276 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



treated to the bushes, surprised and an- 

 noyed at his "king-ship's " wanton au- 

 dacity. 



Almost every one who is so fortunate 

 as to possess a bee-yard considers the 

 king-bird as an enemy of no small ac- 

 count, and he does not hesitate to vent 

 his spleen on bird or nest when oppor- 

 tunity affords. It is not much to be 

 wondered at, when we think that the 

 apiarist gives the bird but little thought, 

 excepting when he "catches him eating 

 his bees." 



But I think were we to study the life 

 and habits of "Tyrannus Tyrannus" 

 from his first appearance in the soft, 

 vernal days of spring, until the early 

 September frosts warn them of the ap- 

 proach of the cold, grey winter, that it 

 would cause the arm of the destroyer of 

 their homes to at least quaver in the 

 performing of its " duty " (?). 



Allow me to quote from Langille's 

 "Our Birds in their Haunts :" " Perched 

 on some branch or part of the fence 

 after the manner of the fly-catcher in 

 general, he waits for his insect prey, 

 which he snaps up on the wing with a 

 sharp click of the bill, as he cuts short 

 circles in the air, sometimes hovering 

 beautifully to reconnoitre or take his 

 pick of a flock of gnats. Occasionally 

 he may snap up a bee from the hive, but 

 for this small trespass his extensive de- 

 struction of noxious insects abundantly 

 compensates." Again, quoting from 

 Oliver Davies' "Nests and Eggs :" 



" It destroys thousands of noxious 

 insects which more than compensates 

 all the bees it eats." 



And again from " A B C of Bee-Cul- 

 ture:" 



" I think we had better use our rifles 

 and shot-guns in a way to induce them 

 to learn that apiaries are ' unhealthy ' 

 localities for such boarders." 



As the reader will see, there is a sort 

 of jar between the ornithologist and 

 apiarist. This put me to thinking and 

 observing a little on my own account. 



My observations are that the bees 

 which are taken — and they are taken 

 largely in the early part of the season — 

 are taken as a substitute for the gnats 

 and midgets of his more common food, 

 which are more abundant later on. 

 Then, too, it is reasonable to suppose 

 that this is the case, for were it the in- 

 tention of the bird to live entirely on 

 the honey-bee, she would surely attempt 

 to build her nest and rear her young in 

 or near the apiary. On the other hand, 

 it is placed in the orchard, or, as I have 

 found dozens of them in a willow over- 



hanging a creek, a mile or more distant 

 from the nearest bees. This alone is 

 sufficient evidence to show that bee- 

 eating is not an established character of 

 the bird, for fond, water and nesting 

 accommodations are the things which 

 govern the nesting sites of our feathered 

 friends. 



It has been a thing wondered at a 

 great deal by our apiarists, how the bird 

 prevents the bee from stinging. The 

 sharp "click " which is heard is when 

 that is settled. (The bird manages it 

 much as we do when we find a bee in 

 our coat sleeve — " Hit it so quickly that 

 it can't sting.") Then after the bee is 

 partly masticated, the undigestible 

 parts, as the wings, legs, segments, etc., 

 are disgorged. This is largely partici- 

 pated in by insectivorous birds. 



I hope these few words in behalf of 

 " Tyrannus " will cause my friends to at 

 least thivk before they act. 



New Sharon, Iowa. 



An Experience In Bee-Keeping. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY M. BEAUPRE. 



I live in what is commonly called the 

 " Long Point country," on the north 

 shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario. How I 

 came to be a bee-keeper was this : A 

 neighbor of mine in the spring of 1891 

 wanted to trade a colony of bees for a 

 ton of hay. My first thoughts were not 

 favorable, for I had owned bees twice 

 before, having 2 or 3 colonies in the fall 

 and none in the spring. However, I 

 knew I had not given them a fair trial, 

 and with a word of encouragement from 

 Mrs. B. (I suppose she was a little favor- 

 able toward the B's — bees), I thought I 

 would try again, and so the trade was 

 made. 



About May 20th, one evening, I 

 brought them home. That summer they 

 swarmed three times, and gave me 85 

 pounds of comb honey. That opened 

 my eyes to the possibilities of bee-keep- 

 ing. I then began to read and talk bees. 

 I lost the last after-swarm the next win- 

 ter, although they lived until April, 

 taking a good flight at that time, but I 

 did not know enough to feed them, so 

 they starved within a few weeks of the 

 time they could have gathered something 

 for themselves. 



The next season, by the help of a 

 neighbor, I increased the three colonies 

 to nine, by dividing. I introduced Ital- 

 ian queens in them. Several of the 



