WJSlv. Geo. M. Ilawley, Vice Presi- 

 dent of the National Society for Ne- 

 braska, gives his views of the late Con- 

 vention, in Chicago, in the Nebraska 

 Farmer, in the following language : 



Being appointed Vice President for 

 this State, and hoping to gain more 

 knowledge upon some points in bee- 

 keeping, I attended the National Con- 

 vention. There I met brother bee- 

 keepers from nearly every State in the 

 Union, as well as from Canada ; becom- 

 ing personally acquainted with many 

 whose names had long been familiar 

 through the press. They held a fore- 

 noon and afternoon session each day, 

 and an evening session on the second 

 day. The other two evenings were 

 spent in a social gathering at the office 

 of the American Bee Journal,, 

 where they had nearly everything rep- 

 resented in the line of bee-keepers' sup- 

 plies — hives of every description, honey 

 extractors too numerous to mention, 

 honey knives, bee-veils, bee-smokers, 

 and bee literature to your heart's con- 

 tent. Here we had an opportunity of 

 contrasting the relative merits of the 

 different implements before us, such as 

 could not be found anywhere else, which 

 will render us more capable of making 

 selections in the future. The advan- 

 tages that we had here of quizzing the 

 older and more experienced bee-keepers 

 upon questions of importance to us— 

 facts of too little general moment to 

 come before the Convention — was of 

 greater importance to most of us than 

 the regular meetings, since it is the at- 

 tention to the small things that makes 

 the successful apiarist. The theory may 

 be very fine and conclusive, but neglect 

 one of the little items of importance, 

 and failure is the result. While we 

 were at considerable expense in attend- 

 ing the Convention, we hope that 

 through our acquired knowledge, the 

 fruits of its labor may be manifested in 

 our future work. 



Frogs as Bee Enemies. 



§g"We have received Vick's Floral 

 Guide for 1880, and it is really one of 

 the most beautiful things we have ever 

 beheld. Its paper, printing, illustra- 

 tions and general appearance is a credit 

 to America. It contains 100 pages and 

 an elegant colored plate, and is filled 

 "brimfull" of illustrations. We can 

 give no better advice to all our sub- 

 scribers who love flowers than this : 

 Send 5 cents to James Vick, Rochester, 

 N. Y., and ask him to send you a copy. 



The following article is translated 

 from the Bienen Voter, published in 

 Vienna, Austria, by Herr Karl Gatter : 



Like every other living creature in 

 nature, the bee also has its enemies. 

 It is well known that many birds, 

 especially the swallows, snatch up the 

 bees in their flight ; but here we men- 

 tion another enemy of the bee, which 

 by many has not been known as such ; it 

 is the frog, the brown and the green. 

 That his abiding place upon fields of 

 white* and red clover, is a well-known 

 fact, but this does not happen without 

 good cause. To these fields, but especi- 

 ally to the ones covered with the 

 delicious white clover, the bees come to 

 gather and to leave again laden with 

 their sweet burdens. But many of 

 these industrious workers never again 

 behold their homes, as they become a 

 dainty prey to the frog. With greedy 

 eyes, wide open, like a miniature tiger, 

 he sits there staring and watching for 

 his prey, without a sign of ever tiring, 

 until the little insect has sunk the fore- 

 part of its body deep into the flowery 

 cup, then with a well-calculated leap 

 he springs upon the bee and flower, not 

 caring for the stings he may receive, 

 for he is " cold-blooded," and the bee 

 has ceased to live. 



In the skinny stomach of a dead 

 frog were found no less than 11 bees ; 

 quite a nice potion for a frog ! This 

 may explain to many a bee-keeper the 

 gradual diminution of his bees. The 

 frog is a dangerous enemy of the bees, 

 but we do not say that frogs should be 

 exterminated, for they also destroy 

 many other insects that are injurious. 

 All we do say is : Do not permit him 

 near the hives, for there he would have 

 too much of a good thing, preying ex- 

 clusively upon bees. 



igiTWe have received the 28th Annual 

 Report of the Indiana State Board of 

 Agriculture. It contains the Reports 

 of the Associations of the several de- 

 partments of agricultural industry. 

 The State of Indiana fosters these dif- 

 ferent Associations, and gives them aid 

 and encouragement and sets an example 

 to many other States. The Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention held last month will be 

 fully reported in the next volume. A 

 stenographic report was produced for 

 that purpose. 



