7t4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



below, by mail, postpaid, three boxes contaiaing- live 

 bees of any race whatever, and with or without 

 queens, provided the contents of two out of the 

 three boxes sent may be said to have arrived in fair 

 order. The only limitations will be as follows: Each 

 party shall have but one trial; the mailing-cages 

 may be of any pattern, except that employed by me, 

 and the food of any sort, except that which I am 

 now employing. (So far as I am aware, neither the 

 cage nor the food used by me is employed by any 

 one else, either at home or abroad.) When ten per- 

 sons have successfully met these requirements, I 

 shall say "quit." 



The queens which I propose to send in return may 

 be had this fall, or early next spring; will be choice 

 ones imported from the apiaries of noted breeders 

 of the race desired; will be sent prepaid as far as 

 New York City at least; and In case the first one 

 sent out to any successful competitor fails to reach 

 him In fair order, a second one (prepaid to New 

 York at least) will be forwarded. I am to have the 

 right to make a report for publication, regarding 

 all lots received. Should any party not wish his 

 name to appear In connection with the matter (until 

 he meets with success! eh?) he may put initials, fig- 

 ures, or signs of any sort, on his boxes, instead of 

 his name, but must then write, at the time he sends 

 the bees, to the editor of some bee-journal, giving the 

 mark of his box, and his full address. 

 Second Offer. 



To any one who sends me from America by mail, 

 postpaid, five cages of live bees, three of which shall 

 arrive in fifood order, I will send a choice queen, im- 

 ported from Cyprus, from Palestine, or from Syria. 

 When five persons have succeeded under this offer, 



1 shall want the rest to content themselves with 

 merely an "honorable mention." All other condi- 

 tions the same as preceding offer. 



HINTS TO COMPETITORS. 



Cyprian and Syrian bees will stand a longer jour- 

 ney, and better, than any others. I think bees with 

 queens will be more likely to arrive in good order 

 than those without queens. Mere death of a queen 

 need hot necessarily cause the rejection of a box — 

 more will depend on the condition of the workers 

 and the box. Such packets are here classed as 

 "samples" by the postal authorities, and will be re- 

 jected by the latter if over 8 in. long, 4 in. wide, and 



2 in. high. From New York " via Bremen " or " via 

 Havre " are the only advisable routes for unregis- 

 tered cages of bees. " Via Hamburg " usually takes 

 longer. Letters mailed east of the Mississippi reach 

 us in 12 to 20 days — usuaUy about 15 or 16 days. I 

 think some of the fast steamers to England would 

 bring the time down to 10 or 12 days from New York 

 to Munich; but if sent by any mail to England the 

 cages should be registered, in order that English 

 postolHce olficials may not have the grim satisfac- 

 tion of notifying me that a packet addressed to me 

 had been detained in London, and would be deliver- 

 ed to me in person at that oflice within two weeks, 

 which interesting trick they once played on parties 

 in America to whom I had addressed packages of 

 bees; also, these same officious gentlemen are to be 

 kept, through the registering of these packages, 

 from arresting and returning the latter, after five or 

 six weeks, as they once did over 45 Syrian queens I 

 had mailed in Beyroui, Syria. Registered packages 

 can not be stopped in England, and no addition dare 

 be made to the postage. Since I learned this quirk 

 I have sent all queens to England by mail without 



difficulty, and without losses. Another point would 

 be to ascertain the exact time of sailing of the mail 

 steamers from New York, and to mail queens just 

 in time to be sure to catch it. I have no earthly use 

 for the queens I may get in this manner, so I can pay 

 nothing for them; and I would advise all who try, 

 to pick out the blackest, runtiest, and Grossest hy- 

 brids. Unfortunately, old queens do not stand jour- 

 neying well, else they would be just the ones to use 

 for such experiments, and they would no doubt like 

 very well to retire from business, and take a plea- 

 sure-trip to Europe. Let's see who has the Ooodest 

 candy in America. 



Yours, "mit freundlichem Imker-gruss" (with 

 friendly bee-keeper's greeting), as German bee-mas- 

 ters say to each other. Frank Benton. 



No. 4 Georgen St., Munich, Germany, 

 Aug. 9, 1883. 



BANISHING BEES B¥ AN ACT OF THE 

 liEGISIjATURE. 



A MATTER THAT MAY POSSIBLY NEED LOOKING 

 AFTER. 



I 



INCLOSE you marked copy of the Monmouth 

 Democrat, containing notice of an application 

 to be made to the next Legislature of our State, 



virtually to drive the honey industry out of this 



County. 



"VTOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that application 

 X>l will be made to the next Legislature of the 

 State of New Jersey, for the passage of a bill in and 

 for the County of Monmouth; that the object of said 

 bill is tor the enactment of a special law in and for 

 the said County of Monmouth to prevent injury or 

 damage to live stock, by keeping or allowing to be 

 kept, any nest or hive, or other receptacles for in- 

 sects capable of stinging euch live stock, within five 

 bundled yards of the field, yard, pen, or other place 

 in which such live stock is or are kept, and that said 

 law may be entorcea either by a penalty to be there- 

 in expressed, or by making the violation thereof a 

 misdemeanor. A. V. CONOVEK. 



Dated Dec. 5, 1883. 



Being the pioneer of practical apiculture in this 

 section, I think it my duty to call the attention of 

 my brother apiarists through this State especially, 

 to the move that has been set on foot. You will 

 observe, the writer of the notice speaks of " a 

 special law in and for the said County of Mon- 

 mouth." This legislation for special localities is, 

 however, prevented, I think, by an amendment to 

 the constitution, which forbids the enactment of 

 laws other than general ones, affecting the whole 

 State alike. 



I have no fear, if the bill goes before the house in 

 that shape; but as it will be impossible to obtain a 

 copy of the bill till after it has been presented to the 

 Legislature, and it is possible it will be presented In 

 a way covering the whole State, I suggest to the 

 bee-keepers of New Jersey to inform the members 

 from their respective districts of the disastrous ef- 

 fects, not only to the honey industry, which is no 

 small item, but to the fact of the loss of fruit and 

 berries, and even clover and grass seed, if such a 

 bill should be passed. It would be to the farmer a 

 loss incalculable— just this loss of the bees as flower- 

 fertilizers — thus a loss to the State, directly and 

 indirectly. It is hardly possible that the members 

 (being mostly men elected from the ranks of our 

 farmers, and those interested in agricultural pur- 

 suits) will give the bill more than a passing notice; 

 but by some hook or crook It might be lobbied 



