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Mr. Cheshire's second volume, entitled 

 " Bees and Bee-Keeping," is on our desk. 

 It contains 650 pages, and Is nearly twice as 

 thick as the first volume, which was devoted 

 to the " Scientific " portion. This book 

 presents the " Practical " part of bee-keep- 

 ing. Like the former, it is beautifully 

 printed and bound, in the highest style of 

 the art. These volumes can be obtained at 

 this office : Vol. I, ^2.50 ; Vol. II, $3.00. 



After reviewing the Langstroth and 

 Quinby hives, the Bingham hive is described 

 and the author remarks concerning it : 



If the bees are to be examined, the hive 

 can be opened at any desired spot ; increase 

 or decrease, division or union ; even tiering 

 up, can be performed with celerity. For 

 the latter purpose, however, the Bingham 

 hive is most suitable. 



Mr. Cheshire then introduces and illus- 

 trates the Heddon hive, and of the divided 

 bee-spaces remarks : 



This principle of allowing a half bee- 

 space above and below, in each horizontal 

 section of the hive, so that the needed ?§- 

 inch, and no more, is given in any possible 

 combination, is a salient and new feature in 

 the Heddon. 



The queen-excluding honey-board with 

 alternate perforated zinc and wood strips, 

 as used on the Heddon hives, is approved 

 by Mr. Cheshire. While criticising and 

 disapproving of the " close-ended frames " 

 of the Heddon hive, he says : 



We must, to be fair, remember that the 

 idea is to manipulate hives, not frames, and 

 that almost every required operation can, 

 it is held, be performed without the re- 

 moval of the latter. 



After comparing it with Mr. Hooker's 

 (English) hive, the author remarks thus : 



It would be both unphilosophical and un- 

 fair thus to dismiss the Heddon without 

 noting that it has called our attention to 

 some points of great moment, and that it 

 has also interwoven with old plans, novel 

 methods which will hereafter make their 

 mark. It is narrowness, not patriotism, 

 that Would deny to one of another country 

 his full meed of praise, and I conceive that 

 the unprejudiced will not dispute that the 

 half bee-space in each hive section, and in 

 the bottom-board— the narrovp, abbutting 

 edges, giving possibility of rapid handling— 

 and the general hivertibility of the whole, 

 although associated, perhaps, with some 

 crudities, yet mark another hill-top passed 

 m the progressive march of practical api- 

 culture. 



The "Alley drone and queen trap" is 

 illustrated and described, with others of 

 English make. They call them "swarm 

 arrestors." What we call "comb founda- 

 tion," is herem named " wax midrib." The 

 Root, Van Deusen and Pelham comb foun- 

 dation is described, after giving a general 

 history of the invention. Of bee-smokers, 

 Mr. Cheshire, after mentioning many kinds, 

 remarks thus : 



All the different forms of these are prac- 

 ticably reduced to two— the Bingham and 

 the Clark — The Bingham is mostly used, 

 and is my preference. 



Mr. Henry Alley's method of queen-rear- 

 ing is fully described and illustrated. Mr. 

 Cheshire disagrees with Mr. Alley in some 

 details of management. 



Folding or one-piece sections are de- 

 scribed, illustrated and approved, and 

 many section-cases are represented. 



The history of the honey-extractor is re- 

 counted, many kinds are delineated, and 

 the salient points of each detailed. Of un- 

 capping knives, Mr. Cheshire remarks : 



Thin-bladed knives, turned up near the 

 end, to permit of cutting into hollows, are 

 frequently used, hut the Binghani-Hether- 

 ington knife is justly the favorite. The 

 stout blade is so beveled that it must be 

 kept up from the comb, whereby the 

 " cling '^ is greatly reduced. The edge 

 should be keen, and the hollow front per- 

 mits of sharpening on a hone. It is helpful 

 to use the knife hot ; the best plan being to 

 have a pair— one standing in heated water 

 while the other is in hand. The water 

 should not boil, or the wax will be melted 

 and adhere to the knife, delaying the 

 operation. 



But we cannot pursue it further in this 

 brief review. It is a pity that the book 

 should have been published in "parts," for, 

 when put together, its subjects are consid- 

 erably mixed up, and there is some repeti- 

 tion. The chapter on hives is bewildering, 

 especially to a beginner. If the book had 

 been written more concisely, and less of 

 the minor details given, it could have been 

 published in one volume, and would have 

 been far more acceptable to American 

 readers. Its price is not excessive for the 

 amount of matter given, but at one-third the 

 price with a corresponding , quantity, it 

 would have found its way into thousands 

 of apiaries where now it will never be seen. 

 We are sorry to notice that the author 

 used the adjective "apiarian" instead of 

 the noun " apiarist." He repeatedly calls 

 queen-rearing, queen-raising ; and also 

 mentions drone-raising and worker-raising. 

 In speaking of laying worker-bees, he in- 

 correctly calls them " fertile workers." 



While he enumerates many American 

 inventions, methods, and prominent api- 

 arists, several of the latter are conspicuous 

 by the absence of their names, which can- 

 not be accounted for by an oversight. This, 

 with some other defects we have noticed, 

 prove the correctness of the poetic quota- 

 tion on page 195 of his book : 



" He that expects a perfect thing to see, 



Expects what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be." 



Bees Ciatlieriug; Honey in Jan- 

 nary.— H. G. Burnett writes to the Florida 

 Farmer and Fruit Grower, as follows : 



It does the heart of the bee-keeper good 

 to hear the bees hum in these bright, sun- 

 shiny January days. How busy they are ! 

 From daylight till dark they are busy 

 rifling the purple bloom of the pennyroyal 

 of its hidden nectar. I pause frequently in 

 my work in the nursery or garden, thinking 

 I hear a "swarm," but it is the roar of the 

 wings of the busy thousands going or re- 

 turning heavy laden with their precious 

 spoils. It reminds me of my experiences 

 in old Iowa, during a good "clover season," 

 only the clover bloom seldom lasted over a 

 month, while the pennyroyal lasts four 

 months here. 



Bees are now building up — some even 

 starting queen-cells for swarming— and all 

 are fast filling the upper stories of the 

 hives with the thick, heavy, mmty-flavored 

 pennyroyal honey. 



1 have seen bees at work late in the day 

 on pennyroyal bloom that in the morning 

 was white with frost. The pennyroyal is 

 very persistent in honey secretion. I have 

 watched the bees working on one clump of 

 plants day after dav for over three months, 

 and have counted over a dozen bees at work 

 there at one time, and if the day and hour 

 were propitious, never less than half a 

 dozen, yet the " supply " seemed equal to 

 the "demand." 



Xlie Oeneral Opinion is that the 

 bees are wintering finely so far. Mr. T. F. 

 Bingham writes : " Here the bees are win- 

 tering very finely, I think, though they have 

 yet had no chance to fly." 



Mr. C. H. Dibbem, of Milan, Ills., on the 

 4th inst., wrote as follows : 



We have not had a day warm enough for 

 bees to fly,for more than two months. This 

 morning it was 23° below zero. Bee-keepers 

 who winter out-doors, will lose disastrously. 

 Mr. Wright, near Davenport, Iowa, has al- 

 ready lost 100 colonies out of 140. Others in 

 this vicinity have suffered nearly as much. 

 Bees in winter repositories are all right. 



Mr. C. H. Putnam, of Galesburg, Ills., on 

 Feb. 8, wrote as follows about the bees : 



" Tlie Western Bee-Keeper, es- 

 pecially adapted to apiculture in the Miss- 

 issippi Valley— West,Northwest and South- 

 west," is the title of anew quarterly pub- 

 lished by Joseph Nysewander, Des Moines, 

 Iowa, at 25 cents a year. The first number 

 came to hand on the 13th, just as our last 

 issue was printed. It contains 16 pages, is 

 nicely printed, and has 12 pages of reading 

 matter, comprising many items of interest. 

 This makes the second bee-paper already 

 started in the first month of a year succeed- 

 ing the most notable failure of a honey crop 

 in a decade. The nerue of the publishers 

 deserves success, and their papers are a 

 credit to the pursuit. 



Having just examined my bees, I can re- 

 port that, thus far, they are in excellent 

 condition, and are wintering finely. They 

 are very quiet, and no signs of disease are 

 visible as yet. 



I have now 114 colonies, which were put 

 into winter quarters on Dec. 12 and 21, 1887, 

 which was the latest they ever remained 

 out. They are in two double-walled bee- 

 houses, where successful wintering has 

 been the rule for several years. 



The temperature at which the bees re- 

 main in the most quiet state is 42° to 45° 

 above zero. Last season was the poorest 

 that I have known in the 15 years! have 

 been in this locality. I had only one new 

 swarm, and no surplus honey worth men- 

 tioning from 113 strong colonies in the 

 spring of 1887. The most of them had suf- 

 ficient honey to carry them through the 

 winter, though lest some might come short 

 I fed a quantity of old extracted honey re- 

 maining on hand. Last fall I weighed each 

 colony separately, and allowed them from 

 30 to 35 pounds of honey each, after deduct- 

 ing the weight of hive, frames, combs, etc. 



While it is rather discouraging to contem- 

 plate the dismal failure of the past year, it 

 may yet prove a " blessing in disguise," and 

 if we only have a good season this year, I 

 shall not complain. 



