GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



Corneil's plan for ripening thin honey was to 

 expose it in shallow tanks, covered with gauze 

 or wire cloth, and very appropriately he advised 

 that this be fastened on in such a manner that 

 the bees cati't get in. 



While on the subject of crystallization, I 

 might say that, while on the train going home, 

 Mr. Pettit exhibited some crystals of honey 

 that had been washed free from all stickiness. 

 That is. some honey that had crystallized in 

 large crystals had been washed in water until 

 the small amount of uncrystallized honey had 

 been washed away, leaving a handful of clean 

 crystals that looked like a very light brown 

 sugar. I could not resist asking, in a joking 

 way, if it was quite right to be making sugar 

 from honey. And right here I may say that 

 the matter of sugar honey was thoroughly dis- 

 cussed, both in convention and out, and, as a 

 result, a committee was appointed to secure 

 legislation prohibiting the raising, importation, 

 and sale of sugar honey. Some thoug^ht this 

 action hasty, uncalled for, and ill advised; but 

 as Gleanings is closed to any further discus- 

 sion of the subject. I will not repeat the argu- 

 ments of either side; but I should like to say a 

 word in regard to the kindness and' considera- 

 tion with which I was treated in regard to this 

 matter. After the session was over, quite a 

 number came to me, some of them even laying 

 their arm over my shoulder as they spoke, and 

 said they hoped I was not offended by the 

 action taken. It was a matter of principle, and 

 not personality, and they were very glad that I 

 came over; that to see on a bit of paper what a 

 man had said sometimes gave a diflFerent im- 

 pression than to meet him face to face. Of 

 course. I explained that, so far as the Review 

 was concerned, the discussion was at an end: 

 that I had only the good of bee-keepers at 

 heart; and if the majority said that I was 

 taking the wrong course. I was more than will- 

 ing to abandon it. This was all they asked; 

 and to show their sincerity, quite a number 

 subscribed for the Review right then and there. 

 I came home feeling that 1 had been treated 

 right royally, and wondering if we tried as 

 hard to make it pleasant for the Canadians 

 when they come over here. And right here, if 

 the editor will allow, I should like to thank not 

 only my Canadian friends, but all my friends 

 for their kindness in this " latter-day " discus- 

 sion. While they did not agree with my views, 

 and even believed that their promulgation was 

 working an injury to them, yet they stood by 

 me as a mem. and even upheld the Review as a 

 model journal. This has given me a greater 

 charity than ever for others. I even have a 

 kindly feeling for the few who in moments of 

 strong feeling have said harsh things. 



I carried over a Crane smoker and a Bingham 

 smoker. Mr. Cornell requested that I do so. 

 He had a smoker in which the barrel was per- 

 haps three inches from the bellows, and this 

 allowed the introduction of tubes through 

 which outside air could be induced to enter and 

 join the original blast. With a lighted taper it 

 was clearly shown that air was thus drawn in 

 with the original blast. It was also shown 

 that, even with only the nozzle put on the 

 smoker, there would be some reaction— some 

 air that would '"bound back." so to speak, from 

 the opening in the tire-barrel. With the closed 

 tube of the Crane, it seemid to me that this 

 reaction would be avoided: but Mr. Cornell 

 agreed with Mr. Bingham, that the friction of 

 the air in the tube and in the turns would rob the 

 air of its force, so that the blast would be weak- 

 er than ill the cut-off. He is going to take all 

 three of the smokers home, and he thinks that 

 he will be able to secure the use of a machine 

 for testing the blast of air, and thus give all a 



test. I told him that 1 thought they ought to be 

 tested when filled with planer shavings: but he 

 said that that would bring in an element of 

 uncertainty, as they could not be filled exactly 

 alike. I admit this; but it seems as though 

 the force apolied to the bellows might also be 

 an uncertain element, although I do not know 

 how he intends to compress the bellows. Filled, 

 is the way in which a smoker is used; and. even 

 though it would be impossible to fill them 

 exactly alike, it seems to me that the results, 

 so far as actual practice is concerned, would be 

 sufficiently exact if tbey were tested when fill- 

 ed. I think the verdict would be more satis- 

 factory. Mr. Cornell believes that the arrange- 

 ment that forces the most air into the base of 

 the fire-barrel will also discharge the most from 

 the nozzle, regardless of the obstruction caused 

 by the fuel; but he admits that he may be mis- 

 taken. 



The subject of incorporation of the North 

 American and the non-affiliation of the Ontaria 

 Association was about to be brought up for dis- 

 cussion, when I told them of the action taken 

 at the Washington meeting, and the probability 

 being that incorporation would be dropped an- 

 other year; hence it was not thought worth 

 while to take up any time discussing the mat- 

 ter. In conversation with the members it was 

 plain to be seen that the great mass of bee- 

 keepers in Canada have no other than friendly 

 feelings for the bee-keepers "this side the- 

 creek." As one man said to me, " When we 

 meet we find that we are all human, and have 

 the finer feelings that belong to humanity; and 

 it is a pity that any outside official ripple can 

 not be smoothed out.'" So far. I can not see 

 that incorporation has done one cent's worth 

 of good. If it will eventiially do good, there- 

 may be some sense in retaining it. If it is to be 

 of no more use in the future than in the past, 

 and it causes useless friction between us and 

 our neighbors, why not drop it? In addition to 

 this, it seems to me that it would be a very 

 graceful thing to do to hold the meeting of the 

 North Ameiican. next year, in Canada, with a. 

 Canadian in the chair. W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Flint. Mich.. Jan. 31. 



RAMBLE NO 77. 



IN SAN DIEGO AND NATIONAL CITY. 



While attending the bee-keepers' convention 

 in Los Angeles I madp the acquaintance of Mr. 

 Arthur Hansen, of National City. From his 

 appearance and language I supposed he was a 

 New Englander, and was quite surprised to- 

 learn that he came from under the flag of Ger- 

 many, and was born on the little sea-girt island' 

 of Fehmen, in the Baltic sea. Eleven years in 

 this country, and several years on this coast, 

 had transformed him into a thorough Ameri- 

 can, and an enterprising bee-keeper. While 

 enjoying the many stirring scenes of the Ca- 

 brillb celebration I met Mr. Hansen again. The 

 sweetness and harmony of our occupations led 

 us to the renewal of our acquaintance. Our 

 conversation naturally fell upon bee-keeping 

 and bee-keepers in San Diego Co. San Diego 

 is the shipping-jioint for a great share of the 

 honey of this region, and the headquarters for 

 bee- men is found in the supply and honey 

 house of Mr. J. T. Lovett. Of course, we nat- 

 urally gravitated to this great center of the 

 honey business, and found that Mr. LoveDt had 

 been largely engaged in bee culture, owning 

 and operating several large apiaries ; but at 

 present he devotes his attention to buying and 

 selling honey, and dealing in supplies. His 

 dealings in honey run up into the millions of 



