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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Feb. 8, 19C6 



how accurate the spacing-, there will be comb galore built 

 and honey stored in it. Others have reduced that space to 

 % inch, and do not find the honey-board necessary. 



As to surplus arrangements for comb honey, he says : 

 "My preference is for a tall, plain, 4-piece section of white 

 poplar, used with fence separators." 



The chapter on " The Use and Abuse of Comb Founda- 

 tion " is especially interesting, from the fact that the author 

 has made a study of this and experimented largely. He 

 thinks that under some circumstances comb foundation may 

 be given in the brood-chamber at a loss in more ways than 



one - m ■ ■ 



As to swarming, he says : " The man who is raising 



comb honey as a business will find it to his advantage to 



allow each colony to swarm once, if it will (and no more), 



then make the most out of the swarm." 



There was a time when Mr. Hutchinson might have 

 been said to make a business of exhibiting at Fairs ; so he 

 may be said to speak with authority on that subject. The 

 same may be said of the chapter on queen-rearing, and that 

 on foul brood ; for he made a business of rearing queens for 

 sale, and he has for some time been inspector of foul brood 

 for the State of Michigan. 



The book may be heartily commended as an addition to 

 the libraries of up-to-date bee-keepers. The postpaid price 

 is $1.20 ; but we club it with the American Bee Journal for 

 a year— both for $2.00. We have a good supply of the books 

 on hand, and so can fill orders by return mail. 



L' Apiculture Nouvelle 



Mention was lately made of a new bee-paper printed in 

 the German language, with the avowed purpose of advocat- 

 ing bee-keeping according to American methods. Now 

 comes the initial number of L'Apiculture Nouvelle (The 

 New Bee-Culture), printed in the French language, and pub- 

 lished in Paris by Emile Bondonneau, the agent of the A. I. 

 Root Co. It is even more strongly American than the Ger- 

 man journal mentioned, being made up almost entirely of 

 articles from Gleanings translated into French. 



All of which is complimentary to the genius of Ameri- 

 can bee-keeping ; but let us not forget that practise is based 

 upon theory, and without the solid basis built up by patient 

 investigators on the other side of the water, the superstruc- 

 ture of American bee-keeping never could have been reared. 

 So it is only fair that we should pay back to our trans- 

 Atlantic brethren part of the debt we owe them. 



Metal-Spaced Hoffman Frames 



A modified Hoffman frame (if indeed it can be called a 

 Hoffman after being modified so many times) has been put 

 upon the market. Many have strongly objected to the 

 Hoffman because of the shoulders of the end-bars, which 

 invite the deposition of propolis, and too often split off. 

 Instead of being made as heretofore, \ 2 /% inches wide at the 

 upper end, the end-bars are made 1 1-16 inches wide. Then 

 a metal strap bent in the form of the letter U is slipped 

 down over the top-bar, and extends down over the end-bar 

 something like 3 inches. An embossed projection of 5-32 

 of an inch at the top, and another at the bottom of the strap 

 on each side, serve to space the end-bars 5-16 of an inch 

 apart, making the frames spaced \y% from center to center. 

 This will be accepted as a great improvement by some, 

 while some will think the same end might be attained by 

 the simpler means of staples or nails as spacers. 



Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer, is 

 a bee-keeper's hand-book of 138 pages, which is just what 

 our German friends will want. It is fully illustrated, and 

 neatly bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00; or with the 

 American Bee Journal one year — both for $1.75. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



miscellaneous 

 Hetps * 3 terns 



j 



Bee-Keeping in the Alps.— Mr. C. P. Dadanthas very 

 kindly sent us the souvenir postal cards from which the en- 

 gravings were made that appear on the first page this week. 

 Mr. Mont-Jovet is a breeder of Caucasian queens, and a 

 Dadant-hive bee-keeper. It is interesting to have apiarian 

 scenes from foreign countries. Of course, it would be much 

 nicer if each could personally visit apiaries in foreign coun- 

 tries, but when that can not be done, the next best thing is 

 to have pictures of them. What a wonderful thing photog- 

 raphy is, anyway ; and also the process of engraving pic- 

 tures, so that they can be reproduced with the printing 

 press ! Surely, we are living in an advanced age ; great 

 progress has been made along almost every line, bee-keep- 

 ing not excepted. 



To Illinois Bee-Keepers .—Secretary Jas. A. Stone 

 sends this notice : 



The Secretary has undertaken, through the instructions 

 of the State Bee-Keepers' Association, to send out more 

 than 2800 letters to bee-keepers of the State, and as he runs 

 across the name of one who has paid his dues in the State 

 Association — either direct or through one of the other asso- 

 ciations that have joined in a body — he can not leave out 

 such a name, for we desire their report, even if they have 

 paid their dues. All who have paid their dues for 1906 are 

 properly credited, and the Secretary positively can not an- 

 swer the many questions personally that come back, asking, 

 "Have you made a mistake?" etc. Those who joined 

 through the other associations will each receive a cloth- 

 bound copy of the Annual Report, the same as those who 

 joined the State Association direct. But if the Secretary is 

 compelled to spend all his time answering useless questions, 

 the Report will not be out before midsummer. 



Route 4, Springfield, 111. Jas. A. Stonb, Sec. 



The Summerland of Florida is where Mr. Wm. A. 

 Selser, of Philadelphia, is spending the winter. Here is 

 what he says about the weather and the bees there : 



Most of your readers do not know that Dade county is 

 the most extreme southern county of Florida, situated on 

 the East Coast, with the Atlantic Ocean on the one side, 

 with the warm Gulf Stream running near its borders, and 

 the Everglades encircling it on the west and south. In 

 whatever direction the wind blows it comes over a warm 

 body of water. The situation is most ideal for a warm, 

 winter climate. In 1890 it was said to the writer that kill- 

 ing frost was unknown, but since that time there have been 

 two or three years when the thermometer was below the 

 freezing point. Last year, or in January, 1905, while I was 

 in Boynton (this county), the thermometer one night sank 

 to 28 degrees. Ice formed in a crust in the water-tub back 

 of the house, and at 2 o'clock that same day I went into the 

 Atlantic Ocean and had a good bath, with the water at 69 

 degrees — as warm as it often is in Atlantic City during 

 August. 



Stuart — where the writer built a little cottage — is one 

 mile from the village on the banks of the St. Lucie river. 

 This river is one of the deepest in the State. It empties into 

 the Ocean at St. Lucie Inlet, and a junction of the Indian 

 river. This is the heart of the pineapple section. Twenty- 

 five percent of all the pineapples of the State are loaded s.\ 

 Stuart station. 



This 22d day of January the record thermometer on my 

 porch, in the shade, registers at this moment within one 

 degree of 90, and the bees at my back door are in a perfect 

 roar, bringing in pollen and honey. On Saturday, the 20th, 

 a large swarm came out and flew to the northeast. Its flight 

 was continuous, and was lost sight of in the distance. Jan- 

 uary is a very good honey-month in this county, if the 

 weather is normal, but the last two years have been poor on 

 account of so much of the prevailing high winds being from 

 the northwest. This year is the most promising for many 



