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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Juue 14, 19C6 



2TTiscellaneous 

 Hetps * 3 terns 



^ 



J. C. Aeklin, of St. Paul, prominent among Minnesota 

 bee-keepers, died very suddenly at a hospital lately. The 

 brief notice we received from a friend did not contain any 

 of the particulars. But we expect to secure and publish 

 them in a later issue. Mr. Aeklin was a noble man and 

 sincere friend. He will be greatly missed in Minnesota 

 beedom. 



Later. — Since the foregoing was written, we have re- 

 ceived the following from the A. I. Root Co.: 



Mr. J. C. Aeklin, St. Paul Manager of the A. I. Root Co., while 

 delivering some bees in Highwood, a suburb of St. Paul, was 6tricken 

 with apoplexy from which he died the following morning, May 26. 

 Mrs. H. G. Aeklin, who in former years was in active management of 

 the agency, resumes charge again, and the business will be continued 

 as usual. An able assistant who has for years done a large share of 

 the work is still in service, and orders will be promptly cared for. 



Df. C. C. Miller and G. M. Doolittle are the two lead- 

 ing apiarian writers of the world. We believe that no two 

 other men contribute as much to the present-day literature 

 of bee-keeping as they do. And both are intensely practi- 

 cal, and so are also successful with bees. 



Mr. Doolittle wrote us June 4 that he had been in poor 

 health since last February, and during the most of May he 

 was able to do but very little, being confined to the house 

 quite a share of the time. But we are glad to say that when 

 he wrote us he was feeling better, though still quite weak. 



Dr. Miller was 75 years old (no, 75 years " young ") last 

 Sunday, June 10, and, so far as we know, in excellent health 

 for one of his many busy years. 



We are sure all the readers of the old American Bee 

 Journal will unite with us in extending heartiest congratu- 

 lations to both Dr. Miller and Mr. Doolittle, and trust that 

 they may live yet many years to continue to bless not only 

 bee-keepers but the whole world. 



Our Special and Premium Offers are always made 

 to those subscribers who are entitled to receive the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal at $1.00 a year, and all new subscriptions 

 that are received on our premium and special offers are at 

 $1.00 each. Hence, such offers do not apply in countries 

 where there is an extra postage charge for sending the 

 American Bee Journal, such as England, France, Germany, 

 etc. Any one living in those " foreign " countries where 

 such extra postage is charged, would need to send the price 

 of the Bee Journal ($1.00) and the extra postage. In Eng- 

 land that would be $1.50. For instance, in this country we 

 offer Dr. Miller's book, " Forty Years Among the Bees," 

 free as a premium for sending us two new yearly subscrip- 

 tions — that would be $2.00 ; but if the two new subscriptions 

 came from England or Germany, it would be $3.00 ; or 50 

 cents more to cover the extra postage on the American Bee 

 Journal sent to " foreign " countries, or those not taking 

 domestic postage rates. 



Home and Apiary of C. H. Dibbern.— The pictures 

 presented on the first page this week are the apiary and 

 home— that the bees helped to pay for— of Charles H. Dib- 

 bern, of Milan, Ills. The main figure in the apiary view is 

 Mr. Dibbern himself, holding in his hand his latest inven- 

 tion — the queen-trap, which he has used for a dozen years 

 for hiving and controlling swarming. The group of chil- 

 dren in the foreground consist of two grand children and a 

 couple of neighbor's children. The apiary now consists of 

 about 100 colonies, as Mr. D. has concluded that the locality 

 will not support more profitably; besides, he has now ar- 

 rived at an age where he does not care to do the hard work 

 required in a larger apiary. The picture was taken early 

 this spring, and as supers had not yet been put on, the 

 hives have a somewhat squatty appearance. 



Mr. Dibbern commenced bee-keeping just 40 years ago 

 this spring, and has had bees continuously ever since. He 

 has never had any serious disease among his bees, and has 

 never seen a case of foul brood. Like most bee-keepers 

 with the bee-keeping instincts born in them, he has been a 



constant experimenter, and as a result has produced several 

 inventions of merit. 



The T-super was original with him, and he described it 

 in the American Bee Journal early in the '80's. 



In 1889 he discovered the principles of the horizontal 

 bee-escape, aud published his discovery in Gleanings. This 

 proved a little premature, as he had not perfected the inven- 

 tion, and a host of others took up the idea and the escape 

 was soon perfected by others. 



A hive also was " invented" which he now has had in 

 use for some 20 years, and he sees no reason for changing it. 



His latest is the queen-trap, which, of course, is a modi- 

 fication of the Alley trap, but, in his opinion, is a great 

 improvement in several particulars. He has never patented 

 any of his inventions, and always gave his ideas freely to 

 the bee-keepers of the world. 



The home (see second picture) is a modest structure, 

 built rather for comfort than any particular style or display. 

 It is situated on rising ground on the north side of Rock 

 River, near Black Hawk's Watch Tower, now a very popu- 

 lar resort. The group consists of several friends and his 

 entire family, consisting of wife, son, daughter, daughter- 

 in-law, son-in-law, " the baby," and two other grand- 

 children. 



Otto Schulz in Germany.— We have received a souv- 

 enir postal card from Prof. A. J. Cook, who has spent the 

 past year in Germany, as our readers know. The picture 

 on the card is shown here, and it was written from Buckow, 

 Germany, May 10, 1906, and reads as follows : 



Apiary of 



Otto Schnltz, 

 in Germany 



Oil! 



A great day here. Otto Schulz is a genius. He makes foundation 

 cells full-depth and very fine. He forms wax sheets on a large wheel, 

 then thins at pleasure between rolls. 



It is very beautiful here. I have had a splendid time, but my wife 

 ha6 been sick in the hospital for several weeks. She is now safe, and 

 at home. My wife and daughter will remain here another year. I 

 leave next Tuesday, and get home Sept. 1. A. J. Cook. 



Errata. — On page 461 two regrettable errors occur. In 

 the first column, in the second line of the fourth paragraph, 

 several words are omitted. The whole sentence should 

 read, " May 20 a frame of brood was taken from each colony 

 having 8 brood, and given to one having only 6." 



The omission of a comma in the next paragraph ac- 

 counts for the absurd statement that " Two supers of 44 

 sections each were placed over the lower super." Putting 

 the comma where it belongs changes the sense entirely, 

 making it read, "Two supers of 44 sectious each were 

 placed over, the lower super containing 12 bait-sections." 



W. H. Putnam, editor of the Rural Bee-Keeper, made 

 this office a call recently when in Chicago. Mr. P. is per- 

 haps the "heavy-weight " among all the bee-editors when 

 it comes to avoirdupois. And he is as jovial as he is large. 

 It was our first opportunity to have a somewhat extended 

 conversation with him, although we had a " How do you 

 do?" acquaintance with him before. 



A Good Thermometer, mounted on a large-size wood 

 back, is being used as an advertising novelty by Walter S. 

 Pouder, a bee-supply dealer at Indianapolis, Ind. One sent 

 to this office is doing good service these hot days. It's 

 somewhat satisfying to know just what the temperature is 

 even if the knowledge doesn't help cool one off any. 



