THE AMERlCAJSi HEE JUURWAi. 



891 



Mr. Fathers wished to know which 

 is preferable, natural swarming or 

 dividing. Mr. Rose preferred natural 

 swarming. 



On motion, Mr. W. Atkinson was 

 apppointed Director for Walpole, in 

 place of Mr. Smith, removed. 



The next meeting will be held at 

 South Cayuga, on Saturday, Aug. 27, 

 1887. E. C. Campbell, iiec. 



rar tne American Bee Jouroal, 



Bee-Keeping Sacrificed to Prejudice. 



Z. A. CLARK. 



For the American Bee Jooma; 



Tlie Honey-moon. 



EUflKNE BECOR. 



Thursday, June 9, 18S7, was the day 

 for us, the bee-keepers, to be laid 

 upon the sacrificial altar, to be 

 martyred for keeping bees in this city. 

 Yesterday morning one of our citizens 

 in three hours got up a petition to the 

 Mayor and Council, asking an exten- 

 sion until July 1, in behalf of the bee- 

 keepers, and got 104 names in three 

 hours, lacking only four names of 

 doubling the anti-bee petition, and 

 our petition had about 40 of the 55 

 names on the anti-bee petition. 



We had witnesses (citizens and 

 farmers) to prove that bees were not 

 a nuisance, and that they never in- 

 terfere witli sound fruit. I have the 

 aflSdavits, and will forward them as 

 they are sworn to, and you can pub- 

 lish any or all of them if you desire. 



Arkadelphia,? Ark., June 11, 1887. 



Here is an extract from a local 

 paper : 



" It would be well if our citizens 

 (any and all of them) were to do as 

 our neighbor Z. A. Clark has done. I 

 believe only a short period since he in 

 his idle time gathered around him a 

 trio of old fashion ' bee-gums ' of our 

 Arkansas black bees, he thinking it 

 not as profitable to knock the head 

 off and cutting down to the sticks, as 

 following the new idea of frame hives 

 and imported Italian bees. With 

 modern bee-keeping ' old things have 

 passed way,' and now we find Mr. 

 Clark in possession of as wellequiped 

 an apiary, and as fine a strain of bees 

 as any in Arkansas or elsewhere in 

 this our ' land of the free and homes 

 of the brave.' Who is the author of 

 Mr. Clark's little business V Has it 

 not cost him time and a great deal of 

 hard work ? Besides, does he not 

 give labor and lend to the education 

 of other young men that are to come 

 on the stage after we shall have 

 passed away V It is a hard matter for 

 us to do any business that will meet 

 the approval of all. But the ' good 

 book' tells us to look to our neigh- 

 bor's advancement. If we do this and 

 follow our own employment, we will 

 have no time to 'growl ' at others. 



" Let us have more bees, railroads, 

 factories, schools, and above all, 

 peace with our neighbors. If we 

 cannot get these, let's go to work and 

 cot down the dog-fennel that ruins 

 our sweet milk. Let us do something 

 for our youths that are eking out 

 their existence loaling— on our steets. 

 Let us go to work, and have less 

 'gab!'"— CTipp«r. 



Out in the cool Sepiember air, 



At the close ot a sultry, listless day, 



Sat a recentlj'-weddud pair, 



BilllDg and cooint' like doves in May. 



The full-orbed union was as needless as 



bright, 

 For the light of their eyes would have 



banished the night. 



They heard the musical hum of the bees 

 As they rested from labor at home in full 



hives ; 

 Buckwheat and goldenrod scented the 



breeze— 

 The fragrant fruits of well-spent lives. 

 So the air-castles built by this ardent young 



twain 

 Were filled as completely with Hope's golden 



grain. 



The " Katydid " sung to his voiceless bride, 

 The crickets sharp love-notes brought no 



reply ; 

 In a sad parting strain the "whip-poor-will" 



tried 

 To provoke from his mate a farewell sigh. 

 But the bride in the gleaming returned each 



caress, 

 And answered her husband's sweet words 



with a kiss. 



Purple tinged leaves from the maples o'er 

 head 



As silently fell as the soft-falling dew. 



They told ot a summer too rapidly sped. 



Of severed attachments, tender and true. 



But the language ot leaves had no meaning 

 that uight 



To the couple who eat in the pale, glimmer- 

 ing light. 



They talked of the happy days to come ; 

 They planned as only the young know how ; 

 They saw not the future as pictured by 



some 

 Who remember the past with clouded brow. 

 No visions of sorrow or pain were seen 

 To mar the sweet peace on this quiet e'en. 



'Tis thus, ever thus that young hearts and 

 true. 



In Hope's dreamy realm delight to abide. 



To them the sunshine is sure to peer through, 



And Love's fairy-l^oat triumphantly glide. 



How good of the Father to thus kindly con- 

 ceal 



The sorrows and losses that time will reveal I 



Out In the early autumn air, 

 Drinking the honey-laden breeze. 

 We leave this happy, wedded pair. 

 Under the purple-tinged maple trees. 

 While the years come and go— as they will 



all too soon. 

 They'll fondly revert to this bright honey- 

 moon. 

 Forest City, Iowa. 



Prairie Farmer. 



Swarming— Hints to Beginners, 



3IRS. L. HARKISON. 



Much valuable time is spent at bee- 

 conventions hi discussing " Why bees 

 swarm ?" It would seem as appro- 

 priate to deliberate over the question 

 " Why men and women join hand in 

 hand and forsake their old homes. Is 

 it for want of room ? Or is it not 

 that the hive was ventilated insuffi- 

 ciently V In an old book that be- 

 longed to my father, and to his father 

 before him.I find the answer: "A 

 man shall leave father and mother 

 and shall cleave unto his wife, and 

 they twain shall be one flesh." Young 

 men and women leave large, roomy, 

 comfortable homes and dwell in 

 cabins and dug-outs. It was ever 



thus since the creation, when the 

 edict went forth, " Multiply and re- 

 plenish the earth." Siuce the morn- 

 ing stars sang together, the reproduc- 

 tion of animate nature has been going 

 on, either by seens, stolons, offsets, 

 or runners. Bees increase by swarm- 

 ing, just as their Creator ordained 

 they should. Swarm after . swarm 

 leave the parent colony (until there is 

 scarcely a " corporal's guard " left) 

 each one to establish a community or 

 its own. 



Why bees swarm is of little practi- 

 cal importance to bee-keepers ; but 

 how to control this propensity is one 

 of the greatest considerations. The 

 wealth of a bee-keeper does not con- 

 sist in the number of colonies that he 

 possesses, but in the strength of each 

 individual colony. Some colonies will 

 swarm four and five times, and even 

 more. The first swarm will be first- 

 rate, the second good, the remainder, 

 together with the old colony, will be 

 of little account. The two first will 

 be a source of revenue, while the 

 others will eke out a living during 

 warm weather, but probably die the 

 following winter. The colonies that 

 swarm the earliest in the season are 

 generally the best, and it is wise 

 econony to save all the young queens 

 possible. If they are allowed to 

 swarm ad libitum, the little casts — 

 which will contain young, vigorous 

 queens that have been reared under 

 the best possible conditions— should 

 be built up into populous colonies. A 

 queen regulates her productive pow- 

 ers accordiug to her income, and the 

 number of her subjects. IE from any 

 cause such as scarcity of honey or 

 pollen, or too few bees to cover and 

 feed the young, she simply exudes the 

 eggs from her oviduct, not taking the 

 trouble to deposit them in cells ; the 

 workers eat them as fast as she lays 

 them. What a difference between 

 her and the stupid hen, which will sit 

 for weeks upon addled eggs, a piece 

 of chalk, or even upon nothing at 

 all. 



June is the great swarming month 

 in the Northern and Middle States. 

 In our experience we have had 

 swarms from May until the last of 

 September. One season, one hived 

 on Sept. 12, filled the hive and stored 

 about 10 pounds of surplus comb 

 honey. 



Bees will swarm any time when 

 there is a continuous flow of nectar, 

 and a bee-keeper should always have 

 empty hives in readiness to receive 

 them. Italian bees swarm frequently 

 before building queen-cells, or appar- 

 ently making any previous prepara- 

 tion for the event. The exact time 

 when a swarm is going to emerge, 

 cannot be determined beforehand 

 with any degree of certainty. If dur- 

 ing the swarming season few bees 

 leave the hive while the occupants of 

 adjacent ones are busily engaged in 

 gathering honey, a swarm may rea- 

 sonably be expected. During sultry 

 weather a swarm may issue as early 

 as seven in the morning, but the 

 greater part of them come forth from 

 ten in the morning to three in the 

 afternoon. Occasionally an after- 

 swarm may issue as late as five in the 



