8 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Rev. I*. L. I^angstrotli — the 



father of American bee-keeping — re- 

 cently visited the home of Bro. A. I. 

 Eoot, at Medina, Ohio, and among other 

 things of interest he examined a colony 

 of Punic bees, which he describes on 

 page 14 of this issue of the American 

 Bee Journal. In Gleanings for June 

 15, was the following concerning Father 

 Langstroth and his visit to " The Home 

 of the Honey-Bees :" 



The Rev. L. L. Langstroth called 

 upon us on Saturday, June 4, remaining 

 over Sunday, and going away Monday 

 night. After these 17 years of that 

 distressing intermittent brain-trouble 

 since we last saw him, we were surprised 

 to see him looking so hale and hearty ; 

 and although he was 81 years old last 

 Christmas, his mind seemed to be as 

 strong and vigorous as ever; indeed, it 

 was several times remarked, " What a 

 powerful mind ! what breadth of cul- 

 ture ! what learning !" 



It was interesting to see how he en- 

 joyed talking about bees, and the later 

 improvements. In fact, he was more 

 enthusiastic than many of the younger 

 bee-keepers. In spite of the fact that 

 age is usually conservative, Mr. Lang- 

 stroth seemed to be thoroughly alive to 

 the value and importance of the later 

 improvements and developments. To 

 illustrate : Said he, with his old-time 

 fervor, " If money is to come from honey, 

 manipulation must be reduced to a 

 minimum." 



He indorsed thoroughly the idea of 

 handling hive more and frames less ; of 

 using out-apiary hives; hives with self- 

 spacing frames ; hives that can be ma- 

 nipulated on the plan hinted at in the 

 quotation. He still thought the new 

 Heddon hive best for the expert and 

 advanced bee-keeper ; but he did not 

 believe it would ever come into general 

 use with beginners and those farmers 

 who keep only a few bees. For the mass 

 of bee-keepers, the self-spacing Lang- 

 stroth frame and system would be used. 

 Indeed, he even questioned whether 

 many farmers were advanced enough to 

 have even movable-frame hives; because, 

 even with such hives, they ivould not 

 handle the frames if they could. 



n speaking of his own invention, he 

 very modestly remarked that others 

 before him had come very near giving 

 to the world the Langstroth- hive ; and 

 that, if he had not invented it, it would 

 have come very soon. Debeauvoy, for 



instance, had invented a hive that 

 needed only some very slight changes in 

 order to make a practical hive — such a 

 one as he (Mr. L.) gave to the world; 

 and that any practical bee-keeper of to- 

 day could have shown in five minutes 

 how to make, so that it would be practi- 

 cable. 



Father Langstroth's many old friends, 

 who are readers of the American Bee 

 Journal, will be delighted to know that 

 he is able to again take some interest in 

 the pursuit which he did so much to 

 advance and popularize years ago. The 

 younger members of the bee-fraternity 

 will also rejoice to be permitted to read 

 articles from Father Langstroth's mellif- 

 luous pen, which they, as well as older 

 friends, feared might never again be 

 allowed to write as of yore. All will 

 unite in wishing yet many years of joy- 

 ful life to the "grand old man" of 

 American apiculture, ere he is called to 

 enter the "Gates of Pearl." 



Rev. W. P. Faylor, of La Porte, 

 Iowa, sent us a few worker-bees on June 

 21, which arrived at the Bee Journal 

 office the next day. Mr. Faylor wrote 

 thus when informing us that he mailed 

 them : "I send you two cages of sample- 

 bees — one cage of six-banded Italians, 

 and the other cage has in it four-banded 

 hybrids. Give them a little warm honey, 

 and let them fill up, to see just what 

 they are." They certainly are very nice 

 bees, all showing the beautiful golden 

 bands. 



The Prospect is good for a crop 

 of honey, if the weather becomes steadily 

 warm and pleasant. A moist atmos- 

 phere is just the thing for the secretion 

 of nectar, and we may confidently expect 

 that very soon the lifting clouds will 

 "dispel the gloom" which has hung 

 over us all during the past three or four 

 months, and spoiled many a calculation. 

 There are "silver linings" to all the 

 clouds, and we shall soon discover their 

 existence, and admire their lustre. Hope 

 never dies 



