1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



293 



Hutchinson thinks editorials are valued partly 

 because, having much experience in writing, 

 an editor has a pleasing manner, but still 

 more because of the continual stream of cor- 

 respondence passing through his hands by 

 which he learns to look at things /)<?;« z'an'ous 

 points of viezv, and to express his ideas in a 

 very few words. I don't believe you've hit it, 

 W. Z. An editor's words are valued just 

 because they are the words of the editor. The 

 very position of editor, in the minds of us 

 common bee-keepers, presupposes a man who 

 knows more than the rest of us. And so it is 

 that sometimes an utterance "goes" because 

 it comes from the editor of a one-horse paper, 

 when without the paper the same man would 

 not be heard. Happily the editors know as 

 much as they're supposed to know — in most 

 cases — at the present time. [I favor Hutchin- 

 son's views rather than yours, doctor. An 

 editor ought to know better than the majority 

 of his readers about the subject to which his 

 journal pertains; if he doesn't he will have to 

 step down and out. The mass of matter that 

 passes before his eyes, the greater part of 

 which he can not publish, ought to give him 

 a broader view than that of any reader or cor- 

 respondent. Then, too, some of these editors 

 travel among bee-keepers — not only get at 

 their written opinions, but their face-to-face 

 notions. I do not believe an editor's opinion, 

 in this country at least, is valued simply 

 because he tries to fill the editorial chair. — 

 Ed.] 



Hold your horses, Ernest ! Don't put it 

 quite so strong as to say the plain section 

 " seems about to revolutionize " (p. 267). Re- 

 member you're right in the storm-center, and 

 500 miles from Medina the air seems quite 

 calm. At that distance the most that can be 

 said is that there are possibilities worth looking 

 into. [Very true, doctor ; I am in the storm 

 center, and you in the calm. But you will no- 

 tice that I used the qualifying word " seems." 

 Perhaps I could have expressed my meaning 

 better if I had put the word in italics; and the 

 word " seems " also implies that I was speak- 

 ing from my standpoint. If you could be at 

 the Home of the Honey-bees, and see some ten 

 girls making fences with the latest approved 

 appliances, turning them out at the rate of 700 

 or 800 a day apiece, the men sawing out the 

 stuff, and if you could then go into the pack- 

 ing-room and look over the orders for sec- 

 tions, you would begin to think yourself, from 

 all indications, that the plain section "seems 

 about to revolutionize methods of comb-honey 

 production." 



Now, on the other hand it is fair to state that 

 the great bulk of the sections without hives 

 that go out from the Home of the Honey-bees 

 are of the old style, because this year, as in the 

 past, bee-keepers buy what they have been 

 used to, and what they have had right along, 

 rather than some new-fangled thing. This is 

 reasonable, and as it should be. The principal 

 part of the fences and sections we are making 

 are to go in hive combinations. You see the 

 point is right here : Where people are to buy 

 new hives, why not give them the very latest, 

 as they will cost no more ? 



I do not need to "hold my horses " just yet, 

 because nothing we have ever introduced, I 

 think, ever took so heartily as the plain sec- 

 tion. This is not new, but has been in use all 

 of twenty years'* in a quiet way by bee-keepers 

 in diiTereijt parts of the country ; and the 

 fence itself is also old, having been in use for 

 some eight or ten years, so that I do not re- 

 gard these new old things as an untried expe- 

 riment. We can try these things all this 

 blessed season and then not know as much 

 about them as those who have tested them 

 years before us. It certainly does look as if it 

 would in time change our methods of comb- 

 honey production. — Ed.] 



CALIFORNIA ECH0E5P 



BY J, H, MARTIN 



In a footnote to Dan White's valuable arti- 

 cle upon the grading and sale of honey you 

 lay down certain conditions as follows: 



' ' I hereby agree not to put on the market 

 extracted honey weighing less than 11 lbs. to 

 the gallon." Now, wouldn't it be better to 

 put it at 12 lbs. to the gallon? 11-lb. honey 

 may be all right; but 12-lb. honey would be 

 better, and we want the verj' best. I know 

 that Dan White will vote for the latter. 



There was several tons of honey sent to the 

 Exchange last fall, weighing between 11 and 

 12 lbs. to the gallon. It was white, and had 

 commenced to granulate. I smelled it, and it 

 had that well-known sour smell. The taste 

 made the condition still more pronounced. I 

 had a bottle of it handy for inspection, and 

 nearly every bee-keeper pronounced it fer- 

 mented, much or little, according to the state 

 of his smell or taste. A dealer in honey came 

 in, and it was given to him to test, and he 

 pronounced it fine honey. It was eventually 

 sent away, and there was no complaint made 

 as to its quality. Now, in my mind, those 

 bee-keepers who pronounced the honey fer- 

 mented were better judges of the honey than 

 the dealer or the consumer; but the fact that 

 we never heard from the consumer is not a 

 proof that the honey gave entire satisfaction. 

 The consumer might have bought a small 

 amount, and, finding it not to his taste, would 

 probably eat it and say nothing about it; but 

 he would be careful not to buy that kind of 

 honey again. I have had an opportunity to 

 see that feature demonstrated in this city, 

 where all sorts of honey are sold. The con- 

 sumer will soon learn where to find the best 

 grade, and stick to it. Let us make the stand- 

 ard 12 lbs 



I note that the apicultural-editorial family 

 are bowing and shaking hands with that new 

 editor of the American Bee-keeper, Mr. H. E. 

 Hill. Mr. Hill spent a year or so in Califor- 

 nia; and, though it was a year or so before I 

 came to this State, and though I never saw 

 Mr. Hill, I have heard so much about him 

 that I must just tell what sort of a fellow he 



