THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL AND GAZETTE. 



215 



THE AMEEIOAN BEE JOURNAL 

 AND GAZETTE. 



WASHINGTON, MAY, ISC'; 



BI^TnE American Bee Journal and Ga- 

 zette is now published monthly, in the City of 

 Washington, (D. C.,) at $3 per annum. All 

 communications should be addressed to the Edi- 

 tor, at that place. 



We haye given up to correspondents so mtich 

 of our space this mouth tliat we have little room 

 left for even brief editorial matter, and several 

 communications are still unavoidably post- 

 poned. Articles intended for the Journal 

 should be in our hands prior to the 15th of the 

 month in which they are sent. 



Communications, it must be understood, ex- 

 press merely the views and opinions of their 

 writers; and we must not l)e regarded as en- 

 dorsing them because the Journal is made the 

 medium through which they are presented; nor 

 do we deem it necessary that we should always 

 express dissent where our opinion differs. We 

 prefer that, within proper bounds, all should 

 have a fair hearing, conceiving that, however 

 various and contradictory the statements at 

 times seem, the truthwillultimately be evolved 

 by discussion. The following extract from a 

 letter recently received, regards this matter in 

 its proper light : 



" To a person like me, who is almost a novice 

 in apiculture, the many conflicting theories of 

 your correspondents and those from whose 

 works you copy, are hard fully to comprehend, 

 and still harder to reconcile with the natural 

 economy of the bee; but, I sujipose, to live and 

 learn can do no harm." 



Eees should be fed in a dry summer when the 

 flowers have no honey. There are occasionally 

 intervals of several weeks when such is the 

 case. The bees will then cast the larvfe and 

 immature young out of the cells. This, 

 though seemingly cruel, is in reality a kind- 

 ness, for when thus thrown out thej^ speedily 

 die, whilst, if kept in the hive, they would 

 linger a long time, dying of starvation. If food 

 l)e olFered to the colon}', when it begins to cast 

 out the larva, they will at once cease to do so, 

 and the population of the hive will continue to 

 grow. 



Learn from the bee to work hard and waste 

 nothing, and remember that nothing worth 

 doing can be done without a little trouble. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Experience of a Novice in Bee- 

 keeping. 



No. 3. 



After I found that my bees had got their 

 queen, and no mistake, my anxiety for them 

 was a little relieved, and 1 had no doubt that, 

 uuder my careful management , they would yet 

 come out all right. To make all sure, I fed them 

 the honey 1 had strained thent out of, thinking 

 it would be better for them to take it back after 

 they had got strong again. 



Of course the frames had to be taken out oc- 

 casionall}', to see that they were all right, and 

 to get an occasional glimpse of that mysterious 

 queen once more. 



Mr. Langstroth's description of an observa- 

 tory hive had quite captivated my fancy, and 

 as soon as 1 could get one made to my satisfac- 

 tion, my small colony were compelled to spare 

 their best comb of brood for that purpose, and 

 anxiously we watched tor a queen-cell. It was 

 several days before that curiosity appeared, but 

 it did at last, and it was hard to say who. paid 

 the most attention to it, the bees or ourselves. 

 But they had the advantage over us, as they 

 could poke their heads into it incessantly, 

 whilst we were forbidden the coveted privilege 

 of seeing what were tlie wondertul contents of 

 that cratlle of royalty. Here we were doouied 

 to a little disappointment, as my wife one day 

 informed me that they had left the queen-cell, 

 and that it contained — just nothing at all ! As 

 they had been at work at it only a tew daj's, I 

 was compelled to go to Langstroth again lor a 

 solution of the dithcnlty. Sure enougli, lie does 

 mention that bees, like other folks, sometimes 

 make mistakes, but unlike other lolks, they are 

 always willing to convct them, if an oppor- 

 tunity is olfeied in the shape of new brood- 

 comb. This we furnished them with, and they 

 went to work anew and made a better royal 

 cell, and all seemed right. 



I will here mention an occurrence which I 

 should like to know if it is common. In cap- 

 ping one of the worker cells, which was near 

 the glass, they had made the glass form a part 

 of the capping, so that we could see plainly the 

 operation of the larva even after it had been 

 sealed up. I was quite elated at this, as I could 

 thus have an opportunity of seeing the whole 

 process. But trom some unknown cause, after 

 i had watched its movements about two daj'S, 

 I think, the cell was changed so as to obstruct 

 the view. In that time the head had nearly 

 approached the glass, and seemed to be moving 

 slowly almost incessantly. 



Our queen did hatch, although it was so late 

 in the season that she probably never left the 

 hive. She was hunted up and admired by all 

 our friends; her majestic gait, and the homage 

 paid her by the workers, were fully observed, 

 until I got an idea that an Italian queen, in 

 her stead, would be just about the desideratum. 



From the American Agriculturist I learned 

 that our friend, as I thought he must be alter 

 reading his work, L. L. Langstroth, still lived, 



