'S-mm MMEMICSlf BE® JO'URrffflL. 



187 



^^^^^^'^Mmhmk^t^' 



honey, was the general complaint. I 

 do not think that my 57 hives contain- 

 ed more than 25 pounds of honey, and 

 I had the prospect of feeding all my 

 bees, bnt heart's-ease came to the res- 

 cue, giving us the best honey-tlow I 

 ever saw. In the live weeks that it 

 lasted, my bees gathered over 3,000 

 pounds of honey. See what a loss it 

 would have been, but for the bees. I 

 have no doubt that for the lack of bees 

 to gather the honey, our county sutlers 

 a loss that annually counts up in the 

 thousands of dollars. 



But there is still another reason for 

 keeping bees, that should have a great 

 weight with farmers — I mean the very 

 iinportanc part wliich bees bear in the 

 economy of nature in fertilizing flowers, 

 and thus increasing the crop of fruits 

 of every kind. 



Having seen a few of the reasons 

 why farmers should keep bees, let us 

 consider what the bee-keeper needs to 

 enable him to reach the best results. 



First, he must understand something 

 of the nature of bees, how they live, 

 how they work, what variety is best to 

 use, etc. A colony in its normal state 

 consists of one queen, or mother-bee, 

 several thousand workers, varying 

 from 6,000 to 40,000, and a few hun- 

 dred drones, or male bees ; these last 

 being present only at certain times of 

 the year. 



The queen is the only perfect female 

 bee in the hive. She can easily be 

 recognized by her size, for she is about 

 tv.'ice as long as a worker-bee. Upon 

 her depends the prosperit}' of the col- 

 ony, for she is the only one that lays 

 the eggs. Take the queen away, and 

 the colony is doomed, unless the bees 

 have eggs from which to rear another 

 one. 



A good queen will lay from 2,000 to 

 4,000 eggs a day, being more or less 

 prolific, according to the flow of honey. 

 The life of a queen is much longer 

 than that of the workers, for while she 

 lives from two to four years, a workei-- 

 bee will not, on an average, live longer 

 than six or seven weeks ; though in 

 winter their life is prolonged from five 

 to six months. 



The drones are known by their short, 

 thick bodies, and loud buzzing when 

 on the wing. Their life is of ver}- un- 

 certain duration, lasting from a few 

 days to a few weeks at the longest. 



Italian an<1 Black Itees. 



We need onlj- consider two vai'ieties 

 of bees, the common black bee, and 

 the Italian ; of these two races the 

 latter are generally preferred. They 

 are of more pacific disposition, and be- 

 sides their good moral character, they 

 are more industrious, working earlier 

 in the morning, later in the evening. 



and on days when the black bees would 

 find it too cold to leave their hive. 



The tongues of the Italian bees are 

 also longer, enabling them to get 

 honey from flowtus that the common 

 bee has to pass by ; and finally, their 

 queens are more piolific. 



Of the different kinds of hives used 

 by progressive bee-keepers, all without 

 exception have the one feature of a 

 double story. These two stories — the 

 brood-frames below, the cases with 

 sections above, with the hone}'-board 

 between the two, are the main features 

 necessary for the successful production 

 of comb honey. 



Ho^v to Avoid Stingos. 



The handling of bees is easy to any 

 one who is not afraid of stings ; but 

 these can be avoided, to a great extent, 

 by the use of a veil and smoker, and 

 by observing the following precau- 

 tions : 



Never go between the hives in a 

 hurry, nor walk in front of the en- 

 trances so as to disturb the bees in 

 their passing in and out ; avoid all 

 quick motions, all jars of the hive, and 

 when you have any work that will 

 necessitate the opening of a hive, al- 

 ways choose a time when the bees are 

 out at work, smoking first the guards 

 at the entrance, then, after taking off 

 the cover, sending a few puffs of smoke 

 among the frames, after which you can 

 go to work with impunity. Finally, if 

 a bee should come buzzing about you, 

 keep perfectlj- still, close your ej^es, 

 avoid breathing on it, and it will soon 

 leave. 



In writing the foregoing, it has been 

 my aim to call the attention of the 

 farmers to a field tli^t has been too 

 much neglected. In this pursuit, as in 

 all others, to him who would succeed, 

 four conditions are necessary, viz: He 

 must understand it ; he must love it ; 

 he must believe in it, and, last but not 

 least, he must stick to it. 



Greenville, Ills. 



CONVENTION DIRECTORY. 



1S89. 

 Mar..)0.- 



Time and Place of MeeUim. 



■A«ency, at Agency. Mo. 



T. S. Smith, Sec, AKency, Mo. 



Apr. 23.— DesMolncH County , at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John «au. Sec, Middletown, Iowa. 



May 1. 2.— Texas Slate, at (Jreenvllle, Tex. 



G. A. Wilson, Sec, McKinney, TeX. 



May 4.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Hartord, Pa. 



-Northern Illinois, at Pecatonica, 111. 



D. A. Kuller, Sec, Cherry Valley. Ills. 



May 21. 



W In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetingB.— Bd. 



s^t^l^J 



Bees in Fine Condition, — T. F. 



Bingham, Abronia, Mich., on March 6, 



1889, says : 



Bees have had a series of fine sports 

 on the wing within the past week, and 

 are in first-class condition. Those in 

 the cellar are in excellent condition, 

 and as quiet as if .asleep. 



Convention Notices. 



EP~ There will be a meeting of the Susquehanna 

 County Bee-Keepers' Association at the Court House 

 In Montrose, Pa., on Saturday, May 4, I n«9. at lu a.m. 

 H. M. Seelky, Sec. 



rw The DesMnines County, Iowa, Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its annual convention in the 

 Court House at Burlington, on April 23.1SK9, at 10 

 a. m. All bee-keepers are invited. JOHN NAC Sec. 



ty The nth annual session of the Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Associatiiin will beheld in the apiary 

 of W R.Graham, of Greenville. Hunt Co., Tex., on 

 May 1 and 2, IKSa. .\11 lic-e keepers are invited. The 

 last meeting was held licre last May, and was the 

 best ever held. So we l""k forward to a good time 

 next May. A cordial weliome_and hospilalitv will 

 be tendered to all who come. 



iKood Prospects for Clovers. — 



Wm. G. Cory, Cason, Ind., on March 

 6, 1889, says : 



Bees in this locality are doing well, 

 only a few colonies having died from 

 want of stores. I use the Armstrong 

 Crown hive, packed with dry forest 

 leaves, and my bees winter well on the 

 summer stands. The prospect is good 

 for all kinds of clover. The Ameuican 

 Bee Journal is a welcome visitor. 



G. A. Wilson, Sec. 



Please to get yonr I^eiglibor, 



who keeps bees, to also take the American 

 Bee Jouknal. It is now so cheap that 

 no one can afford to do without it. 



Foul Brood. — A. L. Leach, Liv- 

 ingston Co., Ills., on March 1, writes : 



My bees are in unusually good con- 

 dition at the present time. I have no 

 loss to report for this winter. The re- 

 ports of individuals and conventions 

 indicate that foul brood prevailed to 

 an alarming extent during 1888, and 

 three associations passed resolutions 

 invoking Legislative aid. To me this 

 is very absurd. I would as soon think 

 of legislating to control the weather, 

 which, no doubt, causes it to come and 

 o-o. I liave had two years' experience 

 with foul brood, and lost 15 colonies 

 in the early part of the winter of 1887. 

 Last spring I purchased 10 healthy 

 colonies, and used the- diseased combs, 

 increasing the 10 to 22. My other col- 

 onies were affected with foul brood 

 from the previous year, and of course 

 they all became aflected. I devoted 

 three months with various experiments 

 in which the popular impressions of 

 the disease had but little show ; prob- 



