Amc^rican ISee Journal 



June, ipog. 



disease from them to almost every col- 

 ony in the apiary. Even neighboring 

 apiaries are infected in this way, and 

 an entire locality becomes a regular hot- 

 bed of foul-broody bees. Such is much 

 more serious than most of our bee-keep- 

 ers suppose. It makes bee-keeping quite 

 uncertain and unprofitable, hence the 

 subject should be studied carefully, even 

 if foul brood never shows up. 



In our inspection work we have 

 learned of all kinds of experiences. 

 Many a bee-keeper has unknowingly 

 spread foul brood throughout his apiar- 

 ies, by exchanging combs and hives of 

 brood, bees and honey, not knowing the 

 trouble existed in the earlier stages. We 

 have seen apiary after apiary infected 

 with foul brood just because the own- 

 ers of the bees were not posted. Just 

 such carelessness has caused the loss of 

 thousands of dollars to the industry, and 

 now, since we are able to learn about 

 bee-diseases, how to avoid them, and 

 how to care for them after they appear, 

 there is no excuse for our not having 

 studied the matter thoroughly. The 

 time is now when every bee-keeper 

 should know how to combat the diseases 

 of his bees as well as the stock-raiser 

 or any others. 



Bees as Pollinators. 



That the honey-bees are a great neces- 

 sity for the proper fertilization of fruit 

 and other blossoms, has been expound- 

 ed time and again, and although a good 

 many persons are familiar with this fact, 

 it is quite necessary to call others' at- 

 tention to the matter from time to time. 

 The following is an example: 



It is quite evident that from the mention 

 made in many of our agricultural journals we 

 are awakening to the importance of bees in 

 the orchard during blooming time. Farm and 

 Kanch says: "Rear bees in connection with 

 the orchard. You get honey and better fruit. 

 Bees help fertilize the blossoms. Give the 

 bees a chance and thev will literally break 

 the boughs of your trees Vith the weight of 

 fruit. 



In this same connection, I had 4 plum 

 trees that were bearing their second crop of 

 fruit. The trees were well grown, and set a 

 tremendous lot of fruit-buds. At blooming 

 time the bees swarmed over these trees day 

 after day. The result was that the trees set 

 so many plums that the limbs broke to the 

 ground. Consequently 3 of the trees are dead 

 now and the fourth scarcely alive. I have 

 inn colonir-s of bees near this orchard. 



When I first began bee-keeping I was lo- 

 cated 12 miles from my present home. When 

 I came here there were no bees in the vicin- 

 >'>■■ There was a neighbor with a large or- 

 chard here, but his trees refused to bear fruit 

 to any great extent. When I brought 100 

 colonies within a mile of the orchard, the 

 trees began to bear. My neighbor told me 

 the bees were a blessing to him, and made his 

 orchard productive. 



Bartlett, Tex. T. P. Robinson. 



Scarcity of Pollen and Condition of 

 the Bees. 



It is surprising what a difference there 

 is in localities for bees only 12 to 14 

 miles apart, and that, too, with apparent- 

 ly the same honey-plants in each locality. 

 To make it more easily understood 

 what I mean, a visit to one of my out- 

 yards for the purpose of feeding, if ne- 

 cessary, showed the bees to be strong 

 and in good condition with most of 

 them well supplied with old stores. We 

 did some exchanging of combs to equal- 

 ize stores, fed some 75 pounds of sugar 



syrup, and pronounced the yard safe 

 from starvation until the first of June. 

 This was the latter part of April. But 

 to be sure that none should starve, I 

 visited the yard again on May 15, and 

 to my surprise and disappointment, 11 

 colonies had died of starvation, and 

 may others were at the point of starva- 

 tion, and at the same time bees near 

 home were gathering enough for a liv- 

 ing, and some new swarms were issu- 

 ing. Of course, I am ashamed of this, 

 but you know it is said, "An open con- 

 fession is good for the soul," etc. 



Owing to the long-continued drouth, 

 bees have suffered in many localities 

 over the State, and especially here, and 

 a new trouble developed with the bees 

 that I don't remember ever seeing or 

 hearing of at the time of year — that is, 

 a scarcity of pollen in April. I have 

 good evidence that my bees away from 

 the River suffered for pollen, and as 

 a result many colonies that were well 

 supplied with honey are to-day rather 

 weak in bees on this account. Now that 

 generous rains have fallen almost all 

 over the State, we hope for better times, 

 and are sure they will come, but fear, 

 to take the State over, that the honey 

 crop will be below the average. 



A great many are very much disposed 

 to neglect the bees when these discour- 

 aging times come, and some go so far 

 as to sell their bees for less than the 

 hives themselves cost, and I confess 

 it is one of the very trying things on 

 the nerves of even the veteran to have 

 to feed the bees for weeks, and at times 

 even months, to prevent actual starva- 

 tion; but it has always paid me to 

 do so, in the long run. I have been 

 feeding some of my bees now for nearly 

 2 months, but we think the feeding a 

 thing of the past now for this year, and 

 I expect some new honey in the near 

 future. I can't expect a full crop, 

 however, owing to the poor condition of 

 the bees, caused from lack of pollen, 

 and starvation. L. B. Smith. 



Rescue, Tex. 



Bees Attack a Bee-Hive Hat. 



If the e-xperience of one young lady may 

 be taken as an example of what is likely to 

 follow from the wearing of the hat known as 

 the "bee-hive shape," the doom of that style 

 of headgear is surely at hand. 



While sitting in Travis Park this morning 

 Miss Daisy Whitlay of Kansas City, who is a 

 guest at a local hotel, was startled to find her- 

 self beset about the head and face with ^ 

 buzzing storm of bees. 



The bees had swarmed from a near-by hive 

 and attracted by the shape and appearance of 

 her hat, attempted to gather upon it. 



Miss Whitlay fought them off and ran from 

 the place. Before she could escape, however, 

 she had been stung in half a dozen places on 

 the face, neck, and hands. — San Antonio 

 Light. 



Too bad the women will change 

 styles in hats again. These changes are 

 "kind of heavy" on the married bee- 

 men. The late kinds of stylish things 

 to adorn the heads of their better halves 

 are expensive, but since the "bee-hive 

 hat" came into style many a bee-man 

 has partly rejoiced as he saw a future 

 use for the investment made in one of 

 these "head-gears." They can hardly 

 be called hats any more, but the bee- 

 keeper hesitated not to invest in the 

 "bee-hive hat," for the reason that he 

 had "his eye on it," as soon as it was 



to be discarded. It was then to find a 

 place in his front-yard apiary as an or- 

 nament for displaying his best colony 

 of golden bees. Many a bee-man would 

 fain have a real old-fashioned straw- 

 skep for ornamental purposes if it could 

 be obtained without going across the 

 waters for it. This desire the bee-hive 

 hat might have filled, but it is going 

 out of style again. It is too expensive 

 for the above purpose unless the good 

 wife gets her money's worth out of it 

 first. Perhaps, when they are out of 

 style, "bee-hive hats" will be sold out 

 cheap. Then every one of us can afford 

 at least one old-fashioned straw-skep 

 in our bee-yard ! 



Cheap Capping Cans. 



In answer to J. R. Bogart's question 

 propounded in Dr. Miller's Department 

 (page 372, 1908), as to the cheapest and 

 easiest way to care for cappings in a 

 small way by small producers of ex- 

 tracted honey, I will say that one can 

 proceed in this manner and get along 

 very well at small expense : 



Go to your grocery store and get 3 

 or 4 so-pound lard cans — compound lard 

 cans are better as they are larger — with 

 both the regular outside cover and the 

 summer cover. Take the suminer cover 

 and trim it down so that it will easily 

 go into the can, and perforate it with 8- 

 penny-nail holes. Now get 4 strong 

 wires and make hooks on one end ; then 

 make 4 holes to fit the wires in the per- 

 forated tin, the holes to be equally dis- 

 tributed around the tin. Run the wires 

 through to the hooks. Next flatten the 

 wires at the other end, and bend them 

 down, making hooks on the other end 

 to fit over the top of the can. Cut the 

 wires long enough to suspend the per- 

 forated summer cover about 5 inches 

 from the bottom of the can, or 6 inches 

 if you wish. The object of flattening 

 the wire to make the top hooks is to ac- 

 commodate the cover proper, which will 

 readily slip down over the whole, elimi- 

 nating robber-bees. 



The next thing to do is to get a stick 

 — a top-bar of a frame will do — drive an 

 8-penny nail through the center. Now 

 take some strong twine and tie this 

 stick, nail up, across the top of the can. 

 You can tie it down to the handles of 

 the can. The nail is to set the frame on 

 while uncapping. Now you are ready 

 to uncap. 



Uncap the can full, set it away to 

 drain, and get a new can. If you wish 

 these cappings to drain extra-well, take 

 a long, sharp knife and cut them down 

 to the perforated tin, some 5 or 6 times, 

 just like slicing a pie, and they will 

 drain out very well into the chamber be- 

 low. When the cappings have drained 

 5 or 6 days they can be rendered in a 

 solar wax-extractor, or all put out for 

 the bees to clean up; or if you don't 

 care for the remaining honey, wash 

 them in a tub of water, then render into 

 wax. This way is surely a success. 

 Don't fear as to that, but the only trou- 

 ble is that the cans are a little too small, 

 and some of the cappings are likely to 

 drop on the floor while uncapping. By 

 moving the nail nearer one side, and al- 

 lowing the cappings to drop in on the 



