538 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



the egg in the one kind of candy proved to be 

 unwholesome. Examination of the cages shows 

 that, while the Good candy was used liberally, 

 the egg candy was eaten of only sparingly. 

 This seems to show us that, even though the 

 bees partake of it sparingly, it is unwholesome 

 enough to cause disease and the general foul 

 odor in the cages. This we have never noticed 

 before in cages having only Good candy. We 

 are entirely satisfied now that the egg candy, 

 although it holds its moisture, and remains 

 perfectly soft, is not a tit bee-candy ; and now 

 having tried almost all the bee-candies ever 

 described, we go back to the Good (or Scholz) 

 candy, convinced that it is the best, after all. 

 If we were to add any thing else to the equip- 

 ment of the cage it would be a water-bottle ; 

 and on long distances we are of the opinion 

 that, especially in hot weather, the water 

 would tend greatly to bring the bees through in 

 good order. We just sent a consignment of 

 queens to Australia, some having water-bottles, 

 and some not, and we shall wait with interest 

 the results. It is proper to state that Mrs. Atch- 

 ley has called our attention to the water-bot- 

 tles, and urged upon us the importance of try- 

 ing them again. We tested them years ago, 

 with decidedly favorable results; but as the 

 Good candy was not then in use, we concluded, 

 after trying the new candy, that the bottles 

 were not necessary; but perhaps this conclu- 

 sion was reached a little too hastily. 



BIRDS OF MICHIGAN. 



Prof. Cook sends us a beautiful paper-cover- 

 ed book with the above title, full of beautiful 

 pictures of most of the birds one is likely to 

 meet in this vicinity — perhaps most of the birds 

 of the United States, or, at least, this portion of 

 it. There are 131 pages, with illustrations on 

 almost every page, and frequently two or three 

 on the same page. The book is not only inter- 

 esting but valuable, inasmuch as it behooves 

 us to know our friends from our enemies. As 

 an illustration, turning to the king-bird, on 

 page 81, we find the following : " Does more 

 good than harm, as it kills myriads of noxious 

 insects, and, usually, but few bees. Prof. S. A. 

 Forbes found that 43 per cent of the food of sev- 

 eral examined consisted of insects ;" and under 

 the head of" Bluejay," a bird that has caused no 

 little concern to bee-keepers, we find the follow- 

 ing: " Prof. J. A. Allen informs me that he has 

 taken a great number of the eggs of the tent- 

 caterpillar from their stomachs in winter, in 

 Massachusetts." There is not as much in the 

 book as I should like to see in regard to shoot- 

 ing robins and other birds because they destroy 

 frnit. I find, however, this much in the book in 

 regard to the American robin: "Eats myriads 

 of insects, mostly noxious species; angleworms 

 and fruit; cherries, berries, and grapes; 40 per 

 cent of the food of these birds examined by 

 Prof. Forbes was found to be cankerworms." 

 Now, in view of these reports is it not some- 

 what a question in regard to the policy of 

 shooting robins, bluejays, or king-birds? In 

 regard to the English sparrow, see the follow- 

 ing: " Eats grain, often very extensively, espe- 

 cially peas; vegetables and insects; drives away 

 our native birds ; is very filthy about houses ; 

 a three-cent bounty is thinning its ranks, and 

 often, through incorrect determination, the 

 ranks of other sparrows: breeds abundantly; it 

 is reported that thirty young may be reared 

 from a pair in a season." This valuable book 

 is sent free to all Michigan people interested in 

 farming, etc. I do not know on what terms it 

 may be obtained by the residents of other 

 States. As it is sent out by the State Agricul- 

 tural College. I presume information maf be 



obtained there, or of the author, Prof. Cook, 

 himself. 



APICULTURAL NAMES ; CHANGING TO BETTER 

 ONES. 



In Stray Straws for this issu>?. Dr. Miller 

 says friend Pettit thinks that the word " queen- 

 exciuder"is a misnomer; that a better name 

 would be queen- bar. The latter certainly has 

 an advantage in point of brevity and exactness; 

 but we question whether at this stage it would 

 be possible to change the name. A good many 

 of our terms, while not accurate, are very ser- 

 viceable. They cause no confusion, and but 

 little would be gained even if we could change 

 to a more exact name. You will remember 

 that, some time ago, it was seriously proposed 

 to change the name of extracted honey; but no 

 change was made — first, because no better one 

 was chosen; and, second, custom and habit were 

 so strong that they could not be readily over- 

 come. After all, " queen-excluder " is not so 

 bad. It does exclude the queen in more ways 

 than one. We question wJiether it would be 

 desirable to even attempt, to make a change in 

 name, solely on the ground that it would be 

 practically impossible to do it; and, even if we 

 partially succeeded, it would make confusion, 

 and beginners would want to know whether 

 queen-bar and queen-excluder were one and the 

 same thing or different articles. The same con- 

 fusion formerly existed when we used the term 

 " broad frame" to indicate the receptacle that 

 used to be sold so extensively for holding four 

 and eight sections. As broad frame and brood- 

 frame were sometimes confused in writing, we 

 tried to change the name to ivide frame; but in 

 spite of all our efforts, using wide frames only 

 in our catalogue and other printed matter, the 

 two names continued to be used indiscriminate- 

 ly for the same article ; and beginners who 

 read other catalogues besides our own began to 

 to ask whether broad frame and wide frame 

 were one and the same thing. Under the cir- 

 cumstances we rather jumped from the frying- 

 pan into the fire; and would we not be doing 

 the same in trying to change the name of 

 queen-excluder to queen-bar? The lesson 

 comes right here: That those of us who make 

 names for new articles in apiculture should be 

 careful to select a name that is accurate and 

 brief. 



SUNDAY OPENING AT THE WORLD'S FAIR, ETC. 



I CONFESS that I do not see, at the present 

 writing, exactly where my duty lies in regard 

 to visiting the great exposition. It may be 

 right to say that people have a right to their 

 own opinions in regard to what we ought to do 

 on Sunday; and some claim that it is every- 

 body's privilege to respect the Sabbath, and to 

 try to keep it holy or not, as he chooses. But 

 even if we should grant this, is there anybody, 

 who pretends to be honest and respectable, who 

 believes it right to repudiate a square and fair 

 business contract? I know there are people 

 who wiggle out of their contracts and agree- 

 ments by saying that "circumstances alter 

 cases," etc. My general rule of conduct, how- 

 ever, has been to give all such people a wide 

 berth; therefore if I act according to my feel- 

 ings I should not visit the exposition at all. To 

 tell the honest truth. I would much rather 

 stay at home. May be, however, I ought to 

 go. If so, I want to lei duty and not inclination 

 rule, as I have been trying to teach you. 



I do not know that 1 am very much surprised 

 to hear that those who have no respect for the 

 Sabbath have been easily persuaded to go a 

 step further and have no respect for their con- 

 tracts or bargains. Judging from past experi- 

 ence I should say that, sooner or later, this 



