ISltO. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



183 



Random Notes and Oomments 



BY \V. M. EVANS. 



My experience for 24 years i.s, that 

 while my bees and chickens exercise 

 their sweet will in my front yard of 

 one acre, my loss of chickens from 

 stiugs is next to nothing. I often en- 

 joy seeing the chickens run for cover, 

 which they soon learn to do. I had 

 one cute old hen who would stand be- 

 tween two hives which were close to- 

 gether, and when she heard a drone 

 come in she would dodge out and get' 

 him before he had a chance to get in- 

 to the hive. Then she would dodge 

 back to her safety place. I had two 

 half grown chickens that would catch 

 them on the wing quite often. Did 

 not this old hen exercise reason ? 



My way of keeping the grass down 

 is as follows : I keep several colonies 

 of bees in my bee yard and also our 

 riding horses. Animals soon learn to 

 run under the cedar limbs to getaway 

 from the pursuing bees. More than 

 this they learn to wait until the bees 

 stop flying before grazing among the 

 hives. 



I i)ut legs on my hives as I am op- 

 posed to all unnecessary back bending 

 and knee serai)ing business. 



Mr. Doolittle's point against paint- 

 ed hives is too fine for a 40-horse 

 power mciroacope. 



Ed. Jolly's new super without bot- 

 tom supports for the sections would do 

 very well for a "cussing" instigator. 

 None in mine please. I have already 

 a supply of instigators. 



W. H. Morse don't quite get up to 

 all the cau.ses of the j)roductiou and 

 non-production of nectar in different 



seasons. All the visible material 

 things of earth are held in an invisi- 

 ble condition in the three atmospheres, 

 and when these atmospheric conditions 

 are favorable the flowers attract the 

 nectar and secrete it from the atmos- 

 pheres and not from the ground. Sun- 

 shine alone will not do it nor the rain. 

 Everything in and on our visible 

 earth are only efforts produced from 

 the world of cause. 



I am much interested in the India 

 and Chinese large bees. I wrote Sec- 

 retary Morton when he first took his 

 office advising the stopping of the 

 humbug seed distribution business 

 and the using of the Agricultural de- 

 partment to introduce new things and 

 ideas through the State Experiment 

 Stations for the benefit of the people. 

 If either of these bees can be intro- 

 duced successfully in theUnited States 

 the State Experiment Station should 

 furnish queens direct to all the apiar- 

 ists for their own use, thus killing the 

 money grabbing game of the piofes- 

 sionals. 



INIy 70 colonies have come through 

 the winter on their summer stands 

 without loss. 



As to the future supply of honey 

 here, 1 expect we will get a return of 

 the honey dew on the old field pines, 

 which during the last 24 years have 

 been our best source fully one half 

 the time. Fruit planting will also 

 help us in the future as the new fancy 

 and taste of England and the North 

 for our Virginia red apples has given 

 new life to the planting here. The 

 Chicago Fair has opened tlie way to 

 salvation here for this tobacco cursed 

 piedmout section. Our Wine Saps 



