1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



23 



rather than helps the building up." 



This was the invariable plan of 

 procedure, except in the year 1914, 

 when all colonies were unusually 

 strong by the middle of May, and 

 then supers of combs were given 

 above, not because it was the better 

 way, but because it was easier for 

 the beekeeper. 



Whatever objection there might be 

 to giving an empty story above early 

 in the season, that objection does 

 not at all apply when the empty 

 story is given below. Instead of 

 making an empty space for the bees 

 to keep warm, the brood-nest is 

 really warmer for having the empty 

 story under it. The bees are not 

 forced to make a start several inches 

 away from the brood-nest, but are 

 allowed to extend the brood-nest 

 downward in a natural manner, ex- 

 tending it just as little or as much 

 as to them seems good. Right here 

 will occur to some the objection that 

 bees would be loth to extend the 

 brood-nest across two pieces of wood 

 and an empty space. There seemed 

 little evidence of this, although no 

 doubt a continuous comb would be 

 at least a little better. 



A little thinking will show anyone 

 that this two-story plan with 8-frame 

 hives allows the bees to follow their 

 inclination to keep their brood-nest 

 in a sphere much better than they 

 can do it in a single-story 10-frame 

 hive. Like enough the Dadant hive, 

 with its big frames, is better still in 

 this respect, for in this hive the bees 

 do not have to keep warm the space 

 taken up by the bottom-bar above 

 and the top-bar below. Yet if it 

 should be thought that this space is 

 any great hindrance to having both 

 stories occupied by the queen, a 

 paragraph on the page following the 

 one already quoted is in point : 



"I may say here that after a good 



Shirley V. Johennig finding the queen. 

 Though less than 3 years old, she has no 

 fear of bees, and is expert enough bee- 

 keeper that she can detect workers, drones, 

 and the queen. The hive above is only 20 

 feet from the back porch. Mrs. O. B. Jo- 

 hennig, Richmond, Va 



deal of experience with colonies hav- 

 ing two stories, I find that there is 

 no trouble from having the queen 

 stay exclusively in one or other of 

 the stories. She passes up and down 

 freely, keeping filled with brood in 

 both stories as many combs as the 

 bees will care for." 



Dr. Miller says if he were begin- 

 ning again he would have something 

 larger than the 8-frame hive. In 

 this view the woman in the case, the 

 one who has been his helper these 

 many years, does not concur. His 

 objection that the small hive re- 

 quires too close attention to avoid 

 starving in winter is, in her opinion, 

 overbalanced by the convenience and 

 lightness of the smaller hive, and es- 

 pecially of the lighter supers. Of 

 course, those women who are not 

 willing to give the extra attention 

 required by the smaller hives should 

 use the larger or let bees alone. 



(I acknowledge the oversight and 

 readily agree that small hives are 

 much more convenient for the ladies. 

 — C. P. D.) 



Punic Bees 



What is said by Ph. J. Baldensper- 

 ger, page 375, about Punics, recalls 

 our own experience with them. Some 



years ago, at the time when much 

 was being said about Punic bees, 

 John Hewitt sent to Marengo two 

 Punic virgins. Of course , their 

 worker progeny were hybrids, and 

 we had only tVse to judge from. The 

 most outstanding characteristic of 

 these bees upon being first seen is 

 one not mentioned in Mr. Hewitt's 

 assertions, nor in Mr. Baldensper- 

 ger's notes upon them. That charac- 

 teristic is their blackness. They are 

 black, with a blackness beyond any 

 other bees. 



According to our experiences, Mr. 

 Hewitt is not far out of the way in 

 claiming that they are good workers. 



They are very cross, smoke seem- 

 ing to have little effect upon them. 



As to building sections, our ex- 

 perience tallied with Mr. Balden- 

 sperger's : Their sections were so 

 watery as to make them utterly unfit 

 for section work. 



Their excessive propolizing was 

 decidedly objectionable. 



In considering the items here given 

 it must be remembered that not pure 

 Punics, but hybrids, are under con- 

 sideration. On the whole, we did not 

 consider it desirable to continue 

 them after the first generation. 



The Iowa Convention 



The seventh convention of the 

 Iowa Beekeepers' Association was 

 "held at Des Moines on November 6 

 and 7. Although the attendance was 

 reduced somewhat by the epidemic 

 of influenza, the convention was 

 quite successful. Mr. Morley Pettit, 

 of Georgetown, Ontario, who was 

 formerly the Provincial Apiarist, was 

 present and spoke at two of the ses- 

 sions. Mr. Pettit had some very good 

 moving pictures showing practical 

 beekeeping; he also used a consid- 

 erable number of lantern slides in il- 

 lustrating his lectures. Dr. Phillips 

 and Dr. Demuth, of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment at Washington, were present 

 and gave practical addresses. The 

 program was excellent from start to 

 finish. 



In accordance with the policy of 

 the Association, which has been to 

 change officers frequently, a new 

 board of officers was elected, as fol- 

 lows : 



President — A. F. Bonney, Buck 

 Grove, Iowa. 



Vice President — , Hamlin B. Miller, 

 Marshalltown. 



Secretary-Treasurer — Prof. F. Eric 

 Millen. 



Directors — Edward G. Brown, Sar- 

 geant Bluff; F. H. Stacey, Iowa 

 Falls; L. W. Elmore, Fairfield. 



east of Moscow. Does anybody 

 doubt that Russia is going to come 

 out of her trials with new ideas and 

 progress? All that the Russian peo- 

 ple need is a chance to govern them- 

 selves under democratic ideas. 



Peace or War— Which? 



Cross Bees ! Crooked combs in 

 ill-managed hives. When we attempt 

 to take out honey, it leaks out in 

 every direction. The bees become ex- 

 cited. The workers become robbers. 

 Stings everywhere. War! 



Gentle bees ! Good hives, straight 

 combs ! No leakage ! No robbers ! 

 No strife! No stinging! Peace! 



Peace, sweet peace Is it so very 

 difficult to secure it? Let us re- 

 solve that we will have only gentle 

 bees, well-made hives, no crooked 

 combs, no leaking honey, no robbers 1 

 Peace and plenty! A land flowing 

 with milk and honey. 



Kansas Meeting 



The Kansas State Beekeepers will 

 meet at Topeka January 7 and 8. A 

 large attendance is expected. For 

 particulars concerning the meeting, 

 address O. A. Keene, Sec, 



1600 Seward Ave., Topeka 



A Sign of the Times 



We are again in receipt of Russian 

 bee magazines. We have just re- 

 ceived one from Kazan, a city of 175,- 

 000, on the Volga, about 450 miles 



Pennsylvania Beekeepers' Meeting 



The next annual meeting of the 

 Pennsylvania Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion will be held in Harrisburg Janu- 

 ary 21, 22, 23 and 24, in connection 

 with the midwinter Agricultural 

 Show. 



A number of interesting addresses 



