1SS0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



277 



STOPPING THE JOURNAL, ETC. 



"First of May, '80," is what it said,— I moan the 

 yellow label on Gleanings. Then I carefully ex- 

 amined all in your notice on the envelope, and 

 thought what a queer rain you are, in such a half 

 scolding kind of way, to solicit subscriptions! Now 

 I wonder if you are not odd or eccentric or some- 

 thing different from ordinary! Well, to begin with, 

 you can consider me as safe for another year ; I can- 

 not get along without Gleanings. It will pay if 

 one does not keep bees. It is worth all you ask for 

 it to be in constant communication with an honest 

 man aside from a pecuniary point of view. 



TRYING PATENT HIVES, ETC. 



My experience in bee culture is about the same as 

 that of others who keep bees; I have always had 

 from one to 15 swarms with the exceDtion of half a 

 dozen years. I tried to keep pace with progress and 

 so bought all the patents that came along, and of 

 course failed. Two years ago a friend presented me 

 with a swarm, and about that time I accidentally 

 came across an advertisement requesting all that 

 were interested in bees or honey to send to A. I. 

 Root for sample copy of Gleanings. I sent my ad- 

 dress, and, in due time, received a copy. I also sent 

 a dollar for ARC and now I have two swarms and 

 am daily growing enthusiastic. And now I find my 

 great mistake, in not having hives and frames of 

 one size. I shall adopt the L. frame, and make the 

 change as sion as swarming is over. Then I shall 

 want honey boxes, etc. E. II. Bartlett. 



Mt. Vernon, O., May 8, 1880. 



I did not mean to be eccentric, friend 13., 

 and I did not mean to scold my readers, un- 

 less it be eccentric to be in dead earnest in 

 insisting tbat accounts shall be kept squared 

 up, and that no one shall have Gleanings 

 who does not want it. On this account, I 

 have thought best to stop it when the money 

 runs out. Neither am I an honest man, 

 friend B. ; I have only tried to be honest 

 and fair with you all, and perhaps only God 

 knows how hard I have tried. I have the 

 credit of it, pretty generally, and I get many 

 letters like your own, but I know, in my 

 own heart, I come far, very far, from de- 

 serving it. Right in this line, a great truth 

 begins to unfold itself. It is that numanity, 

 the people of the world, are always ready to 

 give any one more credit for real striving in 

 this direction than they actually deserve. 

 Yet how often is the world called cold and 

 uncharitable. 



RENDER UNTO CESAR THE THINGS WHICH ARE 

 CESAR'S, ETC. 



I was very much surprised on reading in this 

 month's Gleanings what McDougall says concern- 

 ing Mitchell; for it is my opinion, if Mitchell is a 

 humbug. McDougall is one too, as he is selling Mitch- 

 ell's hive, using his circular, and selling his book, 

 by another name. "Mitchell's Forty Years Among 

 the Honey Bees" (which, I have been informed, is 

 "borrowed thunder"), and McDousrall's "Secrets of 

 Bee-Keeping," are the same book, only McDougall 

 has considerably reduced Mitchell's enormous 

 yields of honey. I have not those books by me now, 

 but, if you have not examined and compared them, 

 and wish to do so, I will get a copy of each and send 

 you. I send you, by to-day's mail, Mitchell's Direc- 

 tory. I also send you Mitchell's "Hints to Bee- 



Koepers," and McDougall's "Thoughts for Bee- 

 Keepers," which you see are the same, and describe 

 the same hive. McDougall sent me word not long 

 since, "I have discarded all patents on my hive." 



I have 1!) colonies of Italian bees in the Mitchell or 

 McDougall hive, just as you please term it, all of 

 which wintered on their summer stands, without 

 the loss of a single colony, and are now in splendid 

 condition, and are busy storing away the sweets of 

 the land, in which this vicinity abounds. 



H. L. Griffith. 



Sumner, Lawrence Co., 111., May 10, 1880. 



That is right, friend G.; talk out. We 

 want Mitchell to have his due, by all means. 

 I had noticed the similarity between the 

 McDougall and Mitchell pamphlets, but, as 

 the former was so much nearer the bounds 

 of truth, I thought likely it was the origin- 

 al, and Mitchell's was the copy ; for Mitch- 

 ell is notorious for copying everything and 

 claiming it as his own ; in fact, his adjusta- 

 ble hive is a complete copy of Adair's, long, 

 idea hive. Will friend McDougall please 

 stand up and tell us briefly, how it comes 

 that his writings and Mitchell's are so much 

 the same thins? I half suspect it is because 

 the patent right men, a few years ago, all of 

 them almost, had about the same story, 

 which, if I am correct, mostly belonged, in 

 the lirst place, to II. A. King, of the Amer- 

 ican hive. There are so many wide awake 

 people now, that it is hardly safe to under- 

 take to steal ideas. Even Inger but I 



guess I won't say it, after all. 



taper slates. 



I see in May Gleanings, p. 223, that ltufus Mor- 

 gan, of Bernardo, Cal., calls for a "water-proof pa- 

 per" on which to record the condition of the hive 

 during the season. I inclose you a sample of one 

 which I have used for years. When exposed to the 

 weather, I paint both sides; when used under cover, 

 only one, as you see. The composition is "plastic 

 slate", and is put on with a brush. The sample has 

 but one application; two make a better job. It 

 dries in a minute, and I find it invaluable. I use 

 postal cards that have passed through the mails. A 

 slate pencil, or crayon, is used to write; the former 

 is preferred, as it makes a lighter stroke. 



My bees have wintered splendidly as they always 

 do. No starving, dysentery, cholera, spring dwin- 

 dling, or depletion of any kind. They are now 

 "booming." .I.W.Johnson. 



Shclbyville, 111., May 10, 1850. 



Our friend sends us one of his slates, 

 made on a postal card, and, sure enough, it 

 writes nicely with a slate pencil. I have 

 used something similar made with a paint 

 used for making blackboards, but we did 

 not like them so well as the real, stone slates 

 we use now. 



TO WATER BEES, 



Use a small bottle upside down, standing on a 

 piece of glass. The water won't run out only as the 

 bees use it. The glass will be dry except in the heat 

 of the day, and then very little water will escape by 

 expansion. A 'I oz. bottle will last several days. 

 The glass need not be larger than a half dollar. 



J. II. CltEIOHTON. 



Cbillicothe, O., April 23, 1880. 



