AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



5T 



sist him in building up his (Heddon's) news- 

 paper. While complimenting Mr. H. on 

 hia good taste in securing such an eminent 

 writer as Mr. Burch, I must say that he 

 was a little too severe on a class of writers 

 who did much to make apiculture what it 

 is to-day. 



It was such •■ literary fellows " as Lang- 

 stroth and others who did much to give us 

 some books on bees that rank high as liter- 

 ary productions. 



I am inclined to think that Mr. Heddon 

 did not really intend to cast any reflection 

 on writers like those I have been mention- 

 ing, but he wanted to head of such writers 

 as the Rambler and the Somnambulist. It 

 was these, and nothing more ! 



The Stinger is not very well disposed 

 toward those people who have the running 

 of the Agricultural Experiment Stations in 

 the United States. He believes that these 

 Stations are, in the majority of cases, man- 

 aged by persons who are not in all cases 

 fitted for the places they are assigned to. 

 There is a good deal of humbuggery about 

 these matters; it is too often that they are 

 used to give some political fellow a berth 

 where he can draw down a good salary. 



What I would like to see, is some way of 

 making these Stations more useful than 

 they now are. Not all the men who are in 

 charge of them are competent to fulfil the 

 duties assigned them. 



A correspondent writes saying he was in 

 hopes The Stinger would be put into winter 

 quarters and not taken out again until the 

 spring. The Stinger thanks the aforesaid 

 correspondent, and would say that he re- 

 grets that the witless correspondent did not 

 sign his name to the letter, that I might 

 pay my respects to him in a way that 

 would make him sorry for his impertinence. 



The Stinger is not the kind of a bear that 

 has to seek some den during the winter 

 months; nor is he exactly like the bee that 

 has the misfortune of living in a cold clime. 

 The Stinger is out every day in the year, 

 and if he does not come your way often, do 

 not feel you have escaped a pestilence. It 

 is generally the man with a guilty con- 

 science that fears to have his misdeeds 

 ventilated. 



A correspondent has written me to know 

 what he should do with his surplus honey. 

 The way I do when there is any surplus 

 honey in our house, after we have brought 

 home a jar of honey, and it is not all con- 

 sumed at the first meal, is to put it aside 

 until the next meal, when the surplus will 

 surely disappear. 



Never kick a hive of bees when you are 

 down ; wait until you ai'e up and can run 

 away. 



Why is killing bees like a confession ? 

 Because you unbuzz 'em. — Ex. 



fpW Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering- with either part of the letter. 



Wintering Finely — The Stinger. 



The bees are wintering finely so far. 

 They had a good cleansing flight on Dec. 

 23rd and 24th. Last year was a very poor 

 one for honey here, on account of the 

 severe drouth, but we hope for a boomer 

 next year. 



Say, do not let " The Stinger " sting so 

 hard. He might lose his sting, and die like 

 the bees. G. E. Nelson. 



Bishop Hill, Ills., Dec. 30, 1893. 



Bees Did Fairly Well. 



Bees did fairly well here the past season. 

 The bees in this neighborhood are nearly 

 all blacks, and are mostly kept in round 

 and box hives, and but very little atten- 

 tion is paid to them. Mine are Italians and 

 hybrids, and are in good condition for win- 

 ter. I am well pleased with the American 

 Bee Journal. A. T. Mull. 



Knob Creek, N. C, Dec. 12, 1893. 



Cherokee Strip No Good for Bees. 



I will say for the beneflt of Mr. Spencer, 

 of Farmersville, Mo., that I am well ac- 

 quainted with the Cherokee Strip south of 

 Hunnewell, Kans., and I have kept bees 

 here (due south of his location about 60 

 miles) for the last three years, and although 

 I have a better location for bees, my bees 

 haven't made their own living, nor do I 

 think they will more than one year in five, 

 and my advice to all Strip settlers is, to let 

 bee-keeping for profit severely alone for 

 the present. Rufus Williams. 



Crescent City, Okla. Ter., Dec. 25. 1893. 



Had a Good Flight — Late Introducing. 



Bees had a good flight on Dec. 11th. It 

 was a beautiful day, and they enjoyed it to 

 its fullest extent. They are in good condi- 

 tion for winter, after some feeding. I will 

 remove to my own place in the spring. It 

 is a 40-acre farm, in a tolerably good bee- 

 locality. I will then make bee-keeping my 

 main pursuit. 



I got a queen from Texas when the ice 

 was an inch thick here ; there was not a 



