108 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



Bro. Alley ^Wants TVar, and 



no " sham fighting " will suit him either. 

 He wants some one to drop a " big 

 bomb" "right down among the bee- 

 keepers !" He thinks bee-keepers are 

 "getting sleepy." May be they are 

 "hibernating," like some other animals 

 do at this time of the year. Just read 

 the following from the December ^piciii- 

 turist, and see what a wide-awake 

 " young man " Bro. Alley is : 



Bee-keepers are getting sleepy. Can't 

 some one of the readers of the Apicul- 

 turist write an article that will awake 

 them? Who will try it? What is 

 wanted is a big bomb dropped right 

 down among the bee-keepers ; so charged 

 that when it explodes, the noise will be 

 heard as far west as California, and with 

 force enough in the east, to break win- 

 dow glass in Nova Scotia. 



If something isn't done pretty soon, 

 the bee-keeping community will not 

 arouse in season to reap the honey har- 

 vest of 1893. 



We have had the Punic bee question ; 

 the Ajnculturist has sent out a warning 

 note ; yet bee-keepers sleep right along 

 as though nothing has happened. Who 

 will fire the first gnn ? 



Now we, here in the West, don't want 

 to be shaken up. Why, many of the 

 folks haven't got settled yet from the 

 election shock — almost "electric shock." 

 We can't see the use in stirring up folks 

 all the time. 



We had taken quite a fancy to Bro. 

 Alley, but if he is going to " fire guns " 

 through his Apiculturist, he needn't aim 

 them at folks out this way. We are a 

 peaceable people, and don't care to be 

 frightened out of what few wits we have 

 left. We need them ; and if any one is 

 going to " drop bombs " or " fire guns " 

 we just want to know it awhile before- 

 hand, so as to have time to get out of 

 the way. 



In 1886, Chicago had a few people 

 that advised, and actually did take to 

 throwing, " bombs " to gain their "end." 

 They got their "end" — but it was at 

 the dangling extremity of a rope. Of 

 course, Bro. Alley means " literary 

 bombs," that would be no more harmful 

 tlian any average "spit-ball" that little 



boys used to throw at the smaller girls 

 in school. Bro. A. wouldn't hurt any 

 one, but he does know how to handle 

 the English language " without gloves" 

 — and, we hope, without " smoke." 



Here are a few seasonable Api- 

 thoughts which are also taken from the 

 December issue : 



Now that bees are in winter quarters, 

 let them remain so until they commence 

 to carry pollen freely in the spring. It 

 will make little difference what the 

 trouble is with bees in winter, nothing 

 will be gained by overhauling the combs 

 before the colony is fairly wintered 

 through. 



The bees should have several cleans- 

 ing flights before they are meddled with 

 for any purpose in the spring. 



CONDUCTED BY 



TNSLirm. Je]^iii@ MteMey, 



Greenville. Texas. 



Ajt^ 



I 



I Laying "Workers — The Queen's Will 

 j and the Sex of the Egg. 



Dr. Miller, on page 51, rather takes 

 me to task, and says that tradition says 

 that laying workers are never present 

 until after the colony is hopelessly 

 queenless. Now, Doctor, when tradition 

 or theory is proven wrong, I am willing 

 to lay them aside forever. So in hun- 

 dreds of instances I have had laying 

 workers present before the brood was all 

 sealed, after the queen was removed, 

 and years ago when I kept Cyprian bees 

 I have had every available queen-cell 

 stub, and some drone-cells, chocked as 

 full of laying- worker eggs as a guinea's 

 nest, in 48 hours after the queen was 

 removed. 



Now, Doctor, I do not wish to ever 

 make a statement in regard to a matter 

 like this, until I am perfectly satisfied 

 that I am right. So lay down tradition, 



