GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1917 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



generally called straw. If it is tlio black 

 color which is obnoxious to bees, it should 

 be remembered that we all wear a black 

 veil, or, at least, a veil with a black face, 

 and the black portion 1. not molested any 

 more than the other portions. But if the 

 veil gets torn, and we pucker the rent with a 

 pin, and make a fuzzy protuberance, the 

 bees will attack that point persistently. It 

 is the same with a fuzzy hat, white or black, 

 and a hole in a fuzzy bat is just what a 

 bee delights in and dives into. A good 

 share of our dark clothing has a more or less 

 fuzzy surface; and the more the fuzz, the 

 more the bee clings to it; and when two or 

 three bees discharge their poison on the 

 same spot, the odor brings many more. 

 Borodino, K Y. G. M. Doolittle. 



Letters from a Beekeeper's Wife 



At Convention, February 1, 1917. 



Dear Sis : 



I know you are anxious to know how we 

 are enjoying the convention, so Avhile I am 

 right here in the midst of it I'll take time 

 to give you my impression. Eob is having 

 the time of his life. 



To begin with the first session — the only 

 impression I had was of heavy solemnity. 

 The beekeepers who came into the dark, 

 stuffy room in the Capitol assigned to us 

 were heavy-bearded, heavy-footed, solemn 

 and important! I was almost frightened! 

 They all wear ten-ible red badges with a 

 queen bee on ! There were two other wives 

 Avho sat with their husbands, as I did — T 

 mean each sat with her husband — and we all 

 listened very respectfully and attentively 

 to the President's address and reports of 

 committees. I looked around during the 

 reading and discovered that, altho there 

 were a great many elderly bearded men 

 present, there was more than a sprinkling of 

 young, clear-skinned, wide-awake-looking 

 men too. And some of the older men look- 

 ed younger after I had heard them talk — 

 especially good old Mr. Randolph. 



I expected a great deal from the papers 

 that were to be read — but, oh dear, such a 

 disappointment! They were nothing more 

 than the endless discussions I hear at home 

 between beekeepers. The snme old subjects 

 — Queen-rearing, Bee Diseases, Marketing 

 Honey (about which most of (lie men seem 

 to know almost nothing) and the men who 

 talked didn't know any more about llioir 

 subjects than the other men apparently, but, 



just like all beekeepers, when a paper was 

 ended there was wordy, wandering discus- 

 sion of it. As every man had to air his pet 

 theory — every beekeeper has a pet theory— 

 the discussion wandered off in all directions 

 and never seemed to arrive. They talk 

 about the aimless discussion in women's 

 clubs, but it can't compare with a state bee- 

 keepers' convention. 



At the end of the day I wondered to my- 

 self what Rob can get out of this organiza- 

 tion to want to come year after year. 



Rob read a paper on " Home Marketing 

 of Honey " in which he described our Avork 

 last summer. One man actually said that 

 it was not right to charge twenty cents a 

 Ijound for honey, and several intimated that 

 Rob had not really done what he said! 

 That made me furious, and I was glad that 

 a young beekeeper rose and comjiletely an- 

 nihilated Rob's critics, finishing by telling 

 them that a man who will retail honey for 

 ten cents a pound is little short of a fool. 

 Rob's paper was the best one read yesterday 

 — of course I am unbiased in my judginent! 



However, today the apiarist from the 

 State College talked, and, as every one had 

 worked his pet theory out of his system 

 the day before, the discu.-sion stayed some- 

 what nearer the topic. I noticed that the 

 younger men almost always led in progres- 

 sive ideas, but I must again include Mr. 

 Randolph, Avho is almost eighty years young, 

 and the conservative old heads would shake 

 in disapproval. I suppose it was the same 

 in Langstroth's day when he tried to intro- 

 duce the movable - frame hive — and you 

 know Susan B. Anthony had troubles of her 

 own. 



I've been over to the last session but slip- 

 ped out to write to you. They were carry- 

 ing on a question-box when I left. That's 

 the funniest thing! Any one who desires 

 writes out a question he would like to have 

 answered. These are read aloud and then 

 any one at all answers, whether he is an 

 authority on the subject or merely thinks 

 he is. I have an idea that some of them 

 ])ut in questions that they expect to answer 

 themselves, for a lot of the men have not 

 had much chance to talk today while there 

 were real subjects being discussed. There 

 will be five or six absolutely different an- 

 swers to each question, so that I should sup- 

 pose that an amateur would be pretty well 

 muddled in tlie end. 



Of course now that I've been with these 

 beekeepei's for two daj-s I begin to see wliy 

 they like to come to conventions, but I don't 



