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IN AMERIC/^^J^ 



42dYEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, NOV, 27, 1902, 



No, 48. 



^ Editorial Comments, i' 



The Date of the Ontario Convention, the reports of 

 which are read with much interest by many on this side the 

 line, was set for Dec. 2. 3 and 4. But Dec. 4 is the day to 

 vote on the referendum over there, and the Canadian Bee 

 Journal says : 



The temperance cause (of which we are fjlad to say the 

 majority of the members of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation are staunch supporters) requires every man at the 

 polls that day. We must remember that it is not a political 

 question, but a great moral issue that is at stake, the abo- 

 lition of the drink-traffic. It may be, of course, that Onta- 

 rio is not yet satisfied that she has sacrificed enough of her 

 children to this demon of strong' drink under the guise of 

 "liberty," but there is a great opportunity now' offered to 

 have the "accursed" thing removed, and Christian men 

 and women should make the most of it. 



So the date of the Ontario convention has been changed 

 to Dec. 16, 17 and 18, so that members may have a chance 

 to vote on prohibition. Good for Kanuck bee-keepers. May 

 they all help to win in the attempt to wipe out the worst 

 foe of mankind. 



Old vs. New Combs. — The discussion as to whether 

 bees prefer comb foundation or new combs to those black 

 with age seems to be a perennial one. It seems a little 

 strange that a thing upon which observations can be so 

 easily and so fully made should remain year after year in 

 dispute. Can it be possible that there is such a difference 

 in localities, or in bees, that one man shall find the oldest 

 and blackest of combs preferred, while another shall find 

 them used only as a last resort ? While making plans as to 

 the things upon which observations are to be made the 

 coming year, let each one make a minute of this matter, 

 and see if there can not be enough light thrown upon it to 

 settle the question for all time. 



Catnip. — Editor Hill, of the American Bee-Keeper, 

 speaks thus of catnip : 



"The big catnip balloon seems to have been pierced 

 quite early in its vigorous flight by the snag of personal 

 investigation. It is disappointing to be obliged to pursue 

 old channels in quest of forage so very soon after having 

 our catnip enthusiasm wrought to the extent of ecstatic 

 anticipation ; but it now appears that we shall have to come 

 to it." 



From which it may be inferred that Mr. Hill is not in- 

 tending to plant a hundred acres in catnip, right away. 

 But catnip is a good honey plant, just the same. 



Smelter-Smoke and Bees. — At the National conven- 

 tion at Denver, mention was made of loss of bees in the 

 vicinity of smelting works, especially the Salt Lake and 

 Denver smelters, and, in the last Rocky Mountain Bee Jour- 



nal, C. P. Dadant gives an account of the same thing in 

 the Old World, it being claimed that in the gases set free to 

 float away during the smelting of the ores, there is enough 

 arsenic to poison the bees, analyses of the dead bees having 

 shown traces of arsenic in them, as also in the honey and 

 pollen. The fruit-trees are also injured so that they bear 

 no fruit. May it not be possible that sufficient damage may 

 be done without any arsenic in the case ? In the coke re- 

 gions of Pennsylvania trees are killed where there seems to 

 be nothing but the smoke of the burning coal to injure 

 them. At any rate, the moral is to keep away from such 

 places, and to keep away a good distance, for the smelters 

 kill bees at a range of five miles or more. 



Wild Cucumber is quoted in the Bee-Keepers' Review 

 as yielding honey abundantly until the vine is killed by 

 frost. That is by no means the case in northern Illinois, if 

 the plant be the same. It is a thing of great beauty, espe- 

 cially when in full bloom, but it ceases to bloom and dies 

 down long before frost. It has not been noted as a honey- 

 yielder, although proper credit may not have been given to 

 it. Can any one tell what its value is in Illinois and adjoin- 

 ing regions ? The illustration of the plant in the Review 

 is from a photograph taken in Nebraska. Does it yield as 

 abundantly in other parts of that State as in the region 

 near Dr. Gandy ? 



The Double Hive, or what is called in England the 

 Wells system — a hive with two compartments side by side, 

 with a perforated separating wall, allowing the workers, 

 but not the queen, to pass from one side to the other — has 

 now been on trial for several years, and while some speak 

 well of it, the testimony in general has not been such as to 

 warrant its general adoption. One objection is. that when 

 the colony on one side swarms, the colony on the other side 

 is excited to swarming, whatever its condition may be. 

 Another objection is, that when one side becomes queenless 

 it is likely to remain so, the presence of a queen on the 

 other side preventing the bees from feeling their queenless- 

 ness sufficiently to rear a new queen. 



Anticipatory Swarming, by means of shaking or 

 brushing, will be a boon to some who have run out-apiaries, 

 and have keenly desired some way by which the necessity 

 for keeping a watcher constantly at each apiary might be 

 avoided. Of course, the depletion of a colony by taking 

 away brood that would in a short time swell the host of 

 gatherers is a thing not to be desired, but that is not so 

 bad as losing the same amount of brood and a lot of bees 

 besides in natural swarming. 



The greatest gain, however, will probably be counted 

 by most to consist in the fact that by shaking swarms the 

 bee-keeper is made master of the situation, having the time 

 of swarming come at his calling, and not at the whim of 

 the bees. Add to this the advantage over foul brood ob- 

 tained, and it will be seen that this system of management 



