1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



57 



Xlie Terinont Bee-Keepers' Coiivention meets in 

 20th annual session at Middlebury, Vt., Jan. 30 and 31. Among tbe 

 profitable subjects to be discussed are the following: 



How to rear queens in upper stories, and the best time to rear 

 good ones — A. E. Manum. 



How to cleanse wax, and make foundation. — R. H. Holmes. 



What I think of house-apiaries, and how to work with one. — 

 H. H. Burgh. 



What has been done at the Experiment Station — C. W. Fisher, 

 D. D. Howe and O. J. Lowrey. 



In view of the rapid strides of the disease known as " bee- 

 paralysis," is it safe to buy queens of any and every one who sees 

 fit to advertise them for sale ? — J. E. Crane. 



How shall we grade our comb honey ? 



How to manage out-apiaries. 



The announcement which I received says that "the meeting is 

 to be held in the ' heart' of the 'honey section,' " and so a good at- 

 tendance is expected. The following will also be of interest to 

 those who anticipate going : 



The C. V. R. R. Co. grants the " Convention rates " of 3 cents 

 per mile for 33 miles or less, with a maximum rate of $1.00 and a 

 minimum rate of 15 cents, 34 miles or over, fare one way. Tickets 

 good going Jan. 29 and 30, and good to return Jan. 30, 31, and Feb. 

 1, between the following named places only, to Middlebury : Ma- 

 lone and Ticonderoga, N. Y., Richford, Enosburgh Falls, St. 

 Albans, Milton, Cambridge Junction, Jericho, White River Junc- 

 tion, Roxbury, Montpelier, Waterbury, Burlington, Vergennes, 

 Leicester Junction, Shoreham, Brandon and Rutland, Vt. 



Mr. H. W. Scott, of Barre, Vt., is the Secretary. Address him 

 for any further information that may be desired. 



Synipatliy. — I want to thank the writer of the following, 

 for his kindly sympathy, and hope that if he evermeets " Gleaner" 

 he will " make bim take it back." 



Mr. George W. York, Chicago, 111. 



Dear Sir : — When an anonymous writer like " Gleaner " calls 

 you the " we-est " man in the fraternity, I want you to under- 

 stand you have my sympathy. You are neither small nor " wee;" 

 and you just tell him so. C. C. Miller, Jr. 



Chicago, lU., Jan. 17. 



Xlie IVortliern Illinois Convention, as will be 

 learned by referring to page 53, met in Rockford, Dec. 18 and 10. 

 The officers elected for the ensuing year are these: 



President — Leroy Highbarger, of Leaf River. Vice-President 

 — S. H. Herrick, of Rockford. Secretary — B. Kennedy, of New 

 Milford. Treasurer— O. J. Cummlngs, of Guilford. 



/Vrrjot^g \\)c Bee-Papers 



Conducted t>y " GLEA.KER." 



DISCUSSION ON THE FIVE-BANDED BEES. 



The Progressive Bee-Keeper for January is mainly devoted 

 to the discussion of the golden or five-banded bees. S. E. 

 Miller says that after having the yellow bees predominate in 

 numbers, he finds they fall behind leathered-colored bees as 

 gatherers. 



E. T. Flanagan thinks the furore for five bands is passing 

 away; that nothing can compete with three-banders for ex- 

 tracted honey, but they don't cap comb honey white enough. 



J. D. Givens likes the goldens; "store just as much 

 honey as any others, and are the best comb-builders I have." 



W. Z. Hutchinson says: "I believe that, as a rule, the 

 dark, leather-colored bees are the better, but I also believe 

 that the brighter colored bees may be just as good workers as 

 their darker sisters," and "that there are some strains of this 

 variety that cannot be excelled by the dark Italians." lias 

 had yellow bees from various sources, all good-natured except 

 one colony, and that was very crosss. 



G. M. Doolittle gives au interesting account of the origin 

 of his strain of yellow bees, and refutes the idea that Cyprian 

 blood had anything to do with it, by saying that in 1880 he 

 had "good four-banded worker-bees, drones having the abdo- 

 men fully one-half yellow, and queens entirely yellow to the 

 tip," and that was a year before any Cyprians were in this 

 country. By careful selection he has developed a strain of 

 best working qualities, nearly all yellow. He says, "these 

 yellow bees outstripped anything in the way of imported or 

 hybrid bees I had during the past year, 1894, and gave comb 



honey of the most snowy whiteness I find them very vari- 

 able as to temper, some of them being nearly as harmless as 

 flies, while some colonies are quite resentful when opening 

 their hives after they have become well supplied with 



honey I have not found them as good winterers when 



left on the summer stands, as are some of the darker strains 

 from imported stock, or hybrids, but with cellar-wintering, 

 which the most of us here at the North adopt, I see very little 

 if any difference in favor of either." 



E. W. Moore says: "I have only one good point in favor 

 of the five-banded bees, and that is, if you can pull them 

 through the winter, they build up as fast as the three-banded, 

 and are far ahead of the black bee in brood and bees by clover 

 harvest; but just as soon as honey begins to come in freely, 

 they seem to lose all their former activity." 



J. W. Rouse says that in the very poor season of 1894, "I 



had several colonies that made a surplus and this surplus 



all came from my best-marked five-banded bees. Two seasons 

 ago, some of my best-marked five-banded bees gave 40 pounds 

 of surplus, where I did not get a pound from my three-banded 

 bees. As to gentleness, I have some five-banded bees now in 

 my yard that I can open their hives and blow on them, and 

 it only makes them stir a little." 



DBONES FROM LAYING WORKEBS AND UNFECDNDATED QUEENS. 



Willie Atchley reports in Gleanings an experiment to decide 

 as to the value of dronesfrom workers and unfecundated queens. 

 Queens to be mated were put on the prairie five miles away 

 from other bees, the only drones present being from laying 

 workers. He says: "Our experiment queens would mate 

 and lay as well as any queens, so far as we could see, in 

 worker-cells, and nearly all the eggs would produce drones." 



This conflicts with the views expressed by good author- 

 ities. If, however, a sufficient number of actual experiments 

 so decide, old theories must be set aside for those established 

 by actual practice. But should it be fully established that 

 the drones of laying workers are worthless, that by no means 

 proves that drones of unfecundated queens are worthless. 



ELECTROPOI8E AND THE WATEK-FINDING SWITCH. 



A. I. Root Started a crusade against Electropoise, and 

 was for sometime alone in it, as respectable papers advertised 

 it with testimonials from ministers and others. Now he's 

 swinging his hat because the scientific journal, Electricity, 

 comes out strongly in opposing Electropoise as a humbug of the 

 basest kind, selling for $25 a worthless thing that costs 42 

 cents. 



A. I. also give fits to the divining rod, or switch, for find- 

 ing water. 



BEE-KEEPING IN SWEDEN. 



The Canadian Bee Journal has a letter from Johan Pors- 

 sell, secretary Bee-Associatiou, Sweden, in which he says his 

 apiary is situated in 595-^3 north latitude. Bee-keeping is 

 general up to 62^, and occasional bee-keepers are found np to 

 the polar circle. "In spite of the northern situation, the long 

 winters and very cold temperature, the bees here winter on 

 their summer stands." Might be a good plan for those who 

 have trouble wintering, to try some of the Swedish stock. 



More Kind Testimonials. — Since the last issue I have 

 received quite a number expressions of appreciation of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, among them the following: 



The sterling publication, the old American Bee Journal, comes 

 out for 1895 in a brand new dress, and enlarged to twice its former 

 dimensions. It enters on its 35th volume, and is the oldest bee- 

 paper in America — being established " befoh de wah." and that 

 was a long time ago. — The Daily Press, Riverside, Calif. 



The staunchest prohibition newspaper in all the West — The 

 Lever, published here in Chicago — said this on its farm page: 



The American Bee Journal, of this city, makes a New Year's 

 bow in a new form and pretty dress. It is a great improvement 

 over the old antiquated form. The paper should be a weekly visitor 

 in every bee-keeper's home. 



Patronize Otir Advertisers. — I wish that readers of 

 the American Bee Journal would, whenever possible, patronize 

 those who advertise in its columns. Also remember, when writing 

 to an advertiser, to say you saw the advertisement in the Bee 

 Journal. This will greatly help us and those who patronize the 

 advertising columns of the Bee Journal. It is earnestly endeavored 

 to admit only responsible firms, as the publishers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal will not knowingly encourage frauds or swindlers. 



