THE BEE-KEEPER' REVIEW 



123 



you, and success attends your every 

 undertaking; but when troubles come 

 thick and fast, one sorrow treading- 

 close upon the heels of another, when 

 friends prove false and fortune frowns, 

 and one hope after another is dashed 

 to the ground, how hard it then is to 

 stand up and be a man. 



But when is it that we most need to 

 be strong, hopeful and courageous? 

 Isn't it adversitj'^'s dark hour that 

 most requires us to exercise our manly 

 qualities? 



Do not cower before the network of 

 difficulties, disappointments, trials, 

 and sorrows that you will surely meet 

 in this world; meet them bravely, un- 

 ravel the tangled threads, be resolute, 

 persevere, trust in God, stand up and 

 be a man." 



As I look back over my past life I 

 can not help thinking how many times 

 I have been called upon to follow the 

 above advice; and how I have tried, to 

 the best of my abilit}', to follow it. 



iJni»<^*H<'»*« 



SOME SURPLUS EACH YEAR IS BETTER. 



In favor of spreading out, and es- 

 tablishing out-apiaries, it has been 

 argued that this plan lessens the 

 chances of having no surplus, as con- 

 ditions var}' greatly even in localities 

 quite near to each other. I think no 

 one disputes the correctness of this 

 view, but some have put it in this 

 light: Suppose that I have an apiary 

 at home and another ten miles away. 

 Suppose, still farther, that each al- 

 ternate year there is a good crop at 

 home, but a poor one at theout-j^ard, and 

 vice versa. The assertion is made that 

 just as much honey would be secured, 

 provided overstocking puts no figure, 

 if all of the bees were in one locality. 

 Supposing all this is granted, there 

 still comes up another point: Isn't it 

 better for a man to have some income 

 each year, than to gpt a very large 

 amount one year, and to be left desti- 

 tute the next? It won't answer to set- 



tle some of these questions with the 

 arithmetic. We must count in the 

 factor of human nature. When money 

 comes in by the hundreds or thousands 

 of dollars at a time, it is human nature 

 to be extravagant — to hope that next 

 year will be as prosperous. Extrav- 

 agant habits are formed, and when no 

 honey comes the next year, and the 

 money is gone, there is suffering, or, 

 at least, great inconvenience. Aside 

 from the fact that it is better to have a 

 steady income, year after year, I am 

 thoroughly convinced that more profit 

 will be secured, in the aggregate, if a 

 man owns several apiaries, scattered 

 about, than if he owns only one. 



THE PECULIARITIES OF FORMALIN GAS. 



Regarding the efficacy of formalin 

 gas for destroying the germs of foul 

 brood, Mr. France has mentioned that 

 bees hatched out of the cells of combs 

 that had been exposed to the gas. 

 Mr. France thought if the g'as could 

 not penetrate tlie cappings of brood 

 and destroy the bees just ready to 

 hatch, not much could be expected of 

 it in the way of destroying foul brood. 

 On the other hand, it was mentioned 

 several times at the bee conventions 

 last winter in New York, that the gas 

 had been used in hives of bees without 

 killing the bees. Right in this line is 

 an excellent article by Mr. J. E. John- 

 sor, of Williamsfield, Ills., published 

 in the last issue of the American Bee- 

 Keeper. The key note of the whole 

 article is contained in the following 

 words: "All bacteria, ferments and 

 fungi are of vegetable life, and should 

 be treated as plants. They neither 

 live nor die from the same causes as 

 animals. Some preparations will kill 

 both animal and vegetable life, but 

 usually not from the same cause or in 

 the same way." ■ 



It is easy for us to understand why 

 some preparation might kill animal 

 life but work no injury to vegetable. 



