<•.(■. 



THE AMERICAX BEE-KEEPER 



April 



blood last fall, so it does not look as were bees very near, or in the same 



.though we should pet all out of pure yard of another kind. Yours, 



stock even if it were not mated in con- Chas. W. Cilley. 



finement, but I hope to see it done that 



way, for it would then be a sure thing P. S. — My bees wintered well. 



and a great saving in labor where there C. W. C. 



I 



Dear Brother Hill: 



American 



Bee 

 then 



Did you read the 

 Journal for February 13? If not 

 just hear what "Old Grimes" had to 

 say about me. "Bee-keeping is surely a 

 new wrinkle" — after all my years 

 at it, "When John was married to his 

 first wife" — what do you suppose he 

 has been drinking? — "See here Mr. 

 Grimes your bees are eating up all our 

 grapes" — never called him mister in 

 my life — then he goes on to tell how I 

 "tired away $3 worth of powder and 

 shot" to save $3 worth of grapes, kill- 

 ing a lot of linnets, orioles, etc., and 

 then tells how he used to shoot king 

 birds — I'd like to have seen him. He 

 winds up with these words — -"And then 

 a deacon in the church — you must have 

 fallen in. John." Phew! Now I know 

 why he never even fell into a church. 

 Why I haven't lived near him since we 

 were boys. And it stretches my smile 

 to Us utmost to hear him talk about 

 birds. Bless his dear soul, he never 

 could tell a linnet from a sparrow, or 

 a tanager from a cardinal bird; and 

 when he talks about shooting the lit- 

 tle fellows I've a mind to tell voti how 



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SEZRIEZSl 



many hours he spent trying to shoot 

 some of the bright feathered ones for 

 his best girl's hat. However let me tell 

 you in a quiet aside that she always - 

 had to buy what she wore. I wonder if 

 he never heard that most of the small 

 birds that are killed are shot because 

 there is a big demand for them for mil- 

 linery purposes. Wonder if he ever 

 heard of the Audubon Society which is 

 trying to educate women of fjur land 

 above such savage customs? 



Bully for W. W. McNeal! He and W. 

 S. Hart are after the chief danger to 

 extracted honey. Boost 'em along. 



I got a letter t'other day from a droll 

 chap up in the Keystone state who is 

 too bashful to give his name but just 

 signed "Nim Crinkle." The "Crinkles" 

 were there all right. First he is living 

 in the days of the old Mutual .Admira- 

 tion Society and seems to think it still 

 exists. Because some contributors are 

 given precedence and are unduly prais- 

 ed (we'll agree with him there) he 

 thinks certain bee papers "are rotten to 

 the core" and that the editors "can't 

 tell an honest man when he is pointed 

 out." He goes on to say that if some 

 of the boys do as they say they do and 

 at the same time keep up the same 

 amount of writing, they would need 600 

 days in each year and a wife and ten 

 children (who don't count) to do what 

 "one man does alone" in 365 days. Nim 

 is not so far off there, is he? Then 

 Nim gets after that Chicago editor and 

 asks what he knows about bee-keeping 

 from experience. That's a poser, isn't 

 it? Well, Nim must remember that in 

 spite of short comings in the editorials 

 and a meagre knowledge of geography, 

 and inability to always find room, for 

 the dates of letters and a dozen or so 



