of the Union. 



" Extra Pages" in one some of the bee-papers that 

 corao to our desk have been such a regular thing lately that we 

 ♦vender that particular attention is called to it. Especially 

 when it occurs that the "extra pages" are caused by 

 putting in a whole lot that either has no bearing on 

 bee-keeping or else has the appearance Of simply filling up. 



It would be very easy to fill up extra pages in the Bee 



Journal with good matter, but we believe we give in each 

 number all that can be profitably read. Bee-papers are not 

 to be read like story-papers — simply to pass away the time; 

 but each article should be read slowly and digested, else the 

 time would be wasted, at least for some readers. 



Then there has been some talk about what color of cover 

 shall be used on some of the bee-papers. Happily the Bee 

 Journal is not troubled with that question. Its " cover " sel- 

 dom changes, so its friends are able to recognize it at all times. 

 But tinted covers are hardly expected on weekly publications. 

 They are an expensive luxury, any way. 



Natural Stores Preferred, 



For several years I have kept a record of sugar-fed colo- 

 nies, and I have been slowly forced to the conclusion that, 

 under present conditions, natural stores are the best. Occa- 

 sionally, when honey is of poor quality, sugar stores are the 

 safest ; but such years have lately beeu the rare exception, 

 and our best results, on the average, come from hives heavy 

 with natural stores in the fall. With small brood-chambers a 

 larger proportion of the honey will be stored for market ; but 

 where will be the gain it sugar has to be returned for winter? 

 Even if we grant that it can be fed so early as to promote a 

 sufficient brood-rearing to maintain the normal strength of 

 the colony, the extra amount consumed will more than coun- 

 terbalance the difference in price per pound. The hundreds 

 of tons of honey thus yearly thrown upon the market by the 

 exchange of sugar tor honey must make some difference in 

 present prices— quite likely more than any of us surmise.— 

 P. H. Elwood, in Gleanings. 



The Mating of Queens. 



Question.— Do queens of second swarms " mate " before or 

 after they lead out a swarm ? I see one of our " bee-lights " 

 says that " perhaps they may mate before going out with the 



swarm." 



Answer.- It any bee-keeper of any prominence puts 

 forth the claim that any queen leading out any after-swarm 

 may mate the drone, or become fertile, before she leads the 

 swarms, it is something I should not expect, and shows that 

 he or she cannot have looked into the matter very thoroughly. 

 I have made swarming and queen-rearing a study for the past 

 20 years, spending hours, days and weeks upon it; and if any 

 queen was ever fertilized, or even flew out to meet the drone 

 while there were other young queens in the cells, it is some- 

 thing I have never noticed, and something that all of my 

 experiments go to prove never happens. All know that after- 

 swarming comes only from a plurality of queens in the hive, 

 and these queens are always those which have never been out 

 of hive at all, except as they may have gone out with an after- 

 swarm, and been returned by the apiarist. As a rule, during 

 after-swarming, all young queens which would naturally 

 emerge from the cells, except the flrst hatched, are kept in 

 the cells by a guard of bees which feed them through a small 

 opening in the cell, made by the young queen trying to bite 

 the cover off; aand these queens are constantly quawking be- 

 cause they are kept prisoners; and the one which has her 

 liberty is piping back in her enraged sondition— enraged be- 

 cause the bees keep her from destroying these quawking in- 

 mates of the cells. 



While such a state of things as this is kept up in the hive, 

 no queen has any desire to mate, and no after-swarming is 

 ever conducted except under just such a state of affairs. In 

 one or two instances, where after-swarms had been kept back 

 for several days by unfavorable weather, and where only one 

 queen went with the after-swarm, I have had every evidence 

 to believe that said queens were fertilized while out with the 

 swarm, as I saw them entering with the drone-organs attached 

 to them, and they were laying two days afterward. But the 

 rule is, that all queens accompanying after-swarms wait about 

 their wedding-trip until thev are established in their new 

 home, when, in two to tour days after hiving, on some 

 pleasant afternoon, the bees will come out for a playspell, and 

 the queen be seen to leave the hive to mate.— G. M. Dog- 

 little, in Gleanings. 



The McEvov Foul Brood Treatment is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Us Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ;' or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



