440 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 9, 



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PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 



CniCAGO. ZI^L. 



BEODLAR CONTKIBOTORS : 

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



Dr. C. C. Miller, of Illinois. 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. 

 [Bntered at the PostOffloe at Chicago as Second-Class Mall-Matter.) 



VoLfflVI. CHICAGO, ILL., JULY 9, 1896. No. 28, 



The Langstrotti monument Fund has been 

 languishitiff for some time. So far we have received only 

 $2.75, the last 50 cents coming from Brooks D. Cook, of 

 Wilton, N. H. When remitting, Mr. Cook wrote thus : 



Fribnd York :— I enclose 50 cents as ray donation to the 

 Langstroth Monument Fund. May the bee-keeping fraternity 

 respond to this cause with alacrity, is the wish of a novice ex- 

 bee-keeper. Yours truly. 



Brooks D. Cook. 



We are ready to acknowledge in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal all contributions that bee-keepers may feel like sending 

 in. Probably as soon as the honey crop is sold, all will feel 

 better able to spare something for this worthy object. No 

 doubt every bee-keeper in the world will be glad to contribute, 

 and thus have a part in the erection of a suitable monument 

 to the memory of Father Langstroth, to whom modern apicul- 

 ture owes so much for its past and present success, and prom- 

 ise of future advancement. 



Keeping- "Well.— Editor Hutchinson, in the May 

 Review, says this : ' 



"Keeping well is simply the result of wearing proper 

 clothing, paying attention to the right kind of bathing, 

 breathing pure air in a proper manner, and, most important 

 of all, eating the right kinds of food, which means, of course, 

 using the right kind of drink— pure water." 



That is well summed up in one sentence. But how few of 

 us can follow all the prescription ! 



Selling- .Honey.— There are many who desire to 

 know just how to realize the most out of their honey, for of 

 what avail is it if a crop is secured and the producer get noth- 

 _ ing for it? 



Mr. B. Taylor, of Minnesota, has had long experience in 

 almost everything connected with bee-keeping, and here is 

 what he says on the subject of selling honey, in the Farm, 

 Stock and Home : 



Forty years ago a merchant, when he wished to replenish 

 his stock, journeyed to some wholesale city and personally 

 selected his goods. That is all changed now, and an army of 

 trained salesmen travel to every nook and corner of the coun- 

 try, each carrying samples of the goods in his line. This is a 



costly method of doing business, which the consumers finally 

 have to pay, yet it has some advantages which producers of 

 honey may profit by, as the following experience will illustrate: 



Having eight 18-section crates of nice comb honey unsold, 

 we resolved to carry it to a neighboring thrifty village and 

 offer it to supply the holiday trade. On arriving in town we 

 first offered the honey to local dealers. Finding the two lead- 

 ing grocers, one, after much talk, said he would take two 

 crates (about 32 pounds) ; I expressed surprise that he did 

 not want the eight crates, as there was no white comb hoqey 

 in town. He said there was but very little call for honey, and 

 that o6 one-pound sections would make all he could probably 

 sell. We said if the dealers did not want it we would go out 

 and sell it directly to consumers by the crate. He smiled de- 

 risively, and said that would be the best way. 



We visited a second store with about the same result, ex- 

 cept he thought one crate would be all he could sell. This left 

 five crates. Taking a sample crate we went into the street 

 and sold the five crates to the first six persons they were 

 offered to, and at a cent more a pound than the dealers were 

 asked. In one hour we were back. The grocers were aston- 

 ished ; they said : " Why can't they ask us for honey-? We 

 would not have had call for that much in three months." We 

 told them we could sell 50 crates in two days, and we are con- 

 fident we could. 



The dealers were no doubt nearly right in thinking they 

 would have but little call for honey ; it is not an article of 

 necessity, and none but the well-to-do can use much of it 

 these times, and they do not search for it as a rule, but we 

 know by much experience that if fine comb or extracted honey 

 is brought to their notice, they will buy liberally. 



To ship our honey mostly to the cities, to be sold in com- 

 petition, is now a fatal policy for honey-producers. Friends, 

 develop your home markets, have your honey in first-class 

 order, and then solicit orders among your friends in town and 

 country. Many think it humiliating to thus peddle their 

 wares ; I confess we do not relish that way of doing business, 

 but would much prefer to be a well fed and well clothed 

 " beggar " of this sort than one to accept alms or go hungry. 



Bees^'ax and Honey.— We notice by the " Year- 

 Book of the United States Department of Agriculture" for 

 1895, just received, that for the year ending June 30, 1895, 

 there were '.•0,875 pounds of beeswax exported; and there 

 were imported during the years ending June 30, 1891 to 

 1895, the following amounts of beeswax: 1891, 379,135 

 pounds; 1802,271,068; 1893,238,000; 1894,318,660; 

 and in 1895, 288,001 pounds. 



There were exported during the year ending June 30, 

 1895, $118,873 worth of honey ; and there were imported 

 during the years ending June 30, 1891 to 1895, the follow- 

 ing amounts of honey: 1891, 47,740 gallons; 1892,70,- 

 103; 1893, 176,147; 1894, 152,643; and in 1895, 



67,444 gallons. 



♦-.-♦^ 



"Why Bees Swarm.— Mr. Hasty, in his "Condensed 

 View of Current Bee-Writings," in the Bee-Keepers' Review, 

 has this to say when commenting on an article written by Geo. 

 F. Robbins, and published an page 225 of the American Bee 

 Journal : 



Mr. Robbins jauntily says he knows why bees swarm ; 

 and he can tell us (e'enyraost) how to prevent it. Let me see 

 If I can't beat you at that. Friend R. Bees swarm because 

 there is a hole in their hive. Abolish the hole and swarming 

 is cured — I can warrant 'em. Perchance the Robbins' remedy 

 is not quite so illusory as mine ; but it may fail sometimes, 

 and mine will not. He takes away the conlentx of the hive, 

 and leaves the hole — and the bees. The objections are that 

 you have doubled your stock, and you may want to prevent 

 that; you have a lot of hungry babies that must starve, as 

 there are no nurses to feed them ; and you have a lot of 

 sealed brood that may chill in a sudden cold spell of weather ; 

 and you may get the whole thing scooped by robbers. These 

 combs can indeed be given to weak colonies, but only in a 

 small way ; and we want a scheme that covers the whole api- 

 ary. If he will take away the combs from several hives each 

 day continuously, and put them into a big, warm, tenement 

 hatchery; when the young bees get numerous ladle them a 

 few quarts into each original hive — well, I think that's the 

 direction from which morning is most likely to arise. Perhaps 

 the man who works out the finished details of this may be 



