•-fo-B 



•andHoNEY- 

 •WtD HOME.- ' 

 •1NTEKEST6 



L!6HEDBY(/;?\i-r(00r* 



Vol. XXI. 



FEB. 15, 1893. 



No. 4. 



Stray Straws 



FROM DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Thanks to many friends, for dictionary liclp. 



■' Slumgum,'" it seoms. is not a new word. R. 

 Wilkin writos that J. G. Corey used it 16 years 

 ago. 



If wk ake to have cholera and hoop-skirts 

 both at a time the coining year, we shall indeed 

 be an afflicted people. 



'■ Orx-APiAKY. An apiary kept out of doors.'" 

 That's a definition I have seen given in all 

 good faith, as a corn-ct dictionary definition. 



"Souche'" is what the French call the hive 

 or colony that has sent out a swarm. We 

 haven't any name for it, unless it be "mother- 

 colony."' Do we need any other? 



It would cost a German bee-journal some- 

 thing in the way of revenue to join brother 

 Root in his crusade against tobaccco, for tobacco 

 "ads" are common in German bee-journals. 



Six bax.\nas made Hutchinson's dinner on 

 his way to Washington. That's just double 

 the rations other slaves get. At least, I've read 

 that three was the number in the West Indies. 



Prof. Cook has been translated into German. 

 His picture and biography are in lUustrierte 

 Bienenzeitung. The editor considers him a 

 favorite among American bee-keepers. Ganz 

 wahr. 



In Germany, in some parts, bee-keepers are 

 much int<'rested in the planting of fruit-trees 

 along the highways: and, if I am not mistaken, 

 some public appropriations have been made for 

 the purpose. 



I've been wondering who it was that han- 

 dled the king's English so well in C. B. J. 

 Hutchinson lets the cat out of the bag. It's G. 

 T. Somers. I thought there was a summery 

 air in the ediiorials. 



The cor-D has be(>n no greater — indeed, not 

 so great — here as some other winters: but its 

 staying qualities have been unusual. The 

 thermometer has been steadily humble for an 

 unusually long time. 



Hutchinson thinks that, so far as organiza- 

 tion is concerned, "the Canadians are away 

 ahead of us." Yes, and I don't know of any 

 nation under the sun that isn't. We've mighty 

 little " git up and git "' in that direction. 



R. Wilkin thinks we need a word indicating 

 the contents of the hive, as distinguished from 

 the hive or box containing them. He thinks 

 Langstroth suggested th(^ word ruche. If I am 

 not mistaken, ruche is simply the French word 



for hive. Do we need such a word'? and if so, 

 what's the word ? Will some German tell us if 

 hnu is used in that sense? 



" Drv F.ECKs " was a bone of contention in 

 this country some years ago. Now they're 

 having it in Germany, Weygandt asserting that 

 any other than minute dry pellets of excrement 

 is just so far evidence of disease, Dzierzon op- 

 posing. 



Hutchinson, you just attend to Michigan 

 and let Illinois alone. All the same, if the Illi- 

 nois State Society would let the bee-journals 

 publish its report free, and could spend that 

 f.500 in useful experiments, a lot more good 

 might be done. 



Hasty is to get up the review for the Review, 

 taking all the journals, including the Review. 

 The bee-journals will have to make unusual 

 exertions to be dull if Hasty doesn't get some- 

 thing spicy out of them. The Review will be a 

 review as is a review. 



Five essentials in the condition of a colony, 

 to make the best of a harvest, are thus given 

 by C. J. H. Gravenhorst: A queen without 

 fault; proper combs: swarming at the proper 

 time or not at all: not overcrowded with bees: 

 and not having too much brood. 



That short way to kill skunks, on page 93, 

 reminds me— -I tried that way once within 15 

 miles of where Mr. Wertz lives. The only dif- 

 ference was, that I struck the tail instead of 

 the head. "Smudgel"' lean smell ityetl It 

 was dark, and I thought it was a duck I 



JiTST AS I THOUGHT. Prof. Cook says, "I 

 feel sure, not from guess but from careful in- 

 vestigation, that honey is always injured by 

 adulteration with glucose. Such practice is 

 ruinous to bee-keeping and. should be denounc- 

 ed and prevented, no matter what it costs." 



Gravenhorst thinks FranK Benton was in- 

 correctly reported at Chicago in saying that 

 European bee-keepers were behind the times, 

 or else that he hadn't seen or learned much 

 about it, during his sojourn in the Old World. 

 They can surely give us points in some respects. 



That genial (terman, C. F. Muth, with his 

 usual persistence, has succeeded, as reported in 

 A. B. J., in getting freight rates on extracted 

 honey the same as on syrup, instead of -10 to 50 

 per cent higher, as heretofore. I don't know 

 ,]ust how much territory is covered by this rul- 

 ing. 



Rambler, if you want one of those sweet 

 creatures under my care, on page 90. why don't 

 you walk up like a man, instead of sneaking 

 round the corner? But one of the "sweet 

 surups" has her eye on you through that hole 

 in the wall: and if she once spears you with 

 that nose you'll never complain of fleas again. 



