THE AMERICAJN JJEJs' JOURNAL. 



247 



there were rods or even feet then. So 

 it does not follow that the bees are 

 not necessary now. It may be that 

 the wild insects would be entirely in- 

 adequate to the task, and that the 

 bees are very necessary. 



That bees may and do carry and 

 spread the newly hatched bark or 

 scale lice is certainly true. Yet this 

 should not condemn the bees in the 

 mind of the sensible man. If bees do 

 not work on the bloom and fertilize 

 the flowers, other insects must and 

 will spread the pests. It is only 

 whether it shall be bees or other in- 

 sects. Again, these scale lice will be 

 spread even though there are no bees, 

 or even any insects at all aside from 

 the wee lice themselves. 



The apple-tree scale louse is a seri- 

 ous pest here ; and spreads just as the 

 orange scale lice, etc., do in Califor- 

 nia. But the small, active lice here 

 batch not till the bloom is all gone. 

 Hence it must be wind and birds that 

 scatter these pests of our orchards; 

 and they would do the same in Cali- 

 fornia. The wind in California blows 

 so fiercely that it carries sand with so 

 much force as to wear through win- 

 dow glass. Who shall say that it will 

 not carry these minute lice even to a 

 considerable distance V 



Our California friends need the bees 

 to insure full crops, and they must 

 spray their trees with the kerosene 

 and soap mixture, or some other 

 efficient insecticide, or the scale lice 

 will bring their orchards to naught.— 

 A. J. Cook. 



For tne American Bee JoumaL 



SellinE Ml Honey, etc 



H. O. KRUSCHKE. 



I started in the spring with .30 colo- 

 nies in good condition. The honey- 

 flow was not as abundant as it would 

 have been had we not had such un- 

 precedented drouth and heat. What 

 honey my bees did gather was dark, 

 not one section of it being light 

 honey. Basswood yielded nothing. I 

 took off 1,000 one-pound sections, and 

 400 pounds of extracted honey, and 

 increased my apiary to 72 colnnies. 



I began to sell the honey about the 

 middle of August. I took some to 

 the stores in Necedah, and received 

 12^ cents per section ; they sold it 

 out for 15 cents. That suited me 

 better than trying to peddle it my- 

 self. I considered the price all it 

 was worth, and more than I could ex- 

 pect to realize by shipping it to dis- 

 tant markets. But a " damper " was 

 soon put on this price. Some of my 

 neighbor bee-keepers in another 

 town came some 15 miles through 

 sand knee-deep, and then sold their 

 honey on the streets at 10 cents per 

 pound section ; yes, even down to 3 

 for 25 cents. Their honey was fine 

 and light-colored. Of course that 

 stopped my sales, and I did not try to 

 sell then. 



The most of the customers preferred 

 my dark honey to that nice white, re- 

 marking that mine was the best 

 honey that they had seen that year ; 



thick, and a rich flavor, and that it 

 tasted like honey ! etc. So do not say 

 that dark honey is not fit to put into 

 the sections, or that it must be sold 

 for wagon grease. Ko, it is just as 

 nice as the whitest^-you have only to 

 find the customers who like honey ; 

 and do not run it down as regards 

 quality, as so many bee-keepers do. 

 I always say it is as good as any, and 

 who will say that it is not V 



My extracted honey I sold to fam- 

 ilies at 10 cents per pound, or 12 

 pounds for $1. No one thought that 

 the honey was not nice, or seemed to 

 care about its being dark. Long be- 

 fore Christmas my honey was sold in 

 a small town of not over 1.200 inhabi- 

 tants. I could have sold as much 

 more up to this timo if I had had it. 



I am satisfied with the result, and 

 do not care to be instrumental in 

 raising the price of honey. It can be 

 done however, but of course not by 

 " can't." " Can't " never has accom- 

 plished anything. If I owned all the 

 honey in the county I could get what 

 I asked for it, but perhaps I could not 

 sell it all at a high price, but at better 

 prices than are ruling now. But the 

 question of having a right to do so 

 must be left out altogether. I have a 

 right to get all I can for anything 

 which I produce, and have a right to 

 combine with co-producers. 



1 do not want 25 cents per pound 

 for honey. I can make a good living 

 at 10 to 12 cents per pound, and let 

 others live also. Those who cannot 

 produce honey at these prices must 

 look for something better. Bee-keep- 

 ing is not a business to get rich at— 

 at least not in a hurry. If riches are 

 what you are after, seek elsewhere. 

 But if your object is to enjoy life and 

 health, and wish others to enjoy 

 theirs, you can reach that goal at bee- 

 keeping. 



Deuster,0 Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees Mvetlie Sense Of Hearing. 



CEYLON NILES. 



In reference to Mr. Pox's article on 

 this subject, on page 201, 1 would like 

 to give my experience. We should 

 not jump at conclusions. " but prove 

 them as we go." I have had 37 years' 

 experience among bees, but I find that 

 I can learn something new each year. 



In June, 1859, 1 had a colony swarm 

 and cluster on an apple tree. I hived 

 it and placed the hive on the stand. 

 In about 20 or 30 minutes I went to 

 the hive and there was not a bee to 

 be seen or heard. I rapped on the 

 hive and found that the bees were 

 there. I thought something was 

 wrong, so I sat down in front of the 

 hive and watched. In about 15 or 20 

 minutes a bee came and made a cir- 

 cuit of about 8 feet above the hive, 

 and made a humming noise something 

 like a drone. The bees inside the 

 hive heard the sound and answered 

 it. The bee kept coming nearer and 

 nearer as it circled around the hive, 

 till it rested on th^ alighting-board, 

 then two or three bees came and met 



it. The bee went into the hive, and 

 was in there just a moment when all 

 the bees came out of the hive and 

 went to the woods. 



In .July, 1873, 1 had another colony 

 quiet down in the same manner after 

 I had hived it. I stopped the entrance 

 so that no bees could go in or out, but 

 left it so that they could have plenty 

 of air. I watched it, but there was 

 not a sound to be heard inside the 

 hive. In about half an hour a bee 

 came and made a circuit around the 

 hive, making a humming sound, and 

 the bees answered it. When the bee 

 reached the alighting-board, I killed 

 it. In a short time the bees quieted 

 down. In about 15 minutes there 

 came another bee and made the same 

 sound, and the bee answered it. I 

 killed this bee also. After awhile the 

 bees quieted down as before, when in 

 about half an hour back came three 

 bees, and I killed them as I did the 

 others. I watched them the remain- 

 der of the afternoon, and no more 

 bees came back. About 6 o'clock I 

 opened the entrance of the hive, when 

 the bees came and clustered on the 

 outside of the hive, but quieted after 

 awhile. The next day the bees went 

 to work all right. 



The same week I had another col- 

 ony act in nearly the same manner. 

 I stopped the entrance and watched 

 as before ; eight bees came and I 

 killed them. About 6 o'clock I opened 

 the entrance, and the bees clustered 

 on the outside of the hive. The next 

 day they went to work all right. 



I have had 2 or 3 colonies act in the 

 same way since. This convinces me 

 that bees can hear. I would say to 

 those that let their bees svvarin, if 

 they do not want them to go to the 

 woods, to try this plan and report 

 through the Bee .Journal. 



Schuyler's Lake,© N. Y. 



Read at the Albany, N. Y., Convention, 



Tlie Depression in tlie Honey Market 



LYMAN C. ROOT. 



At the last meeting of this associa- 

 tion, held at Rochester, resolutions 

 were adopted relative to the necessity 

 of developing our honey market, and 

 I was appointed as a committee of 

 one to take such action, and make 

 such investigations as would be likely 

 to secure progress in this direction. 

 These resolutions were most compre- 

 hensive, and indicated very distinctly 

 a great work which might be accom- 

 plished. There are many who would 

 be glad to see these results reached, 

 but they are not induced to unite in 

 the work. No work of this impor- 

 tance can be accomplished without 

 united effort. 



I shall endeavor to show some of 

 the causes of the depressed condition 

 of our honey market, and suggest 

 some of the remedies. I have spent 

 much time during the year in very 

 close observation. Had the necessary 

 financial aid been at hand, much 

 might have been accomplished which 

 would have resulted very beneficially. 

 I should have visited the different 



