

42dYEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 10, 1902, 



No, 15. 



* Editorial. % \ 



The Chicago Assooiation held its 

 semi-annual convention last Thursday after- 

 noon and eveuinfj:. The attendance was fair, 

 ami the meeting a good one. Two changes 

 were made in the constitution. The name 

 was changed from Chicago Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation to Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. Also, it was voted to hold an 

 annual meeting instead of semi-annual here- 

 after, and such meeting to be in the fall, in 

 Chicago, at the call of the executive commit- 

 tee. This will give a chance to select a time 

 when there are low railroad rates in force. 

 There is to be a two-daj's' meeting — Wednes- 

 day and Thursday. 



The above actions will, it is hoped, cause a 

 revival of an association fully equal to what 

 was once the old Northwestern convention, 

 which was so popular and intiuential some 20 

 years ago. There is nothing in the w'ay now 

 to prevent making this Association, both in 

 membership and influence, second only to the 

 National. It already has over CO paid mem- 

 bers. Let all who are included in the great 

 Northwest, resolve to be on hand at the meet- 

 ing next fall 



The Scene in Cuba, shown on the first 

 page, was sent us by John II. Martin (Ram- 

 bler). At the same time he wrote us as fol- 

 lows: 



Editok Yokk:— lam in a very mild climate 

 beside the climate you are in. It is even 

 more equable than in California. The nights 

 are so mild that a sheet is all that is necessary 

 for a covering. It is not too hot in the day- 

 time, but yet warm enough for light cotton 

 or duck clothing. A naked urchin is not an 

 unusual sight. Last Monday was Cuba's 

 national holiday — their Fourth of July. 

 There was a parade of school children — 14,000 

 in line. It was called purely a Cuban affair, 

 but behind it all were L'ncle Sam's methods. 



I hand you some snap-shots. You will note 

 the smart appearance, as well as good looks, 

 of the little folks. You ■ will note that the 

 color-line is not closely drawn here — black 

 and white march side by side, and sit side by 

 side in school. Yours truly, 



John II. M.^rtin. 



The picture which we reproduce, shows a 

 Cuban stone-house with tile roof, barred 

 windows, heavy shutters, and no glass. The 

 balcony is of elegant iron- work. 



What Causes Swarming"? is a ques- 

 tion of deep interest, forwith an exact knowl- 

 edge of the cause there might be strong hopes 

 of prevention. It is well known that some- 



thing may be done toward the prevention of 

 swarming by giving plenty of room, by shade 

 and ventilation, and by having young ((ueens, 

 but with the kn(jwledge of all these there 

 will still be cases of swarming; and just why 

 it is that bees swarm has generally been con- 

 sidered as one of the things dwelling very 

 nearly within the realm of mystery. S. D. 

 Chapman expresses some decided views upon 

 the subject in the Bee-Keepers' Review, and 

 in view of the importance of the subject his 

 views may be worth considering, even it not 

 proven correct. He thinks the swarming- 

 fever does not come from queen or drones, 

 but from the workers, and " almost invariably 

 has its origin with those bees that are nmbr l'> 

 days old,''^ 



He says: "It is almost impossible to create 

 the desire to swarm in a colony where all the 



been are Jitld-bees On the other hand, take 



a colony of bees that are all under 12 days old, 

 and see how easy it is for them to get the 

 swarming-fever." Without at all attempting 

 to dispute his theory, one can not help won- 

 dering whether Mr. Chapman speaks from 

 actual experience in this matter, seeing that 

 the cessation of the honey -yield is counted 

 upon to stop further preparations for swarm- 

 ing, and with bees under 12 days old there 

 would be no bees of the ordinary age for stor- 

 ing. 



Even if Mr. Chapman should be mistaken 

 upon this one point, it does not disprove his 

 fuller theory as to swarming, which is, that 

 at the time when bees swarm there is a lack 

 of balance, and there is a surplus of young 

 bees in proportion to the number of fleld-bees. 

 He says: 



'• There are not field-bees enough to furnish 

 «i<))'/.- for these young bees. If you give to 

 such colonies one iiuand of fleld-bees, before 

 they get the swarming-fever, to balance up 

 such colonies, you will have no premature 

 swarms. When the tield-force is in proportion 

 to the young bees, the probabilities of swarm- 

 ing are past." 



Sounds Likea Komance. — "A Reader'' 

 sends a clipping which quotes from a Nebraska 

 newspaper, and asks, " Is this report true V 

 The first part of it is so rich in romance that 

 it is hard to believe it could have been meant 

 as truth, but the truthfulness of most that 

 follows makes it pretty clear that no burlesque 

 was meant. Dr. J. L. Gandy was inter- 

 viewed, and the following paragraph of the 

 interview makes interesting reading: 



'• I am a great admirer of the tiusy little 

 bee, and have several thousand colonies in 

 different places, and keep some 12b at my 

 home, and give them my personal attention 

 and care. You will doubtless be surprised at 

 my yield this year, which was -107 pounds to 

 the colony from the 7b colonies, spring count. 

 I also hived 50 swarms which will pay the en- 

 tire expense of the season, leaving me a net 



prolit of ?^i'il to the colony, whii'h represents 

 an investment of only ?5.II0. I produce pound 

 sections, extracted or strained, and chunk 

 honey, anil all of it is put on the market at 

 1.5 cents iier pound. -Most of it is sold right 

 here, although I occasionally ship some to 

 other towns. Isold 200 colonies for .*t,0(K), 

 and during the latter part of May had a 

 chance to sell .5(J() colonies for ?2,.'>tl0 io a Col- 

 orado party, but before the deal was con- 

 summated the heavy June llow came on and 

 I refused to sell. I have each year pur- 

 chased a farm from the sales of honey and 

 bees, and this year I branched out a little and 

 bought some s40,(iiKi worth of real estate, and 

 paid one-third of the purchase price from this 

 year's profits on the bee-industry. Why 

 should I not be enthusiastic in praise of bees i 

 I sat in the shade during the forepart of June 

 while my bees were making me -^UO per day. 

 I am in the business solely for profit, and 

 money obtained from the industry is much 

 the same as so much found. 



In the course of what follows the Doctor 

 says 100 colonies, "with ordinary care, will 

 yield over and above expenses $1,.500 an- 

 nually." Pity he did not say how many 

 times that could be obtained with extra care. 



Stimulative Feeding of Bees.— The 



opinion has been expressed in these columns 

 in a somewhat emphatic way that beginners 

 should have nothing to do with stimulative 

 feeding, and no exception was made for any 

 eases or localities. Fuller thought upon the 

 matter forces the conclusion that there may 

 be conditions in which it will be wiser to risk 

 the dangers incident to stimulative feeding 

 than to omit all effort in that direction. 

 Given a locality in which there comes good 

 weather for bees to fly, and yet not eno\igh for 

 bees to do to start them at brood-rearing until 

 the harvest comes, and it is better to do some- 

 thing to have the hives filled with bees, even 

 if some mistakes are made in the doing. This 

 fuller thought and "change of heart," it may 

 as well be confessed, comes from the presen- 

 tation of the case by the Rocky Mountain Bee 

 Journal. Under the caption, " A Beginner's 

 Lesson in Spring Feeding,'' the whole matter 

 is so well presented in that journal that it is a 

 pleasure to give it entire. It will be found on 



page 231. 



-^ 



A Large Edition of this number of the 

 American Bee Journal will be mailed, some 

 of the copies going to bee-keepers who are 

 not now subscribers. We trust they will be 

 so well pleased with it that they will want it 

 regularly hereafter. Only ^l.OO will pay for 

 it for a whole year — 52 weeks — 52 copies 1 It 

 ought to be a good investment to any one 

 who wants to make anything out of his bees. 



Yello«'"Bo.\ Honey, according to replies 

 in the Australian Bee-Bulletin, is the only kind 

 in Australia that does not readily granulate. 



