83 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



crowding them enough. [You are quite cor- 

 rect. But when bees attach burr-combs to 

 wire-cloth separators, and leave fences or 

 other separators alone in the same siqicr, we 

 are inclined to believe that the first-mention- 

 ed are more suljject to comb attachments. 

 This was the case with the experiments made 

 by Vernon Burt, and it is the only right way 

 to test a proposition of this kind, in our 

 judgment. — Ed.] 



A Jamaica friend asks my crmment on a 

 clipping which relates that a writer in Science 

 says bees can't sting you while you hold your 

 breath. The only comment necessary is to 

 say that it is boiled-down nonsense, with 

 neither science nor sense. It went the rounds 

 of the papers a few years ago, and no doubt 

 many bee-keepers besides myself tried it, 

 but none ever reported it a success. [We 

 entirely agree with the doctor that all such 

 talk is "boiled-down nonsense." We never 

 had the patience even to try it, although 

 we know of some who did, and found that 

 the stinging business went on just the same. 

 —Ed.] 



The new thousand-dollar license law of 

 Chicago, which was proclaimed as a triumph 

 for temperance, seems now to be causing joy, 

 but it's all on the other side. Read the fol- 

 lowing from the Brewers' Journal: 



" During the first eight months of the pres- 

 ent year 3,066,505 barrels of beer were sold 

 in this city (Chicago), an increase of 209,366 

 barrels over the same period of 1905. And 

 now let the temperance cranks explain what 

 they have gained by raising licenses to $1000 

 per year. " 



When will good people learn that raising 

 the license only entrenches more firmly the 

 liquor power? 



Candle-wicking is advised, page 19, for 

 making beeswax candles. My, oh my! Mr. 

 Editor, I didn't think you were so old a man 

 as that. Don't you know that candle-wick- 

 ing has gone out of use almost entirely? You 

 can't buy it in Marengo, for I asked. But 

 you can make a beeswax candle with cotton 

 wrapping-twine for a wick. Just warm your 

 beeswax and squeeze chunks of it around the 

 string. [Why, candle-wicking is a common 

 article in any engine-room or any other place 

 where stuffing-boxes are used to prevent the 

 leaking of gas, water, or steam. Any com- 

 mon valve will have around its stem some sort 

 of packing — usually candle-wicking. I sus- 

 pect, doctor, more of it is made now than was 

 made during the days of your grandmother, 

 but it is used for an entirely different pur- 

 pose. — Ed.] 



• Ye editor, p. 19, thinks the new law will 

 allow a 14-ounce section to be labeled 1 lb. 

 1 doubt. [The law does make a little dis- 

 crimination in the weiglfts of food products 

 where nature, so to speak, does the weighing; 

 but nevertheless I think it is bad policy at 

 any time to label a section as holding three- 

 fourths, one-half, or two pounds. While a 

 section may hold approximatelj^these weights, 

 they are misleading, and the figures ought 

 not to be used. It is well enough to say that 



comb honey is worth so much a pound; then 

 if the retailer puts a section on the scales the 

 customer pays for it at a j^i'o rata poun 1 rate. 

 Nor is there the slightest objection to mark- 

 ing the price on each individual section — 

 there, now, doctor, we did not intend to 

 bring up that old controversy, so we will 

 stop before we begin — Ed.] 



"But a feeling of sadness comes over 

 me when I hear of graft and greed and ex- 

 tortion, " p. 43. Yes, Bro. A. I., never before 

 were the daily papers so full of such things; 

 but isn't thei'e more gladness than sadness 

 about it? for the accounts come only because 

 such things are beings exposed and punished. 

 [Yes, and this very thing leads us to believe 

 that better times are coming. The time was 

 when any legislation that affected adversely 

 "cei'tain interests" would be turned down; 

 but that time has gone by. Investigations 

 are rife, exposures are made, grafters and 

 bribers are being sent to the penitentiaries, 

 and sometimes the muck goes too deep and in 

 the wi'ong places; but out of it all, good is 

 coming. The passage of the rate bill and the 

 pure-food bill through the same forces of re- 

 form are made possible. The signs of the 

 coming millennium are, perhaps, a great way 

 off, yet they are more in evidence now than 

 ever before, and why? Because the common 

 people are reading more, and finding out 

 after all that their own individual vote means 

 something. The bosses are begining to lose 

 their infiuence.— Ed.] 



Henry de Mercador-Bellooh, founder of 

 the Spanish Review of Apiculture, also trans- 

 lator of important bee books, died December 

 9th. He was the leader of the new bee-keep- 

 ing in Spain. 



A FOUL-BROOD LAW FOR INDIANA. 



All bee-keepers of Indiana interested in 

 securing the passage of a foul-brood law for 

 their State are requested to write to Walter 

 S. Ponder, 513 Massachusetts Ave., Indian- 

 apolis. It now seems high time that a law 

 of that kind be enacted. The States to the 

 north, west, and east of it are already pro- 

 tected by suitable legislation. The matter 

 now seems urgent as well as opportune for 

 the bee-keepers of Indiana to take hold of 

 the matter in earnest. 



Later. — The following which has just been 

 received from Mr. Pouder will explain itself: 



I have just secured the free use of room 12 at our 

 State House for Wednesday, February 6, for a meeiinff 

 of Indiana bee-keepers. It Is hoped and uryed that 

 the meetinjj- will be well attended, and that we may or- 

 ganize ourselves into a permanent State association. 



