1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



17 



first suggest that the honey in the 

 grocery stores was adulterated. 

 These parties were allowed to have 

 their opinion, but were quickly told 

 of the different flavors of honey, its 

 various colors, and its granulation. 

 I have long ago learned not to argue 

 with people who are certain about a 

 thing, for this makes them more posi- 

 tive in their belief. Merely tell them 

 that you could not think of anyone 

 adulterating honey, especially with 

 the stringent food laws. I always 

 treat them as if I did not care a whit 

 about their contention. These con- 

 tentions are growing less year by 

 year, as the people become more en- 

 lightened on honey. This continuous 

 education is having a great effect to- 

 wards the larger use of honey. We 

 had honey of the various colors and 

 flavors, also granulated honey, and 

 any argument could be clinched by a 

 real demonstration if necessary. Not 

 only are the people awakening to the 

 importance of the exhibit at the 

 State Fair, but the beekeepers are 

 awakening also to its great import- 

 ance as an educational factor. 



I must mention in this connection 

 the honey cooking that was on exhi- 

 bition. We had three show cases full 

 of cakes, cookies, fruits and pre- 

 serves that our good ladies had pre- 

 pared with honey to show in an edu- 

 cational way the great value of honey 

 in the culinary science. 



Mr. W. H. Laws, of Beeville, Texas, 

 was elected by the association to 

 judge the bee exhibit, but the culi- 

 nary department is a little out of Mr. 

 Law's line, and three ladies judged 

 the cakes and cookies. Miss T. 

 Walker, of Dallas. Texas, is one of 

 the greatest cooking experts in the 

 South; cooking is her hobby. She 

 has carried off many premiums. Miss 

 C. Weimer, of Denton, Texas, the sec- 

 ond judge, is the director of foods 

 for the College of Industrial Arts. 

 Miss Elois Berrj-, of College Station, 

 Texas, was the third judge for this 

 department. She is at present en- 

 gaged in the exhibition of culinary 

 science for the A. & M. College cf 

 Texas. 



Mrs. C. G. Hickox, of Dallas, won 

 six first prizes, three second prizes 

 and three third prizes. Mrs. T. W. 

 Burleson, of Waxahichie, Texas, won 

 two first prizes, three second prizes 

 and four third prizes. Miss Madie 

 Hickox, of Dallas. Texas, won one 

 first prize. Mrs. E. G. LeStourgeon. 

 of San Antonio. Texas, took two first, 

 two second and three third prizes. 

 Mrs. Geo. W. Shoeffer, of Dallas, won 

 one first and one second prize. Mrs. 

 W. N. Wiggins, of Dallas, won one 

 first and one second on candy. 



Bartlett, Texas. 



Apiary Experiences and 

 Weather Conditions 



By D. Queen. 



AT the end of the season the bee- 

 keeper may well review his 

 management and experiences, 

 and learn something which may be 

 profitable in the season following. 

 The writer is impressed more and 



more with the necessity of knowing 

 his territory, and no less, the kind of 

 weather to be expected at certain 

 periods. These things can be learned 

 only by careful observation through 

 a number of seasons, and by listening 

 to older residents who are them- 

 selves thoughtful observers. 



As I am entirely dependent upon a 

 fall flow for surplus, my observations 

 will apply to similar localities. The 

 early-flow man has his troubles in 

 relation to winter stores, and the 

 late-flow man also has his, although 

 they may be less expensive. Late 

 stored nectar is likely to be not well 

 cured or capped. The prejudice 

 against aster honey is most likely 

 due to the weather conditions imme- 

 diately after it is stored, rather than 

 to the real character of the honey. 



The bees are not good weather 

 forecasters. In proof of this, I have 

 never seen combs so generally built 

 out to biscuit form as is the case this 

 fall, and seldom so many not capped, 

 nor even two-thirds full. 



Everything was booming. A week 

 or more of favorable weather could 

 have been profitably employed, 

 when, without warning, came cloudy, 

 raw days one after another until the 

 bloom was over. The bees foresaw 

 the work to be done, and made their 

 storage preparations, but they could 

 not foretell the weather. 



I must confess to some responsi- 

 bility for the failure to cap. I also 

 saw the big flow in prospect, and 

 put on supers rather recklessly, at 

 the same time making the serious 

 mistake of putting these late supers 

 next to the brood-chamber. The re- 

 sult was honey stored in small quan- 

 tity in about every comb. I should 

 have known better. Next time the 

 supers go on top, if at all. 



Another effect of this excessive 

 supering was, in the case of colonies 

 none too strong, to crowd the brood- 

 chamber with honey, and nothing 

 done in the supers. 



These colonies evidently realized 

 their inability to fill the big space 



overhead, and did the next best thing, 

 which was not exactly what I was 

 hoping for. 



Queenlessness late in the fall is a 

 rather puzzling problem. If the 

 queenless colony is left alone it may 

 pull through until a queen can be ob- 

 tained and introduced in the spring, 

 if not, count one colony less. 



On the other hand, if united to a 

 queen-right colony, count one less 

 right from the drop of the hat. As 

 an experiment, I have a case of each, 

 and don't know which is to be pre- 

 ferred. The newspaper method of 

 uniting worked all right. One colony 

 had a lot of drones, and the other had 

 the queen. I am curious to know how 

 social affairs stand in the living-room. 



Equalizing of brood persistently as 

 long as it seemed desirable was a 

 great aid in lifting weak colonies, and 

 probably controlled swarming. This 

 was my first season without at least 

 one swarm. 



The "putting up" of brood some- 

 times fails to work out well. This is 

 the case where there is a dearth of 

 nectar until late in the season. After 

 the brood is hatched out above there 

 is that large empty space all sum- 

 mer staring the colony in the face, 

 and it proves a real discouragement 

 to any but a rousing big colony. 

 Half-depth supers given as part of 

 the brood-chamber until three weeks 

 before the expected honey flow have 

 kept down swarming, and are not dis- 

 couraging to a weak colony. 



New Jersey. 



Report on Apiary Inspection 



and Demonstration in 



Ontario for 1917 



By Morley Pettit, Provincial Apiarist. 



A CONFERENCE of the Ontario 

 Apiary Inspectors was held at 

 the office of the Apiculture De- 

 partment, Ontario Agricultural Col- 

 lege, on May 16. As few changes had 



WICKER HIVES IN LENKORAN STATE, RUSSIA 

 I^iece of log is bored through and the ends closed with discs. The hives are on 

 boards and sheltered with bark. 



