1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



863 



jackets and bumble-bees from stinging them, 

 for they dig out lots of their nests. But they 

 do their mischievous and damaging worlv on 

 hogs. C. B. Owens. 



Cassia, Fla., Oct. 31. 



[Mr. O. O. Popnleton. who visited us recently, 

 gave us substantially the same facts regarding 

 the habits of the bears in Florida. In speaking 

 of their temerity, or lack of it, rather, hesaid his 

 wife, alone, and after nine o'clock at night, was 

 met by a bear who, like herself, was in search of 

 turtles' eggs. Did she run and scream? Not a 

 bit of it. She simply "shooed" him off a 

 scampering as she would a lot of chickens, and 

 then gathered the eggs. I think it would test 

 the courage of most ynen to test a bear's courage 

 In a similar way, even if they had been possess- 

 ed of one of the aforesaid aprons.— Ed. 1 



The photograph of the Lincoln convention is 

 very good. It can be obtained of Lovell, pho- 

 tographer. Council Bluffs, la., for 50 cts. Later 

 on I hope to present our readers with a half- 

 tone of it, haying obtained the consent of Mr. 

 Lovell. 



B. S. K. Bennett, of the Pacific Bee Journal, 

 is said to have cited certain banks as referenc- 

 es, without authority. This same Bennett is 

 the one who has been attacking George W. 

 Brod beck and the Bee-keepers' Exchange. If 

 Mr. Bennett seeks the favor of bee-keepers of 

 his State he should change his tactics a Utile. 



A new book on bee-keeping, for British bee- 

 keepers, by Chas Nettlesmith White, is just out, 

 and it is entitled " Pleasurable Bee-keeping." 

 It contains 1S.5 pages, nicely primed, and is full 

 of illustrations. It seems to cover quite fully 

 bees for pleasure and bees for profit, and 

 will no doubt till a niche in English bee litera- 

 ture. The price is not stated, but it can be ob- 

 tained of the publisher, Edward Arnold, 37 

 Bedford St., London, W. C. 



already know, he is already an overworked 

 man, and another straw placed upon his back — 

 well, he wouldn't take it. In the preparation 

 of this editorial I did not have in mind Mr. 

 York or any one in Chicago; and for fear that 

 some might think that I am seeking the job, I 

 will say right now and for all time, that I can 

 not consider it for a moment. I nave too much 

 other work on hand to do it justice. 



On page 826 of our last issue I suggested that 

 bee-keepers might clamor for a new General 

 Manager for the new Union, on the ground 

 that the present officer, Mr. Newman, was 

 located on the Pacific coast, clear away from 

 the cities of Chicago and the East, where the 

 evils of adulteration were the greatest. In a 

 private letter referring to this, from the editor 

 of the American Bee Journal, he calls atten- 

 tion to the fact that some might construe this 

 as meaning that he, Mr. York, ought to be the 

 new Manager. In justice to my brother-work- 

 er, I will say that his duties are such that he 

 could not be constrained by love or money to 

 accept the position. As some of his friends 



Mr. Merrit-i., of the American Bee-keeper, 

 says that " no doubt" the resolution passed by 

 the Lincoln convention, condemning the action 

 of the Erie Co., N. Y., Bee-keepers' Association, 

 recommending the general Government to send 

 an expedition to India to secure Apis dorsata, 

 was " by the dictation of the half-dozen wise 

 men— Messrs. Root, York, Miller, Dr. Mason, 

 etc.;" that" this convention of war-horses usu- 

 ally run things pretty much their own way 

 when they get together." Mr. Merrill, if I am 

 correct, never attended more than one of the 

 North American conventions, and that, unfor- 

 tunately, was one where some discord was ap- 

 parent — much more so than in any dozen pre- 

 ceding conventions. All conventions of this 

 association should not be judged by this one. 

 The action at Lincoln condemning the Erie Co. 

 recommendation was not " at the dictation " of 

 any of the gentlemen named; neither had they 

 any thing to do with it beforehand. The reso- 

 lution was introduced by Mr. Stilson, of the 

 Nebraska Bee-keeper, and upon mature deliber- 

 ation was passed without a dissenting vote. 

 The main argument used was that there were 

 other thines much more needed than the im- 

 portation of a new race of beL'S. 



RIDGEPOLE musings; ALFALFA AND THE 

 WEST. 



It may not be generally known that R. C. 

 Aiken and family, formerly of Loveland, Co!., a 

 bee-keeper and correspondent of considerable 

 prominence, is now migrating eastward and 

 southward. He has a specially constructed 

 wagon that I suppose takes largely the place of 

 the good old-fashioned "prairie-schooner." 

 Driving through the country as he does, he has 

 a large opportunity for observation. If I am 

 correct, he travels this way in oraer to study 

 climate and localities better, for he expects to 

 carry on his bee-keeping operations in a new 

 field: and his point of residence not being fixed 

 he is taking his time to look over carefully the 

 country through which he passes. He had ar- 

 ranged to travel so as to be in Lincoln at the 

 time of the convention, Oct. 8th and 9th. He 

 took a prominent part in the proceedings, and 

 gave to the convention much valuable informa- 

 tion regarding the West and alfalfa. 



Between sessions. I sought him out and pro- 

 posed that he write a series of articles for 

 Gleanings, telling us about alfalfa, the West, 



