THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



129* 



D. Staples thought if tl)ey were gov- 

 erned by instinct they would invariably 

 do the same thing as it was implanted in 

 them by tlie God of Nature. 



S. D. McLean thoiiglit it was instinct 

 that prompted the bees to remain and die 

 with their queen, and if they had lost 

 their queen, with no means left them to 

 rear another, to die in tlieir hive. 



D. Staples thought if you got in- 

 stinct into the bee that you could also get 

 it into man. The dog and horse had fore- 

 thought to return to their homes, as well 

 as all the lower order of animals; that 

 bees had made improvements; they make 

 cells a certain shape and length; if combs 

 are much apart they will make them lon- 

 ger; had had them two inches deep. If 

 they hadn't room to build another comb, 

 but too much space between them, they 

 would fill it up by making their cells 

 longer. Under circumstances they work 

 as man does. 



The Secretary then exhibited a Quinby 

 smoker, a lioot queen cage, metal corners, 

 the different size frames in prominent use, 

 specimens of artificial comb foundations 

 and some other novelties pertaining to the 

 apiary, which attracted considerable inter- 

 est. 



S. D. McLean was quite sure the reason 

 of man liad not equaled the instinct of the 

 bee in the construction of combs. 



D. Staples asked for further time for the 

 executive committee to make a report. 



Mr. J. B. Bray, of Giles, was unani- 

 mously elected a member. 



S. D. McLean moved that the society 

 adjourn to meet on the first Saturday in 

 May, at Columbia. Motion adopted. 

 Wm. J. Andrews, 

 Secretary and Treasurer. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 My Observations. 



Dear Sir: — Last summer I hived a 

 swarm of bees in a box hive, and put 

 them under the shade of a tree, and in a 

 few minutes I saw that they were coming 

 out and going back to the gum they came 

 out of. I turned up the hive to see if they 

 were all .coming out, and I saw tiie bees 

 in the top of the liive in as compact 

 rows as they could be, in the following 



i i i ; »_ way : 



^4=4^4^4^ One row lengthways and 

 tttTTttttttt the next crossways, and so on, 

 tttttttttttt clear across the top of the 



fttttttttttt I was convinced that by 

 Tttttttttttt tiiis way they make their 

 .:Jr5^4=^4=^4^ comb the exact distance apart, 

 "* ' ' ^"*~ and that is the reason that the 

 Italian bees are larger when they build 

 their own comb, as they are larger than 

 the black bees. The reason of the bees 

 returning was because the queen had 

 failed to come out of the old hive. 



Enclosed is a bee killer. I saw it hold- 



ing a bee by the bill, and it held on to it 

 till the bee died. It was on the under 

 side of the bloom of the golden rod ; en- 

 closed is the insect. It has l)een in a 

 glass jar for three months without any- 

 thing to eat, and is still living when I 

 start it. I do not know whether they are 

 plenty in this country or not. 



Robert T. Jones. 

 Flat Rock, N. C. 



For 111© American Bee Journal. 



Cheap Winter Protection for Bees, 



I have lately devised a cheap winter 

 protection for Ijees on their summer 

 stands; and as I find that it fills very 

 well the aim in view, I give it herewith 

 to the readers of the old American Bee. 

 Journal. 



Cut some plasterer's laths in three 

 equal parts: you will have small laths 16- 

 inches in length. 



If your hives are very tall, — for in- 

 stance, as tall or taller than the " King,"" 

 so called the "American hive," — cut the 

 laths in two. 



Pierce two 3^ inch holes at each end,, 

 three inches from the ends, and two simi- 

 lar holes in the middle of every lath. 



To do the work quickly, use a pattern^ 

 Put the pattern in the bench press, with 3 

 laths, and with a wimble you can pierce 

 three holes at the same time. These twin 

 holes should be pierced crosswise, % of 

 an inch from each other. 



When your laths are pierced, take a 

 tarred string nnd pass it into the twin 

 holes at one of the ends of each lath, so 

 as to have every lath about three or four 

 inches apart from each other. Pass a 

 second string in the twin holes of the 

 middle of the laths, and at last, a third 

 string in the holes of the other end of the 

 laths, taking care to allow about the 

 same distance between every lath; i. e., 3. 

 or 4 inches. Then you have a kind of 

 rope ladder, whose steps are three or four 

 inches apart. 



Now go to the hive to be protected, and 

 spread this ladder behind the hive so 

 that the middle of the ladder corresponds 

 with the middle of the hive. Cover the 

 ladder with straw, one foot or more thick. 



