702 



American Itee Journal 



Aug. 16, 1906 



honey is manufactured without the aid of 

 bees, that they have come to believe that it is 

 true. All bee-keepers know that comb honey 

 has never been produced except by bees. 



It is true, however, that a certain small 

 bee-keeper in the East published about a year 

 ago an article with illustrations, endeavoring 

 to prove that regular honey-comb was manu- 

 factured something like 30 years ago. In 

 fact, he seemed to attempt to defend the mis- 

 representations first given to the public by 

 Mr. Wiley over 25 years ago. All that was 

 ever made was simply deep-cell comb founda- 

 tion. Something like that was experimented 

 with a few years ago at the expanse of about 

 §2000, and then was discontinued, the dies, 

 etc., being destroyed. It was not a financial 

 success, and so nothing further was done 

 with it or said about it. Even if a single 



pound of machine-made honey could be pro- 

 duced how foolish it would be to continue to 

 refer to It when not a commercial success, as, 

 of course, its manufacture would not be con- 

 tinued, and so of course none of it would be 

 found on the market to compete with the 

 genuine comb honey produced by the bees. 



The Temper of Hybrid Bees 



The Irish Bee Journal tells an inquirer that 

 the first cross between Italians and blacks 

 "results in bees of uncertain temper, and 

 sometimes difficult to handle," but " the 

 characteristics show less uncertainty of tem- 

 per with succeeding crosses." Is it not the 

 other way in this country? Certainly some 

 have reported that viciousness of disposition 

 has increased with succeeding generations. 

 How is it with others? 



Miscellaneous 

 flews -Items 



C 8 



The Washington State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association is officered by the following: 

 Anson White, President; Arthur Hanson, 

 Vice-President; William P. Clarke, Treas- 

 urer; and Virgil Sires, of North Takima, Sec- 

 retary. 



Fiity Years a Bee Keeper.— Geo. 8. 



VVheeler, of New Ipswich, N. H., wrote us a6 

 follows lately, when renewing his subscrip- 

 tion for another year : 



"I am always interested in the 'old re- 

 liable ' American Bee Journal, having had it 

 to read on and off since it was published in 

 Washington, D. C. This is my 51st year in 

 bee-keeping, it having been 50 years on June 

 22 since I had my first swarm." 



The Apiary of L. L. Whitson, of Blue 



Island, III., is shown on the first page this 

 week. When sending the photograph, early 

 last spring, Mr. W. wrote as follows : 



Editor American Bee Journal:— I am 

 mailing jou a photograph of my small apiary 

 of 7 colonies. It also shows the bee-hou6e at- 

 tached to the ba-n. I built it just like an 

 ice-hou6e, for the purpose of wintering the 

 bees and using it fora work-house in summer. 



My place is located in the city, and I can't 

 keep any more than 8 or 10 colonies. I ex- 

 pect some time to locate where I can have a 

 place fora few hundred colonies. 



Two of the hives shown, Nos. 10 and 12, I 

 moved on July 12, 1905, both being swarms a 

 few weeks before. By moving them over 1 ' . 

 miles I thought I would surely lose them", 

 but such was not the case. No. 10 gave me 

 21 pounds of honey, and was in good condi- 

 tion. No. 12 was good and strong in the 

 fall. 



This will be my third year as an amateur 

 bee-keeper, and I have received most of my 

 information from the American Bee Journal. 

 L. L. Whitson. 



There are many amateur bee-keepers in this 

 country who are deriving not only consider- 

 able pleasure from their bees, but also quite 



a little honey. ODe of the most successfu 

 bee-keeping amateurs we ever heard of, lived 

 in Chicago some years ago. He owned a 25- 

 foot lot, and on the back of it kept his bees. 

 He averaged something like 100 pounds of 

 comb honey per colony about the third year, 

 from 8 or 10 colonies. He was employed in a 

 bank during the day, and oared for his bees 

 mornings and evenings. The honey was 

 gathered mostly from sweet clover, of which 

 there was a large supply within easy distance 

 from his apiary. 



Mr. Whitson certainly has a very neat little 

 bee-yard, and some day, should he locate 

 where he can have several hundred colonies, 

 as he mentions, no doubt he will become one 

 of the leading bee-keepers of this country. 

 Nearly every one who succeeds in any calling 

 begins in a small way, and increases his busi- 

 ness with his experience. This is the safest 

 way. "Slow, but sure " is best. 



Father Langstroth— the inventor of the 

 movable frame which so revolutionized bee- 

 keeping in this country— never was an exten- 

 sive bee-keeper, and yet he wrote the best 

 book on bees that had appeared up to his 

 time. While large numbers of colonies are 

 all right for gaining certain kinds of experi- 

 ence, it is often from a smaller number that 

 special investigations and experiments can be 

 conducted most successfully. The bee-keeper 

 whonumbers his colonies by the thousands, 

 and his apiaries by the tens, often has not the 

 time to conduct experiments or discover cer- 

 tain valuable things. Many interesting things 

 can be learned from the manipulation of le6S 

 than 10 colonies. Of course, it may not be 

 considered commercial bee-keeping, neverthe- 

 less it is all right. The extensive bee-keep- 

 ers, as well as the smaller ones, are all needed 

 to constitute the apicultural business as it ex- 

 ists to-day. All can not be Capt. Hethering- 



tons, neither would all care to remain ama 

 teurs like Mr. Whitson and many others. 

 However, in a season like the present in many 

 localities the amateur has just as much sur- 

 plus honey as the extensive bee-keeper, and 

 he has not nearly so much invested in the 

 business; hence, not so much to risk. Of 

 course, in a good season like that of 1903, the 

 amateur is scarcely to be mentioned in the 

 same day with the bee-keeper who has hun- 

 dreds of colonies, when it comes to quantity 

 of surplus honey. However, we wish all of 

 them success— both the small amateurs and 

 the large specialists. 



The West Michigan State Pair is to 



be held at Grand Rapids, Sept. 10 to 14, in- 

 clusive. Mr. A. G. Woodman is the super- 

 intendent of the apiarian department, which 

 insures its being a success. The following is 



the liberal premium-list: 



1st. 2d. 3d. 



Nuclei hybrid bees $6$2f 1 



Nuclei Italian bees 3 2 1 



Nuclei of Carniolan bees 3 2 1 



Display of 3 different strains of 

 bees 3 2 1 



Queen - rearing nuclei, showing 

 frame of queen-cells 5 3 2 



Specimens of comb honey — not less 

 than 10 lbs. — quality and manner 

 of putting up for market to be 

 considered 5 3 2 



Display of comb honey — appear- 

 ance, quality and condition for 

 market to govern 25 15 10 



Specimens of extracted honey — not 

 less than 10 lbs — quality and 

 manner of putting up for mar- 

 ket to be considered 4 3 2 



Display of extracted honey — quan- 

 tity, quality, condition for mar- 

 ket and arrangement to govern. 20 10 5 



Beeswax — specimen not less than 

 10 pounds 3 8 1 



Most attractive display of honey- 

 producing plants, pressed, 

 mounted and named 3 2 1 



Largest number of samples of dif- 

 ferent kinds of honey — each 

 named 2 1 



Largest, best, most interesting and 

 instructive exhibit in the depart- 

 ment 15 10 6 



The exhibition of all kinds of implements 

 and bee-keepers' supplies is invited, for 

 which space will be provided. Diploma given 

 to best exhibit. 



All strains of bees to be bred by exhibitor, 

 and plainly labeled and placed in observatory 

 hives, appearance of hive to be considered. 



Entries close Saturday, Sept. 1, 1906. 



Nuclei must be exhibited in such shape as 

 to be s«en on at least two side6. 



All honey to be the product of the exhibi- 

 tor, and to be product of 1906. 



Those desiring further information can ad- 

 dress A. G. Woodman, Grand Rapids, Mich. 



Hawks and Clover-Blossoms. — We 



find the following paragraph in one of the 

 magazines under the heading, " Don't Kill 

 the Hawks," taken from Country Life in 

 America : 



Man has 6inned more than any other animal 

 in trifling with Nature's balance. Clover 

 crops and the killing of hawks are apparently 

 unrelated, yet the hawks eat the field-mice, 

 the field-mice prey on the immature bees, 

 and the bees fertilize the clover-blossoms. 

 The death of a hawk means an over-increase 

 of field-mice and a consequent destruction of 

 the bees. 



Quirin's Queen Advertisement ap- 

 pears on page "07. The testimonials are in- 

 teresting, being unsolicited. 



