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40th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER 29, 1900, 



No, 48. 



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^ Editorial Comments. 



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The Illinois State Convention was held last week at 

 Springfield, and it was our pleasure to be present on 

 Wednesday, the second day. While it was not largely at- 

 tended, it was an interesting meeting. Mr. C. P. Dadant 

 was present, besides Secretary Jas. A. Stone, Pres. J. Q. 

 Smith, Treasurer Chas. Becker, and others. 



The Illinois Association ought to have a larger member- 

 ship. It offers a year's subscription to the American Bee 

 Journal with a year's membership — all for only $1.00. Now, 

 there ought to be fully SOO bee-keepers in Illinois who would 

 accept this generous offer. 



In order to save trouble to those who wish to take ad- 

 vantage of the foregoing offer, we will say that if you wish 

 to send to us your dollar, instead of Secretary Stone, we 

 will see that you get a receipt for your membership in the 

 Association for 1901 — that is, provided you send us all back 

 subscription due (if any), and also $1.00 for 1901. By ac- 

 cepting this offer, you would not be entitled to any pre- 

 mium or be allowed to take advantage of any other offer we 

 have made. 



It seems to us that every bee-keeper in Illinois ought to 

 have enough State pride to become a member of the State 

 organization ; and particularly when such easy terms are 

 offered. 



Remember, if you accept, be sure to mention that you 

 want the membership also, so that we will know what to do. 



Will Cooling Slowly Make Bright Yellow Beeswax? 



— An editorial in a bee-paper having said that the secret of 

 getting bright yellow wax was to allow it to cool slowly, 

 Editor Hill thought the space thus occupied would better 

 have remained blank. Whereupon the question was askt 

 in these columns : 



" Now, will Editor Hill please tell us why? Is it that 

 the information is of so little value that it is a waste of 

 space, or because there is no bee-keeper who does not 

 already know it ?" 



The answer given to this question illustrates anew what 

 is so frequently illustrated, that difference of view comes 

 often from a difference in view-points. Editor Hill intro- 

 duces his reply by saying : 



" Yes, we will try to tell why ; tho at a loss to under- 

 stand why such a request should be made by ' the oldest 

 bee-paper in America.' " 



It is only fair to say that the request was made in all 

 sincerity, with an honest doubt as to whether the informa- 

 tion was thought to be erroneous or already too well known. 

 Possibly just because of being " the oldest bee-paper " the 

 question was askt, for if Mr. Hill were old enough, or if he 

 were to dig back far enough into the history of the past, he 



would find, and without going back more than the matter 

 of a quarter of a century, that at one time it was held as a 

 " secret " that slow cooling would produce bright yellow 

 wax. 



Mr. Hill turns his attention almost entirely to the color 

 of the wax, as white or yellow, and says truthfully that 

 nothing in the way of cooling will change the color from 

 white to yellow, or I'lce versa. If a beginner should send 

 to him the question, "What is the secret of obtaining 

 bright yellow wax ?" he might be supposed to reply, 

 " There is no way of changing white wax to yellow. The 

 color is a part of the wax." 



If Mr. Charles Dadant were askt the same question, he 

 would probably pay little attention to the word "yellow," 

 and mentally pvit the emphasis on the word "bright," un- 

 derstanding his questioner to say something like this : 



" I see cakes of bright yellow wax that are made by 

 others, but mine have not the same brightness of appear- 

 ance, and have a dull or dirty look. How can my wax be 

 made into bright yellow wax ?" 



And taking the question from that point of view, the 

 veteran foundation manufacturer would probably reply : 



" The secret of bright yellow wax is slow cooling. Melt 

 your wax and let it be a long time cooling, so the impuri- 

 ties will have time to settle, and it will be as bright as the 

 wax of others that you admire." 



As a matter of fact, the slow cooling is a sine gua non 

 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, and perhaps neces- 

 sary in the one-hundredth case. As Mr. Hill mentions, some 

 wax from old combs needs the addition of acid to bring out 

 the bright color, but that does not take away the necessity 

 of slow cooling, and there is practically no bright yellow 

 wax without slow cooling. Indeed, it is a bit amusing to 

 note that Mr. Hill emphasizes this point by mentioning it 

 in three different places. He truthfully says : 



" After a body of wax has been melted and permitted to 

 remain at a high temperature for a sufficient length of 

 time to allow the coarser particles of foreign matter to set- 

 tle to the bottom, its color can not be perceptibly afl'ected 

 by the length of time occupied in the process of cooling." 



That is, you must let it cool slowly enough so that it 

 will be a bright yellow, and after that the cooling will make 

 no difference in the color. Of course it must not be under- 

 stood that slow cooling changes the color of wax, only as it 

 gives time for impurities to settle. 



It would not be right for that editor, who first called out 

 this little discussion, to cultivate a spirit of retaliation, but 

 if he should weakly give way to a spirit of that kind, it 

 would be nothing strange to hear him ask Editor Hill : 



"If to get bright j'ellow wax it is of so little conse- 

 quence to have the wax cool slowly, would it not be better, 

 instead of occupying nearly a third of a column saying 

 that it must cool slowly, that you should run in a lot of 

 slugs and quads?" 



Colorado and Moths.— In the Progressive Bee-Keeper, 

 page 327, F. E. Thompson, referring to what was said in 

 the American Bee Journal about moths in Colorado, objects 



