252 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 10, 



- ; ^L AMEBIOa.V 



mmum 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN. 



EDITOU AND Pkophietor, 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUG. 10, 1881. 



Exhibits for National Convention. 



To all Bee-Keepers, fraternally greet- 

 ing: I have been appointed a commit- 

 tee to receive exhibits for the National 

 Convention, and accept the trust. 

 Persons sending articles for exhibition 

 will please prepay freight or express 

 charges, and send plain directions how 

 to be returned; if desirous of selling 

 them, attach a card stating the lowest 

 price in plain figures. I will cheer- 

 fully and impartially attend to exhib- 

 iting queens, bees, hives, and other 

 implements for the apiary, of any kind, 

 free of charge. I will exercise all due 

 care and diligence, but will not be re- 

 sponsible for losses of queens or bees 

 by death oraccident. 1 earnestly hope 

 that all who can possibly attend this 

 Convention will do so, and see the 

 beauties of the far-famed •' Blue-Grass 

 Region," the " home of Clay" and 

 other statesmen, and its fine stock of 

 every description. We cordially in- 

 vite you to conie. thus tilling a double 

 mission. I shall feel grateful to all 

 who have any intention of coming, to 

 have them state the fact on a postal 

 card addressed to me, and will cheer- 

 fully answer all inquiriestothebestof 

 of riiy ability. W. "Williamson, 

 Vice Free. /'<>/' Ky. N. A. B. K. Soc. 



Lexington, Ky., Aug. 1, 1881. 



We cannot refrain from congratulat- 

 ing the Morth American Bee-Keepers' 

 Society, upon the choice of Mr. Wm. 

 Williamson as a special committee to 

 look after the interests of exhibitors. 

 In him are combined all the essentials 

 necessary to a satisfactory execution 

 of the trust — discriminating, unpreju- 

 diced, energetic, honest, and with all 

 the courtesy that distinguishes the 

 true gent leman. Exhibitors can trust 

 to his judgment. lie will leave noth- 

 ing undone to make of the Convention, 

 as it richly deserves to be, a complete 

 success. 



Which Are the Best Bees? 



prejudice, or result from insufficient 

 investigation. 



The Syrian bees appear to have met 

 with more favor, though many bee- 

 keepers are unable to appreciate any 

 superior traits. The August number 

 of the Bee-Keepers' 1 Guide says : 



Holy Land queens look like queens 

 reared from hybrid Italians, and act 

 like black queens. They are always 

 scared and running when you open the 

 hive. 



We have one colony of Syrians in the 

 Bee Journal Apiary. The queen is 

 large, well-developed, and quite slow 

 and deliberate in her movements. We 

 have reared several very promising 

 daughters from her, and all present 

 the same general characteristics of the 

 mother, and nearly approach duplica- 

 tion. They bear no resemblance to 

 the hybrid Italian — in fact, not so 

 nearly as the pure Italian does. The 

 body is nearly a maroon-color, the seg- 

 ments being very distinctly cut, and 

 a polished dark-mahogany color. The 

 mother queen is certainly very prolific; 

 the daughters are quite young yet, and 

 were reared for the purpose of cross- 

 ing with Italian drones. The workers, 

 however, exhibit the characteristics 

 mentioned in the Guide ; they have a 

 quick, nervous, hurry-scurry move- 

 ment, are smaller than Italians, and 

 much more ready to repel intrusion. 

 They are very good workers, and we 

 find they become a trifle more amiable 

 with frequent gentle handling. 



Of the so-called Hungarian bees in 

 this country, we have not sufficient 

 data for arriving at any conclusion 

 unless that they areahybrid, produced 

 perhaps by mating black or brown 

 queens with Italian drones. As a race, 

 we have no confidence in them. 



With our present limited knowledge, 

 and in the absence of well authenti- 

 cated proof of superiority in other 

 races, we would dislike advising any 

 apiarist who now possesses a good 

 strain of Italians, to make a change ; 

 but, rather, to make their improve- 

 ments in the pasturage. 



Mr. J. A. Johnson, Indiana, writes 

 us as follows : 



Which do you consider the best bees 

 for honey-gathering, Italian, Cyprian. 

 Syrian or Hungarian bees¥ I want 

 the best queens to breed from in 18812. 

 I have no knowledge of any only Ital- 

 ians. Could you not give us an article 

 on the differenl races of bees now in 



the United States? 



We yel consider the better strains of 

 Italians the besl bees in this country, 

 ami that they will be the source from 

 which will be bred the "coming bee." 

 They possess so many desirable points 

 of superiority . thai it will be :i difficult 

 matte)- lo supersede them with any of 

 the newer races, about which there is 

 much difference of opinion among 

 careful and observing apiarists. We 

 have not sufficiently tested any of them 

 to hazard a positive opinion from per- 

 sonal knowledge. 



Regarding the Cyprians (from which 



much was expected), we have sonic 



verj damaging reports. Thej are said 



to be very fierce in disposition, rest- 

 less on the combs, easily aroused, and 

 display no superiority to the Italians 

 as honey-gatherers. Some of these 

 objections are undoubtedly based on 



and the new methods and new ideas 

 of practical management must take 

 the place of the old and undesirable 

 ones. As we have so strongly advised 

 public manipulations with bees, the 

 question is a natural one : How can it 

 be done V 



When we were in England, in 1879, 

 we found that the most attractive 

 features of the fairs were the public 

 manipulations with bees. There they 

 had a large tent, as shown by the ac- 

 companying engraving. The inner 

 circle was inclosed by mosquito bar 

 or netting around the sides and about 

 8 feet high, leaving the top entirely 

 open. Around this circle is a passage- 

 way, covered with canvas above and 

 outside, about 8 feet high, and 6 feet 

 broad ; in this inclosure the audience 

 assemble to witness, through the net- 

 ting, the manipulations with bees — 

 driving the bees from a skep or box 

 hive, and finding the queen and ex- 

 hibiting it to the audience. Here, 



Management of Bees at Fairs. 



Dr. J. W. Hudson, of Mayesville, S. 

 C, makes the following request : 



Dear Editor : Please to give us full 

 directions for showing, handling, dri- 

 ving and the general management of 

 bees at exhibitions and fairs. Giveall 

 the details, for many of us have never 

 seen bees on exhibition, though we 

 may know how to handle them in our 

 own apiaries. I know of no one so 

 capable of giving instruction in this 

 matter as yourself, who have seen it 

 done so oft en, both in this country and 

 in Europe. Give us the practice in 

 both countries, and your opinion as to 

 the best. I might have placed my bees 

 on exhibition at our recent agricultu- 

 ral fair, had I known anything about 

 the management of them at such 

 places. I do not know whether they 

 should be confined in their hives or 

 allowed tolly ; in a word, I know noth- 

 ing about it. 



In the BEE Journal for Feb., 1880, 

 we urged that manipulations with bees 

 be instituted at fairs,and bee and honey 

 shows would be the most attractive 

 features of State, County, and Dis- 

 trict Fairs. There are many good rea- 

 sons for introducing such, but the chief 

 one, perhaps v is that those who pro- 

 duce honey for the market may be in- 

 duced to present it in the most mar- 

 ketable shape; for the old slip-shod 

 manner of production must pass away, 



Tent for Publicly Exhibiting Bees. 



also, a lecturer was arranged for every 

 hour, who gave a lecture for half the 

 time, leaving the other half hour for 

 the manipulations. The committee 

 there charged 6d. (about 10 cents), for 

 admission, every hour. 



While in Great Britain we gave 8 

 half-hour lectures in this tent ; each 

 time the inclosure was full of eager 

 listeners. Two of these were deliv- 

 ered at the Scottish Bee and Honey 

 Show, at Perth, concerning which the 

 Dundee Advertiser remarks as follows: 



The manipulating tent was a scene 

 of great interest during the show. It 

 is of octagon shape, the operator stand- 

 ing in the middle, while the public 

 feel secure under the protection of an 

 intervening gauze screen. Driving 

 bees from a straw skep and transfer- 

 ring their combs to a bar-frame hive, 

 were hourly operations, and never 

 failed to strike with astonishment the 

 spectators, who stood aghast at seeing 

 a human being unprotected turning 

 up a hive of bees, and handling them 

 as if they were blue flies. 



Mr. Thos. G. Newman, editor of the 

 American Bee Journal, was pres- 

 ent during the first 3 days of the show, 

 and gave lectures on American bee- 

 keeping, which were very interesing, 

 and were well received. The Societj 

 presented to him a medal as a souvenir 

 of his visit to this country, and tor 

 the valuable services he has rendered 

 to the present session of the Society. 



The driving competition then com- 

 menced, when ii competitors entered 

 the list. After the straw skeps had 

 been balloted for, they were turned up 

 one after another, and by gently tap- 

 ping on the sides of the hive the bees 

 were compelled to leave their homes 

 with their stoics of brood and honey, 

 and to take refuge in an empty skep 

 placed above. The queens were cap- 

 tured and exhibited to a large assem- 

 blage of spectators. 



For "showing" bees, observatory 

 hives were used— those having glass 

 sides.something like the Worrall hive, 

 through which the bees may be seen 

 at work— the hive being inside the ex- 

 hibition buildiug, with a tube cover- 



ing the entrance, and running through 

 the side of the building, giving free 

 passage, in and out, for the bees. 

 Sometimes, a glass box inclosing each 

 frame, arranged like leaves of a book, 

 with a common entrance to all of 

 them, from the tube running through 

 the side of the building, is made to 

 exhibit bees. This gives an opportu- 

 nity for thorough examination of the 

 whole colony. 



Liberal premiums should be offered 

 for the best exhibits, and these pre- 

 miums should cover a large variety of 

 special points in order U> make the 

 competition the more lively and at- 

 tractive, as well as to enhance apiar- 

 ian science in general. 



Last year a small exhibition of bees, 

 honey, and implements for the apiary, 

 was made at the St. Joseph, Mo., Ex- 

 position. The superintendent of the 

 apiarian department for this year, R. 

 S. Musser, Esq., has written to us as 

 follows : 



The exhibits of last year have 

 worked up quite an interest in pro- 



fressive apiculture in this vicinity, 

 lany then, for the first time, saw the 

 new apiarian improvements, single 

 comb sections, comb foundation, etc., 

 and had never heard of planting any- 

 thing for their bees to get honey from. 

 The finest honey in the world is pro- 

 duced in the Missouri Valley, from 

 Yankton, Dakota, to Jefferson City, 

 Mo. If the various Fair Associa- 

 tions in this valley would give some 

 encouragement to this industry ,a large 

 amount of honey would be gathered 

 in this valley, and put upon the mar- 

 ket in first-class style. Not one cent 

 in premiums was offered last year, but 

 this year over $120, besides diplomas 

 are offered, and next year I know we 

 can double the amount. 



The fair for 1881 will begin on Sept. 

 5, and closes Oct. 10, and promises to 

 be a very interesting occasion. The 

 following is the list of premiums in 

 the apiarian department : 



Display of Italian bees, 1st premium, 

 $5; 2d premium, $3. 



Display or black bees, 1st premium, 

 $2: 2d premium, $1. 



Display of queen bees, $3. 



Display of imported queen bees, $5. 



Display of bee-keepers' tools, im- 

 plements and fixtures, $5. 



Best display of honey in comb, $4 ; 

 2d premium, S2. 



Largest assortment of seeds for 

 honey plants. £2. 



Exhibition of a swarm of bees in a 

 hive, including their handling and 

 best method of subjugation, to be 

 practically illustrated on Friday, Sept. 

 ii, 1st premium $5; 2d premium, one 

 tested Italian queen, offered by D. G. 

 Parker, valued at $3. 



Honey extractor, $2. 

 . Honey knife, diploma. 



Bee smoker, diploma. 



Atomizer, diploma. 



lice feeders, diploma. 



Comb foundation, diploma. 



Felt blankets, for covering brood- 

 frames, diploma. 



Bee veils, diploma. 



G loves, rubber gauntlets, diploma. 



Sections, all in one piece, diploma. 



Sections, dovetailed, diploma. 



Wax extractor, diploma. 



SPECIAL PREMIUMS. 



For best display of comb honey, $5. 



For best 50 pounds of comb honey, 

 in 1 and 2 -pound boxes, $r>. 



Pay for best 30 lbs. of comb honey, 

 exhibited in 1 or 2-pound boxes, $15. 



For the best and largest display of 

 comb honey from any one apiary in 

 the Ninth Congressional District of 

 M issi mri, one copy of Daily Herald for 

 one year. 



Second best display, one copy of 

 Weekly Herald for 2 years. 



For the largest and best display of 

 bee-keepers' tools, implements, and 



