AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 3, 1901. 



the thing desired, but only de>irable beeauie 

 it leads to the ri^ht eonditioii. the practical 

 iiuestion comes, Is it better to say to a begin- 

 ner. ■■ You must cool your wax slowly ;"' or. 

 •■ You nnist keep your wax a long time in a 

 melted condition !" If he is told to cool his 

 wax slowly, it is about certain that he will 

 keep it a long time in a proper condition for 

 the foreign particles to settle; at any rate, if 

 any one has been misled by such a direction, 

 it has not come to light. 



Suppose, however, we try to be more exact, 

 and say, " Your wax must remain a long time 

 in a melted condition.'' One can easily fancy 

 him saying, '• Well, it will remain in a melted 

 condition if I keep it hot. and I can just as 

 well leave it on the stove half a day." So it 

 remains " in a melted condition '" for half a 

 day — not only in a melted condition, but at so 

 high a temperature that the particles are kept 

 constantly in motion, and there is no chance 

 for impurities to settle ; and then it is taken 

 off and allowed to cool rapidly, with the result 

 that impurities are mixt all thru. 



The best of all would be a full explanation. 



Since the foregoing was written, the Bee- 

 Keepers" Review has come to hand, and Edi- 

 tor Hutchinson says : 



'• The trouble with Bro. York 

 as I understand him, is that he is confusini; 

 purity, or freedom from dirt, with that of 



color" That is. he assumes that the dark 



color results from the presence of dirt 



time and again have I seen the brightest, yel- 

 lowest wax fairlv Inadi-il witli particles of 

 dirt. If kept liquid a Ion;;- time the-e parti- 

 cles settle to the bottom, but the color of the 

 wax is not changed one io(a," 



There is no desire whatever to deny that two 

 specimens of wax entirely free from impuri- 

 ties may be very different in color. But it is 

 also true that a very large part of the beeswax 

 thrown upon the market is of the kind he 

 mentions — ''fairly loaded with dirt." Now 

 does Mr. Hutchinson mean to tell us that that 

 dirt is of the same bright color as the wax 

 when it is cleansed ? Does a cake of it look 

 just the same after cleansing as before ? If the 

 answer is in the afflrmative, then there is 

 something exceptional about the color of dirt 

 in his locality. If a white handkerchief is 

 covered with soot, we don't say it is white, 

 but black. 



Reformed Spelling.— A correspondent 

 writes that he woitld be a subscriber for life it 

 it were not for the spelling which follows the 

 rule, '• Change d and ed final to ( when so pro- 

 nounced, as in looked (lookt). etc., unless the 

 e affects the preceding sound, as in chafed. 

 etc." He thinks until our lexicographers 

 change the rule that makes the past tense and 

 perfect participle of regular verbs end in ed 

 there should be no change, and that it is con- 

 fusing to children who are learning to -spell to 

 read this jourital. 



It would be hardly worth while to refer to 

 the matter except for some who are recent 

 subscribers. To them some explanation is due 

 for departing from the general custom. This 

 departure is not a whim of the American Bee 

 Journal, not of a number of illiterate people. 

 It is because our lexicographers, the ablest 

 and best lexicographers of the world, Iiave 

 changed the spelling — a fact of which our 

 correspondent does not seem to he aware. If 

 he will turn to page xvii of the Standard Dic- 

 tionary, he will find the matter treated some- 

 what extensively. The change is endorst by 



the Philological Societies of England and 

 America, and the Modern Language Associa- 

 tion of America, the members of which in- 

 clude most of the recognized authority in lin- 

 guistic science in England and America, among 

 them Hon. \\m. T. Harris, LL. D., who for 

 years has been the United States Commis- 

 sioner of Education, and the late very able 

 Max MuUer, of England, with professors 

 from leading colleges in both countries. There 

 is no law compelling people to obey these 

 rules, no more than there is to compel people 

 to talk good English, but reforms having such 

 strong arguments in their favor, and urged by 

 such high authorities, will stu-ely prevail in 

 tlie end, and it is the part of wisdom promptly 

 to tall in with them. 



If the father and grandfather of our. corres- 

 pondent had been of his mind, very poor 

 would have been his chances for much modern 

 literatiu-e. for they would not have allowed 

 him to read a book that did not continue the 

 spelling to which they had first been accus- 

 tomed, such as honour, labour, Atlantick, 

 arctick, etc. 



I Weekly Budget l 



Mr. Thom.vs G. Newman, for so many years 

 editor of this journal, and also general man- 

 ager of the National Bee-Keepers' Union (a 

 year ago united with the National Associa- 

 tion), has this personal paragraph in the issue 

 of his Philosophical Journal for Dec. '33, 1900 : 



The editor, in response to many reciuests 

 for a public statement concerning his vision, 

 would say that his health is much improved, 

 but his sight has not yet returned sufficiently 

 to allow him to read or write. This condition 

 has prevailed now for more than a year, tho 

 he has been taking daily magnetic or mental 

 treatments the whole time, but he feels sure 

 that full sight would soon return, if he could 

 take a much-needed rest, the optic nerves 

 being only partially paralyzed, thru excessive 

 strain. Mrs. Newman is also much in need of 

 rest, after the extra labor and care of the past 

 year. Thomas G. Newman'. 



Mr. Newman's many old friends will all 

 unite in the hope that he may soon have that 

 necessary rest so that his eyes may recover. 

 Also that Mrs. Newman may join him in the 

 vacation. 



Mu. Dadaxt's Pauis Crebentials, which 

 he mentions in his article this week, read as 

 follows: 



Mk. C. p. Dadant. 



Dear Sir: — 1 am pleased to inform you that 

 the Board of Directors of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, thru its chairman. Mr. 

 E. T. Abbott, has aiuhorized me to jiresent 

 you this certiticate of credentials, appointing 

 von as their dclc^riile to the International 



( nii-re-- .,1 1. Ker|,,r- at I'aii-. .11- at any 



(illiel riie.-lin- nt hce l,ei'|ii r- «l(i,li vou may 

 l)e ahle t.i aiteiel iluriiiy- youi' trip abroad. On 

 behalf of the Association, I desire to say that 

 we feel that we have in you the person of all 

 others the best fitted to represent American 

 bee-keepers in Europe. Yotu- large {■\i)eri- 

 ence. covering many years of siieei'^sful man- 

 agement with l)ees: your thoro aei|iiaiiitauce 

 with all the latest uietliods and developments 

 in use in this country and in Europe; your 

 familiarity with the French language and cus- 

 toms — all these, and more, especially fit you 

 for the position, and will entitle you to a de- 

 gree of respect that could be accorded to 

 almost no one else. .Althoa native of France, 



we still consider you a typical American bee- 

 keeper in every respect : and we desire you to 

 convey to European bee-keepers our hearty 

 good wishes, love and respect. We feel that 

 we owe to dear old France a debt of gratitude 

 for sending two of her best sons to America; 

 and in sending one of them back to represent 

 us, we bespeak for him a reception such as 

 could be accorded to no other American bee- 

 keeper — a man whom we are proud to honor, 

 and who, in connection with his venerable 

 father, has done much to advance the pursuit 

 in this country and in Europe. 

 Yours very respectfully, 



Ernest R. Root. President. 

 Di! A. B. Mason. Secretary. 



Mk. Fred W^. Muth, of Hamilton Co., Ohio, 

 with his friend, Mr. Hauk, made us a very 

 pleasant call recently. They were on their 

 way to visit among some of the manufacturers 

 of bee-keepers' supplies, Mr. Muth having 

 been an employee of Mr. C. H. W. Weber, of 

 Cincinnati, for nearly two years past. Mr. 

 Weber is well known to our readers as a dealer 

 in honey and bee-keepers' supplies. Mr. Muth 

 is a son of the late Chas. F. Muth. who did 

 such a large honey-business in Cincinnati for 

 so many years. 



Mr. W. .4. Prtal. of .San Francisco Co., 

 Calif., writing us Dec. Tth. said; 



'• The winter here is something fine, tho we 

 are having slight fogs in the morning. These 

 latter are said to be beneficial in w'arding off 

 the cold weather, tho, to tell the truth. I 

 think it is cold enough as it is — it is one of 

 those cold spells that is full of dampness, the 

 dampness being worse than dry cold. At any 

 rate, all kinds of flowers, viz. : roses, geran- 

 iums, fuchsias, heliotropes, potato-vines, calla 

 lilies, etc., are in bloom as it it were summer. 

 The other day I took a little trip across the 

 bay with some friends from Chicago, and 

 visited Alameda, Oiikland, and Berkeley. The 

 day was a charming one. and the gardens and 

 air landscape were arrayed in their best winter 

 garb. The sun was so hot that none of us 

 could wear wraps or overcoats. The Chicago 

 folks were charmed with the climate and the 

 cities they visited— the climate just delighted 

 them. 



" So far the whole Slate has been visited 

 by copious rainfalls, and it may be fairly ex- 

 pected that a liberal amount is yet to come. 

 This will make the coming season a bountiful 

 one. Still, it is yet too early to count one's 

 chickens,'' 



Mr. Gaston Bonnier, whose portrait 

 graces our first page this week, was president 

 of the International Congress of bee-keepers 

 at Paris, held during the World's Fair there 

 last September, which is referred to by Mr, 

 Dadant on another page. He was born in 

 1853. Being a cousin of the noted French 

 apiarist, George DeLayens, he helpt him in 

 his young days in making experiments on the 

 size of hives at different altitudes. In 1873 he 

 entered the Superior Normal School, where he 

 was first student, then professor. In 1887 he 

 was appointed professor of botany at the 

 Sorboune (University of Paris), and in 1897 

 was elected a member of the Academy of 

 Sciences of Paris. 



Without going into the details of works p.ul>- 

 lisht by Mr. Bonnier, and of experimental 

 demonstrations due him. we will only men- 

 tion the following works: In 1879. "The 

 Nectaries," an anatomical and physiological 

 description of the nectar-jiroducing organs in 

 plants: in 1887, the "New Flora," in which 

 arc indicated the plants visited by bees: and in 

 1898. the "Cours Complet d'Apiculture." 

 These publications all have a direct bearing 

 upon bee-culture. , 



