462 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 31, 1906 



top-bars are 9-S wide. Exactly what I have. Your top-bars are i »•„ 

 deep; mine %. I wonder if that could make any difference. My 

 spacin" is 1 3 8 ' from center to center, and I think you have the same, 

 making the space between top-bars \i inch. Please give me the secret 

 of the difference if you can. C. C. Miller. 



It might be to the interest of bee-keeping in general if 

 these two men could meet in person without the privilege 

 of separating until they had come to an agreement as to 

 whether a dummy in a brood-chamber is worth while or 

 not. Possibly, under such restrictions, the conference 

 might be a lifelong one. 



It is not likely that any one would claim for a dummy 

 any advantage beyond that of making it easier to take out 

 the first frame. There can be no doubt that it is easier to 

 lift out a frame when a vacant space of something like % 

 of an inch has been made. But there is the objection of an 

 extra piece to handle, and it certainly takes at least a little 

 time to take out a dummy, which time would be saved if the 

 first frame could be lifted out just as easily before taking 

 out the dummy as afterward. But taking out a frame of 

 comb can hardly be as easy as taking out a dummy, unless 

 the surface of the comb can be just as true as the surface of 

 the dummy Any irregularity of combs threatens injury to 

 the bees when no vacant space is provided, and the question 

 is whether such very true combs can be secured. Mr. 

 Holtermann's proviso, " with comb foundation and accu- 

 rate spacing," points to at least two things that favor per- 

 fectly true combs. 



Mr. Pettit says, "Unless the hive is too large by a half 

 inch " etc. With so small a space as a half inch, a dummy 

 would seem to be very objectionable, and if Mr. Pettit's 

 trial of the dummy was in such a space, he could hardly 

 view it with any favor. There should be at the very least a 

 space of % of an inch between the dummy and the wall of 

 the hive, and the same space between the dummy and the 

 adjoining frame. With a thickness of '{ inch for the 

 dummy that would make U of an inch as the minimum space. 

 Less than that would cause the bees to fasten the dummy 

 with glue so that a frame would first have to be withdrawn 

 to make it possible to get out the dummy ! 



=\ 



Miscellaneous 

 Hetps * 3 terns 



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Inexcusable Carelessness.— We quite frequently get 

 correspondence that bears no name or post-office, so that we 

 can do nothing with it whatever. It seems too bad that any 

 one should be so forgetful as to omit the most important 

 part of a letter. It would be a good thing if everybody who 

 does any business at all would use printed stationery. It 

 costs very little, and would be a great thing for careless 

 people, and a nice thing for all other folks. 



Photographs for the Bee Journal.— As the most 

 beautiful time of all the year is at hand in many localities, 

 we would like to suggest that our readers make good use of 

 the camera in taking pictures of their apiaries. We can 

 use quite a number of such pictures during the year in the 

 American Bee Journal. We always stand the expense of 

 engraving whenever we use a picture in our columns. It is 

 very important that the photographs be very plain and dis- 

 tinct. Any that are dim or blurred in any way do not make 

 good engravings. The majority of the pictures of apiaries 

 are larger horizontally— much wider than high ; we could 

 use a few quite tall. We have had several pictures in the 

 past, especially where there were tall trees in the apiaries, 

 that were just the thing. It may be that some of ourreaders 

 have their apiaries near nice, tall trees that would make 

 beautiful pictures. 



We would suggest that all who can do so have photo- 

 graphs taken of their apiaries, including their residences, 

 also (in the same picture), where it is possible, and forward 

 them to this office. Be careful to put your name and address 

 on the back of the picture, so we will know whose it is. On 

 its receipt we will notify the sender whether or not we can 

 use it, and if it is suitable we will request descriptive mat- 

 ter to accompany it when publishing. If any picture should 

 not be considered usable by us we will be pleased to return 

 it. We will also return any after using if so requested. 



We would further like to request those of our readers 



who have any improvements in bee-keeping in the way 

 of fixtures, implements, etc., to send us drawings or pic- 

 tures of same for reproduction, with descriptive matter, in 

 our columns. It is our aim to make the American Bee Jour- 

 nal as helpful as possible to all its readers. In order to do 

 this we need the co-operation of all who are able to lend a 

 hand. As practically all of our readers have been greatly 

 aided through reading what has been published herein, it 

 would seem to be no more than fair that those who have 

 discovered or invented good things should share them with 

 others. There are only a very few things gotten up in bee- 

 keeping that are worth the expense of patenting and adver- 

 tising. Besides, it has become almost a custom in the bee- 

 keeping industry to be unselfish, and to give to fellow bee- 

 keepers whatever good thing any one has discovered in 

 working with bees. In this way bee-culture has been able 

 to make the great progress which it has done in the past 

 score of years. 



City Ordinance Against Bee-Keeping.— The Grand 

 Rapids (Mich.) Herald, of May 19, announces that Alderman 

 George Owen has introduced an ordinance against bee-keep- 

 ing within the city limits, to which he expects to add the 

 keeping of monkeys and pets. It seems from the report 

 that one day Mr. Owen's business trip carried him into an 

 outlying district of the city where he came in sharp contact 

 with a bee. So the following Monday night he introduced 

 a resolutiou into the Council, calling for the prohibition of 

 bee-keeping within the city limits, on the ground that they 

 are " dangerous animals/" The report says that the Ordi- 

 nance Committee could not decide whether bees were ani- 

 mals, birds or fowls, so the ordinance had been lying quietly 

 in its pigeonhole awaiting decision. Now, Alderman Owen, 

 it says, is thinking of going a step further and adding to it 

 a section making it necessary for persons desiring to keep 

 monkeys, to exercise proper care that they do not escape. 



We do not see that there is any objection to mixing 

 bees and monkeys, except that if Mr. Owen is not careful he 

 will make a fine " monkey " of himself. He needs to read 

 some of the literature published by the National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association. Such ordinances against bee-keeping do 

 not hold, as they are generally pronounced unconstitutional 

 when tested in the proper courts. 



We are indebted to Mr. H. F. Moore, Secretary of the 

 Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Association for a copy 

 of the Grand Rapids Herald, containing the marked item 

 from which the above is taken. 



How to Treat Lies. — Were you ever lied about ? We 

 have been, and when we were younger it used to be some- 

 what annoying, but not so any more. The following advises 

 very nicely how to treat personal lies : 



When a person tells a lie about you, pay no attention to it. If 

 you make a lot of explanations those who want to believe ill of you 

 will believe the worst. Simply say the statement is untrue, and talk 

 about the weather. 



The greater a man is, the less is he disturbed by what others do 

 or say against him, without cause. Mean natures are provoked to 

 anger by lies. Let your life and acts be at such variance with a lie 

 that untruthful statements concerning you will fall like a broken 

 shaft, when it strikes your armor of truth. 



You can never stop people from lying about you, but you can re- 

 duce the number of opportunities for them to tell truths about you 

 that would be harmful. Lies don't hurt much. It's truth that does 

 the damage. — Star Monthly. 



A bee-paper recently misrepresented The Honey-Pro- 

 ducers' League. Then in its next monthly issue it " took it 

 back," and said the League was " Exonerated." Now, how 

 foolish it would have been for any of the other bee-papers 

 to have taken up that misrepresentation, denied the charge, 

 etc. It was better simply to ignore it, and leave it where it 

 started. 



A bee-paper makes its own reputation just the same as 

 does a person. If it desires to go into the misrepresentation 

 business, that is its privilege. But we doubt if many bee- 

 keepers would " stand for it " very long. "Be sure your 

 sin will find you out." 



Mr. J. W. Rouse, President of the Missouri State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, will speak on " The Relation of Bees 

 to Horticulture," before the Missouri State Horticultural 

 Society, at its semi-annual meeting at Moberly, Mo., June 

 12, 13 and 14, 1906. 



See Langstroth Book Offer on another page of this 

 copy of the American Bee Journal. 



