180 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



the Californiaitesdo, and that is the way I /;arf 

 to do when I turned in and helped them out 

 on extracting on one or two occasions. 

 Smoker cleats — j^es, I suppose they mig-ht 

 be a help for " slippery fellows "' like you 

 and Coggshall. — Ed.] 



G. M. DooLiTTLE says, in A}n. Bee Jour- 

 nal, to allow 10 cubic feet for each colony 

 in cellar wintering, which is probably 

 right. I have now 235 colonies in a room 

 which allows 9'2 feet for each colony when 

 the door is closed. Except in very cold 

 weather, however, the door is open into the 

 adjoining room, which gives each colony 15 

 cubic feet. [We do not allow that amount 

 in the room under our machine-shop; but 

 we secure in effect the same results by hav- 

 ing doses of fresh air administered just 

 often enough to keep the air sweet and the 

 bees quiet. — Ed.] 



In regard to making nominations for 

 Directors before election, why not let well 

 enough alone?" page 144. That's just it, 

 Bro. Elwood. I've been a Director ever 

 since the first organization of the old Union; 

 and unless I murder some one I'm pretty 

 sure of the office as long as I live. You 

 see, no matter if three-fourths of the voters 

 would rather have some one else, without 

 any previous nominations there's no chance 

 to agree upon any one, and I'm sure to win 

 out. But say, Bro. Elwood, you'd better 

 keep mum, and not let the thing be talked 

 up, or I may yet lose my job. 



The California Association, according 

 to a report in Am. Bee Journal, has 11 

 members with 9000 colonies, and 48 mem- 

 bers enter the National in a body. Some- 

 thing must be done to keep those California 

 fellows under. [We of the East do not 

 need to do any thing to keep these " fellows 

 under." The long -hoped -for rains have 

 not yet come, although they had little spurts 

 a few days ago. Their honey will not be 

 much in evidence next year unless it is last 

 year's held-over crop. Poor fellows! They 

 have got misery enough without us East- 

 erners wishing them anj' thing bad. — Ed.] 



In answer to a question, p. 136, it was 

 Langstroth, beyond all doubt, who gave us 

 the first practical movable frames, and just 

 as truly as he invented them did Dzierzon 

 really invent movable combs. [But is it 

 really and truly settled that Dzierzon invent- 

 ed movable combs? If I remember correct- 

 ly, when the matter was up there were sev- 

 eral others who held priority. But un- 

 doubtedly Dzierzon did bring movable 

 combs into use. Marconi, perhaps, did not 

 invent wireless telegraphy; but he so per- 

 fected the inventions of others that what 

 was impractical and useless is one of the 

 successes of the age — a wonderful success. 

 —Ed.] 



Wm. Craig sends me a honey yarn that 

 is the heaviest yet. The Detroit Tribune 

 quotes it from the Durango, Col., Herald. 

 With steel drills and blasting powder they 

 are nihiin^ the honey, for there are *' prob- 

 ably 4,000,000 pounds of honey — honey in 



all the crevices, recesses, and holes in the 

 rocks for miles in every direction." [Such 

 yarns as these are comparatively harmless; 

 but it is the kind that the papers have been 

 rehashing — the old story about manufac- 

 tured comb honey, that makes us bee-keep- 

 ers fairly boil with rage. I am inclined to 

 think now that some of the sheets that pub- 

 lished this nonsense wish they had never 

 seen a bee-keeper nor heard any thing 

 about manufactured comb honey. — Ed.] 



"Honor to whom honor is due." The 

 " infallible " plan of queen introduction 

 mentioned on p. 9 as the Wood plan turns 

 out, like many another thing, to be nothinLf 

 new. In that very excellent work written 

 by S. Simmins, entitled "A Modern Bee 

 Farm," the plan will be found given on p. 

 160 of the 1893 edition. Mr. Simmins also 

 emphases the importance of giving to the 

 queen only honey from the same hive. 

 Tardy credit should also be given to Mr. 

 Simmins for the idea of bleaching sections 

 white, which may be found on p. 139 of the 

 same work. [I think j^ou are correct; and 

 when the article appeared I thought there 

 seemed to be something about the method 

 that was familiar, but I could not call it 

 to mind then. — Ed.] 



Bro. a. I. Root, p. 156, says some folks 

 think there is no personal Devil. If such a 

 person is lacking anywhere, I assure you 

 it's not "in this locality." [Say, doctor, 

 do you believe this is a question of locality? 

 I think I have run across him everywhere I 

 have been in the United States. Perhaps 

 I did not see his visible tracks, but if I re- 

 mained long enough I could find traces of 

 him. Do 3'ou know that, while I was 

 awaj', I made a business of visiting saloons? 

 Yes, I went into all I could find or had 

 time to visit. As I was a stranger I could 

 go around unmolested, and see just how his 

 Satanic Majesty manages to catch his vic- 

 tims. And if any one thinks there is no 

 personal Devil I wish he would go through 

 some of the western saloons. There are too 

 many people in this world who are utterly 

 ignorant of the awful iniquity that is con- 

 cocted in these hells of Sodom. I make the 

 recommendation that some of our friends 

 who are indifferent to this temperance 

 question just make a run through the drink- 

 ing-places at night in any of our " wide- 

 open " cities. They will then think there 

 is a Devil sure. — Ed.] 



''^#gaiife .A.V:. A: -,6^J-.^S^-^<a^-:^3fo-''^^^Jfl^:^-^j(fea..^^5aa^^ 



^jcKtjstgs 



^0M.0MfiN£ICHB0R5 FIELDS. 2^ 



Columbia greets Gerniania's prince 



With friendly hand and true ; 

 We've naught to fear when crowned heads hail 



The red, the white, the blue. 



That song for bee-keepers, music by G. 

 W. York, words by Eugene Secor, "Buck- 

 wheat Cakes and Honey," was received 



