742 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Nov. 23, 1899. 



day. 



For we haven't a good place to pin it, 

 Annatto's so yellow and beef fat so sleek — 

 O I wish I COULD know what is in it. 



Ah ! be certain you know what is in it, 

 'Tis a question in place every minute. 

 Oh I how happy I'd be could only I see, 

 "With certainty, all that is in it. 



The pepper, perhaps, contains cocoanut shells. 



And the mustard is cotton-seed meal ; 



The coffee, in sooth, of baked chicory smells. 



And the terrapin tastes like roast veal. 



The wine which you drink never heard of a grape, 



But of tannin and coal-tar is made. 



And you could not be certain, except for their shape. 



That the eggs b^- a chicken were laid. 



And the salad which bears such an innocent look. 



And whispers of fields that are green, 



Is covered with germs, each armed with a hook 



To grapple with liver and spleen. 



No matter how tired, and hungry, and drj-; 



The banquet how fine; don't begin it 



Till you think of the past, and the future, and sigh, 



"0 1 wonder, I wonder what's in it." 



And the preacher who prates of the glory that waits 



On the saints, and asks, " Have you seen it ?" 



And tells you how hot it will be for the sot 



And the sinner, at last — does he mean it? 



The political boss who asks for your vote. 



And promises not to forget it. 



When landed at last in a place of some note, 



Don't you think you'll surely regret it? 



And the maid of your choice, with the heavenly voice. 



Whom you've loved for a mouth, if not longer. 



Perhaps has said " Yes," and it's time to rejoice. 



And foster the faith that grows stronger. 



But that true heart, so dear, O you tremble with fear. 



And doubt when you struggle to win it ; 



And now that it's yours, I beg do not jeer. 



When I ask, " Are you certain what's in it?" 



H. W. Wiley. 

 The convention then adjotirned until 9:30 a.m. the next 



[Continued ne.xt week.] 



1 ae " uld Keliattle " seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio. 



PURE-FOOD LEGISLATION. 



A grandly notable paper deeply concerning- all man- 

 kind, and on a subject outrankt by very few possible topics, 

 is E. T. Abbott's paper on pure-food legislation. Even if it 

 isn't quite true that it outranks " expansion " and " cur- 

 rency," that indication of the writer's enthusiasm can 

 easily be forgiven. No harm to remember, however, tliat 

 legislation on expansion and currency is practically self- 

 enforcing in most cases, while the best imaginable pure- 

 food law safely on the books would only be one short step. 

 Enforcement would be the long step. All honor to Mr. 

 Abbott foi his right stand for the principle — " benefits yor 

 all," and no sly favors or tricks. Our own people have not 

 been in the past quite clear-skirted of tricks. To get legis- 

 lative bodies to pass what seemed to be a pure-food law, but 

 which would turn out to be a law to prevent selling under 

 its own name, or even producing, sugar-honey, was a trick 

 in high repute during the sugar-honey flurry. (Page 660.) 



MR. THBILMANN AND THE DICKEL THEORY. 



In Comrade Theilmann's experiments, page 643, wliere 

 he continually g^ets a few drones hard to account for, there 

 is another explanation possible besides the one he is steer- 

 ing- for. It may be that queens often lay an unfecundated 

 egg- (machine drops stitches) in ordinary laying, and that 

 these are seldom noticed because tisually the bees leave 

 them to perish instead of developing them. If the bees can 



develop one sex just as well as the other of the same egg, 

 then the proportion of 20 drones to 2,500 workers looks curi- 

 ous for a case where drones are earnestly desired. It would 

 look more like it to see 500 drones or more. 



MR. PETTIT'S APIARY. 



Mr. Pettit's apiary, which opens out No. 41, looks like 

 business — business first and beauty second — not business 

 first and beauty never thought of, as some apiaries appear. 

 It evidently belongs to the close-order class of apiaries — • 

 worrisome to the whim of groupists and open-door fplks, 

 who shiver when they contemplate the chance of a young- 

 queen's gettirlg bewildered and lost. But Mr. P. and his 

 clan would shiver the rather at walking a quarter-mile with 

 a load when a few rods would answer as well. 



A KINK IN RETAILING HONEY. 



About the very important matter of working up a retail 

 line. Judge Terral, of the Central Texas convention, offers 

 an unusual suggestion — still I guess he's right. Don't seek 

 to sell a I'ery large lot to one customer the first time j-ou go 

 round. They'll eat too much, get sick of honey, the unat- 

 tractive remnant with ilies and things in it will lie round 

 time out of mind (just like any other unattractive remnant), 

 and they'll never buy of )'ou again, because, forsooth, they 

 " have some honey." (Page 644.) 



WHITE COMB FROM DARK HONEY. 



Mr. Aten is not to be wondered at for the indignation 

 with -vs-hich he denies that ill-tasting, black-insect secretion 

 can be elaborated into delicate white comb, beautifully 

 capt. One would think not, indeed ; yet he is almost cer- 

 tainly wrong. Sorr)'. If he was oial)- right, the scamps 

 who spoil markets by pushing off such stuff would have less 

 success. (Page 645.) 



THE TRAP OF APICULTURE. 



McLennan's apiary is also one of the close-order kind, 

 but seems to have alternated colors to help bees and queens 

 locate home — good thing as far as it goes. Wonder what it 

 is he's got oti the top of so manj' of the hives — clampt sec- 

 tions all ready to go on, I guess. Captivating story, the 

 waj' he was captivated and forced to be a bee-keeper. Api- 

 cultttre is a trap, and man he's a mouse ; if he don't want to 

 be caught he'd best not monkey round much. 



FALL FEEDING OF BEES. 



I guess we can get pretty general agreement upon the 

 saying of C. P. Dadant, page 658, that in the matter of col- 

 onies short of stores in the fall, the worst policy of all is to 

 feed stingily, and have them starve to death, after all. And 

 I would add this much further : With good stores of their 

 own collection, and left entirely alone, bees will sometimes 

 squeeze thru alive with not more than five or six pounds. 

 Feed them two or three pounds more, and keep them in a 

 flurry a week or so doing it, and I presume the result would 

 be less live colonies in the spring. Good idea of his about 

 atmospheric feeders. First invert them over a pan till all 

 that will readily run out has flowed, then put them over the 

 bees. 



FREE BOARD .-iND MUSKMELON HONEY. 



That was a remarkable offer Pres. Whitcomb tells of, 

 page 659 — free board to the apiarist that would bring his 

 apiary to the melon-fields— but let us see, let us see I Colum- 

 bus and Joliet have offers out not dissimilar in that one re- 

 spect. With muskmelons rai.sed by the square mile we 

 ought to be told just what sort of honey muskmelon honey 

 is. I thirst to know. 



THE WICKED .ADULTERATORS. 



And so the adulterators themselves spread the idea that 

 nearlj' all honey is adulterated, the same (and for the same 

 reason) that "green goods" men spread the report that 

 nearly all paper money is counterfeit. Page 659. 



NEAR HIVE-ENTRANCES AND QUEENS. 

 " No danger of losing a j'oung qtieen when two hives 

 have entrances six inches apart, if there are only two." 

 (Dr. Miller, 662.) I would have hesitated to put it quite as 

 strong as that ; but maybe it's right. You know when a 

 young queen comes home, the bees (it has been said) some- 

 times incline to worry her a little. Might she not in the 

 excitement of the occasion pull away, take wing again, and 

 so get on the wrong door-step, finally ? 



SECTION-CLEANING MACHINES— " REST IN PE.4.CE." 



Yes, yes, those section-cleaning machines our Boss in- 

 quires after in editorial note, page 664 ! Where are they, 

 indeed? The racket thev made was like unto the racket of 



