THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 16, 



Having promised to attend the Con- 

 vention at Andover, C, on the 8th and 

 9th inst., we concluded to go to the Con- 

 vention atUtica, N. Y., and attend that 

 at Andover on our return. 



It will be remembered that the Con- 

 vention at Utica, last year passed reso- 

 lutions denouncing the Bee Journal 



Apis Dorsata of Java. 



We are in receipt of the following let- 

 ter from Mr. Thomas, a gentleman for 

 whose opinion we have much respect : 



Coleraine, Mass., Feb. 1, 1881. 



I am not yet convinced that the Apis 

 dorsata is incapable of domestication, 

 notwithstanding all that lias been said 

 in the Journal to the contrary. I do 

 not think the fact of their building 

 their combs on the limbs of trees in the 

 open air, is any proof that they cannot 

 be domesticated ; doubtless the Italians 

 would do the same if left to themselves 

 in such a warm country. 



Mr. Cary, some years ago, instructed 

 a missionary, who was about to return 

 to the Island of Ceylon, where this bee 

 is also found, how to prepare and pack 

 a colony for shipment, in the hopes that 

 ! he would send him one on his return. 

 But as he never received the bees or 

 heard from him, it is supposed that he 

 was unable to procure them. 



In conversation with a missionary 



and its editor, and we thought we would lgome ti me "since,I inquired about the 

 like to see what course they would pur- Dees m j aV a, and he said that he knew 

 sue this year. Of course we were wholly of no reason why they could not be 

 unexpected, but were received very cor- ! ^^^^^Xltlp^ 

 equestea 10 ( old tree m a fl our } s hing condition, which 



dially, and by vote were re 



address the Convention on the matters 



at issue. 



Being fully assured of the wisdom of 

 the old motto—" Truth wears no mask, 

 bows at no human shrine, seeks neither 

 place nor applause— she only asks a 

 hearing"— we accepted the invitation, 

 and in the light of facts and incontro- 

 vertible arguments, we discussed the 

 whole subject. The result was that the 

 Convention voted to drop the matter 

 entirely, and devote its time and ener- 

 gies to the discussion of practical issues. 



the natives smoked out and obtained a 

 large amount of honey. 



The natives ascend the tree by pegs 

 driven into the wood, and after smoking 

 the bees off of the combs, cut them off 

 and let them down by a cord to the 

 ground. 



I was very much interested in Rev. 

 Mr. Langstroth's article on the dorsata, 

 published in the Journal, vol. xiv., 

 page 417. He was very much interested 

 in this bee, and I believe if his health 

 had been restored, he would have kept 

 this subject agitated until there was 

 some move towards importing them. 



As for their stinging qualities, I for 



cordially invited us.to participate jta the ; one would be willing to be stung some, 

 " . , , j m „„„i„ S a M or j it they would prove as good honey gath- 



Hicrnssinns and UliailimOUSly elected _*_ T a l i_i._i;_..S'i.i .1" Tf 



discussions, and 

 us an honorary member of their Society, 

 Thus ends the recent "unpleasantness," 

 to the satisfaction of all concerned. 



The general expression was that of 

 gladness that we were present, and all 

 ( without exception) endeavored to make 

 the Convention as pleasant and profita- 

 ble as possible. A report of two days' 

 proceedings may be found on another 

 page. 



At Andover, O., we met with many 

 old friends, and had a very pleasant 

 and profitable meeting. A report of 

 this Convention will be found in a future 

 issue of the Bee Journal. 



^g" The President of the British Bee- 

 Keepers' Society, the Baroness, Lady 

 Burdett-Coutts, took to herself a hus- 

 band last Saturday. The happy bride- 

 groom is Mr. W. Ashmead Bartlett, a 

 worthy American gentleman. The 

 American Bee Journal presents its 

 compliments, and wishes the happy 

 pair a very enjoyable future. The Lady 

 is known throughout the civilized world, 

 as one of the greatest public benefac- 

 tors that ever lived. 



ig^" The Indiana Farmer says that 

 bee-culture is becoming a profitable in 

 dustry in Texas, especially in the val- 

 leys of the Brazos and Colorado rivers, 

 whose extensive bottoms furnish a wide 

 range for the honey-gatherers. A 

 Southern paper says " quite a number 

 of enterprising men have given it their 

 sole attention, finding the industry 

 vastly more profitable than cotton 

 raising." 



i^" Floods are now the order of the 

 day everywhere. This has been the 

 severest winter, the world over, within 

 the memory of the oldest inhabitant. 



erers as I firmly believe they would. If 

 Mr. Hawley would give up his " sting- 

 less bee" enterprise, and direct his 

 attention to the Apis dorsata, I think it 

 would be better for him and all the rest 

 of us. 



I look forward to the importation of 

 this bee, at an early day, into the United 

 States, and should my hopes reach frui- 

 tion, and the dorsata should be able to 

 reach the hidden nectar in the red clo- 

 ver, it will prove a mine of wealth to 

 the bee-keepers of the United States. 

 E. A. Thomas. 



We are not aware of having written a 

 word to discourage the importation of 

 the Apis dorsata, or any other race of 

 bees which tnay by any possibility im- 

 prove, or be an improvement upon, our 

 present excellent Italians ; but, rather, 

 are most desirous to have a fair trial 

 given to all— the Cyprian and Palestine 

 bees, Apis dorsata, Apis zonata, and 

 even the Caucasian bees. American 

 bee-keepers are not to be satisfied with 

 anything short of the best, come from 

 where they may, and cost what they 

 will. In making up the verdict, all the 

 points must be taken into consideration, 

 and much time consumed in deciding 

 which are best. Those which would be 

 best adapted to Norway, Sweden and 

 Kussia might not prove best for our lat- 

 itude and flora, any more than would 

 the bees from Java, Ceylon or Africa. 

 Research and exhaustive experiment 

 may demonstrate that it is not a pure 

 race of bees we want, after all ; that 

 we may find most suitable a race or va- 

 riety combining the characteristics of 

 those of the two geographical extremes 

 —a variety capable of withstanding the 

 rigors of a Russian winter and the 

 scorching drouths of an African sum- 

 mer — or, at least, an average mean be- 

 tween the two. 



We have no doubt the queens from 

 Palestine have already proven superior 

 in one point at least — that of greater 



prolificacy than anything we have here- 

 tofore possessed. Should, however, the 

 theory of certain deterioration in this 

 country prove correct, as is claimed in 

 regard to the Italians by an eminent sci- 

 entist and scholar, then there is no per- 

 manent advantage gained by their 

 introduction. We would be obliged, at 

 last, to verify Mr. Robinson's record 

 (see 9th paragraph, 3d column, page 46 

 of Weekly Bee Journal) by substi- 

 tuting some approved foundation. We 

 are satisfied, however, no good stock, 

 whether bees or anything else, will de- 

 teriorate in the hands of our intelligent 

 and emulative breeders, so far as prac- 

 tical purposes may be at issue. Nor do 

 we doubt that the Cyprians may possess 

 some very desirable characteristics that 

 can be utilized with advantage by our 

 apiarists; but what they may be we are 

 not yet prepared to say. A better ac- 

 quaintance with Apis dorsata and Apis 

 zonata will certainly develop traits that 

 can be borrowed with great profit by 

 the bee-keepers of America, and we 

 await their introduction with hope and 

 somewhat of impatience. Meantime, 

 we must relax no effort to improve our 

 present desirable strains ; systematic 

 compilation of data, scientific applica- 

 tion of knowledge, and careful selection 

 of the best, and Apis Americana will 

 wave its untiring wings over the flowers 

 of Europe, sipping as well the dewdrop 

 from the rose of Sharon as the nectar 

 from the lilacs of Italy, the rosemaries 

 of Spain, the clovers of Holland, and 

 the goldenrods of America. 



Let the verdict of apiarists be favor- 

 able or unfavorable for the Cyprian and 

 Syrian bees, Messrs. D. A. Jones and 

 Frank Benton deserve the thanks of all 

 for their untiring perseverance, and it 

 only awaited their latest enterprise (the 

 trip to Java, Timor and the Phillipine 

 Islands) to record their names among 

 the benefactors of the age. 



While much care has been taken to 

 breed our bees up to the requirements 

 of the floral world, and one (Capt. W. 

 F." Williams, of Ohio) claims to have 

 developed their tongues to 11-32 of an 

 inch in length, our bee-keepers have 

 neglected to grow the flowers to the re- 

 quirements of their bees. The sugges- 

 tion of Dr. C. C. Miller, President of 

 the N. W. Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 that perhaps the quickest way to adapt 

 the bees' tongues to the red clover would 

 be to shorten the flowers to the length 

 of their tongues, seems to have been 

 overlooked. The Alsike is undoubtedly 

 a hybrid, perhaps white and red clovers 

 crossed, and if the latter can be hybrid- 

 ized it can be grown with shallower nec- 

 tar-tubes. In Germany experimenters 

 are acting on his hint, with satisfactory 

 prospects of success. Mr. Hasty, of 

 Ohio, is also experimenting with the 

 same object in view. It is a subject 

 worthy of more than a passing thought, 

 and deserves studied consideration. 



Moisture Absorbents in Bee Hives. 



(g^"At the Utica Convention we met 

 Mr. J. H. Nellis, the genial editor of the 

 Bee-Keepers'" Exchange. We are pleased 

 to notice the strong position lie takes 

 against the adulteration of honey. Mr. 

 L. C. Root, the able ex-President of that 

 Association, with Mr. Nellis as alter- 

 nate, was appointed to wait on the New 

 York Legislature, in person, and de- 

 mand that the law against adulteration 

 of sugar and syrups should also include 

 honey. We hope soon to give a favora- 

 ble report from this committee. 



In our latitude. 38th parallel, the 

 weather is so changable that I often 

 think we have as much trouble to winter 

 bees successfully as they do in Minne- 

 sota and Wisconsin. Their frequent 

 flights through winter cousume much 

 honey ; the long rains (winter) and sud- 

 den freezing keep the insides of hives 

 in anything but a healthy condition for 

 the bees. This led me to study the best 

 material to overcome the trouble, and I 

 see Mr. C. Lover, of Maryland, has 

 sounded the key-note and whole secret 

 of dry hives, viz : I have heard old sol- 

 diers say they were "as dry as a lime- 

 kiln." The chemist uses lime over his 

 alcohol to abstract the last drop of wa- 

 ter contained in it, thus making it ab- 

 solute. So we must do to protect our 

 bees — use anything, patented or not, so 

 we accomplish the saving of our bees. 



Now, I go further than Mr. Lover ; I 

 lath and plaster*my hives 1 inch thick 

 all around inside, with mortar made of 

 sharp sand and plaster of Paris ; tfiis 

 makes it cool in summer, warm in win- 

 ter, and with dry lime in the cushion 

 over their frames, I feel, from this win- 

 ter's experience, that I have found it. 

 I put 1 small colony in my plastered hive 

 last spring ; they did well, but owing to 

 the failure of honey secretion they gath- 

 ered no surplus. I examined "all (20 

 colonies) a few days ago, and the "lime- 

 kiln hive" was the only one containing 

 pure combs — every other one was more 

 or less moldy ; but I never saw bees do- 

 ing better than under the lime cushion. 



I use gunny sacking, with cheap cot- 

 ton batting laid over that, then sew 3 

 sides and put in about 1% inches lime. 

 I use air-slacked lime, thoroughly dried 

 in the cook-stove oven before putting 

 it in the cushion. It is not a little sin- 

 gular how often the same idea possesses 

 the minds of individuals very distant 

 geographically, and in very much the 

 same way. As I was making the ex- 

 periment of the amount of carbon 

 dioxide per hour exhaled by different 

 persons (fat and lean) with the lime- 

 water test, when the bees came into my 

 mind, and I went straightway and made 

 a deputator for one hive with the best 

 of results. I hope others will try these 

 interesting experiments. 



W. Van Antwerp, M. D. 



Mt. Sterling, Ky. 



The matter of absorbents has been 

 a cause of considerable experimentation 

 with us in the past, and we are exceed- 

 ingly glad to find it engrossing the at- 

 tention of scientific men such as Dr. 

 Van Antwerp, and others. The win- 

 ter now closing is demonstrating very 

 satisfactorily that it will not do to de- 

 pend wholly on chaff-packing under all 

 circumstances, nor is it possible or con- 

 venient for all to winter in good cellars, 

 for the reason that good cellars are 

 not available to all. Again, there is 

 much trouble entailed in cellar winter- 

 ing, such as the proper preparation of 

 the cellar, placing the bees within it, 

 removing them to the open air for a 

 flight if perchance the weather should 

 moderate to allow of it, then putting 

 them back, and again setting them on 

 the summer stands when winter is 

 through, in all of which operations there 

 is a possibility of seriously disturbing 

 the bees at times when it is very haz- 

 ardous to do so. Also, many trace seri- 

 ous spring dwindling to the wintering 

 of the bees in the cellar as the prime 

 cause, and are anxiously looking for a 

 more satisfactory method, and devising 

 schemes and experiments for out-door 

 wintering. So far, however, chaff-pack- 

 ing has proven no less unsatisfactory, 

 and many this winter will nearly lose 

 confidence in it, and drift around for a 

 substitute which will be more certain in 

 its results and less expensive in prac- 

 tice. 



Foreseeing the-need or demand for a 

 radical change, we instituted a series of 



