B(1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



165 



to the above;|seatiments.aIf you could feel his 

 personality once, and understand his good-na- 

 tured sparkle, you would no more think of 

 throwing "stones" at him than you would at 

 your grandmother. 



"commercial ratings." 

 On page 73 of the American Bee Journal for 

 Jan. 3S, we find the following severe criticism 

 in regard to the way commercial ratings are 

 made: 



" What !i contemptible system it is. though ! Now, 

 suppose I had been an enemy of this man. what an 

 opportuuity to have ruined his reputatlun! Ou the 

 other hand, had I been his most zealous friend, here 

 was a chance for me to give him a high but false 

 rating." 



After having had many years of business ex- 

 perience with both Dun and Bradstreet, I want 

 to make a little protest to the above. No doubt 

 they sometimes get a report from a person who 

 is prejudiced against somebody in his own 

 town; but I am sure they recognize the possi- 

 bility of this, and take great pains to avoid in- 

 justice. For instance, sometimes it is hard to 

 get at once the exact facts in the case; addition- 

 al facts follow sometimes for several weeks or 

 months. The additional facts from some other 

 standpoint usually corroborate the first one, but 

 sometimes they present the matter in a different 

 light. Again, u^e assist these agencies in keep- 

 ing track of people connected with bee culture. 

 Sometimes they think we have been a little too 

 severe, or may be the reverse; and they often 

 go to much pains and expense in order to get at 

 a fair and impartial rating of the person. A 

 few times I have known them to be misled; but 

 I am sure such cases are the exception and not 

 the rule. We are continually asked in regard 

 to the standing of certain people; and where a 

 stamp has been inclosed I have always felt it a 

 pleasure to help business along by giving a rec- 

 ommend to any worthy man, or in cautioning 

 about giving improper credit to the unworthy. 



A.I. R. 



USING WIRE STAPLES OR SIMILAR DEVI9ES 



FOR SPACING FRAMES; A. I. R.'S 



RECOLLECTIONS. 



In the earlier volumes of the American Bee 

 Journal this matter was discussed pro and con 

 at such length that our good editor, Samuel 

 Wagner, finally shut down on the discussion. 

 Nails were suggested; blind-staples, and pro- 

 jections of wood, not only from the top-bar but 

 end-bars. At that time I was using H. A. 

 King's American hive, and advocated projec- 

 tions to hold the frames in place when the hives 

 were to be moved. The editor suggested some- 

 thing like this: "The movable frames as given 

 us by Langstroth can be moved near together 

 or put far apart as you may choose. In using 

 the fingers of the hand we sometimes want them 

 close together. Again, we want them apart 

 more or less. Is not this much better than to 

 have them spaced at fixed distances ?" About 



this time, or earlier, Ransom & Cobb, of Cleve- 

 land, who manufactured Langstroth hives, fit- 

 ted the frames all with wire staples driven at 

 a certain point and depth. When the extractor 

 came into use, a good many bee-keepers com- 

 plained that these staples dulled their honey- 

 knives. They caught against the ends of the 

 hives in putting the frames back in place, and 

 finally most bee-keepers decided to go to work 

 and pull out the wire staples, nails, and ever so 

 many other fixtures that had been attached to 

 the frames to help this spacing business. 

 When it was first suggested, a great many bee- 

 keepers went to the trouble of putting staples, 

 or something equivalent, into their frames 

 clear through some large apiaries. Well, if I 

 am correct, nearly every one who did this, 

 sooner or later went to work and pulled them 

 all out. There was no end of spacing-devices— 

 staples, tacks, nails, folded bits of tin, or sheet 

 iron, and pieces of wood tacked on where they 

 seemed to be needed. Years later, when out- 

 apiaries began to be so much in vogue, the 

 Hoffman frame was Introduced, and seemed to 

 find a permanent place. This frame, with re- 

 cent improvements, has several advantages 

 that none of the early experiments right along 

 in this line seemed to include. 



It is said that history repeats itself. The 

 frames with staples as sirte-spacers, as friend 

 Boomhower uses them, were .not popular. 

 Why, then, should they be popular again? 

 Hoffman frames, although discarded by Indi- 

 viduals, have been used for perhaps twenty 

 years, and they increase in popularity. 



A. I. R. 



THE LINDEN. 



I come with a song for a tree near my cottage— 



A treasure God placed in his own garden-bed; 

 A tree wliich has stood while my wife and my chil- 

 dren 



Grew sweet as the creamy-white blossoms o'er- 

 head . 

 Around it the giants of nature are standing— 



The oak and the walnut— primeval and grand; 

 But nothing in forest or field can compare with 



Tlie linden in whose cooling presence 1 stand. 



When suns of mid-summer are hot and oppressive 



We keep our noon-trysting beneath its deep shade; 

 Its emerald roof gives a promise of shelter 



From fiery old Phoebus when scorching the glade. 

 The catbird and robin have left the ripe berries, 



To rest in the boughs of my favorite tree; 

 They'll give me a song for the fruit which they pil- 

 fered, 



And evening shall witness a bird-jubilee. 



How charming to me is the music created 



By swift-flying bees when exploring its bloom! 

 My dreamy repose as I swing in my hammock 



Is often enriched by its grateful perfume. 

 Oh sing not to me of blest Araby's odors — 



Of spices and incense from tropical seas ! 

 But waft to my senses the fragrance of linden 



Exhaled by the brea.th of the home-coming bees. 

 —Eugene Secor. 



