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perhaps lias suggested aa idea, nnin- 

 tentioually, it may be, that not only 

 sets us to thinking, but to experiment- 

 ing in various directions. 



The Bee»' Sting. 

 To many, the bee is an "animal" 

 onlj' to be avoided, to throw stones at 

 their hives, like a lot of boys would at 

 a hornet's nest. Of course such people 

 do not like bees, and the bees soon 

 learn to make the matter mutual. 

 Their only interest is in the honey, if 

 they could only get it away from them. 

 There's the rub, they are afraid of 

 those horrid stings. Now why did an 

 all-wise Creator provide the sting, for 

 is it not said that He made nothing in 

 vain ? Is it not easy to understand 

 that without this weapon of defense — 

 and they perhaps never use it only in 

 defense — the poor bees would have 

 had a hard time of it all these years ? 

 Ancient History of Bees. 



Bees existed, perhaps, before man 

 was created. Herman mentions them, 

 and they are referred to often in the 

 Bible. Indeed their product, honej', 

 was the only sweet known for hun- 

 dreds of years. They have co-existed 

 with man from the earliest times, some- 

 times cared for, but more generallj' 

 neglected or hunted like the wild 

 beast. In our own times, who does 

 not remember the brimstone pit, where, 

 after a season of patient toil, the poor 

 bees were needlessly slaughtered for a 

 mess of honey, bee-bread, brood and 

 old comb ? But a better day has come 

 for the bees as well as the bee-keeper. 

 From the writings of such men as 

 Ruber, Quinby, and Langstrotli, and 

 the light shed broadcast over the land 

 by our bee-papers, we have learned 

 the better way. We no longer " rob" 

 the bees, but by our care, knowledge, 

 and kind treatment, manage them in 

 such a way that they produce much 

 more honej- for us than formerly, and 

 the bee-keeper not only leaves them an 

 aliundanoc for winter, but in times of 

 M-arcity provides them with the needed 

 scores. 



When we think of the great progress 

 til at has been made in the last quarter 

 of a century, of all the books that have 

 lieen written, the conventions that are 

 lield, and the papers that are pub- 

 lished, we often wonder if the time 

 will ever come when man will know 

 all that can be learned about so simple 

 a creature as the honey-bee. Will it 

 be in a hundred years, or will it be 

 when lie has counted and named the 

 last star that can be observed through 

 the great Lick telescope ? 



Preparing Feed for Bees. 



In studying over the losses that have 

 been reported, we begin to fear that it 

 was not the cold that killed them, but 

 that they were thoughtlessly poisoned. 



The honey crop last year was so poor 

 thas many colonies had not enough for 

 winter, and feeding had to be resorted 

 to. A good many had never fed any- 

 thing to the bees before. The bee- 

 papers came promptly to our aid with 

 well written articles by some of the 

 most successful apiarists, describing 

 fully the kind of sugar to buy, in what 

 proportion to mix it with water and 

 cream-of-tartar, etc. They forgot one 

 verj- important thing, howe^'cr, that 

 was to caution us not to boil it in cop- 

 per or galvanized iron vessels, and let 

 it stand in them. I came very near 

 making this same mistake. I had 

 boiled a batch of syrup, using cream- 

 of-tarter, in a copper wash-boiler, and 

 the next day noticed that the acid was 

 acting on the copper. I then emptied 

 it out, and made more to mix with it. 

 I fed it all, and so far do not see anj' 

 bad results from it. It shows, however, 

 how careful we should be in preparing 

 food for bees, as well as for ourselves. 

 Active Work— Winter Experiments. 



Well, the active work of the apiary 

 is once more upon us. The bees should 

 be removed to their summer stands as 

 soon this month as the weather be- 

 comes fine. If the weather continues 

 stormy, do not be tempted to put them 

 out, if in repositories, no matter if it is 

 April. If put out at such a time, many 

 will be lost by becoming chilled in 

 their attempts to fly,and spring dwind- 

 ling will surely result. If bees have 

 been out all winter, they will remain 

 in their hives, as they have had plenty 

 of pleasant days to fly. 



All colonies should be examined as 

 early as practicable, and their condi- 

 tion and wants ascertained and sup- 

 plied. If any are dead, the combs 

 should be taken care of, and stored for 

 use at swarming time, where the bees 

 cannot get at them. If the combs con- 

 tain any considerable honej' they ma)' 

 be given to such as are short. 



The colonies should be equalized, as 

 to bees and honey, as far as possible, 

 so as to give all a fair start. They 

 should have all the sunshine possible, 

 and do not be in a hurry .about putting 

 on honey sections. When there is 

 honey coming in, and bees are begin- 

 ning to get crowded is time enough. 

 Of course much depends on latitude. 

 In the South, they will be gathering 

 honey freely this month, while at the 

 North little can be expected. 



It is much better to devote all our 

 energies to induce the bees to breed 

 up to strong colonies this month and 

 next, to have them in extra good con- 

 dition for the clover and linden har- 

 vest, than to vainly spend time giving 

 them room they cannot occupy. 



From experiments made this winter, 

 our ideas of in-door wintering have 

 undergone a slight change. Hereto- 



fore it has been our aim to make the 

 cellar as warm as possible. This win- 

 ter more ventilation was given, and at 

 no time since the bees were put in last 

 November, has the temperature been 

 above 45<^. The consequence is that 

 the bees have remained clustered and 

 veiy quiet all the time, and very few 

 bees have died on the floor. They 

 have consumed only a small quantity 

 of stores, and their present condition 

 is the best for many years. April, 

 however, is a critical month for such 

 as are not well provided for, and a 

 good deal of feeding will have to be 

 done. 



Milan, Ills. 



BEE-LEG-ISLATION. 



Selling the Rig^lit to tlie Nectar 

 on Land. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. J. WXLLEK. 



Prof. A. J. Cook said at the Chicago 

 convention, that when land is sold, 

 the right to the nectar is not sold with 

 it. Taking that for law, then it must 

 be common property, and the people, 

 as such owners, have a light to de- 

 mand that it shall be gathered as 

 economically as possible. 



Let us look at the way in which it is 

 gathered now. Supposing one-half is 

 gathered by one-horse bee-keepers ; 

 they will get some bees to start with, 

 and let them do as thej' like, the result 

 is that each colony will cast from 3 to 

 5 swai'ms, thus using all the nectar to 

 rear young bees, only to die from neg- 

 lect. In this way the owners receive 

 but very little honey in exchange for 

 their nectar. The other half of the 

 producers being experts, b.it little 

 honey is wasted. 



Why is it not as much the people's 

 right to sell their nectar, as it is to sell 

 their land ? My plan would be to 

 have it sold off in townships, on the 

 same terms as school land is now sold, 

 the bees to be kept two miles from the 

 town lines, and the small producers to 

 have the privilege of keeping bees 

 until the owner of such territory has 

 a stipulated number of colonies of bees. 



The above plan would undoubtedly 

 raise a disturbance at first, the same as 

 .actual settlers do with " s(iuatters." 

 Can any one tell how many bee-farms 

 there would then be in the United 

 States ? One of the advantages of 

 this plan would be, the ease with which 

 the statistics could be gathered. 



But "to err, is human," so tlie pro- 

 fessor may be wrong ; or, what is more 

 probable, I may be wrong in my 

 deductions. 



Sandusky, Mich. 



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