364 



Tmm MMERiC'Mf« mmm jQ^mnmi^. 



Hoiiey-Uew and Plant-Liice.— 



On page 264, Mr. A. C. Tyrrel, of Madison, 

 Nebr., in an article referring to the scanty 

 knowledge about the winter losses of bees, 

 gives some of his observations regarding 

 honey-dew and its origin ; and on page 314, 

 Mr. M. A. Kelly, of Slippery Rock, Pa., 

 also advances his "secretion theory" of 

 honey-dew, and suggests that those who 

 hold to the "excrement theory" concern- 

 ing its origin, send him samples of leaves 

 "having the honey-dew and the aphis " on 

 them, for examination. In reply to this 

 request, Mr. Tyrrel has sent us specimen 

 leaves with aphides and "honey-dew," 

 and comments as follows about it : 



I send you a twig covered with lice and 

 so-called honey-dew, for your opinion con- 

 cerning the same. You will notice by 

 examining the leaves that they appear to 

 be covered with excrement, or a substance 

 resembling honey thinly spread out, fairly 

 glistening in the sunlight. You will also 

 notice, if the lice do not drop from the twig 

 in transit, that there are hundreds of them, 

 and a few in an advanced stage having 

 wings. 



It is true, I do not live in a " wooded 

 country," but we have hundreds of box- 

 elder trees surrounding our residence, and 

 there are many large trees of the same 

 variety growing on the creek and river 

 banks. As these trees produce sugar nearly 

 equal to maple-trees, I think it not unrea- 

 sonable to infer that from the incisions in 

 the leaves and tender twigs by the pests, 

 oozes the sweet matter improperly called 

 honey-dew, and that in reality it is caused 

 by lice, and cannot be attributed to " con- 

 ditions of the atmosphere." 



If this were not the case, why is it that 

 those trees thus infected only are covered 

 with the sweet, sticky substance, which seems 

 to me prima facie evidence of the truth of 

 my allegations, viz : that honey-dew does 

 not drop from the heavens like the pur- 

 ported fall of manna, neither is it produced 

 by atmospheric conditions, but that it is 

 either excrement from or dripping of the 

 juice from leaves punctured by lice or 

 slugs. 



After all that can be said pro and cmx on 

 this subject, I think it makes but little 

 difiference, so far as the health of our bees 

 is concerned, where the stuff comes from, 

 and 1 do not care to say anything more on 

 this subject hereafter. 



A. C. Tyrrel. 



We have no opinion to offer as to the 

 origin of the so-called "honey-dew." We 

 prefer to leave that matter to scientific 

 minds to determine. We have sent the 

 twig to Mr. Kelly, after making an exami- 

 nation of it. We desire to hear from Prof. 

 A. J. Cook, and shall value his "opinion" 

 very highly. 



Handliner Bec!«. — This is the title of 

 a nice pamphlet containing 28 pages and a 

 cover, published by Chas. Dadant & Son. 

 It is a chapter from, their book, Langstroth 

 Revised, and is an excellent thing for be- 

 ginners. Price, 8 cts. For sale at this office. 



A " IWrectory of Writers "' is the 



name of a comprehensive book soon to be 

 offered to the public. 



A means of easy inter-communication 

 between writers, editors, and publishers 

 has long been needed. To supply this need, 

 the editor of The WriteTy the Boston maga- 

 zine for literary workers, has undertaken 

 to compile a "Directory of American 

 Writers, Editors, and Publishers," which 

 will be published at the earliest possible 

 day. No charge whatever will be made for 

 the insertion of names and addresses in this 

 directory, the usefulness of which, particu- 

 larly to editors and publishers who wish to 

 communicate with writers, will be evident 

 at a glance. 



The desire of the editor is to make the 

 directory as nearly complete as possible, 

 but the army of minor writers is so great 

 that it will be necessary to limit the num- 

 ber of addresses in some reasonable way. 

 It has been thought best, therefore, to 

 include in the first edition only the names 

 of writers who have had a contribution 

 printed in some one of the leading maga- 

 zines or weekly periodicals during the last 

 five years, who have or had a book pub- 

 lished within the last ten years. Writers 

 who are included in either of these classes 

 are requested to send at once to the editor 

 of T7if Writer, P. O. Box 1905, Boston, 

 Mass., the following items of information : 



1. Name of writer. 



2. Present residence. 



3. Permanent business address. 



4. Literary specialty. 



5. Titles of principal articles or books 

 printed, and dates of publication. 



This information should be sent promptly, 

 for the directory has been for some time 

 in preparation, and its publication wiU not 

 be long delayed. 



The editor of the directory will be obliged, 

 if, in addition, writers will send on a 

 separate sheet, iiot for publication in the 

 directory, autobiographical particulars, 

 including date of birth, place of birth, 

 parents' names, date of marriage, name of 

 husband or wife, successive places of resi- 

 dence, title and date of first work printed, 

 list of later works, and other such matter 

 as would be suitable for publication in a 

 " Biographical Dictionary of American 

 Authors," now in course of preparation. 



By the prompt co-operation of those who 

 are interested in the matter, the early pub- 

 lication of the directory may be secured. 

 Editors of periodicals, to whom the direc- 

 tory will be especially useful, are requested 

 to aid in the compilation by sending to the 

 editor the addresses of contributors who do 

 good work,but who may not have a national 

 reputation. The more of such addresses 

 the directory contains, the greater its use- 

 fulness to editors will be. 



The authors of bee-books aud writers for 

 bee-periodicals should send their names, 

 addresses, etc., so that the bee-interests 

 may be represented, as becometh their 

 importance. 



The Kiffhtli Edition of our book- 

 entitled " Bees and Honey, or the Manage- 

 ment of the Apiary for Pleasure and 

 Profit," is now published, and ready for 

 delivery. This edition has been largely 

 re-written, thoroughly revised, and is; 

 "fully up with the times" in all the 

 improvements and inventions in this 

 rapidly-developing pursuit, and presents 

 the apiarist with everything that can aid 

 i n the successful management of an apiary 

 and at the same time produce the most 

 honey in an attractive condition. It con- 

 tains 250 pages, aud 2-15 illustrations— is 

 beautifully printed in the highest style of 

 the art, and bound in cloth, gold lettered. 

 Price, -SI. 00, postpaid. 



Here are some of the earliest comments- 

 on this new edition : 



The 8th edition (revised) of "Bees and 

 Honey "is on my desk, and a gem it is; 

 printed on paper of the finest finish, and 

 with the clearest of type, fully up to the 

 times, profusely and beautifully illustrated 

 — making it, as an album alone, worth the- 

 dollar charged for the book. In answering 

 the many inquiries as to the best bee 

 books, I shall be proud to place at the head, 

 " Bees and Honey, or the Management of 

 an Apiary for Pleasure and Profit," by 

 Thomas G. Newman, editor of the American 

 Bee Journal. — Geo. E. Hilton, Fremont,, 

 Mich. 



When turning the leaves of my copy of 

 the new edition of your book, entitled 

 "Bees and Honey," I was much pleased to 

 find in it the portraits of so many of the 

 leading apiculturists, and unexpectedly 

 found my own among them. I am sure I 

 can never repay you for the honor you 

 have done me. — Eugene Secor, Forest City, 

 Iowa. 



The new edition of " Bees and Honey " is 

 received. It is an excellent work, with 

 nothing lacking in perfection and beauty, 

 and will speak for itself to the mind of 

 every reader. It is well worthy of a large- 

 circulation. I shall use it as my daily 

 hand-book, and recommend it to bee-keep- 

 ers with whom I come in contact. It is 

 cheering to notice the countenances of the 

 many masters of the art, whose able arti- 

 cles aid apiculturists through the columns 

 of the American Bee Journal. — Stephen 

 Roese, Maiden Rock, Wis. 



Complimentary Words. — Here are- 

 some of the newest expressions of satis- 

 faction from our patrons : 



My advertisement of Japanese buck- 

 wheat seed for sale, which I put in the 

 American Bee Journal, brought more- 

 orders than I could fill. So I bought my 

 neighbor's crop, which is now almost gone. 

 I hope that none will send me the money 

 until they have written, for I do not want 

 to send back hundreds of dollars. — E. C. 

 Eaglesfield, Berlin, Wis. 



I have received the seed. Well, to tell the- 

 truth, if a man could get supplies that 

 quick, when he wanted them, it would save- 

 lots of money, and hard words, too. — C. K. 

 Reading, Davenport, Iowa. 



The Singer Sewing Machine you sent me, 

 does splendid work. I am well pleased with 

 it.— G. Ruff, Burlington, Iowa. 



My bill of goods I ordered from you 

 reached me all right and in good condition 

 — everything as I ordered. — Robt. Harvey, 

 Aurora, Ills. 



