882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



I<ONG TONGUES ANDXGOOD WORKERS. 



Mr. H. E. Jaynes, San Marcial, New Mex- 

 ico, sends us a sample of bees that show a 

 tongue-reach of jViy- He says they are good 

 hustlers, have stored more than any other col- 

 ony in the apiary, and that he has seen them 

 leave the hive in the evening when it was get- 

 ting dark, and so dark that the bees returning 

 were hardly able to find the hive ; that they 

 continued to store surplus honey right along 

 when all the other bees were unable to keep 

 from starving except as they were fed. I don't 

 care if this does give our friend Jaynes a free 

 advertisement. I am willing to give any 

 queen-breeder or any man who has good stock 

 a free notice, for by so doing it will help our 

 friends and help the fr^ternity at large in the 

 .securing and development, not only of long- 

 tongued bees but good workers. 



The fact begins to dawn that bees, in order 

 to make a better showing in their hive than 

 the bees of another, must have long tongues 

 to reach the nectar. If this is so, then it is a 

 physical impossibility for some bees to excel 

 in honey-gathering. — Ed.] 



DEATH OF AN OLD CORRESPONDENT ; AN 

 AWFUL ACCIDENT. 



We are much pained to receive the news of 

 the death of our old friend and correspondent 

 S. P. Culley, Higginsville, Mo., who was killed 

 by the cars near East St. Louis, 111. The press 

 reports state that the car wheels ran right over 

 his body, severing the head from the trunk. 

 It seems that S. P. Culley & Brother, extensive 

 bee-keepers at Higginsville, Mo., had recent- 

 ly made a contract to export large quantities 

 of bees to Havana, Cuba ; and the senior part- 

 ner, our correspondent, was en route with a 

 carload at the time of the accident. He was 

 asleep in the caboose, when, having reached a 

 junction, the conductor awoke him and then 

 proceeded to clamber on top of the car to give 

 the necessary signals to the train men. Mr. 

 Culley, in the meantime, half dazed, dreamily 

 staggered toward the front platform, and 

 walked off and fell between the cars, with the 

 fearful result as noted. 



He wrote for the Progi'essive Bee-keeper audi 

 for this journal. He was a clear, forcible 

 writer, and was always intensely practical. I 

 remember the time I first read one of his com- 

 munications in manuscript. As I finished 

 reading it I said to myself, '■'There is a man 

 who has evidently had a large experience," 

 and as I glanced at the end to see who the 

 writer was I could not remember that I had 

 seen his name before ; but from that time on I 

 always welcomed his communications. He 

 wrote so recently as Oct. 15, page 799 ; and 

 this, or at least a part of it, was republished in 

 the last issue of the American Bee Journal. 

 He was a comparatively young man — only 40, 

 just in his prime, and I am sure the readers of 

 all the bee-periodicals will miss his familiar 

 writings. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Forty years ago next January, Vol. I. No. 1 

 of the American Bee Journal made its appear- 



ance under the management of our good friend 

 Samuel Wagner. It continued one year ; but 

 there did not seem to be bee-keepers enough 

 in our land to keep even one bee-journal run- 

 ning. If I am correct, the breaking-out of the 

 war had something to do with letting it drop 

 for a time. When I " went crazy," however, 

 on the honey-bee, because of the loss of that 

 truant swarm I became so much interested in, 

 I began rubbing my eyes and hunting up the 

 bee-literature of the world. As soon as I 

 found a bee-journal had been published I had 

 every back number, and read them over and 

 over day and night almost. How familiar 

 those pages in regard to the Dzierzon theory 

 look even now ! and those strange stories of 

 the wonderful natural history of the honey- 

 bee awaken a thousand pleasant recollections 

 even now as I glance oyer it. I enjoy even 

 yet exploring new fields of science ; but I am 

 afraid the world does not contain any new 

 field that I shall enjoy as much as my explor- 

 ations in that observatory hive that stood in 

 the window of my home. Well, when I be- 

 came acquainted with Langstroth and Wagner 

 there was no peace till they promised to get 

 the American Bee Journal going again, for 

 Mr. Langstroth seconded my exhortations. 

 Well, it is slill going ; and when I glanced 

 over the issue for Nov. 8 I really felt happy to 

 see such a bright, wideawake, live publication, 

 filled not only with valuable hints but bright, 

 hopeful, sharp witticisms. The thing that 

 troubles me most just now is the fear that our 

 good friend York does not get pay enough for 

 sending such a beautiful journal 52 times for 

 the small sum of $1.00 — not quite two cents for 

 each issue. (At one time the American 

 Bee Journal was $2 00 for only 12 issues. ) 

 Why, Dadant's account of his trip through 

 Switzerland alone is worth almost the sub- 

 scription price for an entire year, to say 

 nothing of the report of the Chicago conven- 

 tion. And it is not altogether bees. Friend 

 York, as? well as myself, got hold of that little 

 item about having some land of your own. 

 And the. American Bee Journal is an excellent 

 Jainily paper. It is up to the times in stand- 

 ing out strong and fearlessly for good morals, 

 temperance, and purity and honesty. Now, if 

 anybody sees this who has not subscribed for 

 the " Old Reliable, " let him make haste to 

 give friend York a little encouragement in the 

 shape of a subscription. This is from your old 

 friend A. I. R. 



" N. E. FRANCE LOOKING FOR FOUL BROOD." 



Through the courtesy of Mr. Leon Pierce, 

 of Kilbourne City, Wis., I have the pleasure of 

 introducing a prominent Wisconsin bee-keep- 

 er behind his back, or in the new role of pic- 

 ture-taking. It seems that both Mr. Pierce 

 and Mr. France had taken their cameras to 

 take a few snap shots at the Wisconsin Delles, 

 or Dalles, celebrated the world over for their 

 beauty. Mr. France was poising his instru- 

 ment, totally absorbed in the beauties shown 

 on the ground glass, and oblivious of what was 

 or might be going on all round about him, 

 when his friend " stole a march " on him by 

 taking a snap shot. This picture he subse- 



