American ^ae Journal 



December, 1907. 



Miss Trevorrovv is a highly successful 

 bee-keeper, and is thoroughly informed 

 in all lines of the pursuit. A hearty vote 

 of thanks was accorded her for the ex- 

 cellent paper presented. 



Extracted Honey Pkoduction. 



To the disappointment of all pres- 

 ent, Mr. Alexander, owing to ill health, 

 was not able to attend the convention. 

 However, a paper prepared by him was 

 read by Mr. Sibbald. Mr. Alexander 

 recommended the radical course of ex- 

 tracting the honey from the brood-nest 

 and feeding back, during the early part 

 of the honey-flow. A great difiference 

 of opinion was expressed in the discus- 

 sion that followed, and while a few en- 

 dorsed the idea, the majority would not 

 practise it. All were agreed that it was 

 advisable to get as much brood as pos- 

 sible in the brood-nest previous to the 

 honey-flow, yet the work and risk in- 

 volved in Mr. Alexander's system was 

 thought to be too great. 



In connection with Mr. Alexander's 

 present position of stripping the brood- 

 nest of practically all the honey, it is 

 interesting to compare the stand taken 

 by him a little over a year ago on this 

 question. In answer to a questioner as 

 to how to avoid having light colonies in 

 the fall, Mr. Alexander stated in Glean- 

 ings, Jan. I, 1906 issue, that they for- 

 merly had this trouble to contend with, 

 and he gave the following advice : 



"In order to avoid light colonies in 

 the fall, let your bees fill up their hives 

 with the first honey of the season, and 

 see that they have plenty of it capped 

 over before you put on your extracting 

 supers." 



His present position makes it clear 

 that he wants little honey in the brood- 

 nest, and it is hard to understand what 

 he really meant in the quotation I have 

 given. Certainly in the majority of lo- 

 calities, if his advice were followed, vast 

 apiaries would be badly demoralized by 

 swarming, if supering were delayed so 

 long. 



CoMB-HoNEY Production. 



Mr. S. D. House, of New York, gave 

 what was conceded by all to be one of 

 the best addresses ever listened to by 

 the Association. His talk was much on 

 the same lines as at Brantford last year, 

 and was business from start to finish. 

 His methods of using the divisible 

 brood-chamber in the production of 

 comb honey (the theme of his address) 

 were explained in a very lucid way to 

 the delight of all present, and at least 

 a few members were "almost persuad- 

 ed" to adopt a hive along the lines of 

 the one used by Mr. House. 



Foul Brood and Black Brood. 



The 6 inspectors of apiaries §pve their 

 reports, and out of some 400 apiaries 

 visited, about 50 percent were fou",d to 

 be diseased. Of course, this represents 

 apiaries where disease was suspected, 

 and the percentage of diseased colonies 

 throughout the Province is by no means 

 as large as the figures would indicate. 

 Some black brood was discovered, and 

 those who had had experience with it 

 dreaded the disease more than the ordi- 

 nary foul brood. 



Resolution? were passed asking that 

 Quebec Province enact a foul brood law, 

 and that the management of the differ- 

 ent fairs at Toronto, London, Ottawa, 

 and other cities, give demonstrations in 

 methods of bee-keeping and honey-pro- 

 duction, descriptions and illustrations of 

 the natural history of the bee, etc. 



The following officers were elected for 

 the ensuing year : President, F. J. Mil- 

 ler, of London, Ont. ; Vice-President, 

 W. Couse, of Streetsville; Secretary, P. 

 W. Hodgetts, Parliament Bldg., To- 

 ronto; Treasurer, Martin Emigh, of 

 Holbrook, Ont. 



The next place of meeting is Toronto. 



Dur 

 'Bee -Keepind^^l^ 



J 



Conducted by EMMA M. WILSON. Marengo, 111. 



When to Cellar the Bees." 



The time to take bees into the cellar 

 is always a catchy problem. Last year 

 ours were taken in Nov. 19th. But they 

 had no good flight after the loth, and it 

 would have been much better if they 

 had been carried in then, as 9 days of 

 confinement outside in freezing weather 

 with no chance to fly afterward is per- 

 haps harder on them than three times 

 as long in the cellar. If they could have 

 had a flight by staying out a week or 

 two longer, it would have been better to 

 have left them out. But how can one 

 tell in advance? As a matter of fact, 

 there was no weather warm enough for 

 further flight, so it was well they were 

 not left out later. 



This year, again, bees flew pretty well 

 up to November 10, and then came cold 

 weather, the thermometer going down 

 once as low as 11 degrees above zero. 

 A week of this weather made us quite 

 uneasy, and it was a question whether it 

 were better to run any further risk, or 

 to take the bees in without waiting for 

 another flight. Fortunately, just about the 

 time we had nearly decided to take them 

 in, the weather-man was obliging enough 

 to send us a brand of weather to make 

 our hearts glad. Nov. 18 the thermom- 

 eter went up to 53 degrees, and the bees 

 had a glorious flight. That was yester- 

 day, and they would have gone in to'day 

 only it's too warm ; but the first day that 

 it is cold enough, in they go. 



Feeding Bees through a Sponge. 



The following is given by Mary E. 

 Akers, in Gleanings in Bee Culture: 



"When bees are confined in a cage or 

 box the under side of which is of wire- 

 cloth, they can be fed (as some have 

 already suggested) with honey as long 

 as their tongues can reach it. My way 

 is to fill the receptacle with syrup; press 

 a sponge down in it, and all the syrup 

 will be appropriated — you would be sur- 

 prised to see in how short a time, as the 

 sponge presses against the wire, and the 

 weight of the bee-box of whatever kind 

 holds it down. It works finely." 



Now, isn't that bright? And a wom- 



an at that. But why confine that kind 

 of a feeder to bees confined in a box? 

 If a sponge sucked out at the top will 

 empty feed out of a dish in which it is 

 placed, the device may be used for feed- 

 ing bees not confined, and the feeder 

 may be placed in a hive or out in the 

 open. 



Take a box of convenient size and 

 have a cover of wire-cloth that may be 

 fastened on. Put in the box a dish to 

 hold the feed, the dish being nearly or 

 quite as deep as the inside of the box. 

 Put in the feed a sponge of such size 

 that when filled it will be deeper than 

 the dish, but will be kept down in place 

 when the wire cloth cover is fastened 

 down. Now, why wouldn't that make a 

 good feeder? 



Confection of Tomatoes and Honey 



Boil the tomatoes and pass them 

 through a fine sieve. Add twice the 

 weight of honey, skim well, and when 

 the confection is almost done, add 

 lemon. 



Section - Honey in a Bee - Tree — 

 Honey One Bee Gathers in Its 

 Lifetime. 



Dear Miss Wilson: — I've just re- 

 ceived and read the last American Bee 

 Journal (No. 30), which in many ways 

 is of especial interest to me. Those two 

 women^one in England and one in Af- 

 frica — who had swarms alight on their 

 heads were pretty brave, and had their 

 nerves under remarkable control. They 

 were certainly in great danger of death 

 connected with frightful suffering. 



You may be "interested in hearing 

 about a novel sort of a bee-hive that 

 the poet, Mr. Dodge, has on his place 

 at Morristown, N. J. A swarm some 

 years since made their home in the hol- 

 low trunk of a beautiful old tree near 

 the house, and the bees have remained 

 there and thrived to the great enjoy- 

 ment of the Dodges, who, in the early 

 days of their sojourn, fed them sugar 

 generously, as one inducement to per- 

 manent occupancy. The first year there 

 was no surplus honey obtained, but the 



