April 6, 1905. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



261 



^ 



Znisccllmteous 

 Hcips •:♦ 3 terns 



J 



Honey Ointment for Sores. — Honey and flour mixed to the 

 extent of half the quantity of honey with water is stirred into a stiff 

 naase. Linseed oil and the yolk of an egg to be added in order to give 

 the same u tenacious tendency. Quite simple; try it. — Rural Califor- 

 nian. 



Truly Wonderful. — The following interview was recently sent 

 us by C. G. Schevalier, of Maryland, having been clipped from the 

 tunny column of the Philadelphia Press : 



WONDERFUL. 



Mr. Kidder — Tes, this is artificial honey. 



Mrs. Kidder— You don't say \ 



Mr. Kidder — Yes; gathered from artificial flowers by artificialbees. 



Mrs. Kidder— The idea ! 



Country Life in America is perhaps the most beautifully 

 illustrated monthly publication in the United States. The April issue 

 contains an article on bee-culture by Anna B. Comstook, of New York 

 State. The price of "Country Life in America " is $3.00 per year, or 

 25 cents per issue, postpaid. On receipt of this latter amount its pub- 

 Ushers, Doubleday, Page & Co., either at their New York City or Chi- 

 cago address, will mail a copy of the April issue. The Chicago ofBce 

 is Room 345 Marquette Building. 



Bee-Keeping in Wisconsin. — Pres. N. E. France, of the 

 Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association, wrote us as follows March 11; 



Yesterday I got the Wisconsin State Fair premium list changed, 

 adding $100. It is now as follows: 



lat. 21. 31. 



Italian bees, single-comb nucleus $8 $ 5 $? 



Carniolan bees, single-comb nucleus 8 5 3 



White comb honey, 10 pounds 10 6 4 



White extracted honey, 10 pounds 10 6 4 



Amber comb honey, 10 pounds , S 5 3 



Amber extracted honey, 10 pounds 8 5 3 



Dark comb honey, 10 pounds 7 3 2 



Dark extracted honey, 10 pounds 7 3 3 



Most attractive comb honey exhibit 15 12 8 



Most attractive extracted honey exhibit 15 12 8 



Yellow beeswax, 10 pounds 3 2 1 



Premiums are offered for Wisconsin products only. Now is the 

 time for Wisconsin bee-keepers to begin to get ready for the State 

 Fair. I am to be an exhibitor, but not for any premiums. 



Also, yesterday, I got the new Wisconsin Food Law on honey 

 so changed as to protect the beekeeper better against adulterated 

 honey. Bees in Wisconsin are reported as wintering well, and clover 

 looking good. N. E. France. 



Missouri's Apiary Bill Vetoed by Got. Folk. — As an- 

 nounced last week. Gov. Folk vetoed the Apiary Bill passed by both 

 branches of the Missouri Legislature. In doing so, Mr. Folk " got 

 off ■' the following: 



To the Secretary of iState — 



Sir : — I have the honor herewith to transmit to you, without my 

 approval, Senjte Bill No. 268, entitled, " An Act to provide for the 

 appointment of a State Inspector of Apiaries, and to regulate the 

 duties thereof, providing a penalty for disposing of diseased honey or 

 bees," which reached me within the ten days next before the adjourn- 

 ment of the General Assembly. 



This Act provides for the appointment of a Bee-Inspector to look 

 after the apiaries of the State. On the first examination, if he thinks 

 the bees are diseased, he is to give the person in charge instructions 

 as to the manner of treating them. Provision is also made for a sec- 

 ond examination, and the Inspector may then, if he sees fit, physio the 

 bees himself, or if he thinks best he may destroy them. 



This measure illustrates the fallacious idea that the Government 

 can do more for the individual than the individual can do for himself. 

 Any one intelligent enough to conduct a bee-industry is certainly bet- 

 ter qualified to attend to them and manage his own business than any 

 State Inspector could possibly be. 



There is no magic in a State inspectorship of bees, or anything 

 else to cure the ills that may exist. It is said this measure is asked for 

 by the honey-raisers to suppress contagious diseases among bees. But 

 they can, by meeting together and exchanging ideas, do for them- 

 selves what the State can not do through this Bill. If all together 

 they are unable to cope with the situation, how can one of them, 

 named as Inspector, do better? 



The principle of the measure is paternalistic, and not in accord 

 with the democratic theory of government. The Inspector is author- 



ized to go to any one's home, and if he should not like the way the 

 bee-hives are conducted, he could for some real or imaginary disease 

 annihilate the whole brood, leaving th^ owner without remedy, but 

 for all of which the Inspector would receive ?4 a day. 



Any Inspector appointed would be only a man, with defects just 

 like other men. He could not have superhuman knowledge of bees 

 or of the bee-business, and could not be expected to accomplish more 

 than the individual bee-keeper could for himself. 



My opinion is, this question would best be left to the owners of 

 bees, and to the bees themselves, who have repeatedly demonstrated 

 their qualities of self-reliance. Respectfully, 



Joseph W. Folk, Governor. 



By the same lines of argument Mr. Folk would veto a Bill provid- 

 ing for health officers in cities, for it people generally were not '• intel- 

 ligent enough " to keep themselves and their children well, and free 

 from contagious diseases, why, it would be ridiculous to call in a 

 health officer ! 



Besides, other States having equally intelligent and sane men as 

 governors are approving such wholesome and just legislation. Surely, 

 Mr. Folk, did he rightly understand the Missouri Apiary Bill, would 

 not have vetoed it. It was a needed and just measure, and should 

 have been approved by Gov. Folk. 



But Messrs. Abbott, Holekamp, Stewart, and others of the hus- 

 tling Missouri bee-keepers will now have a chance both to enlighten 

 and sweeten their mistaken Governor. 



-V (Eontrtbutcb •<- 

 Special dvticUs 



=\ 



Wintering Nuclei in Observatory Hives 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



JUST when I begin to think complacently that there's 

 some one thing about which I know pretty nearly for 

 certain, along comes some one to give me a rude jolt by 

 showing that I don't know, after all. This time it's a Con- 

 necticut Yankee, although there's nothing rude in his man- 

 ner of giving the jolt. I supposed it was hardly a practica- 

 ble thing to winter successfully a one-frame nucleus in an 

 observatory hive, although a good many have tried it. 

 Well, Allen Latham feels pretty sure it can be done, and for 

 the very good reason that he has done it. 



After reading what I said on page 183, he wrote me a 

 letter which, although not intended for publication, con- 

 tains so much information that I must ask his pardon for 

 giving others the benefit of at least a part of it. That part 

 follows : 



My Dear Dr. Miller:— I still think that you misunderstand the 

 intention of " New Jersey," and though I would not make any rejoin- 

 der through the columns of the American Bee Journal, I think that I 

 will write to you that I may make my own position plainer. 



I surely think that the questioner wished to find out a good way 

 to feed an observatory-hive colony during the active months, and I 

 surely thought, when I first read the question, that " late summer " 

 meant the last of August or early in September. 



It would be no idle boast for me to lay claim to knowing some- 

 ing about the care of an observatory hive, for I have kept bees in one 

 continuously since May, 1902, and now have 5 full colonies which are 

 direct descendants from that colony. Of its own swarms one came 

 out May 11 and the other May 21, the following year. 



I had studied bees many years, and tried without success to winter 

 them in single-comb glass-hives till the winter of 1902-3, when I par- 

 tially solved the problem. My two observatory hives this winter attest 

 that I have completely solved the probi' m. 



One of the secrets of success in this venture is in causing the little 

 colony to breed late in the fall— till Oct. 20, if possible. This is done 

 by feeding and nursing till the weather makes it unwise to go farther. 

 In this way the colony is composed of young bees which will stand the 

 unusual test to which these bees are to be subjected. If this is not 

 done, and only old bees, bees hatched, that is, emerged, in August and 

 early September, make up the colony, the colony will suffer unless the 

 spring is early and abounding in days when Ijeescan gather pollen. 



The limited comb-space prevents the storing of much pollen in the 

 fall, and the small colony must depend iu spring upon new pollen for 

 its first young bees. If deprived of this the old bees, rapidly dying oft, 

 leave the hive almost deserted. 



If the winter is severe only the strong bees will survive even into 

 March. 



Knowing these facts concerning the observatory hive, I realized 



that " New Jersey," and others who might supply a hive with a comb 



I of honey earlier than late in September or early October, would prol>- 



I ably commit a fatal error. If this comb of honey has a patch of sealed 



