152 



the; JsivrijRicaH WMn jqurnki,. 



second with a far-away look, then a 

 half-meditative and wholly good-na- 

 tured look steals over his face as he 

 saj-s, " True, O, King!" 



Do not understand that 1 think es- 

 sa}s have no value, but I think, all 

 things considered, a convention is bet- 

 ter without them. 



Marengo, Ills. 



[Now, Doctor, some may think you 

 called the Editor a brute, if we leave 

 it there. You should have explained 

 your Latin exclamation : " And thou 

 also, Brutus," or as we sometimes vul- 

 garly say, " Ditto." Oh, yes, we i-e- 

 member well manj' conventions with- 

 out essays which have passed off very 

 nicely, but as a general rule we be- 

 lieve it to bo far better to have a sub- 

 ject pi'esented in an essay to which the 

 writer has given some thought, and 

 then have the impromptu discussion 

 follow. We are glad to be able to dis- 

 agree with Dr. Miller once in awhile 

 just to give variety. Being so generally 

 correct, we cannot often find a chance 

 to do so. We usually have to replj', 

 "True, O, King," and there leave the 

 subject. — Ed.] 



BEGINNING. 



$»oinc Helps to Beginners in Bee- 

 Keeping. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY MRS. B. J. LIVINGSTON. 



Once upon a time, a gentleman was 

 getting up an excursion party to 

 visit various places of interest. Having 

 a friend experienced in such matters, 

 he applied to him for advice. Among 

 other things, his friend said, " Be sure 

 to take one fool along, to ask the 

 questions which the wise ones of your 

 party will be ashamed to ask." 



Now I supposed that would be my 

 position when I joined the great ex- 

 cursion party into Bee-Territory ; but 

 lo, before I can take my pen to ask 

 the question tliat is on its tip, some 

 kind guide volunteers to tell me just 

 what I wish to know. So, instead of 

 asking questions, 1 wish to express my 

 gratitude to those corresiJondents who 

 describe the details of the business so 

 patiently and persistently. 



If I had written a few weeks ago, I 

 should have given a lialf-dozen names 

 that I thought specially helpful ; but as 

 I begin to understand more and more 

 what the experienced are talking 

 about, each article is helpful. I hope 

 that they will not get wearied, but c;on- 



tinue to hold out the light towards 

 beginners. 



I suppose that I am not the only one 

 who, in bee matters, resembles the 

 bride in pie matters, viz : She wished 

 to surprise her Inisband with a pie of 

 her own make. She read in her cook- 

 book, " to make a crust, take equal 

 parts of lard or butter, and water, and 

 mix to a stiff paste." The poor thing 

 mixed the lard and water a long time, 

 without favorable results. -The direc- 

 tions never mentioned the^O!<r. Fellow 

 bee-keepers, that is why I like your 

 articles so well — you do not forget the 

 flour ! 



In my article on page 54, I spoke of 

 my friend's apiary, using, in my haste, 

 an unfortunate word. When I think 

 of her beautiful home, with the many 

 frame hives clustered cosily here and 

 there among the shrubbery, with all her 

 surroundings, showing such a highly 

 cultivated mind, one word should 

 have been left out. What I reallj' 

 meant was, that I saw no costly honey- 

 houses, bee-cellars, extractors, or the 

 thousand and one things considered as 

 great conveniences to those handling 

 bees. 



When her sections run out unex- 

 pectedly, I think she uses little boxes 

 from the stores, sawing out places for 

 a piece of glass, and fastening the 

 glass in place with paste and strips of 

 cloth or paper, so that she can see 

 what the pets are doing. She uses a 

 great many newspapers — I must see 

 her again and ask her about that ; 

 perhaps it is to shut in the bees, and 

 keep the propolis from the outside of 

 the boxes. 



Center Chain, Minn. 



MICHIGAN. 



Newaygo County Farmers' and 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



Writtai for the American Bee Journal 



BY GEO. E. HILTON. 



The Newaygo County Farmers' and 

 Bee-Keepers' Association met on Feb. 

 19, 1889, at Fremont, Mich. The at- 

 tendance being small in the morning, 

 the meeting was called to order at 1 

 p.m., by Vice-President T. H. Stuart, 

 and opened with praj'er by the Rev. 

 Mr. Hodges. Then followed the Sec- 

 retary's report of last meeting, which 

 was adopted as read. 



An essay on " Profitable Winter Care 

 of Stock," by Wilkes Stuart, was thor- 

 oughly practical, and we can point to 

 no better proof of his as.sertion than 

 his own stock. Rev. Mr. Tower made 

 some able and humane remarks on the 

 above subject, having spent a portion 

 of his life on the farm. 



Mr. Macumber did not think it paid 

 to feed stock or raise calves for sale in 

 this latitude, and tliought the straw 

 and grain fed w'ould bring more than 

 the stock. 



" Creamery," by T. H. Stuart, in- 

 troduced statistics showing that butter 

 was produced on the improved plans 

 for less than five cents per pound, and 

 that the cost of the plant was but 

 .f3,000. 



Mr. Olney was very much in favor 

 of a creamery, but would like to know 

 how much he was to receive for his 

 cream. 



Wilkes Stuart was in favor of a co- 

 operative creamery, and thought the 

 farming community should establish 

 the plant and reap the benefits. 



He had used the Fairlamb can and 

 liked it better because there was more 

 work about it ; he was satisfied that 

 all the cream would rise in six hours. 



Mr. Walker's experience corrobor- 

 ated with Mr. Stuai-t's, but he usually 

 let the cream stand 24 hours. Mr. 

 Walker attributed the scarcity of but^ 

 ter at the present time to the fact that 

 previous to the passage of the oleo- 

 margarine law compelling the manu- 

 facturer to brand and sell it as such 

 instead of butter, the country was 

 flooded with the spurious article to 

 such an extent that butter was forced 

 down to 10 cents per pound, and cows 

 were sold for beef, and had not yet 

 been replaced. 



"The Relation of Agriculture and 

 the Agriculturist to the Rest of Man- 

 kind," was treated by Thos. J. G. Bolt, 

 who championed the cause of the 

 farmer in words as strong as the En- 

 glish vocabulary contains. A much 

 better understanding of the object of 

 his paper was attained through a very 

 interesting exchange of throught be- 

 tween himself and the Rev. Mr. 

 Hodges, who plainly showed that he 

 knew what farm life was in Canada. 



"Little Things in Housekeeping," 

 by Mrs. P. W. Hall, was full of good 

 suggestions, and well received. 



SEOonsriD id-A-^st, 



"In the Adaptability of Bee-Keep- 

 ing for the Farm," bj- A. M. Alton, he 

 did not advise fruit-raising in connec- 

 tion with bee-keeping, as the busy sea- 

 sons both came at the same time. 



Mr. Gould asked if that did not hold 

 good in general farming. 



Mr. Alton concluded that in either 

 case the profits secured through the 

 bees more than balanced the losses. 



Mrs. Mallory thought the women 

 could care for the bees. 



Mr. Alton recommended farming less 

 land, and keeping some bees. 



