THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



95 



were small in size and they did not 

 gatlier honey enough to winter dining 

 the season of 1890. This last March 

 ('91), I took those old combs away, 

 gave her colony a set of combs made by 

 a young swarm last summer on starters 

 an incii wide and to-day, June 5, 1891, 

 that colony is tlie best one I ever had 

 or saw. The workers are the largest ; 

 many of them have to squeeze to pass 

 the slots in the drone-traps. I keep 

 two of the traps on my hives, full width 

 of the hive for an entra-^ce and it ought 

 to be still larger for the next twenty days 

 if tlie honey llow continues. I have two 

 section cases on, holding forty sections 

 each, and the top one is very near com- 

 plete. I use Falconer's Chautauqua 

 hive. 



Again the Dr. says on page 12, and 

 Mr. Hutchinson in the Beekeepers'' Re- 

 view seem to be greatly alarmed at the 

 wreck we are about to make of the 

 " floral kingdom" if we tamper with the 

 size of the honey bee. If such thmgs 

 as "Cheshire " predicts are to come to 

 pass if we should enlarge a few bees, 

 what, oh I what would be the result if we 

 continue to make the bees smaller? 

 Please note the i)red:ction in the Review 

 for May. ts. perfect vixxn 6 feet ! shou'd 

 another man 18 i^^\. built in proportion, 

 every inch a mati, the -latter would be 

 Just able to stand/ Such Rot/ I cut 

 the following from the Boston Adver- 

 tiser: 



"Prince George of Greece, who received 

 the lhaiii<s of the Czar for rescuing his 

 cousin, the Czarowilz, from tlie m.id Jap- 

 anese, is a young Hercules. He is almost 

 6 ft. 4 in. tall, and is huilt hi proportion. 

 His natural strength has been increased 

 bjMiis service in the navy. While in the 

 Danish navy he was the idolof the sailors. 

 He delighU'd in measuring his strength 

 with the strongest tars. He can clinil) a 

 mast barefooted as well as the best sailor 

 and is a scieutitic boxer." 



Now can anyone produce a Tom 

 Thutnb that can hold a candle to this 

 Prince George? I never expect to see 

 a man 18 feet tall, but if in the course of 

 evolution, God so ordains that there 

 shall be such men, they will be perfect 

 in all parts. God never makes mistakes, 



and the " Cheshires "' may figure and 

 figure, the world will move on just the 

 same. 



brother Hutchinson of the Reviezu 

 hea<ls his article : " Our bees are big 

 enough," and then gives us some of 

 Cheshire's nonsense. Tell us something 

 you know yourself. Brother H. The 

 time is not far back when you thought 

 your book on " How to produce Comb 

 Honey" was big enough. I did too, 

 and from its pages I learned how to 

 l>roduce it more from that little twenty- 

 five cent book, than from all others. 

 Now I see by your ad. it's not "• big 

 enough " by at least five or six times 

 and the " Advanced Bee Culture " is 

 coming out, and I am going to have one, 

 for I don't believe " Cheshire's" rule 

 will apply to the creature of Hutchin- 

 son's brains anymore than to the rest 

 of living creatures. 



Next season (if I live), I intend to 

 try a plan of raising from one of my 

 best queens special drones to mate the 

 young queens, from a hive prepared 

 with an abundance of new drone comb. 

 I hope the result of that selection and 

 crossing may be a bee (worker) too 

 large to pass through the slot of an Al- 

 ley drone-trap; if so, then shall look to 

 see that bee working the red clover. 

 We lie sky Hills. C. W. Smith. 



BEES AND BEE PLANTS. ' 



The busy bees, says the American 

 Agriculturist., have worked their way 

 into the good graces of the masses, and 

 their sweet product is welcome upon 

 the table everywhere. The apiary is 

 not unknown to many counties of the 

 older States, and in many townships 

 there are several. The subject is so 

 important that the leading farm journals 

 devote space regularly to the subject. 

 If all this is so it seems about time to 

 begin to consider the honey crop as one 

 to be planned for as much as for sor- 

 ghum or maple sugar — for maple or- 

 chards planted for tapping are not rare 

 nowadays. Some plants are preemi- 

 nently honey or nectar producers, and it 



