346 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



for the transfer of suitable pollen to the 

 pistils, and thus to become fruitful, than 

 is usually supposed by the average soil- 

 worker. We have recently heard of a 

 number of instances where cherry trees 

 were almost fruitless for a number of 

 years, during whic^ no bees were kept 

 in the vicinity, and all at once began to 

 bear heavy regular crops so soon as an 

 apiary was established near by. 



We believe bees are a good thing, and 

 a number of colonies should be kept in 

 or near every orchard. — Popular Gar- 

 dening. 



Marketing Honey. 



Our honey should be just as we repre- 

 sent it. One-pound sections are the 

 leading packages for comb-honey, put 

 up in 12 and 24:-pound crates, with' 

 glass on one side. Extracted-honey in 

 y-pound glass jars, labeled with your 

 name. The market demands good 

 honey, as well as good butter. — W. A. 

 Sh AFRIT, in Northwestern Agriculturist. 



Swarm-C atcher . 



We tried an experiment recently in our 

 own bee yard which may suggest to some 

 one an idea for a swarm-catcher which 

 will be much handier than anything we 

 now have, and prevent the bees from 

 alighting in high trees or other inacces- 

 sible places. 



The discovery happened as follows : 

 In one of our hives we had a division- 

 board across the back, which had been 

 left there by mistake, and had a good 

 deal of comb attached to it. Just as we 

 were removing it, a swarm issued from a 

 neighboring hive, and several of the bees 

 seemed attracted by the comb, and 

 alighted on the division-board which we 

 held in our hand. 



An idea struck us that we might use 

 this attraction to advantage, and accord- 

 ingly we held the board in front of the 

 hive, catching several more bees, and 

 then we carried the division-board with 

 its bees across to a tree upon which a 

 former swarm had alighted, and laid it 

 across the limb with the comb hanging 

 down. 



In a very short time the other bees 

 commenced to alight upon it until all 

 were settled down, with the exception 

 of a dozen or so. We then carried the 

 board to the stand we wished to hive 

 the bees upon, the stray ones following 

 us, and set the board in front of the hive. 



Only a few minutes elapsed until the 

 bees began to drop off the board and run 



in the hive, and when the majority had 

 done so we shook off the rest and they 

 followed. 



We carried the division-board back to 

 the tree, and set it again upon the limb, 

 and two other swarms have since alighted 

 upon it and been easily hived. The ques- 

 tion arises — cannot something valuable 

 be worked out from this idea? — Cauadian 

 Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping- for Women. 



Well, I will not say bee-keeping for 

 ladies exactly, for the world now knows 

 the definition of lady as one not accus- 

 tomed to work. So it will not do here. 

 Lady friends, bee-keeping is not so very 

 hard after all, if one takes an interest 

 in it. I do more work in my apiary than 

 any two men I could hire around here. 



Let us believe that bee-keeping be- 

 longs to women ; anyhow, it is generally 

 in the yard and around the house like 

 chickens, calves, etc. And I would 

 especially advise , women in delicate 

 health to take up the care of bees as a 

 tonic, and you will find it a good one, too. 



If I was shut in-doors all the time I 

 would soon be in bed half of my time. 

 Get you a few colonies of bees in some 

 movable-comb hives. We use the sim- 

 plicity, but any frame hive, not too 

 heavy or large, is all right. By all means 

 have your hives and frames all uniform. 



Experiment with queen-rearing ; study 

 the flowers that produce honey ; note 

 their time of blooming, etc., get inter- 

 ested, and you will soon feel like a new 

 being, and liave honey to sweeten the 

 whole family. I am very busy at this 

 time. Will try to give you some inter- 

 esting reading soon. — Mrs. Jennie 

 Atchley, in Southern Horticulturist. 



Farmersville, Texas. 



^Wlien "Writing a letter be sure 

 to sign it. Too often we get letters 

 with the name of the post-office, but no 

 County or State. One such came 

 recently, and we looked into the Postal 

 Guide and found there were places by 

 that name in 18 States. That order for 

 goods will have to wait until another 

 letter comes to give the proper address. 

 Be sure to stamp your letter, or it may 

 go to the dead letter office. 



Red Isabels are quite attractive for 

 Pails which hold from 1 to 10 lbs. of honey. 

 Price, $1.00 per hundred, with name and 

 address printed. Sample free. 



