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GLEANINGS IN 13EE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



astonislied to find that even our ten-cent spectacles 

 and nose-glasses afford such wonderful relief dur- 

 ing these dark autumti days. When tliere is plenty 

 of daylight I have no dilticulty in reading almost 

 any thing with the naked eye, except tliat I have to 

 hold it at pretty nearly arm's length when the print 

 is rather fine. 



EDITORS OF BEE-PAPERS ON FRATERNAL. TERMS. 



The last American Bee Joiu-nal has come to hand, 

 bright and newsy with its convention items. The 

 editor of that journal, among other things, says 

 some very pleasant things of us and ours. It is not 

 so much ivhat is said, but the kindly spirit which ani- 

 mated those expressions, that pleases us. How 

 gratifying it is, that editors of bee-papers, unlike 

 some in other pursuits, can say kind things of each 

 other, and not exhibit signs of jealousy. By the 

 way, immediately after the adjournment of the 

 convention, the hall where the association met was 

 occupied by a glee-club of who sang in the interest 

 of one of the great political parties. See page 788. 

 The great majority of the members of the con- 

 vention remained to listen to the singing (which 

 was very fine), and accordingly took seats on one 

 side of the singers. Quite by accident, the editors 

 of the representative bee-papers sat in a line so 

 straiglit, indeed, that, if a cannon-ball had been fired 

 along that line it would have swept them all down. 

 It was Hutchinson, we believe, who first called at- 

 tention to this phalanx of editors. Let's see: There 

 was Holterman, of the Caimdian Honey Producer; 

 Newman, of the A. B. J.: Hutchinson, of the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review, and your humble servants. This 

 little incident, quite accidental in itself, represents 

 the fraternal feeling that exists among us, we feel 

 sure; and God grant that editors of the bee-papers 

 may never feel ashamed to sit together and be 

 "kind o' decent." 



LOOK OUT FOB HIM. 



Just before the honey season opened last June, 

 when everybody wanted every thing without a 

 moment's delay, we received the following letter : 



A. I. Root:— Will you please send me the brood-frames and 

 section boxes lor 6 Siniplieity hives? i have the 12 empty 

 hives, equal to 6 two-story, which I want complete. I bought 

 of Lowell Hummer, Esq., and he had not the fixtures, but re- 

 quested me to write you for them. Please send immediately 

 by express, C. O. D., to Marydell.Md., via Del. & Ches. R. R., 

 and oblige Youi-s very truly, Thomas B. Johns. 



Teniplevjlle, Mai-yland. 



P. S.— Please drop me a card when you ship. T. B. J. 



You will notice tbat the above order makes a 

 pretty heavy package to go by express; but as our 

 friend underscored " immediately," and plainly or- 

 dered by express, we decided to send the goods as 

 he directed, especially as the letter was written by 

 a man who is evidently accustomed to do business, 

 and one who knows what he is talking about. We 

 wrote him at once that the express charges would 

 be high, but presumed that he knew what he was 

 doing when he so plainlj- ordered by express. When 

 he got the hives, however, he found that the ex- 

 press charges were so high that he refused indig- 

 nantly to receive the goods. We wrote him at once, 

 that, as we had his order in plain black and white, 

 we should insist either on his taking the goods or 

 else paying the charges both ways, suggesting that 

 he could sav^e quite a little money by returning the 

 goods by freight. However, he refused to do any 

 thing about it, and let the hives come back to us 

 with a charge of $tj.l5 cxpressage both ways, as our 

 reward for doing our best to accommodate our 

 friend. We have informed him that we shall pub- 



lish him if he does not refund the consequences of 

 his blunder. Of course, he would have to pay for 

 the consequences of his plain black and white or- 

 der; but an attorney in his vicinity informs us that 

 he is one of the individuals who have their proper- 

 ty all in their wives' name. By the way, my friend, 

 do not ever fix your property in such a predica- 

 ment as that, as you value your good name, and 

 wish to stand as a man among men. 



advertisements that DO NOT PAY. 



Inasmuch as we have published kind words in 

 regard to the value of our advertising columns, it 

 is no more than fair that we give the other side. 



Inclosed find $2.40 to balance account. I have received only 

 alO-cent order, and am out 82.30, so I am one who is left of 

 your many customers. I expected to sell at leastjenou^h seed 

 to order some supplies of you, as that is what I intended to do 

 with the money obtained from sale of the seed. My plan 

 failed, and, of course, I feel the disappointment as well as the 

 loss. Geo. W. Baldwin. 



Forest City, Mo., Oct. 8, 1888. 



Now, why didn't his advertisement give some 

 sort of return for the !f3.40 invested? By referring 

 to page 674, in our issue for Sept. 15, you will find 

 the advertisement is of bee-balm seed, 50 cts. per 

 ounce. At the same time, we have on the pages 

 of Gleanings the same seed advertised at 1.5 

 cts. per ounce, and it has also been offered in our 

 catalogue for more than a year at 15 cts. per ounce. 

 Is it any wonder that our friend does not get any 

 returns for his advertisement? He is certainly 

 very much at fault in undertaking to advertise 

 something for sale without first inquiring the cur- 

 rent price ; and the editors of Gleanings are also 

 at fault for not writing him when the advertise- 

 ment was received, as it would be money thrown 

 away to undertake to get more than three times 

 the regular price. It is true, a good many editors 

 take the ground that, when a man sends in an ad- 

 vertisement, and pays for it, it is his privilege and 

 business to know what he is doing. Under the cir- 

 cumstances, we credit our friend with half of the 

 amount he has paid us. A good many, in sending 

 in their advertisements, tell us to insert it if, in my 

 opinion, it will be a profitable investment ; and I 

 am always glad to give my advice in such cases, 

 and I can not remember that I have yet made a 

 mistake. We are glad to get advertisements, but 

 we do not want anybody's money for advertise- 

 ments or any thing else, unless they get some kind 

 of fair equivalent. 



NOT being explicit. 



Well, there are a great many ways in which people 

 fail to make themselves understood; but there is 

 one fashion that seems to have got deeply rooted 

 among a certain class of the brethren, that makes 

 much trouble. It is a little funny, too, to think 

 that great numbers of people should adopt the same 

 fashion of doing business. It is this: Using the 

 exact phrase in paying a debt that you would in 

 ordering goods. There are three or four quarrels on 

 hand now, just on account of this queer fashion. 

 A man asks us to send him an A B C book, saying he 

 will pay for it in a few days; then when he comes 

 to make payment, he writes: 



Inclosed find S1.26, to pay for your ABC. 



Now, in the above you will notice that not a word 

 is said to enable us even to guess he means the money 

 is payment for a book which he has already received. 

 With our large business we can not remember that 

 he is owing us $1.35 for an A B C book; and we do 

 not look on his ledger page, because he says nothing 

 about it. It has been suggested that we examine 



