Jan. 10, 1907 



American l^ee Journa 



found who do not agree wilh him. He tells 

 of "the dogs in Massachusetts, wbieh, shorn 

 o( their tails, became a race of doge which 

 neglected to grow tails." I don't know 

 whether that's meant for a joke or not, but 

 unless meant in earnest it can hardly have 

 any bearing on the case. I read within a 

 week of a salve so wonderful that upon being 

 applied to the stump of a dog's tail that had 

 been cut oil, the tail promptly grew on again. 

 Then the salve was applied to the tail that 

 bad been cut oil, and it promptly grew a dog 

 onto the tail. These two dog-tail stories are 

 alike in one respect; that is, that one is prob- 

 ably as reliable as the other. 



Nevermind the dogs; lets get back to the 

 bees. 



It is a matter of great importance to know 

 whether it is true, as Mr. Dayton says in his 

 first paragraph, "that the probability is that 

 if the bees would not swarm they would breed 

 only enough to keep the colony intact." For 

 upon one's belief in that regard depends one's 

 practise as to restraining or encouraging 

 swarming. But it it be true that the result of 

 no swarming would be colonies so small as to 

 store only honey enough for their own use, 

 as Mr. Uayton says, then one would naturally 

 expect that where they come very close to no 

 swarming they would come very close to such 

 small colonies. If I am correct, about 95 per- 

 cent of the colonies of the Dadants do not 

 swarm ; if there has been a very material 

 diminution in the size of the colonies, it seems 

 to me that so candid a man as C. P. Dadant 

 would have mentioned it. And if the general 

 opinion is correct that a large hive is one of 

 the most important factors in the prevention 

 of swarming, is Mr. Dayton working in the 

 right direction when he says (page 503), " My 

 hives are abundant in size, early or late?" 



I am not sure whether I understand just 

 what he means when he says: "It appears 

 reasonable to me that swarms and honey- 

 gathering should go hand in hand." At any 

 rate, my bumper yields have always been 

 from the colonies that made no offer to 

 swarm. I think it is the general belief that 

 bees most given to swarming are not the best 

 gatherers. 



Mr. Dayton says, " It will not be proper to 

 give this matter of breeding our bees entirely 

 over to breeders." If by "breeders" he 

 means the men that sell queens, Mr. Dayton 

 has not a very large following in his belief. 

 At least, whatever their belief, in their prac- 

 tise the great majority pay little or no atten- 

 tion to the matter of breeding their bees ex- 

 cept to buy occasionally a queen of fresh 

 blood. But the multitude is wrong, and Mr. 

 Dayton is right, most emphatically right. 



As to the remainder of his article, there are 

 some things that I'm not sure I understand, 

 and some things I am sure I don't believe. I 

 don't understand how it can be a common 

 thing for bees of a swarm to return to the old 

 hive when the queen is not to their liking, 

 and yet not to return when they have no 

 queen at all. I don't understand what prac- 

 tise Mr. Dayton advises when he says, " The 

 only swarms that it is advisable to hive in a 

 new location are those where the bees all 

 stay;" for f don't understand how he would 

 tell about it without hiving. I don't believe 

 that bees of a swarm do much returning, but 

 I am ready to do so upon sufficient proof. 



Uncapped Sugar-Syrup Stores for 

 Winter 



I am wintering my bees in the cellar, and 

 they seem to be doing all right now (Dec. 18). 

 I gave them a thick syrup made of brown 

 sugar. While the syrup was stored in the 

 combs by the bees the latter part of Septem- 

 ber and first of October, they did not cap it. 

 Is there any danger of its becoming so hard in 

 the comb that they can not use it? and will 

 there be enough moisture in it for them? or 

 should I supply them water to drink? How 

 could I best supply this water for them, if 

 you think they may need it? I took the bees 

 out of the cellar one day last week and they 

 had a good flight. 



I am reading two books now all the spare 



time I have. One is '■ Langstroth on the 

 Honey-Bee," and the other js " Manual of the 

 Apiary," by I'rof. Cook. I think they are 

 excellent works. I also take great pleasure 

 reading the "Old Keliable." I mean to study 

 all 1 can along thiH line, and handle my bees 

 as scientltically as I can. I love this kind of 

 work. Iowa. 



Answek.— I don't believe there is great 

 danger that the syrup will become too dry. 

 The danger lies in another direction, espe- 

 cially as the syrup was unsealed. Uranulated 

 sugar is about the only sugar used for winter 

 stores, and there is danger that before spring 

 diarrhea may result from the brown sugar. 

 If so, the only thing is to wait patiently for 

 spring weather in which the bees can fly, 

 hoping that it may come early. There is one 

 thing, however, that I would try, although 

 I'm not entirely sure it helps diarrhea. It is 

 to warm up the cellar. A stove in the cellar 

 is the best thing. Hot stones may do ; bottles 

 or jugs of hot water well corked. But no hot 

 water uncorked. Don't use an oil-stove un- 

 less you can air out well, as the resulting 

 fumes foul the air. Run up the temperature, 

 if you can, to ,50 or 60 degrees. 



/T 



K. 



Pacific (Eoast 

 Hlurmurinas 



^^ 



J 



Perfumes of Bees, Flowers, and 

 Women. 



Some of the readers of the American 

 Bee Journal may be opposed to there 

 being any reference made in its col- 

 umns about the aspirants for high 

 political office. Under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances such should be the rule, 

 but there are some persons who hold 

 that such notice should be given. For 

 a reason for such a view, they hold 

 that these aspiring citizens are bee- 

 keepers, every one of them. At first, I 

 did not think that all the politicians 

 of this broad and enlightened land 

 could be apiarists. On expressing my 

 disbelief, I was met with the reply, 

 " Why, aren't they bee-keepers, for 

 every one of them has a bee in his bon- 

 net, and if that does not make a bee- 

 keeper, well, what does ?" Perhaps it 

 does, but it is almost like straining at 

 a gnat and swallowing a camel. lyCt's 

 take it for granted that they are bee- 

 keepers, and notice some of the more 

 prominent ones — the ones who seek the 

 highest office in the gift of our citizens. 



William Jennings Bryan has already 

 been noticed. He cropped up rather 

 suddenly as a double-barrelled bee- 

 keeper, inasmuch as he keeps the gen- 

 uine article — the pets of all true apia- 

 rists — in his back yard, and this other 

 sort (the politician's kind) is hived be- 

 neath his soft-felt hat. Well, that's 

 good. I'm glad Billy Bryan likes bees 

 and honey, and he's welcomi to the 

 bee in his bonnet. I do not pretend to 

 be boosting him, or any of the other 

 distinguished citizens (not even our 

 good, strenuous [sic] President, Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt), into high places. 



There, I've named twobee-culturists, 

 and here goes for another. He has the 

 worst case of this kind of bee-fever 

 that ever got loose in the United 

 States. Whether the bee will ever 

 hatch out a nestful of trouble like a 

 queen-hornet does, I can not predict, 

 and it is not my place here to intimate. 



Like myself, he's a native Caljfornian, 

 but so many bad things have been said 

 of him that I have not yet come to 

 fancy him. As a trust-buster, he may 

 appeal to the best side of true Ameri- 

 cans. I am referring to William Ran- 

 dolph Hearst, the millionaire news- 

 paper publisher. 



Having named all the principal sin- 

 gle bee-beepers in the United States, I 

 trust there is no one who will say that 

 I am unfair. Just watch me and see 

 how I shall roast any of them that 

 gives me a chance, if he goes " f or- 

 ninst " the interest of the bee and 

 honey industry. 



Speaking of Hearst a moment ago, 

 reminds mc that his knowledge of bees 

 is very crude; in fact, the following 

 editorial from his San Francisco Ex- 

 aminer of Oct. 2, displays an immense 

 amount of ignorance. For instance, 

 note the sub-head. Who ever heard of 

 a drone-bee stinging any one, whether 

 the latter was perfumed slightly or 

 profusely ? Mr. Hearst may have writ- 

 ten this editorial, or it may have been 

 done by some one of his writers. He 

 has some excellent pencil-pushers, but 

 it is quite evident none of them penned 

 this rank editorial. I doubt very much 

 if bees will, at all times, go for a 

 scented person— one artificially per- 

 fumed. We have been told from in- 

 fancy that bees do not like the odor of 

 perspiration ; that that of the negro 

 and that of the horse are so obnoxious 

 to the bee that the oft'ending smells are 

 attacked with formic acid, not as a 

 neutralizer but as a killer. The fumes 

 diluted (carbolic acid) is used as we use 

 smoke to scare them into gorging 

 themselves with honey, thereby mak- 

 ing them good-natured. 



I am not writing in defense of the 

 perfumed woman, fori abominate the 

 rank odor exhaled from some of these 

 misguided creatures. A little perfume 

 of a " genteel " variety may be ex- 

 cused. It may be said that the Creator 

 gave charming odors to some of the 

 fairest flowers, and that He would not 

 hinder those others of his dainty 

 flowers — fair femininity — from "lay- 

 ing on " themselves some of the odors 

 He saw fit to bestow upon the lily and 

 the rose. 



Well, here is the editorial, without 

 further comment. It's long, but it is 

 worth reading : 



The Bee ot Good Taste 



Did You Know, Fair Lady, That He Will 

 Sting Anybody Using PERFrMERY? 



The trusts, the earthquake, foreign riots 

 and all the rest of the news shall not prevent 

 our protesting occasionally against the dread- 

 ful insistent perfumes with which the women 

 of to-day disfigure themselves. In public 

 places suddenly an awful faintness comes over 

 the crowd. There is a moment of horror, of 

 gasping, and the dazed mind recognizes an- 

 other one of those big or little, or yellow or 

 black, or fat or thin women that wear the 

 terrific perfumes. 



We are glad to be informed, and to publish 



here, the fact that the self-respecting honey- 

 bee—that knows everything about real per- 

 tume—Jetests the artificial, hideoivs, high-smdl- 

 ini/ prudiict with which women make themselves 



lerriblr. 



The intelligent, sane, moral bee likes good, 

 clean tlowers. And it likes good, clean human 

 beings. You may go around its hive as much 

 as you please while you are normal and self- 



