88 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 61 



j(S (■ OLDEST! 



BEE PAPER (fHy 



kijrtfliCA — "^ 



f^, mmiQ^ 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 



Editors and Proprietors, 



50 FiftlL Avenue. - CHICAGO, II^l.. 



REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS : 



G. M. Doolittle, of New Ynrli. Prof. A. J. Cool;, ot California. 



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



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



Cbas. Dadant & Son, of Illinois. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Entered at the Post-Ofiace at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.] 



Vol.. nXVI, CEiCA&O, ILL,, FEB, 6, 1896. No, 6, 



Xlie Illinois Convenliou Report is omitted this 

 ■week on account of more of it not getting here from the reporter 

 in time. We hope, after this week, to complete it as rapidly as 

 possible without any further break. 



Won't Oet I'neasy if you do not see your contribution 

 in the next number of the Bee Journal receired after you send it 

 in. At this time of the year we are always crowded with certain 

 kinds of matter, but intend to accommodate as many as possible 

 and as fast as we can. So if you don't see your letter or article in the 

 Bee Journal as promptly as you would like, just remember there is 

 a good reason for it, and that in all probability it will appear in 

 due time. 



Mr. 3. W. ¥oung:*!i .^pisiry, on the first page this 

 week is certainly a very neat one. He tells about himself and his 

 bee-keeping experience in the following few paragraphs : 



Friend York:— My first interest in bees began in 1840, when 1 

 found a swarm on our farm. I hived them, and from that time to 

 this I have been a crank on the honey-bee. I have studied its hab- 

 its, and secured all other information obtainable, and will cheer- 

 fully admit that I lack being posted on all points. 



My method ot bee-culture does not agree with the general re- 

 ports. I have paid out .?600, besides time, and I am still in the 

 field. In isro 1 got the idea of frame hives, and that year 1 had 

 1,800 pounds of comb honey, and increased from IS colonies, spring 

 count, to 37. Then we had no foundation or starters. My frames 

 18x12 inches, entirely too deep. 



I have two lots 25x13,") feet for my apiary, planted to peach and 

 boxelder, 12 feet apart, which gives a solid shade. The hives front 

 to the east. I keep about 40 colonies of bees on hand, not for prof- 

 it, but for pastime. I am 03 years of age, and will devote the bal- 

 ance of my time to reading the American Bee Journal and study- 

 ing the " little, busy bee." J. W, Youxg, 



Reliable Coniniijiision Dealers. — Gleanings is trying 

 to do some very commendable work in the line of getting honey 

 commission houses or firms to agree not to adulterate honey them- 

 selves, or handle any that is adulterated. We extract these two 

 paragraphs from an editorial by Editor Root referring to the sub- 

 ject: 



We are getting all the commission houses to send us an afiida- 

 vit to the effect that they will neither adulterate honey with glu- 

 cose or any other inferior sweet, nor will they handle any adulter- 

 ated honey of any sort if they know it. So far, nearly all have 

 subscribed to the statement. Three or four have not yet responded, 

 but we suppose they will when they get around to it. At all 

 events, the list will be simmered down strictly to those who will 

 agree under affidavit to handle only pure goods. 



This was done, not because we doubted the integrity of the 



honey-men who furnish the quotations so much as because we 

 desired to weed out any who might hesitate to give us the required 

 affidavit. And then, too, it gives them nU notice what we expect 

 of them. If any of them should be discovered dabbling in honey- 

 adulterations after they had given us their sworn statement, don't 

 you see we should then be in a position to learn what their oath 

 meant in court ? 



We should be glad to know that such " affidavits " would do 

 any good in the way of the prevention of honey-adulteration, but 

 we haven't much coafidence in them. Any firm that would so 

 criminally demean itself as to adulterate honey with glucose would 

 undoubtedly be quite willing to sign the affidavit. Such people 

 don't know what a conscience is, neither do they care to do right 

 so long as it is more money in their pockets to do the other thing. 



But '«' do not believe that the great adulterators of honey in 

 Chicago, or any other city, are the commission firms, by any 

 means. While a few of them may stoop to such nefarious work, 

 we think the bulk of it is done by the wholesale grocers, and those 

 who mis up and fix up the vile table syrups of questionable com- 

 position which they palm off on a public that have almost ceased 

 to be suspecting — except when it comes to honey. Many city peo- 

 ple have so long abused their helpless palates and stomachs that 

 they are now without the ability to discriminate between the good 

 and the bad in the line of sweets. Then, again, many seem to 

 think if they can get a heap very cheap it will " fill up " just as 

 fast as if they paid more for a better quality. 



While we don't want to discourage anything in the line under- 

 taken by Gleanings, yet we can't help feeling that the commission 

 men might as well be asked to sign an agreement that they will be 

 honest, and not take such miserable advantage of the honey-pro- 

 producers as some of them do. And this leads us to say that just 

 recently one Chicago honey-dealer bought of another, a lot of fine 

 white comb honey for only 10 cents a pound! Some good ex- 

 tracted was sold at 4 cents, and some other fair comb honey for 8 

 cents. Now, we'd like to know how much the shipper or producer 

 is going to get out of those prices, after deducting freight cartage, 

 and 10 per cent, commission ! 



We have been told more than once, the past two or three 

 months, that honey-dealers can buy honey of some other dealers 

 right on the same street, for hsx money than they would have to 

 pay to the bee keepers who ship it in! Do you say, "How can 

 that be t" 'Tis easy enough. When a bee-keeper sends his honey 

 to an unreliable commission firm, he is at the mercy of that firm; 

 they can sell the honey for just what they please, and then turn 

 over to the bee-keeper the amount less high freight, higher cart- 

 age, and highest commissions. There you are. 



We think, what bee-keepers need is a honey depot in every 



large city, in charge of a reliable man, who will do his best to 



create a demand and uphold the honey market, instead of putting 



in his time mainly in criminally "holding up '' bee-keepers " for 



revenue only." 



.*-•-•' 



Xlie Ontario Convention, held at Brautford the mid- 

 dle of January, we understand was well attended, and great inter- 

 est evinced in the proceedings. 



Weatli of Mrs. I.iynian C Root.— The sad intelli- 

 gence reaches us of the death of Mrs. Libbie Quinby Root, only 

 daughter of Moses Quinby, and wife of Lyman C. Root, which 

 occured at her home in Stamford, Conn., Jan. 16, 1896. Mrs. Root 

 was stricken with paralysis on the morning of the 15th, and died 

 the following morning. Mr. P. H. Elwood, of Starkville, N. Y., 

 wrote us as follows about her; 



Mrs. Root was a woman of rare intelligence, and had she given 

 her attention to literary pursuits, would have gained celebrity. 

 She was an easy writer of choice English. Beekeepers kuew her 

 as literary editor of the book, "Quiuby's Bee-Keeping," and later 

 of the same as revised by her husband. The sketches from which 

 the engravings were made for these books were also from her pen. 

 She was a natural artist, and in drawing or painting from Nature 

 displayed genuine artistic talent. 



Her highest ambitions centered in her home, and in the educa- 

 tion of her daughters. No matter how busy with household duties, 

 or in the entertainment of visiting bee-keepers, time was found for 

 the daily lessons of the girls, and also for reading and discussing 

 with the family the best books and literature. In thus giving her 

 life so unselfishly to the improvement of others, her own character 

 developed by the maturing of those qualities of mind and heart 

 that must endure forever. It is gratifying to be able to state that 

 her husband and family fully appreciated her many excellent 



