180 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 10, 1904. 



of it. He brought out a jar that was nearly empty, containing a long- 

 handled spoon with which to dip it out. So with excellent brown bread 

 and "York's Honey," and some other things, we had a good meal. 



We may say that we could not resist the temptation to give the 

 colored waiter our personal card when he placed the honey on the 

 table. You should have seen his eyes bulge out when he saw the same 

 . name on the card as appeared on the honey-label. He added, " Well^ 

 sah, dat honey am all right, sah, anyway." We told him that we 

 knew it was absolutely pure. 



At the hotel in Madison we also called for honey, and were served 

 with some of Wisconsin's best comb honey. 



What we wish to suggest is, that whenever bee-keepers are away 

 from home, and it is necessary for them to patronize hotels, restau- 

 rants, etc., they should always call for honey. It may very often 

 occur that they will not get it, but it will do no harm to ask for it, 

 and, if such requests are repeated, those who are in charge are more 

 than likely to serve honey later on. 



Honey should appear on every bill of fare that is printed for use 

 in any hotel or restaurant. We know of no better way to help bring 

 about such a reform than for bee-keepers to make repeated requests 

 for honey when eating in public places. 



Coppections in Average Yields of Honey. 



Two errors have been noted in the list of " Big Average Yields of 

 Honey," page 51. The average of Dr. C. C. Miller is put down at 231. 

 According to the General Manager's report it should be 169. Even 

 with the corrected figures as given on page 4, it should be only 323. 



The other error is the omission of Otto Sueltenfuss, of Texas, 

 from the list. Mr. Sueltenfuss writes : 



"In the spring of 1903 I increased, by natural swarming, to 31 col- 

 onies, and CT.tracted from that number, too The yield of extracted 

 honey was 2760 pounds, as in the General Manager's report. But the 

 1260 pounds of bulk comb honey were taken from 31 of the colonies. 

 Now, if 100 pounds of comb honey are estimated as equaling 150 

 pounds of extracted, then my average yield per colony would be \59 

 pounds. If the comb had been yielded by the 34 colonies, then the 

 average would be 136 pounds per colony. Isn't that right?" 



Evidently the 159 pounds average is obtained by dividing the ex- 

 tracted among the 34, and the comb among the 34, and then adding 

 together the two averages. That will hardly do, for it would be get- 

 ting only the average of the 34 colonies. Neither would it be correct 

 for them, for it would be assuming that each of the 34 stored as much 

 extracted as each of the remaining 10, and the comb honey besides. 

 The correct amount is to be obtained after this fashion : 



Adding 50 percent to the 1260 pounds of comb honey to reduce it 

 to extracted honey gives 1S90 pounds, and adding to that the 2760 

 pounds makes 4650 pounds, and for 34 colonies that would be an aver- 

 age of nearly 137 pounds. 



( 



Miscellaneous Items 





Mr. J. Q. Smith, of Logan Co., 111., was the first bee-keeper to 

 call on us in our new office at 334 Dearborn St., March 4. Mr. Smith 

 is the inspector of apiaries for Illinois, and also President of the Illi- 

 nois State Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Samuel Wagner, as a great many of our readers know, was 

 the founder and first editor of the American Bee Journal. Mr. A. I. 

 Root, in a recent number of Gleanings in Bee-Culture, tells something 

 about Mr. Wagner and his work, which is at once so interesting and 

 of such historical value, that we are glad to copy it in these columns. 

 It is as follows: 



In the introduction to the " A B C of Bee-Culture," I have told 

 about getting acquainted with Mr. Wagner through L. L. Langstroth. 

 About as soon as I had looked over the literature of that day, and 

 found what had been done with the honey-bee, I learned from my 

 good friend Langstroth that an American bee-journal had been 

 started, and that Samuel Wagner kept it going one year, and then, 

 through lack of encoura^'ement, together with the lireaking out of the 

 American rebellion, it was discontmued. I at once wrote to Mr. 

 Wagner, and a very pleasant correspondence ensued. A copy of the 

 first volume, started in .January, 1861, and kept up till December, was 

 secured from him, and was read over and over again. More especially 

 was that part of it read and re-read pertaining to the Dzierzon theory. 

 I urged Mr. Wagner to re-commence the journal, which he did in July, 



1866, and I with others very soon became a regular contributor to its 

 pages. I am pleased to notice that one of the advertising sheets has 

 been preserved in our bound volume ; and among the advertisers I see 

 H. A. King it Co., Nevada, Ohio; C. P. Bigelow, Perkinsville, Vt. ; 

 Adam Grimm, Jefferson, Wis. ; A. Gray, Royal, Butler Co., Ohio, and 

 W. A. Flanders, Shelby, Ohio. 



Very soon I began to talk about comb foundation made of wax; 

 and my good friend Samuel Wagner was enabled to send me a piece 

 of foundation, or "artiticial comb,'' as we called it then, made of 

 black rubber. I think the impression was made by setting up types 

 made of ordinary type-metal. 



Information came in somewhere about 1867 of a comb-emptying 

 machine, and from directions I got from friend Wagner I soon had a 

 machine made, all of metal instead of wood, as the Germans made 

 them. Langstroth briefly described the German machine in a circular 

 put out ill 1867. 



While I was at work on comb foundation and the honey-extractor, 

 both Langstroth and Wagner encouraged uie, and gave me all the in- 

 formation they could obtain in regard to the matter. Many of Wag- 

 ner's letters during those years seemed to me of more value than the 

 articles with which he used to fill the pages of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. It seems to me unfortunate now that I did not save them. Wag- 

 ner {unlike your humble servant) kept himself and his personal affairs 

 very much out of sight in his editorial work. The pages of the old 

 American Bee Journal, away back, were principally occupied by con- 

 tributors. He very seldom added a footnote, iior interfered unless we 

 got to bearing on each other a little too hard. On one occasion he 

 administered quite a sharp reproof to "Novice;" but it was a little 

 paragraph at the end of my communication that he might have meant 

 myself or any or all of the rest of the correspondents. When it came 

 to exposing swindles Mr. Wagner came out pretty severely and plainly. 

 But there were only a few occasions on which he did this. 



The American Bee Journal for March, 1873, announced the sud- 

 den death of our beloved editor. The article was written by Father 

 Langstroth, who was at the time paying aivisit to his old friend, Mr. 

 Wagner. These two, Langstroth and Wagner, were a pair of God's 

 noblemen. As I look over the pages and recall the past, I fall to won- 

 dering whether we have &Dy, Just such as they were, left. May be act 

 exactly like them, but God forbid it should ever be said truthfully 

 that the good men — the real noblemen — are nil dead and passed away. 



It is an inspiration to us to know that the founder of the old 

 American Bee Journal was such a noble man. We wish we knew 

 more about him. He doubtless had a hard struggle with his new ven- 

 ture. It certainly was a risky undertaking. It has ever been so since 

 then, to start a new bee-paper, as most of those who have done so 

 could testify. The fact is, the field is too limited to give sufficient 

 support in order to publish successfully more than three or four 

 really good papers, as experience has abundantly proven. 



We wish here to thank the publishers of Gleanings in Bee-Culture 

 for giving, in their excellent periodical, the paragraphs we have copied 

 in reference to our honored and honorable predecessor. 



Chayote as a Honey-Plant. — We have received the following 

 from Mr. W. A. Pryal, which will be of interest to all : 



In looking through the Saturday Evening Post of Dec. 5, 1903, I 

 came across an article that attracted my attention. It was about that 

 phenomenal plant called the " chayote," which, at first glance, might 

 be supposedltolbe some relative of our famous coyote. The latter is a 

 good-for-nothing beast of small size, of the dog or wolf kind — the 

 other is a plant, as mentioned. So there is no relationship. But to be 

 serious, the chayote is a wonderful member of the vegetable kingdom, 

 if ive are to believe all the good things that are said of it in the article 

 mentioned. It is good for man and beast as a food. The writer says 

 " its practical uses are endless." I should judge it is a tuber sending 

 forth a vine that bears pear-shaped fruit, and blooms and ripens fruit 

 every month in the year. In a few months after planting, the vines 

 will yield as many as 500 fruit, some weighing no less than three 

 pounds. This is all very fine, and would induce us to try the plant 

 right off. It is going to be sent out, no doubt, ere long, by our Uncle 

 Samuel's seed and nursery department. Let's get a few plants! 



But, ye bee-keepers, this is not all ! Lo ! and behold it is the very 

 plant bee-keepers have been looking for these many years to fill a 

 long-felt want— and their honey-barrels, too. This, I believe to be so 

 from reading between the lines of the Post article. It states that the 

 plant is especially valuable to our fraternity, as it is wonderfully rich 

 in nectar. I have not been quoting verbatim, but just sufficiently to 

 let you know what a great plant this chayote is. Why have not the 

 bee-papers noticed it before? Or have they done so and I have over- 

 looked such fact? 



Chayote is a native of a tropical country, and may possibly be 

 grown in the more southern of the Southern States, and the warmer 

 portions (it California and Arizona. Let's watch the chayote. Who 

 will send the first car-load of such honey to market' 



We have had more rain— a whole day at a stretch again. It 

 stopped last evening. To-day was another of God's own charming 

 days. W. A. Pryal. 



San Francisco, Co., Calif., Feb. 25. 



Some months ago we published something about the chayote, 

 written by Kate V. Austin. Who can tell us something definite about 

 its nectar-yielding qualities? If it is what Mr. Pryal intimates, bee- 

 keepers will want to get it wherever it will grow. 



