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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



much longer to solder straps on pails 

 than it does to solder the cover 3 or 4 

 places in the rim, but I believe it is 

 worth while. The average beekeeper 

 who ships his honey in pails could sol- 

 der all his pails for shipment in a 

 short time, after he learns how. 



My soldering outfit consists of the 

 following: A small trough for hold- 

 ing the pails, two soldering irons, bar 

 of solder, kerosene stove (kitchen 

 stove), a pint earthen jar containing 

 a weak solution of sal ammoniac, bot- 

 tle of 'Ruby flux" and a mucilage 

 brush, pair of tin shears, piece of 

 light tin, pointed tool and pair of 

 pliers. 



Soldering on bright tin is very easy 

 and can be best learned by being 

 shown, but the following directions 

 can be used. Place the irons in the 

 blaze of a kerosene, gas or gasoline 

 stove. Make a weak solution of sal 

 ammoniac in the pint jar. Cut straps 

 J4x1J/2 in. of light, bright tin, straight- 

 en them and apply flu.x to one end. 

 Place the pail in the trough and put 

 flux (or powdered alum) on the spot 

 where the strap is to be soldered. Re- 

 move an iron from the blaze, test its 

 heat by plunging the point in the 

 sal ammoniac solution. The sound of 

 an iron properly heated will soon be- 

 come familiar. The solution cleans 

 the iron for use. Irons can also be 

 cleaned by being rubbed across a 

 cloth. Now place the strap on the 

 pail, the soldering iron on the strap, 

 and touch the bar of solder to the 

 tinned (or bright) part of the iron 

 until enough solder has melted to 

 solder the strap. Hold the iron on 

 the pail until the solder runs (or 

 "sweats") under the strap. As you re- 

 move the iron hold the strap in place 

 for a moment with the fingers, or 

 pliers, if it is hot. Soldering the 

 straps inside the cover is identically 

 the same process, except that some 

 pointed tool is necessary to hold the- 

 strap in place until the solder hardens. 



The advantage of having two irons 

 is that one will always be hot for con- 

 tinuous work. Care must be taken 

 not to overheat the irons, burning off 

 the tinning. An iron not bright will 

 not solder. It is then necessary to re- 



tin the iron, a difficult process with 

 only a kerosene or gasoline stove, 

 since the iron must be heated cherry 

 red. Short irons can often be bought 

 cheap from a tinsmith, and are just as 

 serviceable as heavier ones after they 

 are re-pointed and re-tinned, except 

 that they will not hold the heat as 

 long. 



Although this article is not written 

 in behalf of soldering, it is well to 

 know how to solder and have an out- 

 fit just for use about the house. Much 

 time, convenience and expense can be 

 saved by doing one's own soldering. 



Plymouth, Wis. 



BEEKEEPING IN CANADA 



In this issue we publish some pic- 

 tures showing the apiary building at 

 the Canadian Government Farms at 

 Ottawa, and also those in charge 

 of the work. 



In Canada a Province corresponds 

 to a State in this country. In the 

 picture we show Prof. F. Eric Millen, 

 who has charge of the beekeeping 

 work for the Province of Ontario, 

 together with Mr. F. W. L. Sladen, 

 the Dominion Apiarist, who has 

 charge of the work for the Govern- 

 ment of Canada, with headquarters 

 at Ottawa, and his assistant, Mr. C. B. 

 Gooderham. The position occupied 

 by Mr. Sladen and his assistant cor- 

 responds to that of the men in 

 charge of beekeeping work in the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture in this country. 



At Ottawa the work undertaken is 

 largely experimental in nature, to- 

 gether with investigation of the 

 honey plants, their range, season of 

 blooming, etc. The Dominion Api- 

 arist also has supervision of the bees 

 at the various branch farms, in dif- 

 ferent parts of the Dominion. 



BROOD, HEAT AND HONEY 



By Will H. Gray 

 The experiments carried on last 

 spring at North Lonsdale with elec- 

 trically heated hives, while not ex- 

 tensive enough to be conclusive, 

 were very interesting, because they 



showed very clearly the intimate re- 

 lationship between brood, heat and 

 honey. 



The heating arrangement, consist- 

 ing of a 6 candle power carbon fila- 

 ment lamp, was started on the 9th of 

 February in each of three hives, and 

 kept going till the middle of April. 

 There was some brood in one at the 

 beginning. A few hours after the 

 heat was applied there were great 

 signs of activity, and a continual 

 scratching could be heard inside. Two 

 colonies were given feeders, which i 

 they emptied in four or five days. ' 

 Later a feeder was found to have 

 been emptied in one night. On ex- 

 amination it was found that the lamp 

 had burned out, hence the rapid con- 

 sumption of syrup to keep up the 

 heat. 



The colony that was without a 

 feeder liquified a large amount of 

 honey and put it near the brood. 

 They had not left the hive during 

 this time. (If they had it would 

 probably have been considered willow 

 honey). 



The most interesting part of the 

 experiment was the saving of honey 

 instead of the consumption of it, as 

 would have been expected. This 

 looks as if heat, brood and honey are 

 interchangeable, which puts quite a 

 pleasant aspect on this method, as 

 the honey saved would probably pay 

 for the heat supplied and the hive 

 would be benefitted by the extra 

 amount of brood raised. 



All three hives were very weak, 

 one had a poor queen and showed no 

 benefit at all. One of the other two 

 was divided at the end of May, as it 

 then occupied two stories; they 

 swarmed again about the middle of 

 June. The remaining one became 

 very strong. 



The large increase in brood-rear- 

 ing did not begin until the bees were 

 able to fly. The heated colonies made 

 use of many flying hours, while the 

 unheated did not venture out. 



British Columbia. 



I.,eft to right. Prof. F. Eric Millen, Provincial Apiarist of Ontario; C. B. Gooderham, Assist- 

 ant to the Dominion Apiarist, and F. W. L. Sladen, Dominion Apiarist of Canada. 



YELLOW INDIGO 



The following letter from a New 

 York beekeeper refers to the Yellow 

 Indigo, Baptistia tinctoria. It grows 

 on dry and sandy soils from New 

 England and Ontario to Minnesota, 

 and south to Florida and Louisiana. 

 It is known by a number of local 

 names, including wild indigo, indigo- 

 weed, clover broom, shoofly, rattle- 

 bush, horsefly-weed, and Mr. Barteau 

 adds bugle-weed, though bugle-weed 

 is commonly applied to an entirely 

 different plant. 



Brookhaven, L. I., Aug. 20, 1920. 



"I am enclosing you a branch of a 

 weed known in this locality as 

 'bugle-weed.' I have never known it 

 to be spoken of as a nectar-bearing 

 plant, it grows on waste, sandy land, 

 and most luxuriantly in burned over 

 areas (woods). The plant grows about 

 2 feet high and has tremendous roots, 

 going down three or four feet. It 

 yields in all kinds of weather imine- 

 diatcly after rain. Hot. dry days, with 

 no dews at night, make no difference 

 to it. The honey is water white, as 

 mild, or milder, than clover. At this 



