THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



339 



cheaply reached by the majority of bee- 

 keepers. We tried hard to get it located at 

 Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburg or Chicago, 

 but were outvoted. If Western bee-keepers 

 will attend they can vote to have it in the 

 future more centrally located,— Ed.1 



For the American Bee Jovirnal. 



Notes by the Way. 



Did you ever ponder over the fact, dear 

 old Bee Journal, how very tew ot the 

 great mass of those who are engaged in any 

 "iven calling, are really successful? Now 

 and then some cool, clear-headed, tar- 

 sidited, sagacious individual will loom up 

 on the business horizon, whose achieve- 

 ments make him the object of wonder and 

 respect of an admiring populace— tor we 

 Americans, as a people, certainly entertain 

 a profound respect tor the genius and tact 

 that commands success, and .lustly so too, 

 since it's the measure of a man s ability; 

 vet the great mass of humanity move slowly 

 along the pathway of business, apparently 

 content with the meagre success that attends 

 their efforts in life. 



Sullivan and Alexander among farmers, 

 Stewart and Clafflin among merchants, Van- 

 derbilt and Scott in railroading, Ames and 

 Ward in manufacturers. Stephenson and 

 Morse among inventors, Tyndal and Agaziz 

 in science, are exan.ples of those who broke 

 over the narrow confines of a local reputa- 

 tion and whose names are emblazoned high 

 on the scroll of fame. Bee-culture as a pur- 

 suit, is no exception to the rule. 



Turning to "Novice's Medley" which 

 hangs upon the wall before us, we notice a 

 constellation of apistical stars-Harbison, 

 (who isn't there after all) Hetheniigton 

 and Grimm— the magnitude of whose honey 

 crops gained them a National reputation and 

 proved beyond question their ability to 

 successfully manage large apiaries, each 

 numbering" more than a thousand colonies. 

 Just below we have Langstroth and Qum- 

 bv, whose teachings at an early period, sent 

 a gleam ot light athwart the almost uni- 

 versal darkness that enveloped the field ot 

 modern apiculture; the classical production 

 of the former strongly contrasting with the 

 plain, practical teachings of the latter. The 

 practical results attained by these two lu- 

 minaries, is evidence that they belonged to 

 two distinct classes— tlie one, theoretical, 

 the other, practical. Mr. Qumby's apiary 

 reached hundreds of colon ias. with a pr9- 

 duct of tons of honey annually, and this 

 too, notwithstanding he had to contend 

 against that fell malady of the apiary— foul 

 brood. _,. , . , 



Well well, Mr. Editor, when we sat down 

 to " sling a little ink " for the old Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, we hadn't the lamtest 

 idea of scribbling a homily on finance, nor 

 any of its kindred topics, but we did have a 

 faint idea of telling you something of a 

 pleasant little trip, which recently took us 

 over a portion of your own " Sucker State.' 

 On a pleasant July evening we took pass- 

 age on the staunch steamer, Riverside, 

 which plies between the Haven of " peaches 

 and plenty" and the metropolis of the 

 West. The night was calm and beautiful, 

 the silvery light of the moon illumining the 

 limpid waters of old Michigan, and as we 



sat upon the boat's prow gazing out into the 

 great Unknown, fancy carried us away to 

 the time when lite's fitful voyage should be 

 ended, and 



" We over the waves of eternity float, 

 ■ And then for a life t-livine." 

 The following day found us traversing 

 the busy streets of that marvelous city ot 

 the West— Chicaso. For the benefit ot 

 those of our readers who have never beheld 

 this city of wonderful growth, indomitable 

 energy, matchless pluck and great business 

 resources— this city that arose Pluenix like, 

 from her ashes, and now proudly stands be- 

 side the fairest inland sea on any continent, 

 as the finest business city of the world— we 

 would like to delineate something qt what 

 we saw; but both time and space torbids. 

 We of course "took in" the office ot liiE 

 American Bee Journal and spent a very 

 pleasant hour with the genial editor of this 

 Journal. Although we found him very 

 busy in getting the July number ready tor 

 the mails, (it already having been delayed 

 several days bv the famous R. R. strike ) 

 he kindly showed us through his " museum 

 of articles peitaining to the apiary. Here, 

 for the first time, we saw the astounding 

 inventions of many a brilliant genius, while 

 we noticed several articles of real merit. 

 We were pleased to learn that the Bingham 

 Smoker had taken the lead of all others, in 

 extent of sales, orders for it coming from 

 nearly every State and territory m the 

 Union. We have tried nearly everything in 

 the line of smokers, from a Meershaum to a 

 Bingnam, and a twenty dollar note won dn t 

 tempt us to part with ours if we couldn t 

 procure another. Here were extractors ot 

 every shape and pattern, from the trail and 

 fraf'ile " Novice " to the staunch and staid 

 Miirphy; hives of simple form, and hives of 

 labyririthia.i complications; section trames 

 and honey boxes, jars for extracted honey, 

 comb-foundation to allure the bees up 

 stairs;" veils to protect one's nose trom the 

 "business end" of a bee, honey knives, 

 queen's cages, and countless other things to 

 deplete tlie over-burdened pockets ot the 

 agile apiculturist. 



Bidding Bro. Newman adieu, we wended 

 our way to the passenger depot ot C. & iN. 

 W R. R., and were soon gliding along then- 

 smooth, steel track over the level praine to- 

 ward the setting sun. Presently our coach 

 is detached and takes a more northward 

 course, whirling along the beautitul box 

 River Valley, when the conductor an- 

 nounces, in clarion tones, our destination- 

 Dundee. A few minutes walk brought us 

 to the residence of Mr. E. J. Oatman, with 

 whom we spent 3 or 3 days very pleasantly, 

 indeed. „ . , ^, 



And now, Mr. Editor, we find ourselves 

 in a quandary— there is so much we would 

 like to say. that our pencil doesn't know 

 where to ' begin, nor where to end. We 

 have often heard bee-keeping alluded to as 

 "small potatoes," fit only for those who had 

 neither talent nor business capacity tor 

 anything else; but here, at least, is one 

 whose life is a daily refutation ot such 

 sneering accusations. 



We very much regret that we haven t 

 data to give our readers a correct pen por- 

 trait of Mr. O.; for in its absejice it would 

 be altogether "guess work." Not tar trom 

 35 years of age, about 6 ft. in height, form 

 spare, weighing about 150 lbs., light com- 

 plexion, blue eyes, and a frank, genial 



