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THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



December 



There has been a change made in the 

 firm at Medina, Ohio. A. I. Koot who has 

 for so many years conducted the bee sup- 

 ply business and gained for himself a world 

 wide reputation, has retired from active 

 business and the firm name has been changed 

 to "The A. I. Root Co.," which we under- 

 stand includes Ernest Koot and J. C. Cal- 

 vert. These two have practically conduct- 

 ed the business for a long time past and we 

 are glad they are in a position to reap more 

 fully the benefits of their exertions. 



We are now furnishing the Higginsville 

 Hive Covers having arranged with the in 

 ventors to manufacture them. 



GEEAT OFFER ! We have made ar- 

 rangements by which we will furnish a copy 

 of the latest edition of A. B. C. of Bee Cul- 

 ture (paper cover) with Gleanings and the 

 American Bee-Keeper one year for only 

 $1.75, or the A. B. C. and Bee-Keeper 

 for 90 cents. If cloth binding is wanted, 

 same will be furnished for 25c extra. 

 This offer is only good until Jan. 1 st. 



We wish all our readers a " Merry Christ- 

 mas and a Happy New Year. 



The trade discount on orders until Jan. 1st, 

 is 4 per cent. 



Vermont. — The next annual convention 

 of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held in Middlebury, Vt., on Jan. 30 

 and 31, 1S95. Programs will be prepared 

 and mailed laler. Let every Vermont bee- 

 keeper begin now to prepare to attend, and 

 all those who can reach Middlebury, wheth- 

 er you live In Vermont or not, we want you 

 to come. Barre,Vt. H. W. Scott. Sec. 



LITERARY ITEMS, 



A FRENCH PEASANT. 



She judges a picture with both hands on 

 her hips, and when disapproval appears in 

 her eye, one trembles for the picture. 

 Whei. she is actually bored, she strides 

 across the floor to an open window, puts her 

 elbows on its balcony rail, lays her leathery 



chin on her leathery hands, crosses her 

 sturdy legs, and in this street-loafer attitude 

 refreshes her mind. Her fist is capable of 

 a sledge-hammer blow. Her husband (yeo- 

 man though he is) would hardly be a match 

 for her. He knows it and is visibly proud 

 of it. 1 have seen Whitechapel hags 

 rouse their shrivelled or bloated selves to 

 fight like fiends, but she, if once she were 

 roused, would tight like a god. In fact, she 

 is a modern type of the ploughwoman of 

 mythology. If Joan of Arc had been a 

 peasant of this type, there would have been 

 no mystery about her military prowess. 

 She is a masculine woman, in the best 

 sense, and there is as vital a difference be- 

 tween her masculinity and the masculinity 

 of the fast women of the period as there is 

 between her husband and the boulevarder. — 

 Alvan F. Sanborn, in December LippincotC s .' 



A PEN PICTURE OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER 

 OF CHINA. 



The empress dowager, as a Chinese man- 

 darin describes her, is very fine looking. 

 She is well formed and dignified, and she 

 has an imperial look. She is quite tall, and 

 she sits up straight as a poker as she rides 

 along in her chair. Her features are those 

 of a Tartar, the cheekbones being high, 

 much like those of our Indians. Her face 

 is long and narrow, and she has fully three 

 inches of forehead. Her eyebrows are pull- 

 ed out so that they form the willow-leaf 

 arch, which is the most beautiful curve to 

 the artistic Chinese, and her eyes are bright, 

 black, and piercing. Notwithstanding she 

 is threescore years old, her hair is still 

 black, and she combs it after the style of 

 the high Tartar ladies, over a bar a foot 

 long at the back of her head, so that it 

 stands out for six inches on each side. Her 

 complexion is yellow, verging on the bloom 

 of a ripe Jersey peach, but it is usually 

 overlaid with rouge and piste. I under- 

 stand that she is very vain of her looks. 

 She primps and powders and uses every art 

 to detract from her age. She dresses in 

 silks, and her shoes are of satin with heavy 

 wood soles It will surprise you that this 

 greatest woman of China has feet of the av- 

 erage size. She wears, I venture, a number 



