450 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Juke 1. 



and that the thin edges turn up. This is not a 

 fault of the principle but of the workmanship, 

 and if you got the covers of us you are entitled 

 to a rebate. You do not say one word about 

 the use of paint. Without it I should not ex- 

 pect any cover to stand true. Well, let's have 

 the truth, at all events. I'd like to hear from 

 others.— Ed.] 



WHY THE HEDDON HIVE IS NOT APPRECIATED. 



The reason some apiarists fail to appreciate 

 the many advantages offered by the Heddon 

 hive is that they do not understand the peculiar 

 system of management which the successful 

 manipulation of this hive requires. Mr. Hed- 

 don seems to think he is not called upon to pro- 

 mulgate this system till he gets ready; but I 

 say he has no right to patent an article and 

 then withhold from the interested part of the 

 public any thing essential to its use; for by 

 such patent he debars others from discovering 

 the patented principle who would place it be- 

 fore the public in a shape that it could be used. 



In the Heddon case, the hive is secondary to 

 the system of manipulation which it admits of; 

 for without such system the hive is no better 

 than, if as good as, the Dovetail; but having a 

 knowledge of the proper way to handle the 

 hive, one can do from two to four times the 

 amount of work in a given time that he can 

 with any other hive. 



Loss in this (Linn) county, 95 per cent for 

 this winter. F. H. Richardson. 



Laclede, Mo. 



mud-flinging or hollow PRAISE. 



Dr. Miller, in a recent Stray Straw, refers to 

 a " good time" Editor Leahy had with J. T. 

 Calvert, and proceeds to remark: "Now, you 

 can fling all the mud you like at the mutual- 

 admiration business; but that sort of talk 

 makes a good bit nicer reading than mud- 

 flinging." Has there been any "mud-flinging" 

 in regard to this matter? Is it fair to use a 

 term of this kind to characterize disapproval 

 of a too liberal use of "taff'y " in certain quar- 

 ters? Honest criticism should include com- 

 mendation when it is deserved, as well as the 

 pointing out of faults; but there is such a thing 

 as flattery, and it is most abominable and mis- 

 chievous. Are there not often words of praise 

 in the bee-journals that every one knows to be 

 mere hollow compliments, intended to make 

 and keep those to whom they refer good- 

 humored, pleased with themselves and with 

 others ? Is it not plain that there is a virtual 

 compact in some quarters, "you scratch me 

 and I'll scratch you " ? Is this manly, truthful, 

 not to say Christian ? One of the wise and good 

 men of the olden time said, " Let me not, I pray 

 you, accept any man's person; neither let me 

 give flattering titles unto man; for I know not 

 to give flattering titles; in so doing my Maker 

 would soon take me away." We are taught on 

 high authority that "a man who flattereth his 

 neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet," wherein 



he is likely to be tangled with vanity and 

 pride. Again, "He that speaketh flattery to his 

 friends, even the eyes of his children shall 

 fail;" i. e., they shall lose the power of moral 

 perception, and be unable to discriminate be- 

 tween truth and falsehood, good and evil. One 

 of the grandest characters that ever lived in 

 this world could appeal to those who knew him 

 and say, "Neither at any time used we flatter- 

 ing words, OS ye know.'' I wish every writer 

 in the bee-journals could truthfully say this, 

 and that there might be an end to all vain and 

 fulsome flatteries. Flattery is lying, and a liar 

 is despicable. The dictionary definition of 

 "flattery "is, "To inflate with blandishments 

 or exaggerated praises; to deceive with fair 

 words; to cajole; to wheedle; to coax; to at- 

 tempt to win by artful compliments; to soothe 

 or gratify by praise or obsequiousness; to please 

 a person by applause or favorable notice; to 

 compliment." It is time the columns of the 

 bee-journals were for ever closed to this kind 

 of thing. Wm. F. Clarke. 



Guelph, Ont. 



[What Mr. Clarke has to say is very good- 

 yes, excellent; but that bee-jounials or bee- 

 keepers are frequent oft'enders in the use of 

 " words of praise . . . that every one knows 

 to be hollow compliments," Gleanings is not 

 prepared to admit. There has been no " mud- 

 flinging " at the " mutualad-rairation society" 

 so called; but there is such a thing as mud- 

 flinging at individuals that is ten times more 

 "abominable and mischievous" than any flat- 

 tery I ever heard or read.— Ed.] 



PETITION. 



Whereas, the Hon. Secretary of Agriculture, 

 in his last report to the President, says, " The 

 Entomologist strongly recommended as a part 

 of the work of this fiscal year the attempt to 

 introduce into the U. S. from Ceylon the 'Giant 

 bee of India.' Apis dorsata,'" and 



Whereas, it now remains with the bee-keep- 

 ers and farmers to unite in petitioning the 

 proper authorities to carry out the work rec- 

 ommended by the Entomologist, therefore. 



Resolved, That we, the bee-keepers of Ontario 

 Co., N. Y., in convention assembled, respectful- 

 ly ask the publishers of the bee-papers to print 

 and distribute with their paper a petition to be 

 circulated by each subscriber, the extra expense 

 to be shared pro rata by the various bee-keep- 

 ers' societies throughout the United States. 

 C. A. Olmstead, 1 

 E. H. Perry, VCom. 

 E. Hutchinson, ) 



Ruth E. Taylor, Sec, Bellona, N. Y. 



close-fitting frames. 



Close-fitting frames, as Mr. Heddon uses, 

 won't do south. They will swell so at times, 

 especially in winter and spring, that they can't 

 be pried out. I knew from trial, and I had 

 more play than he gives. A. F. Ames. 



Claremont, Va. 



