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Honey for Food and Medicine, were its health-producing properties more familiarly known, would be appropriated to a much greater extent than is found at the present time.

That this valuable information is not more extensively disseminated, and a consequent increased demand felt, for the sweet product of the bees, is largely due to the apathy existing among those who produce honey-by their failure to take it upon themselves to inform their neighbors of the facts concerning the health-giving and health-keeping qualities of this "nectar of the gods."

When all appreciate the benefits to be derived from its regular and constant use, then will honey-producers begin to realize the nobility of their pursuit, and exert themselves to supply a demand that will at once arise.

The following paragraphs, taken from the Chicago Daily News of recent date, endeavor to show something of the value of honey as an article of diet and remedial agent:

But few people are cognizant of the benefits to be derived from a moderate use of honey as food. Saccharine matter, as a rule, is apt to affect the system injuriously, but if taken in the form of honey, it at once becomes a valuable food and medicine. Instead of having it given to us in combination with bulk foods, as in the cane and beet, it is, in the case of honey, mingled with fruit juices derived from flowers highly charged with medicinal properties.

Honey taken as food becomes a powerful medicine to the sugar-fed and half diseased, and many people must begin on small quantities and acquire an appetite for it. Foul air, improper ventilation, coal gas and sudden changes of temperature, and exposure of lungs and throats to sudden chill are the source of no end to throat and bronchial troubles. A free, regular and constant use of honey is probably the best medicine for throat troubles known, and its regular use is largely corrective.

The Foreign participation in the World's Columbian Fair, up to the present, embraces 72 Nations and Provinces.

English horticultural papers are renewing their attack on American apples, on the ground that they contain arsenic, and the attacks are being generally copied in the daily press. The charge is that growers sprinkle arsenic on their trees to prevent the ravages of a moth which eats nothing but apples and pears. The editor of the Horticultural Times is the author of the "arsenic scare," as it is called. Immense quantities of American apples are sold in England, and bring high prices, which, perhaps, explains the reason for the attack.

Spraying fruit trees, plants and vines for the prevention of the ravages of insects and fungus diseases, is no longer an experiment, but a necessity, in order to get large crops of perfect fruit. Of course the spraying must not be done while the trees are in bloom-but just as the fruit is "set."

For full information on this subject, address William Stahl, manufacturer of Excelsior Spraying Outfits, Quincy, Ills., who will send free a full and complete treatise on this subject.

We are glad to be able to state that Mr. Stahl gives proper directions for the time of spraying, so that no damage will result to the bees. He says:

Apple trees should be sprayed twicewhen the apples are the size of peas, and again in a week or ten days. Plum trees should be sprayed three or four times, at intervals of a week or ten days, beginning as soon as the blossoms have fallen. To spray an orchard will cost, per spraying, for material and labor of applying the mixture as well as preparing it, from 15 to 25 cents per

acre.

Very Fine samples of thin foundation are received from W. W. Cary, of Colerain, Mass.; two of them being of white wax, and all show excellent workmanship.

The Amateur Bee-Keeper, by J. W. Rouse; 52 pages. Price, 25c. For sale at this office.

MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING

of the World's Columbian Exposition.

Notable for its symmetrical proportions, the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building is the mammoth structure of the
Exposition. It measures 1,687 by 787 feet, and covers nearly 31 acres, being the largest Exposition building ever
constructed.

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Within the building a gallery 50 feet wide extends around all four sides, and projecting from this are 86 smaller
galleries, 12 feet wide, from which visitors may survey the vast array of exhibits, and the busy scene below. The galleries
are approached upon the main floor by 30 great staircases, the flights of which are 12 feet wide each. Columbia Avenue,"
50 feet wide, extends through the mammoth building longitudinally, and an avenue of like width crosses it at right angles
at the center.

The main roof is of iron and glass, and arches an area 385 by 1,400 feet, and has its ridge 150 feet from the ground.
The building, including its galleries, as about 40 acres of floor space.

There are four great entrances, one in the center of each facade. These are designed in the manner of triumphal ornamented with sculptured eagles 18 feet high, and on each side above the side arches are great panels with inscriptions, and 80 feet high. Surmounting

and the spandrils are filled with sculptured figures in bas-relief. The building occupies a most conspicuous place in the grounds.

between.

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The building will cost $1,500,000.

It faces the lake, with only lawns and promenades

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Queries and Replies.

Are Italian Bees a Distinct Race?

QUERY 810.-1. Is it your opinion that the Italians are a pure and distinct race of bees? 2. If so, why do not our imported queens produce as beautiful, evenly and well marked bees, as some of our home-reared queens? 3. What causes the Italians to "sport" so much? -North Carolina.

I really do not know.-C. C. MILLER. 1. No. 3. Because the type is not thoroughly fixed.-J. A. GREEN.

1. No race at all-only a variety. 2 and 3. Because they are not a fixed type. -J. P. H. BROWN.

1. Only a thoroughbred. 2. Will you tell? 3. Because they are not a distinct race.-G. M. DOOLITTLE.

1. Yes. 2. Because our queen-breeders are breeding more to beauty than other characteristics. 3. This is a mooted question.-J. M. HAMBAUGH.

1. Yes, if there are any pure races of bees. 2. Like Dr. Miller, I must say, "I don't know." 3. Ask something easy.-C. H. DIBBERN.

1. Certainly it is. 2. They have not been bred and selected with color alone in view. 3. It is true of all races of animals, and why not of bees?-A. J. COOK.

I have just been reading Ernest Heckle on evolution and the descent of man, which convinces me that it would require two pages of the BEE JOURNAL to give space to a comprehensive answer to your questions.-JAMES HEDDON.

2. I think that the majority of imported queens will compare favorably with the same number of home-bred queens. 3. If we had full control of the mating of queens, you would see very few "sports.-H. D. CUTTING.

1. I have no doubt there is a pure race of Italian bees. 2 and 3. Do not imagine that we Americans are the only importers of bees, and it would not be anything wonderful to receive a mismated queen even from Italy. -MRS. J. N. HEATER.

1. Our best authorities have long been of the opinion that the Italians are not a pure race. Still, it is sufficiently fixed to entitle it to the distinction it has so long held. 3. They "sport so much

because of the admixture of some other race.-G. L. TINKER.

As I understand the matter, all bees in Italy are not yellow, but are more or less crossed with dark bees. Our American breeders have taken great pains to breed for color, hence, as I believe, queens reared by our best breeders will not sport as much as those that come from Italy.-E. FRANCE.

1. Practically speaking, yes. That is, they are pure in the sense that shorthorn cattle are pure. 2. I believe they do, unless by in-breeding our home-bred queens are hightened in color. 3. Everything sports. Name a race of animals, or a family of plants, that all look exactly alike.-EUGENE SECOR.

1. No, not a fixed type. It takes a long period of time and careful breeding to establish a fixed type, or race, of any animal or insect. 2. They are not a fixed or established type or race of bees, hence, the disposition to "sport" or vary. 3. The same as No. 2.-MRS. L. HARRISON.

1. Yes, just as the Norman horses are a pure race. 2. Because our home-bred queens are bred for color, while the imported ones are not. 3. I think the socalled sporting is caused by mixture with other races of bees.-R. L. TAYLOR.

1, I do not think they are, if we figure down fine; but they may be so considered practically, as their characteristics are fixed so permanently that they duplicate themselves with certainty. 2. The matter of color is not a test of purity at all; the tests are peculiar formation, and three rings or more, of various shades of yellow. 3. Pure and purely bred Italians do not sport to any extent, in my experience.-J. E. POND.

1. From what I have read, and judging from my own experience, I lean to the opinion that the Italians are a mixed race. 2. It is claimed for the imported queens that they produce as evenly marked, and as good or better workers, than home-bred Italians, but none as finely marked as the handsomest American-bred.-S. I. FREEBORN.

1. Yes, as much as the black or the Cyprian. 2. Because our ideal Italian bee is above the existing standard in color. 3. The same causes that make sports in all races of animals. Black bees are not all alike. If they were, no one could try to introduce varieties like the Carniolan and the so-called Punic, which evidently differ slightly from other black bees.-DADANT & SON.

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1. As the word 99 race is usually understood, the Italians are a pure race. 2. For the same reason that some of our home-feared do not produce as beautiful, evenly and well marked bees" some others do. 3. I suppose it is be

as

cause they like to "sport," but I do not believe they " and then for the same reasons.-A. B. Sport" more than others, MASON.

1. It is not.

2. As the type is not

fixed, they cannot expect to be uniform. I am of the opinion that all of our bees -Italians, Cyprians, Syrians, Carniolans and Germans-are of one species, and sprung from the same stock. Hence,

I think it an between any

1. No.

error to call the crosses

of these varieties

"hy

brids." There are no hybrid bees. 3. The above answers No. 3.-M. MAHIN. 2. The reason is, American breeders select the finest marked specimens to breed from, and thereby increase the beauty and uniformity of the

home-bred bees.

queens take their chance among a whole apiary of Italian bees, but favor them with the yellowest drones. Hence, the bees are brightest. This is measuring everybody's corn by my half-bushel. 3. For some of the reasons above, and others that I do not know, but our potatoes, cabbage, and the like, will sport anyhow, and for what reason I cannot tell. This is a deep question.—MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY.

3. The Italian bees

"sport" in breeding, because they are not a pure race in the sense of unmixed blood. No pure-blooded race will habitually sport in breeding as do the imported mothers from Italy. Italian bee is a distinct type or variety of bees, and there is no impropriety in speaking of them as pure Italians.-G.

W. DEMAREE.

But the

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1. I think the most of the Italian bees are a pure and distinct race of bees. There are distinct races of men, but they all "sport" in color as well as in other characteristics. 2. The Italian bee is not so much bred for color in Italy. Some breeders in this country, by breeding in-and-in, and by the introduction of Cyprian blood, have produced very beautiful bees. This is all right if the more valuable characteristics are preserved, which too often is not the case. 3. I do not know that they sport in color more than the general law of variation produces in pure races.-P. H. ELWOOD.

1. Yes. I know this will meet some opposition, but I do believe the queens get from Italy are pure

and bees we

2.

Italian bees, regardless of color. There may be a slight mixture, but no history that I have read substantiates it. One reason is, they strike a country when they come to America, and our fancy-minded bee-keepers are

not satisfied

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sporting "

to let their home-bred

1. Italian bees are certainly a distinct variety, or as some call it-race. 2. Italians do not breed their bees for color, beauty or golden-bands; while here in America, that appears to be the greatest aim of breeders. In Italy the bees are dark, and there are black (or what appear to be black) bees there too. We noticed this fact while there, and to it we called the attention of the gentlemen who accompanied us, while on the spot." 3. Italian bees do not "sport" any more than any other animals or plants. THE EDITOR.

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Five-Banded Bees.-Mr. O. F. Wilkins, of International Bridge, Ont.," on March 8, 1892, asks this question :

Who was the originator of that strain of Italian bees known as the "fivebanded golden Italians ?"

As we might not give credit to the right person, and thus do some injustice by answering hastily, we invite those interested in these bees to present their claims to priority in private letters to the editor. Then an answer will be given in the BEE JOURNAL in accordance with the facts ascertained in the case. To publish all the letters would result in confusion, and may not be advisable. We will determine that later.

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of these heads, I found they were full of larvæ of a light-pink color, and hundreds of them in a single head. They seemed to be at the point where the honey is when they are perfect blossoms.

I made numerous inquiries of farmers and threshers, but no one could tell me why there was no seed. They said the clover was all " bald-headed," and no seed in it. Not of whom I inquired had found the reason.

The crop of Alsike clover seed in this section was the heaviest we have ever raised, some pieces yielding seven or eight bushels to the acre. I imagine one reason of the large yield was, that there was but little honey in the white clover, and the bees worked the Alsike for all it was worth.

Elgin, Minn., Feb. 27, 1892.

Wayside Gleanings.

Our heaviest burdens are those we borrow.

How easy it is to admire people who agree with us.

It is a great deal easier to be contented without riches than it is with them.

The greatest blockhead is the one whose mistakes never teach him anything.

If the earth were covered with flowers all the year round the bees would become lazy.

Any fool can ask questions, but it takes somebody who knows something to answer them.

Paint the tools and they will last longer.

Irregular feeding makes an uneven fiber of wool.

are

Numbered with potatoes that everywhere receiving commendation are the varieties Rural New Yorker No 2 and the Thorburn potato.

In pruning small orchards the thumb and finger were declared to be the best implements that could be used at the California State Horticultural society.

There are no disadvantages to be cited against obtaining seeds, trees, etc., from points considerably north of where the planting is done. We are not so certain that the reverse of this rule, in going toward the equator for planting stocks, is equally true, says The American Gardening.

CONVENTION DIRECTORY.

1892.

Time and place of meeting.

Apr. 6, 7.-Texas State, at Greenville, Tex.
A. H. Jones, Sec., Golden, Tex.

Apr. 7.-Utah, at Salt Lake City, Utah.
John C. Swaner, Sec., Salt Lake City, Utah.
Apr. 21.-Colorado State, at Golden, Colo.

H. Knight, Sec., Littleton, Colo.
May 5.-Susquehanna Co., at Brooklyn, Pa.
H. M. Seeley, Sec., Harford, Pa.
May 28.-Haldimand, at Nelles' Corners, Ont.
E. C. Campbell, Sec. Cayuga, Ont.

In order to have this table complete, Secretaries are requested to forward full particulars of the time and the place of each future meeting.-THE EDITOR.

North American Bee-Keepers' Association PRESIDENT-Eugene Secor..Forest City, Iowa. SECRETARY-W. Z. Hutchinson.... Flint, Mich.

National Bee-Keepers' Union.

PRESIDENT James Heddon..Dowagiac, Mich. SEC'Y AND MANAGER-T. G. Newman, Chicago.

Bee and Honey Gossip.

Do not write anything for publication on the same sheet of paper with business matters, unless it can be torn apart without interfering with either part of the letter.

Good Prospects for Cloyer.

I found every colony of my bees alive last Spring, and commenced the season with 72 in fair condition. Increased to 90 colonies, and obtained 5,043 pounds of honey, all extracted but about 150 pounds. Included in the above was 1,300 pounds mixed with honey-dew. I had no white honey. Bees are going through the Winter here so far in fine condition-no loss so far. The prospects are fine for clover this season. We live in hope. BYRON IIAMS. Worcester, Mo., Feb. 24, 1892.

The Bee-Keepers' Union.

I am surprised that the whole list of members of the National Bee-Keepers' Union is so small. Of the bee-keepers in the country we ought to have a membership of 10,000, then we should be a body that would be invincible. The work that has been done shows what a few can do; if that number was largely

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