90 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



=0 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 Postoffice at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Subscription Rates — In the United States and 

 Mexico, $1.60 per year; five years, $6. 

 Canadian postage 16 cents, and other foreign 

 countries 25 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. Peliett Associate Editor 



Maurice G. Daoa:.t Business Manager 



(Copyright 1921 by C. P Dadant.) 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



The Honey Producers' League 



As we go to press word comes from 

 Indianap'oli? that the annual meeting 

 of the American Honey Producers 

 League was a big success. There w-is 

 much enthusiasm manifested and 

 $6,t'00 was raised by those present for 

 an advertising campaign to br'.n ; 

 hoi.ey to public attention. The poli- 

 cies of the League were endorsed by 

 beekeepers and members of allied 

 trades. The success of the new or- 

 ganization now seems assured. 



Kansas Honey Producers' 

 Association Joins 



After a talk from Mr. Paddock on 

 co-operation, and a few words from 

 our editor, the Kansas Honey Produc- 

 ers' League voted to join the Ameri- 

 can League. Tally one more. 



The officers of the Kansas League 

 for the ensuing year are : President, 

 Frank Hi'U, Sabetha; Vice President, 

 A. V. Small, Augusta; Secretary- 

 Treasurer, Dr. J. H. Merrill, Manhat- 

 tan. 



These men are all "live wires." 

 (This is a modern e.xpr.essio^n, but 

 there is none better). Mr. Frank Hill 

 insisted that he was not a good par- 

 liamentarian and would make a poor 

 President. But he is energetic, a 

 good beekeeper and not afraid to 

 speak. So we are aissured that he 

 will study parliamentary usage and 

 will prove to be just the man for the 

 place. 



The Spanish Needles as 

 Honey Producers 



Some of our beekeepers have ex- 

 pressed doubts as to the Spanish 

 needles being a good honey plant, be- 

 cause they have never seen the bees 

 working upon them. If they had at- 

 tended the Kansas tneeting at Man- 

 hattan, they would have no longer 

 aniy doubts upo-n 'this. Dr. J. H. Mer- 

 rill, apiarist in charge, is a very good 

 man tio draw out everything there is 

 in a meeting, and his calls for reports 

 from the diflfercnt counties of the 

 State were readily and fully an- 

 swered. Nearly every county re- 

 ported honey from Spanish needles. 



At that meeting the statement was 

 renewed that alfalfa does not produce 

 honey at an elevation loi less than a 



thousand feet above sea level. There 

 is an exception, however, and that is 

 in a district below sea level, the Im- 

 perial Valley of California. 



Some beekeepers criticised the 

 statement that honey is sometimes 

 harvested from the sunflowers. But 

 there are many plants which furnish 

 honey in one country and not 'in an- 

 other. During my visit in Switzer- 

 land, in 1913, a beekeeper asked me 

 whether I was sure that bees secured 

 honey from white clover in America, 

 because, he said, none is produced 

 from white clo'ver in Switzerland. 

 And that appears to be true, in some 

 localities at least. 



Fire at Henry Dadant's Home 



In the forentoon of the 17th of Feb- 

 ruary, the Dadant people were very 

 much startled by a fire a'larm from 

 the home 'O'f Henry C. Dadant. Sparks 

 from the flue caused a fire in the 

 roof. A strong breeze was blowing 

 and before the Hamilton fire depart- 

 ment could get two lines of hose 

 pouring water on the building the 

 roof was almost completely de- 

 stroyed. The furniture was removed, 

 much damaged 'by water. Our friends 

 will be glad to hear, however, 'that a 

 good portion of the loss is covered by 

 insurance. But it is a great incon- 

 venience to be driven out of one's 

 home in winter. The two little girls 

 shown on the February cover page 

 are Henry's daughters. 



How Small a Colony May be 

 Wintered? 



The required size of la colony to "be 

 wintered successfully depends much 

 upon the location, the winter, the 

 food, the number of flying days, etc. 

 We have wintered colonies wihich 

 might have been called nuclei, con- 

 taining 'perhaps not over a quart of 

 bees. A mild winter like the present 

 one is exceedingly favorable to weak 

 colonies, if the food is right. But un- 

 til March and April are over, we can 

 hardly be sure of safe wintering. We 

 have seen bees dwindle as late as 

 May, when the spring was backward 

 and Cold. Better not take Chances, 

 in the northern countries at least, and 

 'have all your colonies strong foir win- 

 ter. 



The condensation of moisture into 



frost, inside of the ihive, during the 

 coldest days, is not necessarily a bad 

 sign, if on warm days the bees have 

 enough warmth t'o thaw it and it ruis 

 out of the entrance. But a colony 

 which is kept warm by ample cover- 

 ing will have but little condensation 

 of moisture, because it will consume 

 les'S than a weaker one and because 

 its moisture will evaporate in the 

 absorbents above, if such absorbents 

 have been supplied. 



Whatever you do, if yo'uir bees are 

 out-of-doors, beware of cold weather 

 in March and April. This is for our 

 middle and northern States, because, 

 in the South, the only requirement is 

 to see that the bees are not short of 

 stores, and in many places they har- 

 vest htoney, after March 1. 



The Work of the Colleges 



I wonder whether the average bee- 

 keeper realizes how much good work 

 the colleges are doing for our busi- 

 ness. There are but few agricultural 

 institutions now that do not teach 

 the elements of practical beekeeping. 

 There are but few of them that are 

 n'oit fitted to examine samples of bee 

 diseases and give information and di- 

 rections on treatment. 



Some of our people seem to think 

 that it would be better if beekeeping 

 was not taught. They are afraid that 

 it will increase the number of honey 

 producers to where the business will 

 noit pay. But beekee'pers are not 

 made by any proces's O'f education. 

 Those only who like bees and bee- 

 keeping can be educated to take 

 proper care of bees, and it is right 

 that they should be, for the slovenly 

 bee owner is responsible for the dis- 

 seminati'on of disease, just in the 

 same way that the careless frjit 

 grower is responsible for the dissem- 

 ination of San Jose scale, codling 

 moth, curculio, etc. The more prac- 

 tical beekeepers we will have, the less 

 slovenly ones, the better they will 

 unite upon advertising and holding 

 prices at a reasonable level that will 

 bring fair returns and secure ready 

 sales. 



There is no more danger of ruining 

 the market by producing too much 

 honey than there is of producing too 

 much wheat. Some people are starv- 

 ing, just now, on this eirth of ours, 

 for want of bread. It is the distribu- 

 tion which is wrong and inadequate. 

 Let uis remedy it. 



Friendly Friends 



Our friends' friends are our friends. 

 By the same token our subscribers' 

 friends should become our subscrib- 

 ers. — Italian Exchange. 



Honey-Soap 



A honey soap is made in southern 

 France, which they call "sapolimel." 

 It is claimed that this soap foams and 

 lathers abundantly, does not crumble, 

 and helps the healing of chapped 

 hands, chilblains, eruptions or other 

 diseases of the skin. 



