Tail 



Sept. 6, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



present, not only for the sake of attending 

 the convention, but for their general good. 



We recently found the following paragraph 

 in the Orange Judd Farmer, which, although 

 not on bee-keeping, still is pretty good advice 

 for bee-keepers, as well as everybody else: 



Traveling is a great educator. Of course it 

 costs money, but every person should aim to 

 travel some, even though it should not be 

 much. The aim should be to travel in the 

 line of one's needs; that is, to travel so that 

 it will benefit the individual in the line of his 

 work. The farmer, as a rule, does not travel 

 much. Because he does not, he is apt to over- 

 estimate the importance of things that are 

 near. He is also apt to overestimate the im- 

 portance of his own system of doing things. 

 About the only remedy for this circumscribed 

 vision is to do a little traveling. Even going 

 to a neighboring county may let in much 

 light. Going to a neighboring State may let 

 in more. The more light that thus comes in, 

 the wider is the horizon of vision. Each 

 added piece of information helps to make a 

 broader man. Those who can, therefore, 

 should travel a little. Money judiciously 

 spent in that way is not lost. 



There is no doubt that getting away from 

 home and seeing the country, besides meeting 

 ' other people, are good things for any one. 

 Time and again, bee-keepers have told us that 

 they felt well repaid for attending conven- 

 tions, no matter how far they had to go from 

 home. It certainly gives one a broader out- 

 look to be acquainted with more of the world 

 than lies simply around home. A bee-keeper 

 is no exception to this rule. There are many 

 good things said at conventions that never 

 wpuld appear in print. There are also many 

 conversations between sessions of the conven- 

 tion that are invaluable. There are acquaint- 

 ances formed and experiences exchanged that 

 can not be gotten in any way except by at- 

 tending the conventions. 



Unless one gets away from home and sees 

 other parts of our great country, he is likely 

 to feel dissatisfied, and thinks he would pre- 

 fer to live somewhere else than just where he 

 is located. We think we are safe in saying 

 that after seeing the country through certain 

 parts of New Mexico and Arizona, on the way 

 to the Los Angeles Convention, there was 

 more thau one bee-keeper in the region of 

 Lake Michigan who was better satisfied than 

 ever with his own home and surroundings. It 

 is also a nice thing to see other parts of the 

 world, so far as possible, as it extends one's 

 vision, and gives him new ideas. 



Personally, we have never been further 

 60Uth than St. Louis, and are looking forward 

 with much pleasure to the trip to San Anto- 

 nio. We have heard great things from that 

 section of the country, and have long desired 

 to see what it looks like, and also to meet as 

 many as possible of the practical bee-keep- 

 ers in that region. The South ought to be 

 about the be6t country for bees in the United 

 •States. They have the longest blossoming 

 season, and no wintering question. Very 

 likely during the next few years there will be 

 greater strides made in bee-keeping in the 

 South than in any other part of the country. 

 The business is pretty well developed in the 

 North, and as more Northern bee-keepers 

 push into the South, and as the people already 

 there become more interested in bee-keeping, 

 the industry will receive a great impetus. 

 The meeting of the National Bee-Keepers' 



Association in San Antonio will undoubtedly 

 be a great event for the bee-keepers in that 

 part of the United States. It should be used 

 to create a new interest in bee-keeping there, 

 as it is the first time the National Convention 

 will have met in the far South. We hear of 

 thorough preparations being made by Texas 

 bee-keepers to take care of the convention. 

 They certainly will do their part toward en" 

 tertaining, and seeing that it is a great meet- 

 ing. It is none too early to prepare for at- 

 tending it. The weeks slip away so rapidly 

 that the time to start will be here very soon. 

 It is hoped to assemble enough bee-keepers in 

 Chicago to take a special car to San Antonio. 

 The round-trip rate will be $25 from here. 

 The cost of a berth in the tourist sleeper costs 

 less than $5 one way, and it will take two 

 nights to make the trip. Those who were 

 fortunate enough to be in the car going to 

 Los Angeles from Chicago, in 1903, will cer- 

 tainly want to go in the special ear to San 

 Antonio. It is much more enjoyable to go on 

 such a trip with others interested in the same 

 business. 



We will be pleased to announce in the 

 American Bee Journal the names of all who 

 will go in the special car, starting from Chi- 

 cago Nov. 6. The exact hour of leaving will 

 be announced later. We will be pleased to 

 reserve berths for all who will let us know in 

 time. It will go over the Frisco System. 



Pollination of Cucumbers 



Farmers' Bulletin No. 254, issued by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, is 

 devoted to cucumbers. It tells all about how 

 to grow them both outdoors and indoors; also 

 as to preparing them for market. Under the 

 directions for forcing-house cucumbers it 

 gives the following paragraph, which men- 

 tions the aid of bees in pollinating blossoms: 



" Under greenhouse conditions and at the 

 time of year that the cucumber is forced it is 

 necessary to provide for pollination. In 

 small establishments this work can be done by 

 hand. The staminate blossoms are removed, 

 the petals turned back so as to allow the an- 

 thers to project, and the pencil thus produced 

 is then thrust into a cup of the pistillate 

 flower. In large establishments where hand- 

 pollination is out of the question, a colony of 

 honey-bees is placed in each house to accom- 

 plish the work." 



It is commonly known that growers of 

 early cucumbers in greenhouses purchase col- 

 onies of bees in the spring for U6e in pollinat- 

 ing the cucumber blossoms. There are many 

 such cucumber-growers around Chicago, and 

 some bee-keepers sell quite a number of colo- 

 nies of bees to them every spring. Evidently 

 the work done by the bees is far ahead of any- 

 thing attempted by hand-pollination. 



Pure 3-Banded Italians Ahead 



Recently Wm. M. Whitney, of LakeGeneva, 

 Wis., called on us, aud in speaking about the 

 work of various strains of bees this season, 

 he remarked that pure Italians had produced 

 better results in surplus honey than bis mon- 

 grels. Since he returned to his home he has 

 investigated closely, and wrote us as follows 

 under date of Aug. 23: 



You remember that when there I said some- 

 thing about the work of my bees in the pro- 



duction of surplus honey. The facts are, 

 that all the surplus I have gotten has come 

 from my thoroughbred 3-banded Italians, and 

 not a section from the mongrels, which have 

 had the same treatment so far as it was pos- 

 sible for me to give; with colonies so strong 

 that 60 percent of them swarmed while being 

 nicely shaded, but only 9 percent of the Ital- 

 ians swarmed, and all standing in the sun. In 

 fact, I tried to induce some of the latter to 

 swarm, as I wanted to get queens from them, 

 but had to force the building of queen-cells 

 by division. Now, this has been my experi- 

 ence time and again. I do not want any- 

 thing better than the 3-banded Italians prop- 

 erly bred. I do not believe there 16 anything 

 better. Wm. M. Whitnet. 



Queen-Cage Canily— Important. 



The following paragraphs are taken from 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture for Aug. 15: 



In selecting an extracted honey to use for 

 making a queen-cage candy, it is very impor- 

 tant that the source of that honey be known. 

 If unknown it should be thoroughly boiled to 

 disinfect it from any possible germs of black 

 or foul brood. One boiling may not be suffi- 

 cient. Boil it one hour and let it stand two 

 or three day6, and then boil again another 

 hour. This is better than boiling three hours 

 all at onetime. 



One can readily see, if he will reflect a mo- 

 ment, how foul brood might be spread 

 through the agency of bee-candy. Most of 

 the mailing-cages now are self-introducing 

 by the bees eating out the candy and finally 

 releasing the queen. Suppose this candy is 

 contaminated with germs of black or foul 

 brood. The chances are that the colony to 

 which this queen was introduced would soon 

 show symptoms of disease, even though the 

 colony or bee-yard whence this queen came 

 might be perfectly healthy. 



This matter is so important that I would re- 

 spectfully suggest that our apicultural ex- 

 changes bring the matter before their readers. 

 In the meantime the purchaser of the queens, 

 if he wishes to be on the safe side, taking no 

 risk, may recage the queen received in the 

 mails, introducing her by means of bee-candy 

 made of honey out of his own yard. 



We are glad to help pass along the above 

 caution. As it is the season when many are 

 requeening extensively, the advice is very 

 opportune. Too much care can not be ex- 

 ercised in the matter. 



Do Bees Puncture Grapes? 



The article by Mr. John Kennedy, page rr>r, 

 bears internal evidence of the desire to be en- 

 tirely fair, even to the acknowledging of one's 

 self in the wrong. It reminds of the story of 

 the man standing on the ground looking at a 

 mud-and-stick chimney being built. The 

 man on top called to the man on the ground. 

 "Is it plumb?" Promptly came the answer, 

 " Yes, it's plumb, and a Ueth more." Mr. 

 Kennedy is fair, "anda leetle more." 



Here is the case before us: The grapes 

 were punctured; the birds were driven away, 

 and thus not guilty; bees were there in 

 plenty, and so guilty. 



Suppose Jones on trial for theft : A coat 

 hung on a nail in the evening is missing in 

 the morning. An alibi is proven for Smith 

 and Brown, hence their innocence; but Rob- 

 inson swears he saw Jones in the room where 

 the coat was in the evening. Would any jury 

 convict Jones of theft? No; they would say : 

 " Yes, you saw Jones in the room; but did 

 you 6ee him take the coal?" Mr. Kennedy, 

 did you see the bees pierce the grapes? 



To be sure, if there were positive evidence 



