1873,] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



135 



paration, perished The great sequel is, it is 

 practically useless to endeavor to successfully- 

 winter bees in this northern climate, without a 

 reasonable amount of young bees and brood 

 coming on to take the place of the old bees, as 

 fast as they die off. Now, in regard to Bee 

 Conventions, they are practically worth nothing 

 to the apiculturist, unless knowledge can be 

 had from practical experience. Theoretical 

 views are imaginary humbugs, and not in the 

 least reliable. H. W. Wjxom. 



Mendota, III, Nov. 18, 1873. 



[For the American Bee Journal. 1 



Items. 



A bee sting on the lips, Mr. Editor, is no 

 joke. I had one that swelled and pained me 

 considerably, but did not put me in your condi- 

 tion, because my hands have learned to be 

 quick on the spot. About two years ago, a six 

 year old boy was walking through my garden. 

 I warned him to keep away from the bees. " I 

 am not afraid of bees," he replied. " Well, no 

 matter; be careful." In a little while, I heard 

 a scream. I ran to him, and sure enough a bee 

 had stung him on the upper lip. " Well," says 

 I, " I guess a bee has kissed you." I took him 

 to the house and put on some soda and water, 

 and told him to keep quiet and he would be all 

 right in a short time. I was however soon call- 

 ed to the house again, and when I opened the 

 door a sight met my eye I had never seen before. 

 His lips were swelled so that he could hardly 

 speak, and his cheeks were so full as to nearly 

 close his eyes. The swelling extended to the 

 top of his head and down on the cords of his 

 neck in an alarming degree. I got some alco- 

 hol and bathed the part well. I also had him 

 swallow some, though not very palatable. I 

 may say here that this is one of the best reme- 

 dies that I know for a sting. The little fellow 

 suffered intensely and was quite feverish all 

 night. The next day he was just able to be 

 about. The swelling gradually left, and in a 

 few days he was all right again. Now? Mr. 

 Editor, I did not think so much of the place of 

 the sting till I read your sad experience ; and 

 now I have come to the following conclusion : 

 That a bee-sting on the lips is much more pain- 

 ful, more wide spread, and therefore more dan- 

 gerous, than on any other part of the exposed 

 body. 



My reason is this : The skin upon the lips is 

 very thin, and the vast amount of nerves in that 

 quarter lie very near the surface. Hence, the 

 exquisite pleasure we feel when , saluted by 

 friends, relatives, or family. And now, Mr. 

 Editor, allow me to say that I would much 

 rather be saluted by a curly headed, blue eyed 

 chubby faced little girl than by oui' yellow pets, 

 any day. Wouldn't you ? 



Our system, it is true, may get accustomed to 



the virus, but just let a bee come without any 

 warning, with a force and as straight as an arrow 

 from the bow, and sink his sting deep in the 

 flesh, so that you get the full contents of the 

 poison sack, and my word for it, it will hurt 

 on any place. 



Wintering bees out doors will soon be a thing 

 of the past, I mean with those who intend to 

 make bee-keeping pay. It is an easy matter to 

 make bees, but it is another thing to keep 

 them. It must be quite perplexing to young 

 beginners to see so many conflicting statements, 

 regarding bee disaster. But one thing is cer- 

 tain, till we can winter our bees as safely as any 

 other stock, bee keeping can never be consid- 

 ered a success. What we want is a dry, warm, 

 and well ventilated repository, under complete 

 control. Thanks to W. J. Ronald, page 63, for 

 his very interesting as well as instructive arti- 

 cle upon this subject. 



Hybrid is a word used by pomologists and 

 bee keepers, but not correctly. The product 

 of a black queen mated with an Italian drone is 

 a cross. The mule is a true hybrid. But the 

 term has been adopted, and I suppose it will be 

 hard to give it up. 



I confess that I was somewhat staggered at 

 the account given by Mr. Butler, Aug. No., page 

 27, regarding his bees raising brood on new 

 made combs without pollen m winter. Now if 

 abundance of brood can be raised, as in his 

 case, all winter, and early spring, why have bee 

 keepers been writing and racking their brains 

 so much about the want of pollen, and giving 

 meal and flour in the spring for breeding pur- 

 poses ? Do they feed merely because old bee- 

 keepers did it before them, not knowing the 

 whys and wherefores ? 



And again, what is the reason that bees do 

 not increase much in the spring till they begin 

 to gather natural pollen ? As one swallow don't 

 make a summer, neither do I think Mr. Butler's 

 experience of twenty years ago will establish 

 the fact that brood can be raised without pollen. 

 Who is interested enough on this subject to ex- 

 periment this winter and report next spring ? 



Dollar hives are nothing new, though I give 

 Novice the credit of being a " disturber in 

 Israel " upon this subject. I have been using 

 the Simplicity for the last five years, such as are >S^ 

 made by M. M. Baldridge, St. Charles, 111. It is 

 nothing but a simple box hive with frames 

 hung inside, with a top story when needed. 

 And of all the hives that are made, I have found 

 nothing better for my use. 



Bee eggs can be safely transported from one 

 state to another. J. Marvin, St. Charles, 111., 

 was the first I heard of sending them with per- 

 fect success. 



Novice has a happy way of telling all he 

 knows, but he did not tell us whether that 

 baby of his is a drone or a queen. 



Argus. 



