386 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



to those mentioned, there are several 

 species of magnolia, European white 

 thorn and a number which are not 

 of value for honey. 



M. H. Hoffman, the County Agent, 

 co-operates with the County Associa- 

 tion and lends every assistance to 

 making the meetings a success. The 

 county branches of State Associa- 

 tions are doiner much to sustain in- 

 terest in beekeeping and to raise the 

 standard of the craft. 



Central Plant 



Probably a small per cent of bee- 

 keepers in the East and South use 

 the central plant in outapiary work. 

 It is used more in the west. Good 

 roads and steady, long honey flows 

 are desirable with this system. 



Sugar Prices 



Raw sugar is selling in New York 

 at lYi cents, while refined sells at 

 wholesale from 11 to 14 cents. Opin- 

 ions are div'ded on the future of the 

 sugar market. Many authorities 

 claim still a world shortage and ex- 

 pect a rise in price as soon as a ma- 

 jor portion of the beet sugar crop 

 is disposed of. 



Beemen at Watertown 



Twenty of the well-known produc- 

 ers of honey and buyers of honey and 

 beekeepers' supplies visited Water- 

 town, Wis., September 15 to 17, where 

 an informal program was put on for 

 their benefit by the G. B. Lewis Com- 

 pany. Plans were discussed for the 

 stabilizing of the honey market, and 

 some definite projects outlined to ac- 

 complish this. 



The guests were entertained at 

 Lake LaBelle, Oconomowoc, at the 

 Majestic Hotel, and lunches were 

 served each day at the Elks' Club, 

 Watertown. Auto trips around near- 

 by lakes served as a diversion from 

 the business conferences. Prof. H. F. 

 Wilson, of the University of Wiscon- 

 sin, and Dr. S. B. Fraker, State De- 

 paitment of Agriculture, appeared 

 on the program, along with some of 

 the other hon£y producers. 



Muscatine County Meeting 



The beekeepers of Muscatine Coun- 

 ty, Iowa, met on September 30. In 

 spite of unfavorable weather, which 

 spoiled the plans for a picnic, a 

 goodly number gathered to enjoy 

 talks on practical beekeeping. 



Demuth to Medina 



The announcement has recently 

 been made that George S. Demuth, of 

 the Bureau of Entomology will as- 

 sume editorial charge of Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture on November 1. Mr. De- 

 muth has shown himself to be a .very 

 capable man, both as a practical bee- 

 keeper and as assistant to Dr. Phil- 

 lips. Gleanings is to be congratulated 

 on the addition to its staff. 



Atkins CO Leave Iowa 



E. W. Atkins, who has served the 

 bi^ekeepers of Iowa as extension lec- 

 turer under joint supervision of the 

 U. S. Bureau of Entomology and the 

 Extension Departm'" ' of Iowa State 

 College of Agriculti,. t, has resigned, 



to take effect on November 1. After 

 that date Mr. Atkins will be em- 

 ployed by the service department of 

 the G. B. Lewis' Company, of Water- 

 town, Wis. 



Many beekeepers will regret Mr. 

 Atkins' decision to leave the exten- 

 sion work. He worked for a time in 

 the States of Missouri, Kansas and 

 Nebraska, later giving all his time to 

 Jjwa. His work has been very suc- 

 cessful and he has many friends in 

 the States mentioned, as well as in 

 Canada, where he spent some time 

 as assistant to the Dominion Apiarist 

 at Ottawa. 



H. B. Parks Resigns 



H. B. Parks has resigned his posi- 

 tion as apiculturist at the Experi- 



ment Station at College Station, Tex. 

 Mr. Parks was for a time extension 

 lecturer in beekeeping at the Texas 

 Agricultural College, later taking the 

 position at the E.xperiment Station. 

 He is shortly to enter the employ of 

 the Texas Honey Producers' Asso- 

 ciation at San Antonio. Mr. Parks has 

 had a varied experience, having spent 

 some time in Alaska, as well as being 

 stationed in South Carolina and Mis- 

 souri before locating in Texas. The 

 Texas station has experimental api- 

 aries in several localities, and a great 

 deal of work under way. Texas bee- 

 keepers will regret having Mr. Parks 

 leave his position as apiculturist, but 

 since he is to remain in the employ of 

 the co-operative organization, will 

 still be in their service. 



r 



THE EDITOR'S ANSWERS 



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We answer as many questions as space will permit, in order received. 

 When stamp is enclosed, the editor will answer by mail. We now receive 

 more questions than we can answer in the Journal. 



Eight-Frame Hive — Strong Colony 



1. Is it possible that a small hive, such as 

 an 8-frame i^angstroth, would be the best in 

 certain localities? Mr. P. Scheuring did not 

 make this claim, but said he could make good 

 with it, but others may succeed with larger 

 hives. He tried the 10-frame but abandoned it. 



2. I would like to know how many frames 

 should be covered with bees in an 8-frarae hive 

 to be considered strong when taken from their 

 winter quarters ? When would you call it 

 weak? 



3. Does Wisconsin University give courses 

 in beekeeping? How long does it take for a 

 complete course? 



4. How is the name "Dadant" pronounced? 



WISCONSIN. 

 Answers. — 1. The. 8-frame hive would prob- 

 ably be best in a locality where the season 

 was early enough and short enough to pre- 

 vent the queen from developing her full 

 laying capacity in time for the crop. We don't 

 know of any such locality, but it may exist. 



2. A strong colony, in an 8-frame hive, ought 

 to have at least 6 spaces covered with bees at 

 the end of the winter. It would be very weak 

 if it covered only 3 or 4. 



3. Yes. Write to H. F. Wilson, Madison, 

 Wis., for details of course. 



4. Pronounce it "Day-dent," accent on both 

 syllables. That is not the French way. but 

 we are all Americans, are we not? 



it is cheaper to buy it of a manufacturer. 



2. Your experience shows that bees will 

 often refuse to have two queens in one hive, 

 even if they are separated by an excluder. 

 There is nothing strange in this. The strange 

 thing is that bees often accept two queens, as 

 it is against their instinct. 



Paste— Balled Queen 



1. Please give me a good receipt for a paste 

 that will make the labels stick on glass and tin. 



2. This spring 1 united several colonies on 

 the Alexander plan. A few days ago one of 

 the colonies showed unusual activity, so inves- 

 tigating, I found the lower queen out in front 

 of the hive being balled, and the upper queen, 

 a beautiful Italian, going about her business 

 as if nothing haiipened. I liberated the balled 

 queen and attempted to run her in, but the 

 bees would not allow this, and would have 

 nothing to do with their former queen. The 

 queen was c!ii)pcd about a week before, so she 

 could not fly. To save the queen 1 introduced 

 her to a nucleus and she seems to be working 

 again. Can you give me any information un 

 this? MICHIGAN. 



Answers. — 1. We make paste with flour and 

 water. Dilute the flour well, making a liquid 

 about like thin cream. Then heat over a lire, 

 stirring all the time to keep from burning. As 

 soon as it begins to thicken, take it off. Thin 

 labels stick well with this paste. Thick labels 

 sometimes peel oflF. Some add a little honey 

 while making the paste, to make it stick bet- 

 ter. When a large amouo* of paste is needed 



Worthless Queen 



We are two brothers, 13 and 14 years old. 

 Have become interesttj in bees and finally 

 bought two swarms. One was an old colony 

 in a home-made hive. This one sent out two 

 large swarms and a third small swarm. As 

 near as we can tell, the first ones are O. K., 

 but the third one has a lot of brood, and little 

 honey. This one is on 6 frames in an 8- 

 frame hive. The old parent colony has a 

 lot of honey, but almost no brood. Evidently 

 the queen is laying but little. Will you tell 

 us how we can unite the two colonies for win- 

 ter? The frames are not removable in the 

 parent colony (as the combs are built so ir- 

 regular) and they are not the same size as the 

 standard hives. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



Answer. — From your description, it is prob- 

 able that the queen in the old hive is worth- 

 less, since you say the hive has but little brood. 

 If the hive has plenty of honey, it may be well 

 to kill its queen and unite the small colony 

 with it. Drive the bees out of the old hive, 

 find the queen and kill her. Then set the 

 weaker colony with the brood on top of the 

 old hive, or under it. By and by, when aJl 

 its brood has hatched, you may remove the 

 small hive and shake all its bees in front of 

 the other. In order to get them to unite with- 

 out fighting, it may be advisable to place a 

 sheet of paper between the two hive bodies 

 when you place one hive on top of the other. 

 When you move the small colony, you will 

 have to smoke and disturb them greatly so 

 they may take notice of the fact that their 

 hive is being moved to another spot. There is 

 always a chance for the loss of some bees 

 when you move them to a new spot. 



Moth Prevention 



Here is my plan for taking care of extracting 

 combs. I have been giving it a thorough test 

 for years, and I know it to be a success. This 

 season I have taken out combs in perfect con- 

 dition that were put aw.iy three years ago. 



My plan is to put them away in super hives, 

 or other containers, alternating an empty 

 frame with each comb, so as to not allow any 

 two combs to com in contact. In tiering up 

 the containers I use strips of wood (one-quar- 



