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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



N 



ovemDer 



you have your truck loaded, they 

 may be around you in a swarm. 



It would seem better to have a 

 small house at each apiary, in whicn 

 supers might be stored in case of 

 necessity. It would not need to ne 

 large, but should be absolutely bee- 

 tight. 



Very few who have tried the cen- 

 tral plant would willingly return to 

 their old method. Every man to his 

 conditions, however. A large ma- 

 jority of extracting systems arc 

 still run with all extracting done at 

 the outapiaries, and many of them 

 probably more advantageously than 

 with the central extracting house. 

 Automobiles and Trucks 



No doubt that the automobile and 

 truck are responsible for most of the 

 improvement in the methods of run- 

 ning outapiaries over what prevailed 

 twenty years ago. Yet the beekeeper 

 should figure costs very carefully be- 

 fore coming to a decision as to what 

 type to use. 



The beginner will probably be con- 

 tent with the pleasure car, or one 

 which has been remodeled for his 

 needs. He can accomplish all work 

 except the hauling home of the honey 

 with it. It may pay him to have 

 this work done by hired machines. 



Likely the apiarist with three api- 

 aries or less will do well with the 

 converted machine, having his heavy 

 hauling done outside. The beekeeper 

 with five or more apiaries can use 

 the light truck (one ton or less) to 

 advantage, while a system with 1,000 

 colonies or more may find the big 

 truck- of advantage. But in this in- 

 stance, there will have to be smaller 

 cars for regular apiary work. 



Not enough attention to costs :s 

 paid by any beekeeper. We know of 

 one or two apiarists who have bought 

 trucks beyond their needs, running 

 their operating costs much higher 

 than if they had chosen a smaller 

 machine. 



As in many other branches of bee- 

 keeping, the choice will have to be 

 made by the individual beekeeper. 

 Each one should be best able to de- 

 termine from his system just what is 

 most suitable to his own needs. 



Are We Good Samaritans? 



IN the October number, under the 

 above title, we published an ap- 

 peal to American beekeepers for 

 help for their destitute brothers in 

 Europe. The responses are surely 

 coming. Yes, we are good Samari- 

 tans ! 



We were barely through mailing 

 the last copies of the October num- 

 ber when the first responses came, 

 October 3. Here arc the first two 

 letters : 



"I have just read your editorial, 

 'Are we Good Samaritans?' It hit the 

 spot with me. I am sure there arc 

 thousands of beekeepers in the 

 1 States who want to help the 

 unfortunate beekeepers in France 

 lgium and are glad to see yo.i 

 start the ball rolling. 



"I am enclosing check for $10-1. 

 Use $100 as you think best for Franco- 

 Belgian relief and $4 to advance my 



subscription 5 years. I wish you 

 great success. 



"HARRY CRAWFORD. 

 "Broomfield, Colo." 



Second letter : 



"I have had a good crop. Can get 

 25 cents for all my honey at home. 

 Read your proposition to help those 

 beekeepers living in the war zone. A 

 little from our beemen will put them 

 again in the bee business and we 

 will not miss it. I enclose $2, for 

 which they can get some fixtures, 

 frames, etc. 



"HERSCHELL FELTON, - 

 "Late Sgt. 1, Co. H., 37th 111 Vol, 



"Millersburg, 111." 



These letters are in the right spirit 

 and I was enthused to receive them 

 so quickly. But listen: 



Leon Tombu, of Huy, Belgium, formerly presi- 

 dent of the International Congress of Bee- 

 keepers that met in Brussels in 1910, now 

 secretary of the same organization to m^et 

 in Rome in 1920. Mr. Tombu is very active 

 in war relief for the spoliated and homeless 

 beekeepers of Belgium and France. 



The very next day I had a visit 

 from Hugh L. Cooper, the great hy- 

 draulic engineer who built the big 

 dam across the Mississippi. He was 

 a colonel of engineers in the great 

 war. He helped rebuild and enlarge 

 some seaports in France, and saw tne 

 devastation of those countries. As 

 he spoke to me of those matters, I 

 accidentally mentioned the subscrip- 

 tion work we had undertaken to help 

 the Franco-Belgian beekeepers. I 

 told him of Harry Crawford's prompt 

 response with $100 subscription. With 

 his customary briskness and whole- 

 heartedness, he quickly interrupted 

 me and said: 



"Mr. Dadant, I'll meet that ma i 

 subscription." "What, do you really 

 mean to say that you will give us an- 

 other hundred for the bi 

 Europe?" 



"Exactly, Put my name on the list 

 and I'll send you my check for $100." 



Here we are, only a week from the 

 publication of the appeal and our list 

 of help is as follows, in addition 'o 

 the October subscription : 



Harry Crawford, Broomfield, 



Colo. $100 



Herschell Felton, Millersburg, 111. 2 

 Hugh L. Cooper, New York City. 100 

 Lutz & Stahl, Printers of Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal 5 



A. A. Augenstein, Dakota, 111 5 



M. M. Martin, Caledonia, 111. 5 



John M. Davis, Spring Hill, Tenn. 



4 doz. queens (Italian ) 

 Allen Latham, Norwichtown, 



Conn, 25 queens (Italian) 



G. B. Lewis Co., Watertown, Wis. 



$200 in supplies at wholesale 



Do we need more? Yes, certainly. 



The damages to be paid by Ger- 

 many wil be insufficient. Looking in 

 any direction, we find statements 

 confirming that view, from entirely 

 disinterested persons. 



For instance, Bishop Theodore 

 Henderson, of the Methodist church 

 in Detroit, writes, in "Victory": 



"It is understood that the con- 

 struction of buildings will be done by 

 the French Government, but it is es- 

 timated that, even if the maximum 

 reparation money is secured from 

 Germany, there will be no surplus for 

 the villagers to secure kitchen uten- 

 sils, garden tools, farm implements, 

 household furniture and the like.' 



The Anglo-American Mission of 

 the Society of Friends sends us an 

 appeal for bees or supplies. 



Mr. Leon Tombu, 26, Rue D'Angle- 

 terre, Huy, Belgium, who was Presi- 

 dent of the International Congress of 

 Beekeepers, in Brussels, in 1910, and 

 is now Secretary of the same organi- 

 zation, wrote us several times in 

 view of securing bees or supplies 

 from American beekeepers. He "made 

 a trip to Italy, during the summer, to 

 arrange for the shipment of Italian 

 bees to the devastated regions next 

 year. He expects that it may be pos- 

 sible to secure bees, in the spring, 

 from Germany and the Netherlands. 

 He writes us as follows: 



"We are very thankful for your pro- 

 posed help and also for the encour- 

 aging letters received from Dr. Phil- 

 lips, of Washington. I have trans- 

 mitted a copy of your letter to the 

 Director-General of Belgian Agricul- 

 ture, who feels very thankful For 

 your efforts. You are right in stat- 

 ing that America is rather distant for 

 us to secure gifts of colonies of bees 

 and receive them in good shape. But 

 if we can get bees elsewhere and sup- 

 plies or cash from America, we can 

 probably help rebuild, in small part, 

 our destroyed beekeeping." 



The French "Commission for Re- 

 building Destroyed Apiaries" is se- 

 curing some help from the unhurt 

 parts of France. It is publishing a 

 subscription list in L'Apiculteur. But 

 when we consider that France has 

 lost as many men as our entire A. E. 

 F. (nearly two million), that 90 per 

 cent of her industries were directed, 

 for at least 4 years, to the making of 

 arms and ammunition, that some .if 

 her best land is now a chaos whe.c 

 nothing can be grown, and that her 

 money values have depreciated, we 



