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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 18, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 Afioiig-an St., - CniCAGO, ILL. 



KEOnLAR 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. 



Barnett Taylor, of Minnesota. Mrs. L. C. Axtell, of Illinois. 



Cbas. Dadant & Son, of Illinois. 



$1.00 a Year — Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bnlered at the Post-Office at CbicaKO as Second-Class Mall-Matter.] 



VoLfflVI. CHICA&O, ILL, ME 18, m No. 25. 



The Amalgfamatioii Question seems to have 

 taken a rest. It has received some opposition, we know, but 

 perhaps the best thing now is to have a vote on it, in order to 

 discover just where those interested stand. The objections 

 and favoring ideas having been advanced, and possibly about 

 all being in, we should like now to see where the majority 

 are on the question. Why not have the vote ? 



A Foreig-n Leaflet on Honey, recently pub- 

 lished in the Review, contains these sentences : 



"I know parents, who, in times of epidemics give to their 

 children as an antiseptic, honey in abundance, and with com- 

 plete success, these children having invariably escaped the 

 illness." 



"The Creator seems to have united every property in this 

 remedy. Honey is not only sweet and wholesome, but also a 

 food, a blood-producer of the highest order." 



" Whoever takes regularly this bee honey will not only 

 be much better nourished, but will also be spared under ordi- 

 nary conditions, a heavy medicine bill, and will in any case 

 increase his individual capacity." 



Tare on Hone^'-Packages. — There doesn't seem 

 to be much uniformity on the part of dealers, in the matter of 

 tare deducted for the weight of five-gallon cans and the cases 

 holding them. A California bee-keeper reports in the Pacific 

 Rural Press that last year he was defrauded out of over 900 

 pounds of honey on account of too high tare on what was sold 

 for 15 tons. 



In Gleanings for June 1, Elitor Root, in commenting 

 upon this subject, said : 



"There is too great a variety in allowances made for tare. 

 The only fair and correct way is to allow for actual tare, 

 whatever that is. In round numbers a square can weighs SJ^ 

 pounds; and it is customary to estimate that a pair of cans 

 weighs 5 pounds. In round numbers, a box for holding two 

 square cans, without partition, weighs about 15 pounds, 

 although some of the boxes from basswood run slightly under 

 this, some going as low as 12 pounds. 



"When we receive a carload of honey in square cans we 



weigh the whole package, and then weigh the box separately. 

 As the weight of the cans is nearly invariable we get at the 

 weight of the honey. It is a little more work to weigh the 

 boxes one at a time ; but, as you see, it is the only fair way of 

 getting at the tare. It should te stated that, when the boxes 

 are made of hard wood, and have an inside partition, they 

 will weigh some more ; but it seems to me that every commis- 

 sion firm, if it wishes to hold its trade, should get at the actual 

 tare by weighing the boxes one by one, all of them. It is too 

 much guess work to estimate a certain amount for boxes ; 

 and, moreover, the temptation is pretty strong to put the esti- 

 mate high enough so that the buyer will be on the safe side. 

 I do not see how we can have exact uniformity ; but what we 

 do need most of all is actual tare. Let the bee-keepers and 

 commission men buy and sell honey at its actual weight." 



"From Our Pieigliljors' Fields" is the head- 

 ing of a new department recently started in Gleanings. It 

 gives promise of being exceedingly good. It ought to be, 

 when most of the " neighbors' fields" are generally teeming 

 with luxuriance and richness. Anything that the gleaner of 

 Gleanings can glean in our fields he will be more than welcome 

 to — even to the gleaning of full sheaves. 



A. Handy HiTe-Carrier is described in Gleanings 

 by N. Young, of Iowa, as follows : 



" I have of late been rigging up a contrivance or device 

 which I think can be used in many apiaries to good advantage 

 in moving light loads about the apiary ; and as the cost of it 

 is so trifling I think almost any one can afford to give it a 

 trial. Get a large-sized fence-wire, say 100 or 200 feet long. 

 Tie one end to the corner of the honey-house or bee-cellar ; 

 perhaps a good solid post near by, well braced, would be bet- 

 ter. Then tie the other end to something solid out in the bee- 

 yard, or wherever you think you want it; then stretch it 

 tight with a wire-stretcher. I make a car by getting a dry- 

 goods box, or make one large enough to receive a bee-hive. 

 Knock off the sides, then take two pieces, 2x4, about 20 

 inches long. Nail them edgewise to the end of the box; then 

 get two roller hinges and fasten on to each end of the box or 

 car, hang it on the wire, and you have the outfit." 



California Notes. — Prof. Cook recently sent us the 

 following paragraphs: 



Little Honey for 1896. — California will get very little 

 honey this season. There was some storing from the early 

 orange-bloom, and something maybe expected from the alfalfa 

 fields, especially where irrigation is practiced. However, it is 

 safe to say that the honey crop of California for 1896 will be 

 practically nil. 



The above should make all California bee-keepers alive to 

 the probable necessity of feeding bees to prevent starvation. 

 It is a curious fact that we get no honey in Southern Califor- 

 nia after winters of scant rainfall. Yet we do get often 

 quantities of flowers. Does this not come from the fact of the 

 lack of vigor in the plants which causes a failure to secrete 

 nectar ? Might we not safely conclude from the above that it 

 would be better to irrigate orchards, when possible, quite lib- 

 erally during winters of extreme drouth ? 



North American in Nebraska. — We learn that the 

 North American Bee-Keepers' Association meets this year at 

 Lincoln, Nebr., the seat of the State University. We are 

 pleased that it is so. Valuable aid will be secured from such 

 able scientists as Dr. C. E. Bessey and Prof. Lawrence Bruner. 

 These meetings are very valuable. We hope that many will 

 gather at Lincoln, and that there will be a strong program. 

 Surely, much will be expected from the able bee-keepers of 



