THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



355 



THOMAS S. NEWMAN, Editor. 



MHIIL Jniie8,188]. No. 23. 



^^ mm m^ |["lim"'||| T'" - 





"Be Sure the new hive is clean and neat. 

 Smear it with beeswax and with honey 



sweet. ■ 



Have no fonl smell about it, for the bees 

 Are mostb" all old maids, whom you must 



please 

 Py makine things quite tidy and ' so— so,' 

 Else in a fit of dudgeon, off they go 1" 



— Win. F. Clarke. 



Japanese Backnrbeat is highly recom- 

 mended as a honey-plant. It was introduced 

 in this country in 1884 by Peter Henderson, 

 of New York. 



ytr. R. F. Holtermanu, of Brantford, 

 Out., married a daughter of Mr. S. T. Pettit, 

 of Belmont, Ont., on May 17, 1887. The 

 American Bee Journal wishes tor its 

 brother editor a long and happy wedded 

 life, hoping that neither of the pair will ever 

 regret the step thus talien. 



Tliose WIio Tblnk that " they know it 

 all" are generally those who know the leasts 

 and usually pay the most for their lack of 

 knowledge. In this ever-advancing age it Is 

 an imperative necessity to keep posted 

 about everything having any bearing upon 

 our pursuit in life. In no other business is 

 it more necessary than in bee-keeping I 

 Those who would succeed must /cnoui what 

 is going on in the fields of production and 

 commerce— must pro/it by the manifold ex- 

 periences of those who have wrought in the 

 same line— must study the subjects both of 

 consumption and production — and learn ail 

 the facts about the local markets for honey, 

 as well as those of the metropolllan centres. 



This can only be done by reading the 

 periodicals devoted to the pursuit of bee- 

 keeping. No one In America can be too 

 poor to subscribe for a bee-paper and yet 

 own a colony of bees I But simply to have 

 such a paper in your house will not avail. 

 It must be read, studied, and be made of 

 practical value. The knowledge of last year 

 will not do for this year. Progress is written 

 on every page of our dally existence, and to 

 refuse to advance with the busy throng 

 around us, is but to allow ourselves to be 

 crushed under the wheels of progressive 

 intelligence and advancing knowledge. 



Tlie Irascible Bees of India.- An ex- 

 change contains the following item con- 

 cerning an attack of these insects upon 

 a Koyal party of church-goers. It says : 



Lord Dufferin and his suite had a narrow 

 escape recently at Dehra Doon. It appears 

 that a swarm of irate bees ran amuck among 

 the escort and attendants, and routed tbem 

 horse and foot. Horses bolted, vehicles 

 were smashed, ladies and children shrieked, 

 and one poor cbary:er belonging to an ollicer 

 of the Ghoorkas, was so badly stung that it 

 lay down, and a "smudge "lire had to be 

 lighted around it before the bees wore 

 driven off. The viceroy and suite had just 

 passed into the church, in order to attend 

 service, before the apian legions delivered 

 the charge. 



This reminds us of an incident recorded 

 In Forsyth's charming work entitled " The 

 Highlands of Central India." It is this : 



A friend once told me that as he was driv- 

 ing near a village some miles from Jubbul- 

 pore, he and his servant and horse were 

 attacked by some Irate bees without any 

 real provocation. The enemy crowded 

 round in such numbers that the situation 

 became serious. After receiving several 

 stings, and finding the horse becoming 

 restive, my friend resolved to save his own 

 life and that of his servant, which were 

 really In jeopardy, at the risk of a little dis- 

 comfort to other people. Accordingly, he 

 whipped up his horse and made tor the 

 village, a cloud of bees keeping up with the 

 trap without the least efl'ort. When the 

 village was reached, the bees, as my friend 

 anticipated, found so many other objects of 

 interest that they distributed their atten- 

 tions with less marked partiality than 

 hitherto. In other words, the cloud scat, 

 tered among the villagers, who were so 

 numerous that two or three stings apiece 

 probably represented the total damage. 



In the same book we find a painful In- 

 stance of the terrible consequences of pro- 

 voking these irate insects In one of the love- 

 liest sights in India, the famous Marble 

 Rocks of Jubbulpore. The writer says : 



These rocks form a gorge through which 

 the great river Nerbadda flows, and the 

 marble formation extends for about a mile. 

 The dazzling walls which shut in the river 

 are studded with pendant bees' nests, and 

 for any one sailing In a boat down the 

 narrow channel to disturb the bees Is a fatal 

 proceeding. If any warning were required, 

 it is given by a tomb, which stands on the 

 outskirts of the village just above the gorge, 

 to the memory of one who was stung to 

 death In this beautiful spot. Actuated by a 

 foolish impulse, he fired bis rifle at one of 

 the nests, whereupon the Ijees came down 

 on him in such numbers that he attempted 

 to save himself by jumping overboard. The 

 relentless insects, however, still pursued 

 him, with fatal results. 



These bees are surely somewhat related 

 to the Apis dorsnta— the giant bees of Java— 

 whose fiery temper and Irascible disposition 

 make it very dangerous to disturb their 

 domicile. Frank Benton's experience with 

 these bees was not very pleasant, as may be 

 seen in back volumes of the American Bee 



JOUBNAI,. 



Stolen Sweetness and Stings.— The 

 Oakland, (Calif.) Tribune of May 3 contained 

 the following Item concerning a theft of 

 bees : 



Since before the days of the impenitent 

 thief, the man who would steal a hot stove 

 has topped the pinnacle of larcenous fame. 

 His tame bids fair to become a thing of the 

 past, and all on account of the superior 

 larceny of a woman of East Oakland. There 

 came to the office of Prosecuting Attorney 

 Earl this morning a sad faced man— an api- 

 arist whose natural sweetness had been 

 soured, o'er with a thick superstratum of 

 woe. This is the tale he told : He keeps his 

 busy bees— and his bees assist in keeping 

 him busy— on a lot adjoining the domicile 

 of Mr. and Mrs. Poster on the East Oakland 

 heights. His bees swarmed, and Mrs. Foster 

 stole the swarm— so he said. Attorney Earl 

 was prepared to meet the emergency of a 

 purloined stove of superior caloric, but the 

 theft of a swarm of bees was too much for 

 the statutes In such cases made and pro- 

 vided, and the woe-steeped apiarist was re- 

 fused the warrant for which he prayed. 

 Incidentally the husband of the woman, 

 who had made away with the bees, had 

 made a pass at the apiarist of the soul-sick 

 mien, but Earl hardly considered the assault 

 sufficiently aggravated for police interfer- 

 ence, and the words the sad man spake, as 

 he went his way, had more sting than honey 

 In them. 



In the next day's issue of the same paper, 

 the editor made these remarks on the case : 



At what stage in its career does the bee 

 become a wild beast? was the question 

 which presented itself to the mind of Pros- 

 ecuting Attorney Earl, when the East Oak- 

 land apiarist wanted a warrant for the 

 arrest of his neighbors, who, he said, had 

 stolen one of his swarms. The bee is prop- 

 erty when he stays at home, but when he 

 wanders he belongs to the fercB naturae. He 

 chooses his own master, and very often puts 

 his mark on him. Perhaps Oflicer Shorey 

 might be sent with a search warrant to 

 determine whether these bees have become 

 wild beasts or not. 



I<ate Catalogues for 1887, on our desk, 

 are from — 



J.W. Eckman, Richmond, Texas — 4 pages 

 —Bees, Queens, Chickens, etc. 



S. W. Morrison. M. D., Oxford, Pa.-^l pages 

 — Carniolan Queens. 



C. F. Muth & Son, Cincinnati, 0.—32 pages 

 -Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



Edey & Son, St. Neots. Hunts. England— 60 

 pages— Hives and Bee-Furniture, Poultry 

 and Game Appliances. 



J. C. Wilms, Waupun,Wi8.—8 pages— Bees, 

 Queens, Poultry and Eggs. 



M. Lashley, Ambler, O.—l page— Hive for 

 Comb Honey. 



" Praktisk lomniebog 1 tidsmiesslg 

 biskjotsel,'" is the title of a new bee-book 

 in the Norwegian language, by Ivar S. 

 Young, ChrlBtiania, Norway. We acknowl- 

 edge the receipt of a copy of it, but as we 

 cannot read it, we can only judge of the 

 contents by Its Illustrations, which are first- 

 class, and show that It Is a modern and pro- 

 gressive little book. 



Swarnilng is now the order of the day. 

 Be sure to have hives in readiness to use for 

 Increase. The weather to-day— Saturday— Is 

 hot and damp, from frequent showers, and 

 is just the right kind for honey production. 

 White clover is just commencing to bloom, 

 and all around the apiary Is as "merry as a 

 marriage bell." From all accounts we con- 

 clude that the clover generally has not been 

 damaged by the drouth, to any extent worth 

 mentioning. 



Our Success as honey-producers depends 

 upon the quality of the queens. The best 

 queen should have sufflcient bees to enable 

 her to lay to her full capacity. 



Union ConTentlon at Chicago.— The 



North American Bee-Keepers' Society and 

 the Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Society will 

 meet in joint convention In Chicago, Ills., on 

 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Novem- 

 ber 9, 10 and 11, 1887. The Secretary's no- 

 tice will be issued soon — naming the place 

 of meeting and other particulars. 



