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Vol. XXXL 



FEB. J 5, J 903. 



No. 4. 



Well, well ! it seems like old times to 

 have A. I. Root writing- about bees ag-ain. 

 More power to j'our pencil, Bro. A. I. 



M. Ed. Bertrand saj's bees attack a 

 person worse ■when stooping- than standing-; 

 perhaps because when stooping he has more 

 the appearance of some animal. [I have 

 never noticed this characteristic on the part 

 of the bees. They are so quick in their ac- 

 tions at times, that, even if thej' were a tri- 

 fle more inclined to attack a person in a 

 stooping- position, the fact might not be ob- 

 served. — Ed.] 



That first verse of Eugene Secor's 

 poem. p. 90, is hardly a fair sample. It's 

 merely the introduction. When he gets to 

 talking about what those eleven j'oungsters 

 did and saw in the old days when some of 

 us were not as stiff in the joints as now, it 

 just takes hold of the heart-strings. [That's 

 what I meant to say, doctor. I hope all 

 will get the book. I did not have room for 

 quotations. — Stenog. ] 



It is noticeable that, in the discussion 

 as to whether brood-combs become too old 

 for best results, the foundation-makers of 

 this countr}' seem to be a unit in saj'ing 

 that old comb rears just as large workers 

 as new. Certainly self-interest would not 

 range them on that side. [Yes, it is to the 

 interest of the foundation-makers to talk 

 the other way. If it were true that old 

 combs should be renewed everj' ten years 

 or oftener, the foundation-makers would be 

 sure to make quite a handle of the fact in 

 their advertising. — Ed.] 



Success to you, Ernest, in getting up 

 that gasoline-engine I I've a whole lot of 



faith in it. [The more the thing revolves 

 in my mind, the more sure am I that I am 

 on the right track. That one day of turn- 

 ing the crank of a six-frame Cowan ex- 

 tractor in California, extracting 12 lbs. to 

 the gallon, sage honey, did more to pound 

 into me the necessity of some sort of 

 power to turn such machines, instead of 

 hand-power, than any thing else. Yes, it 

 pays to get out among the bee- men and 

 actually encounter what they have to run 

 across. — Ed.] 



The editor wants to make friends with 

 me about bees preferring old or new comb, 

 p. 105. Um-m-m, I s'pose so ; but I don't 

 see any clear proof given by Mr. Laws that 

 bees in any case preferred new comb. The 

 nearest he comes to it is that the brood is 

 scattered in the old comb, the other cells 

 being filled with pollen. Of course the 

 brood would be scattered if the cells were 

 pre-empted b3' pollen. I'd like to hear of 

 just one case where the bees passed over 

 old comb in good condition, leaving cells in 

 it entirely empty, to occupy new comb or 

 foundation. [This summer, if I can get the 

 time, I will look this matter up a little 

 more. — Ed.] 



That testimony of A. I. Root, p. 105, 

 is to the effect that he sowed white clover 

 in August, 1901. and after growing that 

 year it blossomed the next year. That was 

 hardly blossoming the first year. Last 

 year I sowed white-clover seed in the win- 

 ter in the window, transplanted the plants 

 in the open ground, and they blossomed 

 finel}^ Some of the same seed was sown in 

 the open in the spring; and if it blossomed 

 at all it was poorly. But it didn't have the 

 best chance. After all, the usual question 

 is not whether it blossoms the first year, 

 but whether it yields honey. It hardly 

 seems it would blossom at all without yield- 

 ing honey and producing seed. [Probably 

 A. I. meant it blossomed within 12 months 

 after sowing, not that he sowed it in 1901 

 and cut it in 1901.— Ed.] 



I noticed an error in the last Straw, p. 

 48, where it says 86 to 162 per cent means 



