1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



15 



Notes. 



BY THE ASSISTANT EDITOR. 



Occasional reference is made in the 

 bee papers of late to the Caucasian 

 bees, a race found in the Caucasus 

 mountains, Russia. It was our privi- 

 lege several years ago, when the merits 

 of the Caucasian bee was being quite 

 generally discussed, to test some of the 

 advantages claimed for them. They 

 proved to be a very gentle and hardy 

 race, with no other desirable points. 

 Their most cons^picuous trait being a 

 lack of energy, worthless as honey 

 gatherers and an irrepressible swarm- 

 ing propensity, American bee keepers 

 have wisely given the Caucasians a 

 deserved rest for the past ten years, 

 and we think would do well to con- 

 tinue it. They are a tired race. 



Elias Fox, in Gleanings, reports 65 

 perfect queeu cells upon one frame of 

 brood. Editor Root regards the case 

 as something extraordinary, if the bees 

 were Italian stock, but cites a similar 

 case in his experience with Holy Land 

 bees. Though we neglected to make 

 a note of the exact number of cells 

 which we found at one time several 

 years ago in a hive occupied by Cau- 

 casians, we are prepared to accept al- 

 most any figure along this line. There 

 were cells and clusters of cells upon 

 each side of every comb in the hive, 

 and queen cells in several sections in 

 the super, while some were attached 

 to the side of the hive, entirely sepa- 

 rate from the comb. 



A correspondent from Oregon in 

 the American Bee Journal, declares 

 that yellow jackets destroyed five col- 

 onies of bees in spite of all he could 

 do. There is a large wasp, of which 

 Southern bee keepers complain as a 

 bee killer, but this is the first charge 

 of this kind against the yellow jacket 

 to come before our notice. Perhaps 

 it is the same, Stizus speciosus. 



Garden Seeds as Premium. 



We will send the American Bee 

 Keeper one year and a box of choice 

 garden seeds, retail value $1.60, for 

 only 60 cents. 



"How to Manage Bees " is a 50c 

 book for beginners in bee keeping. 

 We will send it postpaid for 25c. 



JACK FROST IN FLORIDA. 



Prosperity was rampant; the people were 

 happy. There was only one South Florida. 

 " Its delightful winters and health-giving 

 climate could not be duplicated or carried 

 away." " Prices must go up and up until 

 every acre is a home or garden, and every 

 owner a man of wealth ar.d leisure." The 

 pioneers and orange growers thought go; the 

 builders of railroads an*' cities, the found- 

 ers of electric lights and newspapers the in- 

 vestors and money lenders, all thought so ; 

 and it wouhl have been so, perhaps except 

 that, after all. G'd disposes. 



" It is the unexpected that happens." 

 Ont^ stirlit ni^'ht in 188(5, an ice cold wind 

 stole diiwn from the North and, passing ail 

 established " fmst-lines," penetrated the 

 "orange belt." Ungathered fruit was froz- 

 en, and ilie trees were " nipped," retarding 

 the growili and fruiting of y<ung groves, 

 and curtailing the crop for several years in 

 older ones. 



The greatest injury, however, and one 

 from which all classes suffered, was the 

 shock to confidence. The record had been 

 broken, the trost-line destroyed. Investors 

 must take into consideration a heretofore 

 unrecognized danger, and in consequence 

 there was an immediate and rapid decline 

 in the demand for property. Who could 

 tell when another freeze would come? and 

 in fear of it, though little actual damage 

 had been done, the South Florida boom 

 collapsed. — R. G. Robinson, in .January 

 Lippincott's. 



New features are being continually added 

 to Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, and tlie 

 publishers say that the coming year will 

 show even more marked improvement in its 

 character than was shown during the paAt 

 year. ;'v;. - • 



.; r,.- il^;;* I-/:. 



