792 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Decemier 15. 



GEORGE W. YORK. EDITOR. 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



lis Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



[Entered at the PostOfflce at Chicago as Seconaciass Mail Matter.] 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture: to promote the interests of bee 

 keepers; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration of honey; and 

 to prosecute the dishonest honey-commisBion men. 



ATembership Fee—91-OO per AzLaxua. 



BXECtiTlVE COMMITTEE-Pres.. George W. York; Vice-Pres., W. Z. Hutchinson; 

 Secretary, Dr. A. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. 



^°4J?^„°.? DiBECTOKS-B. E. Root; B. Whitcomb; E. T. Abbott; C. P. Dadant; 

 W.Z.Hutchinson; Dr. C. C. Miller. 



Oeneraj, manager and Treasurer— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 38. DECEMBER 15, 1898. NO. 50. 



lEDlTORIALiCOnnENrS: 



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NOTE.-The American Bee Journaiadupts the Orthography of the following 

 Rule, recommencjed by the joint action of the American Philological Asso- 

 ciation and the Philological Society of England :-Change "d" or "ed" final 

 to t when 80 pronounced, except when the "e" affects a preceding sound 



The American Bee Journal for 1899.— 



About this time of the year many high-class periodicals tell 

 something of their plans for the coming year. Many of them 

 issue special circulars calling attention to the principal at- 

 tractions that are in store for their readers during the next 

 twelve months. This is all very well for papers that have 

 much competition to meet In their own field, but we think that 

 bee-papers need hardly do that just yet. 



We are Inclined to feel that the readers of the American 

 Bee Journal are well satisfied that they always get more than 

 their dollar's worth each year they read it ; and also, that 

 they are fairly well assured that when they renew their sub- 

 scriptions again they will get another year's copies filled with 

 good things on the subject of bee-keeping. 



We feel that the American Bee Journal recommends Itself 

 pretty well. Its correspondents are among the most success- 

 ful bee-keepers In the world. With one possible exception Its 

 various departments are not excelled anywhere in the present- 

 day literature of bee-keeping. Its editor does not ask bee- 

 keepers to subscribe for It because of his own superior per- 

 sonal attainments or qualifica^ons, but because the contents 

 of the American Bee Journal are just exactly suited to the 

 needs of any one and every one who desires to make the 

 greatest success of bee-keeping. Its editor does not claim to 

 know as much as all the rest of the bee-keepers in Christen- 

 dom put together, and never expects to do so; but he does 

 claim to know at least a little about getting up a fairly good 

 bee-paper every iveek in the year— something that no one else 

 does in this country at the present time. 



We do not want any one to continue to subscribe for the 

 American Bee Journal unless he feels that It is worth all and 



more than the bar* subscription price of one dollar a year. 

 As soon as It reaches the point where It Is not worth the price 

 askt for, it ought to die — just as have many other bee-papers 

 that existed for awhile and then dropt down and out. 



We hardly need to say that the past clean record of the 

 old American Bee Journal is its best guaranty for the future. 

 It will be our earnest endeavor hereafter, as heretofore, to 

 publish a paper that no real bee-keeper can afford to do with- 

 out. Thousands have found it to be invaluable, and we ex- 

 pect that thousands more will continue to find in its columns 

 the very information necessary to the largest success In the 

 care and management of bees. 



Mr. P. H. Cl-wood, of Herkimer Co., N. Y., has been 

 nominated as a candidate for election on the Board of DIrec 

 tors of the United States Bee-Keepers' Union. We most 

 heartily second that nomination. Mr. Elwood Is one of the 

 very best men in all beedom, as well as one of the most exten- 

 sive bee-keepers, and ought to be on the Board. 



Xlie "Golden" mettiod of producing comb 

 honey will be fully described in the American Bee Journal 

 in 1899. We have invited Mr. Golden to tell our readers all 

 about it, and he has already sent insome of the manuscript 

 on the subject. He is receiving many strong testimonials en- 

 dorsing his methods. The articles will likely appear every 

 other week until the "Golden " honey-story is told. 



Bee-^otes in Agricultural Papers.— "Re- 

 ports from all over the country indicate a good crop of honey. 

 Bees have done well, and the yield has been large." Reading 

 thus far at the beginning of " Farm Bee-Keeping," In the 

 Modern Farmer and Busy Bee, the question arose,' "Has 

 Editor Abbott lost his level head and gone clean daft?" 

 Further reading showed, however, that he was only quoting 

 from the " Bee-Notes " of a prominent agricultural paper to 

 show how unreliable such notes too often are. 



If the agricultural papers would read their apiarian ex- 

 changes they wouldn't make such " breaks" as the foregoing. 



Dried-Up Foul Brood.— We have received the 

 following from Mr. R. L. Taylor, of Lapeer Co., Mich., In re- 

 sponse to Prof. Cook's request on page 737 : 



Friend York: — In your journal of Nov. 24, 1S9S, Prof. 

 Cook wishes me to respond to a query about the dried remains 

 of foul brood. You will find my reply in the Review for De- 

 cember, 1897, page 314, first paragraph. 



As to the hives of diseased colonies, I have found it en- 

 tirely safe to use them without boiling or other disinfecting, 

 tho If one should be daubed with honey I should wash it off 

 carefully. As ever yours, R. L. Taylor. 



The Bee-Keepers' Review paragraph referred to by Mr. 

 Taylor in the foregoing, reads thus : 



"I just said there is no foul brood without ropiness, but 

 this must not be taken too literally. That was said with ref- 

 erence to the stage during which the matter remains soft. 

 After a few weeks the matter of each dead larva dries down 

 and lies spread on the lower side — not the bottom — of the cell, 

 a brownish black scale of the thickness of a man's thumbnail. 

 This peculiarity Is of great use in making a diagnosis of the 

 disease at some seasons of the year, as In the fall or in the 

 spring. In the combs of a colony which has perisht during the 

 winter, as colonies affected with foul brood are very liable to 

 do. Soon after the breeding season Is over these scales are 

 about the only evidence of the disease that remains in a strong 

 colony, as the cappings of the diseased cells are apt to be 

 cleared away, but in a weak colony the discolored, defective 

 cappings largely remain. It seems to be beyond the power of 

 the bees to remove these scales, so if foul brood has been pres- 

 ent they remain to reveal it if one will take the proper course 

 to discover them. This is best done in this way : Take the 

 comb by the top-bar and hold It so that a good light falls into 

 the cells at an angle of about TO- or 80^ from the top of the 

 comb, while the sight falls upon the cells at an angle of about 



