564 



TTHlf MMERICMff ESEU J&'&mMWLr, 



A Oartoon appears on pase 635 of 

 Oleantngs for Aug. 15. It seems that a 

 "Kaiiibltr" is ahroad in the land "taking 

 notes," and is printing them, lie mentions 

 a plan for wintering bees which was being 

 developed by a 16-year old bee keeper. Hav- 

 ing pnrcliased a swarm of a Frenchman he 

 followed his directions for management. 

 The Frenchman told him he never lost a 

 swarm in wintering, if the hive was placed 

 upim a wagon-wheel. The young novice 

 followed directions ; and what was the sur- 

 prise of the father to tiiid nearly all of his 

 wagon-wheels arranged in an upper room, 

 and hives placed upon them ! The story 

 runs thus : 



" For the land's sake, Brodie, what are 

 you going to do it you get a hundred 

 swarms ?" 



" Why, dad, I can borrow wheels of the 

 neighbors, or 1 can hire a wheel lor a pound 

 or I wo of honey, ai'd it will pay ; for the 

 Frenchman said it's a sure way to winter 

 bees." 



After the Rambler's amusement subsided, 

 a sober sicond thoufdht led us to believe 

 that the buy was only acting out the 

 modern bee-keeper's spirit. Louking over 

 the fie d we found nearly every prcmment 

 hee-man hanging on to his wagcm wheel. 

 Diiolittle's wheel is nature ; Heiidon's is 

 pollen ; W. F. Clarke, hibei nation ; A. 1. 

 Knot, anti-patents ; Miller's X supers, etc. 



Our dreams that night as we rested under 

 the roof <f a cousin's residi nee, were filled 

 with Hoatina visions of wheels, potato-sacks, 

 balloons, et<'. Here is a mental photogrnph 

 ot the sublime scene. The Rambler. 



As the description by Brother Root is 

 richer than the cartoon itself, we copy the 

 following from it : 



Now, friend R., that is really too had. I 

 ■was piepartd to accept the tact that the rest 

 of you have liad at oitfeient limes various 

 wheel hoi'bies ; but to put A. I. Knot 

 among the crowd tmiclies a tender spot. 

 Nevermind; I believe 1 would rather be 

 pictured bonncini! patents (that is, the " in- 

 dividual-right " department) ti.an auy where 

 else. 



J. H. and W. Z. H. seem to be pretty 

 near the top of the heap, with the pollen 

 theory and "new revoluiion " lieehives. 



The editor of the American Bee .Iour- 

 NAL is represented iiext as very industri- 

 ously fighting the " Wiley lie," and we are 

 glad he leas finally got it under foot. 



C. C. Miller is still enthnsini-tic on X- 

 supers, even if there is not any honey to fill 

 supers of any kiml, during tliis p'lor season. 



Doolittle is taking things very philosophi- 

 cally under the shade of a tree. Even if 

 th^re is a swarm hanging on the limb over- 

 hend, he does not propose to disturb himself 

 until he gets ready. 



Just beneath friend Doolittle we see a 

 colony fixed for hibernal ion. 1 guess it 

 must be under a strawstack. Our good 

 friend W. F. Clarke, however, does tiot 

 seem quite satisfii d to " let 'em hibernate " 

 alter nature's fasliiim, for he has removed 

 his plug hat. ami our artist has taken him 

 in tlie act ot poking liis head iirto the straw- 

 stack, to see now tilings are going. Very 

 likely it is all tranquil. The KamUier, tired 

 out by the a<lverilur-. s of the dny, is sleep- 

 iirg tne sleep ot tlie just. We ki.ow it is 

 the liamliler Irim-elf, for he has put his hat 



'I'lie Weallier and Crops.— Old 

 earth seems to be crazy. While we in 

 America and those in Central and Southern 

 Europe have been experiencing such cold 

 and wet weather, in Norway the heat has 

 been very uncomfortable. At Nyborg it 

 has been as high as 95°, Fahr., and at 

 Chri stiana it has repeatedly been from 86° 

 to 89= in the shade. 



In Great Britain this month has been 

 characterized liy cold rains, which have not 

 done so much damage as might naturally 

 have been expected. Everything turns 

 upon the continuance of the good weather 

 to the close of the month. 



In France July has proved an exceedingly 

 unfortunate month. Rain and cold, with 

 very little sun, have damaged the crop 

 prospects in every direction. The criiiial 

 periods ot the blooming and earing were 

 passed under the most favorable conditions; 

 and the complaints, which are increasing 

 on all sides, make a late and deficient har- 

 vest certain. 



In Germany the weather has been gen- 

 erally cold and rainy, with an occasional 

 day or two or warmth. 



The month has not particularly advanced 

 the prospect ot the Austro-llungariancrops. 

 Up to the 10th of the month the general 

 Russian prospects have seldom if ever been 

 so brilliant. Later in the mgnth danger- 

 ously persistent rains, accompanied by hail, 

 were common in Southern Russia. 



The wheat crop in Sicily has proved very 

 deficient, but an average was obtained in 

 Apulia, and the Neapolitan di-tricts. Sar- 

 dinia has almost lost her entire crop. In 

 upper Italy the harvest is expected to prove 

 fairly good in quality, but will not reach 

 an average in quantity. 



For thirty years the rainfall in Spain has 

 not been so great, or the mean temperature 

 so low all over the kingdom as in June 

 and July of this year. There was snow at 

 Valladolid on the 16lh, and from every 

 direction came news of damage to crops 

 from the unseasonable temperature and the 

 raging gales. 



Telegrams from Greece about the middle 

 of the month report that the current crop 

 was in imminent danger of beirig lost ; the 

 vines being dried up with the scoiching 

 wind. 



The harvest anticipations in Prussia are 

 quite discouraging. The rye-fields, from 

 which the great masses of Gerininy derive 

 their chief bread supply, have suffered to a 

 great extent, and the continued inclemency 

 of the weather has likewise done severe 

 damage to the fields. 



up from the old root and make rapid grov 

 it line i-> cut off close to the ground oni 



(■rowing llie Ijinden.— There has 

 been some inquiries about sowing basswood 

 seed, and for general information we copy 

 the following from the Western Tree Plarv- 

 ter for this month : 



Heretofore it has been nearly impossible 

 to obtain basswood seedlirrgs, and even 

 now the supply is very limited. Wherever 

 we have run across any one in the West 

 who was growing them, we have found that 

 they w»-re highly pleased with their rapid 

 growth and extreme hardiness. 



When the roots once become established 

 it will be found to be next to impossible to 

 kill the tree ^o that it will not at least start 



wth. 

 ground one or 

 more shoots will immediately start up and 

 make a rapid giowtli. We have seen logs 

 cut and piled ui) in a mill yard out of which 

 J oung trees liad started and made a growth 

 of 3 feet in a season, their entire sustenance 

 having been drawn from the wet log. 'I'he 

 basswood is certainly a hard tree to kill, 

 anil we hope it will be universally tried and 

 tested the coming season. 



We have, during the past two years, been 

 experimenting on basswood setds, but were 

 obliged to work entirely in the dark, as 

 from no one could we learn what was nec- 

 essary to makf the seed start. We now 

 have a barrel of seed mixed with damp saw- 

 dust, which has been kept moist, tor over 15 

 months, has frozen anil thawed, hut not 

 sprouted when we last examined it. The 

 seed, even after this long time, i> in perfect 

 condition. We are now tryii g the scalding 

 process, which is always" u-ed on locust 

 seeds, and hope that by this method to at- 

 tain our oliject. Mr. McKinstry, of Cha- 

 pe He, D.rk , says that he bus tried to grow 

 nasswood seeils, but never succeeded; but 

 that the foHowiig year or two, he had 

 found on the ground sowed to basswood 

 .seeds, a few seedlings. This would go to 

 show that the seeds required at hast two 

 seKSons to cause germinaiion. If arry one 

 else has made any experiments, let us hear 

 the result so that all our readers may be 

 benefited. 



Hostage on »$eeds, etc— The new 



law making the rate of postage for seeds, 

 etc., one cent for each 2 ounces, took effect 

 on July 24, 1888. The new section reads 

 thus : 



That hereafter the pnsfage on seeds, cut- 

 tings, bnllis, mots, cions and plants shall 

 ^bechaiged attherateol one c. ntforeach 

 on the foot of the bed, and deposited his i 2 ounces or fraciion thereof, subject in all 

 documents inside of it. I respects to the existing laws. 



Honey Season in Vermont.— A 



correspondent writing from Brandon, Vt., 

 says : The honey season in this section 

 seems to be a very poor one ; bees are doing 

 but little swarming and storing of honey. 



G. S. Brown, of Salisbury, reports the loss 

 of 42 colonies by spring dwindling. 



The folhiwing printed in a local paper 

 at Vergenues, gives the situation there : 



The honey product will fall far below the 

 average this year, owii g to the cold and 

 wet Weather early in the season. A pros- 

 perous bee-man in this place considers the 

 falling off in the proiUict of his 200 colonies 

 will be two thirds. He should be able to 

 market six tons of honey, but will he satis- 

 fied, from ti e present outlook, with two 

 and one-halt tons. 



About the Chapman honey-plant our cor- 

 respondent continues : "1 liave a small 

 patch of the Chapman honey-plant, and I 

 never noticed a plant which attracted the 

 bees so much as did this globe thistle, <lur- 

 ing the height of its flowering season. There 

 were two or three bees on every blossom 

 about all the time. In raising it 1 have met 

 with no difficulty from wititer killing or 

 worms. If it had any other value than for 

 honey, I should think bee-keepers would 

 want ten acres apiece of it, as was ex- 

 pre.ssed recently by one of your corres- 

 pondents." 



