1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



531 



Friend Hutchinson, I am very glad of the 

 opportunity of answering the concluding 

 item of your excellent paper for this month, 

 and I wish, too, to take the liberty of ans- 

 wering exactly as I would if you were not 

 present* I feel sure you will not be puffed 

 up, or made vain, if I do here, in a public 

 ■way, commend you a little. 



It was in the Jan. No., 1S78, that friend 

 Hutchinson's first article appeared, and I 

 wish every one of our A B V class could 

 turn to that article and read it now. There 

 is nothing very learnea about it, but, on the 

 contrary, our friend was just a beginner, 

 with only about lialf a dozen hives. He 

 could not well be much of a teacher, for he 

 was, as you might say, only in his A B C's 

 himself. Notwithstanding all this, I re- 

 marked, as I ran my eye over the letter, 

 '' Unless I am very much mistaken, this 

 young man will some day make his mark as 

 a writer on bee culture." Do you wish to 

 know why? It was mainly because of the 

 honest simplicity of his statements, and his 

 details of the faithful industry with which 

 he searched for knowledge. He is by no 

 means a superior writer, and, begging his 

 pardon, I should judge he has nothing more 

 than a fair common-school education : nei- 

 ther had he much means to commence in the 

 business. With him, it seemed to be rather 

 fortunate for the rest of us that his means 

 were limited, for otherwise he would not 

 liave given us the home-made buzz-saw ta- 

 ble that he some time ago described and to- 

 day figures in this present number. I had 

 really forgotten to state that he is no relative 

 of mine. I never saw nor heard of him un- 

 til he wrote me in regard to bee culture. I 

 have been pleased to note, that, while he 

 held the tirst place in Gleanikgs, his writ- 

 ings were also gaining a prominent place in 

 other bee journals, and I have several times 

 watched him with a little anxiety to see how 

 he would stand the" fire " of public criticism 

 when it came. I hardly need tell you that 

 he has stood it well. I believe I have only 

 once given him a gentle reminder, to beware 

 about getting entangled in unprofitable con- 

 troversy. I have given him for his articles, 

 from one to five dollars each, paying him, as 

 I do all others, as nearly as I can what I 

 think their writings are really worth to our 

 readers. The extreme honesty and fairness 

 of his articles, and a sincere desire to benetit 

 his bee-keeping brothers, is what gives the 

 chief value to his writings. I have often 

 thought he showed forth in an eminent de- 

 gree the spirit of the Master, inasmuch as he 

 " pleased not himself," and I found out, 

 some time ago, that }ie is in truth a disciple 

 of the meek and lowly Jesus of Nazareth. 

 His earnestness, perseverance, and thorough- 

 ness, are well shown in his remarks in the 

 forejjoing, in regard to developing a market 

 for the sale of extracted honey. 



I have refused just one article from friend 

 II. ; and when I did so I explained to him 

 just why, and got in return such kind thanks 

 for my advice and suggestions that I have 

 always since felt free to advise or suggest 

 to him whenever I thought It was for the 

 public good. 



Now, friend Hutchinson, it would not be 



strange if you should meet some persecu- 

 tion, just because of these kind words I have 

 said of you ; but I take it for granted while 

 I write, that you know how to bear either 

 praise or censure, without being harmed 

 very much. Have I calculated aright V 



Now a word to those who wish to become 

 paid contributors. Don't write until you 

 have something valuable to communicate ; 

 and bear in mind that we always have more 

 essays and generalities than we can possibly 

 find room for. 



Or Enemiesof Bees Among InsectTribes. 



SOME HUGE HONEY-DEW BUGS. 



Ij? SEND you by to-day's maU a cage of insects 

 Jljl which produce some of the so-called honey-dew, 

 I And them on the body of the sycamore-trees, 

 also on Jimbs of the same tree that have beeu dead- 

 ened. They exude the sweet liquid in small drops 

 like rain, which fall On the leaves and ground. 

 Please name them. A. Cox. 



White Licit, Boone Co., Ind., Oct. 13, 188:3. 



Answer, by Prof. Cook :— 



The lice from Mr. A. Cox, White Lick, Ind., are 

 immense plant-lice. The are new to me, and, to my 

 sore regret, they are ground as tine as powder. I can 

 just make out that they are plant-lice. They are all 

 dried up, and this, with being put in a box loose, are 

 well pulverized. I wish I had them in good shape. 

 They are fully I4, inch long; and if they secrete ac- 

 cording to their size, they ought to furnish a full- 

 sized colony with lice-nectar. I have written Mr. 

 Cox for more of the insects, and hope that I can get 

 some to ascertain the species; or if they are new to 

 science, to get them described, and christen them. 

 Let me urge all, that, in sending insects, they put 

 some cotton in the box so that it will not serve as a 

 rattle-box in transit. I find in my notes no mention 

 of 1 Ice of this kind on the sycamore. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., Oct. 13, 1882. 



A RAILWAY APIARY. 



S03IE SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO CON- 

 VENIENCE IN EXTRACTING, ETC. 



UR friends will remember that we have 

 briefly touched upon the matter of a 

 railway apiary in the ABC book. 

 But as only a few apiaries have ever been 

 worked on this plan, comparatively, we have 

 never, until now, been able to give a picture 

 of one. Our friends who own the one shown 

 in the engraving have made some improve- 

 ments in the arrangement of the car, which 

 they describe as follows :— 



Inclosed find a picture of our apiary No. 1, show- 

 ing our extracting-car, etc., taken from the S. C. R. B. 

 track. With this system, two men can extract the 

 honey from one hundred swarms in ten hours. 



M. A. Williams & Co. 



Berkshire, N. Y., Sept, 8, 1882. 



As a further explanation, we reprint from 

 page 300, this volume : — 

 As our extracting-car seems to be a new idea to 



