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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 29, 1905 



ter directly on full combs of select honey, I 

 suppose they have every chance. Where the 

 full colony may become separated, these little 

 clusters are closely confined in a given space. 



I have not found it necessary even to cellar 

 them. I, of course, provide shelter from the 

 wind and the storm, either by placing the 

 boxes inside a standard hive-body with a tight 

 roof (four to a hive) and a flight-hole on each 

 side, or inside a shed or small house, with 

 flight-holes bored through the boarding. 



In making up these wintering boxes I take 

 up two or three cupfuls of young bees, as ex- 

 plained in luy book, " Baby Nuclei," and just 

 before winter actually arrives I give each box 

 two fat combs of good honey ; do this on a 

 warm day to give the bees chance to settle as 

 they like upon the combs. Do not disturb 

 them again until spring, when they should be 

 examined and supplied with more honey if 

 needed, by changing the comb containing the 

 least brood for one of honey. 



To prevent any possibility of the queens 

 wandering away from the cluster, place a 

 piece of queen-excluding metal over the 

 flight-hole on the inside. A Ji-inch flight- 

 hole is none too large for wintering queens in 

 Swarthmore mating-boxes. 



Precaution In Handling Bees 



Dr. J. D. Reynolds, of Cobb Co., Ga., sends 

 us the following clipping taken from the 

 Atlanta Constitution : 



Charlotte, N. C, May 25.— (Special.) — 

 Mrs. Mattie Beard, a prominent lady of this 



county, was seriously if not fatally stung by 

 honey-bees to-day. Mrs. Beard, while attempt- 

 ing to save her cow from the bees, was stung 

 50 times on the face and neck. Her condition 

 has been critical since 10 o'clock this morn- 

 ing, the attending physician holding out little 

 hope for her recovery. 



Dr. Reynold says, referring to the above, 

 "though not very encouraging to the would- 

 be bee-keeper, it might lead to more precau- 

 tion in handling these irascible little insects." 



There are some beekeepers who do not 

 approve publishing such items, but we fail to 

 see the unwisdom of it. Surely, such items 

 should be a warning not to go among bees 

 without a good face and head protection. To 

 do otherwise is dangerous, to say the least. 

 But why run any risk when a good bee-veil 

 can be bought for 50 cents? 



Some bee-keepers seem to pride themselves 

 on being able to handle bees without head 

 protection. We think it is a false pride, and 

 some day they may rue their presumption. It 

 is better to be on the safe side always. Of 

 course there may be emergencies that arise 

 where a bee-keeper is away from home, and 

 no veil at hand ; in that case we would not 

 take the risk — would prefer to let the cow take 

 the stings. 



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Itltscellaneous Hetps 3tcm5 



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Mr. K. A. Holekanip, of St. Louis, Mo., 

 we notice by the printed letter-heads of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association, has been 

 selected as a director in place of Mr. W. F. 

 Marks, who recently resigned. 



I $3 per day while in active service. This in 

 spector is authorized to inspect all apiaries 

 and take steps to eradicate diseases to which 

 bees are subject." 



Washingtonians are to be commended for 

 their alertness and pushing qualities. 



The State of Wastiington bee-keepers 

 have succeeded in having passed at the last 

 session of their Legislature a foul brood law. 

 In substance it is similar to the New York 

 law. " Among other things it provides that 

 on petition of 10 apiarists in any countythe 

 Board of County Commissioners shall appoint 

 an inspector of apiaries, whose pay shall be 



The San Antonio National Conven- 

 tion. — Secretary Hutchinson sends us the 

 following notice for publication : 



The International Fair holds its annual ex- 

 hibition in San Antonio, Tex., Oct. 21 to Nov. 

 1. When this Fair is in progress there are 

 very low rates in force on the railroads out 



for 600 or 700 miles. Then there are harvest 

 excursions from the North on the 2d and 4th 

 Tuesdays of the month. The 4th Tuesday in 

 October comes on the 24th. Considering these 

 facts, it has been decided to select Saturday, 

 Oct. 28, as bee-keepers' day at the Fair. This 

 will give ample time for members from the 

 North to reach the city by starting the 24th. 

 The regular sessions of the convention will 

 begin Monday, Oct. 30, and continue three 

 ilays. 



The Fair Association has designated Satur- 

 day, Oct. 38, as bee-keepers' day, and will so 

 advertise it, and especial pains will be taken 

 to have on exhibition hives, honey, wax, bees, 

 and other apiarian products. At this fair will 

 be on exhibition all of the agricultural and 

 other products of the South and Mexico, and 

 a visit to it will really be worth all the trip 

 will cost to give one an idea of the South and 

 her products. 



Then the Texas members propose to give a 

 genuine Mexican supper, which will be free 

 to all outside members. There will be a 

 Mexican band and toast-making — in short, it 

 might be called a banquet. On Sunday the 

 members can attend church or go on a trolley 

 ride around the city. Side-trips to IJvalde 

 and other places are planned for all who wish 

 to see the country after the convention is 

 over, bee-keepers at the various honey centers 

 having promised to take bee-keepers around 

 free of charge. Texas is one of the greatest, 

 if not the greatest, of honey-producing States 

 in the Union, and bee-keepers will now have 

 an opportunity to see her wonderful resources, 

 enjoy the hospitalities of her people, and 

 proflt by meeting in convention, all a( a very 

 small cost. 



The headquarters of the National Associa- 

 tion will be at the Bexar Hotel (pronounced 

 Baer, long sound of a) , corner of Houston 

 and .Jefferson Sts., and rates are only $1,00 a 

 day, and up. The convention will be held at 

 Elks' Hall, 135 W. Commerce St., only two 

 blocks from the Bexar Hotel. 



Everything is now all arranged except the 

 program, and 1 wish that every one would 

 write and make suggestions in regard to 

 topics and men to discuss them. If you have 

 no special topic that you wish put into the 

 program, you must surely have some ques- 

 tion that you would like brought before the 

 convention. Pour in the suggestions and 

 queries, and let me get up one of the best 

 programs that we have ever had. 



Flint, Mich. W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Mr. E. A. 3Iorgan, who conducts the 

 Apiary Department of The Farmer, published 

 in St. Paul, Minn., speaks very highly of The 

 Honey-Producers' League and its objects in 

 the issue of that paper for June 15. 



-V (£ontrtbutcb -f 

 Special dvticks 



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Putting Weak Colonies Over Strong Ones 



BY EDWIN BEVINS 



OWING to the success reported by Mr. Alexander and 

 some others, iti getting weak colonies in spring strength- 

 ened by placing them over strong ones with queen-ex- 

 cluders between, I tried it witli two colonies this spring. In 

 one instance there was no fighting; in the other there was 

 some. Ten days after the unions were made there were no 

 queens in the upper stories. 1 took away the zinc and let the 

 queens of the strong colonies have the range of both stories 

 until June 2, when I took off the upper stories and put supers 

 on the lower ones. The colonies were very strong at that 

 time, one of them much stronger than the other. This one 

 was the yellowest and strongest in the yard. I call them 

 "Yellow Devils." The bees seem to be of the strenuous, 

 Rooseveltian typo — always ready to work or fight. 



Besides the two hives overflowing with bees at a time 

 when an immense number must have been in the fields, there 

 were five frames of brood in the upper hive. These I gave to 

 other colonies, put two supers full of drawn combs in sections 

 on the lower hive, and kind o' thought there would be no 

 early swarming from that hive. Supers with starters in sec- 

 tions would likely delay the swarming some more, but I did 

 not have them ready. 



There was less honey in the hives of this yard than I have 

 ever known at the date I mention, June 2. From March 1 to 

 June 1 I fed all the colonies — 140, more or less — with perhaps 

 a dozen exceptions. I had to feed or let the yard be prac- 

 tically annihilated. The honey-flow did not begin till the 

 afternoon of June 2. There was a thunder shower the night 

 before, and that day was hot. In the afternoon the bees 

 stopped worrying me' and went for the white clover — the first 

 time they have seemed to be in good nature this spring. 



HONEY MARKET QUOTATIONS. 



Have my brother bee-keepers read carefully the honey 

 quotations as they have appeared in bee-papers for the last 

 six months or more? What cheerful reading they make! 

 Then glance, my dear brothers, over the quotations you have 

 received for some other things which 3'ou think you must 

 have, and ask yourselves how you are going to pay for them 

 out of the net returns for your honey. Perhaps some of you 

 have a home market for all, or most, of your product. Happy 



