r.08 



;nul a Ion of eM r.i(tc<l ; trpatcd nl;out 40 cases of 

 1 lad; ))i-ood and hall a do/.cn of American; intro- 

 duced over .')() young quwn.s, and, not least im- 

 portant, kept the Honei/ Bee toddling along on its 

 somewliat wuhbly legs, all since I saw you last. 



Thanks for all the nice things you said about us. 

 More biscuit and honey awaits your next visit 



We congratulate Editor Bixby on liis 

 ir^iiccess tliis year, notwithstanding tlie con- 

 ditions seemed to be against liim earlier in 

 the season. While the crop of comb and 

 extracted honey was not large, it was a 

 great deal better than he expected, and es- 

 pecially for making increase from 381 to 

 500 colonies. But it Avill be remembered 

 that Mr. Bixby was an old beekeeper in 

 New York for many years. He then went 

 to California and now seems to be no in- 

 considerable part of the honey-producing 

 interests of that great state. 



Referring to those biscuits and honey, it 

 is almost worth a trip to California to 

 btimp uyi against Mr. Bixby's enthusiasm, 

 and enjoy the hosintality of hira and his 

 better half. 'J'hose biscuits! Words do 

 not de.scribe them, especially when they are 

 flavored with Bixby's honey. 



If he or she is flooded with a lot of 

 visitors who vvish to sample those biscuits 

 Mrs. B. will either, have to decline witli 

 thanks or charge it all u]) to the editor of 



OLK\NlN(iS. 



Complaints against Certain Advertisers; 

 when Patience Ceases to be a Virtue 



It is expected in the ordinary course of 

 busines.« that some little misunderstandings 

 will occur between the advertiser and his 

 customer; but all of these can be and usu- 

 ally are adjusted amicably. The chief 

 comjilaint we have is where the advertiser 

 of bees or queens announces that he has 

 stock on hand ready for prompt deli\'en', 

 but yet fails to deliver till some time after 

 I he order is received. In many and most 

 cases, if the customer wants a queen he 

 wants liei' at (uice. The delay may mean 

 (he loss of a wiiple colony. Sometimes the 

 stock is \ery inferior — much below the ad- 

 vertised specifications. Again, the adver- 

 tiser may (ill the order ])i()iii|itly, i)ut if the 

 queen dies, fail to re])lace. 



To receive a man's money and hold it for 

 a month, and then delivei' a (jueen, or sever- 

 al of them, is not doing business on ilie 

 square. Whih? we are not anxious to get 

 mixed up in petty quarrels, squabbles, or 

 controversies, we feel a cei'tain moral re- 

 s])(>iisibility in getting difl'vienccs adjusted. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



We may find it necessai'y to do a little 

 free advertising — tliat is, if some people 

 do not do better. In other woi'ds, we will 

 publish the plain unvarnished fact or facls 

 which will speak for themselves. 



We have certain advertisers who have 

 been with us for yeai's and yeaivs, against 

 whom we do not know that we have ever 

 had any complaint; but there are certain 

 other advertisers wliose records are not al- 

 together satisfactory. If any of our read- 

 ers lia\'e not been treated fairly by any of 

 them we shall be glad to do what we can to 

 get a reasonable adjustment; and failing in 

 that we may have to give somebody some 

 free advertising. It is not fair that those 

 who do a clean nice business year after 

 year should be comijelled to compete against 

 irresponsible people who do not gi\^e satis- 

 faction. 



Honey-crop Conditions; Prospects for 

 Clover Honey Improved 



The United States weather majjs and re- 

 ]iorts fi'om all over the northern clover belt 

 show that there have been fre(|uenl rains 

 e\ery few days since the fore part of July, 

 warm and hot spells following these rains, 

 during which the bees did some woik in 

 gathering clo\ er and basswood honey as well 

 as sweet clover. These frequent rains have 

 stimulated the gi'owth of clover amazingly 

 in the more northern states, so that even at 

 this writing it is still in bloom and will con- 

 tinue u]) to the lotli of this month, or e\en 

 clear up into September. In all of our thirty 

 odd years in connection Avith this journal, 

 we do not remember a time when white 

 clo\er and alsike stayed in blossom, as long 

 as they have done this year, especially with 

 a prospect that they will remain so in iuany 

 localities the rest of this month. 



Our subscribers have been very liberal in 

 sending in reports, and we have received 

 a larger number since our last issue than at 

 an}' time in the season. These all go to 

 sliow that the i)rospects foi' clover honey 

 have materially im])i-oved. While it wouhl 

 be iinwivie to make a positive prediction at 

 Miis time, there are many indications to 

 show that this will be a far better clover 

 year than last year, and it may even lank 

 as one of the good years. The conditions 

 (his season have been more favoral)le for 

 the i)roduction of extracted than of comb 

 honey, because the flow has been slow; but 

 I here may be a big yield of clover extracted. 

 But of one thing we are sure — there is from 

 a ligiit to a fair cro]) already in sight. 



Rejioits witli one or two exceptions show 

 thai basswoods have vielded well wlieic any 



