1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



193 



you take care of them and the more founda- 

 tion you give them, the quicker they will 

 build up. 



3. It is out of the question to tell you 

 whether your swarms will fill the hive, or 

 whether they will make a lot of surplus or 

 starve. All depends upon the season and upon 

 the care you give them. 



4. Certainly, the queen ceases laying, usu- 

 ally in October, until the first warm days of 

 early spring. 



5. Yes, but it is better to have the honey 

 in the brood-combs, especially in the cellar. 



6. I don't know. I have never wintered 

 any on dandelion honey. Do any of our read- 

 ers know anything about this? 



ODDS AND ENDS 



Introducing Queens 



1. I raised a few queens last summer. 1 had 

 no trouble in introducing some, but some of 

 the colonies I tried to requeen would swarm 

 about two weeks or so after I put the new 

 queen in. I also had a few that didn't ac- 

 cept the new queen and are now queenless 

 and worthless. I introduced the queens in 

 a cage. What do you think the trouble was? 



2. When I open a hive, usually the bees, or 

 quite a lot of them, will fly out and sting 

 wherever they get a chance. Is it just that 

 the bees are cross, or could there be something 

 else? WISCONSIN. 



Answers. — 1. Either the colonies were too 

 strong and wanting to swarm when you in- 

 troduced your queens, or you made them 

 queenless a few days ahead of introduction, in 

 which case they reared queen-cells and would, 

 of course, reject the new queens. You should 

 examine colonies within 2 or 3 weeks, or even 

 sooner, after introducing queens, and if they 

 are queenless, give them another queen or 

 some young brood, so they may rear one. 



2. When you open a hive, you should at 

 first smoke it carefully at the entrance, so as 

 to frighten the guards. Many people overlook 

 this requirement, with the result that they 

 have angry bees around during the entire ma- 

 nipulation. If your bees are more cross than 

 the average, you should use more smoke on 

 them. They can De tamed. Read a book on 

 this subject. 



Keeping Honey 



1. How and whefe is the best place for an 

 ordinary farmer with only a few bees, to keep 

 comb honey? 1 have 5 stands of bees and will 

 have about 150 pounds of honey in sections. 

 I wish to keep it for my own use, but I am 

 afraid of moths. 



2. Does an 8-frame hive hold sufiScient 

 honey to winter a swarm, or would it be bet- 

 ter to leave some in the super? KANSAS. 



Answers. — 1. A dry place, such as an attic, 

 or an upstairs room, or a closet in the kitchen, 

 is good to keep comb honey. If you suspect 

 that the moths have laid eggs about the boxes, 

 put them in a tight closet and spread a little 

 bisulphide of carbon on a rag in the closet; or, 

 if you prefer, in a cup. It will evaporate and 

 smother the moths. Do it again in a couple 

 of weeks. In winter there is no longer any 

 danger, as the moths cannot enter your 

 rooms. If you cannot get bisulphide of 

 carbon, burn some orimstone in a metal dish. 

 You can buy the brimstone from any druggist. 

 Do not bring a ught next to the bisulphide 

 of carbon, as it is inflammable like gisoline. 



2. An ordinary 8-frame hive, if the combs 

 r e one-half to two-thirds filled with honey, 

 will have enough to winter a colony. The bees 

 probably will need more in spring, however, 

 before the honey crop. 



Nevada, Also 



Washoe County, Nevada has a lo- 

 cal organization which will meet the 

 third Thursday in each month at 

 Reno. George G. Schweis is Presi- 

 dent, O. D. Downin, Vice President, 

 and L. D'A. Prince, Secretary. 



Sugar Maple 



The Department of Agriculture of 

 the Province of Quebec classifies the 

 bee industry with that of the sugar 

 maple, both of these industries pro- 

 ducing sweets of high quality. 



We have before us a bulletin upon 

 the maple sugar industry, from that 

 Department, in French, entitled "Nos 

 Erablieres" (Our sugar maple 

 camps), written by C. Vaillancourt. 

 It is quite interesting and shows the 

 methods employed in the extensive 

 maple groves of Eastern Quebec, to 

 produce maple sugar on a large scale. 

 The typical sugar camp of Quebec 

 appears to be that of L. J. A. Dupuis, 

 in the Comte I'lslet, about 75 miles 

 from the City of Quebec, almost on 

 a line with the northern limits of the 

 State of Maine. 



New Law for Montana 



Montana is one of the latest of 

 the States to provide a law for the 

 control of bee diseases. There are 

 few States which do not now have 

 some provision of this kind. 



hived them on drawn combs and they 

 seem quite contented. 



There is some disease, but the bee- 

 keepers have it under control, so with 

 the promise of a good honey crop, 

 they are in good spirits. 



Glenn Ensign. 



California. 



Oregon Convention 



The Oregon State Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation met in Portland March 16 

 and 17, with an average attendance 

 of well over one hundred. Consider- 

 able enthusiasm and interest were 

 shown at the meeting and efforts are 

 being made to form local and 

 county associations in various por- 

 tions of the State. Some fifteen or 

 sixteen counties were represented at 

 the meeting. The following officers 

 were elected: 



President — A. J. Sanford, Red- 

 mond, Oregon. 



Vice President — K. D. Baker, 

 Nampa, Oregon. 



Secretary-Treasurer — H. A. Scul- 

 len, Corvallis, Oregon. 



Definite steps are being taken to 

 join the American Honey Producers' 

 League in the near future. 



H. A. Scullen, Secretary. 



Good Year in California 



This past winter has been the best 

 one for many years. We have had 

 plenty of rain and very little frost. 



The almonds started blooming 

 early in February and they were 

 closely followed by the peaches, 

 prunes and apricots. The pears are 

 still in bloom and the bees are also 

 working on wild mustard and burr 

 clover. Alfalfa is knee high and will 

 be blooming in a few weeks. The or- 

 anges are budding and soon the bee- 

 keepers will be moving to their midst. 



When I examined my bees on 

 March 15, I found that in most of the 

 colonies at least eight or nine frames 

 were covered with bees and they had 

 about six or seven frames of brood. 

 In some I found that queen-cells had 

 been started. I destroyed them to 

 prevent swarming, but I neglected 

 cutting them since, and today, March 

 28, a fair sized swarm issued. I 



A New Organization 



The Cook County, Illinois, Bee- 

 keepers' Association was organized at 

 a meeting of one hundred and fifty 

 local beekeepers on March 21, at the 

 Great Northern Hotel, Chicago. 



The officers elected are: S. Cush- 

 man, President; C. O. Smith, Vice 

 President, and A. G. Gill, of 230 W. 

 Huron Street, Chicago, Secretary and 

 Treasurer. 



More City Bees 



The Harrisburg, Pa., Telegram, in 

 a recent issue, gives an account of 

 three colonies of bees kept at the car 

 barns in that city by A. F. Rexroth. 

 These bees produced an average of 

 150 pounds of honey per colony last 

 season. Incidentally, there was some 

 good information about honey and 

 bees which should be interesting to 

 the readers of that paper. 



South Dakota Beekeepers Meet 



Vermillion, S. Dak., March 10. The 

 South Dakota State Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation has just concluded a two-day 

 session here. The President, Ernest 

 W. Fox, of Fruitdale, in the Black 

 Hills region, gave very interesting ac- 

 counts of his methods in securing 

 large yields of honey year after year 

 from sweet clover. Mr. Atkins, of 

 the Lewis Company, gave a number 

 of instructive talks on technical op- 

 erations in beekeeping, and Mr. 

 Southworth, of the Western Honey 

 Producers, Sioux City, Iowa, gave an 

 interesting account of swarm control. 

 Prof. J. C. Tjaden, of the State Uni- 

 versity, gave an illustrated lecture 

 touching On a number of specific 

 problems of apiculture. Mr. R. A. Mor- 

 gan, Who has had more bee exiperi- 

 ence in this State than anybody else, 

 gave it as his opinion that South Da- 

 kota's possibilities in honey produc- 

 tion are exceeded in no other State. 

 Mr. McBride, who recently came to 

 this State, after e.xtensive experience 

 in other States, including the South, 

 gave the same opinion. Among the 

 leading topics touched upon quite fully 

 may be mentioned legislation relative 

 to standardization of grades and pack- 

 ages; legislation toward the control 

 and suppression of bee diseases, and 

 organized membership drives. The 

 officers for the coming year are Er- 

 nest W. Fox, Fruitdale, S. D., Presi- 

 dent; E. L. Borton, Scotland, Vice 

 President, and Prof. J. C. Tjaden, Di- 

 rector of the Extension Division, State 

 University, Vermillion, S. Dak., Secre- 

 tary. The next annual meeting will 

 be held at Mitchell, Brookings or 

 Yankton, the final choice to be an- 

 nounced later. 



Early Annual Sweet Clover 



F. A. James, of Alabama writes that 

 annual sweet clover seed dropped last 



