1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



759 



give sentence are little familiar with any honey but their own, 

 or there is something in being familiar with a particular honey 

 that makes one prefer it simply on account of fuller ac- 

 quaintance. 



I suppose the fact is that there are a good many kinds of 

 good honey, and that tastes vary very much, some preferring 

 one thing and some another, although as already said familiar- 

 ity with a certain kind may increase one's preference for it. 

 If so, it's a case of reversal of the proverb, "Familiarity 

 breeds contempt." 



Another proverb may, however, apply without reversal : 

 " The wish is father to the thought." I'm quite willing to 

 believe that my region produces the best honey, so it takes 

 less to persuade me into that belief. 



Sweet Clover. — On page 728, Wm. Stolley says : 

 "Further information about melilot will be given with pleas- 

 ure, if desired." Friend Stolley, if you're looking for those 

 who desire information, I arise to remark, "I am which." 

 Decidedly and emphatically, I want to know more about your 

 dealings with sweet clover. I gather from what you say that 

 a large part of that 175 pounds per colony came from sweet 

 clover. Now, can you tell us about how much of it you think 

 came from that source? For a second question, will you 

 please tell us in what way you think the most honey can be 

 obtained from sweet clover — by allowing it to grow undis- 

 turbed throughout the season, or by cutting it once or more ? 



But it's more particularly as a forage-plant that we need 

 information about it. When, or at what stage, do you cut it 

 for hay ? How may times can it be cut in a season ? How 

 does it compare with alfalfa as to difBculty of curing ? How 

 much hay per acre? When do you sow, and what is your 

 management to get a good stand? Any other little trifle in 

 the way of information may be thrown in along with these. 



time, whereas a sure plan of prevention, once learned, it 

 could at once be put in operation. I only wish I knew how. 



The Atlanta Bee-Congress. — I call the editor to order. 

 On page 732 he says : "It will be a fine opportunity for the 

 bee-keepers of the South to get together." Now, he needn't 

 swell up so with Chicago self-esteem as to think no other city 

 can have more than a local gathering. From the reports I 

 see in the papers, of large delegations going from the North, 

 I see no reason why there may not be a general gathering 

 there. Dr. Brown seems to be in the lead, and he's one of the 

 veteran wheel-horses who is not in the habit of doing things 

 by halves. [I still stand by the above quoted sentence. 

 There's nothing in it that prevents Dr. Miller, or any other 

 Northern bee-keeper, being present. I trust it will be a rep- 

 resentative gathering.— Editor.] 



Putting Bees in the Cellar. — B. Taylor is quoted on 

 page 733 as saying, "From Nov. 1 to Nov. 15 is the proper 

 time to put the bees into winter quarters in this climate." I 

 got mine in Nov. 13, so I was in time, with two days of grace 

 to spare. 



The Swarming Habit. — I have read with no little in- 

 terest the article on page 728, by Bert Lownes. As I have 

 before said, I don't know whether the swarming habit can be 

 bred out, but Mr. Lownes has, in my judgment, failed to pro- 

 duce convincing arguments as to its impossibility. The diffi- 

 culty of keeping pure a race of non-swarming bees is well 

 presented, and all the arguments in that line — even if the 

 latter be easier — apply to keeping Italians pure. But the 

 single argument in reply to all that, is that Italians have been 

 kept pure, else the many that offer for sale pure Italians are 

 ignorant or dishonest. 



An argument as to impossibility is, " Because it is con- 

 trary to the laws of Nature." Just exactly what is meant by 

 that I don't know, but certainly as very commonly used it is 

 no argument at all, for we are constantly hearing objections 

 to things that have been done because they were against the 

 laws of Nature. If such things have been done, certainly 

 they're not impossible. And I don't see why prevention of 

 swarming isn't also contrary as well to the laws of Nature, 

 and Mr. Lownes does not consider prevention impossible, for 

 he says, "It can be more easily accomplished." 



But the matter of impossibility is one of no interest if the 

 thing be undesirable. He makes five points against desira- 

 bility, partly assertions without proofs, and I don't see any of 

 them that would satisfy any man, who should desire non- 

 swarming bees, that such bees were not desirable for him. 



Whether he is correct or not in thinking that prevention 

 is easier of accomplishment, I confess that I am more inter- 

 ested in knowing how to prevent swarming, for the breeding- 

 out business, as he suggests, might take more than my life- 



Apiarist and Bee-Keeper.— On page 734 a decided dif- 

 ference is made between an apiarist and a bee-keeper. I don't 

 find any such distinction in the dictionary, which defines 

 " apiarist " as a "bee-keeper." Will the gentleman across 

 the line please tell us where he gets his definition for "api- 

 arist?" Marengo, 111. 



% 

 "A Bee-Story" with a Moral. 



BY C. W. LEARNED. 



A friend received a colony of bees as a present. They 

 were Italians — the only bees " up with the times," and that 

 know a moth from a potato-bug at first sight; and with a 

 pedigree which is supposed to be a hump on the back, like a 

 camel, full of honey to tide over a poor season. In the course 

 of time they had increased to seven colonies, but no surplus 

 honey. 



The owner took no bee-paper, but he had a honey-book, 

 the product of a great and mighty bee-man. It contained 

 everything about bees, and more, and after that the deluge. 

 A careful study of the bee-koran, revealed the fact that his 

 bees were in the wrong hives. It was not the standard size. 

 The bee-space was 1/49 of an inch too large, and it was not 

 packed — there was no chaff in it. By looking through a glass 

 hole in the side it was discovered that the frames were hung 

 bottom side up, and all the bees standing on their heads, or 

 suspended in strings and loops, wrong end up, trying to "right 

 ship." It was decided that nothing could be done with such 

 a thing for a hive. A lot of chaff hives were ordered at !565 

 cash. They were about the size of a railroad tool-house, and 

 formed, like the great Napoleon's army at the Battle of the 

 Pyramids, a hollow square, with the officers and the baggage 

 train in the center, and artillery at the angles. But in this 

 case there was nothing but a rabbet at the angles. 



The first department on the ground floor was the brood- 

 chamber, or " queen's own ;" above this was the surplus de- 

 partment, said to contain 80 one-pound sections, each war- 

 ranted to hold one pound of pure honey, including the wood ; 

 the center was of wax and bee-gum, and microbes. 



The hive rested upon a foundation extending from day- 

 light to the center of gravity, in shape of an elongated pyra- 

 mid, standing on the apex with the base in the air, like some 

 bee-notions I wrote of some time ago. This foundation was 

 named "Landsdown," after a noted Briton, or from the fact 

 that it reached clear to the bottom. The roof was four-sided, 

 and extended to a point at the top, like the dome of great St. 

 Patrick's church at Rome. This steeple was sharp, to prevent 

 birds from alighting upon it, and defiling the works below. 



It was designed to run this apiary on strictly moral prin- 

 ciples, and not for money. No bug-juice nor grub-gravy, or 

 " drone honey " would be tolerated — nothing but " pure yel- 

 low queen drips." To cover running expenses, it was resolved 

 to place a new and improved line of honey-queens on the 

 market, each with seven bands and a yellow stripe along the 

 spine. To make room for the two extra bands, it was decided 

 to evolute the curve out of the sting, and in so doing obtain a 

 7-banded, straight sting, striped spine, honey-queen, with a 

 pedigree, all for ten dollars ; with this arrangement success 

 was assured, and all bee men and women would be made 

 happy if not rich. 



There was to be no extracting from the brood-chamber ex- 

 cept in an overflow of honey, when a frame or two would be 

 removed, placed in an extractor, and given a turn or so, after 

 having shaved off the heads of the young bees with a per- 

 forated cheese-knife. The extracted honey so obtained would 

 be barreled up and a small amount of formic acid injected to 

 rectify and ripen it up for market. (Answer through the 

 Question-Box how best to collect the surplus formic acid of 

 the apiary for this business.) 



Each colony was allowed to cast one swarm only, except a 

 few second ones to supply the loss in wintering. It was re- 

 solved to strictly adhere to this rule, and not allow the apiary 

 to out-grow the pasturage, to improve which a patent seed- 

 sower was to be used, something like a double-barrel shot-gun, 

 except it shoots at both ends. This thing would be charged 

 with honey-seeds from the free-seed department at Wash- 

 ington. In riding around the lanes and streets, or country 

 roads, if a likely bit of soil was seen, give it "a charge to 

 keep." This bright idea was gleaned from the bee-koran. 



It was decided to divide three of the best colonies. Three 

 ten-dollar 5-band yellow honey-queens with a pedigree were 



