1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



155 



but field bees, gave one -.-i the largest 

 yields of surplus of the whole apiary. 

 To answer the questions before us 

 we need to know: 1. How many 

 eggs a queen lays daily. 2. How 

 many larva? each nurse can keep fed. 

 I'd like to know. 



Death of R. C. Aikin 



Mr. R. C. Aikin, a former bee- 

 keeper of Colorado, and a writer of 

 sonic note on apiculture, was taken 

 ill at his home in Blessing, Texas, on 

 March 11, and was removed to the 

 hospital at Houston, Texas, on the 

 17th, hoping that he would improve; 

 however, double pneumonia devel- 

 oped and on March 21, 1918 he quietly 

 passed away. 



No doubt, our readers will remem- 



THE LATE R. C. AIKIN 



ber the many writings of Mr. R. C. 

 Aikin in the Bee Journals when he 

 was actively engaged in beekeeping 

 in Colorado, several years ago. At 

 that time he was considered an au- 

 thority on apiculture and his writings 

 on this subject were read with great 

 interest by all. He and his wife have 

 for the past few years resided in 

 Blessing, Texas, and his death has 

 closed the book for one of the best 

 men it has ever been our privilege 

 to know. We extend our deepest 

 sympathy to the sorrowing wife and 

 other relatives. 



teorological data. This little item 

 shows the worth of the man. He was 

 72 years old. 



His wife, family and friends have 

 the sympathy of the beekeeping 

 public. 



Death of J. L. Strong 



One of the best known apiarists of 

 Iowa, J. L. Strong, died March 7, 

 after three years of suffering. 



Mr. Strong was not only a capable 

 apiarist and a noted queen-grower, 

 but he was a man of great power of 

 observation and method. If our read- 

 ers will refer to the editorial in the 

 third column of page 118 of the April 

 number, they will see that Professor 

 Kenoycr used the records made by 

 Mr. Strong, during a space of 29 

 years, of weights of a hive and me- 



Free Advertising 

 of Honey 



Honey never had such free adver- 

 tising as it is getting nowadays. The 

 March number of "Physical Culture" 

 contains a long article extolling 

 honey for food. It is no more than 

 honey deserves. But there was a 

 time when it might have been diffi- 

 cult to get free encomiums of this 

 kinds. As the French say : "A quelque 

 chose malheur est bon," which may 

 be freely translated to "It's an ill 

 wind that blows nobody good." If it 

 were not for the world struggle, 

 which makes food scarce, the public 

 would not be so carefully informed 

 of what may be gained by large 

 honey production and consumption. 



Illinois Foulbrood 



The 1918 official statement on foul- 

 brood does not contain any report. 

 It contains only instructions on how 

 to treat foulbrood and gives a copy 

 of the law. It is published under the 

 direction of the Illinois Department 

 of Apiculture. It may be had of 

 Charles Adkins, Director, Springfield, 

 or of A. L. Kildow, Inspector. Put- 

 nam. Beekeepers who are in doubt 

 about foulbrood should procure this 

 and all other available information. 



Death of an Editor 



We have received by private ad- 

 vices the news of the death of Mr. F. 

 D'Autemarche, managing editor of 

 "L'Apiculteur," the oldest bee maga- 

 zine in existence. Mr. Sevalle, editor- 

 in-chief, who has for years stood in 

 the background, is again assuming 

 the management. 



The public announcement of the 

 death of D'Autemarche has probably 

 appeared in the November-December, 

 for it is mentioned only incidentally 

 in the January-February number. 



and shows the advantages of modern 

 methods. 



A similar work would still do some 

 good in the backward counties of 

 many of our most progressive States. 



Against the Bee Killer 



"Contro l'apicidio" is the title of a 

 booklet of 34 pages published in Italy 

 by the Italian Federation of Bee- 

 keepers. The author is Emo Perucci 

 and the book is a straight aggression 

 against the people who still kill the 

 bees to get the honey. It contains a 

 very thorough description of the dif- 

 ferent methods of transferring bees 

 from box-hives to movable frames 



Beekeeping Applied 

 to the Liberty Loan 



The Chicago Sunday Tribune of 

 April 14 contained a cartoon showing 

 the dollars of the third Liberty Loan 

 under the shape of the bees of a 

 swarm, making honey in 4J4 sections 

 at the rate of 4%% and stinging the 

 Kaiser. 



Weak Colonies 

 in Spring 



Now is the time to watch your 

 weak colonies. If you are in a local- 

 ity where foulbrood is prevalent, 

 such colonies as might have had the 

 disease last fall and were strong 

 enough to withstand the winter, will 

 be in danger of being robbed out this 

 spring, thus spreading the disease to 

 your stronger colonies. Then, too, 

 just before the spring honey-flow 

 commences is the easiest time to dis- 

 cover the disease if it has developed. 

 Work at your colonies when a very 

 light flow has commenced, thus doing 

 away with the dangers of robbing. 



Weak colonies which have good 

 queens may be saved if their en- 

 trance is narrowed down so as to be 

 easily protected by the bees from 

 ever-alert robbers. Some aid these 

 colonies by the addition of a frame 

 or two of brood from other colonies. 

 But this, if done, should be done only 

 when the weather is sufficiently 

 warm so that the colony can easily 

 keep such extra brood warm, and all 

 brood given, or nearly all, should be 

 sealed. 



Queenless colonies, if weak, had 

 best be united with other weak 

 queenright colonies rather than try 

 to save them by buying a queen and 

 running the risk of her being killed 

 by the old bees. If the colony is 

 queenless and yet strong, it may be 

 advisable to introduce a queen fresh 

 from another hive. 



Variation of Time of Fruit Bloom 

 in North and South 



A letter from Dr. Miller a few days 

 ago suggested that it might be inter- 

 esting to note the period of the 

 blooming of different fruit trees this 

 year at Marengo and at Hamilton to 

 see what a hundred miles variation 

 in longitude means. 



We will have more to say about 

 this later. 



