File:American bee journal (1915) (17928957490).jpg

Title: American bee journal
Identifier: americanbeejourn551915hami (find matches)
Year: 1861 (1860s)
Authors:
Subjects: Bee culture; Bees
Publisher: (Hamilton, Ill. , etc. , Dadant & Sons)
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: UMass Amherst Libraries

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April. 1916. April, 1916.
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pit of the stomach. Most of the party who were not accustomed to mountain climbing breathed much easier when they were safely back again on the trolley, bound for Denver. After the close of the convention a number of the delegates bought tickets home over the Rock Island, via Col- orado Springs. The party arrived in the Springs a little before noon, and spent the afternoon in an automobile trip to the Cave of the Winds, the Gar- den of the Gods and the Seven Falls. The Garden of the Gods was a disap- pointment. We had already seen much finer things that we had never heard about, and the so-called garden has been heralded to the ends of the earth as a sight never to be forgotten. One soon gets the impression at Col- orado Springs that the principal busi- ness is entertaining tourists. We had now left our beekeeper friends behind. Instead of being honored guests we were tourists, and at every turn we met an opportunity to part with our money. On this trip were other steep climbs and great views, but the experience at Lookout mountain had prepared us for the climb, and some of the sensations of the first trip were lacking. Here some of the delegates left the party, returning to Denver or going home by other routes. Enough, how- ever, remained together to hold a con- tinuous convention until Omaha was reached, when Prof. Jager left to take another train, and a short distance be- yond, the writer stopped at home. On the whole, the most interesting of all the mountain trips was in the Rauchfuss car, when we could stop as long as we liked, drive as slowly as we liked or get out and walk as we pre- ferred. Nor more interesting moun- tains did we see than those along the little trout stream above Morrison. (We had to take Mr. Rauchfuss' word for the trout.) The banquet was a great occasion. When the orchestra played "It is a Long Way to Tipperary," the applause was fine. A little later they played "The Watch on the Rhine," and the noise was deafening. Apparently the beekeeper* are neutral. Dr. Phillips as a toastmaster rose to the occasion in grand style. The way he put some of the speakeis in the hole was awful, and they say that there may be a day of reckoning if Phillips ever gets on the other end of the same string. He recited a little history by telling of the first official beekeeper of Massachusetts, who unfortunately be- came a town charge at the end of two years. Dr. Gates was introduced as a worthy successor. Space forbids even brief mention of the many interesting things in con- nection with the convention, but the delegates left with recollections of a very pleasant journey and a feeling that the Colorado boys had given them a fine reception. Frank C. Pellett. Atlantic, Iowa. The 1915 National Only a small group, nine in all, of eastern men reached Denver together, in the car planned for their sole occu- pancy. Others, making a total of 15 from east of Colorado, had arrived previously. It was a pleasure to be met at the station by Colorado bee- keepers and taken to the hotel in auto- mobiles. There we were soon com- fortably settled and found an enjoyable company of western brother beekeep- ers. Unlike the male inmates of the bee-hive, the drones kept busy, buzzing almost day and night during the three days' session. Dr. E. F. Phillips quoted statistics, showing that honey is coming into the United States at the rate of about 1.500,000 pounds per month, whereas, before the outbreak of the European war, the imports totaled only that much in a year. Mr. Frank Rauchfuss warned bee- keepers not to look to the big honey markets during the coming year for the disposition of their crops to as good an advantage as normally. Every beekeeper should develop and supply his home market direct. Very few homes have honey on their table or use it in their cooking the year around. Ready sale can always be found for the best grade of honey for the table at good prices. A new bulletin will soon be issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, "The Use of Honey in Cooking," which will contain recipes tried out. This bulletin, which is to be given wide publicity and distributed as much as possible throughout the United States, should help a great deal in developing a larger demand for honey. " Many districts have been spoiled by poor quality honey and low prices," said Mr. John C. Bull, who made a plea for uniformity of prices and grad- ing rules for extracted honey. Some large bottlers of honey today are put- ting on the market a uniform grade by blending the various grades of honey from different parts of this country. This seems to be the only f;sy;il;;r"se1ie°rs^3°"^T.s".a'r1c.i'^°R'"c^.'bTar-.=; &. "ur^^'r^i".. it: k.^SHZ': aV,' ^'si^S^s^i/^^^i& I ^^'Ti^ ^• mus. jr.. 84, Geo. Nichols. 86. H. Whitacre. 87, E. :s.N.a.te,:i.:w.p:m(nir,i/w^iFo.^A\':tl?^^ practical method of placing before the public a uniform flavor of honey on which they can depend. Others be- lieved it better to educate the public to the various flavors of honey and the reason therefore. The greatest problem for the Na- tional Beekeepers' Association, out- lined by Prof. Francis Jager, was a greater recognition of the bee and honey industry by the government and more publicity. He urged large appro- priations to do the vast amount of work as yet untouched for the im- provement of the races of bees, the de- velopment of locations and pastures, the honey market and the education of the beekeepers. Migratory beekeeping, although tried on a large scale, has not always proved successful. The main causes of ill- success, mentioned by Mr. E. R. Root are: "Time and distance of moving, conditions c« route, adverse crop con- ditions developing after the southern nelds are reached and probably most important of all the handling and at- tention given the bees by those put in "Charge, during the absence of the owner. The weakening of colonies by death to the field-bees as a fall honey-flow advances was reasonably explained by ™- H. Rauchfuss. The corolla of "lossoms similar to the cleome of Col- orado presents sharp edges which in- jure the bees' wings, so that thev are unable, after several trips, to return to We hives, and perish in the field. Ur. Burton N. Gates managed the ^nair with care and fairness, and was 'e-elected unanimously. It was my pleasure to see over 30U raionics. in two apiaries of Mr Her- ■"" Kauchfuss, wintering near Denver. To a beekeeper of the Middle States they looked as if just unpacked and ready for spring. The wintering is simple. No packing, inside or out. in that climate, a mile above sea level. We found all these hives standing in the open, in well sheltered spots almost surrounded by rising ground, but without shade trees. The inner cover or escape board is left on with the es- cape removed. The covers are made to telescope about IK inches, but do not fit tightly, thus allowing some ven- tilation. H. C. Dadant. Contributed ^ Articles^ The Hand Convertible Hive BY E. F. ATWATER. THE writer has read with interest the series of articles by Mr. Hand, giving the details of construction and manipulation of his large conver- tible hive. Our experience covers operation of as many as 13 apiaries at one time, and years ago, some of these apiaries be- longed to others, and were run " on shares." In these yards there were several styles of hives. One style had frames 13-V inches square inside, and enough of them to give a brood-nest equal to 17 Langstroth frames. This yard gave the largest crop, per colony, and was always the strongest and went into winter very heavy. The writer was, at that time, an ad- vocate of the 8-frame hive, Langstroth or Heddon, and his experience came as quite a shock to him. About a year before this the writer contracted for the swarms from a yard of these larger hives, miles away, and here again the colonies, with no care, were stronger than in other yards having good care. Several years ago the writer visited the big apiaries of Pennington Bros., of Oregon, and found there 80 hives each containing 13 Dadant frames. These large hives always gave large yields until paralysis and spring dwind- ling finally struck the apiary, when all, large and small, went down to- gether. It is very evident to the producer of extracted honey that few hives are too large for the bees. But for conven- ience of handling, and in out-apiaries, few care for hives larger than the standard 10-frame Langstroth. There can be no question with those who have tried both, that larger colonies earlier may be had in large single story hives, rather than in those of two or more stories, with their bee-spaces and top and bottom bars. Mr. Hand's idea of using a cheap inner hivein cold weather, or an old 8- frame surrounded by packing is excel- lent, where packing is necessary, but

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