972 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 1 



United States in localities where there are 

 no foul-brood laws, or, if there are such 

 laws, they are poorly enforced. The forc- 

 inof plan will give us relief in such locali- 

 ities. The Rocky Mountain Bee Journal 

 ought to be credited with the honor of first 

 putting out this idea to the general public. 

 —Ed. J 



I THINK I understand now where we 

 stand, Mr. Editor. The forced swarm is 

 far and awaj' ahead of natural swarming, 

 and utter non-swarming would be still bet- 

 ter. So far, we go arm-in arm, and then 

 we part company, for 3^ou have given up in 

 despair chasing after the will-o'-the-wisp, 

 non-swafming, while I am still after it, 

 hotfoot. Good-by, old friend. [Yes, we 

 can go arm-in-arm pirt way. While you 

 go one way and I the other, let meassure 

 you that I shall reach the will-o'-the-wisp 

 as soon as j^ou, even if I am not looking 

 for it. "Good-b3s old friend," until — un- 

 til 3'ou get through chasing that phan- 

 tom of a strictly non-swarming race, and 

 then we'll go "arm-in-arm" again. Good- 

 by.— Ed.] 



Mr. Editor, that you should hold the 

 right use of Englis-h in such light esteem 

 as to favor for a time the use of the past 

 tense for the past participle "shook" my 

 confidence in your taste, if not your judg- 

 ment. I am now " shaken " in the secut ity 

 of my position by the force of 3'our logic, p. 

 933. and "forced" to admit that it is all 

 right to say " forced swarms." Long live 

 "forced swarms " ! [But I find I have to 

 force myself to cross out the word "shook" 

 and put "forced" in its stead. Somehow 

 the adjective "forced" does not quite fill 

 the bill. But, "allee samee, " I am in- 

 clined to keep on forcing mj'self until 

 "forced swarms" drives out of our col- 

 umns the terms you do not like. — Ed.] 



Editor Hutchinson has gone into ec- 

 stasies over the advantage of anticipating 

 swarming by shaking, and I don't much 

 wonder. One who has had experience with 

 natural swarms can hardly help crying 

 "Eureka" when he learns how far and 

 away the new-old has the start. But, 

 friends, please don't lose sight of the fact 

 that, just as much ahead as shaking is 

 over letting the bees have their own way, 

 just so far is it ahead of either to have no 

 swarming at all and no depletion of either 

 brood or bees to prevent swarming. Just a 

 few of you, at least, keep company with me 

 in the continued quest for non-swarming, 

 without sitting down half way between 

 that and natural swarming, satisfied with 

 forced swarms. 



" Why shouldn't a forced swarm that 

 has had two drives of bees be the equal of 

 the untinkered colony that never thinks of 

 swarming?" quoth ye editor, page 932. I 

 don't know, unless it be that the untinkered 

 colony is saved the labor of building an ex- 

 tra set of combs. Then the cost of two 

 tinkerings ought to be charged up some- 

 where. [Yes, it is true the cost of two 



tinkerings must be charged up somewhere; 

 but will not that charge be less than tin- 

 kering with a swarm in the air, chasing to 

 the top of an elm-tree to get it after it is 

 clustered? I have no faith that you will 

 ever get an untinkered swarm that will not 

 swarm. Of course, you will have isolated 

 cases every season, and a whole yard of 

 'em some seasons. — Ed.] 



When i had read, p. 931, that A. I. and 

 wife lived in that cabin in the woods be- 

 cause they didn't know whether it would 

 be their permanent summer home, the an- 

 swer came promptly from that same woman, 

 " But it's not the cabin/ It's the surround- 

 ings. What do they want to stay there for, 

 out in the woods, away from their folks? " 

 I said, "I don't know." [Mrs. A. I. R. 

 does not like to be away from her folks; 

 neither does A. I. himself. But he derives 

 real enjoyment out of his hobby, going back 

 to primitive life in a cabin — see Homes in 

 this issue. For many years of his life he 

 has been mixed up in the maelstrom of 

 business, the grinding and banging of 

 printing-presses, the whir of buzz-saws, the 

 click of typewriters, and the answering of 

 questions from emploj-ees and correspond- 

 ents. Well, to get out into the wild woods 

 of Michigan, with that absolute stillness 

 and the tonic of that pure air, away from 

 the nerve-destroyers of his Ohio factory, 

 away from the shriek of whistles and the 

 rumble of heavy trains is a great relief; 

 and we boys of younger years are glad to 

 give him this needed rest, although he ob- 

 jects somewhat to shoving all the burdens 

 of business on us. — Ed.] 



[Dear friends at Marengo, let me add to 

 what Ernest has said above, that up in the 

 Traverse region Mrs. Root and I find health 

 and happiness such as we have not known 

 here in Medina for many years. It is true 

 we are away from our friends here at home, 

 but, dear friend M., do you not think it 

 possible if not probable that God wants us 

 there? There is a lot of good people there. 

 Quite a bright little Sunda>^-school needs 

 help and eiicouragement, and a small body 

 of Christian people also; so can you not see 

 it is possible that God has work for us 

 there, even if w^e are away from friends? 

 At a recent Sunday-school convention for 

 Leelanaw County, I met a young man who 

 had just been converted. He was asked to 

 take an important position that he seemed 

 scarcely fitted for. He got up and said, 

 "I want to do whatever Christ Jesus wants 

 me to do;" and his face showed such a 

 kindly spirit while he spoke that all his 

 hearers in that little schoolhouse caught 

 an inspiration from him. I believe that all 

 of our child'-en who have paid us a visit up 

 there have owned up to the tonic effects of 

 that beautiful air in the great northern 

 lakes, as Ernest has it; and, dear friend, 

 if you and that "same woman" will come 

 up and make us a visit I think you "two" 

 will agree with us, especially when j'ou 

 get sick or worn out. Do not forget the in- 

 vitation. — A. I. R.] 



