648 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



will begin a journey of over 5,000 miles 

 to-night in regal style. She will be 

 attended by nine of her subjects. They 

 will watch her carefully, too, seeing 

 that she is well fed at regular intervals 

 with soft candy, while, upon her arrival 

 at Melbourne, Australia, they will at 

 once begin to build her a home and 

 furnish it with waxen floors and walls. 



"This is the state carriage, and hero 

 is the queen." Suiting action to word, 

 the bee-keeper pulled forth a small 

 wooden box not larger than a vest 

 pocket match-safe. This was the state 

 carriage. Over the entrance a fine wire 

 screen covers the royal chamber, while 

 further back a connecting passage gives 

 entrance to the apartment reserved for 

 the attendants, nine 'working' bees, 

 while directly in the rear of this the 

 store room, in which the food for the 

 journey, in the form of a soft candy ball, 

 is jealously guarded. 



Usually the queen and party arrive 

 safe, but at times a monster in size of 

 everything but his capacity to under- 

 stand that the business end of a bee 

 requires to be left strictly alone, pushes 

 a lead-pencil through the wire-netted 

 door, and begins an investigation to 

 satisfy his giantship's curiosity about 

 buzzing sounds. He is called a postal 

 clerk, and is feared by both bees and 

 bee-keepers wherever they are found. 



■ Tlie Ctiinese are very fond of 

 honey, and Madam Madare gives some 

 very interesting details in the Bulletin 

 de la Societe cV Apiculteiir de la Somjne, 

 concerning the Chinese bee-keepers, and 

 really the Chinese are not as ignorant 

 about bees as many suppose them to be. 

 She says that "they hang their hive 

 (generally they only have one) to the 

 roof of their house. This hive is a 

 bamboo cylinder, closed at both ends 

 with earth. When they want to take 

 honey, they smoke their hive the same 

 as is done elsewhere. They then open 

 it, and take out several combs of honey, 

 and then close it. But, like real sav- 

 ages, they are very fond of the small 

 white larvae, which are found in the 

 cells. They feast with delight on these. 

 If they are stung, they crush some of 

 these larv» and apply them to the part, 

 and this simple remedy prevents the 

 swelling which is frequently so painful." 



The Industry of bee-keeping is 

 now recognized at headquarters. The 

 Department of Agriculture at Washing- 

 ton have taken hold of it in earnest, 

 and propose to gather the many tons 

 of honey now going to waste all over the 

 continent. The Department proposes 

 to interest each farmer in the pursuit, 

 but we fear it will take many ages to 

 have the average farmer learn to man- 

 age bees so as to make them a source of 

 profit, and to take away their fear of 

 stings. The Washington Star of last 

 week contained ihe following, accom- 

 panied by a valuable lesson on the 

 nature and habits of bees, which shows 

 that it was written by one who is well- 

 posted on the matter. It reads thus : 



The Department of Agriculture has 

 recently added to its scientific staff an 

 expert in bees. Secretary Rusk is of the 

 opinion that the keeping of these insects 

 might be made a vastly more profitable 

 industry in the United States than it 

 now is. It is estimated that bees in this 

 country produce a value of $10,000,- 

 000 yearly in the shape of honey and 

 wax. This could be multiplied by ten 

 without much difficulty. First, however, 

 the farmers must be taught the art of 

 bee-culture, and this is precisely what it 

 is proposed shall be attempted. 



Next year a plant will be established 

 for the purpose by the division of ento- 

 mology, and experiments will be made 

 with methods for caring for bees. Also, 

 it will be ascertained which of the vari- 

 ous races are best adapted to the 

 climate, and a study will be made of 

 their diseases. Possibly Dr. Benton, 

 the expert referred to, will be sent 

 abroad to get other varieties. Of course, 

 there were no honey-bees on this conti- 

 nent until the white man brought them 

 hither from the Old World. 



There has been a great controversy 

 for years past between the fruit-growers 

 and the bee-keepers over the question 

 whether bees destroy fruits by cutting 

 them open. Bees are often seen in the 

 act of sucking the juices of fruits, but, 

 as a matter of fact, it is always wasps 

 that cut the skin, and the bees subse- 

 quently drive away the wasps for the 

 sake of getting at the juices. Thus the 

 bees have got a bad name through a very 

 natural mistake, while, in truth, if it 

 were not for their assistance in fertiliz- 

 ing the blossoms, hardly any fruit would 

 grow and ripen. 



