THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



173 



Pardon me if I say that taken in that un- 

 qualified sense he is right and you are 

 wrong. L,ate feeding may and it may 

 not induce laying, depending upon weath- 

 er, age of queen and other circumstances; 

 but it may be pretty safely said that the 

 same amount of feeding in spring is more 

 sure of results than in the fall, generally 

 speaking, and the unqualified state- 

 ment that "late feeding induces late lay- 

 ing" is, as De Layens thinks, a mistake. 



On page 151 Mr. Taylor makes a quo- 

 tation from me that he thinks warrants 

 him in making the conclusion that a man 

 can increase his income from 100 colonies 

 in a good year #5,000 by allowing only 

 one swarm instead of two from each col- 

 ony. In this, as in a previous case, there 

 is the exasperating circumstance that one 

 cannot know to what he refers; for he 

 quotes Gleanings, 125, and on that page 

 I can find nothing of the kind, and I 

 don't know where to find what he's talk- 

 ing about. He quotes me as saying that 

 one "might increase his .surplus tenfold 

 by allowing only one swarm instead of 

 two from each colon}-." Will Bro. Taylor 

 be kind enough to tell us where he finds 

 that? I'll venture the guess that taken 

 in its connection it is entirely correct, and 

 that he has subjected it to unwarranted 

 distortion. Mind you, that's only a guess. 



Under the head of "Inelegance of 

 Slang," Bro. Taylor takes me to task. I 

 supposed I was something of a purist in 

 such matters, but if I offend the good 

 tastes of such a man it may at least be 

 worth while to be somewhat on my guard, 

 I must say, however, that I don't like 

 the idea of being too prim in speech. 

 But I'll consider the matter, Bro. Taylor. 



On page 152 our critic says my plan of 

 fastening foundation in brood frames (in 

 saw-kerf) "is good but too slow," and 

 advises the old way of running on wax 

 and rosin with a teaspoon. I wish he 

 would tell us how many frames he ever 

 filled according to my directions. I can 

 hardly think "locality" should make any 

 difference, and I may say that after fill- 

 ing hundreds of frames in the way he di- 



rects I know that I can do '\\. faster by the 

 kerf method, and l" think better. I can 

 not but think it is "a serious error" to ad- 

 vise using rosin for fastening foundation, 

 for some day that rosin may be melted up 

 in beeswax after the combs have served 

 their day. 



Mr. Taylor thinks I am vsrong in be- 

 lieving bees when stinging each other 

 thrust the sting into a spiracle. Possibly 

 I am. What makes me think as I do is 

 the fact that the sting rarely remains in 

 the bee, that it does sometimes, and I do 

 not think the cases of remaining would 

 be so rare if the stings were always in the 

 integument instead of occasionally. I 

 can hardly believe that the integument is 

 so much more delicate than the human 

 skin that it should so rarely remain. Mr. 

 Taylor says that not infrequently the bee 

 is stung in the neck, but in such cases is 

 -not the sting usually left? I think the 

 sting usually enters the .spiracle and 

 occasionally the integument. But I don't 

 pretend to know, and perhaps ought to 

 have said so more distinctly. 



Mr. Taylor refers to Gleanings, 43, and 

 rather more than hints that I mislead by 

 giving the good and not the bad. Bro. 

 Taylor, if you have any memory at all, 

 you ought to know that you are unfair, 

 and I'm hardly ready to excuse you — no, 

 if you want me to take you back into my 

 confidence — and you know you do — you'll 

 explain, or apologize — or something. If 

 there's any one thing I've tried to be fair 

 about it has been in not trying to paint 

 with too vivid colors the profits of bee- 

 keeping. Over and over I have said I 

 could make more money out side of bee- 

 keeping, and have verj- plainly told of 

 my failures. You ask about the years 

 1894 and 1895. I'm glad of one more oc- 

 casion to say that those two years cost me 

 my labor and a ton of granulated sugar 

 with no return whatever. Haven't I told 

 you that before just as plainly? Please 

 send me a very large apology and prepay 

 the postage in full. 



M.VRENGO, 111., May 28, 1898. 



