THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



27 



with the same loviug wish of as good re- 

 sults as we hoped for us. 



How then have we requited our little 

 friend ? For shame, be it said, by robbery 

 arson, and imirder. For centuries the 

 almost universal practice to obtain the 

 sweets of the hive has been by destroy- 

 ing its inhabitants by lire and brimstone, 

 and appropriating the wholeof their gather- 

 ed riches. With as much reason might 

 the farmer slaughter his sheep to obtain 

 their fleeces. Spare the laborers and 

 they will work again ; and after the toils 

 of a busy summer, grudge not a portion 

 of their gathered harvest to preserve the 

 lives of those who have labored so hard. 



The British Bee-keepers' Association 

 was instituted in ]May last, for the pur- 

 pose of advancing the cultivation of Bees, 

 and particularly to bring to the notice of 

 cottagers and others, more scientific, 

 profitable, and humane methods of ap- 

 iculture than has hitherto been generally 

 practised. Our rural districts, from the 

 fertile valleys to the mountain tops, 

 wherever fruit, seeds, and flowers grow, 

 offer pasturage to Bees. No rent to pay ! 

 No ti'espassers ! Every farmer, every gar- 

 dener, gladly welcoming the busy Bee ! 

 Darwin tells us that to Bees (of another 

 species truly) we owe the very existence 

 of red clover. Learned men remind us 

 that the beauty of our fields and gardens, 

 and the maturity of our fruits and seeds, 

 are in a great measure attributable to Bees, 

 who in their flights from plant to plant, 

 unconsciously distribute the pollen by 

 which the flowers are fertilized. 



Thousands of tons of honey and wax 

 are annually wasted in our native land, 

 which might be profitably gathered by 

 Bees, aiad the money expended to foreign 

 countries for Bee produce, put into the 

 pockets of our rural population. There 

 is no reason why every man, and women 

 too, who has enough of garden room to 

 stand a hive upon should not keep Bees. 

 Any man who can make a rabbit-hutch 

 can make a Bee-hive for use, as good as 

 the best, and those who can afford to buy 

 may gratify their taste or suit their pocket 

 by selection from the many very good 

 patterns now on view. 



A glance at our Catalogue and Honey 

 Show will prove to the enquirer that the 

 profits of Bee-keeping are not to be de- 

 spised. A stock of Bees may ordinarily 

 be obtained for about £1 — a little more or 

 less according to the district, and instan- 

 ces will be found at this Show where the 

 marketable value of the honey obtained 

 this year, from a single hive, equals as 

 much as six or eight times the orignal 

 value of the stock, which is yet main- 

 tained to work again another year ! Such 



is the result of gocd management, which 

 the Association would like to find general. 

 Now a few words as to the danger of be- 

 ing stung. Bees arc never aggressors 

 without cause ; treat them kindly, or let 

 them alone and have no fear, for you will 

 never be stung. Children soon find this 

 out, and play about the hives as merrily 

 as usual, gaining a lessou in industry and 

 additional pleasure by watching the re- 

 turn of the laden workers. 



John Hunter, Hon. Sec. 





Is there any demand for empty comb, and 

 at what price ought we to sell it ? I have 

 about 500 empty combs, 12x16 inches in size, 

 nice, clean and straight; and also a quantity 

 of clean white comb of all sizes and shapes. 

 Where can I sell, to whom, and at what 

 price ? W. 



There is a good demand for such comb in 

 frames, though the size you name is not a 

 common one. We have paid $1 each for 

 such combs, perhaps no one else would give 

 as much. Would advise you to advertise it, 

 and get all you can for it, if you cannot use 

 it yourself. As to the clean white comb in 

 pieces, you can sell it to any dealer who is 

 putting up honey for sale in jars. If you 

 have much, it may pay you to advertise that 

 also. 



C. W. inquires if tliere has been any im- 

 provement witl'.in the past five years in 

 making artificial comb ; and says, " the one 

 who perfects any thing in the shape of 

 comb in which bees will work, will be the 

 gi-eatest benefactor of all bee men." 



We agree with him so far as to fully ap- 

 preciate the importance of artificial combs 

 to bee-keepers. We know that Mr. Wagner 

 was still at work perfecting dyes for the 

 making of his combs at the time of his 

 death, we are not informed as to his pro- 

 gress further than that. Mr. Quinby's arti- 

 ficial comb was a success so far, that the 

 bees used it raising brood and storing 

 honey. Why he has ceased using it we are 

 not informed, or in what respect it failed to 

 answer his expectations. We are sure the 

 time is not far distant when we shall have 

 combs made by men, that will be accepted 

 as good by the bees. In the meantime we 

 may, by proper management, stimulate the 

 bees to build comb in good frames ; and to 

 do it when they would not be storing honey. 

 Then if we cease to sell honey in the comb, 

 we shall have a better supply than we have 

 had in times past. 



