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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 16, 1905. 



A Bee-Keepers' Paradise. 



The paradises for bee-keepers that we sometimes read about and 

 sigh for will probably turn out generallj', upon close acquaintance, to 

 i>e no more paradisaical, all things considered, than the places we are 

 already occupying. Arthur Laing, in Canadian Bee Journal, besides 

 the mention of scorpions, centipedes, frogs, land crabs and fleas, 

 which one of the paradises enjoys, has this to say : 



Jamaica has been described as a " bee-keepers' paradise ", but I 

 am becoming more and more satisfied every day that we have in 

 Canada a better chance for success as bee-keepers than we would have 

 in Jamaica. I do not believe that the annual average yield would be 

 over 100 pounds per colony ; in fact, was told to-day by a gentleman 

 who has 400 colonies of bees, that his best average in any year had 

 been 84 pounds per colony, and last year, after the hurricane, he aver- 

 aged only 42 pounds, and this honey, mind you, will not bring more 

 than from 2}4 to 3 cents per pound above the cost of package, and out 

 ■of this the expenses of the apiary must be paid, so that the apiarist 

 here must keep at least three times as many bees as our Canadian 

 apiarist in order to make the same money. Then just think of three 

 times the number of hives, barrels, extractors, honej'-knives, smokers, 

 etc., that have to be bought, and the extra help that must be paid for. 

 Lumber for hives costs from $50 to §60 per 1000 feet. 



Money can undoubtedly be made here by bee-keeping, but, in all 

 sincerity, I say again, we Canadian bee-keepers have a better oppor- 

 tunity in Canada than we would have in Jamaica. 



Money Definitions by the Qovernment. 



Circular No. 13, by the United States Secretary of Agriculture, 

 entitled "Standards of Purity for Food Products", has been received. 

 Especially interesting to bee-keepers are the following definitions that 

 may be considered authoritative, though not beyond the possibility of 

 modification in the future: 



1. Honey is the nectar and saccharine exudations of plants gath- 

 .ered, modified, and stored in the comb by honey-bees {Apis melUflca). 

 It is lajvo-rotatory, contains not more than twenty-five (25) percent of 

 -water, not more than twenty-five hundredths (0.25) percent of ash, 

 and not more than eight (8) percent of sucrose. 



2. Comb hmiey is honey contained in the cells of comb. 



3. Extracted hoyiey is honey which has been separated from the 

 Tincrushed comb by centrifugal force or gravity. 



4. I'Strained fioney is honey removed from the crushed comb by 

 straining or other means. 



It is perhaps a matter of regret that in the list of vinegars, honey- 

 vinegar is not included. 



.Shaken Swarms in 1865 and 1880. 



On page 19 we called attention to the fact that Mr. Geo. W. House, 

 of New York State, described his method of shaken swarms in 1880, in 

 the Bee-Keepers' Magazine, published at that time. Mr. Geo. M. 

 Sowarby, of the same State, now requests us to republish Mr. House's 

 method, which request we comply with. It is as follows: 



As soon as a swarm has made preparations for swarming by hav- 

 ing eggs deposited in the queen-cells, we proceed as follows: Remove 

 the old colony a few feet one side, and on the old location place a new 

 hive (either empty or the frames filled with foundation), put a small 

 block between the lower front edge of the hive and the bottom-board 

 (to give the bees an easy access to the hive), and place a wide board in 

 front of the new hive, with one edge resting against the bottom-board 

 while the other edge rests upon the ground, so the bees may run up 

 and into the hive. 



We now open the old hive and draw a frame a little one side from 

 the center of the hive, and after looking the comb carefully over to 

 ascertain if the queen is thereon, we turn to the new hive, and. by a 

 little sudden jerk, we shake nearly all the adhering bees on the board 

 in front, and they readily enter their new house. 



Setting this frame in the shade of a near hive (that we may have 

 easy access to the frames to work), we return to the old hive, and 

 ■draw the next frame towards the center, looking for the queen and 

 shaking the bees in front of the new hive, as we did with the preced- 

 ing frame. Replace this frame in its original place, and proceed as 

 with the preceding frame, until you have two-thirds of the bees from 

 the old colony into the new hive. As soon as you find the queen, 

 take her from the comb and place her at the entrance of the new hive 

 and let her run in with the bees. Now close the old hive and contract 

 the entrance, and remove it to a new location. 



By this time you may remove the wide board in front of new hive, 

 so that the old location will not be disfigured, and the working bees 

 will lose no time in entering the new hive. 



The next day give the old swarm a queen-cell that will hatch 

 within 48 hours, and the work is done. 



A laying queen may be introduced instead of a cell if desired. The 

 first few swarms will furnish us with queen-cells of the most perfect 

 type. But we generally make a few swarms about ten days before we 

 wish to use the cells, and claim there is no difference in queens reared 

 from larvae from two to four days old and those reared by the queen 

 depositing the egg in the cell. This is during the swarming season. 



The day is not far distant when the apiarist that can manage the 

 most bees, in the same length of time (all conditions equal), will be 

 considered the most skillful and the most successful. In artificial 

 swarming on the above plan, you will notice we secure our new 

 swarms at least a week sooner than we would by allowing them to 



swarm naturally, and in the old hive we have a laying queen at least 

 five days earlier than we would by allowing them to hatch their own 

 queen— two very great items during the honey season. Swarms hav- 

 ing extra qualities we allow to rear their own queen-cells, that we 

 may use them in other hives, thus improving the qualities of our bees. 



After a few days I claim there is no one that can discover the dif- 

 ference between such a swarm and one that swarms naturally. We 

 have practiced this mode of swarming for the past 15 years, and are 

 satisfied there is no plan that surpasses it, where you wish to have one 

 new swarm for each old one. Geo. W. House. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y., April 12, 1880. 



inisceUoneous 

 Views > 3 terns 



=\ 



J 



Mr. Eugene Secor so often becomes delightfully rhythmical 

 that bee-keepers are seldom surprised at his poetic productions. They 

 are always so good. Here is one of his latest : 

 Pnssy Willows. 



By the brook that skirts the pasture 



Pussy willows scent the breeze 

 Long before the sleepy linden 



Wakes to tempt the honey-bees. 

 April woods are bare and brown, 



But the willows— pussy willows — 



Shake their dainty, fluffy pillows, 

 Soft as beds of eider-down. 



All the wealth of love and service 



Are not lavished on the great. 

 In the scales of the Eternal 



They are least who lag and wait. 

 Bare and brown the giant trees. 



But the willows — pussy willows — 



Early shake their golden pillows. 

 Serving hungry honey-bees. 



Winnebago Co., Iowa. 



EuQENE Secob. 



On the Death of Geo. W. Brodbeck.— We have received 

 the following resolutions, which were passed by the stockholders of the 

 California National Honey-Producers' Association at their regular 

 annual meeting, Feb. 15, 1905: 



Whereas, it has pleased the Great Ruler of the universe to re- 

 move from our midst our esteemed president and brother bee-keeper, 

 Geo. W. Brodbeck ; therefore, be it 



Ifesohml, That we sincerely mourn our loss, and will long cherish 

 his name and remember his many kind deeds and persistent endeavors 

 in behalf of ourselves and the bee-keepers at large. We hereby ten- 

 der our sincere sympathy to the bereaved. May the softening influence 

 of time remove the grief, and simply leave happy thoughts of his 

 kindly life. 



liemlued. That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Mrs. Brod- 

 beck, and to the press for publication. 



Geo. L. Emerson, 1 

 T.O.Andrews, \- Committee. 

 G. F. Merriam, \ 



Not a "Fellow ".—Mr. E. Brubaker, of Philadelphia Co., Pa., 

 has sent us the following stanza, taken from a Philadelphia newspaper : 



The roving bee is often called 



A bold, bad robber fellow; 

 But for the sweets from honey-bloom, 



He pays in gold-dust yellow. 



— Cora Lapham Hazard. 



That's all right, except that the 

 ally not a " fellow ". 



'• roving bee " referred to is usu- 



Utah and Other Apiarian Exhibits at St. Louis. — On the 



first page we present a picture of the Utah apiarian exhibit at the 

 World's Fair held in St. Louis last year. Some weeks ago we pre- 

 sented a picture and brief description of the Colorado apiarian ex- 

 hibit. Mr. E. S. Lovesy, of Utah, sends us the following concerning 

 the Utah display : 



We sent nearly 4 tons of alfalfa, sweet clover, and some white 

 clover honey for the Utah exhibit at the World's Fair at St. Louis. It 

 consisted of 300 pounds of comb honey and about 3J.i tons of ex- 

 tracted, collected from 12 counties and about 30 different localities of 

 the State. There were about 2 toos of beautiful white alfalfa honey 

 put up in large glass jars, some of them holding about 100 pounds 

 each. This is too large a package to put on exhibition. Had the con- 

 tents of one of those jars been put up in 1 or 3 pound jars it would 

 have shown up clear and water-white. The light amber was put up in 

 smaller jars, with the result that it looked whiter than the best white 



