THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



247 



May and June — Barberry, grape 

 vine, tulip tree, sumac, bucli thorn, 

 of tlie South, and blaclc mangrove, 

 of Florida. 



June— Magnolias,of the South, honey 

 locust, wild plum, black raspberry, 

 locusts, and red raspberry. 



June and July — Blacljberry, and 

 sourwood, of the South. 



July— Button bush, basswood, and 

 Virginia creeper. 



June and July— Cabbage palmetto, 

 of the South. 



July— Blue gum, of California, and 

 catalpa. 



July and August— Pepper tree, of 

 California. 



July to September — St. John's 

 worts. 



August — Late sumac. 



August and September— Indian cur- 

 rant or coral berry. 



August to Frost- Red gum, of Cali- 

 fornia. 



August to December— Japan plum, 

 of the South. 



August to January — Germander or 

 wood sage. 



The. Season in England.— Mr. A. 



Pettigrew gives the following very 

 doleful account, in the Journal of Hor- 

 ticulture, of the condition of bees in 

 England, on account of the cold 

 weather and frosts in the early spring : 



In the changing and uncertain cli- 

 mate of Great Britain showers and 

 falls of snow are not uncommon in 

 the month of March, and sometimes 

 we have had sucli in April. Experi- 

 enced bee-keepers Ijnow that while 

 snow is on the ground or around an 

 apiary, bees should never be allowed 

 to leave their hives. During frosty 

 weather they will not venture out, 

 but when the thermometer rises and 

 snow begins to melt, the bees venture 

 to fly, and in doing so many perish. 

 They seem to be dazzled and bewild- 

 ered by the light, and rapidly fall into 

 the snow, and become motionless in a 

 moment. The heat of their bodies 

 melts soft snow, causing them to sink 

 about an inch in it. When snow is 

 crusted on the surface, bees, on touch- 

 ing it, lose the power of their feet and 

 legs by a kind of paralysis, and many 

 of them are unable to take wing, roll 

 on to their backs, and speedily perish. 

 Many colonies are weakened — some 

 are destroyed by loss of bees in snow. 

 This is well known. 



The severity of the present frost, 

 and its contnuiance in the middle of 

 March, is a new experience to British 

 bee-keepers. The past winter was 

 mild and favorable for bees. At the 

 end of January colonies were strong, 

 and the bees of many of the hives in 

 this section of the country began to 

 breed; then "when snowdrops and 

 crocuses came into flower, the bees in 



§reat numbers were seen on them, 

 ome of the strongest colonies had 

 two and three seams of brood sealed, 

 and doubtless much brood unsealed. 

 At the beginning of March we had 

 several days of cold and cutting 

 winds, so cold that bees would not 

 leave their nests for food ; afterwards 

 severe frost set in, bringing down the 



mercury of the thermometer at nights 

 below 20^ : one morning, the 10th of 

 March, to 13-, or 19° of frost. Snow 

 fell in Cheshire on the 16th of March. 

 If the frost had come a month sooner, 

 little harm would have been done to 

 colonies. 



In my time we have never before 

 experienced such severe and continu- 

 ous frost in tlie brood-rearing season, 

 and therefore I cannot speak from 

 experience as to the extent of the in- 

 jury probably done to the brood. We 

 know that bees dislike cold winds 

 even in April and May. and in order 

 to protect their brood then from chill- 

 ing winds, they contract their doors 

 with compact masses of their own 

 bodies. In the months of April, May 

 and June, bees spread the eggs of 

 their queens as widely as they can be 

 covered and hatched, and when cold 

 winds come, they endeavor to keep 

 them out by blocking or corking their 

 doorways. In cold weather bees are 

 very helpless creatures. 



In winter and early spring bee- 

 masters will do well to give them all 

 the protection possible. Before the 

 present frost set in colonies were in 

 capital condition, and fruit trees cov- 

 ered with blossom buds, giving bee- 

 keepers good hopes of early swarms 

 and great results, and therefore this 

 severe and unexpected weather is the 

 more disappointing. 



This initial number has 25 biographies, 

 comprising some of the most promi- 

 nent persons of the present age. We 

 welcome this new candidate for popu- 

 lar favor ; it will make an exceedingly 

 valuable book of reference. 



Sweet Music— All of the following 

 songs and piano pieces come to us, in 

 a package, sent by the well-known 

 publishing house of Oliver Ditson & 

 Co., Boston. 



Very many ballads of the " Lilly 

 Dale " order have, of late years, been 

 given to the public, but, very few of 

 them have such smooth, beautiful 

 music as that which belong to the 

 song " Under the Willows," by C. 

 Connolly. Another charming musical 

 tid-bit by the same author is " That 

 first little kiss he gave me," an artistic 

 song and dance in the play of " My 

 Sweetheart." 



Still another beauty is " Sleep, Baby 

 Sleep !" a charming lullaby by Ange- 

 lica McCoun Fellowes. " The Train," 

 by Molloy, is a song of our hurrying 

 time, and " Oh, that I had wings," by 

 Havens, will sound well in church. 

 " Emmy Polka," by Granado, is one 

 of the pieces played by tlie Spanish 

 students. " Heart and Hand Waltz," 

 by Le Baron, is a good arrangement. 

 " Sunshine Polka," by Ida Hurley, is 

 a pretty piece of brightness. 



" Homicide and Suicide, in the city 

 and county of Pliiladelphia, Pa., dur- 

 ing a decade, 1871 to 1881, inclusive," 

 is the title of a pamphlet laid on our 

 desk " with the compliments of the 

 author," John G. Lee, M. D., Coro- 

 ner's Physician. It contains many 

 interesting incidents and considera- 

 ble statistical information. 



New Mexico Celebration.— We have 

 received an invitation to attend the 

 Tertio-Millennial {third of 1,000 years) 

 Anniversary Celebration, including a 

 comprehensive Mining and Industrial 

 Exposition, of and for the Rocky 

 Mountain region, which will be held 

 at Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2 to 

 Aug. 3, 1883. 



It will present tbe characteristics of 

 the three civilizations which have oc- 

 cupied New Mexico and the adjacent 

 territory, since its first occupation by 

 the Spaniards, in 1550, to the present 

 time, and illustrate the progress of 

 the several centuries. 



It is said that the first European 

 who ever visited the region now 

 kuown as New Mexico, was Cabeza de 

 Baca, who was wrecked off the coast 

 of Texas in 1531 . He was struck with 

 the appearance of the country, and in 

 1541 returned with an expedition 

 headed by Coronado, and, as nearly as 

 can be ascertained, some of the party 

 settled at Santa Fe in 1550. 



Frank Cushing,who created so much 

 interest in the East, last summer, 

 with a party of Zuni Indians, will 

 have quite a large band of them at 

 the Santa Fe Tertio-Millennial Cele- 

 bration, with a large collection of cu- 

 rious things manufactured by them. 

 This will prove one of the special 

 attractions. 



We should be delighted to attend 

 this grand celebration, but shall be 

 unable to do so. 



^" The Biographer, is the title of a 

 new serial, the first number of which 

 is on our desk. It is published at 23 

 Park Row, N. Y ., and, of coarse, it is 

 illustrated with engravings of the 

 persons whose biographies it contains. 



1^ We have received a small tin 

 can for honey, from Mr. W. M. Hogs, 

 of London, England, such as are now 

 being used extensively in that coun- 

 try. Tlie cover fits tightly on a fiange, 

 and can be easily and instantly pried 

 off with a nickel, but cannot be 

 knocked off. Its large mouth makes 

 it very suitable for candied honey. 



