44 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAJ 



Manual," and several other bee-works. 

 After a few months' reading, he chose 

 a hive, and commenced bee-keeping in a 

 new way, that astonished his parents 

 and some of his neighbors. 



He now commences each season with 

 from 200 to 300 colonies of bees, and 

 realizes as much profit from them as any 

 farmer with the same amount of capital 

 and labor. 



Mr. Wilcox has been the Secretary of 

 a farmers' mutual insurance ^company 

 for the past 15 years, which does busi- 

 ness in four towns only, and carries a 

 capital stock of $500,000. 



On a previous page is found a descrip- 

 tion and illustration of the Wisconsin 

 State apiarian exhibit at the World's 

 Fair, which Bro. Wilcox superintended 

 in such a pleasing and satisfactory 

 manner. 



CONDUCTED BY 



MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY, 



Beeville, Texas. 



ix^a 



Everything Booming in Texas. 



I will now tell you about the weather 

 up to date (Dec. 28th). We are having 

 summer weather, and the bees are just 

 booming on wild currant, which began 

 to bloom about a week ago. The boys 

 are to-day transferring bees from 16 

 box-hives that they brought in last even- 

 ing, and they say that the robber-bees 

 are not bad at all, as the bees are busy 

 on the currant bloom. To-day the ther- 

 mometer registers 75-" in the shade ; at 

 sunrise this morning it was 66°, and at 

 sundown last night 70° above zero. 



On Christmas day husband rode out 

 some, and plucked an orange out of 

 Major DeGan's orchard, where he saw 

 trees bending with fruit of many va- 

 rieties of oranges ; also the Japan 



plums were in bloom. The Major's fish- 

 pond was partly covered with water- 

 lilies, and stocked with the finest perch 

 he ever saw, and they were very gentle ; 

 they would come right up to him for 

 food. Then he went out to some of the 

 many gardens in Beeville, and found 

 vegetables in great profusion — radishes, 

 white head cabbages, lettuce, mustard, 

 English peas, new Irish potatoes, and a 

 great many other things too numerous 

 to mention. 



The lowest the mercury has been here 

 up to date is o^J^ above zero, and we are 

 now having lovely weather, and every- 

 thing shows a springlike appearance. I 

 will keep close watch of all the honey- 

 plants, and at the end of next season I 

 will be prepared to tell all about them, 

 etc. If we have fine weather ten days 

 longer, our strong colonies will fill their 

 hives with new currant honey, as it is 

 very plentiful here. 



We have drones hatching, and our 

 swarming will begin about Feb. 15th, 

 or 45 days from now. 



Jennie Atchley. 



Sending Queens by Mail. 



I think Mr. Faylor is a little "off" 

 when he says, on page 697 of the Bee 

 JouKNAL for November, 1893, that no 

 queens are any good after being trans- 

 ported through the mails. The best 

 laying queen, or one of the best, I ever 

 had, came clear across the ocean, by 

 mail, from Italy. She lived fully three 

 years ; and, in fact, I have received 

 thousands of queens by mail from differ- 

 ent parts of the country, and do not re- 

 member ever having a queen damaged 

 in the mails in good weather. I have 

 received them nearly dead, and they 

 turn up O. K. Still I believe some 

 queens are injured in transit, both by 

 mail or in nuclei by express, as I have 

 received such reports. 



But my opinion is, that nine-tenths of 

 all the queens that arrive in good condi- 

 tion by mail (that is, lively) are just as 

 good as those not so transported. There 

 are hundreds, yes, I will say thousands, 

 of bee-keepers that can testify in this 

 case, if they will. Please let let us hear 

 some of the evidences ; the court is 

 ready. This is a very important ques- 

 tion. Jennie Atchley. 



Fruits and Vegetables. 



As some friends have not yet gotten 

 enough about southwest Texas, I'll tell 



