THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



819 



WEEKLY EDITION 



OF THE 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Vol. XXI. Dec. 30, 1885. No. 52. 



APICULTURAL NEWS ITEMS. 



EDITORIAL AND SELECTED. 



Wliy doth the violet spring 



Unseen by human eye ? 

 Why do the radiant seasons bring: 



Sweet thoughts that r|iiicl<ly fly : 

 Why do our fond hearts cling 



To things that die ? 

 O life ! this is thy sons, 



"Endure and— die ?" 



Happj" New Year!— We earnestly wish 

 one and all of our readers a Happy New 

 Year, and may prosperity and happiness 

 attend all their laudable undertakings 

 throughout the year. 



TUe Year Is I<:nded. It this life is the 

 corner-stone of the future, should we not 

 use all our endeavors to have it pUiiiih and 

 sqitare 7 



Diirlns tlie Year 1885 we have inserted 

 175 queries in the Query Department, with 

 answers by some of our best apiarists. This 

 alone has been worth more than the sub- 

 scription price of the Bee .Toitrnal to 

 almost every subscriber, because it gives 

 the opinions of 8 or 10 successful apiarists 

 on each topic. " In the multitude of counsel 

 there is wisdom." The answers vary, because 

 in many cases the matters treated upon are 

 simply matters of opinion, and show enough 

 difference to make it thoroughly interesting. 

 Those who have so kindly aided in this 

 Department, have the thanks of our readers 

 generally. The Query Department will he 

 continued next year under the same plan of 

 management. 



A Complete Index will be found in this 

 number of the JotTRNAL.both to the subject- 

 matter, correspondents' names, and illustra- 

 tions. To these we point with pride, because 

 they comprise the whole range of apipul- 

 tural discussion, as well as current news of 

 our pursuit. The Index to Correspondents 

 contains the names of all our tjest, most 

 experienced and thoroughly successful 

 writers of the present day. These will all be 

 continued for the coming year, and our 

 arrangements now perfected for the future 

 will make the Bee Jodrnal for 1886 better 

 than all its preceding years. In fact, no 

 bee-keeper can afford to do without it. 



This Nil nibereloNOsaiiotlierVoIiinie 



of the Ameiuca.n Bee .Icuih.nal, rears one 

 more monument upon I lie broad area of 

 industrial improvement, and creates one 

 more " book of rcfereuco " on progressive 

 apiculture. 



The American Bee Journal was, in 1801, 

 conceived in a laudable desire to do good to 

 a languishing industry, it has been con- 

 ducted with the sole view of promoting the 

 welfare of its patrons, and is dedicated to 

 the interests of honey-producers generally. 

 It should be remembered that it was the 

 first periodical that claimed for bee-culture 

 its rights as a science. It raised a torch- 

 light, which for years gleamed alone amid 

 the dark mists of ignorance and prejudice, 

 and now, when it has given birth to other 

 lights, it is still burning with a pure and 

 brilliant flame. 



For the past V2 years its present editor has 

 labored dilligently for the interests of 

 apiarists, and still hopes, by presistent toil, 

 to advance the practical science of modern 

 apiculture, and thus to carry out the plans 

 of his honored predecessor, Mr. Samuel 

 Wagner, who first conceived the idea of 

 publishing a periodical devoted to bee- 

 culture in America. Since then much 

 progress has been made — many doubtful 

 problems have been solved, and new ideas 

 promulgated ; all the standard works on 

 apiculture have been revised time and 

 again, as published experiences have proven 

 to the several authors that their books 

 inclined to error, and none but the most 

 conceited have dared to assume that they 

 knew it all. 



We desire not only that every present 

 subscriber will promptly remit for the 

 coming year, but also that each one will 

 convince his bee-keeping friend or neighbor 

 that it is to 7n*s iutcrest to join in a club, at 

 least of two, and thus spread the light of its 

 torch. so that so many more may be benefited 

 thereby. 



It is to the interest of every bee-keeper 

 that his neighbor bee-keepers are educated 

 especially as to marketing honey, that they 

 may have the honey in attractive shape, and 

 to know its proper selling value before 

 attempting to sell it. This may prevent 

 their spoiling of his market by ruining the 

 prices or disgusting purchasers. 



It win be Wisdom to invest one dollar 

 for the Weekly American Bee Journal for 

 1886. With its weekly visits every sub- 

 scriber will be kept posted will all the 

 apicultural news of the day. All the new 

 things in our ever-advancing pursuit will 

 be placed before our readers as soon as they 

 come to the light, and at the end of the year 

 every subscriber will have a volume of 832 

 pages filled with just the kind of reading 

 that will he of the (ii'catcst value to every 

 apiarist. By the use of the Binder prepared 

 for the Bee Journal, all can have the 

 volume bound and in good preservation 

 every day in the year, and always up to 

 date, ready for reference and daily exami- 

 nation. It surely will be uii>dom for every 

 bee-keeper to take the American Bee 

 Journal for 1886. Now is the time to renew 

 with the advent of the new year. 



The American Asirlciilturlst and the 



Weekly Bee Journal for 1886 will both be 

 sent for S2.25, or with the " Family Cyclopae- 

 dia " or " Law Book," for $2.65. 



Coneernlns; the Itiily on Becsivax 



in Canada, on page 811 Mr. Jones was 

 reported to have said that the Canadian 

 GoveriMiioTit had removed the duty, but .Mr. 

 R. F. llolterniann, of Fi8herville,0nt., denies 

 this, and says : 



The subject was brought up and the 

 Government was approached more or less 

 directly ; but just about that time we found, 

 owing to heavy winter losses in 1884-85, that 

 there woulii be no scarcity of wax for some 

 time, and it dropped. My own opinion is, 

 aside from all other difticulties, the idea of 

 removing the duty on beeswax is imprac- 

 ticable, because, however easy to the 

 experienced, it is no easy matter for a 

 novice to distinguish beeswax from parafhne, 

 ceresine, and such like. To remove the 

 duty from beeswax, would set a premium 

 upon frauds of all kinds, and we cannot 

 hope or expect to remove it from all these, 

 nor can we expect to have the Government 

 excise men to distinguish wax from appar- 

 ently similar substances. 



We were not present at the last session 

 (having left for Chicago to get the Conven- 

 tion report before our readers), and therefore 

 know notliing of what was said. Perhaps 

 Mr. Jones can straighten the matter out. 



New Subscribers are coming in rapidly 

 —for this our thanks are tendered to the 

 friends of the American Bee Journal, who 

 are exerting their influence in its behalf. 

 We should thribble our list at the present low 

 rate of one dollar a year. It is a popular 

 price, and we find the reduction ^a popular 

 thing with all bee-keepers. 



miss liiioy A. Wllkins declines the 

 offlee of Vice-President of the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-keepers' Society for Michigan. Prof. 

 Cook was nominated, and he then nominated 

 Miss Wilkins, we presume as a compliment 

 to the lady. As she declines, the olBce will 

 of course devolve upon Prof. Cook. 



G. B. Iieivis & Co., of Watertown, Wis., 

 are on hand with fheir new Catalogue for 

 1886—20 pages. A copy is on our desk. 



Usiiia; Bass^vood for sections was dis- 

 cussed .at the late Convention at Deti-oit. 

 Mr. Boardman said : (see page 806.) " I use 

 basswood for sections, but in view of its 

 becoming scarce, and to save it for bee- 

 forage, can we not find some other timber 

 to take its place ?" He was erroneously 

 reported to have said : " I never use bass- 

 wood," etc. Hence this correction. 



The First Convention of the bee- 

 keepers of America was held at Cleveland, 

 Ohio, on March 15, I860 ; nearly 26 years 

 ago. We have prepared a history of the 

 inception, formation, and organization of 

 the North American Bee-Keepers' Society, 

 together with a digest of the proceedings of 

 all its meetings from its inauguration, with 

 a full report of its last meeting at Detroit, 

 Mich. This we are now publishing in 

 pamphlet form. It will be ready in January, 

 and will be sent postpaid for 25 cents. We 

 will present a copy of it to any one sending 

 us a club of two subscribers for one year, 

 with $2.00 



Bulletin No. 9, of the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College, is received. It treats of 

 chemicals. 



Silence is a strong argument, as well as 

 a great virtue. There is no wisdom in un- 

 necessary contention. Let us all commence 

 the new year with the determinsition to see 

 " how we can best work and best agree." 



