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531 



XIIO.ItAS G. ]^ETV5IAN, 



EDITOR. 



VoinV. Am, 211889. No. 34, 



Ebitqrml Bmeirgs, 



ny Uaby*s Face.— On the next two 

 papes we present another beautiful piece of 

 music, wliich doubtless will find a pleasant 

 welcome in all bee-keepers' homes, around 

 whose firesides are woat to play these happy 

 baby faces. Some of those homes may be 

 babyless to-day, which but recently were 

 made joyous and happy by the prattle and 

 laughing sunshine of the little darlings' an- 

 gelic faces ; and to such we trust that not 

 only the sweet melody of the song, but also 

 the touching sentiment expressed by the 

 words, may help to make more blessed the 

 " living memory " of the " sweet baby faces" 

 which are now "up there with my Father,'' 

 who has also " saved a place for you." 



A Patent was granted on Aug. 1.3, 1S89, 

 toL. W. Spradliu, of Kansas, for a "bee- 

 house." It says: " The bee-house is built 

 of ordinary coustruction, having suitable 

 studding for supporting the same. The in- 

 side of the house is lathed and plastered in 

 the usual manner, and the intermediate 

 space filled with sawdust, In order that the 

 house may be dry and cool in summer and 

 warm in winter," etc. Its floor is of " rock," 

 cpmeuted, and has a ventilator in the roof. 

 Tin- patent is "ric?i," but we fear the pat- 

 entee never will be enriched by it. 



Ilarins: a Pew extra sets of the 

 Amkkican Bee Joiij.val for the years 1887 

 and 18S.S, we will supply both these years, 

 and 1SS9 and IS'JO, for 83.00, until all are sold. 

 Or we will send 1888, 1889 and 1890 for 82.50, 

 all by mail, postage paid. These are very 

 valuable, and those who have not yet read 

 them should lose no time in securing them. 



All tlie Votes received so far, at this 

 office, have been for the Golden-Rod as the 

 National Flower. 



The ^. tV. Rich Lawsuit, which 

 we mentioned on page .iis of our last issue, 

 it seems has been tried by the " Supreme 

 Court,'" and the next resort is the " Court of 

 Appeals." They call the Courts by different 

 names In New York from what we do in the 

 West. There they also call the judge of one 

 of their Courts a "Recorder," instead of 

 Judge. Mr. John McKeon, Dryden, N. T., 

 sends this correction of the matter : 



You say that the case was tried in the 

 County Court before Judge Boardman. 

 Judge Doualass Boardman was a Judge of 

 the Supreme or Circuit Court, and the case 

 was tried in the Circuit Court at Delhi, New 

 York. The next highest Court is the Gen- 

 eral Term of the Supreme Court, and that is 

 the Court which coufirnied the decision of 

 the Circuit Court last month. The next 

 higher Court, which is also of last resort, is 

 the Court of Appeals. 



Thanks for the correction. It means the 

 same thing, only the names differ. The 

 "Court of last resort " in New York is the 

 Court of Appeals— in many other States it 

 is called the " Supreme Court." In National 

 affairs, also, the Court of last resort is the 

 " United States Supreme Court." This will 

 account for our misnaming the Courts in 

 New York. The facts remain unchanged. 



Mr. McKeon adds: "Judge Boardman 

 has been caught by old age, and will never 

 again decide against the bees. He is re- 

 tired." It is a relief to know that the Judge 

 who likened an apiary to a " pig-sty," or a 

 "slaughter-house," is now retired to private 

 life. We fear he is in his " dotage." 



Swarinins:.— " I should be glad if 1 

 could prevent so much swarming." That is 

 what Dr. Miller and all other prominent bee- 

 culturists would like to do. A writer in the 

 Prairie Farmer tells us how to do it. It 

 would be big money in his pocket if he 

 would go around and keep bees from 

 swarmiug. 1 could afford to go down pretty 

 deep in mine. Why do bees swarm, 

 and why do people get married ? Why do 

 birds build nests ? The Creator commands 

 them to " multiply and replenish the earth," 

 and when the bees swarm they "found " an- 

 other family. 



As to cutting out queen-cells to prevent 

 swarming, I have had a great many swarms 

 that had not even started a queen-cell. Sec- 

 ond swarms may be prevented by cutting 

 out queen-cells, but not the first. The 

 writer claims he " can control swarming 

 every time." This is what I cannot do, and 

 what those who own bees by the thousands 

 of colonies would be glad to do. This ques- 

 tion, like Banquo's ghost, is always present 

 at all bee-conventions, and no one has ever 

 claimed to be able to solve it.- Prairie 

 Farmer. 



L.ast week's Frank Leslie's Illustrated 

 Newspaper shows a strong artistic taste. 

 The Highland Light, President Harrison's 

 visit at Bar Harbor, The Cricket Plague in 

 Algeria, make it the best number under the 

 new proprietors. 



'%Vhiie Clover Honey. — A subscri- 

 ber to the Massachusetts Ploughman asks : 

 "Do bees really obtain from white clover 

 as much honey as is supposed ? I never see 

 many bees on white clover, and farmers say 

 the same." It is answered thus : 



White clover is the best of the small honey 

 plants, but the yield, quantity and duration 

 of flower, depend upon the season. In some 

 seasons it secretes honey only two or three 

 weeks, and, often, no honey is found in the 

 blossoms after the sun is high in the heav- 

 ens. The reason you do not see the bees 

 working on the blossoms may be that the 

 bees visit the plants only very early In the 

 morning, before the sun is above the horizon. 



A farmer sowed buckwheat for his bees, 

 and to plow under as a fertilizer. Visiting 

 the field several times during the day, he 

 was surprised that he could not see nor 

 hear a bee anywhere in the field. He de- 

 cided to plow under an once, and went to 

 th^ field for the purpose very early in the 

 morning. Such a bee-picnic, such a carnival 

 of bee sounds greeted him, that he did not 

 dare to drive the horse on to'the buckwheat. 

 At that time in theseason, buckwheat secre- 

 ted honey only in the night, and it must be 

 snatched before the sun came up when it 

 would be lost. 



The same fact applies, more or less, to 

 clover after the 1st ot July. But whatever 

 comes from white clover is the most delicate, 

 most delicious of its kind. 



Canadian l^ew.s is thus given in the 

 last Honey Producer : 



Almost all necessary steps have been taken 

 to secure a very hearty reception to the 

 members of the International American 

 Bee-Association when convening, in Dec- 

 ember next, at Brantford. 



The honey season to date, (July 10) has 

 been remarkable neither for its success as 

 such, or Its falure. Ot course localities vary 

 considerably. The amount of honey secured 

 has been affected by the strength ot the col- 

 onies when the season opened. The number 

 of colonies kept in a locality no doubt also 

 influences the crop. On the whole, a fair 

 crop thus far has been secured. Linden will 

 tell the tale. 



Upon the question of misrepresentations 

 about honey and the like, Bro. Newman of 

 the Amekican Bke Journal, is continu- 

 ally compelling the leading papers of the 

 continent to withdraw statements made, and 

 statements which if not refuted would be 

 very injurious to the bee-keeping industry. 

 We conaratulate Mr. Newman and trust he 

 may continue to perform this often unpleas- 

 ant task, without flinching. 



Bees L,oolcinsr for their Xor> 

 mentor.— The following item is taken 

 from an exchange : 



A steamer which arrived at Colombo re- 

 cently from Bombay via coast ports, reports 

 that at Cannonore, where she lay two miles 

 from the shore, a large swarm of bees, num- 

 bering some tens of thousands, settled on 

 her foreyard, forming a cluster about three 

 feet long by eighteen inches in depth. It 

 was considered inadvisable to attempt to 

 dislodge them before the arrival of the ves- 

 sel at Colombo, as at each of the coast ports 

 she lay some miles from the shore. But 

 several niahts after, the third officer, en- 

 veloped in a blanket and armed with a hose, 

 climbed the mast and gave the dangerous 

 visitors a dose of salt water. The infuriated 

 bees flew about the ship all night in search 

 of their disturber, but not finding him in the 

 morning, they concluded to quit. They 

 were last seen making a bee-line for the 

 northern suburb ot Colombo. 



