• DELVOTE. 



•-fo 'Be. ELS' 



•AND Hon EY 

 • AND HOME. 



•INTEi^EST^S 



Tubhshedby- THE~A I^OOY Co. 



$;=°p[rYear^'\@ Medina- OHIO' 



Vol. XXVIII. 



FEB. I, 1900. 



No. 3. 



That plan of getting the water out of a 

 honey-can with a sponge, p. 53, might be fin- 

 ished up by setting the can on the stove. Our 

 folks omit the sponging. No danger if the 

 stove isn't too hot and the can not left too long. 



Friend A. I. Root, that's an admirable 

 piece of work you've done on p. 60 as a peace- 

 maker. If you ever hear that my wife and I 

 have parted, pack your grip right straight, and 

 come and reconcile us. I'll pay freight on you 

 to Marengo. 



That question of J. T. VanPetten, p 51, is 

 a rather troublesome one, and applies in many 

 cases. ''After I'v^ been to extra expense to 

 get ahead of my fellow, and then he is to the 

 same expense to get even with me, what has 

 either gained ? ' ' 



American bee-keepers ought to be farther 

 ahead at the end of the century than the Ger- 

 mans. The German bee-journals have started 

 in on the 20th century, while in this locality 

 we have nearly a year of the 19th left. [See 

 Pickings. — Ed.] 



I ARISE to inquire why it is that we have no 

 reports nowadays from apicultural experiment 

 stations. There's an unsatisfied longing ever 

 since Hon. R. L. Taylor left off his very inter- 

 esting reports. I wish he had never departed 

 this life as an experimenter. 



That cut on page 57 is an exact picture of 

 my latest honey-extractor. I bought it from 

 J. L. Peabody himself, somewhere about 1870. 

 Since I gave up extracted honey it seldom gets 

 a chance to work ; but when it does, it works 

 just as well as ever. But, of course, it isn't a 

 Cowan. 



Mr. Hone "thinks the dairy business detri- 

 mental to bee-keeping, as cattle eat sweet clo- 

 ver," etc., p. 43. Not in this locality. I'm right 

 in the heart of the Elgin dairy region, more 

 butter being made in a given area around Ma- 

 rengo than Elgin, and I'd be sorry to have the 

 cows killed off. It's true they eat the flowers ; 

 but that's what keeps up a succession, length- 

 ening the season. 



Why, oh ! why, do you print that long- 

 tongue talk, p. 55? I've been quiet about it 

 for a long time, and now you stir me all up 

 again with the question : If there's so much 

 difference in bees' tongues that some tongues 

 are 38 per cent longer than some other 

 tongues, why may we not breed for tongues as 

 well as colors ? 



" I SOMETIMES WISH," says ye editor, p. 47, 

 "I were free to go back to those old days 

 now." You'll outgrow that. I'm at least five 

 years older than you, and my best years have 

 been since I passed your age. And I'm ex- 

 pecting it will be better farther on. [I did not 

 say that I always wished. No, I would not go 

 back, in my cool, sober moments, to the days 

 of childhood. I am quite content to be just 

 where I am. — Ed ] 



Have you put Doolittle cell-cups on the list 

 of bee-keepers' supplies ? If so, at what price ? 

 [No, 3'et I suppose we ought to ; but before 

 we put them on the market we desire to perfect 

 a machine that will make them in a wholesale 

 way, so we can sell them by the peck, and not 

 by the single one. At present I fear you would 

 not like to pay the price. They can be made 

 by the dozens very cheaply, when one has 

 nothing else to do, and the only reason why 

 we have not made them is because we have not 

 had time to put brains into a machine for 

 doing it. — Ed.] 



I WANT very much to see A. I. Root. I 

 want to see how he looks since he has become 

 interested in flowers. I'm sure he must be a 

 nicer man — and a better man. [Yes, it is in- 

 deed true — A. I. R. is riding another hobby. 

 You ought to see the enthusiasm that plays on 

 his face. He grows lettuce and a little garden- 

 stuff in the greenhouse, to be sure, but it is 

 easy to see that his new fascination is growing 

 posies. Every once in a while he calls us over 

 to see his latest acquisition. Say, doctor, you 

 ought to be here and hear him talk bulbs, 

 roses, variegated colors, etc. — Ed.] 



The advantages of tall sections are well 

 put by you on page 51, Mr. Editor, but the last 

 one won't do : "A tall section will stand ship- 

 ping better than a square one, in proportion as 

 it is taller." Do you think a section ten inches 

 high will be more solid than one an inch high ? 

 It's true the tall one has more perpendicular 



