1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



73 



As shown by the foreg'oiug. we have 

 not had a very encouraging response to 

 our request for letters from our amateur 

 friends. Perhaps it will be better to 

 allow each correspondent to select his 

 own subject in the future. We shall 

 continue to keep the Amateur Depart- 

 ment open for those who desire to pat- 

 ronize it ; though it will be useless to 

 obligate ourselves to pay a stipulated 

 amount each month if there are not claim- 

 ants for the prizes. If any of our read- 

 ers have anything upon whicli they 

 think they can write a letter which will 

 be of interest to others, they are cordially 

 invited to send in the matter for publi- 

 cation ; and we shall be pleased to pay 

 for all good matter received, if available. 



LOSS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS. 



East Thorndike, Me., Feb.. 1901. 



About a year ago I wrote a little article 

 as an amateur bee-keeper which appeared 

 in The American Bee-keeper, giving 

 my experience etc. In a later number 

 Mr. Doolittle made some comments on it. 

 I very much appreciated his commenda- 

 tion and words of encouragement. No 

 beginner or small bee-keeper who reads 

 his articles and heeds his teachings can 

 tail to profit by the lessons presented in 

 his happy style on that subject he is so 

 familiar with and so interested in. 



Last winter and spring were very dis- 

 astrous in this section of the country to 

 bee-keepers of all classes. Nearly fifty 

 per cent, of the bees died, and the sum- 

 mer proved a poor honey season. The 

 honey supply was very meagre ; many 

 who usually market a considerable 

 amount of honey failed to secure enough 

 for their own tables. As spring was 

 nearing, the condition of some of my 

 bees caused anxiety ; but the weather 

 being unfavorable, as I thought, for 

 thorough examination and feeding. A 

 delay of a few days brought a fine, soft 

 day, and I proceeded to examine some 

 colonies, when, lo. and behold, nearly 

 forty per cent, of my small stock of bees 

 had ceased to be I When the effect of 

 the shock had slightly subsided, I was on 

 the point of taking the pen for the pur- 

 pose of mingling my tears with those of 

 other disconsolate bee-keepers, and to 

 join the boo-hoo chorus ; but in a little 

 delay that occurred, hope sprang up and 

 I directed my attention to the remaining 

 bees. One colony was considerably re- 

 duced in numbers ; while they had a 

 .sufficient quantity of honey, it was in a 

 bad condition, being solidly candied, so 

 much so that the bees seemed to make 



little impression on it. The comb in 

 some of the frames was badly moulded. 

 My first move was toplaceaclean, empty 

 hive beside the hive to be handled. I 

 then removed the mouldy empty combs, 

 shaking the bees into the new hive, un- 

 capped the honey and gave it a slight 

 heating before the stove to in a degree 

 licjuefy the candied houey. This last pro- 

 cess caused some doubt in my mind as to 

 whether it would have met the approval 

 of an expert bee-keeper. However, no 

 harmful result was noticed. I closed the 

 bees upon six frames, tucked the cushion 

 up, making everything snug and waited 

 for suitable weather in which to feed. I 

 improved every opportunity to feed and 

 had satisfaction in seeing a marked im- 

 provenn-nt from the time of the change 

 from the old to the new hive, until the 

 bees began to fly. 



Though naturally pleased with the re- 

 sult, I then resolved that when fall 

 should come around again, I would make 

 doubly sure that the bees should be 

 amply provided for in every respect for 

 the trying seasons of winter and spring. 

 J. F. Heath. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



The Cosmopolitan for April has an article 

 by Lavinia Hart in which she ably discusses What 

 constitutes the ideal wife. It is said that the 

 powers of either man or woman are developed five- 

 fold by working with a life companion who is in 

 entire harmony. The ideal wife as a rule has it in 

 her power to make the ideal husband. 



The Sattrhay Evening Post has, for early 

 publication, a short, stirring serial, entitled The 

 Outcasts, written by Mr. VV. A. Frazer, author of 

 Mooswa and Others. The Outcasts are an old buf- 

 falo and a wolf-dog, and a greater part of the story 

 is about the strange comradeship and striking ad- 

 ventures of thes3 companions, and their pilgrimage, 

 in company, to the distant plains of deep grass, 

 which the wolf-dog knew. There are action, 

 and strength of word and phrase in the story, and 

 the touch of the soil and the music and charm and 

 sornbreness of the forest. The rush of the frenzied 

 buffalo herd to death is told with splendid dramatic 

 power. The plan of the book is a unique concep- 

 tion, and is worked out on novel and entertaining 

 lines. 



The Laj)IES' Hume Journal for April contains 

 Richard Harding Davis's The Princess Aline in 

 dramatized form, illustrated by Charles Dana (iib- 

 son. The Beautiful Jewess VVho was Called the 

 Princess of her People, and The Lovers of a Cheer- 

 ful Giver are two other articles of interest in the 

 same issue. Miss Griscom, the American woman 

 golf champion, shows How (iolf is Played in a 

 series of photographs! Edward Bok further empha- 

 sizes the value of simpler living, and Helen Wat- 

 terson Moody offers guidance through The First 

 Tragedy in a Girl's Life. A Stucco Country House 

 for *7. 500; A Shingled Country House for *'2.500, 

 and horns Artistic Little Homes have a practical 

 value to those planning to build homes. There are 

 three short stories by (ielett Burgess, VV. A. Frazer 

 and Laura Spencer Porter, and Elizabeth Stuart 

 Phelps's, The Successors of Mary the First, is con- 

 cluded. \V. L. Taylor's painting. The Ham-raising 

 as a Social Event, worthil}- fills a whole page. 



