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THO S. G . NKWMAN fo SON, 



CHICy\<JO, II^L. 



EDITOR. 



VoinV. Jnne 8,1889, No, 23. 



Xlie Cold and Rainy Weather 



during the latter part of May, has been very 

 depressing. The bees have been unable to 

 leave their hives for hours together, some 

 days, on account of the rain and cold 

 weather. White Clover blossoms are seen, 

 but many colonies have to be ted to prevent 

 starvation. The following lines from friend 

 Eugene Secor, entitled, " Hope On," are 

 very appropriate for us all just now : 



Wby cloud thy horizon with evil forebodinjjrs 



When the blossoms of Hope seem not to unfold ? 

 The mists that obscure thj sad heart's ardent long- 

 ings, 



May vanish litie dew in a sunlight of gold. 

 Hope on. doubting brother, thy Father is guiding. 



The future is His, He knoweth thee best ; 

 What seeraeth to thee like Infinite chiding, 



Is only thy faith and devotion to test. 



Music suitable for Decoration Day will 

 be found in this issue. We promised to give 

 another, and here it is— a beautiful song. 



Some One wrote from Darrtown, Ohio, 

 asking us to send Bee-Keepers' Union 

 blanks, but forgot to sign his name. Will 

 he please to try it again ? 



Poisoning; Bees.— On this subject 

 Prof. A. J. Cook wrote us the following on 



May 20, 1889 : 



Deai! Friend :— I have been fearing such 

 reports of poisouing bees as occurs on page 

 331 of the Amekican Bee Joiknai,. 1 

 have urged in eniphatic words ilisit no 

 sprsiyinsfbedone till all bloMSoms 

 tall troni tlie trees. To do so earlier 

 is criminal, foolish, and without excuse. 

 Please assert this again in full face type. I 

 have written a '• caution " to the New York 

 Trihime today. 



Let this cttKtton be heeded by everybody. 

 To spray trees while in bloom is very repre- 

 hensible indeed, and should never be done. 



Experiments in Apiculture. — 



The Ontario Agricultural and Experimental 

 Union is now engaged in making experi- 

 ments in apiculture. The following has 

 been issued as a circular, and has been sent 

 to many of the prominent bee-keepers : 



Brantkord, May 15, 1889. 



Dear Sir :— The Ontario Agricultural 

 and Experimental Union have taken up ex- 

 periments in apiculture. The desirability 

 of securing a method which will prevent 

 swarming, and at the same time not lessen 

 the honey crop, is so great that any experi- 

 ment in this direction will doubtless meet 

 with the approval of bee-keepers at large, 

 and a hearty co-operation on their part. 



Chloroforming bees when under the 

 swarming impulse has been experimented 

 with slightly, and apparently with a meas- 

 ure of success to prevent swarming. The 

 colony is to be treated as follows : A colony 

 which has queen-cells started, and will ap- 

 parently swarm, is to be treated with chlo- 

 roform, and results noted as per list of 

 questions. Another colony is to have the 

 swarm returned and treated. More colonies 

 may be treated, numbering 1, 2, 3, etc. A 

 sponge with some drops of chloroform upon 

 it may be inserted into the nozzle of the 

 smoker, and the fumes of the drug driven in 

 at the entrance of the hive or under the 

 quilt, the same as smoke. 



When the bees are in such a condition 

 that they will not tly from the combs when 

 the hive is severely jarred, the process Is 

 complete, and no more chloroform need be 

 given. 



The results will be given to each experi- 

 menter at the close of the season, and you 

 are invited to assist in the work and till out 

 the list of questions, sending the answers to 

 R. F. Holtermann, Brantford, Ont., Sept. 1. 



Kindly let him know at once if you will 

 undertake the experiment. 



Tours very truly, 



E. A, Rennie. 



R. F. Holtermann. 



The Blank mentioned in the circular is as 

 follows : 



After Swarming. BeforeSwanning. 



No. of Colonies. 



Date of Treatment. 



Did honey-flow con- 



linue after treatm't 



Did colony swarm 



after treatment. 



If so, what date ? 



Did you give tlie col- 

 ony more room alter 

 or immediately be- 



fore treatment? 



Did tile bees appear 

 to work with their 



usual vigor? 



Did your other col- 

 onies swarm after 



these were treated? 



Did you consider this 

 method a success ? 



The results of these experiments will ;be 

 duly given to our readers, when they are 

 received and tabulated. 



Tlic S. W. Rich appeal has just been 

 vigorously argued in the Circuit Court, and 

 the Judge has reserved his decision until the 

 next term of court in September. We have 

 reason to think that the decision of the 

 lower court will be reversed. 



The facts in this case were brietly stated 

 in the last report of the National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union in these words : 



Mr. S. W. Rich, of Hobart, N. Y., was 

 sued by a jealous and disagreeable neighbor 

 for $1,200 damages, and also to compel him 

 to move his home apiary outside the city 

 limits. Bee-keepers from several States 

 attended the trial, wliich was held in Octo- 

 ber before Judge Boardmau, at the Delaware 

 County Court. About forty witnesses were 

 called. 



The plaintiff asked for .81,200 damages for 

 injuries inflicted by the bees upon his per- 

 son and property, but the jury, from which 

 every person having bees was excluded, 

 gave him but six cents to cover wounded 

 feelings and damaged property 1 ! 



This virtually declared that the bees were 

 not a nuisance. The result is an over- 

 whelming defeat for the enemies of the pur- 

 suit of bee-keeping, and another victory for 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



But as the award of even G cents as dam- 

 ages carried with it costs amounting to 

 S468.04, the case has been appealed to the 

 Superior Court, which will cost about S500 

 more. Judge Boardmau ruled against the 

 bees every time, and in charging the jury 

 compared the bees to a pig-sty and a 

 slaughter-house. 



This was the first case with one e.xception 

 ever tried in the State, and the Judge hav- 

 ing no law or precedent to go by, ruled just 

 as he thought right, with the above result. 



It will not do to let bee-keeping be likened 

 to a pig-sty or a slaughter-pen I It is an 

 honest and honorable pursuit, and Its rights 

 must be preserved. This appeal will be 

 heard this fall, the Union having engaged 

 lawyers, and guaranteed the expenses of 

 the new trial. Had the Judge been inclined 

 to be as /(tie as the jury, this would have 

 been unnecessary. 



A Story of Thrilling: Interest to 



all classes of readers, and constituting one 

 of the most important contributions to our 

 national history that has ever appeared in 

 a magazine, is Col. llichard J. Linton's ac- 

 count of "John Brown and his Men, before 

 and after the Raid on Harper's Ferry," in 

 the June numberof Frank Leslie's Pirpular 

 -Vojit/iiy, just out. The value of this nota- 

 ble paper is enhanot^d by the illustrations 

 which accompany it, including portraits of 

 Owen Brown, Ricliard Realf, and others, 

 together with reproductions of the only ex- 

 isting contemporaneous pictures of the 

 scenes at Harper's Ferry and Charlestown, 

 where John Brown was tried and executed. 



Questions tor Uiscussion at the 



French Congress of Bee-Keepers in 1889, are 

 thus enumerated from L'ApicuUeur in the 

 British Dec Journal for May 9. Two or 

 three of the subjects for discussion will 

 cause a smile among American apiarists. 

 The subjects are thus stated : 



1. What are the bases of rational bee- 

 keeping ? 



2. Should the management of bees be con- 

 ducted on the same plan in different locali- 

 ties ? 



3. Is the production of wax the main ob- 

 ject of keeping bees ? 



4. By what means may foul brood be 

 prevented ? 



.5. What influence have certain manures 

 on the development or neutralization of 

 nectar in flowers ? 



0. Is it possible to produce honey in 

 France at a price as low as the cost of pro- 

 duction in America ? 



7. In the absence of official statistics, is it 

 possible to determine approximately the 

 proportion of honey and wax derived from 

 hives with movable combs, and hives with 

 fixed combs? 



Zinc IIoney-Tank.— J. R. Eskew, 

 of Iowa, asks this question: "Is zinc a 

 suitable lining for a honey-tank ? If not, 

 why not '.'" We reply that a zinc tank is not 

 even suitable for water— much less for 

 honey. It is as unsuitable as a lead tank. 



