1870.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



13 



[For the Aiiiericau Bee Jourual.] 



Eobbins: Bees. 



Mr. Editor: — I have been experimenting with 

 bees for the past few years, and have frequently- 

 had some trouble with robbers. This spring, 

 however, exceeded all my previous experience. 

 The old honey being pretty generally used up, 

 and the new being cut off by the cold spell we 

 have had here, made my bees more than ixsually 

 inquisitive, and they soon found a weak colony. 

 Being from home for nearly a week, on my re- 

 turn I found my weak stock entirely cleaned out 

 of honey, and the bees nearly starved. I tried 

 all the remedies I ever heard of, even camphor, 

 an article highly recommended in the Bee Jour- 

 nal, all without effecting any good. I put the 

 colony in a cellar for a few clays, but when I 

 look it out, the robbers would invariably return. 

 I then tried a new plan, at least one altogether 

 new to me, although others may have tried it 

 before. I do not remember ever seeing it in 

 print, hence I will give it for what it is worth. I 

 first closed up the hive for a considerable time, 

 until a large number of bees had collected on the 

 outside; tlien I let them in, and after a quantity 

 had entered I confined them till late in the day. 

 Then let them out, which soon showed me where 

 they came from. Having thus learned that 

 nearly all came from one liive, I simply ex- 

 changed hives and all was well. This, however, 

 might prove destructive to the queens, and I 

 would therefore advise that the queens be caged 

 in case they are valuable ones or could not read- 

 ily be replaced. Wii>liam Baker. 



Oebharts, Somerset Co., Pa., May 18, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Alleged Error. The Diamond Hive. 



Mr. Editor: — It is seldom that I trouble the 

 Press: only when duty calls upon me to rebut 

 error. 



It appears that in the May No. Vol. V. of the 

 American Bee Journal Dr. Conklin has made 

 an erroneous statement with regard to me. But 

 as the Doctor has "bee on the brain," I will 

 have a little charity for him, hoping that he will 

 be enabled to make some of his mistakes right. 

 He professes to be honest, and says that we 

 claim to be honest or truthful people, down here 

 in Quakerdom. This, doctor, is just what I 

 want. 



In speaking of the Michigan State Fair, Dr. 

 Conklin say he was there and received the first 

 premium and diploma, over thirteen other hives 

 in competition. Now let us sec about that, as 

 he refers to as practical bee-men or Committee as 

 there are in the United States. Well, we do not 

 want to enter into any discussion with our friend 

 but simply say in this article that when the doc- 

 tor wants facts in the case, I will throw all the 

 light necessary upon it — which will then have a 

 very diiferent bearing, and the public will think 

 differently. 



The doctor alludes to me when he says, the 

 chairman of the Committee on Beehives at the 



Bee-keepers' Convention. He says that a ma- 

 jority of that committee was in favor of his hive, 

 if he mistakes not. I shall not attempt to give 

 the proceedings, as it is not necessary now. If 

 the doctor wants the whole, and the whole only, 

 then I will give it, so that people can form their 

 own opinion. 



But I wish to correct the error. The doctor 

 says the chairman of that Committee was inter- 

 ested in territory for the Thomas hive. This is a 

 false statement. I never owned nor applied for 

 any territory, nor even a single hive. I had a 

 few hives of that patent, had tested them and 

 was enabled to judge of their merits. Further- 

 more, the Committee was unanimous at first in 

 their decision; but one of them, after some time 

 — facts need not not now be stated— hesitated to 

 sign the report. But finally th.ey all did ngr e 

 and sign it, and it was approved by the Conven- 

 tion. Now does this stand as the doctor says? 

 He has given alleged facts in the case— do they 

 compare? I can give proof of what I have writ- 

 ten, and he cannot. Owing to my poor health, 

 I omit giving the facts in full, and will give the 

 public the benefit of them at some other time. 

 Welcome Campbell. 



Royal Oak, Mich. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Tree Climbing and Bees in Borneo. 



Thinking it may interest your readers to hear 

 further from Mr. Wallace, I quote his descrip- 

 tion of the Dyak inode of climbing, which 

 method is constantly used in order to obtain 

 wax, which is one of the most valuable products 

 of the country. 



" The very day after my arrival in this place 

 (Merryville, Borneo), I was so fortunate as to 

 shoot another male of the small orang, the misas 

 kassir of the Dyaks. It fell when dead, but 

 caught in the fork of the tree and remained fixed. 

 As I was very anxious to get it, I tried to per- 

 suade two young Dyaks who were with me to 

 cut down the tree, Ashicli was tall, perfectly 

 straight, smooth-barked, and without a branch 

 for fifty or sixty feet. To my surprise, they said 

 they would prefer climbing up it, but that it 

 would be a good deal of trouble; and after a lit- 

 tle talking together, they said they would try. 

 They first went to a clump of bamboo that stood 

 near, and cut down one of the largest stems. 

 From this they chopped off" a short piece, and 

 splitting it, made a couple of stout pegs about a 

 foot long and sharp at one end. Then cutting a 

 thick piece of wood for a mallet, they drove one 

 of the pegs into the tree and hung their weight 

 upon it. It held and this seemed to satisfy them 

 for they immediately began making a quantity 

 of pegs of the same kind, while I looked on with 

 great interest, wondering how they could possi- 

 bly ascend such a lofty tree by merely driving 

 pegs into it, the failure of any one of which at a 

 good height would certainly cause their death. 

 When about two dozen pegs were made, one of 

 them began cutting some very long and slender 

 bamboos from another clump, and also prepared 

 some cord from the bark of a small tree. They 



