Febeuaky, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



pvR 

 JL-/ w 



Bonnev 



of the in- 

 teresting p e r- 

 sonalities at the 

 Iowa conven- 

 tion. He is the 

 man who has 

 built up a trade- 

 name for " Bonney's Honey." He is an 

 interesting talker, bubbling over with good- 

 natured comment. 



*- * * 



Mr. Harold Horner, of New Jev^ej, will 

 shortly desci'ibe liis method of producing 

 extracted honey in sky-scraper hives, five 

 or six stories high, and wintering in two- 

 story hives. He is one of the best beekeep- 

 ers in New Jersey, and at the same time 

 a large fruit-grower. He knows how to 

 geL a good crop of honey with a minimum 



of labor. 



* * » 



CAN YOU BEAT IT? 



An interesting back-lot beekeeper is a 

 neighbor of J. L. Byer, Mr. C. W. Hellem. 

 The editor visited Mr. Hellem's apiary with 

 'Ml'. Byer, securing the picture shown at 

 the bottom of page 108. 



Mr. Hellem, tho living right in town, has 

 a yard of 25 or 30 colonies. He started 

 with two or three colonies which he ran for 

 increase, but his main increase came from 

 20 one-pound packages of bees which he 

 secured from the South, each having an un- 

 tested queen. He hived bees on frames of 

 foundation because he had no combs. From 

 the two or three colonies he already had 

 and the nuclei from the pound packages 

 he took 2000 pounds of honey, built all 

 the nuclei up to full strength, and now all 

 the colonies are in double-walled hives in 

 splendid condition for next season. 



Mr. Hellem is quite a mechanic, makes 

 all his own hives, and it is no wonder that 

 his little yard is one of his proud posses- 

 sions. He is thinking of the days when he 

 shall be out of the store, out in God's free 

 air, giving his entire time to the bees. 



" DOUBLY BLESSKD." 



Mr. Wni. Couse, in his lantern-sUde 

 lecture at Toronto, wlien he came to tiie 

 picture of our special correspondent, J. L. 

 Byer, remarked that he has been doubly 

 blessed during the past year. He had se- 

 cured a crop of honey, about twice as 

 large as he ever had before, and a pair of 

 twins. Wlien the editor called on M^-. 

 Byer recently the latter remarked that we 

 would " have a duet, in all probability," 

 when we arrived at the house. We did 



135 



not know what 

 he meant; but 

 when we reach- 

 ed his home we 

 found a fine pair 

 o f twins, and 

 later on along in 

 llie night heard 

 sometliing in the 

 nature of a " duet " from the aforesaid 

 twins. They certainly can make their 

 wants known, singly or in pairs. 



* * » 



The Northern California Beekeepers' 

 Association held its annual convention in 

 Sacramento Dec. 29. 



There Avas a good representation of com- 

 mercial beemen in spite of the short crop. 

 Pres. H. K. Hill, of Willows, and Secre- 

 tary A. L. Heim, of Fair Oaks, were re-elect- 

 ed. E. L. Sechrist. of Fair Oaks, vice-presi- 

 dent. Prof. Willis Lynch, of Stockton, 

 and M. C. Richter, San Francisco, are the 

 directors for the coming year. This is also 

 the California branch of the National Asso- 

 ciation. 



* * * 



MR. ALVA AGEE. 



'Mi: Alva Agee, perhaps the greatest 

 living advocate of lime for sour soil, for- 

 merly of State College, Pa., is now Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture of New Jersey. The 

 best part of it is, he is also interested in 

 beekeeping, and to that end is doing every- 

 thing in his power to elevate the industry 

 m uis state. 



There are many localities in the state 

 where clover cannot be grown because the 

 soil is too acid; but a liberal application 

 of lime will make the growing of clover 

 and all other legumes possible. We may 

 ■rest assured that Mr. Agee will see to it 

 that the farmers of New Jersey will be 

 properly informed as to the value of lime 



for the soil. 



* ■* ?if 



'' GETTING FANCY PRICES." 



Mr. R. D. Barclay, President of the New 

 Jersey Beekeepere' Association, is a di-y 

 joker. He kept the convention in a perfect 

 uproar of laughter while, apparently, all 

 serious he told the members how he secured 

 " fancy piTces " for his black bug-juice hon- 

 ey ; of how he sold it in gallon lots at $2.50. 

 It was not all a joke either, for he found 

 that a large number of people, especially 

 those of the foreign persuasion, really pre- 

 ferred a dark strong-flavored honey. He 

 showed a bottle of the stuff so black that it 

 was perfectly opaque. It seemed to be a 

 combination of every flavor with a little 



