±riri Aiurii\i\jAi> ns^iu JUUitiNAJU. 



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;(f^^nunican JbeM^nt'H^^l 



W. F. CLARKE, 

 ^[Ks. E. S. TUPPEK, 



Editoi{> 



OCTOBER, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



Kansas Association "ilO 



Hopes, Disaiipointmonts and Realizations 



of Bec-Keopers 221 



Bees Notes from Putnam Co., Ill 223 



Ibe Tulip Tree 223 



A Hint 224 



Bee-Keei)ing iu the South 22-1 



Sale of llonev 225 



Test of Italian Purity 225 



Chips from Sweet Home 22(> 



Italians vs Blaek Bees 227 



Bees iu New Zealand 22S 



Voice from Ontario 228 



A Voice from the South 228 



A Visit to T. G. Mc( iaw. Monmouth, 111 229 



Observations on \\'intering 22'.> 



Philosophy and Practice in Wintering JJees 2:50 



A Proposition > . . .TyTT. ,' 230 



Artificial Pasturage 1 ^ . . /. £J.4. /...:. 331 



Wintering Bees iu Ohio 'HI 



How I introduce a new Queen ^ 231 



Report from Bruce, Canada 232 



What Killed the Bees 233 



Bee or M'asp Stings 233 



How a Swarm hangs to the Branch 231 



Rapidity of Bees' Flight 2:34 



Varities of the Bee 234 



Notes and Queries 235 



Flax Cultivation in Nebraska 237 



Remedy for Bee Stings 237 



Voices from among the Hives 2.38 



Kansas Pacific Railway 238 



A Disappointed Bee-Keeper 239 



Timely Suggestions 241 



Premiums at County Fairs 241 



A Disappointed Bee-Keeper. 



A coiTespondent of the yeio York 

 Tribune gives his experience in bee- 

 keeping in the following dolorous com- 

 munication : — 



''Eight years since, when I began 

 farming, deceived by the stories 1 had 

 heard of the enornions profits to be 

 made from bee-keeping, I purchased 

 four skips of common bees of a neigh- 

 bor, and tliree skips of Italians of Mr. 

 Quinby, in movable comb hives. I 

 constructed a number of Langstroth 

 hives, and in due time divided my Ital- 

 ians, and as the bhick bees swarmed 

 put in the new swarms into the Lang- 

 stroth hives. I made a bee hat, and 

 rolled up a quantity of tobacco iu old 

 muslin. I frequently examined tho 

 bees in the frames, by tlrst partly stupe- 

 fying them by blowing smoke from the 

 rolled tobacco into the hives and then 

 lifting the lids. The common hive I 

 left alone. On the approach of winter 

 the hives were scarcely half-lllled, and 



not a drop of honey Avas in the boxes. 

 I made a room in the celhir, where I 

 deposited tliem. Tlic next sjjring all 

 the honey was consumed, and but three 

 living swainis were left; the combs 

 were mouldy. Al Ihe beginning ot tlio 

 next winter I liad four living swarms, 

 which by i)ur(liase I increased to six. 

 I left them on tlie stands all winter and 

 in spring five; wciakly swarms were liv- 

 ing. Hoping to obtain some surplus 

 lioney, I did not allow tliem to swarm ; 

 but not an ounce did they give mo. 

 Thus for five years I continued giving 

 them constant attention, without re- 

 ceiving any sui'plns, and generally in 

 tlie winter loosing all the increase of 

 the swarms. That fall I had three 

 weak swarms left, to which I ap])lied 

 the match, obtained a few pounds of 

 honey, and abandoned the business in 

 disgust. In certain favored localities 

 bees may be profitable ; but that they, 

 on the majority of farms, can be made 

 as profitable as certain venders of patent 

 hives try to make us believe, I absolute- 

 ly deny. Like everything else, they are 

 attended with great risk. There is no 

 royal road to wealth. One thing well 

 tended is better than twenty half tend- 

 ed." 



The above narration is a very sugges- 

 tive one, and a few comments upon it 

 may prevent others from becoming 

 similarly disgusted with an important 

 and profitable Ijranch of rural industry. 



In the first'place, it is a proof of re- 

 prehensible gullibility for any man to 

 be "deceived" into bee-keeping by the 

 lure of "enormous profits." It is only 

 speculative lines of business that ever 

 pay enormously, and the instances of 

 wonderful success are the exception 

 and not the rule. For one who makes a 

 fortune by speculation, there are dozens 

 if not hundreds who lose fortunes in 

 that way. The pursuits of honest in- 

 dustry are worthy of being followed, if 

 they pay fair profits on capital and 

 labor. This they usually do. Some- 

 thing is hazarded in every undertaking, 

 but as a general rule, the investment of 

 capital and the bestowal of labor in in- 

 dustrial pursuits, proves remunerative. 

 Hence men are encouraged to persevere 

 in these directions, notwithstanding 

 occasional and exceptional drawbacks 

 and losses. Bee-keeping belongs to 

 that class of human occupations which 



