384 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



where bee-culture will be taught to both 

 young and old, to perfection in theory 

 and practice. Tuition is to be free to 

 all, and its courses are to be divided into 

 three terms annually; one week's tuition 

 to the elderly people, and two weeks for 

 the younger people. 



All applicants for adm'ssion must not 

 be uncler 16 years of age, and of blame- 

 less character, and if not personally 

 known to the Board of Trustees or offi- 

 cials, are required to present a certificate 

 of character, signed by the Burgomaster 

 of their respective city or town. 



Each scholar is to provide his own 

 board and lodging. At the close of each 

 term diplomas will be awarded to the 

 worthiest, who will also have their ex- 

 penses — such as board and traveling out- 

 lay — returned, in part or in full. A 

 Board of Directors, elected by the State 

 Bee-Keepers' Society, with the Burgo- 

 master of the city, will control the whole, 

 and report annually the results to the 

 Secretary of the Interior. 



The various branches of tuition are as 

 follows : 



A.— 1. The honey-bee. 2. The three 

 species and their respective places in the 

 hive. 3. The various races. 4. Dis- 

 eases of bees. 5. The enemies of the 

 bees. 



B.— 1. Plan of apiary. 2. Bee-hives. 

 3. Apiarian implements. 4. Literature. 



C. — 1. Management and care of bees 

 in Spring. 2. Increase of colonies. 3. 

 Care of new swarms. 4. Queen-rearing. 

 5. Preparation for Winter. 6. Success- 

 full wintering. 



D. — 1. Bee-pasture. 2. Surplus honey. 

 3. The history of apiculture. 



With the above regulations one should 

 conclude that Virgil, in his poems, and 

 Aristotle, in his practice, had a glimpse 

 of the advanced state of apiculture in 

 the nineteenth century. 



Maiden Rock, Wis. 



Texas ABicaltnral Notes, 



A. C. ATEX. 



My bees are very much mixed — 

 Cyprian, Italian, Syrian and black bees, 

 the Italian blood predominating. The 

 largest yield I ever had from one hive 

 (about 300 pounds), was from a colony 

 supposed to be a mixture of the three 

 races first mentioned. 



I once had a colony of pure Cyprians, 

 but they were very cross, and drove me 

 away from the hive twice, after which 

 I became more careful. In about two 



years the queen was superseded, and 

 after that they gave me no trouble. 



My bees, I think, will compare favor- 

 ably with any I know of for the last 

 eight years, averaging, each year, from 

 50 to 110 pounds per colony. 



I have never owned an imported 

 queen, but have had brood from im- 

 ported queens, and also queen-cells from 

 neighbors. I am pretty well satisfied 

 that it is unnecessary, at present, to 

 import queens, and think I have better 

 bees than I can import. 



I think, with friend Harmer (page 

 158), that we are as much entitled to a 

 bounty of 2 cents per pound on honey, 

 as the sugar men are on their product, 

 as cheaper sugar will cause a reduction 

 in the price of honey. This is rather a 

 serious matter with honey producers, 

 and a little bounty of 2 cents pei* pound 

 would be quite a help to us. 



We have no trouble, in this part of 

 Texas, in selling granulated honey. No 

 one ever doubts the purity of my honey, 

 and I do not believe there is any adul- 

 terated honey sold here. 



Some years ago, about the middle of 

 February, I purchased 10 colonies of 

 bees, which were about 15 miles distant. 

 They were in the common box-hive (ex- 

 cept one or two colonies, which were in 

 patent hives, of no use to a practical bee- 

 man). I put plenty of straw in the bot- 

 tom of my wagon-bed, and, with a small 

 bit, bored a number of holes in each 

 hive, then put them in the wagon, on the 

 straw, which closed them up so that not 

 a bee could escape. I started for home, 

 but had not traveled over a mile when 

 the top of one of the hives, being quite 

 rotten, was knocked off, and the bees 

 began to come out by the hundreds. I 

 jumped from the wagon, pulled the pin 

 out of the double-tree, and got the mules 

 away in less time than I can tell it, and, 

 although the bees attacked me and stung 

 me terribly, I got the mules away with- 

 out getting them stung but a few times. 

 A bee sting does not hurt me much, but 

 I procured some soda and water, with 

 which I bathed my head, and soon was 

 all right. I could do nothing with the 

 bees that day, however, so waited until 

 night, then closed the hive securely, and 

 had no further trouble. 



We have no trouble here wintering 

 bees, unless we let them starve, and I 

 find it much easier to see that my bees 

 have plenty of stores in the Fall, than 

 to be examining them in the Winter. See 

 that they are all right in the Fall, and 

 one need not trouble himself much about 

 his bees again until Spring. I have 



