July 26, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



473 



business, first, because it was necessary that I should have- 

 some m.oney-niaking' business that I could attend to whili- 

 carinf,' for my home and family ; and, second, because 1 

 loved the work, and felt sure that I could do better in it 

 than anything- else that would not require more capital to 

 befcin with. 



In the nine years I have never had a failure. Last year 

 was a short crop. There was a long drouth, and water 

 failed for irrigation. We had not quite 9,000 pounds of both 

 comb and extracted honey from 130 colonies spring count. 



Now, the points that I have proved to myself are these : 



That careful, patient work and management are essen- 

 tial to success. 



That comb and extracted honey can be produced with 

 profit from the same apiary at the same time. 



That the wax and vinegar may be made to pay the cash 

 expenses of such an apiary. 



That with the exercise of a little ingenuity and fore- 

 thought two apiaries of from 150 to 200 colonies of bees can 

 be managed by a woman and a little boy, with but very lit- 

 tle other help except in hive-making or nailing up fixtures. 



That one who makes a business of bee-keeping should 

 take all the best bee-papers, and keep up with the times. 



That the person who depends upon luck generally has 

 bad luck. 



I have proved, in an experience of six years as inspector 

 of bees for this county that the treatment of foul brood can 

 not be made too thoro, and that the best use to make of 

 honey from infected colonies is to burn it or bury it very 

 deeply. 



I have also settled the hive question, for myself at least. 

 The 8-frame dovetailed is my choice. 



Stingless Bees are of several kinds, all small, and too 

 tender for anything but a warm climate. The small amount 

 of honey they produce, and that of poor quality, makes it 

 doubtful that they will ever have commercial value, but the 

 following description of the nest of Melipona iogoerisis, from 

 the British Bee Journal, may be of some interest : 



The nest was in a hollow branch of a tree. It consisted 

 of three parts (1) the nest proper, with the brood-combs ; (2) 

 the pollen and honey-pots; and (3) the entrance-hole and 

 passage. The nest proper was 24 cm. long. In shape and 

 structure it was apparently very similar to an ordinary 

 wasp's nest, for there were twelve horizontal slabs of comb, 

 of which the middle one was the largest, and the cells were 

 constructed on one side only of the comb. The combs were 

 connected to one another by pillar-like supports, the whole 

 being encircled by a paper covering. The material was not, 

 however, the familiar grey " papier mache " of the wasp, 

 but a dark brown kind of wax. The cells were circular or 

 irregularly hexagonal, not regularly hexagonal as in the 

 comb of the honey-bee. 



The honey-pots, which occurred in a separate part of 

 the nest, were egg-shaped, and of a much larger size than 

 the brood-cells. They were used for the storage of honey 

 and pollen. 



Stimulative Feeding is practiced by W. O. Victor, as 

 told in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, not to furnish directly 

 bees for the harvest, but to furnish the bees that may rear 

 the bees for the harvest. So he feeds six or seven weeks in 

 advance of the expected flow. Of course, it must be remem- 

 bered that experience and care is necessary that stimulative 

 feeding may not work the wrong way. 



For Smoker^Fuel cotton waste is highly recommended 

 in Gleanings in Bee-Culture. Not dry cotton, but that 

 which is soakt in oil and is thrown away along railroad 

 tracks after having been used as grease for the wheels. Mr. 

 L. Highbarger, of Ogle Co., 111., is the discoverer of this 

 new smoker-fuel which is said to light easily, makes a good 

 smoke, and lasts well. 



Weed Comb Foundation, according to F. L. Thomp- 

 son, in the Progressive Bee-Keeper, is more brittle than 

 other foundation. Unless made very warm, it crumbles in 

 cutting, thus wasting. A pound of it made full sheets and 

 bottom starters for 118 sections. 



Dr. a. B. Mason, writing us July 14th, reported that 

 he was getting very little surplus honey so far this year. 

 He also refers to a very pleasant visit from Mr. C. P. Da- 

 dant and his daughter who were on their way to Paris. He 

 says: '■ We had a good visit, and we got acquainted with 

 a very nice young lady." 



# * # # * 



Mr. E. E. Hasty— our inimitable " afterthinker "— 

 writing from Lucas Co., Ohio, July 18, says : 



" The season now is largely spent, and not much to 

 show for it in the way of honey ; but in the 20 years I have 

 run this apiary there always has been some surplus (loca- 

 tion rather strong on late flows, and weak on early ones), 

 so I'll just cheerfully hope I'll have some honey yet." 



* « ♦ ♦ ♦ 



Mr. H. D. Cutting, an ex-president of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, expects to be at the Chicago con- 

 vention next month. Mr. Cutting has been partially blind 

 for several years. We can assure him of a hearty welcome 

 and a good time generally. Mr. Cutting had charge of the 

 Michigan apiarian exhibit at the World's Fair, and so was 

 in Chicago several months during 1893. All will be glad to 

 see Mr. Cutting at the annual convention once more. 



Mr. G. M. DooliTTLE, of Onondaga Co., N. Y., wrote 

 us July 17 : 



" There has been positively no honey here since apple- 

 bloom, and I am feeding bees. This makes queen-reanng 

 up hill work. I do not expect to be at the Chicago conven- 

 tion next month." 



Surely, Mr. Doolittle sends a discouraging report. And 

 there will be a big hole in the Chicago convention if he is 



not there. 



» * * * * 



Queen Victoria, as everybody knows, has, for the 

 first"time in 40 years, made a trip over to Ireland. In com- 

 memoration of the event a box of one dozen sections of 

 honey from the four provinces of Ireland was presented to 

 her Majesty. The box containing the honey was specially 

 made of Irish bog oak, by the Abbott Bros., with glass 

 sides, and bore on the lid the letters V. R. in a silver sham- 

 rock pattern. It is a pity there has not been a little more 

 mutual exchange of honey between those two nations dur- 

 ing the last century. By the way, the Queen is just 81 as 

 this is written. Her reign has now extened over a period 

 of 63 years, exceeding by three years that of any other 

 English monarch. Every fourth person in the world is one 

 of her subjects.— Gleanings in Bee-Culture. 

 ♦ ♦ * ♦ * 



The Year Book for 1899 is a cloth-bound volume of 

 880 pages, 6x9 inches, issued by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington, D. C. The law under which the Year 

 Book is publisht says that it shall contain reports of 

 bureaus and divisions of the Department of Agriculture, 

 and such papers by experts, and such statistics and illustra- 

 tions as the Secretary of Agriculture shall believe to be 

 specially suited to interest and instruct the farmers of the 

 country, and include a general report of the work of the 

 department. Also, that there shall be printed 110,000 

 copies for the use of the Senate, 360,000 copies for the use of 

 the House of Representatives, and 30,000 copies for the use 

 of the Department of Agriculture, all for free distribution, 

 postage paid, among the farmers, the only class specially 

 interested. Each intelligent farmer who desires a copy of 

 this very valuable book should write to his Representative 

 in Congress, or to his Senator if he fails with the former. 

 Each Representative has 1,000 books to distribute, and each 

 Senator about 1,200. Send for a copy of it. It is the best 

 "something for nothing " investment for the farmer that 



we know of. 



•^-•-¥- 



The National Convention Next Month — don't forget 

 it. The dates are Aug. 28, 29 and 30. The place— Chicago. 



