96 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



spends his symphathies with the pursuit, I 

 will try and look somewhat to the interests 

 of the pursuers. The American Bee 

 Journal rides victorously above all others, 

 probably because it is more closely devoted 

 to the best interests of the present honey 

 producers, and don't toggle on any outside 

 issues ! 



Gentlemen who hold an interest different 

 from mine and producers generally, and 

 who believe differently from us, we accord 

 to you your right to speak your little pieces. 

 When you choose, to defend your special 

 interests, and we feel no ill-will toward 

 you; but you will show your good sense by 

 always keeping your temper, and allowing 

 us the privileges we grant you. 



Perhaps enough has already been said 

 upon this subject, to suggest to each bee- 

 keeper the proper course to pursue. "Straws 

 show which way the wind blows." My 

 sympathies must ever be with the producer, 

 though I shall embrace the first chance to 

 sell out at no large sacrifice, and go to fruit 

 raising, as has H. E. Bidwell, of South 

 Haven, one of our finest practical apicul- 

 turists and horticulturists. I notice the de- 

 mand for fruit is so common and persistent, 

 that right here in this fruit country hun- 

 dreds of 1, 2 and o & cans are sold from 

 each grocery each season, and the same 

 shipped in here from thousands of miles 

 away. If honey would sell thus, we might 

 say, "Amen." I may be too much discour- 

 aged; but I think not. I have a much bet- 

 ter chance to feel the public honey pulse 

 than many others. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Jan. 4, 1877. 



P. S.— Allow me to thank Mr. J. P. Moore 

 for his able and manly effort (read at our 

 State Convention) to help the honey pro- 

 ducers of this country. No doubt but that 

 we all accord with VV. F. Clark's views ex- 



Eressed on page 13, 1877, that " We want a 

 ond of sympathy and union, like the en- 

 gineers," and don't forget that the object of 

 tlieir conventions is to forward the interests 

 of the already existing engineers, a part of 

 which is to not flood the country with en- 

 gineers, to the harm of those already en- 

 gineering, and ruin of the new comers. 



J. H. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Union Apiary. 



The harvest is over, the summer ended, 

 and now the question is: "How many of 

 our colonies will be saved after this long 

 winter?" How anxiously, as the buds com- 

 mence to swell and fruit trees throw out 

 their bloom, will many bee-keepers hold 

 their ear close to the side of the hive, rap 

 and listen in vain for the cheerful hum of 

 the departed ? If you have, until now. 

 neglected to give your colonies sufficient 

 protection, and failed to cover the frames 

 with proper absorbents, with sufficient 

 stores in each colony, it is of no use now 

 for me to counsel you, except to say: " Let 

 them alone, and like an old fogy, trust to 

 luck." If warm weather comes, and the 

 bees are flying, you may put some cream 

 candy or even lumps of crushed sugar over 

 the frames, and cover them up with a piece 

 of clean carpet or woolen blanket. I don't 

 like quilts made of cotton batting; they re- 

 tain the moisture, and I have seen them 

 even wet; in this condition, of course, they 



are very cold and injurious. Old worn-out 

 felt skirts are just the thing to spread over 

 the frames for wintering. 



Now the bees in the Union Apiary are all 

 tucked away in good warm hives (on their 

 summer stands), and we confidently expect 

 to bring every colony through safely, as we 

 liave done for three winters. 



The prize essays of Prof. Cook and Rev. 

 E. C. Briggs, published in the A. B. J., for 

 Dec, will well repay for a year's subscrip- 

 tion. I am glad, Mr. Editor, I was not one 

 of the committee to determine which of the 

 above were entitled to the prize. My 

 private opinion, publicly expressed, is that 

 I it is a drawn game. 



The hive we are using in the Union 

 Apiary is " Carpenter's porous, double- 

 walled, back-actioned bee hive." (You 

 needn't laugh !) It is really a back-actioned 

 bee hive, a desideratum never before at- 

 tained in a bee hive. A door lets down be- 

 hind, making a platform,and a single frame 

 of the entire brood frames can be pulled out 

 on this platform without disturbing the 

 frames or boxes in the upper story, or in- 

 terfering in the least with the working of 

 the bees in front of the hive. We did in- 

 tend to patent it, and to send it to the Cen- 

 tennial for exhibition, but could not raise 

 the needful. Sed G. Wick. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee Lice. 



Ch. Dad ant:— May I ask you to answer 

 the following questions: 



1st. Are you familiar with the European 

 bee louse. Beaula cceca ? 



2d. If so, do you regard it a serious pest ? 



3d. Have you ever detected it on any of 

 your imported bees, either queens or work- 

 ers? 



4th. If you had introduced a queen, late 

 in the autumn, and after the act, had found 

 lice on tiie workers that were caged with 

 her, what would be your course with the 

 colony containing the queen ? 



I desire these answers for the good of the 

 public. A. J. Cook. 



1 never saw bee lice in my apiary; yet at 

 three different times during ten years of 

 importing business, if I remember right, I 

 have seen a Braula cccca on the corslet of 

 imported queens, on their arrival here. Of 

 course 1 killed them. My children also re- 

 member having seen one or two of these 

 parasites crawling in the boxes, in which 

 dead queens had been received from Italy. 

 I do not remember having seen lice on 

 worker bees, either imported or home-bred. 



Having had so little experience with this 

 parasite, I am not prepared to answer Prof. 

 Cook's other questions; so I will quote 

 some from the European bee papers. 



In the Italian bee journal, U ATpicoltore., 

 for 1870, page 229, Prof. Cornalia, of Milan, 

 gives a lengthy and elaborate description of 

 this insect, and its natural history. From 

 it I translate the following: 



"This insect first described by Linneus, 

 in 1746. Linneus gave it the name of Acar- 

 us Oymnopletorum (the last word is deriv- 

 ed from two Greek words: guwnas, gym- 

 nastic, and plethos, multitude; aearns, 

 performing; hence they are said to perform 

 gymnastics in multitude). This name was 

 maintained by several other naturalists till 



