March, 1909. 



American Hee Journal 



in Trieste (a town of over 200,000 inhabi- 

 tants) it is in consequence of ray slow but 

 steady work for the benefit of bee-keepers in 

 general. 



The house has also a lower room where the 

 bee-work is done, as pressing and sticking the 

 foundation into the frames, extracting, etc. 



In the shade are 30 hives capable of 24, 20. 

 and 16 frames, according to the strength of 

 the colonies. In the rear is an old cement 

 filter turned downward like a straw skep. and 

 makes the home of a strong colony; also an 

 old queen-rearing box from Sartori, in Milan; 

 all other hives have, as a matter of course, 

 the same frames, which I can interchange and 

 reverse at pleasure. With the colonies I have, 

 I have built up quite a library on bees, con- 

 sisting of books and treatises on bee-keep- 

 ing summing up to over 300 volumes, besides 

 a goodly number of journals. American bee- 

 literature makes a fair number of these. 



In this country flows of honey, as it is 

 the fashion with you, are about unknown. We 

 have fair honey-producing plants, and some 

 countries in Austria have also very good honey 

 crops, but "takes" as sometimes reported from 

 your country sound like fairy tales to us. 



Alex. Schroeder. 



Trieste, Austria, Dec. 15, 1908. 



The picture of Mr. Schroeder's apiary 

 appears on the front page of this num- 

 ber. Mr, and Mrs. Schroeder visited 

 the United States last fall, and got as 

 far west as Chicago and Marengo, 111. 



it be noted that in this case, instead of 

 being of poor quality the wax was very 

 fine. Mr. Greiner says : 



I notice what you say in the "Editorial 

 Comments" in last issue about propolis and 

 wax. My experience is somewhat different. 

 For several years I made it a practise _ to 

 save all scrapings from sections and section- 

 holders, wide frames and supers. One time I 

 had nearly a kettleful, perhaps 2 gallons. I 

 placed this on the stove while I was busy 

 doing other work, and from time to time, after 

 the wax had melted, I turned off the wax, 

 which, being lighter than the propolis, would 

 come to the top and separate. I worked away 

 thus till but little more wax seemed to be 

 contained in the molten mass, when I poured 

 the remainder out on a board. When I 

 weighed the wax I had nearly 2 pounds, and 

 the color was a beautiful yellow, of much bet- 

 ter quality than what I obtain from the steam 

 press. 



■•- 



A Long Sting! 



Prak. Wegweiser reports that a boy 

 working near bees happened to be stung 

 at the same instant in both ears. Howl- 

 ing with pain he yelled, "Gracious Pe- 

 ter ! I didn't know a bee had a sting 

 long enough to reach through from one 

 ear to the other !" 



water to moisten the surface of the 

 sugar. Other experiments have con- 

 vinced him that bees making a "find" 

 convey the intelligence to others, ami 

 the nurnber of bees then sent out is in 

 proportion to the amount of treasures. 



Apiary of G. N. McMannan. of Carlton, Colo. 



We are sure our readers will enjoy 

 reading the foregoing letter, and also 

 be glad to learn of the safe return of 

 Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder to their be- 

 loved homeland. 



Apiary of G. N. McMannan 



I am yet young at the bee-business 

 and have only 150 colonies in the yard 

 of which I will send you a picture. 

 I extract the most of my honey. My 

 crop was light this year (igo8) — about 

 3,000 pounds. I can sell all of my 

 honey at 10 cents per pound. 



G. N. McMannan. 



To Keep Ants Out of Hives 



Bert H. Masters, in Gleanings, puts 

 his hives on stands or benches with ash- 

 es under the stands to keep the grass 

 from growing, and under each leg of 

 the stands places a small lid filled with 

 pine tar. This needs replenishing about 

 twice during the summer. 



Wax From Scrapings 



On page 5 was an editorial on this 

 subject, and an instance was given in 

 which about an ounce of wa.x was ob- 

 tained from each pound of scrapings, the 

 wax being of poor quality. This would 

 not give very great encouragement to- 

 ward this sort of saving, although it 

 was there stated that scrapings of a dif- 

 ferent quality might have given a difer- 

 ent result. It is a pleasure to be able 

 to give an instance of what may very 

 likely be nearer the usual, from a very 

 good authority, Mr. F. Greiner. Let 



Raspberry Honey Granulating 



Complaint is made in The British Bee 

 Journal that in the famous Blairgowrie 

 district raspberry honey "granulates 

 very rapidly in the combs, and sections 

 in consequence will not keep all win- 

 ter." Complaint of, that kind has not 

 been made here. Perhaps the kind of 

 honey was not to blame, for in the same 

 place clover honey has the same fault, 

 according to the same writer. 



Honor to an Apicultural Leader 



The University of Berne has named 

 the Swiss leader, Ulrich Kramer, "Eh- 

 rendoktor" (the honorary title of Doc- 

 tor) in consideration of his scientific 

 and practical services to bee-culture. A 

 well-deserved recognition. 



Crimson Clover Honey 



Crimson clover yields honev of uniform 

 quality; it is about on a par with buckwheat, 

 and neither is satisfactory where honey for 

 later use is worked for."— British Bee Join- 

 nal. 



Can any one tell us whether crimson- 

 clover honey in this country is as dark 

 as buckwheat? 



Intelligence of Bees 



Gaston Bonnier, the great French 

 authority, put pieces of sugar in his 

 garden. The bees could not bite off 

 any of it, but he marked the ones that 

 tried. He watched them fly to their 

 hive and later return with reinforce- 

 ments, stopping on their way at a water- 

 ing-place, where they secured enough 



Foul Brood and Damp Climate 



It is suggested, in the Irish Bee Jour- 

 nal, that Ireland suffers so severely 

 from foul brood because of its damp 

 climate, and reference is made to dry 

 climates where foul brood is unknown. 

 But, good friends, Colorado is noted 

 for Its dry climate, and foul brood rages 

 there. Much the same mav be said of 

 California. Foul brood may be un- 

 known in South Africa, but not because 

 of its dry climate. 



Foul Brood Laws for Iowa and South 

 Dakota 



We have received the following in 

 regard to foul brood laws for the States 

 of Iowa and South Dakota ; 



Editor American Bee Jot;ENAL — 



In the February issue of the American Bee 

 Journal there is an item by F. L. Shawler of 

 bilver City, Iowa, in regard to a foul brood 

 law for the State of Iowa. 



At the third annual convention of the 

 Western Honey-Producers (a tri-State asso- 

 ciation) held at Sioux City, Tanuarv 20 and 

 21, 1909, we had two foul brood laws drafted 

 one for Iowa and one for South Dakota. The 

 bouth Dakota law is passed, and we are work- 

 ing hard for the Iowa law, which is being 

 pushed by Representatives Stoddard, of Mills 

 Co., and W. L,. Harding, of Woodbury Co. 

 We will get the law if we can have the sup- 

 port of the bee-keepers all over Iowa, and 

 would be glad of any assistance the American 

 Bee Journal could give in getting bee-keepers 

 to write to their local representatives. 



Mr. N. E. France was present at our con- 

 vention in Sioux City, and helped draft the 

 laws referred to. 



We are hoping to have a State bee-keepers' 

 association established next fall for Iowa, and 

 also a Department of Apiculture in connection 

 with the State College at Ames. 



Edward G. Beowx. 



Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. March 8. 



We hope that every bee-keeper in 

 Iowa will do everything possible to help 

 secure the foul brood law referred to 

 by Mr. Brown. Surely, every reader of 

 the American Bee Journal in that State 

 will do all he can to help. Write to 

 your members of the Iowa legislature. 



We wish to congratulate the South 

 Dakota bee-keepers on tlieir success in 

 securing a foul brood law so speedily. 



