420 



THE? aMERicspf mmm joxjrnsit. 



Xlie Piiris Kx|»osilioii.— The Paris 



convspoiuleut ot the British Bee Journal 

 lias this to say about the Bee and Honey 

 Department : 



I may say tliat only three countries are at 

 all completely represented. Thes>' are the 

 United States, who have a general collec- 

 tion grouped together from all the principal 

 manufacturers there : France, with one 

 fairly complete iiistallnient, hut many of 

 the goods in thi-, are apparently ot English 

 manufacture ; ami (Jreat Britain, represent- 

 ed solely by Mr. Tiiomas B. Blow, with a 

 large and imposing cnllection of both appli- 

 ance and honey and wax, also working bees. 

 All the collections of bee-keeping appli- 

 ances are situated in the Ajirieultural Gal- 

 leries, which stretch right away from the 

 main entrance ot the Esplanade des Inva- 

 lldes to the Camp de Mais. For tlie guid- 

 ance of English visitors who may wish to 

 see the Viirious collectiois of br^e keeping 

 appliances, 1 would advise that they should 

 enter the Exhibition by the Invalides en- 

 trance, which is tiie one nearest to Paris, 

 and is gtiite close to the Place de la Con- 

 corde. The Pont de la Concorde should be 

 crossed, and the turn to the right taken 

 (opposite is the Chamber of Deputies), and 

 the handsome and inipusihg entrance is 

 straight ahead. 



The Agricultural Galleries commence 

 quite close to this entrance, and are alto- 

 gether about one mile in length, and apart 

 from beekeeping are well worth a visit. 

 Mr. Blow's exnibit is quite close to the en- 

 trance of the first gallery, and we are quite 

 sure that he will be glad to be ot any ser- 

 vice possible to any English bee-keepers 

 who may call upon him. 



Although we know hRw to kill plant lice, 

 and can always do so by the use of kerosene 

 and soap mixture, yet the very nature of 

 the case prevents the use of this specitic in 

 case of this gr.iiii aphis. There is no way 

 fo apply the remedy in this case without 

 doing more harm than good. 



This grain aphis has often been observed, 

 and has not iiirre<]uently done areat harm. 

 One comforting fact may be given: This 

 enemy rarely confronts the farmer's success 

 on two succes-ive years. 



Jolin Y. l>etATiIer has certainly 

 " raised a breeze " iu Florida ! He was the 

 first editor of a paper called the Breeze, 

 which is published at New Smyrna, and is 

 now in its third year. In its issue tor last 

 week, we notice the following : 



J. Y. Detwiler, on the peninsula, is en- 

 gaged quite extensivelj in bee-culture, and 

 has made the business quite remunerative. 

 He has given the subject a great deal of 

 study in all its branches, and has edited the 

 bee-department of several agricultural peri- 

 odicals. He was the first editor of the 

 Breeze. 



Plan! LoiiMc — H. W. Haas, Pettit, 

 Ind., sends a " bug," and writes thus to 

 Prof. Cook : " I enclose some kind of an 

 insect pest, that is injuring wheat and oats 

 in this vicinity. Will you please answer in 

 the American Bee Jourxai,, telling what 

 it Is ?" Prof. Cook sends the following, 

 which he has prepared concerning it : 



The Graim AriiTS.— In Indiana it is 

 called, very incorrectly, the "green midge.'' 

 This plant-louse is very abundant, and often 

 does serious damage to wheat, rye, barley, 

 and oats. Like all Ihv aphides, it sucks out 

 the juice, and thus rums the grain. Dry 

 weather is favorable to the growth and de- 

 velopment of all plant-lice, and, no doubt, 

 the exceedinyly dry spring— April and May 

 —explains the great abundance of this grain 

 apliis this season. It is probable that tlie 

 abundant rains of June will lessen their 

 numbers and injury. 1 hope that the rains 

 are in time to prevent any serious mischief. 



Xlie Cliieag-o Xribiine of Sunday, 

 June 2.3, 1889, at the bottom of the fourth 

 column, on page 16, contained an article 

 with this heading : "The Busy Bee's Oc- 

 cupation Gone — Parafflne Honey-Comb 

 Filled with Glucose Honey." It then avers 

 that bee-keepers have been guilty of adul- 

 terating their honey, and then made a 

 "great discovery," which it describes thus : 



This was that glucose, or grape sugar, 

 closely resembled honey in appearance, and 

 was a very fair counterfeit as far as taste 

 was concerned. Taen there appeared in 

 the market paraffiiie honey-comb filled 

 with ulucnse honey, and ' the occupa- 

 tion of the bee was gone. The first attempt 

 was simply an aduheration of honey with 

 glucose, and the proportion of the latter 

 was gradually increased uutil there was 

 little or no honey. 



The above, together with the whole 

 article, copied from the Philadelphia Re- 

 cord, is ail unmitigated falsehood ! We 

 call upon the Tribune to retract it, and thus 

 show its desire, at least, to be just, and treat 

 evt-ry honest pursuit honorably. Surely, 

 this is an age ot misrepresentation 1 



Enoouras'iiiS' Words are always 

 welcome : when they come from a lady, 

 they are doubly welcome ; and when that 

 lady is one held in universal esteem, its 

 welcome is greatly enhanced thereby. Her 

 Royal Highness, the Princess Christian, is 

 honorary President of the Berkshire Bee- 

 Keepers' Association in England, and ad- 

 dressed to that body, at its late session, the 

 following very encouraging communication 

 which we extract from the Berkshire Dee- 

 Keeper, published at Reading, England : 



I am glad to hear that the interest in bee- 

 keeping is decidedly increasing throujihout 

 the country, and that with the cottager class 

 a more humane method of taking the honey 

 is superseding the old " rough and ready " 

 system. There is a ijue-ition which I do not 

 think has yet been sufficiently answered, as 

 to how far bee-keeping, except perhaps on a 

 large scale, has been found to pay, and yet 

 no doubt the hope that it will be a source of 

 income, is a great inducement to keep bees. 

 Apart, however, frmuthe " protit-and-loss " 

 view of the subject, associations of this 

 kind do good in many indirect ways. A bee- 

 keeper to be successful must study the 

 habits ot bees, and the interest of the sub- 

 ject will well repay him for the time and 

 attention he gives to it. 



Again, any scheme which brings persons 

 of different classes together, who would 

 not perhaps otherwise meet, must have a 

 beneficial effect. These County Associa- 

 tions promote t:ood fellowship, stimulate a 

 healthy rivalry, and encourage interchan'»e 

 of ideas. They break down those acciden- 

 tal barriers between class and class which 

 so often prevent one section of society from 

 coming in contact with another, to their 

 mutual advantage. 



I have often remarked that sociability 

 seemsa special chaiaeteristic of bee-keep- 

 ers ; tiiey have interests in common ; there 

 is a bond of sympathy between them. The 

 experience and the scientific knowledge of 

 the professional are placed at the disposal 

 of the beginner, who knows that he can al- 

 ways get Help and advice ; and in his turn 

 he is prepared in after years to assist others 

 in the same way. All such intercourse is 

 most desirable, and is in every way to be 

 encouraged. 



1 am told that a London Guild has in con- 

 templation the founding ot an Agricultural 

 College, and it has been suggested that 

 something might be done in connection with 

 such a sclieme to forward the " honey in- 

 dustry." It would iiive a great impetus to 

 bee-keeping throuiihout the country, were 

 so important a society as the Mercers' Com- 

 pany to lend its powerful aid to the devel- 

 opment of this suhject 



The last two b.id honey seasons have, I 

 fear, had a very diseonraging effect on bee- 

 keepers, especially on those of the cottager 

 das-;, and something must be done to revive 

 the spirits of those to whom the last in- 

 clement season has brought nothing but dis- 

 aster. I venture to express a hope that the 

 changes that have lately been niHrte in the 

 rules of organization of this association 

 may prove beneficial fo the members. I 

 trust that none will be discouraged bv past 

 failure. It may be true of bee keeping as 

 of other ventures, " That there is a tide in 

 the affairs ot men which, taken at the flow, 

 leads on to fortune." Helena. 



Cumberland Lodge, May, 18S9. 



Xiering' Up. elc.-J. F. Gile, Bass- 

 wood, Wis., on June 24, 1889, asks the fol- 

 lowing questions : 



1. Is sweet clover desirable for hay ? 



2. Willitdoto tier-up when comb honey 

 in brood-frames is wanted ? 



3. 1 have a nucleus covering five Gallup 

 frames, that is queenless, and to which 1 

 have given a frame ot unsealed brood at two 

 different times. The last time 1 examined 

 them, I found three empty queen-cells, but 

 no queen or eggs deposited. What is the 

 cause of this ? 



1. No. 2. No. 3. It is sometimes difficult 

 to account for tlie action of bees, not know- 

 ing all the circumstances. If they have 

 laying-workers, that may account for it. 



Poisoninsr Bees.— Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 fo whom we referred the matter of Legis- 

 lation relative to the use of London purple 

 when trees are in bloom, in Michigan, writes 

 as follows to us, relative thereto : 



You may be sure that I will attend to the 

 matter of Legislation on the London purple 

 question, at the first opportunity, it is a 

 matter of vital importance, and 1 am glad 

 you are moving energetically. 1 felt sure 

 you would, as you are always ready to 

 strike when our industry is assailed. 



After the first one hundred days, our 

 Legislature is not permitted by the Consti- 

 tution to introduce new Bills. Thus it was 

 too late to move in the matter with our pres- 

 ent Legislature, wlien my attention was first 

 called to the danger. I have never heard of 

 any loss until this year. 



I have again cilled attention to the mat- 

 ter in the New York Tribune. 1 will do so 

 in other papers. 



It is unfortunate that the Michigan Legis- 

 lature could not have dealt with this matter 

 at the sessii>u which closed last week, after 

 a six months' sitting. It passed bills to re- 

 duce railroad fare to two cents per mile, and 

 to enact " local option." 



