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499 



-^ PUBLISHED HY ■ - - ■ 



THOS. G. NKWMAN 8^ SON, 



SS^S^ 



KniTOR. 



m,im July 26, 1890. No. 30. 



Texas !!$tatislics, — Last year the 

 total number of colonies in the State was 

 146,3^2 ; total number of pounds of honey, 

 3,610,100; total value of the honey, 

 $357,989. 



■ That grand old master in apiculture, 

 Dr. Dzierzon, has again been honored. He 

 Avas presented, on March 39, 1890, by 

 Prince Luitpold, of Bavaria, with the 

 order of St. Miuhael. The honor was well 

 bestowed. 



S<?Ilinar tite Honey Crop too soon, 

 and consequently at too low a price, is thus 

 commented upon in a letter advising cau- 

 tion on the part of bee-keepers, by Prof. A. 

 J. Cook, of Agricultural College, Mich. : 



I think that it would be well to caution 

 bee keepers not to sell their honey too 

 quickly. In this vicinity— and I fear we 

 are not peculiar— the honey product has 

 been almost nothing. It is as bad as it was 

 two years ago. I believe that the price of 



•°|-T,°iu^'u'"^ ^®''>" bigh, unless Califor- 

 nia fills the breech. 



The Hot Wave since July came in 

 has been oppressive-the temperature 

 keeping up into the nineties most of the 

 time. The heat has dried up the nectar in 

 many localities, and ruined the honey crop. 

 In other places the crop is a fair one. On 

 the other hand, it may be said, that the 

 sultry weather has had the effect of ripen- 

 ing wheat very rapidly, and pushing for- 

 ward everything which is approaching the 

 season of harvest. An exchange remarks 

 thus : 



Outside of the discomfort of such weather 

 It frequently has a salutary effect on crops 

 at this season, and a season without a few 

 nrnH,, ^'*''' '^ °ot Often among the most 

 Cn^il"^ °r'- u " *^ ^"-^^'y predicted by 

 many, though, that the summer of 1890 

 will be one of extreme heat. 



Toa<].s are enumerated among the Ene- 

 mies of Bees. The following, from a cor- 

 respondent, has just come to hand : 



CiHTswouTH, Ills., July 16, 1890. 

 Some ask do toads catch bees '. I an- 

 swer, yes, tliey do. / kium that toads 

 catch been. I saw one do it : in fact, I 

 caught it in the very act. His toadship sat 

 about 3 or :-i inches from the front of the 

 hive, on the alighting-board, and about 

 once in 2 or 8 minutes its tongue would 

 dart out ; then came a snap of its delicate 

 little mouth, and that was the last of the 

 bee. I caught it and examined the con- 

 tents of its stomach, and have sent to the 

 Bee JoiH.v.^L s]>ecimen bees therefrom, and 

 I think that the editor will agree with me 

 that toads do catch bees. M. M. Millek. 



Oh, yes ! we fully agree with that prop- 

 osition, and have many times published 

 the proofs that toads catch bees. In fact, 

 in our Museum, there are the remains of 

 bees taken from a toad's stomach. On 

 June 9, 1883, Mr. W. A. Shewman, of 

 Randolph, N. Y., sent us the following, 

 which was published on page 313, of the 

 Bee Journ.il for that year : 



A few evenings since I went out to my 

 apiary, and in front of the entrance to one 

 hive I discovered a large toad. I watched 

 him a few moments, and saw him catch 

 bees as they ventured out on the alighting- 

 board. The toad would twist his mouth and 

 turn from one side to another after swal- 

 lowing a bee. I caught the toad and made 

 an investigation. First cutting off his head 

 I examined the inside of the mouth, where 

 was found several stingers in the jaw and 

 roots of the tongue, where the bees had 

 stung him when he closed his mouth upon 

 them. I then opened the body and pressed 

 upon the stomach, when nine nice Italian 

 bees came out, lifeless. Others remained 

 in the stomach, enough, I think, to have 

 made the number 18 or 30. In answer to 

 the question, "Will toads catch bees <" I 

 can certainly answer, they lolll. 



^^^^■^■^■~--'-~-^'^-' — ' — I 



■low IVcnliar it sounds to talk 

 about the seasons in New Zealand. Bees 

 were put into winter quarters in May or 

 early June. "Early .spring" means Au- 

 gust ! All of this will be seen in the 

 " Seasonable Hints for June" in the New 

 Zealand Ji^rnner of June 1, 1890, which 

 reads thus : 



Once more we have arrived at the sea- 

 sou of the year when all the work in the 

 apiary, at least so far as the bees them- 

 selves are concerned, should be finished for 

 the next two months at least. They should 

 even be snug in their winter quarters, but 

 in case anything should have been left un- 

 done no time should be lost in setting 

 things right. In the ordinary course of 

 things it is better that the bees should 

 remain as quiet as possible until the time 

 comes round again for overhauling the 

 hives in early spring, which will be .some- 

 time during the month of August. 



Tlie Rush — By the time this issue 

 of the Bee Joithx.^l is in the hands of the 

 readers, we e.xpect to have caught up with 

 our orders on sections, etc., and will then 

 most gladly resume our usual promptness 

 in filling orders. The past season has been 

 most perplexing and exasperating— be- 

 cause we were at the mercy of others, and 

 were totally unable to fill promises made 

 in good faith. We had laid in a stock which 

 we thought was sufficient to meet all the 

 requirements, but one which proved to be 

 totally inadequate. Then fire destroyed 

 the factories, and more could not be had 

 as fast as needed. 



Relief came, however, by the failure of 

 the honey crop in many localities ; order§ 

 were countermanded, and the money re- 

 funded by the next mail, in all instances 

 where the goods had not already been 

 shipped. In no case was a letter or com- 

 plaint left unanswered for a day ; this 

 required much additional labor, but it kept 

 our patrons posted, and told them as nearly 

 as possible what to expect. 



It is now all over, and very likely it will 

 take all next season to use the goods 

 ordered this year. On this account it will 

 not be strange if next season's demand for 

 supplies should prove to be very limited ! 



There are 380 persons by the name 

 of "Newman " enumerated in the Chicago 

 City Directory, which is just published. It 

 is therefore quite essential when writing 

 to us to put either "346 East Madison 

 Street" on our letters, or to carefully write 

 the full name of the firm. To write Ameri- 

 can Bee JouRN.iL on the corner of the 

 envelope, will insure proper delivery. 



A little care in addressing letters will 

 save considerable annoyance, and perhaps 

 delay or loss. Instead of 246, an order 

 was mailed to us at 146 East Madison 

 Street, on July 1, and it being a hotel, the 

 letter was delivered there by a new letter 

 carrier, and kept for some one to enquire 

 for it. About ten days afterwards we 

 accidentally heard that a letter was there 

 addressed to us, and went after it. It was 

 an order for goods, for which the writer 

 was in a hurry. This is but one of the 

 many incidents which exhibit the necessity 

 for being particular in addressing letters. 

 We always enclose printed "return en- 

 velopes" in our correspondence, to prevent 

 mistakes. 



gW At the Seminary at Lavel, France, 

 a model apiary of 35 colonies of bees has 

 been established, the proceeds and swarms 

 to be divided among the teachers of the 

 District, which has a tendency to draw 

 men of learning into apiculture, and spread 

 the industry and art among the people. It 

 is strange, that republican France does not 

 rule all its Districts alike. The President 

 of the District of the Seine-et-Oise ordered 

 that all enclosed apiaries must maintain a 

 distance of 10 metres, and 3 metres high ; 

 and all apiaries not enclosed, a distance of 

 100 metres from aU adjoining neighbors ; 

 in the Department of Seine-et-Marne, a 

 distance of 35 metres is required, which 

 order compels teachers and ministers to 

 dispose of their apiaries.— Tramlatcd from 

 an Exchange by the Rev. S. Roese. 



Systematic work will pay in the 



apiary. Keep a notebook and record, and 

 you will never regret it.— D. B. Emery. 



