IS'.fi 



(il.KANlNUS IN HKE CLII/rUUK. 



385 





If tliou raint in the day of adversity, thy strength Is Binal I. 

 Pkov «:I0. 



Wk notiiv tliat tho Hig Four are liaving all 

 tluMii-ais paiiitini wit.li ochrr. or. at loast, with 

 a tint iiiaiit' up largolj- of oclier. When a great 

 railroad corporation recognizes the (iurabiiity 

 of this paint, bee-keepers may well take a hint. 



Hko. Xi:w.m.\.x. of the Aiucricim lice .hiurnal. 

 has returned from his vacation, with renewed 

 strength and vigor. Gi,K.\.\iN(iS wishes that 

 he may long he retained at the helm of the 

 Amcrlmn Bee Journdl. and therefore trusts 

 that he will husband his strength as much as 

 possible. 



CoMi'LKTK tiles of the old Aineriran Bee 

 .TourtKil are getting to be veiy scarce. They 

 are most valuable for reference. The time will 

 come when they can not be obtained at any 

 price. It pays bee-keepers, generally, to pre- 

 serve back numbers of their journals. A record 

 of what has been done is often worth thousands 

 of dollars. 



We most heartily indorse Prof. Cook's article 

 on page 360 of the current issue. John H. Lar- 

 rabee is the right man in the right place, and 

 we sincerely hope that the Uepartinent at 

 Washington will retain him. not only for this 

 year, but for years to come. We doubt whether 

 a better mail, all things considered, could be 

 found for the position, and we hope that bee- 

 keepers will use their influence in seeing that 

 he is retained. 



We are imtjedding wires in brood-frames 

 right along now by electricity. It does the 

 work much faster and nicer than any other 

 method we have ever tried. So far electricity 

 has imbi'dded some six or seven hundred frames. 

 and our folks wouldn't go back to the old way — 

 well, for a good deal. Guess the bees will like 

 it better al.-^o. We are at present considering a 

 cheap battery for the purpose, so that all may 

 use the new plan. 



consumers direct, and then ask them what they 

 will pay for it. 



Wk have been experimenting a little with 

 tlie noolittle solar wax-extractor. We have 

 ()bser\cd that, while the wax would be melted, 

 and run down into the tin pan, the surface of 

 the glass wonhl be quite cold, from the inllu(!nce 

 ol the outside temperature. We then tried 

 sash having two glass in, and we found that 

 the temperature in two extractors, side tiy side, 

 one having doul)le glass and the other single, 

 each having inside carefully tested thermome- 

 ters, was ten degrees higher in favor of the 

 doul)le-glass sash. We tried the experiment at 

 ditl'erent times of the day, and the readings 

 of the thermometers would show for the same 

 minute a dillVrence of ten degrees. .1. A. Gi'een 

 will ix'ihaps remember, that, several years ago, 

 we held the position, in opposition to him, that 

 a single glass was preferable. Well, now we 

 will hack down completely. Although it costs 

 a little more, we send out all our Doolittle wax- 

 extractors with double glass. 



FoK the past seven or eight issues we have 

 been giving our readers eight extra pages, and 

 in addition to this an extra number of engrav- 

 ings. Alth(jugh this costs us a good deal more, 

 we chaige no more for it, and are satisfied with 

 the "sticktoitiveness" of our subscribers. Dur- 

 ing the busy days of early spring and summer, 

 bee-keepers do not have time to read much; 

 and if they can get an idea by a single glance 

 at an engraving, it will save them much time 

 and trouble, and add materially to their knowl- 

 edge of apicultural doings. 



Samples of pure orange-blossom honey have 

 been sent us from Florida. The llavor is superb, 

 and reminds one strongly of a delicious orange, 

 with the added quality of the rich oily taste of 

 honey. If ccmsumers knew more of its fine 

 qualities, they would pay a big ]irice for it: in 

 fact, we are not sure but it would be regarded 

 by the best connoisseurs as the most exquisitely 

 flavored honey in the world. The bee-keeper 

 who has several thousand pounds of orange- 

 1)lossom honey, in flavor equal to what we have 

 sampled, is fortunate. But in order to get the 

 right price he ought to submit samples of it to 



Ix September last we introduced to a rather 

 weak colony a Punic queen; but it was too late 

 to say much regarding the character of the 

 bees that subsequently hatched out. We find 

 this spring that they are doing finely. The 

 queen is very prolific, and tlie bees behave very 

 much like Italians; in fact, they resemble them 

 in many respects, except in the conspicuous ab- 

 sence of the yellow bands. They look different 

 from the Carniolans and also from the common 

 blacks. We believe it has already been inti- 

 mated that the Italians and Funics are de- 

 scended froiu a common ancestry. The fact 

 that their original homes are not so very far 

 a|jart, and that they are alike in disposition 

 and general temperament, may make this pos- 

 sible. However, we will not offer any more 

 surmises until we test the Funics more fully. 

 Now. please don't ask us to furnish Funic 

 queens. We can not rear the two races in their 

 purity in one locality; and until we know some 

 other race more favorably we shall stick to the 

 original three-banded Italians. 



GLEANINGS AND PATENTS. 



Henry Ali,ey wants to know where we stand 

 on patents. It luust be that our co-laborer in 

 apicultural journalism has neglected reading 

 very carefully of late the editorial department- 

 of Gleanings. Whatever may have been our 

 position, we recognize, and are glad to encour- 

 age, all useful patented inventions; but it makes 

 us tired to see would-be bee-keepers, with little 

 or no knowledge of bees, or the past literature 

 relating to them, rushing ahead and patenting 

 sundry and worthless articles. We advise every 

 one who contemplates getting out a patent in 

 the line of apiculture, to consult confidentially 

 two or three practical and well-informed bee- 

 keepers with reference to the value of the in- 

 vention. If they say go ahead, then take out a 

 patent if you can afford it. Some of our readers 

 si'cm t« be in the dark witli regard to the way 

 that we regard patents. We are at present 

 paying a royalty on two patents, and expect to 

 negotiate for the use of another invention, also 

 patented. Now, then, some of you will ask, 

 " Why don't you patent some of your own ap- 

 pliances, and thus secure to yourself the exclu- 

 sive right to manufacture?" There are very 

 few, if any. of the devices we manufacture that 

 we consider patentable; and, besides, as bee- 

 keepers have been generous to us. we feel that 

 we can afford to give in return, and let others 

 manufacture if they so desire. We still own no 

 patents on supplies, and do not expect to. 



