THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



243 



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THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



MIXIL April 21, 1886, No.16. 



Could I 'Write, with ink unfading, 

 One brief code for youths and men ; 



Could I show its all-pervading 

 Power in progress, I would pen— 

 Try it. 



Thus it was, will be forever ; 

 If " to be " man has in view. 

 Men must live with firm endeavor 

 Well to think, then plan, then do ;— 

 Try it. 



—The Current. 



Frank Cliesliire's Neiv Book will cost 

 Jn.OO for the 2 Volumes. They are beauti- 

 fully bound. Vol. I is now ready, and we are 

 filling orders at $2.,'j0 per Volume. The 

 duty and expressage is so high that they 

 cannot be sold for less. Our offer to take 

 orders at a less price is now recalled. 



Another Ne^v Bee-Paper is on our 



desk. It is called " The Bee-Hive," and is to 

 be published bi-monthly by E. H. Cook, 

 Andover, Conn. It contains 8 pages, and 6 

 numbers will make a yearly volume, and the 

 price' is 20 cents. It is nicely printed and 

 well edited. 



A Doivn\Tard Tendency in the prices 

 of bee-keepers' supplies is quite apparent in 

 our advertising columns. The bee-keepers 

 who read the American Bee Journal will 

 always be sure to learn where to buy and 

 what the market prices are. It pays to keep 

 posted. 



" All ! There !" Were you just writing 

 something to send to the Americ.-vn Bee 

 Journal, for publication ? If it was on 

 "hibernation" or "reversible hives"— please 

 put it into the fli-e, or send it to some other 

 paper 1 We shall publish those communica- 

 tions now on hand, as soon as convenient, 

 but cannot accept any more, unless it be 

 simple explanations called for by previous 

 articles published. Give the "hibernation 

 theory " and " reversible hives " a rest for a 

 year or two, and write about something 

 else I 



Those Who Claim that Bees Injure 

 Fruit, should carefully read the article on 

 page 24.5, being a Report of E.i:periment8 by 

 Mr. N. W. McLain, at the United States 

 Apicultural Station, at Aurora, Ills., made 

 at the Department at Washington, and pub- 

 lished in the Official Reports of the United 

 States Entomologist. These experiments 

 show most conclusively that the bees never 

 injure sound grapes, even when on the verge 

 of starvation. Many similar experiments 

 we have heretofore published, but this adds 

 another proof by carefully conducted and 

 thoroughly guarded experiments under the 

 fostering care of the United States Govern- 

 ment. To California grape and raisin 

 growers, who are now prosecuting a bee- 

 keeper there for injury said to be done to 

 their grapes, should make a note of this and 

 stop their jealous and foolish persecutions 

 of bee-keepers. 



The Academy of Natural Sciences, of 

 Davenport, Iowa, has our thanks for a 

 pamphlet on "Elephant Pipes," by the late 

 president of that institution. 



New Subscribers are being enrolled on 

 our books very lively during the present 

 year. In addition to all the renewals of old 

 subscribers, the new ones will average 

 hundreds every week since January. "Wide- 

 awake" supply dealers are not slow to dis- 

 cern this, aud are crowding the advertising 

 columns of the American Bee Journal 

 with their announcements. Where the 

 carcass is, there will the eagles congregate," 

 is a trite but truthful remark. 



Slmnilns' Non-Siraruilug System is 



the title of a new English bee-book. It 

 contains 64 pages : is well printed and 

 illustrated. The author claims that it will 

 inaugurate a " new era in modern bee- 

 keeping," and states that " it is based upon 

 purely natural principles, and is the only 

 system that can ever be relied upon, 

 because no other condition exists in the 

 economy of the hive that can be applied to 

 bring about the desired result — a total 

 absence of any desire to swarm." Published 

 by S. Simmins, Rottingdean, Brighton, 

 England. 



The Illustrated Graphic News of 



Cin<-innati, O., of April 17, is a marvellous 

 exhibition of enterprise, containing 11 pages 

 of original illustrations, including scenes 

 from the riot in St. Louis ; and the floods in 

 the South. The Oraphic News contains 

 altogether 24 pages, including a double 

 supplement and cover. Bill Nye and Nym 

 Crinkle begin their contributions this week. 



" Socialistic Movements in England and 

 the United States," which opens the May 

 number of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, 

 is a most timely and well written article. It 

 reviews all the ideal schemes put forward to 

 bring about a state where all shall have 

 equal enjoyment with the least possible 

 labor, where there shall be no wealth, no 

 crime. The stories by Florence Marryat, 

 Charles L. Hlldreth, W. H. Waitt, EUinor 

 Brooke and others, are all capital, and the 

 other articles are full of interest. 



The Prospect is Good, says Mr. C. H. 

 Dibbern, in tiie Plowman. He gives this 

 very sensible advice : 



The prospects for the coming season are 

 very good. It is true that the prices of 

 honey are very low; but what is not low? 

 The prospects of a good honey crop are now 

 very encouraging. The ground has been 

 well covered with snow, thus ensuring an 

 abundant bloom of white clover, which is 

 our best honey-plant ; without it, I have 

 never known a good year for honey. After 

 all, everything depends on the abundance of 

 honey-produclug plants, and seasonable 

 weather. 



No matter how many hives of bees we may 

 have, or whattheir coudidon.if the blossoms 

 fail or do not secrete honey, the bees can get 

 nothing, and the failure should be laid to 

 the plants and weather rather than the bees. 

 Honey is gathered, and not made, by the 

 bees. 



All material needed should be ordered 

 now. Hives and sections should be made 

 up, and everything possible be done before 

 the busy times come. Plan now just what 

 to do, and how to do it. In the " bee-busi- 

 ness " more than anywhere else, we must 

 drive the business, or it will drive us. 



For Spring Feeding, Mrs. Harrison, in 

 the Prairie Farmer, suggests the following : 



The late cold storms, no doubt, caused 

 the death of many a colony by starvation, 

 and a vigilant eye must be kept on all 

 remaining, lest they follow suit. In some 

 winters bees consume much more honey 

 than in others, so it is difBcult to tell 

 just how much Is needed. I intended to feed 

 those with insullicient stores last fall, 

 enough to last until the return of nectar, 

 but fearing that some might be lacking 

 during the past inclement weather, I laid 

 pieces of comb honey over the cluster upon * 

 the frames. Honey is the natural food for 

 bees, and should be given them whenever 

 obtainable, but when this is not to be had, 

 a substitute is to be sought. Cakes of maple 

 sugar put over the cluster will prevent 

 starvation, and a syrup made of sugar the 

 consistency of thin honey, such as the bees 

 bring from the fields, should be supplied 

 them, in vessels filled with straw cut up fine 

 to prevent drowning. If the syrup is too 

 thick, the bees will get sticky, and be unable 

 to reach the cluster until their comrades 

 clean it off. When bees are able to fly, food 

 of inferior quality will not injure them, 

 which would prove fatal, when they are 

 closely confined to the hive. 



A $5 BUI paid a debt of one hundred 

 dollars in this way : A owed B $25 ; B owed 

 C $25 ; C owed D $25 ; and D owed A $23. 

 They met and paid each other in full with a 

 $5 bill, which A took from his pocket and 

 handed to B ; B to C ; C to D ; and D to A. 

 That left each one in debt but §20. They 

 repeated 4 times more and A pocketed the 

 bill ; their debts of just SlOO having all been 

 paid with it. This illustrates how a small 

 amount of money kept in constant circula- 

 tion may cancel thousands of obligations. 

 Do not therefore " hoard up " any money. 

 As soon as you have it on hand pay a debt 

 with it, and thus help others to pay their 

 debts. This is good, honest and square 

 advice to everybody. 



The 11th Annual Meeting of the Asso- 

 ciation of Nurserymen, Florists and Seeds- 

 men will be held in the Department of 

 Agriculture Buildings, Washington, D. C, 

 commencing Wednesday, June 16, 1886, and 

 continuing three days. The Association is 

 the largest body of Horticulturists in the 

 country. An outline programme, hotel and 

 railroad arrangements and other informa- 

 tion may be obtained by addressing the 

 Secretary, D. Wilmot Scott, Galena, Ills. 



