1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



409 



Mr*. Miller 111 



A letter from Marengo brings the 

 news that Mrs. Miller has been con- 

 fined to her bed with illness most of 

 the time since Dr. Miller's death. 

 Mrs. Miller wishes to convey to the 

 beekeepers generally her apprecia- 

 tion of the many kind letters re- 

 ceived since the doctor passed away, 

 and to thank them one and all, since 

 it is impossible to reply to them di- 

 rectly. 



The Quebec Apiary 



Editor Vaillancourt, of L'Abeille, 

 in Quebec, publishes Bulletin 62 of 

 the Ministry of Agriculture of the 

 Province of Quebec. It is an 88-page 

 bulletin, supplying, in a condensed 

 form, the most important require- 

 ments for successful beekeeping. In 

 the matter of wintering, he recom- 

 mends the "silo," and gives direc- 

 tions for building a silo. This meth- 

 od of wintering is certainly good for 

 cold countries like the Province of 

 Quebec. We have in our own United 

 States localities where the silo would 

 undoubtedly be equally successful. 



An Opportunity for 

 Breeding Experiments 



The State Plant Board of Missis- 

 sippi has recently made a survey of 

 the plant and insect life on Cat 

 Island, which is about eighteen miles 

 off the coast from Gulfport. Prof. 

 R. W. Harned, the State Entomolo- 

 gist, who has charge of the work, 

 writes that no honeybees were found 

 on the island. There were fourteen 

 in the party, most of whom were col- 

 lecting from early morning until late 

 at night. Everyone had special in- 

 structions to be on the lookout for 

 honeybees, and as not one was seen 

 it is believed that no bees occur on 

 the island. Prof. Harned is of the 

 opinion that the flora is sufficient to 

 sustain a number of colonies. In 

 case any queen breeder wishes to 

 secure a suitable place for breeding 

 experiments, where the matings can 

 be controlled, it is quite possible that 

 arrangements can be made with the 

 owners to lease a suitable site for 

 this purpose. 



Since the breeding of bees for the 

 northern trade is coming to be quite 

 an important industry in Mississippi 

 we would like to see the experiment 

 station, or similar institution, of that 

 State establish a breeding station on 

 the island. There are similar islands 

 off the coast of other Gulf States 

 which might be utilized in this man- 

 ner. It would seem that any of the 

 States where this branch of bee- 

 keeping is being developed might well 

 afford to establish such a breeding 

 station and undertake to solve some 

 of the problems that confront the 

 queen breeder. 



Wintering Bees in Canada 



We acknowledge receipt, from F. 

 W. Sladen, Dominion Apiarist, at Ot- 

 tawa, of an official Bulletin (No. 43) 

 on wintering bees in Canada, in the 

 French language "L'Hivernage des 

 Abeilles au Canada; the English 



edition of the same to follow shortly. 



Mr. Sladen puts in evidence the 

 three requirements of good winter- 

 ing, whether in Canada or elsewhere: 

 Strong colonies, composed principally 

 of young bees; plenty of healthy 

 honey; protection against cold. 



For strong colonies of young bees, 

 Mr. Sladen believes in having a 

 young queen that will lay freely eggs 

 that will hatch in August and Sep- 

 tember. Even in our Middle States, 

 we believe that September bees are 

 best for winter. They have plenty of 

 time to take their early flights be- 

 fore cold weather. 



For healthy honey for winter, Mr. 

 Sladen recommends white clover, al- 

 sike clover, and even buckwheat. But 

 he condemns dandelion honey and 

 hard maple honey because they 

 "granulate in the combs." Aster 

 honey "is harvested to.o late and 

 does not sufficiently ripen" for good 

 winter food in Canada. As a matter 

 of course, he condemns all fruit 

 juices and honeydew. 



For protection he recommends the 

 4-colony winter case, but warns bee- 

 keepers against the "drifting of 

 bees," to which we have always ob- 

 jected when colonies are shifted 

 from one spot to another. For this 

 purpose he advises to "bring the 

 hives together gradually towards the 

 end of summer, so as to be in about 

 the same position that they will ac- 

 cupy in the winter case." 



For cellar wintering he recom- 

 mends a temperature of 45 to 50 de- 

 grees in a cellar "not too dry." 



Beg Pardon 



We may make mistakes in theory 

 and pass them, but it will not do 

 to make errors in facts. The editor 

 made an incorrect statement, on page 

 226, concerning the music composed 

 by Dr. Miller, and half a dozen peo- 

 ple have written us to correct it. The 

 following are the facts: 



Dr. Miller 'wrote the music of "The 

 Hum of the Bees in the Apple Tree 

 Tops," "The Beekeepers' Reunion 

 Song," "Dot Happy Beeman," "Bee- 

 keepers' Convention Song," and 

 "Spring Time Joys." But Geo. W. 

 York, is the composer of the music 

 in "The Beekeeper's Lullaby" and 

 "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey." The 

 words of all these songs were by the 

 late Eugene Secor. Mr. York pub- 

 lished all the above some years ago, 

 with one by himself and one by 

 James Roat, in pamphlet form, un- 

 der the title of "Songs of Beedom." 

 A letter from Mr. York reveals the 

 fact that he has a few dozen copies 

 left. 



Winter Protection 



The information reached us lately, 

 indirectly, that some beekeepers 

 quote the Dadants as being opposed 

 to heavily packed double-wall hives 

 for winter. Not by any means. When 

 the bees are packed in ;uch a manner 

 that the cold weather cannot reach 

 them, they are in the very best con- 

 dition for winter. Let me quote the 

 last paragraph in the chapter on out- 



of-doors wintering in the "Dadant 

 System of Beekeeping": 



"If the packing of colonies, singly, 

 in thick packing boxes, in a way that 

 they could not feel the cold of winter, 

 was not so expensive, it would be the 

 ideal way of wintering bees, even in 

 very cold regions. We have not 

 adopted this method because of the 

 great expense that it entails. Our 

 method has been sufficient and al- 

 though we have lost heavily in a few 

 abnormal winters, we succeeded quite 

 regularly. Our losses are not over 

 5 per cent, one year with another." 



Winter management is mainly a 

 matter of location. But beekeepers 

 can never overdo the protection of 

 their colonies. 



Unsealed Honey for 

 Winter Stores 



Says the British Bee Journal: "Un- 

 sealed syrup, or honey, will do no 

 harm to the bees if it keeps sweet, 

 but during the damp weather of au- 

 tumn and early winter unsealed 

 stores take up moisture from the air 

 and are then likely to ferment." 



True, but even if they don't fer- 

 ment, as in our cold climate, the in- 

 creased moisture taken up as stated 

 above produces a noxious effect upon 

 the bees and leads to diarrhea. Bet- 

 t2r have all sealed stores, as much as 

 possible. 



To Kill Moths 



Carbon disulphide, carbon bisul- 

 phide, carbon sulphide, according to 

 the United States Dispensatory, are 

 one and the same thing. It is a very 

 volatile, highly inflammable substance, 

 "prepared by the direct combination 

 of carbon and sulphur at a moderate 

 red heat." It should be low-priced, 

 for it is manufactured- on a large 

 scale. The above-named book is au- 

 thority for the statement that "in the 

 works of Deiss, at Pantin, near Mar- 

 seilles, France, 5,000 kilograms ((11,- 

 000 pounds) were turned out daily." 



There is another preparation which 

 is not inflammable, carbon tetra- 

 chloride, which is also an anesthetic 

 and will kill moths and other insects 

 by evaporation. It is made from car- 

 bon disulphide and dry chlorine. 



The latter drug is the cheaper of 

 the two, its cost being from 25 to 30 

 cents per pound, in small quantities, 

 while the disulphide sells at 35 to 60 

 cents. 



Wisconsin Horticulture 

 and Bee Culture 



The little monthly entitled "Wis- 

 consin Horticulture," is worth read- 

 ing. It always contains a lot of bee 

 information. The October number 

 has a beautiful front page cut. 



Big Colonies 



Lieut. C. W. Smart, in Australasian 

 Beekeeper for August, 1920, reports 

 that a colony which he built up "four 

 stories high and which had brood 

 from top to bottom, produced more 

 honey than any other hive in the 

 apiary." Large hives. 



