AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



391 



Almost a Failure for Two Years. 



I hiiv(! Ixioii on tli(^ siclv list a ^ood 

 (J((al of the tiiTK! since last J<'ali. My 

 honey crop for two years past was almost 

 a failure, averattinf? about one-tenth of 

 a crop for the two seasons. That is 

 small pay for th(i labor, still 1 shall prt^ss 

 on an<l hope for t\\(: future. My be(!S, 

 the past two sfsasons were, J think, in 

 fine condition for tlie work, but the 

 honey was not to be had from the 

 flowers. 1 shall work to make a success 

 of it this year. 



The iLLUHTKA'i'Er) IloMK JoijRNAi, for 

 March came to-day. My wife is pleased 

 to see iier name on the list for premiums. 

 It will come good to her in our close 

 times. J. W. Sandkks. 



Le Grand, Iowa, March 7, 1 892. 



Five-Banded Italians. 



Mr. Robbins, on i)age 284, wislies to 

 make tliree bands tlu; test for Italian 

 bees at fairs. Tiiis test practic^ally 

 leaves out the fivci-banded Italian l)ees. 

 Judges of fairs hav(! already ruled out 

 the five-band(!d on(!s ; claiming tiiert; an; 

 no sucli bees ! Eitluir make the test 

 four or five bands, or make a separate 

 class for the five-banded Italian bees. 

 To recognize tlui fact that Italian bees 

 rmiy have more than three bands will 

 lend encouragement to those engaged in 

 developing a race of bees for beauty as 

 well as business. J. F. Mkjiiaki.. 



German, O., March 7, 18»2. 



Judging Bees at Fairs. 



On page 284, Mr. G. F. Robbins has 

 given rules for marking bees, queens, 

 honey, etc., (ixhibited at Fairs. I have 

 no comment on thcsrn except on the riihi 

 for marking bees to get a standard. He 

 says tliat the standard for Italians 

 should be uniformly tliree yellow bands, 

 plainly visible, and that such should 

 stand before four, five, or promiscuous 

 banded bees, and the leather-colorcnJ 

 before the golden or light yellow; the 

 reason being tliat the prevailing vcsrdict 

 is in favor of the darker colored Italians 

 as a bee for business. A great deal has 

 been said as to which is the pure bees — 

 the three or more banded ones. Messrs. 

 Doolittle, Vandruff, Alley and others 

 claim that the; Italians are a hybrid, and 

 they are as good authority as we have. 

 If that is the case, would it be right to 

 say that the three-banded shall be the 

 standard ? But I will admit that we 

 should have some standard. It se(!ms 

 to be a fa<;t that if we take a number of 



im|)orted Italian (|ueens, and select tlie 

 yellowest of tlu! lot, and rear queiius 

 from l-liem, matin^^ them with droiuis of 

 th(( same, that in al)(»utth(! third gfuiera- 

 tion w(i will have yellow bees. And who 

 is to say they are iu)t as pun; as tht; 

 three-banded V Tlui tlirtie-banded bees 

 are the lowest ty\H\ of Italians. 



SlKsffield, Ills. A. L. Kli.DOW. 



To Indiana Bee-Keepers. 



The names and i)ost-ofince addresses of 

 those who have nipresented our industry 

 at the County and District Fairs, and 

 those who are thinking of making an 

 exhibit at tlu; World's Fair, are wanted 

 by a committee apijointed by the Indiana 

 State liee-Keepers' Association. They 

 are wanted to submit to the authorities 

 who will assign the proper space, give 

 rKseded information, etc. It is hoped 

 that Indiana bee-keepers wfll take a 

 livtily interest in the work, as we liave 

 tlie resources, and there! is no reason 

 wliy we cannot have as good a showing 

 as othcir vStatc^s. Please send names to 

 Walter S. Ponder, 175 East Walnut 

 Street, Indianapolis, Ind. — Dr. E. H. 

 Collins, R. S. Russell, Walters. Pouder, 

 Cornrnittce. 



Wavelets ol News. 



Pure Food Legislation. 



Tlie Paddo(;k Pure Food Rill now bo- 

 fore the United States Senate, is one in 

 which every b(!e-k(!cper should be in- 

 teresied. The bill provid(!s for the 

 prevention, by government inspection, 

 of the mis-branding or mis-labciling of 

 all articles of food and drngs. In other 

 words, if a can containing hoiK;y is 

 marked "Pure; Honey," it will neces- 

 sarily be exactly what the name implies, 

 and not an adult(!ration. — AmericanBee- 

 Kecper. 



Africa at the World's Fair. 



Remenyi, thc^ well known violin vir- 

 tuoso, has mad(! application for a space 

 of not less than 400 square feet in 

 which to exliibit his gniat collection of 

 rare African (sthnological specimens. 



Tlie selection, which comprises over 

 1,500 carefully selected specimens, has 

 been formed during the last forty 

 years, and is beyond question th(! most 

 perfect of its kind. It is especially rich 

 in theancient nrgal syml)oIsin use among 



