1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



117 



at the first examination, about the 

 end of April, I found two colonies 

 that had no more than 150 bees 

 apiece to support the queen. One had 

 plenty of stores, but the other was 

 starving. As the honey production of 

 both colonies the previous year had 

 been good, I felt I ought to try to 

 save the queens. Now, I see my own 

 bees on Saturdays, and usually leave 

 the apiary about 4 or 5 o'clock, so I 

 had to fit myself to the conditions. I 

 decided to place each of the weak 

 colonies above a strong one with wire 

 mosquito netting between, this be- 

 ing supported on a queen excluder. 

 This was done, and a frame with a 

 small batch of sealed brood, but no 

 adhering bees, given to each. The 

 one short of stores was provided for 

 by giving it a frame with honey. No 

 provision (was made for flight. 



The following Saturday I found 

 many of my old bees had died, but as 

 many young ones had hatched out. I 

 gave each another frame of sealed 

 brood; this time from the hive be- 

 low. A week later, feeling that the 

 odor of the hive would be uniform. 

 I carried each old hive to a new stand 

 and left the upper story with another 

 frame of brood and adhering bees on 

 the old stand to catch the flying bees. 



The queens were saved all right, 

 and I wish I could add that each 

 colony gave me a bumper crop, but 

 they did not; in fact they did not 

 even get winter stores. The season 

 was very dry, poor for building up, 

 and as strong nuclei made no better 

 showing, I am not in a position to 

 blame the queens. The longer I keep 

 bees the less inclined I get to bother 

 with weak colonies, so prefer to put 

 them out of business and get them off 

 my mind. Not alone in the bee iworld 

 have I seen brands plucked from the 

 burning that, so far as their useful- 

 ness was concerned, were not worth 

 the bother. 



A Bee Fence 



Where apiaries are kept close to 

 machine-worked fields there is fre- 

 quently complaint that the bees sting 

 the horses when at work. The best 

 way to avoid such trouble is to have 

 a high fence to compel the bees to 

 rise high in the air when leaving the 

 apiary or returning with their loads. 

 The picture shows an arrangement 

 used by Herman Rauchfuss, of Colo- 

 rado. He has woven brush into the 

 barbed-wire fence beside the apiary, 

 with the result that the bees pass 

 over the teams in the adjoining field 

 at such a height that there is seldom 

 any annoyance to the horses. 



The National Meeting 



The National Association met at 

 Buffalo, March 9-11, approved the ac- 

 tion of the Kansas City meeting of 

 January 6, organizing an "American 

 Honey Producers' League," and dis- 

 solved itself after voting to merge 

 the Association into this League. Pre- 

 vious to this action it approved the 

 decision of the Association of New 

 York Societies, which also joined the 

 League. 



We trust that those who are in- 

 clined to criticise the organization of 

 an "American Honey Producers' 

 League" will read its contemplated 

 functions in the "League Bulletin," 

 which is being sent freely throughout 

 the country. Like the citrus fruit 

 men, the honey producers of America 

 need to brace against each other, and 

 it is not sufficient to organize local 

 or state honey producers' associa- 

 tions. These must be connected with 

 each other, though independent from 

 one another, in order to secure the 

 benefits of union. 



This is not the first time that the 

 honey producers try to join hands. 

 Other attempts have been failures. 

 But we are getting nearer and nearer 



to the goal. If this should fail, an- 

 other would take its place shortly. 

 So do not pass it by without careful 

 investigation. Information can read- 

 ily be secured by addressing the Sec- 

 retary, Chas. B. Justice, 318 Invest- 

 ment Bldg., Los Angeles, or E. G. Le 

 Stourgeon, President, San Antonio, 

 Texas. 



Wisconsin's Crop 



The Wisconsin Crop Reporting Ser- 

 vice estimated that there were pro- 

 duced in Wisconsin in 1919, 4,834,000 

 pounds of surplus honey, of which 

 18 per cent, or 826,000 pounds, was 

 comb and 4,008,000 extracted. This is 

 an average of 54 pounds per colony, 

 comb honey yielding 34 pounds per 

 colony and extracted 61 pounds. Of 

 the 90,000 colonies in the State in 1919, 

 37 per cent, or 24,300, were used in 

 the production of comb honey and 73 

 per cent, or 65,700 in the production 

 of extracted honey. The census of 

 1910 reports 95,638 colonies. This 

 number decreased rapidly until within 

 the last few years, but the culture of 

 bees is rapidly increasing at the pres- 

 ent time. 



The total value of the 1919 honey 

 crop of Wisconsin is estimated at $1,- 

 207,730. of which $261,842 is for 

 comb honey and $945,888 for extract- 

 ed. Average price received by pro- 

 ducers of comb honey was 31.7c per 

 pound; of extracted, 23.6c per pound. 

 On January 1 the average price of 

 comb honey was 32.6c; of extracted, 

 24.8c. 



The average value per hive of bees 

 is estimated at $8.50, a total value of 

 $765,000 for the 90.000 colonies in the 

 State. KENNETH HAWKINS. 



Premiums to be Offered at Mid- 

 West Horticultural Show 



We learn from Professor Paddock 

 that beekeepers will be recognized 

 by the management of the next Mid- 

 West Horticultural Show, to be held 

 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, next fall. 

 Special premiums will be offered for 

 county association exhibits. Since 

 the Mid-West is one of the biggest 

 exhibitions of fruit to be held in 

 America, it is a very favorable oppor- 

 tunity for the beekeepers to bring 

 their product to the attention of the 

 public. Beekeepers can do no better 

 advertising than by well arranged ex- 

 hibitions at fairs, etc. By making 

 plans early in the season it is not dif- 

 ficult to prepare an effective exhibit. 

 If the beekeepers of the Middle West 

 respond with a display worth while 

 this year, it is probable that larger 

 premiums will be available later. 



Brush woven into a barbed-wire fence to compel the bees to rise above the surrounding 6ields. 

 Annoyance to horses, working in the fields near the apiary can often be prevented in this 

 manner. 



Large Hives 



"With the little British Beekeepers' 

 Association frames, two brood cham- 

 bers are essential to secure a really 

 effective working force of bees at the 

 right time. The other way is only 

 playing at beekeeping." — S. H. Smith, 

 of Cambridge, England, in "Intensive 

 Beekeeping for Honey Production." 



