THE AMERICAII BEE JOURNAL. 



363 



nests, several of which were found 

 within a few hundred yards. The 

 destruction of these insects was ac- 

 complislied somewhat after the plan 

 pursued with the bees. After night- 

 fall a large arm full of dry straw was 

 deposited over the nest, and then by 

 a violent knocking on the ground the 

 yellow-jackets would rush up from 

 their burrow, and whilst entangled in 

 the straw, the torch was applied and 

 the whole colony burnt up. After this 

 our vineyard remained undisturbed 

 for years. 



We have been thus particular in 

 details, as it may tend to settle the 

 question as to honey-bees, and at the 

 same time be of some service to bee- 

 culturists. The yellowish wasp, which 

 is described in "the following article 

 from the Florida Farmer and Fndt 

 Grower, is doubtless what is known In 

 Virginia as the yellow-jacket : 



" Many notable horticulturists have 

 complained of the ravages of the 

 honey-bee in their vineyards, and we, 

 like a majority of fruit-growers, have 

 taken it for granted that such was the 

 case, and said no more about it. 

 There are some persons, however, of 

 an inquiring turn of mind, who did 

 not wish to sacriUce their bees upon a 

 bare suspicion, and who have sat 

 down by a vine loaded with ripe fruit, 

 and watched patiently for the true 

 culprit. 



" One of these doubters informed 

 us that he is satisfied, from personal 

 observation, that it is impossible for 

 the honey-bee to puncture the skin 

 of the grape. His experiment was as 

 follows ; After removing the crop 

 from the vineyard, except one vine, 

 containing a couple of dozen of ripe 

 bunches, he seated himself and waited 

 patiently for the real culprit. Bees 

 and wasps of various kinds came and 

 went without doing any harm. At 

 length his attention was drawn to a 

 species of wasp, which he described 

 as follows : Color of body, dark-red 

 or bronze ; wings, steel-blue, with a 

 yellow spot on each shoulder, and 

 some with a yellow spot on the fore- 

 head, perhaps a distinguishing mark 

 between the sexes. This fellow 

 alighting on the berry ,with his strong 

 mandibles ripped up the fruit, cutting 

 a long gash as neatly as a doctor's 

 lancet, proceeded to fill himself with 

 the sweet juice, and afterward went 

 to every bunch upon the vine, until 

 all of them were ruined. Other in- 

 sects, bees included, followed in his 

 wake, and naturally partook of the 

 spoils. May it not be possible that 

 this insect is causing all the damage 

 heretofore charged to our friend, the 

 honey-bee ?" 



[Yes ; yes, and the bees have been 

 persecuted, dragged into court, be- 

 lied, and finally many have lost their 

 lives on the " altar of superstition and 

 ignorance !" Their innocence, how- 

 ever,is now established beyond doubt! 

 Will the fruit-culturisfs now please 

 to do justice — simDle justice — to their 

 little friends, the bees ! It is beyond 

 question that, but for the fertilization 

 of the flowers by the bees, there would 



be no fruit ; and the then fruit-grow- 

 ers might be as presistent in their 

 demands for the bees to come and 

 restore their fruit-trees to fertility, 

 as they have been ceaseless in their 

 demands for the destruction of their 

 best friends— the bees.— Ed.] 



Local Convention Directory. 



1887. Time and place of Meetinq. 



Nov. North American, at Chicago, Ills. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec, Rogersville, Micb. 



Dec. 7-9,— Michttran State, at Bast Saginaw, Micb, 

 H, U. Cutting, Sec, Ciinton, Mich, 



^~ In ortier to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed, 



Honey Crop of California.— Ham- 

 lin & Bearss, Kansas City,K3 Mo., on 

 May 23, 1887, writes as follows : 



A friend of ours in San Diego, Calif., 

 write thus : '■ Only one-sixth of a 

 crop this year. In our part of the 

 State we shall have no honey, owing 

 to dry weather killing off the clover 

 last summer." 



Very Favorable Prospects.— H. E. 

 Hill, Titusville,x) Pa., on May 34,1887, 

 writes : 



I think that where bees were prop- 

 erly cared for last fall, the loss in this 

 locality has been small ; nevertheless 

 some have lost heavily. One who had 

 10 colonies, I understand, lost all. 

 Another with 12.5, has 85 left. Various 

 others report small losses. Out of 51 

 colonies and 6 nuclei put into winter 

 quarters, I lost 1 colony and 3 nuclei. 

 The remaining 50 are in good condi- 

 tion to meet the honey when it comes, 

 which will be very soon, as white 

 clover is now opening, in some places- 

 the large white heads being quite 

 numerous. We are now enjoying a 

 delightful rain, which is timely, as 

 it has been extremely dry this spring. 

 Older and wiser heads say "it has 

 just saved the clover crop !" The 

 prospect is very favorable for a good 

 season. 



No "White Clover Yield.— R. Grin- 

 sell, Baden,o* Mo., on May 27, 1887, 

 says : 



My bees are in fine condition, and 

 there has been all spring lots of bees 

 and brood, but my 110 colonies have 

 not got 100 pounds of honey in their 

 hives altogether. I am now feeding 

 them. White clover has been in 

 bloom for the last two weeks, but 

 they have gathered no honey from it 

 yet. "We had a very wet spell from 

 May 1 up to May 22— not a single day 

 without rain. We have had no rain 

 now since Sunday, and the bees have 



been getting a little honey out of 

 white clover yesterday and to-day. 

 We may get some honey from clover 

 yet, but 1 do not look for it. I think 

 some of those that are selling clover 

 honey in St. Louis for 9 cents per 

 pound, will wish they had it next win- 

 ter, for it will be worth a good deal 

 more then. Bee-keepers will do well 

 this year by holding their honey. 



Early Swarming, etc.— D. D. Her- 

 rick. Liberty ville, <j Ills., on May 29, 



1887, says : 



I put 23 colonies into the cellar on 

 Dec. 1, 1886, and on April 12, 1887, I 

 took out 21 strong ones and 1 queen- 

 less colony. The temperature ranged 

 from 45^ to 48°. My first swarm is- 

 sued on May 14. Who is ahead of thaty 

 A good many colonies are storing in 

 the supers, and all are very strong ; 

 but I have had no swarms for a week, 

 as it has been too cold. 



Heard the Bees Roar.— Elmer 



Gabril, Marshfield,o» O., says : 



Bees do roar in winter after the 

 mercury is below zero, and the colder 

 the weather the louder is the roaring, 

 which I have heard many a time, 

 and have witnesses of the fact besides 

 myself. 



Killing off Drones.— A Subscriber 

 at riint,d Mich., on May 28, 1887, 

 writes : 



AVhat is the cause of my bees killing 

 off their drones at this time in the 

 year V One colony in particular has 

 killed and drawn out of the hive all 

 their drones, and as yet has not 

 swarmed this season, but they seem 

 to be in perfect state of health in 

 every way. 



[Quite often drones are " killed off " 

 between apple and white clover 

 blooms because of a dearth in the 

 supplies, and the bees become dis- 

 couraged, and for the time being give 

 up all idea of swarming. Then to 

 save their food supply, kill off the 

 drones.— Ed.] 



Some Loud Roaring of Bees.- H— 



S. A. Shuck, (102—98), Liverpool,*© 

 Ills., says: 



My bees have been wintered on the 

 summer stands unprotected for the 

 last 8 years, except the winters of 

 1882-83 and 1886-87. During very still, 

 cold weather they can always be 

 heard. In very cold weather, at times 

 they can be heard some 40 or 50 feet 

 from the hives. 



"White Clover a Failure, etc.— Wm. 

 Anderson, Sherman,*© Mo., on May 

 30, 1887, says : 



There will be no honey in this part 

 of the State, unless a change should 

 come in the future. There is no honey 

 coming in, and bees are storing hardly 

 enough to live on. White clover is a 



