774 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Dec. 7, 1899. 



The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio. 



THAT CITY-.\PIARY PICTURE. 



And now we have a city apiary in which we can actually 

 see some houses — which doesn't try to look like "a lodge in 

 some vast wilderness " (lodg-e itself left out). Pleasant to 

 see the skill with which Mr. Horstmann makes the best of 

 his apiary. Capital idea is that of his to have something 

 more esthetic than stones on his hives. Shade-boards must 

 be weighted, and a big flower-pot has the requisite weight, 

 sure enough. But in case very precious plants were so ex- 

 posed, and in case a regular "jimniycane " should come 

 along, might there not be a sad wreck, and lamentations 

 from one side of the house ? An armj'-pan full of dirt 

 makes a good weight, and will not break — but I was dis- 

 gusted to find I could not plant phloxes and things in them 

 and have them thrive — too much oxide of iron soon perme- 

 ates the soil. Page 673. 



SULPHURING COMB HONEY FOR WAX-WORMS. 



Mr. Doolittle is so eminent and excellent in almost all 

 that pertains to apiculture that it is almost pleasant to be 

 able to throw a stone at him once in awhile. His method 

 of killing worms in section-honev. page 674 — well, he makes 

 it work, and others probably can if they're canny. But he 

 surely could, if he tried, get up a less idiotic way of burn- 

 ing the sulphur. When a big lot of sulphur is dumpt on 

 some coals several things happen. A large fraction of the 

 sulphur melts, runs down among the ashes, and thenceforth 

 does neither good nor harm. Anot'ner large portion, in- 

 stead of burning, changes to pure vapor of sulphur, rises, 

 encounters cool air, and changes back to the solid form again 

 as extremely minute particles of sulphur mixt in the air 

 like smoke. This is capable of doing harm, and not capable 

 of doing much good. I take it. Another portion of the sul- 

 phur is imperfectly burned, and becomes vapor of sulphu- 

 rous acid. This is what we want ; and if we only knew .some 

 way to get this and nothing else we'd be happy. Not quite 

 positive, but I do not think this alone would damage the 

 looks of comb honey, even if it was somewhat in excess. 



Lastly, another portion of the sulphur is perfectly 

 burned, and becomes vapor of sulphuric acid. Wish I was 

 better posted as to the effect of sulphuric-acid vapor. My 

 impression is that it does both good and harm pretty freely 

 — that is, quite destructive to animal life, and also cjuite 

 damaging to the appearance of surfaces with which it 

 comes in contact. Hot fire and abundant supply of air are 

 understood to favor the formation of this latter kind of 

 vapor. Who'll help us out of the wilderness? If any of 

 you has a honey-room 10x10 feet, and eight feet high, Mr. 

 D's. formula would call for eight pounds of sulphur — evi- 

 dently enormously more than there is any sense in using. 

 Say, try one pound of sulphur mixt with seven pounds of 

 ashes, and burn it over a bellows draft. 



DOES RHEUMATISM "ROOM" WITH HONEY-E.ATING PEOPLE? 



" Rheumatism practicall}' unknown among those who 

 eat much honey," eh ? I am not sure that I like such a 

 flippant way of saying things which would be immensely 

 important if true. I am heartily in favor of fiulijig out 

 about several such things; but proclaiming them in an un- 

 qualified way just now may impress the general public with 

 the idea that we don't care very much what we say. Page 

 674. 



THE SWEET-TOOTHT MICE. 



I think Mr. Dadant in error, page 675, where he saj-s 

 mice are verj' fond of honey — only try to eat it when very 

 near starvation, would be the way I should say it. They 

 are fond of bees — and also gnaw combs because fond of 

 gnawing things up on general principles. But then, be- 

 sides the world's universal mouse, there are several Ameri- 

 can species more or less, prevalent. Some of these latter 

 may have a sweet tooth, for aught I know. 



NOT "ROOTLESS" GUESSES ON API.\RI.\N STATISTICS. 



Ernest Root gets to business well in his estimate of 

 what we would be g'lad to know, the United States honey 



statistics. Good thing to have one anchor to hold on to, in 

 room of drifting on an endless sea of guesses. The fact 

 that something over 50,000,000 sections per year are used on 

 the average is the anchor — and the pseudo-statistics of the 

 States and the nation are the " false lights on the shore." 

 Coming down to guesses, his guess that 500,000 people own 

 bees (one or more colonies), and that 200,000 people take 

 some practical interest in their bees — this is a fair and lumi- 

 nous guess, and will do to lean on a little till we have 

 something better. 



TEMPTINGLY BEAUTIFUL GIRLS. 



Now see tlie winter of our (bachelors') disconteut 

 Made worser hy tlie plau of York. 



Editorial note, page 680. He's just going to make the 

 girls more beautiful and tempting than they are now by 

 washing their faces with honoy. Stop him, somebody ? [If 

 Mr. Hasty will just be slow about letting the girls in his 

 neghborhood see that item on page 680, he'll not need to 

 call for anybody to stop us. But perhaps Mr. H. is waiting 

 for the perfectly beautiful girl. If so, he might furnish the 

 honey to some nice girl neighbor, and trj' it on. — Editor.] 



GETTING CRISSCROSS NEIGHBORS TO KEEP BEES. 



Get your cross-grained neighbor to keep a few bees 

 himself, and he'll cease to rage and pitch so against your 

 bees. Page 680. Guess that's so — but it strikes one at first 

 like the mouse-plan of putting a bell on the cat — rather dif- , 

 ficult of execution. Still, perhaps with sufficient craft and 

 patience it might be done. Inoculate him now and again 

 with small doses of the wonders of bee-lore. B^'-and-bj' 

 when a late after-swarm of very small value alights on his 

 tree, tell him you'll give them to him, and also hive them in 

 a box or keg for him. If he takes this bait of yours, con- 

 verse with him frequently abovit his bees. Got him sure, if 

 he shows signs of wanting them fed up to winter over, in- 

 stead of " taking them up " and realizing on their slender 

 stock of honey. Even if he decides to take them up, you'll 

 get him next year. 



RAMBLER'S DIME SCALES. 



Those scales of Rambler's, in which a common 10-cent 

 spring balance is made to weigh the daiU' gains of a hive, 

 is well worth remembering. (Balance the hive with pole 

 and stones, and then attach the spring balance so as to 

 take the ndditio/ial weight of the day's gathering.) Page 683. 



A GOOD BUSINESS NAME. 



What a/rieiidly face is that of William A. Selser, that 

 opens in No. 4+ 1 And how suggestive the name is — " Sell, 

 sir 1" It's one-third of the business to produce honey, and 

 Ax'o-thirds to sell it. This pleasant friend not only sells his 

 own honey, but also that of a great many brethren who are 

 a little lame on the mercantile two-thirds. Did you ever re- 

 flect what an amazing lot of people have names germane, 

 somehow or other, to their business? Partly runs in the 

 blood (names originally bestowed on account of business) 

 and partly just the reverse (the suggestions of the name 

 turning the bearer's thoughts in that direction) and partly, 

 of course, by chance. This countj- has an undertaker 

 named Coffin, and another and prominent one named Could- 

 well. The leading d^-namite dealer (Toledo) is named Rum- 

 mel. The Cincinnati mercantile firm of Ketchum & Cheat- 

 ham is oft bespoken as an example ; and a multitude of 

 illustrations meet us at every turn. 



BEE-KEEPERS' EXCHANGES. 

 As to commenting on the paper " Why Bee-Keepers' 

 Exchanges Fail." perhaps I might as well wait until I can 

 comment on "Why Bee-Keepers' Exchanges Succeed." 

 However, it seems that in some places they do succeed to a 

 certain extent — verj- like the boy succeeded in catching the 

 woodchuck, because they must : no one man being able to 

 get just his own honej' alone disposed of at the distant mar- 

 ket without having charges eat it all up. Page 691. 



THOSE BRAGGING HONEY-YIELD TABULATIONS. 



The tabulation of the honey-brag, by Mr. Adrian Getaz, 

 is a very unusual and remarkable paper. Better mark it 

 and keep it where it can be got at for reference. But how 

 are we going to manage it, anywhow, to believe that Dr. 

 Gallup got 750 pounds, and Mr. Snyder 700, and Mr. Maley 

 718, and Mr. Doolittle 566— and still harbor a private notion 

 that those Australians fib about their larger figures, run- 

 ning up to 1,250 ? Page 693. 



"LIGHTNING HARRY" IN CUBA— HOW(E)'S THAT? 



And so our lightning Harry — Harry Howe — has got to 

 Cuba and is running three apiaries there. And^they have 



