GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



205 



succeed in raising queens according- to his parti 3ular 

 method?" 



"Why, now, friend R, you make me tired. Just 

 think of the fixin's and palaverings with shaving 

 combs, hot beeswax, matches, and tm feeders! 

 Why, Doolittles's natural plan just fits into my hat, 

 and we get there with big queens and tons of honey 

 every time." 



" Do you raise comb or extracted honey?" 



" I raise gilt-edged comb honey. I don't expect to 

 equal Doolittle just yet, but I mean to get there." 



Finding I could not get Bro. V.'s mind from the 

 great bee-man, we talked crops and farming gen- 

 erally, but Doolittle's name would get mixed in 

 with corn, potatoes, and the care of stock. 



At the table, when he parsed the articles to me I 

 expected him to say, "Will you take some more 

 Doolittle?" like the girl passing potatoes to a man 

 with an enormous nose. The nose fully absorbed 

 her mind, and, said she, " Sir, will you have some 

 more nose?" 



Dreams troubled the Rambler again, and it seem- 

 ed as though we were all following Doolittle; and 

 in this direction I am free to confess are often 

 found the steps of the Rambler. 



THAT RACE BETWEEN BEES AND 

 PIGEONS. 



THE MATTER EXPLAINED. 



R. EDITOR:— On page !)35, for 1888, you 

 copy an item from the Bee-Keepers' Record 

 about a flying - match between pigeons 

 and bees. You reserve prudently your 

 opinion on the story, for want of facts. 

 I am able to give you information. The German 

 Bienenzeitung first reported the match, whence 

 it has been translated in so bungling a manner 

 that it became indeed a very ridiculous yarn. A 

 correct translation will change it into a serious 

 and interesting experiment. It reads as follows: 



From Hamm it is reported that one Mr. Ch. R., a 

 fancier of carrier-pigeons, and 

 a bee-keeper, proposed the fol- 

 lowing match: The distance 

 was to be not quite one hour 

 (about 2% miles), namely, from 

 Rhynern to Hamm. The day se- 

 lected was fine, when bees would 

 come home sooner than carrier- 

 pigeons. The bet was taken 



and bravely won by 



1 he bee-man-. Twelve carrier pig- 

 eons and twelve bees, sprinkled 

 with flour, 1 of which were 

 drones, were taken to Rhynern, 

 and there simultaneously set 

 free. One white drone arrived 

 4 seconds in advance of the first 

 pigeon. The second pigeon ar- 

 rived simultaneously with the 

 other three drones, and togeth- 

 er with the rest of the pigeons 

 arrived also the workers. The 

 bee-keeper had won the match." 

 ¥~ou will, by comparing the 

 above with the rendering in the 

 Record, easily understand 

 that the translation has been 

 made by a man equally igno- 



rant of the German language and of apiculture 

 (which he confounded with agriculture). He omit- 

 ted to say that the bees were sprinkled with flour, 

 because he did not know what every bee-keeper 

 knows, that it was essential, as otherwise the bees 

 could not be identified. Not quite one hour is about 

 2 l / 2 miles (English), not 5 miles. The German term 

 lanaten an, which means a>-rived, is, by the ignorant 

 fellow, translated "preceded by a length." Any 

 schoolboy would not have made such nonsense. The 

 fact that pigeons are beaten by bees is not new. 

 Sigel, 111., Feb. 15, 1889. Dr. Wm. Leers. 



SOMETHING NEW FOR HONEY AND 

 MAPLE SYRUP. 



RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WAY OF CANS I'OR 

 MAPLE-SYRUP MAKERS AND SHIPPERS. 



OST maple-sugar makers have expe- 

 rienced the awkwardness of trying 

 to box up the ordinary round cans, 

 whenever the: are so lucky as to 

 have an order for syrup from a dis- 

 tance. Well, this season, for the first time, 

 we have got a gallon can that fits into an 

 ordinary square box as nicely as a duck's 

 foot fits in the mud. If you don't believe 

 it, look at the " picter." 



Now, if you should be so lucky as to have 

 an order for ten or a dozen caus, you can 

 just set them all in one box made purposely 

 for shipping syrup, as in cut below. 



Of course, all I have said in regard to the 

 adaptability of these cans for maple syrup 

 will apply with equal force to putting up 

 and shipping honey. In fact, we keep 

 them in stock all the year round. 



BOX HOLDINO TEV <>\E-riAI.L<>N CAN! 

 PLE SYRUP OR HONEY. 



Price of the one-gallon cans, not boxed ,* 

 $12.00 per 100; same boxed, 10 in a box, 

 $14.00 per 100; single box of 10 cans, $1.60. 

 without any boxing, 15 cts. 



Single can, 



