1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



t»7 



It is our rare pi'ivilege this month 

 to have a case of measles against 

 which to charge any editorial 

 shortcomings. 



Under favorable conditions suc- 

 cess is easy; but it takes pluck and 

 energy to transform adverse condi- 

 tions into something which will 

 contribute to our success. 



Any one having copies to spare 

 of the January and February num- 

 bers, current volume American Bee- 

 keeper, will oblige us by returning 

 them to the publishers We will 

 advance your subscription three 

 months for each one. 



The Canadian Bee Journal, in its 

 March number says that reports 

 of indoor wintering continue favor- 

 able; but that the bees wintered 

 outside have had "a pretty stilf 

 winter," and that they have had no 

 fly since early in December. 



In an unpublished communication 

 now in hand, the author intimates 

 that if queen-breeders could pro- 

 duce bees with tongues approximat- 

 incr the lenarth of the would-be 

 vendor's tongue, there would be no 

 difficulty about their reaching nec- 

 tar — well, say, in the bottom of a 

 churn. 



When a queen- breeder offers as 

 his greatest inducement to buyers 

 to send out queens from a mother 

 valued at fifty, one hundred, two 

 hundred, five hundred or a thousand 

 dollars, he should be regarded with 

 suspicion. If he is not a fakir pure 

 and simple, he is not what he ap- 

 pears to be in the eyes of the honest 

 business world. 



L. L. Skaggs, in /Southland 

 Queen, admonishes his readers to not 

 depend on the cardboard now fur- 

 nished with some mailing cages, as 



a means of having the queen releas- 

 ed in the proper time. Strong col- 

 onies, he says, will tear it off at 

 once, while weak ones will hardly 

 touch it at all. Indeed, this is 

 about what any one of experience 

 would expect. 



Mr. N. L. Stevens, Vice-president 

 of the New York State Association, 

 under date of April 6th, wi'ote: 

 "Although bees were confined in 

 this locality about four months, the 

 loss will not be so heavy as antici- 

 pated; and, unless augmented by 

 spring dwindling, I do not think it 

 will be above the average." Mr. 

 Stevens took occasion to say some 

 very complimentary things about 

 The Bee-keeper, when writing, 

 for which he has our thanks. 



From a few of the first of the 

 Hardscrabble series of letters, the 

 initial one of which appears in this 

 number, we do not hesitate to 

 promise our readers something rare 

 in the way of a humorous digest of 

 current beedom. To those who 

 will draw a focus upon the Deacon's 

 quill and observe its alternate dip- 

 pings into honey, ink and gall, it 

 will become evident that he is an 

 old and close observer of bee- 

 keeping affairs. 



"I am very anxious to know how 

 soon all danger of spring dwindling 

 will be over. If possible, please tell 

 me definitely, to the day, and 

 oblige," writes a New York ^sub- 

 scriber. In reply we can only say: 

 When the weather has become set- 

 tled and warm; when the circles of 

 brood in the combs are enveloped in 

 glistening honey and patches of 

 yellow pollen; when the thousands 

 of hatching woi'kers are found 

 crowded into the extreme corners 

 of the hive, and vacant places are 

 being filled with new, white comb. 

 When these conditions, together 



