July 21, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



:o5 



a very pretty picture of the sunny side of bee-keeping in 

 the wilds of California : 



Here are the closing words of her article : 



I must say a word about the desirability of bee-lseeping as an 

 occupation for women. Its possibilit.v is a settled fact; for tnan.v 

 women have worked at it successfully. My father employed a f;irl 

 last year at our out-apiary, and said that her worl; was more satis- 

 factory than that of any of his hired men. It is out-of-door worii, and 

 therefore peculiarly healthful. I linow, for I have tried it. After the 

 day's work in the warm sun is over, there is nothing to do but enjoy 

 one's self. Bees retire early, and it is not well to disturb them after 

 sundown. Then, when the canyon is in shadow, when the air is still, 

 sweet-scented and refreshingly cool, when no sound is heard but the 

 hum of late-returning bees, and the rush of water in the creek, the 

 bee-keeper saddles his pony and gallops down to the post-oflice; or, it 

 he chooses, rides up the canyon. There, where the road passes be- 

 tween the oak tree and the sycamore, where the mountain rises on one 

 side, and the creek flows along on the other, almost hidden by the 

 trees which line its bank, the shades of green in the blackberry vines, 

 and the poison oak are exquisite. He rides on and on, without a care, 

 until the shadow reaches that long ledge of rook on yonder mountain 

 to the east, then he turns homeward, for, when the sunlight leaves, 

 the darkness comes quickly. 



On warm summer mornings there is the '* dip " in the swimming 

 pool below the barn, or for the angler the rod and line, some bait, 

 and, presto, some brook trout for breakfast, for they bite well early in 

 the morning. 



Sometimes on warm summer days, when the bees do not need 

 one's attention, there is time for a long afternoon in the shaded ham- 

 mock with a book, or with the dreams of the lovely country home 

 which the golden honey will some day build, as beautiful and pictur- 

 esque as that of any actress; of the music books and art with which 

 it will be tilled: of fine horses in its stable; of the friends who will 

 gather to enjoy it all. All this to be some day when the bee-keeper 

 is rich enough. With sufficient judgment, hard work and " bee- 

 sense " this dream may be made a reality. 



With the end of August, the bees in readiness for the winter, the 

 bee-keeper may go the city, iif he likes. 



Honey and Almond Cpeam. 



Recipe for honey and almond cream : Honey, one 

 ounce ; powdered castile soap, '2 ounce ; oil of sweet 

 almonds, 13 ounces ; oil of bitter almonds, '2 dram ; oil of 

 bergamot, '4 dram ; oil of cloves, 7 drops ; balsam of Peru, 

 '2 dram ; liquid potassa, '2 dram. Mix the oils with the 

 balsam, then mix the honey with the soap ; add enough of 

 the potassa to make a nice cream ; add this to the first mix- 

 ture, and beat for several minutes. — Chicago Record-Herald. 



Basswood Late, But Promisingf. 



Basswood has not opened up yet. It is very late this 

 year. The trees are very full of buds. We think it will be 

 as late as July 12 before the bees work on the basswood. 

 Mrs. Ada L. (Pickard) Boggs. 



Richland Co., Wis., July 8. 



[ Hasty's Afterthoughts ) 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hastt, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



COMB-LKVELERS FOR PARTLY-FILLED SECTIONS. 



And so Mr. Greiner has had a different kind of comb- 

 leveler in use this 20 years. If it's " nuts and raisins," he 

 has kept the nuts and raisins from us for a long time. The 

 instrument looks plausible as it appears in the pictures. In 

 weather not too hot and not too cold I guess it would work. 

 No great harm if it does make the section looi a little ragged 

 — bees will soon fix that. The Taylor leveler, which works 

 by melting off the surface on a hot plate, occupied quite a 

 space in our papers years ago — not much said about it now. 

 Wonder how many of the brethren are really using it. 

 Page 438. 



TWO SWARMS IN ONE HIVE OF COMB. 



John S. Callbreath's scheme of two swarms in one hive 

 full of empty comb, I'll be charitable enough to grant that 

 it might be O. K. in some yards. In my yard, mixing bees 

 is an abomination. Moreover, in my yard one swarm in a 

 hive full of empty comb isO. K.,and the fear of getting 



the brood-nest injuriously restricted by honey a mere scare- 

 crow. Page 439. 



WIDE FRAME vs. T SliPER — COMB HONEY M.ANAGEMENT. 



On page 439, Dr. Miller seems to infer that I use the T 

 super or something similar. I don't. I use the old-fash- 

 ioned two decker wide frame— best outfit in the world for a 

 lean location, and a strain of bees that is witting to use it. I 

 put on wide frames to hold 40 sections, and more than half 

 the time can let them stay on till the close of the season. 

 Heavy flows of honey like angel's visits at my place. Sur- 

 plus mostly something else than jvhite, anyway. A little 

 travel-stain does not show quite so badly on darker grades 

 of honey. Another important thing — a large share of my 

 customers are not spoiled, and do not demand extra-white 

 honey. All these things must be weighed by that begin- 

 ner before he follows me in preference to Dr. Miller. No, 

 the central bottom sections are not so white-looking as the 

 same honey is farther away. To leave one of my upper 

 stories on till every section is done — it is not my intention 

 to do that. Intend to take out the two or three best wide 

 frames before that. So I guess I am not contradicting Dr. 

 Miller's practice much more than the differing circumstances 

 require. I'll yield so far as to admit (up to the point of the 

 Doctor's experience) that sometimes go-backer sections have 

 been taken off at last finished up very smoothly. Probably 

 Dr. Miller will admit that sometimes a finish on two differ- 

 ent levels and a general roughness is the outcome. 



POPULAR PRESCRIPTIONS PARTLY PUNCTURED. 



June is the season of green peas, but presumably we 

 should not think of that particular shade of the spectrum 

 in connection with the P. P. P. P. 'sof " Peiro's Propolis 

 Porous Plaster. " Let us think of brown or gray, or some 

 other of wisdom's colors. The porous plaster with propolis 

 for medicated surface, and the turpentine liniment with 

 propolis as ingredient seem all right. But so large a pro- 

 portion of our whole population have a certain amount of 

 superstition in their medical ideas, that a word of caution 

 for weak brethren may not be amiss. Let us not cultivate 

 the whim that propolis must be efficacious because it is our 

 stuff — or that honey must of course have wonderful health- 

 fulness because it is our product. "To the testimony" on 

 all such matters, and no foolish assumptions. Page 445. 



LONG WINTER CONFINEMENT OF BEES. 



As to the length of time bees will stand confinement, 

 the 122 days of John H. Clausen, page 315, are badly dis- 

 tanced by the 165 days of F. L. Day, page 446. And then 

 comes Doolittle's golden colony, page 422, that in a farm 

 cellar wintered perfectly 188 days. This seems to be the 

 cap sheaf at present. These latter cases, however, not be- 

 ing out-of-doors are a bit less natural than the other. 



POSITIVE TESTS IN THINGS APICUWURAI,. 



Positive tests, applied in a scientific manner, are often 

 called for — called for as if they could be had by just open- 

 ing a box and taking them out. The editorial note on page 

 420 very properly calls attention to our limitations. In re- 

 gard to overstocking (and many other things) how can tests 

 be made positive enough and scientific enough to satisfy 

 captious people ? Better give it up in most cases. Intelli- 

 gent, practical men, with minds directed to a subject, will 

 usually get the core of it. Until we can get greater defi- 

 niteness let us be thankful for that. 



PICKLED-BROOD SDGGESTION. 



Prof. Cook's suggestion as to pickled brood is worth 

 thinking of. May be not so much a definite thing of itself 

 as a condition that sets in when considerable amounts of 

 brood die from almost any cause. Page 420. 



GRADING SECTION HONEY. 



In grading honey, have standard sections of the proper 

 grades set up for the eye to work from. Otherwise our 

 judgment slides up and down with different times and days 

 — and especially with different amounts of light. Page 421. 



Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now 



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