422 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



THE THREE STAGES OF AN INVENTION. 



An eminent judge has said that nearly every 

 successful invention has to pass through three 

 stages. First, the invention can never be made 

 a practical possibility ; it had better be let 

 alone. Second, when its practical success is 

 assured, " nobody wants it — it will work harm 

 rather than good." Third, after it has passed 

 these two stages, and it is shown to be a good 

 idea, and everybody wants it, then the cry is 

 raised, " It is old; it was in use before; it is 

 common property." The new Weed drawn 

 foundation has now passed the first and second 

 stages. First it was said that foundation with 

 deep cell walls as thin as or nearly as thin as 

 natural comb could not be made; but now that 

 it can be made, it is argued that it will be "ru- 

 inous^to the industry." If history rf^peats it- 

 self we may soon expect the third stage. 



plenty of room and air for the great toe. Put 

 me down as in favor of thick cork-sole shoes 

 with pointed toes, A. I. R. notwithstanding. 



TAMING APIS DORSATA AND SEMINOLE INDI- 

 ANS. 



The following note, received from Mrs. Har- 

 rison, will explain itself: 



Mr. Editor:— 1 hope you will succeed In introduc- 

 ing .4 pis dorsa^a into this country. You appeared 

 to think I was poking fun when I recommended 

 turning- them loof^e in the everglades of Florida, 

 among the Seminoles The everglades are like 

 lakes dotted with small islands, covered with a 

 semi-tropical vegetation. Wouldn't dorsata feel 

 more at home there, in that warm climate, with its 

 large flora, than in Medina, Ohio ? 



If you ever succeed in getting them alive to this 

 country, take a few of them to Biscayne Bay, 

 Miami, or Fort Myers. You could put in your win- 

 ters in taming them and the Seminoles together, 

 and tell us all about them. Teach the Indian chil- 

 dren on Sunday, and dorsata to live in a hive on 

 week days. You might succeed in making the 

 price of honey and wax so low that the adulterators 

 will have to take to the woods. 



Peoria, 111. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



If we succeed in getting luese bees over to 

 this country we will send our Mr. Root senior 

 down to Florida to see what he can do to tame 

 Apis dorsota and the Indian children in that 

 far Southland. 



CORK SOLES FOR USE IN THE APIARY. 



For a few months past I have been wearing 

 thick cork soles on my shoes. Instead of find- 

 ing them clumsy, as I feared they would be, 

 they are the easiest shoes I ever wore, and, 

 moreover, they seem to be proof against wet 

 and damp sidewalks. Usually, when going out 

 into the apiary with thin-soled shoes, in walking 

 in damp places the soles would get soaked 

 through, and the result would be damp feet. 

 This spring I found that, with these cork soles, 

 I can go all around in damp places, and my feet 

 keep dry— almost as much so as if I were wear- 

 ing rubbers. Rubbers are all right; but for one 

 who goes in and out of the apiary, as I do, they 

 are never on when I need them the most; and 

 these cork soles are ready for all kinds of 

 weather. 



Oh. yes! I also wear pointed toes, and I con- 

 sider them a great comfort. The point forms 



DRAWN FOUNDATION AS VIEWED BY ANOTHER 

 EDITOR. 



In the last issue of the Southland Queen the 

 editor speaks very hopefully in regard to the 

 new deep-cell foundation. This is what he has 

 to say: 



We have received samples of the Root deep-cell 

 foundation, and it is as niie as any kind of founda- 

 tion we have seen: and, while we have not tried it, 

 on account of a honey-dearth being on ever since it 

 came, we do believe it will prove a boon to the 

 extracted-honey producers, if not to the comb-honey 

 raisers. We have had a flow on three days; and as 

 we have been shipping a great many bees lately, we 

 are scarce of combs, and we now ask a question: 

 " Who will be able to tell us what drawn combs or 

 deep-cell foundation would be worth to us just 

 now?" Yea, who can estimate it? If we had this 

 comb to use in 200 strong colonies today we should 

 likely get ten to twenty tons of honey in the next 

 ten days, while, as it is. the flow may come and go 

 before the bees can build comb to store the honey 

 in. 



A little further on, in the same editorial, re- 

 ferring to the attack upon the article elsewhere 

 in the same journal, the editor says: 



On page 15 of this issue, Bro. Hyde puts forth the 

 idea that this drawn comb is a fraud. Now. while 

 it may look a little as though it would injure the 

 sale of comb honey, how can it be classed as a 

 fraud? As a rule, frauds are something that get 

 our money without an equivalent, and this deep-cell 

 foundation will be sold, we suppose, in the same 

 manner as other foundation to tho^e who wish to 

 purchase; and, as one good friend says. "If this 

 deep-cell foundation is a good thing it will go; and 

 if it is not. it will not be long heard of." We think 

 that is just it to a T, and we have no right to be 

 kicking until we have something to be kicking at, 

 and this is just why we have kept as still as we 

 have. 



QUEENS IN THE MAILS. 



A SHORT time ago von may remember I re- 

 ported, from information which seemed pretty 

 straight, that there was a movement on foot in 

 the Postoffice Department to bar queen-bees 

 out of the mails. The United States Bee-keep- 

 ers' Union promptly took the matter up. Gen- 

 eral Manager Secor wrote to the department, 

 asking if there was any truth in the report, 

 and received the following letter, which will 

 explain itself: 



POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENT. 



Office of the General Superin- ) 



TENDENT RAILWAY MATL SERVICE, >• 



Washington, D. C, May 14, 1897. ) 

 Respectfully returned to Mr. Eugene Secor, Forest 

 City, Iowa. 

 There must be some mistake about this matter, as 

 no one at the department has any knowledge of a 

 change of the regulations excluding queen-bees be- 

 ing contemplated. James E. White, 



General Superintendent. 



This settles the matter. While it did not 

 seem possible that queens should be excluded 

 from the mails, it seemed to be advisable to 

 be forewarned and thus forearmed. The priv- 

 ilege we enjoy of sending queens in the mails 

 is so great that we can not afford to take any 

 chances. In another column there is a case of 



