March 29, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



201 



and I increase in bees. A little later on I uncap more. ( )1(1 

 bees will not uncap the old sealed honey fast enouf^h, wheii 

 they are caught suddenly, to keep pace with the amount of 

 larva' on hand ; then it pays to look after uncapping- or 

 bruising'. 



" This year (1899) I went thru the colonies three times 

 between fruit-bloom and clover, and with 95 colonies I had 

 it so arranged that almost every frame was filled with brood 

 clear up to the top-bar, and from end to end to the outside 

 wall. Did it pay ? Yes; I never did anything in my life 

 that paid so well. I would not advise every one to do it ; 

 some might go on a morning of a spring day when there 

 was not much required and uncap too much. You must use 

 judgment." 



Selling Candied Honey is nowadays advocated by a 

 number, the idea in general being that the consumer shall 

 be educated to liquefy it. J. H. Martin, in Gleanings in 

 Bee-Culture, brings out a point that may be worth consider- 

 ing. There are some who prefer honey in the candied state 

 (possibly their number might be found greater if honej' 

 were always sold in that condition), and those who eat can- 

 died honey by preference eat more of it than they would of 

 the liquid. 



The Age at Which Young Bees Become Field=WorI<ers 



is generally called 16 days, but there is by no means 

 unanimity of opinion on the subject. L. Stachelhausen 

 discusses it in Gleanings in Bee-Culture. He thinks it de- 

 pends upon the condition of the colony. Prof. Menzel 

 found bees commencing to gather pollen when 18 days old ; 

 Berlepsch found in three experiments the first gathering on 

 the 16th day, and a few j'ears later he observed them on the 

 19th day. Doenhoff found the 19th day. Others the 12th 

 and 14th. A. I. Root said about two weeks, but if neces- 

 sary when only S or 6 days old. Neither is there agreement 

 as to the average length of life of workers in the busy sea- 

 son. It is given all the way from 30 to 45 da3's. The age 

 at which larva? are sealed is another disputed point. Men- 

 zel, Cowan and Vogel give it at S days. Greiner, S|i ; 

 Langstroth, 6 ; Root, between the 6th and 7th day. 



ff 





Hon. Eugbne Secor, General Manager of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, has been appointed judge of the 

 apiarian exhibits at the Minnesota State Fair next fall. 

 " Judge " Secor will give entire satisfaction to the Minne- 

 sota bee-keepers. He always does. 



Mr. J. H. Martin says in Gleanings in Bee-Culture 

 that Belgian-hare growing has grown to be a business of 

 importance, the head center of the business being at I/Os 

 Angeles, Calif. A number of bee-keepers have given up 

 bees for hares, and Mr. Martin thinks the two industries 

 might well be combined. 



***** 



Messrs. R. McKnight and J. B. Hall. — The Canadian 

 Bee Journal for February contains this paragraph from the 

 pen of Mr. D. W. Heise, which refers to an incident at the 

 last Ontario convention : 



" Whatever justification there may have been for the 

 unpleasant things that were said about Mr. McKnight's 

 opposition to certain convention proceedings in the past, he 

 truly endeared himself to every bee-keeper's heart when he 

 brought his ' appropriate and inspiring ' motion that J. B. 

 Hall has been the ' life and soul ' of its conventions. And 

 what J. B. Hall has been to the conventions, R. McKnight 

 has been to the Association ; and no one can recognize that 

 fact more forcibly than the members .who were associated 



with the earlier history of the Association. And I feel sure 

 that the present members are not so forgetful, or so void 

 of appreciation of valuable services rendered, but what they 

 will in the near future, in some way reward him for his 

 services." 



***** 



Stenog Approves the " Oi.n Reliable." — He says: 



" Mr. York deserves great praise for the excellence of 

 the mechanical part of his journal. Its freedom from typo- 

 graphical mistakes is quite in keeping with the high moral 

 tone of the journal." 



Coming from the man who is mainly responsible for the 

 fine mechanical appearance of Gleanings in Bee-Culture, 

 such endorsement pays for a good bit of effort. 

 ***** 



Mr. T. F. Bingham — the bee-smoker man — has sent us 

 his new smoker made of brass instead of tin, and with the 

 nozzle hinged on. It is a beauty, tho we believe we would 

 prefer it made of tin in the usual way. We think the brass 

 is not so stiff as the tin, but it will likely not burn out so 

 soon, and will not rust. But if a Bingham smoker made of 

 tin lasts IS years, what more does anybody want ? Surely, 

 anj' bee-keeper would want a new smoker at least two or 

 three times during his life. 



***** 



Mr. Frank McNay, now in Los Angeles Co., Calif., 

 wrote us March 18, as follows : 



Friend York : — There has been only one light rain 

 (about one inch) here since Jan. 3, and bee-keepers have 

 given up hopes of a honey crop from sage, and are moving 

 to the irrigated alfalfa sections, as that is about the only 

 prospect for a honey crop in Southern California this 

 season. 



I expect to return to my Wisconsin apiaries about May 

 1. Frank McNay. 



***** 



The Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association, as an- 

 nounced on another page, will meet in Wellington Hall, 70 

 North Clark St., Chicago, Friday afternoon and evening, 

 April 6, beginning at 1 p.m. (April 6 is the correct date, as 

 the hall was engaged for the day before). Dr. C. C. Miller 

 expects to be here ; Editor E. R. Root writes that he will 

 make an extra effort, and, if nothing interferes, " will be on 

 hand." F. A. Snell says : " I shall aim to be present, if I 

 can do so." J. A. Green wrote : " It is quite possible that I 

 may attend the meeting." F. Wilcox, of Wisconsin, says : 

 " I may be able toget away to your convention." Dr. Mason 

 and Mr. Secor both wrote that they would try to write and 

 send a paper on " What can local bee-keepers' associations 

 do to help the National ?" 



It is expected that there will be a large attendance, par- 

 ticularly from this (Cook) and adjoining counties. No spe- 

 cial individual notices will be sent out by Secretary Moore, 

 as it is thought best to let the announcements in these 

 columns suffice for this time. Let all come who possibly 

 can do so, and help make it the best meeting ever held by 

 the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association. 

 ***** 



Editor Leahy, of the Progressive Bee-Keeper, has 

 more experience than he had six or eight years ago, along 

 the line of publishing bee-papers. We recently announced 

 the " passing away " of the Western Bee-Keeper, and ex- 

 prest our regret that there should be any one so bereft of 

 reason as to think of starting a new bee-paper these days. 

 As a comment on this. Editor Leahy wrote thus in the last 

 number of his paper : 



" Don't do it, friends. It will only use up your surplus 

 money, and you will be glad to get some one to help you let 

 go. The Progressive was run at a loss three years before 

 we assumed control. We ran it at a loss for two or more 

 years ; then two or three years more it barely paid expenses; 

 and now, after ample experience, we are satisfied that the 

 same money and time invested in almost any other legiti- 

 mate business, would pay much better." 



Mr. Leahy, in the same editorial, rather disapproved of 

 our "jumping onto something that is dead" — referring to 

 the Western Bee-Keeper. Wouldn'.t it hurt anything worse 

 to "jump on it" when it is alive, or nearly dead, than to 

 wait until it is past feeling ? Of course, it is often a mercy 

 to help hasten the death of some things, and yet if we had 

 done that, some people would have unjustly accused us of 

 beingjealous of the poor little Western Bee-Keeper. 



