184 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



In the January Review Mr. Hutchinson 

 said he could not understand why more per- 

 fect combs should be built in plain sections, 

 and that he was satisfied that some factor had 

 something to do with it. He is now (accord- 

 ing to the February Reviciv) of the opinion 

 that "well- filled sections come from freer coni- 

 munication that is brought in when the plain 

 sections are used." This I believe is the se- 

 cret of it. 



THE NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' UNION ; OFFI- 

 CERS FOR 1898. 

 The result of the election, as reported by 

 the committee appointed by the Advisory 

 Board to count the ballots cast for the various 

 candidates, shows that all the old officers were 

 reelected. The list stands as follows ; Gener- 

 al Manager, Thos. G. Newman ; President, R. 

 L. Taylor ; Vice-presidents, G. M. Doolittle, 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, Prof. A. J. Cook, Eugene Se- 

 cor, and A. 1. Root. 



OMAHA FOR THE NEXT MEETING OF THE 

 U. S. B. K. U. 



The editor of the Busy Bee, who visited 

 Omaha recently in the interest of the Missouri 

 bee-keepers' exhibit at the Trans-Mississippi 

 Exposition, says, "This exposition bids fair 

 to rival the World's Fair in many respects. It 

 is bound to bring together people from every 

 point of the continent, and it seems to me it 

 would be a great mistake not to hold the next 

 meeting of the U. S. Bee-keepers' Union at 

 Omaha during the exposition, which opens 

 June 1st and closes Nov. 1st. What do the 

 members of the Executive Committee say to 

 this? The matter should be settled at once." 



Although not a member of that committee, 

 I for one would be most heartily in favor of 

 having the Union meet at Omaha. In fact, it 

 seems to me it is the place above all others for 

 181)8. Hurrah for Omaha ! 



T. S. FORD AND BEE-PARALYSIS. 

 We have only just learned that our old 

 friend and correspondent, formerly of Scran- 

 ton, Miss., died in November last. Mr. Ford 

 had probably had more experience with bee- 

 paralysis than any other man, and his valued 

 contributions in relation to this disease have 

 appeared from time to time in our columns. 

 He had tried all known remedies; had exper- 

 imented with it — in fact, had his apiary well 

 nigh wiped out two or three times by the dis- 

 ease. His last conclusions, if I remember, 

 were that there is no known cure. He said it 

 would disappear, apparently, of its own ac- 

 cord; and then when he thought it had gone 

 for good it would reappear in all its virulence. 

 Such was the peculiar nature of the disease. 

 Mr. Ford had intended to experiment fur- 

 ther; but death, it seems, has cut short his 

 work. Mr. Ford was an attorney at law — a 

 bright, practical writer and keen observer. 



and by his death our fraternity has lost a val- 

 ued man. 



ENCOURAGEMENT OR FLATTERY. 



Mr. Hutchinson does not believe in the 

 sentiment that " praise to the face is an open 

 disgrace." Among other things that he says, 

 and which I indorse heartily, is this : 



When a man dies we forget his faults and remem- 

 ber his virtues, and cover his coffin with flowers. Let 

 us not withhold our flowers and appreciative words 

 until eyes and ears have passed beyond rejoicing. 



There is such a thing as bestowing flattery, 

 and there is such a thing as giving needed en- 

 couragement when work is well done. The 

 manufacturer knows it is to his interest to 

 praise his men occasionally when they do well. 

 Whenever I hear a good sermon I feel like 

 getting hold of the preacher's hand and telling 

 him so, because I want more sermons like 

 them. In the same way, I know of no reason 

 whv the subscribers to a periodical should not 

 encourage an editor whose work is meritorious. 



I am not saying this to court praise for my- 

 self, even if I deserved it, but as a reason ivhy 

 I have taken occasion to speak a good word 

 for the work of my co-laborers in the field of 

 apicultural journalism. 



NEW LIFE IN BEE-JOURNALS. 



Apparently all the bee-journals have turn- 

 ed over a new leaf for 1898, or rather, perhaps 

 1 should say, they are putting new life and en- 

 ergy into their cohimns. I have already re- 

 ferred to the Reviezv and the American Bee 

 Journal. Among the others that have taken 

 on a new lease of energy is the progressive 

 Progressive Bee-keeper and the A >neriean Bee- 

 keeper. The first named is now having a se- 

 ries of articles by one of our correspondents, 

 Mr. R. C. Aikin. These articles are reviewed 

 and commented on by G. M. Doolittle ; and 

 the two together, in the same issue, make 

 quite racy reading. Somnambulist, as of old, 

 is as bright and spicy as ever ; and in the edi- 

 torial departments Bro. Leahy and Bro. Doo- 

 little make things interesting. The American 

 Bee-keeper now has for its editor Mr. H. E. 

 Hill. Whether this is the same Hill who was 

 fontierly in Florida, and moved to Pennsylva- 

 nia, or some other Hill, I can not say ; but he 

 is evidently a practical bee-keeper, if I may 

 judge by the editorials over his name. All to- 

 gether the journal seems to have taken on 

 new life and energy. We wish our cotempo- 

 raries success and big fat subscription-lists. 



THE BLACK RACE CHAMPIONED. 



J. E. Crane, in the Bee-keepers' Review, 

 comes out as a " fair-minded champion of the 

 dark race ' ' of bees. He has experimented 

 for some thirty years with blacks and Italians, 

 and in some instances, at least, he finds that 

 the former fill their hives better, and give 

 more surplus, than the latter ; and in one 

 instance in particular, although he had robbed 

 his black colonies of a large amount of brood 

 to help along the weaker Italian colonies, it 

 was these same blacks, nmcli to his surprise, 

 that gave him more finished sections than he 

 had ever taken from a colony of pure Italians. 



