1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



249 



was a bad woinan or a Scotch girl ? And how 

 can I tell whether a "queen" is a bee or a 

 woman ? Then a whole lot of words now 

 spelled all the same way should be changed. 

 "Tree" should have three or four different 

 spellings, "horse" five or six, and "dog" at 

 least a dozen. Fact is, most of the words that 

 sound alike are spelled wrongly, aren't they? 

 [Don't be afraid of the proof-reader, doctor ; 

 he's your best friend. Your points are all in- 

 teresting, and well taken. Our language has 

 been a dumping-ground for all others for so 

 long a time that it is not strange we have 

 some words that are pronounced alike, and 

 yet have ver}- different meanings. As for a 

 man being seen in company with a "quean," 

 the word would have to be interpreted by 

 what Andy Johnson used to call a "past rec- 

 ord." Taking into consideration the average 

 color of her hair, it would be better not to use 

 ambiguous words in speaking of a Scotch girl 

 (in her presence) — just call her a " bonnie 

 lassie." Really, it is fortunate that the spell- 

 ing of words having a similar pronunciation is 

 as variant as it is ; and to make the spelling 

 absolutely alike should rather be deprecated 

 than encouraged. — Reader.] 



The complaint about bee-paralysis, which 

 was so general a few years ago, is evidently 

 disappearing. We have had as much of it in 

 California as anywhere; but at our recent 

 meetings there was not interest enough in the 

 subject to cause a discussion. The same 

 might be said of the nameless disease. They 

 are evidently on the wane. We wish we could 

 sa)' the same about foul brood. 



There must be a mistake somewhere about 

 that great honey yield put to the credit of Mr. 

 C. A. Hatch. In a recent number of the Land 

 of Sunshine, published in this city, there is a 

 statement that Mr. Hatch secured §1500 for 

 the season's labor. A few days ago I saw Mr. 

 Hatch, and learned from him personally that 

 his honey sold for about fSOO. He said that 

 he would like to see the other $700. 



I have just run across another evil under the 

 sun. This time it is not adulterated honey, 

 but it is an adulterated honey-package. Just 

 consider a pound and a half of honey in a 

 pound and a half bottle. There is enough 

 glass in the make-up of the bottle to make 

 half a dozen bottles. Cost of bottle, 4 cts. ; 

 cost of honey and putting it into the bottle, 7 

 cts.; sells for 20 cts. Very good profit, and 

 mostly on glass. 



Mr. Thos. W. Cowan says that there are 

 many amateur beekeepers in England. In 

 the payment of their dues they think nothing 

 of paying double or treble the amount asked. 

 Such liberality gives backbone to the organi- 

 zation. I suppose, owing to our national new- 

 ness as compared with the age of Britain, we 



are in a sort of gristly state yet. There are no 

 hopes that the present generation will see 

 much more backbone than we have at present. 



Mr. Editor, I wish to enter a protest against 

 the method Mr. Golden uses to illustrate his 

 machine, see page 11^2. I have tried to find 

 the useful points in the machine, but never 

 get further than the beautiful young lady in 

 the foreground who is looking right at a fel- 

 low. Take her away so I can study the ma- 

 chine. Stop my paper. [Didn't think of it 

 before, but Golden must have had his eye on 

 you. So you've been caught in the trap? 

 Tired of making flap-jacks and keeping bach- 

 elor's hall, eh? — Ed.] 



The usual method recommended for the 

 cure of a bad case of bee-stings is to fill the 

 patient up with whisky. Dr. Gallup says, in 

 W\& A. B.J., that a wet-sheet pack is more 

 harmless, and very effective. Horses badly 

 stung can be treated in the same way. That 

 is a good thing for all Californians to remem- 

 ber, for there is a number of horses stung to 

 death in this State every year. Even rat- 

 tlesnake bites are successfully treated with 

 the cold-water method. Hurrah for cold wa- 

 ter ! [Here too — hip! hip! — Ed.] 



We believe that there is not an amateur bee- 

 keeper in California. If there is one we hope 

 he will send in his name. We should like to 

 point with pride to such a curiosity, especially 

 if he would come down with the cash every 

 time in good English style. Now just look 

 at these figures; this, Los Angeles Co., has 

 about 300 bee-keepers; only 25 of this nimiber 

 were in attendance at our State Association. 

 At the last County Association meeting there 

 were not enough present to form a quorum 

 for the election of officers; only 10 neces- 

 sary for a quorum. The bee-keepers are not 

 taking as much interest in the organizations 

 as they should. 



I wish to inquire if anybody knows more 

 than I do about the effect of the X ray on 

 honey. At an experimental lecture upon the 

 X ray in this city the lecturer requested any 

 person who had an article that he wished to 

 place between the ray and the screen to do so. 

 I had a mailing-block in my pocket, in which 

 there were two bottles of honey. This was 

 held up so that the ray had a fair chance at it. 

 The block did not appear on the screen, but 

 the two bottles stood out in bold relief. As 

 to the effect on the honey, I did not see at the 

 time that there was any difference; but that 

 honey has not granulated up to date, and the 

 experiment was made some four months ago. 

 Will some one who has an X ray handy try 

 the experiment upon various grades of honey, 

 and honey that will soon granulate ? The 

 wonderful ray may have some effect in pre- 

 venting molecular change. 



It seems rather queer that some of our great 

 bee-men should advocate the cumbersome 

 cleat on hives, and prefer them to handholes 

 (see Straw on page 1(56). The main use for it 

 seems to be to carry the hives into the cellar. 

 When I used to do such things in York State 

 I could carry the hive, and with more com- 

 fort to myself and the bees, by grasping the 



