44 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



portance of writing on but one side of the 

 paper. Please write on one side ot the 

 sheet only and not too closely. Write 

 a plain, bold hand. 



The old question of" clipping queens' 

 wings " has been run through the ques- 

 tion department of Am. Bee Jour-nal 

 again and with the same old result. If 

 anybody asked the question they must be 

 more than ever in the dark on that point. 



What a lovely feeling exists among 

 those western bee-papers ! It reminds 

 one of very little children. When not 

 quarrelling they are hugging and kissing 

 each other. What does this sudden out- 

 burst of child-like affection all mean? 



There must be a cat in the meal. 



The winter has been a favorable one 

 to bees. On the other hand, it has been 

 a most unfavorable one for the supply 

 dealer. No one is complaining of a 

 dull season, yet the fact that the present 

 year is a very dull one cannot be denied. 



The crush will come by and by. 



Beekeepers should not forget that 

 more bees are lost in the snow at this time 

 in the winter than during the months of 

 January and February. Shade, or in 

 some way darken the entrance to all hives 

 on the summer stands. During the mid- 

 dle of the day when the sun strikes the 

 front of the hive many bees will ven- 

 ture out and never return. They get 

 chilled and drop on the snow. 



The only report of the All)any conven- 

 tion that has created or excited the bee- 

 keeping public was the one published in 

 the January issue of the Api. When 

 other bee papers desire a truthful and in- 

 teresting report of the doings of any bee 

 convention Brother Pratt is the man to 

 furnish it. When Brother Pratt started 

 for Albany he was informed that the 

 usual reports given of bee conventions 

 were not desired. A report of how he 

 found things written vip in an interesting 

 style would be just the thing, and was 



sent in. Leave the dry matter and sub- 

 jects to the other bee-papeis. 



If anyone desires to know where to 

 find beekeepers who are thirty years be- 

 hind the times, just read that 15 -cent 

 bee-paper and note the puffing the worn- 

 out old black bees are getting. The only 

 real life black bees possess was infused 

 into their blood by coming in contact 

 with some of the yellow races that this 

 pink-colored publication is berating. 



La Grippe seems to have had its day. 

 Even Bro. Newman is not complaining. 

 La Grippe had quite a run in and about 

 Wenham. Two deaths only in town. 

 Although there are eight members in our 

 family no sickness has occurred the pre- 

 sent winter. In fact no physician has 

 been called in for more than two years. 

 Even our two grandchildren, whom 

 "Rambler" styled as "twins" manage to 

 eat al)out a dozen "square meals" per 

 day. All children do that, I believe, 

 when they can get the square meal. 



By the way, speaking of our babies re- 

 minds me that Mrs. L. C. Axtell suggests 

 this : "Why not tell us of your home and 

 surroundings and family. Sometimes I 

 think it is real pleasant to hear of bee- 

 keepers' families. It is like having a lit- 

 tle pie and cake to eat. We don't want 

 all bread and meat." 



A very good suggestion. It will be 

 adopted by the Api and Mrs. k. has been 

 invited to set the ball roUins:. 



BAY STATE APIARY PRICE-LIST. 



My price-list will not appear in the 

 Api this year. Those who need goods 

 such as I have usually sold will have my 

 catalogue mailed them on applying for 

 it. It contains eight pages and is fully 

 illustrated. 



While tlie experienced beekeeper has 

 no trouble to feed a colony of bees at 

 any season of the year, the novice is al- 

 ways uncertain as to the best methods 

 to adopt. The inexperienced should be 

 governed by conditions and circumstan- 

 ces. Last winter sugar and honey com- 

 pounded as for shipping queens by mail 



