1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



301 



them to build for eternal life on the solid rook. 

 Christ Jesus. 



I-OOK OUT FOH HI.mI 



Do not send money or any tiling else to a man 

 who lias recently headed his stationery as fol- 

 lows: 



JOHN A. BHIGGMAN, 



General Comniissioii Mei'chimt and Broker. 



Melons, Potatoes, Apples, and Cabbage, in Cai' Lots 



a Specialty. 



P. O. Bo.\-, 1.51.] [Teleplione 751. 



Columbus, ()., 1S9 



And, by the way, do not send honey to (iny- 

 hody unless you have first found out from some 

 bank or reliable person that he is trustworthy. 

 After some further investigation we found that 

 he was in Columbus; but when last heard of he 

 was in Pittsburg, probably starting a commis- 

 sion house there. 



WHO WILL BE AT AI>BAXY. 



Since the announcement elsewhere, we have 

 learned that, in addition to the ocher distin- 

 guislied bee-keepers mentioned, there will be 

 present, at Albany. J. E. Crane. Julius Hoffman 

 (the inventor of the Hoffman frame). George 

 H. Ashby. E. L. Pratt, John Vandervort, Frank 

 Benton, Thomas Pierce, and last, but not least, 

 Capt. J. E. Hetherington, the most extensive 

 bee-keeper in the world. Verily, this promises 

 to be the best attended convention in many 

 years: and never before in the history of the 

 association, if we are correct, have we had the 

 assurance that so many eminent bee-keepers 

 would be present. Program, railroad rates, 

 etc.. will be found in another column. We are 

 told that some of the most interesting topics 

 which ai'e expected to be brought np are not 

 mentioned in the program, for the reason that 

 it was not possible to learn whether the parties 

 assigned to them could take them. 



ANOTHER SAFE AKIUVAL OF IMPOKTED QUEENS 

 AT HONOLULU. 



We have just been advised of the safe arrival 

 of three untested queens at Honolulu, mailed 

 here Sept. 11. They were successfully intro 

 duced, and are doing nicely. Our customer 

 writes: "They are little beauties, and it does 

 one's eyes good to look at them. They were as 

 lively as crickets when they arrived." He 

 further tells us that, out of the seven we have 

 already mailed him, six were received alive. 

 This, for a distance of nearly 6000 miles, is good 

 enough; and if the dozen or so we have mailed 

 to Australia do as well, we will try sending a 

 queen around the world by mail. It looks al- 

 most impossible, but we believe it is among the 

 possibilities now. Say! why don't you who 

 import Punic queens have them sent by mail 

 direct from the coast of Africa, and thus save 

 you a very great expense. We hope, in a future 

 issue, to give an engraving, with complete in- 

 structions on the foreign mailing of queens. 



HOW TO SHARPEN SHEARS. 



Dr. Mu.ler says he does not know how, 

 therefore I will tell you as well as I can; and 

 as it is quite likely some of our readers can give 

 us some additional hints, we invite them to 

 send along their contributions: and, all togeth- 

 er, it will be strange if we can not furnish our 

 wives and daughters with shears that will cut 

 beautifully — yes, clear to the point. Somehow 

 it seems as if every time I ask Mrs. Root for a 

 pair of shears, they are in such l)ad order that 

 I pronounce them a disgrace to the household. 



First, see to the rivet. You will almost al- 

 ways find it loose. Most shears nowadays have 

 a screw that can be turned up with a screw- 

 driver. Turn it up so as to be just right and 

 not too tight: then, unless it turns verv hard. 



you will need to take a light hammer and head 

 down the rivet until the screw can not turn of 

 itself. To do a good job you must lay the head 

 of the screw on something very solid— the liead 

 of an ax or flat-iron, or an iron wedge, for in- 

 stance. After you have got the screw just 

 right, take the oil -can that belongs to the sew- 

 ing-machine and lubricate the joint so it will 

 work easily, even if it is close. Now see wheth- 

 er the edges of the blades strike each other, and 

 hug clo.se at every point in clo.sing. Some- 

 times when the handles are shut clear together 

 the points of the blades are open a little, croco- 

 dile fashion. Now, it is very shiftless to have 

 shears around in this predicament. If you look 

 at the picture, inside first cover, last issue, you 

 will notice a little projection on one of the 

 handles where it strikes the other. This pro- 

 jection is to be filed or ground off until the 

 points just pass each other and no more. If 

 the blades are bent, go to work skillfully with 

 your hammer and anvil, and you can get the 

 bend out. After having done so you can sharp- 

 en with grindstone or whetstone; but I prefer 

 a very fine, hard-tempered, flat file, such as 

 you can buy at the jewelers or at most city 

 hardware stores. Fasten the blade of the 

 shears in the vise, and with the file you can give 

 it just the shape you want; then finish off' with 

 an oilstone. Do not file or grind the blades on 

 the inside unless there has been a ciook, and 

 you wish to dress out the crook. This is a lit- 

 tle difficult, but it can be done if you take 

 pains. The grinding should be done as you 

 grind a chisel or plane-bit— all on one side. 

 When the shears are held on the grindstone 

 they should be held steady, and at an exact an- 

 gle. If very dull, keep grinding until the round 

 dull corner disappears. Then with a whetstone 

 dress off' the feather edge, and. with a drawing 

 motion, make a keen sharp corner the whole 

 length of the blade. You can improve shears 

 made of chilled iron in this same way: but as 

 a rule it does not pay to waste much time on 

 them when you can get good steel -blade shears 

 for from 20 to .50 cts. With a file you can easily 

 tell whether your shears are too soft. If so. the 

 cheapest way is to get a new pair. In fact, I 

 believe a new pair is very often about as cheap 

 as you can fix a pair of old ones that have al- 

 ways been poor. 



A CALIFORNIA STATf; BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIA- 

 TION; A CA,SE OF "BAMFUZZLING."' 



The Southern California Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met in convention Oct. 23, at Los Ange- 

 les. By reading the accounts in the California 

 papers, it is evident that they had a stormy 

 session. A majority of the members, it seems, 

 and with some show of reason, desired to merge 

 the organization into a State association. Jn 

 order to accomplish this an amendment was of- 

 fered: but as it required a two-thiids vote.it 

 was lost after some wrangling within just one 

 vote, much to the displeasure of the majority. 

 The president and some others opposed the 

 amendment with all their might and main. 

 The report goes on to say that " the eloquence 

 grew vituperative, and the sacred walls re- 

 echoed with expressions sometimes inconsistent 

 with the Christian doctrine of love." At the 

 election of officers which followed, the majority 

 seized the opportunity and elected a new presi- 

 dent. When a I'eporter approached one of the 

 members, the latter said that their former pres- 

 ident had been bamfuzzling the members long 

 enough. "■ Bamfuzzling," said the reporter 

 droUy, " is probably a technical expression re- 

 ferring to the honey business." Joking aside, 

 we very much regret the turn that affairs took, 

 and we must admit that we are on the side of 

 the majority, because, if the great State of Cal- 



