

injkm^p^ 



▼▼▼▼▼ 



(Entered at the Post'Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mall-Matter) 

 Published "(Veekly at «1.00 a Year by Ceorge W. Tork & Vo„ 334 Dearborn St. 



OBORQB W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL,, NOVEMBER 9, 1905 



Vol, XLV— No. 45 



The American Bee Journal is absolutely an independent publication, and not 

 connected with any bee-supply business whatsoever. It stands entirely upon 

 its merits as an educative force in the field of bee-keeping, and as a medium 

 for legitimate advertisers in apicultural or other lines. It is the oldest, and 

 only weekly, journal of its kind in America. Its publishers believe that it 

 deserves to be in the hands of every would-be progressive successful bee- 

 keeper in the land. It is in its 45th year, and to-day is acknowledged to be 

 better in every way than at any time during its long and honorable history. 



,r= 



(f bttortal Hotcs ^ (Eommcnts 



v= 



=\ 



=j 



Chicago-Northwestern Convention 



Just after the forms of last week's Ameri- 

 can Bee .Journal were closed, we learned that 

 the managers of the annual Chicago Fat Stock 

 Show, previously announced for Dec. 2 to 9, 

 was postponed for two weeks, or Dec. 10 to 

 23, on account of delay in getting structural 

 steel for the new amphitheater building. 



On account of this, the Chicago-Northwest- 

 ern Bee-Keepers' convention will be held on 

 Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. 



We xiippose the National convention will 

 also be postponed for two weeks, which would 

 make it Dec. 19, 20 and 21, as the low railroad 

 rates will not be in force during the first week 

 in December, but will be from Dec. 16 to 23. 

 By another week doubtless something definite 

 can be announced concerning the National. 



Improvin}!; the Stock of Bees 



Much has already been said in these col- 

 umns about breeding from the best, so as to 

 improve the stock, but so long as not 1 bee- 

 keeper in 10, if indeed 1 in 50, practices any- 

 thing in that line, no excuse need be made 

 for frequent reference to the subject. This 

 time is given the practine of an Australian 

 bee-keeper, Chas. U. T. Burke, who says in 

 the Australasian Bee-Keeper : 



" When I got rid of the undesirable races I 

 started to work to get equal workers and 

 honey-gatherers in each hive. The first good 

 season one colony would give a yield of say 200 

 pounds of huney for the season ; another a 

 yield of 150 pounds; another 100 pounds; and 

 yet another only 50 pounds of honey for the 

 season, so that something was evidently 

 wrong, considering that all colonies were 

 equalized and had a fair start at the com- 

 mencement of the season. I reared queens 



from the 200-pound yield, and cut off the 

 heads of queens from colonies yielding 50 

 and 100 pounds of honey, and replaced them 

 with young queens from the high yielders. 

 Next year a similar thing occurred, though 

 the number of low yielders was not so great ; 

 among them being some of the high yielders 

 of the year before. I still kept on breeding 

 queens from the high yielders to replace the 

 low yielders, until after 8 years of such ex- 

 perience I have a fairly good average lot of 

 yielders, with only an exceptional one now 

 and again being a low yielder, which at once 

 dies." 



Wax-Worms for Fish-Bait 



Drone-larvK" have been commendedlas bait : 

 but now comes Arthur Goldsborough, in 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture, and says that the 

 lar»;e of the bee-moth is away ahead — ''so 

 tough that they can not be nibbled off, and 

 one larva will caich several fish." Easy to 

 start a hatchery for wax-worms, but they re- 

 quire rather expensive food. 



Prevention of Swarming 



More and more it is becoming customary, 

 especially among bee-keepers who have out- 

 apiaries, to follow some plan of management 

 that shall, so far as possible, dispense with 

 the annoyance of swarming. So it is always 

 interesting to learn the management of those 

 who are successful, even if there be nothing 

 particularly original in that management. 

 Here is the plan of one of the veterans, J. E. 

 Crane, as given in the Bee-Keepers' Review : 



" Open every populous hive, and, if prepar- 

 ing to swarm, either remove the queen and 

 cut all the queen-cells having larvie more 

 than three or four days old; or, if the queen 

 has been previously removed, cut out all 

 queen-cells, and, later, give all such a virgin 

 queen. The queen removed, if vigorous, can, 



with a comb of brood and a few bees, be made 

 the nucleus of a new colony. Instead of 

 treating all colonies in this way, I prefer to 

 shake the strongest colonies upon empty 

 combs (if I have them) or full sheets of foun- 

 dation, using the combs of brood for building 

 up weaker colonies, or any nuclei that have 

 been started." 



A point upon which light is needed is as to 

 that word " later." Mr. Cranesays, " Cut out 

 all queen-cells, and, later, give all such a vir- 

 gin queen." One's understanding as to Itow 

 //(!((■/( later might make all the difference be- 

 tween success and failure. 



It would be interesting to know, also, 

 whether a swarm ever issues with the virgin 



queen given. " 



*' 



Nominations for the National 



On page 694 is given the list of names sent 

 in by postal card to General Manager France 

 as the names of those whom the different 

 members desired to be considered as candi- 

 dates for the respective oflioes, 3 to 12 names 

 being attached to each office. The Bee Keep- 

 ers' Review publishes the list, and then says; 



"And now I hope that Bro. France will 

 bear with me if I make a few criticisms. Two 

 years ago the Directors voted that the Gen- 

 eral Manager should call for a postal-card 

 vote, and ' the two men receiving the greatest 

 number of votes for each respective otHce are 

 to be candidates for said office; the names of 

 the nominees and the offices for which they 

 are nominated to be published in the bee- 

 journals.' 



■' What I object to is the publishing of the 

 names of more than two of the candidates, 

 and of indicating which man has received the 

 greatest number of votes. Almost the sola 

 object of this informal ballot is that we may, 

 if we so desire, occasionally elect a new man 

 to office. We wish to place before the mem- 

 bers two candidates with equal chances for 

 election, or as nearly equal as it is possible 

 for us to make them. The man already in 

 office has an advantage, but by dividing up 

 the opposition vote among half-a-dozen others 

 he is almost sure of election. 



" Another thing: Don't tell who has the 

 greatest numt)erof votes. Say that .John Doe 

 and Richard Doe have received the greatest 

 number of votes. It you say that .John Doe 

 had the greatest number, and Richard Doe the 

 next greatest number, thai praclically elects 

 .John Doe, and that is the very thing ihat we 

 wish to avoid. 



" As I have already said, we wish to bring 

 two candidates before the voters with as 

 nearly equal chance of election as it is pos- 

 sible. If we give the names of half-a-dozen 

 candidates, and tell which one received the 



