1892 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



649 



by iho living beos. I did not soo thai it nuido 

 iiliy difToivnoo what kind of bcvs tiioy \v(M'(> that 

 kt>i)t t lie worms out. It was iiitcrcstinfr to soc 

 how tilt' bees would poiinco on the worms when 

 wr piii'd lip tiic honcy-lioard. Tiit' hatred tliat 

 tho bees liavt> for tlicsc worms is all that saves 

 tile bees from entire destrnetioM. The bees o/' 

 hate them. 1 don't see any ditTerence l)etween 

 Italians, blacks, or Carniolans, as to that, for 

 thev will all take care of the moths if they have 

 hal^ a chance. 



We had one case this year of three divisions 

 in one hivt>. the combs all eaten up with tlie 

 worms, and. after takinjj out the frames, there 

 were enoneh worms in the three to till a two- 

 quart measure full of clean, wisRling, crawling 

 worms. In the fourtli division of the same 

 hive there was a good colony of bees, and they 

 were blacks— not a yellow mark on them. We 

 had quite a talk over the case, and would will- 

 ingly have given another colony of bees to have 

 three or four of our great guns there to see for 

 themselves that tlu' despised blacks would pro- 

 tect themselves and light their own way among 

 the worms. We never had a colony of bees de- 

 stroyed by the worms: but it is not uncommon 

 to liave iiiore or less combs destroyed by worms. 



HOW TO PKEVEXT BUltRCOMBS. 



Have such seasons as this, then burr-combs 

 won't be any trouble. I have seen no burr- 

 combs this year; neither have I seen a piece of 

 comb as big as my band, that was built this 

 season. It is a splendid season to keep down 

 increase— .5fi<) colonies and only one swarm, and 

 that went back. No new hives to build next 

 winter. We are ready for a good honey season 

 if the winter doesn't kill the bees. 



Platteville, Wis.. Aug. 1. E. France. 



[Your experience with the black bees and 

 moth-worms seems to be at variance with all 

 tlie rest of the Ijee-keeping world. We venture 

 to say, that, if you had no black bees at all.cer- 

 tainlV nothing nearer than hybrids, you would 

 hardly know what moth-worms are in the hive. 

 When" we used to have black bees and Italians 

 we bad moth-worms: now that we have only 

 Italians, the moths are never seen in our hives. 

 Of course, if we leave combs exposed in build- 

 ings, or away from the bees, moth- worms do 

 make havoc with them. 



Regarding burr-combs, we had an unprece- 

 dentedly heavy honey-tlow. and no burr-combs 

 on till' "llofltnan or thick top-bars, and this is 

 the third season that some of them have been 

 in the hives. Our old thin and narrow top-bars 

 were liierally covered with burr-combs.] 



■WORLDS FAIR. 



THOSE I.ADY MANA<;KHS: the AIMCl'I/riRAI, 

 EXUIBIT.S, ETf. 



Inclosed find copy of a letter I have received 

 from the chairman of the Women's Hoard of 

 Lady Managers on liee Culture. World's Colum- 

 bian. I wrote her to inqiiii-e what their duties 

 would be, hopintr they were to be more orna- 

 mental tlian useful. If there is a time for every 

 thing, why would, not tiiis lie a good time for 

 bee-keepers to kick ? What kind of a show are 

 they going to have at Chicago, any way '.' In- 

 competent judges and "'fne whisky" won't 

 maive the lirst premium necessarily an article 

 of merit. I have knowledge of a judge of sheep, 

 as good as tiiere is in the L". S.: imt he is con- 

 vivial: after me(aiiig the boys a few times, and 

 being "glad to see them," he can not tell a 

 Cotswold ram from a billy goat. The Chicago 

 committee can not tell the difference, to com- 



mence with. If there is any reason (of policy) 

 why we should not bring this matter up, please 

 let me hear from you. I mail you, with this, 

 an Iowa State Fair premium list, and current 

 issui» of 77o»iH'.s7(7(r/. W. C. Fkazieh. 



Atlantic. la., .liily :.';{. 

 [The following is the letter referred to:] 

 ir. C. Frnzier:—Yo\\v letter of the 25th of 

 June has been received and contents noted. As 

 I understand the relation of the various com- 

 mittees from the Board of Lady Managers to 

 exhibitors, it is twofold: First, to endeavor, 

 Isefore the opening of the exjiosition, to awaken 

 interest and induce exhibitors to make a display 

 of their wares, works, arts, etc.: and, second, 

 in connection witli the gentlemen commission- 

 ers, to pass judgmcHit upon the relative merits 

 of competitive exhibits during the time th(^ 

 exposition is opened. I can well realize that 

 the bee-keepers would prefer that only tliose 

 ladies should be upon the committi'e on " Bees 

 and Bee Culture" who are practical apiarists; 

 but if you will consider how the Board of Lady 

 Managers was formed, you will see that it 

 would be unreasonable to expect them to be 

 specialists and experts. Mrs. Palmer, in mak- 

 ing her appointments, was obliged to use the 

 material she had. At the same time. I would 

 say that a capacity to judge of results is not 

 necessarily allied to the ability to create. The 

 "Committee on Fine Arts," for instance, might 

 well judge of the merits of pictures and statues 

 without being able to paint the one or to chisel 

 the other. I do not profess to be a skilled bee- 

 lieeper; but to the best of my powers I am in- 

 forming myself on the subject, and hope to be 

 able to do my duty when the time comes. I 

 trust that you will .send a fine exhibit to the 

 fair, and that I shall have the pleasure of meet- 

 ing you there. 



Mrs. Charles H. Olmstead, 

 Chairman of Committee on Bee Culture 



(Lady Manager for Georgia). 

 Savannah, Ga.. July 1. 



[Both letters above were forwarded to Dr. A. 

 B. Mason, who replies:] 



Friend Root: — Your favor, with a letter from 

 W. C. Frazier, of Atlantic, Iowa, and one from 

 Mrs. Chas. H. Olmstead, of Georgia, inclosed, 

 has been, received. I presume Mr. Frazier 

 would not be far from right if he had said the 

 duties of the lady managers on bee culture for 

 the Columbian Exposition would be more orna- 

 mental than useful, and still they may be more 

 useful than we imagine. W^e all know that 

 the ladies in our homes are the ornaments we 

 love, and we find them exceedingly lovable and 

 useful ornaments too. If these lady managers 

 at the exposition show their good sense by fall- 

 ing in line with the bee-keepers, and do their 

 best to make our exliibit a grand success, we 

 may well be glad they are ladies, if not bee- 

 keepers. 



I have no idea that the Board of Lady Man- 

 agers, with the gentlemen commissioners, will 

 have any thing to do with passing judgment on 

 the relative merits of the exhibits. It is fair to 

 prtrstime that that will be done by competent 

 judges, if not by experts. 



Mr. W'. I. Buchanan, Chief of the Department 

 of Agriculture, has this whole matter in charge. 

 By his invitation. Mr. Thos. G. Newman and 

 myself have met him twice in his of1ic(i in 

 Chicago, to confer in the interest of tlie Api- 

 arian Exhibit, and lie seems anxious to aid us 

 all he can. 



Personallv I do not like the glass cases that 

 have been "illustrated in the bee-journals, to 

 show in. I should like to have Ohio have a 

 space fifteen or twenty feet square to make her 

 honey display in, and go to such height as the 



