1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



133 



The following letter, relative to the big bees 

 of the Philippines, was sent to us by Mr. J. 

 M. Woodhouse, of Dubuque, la. It was writ- 

 ten by his son N. E. Woodhouse, an American 

 soldier in the Philippines. As it contains 

 much of interest in regard to the big bees of 

 that place it is given here entire. It will be 

 noticed that Jumbo despises any house smaller 

 than outdoors, and has no idea of what "be- 

 nevolent assimilation " means. 



Dear Father : — I have .something to tell you which I 

 know will interest yon. On the Iti h a large swartn of 

 bees came here and lit on a tree about 40 ft. from the 

 ground. They were the first I had seen here, and I 

 was deterniined to hive them ; so I got a ladder that 

 reached them, fixed an old rough box in readine-s, 

 and put on two pairs of gloves, and some mosquito-bar 

 over my face, and look a rice-bsg up, slipped it up 

 over the bunch, crowded them off the limb, and got 

 them almost all iiUo the bag, closed the bag, and 

 brought them down as smoothly as could be. About 

 liOO natives had gathered to watch the oper.jtion, but 

 were very careful to kf ep away. They never saw any 

 thing like that ; and the sol Hers thought they were 

 going to see some fun, but did not see it. I could not 

 get them into the box out of the bag, so I shook them 

 out on the alighting-board, and they went up into the 

 tree again. I went up and brought them down the 

 next day. but cou'd not get them inio the hive They 

 went back into the tree, and yesterday they left and 

 went close to the hospital, and went into an old build- 

 ing I cut a round hole in a box and slipped it up over 

 the bunch, crowded them loose from where they hung, 

 put a board over the hole, and had them in a nice com- 

 fortable home with honey to eat, which I had bought 

 out of the sales commissary. To-night I took the pa- 

 per out of the entrance at'sundown and gave them 

 their libertv, and they immediately came out and lit 

 up under the eaves of the church. I believe they will 

 go to work I here. 



All that I used to know about hiving bees in the 

 United States has failed to work here : i. e., .so far as 

 I had the wherewith to work with. They .'imply will 

 not stay in a box. They are a beautiful bee, consider- 

 ablv larger than the Italian. Instead of having the 

 yellow stripe they have a silvery-white stripe with the 

 black. 



If I could have got them to work in the common 

 box I would have made a movable-frame hive and 

 reared sr ni'^ more queens and sent the queens hack to 

 you ; but I guess I shall have to give it up for the 

 present. N. E. Woodhouse. 



Grayat, P. I., Oct. 20, 1900. 



THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 



Something of What it will Be, from the Stand- 

 point of the Bee-keeper. 



BY OREI. L. HERSHISER. 



[The following letter is in answer to one I wrote to 

 Mr. Her^hiser, stating that I was receiving a good 

 manv inquiries, and also that a number of clippings 

 had been -ent us. but that I disliked to take any thing 

 of this kind at second hand, and hoped ihat Mr. Her- 

 shiser himself, superintendent of the apiarian exhib- 

 it, wou.d give u^ full particulars from his own pen. 

 In respon-,e to this he has sent me the following let- 

 ter—En.] 



My dear Mr. Root: — Answering your note 

 of January 2-5, regarding the Pan-American, 

 the whole matter might be summed up in a 

 single statement, to the effect that there will 

 be here presented greater opportunities for in- 

 struction, amusement, and the cultivation of 



taste for the beautiful, than have ever before 

 been afforded at an exposition in the western 

 hemisphere, and, according to the statements 

 of persons well qualified to judge, the archi- 

 tectural and landscape effects of the Pan- 

 American will make it the high-water mark 

 of the expositions of the world. This is a 

 broad statement, but one which the facts sup- 

 port ; and when we consider the elegant sym- 

 metry that has been studiously observed in 

 the grouping of the buildings and laying-cut 

 of the grounds, the pleasing and harmonious 

 color effects of the exteriors as well as the in- 

 teriors of the buildings, the novel and beauti- 

 ful Spanish architecture, and the elegant land- 

 scape, the claim seems to be merited. 



Judging from present indications the apia- 

 rian exhibit will not be least among the many 

 novel and instructive .iltracticns. It promises 

 to eclipse every thing in this line ever attempt- 

 ed, and this notwithstanding the general 

 shortage in honey production in many lo- 

 calities within the United States and Canada 

 during the past two years. 



This exhibit will be a veritable wonderland, 

 not only for apiarists but for that larger class 

 of users and consumers of honey. It is de- 

 signed to make this exhibit educational as 

 well as entertaining, to the end that the falla- 

 cies affecting the pursuit of apiculture may be, 

 as far as possible, rectified. A model apiary 

 will be in operation to show, in a practical 

 way, just how both comb and extracted honey 

 are produced. Exhibits showing the relation 

 of bees to horticulture will be a prominent 

 feature, and the mistake of spraj ing fruit- 

 trees when in bloom will be demonstrated, as 

 well as the absolute necessity of the presence 

 of bees during the season of bloom in order 

 to make horticulture, in any sense, a paying 

 pursuit. Vast quantities of both comb and 

 extracted honey, prepared in the most attrac- 

 tive and appropriate forms for market, will be 

 shown. It is safe to say that this most inter- 

 esting feature of the exhibit will include the 

 nectareous products of all valuable honey- 

 plants to be found within the Americas and 

 the island possessions of the United States. 

 There will be a complete and exhaustive dis- 

 play of manufactures in which honey forms 

 a component part, and beeswax and the many 

 and various manufactures therefrom. A dis- 

 tinctive exhibit of honey-plants, as a part of 

 the general outdoor-growing horticultural and 

 floral exhibits, is contemplaited. There will 

 be several large and attractive exhibits of api- 

 arian supplies, comprising specimens of all 

 approved hives and every tool, device, and 

 preparation needed in the pursuit of apicul- 

 ture. 



Several State and Provincial exhibits are al- 

 ready assured, and others are under advise- 

 ment. It may also be stated that individuals, 

 no matter where situated within the Americas, 

 have an opportunity to exhibit their apiarian 

 manufactures and products. One person in 

 this class proposes to install an exhibit com- 

 prising a carload of 30.000 pounds of comb 

 honey, and it is expected that there will be 

 others of great magnitude, especially from lo- 

 calities noted for large production of honey 



