January. 1919 



GT. RANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



29 



not say, honostlv I did not — ■" si do liners 

 themselves" as the uiu-outrollablo little 

 printed letters read! Always, I think, I 

 am in the mood for side liners. 



I once received a letter from a beginner 

 saying that the reading of various articles 

 by various successful beekeepers was ex- 

 ceedingly confusing and discouraging, as 

 there seemed to be such a great difference 

 of opinion among them, such a difference in 

 conclusions after long studying the same 

 problems. Whether this is more noticeable 

 in beekeeping than in allied lines of gen- 

 eral farming or stock raising, I can not say, 

 but am inclined to think it likely. There 

 are so very many things entering into bee- 

 keeping, besides merely having bees. Bees, 

 after all is said and done, are not domesti- 

 cated, and tho we may have learned some- 

 what of the complexities of their organisms, 

 the mysteries of their psychology, and the 

 laws of their reaction to environment, there 

 is still much more to learn. There are many 

 different things that affect them and their 

 behavior, and the amount of surplus honey 

 they store. 



But one can scarcely blame my befudiFed 

 beginner friend. One group says that 10- 

 frame hives are not large enough for win- 

 tering; another group says remove some of 

 these 10 combs for winter, and make the 

 bees really snug and comfortable. Some 

 proclaim the dire necessity for packing, oth- 

 ers scoff it. Some cry out against aster 

 honey for wintering; others report con- 

 tinued successful wintering on aster. Dr. 

 Miller says honey is unspeakably superior 

 to sugar for winter stores; Mr. Byer says 

 the reverse. Absorbents and upward venti- 

 lation have their adherents; sealed covers 

 have theirs. And nearly everybody has a 

 reason. 



But, dear beginners all, it takes all the 

 observation that can possibly be given the 

 subject, all the study, all the reporting, all 

 the comparison, all the- patient deduction, 

 and all the generous exchange of experience 

 to get anywhere near the point towards 

 which the industry is surely headed — the 

 more complete understanding of a wild 

 little insect and its ways under differing 

 conditions. In this more complete under- 

 standing lie the beekeeper's profits. 



* * * 



It is Dr. Phillips who says, and the say- 

 ing pleases the side liner: "It is probable 

 that the larger part of our present profes- 

 sional beekeepers began as amateurs, rather 

 than as farmer beekeepers, and, in all likeli- 

 hood, the extensive producers of the future 

 will be recruited from the suburbanites and 

 nature-lovers who now keep bees for the 

 enjoyment they get from them, with little 

 present thought of future gain." 



* * « 



One recent Sunday evening, returning 

 from a visit to a beekeeper who is working 

 out a wintering system that I hope to write 

 up soon, we found another well-known bee- 

 man awaiting us here at home — Mr. Geo. W. 



Williams, formerly of Somewhere in In- 

 diana. (It's not a secret — I've just forgot- 

 ten.) And what a good beekeeping, bee- 

 keeper, crop, price, war, and peace talk we 

 did have! Mr. Williams is as much in 

 earnest as ever about honey boosting, and is 

 full of hopes and plans for honey produc- 

 tion and the placing of honey in the class 

 of eatables that is regularly planned on by 

 the housekeeper, thus making it permanent- 

 ly profitable to produce. 

 » » * 



We have often fed sugar syrup, one part 

 water to two generous parts sugar, several 

 times 21/i and occasionally 2%, with neither 

 honey nor acid added, and have never ex- 

 perienced the slightest granulation. 

 » » » 

 GIFTS. 

 To Eugene Seeor, the Bee-Poet. 

 Oh, save not all your flowers for my grave, 

 Nor all your friendly courtesies vcithhold 

 Till I have gone, or grown, perhaps, too old 

 To care. 'Tis now I crave 



The winsome grace and beauty of the earth, 

 And gracious gallantries and genial mirth." 



Eeiterant thru all our hurried years, 



We hear (and make) this hungry human cry. 

 Till grateful hearts, forgetting to be shy. 



Bring gifts of flowers or tears — 



Or song perhaps, or some few awkward words 

 That flutter forth and fall like dumb dead birds. 



I too would bring my loyalties and gifts. 

 And lay them, one by one, before the tents 

 Of those I most would praise and reverence. 



(Ah me I my spirit lifts 



Such flame of splendid purposes on high — 

 Then forges little fragile gifts, that die.) 



This is for you. You will not put it by — 

 My little gift of semi-singing words. 

 My little flock of dumb, bewildered birds 



That neither sing nor fly. 



Thru timid silences or quavered notes 



Your soul will feiel the song in aching throats. 



O Singer of bees and blossoms. 



Yours is a kindly song; 

 Wherever it went, men's old content 



Grew straightway young and strong. 



Gay bees with their murmurous magic 

 Went humming across the pages — 



Their haunting rapture, who shall capture 

 Thru the singing ages? 



You sang of April's budding 



And .Tune in her shimmer and shine. 



Revealing glint and glowing tint 

 And glamour, line by line. 



You wandered the ways of beauty, 

 And we who would follow after 



Find lifted veils along. the trails. 

 And wings and living laughter. 



O Keeper of bees, and Lover 



Of flowers and books and song. 



You have woven well, for the charm and 

 spell, 

 Still echoing, drift along. 



When findeth Sonfj its ending? 



Song endeth never — never. 

 Its rmi-nc and dreaming, heart-swaying, go 

 streaming 



Forever and ever and ever. 



