A Merry Christmas to all our Readers. 



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AMER1C^/- 



40th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, DECEMBER 20, 1900, 



No, 51. 



I * iditorial. * f 



The Chicago Conventiou Report lias 

 been unaviiidalily delayed somewhere, so that 

 we are unable to continue it this week. We 

 trust that such a break will not happen again; 

 but perhaps In view of the excellent matter in 

 its place this week no one will complain on 

 account of its omission for one issue. We 

 hope it will not occur again, as we desire to 

 coni]ik'te it as soon as possible, as we have 

 other interesting and helpful matter waiting 



its turn. 



• 



Shipping Comb Honey. — There is no 

 one who knows better than the dealer in 

 honey how it should be prepared for ship- 

 ment. He is the man that is at the other end 

 of the line from the producer or shipper, and 

 is the onl.v one who can report as to the con- 

 dition of the honey after having traveled on 

 the cars from starting-point to destination. 

 He owihi to be able to give some good advice 

 about shipping honey, especially as he re- 

 ceives many shipments from almost as many 

 different shippers, thus becoming familiar 

 with the various methods of preparing it be- 

 fore starting it off to market. 



Well, we have been doing something in the 

 line of handling honey for several years, and 

 during that time we have been alile to collect 

 some very valuable ex])erience. But the 

 trouble we find is, to get some bee-keepers to 

 learn to take advice that is wholly for their 

 own good. For instance, how often we have 

 gone into the details, in these columns about 

 preparing coml) honey for shipment, and yet 

 scarcely a season passes but what we have a 

 repetition of an experience with broken-down 

 comb honey that is anything but agreeable to 

 us, and far from profitable to the producer. 



Quite recently we received a shipment of 

 about 50 cases of amber comb honey from an 

 old bee-keeper, some 500 miles from Chicago. 

 It arrived here in such a smasht-up condition 

 that our honey-man had to spend two full 

 days in going thru the lot, cleaning it up, and 

 putting all the liroken-down sections of honey 

 into cases by themselves. When he finisht the 

 miserable, sticky job, there were just 13 cases 

 of 30 sections each of the wholly broken down 

 comb honey. 



And there needn't have been any broken- 

 down comb if the shipper had prepared it 

 properly before loading it on the ears. 



Let us tell how it was paokt : The 30-sec- 

 tion cases were put into heavy boxes holding 

 six cases each, hut there was practically no 



extra space to pack in straw. In some of the 

 boxes the cases fitted so tight that it was difli- 

 cult to get them out without first taking the 

 box to pieces. Of course this was all wrong. 

 There should have been a space of three or 

 four inches all around the six cases (except 

 on top) in which to put straw to act as a cush- 

 ion. We also think it well, if using a large 

 box instead of a crate (tho the crate is prefer- 

 able), to leave one side rather open, using 

 slats there instead of making it solid. Then 

 the freight-handlers can see that it is comb 

 honey, and will be more careful. 



Of cour.se, on top of each box or crate 

 should be plainly markt — " Comb Honey- 

 Handle WITH Care." 



Another thing: The sections in the above 

 lot of honey were crowded so tight into the 

 shipping-cases that we actually had to pry the 

 rear side of each case off before being able to 

 take out a section. This is all wrong. The 

 cases should have at least three-fourths inch 

 space at the back, for a one-fourth inch thick 

 board to stand on edge next to the sections of 

 honey, and then newspaper wadded up and 

 crowded in between the thin board and the 

 back of the case. This serves as a sort of 

 cushion, and will prevent many a comb fi-om 

 being broken down. 



The boxes in this particular shipment had 

 handles on tliem for the freight men to carry 

 them by. That part was all right. Init nearly 

 everything else was wrong. 



We have never received a shipment of comb 

 honey in bad condition when it was properly 

 packt before sljipping. It is absolutely use- 

 less to expect to be able to ship comb honey 

 safely when not prepared as it should be. To 

 do otherwise is simply to be almo.st certain of 

 loss. And the miserable, leaky, dauby mess 

 that the receiver has to clean up is anything 

 but pleasant, especially when he knows that 

 it would have been wholly unnecessary had 

 the honey been put up right before putting it 

 on the ears. 



We hope this story will sei've as a warning 

 to all who read it, to pack their comb honey 

 as it should be when shipping to a distant 

 market. 



Bees and Fruit Again. — A certain 

 judge in Adams Co., 111., sent the following 

 letter to Mr. J. Q. Smith, president of the 

 Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, who, 

 upon receiving it, referred it to us for reply 

 and publishing, if we so desired to use it in 

 these columns: 

 J. Q. Smith- 



were not as thick in woods and bottoms as 

 usual this year. CD 



Dii bees usually do such damages to ripe 

 grapes and peaches, seeking swccis, whether 

 bloom is plentiful or not '. The habits ;and 

 customs of bees would answer this, andjyou 

 may be able to suggest an answer. 



Would bees do such damage usually, so the 

 owner wonld ordinarily be supposed to have 

 notice of such propensity \ 



To put the question fairly as to tlie habits 

 and customs of bees, would solve the ques- 

 tion in part. What books or papers treat of 

 that point '. 



Upon receiving the above, we immediately 

 requested General Manager Secor, of the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association, to mail the 

 judge all the literature he had bearing on the 

 subject. We have no doubt nothing further 

 will Ije heard from the threatened prosecution. 

 A conscientious attorney, after informing 

 himself on the matter, would do all he could 

 to prevent litigation of the kind indicated, 

 for the intending plaintiff could well afford 

 to pay a fat fee for being kept out of court, 

 rather than certainly to end with a lost suit, 

 and then to have all the costs to settle, be- 

 sides his attorney's fee. 



It would be well for our readers to bear in 

 mind that all members of the National Bee- 

 Keepers" Association have free access to any 

 aid that it is able to give. If you are not a 

 member, you can't do a better thing than to 

 send your annual dues (SI. 00) to General 

 Manager Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa, 

 and thus put yourself in line with such help 

 as you might require some day ; and if not for 

 yourself, you will be aiding yom- fellow bee- 

 keepers in maintaining their rights against 

 any unjust aggressions. 



If more convenient for you, send the dollar 

 to us, and we will see that Mr. Secor gets it. 

 Then he will mail you a membership receipt. 



Dear Sir: — A client of mine seeks dam- 



ages because his neighbor's bees, from about 

 400 hives, clustered ab(jut his ripe grapes and 

 peaches, and spoiled the crops of his vineyard 

 and peach orchard. The bloom and flowers 



Grooving Clover. — Three prize articles 

 on this subject appear in Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture, alsike getting the lion's share of 

 attention, red clover seeming to come in only 

 incidentally. The writers are from different 

 States — Wm. Robinson from Wisconsin, Wm. 

 W. Case from New Jersey, and Harry L. Smith 

 from Maine. The first article is of such im- 

 portance that it is given elsewhere entire. 

 What is true for Wisconsin is probably true 

 for a large area of territory visited by this 

 journal. 



According to Mr. Case, it is easier to get a 

 catch of alsike than of red, and it does not 

 kill out so easily In winter. An objection is 

 that alsike gives no second crop unless cut 

 before thru blossoming, which spoils the 

 honey crop. Mj. Case says: 



" At the usual time of sowing clover in the 

 spring on wheat and rye, mix red and alsike 

 clover seed In the proportion of two pounds 

 of red to one of alsike, and apply with tim- 



