GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mak. L 



Our subscription list is now 10.097. 



WHO IS RAMBLKK? 



"Wk will tpll you in our next issup, and give 

 you ono of those beautiful half-tone i)ortraits 

 of him. 



•■ Dowx brakes!" 

 A MOST excellent article api)ears from the pen 

 of L. C. Axtell. on page W9. We commend it 

 to the thoughtful consideration of every reader 

 who is interested in new dev<'lopments. 



CHALOX FOWLS. 



We havi' just had a very i)leasant call from 

 Mr. Chalon Fowls, of Oberlin. O. He is one of 

 those enthusiastic and tlniioughly practical 

 bee-keepers whom it is a jjieasure to meet. He 

 is so full of bee-lore that even an editor of a 

 hee-journnl may get some new ideas in talking 

 with him. 



RKFKESHIX(4 KAIXS IX (A LIFOKXIA. 



The following littl(> gleam of news comes to 

 hand from one of our California subscribers: 



Our long fliouth in Soullierii California is at last 

 broken liy a most refresliiiig- I'aiii of 3^^ to -1 indies 

 at this place. Of couise. wc feel wonderfully 

 thankful, for it not only puts oiu' lioney i)rospect 

 on a gt>od footin.tr. but ahnost insures a general va- 

 riety of crops. Alf.en Barxett. 



Whittler, Cal.. Feb. 17. 



SECTIONS .M.\DE OF KED WOOD. 



Mk. J. W. Uttek. of Amity. N. Y.. sends us 

 sami)les of sections made of red cedar. The 

 wood is of a reddis!i-i)ink cast, and lias the 

 charactei'istic odor of an ordinary leadpencil. 

 Mr. U. says these sections set off the honey, and 

 mak(> the combs look whitei'. liy the way. 

 wouldn't that strong odor of red wood rather 

 give a flavor to the honey? It would be like 

 making butter in a new cedar ciiurn. The 

 butter would sui'elv taste of it. 



TWO MOIiE XEW HEE-.H)UI!XAI.S. 



The first one. a monthly, hails from Berlin 

 Falls, N.H., and is entitled the White MoimUiin 

 Apiiirist, and contains 12 pages. Tlu' second has 

 Ki pages and a neat tinted cover. It hails from San 

 Francisco. Cal.. and bears the name of the C<il- 

 ■iforniti Bee Keeper. This latter is very neat- 

 ly and tastily pi'inted. Lefssee: Mi'. Newman, 

 of the A. B. J., a few weeks ago counted up five 

 new bee-papers for the new year, and here ai-e 

 two more — seven in all. Still thiM-e is room. 

 Next 1 



P. S. — One of our compositors suggests, on 

 seeing the above, the wisdom of starting an 

 obituary department for liee-journais. Two 

 have already suspended publication within two 

 months — not of the number, however, of the 

 new year. We were not mean enough to think 

 of such a thing: l^nt. say. if the new publica- 

 tions continue to start ui) at this rate we shall 

 have to have a department of "■ New Bee- 

 Journals."' 



THE EDITORIAL "'WE" IX THIS DEl'AinMEXT. 



Ot'R readers will observe that we have been 

 employing the plural form of the personal pro- 

 noun in this department, in spite of the fact 

 that Di'. Miller has urged in tho Bee- Keepers' 

 Review some very good reasons why the singu- 

 lar form of the word should be used. We like 

 the personality of '" I." but do no+- see how we 

 can consistently use it with justice to other 

 members of the Home of the Honey-bees who 

 use their brains. E. R. R. dictates most of the 

 editorials: but while in most cases the editori- 

 als are the expressions of his own opinion indi- 



vidually, they are also very often the expres- 

 sion of three or four in our establishment. For 

 instance, take the matter of using square kero- 

 sene-cans for shipping California honey. E. R. 

 R. consulted INIr. J. T. Calvert, business man- 

 ager, and the shipping clerk in the express de- 

 partnnuit. as well as several of the boys who 

 have to do with the handling and testing of the 

 honey in these oil-cans. Now. we can't very 

 well say lie did so and so: luit we could say with 

 truth that wc did. Very often an editorial is 

 suggested by oui- superintendent, and an opin- 

 ion is rendered by him: and E. R. R.. in conning 

 it over, digests it and tinally gives it to the 

 stenographer: and it very often happens that 

 as he takes it down he suggests some othei- 

 ideas. E. R. R. fears that, if he were to use the 

 singular pronoun, he would be tmfairlv credit- 

 ed with an unusual amount of wisdom: and if it 

 seems necessary, for one r<>ason or another, that 

 the individual personal '" 1 " should be used he 

 adopts it, and then he signs his initials. For 

 instance, if he picks a bone with Mr. Heddon. 

 the latter knows who is responsible for the 

 statements. 



GRAXD RAPIDS LETTUCE. ETC. 



It is I'efresiiing to notice that my two chil- 

 dren in the line of garden products, namely. 

 Grand Rapids lettuce and tlu' Ignotum tomato, 

 are taking such prcnuinent places in the seed 

 catalogues of the world. Perhaps I should say 

 the two chihlren I hitroclnced. for of coui'se I 

 did not originate either of them. I beli(>ve that 

 few or none of the catalogues give me any cred- 

 it for my effoi'ts in that line: but so long as 

 they have met with great favor. I do not know 

 that it matters. I omitted to mention that our 

 friends at the ExperimcMit Station, at Columbus. 

 ha\i' nuule some \'er\" careful exix-riinents to 

 detei'niine how much of an improNcment the 

 Grand Rapids is over its parent, the Black- 

 seeded Simi)S(m. large beds of which were in 

 their greenhouses, side by side. The Gi'and 

 Rai)ids shows a nuirked superiority. It has a 

 better coloi'. and will keep longer out of gi'ound: 

 so the claims that oui- friend Eugene Davis 

 nuide for it aic certainly honest and dt^served. 

 By the way. quite a few do not seem to under- 

 stand that tlie (irand Rai)ids lettuce is just as 

 well calculated for outdoor culture as in the 

 gi'(HMihouse. As it does not form a heail. how- 

 ever, a good many prefer the IJoston Market or 

 Hendei'son"s New York for growing in tht^ open 

 air. A. I. R. 



IirBEI! LE.\RXIX(+ TO 15EAD. 



As the young hop(>ful is now nearing seven 

 years of age. and has never heretofore nuini- 

 fested any special liking for books. I began t(^ 

 be a littlesurprised. If he is going to be a chip 

 of the old block, thought I. he must pretty soon 

 begin to get a glinijjse of the wonders this w orld 

 has to ott'er. especially in the line of literature. 

 Well, about a week ago In* took a great fancy 

 to a book calli'tl " Bible Pictures, and what they 

 Teach us:" and before we knew it iu' was 

 sijending all his leisure time poring over its 

 pages. When Suiulay canu". of course there 

 was no reason w hy he should not continue, with 

 such a book. His favoi'ite attitude is to si)read 

 the book and himself on the floor, in the centi'i- 

 of the room. In this way he can change his 

 po.sition. and sprawl (uit first one way and then 

 another, and thus he keei)S it going. After 

 dark he has a big bright lamp down on the floor 

 bv his side. I was a little curious at flr.st to see 

 what book he had selected among the multi- 

 tude of books that are to be found almost every- 

 when-. The book is the work of the author of 

 Storv of the Bil)le. A. I. R. 



