THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



207 



or raw form. Should such a law be true, 

 it may apply to other animals as well. 

 Hut he considers the matter rather du- 

 bious, for the decisive power may not re- 

 side so much in the nutriment, as in its 

 assimilation by cells and organs; and he 

 also calls attention to the higher biolog- 

 ical law, whereby the organism is so 

 disposed that the sex which is most 

 needed at a given time is then produced. 



SIZK OF I-R.\MES AND THE WINTERING 

 OF BEES. 



Among winter da\-s that are critical for 

 the bees, the editor includes warm, sun- 

 ny days about the end of November or 

 December, inducing the bees to fly, thus 

 causing subsequently a greater consump- 

 tion of the strip of honey above the 

 cluster than would otherwise be the case. 

 The most critical day he considers that 

 day on which the bees have eaten away 

 all the honey above their heads; for he 

 has no faith in the winter promenades 

 which the old school attributes to the 

 cluster. For this reason he has adopted 

 a large frame, since the normal German 

 frame, which is nearly the L. frame set 

 on end, does not contain enough honey 

 to suit him. Like most Germans, how- 

 ever, he prefers the "warm position" of 

 the combs, i. e., frames parallel to the 

 entrance. Recalls the ly. frame "mur- 

 derous," says the cellar wintering of the 

 Americans, which such a frame necessi- 

 tates, is "always attended with great 

 loss," and that everywhere in America 

 there is a movement to introduce a larger 

 frame. The fact is, as we all know, that 

 experienced bee-keepers are fairly suc- 

 cessful in cellar wintering, often having 

 little or no loss, and that anything like a 

 deep frame movement here could Ije call- 

 ed sporadic at present. * 



I'-lsewhere he says that a aeries of arti- 

 cles has lately begun in the American 

 Bee Journal on the orgainc conception of 

 the colony, which, according to informa- 



* Evidently lie docs not appreciate the better 

 filling of the conilis in the brood-chaniljer which 

 results from the production of comb honey, and 

 renders depth of less imi>ortaiice for that pur- 

 pose 1 though still a factor, no doubt). In Ger- 

 many, extracted honey is the rule. 



tion that has reached him, is arousing the 

 interest of American bee-keepers in an 

 extraordinary degree. But one short 

 article on the subject has appeared in 

 that periodical, which has up to date 

 excited no comment. But don't laugh. 

 I remember reading something like this 

 in the Bee Keeper's Quarterly: "Expert 

 foreign bee-keepers are laughing at the 

 idea of .some alleged inferiority in the 

 Heddon hive." 



X UNIQUE BUT USEFUL METHOD OF 

 JUDGING .\T FAIRS. 



Pastor Warnstorf reports that in con- 

 tending for premiums at exhibitions in 

 Switzerland, bee-supply houses, queen- 

 breeders, etc., will in the future be judg- 

 ed not only by the quality of their wares, 

 but also by the manner in which they 

 serve their customers at all times. 



Montrose, Colo., Oct. 9, 1898. 



Department of 



riticism 



CONDUCTED BY R. L. TAYI^OR. 



Blame where you must, be candid where j'ou can. 

 And be each critic the Good-natured Man. 



GOLDSMITH. 



DOCTOR MIIJ^ER. 

 In the Review for May, 136, the doctor 

 re-threshes much straw which I do not 

 propose to handle again at present; but I 

 wish to set the doctor right in a point or 

 two. He says I give him credit for skill 

 in the use of language. Yes, but the pos- 

 session of skill does not imply that it is 

 always exercised. On page 137 he says 

 if a writer finds a word in a reputable 

 dictionary he ought to be allowed to use 

 it as there given. Certainly, and no one 

 I hope proposes to deprive the doctor of 

 that right. But hasn't another person 

 a right to object to the use of the 

 word ? The doctor would strengthen 

 his position "by a lady of good literary 



