1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



815 



Yes, the bee sings — I cuiifess it — 

 Sweet as honey — lieaven bless it- 

 Yet he'd be a sweeter singer, 

 Ef he didn't have no stinger. 



Riley. 



A MORE full and complete description of A. I. 

 R.'s visit to Battle Creek will be given in our 

 next issue. 



In our next issue, as explained in another col- 

 umn, the symposium on " Wintering " will be 

 made up of articles from Ihe following-named 

 bee-keepers, so far as we have yet heard from 

 them : H. R. Boardman, C. A. Hatch. J. E. 

 Crane, B. Taylor. Friedman Greiner, S. T. Pet- 

 tit. A number of others will also contribute, 

 but I can not announce their names until I 

 hear from them. 



I REGRET that we have not room for all the 

 Reports Encouraging and Discouragine. or even 

 any of them, in fact, for a few numbers to come. 

 Those that came during the month of August 

 and the fore part of September were about 

 equally divided between the two classes; but 

 lately there seem many more of the encourag- 

 ing sort. These report good fall flows which, in 

 the majority of cases, means no feeding of su- 

 gar. Orders for shipping-cases have been com- 

 ing at a good rate. ' There has been a good run 

 of buckwheat honey in the East; but there was 

 not much to speak of from goldenrod. 



In February, 1885. there was held an interna- 

 tional bee-keepers' congress in New Orleans, on 

 the exposition grounds. That was one of the 

 largest and most enthusiastic gatherings of 

 bee-keepers I ever attended, and I know of no 

 meeting of the North American that was larger 

 numerically than that, except the one held at 

 Chicago during the Word's Fair. Well, there 

 is to be anothor bee-keepers' congress, this time 

 at the Atlanta exposition, Dec. 4 and 5. I am 

 informed that "present indications show that 

 it is going to be a large representative gather- 

 ing of bee-keepers from all parts of the Union." 

 Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Augusta, Ga., is the 

 prime mover in the matter, and he, doubtless, 

 will supply us with information later, giving 

 us program and further particulars. This con- 

 gress is in no way connected, as I understand, 

 with the North American or any other associa- 

 tion. It is simply an informal gathering of 

 bee-keepers, the same as was witnessed at New 

 Orleans. 



COMPOUND NUMBERS FOR HIVES. 



E. E. Hasty, in the Revieio, referring to the 

 discussion on the subject of numbering hives, 



thinks " a hive needs a ^lislble number on it no 

 more than a toad needs a tail, if a strict ar- 

 raneement by groups is followed." He uses a 

 compound number. The first figure indicates 

 the group and the second the position in the 

 group; thus. 16-9 would mean the ninth hive in 

 the sixteenth group. I have no doubt that 

 friend H. can carry out this plan for himself 

 without the "visible number." But suppose 

 he hired help, and he should direct his man, 

 not very familiar with the arrangement, to 16-9. 

 In the first place he would not know from 

 which end to commence numbering; and, even 

 if he did know, he would have to count up till 

 he got to 16, and then count again. The plan 

 of compound numbers is tiptop, as it helps to 

 locate the hive; but when the expense is mere- 

 ly nominal I would have the visible number by 

 all means. 



In this connection I may remark that H. R. 

 Boardman, of East Townsend, O., letters the 

 rows and numbers the hives. For instance, 

 tag B-3 on the hive means second row and third 

 hive. Whore hives are carried into a reposi- 

 tory, and it is desirable to put them back in the 

 same place in the spring, this arrangement or 

 the compound number of Hasty's is certainly 

 convenient. 



FUTURE SYMPOSIUMS FOR GLEANINGS. 



It is getting to be quite the fashion to intro- 

 duce, now and then, symposiums— a number of 

 articles on one subject— in class and especially 

 in trade journals. This was once a prominent 

 and admirable feature in the Review; but late- 

 ly it seems to have been discontinued. In 

 inaugurating something similar in our columns, 

 and with no thought of copying after our ex- 

 cellent cotemporary, my idea has been not so 

 much to focus the opinions of our best writers 

 in one issue as to gather together ideas from 

 bright practical men who write only occasional- 

 ly. These ideas are to serve as food for thought 

 for /uture issues, and for a better comparison of 

 notes. Such has been somewhat the character 

 of the hive discussion— pollenization of flowers 

 by bees; crimson clover; fixed distances, and 

 others that I will not stop to name. Single- 

 issue symposiums are good so far as they so; 

 but it is seldom that one set of writers in one 

 number can come anywhere near solving a 

 problem, or of giving us afi the light that can 

 be thrown upon the question. As time goes on, 

 old accepted opinions become obsolete. It has 

 seemed tome that the " Wintering Question," 

 once an old chestnut, should be at least looked 

 over; and the best light we have should be 

 thrown upon it: i. e., to use a little modern par- 

 lance that expresses the idea better than any 

 thing else, "see where we are at." "What! 

 that stale old subject?" you ask. Y'es, but I 

 plan to have it so presented that it shall be 

 fresh. 



I have asked a number of our prominent and 



