(Entered at the Post-office at Chicago aa 8econd-Clasa Mail-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn Street. 



GEOKGE \V. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL., DECEMBER 13, 1906 



Vol. XLVI-No. 50 



editorial Motes 

 and Comments 



'**■ 



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Advance Notice When Selling Honey 



Sometimes a very little thing makes a big 

 difference in one's success. Here's one of 

 such little things, given in the Bee-Keepers' 

 Review by Geo. H. Kirkpatrick, which may 

 make no small difference in the number of 

 sales; especially seeing that along rural 

 routes men do not generally leave money 

 with their wives when its need is not fore- 

 seen: 



I give notice to the heads of families on a 

 certain R. F. D. Route, 10 days previous to 

 my canvass, by mailing a card that I've got- 

 ten out. On this card I give my occupation, 

 when established, and post-office. One sen- 

 tence reads : 



"Sir: — I wish to inform you that 1 will 

 canvass Rural Route No. [giving the number 

 of route and date of the day or days I will 

 make the canvass.]" 



In this way I largely increase my sales, as 

 the people are expecting me, and have saved 

 a dollar with which to purchase a pail of 

 honey. I am sure I make many more sales 

 by giving the people notice of my coming, 

 than I would were I to make the trip unex- 

 pectedly. 



♦ 



Preparing for Next Season 



The winter days will soon be here, and also 

 the long winter evenings. It will be the time 

 to prepare for next season's work with the 

 bees. 



First, and foremost, is the reading of bee- 

 books and bee-paper6. He who is best in- 

 formed these days, in any line of business, 

 should not only be able to get the most out of 

 his work in a financial way, but also enjoy 

 his work most, besides being of the greatest 

 service to those about him and to the world 

 at large. 



Perhaps you have read your bee-books be- 

 fore. Never mind, it will pay to go over 

 them again very carefully. Perhaps there 



never was a book written that could be 

 digested at the first reading. Especially is 

 this true of bee-books. And the same can be 

 said of bee-papers. We have yet to see one 

 that was not worth reading — that is, one 

 worthy to be called a bee- paper. 



During the hurry and heat of the summer 

 one scarcely feels like reading very much. But 

 the winter evenings are almost here, when, 

 with the rest of the family gathered around a 

 cozy fire, one can really enjoy reading, and 

 get great profit out of it for future days. 

 Doubtless many copies of the American Bee 

 Journal were merely glanced over during the 

 past 6 or 8 months. If so, the opportunity to 

 read them thoroughly will soon be here. Look 

 them up, and see the abundance of good 

 things that were overlooked. 



It may be true that with many the one just 

 past was a poor honey season. But the next 

 may be the best ever. Who knows? If it 

 should be a good season, that bee-keeper who 

 is be6t prepared to take greatest advantage of 

 the honey-flow will be the most successful. 



We know the inclination is to " let up " in 

 one's efforts to do anything further when dis- 

 couragements come. But the sun is not 

 always kept from shining. Cloudy days are 

 as needful as the sunshiny ones, and the lat- 

 ter are more appreciated by reason of the 

 former. 



The command that comes to each one of us 

 these December days is to "Go forward 1" 

 Profiting by the experiences of the past we 

 shall all be the better prepared to win success 

 in the future— whether it is with bees or any- 

 thing else. 



•- 



Caucasian Bees In Colorado 



Frank Rauchfuss imported 3 Caucasian 

 queens in the summer of 1900, and tells about 



them in Irrigation.^ He gives them the usual 

 credit for good-nature, and also mentions 

 among other things 6ome not so generally 

 known: 



They are *ery prolific, keeping the hive well 

 supplied with brood the season through, and 

 stand confinement in cages better than any 

 other race with which we are acquainted. On 

 a test a virgin queen was kept in a queen- 

 cage without bees for 30 days, and was quite 

 vigorous at the end of that time. They will 

 also mate and become good, useful queens 

 long after other queens are either worthless 

 or dead. 



The brood-chamber is hardly ever supplied 

 with stores, unless the giving of surplus room 

 is neglected, so that there is during the sea- 

 son always a good supply of brood. They 

 are not very much inclined to swarm, much 

 less so than Carniolans, and if they do pre- 

 pare for it they will not only start queen-cells 

 by the dozen, but by the hundred, which are 

 generously supplied with royal jelly. This 

 makes them the ideal bee for the queen- 

 breeder. 



In honey-gathering qualities they do not 

 come up to the best strains of Italians or Ital- 

 ian-hybrids. Nor is this to be expected in 

 the start, as they are likely to improve in this 

 direction by careful selection in breeding. 



We have wintered these bees on the sum- 

 mer stands without any additional protection, 

 ju6t like the rest of our stock, and they ap- 

 pear to be entirely hardy. 



Mr. Rauchfuss is quite hopeful as to results 

 of judicious crossing, saying "our experi- 

 ments of mating Caucasian queens to Italian 

 drones have given us a very gentle bee, of 

 fine working quality." 



This report is of value as coming from so 

 trustworthy a source after 6 years of quiet 

 opportunity for observation. 



Bees Mourn Their Keeper ! 



Several of our readers have kindly sent us 

 a clipping taken from various newspapers, 

 which shows the popular weakness for be- 

 lieving everything told about the wonderful 

 things bees know and do. It is surprising 

 what illuminated imaginations certain news- 

 paper reporters possess. The clipping re- 

 ferred to reads as follows : 



Wall Lake, Iowa, Nov. 12. — Oliver J. 

 Seers, a pioneer bee-man died suddenly. It 

 has been his custom to move among his bees 

 without covering his hands or face. The bees 

 followed him about the house and yard. In 

 the winter when their supplies ran low, he 

 fed them sugar syrup and rye-flour. He cov- 

 ered their hives with blankets to keep out the 



