Aug. 10, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



505 



bird open, he found no trace of a bee in any part. Then at 

 two, when drones were plenty, he tried it again. After 

 seeing a kingbird capture ten or more bees, he shot it and 

 found in the first stomach one drone and nothing else, and 

 in the second stomach fragments of insects, but nothing 

 could be classified. Mr. Wright says, "You may shoot 

 kingbirds all day, and the chances are ' 16 to 1 ' that you 

 won't find a worker, and rarely a drone, in the stomachs of 

 the entire lot." 



The seeming mystery of so many bees being caught, 

 and so few found on dissection, is thus explained : 



•'This bird seizes a worker, which he much prefers to a 

 drone, by the abdomen, giving the bee a few smart rap* 

 against the perch. He then passes the body of the bee its 

 entire length transversely between his upper and lower 

 mandibles, by a peculiar motion of the latter. This is 

 continued until the juices are thoroly extracted, when he 

 opens his mouth and drops the useless carcass to the 

 ground. No wonder, then, that we failed to find workers 

 in the stomach. But how about the drones ? Well, when 

 a drone is seized he is swallowed at once ; and when several 

 have been taken into the first stomach the bird sits quietly 

 on the perch for half an hour, sometimes longer, when by 

 a few motions of the neck, 'the casting is brought up. This 

 is about the size and shape of an ordinary pea, and consists 

 of the hard, indigestible portions of insects." 



The Illinois State Fair will be held at Springfield this 

 j'ear, Sept. 25 to 30. The list of cash premiums offered on 

 bees, honey, etc., are as follows, being "open to the world " 



for competition : 1st. 2nd. 3rd. 



Prm.Prm.Prni. 



Display of comb honey $20 $15 S5 



Collection of labeled cases containing 12 or 

 more pounds of white honey from different 



flowers 8 5 3 



Collection of labeled cases containing 12 or 

 more pounds of amber or dark honey from 



different flowers 8 5 3 



Case white clovercomb honey,12 to 24 pounds 4 3 2 



Case basswood comb honey, 12 to 24 pounds. 4 3 2 



Case amber comb honey, 12 to 24 pounds 4 3 2 



Display extracted honey 20 15 10 



Display of honey extracted on the grounds. .532 



Frame of comb honey for extracting 5 3 2 



Display of candied honey 20 15 10 



Display of beeswax 12 8 4 



One-frame observatory hive dark Italian bees 4 3 2 

 One-frame observatory hive golden Italian 



bees 4 3 2 



One-frame observatory hive Carniolan bees. 4 3 2 

 Honey-vinegar, W gallon, with recipe for 



making 4 3 1 



The judges in this lot will be governed by the code of 

 rules adopted by the Illinois State Bee-Keepers" Association. 



Five hundred pounds will receive full score for quantity 

 in displays of comb and extracted honey. Fifty pounds 

 will receive full score for quantity in display of beeswax. 



There is a total sum of $268 offered in the above list, 

 which should call out a good displa}' from the bee-keepers 

 of Illinois. The State Fair authorities have for several 

 years allotted a splendid space for the apiarian exhibit, and 

 have been generous in their cash premium offers. Mr. H. 

 J. Cater, the superintendent of the apiary department, has 

 also done his best for the interests of bee-keepers ever since 

 he has had charge of the work. The honey-producers of 

 the State should encourage him to do even better by mak- 

 ing this year the largest and finest exhibit ever shown. 



" Stands " for " Colonies." — In one of the bee-papers 

 for June we find a question askt in regard to "preventing 

 increase in the number of stands." This would have been 

 easily answered by advising the purchase or manufacture 

 of a less number. A " stand " now means the wooden 

 frame or foundation upon which the hive proper rests, tho 

 the querist evidently used it to mean " colonies." It is a 

 good thing sometimes for editors to help their correspon- 

 dents to get things straight. 



The Pennsylvania Lines is perhaps 

 the greatest railroad system on this con- 

 tinent. It is also the direct route from 

 Chicago to Philadelphia — where the Uni- 

 ted States Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold its 30th annual convention next 

 month, Sept. 5, 6 and 7. Less than a 

 month yet, and then there should be as- 

 sembled the largest convention of bee- 

 keepers ever held on this continent. 



On the Pennsylvania Lines the round-trip fare from 

 Chicago will be only $16.45, being one cent a mile each way, 

 as it is just 822 miles from Chicago to Philadelphia. The 

 reason of this low rate is the 33rd national encampment of 

 the Grand Army of the Republic, which meets at Philadel- 

 phia Sept. 4 to 9. Tickets will be on sale Sept. 1, 2, 3 and 

 4, inclusive. 



The editor of the American Bee Journal and Dr. C. C. 

 Miller expect to go on the Pennsylvania Lines, leaving 

 Chicago at 3 p.m., Monday, Sept. 4, arriving in Philadel- 

 phia the next day about 6 p.m. Now, why cannot a large 

 company of bee-keepers from the West arrange to go on 

 that same train ? We will see to it that splendid accommo- 

 dations are secured for all who will notify us in time that 

 they will go over the Pennsylvania Lines from Chicago. 



Next week we will have more to say in regard to the 

 trip to Philadelphia. In the meantime, if further informa- 

 tion is desired, write to Mr. H. R. Dering. the affable As- 

 sistant General Passenger Agent of the Pennsylvania 

 Lines, addressing him at Chicago, 111. 



Talking Bees to School Children.— On page 360 we 

 mentioned having given a bee-talk to the children in the 

 eighth grade of the McPherson school, who were under the 

 careful instruction of Mrs. Lane. Referring to this rather 

 " new thing," Stenog in Gleanings in Bee-Culture oft'ered 

 this encouraging remark : 



The following is dipt from the Chicagoan of May 27 : 



" A rare treat was given to the eighth-grade pupils of 

 the McPherson school last Thursday, when Mr. George W. 

 York, editor of the American Bee Journal, gave them an 

 illustrated lecture on bees. The pupils were delighted, and 

 the way Mr. York described the simple animal was truly 

 wonderful." 



Mr. York says his reason for copying the item was to 

 suggest that bee-keepers in other cities will find the school 

 children greativ interested in a talk on bees if given a 

 chance. He had a Langstroth frame of bees in a glass hive, 

 and gave therefrom a practical illustration of the work of 

 bees in the hive. That is a grand idea, and ought to be 

 carried out wherever possible. Mr. York deserves the 

 thanks of all for taking the initiative step. The children 

 were to take notes and print them in their little school- 

 paper. " A chiel's amang ye, takin' notes ; an', faith, he'll 

 prent it." 



Well, the result of the" takin" notes" is the following, 

 written by Miss Anna Sundberg— a pupil 15 years of age— 

 who also drew the pictures that are shown, all of which 

 appeared in the school's June paper, called " The McPher- 

 son :" 



BEES. 



Thursday afternoon Mr. York was in our room and told 

 us a great many interesting things about bees. 



There are three kinds of bees, the queen, the workers 

 and the drones. The queen is long and narrow. She lays 

 all the eggs in the hive, but never gathers honey nor goes 

 where the surplus is stored. Her food consists of a finer 

 quality of honev, called royal jelly. 



The worker is like the queen in every way except two. 

 The first is that the lower part of its body is shorter, and 

 the second is. that its work is different. It gathers the 

 honey and pollen, which it stores away in the cells. 



The drone is larger and broader than the worker. It 

 does nothing but eat and sleep. 



The pollen is stored in the lower part of the hive, and 



