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(Entered at the Post-OfBce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter) 

 Published Weekly at Sl.OO a Vear by Oeorg:e W. York A, Oo., 334 Uearbom St. 



QBORaB W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL,, OCTOBER 19, 1905 



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The Chicago National Convention 



The program being arranged for the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' convention, to be held 

 here in Chicago Dec. 5, 6 and 7, is one that it 

 will pay to hear all the way through. Some 

 exceedingly important subjects are to come 

 up for discussion and action, and so it is 

 hoped that it may be a very representative 

 gathering of bee-keepers of the United States, 

 Canada and Cuba. 



Some may feel that they can not afford the 

 expense. Some years ago even so experienced 

 and successful a bee-keeper as Mr. C. P. Dadant 

 said he felt well repaid for attending the 

 National convention held in St. Joseph, Mo., 

 just for one thing learned about wintering 

 bees. Last year Mr. and Mrs. Gus Dittmer, 

 of Wisconsin, told the writer that the Chi- 

 cago-Northwestern convention, which they 

 were then attending, was a very profitable in- 

 vestment for them. And so it goes. 



Come to the National convention in Chi- 

 cago, Dec. 5, 6 and 7, and get new inspiration 

 besides several other things that may not be 

 estimated in dollars and cents. 



Loss from Outdoor Feeding 



J. A. Green says in Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture that a loss of bees that was serious 

 occurred in outdoor feeding upon the occur- 

 rence of a cold, drizzling rain last spring. 

 Although he put out no feed on that particu- 

 lar day, he found to his disgust that the bees 

 came out after the feed as usual. 



" They hovered around the feeders until 

 they became wet and chilled. Bees were 

 scattered all over the ground, and festooned 

 over everything near the feeders that would 

 support them, until many thousands of them 

 perished. The losses from that source prob- 

 ably came near balancing the good done by 

 the stimulative feeding. The loss of bees 

 probably would not have been so great if the 

 feeding bad been done under an open shed so 

 that the feeders would have been sheltered 

 from the rain. If this had been done, espe- 

 cially if the feed had been kept warm, the 

 bees could probably have made their way 

 through the rain without much loss." 



Carload of Honey— Queen-Cage Card- 

 boards 



We have received the following from Dr. 

 Miller: 



Our genial Afterthlnker, to whom we are 

 all so much indebted, expresses doubts as to 

 the 70-carloads-of-honey story. It isn't clear 

 just what is the ground of his skepticism, 

 unless it would be that it would take the out- 

 put of 560 apiaries with 5 tons each. What 

 he says appears on page 699. I suppose his 

 skepticism will be about 7 percent stronger 

 when in the same number, 5 pages earlier, he 

 reads of 75 carloads being purchased by the 

 same company. Incidentally it may be noted 

 that " San Franciscan " estimates a carload 

 at 20 tons, and Mr. Hasty at 40. In this 

 locality the capacity of a freight car is not 

 over 30 tons. Isn't there some way by which 

 we can get some definite information besides 

 what ''they say?" 



On the same page, Mr. Hasty says, " With 

 cardboard over the candy you run heavy risks 

 of having the queen not liberated at all." 

 There's no heavy risk " in this locality," Mr. 

 Hasty. I've used cardboard over candy in 

 hundreds of cases, and I think I never had 

 more than 2 or H eases in which the card- 

 board was not gnawed away. I'm wondering 

 whether those heavy risks are not based on 

 placing the cage over top-bars. I always 

 place it between brood-combs. 



C. C. Miller. 



We are under the impression that a carload 

 of hone}' usually runs from 13 to 15 tons. We 

 think there are not many carloads of honey 

 that weigh as much as 20 tons. If we are 

 wrong in this we will be glad to publish a 

 correction. 



Winter Paclcing with Newspapers 



Editor Root, in Gleanings in Bee Culture, 

 says that Vernon Burt, last winter, success- 

 fully wintered 300 colonies of bees in the 

 following manner: 



" Early in the fall he sees that his colonies 

 are well supplied with sealed stores. He uses 

 the Danzenbaker hive; and if the cluster can 

 be crowded into ooe section, one section is 

 given. If they require two, of course they 

 are allowed to have them. The same super 

 cover that is used to cover the super for comb 

 honey is put on top of the brood-nest. This 

 the bees seal down hermetically. On top of 

 this cover are placed several thicknesses of 



newspaper laid out flat. On top of the paper 

 is placed a shallow chaff tray containing chaff 

 or any other equally good packing material, 

 to the depth of 3 or 4 inches. The paper 

 sticking out in all directions is neatly folded 

 down around the sides of the hive. Over the 

 chaff tray, and fitting snugly against the 

 paper folded against the inner hive, is 

 crowded a deep telescoping cap made of jiff 

 lumber, with a tin roof. The actual packing 

 material on top is some 4 or 5 inches thick. 

 The sides of the hive are protected by the 

 folds of paper and the outer case. This outer 

 case comes down to within about one inch or 

 so of the bottom-board. As the heat naturally 

 rises inside of the hive, there is no need of 

 making a double-wall bottom-board, nor of 

 protecting the bottom edgesot the hive." 



Bee-Insurance 



By paying 2 cents per colony, British bee- 

 keepers are insured against claims for dam- 

 age done by their bees. 



National and Other Conventions 



It is almost impossible to expect that any 

 annual meeting of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association would not conflict with some 

 other convention. And so it has come to pass 

 that the Minnesota State convention meets 

 Dec. 6 and 7, at the same time as the National 

 here in Chicago. This will of course prevent 

 many good Minnesota members from attend- 

 ing the National convention. 



But why not change the date of the Minne- 

 sota meeting? It could likely be more easily 

 done than changing the date of the National 

 convention, especially as it Is more important 

 that low railroad rates be in force for the 

 National than for any State convention. 



It seems to us that the National convention 

 should always be given " the right of way" 

 in preference to that of any local convention. 



Our Convention Reports 



We have received the following in reference 

 to the Chicago-Northwestern convention 

 report now appearing in these columns; 



Mr. Editor: — Never before was I so im- 

 pressed with the value of a good report of a 

 bee-keepers' convention as in reading late 

 numbers of the American Bee .Journal, con- 

 taining the report of the proceedings of the 

 last Chicago-Northwestern convention. The 

 report is so full and so good that it Is the 

 next thing to being present at the conven- 

 tion in person. The social feature is impor 



