78 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



GlEANmCS irB_EE CUITUHE. 



J^. I. I?,OOT, 



EDITOR AND FUBLISHUB.. 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



TERinS: $1.00 PER YE AK, POST-PAIB. 



IwIEIDIlSr-A., 1sj!L^A.:R. 1, IST'S. 



How can ye believe, which receive honour one of 

 another, and seek not the honour that cometh from 

 God only?— John, 5; 44. 



J. Oatman & Son's price list of supplies is at hand, 

 and it is a real pleasure to look it over. That they 

 are live, wide-awake, hard working business men, is 

 plain to be seen; as their prices are low, and no pat- 

 ents, I am sure they will have a large trade, and do 

 much good. Whoever produces good work, at low 

 prices, is a public benefactor. 



Dealers in Bee-Keepers' supplies should look out 

 for W. R. Story, of Sunbury, Delaware Co., O. His 

 specialty seems to be alsike clover seed. If he can 

 not get it without pay, he orders it sent C. O. D., and 

 then never calls for it. As we can get no letters 

 from him, we take this method of asking him to 

 "rise and explain," if he does not wish to go among 

 "Humbugs and Swindles." 



I AM "just as mad as can be." It is because the 

 A. B. J. has gone and kicked my smoker over, and 

 then said all sorts of naughty things about it; that 

 they would get fire into the bellows, and break, and 

 that they had all better be put into the Are, &c. If 

 they don't stop "abusin' of me," and saying that I 

 infringed on their patents, when I kept out of their 

 way, and tried ever so hard not to step on anybody's 

 toes that ever made smokers, I will go and invent 

 something better than them all, just for spite. 



We have just finished a fdn. machine having rolls 

 of solid copper, for friend Betsinger. It is perhaps 

 the finest piece of workmanship of the kind Mr. 

 Washburn ha.s ever made, and was made after Mr. 

 B's order, for the express purpose of rolling copper 

 wires into the fdn. Several rolls had to be made, be- 

 fore we could get a good clear solid copper casting. 

 Mr. W. says he would want .?13').00, to make another 

 like it. I do not think copper rolls have any special 

 advantage over the soft metal ones, unless they are 

 to be used for rolling wires into the fdn. Mr. W. 

 thinks he can make a machine to roll thinner fdn., 

 of the soft metal, than of copper, because the rolls 

 will then wear to a perfect fit, sooner than they ! 

 would with the hard metal. All machines grow bet- I 

 ter with use. | 

 ^ ■>■ ^ 



A. E. Manttji, of Bristol, Vermont, has sent us a I 

 sample section, that for beauty of finish of the wood, ■ 

 surpasses anjthing we ever before "sot eyes on." I 

 He calls the lumber "Popular," and I ha^-n't a doubt j 

 of it, for its beauty, after being finished up as friend ! 

 M. has the sample pieces, must make it "popular" ! 

 wherever it is seen. There seems to be Quite a mis- ' 

 understanding in regard to the tree called Poplar. ! 

 So much was said by our Southern friends about the ■ 

 poplar honey, that I asked for samples of the leaf. ! 

 Several sent them, but they were all our common j 

 whitewood, or tulip (Liriodcndron, TuUpifcra). Bot- ' 



any describes the aspen, balm of Gilead, &c., as be- 

 longing to the family of poplars, but gives no au- 

 thority for calling whitewood poplar. My impression 

 is, that the true poplar never beai-s honey at all, but 

 has a round leaf that "quakes" in the wind; and per- 

 haps it is this that gijes us lumber that is almost as 

 white as white writing paper, as friend Manum des- 

 cribes it. We thought our clear pine was nice, but 

 this leaves us "away out in the cold." Hurry up 

 boys, and do not let those "Down East" Yankees beat 

 us on section boxes. Friend M. offers to anyone, a 

 sample box free. If they were only dovetailed, in- 

 stead of being made for nailing, this notice might 

 almost swamp him, and I do not know but it will as 

 it is; he should not be so liberal as to offer a sample 

 free, for we are a great people, when one sends 

 goods free, and pays postage too. 



A FEW days ago, somebody came up behind me, 

 while I was writing with my type-writer as now; the 

 gentleman looked very pleasant and smiling, but 

 they always do when they come to ask questions, 

 and so I am afraid I did not look very cordial, as I 

 rose. I am really sorry my friends to be uncourte- 

 ous, but what shall I do? We have now between 25 

 and .30 hands employed, our buzz saws are running 

 day and night, without stopping, and still we are not 

 getting ahead of orders. The compositors are ask- 

 ing for copy, and piles of letters lie all round me, 

 waiting for directions in regard to their contents. 

 Yesterday I was unable to even so much as read my 

 letters hastily. Down home there is another blue 

 eyed little girl only 6 weeks old, and if I stop when I 

 go to my meals to get a glimpse of her and to see 

 that wonderful smile of recognition that the child- 

 ren are telling so much about, I almost feel guilty 

 because it takes so much valuable time. Last night 

 I wrote until after 11 o'clock, and I am at work again 

 this morning before 6. Now, I am not saying all this 

 to complain, but only as an apology, for not answer- 

 ing all the kind letters that are sent me. I have 

 been thinking that you might get a number of 

 Gleanings pretty soon, announcing that I was 

 found "gone crazy" amid a heap of letters all cov- 

 ered with interrogation points. 



Now, ask as many questions as you please my 

 friends, but do not scold, if they remain entirely un- 

 answered. I can not ad\ise you about going into 

 bee culture; nor about buying queens instead of 

 raising them; nor about the outfit you need for your 

 capital; nor about choosing a location; nor whether 

 you can make bees pay or not. Neither can T tell 

 you the price of bees, hives, nor of scarcely anything 

 else, unless I go and look at one of my own price 

 lists. I once deliberately decided on what I could 

 furnish all these things for, and had it put in print; 

 and soon as I find I can decrease the price, it is done 

 in print. I believe the price of Gleanings is §1.00, 

 but I shall pretty soon forget that, at this rate. I 

 know it is something of a task to hunt over the price 

 lists, but what better can I do? You may ask the 

 clerks all the questions you please, but I am afraid 

 they will give you answers that are not nearly as re- 

 liable as the ABC and price lists. We can not an- 

 swer you safely, yes or no: the answers almost all 

 need to be given conditionallj', and you will gener- 

 ally find the conditions given In the proper place. 



A customer asks the price of a bee hi've; before 

 answering, I want to know if he wants it for sec- 

 tions, or for the extractor; one or two stoiy; with 

 fdn. starters, or without; with tin sopavators, or 



