1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



345 



stated that, according to the Dadant 

 calculation, I had more than suffi- 

 cient brood-space. This is true. But 

 I had half of this space in the wrong 

 place. That brood-space should un- 

 doubtedly be in the center of the 

 hive, not branching out sideways. Her 

 Ladyship will branch sideways for a 

 matter of five or six Langstroth 

 frames, after which, if not excluded, 

 she goes up stairs in preference to 

 leaving the center of the house. Even 

 with an excluder, I fancy I could not 

 get all that row of thirteen frames 

 occupied by the bees, let alone the 

 queen, unless, perhaps, I spread the 

 brood every little while. 



In my experience, therefore, the 

 barns do not justify their existence, 

 and the practicability of the Dadant 

 hive, with deep frames to accommo- 

 date an amplitude of brood space in 

 the center of the habitation, becomes 

 significant. This coming winter I 

 propose making Dadant hives for use 

 next season, and this time next year 

 I hope to announce the result of my 

 operations with these hives, as a 

 means of reducing swarming and ob- 

 viating the use of excluders. 



British Columbia. 



(Good! But bear in mind, please, 

 that the prevention of swarming is 

 not all in large hives. There are 

 other conditions necessary. Even 

 then, as Dr. Miller says: Bees never 

 do things invariably. — C. P. D.1 



Electrical Imbedding 



By Will H. Gray 



BY using the following method, 

 imbedding becomes "a thing of 

 beauty and a joy forever." The 

 actual time taken to imbed the wires 

 is about two seconds and the work 

 done is perfection. The first method 

 is for those having at their disposal 

 electric light, either direct or alter- 

 nating current, from city mains or 

 private lighting system. 



Take the cord belonging to a 

 toaster, iron, or other, similar device, 

 and cut one strand of the twisted 

 cord and unravel a foot each way. 

 Then pare the ends, exposing the 

 copper, and twist them each round a 

 nail in the end of two short sticks 

 which just act as handles. Now con- 

 nect up your cord and toaster or 

 other appliance, when it will be ap- 

 parent that by touching the nails to- 

 gether you complete the electrical 

 circuit and the appliance heats up. 

 Xow, instead of touching them to- 

 gether, touch the beginning and end- 

 ing of your wired frame, which is. of 

 course, resting on the imbedding- 

 board, and the wires will immediate- 

 ly sink into foundation, all at the 

 same time. If the frames or founda- 

 tion are uneven or light weight a 

 slight pressure may be necessary to 

 bring the wire exactly to the mid rib. 

 where it should be. 



Xow, if you have not got the light- 

 ing system, but have a car with a 

 storage battery, you can do equally 

 good work, but you will not need the 

 toaster, as the wire itself will act as 

 sufficient resistance. Only in this 



case be careful not to touch the nails 

 together, or you will spoil your stor- 

 age battery. 



I have not tried it out, but I think 

 a Ford magneto would do the same 

 work, only it would hardly pay to 

 keep the engine running during the 

 operation. 



Electrical imbedding with high 

 voltages is just a matter of having 

 the correct resistance in series with 



your foundation wire. Resistance can 

 easily be made for the purpose from 

 iron wire wound on a framework of 

 nonconducting material. 



If the diagonal system of wiring is 

 used, the current must be applied 

 twice; that is, at each end of the 

 straight run, otherwise the current 

 would turn back when it touched the 

 other wire at the middle point. 



British Columbia. 



BEEKEEPERS BY THE WAY 



Millen, of Ontario 



FERIC MILLEN, recently from 

 Iowa, but now of Ontario, is 

 • generally recognized as a 

 coming man in the beekeeping field. 

 As a graduate of the beekeeping 

 course of the Ontario Agricultural 

 College, under Morley Pettit, Millen 

 was, perhaps, the first man to spe- 

 cialize in beekeeping during his col- 

 lege career and follow up this spe- 

 cial training in charge of similar 

 work in another institution. Soon 

 after his graduation he was selected 

 to take charge of the beekeeping 

 work at the Michigan Agricultural 

 College. His work there was just 

 beginning to come to public attention 

 when he resigi ed to take the posi- 

 tion of assistant professor of bee- 

 keeping at the Iowa Agricultural 

 College at Ames. At about the same 

 time the new law creating the office 

 of State Apiarist went into effect 

 and Millen was selected for that po- 

 sition also. 



There is a good deal of action at 

 the Iowa College and it takes a live 

 one to get any particular attention 

 there. However, Millen soon had 

 everybody in town talking about 

 bees. The war was in its early 

 stages and many new activities were 

 started looking toward increased 

 food production. Millen asked per- 

 mission to give the girls in the do- 

 mestic science department a special 

 course in beekeeping, since many of 

 them were from farm homes, where 

 bees are kept. He was informed 

 that the girls would not be interested 

 in bees, but that he could make up 

 a class composed of the few who 

 could be induced to undertake the 

 work. The class started with about 

 half a dozen, but it grew larger every 

 day until there were a hundred tak- 

 ing the beekeeping course. As the 

 apiary was beside the trolley line, 

 the whole town was soon talking 

 about the bee class of college girls 

 and the way they handled the bees. 

 It was not long until several faculty 

 members were attending this course 

 also. 



When Millen decided on a corres- 

 pondence course, he was told that if 

 he could get a couple of dozen stu- 

 dents for it, the course would be 

 worth while. He had more than 

 three hundred taking it shortly. 



Millen has that happy faculty of 

 innoculating others with his contag- 

 ious enthusiasm. Not only that, but 

 he is thorough-going and practical. 



His is not the type of booming that 

 makes everybody think they can get 

 rich with a few bees in the attic. He 

 gives the impression that beekeeping 

 is a dignified calling worthy of seri- 

 ous attention, and makes a fellow 

 think that he must master the thing 

 or get out of the game. 



During recent years he has main- 

 tained apiaries in Michigan and Iowa 

 for commercial honey production. In 

 this way he has kept in touch with 

 the practical work while adding to 

 his income. When it was recently 

 reported that Millen had resigned his 

 position in Iowa to return to On- 

 tario as head of the department from 

 which he graduated, there was gen- 

 eral regret among Iowa beemen. 



We happen to know that several 

 institutions had their eye on Millen. 

 There is also plenty of activity in 

 his vicinity, and while the Ontario bee 

 department has always ranked as 

 among the best, it is confidently ex- 

 pected that Millen will arouse new 

 interest in the work. 



Millen of Ontario. 



