728 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



J^ov. 12, 



(S f~ OLDEST BCE PAPER fJV^ ' " ^ 



LlJIEfiICA ^ 



^0^ mmto^ 



<SE:0RCB W. XOR.K, . Editor. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 MicblsBn St., - CHICAGO, II^L. 



Jl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Post-Offlce at ChicaKO as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



Vol. nXVI, CHICAPtO, ill, NOV. 12, 18%, no, 46, 



EDITORIAL COMMENTS. 



Tlie Cbicag'o Convention of the Illinois State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, as autiounced last week, will be held 

 Wednesday and Thursday of next week — Nov. 18 and 19. We 

 have arranged with the New Briggs House — northeast corner 

 of Fifth Ave. and Randolph St. — to hold the meeting in the 

 club-room there. The hotel rates will be 75 cents each per 

 night if two in a room ; $1.00 if one in a room. A most ex- 

 cellent restaurant is run in connection with the New Briggs 

 House, where meals can be had, paying for what you order. 



. The railroad rates will be one and one-third for the round 

 trip, taking advantage of the excursion rates of the Luther 

 Leagues of America, which meet in Chicago Nov. 17 to 20. 

 Don't fait to take a receipt from your local agent for your 

 fare to Chicago, then when here you can get it signed so as to 

 return for the one-third rate. 



Now, we want to urge every bee-keeper within 200 miles 

 (or further) from Chicago, to be present. This Chicago meet- 

 ing ought to be next to the North American in point of at- 

 tendance and importance. It can be made so if only bee- 

 keepers near the city will come out. Indiana, Wisconsin and 

 Michigan should also be well represented. At the last meet- 

 ing held here — in January — Mr. Ernest R. Root, of Ohio, 

 was present. He may be here next week. Dr. Miller will 

 preside. Come, and bring along your questions for discussion. 



Xlie 'Work of tlie Honey-Bee has been a sub- 

 ject of investigation and analysis by the French Review of 

 Natural Science, which finds that in fine weather a good 

 worker can visit 40 to 80 flowers in 6 to 10 trips, collecting 

 for all this labor one grain of nectar. The bee must visit 200 

 to 400 flowers in order to gather five grains. So under favor- 

 able circumstances it would take 14 days to gather 15 grains 

 of nectar. A pound of honey will fill about 300 cells, ana 

 would require several years' labor of one bee to store it. So 

 says the Frenchman. 



Rival Bee-Papers and Ttieir Policy. — In 



the last number of Gleanings, Editor Ernest R. Root has an 

 item on the above subject, which we wish to reproduce, as it 

 shows a condition of things for which we think there should 

 be the highest commendation, if not of gratitude. Here is 

 the item : 



Two rival editors of two separate rival bee-periodicals 

 took the train at Chicago, rode in the same car, slept in the 

 same berth, in the same bed, ate at the same tables — In fact, 

 were together much of the time for a whole week, and did not 

 even quarrel, nor were they jealous of each other in conven- 

 tion. Suppose, for instance, that the two aforesaid editors 

 were not on friendly terms ; that they went to the convention 



on separate roads ; that they sat on opposite sides of the con- 

 vention room ; that whenever one proposed a policy the other 

 would oppose it. The actual situation at the Lincoln con- 

 vention — in fact, at every other in later times — has been the 

 very opposite. At two different conventions the editors of the 

 American Bee Journal and Gleanings have sat on the same 

 chair. A very few delight in calling this condition of things 

 " mutual admiration." Call it what they may, it is doing ten- 

 fold more for the bee-keeping world than the other policy 

 could give. 



While Editor Root and ourselves are the keenest of rivals, 

 yet we truly bfelieve that each would spurn the success that 

 might come through the overthrow of the other. Both of us 

 are willing to " live and let live," and desire only to win hon- 

 orably and in such a way as shall meet the approval of the 

 best bee-keepers in the land I 



If the doctrine of sincere " mutual admiration " were only 

 believed in and lived up to, universally, this would be a very 

 different world to live in. Instead of decrying such doctrine, 

 all should strive to spread it until its beneficent influence 

 might be felt, not only amcng bee-keepers, but among all 

 mankind. 



California Bee-Keepers' Exchange.— Mr. 



J. H. Martin, the tireless Secretary of the Exchange, has this 

 to say about it in the last number of the Rural Californian : 



If anything pressages success in any enterprise, it is stay- 

 ing qualities. This seems to be the case with the California 

 Bee-Keepers' Exchange. In the face of a dry season and no 

 honey to market, the members have held together remarkably 

 well. 



The Directors have held several meetings, and always at 

 their own expense, and up to Sept. 1 not a dollar had been 

 expended for individual expenses. There is every reason to 

 believe that the Exchange will move forward to success, as 

 several factors are at work which give encouragement. 



We have the strongest reasons to believe that within the 

 next two years every pound of our best grades of honey (table 

 honey) will net the producer at least 6 cents per pound. The 

 Exchange is working to accomplish this desirable end, and it 

 can be accomplished if the bee-keepers will support the 

 enterprise. 



If the prediction made in the last paragraph above should 

 prove true, we verily believe that it would result in better 

 prices for honey produced by bee-keepers outside of California 

 also. It seems to us that the Exchange idea, when once in 

 working order, must be to the advantage of all, but particu- 

 larly beneficial to those who are members of the Exchange. 

 Every California bee-keeper should hasten to join at once, and 

 share in the promised blessings. Send your name and address 

 to Secretary J. H. Martin, 213 N. Main St., Los Angeles, 

 Calif., and ask for instructions as to membership in the Cali- 

 fornia Bee-Keepers' Exchange. 



Introducing Queens. — Young bee-keepers, of 

 course, follow the printed directions for introducing queens 

 that accompany them. But Rav. E. T. Abbott, in the October 

 Canadian Bee Journal, says he knows " a more excellent way," 

 and gives it in the following words : 



When the queen reaches you, if ordered by mail from a 

 queen-breeder, she will be enclosed, with some attendant bees, 

 in a small wooden cage divided off into two or three compart- 

 ments, one of which should contain food enough for her, and 

 the bees which accompany her, for several days. Over the 

 side of the cage will be tacked a piece of wire-cloth, and over 

 this a thin board. The board should be removed and the 

 queen examined at once to see if she is all right. Then ex- 

 amine and see if there is plenty of food in the cage to last the 

 bees two or three days. Tack a piece of thin wood over the 

 end of the cage which contains the candy, but leave the other 

 end uncovered, so the bees in the hive where the queen is to 

 be introduced can get at the wire-cloth. Pay no attention to 

 the old queen until you are ready to release the new one, as 

 per the directions given below. 



Place the cage containing the new queen on top of the 

 colony to which you want to introduce the queen. Place the 



