February, 1909. 



39 



Aimv'icm Hee Journal k 



)>=s^gi^<t*~'j 



(V)i5cellaneou5 

 lie €05 - Items 



Forty-Eight Pages This Month 



We were simply compelled to do it. 

 We had an accumulation of contribu- 

 tions, miscellaneous, " Beedom-Boiled- 

 Down"-ings, etc., that we felt should 

 be published, if at all, while our sub- 

 scribers had the time to do more read- 

 ing. The spring-work time will soon 

 be here, when so many things will crowd 

 in that mflch desirable reading will be 

 pushed aside. 



But we don't think very many read- 

 ers will object to receiving the extra 

 16 pages we have given them this month. 

 However, at the low subscription price 

 of 75 cents a year, we could hardly af- 

 ford to do this often, and yet it looks 

 as if it might be necessary occasionally. 

 We would be glad to issue a 48-page, 

 or even a 64-page, number every month, 

 if we could afford to do so. We hope 

 to see during the next few weeks a 

 great down-pour of renewal and new 

 subscriptions, which surely would be 

 an encouragement to us to repeat very 

 soon this 48-page aflfair. 



Apiaries of J. F. Diemer & Son 



I send 2 pictures of our home yard. 

 The small one was taken about 12 years 

 ago. The small boy holding the large 

 frame of bees is my son Guy. He found 

 the queen and turned his head to tell 

 me just as the kodak snapped. It got 

 him just right, and Maggie was holding 

 the sections of comb honey. We then 

 had about 15 colonies. 



The large picture was taken 4 years 

 ago. We had just moved some bees 

 from an outyard and didn't have them 

 levelled up. We now have 200 colonies 

 in Clay Co., Mo. 



Guy and Mr. Goode, of Johnson Co., 

 Kans., are busy now arranging for be- 

 tween 300 and 400 colonies of bees, and 

 will keep them there. It is on the river 

 and a splendid location, about 12 miles 

 west of Kansas City. White clover in 

 abundance, and also plenty of sweet 

 clover and fall flowers. My place is 

 one mile from Liberty, and 15 miles 

 from Kansas City. 



We run for extracted honey, using 

 8-frame hives and Italian bees. We had 

 a big crop this year. 



J. F. Diemer. 



Liberty, Mo., Oct. 12. 



It's "Grandpa Dittmer" Now 



Yes, It's a fact. Gus Dittmer, of the 

 Gus Dittmer Co., Augusta, Wis., is 

 "tickled all over" because of the arrival 

 of a grandson at the home of his son 

 "Fred." It was born about Dec. i, 1908, 

 and its grandpa never let us know a 

 word about it until Jan. 21 ! It is sur- 



prising how long some people can keep 

 good things to themselves. We hope 

 this will insure the continuation for a 

 long time of the manufacture of the 

 Dittmer comb foundation. Increasing 

 demand for it will no doubt necessitate 

 an increase in the membership of the 

 Company manufacturing it. Almost any 

 firm needs new blood injected into it 

 occasionally, in order to insure its effici- 

 ency and continued progress. Our con- 

 gratulations to "Gus," and all down the 

 line of the Dittmer family. 



The Detroit National Report 



This report was mailed to the mem- 

 bers of the National Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation about Jan. 10, 1909. It is a 

 pamphlet of 130 pages, and contains, be- 

 sides the report of the Detroit conven- 

 tion, a membership list of the Associa- 

 tion with honey crop report; financial 

 statements ; report of the General Mana- 

 ger for 1908; and the Constitution of the 

 National. It ought to be in the hands 

 of every bee-keeper. A good way to get 

 it is to send $1.00 for annual member- 

 ship dues to the General Manager, N. E. 

 France, Platteville, Wis., and thus not 

 only receive a copy of this valuable book, 

 but also become identified with the larg- 

 est organization of bee-keepers in Amer- 

 ica. 



Apiary of E. F. Koch 



I send a picture of my apiary which 

 I started about 4 years ago with a 



double-bitted ax and a soap-box. The 

 trees in the picture are evergreen. You 

 will notice the wind has been playing 

 some kind of a game with my bee- 

 tent. I have another yard to the right 

 of the house. E. F. Koch. 



Apiary of G. A. Barbish 



I send you a picture of my apiary, 

 myself, wife and baby. I started to keep 

 bees about 8 years ago, but like other 

 bee-keepers I had complete losses, which 

 however, did not prevent me from start- 

 ing over again. 



I have at present 18 large colonies 

 mainly in lo-frame dovetailed hives, run- 

 ning mostly for extracted honey. My 

 bees arc all Italians, and with the ex- 

 ception of 2 colonies are very gentle. 



In the second row of hives you will 

 notice a grape trellis running the whole 

 length of the row. It shades the bees 

 during the hottest part of the day, and it 

 is fine for me to work, as robber-bees 

 do not bother nearly so much as when 

 working on the other row of colonies. 



This has been a fairly good season 

 for Roney. White clover yielded well, 

 but basswood yielded hardly any honey. 

 There is a little honey coming in now 

 from the second crop of red clover and 

 fall flowers, but it will not amount to 

 much, as it is too dry. I have extracted 

 some over 500 pounds from 14 colonies, 

 but I think I will get at least 200 pounds 

 more. Now this would not be con- 

 sidered very much by an expert bee- 

 keeper, but by taking everything into 

 consideration — a novice in bee-keeping 

 and not a very good locality — I think I 

 do fairly well. Had I known years ago, 

 when I started in bee-keeping, of the 

 existence of such grand and helpful 

 journals in bee-keeping as the American 

 Bee Journal and others, I certainly 

 would have been more successful than 

 I have been, but now, with the aid of 

 such valuable journals, and my past ex- 

 perience, I am, as Dr. Miller states it, 

 gradually growing in the business. I 



Apiary of E. F. Koch, of Collbr.^n, Colo. 



