686 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. I. 



For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great 

 mercies will I gather thee.— ISA. 54: 7. 



We do not very often introduce choice bits of 

 poetry at the head of our editorial columns; 

 but the following, from the Neiv church Mes- 

 senger, is so unique that we can not forbear 

 giving it place here: 



As I sat a-dreaming. 

 And thought the world a-seeming, 

 With nothing true 

 Or old or new. 

 A little bee flew nigh me, 

 And buzzed as he went by me : 

 " Up ! up and do ! 

 ' Tis such as you 

 That makes the world a-seeming." 



We have on hand an article from one of our 

 correspondents, who pronounces the Langdon 

 non-swarmer a perfect success. We will try to 

 give it in our next issue. 



At just about this time of the year, propolis 

 acts the meanest. It is more or less sticky, and 

 decidedly tenacious. There is one thing com- 

 forting— at other times it gives but very little 

 trouble. Indeed, even our Hoffman frames 

 with the V edges work nicely even now. That 

 V edge works all right, even if theory does say 

 no. 



In the department of Replies to Questions, in 

 the American Bee Journal, it is asked whether 

 self-hiving arrangements are a success. With 

 three or four exceptions the respondents vote 

 against them. With only one exception, those 

 who vote adversely have not tried them; and 

 with one exception, again, those who have tried 

 them vote in their favor. 



so noticeable on the walks in 1884. Strange as 

 it may seem, little or no honey-dew is getting 

 into the hives. Very possibly it is an off year 

 for plant-lice. We sincerely hope it is. So far 

 we have had no reports of the bees gathering 

 honey-dew anywhere in the country, although 

 we have seen on the bushes and trees an unu- 

 sual number of plant-lice up to date in our 

 locality. 



Stray vStings is the title of a new depart- 

 ment ill the American Bee Journal. The title 

 might lead one to expect something caustic or 

 disagreeable. On the contrary, it is very pleas- 

 ant. Here is a sample of one of them: 



It has long been supposed that millers grind out 

 flour; but the Miller of Gleanings reverses the 

 operation and grinds out straws. It' the good doc- 

 tor had got a little further down in the straw he 

 would have been able to use roots in his gristmill. 

 It is a long way, comparatively speaking, from the 

 head of the straw to tlie roots, and, perhaps, tlie doc- 

 tor chose the medium instead of the extremes, at 

 the same time hoping to work toward the ends. If 

 this be so, we should like to know which he pro- 

 poses to grind first— the Roots or the Heads of 

 Grain. 



We find the following in the last issue of the 

 American Bee Journal: 



Mr. J. T. Calvert, the most excellent son-in-law of 

 A. I. Root (and also manager of their great bee- 

 supply business in Medina, O.), recently paid Bro. 

 Holtermanii and the C«»((dio« Bee Jdioiial a, visit. 

 Mr. Calvert was on a bicycle tour, taking in the 

 glorious Christian Endeavor convention at Mon- 

 treal. QueDec. We shouldn't be surprised to hear 

 that Mr. Calvert, with Bros. A. I. and Ernest Root, 

 were going to the World's Fair on their wheels, as 

 they are all expert bicyclists. If they do, we'll 

 agree to wheel into line our best and truest— wel- 

 come. 



Manv thanks, Bro. York. We extend our 

 grateful acknowlfi'dgments; and if, indeed, we 

 should go on a wheel, one or all of us, we 

 should be very happy indeed to have you 

 wheel in line with us. By the way, we have 

 kept in line in apicultural matters so far, and 

 may we continue to do so. 



Volume I., Nos. 1 and 3 of the new series of 

 the Canadian Bee Journal, are on our desk. 

 In the make-up and general selection of matter, 

 and in the printing, there is quite an improve- 

 ment over the old journal. There is a good 

 field for a bee-journal in Canada, and we see 

 no reason why one should not be made, under 

 the present management, a decided success. 



We have so improved the Crane smoker that 

 it is giving great satisfaction in our apiary and 

 in others. If any of our customers have pur- 

 chased some of the earlier smokers, and they 

 do not work, we hope they will kindly send us 

 by mail the check-valve chamber, and we will 

 remodel and return it without cost, so as to 

 make their smoker a " thing of beauty and a 

 joy for ever." 



The biographical department of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal has been maintained vigor- 

 ously for over a year now. and in every issue of 

 the weekly. We thought, some three or four 

 years ago, that we had " done up " pretty near- 

 ly all the prominent bee-keepers; but new ones 

 are coming to the fore, and it is a pleasure to 

 make their acquaintance. Brother York is a 

 good introducer. ■ 



We notice from our upstairs office windows 

 small festoons of bark-lice on thrifty growing 

 basswood-trees, a few feet distant; and on the 

 sidewalk beneath there are little drops, or, rath- 

 er, spots of stain that look exactly like the drops 

 of honey-dew or exudations from the plant-lice, 



Bro. Hutchinson, of the Bee-keepers'' Re- 

 view, is finding pleasure and delight in the 

 camera. We doubt not that, later on, he will 

 find profit also. Very recently he sent us a 

 verv pretty photo of " Baby Fern," taken by 

 himself. As we admired the picture the camera 

 fever seized us, with the result that we took 

 several pictures of the babies of Rootville. We 

 were almost tempted to have the picture of 

 Mr. H.'s last baby reproduced in half-tone, 

 and present It to bur readers. But then we 

 thought that, perhaps, we might be taking a 

 little too much liberty. 



By the way, we are about to start into some- 

 thing in the line of biographical pictures. In- 

 stead of showing only a view of the pater 

 farnilias, or the principal bee-keeper, as for- 

 merly, we propose showing the whole family of 

 a few prominent bee-keepers who will give 

 their consent. In our next issue we will pre- 

 sent the apiary and members of the family of 

 Mr. F. L. Snyder, of Orion. Wis. This will be 

 followed later by a view of the Atchley family, 

 every one of whom is a bee-keeper. 



wooden versus wire -cloth paddles for 



KILLING bees. 



In another column friend Doolittle seems to 

 give the preference entirely to the solid wooden 

 paddle for killing those cross bees that will per- 

 si-^tently follow the apiarist about for hours at 

 a time. In one of his comments, made a year 

 or so ago, in answer to an item In the ABC 



