1907. 



voted to production. Less than one- 

 third of the population are employed 

 in gainful occupations. Perhaps this 

 with a consideration of "much" as 

 a relative term will aid Mr. L. in the 

 adjustment of his logic. He acknow- 

 ledges that "bees do lie dormant in 

 cells and they do rest hours at a time." 

 If they do that when the fields are 

 burdened with nectar and the combs 

 have ample room for freshly-gathered 

 loads, can we call them "eagerly in- 

 dustrious?" 



Bees have been continuously watch- 

 ed as Mr. L. desires, and all evidence 

 points to the truth of the assertion 

 that instead of improving each shin- 

 ing hour the field bees average only 

 from four to six trips a day. Stated 

 in another way, we may say that one 

 field bee gathers in one day enough 

 to support herself and perhaps five 

 others, adults or larvae. In a populous 

 colony we may consider the eating lar- 

 vae population as ten thousand, and 

 the adult population as, perhaps, sixty 

 thousand. Hence, if fifteen thousand 

 bees labor in the fields they will sup- 

 port the colony and a little to spare. 

 Of the adult population probably thir- 

 ty thousand are honey gatherers; 

 hence we have fifteen thousand work- 

 ers who will each gather five times 

 as much as she needs and it will all 

 be surplus. All of which is purely 

 speculative and is said only to show 

 that the individuals of colony need 

 not make many trips each in order 

 to make the aggregate results appear 

 "much." 



To put it into practical advice, make 

 your colonies big, just as big as you 

 can. 



Providence, R. I. 



AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 3 



ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE 

 DEACON. 



"You may raise money enough to 

 tunnel a mountain, but you cannot 

 raise money enough to hire a man who 

 i? minding his own business." 



Hardscrabble Favors Us with another 



Epistle — the First in Many 



Months. 



HARRY, OLD FELLOW, how 

 are you? Glad that you have 

 to rest now and then, gives 

 folks a chance to talk to you. News? 

 Oh, I don't know of much. Smoke 

 up? Sure! The fragrant weed is a 

 great solace, but I have urged my 

 boys to never learn to use it. 



Well, National affairs go along in 

 about the same old way. The "ins" 

 and "outs" are still at it. At San 

 Antonio the Independents were con- 

 spicuous by their absence. The 

 "bunch" ran things as usual and called 

 the action of the meeting "vindica- 

 tion." Ho! Ho! Ho! Feathered os- 

 triches are not the only kind which 

 hide their heads in the sand and then 

 feel "out of sight." Say, if there is no 

 advantage in being in control of the 

 National why do the supply men stick 

 so, and strive so artfully, to keep 

 their friends in power? Hadn't 

 thought of it? Hump! that comes of 

 keeping so all fired busy. Sure there 

 are some fine boys in office, none 

 finer. But some of them are too easy 

 and so blamed obliging they'd hate to 

 pain the devil. Ah, well, if the mem- 

 bers are content, let 'er rip. 



What ructions have been going on 

 since our last chat, and how many pet 

 theories you have bowled over. Time 

 has made some ravages in your ranks 

 too. The Progressive it seems finally 

 went down and out, and the Rural 

 was too good to live. Pity, that, for 

 Putnam worked hard and deserved 

 better treatment. He got out a manly, 

 progressive and independent paper 

 and it is a tough reflection on the in- 

 telligence of the boys that they did 

 not rally better for its support. D'ye 



