June 27, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



409 



The Afterthought. ^ 



' Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Qla sses. 

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



EARLY QUEEN-REAEING IN THE NORTH. 



Swarthraore, you're a "clever chiel," but, all the same, 

 queens in the North are not eoing to be reared for sale six or 

 eight weeks ahead of natural season. The weather (we have 

 all found this a phenomenally backward spring) is a fearful 

 antagonist to buck against. Why, this spring seeds planted 

 in pots in the window, inside the house, refused to come up. 

 I suspect you would have had some fun making your colonies 

 rear many drones in March. I can readily believe that drone- 

 eggs would mostly get through the mails all right — except 

 when subjected to freezing. If I remember aright, those who 

 have tried to destroy drone-eggs and drone-brood, without 

 destroying the combs also, have found it a very ditticult thing 

 to do. But we'll give you a good, long credit-mark for your 

 experiments and success. A queen-breeder might think it 

 worth his while to gain a much more moderate time than six 

 weeks. And the amateur breeder might wish drone-eggs from 

 afar to cross stock on hand. Page '601 . 



THIN BOARDS AND SECTIONS FOR KEEPING HIVE- RECORD. 



Mr. Davenport's thin boards, 4x18, make excellent rec- 

 ords, no doubt ; and " sponging them off " with a plane, when 

 the record is no longer needed, is simple and effective. I use 

 for this purpose the broad side of a section— carry one or sev- 

 eral in my pocket — and renew the surface on occasion by 

 shaving it with my pocket-knife. Either his way or mine is 

 excellent to preserve things which are eventually to be put 

 down in a book. Quite inconvenient to be running to a book 

 to write as often as a poor memory demands. Say, dear 

 reader, don't you need a wooden pocket-book ? There's lots 

 of " money in it." Page 309. 



APPLE-BLOSSOM HONEV. 



Allen Latham's way (page 310) is all right to get choice 

 tit-bits for home table. Hardly do to amplify it so as to boom 

 the main harvest that way. A section two-thirds from apple- 

 nectar and one-third sugar-honey would be still more exquis- 

 ite than apple-honey pure and simple. Apple-honey inclines 

 to have a little too much flavor. He's right that it is delicious 

 the day it is brought in ; but I would hardly agree that it is 

 the only nectar good at once. He must have forgotten the 

 basswood. Probably no nectar whatever is fit to ieep if 

 extracted when only one day old. 



FEEDING BEES IN .4. TOPLESS WIRE ENCLOSURE. 



If it is really true that all that is needed to feed any col- 

 ony in the open air is a wire fence around it six feet high (top 

 all open to the sky), we certainly ought to know it. Very 

 uniiiue and remarkable gun for our arsenal. But let's not tell 

 our brothers that it never kicks till we have fired it off sev- 

 eral times with our own shoulders against it. You see, Mr. 

 Latham, you said the home bees quickly learned the way out 

 and in ; and it strained my believing " machinery " to believe 

 that robbers would not learn the same. But the more I think 

 of it the more I relent : and the bent machinery revolves a 

 little slowly in a jiggle-joggle sort of way. If it does work 

 as stated, at all times, and in other people's hands, the more 

 credit to you. Page 31U. 



RIDDLE. 



A living maehiae without a heart. 

 With no tender throb in any part, 

 Of iron rules a slave, I ween. 

 It bows at the throne of Kinir Routine; 

 It's born of the crowd, and dies alone, 

 .\uil spares no lite, not even its own. 



I think it probable that W.W. McXoal is right in claiiniii!,' 

 that the bee is entirely destitute of love for any other living 

 thing. It has lots of love of country to atone for its lack of 

 personal affection. But when he comes to speak of the lice's 

 reasons for action he gets woefully beyond his depth, it seems 

 to me— as most of us do. In consciousness and mode of mind 

 action, living creatures differ much one from the other ; and 

 all dilTer, almost immeasurably, from the human creatnr<''s 

 way of thinking and feeling and intuition. A squirrel is 

 conscious that a surplus of food can be turned to future stood 

 account. Many other animals will wantonly destroy then- 



own food (all but a few mouthtuls immediately in front of 

 their eyes) even with starvation as the very next thing on the 

 books. A swine likes a clean bed, and is conscious of the 

 personal rules required to keep it so. A cow equally likes a 

 clean bed, yet with disgusting unconsciousness defiles it and' 

 everything else in the vicinity. A man sees a fellow man with 

 a crushed limb, and is conscious of his pain — to such an 

 extent often as to be obliged to turn away his eyes. A bee 

 sees a fellow bee half crushed, and in all probability has not 

 the slightest idea that there is any pain involved at all. If I 

 am right, it is only in few and rare instances that a few of 

 the most intelligent of creatures have shown any comprehen- 

 sion either of death or of silent suffering. Many creatures 

 seem to be able to comprehend cries ot pain. Even the apa- 

 thetic bee is still a little in doubt on that point. Among swine 

 an angry attempt to silence the cries takes the place which 

 should belong to intelligent pity. As to the bees blaming the 

 queen for her sudden disappearance when caged, and remem- 

 bering it against her to punish her when she comes back, I 

 fear that is getting into a pretty high grade of comedy. But 

 say, in this matter of assuming that bees look from a human 

 stand-point, don't you go to looking my writings over to see 

 how many cases of it you can find ! Page 311. 



\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ \ 



Conducted bu Prof. fl. J. Cook, Glaremont, Calif. 



CLAREMONT A MODEL CITY. 



We have a very exceptional society here in Claremont. 

 The motto of our college is, "Our Tribute to Christian Civili- 

 zation." The unwritten law of the college is, " No Tobacco ; 

 no lewdness." I rejoice to say that out of eighty graduates 

 which will be our number now in a few days — our first class 

 graduated since I came here in 189-4 — all but five went forth 

 as active Christians. Two of those five were members of 

 churches, and one of these is nov preaching the gospel ; two 

 others, though not professing Christianity, were very Intimate 

 with me. They possessed the Christ spirit in a^ marked 

 degree. Of our 200 students, one-half the residents are in 

 voluntary Bible-study classes. We see, then, that our unwrit- 

 ten laws are, and will be, more potent and influential than 

 written laws usually are. Thus it will be easily understood 

 why Claremont streets are so free of tobacco. Rarely is the 

 smoker seen, and almost never Is a young man, and never a 

 boy, seen with the insignia of slavery and short life — the cig- 

 arette — reaching from his lips. 



I need not say that Claremont is a good, clean place in 

 which to bring up boys. The great army of smokers is not- 

 being recruited in Claremont. Every head of every home 

 circle wishes his boys — how good that I do not need to say 

 girls ; (God bless the girls, and help them) — that they stop 

 not with avoidance of the dirty habit, but work with all their 

 great power to keep the boys from its filthy clutch — to let 

 tobacco entirely alone. Even the man enslaved to the habit 

 hopes his boy may be kept from it. I never heard but one 

 smoker say that he wished his boys to follow In his steps. I 

 am glad Indeed that he was so exceptional. But there are 

 few Claremonts. And the great question is : How can we 

 keep the young from this befouling habit, that strikes even at 

 the very health and life of our splendid American boys? 

 And how from the other dangers that lurk to entrap and tar- 

 nish our dear ones ? 



THE BOY AND THE GARDEN. 



It has ever been true — it is true to-day — that Satan is on 

 the eager watch-out for idlers. He knows that they are easily 

 caught. To get the boy or girl thoroughly Interested in some 

 good work will more surely rob Satan of his power than 

 aught else. The home circle can undertake no more hopeful 

 or Important study than that which will employ all the hands 

 and moments of the boys and girls. Even the city will fur- 

 nish gardens. We all remember how the governor of Michi- 

 gan helped the poor by stimulating the growing of potatoes 

 on the vacant lots of Detroit. Can we as fathers occupy our- 

 selves better than in securing the garden, helping at first to 

 cultivate, to plant, and to glean? Let us Insist, however, 

 that It all belongs to the children. Let us praise the neat cul- 

 tivation, the straight rows, the beautiful, thrifty plants; and 

 let us so advise and direct that there may be no, or few oth- 



