230 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[April, 



in payment of subscriptions. I believe that I have a 

 right to ask that my paper shall not be injured by the 

 editor's allowing others to have theirs without paying 

 promptly for them. I think, in most cases, if the 

 Journal ceased to make its visits the moment the 

 payment expired, another two dollars would be very 

 speedily forthcoming. C. C. Miller, M. D. 



Cincinnati, 0. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Keeping in Iowa. 



Dear Joubnal. — I am not in the habit of writing 

 for "the papers," but perhaps a rambling item from 

 this region will not be unacceptable to your readers. 

 Yesterday I received the February number of your, 

 to me, very valuable journal, and although I did not 

 get it till evening, I did not sleep till I had read it 

 through. I am a beginner in bee culture, and it is 

 but a few months since I learned of such institutions 

 as "Bee Associations and Bee Conventions." In 

 one of our city papers I saw a statement several 

 weeks ago, that W. H. Furman, of Cedar Rapids, 

 in this state, had sold tons of honey, and over one 

 thousand dollars worth of Italian queens, the last 

 season, and I thought perhaps I could get answers to 

 a few questions by writing him, which I did, and 

 got the desired information, and, besides, Mr. Fur- 

 man gave me, not a polite invitation, but commanded 

 me to attend the first annual meeting of the "Central 

 Iowa Bee Keepers Association," to be held at Cedar 

 Rapids on the 18th and 19th of January, 1872, say- 

 ing, also, that it would pay me. Having been 

 brought up to obey "the power that be," of course I 

 attended the meeting, and the first evidence I got 

 about its paying me, was to pay a membership fee, 

 and then, ■with a goodly number of others, subscribe 

 and pay for the American Bee Journal. There 

 were between forty and fifty bee-keepers present at 

 the convention, (six of whom were ladies,) repre- 

 senting or owning about two thousand colonies of 

 bees. With others, I had the pleasure of enjoying 

 the hospitality of W. H. Furman and wife, and took 

 a look in Mr. F's cellar, and examined a few of the 

 two hundred and seventy-five colonies of bees kept 

 there during the winter. Mr. F. has been a success- 

 ful bee-keeper for several years, disposing of tons of 

 honey, and raising and selling a large number of 

 Italian queens every season. I discovered a large 

 glass arrangement in his front yard, and upon 

 examining it, found it was an enormous, double, glass 

 bee hive, one above the other, with the cards of 

 honey, bees, and all the internal arrangements, in 

 full view, and it looked so very nice and pretty that 

 1 am making one on a smaller scale, and expect to 

 take lots of comfort watching the doings of the 

 "busy bee" the coming season. Mr. F. uses the 

 Langstroth hive, and, I believe, owns the right for 

 this state. But I'm forgetting our convention. The 

 usual complement of officers were elected, with W. 

 H. Furman, of Cedar Rapids, as president, and Geo. 

 W Barclay, of Tifton, secretary. Those in attend- 

 an e were there for the purpose of getting informa- 

 tion, and I believe i" was the greenest one in attend- 

 ance, as might be judged by every member of the 

 convention laughing at me when I asked a gentleman 

 who was speaking of "fertile workers," " what is a 

 fertile worker?" Perhaps some of those who 



laughed at me knew as little about it as I did. The 

 discussions were profitable and freely participated in. 

 Fine specimens of honey were shown, also bee hives 

 and a honey extractor. Nearly every one present 

 uses the Langstroth hive. Among the resolutions 

 adopted were the following : — 



Resolved, That every bee-culturist ought to take 

 one or more bee journals, to the end that bee-culture, 

 as a science, may take that elevated position among 

 the industries of the state that is eminently its due. 



Resolved, That the -President and Secretary of this 

 Association be instructed to collect statistics as to the 

 rise, progress and success of bee-culture in the state, 

 and as to its value as a source of wealth to individu- 

 als and to the state. 



The next meeting of the association is to be held at 

 Cedar Rapids, during the time of holding the Iowa 

 State Fair there next fall, and the next Annual 

 Meeting commences on the third Wednesday in 

 January, 1873, at Cedar Rapids. 



With many wishes for the prosperity of the 

 Journal, I am, Yours respectfully, 



A. B. Mason. 



Waterloo, Iowa, Feb. 16th, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bees and King-Birds. 



For the last ten years I have carefully noted the 

 habits and movements of king-birds, and have come 

 to the following conclusion, viz : that they do eat the 

 honey bee, and so does the purple mai'tin ; but instead 

 of being destroyed for it, they should be protected 

 and allowed to build their nests near the farm-house, 

 because they drive otf the hawks, crows and other 

 plundering birds from the poultry yard. Warm after- 

 noons in July and August, when the drone bees are 

 out, we have seen the martins come down within ten 

 feet of the hive and snap up the drone bees, thus 

 relieving the workers from the necessity of expelling 

 them from the hive and biting oif their wings to pre- 

 vent them from getting back to the hive. The king- 

 bird also, we find, selects the drone, and will come 

 afternoons and take his position on a stake in front of 

 the hive, and when a drone bee comes along will 

 make a rush for him, come back to the stake, give 

 him a pick or two and swallow him. But, says an 

 objector, what do they subsist on before the drone 

 bees fly out ? This point I settled by shooting one 

 in the month of May, and I found in his crop the 

 wings and legs of May-bugs. By watching their 

 movements, I find the dragon-fly is also a favorite 

 food for them. So, to the farmer we say, by all 

 means do not destroy the king-birds. There is not 

 a more watchful sentinel on the farm ; and woe 

 to the crow or hawk that comes near the farm- 

 house. The crow dreads him, and I have seen them 

 make a long detour to avoid the king-bird. The 

 martins we like to have around, but as to their driving 

 off the hawks and crows, this is a mistake. True, 

 they will drive at the hawk, but it has very little 

 effect. J. L. Hersey. 



Tuftonboroitrih, N. H. 



Queries. — Which do you consider the best for bee- 

 pasture, white or alsike clover? 



I find that bees, when they swarm and go off to a 

 hollow tree, generally select it near a meadow or 

 pond. Why is this? 



