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XH05IAS W. COWAN, ESQ. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, President of the North 

 American Bee-Keepers' Society, wrote us 

 as follows ou Jan. 3, 1S88 : " Yesterday I 

 received the following from Mr. Thos. W. 

 Cowan. Please insert in the Amekican 

 Bee Joubnal." 



8 Avenue de la Gare, Lausanne, 



Switzerland, Dec. 17, 1887. 



Dear Sib -.—I see by the American Bee 

 Joubnal that your Association has elected 

 me an honorary member; therefore, 1 

 should be glad if you, as President, would 

 convey from me the message that " 1 am ex- 

 tremely obliged for the honor conferred 

 upon me by the North American Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Society, in electing rae,by an unam 

 mous vote, an honorary member of the 

 Society. 1 shall henceforth as a member 

 take even a more lively interest in the wel- 

 fare and progress of the Society than form- 

 erly, and more particularly as I have be- 

 come personally acquainted with some of 

 its leading members." .... 1 read with much 

 interest the proceedings at your convention, 

 and regretted not being able to be present. 

 Yours truly, Thos. W. Cowan. 



To Dr. A. B. Mason. 



President Mason has sent us the follow- 

 ing responsive letter for publication : 



I am sure we all feel that in honoring Mr. 

 Cowan by electing him as an honorary 

 member of our Society, we honored our- 

 selves, and were glad of so good an oppor- 

 tunity to show him, in a feeble measure, 

 the high esteem in which he is held by the 

 bee-keepers of America. 



We should have been glad to have had 

 Mr. Cowan with us at the annual conven- 

 tion at Chicago, so that we could have had 

 the opportunity, in a more demonstrative 

 way, to have shown him what a cordial 

 greeting we could have given him. it would 

 have been a rare treat to have had him, m 

 his pleasant and inimitable way describe to 

 us the wonderful things his powerful micro- 

 scope would have shown us. The brief, 

 but enjoyable visit I had with hrm, is set 

 down as one of the bright spots in my life ; 

 and the very fine photograph of himself 

 that was enclosed in his letter, will be a 

 constant reminder of the visit to our land, 

 of one of England's best and noblest men. 

 A. B. Mason, 

 Pres. N. A. B. K. Society. 



P s _As the American Bee Jouenal 

 and the "Canadian Bee Journal" are the 

 only weekly bee-journals published, I send 

 the above to tlieni only, requesting other 

 apicultiural papers to copy same.— A. B. M. 



Putting Bees into Cellars.— 



It has become quite common to give bees 

 a flight during some warm spell in winter. 

 To take them from the cellar and return 

 them requires care, and some may inad- 

 vertently cause much damage by not know- 

 ing just how to do it. The " Canadian Bee 

 Journal " gives these excellent suggestions 

 about carrying the hives : 



If the hives are carried in one at a time in 

 your arms, the end of the frames should 

 stand lengthwise from you, because if the 

 frames stand sidewise, the sudden jar of 

 moving causes them to oscillate, disturbing 

 the bees, frequently breaking the clusters, 

 causing them to gorge themselves with 

 stores, and rendering the possibility of 

 wintering more difficult, because of the fact 

 that as it is usually warmer in the bee- 

 house than out-doors at the time of carrying 

 them in, they will not cluster again so 

 tightly in the bee-house or cellar. If placed 

 into winter quarters without being dis- 

 turbed, they, of course, remain clustered 

 in just that much more compact a form, and 

 will not consume nearly so much food. 



The same paper also gives these direc- 

 tions about how to prepare the hives for 

 handling when first taking them in or when 

 returnmg them to the cellar or bee-house : 



Before we start to carry them in we close 

 all the entrances, then if they should re- 

 ceive a slight jar that would otherwise dis- 

 turb them, seeing no light they are not 

 nearly as liable to become excited. Ihe 

 entrance-blocks are left on the hives in the 

 bee-house until all are in. After making 

 all dark inside, the entrance-blocks are re- 

 moved, leaving the entrance full width. 



many more of them would have been con- 

 sumed but I moved them out into the street, 

 and into the adjoining lot. My barn was 

 saved only by the prompt attention of a 

 good colored man, who got in the "mow" 

 and kept the hay well-soaked with water. 

 Although the barn was on fire for several 

 minutes,aiid burnt nearly all weather-board- 

 ing off of that side, it was saved. Should it 

 have burned I should have lost 18 colonies 

 of bees that I have in the upper story of the 

 bam, but luckily they were saved. 1 have 

 lost all of my bee-fi.xtures and extra hives, 

 and shall have to begin anew. 



From tUe liam«ls«nie gii-l's licad, 



lithographed in colors, nicely cut out, to the 

 last slip of the pad, Hood's Household Cal- 

 endar for 1888, is thoroughly artistic. Every 

 month is beautifully engraved, and each 

 slip as torn off presents a new and pleasing 

 combination of color printing. Hood's Cal- 

 endar easily leads the procession. It is nice 

 enough for any parlor, and has so many ex- 

 cellent points in arrangement and conven- 

 ience that it must be seen to be appreciated. 

 Copies may be obtained at the drug stores, 

 or by sending six cents in stamps to C. I. 

 Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass. 



Fire.— We are sorry to learn that Mr. S. 

 H. Rickard, of West Bridgewater, Pa., has 

 suffered a loss by fire. A local paper makes 

 the following remarks concerning the mis- 

 fortune : 



Some time between 3 and 4 o'clock the 

 residents of Bridgewater were awakened by 

 the cry of fire, which was followed shortly 

 after by the ringing of the foundry bell and 

 the blowing of the Hob-Nail Works' whistle. 



The residence of Mr. S. H. Rickard, on 

 Water street, was burning, and the flames 

 had already gained such headway that there 

 was no thought of extinguishing it. The 

 time in which to save the household goods 

 was quite limited, and only a few of them 

 were carried from the burning building, 

 and many of these only in pieces, rendering 

 them useless. In half an hour after the 

 first alarm was heard, the house was a heap 

 of smouldering ruins. 



Fire caught in the kitchen, and is sup- 

 posed to have been caused by the increase 

 in the pressure of gas in the Heat and Light 

 Company's main, from which gas was ob- 

 tained. J , X,, 



The family was awakened by the noise 

 made by the fire, and had barely time to 

 escape. A domestic in the employ of the 

 family ran in her night clothes to the stable, 

 where she was compelled to remain until 

 clothes were brought to her. Most of the 

 clothing belonging to the members of the 

 family was destroyed. The building and 

 contents, together with the out-buildings, 

 was insured in the Sun Fire Insurance Com- 

 pany, of London, England, for S900. It was 

 valued by Mr. Rickard at at least $1,500. 



In a letter Mr. Rickard recounts the loss 

 in this language : 



Besides the house and furniture, I lost 

 several good colonies of bees, which took 

 tire in the yard from the intense heat ; and 



moving Bees in IVinter.— Mrs. 



L. Harrison, in the "Prairie Farmer" 

 for last week, makes these remarks on the 

 above subject: 



As a rule it is not best to disturb bees 

 during cold weather. It arouses them to 

 activity, and some of them get away from 

 the cluster, become chilled and perish. The 

 combs are brittle and break loose easily 

 when it is cold. 



Before I became a bee-keeper I thought 

 that bees could not be moved in any other 

 way than on runners, and have learned no 

 better way since, if they must be moved 

 during cold weather. Place hay or straw in 

 the bottom of the sled, and take every pre- 

 caution against a jar. Two very careful 

 persons working together, might lift them 

 so easily they would never know it. Places 

 should be fixed to stand the hives upon, and 

 they should be removed from the sled at 

 once. If they are left in the sled over night, 

 and the next day prove warm, they might 

 fly out and get mixed up, and then be ma- 

 terially damaged. 



In moving bees at any time of the year, it 

 is well to put something in front of the hive 

 to obstruct their flight— to bump their heads, 

 as it were. This causes them to stop and 

 consider where they are, and take the 

 points of the compass. 



I once moved bees late in autumn, from 

 one part of the apiary to another, and the 

 first time they flew, which was six weeks 

 afterwards, they went back to their old 

 stand. The next day I gathered up hand- 

 fuls of them clustered where the entrance 

 of their hive had formerly been. 



l^e-w' Catalogues for 1888 are on our 

 desk, from the following persons: 



Christian Weckesser, Marshallville, O.— 

 20 pages— Queen-Bees, Garden Seeds, etc. 



A. I. Root, Medina, O.— 40 pages— Api- 

 arian and other implements. 



M. H. Hunt, Bell Branch, Mich.— 12 pages 

 —Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



Jacob Alpaugh, St. Thomas, Ont, sends 

 sample section and comb foundation. 



SnoTT around the hives is no detriment. 

 It is porous, and enough air can penetrate it 

 for ventilation in winter. When it forms 

 ice at the entrance, then it must be cleaned 

 away. An examination during and after a 

 thaw is very necessary. 



Xlie Convention. — The pamphlet 

 containing the report of the proceedings of 

 the Union Convention in Chicago, is now 

 published, and can be obtained at this office 

 for 25 cents. Or bound' up with the history 

 of the International Society, and a full re- 

 port of the Detroit and Indianapolis conven- 

 tions, for .50 cents, postpaid. 



