THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



255 



Queens reared last year and queens rear- 

 ed this year in May show bnt little differ- 

 ence, with Dr. Miller, as regards the pro • 

 peusity of their colonies to swarm, bnt 

 queens reared this year in June are quite a 

 help toward preventi g swarming — so the 

 Doctor tells Gleanings. 



Shade for bee hives, secured by the plant- 

 ing of sunflowers on the south side of the 

 hive is objected to by Bro. Holtermann on 

 the ground that they hinder the free circu- 

 lation of the air and obstruct the vision. 

 There may be something in the last point, 

 in fact, I think there is, and it is possible 

 that there is something in the first one if 

 the apiary is a large one. I agree with ray 

 editorial brother in thinking that portable 

 shade boards can't be beaten. Why did I 

 mention sunflowers in the Review ? Be- 

 cause so many seem bound to have a living 

 shade of some kind. 



DEATH OF ALLEN PRINGLE. 



Canadians have lost one of their brightest 

 bee-keepers and truest men in the death of 

 Mr. Allen Pringle, which occurred on the 

 22Qd of July. Those who have read Mr. 

 Pringle's late articles in the Review know 

 that he was delicately organized, but his 

 strict adherence to the laws of health would 

 probably have carried him forward to a ripe 

 old age had he not suffered from a sunstroke 

 received last summer while in New York. 

 He never recovered from the eff'ects of this 

 stroke, and a few weeks before his death his 

 eyes became affected. Later, his eyes im- 

 proved and he rallied somewhat, but about 

 two weeks before his death he began to 

 gradually grow weaker and weaker until 

 tired nature finally gave up the struggle. 

 Mr. Pringle was a scientist and scholar and 

 model farmer as well as a bee-keeper, but, 

 best of all, he was a man of sterling integri- 

 ty, one who scorned to do a mean act, and 

 was ever ready with tongue and pen to de- 

 fend the right. He leaves a wife and one 

 daughter and many friends to mourn his un- 

 timely death. One of his greatest regrets 

 in leaving was that at such a comparatively 

 early age (.">.')) he should be compelled to 

 leave so much work undone. 



Since the foregoing was written I have 

 received a letter from Mrs. Pringle, its sor- 

 row and tenderness showing above all 

 things how true a man was her husband. 



A Condensed View of Current 

 Bee Writings. 



E. E. HASTY. 



YERY interesting and seemingly instruc- 

 tive pictures from the German are re- 

 produced on page 424 of Gleanings, relating 

 to bees' eggs and their positions in the cell. 

 There is however total failure to corroborate 

 them at the Gleanings apiary ; and the 

 whole matter rests in a state that 1 hardly 

 know whether to call entertaining or pro- 

 voking. It is no new thing (more's the 

 pity) for a scientist, even a great scientist, 

 to order pictures made when nothing in 

 heaven or earth agrees thereto. A case 

 where an artist made an evgraving exactly 

 from nature, and was compelled to engrave 

 it over again, and make it agree with writ- 

 ten text, was published not very long ago in 

 the newspapers. Perhaps we do wrong to 

 wonder if we have other crows of the same 

 nest in these beautiful pictures of bees' eggs. 

 The pictures show the egg nearly erect when 

 fresh, half turned down at 30 hours, and ly- 

 ing on the cell bottom at 60 hours. At the 

 Gleanings apiary combs with eggs aged 24 

 hours and upward had some erect and some 

 inclining slightly. Combs with eggs aged 

 48 hours to 71 showed almost the same 

 angles, sojm still erect, none entirely down, 

 although hundreds just hatched were about. 

 It has occurred to me that eggs might de- 

 port themselves differently from their usual 

 habit on tender, bran new comb in hot 

 weather. The soft thin film to which the 

 end of the egg is glued would then require 

 but a tiny trifle of force to distort it so as to 

 let the egg lie over : and every time a work- 

 er examined it and pressed against it the 

 process would be helped along most likely. 

 At the Gleanings apiary very likely the 

 combs were old, solid and tough ; possibly 

 the German observer had the opposite kind. 

 The physical difiiculty would be consider- 

 able in turning down an egg glued to a bot- 

 tom which was solid enough to resist distor- 

 tion ; but indentation and protrusion of cor- 

 responding points of the egg itself might 

 accomplish it I suppose. 



As to the matter of larvte being moved 

 about by bees, is seems to me that that was 

 abundantly proven long ago. Convincing 

 these brethren who can't see is too much 



