376 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



meaning of language, but which the 

 language itself does not warrant, is what 

 we sometimes call prejudice. 



Dr. Miller in pursuance of his charge, 

 spurred on by my challenge, cites the 

 paragraph beginning "The language of 

 the masses "^ ( Review, 280) as a sample of 

 scolding. (Gleanings, 832) I hardly 

 think I owe an apology yet. 



VENTII.ATION OF SUPERS. 



On the suggestion of an entrance di- 

 rectly to the super, instead of one below, 

 as is usual, as a remedy for swarming, 

 the editor (Gleanings, 789) asks: "Is it 

 not possible that the honey in the supers 

 would ripen more slowly because of the 

 proximity of the opening ?' ' Ventilation 

 surely is a great aid to the ripening of 

 honey, and would not an entrance to the 

 supers give them ventilation ? I should 

 suppose that such an entrance would 

 give better ventilation to the whole hive 

 and I am sure the editor is not going to 

 question the advantage of thorough ven- 

 tilation. 



NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT APPEARS 

 OUTSIDE OF THIS DEPARTMENT. 



One or two writers seem to have an im- 

 pression that I am in some way respon- 

 sible for what appears in the Review out- 

 side of my own contributions. ( Glean- 

 ings, 807, and elsewhere ) Let this be tak- 

 en as a notice that the impression is 

 groundless. 



THE "TOMCAT" STYLE OF CRITICISM. 



The editor of the Canadian Bee Journal 

 quotes from the Review, and, comment- 

 ing, criticizes the "pussy-cat style.'' A 

 writer in the American Bee Journal, 744, 

 quotes, and changing the meaning to what 

 he calls "tom-cat style" devotes his atten- 

 tion to that, furnishing, in so doing, an 

 apt illustration of tlie sort of criticism 

 he condemns. 



AN ERROR IN THE REFORMED SPKI.LINC. 

 T'pon the same page I find the word 

 "mealy-moutht." I am not a competent 

 judge of the reformerl .spelling, and so 

 would inquire whether its rules permit 

 the changing of final "ed" into "t" when 



the sound to be indicated is that of "d," 

 as in the word quoted. 



IS BLACK REALLV OBJECTIONABLE TO 

 BEES. 



Much is being said' in the journals 

 in agreement with the notion that bees 

 have an antipathy to black, but I fear 

 without sufficient evidence. A writer in 

 Gleanings, 845, says if you want to prove 

 it, tie a strip of dark woolen cloth around 

 the wrists one day while working among 

 the bees. I venture to say that a strip of 

 white woolen cloth around the wrists 

 would draw as many stings as the black, 

 if the latter is free from the odor of filth 

 and dye. Bees dislike hairy garments. 

 If you want to prove that bees dislike a 

 light color undertake to handle them 

 with uncolored buckskin gloves. I know 

 of no other way in which one could de- 

 prive a colony of bees of their stings so 

 quickly. Sometime since a friend went 

 with me into the apiary when the bees at 

 once attacked his black hat; very fiercely 

 pelting it with their bodies, like hail, but 

 to my black hat the}^ paid no attention; 

 which shows that the illustration which 

 Dr. Miller uses against Mr. Hasty is not 

 an apt one. ( Gleanings, 826 ) We 

 easily solved the matter in that case by 

 the criterion of odor. To determine how 

 little dependence bees put on the percep- 

 tion of color at stinging distance, move a 

 colony, having a white hive, a little to 

 one side of its accustomed stand, and put 

 a dark hive of the same dimensions as 

 much to the other side when the bees are 

 coming in in large numbers and notice 

 how many are deceived. No doubt that 

 dark clothing, other things being equal, 

 would receive more stings than light, but 

 it would be, no doubt, on account of the 

 odor, owing to the dye, or to the liability 

 to let dark clothing go longer without 

 washing. The case of black and white 

 chickens cited can be e.xplained by tlie 

 greater natural odor of black animals 

 over white ones; or by the fact that the 

 greater effect of the sun on black ones 

 makes their odor more perceptible. 



Lapeer, Mich. Dec. i, I898. 



