April, 1909. 



American Hen Joarnal j 



an apiary, from a pint to two quarts or 

 more of dead bees could be scraped up 

 in a pile in front of each colony, and 

 hardly a place to step without crushing 

 a struggling and diseased bee. If foul 

 brood is an insidious disease, in that it 

 cuts, off the supply of young bees, par- 

 alysis is just as insidious as far as prac- 

 tical returns are concerned, in that it 

 takes off all the flight or working bees. 



So much for the basis upon which the 

 bee-keepers of California have seen fit 

 to include in their proposed law a sec- 

 tion relative to the importation of not 

 only bees, but specifically queens as well. 



Now a few words in regard to the 

 possible interpretation of the law : The 

 proposed measure is very clear and defi- 

 nite in its statement. There is nothing 

 in it relative to the inspection of queens 

 either at the post-office or at an express- 

 office. There is nothing in it, in fact, 

 binding an immediate inspection of 

 queens upon their arrival by the inspec- 

 tor, unless the inspector so desires to 

 rule. What the section in question does 

 provide is, first, that all queens intro- 

 duced into the State of California, or 

 from one county into another county 

 within the State, without a clean bill of 

 health, are so introduced at the risk of 

 the consignee. If the consignee does 

 not wish his property endangered, and 

 to make himself liable for the importa- 

 tion of uncertified bees, immediately 

 upon the arrival of such consignment of 

 bees he is required to notify the inspec- 

 tor of apiaries, holding such queens sub- 

 ject to his orders. With the sanction 

 of the inspector the queens may then 

 be introduced into the apiaries of the 

 consignee, and kept under observation 

 for a period of not less than 60 days, 

 at the end of which period, if no disease 

 has developed, the queens may be pro- 

 nounced free from disease, and then, 

 and only then, lawfully introduced. This 

 in no way debars the sending of queens 

 into California by an Eastern breeder, 

 and as Mr. Root has repeatedly asserted, 

 works no hardship there, as Mr. Pryal 

 anticipated might result to Eastern ship- 

 pers of queens. And, further, Califor- 

 nia bee-keepers do not, as Mr. Root an- 

 ticipates, feel it a hardship at their end 

 of the line, since it is with the Califor- 

 nia bee-keepers that the proposed mea- 

 sure emanated, and who have been sup- 

 porting it with an overwhelming major- 

 ity, quite unanimously, except in a few 

 quarters. As I have repeatedly pointed 

 out, the real burden would lie with the 

 inspectors of apiaries by increasing 

 their duties; but the California bee- 

 keeping public seems willing to increase 

 this line of work in its united effort to 

 restrict and eradicate bee-diseases lo- 

 cally, costing the honey industry annu- 

 ally in the neighborhood of $250,000 to 

 $300,000. 



If an aggressive campaign is to be 

 carried on, all possible sources of in- 

 fection must be guarded, and the great 

 advantage accruing from a system of 

 complete inspection including queens is 

 being able to locate definitely, if possible, 

 the sources of constant re-infection, and 

 concentrate a united effort upon these 

 sources, and so solve the problem, the 

 immensity of which, relatively speaking, 

 few bee-keepers realize. We believe 

 that suppositions or possible interpreta- 



tions of the law are endless, and in 

 general lead to nothing, and are more 

 of the opinion of Mr. Pryal, that the 

 law framed in the best interest of all 

 should pass, and if in interpretation it 

 is ineffectual it can then be changed and 

 strengthened to suit the situations -that 

 may arise in the future. 

 Berkelev, Cal. 



Buzzings From the Clover 

 Field 



BY CHAS. M. HIX. 



White clover is getting to be the 

 greatest honey-plant in the United 

 States. I believe no other honey-plant 

 yields so much surplus under the same 

 conditions. If a larger kind with the 

 short heads could be produced, the far- 

 mer could be persuaded to sow it for 

 hay. Why does not Mr. Burbank at- 

 tack that problem? 



"Wherever a farmer or dairyman or 

 horticulturist can make a living, a bee- 

 man can," says the Modern Farmer and 

 Busy Bee. There is a great deal of 

 truth in that statement, and it gives en- 

 couragement to those who are Qom- 

 pelled to stay in the location they are in. 

 The best advice to the man who con- 

 templates looking for a new location in 

 another part of the country, is, "Stay 

 where you are." 



While bee-keeping is comparatively a 

 new business when compared with the 

 other branches of agriculture, I believe 

 the bee-keepers are the happiest of the 

 lot. 



Fully 75 percent of the bee-keepers 

 are photographers. Ought not the other 

 25 percent to be? Almost every one 

 who can make a success with bees, can 

 be a successful amateur photographer. 

 It does one good to see a bee-yard like 

 that of Mr. W. W. McNeal, on page 7. 



A good way to promote the sale of 

 honey near home is to have a public 

 field-day, to which the public is invited, 

 say one day every two weeks. Nothing 

 makes the people want honey so much 

 as when they see the real process of 

 production. But very few people have 

 any idea how much comb and extracted 

 honey is taken from the hives and pre- 

 pared for market. 



Tilr. L, W. Benson, page 25, says, "I 

 am not a bee-man," but I wonder if 

 that is not what the neighbors call him. 

 The name is really earned by one who 

 has so much experience, and more — he's 

 not afraid to tell it to others. 



Some bee-keepers say it harms bees 

 to move them in mid-winter, but if it 

 is done on a warm, sunny day. it does 

 no harm. I moved a colony of bees in 

 December, 1906, and the next season 

 they were the best in this locality. 



While wrapping hives with tar-paper 

 outside the packing may do sometimes, 

 a dry-goods box covered with felt 



roofing, with packing inside of the box, 

 between it and the hive, is far ahead, 

 and is the cheapest in the long run. 



It is not the intelligent farmer-bee- 

 keepers who injure their neighbors, but 

 the wilfully ignorant ones. Those who 

 are successful in other lines, will not 

 generally object to subscribe for a bee- 

 paper. 



While the bee-moth is an enemy of 

 bees, I sometimes think we should be 

 thankful for some of its work, because 

 when the larvse of the beeswax-moth 

 get to work in some box-hive apiary, 

 the owner will begin to "sit up and take 

 notice" of more modern hives. 



Why should we use glass in comb- 

 honey shipping-cases? Other food- 

 stuffs are not shipped in glassed cases. 

 Why not just have a few for exhibition 

 in the stores, and the rest plain boxes 

 without glass? 



Fellow bee-keepers, let's not prophesy 

 what next year will be, but get ready 

 for a big yield. If we are disappointed, 

 then it will be time to complain._ The 

 honey crop for next year is not in our 

 hands, but in the hands of Him "from 

 whom all blessings flow." Although, of 

 course, we can by intelligent labor, make 

 a great difference. 



Did vou ever notice that bee on the 

 front cover of the "Old Reliable?" 

 Well, in the circle around it are the 

 words, "Our toil doth sweeten others." 

 Why should not this be the motto of 

 the bee-keepers as well as the bees? Let 

 us look up and lift up. 



Hampshire, 111. 



Comb Honey and Digestion— 

 Bee-Keeping in New iWexico 



BV J. E. JOHNSON. 



I have read with much interest the 

 controversy between Dr. Miller and Dr. 

 Bohrer as to whether honey in the 

 comb is injurious to digestion, and 

 whether extracted honey is to be pre- 

 ferred. Probably it is very presump- 

 tuous for me to "butt in," especially 

 where two men (and let me add, both 

 good men, and well-informed on scien- 

 tific things) are crossing swords, but 

 please let me just this once give my 

 views. 



Dr. Bohrer claims that the comb 

 honey contains poison deposited there 

 by the bees from their stings, and that 

 extracted honey is free from this. Now, 

 Doctor, what is that poison? Have 

 you analyzed it? The poison from bee- 

 stings that causes our eyes to "button 

 up" when we are stung is not formic 

 acid, but is the toxin, or elements of 

 the decayed or used elements in the 

 bee's body. This substance is not of a 

 volatile nature, and thus the honey does 

 not absorb it, but the element we find 

 in honey that makes it an antiseptic, is 

 formic acid, which is also a product of 

 the bee. Formic acid is very volatile^ 

 and as honey has strong chemical at- 

 traction for things of gaseous nature. 



