676 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Oct. 25 1900. 



purity or wholesomeness. In Mr. Aikin's 

 locality consumers will take the candied 

 honey as quickly as they will that in a liquid 

 form, and pay as much money for it. Why ? 

 Because he has educated them on that point. 

 You, Mr. Fowls, have educated your trade to 

 nothing but the very best of liquid extracted. 

 Your practice and belief have almost been 

 forced on you by the fact that your custo- 

 mers will have nothing but ripe, thick ex- 

 tracted honey ; but. methiuks, you might per- 

 sonally show to some of the consumers that 

 here, for example, is a honey candied solid 

 that is of the same lot as that in the jar, 

 beautifully transparent, and so tempting to 

 the eye. If you went one step further, and 

 said .some people like the candied article bet- 

 ter, you might be able to get them to buy 

 some of both. If I mistake not, Mr. Aikin 

 started out on this very plan until now a 

 large part of his retail trade not only receives, 

 but expects, candied honey, for they know 

 they can easily reduce it to a liquid condition 

 by following the directions on the pail. 



Now about the man who sells at double 

 prices. At the time of making the statement 

 I tried to place emphasis upon the fact that 

 one can, if he has gumption enough, get 

 double price, providing he takes pains to sell 

 n'/je, thick honey of first quality, and no other. 

 When the consumers learn that Fowls always 

 sells a fine article, and that Jones sells the 

 cheap, disagreeable, twangy stuff at half of 

 Fowls' price, they will patronize Fowls every 

 time, even tho he does ask " double prices." 

 Of course, the phrase sounds bad : but the 

 man who is alive and awake to the oppor- 

 tunity presented, and who puts out a first 

 (luality of thick honey, has a right to charge 

 for his honey twice as much, for it is really 

 cheaper than the honey of the other fellow, 

 who puts out a cheap, inferior, watery article. 

 Yes, sir; I have great respect for the " double- 

 price " man when he gives me double-price 

 value. 



Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asssociatlon 



wiD meet at Niagara Falls, Dec. 4, .5 and 6. 

 This will make it convenient for many from 

 this side of the line to be in attendance. The 

 Ontario has moved to the front in the matter 

 of conventions, the time being largely taken 

 up with discussions of the most profitable 

 kind. Success to our Canadian brethren. 



Treatment of Foul Brood. — Askt 



whether it is necessary that the supers should 

 come oil the hives after the starters are put 

 in, Wm. McEvoy thus replies in the Canadian 

 Bee Journal : 



" All supers must be kept off the hives until 

 you have the bees most thoroly cleansed of 

 all the diseased honey which they took out of 

 the old combs when 3'ou removed them. To 

 cleanse the bees, remove all the combs in the 

 evening in the honey season, and give them 

 nothing but comb-foundation starters, which 

 you will leave with the bees for four days. 

 During these four days the bees will use up 

 the most of the diseased honey in comb-build- 

 ing, and will store the balance of it in the lit- 

 tle pieces of new combs. Then in the evening 

 of the fourth day take out these new combs 

 (which the bees made out of the starterrs), 

 and give them full sheets of comb foundation, 

 and when the foundation is made into combs 

 you will find complete cures in all cases that 

 have been cleansed this way. 



" After the honey-flows are over, or at any 

 time that the bees are not gathering honey, 

 this same cleansing process can be carried out, 

 and iierfect cures made, by feeding sugar 

 syrup in the evenings. I have had hundreds 

 of colonies cured in this way, and fed up for 

 winter on sugar syrup, and the most of these 

 cured colonies gave good yields of honey the 

 following season. Never put supers of ex- 

 tracting-<*ombsfm right after you put the start- 

 ers in the brood-chamber, because if you do 

 the bees will rush up and store all the diseased 

 honey in them, and then ycm will still have 

 diseased honey on hand to cause you trouble 

 later on.'' 



iisli>t4>te.>ti.>tt>testi>fe.>te>te.>k.2liti 



l^^'Weekly Budget I 



Mr. a. L. Botden, secretary of The A. I. 

 Root Co., made us a short call Oct. 12th. He 

 had been spending a week's vacation among 

 relatives in Michigan, and was on his way 

 home. 



Miss Ada L. Pickakd, of Richland Co., 

 Wis., wrote us as follows Oct. 13: 



"Mr. York: — You will remember that 

 while at the National convention last August 

 I told you that I had sent direct to Italy for a 

 lot of queens. Well, they have come, have 

 been introduced, and are in fine condition. 

 They are much better than the imported 



queens that send out. It seems 



as if those I sent for could not have been as 

 long coming over from Italy as the one 



■ sold me, as they were much younger. 

 The bees have superseded the imported queen 



I got from , or else she died from 



old age. I feel as if she was quite an expen- 

 sive article. I think next season I will be in a 

 position to send out some good stock." 



Editor W. J. Craig is making a very neat- 

 appearing and interesting monthly of the 

 Canadian Bee Journal. Every Canadian bee- 

 keeper should subscribe for it in addition to 

 the weekly American Bee Journal. It would 

 be difficult for auy one really interested in the 

 keeping of bees to have too much literature 

 on the topic. There is not a bee-paper pub- 

 lisht to-day that is not well worth its sub- 

 scription price. Of course, it would be nat- 

 ural for us to recommend first of all the tak- 

 ing of the American Bee Journal. But after 

 that, take just as many more as you feel that 

 you can afford. Then study carefully which- 

 ever ones you take, in connection with one or 

 more goodibooks on the subject. 



Ideal, Woman. — In one of her addresses at 

 Chicago, Lady Aberdeen said she thought the 

 ideal woman had been sketcht by Lowell in 

 one of his beautiful poems : 



For with a gentle courage she doth strive. 

 In thought, in word, in feeling so to live 

 As to make earth next Heaven ; and her heart 

 Herein doth show its most exceeding worth. 

 That, bearing in her frailty her just part. 

 She hath not shrunk from evils of this life, 

 But hath gone calmly forth into the strife, 

 And all its sins and sorrows hath withstood 

 With lofty strength of patient womanhood. 



Spelling Reform finds a strong champion 

 in the person of Hon. Frank E. Fitts, a mem- 

 ber of the Massachusetts legislature. Mr. 

 Brooks D. Cook, of that State, has sent us a 

 clipping from a local newspaper, which says 

 that Mr. Fitts introduced a bill looking to the 

 change of spelling certain words whenever 

 they appear in State documents. It aims 

 simply at dropping useless letters. Mr. Fitts 

 wisely says: 



" The legislature can not make people use 

 the improved methoil of spelling, but it can 

 put the words ln'fore t hem, so that they will 

 get used to their appeurunce and see the gain, 

 and will soon come lo use them. 



" The statement is made ' that the irregu- 

 lar spelling of the English language causes a 

 loss of two years of the school time of each 

 child, and is mainly the cause of the alarming 

 illiteracy of our people ; that it involves an 

 expense of hundreds of millions of dollars an- 

 nually for teachers, and for writing and 

 printing supcrfiuous letters, and that it is an 



obstacle in many ways to the progress of 

 those speaking the English language, and to 

 the spread of the language among other na- 

 tions.' We form societies, hold meetings, and 

 work day and night J to reduce the hours of 

 labor for the working people. Why should 

 we not be a little interested in reducing the 

 labor of our own children? Should the legis- 

 lature see fit to adopt the resolution, I have no 

 doubt the improved spelling would be taken 

 up by more papers and individuals, and finally 

 by all." 



We are glad to welcome Mr. Fitts as a co- 

 laborer with the American Bee Journal in en- 

 deavoring to simplify the spelling of the En- 

 glish language. This needed reformation will 

 come only by degrees until all the necessary 

 changes in spelling are made. 



We notice that the Nickel Plate railroad 

 time tables now use " thru " for through — the 

 same as we do. W'e are glad to see the gen- 

 eral public take hold of this reform. Many of 

 our own correspondents are doing nicely, as 

 is shown by the letters we receive daily. 

 Spelling reform is going to be a winner. Bet- 

 ter join the procession, or you'll " get left." 



Mr. H. D. Burrell, of Van Buren County, 

 Mich., seems to be having some trouble with a 

 neighbor, about his bees trying to save certain 

 peach-juice going to waste. The following 

 "special" item appeared in the Chicago Rec- 

 ord of Oct. 18th : 



" One of the most peculiar suits at law ever 

 brought before any court is soon to be tried in 

 Van Buren Co., between two neighbors and 

 old friends. One of the men, H. D. Burrell, 

 keeps about 60 colonies of bees. The other is 

 a peach-grower. A few weeks ago the latter 

 complained of the former's bees destroying his 

 early Crawford peaches, claiming that the bees 

 came into his orchard in large numbers, bit 

 holes in the fruit and rendered it unmarketa- 

 ble, for which he demanded $200. Prof.iJ. M. 

 Rankin, of the Agricultural College, and the 

 entomologist of the Agricultural Department 

 at Washington, will he called as expert wit- 

 nesses by the defense in a suit for damages." 



We hope Mr. Burrell will send us a report 

 of the matter after the decision is rendered. 



Bees in Warfare. — An exchange says his- 

 tor,v records two instances, according to Mr. 

 Whitely Stokes, in which bees have been used 

 in warfare as weapons against besieging for- 

 ces. The first is related by Appian of the 

 siege of Themiscyra, in Pontus, by Lucullus 

 in his war against Mithridates. Turrets were 

 brought up, mounds were built, and huge 

 mines were made by the Romans. The peo- 

 ple of Themiscyra dug open these mines 

 above, and thru the holes cast down upon the 

 workmen, bears, and other wild animals, and 

 hives or swarms of bees. 



The second instance is recorded in an Irish 

 manuscript in the Bibliotheque Royale at 

 Brussels, and tells how the Danes and Norwe- 

 gians attackt Chester, which was defended by 

 the Saxons and some Gallic auxiliaries. The 

 Danes were worsted by a stratagem ; but the 

 Norwegians, sheltered by hurdles, tried to 

 pierce the walls of the town — when, " what 

 the Saxons and the Gaedhil, who were among 

 them, did was to tlirt)W down large rocks, by 

 which they broke down the hurdles over their 

 heads. What the others did to check this 

 was to place large posts under the hurdles." 

 What the Saxons did next was to put all the 

 beer and water of the town into the caldrons 

 of the town, to boil them and s])ill them down 

 upon those who were under the hurdles, so 

 that their skins were peeled off. The remedy 

 which the Locheans applied to this was to 

 place hides outside on the hurdles. What the 

 Saxons did next was to throw down all the 

 bee-hives in the town upon the besiegers, 

 which prevented them from moving their 

 hands or legs from the number of bees which 

 stung them. They afterward desisted and 

 left the city. 



