238 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



by wliat the bees carry off, how comes it that 

 the milk product of the non-deprived red clover 

 is so greatly inferior, both in quality and quan- 

 tity, to that of the incessantly despoiled white ? 

 Here is a fair test, open to every one anxious to 

 search out the " secret things of nature." The 

 facts, too, are so palpable and plain that even a 

 Wenhamite of the tv o-thirds order might be 

 expected to draw some pretty conclusive infer- 

 ences from them. 



Obviously the milk producing qualities of a 

 plant do not depend on the retention or ab- 

 straction of the saccharine matter secreted or 

 excreted in the nectary of the blossom. That 

 is the mere excess — the foison — which the plant 

 no longer needs. Whether the sun dries it up, 

 or the rains wrsh it off, or the bees carry it away, 

 the result is all the same in the milkpan — though, 

 in default of the latter, the difference would be 

 considerable in the hive and the honeypot. 



The Spider and the Bee: or, look not 

 on outward appearanca. 



A FABLE. 



[For the American Beo Journal.] 



Patent Monopoly.— Langstroth's Hive. 



I have rarely been more deeply interested in 

 any article ihan in that Avhich appears on page 

 219 of the present volume of the Bee .Iouunal, 

 in relation to the hive invented by Mr. Lang- 

 stroth. That he should now, after fourteen 

 years faithful labor, be actually poorer than 

 Avhen he first began the work, does not speak 

 well for the honesty of American bee-keepers. 

 One thing that strikes me most forcibly is the 

 seeming ignorance of most of th'i writers in the 

 Bee Journal in regard to the points in which 

 we are indebted to Mr. Langstroth. I have ex- 

 amined the subject with a good deal of care, and 

 am fully convinced that every man who uses 

 comb frames consiructed and arranged as in 

 the Langstroth hive, is using that which does 

 not belong to him. And yet we find men dis- 

 cussing the merits of different liives, and con- 

 trasting them with Langstroth's, while at the 

 same time these ver)^ hives owe their most val- 

 uable feature to Langstroth's ingenuity. I 

 know that diffjrenccs of shape, material, and 

 interior arrangement, may properly be the sub- 

 ject of discus-ion and comparison Avith Lang- 

 stroth's form. But in this discussion we are 

 too apt to forget that to Mr. Langstroth we owe 

 that which is far more imjiortant than any mere 

 form or arrangement. Take away from our 

 bee-keepers the knowledge of the movable 

 frames, and where would we be ? 



I have no pecuniary interest in the matter. 

 I am not even personally acquainted with Mr. 

 Langstroth. I speak in simple justice to a 

 worthy man, to whom we all owe a deep debt 

 not only o^ gratitude but of cash. Can we not 

 afford to be honest ? 



John PniN, 

 Professor of Agriculture, 

 Pennsylvania Agricultural College. 



BY ELLEN llOBERTS. 



It chanced a Spider and a Bee 

 Once settled on the selfsame tree, 

 And then began a warm debate 

 Which could the fairer work create. 



The Spider boasted, none so well 

 Of geometric form could tell. 

 Or could so cunningly design 

 How squares with circles should combine. 

 She said the webs she daily wove 

 Her skill, in this respect, would prove ; 

 And, farther, from her own slight frame 

 The silken threads to spin it came. 

 Whereas the honey of the Bee 

 Was stolen from each flower and tree ; 

 Nay, that she was obliged, indeed. 

 To borrow from the humblest weed. 



The Bee replied, she never thought 

 Such charge against her could be brought ; 

 That as to stealing honey sweet 

 From every flower she chanced to meet, 

 Her skill was so conspicious here, 

 She'd nothing from such charge to fear. 

 So delicately she distill'd, 

 And her slight bag with honey fiU'd, 

 That never had a fiovver complained 

 That by her means its juice was drained 1 

 No leaf had been at any cost. 

 As to the webs the Spider spun, 

 Uar comb? as skilfully were done. 

 Indeed the merits of her cause 

 Might rest on mathematic laws ; 

 For these were never disobey'd 

 In any hexagon she made. 

 But, what was chiefly on her side, 

 Her works were usefully applied ; 

 She labor'd for the public good, 

 And stored her cells for winter's food. 



Taught by this fable, let us aim 

 At virtue, rather than at fame ; 

 Caught by no outward show or glare. 

 Appearances may promise fair ; 

 The dazzling are not always bright, 

 But glitter with delusive light ; 

 Let's estimate things by their use 

 Not the efl'ect they can produce. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Transferring Combs. 



Mr. Editor :— The following I find is a bet- 

 ter way of transferring combs from box hives 

 to frames, than any I^have seen described. 



Cut strips of thick and strong hardware paper, 

 or such as paper flour bags are made of, and 

 tack across the frames horizontally and verti- 

 cally. Turn over the frame and adjust the 

 comb in it ; tack other strips across, and the 

 work is done. The strips should be about half 

 an inch wide. After using these once, no one 

 will return to strings. John M. Piuce. 



Buffalo Ghove, Iowa. 



