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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



names appear in Parsons' advertisement, 

 if bona fide, were incompetent witnesses, 

 and language can't express condemna- 

 tion deserved by the author of said ad- 

 vertisement. It is an item of history, 

 important for all time. 



One other item of history in the case 

 is recorded by Mr. Langstroth in his 

 criticisms of my "statements." He 

 says : 



"The bees sent to Mr. Parsons [the 

 bees in the three packages] were in 

 cigar-boxes into which the combs were 

 merely crowded or wedged ; the loosen- 

 ing of the combs on so rough a voyage 

 killed some of the queens, while others 

 were drowned, with their bees, in honey; 

 and others still, starved from the boxes 

 being overcrowded with bees." 



From this the reader will learn that 

 the bees Parsons, as employe of our 

 Government [champion for honesty, if 

 Mr. Baldridge backs him], failed to per- 

 form his duty that was entrusted to him 

 in the capacity of an obligated official 

 bound bylaw or conscience. Every bee- 

 man knows that bees could not be ex- 

 pected to survive a passage from Genoa, 

 Italy, to New York while packed in 

 cigar-boxes as described by Mr. Lang- 

 stroth. 



Mr. Baldridge takes issue with my 

 statement that — as he erroneously quotes 

 me— the United States Government paid 

 about $1,800 for importing Italian bees, 

 and got nothing in return. I challenge 

 him to refer to any record showing that 

 I have made such positive statement. It 

 is a matter of recorded history that the 

 United States Government attempted to 

 import bees from Italy ; that S. B. Par- 

 sons bought, as agent, ten colonies of 

 bees in Italy, and ordered the bees sent 

 to America. This incurred expense— by 

 whom was it paid, and how great a sum? 

 Mr. Mahan endeavored to learn the 

 amount of the expense of the importa- 

 tion. He told me he was informed that 

 the aggregate sum of the vouchers pre- 

 sented by agent Parsons amounted to 

 $1,800. 



I then inquired, by letter, of the Chief 

 of the Department, concerning the ex- 

 penses, mentioning that it was reported 

 that $1,800 was the sum paid by the 

 Department. The official evaded the 

 question, but mentioned that " it did 

 not near the amount you named." I re- 

 gret that I did not keep the letter. 

 Surely, the Government officials paid 

 more or less money on the vouchors pre- 

 sented for services and disbursements. 

 What was the sum total ? The records 

 in the archives of the Department will 

 afford the desired information, unless 



Mr. Baldridge "happens" to impeach 

 the record by stating, at this late day, 

 what he " happens to know of the main 

 facts-." 



Mr. Langstroth recorded that, "The 

 result of Mr. Parsons' dealings with Mr. 

 Hermann [who was sub-agent of the 

 Department, made such by Parsons by 

 reason of a contract to deliver the bees 

 as per order] was that for .$1,200 ad- 

 vanced to him, he [Parsons] had only 

 tw0 queens to show. The .$1,200 paid 

 to Hermann, as Mr. L. said and proba- 

 bly believed, was money out of the 

 United States Treasury as shown by the 

 indisputable history of the case. 



Mr. Baldridge calls on me to explain, 

 and thus relieve him of the pain caused 

 by his being racked with the " impres- 

 sion "he felt when reading my " state- 

 ments" relating to Parsons, whose an- 

 nouncement he [Baldridge] certified to. 

 He says : " But let me warn you in ad- 

 vance, to be very careful what you say 

 in reply, for I happen [luckily] to know 

 what the main facts are and were [?]." 

 His threat implies that he aimed to have 

 the readers understand that I do not 

 hesitate to record false "statements" 

 unless he does " warn" me of his flam- 

 ing sword. 



He says I am "one of the oldest 

 writers on bee-culture now living in the 

 United States." Yes, I am the junior 

 of Mr. Langstroth in age, but read about 

 and handled bees before Mr. L. appeared 

 on the stage, and I challenge any reader 

 to point to any incorrect "statement" 

 recorded by me ; nor have I bred queens 

 for sale, or falsely certified to deceive 

 readers — I have only tried to inform and 

 benefit readers — Pro bono publico. 



If permitted, in a further "reply," I 

 will show P. J. Mahan was, indeed, the 

 first who imported, and the first who 

 bred and sold, Italian queens. 



Richford, N. Y. 



*Toiil Brood; Its Natural History 

 and Rational Treatment," is the title of an 

 interesting booklet by Dr. Wm. R. Howard, 

 of Texas. It also contains a review of the 

 work of others on the same subject. It is 

 being sold at the office of the Bee Jour- 

 NAi>. Price, postpaid, 25 cents ; or clubbed 

 with the Bee Journal for one year— both 

 together for !|jl.l.5. 



Iloncy afi Kootl ttntl Ifledicine is 



just the thing to help sell honey, as it shows 

 ibhe various ways in which honey may be 

 used as a food and as a medicine. Try 100 

 copies of it, and see what good 'sales- 

 men " they are. See the second page of this 

 number of the Bee Journal for description 

 and prices. 



