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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



One-Hyed Bees.— Mr. N. Stain- 

 inger, of Tipton, Iowa, has sent us a 

 malformed bee, having but one eye, and 

 asked what was the cause of the sport. 

 We sent it to Prof. Coolv for reply. His 

 rapturous joy over the monstrosity 

 brought the following, which will be 

 read with much interest : 



A Cyclopean Woeker-Bee. — That 

 does not mean a giant bee, nor even one 

 extra large, but refers to a bee with but 

 one eye. A large crescent-shaped eye, 

 symmetrically placed in the middle of its 

 head. 



1 have received all sorts of monstrosi- 

 ties among bees, but nothing before like 

 this. 



I need not tell you, Mr. Editor, that I 

 was delighted to get this. The bee is in 

 no otherwise peculiar, except, of course, 

 that it has no simple eyes or ocelli. The 

 vertex, back of the eye, is about as wide 

 as the eye, and very hairy. It is a 

 curiosity that would grace any insect 

 cabinet, and delight any entomologist. 

 I wish Mr. Staininger would carefully 

 look over the bees of this colony, and 

 see if he does not find some more. 



I think such malformations come from 

 some abnormal condition of the queen, 

 and, if so, the finding of one would 

 suggest th'C probability that more were 

 at hand. 



I am pleased for another reason, to 

 find such unique examples. They argue 

 a very observant bee-keeper. The very 

 nature of apiculture tends to make its 

 patrons close observers, and it takes 

 sharp eyes to discover such curiosities. 



Last year it was our. enterprising 

 young friend, J. T. Timpe ; now Mr. N. 

 Staininger. Who will it be next ? 



I hope that Mr. S. can send me some 

 more of these uniques. I hope that he 

 knows the colony from which this came. 

 A. J. Cook. 



entomologist, had for their object the 

 control of the fertilization of the queen, 

 whereby bee-keepers would be able to 

 improve the disposition and the honey- 

 producing qualities of their bees %y 

 selection, in the same manner ii; which 

 the stock breeder and the fruit-grower 

 have for so many years successfully 

 improved our domestic products. There 

 is reason to believe that this can be 

 accomplished with reference to the bee ; 

 but there are many other ways in which 

 the Department can help the bee-keeper 

 in investigations upon a scale which 

 neither individuals nor associations can 

 afford to pursue. This is especially true 

 in reference to the study and introduc- 

 tion of bee-plants from sections of the 

 country or other parts of the world 

 where they are valuable, into sections 

 where they are not yet known. This 

 applies also to the iijtroduction of bees 

 known to have desirable -qualities, as, 

 for instance, the Apis dorsata of Ceylon. 



Xlie Report of the Secretary of 

 Agriculture for 1890 is on our desk, 

 marked " with the compliments of Sec- 

 retary Rusk." On page 29 we discover 

 the following, which will be of interest 

 to apiarists : 



The increased appropriation to .this 

 division will justify renewed attention 

 to the subject of bee-culture, and plans 

 are being formed to carry on whatever 

 investigations will tend to advance this 

 important industry. The investigations 

 already made under direction of the 



Sljvariiiiiig has commenced. - A few 

 swarms are reported on page 740, and 

 here is another report, received just as 

 these forms are being closed. Mr. D. 

 McLean, of Delavan,Wis., wrote thus on 

 May 29, 1891: 



My first swarm came out on May 29, 

 from an Italian colony. I have 40 colo- 

 nies, and all seem to be in fine condition, 

 promising generous increase. 



Procrastination. — A word of 

 warning is given in' the Prairie Farmer 

 by Mrs. L. Harrison, of Peoria, Ills, 

 about having necessary supplies at hand 

 when needed. She says : 



The poet has well said thai " Procras- 

 tination is the thief of time." This very 

 cunning fellow has stolen much from bee- 

 keepers by telling them, " Time enough 

 yet ; wait and see if you need them be- 

 fore ordering hives, sections, etc." Last 

 year many colonies swarmed and emi- 

 grated for lack of hives to put them in, 

 and honey wasted for want of sections. 

 Bee-keeping, instead of being a heaven- 

 born pleasure, became a fret and worri- 

 ment. Factories ran night and day dur- 

 ing the busy season to keep up with their 

 orders and then failed. Goods sometimes 

 go astray, and are many weeks in tran- 

 sit, and when they arrive at their desti- 

 nation, the honey-shower is over. 



