1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



537 



made over our old methods. Just as soon as we drop into that 

 rut, with the feeling that we have " got there," and don"t 

 need to try to better ourselves, just so soon shall we fail to 

 make progress. I cannot think we have reached perfection 

 in anything relating to bee-keeping yet. I believe, first of 

 all. we need and shall have foundation with deep cell-walls 

 and thin base; that along with this improvement will come at 

 least partial control of swarming. I believe still that there is 

 a chance for improvement in styles of brood-frames ; and there 

 is still something yet to learn as to the best size of hive. 



No doubt Mr. Root is correct in his opinion on this sub- 

 ject, but we wish to suggest, to those who may think of at- 

 tempting the invention of some apiarian article, to be suke 

 they know what has already been invented. So many " go it 

 blind," as it were, and find in the end that they have simply 

 "re-hatched " something that perhaps has been tried and dis- 

 carded long ago. It will pay first to ascertain what has been 

 invented, before wasting valuable time, and may be money, 

 also. 



Another thing : Nearly every one-year-old beginner is 

 apt to think that he can invent a good deal better hive than 

 Langstroth, Dadant, Root, or any one else ever dreamed of ! 

 Well, may be he can, but more than likely he can't. So our 

 advice would b3, to keep bees at least five years before at- 

 tempting to patent a new hive ; by that time, or 10 years 

 later, you may discover that it has never paid to patent a hive 

 — that the best general hives are mainly unpatented ; and 

 that there is much that every beginner has to learn before he 

 aspires to lead the veterans. 



Minnesota Fair and Apiarian Exhibit.— 



We have received the Premium List of the Minnesota State 

 Pair, from the Superintendent of the apiarian exhibit, Mr. J. 

 P. West, of Hastings, Minn. The fair will be held at Ham- 

 line, Aug. 31 to Sept. 5, and the liberal cash premiums offered 

 on bees, honey, and apiarian supplies, are as follows : 



1st. 2nd. 3rd 4th. 



Most attractive display and best quality of 

 white clover honey S12 SIO §5 S3 



Most attractive display and best quality of 



basswood or linden comb honey 12 10 o 3 



Most attractive display and best quality of 

 extracted white clover honey 12 10 5 '■'< 



Most attractive display and best quality of 

 extracted basswood or linden honey lli 10 5 3 



Most attractive display and best quality of 

 fall comb honey 12 10 .5 3 



Most attractive and finest display of comb 

 honey 8 5 3 2 



Most attractive and finestdisplay of extracted 

 honey 8 6 5 4 



Most attractive and finest display of comb 

 honey, not less than 20 lbs., and the man- 

 ner of putting up for market considered. . 8 5 3 2 



Nucleus of Italian bees and queen 6 4 3 2 



Collection of different races of queens 6 4 3 2 



Beeswax, not less than 10 lbs., soft, bright- 

 yellow to have the preference 5 3 



Honey-vinegar, not less than one gallon, to 

 be exhibited in glass 3 2 



Display of apiarian supplies and implements 12 5 



Largest and best variety of uses that honey 

 maybe applied to; illustrated by individ- 

 ual samples of different things into which 

 it enters ; cakes, pastry, meats, etc 10 5 



GRAND SWEEPSTAKES. 



Largest, best and most attractive exhibition 

 in this department, all things considered. . 15 8 



For copy of the Premium List of the whole fair, contain- 

 ing rule." governing exhibits, etc., write to Mr. West, as above. 

 All apiarian exhibits should be addressed to " E. R. Randall, 

 Minnesota Transfer, Minn., State Fair Exhibit, Div. H." 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



4 

 4 



•5- 

 f 



Mr. J. B. Ramage, of Whatcom Co., Wash., wrote in a 

 letter dated July 27 : " Tell Dr. Miller to come to Washing- 

 ton to get dandelion bloom in September and October." 



Mr. B. Taylor, of Forestville, Minn., we are pained 

 to announce, died Sunday, Aug. 9. Just as we were closing 

 the forms for this issue, we received the following letter tell- 

 ing us the sad news : 



Forestville, Minn., Aug. 10, 1896. 

 Deab Mr. York : — After a long illness, our father (B. 

 Taylor) passed from all earthly suffering last Sunday morning. 

 Yours respectfully, Jewell Taylor. 



Our sincerest sympathy is extended to all the bereaved 

 ones. We hope soon to be permitted to publish a biographical 

 sketch and portrait of our departed brother. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See Great Campaign Book offer on page 538. 



Messrs. Van Allen & Williams, of Wisconsin, report 

 that their trade has been very satisfactory this season, espe- 

 cially the queen-trade, having sold a large number of queens, 

 and orders still continue to come in. With them this year has 

 been the best season for queen-rearing that they ever expe- 

 rienced ; they say the conditions have been very favorable for 

 rearing the best of queens at the least expense. They make a 

 specialty of rearing queens from cells built under the swarm- 

 ing impulse, because they believe they give better satisfaction 

 thati queens reared in any other way. 



Dr. Miller reported in Gleanings that on July 15 he had 

 " 4,439 finished sections in the house, and more to follow." 

 We feel like extending our congratulations, as we presume he 

 means they are sections filled with honey, though he doesn't 

 say so. After having so many poor hooey seasons, we would 

 think that the Doctor would feel like telling the whole thing, 

 and not leave his readers to infer so much. "Finished sec- 

 tions '' are one thing, and "finished sections of honey " are 

 quite another. Any one with the money can get plenty of the 

 former at any time, but money won't always procure the 

 latter. 



Hurrah for the Doctor and his "finished sections" of 

 honey ! We hope by this time he can report a full 10,000 of 

 them. 



In another "straw ■' Dr. M. tells of his "honey-shower " 

 thus : 



"This year keeps up its record as a fast one. I took off 

 my first finished super of sections June 20 — two or three 

 weeks earlier than ever before. July 15 I took the fifth 

 super from one hive." 



In commenting on this. Editor Root lets himself loose in 

 this kind of a style : 



"Whew-ation, Doctor! (Excuse slang; but as I can't 

 throw ray hat up high enough for you so that every one can 

 see it, I had to use something else than common English.) I 

 have several times advised you to 'pull up stakes' 

 in view of your repeated yearly failures of the honey crops ; 

 but if you had followed my advice it would have been just 

 your luck to drop into some locality where there wa;s no 

 honey, not even this year. Notwithstanding my foolish advice 

 to you, I have repeatedly advised bee-keepers to stay where 

 they are, and the wisdom in such advice has been demonstrated 

 again and again by a final onslaught of honey, such as you 

 have just been having. There is no reason why you should 

 not have a lot more such good seasons. The spell is broken ; 

 the seasons of drouths are being replaced by copious rains, so 

 necessary to the growth of white clover. As I write, it's 

 raining hard, and we have been getting from one to two good 

 rains a week." 



Later. — In a letter to us, dated Aug. 13, Dr. Miller says: 



" The season here is holding out remarkably. Although 

 houey is coming in slowly it is still coming in, and we are 

 kept busy taking out sections and putting back the unfinished 

 ones to be finished. Nearly all colonies are now reduced to 

 one super each, whereas in the height of the season some had 

 as high as five or six, and needed them, too. 



