778 



Tmm m'pi^mmicmm mmm jQVimmmi^. 



make a good living in this pursuit, for them- 

 selves and families, without injuring any 

 one, tliat would otherwise, perhaps, become 

 charges on the community. Then, too, 

 would not such a law be a step in the direc- 

 tion of trusts, favoring a few at the expense 

 of the many ? But it is almost nonsense to 

 talk of this matter, only to show its ab- 

 surdity. It will be many a day before any 

 such law will be passed in this country. 



The above is frora the pen of Mr. C. 

 H. Dibbern, for whom I have much re- 

 spect as conducting a department 

 in the Western Plowman, of Moliue, 

 characterized, so far as I have had 

 opportunity to judge, by fairness and 

 good sense. Mr. Dibbern and I have 

 had no bitter quarrel, and so far as I 

 know, nothing but kindly feelings ex- 

 ist between us, and why he should mis- 

 represent my views, and hold me up to 

 the ridicule of his readers, is some- 

 thing that I can understand no more 

 than I can understand the many pre- 

 vious cases of misrepresentation. 



Whether the proposition to buy " the 

 'home rights' of their respective dis- 

 tricts by paying a small rent," etc., be 

 a wise proposition or not, I will not 

 stop to discuss, but certainly I have no 

 recollection of advocating such a 

 proposition, or proposing " to have a 

 law enacted to that effect." Indeed I 

 have said very little as to the particu- 

 lar means of attaining the end, the 

 only point I have insisted upon being 

 that there should be some way in 

 which a bee-keeper might be secure 

 from interference in a certain territory, 

 without specifying how such a securit}' 

 should be obtained, or whether it 

 should be secured for one colony or a 

 thousand. 



Mr. Dibbern says, "Lately some 

 others have come to his assistance," 

 and I am glad to believe that their 

 number is not small, and I feel confi- 

 dent that when Mr. Dibbern gives the 

 matter the thought it deserves, he will 

 come to my way of thinking. 



Mr. D. saj'S : "Bees have been kept 

 for thousands of years, and their rights 

 to go, and gather the nectar from 

 forests and fields have never been 

 questioned." Softly ! Has Mr. D. 

 forgotten the cases of S. I. Freeborn, 

 of Ithaca, Wis., Z. A. Clark, of Arka- 

 delphia, Ark., and others ? On account 

 of the absence of laws for the protec- 

 tion of bee-keepers, more than one 

 has been obliged to give up his bees or 

 move. 



Has Bro. Dibbern forgotten the ex- 

 istence of the Bee-Keepers' Union, 

 born of the necessity for organized ef- 

 fort to withstand the assaults of ignor- 

 ance and malice, just because proper 

 legislation is lacking ? What would 

 be said of a " Farmers' Union" com- 

 bined to resist the attempts that might 

 be made to drive a farmer from the 

 cultivation of his land ? No such thing 

 is needed, for the law is sufficient to 



protect each farmer on his territory, 

 be that a rod or a mile. Something iu 

 the same line is needed that the bee- 

 keeper may be protected, whether he 

 may have one colony or a hundred. 



As the matter now stands, Mr. Dib- 

 bern maj' awaken some fine morning 

 to find that liis apiarj-, "the white, 

 blue, red and yellow hives among the 

 trees," upon which he looks so lovingly, 

 may no longer be continued, on ac- 

 count of legislation from a lower power 

 that was made possible by the apathj' 

 of bee-keepers in failing to secure 

 from the State the legislation that 

 might be had for the 

 may And, as others 

 within a few rods of 

 ary maj' be planted, thus spoiling the 

 chances for both ; and then Mr. D. 

 might think it a very tine thing if he 

 could stand on the same footing as a 

 farmer, in possession of his territorj'. 



The fact that " such a fence as no 

 well-behaved bee could get over " can- 

 not be built, cuts no figure in the case. 

 Fences are not built to confine fish 

 within certain limits, and j'et fishing 

 limits are defined within which no 

 outsider dare intrude. 



Does Mr. D. think that the laws pro- 

 tecting farmers ought to be entitled 

 "An act to exterminate farming?" 

 Does he think such laws " a step in 

 the direction of trusts ?" Would it be 

 an improvement to throw all lands 



asking. Or he 

 have done, that 

 his, another api- 



open in common that each man could 

 settle down anywhere at his own sweet 

 will ? 



Now please remember, friend Dib- 

 bern, I ask nothing more for the bee- 

 keeper than for the farmer, and I have 

 no more desire to drive out of the 

 business " manj' a poor man and 

 woman who are now able to make a 

 good living in this pursuit," tlian I 

 have to drive them out of farming. 



Marengo, Ills. 



ASIATIC BEES. 



Where liie Caucasian Bees 

 Came From. 



Vrrltten for the American Bee Journal 



BY J. W. TEFFT. 



It will be seen at the extreme east- 

 ern end of the Black Sea in Central 

 Asia, there stretches eastward the 

 range of Causasus mountains to the 

 Caspian Sea. The great Russian rail- 

 road now building into the heart of 

 Asia is at last a fact, and travelers can 

 now go from St. Petersburg almost to 

 the boundary line of the Chinese Em- 

 pire in twelve days. From St. Peters- 

 btu'g the new line runs through Mos- 

 cow, Womnesh, Rostoo and Valkavas ; 

 here the route is barred by the Cau- 



casus range, over which the line is not 

 yet completed, and one has to take a 

 camel caravan to travel 18 hours over 

 a pass of 8,000 feet high, 2,000 feet 

 higher than St. Gothard. 



With scenery twice as wild as that 

 of Switzerland, tlie Caucasus will be a 

 great summer resort in the near future. ., 

 Over the pass we come to the rich -S 

 valley of the Oxus, the Mississippi of 

 Central Asia, now opened up, having, 

 no outlet save by caravan. The re- 

 sources of this territory are all kinds 

 of minerals and agricultural, and all 

 undeveloped. The eftect on civiliza- 

 tion, of the new railroad line, can bet- 

 ter be imagined than described. Con- 

 sidering the fact, the great mechani- 

 cal advances, and the higher civiliza- 

 tion of the nineteenth centurj' will now 

 be carried into this barbaric Asia. Its 

 effect upon school geographies is not 

 even to be surmized. 



In referring to Webster, he defines 

 Caucasian thus : " Any one belonging 

 to the Indo-Europeau race, and the 

 white races originating near Mount 

 Caucasus." These mountains stretch 

 from longitude 40° to 50° east, and 

 latitude 46° to 50° north, about the 

 same latitude as the State of Maine, 

 47°, being several degrees north of 

 Syria, Cyprus or Italy, the homes of the 

 Syrian, Cyprian and Italian bees. Thus 

 it will be seen that the Caucasian bees 

 came from a cold climate. 



Peculiarities of Ibe Caucasian Bees. 



Now whatever may be the individual 

 or class merit of the Caucasian bees, 

 they take the lead in all points save 

 one, and that is swarming. They are 

 remarkably gentle, seldom stinging, 

 yet they can sting when abused. 



In manipulation I never use smoke, . 

 as that arouses them to anger. The 

 only time I use smoke is when closing 

 up the hive, to drive them away to 

 prevent bruising. 



These bees cling to the combs firmly 

 when the frames of combs are hand- 

 led. As honey gatherers they are as 

 good as the best. Their cappings are 

 equal to that of the blacks, being very 

 white and thick. The bee-glue or pro- 

 polis is not half as sticky as that of the 

 blacks or Italians. They gather im- 

 mense quantities of pollen. The 

 queens are remarkably prolific, and 

 colonies swarm once a week, if left to 

 their own management. 



They build more queen-cells than any 

 other race of bees. The brace-combs 

 seem to be made of dark wax, a kind 

 of mud color, which is objectionable 

 when cappings are stuck to the sep- 

 arators. They are extra hardy, and 

 stand our cold, bleak winters splen- 

 didly. 



Their color is of a dark copper hue, 

 or fine orange like — not so light a 



