298 



AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL, 



May 9, 1901. 



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The Afterthought. 



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'Old Reliable " seen thru New and Unreliable Qiasses. 

 By E. E. HASTV, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



INSECT HONEY ON "CLOUD REST." 



As told on page 196, Prof. Cook certainly found scientific 

 "nuts and raisins " on Cloud Rest in the Yosemite — great 

 <irops of nectar secreted by pine aphides. And it was doubly 

 blest in having intelligent tasters at hand who did not know 

 what the origin of the nectar was. Quite interesting to see 

 that all the party pronounced it of excellent flavor. If some 

 of us should say that bees work on aphide secretion and clover 

 at the same time, and mix the proceeds, and that the mixture 

 passes readily for clover honey — well, the story would hardly 

 "go down." Please remember, therefore, that Prof. Cook 

 contributes a positive case of this sort. We must not ignore 

 the facts ; and the fact seems to be that some insect honey is 

 excellent, and some abominable. Probably also there are all 

 intermediate grades. 



DOES LOSING THE STING KILL THE BEE ? 



Right this way to see an interesting little fight. Let's 

 have a "shindy" between Prof. Cook, who has proved by 

 direct experiment that the loss of the sting kills the bee. and 

 those others who have proved by direct experiment that it 

 doesn't. Perhaps it is rather soon for me to act as umpire, 

 but nevertheless let me have ray say. Suppose an ogre should 

 seize a dozen children and pull a leg off each one. Would 

 they all die or all get well ? Neither. Some would die and 

 some get well. In deficit of evidence this is to be presumed 

 of all very serious wounds in all creatures. As to case in 

 hand, the matter is still more complicated. Sometimes the 

 wound is very serious and sometimes it isn't, depending upon 

 the size of the lump of tissue pulled away with the sting. 

 Losing the sting only should no more kill a bee than losing 

 her horns in a fight kills a cow. But if you should jerk off 

 the cows horns in such a way as to carry the whole top off her 

 head away too, she would probably die. Again, stingers are 

 mostly aged (presumably) and aged bees in .June have but a 

 very short span of life left anyway. Wonder if this fact has 

 not been forgotten in some of the "direct experiments." 

 Page 197. 



BEE-KEEPING FOR INVALIDS. 



Yes, from one point of view, bee-keeping is hardly the 

 thing for invalids — calls for lively stepping around, long hours, 

 and sometimes for heavy expenditures of strength. But 

 somehow one successful bee-keeping invalid, like Mrs. Axtell, 

 rather extinguishes considerable argument on the other side. 

 And here's a good sentence from Mrs. A., worthy to be printed 

 large on the beginner's smoker, or some such place : " Pay 

 little attention to what your jieighbor advises, unless you 

 know him to be a practical apiarist." The neighbor wise and 

 gray, who has had " more or less bees around my place all my 

 life," is especially a dangerous snare to the beginner, p. 197. 



THOSE TALKS TO BEGINNERS. 



Here's compliments to the talks to beginners by Mr. 

 Gehring. They are good. But then, every new dog must 

 expect to be snuft at and salaried at some, and I'll see if I 

 can't find a place where I can snap my teeth together. Ah, 

 here it is ! "They give upas soon as they find themselves 

 prisoners — always and everywhere." This is very correct as a 

 general truth ; but my idea is that there are occasional excep- 

 tions, that they do sometimes ignore everything else but the 

 consuming passion to find a vulnerable place and put in a sting. 

 The bee under your veil almost always feels intimidated and 

 tries to get out ; but once in awhile one will proceed to busi- 

 ness. I think this takes in two ways, sometimes by being too 

 infuriated to notice the plainest evidence of imprisonment, 

 and sometimes by taking a few turns around, sizing up the sit- 

 uation, and then deciding that a fellow who has sworn to die 

 in the attempt does best to "strike home" at once. p. 199. 



NECTAR-GATHERING MICE. 



Our bees, of course, have the other insects and the hum- 

 ming-birds as competitors; but it is news to be informed that 

 there are nectar-gathering mice. (Apologies to the scientists 

 who want them called Marsupials ; but the picture says 

 they're mice). Certainly animate nature is amazingly versa- 

 tile in its forms. Page 212. 



\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ \ 



Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif. 



ATTRACTIVE HOMES AND SURROUNDINGS. 



The home circle like everything else about us, is won- 

 drously affected by its environment. I said none too much 

 about the kind word and the thoughtful act in the home. I 

 spoke truly of the marvelous influence of the flowers in the 

 home. I think it was Henry Ward Beecher who said, " .Show 

 me the books and the papers in a household, and let uie know 

 the company which frequent the same, and I will rightly de- 

 scribe the people of that home." The home is not simply con- 

 fined to the inside of the walls that domicile us. The immedi- 

 ate surroundings of the house are of equal importance in 

 their influence to refine the character and mould the tastes. 



Some years since, the village of Kalamazoo, Mich., — it 

 was larger than a great many cities — gained a wide reputa- 

 tion, not only for being the largest village in the United 

 States, but for being one of the most beautiful towns in the 

 country. It was not that the houses were palatial. Many of 

 these were cottages, and not a few were very humble in their 

 dimensions and architecture. But the thing that attracted 

 everybody, and gave Kalamazoo its well-earned fame, was the 

 beautifully kept lawns and lovely flowers, shrubs and trees, 

 usually arranged with the skill of an artist, which adorned 

 nearly every home in that beautiful village. I hardly need 

 say that the people of Kalamazoo were exceptional in refine- 

 ment, intelligence and enterprise. Loveliness like music 

 charms every one and will certainly attract the best to its near 

 presence. Kalamazoo had its fine public library, its ladies' 

 club which attracted large attention, and its drives and boule- 

 vards which were enjoyed by the many visitors that delighted 

 in spending their summer outings in this lovely spot. 



We may not all be so fortunate as to live in Kalamazoo. 

 We may be so unfortunate as to have neighbors who care lit- 

 tle for neatness, order, and beauty. We can, all of us, make 

 our home the pride, not only of those who occupy it, but also 

 the pride of all our neighbors. Even those who are lacking 

 in taste or are too indolent to make the exertion which fine 

 grounds require, often show their appreciation when company 

 comes to visit them. As they walk or drive out, they are very 

 sure to pass by the orderly, well-cared-for places of the town 

 or neighborhood. How many reasons there are why each of 

 us should do all in our power to make our grounds the most 

 lovely and attractive of any in our region. What sincere 

 pleasure it gives us as we daily watch the growth of the beau- 

 tiful plants and trees, and think of the part we have had in 

 their arrangement and fashioning. Whatever gives us pleas- 

 ure, as we have shown in' a previous article, is sure to add to 

 health and longevity. Thus we score again for the neat home 

 grounds. We love to have our immediate friends refined and 

 cultured. I wonder if children that are brought up from the 

 earliest years, where everything tells of neatness and order, 

 will ever fail to receive something of real refinement. Surely 

 if beauty about the home works such blessedness in its mem- 

 bers, we may tally again for hoipe adornment. We know 

 what the Scripture says about the leaven, and how all the 

 meal was transformed. Can any of us have a higher ambition 

 than a wish to plant this leaven that shall tend to make all 

 the homes of cur vicinity attractive and beautiful ? 



I believe I know just why Kalamazoo gained such a wide 

 reputation for its superlative attractiveness. There is no 

 question but that an exceptionally large number of the first 

 settlers of that beautiful little village came from just such 

 homes as we have been trying to describe, and were so attacht 

 to beautiful surroundings that they gave first attention to 

 making their own homes so neat and lovely that others who 

 came to the town even tho less enamored of such beautiful 

 things were at once led to follow the good example already set. 

 Soon, it would be so noticeable if any slovenly place was per- 

 mitted to disfigure the village that no one had the bravado to 

 set the example, and thus the whole village became famed 

 thruout the State and country. 



Possibly we bee-keepers stand in special need of some 

 exhortation in this direction. In California, especially, the 

 apiary is off in some canyon or on some secluded mesa, and is 

 likely to be seldom visited by any but the bee-keeper and his 

 family. Thus the stimulus which comes from rubbing against 

 the world and from its criticism is wholly lacking, and we are 

 likely to become largely indifferent as regards the appearance 



