AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



335 



tician : Reaumur, presuming that the 

 angles were adopted for the purpose of 

 saving material, proposed to Koenig, a 

 mathematician of eminence, that he 

 should determine what would be the 

 angles of a hexagonal cell, with a 

 pyramidal base, to require the least 

 material. By the infinitesimal calculus, 

 he ascertained that the greatest angle 

 should be 109^ 26', and the smaller 70° 

 34'— the very angles which the insect 

 adopts. 



What an astonishing coincidence is 

 this ! A profound mathematician is 

 required to solve a very difficult prob- 

 lem ; and it is found that his conclusion, 

 gained by the exercise of considerable 

 ingenuity and deep thought, was practi- 

 cally exhibited in the operations of the 

 bee. How few are capable of that 

 scientific investigation which this insect 

 illustrates by its practice ! 



It seems the extravagance of folly to 

 believe, that out of the numerous differ- 

 ent combinations of which two angles 

 are susceptible, that which most saves 

 labor and material should be adopted by 

 random chance, or blind necessity. He 

 that holds the ocean in the hollow of 

 His hand — He it is, in the darkness of 

 the hive, guides this little insect to 

 fashion and mould the cell, and form the 

 comb in the beautiful and wonderful 

 form in which we behold it. — British Bee 

 Journal. 



Are Yonr Bees Reaiy for Winter ? 



D. ELLINGWOOD. 



One reason why so many bees are lost 

 in wintering is because they lack prep- 

 aration in the Fall. The bee-keeper is 

 so anxious to get a large crop of surplus 

 that he forgets to see that each colony 

 has an abundance for their own use. 



By Sept. 1 the sections should be 

 removed from all hives, unless the lower 

 part is well filled, and the colony seems 

 strong enough to spare the workers 

 above. If a colony has 25 or more 

 pounds of honey in the brood-comb, and 

 are doing good work in the sections, of 

 course it would not be policy tg take 

 them off ; but if the colony is weak and 

 short of stores, the sections should be 

 removed, and the hive contracted and 

 made as snug and warm as possible. 



No colony should be put into the 

 cellar with less than 20 pounds of 

 honey for their Winter's use, and if 

 your hives do not contain 15 or 18 

 pounds by Sept. 15, feed the bees at once. 



Syrup should be fed quite thin, as the 

 bees can handle it better, and it is not 

 so liable to candy. Granulated food is 

 poor fare for bees to Winter on. 



I believe the conditioiT of the food, and 

 its position in the hive, has more to do 

 with successful wintering than the 

 temperature. A hungry bee will freeze 

 and die almost anywhere, but a well-fed 

 bee, with plenty of nice honey to look 

 forward to, does not like to die any better 

 than a man with a well-stocked house, 

 and a good, large family. 



No other animals make such pro- 

 visions for Winter as do the bees. They 

 delight in having a large Winter store, 

 and if they are deprived of it they lose 

 heart and die. 



It is a curious fact, that bees with 75 

 or 100 pounds of honey in the hive, will 

 consume less than a colony with 10 or 

 15 pounds. We have proven this over 

 and over again. They also keep quieter 

 and Winter better. 



Berlin Falls, N. H. 



Women as Bee-Keepers. 



MRS. J. M. NULL. 



Consider for a moment the great 

 armies of women wage workers, who are 

 simultaneously a standing credit and a 

 reproach to many of our large cities ! 

 Pinched by penury, worn out and shat- 

 tered in health by unceasing application, 

 still, at times, lifting the soul above and 

 beyond the ever pressing present, when 

 it is impossible to restrain the irrepressi- 

 ble heart-yearnings for a life amid even 

 the free gifts of heaven, a superabun- 

 dance of fresh invigorating air, pure 

 cooling water, the all-pervading revivi- 

 fying sunshine. 



Oh, yes ; all these, and much more, 

 are to be enjoyed unasked for, free and 

 unlimited in a life in the country, but 

 never in the stifling store, shop, factory, 

 or over-crowded school-room. Think 

 you not bee-keeping offers to such a 

 delightful, fascinating, healthful and 

 lucrative employment ? 



Woman is a slave to fashion in dress, 

 fine cooking and fancy work ; and is 

 constantly sacrificing herself for these 

 luxuries. The woman who never ranges 

 beyond the heat of her own cook stove, 

 cannot rise to the full stature of woman- 

 hood, and be the wise counselor of her 

 husband and children that she was 

 designed to be. 



Doubtless you have all heard of the 

 woman who has toiled early and late, lo 



