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THE AMERICAN BEE JObklMAL. 



Oct. 27, 1904. 



ered tribe. The idea of us being so close-fisted about a few 

 bees for a bird, when we have them by the thousands, yes, 

 millions ! Whatever we do, don't let us kill the birds, but 

 hunt closely and see if it isn't possible to place the blame 

 where it originated, as the writer did. I think if any per- 



son would examine the crop of a king-bird it would surprise 

 him ; you have no idea of the variety of insects it feeds on. 

 Now, "Clover Blossom ", you watch East and I'll keep 

 an eye on the West, and may be we can save the life of a 

 bird or two. Webster Co., Iowa. 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Ages of Bees that Go Out with a Swarm. 



We are reading a book in our school called " Country 

 Life and Agricultural Education ". This book tells us that 

 " The old queen and all bees old enough to fiy go out to 

 found a new colony ". We do not think this. We think it 

 is the young bees that swarm. What is your opinion on 

 this subject ? Anna Werno. 



McHenry Co., 111. 



It's a nice thing that you can have such practical work 

 in your school, but it's a pity you can't have books written 

 by people who know what they are writing about. Let us 

 talk it over a little. 



Suppose a colony of people were to go from your town 

 to make a settlement in some new part of the country. Do 

 you think it would be a good plan for every one in the town 

 over 12 to go to the new place, leaving no one in the town 

 except the children and babies? Wouldn't do, would it ? 

 And it wouldn't do, either, for all the children and babies 

 to go to the new place without any old folks along. 



Well, now, it's the same way with the bees. Up to the 

 time a worker-bee is about 16 days old it does no outside 

 work — just housework, tending baby, cleaning up, building 

 comb, and that sort of thing. After that it graduates into 

 field-work, and the rest of its life spends its time bringing 

 into the hive nectar, pollen, water, and propolis or bee-glue. 

 If all bees old enough to fly — and a bee can fly when only a 

 day or two old — should go with the swajm, there would be a 

 sad state of affairs. There would be left in the hive hardly 

 a bee old enough to do anything— indeed, hardly enough to 

 keep each other warm— and the babies in the cells would be 

 crying for drink, and nobody in the hive old enough to fly 

 out for it. 



If only young bees went with the swarm, there would 

 be no one to bring in anything from the fields, and when 

 the honey was used up that they brought in their sacs, they 

 might starve. No, the Good Being that made the bees and 

 all of us planned better than that. 



If you will watch the bees that issue with a swarm, you 

 will see some of them with ragged wings, veterans nearly 

 worn out in the service, and all ages down to those that are 

 barely able to fly. Indeed, some will come out too young to 

 fly, and they'll just crawl around on the ground. And bees 

 of all ages will be left in the old hive. 



Neither is it strictly true in all cases that the old queen 

 goes with the swarm. Sometimes she is not more than two 

 or three days old, although the oldest in the hive. The old 

 queen goes with the first or prime swarm, and a young 

 queen goes with an af terswarm. 



African Way of Offering Sample Tastes of Honey. 



A good deal has been said at different times about 

 various ways of selling honey, and especially as to allowing 

 prospective customers to sample by tasting. Some use a 

 wood-splint to be dipped in the honey, the splint to be 

 thrown away after the handling. To avoid the possible 

 suspicion that the splint may have been previously used, 

 one bee-keeper keeps his splints in bulk, say a wooden 

 separator, from which a fresh splint may be broken at each 

 sampling. But honey peddlers, in the heart of Africa, 

 have a simpler way. The Delineator, with which most of 

 the sisters are acquainted as a magazine giving instruc- 

 tions as to the latest style of making a gown or dressing 

 the hair, has a very interesting article in the November 

 number entitled, " The Woman Missionary Abroad ". 

 Among other things an account is given of the experience 



I of one of the sisters, Mrs. Snyder, wife of a medical mis- 

 sionary " in the very heart of savage Africa ". 



I After telling of negotiations with venders of different 



articles, involving much exchange of language, the ac- 

 count proceeds : 



" The honey-man now comes forward, having amused 

 himself while waiting by dipping straws in the pot and 

 licking them. His clay jar is found to be full of a mixture 

 of honey, water, dead bees, sticks, bark and comb. With a 

 look of disgust the housekeeper tells him it is not fit to eat, 

 whereupon, looking pained and surprised, he dips in two or 

 three dirty fingers and then offers them to the lady to lick '." 



A Tooth-Paste. 



From the department headed, "The Woman Beautiful ", 

 in the Chicago Record-Herald, is clipped the following : 



" Eight ounces of precipitated chalk, 4 ounces of pow- 

 dered white Castile soap, 4 ounces of powdered orris root, 40 

 drops of oil of sassafras, 80 drops of oil of bay. Honey 

 sufficient to form a smooth paste." 



As will be seen, any one of the sisters can make her 

 own tooth-paste with little trouble, and be sure at the same 

 time that she is putting nothing injurious into her mouth. 

 It is not even necessary to have a paste so complicated. 

 The essential elements of a good tooth-powder are the 

 chalk and soap ; the additional items may vary greatly, 

 as they are merely for sweetening and flavoring. Adding 

 to the powder glycerine or honey makes it a paste. A very 

 satisfactory tooth-paste that has been in use for some time 

 in our household is made in the following simple manner : 



Two parts precipitated chalk, finest quality ; one part 

 imported white castile soap powdered or scraped fine ; a 

 few drops of oil of wintergreen ; mix thoroughly with 

 enough extracted honey to make a rather thick paste. 



Beeswax Prevents Yellowness in White Fabrics. 



"Hints for the Busy Housewife", in Success, gives the 

 following : 



" Beeswax, broken in pieces and put within the folds 

 of white woolens and silks, will overcome the tendency to 

 yellowness that white fabrics have when laid away for any 

 length of time." 



Honey as a Health-Food is the name of a 16- 

 page leaflet (3J4X6 inches) which is designed to help in- 

 crease the demand and sale of honey. The first part] is 

 devoted to a consideration of " Honey as Food," written 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller. The last part contains "Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be 

 widely circulated by every one who has honey for sale. It 

 is almost certain to make good customers for honey. We 

 know, for we have used it ourselves. 



Pricks, prepaid — Sample copy free ; 10 for 20 cts.; 25 

 for 40 cts.; SO for 70 cts.; 100 for $1.25; 250 for $2.25; 500 

 for $4.00 ; 1000 for $7.50. Your business card printed free 

 at the bottom of the front page, on all orders for 100 or 

 more copies. Send all orders to the Bee Journal office 



