G) (^ OLDEST BEE PAPERT;^ 

 "^'^ '*) AMERICA 



IN J 





L 1^1 



ESTABLISHED c^i 

 IN 1861 X 



DEYOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO PROGRESSIVE BEE CULTURE. 



VoL XVIII. 



Chicago, 111., July 12, 1882. 



No. 28. 



Published every Wednesday by 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN, 



EinTon ANn Pkoprietoh, 



925 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



At 3(3. OO n Tear, In Advance. 





George Neighbour & Sons. London, England, are 



our authorized agents for Europe. 



PoHtnee to Enrope 50 cents extra. 



TOPICS PRESENTED THIS WEEK. 



Editorial — 



Editorial Items 



Department of Apiculture 



Fertile Workers— So Called 



Honey Labels 



Saccharine Secrets 



Tran-ferrine 



Exceptionally Bad Honey Prospects., 



Vennor's Forecast of the "Weatber 



Annals of Fort Mackinac 



Negroes as Bee-Keepera 



Bee-Keeping in Ceylon 



433 

 433 

 434 

 434 

 434 

 434 

 435 

 435 

 435 

 435 

 435 



Among: Our Excliaiiges — 



A Swarm of Bees on a Teleeraph Pole 435 



Do Bees Injure Sound. Healthy Peaches ? 436 



Knowledge of Bee-Culture 436 



"Open Secrets" 436 



Untested Cheap Queens 436 



Bee-Keeping in California in 1873 436 



TheObjectsof Fairs 436 



Correspoiideii ce — 



I*rogrrssl ve Transferring 



How I Intrt'duce Queens 



Drf»nes and Their Functions 



Prolon^'ing ttie Life of the Queeen Bee.. 



How to Fasten Foundation, etc 



The History and Antiquity of the Bee... 



The Barberry Shrub Again 



International Congress at Milan, Italy ... 



ConTeiitioii Sotes — 



Italian Bees as Robbers 



Selections from Our Letter Box — 



A Bee House 



Honey from Red Cloyer 



Deserted the Hive 



Subjects Anticipated 



Doing Better 



A Hard Season 



Doing Excellently 



From a Beginner 



Motherwort 



Prospect Excellent 



Captured while Laying 



Bees are Doing Finely 



Cold Wave 



A New Clover 



Honey Prospects in Ohio 



Not One Pound Vet 



Mercu.i V at .W*^ - 



A Cirious Circumstance 



A Failure 



Not so Bright 



Foundation Making 



Working in the Sections 



Why the Dysentery? 



Immense Beginning 



The Verdict of the Jury 



437 



437 

 437 

 438 

 439 

 439 

 440 

 440 



441 

 441 

 442 

 442 

 442 

 442 

 442 

 442 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 443 

 444 

 444 

 444 

 444 

 444 

 444 

 444 

 444 



Department or Apiculture. 



It is proposed to have a professor of 

 apiculture appointed in England as 

 we learn from the London Journal of 

 Horticulture. Mr. A. Pettigrew made 

 the proposition, and being asked to 

 name a person for the place, says : 



The question of the country being 

 ready for a professor was asked, and 

 also if a man qualified for the work 

 could be found. Those questions 

 were answered as fully as it was 

 thought desirable then. We have 

 made considerable advances during 

 the last two years, and it appears to 

 me now that anew departure or fresh 

 advance should be made as soon as 

 the authorities will sanction it. 

 Would you appoint one or two pro- 

 fessors y Two. One for England, 

 and one for Scotland and Ireland ; 

 both would have plenty to do. Have 

 we any men amongst us ready for the 

 work ? Yes, I think we have two 

 well qualitied ; but I hesitate to point 

 them out by name, though I fancy no 

 harm would be done to anybody by 

 mentioning the names of the two 

 gentlemen who appear to me most 

 qualified as professors of apiculture. 

 Mr. William Raitt, of Blairgowrie, I 

 would nominate for Scotland and Ire- 

 land, and Mr. Frank Cheshire for 

 England. Perhaps they would not 

 accept such appointments if they were 

 made. Both are advanced and 

 enthusiastic bee-keepers, and good 

 lecturers and instructors. 



The American Bee Journal 

 would heartily approve the choice of 

 these gentlemen, knowing their 

 ability to lecture as well as to impart 

 sound instruction on progressive bee- 

 keeping. 



England is making rapid strides in 

 progressive bee-keeping, and this is a 

 step in advance of the United States, 

 though in many things we have set 

 them a wholesome example. We 



have often tliought what a boon it 

 would be to thousands of our people 

 in Illinois, especially those with a 

 professional and literary turn of mind, 

 and the many who are physically in- 

 capacitated from earning an honest 

 and comfortable liveliliood at hard 

 manual labor, if a Profesforship and 

 Department of Apiculture were added 

 to our already efficient and able 

 Illinois Industrial University. It 

 would open up the possibility of an 

 independence to thousands of women 

 who now eke out a miserable exist- 

 ence in the crowded cities, because 

 the avenues of rural industry are com- 

 paratively closed against them. The 

 apicultural Held is broad ; no State in 

 the Union can boast of better natural 

 facilities for honey gathering, and no 

 State is more illy supplied with bees 

 according to its resources than Illi- 

 nois, and yet skilled bee-keepers, or 

 scientific apiarists, can scarcely be 

 employed at any price. Nothing is 

 more needed than an apicultural de- 

 partment under State patronage, and 

 nothing would contribute more to the 

 State revenue in proportion to the 

 outlay. The department could ap- 

 propriately be combined with the 

 Botanical and Horticultural, and if he 

 could be induced to supervise it, no 

 one could be found more competent 

 to occupy the professional chair than 

 Prof. T. J. Burrill, the learned scien- 

 tist. _ 



i^° The Postmaster General recom- 

 mends to Congress the reduction of 

 letter postage to 2 cents ; this will be 

 a good tiling, for many who now use 

 postal cards would send letters, if the 

 postage on them were but 2 cents. 

 Some other changes are. proposed, 

 but none of them may be made. We 

 shall see. 



i^ We have received price lists of 

 bee-keepers' supplies from Ilovs & 

 Morgan, Columbus, Wis., and"J. D. 

 Goodrich, East Hardwick, Vt. 



