S78 



Oct. 18, 1906 



up ol certain problems which have been ad- 

 vocated for a number of years, but which 

 could not be worked out while he had but one 

 person engaged in this line of investigation. 



During the past year about 60 colonies of 

 bees were purchased to be used for experi- 

 mental purposes The largest number was 

 placed in an apiary located beside the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture building, at Washing- 

 ton, and about a dozen were put into an api- 

 ary located on the Arlington Experimental 

 Farm, and there was, in addition to these two 

 apiaries under the management of the home 

 office, a small apiary of 12 colonies placed on 

 the grounds of the Plant Introduction Garden 

 at Chico, Calif. 



During the past year seeds of certain plants, 

 which are noted for their honey-producing 

 qualities, were distributed to almost 500 bee- 

 keepers throughout the United States. The 

 object of this distribution was to find out to 

 what extent it would be profitable to intro- 

 duce these plants to different parts of the 

 country upon a scale sufficiently large to 

 make them of commercial advantage to the 

 bee-keeper. Reports from these plants will 

 be sent in the fall of 1905, and from these re- 

 ports it will be possible to ascertain the 

 proper course to be pursued in recommenda- 

 tions to bee-keeper6 of the country and in 

 future distributions. 



The subject of bee-diseases has been inves" 

 tigated to a certain extent, samples of dis- 

 eased comb have been received from various 

 parts of the United States, and pure cultures 

 made of the bacteria which they were found 

 to contain. The principal advantage so far 

 obtained from this work has consisted in the 

 information given to the persons sending 

 such combs, as to the nature of the disease 

 prevalent in their apiaries, and information 

 as to the improved methods of treatment. 



The work of distributing queen-bees of new 

 races has been continued. The principal dis- 

 tributions which have been made are queens 

 of the Caucasian variety, 6ince this race has 

 shown itself to be very superior on account 

 of its very gentle disposition. Queens have 

 also been distributed which were derived 

 from other races, notable among these being 

 the crosses obtained by mating Cyprian 

 queens to Carniolan or Caucasian drones. 

 There still remains a great deal to be deter- 

 mined as to the comparative value of differ- 

 ent crosses, and it is hoped that the distribu- 

 tions made, together with the work which 

 will be done in the future, will help to solve 

 this very important problem in apiculture. 



The work of introducing into the United 

 States the giant bees of India and the Philip- 

 pines has at last been undertaken, and Mr. 

 Frank Benton, who is in charge of apiculture 

 in this Department, sailed early in June to 

 take up this work, which, of course, will not 

 be completed for some months. The ques- 

 tion of introducing this kind of honey-bee 

 has been much discussed by the bee-keepers 

 of the United States, and the requests which 

 have come to this Department for help in 

 solving this problem have indicated that the 

 successful introduction of this bee will be 

 very acceptable to the vast majority of the 

 bee-keepers of the United States, this bee 

 has practically never been kept in hives simi- 

 lar to those used for the ordinary honey-bee 

 (Apis melUfera), but certain investigations 

 conducted by Mr. Benton before he was con- 

 nected with the Department of Agriculture, 

 indicate the possibility of such domestication, 

 and warrant the work which has just been 

 undertaken relative to their introduction. 



The amount of correspondence which has 

 been received relative to apiculture has very 

 greatly increased during the past year, indi- 

 cating that this industry is becoming more 

 and more popular throughout all parts of 

 the country, and showing a very decided 

 growth of this pursuit. 



Several State experiment stations have 

 taken up experimental work in apiculture, 

 and have written for information to this 

 office. Assistance has in all cases been given 

 for this work, necessitating, in many cases, 

 the expenditure of a good deal of time in the 



American Ttee Journal 



outlining of work which would be of particu- 

 lar value to the State in which the experi- 

 ment station is located. 



To facilitate the work of the office, and to 

 have on hand information which is repeatedly 

 called for, a catalog of the officers of the 

 various State, county, and town apicultural 

 societies has been begun, and will be com- 

 pleted very soon. There has also been started 

 a list of various bee keepers, supply dealers, 



bee-disease inspectors and queen-breeders, 

 since requests for such information are sent 

 to thi6 office repeatedly. 



Assistance has also been given to several 

 persons engaged in more strictly scientific 

 work, such as the furnishing of material for 

 cytological preparations, the study of the 

 development of the honey-bee, and certain 

 problems connected with the investigation of 

 the subject of variation. 



(Miscellaneous 

 flews -Items 



Mr. Alsoti Secor, Associate Editor of 

 Successful Farming, and son of Hon. Eugene 

 Secor, so well known to bee-keepers, also dips 

 into poetry sometimes, as the following indi- 

 cates : 



Pirates of the Air. 



How does the little robber-bee 

 Employ her caustic powers? 



She "toileth not, nor doth she spin " 

 Nor visit any flowers. 



She sails around about the yard — 



A pirate of the air; 

 If luckless you she chance to meet, 



She nestles in your hair. 



A show of fight, a groan of pain — 

 She's climbed your upper deck. 



And ere you gave her one good swat 

 You ''got it in the neck." 

 Des Moines, Iowa. 



The National Convention at San An- 

 tonio, Tex., Nov. S, 9, and 10, promises to be 

 a great affair. The bee-keepers of Texas are 

 planning some good thing6 for all who will be 

 present, as is indicated by the following from 

 Mr. Toepperwein— a member of the Commit- 

 tee on Arrangements : 



We have made arrangements for the Na- 

 tional, Nov. 8, 9, and 10, and have selected 

 Market Hall, in this city, to hold the conven- 

 tion. It will seat 1000 people. 



We have selected Grand Central Hotel as 

 headquarters for the bee-keepers. These 

 people guarantee to accommodate 50 bee- 

 keepers, and think they can aecommociate 

 100. Whatever they can't accommodate they 

 will find outside nice rooming places in the 

 neighborhood of the Hotel. In this way all 

 bee- keepers can have a chance to stay not far 

 from the convention hall. The Hotel has 100 

 rooms, all very fine and furnished nicely. It 

 is a brand new Hotel, and we have secured 

 special rates for beekeepers of 50 cents a 

 berth, and 25 cents a meal. The restaurant 

 is separate from the Hotel, but under the 

 same management. I believe the bee keepers 

 will be highly pleased. 



We have also planned a trolley ride and a 

 Mexican supper. The San Antonio people 

 will elect the sweetest lady between 16 and 

 20 years of age to be queen of the convention, 

 and this lady will be introduced to the bee- 

 keepers, and presented with a handsome gold 

 watch on the stage at the Fair grounds. 



Thursday, Nov. S, is Bee-Keepers' Day at 

 the Fair, and advertised that way by the Fair 

 Association. I believe it would be a good 

 idea to go ahead and advertise the conven- 

 tion so that we will have a good attendance. 

 Udo Toepperwein. 



Aa nearly all of our readers know, arrange- 



ments are being made for a special car, leav- 

 ing Chicago at 10:3" a.m., Nov. 6, and arriv- 

 ing in San Antonio the morning of the 8th, 

 in time for the first session of the National 

 Convention. The round-trip rate from Chi- 

 cago will be §25, with $4.25 for berth two 

 nights. We hope that all who can arrange to 

 join the special carload will let us know in 

 good time, so that we can reserve berths for 

 them. There should be a sufficient number 

 of bee-keepers east and north of Chicago to 

 make the required number in order to secure 

 a special bee-keepers' ear. The Home-Seek- 

 ers' Excursion tickets will be. taken advan- 

 tage of for the National Convention, and are 

 good for 30 days from date of issue, Nov. 6. 



Secretary Hutchinson has been working on 

 the program for the San Antonio Convention, 

 and will soon have it ready for publication. 



The following letter referring to railroad 

 rates to the National Convention at San An- 

 tonio, was received at this office recently, 

 showing the cost of Home-Seekers' Excursion 

 tickets from a number of points: 



George W. York & Co — 



Gentlemen: — I have pleasure in advising 

 you that for the annual convention of bee- 

 keepers to be held at San Antonio, Tex., Nov. 

 8, 9, and 10, 1906, the Missouri, Kansas & 

 Texas Railway will authorize a rate of one 

 first-class fare plus 50 cents for the round- 

 trip from Indian Territory and Oklahoma 

 points, for the sale of excursion tickets Nov. 

 6, 7, 8, the final return limit Nov. 13. 



On Nov. 6 there will be on sale Home- 

 Seekers' Excursion tickets from St. Louis. 

 Hannibal and Kansas City at the rate of $20 

 for the round-trip to San Antonio. From 

 Chicago the rate is -$25, from St. Paul and 

 Minneapolis §27.50, from Des Moines $23, 

 and from Omaha and Council Bluffs $22.50. 

 From all these points tickets are on sale via 

 the M., K. it T. Railway — a line with its own 

 through trains over its own rails from St. 

 Louis and Kansas City to San Antonio. The 

 excursion tickets on sale Nov. 6, 7, 8, will be 

 good 30 days from date of sale, and will, in 

 addition, admit the stop-over privileges on 

 both the going and return trip. This will 

 enable the delegates to make a very delightful 

 trip to the great "winter resort " of Texas, 

 and at the same time get a better and more 

 intimate knowledge of the great and growing 

 Southwest. W. S. St. George. 



We may say that at this date (Oct. 14) a 

 number of bee-keepers have notified us that 

 they desire to join us in the special car-load 

 company, among them being the following: 



President and Mrs. C. P. Dadant, Louis 



