1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



227 



bacilli, which are entirely harmless 



to man, are so infrequent in con- 

 taminated honey that a microscopic 

 examination usually fails to detect 

 them. But they are situated in the 

 most favorable condition for devel- 

 opment in the stomach of the larva?. 



Aside from the dangers arising 

 through the wasting of honey and 

 other foods, is it not time for civili- 

 zation to take notice of the wanton 

 loss which has thus far been con- 

 sidered fashionable and proper? 



We dare say that, our country 

 through, from one-tenth to one-fifth 

 of all the food served upon our ta- 

 bles finds its way to the dung heap, 

 untasted. Think of wasting 10 to 20 

 per cent of your food! How long 

 would this amount support you in 

 your old age? 



This habit is not confined to the 

 wealthy and well-to-do, but is notice- 

 able even among the wage-workers, 

 though in less degree. Neither is 

 this any benefit to the housekeeper, 

 for she has to prepare so much 

 more food, and after each meal has 

 an ugly mess to clean up. made of 

 the neatest and finest morsels that 

 she has artistically prepared. Aside 

 from the high cost of living created 

 by such an untidy habit, this alone 

 ought to urge us to stop it. 



Death of G. M. Doolittle 



Marietta, N. Y., June 10, 1918. 



Gilbert M. Doolittle died June 3 of 

 heart failure. He was taken ill in 

 church the day before. He was 72 

 years of age in April last. A widow 

 survives him. No children. 



P. G. CLARK. 



G. M. Doolittle was one of the most 

 experienced beekeepers in the United 

 States. He was a subscriber of the 

 American Bee Journal as early as 

 1870, and a contributor, more or less 



G. M. DOOLITTLE 



regularly, to this magazine and Glean- 

 ings from that time to this. 



The greatest invention of Doolittle 

 was his method. of queen-rearing, ex- 

 plained in his book "Scientific Queen- 

 rearing," published originally in 1888, 

 with numerous later editions. We 

 have explained, in this magazine, in 

 May, 1917, how the method was 

 brought about. In October, 1878, a 

 beekeeper, by the name of Boyd, sug- 

 gested, in Gleanings, the possibility 

 of using old queen-cells, taken from 

 almost any hive of bees, and placing 

 in each of these a larva. Then A. I. 

 Root suggested the use of a rounded 

 stick wetted and dipped in beeswax 



to make these acorn cups artificially. 

 Doolittle put these suggestions to- 

 gether and also devised the rearing 

 of queens in the upper story of a 

 strong, queenright colony, by using 

 a queen-excluder between the stories. 

 This gave the basis for his system, 

 now used all over the world. In 

 France a description of the Doolittle 

 method was published in 1902, by 

 Giraud-Pabou, who was very success- 

 ful with it. The Italians also brought 

 it into prominence, and perhaps the 

 most perfect establishment for the 

 rearing of queens by the Doolittle 

 method is that of Enrico Penna, of 

 Bologna. 



During the past few years Mr. 

 Doolittle spent his entire time in the 

 care of an invalid wife, who survives 

 him and will miss him still more 

 than the bee fraternity. For sev- 

 eral years past Mr. and Mrs. P. G. 

 Clark have been in charge of the 

 Doolittle queen-rearing yards and 

 apiaries. 



G. M. Doolittle, di: 



•ing beekeeping 

 queen- 



vith Mr. and Mrs. Clark 

 earing apiary in 1016. 



the Doolittle & Clark 



Bibliography — The Bees and 

 the Honey (Le Api E II Miele.) 



A book of 240 pages with the above 

 title has just been published by Pro- 

 fessor Giuseppe Montagano, of 

 Rome. It is a treatise of modern 

 beekeeping, containing useful advice 

 and devoting an entire chapter to the 

 transferring of bees from the old 

 skep to movable frames. 



The most interesting point of this 

 book, to us, is the difference it es- 

 tablishes between the Italian bee 

 (apis ligustica) and the Sicilian bee 

 which the author names "apis sicula." 

 He asserts that there is a visible dif- 

 lerence between the two, the Sicil- 

 ian worker bee being of more "ashy" 

 color, while the queens are of chest- 

 rut color and the drones of a "dark- 

 ashy color (cenere scuro.)" He holds 

 that this race is still more peaceable 

 than the Italian, though perhaps a 

 little smaller. He advises the mixing 

 of the two races, by introducing the 

 Italian bee in Sicily. 



In the October, 1915, number of the 

 American Bee Journal, we introduced 

 evidence that the only part of Italy 

 where the Italian bee does not ex- 

 ist in its purity is the province of 

 Liguria, south of the Ligurian Alps. 

 .So the name "Ligurian" is a mis- 

 nomer. The name "Sicula" for the 

 bees of Sicily is much better adapted 

 to the race which it represents. It 

 might be advisable to give those bees 

 a trial in this country. 



The author of the book does our 

 editor the honor of publishing his 

 photo, describing him as the editor 

 of the "greatest bee periodical in the 

 world." It is very flattering, and we 

 hope to deserve it. 



