938 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



It is Christmas time, and many of us would 

 like to have some little Christmas souvenir to 

 place in our homes. We know of nothing more 

 appropriate in the home of a bee-keeper than a 

 nicely framed picture of father Langstroth. 

 Surely there are hundreds who would like this 

 picture. Mr. L. is. at present, beginning to 

 suffer again from his old head trouble, but not 

 so much but- that he can enjoy and appreciate 

 any little attention or service from his bee- 

 keeping admirers. Now. to help him in his 

 declining yeais. and to give him a slight token 

 of the appreciation of bee-keepers all over the 

 land, we will sell these portraits, mounted on 

 large sheets of plated paper, suitable for fram- 

 ing, for 2.T cts. each. Of this amount, 20 cts. 

 will be credited to Mr. Langstroth's account, 

 and 5 will be retained by us to cover the cost of 

 printing, mailing, etc. If you send in your 

 orders promptly, we will try to see that the 

 pictures reach you— at least the most of you, if 

 not too far distant, before the 2,5th — Christmas. 



THE MEETINGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN; WHO 

 ARE ENTITLED TO ATTEND. 



Several have written, asking whether they 

 would be permitted to attend the convention of 

 the North American, at Washington, if they 

 were not members. Most assuredly, they would 

 be welcome. Quite a few have attended the 

 meetings in the past, without enrolling them- 

 selves. The president always invites those 

 present to become a member by handing in a 

 dollar, because there are e.\penses to be met; 

 and it does seem is if those who come and listen 

 ought to be willing to pay that much for the 

 privilege of hearing the best thoughts from the 

 best men. Ladies are always enrolled without 

 paying. As editor of Gleanings we will take 

 the responsibility of saying that, should there 

 be any one who comes on this invitation, pays 

 a dollar, and then, at the close of the conven- 

 tion, thinks he has not received the worth of 

 his dollar, if he will present himself to us be- 

 fore we leave for home, with a statement of 

 the fact, we will refund the dollar at our own 

 expense. But let us emphasize this fact: The 

 convention is open to everybody. If any one 

 feels as if he can not afford to pay the dollar 

 down, and become a member, let him come any- 

 how. Most of us have to pay from SIO.OO to 

 S25.00 dollars, including railroad fare, for the 

 privilege of attending this North American 

 convention; and the very fact that we do so is 

 good evidence that we think it pays. 



queen-bees now admitted THROUGH THE 



MAILS TO ALL THE COLONIES OF 



AUSTRALIA. 



On page 783. for Oct. 15. our readei'S will re- 

 member that there was some doubt as to 

 whether the postal authorities would allow 

 queens to be sent to New South Wales, Austral- 

 ia. Mr. W. S. Pender, of West Maitland, N. S. 

 W.. has kindly interested himself in the matter 

 of keeping the authorities well posted as to the 

 needs of the bee-keepers, and we are now grati- 

 fied to see that he has been successful to the 

 extent that there is a strong probability that 

 queen-bees will hereafter be admitted to all the 

 colonies of Australia. The following letter, 

 received from the secretary, at the general 

 postofflce at Sydney, will explain itself: 



Gknek.\l Postopfice, 

 Sydney, Oct. .5, 1893. 

 Mr. W. S. Pendrr: — Adverting to my communica- 

 tion, dated the 23d of June bist, I am directed to inti-. 

 mate that iiitellijieiice has now been received from 

 tlie London I'ostal ;ml hoi-ities to ilie effect that the 

 British Postal Regulations proliibit the transmission 

 of any living- creature tliroiigh the post, and it is 



not considered expedient to make an exception in 

 favor of bees, even If sent by '• letter " post. It is 

 pointed out, that, accordingr to the International 

 circular, issued by the Berne Bureau, experience 

 shows that bees, forwarded by post, sometimes re- 

 main alive from seven to ten days, Ijut may die 

 after the tliird or fourth day of the journey, and 

 tliat, therefore, apart from considerations of postal 

 exi)ediency._tliei'e is reason for believing tliat it 

 would be impossible to arrange for an exchange of 

 live bees by post between England and Australia, 

 the transit being too long for bees to reach their 

 destination alive. As regards the interchange of 

 live bees inte)coloniaUy,an6 between tliis colony and 

 tlie U)ntcd Statrg nf Amrika, I am to state that the 

 different Australian colonies have given their 

 consent to the interchange of bees, and steps are 

 now being taken which, it is not improbable, wilt 

 lead to the colonies generally agreeing to exchange 

 the articles in question, with other Union countries 

 (including the United States of America), willing to 

 exchange such articles with them. Of course, as 

 previ(jusly stated, any packets containing bees, re- 

 ceived here from America, will be delivered. 

 I have tlie lionor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

 S. H. Lambton, Secretary. 



We hope our correspondent will keep us post- 

 ed as to the further developments. 



"SLUMGUM" — WHAT DOES IT MEAN. AND 

 WHENCE DOES IT COME '?— SEE P. 911. 



Dr. Miller wants to know the derivation 

 and meaning of '"slumgum.'" It is a word that 

 was coined by H. R. Boardman. to designate a 

 certain leavings, exclusive of the wax, after 

 melting old combs. W^e. in turn, gave further 

 countenance to the word by allowing it to be 

 used repeatedly in our columns, as it was sug- 

 gestive, and seemed to express better than any 

 thing else the article which it was made to rep- 

 resent. We might substitute ''wax refuse" or 

 "wax residue," as both would be more legiti- 

 mate English expressions, but not so precise. 

 '"Wax refuse" or "wax residue" might mean 

 the ordinary collections of pieces of combs and 

 little particles of burr-combs that will accumu- 

 late in the apiary, but which have not yet been 

 subjected to a refining process. The word 

 "slumgum" gives an idea of dirt skimmings, 

 or refuse, of the poorest sort, and at the same 

 time hints at a trace of wax, propolis, etc. We 

 hear of the slums of the city. "Slum" is de- 

 rived from the word "slime;" and Webster, in 

 his second definition, defines it as a mucilagi- 

 nous or glutinous substance. Gum— well. we. all 

 know what that is. It is a good old-fashioned 

 orthodox word. As new processes come up in 

 the arts and sciences, it becomes necessary at 

 times to coin new terms; and while these terms 

 should not be incorporated <td libitum in dic- 

 tionaries, they have their proper place in glos- 

 saries devoted to the science to which they 

 appertain. All our correspondents have so far 

 seemed to accept "slumgum" at once, and 

 so far have adopted it as a term that is both 

 precise and suggestive. 



In reference to the quotation-marks, Dr. Mil- 

 ler failed to make them in the copy, and so we, 

 made a guess, to the effect that the last sen- 

 tence was an inference of his own. The reader 

 will notice that the paragraph in question 

 (p. 875) was (ill the work of Mr. Wykoff. 



.VPICULTURAL TERMS TN THE INTERNATIONAL 

 DICTIONARY IN NEED OF REVISION; DR. 

 MILLER AT WORK ON THE STAN- 

 DARD DICTIONARY. 



Wkbstkr"s International Dictionary, while 

 it is a work of which we Americans may justly 

 be pi-oud. and while it is unusually accurate 

 and full in its definitions and terms when ap- 

 plied to the arts and sciences in yencrctl. in the 

 line of apiculture it sadly needs revising. When 



