582 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Aug. 17. 1905 



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Pres. Jas. U. Harris, of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, surprised us with a 

 call last week, when on the way to his Col- 

 orado home from eastern Pennsylvania, where 

 he had been attending the funeral of his aged 

 mother. Mr. Harris was looking very well. 

 He has an apiary of nearly 100 colonies in 

 Mesa Co., Colo., but reports the honey crop 

 almost a failure in his locality, and exceed- 

 ingly small for all of Colorado. 



N. E. France, State Inspector of Apiaries 

 for Wisconsin, reports that he has the bee- 

 diseases nearly wiped out of that State. He 

 says that a few bee-keepers have been care- 

 less, and so have not cured every case. Of 

 course, it is necessary that bee-keepers co- 

 operate fully with the inspector, else no dis- 

 ease can be completely eradicated. Mr. 

 France certainly has done a good work in- 

 Wisconsin, and deserves the thanks of all its 

 bee-keepers. 



A Bee-Keepers' Field-Meeting will 

 beheld at The A. 1. Root Co. 's exhibition 

 apiary at Jenkintown, Pa., Thursday, Sept. 

 7, 190.=i, in which will unite the Pennsylvania 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association, New Jersey 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association, Philadelphia 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, New York bee- 

 keepers, and all bee-keepers and others inter- 

 ested in bees, from the surrounding territory. 

 Jenkintown is a suburb of Philadelphia. If 

 bee-keepers in that locality desire further in- 

 formation, they can address Wm. A. Selser, 

 Jenkintown, Pa. 



The West Michigan Pair Apiarian 

 E.vhibit of 1904 is shown on the first page. 

 Beginning at the left of the picture the ex- 

 hibits belong to: Mrs. C. I. Smith, of Grand 

 Traverse Co. ; Oscar Smith, of Kent Co. ; W. 

 D. Soper, of Jackson Co. ; and A. G, Wood- 

 man Co., of Kent Co. 



In order to get a picture of all the exhibits 

 the plan of the exhibit of A. G. Woodman 

 Co. is not fully shown. Comb honey was 

 piled up in the form of a house, with comb 

 foundation for the roof, pyramids of beeswax 

 for spires, full sheets of foundation in sec- 

 tions for window-sashes and window-panes, 

 etc. A neat little sign over the door bore the 

 words: " Home, Sweet Home." 



All the exhibits were very nicely arranged, 

 as can plainly be seen. 



The premium awards were well distributed, 

 all exhibitors winning some of the money, so 

 doubtless all were well satisfied. W. Z. 

 Hutchinson acted as .judge, and also took the 

 photograph of all the exhibits. 



The apiarian department commanded as 

 much attention as any other on the grounds, 

 and the bees were especially interesting to the 

 school children and the school teachers. It 

 is hoped that a great many more exhibitors 

 will participate at the coming Fair, which is 

 to be held at Grand Rapids, Sept. 18 to 23, in- 

 clusive. Mr. A. (i. Woodman is the superin- 

 tendent of the apiarian department. It is his 

 desire that enough more cchibitors will take 

 part this year so as to#ll one entire wing of 



the 8-winged octagon Cross building — Art 

 Hall. The premium list has been increased 

 by $.i0 for the coming Fair, and no doubt if a 

 due appreciation of the generous premium 

 list is shown by bee-keepers, more money will 

 be offered in premiums in the future. 



For further information, address Superin- 

 tendent A. G. Woodman, Grand Rapids, Mich. 



John P. Coburn, of Middlesex Co., 

 Mass., is a bee-keeper 72 years old, and has 

 some 50 colonies. In the Boston Globe, for 

 July 23, he is pictured as handling a frame of 

 bees, with a veil on, etc. There is quite a 

 nice write-up of his apiary and bee-keeping 

 experience. Last year he had one colony that 

 produced 104 pounds of honey, and another 

 102 pounds. 



Such illustrated articles in the daily news- 

 papers can hardly fail to be helpful in in- 

 creasing the use of honey, as they call atten- 

 tion to it in the best way possible. Wherever 

 it can be done, it would be a good thing to 

 invite newspaper editors to visit your apiary, 

 and show them the inside workings of the 

 hive. Then, as they leave, be sure to give 

 them a sample of nice honey, so that they 

 can write intelligently and from personal ex- 

 perience. Of course, when possible, it is 

 safer if the visited bee-keeper can have the 

 privilege of reading the proof of what is 

 written before it is printed. 



The "Farm Journal " Apologizes.— 



In the Farm Journal for July, "Aunt Har- 

 riet," who had something to say about manu- 

 factured comb honey several months before, 

 has the following paragraph : 



Just one more reference to the statement 

 about adulterated honey and artificial comb. 

 As I neither eat nor buy honey, I based my 

 opinion on newspaper reports, magazine arti- 

 cles, and the complaints of those who try to 

 buy good honey. Wm. A. Selser's article, 

 "The Honey-Bee,'' in the May number, will 

 enlighten the consumers; the producers know 

 the truth; and to all who read my mistake, I 

 offer my sincere apologies. 



That is a splendid utterance. " The pro- 

 ducers know the truth "—yes, that is the best 

 source of information to go to when wanting 

 facts about any special business. It is not 

 safe to attempt to write for publication on 

 any unfamiliar subject. Even when fairly 

 well acquainted one sometimes gets things 

 twisted. 



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A Plan for Increase 



The method of increase given here secures 

 queens for the new colonies reared under the 

 swarming impulse, and the workers also 

 which bear her company are fully developed, 

 and have not been half starved in the larval 

 state as so many young bees are apt to be 

 where the apiarist interferes. 



It will usually happen during the swarm- 

 ing season that several swarms will come off 



on the same day, or within one day of each 

 other. Hive each of the swarms on the old 

 stand and place the old colony containing the 

 young bees and queen-cells beside the new 

 hive with its entrance facing in the opposite 

 direction. Take the half-filled supers and put 

 them on the new swarm in the way most bee- 

 keepers are familiar with. 



Just a word of caution here: When hand- 

 ling any hives or frames containing queen- 

 cells use the utmost care to see that they are 

 not jarred in any way as such treatment will 

 destroy a large percentage of the unhatched 

 queens. 



The queen-cells in the old colony if the 

 swarm has been a normal one, will be just 

 about ready to cap over when the swarm is- 

 sues, and in a day or two at the most the best 

 of them (which are the oldest) will have been 

 capped over. 



Now we will suppose that this same pro- 

 cedure has been followed with two swarms 

 that issued at the same time. If there is any 

 choice in the stock, that is if one has proven 

 superior to the other in honey-gathering qual- 

 ities, or in other desirable traits, then arrange 

 to preserve the queen-cells in it. 



Two or three days after the swarms have is- 

 sued, or when most of the cells are capped 

 over, and when quite a number of young bees 

 have come out of the hatching brood, shake 

 the colony containing the cells, which you 

 don't wish to keep, down at the entrance of 

 its swarm, pinch off all the queen-cells from 

 the frames, put the frames back in the super 

 and set the super on top of the other hive 

 containing queen-cells and young bees. There 

 will be enough young bees in this hive to 

 look after both lots of brood. 



In 5 or 6 days from the time the swarms is- 

 sued you will have a lot of ripe queen-cells 

 just about ready to hatch ; most of the brood 

 will be capped over and the 2-storied hive will 

 be crowded with young bees, the majority of 

 which have never been outside. 



Now is the time to make the division — 

 place 8 or 9 hives where you want the new 

 colonies to stand ; see that the same number 

 of frames contain a queen-cell each; put 2 

 frames (one with queen-cell attached) and all 

 adhering bees into each new hive, give each 

 new hive an extra frame of honey it you can 

 spare it, if not never mind, but look out later 

 when the queen starts laying, and see that 

 they all have plenty to keep them going. 

 Shut the little hives up tight until the even- 

 ing of the following day if the sun is not too 

 hot ; if it is, then leave them open. 



Avoid setting the new hives in a row so that 

 their entrances all face in one direction ; scat- 

 ter them about in odd corners of the yard, or 

 if you have an eye for symmetry in your ar- 

 rangements you can put them in groups of 

 four with the entrance of each hive in the 

 group facing in a different direction from 

 the rest. 



It will thus be seen that from S to 10 colo- 

 nies can be secured with the best of queens 

 from the brood of 2 old colonies and the 

 young bees of one. Nothing is taken from 

 the swarm, and in fact one swarm is increased 

 by its young bees. — Frank P. Adams in the 

 Canadian Bee Journal. 



Making Rock Candy for Feeding 



The ordinary pulverized sugar in honey 

 mixed into a stiff dough makes a very excel- 

 lent bee-candy for cold-weather or spring 

 feeding. But one objection to this kind of 

 feed is that the granules will sometimes rat- 

 tle down on the bottom-board, and be carried 

 out and wasted. The candy that we prefer 

 is made by mixing sugar and a little water 

 and a little honey, and boiling long enough 

 so when cold it will form a translucent block 

 of rock candy. Do not stir, as that makes it 

 somewhat mealy or grainy, and the result is 

 the bees will cause the granules to drop down 

 and so be wasted. The honey is necessary to 

 prevent graining. It may be a little sticky, 

 but it should be wrapped in paraffin paper, 

 and then when ready for use the the paper 

 should be peeled off on one side and the 

 candy placed on top of the brood-frames. Our 

 experience in giving lii/iiUI feed in cold 

 weather is not favorable. We always use 

 combs of sealed stores first ; then, if we have 

 not the combs, candy.— Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture. 



