408 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 28, 1900. 



PUELISHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE w. York & Company, 



116 Michigan Street, Chicago, III. 



[Entered at the Post-Office at Chicag-o as Second-Class Mail-Matter.] 



DEPARTMENT EDITORS: 



C. C. MILLER, E. E. HASTY, 



" Questions and Answers/' * * '* The Afterthought." 



LEADING CONTRIBUTORS: 



G. M. DooLiTTLE, C. P. Dadant, Prof. A. J. Cook, 



F. A. Snell, 



R. C. AiKiN, 



* Old Grimes.' 



IMPORTANT NOTICES: 



The Subscription Price of this journal is$l.(Ki a year, in the United States, 

 Canada, and Mexico; all other countries in the Postal Union, 50 cents 

 a year extra for postag-e. Sample copy free. 



The Wrapper-Label Date of this paper indicates the end of the month to 

 which your subscription is paid. For instance, ^'DecOO" on your 

 label shows that it is paid lo the end of December, 1900. 



Subscription Receipts.— We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay 

 subscription, but changre the date ou your wrapper-label, which shitws 

 you that the money has been received and duly credited. 



Advertising; Rates will be given upon application. 



VOL. 40. 



JUNE 2S. 1900. 



NO. 20 



Note— Tbe American Bee Journal adopts the Orthof^raphy of the follow- 

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolog'- 

 ical Association and the Philologrical Society of Eng-land: — Change 

 "d" or "ed" final to "t'' when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding' sound. Also some other changes are used. 



The Brosius Pure- Food Bill was before the last ses- 

 sion of Congress, but we learn that no action was taken 

 upon it. However, the friends of the measure in both 

 House and Senate, we understand, are very hopeful of its 

 passage early in the next winter session. All bee-keepers 

 will unite in the hope that it may receive prompt attention 

 when Congress reassembles. 



The Honey Season for 1900 — It seems from the re- 

 ports so far the prospects are not very flattering for a good 

 honey crop this year thruout the country generally. Glean- 

 ings in Bee-Culture for June IS contains these editorial 

 paragraphs referring to this matter: 



Altho it is a little early to make any predictions as 

 to the honey-flow, owing to the lateness of the season, yet 

 present indications would seem to show that the supply of 

 white clover honey will be rather limited this year. Walter 

 S. Pouder, of Indianapolis, who is in close touch with a 

 large area of country, writes, " There is scarcely any white 

 clover in Indiana, Southern Ohio, and Illinois. The out- 

 look is discouraging, and business is growing lighter." 

 Owing to a lack of rains, H. G. Acklin, of St. Paul, wrote 

 us a rather discouraging letter a week or so ago. Since 

 then there have been good rains, but I fear they are too 

 late to do much good unless with basswoods. 



The season in California will be better than was at first 

 expected ; and especially is this true for the northern and 

 central portions of the State. The rains finally came in 

 the southern part, but too late for the amount of good they 

 might have done. 



Black brood has got such a start in certain portions of 



New York that many of the bee-keepers are discouraged ; 

 and even if there is a honey-flow I fear there will be but 

 few bees to gather it. F. A. Salisbury, of Sj'racuse, reports 

 that prospects are not flattering. 



In our vicinity I have seen almost no white clover out, 

 altho there are a good many patches of alsike : but these 

 patches are so limited I fear they will not yield much honey. 



Altho this is the 13th of June, our bees at the home 

 yard are getting but very little honey, and the same is true 

 of the out-yard about two miles north of us. 



While all of this looks very discouraging, yet it must 

 not be forgotten that the season is unusually late, and there 

 is 5'et a chance for a fair honej'-flow, because the greater 

 portion of the country is being visited with frequent and 

 warm rains. These will have a tendenc)' to stimulate 

 clover, resulting possibly in a slow but continuous nectar 

 supply for a considerable length of time. It should also be 

 remembered that it is a little early yet for most places for 

 clover. 



By the way orders have been coming in from Colorado, 

 it would seem that indications, at least for that State, are 

 exceptionall.v good. As the bee-keepers there do not have 

 to depend upon rains, but on irrigation, in all probability 

 they will have another heavy honey-flow ; and I would say 

 to the bee-keepers of that State, do not be in a hurry to sell 

 your honey ; for if there should be little or no honey in the 

 East YOU of Colorado will have things largely your own 

 way. With your splendid organization and fine honey, it is 

 evident that the honey-buyers will have to take the honey 

 at your price. 



If honey will be scarce, those who do get a crop will be 

 able to gauge prices accordingly. In any case, don't sell 

 too low. 



Say What You Mean is a good motto, but one not 

 always easily followed. In one of our exchanges is a para- 

 graph beginning with the statement, "Now is a good time 

 to introduce new queens into your apiary," followed by the 

 direction, " Put a queen on top of a hive which is about to 

 swarm, and leave her -there until after the swarm issues." . 

 Nothing is said as to whether the queen is to be chained on 

 top of the hive, or whether any parasol is to be furnisht her 

 in case the sun should be very hot. Neither is anything 

 said as to what is to be done with the new " hive " that 

 issues when the old " hive " swarms, or whether a swarm 

 from the colonj' may be expected at the same time to keep 

 ^jace with the increase of " hives." 



No, it was not some city scribbler who knows nothing 

 about bees who wrote that sentence. It was a man who i& 

 well informed, an expert in bee-keeping, with fine com- 

 mand of the English language, which language would be 

 well handled probably by him to score unmercifully any 

 one else who should be so careless as to write a sentence 

 like the one quoted; and, withal, a good fellow, who will 

 rather enjoy seeing his little failing in this one instance 

 held up to view. It only goes to show that when it comes 

 to the matter of writing in the English language we are all 

 "poor critters," to which this deponent claimeth not to be 

 an exception. But it is also a warning for us all to be just 

 a little more careful. 



Art vs. Nature in Queen. Rearing. — Mr. G. M. Doolit- 

 tle is something of a stickler for following nature, but no 

 one has done more than he toward success in departing 

 from nature in the rearing of queens. It can hardly appear 

 according to nature to have a row of cells made artificially 

 and strung on a stick, all the occupants of the cells emerg- 

 ing as queens at nearly the same time. According to na- 

 ture, the cells would be scattered about the hive, mostly on 

 the edges of the combs, or on some inequalit)' of the comb, 

 an egg first occupying the cell (instead of a larva as in the 

 artificial plan), the occupants of such varying ages that at 

 the time of the issuing of a prime swarm there will be 

 queen-cells sealed, queen-cells with eggs, and queen-cells at 

 various intermediate stages. Yet, in a certain sense there 

 has been no departing from nature in Mr. Doolittle's plans, 

 and the testimony is that a§ good or better queens are 



