582 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 1, 1895, you can secure the subscrip- 

 tions of these " short termers " for the year 

 1895, you can count them as new subscrib- 

 ers and get the premiums as per our ofifers 

 on page 578 of this issue. Eight "short 

 term " subscribers at 10 cents each, will 

 count the same as one new subscriber for a 

 year, in earning premiums. 



If you wish sample copies to use in secur- 

 ing the " short term " or other subscribers, 

 let us know, and we will be glad to mail 

 them to you free. 



We ought to add thousands of names to 

 our list on this very low offer — 8 numbers 

 for 10 cents ! Xow is the time for earned work .' 



Mi*. C. is. ISaiilcstou, of Chriesman, 

 Tex., has been employed by Mrs. Atchley 

 to work in her apiaries in 1895. Mr. B. is 

 one of the many queen-breeders of the 

 South, and will be a valuable help in Mrs. 

 A.'s bee-yards. 



Xlie Van Oeiiseii Fou.n<1ation, 



as nearly all bee-keepers know, has flat bot- 

 toms to the cells. Heretofore the manu- 

 facturers have been putting it up in boxes 

 holding 25 pounds each, but we learn from 

 the "Review" that "another year it will 

 be put up in smaller packages — as small as 

 61^ pounds. Retailers are often called upon 

 for small quantities, and the work of pre- 

 paring it for shipment takes up a good 

 share of the profits. The proposed plan 

 will do away with this objection." 



Xennossfc Uee-l>4^alers.— One of 

 our Colorado subscribers writes us as fol- 

 lows: 



" Can you not induce some of the Ten- 

 nessee apiarists to advertise in the " Bee 

 Journal." I, as well as a number of my 

 neighbors, want to buy bees for next May 

 delivery, and I fail to see the advertiseraeut 

 of any one from tliere in the '-Bee Journal." 

 I hope to find the advertisements of a num- 

 ber of responsible bee-shippers in the "Jour- 

 nal" soon, from the State of Tennessee." 



We are ready at all times to receive the 

 advertisements of reliable bee-shippers 

 from Tennessee or any other State. Come 

 on with your advertisements. 



A llaIi-l>o%4>ii Mercers are shown 

 on a page of "Gleanings" for Oct. 15th. 

 They're a fine-looking group — father, 

 mother, and four healthy-looking, hand- 

 some sons. It's a good "ad" for Califor- 

 nia climate. They all live in Ventura. 



i^tiug-Iess Kees in Costa Rica. — 



Mr. Richard Pfau, of San Jose, Costa Rica, 

 in a late number of "Gleanings," wrote as 

 follows about the stingless bees in Central 

 America : 



In Costa Rica there are about five known 

 kinds of stingless bees ; but only two of 

 them are valued for their honey, and are 

 kept for that purpose in rough logs hung 

 down alongside the verandas. One sort, 

 called " jicote " (he-co-tay), is a handsome 

 bee, nearly of the size of a German bee. Its 

 color is a brilliant black, with fi.ve very 

 narrow golden bands, which, to be discov- 

 ered, need close attention ; hence, its gen- 

 eral appearance, which, at first, seems to 

 be a brownish yellow, as compared with 

 the bee of Yucatan, which probably is 

 nothing but the same jicote, common all 

 over Central America. 



The jicotes build circular combs, with 

 small hexagonal cells for the brood, and 

 large pockets of blackish wax for the 



Stingless Queen, Drone and Worker. 



honey, which is taken off once every year. 

 I always keep some logs with jicotes in the 

 midst of my apiary of Italians ; but all my 

 trials to get them to work in a more civi- 

 lized fashion in my dovetailed hives proved 

 useless; neither have I much hope that 

 some day hybrids may result, as the queen 

 of the jicotes is very distinct from her 

 majesties of other races, her abdomen be- 

 ing a large snow-white ball, full of eggs. 



The other sort of stingless bees, called 

 " mariaseca," is rather scarce, but cele- 

 brated here for its delicious honey,although 

 to my taste it rather resembles Italian 

 honey mixed with some syrnp and plenty 

 of water. The mariaseca bee is exceedingly 

 small — scarcely larger than the head of an 

 Italian drone, and it is leather-colored. 

 Although in av)pearance the mariaseca 

 seems to be very distinct from the jicote, 

 its way of building brood-combs and honey- 

 bags is nearly identical, except that the 

 wax is leather-colored, and everything has 

 much smaller proportions. 



Xlial Texas Ifee-Meeting at Bee- 



ville, on Dec. 27th and 28th, premises to be 

 a notable event for Southern bee-keepers. 

 Mrs. Atchley is making extensive prepara- 

 tions, and looks for a big crowd. Mr. F. A. 

 Lockhart, of Lake George, N. Y., expects 

 to be there, and also other prominent bee- 

 folks of the North. 



