24 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



Our Roll of Honor. 



Symposium of the Veterans, or Those who have 

 Taken Gleanings for 25 Years, More or Less. 



In our last issue we promised a little present 

 to the veterans. Well, it hardly seems worth 

 while to draw the line too sharply at just 25 

 years. Quite a number have taken it for 20 

 years, some 23, and some 24 ; and in order to 

 do justice to all, we have decided to send one 

 number of Gleanings free of charge to any 

 one for every year he has taken and read it in 

 the past. Thus, you see those who have taken 

 Gleanings for 20 years will have 20 issues 

 free, those of 24 years a whole year free, and 

 so on. 



Several mention the time when Gleanings 

 was printed by windmill power. "Vol.1. 

 No. 1 " is dated Jan. 1, 1873 ; but it was first 

 taken from the press, as I explained in our 

 previous issue, Dec. 6, 1872, and the printing 

 was done at the office of the Medina Gazette 

 for the first year. But Jan. 1, 1874, however, 

 we had a press of our own, and the first issue 

 for the year was printed on this press, your 

 humble servant running it by foot power when 

 the wind did not blow; but when the wind did 

 blow I had a mechanical arrangement so that 

 a large windmill (put up for cutting up stuff 

 for hives, etc. ) would follow up in the rear, 

 and finally relieve me from working the trea- 

 dle when there was wind enough. A good 

 deal of the time the printing was done partly 

 by wind power and partly by foot power — that 

 is, the two pulled together. I remember one 

 night when we were late I made preparation 

 to run the press all night. As there was not a 

 breath of wind there was no way but to tread 

 it out. About ten o'clock, however, a breeze 

 sprang up, the press kept going faster and 

 faster ; but as the wind came up gradually I 

 learned to feed as the speed increased ; and 

 under the inspiration of seeing my two hob- 

 bies at the time work together (the printing- 

 press and the windmill), I put in the sheets so 

 rapidly that I was through and at home not 

 much after midnight. Of course, there was 

 some grumbling among the subscribers be- 

 cause some of the sheets were printed crook- 

 ed ; but when I explained the matter they 

 were very kind and forbearing, and let me 

 down easy. After that it began to be a kind 

 of standing joke that any crookedness (either 

 in the journal or bee-hives) was to be attribut- 

 ed to the irregularity of the windmill. Before 

 Vol. III. was out, however, the wind proved 

 to be too uncertain for the hive trade as well 

 as for our enlarged circulation, and a 4^-horse- 

 power Bookwalter engine was put in to sup- 

 plement our power when the wind did not 

 blow; and fcr a while both the windmill and 

 the engine pulled together quite amicably. 

 Now, then, let us hear from the veterans : 



Gleanings has come to my home continuously 

 since the first number. I have kept the numbers. 

 Honey-producing has been my principal pursuit all 

 these years. As might be expected, the enthusiasm 

 of the earlier years has materially abated. An inter- 

 est in intensive farming, fostered by Gleanings, is 

 my present hobby. T. P. Andrews. 



Farina, 111 , Dec. 21. 



I have taken Gleanings for over 25 years. I wish 

 you a merry Christmas. D. H. Tweedy. 



Dillonvale, Ohio, Dec. 28. 



I am unable to fix the exact date of my first sub- 

 scription to Gleanings, but I know that I have the 

 26 volumes complete, not one number missing. 



E. Springfield, O., Dec. 23. R. M. Reynolds. 



I commenced bee-keeping 21 years ago last fall, and 

 have been a constant reader of Gleanings during 

 that time, and am pleased to say that I am a paid-up 

 suKscril er. I can say that, for these 21 years, I have 

 read Gleanings with much pleasure and profit. 

 Wishing it a long life and a wide circulation I am 

 Yours re=pectfullv, 



Battle Creek, Mich., Dec. 21. \V. S. Wright. 



As you request in last Gleanings, I will say I com- 

 menced to keep bees Jan. 5, 1872. I think about two 

 years after tl at I heard of Gleanings, and have been 

 a subscriber ever since, and have all the numbers ever 

 printed, having sent for all back numbers. I have 

 every one preserved up to present time without a 

 missing number: also the American Bee Journal for 

 the same time. I shall be 71 years old next June. 



Newburgh, N. Y., Dec. 22. Marcus D. Du Bois. 



I remember very well when, 26 years ago, I received 

 No. 1 of Gleanings. I have every number of the 

 paper from that day to this, and, still betttr, my sub- 

 scription for 1899 is paid. Age tells, so 1 can not get 

 around among the 1 ees now as I did 25 years ago ; but 

 my two little boys are a very great help to me in the 

 management of my 65 colonies. Wm. Wilson. 



Bardstown, Ky., Dec. 23. 



I have taken Gleanings from the time you printed 

 it by wind power. I got interested in apiarian pur- 

 suits over forty years ago by reading Langstroth's 

 book. I have had as many as 225 colonies. In the 

 summer of IAS.'! I harvested 12,000 lbs. of honey. I am 

 still in the business. I could not do without Glean- 

 ings. Long may it live, and eternity only will tell its 

 influence for good. George Briggs. 



New Sharon, la., Dec. 22. 



You may remember "Novice" and the A. B.J. of 

 Washington, D. C, and the cistern that came so near 

 being filled with honey, and the large queen 

 ("Giantess") that was followed to the woods, and a 

 certain jeweler who fell in love with bees. Well, I 

 am one who has read after him more than 25 years, 

 and am yet reading Gleanings. I hope you may be 

 more and more useful to the end, and receive a crown 

 of life. J. B. Dines. 



Libertyville, Mo., Dec. 22. 



I am one of the number that have taken Gleanings 

 for 25 years or moie. I received the first number that 

 you printed, and have received a copy of every num- 

 ber that has been printed since. I have never missed 

 a number in the 26 years. I have a likeness of you 

 with Blue Eyes on your lap I have been at your 

 place, and seen you and Blue Eyes; also your wife and 

 your brick house, and hope to see you again — if not in 

 this world, in the world to come. A. J. Hoover. 



Dorranceton, Pa., Dec. 22. 



I am an "old timer." I used to read Novice's writing 

 in American Bee Journal when published by Samuel 

 Wagner, in Washington, D. C, and have never missed 

 an issue since Gleanings was first published. 1 have 

 had considerable dealings with the publisher, and 

 have no fault to find. I am a native of Ohio— was 

 born in Brownhelm, Lorain Co.; moved from near 

 Oberlin to this county in 1852, and settled on the farm 

 that I now own and occupy. I have made a success of 

 bee-keeping, take it all together. 



Farley, Iowa, Dec. 23. James Scott. 



I have watched your progress ever since you com- 

 menced writing for the American Bee Journal^ for I 

 have taken that journal from No. 1 until the present, 

 and I h,ive also taken Gleanings from its beginning 

 until now. In fact, we feel pretty well acquainted 

 with you in many respects. Most of this time I have 

 been "in New Hampshire, but for four years past have 

 been sojourning in this mountainous region of West- 

 ern North Carolina. 



I first became a bee-keeper the day I was 18 years 

 old. I came here to escape the rigors of our New Eng- 

 land winters, aird find I can be much more comfort- 

 able. I have had something to do with bees here, but 

 am not laigely interested in them. 



If in your travels you .can find time to call here you 

 will be warmly welcomed by several of your custom- 



