1804 



GLEANINGS IN HKE CULTURK 



F»e'l the flock of «o(l 

 o(l'- hti Itajfi.-, but bciinf (•nsamples to 

 2.3. 



suit, all going for the same turtfut. With Ital- 

 ians and hybrids tlu; case seems , to be a Utile 

 diffcrfnl. One will dart up; and if the dis- 

 turbance continues, perhaps one or two more; 

 and so on the little defenders come out one after 

 another. Jiut th<! Carniolans have learned, 



not a« being lorciM over pf-rhaps bv experience, that it is better to make 

 to the llotK.— I. Pktkk , 



a ciKirt/e. 



JfST before going to press, March seems dis- 

 osed to '"go out like a lion."' It came in "like 



lamb," and verily we had hopos that the 

 lamb" would stay with us. 



What's the matter? Well, we have got the 

 art before the iiorse. Mr. Manum's article, 

 lat appears on page 227 of our previous is>ue, 

 Dould have folloned the one in this number, 

 f the reader will refer to the former he will 

 ie that they fit a little better when the order 



; reversed. 



It is with much regret that we announce that 

 Ir. Charles Nash Abbott, founder of the Brit- 

 ih Bee Jour Hi a, and for a number of years its 

 ble editor, died at Southall. England, on the 

 ■J day of March, 18M, aged O.'i years. Mr. Ab- 

 ott was a practical and progressive bee-keep- 

 r, as the pages of the old BrUlnh Bee Journal 

 how. Our business relations with him were 

 ery pleasant. 



Thekk have been .some guesses and specula- 

 ions among our readers as to who that prepos- 

 essing young 'or oldj lady is who is represent- 

 d so graphically in this i.ssue, as •' treeing" 

 he Rambler, and who appears to such good ad- 

 anlage on page 181, March 1st issue. Well, to 

 ell the honest truth, we are as much in the 

 ark as our subscribers. She simply signed 

 iugenia Morse loan "open letter" which, on 

 ccount of the good news for the Rambler, we 

 vere very glad to publish. 



A XK E way to make foundation transparent, 

 or exhibition purposes, if not already so, is to 

 •pply the sheets to a gentle heat for a short 

 ime. Just try the experiment by cutting a 

 heet of foundation in two. and hold one over 

 he siove a few inches from it, until it becomes 

 [Uite soft, and let it remain in this condition 

 or a couple of minutes suspended over the 

 tove. Now lay it down by the side of the oth- 

 sr sheet from which it was cut. and notice how 

 nuch more beautiful one is than the other. 



OfR apiarist reports that the Carniolans were 

 ,he first to bring ill pollen this spring. As to 

 ,heir disposition they are just a little more 

 ,ouchy than the average Italians. This we 

 lave thought was true of colonies of this race 

 ve have had. One marked peculiarity of all 

 , he Carniolans we have ever seen is, that if one 

 3ee flies up to sting like a shot, the chances are 

 here will be a dozen or more that will follow 



• .\K\V fi.xin's." 



A WEEK or so ago^ve had a very plea-ant 

 call from Mr. Chalon Fowls, of Oberlin. Ohio, 

 lie is the friendly bee-keeper who used to visit 

 the writer while studying in that place; and 

 many and many an hour have we spent discuss- 

 ing the subject of bees. Some nine or ten years 

 hive gone by. an 1 it seemed like old times to 

 discus.s, not the old questions, but new ones de- 

 veloped by Fathi-rTime. Among other things, 

 Mr. Fowls said he had learned to look witii cau- 

 tion upon new devices or implements that seem 

 to promise much, especially if tiiey appear to 

 foreshadow revolution. There was a time 

 w hen he was induced to invest in all the new 

 '• fixin's;" but in later years he has learned to 

 get along without them: and as the years go 

 by he found he had saved by not investing in 

 what apicultural experiment stations and pri- 

 vate individuals had found to be worthless. He 

 makes money at bees, but finds it necessary to 

 hold in his enthusiasm a little until time shall 

 prove all things. 



And right here it may be said incidentally, 

 that there is wisdom in establishing experiment 

 stations, the expense of which shall be borne, 

 not by one individual, but by the State. But it 

 does not do to rely entirely upon the conclusions 

 put forth by any one station, because the cli- 

 mate, personal prejudices, and a few other 

 things, are apt to be misleading. 



WINTEJiING AND SPKINGINfi UP TO DATE. 



We are happy to announce that, so far. not a 

 colony in our 12.5 has been lost. Indeed, thtey 

 are in better condition now than they were last 

 fall. They have been raising some brood dur- 

 ing these warm beautiful days, and young 

 blood is making a pleasing appearance on the 

 brood-frames. All our colonies, with the ex- 

 ception of oiKi, were under absorbing cushions; 

 but even that one under a sealed cover wintered 

 just as nicely as the rest. In fact, it is in splen- 

 did condition. A year ago at this time our loss, 

 pan under sealed covers and part under absorb- 

 ing cushions, was 20 per cent. 



While we have not this past winter lost any 

 whatever, it does not signify at this date that 

 we shall not lose any; but when bees have win- 

 tered well and "springed" up to this lime, we 

 naturally feel hopeful that they will spring it 

 out into summer in good condition. A year 

 ago. besides the loss of many, our colonies were 

 in bad condition; but this year, there is not one. 

 In fact, we have not even had to unite. 



