836 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



get all they can by hook or crook of the things 

 of this world, no matter what becomes of the 

 poor fellow-beings from whom they can obtain 

 it. I had prided myself in the thought that 

 bee-keepers as a class were not so selfish as the 

 rest of the world; but since that article I have 

 about come to the conclusion that they are 

 made up of about the same material as the rest 

 of mankind. Some of the letters received were 

 kind and sympathizing; some were glad I wrote 

 as I did, for it expressed their condition exactly, 

 and, as Dr. Miller says, "gave them a bit of 

 comfort to think that others besides themselves 

 are sometimes beaten by the bees." Such as 

 these gave me comfort; but others were very 

 different. As a sample of one class, I give this 

 from one of the largest queen-breeders in the 

 world: "Ah, ha! I see by Gleanings, page 617, 

 that Doolittle has forgotten how to introduce 

 queens. Let me say that I have not lost a 

 single fertile queen by introducing in five years. 

 Probably you know that certain conditions 

 cause failure." And that was all there was 

 relative to this subject of introducing queens in 

 that letter. As a sample of another class I give 

 this: "I see in Gleanings for Aug. 1.5, over 

 your signature, a piece in which you say you 

 do not know of any sure, easy way of introduc- 

 ing queens. I use a plan that is sure and easy, 

 and T have never failed myself, nor did I ever 

 hear of any one else failing that introduces as I 

 do. If you would really like to know how to 

 introduce a queen easily and safely, and with- 

 out a failure, I will tell you how for a small 

 consideration. I should like some Italian 

 queens for my own use; and if you have them 

 you can cheaply pay me for mv advice." 



In 1870 1 wrote my first article for publication, 

 and my bee-keeping life is familiar to all the 

 readers of Gleanings and other bee-papers; 

 for I have never done "any thing in a corner," 

 but have given all of my successes and reverses, 

 together with all my plans and methods, to the 

 public as freely as I would to my own family, 

 always realizing that, through the philanthropy 

 of others, I have attained the success I have 

 achieved. After having thus given all that I 

 know of bee-keeping to the world. I am asked 

 by some to give still further of what I have 

 wrought out by "sweat and muscle," to buy 

 something which should have been as freely 

 given to the world as I have given what I havi^ 

 done, and am laughed at by others, and told 

 that "certain conditions cause failures," without 

 even a hint at what those conditions are or how 

 they may be avoided. When a young couple 

 start out on life's voyage they "put all their 

 energies together, that a comfortable and happy 

 home may be made. The husband does not try 

 to defraud or take advantage of the wife, nor 

 the wife the husband; but both work together 

 for the accomplishing of the same object — the 

 blessedness of a comfortable home. If God 

 gives them children, both parents and children 

 work together to make both life and home a 

 pleasure. The children do not try to defravid 

 the parents nor the parents the children, but 

 all work together for the happiness of nil. 

 Now, I wish to say that what i« good for that 

 family, as pictured above, is good for the great 

 family of bee-keepers in this nation and in the 

 world. Still further, what is good for the fam- 

 ily is good for a township; what is good for a 

 township is good for a county; what is good for 

 a county is good for a State;" what is good for a 

 State is good for a nation; and what is good for 

 a nation is good for the world. May God help 

 us to get out of this state of not loving our 

 neighbor as ourselves, and come out into the 

 glorious light and liberty of the gospel of our 

 fjord and Savior Jrsus Christ. " Freely ye have 

 received, freely give." 



Before closing I wish to say that two or three 

 very kindly wrote out their plans in full and 

 sent them me. telling just how they introduce 

 queens. These I wish to thank, especially so 

 as they give me the privilege of having the 

 plans published to the world through any paper 

 I might wish to give them. The reason 1 do 

 not give them is because the essential features 

 of these plans have appeared in our bee-liter- 

 ature of the past; but the willingness they 

 showed is just as deserving as if the plans were 

 new. G. jSI. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



[Friend D., like yourself we have letters every 

 little while from people who say they have not 

 lost a queen in introducing, in five years, or 

 that they have not lost one in a hundred; and 

 it always troubles me to receive such letters, 

 knowing, as I do, how frequently the very best 

 of us make sad failures. In fact, there is hardly 

 a thing laid dgwn iu bee culture that is not 

 likely to turn out so contrary to our previous 

 experience or expectation that the whole indus- 

 try seems to be a series of surprises, and they 

 are not always " happy surprises " either. I 

 think that, if I were to set about it in real ear- 

 nest, I could introduce 05 queens, without a 

 failure; but I should have to work hard and 

 take a good deal of time with some of them. In 

 introducing imported queens, where they are 

 worth several dollars each, we have abundant 

 experience in the matter — yes. experience when 

 it is a pretty serious thing to lose even one. So 

 far as \ know, no plan has ever been discovered 

 that is infallible: and these people who claim 

 that they have something of the sort that they 

 can not communicate unless they receive a con- 

 sideration should be shunned at the outset as 

 bad and wicked; and the poor fellows seem to 

 be so much behind the times that they do not 

 even know that most good people read their 

 real motives at a glance.J A. I. R. 



PRIORITY OF LOCATION. 



DK. MILLER ANALYZES THE POINTS BROUGHT 

 OUT BY W. G. HEWES. 



The problem you have tackled on page 802, 

 Mr. Editor, is by no means an easy one. You 

 say you would be mad if you had found a 

 grand location for bees, and some other chap 

 should bring KX) colonies and settle beside you. 

 But what dot's that prove? Wouldn't you be 

 just as mad if you had found a grand location 

 for a shoestore, and, after settling there, the 

 other chap should come and scoop you out? 

 Don't you think " some moral right is due shoe- 

 man No. 1 for discovering for himself a good 

 field" as well as the bee-man? Please don't be 

 too one-sided. 



Take the case that friend Hewes hints at. 

 Mr. Lazicus has struck a " grand location," 

 capable of giving in a good season 20 tons; but, 

 through shiftlessncssand lack of sufficient bees, 

 he gets only one- tenth that amount? Is the 

 whole of creation to stand off and look on while 

 he does the dog-in-the-manger act? Will it 

 not be better for Mr. Upandatit to sit down 

 beside him and get that other 18 tons— that is, 

 unless hecanfind an unoccupied location where 

 he can get 20 tons ? 



But suppose Mr. Upandatit is settled on his 

 20-ton spot, and Mr. Lazicus hears of his big 

 yelds. comes along with 100 colonies, and sits 

 down and gets 2 tons of the crop. How would 

 Mr. U. like that? He could hardly object, if 

 friend Hewes is correct in saying, "An inexperi- 

 enced person generally manages so badly that 

 what little honey he gels makes no difference 



