Dec. 13, 1VU6 



1015 



American Ttee Journal 



armed, in order to defend not only our be- 

 loved ludy members, but ourselves as well. 

 Whereupon, Mr. Laws 6tretehed himself up- 

 ward to his fullest length, and held aloft the 

 aforesaid "concealed weapon,'' which proved 

 to be only one of the large hive-scrapers 

 which the G. B. Lewis Co. had given to each 

 member as a souvenir. After this all hearts 

 beat naturally again, and the Secretary re- 

 sumed his usual meekness! 



Finally, a little after 6 o'clock, all arrived 

 at the original Mexican Restaurant, on 

 Losoya Street, where, in the baDquet ball on 

 the second floor, were arranged two long 

 tables, which were soon taken by the ex- 

 pectant bee-keepers, all eager to begin on — 

 •well, we think that none except the initiated 

 knew what we were to begin on, and also end 

 on, for only those who could read a little 

 Spanish could tell what the several courses 

 were, as they were selected from the follow- 

 ing menu, which looks rather threatening to 

 a "tenderfoot:" 



-*M] 



Regular Supper25c 



CONSISTS OF 



TAMALES FR1JOLE5 



CHILI CON CARNE TORTILLAS DE MAIZ 



ENCHILADAS SOPA DE ARRQZ 



CAFE 



Short Orders 



Afier trying to slow away everything that 

 was served by the Mexican waiters, the reader 

 can imagine what a warmed-up crowd it 

 must have been. Especially as the weather 

 was also quite hot enough to be in keeping 

 with the peppery dishes that were set before 

 the confiding bee-keepers. But as finally the 

 drinks (coffee) were reached, and sent down 

 after the rest of the "hot stuff," Mr. Toep- 

 perwein arose and begun his duties as toast- 

 master. He called on several persons to 

 speak, although not previously notified in 

 most instances, and so were quite unprepared. 

 Besides, who could talk after "mouthing" so 

 much that was rei-and-cayenne peppery? 



Pres. Dadant, the Frenchman, was the first 

 to recover so that he could attempt to speak 

 again. He said he felt as if he had been 

 " eating bees with the stings left in." That 

 expressed it exactly, and in a way that all 

 the bee-keepers, at any rate, could clearly un- 

 derstand. For at least once in his life, Mr. 

 Dadant had the fullest and warmest sym- 

 pathy of his audience. 



Another said that he could now better un- 

 derstand the real meaning of one of the pop" 

 ular songs of the North, entitled, " A Hot 

 Time in the Old Town To-night." San An- 

 tonio was surely an "old town," and wasn't 

 the " hot time " right then and there? Tnis 

 same speaker said he was 6ure his wife would 

 ask him, on his return to the North, just 

 what he had to eat at " that Mexican sup- 

 per"— and that's what he'd like to know him- 

 self. Think of the humiliation that must 

 have come to him when he faced his good 

 wife again, and let her know that he had been 

 indulging in such awful things as were men- 

 tioned on the menu of the Original Mexican 

 Restaurant I 



Mr. Putnam and several others were " too 



full for utterance," or too warm, and so did 

 not respond when called upon. 



But space forbids giving any more details 

 of this great, red-bot spread. It was certainly 

 a novel affair, and will not be forgotten by all 

 who were permitted to be present. 



As a fitting close, all stood and sung 

 "America" most heartily, after which the 

 "procession" returned to the convention 

 hall for the evening session. 



San Antonio Photograph. — We have 

 some of the San Antoni» convention photo- 

 graphs, showing over 100 of those present at 

 the National convention. We are sending 

 them out in mailing-tubes at 60 cents each, 

 postpaid. Send orders to the office of the 

 American Bee Journal. 



Hive-Making at Home— A 

 Rejoinder 



BY ALLEN LATHAM 



Since Mr. Greiner, on page 963, has 

 " all the argument, and at least nine- 

 tenths of the bee-keepers " on his side, 

 it may seem folly on my part to ven- 

 ture a reply to his arguments, backed 

 as he is by such a host. But, like 

 David of old, feeling that the right is 

 with me, I shall see whether the brook 

 between us will furnish a few smooth 

 arguments for my ready sling ; and I 

 warn Mr. Greiner to keep well in, back 

 of his shield-bearer, for I shall sling to 

 hit. 



Yet I do not count Mr. Greiner mine 

 enemy, nor do I reckon nine tenths of 

 my brother bee-keepers to be Philis- 

 tines. I trust to keep well within the 

 bounds of friendly criticism, for I 

 would not be outdone by Mr. G. in that 

 respect. Moreover, I would have it 

 understood that I heartily concur with 

 Mr. G. in nearly all that he says. 

 Looking at the matter from this point 

 of view, and with the light on it as it 

 shines for him, his arguments seem 

 conclusive ; but stand around and get 

 a view with a brighter light, and you 

 shall see the error which Mr. G. is 

 laboring under. 



First, does Mr. G. allow due credit 

 to the average bee-keeper when he 

 says that grief will follow the adoption 

 of my suggestions in hive-making ? 

 Surely, I am in great error if I am 

 wrong in thinking that the successful 

 keeping of bees calls for a higher de- 

 gree of intelligence than do most other 

 pursuits. I draw from that belief on 

 my part the conclusion that one who can 

 not make his own hives (granting that 

 he has time and inclination) success- 

 fully, will not succeed with bees in any 

 sort of hive. 



Mr. Greiner says of himself that, 



though a mechanic of indefinite skill, 

 he can not make good hives. I cheer- 

 fully grant to Mr. G. the privilege of 

 standing as an exception to the rule 

 enunciated in the preceding paragraph. 

 My advice is not for him, nor for 

 others like him, but for the thousands 

 of lesser bee-keepers who are willing — 

 nay, anxious — to make their own hives, 

 and who only look for the simplest 

 and cheapest method which will yield 

 good results. Fully believing in the 

 cheapness and ease of my own method, 

 and in the resulting hive when the 

 method is faithfully followed, I am 

 eager to uphold it against every on- 

 slaught. 



Mr. Greiner inveighs against the 

 annoyance of pulling all sorts of boxes 

 to pieces, and the general mix-up of 

 lumber which will follow. No, Mr. G., 

 I do not approve of trying to make a 

 hive out of nothing, nor even out of 

 any kind of cast-off box. I strongly 

 advise a careful selection of boxes be- 

 fore even pulling them to pieces, for it 

 would be folly to pull to pieces a mis- 

 cellaneous lot of boxes and pile the 

 heterogeneous boards together. Such 

 procedure would be too much for even 

 my patient puttering. But by a care- 

 ful selection of boxes, governed by 

 the length, width, and thickness of 

 boards, one can, if he will plan me- 

 thodically, make hives easily and satis- 

 factorily. 



A cross-cut and a rip saw overcome 

 the difficulty of length and width when 

 such are not right, but thickness offers 

 a real obstacle. In my article on page 

 74, I suggest a remedy which is easily 

 applied. The use of narrow strips of 

 building paper under boards which are 

 too thin is a simple process quickly 

 carried out. Is it possible (I am forced 

 to ask myself at this point) that Mr. 

 Greiner criticised my article after only 

 a general and rather hasty reading, 

 prompted to reply by a natural aver- 

 sion to such advice ? Surely, a careful 



