1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



791 



were also present and helped in the good work. What a pity 

 the General Manager wasn't there to smooth out the wrinliles 

 of the youngster ; and although I have always admired him 

 for his disinterested and abundantly successful labors for the 

 good of our pursuit, I am not in sympathy with him in the 

 unwarranted and unwise course he has taken in putting his 

 foot down and virtually telling the members of the United 

 States Bee-Keepers Union that they don't know enough to 

 get up a Constitution that is fit to be submitted to a vote of 

 the old Union ; and I shall not be at all surprised to see them 

 resent his meddlesome interference. In an almost insulting 

 manner he tells them that there is nothing left for them, and 

 such as favor the measure, to do but to wait until all " incon- 

 guities," etc., have been so eliminated as not to grind on the 

 sensitive Geueral Manager; and I am wondering who will do 

 the kind of thing for the demented (?) bee-keepers, who, at 

 Lincoln, proved themselves to be such ninnies at expressing 

 their minds. Do you suppose the General Manager will at- 

 tempt to perform the task ? 



The tone as well as the matter of Mr. Newman's " criti- 

 cism " indicates to me that he proposes to stop all further 

 proceedings towards amalgamation, and considers himself of 

 much more importance than those who favor the measure, 

 and while only a servant, and handling our money, usurps au- 

 thority ; and I believe that just the moment any oQicial puts 

 himself in such a position, tbe sooner he is made to "step 

 down and out" the better; and with that end in view, I take 

 the liberty of nominating Dr. C. C. Miller for General Mana- 

 ger for the coming year, and for that matter, for just as long 

 as he proves himself efficient, and behaves himself; and 

 while I am at it, I want to renominate that faithful and safe 

 counsellor, the Hon. R. L. Taylor, for President. I would like 

 to nominate him for General Manager, but we can't spare him 

 from the position he now occupies. And then let's keep G. M. 

 Doolittle, Prof. Cook, A. I. Root, and Hon. Eugene Secor in 

 the harness ; and if the rest see as I do, we will put C. P. 

 Dadant in the grand team ; then if the New Constitution 

 should be submitted and adopted, in spite of Mr. Newman's 

 opposition, we shall have a Board of Directors that has had 

 years of experience, excepting Hon. Eugene Secor and Mr. 

 Dadant, and they don't know so much but what they can 

 learn from the other members of the Board ! 



Perhaps I have done mischief enough, but I feel like say- 

 ing that if the Constitution is not submitted to a vote by the 

 Advisory Board, according to the request of the United States 

 Bee-Keepers' Union ; or if the members of the Board attempt 

 to defeat its adoption, I have paid my last dollar into the 

 treasury of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, but shall pay in 

 the future into the treasury of the United States Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, and I know of several who feel the same way. 



No longer ago than yesterday, I heard of a large honey- 

 producer, and a contributor to our bee-literature, and a mem- 

 ber of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, who is so displeased 

 with Mr. Newman's course and stand taken in his " criticism," 

 that he is in favor of electing some one to take his place as 

 General Manager ; and less than an hour ago I received a 

 letter saying that one of our most influential bee-keepers, who 

 is a member of both the National Bee-Keepers' Union and the 

 United States Bee-Keepers' Union, " is very much determined 

 that we shall not give up to Newman ;" and as both these gen- 

 tlemen are very careful in expressing their views, their opin- 

 ions have all the more weight. 



I want to suggest to the Advisory Board that they in some 

 way provide for the counting of the ballots at the coming elec- 

 tion of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, without their having 

 to pass through tBe hands of the General Manager ; not but 

 what I believe him to be honest, but that no one might have 

 reason to complain. 



I wish, Mr. Editor, most emphatically to endorse all of 

 your editorial on pages 744 and 745 of the Bee Journal, but 

 more especially to commend your truthful and most sensible 

 words in the last three paragraphs. 



" Yours for every progressive step," Union. 



[As Dr. Mason is really the " father " of the New Consti- 

 tution, as well as Secretary of the New Union, we take pleas- 

 ure in referring to him any questions in the foregoing that 

 may require replies. — Editok.] 



Tlie Sanies and Addresses of all your bee- 

 friends, who are not now taking tbe Bee Journal, are wanted 

 at this office. Send them in, please, when sample copies will 

 be mailed to them. Then you can secure their subscriptions, 

 and earn some of the premiums we have offered. The 

 next few months will be just the time to easily get new sub- 

 scribers. Try it earnestly, at least. 





^-^<f 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. rnXLLBR, MARENaO, ILL,, 



LQueatlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct. 1 



"Where Did llie Queen Come From ? 



On May 25, 1896, I found a nucleus with two frames of 

 brood and a clipped black queen ; they were examined about 

 every two weeks until Aug. 1, when they were found to be 

 without eggs or brood, and I could find no queen or queen- 

 cells. I examined them a few days later, and the same result, 

 so I gave them a frame of eggs and brood from a pure Italian 

 colony. I examined several times up to Aug. 24, and still 

 neither eggs nor queen. When looking through again on Sept 

 11, to my surprise I found one frame partly filled with eggs 

 less than three days old, and on looking further I found a 

 young undipped black queen. (By the way, I clip all my 

 queens.) 



Now, where did that queen come from? There were 

 black colonies about two feet away on each side of the nucleus 

 — could it have been possible they got the egg from one of 

 these ? E. W. H. 



Answer. — No chance to be certain about the matter, but 

 it would be nothing strange for a virgin queen to have en- 

 tered the hive, for a young virgin queen will sometimes be re- 

 ceived where a laying queen would be rejected. As to eggs 

 or larvae being carried from an adjoining hive, it would require 

 very strong proof to have such a thing accepted as fact. Quite 

 a controversy has taken place as to the possibility of workers 

 carrying eggs or larvaB from one part of a hive to another, 

 but that would be a much easier thing to believe than to be- 

 lieve that a worker had entered an adjoining hive and carried 

 therefrom the material from which to rear a queen. 



Feeding maple Syrup and Rye-Flour — Bee.Veil 

 Wire— Chaff Hives. 



1. Is maple syrup good to feed bees? 



2. How many pounds of sugar are used to one quart of 

 water, before being melted ? 



3. Why do bees die in their cells ? 



4. How do you feed rye-flour to the bees ? 



5. Is black wire-screen in a bee-veil hurtful to the eyes ? 



6. I am using the Langstroth chaff hive. What kind of 

 an out-door winter hive would you prefer for latitude 42°? 



I. D. H., Worden, Mich. 



Answers. — 1. Almost anything that bees will take is good 

 for them, provided it is given at a time when bees can fly 

 daily, or at least every few days. I don't know that maple 

 syrup will injure them at any time, but I doubt if it is as good 

 for winter food as honey or cane sugar. 



2. That depends. If given as early as it ought to bo given, 

 so the bees will have plenty of time to ripen it, equal parts of 

 sugar and water may be given, but if given in a rush late in 

 the season, then it is better to have it the consistency of good 

 honey, or about 5 pounds of granulated sugar to a quart of 

 water. 



3. I don't know. Generally they don't. Most of them 

 die outside the hive, as you can easily decide by watching a 

 strong colony during harvest. At that time, and previously 

 for some time, the queen has been laying daily at the rate of 

 2,000 or more, and about six weeks after the daily laying has 

 reached 2,000 the daily deaths should equal that figure. Sup- 

 posing the bees fly during 14 hours of the day, that will make 

 140 an hour, or more than two a minute that the bees would 

 be carrying out, providing all the bees took it into their heads 

 to die in their cells. On the contrary, it is not likely you will 

 find one dead bee on an average carried out of the hive. 

 Likely, however, you mean why is it that in exceptional cases 

 bees die in the cell ? In winter bees pack closely together to 

 keep warm, and they can pack more closely when all the cells 

 in the cluster are filled. If at this time they are starved or 



{Continued on^page 793.) 



