498 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



August II, 



the fact that I was enjoying a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Cowan, 

 and In reply he writes this, which I give to our readers : 



Dear Ernest : — I congratulate you heartily on the oppor- 

 tunity of a visit from Mr. Cowan and his wife. I do so with some 

 intelligence after having enjoyed the treat myself. They came 

 just at a time when work was in such shape that I couldn't stop 

 tor anybody — just couldn't stop. But I did stop for three days, 

 and gave myself up to the abandon of thinking there was no work 

 tp be done while they were here; and altho it may take two weeks 

 to catch up. I'm not worrying over it. 



Along with a strong desire there was also just a shade of dread 

 of the coming of two such prominent people; but they brought 

 with them a large stock of common sense and loving kindness, 

 and immediately we were at ease. Mr. Cowan impresses one as a 

 man with a wonderful fund of information, but who has hardly 

 discovered yet that he is any better off in that respect than the 

 ordinary mortal. It so happened that while he was here I had 

 sent me a letter and a newspaper clipping in a foreign language. 

 [ didn't even know what was the language — thought by the looks 

 of the printed part that possibly it might be modern Greek. But 

 Mr. Cowan read it off at sight. It was Russian. It made me feel 

 I'd like to begin life over again and be a linguist. 



Mrs. Cowan is so simple and unassuming in her manners that 

 just at first one is hardly ready to recognize in her a woman of 

 unusual intellectual attainments ; but gradually the fact appears, 

 and, along with very clear perceptions of the truth, she is possest 

 with an intense zeal that others shall see the truth as she has 

 learned to see it. My wife, who had more opportunity than I to 

 become acquainted with her, gave as her verdict, *■ Mrs. Cowan is 

 a woman that lives to do good." 



The present war seems bringing closer together a good many 

 people. At the close there will be no gap between the North and 

 the South ; and England and America, mother and daughter, will 

 be closer than ever before. " We be brethren." 



C. C. Miller. 



The Doctor's Impressions of the two were exactly my own 

 — in fact, of all Rootdom. Notwithstanding Mr. Cowan Is the 

 most talented and best informed bee-keeper living to-day, I 

 believe, having traveled over nearly all of the civilized world ; 

 notwithstanding he reads eleven different languages, and 

 speaks perhaps half as many; notwithstanding honors of 

 various kinds have been conferred upon him by different 

 societies for the advancement of science; notwithstanding he 

 is editor of the British Bee Journal, and president of the 

 British Bee-Keepers' Association, he is one of the most modest 

 men I ever met. Unassuming and quiet in his manner, one 

 cannot fall to be imprest that he is in the presence of a master 

 of our pursuit. 



Without doubt he has the most extensive library relating 

 to bees of any man in the world. He has been all his life 

 gathering together rare and old volumes pertaining to bees ; 

 and It does not make any difference what language they are 

 printed in, he reads them just the same. He pronounced some 

 of the bee-books we have, dating back two and three cen- 

 turies, as being exceedingly rare and valuable — such as, for 

 instance, Butler's Feminine Monarchy, printed In 1609, or 

 two years before the publication of the common version of 

 the Bible; also Hill's treatise on bees, printed in London In 

 1608. 



When Mr. Cowan was here in 1887 he had with him his 

 big microscope with which he has made some of his exhaus- 

 tive researches. This instrument is one of the finest in the 

 world, and was made by Mr. Cowan himself. Father once 

 pronounced it the finest piece of handwork he ever saw. 



I found Mr. Cowan to be well verst in all the modern and 

 ancient practices of bee-keeping. It seemed to amuse him 

 that so many Ideas were being discovered in these latter days 

 that have been fully described in former works. For instance, 

 the modern starvation cure for foul brood Is fully described In 

 Delia Rocca's works, written over a century ago, and printed 

 in 1790. He was also amused at the way we Yankees have 

 of inventinir things th.'vt his countrymen invented and after- 

 ward discarded. 



On the afternoon of one of the days he was here, Mr. and 

 Mrs. Cowan, Mrs. Root, Master Leiand, and myself, took a 

 drive down to our basswood apiary. I felt that when so dis- 

 tlngulsht a personage was here I must not fail to take along 

 my camera, and so I requested the privilege of a "shot "or 

 two, which was kindly granted; and I also askt if I might 

 present the result of that shot to our readers. With some 

 reservation this privilege was also granted. Mrs. Cowan is 

 shown in the back of the buggy, Mrs. Root In front holding 

 the dog Trix, and Master Leiand in front of Mrs. R. From 

 the picture one would think It impossible to go between the 

 trees, but such is not the case. Of course, we do not need to 

 point out Mr. Cowan. 



Mrs. Cowan is as simple and unassuming in her manners 

 as her husband ; and the fact gradually begins to dawn on 

 one, when he begins to know her better, that she is a woman 

 of more than usual Intellectual attainments, as Dr. Miller well 



says. She Is a very earnest and able advocate of the doctrine 

 that the ten tribes of Israel, after their carrying away to 

 Assyria, 133 years before the sacking of Jerusalem (when 

 Judah and Benjamin were taken to Babylon) were not lost by 

 absorption into other nations. She claims that the Bible 

 justifies us in believing that those Israelites migrated to Central 

 Europe and became the Anglo-Saxon nation ; that England 

 is Eohraim in prophecy, and the United States represents 

 Manasseh ; that the religion and principles of these two na- 

 tions will spread all over the world and become dominant. 



It is not necessary for me to refer to the members of my 

 own family, unless it is to the dog Trix (I count her) that eats 

 more honey than any other canine living. The other day she 

 showed she was very fond of raw bananas and raw tomatoes ; 

 and for taffy she has a " sweet tooth." I have not tried her 

 yet on a chunk of comb honey, but I have no doubt she would 

 whine for that as she does for everything el!>e in the sweet 

 line. Eknkst R. Root. 



Mr. and Mrs. Cowan anticipate returning to this country 

 the coming fall, as their health is much better when on the 

 Pacific Coast. We shall hope at that time to have more time 

 to spend with them. Like Dr. Miller, when they came here, 

 it was In the busiest time of the year — it required all our time 

 to look after the mail orders for bee-supplies, so that we were 

 really ashamed that we could not devote more time to our dis- 

 tinguisht visitors. But being a wise man, and acquainted 

 with the requirements of bee-keepers at that particular time 

 of the year, of course Mr. Cowan was able to take in the sit- 

 uation, and we hope he made due allowance for our apparent 

 inappreclallon of our English friends. 



Neither Dr. Miller nor Mr. Root have spoken too highly 

 of Mr. and Mrs. Cowan. Wo feel that they indeed merit 

 every good word that has been said concerning them. 



(AH rights reserved by the Xorthern Xewspaper Syndicate, 

 of Kendal. England.) 



PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING, 



WITH 



HINTS TO BEGINNERS, 



■ BY 



Author of ''Bees and Bee- Keeping.'''' ^^Pleasurable Bee-Keeping." etc. 



No. 6.— FOUNDATION. 



Tlidse wlio keep bees in skcps :uh1 hoses arc at a serious 

 disadvLuitage when compared with their more fortunate 

 brethren in the craft who use a modern style of hive. The 

 latter are aids to success which prove of very great impor- 

 tance. If we compare two swarms, one in a skcp or box and 

 the other in a modorn pattern hive in which Is a provision for 

 saving the bees many days' labor, we ean't fail to see that for 

 several days the bees in the skep are busy making combs of 

 wax which they secrete from the honey they are gathering- 

 daily, while bees in the wooden hive, if of the same capacity, 

 will have converted the sheets of foundation into combs in 

 from 2-i to -18 hours, and during the remainder of the time 

 the other bees are laboriously building combs below, they are 

 rapidly filling their supers. In many cases, owing to the 

 wane of the honey-flow, or change of weather, the days thus- 

 saved make the difference between full and empty supers. 



The foundation referred to as an aid to success is wax in 

 sheets that have been past through a machine somewhat like 

 a small mangle, the rollers of which have been cut in such a 

 manner that they impress on both sidesof the sheet the shapes 

 of worker-i'clls. Foundation is undoubtedly one. if not the 

 most valuable, of the many devices the modern tee-keeper 

 makes use of in the profitable management of the apiary. A 



