282 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



another, through a spirit of revenge, 

 either for a real or fancied wrong. 

 But where in the Englisli language 

 are we to find words strong enough to 

 express our contempt for a person so 

 lost to a sense of honor as to publish 

 a libel upon an entire industry repre- 

 senting an investment of millions of 

 dollars, and the labor of an entire 

 class of hard-working, honest and in- 

 dustrious men and women. 



Prof. Wiley's " scientiflc pleas- 

 antry " has, without doubt, cost the 

 bee-keepers of this country, directly 

 and directly, a sum of money which, 

 if we could but know the amount, 

 would stagger us. It has cost the loss 

 of a life-giving sweet to hundreds of 

 " glucose syrup " consumers who have 

 been taught by this same mendacious 

 " pleasantry," that all honey should 

 be regarded with suspicion. It has 

 cost a loss of confidence in human 

 nature, and between producer and 

 consumer. It has, in all probability, 

 been one of the causes that have, 

 during the past year, reduced the 

 price of honey to merely a nominal 

 flgure, and in face of the fact that but 

 half of a crop was harvested. 



On a par with this " pleasantry " 

 are the " pleasantries " ( V) of another 

 species of the same kind — the exceed- 

 ingly virtuous and fair-minded (?) 

 friends of the grape and fruit growers. 

 They regale the reading public 

 through tlie columns of the news- 

 papers and agricultural periodicals 

 with an account of the great damage 

 done and ravages committed by that 

 "prodigious monster "—the honey- 

 bee—to the fruit interests of the coun- 

 try. Bee-keepers are prone to smile 

 at what they consider tlie iqn' ranee of 

 the writers, but I think that in a 

 majority of cases malice would be the 

 proper word to use. Fellow bee-keep- 

 ers, yo\i cannot afford to let such 

 statements go unchallenged. Depend 

 upon it, they have their influence, 

 when allowed to go uncontrover- 

 ted. 



A bee-keeper reads an article of 

 this kind in some leading newspaper. 

 Watch the smile of but half-concealed 

 disdain tliat curls his lip as he tosses 

 the paper aside. He knows the ai-ti- 

 cle to be an untruth, but frequently 

 fails to realize that thcuisands of 

 other readers, " the uninitiated," may 

 accept the statement umiuestioued. 

 Or, perhaps he arouseshiniself enough 

 to clip the article out, and sends it to 

 his favorite bee-paper, with a request 

 that it be published. That is better 

 than nothing, to be sure, but it fails 

 to act as an antidote to the poison, 

 for the very simple reason that it fails 

 to reach the affected parts— the read- 

 ers of the newspaper. Would it not 

 be a more sensible and effective plan 

 to seize your pen and indite a short 

 communication to the periodical in 

 question, pointing out the errors into 

 which their correspondent had fallen, 

 and citing proof and authorities in 

 support ot your statements, couching 

 your ideas in such language as not to 

 give offense to the pulilisher V Nine 

 times out of ten 'your article will be 

 published, and the damaging state- 

 ments will have been controverted 

 and disproved. 



I think that in this way much good 

 can be done to the interests of the 

 fraternity. What injures one, in- 

 jures all ; what helps one, helps all. 

 Perhaps in no other industry, cer- 

 tainly in no other industry classed as 

 agricultural, are the interests of its 

 members so clearly bound in one com- 

 mon whole. We of all people should 

 learn a lesson of the little denizens of 

 tlie hive, to work together for the 

 common good, and to resent an in- 

 jury from outside. If we would 

 counteract the influence of an article 

 which takes for its text, " Bees Injure 

 Grapes," we must meet the question 

 at home in the paper tliat published 

 it, and prove by convincing argument 

 and statements of facts, that such is 

 not the case, instead of turning our 

 backs, so to speak, and firing our 

 ammunition into space. 



North Indianapolis,© Ind. 



[To counteract the publication of 

 falsehoods, truth should seek the 

 same channel, and award telling 

 blows to the monster. Mr. Ackerman 

 has suggested the right plan, and we 

 hope that it will be followed by all 

 who are able to write an article for 

 publication. — Ed.] 





IXXX' 



May 29.— Ilaldimand. Ont.. 



Cool and Disai?reeable.— I. J. Glass, 



Sharpsburg.O Ills., on April 2.5, 18S-5, 

 writes as follows : 



My bees came through the past trying 

 winter without the loss of a sim»le colony. 

 My neighbors wlio gave their bees no at- 

 tention, have lost tlie greater part, and in 

 some in.stanees all ot their apiaries. This 

 spring I have been feeding my bees out- 

 side, but I do not like the plan where 

 there are weak colonies, as those needing 

 the least will get the most, the same as 

 feeding different grade- of stock together. 

 It is cool and disagreeable here, and the 

 bees are kept in-doors. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1885. Time and place of Meeting. 



May 7.— Progressive, iit BushneU. Ul8. 



J. G. Nurton, Sec. Macomb. ni8. 

 May, 7, 8.— Texas State, at McKinney. Tex. 



W. K. Howard. See., Kingston. Tex. 

 May 9.~Northern Ohio, at Nnrwallc. O. 



H. K. Boardman. Sec K. Townsend, O. 

 May 12.— Central Michigan, at Lansintr. Mich. 



E. N. Wood, Sec. 



May 12.— Southern Wis., at Janesville. Wis. 



John C. Lynch, Sec. 



May 12.— Keystone, at Scranton, Pa. 



A. A. Davis. Sec, Clark's Oreen, Pa. 

 May 12.— Cortland l^nion. at Cortland, N. Y. 



W. II. Beach Sec, Cortland. N. Y. 

 May 19.— N. W. Ills., and .■>. W. Wis., at Davis, Ills. 



Jonathan Stewart, Sec, liock City, III. 

 May 28.— Mahoning Valley, at Newton Falls. O. 



E. AV. Tnrner. Sec. Newton Falls, O. 

 May 28.— N. Mich. Picnic, near McBride. Mich. 



F. A. Palmer, Sec. McBride, Mich, 

 at Nelles' Corners. Ont. 

 K. 0. Campbell, Sec. 



June 19.— Willamette Vallev, at La Fayette. Oreg. 

 E. J.lladley, Sec 

 Dec. 8— 10.— Michigan State, at Detroit, Mich. 



11. I>. Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



t^~ In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 Ime and place of future meetings.— Kn. 



Under the Snow too Long.— 10— John 



Rey, (.5G— 3.5), East Saginaw, Mich., 

 on April 20, 188-5, writes thus : 



My bees are today carrying in the first 

 pollen of the season; they are in good 

 health, and some ot the colonies now have 

 brood in 3 and i frames. The past has 

 been a hard winter on bee-i here, about 70 

 percent, of them in this eonnty having 

 died. I have lost 21 colonies out of .56, 

 bnt then I am not disappointed, for I hear 

 tliat some have lost all they had. I vi-iU 

 start in with 35 colonies this season, and I 

 will get some more if 1 can, for I have a 

 lot of nice, straight combs on liaiui, and I 

 want to get tliem into use as soon as pos- 

 sible. If 1 do as well with my bees the 

 coming summer as I did last season, I will 

 be well pleased. The cause of my losses 

 was that. they were under the snow too 

 long, and some got too warm and started 

 too much brood-rearing ; and used up all 

 the honey around tlie cluster within 3 or 

 3 inches of it, and then they starved with 

 plenty of honey in the hive ; some of 

 them had brood in 3 frames. 1 made a 

 mistake last fall, by not packing my bees. 

 I let them stand just as they w.'ii' last 

 summer, bnt I think that if 1 had jiackid 

 them. I would not have lost one colony, 

 for they all had honey enough to carry 

 them throuah the winter. Next fall I will 

 go to the expense of packing thein, and 1 

 think that it will pay any bee-Ueeper to 

 do the same. 



CLUBBING LIST. 



We supply the Ainrricaii Bee Journal 



one yeai', aud any ot the following' pulilica- 

 tions, at the prices quoted in the last coiuinn 

 of figures. The fli-st column gives the regu- 

 lar price of both. All postage jn-opaid. 



Price of both. Club 



The Weekly Bee Journal 2 00 . . 



and Gleanings in Bee-Culture 3 00. . 2 7."> 



Bee-Keepers' Miigazine 3 CO.. 2 T."! 



Bee-Keepers' Guide 2 50.. 2 3.'j 



Kansas Bee-Keeper 3 CO.. 2 7.') 



The Apiculturist 3 00 . . 2 »0 



Canadian Bee-Paper 3 00.. 2 7.5 



The 7 above-named i>aper9 7 50.. G 75 



THOMAS «;. NEAVIWAN, 

 1125 West Madison Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



Report, from J. E. Pitman, Marl- 

 boro, 5 Va., on April 25, 1885 : 



The losses of bees in the .Shenandoah 

 vallev were much greater in the winter of 

 lS80-8t than the past winter. From two- 

 thirds to three-fonrths of the bees have 

 come through in good condition. 



Out of the Darkness.- Eugene Secor, 

 Forest City, 5 Iowa, on April 23, 1885, 

 writes : 



I have just removed my bees from the 

 cellar, where they have been for 140 days 

 without a fliglit, and a part of them had 

 not been looked at in the time. They 

 were wintered entirely on natural stores, 

 with plenty— that is, a good deal -of pol- 

 len, and in a temperature so much behiw 

 " normal," according to the anthorities— 

 getting as low as 3fi° above zero several 

 times, and standing for weeks at 30° to 34° 

 —that 1 greatly feared the result. Those 

 examined in the winter were very 

 " sweaty," and nearly all are quite iiiokly 

 Ibis spring. My cellar is ipiite dry (or at 

 least all but the bee-apartment), as I have 

 a heating fnrnaoe in it which was kept 

 constantly "running" for six months, 

 but that it did not affect the bee-room will 

 be Seen from the above record of te opera- 



