1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



425 



out to try it, and I think you can not sit and 

 work comfortably with your toes further 

 out than your knees. For standing- work 

 it would be- all rig-ht; but it would be bad 

 for clipped queens trying- to make their way 

 back to the hive; also for workers falling 

 down with heavy loads. [The illustration 

 on page 392 should have been modified, per- 

 haps, just enough to obviate the objections 

 you point out. In the first place, I would 

 have the four stakes driven down into the 

 g-round a little further, so that the hive 

 would not stand more than four inches 

 above the general level. Then I would have 

 a rough board of inch lumber, perhaps 10 

 inches wide, run up ag-ainst the end of the 

 bottom-board so as to give the bees an in- 

 clined runway clear up to the entrance. 

 When bees come in heavily laden from the 

 field, many of them are so exhausted that 

 the}' drop on the g-round. After rising- they 

 will take wing if they can not crawl up 

 into the hive. Some of them may never 

 take wing, but crawl, vainly trying to get 

 into the hive. But it is in early spring that 

 bees are lost unless there is an inclined run- 

 way from the ground up to the entrance. 

 Hives with easy ingress will be much less 

 subject to spring dwindling; and I do not 

 know of any thing that means more money 

 to the bee-keeper than good runways from 

 the ground to the bottom-board in early 

 spring. If we modify the principles of the 

 stake slightly we still secure the advan- 

 tages of cheapness as well as close prox- 

 imity of working distance, and yet elim- 

 inate the objections 3'ou have mentioned. 

 If a young queen is crawling around on 

 the ground I would much rather have her 

 crawl under a hive supported by stakes 

 than to have her run under a hive support- 

 ed by a rim that fits close to the ground, 

 making it necessary to lift the whole hive 

 off the stand to find her. — Ed.] 



I COMMEND your desire, Mr. Editor, not to 

 be bipsed in your judgment by self-interest; 

 but jour views on p. 388 remind me of the 

 reply of the carpenter's apprentice. He 

 was using a plumb-line up on a building, 

 and the boss called up to him, "Is it 

 plumb?" Promptly came back the repU', 

 •'Yes, it's plumb, and a leetle more.'' I 

 think you're a leetle more than plumb in 

 your views when you say, " One can man- 

 Hge to have all worker- combs built from 

 starters, and thus save considerable expense 

 in the way of foundation." It is possible 

 some may make money by using starters in 

 place of full sheets in brood-frames, but I be- 

 lieve the average bee-keeper will lose by it. I 

 am sure I " can manage " to have all-work- 

 er combs built upon starters; but the i>ian- 

 a^ing will cost more in time and trouble 

 than the full sheets of foundation would 

 cost. Let the beginner use full sheets un- 

 til he has found out by experimenting on a 

 small scale that he is one of the few who 

 can afford to use starters only. [The mem- 

 bers of our company have before now com- 

 plained that I was a litile "'tMO plumb." 

 It would be a natural thing for il.e publish- 



er of a bee-journal to allow a certain 

 amount of bias in the interest of his busi- 

 ness to creep intohis columns. Realizing that 

 nothing would so weaken a journal as a 

 policy of this kind, I have perhaps erred in 

 going to the other extreme — that of accept- 

 ing and indorsing matter which in its ul- 

 timate tendency is against the interest of 

 the manufacturer, and that means myself 

 with the other members of our company. 

 This question of starters versus full sheets 

 in the brood-nest is a very important one. 

 I suspect it is true that the average begin- 

 ner would make more money, perhaps, 

 with full sheets than starters; but we were 

 talking about some veterans, who make four 

 ounces of foundation answer the purpose of 

 a full pound. If there are some men who 

 can do it profitably, I am perfectly willing 

 that the method for accomplishing the feat 

 shall be fairly exploited in these columns. 

 —Ed.] 





Wi 



By 



5J 



Reports, foreign as well as domestic, in- 

 dicate that formaldehyde is the coming (if 

 not arrived) specific for foul brood. It is 

 well worthy of a very fair and thorough 

 trial. 



\b 



Vague rumors of the production of bees- 

 wax directly from honey are reaching us 

 from foreign shores. Probably it will be 

 best to depend on the bees for some time 

 yet. Isn't there some way by which bees 

 can be managed to work for wax in quan- 

 tities more than they need, just as they do 

 for honey ? 



\b 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 The many friends of Thomas W. Cowan 

 will be glad to read the following : 



Mr. Thomas W. Cowan made us a very pleasant call 

 on April 29 when on his way through Chicago to Eng- 

 land from his home in California. He seemed to be in 

 splendid health, and looked forward with pleasure to 

 a year and a half of travel. He has a very pleasant 

 home at Pacific Grove, Cal., and when leaving recent- 

 ly the people of the town gave himself and Mrs. 

 Cowan a farewell reception which included practi- 

 cally everybody that could go there. They evidently 

 have endeared themselves to the people of that locality 

 by their many deeds of kindness and genuine worth. 



Mr. Cowan has practically retired from active work 

 and business, and is able to devote himself to pursuits 

 which yield no financial returns. We trust that Mr. 

 and Mrs. Cowan \/ill have a pleasant and safe jour- 

 ney, and return to their California home much bne- 

 tited by their trip. 



iti 



While we know a good deal 1 out Dr. 

 Miller the bee-keeper, the following of a 

 personal character will be read with inter- 

 est by his man}' friends : 



