$-\ Q "VtiQio (To Bubecriberg in 

 1 d I Cdl ^ the comity. 



/irBclianics Sooieij j;in77 



SINGLE COPIES 10 CENTS. ro,ub«riu.r,outof t <t-| or 



Prof. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTEH, MAMCH 15, 1876. 



PEAE30L ic CEIST, Fublishers. 



■THE LITTLE BUSY BEE.' 



Organization of a Bee-keepers' Society- A 

 New Interest to Be Protected and Cultiva- 

 ted. — Interesting Discussion, &c. 



The first imctiiii; dI' tlie Luik-ukUt t'ouiily Bce- 

 Kecpcre' Soi'ifty wat lu'kl in this city on Moiuluy, 

 March IMth. AiKirfraiiizalion \va.>i ctlcctoii liy olcctiiij; 

 Peter S. Kcist, of .Manhcini, Trcsiiieiit ; J. F. Ilcrehcy , 

 of -Mount .Joy, Vice-President; and A- B. Horr, of 

 West IK'inpticld, Secretary. 



Tlic following members were jircscnt : II. B. Niss- 

 ley, D. II. Lintiier, .Jolin Ihiber, Elias Hershey, John 

 KeppcrlinT, A. H. Shock, .J. F. Plcrshoy, Peter S. 

 Reist, S. U. (iarber, .Tod Fisher, A. B. Ilerr, and 

 Leonard Flickenslcin. The above f^entlemen repre- 

 sented l,:iUO hives. 



The first subject discussed was, " Will Bee-keeping 

 pay?" 



J. F. Heuriiet thoiiirht it did. He realized 100 

 per cent . out of the money he had invested in bees. 

 During the past few years lie had sold over ?(!00 

 worth of honey and queen bees. 



Peteu S. Keist believed that if hee-keepiuij^ was 

 understood thorouj^ldy it would pay better than most 

 any otlicr kind of business. If only 50 per cent, on 

 the amount invested would be made, it would be 

 paying well . 



Messrs. S. (i. Gakbeh, Em.vs Heushey and 

 Leoxaiu) Fmckensteijj also spoke in favor of bee 

 raising, and said they were well paid for the interest 

 taken in the matter. 



" Which is the best, the Italian or the Black bee?" 

 was the next question. 



Eli.vs Hekshev favored the Italian Beeon aecotmt 

 of its swarming and honey-making qualities. 



.1. F. Hersiiev preferred the Italian Bee on account 

 of its protecting the hives from moth. Crossed bees 

 were the best for making honey. 



Leonard Fi.ickexstkin had a colony of black 

 bees that made more honey than the Italian, but he 

 preferred the latter on account of their many other 

 good qualities. 



The next question was, " Do Bees Injure Fruit ?" 



J. F. IlEiisnEY said the bees are blamed for iiyur- 

 ing grapes. They never touch a grape unless it is 

 already partly destroyed by a wasp or other insect. 

 He had as high as fifty swarms in his orchard at a 

 time and never noticed any diminution or destruction 

 of his apples. His clover crop was benefited very 

 much by the presence of the bees. 



D. H. Lintner had often heard of bees destroying 

 grai>e8, but after a series of experiments he found that 

 it was not so. 



Peter S. Keist was of the opinion that bees were 

 a great lienefit to flowers, as they carried the pollen 

 of one flower to that of the other. The bee brcadJ 

 which they carry with them is also beneficial to the 

 flowers. 



"How long can a brood remain exposed without 



CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 



EDITORIAL ARTICLES: r'A<:E. 



To our t'oiitribntors, - - - - - Xi 

 Artichokes, ------ ;w 



Queries and .\nswers, - - • . - .'J4 



The Century Weather lieport, - . - :t4 



The Potato Enemii'S, S4 



A fiood Investment, ----- .".5 



Ancient (iarilcning, - . - - _ ;;,'-, 



To ICcej. Apiilcs Desirable, - - . :j9 



Linseed Oil lor fii-alc liiKccIs, - - - 41 

 ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS: 



Light Brahmas. Illustrated, - - H.") 

 W A'loiBiKice. 



The Potato Enemies, - - . . ;ic, 

 Up;itl beioretbf \\\-Hi (.irove Experimeutiil Furiii 

 Club l.y Dr. MiclieiRT. 



Bay Windows for Winter Flowers. 



Eden, - :i7 



Humming Birds, (Concluded), - - :i7 



Fiiiiik 11. Difrendciffer. 



Apples and their Varieties, - - 38 



Levi .S. Ileise 



Home that is Home, - - - - :i9 



Millou B. Eslileiuau. 



DifTerent Modes of Pruning, - - ,39 



Hertieela. 



The Dairy. No. 2. II. M. Engine, - 40 



Selection of Seed Corn, - 40 



-Jiieob IJ, (Tiirber. 



Potato Culture. I). K.Hekk, - - - 40 



The Neglected Hollyhock. .J.Stauffer, 41 



" \/Vhat Kind of Oil ?" A.B. K., - - 41 



Transplanting Trees, - - - 41 



How to Raise Oats Cheaply, - - - 41 



Rural Improvements. Walter Elder, 42 



Our Paris Letter, 43 



Failure of tlie BePt Crop in France — Practical 

 Lectures on F.irm Auimuls — Fertillzere and 

 Cultivation — Tbe Horses of HuuKary — HofllJ- 

 tals for Horses, Cattle and I*iKs~.MiscelliiiiBOU8. 



Lancaster County Farmers in Council, - 42 



Proceedings of the Agricultural and Horticultural 

 Society — Diecussion on Forest TreeB, llaiufall, 

 Huugariau Grass— An Essay on Hints to Far- 

 mers. (C. L. Hunsei'ker.) 



The Experimental Farm Club, - - - 44 



Profits of liaising (.'orn in CheslerCouiity — Dairy 

 House Ventilation — Bee-Keeping for Farmers — 

 Questions and .Vnswers. 



Domestic Economy, - - - - - 445 



A Iteturn to Kconomy— Farmers Sons and Paiigh- 

 fers inUBt Work — How Butter ia Tainted — 

 Di^ed Potatoes — Slovenly Women — Milk Traus- 

 inA Infecti(ui — How to use Corn Slarcli — 

 Household Recipes. 



GENERAL MISCELLANY, - - - 47 



The Agricultural Horse — .applying Manures — 

 I Small Fruit on the Farm — i*oints of a .Jersey — 



I The Ree-Ke?j>ing Industr.\ — A Large Poultry 



Yard — How to get Kggs In Winter — .Small Pota- 

 toes for Seed — Care of Lambs — Correctives in 

 Feeding Poultry — A Profitable Experiment. 



The Slaughter of the Birds, - - - - .f.5 



Borrowed Plumes, ----- 4,5 



LITERARY AND PERSONAL, - - 4S 



Hooks and PeriodieaU. 



Our Fence Corners, ----- ii, iii 

 Fact and Fancy, Wit and Humor. 



being covered by the bees and still be used for queen 

 raising?" was the next question Introduced. 



Lkonaku Fi.ickenptein had a pieeeof comb lying 

 expfised to a damp, chilly air for twenty-four hours, 

 from which he raiseil a prolific queen. He did not 

 know whether the comb eontalned any ecgs or not. 



J. F. Hkrshey knew of combs with e^'g belni; 

 shipped by mail ami kept for five days, from which 

 young queens were hatched.. If a brood is over five 

 <lays old a queen cannot be raised. Some have Imm^d 

 raise<l, but they are not iH-rfeet. 



The question, " What is the reason that a qucenV 

 stiniriscurvedanda worker bee's sting is straight, and 

 yet hatched from the same kind of an egg?" was be- 

 lieved to have been made so by nature, In order to at- 

 tack its rivals. 

 " Why is a Fertile Worker Produced and How f" 

 D. H.LiNTNt.K believed it was [iroduced to take 

 the place of a queen. It lays eggs the same as a queen, 

 sometimes as high as three to a cell, but they are i>er- 

 fectly worthless. They would not hatch, and If aqueen 

 would be placed in Ihe saiiu> hive with them they 

 woidd kill it. The only way to save the queens, in 

 this respect, is to banish Ihe fertile workers or trans- 

 fer them 10 another hive. He could not t«ll how a 

 fertile worker was produced. 



J. F. Hershkv said the fertile workerg prtwluced 

 nothing hut drones. 



The last question brought before the Society wag, 

 " Which is the Belter Plan, Natural or Artificial 

 Swarming?" 



J. F. Hekshev preferred the artificial way. When 

 a natural hive swarms it generally takes seventeen 

 days before the hive is got in gmwl workinir condition. 

 In the artificial way, a queen can be placed In the 

 hive at once and thus save all this time. You can 

 swarm three times by the artificial way where you 

 can swarm twice in the natural way. When swarm- 

 ing in the artificial way, the lices should have as 

 much honey in the hive as when they go Into 

 winter quarters. 



Peter S. Keist was of the opinion that natural 

 swarming was the best if you had a prolific queen In 

 Ihe proper place. Arlifieial swarming sliouhl be 

 thoroughly understood before it isaltempted. Thous- 

 ands of Im'CS are killed annually by this neglect. If 

 it were not for arlifieial swarming he would not have 

 near so many bees as he has now. 



LEONARn Fi.irKENSTEfN and .Iacoo Keperlfno 

 also favored artificial swarming, and cited several 

 cxi>eriments whic-h they had undertaken. They both 

 believed thai a week or ten days were gained by arti- 

 ficial swarming. 



Tlie chair ap|)oinled .1. F. Hershey, A. B. Herrand 

 l,eonanl Flickenstein as a cominlltee to prepare prac- 

 tical questions for discussion for the next meeting, 

 which will beheld at Kaiilfinan's Black Horse Hotel, 

 this city, on the second Monilay in May. 



A general invitation is extended to all persons inter- 

 ested in bee culture to be present at tbe next meeting. 



