390 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



they are many— expose them to the 

 world, tliat others seeing may avoid 

 them, and I, knowing them, may im- 

 prove by such knowledge. You say 

 my excuse for A. 1. Root " is exceed- 

 ingly thin." Well, it is the thickest 

 I coiild find, and if that does not ex- 

 cuse him, I do not know what will. 

 But it does not begin to be as thin as 

 your statistics ! 



Now, as I understand you to convey 

 the idea to your readers, it is about 

 thus: "The Doctor's statements are 

 far from the facts; his errors are 

 multitudinous; but he is jolly fellow 

 and we won't mention them ; he does 

 not believe half he writes !" Why do 

 you throw out these hints? Do you 

 think you readers are fools, and can- 

 not understand as well as you V Now, 

 I defy you, or any one else, to show 

 that one statement that I have made 

 in that article is not in accordance 

 •with facts. What I state to be facts 

 are, with me, known facts ; and what 

 I believe are not known facts to me, 

 for if they were known facts, they 

 would be no longer subjects of belief, 

 but of actual knowledge. I explained 

 this in my article, 1 thought, so plain 

 that " a wayfaring man, though a fool, 

 need not err therein." I do not thmk 

 I ought to blame you, for it appears 

 to be a second nature for Langstroth 

 men to state what they think, as 

 actual facts ; but when :you lug me 

 into triat association, I assure you 

 that it hurts, for if "Jolly" I have 

 some regard for the truth of what 1 

 say. 



Now I will give the reasons for be- 

 lieving what I said I believed, and as 

 vou think so much of statistics, I will 

 give some in that form. There are 

 in this vicinity, 36 bee-keepers that I 

 know of; and I think there are none 

 that I do not know, and these all use 

 frame hives; there is not a box-hive 

 among tliem. Out of this number 3 

 claim to use the Langstroth hive ; one 

 of these has increased the height of 

 his hive so as to use a frame 12 inches 

 deep ; another has made his frames 

 to go crosswise of the hive; the 

 other is a man that knows but little 

 about bee-keeping, and gets another 

 man to take care of them, and that 

 man condemns the Langstroth hive 

 every time he has anything to do with 



"* Now the statistics : 36 bee men, 3 

 Langstroth hive men, 33 that use 

 hives taking tlie square frames, 2 of 

 the Langstroth hive men have changed 

 their frames from the long and shal- 

 low to the short and deep frame, so 

 these 2 will have to be reckoned on 

 the side of the square frame, wliich 

 will make our statistics toot up thus : 

 35 square frame men, 1 shallow frame 

 man 36 in all. These statistics, I 

 claim are much more reliable than 

 yours, for they come from a more 

 enlightened set of men, as shown by 

 their having no old box hives ; while 

 almost half of the community from 

 which you get your information are 

 back in the heathen darkness and 

 ignorance of the old box hive and 



Again, I read a report a short time 

 ago of a convention, and 1 think there 

 were about 30 present, and only 2 used 



the Langstroth frame, but say there 

 were 24 present and 3 used the Langs- 

 troth frame, their statistics would 

 show only }i using the Langstroth 

 frame, which is only half of what 1 

 had it. Now, do not these statistics 

 " settle it" that the Langstroth frame 

 is a small minority, and that minority 

 is gradually growing less V and the 

 neglect of the square frame neighbor, 

 who cares for the Langstroth frame ; 

 many bees would soon drive the last 

 one out to sea. 



Another reason is, I think, many of 

 our oldest, most experienced, most 

 scientific, and most successful bee 

 men who use and recommend the 

 square frame, say but little about it ; 

 bul; I have frequently noticed that the 

 greatest noise generally comes from 

 the biggest fools. I mi^ht add many 

 more reasons for my belief, but I do 

 not wish to occupy the space, nor 

 have I the time at present. 



Mr. Demaree will please accept my 

 thanks for the candor he has exhibited 

 in his article. He has written me 

 that he is satistied that he "■ holds 

 the fort." I wrote him there was but 

 little danger that he would not hold 

 it, when he has so strong a corps of 

 editors to guard it ; but I advised him 

 to withdraw while his laurels were 

 fresh, lest the people " arise in their 

 might," demolish the fort,destroy him 

 and his guard, and tread his laurels 

 in the mud. Now, hoping that what 

 has been said may not disturb our 

 former friendship, I remain yours 

 truly, E. B. Southwick. 



It is useless to attempt a discussion 

 of any subject, when a mild and kind- 

 ly-worded argument calls out such a 

 fierce reply as the foregoing. Such harsh 

 words as liar, fools, downright mean- 

 ness, hypocrsiy, rascality, villiany, 

 etc., are not calculated to induce an 

 impartial decision of any question ! 



The discussion of tlie comparative 

 merits of the ■' square and rectangular 

 frame hives " will, therefore, cease, 

 for the present, in the Bee Journal, 

 with the exception of one article from 

 Mr. Demaree (if he should desire to 

 reply) as promised, two weeks ago, 

 and one from the Bev. L. L. Langs- 

 troth, which he is now preparing, by 

 request. Our "correspondents will 

 please " take due notice, and govern 

 themselves accordingly." 



When it can be discussed impassion- 

 ately will be time enough to resume— 

 until then, let us take up some other 

 questions, from a review of which 

 some good may result. 



The National Convention. 



1^" The summer meeting of the 

 Cortland, N. Y., Union Bee-Keeper's 

 Association, will be held at Cortland, 

 N. y., on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 1883. 



M. C. Bean, Sec. 



The National Bee - Keepers' As- 

 sociation, will hold its Annual Con- 

 vention in the City Ilall and Council 

 Chamber in the city of Toronto, on 

 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 

 the 18th, 19th and 20th days of Sep- 

 tember, during the second week of 

 Canada's Great Fair. All the rail- 

 roads in Canada will issue tickets 

 during this week, good to return, up 

 to Saturday night 22d, at single fare 

 for the round trip. Special excursion 

 rates will be arranged from various 

 parts of the United States, of which 

 due notice will be given. Those who 

 intend being present may be kept 

 posted on the latest excursion rates, 

 etc., by addresssng me, and also that 

 I may arrange hotel accommodation. 

 Private lodgings will, if possible, be 

 secured for those who desire it, and 

 every effort will be made to make 

 everybody comfortable. A grand 

 meeting is anticipated. 



D. A. Jones, President. 



f^ Mr. E. T. Flanagan informs us 

 that at the St. Louis Fair, the privi- 

 lege has been granted of selling honey 

 on the grounds, during the exhibition, 

 to all bee-keepers that make a first- 

 class exhibit and keep their exhibits 

 intact. This will aid honey con- 

 sumption very much, and should pre- 

 vail at all fairs. 



Fairs.— To any one exhibiting at 

 Fairs, we will send samples of the 

 Bee Journal and a colored Poster, 

 to aid in getting up a club. The 

 Premiums we ofEer will pay them for 

 so doing. For a club of 8 subscribers 

 to the Monthly Bee Journal, or 4 

 we will present Dzierzon's Rational 

 Bee-Keeping, price $2.00. 



1^ Articles for publication must be 

 written on a separate piece of paper 

 from items of business. 



Postage 'on Queens to Canada.— On 



any package of merchandise sent to 

 Canada,of 8 ounces or less, the postage 

 is 10 cents. Queens, therefore, cannot 

 be sent for less than 10 cents each. 

 Canadians ordering queens from the 

 United States, should add 10 cents 

 for each queen, if they are to be sent 

 by mail, for that extra 10 cents will 

 usually eat up all the profits on queen 

 bees, if they are reared as they should 

 be. _ 



1^ The pamphlet, " Honey, as 

 Food and Medicine," is in such de- 

 mand, that we find it necessary to 

 print them in still larger quantities, 

 and can, therefore, still further re- 

 duce the price, as noted on page 399. 

 Let them be scattered like " autumn 

 leaves," and the result, we feel sure, 

 will fully reward honey-producers for 

 both the labor and the small expense. 



