430 



May 23, 1907 



American ISae Journal 



Carbon Bisulphide for Eggs and Larvs 

 of Wax-Moth 



J. L. Byer, in the Canadian Bee Journal, 

 expresses increasing confidence in this rem- 

 edy, and has proved to his satisfaction that a 

 box or room does not necessarily have to be 

 nearly air-tight for the drug to do its work 

 effectively. He says : 



Formerly our local druggists charged me 5 

 cents per ounce, but now I buy all I want 



from them at '_'5 cents a pound, and I surmise 

 that at that figure tbey have a " reasonable " 

 profit. If you have many hives full of combs 

 to treat, carry them into a building and stack 

 them up 5 or 6 stories high, put the bisul- 

 phide on top of all and cover securely, and 

 you will be surprised and pleased to see how 

 little of the drug is required to treat a large 

 number of combs. Sulphur may be a trifle 

 cheaper, but it does not destroy the moth- 

 eggs, consequently it has to be used more 

 than once ; and it is, besides, a very disagree- 

 able article to handle. 



flei)U5 - items^ 



The Weather at Dr. Miller's is de- 

 scribed as follows in a letter sent us May 16 : 



Weather for bees beastly. For one good 

 day there are 2 to 4 bad ones. Dandelions 

 enough to keep bees busy, and fruit is in 

 bloom; but blossoms are no good without 

 weather. No matter how good the season, 

 it will hardly be possible for colonies to build 

 up in time to do good work on clover. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



Apiary of G. L. Sauer in Winter.— 



this appears on the first gage this week. 

 When sending tha photograph on March 2, 

 1907, Mr. Sauer wrote as follows : 



The picture of my apiary shows how I have 

 the hives packed for the winter on the sum- 

 mer stands. I have 53 colonies, 45 of which 

 are strong and in good shape; 8 were late 

 swarms, and weak, but I fed them some last 

 fall, and put a super with some honey in it 

 on each, so I think they will pull through. 



In preparing my bees for winter, I put wire 

 screen on the bottom of the top box, then on 

 the inside I put a piece of gunny-sack, and 

 filled the top box half full of rye straw. Then 

 I gave the bees a few puffs of smoke, pulled 

 the cloth off, and set the top box on. After I 

 had them all fixed in this way I boarded them 

 up with ship-lap lumber, packing second- 

 growth hay all around the hives. The hives 

 face to the south, and the bees can get out 

 when the weather is fit. They had a number 

 of good flights this winter. I use the 

 "Eclipse" hive. 



If any one else has bees packed as I have 

 described, and has any objections to it, I will 

 be pleased to read about them in the Bee 

 Journal. tl- L- Sader. 



Disappointed Hopes seem to be the 

 bee-keeper's lot in Southern California this 

 spring. Prof. Cook, writing us from Clare- 

 mont, Los Angeles county, on May 10, had 

 this to say concerning the season and pros- 

 pects for honey in that part of the State: 



Owing to the generous and timely rains of 

 the past winter, bee-keepers had good reason 

 to expect an exceptional honey-year in Cali- 

 fornia. And so we would have had except 

 for the cold, foggy weeks of April and May. 

 We had the same kind of a season a year ago. 

 This cold weather acts in double way to les 

 sen the honey crop. It tends to keep the 

 bees from the field, and so closes the nectar- 

 glands of the flowers that there is little or no 

 nectar to gather. There is, however, room 

 for hope even yet. The sages, both white 



and liall, are vigorous, and wiin warm, genial 

 sunshine, which I think we must have soon, 

 wo may yet get a bountiful crop. I never 

 saw more, and more vigorous, bloom, even in 

 this land of sunshine and flowers. 



A. J. Cook. 



The New Canadiaa Postal Ruling 



is thus looked upon by Mr. R B Ross, Jr., 

 one of our subscribers at Montreal : 



Editor American Bee Journal: — Your 

 issue of the American Bee Journal for May 9 

 has just come to hand, and before tearing off 

 the wrapper I noticed that the changed postal 

 laws had commenced operating on one of my 

 favorite papers. It is with pleasure that I 

 enclose herewith 50 cents to cover the exira 

 charge— and which I believe is uncalled for — 

 but that the American Bee Journal would be 

 just as much appreciated at SI. 50 as at $1.00. 

 While from your standpoint the new ar- 

 rangement may apjiear serious, I don't think 

 many Canadian readers will be so short- 

 sighted as to fail to renew on account of the 

 higher cost. Yours sincerely, 



R. B. Ross, Jr. 



We believe Mr. Ross is right, that very few 

 Canadians will stop reading United States 

 papers because of the increased postage rate. 



Apicultural Progress.— Prof. Burton 

 N. Gates, of Clark University, Worcester, 

 Mass., sent us the following with the picture 

 of straw-skeps shown on the first page: 



I have often questioned just where England 

 stands to-day in the apicultural world. Surely 

 there is many a master of the profession 

 there; yet there is a trace of the antique, of 

 " the way that father used to do," in most of 

 their beekeeping. It is hard to get out of 

 the ruts worn by generations. 



The query was once more brought to my 

 mind, as, at one of the recent meetings of the 

 Worcester County Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 two hives, pictured in the accompanying illus- 

 tration, were exhibited side by side. The 

 larger of the two is one which was brought 

 from Vermont, having been used there over a 

 century ago, and long since abandoned for 

 the more serviceable wooden hive. The 

 smaller is one recently imported to this coun- 

 try from England, as" a type largely used in 

 that land to-day. Why the advantages of the 

 American and the Continental types of hive— 

 the improved methods of these lands— have 

 not infiuenced the English people and satis- 

 fied them that there is no longer need for 

 this skep is a problem. It is evidence of the 

 proverbial dogmatism. 



It is fortunate that .\merica has been more 

 ready to accept the improvements of the 

 progressive. We have made long strides in 

 practical bee-keeping. But our results are 

 not 1 hose of systematic investigation. They 

 are rather summation or collective benefits 

 from a large number of individuals. They 

 are trials and errors. What we need (audit 

 is coming it the Department of Agriculture is 

 permitted to carry out the work outlined by 

 Dr. Phillips, referred to below) is a " long- 

 headed," systematic research in apiculture 

 characteristic of German science. 



The old world has led in most scientific 

 lines by Germany, by German investigation 

 and invention. As .Vmerican scientists we 

 have always looked to Germany for much of 

 our inspiration and encouragement. The 

 American is ever in a hurry ; he is after im- 

 mediate results, and seeks them at hazards in 

 the quickest possible way. Doubtless for this 

 reason American investigation has been ham- 

 pered ; Germany has held the lead. The Ger- 

 man investigator — scientist — has the peculiar 

 persistence, '* slick-to-itiveness," earnestness, 

 and firmness of purposes, who, having con- 

 ceived a problem, solves it with such full de- 

 tail that it is seldom necessary to re-work or 

 prove his findings. Such work, of course, 

 has been done in America, particularly in re- 

 cent days; but it has not been characteristic 

 of American research. This is particularly 

 true of biological investigation. We have 

 but few American works in biology, which are 

 the results of a lifetime's observations. 

 Charles Darwin's admirable volume on the 

 Earthworm, published after 40 years of study, 

 or, as Darwin says, for that time " has been 

 to me a hobby-horse, and I have perhaps 

 treated it in foolish detail," it is a noble ex- 

 ample of the German spirit in American re- 

 search. Whether the labor was fruitless or 

 not may be judged from the fact that within 

 3 years of its publication 8500 copies of the 

 work were sold. Even to-day it is a master- 

 piece and model of dynamic biology. 



But you question what bearing this has 

 upon apiculture? It is most pertinent, and 

 has a most direct bearing, to-day especially, 

 here in America where the industry is grow- 

 ing so fast, and where the possibilities are so 

 vast; refer to Dr. Phillips' paper read before 

 the National Bee-Keepers' convention in 

 November, 1906 (page 356). He has not over- 

 stated the case one grain ; but distinctly out- 

 lines work which must be immediately under- 

 taken. 



If some one could do for bees what Darwin 

 has done for the earthworm, the returns 

 would be inconceivable, not alone, nor chiefly, 

 in the moneyed sense, but rather in view of 

 results upon the world as a whole. It may be 

 difficult to see what benefit it would be to 

 human health; but what do we know of the 

 hygiene and physiology of honey-eating! It 

 is difficult to conceive of the possibilities of 

 such investigation on the fruit-growing in- 

 dustry, on the production and uses of wax; 

 in fact, no one knows the possible benefit and 

 the ultimate outcome of such work on apicul- 

 ture itself, (lurview of apiculture to-day is 

 but a distant and fogged glimpse of a vast 

 ocean of possibilities. Burton N. Gates. 



Southern California Prospects. — 



The following letter by M. H. Mendleson to 

 G. F. Merriam, both of Southern California, 

 was sent to Mr. C. P. Dadant, of Hamilton, 

 III., who thought it of sulficient interest for 

 publication in the American Bee Journal in 

 connection with Mr. Merriain's letter and his 

 own reply : 



Friend Mkrriam : — Yesterday was the 

 the first clear day, and bees seemed to be 

 busy. To-day is clear also. The scale hive 

 showed the first gain. I also have been feed- 

 ing considerably. Colonies were dormant 

 until fed. I have better hopes now, although 

 the bees are in a weak condition. But if we 

 have clear, warm weather from now on we 

 might have a partial crop. Worms com- 



