1897 



GLHANINGS IN HIU-: CUI/rURI*:. 



G37 



Mr. Hutchinson says, " Starting a journal 

 simply to enable one to berate some one, is too 

 nuich like biting off one's nose to spite his 

 face." Just so. The experiment has been 

 tried two or three times, and the result has 

 been just as Mr. H. says. 



Propolis is now getting to be a little stiff 

 and hard, and it is sometimes a difficult mat- 

 ter to separate the super from the hive-b.ody. 

 Nothing is better for this purpose than a large 

 screwdriver. Better yet, don't leave supers 

 on too long unless you are after an extra qual- 

 ity of well-ripened honey. 



Did you ever notice that the strong, smarty 

 flavors of some honeys are rendered much 

 more mild if eaten witli bread and butter ? 

 After all, almost any honey tastes better when 

 taken in connection with the staff of life. I 

 remember that once the judges of a honey ex- 

 hibit at the Ohio State Fair insisted on having 

 bread and butter to test the honey by. 



Mr. Hutchinson, in commenting on the 

 fact that Mr. Vernon Burt keeps grass down 

 in his apiary by letting sheep run among the 

 hives, says the only objection he can see to it 

 is that tile "ground might not be so tidy as 

 we should like it ; " and while he admits that 

 it is considerable work to keep grass down 

 with a lawn-mower, he is of the opinion that 

 the accompanying advantages arising from the 

 use of the mower are worth all they cost. I 

 ■can readily see how Mr. Hutchinson would 

 think the ground might be untidy in places 

 where sheep were kept ; but if he could see 

 Mr. Burt's apiary I think he would conclude 

 with me that the ground about the hives is as 

 neat and clean as a mower could make it. 



At our house we like well-ripened honey — 

 honey that ha.s been on the hive for some two 

 months after it has been stored and sealed. 

 We have some supers at our out-yard, contain- 

 ing sections of sealed honey that had been on 

 the hive for some six weeks after being capped 

 over. The cappings are badly travel-stained, 

 and sections pretty well smeared with propolis; 

 but the eating of the honey is where the best 

 part comes in. Such travel-stained sections 

 would not sell ; but for my own use I prefer 

 them every time. I do not know tliat I have 

 any particular liking for propolis and travel- 

 stain, but I do like honey that has been rip- 

 ened by the bees. 



A SUBSCRIBER sends us a section honey-box 

 which he says is over thirty years old. It is 

 exactly 4^ inches square, and the thickness 

 of the stuff itself is }i. Our subscriber does 

 not give his name, but says, "Contrast this 

 with the Root sections of to-dav." The re- 



markable thing is that it should be 4j4 square, 

 exactly the size of the staiulard section of to- 

 day. It was A. I. Root, I believe, who fixed 

 the standard size of the sectional honey-box, 

 and that was away back in 1872, I think. 

 That would be cmiy 2;') years ago. A. I. R. 

 adopted the -IX size'becausj S of them would 

 just go inside of an L. frame. It is possible 

 that the user or maker ol this section adopted 

 the same dimensions for the same reason. 



In a recent editorial, in speaking of the fact 

 of our now using new type and a new press to 

 get out this journal, I wound up by saying 

 that, while we did not claim to have the best 

 bee-journal, we did think we were "keeping 

 up with the procession." To this claim the 

 editors of both the Anifrican Bee Journal and 

 the Bee-keepers' Revie'w have kindly given 

 their cordial assent. The fact is, I could not 

 honestly say more, knowing the general ex- 

 cellence of our two rival cotemporaries. 



By the way, how much better it is to be 

 modest and moderate in statement regarding 

 one's own wares, one's own journal, or one's 

 own baby, if you please ! Often we see the 

 advertisement of a country grocer who says, 

 ' ' We pay the highest price for butter and 

 eggs, and sell groceries the cheapest;" or, 

 "We make the best goods;" or, "We lead 

 the procession." I do not know but we shall 

 have to confess that we have been just a little 

 guilty of what I am now condemning. If the 

 Lord will forgive us we will never do so again. 



vSuppose, for instance, I had said, " Glean- 

 ings is the best bee-journal, and alwavs leads 

 in the procession." Could Bros. Hutchinson 

 and York have indorsed that without making 

 a wry face? Well, I think not, very nmch. 

 They might have made the corners of my 

 mouth drop down a notch or two. 



I suppose it is not stretching the truth very 

 much to state that each bee-journal has a field 

 of its own — a mission of its own — and each 

 excels in its own particular line. 



the langstroth-monument fund. 

 Subscriptions for the Langstroth monu- 

 ment are coming in ver>' slowly indeed, and 

 in amounts very small. An eminent bee- 

 keeper from a foreign land, who had already 

 sent us a generous contribution, and who now 

 sends ^10 in addition, says: " I think it a blot 

 oh bee-keepers, not coming forward more lib- 

 erally. . . . Are the bee-keepers of Amer- 

 ica really so poor that they are not able to 

 raise a monument to Langs'troth ? " I do not 

 believe it is because they are poor so much as 

 it is because they are careless — that is, they 

 intend to do something, but put it off till some 

 other time, and that "some other time" nev- 

 er comes. If the American Bee Journal, the 

 Reriezu, and Gleanings keep on hammering, 

 we may in time be able to raise funds to put 

 up a suitable monument. If hammering \\\\\ 

 bring the money. Gleanings will keep on 

 pounding, but for goodness' sake, let us not 

 be a reproach to bee-men across the water. 

 In the mean time, do not put it off, but send 

 in the nickels, the dimes the quarters, and 



