THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



131 



WEEKLY EDITION 



OF THE 



iiijfmiiii 



PnBLISHED BY 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



KniTOU AND PROPRIETOII. 



925 WEST MADISQN-STREET, CHICAGO, ILL. 



Weekly, 92 a year ; Monthly, 50 cents. 



Vol. XXI. March 4, 1885, No. 9. 



^" We have just returned from the 

 International Bee-Keepers' Congress 

 at New Orleans, but have neither 

 time nor space for comments. The 

 meeting was a large and enthusiastic 

 one— 2-1 States were represented in- 

 cluding Canada. The first day's pro- 

 ceedings are given in this paper, and 

 the remainder will be published in 

 our next. 



1^ Many Letters requiring our 

 personal attention have accumulated 

 during our absence in the South. We 

 shall give them our personal atten- 

 tion as soon as possible, and will 

 simply ask correspondents to exercise 

 a little patience. 



t^ The following from the Indiana 

 Farmer is good and to the point : 



The management of bees can only 

 be successful when conducted witli a 



Eerfect understanding of their natural 

 istory, and in accordance with the 

 instincts which govern them. 



Those wishing to engage in bee- 

 keeping should thoroughly understand 

 that keeping bees is not necessarily 

 bee-keeping. 



No one would ever think of closing 

 up a coop of chickens with an inade- 

 quate supply of food to last them 

 through the long winter months with 

 any hopes of their surviving ; yet we 

 find many who will allow their bees 

 to go into winter quarters short of 

 stores, then grumble at their ill-luck 

 in keeping bees. 



^" Tlie Sixth semi-annual meeting 

 of the Western Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion will be held in Unity Chapel, at 

 St. Joseph, Mo., on Felix St., between 

 7th and 8th streets, on Thursday and 

 Friday, April 9 and 10, 1885, com- 

 mencing at 10 a. m. on April 9. All 

 interested in bee-culture are invited 

 to attend and make the meeting as 

 interesting as possible. A full pro- 

 gramme will be prepared and a gen 

 eral good time may be expected. 



C. M. Crandall, Sec. 



The International Congress. 



The International Congress met at 

 10:30 a. m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1885, 

 as per announcement, with a good 

 attendance from 24 States and Canada. 



Upon motion, Mr. S. C. Boylston, of 

 South Carolina, was elected temporary 

 President, and T. G. Newman, of Ills., 

 temporary Secretary. The chairman 

 said that he was highly lionored by 

 having been called to the chair of 

 such a meeting, the influence of whose 

 members was felt all over the Ameri- 

 can Continent, and hoped there would 

 be much good done by the meeting of 

 so many successful honey-producers. 

 The deliberations were to extend to 

 every subject of practical apiculture, 

 and there would be a thorough sifting 

 of opinions on all the subjects dis- 

 cussed. 



Tlie permanent officers were elected 

 as follows: President, Dr. J. P. H. 

 Brown, of Augusta, Ga.; Secretary, 

 T. G. Newman, Chicago, Ills.; Treas- 

 urer, Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, 

 La.; and one Vice-President for each 

 State or Province represented. 



Kepresentatives from several bee- 

 keepers' societies passed in their cre- 

 dentials, and they were welcomed by 

 the Congress. 



A paper was read from Mr. S. F. 

 Pettit, of Belmont, Ont., as follows : 



HONEY-PRODUCTION LN CAXADA. 



God has clotlied and beautified nearly all 

 parts fif His footstool with flowers, that fill 

 the air with rich fragrance and delight the 

 eye of all. Tlie luniible poor as well as 

 the opulent, may enjoy them. But these 

 are not the only uses for which they are de- 

 signed. They each secrete a particle of 

 nectar, some more, and some less. The 

 Donunion of Canada is no exception to the 

 general rule ; but, on the contrary, from 

 the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and from 

 the Great Lakes and the 49th parallel, to 

 the frozen regions of the North, flowers 

 everywhere abound in great luxm'iance and 

 profusion. 



In Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime 

 Provinces.tlie greatest lioney-iiroducing tree 

 in the world, perhaps, the linden or bass- 

 wood, gi-ows abundantly. The soft maple 

 and sugar-maple yield no inconsiderable 

 quantity. From tlie latter, average colo- 

 nies will, in favorable seasons, store 30 lbs. 

 or more. 



Then we h.ave the fruit tre<>s, grape-vines 

 and willows, Imtli hiuall and great, in end- 

 less \'ariety. Of weeds, at present develop- 

 ments, the Canadian thistle stands first on 

 the list as a honey-producer, but— " beware ! 

 beware! O, beware!" Then comes the 

 golden-rod, ox-eyed daisy, the asters, etc.. 

 Besides many others which go to make up 

 the list. 



But the plants to which bee-keepers iu 

 the Provinces named, are most indebted, 

 and to which they look for their gi'eatest 

 and surest supply, are the different varie- 

 ties of clover. Where the forests are cleared 

 away, these Provinces are emphatically a 

 land of gi-ass ; that is, the grasses here at- 

 tain to great perfection, and where the land 

 remains neglected, it is soon covered with 

 vegetation, white clover doing its full 

 share. 



Tlie power of the linden, or basswood, to 

 produce honey when all the conditions are 

 favorable, is a matter of wonder and as- 

 tonishment. About July 15, the tree is pro- 

 fusely decorated, yea. nearly covered, with 

 creanj-eolorecl l>l()>siiii]ssci filled with honey 

 that the limbs literally bend under their 

 1 loads of coveted sweets. At this time, if a 



Umb be struck a sharp blow from beneathj 



the honey will fall to the ground in a sweet 

 shower. But unrnrlunately, the linden does 

 not, on an avei;ig<', wl least in my section 

 of country, iirodiice lioney more than about 

 2 years oiit ol 5. Every other year is the 

 rule, and besides that, caterpillars devour 

 the foliage about 3 years out of 10. 



Linden honey is aroniatie, of high, pleas- 

 ant flavor, clear, ami of s|];irkliiig liright^ 

 ness. Wlien well ripened it granulates 

 solid. Clover honey is clear and bright, 

 though slightly tinged with amber, is very 

 sweet, altlunigh a clearly perceptible acid- 

 ity is always present. Italsocandiessolid. 

 Tliistle honey is clear and bright, of fine 

 quality, and peculiarly )>leasaiit. It can- 

 dies slowly. These iiiiinaeuhde honeys 

 have each "an exiiuisitely delightful flavor 

 peculiarly its own. 



In Keewatiu, Manitoba and the "Great 

 Lone Land " or Canadian Northwest, the 

 sources of honey, at present, are confined 

 principally to prairie flowers, which are 

 very jilentiful fiom early spring until frost. 

 Wiilciws aliouiid. and will addci>iisi<lerably 

 to the wealth of the bee keeper ; but, if I 

 am conectly informed, the honey is of aii 

 inferior quality ; therefore we must pa- 

 tiently await the develo]inients which the 

 near future will surely bring about in that 

 great country. Both'the soil and the cli- 

 mate seem to be peruliai-|y lavoralile to the 

 priiduetiiin of white clover, and it is rapidly 

 taking possession of the soil where cultivar 

 tiou has destroyed the native grasses. 



I now desire to point out some of the ad- 

 vantages the Dominion of Canada pos- 

 sesses over the South, in the production of 

 honey : 



1. Clover spruigs up spontaneously over 

 all the land. 



3. The summer season is comparatively 

 short., but the honey- flow generally is 

 "right smart;" and then, when the honey 

 season is over, bees soon go into winter 

 quarters, and do not rob and destroy one 

 another, for the simple reason that they 

 cannot do so. 



3. The sun shines each day, in the Do- 

 minion of Canada, from 3 to 4 hours longer 

 than at New Orleans ; but that is not all ; 

 darkness does not come on so rapidly after 

 sunset as it does in the South. In a large 

 portion of Canada, twi-light lingers all 

 niglit, and bees can work long alter sim- 

 dowii. 



Now, when we take into consideration 

 the great territorial extent comprised in the 

 Dominion of Canada, the fertility of her 

 S(.iil, the beauty of her summers, and the 

 length of her summer days, may we not 

 with safety conclude that by-and-by Canada 

 will be able to produce hundreds of thou- 

 sands of tons of honey annually for foreign 

 markets ? 



Peiliaps some one will .say, "But what 

 about vour killing winters ?" Well, I will 

 state that although Canadian winters are 

 long and sometimes terribly severe, yet, 

 withal, they are pleasant, bracing and en- 

 joyable ; and it is now a well established 

 fact that bees, when properly housed, will 

 remain healthy for .5 months or more with- 

 out a cleansing flight. 



All tliise advantages are not the only 

 requisites necessary to make bee-keeping 

 the occupation which we delight so much 

 to laud to the skies ; but the question of a 

 market will soon be one of the most diffi- 

 cult problems that the apiarist will have to 

 solve. Did you ever think of it, that nearly 



all lands within the t perate and torrid 



zones, whether nioiiutaiiis or valleys, hills 

 or dales, as well as the isles of the seas- 

 all, eveiywhere, invite the labors of the 

 honey-bee ? 



We talk of wheat belts, corn regions, the 

 cotton fields of the .South and the barley 

 districts ; we speak o( the favorite locality 

 of the pear and the apple, the orange and 

 the lemon, etc., and each has its favorite 

 and somewhat limited locality, but flowers 

 and honey abound almost everywhere. 



