THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



253 



cellar Is unknown here, only by read- 

 ing of it in the papers. 



What swarms have issued are the 

 largest I ever saw. I hived the last 

 and largest one, as usual, in the lower 

 story only of tlie 9-frame Simplicity 

 Langstroth hive, and it lacked about 

 a quart of holding all the bees after 

 they got on the frames. Probably I 

 should have divided it into two, giving 

 one an extra queen ; but I just set on 

 the other story, raising the duck on 

 top of the other frames. The bees 

 are gathering honey from what we 

 call tlie primrose, of which our prai- 

 ries are white, during April and May; 

 also from a blue blossom resembling 

 the common sage. 



This is the first year I ever knew 

 bees to lie out in early spring ; even 

 our earliest swarms lay out for several 

 days, but all are at work now, except 

 some old ones in box hives which 

 have not swarmed yet. 



South Bosque, Tex., May 6, 1883. 



Fnr the American Bee JoumaL 



How to Read Works on Bee-Culture. 



W. H. STEWART. 



I have owned and handled bees, 

 more or less, for the last 40 years, and 

 I have read many works on bee-cul- 

 ture during that period. I have ever 

 experienced a peculiar delight in see- 

 ing bees work, and in handling them ; 

 although the handling of bees 30 or 

 40 years ago was attended with more 

 pain than pleasure. 



I have ever found that bee-keepers 

 were of an inquiring turn of mind. 

 Whenever two or more of them met 

 in conversation, some bee talk would 

 have to be passed around, each inquir- 

 ing of the other how they managed 

 to get along with the bees and avoid 

 mishaps and drawbacks, and, as the 

 conversation led on, the art of bee- 

 keeping would often be discussed in 

 all its various ramifications (as far as 

 then understood), and as we were 

 about to part, I have often put a bee- 

 book or paper in the hand of a friend, 

 telling them, at the same time, that 

 they would derive from it very much 

 valuable information, if they would 

 read it carefully. 



When we met those persons again, 

 we would inquire how they liked the 

 books. Of course we got various an- 

 swers. Some seemed much delighted, 

 and said they had found very much 

 valuable instruction in them. Others 

 that seemed to view the subject at a 

 shorter range, would say : 



" 1 hardly know whether I like that 

 magazine very much or not. Why, 

 the truth is, that the more I read it, 

 the more I got mixed, and when I 

 had read it all through, I made up my 

 mind that I didn't know a thing about 

 bees, and the book didn't know half 

 as much as I did." 



Now, the truth is. that many who 

 have made tlie latter answer, were 

 men of very sound minds, but as they 

 seemed to overlook one fact, the whole 

 work was to them confusion. For in- 

 stance, the article was, perhaps, writ- 

 ten by an author living in Southern 

 Ohio, who had given his experience 



in bee-culture in that locality, and he 

 would recommend to others the modus 

 operandi that seemed to work well in 

 a mild climate. The reader lived, we 

 will say, in Northern New York or 

 Canada, and he found that bee-cul- 

 ture, as laid down in the book, was 

 j ust the opposite of his own experience. 



During all these many years, bee- 

 culture has become wider spread, and 

 has also taken a higher stand, and a 

 magazine like the Ajiekican Bee 

 Journal is found to contain letters, 

 giving the experience of the most im- 

 portant bee-keepers of every State in 

 the Union. Not only so, but of Can- 

 ada,England, France, Italy, Germany, 

 Scotland, and, in fact, all parts of the 

 civilized world. 



Now, suppose an amateur bee- 

 keeper should read, in the Bee Jour- 

 nal, the experience and success of a 

 bee-keeper in Texas, who used a hive 

 that would hold about half a bushel, 

 and had plenty of swarms in the 

 month of March ; wintered all on the 

 summer stands, without any other 

 protection than a simple plain box of 

 inch boards ; and extracted honey in 

 April. 



Suppose this amateur bee-man lived 

 in Vermont or Canada, and engaged 

 in bee-culture on the Texas plan, he 

 would be sure to meet failures on 

 every hand, by overrlooking the fact 

 that bee-culture in Texas is not at 

 all like bee-culture in any Northern 

 climate. 



On the other hand, if this beginner 

 had discriminated between bee-cul- 

 ture in Texas and bee-culture as prac- 

 ticed by Mr. Jones, of Canada, and 

 had been governed by the experience 

 of the latter, he might have met with 

 success. 



Let us suppose that a man should 

 cast anchor in Northern Wisconsin, 

 in the month of November, with his 

 wife and five or six robust children, 

 and propose to let the children sleep 

 on the ground, and himself and wife 

 in the Dlanket-clad wagon, through 

 the tliree or four months that he 

 wished to remain. Suppose you re- 

 monstrate witli him, and tell him of 

 his imprudence, and he should reply 

 that he often did in that way in 

 Louisiana, where he came from. You 

 might post up notices that there would 

 behalf a dozen second-class funerals 

 at that camp within four weeks, and 

 you would be safe in doing so. 



The truth is, that all warm-blooded 

 animals require a certain amount of 

 warmth, or they are not in a comfort- 

 able condition. If they are not com- 

 fortable, then they cannot be healthy. 

 Animal lite is shortened up just in 

 proportion to the ill-health of the in- 

 dividual. As vvith children and our 

 domestic animals, even so with bees ; 

 they all need different care in differ- 

 ent localities. 



Thus, all will see, that in order to 

 get a "portion of meat in due sea- 

 son," it becomes necessary that we 

 glean from our bee paper the most 

 important items as deduced from ex- 

 periences of our own locality, and as 

 the American Bee Journal em- 

 bodies the experience of the most re- 

 liable bee-keepers of the civilized 

 world, it is very easy for all to find 



in it that which will do them good in 

 their localities. 



Then, scan we keen the A. B. Journal, 



Met in f rlenly council there : 

 Sisters, brothers, all fraternal, 



Strength in union everywhere. 



Strenntli In union, Ite <iur motto, 



Emblem, little honey-bee ; 

 Outward, onward, swell the echo, 



GreetinK, send it o'er the sea. 



Orion, Wis. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Remarks on Those Big Reports. 



J. L. VAN ZANDT, M. D. 



In Gleanings of about May 1882, B. 

 F. Carroll, of Texas, reports a re- 

 markable queen (a hybrid Cyprian, if 

 I mistake not), which was proving to 

 be wonderfully prolific, filling in all 

 four stories, 40 frames with brood. 

 Later, in July, he reports the "largest 

 yield" 700 lbs. of honey. Then he is 

 called to order, stating that Mr. Some- 

 body had previously reported 787 lbs.; 

 in Iowa, probably. There being an 

 abundance of rain, Mr. C.'s bees 

 in the fall gathered 100 lbs. more and 

 enough to winter on — after your bees, 

 Mr. Editor, were asleep. 



A great cry is raised, "4 or .5 doubled 

 up," "yield of colony and increase," 

 and sundry "insinuations, because for- 

 sootli Mr. C, with a climate allowing 

 his bees to gather pollen every month 

 in the year, and honey almost as long, 

 should report a yield of less than 9 per 

 cent, more than an Iowa man, whose 

 bee year is but little more than half 

 as long. 



If it is a yield of a one-story hive, 

 and not of the immediate progeny 

 (workers) of one queen that is to be 

 reported, I would suggest to Mr. C. 

 that he have a one-story hive large 

 enough to accommodate her Eoyal 

 Highness, in order that his report will 

 " pass muster." 



The writers from whom I have 

 quoted, are all readers of Gleanings, 

 so in charity I conclude that they 

 overlooked Mr. C.'s explanation, and 

 also the report of over 1,000 lbs. from 

 one queen and her increase. 



This is not prompted by personal 

 friendship, as I am not acquainted 

 with Mr. C. 



Dido, Texas. 



For tlie American Bee Journal 



Western New York Convention. 



A few of the leading bee-keepers of 

 Western New York, held a meeting 

 at Fredouia, April IIH, 1883, and organ- 

 ized an Association. The day was 

 not one calculated to make bee men 

 boyant, being cold and raw, with oc- 

 casional gusts of snow ; the hills from 

 2 to 4 miles south of Fredouia being 

 shrouded with a snowy mantle, which 

 no doubt kept many from attending. 

 The meeting was, however, a very 

 enthusiastic one ; 8 became members 

 by paying the membership fee of .50 

 cents, and the following were elected 

 ofiicers for the ensuing year : Presi- 

 dent— U. E, Dodge, Fredonia. Vice 

 President— T. A. C. Everets Ran- 

 dolph. Secretary— T. W. Gleason, 



