tained there as unmailable, and reminded 

 their clerks tiiat there tlie postmaster had 

 decided witiiin a montii to let bees pass, as 

 Jie had received no orders not to receive 

 them. I liad paid letter postage on those 



Eackages, and they had no more right to 

 reak the wrapper than tliey liave to open 

 my letters. Government officers go on the 

 principle that " might makes right," and so 

 we have to put up with it. 1 told them that 

 I had been sending bees through the mails 

 for 15 years, and they had just found out 

 that bees were not mailable. This new 

 order won't injure the trade much, as I can 

 find a way to get queens to my customers at 

 very little expense. A dozen queens can be 

 sent by expresss about as cheap as by 

 mail, and rather more safely. 



Let the bee-keepers of the country pile in 

 the petitions to Congress until we get relief. 

 Don't let up, until we get what we want. — 

 Bring the subject before the Corwention, in 

 October. By the way, friend Newman, 

 while we think of it, can't those who intend 

 to visit the Convention to do the talking, go 

 prepared to commence business as soon as 

 the Convention opens ? We don't want to 

 attend another Quaker meeting, like the one 

 last year. No one knew where to begin, 

 and we were kept awaiting for the officers 

 to put in an appearance. Be on hand Mr. 

 Secretary and Mr. President, and let us 

 have a large attendance. H. Alley. 



"Wenham, Mass., Aug. 13, 1878. 



[We hope all who can will attend the Na- 

 tional Convention, as many points of vital 

 importance will come up for discussion. 

 The next Convention will be in the West, 

 as agreed at the last Convention— and thus 

 early we Inform all concerned, that we pro- 

 pose to try to get it appointed at Chicago, 

 or at least in some Western city.— Ed.] 



Chips from Sweet Home. 



Dr. N. FI. Derr, has just given me a fra- 

 ternal call, also an idea which I must give 

 you, viz.: To ship comb honey in a car 

 safely, make a strong platform 6 inches nar- 

 rower and 2 ft. shorter than the car inside; 

 have this hang 2 in. or more from hettom of 

 car by a number of 3^ in. rods attached at 

 the top of the sides of the car and platform 

 by cock-eyes, these would allow the plat- 

 form which contains the honey to swing 

 back and forth whenever bumped. Has 

 such ever been tried? What are the objec- 

 tions to it? Would the railroad company 

 ship our irons and platform back to us free? 

 Would you put springs at each end; if so 

 what kind would be best, and the cost? 

 The platform can be made strong and cheap 

 and given away at the end of the route; the 

 irons can be packed in a box and returned 

 as freight. The cock-ej'es can be made with 

 a coarse thread and screwed in the timber. 



"OUK HOMES," IN GLEANINGS. 



Just as you all might expect, and from 

 past experience, I knew Novice would try 

 10 make right any wrong that he had done, 

 so he made a correction from " Perhaps a 



half dozen similar letters," to " Perhaps, I 

 should have said letters from a half dozen 

 different persons." Now, Novice, we would 

 still follow up and have you correct this, 

 but fear it would take too much valuable 

 space in the American Bee Journal ; 

 not that we fear of using valuable space in 

 " Our Homes." 



There is much of " Our Homes " that we 

 like, and like R. Wilkin, only object to the 

 " superstitious " part. 



In "Our Homes" of July, 1877, Novice 

 did fill it with good sense, and for once left 

 out the superstitious part. It pleased me so 

 well that I at once wrote him how well I 

 was pleased, and to show my pleasure in a 

 more substantial and lasting way, I offered 

 him a half dozen Sweet-Home raspberry 

 plants. In answer to which he says, on 

 card of Aug. 1, 1877 : " Thanks for offer of 

 berry plants. Would be very glad of them." 

 1 sent them, and March 22d, 1878, he wrote 

 me: "Accept thanks for the plants sent 

 us. We will plant and care tor them, and 

 report in Gleaninqs, if we can remember 

 it." O. K. Now, Novice, if you will give 

 us an article in " Our Homes '"' upon being 

 honest, truthful, or hiiving government in 

 our fdmUies, without any superstition, I 

 will send you a grape vine of Early August, 

 which ripen-i from the 12th to the 15th ot 

 August witli us. Yesterday, August 12, we 

 took some to Muscatine, and they were pro- 

 nounced good by all who tasted and judged 

 them. They ripen two weeks sooner than 

 any variety we have. The vine is perfectly 

 hardy, and never has winter-killed. — 

 Growth of the vine is similar to the Con- 

 cord. Leaf large and round. Berries 

 larger than Concord, but not quite as good 

 flavor, slightly foxy, bunch compact, from 

 6 to 12 berries in a bunch. We have none 

 for sale, but we will send one to Novice 

 upon the above conditions. We have writ- 

 ten Novice three letters in reference to 

 "Our Homes." If he will print them in 

 "Our Homes" verbdtirn, I will send him 

 one Early August. Novice, when you go to 

 fill up "Our Homes," think of what three 

 wise and good men have said, viz : Jesus. 

 —"And as ye would that others should do 

 to you, do ye even so to them." Zoroaster 

 flourished in Persia about .500 years before 

 Christ, and said : " Hold it not meet to do 

 unto others what thou wouldst not have 

 done to thyself. Do that unto the people 

 which, when done to thyself proves not 

 disagreeable to thyself." Confucius, who 

 was born on the 19th day of June, B. C. 551, 

 gave, among other good and wise maxims : 

 " Do unto another what you would he 

 should (io unto you ; and do not unto 

 another what you would not should be done 

 unto you. Thou needest only this law 

 alone ; it is the foundation and principle of 

 all the rest." 



Novice, if you had read the above wise 

 and good sayings, you certainly would not 

 have been so hypocritical as to say in " Our 

 Homes" of Aug.. " At the time, I was not a 

 believer in the Bible, or at least T claimed I 

 ivns not, and he seemed to rejoice when he 

 had discovered the /act." In the fourth 

 column, of " Our Homes " of August, Novice 

 says : " If you were crossing a stream, and 

 should see the water coming down all roiled 



