THE jiMKRiciEP* BKi? jo^mmmi*. 



547 



XIIOMAS G. NEtVITtAN, 



EDITOR. 



YoinV. Ade. 31. 1889, No. 35. 



Itill yiye on Bees. — Some time since, 

 Mr. Eilgar W. Nye, t!ie humorist, wrote one 

 of his peculiarly-funny articles on swarm- 

 ing. It appeared in the New York papers, 

 but it was copyrifjhted. VVe wrote to the 

 author for permission to place it before our 

 readers, so that they might have a good 

 laugh. He was then in Europe, but we have 

 just received a letter from liim with per- 

 mission to print the article. We have liad 

 the engravings re-produced and present it to 

 our readers in this issue. Bro. Heddou 

 wrote us as follows concerning the article : 



FiiiK.vi) Newman : I have laughed heart- 

 ily over the Hill Nye article ou bees. He 

 knows more facts about them than Agas>iz 

 did ! No such a humorist ever gracfd the 

 world before, It seems to me.— J.^.mes Hed- 



DON. 



Kead it, and laugh and "grow fat," is good 

 advice. Those who have* any relish for 

 humor will no doubt enjoy it, as we and 

 many others have done. Several of our sub- 

 scribers cut it out, and sent it to us, asking 

 tor its insertion in the next Cee Jouunai,, 

 but we could not do so until the author gave 

 permission. Now, here it is. 



I. R. Ciood, Nappanee, Ind., has sent 

 us a. sample of his new Combined Introduc- 

 ing and Shipping Cages. The Introducing 

 Cage is made of bent wire-cloth, 1!4'.\3 

 inches and half-an-incli thick, with a wood- 

 stopper in one end having three holes 

 through it; these holes are filled with 

 " Good " candy. When shipping, it is en- 

 closed witli a frame work of thiu wood 

 around the sides (with a hole in two sides 

 for air), and a thin piece of wood on both 

 sides. Mr. Good says: 



I believe it to be one of the best and most 

 successful Introducing Cages made. To 

 introduce a queen, all you have to do is to 

 lay the cage on top of the Irames, under the 

 cushion, or thrust it down between the 

 conilis, and the bees will eat the candy out 

 and liberate the queen. How do you like it, 

 Mr. Editor? 



We like it very much. It is so simple, 

 and will save much labor in introducing 

 the queens. 



Several more papers have been sent to 

 ns, which have published the item from the 

 Herald of Health, about making artificial 

 honey from oil of vitriol and potato starch. 

 What stuff for a magazine to publish ! it 

 ought to be called the " Herald of Death " 

 instead of the Herald of Health ! 



A Man who has not enough interest to 

 subscribe for the Bee Jouknal, requests us 

 to write him all about how to manage bees, 

 how to build a bee-house, with full particu- 

 lars as to dunensions, etc.— as though we had 

 nothing to do but to write a book for his 

 bfuetit, and present it to him in manuscript. 

 He little dreams that while we write this, 

 there are 50 unanswered letters on our rie-k. 

 We want to accommodate all, but have no 

 time to write for anyone the details of what 

 they can purchase in a pamphlet or book. 

 We are too busy. 



It lias Often been Awked what 

 would be included in the free list of animals 

 imported into Canada for breeding purposes. 

 We lately sent a request, through D. A. 

 Jones & Co., lothe Canadian Department of 

 Agriculture for a definite classification of 

 such, and here is the reply : 



Pedigreed animals for the im])rovement of 

 stoi'k (viz : horses, cattle, sheej) and swine) 

 undt-r special regulations of the Treasury 

 Board, come in fiee, butnthcr living animals 

 inipoited, are liable to a duty of 20 per cent. 

 I should understand the term "animals" to 

 include "queen-befs," but this, however, is 

 a question for the interpretation of the Cus- 

 toms.- Signed, J. Lowe, Ottawa, Ont. 



WIio is tlie Handsomest ^Voman 



in New York? Frank Leslie's Weekly is 

 trying to settle this question by printing 

 every week a picture of one of the loveliest 

 young ladies in New York society. This 

 week a large picture of Miss Sallie Hargous 

 is produced. She is certainly a beautiful 

 woman. President Harrison's visit to Bar 

 Harbor, the striking picture of a lile-saver 

 rescuing a child at the beach, glimpses of 

 the operating room of the Western Union 

 Building, and of scenes at the watermelon- 

 dock, help to make up an unusually interest- 

 ing paper. 



SlatlstifH.- In answer to a set of five 

 questions, sent out by the Editor of the 

 Oleanings, to ascertain the real facts con- 

 cerning tlie honey crop, reports were sent in 

 from every State, which are summed up as 

 follows : 



On account of the cool wet weatiier in the 

 earypartof the .scKson, which, according 

 to the reports, secius to have pervaded al- 

 most all of the United States, the honey- 

 crop is considerably less than it might have 

 been. First, because this weather contin- 

 ued clear up, in a good many of the places, 

 into the lime of year when the main nectar- 

 bearing Bora was in bloom. Second, the 

 bees were unable to brefd up properly on 

 accountof the cool and rainy weathnr, and 

 hence the actual working force of the bees 

 was considt-rabh- lower than it should have 

 been. But in spite of all this, the season 

 has been decidedly better than last year, in 

 most localities, aUhough there are some ex- 

 ce^)tions. 



Twenty States report a good season : 

 namely, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illi- 

 nois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

 Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, 

 NewJersev, North Carolina, Ohio, Penn- 

 sylvania. Rhoie Island, South Carolina, 

 Wsconsin, Arizona. 



The following States report a poor season 

 generally : California, Connecticut, Florida, 

 Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, 

 Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, 

 New York, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, 

 Virginia, West Virginia. 



Michigan, though usually among the fore- 

 most, gives as unfavorable a report as any 

 of the States enumerated. 



It is interesting to note that a number of 

 States rejjort '200 per cent, as the average 

 crop of honey recnived. W. P. W. Duke, of 

 Alabama, andJ.L. Clark, of Florida, re- 

 port 200 per c^nt., while a large number of 

 others give 175 per cent, as the average crop. 

 Taking it all in all, we find that the average 

 crop of honey secured in the respective 

 localities, stands 75 per cent. The same 

 average a year ago was only 50 per cent ; so 

 that, according to the reports, 50 percent, 

 more honey has been secured this year than 

 last, although the general average is still 

 down. 



Perhaps we should remark that the report 

 has probably been under-estimated rather 

 than the reverse. The tendency of human 

 nature, and especially when its hopes are 

 set high, is to look down instead of up. 

 Farmers, as well as bee-keepers, are much 

 inclined to complain about the poor season, 

 too much drouth, or too much wet, or some- 

 thing else that is not just exactly right. 



The II.I.USTBATED HOMI! JOUBNAI. 



will be clubbed with t be American Bee Journal 

 and both mailed to any address in the United 

 States and Cauadu. for one year, for $1.75. 

 Or both JooRXALS for one year, and Dickcus' 

 Works (as described ou page 560 of this Jour- 

 nal)— all for $2.85. 



Mrs. J. N. He:itri-. of Columbus, Nebr., savs : 



"The IbLUSTHATKIl HOME JOURNAL iS j'ust 



such a niaga/.lnc- as I have been wanting- to 

 take for a long tiiiio, and I appreciate it. 1 

 wish it success." 



IntrodH<-ing: Queens. —Mr. Wm. 



Beall, Kimmell, Indiana, asks us to state 

 what is the best way to introduce queens. 

 This would take more space than could be 

 spared in this department, to give in detail. 

 The best way to do (for Mr. B. is evidently 

 a beginner), is to buy a good manual, and 

 then he will have something to refer to at 

 any moment, which will tell hiin what, 

 when and how to do anything that is desired 

 to be done in the apiary. There are so many 

 ways, that we should hardly like to decide 

 which method was the best one. Mr. Beall 

 remarks thus about his honey crop: 



The honey crop is light here, this year. 

 It is only about half a crop. Is it healthy 

 to feed bees? if so what way is the best to 

 feed them? 



Tes; if the bees are short of stores, feed 

 them. Get a Shuck feeder and put at the 

 entrance of the hive. 



