THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



83 



who looks plumpest and most promising 

 after the buttons "and sich " are taken 

 off. It is the section that looks best on 

 the plate, and not the section that looks 

 best on the counter, that will finally win. 

 The more or less awkward problem of get- 

 ting the tender comb out of its integument 

 of wood has got to be surmounted before it 

 can shine as the choicest ornament of the 

 tea-table. This work usually has to be done 

 by persons with ver>' little dexterity in that 

 particular line. Let Bridget take one of 

 the plain sections from that " blooming " 

 photograph of yours, and with a case- 

 knife in an unstead}- hand proceed to cut 

 out the honey. What is the result? Half 

 the time the knife wanders away from the 

 wood. Besides the main square, several 

 thin slices of comb have to be stacked on 

 one side of the plate, to the serious detri- 

 ment of looks. Now, let Bridget take one 

 of the sections from the upper tier — say 

 the right center section. There is com- 

 paratively little cutting to do. The knife 

 can be put through without ramming it 

 through. Even a child can see right 

 where to cut. The edges of the cake are 

 all nicely rounded off to start with, and 

 will remain so. The matter when duly 

 shaken seems to resolve itself into this: 

 Plain sections will look best in the gro- 

 cer's window, while the other kind will 

 look best on the table. Good looks on 

 the table are all our customers are willing 

 to pay ior tuhen once their minds are di- 

 rected to the matter. And those of us who 

 sell largely to consumers are likely to do 

 some missionary work right in that spot. 



The .\merican Bee-Keeper has shed off 

 its " patent, " boiler-plate other half, and 

 is now content to be just like folks. It 

 has also quit the attempt to run editorial- 

 ly on a few odd minutes of an overwork- 

 ed good man's time, and has taken to it- 

 self an editor who will devote to it a ma- 

 terial part of his hours. The new editor 

 is H. E. Hill. Success to him. 



I was greatly interested in friend 

 Crane's experiences with black and Ital- 

 ian bees. Review, 43. He has reached 

 about the same goal as I. He has few of 



either race pure now, and I have none at 

 all. Each of us once had a spasm of 

 seeking to exterminate the Italian blood 

 altogether, and got better of it. 



As to your question on page 50, dear 

 editor, suppose we should meet it by ask- 

 ing another of the same sort. How came 

 the Italians to be so long held in general 

 esteem? A colony of bees is like an 

 army: what it accomplishes depends verj- 

 largely on its tactics. The tactics of the 

 two races are quite different; and some- 

 times the one and sometimes the other 

 eventuates best. And we " poor critters " 

 mostly remember the successes of our 

 favorite bees, and fail to remember the 

 successes of the others. 



A. I. Root's department-head in Glea- 

 nings shows palm trees, the pyramids, the 

 sphynx, a camel, and the Nile. Going to 

 'Egypt next, eh ? 



Gleanings says that when the new 

 Union was organized the old one got on 

 an extra hustle. Perhaps if somebody 

 would start a third Union we should then 

 have two hustling ones. 



P>nest in his question department, 

 Gleanings 55, says the section holder with 

 two rows of sections has been almost en- 

 tirely abandoned. Wonder if he isn't a 

 little astray there. The eight-section 

 holder shows no signs of turning up its 

 toes in my apiar\-. With hybrid bees and 

 proper management, it's nonsense to sa\- 

 that there is any trouble to get storing 

 begun, when there is anything to store. 

 With pure Italians quite likely one-tier 

 arrangements score a decided gain during 

 the early days of honey flow. It is even 

 possible that occasionally very obstinate 

 Italians would swarm under a two-tiered 

 super when they would start at storing 

 all right under a single tier. 



Mrs. Axtell is a daring sister. Had the 

 audacity to ask the ladies" church society 

 to come and scrape honey for her. Twen- 

 ty came, and cleaned up 1,500 pounds. 

 Paid them two dollars and their dinner. 

 And actually the damages they wrought 

 upon the honey were no more extensive 

 than in case of one woman hired for the 



