200 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bro. York was thinking of Sockless Jerry!" 

 If we remember correctly, in the editorial 

 in question we described our owu ''dress 

 suit " when Mifi worked on the farm. Be- 

 sides, we are very certain that we looked 

 at Dr. Miller several times, and we are sure 

 we didn't see any "stockings" on him. 

 Mind you, we don't say he was " sockless," 

 but he must remember that we don't look 

 through two pairs of "eyes" yet, as he 

 does, and so could not expect to see through 

 cowhide shoes! 



Better believe we're glad we are 66}.^ 

 miles away from that "libelous" "Stray- 

 Straw" "Sucker" and his electric rawhide! 



Xliree IIoiiey-Mants.— Mr. J. E. 



Prichard, of Port Norris, N. J., writes 

 thus: 



I send you samples of our bee-plants. 

 Please name them for me in their order. 

 No. 1 is nearly done blooming. No. 2 is just 

 in its glory, and No. 3 is not yet in bloom. 

 It has a purple flower, and leaves a seed-ball 

 about }i inch square. They are all good 

 honey-plants, and abundant in the swamps. 

 J. E. Prichard. 



The plants you sent for naming are as 

 follows : 



No. 1. VepJinhiutJiHS ocndentalitf — button- 

 bush. 



No. 2. Clethra ahdfoUa— sweet pepper-bush. 



No. 3. Becodon vertkillatus — swamp loose- 

 strife. 



In tlie ilitcen^iii l>oiiia,ins is the 



suggestive title of a captivating two-page 

 article on bee-keeping written for the un- 

 initiated, by our esteemed friend, Hon. 

 Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa. It ap- 

 peared in the August number of Tlie Mid- 

 land MoHtlilii—a. prosperous and wide-awake 

 periodical (somewhat after the style of the 

 CeiLtur;/), published at Des Moiues, Iowa. 

 Bro. Secor's portrait done in delicate half- 

 tone, and printed on enameled paper, with 

 those of other contributors, grace the front 

 pages of the August Mldltmd. 



liilro<lii<-iii;;- Tirgiii ^fciiecns.— 



Bro. Alley's jjlan of introducing queens, as 

 given in a recent issue of his A/ucullimM, is 

 descril)ed thus: 



After the bees are in at night, say half an 

 hour before dark, the entrance is i^lugged 

 by a plantain leaf to i)revent the bees from 

 coming out, and to keep smoke in. Tobacco 

 smoke is then blown into the hive. 



and the virgin queen introduced at 

 once. It is all done in less than one min- 

 ute's work to each queen. 



Fertilized queens can be introduced in 

 the same way, when the circumstances 

 make it necessary to introduce a queen 

 quickly. We have introduced hundreds of 

 them in the same way. 



We have gone into an apiary right at a 

 time in the day when bees were working in 

 full force ; temperature at 90 degrees in 

 the shade, and changed queens by driving 

 out the old queen and introducing the new 

 one at once. It can be done by fumigation 

 with tobacco, and in no other way that we 

 know of. 



Of course one must have a fair amount of 

 experience in this work, in order to be suc- 

 cessful in all cases. It can be done, how- 

 ever. 



Sweet Clover "Straws," from 

 Marengo, 111., as follows, were found in 



Gledulngs for Aug. 1st: 



Sweet clover stands up bravely through 

 the terrific drouth. While grass is burned 

 brown as in winter, sweet clover is bright 

 and green, the bees working on it all day 

 long, except in the morning, when perhaps 

 they work on cucumbers. 



Sweet clover that was cut early, and 

 sprung up again, seems more fully visited 

 by the bees than the big stalks that were 

 left untouched. Where people persist in 

 cutting it down on the roadside, leaving 

 all other weeds standing, it would be a 

 good thing to get it cut before any sign of 

 blossom. 



During the past year we have published 

 some fine testimonials in favor of sweet 

 clover as a honey-plant, and especially as a 

 drouth-withstander. It seems to us that 

 bee-keepers ought to see to it that seed of 

 this plant, as well as others, should be 

 scattered widely in waste-places and else- 

 where, so that at least a small crop of 

 honey would be assured every year. 

 Farmers provide pasture for other farm 

 stock— why not for the bees ? 



Iiiitialiyiing- tJic Kec - Papers, 



when referring to them in public print, is 

 certainly meaningless, if not actually dis- 

 courteous. Bro. Root thinks that in such 

 matter as "Stray Straws," where the 

 names of the different bee-papers are re- 

 ferred to so often, " a shorter way of in- 

 dicating them seems almost indispensable." 

 Suppose we grant that. Then to be con- 

 sistent, Avhenever Bro. Root there refers to 

 the American Bee Journal as " A. B. J.," 

 he should use '' J>.-K. Jf for Bee-Keepers' 

 Rcv'icm. " /'. H.-Ky for Proifreimwe Bee- 



