1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



403 



gations (were they by Dr. Langer?) have shown 

 that the poison is something separate from 

 formic acid. 



" I believe that it is equally untrue that the 

 poison is more pungent when the bees are 

 working, " says Prof. Cook. "If the poison 

 is more irritating at one time than another, it 

 is because there is more of it. . . . Yet I 

 have my doubts in this matter. I have never 

 known bees to sting worse, or the wound to 

 be more painful, than in the autumn, when 

 the harvest was all over." There is here a 

 field for investigation. It would be an ex- 

 ceedingly difficult thing to make practical 

 bee-keepers believe that the results of all bee- 

 stings are alike. In fact, it needs only the 

 outside appearance to show positivelj' that 

 they are not alike. Neither would it be an 

 easy thing to make bee-keepers believe that 

 stings are not different at different times. 

 What makes the difference ? Is it in the per- 

 son, or is it in the quality or quantity of the 

 poison ? 



Prof. Cook says, " I am surprised that our 

 author teaches that stinging does not kill the 

 bee. Who has not known cases where thou- 

 sands of bees have died from stinging.'' " In 

 reply to this question it may be said that it is 

 ■doubtful that five bee-keepers can be found to 

 testify that they know of a case in which a 

 thousand, to say nothing of thousands, of 

 bees that have died from stinging. It is no 

 doubt an injury for a bee to lose its sting ; but 

 many cases have occurred in which a bee was 

 known to live so long after losing its sting 

 that it is doubtful that it can be truly said that 

 *' losing the sting means to lose the life." A 

 few years ago we published a report from a 

 bee-keeper who told how one of his colonies 

 became so enraged that the individual bees of 

 it stung every thing in sight ; that after this 

 colony got quieted down from its rampage it 

 appeared on examination as if there was 

 scarely a bee left that had not lost its sting. 

 Yet this colony, he says, lived and prospered, 

 and that for weeks and weeks afterward those 

 " stingless " bees were seen to be going to and 

 fro from the hive as though nothing had hap- 

 pened. This remarkable report was later con- 

 firmed by another subscriber who had had a 

 similar experience. But this is true : That a 

 bee that has lost its sting, and that is subse- 

 quently caged in a mailing-cage with about a 

 dozen perfect bees, may die in a few hours, 

 and we have had them live two weeks, or as 

 long as the other bees with their stings. 



In the fourth class are two items in which 

 the book is so manifestly right and the review- 

 er wrong that Prof. Cook will no doubt change 

 his mind when his attention is called to 

 them. 



Referring to the picture of the glass rhom- 

 bic dodecahedron. Prof. Cook says: "This 

 figure appears to me like a small cube inside 

 a larger one. I should consider it a right- 

 angled figure; " and so he thinks the figure a 

 failure. If Prof. Cook, with one eye closed, 

 will look directly at the glass dodecahedron 

 at the point where three faces meet, he will 

 find that he can see exactly the form of a cube 

 within a larger cube. The picture looks just 



like the object ; and if there is a failure it is 

 not in the picture but in the thing pictured. 



The word "jessamine " is called a case of 

 misspelling. He says : " I ihink it is always 

 spelt jasmine or jasmin." Certainly jessa- 

 mine can not be spelt jasmine ; so if there is 

 any thing wrong it is not a case of misspelling, 

 but of using the wrong word. There is no 

 wrong word used ; for under the word jessa- 

 mine, in the dictionary, will be found : " The 

 jasmine : a popular name, common in litera- 

 ture." 



CONVENTION NOTICE. 



Mr. Editof: — Many inquiries have been received by 

 the Executive Committee of the National Bee keepers' 

 Association regarding the time and place for holding 

 the next convention of the Association. The reply 

 his generally been that Buffalo, N. Y , would be the 

 place of meeting; but until this morning the date of 

 meeting had not been settled upon. 



On March 2d the Secretary of the American Pomo- 

 logical Society wrote President Root in part as fol- 

 lows: 



" As bee-keepers and fruitgrowers have many in- 

 terests in common which could be considered and 

 discussed with mutual profit, our Executive Commit- 

 tee has instructed me to extend to your Association a 

 cordial invitation to hold a joint meeting at some 

 time during our session, the exact time to be decided 

 later by correspondence. 



At this meeting we would suggest that the subjects 

 of discussion center round the general topic of the 

 mutual relations of bee-keeping and fruit-growing, 

 . . which can be briefly treated by speakers selected 

 in advance from among our prominent bee-men and 

 fruit-men, . . in order that a better understanding 

 of these mutual relations may be reached. . . It 

 has been suggested that a considerable portion of 

 fruit-growers do not yet appreciate the preponder- 

 ance of the benefit derived. It is felt that a full pub- 

 lic discussion of the subject would, therefore, result 

 in good to both industries." 



Realizing, as the Executive Committee did, that 

 this was a golden opportunity for presenting the bee- 

 keepers' side of the subject to the representative men 

 of the fruit-growing industry, the invitation of the 

 Pomological Society was at once accepted by the com- 

 mittee in behalf of the Association. 



We have had to delay the fixing of the date for our 

 convention until the Pomological Society had fixed 

 their time of meeting. Our convention will be held 

 on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of September next, com- 

 mencing on Tuesday evening the 10th. 



We were at first undecided as to place of meeting, 

 hoping that the G. A R. would meet at Denver, Col.; 

 but when it decided to meet at Cleveland, and we 

 received the invitation of the Pomological Society, we 

 felt that we ought not to miss such a splendid chance 

 to enlighten some of them on the relation of bees to 

 horticulture, and, by meeting at Buffalo, the York 

 State and Canadian bee-keepers would be within easy 

 reach of the place of meeting ; so we at once fixed on 

 Buffalo as the most desirable place. 



It has been decided not to have any papers or essays, 

 but to rely wholly on the question-box to bring out 

 the best and most important matters for discussion, 

 so that any one not being able to be at the conven- 

 tion, having any question or questions he may wish 

 to have discussed, can send them to the Secretary at 

 any time. 



The Committee has taken the liberty to request the 

 Secretary of the Ontario Bee-keepers' Association to 

 ask the members of that Association who may attend 

 the meeting at Buffalo to bring their badges with 

 them and wear them at our sessions, whether they 

 are members of our Association or not, so that we 

 may feel more as one, and know who our progressive 

 neighbors are. 



Information regarding place of meeting, entertain- 

 . ment, and railroad rates will be given as soon as de- 

 cided upon. Don't be in a hurry about securing a 

 sleeping-place during the convention. There is plen- 

 ty of time, and, later on, better rates can be secured ; 

 but if you are in a hurry, write to the Young Men's 

 Christian Association, and don't be bled by "sharks." 

 A. B. Mason, Sec , Sta. B, Toledo, O. 



