1900 



TEE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



13 



has not done so ninch for his people in 

 this line as this one lone Dutchman, and 

 we cannot help feeling some regret that 

 the latter did not tr}' two or three more 

 colonies. His faith may have failed him 

 just before the dawn of success. It is 

 possible, of course, that he might never 

 have accomplished his desired end: for, 

 have not seventy times eightv -seven col- 

 onies been experimented with "all in 

 vain," in trying to have queen cells ac- 

 ,cepted,built, and queens fertilized alx>ve 

 .an excluder with a laying queen below? 

 And all these failures in view of the fact 

 •that the plan is an established success — 

 all pursued under exj^licit, printed instruc- 

 tions. 



What Australia, Ihjlland or China may 

 think or want in relation to this matter is 

 of no concern to America. To be content 

 with mere foreign rumor when the up- 

 builJing of our industr}- is at stake, ill be- 

 comes .American enterprise. It is abso- 

 lute knowledge of the matter and the op- 

 portunity to prolit by whatever good may 

 develop, that is demanded by the agricult- 

 ural intere.sts of //lis country. That we 

 yet remain thus ignorant of tins subject, 

 as Prof. Cook has said, ' is nut creditable 

 to the enterprise of our time." .\nd 

 to quote again. from Langstroth, 

 "It behooves our government to take 

 .such matters in band for the pul),ic u:ood."" 



Surely we are not to forsake our t'ailh. 

 our long-cherished hope and ambition, 

 through fear of a mere .shadow. 



New York State Association of Bee 

 Keepers' Societies. 



The annual meeting of the New York 

 State Association of Bee-Keepers" Societies 

 will be held in the parlors of the Kirk- 

 wood Geneva, X. V., Jainiary lo. 1900, 

 at eleven o'c'ock. ;i. ni. .\11 bee-keepers 

 societies in the state are hereby notified 

 and reque.sted to send delegates. An ur- 

 gent invitation to attend is also extended 

 to everybody interested in apiculture. 

 Bv order President. 



Migratory Bee-Keeping in Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



The following extract from a report of 

 a recent meeting of The Philadelphia 

 Bee-Keepers' Association is from The 

 Ledger of that city : 



It is not uncommon for bee-keepers in 

 Eastern Pennsylvania to move their col- 

 onies to the marsh districts along shore 

 to get the benefit of the stores in the 

 smartweed blooms. vSome go into camit 

 tor this ju.st as sugarmakers do in the 

 wilds of Maine, extracting the combs day 

 by day. coming out at the close of the 

 brief sea.son with barrelfuls of nectar to 

 be fed back, ripened and sealed over when 

 the hives are again on the stands at home. 

 -Mr. P'lower .suggests that in the moving 

 especial thought should be given to hav- 

 ing sufficient ventilation during hot 

 weather. The best method of shipping is 

 to remove the covers and bottoms, and 

 cover the bodies with fine wire cloth. If 

 the bees are to be in the hives more than 

 twent3--four hours, a piece of sponge 

 should be laid on top at one corner, and 

 be kept saturated with water, .so the bees 

 nia\- satisfy their thirst. 



"Taking into consideration the fact 

 th it there are nearly a million bees in 

 every colony,"' explained the glib venilor 

 of patent hives, "and that each bee has 

 lo make something like 750 trips a day to 

 and from the surplus boxes with his 

 lioney, you will readily see that by adopt- 

 ing this arrangen-.ent you are saving the 

 bees in your five colonies nearly ry.ooo 

 miles of travel on foot every year; for we 

 give the supernatural position, and it 

 stands to reason — " 



"Say, stranger, I reckon we'll make 

 out with the old uns a while yet,' quoth 

 the prospective victim, .seriously. "I was 

 allers a mite skeery o' these '.supernateral' 

 iixins. anvbow: and I must go."' 

 — ♦•♦ — 



In India the rhododendron grows to a 

 height of 30 feet. Marigolds and cam- 

 omiles in North Africa reach a height of 

 four or five feet. 



