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 «AKD HOME, 



'ubiishedyinETlll^ooYCo. ■ 

 SiaspER^AR. '\@ "Medina-Ohio- 



Vol. XXVI. 



OCT. 15, 1898. 



No. 20. 



Probably we'd better not trouble ourselves 

 with the Dickel theory, mentioned on p. 72(1, 

 but just watch to see how they settle it in 

 " das Vaterland." 



A NEW KINK I saw at Omaha was tumblers 

 of jelly with a coating of paraffine on top to 

 keep it from molding. Beeswax will answer 

 the same purpose. 



"Foreign matter in honey-comb," page 

 730, reminds me that, when I used sheets of 

 enameled oilcloth, I have known the bees to 

 put the black enamel in the cappings of sec- 

 tions. 



DoolitTle gets more for his honey by send- 

 ing " fancy " to Smith and No. 1 to Jones, p. 

 730. But suppose I send No. 1 to Smith and 

 fancy to Jones (a thing likely to happy at any 

 time), then we're both out. 



Those Rocky Ford melons were fine, in- 

 deed, A. I., but we've been eating nutmeg and 

 banana melons from our own ground for some 

 days, and I think they're just a shade better. 

 I can make nearly a full meal from them. 

 Come and have some. 



There's just one objection to friend 

 Greiner's plan of ventilating, pictured p. 726, 

 and that is that the bottom-bars of the vipper 

 story will rest directly on the back end of the 

 lower story, and be glued there. But the 

 advantage may overbalance the objection 



The wee bee-moth, mentioned page 729, 

 so far as I know does not exist in this part of 

 the country ; but a writer in a late foreign 

 journal says that in his region the greater 

 part of the damage done to combs in colonies 

 is by this same moth, although wrongly charg- 

 ed to the larger sort. 



Isn't it possible that T. H. Kloer (p. 732) 

 keeps his Italians hard crowded for room be- 

 yond the average, to get them to have a {^^ 

 bee-space ? If you'll remind us of it in 

 Gleanings for June 1, a whole lot will report 

 as to space between combs. [If I do not for- 

 get it, I shall be glad to call attention to the 

 matter next summer. — Ed.] 



You SEEM To THINK, Mr. Editor, that bet- 

 ter queens are reared for superseding than in 

 a queenless colony. Well, then, all you have 

 to do is to cage your queen and she will gen- 

 erally be superseded. [But would that be a 

 natural supersedure? Would the bees, if it 

 were not, rear as good a queen ? — Ed.] 



John Armstrong wants me supplied with 

 a machine for cleaning fences, " a small sand- 

 belt for each place to be cleaned." That 

 would be good, but it wouldn't be as cheap as 

 a hatchet for the plain separator, and the 

 hatchet wouldn't need renewing as often as 

 the sandpaper. 



W. T. Richardson "has the exclusive 

 right to the bee-pasturage on 12,000 acres," 

 page 723. Now, how does he get that exclu- 

 sive right ? and how does he hold it ? I occupy 

 as large a territorj', but I've no exclusive 

 right, and years ago I pulled a big lot of 

 trouble down on my head by saying bee-keep- 

 ers should have exclusive rights. Has Mr. R. 

 bought all that land ? 



Interesting reading is that on page 718, 

 where C. P. Dadant tells the story of their 

 former experiences. Seems like old times to 

 read of honey-boxes with 4 glass sides and 4 

 corner-posts. But they beat me in the matter 

 of smoke. I had only a burning brand, which 

 I blew with my breath. A. I. Root learned 

 the trick from me, and nearly burned up a 

 colony the first time he tried it alone. 



Bro. Doolittle, page 730, talks about my 

 trying to slay him. Tut ! tut ! I have entire 

 faith in his honesty, and want him to live a 

 long time. He seems to think he's misrepre- 

 sented or misunderstood. I think not by me. 

 The one distinct thing to which I object is 

 his saying it's right to ship to a commission 

 man buckwheat honey faced with clover, a 

 thing that I know is not right "for this 

 locality." 



Take it for granted that all honey is 

 foul broody, unless you know it is not. Any 

 sample of honey that comes to me, no matter 

 whence, is burned if it isn't eaten on the ta- 

 ble. [It is our rule, usually, to dispose of 

 samples of honey that come to us from bee- 

 keepers all over the country, who have honey 

 to sell. Very often we take a hundred or so 

 of samples that have accumulated, and toss 



