189G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



763 



perfume and the gaudy colors and the drop of 

 nectar are all to the intent and purpose of get- 

 ting the swift-winged bee to accomplish this 

 most vital and important work in the economy 

 of the plant. 



I am very much in favor of "experience- 

 meetings," and some way or other a little ex- 

 perience-meeting got in just along here. T. K. 

 Belong, of Angus, Neb., reported 450 lbs. of 

 honey during the past season, from a single 

 colony placed on spring scales. He brought a 

 sample of the honey, and gave it as his opinion 

 that this large amount came principally from 

 heartsease. Some of the experts, however, who 

 tasted it, pronounced it mainly white clover. 

 He had only 20 colonies in his apiary, and only 

 one other of the 20 gave an equal amount. 



I shall not attempt a review of the papers 

 that were rpad, for you can find them all in the 

 American Bee Journal. If you do not take it 

 regularly it will certainly pay you to send for 

 the issues containing the papers and reports of 

 this convention. There were papers from Mrs. 

 Heater. Prof. Cook, L. D. Stilson, E.T. Abbott, 

 Geo. W. York, and others.; ■ — i 



The address of welcome was to have been 

 made by the Governor of the State; but, he not 

 being present, it was given by Lieutenant- 

 governor Moore, followed by one in behalf of 

 the State University, from Chancellor McLean. 

 Hon. Eugene Secor, of Iowa, responded by a 

 poem delivered ofl'hand, which will be given in 

 full in our next issue. It reminded me strongly 

 of some of the finest productions of Will Carl- 

 ton; and I hope the world at large may think 

 as I do about it. and that we may soon have a 

 book of poems from friend Secor: and I do not 

 believe it is best to wait until he dies before we 

 discover that, in point of merit, we have few 

 his eaual, either in the past or present. JD 



□ 1 must confess that I have not read all that 

 has been said in our bee-journals for some time 

 past about the matter of union and amalgama- 

 tion; but it was so well presented by different 

 ones at our convention that I believe I may say 

 truly there was hardly a dissenting voice when 

 it was proposed to take such steps as we were 

 able to take then and there toward uniting the 

 Bee-keepers' Union and the North American. 

 For some time past, as our readers may be 

 aware, nothing has been done in the way of 

 defending our bee-keepers, although quite a 

 sum of money is now stored up belonging to the 

 Union, waiting for an occasion to use it. r-i: _^ 



Dishonest or snide commission men are be- 

 coming so bold that the police are taking them 

 in hand; and yet the bee-keepers of America 

 are doing comparatively nothing unless it is to 

 expose them through the bee-journals. Away 

 out in Nebraska, corn is down or has been down 

 to 10 or 1.5 cts. a bushel. Glucose has come 

 down correspondingly, and the temptation to 

 adulterate honey and other sweets is greater 

 than ever before. These dishonest swindlers 

 are pushing ahead almost without rebuke. 

 With a live organization of bee-keepers with 

 only a little money — that is, a little compara- 

 tively, from each one — say a dollar a year, 

 more or less, we might be a terror to evil-doers; 

 and, God heloing us, we mean to be a terror. 

 gNow permit me to say briefly that our associ- 

 ation has done all it can do. We have framed 

 a constitution that was accepted unanimously 

 at Lincoln; and now we only await the concur- 

 rence of the different members of the Bee-keep- 

 ers' Union. I think the actual members of this 

 Union are now about 200. The money in the 

 treasurv is between S600 and -STOO. 



The next place ot meeting is to be Buffalo, 

 N. Y. The time is not yet determined. Our 

 good friend York, of the American Bee Journal, 



is to be President, and Dr. A. B. Mason Secre- 

 tary. These two have the matter in hand, and 

 know what was uone at Lincoln — at least they 

 ought to know, for they, with the best men of 

 the convention to aid them, between sessions 

 were busily engaged framing a constitution. It 

 was afterward submitted article by article, and 

 in some cases sentence by sentence, for the ap- 

 proval of the whole convention, and finally with 

 one accord adopted. This will be published in 

 our next. 



The actual number of bee-keepers present, I 

 believe, was between 50 and 75. Those of us 

 who were from out of the State were most 

 courteously — nay, I might say royally — enter- 

 tained free of charge at the hotels. If there is 

 a pleasanter or more comfortable hotel to be 

 found in Lincoln or in any other city in this 

 whole United States than the Lindell, where we 

 stopped, it has not been my good fortune to find 

 it. 



Besides our excellent entertainment we were 

 taken all over the city on one of the electric- 

 carlines; and finally Chancellor McLean march- 

 ed us through the wonderful buildings of the 

 Nebraska State University. We saw the 

 students actually at work, and finished up by 

 taking a hasty view of their beautiful library 

 building and contents. 



Lincoln is a most beautiful city; and in point 

 of education the Nebraska people seem to be 

 fully abreast with the times and the world, 

 even if they do sell corn at a price so low that 

 it is cheaper to burn it for fuel than to buy 

 coal. Long live Nebraska and the good friends 

 who entertained us so handsomely I 

 L I do not want to close without making men- 

 tion of the good women who brightened our 

 meeting and cheered our deliberations by their 

 presence; yes, and two of them brought their 

 babies. Nebraska, we were told, is about 500 

 miles long and 200 wide— big enough to plant 

 some whole European kingdoms in. and have 

 room enough then for quite a few of our East- 

 ern States to be chucked in one of the corners. 

 The soil is sufficiently fertile to supply the 

 world with both corn and sugar; and if there is 

 any thing else the world would like after that 

 is done, I think the Nebraskans would be will- 

 ing to turn in with a will to fill the contract. I 

 saw a few saloons in some parts of the city; 

 but I do not believe they are doing a thriving 

 business. The schools and theological semina- 

 ries in the vicinity are not conducive to a good 

 trade in intoxicants. May God help Nebraska 

 in the work she is trying to do 1 



THE APPLES IN OUR DOOBYAKD, AND CALLING 

 APPLES BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES. 



We were agreeably surprised, shortly after 

 having mentioned our beautiful apples in 

 Gleanings, to receive the following: 



U. S. Department of Agricultdre, 

 Division op Pomology, 

 Washington, D. C. 

 Mr. A. 1. R«()t:—Csk.n yon send u.s a few specimens 

 by mail of the apple "Queen Anne," mentioned in 

 the last number of Gleanings ? We are unacquaint- 

 ed with this variety unless it should prove to be 

 Lowell or Mother, of which Qi(ce>i .4?!)ie is a recog- 

 nized synonym. A miiiling'-box and frank have 

 been mailed you which will bring- the specimens 

 free of postage. Wm. A. Taylor, 



Sept. 3. Acting Pomologist. 



