DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XIII. 



Chicago, Illinois, June, 1877. 



No. 6. 



lititor^s ^aWe. 



It^^Old combs, from colonies that have 

 become extinct, should be cleansed and 

 fumigated with sulphur occasionally, to 

 prevent the moths from destroying them. 



C^^Luke Hitchcock, of Cook County, 

 111., informs us that he recently had a good 

 queen leave her hive and go to another — 

 and of course was killed as an intruder. 

 Have any of our readers had similar experi- 

 ence? 



IW The honey obtained from apple blos- 

 soms is scarcely merchantable, but the 

 beauty of it is, the bees will use it out of the 

 boxes to raise young bees, and so have the 

 combs in boxes already prepared for the 

 white clover harvest.— Gieamrigs in Bee- 

 Culture. 



E^" Among the many things that Herbert 

 A. Burch has done since he has figured as 

 secretary of the Michigan Bee-Keepers' As 

 sociation, none perhaps were more appro- 

 priate or agreeable than that which he did 

 on the 23d of April, assisted by the Kev. E. 

 A. Paddock— Miss Adelia E. Shoemaker is 

 the " happy bride." The A. B. J. extends 

 its congratulations. 



^W A wise-acre scribbler for the Chicago 

 Times, lately sent the following item on its 

 rounds among the provincial press of the 

 Northwest: , 



The little busy bee does not need to " im- 

 prove each shining hour" as it did when the 

 poet sung a pleasant ditty about the indus- 

 try of the sweet stinger. Honey is now 

 manufactured from corn syrup and glycer- 

 ine, and placed in artificial combs made 

 from paratfine by a patented machine. 



Manufactured honey is as scarce as hen's 

 teeth; finding no sale for it, that stuff soon 

 "gave up the ghost." Hence it is all moon- 

 shine about its being "placed in artificial 

 combs, made from paraSine by a patented 

 machine." It is a gross libel on comb foun- 

 dations. 



IW Friend Murphy has forwarded for 

 our inspection his Centennial award for 

 diploma and medal for his extractor. It is 

 in "due form," and, as we stated in our last 

 issue, is duly recorded in the official list of 

 awards on page 25. 



IIt^° There is a species of parasitic larva 

 called volucella bovibylous, which live in 

 the nests of bumble bees braving the fury 

 of their stings and devouring their young. 

 These are a different species from those 

 that sometimes infest the honey bee and its 

 home. 



J^" California is parched with a severe 

 drouth, the like of which has not occurred 

 for 25 years. The prospects for honey there 

 is discouraging. In one or two sections 

 there has been some rain, and the promi- 

 nent bee-keepers on the Pacific Coast have 

 been engaged in moving their bees to more 

 favorable locations. Los Angeles has had 

 some late showers, but they came too late to 

 help the leading honey plants, still they 

 may help the later feed. 



C^" Beginners should now be careful to 

 keep all colonies well supplied with vigor- 

 ous and prolific queens. Colonies may be 

 divided as much as required to prevent 

 them from attempting to swarm. If the 

 queen has no room to deposit eggs, use the 

 extractor. If comb honey is desired, adjust 

 boxes or frames for them to work in. If 

 you wish to Italianize, this is the month to 

 do it in. White clover honey should be 

 kept separate from all other kinds. 



d^" The Los Angeles (Cal.) Herald says 

 that Mr. John Mountain, of Santa Monica, 

 has been capturing bees and honey in the 

 rocks of the Santa Monica range of moun- 

 tains, where they seem to exist in great 

 numbers, and many of them very rich in 

 choice honey. The Herald adds: " We 

 are informed that Messrs. Smith & Carlyle, 

 of Santa Monica, last season took sixty 

 swarms from the mountainsj along their 

 canon." 



