THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



215 



quiet, except a few bees might be seen hover- 

 ing over the cappiugs. I have had combs of 

 honey emptied as the Doctor relates, and I 

 have had sections cleaned up in the fall, and 

 I have frequently fed in the open air, and no 

 trouble has resulted. My principle objection 

 to the plan of out door feeding is that the 

 feed is not equally divided. Some colonies 

 get a great deal more than their share. But, 

 for getting things cleaned up I know of no 

 better plan. 



A Condensed View of Current 

 Bee Writings. 



E. E. HASTY. 



The idea brought down from the last num- 

 ber is the recent growth of our papers. Most 

 of us have well in mind the need of avoiding 

 that stolid, uuprogressive, knot-on-a-log 

 character which "organs," when they think 

 they have a sort of mortgatre on their pat- 

 rons' support, so readily fall into. Our 

 journals, most of them, seem to be no longer 

 in danger in that direction. At present they 

 have need to remember (just a little bit) that 

 there is a second and opposite danger, rest- 

 less, tom-tinker f ussiness of change. Changes 

 which are made just for the sake of chang- 

 ing are not always wise. I am very glad to 

 reach at length the turn of the 



AMERICAN Bee journal. 



I find I have sixteen numbers not finally 

 laid away ; and the task of properly review- 

 ing such a volume of literature is so enor- 

 mous that I just give up the most of it. 

 Friend Yo- k. your bed in the garden is like 

 the State of Illinois — so Viig that your small 

 reviewer can't weed it all river. The new 

 master of .4. B. J. is great on starting new 

 departments and cho|ipiiig things up fine. 

 The de[)artmejjt of General Questions is, I 

 believe, the youngest and is designed for 

 dealing with such questions as it is not 

 thought Vjest to have answered by the sym- 

 posium method. The symposium which was 

 hailed as the best thing out, and which has 

 been very useful for a long time, shows de- 

 cided signs of decline. In one department 

 at least the A. B. J. is not choppy but 

 thorough, and has a clear lead of the host, 

 that is the Biography Department. And its 

 excellence is no doubt the result of much 

 and patient editorial hard work. By the way 

 outsiders mostly think that editorial work is 



all, or most all, in writing editorials. The 

 fact is that of successful editors some write 

 much editojial matter and some write very 

 little ; but all have to have tact and industry 

 and persistence in getting other people to do 

 their best. Friend York evidently works 

 hard at getting the right writers to write 

 right in these personal sketches. The pictures 

 too, although we are still treated to occasion- 

 al poor ones, average quite tolerably, with 

 few very bad. Of these interesting memoirs I 

 will refer to but one, Ralph Benton, youngest 

 member of the North American ; not yet 

 nine, earned the money for his initiation fee 

 by apiary work. Hurrah for aristocratic 

 Washington and wooly Texas, as represented 

 by their child bee-keejiers, Ralph Benton 

 and Leah Atchley ! And should they some 

 day both get into the same State, that re- 

 puted best State in thii Union — well, at least 

 we will not come around at the vmtimely 

 midnight hour and make such music as is 

 appropriated for bees a-swarming. 



Editor York also takes the liberty, j)erfect- 

 ly proper when properly confessed as this is 

 (page .'520) to ask otlier suitable persons to 

 writ'^ editorial notes. But an editor so doing 

 needs to " watch out " real sharp lest time 

 and carelessness trap him into letting things 

 •he is not exactly willing to be responsible 

 for disport themselves under his editorial 

 robe. 



On page 4.3(S for April 16th, is the oldest 

 article I will at this time refer to. This is 

 friend McGuire's record of a colony on the 

 scales. Well kept records of this kind are 

 not plenty by any means ; and it is desira- 

 ble that they should he encouraged, especi- 

 ally such as are ho^ enormous or exceptional. 

 The monstrous things are all very well 

 to notice ; but the aver 'g' realities of '-ature 

 are of much more imiiortance to us. In this 

 record the best day's run is 9 i^ pounds on 

 May 130 ; the season is nine weeks long : and 

 the total at the runs is 11.5)^ lbs., well dis- 

 tributed through the rather long season. 



On page 4(i2 for April 13th, friend Cnllins 

 tells us how to get the start of (he midnight 

 skunk, and his deeds of darkness. It is'nt a 

 very tidy way, but it is evidently effective — 

 just pile the entrance with boulders too big 

 for his ill-savored majesty to move with 

 ease. 



According to the German itemist Reepen, 

 most of the bee-masters of Germany hold 

 that honey dew is sometimes a direct exuda- 

 tion of the leaves and not an insect secre- 



