184 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



no hiver can be a success. Some peo- 

 ple think by applying the above princi- 

 ple in a different way from mine tlieydo 

 not infringe my rights : they do not se^m 

 to understand that a patented principle 

 can be applied in a good many ways 

 and still comply with the terms of the 

 law. 



Yes, Bro. Root spoke rather harshly 

 of the Punic bees. Just before he did 

 so, he ordered another Punic queen of 

 E. L. Pratt and used words very much 

 like these : "Please ship us one select 

 tested Punic queen. The one you sent 

 us last fall gives good satisfaction. We 

 shall say some very complimentary 

 things of them in next issue of Glean- 

 ings." 



Well, when that next copy of Glean- 

 ings came out, you can imagine about 

 how much Mr. Pratt and myself were 

 surprised. 



Root's remarks "that only those who 

 had Punic bees for sale were the only 

 ones who spoke well of them," were very 

 unkind, and pretty rough to say the least. 



Mark this : Punic bees and their 

 crosses are going to be the strain of 

 honey bees that will take the lead in 

 this and all other countries where an 

 intelligent beekeeping community has 

 a foothold. 



It will not matter how much certain 

 inexperienced beekeepers call them 

 common black bees, or how often some 

 others call them Tunisian bees or what 

 not. Punic bees have come here to 

 stay, and the prejudice, now existing 

 against them in some quarters, will soon 

 be overcome by the good work the 

 Panics will do for those who are so for- 

 tunate as to introduce them. 



It strikes me that a blind person might 

 see why all this prejudice exists against 



the Punics. It is more against Mr. Hew- 

 ett, the man who first sent these bees to 

 this country, than anything against the 

 bees. Mr. Hewett did something that 

 incurred the displeasure of the editor 

 of the British Bee Journal^ and editor 

 Cowan has undertaken the job of killing 

 out this man Hewett. The Api stood 

 up for Hewett and that was a good deal 

 like shaking a red garment before the 

 face of a bull. From that moment to 

 the present time. Cowan, the said editor, 

 and all his friends on this side of the 

 ocean have made war upon the Punics 

 and those who deal ir^ them, and espec- 

 ially against ourselves. 



Now this is the inside history of all 

 the screeching about. Punic bees: let 

 them howl : as soon as beekeepers find 

 it is to their advantage to introduce this 

 race they will do so, and all the noise 

 their opponents can make will avail noth- 

 ing. 



Several of the parties, who are now 

 trying to destroy the reputation of the 

 Punics, tried the same thing on the gold- 

 en Carniolans. All readers of the Api 

 know how well they made out with the 

 latter. 



MY OUTING. 



{Continued.) 



In my last notes I hurriedly passed 

 from the landing at Cottage City, Mar- 

 tha's Vineyard, to my arrival at Portland 

 City. This day's sail lingers in my mem- 

 ory, and I caimot help but refer to it 

 again. I remember the passing of Nan- 

 tucket in the distance, "The bare and 

 bended arm of Massachusf its" and the 

 entrance to Portland harbor. Beauti- 

 ful views are afforded of Peak's and 

 Cushing's island, Fort Preble and the city 

 of Portland rising in terraced lines along 

 the hill. I quote the following from his- 



