Si&&e&&&&e'&^&&&&^&&&&&^s^^^^&@&&4s>-&&&&&&&&&&e^^&&&&&&&&&^ 



Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 

 Published YVeekly at 91.00 at Tear by Cieorge W^. York &. Co., 3S4 UearboruSt. 



QBORaB W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL,, MARCH 30, 1905. 



VoL XLV.— No, 13. 



(Sbttorial Hotes 

 anb Comments 



J 



The National and Incorporation 



Mb. Editor:— You ask (page 19"), referring to incorporation, 

 " Will the Association take any advantage of the added power and 

 responsibility?" Take the case mentioned, page 197. When repara- 

 tion was desired, and the National was asked, " Are you incorporated!" 

 if it had been incorporated, do you, or don't .you, think the Associa- 

 tion would have taken advantage of its power to say " Yes?" 



C. C. Miller. 



We "don't know." Perhaps it would have done so. But it never 

 did take any advantage of incorporation when it was incorporated, 

 some years ago. Would it do so now, it incorporated? 



Alfalfa In the South 



To those who are used to thinjting of alfalfa as a permanent crop 

 lasting .50 years without re-seeding, it sounds strange to hear the 

 Sugar Planters' Journal say that in the sugar districts alfalfa generally 

 requires re-planting each year, owing to other grasses crowding it out. 

 " But the fact remains," it continues, " that with three to six cuttings 

 annually it pays to sow each year." 



" There are sugar planters who have been planting alfalfa for 

 years," and it would be interesting to know whether these planters 

 have noted that bees have taken any interest in the blossoms. 



Comb Foundation from the RIetsche Press 



A sample of this has been received from Adrian Getaz, the man 

 who makes the presses. It would probably be classed as heavy brood, 

 and it is not likely that foundation suitable for sections could be pro- 

 duced on this press. In Europe, where thousands of Rietsche presses 

 are in use, very little section honey is produced. For some reason the 

 Incipient cell-walls are much more distinct on one side than the other. 

 The foundation has a soft feeling, like that formerly produced on the 

 Given press, and would no doubt be very promptly accepted by the 

 bees. Those who care to make their own brood foundation could at 

 least make the experiment at a very small outlay. 



Freezing Worse In Cellar than Outdoors for Bees 



In a locality where the temperature never goes lower than 10 or 12 

 degrees above zero, one would never think of putting bees in a cellar, 

 yet in colder localities a cellar would be considered unfit to winter bees 

 if it should ever go as low as that, or even within 20 degrees of it. If 

 It be so very bad in a cellar, why not just as bad outdoors? After dis- 

 cussing the question quite fully in the American Bee-Keeper, Frank 

 W. Proctor says : 



To sum up : A fall of temperature to the freezing point leaves 

 the outdoor bees much more comfortable and better able to maintain 

 their normal temperature than those in the cellar because (1) the air 

 in the outdoor hives is much drier, and (2) because the bees outside 

 have occasional opportunities for evacuating the waste arising from 

 any excess of food they may have to consume during cold spells. 



Bee-Culture in the Department of Agriculture 



Through the kindness of Mr. Frank Benton, in charge of Apicul- 

 ture in the United States Department of Agriculture, we have re- 

 ceived a copy of the Report of the Entomologist, Mr. L. O. Howard, 

 for 1904. In it we find the following referring to the 



WORK IN BEE-CULTURE. 



A great increase in correspondence on all topics relating to apicul- 

 ture so far occupied the time of the single investigator in this line that 

 original investigations had to be limited. This correspondence cov- 

 ered nearly every phase of the subject, and came from all parts of the 

 country, indicating a very general increase in the interest in this 

 branch, and often required special letters of some length to elucidate 

 the information needed. Frequent assistance was rendered teachers 

 connected with the public schools and normal institutes where the 

 natural history of the honey-bee, and in some instances elementary 

 instruction in the general methods of bee-management, formed a part 

 of the course. Advice was also given in some instances to agricul- 

 tural colleges contemplating the institution of special courses in api- 

 culture. 



A small number of choice queens of the Cyprio-Carniolan cross, 

 which has proven such an excellent one for the arid regions of the 

 South and West, were sent out. The extremely dry season in South- 

 ern California has given a severe test of the remarkable energy shown 

 in honey-collecting by all crosses containing Cyprian blood; and 

 while it has been necessary in many apiaries, in order to prevent star- 

 vation of the colonies, to feed a large proportion of the Italians and 

 hybrids which are chiefly kept in that part of the country, reports 

 have been sent in showing that 30 to 40 pounds of honey per colony 

 have been found in the same apiaries in hives whose queens were 

 largely of Cyprian blood. 



The comparative test between the Caucasians and other types of 

 bees, including Cyprians, Carniolans, Italians, and various crosses be- 

 tween these types themselves, and also with accidental matings with 

 black drones, has been continued. The conclusion was reached that 

 the Caucasian race was by far the gentlest honey-bee that has ever 

 been brought to this country. Every manipulation necessary in the 

 apiary can be performed with Caucasian colonies with the use of the 

 bee-veil, and only in rare instances has it been necessary to apply 

 smoke to control them. Very small quantities were then employed. 

 Under nearly all circumstances it would almost be believed by all ob- 

 servers that these bees were stingless. The test regarding their honey- 

 producing qualities has not been as conclusive, since the past year 

 was, in general, a poor one in this region. However, in so far as the 

 comparison extended, it was found that they held their own in honey- 

 gathering by the side of the Carniolan race, although not equaling in 

 this respect the Cyprian crosses mentioned above. 



The revival in various newspapers of stories relating to the manu- 

 facture and marketing of comb honey has called for repeated denials 

 and a plain statement of the absurdity of the whole matter, as well as 

 the great injury it was working to the apiarian industry of the coun- 

 try. The newspapers and other publications which had inadvertently 

 been led to publish these inaccuracies have nearly always been very 

 ready, upon a proper presentation of the ease, to insert a correction. 

 Particular attention has been drawn to the fact that it would cost far 

 more, by any process whatever, to produce a wax, or imitation-wax 

 comb, fill it with honey, or any mixture designed to resemble honey, 

 and then seal it over ready for the market, than it would to maintain 

 and care for an apiary of the required number of colonies to produce 

 through the agency of the bees themselves the same quantity of nat- 

 ural honey. This shows at once the absurdity of the claim that the 

 greater part, or any part, of the comb honey on the market is an 

 artificially manufactured product. This showing has also been fol- 

 lowed by a statement of the fact that a reputable firm has for 20 years 

 oflered to forfeit SIOOO to any person who could produce artificially an 

 imitation of comb honey which would deceive any person when com- 

 pared with combs that are filled and sealed by the bees themselves. 



Early in the fiscal year tjie apicultural investigator tisited the arid 

 regions of the Southwest, making an extended inspection of apiaries 

 over the whole of Southern California, and further investigations in 

 the central and northern parts of the State, with a somewhat cursory 

 view of the conditions of the industry in Oregon, Washington, and 



