show us the " more excellent way." — 

 This we ask, especially as we desire 

 the welfare of the Association and the 

 advancement of bee-cultm'e. 



Honey.— The BaUlmorean, of Balti- 

 more, Md., reviews our pamphlet on 

 Honey, and after enumerating the con- 

 tents, adds: "We learn from this 

 pamphlet much about honey which it 

 would be well for mankind generally 

 to know. Pure honey should be always 

 freely used in every family, and honey 

 eaten upon wheat bread is very benefi- 

 cial to health." The Baltimorean is 

 riglit — it WOULD be well for mankind 

 in general to know it ; and thus save 

 much of the sickness and suffering 

 now prevalent in the world. 



Angeeed Bees.— C4. Henderson, of 

 Ealing, England, gives the following 

 instance of bees wreaking vengeance 

 on an innocent hen and seven chickens, 

 for supposed injury to their hive. In 

 the British Bee Journal for July, he 

 says : 



" On returning home about mid-day, 

 a short time ago, I was informed that 

 my bees had, during the morning, been 

 guilty of a sad misdemeanor. A hen 

 with seven, fine, healthy chickens, 

 imder a coop, had been placed within 

 two yards of one of my hives. Sud- 

 denly the bees had rushed out and 

 attacked their unoffending neighbors, 

 stinging them most mercilessly. The 

 hen and chicks were at once taken into 

 the house, but althougli every care was 

 taken to remove the stings, &c., six of 

 the chickens succumbed in a very short 

 time ; the seventh, being at the time, 

 I j)resume, under the sheltering wing 

 of its mother, had not been touched. — 

 The hen-mother was a sad sight, her 

 head and neck were literally bristling 

 with stings, and her eyes closed up. — 

 She seemed to suffer much pain, and 

 for two days was unable to eat ; on the 

 third day one eye opened, and on tlie 

 fourth the other. After that, she 

 gradually threw off the effects of the 

 virus, and at the end of the week she 

 was herself again. I had no difficulty, 

 on opening the hive that was next the 

 coop, in discovering the cause of this 

 fierce onslaught. A bar, which barely 

 reached the sides of a super, had fallen 

 into the midst of the astonished bees, 

 and they, fancying their domicile had 



been attacked, had rushed out with a 

 full and fell purpose of wreaking ven- 

 geance on their disturbers. The pun- 

 ishment inflicted was indeed sliort, 

 sharp, and decisive ; but, as is too 

 often the case with higher-reasoned 

 beings, the innocent suffered for the 

 guilty." 



Artificial.— I^ewton, seeing a fall- 

 ing apple, asked, why ? Franklin, upon 

 witnessing the lightning's flash, ask- 

 ed, lohy? Fulton, perceiving the force 

 contained in steam, asked, why? — 

 Thousands of scientific discoveries 

 have resulted from some one asking 

 vjhyf When we hear persons call Comb 

 Foimdation "artificial," we naturally 

 ask, whyf Artificial is " tmnatural," 

 " fraudulent," an " imitation !" What 

 is there wimatural about Comb ro;iinda- 

 tion V Is the wax unnatural ? Does 

 melting, and dipping a board in it, 

 make it a fraud ? Does peeling bff the 

 cooling sheet of wax from the board 

 make it an " imitation V" Or running 

 it between rollers, pressing configura- 

 tions into it, make it unnatural ? If 

 so, why do the bees take to it so natu- 

 rally, instantly siezing it, building it 

 out into beautiful cells, in which to 

 raise their brood or store their honey ? 

 Is not everything genuine, natural and 

 real ? Then ivhy, in the name of com- 

 mon sense, should it be called " artifi- 

 cial V" We much prefer the real, the 

 natural, the genuine, be it ever so plain, 

 to the gilded fraud, or the elegant imi- 

 tation ! Don't you V Let all ask, why f 

 An honest doubt often leads to greater 

 truth ! 



1^ That " floating apiary " of Mr. C. 

 O. Perrine's has passed St. Louis and 

 is making its way north. The season 

 was much earlier than usual in the 

 North this year, and Mr. P. did not 

 start till May 13th, six weeks after he 

 intended, so that it has not really had 

 a "fair show," though Mr. P. says he 

 is well satisfied with the result, and 

 intends to prosecute it with increasing 

 vigor, next season. It is pluck that 

 wins, usually. 



