1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



71 



emphasis on their gentleness; and I have 

 understood that they still regard them m 

 the same light. . 



At the National convention m Chicago, 

 Mr. Holtermann stated that J. B. Hall had 

 told him the Caucasians were the meanest 

 bees to weed out of a locaUty that he ever 

 came across. He had been 22 years in try- 

 ing to get them out of his, and still their 

 blood showed up in spite of him. There was 

 considerable between- session talk concern- 

 ing these bees, and some thought they might 

 prove to be another case of the English 

 sparrow; but Dr. Phillips, of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, did not 

 think we need have any fear along that line. 

 Apparently the strains the government has 

 introduced are not of the type complained 

 of by Mr. Hall and Mr. Hoffman. 



Perhaps we shall have to conclude there 

 are Caucasians and Caucasians; but it may 

 be wise for us to go slow about introducing 

 them in our own localities. Gleanings has 

 absolutely no interest in these bees; indeed, 

 its publishers have not even decided that 

 they will offer them for sale the coming 

 season. A. I. Root is testing a black strain 

 of the bees on one of the islands off the 

 west coast of Florida. He may be able to 

 produce them in their purity, and at the 

 same time prevent their being spread to 

 other localities, should they prove to be un- 

 desirable, as they have been in Mr. Hall's 

 experience. 



A DAMAGING LIBEL ON BEES AND BEE-KEEP- 

 EKS. 



The following item appeared in the De- 

 troit Free Press for December 10, and has 

 since been copied and re-copied in numerous 

 other papers, and speaks for itself: 



" There are several popular errors about the ways of 

 bet s which need rectifying," said Ike Hubbard, a honey- 

 hunter " The average bee, instead of being an exam- 

 ple of industry, is about the laziest thing that flies. 



" Even in the busy season in midsummer no bee will 

 Quit its hive until after the sun is well up, and has tak- 

 en off the heavier part of the dew; and so soon as the 

 sun slants toward the hill in the afternoon every bee 

 will come flying home and go to roost, though darkness 

 is four or five hours away. .„ , ^ ^ i. 



"Then there are few bees that will hunt for honey 

 from flowers so long as they find corn syrup or brown 

 sugar to steal. This fact is so well known to apiansts 

 that many bee-keepers buy corn syrup for fifty cents a 

 gallon and pass it along to the bees, which convert it 

 into something that resembles honey, but is not honey, 

 and still sells for the genuine product of the hives. 

 When a man can buy syrup for fifty cents a gallon, and 

 then sell it back to the trader as honey for $8 a gallon, 

 he can get rich right away, provided he has enough 



I have read a good many false statements 

 about the honey business, but I do not know 

 that I ever saw one that is more untruthful, 

 and more damaging to the bee business in 

 general, because it purports to come from a 

 bee-keeper, or one who pretends to "know it 

 all. ' ' These ' ' know-it-all ' ' chaps generally 

 do not know any thing about the thing they 

 are talking of — at least it is so in this case. 

 For example, witness his statement that 

 honey brings $8.00 a gallon. As a matter 

 of fact, it doesn't bring much more than 

 one-tenth of that in Detroit. 



We call on bee-keepers everywhere to 

 write to the papers publishing this stuff, 

 denying this statement before it is copied 

 and recopied any more. Now, do not drop 

 the matter right here and assume that the 

 other fellow will do it, but do it yourself. 

 Sit down at once and write a sweeping de- 

 nial, and say that bees won't take raw glu- 

 cose; but be sure to make your language 

 respectful, otherwise the editor will not 

 publish it, 



ADVANCED BEE CULTURE — NEW REVISION'.- 



I HAVE in my hand a copy of this new work, 

 containing 330 pages, and, as its title indicates, 

 it is written for the benefit of experts. It 

 is handsomely bound, beautifully printed, 

 and illustrated with original photos made by 

 the author. Taking it all in all, the book is 

 the equal, if not the superior, from the stand- 

 point of the printer's art, of any thing that 

 has been published in bee culture; and in bee 

 lore it is by no means a second to any of 

 them. I said at the outset that it is a new 

 work. From a glance over the previous edi- 

 tions it £ eems to be a good deal more than a 

 revision, because it seems to be rewritten, 

 almost every page of it. 



The style of writing is simple, and easily 

 understood. One does not have to read over 

 a paragraph, written by W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 the second time in order to comprehend the 

 meaning. Indeed, I doubt if there is a clear- 

 er writer on bees in all beedom; and, what 

 is more, he seems to have the happy faculty 

 of arriving at the very kernel of every idea. 



In one respect it is similar to our ABC 

 of Bee Culture, in that it is a summary of 

 the best ideas and methods brought out in 

 the discussions of the respective journals of 

 which the respective authors are editors. 

 For that reason a new reader of the Bee- 

 keepers' Review will find Advanced Bee Cul- 

 ture a necessity if he would get the benefit 

 of current discussions in current issues. In 

 like manner the A B C is a necessary comple- 

 ment to Gleanings. 



The book starts off with a chapter enti- 

 tled ' ' Bee-keeping as a Business. ' ' In reply 

 to what goes best with bee-keeping, the 

 author characteristically rephes, "Some 

 more bees." He discourages the idea that 

 one should run bee-keeping in connection 

 with some other pursuit; and while doing so 

 he does not overlook some of the difficulties 

 of the one pursuit in seasons of the year 

 when the bee-keeper has but little he can do 

 profitably unless he can have a side issue. 

 He lays great stress on the importance of 

 having the right kind of bees and a good lo- 

 cation; then he closes the chapter with the 

 statement that bee-keeping is not an occupa- 

 tion in which one can easily become wealthy; 

 but, rightly managed, the business will 

 afford a comfortable living. But he-adds in 

 words that ought to be emblazoned in gold, 

 "Many a man with the hum of the bees over 

 his head finds happiness deeper and sweeter 

 than ever comes to the merchant prince with 

 his cares and his thousands." 



