THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



186 



dillicult iiud delicate task. I am reminde<l 

 of all thifi by reading, in the Bee-Keepera^ 

 Guide, the bei^uuiuy of what promises to be 

 an exhaustive review <jf the uew book, " Ad- 

 vanced Bee Culture." If Hro. Hill would do 

 this work thoroughly and fairly, it would be 

 of benefit to the Author, to the reviewer and 

 to his readers: but if what he has already 

 published is a specimen of what is to follow, 

 he will be doing scanty justice to himself or 

 his task. 1 know it is one of the unwritten 

 laws of authorship that an author must suffer 

 and be silent, but we bee-keepers seem to be 

 a law unto ourselves, and quickly fiy to the 

 rescue, upon an attempt to mangle our men- 

 tal offspring. Let no one imagine that I 

 care only for praises, I court the fullest and 

 most severe criticism, but I wish it fairly 

 done. 



To illustrate the fault of wliich I complain, 

 I will give an extract from Bro. Hill's re- 

 view. In speaking of the firstchapter, "The 

 care of Bees in Winter,"' he, among other 

 things, says: 



" We have reviewed it carefully and fail to 

 find anything in it either advanced or new 

 and the good things practical and sensible 

 are entirely omitted. The subject is nicely 

 treated from a literary or rhetorical point of 

 view, but is of no practical value as an in- 

 structor for bee-keeper^ Ijecause it lacks de- 

 tail and system. A greater part of the article 

 is made up of how to do things wrong in- 

 stead of telling how to feed and prepare bees 

 for winter at the proper time. He takes so 

 much space tell ng how to do the work out of 

 season in a disagreeable, impractical way, 

 and at times is apt to leave the impression 

 with the reader that neglected bees can be 

 just as well cared for in .January as in Sep- 

 tember and (Jctober. It looks to us as if a 

 book calculated to teach advanced bee-cul- 

 ture should tell how and when to do the 

 work, and not devote two-thirds of its space 

 telling how to patch up old sores caused by 

 neglect of slow, afternoon bee-keepers." 



The very first paragraph in this chapter 

 UTjder criticism reads as follows: 



" If they were properly prepared for win- 

 ter the preceding autumn, given plent> of 

 good stores, properly protected out of doors, 

 or placed in a cellar or other repository hav- 

 ing the proper temperature, and precautions 

 taken against depredations by mice, bees re- 

 quire almost no care in winter." 



Of this Mr. Hill takes no notice. 



Under the heading of "The Care of Bees 

 inWinter" it would not have been appropriate 

 to have described in detail the treatment 

 they oufjht to have had the previous season. 

 This was done elsewhere under aijpropriate 

 headings, and, in fairness, Mr. Hill ought to 

 have mentioned this. If he did not approve 



of the methods of preparation advised it 

 would have been entirely proper to have 

 said as much, giving his reasons — that would 

 have been fair criticism. 



There is no use in discassing here why 

 bees are sometimes short of stores in winter, 

 why the cellar may not afford sufficient pro- 

 tection in severe weather, why it may some- 

 times become infested with mice, etc., etc., 

 the fact remains that these conditions are 

 sometimes found, and the aim of the chap- 

 ter is to tell how best to remove these diffi- 

 culties when they aie encountered. Had M r. 

 Hill confined himself to the praise or con- 

 demnation of the methods adopted, giving 

 reasons, it would have been fair criticism 

 and called for no protest. 



In justice to Mr. Hill I will say that so/ne 

 of his criticisms are fair. By this I mean 

 that his views differ from mine, and I may 

 publish his entire article in the August Re- 

 view and reply at length upon the points 

 where we differ. Go on with the review of 

 the book, Bro. Hill, only be fair about it, 

 and I shall really enjoy having a discussion 

 with you. 



BEE ESCAPES AND WHAT MAY BE DONE WITH 

 THEM. 



Other men besides .John S. Keese have in- 

 vented bee escapes. They invented them 

 before he did, but they did not discover their 

 value; or, discovering it, kept that knowledge 

 tj themselves. To the man who invents and 

 makes knovjn belongs the honor. Mr. Reese 

 is the one to whom modem bee culture is in- 

 debted for its bee escape. Mr. Dibbem im- 

 proved it but it was still imperfect in that 

 bees could and sometimes did find their 

 way back. Mr. Porter then developed the 

 spring principle which seems to answer 

 every requirement. This number of tJie Re- 

 view contains more unqualified praise of 

 the Porter spring bee escape than any other 

 issue has ever contained of any other impli- 

 ment, but, so long as it is deserved, who 

 cares? That's what these discussions are 

 for, to try and decide what implement or 

 method is best, and the clearer the decision 

 the greater the satisfaction. 



To get " the honey away from the bees or 

 the bees away from the honey " with but lit- 

 tle labor and not many stings, is really more 

 than it seems to be at first. And that is not 

 all. The bees are not disturbed at their 

 labors, there is no annoyance from robbers, 

 if there are any " burr " combs built between 



