1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTL'KE. 



281 



with him in regard to the book and bees for an hour, 

 he positively refused me his signature. In con- 

 versing with him I found he entertained the idea 

 that the quvcn leaves the hive every afternoon for 

 a lly, and also that she meets the di'one at very short 

 Intervals. He also stated he had 10 or 13 colonies 

 last fall in American hives; had succeeded in win- 

 tering but two. In reply to my question what he 

 would do if he had a queenless colony, be said, " Let 

 them slide." In short, ho knew nothing about bee 

 culture. His reason for not subscribing, " too o-x- 

 pensive." 



The next place I tied my hor^^e was at J. Winkle- 

 man's, an old bee-keeper, but I had no better suc- 

 cess than before. He said he had but .5 stands left 

 out of 15 in American hives; was going to make his 

 own hives hereafter out of straw: "that's the way 

 they do in the Old Country." 



The next man I tried to persuade to subscribe was 

 Mr. Adams. He had no time to read bee books; 

 was keeping bees to get a little honey to eat; had 

 wintered through 7 out of 19 in American hives; so, 

 bidding him good-day, 1 again started on; but here 

 my intended route was changed, on account of high 

 water. So, turning my horse from the river, I soon 

 reined up at Mr. Thorp's. His son was out of doors 

 making soap, so I told him my business. He in- 

 formed me his father was the bee-man, and went in- 

 to the house to inform him of my presence and bus- 

 iness. He came out, telling me that his father did 

 not want any bee journals. He also stated that their 

 hive for the future would be hollow log^; had win- 

 tered 4 out of .5 in boxes and logs, and, as I was not 

 invited into the house, I again started on, this time 

 to rein up at Mr. Reus. Allen's. From the tidy ap- 

 pearance of things I was quite sure of success; but, 

 alas: I was disappointed, his garden and poultry 

 business taking all his time. He had lost 2 stands 

 out of 7 in Langstroth hives, and so, bidding him 

 good-daj' in the best of humor, I started for home. 

 Reached there at 5 o'clock, tired and hungry. I ad- 

 vised them all to meditate the same as the man did 

 in Gleanings; thought that was the best advice I 

 could give. Wilkins C. Perkins. 



Jefferson, Greene Co., Iowa, May 2, 1881. 



I am very glad, friend P.. to get just such 

 a letter from practical experience. In fact, 

 it is just about what I expected it would be, 

 especially after such a year as the past one. 

 Now, the point is, were these friends you 

 called upon far inthe wrong? While I think 

 they may make a mistake in not taking a 

 bee journal at all, or taking any pains to 

 keep posted, I think they have a perfect 

 right to decline, if they choose; and, to go a 

 little further, I do not know but that I should 

 say they were wise in deciding not to sub- 

 scribe under the circumstances. If you will 

 excuse me, my young friend, may I "suggest 

 that the hopes of getting a watch was j)er- 

 haps your principal inspiring motive when 

 you started out. This is right enough; and, 

 in fact, the circulation of many of our papers 

 comes from clubs secured in just this way. 

 but for all that I do not like it. I would far 

 ratlier have a small subscription list that 

 came from those who take Gleanings just 

 because of the intrinsic value of the paper 

 itself, rather than because of the things giv- 

 en along with it, or for inducing people to 

 work for subscribers. Sliall I tell you what 

 I think the best way to get up a cliib in your 



neighborhood? Just this: Stick to your 

 work of caring for your bees, and quietly 

 build up an apiary, aiid in a very little time 

 people will begin to run after you instead of 

 jour running after them and urging tlieui to 

 subscribe. If you. my fiiend, will build up 

 a nice, neat apiary, and secure, say one ton 

 of nice honey in attractive shape. I would 

 not be suri'iised if every one of tliose you 

 have calledon woidd pay you a visit in less 

 than a year, and ask of you, as a favor, that 

 you take their money and send for a bee 

 journal. It is deeds', not words, the people 

 want, to convince them of the truth of any 

 theory, and the people are right. If you 

 make a failure of bee culture, and land in 

 Jjlasted Hopes, and they should be induced 

 to follow suit: by sul)scribing, it is better for 

 them not to subscribe. Gleanings has a 

 better subscription list than I expected it 

 would have, and I fear better than it de- 

 serves. The way I have pointed out to get 

 names requires earnest, faithful, hard work, 

 not with your neighbors, but with yourself; 

 but the victory, when it comes, is worth all 

 the work, and" it comes riglit in the line with 

 the text, — 



He that overcometh, and keepcth my works unto 

 the end, to him will I give power over the nations. 



—Rev. 2 : 26. 



When you become a successful bee-keep- 

 er i/rnirse'lf. you will have power and iutluence 

 among your neighbors that can never be at- 

 tained in any other way. The quiet, steady 

 worker, is also the happy man. Am I not 

 riglit, boys? 



^ »•» m 



ABOUT SECTIONS, PIJTTINO IN START- 

 ERS, ETC., FROM I>R. C. C. MJI.LER. 



PARKER'S FOUNDATION FASTESER. 



fN using this fastener, my greatest trouble was in 

 the wax sticking to it. After daubing some 

 — ' honey on the fastener, it would do nicely for a 

 very few times, and then I had to stop and take a 

 good deal of time daubing on more honey. After 

 some experimenting I settled on this plan: After se- 

 curing the fastener on the table or bench, take a 

 strip of cotton flannel a couple of inches wide and 8 

 or 10 inches long, and fold it in two or three thick- 

 nesses so it shall be an inch wide or less. A little 

 strip of wood is on each fastener to serve as a stop 

 to make the section stop at the right place when put 

 on the fastener. Let the strip of cotton flannel be 

 stretched across the fastener, right back of this lit- 

 tle stop, and tack each end down to the bench or ta- 

 ble. Have some honey in a smallest-sized sauce-dish 

 or butter-dish, and in it a little swab, made by tying 

 some cotton flannel on the end of a stick. Swab the 

 ^annel on the fastener till it is well saturated Each 

 time, immediately after fastening in a piece of fdn., 

 draw back the lever and let the end be pressed down 

 into the honeyed flannel; then it is always lubricat- 

 ed just in nice shape for the next operation. If the 

 foundation is too cold it will not work, and a good 

 plan is to let a pile of the pieces of fdn. lie where the 

 heat from a stove will make one edge quite soft, 

 taking care not to melt It. Do not try to flatten 

 down too large a surface of fdn. on the section ; the 

 smaller bite you can get with the lever the firmer it 

 will hold. Press down the lever on the edge of the 

 fdn. ; push up the fdn. so it will hang horizontally 



