350 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



September 



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 THE STAFF 



Mexico, ?1.50 per year; five years. $G. ^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^^.^^^ 



Canadian postage 15 cents, and other foreign 



countries 25 cents extra, per year. Frank C. Pellett Associate Editor 



All subscriptions are stopped at expiration. Date ^ t^ t> ■ m 



of expiration is printed on wrapper label. Maurice G. Dadant Business Manager 



(Copyright 1921 by C. P. Dadant.) 



THE EDITORS' VIEWPOINTS 



Everlasting Beehives 



An Italian beekeeper, Carlo Calda- 

 relli, has invented a hive, made in 

 double walls, vi'ith air space, which 

 he has patented and which seems to 

 be made of asbestos cement, appar- 

 ently similar to the Johns-Mansville 

 roofing shingles. He calls it "L'amia 

 di eternit," the hive of eternity. Un- 

 doubtedly such a hive would last 

 many years and wear but little. 

 Whether it would be suitable for a 

 climate as changeable as that of 

 North America remains to be ascer- 

 tained. The following advantages are 

 claimed for it: 



It is a better non-conductor of heat 

 and cold than wood, though not so 

 good as cork; it cannot burn up, and 

 resists heat well; it stands moisture, 

 withstands frost, and it is practically 

 unbreakable. The price per hive is 

 135 lire, which, at the present ex- 

 change, would figure about $6.60. 

 The material is very thin, only about 

 4 millimeters, but the dead air space, 

 which might be filled with non-con- 

 ducting material, helps in the in- 

 sulation of the walls. As wood is 

 very high priced in Italy, this hive 

 may succeed, if faults do not develop. 



Lavender Sticks 



We are in receipt from Mr. Wm. 

 Mahler, Lafayette, Ore., of two very 

 pretty "sticks," made by his "mis- 

 sus." They are made of a couple 

 dozen lavender stems, intertwined 

 with blue ribbons and red cord, giv- 

 ing a very pretty effect. Thf odor is 

 exceedingly sweet and we can leadily 

 understand the use of lavender in 

 linen drawers, especially in this 

 shape. Since the lavender is recom- 

 mended as a honey producer, it may 

 be worth while to cultivate it. 



Unedited Letters of 

 Francois Huber 



I had for many years the desire to 

 engage in the tranplaVion info Eng 

 lish of the "Unedited Letteri=i of Hu- 

 ber." Mr. Ed. Bertrand, who pub- 

 lished them in the original French, in 

 Switzeriand, in 1891, often urged 

 me to undertake this. But the task 

 was great and I did not have the time 

 to spare. I have at la.st accomplished 

 it, leaving out only such letters as 

 contained repetitions cr were unin- 

 teresting to beekeepers. 



Is it necessary to mention the 



great value of Ruber's observations? 

 Very few beekeepers have failed to 

 hear or read of the great naturalist, 

 whose "First Observations on the 

 Natural History of Bees" were pub- 

 lished in the English language in 

 different editions, from 1806 to 1841. 

 He enriched the public mind with a 

 number of observations, very few 

 of which have proven incorrect. He 

 is quoted favorably by most of our 

 leading apiarian teachers, and, to 

 mention only those leaders who wrote 

 in English, we find him praised by 

 Bevan, Cook, Alley, Cheshire, Cowan, 

 A. I. Root and, above all, by Lang- ' 

 stroth, who called him "the prince of 

 apiarians." Even his antagonists 

 have added to his fame. Huish, whose 

 work on bees was published in Lon- 

 don, in 1815, and who was therefore 

 a contemporary of Huber, ridicuiea 

 Ruber's experiments and obsei'va- 

 tions and called them "absurdities." 

 Huish denied things that Huber had 

 proven, he denied that the queen 

 was fecundated in the air, on the 

 wing; that wax was produced by the 

 digestion of honey; that pollen was 

 used to feed the brood, and many 

 other facts which are now well 

 proved. So Huber has remained as 

 one of the leading lights of modern 

 beekeeping, while Huish is well-nigh 

 forgotten. 



Since the "Unedited Letters" were 

 gathered together by our late friend 

 and published by him origin;illy, we 

 believe it is well to begin by pub- 

 lishing his "Introduction," as given 

 in presenting the Letters to the pub- 

 lic. This was done in 1897, pnd the 

 Swiss edition was exhausted long be- 

 fore the death of Mr. Bertrand. We 

 will publish these letters from time to 

 time, as occasion offers, in the .Jour- 

 nal. 



Our readers must not expect any- 

 thing positively new, in natural his- 

 tory, through the publication of these 

 letters. But they will see the habits 

 of bees under a new light .rnd will 

 perhaps recognize discoveries which 

 they know now but faintly. Ruber's 

 style was delightful and I hope I 

 may have retained some of tliis de- 

 light in the translation. 



C. P. Uadant. 



honey production, but not in organi- 

 zation. Read the statement of 

 "L'Apiculteur Alsacien-Lorrain" on 

 beekeeping in the liberated provinces: 



"Nearly all the beekeepers of the 

 liberated provinces are grouped in the 

 branches of the Society of Bee- 

 keeping of Alsace-Lorraine. This 

 numbers at present about lii,000 

 members, who own about 80,000 colo- 

 nies, nearly all with movable frames. 

 The average crop is of about 10 kilos 

 (22 lbs.) per colony, or 800,000 kilos 

 (1,700,000 lbs.) annually. 



Beekeepers of America, if you 

 want to achieve anything in the sale 

 of your honey, you must be united, as 

 these people are. But tlius far, the 

 beekeepers who belong to associa- 

 tions, in this country, are only a small 

 minority. We need better organiza- 

 tion. Don't fail to join the leagues 

 of honey producers. They will be 

 efficient only in the proportion that 

 their membership will hold to the 

 total number of honey producei's. 



A Bee Paper for South Africa 



We have before us the first two is- 

 sues of the South African Bee Jour- 

 nal published in April and M:iy. 



This journal is the official organ 

 of the South African Beekeepers' 

 Association, whose official address is 

 Box 6057, Johannesburg. The maga- 

 zine promises to be of great help to 

 the beekeeping industry there. 



Nuclei by Parcel Post 



An advertiser of bees and queens 

 calls our attention to the fact that he 

 is urged by customers to send nuclei 

 by parcel post. This he is unable to do, 

 since postal regulations are very ex- 

 plicit that only queens with attend- 

 ants in the regulation mailing cages 

 and bees in packages without combs 

 and with double wirecloth sides may 

 be admitted to the mails. 



The fact is that probably a good 

 many such nuclei have been sent by 

 parcel post through lack of knowl- 

 edge of the rules on the part of the 

 customer, the shipper-, and the post- 

 master. 



This infraction of the regulations 

 should be done away with. We are 

 likely sometime to have such a nu- 

 cleus broken open in the mails with 

 much damage done and a consequent 

 liability of the shipper, endangering 

 the whole business of shipping pack- 

 age bees by parcel post. 



Certainly the time should come 

 when nuclei may be admitted, but 

 until such a change is made, we had 

 best abide by the regulations. 



Organization 



The beekeepers of the United 

 States i)robably lead the world in 



Honey Versus Sugar 



Concerning the comparative value 

 to the human body of sugar and 

 honey, which is discussed by Dr. Car- 

 ton in his "Treatise of Medicine, Ali- 

 mentation and Hygiene" quoted in 

 the present number, it is well to re- 

 mind the readers that Dr. C. C. Mil- 

 ler, who lived to his ninetieth year, in 

 full use of all his faculties, used no 

 sugar, and sweetened his coffee, tea 

 or other drinks, with honey instead 

 of sugar. There is no doubt that the 



