IN 



5EE CULTUKE 



Published by The A. I. Root Company, Medina. Ohio 



E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Mgr. 



H. H. Root, Asst. Ed. J. T. Calvert, Business Mgr. 



A. I. Root, Editor of Home Department 



Vol. XXXV. 



MAY 1, 1907. 



No. 9. 



The weathek is a topic entirely safe to 

 talk upon only in the past tense. Tlie latest 

 forecast of ye editor, p. 537, was that indica- 

 tions were for an early spring. The morn- 

 ing on which that reached Marengo the ther- 

 mometer stood at 26, a cold spell having 

 been on for some days, and no knowing when 

 it would terminate. I am much afraid of 

 the effect on fruit-bloom, as the buds were 

 just ready to open in March. 



Pkof. Bigelow speaks of the soporific ef- 

 fect of the murmur of bees, p. 551. I think 

 I never saw it mentioned in print before. I 

 never tried the soothing effect of ten thou- 

 sand honey-bees, more or less, about my pil- 

 low at night; but I have felt and seen the ef- 

 fects of the murmur of thousands of bees 

 coming and going on a still summer day up- 

 on one sitting by the entrance of the hive. 

 Indeed, has that not been the general experi- 

 ence for generations past? Else why do the 

 poets sing of the "drowsy hum " of bees? 



Mk. Jay, please have some respect for the 

 established usage of terms. You use the term 

 "dual-queen system," p. 547, apparently as 

 applying to any case where there is more 

 than one queen in a hive. It is handy to have 

 that term restricted to mean what it has here- 

 tofore meant, a system in which a virgin is 

 caged in a fertilizing-hive, a free queen, virgin 

 or laying, being in the same hive, and in ihe 

 same compartment. Certainly there was no 

 "dual " in the case when you took away the 

 queen and afterward gave a cell. But you've 

 asked some interesting questions, and I hope 

 you'll not rest till you furnish us the proper 

 answers. [But, are you not referring to the 

 dual plan for introduciiig ? In our opinion 

 the Jay did not mean that. — Ed.] 



Prof. Gaston Bonnier reported that in 

 the morning there are bees that go out as 

 2)rospeciors (chercheuses), looking up where 

 nectar may be found, later in the day becom- 

 ing gatherers. A Straw mentioned last year, 

 p. 1416, and a footnote, said, "This may be 

 true; but I do not see how it can be proved." 

 It seems that Prof. Bcnnier made this report 

 before the Academy of Sciences, and L Api- 

 culteiir says, p. 39, "Mr. Root, perhaps, does 

 not know that M. Bonnier brings before the 

 Academy of Science only verified facts." 

 Then follows an interesting account of the 

 experiments of that "marvelous and patient 

 observer," Prof. Gaston Bonnier. 

 ■ " We must convince the American mothers 

 that honey is the best sweet for children. If 

 we succeed, there need be no worry about the 

 sale of honey. ' ' That's what ye editor closed 

 with, p. 541, possibly for want of room to 

 say more. If the column had been longer he 

 might well have added: "This for two rea- 

 sons: First, the child that eats honey is like- 

 ly afterward to be a man or woman that 

 eats honey; seccmd, if honey is kept on the 

 table for the children, the grown-ups are 

 more likely to eat of it too. 



Allow me to add what emphasis I can to 

 what ye editor has wisely said in those last 

 two paragraphs. The women are the ones 

 to talk to about honey, and the special point 

 to press is the matter of honey for children. 

 In some cases the idea is to be combated that 

 all sweets are bad for children. The text to 

 be enlarged upon is something like this: The 

 universal craving of children for sweets is a 

 natural and healthy craving. Good sweets, 

 unadulterated sweets, are good for children. 

 The best of all sweets is honey. 



European prices for honey are" much 

 above American. Americans in general are 

 more extravagant than Europeans. If Eu- 

 ropeans eat honey at their higher prices, ai'e 

 you sure that Americans wouldn't eat just 

 as much honey if the price were advanced 

 50 per cent? [It does not seem that low 

 prices help to sell honey, as most people re- 

 gard it as something special, and I know 

 Eiuropeans willingly pay a good price for 



