22 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



question under discussion, as fully as 

 it was possible to decide it. These 

 symposiums were very interesting-, 

 helpful and instructive, and they cer- 

 tainly would have been continued had 

 we not run out of topics. At first 

 thoug-ht this may seem strange. Well, 

 take your pencil and write down about 

 100 important topics relating- to bee- 

 keeping-. When you have reached that 

 number, yes, long before, you will find 

 yourself chewing the end of the pencil 

 and scratching your head. At the end 

 of some eight or ten years, this feature 

 of the Review tvas reluctantly dropped. 

 Many times, before I started the 

 Review, Mr. Heddon had said to me 

 that he would willingly give $5.00 a 

 year for a journal into which had been 

 gathered the best that appeared in all 

 of tbe other journals. If some one, in 

 whose ability he had confidence, would 

 do the editing, he would be entirely 

 satisfied with such a journal to the ex- 

 clusion of all others. That of copying 

 the best that appeared in the other 

 journals, together with the giving, edi- 

 torially, of the gist of much that was 

 not copied, was, and still is, one of the 

 features of the Review. These two 

 features are what gave the Review its 

 name. It frequently happens that 

 same one complains now because of 

 this Extracted Department, saying 

 that he had already read the same 

 matter in other journals, and did not 

 care to read it twice. If all of the 

 subscribers to the Review were also 

 readers of the other journals, there 

 would be no occasion for the publish- 

 ing of extracts, unless it might be for 

 the sake of commenting upon them. 

 And right here let me say that an edi- 

 torial criticism, or comment upon some 

 extract, often puts the matter in a far 

 different light. If given from experi- 

 ence, and done with good judgment, 

 the editorial comments, the reviewing 

 of the extracts, form a most valuable 

 part of the Extracted Department. If 

 ^ man reads only one journal, and 



wishes] to be sure that he shall know 

 something of all of the important 

 features that are brouffht out, then the 

 Review is the journal for him to read. 

 Of course there is no practical means 

 of knowing what proportion of the 

 readers of the Review • take no other 

 journal. I think it is safe to estimate 

 that at least one-third read no other 

 journal. To these readers, let the pro- 

 portion be what it may, the Extracted 

 Department is of great and special 

 interest. As seldom one-fourtb of the 

 Review is taken up with this depart- 

 iTient, I feel that those who read one or 

 more other journals ought to bear with 

 it for the sake of the good that it is to 

 the others who, nevertheless, may be 

 in the minority. 



After dropping the special topic 

 feature, the Review became much like 

 other journals, excepting the Extracted 

 Department; even in this it did not 

 differ so very much, as most of the 

 other journals started a similar de- 

 partment soon after the Review came 

 out. Gradually, however, I became 

 interested in, and saw the possibilities 

 of extensive bee-keeping, and began 

 preaching the gospel of "more bees." 

 So thoroughly did these views of the 

 editor permeate the Review, that one of 

 its best friends asserted that it was no 

 longer what its name indicated; that 

 it had become the specialist's jc rnal; 

 in fact, he seriously urged that its 

 name be changed to the "Bee-Keeping 

 Specialist," or the "Professional Bee- 

 Keeper," or something of that sort. 

 Right here is a good place to introduce 

 a paragraph from a recent letter : — 



"A little friendly criticism. While 

 some half dozen persons, yourself in- 

 cluded, are crying great is Diana of 

 the out-apiaries, do please drop a 

 few crumbs of comfort for such as m\'- 

 self, where age and other things pre- 

 vent ovir starting out-apiaries. We 

 don't wish to sit on the fence whittling 

 rails for a year or more waiting for 

 you fellows to come in on the home- 

 stretch, bragging about what ypu li^V§ 

 done, V 



