June 21. 1906 



523 



American Me Journal 



as bis old-time clerk, will vouch for the fact that he always returned 

 to the shippers the full value for their honey. 



It hurt the old man very much to think that his old-time patrons 

 sold their honey for a cent or two above the market price to a wealthy 

 wholesale grocer, for, said Mr. Quinby, " They will certainly lo6e in 

 the end." 



Mr. D. W. Quinby died soon afterward, and I, his clerk, studied 

 medicine and became a physician. Since then I traveled six times 

 around the world. I am now located on the bank of the Hudson, re- 

 tired from business, and keeping bees. F. D. Clum, M D. 



We think Dr. Clum could give something very interest- 

 ing about the methods of handling honey in the olden time. 

 It is always well to know past experiences, as then what- 

 ever progress and development there have been during the 

 intervening jears can be traced, and often valuable lessons 

 learned. 



Gleanings Editor a Poultryman.— Editor E. R. Root 

 is combining poultry-raising with bee-keepiag. In an in- 

 cubator supervised by him, he says he " got 47 chicks out of 

 a possible 130," and last accounts 6 of the 47 were still alive. 

 No doubt it requires a very hardy strain of chickens to 

 withstand his plan of treatment— possibly " hybrids." 



The American Food Journal, published by H. B. 

 Meyers & Co., at 334 Dearborn St., Chicago, Ills., is a 34- 

 page monthly magazine devoted to the interests of pure 

 food. Subscription price, $1.00 a year ; 10 cents per copy. 

 In the May issue, Dr. E. N. Eaton, late analyst of the Illi- 

 nois Food Commission, gives "Household Tests for Food 

 Stuffs," among them being this : 



Jellies, Jams, Honet, Preserves and Syrups. 



Glucose may be tested for in all these products by a very simple 

 test. 



In a glass vessel as narrow as possible, place the jelly, honey, etc., 

 and if not real thin add as much again warm water and dissolve. 

 Then add six times the volume of strong alcohol. A white turbidity 

 is due lo dextrin and indicates commercial glucose. 



Bright colored jellies, jams and preserves indicate artificial color. 



The National Association.— The Board of Directors, 

 on April 11, 1906. voted " No" on this question : " Should 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Association assist a not-paid-up 

 member in defending a suit in a matter arising while he 

 was not a member ?" 



General Manager N. E. France, of Platteville, Wis., is 

 now offering 55.00 as a premium to any member of the Na- 

 tional who will, by Aug. 1, 1906, send him the best design 

 for a honey-label for the use of the National's membership. 

 Here is a chance for some one to earn $5.00, and also help a 

 good cause. Notice that only members can compete in this. 

 If you want to enter the race, and you are not a member, 

 send your $1.00 membership dues for a year to Mr. France 

 at once. 



Bees as a Nuisance. — Mr. France says that nearly 

 all such complaints arise from the owner of the bees not 

 being as friendly and generous to his neighbors as he 

 should be. Several such cases have come up lately, and he 

 asks bee keepers so to place their hives, and also carefully 

 handle the bees, as not to be a cause of complaint. The 

 Association is not expected to settle neighbors' quarrels. 



A Bee-Keepers' Demonstrating Field-Meeting is to 

 be held at Jenkintown, Pa., Tuesday, June 26, at the exhi- 

 bition apiary of the A. I. Root Co. It is located in a suburb 

 about 10 miles from the center of Philadelphia, at the home 

 of Wm. A. Selser. This is the second annual bee-keepers' 

 field day conducted by the Root Company at the same place. 

 Messrs. A. I. and E. R. Root, and perhaps one or two others 

 from the Medina office, expect to be present, and hope to 

 meet their many bee-keeping friends. The program of the 

 day begins at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Almost every 

 15 minutes some special demonstration in bee-keeping takes 

 place. Among those who are expected to " perform " are, 

 Prof. H. A. Surface, G. M. Doolittle, W. L. Coggshall. A. I. 

 Root, E. W. Alexander, W. K. Morrison. N. D. West. Dr. E. 

 F. Bigelow. Grant Stanley, Dr. E. F. Phillips, and Rev. D. 

 E. Lyon. Various operations of the apiary will be shown 

 to the wondering populace. It promises to be one of the 

 greatest events of the kind ever known in beedom. Of 

 course, everybody is invited to attend. Full particulars 

 can be had by addressing Wm. A. Selser, 10 Vine Street, 

 Philadelphia, Pa., who is the local representative of the A. 

 I. Root Co. 



..,- 



Canadian 

 1 Bo&dom 



Conducted by Morlet Pettit, Villa Nova, Ont. 



Dummies and Deep Top-Bars 



Glad to see Dr. Millet is so reasonable — he almost sees 

 as I do (page 461). Why do I dislike a dummy ? Simply 

 because I think I get along just as well without it, and do 

 not have to handle the extra piece, nor have the extra width 

 of hive. Further, I do wish I could persuade Dr. Miller and 

 others (from entirely unselfish motives) to give staple 

 spacers a fair trial. No other spacer I know of has so few 

 objections and so many advantages. 



Now as to wax built between top-bars. It is one of the 

 rules of logic, as I learned it at the University, that vary- 

 ing one of the conditions of the proposition and leaving all 

 others unchanged varies the result. That one condition 

 must have a very direct causal relation to the change in 

 result. Dr. Miller has stated the conditions with the one 

 change so distinctly that those who run may read the nat- 

 ural conclusion. Here they are : 



1. Accurate spacing between top-bars, top-bars >s-inch 

 deep — no wax between top-bars. 



2. Accurate spacing between top-bars, top-bars Ji-inch 

 deep — too much wax between top-bars. 



Is it not obvious that Mr. S. T. Pettit, who has con- 

 tended for years that a ^-inch top-bar causes wax to be 

 built between top-bars, must be right? 



And now "such very true combs " are in use by the 

 thousand in the " Marble Apiaries." But do not forget the 

 importance of a narrow bottom-bar, only -' + -inch wide, mak- 

 ing a wedge-shaped comb. 



How to Buy Bees 



The Farming World has good advice on the above sub- 

 ject. It warns prospective buyers against foul brood and 

 old drone-combs. It recommends stimulative feeding with 

 syrup, and large hives containing 12 frames of standard 



size. 



^ i ^ — 



Postal Vigilance 



Uncle Sam is very careful of the mail-matter submitted 

 to him for transportation. A letter properly and plainly 

 addressed was by some means sent to the wrong office, 

 then returned to the writer. The latter forwarded the en- 

 velop to the Post-Office Department at Washington for ex- 

 planations. The matter was taken up, thoroughly ferreted 

 out, and the correspondence, consisting of about 18 letters 

 in all, returned to the writer of the letter. This shows that 

 even an unregistered letter going astray will be hunted up 

 with the greatest care, and should tend to strengthen the 

 confidence of the corresponding public in the Post-Office 



Department. 



— am i m 



The Beginner and Bees 



Hives in fruit-bloom should be chock-full of bees right 

 into the corners. The beginner wants quiet bees if he can 

 get them. He can learn their disposition pretty well by 

 lifting their cover off quietly. If they boil out and sting 

 him a few times they are probably cross. If they pay little 

 or no attention, but crawl around quietly on the frames, 

 they are all right. Then he should select a hive having 

 straight combs, if he is buying bees on combs which have 

 not been built from foundation. A look in the top will 

 generally show whether the combs are built straight— each 

 comb attached to only one frame— or whether they are built 

 " criss-cross " or cornerwise of the hive, and each comb 



