1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



J37 



fellows should not forget that there may be 

 differences of opinion in the use of language. 

 There is a poetic license, and there is also a 

 license in the use of prose. A limited use 

 of new words may not be in bad taste. Some 

 of the very words that the critic classes as 

 slang, the Standard Dictionary recognizes as 

 colloquialisms. That being the case, the jour- 

 nals have not been as " slangy " as Mr. T. ap- 

 pears to think. 



I bear no ill feeling toward Mr. Taylor, and 

 I am sure he in turn entertains none toward 

 me, for I take it that he likes straightforward, 

 open expressions of opinion, even if it does 

 strike back. If this little discussion shall 

 result in cleaner diction for all the bee- 

 journals, we shall have Mr. Taylor to thank ; 

 but we shall not forget that he has been 

 hypercritical and hardly up to the latest 

 authorities. 



I greatly enjoy Mr. Taylor's criticisms 

 when confined to the theories and practices of 

 his brother bee-keepers; and, barring the fact 

 that I think he is not quite fair in quoting 

 those with whom he differs in opinion, I 

 think his criticisms will be productive of good 

 rather than otherwise. Yes, I enjoy having 

 him come right out square against my advo- 

 cacy of two-story hives ; but in doing so he 

 should not take me to task for opinions that I 

 do not hold. 



On page 282, regarding the disposition 

 of large or small colonies to swarm, Mr. 

 Taylor evidently does not understand my 

 position. It appears that his bias ( uncon- 

 scious, no doubt) is so strong that he fails to 

 see my idea. In a nutshell it is this : A large 

 colony in a large hive swarms less than a 

 moderate-sized colony (say eight-frame) in a 

 moderate-sized hive. Mr. Taylor uses, or did 

 use, eight-frame hives. Of course, a large 

 colony in such a hive, if given but one brood- 

 nest, would be likely to swarm before one of 

 smaller size. Right here I would agree with 

 him. 



On the same page, referring to what I wrote 

 on page 030 of Gleanings, he says I still fail 

 to answer his question given on page 24.S of 

 the Revieii'. Well, I'll try again. I was 

 referring to my practice with strong and 

 medium-strong colonies, which is this : If the 

 former are very strong, I let them have the 

 two stories clear throiigh the season ; and if 

 the others (medium strong) are not strong 

 enough I remove the upper stories from them, 

 and put in their places supers with sections. 

 Mr. Taylor did not understand, and then ask- 

 ed : " Is he comparing those very strong col- 

 onies that he allows two stories with those of 

 medium strength that he contracts to one 

 story? If so we are very close together." 

 Yes, that is just what I was doing. 



A GENERAL VIEW OF THE OMAHA CONVEN- 

 TION. 



The Omaha convention has now gone into 

 history. While the attendance was consider- 

 ably below what we had every reason to ex- 

 pect, from the low railroad rates offered, yet 

 the prominence and representative character 

 of those who did attend, and the quality of 



the discussion, more than made up for the 

 numerical deficiency. A marked feature was 

 the entire absence of any thing in the line of 

 personal grievances or strife. Indeed, I did 

 not notice an unpleasant fling thrown out at 

 any one in any of the discussions. Of course, 

 there was the usual good-natured bantering 

 from such men as Dr. Miller, Dr. Mason, .Hon. 

 E. Whitcomb, and L. Stilson. If at anv time 

 the discussion began to drag, one of the quar- 

 tet was almost sure to throw in a bomb-shell 

 (joke) that would wake ever}^ one up. No 

 convention would be complete without one or 

 more of these fun-makers. 



The weather was delightful, the convention 

 hall commodious and comfortable. We were 

 right royally welcomed, not only by the Ne- 

 braska bee - keepers, but by ex - Governor 

 Saunders, who honored the association by his 

 presence. 



Much valuable work was done by the con- 

 vention, especially with reference to tackling 

 this great question of adulteration. An inter- 

 esting report by General Manager Secor, of 

 the United States Bee-keepers' Union, showed 

 that some very good work had been done in 

 the line of pure food, and in defending 

 bee-keepers in their rights. Considerable dis- 

 cussion followed the reading of this paper, 

 resulting in the recommendation that the 

 Union begin securing evidence against the 

 mixers, and place such evidence before the 

 proper authorities, whose business it is to 

 assume costs of suits. 



At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Di- 

 rectors it was proposed to begin work in what- 

 ever field would yield the best results in the 

 judgment of the General Manager. 



The last session of the convention was held 

 in Apicultural Building on the exposition 

 grounds. It was largely attended, and, after 

 some impromptu speech-making by one of 

 the officials of the exposition, in the form of a 

 welcome to the bee-keepers, and responses 

 from Mr. Abbott and Dr. C. C. Miller, we were 

 treated to a feast of melons furnished by one 

 of the exhibitors of honey, himself also a mel- 

 on-grower. After a vote of thanks the con- 

 vention adjourned to meet at the call of the 

 Executive Committee. 



A competent court stenographer was engag- 

 ed to take down the whole proceedings of the 

 convention, and very fortunately this stenog- 

 rapher was also a bee-keeper ; so it is fair to 

 assume that there will be an accurate report 

 of all the proceedings. These will be given in 

 the Am. Bee Journal. Gleanings will give 

 only a condensed report, as usual, and this re- 

 port will be in the nature of editorial snap- 

 shots given from time to time. 



the OMAHA EXPOSITION. 

 This is really worth going to see. While 

 not as large, of course, as the World's Fair, 

 yet what there is of it is fully its equal, except, 

 perhaps, in the mechanical department. In 

 the line of agriculture it surpasses the exhibit 

 ( perhaps not in size ) at the World's Fair. The 

 buildings arranged around the beautiful la- 

 goon present a view either night or day that 

 equals any single view at the great Chicago 

 show. 



