542 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



bees that teaches them to solve this wonderful 

 mathematical problem. This problem is very 

 old; but no reasonable solution is given as 

 yet, so far as is known by American bee- 

 keepers. Nevertheless, my article did not pay 

 much attention except to Dr. Miller and a 

 Mr. Skagg, each on a quite subordinate af- 

 fair. Occasionally, I said, the bees do not 

 thin out the midrib of foundation, because, in 

 the waj' they are used to build natural combs, 

 they can not do it. That the bees do not thin 

 the midrib of the foundation is not only my 

 opinion based on many observations, but it is 

 the opinion of all German and most Ameri- 

 can bee-keepers; and you say (in Gleanings, 

 page 248, April 1, 1897), "We have made the 

 statement that bees will thin down the walls 

 of foundation to a natural thickness, but sel- 

 doni if ever touch the base." It is plain now. 

 If the bees ever thinned out the base of a 

 foundation you did not know it on April 1, 

 1897. In Nov., 1897, issUe of the Southland 

 Queen I said the same thing except that I 

 used the words never ior '^ seldom if ever.'" 

 How is it that you express a quite different 

 opinion, Feb. 15, 1898. and take me to task 

 because I had not tested the matter as thor- 

 oughly as I should have. The cross-cuts of 

 combs you have reproduced in Gleanings all 

 favor my opinion, and on the next page it 

 seems you have changed your opinion again 

 when you speak of the no-wall foundation. 



It is always a bad thing to say that bees 

 never do this or that, and I am guilty of do- 

 ing this. If anybody says the bees do it any- 

 how, we can't prove that we are right and 

 he is wrong, because we can possibly prove 

 that something exists; but if we have never 

 seen a certain thing it is no proof at all that 

 it does not exist. In one way I have to change 

 my opinion. While in all my experience I 

 never observed a single case where the bees 

 had thinned the base of foundation, it was too 

 hasty if I said they can not do it. Besides 

 the usual way in which the bees build natural 

 combs, they work the wax in some other way 

 in exceptional cases ; for instance, when they 

 repair small holes in combs and foimdation, 

 or if they close the last hole in sealing a honey 

 or brood eel'. So it seems not impossible that 

 they can thin the base of foundation, and 

 may do it in rare cases. 



But different bee keepers say they have 

 hundreds of combs built from foundation 

 where the bees had thinned the base to natu- 

 ral thickness. I think they are in most cases 

 mistaken. What causes this mistake, I can't 

 tell; but when the side walls are thinned and 

 prolonged, the base looks thinner too, and it 

 would take an exact investigation to decide 

 the matter, for which the bee-keeper has no 

 implements. 



Cutoff, Texas, June 27. 



[On receipt of the above I handed it to Mr. 

 Weed, with the request that he attach a foot- 

 note explaining why there are little holes in 

 the bottom of the bases, and this is what he 

 says: 



Mr. Stachelhausen's report seeins so complete that 

 it requires very little comment: but I should like to 

 explain why some of the cell-bases were gnawed. We 



have had the same experience here, and in every case 

 found it was caused by defective places in the ma- 

 chine, which occasionally punched holes in the base 

 of the cells. This defect has now been nearly reme- 

 died, so that it rarely occurs. We are now beginning 

 to build machinery for 1899, and I feel sure that the 

 product next year will be very near perfection. 



[Mr. Stachelhausen's experience with drawn 

 foundation is almost identical with our own; 

 but as we have an ax to grind in the matter, 

 our ipse dixit might not be accepted as readi- 

 ly as his, or that of one who, like Mr. Stach- 

 elhausen, has no ax to grind. 



With reference to the item on page 124 for 

 this year, I was surprised to note that I said 

 just the opposite of what I intended to say. 

 That this is true, you will see by referring to 

 the last paragraph of the last column on the 

 next page, where I imply that the bees will 

 not thin the bases, but will the walls. I 

 meant to have said that our experience was 

 exactly like that of Mr. Stachelhausen; hence 

 we agree exactly. It was friend Skaggs who 

 should have tested this matter thoroughly with 

 a micrometer. — Ed.] 



JOSEPH P. ISRAEL (SKYLARK) 



BY J. M. HAMBAUGH. 



We were temporarily located in the Gross 

 property for one year after our arrival in 

 Escondido, which is situated on an elevation 

 overlooking the city, and probably 40 rods 

 back from the public avenue. It was but a 

 few months after our arrival that my attention 

 was drawn to a one-horse vehicle, slowly 

 ascending the grade in the direction of our 

 humble domicile. A small gray -haired bushy- 

 faced person was clinging to the lines, and 

 seemed intent on allowing the horse abun- 

 dance of time to accomplish the task of reach- 

 ing the summit, which he did successfully. 



" Is your name Hambaugh ? " greeted my 

 ears in a manner that caused me to stare 



I answered in the aiifirmative, and with out- 

 stretched hand and a smile mantling his 

 pleasant features he responded, "You are the 

 man [ have been hunting. My name is Israel." 



His horse was sheltered and fed, and he 

 was compelled to accept of our menu, or bill 

 of fare, for one meal. The subject of bees 

 was the main topic, fore and aft, yet Mr. 

 Israel's previous long experience in the busi- 

 ness here in California made me more of a 

 willing auditor than a pressing conversation- 

 alist. His visit here to me in a strange land, 

 and among entire strangers, was greatly ap- 

 preciated. On his departure we were kindly 

 invited to visit him in his rural home in 

 Spook's Canyon, which we agreed to do at 

 the earliest convenience. 



It was in June, 1896, that, with our little 

 family snugly tucked into our surrey, we 

 started for an outing, and determined to hunt 

 out our old friend in the deep recesses of the 

 somber, silent canyon. Nothing worthy of 

 note came to our observation until the wind- 

 ing spiral roadway leading down into the 

 canyon was reached. Here we go down, 

 down, around abrupt mountains on one side 

 and a yawning chasm on the other. Down, 



