424 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



portunities to harvest pollen after brood-rear- 

 ing has ceased. This i* unusual. Hut when 

 they have two bi l-nests, it is quite proba- 

 ble thai there is more storing in one of those 

 nests than it they were confined on just the 

 room they need for brood, and for winter 

 food. 



Your method of compelling them to clean 

 out the pollen is ingenious and will probablj 

 be efficient. Usually there is plenty of de 

 maud for the pollen, in prolific colonies, un- 

 less it is mouldy and unlit for use, when 

 spring comes 



The Jumbo hive, such as is manufactured, 

 has the great fault of having its frane 

 only IH inches from center to center, as al- 

 ready mentioned in these columns. The wider 



spacing of I'.., which we have recommended 

 and which we use, i- certainly desirable, 



\\ e .11. rei or ding a hive mi 



n in, lies in width inside, which takes freelj 



I i i,.,,.]i-- .ii ilu Hoffman style oi thi I inch 



width. We d i use the Hoffman 



ourselves, hut it seems to be popular. With 

 a 11-frame hive, if you want to use onlj 10 

 frames in it you ran use a division board in 

 plaee of one ..I" the frames, as we do. The 



II frame Jumbo lias onlj a little mon I 1 



. . than ih. 10-frame Dadant standard 

 hive. 



2. Light burla|), with absorbents over it, is 

 good. But don't let a current ol 

 through. 



The results showed, among other 

 things, that the queens mated by 

 hand-picked drones, not more than 

 about two weeks old, became drone 

 breeders. They produced from less 

 than 1 per tent to about 50 per cent 

 of workers. 



What is a Bee Line? 



There seems to be a very general 

 impression that the honeybee on re- 

 turning from the field, takes a direct 

 route, flying in a straight line to the 

 hive. So general is this idea that a 

 "Bee Line" has come to mean a 

 straight line between two points. 



That bees often vary their direc- 

 tion, in unfavorable weather, there is 

 little doubt. E. A. Welch, of Quincy, 

 111., has bees on both sides of the 

 Mississippi river near that place. 

 The river is in the neighborhood of 

 a mile in width at that point, yet the 

 bees cross the stream in both direc- 

 tions. According to Mr. Welch, the 

 bees follow both up and down stream 

 on both sides to take advantage of 

 the protection of the bridge when 

 crossing in windy weather. The 

 flight is very marked at such times, 

 the bees scattering out in a fan 

 shape and converging in the same 

 manner at the opposite side of the 

 stream. — F. C. P. 



bee expert from the Washington 

 State College, has visited the locality 

 around Prosser, Wash., in an effort to 

 determine the cause of excessive mor- 

 tality among bees. Actual extinction 

 of the industry is threatened, and 

 several plans have been made to 

 remedy the alarming situation. W. H. 

 Tucker reports 80 colonies totally lost 

 and 150 badly depleted, at a loss of 

 fn.m $10,000 to $12,000, which, of 

 course, includes the possible honey 

 crop, which promised to be a good 

 one. E. E. Starkey reported 50 colo- 

 nies entirely lost and others depleted, 

 making his loss some $2,000. K. P. 

 Runa said that of 25 thriving colonies 

 he has not one left. Others report 

 similar conditions. Dr. C. H. Ponting, 

 another leading beekeeper, is prepar- 

 ing to remove his apiary immediately. 

 It has been suggested that spraying 

 the fruit-blooms with poisonous 

 spray material may be one cause of 

 the bee-mortality. It is hoped that 

 the real cause may be discovered and 

 a remedy found fur it. 



G. W. YORK. 



Lack of Information 



I sold six colonies to a man who 

 had just moved into the neighbor- 

 hood. He said he used to keep bees. 

 Hut two weeks ago he sent his son 

 to me to ask if "bees carried honey 

 on their hind legs?" He said he had 

 been watching them for two days, 

 and they were going into the hive 

 with a lot of yellow stuff on their 

 hind legs. I didn't laugh, but got my 

 Langstroth on the Honeybee, revised 

 by C. P. Dadant, and showed the son 

 the anatomy of the queen bee, and 

 advised his father to get Langstroth, 

 revised, same as I did when 1 sold 

 him the bees. 



I don't know how a man can 

 "keep" bees and not know where 

 they carry their honey, and where 

 they carry their pollen. I explained 

 to the son that this yellow "stuff" 

 was pollen, and !th< - recep 

 were little baskets, made for this 

 very purpose. 



Illinois. 



A New Building at Guelph 



The contract has been awarded for 

 a fine new building to be devottd ex- 

 clusively to the use of the beekeeping 

 department of the Agricultural Col- 

 ■ t melph, i iiii.tri.i. The building 

 is to be two stories and basement, 

 and will eosi $40,000. When fully 

 equipped it is thought the cost will 

 total $(,11.(1011. 



Work on the new building will be- 

 gin at once and continue during the 

 winter months. \Ye congratulate 



Profi sor Milieu and the college "it 

 the new building. We are informed 

 that there are 260 freshmen students 



who are laking beekeeping at the 



Ontario Agricultural College this 

 season. 



Bees Are Dying 



It is reported that H. A. Scullen, 



Mating Experiment 



A bee mating experimenl was car 

 ried out last July bj F. W. I.. Sladen. 

 Apiarist of (lie Dominion Depart- 

 ment of Agricultui . Duel Island, 

 at tin- i.i tern end Lake < Intario. 

 Duck Island is 8 miles front the near- 

 est land and no bees are kept there. 



Carniola Today 



As you know, I left Carniola, my 

 country, 5 years ago, coming on pur- 

 pose to study American beekeeping 

 at the University of Minnesota. 



I think I am very lucky to have all 

 my folks living, when thousands jf 

 others have lost all their relatives in 

 the new Jugoslav State (formerly be- 

 longing to Austria.) 



My father wrote, in the last letter 

 I received from him, that nearly 75 

 per cent of the bees died in Carniola 

 on account of shortage of sugar and 

 loss of men in this war. He himself 

 lost over 400 colonies in 1917, this 

 leaving him 870. Honey was selling 

 way above the prices ever known ; 

 his honey was sold at 57 kronen, or 

 about $10 a pound. Other goods are 

 too high to be mentioned. 



FRANK A. ROJINA, 

 State Farm, University of Minnesota. 



Current Notes 



Members of the Dubuque Brandt 

 or the Iowa Beekeepers' Association 

 held their annual meeting at the 

 home of George Spoerl, near Duran- 

 go, Iowa, September 23. 



There was a meeting of the bee- 

 keepers of the county held at Rich- 

 land Center, Wis., October 10. Mr. 

 MeMurray, Assistant State Bee In- 

 specter, was present. James Gwin is 

 Secretary. 



A Community Bee Association has 

 been organized at Owensboro, Ky., 

 under the direction of H. R. Niswon- 

 ger, bee specialist from Lexingto.i, 

 Ky. 



Beekeepers of Grant County, Wis- 

 consin (of which there are 250) will 

 make an effort to secure one of the 

 county bee meetings that is to be 

 held during the coming winter. 



Three-Day Meetings in Wisconsin 



Interest in beekeeping in Wiscon- 

 sin has become so pronounced, fol- 

 lowing the beekeepers' chautauqua 

 lirld .it Madison, Wis., last August, 

 that H. F. Wilson, Secretary of the 

 State Association, has announced a 

 schedule of thirty 3-day meetings to 

 be held in various parts of the State 

 during the coming winter. These 

 schools will be under the direction 

 of II. L. MeMurray, representing the 

 United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, and will be held wherever an 

 attendance of 25 persons is guaran- 

 teed. Meetings will begin during the 

 present month. 



Meeting 



The Washington Slate Beekeepers' 

 Association will hold its annual 

 in., ting in Seattle, January 22-24, 

 1920. For particulars write to the 

 Secretary, II. Chris tensen, Toppenish, 

 Washington. 



