1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



89 



like to be classed as any "badder" or any 

 "stiflfneckeder " than A. I. R. But, joking- 

 aside, there is a lot of hard sense in what 

 the doctor says. There are several of our 

 denominations that might be merg^ed to- 

 gether. It is as foolish to have several 

 weak churches strug-gling- in a small town, 

 each g-rasping- for supremacy, as it is to 

 have several weak nuclei for the purpose of 

 getting honey. One g-ood strong- church, 

 with denominational differences cast aside, 

 is like a good strong colony of bees. — 

 Ed.] 



So you've got a "naught}' mobile," eh, 

 Mr. Editor? It may not kill you as many 

 times as a fractious horse, but how about 

 other people's horses if you're all the time 

 "coming down the road at a terrific clip"? 

 All the same, I wish I had one. [That is 

 one trouble with these self-propelled ma- 

 chines — thej' scare horses on countrj' roads; 

 but a great deal of this scaring is due to 

 carelessness, indifference, or recklessness 

 on the part of the chauffeur, or driver, of the 

 machine. If one attempts to go clattering- 

 by a timid horse driven by a still more tim- 

 id woman, and in so doing causes an acci- 

 dent, the " naughty " chauffeur ought to be 

 taught a severe lesson. "Going down the 

 road at a terrific clip " — wh}', I meant 

 when the road was clear, and no horses 

 were in the way. The " naughty " mobile 

 is not here j'et, but I shall expect it in a 

 few days. — Ed.] 



You may remp:mber, Mr. Editor, how 

 j'ou and I tried one time to extract from 

 both sides of a comb at once, and failed. 

 "Well, F. Blondet, of Brazil, sa3's it is a suc- 

 cess with him. I send you a picture of his 

 machine, published in Gazette Apicole de 

 France. [Well, no, doctor, we did not fail 

 — we gave it up as impracticable. I suc- 

 ceeded in throwing honey out of the combs; 

 but when it was very thick or when the 

 combs were cold, there was too much resi- 

 due honey in the combs. In a locality sub- 

 ject to a great deal of moisture, the honey 

 thin, and the atmosphere very warm, an 

 extractor arranged so that the combs stand 

 like the spokes of a wheel will throw out 

 the honey at both sides at once, almost as 

 satisf actor il3' as the ordinary machines. I 

 will tell you what, doctor — I have a feeling 

 that such an extractor, with power attach- 

 ed to it, will do the work slick and clean 

 with thick and thin honej" but a high rota- 

 tive speed would hiive to be attained. I am 

 studying up the gasoline-engine for two 

 reasons: First, so that I may be able to run 

 a "naughty" mobile; and, second, that I 

 may be able to suggest some sort of combi- 

 nation of gasoline-engine and a honey-ex- 

 tractor. I have the plan all worked out in 

 my own mind, and it works beautifully (in 

 my own mind). See editorials. — Ed.] 



I have no hesitation in saying your A B C is the 

 best bee book ever published, and up to date in every- 

 way. W. P. Meadows. 



Syston (near Leicester), England. 



By 



ii 



5) 



Slowly northward climbs the sun, 



Bringing cheer and plea.sure ; 

 Life is in his beaming disk, — 



Blessings without measure. 



The Irish Bee Journal says that Maeter- 

 linck's Life of the Bee has been approved 

 by the committee appointed by the Irish 

 Bee-keepers' Association, and is included 

 in the course for expert examination. It is 

 verj^ likely they will conclude some day 

 that that book is not a suitable guide for 

 bee-keepers. 



The page containing Pickings in the last 

 issue went topress in an uncorrected condi- 

 tion — that is, the proof was not corrected. 

 The editor was sick at home, and did not 

 revise the press proof, as usual, and hence 

 the errors. "While this is very provoking to 

 us, the reader will not lose the meaning bj' 

 the wrong letter appearing. Typographic- 

 al errors are like some kinds of vermin — 

 hard to catch, and still harder to kill. 

 Sometimes a type breaks off and makes 

 bad work, especially with figures. We 

 shall in the future bestow extra care on our 

 proofs, and still more on their correction. 

 Dr. Miller has my thanks for calling my 

 attention to this. 



\ii 



The necessity of co operation among bee- 

 keepers is as warmly discussed in Europe 

 as here. The subject is well illustrated by 

 the following, which I clip from that al- 

 ways interesting exchange, the Irish Bee 

 Journal. It was written by Mr. T. Kir- 

 wan, Dunmore, Ireland: 



I have just returned from Dublin. While there I 

 always lake a look at the grocers' windows for section 

 honey, and go in and examine for finish, etc.. and to 

 see what particular section is used, and at what prices 

 bought from the bee-keeper. This la.st time, even 

 though the season past was the very worst ever 

 known, I saw some of the finest section honey I ever 

 saw for sale iu shop windows in Dublin, at d I was 

 told by the grocers that it was bought at from 5-. to (is. 

 per doz.. or from 2s. to Is. tid. under market price at 

 the Federation at present, and at probably ;ls. per doz. 

 less than after-Christmas prices. It is quite plain that 

 tho-e sellers are not members of the Federation, and 

 that they, in consequence, are selling entirely. at the 

 mercv of the grocers, losing at so much per section as 

 would get them, in one years sale, a share in the Fed- 

 eration and the advantages of membership, and value 

 for their horev, instead of glutting the honey market 

 and keeping the prices down for themselves more 

 than for other bee keepers. It is also quite plain that 

 thev know nothing of the advantages of the Fedeia 

 tioii nor of the Irish Bee Journal. It is the interest of 

 every member of the Federation, just as it is the inter- 

 est of tho.se bee-keepers themselves, that they should 

 be induced to join the Federation, and not be keeping 

 the price of honey down for themselves at least 25 per 

 cent more than it" would otherwise be. 



The editor adds that Mr. Kirwan is ac- 

 customed to market over $1000 worth of hon- 



