1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



567 



Over and over again we find that there is 

 a great difference in our employees. One 

 will make an intelligent co-operation be- 

 tween his head and hands and feet. Another 

 will make his hands and his feet work like 

 an automaton, without any idea of how those 

 important members may work to the best 

 advantage. It is needless to say, that the 

 one does or will command more wages than 

 the other. 



Even when working for yourself, it is just 

 as much if not more important that you plan 

 to save useless walking and useless move- 

 ments, that you may be able to get the very 

 utmost out of your muscles that are perfect- 

 ly willing to do your bidding, and can do 

 your bidding better if you plan to economize 

 the reserve force in your body tissue. A 

 workman who is all jaded out at the close of 

 the day's work is not half the man of him 

 who has planned to save his physical self. 



That reminds me that it is good economy 

 to sit down when working over a hive when- 

 ever you can. This relieves the strain on 

 the legs, and you can do as much work, and 

 more too, by taking it easy. In short, let 

 one part of yourself rest while the other 

 works. 



DENATURED ALCOHOL; AN EFFORT TO RE- 

 MOVE THE GOVERNMENT TAX FROM THE 

 SAME. 



Our readers are, perhaps, aware that an 

 effort is now being made to remove the in- 

 ternal-revenue tax from denatured alcohol. 

 This product, like wood alcohol, is undrinka- 

 ble, and therefore its use in the arts would 

 in nowise increase drunkenness. It has 

 been estimated that this alcohol could be 

 put on the market in competition with gas- 

 oline to produce light, run gas-engines, and 

 heat stoves for cooking. In some respects it 

 is very much superior to gasoline. 



"But," you inquire, "what has this to do 

 with bee-keeping? " A good deal. A large 

 proportion of our honey- producers are also 

 tillers of the soil. There is a large amount 

 of unsalable farm produce which could be 

 converted into denatured alcohol, giving the 

 farmer an outlet at a good price for what 

 now goes on the compost- heap, or does 

 worse — is allowed to rot in the fields or or- 

 chard, an unsightly mess and a menace to 

 man and beast alike. But this is not all. 

 A good deal of the unsalable honey, partial- 

 ly fermented, could be used for making this 

 new fuel. 



It is estimated that this new product could 

 be sold for 12 or 15 cents per gallon, and 

 thus compete with gasoline. Whether true 

 or not, we have been told that the gasoline 

 interests are leaving no stone unturned to 

 prevent action on the part of Congress in 

 removing this internal-revenue tax. 



Our readers are requested to write to their 

 Senators (the House has already passed the 

 measure) asking them to vote to remove 

 this tax from denatured alcohol. 



Farmers especially, as well as bee-keep- 

 ers, should fire in the letters by the scores 

 and hundreds and thousands. The Senate 



may block us in the game; but if it does, it 

 will be only another spoke in the wheel that 

 will ultimately bring us to the time when 

 we can elect our Senators by popular vote, 

 and not by the General Assemblies of the 

 various States, which Assemblies are often 

 controlled by conscienceless bosses. 



OUR JUNIOR EDITOR. 



Our readers have already been apprised of 

 the fact that our editorial staff has been in- 

 creased by the addition of new and younger 

 blood in the person of Huber H. Root, nam- 

 ed after the great Huber of a century ago. 

 The younger Huber, like his great name- 

 sake, is of an investigating turn of mind, 

 and an enthusiast on bees. He is fresh 

 from college, and now has thrown his whole 

 heart and soul into the general subject of 

 bee-keeping. Like his father, he is a gen- 

 ius in getting up new contrivances. In- 

 deed, several patents and useful inventions 

 used by the Root Co. are the product of the 

 brain of the youngest member of The A. I. 

 Root Co. 



Huber now occupies the position of sifting 

 a large part of the copy that we use for 

 Gleanings. The rest I pass on myself, 

 preparing all the footnotes and the editorial 

 matter. It goes without saying, that he is 

 lifting a great load from his elder brother, 

 who, 21 years his senior, begins to feel 

 somewhat the wear and tear of years, but 

 who now, by reason of a lifted burden, is 

 able to devote himself with more intelligent 

 care and thought to the work of getting out 

 a larger and better journal and a better 

 A B C of Bee Culture. 



The young man knows nothing of this; 

 and if he did, it is doubtful if he would let 

 me tell my whole story. Our printing force 

 has been pledged to secrecy until such a 

 time as this matter goes to press with his 

 picture on the front cover page, when it 

 will be too late to recall it. 



I am glad, therefore, to introduce you to 

 him, just as we see him every day. Now 

 that he is happily married, and living in the 

 parental mansion "upstairs," he and his 

 better half have come to be, I hope, perma- 

 nent fixtures of Rootville and of the Glean- 

 ings force. 



COLONIES running SHORT OF STORES THIS 

 spring; WHAT AND HOW TO FEED. 



If a colony is running short of stores 

 there is nothing quite the equal of a comb of 

 sealed honey or sugar syrup, put right down 

 alongside of the brood nest. Do not make 

 the mistake of putting it down in the cen- 

 ter, if there are only three or four combs of 

 brood and bees in the hive. If the colony is 

 strong it may be put anywhere, but prefer- 

 ably in the center. 



Again, do not make the mistake of let- 

 ting a colony rim short of stores. If you 

 have no combs of sealed stores, feed with 

 an Alexander or Boardman feeder. Doolit- 

 tle makes a splendid point when he says 

 that colonies should be "rich in stores" so 



