146 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



Aldjltst 



mw 



Dear Brother Hill: 



IVb hot! It's so hot that stings feel 

 cool by comparison. But for compensa- 

 tion we have had a flood of honey, and 

 all sorts of receptacles have been pressed 

 into service. Wish I could have had 

 here one of those fellows who do so 

 much writing about being prepared. 

 He would have had to stop writing and 

 do some huge preparaing. As I roam 

 among the " bo3's "' I find that their 

 practicing is seldom up to their preach- 

 ing. 



Writing of preaching, reminds me of 

 the Parson. An epidemic broke out 

 here — bubonic plague, everybody said — 

 and then came a revival. The "plague'" 

 proved to be the measels ; the "revival" 

 flattened out and, to repeat one of the 

 Parson's quotations : 



'The devil was sick — the Devil a uionk would be; 

 The devil got well — and devil a monk was he." 



Don't think too harshly of the Parson; 

 he's bilious — is keeping bachelor's hall. 

 Just like some of the rest of the boys, 

 isn't he? Some of them seem bilious 

 most of the time, though. But, as you 

 know, when the Parson is feeling well 



and has a responsive listener, he will 

 draw on his fund of knowledge, and iu 

 a few choice sentences speak volumes, 

 while some others we know belch forth 

 oceans of words and say naught. I am 

 uncertain whether those torrents of 

 words are as bad or worse than those 

 editorial snappers some of your brother- 

 hood tack on to the end of some other 

 fellow's article. If they more often bore 

 closer relation to the article, we might 

 endure it ; but as likely as not an edi- 

 torial homily on babies is hitched to an 

 article on "foul-brood."' And you have 

 started into the same bad way. Avaunt. 

 there, ere the evil tide o'erwhelm thee ! 



So the man from Creek objects u> 

 having you criticise his double-compound 

 self- assorting -drone-queen-catcher ? 

 You should never meddle with an in- 

 ventor's hobby; 'tisn't safe. Now. there 

 is that mild-mannered Rambler, just 

 mention "wire and frames" to him — and 

 then take my advice, and run. Win, 

 the Aiken-Fowls prize figlit isn"t a cir- 

 cumstance to what will happen to yim ; 



The Parson, in addition to his otlicr 

 troubles, has been trying the Swart hv 

 Moor's nucleus system, and such a nuss 

 of swarming out you never did sec : 

 The founder of the house of Root tried 

 those toy nuclei years ago, and tlun 

 tried something else. Mayhap the S. .M. 

 has some secret way. He is one of those 

 "Down East" Yankees, and there"? no 

 telling what they'll do. 



"Nothing succeeds like success;" if 

 you doubt it, see how successfully tiiat 

 Dowagiac free lance has bobbed up in 

 the Revieio. How he can ruffle the 

 boys ! Showing up another's foibles 

 generally does that. Time 'twas dune 



