86 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



ony in Tunis. Henry Alley thinks only ten 

 or a dozen good cells can be reared at one 

 time in a colony ; but Mr. Benton thinks 

 a large proportion are good in colonies that 

 have several times as many. There are good 

 reasons for believing that the latter is cor- 

 rect in his views. With the right condition, 

 he says ' there need be no hesitancy in per- 

 mitting the construction of hundreds of 

 queen-cells in one colony, if such num- 

 bers are needed.' 



Clipping queens is spoken of in such way 

 as might mislead the novice to think a queen 

 should be clipped annually. 



A good point is made on page 98 which is 

 perhaps new. After removing the old colo- 

 ny to a new location after swarming, intro- 

 duce a young queen within a day or two. 

 This will secure the destruction of the queen 

 cells, whereas if the colony is left till the first 

 queen hatched out, it might have enough 

 bees added to its numbers as to warrant 

 swarming. 



Some would take issue with Mr. Benton 

 when he advises, at the time of dividing, 

 that the queenless part be left on the old 

 stand. 



The plan of dequeening during the honey- 

 flow is not commended, but the author rec- 

 ommends replacing the old queen early in 

 the season with a queen of the same season's 

 rearing. 



He has no sympathy with the ' pollen 

 theory, ' and is on the safe side in recom- 

 mending 40 pounds of winter stores in 

 Northern regions. 



Oq the whole, this book, with its large, 

 clear type, and its plain putting of correct 

 teachings, is a real credit to the author and 

 the Department of Agriculture. " 



Another Magazine Article on Bee-Keeping. 



I believe that the Cosmopolitan was the 

 first magazine to give to the general public 

 an illustrated article on bee-keeping. Suc- 

 cessful editors, however, do not like to be 

 outdone. If a contemporary brings out 

 something novel, they like to show that they 

 can do the same thing ; so Harper's maga- 

 zine for March comes out with a most charm- 

 ingly written and illustrated, ten page arti- 

 cle, entitled "Arcadian Bee-Ranching ; " in 

 which California bee-keeping is pictured in 

 a style truly picturesque. The author is a 

 woman, Ninetta Eames. She is not a pro- 

 fessional bee-keeper, but as a word-painter 

 she would certainly rank as a professional. 

 Let me give a paragraph or two to show 

 that if she can't handle bees she can words. 



" To set one's teeth through an exquisite- 

 ly frail comb brimming with the delicate 

 nectar of the white sage — Audibertia — is a 

 gustatory relish not to be otherwise equaled. 

 More especially is this true if one has all 

 the concomitants— a warm clean stone under 



a singing sycamore, mountain air spiced 

 with countless odors, the monotone of bees 

 at their voluptuous toil, a landscape billow- 

 ing up to gigantic summits, and a stream 

 hard by to keep the shout up in the heart. " 



In describing swarming the following 

 language is employed. 



" A vortex of agitated bees rising in the 

 air, thousands upon thousands of them, all 

 flying in a circular net -work of lines, in- 

 volving the queen as a nucleus. Not sure 

 of their destination, but with never a break 

 in their anarchic hum, they sway up and 

 down, now gathering their ranks about an 

 attractive bush, then as quickly disbanding 

 and again whirling and massing themselves 

 in dizzy evolutions, until finally a dark mov- 

 ing cloud settles into ob«tinate compactness 

 on the limb of a tree. Here they continue 

 to hang motionless in an elongated pendu- 

 lous cluster until captured for the hive. " 



Here is another little bit, descriptive of 

 the scenery and the blossoms. 



" Where the great hushed peaks stand 

 reverently apart at the sharp-toothed jaws 

 of the gorge a strip of bench-land follows 

 narrowly up the Sespe, its surface covered 

 with an enchanting tangle of purple and 

 lavender sage, yellow mustard blooms, the 

 blue of larkspur and phacelia, mimuluses 

 swinging their golden censers, and a bewil- 

 dering galaxy of other flowers nodding upon 

 their slender scapes. And how the bees 

 revel, each eager worker greedily cramming 

 with yellow meal the baskets strapped to 

 his ( ? ) sturdy thighs, or gorging his ( ? ) 

 pocket with the colorless nectar of chalice 

 and tube ! Many of their numbers dive 

 recklessly into carvernous cups, and emerge 

 therefrom with their natty spring jackets 

 absurdly dusted with pollen. " 



How that pesky little pronoun " his, " 

 "gives away" the writer, so to speak. 

 The editor of the Cosmopolitan fell into the 

 same error when putting a sub-head on my 

 article. It is evident that the gender and 

 sexual relation of bees are little understood 

 by the general public. As still further 

 evidence, read the following taken from 

 this charming article. 



"Its chastity likewise is well unerstood, 

 there being only one departure from this 

 rule, and that for the high motive of per- 

 petuating the swarm. Unlike many worthy 

 dames, the queen-bee is never known to take 

 a second wedding journey, though the object 

 of her fatal preference dies upon that fate- 

 ful occasion, without even being aware that 

 he has fathered her prospective ten thousand 

 progeny. These charming insects seem 

 not to be troubled by the grosser instincts of 

 human animals, and it would be interesting 

 to trace this fact to the exqusite refinement 

 of their food. As a slight foundation to be- 

 gin with, we find everywhere in ancient bee 

 classics a widespread belief in the high de- 



