72 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 30, 



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OLDEST ea PAPER 



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5i^i5l^\^S'il,55&^J 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 



Editors and Proprietors, 



56 FittJi Aveaxie, - CUICAGO, ILL. 



BEGULAK CONTRIBUTORS : 



G. M. Doolittle, Of New York. Prof. A. J. Cook, of California. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, of Illinois. Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Georgia. 



J. H. Martin, of California. Rev. E. T. Abbott, of Missouri. 



Chas. Dadant & Son, of Illinois. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.) 



Vol. inVI, CEiCA&O, ILL,, JAN. 30, 1896. No, 5, 



An Open Wintei- is what we have hart in this locality so 

 far (Jan. 2.5). We prefer a steady, cold winter, as we believe such 

 is more conducive to good health. We have noticed that oftener 

 " la grippe" attacks the people in mild, open winters. Ever since 

 Jan. 1, we have been suffering from an insidious invasion of his 

 " grippy lordship," and about concluded that either we had the 

 grippe, or else the grippe bad us— perhaps it is both combined. At 

 any rate, we are quite willing to " part company " with our com- 

 mon enemy — Mr. Hold-on Grippe. 



Xlic California " Raniblei- *' (known also as John H. 

 Martin) begins a series of articles in this issue of the Bee Journal. 

 He's better known to the readers of Gleanings, but we think very 

 soon our readers will feel pretty well acquainted with him. His 

 Bee Journal articles will have less of the rambling feature, and 

 more of the practical in them. 



With Prof. Cook and Rambler to represent them, the Pacific 

 Coast beekeepers and their interests should be well taken care of 

 in the American Bee Journal. Both of them understand well the 

 apiarian requirements in that region of our great country, and 

 will no doubt see to it that bee-keeping matters there are placed in 

 a proper light before the world. Our California and other Pacific 

 Coast readers, we are sure, will hail with delight the articles from 

 the pens of these two helpful apiarian workers and writers. 



Xlie Chicago Convention Report is begun this week, 

 on page 69. It was hard work to report it, as it was, with one 

 exception, all discmsion, the only semblance of an essay being the 

 letter on sweet clover, by Mr. Baldridge. As will be noticed, Mr. 

 E. R. Root served as secretary, and we are sure all will agree that 

 he has done his work exceedingly well, especially as he is not a 

 shorthand reporter. Surely, a vote of thanks is due Mr. Root for 

 his faithful services. 



We regretted to see that so few of those present became mem" 

 bers; also, that more of the local bee-keepers did not " turn out." 

 Most of those located near Chicago had a fairly good crop of honey 

 last season, and we fully expected to see them at the meeting. 

 When a bee-convention comes so near to our homes, it seems to us 

 we should attend if at all possible. You know "the more the 

 merrier" applies particularly to conventions of any kind. We 

 hope that hereafter whenever there is a bee-meeting held near the 

 home of any bee-keeper, he will be present, and not only get as 

 many more to attend as he can, but also pay the annual dues and 

 become a member. 



Sontli Water Street Information. — In a recent Chi- 

 cago daily newspaper we found the following about the condition 

 of honey and the market on South Water street, where are lo- 

 cated about all the dealers in farm produce: 



HoxET IX Demand. — ■ Good white clover honey is always in 

 demand," said a South Water street commission-dealer yesterday. 

 '■ The supply this year is well up to the average yield, which is 

 never heavy. Prices are from I'iJ.i to 13 cents a pound. Don't 

 always think that honey is adulterated because of its color. Clover 

 yields the only white honey. Buckwheat colors the honey until it 

 is as dark as any adulteration dare be. One of the prettiest 

 honeys is the amber, which is the result of the bees feeding on the 

 basswood flowers." 



Of course the great ( ?) honey-man was speaking about comb 

 honey. It will be news to most bee-keepers that "Clover yields 

 the only white honey !" And that amber honey "is the result of 

 the bees feeding on the basswood flowers!" Wonderful is the be- 

 ginner in the honey-commission business! The above is almost 

 equal to the idea discovered in the cranium of one new honey- 

 dealer the past fall, who thought that because a few cans of honey 

 had become granulated, it must be adulterated! Oh, what a 

 vacuum in that fellow's head! And yet, he wanted to be consid- 

 ered a big honey-dealer ! 



Beeswax Exiiibit and IVIetliegliii. — A Connecticut 

 subscriber asks the following questions: 



1. Will some one please tell, through the Bee Journal, how to 

 put up beeswax in fancy shapes for exhibiting at fairs ? 



2. Can metheglin be made of honey-dew ? 



Any one who can answer the above is requested to do so. As 

 Mrs E. Whitcomb, of Friend, Nebr., has been very successful in 

 making beautiful beeswax things for exhibition purposes, perhaps 

 she will kindly tell how she does it. And if we remember rightly, 

 Mr. Whitcomb knows something about metheglin — maybe not 

 about the tasti' of it ! — but whether honey -dew would be suitable for 

 that purpose. But why not make honey-vinegar instead of me- 

 theglin >. There are too many intoxicating drinks already, we 



think. 



■^--•-^ 



'I'lie Apiarian Indnstry in tlie I'nited States is 



a development of the last 40 years, although isolated individuals 

 were engaged in this work long prior to that time. The impor- 

 tance of the industry at the present day is not generally realized, 

 and the following figures will probably be surprising to many well- 

 informed individuals : 



Apiarian societies in the United States 110 



Apiarian journals 9 



Steam factories for the manufacture of bee-hives and 



apiarian implements 15 



Honey produced in the United States in 1869 (accord- 

 ing to United States Census Report) pounds. . 14,702,815 



Honey produced in the United States in 1889 (accord- 

 ing to United States Census Report) pounds.. 63,894,186 



Persons engaged in the culture of bees (estimated) 300,000 



Honey and wax produced, at wholesale rates (Eleventh 



Census) 87,000,000 



Estimate of the present annual vsdue of apiarian prod- 

 ucts $20,000,000 



The above Is taken from a circular recently sent out by the 

 Department of Agriculture, at Washington, D. C. While some of 

 the foregoing figures may be correct, it is pretty safe to say that 

 others are hardly reliable. In fact, it is very diflicult to get at the 

 actual figures when it comes to a subject of this kind. For 

 instance, look at these two paragraphs, which are based on Gov- 

 ernment Reports of the honey crop: 



In 1809 five States produced over 1,000,000 pounds each, and 

 seven States produced none. Illinois led with 1.547,178 pounds, and 

 North Carolina followed with 1,404,040 pounds. South Dakota 

 producing the least— 110 — of those that produced any at all; Neva- 

 da followed with the next least amount credited to one State, 363 

 pounds. 



In 1879 two States, New York and Tennessee, produced each 

 over 3.000,000, and ten other States produced each, over 1,000.000 

 pounds. Illinois produced 1.310.138, and North Carolina 1,591,590 

 pounds ; South Dakota prod9Pe*1J,'r8(); and Nevada 24,296 pounds. 

 New Mexico produced the least, 450 pounds, and only four states 

 produced none. 



Now. just compare the honey produced in Dlinois with that of 

 North Carolina, as given in the Reports. Who believes that the 

 latter State in any year produces one-tenth as much honey as the 

 former ? And yet, in 1879 the figures show that North Carolina 

 produced wore honey than Illinois! and in 1869 almost as much. It 



