232 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 



pronouncing it a delusion and a 

 snare. We mix up the container with 

 the contents, just as we did in the 

 old "wet days" when we tried to see 

 the inside of too many containers. 



The mixed terms for a bunch of 

 bees is no worse than the mixed di- 

 mensions of supplies which the mak- 

 ers blandly pronounce Standard. 



And that reminds me of my friend 

 Brown, of Spiral Springs, 111. Brown 

 pronounces our supplies a jumble, 

 says trying to successfully assemble a 

 lot of supplies from several makers 

 is about as pleasurable as trying to 

 replace broken parts of your Rolls- 

 Royce from junk scraps of a Tin 

 Lizzie. Brown is a chap you should 

 know. He is a real genius as a bee 

 crank. Got more than enthusiastic 

 about bees and plunged into outyards. 

 Used to be seen at all hours toiling 

 from home, laden with all the bee 

 supplies he could stagger under. Pro- 

 nounced it fun until Mrs. B. began 

 to figui-e costs, and then became quite 

 dumb and seemed to lose his enthu- 

 siasm for lugging things back and 

 forth, so gathered together ten shek- 

 els of silver and bought a white horse. 

 The owner pronounced it several 

 ways, a bargain, kind, gentle, a little 

 old but still useful, and sure to stand 

 without hitching. That last was its 

 strong point, or four of them, for not 

 one of its four legs would it budge 

 when it was so inclined or declined; 

 in another word ,it was pronounced 

 "balky." Brown knew that, but he 

 thought he might say something to 

 move him. So after acquiring the 

 aforesaid white horse and not know- 

 ing of any red-haired maid to go with 

 it, also being more or less dubious as 

 to how Mrs. Brown would pronounce 

 such an addition to the assembly, he 

 proceeded to lace some hairs of red 

 copper wire into the breeching of the 

 harness for the white horse, doing it 

 secretly and surreptitiously. Also, he 

 connected those red copper wires 

 with the reins of said harness. 



From some source, the origin of 

 which it were not wise for us to in- 

 quire, Brown acquired a wagon of 

 unknown antiquity, and to this he 

 affixed the white horse, and in a se- 

 cluded and hidden part of the wagon 



he put a dry battery and tied it to the 

 red copper hairs. Next he loaiied the 

 wagon with the standard supplies, 

 pronounced all complete, bade Mrs. 

 Brown a fond farewell, headed the 

 outfit for the country via the neigh- 

 borhood of the seller of the white 

 hoi'se and started. After standing 

 longer than he liked, while Brown was 

 doing the loading, the white horse 

 started well, went a little way and 

 paused. Brown pronounced some 

 persuasive words, but the white horse 

 seemed not to know the language. 

 My secret opinion is that Brown's 

 language had been corrupted by con- 

 tact with bee literature; anyway he 

 pronounced several different things, 

 then pushed on the reins with their 

 red hairs, stepped on the connection 

 to the storage battery, and instantly 

 the white horse went away from 

 there. He shot by his former owner, 

 nearly going over him. What the said 

 former owner pronounced. Brown 

 failed to hear, but the goods were 

 widely and thoroughly distributed 

 over Cook County, Illinois. Brown is 

 still undecided whether to pronounce 

 this trip a success or not, for some 

 of the supplies are still missing and 

 he does not know whether those are 

 the pieces which fitted or not. But 

 from that day on the white horse 

 never failed to go when Brown or 

 anyone else pronounced the right 

 word, and in due time Brown sold 

 him for many times ten shekels of sil- 

 ver, so that Mrs. Brown, after per- 

 suading Brown to part with a goodly 

 part of the silver, joined him in pro- 

 nouncing the White Horse deal a 

 success, though its former owner 

 still pronounces its renovation a mys- 

 tery. 



But when it comes to trying to use 

 together the supplies from different 

 makers, all pronounced "standard," 

 Brown looks all around to see if he is 

 out of hearing before he pronounces 

 anything. One special set of parts 

 which are never the same from two 

 different makers, and seldom the 

 same from the same maker for two 

 successive years, particularly in- 

 censes Brown. He pronounces them 

 the greatest curse in all beedom, and 

 the cause of troubles and misfits in 



more different places than any other 

 bee supply thing he knows, to-wit: 

 the ends of the top bars of frames. 

 Just a little variance in the thick- 

 ness of these ends will throw the 

 frames too high or too low, upset 

 lower or upper chambers, floors, cov- 

 ers, honey boards, escape boards, 

 temper of all handlers and of many 

 more bees than a hive can hold. 

 Brown is fully justified in pronounc- 

 ing them — but excuse me, I cannot 

 just repeat Brown's pronunciation, 

 though I can, and do, fully endorse 

 it. 



I said "honey boa ds" just above. 

 Say them to Brown and — no, don't, 

 it isn't safe. Last time I did it I 

 was sorry, very soiTy. 



But between you and me, what is 

 the thing? I am in a hurry just 

 now, so write your answer and hand 

 it to me the next time I meet you. 



Brown is a pronounced success 

 when experimenting with bees. Just 

 ask him about packing his bees in the 

 meal trough while the combs were 

 stored safely in the house where 

 moths could not corrupt or honey 

 break through and leak. The white 

 horse had gone then, but I wish I 

 dared tell you the remarks of all con- 

 cerned when the tax collector hitched 

 his hoi'se to the meal chest one day. 

 Mrs. Brown pronounced it a scream, 

 Brown pronounced it a case for a 

 damage claim for bees destroyed. 

 While the tax collector was too out 

 of breath chasing the horse to pro- 

 nounce even a part of what he felt. 



Brown has a glorified idea of keep- 

 ing bees in winter without combs, 

 just packing them up in small boxes, 

 a slab of food on top, a handful of 

 meal below and bran all about. At 

 present he pronounces it a dream. 



I know another chap, a down east 

 Yankee, who tried a similar scheme 

 and he pronounced the results mixed. 

 Yes, quite, meaning the bees, meal, 

 food, chaff and ideas. 



I was about to add another of 

 Brown's pronouncements, but I just 

 heard he is badly stirred at the ad- 

 vanced prices of bee fixings, and 

 think I will wait until another time. 



Don't pronounce all this visionary, 

 for you may awake and find a lot of 

 it true; they would not be the .first 

 bee visions which came true and con- 

 founded the sages. 



I have some other pronouncements, 

 but they will keep, and keep the 

 editor happy by keeping, for he likes 

 things short and sweet. He isn't very 

 tall himself. 



Rhode Island. 



Aiali liuuj.c!> and palm Irccs at Klche, Spain. 



THE VALUE OF LAVENDER 



By Mrs. I. A. R. Pick 



Two items, one in the November is- 

 sue of the American Bee Journal, 

 and the second in the December num- 

 ber, regarding the dual purpose in the 

 cultivation of lavender (Lavandula 

 vera), for its commercial value to 

 druggists and distillers of perfumes, 

 and also for its value as a honey pro- 

 <lucing plant, ought to be of more 

 than passing interest to large and 

 small beekeepers. 



When it is stated: "In Italy it is 



