186 



THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



ber of hours in which such bees did die in 

 several cases. 



What kind of beings are we all any way ? 

 Such a distinguished apiarist as Simmins 

 would hardly assert that fertile queens never 

 fight unless he had something to back him 

 up. Yet that we should have all jumped to a 

 false conclusion without any proof seems 

 very improbable too. Market for the man 

 who has seen a fertile queen fight. (Review, 

 page 147.) 



Dr. Miller in Gleanings, page 259, gets in 

 an unanswerable dig at the scientific doc- 

 trine that stings are modified ovipositors. 

 He wants to know if queens once had two 

 ovipositors. 



Doolittle has not had a nucleus robbed 

 since he found out the right way to have 

 things. Have the nucleus at one side of a 

 full sized chaml)er, with the outer entrance 

 at the other side, so the bees must first come 

 in and then travel across to destination. 

 (Gleanings page 251.) 



One part ordinary floral honey shaken with 

 three parts pure alcohol and left 15 minutes 

 will be clear. If there is glucose in it it will 

 look milky. (Gleanings, 355 and 275.) 



The world moves, Gleanings included. 

 When Weed was at artificial comb-making it 

 preserved a silence that could be cut into 

 chunks with a knife. I think the Review 

 was about the only journal that frankly told 

 right out all it could get hold of to tell. But 

 now Warnstorf is at work at the same job, 

 Dr. Miller and the editor chat freely over 

 the matter, and neither shows the slightest 

 consciousness that they are perpetrating 

 wickedness. Well, if people will only get 

 into the right shape we will not grumble if 

 they do forget quickly their absurd past. 

 Very earnest folk have two very different 

 ways of looking at new things and an editor's 

 duty concerning them. One brother is sol- 

 emnly impressed that the public must be de- 

 fended from hearing all but the most ortho- 

 dox and doubly guaranteed news. He would 

 defend them as vigilantly as little girls are 

 defended from hearing obscene talk. The 

 poor, dear, unsophisticated, public ! How 

 cruel to let doubts and fears and disputings 

 get started among them ! And their busi- 

 ness sometimes suffers if immature and 

 awkward news and doctrines get loose. The 

 other brother vehemently says, That man — 

 nay that " critter " who in this dawn of the 

 twentieth century wants a conspiracy of 

 silence organized on any subject whatever — I 



don't want him killed exactly ; Vjut if noth- 

 ing worse happens to him than to have his 

 business broken up he'll get but few tears 

 from me. I called this latter individual, 

 brother, but possibly he is a nearer relative. 

 Might see him when I look in the glass. 



How far behind I am getting in the des- 

 perate effort to " lecture " on all the meaty 

 topics the journals bring up. On A. B. J. 

 especially, I am many leagues in arrears. 

 This is partly because it has its innings the 

 next one, and I was hoping to reach it in the 

 present number. It will have to go over to 

 next time, excepting two of the more inter- 

 esting points in tlft number for May 4th. 



Dathe, a German sent to Ceylon after 

 Apis Dorsata, after many trials in the gen- 

 eral style of Frank Benton, hit upon a short 

 cut which is worthy of a Yankee. The Dor- 

 sata is very migratory ; and by scattering 

 honey around he succeeded in making them 

 pull up sticks and come to him, How nice 

 to return at eve and find your colonies all 

 emigrated to your neighbor's apiary because, 

 forsooth, he feeds more liberally than you 

 do ! Yet, for all its queer ways, quite likely 

 this giant bee would be a " hummer " if we 

 could get him started once in the forests of 

 Florida. Might take Blackstone and his 

 whole family to straighten out the questions 

 of meum and tuum that would arise. The 

 Dorsata will not feed the brood of ordinary 

 bees it seems. Looks as though they would 

 have to be transported outright without mix- 

 ing in any other race to help on. We learn 

 these things at the hand of H. Reepen the 

 new German itemist. Friend Reepen lives 

 in Grossherzogthum. And do the children 

 there sing — 



Grossherzogthum my happy home 

 Name ever dear to mo ? 



Doolittle gives an excellent solution of the 

 so-called queen cramp on page .504. Most of 

 us have seen a horse get the lines under his 

 tail, and then make a fool of himself hang- 

 ing on and resisting all attempts to get 

 them out. It seems queens are just so, only 

 a great deal more so. When a queen is 

 captured and held up by the wings we can 

 hardly blame her for squirming and gyrating 

 her members about. It seems that occasion- 

 ally a foot gets thrust into the forceps-like 

 extremity of the body. AVhen this occurs 

 she excitedly hangs on to it for all she's 

 worth ; and her puzzled owner thinks she is 

 having a mortal spasm of some sort. 



RicHABDS, Lucas Co., O., May 16, 1893. 



