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579 



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EDITOB. 



YoiniV. Sept. 5,1888. No, 36. 



Tlie Silver I^inins to the clouds is 

 now becoming apparent. White clover is 

 now giving second bloom in some localities, 

 and the bees are gathering more honey 

 from it, than at any time previous during 

 this year. Fall flowers are coming in and 

 present an excellent prospect. Sweet clover 

 is rather late in blooming, still it is just 

 commencing to show its flowers and spread 

 its perfume. Mr. 0. B. Barrows, of Mar- 

 shalltown, Iowa, wrote us as follows on 

 Aug. 30, 1888: 



From the time basswood bloom failed 

 until Aug. 18, bees lost in weight until they 

 neared starvation, with the prospect of 

 being obliged to buy barrels of sugar to 

 keep them from starving next winter. On 

 the 18th they commenced gaining in weight, 

 and some that did not swarm and were full 

 of bees, have gained 20 pounds, and the 

 most of them are out of the woods, so far 

 as winter stores aie concerned ; and the 

 balance will be, if this flow holds out a few 

 days longer. We can now see the silver 

 lining to that cloud. 



Vut still the world goes round and round, 



And the genial seasons run, 

 And ever the right comes uppermost. 



And ever is justice done ! 



I%ot only do the bees gather the honey, 

 but it seems that Nature Intended that they 

 should fructify the flowers, and in return 

 for this valuable work, the flowers pay the 

 the bees in nectar, which they carry to 

 their homes to sustain their lives and feed 

 their insect progeny — the sut-plus only 

 being taken for man's use to pay him for 

 tlie necessary care and protection. An ex- 

 change puts it in these words : 



The usefulness of the bee is not confined 

 to the honey she produces. iHer mission is 

 more extended. Much of the fruitfulness 

 of our orchards must be credited to her 

 diligent going from blossom to blossom. In 

 the spring, when the pollen is ripe, it Is 

 shaken dowu • by her upon the inner part of 

 the blossom, or carried from one flower to 

 another, thus making them fruitful. Plants 

 which have male and female flowers on 

 separate stalks are almost altogether de- 

 pendent upon insects like the bee for 

 fructification. 



Xlie Rritisli Bee-Keepers' Guide Book, 

 by our friend T. W. Cowan, has been trans- 

 lated into Spanish, and republished at Bar- 

 celona, Spain. It was long since translated 

 into French. It is a good and practical 

 work, and richly deserves its popularity. 



Xlie Xwo Most Skillful Arclii- 

 tccts in all the world are the bee and the 

 spider. The one puts up neat packages of 

 sweets, and the other builds a slaughter- 

 house for flies. Spiders are valuable, inas- 

 much as they destroy noxious insects. So 

 says an exchange. 



Shall it be Clinng:ed ? — Several 

 have advocated the'changing of the time for 

 the payment of dues and the election of 

 officers of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, 

 to January instead of July. Here is what 

 Mr. E. France has to say on the subject : 



The report of the Manager of the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Union, with voting 

 blanks, was brought to the house by some 

 of the boys, but 1 have never seen it. I 

 wish we could change the time from what 

 it is to Jan. 1, to make these payments ; 

 then we would have more time to attend to 

 it, and could take time to see other bee- 

 keepers, and very likely get some of them 

 to join the Union. As it is, the time for 

 renewal comes at the most hurrying time of 

 the bee-keepers' year. For ray part I would 

 be willing to pay another dollar on Jan. 1, 

 if the matter could be changed. 



Of course it can be changed, if there are 

 enough in favor of it. Votes count. Will 

 every member kindly send in a vote on the 

 subject who is in favor of the change ? In 

 that way it can be settled by amending the 

 constitution accordingly. 



Terl»ena an<l Cone I''lo\rers.— J. 



O. Todd, Richmond, Iowa, on Aug. 35, 1888, 

 writes as follows : 



I send samples of flowers on whicli the 

 bees are at work very industriously. No. 1 

 has a blue flower and No. 2 yellow flowers. 

 Please answer in the Bee Journal. 



No. 1 is Verbeyia hastatn, one of the 

 numerous vervains. It has long been rec- 

 ognized as a godd honey-producer. 



No. 2 is the cone flower (Rudbcckia), 

 which is another August flower, and yields 

 considerable honey. 



It is an Old I»fOTerl>, but a true one, 

 that " The Gods give us no great good with- 

 out labor." It is also true that the hardest- 

 labor is not always that which receives the 

 greatest pay. Bees are the greatest workers 

 in the world— resting not day or night— but 

 in six or eight weeks they die, before hav- 

 ing enjoyed any of the results of their 

 labors— leaving to their progeny the wealth 

 gathered. Then comes man, and often 

 " robs " both parent and offspring of their 

 hoarded treasures. 



A Honeyed Man.— Recently a man 

 down in Kennebunkport, Maine, says an 

 exchange, captured 800 bees while they were 

 swarming in the woods. He daubed him- 

 self with honey, the bees alighted there- 

 upon, and in this way he transported them 

 home without receiving a sting. There is 

 nothing strange about that— still the news- 

 papers are passing it around as if it was a 

 great feat. 



Oermany still mourns her heroic Em- 

 peror Frederick, and few can read without 

 interest the well-illustrated sketch which 

 opens Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly for 

 September, tracing his whole career. The 

 number abounds in most attractive illustra- 

 tions, the frontispiece being very taking. 



A IVevr Edition of Cook's Man- 



nal is just published, and a copy is on our 

 desk. This is the 1.5th thousand of the de- 

 servedly-popular Manual of the Professor. 

 It Is largely re-written, and much elaborated, 

 containing over 100 pages more than the 

 former edition, besides a large number of 

 new engravings. On this account the price 

 has been increased to $1.50. It now con- 

 tains 462 pages. 



On the matter of bees injuring grapes, we 

 find the following on page 337 : 



That bees ever tear the grapes is a ques- 

 tion of which I have failed to receive any 

 personal proof, though for years I have 



been carefully seeking it I feel very 



certain that bees never attack sound grapes. 

 I judge not only from observation and in- 

 quiry, but from the habits of the bee. Bees 

 never bore for nectar but seek, or even 

 know only of that which is fully exposed. 



We may give further extracts, as opportu- 

 nity offers. It can be obtained at this office. 



Xlie I^anjifstrotli photograph, that is 

 just gotten up by Mr. Thomas B. Reynolds, 

 of Dayton, O., is on our desk (see page590). 

 It is a full-length one, and shows the gen- 

 eral appearance and pleasant face of the 

 " grand old man " which we all have learned 

 to love. It is full cabinet size, 4x6 inches, 

 and we do not know how 50 cents could be 

 spent to better advantage, than by buying 

 this photograph— for the owner will have 

 the unsiieakable pleasure of being able to 

 look into that benevolent face, and then to 

 feel that he has done a meritorious act by 

 adding to the fund which is to provide for 

 the necessities of the closing years of a life 

 which has been spent for the good of an 

 industrial pursuit, and who will long be 

 held in " blessed memory." 



"IVliy Should Wot the subject of bee- 

 keeping be taught in all of the Agricultural 

 Colleges, if it is properly a branch of prac- 

 tical agriculture ? 



