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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 26, 1904. 



part in the good work the Southern Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion is doing, and now is working hand in hand with the Minnesota 

 Bee-Keepers' Association tor the good of all Minnesota bee-keepers, 

 and I believe she will do so lor all bee-keepers who wish to make an 

 exhibit at St. Louis. 



Last winter I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Berthe and their 

 son, about 20 years old, and the house is not one-sided, I can assure 

 you. 



If you think no one in Minnesota is worthy of such a position, 

 just make us a visit and you will be agreeably disappointed. Minnesota 

 is full of good people, and the bee-keepers have their share of them. 

 Mingle with us, and you will find out. H. G. Acklin. 



One usually learns by asking questions. We could not find Mrs. 

 Berthe's name in the list of members of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, neither among the subscribers of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. So we concluded that she couldn't be a very prominent bee- 

 keeper, especially as we did not remember hearing of her during the 

 last '30 years. Of course, there are thousands of excellent bee-keepers 

 that we do not know, but we submit that any one who has not taken 

 enough interest in bee-keeping to have been lor years a member of its 

 National organization, nor to be found on the list of readers of the 

 oldest and only weekly bee-paper in America — well, does any one 

 wonder that we had to ask, " Who is Mrs. Berther' 



We know very well that Minnesota has many prominent bee-keep- 

 ers, and Mr. Acklin is one of them. Had he or some other leading 

 Minnesota bee-keeper been appointed to the apiarian position at St. 

 Louis, we would have had uo occasion lor surprise. Mr. Acklin has 

 also attended some of the meetings ol the National Association, his 

 good wife even appearing on its program. But we have attended 

 every meeting during the last ten years, and never had the pleasure ol 

 seeing Mrs. Berthe there. 



For ought we know, Mrs. Berthe may possess every qualification 

 lor filling very successlully the position to which she has been ap- 

 pointed, but we should suppose that such appointment would be made 

 from among persons who had won at least a little national distinction 

 in the industry they are called on to represent. Surely, among the 

 Board ol Directors of the National Bee-Keepers' Association are men 

 that have even made sacrifices for the good ol bee-keeping, and are 

 deserving of recognition therefor. 



We trust the reader will understand that there is not the least 

 personal feeling in this matter on our part, only we must confess to 

 not a little surprise when we learned that some one had been appointed 

 superintendent of the apiarian department ol the great St. Louis Ex- 

 position who was not known outside of her own State! 



While it is true that Mr. Acklin has kindly urged us to visit the 

 bee-keepers of Minnesota, it was always, we believe, at a time when 

 our Chicago-Northwestern convention was in session, and as president 

 ol it we could not very well be absent. We should very much like to 

 meet the Minnesota bee-keepers some time, including Mrs. Berthe, for 

 the American Bee Journal being the only bee-paper that pays espe- 

 cial attention to women bee-keepers, naturally we would have a warm 

 spot in our heart lor them. Nevertheless, we feel justified in feeling 

 that a more prominent and better-known bee-keeper should have been 

 honored with the appointment referred to, whether that person be a 

 lady or a gentleman. 



Now, after speaking thus freely, and we trust kindly, we wish to 

 assure Mrs. Berthe that if there is anything the old American Bee 

 Journal can do to help make her work a success, all she needs to do is 

 to call on us, and any assistance we can render will be cheerfully 

 given. We want to see her succeed in her position, and show to the 

 visiting world what American bee-keeping means, and what it is to be. 



Latbk. — Since the foregoing was written, we have received the 

 loUowing Irom the St. Louis World's Fair, which explains itsell : 



St. Louis, U. S. A., May 10, 1904. 

 Editor American Bee Journal: — 



Dear ,Si,r ; — Noting your editorial inquiry as to the identity ol 

 Mrs. F. N. Berthe, who is in charge ol the Bee-Exhibit at the World's 



Fair, I beg to say that Mrs. Berthe comes from , Minn., where 



she lias a small apiary which has ))een very successful. She has been 

 engaged in the culture of bees lor '20 years, and has devoted her time 

 to the importation and improvement ol bees and the management ol 

 apiaries. 



Mrs. Berthe has been superintendent ol the honey and bee depart- 

 ment at Winona fairs for the last five years. She is a thoroughly 

 practical bee-culturist, and was selected for the superintendency ol 

 the exhibit alter the careful consideration of available names. 

 Very truly yours, Mark Bennitt, 



Maniifjer General Press Bureau. 



The above is quite satlslaotory to us, now that it is known that 

 Mrs. Berthe was appointed " alter the careful consideration of avail- 

 able names." Success to Mrs. Berthe. 





Miscellaneous Items 





Messrs. Henry Alley and P. Danzenbaker have recently 

 been married. Our congratulations to both of them and theirs. 



Have You Bees for Sale? — There seems to be a good de- 

 mand for bees this spring. If any of our readers have bees lor sale, 

 we would suggest offering them at once in the American Bee Journal. 

 Our advertising rates are very reasonable, and we will be pleased to 

 send them on application. 



" The Honey-Bee : Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physi- 

 ology," by Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, of England. We have received a 

 beautilul souvenir edition ol this work from its able author. It is 

 printed on enameled paper, and bound in red leather with gold letters 

 and design. In appearance it is a beautilul work of the printers' and 

 book-binders' art ; and as to contents — well, it needs no further rec- 

 ommendation than simply the author's name. He has our thanks for 

 the book, which we shall prize. 



H. C. Morehouse, of Boulder Co., Colo., writes that with the 

 assistance of an 18-year-old boy, he expects to manage 600 colonies of 

 bees for comb honey, located in 8 apiaries, without any additional 

 help except for casing honey. He thinks this will keep him out of 

 mischief for the next four months. Quite likely. But as he is re- 

 lieved of the work of getting out the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal 

 I (having recently sold it to Mr. P. F. Adelsbach, of California, pub- 

 lisher of the Pacific States Bee Journal), he will have more time to 

 devote to his bees. Mr. Morehouse says that Mr. Adelsbach has a 

 nice lot of readers in his combined list, and being located in a field that 

 he believes needs and will support a bee-paper of its own, he will be 

 supprised if Mr. A. does not make it a success. Evidently he (Mr. 

 A.) has the opportunity, and will doubtless make the most ol it. 



Hon. E. AVhitconib, ol Saline Co., Nebr., surprised us with a 

 call last week. He had been visiting about a month in New York and 

 Pennsylvania, and was on his return journey. Mr. Whitcomb is a 

 member ol the Board ol Directors ol the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation. He is the bee-keeper who so gloriously " got religion," as 

 the result ol a revival meeting in his home town last August, that he 

 was thoroughly cleaned upon the use ol tol)acco, prolanity, etc., 

 and now teaches an adult Bible class ol 3.5 in the Methodist Sunday- 

 school. There is no doubt about it. Mr. Whitcomb got the genuine 

 article — " pure and undefiled '' — and says he is now trying to make up 

 lor over 50 years ol wasted life. Ashe was a noble and brave soldier 

 in the ranks during the Civil War, so he is equally valiant and coura- 

 geous serving under the conquering banner of the King of Kings. 



Gen. D. Li. Adair, of Kentucky, died of heart failure at the 

 age of over 80 years, on April 19. He was the inventor ol the Adair 

 bee-hive. In relerring to him, and his interest in matters apiarian, 

 Mr. A. I. Root had this in Gleanings lor May 1 : 



I shall have to explain to our younger readers that Gen. Adair 

 was at one time, some 30 years ago or more, one ol the brightest and 

 most valued writers lor the American Bee Journal. It was he who 

 gave us the Adair Irame; and Adair and Gallup together gave us 

 what was called the " Long-ideal hive." If I am correct, it was Mr. 

 Adair himsell who first suggested that, instead ol making the hive 

 two or three stories high, we simply lengthen it out like a watering- 

 trough, adding surplus combs to the back end opposite the entrance 

 as fast as they were needed, according to the jjrowth ol the colony and 

 the amount ol honey coming in. Just now I recall only one apiary 

 that is managed in this way. Our Iriend, 0. 1 1. Poppleton, ol Florida, 

 still uses this arrangement very successfully. He claims he gets just 

 as much or more honey, and he also obviates the necessity ol lifting 

 off an upper story, which his strength will not permit him to do. Gen. 

 Adair was a vigorous writer, and I believe he was a successful bee- 

 keeper. 



During the time he was actively engaged in apiculture, and writ- 

 ing for the journals, he did much to stir up an interest in apiculture, 

 and to turn deep thinkers and experimenters into channels that might 

 not otherwise have been explored. 



About 30 years ago I had a chromo made of a hexagonal apiary, 

 each hive being shaded by a grape-vine. At that time 1 planned a 

 standard extractor, a standard hive, and a standard frame. My stan- 

 dard Irame at that date was the Adair lH^xlIi''., ; and the standard 

 hive was made long enough to hold "iO Irames one story high, the en- 



