TUJl. BEh-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



371 



that of course does not incline them any 

 toward accepting the location. Ah, perhaps 

 I must put in another exception there ! If 

 they get nicely to fighthiy with the robbers, 

 then the native contrariness of the bee 

 comes into play, and assures us pretty firm- 

 ly that they will not leave the fort they are 

 fighting for. 



Mrs. Atchley keeps a choice breeding 

 queen on three combs in a nucleus. This 

 prolongs her life and usefulness, as unre- 

 strained laying greatly shortens queen life. 

 Then sometimes the queen acts as if she felt 

 depressed by having so small a nation to 

 reign over. In such a case she is changed to 

 a three frame compartment screened off 

 with wire in a strong colony ( no other 

 queen allowed, of course. ) And when a 

 breeding queen loses her scent of fertility so 

 far that the bees begin to struggle to super- 

 sede her, its just " nuts and raisins " to the 

 queen breeder. Over a hundred excellent 

 cells have been taken in succession from 

 such a colony, with no trouble except cutting 

 them out. Page 148. 



A very pretty October supplement con- 

 tains the proceedings of the Central Texas 

 Association. It is illustrated with fine pic- 

 tures of the presiding officer. Judge Terrell, 

 and of his wife. Also gives us the faces of 

 John Cairns and C. B. Bankston. 



The Holy Land bees usually get brick- 

 bats, but wiL a good score this fall at the 

 apiary of the Atchley's. Some of them put 

 np about 50 pounds of fall surplus — to the 

 Italians' none. Page 159. 



One very notable service the Qneen has 

 done to the cause lately is to re-discover 

 Stachelhansen, and engage him for a series 

 of articles. He is at Cutoff, Guadalupe Co. 

 Texas. An apicultural pen as precise and 

 scientific as his used to be ought not to be 

 allowed to remain under a bushel. 



Baldensperger also appears in the October 

 number with portrait and article. This 

 time he does battle like David and Jonathan 

 for the Holy Land bees he has kept so long 

 in their own country : but he will hardly re- 

 vive their boom, so far as the North is con- 

 cerned. However he makes us willing to 

 admit that their pronenessto fertile workers 

 has been somewhat overstated, and that 

 under strictly normal conditions it is the 

 exception rather than the rule to have very 

 much trouble from that source. Page IGO. 



At the South Texa~ Convention four speak- 

 ers in succession gave alfalfa a black eye, 



as yielding no honey, and no one seems to 

 have said a word in its favor. Page 177. 



At the convention Mrs. Webb, a personal 

 friend, did u[) the entire Atchley family in 

 a rhyme. See sample stanza below, which 

 celebrates the one who was introduced to us 

 a few years ago as tlie youngest queen breed- 

 er in the world. 



■' The next is little Leah, most handy and wise, 

 Dops more in a day than any cliild of her size ; 



Tends hor tieos, and the engine, does errands 

 as well, 

 Extracts her own honey ; then its ready to sell. " 



The General Round-Up. 



In the last View read fairness instead of 

 " firmness " as what D jolittle shows toward 

 we'uns, the short store folks. 



Say, that is a pretty picture of the North 

 American on the first page of the American 

 Bee Journal for Dec. 8rd ; but, as is usual 

 in such pictures, an occasional one exhibits 

 great agony of soul for fear his particular 

 impression on the plate might not do him 

 justice. A prominent and rather sad face by 

 the side of President Root seems sadder yet 

 as we look upon it now — gone from among 

 us by instant death, from the petty accident 

 of being thrown from a wagon — Mrs. A. L. 

 Hallenbeck, the well known corresponde t 

 of the Progressive, " Thou hast all seasons 

 for thine own, O Death ! " 



It soems that not only banana oil but over- 

 ripe banana fruit, when rubbed on the hands, 

 provokes bees to attack. This is contribu- 

 ted by a writer from Jamaica. Gleanings 

 715. 



H. L. Jones or Goodna, Australia, contri- 

 butes more evidence of the indifference of 

 certain kinds of birds to stings in the throat 

 and stomach. One had 15 stings sticking in 

 the stomach like pins in a pin-cushion. 

 Another had 27 in the stomach and one in 

 the throat. Gleanings 71.5. 



Twelve modern apiaries still escape des- 

 truction near Havana, but the keepers have 

 to get their papers renewed every eight 

 days in order to be allowed to stay. As an 

 offset to the revolution they hope that the 

 apiaries remaining are now free from foul- 

 brood. Quite an offset if it proves true. 

 Box hive apiaries run for wax rather than 

 for honey are the general rule in Cuba. The 

 export figtires for a year are- fQO.'OOO worth 

 of honey, and $98,000 worth of wax ( mak- 

 ing the otfici:il figures into round numbers.) 

 So the amount is not at all frightrul as yet ; 

 and it is only in its possibilities that Cuba is 



