Nov. 30, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



761 



way up hill and finally into the cracks between the two 

 boards." 



The Cowan extractor has its inside work made lighter 

 and at the same time stronger. The reels of the two-frame 

 'Cowan instead of being made of several pieces riveted to- 

 gether will be made of one piece. 



Grading Honey a Hatter of Locality. — Notwithstand- 

 ing the effort to establish a system of grading to apply to 

 the whole country, various methods of grading are in 

 operation, and it seems that not only may each buyer or 

 seller establish his own system of grading, but may also 

 change it from year to year. The following by F. L. 

 Thompson, in the Progressive Bee-Keeper, is to the point : 



"The buyer last year made a distinction between white 

 and amber honey, and paid less for the latter ; this year he 

 dropt that standard entirely, and called all white comb No. 

 1. and stained or water-colored No. 2. In fact, the color of 

 the cappings seemed to be almost the onU' thing determin- 

 ing the grade. We have no dark honey. Then, too, he 

 even put sections in the first grade that were not quite 

 finisht, providing the comb was white, in flat opposition to 

 the Colorado grading rules. Color of cappings is something 

 very difficult to describe, and the onlj' way is to have sam- 

 ple sections to go by." 



Bees in War.— Mr. W. C. Wells, of Ontario, Canada, 

 writing for the Canadian Bee Journal, gives his experience 

 with a peddler and a colony of bees in a little " war " of his 

 own : 



We have heard so much about bees being used in war 

 for the transmission of letters, etc., that your readers may 

 be interested in hearing of a true story as to the use of bees 

 in war. 



A Dutch peddler and I had quite a time. He was buy- 

 ing old brass and rubber shoes. I wanted to sell him some 

 brass, and when it was weighed out it came to 75 cents. 

 Then he wanted to pay me in truck out of his pack. I told 

 him I wanted cash. He said he did not paj- cash, but I said 

 he could not have it unless he paid cash. Then he offered 

 me 40 cents, then SO cents, and I finally said I would not let 

 it go at any price. Then he wanted 50 cents pay for his 

 time, to which I objected. He said he would not leave until 

 he got his pay, and he would charge $3 per day for what 

 time he stayed. I ordered him out of the house, but he said 

 he would not go until I paid him, and he said he would 

 thrash me, and he used very abusive language for half an 

 hour. 



Well, I did not know how to get him out, as he was a 

 big, stout man, and I nearly 73 years old, I was no match 

 for him. All at once I thought of trying if the bees could 

 persuade him to leave. Quick as thought I stept out of the 

 back door and snatcht up a hive of bees and brought them 

 in. I opened the hive and took out a frame of bees, and in 

 less than no time the peddler was tearing down the road, 

 and I after him with the bees, but he was too quick for me. 



I have laught every time I think of that scene ; it was 

 my first fight, and I came off victorious. 



" The Honey»nakers." — In ancient times the bee was 

 an important factor in the everyday life of the family, be- 

 cause honey then played the same large part in the house- 

 wife's economy that sugar does now. Literature is filled 

 with the honey-bee and its incomparable gift, which ap- 

 pears now as ambrosia, now as nectar ; and always as the 

 synonym of sweetness unsurpast. 



The Vedic poets sang of honey and the dawn at the 

 same moment, and all the succeeding generations of India 

 have chanted honey and the bee into their mythologies, 

 their religions and their loves. The philosophers and poets 

 of Greece immortalized the bee. The Latin writers studied 

 it not only for its usefulness as a honey-producer, but also 

 for its unique character for industrj', its skill as a builder, 

 and for its wonderful sagacity in social organization. 



These and many more interesting facts are tol<l us by 

 Margaret Warner Morley in her new book, " The Honey- 

 Makers." The author first treats of the structure and hab- 

 its of the bee, and then of its place in song and homily. 

 Nearly one-half of the volume of over 400 pages is given up 



to the literature and history of the bee, and the author has 

 carefully sifted for her purpose the writings of the Hindus 

 of Egypt and the East, of Greece and Italy, of Christian 

 and medi;eval times. One is amazed at the largeness of 

 the role which the bee has played in the thought of ancient 

 peoples. Other chapters treat of curious customs and be- 

 liefs in connection with bees, and the state of bee-culture at 

 the present. 



The postpaid price of this captivating book is fl.SO ; or 

 we will club it with the Bee Journal for one year — both for 

 onlj' $2.25 ; or we will mail it free as a premium to any one 

 sending us four nerv subscribers to the Bee Journal with 

 $4.00. It is'an intensely interesting volume, and should be 

 in the library of every bee-keeper who wishes to know all 

 there is known about the bee both in ancient and modern 

 times. It would make a fine Holiday gift. 







Speaking of the Sklser F.\mily, the editor of Glean- 

 ings in Bee-Culture quotes from this journal an item about 

 Mrs. Selser as an expert honey-bottle labeler, and then savs : 



"It is a little risky to say something nice of another 

 man's wife; but I will say this much: Those of us who 

 had the honor and privilege of being entertained at Mr. 

 Selser's home, realized that his ' better half ' is not only a 

 queen in a bee-keeper's home, but a royal entertainer." 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ * 



Miss "Flody," the young lady who was Mr. J. A, 

 Golden's expert assistant the past few years in his work 

 with the bees, was married Oct. 29, 1899, to Mr. Wm. Mc- 

 Connell, a highly esteemed young dry goods merchant. Our 

 readers will remember " Fl'ody " as the one shown in the 

 American Bee Journal as the operator of a section-cleaning 

 machine. 



'Tis said, " Where there's a Will there's away." V\ e 

 wish her and her "Will " a long and happy xcay thru life. 



* # » ♦ * 



Dr. a. B. M.\sox, of Lucas Co., Ohio, writing us Nov. 

 18, said : 



" We've had a splendid warm autumn, and it is still 

 warm. Last night we put our bees into the cellar, with the 

 thermometer at 50 degrees, and when I got up this morning 

 it was 54 degrees, and now at 10:30 a.m. it is 65 degrees." 



In the same letter. Dr. M. said that he and Mrs. Mason 

 were that day celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary, 

 and the Doctor's 66th birthday, with a nice dinner, and 

 wisht we could be there, too. We appreciated the invita- 

 tion, even if it was received several days after the event 

 took place. But as the Doctor exprest his regret for the 

 delay in inviting us, we'll forgive him this time if he'll 

 proniise not to do it again. We wish both Mrs. and Dr. M. 

 many happy returns of the " two days in one." 



# # * * * 



The C.\n.\di.\n Bee Journal has for some time had 

 no name as editor at its mast-head, but has now secured W. 

 J. Craig as editor. There has been some discussion as to 

 whether the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association should not 

 obtain full control of the journal, but its members are 

 divided in their opinions. Whatever may be the perform- 

 ance of Mr. Craig as editor, here's a part of his salutatory 

 that has a good ring to it : 



"We want our bee-keeping friends to understand right 

 now that the Canadian Bee Journal will be largely what 

 they make it. 



" Some one has spoken about taking the journal out of 

 the hands of people having ' axes to grind.' Mr. Yeigh has 

 replied on behalf of the company. As for the editor, he 

 hasn't got an • axe,' and would at this juncture suggest a 

 wholsesale burying of axes, hatchets, and everything of the 

 sort, and let us begin at the coming convention ' a long 

 pull, and a strong pull, and a pull altogether.' " 



