186 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



October 



1 



CD E— ^ r\ I L— CD i 



Dear Brother Hill: 



Waugh ! Oh, if I could only get hold 

 of some of the boys and try to punch 

 some plain horse sense into them! 

 Many of them have only one idea, and 

 that's wrong. Yes, I know I'm likely 

 to get into hot water just as that Rhode 

 Islander did, but I don't care; I'm riled 

 clear through and am spoiling for a 

 scrap. The Pai'son has been trying to 

 mollify me, but he rubbed my fur the 

 wrong way, so I mentioned " revivals'" 

 and now he needs mollifying. This 

 long tongue business is all a delusion. 

 After reading much of what has been 

 written about it, one would be justified 

 in believing that the bees' tongue was 

 just a plain, simple sucking tube; and 

 this because some of those awfully care- 

 ful obnervers who have boosted up their 

 own reputations by foisting onto an 

 unsuspecting and simple-minded public, 

 statements of things they mostly guessed 

 at, have said so. T'other folks — the un- 

 suspecting ones — scared at the labor 

 Close Observer says was involved in his 

 investigation, never look for themselves, 

 but go on taking C.O.'s guess for gospel. 

 Then C. O. blandly puts forth some more 

 guesses, pats himself on the back, pock- 



ets his 

 famous. 



stipend, and becomes more 



"For when we risk no contradiction, 

 It tempts the tongue to deal in fiction." 



Oh, fame, of what flimsy stuff art thou 

 made — a plausible guess, taffy to the 

 editor, a "puff," and there thou art in 

 all thy glory ! Thus art thou created, 

 and on such material thou waxeth fat. 

 But beware the man with the lance of 

 Fact, for if he is ever able to catch the 

 editorial favor, he will puncture thy bag 

 of wind, and of thee naught will be left 

 but malodorous tradition. 



Brother Hill, did you never notice 

 that that wonderful little tongue of the 

 bee is never used — and cannot be — as 

 the boys use a straw in the cider barrel? 

 Contrariwise, the various parts are kept 

 working in and out just like a lot of 

 little needles in a knitting machine, and 

 it is always the same whether the bee 

 is taking honey from a big drop or is 

 "licking the platter clean." Besides, 

 "tisn't the long tongue that takes the 

 trick, 'tis the hustle. I don't know 

 whether you are aware of it or not, but 

 I surmise that you suspect it, those colo- 

 nies which pile up so much more honey 

 than the rest are the slickest thieves. 

 They should be called "light tongued," 

 and classed with other "light fingered" 

 gentry. I have two of the breed, and as 

 they are marked differently from the 

 rest of my stock, I can spot them on 

 sight, and they are superlative robbers. 

 Oh, yes, they are piling in the honey 

 while the other colonies are running 

 behind. Must be from red clover— isn't 

 anything else in bloom — and none of 

 that. 



That thoroughbred in Cuba, N. Y., hit 

 the nail on the head when he said 'iwas 



