T'Mm MMERICMP* MMM 3&^MMMI^. 



583 



^*^*-^*-^*-^*-^*-^^^^^j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-^-^*-^*-*--^ — - ' -n- "^'-^^ 



1. Yes, it will do about as well as any 

 repository does. 2. I would say any- 

 where from 100 to 200, ventilating ac- 

 cordingly. 3. I should rather not pound 

 or make any big noise or jars over the 

 repository. Of course you want the 

 floor filled with sawdust unless you 

 keep a fire in it nearly all the time. 

 You do anyway.— James Heddon. 



1. Yes. 2. All that you can com- 

 fortably get into it, providing the ven- 

 tilation is sufficient. 3. As the hives 

 will rest on the bottom of the cellar, 

 "the shop overhead" cannot disturb 

 the bees. If they do not touch the 

 sides of the building, they could not 

 feel any vibration, even if " power " is 

 used.— The Editor. 



LEGISLATION. 



IVIiioli Shall it be Hereafter, 

 Liegi§iation or Litigation ; 



Written for the American Dee Journal 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



In a recentnumberof the Ambkican 

 Bee Journal, the editor refers to me 

 a question which lack of time has pre- 

 vented me from noticing earlier. It is 

 a question as to what is to be done by 

 one who is likely to be hindered in the 

 prosecution of bee-keeping for lack of 

 the full and free swing that most of us 

 enjoy. This opens up a subject which 

 I had considered laid on the shelf, and 

 which I should not again open but for 

 the implied wish of the editor, and the 

 — as it seems to me — very great impor- 

 tance of the subject. Without consid- 

 ering the particular circumstances at- 

 taching to any one case, it will be suffi- 

 cient to consider the ground in general. 



I hardly know the best approach to 

 make. True. I might present only 

 such phases or the matter as are en- 

 tirely new, and thus avoid awakening 

 prejudice ; but I am not sure that such 

 a course would be entirely frank and 

 opeti. Besides, I think the sober sec- 

 ond tliought of many, makes them 

 coincide with my own views. 



I may say, then, that the remedy lies 

 in awakening in the minds of bee-keep- 

 ers, a sense of the real need of taking 

 such steps as shall result in putting 

 their business on a footing as secure as 

 that of others. At least some are 

 awake to the necessity for some action, 

 as evidenced by their becoming mem- 

 bers of the ■• Bee-Keepers' Union." 

 That this Union has accomplished 

 good, perhaps no one will deny. Wisely 

 conducted in the future as it has been 

 in the past, the necessity for its exis- 

 tence may not cease for a long time to 

 come, for all that the old rule holds 

 good, that ■' An ounce of prevention is 

 worth a pound of cure." 



Take the case of Mr. Z. A. Clark, 

 that has justly excited so much inter- 

 est. Is it not possible that the same 

 amount of effort, with possibly a less 



expenditure of money, would have se- 

 cured such statutes as to have made 

 bee-keepers safe from annoyance, not 

 only in Arkadelphia, but throughout 

 the entire State V When the matter is 

 fairly understood, litigation will cer- 

 tainly not be preferred to legislation. 



So far, the only legislation attempted, 

 relating at all to bee-keepers, if I am 

 not mistaken, has been, not that insti- 

 gated by themselves, but, like that in 

 Michigan, such as went directly con- 

 trary to their interests. In the un- 

 certainty which attends such things, 

 have we any security that when next 

 attempted, as it may be, in some other 

 State, it may not succeed ? Although 

 it failed in Michigan, the leading bee- 

 keepers in that State considered the 

 danger so great as to need their most 

 active opposition. Please look at the 

 matter clearly. 



As it now stands, any wily schemer, 

 for the sake of gratifying some petty 

 spite, may secure the passage of a law 

 injurious to bee-keeping interests. We 

 are likely to have legislation, for that 

 which has been attempted is likely, 

 under the same circumstances, to be 

 attempted again. Js it not better for 

 us to take the initiative, and secure 

 such legislation in advance as shall best 

 subserve the interests, not only of bee- 

 keepers, but of the public at large ? In 

 other words, will it not be better and 

 easier to labor for good legislation than 

 to labor against bad legislation after it 

 is effected V In the one case, we have 

 a fair field, for in most cases, at least 

 prejudice is not aroused, as it is when 

 some case of strife occurs. 



It is a hopeful sign that some are be- 

 ginning to consider what is the best 

 legislation needed, and devising plans 

 for the same. To that part of the sub- 

 ject I have given very little attention. 

 I am hardly competent to decide what 

 laws are needed, and it is hardly worth 

 while to give very much attention to it, 

 so long as the mass of bee-keepers are 

 not awake to the importance of doing 

 ani/thimj. The number of members in 

 the " Bee-Keepers' Union " shows that. 

 However liberal they may be in their 

 desire to have every one a beekeeper, 

 and in wanting nothing done that may 

 in any way prevent it at any time and 

 in any place, they are nevertheless by 

 no means liberal in helping to sustain 

 them in the ranks after they get them 

 there. To those, however, who are in- 

 terested enough to join the Union, I 

 respectfully submit whether it is not 

 cheaper and better to have legislation 

 than litigation. 



T%'orker-Brood In Droiie-CellN. 



In reply to a query in a recent num- 

 ber of the American Bee Journal, 

 one of the correspondents seems some- 

 what to call in question the possibility 

 of workers being reared in drone cells. 

 Although I may have seen more than 

 one case, there is one case which I dis- 

 tinctly recall. In 187(1, Mr. R. R. 

 Murphy sent to the American Bee 

 Journal '-a piece of drone-comb with 

 worker-brood in.'^ It was reported on 

 page 250 of Vol. XII. This remark was 

 made by the editor : " This was a very 

 clear case. Cells four to the inch, flat 

 caps, out of which hatched nice young 



workers." There was no mistake in 

 the case. Mr. Murphy was too experi-' 

 enced to be deceived, and besides, as I 

 was living in (M)icago at the time, 

 friend Kewman handed the comb to 

 me, and I saw the workers hatch out 

 of it, with my own eyes. 



It is not a very uncommon thing to 

 see drone-cells where drone-comb 

 abounds, having the mouths of the 

 cells contracted l)y a heavy rim of wax. 

 Is it not likely that in such cases the 

 bees conclude there is an unnecessary 

 amount of drone-comb, and that after 

 being thus contracted these cells are to 

 all intents and purposes worker-cells 'i* 



Marengo, Ills. 



APIARY WORK. 



Honey Shower, Balled Queen, 

 Giving Frames of Brood, ete. 



Written for the Prairie Farmer 

 BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



There was a shower of honey in this 

 locality from the basswood ; something 

 unusual, but like a thunder-shower, 

 heavy and soon over. Those colonies 

 that were in good condition — had their 

 dishes right side up to catch it — are no 

 longer poor, but rich in choice stores. 



The change from poverty to riches 

 was so sudden, that the bees had not 

 wax scales secreted with which to build 

 comb, but filled every empty cell. In 

 order to have a share of this sweetness, 

 as it were to take toll, I extracted 

 combs where there were no brood be- 

 fore it was sealed. It was of course 

 unripe, but sufficiently evaporated, and 

 I put it out in the sun to boil, with the 

 thermometer playing around the hun- 

 dred. What I have is in vessels of tin 

 or glass, with cheese-cloth tied over the 

 top to keep out insects, and allow the 

 moisture to pass off. When it is suffi- 

 ciently ripened, it can be stored away, 

 and will keep for all time free from 

 souring. 



Balllns tlie Queen. 



In looking after a swarm that had 

 just issued, I found the queen balled in 

 front of a hive near by. Now in re- 

 leasing a queen thus balled, if the bees 

 are picked off she is apt to be stung to 

 death in the operation, but when the 

 ball is thrown into water, then every 

 fellow is for himself. Life-preserva- 

 tion is the first law of nature, and the 

 queen is no longer thought of, and 

 when the (lueen is released she can be 

 taken from the water and secured. 

 When I threw this ball into the water 

 the bees swam away from her, but the 

 poor thing was already dead. 



I see it stated by a late writer, that 

 when a queen gets separated from her 

 colony, she returns to the place from 

 where she went forth on her bridal 

 tour. If this is so, it accounts for the 

 reason why queens are so often found 

 at the entrance of other colonies. When 

 this swarm missed its queen its re- 

 turned sad and disconsolate to its 

 former home ; no more swarming now 

 until another queen can be reared. I 

 shall watch this colony with interest. 



