(Entered at thd Posl-Offlce at ChicaKO as Second-Class Mall-Matter.) 

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



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, JANUARY 24. 1907 



Vol, XLVII— No, 4 



editorial ^ofes 

 ind Comments 



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Size and Weight of Sections of iloney 



Bearing upon the question of uniformity in 

 the weight of honey in sections of a given 

 size, comes this note from Dr. C. C. Miller : 



Here are gome '■ fax and Aggers " with ref- 

 erence to sections of honey produced by me, 

 and all of them 414x414x1% bee-way with 

 separators, and all containing Urst-class 

 honey : 



In 1897 the average weight was 14.41 ounces 

 per section. 



In 1899 the average weight was 14.942 

 ounces per section. 



The year 1903 was, I think, the best year I 

 ever had. But like most years in this locality, 

 there were variations in the flow — sometimes 

 faster than others. In that year 18,133 sec- 

 tions averaged 14.866 ounces each ; the heav- 

 iest 12-section-case contained 12 pounds and 

 14 ounces; the lightest 12-section-case con- 

 tained 9 pounds and 13 ounces. The honey 

 was piled in piles of 15 cases each, and the 

 heaviest pile weighed ITS pounds; the light- 

 est pile weighed 156 pounds. 



Please take these figures, together with 

 those of Mr. Ricketts on page 8, and those of 

 Mr. Hall on page 17, and tell us what you 

 conclude about being able to settle on a cer- 

 tain size of section that shall always produce 

 just about a pound. 



It must be admitted that in Dr. Miller's 

 figures there is not much difference in the 

 total averages of the different years, the 

 greatest range being only a little more than 

 half an ounce on a section; moreover, his 

 averages are very close to Mr. Ricketts' I47.5 

 ounces. But Mr. Hall's 793 bee-way sections 

 averaged 15.414 ounces each, lacking the 

 merest trifle of being an ounce heavier than 

 Dr. Miller's average in 1897. That is bad 

 enough, but nothing compared with Dr. 

 Miller's flgures for 1903. Between his heaviest 

 and lightest case there was a difference of 3 

 pounds and 1 ounce, or a shade more than 4 

 ounces per section. Almost surely the differ- 

 ence was yet more between the heaviest and 



the lightest single section. Even when piles 

 of 15 cases were taken, the difference between 

 heaviest and lightest pile was 1.955 ounces 

 per section, which would malie a difference 

 of 344 pounds in 2000 sections. 



There is no question that a larger section 

 would give larger average weight, but there 

 is no reason to suppose that the variations in 

 weight would not continue, and with a possi- 

 ble variation of 200 pounds or more in a ton, 

 would Mr. Ricketts be satisfied to call such a 

 section about 16 ounces? 



How to Make Honey-Vinegar 



From a bulletin of the Arizona Agricultural 

 Experiment Station is taken the following: 



When a barrel of honey-vinegar is to be 

 made for family use or by me small producer, 

 we offer the following formula : 



Extracted honey, 40 to 45 pounds; water, 

 30 gallons; ammonia chloride, 4 ounces; 

 potassium bicarbonate, 3 ounces ; and sodium 

 phosphate, 2 ounces. 



One-quarter cake of dry yeast softened in 

 luke warm water. 



The chemicals for making 30 gallons will 

 cost about 25 cents in a small way, but on a 

 large scale not more than 10 cents. Some- 

 what larger amounts of potassium bicarbon- 

 ate and sodium phosphate would give even 

 better results, but the amounts are here cut 

 to the minimum to bring the cost low enough 

 to make it profitable. 



In from 3 to 4 weeks all visible fermenta- 

 tion will have ceased and the yeast settled 

 out. Now rack off the wine, add 10 gallons 

 of good vinegar, containing a little mother, 

 and let stand undisturbed in a place having 

 as near as possible an even temperature of 

 from 75 to 80 degrees Fahr. The acetic fer- 

 mentation may be started by fioating mother, 

 or the scum from an old cask, on the surface 

 of the mixture by means of thin cork-shav- 

 ings. Carried out in this way, and a suitable 

 temperature (temperature over 85 degrees 

 Fahr., will retard the process and cause loss 

 of both alcohol and acid), a good honey-vin- 

 egar can be produced in from 4 to 6 months. 



Legislation for Illinois Bee-Keepers 



We have received the following very im- 

 portant communication from Mr. C. P. Da- 

 dant, of Hamilton, 111. : 



Mr. Editor:— I desire to call the attention 

 of the beekeepers of the State of Illinois to 

 the necessity of helping the passage of the 

 Bills which are now before the Legislature of 

 the State in the interest of bee-culture, as 

 follows : 



A Bill making an appropriation for the 

 Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association. 



A Bill providing for the appointment of a 

 State Inspector of Apiaries, and prescribing 

 his powers and duties. 



A Bill to prevent the spraying of fruit- 

 bloom. 



The first of these Bills passed the Legisla- 

 ture before, and all that is needed is a renewal 

 of the same Bill, in the same way that Bills 

 are passed for the support of the State Agri- 

 cultural and Horticultural Associations. The 

 appropriations formerly granted have given 

 our State Secretary, Mr. Stone, an opportu- 

 nity of spreading information on bee-culture, 

 and have made our State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation a permanent institution; besides en- 

 abling us actively to fight foul brood. 



The second Bill is needed to give power to 

 the State Inspector of Apiaries, who has been 

 thus far employed by the State Association, 

 and has done very good work in the destruc- 

 tion of foul brood, but might be handicapped 

 if it became necessary to destroy diseased col- 

 onies of ignorant or recalcitrant apiarists. It 

 is also needed to put a penalty on the ship- 

 ping or selling of diseased colonies of bees. 

 The proposed law is almost a duplicate of the 

 Wisconsin foul brood law. Twelve States^ 

 or more, have foul brood laws now, and it is. 

 time that Illinois should fall in line with 

 other progressive States on this point. The 

 proposed law had already passed the Senate 

 of the previous General Assembly, but failed, 

 in the House, only on account of lack of time. 

 It should pass during this session. 



The third Bill is intended to prevent the 

 wholesale poisoning of bees by a misunder- 

 stood or misapplied use of tree-spraying. 

 Fruit-trees should be sprayed when the'fruit 

 is forming, but the blossoms should be 

 allowed to be fertilized first. In this way the 

 danger to bees, and to those who might eat. 

 of the honey, will be avoided, and the spray- 

 ing will serve its real purpose, that of de- 

 stroying the insects which prey upon the 

 formed fruit. Spraying just .i/'to- the bloom 

 has fallen is the most advisable, though ill- 

 advised dealers in spraying apparatus often 

 recommend spraying during bloom. This is 

 an mjury to the pollen, which often becomes 

 diluted in the poisonous liquid and is ren- 

 dered inert. So, even if the bees were in no 

 danger, it would be unadvisable for horticul- 

 turists to spray before the bloom is out 



Senator Berry, who is one of the leading 

 members of the present General Assembly 



