

Bee-diltiire iu Rliode Island. 



The United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has just issued the "Experiment 

 Station Record " for May. When speaking 

 of the industry of bee keeping in Rhode 

 Island, on page 296, it remarks as follows 

 on the Report of the apiarist, S. Cushman, 

 since his appointment iu March, 1889 ; 



A yard of 10 colonies has been estab- 

 lished, and made as nearly as possible a 

 model working apiary. The desired va- 

 rieties of bees have been procured, a daily 

 record taken of the weight of a hive, a 

 show of bees in glass hives made at the 

 County Fair, etc., used by prominent 

 American jjroducers, and designed as a 

 permanent exhibit at the Station. Sixteen 

 colonies were preiiared for winter, 3 placed 

 in the cellar, and the rest left on their 

 summer stands, which were surrounded by 

 a water-tight outer case. 



The Report then sums up Bulletin No. 4 

 (pages 71 to 90), issued in December, 

 1889, thus; 



Statistics of this industry are quoted 

 from the crop and other reports of this 

 Department, and from the Rhode Island 

 census of 1885. Improvements in hives, 

 varieties of bees, and management of api- 

 aries are described. 



The value of bees not only as honej' and 

 wax producers, but also as agents in the 

 cross-fertilization of plants is urged, with 

 quotations of the opinions of many authori- 

 ties on this subject. 



The wide-spread belief that bees injure 

 fruit is combated with citations from re- 

 jiorts of the Division of Entomology of this 

 Department, the published opinions of 

 Profs. Packard and Gray, and the testi- 

 mony of practical agriculturists iu Rhode 

 Island. 



Attention is called to the decision of the 

 Supreme Court of Arkansas (June. 1889), 

 that it is unconstitutional to prohibit bee- 

 keeiiiug, and to a recent German law (Oct. 

 1, liS89,) protecting this business. 



It will thus be seen that we are making 

 history. The Government Records now 

 show that to "prohibit bee-keeping" is 

 iincrmstitutional ! That point is decided 

 by the Supreme Court of a sovereign State 

 of the American confederation ! Not only 

 is this stated in an offlcial document com- 

 ing from the Agricultural Department of 

 the United States Government, but refer- 

 ence made to a recent law passed in 

 Germany, on Oct. 1, 1889, "protecting 

 the business" of bee-keeping ! 



Whence all this interest in the "little 

 busy bee " and its rUjhts ? Oh ! that is 

 easy ! The National Bee-Keepers' Union 

 has been at work ! With all its influence, 

 power, energy— and money— it protested 

 against the unjust laws of the corporation 

 of Arkadelphia, which had cast into prison 

 a bee-keeper, simply because he kept bees 

 inside that city's limits ! The Union did 

 not stop after "protesting"— it fought the 

 Mayor and City Council— dosing them with 

 arguments of law, decisions of law, and the 

 unconstitutionality of prohibiting any 

 honorable pursuit ! 



More than this, the Union hired the best 

 attorneys in the State, and forced a 

 decision from the Supreme Court, which 

 gave justice to that honorable industry — 

 i honey production ! and at the same time 

 ! preserved to every bee-keeper his rights 

 under the Constitution of the United States 

 of America ! 



j And yet there are thousands who are 

 ' deeply iuterested in the cause defended 

 by the Union, who have never yet shown 

 their appreciation by becoming members 

 I of it I Impossible as it may seem — still it 

 is as true as it is ungenerous. It shows 

 wonderful apathy ! 



A Xerrible 4^'aluniity befell an 

 excursion party on the evening of July 13, 

 1890, while crossing Lake Pepin, in Wis- 

 consin, on the steamer "Sea Wing." Of 

 the sad disaster resulting iu such great loss 

 of life by drowning, the Rev. Stephen 

 Roese, of Maiden Rock, Wis., who lives 

 near the scene of death, writes as follows ; 



We are in the midst of a dreadful 

 calamity and great sacrifice of life, by the 

 great tornado which passed over us last 

 Sunday night. Among the number of 

 towns and villages dotted along Lake 

 Pepin, many people mourn the loss of some 

 friend. The excursion boat leaving Dia- 

 mond Bluff, took in passengers at all points 

 of landing, for the Soldiers' Re-union at 

 Lake City, Minn., on Sunday afternoon. 

 In the evening, at 8 o'clok, when on its way 

 back, the boat was struck by the tornado, 

 and immediately turned bottom side up — 

 only 33 persons out of 340 being saved. 

 I Among them was an innocent babe, which 

 ! came floating the next morning to the Lake 

 City shore, with a life-preserver on, alive 

 and laughing, and as yet no owner has 

 been found. Mr. Basey, the restaurant 

 keeper, took the little navigator in as their 

 own. My folks went there, and they said 

 that the sight was terrible, as coats, hats, 

 shawls, ribbons, etc., were floating on the 

 lake. Up to this date, 84 bodies have been 

 found. 



It seems as if a pall was hanging over 

 this whole section of country ; every face 

 one meets, carries a gloom. 



Stephen Roese. 



Practical Sanitary and Economic 

 Cooking, Adapted to Persons of Moderate 

 and Small Means," is the name of a new- 

 book by Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel. It con- 

 tains the " Lomb " Prize Essay, which 

 received the $500 oR'ered by Mr. Henry 

 Lomb, of Rochester, N. Y., in 1888, for the 

 best essay written on the subject treated 

 of, in this book of 190 pages. This essay on 

 "The Five Pood Principles, Illustrated by 

 Practical Recipes," should be read by all 

 who desire to become proficient in prepar- 

 ing for their tables, the most healthful and 

 nutritious food. The work is commended 

 to t'->e public, with the belief that it is un- 

 equalled, and will be productive of most 

 excellent results, if thoroughly read and 

 practiced. It is published at 40 cents per 

 copy, by the "American Public Health 

 Association," P. O. Drawer 289, Rochester, 

 N, Y. 



Marketing Calilbi'nia Honcy.^ 



—Mr. R. H. Young, Secretary of the 

 " Producer's Union," of San Diego, Calif., 

 has this to say about marketing the ex- 

 tracted honey crop in that State ; much of 

 it may apply as well to the honey-pro- 

 ducers of other localities : 



The Producers' Union makes a few sug- 

 gestions. Heretofore old cans and cases 

 have been used quite extensively. The 

 result has been to cause dealers to look 

 with suspicion upon honey from this county 

 as well as others of Southern California. 

 Some who handled carloads last season lost 

 quite a good deal because of the old pack- 

 ages in which the honey was put up. One 

 or two of these have declared that they 

 will have nothing to do this year with 

 honey not put up in new cans and cases. 

 Our honey-men should take notice of these 

 facts at once. The new packages cost a 

 little more than the old, but the honey will 

 bring enough more to doubly make up the 

 difference. 



XrajisfeiTinjJ llees. — In reply to 

 several inquiries, we will say that Mr. 

 Heddon transfers bees in the following 

 way, which he claims to be far preferable 

 to the old way : 



About swarming time he drives the 

 queen and a majority of the bees into a 

 forcing box, and then removes the old hive 

 back a few feet, and puts in its place a hive 

 with its frames filled with foundation, and 

 pours the forced swarm in front of it. All 

 field-workers will leave the old hive, and 

 join the queen. It would be well to return 

 a part of the bees to the old hive, for fear 

 that the brood will get chilled, being care- 

 ful not to take the queen. Twenty-one 

 days after the forcing of the bees, Mr. 

 Heddon drives the old hive clean of its 

 bees, uniting with the former drive. The 

 worker-brood is all hatched, and nothing 

 remains but the honey and comb, which 

 can be either transferred or honey extract- 

 ed and comb melted. 



J^" There must have been something 

 sweet about a clothing store down in 

 Bangor, Maine. A telegram announced on 

 July 3, that " the clothing store of Frank 

 D. PuUen & Co., was invaded by a cloud of 

 bees yesternay, which cleared the store of 

 the proprietors and clerks, and occupied it 

 to the exclusion of all others until night, 

 when they were finally driven out." 



.^ The " Seven Modern Engineering 

 Wonders of the World," described by 

 Arthur V. Abbott, with elaborate illustra- 

 tions, in the August number of "Frank 

 Leslie's Popular Monthly," are : The New 

 Forth Bridge, Scotland ; the Eiffel Tower, 

 Paris ; the New Croton Aqueduct, New 

 York ; the Blowing up of the Hell Gate 

 Obstructions, New York ; the Eads Jetties 

 at the Mouth of the Mississippi ; the St. 

 Gothard Tunnel, Switzerland ; and the 

 Brooklyn or East River Bridge. 



Quick Work.— I received the Globe 

 Bee-Veil to day, and I am well pleased with 

 it. I am also very much pleased with the 

 quick delivery of goods. I received them 

 in two days and a half after the money 

 was sent.— Bert Viager, Moline, Ills. 



