189', 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



653 



ketinz has always proven disastrous to the general farmer 

 because of lack of business tact and the small lots of produce 

 he has to offer. 



The only solution of the question of realizInK all there is 

 In the products of the farm lies in the proper practice of co- 

 operative marketing. The Utah Mormons have constructed 

 irrizatlon ditches, built up over 300 towns, and conquered 

 vast areas of desert by eo-op»rative exertions, fully demon- 

 stratine the fact that the principle is correct. In citing these 

 facts, Joel Shoemaker asks : "Why not adopt the methods 

 used in selling as well as in growing produce? Twenty fann- 

 ers could band together and practically control the com- 

 munity. Five of the best qualified men acting as a board of 

 directors could employ one of their own number as a manager, 

 and transact the business with profit to the entire commu- 

 nity." 



This plan has workt admirably and profitably in several 

 instances under our personal observation, and the efforts of 

 those enterprising fruit-growers at Montrose, Delta and Grand 

 .function, in organizing local market associations, seems a 

 very commendable movement. If it does not succeed as fully 

 as some may hope for the first season or so, it is a step in the 

 right direction, and must eventually lead to a better condi- 

 tion all along th" line. There is much to be learned in this as 

 in other things ; and, after all, we of the new West need a 

 good deal of schooling In most of our undertakings. 



These Stra-wlets, among others, were furnisht 

 Gleanings for Aug. 15, by Dr. Miller — the champion man-of- 

 straws (or straw-man) in the ranks of bee-keepers : 



Wiesbaden is where the big convention of German bee- 

 keepers will be. Wish I could be there ! 



Alfred Austin, England's poet laureate, is a member of 

 the Kent Bee Keepers' Association — not an honorary member, 

 but pays his subscription. 



Ants in hives. M. Guilleininot, in L'Apiculteur, says he 

 is successful in getting rid of ants by first removing what he 

 can of their nests, then sprinkling well with finely crusht 

 soot. 



Did you ever notice that, in enlarging the brood-nest, the 

 queen often lays first on the side of a fresh comb furthest 

 from the broodnest ? I wonder why. [I never noticed it. — 

 Ed.] 



The Belgian Government has issued an order that all 

 railway embankments shall be covered with honey-plants. — 

 Bienen-Vater. May be that will happen here, if the Govern- 

 ment runs the railroads. 



The Argentine Republic, as reported by M. Michaut in 

 Apiculteur, is a paradise for bee-keepers — no failures from 

 drouth or moisture (except once in l'2orJ5 years grasshop- 

 pers allow a quarter crop) ; no foul brood or other disease ; no 

 moth; abundant harvest for three months in the vast alfalfa 

 fields, and an average yield of 75 pounds a colony at 3 cents 

 a pound, and '6\i pounds of wax at 20 cents. Perhaps Prof. 

 Bruner will tell us about it. 



A House Full of Bees. — In a recent issue of the 

 New York Witness, we find the following correspondence from 

 Gale's Ferry, Conn., under date of June 27, telling about a 

 very large quantity of bees : 



On the Centre Groton road, two miles from this village, is 

 a large, old-fashioned house of cozy appearance, which is fairly 

 dripping with honey. The dwelling is owned by Albert Ben- 

 nett. It is fully 100 years old, and is so completely sur- 

 rounded by cloverfields, groves of locust trees, and beds of 

 old-fashioned flowers as to be very attractive to passers-by, 

 as well as to bees. Nearly five years ago bees became so 

 plentiful in the fertile tract that several swarms of them 

 made their homes between the clapboards and lath of Mr. 

 Bennett's house, near the peak of the west end, and since that 

 time they have spread all over the house, until now they are 

 troublesome in hot weather. A few days ago Mrs. Bennett 

 left an attic room open for an hour or two, and upon her re- 

 turn found that a colony of the bees had crawled through a 

 partition and swarmed In the room. They drove her from the 

 apartment. 



During the years the bees have been living in the walls 

 of the house, the crop of honey has been steadily accumulat- 

 ing, and it is now so abundant that, under the influence of 

 the hot summer sun. It oozes out from under the clapboards In 

 various places, and one has only to place vessels beneath to 

 catch as fine a grade of extracted honey as Is being stored in 



Connecticut to-day. Good judges of honey-gathering believe 

 there is more than half a ton of honey and comb under the 

 clapboard, and Mr. Bennett has consented (such a nuisance 

 have the bees become) to have the crop harvested next fall. 

 To do this it will be necessary to strip the clapboards off the 

 house, and the job will have to be deferred until cold weather 

 In order to avoid the risk of angering such a mass of bees. 



Here's a fine chance for the Porters to try their honey- 

 house bee-escape on a large scale ! They might send a hun- 

 dred or so to Mr. Bennett, and thus assist him to let out his 

 big houseful of bees, so that he could wade In and help him- 

 self to the honey without being smothered by several bushels 

 of the stings. Nothing like trying an experiment, you know 



Advantagfe of Big Colonies.— The old apiarian 

 proverb — " Keep all colonies strong "—contains sage advice. 

 It doesn't take a bee-keeper many years to find out that the 

 large, strong colonies are the ones that get the honey, if there 

 Is any at all to be had. Editor Root, in Gleanings, for Aug. 

 1, had this to say about big colonies : 



I have said a good deal regarding the advantage of large 

 colonies being non-swarmers, and the kind that produce 

 honey. Experience this season, as well as last, has pounded 

 the fact into my head more firmly than ever before. The 

 Dadants have long been exponents of big hives and big colo- 

 nies ; and while I believe they are exactly right in urging the 

 importance of having powerful colonies of hcei, I am not yet 

 prepared to believe that a large hive all in one brood-nest is 

 essential. During the past season we have secured largely 

 the same result as do the Dadants, with our 2-story 8-framers ; 

 namely, uo swarms and 100 pounds of extracted honey on 

 the average, per colony, and 50 pounds of comb honey. The 

 single-story 8-framers swarmed, and in some cases gave us 25 

 pounds. Hard facts and figures like these are worth a bushel 



of theories. 



< . >■ 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 



should be an agent for it, and eet all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See ofl'ers on page 551. 



Tl?e Weekly Budget 



Mr. Geo. H. Stipp, of California, has sent us some very nicely 

 illustrated pamphlets descriptive of Orange and Santa Clara coun- 

 ties, of that State. It's wonderful how Southern California is 

 pictured and shown up now-a-days. Must be a fine country to 

 visit. 



Mr. J. T. Hairston, of Indian Territory, has favored us 

 with a photographic view of a part of his apiary, consisting 

 of about 40 colonies. Mr. Hairston is making a success of 

 bee-keeping, and he deserves to. 



Mr. M. H. Memdelson, of "Ventura Co., Calif.. It Is re- 

 ported, "has made the best exhibit of this season's production 

 on display at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce." Mr. 

 M. is the great bean-honey man of Ills State. 



Pope Leo calls honey "that celestial gift." So Dr. 

 Miller says in a straw in Gleanings. And Editor Root shows 

 that he agrees with the pope in at least one thing, for he 

 adds this: "The pope Is right. No other sweet, pure and 

 simple, can be used for direct consumption without some 

 special manipulation on the part of man." 



Mr. Eugene Wander, of Hartford Co., Conn., sent us a 

 remittance Aug. 4, which pays his subscription to the end of 

 the year 1900. He is the first one to so distinguish himself. 

 But there is plenty of room for more just as prompt and gen- 

 erous as Mr. Wander. We hope many will follow his good 

 example, and " Wander " along in the same pleasant way. 



