FEBRUARY 15, 1914 



131 



General Correspondence 



NOTES— NOT FOR DISCOUNT 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER 



These " Notes " are not an attempt to 

 steal Byer's thunder. These are quite a 

 different kind. These are not for " dis- 

 count." 



Prejudice, the gTeatest stumblingblock to 

 modern bee culture. Forget it. Better err 

 on the side of trying a lot of fool things 

 than miss one good one because you " know 

 it won't work." 



The Chinese keep bees as our grand-dad- 

 dies did. Excuse me, our gi'and-daddies 

 kept bees as the Chinese did and do, and 

 doubtless have done for thousands of years, 

 in hoUowed-out log's. Sometimes a rough 

 box is used. 



No wonder chunk honey is popular where 

 it is not subject to extreme cold. What is 

 more inviting than a piece of comb of virgin 

 whiteness with golden honey dripping from 

 its broken cells? I've just been sampling 

 some, and ought to know how good it is. 



Every now and then one or another of the 

 boys is heard to say that he will " risk his 

 reputation " that somebody's pet scheme 

 won't work. Reckless remark that. First 

 thing they know some meddler will look up 

 their reputation, and who knows what they'll 

 find ? Ginger ! 



Stimulative feeding for spring should 

 always be done in the fall. Give them all 

 you think they will need, then double it, and 

 then add half as much again for good mea- 

 sure. Then forget them until late spring. 

 I have given this instruction for many years, 

 but some have not yet learned it. 



Funny how difficult it is for some persons 

 to tell whether results are on account of or 

 in spite of something or other. Half the 

 time the scheme or contraption has nothing 

 whatever to do with the outcome. What 

 have I in mind? I'll not tell you; 'twould 

 hurt too many feelings, and I'm not looking 

 for trouble. 



In the American Bee Journal for Novem- 

 ber, T. W. Hall, of Colo, Iowa, is quoted as 

 requeening at the beginning of the hai"vest 

 and winning by it. Hereabout we do it 

 before the harvest, the fall before, and also 

 win. It is easier then, and a whole lot 

 cheaper too. Good practice this, having 

 young queens at the head of all colonies. 

 Paste it in your next summer's hat and try 

 it. 



If, some bright morning, you find your 

 horse minus tail and mane, lay it to an 

 Ontario chap named Munro. He is recom- 

 mending it to stop robbing — probably sets 

 the bees to hunting for the tailless horse 

 (and, say — why don't they sting the horse 

 smell on the horse hair? Answer me that, 

 you odorous champions). 'Most any of the 

 creosote preparations smeared about the en- 

 trance will stop robbing at once. Worth 

 remembering. 



Buying versus making supplies often 

 agitates the beekeepers, and the answer is 

 an interrogation-mark. Much depends on 

 fhe man, something on his manner of bee- 

 keeping, and an excuse is given to " loca- 

 tion." Not a few of the boys buy some from 

 the supply manufacturers, some from local 

 concerns, and make some. Good scheme, 

 too, and interesting to see how you shift 

 about each year. If you don't shift you 

 have stopped thinking, or have reached 

 perfection — i. e., died: 



In the language of Artemus Ward : "They 

 are amoosin little cusses." Who? Why, 

 those Southern New England beekeepers 

 who are talking about the white-clover flow 

 and their crops of that honey. Well, igno- 

 rance is bliss, 'tis said, and they are just as 

 happy as if their honey really came from 

 that instead of from half a dozen other 

 sources. If they only knew the sources of 

 their surplus they would soon increase it. 

 Think it over from now till the next har- 

 vest, then look; but have a care where you 

 look. 



If Hand and Bonney want to get might- 

 ily stuck up in their way of producing comb 

 honey, I don't care, and probably they don't 

 care either about anybody's opinions. 

 " Stuck-ui3 people " don't. We hereabouts 

 think it cheaper to let the bees put the honey 

 in the sections from the start. We get ideal 

 filling too. How? Oh, pshaw! What's the 

 use of my telling you ? We New Engiand- 

 ers are not considered in it for raising honey. 

 But you notice we stay right here and don't 

 keep moving apiaries, as they do in Ontario 

 and Ohio and several elsewheres. 



In November 15th Gleanings Louis 

 Scholl has a fine vat for melting candied 

 honey in cans. (Note. — Not a pun.) I had 

 a glimmering recollection that honey was 

 slow to cut that caper in his vicinity. 



