463 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Juke 1. 



from the International Postal Commission, who 

 resided in Berne. Switzerland. I wrote to ^Mr. 

 Bertrand, of the Revue Internationale, at Ny- 

 on, who explained the matter to, and was sec- 

 onded by the assistance of, a Swiss apicultural 

 Society. I went to Rome in the matter, to speak 

 %o the Minister of Postal Affairs. The Mar- 

 quis of Compans, private secretary of the Min- 

 ister, a bee-keeper and a farmer, was there. He 

 assisted me with much kindness, heard my ar- 

 guments, and, in short, promised -me his influ- 

 ence at Berne, and wrote, at the same time, to 

 the different governments, and kept his word. 

 You see this aifair was so well managed that 

 we can now send queens In Benton cages to va- 

 rious countries, putting on the same postage 

 that would be necessary for letters. I have, 

 then, some reason for saying that I deserve 

 some credit for this success. 

 Bologna, Italy. Feb. .5. C. BiANCONcmi. 



[We owe you a vote of thanks, friend B., if 

 yoii are the one to bring about the privilege we 

 now enjoy, of sending queens to any part of the 

 world by paying letter postage. By way of 

 "reciprocity," we wish to do our friend Charles 

 Bianconcini, of Bologna, Italy, a little gratui- 

 tous advertising. He probably furnishes nine- 

 tenths of all the queens imported into the Unit- 

 ed States. He takes great pains in selecting the 

 very best and nicest queens, knowing very well 

 that they ai'e used for breeding in this country; 

 and this may account in no small degree for the 

 excellent qualities shown by the queens from 

 sunny Italy. But, hold! we have just learned, 

 that by the new taiiff law queens can not be sent 

 to the U. S. by mall, although we are permitted 

 to send queens by mail to other countries. This 

 is too bad after all our friend has done for us. 

 As the framers of the law did not anticipate 

 queen-bees. Prof. Cook on our part will probably 

 go to Washington to have the matter made 

 more fair in the near future. See editorials.] 



THE PHONOGRAPH. 



IX USE BY THE W. T. FAI.CONEK CO. 



For a year or two we have been contemplat- 

 ing putting in a phonograph for taking and 

 transcribing letter dictation; but we were in- 

 formed that it is not a practical success. Very 

 recently, however, on the W. T. P'alconer Man- 

 ufacturing Co.'s stationery we noticed a stamp 

 with the words. '• Dictated and transcribed by 

 the phonograph." We immediately wrote 

 them, asking them as to the practicabilitv and 

 use of the Edison invention: and their reply, 

 which we consider of more than general inter- 

 est, we append below : 



A. I. Root: — In regard to the phonograph, we 

 have only commenced to use it: but we think 

 we are going to like it very much. Of course, 

 it requires some little experience to get the best 

 results from it. and all the stenographers have 

 to learn how to use it: but it is not difficult to 

 get accustomed to working it. We use the ma- 

 chine by dictating several cylinders full, and 

 then letting the stenographers take them ofl" in 

 shorthand, and transcribe them. They are usu- 

 ally used, however, by having the type-writer 

 operator take the dictation off direct, without 

 taking it down in shorthand; that is to say, the 

 operator listens for a moment; and what he 

 remembers he transfers with the type-writer to 

 paper, and stops the machine in the meanwhile. 

 This is a good arrangement, as it can be done 



very easily. There is one little difficulty that 

 the writer experiences, but perhaps you would 

 not have; and that is, a feeling of embarrass- 

 ment when he is talking. It seems as though 

 he went into the factory to a saw-table, and 

 talked to it in a confidential way. 



We believe it would pay you. as, frequently, 

 a person would like to dictate a letter and then 

 leave the office, and sometimes the stenogi'aph- 

 ers are all busy. We find that to be the case 

 with ourselves, and presume it is with you. 

 The matter of expense is very little — only $40.00 

 a year rent; and we believe that any firm, hav- 

 ing as much correspondence as you have, can 

 get that value out of it any way. 



We would suggest your writing to the New 

 York Phonograph Co., Buffalo, N. Y., and they 

 will write you in full in regard to it. 



The W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 



Jamestown, N. Y., May 12. 



MORE ABOUT THE ISLAND OF MALTA. 



THE ORIGIN OF ITS NAME; ITS HONEY RE- 

 SOl'KCES; OB.JECTS OF INTEREST. 



In Gleanings of Dec. 1.5, 1890, after reading 

 friend Baldensperger's article I wanted to get 

 right up and have my say. The article to me 

 was very interesting, as I am an old resident of 

 Malta. I went to that island under circum- 

 stances similar to those of friend B., being on 

 board of a ship with 80 yellow-fever patients, 

 therefore I am pretty well acquainted with the 

 lazaretto. There are some very interesting as 

 well as truthful things said in Mr. B.'s article; 

 but I am very certain that he got the blues bad 

 while in quarantine, and that accounts for the 

 view he took of things while in Malta. First, 

 he finds fault with the quarantine regulations. 

 Why, friend Root, is it not better to be strict 

 in health regulations than to suffer disease to 

 spread, which might cause serious calamities? 



Another thing that puzzles me is, how he can 

 construe the word Melita into a word meaning 

 honey. Mella means salt; but how Melita can 

 be honey, I can not conceive. North of the laz- 

 aretto is a village called Sleima. whei'e there 

 are saltworks. I lived in Sleima two years, but 

 never heard any other construct'on given than 

 that Melita derived its name from the salt found 

 there. If he had gone to Cita Chevicia he 

 might have seen a wonderful spring, its water 

 being carried by aqueduct seven miles to Valet- 

 ta and its suburbs. Indeed, it is almost the sole 

 supply of water for the island. 



Again, " There is nothing to be found but car- 

 ob-trees." Mr. B., I could take you to very 

 beautiful gardens and orchards where grow figs, 

 oranges, lemons, limes, apricots, pomegranates, 

 palms, grapes, and an endless variety of other 

 ornamental trees, besides large groves of bam- 

 bo. The story about bees and the manner of 

 keeping them is very correct; also its wonderful 

 production of vegetables. I wonder if he saw 

 the turtle-pond, the eel-ponds, the catacombs, 

 or the church of St. Antonia, or the. place of 

 .St. Paul's shipwreck, and the place where the 

 footprint is cut in the; rock, which a priest will 

 tell you was done by the pressure of Paul's (?) 

 foot when he landed. 



It is also true, that there are no vcmomous 

 reptiles in Malta (there are centipedes and scor- 

 pions). In the history of Malta I think it is 

 stated that a snake was never seen on the is- 

 land, and that the viper must have come from 

 Italy in a dormant state in wood or ot^ier ma- 

 terial. However this may be, I certainly saw 

 and handled a small snake, about 18 inches 

 long, that I found there; but it was harmless. 



