1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



727 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



Mr. W. H. Dancer, of Decatur county, Iowa, made us a 

 short call week before last. Mr. D. had 17 colonies of bees 

 the past season, and secured about 2,500 pounds of honey. 

 Some of his colonies averaged 24:0 pounds of extracted honey 

 each. For a part of the honey he got S.'a cents per pound on 

 board the cars at his place. He reports that white clover 

 yielded again this year, and the prospect is that next year it 

 will do even better. We hope it will. 



Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, editor of the Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 view, has been very unfortunate in that his young daughter. 

 Miss Ivy, Is still under the doctor's care, and his wife also is 

 not at all well. We know something of the care and work 

 connected with publishing a bee-paper, which of itself is suf- 

 ficient without severe and long-continued sickness in the fam- 

 ily besides. Mr. Hutchinson surely will have the heartfelt 

 sympathy of all the bee-keeping friends, who unite most sin- 

 cerely in the earnest hope that his loved ones may soon be 

 restored to permanent good health once more. 



Prof. A. J. Cook, of California, wrote this in a letter 

 dated Oct. 29 : 



" I think we will have a good year next year in California. 

 We have just had over five inches of rain, which is exceedingly 



encouraging I should have been very glad to have been 



with you at the Lincoln conventiou. The only objection to a 

 home in California is our inability to meet with our friends in 

 the East, fraternally and otherwise." 



We are very glad to learn of the good prospects for Cali- 

 fornia bee-keepers next year. We are anxious to see how the 

 new Bee-Keepers' Exchange works, and that cannot be ascer- 

 tained until it has an opportunity to handle a good crop of 

 honey. 



Mr. John TuRNBtrLL, of Minnesota, writes us in a private 

 letter : 



" I am glad our editor is careful in regard to commission- 

 men, for I have very little faith in them." 



While it has been necessary for us to be rather severe on 

 certain would-be commission-men, we would have our readers 

 remember that there are also reliable dealers. Not all are 

 frauds, by any means. 



We are glad to know that our subscribers appreciate the 

 stand we have taken against crooked dealing on the part of 

 some commission-men, and we believe we shall not be disap- 

 pointed if we look for a substantial indication of that appreci- 

 ation on the part of honey-producers by a prompt renewal of 

 subscriptions between now and Jan. 1. We can assure you in 

 advance that such an " appreciation " would be felt here. 



Skylark, once such a highflier in Gleanings, seems to 

 have migrated (like other birds) to the summery clime, for in 

 the last Southland Queen he gives this witty reply to our pro- 

 posed " amalgamation " of himself and Somnambulist : 



"The editor of the American Bee Journal proposes that 

 Skylark and Somnambulist amalgamate. 



" Before I 'cross the Rubicon,' I would like to have one 

 very important question settled. It is uncertain whether 

 'Sommy ' is a man or woman. If he is a woman — a nice, dear 

 little woman — ' Barkis is willin'.' But if she should turn out 

 to be a nasty, great big man. Skylark would bo liable for dam- 

 ages, breach of promise, etc. 



" No, sir ; the main question must be settled first. I must 

 know whether I am to be a husband or a wife." 



As to the settlement of the main question, we shall have 

 to call on Editor Leahy (of the Progressive bee-keeper) to do 

 that. But, really, we have already acknowledged our mistake 



in ever suggesting such an amalgamation, for we soon saw 

 that such an ordeal would soon annihilate both " Skyke " and 

 "Sommy," and shat result was furthest from our thoughts 

 when first making the suggestion. Judging from the tone of 

 Skylark's sharp comment, we must conclude that it will be 

 more conducive to the good health and long life ef both him- 

 self and " Sommy,"— and also to future generations — if the 

 former remains in California and the other in Dreamland. 



Dr. Miller receives all kinds of questions from bee-keep- 

 ers, among them being requests for prices of his honey and a 

 description of it. In order that those asking the kind men- 

 tioned may save their time and stamps, the Doctor sends the 

 following reply for publication : 



"To this request and others like it, I can only say that I 

 have no honey to ship. I did have about 10,000 of comb 

 honey, but no longer have any to sell. I am thankful for get- 

 ting that amount from 149 colonies, spring count, but feel 

 just a little envious of the editor of the ' Old Reliable,' who 

 kept very quiet about it but beat me in the yield per colony. 

 I think the past was about the best season I ever had, except 

 the year 1882, when from 17-1 colonies I got 16,549 pounds, 

 a small part of it being extracted honey. 



"The 149 colonies of the past season increased to 271, 

 mostly strong colonies, but if they don't reduce the uumber 

 during winter of their own accord, they will be doubled up 

 next spring to make the number 240. At least that's what I 

 think about it now."' 



Hon. Edwin Willets, of Michigan, died in Washington, 

 D. C, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 1896, aged 66 years. Mr. 

 Willets has been a well-known figure in politics for a number 

 of years, and also held many positions of honor and trust. He 

 was a graduate of the Michigan University, was three times a 

 member of Congress from the district in which his home, 

 Monroe, is situated ; was President of the State Normal 

 School, which position he resigned to accept the Presidency of 

 the Agricultural College. When Mr. Rusk was made Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture by President Harrison, Mr. Willets was 

 appointed Assistant Secretary, which position he also held for 

 a time under J. Sterling Morton. Since then he has practiced 

 law when his health permitted. 



The foregoing paragraph we take from the Michigan 

 Farmer. We believe it was Mr. Willets who co-operated with 

 Prof. Cook in getting the Post-Office Department at Washing- 

 ton to make an exception in favor of allowing live queen-bees 

 to pass through the mails. This was of great advantage to 

 bee-keepers as all know, hence a debt of gratitude was due 

 Mr. Willets from the apiarian fraternity. 



The Alsike Clover L,eaflet consists of 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 25 cents ; 100 for 40 cents ; or 200 



for TO cents. 



^-•-^ 



Only One Cent a Copy for copies of the American 

 Bee Journal before Jan. 1, 1896. We have them running 

 back for about 10 years. But you must let us select them, as 

 we cannot furnish them in regular order, and probably not 

 any particular copies. Just send us as many one-ceut stamps 

 as you may want old copies, and we will mail them to you. 



The McEvoy Koul Brood Treatment Is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet ou " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for SI. 10. 



