IS'.l'J 



GLEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



537 



il. vui.. p. tl:.'7 

 iio dt'siiv wiuitt'ViT to lio Mr. ^Illlh iiijiisliro. 

 ami I mil roaiiy at any time to inako aiiu'iKis in 

 i-asi' I liavt> (louf so." In ifoly to a ooiiiMi'ous 

 criticism liy the tniitor of tiH< Aititlyst, I'l'of. 

 Wiley says: '" Von allude to lliis saim- iffcreiicc 

 as umiijiiiitiod. ami perhaps it is so: bul when 

 I saw the (iionnoiis frauds wliioh were practic- 

 ed on tlie commnnitv by seljins silncose as jiure 

 honey, and esixn-ially under the names of ucll- 

 knowii ajjiarists. I felt that some flraslic mea- 

 sures were necessary to correct tlie fault." 

 Surely bee-keepers niay well say amen to this. 

 Prof. WiU'V adds furtlier: "J may. therefore, 

 have sometimes indulged in language not alto- 

 gether proper: but if so. 1 am ready to make 

 any necessary apologies." And sliould not ev(»- 

 ry "bee-keeper unite with him in the following? 

 *■ 1 am only too anxious to join with Mr. Muth 

 and all otiiers who are dis])osed to put an end to 

 honey adulteration. All the bee-keepcM's tliem- 

 selves ought to join most heartily in this move- 

 ment : for if the adulteiated iioncy could be 

 kept out of the market, tlie price of the pure ar- 

 ticle would be verv much increa.^ed. and their 

 business become all the more profitable." 



Prof. Wiley has practically contirmed this 

 willingness by a hearty consent to analyze, in 

 conjunction with two other well-known chem- 

 ists, all samples which I will send him. I have 

 already sent on .33 samples by number, whose 

 history and quality I alone know, as the sam- 

 ples are marked only by number. The results, 

 I believe, will bring substantial aid to bee-men. 



Now. Mr. Editor, it seems to me that all in- 

 nuendoes and defamation should cease. They 

 will do no good, and, if unjust, as they usually 

 are. will do much harm. Let us never say more 

 of the •■ Wiley lie." which, we see. was no lie — 

 only a mistake: or of the " scientific pleasant- 

 ry " article, which, as we have seen, was the re- 

 sult of misundei>tanding. and was itself misun- 

 derstood. Prof. AViley is strong in himself: is 

 backed by the strong arm of the government, 

 and is ready and willing to give to bee-keepers 

 all possible aid. Let us show our appreciation 

 of this offer by joining hands with nim in de- 

 tecting adulteration, and in banding together 

 to secure legislation to drive this terrible evil 

 from our midst. 1 am fully persuaded, that, if 

 we rightly understand the matter, no one, who 

 is moved by right feeling and righteous im- 

 pulses, will in any way. either by written word 

 or by word of mouth, do any thing to keep 

 alive these old rancors and unkindnesses which 

 make not for peace, but do every thing we can 

 to push the unsavory past into oblivion, and to 

 urge the spirit of help and co-operation, that 

 together we may throttle one of the greatest 

 evils that now confront our industry and peo- 

 ple. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., July, 1892. 



[Prof. Cook deserves a vote of thanks for the 

 very kindly way in which he has succeeded in 

 adjusting an old trouble of long standing. No 

 matter what Prof. Wiley's past utterances re- 

 specting honey may have been, or whether 

 some of tho.se utterances may have been un- 

 wise, we are more than willing to bury the 

 hatchet. Prof. Cook's very excellent article 

 above, in his defense, as also some very plea- 

 sant letters received from Prof. Wiley himself. 

 shows that we have misunderstood him, and 

 proves, to our mind at least, that he has only 

 the best interests of the bi-e-keepers at heart. 

 It is a pity that some of us did not correspond 

 with him sooner: but his long silence (too long 

 It seems to us) to the articles in the various 

 bee-journals which attacked him led us to 

 believe (erroneously, as we now know;, that, 

 inasmuch as he was a high official of the gov- 



ernmment. he would not deign to notice even a 

 private letter, and henc<^ the contiiiui;d public 

 attack. There will be no more of it in Gf.k.vn- 

 iNtis: but. on tlu^ conti'ary, we hooe to pursue 

 an opposite policy, tor Prof. Wiley is both 

 willing and al)l(! to do bee-kiu^pers great ser- 

 vice.) 



BEES AND HIVES FOR THE FARMER. 



h. I.. LANGSTKOTH CONTI.NUES THE SUB.IKCT IX- 

 TRODUCED IJV C. .J. H. (JRAVENHOKST, P. 3(3L 



I send you a copy of an article of mine pub- 

 lished in the Farmer's Friend. About four 

 years before the date of the article, I communi- 

 cated the same ideas to the Farmers' Club, of' 

 Oxford. ()., and a report of the same appeared 

 in the Cincinnati Cuiuinercial. I have never 

 seen any notice of either article. 



Since the very interesting article of our good 

 friend Gravenhorst (Gleanings, May 1.5, p. 3()l), 

 with a cut of a straw hive admirably suited to 

 carry out my views, 1 again call the attention 

 of bee-keepers to them. 



Notice particularly Mr. Gravenhorst's re- 

 mark, "The top has no hole for a super, as 

 these are not in use.'" For the class of bee- 

 keepers I had reference to, the very first at- 

 tempt to improve the old box or gum hive, by 

 giving bees access to supers, was a step back- 

 ward; for in taking away the surplus honey, 

 so called, stored in these supers, often the honey 

 absolutely needed to carry the bees through till 

 the next harvest was taken from them, and the 

 colony, unless fed. perished. 



Dayton, O., June 30. L. L. Lang.stkotii. 



[The following is the article referred to:J 



WliUe movable-frame liives liave revolutionized 

 bee-keeping- in tlie hands of tliose wlio learn how to 

 use tliem, I believe tlint, to the mass of farmer.s who 

 liave tried tlieni, they have been an injury rather 

 tlian a benefit. In tliose parts of our country where 

 they liave been most largely introduced, the num- 

 ber of farmers who keej) bees lias most largely de- 

 creased. At the same time, the important services 

 wiiicii the bees perform m;ike it very desirable tliat 

 a few hives, at least, should be kept on almost every 

 farm. 



1. In unpropitious seasons they aid materially in 

 causing the fruit-blossoms to set. 



2. Tlie Italian bees contribute materially to the 

 fertilization of tlie seed in the second crop of red 

 clover. For tliis reason alone it would paj' our 

 farmers wlio iiave not sucli bees near tliem to keep 

 a few stocks of this variety. Now, liow can we in- 

 duce tliem to doit? Certainly not by recomraeud- 

 ing the use of movable-frame hives. Bee-keeping 

 with such liives is a science, or art, and most of 

 them have neither the time nor the disposition to 

 learn it. 



I believe tliat most farmers would liave better 

 success with their bees if tliey used only the old 

 straw or box liives. A simjile tool in the hands of 

 one who knows how to use it will turn out much 

 better work than an iiiijiioved implement wliose 

 proper use has never been learned. 



The old straw hive is the simple tool. Before the 

 advent of the bee-moth, with such liives nearly 

 every farmer kept bees; and as the introduction 

 of the Italian bee has done away with all serious 

 trouble from the moth, there is nothing to prevent 

 them from doing so now. With these old-fashioned 

 hives, the women and the childi'en can do mo.st of 

 the work, and bee-keeping, like poultry-raising, will 

 l)e their special province and profit. Aside from 

 learning how to hive the new swarms, little knowl- 

 edge is needed. After the honey-gathei'iiig is over, 

 all the hives were c-arefully "hefted;" the extra 

 light ones were condemned to be "taken up," as 

 not having stores enough to winter; the extra 

 lieavy ones also, for the value of their honey, wliile 

 a sufficient number of well-provisioned stocks were 

 kept for seed. It were easj' to show that, to allow 

 the liglit stocks to die of starvation, as is now prac- 

 ticed by the common bee-keeper, is far more ci'uel 

 tlian to kill them at once; but tliere will be no neces- 



