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EDITOR, 



VoiniY. Jttlyl8,1888. No. 29. 



Raise tlie piclcens for the chickens, 



Kaise tlie baby on your knee, 

 But never raise a rumpus 



With a nimble houey-bee. 



Don't you slight him, don't you fight him, 



Even on your own domain ; 

 If vou do it, you will rue it 



While you wrestle with a pain. 



Don't you boss him, don't you cross him 

 When the tlowers are in bloom ; 



It you meet him, try to greet him 

 With respect aud lots of room. 



■^Ve Regret to learn that Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison has been quite seriously ill. Her last 

 letter to us was written while propped up in 

 bed, with a bowl of ice and a spoon in it by 

 her side. She is convalescing now, and we 

 hope will soon be well again. 



Xo Prevent Slings.— Nearly every 

 one is aware that the humaa body is cov- 

 ered witli many thousands of tiny pores in 

 the skin, and that health depends largely 

 upon keeping these pcires open by frequent 

 bathing. From the facts given by W. L. 

 Wilder, in a recent numlier of Science, it 

 would appear that these pores are so many 

 mouths, capable of opening and closing in 

 unison with the action of the lungs. Mr. 

 Wilder says : 



It is a fact not generally known, that if 

 one holds his breath, wasps, bees and hor- 

 nets can be handled with impunity. The 

 skin becomes sting-proof, and, holding the 

 insect by the feet, aud givina her full liberty 

 of action, you can see her drive her weapon 

 against the impenetrable surface with a 

 force that lifts her body with every stroke, 

 but let the smallest quantity of air escape 

 from the lungs, and the sting will penetrate 

 at once. I have never seen an exception to 

 this in 25 years' observation. 1 have tauaht 

 young ladies with very delicate hands to 

 astonish their friends by the performance 

 of this feat, and I saw one so severely stung 

 as to require the services of a physician, 

 through laughing at a witty remark of her 

 sister, forgetting that laughing required 

 breath. For a theory in explanation I am 

 led to believe that holding the breath 

 partially closes the pores of the skin. My 

 experiments in that direction have not been 

 exact enough to be of any scientific value, 

 but I am satisfied that it very sensibly af- 

 fects the amount of insensible perspiration. 



We have repeatedly called attention to the 

 fact that it has been proven that any one 

 can prevent being stung by holding the 

 breath. If it is a fact, as Mr. Wilder avers, 

 that the Jungs and pores act in concert, and 

 that when breathing the pores open and 

 close involuntarily, then the peculiarity of 

 the situation is fully explained. We would 

 commend this suljject to the attention of 

 the physicians and scientists of whom there 

 are hundreds on our subscription list. Let 

 some experiments be made to test the mat- 

 ter most fully, and then let our readers 

 learn the results in detail. 



Honey Prospects.— Mr. C. H. Dib- 

 bern, of Milan, Ills., in a letter just re- 

 ■ceived, gives this as his opinion concerning 

 the prospect of a honey crop for this year : 



About one-half of my colonies have 

 swarmed, and most of them are now work- 

 ing in the sections. Sweet clover is now in 

 full bloom, and the bees are just swarming 

 on it. Basswood is about done blooming, 

 and there is not much white clover, but 1 

 think it will come out again in August. I 

 think the prospect tor a large fall crop are 

 very good. 



Concerning the prospects in Canada for a 

 honey crop, Mr. R. F. Iloltermann, Brant- 

 ford, writes as follows : 



The clover in Canada is a complete fail- 

 ure. We sliall not have on an average 4 

 pounds to the colony. Basswood may yield 

 well in the western counties, but in the 

 eastern counties 1 doubt if it will do so, be- 

 cause the droutli is so great. The pasture 

 fields are all bare, and cattle are starving. 

 We shall have a poor yield generally, I feel 

 -certain. Basswood here is just opening. 



Open-Side Sections.— Mr. Walters. 

 Pouder, of Groesbeck, O., has sent us a 

 sample of his new sections. They are 

 nicely made, and show a considerable 

 amount of ingenuity, but as they could not 

 be used in the X-su per and ordinary crate 

 there will be but little chance for them to 

 come into use. Another point is that four- 

 piece sections are driven out of use by the 

 one-piece sections, and no four-piece sec- 

 tions can now fill the demand for these 

 useful receptacles. 



Astonishing. — The July number of 

 the Bee-Keepers' Ma^jazlne makes a strange 

 blunder. Everybody knows that the Ameri- 

 can Bee JounxAL and Qleanlngs have for 

 years been making a vigorous fight against 

 adulteration. The Magazine must have 

 been sleeping, and having just awakened 

 from a troublesome dream, perhaps, im- 

 agines that we have been on the other side 

 of this question. In its July number it says: 



We are at a loss to know why Oleanings 

 and the American Bee Journal, should 

 take sides with the adulterators who are 

 ruining the honey market of America. 



And so are everybody else " at a loss to 

 know" it— for it is not 80/ No sane man 

 would ever think of such a thing. 



All this is in reference to the " Report of 

 the Dairy Commissioner of New Jersey," 

 on the purity of honey, as published on page 

 387, and there commented upon. The Mag- 

 azine further says : 



By referring to page lOS of the Magazine, 

 it will be noted that at the head of the re- 

 sults of the analysis are placed the words, 

 "strained honey," and that the words 

 "comb honey" was simply the legend on 

 the label. Men who adulterate will not 

 hesitate to lie. 



The labels on this bottled honey, are as 

 great a lie as any Wiley ever told, and yet 

 Mr. Newman and Mr. Root both call the 

 man who put up this vile trash, " honorable 

 men." Shame on you, brother editors ! We 

 do not impute to you dishonnrable motives 

 in taking sides with these rascals.but simply 

 believe you do so through ignorance. We 

 propose to fight adulteration whenever and 

 wherever it appears. 



We repudiate the imputation— and posi- 

 tively deny that we called the persons who 

 put up the honey in question " honorable 

 gentlemen." Let the proof be presented, 

 or Brother Aspinwall must take it back as 

 an " honorable gentleman." We regret that 

 the Magazine should have made the unkind 

 allusions. Though it was the only bee- 

 periodical which published the "Report" 

 in question, we refrained from making any 

 unkind remarks upon that fact, because we 

 desired a continuance of the pleasant re- 

 lations then existing between the editors of 

 all the bee-papers. 



Surely, " it would seem that when a man 

 performs a kindness, he seldom gets any 

 credit for it "—as the Magazine says at the 

 head of the article. 



Study and l.,abor are the means 

 leading to success and profit in apicultune. 

 This is how tlie Rural Canadian puts it : 



Tlie subject of honey and niarkeling is 

 one which concerns nearly every bee-keeper, 

 and very properly ton, because in tliese, 

 aside from pleasure, rests the just reward 

 of studv and lahnr, for it is fallacy to think 

 that without study and labor in bee-keeping, 

 as in all other pursuits, any creat results 

 can be accomolislud. In marketing honey 

 it should never be forgotten that a good 

 article, in an attractive form, will always 

 command the highest price, the best repu- 

 tation and a steady demand. 



Mr. Jf. X. ^Vilson, of Nicholasville, 

 Ky., has a very pleasant notice in the Jessa- 

 mine, Ky., Journal tor June 15. After re- 

 viewing his queen-rearing facilities, and the 

 location of his apiary and surroundings, the 

 Journal says that the care of his bees takes 

 up the greater portion of Mr. Wilson's time. 

 It is a business requiring intelligence, watch- 

 fulness and patience. He says that this 

 immediate neighborhood is not the most 

 favoiable for bees and honey. The land is 

 too closely cultivated. He prefers the 

 vicinity of creeks and rivers, and lands with 

 trees and undergrowth. 



Scatter the lyeallels.- Look at the 

 list (with prices) on the second page. 



