1887 



GLEANLNGiS IN BEE CULTURE. 



407 



orders tor bees ami qiici-ns from the home 

 apiary. All those of .\ou who may see tit to 

 place with us your orders for l)ees and 



?ueens, we feel sure need not fear trouble 

 rom foul brood, as certainly the disease 

 would have made itself manifest ere this 

 had there been any trace of it. Those of 

 our customers who would prefer not to have 

 their orders for bees and ([ueens lilled from 

 our own apiary, cati have them lilled from 

 Neighbor H.'s apiaries by si> stating at the 

 time of ordering. I believe it isanaxicmi 

 among those who have had to do with foul 

 brood, that the disease can not be commu- 

 nicated from bees and queens when shipped 

 in cages. 



Remember, we ai-e selling bees b> tlie 

 pound for just half what we sold them for 

 last year. We did not bring the jirice down 

 because w^e thought the bees were any less 

 valuable, but because we thought our for- 

 mer price of $2.00 a pound in the month of 

 July was rather too high for those who were 

 desirous of economizing. A few^ years ago, 

 when we put the price of bees np, we had 

 been sustaining heavy winter losses, and we 

 felt that we could nnt therefore furnish bees 

 then at a dollar a pound in July ; but for 

 the past four or five years we have wintered 

 bees without any loss to speak of; and with 

 200 or more good colonies to begin with in 

 the spring, we decided that we could easily 

 return to our old prices — SI. 00 per pound for 

 juce young Italians in -luly and after, and 

 a 'corresponding increase during the cooler 

 months of the year. For this month our 

 price is $1.-50 ; next month, $1.2.5 per lb. 



APIAHISTS' HATS. 



We have just received a consignment of 

 tliose nice light summer hats for apiarists, 

 such as wras illustrated on page 1001, last 

 year, and described on page :!() of current vol- 

 ume. The covering of said hat is cloth of a 

 liglitdrab color. The brim is held out in 

 position by a light steel h.oop The inside 

 of the crown is so made that it is adjustable, 

 and will tit any head. The lower side of the 

 brim is covered with green cloth. W^hen 

 the hat is on the head, it feels so light and 

 easy that the wearer scarcely knows that he 

 has any covering at all over his pate ; and 

 the green color on the under side of the 

 brim has a kindly effect upon the eyes. I 

 have tried quite a number of hats "in the 

 apiary, and the one answering the descrip- 

 tion above is the one I very greatl>' prefer to 

 all others. I know of no hat that is better 

 adapted for holding the veil iiwny from the 

 face, and I think tlie apiarist who will give 

 this hat a trial for one season will not wish 

 to go back to the unsightly, uncomfortable, 

 and often ill-shapen straw hat. We can fur- 

 nish the apiarist's hat folded in a neat 

 package for the small sum of 20 cts. each ; 

 10 for Sl.SO ; postage, each, 2 cts. extra. 



.TEIIKING THE HANDS HACK AWAY FROM 

 THE TOP OK THE FRAMES. 



The other day, as I was passing through 

 the apiary I noticed one of our new men 

 jerking his hand nervously away from the 

 top of the frames. I surmised that a bee 

 had bumped against his fingers, with the ap- 

 parent intention of intlicting a sting. When 



I reached him I found that I was coirect. I 

 told him to try holding his hand perfectly 

 m(!ti{)nless the next time a bee darted forth 

 and bumped against his fingers. It might 

 recpiin^ some nerve force, but that if he 

 would try holding his hand still and let the 

 bee know that he was not afraid of it, there 

 were ten chances to one that it would not 

 sting him. He did as I told him, and after- 

 ward reported that it worked as I had said. 

 I give this little fact, not for the benefit of 

 the veterans, but for beginners and ABC 

 scholars. You will save many a hard sting 

 by holding youi- hand perfectly still when 

 one or perhaps a do/en bees strike against 

 your fingers. When you notice the tenden- 

 cy (m the part of the bees to dart out that 

 way you should give them plenty of smoke 

 over the top of tiie frames ; and as often as 

 they try to scare you, give them a little more 

 smoke. 



CIKJSS HYURIDS. 



On the 11th of May we purchased four 

 colonies of a farmer residing some two miles 

 from our place. When the bees arrived I 

 told the boys to take out the frames and 

 place them in our Simplicity hives, as they 

 had done with the forty other colonies pur- 

 chased of friends Rice and Shook. Not sus- 

 pecting any troulile, I went into the office 

 and was seated composedly. In abo\it half 

 an hour, father came in and said, " You had 

 better go out and see what the boys are do- 

 ing. The bees are pretty cross. Find out 

 whether there are any pieces of brood or 

 honey broken and lying aroinid."' I went 

 out to the apiary immediately. I made my 

 way directly to' the spot where the boys 

 were takingthe combs and placing them in 

 the Simplicity hives. As I neared the place 

 Mr. S. called out, •' i5etter put on a veil be- 

 fore you come here.'" I needed tio second 

 caution. Taking a roundabout course I 

 went to the house-apiary and procured a 

 veil. On coming up 1 found that the bees 

 were indeed, to put it mildly, ''awful cross." 

 There were perhaps 200 of the little scamps 

 flying around the heads of all three of us. 

 giving that angry hum such as is heard 

 from all cross hyltrids. I found there was 

 nothing particularly wrong, only that the 

 bees had not been handled before for a year 

 or more ; that being hauled a couple of 

 miles and then stirred up they were deter- 

 mined to vent their spite right liberally. 1 

 told the lioys that they had better desist for 

 the present. On looking over toward my 

 house which is in process of building (some 

 .'!00 feet away) I noticed one of the masons 

 striking wildly in the air as if mosquitoes 

 or some other small insects were disturbing 

 his peace of mind. I began to conclude 

 that' those vicious hybrids were not content 

 with buzzing around our heads, but were so 

 considerate as to call upon the masons. I 

 immediately went over and inquired wheth- 

 er the bees were bothering them. They re- 

 plied that they had killed a dozen or so -'of 

 them 'ere ]>esky little pioneers.'" Not con- 

 tent with bothering the masons they at- 

 tacked one or two horses on the street, and 

 even eiitered our saw- room amid the hum 

 of machinery. 

 Right here, while I am about it, I believe 



