THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



547 



THOMAS a. NEWUAN, Editor. 



yoiniii, 



An£, 31, 188], 



Mr. T. AV. Cowan visited Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, at the Michigan Agricultural College, 

 last week. This week he intends to visit 

 Chicago and Hamilton, 111., returning by the 

 way of Medina, O., and Niagara Falls to 

 Toronto, and attend the Honey Show there 

 during the week ending Sept. 17, where he 

 will meet Mr. Ivar S. Young, of Norway. 



The Prenilunis at the St. Joseph, Mo., 

 Inter-State Exposition, to be held on Sept. 

 12 to 17, 1887, amount to $267. Mr. J. G. 

 Graham, Agency, Mo., will send any one a 

 premium list who may want it. The editor 

 of the American Bee Johrnal, will award 

 the premiums. 



Mr. C. F. mutli, we are sorry to state, 

 has been very sick for the last month, suffer- 

 ing from the effects of sunstroke which oc- 

 curred at his farm. He is now on the way 

 to recovery, but still unable to attend to 

 business. Our readers will be very sorry to 

 learn of his illness, and we know will be 

 glad to hear of his complete restoration to 

 health. 



Tbe St. LoalB Fair will open on Oct. 

 3, and last for 5 days. In the Apiarian De- 

 partment, premiums are offered amounting 

 to $147, besides diplomas. Premium lists 

 may be obtained of the Secretary, Arthur 

 tJhl, St. Louis, Mo. 



Upward and Onward go the market 

 quotations for honey. In New Tork one- 

 pound sections of white-comb honey are 

 quoted at 18 cents (see page 556). The last 

 quotation from that firm was •' to 12c." 

 (see page 428). This is a jump of 6 cents per 

 pound. If bee-keepers will go slow In sell- 

 ing their honey, it will go up another 6 oents 

 within a few weeks. " A word to the wise is 

 sufficient." 



Several have requested ouropinionof the 

 Self-Inking Rubber Stamp, we have been 

 advertising for Geo. T. Hammond. We have 

 one In dally use, and desire nothing better. 

 It Is simply perfect. 



TUe Bee-Molli.— On page .555, Mr. 

 Crawley asks concerning the bee-moth, and 

 remarks that they are very plenty. Several 

 other correspondents say that they are very 

 troublesome this season. 



Many of the old-fogy sort speak of bees 

 being "run out" by moths 1 Why not say 

 that the weeds " run out" the corn ? When 

 a colony becomes weak (often from queen- 

 lessness), the hive will be taken possession 

 of by mollis, and then some persons run 

 away with the idea that the bees were de- 

 stroyed by the bee-moth. From an exchange 

 we copy the following : 



The moth is the color of old wood, and the 

 wings cross one another, turning up like the 

 tail of a fowl. It may be seen lurking 

 around hives in the evening, trying to gain 

 admittance. Where fowls have the run of 

 an apiary, they catch many of these moths 

 on the wing. Combs in frames can be kept 

 over the summer free from the depredations 

 of the larvic of the bee-moth, if they are 

 suspended in the light and air. and are 3 or 4 

 Inches apart. Moths love darkness and un- 

 cleanliness, and deposit their eggs in cracks 

 and crevices about hives, where bees cannot 

 gain access to them. Do not permit refuse 

 comb to lie around the apiary or bee house. 

 I have put frames of combs containing their 

 larviB into a hive of Italian bees, and in half 

 an hour could see the bees bringing them 

 out. There is no reed of anv other moth- 

 trap, for they are always baited and set. A 

 handful of Italians will defend a hive. 



Mrs. L. Harrison remarks as follows, in the 

 Prairie Farmer for last week : 



The bee-moth is very busy now. I saw a 

 couple of them this morning on an empty 

 comb, standing by the side of a hive in the 

 open air. They were of the color of old 

 wood, and flew away as I took up the comb. 

 I discovered a hive from which the bees had 

 deserted, and found a few of the combs in- 

 fested with the grubs of the moth. I stood 

 them outside to let the chickens pick them 

 out : it is the only way I know of for utiliz- 

 ing them. Half of the combs had grubs In 

 them, and the remainder had none ; the 

 latter I left in the hive with double the dis- 

 tance between them that they formerly had. 

 and so far they have not been infested. I 

 will look around and find a spider to put 

 with them, which will guard them safely. 



The AnstralaAlan Bee Journal is the 

 name of a new monthly published by Hop- 

 kins, Hayr & Co., at Auckland, New Zea- 

 land, at 6s. ($1.50) a year. It contains 16 

 pages, and is ably edited by Dr. Isaac Hop- 

 kins, author of the "Australasian Bee 

 Manual," an experienced apiarist of New 

 Zealand. Three years ago Mr. Hopkins 

 started a bee-paper there. It lived one year 

 and then ceased to exist. Now, perhaps.'the 

 bee-keeping interests of Australasia will be 

 able to support a good periodical. We hope 

 so, and wish the new paper much success. 



Feed the Bees if they need It. Many 

 colonies arc short of stores, where there are 

 no fall flowers to give them nectar to gather. 

 It will pay to feed the bees and thus pre- 

 serve them for another season. The slip- 

 shod, old-fogy, know-it-all fellows will lose 

 all or nearly all of their bees during the 

 coming winter, and will be practically " out 

 of the business" next spring. This will 

 make a good demand for bees next season, 

 and those who have them for sale will be 

 " In clover." 



In many places there are fall flowers, from 

 which the bees are gathering fair quantities 

 of honey ; this will " bridge over the gap" 

 and make fall feeding unnecessary. One 

 danger threatens, however, if the rains 

 should be too profuse, the honey may be 

 thin and watery, and will sour in the hives, 

 thereby causing disease and death to the 

 bees in winter. 



Use a good feeder— either a Shuck or a 

 Heddon— its use is cleaner and more eco- 

 nomical. If such cannot be had, then use an 

 inverted jar or can, with cloth tied over the 

 mouth, put it on the top of the frames, 

 turning back the quilt, so that the bees can 

 get at the food. Here is what Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son says about bee-food and open-vessel 

 bee-feeders, in the Prairie Farmer: 



For winter stores none but the very best 

 grades of sugar should be fed, but during 

 warm weather, when the bees are continual- 

 ly on the wing, cheaper grades will answer 

 the purpose, such as damp New Orleans 

 sugar, which they can use without being 

 made into syrup. 



Bees do not sip like flies, and if a bowl of 

 syrup should be given them, it would soon 

 be a withering mass of drowning bees. In 

 order to prevent this, the sjrup should be 

 quite thin, and put into a vessel of chopped 

 straw, or have thin muslin tied over it loose- 

 ly, so It would settle down as fast as the 

 syrup was taken out. It should be tied so 

 that no bees could get under it, as they are 

 very prying insects. This feed should be 

 given them in such a way, that no bees from 

 the outside can gain access to it, or robbing 

 will be induced. Better feed at night, or 

 early In the morning before bees are flying. 



Calirornla Honey will not be found this 

 year in the Eastern markets. They have 

 only a very small crop, and the new freight 

 arrangements under the Inter-State law will 

 not permit the California honey to compete, 

 if they had any to send to the Eastern 

 states.. 



The short crop of honey can now be made 

 advantageous to lhose /et« who have some 

 to sell. Double the prices of last year should 

 be demanded, and may be obtained a few 

 weeks later. Those who sell early will lose 

 the chance for good, fair prices. On the 

 whole, the present short crop may be con- 

 sidered to be "a blessing in disguise." Old 

 fogies will suffer, but the pursuit will be 

 " the gainer." 



Auswerlng Letters of no possible inter- 

 est or advantage to any one but the person 

 sending the question should suggest to such 

 persons the fact that we cannot spend all 

 our time for their individual benefit. 



One man writes us to go and get the price 

 of wagon wheels; another wants us to sell a 

 car-load of potatoes, saying that he cannot 

 trust commission men; another wants to 

 know if It will be safe to ship honey to Mr. 



; another wants us to And out if such 



a firm as are doing business on 



street, and asks us to go and examine the 

 goods, and let them know if they can make 

 money by selling them as agents; another 

 wants us to investigate the methods of doing 

 business adopted by Messrs, , and ad- 

 vise them whether it would pay for the 

 writer to send them money, etc. 



In order to answer these letters satisfac- 

 torily, we would have to travel from 6 to 10 

 miles, lose half a day's time, pay postage to 

 answer each one— for in nine cases out of 

 ten the query comes on a postal card. We 

 are willing to accommodate all we can, but 

 we must reserve some time, to attend to our 

 legitimate business— or go hungry. 



Goldenrods, asters and Spanish-needles 

 are now blooming, furnishing the bees with 

 sweet nectar. 



