1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKK. 



109 



GATHERING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF. 



Question. — In reading the bee-papers I find 

 much that appears to me as chaff, while there 

 is some real wheat in nearly every number of 

 any of them. Now, how can I separate this 

 wheat from the chaff, and have it so I can at 

 any time turn to and find the wheat, without 

 reading the chaff all over? 



Answer. — This is a question which once 

 bothered me a good deal, and one on which 1 

 have written in the past; but as it is a question 

 of importance, it may not be amiss to repeat 

 somewhat, especially that those just starting 

 may be able to use our bee-literature to the 

 best advantage. We find that our successful 

 men are those who read the most closely along 

 their line of business, and put what they read 

 into practice. Now, in order that we may 

 profit by what we read we must remember it at 

 the time we wish to put it in practice; and as 

 much which is valuable in our bee-papers is 

 published out of season, it is hard to remember 

 it till the time of practice, unless we have some 

 means to help us remember it at the right 

 time. 



While studying along these lines, a few years 

 ago, I purchased a smallish leather-bound book 

 containing blank leaves to the number of sixty; 

 but it is necessary to have only twenty-four. 

 This book I arranged similar to an assessor's, 

 which has the letters of the alphabet from A 

 to Z on the outside margin of the leaves. Cut 

 the leaves just as you would to letter them; 

 but instead of lettering them write on the little 

 square of the first, "Jan. 1;" on the second, 

 "Jan. 15;" on the third, " Feb. 1," and so on, 

 giving one leaf, or two pages, for each half- 

 month to the end of the year. When Glean- 

 ings first comes it is carefully read and laid 

 away in a place set apart for it, and the other 

 papers which I take are treated in the same 

 way, so that at the end of the year they are in 

 perfect order to be bound, which I generally do 

 myself, by driving wire nails through and 

 clinching them, which makes each volume 

 handy when I wish to refer to them. 



In reading, the most important part is to pre- 

 serve the " wheat " in our literature, and make 

 good use of it after we have it all preserved in 

 good order. With the pressure of work that is 

 is upon me, I can not find time to read any 

 volume a second time to get the many points 

 in it which may be of value. If I were obliged 

 to read all a second time to get the points I 

 considered of value to me I fear I should never 

 get them at all. I read once all there is in a 

 paper, and then 1 want it so that I can get at 

 what is of use to me, in a moment, when want- 



ed at another time. To do this, whenever I sit 

 down to read a fresh paper I have a pencil witB 

 me; and when I find a new idea, or an old one 

 I wish to experiment with farther, I mark it. 

 In some instances the marks will embrace a 

 whole article, while others call attention to a 

 few lines. In future years, or at any time I 

 wish to find that which is really valuable to 

 me in my volume, all I have to do is to read 

 the marked passages and thus get the cream of 

 the whole year in a little time. 



So far I could get along without any book or 

 any thing of the kind; butitoftener than any 

 other way happens that some of the best ideas 

 are suited only to certain seasons of the year, 

 and that season more than six to nine months 

 from the time that I read it. As my memory 

 is not sutticient for set times and dates, I must 

 have some means to remind me of the valuable 

 points just when they will be of use to me, and 

 this was what led me to get and fix a book as 

 above. This book is within easy reach of the 

 chair which I generally occupy when reading, 

 together with a pencil, so that, when I come to 

 any ideas or passages, parts of an article, or an 

 entire article, which I think will be of use to 

 me in the future, I mark it with the pencil, and 

 then jot down the page and subject in my book, 

 under the date to which it is applicable. Thus 

 I have all the matter which I consider valuable 

 to me, contained in the numerous papers which 

 I read, arranged with reference to the time it 

 is to be used, all before me at a moment's notice 

 in this book. On any date, between Jan. 1st 

 and Jan. 15th, when I have time, I open this 

 book to January first and look over all there is 

 on this page; and if, for instance, I find "how 

 to put foundation in sections," that being a 

 different way of doing this from any which I 

 had previously used, as given in some one of 

 the papers which I have read during the year 

 1895; and as this is the time I am putting foun- 

 dation in sections, preparing for another sea- 

 son's honey crop, I try the plan by way of ex- 

 periment, if I chance to find such a note regard- 

 ing putting in foundation in this book. To 

 explain more fully: In one of my bee-papers I 

 find how the honey crop may be increased with- 

 out any desire on the part of the bees to swarm 

 by unqueening the colony at the beginning of 

 the honey harvest. As the last half of June 

 would be when I could make use of this infor- 

 mation to my profit, if 1 ever could, I turn to 

 June 15th (by putting my thumb on that date 

 when opening the book), and write, giving the 

 name of the paper, the year, and the page, 

 after which I say, " I'^nqueening colonies for 

 non-swarming and a greater yield of honey." 

 When this date (June 15) arrives I look over all 

 that is written there; and as I come to this I 

 take down the volume and turn to the place, 

 and there is just what I want, at the right 

 time, for the bees are already bringing in the 



