1897. 



IHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



745 



farmer to give the contract. To encourage his system was 

 a. financial injury to every one but the operator. 



Mr. Holtermann stated that quite a number of red clover 

 seed growers were becoming alarmed on the same score. It 

 was well known on account of the length of the corolla of 'the 

 red clover blossom it was very difficult to propolize it, and be- 

 fore Australia could produce red clover seed they bad to im- 

 port the bumble-bee. The growers of this seed were fearing 

 that as during fruit-blossom the queen, 'being the only survi- 

 vor over winter of a nest, would be poisoned when working on 

 the blossoms. This means the destruction of an entire nest 

 and its increase. Mr. Dryden promist to try and find some 

 method of informing the public. 



Tl?e Weekly Budget; 



■ The Progressive Bee-Keeper makes another progres- 

 sive step by dressing up in new, clean, clear type, very grate- 

 ful to the eye. 



Mr. W. a. Prtal, of Alameda Co., Calif., wrote us as 

 follows, Nov. 11 : 



"The prospects for nest year continue good, as we have 

 been having plenty of early rains. It bids fair to be an open 

 winter." 



Mr. J. W. Rouse, of Missouri, reports in Progressive that 

 on account of drouth he got only half as much as he expected. 

 But some people expect a good deal, and as he actually har- 

 vested 120 pounds per colony, he ought to manage to rub 

 along till he gets a full crop. 



Prof. A. J. Cook, writing us from Los Angeles Co., Calif., 

 Nov. 10, said: . 



" The price offered for honey still holds very low. A few 

 have sold for 4: cents per pound, but many can get no more 

 than 3 or 3)ij' for the best extracted honey." 



Mr. J. W. Oqlesby, of Logan Co., Ark., writing Jus Nov. 

 10, said : 



" My bees have done exceedingly well this year, and all 

 have gone inio winter quarters full up to the brim. I credit a 

 large part of my success to the American Bee Journal." 



Editor Hutchinson, in the Review, speaks very highly 

 of Dr. Miller's work in his department in the Bee Journal — 

 "Questions and Answers." Here is the paragraph Mr. Hutch- 

 inson wrote in regard to it: 



"Beginners will ask questions, no matter how much you 

 tell them to read a text-book, and if there is any place in 

 which they can get these questions fairly and satisfactorily 

 answered it is by Dr. Miller in the 'Questions and Answers' 

 department of the American Bee Journal." 



Mr. John II. Martin, whom we reported as being sick, 

 we have since learned came near having a run of fever, but 

 fortunately broke it up before it had progrest far. It left 

 him very weak, and it was some days before he could do much. 

 During his sickness he had Mr. Clayton, one of the directors 

 of the Bee-Keepers' Exchange, as his substitute as Secretary. 

 On Nov. 10 the Exchange shipt a carload of honey to Ohio. It 

 handled about 10 carloads of honey this season, and has sev- 

 eral more on hand. But prices are unsatisfactory. 



Beautifully Fernlike. — Editor Hutchinson's terrible 

 aflliction in the loss of his little daughter Fern, by the hand 

 of her crazed mother, has awakened the sympathy of the 

 whole fraternity. That sympathy has moved E. E. Hasty to 

 write a couple of verses so exquisite that they must be re- 

 peated here: 



There is a balm for mourners sad, where funeral torches burn-- 

 None wheQ a darling child jrows up— it's (roae beyond return. 

 She arrows not old. nor coy nor bold, be future triad or stern; 

 Immortal now in loving hearts art thou, sweet little Fern. 



Father nor sUter ne'er shall say. as Ion? as Ule shall bide; 



" My baby's dead, but no one knows exactly when she died. 



And there's no grave in any yard to go and weep beside." 



Tho tears must Bow, and hearts must ache, one fount of grief is dried . 



■-^07 



mskw. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. SlILLER, MARENGO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.! 



Bcc8 DrHggini; Out Larvie. 



J am much obliged to my good friend, 0. O. Poppleton, for 

 calling attention, on page 690, to my reply about the bees 

 dragging out larviB. He says the dragging out larvie when 

 bees are at the point of starvation is the one which requires 

 the promptest attention on the part of the bee-keeper, and 

 he's certainly right In that. He might also have added that 

 for every larva dragged out from all the other causes, five will 

 be dragged out on account of short stores. But I suppose he 

 wanted to let me down as light as possible. You see, besides 

 having a good head, Mr. Poppleton has a good heart. 



" How did I come to make such a blunder in answering ?" 

 I don't know. I suppose I was intently thinking of what 

 could be the trouble with the questioner's bees just then, and 

 in the month of September the bees would not be at all likely 

 to be dragging out brood on account of short stores. But I see 

 I don't know as well as I might, how to answer questions." 



C. C. M. 



M I ^ 



Cypress Boards for Hives. 



Can cypress boards be used for bee-hives? If not, why ? 



Conn. 

 Answer. — I don't know. Who can tell us ? 



Figwort or Simpson Honey-Plant. 



The illustration of Simpson honey-plant on page 6-41, Is 

 very different in bloom from that of plants grown from seed 

 purchast of an Ohio firm, the blossoms of which, appear in 

 whorls on the main stalk and branches, much the same as cat- 

 nip. Why this difference? Florida. 



Answer. — At this time of year I can't find a stalk to com- 

 pare, but as nearly as I remember, and I'm quite familiar 

 with the plant, the cut on page fiil represents very exactly 

 figwort. Notice the enlarged blossom at the lower right 

 hand corner. If your plant hasn't that kind of blossom, then 

 it is not true to name. 



m M I > » 



Comb Honey Produced witli llie Aid of Drawn 

 Foundation. 



1. From a purchaser's standpoint, is not the value of comb 

 honey based upon the belief that it is the handiwork of the bees 

 themselves, coming directly from the hand of Nature, and 

 therefore pure ? 



2. From the bee-keeper's standpoint, is not the value based 

 upon the cost of production compared with the market price 

 of extracted honey ? 



3. If the above deductions are correct (and to my way of 

 thinking they are) would there not be very great danger of in- 

 juring the reputation of comb honey for the purchaser if arti- 

 ficial comb is made? 



4. Do you think the greater production, on account of 

 furnishing to the bees of sections filled with comb all ready 

 for them to fill with honey, would compensate for comb honey 

 losing its reputation for purity, and the inevitable falling in 

 price on account of greater ease in production, allowing that 

 the manufacturer of artificial comb is a mechanical success ? 



Nova Scotia. 



Answers. — 1. Not altogether the belief In purity makes the 

 purchaser willing to pay the price. Looks has much to do 

 with it. The beautiful appearance of comb honey makes 

 customers willing to pay more for it. The quality of the av- 

 erage sample of comb honey is also better than the averwje 

 sample of extracted, and that helps the price of the comb. 



