16 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



January 



The Anerican Boe-Keepep, 



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ED] 



ITOKIAL. 



We are iu receipt of a copy of the 

 13th annual report of tlie manager of 

 the National Bee Keepers' Union, 

 which certainly shows the Union to 

 be in a very healthy condition. The 

 appeals for assistance were more 

 numerous during 1897 than in any 

 previous year. The membership is 

 large and constantly increasing. 



Canada is getting to be a hot coun- 

 try for bee keepers; a record breaker 

 in fact. J.B.Hall, the veteran comb- 

 honey man of Woodstock, Out., re- 

 ports having had combs actually 

 melted down in the sections during 

 the past season. 



The question is asked in A, B. J., 

 "What is the largest number of col- 

 onies ever successfully kept in a sin- 

 gle apiary at any one time in any 

 part of the world." C. C. Miller re- 

 plies, "six-hundred have been pro- 

 fitable kept in one apiary. I'm not 

 sure whether more." According to 

 Mr. Osborn, the natives of Cuba keep 

 as high as 2,000 in one yard and 

 make it pay well. 



Is not the expert testimony regard- 

 ing the influence of a honey flow upon 

 the work of drawing out foundation, 

 as presented by Editors Holtermann 

 and Root, liable to perplex the bee 

 keeping student? See editorials in 

 Canadian Bee Journal, March, '97, 

 page 1035, and Gleanings, Sept. I, 

 "97, page 639. Whether bees do a 

 better job of thinning foundation dur- 

 ing a scant or brisk flow of honey, is 

 the question. Editor Holtermann 

 says the former. Editor Root illus- 

 trates an example directly opposite. 



C. F. Muth, in the A. B. J., says: 

 "If the duty were taken off the im- 

 port of foreign Honey, Cuba alone 

 would swamp our countiy, and deal 

 a blow at the most vital parts of api- 

 culture. " It seems almost incredible 

 that the honey product of an island 

 much less in extent than the state of 

 New York, having the other markets 

 of the world and a home population 

 of 2,000,000 to supply, could swamp 

 this nation of 70,000,000 people. If 

 such is the case, the possible acquis- 

 itieu of that island, from the Amer- 

 ican bee keepers' standpoint, is quite 

 a serious matter; vet they seem suf- 



