250 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



to me constantly. To follow any of the plans 

 that have ever been given, and then go away 

 and let the queens and hives alone will, in 

 the long run, result in the loss of at least }. 

 I have no doubt of the statements of many, 

 thajfc they never lost a queen, but I think 

 they have handled but few, and those during 

 the height of the honey harvest, when al- 

 most any plan will succeed. I am well aware 

 that the opening of the hive will sometimes 

 cause the bees to attack the queen ; but, if 

 it does, there is no need of losing her. If 

 you follow the directions I have given, al- 

 most anybody can introduce almost any 

 queen. It is a very serious matter indeed, 

 to give advice that will lead beginners to 

 lose their queens, and losses from following 

 such advice are reported to me almost con- 

 stantly. There is positively no sure way, 

 unless it is made sure by keeping an eye on 

 the queens. The same advice will apply to 

 a great many things in this world. Queens 

 taken from a hive and introduced to another 

 in the same apiary, will oftener be accepted, 

 but it is by no means a sure thing. 



TKOUBL/ES. 



^^ES, there are troubles this 23d day of 

 ]h[ June, even though the clover season 

 — J is at its height and all nature seems 

 rejoicing. What troubles me most about 

 these troubles, is that they fall on your 

 shoulders, or at least, a part of them, my 

 friends. Perhaps the first one is in regard 

 to the R. R. Cos. You know I have tried 

 to take the part of the R. R. and Exp. Cos., 

 and have recommended patience and for- 

 bearance and a kindly spirit toward them, 

 as I would toward any one of you. Well, I 

 do not think I shall' abandon my position 

 there, but I will give a few illustrations of 

 our trials this season. We have facilities 

 now for making rapid shipments, that we 

 never had before, and, in fact, the window 

 before which I now sit with my type writer 

 overlooks the station house, its clerks, and 

 all the business that is done with the R. R. 

 A platform runs from the doors of our facto- 

 ry, directly to the cars, and every shipment 

 of bees, wax, or anything else, that you send 

 me, is unloaded right under my eyes, if I 

 only look out of the open window. I can 

 also see how all the goods our boys send out 

 are crated, how the R. R. employees handle 

 your goods, and all about it. These im- 

 provements over former years have been a 

 very great relief indeed; and, as I review it 

 each morning, I thank God that he has an- 

 swered my prayers in these matters, and 

 that I am enabled to come so much nearer 

 to you all, through these mediums of thought 

 and business, the telegraph and rail-roads. 

 During the past month, we have had tele- 

 grams for queens which have been picked 

 up and hurried to the passing trains, almost 

 as quickly as you would run across the way 

 to a neighbor's for them. 



As I said, I am deeply thankful for all 

 these facilities, but with our large shipping 

 business, I suppose it is impossible but that 

 there should be losses and delays, and other 

 troubles, now and then. In May, a custom- 

 er from Texas ordered 3, $3.00 queens. To 



avoid delays and save expense, w r e tried to 

 prepay the charges; but the Express Co. 

 could not tell what it would be over the 

 southern lines, so they would not receive the 

 money in advance. Time passed, and the 

 queens were not received. A tracer was 

 sent, and, after long delays, they were found 

 held at some point in Texas. They were 

 held until the back charges should be paid, 

 yet neither myself, nor my customer was no- 

 tified where they were, or what the trouble 

 was. The cages were made in such a way 

 that the officials could easily see that they 

 were bees, and perishable, and yet they put 

 them up on a shelf, and let them die ; and, 

 nearly two months after we were asked for 

 the back charges, and whether we wanted 

 the dead bees forwarded to destination. I 

 sent back word that they should throw them 

 out of the window, stifling my temper as 

 best I could. They very kindly consented 

 to do this, but sent back for $1.75 charges 

 for carrying them so far and keeping them 

 until they starved. I felt very much, then, 

 as if it would be inexpressibly delicious and 

 soothing, to be permitted the luxury of tear- 

 ing that Texas man's shanty all down, and 

 giving him such a shaking that he would 

 never think of starving any more innocent 

 bees, so long as he remained in the express 

 business. Rut I put away such thoughts, 

 paid the $1.75, and prayed God for patience, 

 and that he would help us to soften even the 

 hearts of the Express Cos. What do you 

 suppose happened? Nothing different from 

 what has happened a great many times, in 

 my business troubles and trials. A gentle- 

 man came in, a few mornings after, intro- 

 ducing himself as the superintendent of our 

 express line. He said he had noticed the 

 amount of business we gave them, and 

 asked if he could do anything to aid us. In 

 a twinkling, our printers had some neat lit- 

 tle labels directing any express agent in the 

 U. 8. to forward the package it w r as on, 

 without delay, under any circumstances 

 whatever, signed with the superintendent's 

 name. lie also made arrangements to carry 

 queens, smokers, etc., over any or all north- 

 ern lines for one single charge of 25c, be- 

 sides fixing many other things greatly for the 

 comfort and convenience of myself and you. 

 More troubles are still to be 'prayed over, 

 however. While the Express Cos. will carry 

 $5.00 in money for 15c, they will not bring 

 back a C. O. IX, for less than their old fash- 

 ioned rates. For instance, a friend in our 

 state wanted a queen, C. O. D. They car- 

 ried the queen to him, for 25c, but when he 

 gave them the $1.25 to carry back, they 

 charged 75c for carrying it. I expostulated, 

 but it could not be corrected. They could 

 easily carry the $1.25 for 15c, but if it was 

 the pay for a queen they had brought him, 

 the proper charge was 75c I have always 

 objected to the C. O. L>. business, but, if you, 

 my friends, wish to see your goods before 

 paying your money over, why, you should 

 have the privilege, especially, if you pay for 

 it ; but you should not be asked to pay any 

 such exorbitant rates. We have written 

 the superintendent in regard to the matter, 

 but time passes and no answers come. God 

 answers, when men do not. To him we 

 shall have to go again. 



