AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



87 



Wavelets of News. 



Xhese Items from the Michigan 

 Farmer will be read with interest by 

 bee-keepers generally : 



Cuban honey comes into the United 

 States without duty. It is of fine qual- 

 ity, and American honey-producers have 

 filed a protest against the free entry, 

 with the State Department. 



Apiarists fear that they are going to 

 be very much crowded at the Columbian 

 Exposition. About 100 square feet of 

 space is to be allowed to each State. 

 Two exhibitors at the Detroit Exposi- 

 tion occupied 728 feet. 



Geo. Hilton, of Fremont, says there 

 are thousands of acres of " willow lierb," 

 which is a fine honey-producing plant, 

 25 miles north of that point. The wil- 

 low herb honey is very excellent quality. 

 Some enterprising apiarists should enter 

 and utilize this source of supply. 



Labels on Tin. 



Did you ever have trouble with the 

 labels pealing off your tin honey-pails? 

 I did before I gave the tin vessels a thin 

 coat of Japan varnish. This prevents 

 rust, and after the varnish becomes dry 

 ordinary flour paste will make the labels 

 cling on as well as they would on glass 

 or wood. 



Corks that seem too large for honey 

 jars can be softened by squeezing them 

 with a lemon squeezer. A more speedy 

 method is to boil them in water, and 

 press them in place while hot. — Waltek 

 S. PouDEK, in the Indiana Farmer. 



dueenless Bees Cross. 



It is a mistake to suppose that a colony 

 of bees will not show fight if they are 

 without a queen. A colony of bees 

 without a queen that have queen-cells 

 started, are always on the alert, and are 

 inclined to be very vicious if meddled 

 with. I have also known them to be 

 irascible when they were hopelessly 

 queenless. Last season I noticed one 

 of my colonies of bees showed unmis- 

 takable signs of being queenless. It 

 was a few days after the swarming sea- 

 son was over, and I knew that the colony 

 was without eggs or brood. It slipped 

 my memory to examine it closely until 

 two or three weeks after. 



I happened in the yard at midday and 

 observed this particular colony was not 

 carrying pollen. I made an examina- 

 tion which showed them to be without a 

 queen. It also showed them to be as 

 ill-natured as any colony I ever saw. 

 Being hard pressed for time and having 

 several little boxes containing queens 

 and a few bees that I had saved at 

 swarming time, I smoked the colony 

 thoroughly, and also the bees in one of 

 the small boxes, and shook the bees and 

 queen from the box at the entrance of 

 the hive. The next evening I examined 

 them to see if my slip-shod way had 

 been a success, and found them as quiet 

 as kittens. The combs also contained 

 eggs.— J. H. Andre, in Homestead. 



Fable of a Charitable Bee. 



A man, who had been walking through 

 a public park, finally became tired, and 

 was about to sit down on a bench to rest, 

 when of a sudden a bee stung him on the 

 leg. After jumping four feet high, and 

 uttering a yell that was heard a mile 

 away, the man turned on the bee and 

 shouted: 



"Base ingrate, have I ever harmed 

 you?" 



"Hardly ever," calmly replied the bee. 



"Then why this attempt to assassin- 

 ate me?" 



"My dear man, you have on a new 

 Spring suit; you were about to sit down 

 on a freshly-painted bench; your clo- 

 thing would have bee ruined; what I did 

 was for your own good, and I am entitled 

 to thanks instead of insults." 



Bee-Keeping for Women. 



Some women cannot keep bees, any 

 more than some men; but many can, 

 and to their great profit. Often, the 

 wife or daughter of a farmer will wel- 

 come an occupation for the sake of its 

 novelty, something to break up the rou- 

 tine of cooking, washing and sewing ; 

 and bee-keeping, even if it brings only a 

 few pounds of honey for the table, is un- 

 dertaken and carried through with 

 pleasure and delight. — iV. Y.Bidependent. 



I^" The Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will meet in Owatonna, Minn., on Jan. 

 20 and 21, 1892. Free entertainment will be 

 provided tor those attending by the citizens 

 of Owatonna, and It is expected that the 

 railroads will carry those attending, at 

 reduced rates. The State Horticultural So- 

 ciety hold their annual meeting at the same 

 time. 



Wm, Danforth, Sec, Red Wing, Minn. 



