THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



3ia 



is nothing to be compared to it. Like 

 everytliing else, it came to an end. The 

 sun gently lifted the fog, and tlien such a 

 i-iisli_the approach of a sudden shower 

 would never produce as nuich commotion. 



EFFECT OF A BEE STING. 



In this same fall, wliile working among 

 my bees, I was stung on the third linger of 

 my hand. In an instant my whole hand 

 was paralized. The comb I hapDened to 

 hold in my hand dropi^ed. The pain was 

 severe; it was sore to the touch for three 

 months, and for a whole year when the part 

 was rubbed an unpleasant sensation was 

 produced. I have ke])t bees for 20 years 

 and have been stung in every part of the 

 body, but never with such effect. 



A BEE IN THE EAR. 



One day while carrying a swarm of bees 

 on my shoulder, up a steep hill, my foot 

 slipped and I tell on one knee. The cap 

 slipped to one side, so that the bees rushed 

 out, and being close to my head, many were 

 about my ears. One entered my ear and 

 was trying to enter my head; with one 

 finger I tried to remove her, but that made 

 matters worse. I pulled off the abdomen, 

 but the head and thorax entered my liead. 

 It was a terrible feeling, and I am satisfied 

 no man could long stand it. 1 did not know 

 what to do, but in the terrible situation I 

 started for a doctor— happily, on the way 

 the front part of the bee crawled out again. 



TWO BEES ROBBING EACH OTHER. 



One day in April, this year, I noticed one 

 of my bees robbing another. They were of 

 about equal strength. I at once changed 

 stands, but the next day, to 'my surprise, 1 

 found the robber bees (now in the other 

 hive) robbing their late home. I changed 

 them several times, but always with the 

 same result, and at last to my astonishment 

 I found them robbing each other. 1 left 

 them thus for two days, the excitement 

 continually increasing. No pollen was 

 gathered from flowers, all their energy was 

 directed to robbing; they both had con- 

 siderable honey, but it was nearly all used 

 up during this exciteuient. 



New Berlin, Pa. R. B. Oldt. 



For the American Bee .Journal. 



Cyprian Bees. 



Nearly all my visitors admire the beauty 

 of the Cyprian bees. The queens are larger 

 and more beautiful than any queens we 

 ever saw. The drones are of a cleep red or 

 copper color, and when they mingle with 

 the red workers they look nearly a blue 

 color. All the bees when hatched look 

 nearly white. The workers are very taper- 

 ing, with six bands encircling tiieir bodies; 

 and at the side of them are two white, 

 downy spots running lengthwise. Their 

 superiority in working qualities cannot be 

 over-estimated, as can be proved by dozens 

 of visitors. 



One hive (No. 7) swarmed five times 

 naturally in 18 days; before it swarmed it 

 gave 154 lbs. of surplus honey, and filled 9 

 Quinby frames of brood. The swarms have 

 filled 58 frames of brood and given 192 lbs. 

 of surplus up to date (Aug. 18); making in 

 all 67 Quinby frames oi brood and 346 lbs. of 

 choice cap honey, which I sold to Adcock & 

 Bro., of Macomb, 111., at 20c. cash (.'$69.20). 



Then I reared and sold 12 queens for $60, 

 and sold 5 of the swarms, at $10 each, to M. 

 Brown, Industry, 111., cash $50. Making 

 $110 for queens and swarms. The grand 

 total is $179.20. 



The Cyprian bees beat the world. I 

 intend to sell my connnon stock at $5 each, 

 and leave none in my apiary. I have a pure 

 gray queen from D. Staples, wliich is a 

 beauty, and I have 3 Egyntian queens, 

 bought of Mr. Ayres, of Springfield, 111., 

 which are very large. 



The season now is better than I have seen 

 it for many a year. Have taken from 125 

 colonies nearly 3,000 lbs., and expect 2,000 

 tt)s. more. 



My Cyprian bees will be at the McDon- 

 ough Co., III., fair, Aug. 27th to Sept. 1st; 

 and at our B. K. convention at Oquawka, 

 111., Oct. 2ud. Hardin Haines. 



Vermont, 111., Aug. 18, 1877. 



For the Amerieau Bee Journal. 



A Visit to an Illinois Bee-Keeper. 



Being but a novice in bee-keeping, and by 

 chance being slightly acquainted wltli Mr. 

 1). D. Palmer, of Eliza township, Mercer 

 Co., I made him a short visit on .June 11th 

 last, and found him busy with his apiary, 

 consisting of about 130 stands of bees all in 

 first-rate order, etc. 



But as a litte knowledge creates a desire 

 to possess more, I took another trip to his 

 place and found that his bees had increased 

 to over 200 stands, and yet on Aug. 8th they 

 gained bountifully. I found that the ex- 

 tractor had been used on 10 hives, from 

 which he had taken .500 lbs. of honey of the 

 purest quality. From the remainder he had 

 taken 4,000 lbs. of box honey, most of it iu 

 boxes uiade up of sections. By the end of 

 the season he will swell his amount of 

 honey from 10,000 to 12,000 lbs. Let me say 

 that everything pertaining to the business 

 is done on strictly scientific principles. So 

 much for the honey part. Mr. Palmer is 

 also engaged in the cultivation of small 

 fruits. He has a raspberry that is a seed- 

 ling, which he has named "Sweet Home," 

 that bids fair to outstrip all known varieties 

 both in hardiness, size of berry, and un- 

 equalled productiveness. He is also plant- 

 ing many other varieties, as well as grapes, 

 etc. 



Mr. P. gave me the August number of the 

 JouRNAE, in which I find an article from a 

 Mr. Anderson, of Lawrence, 111., in which 

 he says, under date of July 9th, 1877, that in 

 the spring he had 80 stocks of black bees 

 and has doubled the number and taken 100 

 lbs. of white clover honey, and some stocks 

 less than 10 days old had stored over 15 lbs. 

 of honey in boxes. 



The probability is that the whole swarm 

 went into boxes when first hived. He 

 winds up with a comijarison with some 

 black bees just over the fence, that had 

 proved themselves inferior to his in every 

 respect. I would just ask Mr. A. with 

 much respect, where his bees are by the 

 side of Mr. Palmer's ? 



On my first visit to Mr. P., I obtained of 

 him two nuclei of Italian bees, and without 

 any additional brood or anything else, they 

 have each of them filled a hive containing 

 18 frames, 12 in. square in the clear, and 

 will weigh more than 100 Rs. each. 



