488 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bees and Butterflies are thus 

 contrasted by a writer in the Cornhill 

 3Iagazine : 



The bee is the bon bourgeois of the 

 insect world. It attends strictly to 

 business, loses no time in wild or reck- 

 less excui-sions, and flies by the straight- 

 est path from flower to flower of the 

 same species with mathematical pre- 

 cision. Moreover, it is careful, cautious, 

 observant, and steady-going — a model 

 business creature, of sound morals, and 

 sober intelligence. No flitting for it, no 

 coquetting, no fickleness. 



Therefore, the flowers that have 

 adapted themselves to its needs, and 

 that depend upon it mainly or solely for 

 fertilization, waste no unnecessary 

 material on those big flaunting colored 

 posters which we human observers 

 know as petals. 



They have, for the most part, simple 

 blue or purple flowers, tubular in shape, 

 and, individually, inconspicuous in hue ; 

 and they are oftenest arranged in long 

 spikes of blossom to avoid wasting the 

 time of their winged visitor. 



So long as they are just bright enough 

 to catch the bee's eyes a . few yards 

 away they are certain to receive a visit 

 in due season from that industrious and 

 persistent commercial traveler. 



Having a circle of good customers 

 upon whom they can depend with cer- 

 tainty for fertilization, they have no 

 need to waste any large proportion of 

 their substance upon expensive adver- 

 tisements or gaudy petals. 



It is just the opposite with butterflies. 

 Those gay and irrepressible creatures, 

 the fashionable and frivolous element in 

 the insect world, gad about from flower 

 to flower over great distances at once, 

 and think much more of sunning them- 

 selves, and of attracting their fellows, 

 than of attention to business. And the 

 reason is obvious, if one considers for a 

 moment the difference in the political 

 and domestic economy of the two op- 

 posed groups. 



The honey-bees are neuters, sexless 

 purveyors of the hive, with no interest 

 on earth save the storing of honey for 

 the common benefit of the philanstery to 

 which they belong. 



The butterflies are full-fledged males 

 and females on the hunt through the 

 world for suitable partners ; they think 

 far less of feeding than of displaying 

 their charms ; a little honey to support 

 them during their flight is all they need. 

 " For the bee a long round of ceaseless 



toil; for me (says the gay butterfly) a 

 short life and a merry one." 



The high mountain zone is for them a 

 a true ball-room ; the flowers are light 

 refreshments laid out in the vestibule. 

 Their real business in life is not to gorge 

 and lay by, but to coquette and display 

 themselves and find fitting partners. 



So while the bees with their honey- 

 bags, like the financier with his money- 

 bags, are storing up profit for the 

 composite community ; the butterfly 

 lays itself out for an agreeable flutter, 

 and sips nectar where it will over large 

 areas of country. It flies rather high, 

 flaunting its wings in the sun, because 

 it wants to show itself off in its airy 

 beauty ; and when it spies a bed of 

 bright flowers afar off on the sun-smitten 

 slopes, it sails off toward them lazily, 

 like a grand seignior who amuses him- 

 self. No regular plodding through a 

 monotonous spike of plain little bells for 

 it; what it wants is brilliant color, bold 

 advertisement, good honey, and plenty 

 of it. It does not care to search. Who 

 wants its favors must make itself con- 

 spicuous. 



Honor again rests on the head of 

 our friend Eugene Secor, of Forest City, 

 Iowa, as will be seen by the following 

 notice from the Winnebago Summit : 



Eugene Secor has been honored by 

 the election as a lay delegate to the 

 General Conference of'the M. E. Church. 

 Ex-Gov. Carpenter and he will represent 

 the laity of the Northwest Iowa Confer- 

 ence, comprising a territory of about 26 

 counties, and a membership of about 

 15,000. 



The next General Conference meets at 

 Omaha, Nebr., in May, 1892. It will 

 be composed of about 500 ministerial 

 and lay delegates from all parts of the 

 world where Methodism is established. 

 It is the law-making body of the church, 

 and meets quadrennially. It will prob- 

 ably be in session 30 days. 



Queens are introduced in this man- 

 ner by H. Spuhler, and described in the 

 Revue Internationale : 



Several hours after the removal of the 

 old queen, put the new one in a little 

 cylinder made of foundation. It is 

 closed at both ends, and furnished with 

 little holes pierced with a needle. After 

 daubing it with honey, put it in the 

 middle of the brood-nest. 



