May, 1909. 



American IBae Journal 



tion never buckles. I use Dadant's thin-brood 

 foundation, and it never stretches enough to 

 show on the finished combs. I extract all 

 my honey, and sometimes have as much as 

 4 tons, and am not at all careful with the 

 combs, but the 3 slack wires always hold them 

 in. 



In regard to the Illinois bee-keepers who are 

 objecting to the toul-brood law, if Mr. Stone is 

 positive that their bees have foul brood, would 

 it be any injustice to them, or would it 

 place him liable in any way, if he gave their 

 names? As it stands, it reflects on all bee- 

 men in north or south of the State, no mat- 

 ter how clean their apiaries may be, or how 

 careful they may be about spreading disease. 

 Many bee-keepers all over the country, when 

 they order queens, would naturally steer clear 

 of these two neighborhoods, and as there are 

 several honest queen-breeders in this State, it 

 reflects injustice on all alike. 



S. F. Trego. 



Swedona, 111. 



Wintering Bees in a Warm Room. 



Wintering in a warm room, bees fly every 

 day in winter. June 4, 1908, a colony 

 swarmed. Ten days after swarming, they 

 were looked over and 7 queen-cells found. 

 Four were cut out and one left. One frame 

 containing 2 queen-cells, well filled with brood 

 and voung bees, was removed and placed in 

 an o'bser\'ation hive, to form a single-frame 

 colony. On June 19, one queen hatched, 

 and began laying June 30. The bees of the 

 original brood had become somewhat reduced 

 when the young brood began hatching on July 

 20. Since then the colony has been very 

 strong. August 22 I began feeding sugar 

 syrup for winter stores, 3 parts sugar to 

 one of water. They filled the frame about 

 3-4 full by September 1, when feeding was 

 discontinued. October 29 they were brought 

 inside and placed on a table, with the en- 

 trance of the hive opening into a flying- 

 cage. 



The cage is 2 feet square, made of 3-4-inch 

 pine strips for the frame-work, covered with 

 wire netting on all sides, with a door half 

 the size of one side, for the purpose of clean- 

 ing the cage, and setting in potted plants. 

 Blooming plants, such as mignonette, ciner- 

 aria, etc., have been kept in the cage at all 

 times, also fresh water. After 4 or 5 days 

 the bee3 appeared to have become accustomed 

 to confinement, and every day during the win- 

 ter they would come out into the cage, often- 

 times flying about and returning to the hive 

 without alighting. The temperature of the 

 room has ranged from 50 to 70 degrees. 



On January 26, the queen began laying^ 

 and continued until a space of 5 inches in 

 diameter on each side of the frame was filled 

 with brood. 



February 8, rye flour was given them. They 

 did not readily take this from a dish, but 

 when sprinkled on the -flowers, they would 

 take the flour as readily as the original pol- 

 len. At this time winter stores were getting 

 low, and the queen stopped laying. 



March 27, I began feeding honey instead 

 of sugar syrup. Thia will be continued until 

 the outside supply is available. The queen 

 began laying again ag soon as feeding was 

 commenced. 



One very interesting feature which the fly- 

 ing-cage has made possible has been the ac- 

 curate noting of the number of bees that have 

 died from day to day during their confinement. 

 During November, 93 died ; in December, 60 ; 

 in January, 154; in February, 201 ; in March, 

 361. April has averaged about the same as 

 in February thus far, while the hatchfcg of 

 the new brood appears to have kept the total 

 number in the colony nearly uniform. 



Since the warm weather, the young bees 

 appear more restless, and try to get outside. 

 I shall let them pass out through the cage 

 soon. G. T. Whitten. 



School of Horticulture, 



Hartfo'rd, Conn., April 8. 



Bee-Keeper Visits Manufacturers. 



The production and marketing of honey has 

 always been one of my hobbies. I derive a 

 great deal of pleasure in caring for my bees, 

 and the busy workers net me a nice income 

 each season. During the past 10 years I have 



of the modern machinery which turns out sec- 

 tions and other bee-supplies in large quantities, 

 and the systematic handling of the material 

 by the experienced employees, gave me the 

 impression that this plant was a very busy 

 bee-hive. 



The next day I took the train and paid a 



Minneapolis Plant of the Minnesota Bee-Supply Co. 



used a good many bee-supplies for the proper 

 care of my bees and the marketing of their 

 honey. The majority of these supplies I have 

 purchased from the Minnesota Bee Supply Co., 

 152 Nicollet Island, Minneapolis, Minn. Hav- 

 ing always had a desire to go through a plant 

 of this kind, I called on this firm while on a 

 visit for a few days in Minneapolis. 



This concern has a modern 3-story factory 

 which is situated on Nicollet Island and the 

 horse-power for operating its machinery is fur- 

 nished by the water of the famous St. An- 



visit to their new branch factory at Buffalo, 

 Minn., which is about 37 miles from Min- 

 neapolis. Built of brick and cement, this plant 

 is practically hre-proof, and the floor-space, in- 

 cluding the additions, is about 100 feet wide by 

 140 feet long. At this factory the lumber is 

 cut direct from the logs,, which is then run 

 into the two large kilns to dry. The crude ma- 

 terial when properly dried goes into the fac- 

 tory, and with the exception of abput 12 opera- 

 tions by hand, the modern machinery turns out 

 tne finished product. In the yards there is at 



Buffalo. Minn., Branch Plant of the Minnesota Bee-Supply Co. 



thony Falls. Their factory, including the ware- 

 houses, gives them about 15,000 feet of floor 

 space for the manufacture and storing of goods. 

 The warehouses arc arranged so as to store 

 the different kinds of bee-supplies in proner 

 order so they can be easily handled for prompt 

 shipments. The lumber yards are situated in 

 the rear of the plant, and run along the 

 banks of the Mississippi River. The whirl 



present about V/i million feet of logs which is 

 to be worked into bee-keepers' supplies and 

 berry-boxes. The many different modern ma- 

 chines for the manufacture of the various sup- 

 plies; the Corliss engine which develops 135 

 horse-power, the 2 steam boilers ; the 150 feet 

 of shafting, the miniature railroad and cars 

 for transporting material to the different parts 

 of the factory and yards; the electric light 



