394 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



he observed that the honey produced from 

 buckwheat grown at the summit of a chest- 

 nut ridge, was very much superior to that 

 from buckwheat grown in a river bottom 

 some two miles away ; the difference of fla- 

 vor was so marked that the chestnut-ridge 

 honey had the advantage over the other 

 both in price and ready sale, though both 

 articles were strictly pure buckwheat honey. 

 If more care was bestowed on selection 

 of bee-pasturage, Mr. W. thinks that better 

 prices could be obtained and maintained 

 for Southern California honey. A differ- 

 ence of one cent a pound on the crop would 

 make a very desirable addition to the bee- 

 keeper's bank account, and with care and 

 attention on the part of the apiarist it can 

 be done. 



W^iiiter lyonsmiinption of Honey. 



— Bro. Hutchinson once said in the Review, 

 that the " Consumption of honey by bees 

 when in their winter quarters, the amount 

 and proportion according to the season, 

 may be determined by keeping colonies on 

 the scales while in the cellar. Last fall, 

 Nov. 20th, I put my bees into the cellar, and 

 set 3 colonies, in 8-frame Langstroth hives, 

 on a pair of scales. The gross weight was 

 153 pounds. They were weighed frequently, 

 and there was an average loss of two 

 pounds per colony, each month, but I could 

 not detect that there was any difference 

 between one month and another in regard 

 to the amount consumed. They were 

 placed on the summer stands April 5th, 

 having lost, on an average, nine pounds 

 per colony during their 43:2 months' confine- 

 ment." 



Full of tlie Fi*c.«>liewt 'Flioiiglitiii. 



— Here is what the Wlsconsiu. Farmer says of 

 this paper: "The Amekican Bee Journal 

 is the senior bee-journal in the United 

 States. It has been from the start ably 

 conducted, and continues in the lead of 

 bee-journalism. Every bee-keeper of pro- 

 gressive tendencies should be a subscriber. 

 It is a weekly magazine, and is always full 

 of the freshest thoughts on bee-niattei"s." 



IBoiiey us Foo<l aiKl ill4'<li4'iiie is 



just the tiling so help sell lioney. as it shows 

 the various ways in which honey may be 

 used as a food and as a medicine. Try 100 

 copies of it, and see wliat good •sales- 

 men " they are. See the third page of this 

 number of the Bee Jouknai. for description 

 and prices. 



Gipsies of the Air — A Bee-Song. 



Writien for the Country Gentleman. 



BT CHAS. n. CRANDALL. 



We are the gipsies of the air ; 



In brown and golden Sheen 

 We scour the fields for treasure rare 



To lay before our queen. 



We draw our swords in her defense. 



If any foe be nigli, 

 And count it sweetest recompense 



In her behalf to die. 



Of all the music of the air 



Our gipsy ezarda^ wild 

 Is free and glad beyond compare, 



Like to a romping child. 



When summer tempts our monarch out, 



To roam earth's gardens o'er. 

 We all attend with merry rout, 



And couriers fly before. 



Through the blue vault we, singing, speed, 



Carousing, whirling by, 

 While rustics turn their heads to heed 



The revelers of the sky. 



Later, by dint of busy wings. 



We dare the wintry days, 

 And loud the tidy housewife sings 



The honey-gath'rers' praise. 



For we are gipsies of the air; 



In brown and golden sheen 

 We scour the fields for treasure rare, 



And throng about our queen. 



Anotlier r¥c>v Xliiiig' in Hives. — 



Mr. O. N. Baldwin, of Kansas, has invented 

 what he claims to be a new improvement 

 in bea-hives, which, it is said, is destined to 

 revolutionize bee-culture in the near future. 

 He claims to have an invention by the use 

 of which swarming is impossible, and while 

 the entire increase of a colony is kept con- 

 centrated in one body, the whole force of 

 field workers are compelled to carry the 

 honey into the surplus department. Those 

 two great objects in apiculture have puz- 

 zled the minds of the leading apiarists of 

 the world. 



Mr. Baldwin had his invention before the 

 U. S. patent-office last spring, and as soon 

 as the patent was allowed, he expected to 

 proceed to take out patents in all the coun- 

 tries of the world where bees are kept. He 

 thinks hy the use of his new invention, five 

 times the amount of honey will be obtained 

 and as sujjply and demand govern the price 

 of all commodities, it will cheapen honey to 

 such an extent that it will become a staj)le 

 instead of a luxury as it now is. 



