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Vol. XXIX. 



APRIL 15, 1901. 



No. 8. 



It's time to suggest again that seed saved 

 from the first crop of red clover will have a 

 larger proportion of short-tubed seed. Or am 

 I clear ofT? [I think you are correct. — Ed.] 



Thos. Wm. Cowan says in American Bee 

 Journal, that granulated sugar is adulterated 

 with dry glucose. That makes me think more 

 than ever that we ought to have some reliable 

 source from which we could obtain pure cane 

 sugar to feed our bees. 



J. H. Martin and I are out again. He 

 says, " A person devoting his entire attention 

 to queen-rearing will strive to improve his 

 stock. " But how can he select his best stock, 

 without having them store a crop to show 

 which is the best stock ? 



A SMOKER could be made to give & perfectly 

 continuous blast by having a bellows like a 

 melodeon, and there would be no possible 

 sucking of smoke into the bellows. But the 

 continuous blast would be just so much the 

 weaker, and the loss would probably be more 

 than the gain. 



Don't be discouraged, Bro. A. I., if you 

 don't see many direct results from your fight- 

 ing whisky, tobacco, and other evils. If it 

 does no other good, it's making a better man 

 of you, and for your encouragement I can tell 

 you that, after reading last Gleanings, I hate 

 tobacco worse than ever before. 



" If there is any class of people who seem 

 prone to only half observe, and to jump at 

 conclusions, it is the bee- keepers, ' ' says Arthur 

 C. Miller, in Progressive. There you are 

 again, Arthur, doing that very thing yourself. 

 If you would observe more carefully, I think 

 you would find that bee- keepers are better ob- 

 servers than the average ; but bee-keeping, 

 more than other pursuits, contains so many 

 things that elude observation. 



"George W. York, Chairman Central 

 Committee, Chicago," represents one relation 

 of a bee editor. The rottenness of the Chica- 

 go city government is notorious, and the 



names of leading candidates for city officers 

 promise a continuance of the rottenness. 

 Now a ticket of clean men has been put in 

 the field, with the editor of " the Old Relia- 

 ble" as chief manager. There isn't a ghost 

 of a chance of success, but it's something for 

 a good man to have a ticket that he can cast 

 without despising himself. 



A worker, according to Alex. Astor {Rev. 

 /«/.), can carry about an eighth more than 

 its own weight when honey is given to it. 

 The maximum load of nectar brought in he 

 found to be (about June 1) 65.5 milligrams (a 

 little more than % its own weight), and from 

 then to Aug. 3 the weighings showed 50 mg., 

 45, 40, 28, 25, 18, 16, 10, 0. [This does not 

 conflict with the footnote to the other Straw 

 on this subject. It appears, then, that a bee 

 can carry more of honey than it can of ttectar 

 — not larger in bulk, but greater in weight. 

 These figures are very interesting. — Ed.] 



That delightful dreamer in Progres- 

 sive, Somnambulist, thinks that bee-keepers 

 too often say "I" when they should say 

 " we," thus giving due credit for the help of 

 faithful wives. Amen, say I. Also that wives, 

 like queens, should be chosen, not for beauty, 

 but for real worth. Now, here's what puzzles 

 me : One who places such high estimate upon 

 the value of wives, and shows such discrimi- 

 nating judgment regarding them, would sure- 

 ly be expected to have a wife of the best type; 

 and yet, if I am rightly informed. Somnam- 

 bulist, who is no longer a spring chicken, has 

 never had a wife. 



Here's a hint of value by Arthur C. Mil- 

 ler, in Progressive : " If you have no frames 

 filled with drone comb, get some, and then 

 paint the top-bar of those frames a brilliant 

 red ; thereby you can find them easily, no 

 matter where they are distributed." Of 

 course, these will be given to your choice 

 colonies from which you will not raise queens. 

 [This matter of red paint suggests the advisa- 

 bility of painting all tools red, which are used 

 in the apiary. You gave this item about a 

 year ago in one of your Straws, and it is worth 

 repeating. A red screwdriver left in the grass 

 would be more readily seen than one not 

 painted. — Ed.] 



