THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



139 



side entrance, or something, that will let me 

 get at my " potato trap " with the minimum 

 of hindrance ? Moreover I am sadly depend- 

 ent on my spectacles, and want to put 

 them off and on frequently. In this I can- 

 not so well deny myself as I might in the 

 other case. I have a dim impression that 

 some one somewhere has published a plan of 

 wearing an elastic across the breast, under 

 which the front of the veil could be tucked 

 — but if so I was so lacking in enterprise as 

 to let it slip. This would be better than the 

 Porter arrangement for the front, but would 

 not make back and shoulders absolutely bee 

 tight. Howsomever, bees mostly don't go 

 under a heavy veil when it simply rests by 

 its own weight on the shoulders and back. 

 Before Review came I was using two 2 inch 

 wire nails, sharpened down until they be- 

 came pins ; aiid with these the veil was pin- 

 ned to each breast — better than the old style, 

 but inferior to the Porter plan in every way. 

 In summer, when the upper man is clad only 

 in shirt and suspenders, Ernest Root's way 

 does very weJ. .Just put the slack of the 

 veil under the suspender on each shoulder, 

 and pull it tight. But, in such a case, what- 

 ever and ever are the ladies going to do, pray 

 tell. 



And here's a bungling device of mine 

 which (although it has faults of its own) 

 opens and closes one's front easily for put- 

 ting on spectacles. Take a dry stick, of 

 suitable elasticity, and a little over a foot 

 long. Notch the ends, and put a long string 

 on each. Now whittle down all except the 

 ends till it is just springy enough, and not 

 too weak. Lay this across the breast, and 

 tie it tightly around the body under the arms. 

 This is to tuck the veil under, a purpose that 

 it answers very well. Might'nt we almost 

 have a special number on. How do you wear 

 a veil ? Whatever we do let us pour con- 

 tempt and hot shot into those stingy veils, 

 made on the model of a bathing suit, that 

 are not long enough to come further than 

 one's collar any way. 



I suppose if I try to dodge any red-hot 

 subject, and say nothing about it, the breth- 

 ren will say to me "You all'ee same sneak, 

 just like other fellow." This is anent the 

 charge that Mr. Heddon adulterates his hon- 

 ey. Don't know my own mind about it — 

 and how then should I help any one else to 

 an opinion ? He has sometimes talked a 

 good deal Ps an adulterator would talk if he 

 dared to — but would an adulterator dare to ? 



If on an occasion or so he has responded 

 with " sauce " instead of explanation, that 

 ought not to count very much in his case. 

 Mr. Heddon has pepper in his composition. 



Gleanings. 



The course of development which this ex- 

 cellent journal has been taking of late is 

 quite plain to be seen. It is to utilize to the 

 utmost the abilities of a few excellent writers 

 — and overboard into the deep, deep sea with 

 the "let us hear from all the brethren" 

 idea. In theory this looks to be wrong ; in 

 practice it makes the readable and instruc- 

 tive paper. Only one man out of a thousand 

 can write out what he knows. Pretty much 

 all the rest seem foreordained to write a lot 

 of stuff of no use to any mortal, and leave 

 out the valuable things which they could 

 supply if they would. Strange as this is it is 

 not unique. Let a thousand men go to the 

 world's fair, and how many of the thousand 

 can give the loved ones at home even a tol- 

 erable account of what they have seen ? And 

 writing is a much rarer gift than talking. 

 Nearly every bee man in a five minutes talk 

 will tell things which would be worthy mat- 

 ter for Gleaniyigs if properly dished up. Not 

 one of those things will he tell if he sits down 

 to write, but leave them all out, and write 

 something else. Queer, isn't it ? Awfully 

 we need a school, or class, or something, to 

 teach the brethren h w to write. " What 

 can the man do that cometh after the king?" 

 Don't go after the king then. Don't pour 

 out your crude and imperfect thoughts and 

 notions on a subject which some master hand 

 has just treated nobly well. " And if I 

 chance to fall below Demosthenes and 

 Cicero"— To the dogs with Demosthenes 

 and Cicero ! Desire to have one's article 

 sound like " literature " has killed off more 

 bee writers than all other murrains com- 

 bined. Have something to say, and say it in 

 your own earnest way. But don't be so silly 

 as to despise literary merit— look out for 

 literary faults ; divorce them as fast as pos- 

 sible ; and build up a clear, strong, individ- 

 ual style. Literary style is an excellent 

 thing ; only don't expect it to pass current 

 without some facts and ideas— don't expect 

 the clothes to walk without a man inside. 



Ahem ! W^e were talking about how often 

 certain writers appear in recent numbers of 

 Gleanings. March 1st has Rambler three 

 times— presumably four times— Dr. Miller 

 twice, and Prof. Cook twice. It's all right 



