reb. (,, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



89 



the truth is bccnmiiig known, and as \vc progress the Irnc 

 article will stand a hettcr show cvcrj- day. 



The sale of honey, in my experience, has underRniie .iii 

 evolution which is reniarUahle. In 1X70 one had lo drum, .iml 

 drum, and repeat the history of honey over !ind over .iKain. 

 with eaeli customer. A few years later the sale had already 

 made some jirogrcss, but there was still a chance for the con- 

 sumer to be deceived, even if he tried hard lo become infornuil. 

 To-day the average man knows what he buys, and the aver- 

 age grocer cannot readily be deceived. True, there are all 

 sorts f)f incrediljle stories running about, and it is a real shame 

 that daily newsiiapers should lend themselves to such huin- 

 biigs; but the average newspaper is not above relating a big 

 gliosl story, or a sea-monster tale, and they (it is sad to 

 say) expect to keep alive by sensation.-d reports. It will take 

 many and many a day to leach "ihe truth to the World, but 

 each d;iy lirings a little change and sooner or later the truth 

 will stand supreme. It is very much easier to sell honey now 

 than ,30 years ago; it is even easier to sell it than it was ten 

 years ago, and since the new methods are still in their infancy, 

 we must not get discouraged, for it is a slow thing to educate 

 the masses. 



Let us never spare a chance to inform the people, to 

 threaten and frighten the adulterators, and we may readily 

 expect that success will crown fiur efforts. I think it would 

 be well to keep our National Ree-Kcepers' Association after 

 the adulterators, and to publish, whenever practicable, all we 

 know about good, true, honest honey. Hancock Co., III. 



The Afterthought. » 



The '*Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable QIasses. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



FORCED SWARMING. 



That Colorado plan of forced swarming — sections with 

 full foundation above and only starters below — that's a plan 

 which it will certainly do to watch with interest. Probably 

 a poor plan for a lean locality. And fat locations which have 

 a capricious way of withholding or misplacing the honey- 

 shower may vote it a vexation. Page 798. 



AGE OF LARVAE USED IN QUEEN-REARING. 



For patient, persistent work in a good cause, and against 

 venerable lies with strong backers. Dr. Miller deserves a 

 medal. Few more honorable forms of intellectual doing good 

 can be found on this globe than just that kind of work. But, 

 ah, me, how the brickbats do fly, in the benevolent chap's 

 direction, sometimes ! The bees' choice of 28 young larva- to 

 only I too old larva is a triumph for a valuable truth. 

 In reasonable probability that one was chosen only because 

 lots of bees that wanted to work at that kind of work couldn't 

 readily get at the limited space where the younger larvae 

 could be had. The ordinary removal of a queen from a full 

 colony would not bring such conditions. It was a serious 

 dilemma that most of the bee-keeping world were in — learn 

 methods unendurably fussy, else not do anything at all at 

 the propagation of their I'cry best stock — and Dr. Miller has 

 removed that dilemma. Page 798. 



DISAGREEMENT OF LONG-TONGUE DOCTORS. 



While I was talking long tongues I failed to notice one 

 sad disagreement between the doctors. Prof. Gillette finds the 

 amount of the variation one-twelfth, while Mr. Rankin finds 

 it one-third of the tongue's length. The former rather seems 

 to infer from the small relative variation that the whole 

 efifort is hopeless. The larger relative variation would stim- 

 ulate us to hope that still larger ones could easily be pro- 

 duced when once Intelligence takes the thing in hand. Pages 

 7S0 and 704- 



FEEDING BOILED FOUL-BROODY HONEY PROHIBITED. 



So (in the laboratory) foul brood has been made to grow 

 after two hours' boiling of the honey? And practically the 

 average bee-man will reproduce the disease in so large a pro- 

 portion of the trials ;hat the best inspectors now totally for- 

 bid all attempts to disinfect and feed foul-broody honey. This 

 is somewhat of a change from former ideas and teachings. 

 Page 789. 



THE SKLF-WATERI.Si; Kl.iALYPTUS TREK. 



1 have read witli interest many items about the cucaly^ilus 

 in Cdifornia; knew it was specially adapted to dry climates, 

 bul somehow I never before got hold of the idea that it 

 watered itself by condensing water on llie leaves at night. 

 Oft good-sized puddles on Ihe ground, eh? A Yankee trick 

 among trees — even, if the tncs don't come from Yankee- 

 kind, but from the anli|)odes. llowsomever, a I'akcrsficid 

 Californian at my hand never heard of this, although eucalyp- 

 tus is plenty there — don't ihink the puddles woidd appear 

 where tlie nights arc as dewless and dry as in the Kern River 

 valley. Almost any tree might make a puddle when a dense, 

 drippling fog comes up — or when the air is saturated, and the 

 night sky clear. Page 807. 



DISCARDED HIVE-COVERS. 



"I have hundreds of discarded covers of all de- 

 scriptions lying around." Mr. Bartz, we are not all 

 of us in that condition outwardly, but most of 

 us are in that way inwardly — unsatisfied as to cover. 

 .Mas, I fear for your cover, also! Depends for its 

 water-turning powers wholly on muslin and paint — and the 

 slope a mere trifle. 'Spects that in most yards it, too, would 

 soon be chalked, "Discarded." Page 811. 



EXCHANGING QUEENS. 



To introduce three "superior" queens and lose 400 pounds 

 of honey by it. Well, that's just one of the little incidents in 

 our efforts to climb. Many of us don't know how good our 

 own bees are. And only a small "hunk" of sympathy can 

 we deal out to such an experienced old chap as Wm. Stolley. 

 But the case is decidedly sad wdien a beginner with 25 really 

 superior queens kills them all ofT and introduces 25 which are 

 scarcely half as efficient. Still, our efforts to cliinb should not 

 be left ofT altogether. It is to be regretted that public com- 

 petitions in the actual work of diflerent strains of bees are so 

 troublesome and so rare. Page 824. 



^ The Home Circle. ^ 



Conducted bij Prof. ft. J. Cook, Claremont, Calif. 



GOOD-BYE. 



When our good friend and editor, !Mr. York, asked me 

 to attempt this department I was no less surprised than 

 startled. I had never "sawed such wood." It would be an 

 entirely new field. Could I do it acceptably? Would my 

 usual duties permit the time? Would my strength prove equal 

 to the added task? 



I have a brother whom I have always regarded as altnost 

 an ideal man. The fact that he is my brother may have influ- 

 ence to effect the opinion. It certainly did in that I know 

 him so thoroughly. He says he has always regretted that 

 he had not a larger family even to number ten or twelve. 

 Possibly the possession of two splendid boys gave him this 

 longing for still better things. Surely, to give to one's coun- 

 try and the world ten stalwart children, true, vigorous, God- 

 fearing, is a privilege that any of us might well covet. 



My lot was like my brother's, though better; for while 

 I had but two children, one was a daughter, and so I have 

 always felt, and do now feel, much sympathy with my broth- 

 er's longing. I would like a large family: indeed, as teacher, 

 I have alwavs had a large family, and to-day I can count my 

 boys and girls by the hundreds. The thought that he may 

 have done something to lighten the loads, and sweeten the 

 lives of these foster children, is what makes the profession 

 of the teacher .so full of pleasure and inspiration. 



The thought of the larger family— the great, big family 

 that would be instantly born to me as editor of "The Home 

 Circle" department of the "Old Reliable," I must say came to 

 me as a most toothsome morsel. It would be a precious 

 privilege to share with them all my pleasures in the home. 

 the children, -the home pets, the flowers, the neighbors, and 

 the thousand daily experiences that make this earth so de- 

 lightful an'" 'his life so worth I"--"g. I could but say, "I will 

 try it." 1 iirtve never regretteu rhe decision. I come each 

 week, though often wearied and over-tasked, to this 

 part of my full life's work, with only thoughts of pleas- 

 ure. I really felt that I came to a great home 



