AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



551 



of sugar, it would be very unsafe Winter 

 food. I believe it is very desirable that 

 some safe reliable information upon the 

 rudiments of apiculture should be given 

 in the readers in our schools. — A. C. 

 BuGBEE, in the Indiana Farmer. 



[While revising the above-mentioned 

 text-book, it would be well, also, to give 

 to the honey-bee the correct gender, as 

 the worker-bees are not males. The 

 only males in the colony are the drones, 

 which do not gather honey, nor do any 

 work whatever, — Ed.] 



The Apiculturist. 



The April number of this, periodical is 

 adorned with an artistic cover and inside 

 title. It is, as usual, filled with valuable 

 reading matter. Here are a few of its 

 items on queen-bees : 



Imported queens are very dark, and 

 their progeny resemble American hybrid 

 Italians. 



So far as our experience goes in 

 importing queens, we are free to say 

 that our foreign friends do not thor- 

 oughly understand the art of rearing 

 them. 



The best queen-bees produced are 

 reared by American bee-keepers. They 

 excel in points of color, size and purity, 

 as well as in honey-gathering qualities. 

 Is this saying too much for us ? 



A queen-bee is very tenacious of life. 

 We have sometimes injured the head, or 

 other parts of their bodies, and have 

 seen the queen turn over, apparently 

 dead, but in a few moments they would 

 revive and come up as lively as ever. 



Then, again, a good queen rarely, if 

 ever, skips a cell ; the inferior queen 

 will " jump " a good many. It seems to 

 us that even the novice can judge of the 

 quality of a queen, if these simple rules 

 are observed. 



When a queeu commences to lay, she 

 deposits a few eggs on one side of the 

 comb, and then goes to the other side 

 and lays in those cells exactly opposite. 

 This she continues to do till the entire 

 comb is filled. 



A good queen, when in the act of 

 depositing her eggs, always has her 

 head pointing towards the bottom of the 

 hive, while an inferior one, when she 

 lays, is seldom found in that position. 

 This accounts for the fact that while the 

 eggs of the former are all laid in one 



position (perpendicular), those of the 

 latter are deposited in all ways. 



Do not crowd down the prices of 

 queens. They are low enough. If there 

 is to be any crowding done, let it be for 

 quality, and a higher price naturally 

 follows. There is nothing so cheap 

 about an apiary as a cheap queen. 



Glue for Adhering" to Tin. 



This is a recipe for making glue that 

 will make honey-labels adhere to tin. 

 Oliver Foster obtained the recipe of D. 

 E. Brubaker, and sent it to Gleanings, 

 giving his method of using it as follows : 



Stir two ounces of pulverized borax 

 into one quart of boiling water. When 

 dissolved, add four ounces of gum 

 shellac. Stir while it boils, until all is 

 dissolved. Apply with a brush in the 

 usual way. 



I prefer using a little less water, 

 especially if the labels are small and 

 stiff ; then if it becomes too thick to 

 apply readily, warm it a little, or add a 

 little hot water. After applying the 

 label, I press a damp cloth over it to 

 press out and wipe off any surplus glue 

 that may come to the edge. 



General Sherman Loved Honey. 



Among other incidents recounted by 

 Col. Belknap, was one that occurred in 

 1864, when Gen. Sherman was near 

 Chattanooga. One day the General ex- 

 pressed a desire to have some honey. 

 There were some hives upon debatable 

 ground between the two armies. They 

 had escaped the hands of the foragers 

 for some time. Turning to Belknap one 

 day. Uncle Billy said : 



" If you can find one convenient. Cap- 

 tain, I wish you would bring in a good 

 bee gum." 



That was enough for the Michigan 

 captain. In a jiffy he mounted his horse 

 and was off. With a little squad of 

 troopers he made a raid upon the 

 " gums." After selecting the most 

 likely in appearance, he turned it over 

 and clapped the half of a peep tent over 

 the open end of it. A peep tent is what 

 is termed a shelter tent in the Army of 

 the Potomac. After the "gum" was 

 secured, it was lifted up in front of Bel- 

 knap, who was still astride his horse. He 

 held it in place with his left arm, and 

 gave a free rein to his steed. 



Away he went at full gallop, headed 

 for Sherman's tent. The squad. 



