66b 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 29, 1904. 



paper and cloth between, so that the heat might sift down 

 gently. Then the whole was covered with a chaff cushion to 

 retain the heat. The bottle was refilled every night and 

 morning, and the water was never cold at these times. 



Custer Co., Nebr., Aug. 31. Mrs. A. L. Amos. 



Seasons, as well as bees, are freaky things. Yon are 

 having much swarming this year, while a large number of 

 our colonies have never had so much as an egg in a c|ueen- 

 cell this season. 



Last year, however, was one of the worst for swarming, 

 contrary to the rule that when bees are storing heavily they 

 give less thought to swarming. 



Your "possibly" might well be "probably," in that queen- 

 stinging case, one queen trying to sting the other, and sting- 

 ing you by mistake. Yet there might be one exception to the 

 rule that a queen never demeans herself to sting anything less 

 than royaltj'. Certainly an exception has been known to the 

 rule that a queen never stings a worker. 



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



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



EXTR.\CTING FROM COMBS WITH BROOD. 



Thanks to Mr. Dadant for the courtesy with which 

 he treats my rather strong protest against extracting 

 from combs with brood in them. Nevertheless, in that 

 matter (my country before my politeness), I feel bound 

 to hit every head I see. In the article of his, on page 

 566, I'm obliged to see a little corner of his head — where 

 he says a little care at the extractor will throw out the 

 honey and leave the larvae. In reasonable presumption 

 the most pronounced nastiness ever to be found in a 

 normal bee-hive is not in the brood-cells but in the 

 thinned-down honey, or feed-fluid, in which honey is only 

 one ingredient, placed, to be handy, right adjacent to the 

 brood. No amount of care on the part of the operator 

 can avoid throwing that out to mingle with the honey. 

 Flies out before the honey does. And with the laws we 

 already have, the pure food commissioners may get around 

 eventually to avenge decency and justice — bring the of- 

 fenders right up standing, by condemning their honey to 

 the swill-tub. 



BEE-PAPERS OF CHRISTENDOM. 



Astonishing! Plump 87 bee-papers have been caught 

 and listed by name — besides the possibility of there being 

 a few more loose in the woods. That Canada gets along 

 with one and Belgium indulges in eight looks like some 

 other things in this world — a trifle out of balance. The 

 hind one of the eight in Belgium will hardly make its 

 proprietor a millionaire. Still, maybe he has food and 

 raiment from some other source; and maybe he enjoys 

 seeing his name on the paper as editor, so aziiully well 

 (not editor written that nerveless way, but editor with 

 big capitals all the way through) that he is really one of 

 the happiest of mortals. Life is what the liver makes it. 

 Should we forbid him to live life as he understands it? 

 Not unless he first comes to understand some higher con- 

 ception of life. Page 579. 



THE FOLK-SONG ABOUT THE BEE AND ROSE. 



That little folk-song about the bee that took the pot 

 of honey without laying down any money is good enough 

 that one wonders that it should keep hid for a generation 

 without getting into print. Red Rose was willing to fur- 

 nish nectar and take pay in music — liked it even in solo. 

 Humans all like it in distant, gentle chorus; but when it 

 strikes up at solo near by they think of siulden business 

 elsewhere. Page 580. 



BEE-KEEPING BY MAIL. 



Bee-keeping by mail correspondence! Well, what's 

 to hinder? Sotne would a great deal rather start in that 

 way than spend a season "subbing" it in somebody's 

 apiary — doing long hours of simple drudgery, out of 

 which nothing can be learned but humiliation. Out a lit- 

 tle on cost, but decided saving of comfort and indepen- 

 dence and time. When sudden need of help pinches, a 

 letter may be a little slow; but even with the other kind 

 of instruction the teacher cannot be expected to stand 

 looking on all the time; and beginner will contrive to get 

 into, now and then, a scrape too strenuous to admit of 

 hunting up teacher to find out what to do. Page 580. 



FACTS ABOUT HONEY AND BEES. 



J. E. Johnson is not far from right when he puts 

 health ne.xt to salvation, in value. But when he patters 

 along the disgraceful old beaten path, and joins in the 

 regulation outcry against sugar as an unhealthy thing, I 

 take the opposite side with plenty of vim. Sugar and 

 high-sugared viands get a bad name unjustly, because 

 usually eaten after the person has already eaten too much. 

 Both wholesome to a high degree if repletion is avoided. 

 All the same, "Facts about honey and bees" are very suit- 

 able to be set before the outside public for perusal. Page 

 581. 



SISTERS vs. THE BRETHREN AS BEE-KEEPERS. 



So the Sisters think the average man is a genius in 

 setting things in confusion, needlessly, and leaving them 

 so. What shall we say to this indictment, brethren? Are 

 we guilty, or not guilty — or unable to tell till we hear the 

 evidence? Let's reform, first, and prove our innocence 

 afterwards. (Say, it's the married man that's guilty. Gets 

 confirmed and hardened in this crime by leaving every- 

 thing for his wife to straighten out. Bachelor gets care- 

 ful and fussy, all samee girl bachelor.) Page 584. 



LATE SWARMING AND IIANGING-OUT. 



The fact that "Maryland's" colony swarmed abnor- 

 mally late last year makes it a little more supposable that 

 they are meditating the same thing again this year, as 

 they hang out. Dr. Miller is right, however, in hinting 

 that the probability of swarming decreases decidedly after 

 bees have hung out more than the usual time. Toward 

 autumn there are sometimes great bunches hanging from 

 many hives, with no swarming at all. Page 587. 



DIRBCIOR WM, M KVOV. 



