THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



787 



WEEKLY EDITION 



OF THE 



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iiijmiBNili 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Vol. XXI. Dec. 16, 1885. No. 50. 



APICULTURAL NEWS ITEMS. 



EDITORIAL AND SELECTED. 



Stop and tliiiik before you speak ; 



It is best, you know. 

 Haste makes waste, the wrons are weak— 



Learn to travel slow. 

 Do not let a word go forth 



From your lips so strong. 

 That could count of little worth, 



Or commit a wrong-. 



A Pleasant Re-Union occurred at 

 Detroit last week. Many of the prominent 

 apiarists of North America were present, 

 and we think there never was a more enthu- 

 siastic gathering of bee-keepers in America. 

 Had the banquet been added, it would have 

 very much resMiibled the European gath- 

 erings. 



Mr. Geo, E. Hilton, of Freemont.Mich., 

 has sent us a large photograph of his apiary, 

 which is now placed on the wall of the office 

 of the Bee Journal with many others. 



Mrs. li. Harrison, of Peoria, Ills., the 

 most prominent lady-bee-keeper of America, 

 with some l.T other lady apiarists, were 

 present at the Detroit Convention last week. 

 Mrs. Harrison was elected as the Vice- 

 President for Illinois. 



Mr. H. Cliapnian, of Versailles, N. Y., 

 exhibited seeds of a new honey-plant, at the 

 Detroit Convention, and passed around some 

 of the honey to be tasted. Prof. A. J. Cook 

 took some of the seed home with him in 

 order to ascertain its name. Jlr. Chapman 

 says that it blossoms after basswood bloom 

 is gone, and that he will plant 5 acres next 

 spring on hand worth $100 per acre, and he 

 believes it will pay. 



Hon. Kdivin Willetts, President of the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, who gave 

 the "Address of Welcome" at the Detroit 

 Convention, was the one who so nobly aided 

 Prof. Cook in his mission to Washington, 

 as a committee from the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Society several years ago, to 

 get the ruling of the Postmaster General 

 reversed, in order to allow queen-bees to be 

 transported in the mails of the United States. 

 He is a firm friend of apiarists. His address 

 of welcome at the Detroit Convention, will 

 be read with pleasure. See page. 790. 



Tlie Bec-Fastiirage address which was 

 given at the Detroit Convention by the 

 Editor of the Amkuioan Bkk. Jour.nal, was 

 thus coinraontod upon by a reporter for the 

 Detroit Tribune : 



The delights of being a bee-maid or a 

 poetical-appearing youth, and driving the 

 festive bee to and from the pasture each 

 day, were strongly set forth. Encased in a 

 suit of boiler-iron it would indeed be de- 

 lightful to drive the tender-eyed Jersey-bee 

 to its cell each night. 



That reporter seemed to inive a vein of 

 fun. But that is not strange when it is 

 known that the Convention quite often 

 indulged in roars of laughter, and prolonged 

 applause over some stiiininu remark or 

 sliarp-pointeil reply. Mr. J. U. Hall "carried 

 oif the laurels" in that department. His 

 good-natured, but stimiinr/ criticisms were 

 sometimes received with such uproarious 

 merriment as to be hoard on the street from 

 the third tioor of the building. 



Fire Destroj-ed 200 colonies of bees, at 

 New M.adrid, Mo., on Dec. 6, 1885. They 

 belonged to Flanagan cSc Illinski.of Belleville, 

 Ills. They have sent us the following state- 

 ment of the disaster, which their friends 

 will be very sorry to learn : 



We have had a large number of colonies 

 of bees in Arkansas, Lee Co., Mo., for a 

 number of years, but the locality proving 

 to be a poor one, we decided to move them 

 to a much better location, and had them 

 thus far on the route in good order. We 

 had landed them from the boat last evening, 

 and was waiting for the ears to take them to 

 the interior of the State, where we have 

 another apiary in a fine location. When the 

 steamer, " City of Bayou Sara." landed and 

 began discharging her freight, in a moment 

 she was enveloped in flames, and our bees 

 being right at the landing, nearly all of 

 them perished. Only some 80 or 00 colonies 

 ^vere saved out of nearly 300 strong ones, 

 all in double-story Simplicity hives, with 

 frames of comb for e.ttraeting. 



Insect Wax or Cliina.— Mr. Wm. Muth- 

 Rasmussen, of Independence, Calif., has 

 scut us the following item, which has been 

 going the ro'juds of the press : 



The British Consular Agent at Chung- 

 King. Mr. Hosie, has made a tour through 

 certain districts of China for the pui-.pose of 

 gaining information concerning insect white 

 wax. He has found the substance to be the 

 product of minute, brown, lice-like insects, 

 which exist, together with a small black 

 beetle, in excrescences or galls attached to 

 the boughs and twigs of an evergreen, called 

 by the Chinese "the insect tree." Early in 

 May these galls are collected and placed on 

 the wax-tree— usually a stump from which 

 rises numerous sprouts. The creatures soon 

 deposit a white coating on the boughs and 

 twigs, which often reaches a thickness of a 

 quarter of an inch in ninety or a hundred 

 days. The branches are then lopped off, and 

 the wax is carefully removed by scraping 

 and boiling. The material is then poured 

 into moulds, and becomes the white wax of 

 commerce, used chietiy for candles. 



Mr. Muth-Rasmussen remarks as follows : 

 " As wa.x is becoming more scarce through 

 the use of the honey-extractor and its 

 increasing consumption for comb-founda- 

 tion, it is well that its place in other indus- 

 tries can be supplied from other sources, 

 perhaps, as in this case, equally good ; for 

 according to the description, I .judge this 

 * insect-wax' to be almost identical with 

 beeswax." Whatever it may be. if its use 

 for other purposes will relieve the market, 

 it will be well, for bee-keepers themselves 

 are now extensive consumers of wax. and 

 the productions of it is much lessened by 

 the modern management of the apiary. 



Tivo More Numbers will complete the 

 Amekican Bee Journal for 1K8.">. Now is 

 the time to renew subscri|)tions, and send 

 an extra name or two with jour own and 

 secure a premium. We have some colored 

 Posters, which we will send frkk, to put 

 up in conspicuous places. We will with 

 pleasure send sample copies to any one who 

 will try to get up a club. 



Tlie li^ssayN and Addresses at the 



Detroit Convention are generally published 

 in full in the Report as given this week. 

 Only very short digests of two of them are 

 given, but they will be published in sub- 

 sequent numbers of the Bee Journal. We 

 have given all that our space would permit 

 in this issue, even to the exclusion of other 

 matter of general interest, knowing full 

 well that all our readers are anxious to read 

 what was said and done at that very inter- 

 esting meeting. 



Neiv Vork Apiarists in large numbers 

 were at the Detroit Con-ention, and they 

 were "a jelly lot" too. President L. C. 

 Root won golden opinions as a " model 

 presiding officer." Canada and Michigan 

 were also well represented by successful 

 apiarists, who were also well informed and 

 fully able to discuss the difficult problems of 

 our pursuit. We point with pride to the 

 printed list of members on page 71)0, as con- 

 taining some of the best apiarists of Amer- 

 ica. There were 10 States and Pi*ovinces 

 represented, viz : New York, Massachusetts, 

 Connecticut, Ohio, Canada, Illinois, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Iowa. Missouri and Michigan. The 

 members were principally in the in-ime of 

 life, with some older and younger. All were 

 enthusiastic, and it was a happy re-union. 



Many Tlianks are due to our friends for 

 sending us so many new subscribers, when 

 renewing their own subscriptions. The 

 reduced price for 1886 has caused quite " a 

 boom," and is a popular move in every sense 

 of that word. As we do not wish any one 

 to work for nothing, we have concluded to 

 otfer premiums for new subscribers for 1886, 

 for in order to compensate for the reduction 

 of our price to $1.00, we should at least 

 thrihhlc our present subscription list. 



For 1 new subscriber for a year (besides your 

 own renewal) we will present you either 

 of the fcdlowing books— 2.5 cents each. 



For 2 ne.ir subscribers — any 2 of the books. 



For 3 ncir subscribers— all 3 of them; o/'the 

 Western Wc)rld Guide & Hand-book. 



Fori new subscribers — Bees and Honey, {$1.^ 



Gaskell's Hand-book of Useful Information 

 — a very hand>- liook of 64 pages. 



Architecture' Siniplitled ; or. How to Build a 

 Dwelling-ln'use, Barn, etc.. giving plans, 

 specifications and cost— GO .pages. 



Look Within for 5,000 facts wh'.ch every one 

 wants to know — 75 pages. 



AVIien Renewing your subscription 

 please try to get your neighbor who keeps 

 bees to .join with you in taking the Beb 

 Journal. It is now .so cheap that no one 

 can afford to do without it. We will present 

 a Binder for the Bee Journal to any one 

 sending us four subscriptions— with- ?4.00— 

 direct to this office. It irill pay any one to 

 devote a few hours, to get subscribers. 



Cliristiuas Numbers are on our desk 

 of Erank Leslie's Illustrated News, the 

 Graphie, of Cincinnati, O., the New York 

 Agricullurist, Vick's Monthly, etc. All of 

 them are elegant and well worthy of pat- 

 ronage. 



