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An Interesting Letter from Palestine. 



We have received the following letter 

 from Mr. D. A. Jones, who, as indicated in 

 our last Journal, has been to Jerusalem 

 and the Holy Land, and while there sent 

 this letter to us, for insertion in the Bee 

 Journal. It will be read with more than 

 ordinary interest. He was then southeast of 

 Damascus, near the desert, east of Jordan : 



Editor American Bee Journal : In 

 my last letter from the Island of Cyprus, I 

 promised to write you from Palestine and 

 say what I thought of the bees there. I am 

 so delighted with them, having examined 

 them in various places in Palestine and 

 Syria, that I have sent a telegram to Can- 

 ada by cable for a large amount of money 

 to enable me to buy and import many 

 queens from different parts of this country. 

 The natives call them " holy bees," and from 

 the long distances I found them from their 

 hives, I think they are endowed with pecu- 

 liarities not to be found in the bees of Amer- 

 ica. In some respects they are similar to 

 the Cyprian bees. I think they are a pure 

 race, as the.v have no means of being mixed 

 with other races. They fly so rapidly that 

 only those laden with honey can be caught 

 on the bloom. 



I have bought a large quantity, and am 

 sending them to the coast to be taken to 

 Cyprus, where they will be prepared for 

 their long journey to America with my 

 Cyprians. 1 procured them from Jerusa- 

 lum, Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, and 

 other places in Judea east of the Jordan 

 and Dead Sea ; also from Mount Lebanon, 

 Damascus and near the Desert of tne North, 

 in order to have -a variety and select the 

 best, if there is any difference in them. 



1 experience great difficulty in getting 

 them to the coast safely, because the earth- 

 ern tubes and clay cylinders are so easily 

 broken. There are no wagon roads, except 

 from the port of Joppa to Jerusalem and 

 from.Beyrout to Damascus, and no vehicles 

 to carry such safely, so I have to convey 

 them on the backs of camels, mules and 

 asses, and the expense and loss is great. 



The paths or trails are unfit for travel. 

 Sometimes we find only a few inches be- 

 tween our feet and the brink of a gorge hun- 

 dreds of feet deep, and rocks projecting out 

 into these paths, so that it requires great 

 skill to prevent breakage and loss. One of 

 the mules walked too closely to these pro- 

 jecting rocks and smashed an earthern tube 

 hive ; the bees escaped and attacked the 

 poor animal, and the result was that he soon 

 got rid of the other two hives on his back in 

 a similar manner, and scampered off with- 

 out load or driver. I was then obliged to 

 get three more and send by another party 

 to supply their places. 



If, after testing them when they arrive 

 in Canada, I find them desirable, I have 

 made arrangements to secure enough to sup- 

 ply any demand that may arise. I will re- 

 port the results of my investigation and the 

 tests made, in due time in the Ber Jour- 

 nal. D. A. Jones. 



Venus Fly Trap.— Mr. E. C. Taylor, 

 Wilmington, N. C, has sent us two sample 

 plants of Dionea Muscipula, or "Venus 

 Fly Trap," and says: "This is a very in- 

 teresting plant indeed, and grows only in 

 the eastern part of this State, in vicinity 

 of swamps, etc. During the summer it 

 throws up spikelets of very pretty, white 

 flowers ; the ends of the leaves are formed 

 like a rat-trap, and the plant, being very 

 sensitive, closes on any insect that touches 

 it, and remains closed until the prisoner in- 

 sect dies, when it again opens. This plant 

 has been shipped largely to Europe, where 

 it created a very considerable interest. 

 Many claim that the plant digests the juices 

 of the insect prisoners it catches, and 

 thrives thereon amazingly. Plant in me- 

 dium damp and shady place in box or other- 

 wise. It is easy to live." Mr. Taylor has 

 our thanks for the plants. They are very 

 interesting. We have them planted, and 

 shall watch them with much pleasure. 



ISP The Rev. Rufus Morgan, who moved 

 from North Carolina to California, a little 

 over a year ago, died on the 5th of April. 

 On his way to California he called on us, 

 and we spent some time with him very 

 pleasantly. He was poisoned by eating 

 some mushrooms which he had gathered 

 (some of them being of the poisonous kind). 

 A good man has fallen in the prime of life. 

 He leaves a wife and two small children to 

 mourn his loss. 



JgiPThe Department of Agriculture for 

 the State of Kansas has issued for free dis- 

 tribution an edition of the abridged report 

 of the first biennial, a book of 450 pages. 

 We have received a copy, and find it very 

 interesting to those who are desirous of 

 learning official facts regarding that State ; 

 it is very complete and exhaustive. Any 

 one can obtain this work by sending 20 cents 

 for postage to J. K. Hudson, Secretary of 

 the Department of Agriculture, Topeka, 

 Kan. 



GL3F" Our attention has been called to some 

 party or parties, claiming to have and offer- 

 ing for sale, a recipe for the purpose of 

 bleaching out old black honey comb, mak- 

 ing it as good as new, etc. These parties 

 claimed to have learned this valuable (?) 

 secret while attending an apiary school in 

 Ohio. There is no such school in Ohio nor 

 any other State. Leave them and their 

 valuable recipe severely alone.— Indiana 

 Farmer. 



