24 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Jan. 11, 1900 



I'UBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 



116 MicliiQan Street, Chicago, ill. 



[Entered at the Post-Office at Chicag-o as Second-Class Mail-Matter.] 

 EDITOR: 



DEPARTMENT EDITORS: 



Dr. C. C. miller, E. E. HASTY, 



" Questions and Answers." * " The Afterthougrht." 



LEADING CONTRIBUTORS: 



G. M. DooLiTTLE, C. P. Dadant, Prof. A. J. Cook, 



F. A. Snelt., R. C. Aikin. 



•^ Old Grimes." 



IMPORTANT NOTICES: 



The Subscription Price of this journal is Sl.u.i a year, in the United States, 

 Canada, and Mexico; all other countries in the Postal Union, 50 cents 

 a year extra for postag-e. Sample copy free. 



The Wrapper- Label Date of this paper indicates the end of the mouth to 

 which your subscription is paid. For instance, "DecOO" on your 

 label shows that it is paid to the end of December, lOCJO, 



Subscription Receipts.— We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay 

 subscription, but cbauj^e the date on your wrapper-label, which shows 

 you that the money has been received and duly credited. 



Advertising Rates will be g-iven upon application. 



VOL.40. JANUARY 11, 1900. NO. 2. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the follow- 

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolog-- 

 ical Association and the Philological Society of England: — Change 

 "d" or "ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding sound. Also some other changes are used. 



Careless Correspondents — Dec. 30 we received a one- 

 dollar bill for renewing- subscription, with a sheet of note- 

 paper in an envelope, but no name or address given so we 

 could tell who sent it. The postmark on the envelope was 

 "Treadwell, N. Y." We can hardly understand how an3' 

 one could be so careless. It is very annoying to us to re- 

 ceive such letters, and no doubt is the cause of much loss to 

 the careless people who make such mistakes. 



Everybody who pretends to do any business whatever 

 should have at least a rubber stamp with their correct name 

 and address on it, and then with it stamp at the top of every 

 sheet of paper they use. This would help out all right 

 when they are so forgetful as to write a letter and then not 

 sign it. 



"The Coal'Tar Products."— Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, 

 editor of the Britisli Bee Journal, but now in California, 

 wrote us as follows, Dec. 26, 1899 : 



On pag-e 786 (1899), Prof. Cook writes under the above 

 heading, and from what I can gather he thinks naphtha- 

 lene would act more surely in destroying foul-brood germs 

 if given to bees in their food. 



Allow me to caution bee-keepers in doing so, as other- 

 wise the result may be as disastrous as they have been 

 where the error has been made in giving naphthalene in 

 place of naphthol beta. 



Naphthalene, when placed in a hive, does not destroy 

 the germs, but, until it has evaporated, prevents the devel- 



opment and growth of bacteria. The constant presence of 

 naphthalene in a hive tends to prevetit the disease from 

 gaining ground. Of course, too much in a hive is obnox- 

 ious to bees, and they leave it, and in some cases brood has 

 been found damaged. That is why the amount recom- 

 mended does not exceed two balls at one time in a hive. 



For giving in food, naphthol beta (usually written 

 " Naphthol B.," to distinguish it from the Naphthol A. 

 series) only is used. I do not know what naphtha beta is, 

 or what its effect on bees would be. Naphthol beta, in the 

 dilution generally used, does not destroy the spores or 

 bacillus of foul brood, and its efficacy depends upon its pre- 

 venting the spores from germinating or killing the bacilli, 

 when the spores have turned into these. This is the reason 

 why it is recommended to have it always in the food given 

 to bees. There is no known chemical substance that could 

 be given in sufficient strength to kill the spores but what 

 would also destroy the bees. Thos. Wm. Cowan. 



Monterey Co., Calif. 



The United States Bee=Keepers' Association. — Gen- 

 eral Manager Secor's annual report for 1899 was received 

 at this office the last week in December, and reads as fol- 

 lows : 



REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER FOR 1899. 



To the Members of United States Bee-Keepers^ Association : 



The chief work of the Association during the year 1899 

 has been the attempt to stop the sale of adulterated ex- 

 tracted hone.v. 



The place chosen to begin operations was Chicago. 

 This was agreed on because it was thought that the laws of 

 Illinois were explicit enough and severe enough to warrant 

 an attempt to enforce them in the interest of pure food. 



Attorney Herman F. Moore, a bee-keeper and member 

 of this Association, assisted by George W. York, editor and 

 publisher of the American Bee Journal, proceeded to collect 

 samples of so-called extracted honey with the intention of 

 prosecuting the offenders, if on analysis they should prove 

 to be adulterated. Nine samples were selected out of a 

 dozen or more bought at different groceries. Out of the 

 nine, five were selected, and a complete analysis made for 

 use in court. That some of them were adulterated was 

 clearly proved by the chemical aiaalysis. 



Suit was brought in Justice court against one of the 

 retail grocers where one of the jars was bought, which on 

 trial was proved to contain 90 percent glucose. Notwith- 

 standing that fact, and notwithstanding the law and evi- 

 dence were clearly on the side of the prosecution, the Jus- 

 tice discharged the prisoner. It was a surprise to every- 

 body connected with the case, except possibly to the judge 

 and lawyer for the defence. 



Altho the bee-keepers lost the case in court, the trial 

 elicited so much interest, and was so widely advertised in 

 the daily papers, the result was that one of the leading 

 wholesale grocery houses (and the one, by the way, where 

 the very bogus honey in court was obtained) put out the 

 following circular to the trade : 



*' Pure Foods. — We believe the tendency of the buying public in the 

 future will be in the direction of strictly pure foods; and in our opinion 

 the result of this will undoubtedly prove highly beneficial to the health 

 of the consuming public, and unquestionably more satisfactory to the 

 jobber, retailer, and everybody concerned in selling this quality of 

 goods. 



" Adulterated articles in the food line are still on the market 



but we believe it will be to the best interests of all concerned to advocate 

 the purchase of pure foods as speedily as possible. Unless you know it 

 to be a positive fact that the article you are selling is absolutely pure, do 

 not sell it as such. If you are in doubt, make it known that way." 



The above circular was dated and sent out the day of 

 final trial. It lookt very much as if the notoriety which 

 Chicago houses were getting thru the papers awakened 

 them to the need of doing something to hold their trade. 



Therefore, altho the first drawn battle in the interest of 

 pure extracted honey was an apparent defeat, it seems to 

 have aroused public opinion sufficiently to do good. 



No further prosecutions were ordered against the sellers 

 of the other adulterated samples gathered, partlj' for the 

 reason that not sufficient funds were left in the treasury to 

 continue the fight ; and for the further reason that Illinois 

 will soon have a Pure Food Commissioner who, it is to be 

 hoped, will assist, if not take the lead, in the enforcement 

 of the pure food laws, including adulterated honey. 



It is the duty of the States Attorney to prosecute for 

 the people all violators of the criminal code, but unless 

 some one stands at his back and insists, and assists, he 

 evidently does very little. We found it was necessarj- to 



