AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



529 



capacity — the only air the bees get is 

 what is contained in the cage. 



2nd. The attending bees should be 

 young bees near the age that they take 

 to the fields. Six to a dozen are suffi- 

 cient, depending upon the weather. Too 

 many bees are worse than too few. The 

 queen should be in a vigorous state of 

 health. It is a question with some bee- 

 men whether it is best to cage the queen 

 a day before shipment ; for my part, I 

 prefer to ship at the earliest moment I 

 can. 



CoNTiNaENCiES. — The extent of other 

 matter in the mail-bag, the manner in 

 which it is handled ; the gentleness dis- 

 played in handling the cages at distribut- 

 ing offices — all are important factors in 

 the safe arrival of queens. After the 

 queens arrive safely at their destination 

 they are often injured by persons shak- 

 ing the cage, or blowing their breath 

 into it to get the bees to buzz. Some- 

 times the consignee is not ready to in- 

 troduce — lay them aside for a time, but 

 every now and then give the cage a vio- 

 lent shake to see if there is any life in it. 

 When he gets ready he introduces it in 

 a bungling manner, and makes a botch 

 of it. The poor, sick, maltreated queen 

 dies, and the blame is too often laid to 

 the shipper. 



Augusta, Ga. 



California Milfinter Fair Notes. 



Written specially for the American Bee Jonrnal 

 BY W. A. PRYAL. 



Following fast upon the heels of the 

 great Fair that was held in Chicago last 

 year, came the Midwinter Fair in San 

 Francisco. This Exposition was planned 

 and put in operation in about six months 

 after the project was first given to the 

 public. The world would hardly believe 

 that a people living out in a compara- 

 tively new country like California, which 

 is often referred to as being out in the 

 wild and woolly West, would be able to 

 inaugurate a Fair that would be any- 

 thing more than a country show. 



But Western push and enterprise has 

 produced a Fair that stands in this 

 country second only to that great Colum- 

 bian Fair of Chicago. There are even 

 some features about the San Francisco 

 Exposition that rivals that of the city on 

 the shores of Lake Michigan. Though 

 the buildings in which the show is 

 housed cannot begin to compare with 

 those of Chicago in point of size, still, 

 the architectural features are as good ; 



in coloring and landscape effects they 

 are in some respects superior. The only 

 pleasing feature of the Columbian Fair 

 that is wanting at the one at Sunset 

 City, is the charming lagoons and water- 

 ways. But the hills that rise beyond 

 the Fair grounds give a charm to the 

 San Francisco Fair that in a measure 

 compensates for the loss of the water 

 that was so fair to look upon at the late 

 big Fair at Chicago. 



And then the climate at the former 

 place is something in itself that is suffi- 

 cient to make the Fair now in progress 

 at San Francisco the greatest that has 

 ever been held in the world. It is not 

 every part of the world that is able to 

 get up a Fair, and exhibit at it a climate 

 that is first-class. That San Francisco 

 is doing this spring, and those who visit 

 the Fair during these days are delighted 

 with it. 



As nothing has yet appeared in the 

 pages of the American Bee Journal 

 about the Fair, I shall, at this time, only 

 refer to the exhibits in a general way. 

 Most of the things exhibited were shown 

 at the Columbian Fair, therefore, as 

 many of the readers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal saw the latter Fair, it will be need- 

 less to make mention of the general ex- 

 hibits. There are several exhibits made 

 by San Francisco houses that were not 

 shown at Chicago, and which are equal 

 to anything displayed at the World's 

 Fair. 



What will interest bee-keepers the 

 most is the apiarian display. Truly, it 

 would interest them if there was any- 

 thing for them to see, but I am sorry to 

 say that there is nothing there worthy 

 of being called a " honey exhibit." I 

 trust that now since the new crop of 

 California honey is beginning to come, 

 an attempt will be made to get up a 

 show of California honey and beeswax 

 that will equal anything that has been 

 yet shown at any Fair ever held in this 

 country. In saying this, I do not wish 

 to convey the impression that any other 

 part of the world cannot beat this State 

 in the extent and quality of its honey. 

 Of course Californians naturally believe 

 that their honey is the finest in the 

 world, for the chief reason that nearly 

 everything they produce is finer than 

 that raised elsewhere. 



It was only a week or two ago that 

 while in conversation with a gentleman 

 who had been an apiarist in the State of 

 Pennsylvania for many years, and who 

 is now on a visit to this State, and who, 

 of course, had been to the Midwinter 

 Fair, he said to me that in all his experi- 

 ence he had never seen any honey that 



