792 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 10. 



CBQRCE: ■W. YORK, - Editor. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BV 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 IIS Mlcblgaa St., - CHICAGO, II.L. 



tl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

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



y«I. niTI. CHICAGO, ILL,, DEC. 10, U96, 1. 50, 



EDITORIAL COMMENTS. 



Union Officers for X897 are nomiuated on page 

 791, by a correspondent signing himself "Union." Among 

 them Dr. Miller is named for General Manager to succeed Mr. 

 Newman. We think this will meet with the approval of the 

 great majority of the members of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union — not because Mr. Newman has not done good and 

 faithful service (for he has done that), but because he is 

 located so far from the "seat of war," as it were, and by rea- 

 son of all his interests now being in a line entirely outside of 

 bee-keeping. No one will ever disparage the splendid work 

 that Mr. Newman has done while General Manager of the 

 Union for over 10 years, but having done his duty, and prac- 

 tically without pay, it is no more than fair that he should be 

 relieved of the burden. 



Of course. Dr. Miller's ability for the place, and deep in- 

 terest in everything relating to bee-keeping, cannot be ques- 

 tioned. He should be able to carry on the good work with 

 continued success. We believe he will, if given an opportunity. 

 And we think that all who have a vote in the matter will be 

 pleased to support him, and at the same time feel that they 

 are giving Mr. Newman a well-earned rest. 



As to the other men nominated, we need say nothing. 

 They are all sucessful, experienced business men, as every 

 bee-keeper knows, and will do their part well, if elected. 



Hurrah for all the nominees made by " Union." 



Amalgamation— Eucalyptus— Rainfall.— In 



a letter dated at Claremont, Calif., Nov. 26, 1896, Prof. Cook 

 has these paragraphic notes : 



I read with very much interest the action taken at Lin- 

 coln, regarding the amalgamation of the National BeeKeepers' 

 Union and the North American Bee-Keepers' Association. I 

 shall hope to comment upon this action soon in the American 

 Bee Journal. 



The eucalyptus trees of California are many of them now 

 in full bloom, and the bees are exceedingly active among the 

 blossoms. These trees must be of no slight value in way of 

 stimulation. 



We are just at the end of our fourth rainfall. We have 

 now had about seven iuches in all. Last year, at this time, 

 we had not had a drop, and we had only 10 inches the entire 

 season. No wonder that the bee-keepers and all others of 

 California are joyous with hope. A. J. Cook. 



End of yiriieadon & Co.— Last week an Iowa 

 bee-keeper wrote us saying he had shipped Geo. T. Wheadon 

 & Co., of this city, about 150 pounds of comb honey last Sep- 

 tember, and had written but received no reply. He wanted 

 to know whom he could get to collect the amount due him for 

 the honey. 



Upon receiptor tlje forepoiDg, we callea at the store wliere 



Wheadon & Co. did business, and found that Wheadon's sign 

 had been removed, that they had gone out of business a month 

 ago ; and were told that Terrill (who was doubtless W.'s chief 

 backer) had fled to Canada. We were told that Wheadon re- 

 ceived lots of honey during the two or three months he was 

 fleecing many unsuspecting bee-keepers. He probably made 

 his " pile" (of money), and then when it got " too warm " for 

 him he simply " melted away," leaving many bee-keepers to 

 wait for their returns — which failed to return. 



We hope the experience gained by those who have lost 

 through Wheadon & Co. will be valuable, and serve to impress 

 upon them the fact that it is somewhat unsafe to trust 

 strangers, or to ship goods to new and untried commission 

 firms. We don't believe a single reader of the American Bee 

 Journal was caught by Wheadon & Co., for we promptly pub- 

 lished them as frauds, and thus doubtless we were able to save 

 our subscribers thousands of dollars' worth of honey. It seems 

 to us that no bee-keeper could afford to be without the Bee 

 Journal hereafter, especially as it is published exclusively for 

 his benefit. Our list should soon be doubled, in view of the 

 fact that we are constantly on the lookout for honey-dealing 

 frauds, as well as always against honey-adulteration, etc. 



Importation of Apis Dorsata.— In this num- 

 ber of the Bee Journal Prof. Cook has an able article concern- 

 ing Apis dorsata and its importation into this country. We 

 have not opposed the scheme because we feared the big bees 

 would not be of any advantage to our bee-keepers, but we be- 

 lieve that there are other lines in which the Government can 

 spend money that would be incalculably more beneficial to the 

 pursuit of bee-keeping than to attempt to introduce the bee in 

 question. 



And as for Mr. Benton being selected to go after Apis 

 dorsata — we will withdraw all our objection to that, whenever 

 he shows a willingness to keep his past promises and obliga- 

 tions that were made in good faith. Until then, we cannot 

 conscientiously use whatever influence we may have in his 



behalf. 



♦-»-► 



That Proposed Constitution.- We have re- 

 ceived from Mr. Newman the following reply to our editorial 

 referring to his criticisms of the New Constitution : 



San Diego, Calif., Nov. 23, 1896. 



Having read the " editorial comments" on page 744, In 

 reply to my " criticisms " on the Constitution of the United 

 States Bee-Keepers' Union, adopted at the Lincoln conven- 

 tion, I am surprised that the Inconsistencies I carefully 

 pointed out are to be disregarded, and ascribed to my " vivid 

 imagination," traceable to the "exhilarating climate" of 

 California. If that is all they amount to, bee-keepers of 

 ability and intelligence should easily discover it ; but if they 

 find that I am watching their interests and defending their 

 rights (as I always have done) by trying to prevent the serious 

 mistake of "too hasty" and premature action — then will they 

 thankfully avoid the embarrassment which would naturally 

 result therefrom. 



There are many other "incongruities" besides those 

 enumerated in my "criticisms " on page 742, but perhaps 

 others may mention them, and so I will forbear at present, 

 and give them the chance. 



My argument on Sec. 2, Art. V., favored "sealed bal- 

 lots " to be sent with the Dues, which were to be opetied and 

 counted by the committee, etc. As postal cards are already 

 open, they were not referred to by me in that connection. 

 When accooipanied by the dollar, they will of course be In- 

 serted in sealed envelopes by all those having ordinary Intelli- 

 gence. 



I feel sure that to wibiased minds my "criticisms" are 

 mainly incontrovertible. 



On Nov. 3, I submitted the whole matter to the Advisory 

 Board of the National Bee-Keepers' Union to decide what 

 action shall be taken in the premises. Its decision will be 

 flnal. Thomas G. Newman. 



As so far, only Mr. Newman has seemingly been able to 

 point out what he calls " Incongruities " in the New Constitu- 



