180 



Tmm «MEmi<ciiif mmm jQ^^mnmi^. 



,,„ -^-^-.-.- ^. ■■,., . « . «.> .■.>. »»«.«.«>«««■ ■ ^ ■ J « l ««« -L !' l ' ^ ' ■'**** 



f «>*»»fca>A 



were bees were indispensable in promoting 

 the settinR of fruits, especially in squashes, 

 melons, etc., and the fertilizing of beans, 

 clover and peas, which could not go on with- 

 out the aid of bees. 



Tlie ^Veatlter in England.— The 



British Bee Journal for March 1, 1888, con- 

 tains the following item on the comparative 

 weather in Great Britain and North 

 America : 



While in the great northwest of North 

 America we are told that those awful visi- 

 tations called "blizzards" (i. e., tornados pt 

 icy particles) have swept over large dis- 

 tricts, destroying man and beast, that the 

 ■whole country was freezing with the ther- 

 mometer ranging from 50° to 60° beloio zero 

 for several weeks, and then suddenly rose 

 to 50° and eo- ahove zero, " causing the bees 

 to sport in the balmy air," here, in old Eng- 

 land, a week of unusually mild weather 

 over the whole country was followed by a 

 change to the opposite extreme, and for the 

 * last fortnight the earth has been frost-bound 

 and covered in all parts by deep snow, the 

 storms having begun in the north ot Scot- 

 land, and spread southward, until the whole 

 face of the land is covered with an icy gar- 

 ment of snow. From Scotland, Ireland, 

 Wales, Somerset, Cornwall, Jersey, 1 ranee, 

 Spain, Switzerland, etc., the same accounts 

 reach us, of snow and frost in abundance 

 with cutting, searching north and east 

 winds, such as the oldest inhabitants never 

 remember to have occurred at this season 

 of the year, when we were all looking for 

 balmy airs and gentle zephyrs to usher in 

 the spring. In our southern counties the 

 hazel catkins were beginning to appear, the 

 dead nettle and sneedwells were in bloom, 

 and on sheltered banks beneath the hedge- 

 rows the spring flowers were bursting into 

 bloom, when horrid Winter, with icy hand, 

 again seizes upon every scrap of vegetation 

 and nips it in the bud. And still, as we 

 write, snow on the hills, snow in the valleys, 

 snow everywhere, and snow still falling! 

 But we shall be told that vegetation was 

 getting forward, that a check was required, 

 that better now than later (yes, if we do not 

 get it later as well) that— 



" February should fill the dyke, 

 And it with the white 

 It's the better to like." 



Well, let those like it who can, but we do 

 not think our bees will be among the num- 

 ber By the cutting, withering blasts, and 

 driving, piercing snow, their numbers will 

 certainly be thinned, and many a colony 

 will fail to greet the sunshine— when it 

 comes— with murmuring joyful hum and 

 gaily quivering wing. For ourselves we 

 shall in the future certainly pray, in dear 

 old Virgil's words— " Di taJem fejTis a-ucr- 

 Utepestmi-0, ye gods, avert such a 

 scouige from the earth." 



Anollier Blo>v.— At the Maine Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention, the President, in his 

 annual address, gives another blow at the 

 infamous lie of Prof. Wiley about manu- 

 factured comb-honey. He said : 



We have just passed through one of the 

 hardest seasons in our.pursuit that has been 

 known for many years. It is said there is 

 never a cloud so dark but it has a silver 

 lining. I think it is not hard to see at the 

 present time that this poor season may be a 

 blessing in disguise, and may work for the 

 good of our business. 



Our large markets had got over-stocked 

 with honey, prices had been knocked down 

 by shipping honey into the already over- 

 stocked markets, until honey was selling at 

 ruinous prices. 



The Wiley lie was floating over the coun- 

 try, that there were numerous manufac- 

 tories where bee-comb was manufactured 

 and filled with glucose syrup, and sealed 

 over with hot irons. The newspapers 

 wafted this story along, and thousands be- 

 lieved the story, although it was so incon- 

 sistent. „ ., a , 



This failure of honey from the flowers has 

 cleared out the honey markets, so that com- 

 mission men have called loudly for honey, 

 at good prices. Where are these gluco- 

 manufactories all this time, that they allow 

 the markets to become so bare of honey 

 even at the doubled-up prices ? This ought 

 to open the eyes of the community on this 

 subject, and strike a death-blow to that in- 

 famous lie. 



Bees and «rapcs.— The editor of 

 Popular Oardcning, when commenting 

 upon the late meeting of the Michigan Hor- 

 ticultural Convention, and the discussion 

 upon the value of bees to grape-growers, 

 says that nearly all the testimony was in 

 favor of the bees, and then adds : 



Mr. J. A. Pearce had a new point in their 

 favor. He said that birds punctured a large 

 number of his early grapes, and the juice 

 ran out, disfiguring the clusters, and he 

 thought they would be entirely unsalable. 

 But tlie bees came to his rescue and sucked 

 up all the oozing juice, cleaning out the in- 

 jured grapes, so that a slight brush vvould 

 rub off the dry skins, thus the unpunctnred 

 grapes were clean, and he was able to put 

 them on the market, securing fair remuner- 

 ation for them. Many instances were given 



Fastening' Fonndation in sections 

 has been commented upon several times, 

 and some machines described in these 

 columns. On page 171, Mr. Eden made 

 some statements about such machines in 

 general, and on the one made by Mr. 

 Alpaugh in particular. To this the latter 

 objects ; and, in justice to him, we must let 

 him make the following correction : 



As Mr. Eden in his article on page 171, re- 

 fers more to me than any one else, I would 

 like to correct some of his statements. He 

 says, " one of the faults with the majority 

 of machines is, that they cannot be adjusted 

 to different sized sections, some machines 

 (and Mr. Alpaugh's is one of them) can 

 only fasten foundation into 4-piece sections, 

 and that before they are put together." I 

 would like to contradict that statement ; 

 one of my machines in use not far from 

 where he lives (made a year ago), was made 

 to suit sections of different sizes, and I have 

 now arranged the machine so that it will 

 fasten foundation in either I or 4 piece sec- 

 tions, and width from 1 to 3 inches, either 

 before or after the section is put together, 

 either for full sheets or starters. 



In my last, I omitted to state : No mat- 

 ter what the temperature is, so long as it 

 will permit the foundation to be handled. 

 Jacob Alpaugh. 



Our correspondents should be careful 

 when making statements, to knoiv that they 

 are correct before they are allowed to ap- 

 pear in print. 



Mr. R. A. GrimsUaw, in the British 

 Bee Journal, says that the " bee-disease " 

 so-called which, sometimes affects bee-keep- 

 ers (Mr. Heddon for instance) is "pollen- 

 cold," or hay-fever. He prints, side by 

 side, the symptoms ot it given by the latter 

 and Dr. Mackenzie in his work on "the 

 catarrhal symptoms of hay-fever." Mr. 

 Grimshaw then adds : 



If we read what Pastor Schonfeld tells us 

 on " What do bees use in winter when the 

 pollen collected by them is exhausted ?" we 

 shall find plenty of evidence that there is 

 plenty of pollen at hand in the hive in win- 

 ter, in old combs, cell-walls, and margins, 

 membranes left by the nymphs, and in the 

 excreta of larva: at the bottom of the cells. 

 He shows that even the stomach of the bee, 

 let alone that ot the larva, is unable to make 

 all the pollen-grains yield up their contents, 

 by reason of the hardiness of the extine re- 

 sisting their digestive or assimilative juices. 

 Now when bees go out of their hives silvern 

 and golden in hue, the body hairs covered 

 with pollen, bent, as the insects are, in 

 making the most of a honey glut, and leav- 

 ing the pollen-cleaning until dark, the 

 whole hive will be not unlike a flour-mill, 

 the air charged with floating grains. If 

 one, at this time, only take a peep under the 

 edge of the quilt (even has a smelt at the 

 bees, as Mr. Heddon puts it) a current of 

 hot air rushes out of the opening, carrying 

 on it myriads of pollen-grains to the nos- 

 trils. By the showing of various bee-keep- 

 ers, the disease instantly begins its course. 

 What theory so reasonable as that he gets it 

 from pollen grains fanned about by multi- 

 tudes of agitated wings, especially when the 

 apparent causes and symptoms are so iden- 

 tical with those of hay-fever known under 

 other names, e. g., pollen catarrh, summer 

 catarrh, idiosyncratic catarrh, rose-cold, 

 peach-cold, and pollen poisoning ? 



I do not doubt that the bee which flew 

 close past Mr. Heddon's face, and gave him 

 an attack, instead of discharging poison, 

 wafted pollen-grains, which he inhaled. In 

 short, with the infinitesimal percentage of 

 people who are subject to pollen-poisoning, 

 to keep off certain flora gives immunity, and 

 equally keep away from the pollen collected 

 by the bee, and there is no bee-disease, 

 rrtie two must be identical. 



My remarks, however imperfect, would be 

 still more so if I did not say something with 

 regard to prevention, etc. Dr. Morel Mac- 

 kenzie says, " If the poison be continually 

 introduced into the system, the antidote, if 

 one exists, can have but little chance of 

 effecting a cure. Change of residence, 

 from the country to the seaside or town, is 

 recommended," (keep oft the bees). And 

 (strange to say, but welcome to bee-keep- 

 ers), he recommends also a veil to be worn 

 over the face. "I have found a 'double 

 gossamer ' veil, which can be had in several 

 colors, answer the purpose in some cases. 

 Protected in this way many people predis- 

 posed to hay-fever escape altogether." Verb, 

 sap. Tobacco-smoke sometimes afi^ords re- 

 lief. One part salicylic acid to 1,000 of 

 water, snuffed up the nostrils cuts short the 

 disease. fBinz.) 



Prevention being better than cure, let 

 those who are susceptible wear a fine silk 

 veil. 



Tlic Brttisli Bee-Keepers' Ad- 

 viser is the name of the new monthly pub- 

 lished at two shillings per annum. Address 

 J. Huckle, King's Langley, Herts, England. 



Mew Catalogues for 1888 are on our 

 desk, from the following persons: 



Edward R. Newcnmb, Pleasant "Valley, N. 

 Y.— 37 pages— Bee-Hives and Bee-Keepers' 

 Supplies Generally. This is the handsomest 

 catalogue ot bee-keepers' supplies issued for 

 the present year. 



J. E. Pryor, Dexter, Iowa— 8 pages— Bees, 

 Honey and Supplies. 



J. C. Sayles, Hartford, Wis.— 9 pages- 

 Apiarian Supplies. 



