(pTT^OLDEST BEE PAPE ^K* 



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DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAG-O, ILL., NOVEMBER 2, 1881. 



No. 44. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION! 



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 fW~ Any person sending a club of six is entitled 

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p\TO£/^ 



Dr. J. P. H. Brown's Address. 



For several weeks we have been 

 obliged to delay tlie publication of Dr. 

 J. P. H. Brown's address before the 

 National Convention at Lexington, 

 owing to its length, but not one para- 

 graph or sentence could we omit. We 

 give it this week in its entirety, on 

 page 347, and bespeak for it a careful 

 perusal. 



The Doctor ranks high in his scien- 

 tific attainments, and has spent much 

 of the past season in practical experi- 

 ments. It will be observed he inclines 

 to the opinion that the Syrians are the 

 progenitors of the yellow species, in 

 which, we believe, he agrees with 

 Prof. Cook, and which opinion we 

 long have held. Particularly gratify- 

 ing is the result of his measurement 

 of the tongues of the different races, 

 proving conclusively that we were cor- 

 rect in our repeated assumptions of 

 the improvement of the Italian bees 

 in America, and Italian bee-masters 

 acknowledge that we have not per- 

 mitted any deterioration. In view of 

 what has been accomplished in this 

 line, what a field is opened to our care- 

 ful breeders to engraft upon our best 

 bees the desirable traits of the newer 

 races, if they possess any. Italy and 

 all Europe look to America for the 

 coming bee — let us not disappoint 

 them. 



While calling the especial attention 

 of all Americian apiarists to the two 



concluding paragraphs in Dr. Brown's 

 address, we thank him for his able 

 constructive indorsement of the utter- 

 ances of the Bee Journal on the 

 same subject. 



Canadian Honors.— The following 

 letter has been duly received by the 

 editor of the Bee Journal : 



T. G. Newman, Esq., Chicago. 



Dear Sir:— At the annual meeting 

 of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, you were, by resolution, made an 

 honorary member of the Association. 

 I enclose your membership ticket. 

 Yours Respectfully, 



R. McKnight, Sec. 



The ticket was accompanied by a 

 very neat and attractive copy of the 

 •' Constitution and By-Laws," with 

 the list of officers for the present year. 

 It is needless to say that we appreciate 

 the compliment. The tasteful ap- 

 pearance of both the Constitution and 

 member's ticket bespeak great credit 

 for the efficient Hon. Sec, R. Mc- 

 Knight, Esq. 



(^"The Texas State Bee- Keepers' 

 Convention will be held at McKinney, 

 Texas, on Tuesday, April 25, 1882. 



H®- The editor of the South and West 

 is being imposed upon by Lizzie E. 

 Cotton, who is endeavoring to work 

 upon bee-keepers, by giving flattering 

 yields of honey with her " new system 

 of bee management," and '"controla- 

 ble hive." After the hundreds of per- 

 sons who have reported that they have 

 sent her money and get no returns, it 

 seems strange that any one should be 

 deceived by her advertisements. She 

 promises to use the South and West to 

 give further reports. If that paper 

 will thus freely give them, after she 

 has been refused advertising space in 

 all the respectable journals of the 

 country, it must be totally in the dark 

 about the matter. We hope, however, 

 that the South and West will not so 

 impose upon its readers, after this 

 warning. We have no interest in any 

 hive, and only point this out to our 

 cotemporary, in justice to it and its 

 patrons. In many localities the pres- 

 ent season has been exceptionally good 

 for honey production, and large yields 

 are reported in almost every kind of 

 hive. Such, therefore, should be credi- 

 ted to the locality or season, or both, 

 and not to any form of hive, and there 

 is no necessity for any one to be de- 

 ceived by such statements, and in- 

 veigled into sending money to irre- 

 sponsible persons for hives or bees. 



The Drouth in Europe.— The excess- 

 ive heat and drouth of the past sum- 

 mer has caused a shortage of one- 

 fourth on the crops in Europe, in- 

 cluding the honey crop. France will 

 have to import over fifty millions of 

 bushels of wheat to supply her home 

 consumption. England, Austria and 

 Germany also report a shortage. Hay 

 is so short in Germany as to cause 

 much anxiety, and Consul Warner 

 writes concerning it as follows to the 

 State department at Washington: 



On information derived from a very 

 good source, it was ascertained that 

 the present prices for hay are double 

 those of last year. It would be un- 

 fortunate for the wretchedly poor la- 

 boring class in Germany if anything 

 like a failure in crops should happen 

 that is now predicted. In my opinion, 

 it would be the cause of greatly in- 

 creasing the tide of emigration to 

 America, the land that has an attrac- 

 tion surprisingly wonderful for the 

 German peasant. Their sole ambition 

 seems to be turned in the direction 

 toward America. Even the old and 

 infirm become comparatively younger 

 whenever America is talked about in 

 their presence, and they are told of 

 the abundance of breadstuffs that is to 

 be had there. 



Old Combs.— We see the following 

 item going the rounds of the agricul- 

 tural papers : 



Old combs can be nicely cleaned by 

 pouring water over them and throw- 

 ing it out with the extractor; pare off 

 the moldy part with a knife. 



Such advice is too antiquated — it 

 might have passed ten years ago, but 

 will not do now. Better to melt up the 

 old combs and give the bees comb 

 foundation. It will pay better than 

 to fuss with any " old comb " remedy, 

 particularity if it is moldy. 



<^" Mr. S. D. Buel's crate for honey, 

 on exhibition at the Chicago Conven- 

 tion last week, is now in our museum. 

 See its description on page 350 of this 

 Journal. 



8S""I would not have missed at- 

 tending the Chicago Convention for 

 §20; the discussions were so very in- 

 structive." So said one who visited 

 our office four days after the Conven- 

 tion closed. Such discussions are very 

 interesting, and in some respects the 

 late Chicago Convention was a model 

 affair. 



O" It will pay to devote a few hours 

 in getting up aclubforthe Bee Jour- 

 nal. Read the list of premiums on 

 another page, and take advantage of 

 the fall gatherings to get up clubs. 



Head before the Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, at Cincinnati, O. 



How the Bee Extends its Tongue. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The figure, from Cook's Manual of 

 the Apiary, gives an accurate idea of 

 the structure and parts of the tongue 

 of the honey bee. A gives the parts 

 as they appear when extended ; B 

 shows the ligula with the tubular 

 sheath (s) fully extended, and G' shows 

 across section of the ligula when the 

 sheath is notextended. In this figure, 



Tongue of the Honey Bee. 



ss represents a colorless membrane, 

 which is usually folded as seen in the 

 figure, but which is put on the stretch, 

 when the sheath is distended as seen 

 in if. Thecentralrod (i) isessentially 

 a tube, as I showed two years since in 

 the American Bee Journal, vol. 15, 

 page 490 ; but it is slitted below, so 

 that by the use of the muscle r. in C, 

 the bee can open this along its whole 

 length. This tube, and also the sheath 

 (s) connects through the tubular men- 

 turn (m In A) with the oesophagus, and 

 so with the stomach. Just at the base 

 of the mentum, as shown by Mr. Jus- 

 tin Spaulding, in American Naturalist, 

 vol. 15, page 113, this tube receives the 

 tube from four large compound race- 

 mose glands, two of which are in the 

 head and the others are in the thorax. 



