Yol. X. 



APRIL 1, 1882. 



No. 4. 



A. I. ROOT, 



Publisher and Proprietor^ \ 



Published Monthly. 



TterjiS: Si. 00 Per Annum, ix Advance; 

 I 2 Copies for 81.90; 3 for 82.75: 5 for Si. 00: 10 



or more, 7.'>ets. each. Single Number, lOots, 

 < Additions to clubs m.iy be iu:ule at cluli 



rates. Above are all to be sent to one !( 



]?Iediiia« O. 



\EstaUish6d in 1 87 S.[illl'^Ji''^.'L^''''''''' '•'''''"'''''''''''''' 



NOTES FROM THE BAIVNER APIARY. 



NO. 29. 



LET US PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH. 



^ 



BOUT the first of March we had several warm 

 days, and the bees flew merrily. I presume 

 many of you know what sweet music the bees 

 make upon these early spring flights. How I was 

 tempted to open one of the clamps and let the bees 

 fly; that is, if they were capable of flight! I pre- 

 sume I should have dug out some of the buried bees; 

 but I had just written an article for the Countr\i 

 Gentleman, advising bee-keepers not to be deceived 

 by these chance spring days, but to keep their bees 

 in winter quarters (unless it was to carry Ihem out 

 for a flight, if they became uneasy) until warm 

 weather had really come to stay. I believe in 

 practicing what I preach, and the advice that I had 

 given others kept ringing in my ears until I decided 

 not to open a clamp until at least April 1st. 



DID THEY WANT WATER? 



One of the two colonies that have been confined in 

 the cellar without a flight since the middle of Nov., 

 became uneasy; and as I could not carry it out 

 without disturbing the other long-confined colony, 

 I carried them both out. This colony that became 

 uneasy was one that had nothing but pure sugar 

 stores; can it be that the sugar syrup did not fur- 

 nish them enough water, and it was for this that 

 they were begging? The colony that had natural 

 stores, and had remained in the cellar the same 

 length of time, was very quiet, and it was some little 

 time before the bees roused up enough to fly; but 

 after they once made a start, they flew lively. 



THE CONVENTION AT DETROIT. 



A few weeks ago I received a postal that read 

 something as fallows:— 



Fi'iend H.: -If you will come down to mv iiljico, I will take 



"onventiun that will be held 

 M. H. Hunt. 



care of vou , and take you to the 

 April nth. .Tt Detroit. 

 Bell Blanch, 'WayneCo., Mich. 



I have decided to accept this very kind invitation. 

 I shall write no essay, and shall deliver no address, 

 but shall go with my heart full of love for my broth- 

 er bee-keepers, and my head full of — curiosity and 

 inquisitiveness. I hope to meet a number of bee- 

 keepers, and to have a good visit —just about such 

 a time as folks have at a family reunion. 



EXTnA-PTTRE QUEENS VS. BEES FOR HONEY. 



Until friend Daolittle has finished his "say " about 

 those extra-pure queens, I shall make no reply, un- 

 less it is to say, that I felt like grasping his hand and 

 saying "amen" when I read the following; "If 

 bees showing the three distinct golden bands are the 

 bees producing the best results in honey, let us 

 breed in that direction ; if those showing but slight 

 traces of 3'ellow on the three bands (or dark Ital- 

 ians, if you please to call them so) are the ones 

 which produce the most surplus, let us breed in that 

 direction, keeping an eye to the best at all times." 



MAKING A FOOT-POWER BCZZSAW. 



Last fall I traded my foot-pnwcr saw for eight col- 

 onies of bees; they have, so far, wintered all right ; 

 and I am now very pleasantly engaged in making 

 another saw, upon a somewhat' ditferent style from 

 my old one. I shall use eight-inch saws, and when 

 it is finished I will tell how it is made, and how it 

 suits me. 



ATTENDING FAIRS; HINTS WANTED. 



Two years ago, after making an apiarian exhibit 



