THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



243 



WEEKLY EDITION 



OF THE 



^jY^M^'^lGAn,_.^ 



illJOiJllIlL 



PUBLISHED BY 



THOMAS Q. NEWMAN, 



KDITOIl AND PKOPIUETOR, 



925 WEST MADISON-STREET, CHICAGO, ILL. 



Weekly, BZ a year ; Monthly, 50 cents. 



Vol. XXI. April 22, 1885. No. 16. 



1^ Quite a number of those who 

 write to this office on business forget 

 to mention the State in which they re- 

 side. Tliis makes consideraWe trouble 

 as tliere are so many post- offices 

 in every State, with nauies exactly 

 alike. We have several letters which 

 contained money for books which can- 

 not be lilled because of this lack of 

 definiteness in the address. When 

 the stamp of the post-office is reada- 

 ble, trouble is avoided, but too often 

 such stamps are so indistinct tliat they 

 cannot be read at all. 



1^ The Popular Science Monthly for 

 April contains a good article on " Ap- 

 iculture " from the pen of Mr. Allen 

 Pringle, of Canada. 



^" Whatever may be needed in the 

 apiary during the coming season, 

 should be ordered now, in order to 

 have it on hand when wanted. The 

 supply dealers will be able to give 

 personal attention to all orders sent in 

 now, before the rush commences. 



^° Mv. Moore, of Monroe, L;i., lias 

 sent us a copy of a letter by the bee- 

 men at the World's Exposition, at 

 New Orleans, La., sent to Mrs. .Julia 

 Ward Howe, president of theWoman's 

 Department, concerning the bee-hive 

 in the Massachusetts Department 

 from " Lizzie Cotton,' wlio is "known 

 to fame" as "the woman from Maine." 

 She has a large placard over the hive 

 claiming a very large yield to show 

 its superiority over all others. They 

 reported to Mrs. Howe that there was 

 no iic«i feature about the hive, that 

 the woman was from Maine and not 

 Massachusetts, and that she had been 

 repeatedly published as a fraud all 

 over the Country, and asked that the 

 hive be excluded from the Exposition. 



Mrs. L. Harrison remarks as fol- 

 lows in the Prairie Farmer about this 

 exhibit : 



In the exhibit of Woman's Inven- 

 tion, my eye caught sight of a placard 

 bearing these words : " Mrs. Lizzie 

 C. Cotton's Controllable Bee-Hive and 

 New System of ]5ee- Management, 



etc." Bee-keepers from Maine to 



Oregon are furious, not at being 

 swindled tliemselves, but at seeing 

 others, who are not posted, cheated 

 out of their money. This wonderful 

 "Controllable Bee-Hive," consists of 

 a box, with a few movable frames in 

 it, and a division-board each side of 

 them. What part did the renowned 

 " Lizzie " invent i* All that is good 

 about it, the movable frame, was in- 

 vented by L. L. Langstroth. Anyone 

 who has not bees enough to fill his 

 hive, can slip in a board to make it 

 smaller. 



1^ AVe regret to learn that Mr. 

 John Aspinwall, one of the proprie- 

 tors of tlie Bee- Keepers'' Magazine, lost 

 his residence and all its contents at 

 Barrytown, N. Y., by fire on Mar. 12. 



^^ We have received a new book 

 entitled, "Money in Potatoes," by 

 " Joseph ; " which is the nom de plume 

 for Tuisco Greiner, with whom our 

 readers are familiar, being one of the 

 "Greiner Brothers of Naples, N. Y.," 

 who have contributed many articles 

 for the Bee Journal, and have been 

 successful in keeping bees. This book 

 shows how to raise "400 bushels to 

 the acre " as a field crop. It is pub- 

 lished by the Franklin News Co., of 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



t^ Every apiarist who wishes to 

 develop " the best characteristics in 

 tlie bees," should carefully record the 

 leading features of both the queens 

 and the colonies. This can l)est be 

 done in an "Apiary Register," which 

 can be obtained so arranged as to give 

 a complete record of .50, 10) or 200 col- 

 onies of bees, with two opposite pages 

 numbered to correspond with the num- 

 ber on each hive. This can be re- 

 ferred to insuantly, and should contain 

 a full history of the colony. By its 

 careful and constant use the bees may 

 be improved, their most valuable 

 qualities developed, and the products 

 of the apiary greatly enlarged. Should 

 a queen lack any desirable quality, 

 you will in this way soon discover it, 

 and can supersede her. In this Reg- 

 ister let all the important facts be 

 noted, and by its complete history of 

 each colony you may systematize all 

 your work, lay it out in advance, save 

 confusion, and inaugurate the best 

 methods and management. 



1^ Mr. F. L. Dougherty gives the 

 following items in the Indiana, Far- 

 mer : 



To all lovers of nature there is much 

 more in a bee-hive than wax, bees 

 and honey. 



Now is the time to make up your 

 mind just what you are going to do. 

 Do not hesitate until the season is on, 

 and then expect any grand results. 



The white honey crop with but few 

 exceptions is all gathered within the 

 short period of 4 weeks or less time. 

 For successful work the hives must 

 be full of bees and brood at the com- 

 mencement of the honey-flow. 



It is hardly necessary that we should 

 caution the older bee-keepers as to 

 the necessity of having everything in 

 readiness beforehund. Beginners, 

 however, are much inclined to wait 

 until they feel the need of articles be- 

 fore securing them. 



1^ In the spring is the best time to 

 move bees, because the honey does 

 not burden the combs, and there is 

 no danger of the combs being melted 

 down by the heat. 



1^ The Rural Californian makes 

 the following report concerning the 

 prospects for honey in California,: 



Bees are in good condition in south- 

 ern California— never better at this 

 season of the year. The acacia, wil- 

 low and blue-gum afford plenty of 

 pollen and honey, and the splendid 

 warm sunshine of the past month has 

 been all that could be desired to bring 

 about a prosperous state of affairs in 

 the apiary. Wild flowers are begin- 

 ning to bloom— the almond trees are 

 in blossom, and the late sort of 

 peaches are in bloom and covered 

 with bees from sunrise until sundown. 

 It is a singular fact that peaches 

 which ripen in October and November 

 are now in bloom, while the earlier 

 sorts make no show of blossoms as 

 yet. 



1^" An Exchange, whose editor was 

 in a funny mood, remarked thus about 

 bees and assessors : 



We hear of great losses of bees this 

 winter. The assessors, at least can 

 find few that are strong enough to 

 tax. What business have assessors to 

 tax bees, anyhow ? The only bee in 

 the hive, if there were 10,000 in it, 

 Ihat is old enough to tax, is the queen, 

 and nobody knows whether she is 

 alive or not. 



Catalogues for 1885.— We have re- 

 ceived the following : 



A. M. Gander, Adrian, Mich. 

 W. H. Proctor, Fair Haven, Vt. 

 J. D. Goodrich, East Hardwick, Vt. 

 H. A. Goodrich, Masscy, Texas. 

 F. D. Wellcome, Poland, Maine. — Bees, 

 Nursery Stock, etc. 



