60 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



at the Albany convention. The subject 

 of Punic bees was being discussetl by 

 tlie "prominent" bee man and some 

 half dozen others. Says one to P. B. 

 M., "Shall you try the Punic bees?" 

 "No !" was the reply. "VViiy"? "Don't 

 want them." "Well, why not ?" ''Cause 

 I don't." " Tecause I do i't"w; s all die 

 argument die fellow had to offer. Now 

 suppose all beekeepers were like that 

 prominent bee man? Why. we sliould 

 all be keeping bees in box-hives and 

 nail-casks. I believe in progression, an.d 

 in trying anything from a new race of 

 bees to a house-apiary. It won't do 

 for all to w.iit for some one else to go 

 ahead. Take hold and push experi- 

 ments witli all your might. Strike out, 

 brothers, and make a niaik somewhere. 

 One prominent supply dealer and 

 queen dealer "here in Massachusetts, 

 and one whose father reared and 

 shipped tlie first Italian queens ever 

 sold in this country, never tested the 

 drone-and queen traps till the season of 

 1 89 1. Now what does he say? Why, 

 ''they are the best thing he knows of used 

 in the apiary." There are thousands of 

 beekeepers whose petty prejudice is 

 keeping them from using the queen-trap. 

 It was many years after the trap was in- 

 troduced before A. I. Root could be in- 

 duced to manufacture and sell them. 

 Last year his sales were over 500, no 

 doubt they will reach more than looo 

 traps this coming season. 



SOME OF THE HUMBUGS IN THE BEE TRADE. 



There are some humbugs in the bee 

 business. When a fellow drives up to 

 your door and says he wants to show 

 you a mothproof bee-hive, you just 

 want to look out for him. Don't invest 

 ^5 in a ]Datent right of that kind. You 

 will be sold if you do. There is no 

 such thing as a moth-proof bee hive if 

 bees are put in it. And there is no 

 such thing as a colony of bees being 

 destroyed by moths unless a colony has 

 been queenless a long time, and the 

 beekeeper is a mighty busy or careless 

 man. A good colony of bees is not 

 only a sure but the best preventive of the 



ravagesof the bee-moth. When a fellow ; 



wants to sell you a receipt for com- i 



pounding a food to feed bees that will j 



produce two pounds of pure white clover I 



honey by feeding one pound of syrup, j 



kick him off the premises. j 



BEK FEEDEUS. 



A good feeder in the apiary is a thing 1 



to be greatly prized. Dr. C. C. Miller I 



has one matle on just the right principle. j 



Nevertheless, if they are all made like | 



one sent me by the T. W. Falconer ' 

 Mfg. Co., they are as worthless as a 

 feeder as a common basket. I can 

 credit the above-named company of 

 always doing good work till I received 

 that feeder. When the Miller feeder 



is properly made, I think it is the best I 



one on the market. The feeder is made ; 



so large that enough syrup can be given j 

 the bees at one time to carry them 



through the winter. It is placed over ; 

 the frames and then covered up in the 



same manner a colony of bees is when ; 



packed for winter. ; 



I shall offer these feeders for sale, ' 

 and make them in a substantial manner. 



Cheap and sham-made goods are a ] 

 a nuisance in the a[)iary. 



A G. Hill is also offering a good 1 



feeder for sale. They are made of tin, ' 



and are placed over the combs, the bees j 

 sipping the syrup from the under sitle. 



BEE SMOKERS. 



Those fellowi who say they can get I 



along without a smoker are the ones ; 



who tie down their trowsers legs, put I 



on several great coats, rubber gloves, \ 

 and all the veils found in the house 

 when the temperature is among the 



nineties in the shade, in order to hive , 



a swarm of bees. They consider all that ; 

 rigging far cheaper and more convenient 



than a fifty cent smoker. This class j 



of beekeepers can occasionally be found. j 



Well, now no such arrangement is j 

 needed in order to handle even the most : 

 vicious colony of bees. Arm yourself j 

 with a good smoker and go at the bees 

 in man fashion, and with a determina- 

 tion to conquer. Never mind about : 



