596 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



breakfast was uot more than half so 

 digestible ! 



Is it too much to hope that when 

 our Scions have sufficiently protected 

 our crops from adulterated food, they 

 will also protect our stomachs ? 



A Phenomenon.— Wm. C. Casson, of 

 Addison, N. Y., sends au extract from 

 the Addison Adcerliser, giving the fol- 

 lowing account of a curiosity in that 

 city. Mr. Casson says : " What a 

 pressing invitation for the Doctor to 

 commence an apiary"; 



Dr. John Mitchell, of this village 

 has a curiosity on his premises, on 

 Front St. In tlie back part of his lot 

 stands a small apple tree, and in that 

 tree is one of the largest swarms of 

 bees that we ever saw. that have 

 hived themselves in the open air, they 

 have already got comb hanging down 

 from a limb larger than a half bushel 

 nearly lilled with honey, and they are 

 working away filling the comb and 

 prepiiring to enlarge. 



Characteristics of the " Coming 

 Bee."— The following suggestions are 

 by the editor of the Bee-Keepers' 



Guide : 



What shall be the standard physical 

 characteristics of the coming bee y 



That advancement may be made to- 

 ward producing Apis Arnericana, it is 

 important that an impression of its 

 physical characteristics be given, and 

 that this impression or representation 

 of the coming bee should be the effect 

 of causes and conditions that will 

 produce those qualities which are to 

 bring forth the best honey gatherers 

 and hardiest race. Breeders of bees, 

 in the same manner as poultry and 

 stock breeders, should have a standard 

 of excellence and make an effort in 

 the line indicated. While it is true 

 that we select queens that are yellow 

 nearly their entire length for breeding 

 purposes, and charge the highest price 

 for them, we have come to believe 

 from experience that such queens are 

 not always the best. 



For reasons we will presently give 

 we are inclined to favor tlie queen 

 that resembles a fine worker be#. She 

 should have three distinct yellow 

 bands and the remainder of the abdo- 

 men should be proportionately like a 

 worker. Yellow queens are produced 

 during verv warm weather in strong 

 colonies, and we regard the conditions 

 as not being favorable to produce 

 energetic, hardy and long-lived 

 queens. Because of the fact that 

 much heat is necessary to produce the 

 yellow queen we believe the color to 

 indicate weakness. When colonies 

 increase naturally, at the capping of 

 the first queen-cell the bees swarm 

 and leave the old colony quite weak 

 for the following eight days, while the 

 young queens are maturing, and the 

 queens produced in this manner show 

 more black or dark rings than they 

 would, had only the queen been re- 

 moved and all the bees allowed to con- 

 tinue the high temperature while the 



queens were being developed. We 

 find that a large number of queens 

 perish before they become fertile 

 during extremely warm weather, and 

 we believe heat to be the cause. 



Some of the largest and finest yel- 

 low queens are short lived, and es- 

 pecially the very large ones. A cer- 

 tain amount of lieat is required to 

 produce vigorous animals and plants ; 

 a little more heat may promote a more 

 rapid growth, but produce w'>aker 

 animals and vegetation. We believe 

 that extreme heat should be avoided 

 as much as a temperature so cool as to 

 produce dark and inferior queens. We 

 mean that while the queen breeder 

 keeps his breeding colonies strong and 

 comfortable during the early spring, 

 he should be equally careful to keep 

 them cool and comfortable during the 

 heat of summer, by reducing their 

 strength and supplying shade. In 

 other words, we advise a mean tem- 

 perature for breedingcolonies in order 

 to secure queens, that are uniform in 

 color, can resist cold, endure heat, and 

 to insure longevity. 



Xegro Bee-Keepers.— Referring to 

 Mr. E. C. Jordan's query, "Why do 

 negroes not keep bees ?" on page 378 

 of the Bee Journal, the editor of 

 Southern Industries remarks as follows: 



Perhaps as the editor of that valuable 

 joiunal never said or heard of negroes 

 who were successful bee-keepers, we 

 offer to suggest that the negroes in 

 this portion of the South prefer leav- 

 ing the management of these busy, 

 honey-making stingers to their white 

 brethren, they taking only the troul)le 

 of lifting the contents from the hives 

 after nightfall, or during the absence 

 of the industrious apiarists. When 

 bees are not domesticated, and beauti- 

 ful clear honey produced l\y tliem, 

 "Samlio" as ;i pis aWer will" content 

 himself with that made by the hard- 

 working wild bee. It is safe therefore 

 to conclude that the negi'o has a great 

 fondness for honey, fears not the sting 

 of the producer, but simply does not 

 care to deprive the white man of the 

 exclusive privilege of experimenting, 

 raising fine colonies, and wearing the 

 title of " Apiarist." 



Song of Rejoicing.— The Nebraska 

 Fanner, of this month, gives vent to 

 its exultation, over the bountiful har- 

 vests, including honey, obtained in 

 Nebraska during the present season, 

 in the following language : 



As our state is blessed with a 

 bountiful harvest in nearly all the 

 rural products, it is well that we 

 should rejoice, and that each specialist 

 should make known the results in his 

 department. Bees have been no ex- 

 ception to the general rule. The early 

 season was too cold and damp, but as 

 it advanced, it brought flowers ladened 

 with honey, which incited the bees to 

 rapid breeding, and in June swarms 

 began to come out freely, and have 

 continued to ever since ; yet August 

 has been their gala day. Swarm after 



swarm have issued, until tlie increase 

 has been from 300 to 400 per cent, and 

 the flow of honey lias been so great 

 that they quickly fill the hive, and 

 then the boxes with honey, and glad- 

 den the apiarist's heart. Reports 

 from most parts of the state give like 

 results. 



The State Board of Agriculture 

 have given us great inducements to 

 make a display at the coming fair. 

 With the means at hand it is no more 

 than right that we should do our best 

 in appreciation of their efforts in our 

 behalf. Therefore, let everyone turn 

 out who can, and exhibit honey, bees 

 and apiarian supplies. There is noth- 

 ing that will advance our interests 

 better than lively competition. It 

 will incite us to greater effort, and 

 make better bee-keepers of us. It 

 will attract the eye of the consumer, 

 and increase the demand. It will in- 

 duce others to branch out in the busi- 

 ness, and much of the sweetness that 

 is now wasted could be utilized by the 

 bees. 



H. W. Lee's Apiary.— A correspond- 

 ent of a Rockford, 111., paper, gives 

 the following description of a visit to 

 the apiary of II. W. Lee, at Seward, 

 111.: 



His farm is in the township of Rock 

 Run, Irish Grove, and about three 

 and one-half miles north of Peca- 

 tonica. As a liee farm, its location 

 could not be very easily improved, for 

 these industrious honey-gathering in- 

 sects are enabled not only to gather 

 the sweets from clover, buckwheat, 

 etc., but also from wild flowers and 

 basswood blossoms, which abound in 

 those quiet " sylvan shades." Mr. Lee 

 has been an apiarist for twenty years, 

 and has been a diligent student of bee 

 life, in all its \;irying phases, conse- 

 quently he is thoroughly informed on 

 the subject. He had 120 colonies last 

 spring. Init now has 200 colonies, or in 

 the iieighborlu)od of 7,000,000 bees. 

 This apiarian metropolis covers two 

 acres of ground, has six rows of hives, 

 and is laid out as regularly as the city 

 of Philadelphia. 



The present jirospect is that he will 

 have not far from three tons of lioney 

 to put upon the market this fall. The 

 largest yield he ever had in one year 

 was four tons. He lias a machine for 

 extracting honey from the comb, and 

 also another for making fomidation. 

 Besides his bees, Mr. Lee lias also a 

 fine lot of grapes and blackberries. 



(^ We will send Cook's Manual 

 in cloth, or an Apiary Register for 100 

 colonies, and Weekly Bee Journal 

 for one year, for $3.00 ; or with King's 

 Text-Book, in cloth, for $2.7.5 ; or with 

 Bees and Honey, in cloth, $2.50. 



Examine the Date following your 

 name on the wrapper label of this 

 paper; it indicates the end of the 

 month to which you have paid your 

 subscription on the Bee Journal. 



