644 



AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL, 



Oct. 11, 1900. 



the most rapid way. it is not the safest way in all cases, for 

 if the amount to be cleaned up is not sufficiently large for 

 the number of bees, the sections and the extracting-combs 

 that are not tough thru age will be badly torn. For the 

 beginner at least, the safer way is to use the Dr. Miller 

 plan, and allow access to the combs by means of an en- 

 trance large enough to admit only one bee at a time. 



It will be still better if you can induce the bees to clean 

 out the combs by placing them over strong colonies and 

 allowing only a small passage between the lower and upper 

 stories. But in some cases the bees will not do this. 



The Illinois State Fair was held Sept. 24th to 29th, in- 

 clusive. The exhibits of bees and honey were excellent. 

 but confined to a very few exhibitors. Mr. F. Grabbe, of 

 Ivake Co., III., was judge of the apiarian exhibits. The fol- 

 lowing is a list of the awards and winners of them, kindly 

 furnisht by Mr. Jas. A. Stone, secretary of the Illinois Bee- 

 Keepers' Association : 



Displa)' of comb honev — 1st premium, Jas. A. Stone i-^ 

 Son, $20; 2d, Chas. Becker, $15; 3d, J. Q. Smith, $10. 



Collection of labeled cases of white honey — 1st, J. Q. 

 Smith, $8 ; 2d, Chas. Becker. $5 ; 3d, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $3. 



Collection of labeled cases of amber or dark honey — 1st, 

 J. O. Smith, 88 ; 2d. Chas. Becker, $5. 



Case of white clover comb honey — 1st, J. Q. Smith, $4 ; 

 2d, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $3 ; 3d, Chas Becker, $2. 



Case of sweet clover honey — 1st, J. O. Smith, $4 ; 2d, 

 Chas. Becker, $3 ; 3d, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $2. 



Case of basswood comb honey — 1st, Chas. Becker, $4 ; 

 2d, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $3 ; 3d, J. O. Smith, $2. 



Case of amber comb honey — 1st, Chas. Becker, $4 ; 2d, 

 J. O. Smith, S3 ; 3d, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $2. 



Display of extracted honey — 1st, Chas. Becker, $20 ; 2d. 

 J. Q. Smith, $15 ; 3d, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $10. 



Displaj' of honey extracted on the grounds — 1st, Chas. 

 Becker, $5; 2d, J. Q. Smith, $3. 



Frame of comb honey for extracting — J. f). Smith re- 

 ceived all three premiums — 1st, $5 : 2d, $3 ; 3d, $2. 



Display of candied honey— 1st, J. O. Smith, $20 ; 2d, 

 Chas. Becker, $15 ; 3d, Jas. A. Stone .S: Son, $10. 



Display of beeswax — 1st, Jas. A. Stone & Son, $15 ; 2d, 

 J. Q. Smith, $10 ; 3d, Chas. Becker, $5. 



One-frame observation hive of dark Italian bees — 1st, 

 Chas. Becker, $4. 



One frame of Golden Italian bees — 1st and 2d, J. 'J. 

 Smith, $4 and $3 ; 3d, Chas. Becker, $2. 



One-frame observation hive of Carniolan bees — 1st, 

 Chas. Becker, $4. 



Honey-vinegar — 1st, Jas. A. Stone .t Son, $4 ; 2d, Chas. 

 Becker, S3. 



Display of novelties in honey — 1st, J. <J. Smith, $12 : 

 2d, Chas. Becker, $8. 



Non-Swarmers Good Harvesters. — A Stray Straw in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture says: 



Formerly I thought that a colony that did not swarm 

 stored more than others simply because of not swarming. 

 I am gradually settling into the belief that, when you find 

 a colony not given to swarming, you find unusually good 

 harvesters, and viit' versa. 



Expresses His Thanks— Untested Queens.— The fol- 

 lowing letter from Dr. Miller needs no explanation from us : 



Mr. Editok : — I wish you would express my hearty 

 thanks to the many that have sent words of appreciation of 

 the premium queens .sent out. But that my time is so fully 

 occupied, it would have been a pleasure for me to have writ- 

 ten a personal word to each. 



It has been a matter of surprise that a few have had 

 erroneous views as to what constitutes an untested queen. 

 They seem to have thought that it was one which would 

 without fail be properly received by the colony to which it 

 was introduced, and would do good work at laying after 

 being thus introduced. Instead of that, all that is to be 

 demanded of one who sends out an untested queen is that 

 she shall be the daughter of certain stock, and that she 

 shall lay before being sent out. The responsibility of the 

 sender ends with that, unless he specially agrees to replace 



any queen that arrives dead. Every one of the premium 

 queens sent out was the progeny of stock that had an extra 

 record for honey-production, and every one of them did 

 good work at laying before being sent out. There will be 

 some losses in introduction, and occasional cases in which 

 queens do poor laying after being thru the mail, but the 

 receiver takes the risk of that. 



One subscriber mailed me a queen, with the desire that 

 I replace it, saying it did not lay. Even if it had been the 

 right thing to replace any that did not lay, I could hardly 

 be askt to replace that queen, for the queen he sent to me 

 was not the one I sent to him, having entire wings, where- 

 as the one I sent him was dipt. I have no doubt he was hon- 

 est ill supposing he had returned the queen I sent him, as 

 he says he killed the queen in the hive before the introduc- 

 tion, but it is by no means a rare thing for a virgin queen 

 to turn up in a hive where she is not suspected. 



As I said some time ago, there will no doubt be among 

 the premium queens some that are not up to the mark, but 

 the, great majority of them will, I think, give a good ac- 

 count of themselves. C. C. Mii.ler. 



Foreign Apiarian Views.— The views and practices of 

 bee-keepers in other countries differ so much from those of 

 this country that one is at a loss to account for it. In Eng- 

 land, as well as in some other countries, the black bee is by 

 a great many preferred to the Italian, whereas in this 

 country the Italian is almost universally preferred. 



In this country the number of bee-keepers who make 

 their own comb foundation is very small, and nearly all the 

 foundation is made on cylinder machines, while in Germany 

 thousands of foundation presses are owned and operated by 

 bee-keepers. 



In this country a brood-comb ten years old is considered 

 better than one freshly drawn out, while across the water a 

 ten-year-old comb is considered objectionable. H. Stassart, 

 a writer in the French journal, I'Abeille et sa Culture, ad- 

 vises that each year at least two of the old combs in a 

 brood-nest be replaced by frames of foundation. It would 

 be hard to get many bee-keepers in this country to do that 

 if the frames of foundation were furnisht free. 



The same writer says it is essential that every colony 

 that has not swarmed shall have its queen renewed at least 

 once in three years. In this country it is generally pre- 

 ferred to leave the matter to the bees, and it is probably 

 rare that the bees will continue a queen longer than the 

 three-year limit. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The fore part was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample 

 free ; 25 copies for 30 cents ; SO for 50 cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents ; 250 for $2.00 ; 500 for $3.50. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 



the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 



Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 



thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 



Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 



furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 



for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 



sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 



Bee Journal at $1.00. ' 



■*-*-*' 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full year m advance, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it. 



