756 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



fanning to keep the house cool enough in or- 

 der to carry on the work of the hive? Then 

 there is another important advantage to be 

 gained, and that is, the reduction of swarming 

 and a cori'esponding incease in the honey- 

 crop — Ed.] 



The following, received too late for our 

 last issue, will explain itself: 



Bear Sir:— I beg to announce to you that the apicul- 

 tural investigations of this Bureau are now in charge 

 of Dr. E. F. Phillips. I would also announce to you 

 the appointment of Dr. G. F. White as an expert in 

 bacteriology; Mr. Franklin G. Fox as assistant in the 

 apiary, and Mr. Burton N. Gates as colaborator in 

 Massachusetts. C. L. Mablatt, 



Washington, D. C Acting Chief of Bureau. 



EXPERIMENT STATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH 

 IRRIGATION PROJECTS. 



Senator Warren has introduced a bill in 

 the United States Senate providing for an ex- 

 periment station in connection with each ir- 

 rigation project undertaken by the govern- 

 ment. At this distance this looks like a good 

 idea; for some people are going to these ir- 

 rigated lands who know next to nothing 

 about irrigation, and some one ought to be 

 on hand to advise "tenderfoots" how to get 

 the best results from their land. 



In connection with each of these stations 

 there ought to be a person who understands 

 bee-keeping who will warn newcomers when 

 the locality has become overstocked with bees 

 or will bear no more. The advice of a bee- 

 keeper would be useful also in putting out 

 bulletins. 



DOCTOR WILEY IN THE CABINET. 



Dr. Harvey W. Wiley has been suggested as a mem- 

 ber of the " strenuous cabinet " in the interests of 

 pure foods, etc. The Department of Public Health 

 would be the likely designation of the new branch of 

 the cabinet, and while this may seem to be a small 

 matter to those who are interested in diplomacy, and 

 the progress of war and the exploitation of foreign 

 lands, it is something which very vitally affects every 

 individual of the great American family. 



Dr. Wiley has been the most instrumental factor in 

 securing the pure-food law; but the country has been 

 very slow to awaken to the fact that this question 

 was something which affected vitally every one of its 

 members. Doubtless there are many organizations, 

 cloaking themselves under the title of "pure-food as- 

 sociations," "honest-label associations," and the like, 

 who. while they would like to be known as strong sup- 

 porters of the doctor as a member of the cabinet as 

 above indicated, would leave nothing undone to defeat 

 his appointment. 



Dr. Wiley is to-day a poor man. He has given his 

 services to the country, and has been mainly instru- 

 mental in the enactment of the pure-food law in ex- 

 change for a mere living salary; whereas had he lis- 

 tened to the blandishments and force of the great 

 moneyed interests of manufacturers he could, by vir- 

 tue of his position, be to-day a millionaire. 



Advocates of the establishment of the new depart- 

 ment urge that there is nothing more important than 

 proper excecution of the various statutes which con- 

 cern the public health. Guy E. Mitchell. 



Washington, D. C. 



The suggestion in one of our contempora- 

 ries is not so impracticable or far-fetched as 

 it might seem at first thought; for Dr. Wiley, 

 against all opposition, has been a consistent 

 and strenuous advocate of pure-food legisla- 

 tion in spite of the fact that, if he could have 

 been bought off. large sums would have been 

 placed at his disposal. Many a time it has 

 happened that a strenuous official will sud- 

 denly and wiLh no appai'ent reason get over 

 his ''strenuousness." Wiley has been stren- 

 uous first, last, and all the time. 



THE ADVANTAGE OF MORE THAN ONE EN- 

 TRANCE IN THE HEIGHT OF THE 

 HONEY-FLOW. 



Dr. Miller, in a Straw in this issue, says, 

 in referring to the advantage of having more 

 than one entrance to a hive during the 

 height of the honey-flow, " You can not 

 make me believe it is not easier for the bees 

 to have one hole for the air to go out and an- 

 other for it to come it than to make the air 

 go both ways in the same hole." This is 

 something for the practical bee-keeper of to- 

 day to think over very carefully. Too much 

 ventilation sometimes certainly is bad; but is 

 there not somewhere a golden mean by which 

 we can relieve the bees of a great load of 

 work? Or, to put it another way, is it nec- 

 essary to keep a large force of workers at 

 home fanning during the heat of the day if 

 we can by some mechanical means reduce 

 the temperature of the hive, allowing this 

 force to go to the fields? This question will 

 hinge somewhat on whether comb or ex- 

 tracted honey is produced. 



A COMPETITOR TO RAILROADS BY MAKING 

 USE OF NATURAL INLAND CANALS. 



A STRONG plea is now being made for a 

 large improvement on our inland waterways 

 as a kind of counter-check to the railroads, 

 which have had every thing their own way 

 until quite recently. Much is being made of 

 a plan for an inter-coastal canal to connect 

 the rivers of Texas with the Mississippi Riv- 

 er at Donaldsonville, La., and this ought to 

 be done. It is not generally known, how- 

 ever, that our whole coast is permeated with 

 natural canals, so that a river steamer can 

 be navigated from New York to Browns- 

 ville, Texas, and yet not use the ocean at all. 

 If this waterway is improved and shortened 

 so that the largest river-boats can use it we 

 shall have a splendid means of reducing 

 freights. Not only so, but a waterway is 

 excellent for the transportation of honey and 

 bees — far ahead of the best railroads. If 

 this is carried out in its entirety it would be 

 quite possible to ship honey or bees by river- 

 boat at Corpus Christi, Texas, for direct 

 shipment to Washington or Baltimore, or 

 even St Louis or Chicago. No product of 

 the farm requires greater care than comb 



