336 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



=S Established by Samuel Wagner In 1861 G= 



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, Illinois. 



Subscription Rates— In the United States and THE STAFF 



Mexico, $1 per year; three years, $2.50; five c p DaDaNT Editor 



years, $4. Canadian postage 15 cents, and 



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



y^r* C. C. Miller Questions Department 



All subscriptions are stopped at expiration. Date „ -, -^ r> • \t 



ot expiration is printed on wrapper label. Maurice G Dadant Bus.ness Manager 



(Copyright 1919, by C. P. Dadant.) 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



Let's Play Fair 



The publishers of the American 

 Bee Journal try to use great care to 

 make sure that no dishonest adver- 

 tiser makes use of its columns. How- 

 ever, there is an unusual opportunity 

 for dissatisfaction in the purchase of 

 bees and queens from strangers. If 

 a man sends us an advertisement to 

 the effect that he wishes to dispose 

 of his bees we can hardly refuse him 

 space. The buyer should use some 

 care to make sure that he is getting 

 what he expects before he parts with 

 his money. 



We have a letter from a beekeeper 

 who sent money to a well-known 

 New Yorker for a colony of bees, in 

 response to an advertisement of this 

 kind. The seller made a mistake and 

 sent the bees to a wrong address. As 

 a result, the bees were not delivered 

 for ten days. MoSt of the bees were 

 dead and of course the colony was 

 queenless. An order was then sent to 

 a well-known queen breeder for a 

 queen, and two weeks elapsed before 

 the order was acknowledged. As a 

 result the colony is bound to be 

 practically worthless. 



It is high time that steps were 

 taken to place the handling of bees 

 and queens on a business basis. Those 

 who deal in queens or package bees 

 should be prepared to acknowledge 

 receipt of an order by the next mail 

 and tell the purchaser approximately 

 when delivery can lie made. If im- 

 mediate service is asked for, the 

 money should go back promptly if 

 the dealer is unprepared to fill the 

 order. There have been too many 

 disappointments of this kind the past 

 season. It is true that the queen 

 breeders have had, in many cases, to 

 contend with unfavorable conditions. 

 This does not excuse the unbusiness- 



like methods of some of them. The 

 seller should remember that many 

 customers are inexperienced and do 

 not realize fully the difficulties of the 

 breeders. 



Several of our most extensive 

 breeders have handled their business 

 in a way to merit the continued con- 

 fidence of their customers. These 

 men have returned many unfilled or- 

 ders, yet disappointed customers have 

 written us pay them compliments 

 because they were prompt and fair in 

 their dealings. In contrast to these, 

 several have caused complaints of 

 short weights in package bees, slow 

 delivery, poor packing and generally 

 unsatisfactory service. A few have 

 fallen down altogether, and up to the 

 present have neither returned the 

 money nor filled the orders. 



The great expansion of our indus- 

 try has been somewhat responsible 

 for these conditions. The unusual 

 demand for bees and queens has at- 

 tracted men without sufficient experi- 

 ence or capital, and in such cases dis- 

 appointment is to be expected. 



Bees in the Bush and 

 Trout in the Brook 



Wife and I took a trip to northern 

 Michigan, in August, and stayed at 

 Bay View, for 3 weeks. While there 

 we called on several apiarists of the 

 vicinity, 20 to 40 miles away. It is 

 enjoyable, after visiting beekeepers 

 all through Europe, to loiter in the 

 different parts of our own country 

 and see the methods followed. Theie 

 is always something to learn. 



On August 20, we went to East 

 Jordan, via Boyne Falls, where Mr. 

 Ira D. Bartlett and his pleasant and 

 pretty wife came for us at the train. 

 In the afternoon, we left the wives at 

 home and went to his apiaries, sev- 



eral miles in the country, over Hills 

 and through valleys, and by such 

 roads as the beekeeper in the brush 

 usually travels. 



Mr. Bartlett has a way of making 

 an artificial flow which induces the 

 bees to breed without actually sup- 

 plying them with stores. He mixes 

 sugar with water in the propor- 

 tion of one to seven, or almost a 

 gallon of water to a pound of sugar. 

 This makes a very thin compound, 

 which might be compared to nectar 

 containing 86 per cent of water. It 

 is so thin that the bees have to be 

 attracted to it artificially; otherwise 

 they would not notice it. Some old 

 combs placed on the water or the 

 use of a little richer feed at first will 

 bait them. After they get accus- 

 tomed to the supply, they come and 

 take it readily. 



This has the same effect upon them 

 as a light flow of nectar. It renders 

 them peaceable and causes them to 

 breed. It helps in the introduction 

 of queens, as the bees are less apt to 

 be ill-natured during this light arti- 

 ficial flow. I can readily see the ad- 

 vantage of such feed in times of 

 scarcity. 



On the way to and from the apia- 

 ries, we passed several brooks of 

 clear, cool water, running among the 

 pines towards the lakes, with the 

 same hurry and lively glitter as the 

 little streams we saw in Switzerland, 

 which all seemed to hasten, in their 

 course to the goal, as if they were 

 running a race. This activity of the 

 cool water, combined with the crys- 

 tal clearness of the streams, which 

 all come from springs running out of 

 the shady hills, is in such contrast 

 with the murky and quiet flow of the 

 majestic Mississippi to which we are 

 accustomed, that I was very much 

 charmed, especially as I was told that 

 the brook trout is plentiful in these 

 little streams and may be readily 

 seen. 



As we crossed a culvert over one 

 of these little brooks, Mr. BartlcU 

 stopped the auto and said to me: 

 "Step down, I'm going to show you 

 a trout." We got down, but I vainly 

 looked, in a brooklet about 4 Eeet 

 wide and perhaps 2 feet deep, for a 

 sign of fish, large or small. ["hen 

 was nothing in sight. 



Meanwhile Bartlett had gone a 

 few steps away and was kneeling in 

 the grass, apparently looking for a 

 lost pin or a dropped penny. I won- 

 dered at his action. But he quickly 

 returned, with a grasshopper in each 

 hand. He at once threw one of the 



