OOTOBER 15, 1915 



was not prepared to offer the goods. I 

 used separators made of coarse wire cloth, 

 and sections were clamped witli thumb- 

 screws. 



In using some of this honey in an exhibit 

 i recall one man remarking that bees had 

 never seen that honey! I tried to explain 

 that machine honey was out of the ques- 

 tion; but as he walked away he muttered, 

 "Well, I don't know. I have just found 

 out that I have been eating manufactured 

 eggs all winter." 



Speaking about producing comb honey, 

 I think now that if I were so fortunate as 

 to be back in the business I would produce 

 both extracted and chunk honey. There is 

 an increased demand for chunk honey, and 

 it enables the producer to secui'e the price 

 of comb honey for a whole lot of his ex- 

 tracted honey. I think I would produce 

 some comb lioney in shallow extracting- 

 frames and cut it out as fast as I secured 

 orders. One must not prepare a lot aliead, 

 for it is not desirable to allow gTanulation. 

 I would use a six-pound pail with three 

 pounds of comb and three poimds of ex- 

 tracted. In fact, when I did have goods to 

 sell I used tliis method of putting up honey, 

 and found a rapidly increasing demand. 

 The method came to me by accident in 

 taking care of comb honey that arrived here 

 in broken condition. 



Speaking about establishing myself back 

 in the '80's as a queen-breeder, the more T 

 thought of it the more I became enthused, 

 for 1 felt that my surroundings were favor- 

 able, and I began to dream of pleased cus- 

 tomers and taking armloads of cages to the 

 postotTice! I also realized that much ex- 

 pense would be attached in requeening my 

 yard, and that nmch material would be re- 

 quired for mating-boxes. I would not con- 

 sider anything but the highest standards in 

 every detail. I formulated my plans, and 

 began that winter in making all arrange- 

 ments, completing my library, making mat- 

 ing-boxes, etc. About one year was con- 

 sumed in requeening my j'ard to the stand- 

 ard that I required. 



My mating-boxes were my own idea, and 

 I still think well of them in spite of strides 

 in improvements. I ordered ten-frame liive- 

 bodies with tops and bottoms and grooves 

 cut in ends for three thin division-boards 

 which made four compartments with an 

 entrance at each end and one at each side. 

 The point was that they would co-operate 

 on heat, and that by using the standard 

 frame I could unite at the close of the sea- 

 son with no loss of bees or brood. A de- 

 tachable number-disc hung on each com- 

 partment, and one on each hive gave me 



opportunities for an accurate book-reoord 

 of every queen in my yard. 



In those days much was said about con- 

 trolling the aiating of queens, and for a 

 time 1 thought 1 had at least partly solved 

 the problem. We knew that queens usually 

 take their flight in the early afternoon, at 

 such times as young bees are taking play- 

 spells. I knew that by feeding my nuclei 

 a small amount of syrup in the forenoon 

 the queen would take her flight, and at such 

 times very few drones were in the air; but 

 by feeding my best colonies 1 could also 

 force the drones to fly at the same time. I 

 still think that something might yet be ac- 

 complished by further experimenting in 

 this line. 



My hand-hold slipped again! In queen- 

 rearing 1 met with quite a few failures, and 

 found it necessary to refer to my books 

 frequently. With more experience I was 

 more successful; and yet it seems to me 

 that I followed old plans, and 1 do not 

 know to tliis day why some ideas were fail- 

 ures and again successful after pursuing 

 the same methods. Perhaps my enthusiasm 

 had a bad effect at the beginning. Our 

 text-books are fine, but there is one thing 

 that has always given me much concern. It 

 is the ideas expressed about fertile workers 

 and drone-laying queens. 



I cannot induce myself to believe that 

 ever a seed in vegetation germinated with- 

 out pollenization or that ever an egg laid 

 by an insect developed life without fertili- 

 zation. I should like to see modern science 

 go deeper on this subject. Modern science 

 seems to go deeper on subjects where more 

 value is at stake, such as mining, medicine, 

 etc., but I find what I think is a parallel 

 case on my subject pertaining to the eel. 

 Aristotle taught that the eel was without 

 sex, and that they were produced sponta- 

 neously from the earth, and even Pliny 

 agi'eed with hira. It was not till 1877 that 

 an Italian naturalist identified a female eel, 

 and showed that they lay millions of eggs, 

 always in brackish waters. As a matter of 

 commerce the bee is far ahead of the eel, 

 allhongli eels are considered a fine article of 

 food by some people. 



Excuse me, for they remind me of a 

 snake; but I presume it is all a matter of 

 taste. I learn that snails are considered a 

 delicate dish in Paris! This reminds me of 

 a story about a foreigner visiting this coun- 

 try. Plis friend wished to secure for him 

 a fine cafe dinner, and they sat down to 

 celerj' and bouillon; and then after clearing 

 the table the waiter brought in a piping- 

 hot lobster with the accessories. The for- 

 eigner pushed back liis chair and remark- 



