932 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



^ e.R.^ROo-r 



The Minister of Agriculture of Mexico has 

 ordered a Spanish translation of Langstroth's 

 work on the bee. This will be a boon to our 

 Spanish neighbors in the tropics. 



At the last meeting of the Ontario Co., N.Y., 

 Beekeepers' Association, the sum of 8-3. .31 was 

 raised for the Langstroth-Monnment fund. 

 The same has been received and will be duh- 

 credited. 



I OMITTED to state in our symposium that 

 the plain section will probably render feasible 

 the use of machine section-cleaners when old- 

 style sections would not. We have already 

 got track of one that we feel sure will be a 

 success ; and as soon as it is ready to put on 

 the market we will give notice through these 

 columns. 



Sixteen extra pages this time. The sym- 

 posium in this issue takes so much space, 

 together with the index, that we found it 

 necessary to enlarge this issue. By the way, 

 how do you like our Christmas number, tak- 

 ing it all in all ? We are planning new fea- 

 tures for the coming year; and those of our 

 readers who stay with us, I feel sure, will be 

 richly repaid. 



ENGRAVINGS OF FENCE HONEY MISLEADING. 



Some criticism has been offered, and per- 

 haps not without some grounds, that the en- 

 grasings in the Review and Gleanings, that 

 have shown fence honey, have been mislead- 

 ing to some extent. In this issue I show 

 some very fine hone}- prodiiced in old-style 

 sections, and right below it some fence honey. 

 At the risk of committing the same sin again 

 I will say I honestly believe that that shown 

 in the first named, while it looks as nice as the 

 other, is considerably better than the average 

 fancy in old-style sections, while the fence 

 honey is very close to the common run of 

 the fancy that / have seen in plain sections. 



SECTIONS FILLED SOLID TO THE WOOD. 

 Mr MerTon B. Chase, one of our local 

 bee-keepers, who produces such fine honej-, 

 thinks we ought not make too nmch of the fact 

 of having the cells sealed next to the wood in 

 section honey. If we set up too high a stand- 

 ard he fears that, in actual practice, we may 

 not be able to reach it, even with our fancy. 

 There is a good deal in this ; but somehow I 

 do like to look at .solid slabs of honey sealed 

 clear out to the wood ; and if the fences, or 

 any system of management, will enable us to 

 do it, let us learn how it is done. I do not 

 claim that the fence alone will accomplish it ; 

 but with other agencies with it we ma}- be able 

 to go a long way toward it. 



BEES AND THEIR COLOR NOTIONS. 



In the Auicrican Bee Journal, the question 

 is asked in the Oaestion Box whether bees are 

 less likely to sting one with white clothing 

 than with black, or whether bees are in any 

 v.'ay irritated by any particular color. In re- 

 sponse to the first, the answer is "yes" from 

 nearly all the 26 bee-keepers. As to the sec- 

 ond question, there is less certainty ; but 

 when an answer is given, dark or black is 

 specified. Our readers will remember that I 

 once doubted whether black had any thing to 

 do with irritating bees, and made fun of Dr. 

 Miller for suggesting it. Reports immediate- 

 ly began to come in, sustaining the doctor's 

 position, and poking fun at uic. There is now 

 no room for doubt, even if I am the one that 

 is worsted. 



J. E. CRANE AT The HOME OF THE HONEY- 

 BEES. 



We are enjoying a visit with Mr. J. E. 

 Crane, of Middlebury, Vt. I fully intended 

 to call on him this summer to talk fence and 

 plain sections, as he has had some experience 

 with them this jaast season ; but as it was not 

 possible for me to do so a correspondence 

 sprang up, a part of which is given in this 

 issue. You can imagine with what pleasure 

 we have been discussing a number of these 

 little problems ; and as Mr. Crane is a man of 

 wide experience, owning and operating some 

 500 colonies, I feel like " banking" on pretty 

 much all he says. I have been fortunate 

 enough to submit proofs of all the fence mat- 

 ter to him before sending it to press ; and 

 while I have not directly secured his seal of 

 approval, I believe we can not be very far out 

 of the way or he would " straighten '' us out. 



He will remain with us for several dav's, and 

 I wish I could invite our readers to our little 

 unconventional conventions that we have 

 every evening over at the house. Perhaps 

 later I ma}- be able to give our readers a kodak- 

 phonograph peep behind the scenes. We shall 

 see. 



DOOLITTLE AND HIS MEAT-BLOCK. 



Elsewhere in this issue I have referred to 

 the fact that Dr. C. C. Miller eschews elaborate 

 office furniture, and takes in its stead a com- 

 mon wooden stool for his typewriter desk, 

 and that reminds me that G. M. Doolittle, of 

 Borodino, N. Y., a man who is equally promi- 

 nent as a writer and as a bee-man, vises a sort 

 of meat- block as a typewriter desk. He hies 

 himself away, or did do so, to a little office in 

 his shop, where are a stove, stationery, books, 

 and bee-journals. Well, when I was escorted 

 into this sanctum I exclaimed, " Why don't 

 you have a nice office desk, befitting your po- 

 sition as a professional man?" I can not re- 

 member exactly his reply, but it was some- 

 thing to the effect that he w^as nothing but a 

 plain ordinary man, and that a meat-block on 

 which to support a typewriter was good enough 

 for him. But why didn't he have a light cheap 

 table? Said he, "I want something solid so 

 that, when I strike the keys, they will respond 

 to my touch." Then I turned and looked at 

 Doolittle, and took in his powerful physique. 



