THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



10!) 



How to Extract Honey. 



With a good extractor, ouc that will hold 

 the comb tirni, you can extract honey 

 from new coi\ib without breaking it; and — 

 in addition to obtaining enough from a few 

 hives to i)ay for a machine — extracting it 

 will leave the bees in a much better lon- 

 dition. 



Take out the outside combs in which there 

 is no brood. You can not extract old, thick 

 honey from combs in which there is brood 

 unsealed, Avithout throwing out more or less 

 brood and it is best to let such combs alone. 

 If the day is warm extract the honey at once. 

 If the weather is cold, ])Ul them in an empty 

 hive and carry them into a warm room, 

 wliere they should be left a few hours, or 

 until the comb will bend slightly without 

 breaking, before extracting the honey. 



Townley, Mich. J. II. Towkley. 



Bees vs. Fruit— A few Facts. 



"aKGUS" to TKOF. RILEY. 



With all due respect for Mr. Riley as an 

 entomologist, allow me to say that, in my 

 humble opinion, he has signally failed to 

 justify himself in recommending the de- 

 struction of bees, even in extreme cases. 

 But to the question, "Do bees injure fruit? " 

 Mr. Riley says they do, and also says, "I 

 never fear the truth and never write anything 

 that I am not ready and comj)etcnt to de- 

 fend." Now, all this may be true, Mr. 

 Editor ; but we must make considerable 

 allowance for youthful zeal. I find, as I 

 grow older, I change my mind on many 

 things; and I even dare to think as Mr. 

 R. gains in years and experience lie, too, 

 may change his opinions, not only upon this 

 subject but upon others, his ideas on the 

 grape vine aphis included. 



Permit me now to look briefly at the 

 proof that he ofl'ers, to establish what he 

 pleases to call the truth. The first is a let- 

 ter from I. W. Pcnn, who says: — "1 like 

 fruit, large and small, to become throughly 

 ripe; but from early to late in the season 

 the place is infested with myriads of bees 

 belonging to persons that fail to provide 

 food for them . * * The choicest peaches, 

 the sweetest pears and the most delicious 

 grapes are hollowed out by the starved and 

 ravenous insects." Looking at this testi- 

 mony your readers would be apt to come to 

 the conclusion, if they had never seen bees, 

 that they had a bill like a bird or teeth and 

 stomach like a squirrel. Look at the state- 

 ment "the fruit was hollowed out;" and 

 again," I and others of the family were 

 severely stung by the bees lurking within." 

 Now, would this kind of evidence satisfy a 

 competent jury V True, it might be called 

 circumstantial evidence, but not enough to 



convict and punish with death. Now, 

 would this species of reasoning satisfy IVIr. 

 Riley on any other subject? Would he 

 not require a more careful examination be- 

 fore jumping to a concilusionV If not, I do 

 not think he is the fortunate possessor of 

 the mantle of Father VValch. 



The next witness on the stand is .J. II. Wer- 

 landy, who says he was so annoyed by his 

 neighbor's bees that he lost his entire peach 

 crop, which was rendered unfit for market 

 by their injuries. This witness might just 

 as well be dismissed without comment, "see- 

 ing there is not one single proof oftered. 

 Now let us hear the testin'iony of Mr. Riley 

 himself: — "This objection to bees under 

 certain circumstances comes from the real 

 and direct injury they do to the fruit." 

 This is merely gratuitous assumption. 

 Again, "The mouth of the honey bee is fit- 

 ted both for lapping and biting." Well, for 

 the sake of the argument, suppose it is ; how 

 far would this testimony go to convince a 

 jury. If Mr. Riley was brought up on a 

 similar charge? It will doubtless be very 

 clearly seen by every intelligent and candid 

 reader that the statements given are very far 

 from being sufficient to establish the fact 

 that bees injure fruit. 



Now let us go back to Mr. Penn's orchard 

 and see if we can't find some other cause for 

 the destruction of his fruit. " Here are also 

 some ornamental trees and evergreens, in- 

 cluding an Arborvitaj hedge to shelter the 

 small birds, which became very tame under 

 the kind of treatment they received." I ask 

 Mr. Penn what he thinks the birds live 

 upon V Not all insects I can assure him ; 

 and, to convince himself of this, let him go 

 into his orchard by the peep of day, and per- 

 haps he will find the birds as well as the 

 bees enjoying themselves. I have been 

 longer in fruit than bee culture, and I know 

 the birds have had many a dainty meal of 

 the best of my grajies, cherries and straw- 

 berries ; and I also know that at times they 

 have had the lion's sliare. Mr. Penn says 

 he is kind to the birds, doubtless convinced 

 that they are his friends. A few years ago 

 a fierce controversy was waged upon the 

 bird question ; some thought they did more 

 harm than good; l:)ut mercy and truth at last 

 prevailed, and now they enjoy their full 

 liberty both in the field and orchard, for the 

 good they do. Again, Mr. Penn says, "My 

 loss last year in money value was consider- 

 able." This is only one side of the money 

 question ; he has failed to give the bees any 

 credit; but I hope in time he will learn bet- 

 ter, and, as R. Holland truly remarks, 

 "Any one who goes through the world 

 with his eyes open, is sure to find out some- 

 thing that even professional naturalists did 

 not knoAV before." 



Some seasons fruit "don't set good." 

 Why ? I have in my mind at present a large 



