1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



255 



keeper considered two hours insufficient to 

 kill the foul-brood spores, then if I had had 

 the evidence from two or three that fifteen 

 minutes' boiling was enough, and had flopped 

 over to that position, then I might with fair- 

 ness he accused of changing my mind hastily. 

 I chose to take the safe side of the fence, and 

 still think I am justified in holding to that 

 position — especially so as Mr. Taylor says I 

 have a following who will take my advice. I 

 have written to Mr. Thos Win. Cowan, and 

 am waiting to hear from him on this point, for 

 I know he will approach the subject from the 

 standpoinnt of a bee-keeper and a scientist. — 

 Ed] 





'&AOM0U/i NEIGHBORS FIELDS, jttf, 

 "*-* - BrtSrciSoc-r ■ — ' *■ 



You never hear a bee complain, 



And this sad world bewail : 

 But if she did, she could unfold 



A very painful tale. 



The lines above were sent me by J. L. Pea- 

 body, of Denver. They were read \>y him in 

 reply to a toast at a church meeting in that 

 city — " Drones in Plymouth Hive." 



ib 

 PROGRESSIVE BEE-KEEPER. 

 Somnambulist and others have my hearty 

 thanks for kind words concerning myself. 

 For any display of genius, however, a depart- 

 ment of this kind offers about the same in- 

 ducement that the edge of a board does to 

 sleep on. 



ib 

 F. L. Thompson writes a long article on 

 facing honey, and I must say it is good. If I 

 were to give the spirit of his sermon it is this: 

 The seller should let the buyer know as much 

 about the article sold as the seller himself 

 knows, inside and out. 



ib 

 For the production of extracted honey, H. 

 H. Hyde says one must have a strong colony, 

 No. 1 queen, plenty of honey, lots of room 

 for egg-laying. Mr. Hyde says queen-exclud- 

 ers are worse than useless — the greatest curse 

 ever put on bee-keepers. Whew ! That seems 

 to contradict what a host say about excluders. 

 Can't " locality " be used as a scapegoat here ? 



lb 

 The poet of the Progressive goes too far when 

 he speaks about the churches stoning women. 

 The intimation is not true. In the case cited, 

 I have no doubt the reformed woman woidd 

 fare as well in the church as at the hands of 

 Mrs. Mitchell if she should find her husband 

 in company with said woman. But Mr. M.'s 

 lines are, as a whole, good. His only defect 

 is a strong bias against Christianity. 



lb 



BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



C. Davenport is breeding out Italian blood 



in favor of the German brown bee. He thinks 



the latter caps the honey whiter, besides hav- 



ing some other redeeming traits that the Ital- 

 ians do not. His views will excite much dis- 

 cussion. Mr. D. makes a specialty of honey. 

 ib 

 " Blame where you must, 

 Be candid where you can." 



It strikes me if all bee-writers were a little 

 more candied, instead of being so very candid, 

 there would be less fur in the air. Why can't 

 hives and machinery be discussed as calmly as 

 the weather ? A change of mind ought to oc- 

 casion no censure and need no apology. 

 Minds worthy of the name always change on 

 evidence. 



ib 



T. F. Bingham contributes a good article on 

 how to keep bees good-natured. Smoke is 

 one of the means he uses. He says no one 

 should go among bees without a cape made of 

 cheese-cloth to fall over the neck and shoul- 

 ders, to keep bees out of the hair. A bee once 

 rendered vicious will always stay so. He finds 

 a pair of old gloves, with the thumb and first 

 finger cut off, a great help in handling bees. 

 They also protect from the sun's heat. He 

 kills bees that follow him around, 

 lb 



A new department seems to be a leading 

 feature in bee-journals now. "Good Things 

 from Other Journals" is the name of the one 

 just started in the Review. It is under the 

 management of our genial friend Dr. A. B. 

 Mason, of Toledo. He has 2^jf pages as a 

 starter. Dr. Mason is too well known among 

 bee-men to need any support from me; but 

 what he says between the extracts is good. 

 Here is something that is true: " There is so 

 much that is good in the different bee-journals 

 that it will be no easy task to select what is 



best." 



ib 



R. L. Taylor criticised Dr. Miller for using 

 the expression, " bring to a boil." The doctor 

 defends his usage by referring to the Standard 

 Dictionary, the latest and by far the largest 

 work of the kind ever printed. Mr. Taylor 

 objects, saying no other dictionary makes any 

 mention of " boil " as a noun in this sense 

 (heating water). Dr. Miller is entirely right. 

 Dictionaries record current usage of words 

 just as newspapers record events. A paper of 

 to-day recording a fire this morning has more 

 weight in proving the disaster than all other 

 papers printed yesterday. But all dictionaries 

 would speak of " Christian behavior" instead 

 of christian, as the adjective is derived from a 

 proper noun. But that may have been a mis- 

 print on Mr. Hutchinson's part. Sic 'em, 

 Tige! 



ib 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mr. Secor has the following line : 



May the strength which I gather while Day's in the 

 West. 



I get no meaning from it, as I do not know 

 what Mr. Day went west for. 

 ib 



J. M. Hambaugh suggests the election of 

 Mr. Dadant (probably the younger) to the Il- 

 linois Legislature, in order to work for a foul- 



