i8 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



aging factor. It is possible, of course, 

 that the presence of drones may act as a 

 spur to industry. I remember telling a 

 friend once, that, no matter how hard a 

 time I had to get along, I always went to 

 1113- work with a brave heart and real hap- 

 piness in my soul. "Yes," he replied, 

 " but, 3-ou have some one who stands 

 ready to pat you on the back when you 

 start out." As his home-life was rrot ex- 

 actly the happiest in the world, I thought 

 that there might be more than a little in 

 what he said — in fact, I know that there 

 was much in it. Now then, the drones 

 may not " pat the workers on the back " 

 as they start out in the morning, but 

 their presence is an indication that there 

 may be swarming ahead, and there is a 

 necessity for labor. Without drones 

 there is little prospect of swarming; hence, 

 not so much necessity, not so much in- 

 centive, for labor. All this is theory, 

 and may or may not be true, but, if it is 

 true, there is no neeessity for an excessive- 

 ly large number of drones in each colony. 

 Two or three hundred in each colony, if 

 they are anyways smart drones at all, 

 ought to be able to give the workers all 

 of the "patting on the back " that is 

 necessarv. 



^^^*«jrt«m«« 



HOW THE REVIEW IS RECORDED BY ITS 

 READERS. 



The readers of the Review are ver\- re- 

 sponsive, and i am glad of it. I am 

 thankful, indeed, to those who have so 

 kindly written and expressed their opinion 

 in regard to the Review, and especially 

 to those who have made suggestions as to 

 its improvement. Quite a number in 

 writing took occasion to criticise some 

 of the other journals, and did it with a 

 freedom that, to me, would have been de- 

 lightful if it had only been the Review 

 that was under criticism. Perhaps I 

 ought not to expect it, but I do most 

 earnestly wish that my readers could be 

 brought to the point of criticising my 

 views and methods with the same freedom 

 that thev commend them. It would be 



an easy matter to fill one issue of the 

 Review with the letters of congratulation 

 that have come in since the issue of the 

 December number, but I must content 

 myself with the giving of a few extracts. 

 As the letters from which these extracts 

 are taken were not intended for publi- 

 cation, the names are witheld. Each 

 paragraph is a separate extract. 



"Now, as to the Review: Some things 

 about it I like, and some I don't. First, 

 I like the kind, gentlemanlj' and whole- 

 souled spirit of its editor, so free from 

 jealously. And right here let me say 

 that, of all men on earth engaged in a 

 common business, bee-keepers seem to 

 have the best fraternal feeling; there 

 seems to be something in the pursuit 

 that sweetens the disposition of men and 

 makes them more kind to one another. 

 I have sometimes had a fanc}- that per- 

 haps honey was destined to revolutionize 

 this world of wicked humanity, and 

 make us all one universal brotherhood. 

 I like the Review very well in all of its 

 make-up; as they say out here on the 

 coast, " it's a dandy. " Now, what doii'f 

 Hike? Well, that's harder. Not that I 

 feel you would be offended if I did find 

 fault, but, to tell the truth, I feel very- 

 much as did the young bridegroom about 

 his bride. She was so nice and so neat, 

 and so clean and so sweet, that he could 

 find only one fault, and that was that she 

 was so small. If there had onh- been 

 more of her he would have been better 

 pleased. Now, if there were more of the 

 Review, and it came oftener, I would like 

 it better." 



" Hasty 's and Thompson's reviews give 

 the cream of the other journals, and your 

 other correspondents compare favorably 

 with the correspondents of the other 

 journals, but I wish to say right here, and 

 I assure 3'ou it isn't flatter}-, either, that I 

 read the editorials flrst, and if you will 

 give us more of them I am sure no one 

 will grumble." 



"You deserve much credit for bringing 

 out such a magazine as the Review. It is 

 difficult to .sav which feature of it I like 



