406 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



=3 Established by Samuel Wagner in 1861 G= 



degree they are quietest and keep it 

 at that. They should be disturbed 

 as little as possible. 



The oldest Bee Journal in the English language. Consolidated with The 

 National Bee Journal in 1874. 



Published monthly at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice at Hamilton, Illino 



Subscription Rates — In the United States and THE STAFF 



Mexico, $1 per year; three years, $2.60; five r* r> n t- 



years, $4. Canadian postage 15 cents, and *" r - ua »ant Editor 



other foreign countries 25 cents extra, per Frank C. Pellett Associate Editor 



., y , e3r ' ... . . • .• t, . C ' C ' M >!- LE R Questions Department 



All subscriptions are stopped at expiration. Date -_. 



of expiration is printed on wrapper label. Maurice O. Dadant Business Manager 



(CopyrigU 1918, by C. P. Dadant.) 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



Honey From Tobacco 



We have been trying for several 

 months to secure satisfactory infor- 

 mation concerning the extent to 

 which the bees work on the tobacco 

 plant. So far we have found only a 

 few references to it. Readers who 

 live in the tobacco growing districts 

 will confer a favor by writing us of 

 their observations along this line. 

 How often the bees get surplus from 

 tobacco, the quality of the honey and 

 any other information will be appre- 

 ciated. 



Summer Disease 

 of Adult Bees 



The "Journal of Economic Ento- 

 mology" (Concord, N. H.) for August, 

 1918, contains an article from one of 

 the bee authorities of New Jersey, 

 Mr. Elmer G. Carr, upon a disease 

 resembling bee paralysis or May 

 disease, which appeared in a few lo- 

 calities during the summer of 1917. 

 The ground in the vicinity of the 

 hives was covered with thousands of 

 sick or dying bees, which collected 

 in groups on slightly elevated ob- 

 jects, being apparently unable to fly. 

 This disease decimated the colonies 

 to such an extent as to render them 

 of no value for honey production. 

 The trouble was suggested to be 

 perhaps due to an excess of con- 

 sumption of pollen. 



We noticed a condition similar to 

 the above in our home apiary at 

 Hamilton, one Sunday afternoon in 

 the month of June of the present 

 year. Nearly all the colonies seemed 

 to be affected. But during the eve- 

 ning, most of the bees managed to 

 crawl back to their hives, and the 

 next day there was no trace left of 

 the trouble. These extraordinary 



circumstances are called to the at- 

 tention of men who think there is 

 nothing more to be learned in bee- 

 keeping. Our scientists will prob- 

 ably sooner or later learn the cause 

 and cure of such troubles. But ad- 

 ditional investigations must be made 

 by all interested. 



Wintering Bees in Cellars 



We have before our eyes a very 

 good Bulletin (Xo. 1014) on the above 

 subject, by our active Government 

 apiarists at Washington, Messrs. E. 

 F. Phillips and Geo. F. Demuth. If 

 there is occasionally cause for com- 

 plaint of official inefficiency, it must 

 be acknowledged that our industry 

 has a few good men at Washing- 

 ton, and that, in their case, at least, 

 the "in" may be cut from the word, 

 for they prove more and more effi- 

 cient as time passes. 



It is not yet too late for those who 

 winter their bees in cold countries 

 to send for this Bulletin. They will 

 find in it many good suggestions. 

 The ground is well covered. 



It will be noticed that the authors 

 speak of a temperature of 50 dc- 

 ;: as most satisfactory. In our 



experience with several cellars dur- 

 ing some 15 years (if practice of cel- 

 lar wintering, we have found 40 to 45 

 degrees the point at which bees were 

 the quietest. But the degree will 

 vary at different spots and different 

 heights in a repository of this kind 

 We placed the thermometer near the 



door, where it was the easiest to con- 

 trol, at the height of the eyes, against 

 the wall. Perhaps 50 degrees would 

 have been reached in the middle of 

 the cellar or between hive rows. I" 

 our mind, the best criterion is the 

 quietness of the bees. Find at what 



The Eeemoth in Texas 



The Texas Agricultural Station at 

 College Station issued a Bulletin, No. 

 231, on "The Beemoth," by F. B. Pad- 

 dock. It is an exhaustive pamphlet 

 on the subject and treats of the nat- 

 ural history of the insect and of the 

 methods of control. We want to as- 

 sure Professor Paddock that the 

 three generations produced annually 

 by this insect "in the extreme 

 southern part of the United States" 

 are also produced as far north as 

 Illinois. 



The only advantage that the North 

 has over the South in regard to moth 

 ravages is that the winter kills the 

 eggs and the live insect, whenever 

 they are not protected in colonies of 

 live bees or in warm houses. 



The beemoth is certainly worthy 

 of all the attention that it receives, 

 even if we know that strong colonies 

 have nothing to fear from its rav- 

 ages. 



Honey Versus Sugar 



The present scarcity and high 

 price of sugar is a reminder of the 

 gigantic consumption of the latter, 

 while at one time honey was the only 

 sweet food known to man. Honey 

 was thought to have been used in the 

 food of the gods, as well as in their 

 beverage, or nectar, which was said 

 by Homer to be made of red wine 

 and honey. For that reason, the 

 sweet exudation of the blossoms 

 which the bees gather is still known 

 under the name of "nectar." 



Pliny, who is said to have died in 

 the eruption of Vesuvius which de- 

 stroyed Pompei, speaks of "a sub- 

 stance resembling congealed honey 

 which was produced by a cane grown 

 in India and Arabia." Strabo, the 

 Greek geographer, living before the 

 Christian era, wrote in his fifteenth 

 volume of geography, of a "reed 

 which produces honey without the 

 help of the bees." 



But sugar did not get into common 

 use until after the Crusades, in the 

 early years of the 13th century. The 

 companions of Godfrey of Bouillon, 

 the leader of the First Crusade, took 

 notice of the sugar cane used in 

 Syria, but as it was thought impos- 

 sible to cultivate it in Europe, owing 

 to the coldness of the climate, they 

 concluded that the precious plant, 

 producing this honey-like substance, 

 was purposely intended for the sole 



