1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



605 



me. He pointed out some of the " Mistakes of Bee-Keepers 

 and Bee-Journals " in a sensible and kindly manner. He de- 

 served a vote of thanks for his able effort, and would have 

 received it, too, if it hadn't been for— well, the great majority 

 would have given it gladly if they'd bad a good chance. 



Mr. Hutchinson, I regret to say, had been suffering with 

 rheuiuatisra for over a month before the convention, and came 

 very nearly not being there at all. But he was there, and 

 probably was none the worse for it, as he was extremely care- 

 ful not to overdo. It would seem strange to attend a conven- 

 tion without Ero. H. there. He probably has attended more 

 bee-meetings than any other American, living or dead. 



There are a lot more "notes "that I'd like to give, but 

 I'll have to wait till next week. Probably you will have had 

 enough for one dose, by the time you've read all of this num- 

 ber of the Bee Journal. 



The Next to tlie Last Page of this number of 

 the Bee Journal shows some very tempting offers. Be sure to 

 read them. Then let the publishers hear from you promptly. 



Notice to Bee-Keepers.— I have received the 



following notice which will be of interest mainly to Illinois 



bee-keepers : 



Bbadfokdton, 111., Sept. 12, 1805. 



On account of the failure of the fat Stock Show at Chi- 

 cago this fall, we are at a loss to know what to do about our 

 Chicago meetiug of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association. 

 We have asked the Western Passenger Association to give us 

 reduced rates on the certificate plan, without requiring of us 

 the 100 in attendance, assuring them that it is nearly always 

 this requirement that causes our meetings to fall below the 

 required number — because of the doubt in securing the same. 

 But they will make no such promise. If we had the promise 

 of the rates without any conditions, our meetings would con- 

 tinue to grow to the surprise of all. 



If it be the desire of bee-keepers for a meeting regardless 

 of the railroad rates, just let them make it known. 



Let all our bee-keepers in and near Chicago be on the 

 lookout for some occasion at that place that will give us rates, 

 the same as we get them for our Springfield meeting Nov. 19 

 and 20, when the State Odd Fellows meet, and everybody gets , 

 rates without even a certificate (at least it was so last year, 

 and they are hoping for it again now). We were about to an- 

 nounce our Chicago meeting for Oct. 30 and 31, when the 

 Coliseum collapsed. After this year we will not be troubled 

 so, we hope. (Gleanings and Review please copy.) 



Jas. a. Stone, Sec. 



Mr. W. A. Pryal, of North Temescal, Calif., in a 

 lettei- dated Aug. 23, said that the honey-yield of his apiary 

 was less than one-fourth of a crop this year. He reports the 

 bees in good condition for next year. 



^-'-^ 



Just I0,000 Copies of this number of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal will be mailed— some extra for samples to 

 prospective subscribers. The new subscriber that gets in 

 the soonest will get the most for his money. See page 611. 



fKVQOr)^ \})c Bee-Papers 



Gleaned by Dr. MUler. 



HOW TO PUT ON BEE-ESCAPES WITHOUT DOING HEAVY LIFTING. 



This is, perhaps, a kink not yet discovered by some. It is 

 easy when you know how. With a screw-driver or strong 

 putty-knife pry loose one end of the super from the brood- 

 chamber. Lift it up just a little way and blow in a little 

 smoke. With the escape-board right handy, lift up with one 

 hand one end of the super, and tilt it to an angle of 45 de- 

 grees. Now slip the escape-board under as far as you can ; 

 let the super down on to the board, and then with two hands 

 crowd the board itself squarely over the hive, and finally, in 



like manner the super squarely over the escape. This is far 

 easier than lifting the whole super off bodily, setting it on the 

 ground if you can find a place, putting on the escape-board, 

 again lifting the super off the ground and setting it very 

 gently and squarely on the escape-board — if you can. I tell 

 you, it is not easy to hold a hive-super, weighing perhaps 100 

 lbs., suspended in mid-air, and lot it down edsily and squarely 

 over the board. The plan I gave first is, oh, so much easier ! 

 Try it, if you have not yet learned the knack of it. — Glean- 

 ings' editorial. 



SWINDLERS. 



Gleanings is holding up A. M. McLeod &. Co., of Memphis, 

 Tenn., as a good firm for bee-keepers to have nothing to do 

 with. K. J. Mathews sent them honey to the amount of 

 $67.80, and can get nothing. The " Co." part is a myth, 

 and Mathews thinks McLeod is now doing business under the 

 name of "The Memphis Pickle and Preserve Co." Pass him 

 along. 



THE AMERICAN BEE .TOURNAL. 



I have sometimes wished that Bro. York were not so good 

 a friend of mine. Why ? I have often read with interest the 

 good things in his paper, and have felt like commenting on 

 what he and his correspondents have said ; but somehow I 

 have felt that, if I did make such comments, a few (the anti- 

 admiration-society fellows) would say I was doing it to pat 

 " Bro. George " on the back. But, really, I do not know that 

 this is any ijood reason why I should keep back anything that 

 I wish to say, if it is deserving. 



Well, it seems to me the "Old Reliable " grows better 

 and better as it grows older; and in its 35th year, and in its 

 latest number, we find more good, solid matter in it — practi- 

 cal, helpful matter — than at any time in its previous history; 

 and in saying this I do not wish to disparage its past. The 

 articles are well selected, sifted, pruned, and paragraphed. 

 The " Question and Answer " departments, by Dr. Miller and 

 others, are good. All through I think I can see the evidence 

 of hard, painstaking editorial management. — Sept. 1st. Glean- 

 ings' editorial. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



N. D. West gives the following plan in the Canadian Bee 

 Journal : 



"To introduce a queen to stranger bees, first remove the 

 condemned queen, and then before closing the hive give them 

 a queen in West's spiral wire queen-cage with a piece of 

 hard candy IK inches long in the large end of the cage (use 

 store candy). Then place the cage somewhere in the hive, 

 on top of the frames or between the combs, and in from 30 to 

 48 hours the queen will be liberated. This all being done 

 with but one operation, and the queen almost certain to be 

 accepted, makes a short and pleasant job of queen-introduc- 

 ing." 



BOTTOM STARTERS IN SECTIONS. 



Since I used bottom starters, I don't have combs break 

 out in sections in shipping as I formerly did. Often, before 

 using bottom starters, a section would be finished up with a 

 space of about half an inch between the comb and the bottom- 

 bar of the section ; and in transportation such a comb would 

 swing back and forth and break off. Besides, a section looks 

 ever so much better to be filled clear down, and it weighs 

 more. 



There is another point in favor of bottom starters for 

 those who have out-apiaries that I never thought of till I saw 

 it mentioned in the "A B C of Bee-Culture." A starter that 

 comes down within one-fourth inch of the bottom-bar of the 

 section is inclined to swing in hauling to the out-apiary. If 

 the starter is only an inch or so wide it will not swing at all. 

 Just how wide it must be before it commences to swing, I do 

 not know ; but I know that a starter that fills the section all 

 but a quarter of an inch will swing a great deal more than 

 one that is three-quarters of an inch less. — Dk. Miller, in 

 Gleanings. 



THOSE FIVE-BANDED BEES. 



In the way of honey, the three-banded, leather-colored 

 bees were away ahead ; and, oh how much pleasanter to 

 handle ! Moreover, the yellow ones were nosing around in a 

 most disagreeable way, trying here and there to get a sip of 

 honey while I was making an examination. 



By the way, we had a bad robbing-spell, I am sorry to 

 confess, at our home yard a few days ago. This is, you know, 

 devoted to queen-rearing; and it seems one of the small nu- 

 clei failed to make the proper defense, and before we knew it 

 there was an uproar. It was a most noticeable fact that the 



