1910 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



337 



insects in the water, with enough 

 force to make a slight splash. 



With a swish and a swirl, a black 

 streak, quick as greased lightning, 

 appeared from under the culvert, and 

 with a snake-like motion, splashed 

 about the grasshopper, which disap- 

 peared and the water again became 

 still, before I had time to notice 

 whether the trout measured 6 inches 

 or 2 feet in length. The second grass- 

 hopper had the same fate, though it 

 took a second or two longer to se- 

 cure the same black lightning effect. 



I suspected that there might be 

 some collusion and that Mr. Bartlct 

 and that trout had an understanding, 

 to astonish and deceive the tender- 

 foot, that I was, into believing 

 that trouts are everywhere in those 

 brooks constantly watching for their 

 opportunity to grab the poor grass- 

 hopper. But Mr. Bartlett denied any 

 connivance with that particular fish. 



Well! the trouts of North Michi- 

 gan must be plentiful and easy to 

 catch, if they bite so readily? Oh, 

 don't ask me, go and try it for your- 

 self. I did not catch any. 



Are We Good Samaritans? 



The following letter is selected by 

 us from among a number of similar 

 requests : 



"Nancy, France, Sept. 1919. 

 "Editor American Bee Journal : 



"What help could we secure from 

 the beekeepers of generous America, 

 in the way of beekeeping material 

 ("excluding beehives), during the coin- 

 ing season? 



"Nine thousand hives of bees have 

 been either stolen or destroyed in 

 the Department of Meurthe & Mo- 

 selle. It is unnecessary to say to you 

 that the disaster sufferers have lost 

 also their homes, their live stock, 

 their household goods, their or- 

 chards and that even their fields are 

 dug up with shell holes, trenches, 

 etc., and covered over with barbed 

 wire entanglements. 



"I am respectfully yours, 

 "RENAULD, 

 "Treasurer of the Eastern Associa- 

 tion of French Beekeepers.. 

 "Address, Francois Renauld, Bank- 

 er, 58 Rue St. Jean, Nancy." 

 We doubt whether any but those 

 of our boys who have been actually 

 in the trenches can appreciate the 

 present conditions in devastated 

 France and Belgium. Distant rela- 

 tives of ours who lived at Grand Pre 

 and whom we had opportunity to 

 help during the war, as they had been 



forced to run away from their village 

 and establish themselves temporarily 

 in the undamaged districts, kept up 

 a regular corespondence with us dur- 

 ing the war. At the signing of the 

 armistice, they were overjoyed and 

 wrote us that they were going ba :k 

 home to rebuild whatever was de- 

 stroyed, and invited us to come back 

 and visit them. But very discouraged 

 letters from them followed the joyful 

 one. They had gone back, had found 

 the entire village in ruins, so that 

 they could hardly tell where their 

 home stood. There was nothing 

 there to do anything with, no valid 

 workers, no lumber to be had nor 

 supplies of any kind. Yes, they were 

 to receive pay secured from Ger- 

 many, by and by, but even tint 

 money will buy but little, as all Euro- 

 pean values are depreciated. The 

 German mark is worth 18 per cent of 

 its normal value, the French franc is 

 worth 60 per cent of what it used to 

 be. That is to say, a franc, instead 

 of bringing nearly 20 cents in Ameri- 

 can money, now brings only 12. 



If our produce is high in price, if 

 our honey sells at 20 to 40 cents per 

 pound instead of 8 to 15, as formerly, 

 we owe it to the suffering abroad. 

 America has done quite a great deal 

 for Europe, but we must do still 

 more. 



The American Bee Journal now 

 opens a subscription to help these 

 French and Belgian beekeepers whose 

 entire resources have been destroyed 

 and who even with the German in- 

 demnities (when these are paid) will 

 still be suffering. Let the friends 

 give what they can, queens, supplies 

 or money. An arrangement will be 

 made to have these supplies sent by 

 the most economic and direct way. 

 Let us know what you are willing to 

 do and we will publish the list in the 

 Journal. We will head the list as 

 follows : 



Dadant & Sons, 200 pounds of foun- 

 dation. 



American Bee Journal, 10 Italian 

 queens. 



C. P. Dadant, 500 francs. 



Supplies of different kinds may be 

 forwarded during the winter. The 

 bees must go when the weather is 

 sufficiently warm, in April-May. We 

 understand that bees are being bought 

 in those parts of Europe not dam- 

 aged, to give a small start to the for- 

 mer owners of colonies in the dam- 

 aged regions. 



Instructions will be given to the 



subscribers to this fund, in time for 

 action. 



Endurance of Bees in Transit 



In the December, 1918, number of 

 this magazine, page 416, the editor 

 gave his past experience in importing 

 bees and wrote : "Very young bees 

 did not prove as hardy as the active 

 field bees, though the younger bees 

 among the latter are best." 



Concerning this statement, the 

 present editor of L'Apicoltore,, of 

 Milan, Italy, writes, in the June num- 

 ber : 



"How is it that on this same mat- 

 ter we have diametrically contrary 

 experience? When we sent queens 

 to foreign countries, America includ- 

 ed, it was precisely the workers that 

 had never had a flight, that resisted 

 the best during the trip, especially in 

 the long trips, such as to Texas, to 

 Jamaica, and even to Signor Dadant, 

 Root etc. Other causes, we believe, 

 must have entered in the cases of 

 which Dadant writes, but we persist 

 in believing that the youngest bees, 

 not yet accustomed to outside flights, 

 stand best the prolonged reclusion." 



This matter is worthy of further 

 investigation. What do the import- 

 ers and exporters have to say? 



Large Hives Vs. Swarming 



E. R. Root, in Gleanings, September, 

 page 577. 



"After interviewing Miss Crowder, 

 we hunted up her father, J. F. Crow- 

 der, of Zimmerman & Crowder, of 

 Pasadena, and the apiary in the back- 

 ground where this honey was pro- 

 duced. Yes, indeed, there was a very 

 pretty apiary made of three and four- 

 story colonies, about evenly divided 

 between ten-frame and twelve-frame 

 colonies. Dare I tell it? And would 

 you believe it? The twelve-framers 

 hardly swarm at all, while the ten- 

 framers swarm — well, just as all ten- 

 framers do, right in the same yard, 

 with the same honey-flow and the 

 same management. Both Zimmer- 

 man and Crowder testified to the 

 comparative freedom of the big hives 

 from swarming. It is the same old, 

 old story that the Dadants, Holter- 

 mann and others have told us for 

 years." 



(Yes, and we would wager that the 

 wider hives yield just as many supers 

 full, though 20 per cent wider than 

 the others, even if the others did not 

 swarm. That is the old story, too. 

 with us.— Editor.) 



