244 



THE JLMERICaif KE® JOTSW^mL,. 



'■•^ — ■» — - — --^- — -^^J^^^ » ^ ^ ^.^«^«^A< 



Ooverniueiital Stati»«tics. 



The chairman of the committee on statis- 

 tics, appointed by the Chicago Convention 

 of bee-keepers, Prof. Cook, has sent this to 

 the U.S. Ltatistician, to be sent out as a 

 CIRCtTLAR TO REPORTERS. 



The general condition of the bee-industry is of 

 srreat importance In bee-lieepers. Will yuu please 

 flllout this blank for your county, district or Slate, 

 at once, according to your best judement, and 

 return immediately to 



COM.MISSIONER OF AGRTCrLTUBK, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Name 



Post-Offlce 



County 



State : 



This report is for ..I ounty. 



or for State. 



Xlie Circular for April contains 

 these questions : 



1. What per cent, of the bees in your 



have survived the past winter ? 



2. By what method were the bees generally 

 wintered ? 



3. What are the present prospects for ne.vt sea- 

 son's crop ? 



XUe Circular for July contains 

 these questions : 



1. \Vhat per cent, of an average crop of honey was 

 secured in May, J une and J uiy ? 



2. From what sources was it gathered ? 



Xhe Circular for September con- 

 tains these questions : 



1. What per cent, of an average fall-crop of lioney 

 is there this year ? 



2. From what sources V 



3. What per cent, of an average crop la the product 

 for this year ? 



MoTiiig Kees a I^ong: IMsf ance. 



— F. C. Erkel, Lexington, Minn., on April 

 3, 1888, asks the following questions : 



I should like to know when is the best 

 time to move bees. I have 38 colonies that 

 I wish to move about 100 miles. Would it 

 be tipst to move them soon after taken out 

 of the cellar, or later on in the season ? 

 Also, which would be tlie better way to 

 move them, by wagon the whole distance, 

 or seven miles by wagon to the station, 

 and then fifty miles by freight, when they 

 would have to be transferred, and then filty 

 miles more by freight ? 



Move the bees as soon as possible after 

 taking the bees out of the cellar, while the 

 hives are not encumbered with much honey 

 to break down, etc. We should prefer to 

 move them the whole distance by wagons, 

 seeing they must be taken seven miles in 

 that way, tor when they are once properly 

 prepared and placed on wagons, much of 

 the work is accomplished. The changing 

 cars on two railroads, as well as changing 

 from the wagon would be far more danger- 

 ous to the bees than to go all the distance 

 by wagons. Secure the frames, and load 

 on the wagons so that the frames cross the 

 road-bed, and let them be carefully driven, 

 especially over rough parts of the road. 



Xlie Reduction of Postage on 



seeds, plants, bulbs, etc., is now before 

 Congress. In Canada the postage on such 

 is 4 cents per pound ; in England it is 6 

 cents ; and in the United States it is 16 

 cents per pound ! a manifest injustice. Let 

 the law be amended at once. 



Tliat ]\'ew Inveiition mentioned on 

 page 148, concerning " comb " building, has 

 been revealed. It is merely comb founda- 

 tion " made on glass, wood, tin, card-board 

 or other material, with the impression of the 

 cells in wax on one side, the other being 

 left smooth." The intention is to have the 

 cells of double length, the mid-rib or foun- 

 dation being at one side. 



A great " splurge " was made at its an- 

 nouncement. There was a great ringing of 

 the bell to announce the advent of the 

 locomotive, but, alas, the coming of the en- 

 gine creates no enthusiasm. It is almost 

 a useless affair, if not absolutely so. Here 

 in America, at least, we have no use for 

 such an invention ! We can secure longer 

 cells by simply spreading the combs, but 

 even that is undesirable, because of the 

 slower ripening of the honey, and the con- 

 sequent hindrance to the bees. 



The method proposed to make the inven- 

 tion known made us look with suspicion 

 upon it, as stated on page 148. 



Some periodicals have been injudicious 

 enough to announce it as a "new artifi- 

 cial comb"— which will to a few give some 

 color to that scientific pleasantry which we 

 have been fighting for years. Call things 

 by their right names ! This is the only 

 safe thing to do. 



Spring Feeding, Supers, etc.— 



Mr. W. C. Peck, Larrabee, Wis., asks the 

 following questions : 



1. Which is preferable for the 8-fraine 

 Langstroth hive, a super made of 1-iiich 

 lumber to hold 34 section.s, or one made of 

 thin lumber and holding 27 sections ? 



2. Will brace combs be between the 

 brnod-frames and the sections, if the bee- 

 space is reduced to H inch, and the tops of 

 the brood-frames scraped clean ? 



3. Is the sap of the sugar maple injurious 

 to bees ? or will it serve to stimulate them 

 to breed in early spring ? 



1. Either would do, but we should prefer 

 the thin lumber and 27 sections, other things 

 being equal. 



2. The space not being large enough for 

 passage-ways, the bees will be likely to put 

 brace-combs there. 



3. Maple syrup will answer for stimulat- 

 ing the bees in the spring, when they can 

 fly freely. 



Xlie Hon«'y-Xrade.— Mr. Geo. Hen- 

 derson, of London, England, has sent us 

 the following item: 



The total value and amount of honey im- 

 ported into Great Britain in the year 1886, 

 was £2.5,610— or 21..533 cwt. The value and 

 amount from the United States was £5,8.30— 

 or 4,.569 cwt. This is considerable less than 

 that given in the American Bee Journal 

 for March 7, but it is authoritative. 



l.,oss in M'inter.— Mr. E. D. Keeney, 

 Arcade, N. T., reports on April 4 that he 

 put 301 colonies into cellars last November, 

 and on April 4 took out 295 colonies in fine 

 condition— being a loss of less than 2 per 

 cent. That is an excellent showing. 



Licnd a Helping Hand.— Mrs. N. 



Stanley, Adrian, Minn., on March 24, 1888, 

 writes : 



I send one dollar to aid the bee-keepers' 

 "defense fund," and let me say to those 

 beekeepers who weekly read the Bee 

 Journal, that aside from the principle, 

 " Do unto others as ye would that they 

 should do unto you," is it not our duty to 

 cheer and aid a sinking brother ? Let us 

 rally around our standard, and do battle for 

 our rights and a just cause. Could I send 

 an arrow of remorse into the heart of that 

 Mayor of Arkadelphia, you may be sure it 

 would be quickly sent. 1 am only a bee- 

 keeper in a small way, and I do not expect 

 ever to need the aid of the Union, neverthe- 

 less 1 cannot hear appeals for help, in vain. 



Our bees the past season did better than 

 some have repotted. We obtained a surplus 

 of 30 pounds of comb honey per colony, be- 

 sides one large swaim and an abundance of 

 stores for winter. The bees are wintering 

 nicely in the cellar, being very quiet, with 

 few dead bees. 



I think so much of the American Bee 

 Journal that I am binding it, and very 

 attractive and useful volumes they make 

 for convenient reference. 



Mr. E. Liston, of Virgil City, Mo., has 

 this to say about the Arkadelphia case : 



Brothers, awake ! Send in your dollar 

 and join the Union. We that are being 

 carried along ou " flowery beds of ease," do 

 not know how soon some one filled with 

 malice and prejuiice will out us in trouble. 

 Even if we pass through without trouble, 

 tor the honor of our pursuit and our brother- 

 hood, we should pay our little mites to help 

 Brother Clark to obtain his rights as an 

 American citizen. Tour dollar is a mere 

 pittance to what Mr. Clark is suffering. And 

 to the Manager of the "Union" I would 

 say, run it through all the courts— give Mr. 

 Clark justice as an American citizen, and 

 assess the fraternity for the necessary 

 funds. Brother bee-keepers, think of this 

 case, and be liberal. 



Mr. C. Weeks, a queen-breeder of 

 Tennessee, offers to present a colony of 

 pure Italian bees to the Bee-Keepers' Union, 

 to be awarded to the person who first sends 

 $4 to four membership fees to help support 

 the Union. The bees are in a Simplicity 

 hive. Who will be first to send, the four 

 members ? 



lSe\r Catalogues for 1888 are 'on our 

 desk, from the following persons: 



A. F. Bright, Mazeppa, Minn.— 16 pages- 

 Bees and Piiullry. 



Geo. A. Wrinht, Glenwood, Pa.— 1 page- 

 Poultry and Bhcs. 



Mrs. J. N. Heater. Columbus, Nebr.— 16 

 page's— Bees and Apiarian Supplies. 



Gould's Manufacturing Co, Seneca Falls, 

 N. Y.— 16 pages— Spraying Pump. 



J. M. Harabaugh, Spring, Ills. — 16 pages- 

 Apiarian Supplies. 



W. P. Davis, Goodman, N. C— 6 pages- 

 Bees, Queens and Apiarian Supplies. > 



F. M. Atwood, Riley ville. Ills.— 7 pages— i 

 Apiarian Supplies. 



C. F. Muth ife Son, Cincinnati, 0.-34 

 pages — Honey and Bee- Keepers' Supplies. 



Cork for A^'inter Packing. — Its 



advantages are that it never becomes tmwty, 

 and it is odorless. Cushions can be maue 

 of cloth and tilled with the cork, for winter 

 packing. We can supply all orders now at 

 10 cents per pound. Or a seamless sack of 

 it, containing 15 pounds, for Sl.OO. 



