188 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



August 



cause I said that issue was good, for 

 I didn't say so — I said it was "great 

 stuff." 



What d'ye thiulc o' the latest queen 

 from Texas? Oh, but she's a Bowerv 

 Maid! 



June Review, seen It? Just Mhat 

 d'ye suppose Bro. Hutch was a tryin' 

 to do? Advertised a patent nostrum 

 at one end of the paper and told how 

 not to need it at tother. Just a trifle 

 rough on the advertiser. 



In another place says the busy cuss 

 has the most time. Um! Guess that's 

 so. Cogitates on the passing of the 

 old boys: 

 "Some lie beneath the churchyard 



stone, 

 And some before the speaker." 



Ponders on moralizing mortals and 

 urges being more infantile: 

 "With a smile that is child-like and 

 bland." 



Goes an gets an extra touch on his 

 boot heel. I've been "touched" myself. 



Says in the extra touch lies the 

 profit. 



Yes. jest so. 



Reflects on wind power for hive 

 making. Used largely for reputations 

 also. 



Hast seen Progressive (?) for June? 



Say, their compositor must a had 

 what Yon Yonson calls the yim-yams. 

 Why, the types even made sense 

 where there warn't none, and they 

 jest plum murdered some of the copy. 



"Though an angel should write, still 

 'tis a devil must print." 

 "And you can't think what havoc 



these demons sometimes 

 Choose to make of one's sense and 

 what's worse of one's rhymes." 



Ever been to Pennsylvania? Place 

 there called Swarthmore. Noted for 

 its dental college and "Queens" that 

 excell in proliflcness, size, hardiness 

 and Gentility. 



Gentlemanly queens warranted not 

 to smoke, drink or swear. Blondes 

 or Itrunettes. wings cut entrain or 

 bias. Married or single as desired. 

 Assorted sizes. 



Say. Harry, I now send my queens 

 and di'ones up in a balloon to a high 

 altitude — that's pretty far up. The 

 wedding in the heavenly ether con- 

 duces to the development of that aes- 

 thetic "torte" and style which charac- 

 terizes my queens; and their offspring 

 surcharged with ambition fix their 

 eyes on the toj) round of the ladder, 

 tie their wagons to a star and slide 



down the broad highway of honeyed 

 prosperity. 



Output limited but I supply my 

 friends while they (the friends) last 

 at $5 each. This is merely for their 

 accommodation. 



Them as give men what they really 

 want are the men who are crowned 

 with honor and are clothed with 

 riches. 



"The jingling of the guinea helps 

 the hurt that honor feels." 



No, no. Harry, my boy; I'm not a 

 thinkin' of nobody in particular. 



"In men whom men pronounce as ill, 

 I find so much of goodness still; 

 In men whom men pronounce divine, 



I find so much of sin and blot; 

 I hesitate to draw the line 

 Between the two where God has 

 not." 



— Joaquin Miller. 



Yours as ever, 



John Hardscrabble. 



A NOVICE'S QUESTIONS. 



The following questions have been 

 received from a recent subscriber, who 

 should provide himself with a text- 

 book on bee culture. 



Please tell me how I can tell robber 

 bees from others, and also how is the 

 best wa.v to stop robbing? If I should 

 send for Italian queens for my hiA'es 

 how would I get them in among the 

 bees ? 



In bee-keeping literature "robbers" 

 is a technical word frequently met 

 with, and has reference to the bees 

 from other colonies which sometimes 

 attack weak or queeuless colonies 

 and by force carry away to their own 

 hives the honey the invaded hives 

 ma.v contain. When robbing is in 

 progress there is always a great com- 

 motion about the enti'ance of the hive 

 ])eing robbed. A little experience will 

 enable the beginner to identif.v rob- 

 bers and distinguish Them from bees 

 legitimately engaged in honey gath- 

 ering, or those playing about the en- 

 trance of their own hive. It is not 

 difficult to tell whether a bee is loaded 

 with honey or whether she has an 

 emi)t.v honey sac. The laden ones are 

 much larger about the abdomen, and 

 by reason of their load present a 

 semi-transparent appearance. If bees 

 are seen to be rushing in and out of 

 the entriXnce, the loaded ones coming 

 out and the empty ones going in: if 



