THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



219 



We try to have all matters appear in the 

 Review as much as possible at seasonable 

 times — when the ideas presented may soon 

 be put in practice. The article upon pollen 

 from the B. B. J., ought to have appeared in 

 the fall. It was received about this time of 

 the year, and we wrote Mr. Cushman that 

 we thought it would be lietter to wait until 

 another fall before publishing it. When 

 fall came it found us trying to do business 

 while sick in bed. It may not be to our 

 credit, (it is the truth, however,) but this 

 clipping from the B. B. J., tucked away in a 

 pigeon hole, as it had been for months, was 

 entirely forgotten. Now that the matter 

 has been brought up in this way, we publish 

 the article, in the " Extracted " department, 

 even if the subject is not so seasonable as it 

 might be. 



With all of our friend's outspoken frank- 

 ness and criticism, we find only one point 

 upon which we differ. We think the discus- 

 sions in the Review have been fairly con- 

 ducted. We have taken up topic after topic, 

 not caring one penny which way they were 

 decided. One reason for avoiding the sup- 

 ply trade was that the mind might be free 

 from even an unconscious bias. The only 

 way in which an investigation can be fairly 

 carried on is when the investigator does not 

 care what is the decision, if only the truth 

 is arrived at. It is in this condition that we 

 try to get and to stay. When writing upon 

 any topic we freely express our honest con- 

 victions, but there has never teen any dis- 

 position to arbitrarily settle any question. 

 The decisions given are ours; arrived at 

 from our own experience and the reported 

 experience of others. If any man thinks 

 they are not in accordance with facts, let 

 him not keep silent ; as he will find a cheery 

 welcome in the columns of the Review. 

 The idea that we have taken especial pains 

 to secure correspondents whose ideas are in 

 accord with our own, provokes a smile in 

 spite of all we can do. Time and again 

 have we solicited and secured articles from 

 men who we knew would be our opponents. 

 Now let those who think the discussions have 

 been one-sided take hold and " even them 

 up." You have no idea, friends, how a jour- 

 nal will improve after you begin correspond- 

 ing for it. 



Now just a few words about having so 

 many " local writers with local views." 

 Bee keeping methods are not the same the 

 world over. A journal appropriate for 



Northern bee keepers is but half a journal 

 for those of the South. It cannot be other- 

 wise. The great mass of Review readers 

 are in the central and northern part of the 

 United States and in Canada ; hence we try 

 to secure for correspondents those men who, 

 from large experiences, can furnish infor- 

 mation that is most valuable to bee keepers 

 living in that part of the world where the 

 Review finds nine-tenths of its readers. 



What Becomes of Wax if Not Utilized l— 



Seasons for Using Foundation.— 



Giving Up the Editorial " We." 



DK. O. O. MIIiLEK. 



N first reading your editorial, friend 

 H., I thought to myself, "I have 

 nothing to say. I haven't given a 

 fair trial to the plan of doing without foun- 

 dation, so it is not fair for me to talk about 

 it." As, however, I am an ultra foundation 

 user, it may be well for me to give my 

 reasons, for you have given the other side so 

 strongly that it may appear that I am acting 

 without reason. 



As usual, you are quite fair in your state- 

 ment of facts, whatever your deductions 

 may be. I wish we knew just how much 

 honey a pound of wax does cost. It makes 

 a great deal of difterence whether it be 

 three or twenty. If three be the general 

 rule, it will pay well in some cases to en- 

 courage comb building just to melt it up 

 into wax. 



You say " All through the working season, 

 wax is being secreted to a greater or less 

 extent. If not utilized it is lost." Quite 

 true, and I think it is just as true that it is 

 all utilized in my hives where there is no 

 chance to use any wax except in building on 

 foundation. Just how it might be, if I ex- 

 tracted and had no new comb built, I cannot 

 say. If it is not all utilized in my hives, 

 what becomes of it ? The bees hardly carry 

 it out, and I would see something of it if 

 wasted in the hive. On the whole I don't 

 think there is any more secreted than is used 

 in the sections. Your experiment with the 

 queen-rearing nuclei is quite convincing. 

 The only question is, don't my sections take 

 the place of your extra comb V 



Yes, I think we get more extracted honey 

 because we have ready-made comb, and I 

 think we would have just as much more 

 comb honey if we sold the same honey in the 

 comb without extracting— that is if people 



