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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Feb. 8, 1906 



very little attention as compared with the time necessary 

 for the care of poultry, stock, and truck gardening. 



Besides a good remuneration in honey for the table, and 

 some to spare, the bees would do much good in fertilizing 

 fruit-blossoms at the same time, for why did Nature place 

 these little cups of nectar in the flowers to tempt the bees 

 and butterflies? It was for no other reason or purpose 

 than to have the little workers aid in pollenizing the fruit- 

 blossoms to make the plant or vine more fruitful, besides 

 furnishing man with so rare a dish of sweets, through the 

 agency of the bees. For this reason I would recommend— 

 encourage— farm bee-keeping. But I would impress also 

 the fact that the bee-business is like any other occupation, 

 and if only a half-dozen colonies are kept it pavs to have 

 up-to-date hives, and use modern methods. Keepthem in a 

 business-like way ; look after them at the right time ; give 

 them the proper attention, and bees on the farm will pay 

 well for their trouble. 



(Dur*Stster 

 23ceKeepers 



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Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



A Beginner's Questions 



What is the price of a fertilized queen-bee ? Are the 

 Carniolans better than the Italians ? I am a beginner. I 

 bought 2 colonies ; one died 2 years ago, and last year they 

 did nothing but swarm. I have IS colonies now, and I 

 should think it was time they had new blood in the stock, if 

 they are like all other farm stock. What would a baby 

 nucleus cost by express ? and where can I get it ? 



Rock Co., Wis. Mrs. J. C. Plumb. 



You can get an untested laying queen for one dollar 

 usually, and that is probably the best you can buy. 



Some people may think the Carniolan, but the majority 

 will say the Italian. 



If your bees are doing good work as honey-gatherers 

 they are probably not suffering for new blood. If there are 

 bees anywhere within 2 miles or so from you your bees will 

 cross with them, and you can not help it. So you see they 

 may be getting the new blood all right without you know- 

 ing it. 



Unless you intend to go into queen-rearing on a rather 

 large scale it is hardly advisable to have anything to do 

 with baby nuclei, as they are used only for the fertilization 

 of queens. 



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Honey in Canning Fruit and in Candy 



Suppose we give Miss Wilson a little lift when we can, 

 by sending to her a bit of our experiences. You know lift- 

 ing only makes us stronger, and no one can tell the good 

 that has been accomplished by just a word or sentence. 

 Sometimes a mere accident or necessity may reveal a fact 

 that, if known, would be of inestimable value as a basis of 

 experiment, while the incident itself may be only a trifling 

 thing, yet causing others to think and investigate. 



For instance, we have had a little experience in the use 

 of honey, that may be interesting to some of the sisters. 



Having nearly one-half barrel of dark honey that we 

 did not know just what to do with, because we could not use 

 it for wintering bees, and to feed it in the spring meant 

 either to damage our crop or be to the bother of extracting 

 it ; so we concluded to try it in our canning, and, indeed, 

 found it very satisfactory. 



We had small fruit to put up, such as cherries and ber- 

 ries. After the cherries were pitted ready for canning, we 

 put them on the same as we would for ordinary canning, 

 only used honey in place of sugar, and found the color even 

 deepened and the flavor improved. 



We then tried strawberries, and they were beautiful to 

 look at, and as delicious ; while the same testimony may be 

 given for black and red raspberries. 



We also found honey-hoarhound candy is delicious. Mr. 

 Ferris brought a small package of hoarhound from the city. 

 We took about one-fourth of the package and steeped it 

 until the virtue was taken from the hoarhound, and strained, 



then put in 2^ cups of sugar, letting that boil a few mo- 

 ments, or until most of the water had evaporated, if not all 

 of it ; then we put in the same amount of honey — 2Ji cups — 

 and let it boil (stirring almost constantly) until, when we 

 tested it, it hardened quickly. Mrs. A. K. Fbrris. 



Madison, Wis. 



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This Sister Delights in Bee-Keeping 



Dear Sister Wilson : — I will send you a report of my 

 honey crop this year. 



My bees gathered 700 pounds of surplus honey, and I 

 had to feed them 700 pounds of old honey, so they just made 

 a living last year. They did not gather any honey after 

 July to amount to anything, and so did not store any in the 

 surplus boxes after that, but this doesn't discourage me, for 

 I delight in bee-keeping. I took a trip to the Eastern States 

 two years ago. I went to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia 

 and Pennsylvania. I saw but very few bee-hives along the 

 railroad where I traveled. 



Linden a Valuable Tree. 



The linden or basswood is "valuable in a great many 

 ways. The best butter-bowls and butter-paddles are made 

 of linden wood. The butter doesn't slick to linden wood. I 

 have a linden butter-bowl aDd butter-paddle that are 54 

 years old, and they have worn well. Many a pound of but- 

 ter I have paddled in a linden butter-bowl with a linden 

 butter paddle. If the people of the State of Iowa had 

 planted linden groves instead of maple groves that State 

 would have been far wealthier, and also far healthier. Hur- 

 rah for the bee-keeper that has a linden grove ! 



Propolis Very Valuable. 



Propolis is very useful in a great many ways. I have 

 invented a new kind of picture-frame. It is made of propo- 

 lis and all kinds of fancy broken dishes, glassware and old 

 picture-frames. The frame, when finished, looks beautiful 

 as well as ornamental. Some time I will tell how this pic- 

 ture-frame is made. 



Crackless Cakes of Beeswax. 



If one doesn't want the cakes of beeswax to crack, ren- 

 der the combs in the full of the moon, as the Germans call 

 it ; or in the light of the moon, as the Yankees call it. Then 

 the cakes of beeswax won't crack. Some of you may laugh 

 at this idea. Mrs Catherine Wainwright. 



Sister Wainwright, suppose you try it in the dark of the, 

 moon, and then in the light, and see if there is any differ- 

 ence, and then report the difference. 



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VTlv. £)asty's 

 Ctftertljougfyte 



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The " Old Reliable" as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Bees and Alsike Clover Seed. 



The experiences about bees and alsike seed which Mr. 

 Pettit puts in on page 884 are striking. A few patches of 

 alsike yield seed well usually. A large acreage, if near a 

 big apiary, yields 6 to 9 bushels per acre. But \}& miles 

 from an apiary, and beyond, the yield will be only 2 to 5 

 bushels per acre, with same soil and culture, if j, many acres 

 are tried. Must have bees, it seems, to raise L alsike seed 

 profitably on a large scale. 



The Blessedness of Failure. 



The poem, " Blessed are Ye That Fail," is one of very 

 great beauty and excellence. As it stands, the first line of 

 the second stanza is a rather startling failure rhythmically 

 considered ; but, perhaps, the printer is the one to blame on 

 that. 



" For none [can] fail unless they first have striven " — 



would go all right ; or — 



" None fail unless they first [somewhat] have striven." 



Luke 6 : 21 comes very close to the wished-for beatitude — 

 Blessed are je that weep now ; for ye shall laugh. ^Hard to 



