1904 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEF-: I'E^:. 



151 



should condesceml to "make some re- 

 pjy directly" totlie editor of Tlae Bee- 

 Keeper; or, indeed, if she should 

 write personally to each of the 400,000 

 bee-keepers in the United States? 

 What we want is that readers of the 

 Ladies' Home Journal be informed 

 that artificial comb honey is not and 

 never was in existence. The Ladies' 

 Home Journal has told its readers that 

 artificial comb honey is made, and it 

 is its obvious duty to take it back, if 

 it cares to sustain a reputation for re- 

 liability. If it is honest, and desires 

 to deal honestly with its patrons, it 

 will not hesitate to make an open 

 Statement of the truth; but it devolves 

 upon the bee-keepers to impress this 

 truth upon the editor of the offending 

 periodical. The statement is libelous 

 and extremely damaging to an im- 

 portant industry, and the case is sutli- 

 ciently imporatnt to be taken in hand 

 by the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. As an initiatory step, .each and 

 every officer of the Association should 

 write a strong letter to the Ladies' 

 Home Journal. If this shonld fail to 

 elicit the desired retraction, proceed- 

 ings of a more formal character might 

 be considered. However, the readers 

 of the Ladies' Home Journal must not 

 be left to believe this falsehood, and it 

 is up to the bee-keepers to consider 

 how the evil may best be dealt with. 



ANTICIPATED SWARMING. 



On page 113 of The Bee-Keeper for 

 June was published an article on "An- 

 ticipated Swarming," from tiie pen of 

 Mr. Adrian Getaz. This the American 

 Bee Journal has reproduced, with the 

 suggestion that it might be worth con- 

 sidering. The Journal also calls at- 

 tention to one point which may possi- 

 bly appear obscure to some readers, 

 as follows: 



"Mr. Getaz says of hive No. 2, 'The 

 absence of its queen during the eight 

 days that the brood nests were ex- 

 changed, has killed the .swarming 

 fever completely.' According to the 

 description, the queen has not been 

 absent from the hive at all, but the 

 removal of the colony to stand No. 3 

 has deprived it of its flying force, and 

 I that continued for eight days would 

 [certainly destroy all impulse to swarm. 

 The queen, however, will continue 

 I laying without interruption, and when 

 iBetumed to stand No. 2 the colony will 

 I be as strong as ever. Is it not likely 



that in many cases it will then decide 

 to swarm?" 



We think it will be i-eadily under- 

 stood that while in realit3f the queen 

 has not been absent from hive No. 2, 

 she has been absent from the working 

 force during the period of occupancy 

 upon stand No. 3; and it is, doubtless, 

 this interruption the influence of 

 which is supposed to allay the swarn.- 

 iug inclination. 



Theorizing in .such matters is all 

 right as far as it goes, but it does not 

 go very far. If the plan has proven 

 successful by practical demonstration, 

 those interested are at .x^erty to test 

 its merits in their own practice, and 

 personal opinions a,s to what may be 

 tue outcome are utterly valueless. 



MR. THEILMANN DEAD. 

 In the June edition of The Bee- 

 Keeper was published an article on 

 the "Prevention of Increase," by Mr. 

 C. Theilmann, together with a portrait 

 of the venerable author. The article 

 was written last August, and was 

 held until this year for publication in 

 oi-der that it migiit be more season- 

 able. When sending in the contribu- 

 tion, Mr. Theilmann, in a personal let- 

 ter to the editor, said: "This will 

 probably be the last article I shall 

 ever write for publication." After 

 holding his article for nearly a year, 

 it is rather a noteworthy coincidence 

 that upon May 30, the very day that 

 the June edition was being wrapped 

 for mailing — the edition in which ap- 

 peared his article and portrait — Mr. 

 Theilmann bid adieu to this "vale of 

 tears." The apiarian fraternity, 

 through the death of Mr. Theilmann, 

 has lost a worthy and highly esteemed 

 member, and The American Bee- 

 Keeper mourns the loss of a true 

 friend. 



Doubtless many bee-keepers will 

 have become discouraged as a result 

 of the heavy losses of last winter, and 

 therefore discontinue the business. 

 The time to stick, and stick fast, to 

 any business is when others are with- 

 drawing. Such a general decrease in 

 the producing capacity of the coun- 

 try will have a reaction favorable to 

 those still holding on and increasing 

 their capacity for production. 



When writing to advertisers mention 

 The American Bee-Keeper. 



