1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



779 





d//lOM OUM A/£IGHB0R5 FIELDS. 



In Maurice Maeterlinck's "Life of the 

 Bee" we have for at least once a book 

 on bees that is thoroughU' sound, very in- 

 teresting-, and one that ever^- bee-keeper 

 should have. It is by no means technical. 

 It is beautifully written, and abounds in 

 moral reflections and poetical digressions. 

 It will appeal to every bee-keeper and bee- 

 lover. One of the most remarkable pass- 

 ag:es in the book is a description of a rural 

 scene in Normandj', P^rance. Outwardly it 

 seems like a little paradise, the natural 

 surrounding's being- so beautiful that man 

 can not improve them. Here we may ex- 

 pect a perfect state of society; but let us, 

 with the writer, get a little nearer. He 

 says: 



Can you distinguish the song that blended so well 

 with the whispeiing of the leaves? It is made up of 

 abuse and iusult ; aud when laughter bursts forth, it 

 i' due to an ohscrne remark some man or woman has 

 made, to a jtst at the expense of the weaker — of the 

 hunchback unable to lift his load, the cripple tliey 

 have knocked over, or the idiot whom they make 

 their butt. 



I have studied these people for many years. "We are 

 in Normandy; the soil is rich aud easily tilled. 

 Around this stack of corn there is rather more com- 

 fort than one would usually associate with a scene of 

 this kind. The result is that most of the men, and 

 many of the women, are alcoholic Another poison 

 also, which I need not name, corrodes the race. To 

 that, to the alcohol, are due the children whom you 

 see there: the dwarf, the one with the hare-lip, the 

 others who are knock-kneed, scrofulous, imbecile. 

 All of them, men and women, 3'oung aud old. have 

 the ordinary vices of the peasant. They are brutal, 

 suspicious, grasping, and envious ; hypocrites, liars, 

 and slanderers; inclined to petty, illicit profits, mean 

 interpretations, and coarse flattery of the stronger. 

 Necessity brings them together, and compels them to 

 help each other ; but the secret wish of every individ- 

 ual is to harm his neighbor as soon as this can be done 

 without danger to himself. The one substantial plea- 

 sure of the village is procured by the sorrows of oth- 

 ers. Should a great disaster befall one of them, it 

 will I'^ng be the subject of secret, delighted comment 

 among the rest. Every man watches his fellow, is 

 jealous of him, detests and despises him. 



The book is published by Dodd, Mead & 

 Co., New York. Price $1.40. 



PACIFIC BEE JOURNAL. 



Concerning- a new honey-plant and the 

 relative value of different strains of bees, I 

 find the following editorial too interesting 

 to admit of condensation: 



Mr. G. M Hawley, El Cajon, writes me concerning 

 the Grevillea robusta a.s a honey-plant. He says that 

 the flowers are fairly swimming with nectar. By 

 shaking the tree he can wet the ground with the 

 sweet liquid. He remarks that he never saw any 

 thing comparable with it before. The bees have left 

 white sage and buckwheat entirely, and are swarming 

 on the grevillea blossoms. Mr. Hawley also comments 

 on some very white comb honev which some ot the 

 bees are producing. These are from a certain queen 

 which he imported from the East last season. The 

 honey from the other bees is much darker. Exami- 

 nation shows that the first bees are gathering entirely 

 from black sage, while the others are gathering their 

 nectar from flowers that yield a darker honey. This 

 black sage is from two to five miles distant. I have 

 often noticed what Mr. Hawley has discovered, that 

 different strains of bees often gather from different 



sources. I have no doubt that the vigor of the bees 

 and the relative length of tongues may account for 

 this. Mr. Hawley says these new ones are elegant 

 bees, light-colored, great workers, practically non- 

 swaimers — indeed, the ideal bee for California. 



I have also noticed that the grevillea is a very excel- 

 lent honey-plant, while all our sages furnish honey 

 that is unexcelled in excellence of color and flavor. 

 \«< 

 Totiching the honey crop in California for 

 this season, Mr. F. E. Brown, of Hanford, 

 says: 



Our honey crop is the lightest up to date that has 

 been known for the past ten years. Bees as a rule are 

 in the poorest condition for this season of the year 

 that I have ever seen and we shall not have more than 

 li the usual yield What little we have we are stor- 

 ing, not offering any thing to the market, as the price 

 is too weak — believing that, as soon as the buyers find 

 out the true condition of the output, prices will be re- 

 stored to a reasonable rate. 



The reports as to htmdreds of carloads 

 from the southern part of California seem 

 to have been premature. 



Temescal shipped 40 tons of honey this 

 year — a splendid 3'ield for a little place, 

 stn-ely. Isaiah Anderson, of that town, 

 has, for the first time in 26 years, secured 

 honey from bald sage. 



R. A. Holley, foul-brood inspector of Ven- 

 tura Co., reports having found about 625 

 colonies in that county afflicted with foul 

 brood. 



EDITORS AND OTHER PEOPLE. 



BV .ARTHUR C. MILLKK. 



3Ir. Root: — In a recent editorial yoti re- 

 ferred to an article of mine which appeared 

 in your issue for May 1st, and which con- 

 tained some reflections on the atithors of our 

 text-books and the editors of our papers. 

 Another communication by me in the Rc- 

 vicw, leading- to subsequent articles by oth- 

 ers, has evidently given the matter an in- 

 terpretation which I never intended — that 

 is, charging the editors with general igno- 

 rance. 



It is a delicate task to point out to anoth- 

 er his ignorance of a stibject on which he 

 has written, and perhaps it would have 

 been more considerate had I taken it up in 

 a personal letter, thou.gh, as things have 

 developed, and as the publication of the ar- 

 ticle has set tis all to doing a little intro- 

 spection, it may not turn out to have been a 

 serious error. But a very recent article in 

 one of the papers evinces considerable bit- 

 terness of feeling against yourself, and in 

 consequence I feel it necessary to write a 

 few words of caution and explanation. I 

 feel that this devolves upon me because I, 

 figuratively, threw the first stone. 



There are none too many contributors to 

 our bee-journals who possess a broad edu- 

 cation, and there appear to be some who do 



