72 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Sept. 



Now the want of a bee-house need not deter 

 any one from bee-keeping, and the best advice 

 for such as propose building one, is that given 

 by Douglas Jerrold about getting married: 

 ''Don't." 



"Don't" build a bee-house for the following 

 reasons : — 



1. They harbor toads, mice, moths, and other 

 insects. 



2. They huddle the hives together so closely 

 that various evils ensue. Young queens on re- 

 turning from their "bridal tour" are apt to go 

 into the wrong hive, and get killed. In case of 

 a stock becoming excited from any cause, the 

 adjacent hives are pretty sure to become ex- 

 cited also, until the entire apiary becomes infu- 

 riated and unmanageable. Robbing is more 

 likely to take place when bees are crowded to- 

 gether. Just as families that live in close prox- 

 imity to one another, naturally get to know 

 each other's affairs more intimately than they 

 would if at a greater distance apart, so when 

 hives are put close together weakness is discov- 

 ered, and advantage taken of it. Moreover, 

 bees, like human beings, are less apt to quarrel 

 if they live some little distance apart. 



3. There is a more excellent w^ay. A proper- 

 ly made bee-hive is a little house in itself, and 

 is impervious to rain and storm. All that is 

 needed is a partial shade to temper the too vio- 

 lent rays of the sun in the middle of the hot 

 summer day. This can usually l)e got among 

 the fruit trees of an orchard, or the shade trees 

 of a lawn or shrubbery. One of the best bee- 

 keepers we know practices and recommends the 

 planting of a grape vine beside every bee-hive. 

 This will furnish all the shade required. Care 

 must be taken that the shading be not too dense. 

 A position so chosen that the morning and 

 evening sun will fall full on the hive, while the 

 noonday blaze is intercepted, exactly meets the 

 case. In such a position the bees will begin 

 work with the first gleam of sunshine, and con- 

 tinue it until the latest beam of the evening. 

 While there will be no cessation of la])or be- 

 cause of excessive noontide heat. Set well and 

 widely apart. Each hive is a separate and in- 

 dependent community. With partial shade and 

 a good exposure, the bees will do much better 

 than when made tenants of a bee house. 



We have a bee-house. It was built in the 

 days of our youth and inexperience as a bee- 

 keeper. A pretty site was chosen for it, and it 

 was made rather ornamental, with a nice little 

 cupola on the top, and Venetian blinds at the 

 sides for ventilation. It held two tiers of hives, 

 each having an alighting-board and entrance- 

 archway in front of it. We made a fair trial of 

 it, and found it worse than useless. There are 

 no colonies in it now. It has long since ceased 

 to resound with the hum of "the little busy 

 bee." But we find it very useful. It is a most 

 convenient place for storingempty hives, honey 

 boxes, spare frames, the extractor, and all the 



appurtenances of beekeeping. Besides accom- 

 modating these, it affords room for the garden 

 tools, and the lawn mower. Among other uses 

 it provokes enquiry among visitors. As they 

 note the hives here and there among the trees, 

 and observe that there are none in the bee- 

 house, they very naturally ask for the why and 

 wherefore. Whereupon we discourse to them 

 very much as we have now done to the readers 

 of the Canada Farmer in the foregoing article. 

 — From the Canada Farmer of July 5, 1873. 



Geo. S. Wagner. 



Since the post-office department persist in 

 their refusal to permit queens to be sent through 

 the mails, I would suggest to bee-keepers a 

 way of getting around the P. M. G's objections. 

 Send a small piece of comb containing eggs. 

 First, fill the cells containing the eggs with 

 honey, and then pack the comb in a small box 

 securely, just as the comb was placed in for the 

 queen. My father often spoke to me as to the 

 feasibility of transmitting eggs in this manner, 

 and desired to test the experiment, but never 

 did. He thought that the honey would pre- 

 serve the eggs from spoiling, and would readily 

 be removed by the bees when placed in the 

 hive. It may be that honey would not be 

 needed ; actual experiment, however, can alone 

 test that. 



Certainly the post-office officials cannot say 

 that they are in danger of being stung by bees 

 in posse. And pray, who ever heard of a post- 

 office official being stung by bees confined in a 

 queen cage ? He would certainly be a curiosity, 

 and should be stored away on the same shelf 

 with those anti-del uvian relicts, the town 

 council of Wenham. 



Honey Markets. 



CHICAGO. 



Choice white comb honey, 25@28c ; fair to 

 good, 22@25c. 



Extracted, choice white, 12@14c. Fair to 

 good, 10@l2c. 



Strained, 6@8c. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Quotations from Stearns & Smith, 423 Front 

 St., bet. Washington and Clay, San Francisco, 

 Cal. 



Strained, choice orange blossom honey, from 

 Los Angelos, in 5-gal. cans, lo@16c. 



Valley honey, gathered from manna or honey 

 dew, 12@14c. 



