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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Nov. 8, 1900 



of tlu' ladder. The yoiiiiL^ man or womau who 

 would get up in the workl nowadays, as here- 

 tofore, must work — must climb. And after 

 doing all that is possible to merit success, 

 comijetitiou in many lines of the world's work 

 is so keen, that often it is well-nigh impossi- 

 ble to " Arise and shine." But the discour- 

 aged worker never gets very far ahead. 



We believe that along agricultural lines is 

 one of the best openings for the young man 

 or young woman who would make the most 

 of life, and also win the greatest success and 

 enjoy life to the fullest e.xtent. 



Watei' for Bees, says Dzierzon, in the 

 Lpzg. Bztg., is of very great importance in the 

 spring. He thinks the best way is to furnish it 

 in combs in the hive. Use a comb that has 

 never contained brood, and the comb will not 

 be injured thereby, no matter how long the 

 water stays in it. According to Dr. Dzierzon, 

 if you want to see how much the bees use. 

 give it to them in a comb, and then see how- 

 soon the comb is cleaned out dry. 



■ Age of Brood-Combs. — In one thing 

 the bee-keepers of this country seem to differ 

 from the rest of the world in considering that 

 age is a beneflt rather than a detriment to a 

 brood-comb. M. Brabant, in Le Progres 

 Apicole, laughs at the idea of brood-combs 10 

 years old. He says if the bee-keeper neglects 

 to renew them, the hees do not. Give, says 

 he, a set of old combs to a swarm, and watch. 

 After a few days the bees have torn down the 

 cells to the midrib, perhaps even gnawing 

 away the base, and building all new. 



American bee-keepers, in their turn, will 

 laugh at M. Brabrant, well knowing that comb 

 10 or 20 years old, if in good condition, will 

 be carefully cherisht by the bees, swarm or no 

 swarm. If bees are in the constant habit of 

 renewing comb before it is 10 years old (he 

 says such comb is a myth), they cover up 

 their tracks so carefully that they are never 

 caught in the act. At least not in this country. 



Perhaps Mr. Brabant would insist that 

 " locality '" has something to do with this 



matter 1 



*■ 



IlctI Clover and Bees. — S. P. C'uUey, 

 in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, discusses the 

 chance of getting bees with tongues long 

 enough, .so that the crop of red clover honey 

 may be harvested. He seems to favor work- 

 ing at the clover end of the prolilem, and 

 thinks it is a work for the specialist, and if 

 seedsmen can see enough money in it they 

 may reach the desired result. Editor Root 

 says his company are ready to offer a sub- 

 stantial reward for seed of red clover upon 

 which hive-bees can work, providing such 

 clover will reproduce its kind with constancy: 

 but referring to subsequent difficulties he 

 says: 



Even if we did get one variety of short- 

 tubed clover, our bees would go right in and 

 mingle the pollen of the red and short-tiilied 

 varieties, with the result that the next croj) of 

 seed would grow a long-tubed clover. If we 

 grow the one variety our neighbors would be 

 almost sure to grow the other. Here is a lit- 

 tle mountain in the way. If one were to at- 

 tempt to grow short-tubed clovers he would 

 have to get all his neighbors to raise the same 

 varieties, and here again we might encoimter 

 the difficulty that we have already experienced 

 in regard to alsike. 



I am not sure, after all, but the problem 

 would be easier solved by stretching the 

 tongues of vour bees. 



I Weekly Budget | 



Mr. F. Greinek, of Ontario Co., N. Y., 

 wrote us thus appreciatively, Oct. 27th : 



" The report of the proceedings of the Chi- 

 cago convention of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association is interesting indeed. It seems to 

 me it is the best report we ever had." 



Mr. G. M. DooIjIttle is pictured on the 

 first page of this niunber. He needs no intro- 

 duction to our readers. The engraving shown 

 is a new one which we had made last week 

 from his latest jihotograph, taken within a 

 month. So all can now see just how their 

 and our good friend looks on paper. We think 

 it is a most excellent jiicture of Mr. Doolittle. 



Mr. Walter S. Pouder, a large city honey- 

 dealer, in an article in Gleanings in Bee-Cul- 

 ture, says: '" I hope the day of putting honey 

 in barrels is past." Blessed hope. Then 

 when bee-keepers will use only the liest-made 

 tin cans, and not poorly-made ones, everybody 

 will be happy. The 60-pound tin can is a 

 winner for holding and shipping extracted 

 honey. 



Mr. E. S. Lovest, of Salt Lake Co., Utah, 

 writing us Oct. 24th, said: 



"The honey crop here this year, if we con- 

 sider the entire State, I think was only about 

 half of the ustial amount, and possilily not 

 over an average of .")0 pounils per colony. 

 While some run into the hundreds, many did 

 not get over 2.5 pounds to the colony. I appre- 

 ciate very much the dress, general appear- 

 ance, and contents, of the ' old reliable ' 

 American Bee Journal." 



Mr. J as. A. Stone, of Sangamon Co., 111., 

 wrote us as follows, Oct. 30th : 



" I am glad to see the picture of Father 

 Langstroth's monument in the Bee Journal, 

 and I think the words of the inscri]ition could 

 not be Itetter. We bee-keepers surely have 

 one poet in oin* ranks. 



•• Bees ha\'e workt a little all fall, and are at 

 it yet. as we have had no killing frosts so far. 

 Our bees were light, we thought, at Fair time 

 — the last week in September — but now they 

 are very heavy, so we will not have to feed 

 them." 



Own Land of Your Own. — Mr. T. B. 

 Terry is known almost everywhere in this 

 great country of ours as one of its leading 

 farmers. We have met him. and have heard 

 him speak to an audience. He knows several 

 things, and can tell all about them. Here is a 

 .sample of the kind of advice he writes for the 

 Practical Farmer — every boy should read it 

 ai:id i^rofit by it : 



Hold on to yoiu' land, friends, if you have 

 some. If you haven't any, it will be a good 

 thing to work for. It is inspiring actmilly to 

 own even a sitiall v'iece of land. Mr. (J. tells 

 how he traded an old watch. m_it worth a dol- 

 lar really. Un- a little piece of jioor laml when 

 he was a boy. And then his father said he 

 ]>aid too much for it. But he said he went 

 out <.)n that land, pooi- as it was. after it was 

 deeded to him, and it thrilletl himlhrii and 

 thru to thiidv he owned the ground he stood 

 on, away down to the center of the earth, 

 away up to the stars. Birds were sitting on 

 the branches of the trees, and singing — ?ds 

 trees and hin branches, and their songs never 

 sounded so sweetly to him bcff)re. It is a 



valuable ambition tor every young man. every 

 boy. to own a piece of land, if no more than an 

 acre. Save your money, boys, toward buying 

 some laml where you can make a little Garden 

 of Eden, your home when you get older. Per- 

 haps it would be well to put your money in 

 a good savings bank, and let it accumulate 

 until the right time comes for investing it. If 

 you loved the country, with its pure air and 

 sunshine, and quiet and independence, as 

 much as the writer does, you would never pay 

 one cent for tobacco or liqu<jr, but would save 

 everything iiossilile to be used in getting a 

 country home for your best girl and yourself. 

 I hardly ever talk with a business man in 

 town without finding out that he means to 

 get a farm to live on in his old age. Many 

 men working on a salary have said that, as 

 soon as they could pay for a good farm they 

 intended to change tlieir business. Most men 

 love the country, in summer at least; and in 

 many sections now it is easy to live on the 

 farm and get into a large place by electric 

 car readily. Thus, one can live in the best 

 place and have many of the advantages of 

 town within his reach. 



The Reformed Spelling used in the 

 American Bee Journal seems to be gaining a 

 foothold among its readers. Here is what 

 Dr. Miller wrote us last week: 



I wish to remark that I am suri>rised at the 

 effect the reformed spelling is having. I am 

 surprised to see so many who send questions 

 using it. C. C. Miller. 



We have often noticed that those who write 

 to us are rapidly falling into line, and are 

 naturally beginning to write their words as 

 they read and see them printed in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, It is strong evidence that 

 the spelling of the whole English language 

 could be reformed in a very few years it all 

 publications would unite for its success. But 

 we are willing to be among the leaders, and 

 let the rest follow- when they get ready to 

 do so. 



Little Miss Ethel Acklin was quite a 

 favorite at the late convention, with her songs 

 accompanied on the piano by herself. Her 

 picture graces a page in Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture. She is as winsome as can be, even 

 fascinating Dr. Mason, and tempting him to 

 race arouml in the hall during intermission. 

 Did we hear some one say that it doesn't take 

 very much in the feminine line to fascinate 

 the Doctor? Well, that may be true: but the 

 jovial Doctor and Miss Ethel were all right, 

 and helpt much to make the great convention 

 a completer success than it otherwise would 

 have been. 



While Sten<>g. of Gleanings in Bee-Cul- 

 ture, may sometimes seem a little exacting in 

 his criticisms, he is nevertheless a good critic 

 in the true sense of the word, and likes to 

 mention the good as well as the bad. Here is 

 his estimate of the report of the Chicago con- 

 vention now running in these columns: 



The prominent feature of the " Old Relia- 

 ble" just now is the report of tbe late Chi- 

 cago convention. This is doubtless the best 

 report of the best conventiou the bee-keepers 

 of this country ever had. The report alone is 

 worth all the i)aper costs for a year. 



Mr. C. a. Hatch, of Richland Co., Wis., 

 writing us Oct. 29th, said: 



•■There has been more than the usual 

 amoinit of feeding necessary this fall to pre- 

 pare liees f(ir the winter. 1 had plenty of 

 honey in the combs for mine, but one bee- 

 keeper reports feeding 3,000 pounds of sugar 

 for winter stores." 



