TUm SIMERICKN BEE JOURNffL. 



449 



hives of my heaviest colonies. I shall 

 use no queen-excluders, for the waj' I 

 have it I am confident that it will re- 

 quire none. I concluded that I would 

 not shout until I was out of the wilder- 

 ness, but I hope soon to report success. 



My fish-pond adjoins the bee-park, 

 where sport thousands of brij^ht speck- 

 led trout, and where a tine little skiff 

 is found, in which my six beautiful 

 children pass many happy hours ; also, 

 where ray bees "wet their whistles." 



On the night of May 29, three thiev- 

 ing boys invaded my bee-park, for 

 which I have them upon "the string." 

 I have invented a lock for each hive, 

 which is simple and handy, of nominal 

 cost, and no incumbrance. 



I have also an electric wire which 

 surrounds my bee-yard, so that no one 

 can approach the hives without ring- 

 ing the bell at my room window. 



Lake Co., Mich., June 14, 1890. 



CANADA. 



Report of the Halciiiiiaiid, Ont., 

 Convention. 



The May meeting of the Haldimaud 

 Bee-Keepei's' Association was held at 

 Cayuga, Out., on May 17, 1890, with 

 President Frank Rose in the chair. 



THE REARING OF QUEENS. 



Mr. Armstrong said he did not rear 

 queens until swarming-time, and only 

 from his best colonies — good honej'- 

 gatherers, of nice color, and gentle. 

 He gave a very interesting account of 

 his methods, and had very good re- 

 sults, losing very few young queens in 

 mating. 



The President and Mr. Kindree ex- 

 plained their plans of rearing queens. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



Mr. Atkinson uses a Peet cage, 

 which he puts into the hive requiring 

 a queen, and leaves it there until the 

 bees gnaw her out. He then removes 

 the cage when everything is quiet. 



Mr. Schisler gave an amusing ac- 

 count of his first attempt at introducing 

 a queen. 



Mr. Armstrong said that he thought 

 a great many queens were lost through 

 the bee-keeper being too anxious to 

 see whether the queen is all right, and 

 examining the hive too soon after the 

 queen has been introduced. He now 

 leaves the colony alone for several 

 days, and never loses a queen. He 

 uses a Peet cage, but instead of putting 

 it between the frames, he puts it on 

 top of the frames, and lets the bees 

 get her out. 



Mr. Overholt lets the queen run in 

 on top of the frames in the evening, 

 about dark, and he has been very 

 successful. 



The President thought that the most 

 important thing about introducing 

 queens was not to disturb the colony; 

 do it in the evening, and as quietly as 

 possible. 



Twelve members of the association 

 reported 411 colonies, fall count, and 

 396 in the spring of 1890. 



It was decided to have the Secretary 

 correspond with Mr. G. B. Jones, I'e- 

 garding his terms for a lecture on bee- 

 keeping at the next meeting on the 

 last Friday in August ; also that the 

 next meeting be held at South Cayuga, 

 Ont. Frank Rose, Pres. 



BEE-PROVERBS. 



Some Warning; Suggestions from 

 a Proverbial Experience. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY M. A. KELLEY. 



My son. let not thine enemy entice 

 thee to tolerate frames aud fixtures of 

 diverse sizes in thine apiary. At first 

 the}- may be pleasant to the eyes, being 

 new, but the}- wax old,and are covered 

 with brace-combs and vexation. They- 

 are weariness to the flesh, and engen- 

 der profanity. They stir up trouble 

 in the earl}' morn, and do not desist 

 therefrom until the going down of the 

 sun. They will follow thee into the 

 land of sleep, and vex thee in thy 

 dreams. They beget war between the 

 bee and her keeper, in which the 

 weapons are hands and stings. He 

 wildly claweth the air, aud the bee 

 getteth in her work near his off optic. 

 He retireth in haste to his tent, and 

 applieth divers useless remedies, and 

 his neighbor peepeth over the fence 

 and laugheth him to scorn. Life hav- 

 ing lost its its point for the bee, she 

 pineth away and is no more. 



Moreover, when thou sendest thine 

 order for odd-sized fixtures to the sup- 

 ply dealer, he will smile at thy ver- 

 dancy, and in his heart he will call 

 thee a fool. And when thou comest 

 to sell thy bees, the buyer will write 

 back, being wroth, that he wist not 

 that he was dealing with a crank. So 

 the odd-sized frames sticketh closer 

 than a brother-in-law, for the other 

 fellow, being in his right mind, will not 

 part with his shekels in exchange. 

 And thus shall odd-sized fixtures be- 

 come a drug upon the market, and an 

 eye-sore to the children of men. 



My son, be thou warned in time aud 

 go not after the patent clap-trap man, 

 who lieth in wait for thy lucre. Sweet- 

 ly as a syren he singeth, but the end 

 is trouble and sorrow. Cleave unto 

 standard sizes, and good tools, and 

 get unto thyself comfort and pleasure. 

 Be not over-anxious to be ahead of 



the times, like some we wot of, for in 

 the day that they are overtaken, thou 

 canst laugh at their calamity. Let 

 others fuss with fixtures of doubtful 

 utility, and if they prove to be valua- 

 ble, thou canst then invest in them 

 safely. 



These are words of truthfulness and 

 soberness, being based on the writer's 

 experience. Heed them, and take 

 comfort all the days of thy bee-keep- 

 ing.for if thou do not, there is trouble. 



Milton, W. Va. 



ROBBING. 



Some Experiences witli tiie Bees 

 Robbing. 



Written for the Prairie Farmer 



BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



Not long since there was prospect of 

 the whole apiaiy being demoralized. 

 Bees appeared to know a hive that 

 contained honey, and thousands of 

 bees were determined to get it. It was 

 risky business to feed, for it was soon 

 telegraphed all around, and thousands 

 were determined to have a share 

 When weak colonies were fed, it ap- 

 peared to excite them, and if robbers 

 came, made no attempt to defend their 

 store, but invited them in, and finally 

 went home with them. The only safe 

 time to feed was a little before or just 

 after sundown. 



Syrup, made of any kind of good 

 cane sugar, is a safe food for bees now, 

 when they can fly, and excites robbing 

 much less than honey. It should be 

 made thin, and can be fed in any sort 

 of a vessel with care. It is not natural 

 for a bee to sip like a fly, and if they 

 slip into a tin or earthen-ware vessel 

 containing syrup, they cannot get out ; 

 if it is a woodeu one, they can. They 

 can gi'ip wood with their feet, but can- 

 not a smooth, glazed surface. Tin 

 pans are good feeders, provided that 

 cheese-cloth or some thin material is 

 tied over loosely, so that it will settle 

 down upon the surface of syrup, as it 

 is taken out by the bees. Care should 

 be taken that no bees can get under it, 

 for if they do, they will drown. Simply 

 spreading on the cover will not do. It 

 must be tied around under the pro- 

 jecting rim. 



Blocks of wood, which have kerfs 

 cut in them by a wobbling saw. make 

 good feeders. I was given such an 

 one by a manufacturer, and on show- 

 ing it to a bee-keeping visitor, he said: 

 "Mrs. Harrison, you fill that thing 

 with syrup aud give it to the bees, and 

 it will soon be a drowning, writhing 

 mass of bees." It was in the fall of the 

 year, when I had a colony that had not 

 sufficient stores for the coming winter, 



