1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



767 



in cake-making ovor at the house. Let it be 

 remembered that it was with this very sugar 

 that we had such bad results in sending queens 

 to a distance. Well, in cake-making this sugar 

 was not satisfactory, because the frosting 

 would not harden. Perhaps there was adulter- 

 .ation in it that spoiled it, not only for bees, but 

 for culinary purposes also. We have had good 

 results with some frosting sugars; but it seems 

 they are liable to be adulterated. 



noys them. We are very glad indeed to get 

 this much in the kingbird's favor. A. I. K. 



In some quarters I see it slyly hinted that 

 there is a " mutual-admiration society " among 

 bee-keepers. I don't know whether I am a 

 member of that society or not. If I have, in a 

 public way. expressed my admiration for some 

 ■of the friends and editors of rival bee-journals 

 I have met recently, it is because I like them, 

 and because I admire their writings or the 

 service they have and are rendering bee-keep- 

 ers; but, dear me! I don't expect them to return 

 the compliment. Among other rival trade- 

 journals we see the outcropping of petty jeal- 

 ousies and the usual wrangling among editors; 

 in short, one would think that they had formed 

 a "mutual-wrangling society." I am glad 

 that, in the line of bee-keeping, for the most 

 part there is a marked exception. 



There seems to be a sort of impression 

 among the farmers in our own vicinity, that 

 extra yellow bees must be extra pure Italians. 

 Judging by the way the orders have run for 

 the yellow stock, this impression must be gen- 

 eral; but every practical queen-breeder knows 

 that is a mistake. The five-banders are sim- 

 ply sports, selected for color, from Italian stock 

 — that is all. And by the way some of them 

 sting, it would almost seem as if they had 

 " sported " a little from Cyprian stock. We 

 have quite a large number of colonies of extra 

 yellow bees in our yard, and our apiary has 

 never had crosser bees, or bees more inclined to 

 rob, than this year. They bred like Cyprians, 

 and then stopped long before the ordinary 

 Italians. We shall get them all out of our 

 yard another season, unless iheir temper and 

 robbing tendencies improve. 



THE KINGBIRD NOT ALWAYS GUILTV OF DE- 

 STROYING BEES. 



W. H. MoRKELi>, of Chatham Center, Medina 

 Co., O., furnishes the following: One day he 

 noticed a kingbird flying back and forth, and 

 darling around in front of one of his bee-hives. 

 Presuming that the bird was, of course, eating 

 bees, he shot it, opened its crop, and found no 

 bees at all, but quite a quantity of black ants. 

 He then went back and examined the hive, and 

 found the ants quite thick, crawling all over 

 the front and around the entrance of the hive. 

 The bird had simply been picking up, if not an 

 enemy of the bees, an insect that greatly an- 



THE COMING NORTH AMERICAN CONVENTION 

 AT ST. .JOSEI'II. 



As before mentioned, I expect to be on hand 

 promptly at the opening of the first session, 

 and stay there till its close. My son-in-law, 

 Mr. J. T. Calvert, will also probably be present. 

 As he is the business manager of our establish- 

 ment, he will be able to answer many questions 

 from the kind friends whom we expect to meet, 

 better than 1 could do it myself. Our good 

 friend Pres. Abbott is leaving no stone unturn- 

 ed to make the meeting a success. See the 

 following from him, just at hand: 



TOO GOOD TO KEEP. 



1 am just in receipt of a letter from Editor Stil- 

 son, in which he i^ays: "Our present urvang-ements 

 are, to leave Lincoln on tiie morning' of the 10th, 

 making- a daylig-ht run, reaching St. Joseph about 

 4 p.m. We shall liave a special car on the Missouri 

 Pacific, retaining the same for a recepiion, either 

 the evening: of the lOlh or some time on the 11th. 

 Our mark is for an attendance of 40 or niore." 



This sounds like business; but those who know 

 tlie bee-kt epers of Nebraska as well as I do will not 

 be surprised, for this Is ju.st like them; they do not 

 do things by lialves. Now, who will be next ? Can 

 not the other States that are as near to St. Joseph 

 do as well ? Let us make tliis mi eiing a grand suc- 

 cess, in spite of the fact that the honey crop has 

 been very poor in many localities. 



We have secured reduced rates east of the river, 

 and I am sure we can get the same rates west of the 

 Missouri River. Emekson T. Abbott. 



St. Joseph, Mo., Sept. 20. 



At the close of the convention I expect to 

 make a raid through the central part of Mis- 

 souri. Of couise, I shall take my wheel; and 

 if the roads and weather permit, I propose to 

 take a wheelride from Kansas Citv to Lebanon, 

 Laclede Co. You can tell, by looking at your 

 maps, about what my route will be; and any of 

 the friends who would like me to call, who ai'e 

 situated along this line, or pretty near it, might 

 drop me a postal at the convention, or, better 

 still, come yourself, and give me the invitation 

 personally. I can not promise to accept all of 

 these invitations; but weather and roads may 

 make it quite convenient for me to do so. To 

 tell the truth, I am almost counting the days 

 until it is time to start — that is, so far as it is 

 right for a professing Christian to do such a 

 thing. We ought to try to make a good use 

 of ercriy day, and not be in haste to have the 

 days come and go: but it makes my heart fairly 

 bound, as in schooldays of yore, when I think 

 of a wheelride of three or four weeks through 

 the State of Missouri. You see, I am going 

 into what the map calls the Ozark Mountains. 

 If I should not be able to climb them, I pre- 

 sume I shall find some bee-friend who will 

 kindly help me out. — A. I. R. 



