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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



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enough !" to the great confusion of the lady in question, who 

 did not know that he was present. 



Mr. Langstroth toid how, on one occasion, when outraged 

 by enemies, he went to hear Henry Ward Beecher preach, and 

 how the sermon led him into a different frame of mind. He 

 went to Mr. IJeecher and expressed his gratitude for what the 

 preacher had said. As I recall, Mr. Beecher took him home 

 with him. At any rate, he entertained Mr. Langstroth over 

 night on one occasion, and in the morning cooked the break- 

 fast for his guest, his own family being absent from home at 

 the time. 



Mr. Langstroth used to tell with great gusto an incident 

 illustrating a type of Sabbath keeping that did not employ the 

 religious opportunities of the day so as to make them a pleas- 

 ure. "Oh, father," said a member of the family, "when 

 shall we be through with this ?" " Do you see that niche 

 yonder in the mountain side?" "Yes." "Well, when the 

 sun gets down to that, tlic ivuxt will be over .'" 



These incidents show the genial nature of our friend, and 

 his happy and companionable disposition, when in his normal 

 frame. These were traits which appeared in conjunction 

 with a deeply serious cast of mind. He could not fail to im- 

 press those who knew him with a sense of the distinctly spir- 

 itual trend of his thouehts. His life was an example of a 

 massive purpose of soul, that towered before you like a moun- 

 tain, and made you feel your own shortcomings ; but there 

 were groves of songsters on that mountain side, and laughing 

 streamlets that leaped from rock to rock and spread them- 

 selves at your feet. 



He sought to embrace every opportunity for doing good. 

 He was specially concerned with the subject of ventilation, on 

 which his ideas were most excellent and scientific. He once 

 said jocosely that one of the worst of all cranks was the 

 " ventilating crank," but he thought he might still do some 

 good by helping to secure pure air in churches. He said that 

 depravity in the pulpit and pew were bad enough, but that to 

 have depraved air in addition was too bad. Through his sug- 

 gestion, we were enabled to improve the ventilation of the old 

 Park church auditorium without expense ; and so thoroughly 

 did he impress the importance of the subject upon me, that 

 when we erected a new church on my second Dayton field, it 

 was provided with a complete system of ventilation. 



Toledo, Ohio. 

 (Concluded next week.) 



California Bee-Keepiag — Empty Combs. 



BY DB. E. GALLUP. 



In reply to Eastern people who ask why bees can not be 

 kept in the valleys as well as in the mountains in this locality, 

 I will give one case : 



Mr. S. Q. Conkle lives 3 miles directly west of Santa Ana. 

 He started in last spring with 23 3-frame nuclei. (Under- 

 stand, he wintered them on the three combs). He has in- 

 creased to 121 good full colonies, 8 of them having supers 

 full of combs and honey. He has taken out 1, 156 pounds of 

 extracted honey, and sold between 400 and 500 pounds 

 of comb honey. He had thre3 swarms come to him, 

 and purchased two old boxes with bees in them. One can get 

 such from 25 to 50 cents each. All this increase was made 

 with less than 10 pounds of comb foundation. He has now 

 contracted for, or sold, 50 colonies of bees and combs, without 

 the boxes (that is, the purchaser furnishes the boxes to put 

 the bees and comes into), at Sl.50 per colony, and received 

 Dne payment. They are to be taken away by the first of 

 January. 



In many localities here in the valleys bees work all win- 

 ter, but the honey is not of so uniformly good quality as moun- 

 tain honey. 



Mr. Conkle can now go to work and make his nuclei for 

 next year's increase. 



kp:eping emptv combs from moth. 



Dr. C. C. Miller says that the bees will keep the moths out 

 of their own combs. I say so, too, in ordinary seasons. But 

 supposing we lose our bees, as many did here in 1894 ; then 

 we must have some place to store the combs, and keep them 

 free from the moths. We must always recollect, also, that 

 America is quite a large country. Here in southern California 

 moths breed in winter as well as summer, while with Dr. 

 Miller they do not. Many times, when asking a California 

 bee-keeper to subscribe for the American Bee Journal, his re- 

 ply will be: 



" I do not want it. It is all filled with stuff that is of no 

 benefit to me whatever, What do I care about their wintering 



problem ? And how could I follow Dadant's tiering-up plan ? 

 Why, I would have to tier up twelve supers high, and be to 

 an immetise expense in furnishing extra combs and extra 

 supers, etc. Then, what do I care about their cultivating 

 honey-producing flowers, when we have all the honey-produc- 

 ing flowers we can possibly use? All we want is the sea- 

 son to be just right." 



Well, I am not finding any fault, but if I write an article 

 occasionally that is particularly applicable to this climate, 

 don't kick about it, and I will not. 



Santa Ana, Calif., Oct. 16. 



[I think that aside from the matters of wintering, tiering- 

 up and honey-produing plants, any California bee-keeper will 

 get more than the worth of his dollar if he reads the American 

 Bee Journal. It is the earnest desire to suit every locality in 

 the contents of the Beo Journal, and I believe that is as nearly 

 accomplished in this paper as in any that goes to every part 

 of the world, as it does. — Editor.] 



What Dr. Miller Thinks. 



That Delayed Report of 1894 seems still delayed. 

 Nearly two months since the committee at Toronto said it 

 should be furnished "at once." Mr. Benton said it was then 

 ready, and, according to the Report, positively agreed to turn 

 it over, but it has not yet appeared in print. Has Mr. Benton 

 forgotten to keep his promise, or has the editor put the Report 

 on file and forgotten it ? [At this date (Nov. 4) I have not yet 

 received it from Mr. Benton. — Editob.1 



Those Mistakes. — A fine list of them Friend Pringle 

 furnishes in the Bee Journal for Oct. 24, and they're dished 

 up in good shape. If I were in speaking distance, and were 

 asked what other mistake might be mentioned, I would sug- 

 gest that of being very positive one cannot possibly be mis- 

 taken in a matter in which there is an honest difference of 

 opinion among the best bee-keepers. 



Who Shall Decide ? — At Toronto, Messrs. Pringle and 

 Clarke agreed it was a mistake for editors to stop discussions 

 at their own discretion. Mr. Clarke says: "If they allow a 

 discussion to begin, it should not be cut off until it has been 

 exhausted." But who is to decide when it is exhausted if not 

 the editor? And in many cases one or both of the disputants 

 might not consider it exhausted long after all the other read- 

 ers felt sure no good could come of a continuance. Indeed, in 

 many cases it might be a difficult thing to get all to agree just 

 when a discussion was exhausted. One of the things an edi- 

 tor is for is to decide what should and should not be published, 

 and an editor isn't good for much who hasn't the wit or the 

 grit to use that power. [Doctor, some people have never been 

 editors, you know, and some that have been, and are yet, 

 have not the very best judgment. I know this one doesn't 

 claim infallibility. — Editor.] 



Spacing Devices. — Friend Abbott, on page 682, quotes 

 an editorial from Gleanings which objects to having spacers a 

 part of the hive, without giving reasons, and then without 

 giving any reasons for his belief Friend Abbott takes the other 

 side, saying he has reasons but won't give them until he hears 

 the why of the other side. It might be interesting to know 

 why Friend Abbott holds back his light. But then he has a 

 way of preserving a very discreet silence at times. I've asked 

 him questions easily understood, and have in vain looked for 

 any answers thereto. 



The New North American. — That's a suggestive edi- 

 torial on page 684. It suggests first the question whether 

 there is, or is to be, a new North American, or, in other words, 

 a union of the Union and the North American Kee-Keepers' 

 Association. When are we to know about this ? [Very soon. 

 — Editor.] 



Maybe it might be a good idea to have experiment stations 

 as suggested, but I don't know. 1 certainly don't think It 

 would be the best thing to have the reports of the experimen- 

 ters, providing experimenters were secured, published with 

 the report of the annual convention. The bee-periodicals are 

 the place for such reports, to be given continuously, and not 

 all in a lump. We want to be in close touch with experiment 

 stations, knowing all the time what they're doing and what 

 they're going to do. After we've had the reports all through 

 the year it's hardly worth while to have them in the annual 



