798 



Sept. 20, 1906 



American Ttee Journal 



the colony. However that may be, it Is cer- 

 tain that imprisonment in the hive for a time, 

 protected from the attacks of the bees, tend6 

 to her safety when liberated. So the time of 

 imprisonment is lengthened by having a piece 

 of cardboard over the plug of candy, making 

 the time longer for the bees to liberate her. 

 Mr. E. T. Abbott advises this imprisonment 

 without losing the time of the old laying 

 queeD. He puts the caged queen in the hive 

 with the plug of candy covered by tin or 

 otherwise, so the bees cannot get at it, the 

 old queen continuing to lay in the hive. Two 

 or 3 days later the old queen is removed, and 

 the covering taken from the plug of candy, 

 when the bees do the rest. 



With these general principles in mind, it 

 will be seen that the method of introduction, 

 given on page 718, which is in very general 

 use, ought usually to succeed. But neither 

 that nor the starving, nor the cold-douche 

 method can be classed as " safe and certain " 

 invariably. There is perhaps only one method 

 in that class, and it is so exacting in its de- 

 mands that it is not likely to be used often, 



although it may be well worth the trouble 

 when a valuable queen is in question. Here 

 is the method : 



Take several frames of sealed brood, as 

 much of it as possible about ready to emerge, 

 but without any bee out of its cell; put the 

 queen with these in a hive, allowing the 

 queen's escort to accompany her if she has 

 come through the mail with an escort of bees; 

 keep the hive closed bee-tight for 5 days, 

 making sure that there shall be no brood 

 chilled, either by keeping the hive in a warm 

 room (if the outdoor weather be too cool) or 

 over a strong colony with double wire-cloth 

 between the 2 stories, so the heat from be- 

 low can rise without allowing communication 

 with the bees; and at the expiration of the 5 

 days set the hive on its stand, open the en- 

 trance only enough for 1 or 2 bees to pass, 

 making it larger as the colony becomes 

 stronger. As the young bees that emerge 

 have known no other queen, of course there 

 can be no hostility. 



But to give several safe and certain methods 

 — that is asking a little too much. 



(Miscellaneous 

 flews - Items 



==^ 



BHV 



San Antonio National Convention. — 



As previously announced, it is hoped that a 

 special car-load of bee-keepers can be secured 

 to start from Chicago for the San Antonio 

 Convention Tuesday, Nov. 6, arriving there 

 the morning of the 8th. The train leaves 

 Chicago at 10:37 a.m. A round-trip ticket 

 will co9t §25, good for 30 days. A berth in 

 a trourist-sleeper will be $4.25 for the one- 

 way trip, as it takes 2 nights. Stop-overs on 

 this excursion ticket can be had at any point 

 south of Sullivan, Mo.. 68 miles from St. 

 Louis, both going and returning. Already 

 several bee-keepers have notified us of their 

 intention to join the special-car party. We 

 would be glad to hear from others. We will 

 reserve berths a little later, so that all can be 

 accommodated. Next week we hope to have 

 more to say about it. Any one who expects 

 to go will do well to write us for descriptive 

 matter about " Frisco Trains to Texas " and 

 points of interest along the way. 



year. I do not think this is a good country 

 for specialists, and so I will move my bees to 

 the vicinity of Uvalde county this fall. But, 

 as already intimated, I am alone, and the 

 prospectof having to " bach it " in that coun- 

 try is, to say tbe least, a little discouraging; 

 but unless some one of our '■ bachelor " bee- 

 keeping sisters can help me along this line, I 

 may have it to do. 



We Texans are delighted to have the Na- 

 tional Convention at San Antonio this fall, 

 where we surely hope to meet all those old 

 veterans like Dr. Miller, G. M. Doolittle, and 

 many others whose writings we have been 

 reading so long; and we could never forgive 

 them should they disappoint us. 



J. M. Reed. 



The Apiary ol Mr. J. M. Reed, of 



Big Valley, Tex., is shown on the front page. 

 When sending the photograph, on Aug. 7, 

 Mr. Reed wrote as follows: 



The building in the background is an old 

 cotton-gin. Besides this apiary I have 2 out 

 bee-yards, 3 and 6 miles from home. The 

 good family with whom I make my home, 

 appears in the picture with myself. The 

 hives in this yard are of my own make, but, 

 all things considered, I have decided that it 

 does not pay to make hives, and I am now 

 using the factory-made 10-frame Langstroth 

 hives. The honey crop in this locality is a 

 complete failure this year, and was short last 



The Apiary of Mr. G. A. Bleeoh, of 



Jerome, Mich., is also shown on the front 

 page this week. Mr. B. wrote thus on Aug. 7: 



My bee-keeping dates back 22 years, when I 

 began with 4 colonies in box-hives, one bee- 

 book, one bee-paper, and the knowledge that 

 bees had a stinger and would use it, and 

 would sometimes produce a little surplus 

 honey. 



The first year ended with an increase to 12 

 colonies, and 160 pounds of comb honey. My 

 diary shows that the second year ended with 

 an increase to 20 colonies, and 600 pounds of 

 comb honey. 



From the second year until the present my 

 honey crops have varied from 25 pounds per 

 colony up to 160 pounds each, spring count. 

 Last year was the banner year, with 8000 

 pounds from 50 colonies. The present season 

 will be nearly as good. 



My yard at present consists of 150 colonies — 

 50 in 10-frame chaff hives, and 100 in dovetail 

 10-frame hives. 



I am one of Dr. Miller's despised "farmer 

 bee-keepers." At the National Convention 

 in Chicago, last year, I heard him make an 



assertion in regard to the " farmer bee- 

 keeper," from which I drew the conclusion 

 that in the Doctor's estimation the " farmer 

 bee-keeper " was worse than foul brood it- 

 self. Hold on, Doctor, don't shoot! but if 

 you do, load your gun with honeyed pop-corn- 

 balls. 



I have never had a case of foul brood nor 

 any other disease in my yard. I do not have 

 to depend upon my farmer neighbors to grow 

 clover for me, as the Doctor has to do. I 

 grow from 20 to 30 acres of alsike clover my- 

 self, which, in my locality, is the best honey- 

 producing plant growing. The honey from 

 alsike clover is equal, if not superior, to 

 honey from white clover, and it is a much 

 better producer. I grow clover seed and fur- 

 nish it to my neighbors within reach of my 

 bees, at half the market price. 



At the beginning of my bee-keeping career 

 I produced comb honey, but during the last 

 few years my honey has been mostly ex- 

 tracted. 



I made my flr6t 50 chaff hives, but of late 

 years I have been buying hives in the flat, 

 and think it the cheaper way, although I am 

 a carpenter as well as a " farmer bee-keeper." 



During my 22 years of bee-keeping I have 

 always had a fall honey-flow; if not enough 

 for surplus, at least enough for winter stores, 

 60 that I have never had to feed. 



I prefer the 10-frame hive, and I do not 

 think I could produce extracted honey with- 

 out the queen-excluder. I have tried the 

 " shook," the " shaken," and the returning 

 plan, but for the production of extracted 

 honey, in my estimation, there is no plan bet- 

 ter than to let the bees swarm once. Only 

 from 50 to 60 percent of my bees ewarm. Cut 

 all cell6 but one out of the parent colony, or 

 cut all and give a virgin queen, are the plans 

 I practise most. 



Every 2 years I buy a half-dozen queen6 to 

 put new blood into my yard. 



I read 3 bee-papers, go to ail bee-keeper6' 

 conventions I possibly can, and, if I live, and 

 nothing unforeseen prevents, I will go to the 

 San Antonio Convention in November. 



G. A. Bleech. 



Bee-Stings and Rheumatism. — We 



have received the following from Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant, President of the National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association : 



Mr. Editor:— I see. on page 753, that Mr. 

 Hasty takes me to task for indulging in rheu- 

 matism, unless I am prepared to admit that 

 bee-stings do not cure rheumatism. The 

 truth will out, and I must acknowledge that 

 the little bee is not to blame. She is still 

 right in her mission of cure. But for some 2 

 years I have been taking it easy, and allowing 

 the younger heads to take my place in the 

 apiary. No doubt many of our old bee-keep- 

 ers still remember me as the younger of the 

 Dadants. But I am now the senior, and have 

 done with the younger generation what my 

 father did with me— I have pushed them for- 

 ward, and they are now doing the principal 

 work of the apiaries. I have not been stung 

 more than a half-dozen times this season. So 

 you see the fault is not with the bees, and I 

 still preserve the faith that they can, and will, 

 cure rheumatism by the miracle of their 

 poison, if we expose ourselves to it with suf- 

 ficient regularity. The proof of my faith is 

 in the fact that I sent for some bees, while 

 lying down, and " took " a few voluntary 

 stings. Whether this or the doctor's poisons, 

 or both, did the work, my rheumatism is all 

 gone, and I am possibly a little healthier than 

 before. 



I do not feel that I could afford to let the 

 matter go unnoticed, for if it proves me to be 

 a little backward in bee-work of late, it also 

 proves that the bee may still hold up her 

 head as a healer of benumbed limbs. 



C. P. Dadant. 



