1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



601 



sects visiting blossoms for the purpose of ob- 

 taining honey and pollen. Let us observe 

 once how many different bees and insects 

 visit the sunflower. It would seem that all 

 the pollen and nectar this flower produces 

 would be carried away. Yet every single 

 floweret becomes fertilized, and seeds form 

 with the greatest regularity. 



The honey or nectar the blossoms secrete is 

 of no direct use to them — they do not need it 

 for their development. If it were necessary, 

 many plants would have become extinct long 

 ago. For what other reason would a plant 

 continue to produce this nectar year after 

 year if it were not for the very purpose of 

 drawing insects ? These and other points 

 may be brought out by the bee-keeper in his 

 local paper to good advantage. 



Our friend W. F. Marks, one of the Direct- 

 ors of the National B. K. A., has the following 

 advice to offer in the line above mentioned: 

 " Owing to the hostility or prejudice against 

 bees in many localities, bee-keepers as a class 

 should be urged to step forward and take an 

 active part in the various agricultural, fruit- 

 growing, and kindred organizations when 

 possible to do so. In so doing they can quiet- 

 ly but surely bring about a change for the 

 general good of their pursuit — a matter that 

 should not be neglected or ignored. This 

 need in no way interfere with their duties in 

 and for the bee-keepers' organizations. To 

 this we can only say amen. — F. G. 



priced queen to show much difference in hon- 

 ey-gathering till later in the season, about the 

 time of red-clover bloom. Of course, we are 

 drawing on her brood heavily, and shall be 

 doing so all through the season, so she proba- 

 bly will not have as many bees as some of our 

 other colonies. — A. I. R. 



"busy" bees and lazy bees. 

 An old veteran bee-keeper from an adjoin- 

 ing county is just here. He is very much put 

 out because of 15 queens he bought of a noted 

 queen-breeder. He says they are " no good," 

 and thinks he has been swindled. When I 

 asked him if they did not keep their hives full 

 of bees he said, "Yes, too full." He says 

 they just keep raising brood all the while. 

 Now, the question is, " What more does any- 

 body want of a queen? " But his complaint is 

 this : These hives full of bees do not gather 

 any honey of any account ; while another 

 colony, whose queen is a daughter of our cel- 

 ebrated clover queen, rolls the honey right in. 

 Now, may be you think we ought to be satis- 

 fied with such a testimonial for our stock ; 

 but / am not satisfied. I may be after a while, 

 but I am not yet. I can hardly think that one 

 colony overflowing with bees will not get 

 honey, while another, equally or less popu- 

 lous, does get honey. This is a thing we are 

 trying to settle ; but I believe we are all more 

 or less in the dark in regard to it. We can 

 tell how many eggs one hen lays compared 

 with another, and I hope our experiment sta- 

 tions or somebody else can soon tell us wheth- 

 er 40,000 bees in one hive gather more honey 

 than 40,000 bees in another hive. The 15 

 queens mentioned came from one of our most 

 reliable breeders, and one who has also a 

 queen producing bees with tongues of extra 

 length, the daughter of our clover queen. I 

 think our friend may change his mind if he 

 waits till a little later in the season. Mr. 

 Warden says he does not expect our high- 



queen-breeders w^ho can not afford 

 time and money to write a postai, 



CARD. 



The following appears in the middle of a 

 pleasant letter from a subscriber down in Tex- 

 as. It was not intended for print, but I think 

 it ought to be printed. I have thought best 

 to withhold the name of the writer, at least 

 for the present : 



I ordered some queens from a certain breeder who, 

 by the way, is an advertiser in Gleanings, and now 

 nearly two months have passed and no queens have 

 shown up, though I have written him twice. I wrote 

 him the other day to return the money, and can't 

 hear a word. If he doesn't do something I will give 

 you his name soon. He may be sick, or something 

 else bad ; but he certainly could let me hear from him 

 some way — drop me a card with the one word " Rheu- 

 matism," as one other one did, and I should be better 

 satisfied. But I will await further results and devel- 

 opments. 



I,adonia, Texas, July 2, 1901. 



Some may urge that perhaps this queen- 

 breeder did not get the money. Of course, 

 the writer does not say he acknowledges hav- 

 ing received the money ; but he does refuse to 

 answer inquiries. Now, the man who wrote 

 the single word "rheumatism" on a postal 

 card did a little better ; but even that is not 

 good business. Whoever advertises any thing 

 in any periodical, should, before he sends the 

 advertisement, provide himself with postal 

 cards and other stationery (perhaps some- 

 thing partly printed to save time), and then 

 he should get some sort of acknowledgment 

 back by the very first mail whenever he re- 

 ceives money. If he can send a queen by 

 next mail I suppose there is not any particu- 

 lar need of writing even a postal card ; but if 

 there is going to be a delay, let the customer 

 know at once just about how much delay so 

 he can make his plans accordingly. If, later 

 on, he finds there must be still more delay, 

 write another postal. When you have receiv- 

 ed money for queens, you are in a measure re- 

 sponsible for every day that passes without 

 sending the queen, and should be, so to speak, 

 " on your good behavior." You are indebted 

 to the customer who sent you the money, and 

 you are under special obligations to be cour- 

 teous and pleasant, not only because it is man- 

 ly and Christianlike to do so, but because 

 your bread and butter depends on it. 



Now, if there is anybody who advertises in 

 this journal, who can not afford a postal card 

 to acknowledge the receipt of money, and an- 

 other one to explain why delays occur, we do 

 not want his advertisement. The single word 

 " rheumatism," it is true^^may be better than 

 nothing, but it is hardly enough — that is, if 

 you have got somebody's money, and are keep- 

 ing him waiting. 



Our friend in the above speaks about asking 

 to have the money returned. Any man who 

 makes any pretensions to being honorable and 



