THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



278 



A SuBSOBiBEB in Minnesota complains that 

 Shea & Co. are quoting honey too high. 



Thick Foundation is preferred by the 

 bees to that that is thinner ; at least it seems 

 so from the experiments of experimenter 

 Taylor. Ernest Root calls attention to this 

 fact, and it is certainly worth looking after. 

 Mr. Heddon has for years declared that he 

 did not want the lightest foundation in sec- 

 tions, that the heavier grades gave better re- 

 sults, and he has favored the Given because 

 in that style there is a thin base with the sur- 

 plus wax in the side walls. 



Mr. Root also calls attention to the fact 

 that a heavy foundation may be productive 

 of the so-called "fish-bone." It is possible 

 to use too heavy foundation, and we must 

 strike for the golden mean. 



WHAT DEDUCTIONS SHALL BE DEAWN FKOM 

 THE FOUNDATION EXPEBIMENT ? 



Friend Hasty calls attention to what seems 

 to me an important point in connection with 

 the experiment lately closed regarding the 

 different makes of foundation. He argues, 

 and with a show of reason, that the bees have 

 simply shown a preference ; that if only one 

 style had been used in a case, and that had 

 been the least desirable style, that just as 

 much honey, or, nearly as much, would have 

 been secured as with the more desirable 

 style. 



When I was at Mr. Taylor's last summer I 

 put the matter to him in the same light. I 

 said to him " Suppose johnny cake and 

 mince pie are placed before me. I may 

 choose the pie, but if given only johnny cake 

 I would probably eat enough of it to satisfy 

 my hunger, as it would be that or nothing 

 else. Do you really think that the bees 

 would store as much more honey, if all Giv- 

 en foundation had been used, as is shown to 

 be the case where they are given a preference 

 between that and the Van Deusen ? " He 

 thought a moment, in that quiet way of his, 

 and then said he thought they would store 

 nearly as much more as indicated by the ex- 

 periment. Continuing, he said, " If given 

 all mince pie, you would eat more of it than 

 yon would of jonnny cake, because you would 

 like it better." I think the weak point in 

 Mr. Hasty's theory is in assuming that 

 the quantity of honey gathered, or that may 

 be gathered, is the same in both cases. When 

 bees are furnished with drawn combs they 

 store more honey than when they have to 



draw out foundation, and a foundation that 

 is very acceptable, and very quickly made 

 into comb, may lead to the storing of great- 

 er quantities of honey. If twenty-five col- 

 onies were furnished with one style of foun- 

 dation, and the same number, as nearly like 

 them as possible, were furnished with a dif 

 ferent style, the experiment would probably 

 furnish some excellent pointers, if nothing 

 more. It is only when we begin to experi- 

 ment that we see how really difficult it is to 

 conclusively decide some questions. 



THE MUTUAL ADMIEATION SOCIETY. 



There is scarcely a bee journal that has not 

 lately touched upon this topic. Last month 

 the Review had a little to say, and it now 

 proposes to say a little more. Once or twice 

 before, this idea has been hinted at in a 

 vague sort of way by the very few in our 

 ranks who write best when their pens are 

 dipped in gall. There are a few people in 

 this world who are never happy unless they 

 are unhappy and finding fault with others. 

 A great many lines of journalism are con- 

 ducted upon this plan, that of criticism, of 

 fault finding, of looking for the opening in 

 the armor of some brother through which to 

 thrust in the lance and then hold him up and 

 see him squirm. I have a slight acquain- 

 tance with an editor who once admitted that 

 this style of journalism had made him a 

 murderer at heart. He had been that angry 

 at a brother editor that had it been possible 

 to kill by a thought there would have been 

 a murder. The older bee-keepers must re- 

 member when bee journalism was conducted 

 in this style. It is possible that some of the 

 bee-keeping editors are now given to over- 

 praising their friends, and doing it in such 

 a fulsome way as to be offensive. It is pos- 

 sible that they neglect to mention the good 

 qualities of their enemies. The attempt to 

 correct this abuse is to be commended, but 

 we don't want a remedy that is worse than 

 the disease. To begin a rebuke with a sneer 

 and end it with a sting may ease the mind of 

 the one who administers it, but so far as cor- 

 recting abuses is concerned it is a brilliant 

 failure. It simply angers. It is brushing 

 the fur the wrong way. Some people have 

 the happy faculty of bringing out the best 

 that is in everyone whom they meet. They 

 can even point out faults in such a way that 

 the person corrected will feel that a kind- 

 ness has been bestowed. These are the men 

 to undertake reforms. I do not mean that 



