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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Watch Them.— Tlie Indiana Farmer 

 gives this advice to beginners : 



Watch ail colonies closely that you 

 have hived 0!i empty frames, and see 

 that thev build the combs straight. 

 Watcli all colonies that have cast a 

 svs'arm, and see that a young queen 

 does not hatch out and lead olf a 

 second swarm. 



Watch all colonies and nuclei con- 

 taining young queens, that they do 

 not become iiueenless by the young 

 queen being lost while on her bridal 

 trip. Watch all qneenless colonies 

 that they do not become infested with 

 fertile workers. Keep a frame of nn- 

 capped brood in the hives that have 

 been queenless any length of time. 

 Watch the sections of comb honey 

 and take them off just as soon as 

 sealed over, to protect their pearly 

 whiteness. Watch all combs packed 

 away, that the worms do not destroy 

 them. If you find any signs of their 

 work fumigate with brimstone. 

 Watch that tlie entrance to the hives 

 does not become clogged with grass 

 and weeds. 



Watch the source of the honey sup- 

 ply in your immediate locality and 

 see where it can be improved by 

 planting. 



Watch your neighboring bee-keeper 

 and see if he has better success than 

 vou. If so, why V 



Watch and remember what you see. 



Watch and you will be sure to im- 

 prove by the care taken. 



Unused Honey Resources.— A late 

 number of the Chesterfield, Eng., 

 Courier, has the following very sensi- 

 ble communication from one of its 

 contributors : 



A few months since in an article on 

 " Agricultural depression " you called 

 the attention of your readers to some 

 of the minor products of the farm, 

 and pointed out tluit one of the best 

 remedies for the present distress was 

 to give attention to sources of profit 

 which have hitherto been much 

 neglected, and not to allow the 

 foreigners to take out of our country 

 for eggs, poultry, fruit, etc., large 

 sums of money that would be better 

 in the pockets of our own people. 



Now without staying to express my 

 own opinion on these matters— which 

 mieht not. perhaps, quite accord with 

 yours— will vou kindly allow me to 

 direct attention to one of these minor 

 industries of the farm and cottage 

 warden which certainly at present is 

 hot very productive, b>\t whicli under 

 better management might prove a 

 source of considerable profit to the 

 small farmer and cottager, as well as 

 a most interesting occupation and 

 amusement to those who liave more 

 leisure, I mean the keeping of bees. 



It will be seen from an advertise- 

 ment in your columns that the British 

 Bee-Keepers' Association is kindly 

 sending an expert to give a lecture in 

 Chesterfield on bees and bee-keeping, 

 and it is arranged that this lecture 

 shall be given in the Stephenson 

 Memorial Hall, en Saturday next, at 

 3 p. m.. under the presidency of W. 

 Gladwyn Turbutt. Esq. 



Those of your readers who will take 

 the trouble to attend— and as tlie lec- 

 ture is entirely free, it is only the 

 the trouble- will, I think, be surprised 

 to find what an extremely interesting 

 pursuit bee-keeping is and how very 

 remunerative it may be made under a 

 proper system of management, at 

 least in ordinary seasons and situa- 

 tions. 



The old wasteful and cruel system 

 of murdering the poor bees to obtain 

 their honey— almost equivalent to 

 slaying a cow when a, jug of milk is 

 wanted— was, it is true, seldom profit- 

 able, as indeed it did not deserve to 

 be, but the modern method, which 

 Mr. Blow will explain and illustrate 

 on Saturday, will show all who care 

 to learn how these industrious little 

 creatures may be mijde to afford 

 great pleasure and profit to all who 

 treat them properly. 



To show the importance of the mat- 

 ter I may say— and all who really 

 understand the matter will bear me 

 out in asserting that during last sum- 

 mer tons, literally, of honey was 

 wasted in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of Chesterfield for want of 

 laborers to gather it in— those who 

 should have been working in this 

 harvest for us having been b\irnt in 

 the sulphur pit in the previous 

 autumn, or wor.se still, left to perish 

 of hunger and cold for want of due 

 care and attention. 



We hope, however, that the spread 

 of -information on the subject and the 

 consequent establishment of better 

 systems may soon place us in a better 

 position, so that when another such 

 season occurs, we may be able to 

 gather in a large share of the rich 

 gifts a bountiful Providence supplies, 

 and that this country may not be de- 

 pendent on other lands for the supply 

 of what we carelessly and ignorautly 

 allow to run to waste at home. 



A Mule's Amusement with Bees.— A 



California exchange gives the fol- 

 lowing : 



I was visiting a gentleman who 

 lived in the vicinity of Los Angeles. 

 The morning was beautiful. The 

 splash of little cascades about the 

 grounds, the buzz of bees, and the 

 gentle moving of the foliage of the 

 pepper trees in the scarcely percepti- 

 ble ocean breeze, made up a picture 

 which I thought was complete. A 

 mule wandered on the scene. The 

 scene, I thought, could have got along 

 without him. He took a different 

 view. 



The mule had wandered up close to 

 a large bee hive, and got stung. His 

 eyes lighted up, as if that was just 

 what he was looking for. He turned 

 on the bee hive and took aim, and 

 fired. The bees swarmed. 



They lit on that mule earnestly. 

 After "he had kicked the last bit of 

 bee hive so high that he could not 

 reach it any more, he stopped for an 

 instant. He seemed trying to ascer- 

 tain whether the 10,000 bees which 

 were stinging him meant it. They 

 did. 



The mule turned loose. I never 

 saw anything tii equal it. He was en- 

 veloped in a dense fog of earnestness 

 and bees, and filled with enthusiasm 

 and stings. 



I had no idea how many bees a hive 

 would hold until I saw that bee hive 

 emptied on that mule. They covered 

 him so completely that I could not see 

 any of him but the glare of the eyes. 

 I could see from the expression of his 

 eyes that he didn't like the way things 

 were going. 



Not only was every bee of the dis- 

 turbed hive on duty, but I think the 

 news had been conveyed to tlie neigh- 

 boring hives that war had been de- 

 clared. I could see bees flitting to 

 and fro. The mule was covered so 

 deep with bees that he looked like an 

 exaggerated mule. The hum of the 

 bees and their moving on each other 

 combined in a seething liiss. Numbers 

 were telling on him. He looked dis- 

 tressed. He had always been used to 

 kicking against something, but found 

 now that he was striking against the 

 air. It was verv exhausting. 



He finally got so he did not rise 

 clear of the ground, but continued to 



The intervals grew longer and 

 longer, until he finally was still. The 

 bees stung on. He looked as if he 

 thought that a mean, sneaking ad- 

 vantage had been taken of him. 



I retired from the scene. Early 

 next morning I returned. The sun 

 came slowly up from behind the East- 

 ern hills. The light foliage of the 

 pepper trees trembled with his caress. 

 His golden kiss fell uiion the opening 

 roses. Bees could lie seen flying 

 hither and thither. The mule lay 

 near the scene of yesterday's strug- 

 gle. Peace had come to him. He 

 was dead. Too much kicking against 

 nothing. 



Bees siud Houey at Fairs.— The 



American Agriculturist for July con- 

 tains the following : 



At the last National Convention, 

 which was one of the most pleasant 

 and profitable bee-meetings ever held 

 in America, it was resolved to make 

 an effort to have many fine exhibi- 

 tions at the State and district fairs of 

 18S2 In England and other parts of 

 Europe, these exhibitions are con- 

 ducted on a grand scale, and excite 

 much interest. They are thought to 

 be o-reat educators, and to stimulate 

 the honey market to a large <.I|gree. 

 It is important to secure the offering 

 of generous premiums. The btate 

 and Central Societies of Michigan 

 have already secured favorable action 

 by two of the largest Agricultural 

 Societies of that State. Let all other 

 societies do the same. It is probable 

 that in no other way can the interests 

 of bee-keepers be so rapidly advanced. 



