SEPTEMBER 15, 1916 



871 



Heads of Grain From Different Fields 



THE BACKLOT BUZZER. 



BY J. H. DONAHEY 



When the other fellow tells somebody who tells 

 you about robbiny a bee-tree the story goes that they 

 net about a wagon load of honey, but when, you do 

 it yourself you're ashamed to say that you got more 

 than a barrel or two — they might not believe you. 



The Second Tri-State Field Meet. 



The second field meeting of the beekeep- 

 ers of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa was held 

 in Union Park, Dubuque, Iowa, August 1 

 and 2, The meeting was called to order by 

 Mr. E. J. Baxter, of Nauvoo, Ills., the presi- 

 dent of the Illinois Beekeepers' Association. 

 The excursion and luncheon given by the 

 Commercial Club of Dubuque on the steamer 

 Sidney was greatly enjoyed by all present. 



The attendance was about ninety. The 

 beekeepers were honored by the presence of 

 C. H. Bocoek, expert in apiculture of the 

 British Beekeepers' Association; Dr. Phil- 

 lips, from Washington; also inspectors 

 Prance, of Wisconsin; Kildow, of Illinois; 

 Blaker, of Minnesota; Pyles, of Illinois, and 

 Elmore, of Iowa. Prof. Jager and his assist- 

 ant, Mr. France, were also present from the 

 Agricultural College of Minnesota. 



The question-box was in charge of Mr. 

 Kildow, of Illinois, and a goodly number of 

 questions of vital interest were discussed, 

 such as weight of sections, prices of honey, 

 differentiation of American and European 

 foul brood, etc. 



Mr. Bocoek gave a very interesting talk 

 on the Isle of Wight disease. He told of the 



spread of the scourge over the British Isles, 

 and of the great destruction of bees in that 

 country. He is not sure that any cases of 

 this disease have been found in the United 

 States. 



A motion was passed providing for a com- 

 mittee made up of one member appointed 

 from each state to bring before the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission the urgent need 

 of the same freight rate on comb honey in 

 the western as in the eastern states. 



Another motion was passed to continue 

 the organization, but change the name to 

 the Mississippi Valley Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion. There will be another meeting again 

 next year some time during the first part of 

 August. The committee selected to make 

 arrangements for the next meeting is as fol- 

 lows: Mr. France, Wisconsin; Prof. Jager, 

 Minnesota; Mr. Kildow, Illinois; Mr. Miller, 

 Iowa. J. W. Stine, Sec. 



Packed Snugly in Pine Needles. 



I have tried almost every thing recom- 

 mended for use in packing. Some of the 

 materials are good, others medium. I have 

 finally come to the conclusion, after several 

 years of experience, that white-pine needles 

 make the most ideal packing. 



Those who live close to woodland, where 

 the stately white pine may grow, may have 

 noticed that, after a rain or snow, when 

 other litter on the ground is damp, the bed 

 of these dead pine needles, sometimes quite 

 thick, is nearly always dry and warm to the 

 touch. This was the reason I was induced to 

 try it years ago; and as an absorbent of 

 moisture and retainer of heat it is far supe- 

 rior to any other packing material that I 

 have ever used. 



For want of a better arrangement I take 

 two lath the length of a super inside, and 

 tack three or four lath on these crosswise, 

 cut the width of the super. I then place this 

 rack on the frames; then fill a burlap sack 

 with packing and place it over all. As 

 spring approaches I take one part of the 

 packing out; and when all danger of cold 

 that might chill brood is over I remove the 

 sack. 



Enid, Pa. John E. Lockard. 



Just One Good Way to Get Rid of Them. 



Have liad the worst time in years with 

 yellowjackets. Five weak colonies have 

 been wiped out. I am trapping yellowjack- 

 ets at the rate of about a pint a day. This 

 has been going on for four weeks, and I be- 

 gin to see a decrease. Another season I 

 shall have more traps and earlier setting, 

 and I hope this will give better control. 



Keplying to "Subscriber," page 7l<i, Aug. 

 15, use a wire-screen fly-trap baited with fish 

 heads or any fresh meat. 



San Jose. Another Subscriber. 



