1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



15 



to a new concern. Investigation revealed 

 the fact that the parties could not be found 

 at the address named, and the honey is gone, 

 nobody knows where. 



Be careful especially about sending honey 

 on outright sale. Always get your money 

 fii'st or else ship C. 0. D.— that is, send a 

 bill of lading to a bank for collection before 

 the honey is turned over. 



OUR INDEX FOR 1905 ,* SOME VALUABLE LES- 

 SONS TO BE LEARNED FROM IT. 



We are inclosing in this issue the index 

 for 1905. Actual count shows there are 

 1840 references. This will give our read- 

 ers some idea of the scope of Gleanings for 

 the past year. 



I suppose the average person will throw 

 the index aside as being of little or no value 

 to him. Let me assure him that he is mak- 

 ing a mistake. Perhaps he thinks he could 

 not find what he sought, even if he tried. 

 Again he is mistaken. 



This list of subjects was prepared with a 

 great deal of care, some being "cross-in- 

 dexed," as the sam.e catch- word may not oc- 

 cur the same to every one looking the mat- 

 ter up. For example, there was considera- 

 ble discussion during the past year on the 

 scent of bees as a factor in introducing. 

 One reader might think of the word ' ' odor 

 of bees." By consulting the index he will 

 be referred to "scent of bees." Another 

 subscriber might think of the word ' ' intro- 

 ducing as affected by the scent factor." 

 So we place it under both catch words; viz., 

 Scent and Introducing. 



There are comparatively few subjects 

 cross-indexed in this way — only the most 

 important, and such as are susceptible of 

 one or more catch-words, all equally good. 

 The subject of robbers, for example, will be 

 found under the head of robbing only, for 

 the reason no one would think of looking 

 under another heading. 



I have dictated alm.ost every line of this 

 index to W. P. Why did I do it? For the 

 simple reason that the editor is supposed to 

 knov/ what subjects are important, and 

 what is the subject-matter of any item or 

 article in the journal throughout the past 

 year, almost at a glance. 



lessons to be LEARNED. 



An index may be used in a way that will 

 impart a great deal of informiation. One 

 may have read the journal for a year very 

 carefully, and raay suppose that he is quite 

 familiar with its contents, and with all the 

 conclusions arrived at; but if he will take 

 up one special subject in connection with the 

 index he will be surprised to see how his 

 impressions will be corrected. As the dis- 

 cussion on any particular subject continues, 

 new sidelights are thrown in. The danger 

 is that these last sidelights may outshine 

 the important sidelights ©f earlier discus- 

 sion. In order to get a perfectly unbiased 

 and unprejudiced view of the whole subject, 

 the index should be carefully consulted, 

 looking up each reference. 



I respectfully suggest that all our princi- 

 pal correspondents go over this index care- 

 fully to freshen up their memories regarding 

 some of the important discussions of the 

 past year. The knowledge of what has 

 been said and done is very important to en- 

 able the writer to prepare new matter on 

 that particular subject. 



One is almost amazed at the amount of 

 discussion on the Hoffman frame last sea- 

 son. One writer would condemn it roundly, 

 and another would indorse it in the strong- 

 est language. In one issue the frame was 

 relegated to the tcrap-heap, and in the next 

 it was regarded as the ne plus ultra. But 

 if one will go over all the discussion from 

 beginning to end he will be impressed by the 

 fact that the Hoffman is popular, not be- 

 cause every one considers it the best frame, 

 but because so large a percentage prefer it 

 to any thing else. It is the old, old story, 

 that you can not make one shoe fit every 

 foot. We must not only have shoes of dif- 

 ferent sizes, but shoes of different styles. 

 A shoemaker who would try to force on his 

 patrons only one style of shoe, and sell only 

 that kind, would be not only shortsighted 

 from a business point of view, but half 

 crazy as well. The manufacturer who 

 would sell only one kind of frame or section, 

 and only one style of hive, would get only a 

 part of the trade. 



There are several other valuable lessons 

 that miay be gained by a careful study of a 

 good index. I am frank to confess that, in 

 the preparation of the one for last year, my 

 own view of things apicultural has been 

 very materially broadened, not to say modi- 

 fied. I am reminded of the old story of the 

 two knights, who, approaching each other, 

 met under the overhanging sign of the Big 

 Dragon. One made a reference to it as be- 

 ing blue, and the other corrected him by 

 saying it was red. Words led to blows; and 

 when each was thrown on the other side of 

 the sign, each saw that the other was part- 

 ly right, and harmony was soon restored. 

 Shall we not, in the discussions during the 

 new year, be more charitable toward each 

 other's views, especially when we take into 

 consideration the two factors of environment 

 and the previous training of the "other fel- 

 low"? 



WHAT THE RUSSIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO 

 THIS COUNTRY HAS TO SAY OF CAUCA- 

 SIANS. 



Our readers will remember that The A. I. 

 Root Co, had in its apiaries for a part of 

 two seasons a representative of the Russian 

 government, Mr. Abram Titoff, who came 

 to America to study bee-keeping. After 

 leaving here he worked for about two months 

 in the height of the honey-flow with E. W. 

 Alexander. He then attended the National 

 conveiition at St. Louis, where he read a pa- 

 per on Russian bee-keeping. He came back 

 to Medina, and last February went to Cali- 

 fornia to work with some of tiie extensive 

 bee-keepers of the sage districts. 



In the mean time we had lost track of 



