THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



205 



only remedy tlie case with glue and let it 

 go. By the time that, with Nellie's help, 

 I had liiade fifteen franu's, after this fasli- 

 iou, I was nearly ready to conclude that 

 I had mistaken my vocation — that I was 

 not cut out for a bee-keeper. 



And yet, the frames were not all so very 

 bad. But, estimating the value of our 

 time very moderately indeed, they had cost 

 more than I could afford to pay. The 

 happy discovery that frames might be 

 purchased either complete or in such 

 sliape as to be easily put together, came 

 in time to relieve our perplexity and pre- 

 vent an ignoble "giving up of the situa- 

 tion." 



Nellie insists that the new frames are 

 not faultless— that while, for certain rea- 

 sons, she prefers them to our old frames, 

 for certain other reasons she prefers the 

 latter. Nevertheless, she agrees with me 

 that it is hardly worth our while to go into 

 the business of frame-making. 



Neither can I advise any woman to do 

 so who has not mechanical genius and 

 plentj' of good tools; or who has not a 

 skillful carpenter — one who will work for 

 nothing and board himself — at her com- 

 mand. Under any other circumstances, 

 frame-making is, for a woman, neither 

 interesting nor remunerative. Let her 

 spare her gentle fingers for finer uses — 

 as the sewing on of buttons — and buy her 

 frames. Cyula Linswik. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Wonderful Bees.— Their Habits, etc. 



1st. Every hive of bees will give in 

 honey a " profit of $20 " when sold at 

 wholesale prices. 



2nd. The honey passes through a 

 " churning process " as the bees are flying 

 from the flowers to the hive. 



3rd. By this operation of "churning" 

 the honey is converted into " butter," 

 which is\he "pure white wax." 



4th. What remains after the " butter " is 

 secured is "buttermilk," but vulgar peo- 

 ple call it honey. 



5th. The " buttermilk " or honey is then 

 put into cells and the longer it remains 

 there the sweeter it gets. 



6th. The honey extracts from " the 

 comb " the virtues and sweetness it posess- 

 es when first taken from the flowers. 



7th. The medical virtues of honey that 

 has been in the comb for three years time, 

 are three times that of honey only one 

 year old. 



8th. The body of the bee is composed 

 of " three sections or bands." 



9th. Underneath "the two front bands" 

 there is a small hole on each side, through 

 which the "butter" comes. 



10th. Pollen is of more value to bees 

 than honey, as it is their " principal" food 

 during winter. 



11th. The young bees live wholly on 

 "pollen" until old enough to work. 



13th. Bees obtain the pollen from the 

 "petals" ot flowers. 



18th. The bee unloads the pollen first 

 from one leg and then from the other as 

 herein set forth. 



14th. Bees hatch out a brood " every 

 nine days." 



15th. "There are from "2,000 to 5,000" 

 bees in each brood. 



16th. The first brood that hatches in the 

 spring is from "eggs laid late in the 

 fall." 



17th. Bees have the power of keeping 

 the eggs from hatching, from fall to 

 spring, and until they can gather "new 

 pollen." 



18th. When the hive becomes crowded 

 a portion of the bees are " driven out," 

 and this is "swarming." 



19th. The drone has no sting, in which 

 respect it is unlike "otljer male bees." 



20th. Both " queen-cells " and drone- 

 cells are "always made on the outer edge 

 of the comb." 



21st. The number of "queen-cells" in 

 a hive is either three or five. 



23d. The drones are " killed in the fall," 

 and the "exact time" depends upon the 

 " character of the winter " we are to 

 have." 



The foregoing ideas and statements are 

 obtained from a two column article on 

 pages 184 and 185 of The American Bee 

 Journal. They are not only novel but 

 evidently original with the w riter of the 

 communication in question. We justify 

 the publisher for not throwing the article 

 into the waste basket. Had he done so 

 the writer of the article referred to would 

 have been as " mad as a wet hen," and, 

 without a doubt, would have withdrawn 

 his subscription! Besides, hosts of read- 

 ers of the Journal would have been 

 deprived of " lots of fun," which has been 

 worth more than the space the article 

 occupies. But to make the " statements " 

 more complete it really seems as though 

 the following should be added: 



23rd. The drones are working bees that 

 have lost their stings and are suftering 

 from acute inflamntation! ! 



But we will now be serious for a few 

 moments, and say, that, as we do not 

 believe there is a solitary reader of The 

 American Bee Journal that endorses a 

 single idea or statement in the list we 

 have given, we will conclude with a few 

 words of advice to the writer, whom we 

 have tried fairly and faithfully to repre- 

 sent: 



The very best thing for you to do is to 

 procure a good reliable work on bees and 

 then study the subject. Langstroth's is 

 the best book we know of, and we think it 

 will convince you that you know but very 

 little about the Honey Bee, either its hab- 

 its or instincts. Send $2.20 to the pub- 



