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275 



XHOmAS «. NEYVmAIV, 



EDITOR. 



Vol. mi, April 26,1890. No. 17, 



Xlie Ueesi are daily winging 

 Their way to distant fields, 



And from the sweet bloom bringing 

 The treasures which it yields. 



Oh, that we all were learning. 

 If we the '* prize " would win. 



To daily toil be turning. 

 And constant work begin. 



— AXNA MiLTOXA. 



tW Prof. A. J. Cook sustained quite ■ 

 loss by fire on his farm in February. 



The Unuiiiual amount of warm 

 weather during the winter months has 

 kept the temperature in winter repositories 

 so high that the aid of ice has been neces- 

 sary quite frequently to cool the place. 



A Liiberal Premium List is presented 

 for the Bee-Department of the Minnesota 

 State Fair. The Secretary, Col. W. M. 

 Liggett, of Hamline, Minn., will furnish 

 Premium List and information on applica- 

 tion. 



^W The Apiculturist for April is on our 

 desk. It is, as usual, filled with spicy read- 

 ing for bee-keepers. The Apiculturist is 

 fully up with the times, and it is a pleasure 

 to read every copy as it comes to hand. It 

 richly deserves its success. 



A Fire destroyed the factory of Ct. B. 

 Lewis & Co., at Watertown, Wis., on Sat- 

 urday, April 19. The origin of the fire is 

 unknown. Loss, S15,000, with an insur- 

 ance of ?4, 500. This is a heavy blow for 

 the enterprising firm, for their stock of 

 hives and sections were all destroyed ; but 

 their well-known enterprise and vivi will 

 soon find new quarters and adequate ma- 

 chinery to resume business in the shortest 

 possible time. 



Tlie CansKlian Xarill' Revision 



is being made, and the Canadiiin Bee 

 Journal justly comi)lains of its "honey" 

 item. It says : 



In the revised tariff just submitted to the 

 Dominion Parliament by the Minister of 

 Finance, the following paragraph appears : 



'* 76. Honey and imitations thereof in the comb or 

 otherwise, three cents pei- pound." 



It seems to us that if we allow this to 

 become embodied into the tariff, perma- 

 nently, that we will be tacitly admitting 

 that there is such a thing as "imitation" 

 honey. This is especially bad in the case 

 of " comb honey," because no such thing as 

 "imitation" comb honey has ever been 

 made or offered for sale. We are forced to 

 admit there are adulterations of honey in 

 its extracted form, but the wording of the 

 paragraph can be changed to suit the case 

 much better, as follows: "Honey in the 

 comb, or extracted and adulterations 

 thereof." 



It is all-important to watch the actions 

 of those who know nothing of honey-pro- 

 duction. They are so liable to make mis- 

 takes, which are full of danger to the pur- 

 suit — especially when they presume to 

 legislate about it. Keep them to the mark, 

 and thus compel them to do justice to 

 honey-producers. 



The Work of'llie Cyclone in the 



apiary of E. Drane, of Eminence, Ky., was 

 graphically set before our readers in a 

 letter on page 253. Mr. Drane gives further 

 particulars in a letter dated on April 14, 

 1890. He says: 



It was thirteen buildings destroyed, not 

 three. The brick smoke-house only had the 

 roof, gable, and part of one wall blown off. 

 The poultry-house escaped with half the 

 roof off and several holes shot by flying 

 timbers from shop and honey-house. There 

 were nearly four miles of fences wrecked. 

 I believe there are 100 wagon loads of 

 kindling wood, less than two feet long, on 

 our farm. Thousands of people who have 

 seen the wreck, say that they never saw 

 anything to equal it. E. Drane. 



Mr. Drane has sent us a photograph of 

 the apiary, taken ."since the cyclone's visit 

 to it, which shows the terrible work done 

 by it. Large trees were torn to pieces, and 

 others taken up by the roots. Buildings, 

 hives, and everything in the apiary were 

 tossed about as if they were matches, and 

 scattered promiscuously about. The photo 

 is placed in our office Album. 



Honey-Oew. so-called, for winter 

 stores for bees has been tested by Mr. Ira 

 Barber, of De Kalb Junction, N. Y., and 

 he has made the following report, dated 

 April 17, 1890: 



According to jiromise, I will give the 

 condition of the bee.^;, after living on " bug- 

 juice" for five mouths, for quite a number 

 of them had nothing to live on but that. 

 All that had queens have wintered in fine 

 condition. Four colonies out of the 140 

 were queenless, and failed to winter. Many 

 of the hives are quite badly soiled on the 

 outside, but no damage is done. The tim- 

 ber that the bugs and bees frequented in 

 this locality, was swamp-elm. The tem- 

 perature that the bees were wintered in, 

 was from 46 to 56 degrees. Ira Barber. 



Japan.— The Secretary of Agriculture 

 hits just been advised by the Secretarj' of 

 the State, that by the courtesy of the Im- 

 perial Government of Japan at Washing- 

 ton, the Japanese Charge' d' Affaires, Mr. 

 Aimaro Sato, has placed at the disposal of 

 the American government, some invita- 

 tions to the Agricultural and Industrial 

 Exposition which has just opened at Tokio, 

 and will bo continued until July 31. 



These invitations are extended through 

 the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce 

 of Japan, and entitle the recipients to 

 special privileges in connection with the 

 Exposition, and as regards traveling in all 

 parts of the Empire. They would unques- 

 tionably serve as most valuable pass-ports 

 to American visitors, seeking to acquaint 

 themselves with the agricultural and indus- 

 trial resources of Japan, and to extend 

 American trade in that direction. 



California Honey Crop In eon 



versation with an experienced liJee-keeper a 

 few days ago, he said it was a fortunate 

 thing that bees had stings; if it was not so 

 everybody would be keeping bees, and 

 they would be as plentiful as the common 

 house-fly ; and honey would be so plentiful 

 that it would be sticking to everything; 

 that the world would get tired of it and 

 exterminate the bees to get rid of the 

 honey. Perhaps there is some ground for 

 our friend's remarks, but unless there is a 

 change in our climatic conditions there 

 will be no surplus of honey to grieve over 

 in Southern California this year. Con- 

 tinued rains, cold nights, and an abundance 

 of snow in the mountains in March, are 

 not such suiToundings as are calculated to 

 make an abundant honey harvest. — Exch. 



Xlie Report of the New York State 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention held last Feb- 

 ruary, is printed in pamphlet form. A 

 copy of it has just been received by mail. 

 It contains 34 pages, and is a fair report of 

 the meeting— though not a full one. A 

 copy of it may be obtained of the Secre- 

 tary, G. H. Knickerbocker, of Pine Plains, 

 N. Y., for 10 cents. 



This Association was founded by the late 

 M. Quinby, in 1868. 



A new pamphlet is on our desk, 

 entitled "Pratt's New System of Nuclei 

 Management." It contains 10 pages, and 

 is issued by E. L. Pratt, of Marlboro, Mass. 

 He details his nuclei system of manage- 

 ment, and experiments with Carniolan 

 bees. He does not say so, but we presume 

 it is intended as his Circular and Price List 

 for 1890. All those interested should send 

 for a copy. 



An Early Stvarni is reported at 

 Palmyra, Ills., ou the 7th iust., by Warren 

 Smith. The bees clustered on a tree. He 

 hived them and gave them a frame of 

 honey, but they were robbed. Mr. E. H. 

 Groh, of Dixon, lUs., reports that his bees 

 were gathering pollen all day on April 13. 

 Since, it has been quite cold in nothern Ills. 



