168 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



yard." Sure onougli, there was a man. 

 It was Bro. E. L. Pratt, and we in- 

 vited liini in to dinner and introduced 

 liim to Mr. Rambler. "How do you 

 do, Mr. Rambler ?" says Bro P. By 

 and by Bi-o. P. cang;ht on and saw the 

 joke. Well, we settled the dinner and 

 then we settled some other things. 



By and by Mr. Rambler brought 

 out a little black liox and said lie 

 wanted to take a few views of some 

 things he saw in the B. S. Ai)iary. 

 As we were [nitting n[) the last ship- 

 ment of queens Rambler thought that 

 a good subject to show up. Of course 

 I liad to take a prominent part in that 

 little act and so I prepared for the oc- 

 casion, which was no small job. How- 

 ever, the necessary preparations were 

 soon made. Mr. Rambler pointed the 

 "bull's eye" of that little black box 

 towards us — click ; "all right," said R., 

 "I've got it." Well, that was done 

 about as quick as lightning. 



When brother Rambler gets ready 

 we will give the readers of the Api 

 the result of that little click. 



Rainltler spent about four hours with 

 us. We enjoyed his visit very much. 

 Though we had to talk about as rap- 

 idly as some women when they meet, 

 I guess we went pretty- much over the 

 whole ground. 



About ourselves. 



Well, friends, if you really desire 

 to know all al)Out us, you can get all 

 the information by sending for the 

 American Bpb Journal of Oct. 11, 

 page 6S1. It is all pretty good and 

 coi'rect, except on one point. Oin- 

 complexion and our eyes are not dark ; 

 that is, if we know ourselves when 

 we view our phiz in a glass. Our 

 skin is quite light, and our eyes of a 

 light blue color. Brother Pratt must 

 have been here on a dark day. 



By the way, reader, when you send 

 for a co[)y of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, why not, at the same time, enclose 

 ten cents aud get the Illustrated Home 

 Journal three months? We receive 

 this publication each month, and find 



its columns filled with choice and in- 

 teresting reading. 



Rhode Island apiculturist station. 



We have received the advance 

 sheets of the Apiarian's report of the 

 R. I. Apicultural Expei-imental sta- 

 tion. The report contains the result of 

 wintering bees in a cellar as well as 

 winteringon the summer stand. Spring 

 feediug to stimulate brood rearing was 

 another expei-imeut that Mr. Cushman 

 tested to some extent. 



Concerning dr}' sugar feeding, Mr. 

 Cushman says : 



It is well suited to the manage- 

 ment of out apiaries, where l)ut occa- 

 sional visits are ma le, and in ail cases, 

 though possibly in a dry country not 

 so effective as syrup feeding, saves 

 tlie trouble of making syi'up and the 

 time requii'ed in its dtiily distrilnition, 

 while the danger of the disastrous re- 

 sults of occasionally omitting the daily 

 ration is avoided. Instead of dry su- 

 gar, moist sugar like good grades of 

 molasses and C sugar are best, but the 

 former should Hist be well drained. 

 This, placed in a feeder where the heat 

 and moisture are confined, is slowly 

 licked up or li(}ui[led by the bees. The 

 rapidity with which this is done de- 

 pends upon the heat and moisture in 

 the hive. By placing an enamelled 

 cloth, enamelled side down, over the 

 frames in place of the porous cover- 

 ing, the loss of moisture, so desirable 

 in freezing weather, may l)e lessened ; 

 while by removing the warm cushions 

 or quilts from part of its surface, con- 

 densation rf moisture takes i)lace upon 

 the enamelled surface beneath and fur- 

 nishes water to promote more rapid 

 work. The sugar may be placed in 

 an ordinary- syrup feeder or wrapped 

 in cheese cloth and laid over the 

 frames, but the arrangement we pre- 

 fer and use here is similar to Mr. 

 Simmins' pattern and consists of a 

 hollow dummy, having the same length 

 and depth as the brood frame, and a 

 similar top bar and a movable side 

 that does not reach the top bar by \ 



