March 28, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



203 



duced, and the outlook is good for it at present The market 

 is growing better all the time, and no bee-keeper who has ki'pt 

 a large number of colonies has made money unless he has run 

 his bees for extracted honey. 



•.^3 Mr. Beecham — I would like to ask if the Hilton hive 

 would stay packt. 



D Mr. Hilton — They are ready for use all the ti me — winter 

 spring, or fall. 



KEEPING ANTS OUT OF HIVES. 



Mr. Beecham — I am bothered with ants. 



Mr. Berg — I used tarred paper under the bottom of the 

 hives to keep the ants out. I like the chaff hives the best, 

 and ventilate them in warm weather, when the bees hang out. 



Mr. Root — I use tar paper to keep the auts out of the 

 hives. 



Mr. Hilton — I use salt to keep the ants away. It will 

 drive the ants away, but not the bees. I put the salt on the 

 inside of the hives, on the bottom-board. 



Mr. Kitson — I would like to know of something that will 

 keep the grass and weeds down. 



Answer — Salt will do this very well. 



BEES AND FKUIT. 



Mr. Root — What about that case near South Haven, 

 Mich., where a peach-grower sued a bee-keeper for damages ? 



Mr. Rankin — The bee-keeper was sued by a peach- 

 grower for damages to the amount of S200. The records of 

 the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, showed 

 that bees will not attack fruit with a whole skin. From the 

 evidence shown at the trial the fruit-grower withdrew his suit. 

 It seems that some of the early peaches were affected with a 

 peculiar rot which attackt the fruit before it was ripe, and 

 the bees workt on this fruit. 



Mr. Root — The same trouble occurred in the State of New 

 York with the early cling-stone peaches. A suit came to trial 

 there but the verdict was " no cause for action." 



Mr. Berg — We have no bee-fighters in this part of the 

 country. The fruit-growers want the bees near their fruit to 

 fertilize the blossoms. Many af them spray their fruit-trees 

 while in bloom, and some bee-keepers have lost half of their 

 bees from this cause. 



Mr. Hilton — A law was past while I was in the Legisla- 

 ture prohibiting fruit-growers from spraying trees while in 

 bloom. 



Mr. Kitson — I wish that law might be publisht in the bee- 

 papers. 



(Concluded next week.) 



^ ^ The Home Circle. ^ j^ 



Conducted by Prof. f\. J. Cook, Claremoiit, Calif. 



KINDNESS IN THE HOME. 



I never could quite understand the biblical expression, 

 " The small foxes destroy the vines." The fox has no love for 

 the vineyard. The poultry-house attracts him far more. 

 Neither vineyard nor grape is toothsome to Reynard, yet the 

 truth taught in this small fox, and despoiled vine-field, is abso- 

 lute. The true home is builded on real heart-sympatliy. 

 Unless each feels for the other, what will keep back the cruel 

 sarcasm, the unfeeling word, the taunting laugh? And are not 

 these, one and all, the little foxes? 



I have a dear home in mind — father, mother, two daugh- 

 ters. It is a home where the bitter word, or thought that 

 prompts it, was never in evidence. Paul's grand words were 

 ever heeded in that splendid home — " Let each esteem the 

 other better than himself." I mind me of a beautiful winter 

 evening. I was the fifth one in that home circle for the time. 

 We were all talking in merry mood, except Edith, who was 

 trying to manage a great volume of pictures. Her small lap 

 and the big book were a great misfit. Tho not impatient, she 

 turned the pages with no slight effort and trouble. Witlmut 

 any break in our converse, the thoughtful father past thru tho 

 large wide-open folding duurs to the next room, quietly ri-ailit 

 a suitable chair, and soon the myriad pictures were resting on 

 this improvised book-stand, where it was easy to turn the 

 great pages. It must luive been a rich reward to that 

 thoughtful father's heart, as his act was greeted with a sweet 

 smile and hearty "Thank you." This was just one of a 

 whole troop of kindly acts that so filled that home with sun- I 



shine that there was always some to spare, and we fortunate 

 visitors ever carried a good quantity away when we past out 

 of its doorway. 



If Heaven ever does give a little piece of her very own 

 precious self to this world, where all is not yet heavenly, it is 

 in just such homes. The father never hears a wish from any 

 of the loved ones, that his heart does not yearn to satisfy it. 

 His best pleasure comes from the little planned surprises. 

 Labor and effort that would vex and weary where no love 

 sweetens the life, is now only and wholly pleasure. The 

 mother-heart is even more alert. She is ever toncht and 

 moved by any wave of pain or trouble, and irksome labor, and 

 even painful effort, are coveted by her, if they but minister to 

 the pleasures of the household. Christ raised the world, — is 

 ever raising it to higher and higher thought and purpose — 

 because he was willing and glad to give himself to it and for 

 it. It is this Christ spirit of sacrifice that gilds the home. 

 Children that breathe such an atmosphere must enjoy moral 

 health in all its blessed fullness. 



We have a cow in our airy barn and cleanly yard just 

 back of it. She is of the pleasing fawn, so generally seen in 

 the Jersey herd, and her bright eye has the nervous spright- 

 liness of the breed. How pretty is the double ring of color 

 that keeps guard above her mouth and nose. Gentle is she as 

 the dove that coos hard by among the evergreens. She looks 

 happy. I think she is. She ought to be. Good performance 

 will hand over happiness if anything will. Our .lersey deals 

 in good performance. For eight years she has given us a 

 daily average of ten quarts of the most splendid milk. And 

 such cream and butter — yellow as the golden-rod, and sweet 

 as its nectar drops. Happiness is born of appreciation. Our 

 Jersey never hears a harsh word. The milk-stool never 

 serves but for a seat. When she sees me coming she greets 

 me with an appreciative call which none other ever receives. 

 She knows I give the care, and that I look carefully to her 

 needs. There is a kind of good-fellowship between me and 

 my Jersey that is not one-sided in its fruits. It is a delight to 

 feed and milk her, which is done at just the same time each 

 night and morning. It is a pleasure to plan for feeding her 

 just what will be most appetizing and at the same time will 

 push the white foam away to the very brim of the pail. 

 Would the home circle be complete without such companions ? 

 Let us give the children such pets and beget in our children 

 such love of these friends of the home, that the golden rule 

 will be one of the trio whenever child and pet cow, horse or 

 kitten are companions. 



THE INFLUENCE OF HOUSE-PLANTS. 



We may not all have costly paintings, fine statuary may 

 be out of our reach, but there is a home adornment which 

 costs but a trifle, and which transcends either picture or 

 statue in real beauty. It is from God's hands, and so shows 

 perfection in its fashioning. Our parlor now has a great 

 sword-ferm just by the west window. Near it is a very costly 

 painting — one of Hill's incomparable touches showing the 

 marvelous Yosemite. Yet were one — painting or plant — to 

 leave for alway, I would give up the picture. Yet this plant 

 has only cost a trifle except Mrs. Cook's daily and loving min- 

 istrations, and these are not given grudgingly. 



Close by at another window is the dainty, exquisite palm 

 — oocus weddeliana. The one is ever reaching out its refining 

 influence in its great health, wondrous vigor, rich color, and 

 incomparable grace. When tired, it is so restful to sit beside 

 it. To be peevish or irritable in its presence would seem all 

 inharmony. The little palm so clean, delicate, and full of 

 grace, is equally " a joy forever." Why are there so few of 

 such gems in our homes ? Our dining-room and hall have like 

 treasures. Bereft of them the room would suffer indescrib- 

 able loss. 



A Celluloid Queen°Button is a very pretty thin^ for a 

 bee-keeper or honey-seller to wear on his coat-lapel. It 

 often serves to introduce the subject of honey, and thusoften 

 leads to a sale. 



reader writes; ** I have every reason 

 would be a very good idea for every 

 ar oue [of the buttons] as it will cause 

 •stions about the busy bee, and many 

 Lhus started would wind up with the 

 less honey; at any rate it would ffive 

 I superior opportunity to enlighten 

 1 ref^ard to honey and bees." 



Note.— Oni 

 to believe that 

 bee-keeper to v 

 people to ask q 

 a conversation 

 sale of more o 

 the bee-keeper 

 many a person 



The picture shown herewith is a reproduction of a motto 

 queen-button that we have been furnishing to bee-keepers 

 for a long' time. It has a pin on the underside to fasten to 

 the coat. Price, by mail, h cents each; two for 10 cents; 

 or six for 25 cents. Send all orders to the office of the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal. 



