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fast, and will keep the brood from 

 chilling while we have so much chang- 

 able weather. I am not in a hurry 

 about unpacking the bees until about 

 time to put on the sections. 



Last spring, and a year ago last 

 spring, the most of the hives were full 

 of bees, and swarming commenced 

 from May 16 to the 20th. One swarm 

 that I hived a year ago last spring, on 

 May 16, built live Langstroth frames 

 full of comb, with only foundation 

 staiters in the brood-nest, and stored 

 some over 100 pounds of comb honey, 

 besides enough to winter on. The sea- 

 son of 1888 was a poor one for honey 

 in this part of the country. I think 

 there was too much drouth. 



La Paz, Ind. 



BEES STARVING. 



right side up," so that when a good sea- 

 son comes I may then catch my share. 

 With such a honey crop as I had in 

 1886, and the number and condition 

 of my bees in 1888, my crop would 

 have been tons, instead of hundreds of 

 pounds. 



Hillsdale, Mich. 



Season of 188§ — Fruit-Growing 

 and Bcc.Keeping. 



Written tor the Amerirjm Bee Journal 

 BY J. M. CLARK. 



The Boy and tbe Bee. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY GEORGE W. YORK. 



The past was an " off year" with me 

 in bee-keeping. I wintered 37 colo- 

 nies, and lost 2 from staiwation during 

 the backward spring of 1888, so I com- 

 menced the season with 35 colonies in 

 good condition. I moved them about 

 half a mile the last of May, and lost 

 only about a pint of bees, by their re- 

 turning to their old stands. 



By supplying them with extracting 

 combs, I succeeded in increasing them 

 to 40 colonies, by natural swarming, 

 and secured 200 pounds of extracted 

 honey, over and above enough to carry 

 them through the winter. 



After doubling them back to the 

 original number (35 colonies), I put 

 them into my new bee-cellai% in which 

 the temperature has ranged from 35° 

 to 46°. They have been very quiet 

 until within a few days (March 8) 3 or 

 4 colonies have become quite uneasy 

 and spotted their hives .some. 



I am combining l5^-keeping with 

 small fruit-growing, and last year I got 

 two crops from my raspberries — one 

 crop of honey (about one-half of my 

 honey crop), and one crop of berries — 

 in fact about the only plants that 

 yielded honej' last summer were rasp- 

 berries and buckwheat. 



We hear of a good many in this 

 locality who are losing their bees tliis 

 winter by starvation. One of our 

 leading bee-keepers killed all his bees 

 — about 60 colonies — last fall, thinking 

 that he could purchase in the spring 

 cheaper than he could buy f(!ed to 

 carry them througli the winter. I 

 think that he will " get left." 



I am not discoiu-aged by the i)ast 

 failure, and propose to keep my "dish 



A little boy just ten years old 

 (Who lived upon a farm). 



Went out to watch his brothers plow- 

 In this there was no harm. 



So quietly he walked aiong— 



This happy, barefoot boy. 

 So free trom care, or anything 



Ttiat sometimes does annoy. 



A clover field was being plowed ; 



The air with sweetness filled ; 

 And many bees did hover round 



The nests they once did build. 



One bumble-bee was out of sorts. 



Indeed he was quite mad. 

 And seemed delighted when he saw 



The careless, joyful lad. 



" Now I'll just whisper in his ear," 



Thought angry Mr. Bee, 

 " And tell him all about my home. 



His brothers spoiled— you see ?" 



So thinking, Mr. Bee flew on, 



To greet the little boy ; 

 And when they met, the bee began 



In words devoid of joy ; 



But as the bee revealed his tale (or tail), 



Oh, how that lad did yell, 

 "Mother! Mother!" in fearful sound, 



And rushed for home pell-mell. 



Across the mellow ground they flew. 

 That bee and boy— my brother ; 



The beestill with his tale (and tail) engaged, 

 The boy still howling " Mother !" 



Which won the race I scarce can tell— 



I know the speed was high ; 

 The lad went like the swallows famed, 



That once did " homeward fly." 

 Chicago, Ills., March 18, 1889. 



BEES IN CITIES. 



How Bec-Kceping Can be Made 

 to Pay, etc. 



Bead at the New York Conventmi 



BY M. C. HAND. 



For many years I have been a care- 

 ful and diligent student of this most 

 interesting branch of natural history. 

 This industry is confined almost en- 

 tirely to the country, for tliere is where 

 milk and honey flow, probably for the 

 reason that " God made the country, 

 and man madi^ the town." It may be 

 interesting to know the circumstances 

 that led me to become interested in the 

 honey-bee, which are as follows : 



When this city (Syracuse) was a 

 mere hamlet of a few buildings, 1 re- 



moved the stumps of the forest trees 

 for a place to build a home, on a lot 

 that is now fast becoming the centre 

 of the city. I spent the best energies 

 of my life in building up the town ; by 

 industry and economy I acquired a 

 competency for my few and simple 

 wants the remainder of my life, and 

 retired to a sizable lot in a less densely 

 populated part of the town. 



I soon found that God never de- 

 signed us for lives of idleness, and, to 

 keep my healtli, 1 must still be active. 

 So I went to work in my garden of 

 one-sixth of an acre, with the determi- 

 nation to solve the problem of how 

 much a few feet of surface could be 

 made to produce. I was ignorant in 

 this business of how to take the first 

 step, and I resorted to publications on 

 the subject, as I did later to bee- 

 papers, and I found the conflicting of 

 opinions in both cases were mislead- 

 ing. When 1 find old bee-keepers 

 squarely opposed to each other, on 

 vital points connected with their pur- 

 suit, I must believe that they have yet 

 much to learn on the subject of bee- 

 keeping. There is no disagreement 

 that two and two make four, for the 

 reason that that problem is solved. 



I have now arrived at that point 

 where I invite the most careful atten- 

 tion as to how I mastered the most dif- 

 ficult problems in both pursuits, and 

 achieved a great success. I believe I 

 have found the "key" that will un- 

 lock the secrets to success, in nearly 

 all the pursuits of life. I did not find 

 this key to success in works of horti- 

 culture, or in bee-papers, but in the 

 Bible. It abounds in the choicest les- 

 sons for our instruction. 



There is no evidence that Paul knew 

 anything about horticulture or apicul- 

 ture, yet I am indebted to him for this 

 key to both. He says, "The invisible 

 things of God are made known to us 

 in the things that are made." If this 

 be true, and I believe it is, the thing 

 for us to do is to study "the things 

 that are made." If you would be suc- 

 cessful with the bees, you must study 

 the bee itself, and find out all those 

 invisible things essential to its life and 

 requirements, and then furnish those 

 to the bee. Until you do this, success 

 will not follow you. As proof that I 

 am correct, I will tell you what I have 

 done. 

 Studying Xliiuj£s tliat arc Made. 



By studying the tomato, it grows for 

 me a vine 10 or 11 feet high, loaded 

 to the top, some specimens being 17 

 inches in circumference. By studying 

 the strawberry, a little spot half the 

 size covered by my house, yielded me 

 7 bushels ; some of the fruit measuring 

 10 inches in circumference. By study- 

 ing the bees, I have learned to bring 



