American Vee Journal 



February, 1909. 



ing from his cheerless brow. Probably they 

 chuckle with delight as they realize the ardu- 

 ous task they arranged for their friend, and 

 they slap each other on the back and ex- 

 claim with glee, "That was a bully job!" 



After completing their work on their return 

 homeward, they finished up by tearing from a 

 tree by the roadside one of the forbid notices 

 posted by their friend. This act verified the 

 suspicion that the work they had accom- 

 plished was not all a Hallowe'en pleasantry, 

 but partook more of the spirit of retaliation 

 for the interest and activity of the ringleader 

 and organizer of the Anti-Hunters. Thus he, 

 though no more responsible than others for 

 the anti-hunting movement, gets his fingers 

 scorched for pulling their chestnuts out of the 

 fire while they go scot free from any annoy- 

 ance. Well, for the satisfaction of the offend- 

 ers, it may be noted that the patient takes 

 his medicine all right, and he makes no com- 

 plaint and he thinks he is convalescent, though 

 the prescription was rather a drastic one. 



Following the incident here related, an in- 

 teresting feature transpired. It was interest- 

 ing to note the quizzing look in the eyes "of 

 each of the perpetrators as the victim casually 

 met them and scanned their countenances, their 

 wandering gaze seeking to discern whether any 

 irate emotion possessed his soul because of his 

 recent unique experience. Guilty consciences 

 need no accusing. 



Bees and the Pure Food Law. 



A friend sends a newspaper clipping 

 from the Des Moines Sun, of Oct. 18, 

 headed, "WISE BEES : They preserve 

 their honey with formaline, and food 

 law authorities can't punish them," 

 which reads as follows : 



H. R. Wright, Iowa's State food and dairy 

 commissioner, who was commanded by the lasi 

 legislature to arrest and punish all adulterat- 

 ers of foods, has been baffled. 



Mr. Wright has just discovered by a re- 

 cent analysis of pure farm honey a trace of 

 "formaline," which is a preservative forbid- 

 den by the Iowa law. 



An investigation showed that the adultera- 

 tion was by the bees themselves. 



Milkmen throughout the State who have 

 used formaline have been punished, but when 

 it comes to the prosecution of bees, the 

 State officer admits he is "stung." 



In the meanwhile the scientific folks are 

 asking if the bees were wise to the fact that 

 formaline is a preservative, and gathered it 

 from some plant for that reason. 



All of which is very interesting and 

 instructive were it not that it lacks the 

 one necessary element of truth, for there 

 is no truth in the statement that honey 

 contains formaline put in by the bees or 

 any one else. The likelihood is that Com- 

 missioner Wright will have his first in- 

 timation of the matter upon seeing the 

 item in print. It is well known that 

 honey contains formic acid, and some 

 ambitious reporter owing to the "form" 

 of the first syllable in each word has got 

 the two words mixed. The bees have no 

 notion of violating the Iowa pure food 

 law. 



A Good Pennsylvania Report. 



We have received the following from 

 Fred W. Lidstone, of Scranton, Pa. : 



Editor York: — Enclosed you will find a 

 clipping published in the Scranton Times, of 

 October 16. It is certainly of interest to the 

 fraternity to learn of the crops produced in 

 Pennsylvania. I have read what Mr. Dadant 

 says concerning "locating an apiary." If this 

 story is true, the best place to locate is Penn- 

 sylvania. 



Before congratulating Mr. Coons it might 

 be well to obtain his report for the season of 

 1908, inasmuch as it might add materially to 

 his defense. Fred W. Lidstone. 



Scranton, Pa. 



The clipping referred to in the fore- 

 going, reads as follows : 



A news dispatch from Coudersport, the 

 capital of County of Potter, says: 



"R. L. Coons, accompanied by his son, 

 left for New York Wednesday noon, where 



Mr. Coons will arrange the sale of his 1908 

 honey product. Mr. Coons is one of the 

 largest producers of honey in the United 

 States, as well as one of the most success- 

 ful handlers of bees. A day or two ago he 

 shipped a carload of superior quality of red 

 raspberry honey to New York city. The car 

 contained 30,000 pounds, or 15 tons, which 

 represents what Mr. Coons has produced the 

 past seasoti from 180 colonies of bees. He 

 has a single colony that has produced as 

 much as $15 worth of honey in a season, 

 and one colony that has produced 300 pounds. 

 He expects his carload to increase materially 

 his capacity for production next year by the 

 addition of many more colonies of bees. 

 He understands the bee-business thoroughly, 

 and since being in Potter county has had only 

 one swarm leave him when swarming, and 

 get away where he was unable to find them." 



Following the suggestion of Mr. Lid- 

 stone, we wrote to Mr. Coons, who re- 

 sponded as follows; 



George W. York & Co. — 



In answer to yours of October 29, I would 

 say that the item in question is in the main 

 correct. I shipped 30,000 pounds of honey 



to New York this fall from 184 colonies of 

 bees when the honey-flow opened. I also 

 made about 50 colonies increase. 



Instead of $15 worth of honey from one 

 colony, the item should have been $45 worth, 

 all in one-pound sections. 



I find in looking over the record of my 

 colonies that my 10 best colonies produced 

 a total of 2731 pounds of honey in one-pound 

 sections the past sesaon. 



I think that my success is mostly due to 

 our hives and appliances, and original meth- 

 ods of handling bees, and not to my location, 

 since other bee-keepers in this vicinity do 

 not have more than ordinary success. 



R. L. Coons. 



Sweden Valley, Pa.. Nov. 16. 



Mr. Coons certainly made a record 

 the past seson, so far as a large honey 

 crop is concerned, in the State of Penn- 

 syfvania. No doubt our readers would 

 be greatly pleased, and also benefited, if 

 Mr. Coons would tell just how he and 

 his bees managed to do it. It ought to 

 be an interesting story. 



oufhern 



Conducted by L<_)LUS H. SCHULL, New Braunfels, Tex. 



Beginning' with Bees — A Texas Cy- 

 clone. 



The October number of the American 

 Bee Journal is at hand. To say that I 

 eagerly read it from front to cover 

 expresses it very mildly. Just to think 

 what I've been missing for lo, these 

 many years? 



My experinece with bees dates back 

 some 20 years, back to those bare- 

 footed, rabbit-hunting, boyhood days 

 when I frailed the ripe peaches ofif the 

 old orchard trees that sheltered those 

 old bo.x-gums of my father's. In fancy 

 I still see them promiscuously scattered 

 about, see the great masses of bees that 

 invariably were "laying out" during the 

 latter part of summer. Not merely be- 

 cause the weather was warm, but be- 

 cause there was no room for them with- 

 in. Surely those were easy days for the 

 bee-keeper and also the bees. To hive 

 a few swarms in the spring and "knock 

 out the heads" of the heaviest in the 

 fall, take out what was deemed necessary 

 to last till next season, was the usual 

 mode of procedure. Sometimes the 

 bees would build great slabs of comb on 

 the outside on the underside of a pro- 

 jecting cover. What a paradise such 

 a country would be now with such up- 

 to-date methods as we now have. 



My grandfather was one of the pio- 

 neer settlers, coming from Iowa when 

 my father was 5 years old. That was 

 nearly 60 years ago. He also kept bees 

 then, mostly in log-gums, lumber being 

 very high, and hauled from the mills 

 with ox-wagons over 100 miles. He was 

 known as the pioneer bee-keeper, some- 

 times having too or more colonies. 

 There was little or no market for honey 

 then, but old settlers say that there was 

 never a meal served at his house that 



there was not honey on the table. So 

 you see that it is only natural that I take 

 to the bees as a duck takes to the mill- 

 pond. 



Some 10 years ago, having arrived at 

 the very mature (?) age of 18, feeling 

 entirely master of the situation, I de- 

 cided that I could paddle my own canoe. 

 That is, with the meager help of a cer- 

 tain blue-eyed maiden that lived "just 

 over the way." Among the necessary 

 equipment of the aforesaid canoe I con- 

 sidered a colony of bees. Not a bad in- 

 vestment. A friend agreed to supply 

 the same for the sum of $4 — old, rick- 

 ety box-hive, bees and all — for which I 

 paid with lawful coin. 



Years rolled by as years are wont to 

 do. I was too busy to pay attention to 

 my bees. Occasionally I would stand by 

 the side of a hive and watch the bees 

 go and^ come for a few minutes, then 

 lift it gently to see if it was "getting 

 rich," which much-desired condition 

 would generally materialize in early fall. 

 Then the tops would be pried off with 

 an ax, the honey cut out down to the 

 cross sticks, the top nailed down, and it 

 was never molested again till next sea- 

 son. .\nd so it would have continued 

 probably till this day, had I not chanced 

 to see some patent hives at the home of 

 a friend. These contained pure golden 

 Italians, the first I had ever seen. My 

 friend noticing my apparent interest in 

 them, lifted a cover, took out frame af- 

 ter frame, showing me the beautiful 

 yellow queen, and her thousands of yel- 

 low followers. This little kindness, a 

 trifle within itself, was the real begin- 

 ning of my bee-keeping, for since then 

 the fever has never left me, and prom- 

 ises to be a lifelong affliction. This was 

 some 2 years ago, and resulted in my 



