1878. 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



363 



r>!ippr. By the wav. Porrine is a freuius for calcu- 

 latins' upon possibilities. 



I am s'lail you arc cnttinj;- on sn nicely with your 

 paper and your business. I Iccep watoh of all your 

 movements, even if you don't hear from me very 

 often. But whv hive your advertisers left you? 

 Are your tevms to i his'h, or have you driven them 

 away, so von can h;i\e a monopoly of the "bee 

 trade?" W|jien are you g-oing to quit usinff so much 

 line tvne ? " M. M. BAT^DRiPfiE. 



St. Charles, 111., Oct. .'>, 1S78. 



Strit'tly spoalcinsi:, the worker bee is an un- 

 develo]ie(l female. Should we say she when 

 ret'errinu" to it? 



In old Enu'lisli the i)rononn "he" renre- 

 sented nouns of either a'ender; masculine, 

 feminine, or neuter. At the present time, 

 it is used when refei'rinjr to the individuals 

 of a- class made up of both sexes. It is also 

 used when we wish to rei)resent an object 

 as haviu'j: masculine (lualities. The fact 

 that the worker bees take upon themselves 

 tlie burdens of supitorting the f-tniily, makes 

 it mitiu'al to s.iy Iw when referrint? to one of 

 tiiem. and. by so doins?. do we not convey a 

 true idea of his character, if not of his phys- 

 ical foi'm ? 



.\ f:cie^»ly f^RiTicisra. 



eLEANtNfiS for Oetobor is on our table. 1 am 

 I much intt'vf'sted in fiLEANiNns, and have been 

 ^ . ^ one of its sulisc ib^rs since its first No. was 

 Issued; and T ('an saj- that it lias contained many ex- 

 cellent articles. "Our Homes." I have liked verv 

 much, yet there are some points which should be 

 criticised. 



I thinli its editrr takes a wrong course in reference 

 to fj-lucose petitions to ConffrciS, and in praisinsr his 

 own wares, and takinfi- \ip so much room in Glean- 

 ings for pul)lishin^:' letters from correspondents in 

 praise of waves received f rim him, and liy trentins". 

 with such contempt and indifference, letters from 

 some of the most practical apiarians of our land, 

 who oppose the course he talses. 



Now, if we left thinsj-s to talic their own course, ns 

 you sav with reference to xietitions to Congress for 

 the prevention of the adulteration of sweets, as well 

 as to remedy many other evils, and left uambline-, 

 rum selling, Sal)batli breaking', an<l other evils which 

 T miurht name, we would not lie doinar our duty as 

 fellow citiz US. I think it is our duty to contend 

 against evil in whatever shape it may "come before 

 us. If the better part of the citizens of— siy Medi- 

 na, O.— did not work for the suppression of some of 

 the evils of its section, but quiotlv left thing's to 

 talce their own course, the e\'ils wo\ild increase. 



There are humbug's and swindles published in 

 Gr>E\NiNf!S, which I most hearlils' commend; but, 

 right here, steps in the direct draft smoker of Bing- 

 ham's, a noble one, indeed, whicli was immediately 

 followed by the Simplicity, a complete trespass up- 

 on the former. In making- losses good to pntrons, 

 GtvE.vnings does more many times than I could ask. 



I write the aliove with tlie best wishes for your- 

 self and Glevninos. F. A. SnelIj. 



Milledgeville, 111., Oct. 17, 18TS. 



Many thanks, my good friend Snell. I 

 nray be wrong, it is true, and if, as you say, 

 you and the rest of my friends should let the 

 inatter p-iss, without even a remonstrance, I 

 might get worse and wm'se. Yon will per- 

 mit me to make a little defense, will you 

 not? In regai'd to 'Muy wares'"; I Irave often 

 thought of what you say, but Irave you duly 

 considered, that none of these wares are 

 patented, and none of them afford a l;irge 

 l)roht, tor the very reason, tlrat the manner 

 of making them is so fully described, in 

 Gleanings and the A B ('-, tlrat any of you, 

 can copy them and take the trade out of my 

 liands, if there is margin enough? in fact, I 

 arn glad to have you do this. More than 

 this, a better article than mine, and at a low- 



er price, has been furnislied by some of our 

 readers, and often by one of tlie ABC class, 

 at that. I try a thing, and am ])leased with 

 it; I give it to you, to buy or make as you 

 choose, and then you report. Sometimes 

 you give me considerable i)raise, and a large 

 trade springs u)). If I give my inventions 

 to you all, is tliis not right? Sometimes as 

 in the case of the parafine fdn., I make a 

 mistake, and get "Hail Columbia"' from you 

 all, ami it takes so unich of my money to fix 

 the nratter \^^. that 1 learn a "severe lesson. 

 Is this not riglit ? I thiidc it is. Ilemendjer, 

 I have no monopoly ; I do not advertise that 

 the genuine can be obt'iined only of myself. 

 Does not tint make a difference '? Should I 

 sto]) the A B C class from sending in their 

 rei)orts of hcnv they succeed with things, I 

 should spoil one of the most valuable de]nirt- 

 ments in oin- journal. Though most of our 

 readers are of the A B C class, is it not my 

 duty to consider their wants and wishes? 

 Perhai)s T have <>-iveu too much of the "Smil- 

 ery." and too little of the "Growlery" ; if so, 

 I will try and change it a little. 



I heartily agre(^ with you, tlitit we should 

 fight agaiiist evil in whatever form it ap- 

 pears. The grape-sugar nuitter will be con- 

 sidered elsewhere. It seems to me the smo- 

 ker matter h'ls l)een pretty well exhausted. 

 If Bingham's iiatent is a valid one, and my 

 smoker an infiiugement, I verily believe the 

 kindest thinu' ycni can do with nie. is to pros- 

 ecute me to the fullest extent of tlie law. I 

 know this is an extreme measure, but since 

 there are so many different oi)inions, it may 

 l)e the best way of settling it. If I arh 

 tramnling on the laws, I ought to be tautrht 

 obedience. I think I can i)romise to t;ike 

 the correction in a ])leasant spirit, for al- 

 though I have Irad finite a little deal with 

 friend Bino-h-nn. I have never received any 

 but i)leasint letters from him. Suits at law 

 need not, of a necessity, be quarrels. 



11^^ '^rcM^vn/' 



[This department is to be kept for the beneflt of 

 those who are dissatisfied; and when anything is 

 amiss. I hope you will "talk riaht out." As a rule 

 we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being 

 too personal.] 



'fip HOPE you won't put me in the Growlery, but 

 ?l| then you will do as j'ou have a mind to, and that 

 -^1 is the way to do. 



I have any quantity of fault to find with this last 

 order: — 



The triang'ular sticks with which you fastened the 

 wire cloth on the top and bottom of the nucleus 

 wliich you sent me with the imported (lueen are 

 splendid comb guides, and 1 shall use them. The 

 <iueen was all right, with only about a pint of dead 

 bees, and plenty of honey tor another journey just 

 as long- as they had taken. 



The way you widgL'd the frames was enoug-h to 

 (stop them from shaking) furnish me four more 

 guides for L. frames. 



The fdn. was enough for '.in worker L. combs, but 

 I cut them diagonally, 5 in. one side, and 11 in. the 

 other, for Am(?ric;in frames, and they do verj' well, 

 and are perfectly satisfactory. 



The tin rabbets in the nucleus are the first I have 

 noticed, and I think they are O. K. I don't see 

 much chance for sticking the frames down. 



The metal corners are as goad as the best thin^ 

 out, and I should advise everybody not to use either 

 corners or rabbets for fear they would like them. 



