224 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Measuring Beks' Tongues is a sub- 

 ject that is beiiii^ stirred up by Gleanings. 

 J. M. Rankin of our Agricultural College 

 is working at it. He finds the tongues of 

 the Italians much longer than those of 

 the blacks. E. R. Root has been meas- 

 uring the tongues of bees sent him by 

 different breeders, and he finds little 

 difference — about 15-100 of an inch seems 

 to be the average. If the bees could 

 work on red clover it would often be of 

 advantage, aud Prof. Green of the Ohio 

 experiment station, suggests going to 

 work upon the other end of the problem 

 • — shortening tjie length of the tubes of 

 the clover blossoms. He would do this 

 by selection. I believe Hasty tried some- 

 thing in this line years ago, but the ten- 

 dency of the plant to revert to its old 

 habit was too discouraging. Such changes 

 as these require years to make them 

 permanent. 



»^*^^^^»it»»^ 



SOME POINTS IN PEDDLING HONEV. • 



Mr. J. C. Stewart of Hopkins, Mo., has 

 had quite a little expeiience in peddling 

 honey. In a letter to me he gives a few 

 interesting points; some of which are as 

 follows: 



When he goes to a town he goes pre- 

 pared to stay two weeks, if necessary; 

 taking along a change of clothing. In- 

 stead of stopping at a hotel, he hunts up 

 some boarding house where he can get 

 board at about I3.00 a week, and pay for 

 the same in honey. In canvassing for 

 orders he offers his prospective customer 

 a taste of honej'. If there is any hesi- 

 tancy in getting a spoon, he takes a 

 square of paper from a pad that he carries, 

 and pours a small quantity upon the 

 square of paper. He also carries a damp 

 cloth in his pocket to clean the jar if it 

 becomes sticky. If they begin to talk 

 about adulteration and imitation honey, 

 he draws from his pocket a photograph 

 of his apiary, showing himself in the 

 yard, which seems to create an impression 

 that he must be a "sure enough" be« 

 man. In taking orders he writes down 



simply the street and number, not bother- 

 ing to get names. He canvasses two 

 days, and then delivers. Before starting 

 out to deliver he takes a piece of paste- 

 board and draws a map of the district in 

 which he has to deliver, marking out the 

 streets and numbers where he has to call 

 and the amounts to deliver, thus being 

 able to lay out a route to the best 

 advantage. 



l/'lM%^Ai(^\K^tA 



I.ITTLE SIDE-DISHKS AT THE 

 CONVENTION. 



The Chicago convention will soon be 

 here. The rates will be the lowest, the 

 location is in the heart of the best bee- 

 keeping region of this countr}-. There is 

 always a crowd at Chicago. A friend of 

 mine living out in California, Mr. E. M. 

 Cole, writes to me in regard to what he 

 considers a very important part of the 

 convention, although it is not always so 

 regarded. He says that our bee journals 

 are filled with most excellent matter, but 

 they don't always make clear every little 

 point that may be essential to success. 

 At the convention we meet face to face, 

 and three words sometimes clears up a 

 point that the printed page leaves in 

 obscurity. We also meet the man who 

 doesn't write for publication. Perhaps 

 he will not even talk in public; but in 

 the quiet chat at meal time, or in the 

 evening stroll, if you are a little skilled 

 in drawing a man out, he will let the 

 light into many a dark place and smooth 

 many a rough spot in your path. 



THE COMING CHICAGO CONVENTION. 



I would like to remind the readers of 

 the Review that the next convention of 

 the National Bee-Keeper's Association 

 will be held in Chicago, 111., on the 28th, 

 29th and 30th of August next, commenc- 

 ing on Tuesday evening, the 28th. 



The sessions will be held in Wellington 

 Hall, No. 70 North Clark street, about a 

 block and a half from the American Bee 



