1903- 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



149 



and for which broad claims of merit 

 are put forth. While the work partakes 

 largely of the nature of an advertise- 

 ment for the new hive, Mr. Massie dis- 

 plays an admirable degree of independ- 

 ent' thinking which leads us into new 

 fields of thought along apicul'tural lines, 

 and we have perused the book with 

 much interest. It is sold at a quar- 

 ter- 



their share towards the discouragement 

 of Cuban immigration. The fact re- 

 mains, though, that there are many oth- 

 ers who, like Mr. Howe, like Cuba 

 sufficiently well to make it their choice 

 of locations for a home. 



As we have stated before, .the queen 

 is the hub of the apicultural wheel, and 

 it appears that at present her majesty 

 is receiving full attention through the 

 public press. Insofar as wholesale 

 methods of rearing and fertilizing are 

 concerned, the plan set forth in this is- 

 sue by Mr. C. B- Bankston is quite in 

 line with the Swarthmore system. 

 However, the idea of casting the mini- 

 ature hives to the four winds and later 

 raking them together, is original, with- 

 out a doubt, with Bankston. It is 

 just a little strange, however, that 

 no claim is made in this case for the 

 superiority of queens resulting from 

 such handling of hives. To have been 

 in line with modern tactics, as practiced 

 by inventors of queen-rearing devices 

 and systems, Mr. Bankston should have 

 observed a wonderfully beneficial ef- 

 fect upon the resultant queen of this 

 aerial transit, from buggy to brush. 



Our old friend and former contribu- 

 tor, Mr. Harry Howe, gives in a re- 

 cent number of the Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 view a very terse account of the ob- 

 jectionable features with which the Cu- 

 ban bee-keeper's life is attended- Mr. 

 Howe's extensive experience in New 

 York enables him to draw comparisons 

 that are of value to those with an eye 

 on Cuba as a prospective field of 

 operation. Mud, extreme moisture, 

 low prices of apiarian products and 

 high prices of supplies, unsanitary 

 conditions, insects and short and de- 

 creasing crops of honey are some of 

 the obstacles encountered; while rob- 

 beries and murders, he infers, are com- 

 monplace afifairs. However, Mr. Howe 

 concludes wi'th the assertion that he 

 likes Cuba well enough to stay there; 

 though he thinks the public has not 

 been fully informed in regard to the 

 dark side of Cuban life, which is, doubt- 

 less, a fact; though Mr. Rockenbach 

 and a few others have certainly done 



As an example of the kind of bus- 

 iness the Colorado Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation does for its members and 

 apiarian interests of the state, we pub- 

 lish elsewhere in this number the full 

 text of a law recently enacted there, 

 and now in full force. That the 

 bill has been drafted by thoroughly 

 competent and practical minds is clear- 

 ly shown in the complete manner with 

 which it covers every essential of an 

 ideal law for the protection of the pro- 

 ducer of pure honey. It is doubtless 

 the most specific law bearing upon 

 honey adulteration ever enacted. The 

 pity is that it should not be national 

 in its scope; but it is a beginning — 

 an example which should be extended 

 to the statute books of every state in 

 the Union. The Colorado State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association is to be congrat- 

 ulated upon this happy triumph of its 

 well-directed effort, and bee-keepers 

 of that state should appreciate their 

 good fortune in having an association 

 with such able minds to direct its af- 

 fairs- 



Jessamine, like the mountain laurel, 

 is one of the most beautiful of flowers 

 — the former a rich yellow, the latter 

 a most delicate pink. Both are early 

 spring bloomers. The fragrance of the 

 jessamine is very pronounced, and is 

 used quite extensively by manufactur- 

 ers of perfumes. In the East Indies, 

 it is said, jessamine bloom is strewn 

 through the houses and temples, and 

 thus the air is permeated with the ex- 

 quisite odor. Is it any wonder, then, 

 that the innocent bee in quest of nectar 

 in the early spring, should be beguiled 

 by its fragrance to sip the poison sweet 

 secreted amid its j^olden petals? Man, 

 by virtue of reason born of experience, 

 is tempted not by poisonous, though 

 attractive, fruits; but the instinct of 

 the bee serves not to protect her 

 against the deadly morsel of nectar by 

 which she is tempted. The writer has 

 seen the ground about the apiary 

 strewn with writhing bees in the throes 

 of death, as a result of gathering nee- 



