12 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



=a Established by Samuel Wagner in 1 861 (?= 



The oldest Bee Journal in the English language. 

 Published Monthly at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Entered as second-class matter at the PostoiRce at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Subscription Rates — In the United States and 

 Mexico, $1.50 per year; five years, $6. 

 Canadian postage 15 cents, and other foreign 

 countries 26 cents extra, per year. 



All subscriptions are stopped at expiration. Date 

 of expiration is printed on wrapper label. 



THE STAFF 



C. P. Dadant Editor 



Frank C. Pellett Associate Editor 



Maurice G. Dadatjt Business Manager 



(Copyright 1920 by C. P. Dadant.) 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



Our Cover Picture 



The queenbee shown on this 

 month's cover is reproduced from 

 Barbo's famous work, "Atlanta Di 

 Apicoltura," which was published in 

 Milan, Italy, about 1873. 



These microscopic studies were en- 

 graved by Designer Clerici and were 

 published in plates to the number of 

 30, at 14 lire for the set ($2.80). Count 

 Gaetano Barbo, the author of these 

 microscopic studies, was a man of 

 leisure, who made beekeeping a life 

 study. He died in September, 1909. 



Happy New Year 



For the many compliments, praise, 

 good wishes, that we are relceiving, 

 perhaps more than ever before, and 

 from every direction, even from 

 across the seas, we; return our 

 thanks. The American Bee Journal 

 will try to deserve still more. 



To you, reader, beekeeper, we like- 

 wise wish success. May your bees 

 winter safely, breed early, multiply 

 freely, harvest honey copiously, and 

 fight their enemies successfully. 

 May your honey be well flavored and 

 light in color. May your children be 

 healthy and of clear complexion, as 

 they are sure' to be if they eat honey 

 in plenty. May your neighbors be 

 kind, as they should be if you give 

 them the glad hand and an occa- 

 sional comb of honey, to smooth over 

 any bitterness from bee stings or 

 other troubles, imaginary or real. 

 And, in conclusion, may you read the 

 American Bee Journal, as well as all 

 the other bee magazines, till the end 

 of your days! Amen I 



Stenographic reports. 



Only a few of our beekeepers' 

 meetings are reported wholly by 

 stenographers, and in few of these 

 cases are the stenographers ac- 

 quainted with beeke'eping. This 

 causes some very incongruous situa- 

 tions, for a stenographer who does 

 not understand the meaning. of what 

 she is reporting is likely to make 

 some very ludicrous mistakes. A 

 condition of this kind is frequent in 

 the published reports of the Illinois 

 State Beekeepe'rs' Association. While 

 I was President of that Association I 

 insisted upon reading the manuscript 

 myself, before it was printed, which 

 required two or three days, and oc- 



casionally I threw out some 10 or 15 

 pages of report which had "neither 

 head nor tail." 



The report of 1919 is now upon my 

 desk and I find the usual number of 

 "quid pro quos," which must be quite 

 puzzling to the reader -of such a re- 

 port. For instance: On the question 

 of whether the bees could puncture 

 grapes, I stated that the birds did the 

 greatest damage and that the bees 

 gathered only the remnants. The 

 stenographer made me say: "The 

 holes made by the birds are usually 

 all on one side of the bush (read 

 bunch) .In another place, I spoke of 

 "having the combs straight in the 

 frames." The stenographer got "the 

 combs stretched in the frames." 



A beekeeper asked: "What is the 

 diiference between the modified Da- 

 dant frame and the Langstroth?" 

 The stenographer put it: "What is 

 the difference between the Modified 

 Dadant Hive and the last issue?" 



Langstroth," "last issue!" Sounds 

 very much alike, don't it? But the 

 meaning is somewhat different. 



Then the reply was similarly gar- 

 bled. I wonder whether any of the 

 speakers at these meetings finds his 

 or her words reported so that he or 

 she will recognize theml 



There are three remedies for this 

 trouble: 



1. Quit employing stenographers 

 who, however competent in ordinary 

 matters, are thoroughly incompetent 

 in beekeeping terms. 



2. Employ only stenographers who 

 are beekeepers themselves. 



3. Let each speaker's talks be 

 sent to him for approval, or let an 

 official of the Association pass upon 

 the statements made, rejecting all 

 that do not seem plausible and intelli- 

 gible . 



In the long ago, Mr. Hutchinson, 

 who was Secretary of the National, 

 used to secure for the reports a 

 stenogropher who was thoroughly ac- 

 quainted with the terms and technical 

 expressions in beekeeping, so that no 

 0M<; needed to blush in finding himself 

 in print as having stated a lot of non- 

 sense 



These difficulties have existed for 

 15 years or more in the Illinois .'\:-so- 

 ciation reports, and they probably ex- 

 ist also in other stenographic reports 

 cf bee meetings. 



Cure of Foulbrood by Fasting 



Schirach (1771) was the first man, 

 to our knowledge, to recommend 

 causing the bees to fast in order to 

 cure foulbrood, or, as he called it, 

 "false brood." He wrote : 



"The most simple remedy for 'false 

 brood' is to remove all the combs of 

 the hive, which are infected with it, 

 and to cause the bees to fast for two 

 days, after which one may give them 

 some new combs, and give them the 

 remedy prescribed at the chapter 39." 



This remedy consisted in honey 

 diluted in hot water and flavored 

 with nutmeg and saffron. 



Deceitful Names 



Our attention was called at the 

 same time and by two separate par- 

 ties to advertisements of cheap syr- 

 ups, mi.xed with a small quantity of 

 honey by two different packers, the 

 one in the South selling it under the 

 name of "Honey Gold," the other in 

 the Central West selling a similar 

 product under the name of "Red Clo- 

 ver." The latter product is labeled 

 as containing 5 per cent of honey and 

 15 per cent of sugar syrup, with 80 

 per cent of corn syrup. 



Of course, these names of "honey 

 gold" and "red clover" are intended 

 to give the impression that they are 

 high grade products, while the syrups 

 so named have probably a value, for 

 sweetening, of much less than honey. 



These people are evidently keeping 

 within the law. We cannot expect 

 them to change their labels. But we 

 should take a lesson. When we have 

 a product much higher in value, we 

 should advertise it in all possible 

 ways and let the people understand 

 what a great difference there is be- 

 tween real honey and those corn 

 starch products which sell only be- 

 cause so well advertised. 



Alsike Clover 



Farmers' Bulletin 1151, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, shows us 

 that alsike clover can grow better in 

 a pot completely submerged in water 

 than in ordinary normal conditions. 

 How many of us knew that? It is a 

 wonderfully good plant for honey, in 

 many districts, and it would pay to 

 grow it in place of .ed clover, for it 

 is a better stock food. It has finer 

 stems. 



Iowa Has Good Crop 



There are few people in Iowa who 

 appreciate the amount of honey pro- 

 duced in that State. A recent esti- 

 mate was made of the amount of 

 honey produced in Woodbury County 

 the past season. As nearly as could 

 be determined, 1,500,000 pounds were 

 produced in the one county in 1920. 

 This particular county probably has 

 more large producers than any other 

 in Iowa. Sweet clover is the princi- 

 pal source of nectar. It would be in- 

 teresting to know how many coun- 

 ties in the entire country produce as 

 much honey as Woodbury County, 

 Iowa. The crop in the western part 

 of the State was far better than in 

 the eastern part. 



