THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



341 



them were seriously ill as the result. 

 Their arms swelled up, and broke out 

 in running sores. Whether all this troub- 

 le conies from the poison of the bees, 

 that is, from the poison contained in the 

 poison-sacs, or from a poison that devel- 

 ops in the early stages of decomposition, 

 is more than I know; but it certainly 

 seems that great care ought to be exer- 

 cised in rendering combs containing 

 large quantities of dead bees. 



ii»^»»^»»»»»« 



PUBLISHING UNSEASONABLE MATTER. 



As I look through the bee-journals I 

 am struck with the large amount of un- 

 seasonable matter that is published. 

 Yes, I know that the Review is not whol- 

 ly free from this fault. I know it is dif- 

 ficult to have everything seasonable that 

 appears in our bee-journals. Some dis- 

 cussions are started when the subject 

 is seasonable, and then the debate runs on 

 until the subject is six months "oflF. " 

 .\nother thing, when a man has had some 

 interesting experience he is inclined to 

 tell of it right then, or not at all. By the 

 time that he has written it out, and sent 

 it to his favorite paper, and the editor 

 makes room for it, and the printed article 

 greets the eye of the reader, the time for 

 profiting by that particular knowledge 

 has passed for that year. By the time 

 that another year brings the proper sea- 

 son for utilizing that particular know- 

 ledge, it has been forgotten — unless it hap- 

 pens to be of an unusually important 

 character. I have ofted admired the sea- 

 sonability of Mr. Doolittle's contributions. 

 I often keep excellent articles for months 

 in order that they may be published at a 

 seasonable time. I have practiced hav- 

 ing a large envelope for each month, and 

 when I come across an article in some of 

 my exchanges that will be particularly 

 seasonable in May, for instance, I clip it 

 out and put it in the envelope marked 

 "May." If some man writes in June 

 and tells of some plan that he used in 

 April most successfully, instead of pub- 

 ishingit in July, I write and explain to 



him, and slij) it into the envelope for 

 April. When April and May come 

 around, I find myself provided with a 

 lot of excellent matter that is seasonable. 

 Of course, this matter can be carried too 

 far. In mid- winter there is really little 

 to be done with bees; there is a leisure 

 then that allows of considerable latitude 

 in the choosing of subjects; but, other 

 things being equal, preference ought to 

 be given to those subjects that will first 

 occupy the bee-keeper upon the approach 

 of spring. Then, in the early spring 

 months, early summer topics should be 

 given preference. This plan oiight to be 

 carried on throughout the year — giving 

 advice and instruction a short time be- 

 fore the season for putting it into practice. 

 I know, of course, that there is nothing 

 particularly new in what I am writing 

 about, but couldn't correspondents and 

 editors work together in trying to make 

 the journals more sea.sonable in character 

 than the}' are? 



■k*\ift^trmM^' 



WHAT CAUSES THE IXKV DROPS THAT 

 COME FROM THE SMOKER. 



The smoker season is about over for 

 this season, but when a subject has been 

 brought up it is probabh' better to finish 

 the discussion, even if it is a little past 

 the season. Sometime last summer, 

 some one complained because inky drops 

 fell from the nozzle of his smoker and 

 daubed the white sections. • Some one, 

 I think it was Dr. Miller, advised clean- 

 ing out the smoker. F. L. Thompson re- 

 ported that /le had just cleaned his smoker 

 when he read that advice, and he noticed 

 that there was more trouble than usual 

 from these drops. Mr. Taylor in the 

 Review for September says that the 

 trouble conies from damp fuel. In Glean- 

 ings for November ist, Dr. Miller agrees, 

 and says, "Simple enough ! There can't 

 be any drops of dirty vvater unless the 

 water comes out of the fuel. But I was 

 never bright enough to think of it. " 



Now conies a correspondent of the Re- 

 view, a Mr. R. B. Chipman, of Riverton, 



