Mar. 21, 1907 



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American l^ae Jonrnal 



2S colonics of bees until this year. lie 

 said he did not know whether they hau 

 enough honey to winter or not, as he 

 had not looked through them since last 

 spring, but he believed there were only 

 8 or 10 colonies left now, as several dieti 

 in the summer. 



Another man lost all of his bees last 

 winter and spring, and so on. So we 

 have that advantage. These men with 

 their small apiaries won't be in the busi- 

 ness when the next good year comes 

 along, to glut the country store market 

 w^ith lo-cent honey in 2 or 3 year old 

 section-boxes. None of us know what 

 the future may bring forth, but one 

 thing we do know, and that is, in the 

 past the good seasons have always come 

 after the poor ones, and it is reasonable 

 to expect that history will repeat itself 

 in this respect. And if we are faithful 

 during our trials and hardships in bee- 

 keeping, we may expect to reap the 

 profits when the good times come. 



The man who has a good-sized apiary, 

 and has his bees in shape to meet the 

 next good honey-year, is going to make 

 some money at bee-keeping. So let 

 us then carefully prepare our bees for 

 winter, and look after them well in the 

 spring, so that we may be prepared 

 for whatever may come. Aaiything that 

 is worth doing is worth doing well. Let 

 us apply this rule to bee-keeping at all 

 times, and if there be such a thing aa 

 success, we will be sure to make its 

 acquaintance. 



In most parts of Illinois, 50 to 60 

 colonies are enough in one apiary in 

 average years. Let us be careful that 

 the good years do not catch us with 

 IS or 20 colonies and the poor ones with 

 100. If we liave 50 colonies in a very 



good year, tlK-.\' can be increased easily; 

 and if we have 50 colonies in a fairly 

 poor year, we will get more honey than 

 if wc had a hundred, as we will have 

 many thousand less consumers of honey. 

 Wc should each study our locality, and 

 aim to keep the number of bees our 

 locality will support well in an average 

 season. J. E. Johnson. 



The foregoing paper was followed by 

 a discussion which was participated in 

 by Mr. Black, who said that bee-keep- 

 ers were becoming fewer in number, 

 year by year, but those engaged in the 

 business were carrying it on more in- 

 telligently; and by Mr. Souer, who 

 asked of the l^resident the advisability 

 of putting a cushion on colonies where 

 two were united. This question brought 

 out interesting remarks from Messrs. 

 Baxter, Dadant and Holekamp, and, 

 like other practical discussion of living 

 questions, a valuable exchange of ideas 

 resulted. 



As it was ncaring the noon hour when 

 some of the members had to leave the 

 city, Mr. Dadant and Mr. Black asked 

 to be excused, and after a little more 

 general discussion an adjournment was 

 taken to I :30 p. m. 



At 1 :30 o'clock the meeting was called 

 to order with Vice-President Johnson 

 in the chair. 



Mr. Kildow moved that each affiliated 

 bee-keepers' association in the State be 

 allowed to send a delegate to the State 

 convention and that their railroad fare 

 be paid by the State Association. Car- 

 ried. 



After an hour or two spent in friend- 

 ly discussions, the meeting ended its ses- 

 sion in a sine die adjournment. 



Jas. a. Stone, Sec. 



duster for years, and have found it to 

 be very satisfactory. 



Feather dusters are made of split 

 feathers, mostly used from turkeys, 

 and are therefore very soft, and will 

 not injure the bees or combs in the 

 least, even though you use it with 

 force. On the other hand, dusters 

 made of horsehair are very dense, and 

 when brushed over the bees it doubles 

 them up and rolls them over in a mis- 

 erable way. 



Mrs. Caroline ZE1-1.ER. 

 Spring Bay, 111. 



There is a difference of opinion in 

 regard to feather brushes. Some think 

 that feathers irritate the bees, some- 

 what as fuzzy woolen cloth does, while 

 others like them. 



•We like the Coggshall brush, also 

 the long grass brush. But, better still, 

 a brush made of something green, as 

 goldeurod, aster, sweet clover, aspara- 

 gus, etc., if it were not for the trouble 

 of making a new brush each day. 



QUT 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Another Misrepresentation to Be 

 Corrected 



On page 94, reference is made to a 

 statement contained in a work of Dr. 

 Kellogg that was being widely circu- 

 lated, said statement being to the effect 

 that foundation of paraflBn was given 

 to the bees, and also glucose, and 

 "Thus we have honey which is wholly 

 artificial, with the exception of a por- 

 tion of the wax." Thanks are due to 

 our correspondent who called attention 

 to the matter, since it has brought 

 from Dr. Kellogg the following frank 

 and candid letter which needs no fur- 

 ther comment : 



Battle Creek, Mich., Feb. 10, 1907. 

 Editor American Bee Journal: — My at- 

 tention has been called to an article from one 

 of your correspondents referring to a state- 



ment in the " Home Hand-Book," with refer- 

 ence to honey. The paragraphs referred to 

 were written 30 years ago, and at that time I 

 had every reason to believe that the state- 

 ments made were true. I am glad my atten- 

 tion has been called to the matter, and I will 

 see that the text is corrected if not in har- 

 mony with the facts as they exist at the pres- 

 ent time. 



I believe honey is an excellent food, and is 

 very much superior to cane-sugar. The latter 

 is often a cause of disease. 



Very truly yours, 



J. H. Kellogg, M. D. 



Feather Duster for Brushing Bees 



Resolution in Behalf of the Baroness 

 Burdett-Coutts 



In the report of a meeting of the 

 Council of the British Bee-Keepers' 

 Asscciation, given in the British Bee 

 Journal, occurs the following : 



On taking the chair, .\Ir. Cowan alluded in 

 feeling terms to the loss sustained by the 

 death of the President, the Baroness Burdett- 

 Coutts, who had occupied that position, to 

 the great advantage of the bee-keeping indus- 

 try, for nearly 30 years In conclusion, 



Mr. Cowan moved the following resolution : 



"That the Council of this Association desire 

 to place on record their sense of the irrepar- 

 able loss they have sustained in the death of 

 their revered President, to whose continual 

 practical interest and generous liberality they 

 have been indebted for so many years past; 

 and to convey the same to Mr. W. Burdett- 

 Coutts, together with their sympathy with 

 him in his loss." 



The resolution was seconded by Mr. Weston 

 and adopted. 



Cellar-Wintering of Bees at Low 

 Temperature 



I have noticed several inquiries in 

 the American Bee Journal from sub- 

 scribers in regard to brushing bees 

 from combs. I have used a feather 



On page 115, "Wisconsin," whose 

 thermometers varied 10 degrees from 

 highest to lowest, was told in the Ques- 

 tion-Box, " The idea is to find at what 

 temperature your bees are most quiet by 

 your thermometer, in your cellar, no 

 matter what the authorities say." Miss 

 May G. Devine takes heart from this, 

 as she had fears previously that her 

 bees had not been behaving in an en- 

 tirely orthodox manner in considera- 

 tion of the temperature shown in her 

 cellar by the thermometer. She says : 



My bees have always wintered with what 

 appeared to be absolute success, but this is 

 the first intimation I ever had that they were 

 conducting themselves with perfect propriety 

 in so doing, for so far as I can judge by ther- 

 mometers that vary something as " Wiscon- 

 sin's " did, the mercury averages about 37 de- 

 grees — quite likely lower — certainly no higher. 



I keep about 50 colonies, and you could stay 

 in the cellar an hour almost any time from the 

 middle of November till nearly time to take 

 them out, and I doubt if you could say there 

 was a bee there. The cellar where they are is 

 large (under our living rooms), a solid rock 

 bottom, dark as Egypt, no windows, and both 

 doors always closed. The rock on the bottom 

 slants a good deal, and much of the year a 



