26 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[August, 



somewhat smaller. On the other hand, it is 

 lar<,fer than the aj}is Indica, and the ap>» florea ; 

 but is intimately connected with the apis me2lifica 

 and may rightfully claim to be regarded as the 

 forerunner if not progenitor of the latter. 



Tims we find the honey bee existing geo- 

 logically as an inhabitant of our earth ages be- 

 fore the appearance of the human race, living 

 doubtless as now in orderly communities, labor- 

 ing for a common puri)ose, and leading her 

 wonderful life in all its interesting relations with 

 the industry, the love of order, the neatness and 

 loyal devotion to the queen, the brood, and her 

 associates, which still distinguish her. Then, 

 as now, no doubt vigilant and courageous in con- 

 flict, feeling and expressing pain or pleasure, 

 and causing herself to be respected among her 

 foes by her envenomed sting ; storing up honey 

 for herself and others, and forming cells artisti- 

 cally from self engendered wax. Nothing war- 

 rants us to assume any changes in her instincts 

 and habits, since her corporeal frame, adapted to 

 her inclinations and impulses, has undergone no 

 change in the twenty-two centuries which have 

 elapsed since the time of Aristotle, when she 

 was already universally diffused — being invaria- 

 bly the .same, whether in the genial clime of the 

 tropics, or exposed to the severer temperature of 

 the rigorous north. 



[X^ We purpose furnishing for the Journal shortly 

 a transhition of Prof. Meuzel's account of bee-culture 

 amonsr the Greeks in the days of Aristotle, and among 

 the Romans in tl.e time of Virjiil — to which the fore- 

 going article may be regarded as preliminary. — [Ed. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Novice. 



Dear Old Bee JopRNAii :— Hei-e we are, on 

 the 8th of July, revelling in a flood of honey 

 again. Perhaps not quite equal to last year, but 

 after all very well, as we have just made up 

 about two tons, after having begun to think that 

 we were going to have our first "■had season"' — 

 such a one as Gallup had, for instance. No 

 swarms have issued in this vicinity, and pro- 

 bably will not now, although some of our 

 neighbors have had their new Langstroth hives 

 standing ready for more than a month, putting 

 on no boxes for fear it might prevent swarming, 

 yet neglecting the simple operation of trans- 

 ferring, because it was some trouble. 



Locust blossoms were an entire failure here, 

 as we have said before, and Avliite and red clover 

 yielded very little honey until about the 20th of 

 June. We had empty combs for the upper 

 stories for about one dozen hives only, and were 

 anxious to have combs built for the balance as 

 speedily as possible. 



We delayed comb-building considerably by 

 opening the back ventilators to many of our 

 hives early in June, presuming the weather 

 •would continue warm, which it certainly did not ; 

 and we now think, from careful observation of 

 the matter, that we shall hereafter only use the 

 back ventilators when the bees cluster out and 



show symptoms of being in need of more air. 

 In fact, we begin to think that no ventilation, 

 more than removing the entrance blocks is ever 

 really necessary, if other matters are properly 

 arranged. Certainly it was so this season. 



Mr. Langstroth recommended grass for brush- 

 ing the bees from the combs, but we find that 

 two or three large asparagus branches, or the 

 tops entire, suit us best. Tie them together so 

 as to make a large brush, and simply rolling this 

 in the hand against the comb will remove every 

 bee — even full blood Italians. We in-efer to 

 shake the bees on top of the frames, when they 

 will allow it to be done ; but when they will not, 

 we shake them off in front of the entrance. 

 Some of our full-blood Italians are as ciuiet and 

 peaceable as one could wish, until we attempt to 

 shake them off, which they resent as a decided 

 insult. Of course there is no difiiculty if a little 

 smoke be used, but we dislike to go to the 

 trouble, and by studying the peculiarities of 

 each c[ueen's bees, we are enabled to get along 

 with almost the entire sixty-five hives, without 

 resorting to any smoke at all. 



We have tried smokers and many smoking 

 devices mentioned in the Journal, but it seems 

 to us they all consume too much time. A chunk 

 of very dry rotten wood, and some matches in a 

 particular pocket, will get up all the smoke we 

 ever want, and that very quickly. Such a piece 

 can be laid in some safe place, and will keep 

 burning an hour or two, so that a little blowing 

 starts it sufficiently, and we find very little 

 smoke answers with the Italians. We very often 

 take all their combs away when they " won't be 

 good," and after they have bemoaned their loss 

 a little while, give them back the combs, and 

 they will be as thankful as can be. 



In place of Mr. Langstroth's virgin queen in- 

 troduced, why not cage the cell and h ave it 

 caged, queen and all, until she is seven rr eight 

 days old, then destroy the old queen, release the 

 young one, and you will not have your hive 

 without a laying queen more than forty-eight 

 hours. We think failui-es will not be greater by 

 this method than by his, if as great. 



Ml-. Barnard's "Reiily to Novice," if we are 

 right, amounts to this, (that is, that part of it 

 which may be of benefit to the bee-keeping world, 

 and we do not wish to encumber the Journal 

 with useless controversies,) that there are hives 

 better suited for the masses, or, we will say, " old 

 style of bee-keepers," those who do not wish to 

 "bother with" their bees, nor study the subject. 

 Now, as our assertion will not be proof in this 

 matter, we can only present the subject, and 

 wish the readers of the Journal, each and all, to 

 decide the matter for themselves. 



We thank Mr. Barnard for the complimentary 

 way in which he has spoken of us, but would 

 much rather he would let us be little folks, too, 

 and stand by his .side. W^hat we have done is 

 not at all difficult to do, as a dozen steady farm- 

 ers around here will tell you, if they also would 

 only write. 



In regard to "slurring," please read all Mr. 

 Hazen has written in the back numbers of the 

 Journal, and see what the summing up of them 

 all — even the last one included — is. 



