THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



59 



around his hives so that be can hardly 

 find them. 



To use old box hives that cannot be 

 seen into only by breaking out the old 

 com b. 



To allow the dirt and filth to accumu- 

 late on the bottom boards and become 

 a breeding place for moths. 



To buy an extractor before he knows 

 whether to extract from the small lb. 

 cases or the brood chamber and brood 

 frames. 



To boast of his knowledge and then 

 talk about the drones laying eggs. 



To try to keep bees and not take at 

 least one good bee paper. — Neb. Bee- 

 Keeper. • 



It is almost an axiom amongst gard- 

 eners that if strong, hardy, and robust 

 plants are desired, they should be sought 

 to the northward of the garden into 

 which they are to be imported. They 

 have acquired an amount of vigor 

 which makes their cultivation in the 

 south much easier. They are able to 

 brave more adverse climatic conditions 

 than their kind obtained from warmer 

 districts. Should not, then, the same 

 rule apply to bees obtained from Scot- 

 land or the northern counties and im- 

 ported. into the south, where the strain 

 is sometimes found to have become 

 effete and worn out, liable to be attack- 

 ed by enemies ever on the alert for the 

 extermination of stocks unfitted to car- 

 ry on the species ? We find the poor- 

 man's bees living on — just, and only 

 just, able to maintain their place under 

 specially unsuitable surroundings. — 

 Winter ends in the south, rapid con- 

 sumption of stores and breeding follow, 

 with its wearing-out labor, whilst yet 

 the northern bee continues it* hyber- 

 nation; but presently the hot, slanting 



rays of the spring sun strike the snow- 

 sheets, and, as if by magic, hillsides are 

 starred with blossoms, the mountain 

 rills ripple down our heather-clad 

 stretches, and roll on in increasing vol- 

 ume over sheets of spongy sphognum, 

 through peaty sweeps on which the bil- 

 berry and crawberry have managed to 

 secure a foothold, down rocky torrent 

 gaps, where countless saxifriges and 

 mosses are waiting for aid from above, 

 past banks of minute flowering plants, 

 to its end, the sea— if one may call any 

 part of an ever-rolling cycle an end. 

 The cackle of the disturbed moor- 

 game, the delightfully welcome boom 

 of the ubiquitous humble-bee, tell of a 

 new year, and as we approach the home- 

 stead, the welcomest sound in all nature 

 to the bee-keeper greets his ear. The 

 steady hum-tone about his hives gives 

 him assurance that once again he is 

 blest in his solitude with a society and 

 companionship (next to wife and fam- 

 ily) most welcome of all — more wel- 

 come in his lonely lot than even the 

 faithful dog, the shepherd's trusty 

 help.— B. B. J. 



We expected to describe and illus- 

 trate Mr. Henry Alley's swarm-hiver 

 this month, but we were unable to ob- 

 tain an engraving of it in time to do so. 

 We Will have it next month. We will 

 say here that it is the best device yet 

 invented for the purpose of securing 

 swarms with certainty and little trouble. 



The first number of the Missouri 

 Bee-Keeper has been received dated 

 March 1st. It is published by E. F. 

 Quigley, at Unionville, Mo., and pre- 

 sents a neat appearance, while its con- 

 tents are very good for the first issue. 



