312 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



September 



took some time, and they had to pro- 

 ceed to their lessons before it was 

 accomplished. My piano pupil ar- 

 rived in the meantime and stopped 

 to see the finish. At length the 

 bough was carried into the garden, 

 and the bees shaken off successfully 

 in front of the prepared hive. Other 

 swarms came from this apiary dur- 

 ing the summer, all of which pitched 

 on high branches, so that we got 

 quite familiar with the tree-climbing 

 business. 1 suggested the use of 

 water as a preventive, but the bees 

 always managed to forestall their 

 owner and be well on the wing be- 

 fore she was aware they were out. 



One day, when cutting out qui i n 

 cells, for this lady to prevent after- 

 swarming, 1 noticed a fine young 

 queen crawling among a number of 

 cells I had laid upon a lift by my 

 side, and presumably just emerged 

 from one of them. Miss B. picked 

 her up to show to a friend in the 

 house, but let her escape. She took 

 wing, and circling round and round 

 at a great height, at length appeared 

 to get tired, and began to come 

 lower. My companion extended her 

 arm, intending to catch her, when 

 the queen calmly came to rest on the 

 outstretched hand, and was secured. 



tensive beekeeper in Monterey Coun- 

 ty. He was a native of Michigan 

 and was 76 years of age. 



Michigan State Meeting. — The date 

 of the annual meeting of the Michi- 

 gan State Association has been 

 changed to November 19, 20 and 21, 

 at Lansing. Correspondence con- 

 cerning this meeting should be ad- 

 dressed to B. F. Kindig, State In- 

 spector, East Lansing, Mich. A large 

 attendance is expected. 



North Carolina State Meeting. — 



The third annual meeting of the 

 North Carolina State Beekeepers' 

 Association is to be held in Ashe- 

 ville, Thursday, October 17. For par- 

 ticulars, address Dr. Franklin Sher- 

 man, Chief Entomologist, Raleigh, 

 N. C. A large crowd is expected. 



Death of Texas Pioneer. — Charles 

 J. LeStourgeon, a pioneer of Texas 

 beekeeping, died in Medina, Texas, 

 on the morning of July 29. He was 

 75 years of age. Born in Western 

 Illinois of French Huguenot stock, 

 whose settlement of New France an- 

 tedated the American Revolution, 

 he emigrated to Texas in 1871. 



Beekeeping always had a fascina- 

 tion for him. There being little op- 

 portunity of obtaining the new mov- 

 able frame hives at that time, he 

 and Win. P. Hough started a factory 

 near Floresville, Texas. They first 

 manufactured the Van Dusen upright 

 hive with a glass observation win- 

 dow and removable brood-chamber. 

 Afterward the superiority of the 

 Langstroth simplicity hive caused 

 him to adopt it. Through his ef- 

 forts the Langstroth hive became the 

 standard fpr early Texas beekeepers. 

 Mr. LeStourgeon was a beekeeper up 

 to the time of his death. 



He leaves, besides the widow, 

 three so lighters. One 



of his sons, E. G. LeStourgeon, is 

 Manager of the Texas Honey Pro- 

 ducers' Association. 



Spray at Blossom Time Kills Bees. 



—The following circular is received 

 from T. R. Johnston, Assistant Coun- 

 ty Agent Leader, at Lafayette, Ind. : 

 "Experiments have been under- 



taken at Purdue University by the 

 Entomology Department to show the 

 effect on bees of tree sprays applied 

 at blossoming time to control the 

 coddling moth and other insects. The 

 first step of the experimental work, 

 which is to extend over a two-year 

 period, has been completed and indi- 

 cates that the spray on the blossoms 

 kills the bees. 



"Through the feeding of bees and 

 analyzing of their bodies it has been 

 found that it requires only .0000005 

 (five ten-millionths) of a gram of 

 arsenic to put them out of business. 

 In other words, the small amount of 

 arsenate of lead used in the spray, 

 if applied while the blossoms are 

 open, means that the bees will gather 

 no more nectar after visiting a few 

 blossoms. 



"Practical beekeepers and orchard- 

 men in Indiana disagree on the ques- 

 tion as to the effects on bees of 

 spraying at blossom time. Analysis 

 of the bees killed by arsenic and ob- 

 servations at spraying time this 

 spring indicate that the spray is fa- 

 tal to the buzzers. Sprays should 

 not be applied while the blossoms 

 are open, but wait until after they 

 have fallen." 



The National. — The next meeting of 

 the National will be held at Chicago, 

 date and program to be announced 

 later. 



A Wrong Address. — Those who 

 know Friend Gilling's opinion on the 

 liquor question will appreciate the 

 following: "The telegraphic address 

 of the Honey Producers' Association 

 is 'Bees,' but owing to some men not 

 beeing very good writers, a number 

 of wires reached our friend ad- 

 dressed 'Beer.' Hawera and the cus- 

 toms people are trying to find an il- 

 licit brewery in the district." — New 

 Zealand Beekeepers' Journal. 



An Illinois County Association. — 



The Henderson County Honey Pro- 

 ducers' Association met at Oquawka, 

 III. August 3 and elected the follow- 

 ing officers: R. K. Banta, President; 

 J. L. Akin, Secretary-Treasurer. The 

 ■objects of the organization are to co- 

 operate in securing a more nearly 

 pure race of better bees, an increased 

 quantity of honey, and to establish a 

 uniform price for our product, both 

 to the producer and consumer. 



R. R. BANTA, Pres. 



Necrology. — Mr. John Witham, a 

 noted apiarist of Monrovia, Calif., 

 died July 15 at Palo Alto. Mr. 

 Witham was at one time a very ex- 



Preparing the Bees for Cold 

 Weather. — 1. Unite any weak colo- 

 nies to make colonies of normal 

 strength. 2. See that every colony 

 has sufficient food stores of good 

 quality to last during the winter — 25 

 to 30 pounds are necessary. 3. Pro- 

 vide adequate protection against the 

 wind and pack the hives well, as de- 

 scribed in detail below: 



Beekeepers lose from one-tenth to 

 one-half of their colonies every win- 

 ter by failing to feed and protect 

 them properly. That loss is too large, 

 bee specialists of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture believe, and in a 

 statement issued they declare these 

 losses of important sources of sugar 

 can be reduced to less than 1 per 

 cent. 



Wintering bees is a problem of 

 conserving the energy of the indi- 

 viduals in each colony, the bee spe- 

 cialists say. Three conditions in the 

 hive cause a waste of energy. First, 

 when the temperature of the air sur- 

 rounding the bees falls below 57 de- 

 grees it is necessary for the bees to 

 expend energy to keep warm. Sec- 

 ond, when the temperature of the air 

 is above 80 degrees the bees use en- 

 ergy by flying from the hive, remov- 

 ing the dead that may have accumu- 

 lated, and in any other activities 

 which the needs of the colony re- 

 quire. Third, an abnormal activity 

 resulting in energy loss is caused by 

 long periods of adverse weather 

 which do not permit the bees to fly 

 from the hive to void their excre- 

 ment. This last condition may result 

 in the death of many thousands of 

 colonies, the specialists say. 



Protection of the hive and provid- 

 ing of foods of good quality for win- 

 ter stores will conserve the energy 

 of the bees and enable the colony to 

 pass the winter safely outdoors. If 

 I lie hive is placed within a box about 

 6 inches greater in each dimension 

 than the hive itself, and the space be- 

 tween filled with dry sawdust, leaves 

 or other insulating material, the ne- 

 cessity of heat generation by the bees 

 is reduced to a minimum. A small 

 tunnel through the packing material 

 will make a passageway for the bees 

 to the entrance to the hive. 



Care must be taken to see that the 

 hives have proper food stores. Food 

 such as honeydew honey or honeys, 

 with a large percentage of gums, 

 which may cause a rapid accumula- 

 tion of excrement in the bees, are un- 



