276 



TM® mjmmmicmn mmm j&wmn-mjL. 



Xiiat a Ilee Dies soon after losing its 

 sting, lias been very confidently and repeat- 

 edly asserted. In faet, it has been consid- 

 ered a " settled fact," and so it has been re- 

 iterated without question. Now it appears 

 that Mr. Doolittle has been making an in- 

 vestigation in that line as well as in queen- 

 rearing. The results of experiments are 

 thus stated by him in the Bitraf Home for 

 last week : 



A correspondent wishes to know whether 

 a bee can live and do work after it has stung 

 a person, leaving its sting ; or it it dies, as 

 is generally believed by many persons who 

 keep bees. Up to within the past ten years 

 nearly all believed that a bee which had 

 stung any one must surely die, for in leav- 

 ing the sting, as the honey-bee nearly always 

 does in stinging an animal, a part of the in- 

 testines was supposed to be left with the 

 sting, poison-sac, etc., from which it was 

 argued that the bee could not live. 



This seemed so reasonable that I formerly 

 believed that the idea which prevailed was 

 true, till one day after a bee had stung me, 

 leaving its sting, it came to attack me again 

 and again, with all the fury and vengeance 

 possible for a bee to work itself up to, get- 

 ting in my hair and singing away as only an 

 angry bee can sing, which will make the 

 cold chills run up and down the back of the 

 most hardened individual. As this bee ap- 

 parently had no thought of dying, it was 

 caught and caged with two or three others, 

 and kept a week or so to see what would be- 

 come of the matter. At the end of the week 

 it was apparently just as lively and healthy 

 as any of the rest, when all the bees were 

 set at liberty. 



At another time, when putting up queens 

 to send away— in catching the escort-bees 

 ■which were to go with the queen, one of 

 them stung me on the end of my finger, leav- 

 ing its stiug, when it immediately ran into 

 the cage. As 1 did not wish to remove all 

 of the bees and queen, to get it out, I let it 

 go, soon after which the thought came to me 

 that here would be a chance to test the 

 theory of the death of the bee from losing 

 its sting, as the queen was going to Texas, 

 which journey would require from eight to 

 ten dajs time. Accordingly I wrote to the 

 party to whom they were sent, telling him 

 all about the matter, and asking him to take 

 notice particularly when the queen arrived 

 to see if there were any dead bees in the 

 cage. 



In due time he replied that the queen ar- 

 rived in splendid condition, and that there 

 was not a dead bee in the cage. 



Several times since then I have tried simi- 

 lar ways to see if such bees as had lost their 

 stings were in any way inconvenienced 

 thereby, and as far as 1 can tell, by means 

 of confining them, so as to know that 1 have 

 the same bee, I can see no difference be- 

 tween such bees and tliose which have their 

 Btings, as to length of life. 



Whether they gather honey or not, or 

 whether they are allowed to live in the hive 

 without their weapon of defense is some- 

 thing which would be next, if not quite, im- 

 possible to tell, for in this case we have no 

 means of keeping track of an individual bee. 

 As bees are not tolerated in the hive, 

 which are in any way imperfect, it might 

 not be unreasonable to suppose that the per- 

 fect ones miuht drive nfT such an one which 

 had lost its sting, as being incapable of de- 

 fense, were the hive attacked. 



That it was not the design of nature for the 

 bee to always lose its stiug when defending 

 its hive, is manifest where bees repel rob- 

 bers to the extent of hundreds and thou- 



sands of slaughtered ones, when in such 

 cases not one bee in one thousand loses its 

 sting, but keepH it so that it can slaughter 

 bee after bee till the attacking party is re- 

 pelled, or they lose their lives in the combat. 

 At times they do lose their stings in other 

 bees, but not often. 



JlliJ^tftecf 



Mistakes are made by everybody at 

 sometime in their lives— for there are none 

 " perfect." Mr. C. D. Duvall, of Maryland, 

 writes of many mistakes made by bee-keep- 

 ers, in the Maryland Farmer, in this lan- 

 guage : 



As Josh Billings says, " Eggsperience is a 

 good skule, but the tuition is purty hi," but 

 if we are careful and observing, we need not 

 pay so dear for all our experience, but profit 

 by the experience of others. This is not 

 only true in bee-keeping, but in any other 

 business. 



One of the first, and a very common mis- 

 take beginners are liable to make, is in com- 

 mencing with the wrong hive. I made this 

 mistake and paid pretty dearly for it, too. 



The first hive I bought was a "patent 

 hive," that was no more fit to keep bees in 

 than a nail-keg. 



The second style of hive I bought was a 

 decided improvement over the first, but with 

 many faults and imperfections, but being 

 inexperienced, I did not find this out until 

 after I had made up a large supply. 



The third style of hive I bought was the 

 Siniplicity-Langstroth hive, and it was the 

 first practical hive I ever used, and it is the 

 hive I am now using. Never make the mis- 

 take of buying or using hives except those 

 that take some of " the standard frames." 



1 made a mistake in thinking 1 could 

 make more money by rearing queens for 

 sale, instead of honey-production. 



I made a mistake in thinking that I could 

 depend entirely on my bees for support, ex- 

 clusive of any other business, by having 

 several apiaries located at different places. 

 but after buying out several bee-keepers' 

 entire stock and fixtures, and running three 

 apiaries for one year, I found it a very costly 

 experiment, as I now have about twice the 

 number of hives that I use, that I am get- 

 ting no profit from. 



It is a ereat mistake to keep too many 

 bees ; in this section of country one person 

 should not keep over 75 colonies, and a small 

 number will give a much better profit, and 

 if properly cared for will prove as profitable 

 as anything on the farm ; but right here is 

 where a great mistake is liable to occur, by 

 wanting to increase too rapidly. In some 

 sections of the country a large number of 

 bees can be kept profitably, but not in 

 Maryland, as the honey crop is too un- 

 certain. 



It is a great mistake to be too eager to 

 increase the number of colonies, for the 

 novice is almost sure to make a correspond- 

 ing mistake by being disappointed, and be- 

 coming discouraged, and giving up the husi- 

 ness before he has given it a fair trial. 

 Better commence in a small way and let the 

 colonies increase with your experience. 



.Tapanese ltiick:-»vlieat.— A Kern 

 county (California) farmer who has been 

 experimenting with Japanese buckwheat, 

 reports that in all respects it is far superior 

 to the American buckwheat. It produces 

 twice the number of pounds to the acre, 

 makes remarkably fine cakes, can be sown 

 at any time, and he thinks will prove far 

 more profitable than wheat to the farmers of 

 California, if they can be induced to make a 

 trial of it. It is also a good honey-producer. 



An BleKantly Illustrated Monthly for the 

 FAMII^T AI\1> FIRESIDE, 



Fnblislied at $1.50 a Tear, 



will be clubbed with the American Bee Journal 

 and both mailed to any address in the United 

 States and Canada, one year, for $2.0O. This 

 low rate will be extended to all those who have 

 already paid for the Bee Journal for 1889. To 

 such the Illustrated Home Journal wiU be sent 

 one year for $1.00 extra. See page 269. 



What the Other Periodicals Say of It : 



"Gleaninps in Bee Culture " savs: "The Il- 

 lustrated Home Journal is printed on nice 

 calendered paper, aud contains 36 pages, in- 

 cluding- a tmted cover. It is well illustrated, 

 audthemitial article is entitled "One Hun- 

 dred lears a Nation," by the editor. Mr. 

 JNewmanisa man acquainted with men and 

 with the times, and the article is comprehen- 

 sive and complete. We wish the publishers 

 every success." 



The Cana<Han Bee Journal has this to sav : 

 ■ Ihe Illustrated Home Journal isa bright new 

 monthly issued from the oftice of the Ameri- 

 can Bee JonRNAL, Chicago, and edited by Mr. 

 IhomasG. Newman. It contains interesting 

 serial and short stories, is profuseh- ilhi-st rated 

 with high-class engravings, and is pat-kod from 

 cover to cover with most readable and instruc- 

 tive literature. It is printed on high-grade 

 jiaper in the best stylo of the art, and such ii 

 meritorious publication should find its way not 

 only into every Ameiican home, but sfiould 

 circulate largely in the Dominion. 



The Bee-Keevers' Review says : The Illus- 

 trated Home Journal is nicely" printed on fine 

 paper, and filled with choice miscellaneous 

 matter, suitable for the family and fireside 

 ^v e sincerely wish it prosperity. 



The Illustrated Home .Tournal for April 

 ISSii. has found its way to our editorial table. 

 It has a neat appeanuicc, is well edited, and 

 would be a good addition to the list of reading 

 matter in any borne— New South. 



The Cedar Rapids (Iowa) "Times" remarks 

 thus: "Our old-time c-ilizon, Thomas G. New- 

 man, the original pi'D.ioctor of the Daily Ke- 

 pubhcan. in coimection with his sou, lias fa- 

 vored us with a co|i> of the Illustrated Home 

 •loiirnal, published by them, for April. This 

 is indeed an attractive publication, and this 

 April number is au oxceediuglv interesting 

 one. the opening article is entitled "One 

 Huudivd Icars a Nation." It is a most timely 

 approiii-iate, aud iiistnictive paper, replete 

 with historical skc-tclKs, anecdotes, ineidonts 

 and illustrations coiiiiucted with the birth of 

 the iialion, one hundred > cars ago. This num- 

 ber has iJ flue iihistratious, teu illustrated 

 articles, essays, historical sketches, music 

 and a great diversity of miscellaneous read- 

 ing." 



Never did the advent of a magazine forthe 

 family touch such a responsive chord, or re- 

 ceive such a hearty welcome. 



Trial subscriptions will be taken 3 months 

 for 40 cents each; or it will be clubbed with 

 the Bee Jouknal, for a year at $2.00 for both. 

 Agents, who are working for premiums, may 

 take " trial subscriptions," siud count 4 as one 

 .yearly subscriber. One sanqile copy sent free 

 tosubsciibersof theBEE Journal, upon ap- 

 plication. That will tell you all about the 

 "Premiums" oflcred lor getting up clubs, and 

 "Cash Prizes" for the largest clubs sent in 

 before Sept. 30, 1889. "Good pay for good 

 work " is our motto. See page 238. 



