RAY gh) 4 eee Bl SNA Ba HREM A BACH WEG EN CAS Cy Spates 1 abt mal hi! ‘ Ae Ferree ees Eta 4 & eet aio et ren Ly ai WEN as : Nek ad cy a - PEI tir Uy 8 ATA: GORA eek 7, VAs) a in ASE 2 x4 os Noahs 28 e Bic eects xs me Sa be i an ny vay writ AA ey ae Ree ey HAW STUN : SUN ERENT EN NE TAVERN R AER ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New YorRK STATE COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE AND HomME ECONOMICS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS BEEKEEPING LIBRARY Cornell University The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www. archive.org/details/cu31924003717596 LB.Gilmore; Sept. 21573, wwe eweeev™m THE BEE-KEEPER’S GUIDE; OR MANUAL OF THE APIARY BY A. J. COOK, PRoFESSOR OF ENTOMOLOGY IN THE MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. Author of “Injurious Insects of Michigan,” “ Maple Sugar and the Sugar Bush,” and “ Silo and Silage.” FOURTEENTH EDITION, REVISED, ENLARGED, RE-WRITTEN, AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED, SIXTEENTH THOUSAND. LANSING, MICHIGAN: 1891, ou ae oom ° Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by ALBERT J. COOK, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. TO THE REVEREND L. L..LANGSTROTH, THE INVENTOR OF THE MOVABLE FRAME HIVE, THE HUBER OF AMERICA, AND ONE OF THE GREATEST MASTERS OF PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCE, AS RELATING TO APICULTURE, IN THE WORLD, “THIS MANUAL IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTIIOR. PREFACE. In 1876, in response to a desire frequently expressed by my apiarian friends, principally my students, I published an edition of 3,000 copies of the little unpretending “ Manual of the Apiary.” This was little more than the course of lectures which I gave annually at the College. In less than two years this was exhausted, and the second edition, enlarged, revised, and much more fully illustrated, was issued. So great was the sale that in less than a year this was followed by the third and fourth editions, and, in lese than two years, the fifth edition (seventh thousand) wa issued. In each of the two following years, another edition war demanded. In each of these editions the book has beer enlarged, changes made and illustrations added, that the work might keep pace with our rapidly advancing art. So great has been the demand for this work, not only at home and in Europe, but even in more Cistant lands, and so great has been the progress of apiculture—so changed the views and methods of our best bee-keepers, that the author feels warranted in thoroughly revising ‘and entirely recasting this eighth edition (tenth thousand). Not only is the work re-written, but much new matter, and many new and costly illustrations are added. The above I quote directly from the preface of the eighth edition, published in 1883. Since then four editions have appeared, each revised as the progress of the art required. In electrotyping the eighth edition, through an accident vi Preface. very poor work was done, so that the impressions of the last three editions have been far from satisfactory. This has led me to wholly revise the present edition. In doing this I have thought it wise to add largely, especially to the scientific portion, as the intelligence of our bee-keepers demands the fullest information. I have thus added one: hundred and fifty pages and more than thirty illustrations.. All this has involved so much expense that I am forced,, though very reluctantly, to increase the price of the work. Iam glad to welcome advertisers, as I can thus afford the book at a less price; and as I only admit advertisements. from those whom I know to be reliable, this makes the book more valuable. As our bee-keepers know, I have permitted wide use of the illustrations prepared expressly for this work, believing heartily in the motto“greatest good to the greatest number;’” so I have drawn widely from others. Of the cuts used the following were prepared expressly for this work: 1, 3, 55 6, 8, 9, 10, 25, 26; 27) 315 35) 425 43) 445 455 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 515 545 551 56, 61, 65; 69, 715 725 73, 74 78, 79; 81, 88, 91,931 96, 114, 118, 125, 126, 140, 141, 143, 145, 146, 147, -148, 149, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168, 170, 171, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195» 197, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, and 222. The following were copied for this work, often with some change, from Schiemenz: 11, 21, 37, 40, 415 from Duncan: 2, 8, 16, 18, 24, 28, 30, 53; from Wolff: 155 21, 36, 39; from Leuckart: 23, 33, 34; from Cheshire: 14, 20; from Gegenbower: 13, 14; from Gray: 144, 148; from Riley: 142, 196; from Swammerdam: 12; from Dujardin: 17; from Packard: 19; from Girard: 38; from Neighbor: Preface. Vil 49; from Bryant: 52; from Munn: 57,58. The follow- ing were kindly loaned by Mr, Root: 7, 56, 59, 60, 64, 68, 75, 76, 77, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, IOI, 102, 109, T10, LIT, 112, 113, 117, 122, 128, 129, 132, 133, 139, 152, 172, 173, 174, 182, 183, 185, 1875 from Mr. Newman: 29, 32, 87, 90, 107, 119, 120, 121, 124, 127, 130, 135, 136, 155, 167, 169; from Mr. Jones: 62, 65, 123,131; from Mr. Heddon: 63, 64, 66, 67, 70, 92, 137, 1385 from Mr. Lewis: 103; from Mr. Bingham: 108, 116; from Mr. Muth: 104, 105, 134; from Mr. Stanley: 106; from Mr. Whitman: 98; and from Mr. L. C. Root, 115, I wish again to express my thanks and gratitude to our wide-awake American apiarists, without whose aid it would have been impossible to have written this work. I am under special obligation to Messrs. Cowan, Newman and Root, and to my many students who have aided me, both in the apiary and laboratory. As I stated in the preface to the eighth edition, it is my desire and determination that this work shall continue to be the exponent of the most improved apiculture; and no pains will be spared, that each succeeding edition may embody the latest improvements and discoveries wrought out by the practical man and the scientist, as gleaned from the excellent home and foreign apiarian and scientific periodicals, A. J. COOK. State Agricultural College, Mich., Fuly, 1888. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Who May Keep Bees.. Specialists 1 Amateurs 1 Who Should not Keep Bees. 2 Inducements to Bee Keeping. 2 Recreation. 2 Profits .... 3 Excellence as an Amateur Pursuit. 5 Adaptation to Women... 5 Improves the Mind and ‘tie Absezvation: 7 Yields Delicious Food 8 8 What Successful Bee Keeping Requires. 9 Mental Effort.....cscssee 9 Experience Necessary 9 Learn from Others 10 Aid from Conventions 10 Aid from Bee Journals.. 10 American Bee Journal.. 11 Gleanings in Bee Culture. il Bee-Keepers’ Magazine.. il Canadian Bee Journal 11 Bee-Keepers’ Guide... 12 American Apiculturists 12 Canadian Honey Producer. 12 Bee-Keeper’s Review 12 Books for the Apiarist..... 12 Langstroth on the Honey-Bee.. 12 Quinby’s Mysteries of Bee Keeping... 13 King’s Text Book........0 13 AB C of Bee Culture 13 Bees and Honey... 13 Blessed Bees... 14 Bee-Keepers’ Handy Book.. 14 Success in Bee Culture 14 A Year Among the Bees 14 The Production of Comb Honey. 14 , x Contents. PAGE Foreign Publications... a British Bee Journal. Foreign Books Promptitude.... 16 NtHUS ia Sit navers ca tionenisasstiascosantonpemn red: Ww PAR I. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY-BEE, CHAPTER I, The Bee’s Place in the Animal Kingdom Branch of the Honey-Bee...... The Class of the Honey-Bee .. Sub-Class of the Honey-Bee.. Order of the Honey-Bee... Family of the Honey-Bee. The Genus of the Honey-Bee. Species of our Honey-Bees Races of the Honey-Bee... German or Black Bee.. Ligurian or Italian... The Syrian and Cyprian Bates: Other Races. Bibliography... Valuable Books for the Student of Entomology. CHAPTER IL. Anatomyand Physiol gy s i=] wr 7 un September August to frost August to frost. August to frost. August to frost. August to frost. August to frost. August to frost. August to frost..... Bergamot. Figwort. Giant Hyssop. Malva. ..| Iron Weed. ..| Culver’s Root. .| Indian Plantains, ‘Touch Me Not or Sprang Bale) GreaT WILLow-HErs, Fire Weed), Golden Honey Plant. Large Smart Weed. We Sainte FLOWER). (GoLDEN Rop). ¢ AsTERS. + Marsh Sunflower. + ..| Tick-Seed. + ..| Beggar-Ticks, + .| Spanish Needles, + Rattlesnake Root or ‘Tall White Lettuce, 342 Trees or Shrubs. Date, Shrubs or Trees. January to May |eManzanita—California. January to May. *(Willow) t—California, | January to May. haparall—California Lilae ‘Gall Berry)—South. February to Jun *Orange--South, March Madrona--California. April Box Elder or Ash-Leaf Maple, April Red or Soft Maple. (a) April Poplar or Aspen. April an Ves (Willows) t also Trees, Apriland May. *Judas Tree—South. May ‘ (Shad-Bush) (Alder). Maples—Sugar Maple. (a) «| Crab Apple. .|(Hawthorns). Fruit Trees—Apple, Plum, Cherry, Pear, etc. (a) ..|(Currant and Gooseberry). (@) ..|*(Wistaria-Vine—South. (Chinese Wistaria Vine—South.) Capen Privet—South), arnish Tree—South, Acacia—South. --| Black Gum—South, «-|(Bladder Nut), -| Parsimmon (2)—South, Saw Patmetrro—South, .| Buckeye. -|(Barberry). . Grape Vine). (2) .-| Tulip-tree. ..{(Sumac). --| Buck Thorn—South. -| Black Mancrove—Florida, -| Magnolias—South, Honey Locust. «| Wild Plum, -I(Black Raspberry). (a) ocusts Rep RaspBerry). (2) Blackberry). *Sourwood—South, (Button Bush). Basswoop. (a) (Virginia Creeper.) (2) *CABBAGE PaALMETTO—South, *Blue Gum—California, Catalpa. (2) -|*Pepper-tree—California, (St. Nahas Worts). ate Sumac). -| Indian Currant or Coral Berry, -|*Red Gum—California, -| Japan Plum—South. .|(Germander or Wood Sage). ‘ — a June to July.. sete toJuly... ran March Honey Plants. 343 DESCRIPTION, WITH PRACTICAL REMARKS, As this subject of bee pasturage is of such prime import- ance, and as the interest in the subject is so great and wide- spread, I feel that details with illustrations will be more than warranted. We have abundant experience to show that forty or fifty colonies of bees, take the seasons as they average, are all that a single place will sustain to the greatest advantage. Then how significant the fact, that when the season is the best, full three times that number of colonies will find ample resources to keep all employed. So this subject of artificial pasturage becomes one well worthy close study and observation. The subject, too,is a very important one in reference to the location of the apiary. It is well to remember in this connection, that while bees do sometimes go from five:to seven miles for nectar, two or three miles should be regarded as the limit of profitable gathering. That is, apiaries of from fifty to one hundred or more colonies, should not be nearer than four or five miles of each other. MARCH PLANTS, In Florida the orange gives early bloom, and the thou- sands of trees in that land, not only of flowers but of honey, will have no small influence in building up the col- onies for the grand harvest of mangrove and palmetto soon to follow. ' The gall-berry of the South commences to bloom even in February, and yields abundant nectar. In Florida this shrub gives the main supply of honey during the swarm- ing season. APRIL PLANTS. As we have already seen, the apiarist does not secure the best results, even in the early spring, unless the bees are encouraged by the increase of their stores of pollen and honey; hence, in case we do not practice stimulative feed- ing—and many will not—it becomes very desirable to have some early bloom. Happily, in all sections of the United States our desires are not in vain. 344 April Honey Plants. Early in spring there are many scattering wild flowers, as skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, which supplies abundant pollen and some honey; the blood-root, San- guinaria Canadensis, liver-leaf, Hepatica acutiloba, and various others of the crow-foot family, as also many species of cress, which belong to the mustard family, and the gay dandelion, Taraxacum dens-leonis, which keeps on blooming for weeks, etc., all of which are valuable and important. The maples, which are all valuable honey plants, also con- Fic. 145. Red Maple, x pile Plessoms. ¥ Female blossoms, tribute to the early stores. Especially valuable are the silver maples, Acer dasycarpum, the red or soft maples, Acer rubrum (Fig. 145), and the box elder or ash-leaf maple Negundo aceroides, as they bloom so very early long before the leaves appear. The bees work on these, here The Maples and Willows. 345 in Michigan, the first week of April, and often in Marcl. They are also magnificent shade trees, especially those that have the weeping habit. Their early bloom is very pleasing, their summer form and foliage beautiful, while Fic. 146. +f q (f Way HME SS \ Sy Willow. « Fudas Trea, their flaming tints in autumn are indescribable. The foreign maples, -sycamore, Acer pseudo-platanus, and Norway, Acer platanoides, are also very beautiful. Whether superior to ours as honey plants, I am unable to say. ‘The willows, too (Fig. 146), rival the maples in the eatly period of bloom. Some are very early, blossoming in March, while others, like the white willow, Salix alba (Fig. 146), bloom in May. The flowers on one tree or bush of the willow are all pistillate, that is, have pistils but no stamens, while on others they are all staminate, haying no pistils. On the former, bees can gather only honey, on the latter only pollen. That the willow furnishes both honey and pollen is attested by the fact that I saw both 346 May Honey Plants. kinds of trees, the pistillate and the staminate, thronged with bees the past season. The willow, too, from its ele- gant form and silvery foliage, is oné of our finest shade trees. It grows everywhere in the United States, Fic. 148. ‘ wh Sugar Maple, In the south of Michigan, and thence southward to Ken- tucky, and even beyond, the Judas tree, or red-bud, Cercis Canadensis (Fig. 147), is not only worthy of cultivation as a honey plant, but is also very attractive, and well desery- Jay Honey Plants, 347 ing of attention for its ornamental qualities alone. This blooms from March to May, according to the latitude. The poplars—not the tulip—also bloom in April, and are freely visited by the bees. The wood is immaculate, and is used for too hpicks and sections for comb honey. In California, the unique and exquisite Manzanitas (spe- cies of Arctostaphylos), together with the willows and many other flowering plants, keep the bees busy from January till May. MAY PLANTS. In May we have the grand sugar maple, Acer saccha- rinum (Fig. 148), incomparable for beauty, also all our various fruit trees, peach, cherry, plum, apple, etc.; in fact all the Rosacee family. Our beautiful American wista- Fic. 149. American Wistaria, ria, Wistaria frutescens (Fig. 149), the very ornamental climber, or the still more lovely Chinese wistaria, Wista- ria sinensis (Fig. 150), which has longer racemes than the native, and often blossoms twice in the season. These are the woody twiners for the apiarist. I regret to say that neither one is hardy in Michigan. 348 The California Sages. The barberry, too, Berberis vulgaris (Fig. 150), comes after fruit blossoms, and is thronged with bees in search of nectar in spring, as with children in winter, in quest of the beautiful scarlet berries, so pleasingly tart. In California, the sumac, the horehound, the famous black sage (Fig. 151), Audibertia Palmeri, or more cor- Fic 150. Barberry, Chinese Wistaria, rectly Trechostema lanatum (there are two other species less common), with its most beautiful and delicious honey, and the more common, and hardly less excellent, white sage, Audibertia polystachia (Fig. 152), keep the bees roaring with activity, in favorable seasons, from April even unto June. In the South, as I learn from that able apiarist, Dr. J. H. P. Brown, they are no less favored. The Japan privet, the varnish tree, the acacia, the black gum and the per- é The Black Sage. 349 Fic 151. Ball or Black Sage. 350 The White Sage. simmon stir the bees up to their best endeavor in May. The banana blooms not only in May, but, as Mr. W. 5S. Hart, of Florida, writes me, it is in blossom the year Fic. 152. White Sage. around. So rich are the flower tubes in nectar that Mr. Hart says he could soon gather a teacupful, by hand, of clear beautiful nectar of good flavor. Chinquapin (Cas- May Honey Plants, 351 tanea pumila), is an excellent honey plant in the Caro- linas. The horse mint (Fig. 153), Monarda aristata, is sending the bees loaded to their hives with its peculiar aromatic nectar, “This, with the buckthorn, yields honey into June. Fic. 153. Florse Mint, + This plant often covers acres in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Mr. Freeborn, of Wisconsin, has often secured a large harvest from this plant when all else failed, The saw palmetto, Sable serulata, forms a dense growth and makes clearing the land no small expense in Florida. 352 White Clover, The slim trunk creeps along the ground for twenty feet, and sends roots beneath for nourishment. The leaves arise from this stem, and are from four to six feet long. The clusters of small yellowish-white blossoms are immense in size. The blossoms last from the middle of April till June. The honey is yellow, thick and fine. The fruit of this palm is about twice the size of the Concord grape, and from October till Christmas the oozing nectar keeps the bees at work. This is dark honey, but very good for stim- ulative feeding. TUNE PLANTS. With June comes the incomparable white or Dutch clover, Trifolium repens (Fig. 154), whose chaste and modest bloom betokens the beautiful, luscious, and unrivaled sweets Fic. 154. White or Dutch Clover, which are hidden in its corolla tube. Also its sister, Alsike or Swedish, Trifolium hybrida (Fig 155), which seems to resemble both the white and red clover. It is qa stronger grower than the white, and has a whitish blossom tinged with pink. Messrs. Doolittle and Root think that white clover furnishes about fifty pounds of honey to the acre dur. 353 Alstte Clover: Fig. 155. Alsike Clover, 354 White, Alsike and Sweet Clover. ing the season. I am sure that Alsike may furnish much more than this, and I believe the same is true of white. This forms excellent pasture and hay for cattle, sheep, etc., and may well be sown by the apiarist. It will often pay api- arists to furnish neighboring farmers with seed as an induce- ment to grow this excellent honey plant. Like white clover, it blooms all through June into July. Both of these should be sown early in spring with timothy, five or six pounds of seed to the acre, in the same manner that red clover seed issown. As Alsike seeds itself each year, and so lasts much longer than red clover, I think it pays well to mix Fic. 156. Melilot Clover. the seed, using about three pounds of Alsike clover seed and five or six of red clover. By cutting Alsike clover just as it commences to bloom, it may be made to come into blos- som the second time, so as just to fill the vacant space in August. This is a very important fact, and may well be acted upon. I have known Alsike clover to give a good harvest of nectar during a dry year, when white clover utterly failed. Sweet clover, yellow and white, Melilotus officinalis (Fig. 156) and Melilotus alba, are well named.. They Borage and Mignonette. 355 bloom from the middle of June to the first of October. ‘Their perfume scents the air for long distances, and the hum of bees that throng their flowers is like music to the apiarist’s ear. The honey, too, is just exquisite. These clovers are biennial, not blooming the first season, and dying after they bloom the second season. They perpetu- ate themselves, however, through the seed so as to really Fic. 158. Mignonette, Borage, become perennial. A disagreeable fact is that they have little value except forhoney. The Bokhara clover is only a variety of the above, though Mr. D. A. Jones thinks it quite superior to the others, The other clovers-—lucerne, yellow trefoil, scarlet tre- foil, and alfalfa—have not proved of any value. with us, perhaps owing to locality. The alfalfa is valued highly for bees in Colorado and other western States. Borage, Borago officinalis (Fig. 157), an excellent bee plant, blooms from June till frost, and is visited by bees ven in very rainy weather. It seems not to be a favorite, but is eagerly visited when all others fail to yield nectar. Mignonette, Reseda odorata (Fig. 158), blooms from the 356 Fune Honey Plants. middle of June till frost, is unparalleled for its sweet odor, furnishes nectar in profusion, and is well worthy cultiva- Okra. Fic. 160. Mint, tion. It does not secrete well in wet weather, but in favorable weather it is hardly equaled. Okra, or gumbo, Hibiscus esculentus (Fig. 159), also. otherwort for Honey. 357 blooms in June. It is as much sought after by the bees in quest of honey, as by the cook in search of a savory vege- table, or one to give tone tosoup. . Sage, Salvia officinalis, horehound, Marrubium vulgare, motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca, and catnip, Nepeta cataria, Fic. 161. Motherwort. which latter does not commence to bloom till July, all fur- nish nice white honey, remain in bloom a long time, and are very desirable, as they are in bloom in the honey dearth of July and August. They, like many others of the mint 358 Sune Floney Plants. family (Fig..160), are thronged with bees during the sea- son of bloom. The first and last are of commercial import- ance, while very few of our native plants afford so much nectar, are such favorites with the bees, and are so inde- , pendent of weather as motherwort (Fig 161). Itis crowded with bees from the dawn of its bloom till the last flower withers. By cutting it back in May it can be made to Fic. 163. Fic. 162. Pollen of Milk-Weed on Bee's Foot. Black Mustard. blossom just at the dearth of nectar-secreting bloom; other- wise it comes in June and early July, just when Linden is yielding its precious harvest. Few plants are more desir- able to sow in waste places. The silk or milk-weed furnishes abundant nectar from June to frost, as there are several species of the genus Asclepias, which is wide-spread in our country. Indeed pleurisy root or butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, is the bee-plant that Mr. Heddon has praised so highly. He thinks it one of our best indigenous honey-plants. These are the plants which have large pollen masses which often ad- here to the legs of the bees (Fig 162), and sometimes The Mustards and Rape. 359 so entrap them as to cause their death. Prof. Riley once very graciously advised planting them to kill bees. I say graciously, as I have watched these very closely and am sure they do little harm, and are rich in nectar. Seldoma bee gets caught so as to hold it long, and when these awk- ward masses are carried away with the bee, they are usu- ally left at the door of the hive, where I have often seen them in considerable numbers. The river bank hard by our apiary is lined with these sweet smelling herbs, and we Fic. 164. Rape. would like even more. Occasionally, however, the bee: become so burdened with these pollen masses that the other bees drag or drive them from the hive, as no longer fit for labor or worthy to live. Bees are veritable Hottentots, they kill, though they do not eat, the old and the feeble. Black mustard, Sinapis nigra (Fig. 163), white mustard, Sinapis alba, and rape, Brassica campestris (Fig. 164), all look much alike, and are all admirable bee plants, as they furnish much and beautiful honey. The first, if self-sown, blooms with us July ist, the others June 1st; the first about eight weeks after sowing, the others about four. 360 Fune Honey Plants. The mustards bloom for four weeks, rape for three. These are all specially commendable, as they may be made to bloom during the honey dearth of July and August, and are valuable plants to raise for seed. Rape seems to be Fic. 165. Tulip, very attractive to insects, as the flea beetles and the blister beetles are often quite too much for it, though they do not usually destroy the plants till after they have blossomed. The Tulip Tree. 361 I have several times purchased what purported to be Chi- nese mustard, dwarf and tall, but Prof. Beal, than whom there is no better authority, tells me they are only the white and black, and certainly they are no whit better as bee plants. These plants, with buckwheat, the mints, borage, and mignonette, are specially interesting, as they cover, or may be made to cover, the honey dearth from ‘about July zoth to August 2oth. The mustards and rape may be planted in drills about eight inches apart, any time from May ist to July 15th. Four quarts will sow an acre. In this month blooms the tulip tree, Liriodendron tulip. ifera (Fig. 165)—often called poplar in the South, which Fic. 166. Teasel, is not only an excellent honey producer, but is one of our most stately and admirable shade trees. Dr. Brown, of Georgia, says this is the great dependence—the basswood of the South. He says that along rivers especially the bloom is so prolonged, being earlier on the uplands, that the harvest is long as bountiful. Now bloom the sumacs. though one species blooms in May, the wild plum, the raspberries, whose nectar is unsurpassed in color and flavor. and the blackberry. The blackberry comes quite late. 362 Sune Honey Plants. some days after the raspberry. I think it is far less valua- ble as a honey plant. Corn yields largely of honey as well as pollen, and the teasel, Dipsacus fullonum (Fig. 166), is said, not only by Mr. Doolittle, but by English and German apiarists, to yield richly of beautiful honey. This last has commercial importance. In central New York it is raised in large quantities. The spinous fruit heads Fic. 167. Common Locust, are used in preparing woolen cloth. The fragrant locust (Fig. 167) Robinia pseuda-cacia opens its petals in June, which, from its rapid growth, beautiful form and hand- some foliage, would rank among our first shade trees, were it not that it is so tardy in spreading its canopy of green, and so liable to ruinous attack by the borers, which last peculiarity it shares with the incomparable maples. Wash- ing the trunks of the trees in June and July with soft soap will in great part remove tbis trouble. ji In June the mammoth red clover, Trifolium pratense, comes out in one mass of crimson. This, unlike common red clover, has flower tubes short enough for even the ligula of the black bee. It is pretty coarse for hay but Lhe Partridge Pea. 363 excellent for pasture and for green manuring. The Par- tridge pea, Cassia chamacrista (Fig. 168), furnishes abun- dant nectar, and like the cow pea of the South has extra floral as well as floral glands. Lupine, Lupinus perennis, and gill or ground ivy, Nepeta glechoma, commenced to Fic. 168. > Pe as ~ Rs4 ps ws Partridge Pea, blossom in May and now are fully out. This last isa mint, a near relative of catnip. I find there are foreign mints which are excellent honey-plants, and very likely would pay well to sow in waste places. The matrimony vine, Lycium vulgare, and the beautiful honey locust, Gleditschia triacanthos ( Fig. 169), are now full of life, as the bees come and go full-loaded with nectar. In California, the fig- wort, Scrophularia Californica, contributes to the honey 304 The Honey Locust. Fic. 169. gi WA Honey Locust, The Cow Pea and Cotton. 365 supply. Our brothers of the South reap a rich harvest from the great staple, cotton, Gossypium herbaceum (Fig. 170), which commences to bloom early in June, and Fic. 170. ‘Cotton, remains in blossom even to October. This belongs to the same family—Mallow— as the hollyhock, and like it blooms and fruits through the season. The cow pea (Fig. 143) is not only good for bees, but for feed, and to enrich the soil. The stone-crop, Sedum pulchellum, is another valuable honey plant of the South. In June the magnolias (Fig. 171)—there are several spe- cies in the South—are in bloom. In many parts they com- mence to blossom in May. One.of the finest of these is the Magnolia glauca (Fig. 171). One would suspect at once that it was a near relative of the tulip tree. 366 Basswood as a Honey Plant. JULY PLANTS. Early in this month opens the far-famed basswood cr linden, Tilia Americana (Fig. 172), which for the profusion Fic. 171. SX Magnolia, and quality of its honey has no superior, Mr. Doolittte got 66 pounds of honey from this source by a single cul- Linden or Basswood. 367 ony in three days. There is rarely a year that it does not give us some of its incomparable nectar. It has been esti- Basswood. mated that one linden tree would furnish, in a favorable year, fifty pounds of honey. The tree, too, from its great 268 Figwort for Honey. spreading top and fine foliage, is magnificent for shade, Five of these trees are within two rods of my study win- dow, and their grateful fragrance and beautiful form ard shade have often been the subject of remark by visitors, Fic. 173. Figwort, This tree is par excellence for roadside plant; 1 c planting. It bears transplanting admirably, and is very little diecirbed: by insects. We have only to keep stock away from it, and The Chapman Honey Plant. 360 they are death to any tree. Maples, and even elms in many parts of the United States, may well give place to the linden. Figwort, Scrophularia nodosa (Fig. 173), often called Rattleweed, as the seeds will rattle in the pod, and Carpen- ter’s Square, as it has a square stalk, is an insignificant look- Fic. 174. Chapman’s Honey Plant, ing weed, with inconspicuous flowers, that afford abundant nectar from the middle of July till frost. I have received almost as many for identification as I have of the asters and golden rods. Prof. Beal remarked to mea year or two since, that it hardly seemed possible that it could be so valuable. We cannot always rightly estimate by appear- ances alone. It is a very valuable plant to be scattered in waste places. The Chapman’s honey plant, Echinops spherocephalus (Fig. 174), commences to bloom late in July and continues tillin August. It takes its first name 24 379 Rocky Mountain Bee Plant. Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Fuly Honev Plants. 371 from its spines, and the second from its round flower-head. It promises well, and now that the government distributes its seeds we shall soon know fully as to its virtues. That beautiful and valuable honey plant from Minne- sota, Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, cleome, or the Rocky Mountain bee-plant, C:come integrifolia (Fig. 175), if self-sown, or sown in the fall, blooms by the middle of July and lasts for long weeks. Nor can anything be more gay than these brilliant fowers, alive with bees all through the long fall. This should be planted in fall in drills two _ feet apart, the plants six inches apart in the drills: It will not grow if planted in the spring. The seeds, which grow in pods, are very numerous, and are said to be valuable for chickens. It does best on light soil. This is one of our most promising plants for sowing on waste places. Now commence to bloom the numerous Eupatoriums, or bone- sets, or thoroughworts (Fig. 176), which fill the marshes of our country, and the hives as well, with their rich golden nectar. These are precursors of that profusion of this composite order, whose many species are even now budding, in preparation for the sea of flowers which will deck the marsh-lands of August ‘and September. Wild bergamot, Monarda fistulosa, which like the thistles is of importance to the apiarist, also blooms in July. As before remarked, this is one of the plants whose long flower tubes are pierced by the Nylocopa bees. Then the honey-bees help to gather the abundant nectar. This is a near relative of the horse-mint which, as will be seen, it closely recem- bles. The golden honey-plant, Actinomeris squarrosa, so praised by Dr. Tinker, and rattle-snake root, Nabalus altissimus, which swarms with bees all the day long, are also composite plants. The little shrub of our marshes, appropriately named button-bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis (Fig. 177), also shares the attention of the bees with the linden; while api- arists of the South find sour-wood, or sorrel tree, Oxyden- drum arboreum (Fig. 178), a valuable honey tree. We have this plant on our college grounds, but it is not hardy here, as it kills back nearly every winter. This belongs to the Heath family, which includes the far-famed heather 372 Boneset or Thoroughwort. Fic. 176. Boneset, Honey Plants of Fuly. 373 bloom of England. It also includes our whortleberry, cranberry, blueberry, and one plant which has no enviable reputation, as furnishing honey which is very poisonous, even fatal to those who eat, the mountain laurel; Kalmia latifolia. There is good reason to question these reports as to poisonous honey. We can easily see how mistakes could occur. It is not easy to understand, if these plants furnish poisonous nectar, why poisonous honey (?) is so very rare an occurrence. A near relative of K. latifolia, which grows at the South, Andromeda nitida, is said to fur- Fic. 177. Butto: Balt, ni$h beautiful and wholesome honey in great quantities. The Virginia creeper also blooms in July. I wish I could say that this beautiful vine, transplendent in autumn, is a favor- ite with the honey-bee. Though it often, nay always, swarms with wild bees when in blossom, yet I have rarely: seen honey-bees visit the ample bloom amidst its rich, green, vigorous foliage. 374 St. Fohn’s Wort. The St. John’s wort, Hypericum, with its many species, both shrubby and herbaceous, offers bountiful contributions to the delicious stores-of the honey bee. The catnip, Ne- peta cataria, and asparagus—which if uncut in spring will Fic. 178. Sour Wood, bloom in June—so delectable for the table, and so elegant for trimming table meats and for banquets in autumn, come now to offer their nectarian gifts, and beautiful orange pollen, Basil or mountain mint, Pycnanthemum lanceolatum— we might almost include all the mints, the blue and white Cabbage Palmetto. 374 vervains, or verbenas, Verbena hastata, and V. stricta, also fog-fruit, Lippia lyceroides, another of this family, is val- ued very highly in Texas—it grows ten feet high and bears beautiful white flowers; the iron weeds, Vernonias, the mal- vas, Culver’s root, Veronica Virginica—another of the fig- wort family; Indian plantains, Cacalias, and viper’s bugloss —the so-called blue thistle—all contribute to the apiary in July; the viper’s bugloss, Echium vulgare, though most common South is very abundant at Beeton, Canada. Mr. Fic. 179. Cabbage Palmetto, Jones has it growing all about his apiaries. I have never seen it in Michigan. It is a near relation of borage, and does not belong even to the family—Composita—of the thistles. In California, the blue gum and the red gum, Eucalyp- tus globulus, and E, rostrata, introduced from Australia, furnish honey from July and August till December. The catalpa, a very rapid growing tree, throws its large, showy blossoms to the breeze and bees in July. It is rap- The Mangrove and Palmetto. 376 : re ; ; ee ai idly growing in favor as a shade tree, and is incompara fr oe. It lasts for a great many years when imbedded inthe earth. But “the noblest Roman of them all” is the True Mangrove, It (Fig.179). As Mr.. who saw and tasted it is the linden of the South. ps palmetto ays, this ney, which, as all cabbage palmetto, Chamero Hart, of Florida, s yields abundant ho Summer Honey Plants. 377 at the last convention at Cincinnati, can vouch, is unsur- passed in flavor, Mr. Muth well said that he wished no finer, This tree grows to the height of seventy feet. The trunk is. leafless to near the top, and varies little in size from the earth to the top. The small, white blossoms nestle among the long palm leaves in profusion, and are tich in both nectar and pollen, from June 1st till August. The tree is found from the Carolinas to the Gulf. At the same time with the above, the white blossom of the black mangrove, Avicennia tomentosa, and its near relative, Avicennia oblongifolia, come forth with their abundant and incomparable nectar which hangs in drops. Fic. 181. Buckwheat, The honey from this and the cabbage palmetto is clear, and as fine and beautiful as that of white clover. This tree is confined to the Peninsula of Florida, where it is regarded as the best honey plant that grows in that locality. Here we see the danger of common names. This is not a mangrove at all; though the leaves resemble those of the true mangrove, they are more tomentose or hairy, and, like that tree, grows down to the very waters’ edge, so is not affected by drouth. This is an evergreen, and forms an 378 Fall Honey Plants. impenetrable thicket on the muddy shores of the sea. It bzlongs to the same family as our verbenas—the vervain family. The true mangrove (Fig. 180) has yellow blossoms, and like the renowned Banyan tree, sends numerous stems to the earth, each of which takes root. This tree belongs to the mangrove family, and is Rhizophora mangle. AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER PLANTS. The cultivated buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum (Fig. 181), usually blooms in August, as it is sown the first of Fic. 182. Golden Rod. July—three pecks per acre is the amount to sow—but by sowing the first of June, it may be made to bloom the middle of July, when there is generally, in most localities, an absence of nectar-secreting flowers. The honey is inferior in color and flavor, though some people prefer this to all other honey. The silver-leaf buckwheat blooms Sunflowers and Golden Rod. 379 longer, has more numerous flowers, and thus yields more grain than the common variety. The Japan buckwheat is said to be superior even to the silver leaf. The odd shrub, Hercules’ club, Aralia spinosa, grown as a curiosity North, but indigenous in Kentucky and Ten- nessee, yields abundant nectar. It blooms at Lookout Mountain early in August, just after the sourwood. Now come the numerous golden rods. The species of Fic. 183. Aster. the genus Solidago (Fig. 182), in the Eastern’ United States, number nearly two score, and occupy all kinds of soils and are at home on upland, prairie and morass. These abound in all parts of the United States. They yield abundance of rich, golden honey, with flavor that is unsur- passed by any other. Fortunate the apiarist who can boast of a thicket of Solidagoes in his locality. The many plants usually styled sunflowers, because of their resemblance to our cultivated plants of that name, 350 Autumn Honey Plants. which deck the hill-side,’ meadow and marsh land, now unfurl their showy involucres, and open their modest corollas, to invite the myriad insects to sip the precious nectar which each of the clustered flowers secretes. Our cultivated sunflowers, I think, are indifferent honey plants, Fic. 184. Great Willow Herb, after Gray, a wieset bet ripe stigma, = pee stigma, nripe stamens, lower with ri P Petal. : Po Pollen grain, See T Pollen tube. though some think them big with beauty, and their seeds are relished by poultry. But the numerous species of asters (Fig. 183), so wide-spread, the beggar-ticks and Spanish-needles, Bidens, of our marshes, the tick-seed Coreopsis, also, of the low, marshy places, with hundreds more of the great family Composite, are replete with Autumn Honey Plants. 381 precious nectar, and with favorable seasons make the apiarist who dwells in their midst jubilant, as he watches Fic. 185. Spider Plant. the bees which fairly flood the hives with the rich and 382 Books for Apiarists.. delicious honey. In all of this great family, the flowers are small and inconspicuous, clustered in compact heads, and when the plants are showy with bloom, like the sun- flowers, the brilliancy is due to the involucre, or bracts which serve as a frill to decorate the more modest flowers. The great willow herb, or fire weed, Epilobium angus- tifolium (Fig. 184), is often the source of immense honey harvests. The downy seeds blow to great distances, and finding a lodgment, their vitality makes them burst forth whenever brush is burned or forest fires rage. Hence the name, fire weed. This handsome plant often covers acres of burnt lands in Northern Michigan with its beautiful pink bloom. Unlike most nectar from late bloom, the honey from this flower is white as clover honey. It often gives a rich harvest to the apiarist of Northern Michigan. Another excellent fall honey plant of wide range is the coral berry or Indian currant, Symphoricarpus vulgaris. The honey product of this plant is worthy its name. I close this account with mention of another Cleome, the famous spider plant (Fig. 185), Cleome pungens. Th's plant thrives best in rich, damp clay soil. It is only open for a little time before night-fall and at early dawn; but when open its huge drops of nectar keep the bees wild with excitement, calling them up even before daylight, and enticing them to the field long after dusk. I have thus mentioned the most valuable honey plants of our country. Of course there are many omissions. Let all apiarists, by constant observation, help to fill up the list. BOOKS ON BOTANY. I am often asked what books are best to make apiarists botanists. JI am glad to answer this question, as the study of botany will not only be valuable discipline, but will also furnish abundant pleasure, and give important prac- tical information. Gray’s Lessons and Manual of Botany, in one volume, published by Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co., New York, is the most desirable treatise on this subject. A more recent work by Prof. C. E. Bessey, and published by Henry Holt & Co., is also very excellent flints for Planting. 383 The former treats of systematic, the latter of physiological botany. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS. It will pay well for the apiarist to decorate his grounds with soft and silver maples, for their beauty and early bloom. If his soil isrich, sugar maples and lindens may well serve a similar purpose. Indeed, every apiarist should strive to have others plant the linden. No tree is so worthy a place by the roadside. The Judas and tulip trees, both North and South, may well be made to ornament his home. For vines, obtain the wistarias, where they are hardy. Sow and encourage the sowing of Alsike clover and silver-leaf or Japanese buckwheat in your neighborhood. Be sure that your wife, children, and bees can often repair to a large bed of the new giant or grandiflora mignonette, and remember that it, with figwort, spider plant, Rocky Mountain bee plant, and borage, blooms till frost.. Study the bee plants of your region, and then study the above table, and provide for a succession, remembering that the mustards, rape and buckwheat may be made to bloom almost at pleasure, by sowing at the proper time. Do not forget that borage and the mustards seem comparatively indifferent to wet weather. Be sure that all waste places are stocked with motherwort, catnip, pleurisy root, figwort, cleome, viper’s bugloss, asters, etc. The above dates, unless specially mentioned, are only correct for Michigan, Northern Ohio, and similar latitudes, and for more southern latitudes must be varied, which, by comparison of a few, as the fruit trees, becomes no difficult matter. 384 Causes of Winter Losses. CHAPTER XVII, WINTERING BEES. This is a subject, of course, of paramount importance to the apiarist of the Northern States, as this is the rock on which some of even the most successful have split. Yet I come fearlessly to consider this question, as from all the multitude of disasters I see no occasion for discourage- ment. If the problem of successful wintering has not been solved already, it surely will be, and that speedily. So important an interest was never yet vanquished by misfor- tune, and there is no reason to think that history is now going to be reversed. Of course this chapter has no prac- tical value to the apiarists of the South and Pacific Coast. There safe wintering is assured, except as the careless bee- keeper permits starvation. THE CAUSES OF DISASTROUS WINTERING. I fully believe, and to no branch of this subject have I given more thought, study, and observation, that all the losses may be traced to either unwholesome food, extremes of temperature, or protracted cold. I know from actual and wide-spread observation, that the severe loss of 1870 and 1871 was attended in this part of Michigan with unsuitable honey in the hive. The previous autumn was unprecedentedly dry. Flowers were rare, and storing was largely from insect secretion, and consequently the stores were unwholesome. I tasted of honey from many hives only to find it nauseating. Extremes of heat and cold are also detrimental to the bees. If the temperature of the hive becomes too high, the bees become restless, eat more than they ought, and if confined to their hives are distended with their feces, become diseased, besmear their comb and hives, and die. If when they become thus disturbed, they could have a purifying flight, all would be weil. Again, if the temperature become extremely low, the bees to keep up the animal heat must Reguirements for Safe Wintering. 385 take more food; they are uneasy, exhale much moisture, which may settle and freeze on the outer combs about the cluster, preventing the bees from getting the needed food, and thus in this case both dysentery and starvation confront the bees. That able and far-seeing apiarist, the lamented M. Quinby, was one of the first to discover this fact; and here, as elsewhere, gave advice that if heeded would have saved great loss and sore disappointment. I have little doubt, in fact I know from actual investigation, that in the past severe winters, those bees which under confinement have been subject to severe.extremes, were the ones that invariably perished. Had the bees been kept in a uniform temperature, ranging from 40° to 45° F., the record would have been materially changed. Bees do not hibernate in the sense that other insects do, though if the temperature is just right, from 40°. to 45° F., they are very quiet and eat but little. Yet that they are even then functionally active is readily shown by the high independent tempera- ture in the hive and their frequent change of position in the cluster, Excessive moisture, especially in cases of protracted cold, is always to be avoided. Bees, like all other; animals, are constantly giving off moisture, which of course will be accelerated if the bees become disturbed and are thus led to consume more food. This moisture not only acts as explained above, but also induces fungous growths. The mouldy comb is not wholesome, though it may never cause death. Hence another necessity for sufficient warmth to drive this moisture from the hive, and some means to absorb it without opening the hive above ard permitting a current, which will disturb the bees, and cause the greater consump- tion of honey. It is probable that with the proper tem- perature moisture will do little harm. THE REQUISITE TO SAFE WINTERING—GOOD FOOD. To winter safely, then, demands that the bees have thirty pounds, by weight not guess—I have known many cases where guessing meant starvation—of good capped honey (granulated sugar is just as good). It is now proved that it is even safer to feed a syrup made of granulated sugar.‘ 26 386 Rules for Wintering. We thus are sure that our stores are good and suitable. Often it pays to do this as we get enough for the extracted honey to pay well for the sugar and our time and trouble. If desired this may be fed as previously explained, which should be done so early that all will be capped during the warm days of October. The bees should be able to pass over or through the combs, Hill’s device—bent pieces placed above the frames so as to raise the cloth cover—will permit the first, while small holes cut through the combs will enable the bees to pass from one comb to another without having to pass around. In a good cellar it is not necessary to do more at most than to so arrange that the bees can pass over the frames. I used to cut holes, but do so no more. This preparatory work I always do early in October, when 1 extract all uncapped honey, take out all frames after I have given each colony the thirty pounds, éy we/g At, of honey, confine the space with a division board, cover with the quilt and chaff, and then leave undisturbed till the cold of November calls for further care. I prefer that the combs have no pollen in them, and that they be so full of honey that six or eight will be enough. Pollen usually does no harm, though sometimes it is injurious. If the bees can fly often or if kept in a uniform temperature at from 40° to 45° F., the pollen willdono harm. The combs may well be one-half inch apart. If the bees have been neglected, and mid-winter finds them destitute of stores, then they should not be fed liquid honey, though this has been done with success, but either the Good or Viallon or some other solid candy should be placed on the frames just above the cluster. Or we may run the candy into a frame and hang it in the hive, SECURE LATE BREEDING... _ Keep the bees breeding till the first of September. Except in years of excessive drouth, this will occur without extra care. Failure may result from the presence of worthless queens. Any queens which seem not to be prolific should be superseded whenever the fact becomes evident. regard, this as most important. Few know how much is lost by Packing Box for Winter. 387 tolerating feeble, impotent queens in the apiary, whose ability can only keep the colonies alive. Never keep such queens about. Here, then, is another reason for always keeping extra queens on hand. Even with excellent queens, a failure in the honey yield may cause breeding to cease. In such cases, we have only to feed as directed under the head of feeding. It is not true that very large colonies will winter better than smaller ones. Yet it is important that the bees be normal in age and condition. TO SECURE AND MAINTAIN THE PROPER TEMPERATURE. We ought also to provide against extremes of tempera- ture. It is desirable to keep the temperature about the hive between 38° and 50° F., through the entire winter, from November to April. If: no cellar or house is at hand, this may be partially accomplished as follows: Some pleasant, dry day in late October or early November, raise the stahd and place straw beneath; then surround the hive with a box a foot outside the hive, with movable top, and . open on the east; or else have a long wooden tube, oppo- site the entrance, to permit flight; this tube should be six or eight inches square to per mnt easy examination in win ter. The same end may be gained by driving stakes and putting boards around. Then we crowd between the box and the hive either cut. straw, chaff or shavings. - After placing a good thickness of cut straw above the hive, lay on the cover of the box, or cover with boards, This pre-‘ serves against changes of temperature during the winter, and also permits the bees to fly, if it becomes necessary from a protracted ‘period of warm weather, I have thus kept all our bees safely during two of the disastrous win- ters. This plan usually succeeds well, but will fail in a very severe winter like that of 1880-81. As some may wisH to try, and possibly to adopt it, I will describe the box used at our College, which costs but one dollar and is convenient to store away in summer. BOX FOR PACKING. The sides of this (Fig. 186, a, a2) facing east and west are three and a half feet long, two feet high at the south 388 Winter Packing Box. end, and two and a half feet at the north. They are in one piece, which is secured by nailing the boards which form them to cleats, which are one inch from the ends. The north end (Fig. 186, 6) is three feet by two and a. half feet, the south (Fig. 186, 4) three feet by two, and made the same as are the sides. The slanting edges of the side (Fig. 186, a, 2) are made by using for the upper boards, the strips formed by sawing diagonally from corner to Fic. 186. Packing Box, corner a board six inches wide and three feet long. The cover (Fig. 186, g), which is removed in figure, is large enough to cover the top and project one inch at both ends. It should be battened, and held in one piece by cleats (Fig 186, 4) four inches wide, nailed on to the ends. fiece will drop over the ends of the box, and thus hold the cover in place, and prevent rain and snow from driving in. When in place this slanting cover permits the rain to run off easily and will dry quickly after a storm. By a single nail at Advantages of Chaff-Hives. "389 each corner the four sides may be tacked together about - the hive, when it can be packed in with cut straw (Fig. 186), or fine chaff, which should be carefully done, if the day is cold, so as not to disquiet the bees. At the center and bottom of the east side (Fig. 186, c) cut out a square, eight inches each way, and between this and the hive place a bottomless tube (the top of this tube is represented as removed in figure to show entrance to hive), before putting ‘in the cut straw or chaff and adding the cover. This box should be put in place before the bleak cold days of Novem- ber, and retained in position till the stormy winds of April are passed. This permits the bees to fly when very warm weather comes in winter or spring, and requires no atten- tion from the apiarist. By placing two or three hives close together in autumn—yet never move the colonies more than three or four feet at any one time, as such removals involve the loss of many bees—-one box may be made to cover all, and at lessexpense. This will also be more trustworthy in very cold winiers.. Late in spring these boxes may be removed and packed away, and the straw or chaff carried away, or removed a short distance and burned. CHAFF-HIVES. Messrs. Townley, Butler, Root, Poppleton and others, prefer chaff-hives, which are simply double-walled hives, with the four or five inch chambers filled with chaff. The objections to these I take to be: first, they are not proof against severe and long-continued cold, like the winter of 1880-81; second, such cumbrous hives are inconvenient to handle in summer; and, third, they are expensive. That they would in part supply the place of shade, is, perhaps, in their favor, while Mr. A. I. Root thinks they are not expensive. Mr. O. O. Poppleton, one of our most intelligent bee- keepers, shows practically that the first objection given above is not valid. So very likely the failure in so many apiaries in 1880-81 was rather due-to improper use. Mr. Poppleton claims numerous advantages for these hives: 1st, In his hands, success. . 2d. They permit early preparation for winter. 390 How to Use Chaff-fives. ad. They give entire fresdom from care of the bees from September till March. : 4th. Preparation for winter requires only slight labor. 5th. We can easily get at the bees at any time. 6th. The bees are not excited by a slight rise in tem- perature, and so are not lost by flying on cold days; do not breed in winter and spring when they need quiet, and do not “dwindle” in spring. ; 7th. They are valuable aids in building up nuclei and Fic. 187. Section of a Chaff- Hive, weak colonies at cold periods at any one time ofthe year. sth, They are specially desirable to protect the bees in April and May, and prevent “spring dwindling.” RULES FOR THEIR USE. Mr. Poppleton urges the following important points: st. Pack early in autumn before cold weather, and do not remove the packing till the warm weather has come to stay. Wintering in Bee House. 391 2d. Have five or six inches on ad/ sédes of bees, of jine chaff—timothy is best—entirely freed from straw. 3d. Be sure and have the chaff below the bees as well as above and on the sides. 4th. Do not put the chaff above the bees on loose, but confine in sacks. This is for convenience and neatness. 5th. Have as much empty space as possible inside the hive and outside the packing; and never let the cover to the hive rest immediately on the packing. 6th. Crowd the bees on to a few frames—never more than eight—and the packing close to the bees. yth. Winter passages should be made through all the combs. Mr. Jones prefers that the outer wall of the chaff-hive should be of narrow boards so as to be more impervious to dampness. He also uses fine dry sawdust instead of chaff. Mr. Root in his two-story hives (Fig. 187) uses a thicker layer of chaff below, but carries it to the top. Of course the double wall need not extend on the sides of the frames. The division boards on the sides of the frames may make the double wall. WINTERING IN BEE HOUSE. As Mr. D. A. Jones has tested bee houses on a very large scale, and met with success, I will quote directly from him: «The house should be so constructed that the out-door temperature cannot affect that of the bee house; and in order to accomplish this its walls should be packed tightly with two feet of dry sawdust or three feet of chaff pack- ing, overhead same thickness, and the bottom so protected that no frost can penetrate. Next, it should have a venti- lating tube at the top, of not less than one square inch to each colony of bees. It should have sub-earth ventilation by means of a tube laid below the depth frost will pene- trate, and from one to three hundred feet in length, coming in contact with outside atmosphere at the other end; as air passes through this' tube it is tempered by the distance through the earth, and comes into the house at an even temperature. By means of slides at these ventilators, the 392 Wintering in Cellar. temperature can be arranged in the bee house, which should stand from 43° to 46°, and in no case should it fall lower than 42°. There should be tight-fitting triple doors, which will make two dead-air spaces. «‘ When the bee house is filled, and during warm weather. in the spring—the bees should not be let out on the sum- mer stands until the first pollen appears (which is gen- erally from the tag alder or black willow )—it is necessary that the temperature of the room be kept at the wintering standpoint. This may be done by means of an ice-box or refrigerator, filled with ice or snow, and suspended at top of room in close proximity to the ceiling. The bottom of the box must be so constructed that while the warm air may be allowed to pass up through the refrigerator, the drippings+ will not drop to the floor and create moisture. This latter may be prevented by means of a tube running: from the box down through the floor.” The rules for remov- ing and storing in the house are the same as those for cel-° lar. From expense and difficulty in maintaining a uniform temperature, I think the house less desirable than the cellar. WINTERING IN CELLAR. North of the latitude of Central, and I think we may say Southern, Ohio, I think a good cellar is not’only the safest but the best place in which to winter bees. I have kept our college bees for many years in such a cellar with no loss. The great point is to have perfect control of the temperature. This must be kept between 38° F. and 50° ¥F., and should never vary suddenly. It were best if it were always at 45° F. With a cellar all is under ground, and we are thus fortified against the effects of our sudden changes of temperature. The sub-earth ventilator as de- scribed above, though not necessary, as the experience of many has fully proved, is a help. It is still better if the vertical shaft or pipe connect with a stove above which is much used in winter. This creates a draft and as the air is brought under ground through the long sub-earth pipe the air is warmed. The pipe should connect with the stove- pipe above at quite a height above the stove or the stove may smoke. I have found here at the college that we get Temperature of Cellar. ; 393 quite a draft especially on windy days, even if there is no fire, but our vertical pipe—a common stove-pipe serves excellently well—connects simply with a chimney which projects above the house. Such an arrangement not only controls the temperature but ventilates the cellar. A large cistern full of water or water running through a cellar deep under ground is a wonderful moderator and will surely keep the temperature at the proper point. It is imperative that every bee-keeper have a thermometer in his cellar and by frequent examination KNow that the temperature is at the proper point. Unless he finds that he cannot control the temperature without, he better not go to the expense of either sub-earth ventilation or a cistern. Dr. C. C. Miller keeps a small coal stove burning with open door in each cellar, and thus keeps the temperature just as he desires. My brother keeps as many bees in his house cellar with no such pains or labor, and yet is as suc- cessful as is Dr. Miller. The thing to remember is, we must control the temperature. I commence preparation for winter as soon as the first frost shows that the harvest is over. I then put five Lang- stroth or seven Gallup frames at one side or end of the hive where they are to remain for the winter. If these have not enough food I feed till they have. If other frames have brood I put these close beside; and remove them as soon as the brood has all matured, and close up the other frames by use ofadivision board. I now cover all with acloth and with a super of chaff or dry sawdust. For the past two years I have left all the combs in very strong colonies and covered simply with a board, and these colonies haye done well. In a good cellar bees need no packing about or above the brood chamber. Before cold weather—any time from the first to the middle of November—the bees are carried into the cellar. This better be done carefully, so as not to disturb the bees. Yet Iam not sure that such disturbance is any special injury. To prevent the bees from coming out in case of disturbance the entrance blocks must close the entrances. Dr. Miller uses wet cloths to effect this. ‘In the cellar the hives should rest a foot from.the bottom 394 Wintering Bees in the Cellar. and may rest on each other, breaking joints, the weakest colonies at the top. When all are in, and quiet, the entrances are opened wide. I would, if it were not for the expense, and I had loose bottom boards so that I could, place a rim under each hive so as to raise it two or three inches above the bottom board. Except for the open entrance, I give no special ventilation to each hive. Now we shut our two or three doors, and if our cellar is right we have no more care for the bees till the succeeding April. Should the * bees become uneasy and soil their hives about the entrance —they will not if the food is all right and the temperature keeps at the right point, from 38° to 50° F.—then it may be well to set the bees out for a flight in February or March, in case a warm day affords opportunity. In case there is snow, a little straw may be scattered over it. The day must be quite warm. It is far wiser to have our cellar right so we shall not need to do this. If the bees get short of stores in winter—this would show great neglect on the part of the bee-keeper—they should be fed “Good candy,” cakes of which may be laid on the frames and covered with cloth. -Frames of honey or syrup, filled as already described, may be given bees in mid-winter. The idea that bees cannot be examined in winter is incorrect. Frames may be taken out or added. though it were doubtless better to leave the bees undis- turbed. The cellar should be dark and quiet, If every- thing is just right, light does no harm; but if it gets pretty cold or too warm then the bees become uneasy and fly out, never to return. Some bees always leave the hive in win- ter. These are veterans and are ready to die. Thus with 100 colonies of bees in a cellar, we need not be anxious even if a good many quarts come out to die. In spring, when the flowers have started, so that the bees can gather honey and pollen, they may be set out. This better be too late than too early. Here in Central Michigan, the 15th of April is usually early enough. I repeat: Better too late than too early. The colonies are set each on its own stand and each hive well cleaned out. Each colony should have plenty of honey. Scant stores in spring always bring loss if not ruin. We now take away Preparation for Winter. 395 extra frames of comb, giving. the bees simply what they will cover, but always. a good amount of honey. A frame of pollen taken away the previous autumn may also be added. We close up about the bees with a division board, and cover warmly above by adding a chaff filled super. If we give abundant stores, I am not sure but for strong colonies a full set of frames and board above, which, how- ever, must fit very snugly, is as good as a chaff covering or chaff-hive. For the simple Heddon- Langstroth hive, however, I think a warm cloth under the cover is very desirable. I have tried’ some colonies in this way the past two springs, and was pleased with the results. I am not yet sure but it is always better to cover with chaff, sawdust or leaves; dut.we must give plenty of honey, and perhaps we must cover warmly and snugly, to win the best suc- cess. I always thought so, but now I am in doubt. Even if better, it may still prove more profitable to give plenty of honey, and let the hives alone, with a full set of combs in each. This saves much time. Geo. Grimm and my brother practice this and succeed. Perhaps I ought to say that all colonies should be strong in autumn; but I have said before, never have weak colo- nies. As before stated, a colony need not be very large to winter well; but they should be strong, in the possession of a good queen, and the proper proportion of young and. vigorous bees. Yet for fear some have been negligent, I remark that weak colonies and nuclei should be united in preparing for winter. To do this, approximate the col- onies each day, four or five feet, till they are side by side. Now remove the poorest queen, then smoke thoroughly, sprinkle both colonies with sweetened water scented with essenee of peppermint, put a sufficient number of the best frames and all the bees into one of the hives, and then set this midway between the position of the hives at the com- mencement of the uniting. The bees will unite peaceably, and make a strong colony. In case of nuclei I usually unite three for winter. Uniting colonies may pay at other seasons. It may seem rash to. some, yet I fully believe that if the above suggestions are carried out in full, I may guarantee successful wintering. But if we do lose our bees, 396 Burying Bees in Winter. having all our hives, combs and honey, we can buy col- onies in the spring with a perfect certainty of making a good per cent. on our investment. Even with*the worst condition of things, we are still ahead, in way of profit, of most other vocations. BURYING BEES, OR CLAMPS. In principle this is the same as cellar wintering. There are two serious objections to it. First, we do not know that the temperature is just right, and secondly, if aught goes wrong we know nothing of it+the bees are away out of sight. If this is practiced, the ground should be either sandy or well drained. If we can choose a side-hill it should be done. Beneath the hives and around them, straw should be placed. I should advise leaving the entrance well open, yet secure against mice. Zhe hives should all be placed beneath the surface level of the earth, and a mound should be raised above them sufficient to preserve against extreme warmth or cold. A trench about the mound to carry the water off quickly is desirable. In this arrangement the ground acts as a moderator. I would urge the suggestion that no one try this with more than a few colonies, for several years, till repeated successes show that it is reliable in all seasons. I tried burying very suc- cessfully for a time, then for two winters lost heavily. These last winters the bees would have wintered well on their summer stands, as the weather was very warm. The bees became too warm, and were worried to death. SPRING DWINDLING. As already suggested, this is not to be feared if we keep our bees breeding till autumn, prepare them well and early for winter, and use a good cellar for wintering. It may be further prevented by forbidding late autumn flights, fre- quent flights in winter, when the weather is warm, and too early flying in spring. : I am aware that this matter of spring dwindling is most stoutly urged as an objection to cellar wintering, and as an argument in favor of chaff-hives. I have had excellent success in cellar wintering, and never yet lost a colony by Spring Dwindling. 397 “spring dwindling.” Crowd the bees up onto a few frames when taken from the cellar, give them abundant food; cover warmly above and at sides of division boards with generous bags of sawdust, and leave these on the hives if the weather remains cool, until we wish to place the section crates or extracting second story on the hives, and bees from the cellar—a good cellar—will come through the spring in excellent condition. In the win- ter of ’81~82, I put some chaff-hives into my cellar alongside of my single walled hives, arranged as just de- scribed, and the bees in them did no better in spring after removal from the cellar than in other hives. Be sure in early spring that the bees have no more combs than they can cover, and cover warmly—feeding daily a little warm syrup is also desirable—and spring dwindling will lose its terror. Good wintering, and ample spring stores are the antidote to spring dwindling. Never set bees perma- nently on their summer stands from the cellar till the flowers and warmth will enabie them to work. Be'ow 60° F. in the shade is too cold for bees to fly. At 7o° F. we may safely handle our bees without chilling the brood.. When not clustered bees chill at about 55°. I have little doubt but that bees will do better if no breeding takes place in winter. Perfect quiet should be our desire. If the bees have no pollen, of course no breeding will take place, and so I advised its removal. It is not for winter use. 398 The College Bee House. CHAPTER XIX. Tue House APIARY AND BEE Howse. The house apiary is a frost-proof house in which the bees are kept the year through. The entrances to the hives are through the sides of the house, and all manipula- tion of the bees is carried on inside. From what I have’ said about wintering, it at once appears that such a house should preserve a uniform temperature. As many such houses were built a few years ago, and are now, with very few exceptions, used for other purposes, I will-only say that if such houses afe ever desirable it is only. when queen rearing is to occupy the chief attention of the apiarist. BEE HOUSES.- As a good and convenient bee house is very desirable in every apiary of any considerable size, I will proceed to give a few hints.in reference to its construction. _ First, I should have a good cellar under the house, en- tirely under ground so as certainly to be frost proof, mouse and rat proof, thoroughly grouted, and ventilated as already described. JI would have three doors to this from the east, the outer one inclined. In pur new college apiary we have a vestibule to the cellar, and four doors beside the slanting one, two to the inner one or bee cellar and two to the outer or vestibule. I should have the entrance an inclined plane, which, especially if the apiary is large, should be so grad- ual in its descent that a car could pass down it into the cellar on a temporary track. The cellar should be well drained, or if water be permitted to pass through it, this should be kept in prescribed channels. In our cellar we have a large cistern, This is mostly in the outer cellar, but partly in the inner or bee cellar. A tight partition * separates the two rooms except at bottom of the cistern. In case of large apiaries the track and car make the re- moval of the bees to and from the cellar an easy matter. The first floor I should have, if my apiary was large, on a Bee House Described, 399 level with the ground. This (Fig. 188) should contain three rooms, one on the north.for a shop, one on the south- Fie. 188. p: w c ai || ek el i 3 @ A Clstern. 8 x 14, H f= J} outside measure, 33 "436 ft. high. = \ é ! : ‘ \ | “ \ AH] >» 3 Cellar, Tfeet high, tf" Iw 2 grouted on the bot- He H Py tom, and plastered ni) ci eae z with water-Ime or : «\M, celled above. \ = t i : ‘ ’ i ! H = s | 30 feet, outside mesure. Diagram of Cellar, % w——— 34¢-ft. D: Ww = é 30 ft., outside measure, oa 3 3 5 3 ‘ Wa Celling 8 ft, Soe = : Pump 344-ft. Stairs D > : oth: Chimuey gt > i , 15 ft. 3 2 é » Hard-wood Floor, Lathed and ah Plastered. w as : i “Cellar Trap- |" a Door-double, s eae 4 a w oh Diagram of First Floor. _ east for comb honey, and one on the southwest for extract- ing, and storing extracted honey and brood combs. Fcr 400 » Lhe College Bee House. 100 colonies of bees, this building need not be more than twenty by twenty-four feet. A chimney should pass from the attic at the common angle of these three rooms through the roof. Wide doors on the south, if the apiary is large, should permit the car to enter either of the rooms on an extemporized track, whenever extracting or taking off comb heney is in operation. . é The house should be so constructed as to be always free from rats and mice. In summer, wire gauze doors should be used, also wire gauze window screens made to swing out like common window blinds. Ours are single, not double, light, and so hung that when opened they remain so till shut. At the top the gauze extends outside the upper piece of the frame, and is separated from it by a bee- space width. At the top a few three-eighths inch round holes are made. This permits all bees to leave the house, while the character of the opening precludes outside bees from entering. Inside doors should permit our passing directly from any of these rooms to the others. The posi- tion of the chimney makes it easy to have a fire in any of the rooms. This.would be desirable in the shop, in win- ter, when hive making, etc., is in operation, or when visit- ing with other bee-keepers is in progress. The ripening of honey or late extracting makes it often desirable to have a fire in the extracting room. If comb-honey is kept in the designated room late in the ‘season, it is desirable to _warm that room. Of course a large stove in the shop might be made to heat any or all of the rooms. I would have the comb-honey ‘room very tight, and ventilated by an easily regulated slide into the chimney for the purpose of easy fumigation. Platforms a little out from the wall on which the honey may rest for a time are desirable, as the honey will not be so fine if immediately crated for market. The extractor room should have close, moth proof cup- boards for receiving brood combs. Those in our house are high enough for three rows of frames, and wide enough to just receive the top-bar of a frame crosswise. Cleats nailed on to the inside hold the frames, which are turned diagonally a little to pass them to the lower tier. This The College Bee House. 401 room ought also to have a table for work, and large open tanks, open barrels, or extractor cans, to hold the honey while it ripens. If the building is painted dark, this room will be warmer in summer. The warmer it becomes the more rapidly the honey thickens. A chamber above costs but little, and serves admirably as a place for storage. This may be entered by stairs from the shop. A neat bench and sharp tools, all conveniently placed, make the shop a very desirable fixture to every apiary. I have spoken of a car and track in large apiaries; such an arrangement, which costs but little, is exceedingly desira- ble. The tracks run close to the rows of hives, and by means of simple switches, the car can be run any where in the apiary, 4 402 Robbing and its Cure. CHAPTER XX. Evits TuHat CONFRONT THE APIARIST. There are various dangers that are likely to vex the apiarist, and even to stand in the way of successful apicul- ture. Yet, with knowledge, most, if not all, of these evils may be wholly vanquished. Among these are: Robbing among the bees, disease, and depredations from other ani- mals. ROBBING. This is a trouble that often very greatly annoys the inexperienced. Bees only rob at such times as the general scarcity of nectar forbids honest gains. When the question comes: Famine or theft, like many another, they are not slow to choose the latter. It is often induced by working with the bees at such times, especially if honey is scattered about or left lying around the apiary. It is especially to be feared in spring, when colonies are apt to be weak in both honey and bees, and thus are unable to protect their own meager stores. The remedies for this evil are not far to seek: First. Strong colonies are very rarely molested, and are almost sure to defend themselves against marauders; hence it is only the -weaklings of the apiarist’s flock that are in danger. Therefore, regard for our motto, “Keep all col- onies strong,” will secure against harm from this cause. Second, Italians—the Cyprians and Syrians are even more spirited in this work of defense than are the Italians —as before stated, are fully able, and quite as ready, to protect their rights against neighboring tramps. Woe be to the thieving bee that dares to violate the sacred rights of the home of our beautiful Italians, for such temerity is almost sure to cost the intruder its life. But weak colonies, like our nuclei, and black bees, are still easily kept from harm. Usually, the closing of the entrance, so that but a single bee can pass through, is all Diseases of Bees, 403 sufficient. Mr. Jones closes the entrance by use of wet grass, straw, or shavings. Mr. Hayhurst places a frame six inches by eighteen inches covered by wire gauze over the entrance. This keeps the robbers out, and still affords ventilation. Another way to secure such colonies against robbing is to move them into the cellar for a few days. This is a further advantage, as less food is eaten, and the strength of the individual bees is conserved by the quiet, and as there is no nectar in the fields no loss is suffered. In all the work of the apiary at times of no honey gath- ering, we cannot be too careful to keep all honey from the bees unless placed in the hives. The hives, too, should not be kept open long at atime. Neat, quick work should be the watchword. During times when robbers are essay- ing to practice their nefarious designs, the bees are likely to be more than usually irritable, and likely to resent intru- sion; hence the importance of more than usual caution, if it is desired to introduce a queen. Working under the bee- tent (Figs. 111 and 118) prevents all danger of inciting the bees to rob. DISEASE. The common dysentery—indicated by the bees soiling their hives, as they void their feces within instead of with- out—which so frequently works havoc in our apiaries, is, without doubt, I think, consequent upon wrong manage- ment on the part of the apiarist, poor honey, or bad win- tering, usually the result of severe weather, as already suggested in Chapter XVIII. As the methods to prevent this have already been sufficiently considered, we pass to the terrible FOUL BROOD. This disease, said to have been known to Aristotle— though this is doubtful, as a stench attends common dysen- tery—though it has occurred in our State as well as in States about us, is not very familiartome. Of late I receive many samples of this affected brood each season. It is causing 404. foul Brood. sad havoc in many regions of our country. No bee malady can compare with this in malignancy. By it Dzierzon once lost his whole apiary of 500 colonies. Mr. E. Rood, first President of the Michigan Association, lost all his bees two or three times by this terrible plague. The symptoms are as follows: Decline in the prosperity of the colony, because of failure to rear brood. The brood seems to putrefy, becomes “brown and salvy,” and gives off a stench which is by no means agreeable, while later the caps are concave instead of convex, and many will have little holes through them. The most decided symptom is. the salvy elastic mass in the brood cell. With a pin head we never draw forth a larva or pupa, but this brown stringy mass which afterwards dries down in the cell. There is no longer any doubt as to the cause of this fearful plague. Like the fell “Pebrine” which came so near exterminating the silk worm, and a most lucrative and extensive industry in Europe, it, as conclusively shown by Drs. Preusz and Schonfeld, of Germany, is the result of fungous or vegetable growth. Schonfeld not only infected. healthy bee larvz but those of other insects, both by means. of the putrescent foul brood and by taking the spores. Professor Cohn discovered in 1874 that the cause of foul brood was a microbe, Bacillus alveolaris, Mr. Hilbert the following year showed that these micro-organisms existed in the mature bees as well as in the brood. Fungoid growths are very minute, and the spores are so infinitesimally small as often to elude thé sharp detection of the expert microscopist. Most of the terrible contagious. diseases that human flesh is heir to, like typhus, diphtheria, cholera, small pox, etc., are now thought to be due to ~ microscopic germs, and hence to be spread from home to. home, and from hamlet to hamlet; it is only necessary that. the spores, the minute seeds, either by contact or by some sustaining air current, be brought to new soil of flesh, blood, or other tissue—their garden spot—-when they at once spring into growth, and thus lick up the very vitality of their victims. The huge mushroom will grow in anight. So too, these other plants—the disease germs—will develo ‘ P ‘ Remedies for Foul Brood, 405 with marvelous rapidity; and hence the horrors of yellow fever, scarlatina and cholera. To cure such diseases the fungi must be killed. To pre- vent their spread the spores must be destroyed, or else confined. But as these are so small, so light, and so invisi- ble—easily borne and wafted by the slightest zephyr of summer, this is often a matter of the utmost difficulty. In “foul brood” these germs feed on the larve of the bees, and thus convert life and vigor into death and decay, If we can kill this miniature forest of the hive, and destroy the spores, we shall extirpate the terrible plague. Some of the facts connected with “foul brood” would Jead us to think that the germs or spores of this fungus are only conveyed in the honey. This supposition, alone, enables us to understand one of the remedies which some of our ablest apiarists hold to be entirely sure. REMEDIES. If we can fin1 a substance that will prove fatal to the microbes and yet not injure the bees, the problem is solved. Our German scientists, those masters in scientific research and discovery, have found this valuable fungicide in sali- cylic acid, an extract from the same willows that give us pollen and nectar. This cheap white powder is easily soluble in alcohol, and, when mixed with borax, in water. Mr. Hilbert, one of the most thoughtful of German bee- keepers, was the first to effect a radical cure of foul brood in his apiarv by the use of this substance. He dissolved fifty grains of the acid in five hundred grains of pure spirits. One drop of this in a grain of distilled water is the mixture he applied. Mr. C. F. Muth, from whom the above facts as to Herr Hilbert are gathered, suggests a vari tion in the mixture. Mr. Muth suggests an improvement, which takes advan- tage of the fact that the acid, which alone is very insoluble in water, is, when mixed with borax, soluble, His recipe is as follows: Eight grains of salicylic acid, eight grains of soda-borax, and one ounce of water. This remedy is ‘applied as follows: First, uncap all the brood, then throw the fluid over the comb in a fine spray. This will not 406 Remedies for Foul Brood. injure the bees, but will prove fatal to the fungi. Mr. Muth found on trial that though this method would cure, the labor and danger of spreading the disease in the opera- tion was so great that actual cremation of all affected stocks. was often to be preferred. An improvement which is just. as successful and without the objections, is suggested by Mr. Muth as follows: Drum the bees all out into a cleam hive, filled with foundation, shut them in this hive and feed them honey or syrup, after adding to each quart one ounce of the above compound, except that sixteen grains each of the salicylic acid and soda-borax are used, thus making the solusion of double the strength. The honey should be extracted and boiled, the old combs melted into wax, and the hive scalded or burned. Great caution should be exer- cised that none of the honey be eaten by bees till it has been scalded. In 1874 Dr. Boutleroff, a Russian, introduced car- - bolic acid or phenol as a cure of foul brood. Dr. Preusz. also recommends this very highly. It is recommended to. destroy the worst combs, remove the queen, arid in twenty- one days.remove the bees toa new hive and feed them with syrup one pound of which has received two drops of carbolic acid. It is best to melt up all the combs, extract and scald the honey, and scald the hives. The bees may be put on foundation. A less safe way is to uncap the cells and spray with the following: Pure crystalline phe- nol is dissolved in one-fourth its weight of water. One part of this is added to fifty or seventy-five parts water and used as the spray. But there is much danger of scattering the germs, inoculating some visiting bee from another hive, or of not making thorough work. In this day of cheap. foundation it is better to melt up the combs and use founda- tion. The thorough way is the wise and the only safe way. Mr. Cheshire claims that the germs are not in the honey, and claims to have been very successful in the worst cases, by treating with phenol. Some bee-keepers in England think they have cured this malady by simply placing camphor gum in the hive. The fact that others have not succeeded with this remedy, amakes it a very doubtful one. Mr. D. A. Jones is successful with what he terms the Lemedics for Foul Brood. 407 starvation method: The bees are drummed into an empty hive, and given no food for three or four days, till they have digested all honey in their stomachs. They are then given foundation and food, and the combs, honey and hive treated as described above. It would seem that the spures are in the honey—we know surely that they are in the chyle, though Schonfeld finds that they are not in the blood of the bee— and by taking that the contagion is administered to the young bees. The honey may be purified from these noxious germs by subjecting it to the boiling temperature, which is generally, if not always, fatal to the spores of fungoid life. By immersing the combs in a salicylic acid solution, or sprinkling them with the same, they would be rendered sterile, and could be used without much fear of spreading contagion. It is better however, to melt them at once. The disease is probably spread by robber bees visiting affected hives, and carrying with them in the honey the fatal germs. Mr. Doolittle, after some experience, agrees with the lamented Quinby, that it is not necessary to cause the bees to fast as described by Mr. Jones. They can at once be hived safely on foundation. From this remedy it would seem that the germs are in the honey, and not as Hilbert proved in the bees themselves. It should be remembered that it is easy to scatter these fatal germs, and whatever cure is adopted, too great care can not be exercised. Mr. R.L. Taylor tells me that after an experience of two years he does not greatly fear this malady. .He finds it easy, by means of the fasting cure, and salicylic acid, to hold it in check or to cureit. Yet he -admits that without much care and judgment it might work fearful havoc. (I have found that a paste made of gum tragacanth and water is very. superior, and I much prefer it for either gen- eral or special use to gum Arabic. Yet it soon sours— which means that it is nourishing these fungoid plants— and thus becomes disagreeable. I have found-that a very little salicylic acid will render it sterile, and thus preserve it indefinitely. ) 408 The Bee Moth. ENEMIES OF BEES. Swift was no mean entomologist, as is shown in the fol- lowing stanza: “The little fleas that do us tease, Have lesser fleas to bite them, And these again have lesser fleas, And so ad infinitum.” Bees are no exception to this law, as they have to brave the attacks of reptiles, birds, and other insects. In fact they are beset with perils at home and perils abroad, perils by night and perils by day. THE BEE MOTH—GALLERIA CEREANA, FABR. This insect belongs to the family of snout moths, Pyrai- ide. This snout is not the tongue, but the palpi, which fact was not known by Mr. Langstroth, who is usually so accurate, as he essayed to correct Dr. Harris, who stated correctly that the tongue, the ligula, was “very short and hardly visible.” This family includes the destructive hop moth, and the noxious meal and clover moths, and its mem- bers are very readily recognized by their usually long palpi, the so-called snouts. The eggs of the bee moth are white, globular and very small. These are usually pushed into crevices by the female moth as she extrudes them, which she can easily do by aid of her spy-glass-like ovipositor. They may be laid in the hive, in the crevice underneath it, or about the entrance. Soon these eggs hatch, when the gray, dirty looking cater- pillars, with brown heads, seek the comb on which they feed. To better protect themselves from the bees, they wrap themselves in a silken tube (Fig. 189), which they have power to spin. They remain in this tunnel of silk during all their growth, enlarging it as they eat. By look- ing closely, the presence of these larve may be known by this robe of glistening silk, as it extends in branching out- lines (Fig. 190) along the surface of the comb. A more speedy detection, even, than the defaced comb, comes from the particles of comb, intermingled with the powder-like droppings of the caterpillars, which will always be seen on Natural History of Bee Moth, 409 the bottom board in case the moth larvez are at work. Soon, in three or four weeks, the larvae are full grown (Fig. 191). Now the six jointed and the ten prop-legs— making sixteen in all, the usual number possessed by caterpillars— Fic. 189. Fic. 190. are plainly visible. These larva: are about an inch long, and show by their plump appearance that they at least can & Interior view, Exterior view, Antenna much Magnified, Anterior leg magnified. while across the dorsal aspect of the broadened abdomen is a marked stripe of brown (Fig. 205, d, 2). Sometimes this stripe is almost wanting, sometimes a mere patch, while rarely the whole abdomen is very slightly marked, and as often we find it almost wholly brown above and below. The legs (Fig. 205, 6), beak and antenne (Fig. 205,@) are greenish yellow. The beak has three joints (Fig. 206, a, 6, c), and a sharp point (Fig. 206, d). This beak is not only the great weapon of offense, but also the organ through which the food is sucked. By the use of this, the insect has gained the sobriquet of “stinging bug.” This compact jointed beak is peculiar to all true bugs, and by observing it alone we are able to distinguish all the very varied forms of this group. The antenna is four-jointed. The first joint (Fig. 207, 2) is short, the second and third (Fig. 207, 6 and c) are long and slim, while the terminal one (Fig. 207, d@) is much enlarged. This enlarged joint is one of the characteristics of the genus Phymata, as described by Latreille. But the most ‘curious structural peculiarity of this insect, and the chief character of the genus Phymata, is the enlarged anterior legs (Figs. 208 and 209). These, were they only to aid Habits of Phymata Erosa. 421 in locomotion, would seem like awkward, clumsy organs, but when we learn that they are used to grasp and hold their prey, then we can but appreciate and admire their modified form. The femur (Fig. 208, 4) and the tarsus (Fig. 208, a) are toothed, while the latter is greatly en- larged. From the interior lower aspect of the femur (Fig. 210) is the small tibia, while on the lower end of the tarsus (Fig. 209, d) is a cavity in which rests the single claw. The other four legs (Fig. 211) are much as usual. This insect, as already intimated, is very predaceous, lying in wait, often almost concealed, among flowers, ready to capture and destroy unwary plant-lice, caterpillars, beetles, butterflies, moths, and even bees and wasps. We have Fic. 211. Claw, enlarged, Middle leg, much magnified. already noticed how well prepared it is for this work by = ne anterior legs, and its sharp, strong, sword-like eak. It is often caught on the golden rod. This plant, from its color tends to conceal the bug, and from the character of the plant—being attractive as a honey plant to bees— the slow bug is enabled to catch the spry and active honey- bee. As Professor Uhler well says of the “stinging bug:” “Tt is very useful in destroying caterpillars and other vege- table-feeding insects, but is not very discriminating in its tastes, and would as soon seize the useful honey-bee as the pernicious saw fly.” And he might have added that it is 422 The Bee Stabber. equally indifferent to the virtues of our friendly insects like the parasitic and predaceous species. é We note, then, that this bug is not wholly evil, and as its destruction would be well-nigh impossible, for it is as widely scattered as are the flowers in which it lurks, we may well rest its case, at least until its destructiveness. becomes more serious than at present. THE BEE STABBER. In the Southern states there is another bug, Euthyrhyn- chus Floridanus, Linn. (Fig. 212), which I have named the bee stabber. This bug places itself at the entrance of the hive and stabs and sucks the bees till they are bloodless. Fic, 212. Bee Stabber, As will be seen its powerful four-jointed beak fits it well for this purpose. This bug is purplish or greenish blue, with dull yellowish markings as seen in the figure. It is also yellowish beneath. Itis one-half of an inch long. BEE HAWK—LIBELLULA. These large, fine, lace-wings (Fig. 213) are Neuropterous insects. They work harm to the bees mostly in the South- ern states and are called mosquito hawks. Insects of this genus are called dragon flies, devil’s darning needles, etc. They are exceedingly predaceous. In fact, the whole sub- order is insectivorous. From its four netted veined wings, we can tell it at once from the asilus flies before mentioned, The Dragon Fly. 423 which have but two wings. The bee or mosquito hawks are resplendent with metallic hues, while the bee killers are of sober gray. The mosquito hawks are not inaptly named, as they not only prey upon other insects, swooping down upon them with the dexterity of a hawk, but their graceful gyrations, as they sport in-the warm sunshine at noon-day, are not unlike those of our graceful hawks and falcons. These insects are found most abundant near water, as they lay their eggs in water, where the larve live and feed upon other animals. The larve are peculiar in breath- ing by gills in the rectum. The same water that bathes Fic. 213. these organs and furnishes oxygen, is sent out in a jet, and thus sends the insect darting along. The larve also possess enormous jaws, which formidable weapons are masked till it is desired to use them, when the dipper-shaped mask is dropped or unhinged and the terrible jaws open and close upon the unsuspecting victim, which has but a brief time to bewail its temerity. A writer from Georgia, in Gleanings, volume 6, page 35, states that these destroyers are easily scared away, or brought down by boys with whips, who soon become as expert in capturing the insects as are the latter in seizing 424 Tachina Flies. the bees. One of the largest and most beautiful of these Fig. 213) is Anax junius. It has a wide range in the nited States, North and South, and everywhere preys upon the bees. TACHINA FLY. From descriptions which I have received, I feel certain that there is a two-winged fly, probably of the genus Tachina (Fig. 214), that works on bees. I have never seen these, though I have repeatedly requested those who Fic. 214. have to send them to me. My friend, J. L. Davis, put ‘some sick looking bees into a cage, and hatched the flies which he told me looked not unlike a small house fly. It is the habit of these flies, which belong to the same famil as our house flies, which they much resemble, to lay their ‘eggs on other insects. Their young, upon hatching, bur- row into the insect that is being victimized, and grow by eating it. It would be difficult to cope with this evil ‘should it become of great magnitude. We may well hope that this habit of eating bees is an exceptional one with it The affected bees will be found dead at early dawn in Frouit -of the hives. BEE LOUSE—BRAULA CCA, NITSCH, _ This louse (Fig. 215) is a wingless Dipteron, and one of the uniques among insects. It is a blind, spider-like parasite, and serves as a very good connecting link between insects and spiders, or, still better, between the Diptera, Lhe Bee Louse. 425 where it belongs, and the Hemiptera, which contains the bugs and most of the lice. It assumes the semi-pupa state almost as soon as hatched, and, strangest of all, is, consid- ering the size of the bee on which it lives and from which it sucks its nourishment, enormously large. Two or three,. and sometimes as many as ten, are found on a single bee. When we consider their great size, we cannot wonder that they soon devitalize the bees. These have done little damage except in the south of Continental Europe, Cyprus and other parts of the Orient. The reason that they have not been naturalized in other parts of Europe and in America may be owing to climate, Fic. 215. Imago, Larva. though I think more likely it is due to improved apicul- ture. Mr. Frank Benton, who has had -much experience with these bee lice in Cyprus, writes me that the Braula is no serious pest if the bees are properly cared for. “In fact, if hives are kept clean inside, and colonies supplied with young queens and kept strong, the damage done by the Braula is very slight if anything. In old, immovable comb hives, where the combs are black and thickened, and in case the queens are old; or where through some extra- neous cause -the colonies have become weak, these lice are numerous on queens and workers. .1 have not noticed them. on the drones. Since they are found on workers .as well as the queen, their removal from the latter will bring but 426 Enemies of the Bee. temporary relief. About ten is the greatest number that I have seen on one queen. I have only thought it necessary to remove them in case there were three or more on a queen. The only way to remove them is to pick them off with a knife, scissors, forceps or similar instrument. They are quick footed and glide from one place to another like the wax-moth. I hold the queen between the thumb and first finger of the left hand, and with pocket-knife or clip- ping scissors shave off the parasite. It is no easy matter to get them the first time, as when you attempt their removal they glide around to the other side of the queen so adroitly that you have to turn the queen over to try again.” Mr. Benton says that it is not practicable to remove these lice by lessening the size of the entrance to the hive. He thinks that, with the attention given to bees in America, the Braula will never become a serious pest, if introduced here. While these lice have been imported to America several times, they seem to disappear almost at once, which verifies Mr. Benton’s prophecy. ANTS. These cluster about the hives in spring for warmth, and seldom, if ever, I think, do any harm in our cold climates, though in California and the South they do much harm. Should the apiarist feel nervous, he can very readily brush them away, or destroy them by use of any of the fly poisons which are kept in the markets. As these poisons are made attractive by adding sweets, we must be careful to preclude the bees from gaining access to them. As we should use them in spring, and as we then need to keep the quilt or honey board close above the bees, and as the ants cluster above the brood chamber, it is not difficult to practice poi- soning. One year I tried Paris green with success. There are several reports of ants entering the hives and killing the bees; even the queen is said to have been thus destroyed. In such cases, if they occur, it is best to put a sweet poison- ous mixture in a box and permit the ants to enter through an opening too small to admit bees, and thus poison the ants. Or we may find the ant’s nest, and with a crowbar, make a hole in it, turn in this an ounce of bisulphide of The Praying Adantes, 427% carbon, and quickly plug it up by packing clay in the hole and on the nest. The liquid will kill the ants. This better be done when the ants are mostly in their nest. THE COW-KILLER. This ant-like insect, Mutilla coccinea (Fig. 216), has been sent me from Illinois and the South as far as Texas. It is a formidable enemy of the bees, The male has wings and no sting. The female has no wings, but is possessed of a powerful sting. She is an inch (25 mm.) long, very hairy, and black, except the top of her head and thorax, and a broad basal band and the tip of the upper part of her Fic. 216. abdomen, which are bright red. A central band of black divides the red spaces of the abdomen. The entire under part of the body and all the members are black. So hard and dense is the chitinous crust of these insects that they enter the hives fearlessly, and unmindful of stings, deliberately kill the bees and feed on the young. The males are said to sting. This is certainly a mistake. The sting is a modified ovipositor—an organ not possessed by males. These insects belong to the family Mutillide, so called because the females are wingless. They are closely allied in structure to the ants, which they much. resemble. THE PRAYING MANTIS, This strange insect I have received from Indiana and other Southern and Western States. Its scientific name is Mantis Carolina, Linn. It is very predacious, and the female has been known to eat up her mate immediately after the sexual act. No wonder that they make our friends of the hive contribute to their support. This insect (Fig. 428 The Blister Beetles. 217) is a sort of nondescript. In the South it is known as devil’s race-horse. It is acorpulent “ walking-stick” with wings. In fact is closely related to our own “ walking- sticks” of the North. Its anterior legs are very curious. As it rests upon them, it appears as if in the attitude of de- votion, hence the name praying mantis. It also raises these anterior legs in a supplicating attitude, which would also Fic. 217. suggest the name. It might well be preying mantis, These peculiar anterior legs, like the same in Phymata erosa, are used to grasp its victims. Itis reported to move with sur- prising rapidity, as it grasps its prey. Its eggs (Fig. 218) are glued to some twig, in a scale- like mass, and covered with a sort of varnish. Some of Fic. 218, these hatched out in one of my boxes, and the depravity of these insects was manifest in the fact that those first hatched fell to and ate the others. BLISTER BEETLES, I have received from Mr. Rainbow, of Fall Brook, Cal- ifornia, the larve (Fig. 219, @) of some blister beetles, Injuries from Wasps. 429 probably Meloe barbarus, Lec., as that is a common species in California. Mr. Rainbow took as many as seven from one worker bee. Fig. 219, 2, represents the female of Meloe angusticollis, a common species in Michigan and the East. I have also received these from Mr. Ham- mond, of New York, who took them from his bees. He says they make the bees uncomfortable. These are likely M. angusticollis. As will be seen, the wing covers are short, and the beetle’s abdomen fairly drags with its weight of eggs. The eggs are laid in the earth. The larve when first hatched crawl upon some flower, and as occasion per- Fic. 219. mits, crawl upon a bee and thus are borne to the hive, where they feast on eggs, honey and pollen. These insects undergo what M.. Faber styles hyper-metamorpho- sis, as the larva appears in four different forms instead of one. Two of these forms show in the figure. The Span- ish fly—Cantharides of the. shops—is an allied insect. Some of our common blister beetles are very destructive to plants. Girard in his excellent work on bees, gives illustrations of all the forms of this insect. WASPS. I have never seen bees injured by wasps. In the South» as in Europe, we hear of such depredations. I have re- ceived wasps, sent by our southern brothers, which were caught destroying bees. The wasp sent me is the large, handsome Stizus speciosus, Drury. It is black, with its 430 The Bee Mite. abdomen imperfectly ringed with yellow. The wasps are very predaceous, and do immense benefit by capturing aut eating our insect pests. I have seen wasps carry off “cur- rant worms” with a celerity that was most refreshing. As the solitary wasps are too few in numbers to do much damage—even if they ever do any—any great damage which may occur would doubtless come from the social paper-makers. In this case, we have only to find the nests and apply the torch, or hold the muzzle of a shot-gun to the nest and shoot. This should be done at nightfall when the wasps have all gathered home. Let us not forget that the wasps do much good, and so not practice wholesale slaughter unless we have strong evidence against them. A BEE MITE. It has long been known to chicken fanciers that our poul- try often suffer serious injury from a small mite. Other mites attacked the cow, the horse, the sheep, etc. ; During the past Spring a lady bee-keeper of Connecti- Fic. 220. cut discovered these mites in her hives while investigating to learn the cause of their rapid depletion. She had noticed that the colonies were greatly reduced in number of bees, and upon close observation she found that the diseased or failing colonies were covered with these mites. A cele- California Bee Killer. 431 brated queen breeder of New York State sent me these same mites last year (1887) with the report that they killed his queens while yet in the cell. I found great numbers in a cell sent by this gentleman. The strong and prosperous colonies were exempt from the annoyance. So small are these little pests that a score could take possession of a sin- gle bee, and not be near neighbors either. ‘The lady states that the bees roll and scratch in their vain attempts to rid themselves of these annoying stick-tights, and finally, wor- ried out, either fall to the bottom of the hive or go forth to die outside. The bee mite (Fig 220) is very small, hardly more than five mm, (1-50 of an inch) long. The female is slightly larger than the male, and somewhat transparent. The color is black, though the legs and more transparent areas of the femaies appear yellowish. REMEDIES. The fact that what would be poison to the mite would probably be death to the bees, makes this question of remedy quite a difficult one. I can only suggest what Mrs. Squire has tried—frequent changing of the bees from one hive to another, after which the hive can be freed from the mites by scalding. Of course, the more frequent the transfer the more thorough the remedy. I would suggest placing pieces of fresh meat, greased or sugared paper, etc., in the hives, in hopes to attract the pests which when massed on these decoys could easily be killed. CALIFORNIA BEE KILLER, Mr. J. D. Enas, Napa, California, has sent me specimens of a curious bee enemy (Fig. 221), which he finds quite a serious enemy of bees. This is a Datames, possibly D. Californicus, Simon, though it does not quite agree with the description of that species. It, like the mites just described, belongs to the sub-class Arachnida or spiders, and is related to the scorpions. The group of animals is known as the family Solpulgide or Galeodides. As will be seen, the head and thorax are 432 Spiders. not separate, as they are in true insects. The abdomen is long and segmented, a shield-like plate covers the head, and the eyes are far forward, small and globular. The most peculiar organs are the jaws or falces, which are im- mense, and armed with formidable teeth, spines, hairs, etc. The family is small, little known, and except in one case, Datames Pallipes, Say., which is said to live in houses in Fic. 221. California Bee Killer. [Jaws. or falces, and posterior leg.] Colorado and to feed on bed-bugs, the habits have not been described. Mr, Enas finds this species in his hives, killing and eating the bees. The remedy must be hand picking, which will not be very difficult. SPIDERS. These sometimes spread their nets so as to capture bees. If porticos—which are, I think, worse than a useless ex- pense—are omitted, there will very seldom be any cause for complaint against the spiders, which on the whole are friends. As the bee-keeper who would permit spiders to worry his bees would not read books, I will discuss this subject no further. Toad and King Bird. 433 THE KING BIRD—TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS, This bird, often called the bee-martin, is one of the fly- catchers, a very valuable family of birds, as they are wholly insectivorous, and: do immense good by destroying our insect pests. The king bird is the only one of them in the United States..that deserves censure. Another, the chim- ney swallow of Europe, has the same evil habit. Our chimney swallow has no evil ways. I am sure, from per- sonal observation, that these birds capture and eat the workers, as well as drones, as I have taken worker bees from their stomachs; and I dare say, they would pay no more -respect to the finest Italian queen. They perch on a tree or post and dart with the speed of an arrow as their poor ‘victim comes heavily laden towards the hives, Yet, in view of the good that these birds do, unless they are far more numerous and troublesome than I have ever observed them to be, I should certainly be slow to recom- mend the death warrant. TOADS. The same may he said of the toads, which may often be seen sitting demurely. at the entrance of the hives, and lapping up the full-laden bees with the lightning-like movement of their tongues, in a manner which can but be regarded with interest, even by him who suffers loss. Mr. Moon, the well known apiarist, made this an objection to low hives; yet, the advantage of such hives far more than compensates, and with a bottom board, such as described in the chapter on hives, we shall find that the toads do very little damage. In case of toads, the bees sting their throats, as I have taken, on several occasions, the stings from the throats of the toads, after seeing the latter cap- ture the bees. As the toads make no fuss, it seems proba- ble that their throats are callous against the stings. I do not know whether king-birds are stung or not. I shall find out at the next opportunity. MICE, These little pests are a consummate nuisance about the apiary. They enter the hives in winter, mutilate the comb, 8 434 Shrews and Mice. irritate, perhaps destroy, the bees, and create a very offen- sive stench. They often greatly injure comb which is out- side the hive, destroy smokers, by eating leather off the bellows, and if they get at the seeds of honey plants, they mever retreat till they make complete the work of destruc- tion, In the house and cellar, unless they are made as they should always be—mouse proof, these plagues should be, by use of cat or trap, completely exterminated. If we winter on the summer stands, the entrance should be so contracted that mice cannot enter the hive. In case of packing as I have recommended, I should prefer a more ample opening, which may be safely secured by taking a piece of wire cloth or perforated tin or zinc, and tacking it over the entrance, letting it come within one-fourth of an inch of the bottom board. This will give more air, and still preclude the entrance of these miserable vermin. SHREWS. These are mole-like animals (Fig. 222), and look not Fic. 222. unlike a mouse with a long pointed nose like the moles, to which they are closely related. They are insectivoro us and have needle shaped teeth, quite unlike those of the Rodentia which includes the true mice. I have received from Illinois and Missouri species of the short-tailed shrews —Blarina—which enter the hives in winter and eat the bees, only refusing the head and wings. .They injure the combs but little. As they will pass through a space three- eighths of an inch wide, it is not easy to keep them out of hives where the bees are wintering on their summer stands. I have received a short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevi- cauda, Gray, which was taken in the hives by Mr. Little, of Illinois. Work from Fanuary to March, 435 “CHAPTER XXT1. CALENDAR AND AXIOMS. WORK FOR DIFFERENT MONTHS, Though every apiarist will take one, at least, of the sev- eral excellent journals relating to this art, printed in our country, in which the necessary work of each month will be detailed, yet it may be well to give some brief hints in this place. These dates are arranged for the Northern States, where the fruit trees blossom about the middle of May. By noting these flowers, the dates can be easily changed to suit any locality. JANUARY. During this month the bees will need little attention. Should the bees in the cellar or depository become uneasy, which will not happen if the requisite precautions are taken, and there comes a warm day, it were well to set them on their summer stands, that they may enjoy a purifying flight. At night when all are again quiet return them to the cel- lar. While out I would clean the bottom boards, especially if there are many dead bees. This is the time to read, visit, study, and plan for the ensuing season’s work. FEBRUARY. No advice is necessary further than that given for Jan- uary, though if the bees have a good fly in January, they will scarcely need attention in this month. The presence of snow on the ground need not deter the apiarist from giving his bees a flight, providing the day is warm and still. It is better to let them alone if they are quiet, as they should and will be if all is right. MARCH. Bees should still be kept housed, and those outside still retain about them the packing of straw, shavings, etc. Frequent flights do no good, and wear out the bees. Col- 4.36 Work from April to Fuly. onies that are uneasy and besmear their hives are not win- tering well, and may be set out and allowed a good flight and then returned. APRIL. Early in this month the bees may all be set out. It will be best to feed all, and give all access to flour, when they will work at it, though usually they can get pollen as soon as they can fly out to advantage. Keep the brood chamber contracted so that the frames will all be covered, and cover well above the bees to economize heat. The colony or colonies from which we desire to rear queens and drones should now be fed, to stimulate breeding. By careful pruning, too, we may and shou.d prevent the rearing of drones in any but the best colonies. If from lack of care the previous autumn, any of our stocks are short of stores, now is when it will be felt. In such cases feed either honey, sugar, or syrup, or place candy on top of the frames beneath the oil-cloth cover. Remember that plenty of stores insures rapid breeding. MAY. Prepare nuclei to start extra queens. Feed sparingly till bloom appears. Give room for storing. Extract if necessary, and keep close watch, that you may anticipate and forestall any attempt to swarm. Now, too, is the best time to transfer. JUNE. Keep all colonies supplied with vigorous, prolific queens. Divide the colonies as may be desired. Extract if necessary, or best, adjust frames or sections, if comb honey is desired, and be sure to keep all the white clover honey, in whatever form taken, separate from all other. Now is the best time to Italianize. JULY. The work this month is about the same as that of June. Keep the basswood honey by itself, and tier up sections as. soon as the bees are well at work in them. Be sure that Work from August to December. 437 queens and workers have plenty of room to do their best, and do not suffer the hot sun to strike the hives. AUGUST. Do not fail to supersede impotent quzens. Between basswood and fall bloom it may pay to feed sparingly. Give plenty of room for queen and workers, as fall stor- ing commences, SEPTEMBER. Remove all surplus boxes and frames as soon as storing ceases, which usually occurs about the middle of this month. See that all colonies have enough stores for winter. If necessary to feed honey or sugar for winter, it should be done at this time. OCTOBER. If not already done, prepare colonies for winter. See that all have at least thirty pounds, by weight, of good, capped stores, and that all are strong in bees. If the bees are to be packed, it should be done early in October. NOVEMBER. Before the cold days come, remove the bees to the cellar or depository. DECEMBER. Now is the time to make hives, honey boxes, etc., for _ the coming year. Also labels for hives. These may just contain the name of the colony, in which case the full rec- ord will be kept in a book; or the label may be made to contain a full register as to time of formation, age of queen, etc., etc. Slates are also used for the same purpose. I know from experience that any who heed all of the above may succeed in bee-keeping—may win a double success—receive pleasure and make money. I feel suve that many experienced apiarists will find advice that it may pay to follow. It is probable that errors abound, and cer- tain that much remains unsaid, for of all apiarists it is true that what they do not know is greatly in excess of what they do know. 438 Axioms in Bee Keeping. AXIOMS. The following axioms, given by Mr. Langstroth, are just as true to-day as they were when written by that noted author: There are a few first principles in bee-keeping which ought to be as familiar to the apiarist as the letters of the alphabet. First. Bees gorged with honey never volunteer an attack. Second. Bees may always be made peaceable by induc- ing them to accept of liquid sweets. Third. Bees, when frightened by smoke or by drum- ming on their hives, fill themselves with honey and lose all disposition to sting, unless they are hurt. fourth, Bees dislike any guick movements about their hives, especially any motion which jars their combs. Fifth, In districts where forage is abundant only for a short period, the largest yield of honey will be secured by a very moderate increase of stocks. Sixth. A moderate increase of colonies in any one season, will, in the long run, prove to be the easiest, safest, and cheapest mode of managing bees. Seventh. Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, will inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the bee moth, or by robber bees. Eighth. The formation of new colonies should ordin- arily be confined to the season when bees are accumulating honey; and if this, or any other operation, must be per- formed when forage is scarce, the greatest precaution shou'd be used to prevent robbing. The essence of all profitable bee-keeping is contained in Oettl’s Golden Rule: KEEP your sTocKs sTRoNG. If you cannot succeed in doing this, the more money you invest in bees, the heavier will be your losses; while, if your stocks are strong, you will show that you are a dee- master, as well as a bee-keeper, and may safely calculate on generous returns from your industrious subjects. “ Keep all colonies strong.” GLOSSARY AND GENERAL INDE. APIARIAN GLOSSARY. Abdomen—The third or last part of bee’s body, p. 51. mba ae i ian that has separated rom cluster and is going to its new ome, p. 260. Adulteration--Making impure, as mixing glucose with honey, p. 149. After Swarms—Swarms that issue within a few days after the first swarms, p. 142. Aur Tubes—Trachee; Lungs of insects, p. 24. - Albino—Usually applied to animals with no pigmentin skin, hair, etc, In bee cult- ure it refers toa venice of Italians with white rings, p. 43. Alighting Board—Board in front of entrance, on which bees light as they return to their hives, p, 179. American Hive—Langstroth hive with frames one foot square. Antenne—Horn-like organs of insects, p. 55. ; Antenna Cleaner—Organ on anterior leg of bees, wasps, etc., to dust antennz, . 123. Apiacan— nai ective, asapiarian implements; incorrectly used as anoun for apiarist. Apiarist—One who keeps bees. Apiary—Place where bees are kept, including bees and all; Apiculture—Art of bee keeping. oa Apide—Family of bees, p. 29. Aphis—Plant lice, p. 334. Apis—Genus of the honey-bee, p. 35. Artificial Fecundation or Impregnation—F dation in confi (?). Artificial Heat, Swarms, Pasturage, etc.—Furnished by man; not natural. Abavism “inher ing from a remote ancestor,, “| Balling of Queen—Bees gathering snugly about the queen in form ofa sphere p. 266. Bar Hives—Hives with bars across the top to,which the combs are attached, p. 176. Barren—Sterile; not able to produce me or young, p. 97. + Bees—Insects of the Family Apida, p..29. Bee-Bird or Bee Martin—A fly-catcher that captures bees, p. 433. Bee-Bread—The albuminous food of bees, usually pollen, p. 159, Bee Culture—Keeping bees. a. ee Bee Glue—Propolis, p. 162, Bee A aD gapie of crag tree used fe a pee hive, en Bee Hat—Hat so arranged as to prevent bees from stinging the face, p. 295. Bee Hawk —Dragon fly, p.422. ame oP Bee Hive—Box for bees, p. 173. Bee House—House where bees are kept, where bee work is done, or bees wintered, . 391. 3 Beetksapes Ons who keeps ees ; apiarist, - Bee-line—Straight line, like the route of bee from field to hive, p. 223, Bee Louse—Braula Cceca, p. 424, Bee Martin—King or Bee Bird, p. 433. Bee Master—English, Bee-keeper. Bee Moth—Galleria Cereana, p. 408. Bee Pasturage—Honey Plants, p. 332. . Bee Plants—Plants which secrete nectar and so are visited by bees, p, 332. Bee Space—Space that will just allow a bee to pass ; it is three-sixteenths of an inch, ‘A double bee space, three-eighths of an inch minus, is the space that bees do not fill with brace combs or glue. g Bee’s Wax—Secretion of the bee from which comb is fashioned, p. 150. Bee Tent—Tent covering hive and bee-keeper, pp. 285, 301. In England tent for lectures on bees. Bee Tree—A hollow tree in which bees breed and store, p. 223. Bee Veil—Veil for peoeuee face while working with bees, p. 295. Bell Glass—Glass vessel used for surplus comb honey storing. Bingham Knife—Uncapping knife with beveled edge, p. 280. Bingham Smoker—Bee smoker with open draft, p. 558. e 442 Glossary. Black Bee—Common or German race of bees, p. 41, Bottom Board—Floor of hive, pp. 179, 181, 190. Box Hive—Plain box in which bees are kept, p. 173. Box Honey—Comb honey stored in boxes. Brain—Nerve mass in head of insects, pp. 61, 66. Breed—Race ; Italian breed, p. 41. i! Bteedie In—Close breeding, as when a queen is fecundated by one of her own rones. Bridal pila as of queen to meet drone, p. 92. Brimstone—Sulphur, p. 326. Brimstone—Fumigation with sulphur fumes, p. 326. Broad Frame—Wide frame for holding sections, p. 207. Brood—Immature bees, or bees yet in the cell, p. 80. Brood Comb—Comb used for breeding, p. 154. Brood Nest—Space in hive used for breeding. Brood Rearing—Raising of brood. Brown Bee—A supposed variety of the common black bee, p, 41. Bumble Bee—Our large wild bee or humble bee, p. 31. Candied Honey—Honey crystallized or granulated, p. 149, Cap—Box to shut over top of a hive. Cap—To seal or close a cell. Capped Brood—Brood sealed, Capped Honey—Honey sealed. Coppin or Caps—Thin wax sheets cut off in extracting. Card—Frame of comb, Rare. Carniolans—Same as Krainer. Race of black bees from Krain, Austria, pp. 38, 48, Casts—After swarms. Rare. Caterpillar—Larva of butterfly or moth. Caucasian Bee—Variety of black bee, from Caucasian mountains, pp, 38, 46. Cell—Openin in comb for brood, honey or bee-bread, p. 152. Chaff-hive—A double walled hive with space filled with chaff, p. 180. Chyle—Digested food ; probable food of larva, p. 116. Chyme—Partially digested food, p. 116. Chrysalid or Chrysalis--Pupa of butterflies and moths. Sometimes applied to other uUpZ. Sleep — Hives laced close together and covered, p. 396. Cleansing Flight—Removing bees from cellar that they may fly, p. 394. Closed End or Top Frames—Where end bars of frames and Eads of top bars are close fitting, p. 197. Cluster—Bees in compact mass, p. 142. elness oer of head of nceet poor he eyes, ip. 51. ‘ocoon—Case, often containing si ers, which surrounds a pu q Collateral System—Side sre English. pate i ae Colony—The bees of one hive. Comb—The fabric which holds the brood and honey, p. 152. Comb Basket—The frame of an extractor which holds the comb, p. 278. Comb Carrier—Box for carrying combs ; most used in extracting, p. 283. Comb Foundation—Thin sheets of impressed wax, like the foundation of real comb, p. 305. Comb Foundation Machine—Machine for making comb foundati: . Comb Guide—Strip of wood, comb or foundation om the bottom of top ieee frame, to induce bees to build combs in proper place, pp. 193, 314. i Comb Holder—Device for holding combs, p. 279. Comb EGR ney. in comb, - 287. yes—Large eyes of insects ; so called as they consist of many simple Compound eyes, B, 59. Corbicula—Pollen basket on hind leg of worker bee, p. 126. Cover—Lid of hive, or cover of brood fram F Pehl art or joint of the insect’s leg, p BB spore Ne 'rate—Box for sections on the hive, or for shippi Cushion—Quilt or 3 for covering bees, AEDIAE CHD BODAI PAL: SMR: Cepe Bees—A yellow race from the Isle of Cy rus, p. 38, 265. Dalmatian Bees—A variety of black bees from Balcate, the Southwestern Province of Austria, p. 38. Decoy Hive--Hive set to catch absconding swarms, Glossary. 443 Diarrhea—Dysentery, p. 403. : f Dipping Board—Board for securing thin wax sheets in making foundation, p. 309. Dividing—Forming colonies artificially, p. 257. Division Board—Board for reducing the size of the brood chamber, p, 186. Dollar Queens—Queens sold for one dollar, p. 271. Driving Bees—Causing the bees to pass out of a hive into a box placed above by rapping on the hive, p. 219. Drone—Male bee, p. 100. Drone Brood--Brood which produces drone bees, p. 105. Drone Comb—Comb with large cells, in which drones may be reared, p. 153. Drone Eee—Eges that produce drones, p. 104. Drone Trap—Trap for catching drones, p. 240. : Drumming Bees—Forcing bees from one hive to another hive or box by rapping on the first witha stick or hammer, p. 219. Dry Faces—Supposed dry excreta of bees. Dummies—Division boards, p. 186. Dysentery—Winter disease of bees, p. 403. Dzierzon Theory—Parthenogenesis ; agamic reproduction ; theory that unfecun- dated eggs will develop, and in bees such eggs always produce drones, p. 104. Egg—tThe initial or first stage of all the higher animals, pp. 77, 135. devote Bee—Yellow bee from Egypt, p. 37. Eke—Rim to raise and enlarge the hive ; often a half hive. Embryo—The young animal while yet in the egg or before birth. Entrance—Opening of the hive where the bees enter, p. 182. Entrance Blocks—Pieces of wood, usually triangular, for contracting or closing the entrance of hive, p. 182. : Entrance Guard—Perforated zinc to prevent drones or queen from leaving the hive, p. 240. Epicranium—Part of head between and above the eyes. Extracted Honey—Honey thrown from the comb by use of the extractor, p. 281. Extractor—Machine for extracting, p. 276. . ye ee of sight in insects ; there are usually two large compound and three small simple or Ocelli, p. 59. Feces—Intestinal excreta of animals. Farina—Flour ; incorrectly used for pollen. Fecundate—Union of sperm and germ cells ; to impregnate, p. 76. Feeder—Device for feeding bees, p. 227. Femur—Third and largest joint of an insect’s leg, p. 63. Fertile—Productive ; often used for impregnated or fecundated. A queen that can lay eggs is fertile ; after mating she 1s fecund. Fertile Worker—Worker that lays eggs, p. 108. ~ z Foul brood—Malignant disease of a fungoid character which attacks bees, p. 403. Foundation, F’dn.--Stamped wax sheets, p. 304. Frame—Device for holding comb in the hive, p. 192. : Fumigate—To surround with fumes. We fumigate the bees with smoke and the combs with sulphur fumes, p. 326. Gallup Frame—Frame 11% inches square, p. 193. Ganglia--Knots of nerve matter like the brain, p. 65. German Bee—Common black bee, p. 41. Glands—Tubular or sack-like organs which form from elements taken from the blood a liquid called a secretion. Bees have several pairs of glands, p. 113. Glassing--Covering or protecting sections of comb honey with glass. Glucose—Reducing sugar, p. 146. Good Candy—Candy made by mixing sugar and honey, p. 273. Granulated Honey—Honey that has crystallized or candied, p. 282. Grub—Larva of beetle, p. 78. : Guide Comb—Narrow piece of comb or starters fastened to top-bar of frame or section, p. 250. % Hatch—To issue from egg ; egg hatches, the brood develops and emerges from cell, Hatching Brood—Incorrectly used towefer to bees coming from cells. Heart—Circulating Organ ; in insects a tube along. the back, p. 67. Heath Bees—Variety of German bees from Luneberg Heath, Europe, p. 45. Heddon Hive—Hive with divided brood chamber, the division being horizontal, p. 188. Heddon-Langstroth Hive—Langstroth hive as used by Heddon, p. 181, 444 Glossary. Hill’s Device—Curved sticks used to raise cloth a little from the frames in winter. Hive—Box or receptacle for bees, p. 173. . Hiving—Removing a swarm of bees from cluster to hive, p. 249. Hiving Basket or Box—Basket or box used in hiving swarms, p. 252. . Holy Land Bees—Yellow bees from Southern Palestine, p. 45. Honey—Nectar digested by the bees, p, 145. Honey-Bee—Apis Mellifica, the domestic bee, p. 82. Iloney Bag—Honey stomach, p. 117. f Honey Board—Board between brood chamber and section crate, p. 183. Honey Box—Box for surplus comb honey. Honey Comb—Fabric that holds the Lee and brood, p. 152. Honey Dew—Nectar from insects like Aphides and bark lice, or from extra floral glands, p. 335. : Honey Extractor—Machine for extracting honey, p. 276, Honey Gate—Faucet to draw extracted honey from an extractor or barrel. It is closed instantly by a slide or gate. Horey Knife—A knife for uncapping honey, p. 280. Honcy Sac—Honey stomach, p. 117. Honey Slinger—Honey extractor, p. 276. Honey Stomach—Honey sac where bee carries honey, p. 117. House Apiary—Building frost-proof where bees are kept continually, p. 398. Hungarian Bee—Variety of the black bee from Hungary, p. 38. . Hybrid—Properly an animal which is a cross between two different species. A hy- brid bee is a cross between two different races ; all the bees except the drones from an Italian queen mated to a black drone will be hybrids ; the drones will be pure if the queen is (see Dzierzon theory ). Ilymettus—A mountain of Greece famed for its delicious eae Wypopharynx—Membrane or curtain connecting the base of the mouth organs, p. 112. Ileum—Small intestine, p. 120. Imago—The mature insect ; the last or winged stage of an insect, p. 81. Intestine—Digestive tube beyond the stomach, p. 120. Introducing - Method of making bees accept a strange queen, p. 265. Introducing Cage—Cage for introducing a queen, p. 267. . cance raga 2 a hive, section, crate or frame bottom up. Reversing is also used, p. 257. Italian Bee A yellow race from Italy. Every worker bee has three well marked yellow bands, pp. 42, 261. A Italianizing—Changing bees from some other race to Italians, p, 261. Krainer Bees—Bees from Krain, Austria ; same as Carniolans, p. 45. abium—Under lip of an insect, p. 52. Labrum—Upper lip of an insect, p. 51. Lamp Nursery—Tin double walled box used for rearing queens, p. 241. Tengseoth Frame—Adopted by Mr. Langstroth for his hive ; size 17% by 9%, p. 192. Langstroth Hive—L. Hive ; Hive with frame suspended in a case or box ; invented y Rev. L. L. Langstroth, p. 176. , Ligula—End of labium ; the tongue in bees, p. 52, 112. Ligurian Bee—Same as Italian ; name from Liguria, a province in Italy, p. 42. Lining Bees—Noting direction of flight to find bec-tree, etc., p. 223. Mag; ‘ot—Footless larva of two winged flies ; often applied to any footless larva. Maiden Swarm--First swarm. Mandibles—Main jaws of insects, p. 53. Manipulation—Handling. eee el pee eal of queen, p. 92. ea ec cover to place over brood frames, made of slats, straw, etc., pp. 187, Maturing Brood—Where the bees are just emerging from the cells, Maxilla—The second or under jaws oe insects, p. 53. Mel Extractor—Honey extractor, p. 276. Meliput—Honey extractor, ’p. 276. - Mentum—Second joint of labium or under lip, p. 52. Rett seach to fasten end unite corners of frames. Micropyle—Openings in eggs where sperm cells enter, p. 77. Miller—Moth, which is the more prener word. ~ Mismated—Not purely mated. Glossary. 445 Moth--All scale- winged insects except butterflies, Moth Larva—Immature moth. Moth- Miller—Incorrect term often used for moth, Moth Trap—Trap for catching moths. Movable Frame Hive—Langstroth hive, p. 176. Nadir—The under story of a two story hive ; a wide eke, p. 189, Nectar—Sweet substance, as the liquid in nectaries of flowers, p. 145. Nectaries—Nectar glands of flowers, Nerves—White threads which connect organs to convey inipressions or impulses, . 65. Neuter—Incorrect name for worker bees ; they are not neuters but undeveloped females, p. 107. . New Idea Hive—Long one story hive with many frames, Non-Swarming Hive—A purely ideal hive, supposed to prevent swarming. Normal!l—Usual ; regular. Nucleus—-Plural nuclei; miniature colony of bees for queen rearing, p. 236. Nurse Bees—Young bees or ones that feed the brood, p. 138. Nursery—Device for rearing queens. See lamp nursery, p. 241. Nymph—| jj tles will do well to write us for estimates on large orders, We will send you our Cata- logue for your name ona Postal Ca:d, Address LEAHY MFc. Co., HIGGINSVILLE, MISSOURI. CARNIOLAN QUEENS @%2 BEES Will be bred for the coming trade from pure and gentle mothers, whose workers have shown (the past season) to be fine honey gatherers. Send for circular to JOHN ANDREWS, Patten's Mills, Wash. Co., N. Y. MARSTON’S Hand aud Foot-Power Machinery. Circular Saw, Iron Frame, Steel Shafte, and Arbor’s Machine-cut Gears. Iron Center-part in top. Send for Circular and Price List. J. M. MARSTON & Co., No. 200 Ruggles St., BOSTON, MASS. BEE-KEEPERS’ SUPPLIES. We manufacture all kinds of Bee-Keepers' Supplies and Novelties, both for wholesale and retail trade. SUPERIOR WORKMANSHIP" AND LOW PRICES have brought us many thousands of customers. If you have never bought from us send us a trial order. Send for Illustrated Catalogue FREE. The Buckeye Bee Supply Company, NEW CARLISLE, OHIO. Nors.—Anyone sending us 10c. and the names of ten bee-keepers, we will send them the Buckeye Farmer, a monthy paper, for one year.—B. B.S. Co. FIELD FORCE PUMP CO.'S PERFEGTION SPRAYING OUTFIT, FOR HAND POWER. This machine consists of a copper reser- voir holding six gallons. The pump is made entirely of brass and copper and can , neither corrode nor rust. There is a large air chamber, as shown in the engraving, which will keep the pressure and continue to discharge the spray for nearly one min-- ute after the operator stops pumping. A brass pipe 15 inches in length, with a stop cock is furnished with each machine. The nozzle is the celebrated ‘‘ Vermorel,” so highly recommended by Prof. Riley, and gives universalsatisfaction. This machine is especially adapted for applying remedies in the treatment of black rot, mildew, and other diseases of the grape, as well as the reatment of leaf and potato blight, ete. Price, 314.00. One Hundred Trees per Hour ean be Sprayed with this Outfit. This Pump is fitted with TEN feet of discharge hose and a graduating Spray Nozzle, the above being at- tached to the Pump at the srout “A.” At the aperture ‘B” is at- tached three feet of return hose, at the lower end of which is connected a discharge pipe, so that, at every stroke of the Pump, a small part of liquid is re-discharged into tank near bottom of suction pipe, which KEEPS THE POISON WATER WELL MIXED. There is also a tight cap furnished, to close up opening *‘B” when desired. : The Pump has three-inch cylin- der, and is furnished with iron suc- tion pipe ready to mount on a bar- rel. Write for circulars. Price complete, . $12.00 Address, = FIELD FORCE PUMP CO : : +, Lockport, N. Y. -orwo Suospuy “OO FY WATAYD “Hp cavasvAN woRTEA) “sulIa} pux 9NSO[VWS IO} 91M sjeaosdde uo pjos pue peoquvsens Ayny 018 spoos 1nO _ ‘enpoid jo Ayypenb srayjeq & ureyqo puv pony puy 10q2] ‘guiry aavs [[[M nod yt Suisn Kg ‘ouo oy soyjef 34 10 uinySi10g ‘ajdepy oxet 0} proye youuvd NOK = *NOLLV -100ssy SUTAV-AVONS AAUASTY NAFLSAM OIHO 4} FO siaquiewW puy s1edqjo 1aWA0F pue quasaid zo Aysofeur yy Aq ose SeMoT ‘Bayo jeanynouSy wepisesg ‘upoqueyy “TM 4d : fq fueSiyorya 62e821[0D jeanypnaiusy ay} Jo ‘Y00D) “(cy ‘Jorg 4q pasn pue pepusui mosey tout pue sojesodeng GoidWeda du THE BEE-KEEPERS’ REVIEW Is a new, 28-page monthly, at $1 00 per year, edited and published by W. Z. Hutchinson. : . ‘ It works ina field entirely unuccupied by the other bee journals, that of reviewing current apicultural literature. Errors and fallacious ideas are faithfully but courteously pointed out, while nothing valuable 1s allowed to pass unnoticed. Butfew articles are copied entire, but the ideas are extracted, given in the fewest words possible, and commented upon when ‘ht advisable. : aera feature is that of makinug each issue what might be termed a SPECIAL NUMBER. That is, the extracts, correspondence, and editorials of any number all have a bearing upon some special subject. There is gathered together, from every available source, the best that is known upon any given subject; itis then put into the best shape and published ina single number. In other words, each number is to a certain extent, a little pamphlet contain- ing, in the fewest words possible, the best that is known upon some given topic. nstead of devoting space to “hints to beginners,” attention is turned to the solution of the unsolved problems of advanced bee culture. Sample copies will be cheerfully furnished upon application. Back num- hers can be supplied. —_W. Z, HUTCHINSON, Flint, Mich, BEE-HIVES, SECTIONS, FRAMES, Ere. Our prices are the lowest and our goods the best. Write for free illus- trated catalogue and price list. G. B. LEWIS & CO., Watertown, Wis. 1867. BEES AND QUEENS. 11. I will mail my 23d Annual Price List of Italian, Cyprian and Holy Land Bees and Nuclei Colonies, either in the American or Langstroth Frame, Choice Tested, Warranted, and Dollar Queens and Apiarian Snnpliee, to all who send me their name and address written plainly on a postal. H, H. BROWN, Light Street, Ool. Co., Pa. [EsTABLISHED IN 1864.] Bee SU Pel asS AT WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. Everything Needed in the Apiary of Practical Construction at the Lowest Price. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. We have the largest steam-power shops, exclusively used for the manu- facture of all kinds of, Bee-Keepers’ Supplies in the west. Send your address on a postal card and we will send you free our illustrated catalogue. EE. KRETCHMER, Ked Oak, Iowa. IF YOU WISH TO BUY Any QumEeEns of either the FIVE-BANDED GOLDEN, or the THREE-BANDED IMPORTED ITALIAN BEES, Agse— Note my prices: Warranted purely mated) ! Queens, ip May, $1.25 each, 6 for $6. War- ranted Queens, after June 1, $1, 6 for $5. Tested Queens, in May, $2; June and July, $1.75; after August 1, $1.50. Selected Tested, from $3 to $5. Sample Bees, Scents. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed anywhere in America. Descriptive Catalogue free. JACOB T. TIMPE, Granp LEDGE, MICH. THE BREAD AND BUTTER SERIES, No, 2. APICULTURE: The Double-hive, Non-swarming System. By GeorGeE A. STOOKWELL, PROVIDENCE, R. I. Sent post-paid on receipt of 25 cents in postage stamps. DR. TINKER’S SPECIALTIES. The Nonpareil Bee Hive and Winter Case, White Poplar Sections, Wood- Zinc Queen Excluders, and the finest and best Perforated Zinc ever made. Send for catalogue of prices, and enclose 25 cents tor the new book, BEE- KEEPING FOR PROFIT. DR. G. L. TINKER, New Philadelphia, Ohio. DADANTS FOUNDATION Is kept for sale by Messrs. T. G. Newman & Co., Chicago, Ill.; C. F. Muth, Cincinnati, O.; Jas. Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich.; 0. G. Col ier, Fairbury, Neb.; G. L. Tinker, New Philadelphia, U.; E. Kretchmer, Red Oak, Ia.; P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Le.; Jos. Nysewander, Des Moines. Ia.; C. H. Green, Waukesha, Wis.; G. B. Lewis & Co., Watertown, Wis.; J. Mattoon, Atwater, 0.; Oliver Foster, Mt. Vernon, Ja.; C. Hertel, Freeburg, [1].; Geo. E. Hilton, Fremont, Mich.; J. M. Clark & Co., 1517 Blake street, Denver, Col.; Goodell & Woodworth Mfg. Co,, Rock Falls, Ill.; E. L. Goold & Co., Brantford {Ont.), Can.; R. H. Schmidt & Co., New London, Wis.; J. Stauffer & Sons, Napanee, Ind.; Berlin Fruit Box Co., Berlin Heights, 0.; E. R. Newcomb, Pleasant Valley, N. Y.; L. Hanssen, Davenport, Ia.; C. Theilman, Theil- mwanton, Minn.; G. K. Hubbard, Fort Wayne, Ind.; T. H. Strickler, Solomon City, Kan.; E C. Eaglesfield, Berlin, Wis. ; Walter S. Pouder, Indianapolis, Ind.; E. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, Mo.; I. D. Lewis & Son, Hiawatha, Kan., and numerous other dealers. i ‘“LANGSTROTH ON THE HONEY BEE.” ( REVISED.) The book for beginners; the most complete text-book on the subject in the English language. Bee-veils of imported material, Smokers, Sections, etc. Circulars with pane to beginners, samples, etc., free. Send your address on a postal card to CHas. DADANT & SON, HAMILTON. Hancock Co., Inu. Please mention Cook's MANUAL. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio, —MANUFACTURER OF AND DEALER IN— PIARIAN IMPLEMENTS AND JOBBER IN HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES. {HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES.] A 52-Page Price List FREE on Application. Our price lists are sent out annually to about 250,000 people, and goods are shipped to all parts of the world. To keep pace with late improvements and new inventions, our price list is kept constantly standing in type, and new editions are printed in the busy season, frequently as often as once a month. OUR A B C OF BEE-CULTURE. This, a8 its title indicates, isa work for beginners. It is a cyclopedia of 400 pages and 300 fine engravings. It is brimful of contagious enthusiasm, and every page teems with practical experience. It has had an enormous sale—the 52d thousand now in the press. It is kept in standing type, so that each edition may be brought fully up to the times. Every subject is arranged in alphabetical order, and auything that a beginner would desire to know may be found in its proper place. Besides the general matter, it contains, for the inspiration ot beginners, 16 pages of biographical sketches, together with fine engravings of the most successful and prominent bee-keepers of the world, also 16 pages filled with engravings of apiaries. Price, cloth pound, $1.25, by mail; by freight or express, with other goods, 15 cents less. In answering this advertisement please mention CooK’s MANUAL. FARMERS REVIEW, CHICAGO, ILL. The leading Agricultural Journal of America. The acknowledged authority on Crop and Stock statistics. Original Articles on all Farm Topics by the best informed and most practical writers. Full and Authentic Reports of Shows and Conven- tions, The best Advertising Medium, as it has the largest paid circulation of any Weekly Agricultural paper in the United States. The only Weekly Agricultural Paper published in America that furnishes proof of circulation claimed. ‘ SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $1.25 PER ANNUM. Send for Irial 8 Mos. Subscription, 25e, Speciinen Copy Free on application. HANNIBAL H. CHANDLER & GO., PROPS. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. AN ELEGANT MONTHLY FOR THE FAMILY AND FIRESIDE, AT 50 CENTS A YEAR. It is Printed in the highest style of the Art, and is profusely illustrated with Magnificent and Costly Engravings. HE ILLUSTRATED HOME JOURNAL is a moral and i intellectual educator, and is invaluable in every library, as * well as a very attractive and inspiring ornament in every drawing-room. It contains short and serial stories by eminent authors, historical and biographical sketches, with beautiful engravings. Every number has two pages of Music, and Departments devoted to Household Chats, Puzzles and Fashions. AJI who. examine it are sure to become regular subscribers—for it captivates them all. Each issue contains 32 pages. A SAMPLE COPY will be sent Free, upon application to the publishers. THowAs G.NEWoIaNs Sop " fie PU'B LI SHER Swi 246 East Madison Street, CHICAGO, ILL. , OHIO FARMER Was Established in 1848, And is to-day without an equal for the general farmer. It is a 16-page, 64-column weekly Agricultural, Live Stock and Family Journal, with over 65,000 paid sub- scribers; carefully protects the farmer at all hazards; is open to any and all of its readers for discussion on any important farm topic, and all for ONLY ONE DOLLAR. REMEMBER, YOU GET 52 ISSUES SAMPLE COPrinEas FPRE=Z=. Address OHIO FARMER, CLEVELAND, OHIO. SUPERIOR WORKMANSHIP, LOWEST PRICES ano FAIR DEALING ARE THE REASONS WHY The W. T. Falconer Mig. Co., JAMESTOWN, WN. VY-.-; SELL SUCH VAST QUANTITIES OF HIVES, SECTIONS, FOUNDATION, ~» BEE SUPPLIES - EVERY DESCRIPTION. Send for Illustrated Catalogue and copy of the 4merican Bee-Keeper. A Magazine for the Beginner in BEE-CULTURE, and the Expert also. the AMERICAN BEEKEEPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY, By The W. T. Falconer Mfg, Co. ONLY 50 CENTS A YEAR. It Qontains 20 Pages, with [Illustrated @over. All latest improvements in hives and appliances are described and illus- trated as soon as out. Honey and bees-wax markets reported each month. SAMPLE Copy FREE. Address, THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER, Jamestown, N. Y., or Faleoner, N. Y. The Oldest Weekly Bee-Paper in the World. ESTABLISHED IN 1861. THE AMERICAN DEE JUHA Is the Recognized Leading Bee-Periodical in America. ONE DOLLAR A YEAR, IN ADVANCE. A Sample Copy Free, Upon Application. The most successful and experienced bee-keepers in the World comprise its Corps of Contributors, and it is contin- ually advancing progressive ideas upon the various topics of modern scientific Bee-Culture. —— PUBLISHED BY THOS. G. NEWMAN & SON, 246 East Madison St., CHICAGO, ILL , JOBBERS AND DEALERS IN BEE-KEEPERS’ SUPPLIES INCLUDING HIVES, SECTIONS, HONEY & WAX EXTRACTORS, COMB FOUNDATION. KEGS, PAILS, SEEDS, &c. Mustrated Catalogue sent free upon application ALLEY Goonvs include Ensilage and fodder Cutters, 16 sizes; Farm Feed Mills and Grinders, 10 sizes; Corn Shellers. both hand and power; Drag and Circular Saw Machines; Sweep, tread and Steam Rowers. Hoot Cutters, DOr hand and power. Catalogues .and Price Lists free, SMALLEY MANUFACTURING CO., Manitowoc, Wis. The Smalley Ensilage and Fodder Cutter is warranted to cut as much green or dry fodder as any machine io the world of equal size; to run as easy and with less power than any other cutter of equal capacity, greater ease to operator, less danger of breakage, and io give better satisfaction than any other in every particular, It is further warranted to be well made, of good material, and durable. With proper care, any breakage occurring within one year, from defective or imperfect material, will be replaced free of charge, except transportation from factory. ALL SMALLEY GOODS, INCLUDING Sweep and Tread Horse Powers, Drag and Circular Saw Machines, Are positively ahead of all others, and so WARRANTED. {SMALLEY MANUFACTURING CO.De MANITOWOC, WIS. FRIENDS, If you are in anyfway interested in BEES=#=HONEY We will with pleasure send you a sample copy of our SEMI-MONTHLY GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. This is a 86-page semi-monthly; and, with the addition of the supple- mentary matter, usually makes a volume of about 1,000 Ramee for the year. It contains pieces articles on different subjects from the most successful apiarists. Every issue is beautifully illustrated with original engravings. It is spiced with the following departments: Stray Straws, General Arti- cles, Heads of Grain, Bee Botany, Bee Entomology, Question Box (with replies from a corps of selected apiarists), Notes and Queries, Reports Encouraging, Reports Discouraging, Honey Statistics, Editorials, etc. Price, $1 a year. Also a descriptive price list of the latest improvements in Hives, Honey Extractors, Ariiicial Comb, SECTION HONEY BOXES, All Books and Journals, and everything pertaining to Bee Culture. Simply send your address on a postal card, write plainly to Pe le BOOT, Mention Ooox’s MAnvAL. MEDINA, OHIO. bE KEEPERS’ GUIDE B SPECIMEN COPY FREE. \ A. G HILL, Kendaliville, Ind. HILL’S BEE-FEEDER ana BEE-SMOKER This Smoker burns chips or hard wood without any AV, special preparation. Very reliable. Greatest smok- re ing capacity. Easiest to start and cheapest because : it saves time. © The Best Bee-feeder, Most convenient for the bees. No drowning or davbing bees. The feed is taken by the bees without leaving the cluster, From two to seven feeders full may be given a colony at one time, which will be stored in the combs in ten or twelve ours. Smoker, 3-in. barrel, freight or express, each, $1.20; by mail, $1.40; per dozen, $10.80. Feeders, one quart, eae or express, per pair, 30c.; by mail, 20c.; per doz., $1.60. Address, A. G. HILL, Kendall- ville, Ind., or H. M. HILL, Paoia, Kansas. co M B FO U N D AT | 0 N __We have a complete outfit for its manufact- * ure. Our mills are all run by steam-power, and we have the very best facilities for purifying the wax. We make it as thin as “hes want it for sections. We make a specialty of manufacturin brood-chamber foundation for square frames, thick at the top, with a grad- ual taper to thin at the bottom, thus securing the greatest ameant of strength for the quantity of wax used. For prices, wholesale or retail, address, A. G. HILL, Kendallville, Ind. A. G. HILL’S Bee-Keepers’ Supplies, A new Chaff Cap, as a winter protector for the abovehive. Section Honey Boxes, Honey and Wax Extractors, all of which have been designed by the Manufacturer. Send for prices. A. G, HILL, Kendallville, Ind. ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. A PAMPHLET OF SIXTEEN PAGES, A system by which bees may be increased to the greatest extent, without pigising ths ane te oe ew areng: It wives igen by which a moder- 96 Obtained, and isa system of Queen-rearing. Ev novice should read it. Sent to any address. for two sent stamps. ree A. G. HILL, - + KENDALLVILLE, IND. MICHIGAN Sfale Agricultural College. P, 0. Agricultural College. Express and Frelght Office, Lansing, The institution has a teaching force of twenty professors and instructors, and is thoroughly equipped with apparatus for scientific investigation, and with machinery and tools for the use of students in the Department of Mechanic Arts. The library contains nearly 12,000 volumes, consisting largely of scientific works. i The General Museum and Museum of Veterinary are well filled. FOUR YEARS ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE COURSE, WHICH EMBRACES Chemistry, Mathematics, Mechanics, Drawing, Botany, Zoology, Veterinary, English Lan- guage and Literature, Military Tactics and French and German in the Mechanical Course. Three hours’ labor on each working day, except Saturday. Maximum rate paid for labor, eight cents an hour. Rares.—Tuition free. Club boarding, from $2 to $2.50 per week, For Catalogue apply to O. CLUTE, President, or HENRY G. REYNOLDS, Sec’y. BRITISH BEE JOURNAL find Bee-Keepers’ Adviser Is published every week, at 6s. 6d. per annum. It contains the very best practical information for the apiarist. It isedited by Thomas Wm. Cowan, F.G.S., F. R. 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