AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



775 



Thus, probably, does the bee hear or 

 feel by the sense of touch, hoars with 

 its feet and antennio, if the expression 

 may be used. If a bte-keeper ffoos to a 

 hive containing a strong colony and raps 

 on the hive gently, the bees feel it or 

 hear it, and respond immediately by 

 raising the note of alarm. 



But if the bee-keeper, before the en- 

 trance of the hive, within six inches of 

 it, strike with a hammer upon a board, 

 barrel, or any resounding surface, the 

 bees apparently do not hear, for there is 

 no movement among them. Man hears 

 by the vibratory action of the atmos- 

 phere — by the air blocks striking to- 

 gether and tapping upon the tympanum 

 or ear drum. If the bees have no ears 

 then the vibrations or result of contact 

 must be carried to them through some 

 other medium — a medium tangible to the 

 bees — a medium, perhaps, which they 

 may feel or rest upon. 



In some places, even to-day, when the 

 bees swiirm, the farmer and his family 

 may make a great uproar by striking 

 upon tin pans, ringing bells, and blow- 

 ing horns. It is useless, for the bees do 

 not hear it, and hence cannot be affected 

 by it. — Julia Allyn, in the American 

 Farmer. 



Cure for Gapes in "Chicks." 



Turpentine is as nearly a specific for 

 the gapes in young chicks as anything 

 can be. This disorder is caused by a 

 threadlike worm which stops up the 

 throat and suffocates the chick. Abso- 

 lute cleanliness about the hen house is a 

 grea^t preventive, and then turpentine 

 comes in as a treatment. For young 

 chicks a small quantity given in the 

 food once a day until the system is satu- 

 rated with it will be a relief. It is also 

 advisable to give it to the hen when she 

 is sitting on the eggs, so that she may 

 be freed from the worms before the 

 chicks are hatched. This goes far to 

 prevent the trouble with the chicks. 



When corn, coarsely ground, or 

 cracked wheat is fed, it is well to stir a 

 tea-spoonful of turpentine in a pint of 

 the food, and give it in this way. This 

 method at once stopped the disorder in 

 some broods of young turkeys reared by 

 the writer last spring, and not one of 

 more than 30 was lost, while the year 

 previous more than half of the broods 

 died in the first four weeks. It is the 

 vapor of the turpentine that kills the 

 worms, and after two or three doses of 

 it this begins to pass through the lungs 

 quite freely.— --Bccc/iange. 



Mountain Laurel Honey Not Poisonous 



A certain man says he has a young 

 man living with him who lived all his 

 life in northeast Tennessee, saying he* 

 never saw a bee on what is called 

 " mountain laurel " there, and believes 

 bees cannot work on it, on account of 

 the fact that the blossoms are too sticky. 

 Yes, bees do work on it here in West 

 Virginia, on the Alleghany Mountains. 

 There are hundreds of acres hero in 

 these mountains. There are two kinds 

 — big and little laurel. The little is the 

 kind the bees work on most. Last sum- 

 mer bees worked on laurel quite strong 

 in preference to white clover. True, 

 the blossoms are sticky, but bees load 

 up, I think, in half the time they do on 

 white clover. 



I never heard of any one being sick 

 here from eating laurel honey, although 

 the leaves of the little laurel are poison- 

 ous to cattle and sheep; but I hardly be- 

 lieve that laurel honey would have so 

 much poison as to make one sick. I 

 have found about 40 bee-trees since I 

 came here, and all in reach of laurel. 

 The honey from these trees never make 

 us sick. — Jno. Slaubauch, in Qleanimgs. 



The Value of Kind Words. 



" The law of kindness is upon his lips" 

 is a description of the good man. Even 

 a dog appreciates a pat of approval. We 

 are here to help people, and to speak 

 "comfortably one to another." Flattery 

 is one thing; a generous word of en- 

 couragement and approval is quite dif- 

 ferent. You know somebody who is 

 sorrowing, or tempted, or discouraged, 

 help him with a word of sympathy. Do 

 not wait until your friends are dead to 

 say nice things about them, and send 

 them flowers. Say the lovely things 

 now and here, and distribute your 

 flowers, a blossom at a time, all along 

 the years, instead of unartistic and ex- 

 pensive "gates ajar," or "restin peace," 

 when the heart is still, and the hands 

 are cold in death. Do not criticise, de- 

 preciate, or disparage persons. Their 

 reputations are in your hands. By a 

 word «poken in season you may dry 

 many a tear, lighten many a burden, lift 

 up many a drooping head, give strength 

 in the hour of temptation, clear the 

 pathway of the living, and smooth the 

 pillow of the dying.— Rev. A. W. Pat- 

 ten, in the Epworth Herald. 



Feed the Bees if they are short 

 of stores. Don't let them starve. 



