214 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



October, 



of Southern California. In those 

 parts of the country where we do 

 have a wintering problem the same 

 law holds good, i. e., a colony with 

 abundant stores will be in better con- 

 dition in the spring than will one 

 scantily supplied, and no amount of 

 spring feeding will make reparation 

 for the harm done by a lean larder. 



December days in Chicago, and we 

 predict a '"slimmer" affair there than 

 Texas would have produced. 



With but a limited experience upon 

 which to base his judgment, though 

 possessing a knowledge of the failure 

 of others who have tested the Cau- 

 casian bee, the editor is inclined to 

 regard them as about the most worth- 

 less race that has ever been offered to 

 the American public, and he would, 

 therefore, advise caution in those who 

 contemplate investing in them. The 

 pure Punic stock we have seen are, 

 figurativel}' speaking, as far above the 

 Caucasians as are the stars of heaven 

 above a duck's track in the mud. 



STUDY THE BEE. 



Do not worry about new systems 

 or plans of management but study the 

 habits of bees and endeavor to learn 

 the causes of their actions. If you 

 know these things you can readily 

 devise methods suitable to your loca- 

 tion be it in Canada or in the tropics. 



A knowledge of the fundamental 

 laws of bee life and action is essential 

 to intelligent and continuously suc- 

 cessful bee-keeping. The A. B. K. is 

 endeavoring to impress this on its 

 readers and will lend every aid in its 

 power to furthering the discovery of 

 these laws. The defining of even one, 

 hitherto unknown, is worth a library 

 full of books on manipulations. 



THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 

 As may be noted elsewhere in thi> 

 number of The Bee-Keeper, the next 

 convention of the National Association 

 will be held in Chicago, in December 

 instead of at San 7\.ntonio, Texas, a 

 month eariie" as fjvmarlv decide 1. 

 Tlie reason given for the change of 

 location is the fear of yellow fever. 

 Perhaps this is the real and whole 

 cause; but, judging the lives and char- 

 acter (of some of those who have done 

 the most pulling and haulnig to get the 

 convention to Chicago) from tlieir own 

 writings, it seems inconsistent that 

 they should have such mortal dread 

 of a fatal malady. Most Sonthcvn bee- 

 keepers would prefer a siege of yel- 

 low fever to an experience of three 



IN HEDDON'S OWN STYLE. 



The Review for August has some ex- 

 ceptionally good articles on production 

 on a large scale. It also contains a 

 deliciously crisp letter from James 

 Heddon, from which we copy the fol- 

 lowing: 



"Friend Hutchinson, not in many a 

 day have I read in the Review a 

 brighter contribution than the one on 

 pages 212 and 213, under your caption 

 of "A Red Hot Letter." The writer 

 writes clearly and to the point, and 

 there is no more fog connected with 

 his opinions than with his manner of 

 expressing them. 



"Reference to back numbers of the 

 American Bee Journal and Gleanings'; 

 will remind you that the "burning" 

 truths your correspondent refers to, 

 were burning and discovered many 

 years ago. I well remember one writer 

 who, after extolling the get-rich-quick 

 profits of bee-keeping was reminded 

 that a truth might be told so many 

 times that it would become a false- 

 hood. Once there was a good profit 

 in honey production, but the big sup- 

 ply dealers had to have it, and with 

 their journals of wide circulation, they 

 soon transferred it from the produc- 

 ing class to the middle men; and it 

 was done by the same old road. 



"I have no longer any personal dol- 

 lar and cent interest in it, as the un- 

 known brood disease has reduced me, 

 within two years, to only 17 colonies. 

 From Washington, (Prof. Frank Ben- 

 ton, proprietor) I received a circular 

 letter inquiring as to whether I had 

 anv disease in my apiary; and then, 

 very appropriately (I thought) I wrote 

 to the great Professor all about my 

 experiences and observations relating 

 to the disease mentioned above, but 

 just as I expected, I received no re- 

 ply; no doubt because the Professor's 

 bureau doesn't contain any informa- 

 tion on the subject. The Professor 

 is too busy counting the stripes on a 

 vellow-jacket just discovered by a 

 Hottentot in Timbuctoo. The "Prof." 

 and his Washington "Bureau" are a 

 unique pair. There is nothing common- 

 place about the whole business, ex- 

 cept the salary, which is pretty small, 

 there being so many things the Prof, 

 needs. 



Let us all petition congress to raise 

 that salary." 



te 



