1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



101 





Eight extra pages. 



Nearly every one of our journals has some 

 special features. One, for instance, will be 

 conspicuous for illustrations; another for some 

 special article ; another for the discussion of 

 some particular subject, and so on. This 

 number has some of the best articles we have 

 ever published, from men of intelligence and 

 large experience — some of the brightest and 

 best bee-keepers we have. 



IT is not to be presumed that every thing pub- 

 lished in Gleanings, or in any other journal, 

 in fact, will be interesting to every reader alike. 

 Probably the majority of subscribers glance 

 over the pages, and read that in which they are 

 particularly interested, and skip the rest. The 

 veterans, for instance, probably do not care 

 for instructions to beginners, and the latter 

 have no interest in the discussion where the 

 experts disagree. As it is, Gleanings tries 

 to give a general variety — indeed, to cover the 

 whole range of apicultural matter. If there 

 is any subject one or more wish to have 

 brought up, be free to ask for it. If it is of 

 general interest I'll bring it up. 



THE GOVERNMENT AND APIS DORSATA. 



One of our subscribers, Mr. Bion Walbridge, 

 •of Stony Fork, Pa., wrote to his Representa- 

 tive for reliable information in reference to 

 the government importing Apis dorsata from 

 the Philippines, as they are so currently talk- 

 ed of in the papers. Well, it seems that this 

 request found its way finally to Entomologist 

 Howard, who replies : 



Mi. Bion Walbridge : — Your request of December 

 12. through the Hon. Horace B Packer, for bees from 

 the Philippine Islands, has been referred bv the Hon- 

 orable Secretary of Agriculture to this Division for 

 reply. The newspaper report which you. mention 

 was unauthorized. The Department has not, as vet, 

 undertaken the importation of bees from the Philip- 

 pines. Should they be obtained, however, they would 

 first be carefully tested before any general distribu- 

 tion would be decided upon. If then the latter course 

 should be deemed advisable due notice would be given 

 to those interested, and your application would be fa- 

 vorably considered by the Department. 



E- O. Howard. 



Entomologist. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR EXCHANGES. 



About Christmas time, or following New 

 Year's day, we usually see quite a brightening 

 in all the periodicals, and bee-journals are no 

 exception. Prominent among those for 1899 

 that show new blood and new life are the 

 American Bee Journal and the American 

 Bee-keeper — both representatives of the Amer- 

 ican idea, viz., progress and push. The Old 

 Reliable comes out with a new title-page, new 

 body type (just like ours, by way of compli- 

 ment), and one can not fail to note an added 

 freshness and vigor throughout the whole 



journal. It is the oldest of all of the bee- 

 papers on this side of the Atlantic. It is a 

 weekly, and always on time — the only one, I 

 believe, that can really claim this distinction. 

 Some of what I have said relative to the 

 American Bee Journal will apply equally well 

 to the American Bee-keeper. It is edited by 

 Mr. Harry E. Hill, a practical bee-keeper 

 whose experience, probablv, has been more 

 varied than that of any other apicultural ed- 

 itor in our ranks. He is bound to make his 

 paper jump forward into prominence. I have 

 often admired his clean-cut practical editorials. 



ARE SUNSHINE AND AIR FOES TO GERM EIFE ? 



I am asked by L. G., in a French journal 

 entitled Le Rucher Beige, whether exposure 

 to air and sun will kill spores of foul brood. 

 I do not know from experience, and am hardly 

 scientist enough to follow out an investigation. 

 But there are reputable scientists who say that 

 such exposure does kill the germs ; but if it 

 requires two hours and a half boiling to do it, 

 how many years of air and sunshine will it 

 take to do the same work ? I must confess 

 that I myself would not care to place too 

 much reliance on the simple agencies of these 

 two elements. Of course, I am aware of the 

 fact that the rays of old Sol and the stuff we 

 breathe are foes to most forms of germ life ; 

 that is the reason why it is so necessary to let 

 sunshine and fresh air into sleeping-rooms, 

 and why rooms kept dark to prevent nice car- 

 pets from fading, or shut up tight to keep out 

 the dust and noise from the street, are not apt 

 to be healthy places for persons to live in or 

 to sleep in for any great length of time. 



DOOEITTEE ON BURR-COMBS \ CHANGING 

 FRONT. 



In our new department,' Pickings from Our 

 Neighbors' Fields," it will be noticed that 

 G. M. Doolittle is a champion of wide and 

 thick top-bars, for the reason that they do 

 away almost entirely with the burr-comb nui- 

 sance, for he says, " In many of my hives not 

 a burr-comb appears from one season's end to 

 another." I was a little surprised when I 

 read this, for, if I remember rightly, Mr. Doo- 

 little was once in favor of these same burr- 

 combs, and that he wanted them for "lad- 

 ders " — that is, for a handy way of entering 

 the supers. The reason I remember it is that, 

 when I began to champion these wide and 

 thick top-bars, he championed the burr-combs. 

 Well, I am not going to say, " I told you so," 

 but, as I said before, it shows one's candor — 

 nay, even more, his progress — when he is 

 willing to go back on old tenets and adopt 

 ideas advanced by opponents. 



" HONEY POPCORN CRISPS, FIVE CENTS." 



When I called on Mr W. A. Selser, the 

 Philadelphia honey-man, he showed me some 

 of the sights in and about the city, reference 

 to which has already been made in these col- 

 umns. On one of these excursions out of the 

 city into the suburbs we stopped at one of the 

 leading pleasure-resorts, the name of which 



