" Excelsior"— A Lady's Experience. 



For good, sound, practical common 

 sense, applied to the management of 

 the apiary, we commend the following 

 from Mrs. L. Harrison, of Peoria, 111, 

 In the Prairie Farmer she says: "I 

 have 150 hives in my apiary ; standard 

 Langstroth, manufactured from good 

 lumber, well seasoned and painted, and 

 I think I can to-day afford to give $1 

 each for every moth worm found in 

 them." That is just the right kind of 

 talk. Moth worms are seldom found 

 except in old and rotten hives, full of 

 crevices, or in weak or queenless colo- 

 nies, that have been neglected, or in 

 some complicated hive. The many 

 who are forever talking of moths and 

 M moth-trap hives " should learn the 

 cause and avoid the nuisance. Mrs. 

 Harrison justly remarks : 



And right here let me say, that the man 

 who will keep his bees in old, dirty rotten 

 hives, deserves not only to have moth 

 worms in them, but in his coffin. Like Pat- 

 rick Henry, "I have but one lamp by which 

 my feet are guided, and that is tlie lamp of 

 experience." In years past I have fre- 

 quently bought combs in the spring from 

 parties who had lost their bees during the 

 winter, many with moth worms in them, 

 placed them directly in the hives, and in a 

 few days the Italians would have them 

 nicely cleaned out. This was done so often 

 that 5 years ago 1 made the following asser- 

 tion, and with 5 years' additional experience 

 I see no reason to modify it, that "a tea- 

 cupful of Italian bees in a hive will keep 

 the moths out of the combs," and now as 

 the " proof of the pudding is in eating it," 

 ladies and gentlemen, doubting Thomaes, 

 one and all, you are invited to meet me on 

 my battle ground and inspect. 



That is just the! right kind of practi- 

 cal talk. Now let the " moth-trap " 

 men meet this woman, and to use a 

 vulgar but pertinent phrase, " either 

 put up or shut up." A good colony of 

 Italians in a good, plain, simple and 

 sound hive, are the only moth traps 

 worth a cent. 



ig§r After satisfying yourself that you 

 are right, go to work with courage, and 

 let no one tempt you from the course 

 you have deemed right and just. He 

 who falters in a just cause is unworthy 

 of the confidence of any one. 



295 



Bee and Honey Shows. — Some in- 

 quire what to recommend to the mana- 

 gers of Agricultural Societies as prizes 

 for exhibits of bees and honey. This is 

 important and timely. At the show in 

 Dumfries, England, prizes were offered 

 for the following articles : Clover and 

 flower honey, hives and wax, best bee 

 furniture, bee gear and apiculturist's 

 necessaries, best bee feeder ; cheapest, 

 neatest and best supers ; best honey 

 extractor, new inventions calculated to 

 advance apiculture ; best chemical or 

 other test for detecting spurious from 

 genuine honey, and for the best liquor, 

 wine, mead or beer, made from honey, 

 with recipe attached. The following is 

 about the usual enumeration at Ameri- 

 can Fairs, where the'jprizes are given 

 for exhibits of bees and honey : 



1st Prem. 2d. 



1. Display of honey (comb and ex- 



tracted), and wax $5 00 $3 00 



2. Package honey in comb. 1 lb. or more. 3 00 



3. Five lbs honey, extracted, (3 kinds). . . 3 00 



4. Machine for extracting honey dip. 



5. Beehive, for all purposes dip. 5 00 



6. Italian queen, with her bees 7 00 



7. Display of bee-keeper's tools and im^ 



plements, and fixtures, (not includ- 

 ing hives or honey extractor) 5 00 



S. Exhibition of a swarm of bees in hive, 

 including their handling and meth- 

 od of subjugation, to be practically 

 illustrated 10 00 



igp° The busy season is at hand now 

 in every apiary. Though long delayed, 

 it will be welcome. The busy hum of 

 the industrious workers make merry 

 music. The 70 colonies in the Bee 

 Journal apiary are gathering honey 

 freely and doing exceedingly well, 

 though situated in a large city. Many 

 queens have been lost by the late cold 

 and unfavorable weather, and every- 

 thing is behind in queen-raising and 

 building up of colonies — still we hope 

 for better things during the next month. 



iglTNo one should expect to be suc- 

 cessful with bees, if unwilling to attend 

 to them. They will suffer from neglect 

 just as soon as any other insect, animal 

 or growing crops of grain. If there is 

 not sufficient bloom near them, there 

 will be no honey surplus for their owner; 

 in such case, pasturage may be provided 

 by cultivating honey-producing shrubs, 

 trees and plants. 



