Feb. 7, 1907 



107 



American l^ee Journal|^ 



^rv"^-^ 1 



(funs, etc. The wagon is large enough so we 

 close up the front and hack, and slecip inside. 



We starteil the afternoon of Nov. 7, and 

 camped that night in the |)retly little city of 

 Santa Paula. This is a very nice place, hav- 

 ing some of the finest residences and an air of 

 prosperity and progressiveness, The people 

 had recently voted out the i-aloons by a large 

 majority, which of itself shows progress. 



From Santa I'aula to San Buenaventura we 

 passed through the great l^inia tieau country 

 of California. The acreage planted to Lima 

 beans is said to be about 6.5,000 acres. Some 

 of the bee-keepers move their bees to these 

 bean-tieids after they have gathered the crop 

 of sage honey, and secure two crops a year, 

 sometimes. The honey from Lima beans is 

 almost water-white, and very tine. .\1I 

 through this section of country we see nice 

 farm houses and large barns, and the people 

 appear to be very prosperous. My wife, be- 

 ing a native of Ohio, was astonished at seeing 

 such an abundance of flowers everywhere at 

 this time of the year, this being her flrst win- 

 ter in California. In many places we saw 

 geraniums bordering the farms along the 

 roadsides, and in other places neglected and 

 growing wild in the greatest profusion. 



At San Buenaventura the places of interest 

 are: The old mission, with its old wooden 

 bell, made hundreds of years ago; the flower 

 gardens of the late Mrs. Theodosia 15. Shep- 

 herd; the Bard Memorial Hospital, and the 

 beautiful grounds around the court-house. 



Leaving Ventura our route lay for 30 miles 

 along the beach. This is a most beautiful 

 drive. The .\nacapa Islands can be plainly 

 seen all the way. .Vs we drive along we are 

 impressed with the grandeur of the old ocean, 

 as the breakers roar and send their foam right 

 into the road on which we are traveling. 



We pass through the Carpenteria Valley, 

 one of great richness. Here we saw the 

 largest grapevine in the world, and we saw 

 the largest eucalyptus trees we had ever seen. 

 One measured 15 feet in circumference 3 feet 

 above the ground. These trees are natives of 

 Australia, and are planted for shade and 

 wind-breaks around orange orchards. They 

 grow very tall, and do not send out long side- 

 branches as do most other trees. They blos- 

 som in December and January, and the bees 

 till up the hives nicely when there is a sufli- 

 cient number of trees, but the honey is dark 

 and not salable, but it comes in a good time 

 for bees to breed up on it. 



We spent a week in Santa Barbara. Here 

 we met our old bee-keeper friend, Delos 

 Wood, who joined us for a few days' Ashing 

 off the wharf. We caught an abundance of 

 small flsh, which were very fine eating. 



We visited the old Santa Barbara Mission, 

 founded in 1786, and said to be the largest, 

 most important, and best preserved, of all the 

 21 missions erected in California during the 

 early days of the Spanish rule. 



The Potter Hotel is a place of great interest 

 to visitors on account of its extensive 

 grounds, with its wealth of rare flowers from 

 all parts of the world. A more beautiful 

 place I have never seen, and doubt if it can 

 be surpassed in the whole world. " Adios," 

 Santa Barbara ! We hope to see you again. 

 Wm. C. Gathright. 



fore March 1, will be In time to get their 

 names in the Report, In the longest list the 

 Slate .\ss()<'iation has ever had. And further, 

 we have aliout 100 beautiful badges that will 

 be given out to the members joining before 

 thev are all gone. Jas. A. Stone, firr, 



Kt. 4, Springfield, 111. 



music. This makes 4 souvenir postal cards 

 we have now Issued for the use of beekeep- 

 ers, the lirst being the " Honey-Hear" card. 

 Prices, by mail, are as follows ; Sample cards, 

 3 cents each ; 7 for 20 cents, or 10 for 25 cents. 



Notice to Illinois Bee-Keepers.— We 



have received the following from the Secre- 

 tary of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, which should be of interest to every 

 bee-keeper in Illinois: 



The annual membership fee in the Illinois 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association is SI. 00, and 

 by arrangement the National .\ssociation al- 

 lows the members of other associations to 

 come in a body through the secretaries at 50 

 cents per member. Having received letters 

 from many who were already members of the 

 National, we have resolved to accept such in 

 the Illinois State .Association (who already 

 have membership in the National) at .50 cents. 

 This will entitle them to a cloth-bound copy 

 of the fith .\nnual Report, which will soon be 

 ready for the press. Those who come in be- 



Bee SoiiK Souvenir Postal Cards.— 



We have issued in colors, 3 bee-song postal 

 cards for beekeepers, each card having one 

 of the following songs, about 2J4x3>',i in size, 

 also with illustrated heading on each card: 

 " Buckwheat Cakes and Honey," "The Bee- 

 Keeper's Lullaby," and the " The Humming 

 of the Bees." The first two cards have small 

 pictures of the authors of the words and 



Putnam & Peake is the name 

 firjii which began to operate a bee- 

 tory at River Fails, Wis., about Feb. 

 is the same factory that Mr. W. H 

 conducted for a number of years. 

 H. Peake, the junior member of the 

 an employee of the .\. I. Root Co. fo 

 and has the reputation of being 

 workman. We bespeak a successf 

 for the new concern. 



of a new 

 hive fac- 

 . 1. This 

 Putnam 

 Mr. Carl 

 firm, was 

 r years, 

 a skilled 

 ul career 



,*f^ 



Insect Respiration and Cir- 

 culation 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



A subscriber asks me to describe the 

 breathing and circulation in insects. 



By respiration is meant the taking in 

 of o.xygen, and the passing off of carbon 

 dio.xide. O.xygen is the most important 

 food in this respect, so we must have 

 a constant supply of it, and if it is with- 

 held but for a very few minutes, death 

 by suiTocation is sure. Carboti dioxide 

 is harmless in the blood if in normal 

 proportions, but let it once become pres- 

 ent in excess, and it comes to be a viru- 

 lent poison. We see, then, how impor- 

 tant respiration is with all animals. 



Respiration of Plants. 



This function, indeed, is not liinited 

 to animals, but all plants must breathe 

 in the oxygen and exhale the carbon 

 dioxide. This is certainly true of all 

 but the very lowest of the plants. The 

 higher plants also take in carbon dioxide 

 to use in their plant work and nutrition, 

 and at the same time they give off o.xy- 

 gen, but they do this only in the day- 

 time, when the sunlight aids them in 

 their functional activities. But they 

 breathe in the true sense, by day and 

 by night. We see, then, that plants 

 tend only to vitiate the air at night, 

 though in the day they may make it 

 more wholesome for us to breathe. 



Two Kinds of Bre.\thing. 



It is well known, that some animals 

 breathe water, or, better, air from the 

 water, and such animals are called 

 "water-breathers." Others breathe only 

 air, or the oxygen froin the air, anil 

 would surely 'lie if placed in water. The 

 water-breather- have gills, and the 

 others lungs or traches. The first, by 

 the gills or lirmchise, can draw the o.xy- 

 gen from the water, while the latter by 



<i!biifribufedr' 



their lungs c<-fli take the same from the 

 air. Both will soon die if the respira- 

 tion cease. 



Respir.\tion in Insects. 



Insects are all air-breathers when in 

 the mature state. Some, like the dra- 

 gon-flies, breathe water, by gills, while 

 yet larvre. Bees always breathe air. In- 

 cests never have true lungs, but have 

 tracheae instead. These penetrate to 

 every part of the body. The red color- 

 ing-ina"tter of the blood is to carry the 

 oxygen from the lungs to the body. We 

 see, then, why insects have white or 

 yellowish-white blood ; they have the 

 air in their tubular lungs all over the 

 body, so they do not need to carry it. 



Respiratory System in Insects. 



In our bees, as in almost all insects, 

 two main air-tubes run along the sides 

 of the body, and these branch and re- 

 branch, and so push into every part of 

 the bee, or other insect. These get 

 the air through breathing-mouths, called 

 "spiracles." These are situated along the 

 sides of the body, and are very con- 

 spicuous in the great caterpillar, that 

 works on he tomato, known as the ''to- 

 mato-worm." Thus the insect takes its 

 air, not through the mouth, but through 

 these spiracles along on the sides of the 

 body. These are guarded bj- a double 

 valve which is under the control of 

 the insect. The hairs, like the hairs 

 in our own noses, are always keeping 

 dust out, while the other valves act 

 only when the need of protection is ex- 

 treme — just as we use our thumb and 

 finger, when the dust or noxious gas is 

 too pronounced, or disturbing. 



Blood .\nd Circul.\tion in Insects. 



The blood in insects, as in us, is the 

 great nourishing liquid. As I have al- 

 ready said, it is without the red color- 

 ing-matter, and so has not the red cor- 

 puscles, which hold the hemoglobine, or 

 red coloring-matter. Except in this lack 



