AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



551 



Sof teiie«l Feoliiigs need not always, 

 or at any time, be --soft feelings." Bro. 

 Hutchinson refers to something of the kind 

 in his comments about the St. Joseph con- 

 vention, on page 56:1 He truthfully says : 



We are a band of brothers; but some- 

 times some of us get to feeling a little edge- 

 wise towards some of the brethren. We 

 think there is good reason for it, and per- 

 haps there is ; but when we meet the offender 

 face to face, take him by the hand, sit by 

 his side and see an honest soul shining out 

 of his eyes, we find our emnity melting 

 away. It would not surprise me if several 

 people went away from St. Joseph with a 

 better opinion of somebody else than they 

 had when they came. For this alone, the 

 meeting is worth all it cost. 



We want to say that we think Bro. 

 Hutchinson is just right in the above. 

 When we all sang together that very ap- 

 propriate closing song, " Blest be the Tie," 

 we thought we could almost imagine an 

 occasional tear on some of the faces. We 

 certainly felt it was indeed "good to be 

 there," and sad to " asunder part." 



Yes, Bro. H. has expressed it exactly, in 

 the above paragraph. We can recall sev- 

 eral people that we met at the convention, 

 for whom we shall hereafter have a higher 

 esteem. Indeed, the " social part of a con- 

 vention " is a mi(j?t(y bitj part ! 



^l\: au<l Mrs. I>. t>. Siiiitli, and 



little son Leonard, who are bee-keepers in 

 Jewell, Kans., have been visiting Beeville, 

 Tex., where Mrs. Atchley lives. They are 

 seeking out a home in that part of " Sunny 

 Southland." We hope they may be en- 

 tirely successful and satisfied. 



Xlie Ne\»- l*ei-colafor Feeders. — 



On page 437 we reprinted Dr. Miller's de- 

 scription of " Feeding Simplified," followed 

 by Bro. E. R. Root's comments and experi- 

 ments. In the next number of "Gleanings " 

 we find something more about it, showing 

 that Mr. Root believes Dr. Miller's dis- 

 covery is " one of the most valuable ideas, 

 in the line of feeding, that have been pro- 

 posed in many a year.'' Here is the most 

 important part of the editorial to which we 

 refer : 



We have been making some quite exten- 

 sive experiments in the line of feeding, on 

 the percolator idea. I am happy to an- 

 nounce that it is a success ; but we get alto- 

 gether the best results with the crock, a few 

 folds of cheese-cloth, and the plate. We 

 have fed a good many colonies by the gal- 



lon-crock plan. Into each crock, by meas- 

 ure, we put equal parts of granulated sugar 

 and cold water. The mixture is then stir- 

 red, after which several folds of cheese- 

 cloth are laid over the mouth of the crock. 

 A dinner-plate is set on top, and the whole 

 is inverted, and set over the colony. 



At first the bees show a disposition to 

 take the feed down slowly ; but after a 

 little they "catch on," and will empty out 

 a crock in from 24 to 4S hours; but in 

 nearly every instance there will be a very 

 slight residue of sugar clinging to the bot- 

 tom of the crock. This does no harm on 

 the subsequent feeding; for more sugar 

 and water are put in. and the operation is 

 repeated as before. If you desire to have 

 every particle of the sugar used up in one 

 feed, put the requisite quantity of sugar 

 itself into a cheese-cloth bag, tie its mouth, 

 drop it into the crock, and fill it with water. 

 In a day or two, both the sack and the 

 crock will be empty ; and not only that, but 

 nice, clean and dry. 



We have been trying the Miller feeders 

 by pushing folds of cheese-cloth up under 

 the partitions. But we find it is difficult to 

 get the cloth properly tucked in so that in 

 all cases the sugar and water will percolate 

 properly. Although we have fed a good 

 many colonies with Miller feeders on the 

 percolator plan, we very much prefer the 

 crock. I am rather glad that the crock 

 gives the better results. It may spoil the 

 ftuppbj dealer.'^' demand for feeders ; but 

 every bee-keeper will have in the house just 

 the very articles that will make the best 

 feeders in the world, without a cent outlay 

 or expense. 



Now that we have given the percolator 

 feeders a good trial. I do not hesitate to say 

 that Dr. Miller has contributed one of the 

 most valuable ideas, in the line of feeding, 

 that have been proposed for many a year. 

 It will save daubing up the good wife's 

 stove, the handling of dripping feeder-cans, 

 and the carrying of water, incorporated in 

 the old-fashioned syrup, to out-yards. By 

 the new idea, during the worst robbing 

 time it is possible to carry a barrel of gran- 

 ulated sugar out into the center of the 

 apiary, and give colonies their doses of 

 food, made up of sugar and cold water, 

 right in the middle of the day. There will 

 be no robbers to speak of. Before the syrup 

 has actually been made, it is enclosed in 

 the feeders, in the hives. Then, too, this 

 pei'colator syrup, if good authorities are 

 correct, will not crystallize. 



A Koiuiciil lioiiiposifioii.— Last 



winter we attended an entertainment 

 called "The Deestrick Skule," given by a 

 certain chapter of the Epworth League here 

 in Chicago. The following " Komposition " 

 was written and read by our esteemed 

 friend, Mr. Thos. R. Cone, who took the 

 part of "Ruben Rubenstuff er " — one of the 

 scholars who lived in the "deestrick." He 

 was so badly afllicted (?) with stuttering 



