20 
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
Feb. 
II ii .*« Tbu g l a ai i ®W i n cl I©® 
Pertaining to Bee Culture. 
[We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in 
conducting this department, and would consider it 
a favor to have them send us all circulars that have 
a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at 
all times maintained to prevent injustice being done 
any one.] 
"Ji T seems at present that our old friend N. C. 
illi, Mitchell, is most active in this field, and 
although we have already devoted consider- 
able space toward “helping his projects along,” 
we think it best to “stand by him” still further. 
His new field seems to be scattering circu- 
lars and asking various P. M’s. to assist him 
in getting “Agents.” 
We give below, one selected from the bundle, 
with notes in parentheses from our facetious 
correspondent who forwarded this; said lot 
found its way into his hands from the P. M. to 
whom Mr. M. had written a “pathetic” postal 
card. We copy the spelling, punctuation etc. 
verbatim. 
SPECIAL TEH MS TO AGENTS. 
Having opened up a QVJSEN breeding apiaky in 
the South, we are now prepared to furnish Early 
Queens and Bees for the Northern Market, and hav- 
ing made arrangments to raise ihe coming season, 
5,000 Italian Queen Bees. 
5.000 Nucle Colonies. 
1.000 Full Colonies. 
To sell all these, wc will have to have a host of 
Agents, and to get them we have determined to put 
ju ices down to agents so low that any one can take 
hold of it and get one full colony of Italian Bees for 
nothing. Wc will send every thing named for llfteen 
in our large circular for live dollars and for two dol- 
lars extra will send one inire Italian Queen Bees, 
(“one bees”) or for live dollars extra. Ten dollars in 
all will send one four full sized frame Nucle Colony 
of Italian Bees with Bees enough to soon make a full 
Colony* or for ten dollars extra, fifteen dollars in all, 
we will send one full Colony of Italian Bees. Every- 
thing named will be shipped at once (“that must be 
the ‘Nucle’ ’’) except the Bees and Queens. They will 
be sent the first of May from our Apaiarys at Indian- 
apolis, Ind., or Cincinnati, Ohio. Remember this 
offer is to Agents only and will remain open only to 
the first of February, 1874, after which the prices will 
be as before advertised. We will say that Agents 
■who will devote their whole time, can make $100 or 
$500 per month and local Agents can make from $100 
to $500 anually and loose but little or no time taking 
orders for us. Send at once and secure any Agency. 
Address, 
N. C. MITCHELL, 
Indianapolis, Ind., or Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Now if Mr. M. really is going to have 5000 
Queens and 0000 ‘‘Nucles" (whatever the latter 
may be) we will help him sell them with all 
pleasure providing he will first pay up old 
scores and send the queens already paid for and 
so long promised. 
We are sorry to say reports do not show 
favorably of his business transactions ; a sub- 
scriber just now writes: 
“A Westmoreland Co., Pa. man told me that N. C. 
Mii hell had sold Uve receipts for 060 In one day in his 
vicinity.” 
And again on sending the name of a new 
subscriber : 
“He lias made more out of bees than any man In 
the county he lives in, he uses the old box hive but got. 
25 Queens from me. He lately purchased a §10 receipt 
of X. -C. Michell. I wrote him that I thought Clean- 
ings would be worth as much as the receipt. 
I am not sure but he ought to have a back No. of 
Gleanings describing Mitchell.” 
Another in sending us one of the numerous 
letters which Mr. M. is sending to all parts of 
the country claiming he could teach any per- 
son to take from a good colony of bees from 
one to three hundred dollars worth of honey an- 
nually, closes as follows: 
“I enclose a letter which Rjicaks for itself. It was 
handed to me by a friend. Such nonsense should be 
exposed, although I am sorry for Mitchell, as I learn 
that he is in rather poor circumstances.” 
We too are sorry for the man, and more 
sorry that he does not scruple to take motley 
from his fellow men without rendering any, or 
any j-ust equivalent. We sincerely hope that 
he, and every other man or woman may learn 
that getting money by other means than fair, 
honest days works of either hand or brain, is 
sure to react sooner or later. 
“Bee Charms,” “Patent Hives,” and the like 
have almost ceased to cast an odium over our 
innocent branch of industry, and all that is 
needed more is the strong voice of the people 
to declare we will have all valuable informa- 
tion free, and we will put down at once all at- 
tempts to beguile money from the honest, and 
unsuspecting, by the smooth tongued skill of 
designing hypocrites. 
A subscriber asks if it were not proper to 
consider advertisements of Queens fertilized 
in confinement, as humbugs and swindles. As 
the matter rests now, wc should without hes- 
itation decide in the affirmative. If there ex- 
ists a bee-keeper who can succeed in the op- 
eration, we invite him to come forward and 
give a public exhibition of it to the people, for 
nothing short can be received as evidence ; we 
will answer that enough can be raised to pay 
all trouble and expense. 
More than one of our number in counting 
the time wasted in useless experiments to say 
nothing of the money, may be considered ex- 
cusable in feeling indignant, and our friends 
in Germany we have learned by private ad- 
vices, have had' their share of humilntiug dis- 
appointment. The matter seems to have been 
dropped by universal consent during the past 
season and we cannot help wondering if the 
very ones who gave the matter so positively a 
short time ago, are not beginning to think now 
they were mistaken. The fact that Mitchell 
even now advertises instructions in the matter 
is anything but flattering to-tlie enterprise. 
[For Gleanings.] 
CAN BEE-KEEPERS AGREE ON A STAND- 
ARD FRAME 1 
FROM E. GALLUP. 
EAK NOVICE :— Please say through your 
[I A Gleanings that If I were going to commence 
— ^ anew I should prefer about, the size of the Adair 
frame, [7io( the Adair SECTION by any means.] For a 
rapid increase of stock, queen raising etc. the small 
Hize cannot be beat but when we come to other con- 
siderations we certainly should prefer a medium be- 
tween the two extremes, and It certainly seems to me 
that the cxtremelst’s ought to be willing to meet halt 
wav and recommend all new beginners to adopt a 
medium and uniform size of frame. 1 would like to 
see this introduced as a resolution at our next Nation- 
al Convention, and adopted. Of course such a resolu- 
tion would not compel us old fogies to alter the size 
or stvle of the hives we already have. Still 1 think 
that 1 can see a great advantage that would result it 
all Bee-keepers used a uniform size and style of frame. 
Many thanks friend G. for giving us the aicl 
of your judgment on a matter that needs R 
sorely. Of course it is not necessary that wc 
