422 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



teiition was caUed to a few bees, 

 cleaning out a hive ; the next day, 

 about 11 o'clock, a swarm came and 

 took possession of the same hive. He 

 was clearly of the opinion that the 

 bees seen there the day previous were 

 members of the same swarm, and who 

 were in search of a dwelling in which 

 to move, and were cleaning house 

 when first discovered. The same 

 thing was noticed several times with 

 like results. 



In Los Angeles, a man who had a 

 number of empty hives sitting around 

 on his premises had 20 or more of 

 them occupied by runaways, who, re- 

 gardless of the city bee ordinance, 

 took up their abode in the city of the 

 angels, and will undoubtedly contest 

 their right pointedly with the city 

 dads, should they get after them with 

 a writ of ouster. We cannot account 

 for so many, other than apiarists gen- 

 erally are discouraged on account of 

 the unfavorable outlook and neglect 

 their bees, which they should not do. 



Antirrhinums and Bees.— The Rural 

 Canadian says : 



It is stated recently by naturalists 

 that bumble-bees prefer obtaining 

 honey from Antirrhmums, in prefer- 

 ence to any other flowers, in which 

 they have a monopoly over other bees, 

 by a curious provision in the tubes of 

 the corollas. They sit on and cling 

 to the lower lip of the blossom, which 

 bends down by the weight of the bee 

 and makes an opening through which 

 the insect thrusts its head and takes 

 possession of the honey. The honey 

 bee and other insects are not heavy 

 enough to open the entrance. The 

 bumble-bee appears to be aware of 

 this advantage, and flies at once to 

 the Antirrhinums, to the neglect of 

 other flowers which other insects may 

 have previously visited. A writer in 

 the Garden says that the old flowers 

 open more easily than young ones, 

 and that while he had found that a 

 weight of twenty grains was required 

 to open the flowers, only three or 

 four grains would bend the lower lip 

 of some older ones. 



Bee-Keeping in Maine. — The Home 

 Farm remarks as follows : 



Why should we not be a honey-pro- 

 ducing state ? There are thousands 

 of pounds of honey daily going to 

 waste during the honey season for 

 want of bees to gather it ; and we are 

 not producing all the honey possible 

 until we have bees enough to visit 

 every honey plant every day, as the 

 <lay's harvest is lost unless taken in 

 its time. There is no more to-mor- 

 row on account of what is left uncol- 

 lected to-day. The quantity of bees 

 is not the only thing we want, we 

 wiint every bee to exercise its greatest 

 storing capacity. How are we to 

 arrive at this y Not in the box-hive 

 and the bees left almost without care 

 summer and winter, which is the case, 

 I think, with nine-tenths of the bees 

 within a radius of twenty miles of the 

 writer. We want the improvements 

 that pertain to the business. Who 

 would think of going to farming to- 



day with the old wooden plow and 

 other tools of that day — no one. Such 

 things are superseded by other and 

 better implements. So the box hive 

 should be discarded and its place sup- 

 plied by the best movable frame hive. 

 . . . .Now rally, all who are interested 

 in bee-culture and let us see if we 

 cannot drive out this fancy, put-up- 

 stuil called honey, with which the 

 market is glutted and which is a 

 shame and disgrace to the name, and 

 fill its place with good, nice, pure 

 honey not made icith hands. 



Honey and Bee Shows in Wales.— 



Speaking of the late bee and honey 

 show in Cardifl:, Wales, the London 

 Journal of Horticulture says : 



The displays and lectin-es in the bee 

 tent excited considerable interest, 

 and proved a great feature of attrac- 

 tion in the show ground. Bee-keep- 

 ing in Wales is in a most primitive 

 state. With few exceptions the resi- 

 dents are entirely ignorant of modern 

 and improved methods. Great super- 

 stition prevails, and in many cases 

 visitors to the Exhibition left the bee 

 tent with the impression of the expert 

 possessing some supernatural powers 

 over the bees. Great difticulty was 

 experienced in obtaining bees for 

 lecturing purposes, the owners con- 

 sidering it an omen of ill luck to sell 

 them. One lady asserted that an 

 equivalent to the value of the bees 

 must be given in corn, and another 

 could receive nothing save cheese 

 made in Glamorganshire. These 

 difiiculties were, however, overcome 

 by the kindly influence of Mr. A. 

 Pettigrew of the Castle Gardens, Car- 

 diff, himself an advanced bee-keeper, 

 who was most assiduous in his labors 

 to promote the success of the Ex- 

 hibition. The Cardiff local Com- 

 mittee and the British Bee-Keepers' 

 Association are greatly indebted to 

 Mr. Pettigrew for liis kind assistance 

 in promoting the success of this de- 

 partment of the show. Mr. S. J. 

 Baldwin acted as expert. The Rev. 

 H. E. Peel, Mr. T. W. Cowan, and 

 Mr. J. M. Hooker were in attendance 

 during the show to give advice and 

 assistance to the many hundreds of 

 visitors who sought information upon 

 the subject. 



wants. Hence the neglectful, heed- 

 less and indolent are as sure to fail in 

 apiculture as in any other calling. 

 The inducements to bee-keeping are 

 numerous ; it affords a most pleasura- 

 ble and healthful recreation for a per- 

 son whose business or profession is 

 confining. 



Cook's Manual. — Concerning this 

 excellent Manual of the Apiary of 

 which the ninth thousand has just 

 been issued, the Home Farm says : 



Having either read in full or ex- 

 amined very carefully all the Ameri- 

 can bee books that have been pub- 

 lished during the past 25 years, and 

 having the most of them in our 

 library, we can say most unhesitat- 

 ingly that the best book on the sub- 

 ject of practical bee-keeping is that 

 by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan 

 Agricultural College, and known as 

 the "Manual of the Apiary." The 

 work has been revised, enlarged and 

 mostly rewritten to adapt it to the 

 results of the latest scientific investi- 

 gations, and the best practical deduc- 

 tions upon the intricate and fascinat- 

 ing pursuit of bee-keeping. For a 

 single book upon the subject we do 

 not know of one so practical, so help- 

 ful, so plainly written as this. 



Marketing Honey. — The Michigan 

 Fanner gives the following advice on 

 marketing honey : 



The first requisite of success is to 

 have your honey and your package 

 clean and in good order. The label 

 must not be soiled. Take a sample 

 with vou and solicit orders. Let your 

 sample be a fair specimen of what you 

 have. Visit the grocers on the day, 

 and at the hour that they are least 

 likely to be busy, so that they can af- 

 ford to listen to you patiently. Let 

 your price be reasonable, though sufli- 

 cient to cover your expense, and pay 

 for your trouble. 



Practical Suggestions on Bee-Cul- 

 ture.— Under this heading the Chi- 

 cago Herald gives the following : 



There are many people who own a 

 few colonies of "bees and seldom, if 

 ever, realize anything from them, 

 while with a little exertion and study 

 they might be made a source of great 

 pleasure and profit. In the first 

 place, no person should ever expect to 

 be successful with bees who is not 

 willing to give the subject a reasona- 

 ble amount of time and careful study. 

 The most successful bee-keepers are 

 lovers of nature and have a fondness 

 for these little marvels of industry. 

 Those who would be successful with 

 bees must always be ready in the 

 proper season to administer to their 



1^ We have received a handsome 

 little volume entitled " The Inter 

 Ocean Curiosity Shop." It is com- 

 piled from numerous queries and an- 

 swers published in the Inter Ocean 

 during the past year. It touches upon 

 nearly all of the popular subjects of 

 the day. Religious, Scientific, His- 

 torical, etc., and displays deep re- 

 search and an almost boundless acqui- 

 sition of knowledge upon the part of 

 the author, Mr. T. D. McMillan. We 

 consider it a valuable addition to our 

 library, and it should be upon the 

 table of e^ery thinking man in the 

 country. 



A Sample Copy of the Weekly Bee 

 Journal will be sent free to any per- 

 son. Any one intending to get up a 

 club can have sample copies sent to 

 the persons they desire to interview, 

 by sending the names to this oflice. 



