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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Topics oF InterEst. 



Maine Bee and Honey ExMliit. 



W. H. NORTON. 



The Maine State Fair came off last 

 month, and the exhibit of bees and honey 

 and apiarian utensils was quite a feature 

 of the fair, and proved to be very 

 attractive. The following concerning it 

 appeared in the Lewiston Journal, and 

 will no doubt be interesting to the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal, 

 and show what we are doing " away 

 down East," especially as they do not 

 hear from us very often. 



Here is the article under the heading 

 of "Pyramids of Honey,'" and "The 

 Buzz of the Bees at the Fair :" 



" Oh, look here Jim, just see the bees 

 a buzzin' there ! What do you suppose 

 they are up to ?" 



"Sh — Sal!" — he said in sotto voce — 

 " them bees are makin' honey there like 

 blazes. Good year for bees they say, 

 and that's the way they do it." 



Just so, good year for bees — that part 

 of it so — and the bee men are happy. 



Passing up onto the second floor of the 

 exhibition building Wednesday after- 

 noon, three-fifths of those met came 

 along smiling, and smacking their lips 

 like kittens cleaning out the cream 

 pitcher. 



Whence comes this happy crowd, was 

 asked. " Oh, we have been over to the 

 honey-man's corner. Just too sweet for 

 anything, aren't they ?" 



" Sure ! Sweet ? Well, I guess so." 



Let us go over there. "Who's that 

 stands smiling by the corner table talk- 

 ing with that Brunswick divine ?" 

 " That ! Oh, that's Maine's honey king, 

 E. H. Greeley, of Clinton." 



" That so ! How much ?" 



See his great pyramid of honey, piled 

 clear up out of reach. Hundreds of 

 pounds of honey in sections and pack- 

 ages of extracted, clear as amber, and 

 just that tempting tint denoting the 

 sweetest nectar. 



Mr. Greeley is happy this year, and 

 well he may be. He over-tops all the 

 honey yields of Maine. Five thousand 

 pounds of the nicest clover nectar. See 

 it piled up beside the wall. And here 

 are samples of the bees which have done 

 this sweet work this Summer. 



The first in importance are the beau- 

 tiful golden Italians ; next is an obser- 

 vatory hive of Holy-Land bees— totally 



depraved, we believe, though ; next 

 comes the Carniolan bees, a kind of 

 boomerang-sort, that haven't much to 

 commend them, if we are any judge. 



Here also are queens in shipping 

 cages ; beeswax all tastefully arranged, 

 making a neat exhibit. 



Next is Mr. J. Pike's exhibit of bees 

 and honey from his farm near Liver- 

 more Falls. Mr. Pike has a smaller 

 exhibit, but a good lot of beautiful 

 comb-honey, and honey in bottles. 



Here are also samples of honey from 

 different flowers, eight or ten kinds, of 

 as many colors and flavors. Mr. Pike 

 has an observatory hive with bees show- 

 ing queen-cells. Mr. Pike has a good 

 knowledge of bees, and studies their 

 ways to good purpose. 



One of the ingenious bee-men, an 

 inventor, a careful investigator as well 

 as scientific and practical bee-keeper, is 

 Mr. W. H. Norton, of Skowhegan. Mr. 

 Norton has a whole museum of bee- 

 fixings, and will give you a lecture on 

 the application of bee-science any hour 

 in the day, and every time different. 

 His is an inexhaustible fount of bee- 

 knowledge and application of principles, 

 and will broach more practical ideas in 

 ten minutes than the ordinary mortal 

 can digest in ten years. 



Norton is working out some problems 

 that will be of great benefit to Maine 

 bee-keepers. In fact, he has already 

 done that, and surprises are yet to come. 

 See his beautiful foundation. The thing 

 was never accomplished before of mak- 

 ing 16% square feet of comb-foundation 

 to the pound. Norton does it, and 

 shows you the machine he does it on, 

 but the sly fellow wisely keeps some of 

 his manipulations of the fine wax to 

 himself. 



Mr. Norton runs a good sized apiary, 

 but he does it for experiment largely. 

 If there is a new bee spoken of, Norton 

 gets it. He shows some hybrid Punic 

 bees, which, probably, not one in a 

 thousand who visit the fair ever heard 

 of before. 



The largest display of utensils and 

 implements used in handling bees are 

 found with Mr. Norton's exhibit. His 

 new extractor is a model of simplicity 

 and utility. His smoker is an improve- 

 ment on all before it. His new hive is 

 a masterpiece of simplicity and compact- 

 ness, good workmanship and practical 

 usefulness. He "takes the cake" on 

 the reversing principle. His sections 

 are of snowy whiteness, and smooth as 

 sand-paper can make them. And so 

 we might go on commenting for an hour 



