616 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 28, 1899. 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



George W. York & Company, 



116 Michigan St., Chicago, III. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



SAMPLE COPY FREE. 



[Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Secoud-Class Mail Matter.] 



United States Bee-KeeDers' Association. 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture • to promote the interests 

 of bee-keepers ; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration of 

 houey ; and to prosecute the dishonest iioney-com.mission men. 



A/emibers2iip J^ee— ^l.OO per J%jixiuin, 



Executive Committee— Pres., E. "Whitcomb; Vice-Pres., C. A. Hatch; 



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

 Board of Directors— E. R. Root; E. Whitcomb; E.T.Abbott; C. P. 



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

 Gen*l Manager and Treasurer— Eug-ene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 39. SEPTEMBER 28, 1899. NO. 39. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthoifraphy of the follow- 

 ing- Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolofj- 

 ical Association and the Philological Society of England: — Change 

 "d" or "ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding- sound. 



The Philadelphia Convention Report is delayed a 

 week on account of copy not arriving- in time to continue it 

 in this number. We hope that beg-iiining -with next week 

 we may be able to publish it without further break. 



Honey Imported into Germany — The Munchener 

 Bienen-Zeitung- reports that in 1896 there was broug-ht into 

 the seaport of Antwerp 1,444,866 pounds of honey ; in 1897, 

 1,562,678 pounds. Of the latter amount United States sent 

 346,506 pounds. 



" Honey Not Advancing, and Why," is the heading 

 of an editorial item in Gleaning-s in Bee-Culture. Editor 

 Root says prices are not going up as they ought, because 

 commission-houses and honey-buyers are offering little if 

 any better prices than were offered for the big crop of 1897. 

 He says : 



As I pointed out in our last issue, when prices are mov- 

 ing upward on everything else there should be a corres- 

 ponding rise on honey ; and if our commission-men can 

 give us a little substantial support we may look for im- 

 provement in general prices. In the meantime, bee-keepers 

 should send onlj' to reliable firms. It is the irresponsible 

 cheap Johns — inexperienced, unknown concerns — that move 

 off the honey at any price for the sake of making it move 

 quick. 



In all of which he is correct ; but it is not so clear that 

 he is correct when he says : " But one, two, or three houses 

 can't advance unless a/l do." A careful observation of 

 quotations thruout the year hardly warrants the belief that 

 there is a general concert of action among commission-men, 



and the fact that one house sometimes docs advance or 

 lower the price without any corresponding change on the 

 part of others is pretty strong proof that it can do it. There 

 seems to be little question that the honey crop of 1899 is 

 unusually short, and there is no reason to satisfy one in 

 believing that there should not be a material advance in 

 price. Indeed, in some quarters, at least, there is already 

 an advance, but there should be a forward movement all 

 along the line. 



Bees, Birds and Grapes is an editorial heading in a 

 recent issue of Gleanings in Bee-Culture. Mr. Root re- 

 marks thus upon the subject : 



Nearly every year about this time the bee-keepers are 

 met with complaints from their neighbors about how the 

 bees are eating their grapes. It has been pretty well es- 

 tablisht that bees never touch the sound fruit ; and until 

 within a year or so it was supposed by all fruit-growers, 

 and even by some bee-keepers, that bees made a small 

 round puticture thru the skin of some soft grapes like the 

 Niagara, and even pierced the more hardy Concords. But 

 two years ago we were successful in finding the real culprit, 

 and that was in the form of a little bird, quick of flight, 

 scarcely if ever to be seen around the vines when any 

 human being was present. This bird, about the size of a 

 sparrow, striped, and called the Cape May warbler (Den- 

 droica iigriiia). has a long, sharp, needle-like beak. It will 

 alight on a bunch, and about as fast as one can count the 

 grapes will puncture berry after berry. After his birdship 

 has done his mischief he leaves, and then come on innocent 

 bees to finish the work of destruction by sucking the juices 

 of the pulp of the berry, finally leaving it dry and withered 

 up. While the birds are scarcely ever " caught in the act," 

 the bees, ever present dtiring all the hours of daylight, 

 receive all the credit for the mischief. 



Grapes broken in handling will be visited by bees in- 

 dependently of any tampering on the part of the feathered 

 tribe ; and at such times bees do very often prove to be 

 quite a nuisance ; but it may be said, on the other hand, 

 that broken grapes are unsalable anyhow, and therefore 

 this damage is slight if any, and the real mischief or harm 

 done is simply the annoyance caused by the fear of being- 

 stung while handling over the bunches in the basket. 



On another page will be found an excellent article on 

 this very subject, by Mr. C. P. Dadant. We often wonder 

 if the time will ever come when fruit-growers will cease un- 

 justly accusing the bees of puncturing grapes. But it 

 takes a long time to educate many people when so widely 

 scattered, and also when so disinclined to accept the truth 

 when placed before them. Too many good people are will- 

 ing to form their opinions simply from the appearance of 

 things, not taking the time to investigate carefully and 

 then decide from the facts. 



We expect soon to publish some more of the same kind 

 of conclusive evidence that Mr. Dadant gives. It might be 

 a good thing to let your fruit and grape growing neighbors 

 read all that appears in these columns on this subject. 



Removing Honey -with the Bee-Escape. — In the Pro- 

 gressive Bee-Keeper, G. M. Doolittle gives the following- 

 very clear directions for using the bee-escape method of re- 

 moving honey from the hive, without lifting the supers 

 entirely off : 



Many bee-keepers seem to think it necessary to lift the 

 supers entirelj- from the hive in using bee-escape boards, 

 for ridding the sections of bees. But such a course is very 

 laborious, as well as unnecessary, as there is a much easier 

 way, as well as quicker. 



Go to the rear of the hive, having the escape-board, a 

 lighted smoker, a wedge about 8 inches long and 1'2 inches 

 thick at the heavy end, and a stout, heavy knife or chisel, 

 the latter being preferable. The chisel I use is what is 

 called a " firmer " chisel, and is one inch wide. 



Now with the chisel pry the rear end of the super up a 

 little from the hive, just enough so you can enter the sharp 

 end of the wedge, but not enough so any bee can come out. 

 This gives a crack ; open enough so you can send in a 



