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THOIUA8 Ci. r«EW91AIV, 



BDITOR. 



VolXIV. Oct. 19,1889. No, 42. 



Xlie I^OHS by Fire sustained by Mr. 

 E. T. Abbott, of St. Joseph, Mo., as men- 

 tioned on page Oil, makes it necessary for 

 him to sell liis bees at once, In order to raise 

 nece.ssary funds to meet his obligations. 

 Any one within shipping distance who may 

 want to buy .some bees, would do a kind act 

 by buying them of him. It will help bim 

 over the hill of difficulty tliat he is now 

 trying to climb. 



From Prof. fV. W. iTlcL.ain, Direc- 

 tor of the Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 of the University of Minnesota, we have 

 received Bulletin No. 8, which gives reports 

 upon Siloing Clover, Sources of Home-Made 

 Manures, the By-Products of Wheat, the 

 Kocliy-Mountain Locusts in Otter-Tail Co., 

 Minn., in 1SS9, etc. The latter is an exhaus- 

 tive treatise, and is extensively illustrated, 

 showing these pests in their various stages. 



K. itlcKniglit, Esq., Owen Sound, 

 Ont., lias sent us a large photograph of his 

 residence, which shows that he believes in 

 taking solid comfort in his home life. The 

 massive residence, beautiful lawn, copious 

 barn, and interesting family, all shows that 

 he enjoys his surroundings, and the name of 

 the place, " Uomewood," is expressive and 

 appropriate. He has our best wishes for 

 bappiness and prosperity. 



He has also sent us a photograph of his 

 honey exhibit at the Industrial Exhibition 

 at Toronto, mentioned last week on page 

 C4.3. It is no wonder that he carried off so 

 many prizes. 



The Autumn Catalogue of Christian 

 Wecliesser, of Marshville, O., is on our desk, 

 with offers of queen-bees, small fruits, 

 plants, etc. 



Xlie IVorth^reMtern Convention 



met as announced in this city last week. 

 The number in attendance was very credit- 

 able—about 80— and all were enthusiastic 

 and entertaining. About 10 lady bee-keepers 

 were present, and some of them took part in 

 the discussion— particularly that veteran, 

 Mrs. Lucinda Harrison. Five sessions were 

 held, and the enthusiasm did not lag at any 

 point. 



The proprietors of the Commercial Hotel, 

 where the Convention was held, and where 

 the headquarters were established for all in 

 attendance, endeavored to make all their 

 visitors feel at home, and won golden opin- 

 ions for their promptness and attention on 

 every hand. Every one, from the proprie- 

 tors, Messrs. Dabb & Co., to the bell boys, 

 seemed anxious to serve us with the best 

 this popular house aifords. Bee-keepers 

 coming to Chicago, could not make a better 

 selection than the Commercial Hotel during 

 their stay in the metropolitan city of the 

 West, which sits like a Queen on the shore 

 of beautiful Lake Michigan. 



The Convention had no set programme, 

 but the discussion included everything, in 

 the line of apiculture. 



The daily papers, as usual, poked fun at 

 us, and characterized our sessions as " queer, 

 droll meetings of farmers, with long, shaggy 

 beards, and informal to the last degree." Of 

 the discussions, the Herald says : 



An almost illimitable supply of questions 

 was discussed. • They were furnisiied in a 

 way entirely in keeping with these informal 

 meetiogs. When any member of the con- 

 ference desired to be enlightened on any 

 particular point in bee culture, he wrote the 

 question out on paper, and laid it on tlie 

 chairman's table. Then it was announced 

 to the meeting, and, after being thumped 

 and kicked around among the delegates till 

 the wind was knocked out of it, it was laid 

 aside for the next one proposed 



They talked straight from the shoulder, 

 and when they came upon a point that 

 needed particular emphasis, walked up be- 

 fore the chairman and fired it straight at 

 him. 



After making some more foolish asser- 

 tions about what was done, the reporter 

 drew on his imagination for the following, 

 for nothing akin to it was enacted : 



" What kind of a hive is best adapted to 

 down the swarniinj fever ?" was one of the 

 questions that were raised. It had no sooner 

 been announced than one old tellow in a far 

 corner of the room broke out of a deep 

 sleep, and, springing to the floor, yelled, 

 "Mine!" He then went into a long dis- 

 cussion about divisible brood-chanihers, 

 shifting crates, arliticial wooden coml)s, and 

 otlifr things that go to make a bee feel at 

 home in a wooden hive. 



Another delegate made some such re- 

 marks as, " Hold up the king and discard 

 the queen." The (lueen of aswarm of bees 

 seems to be the most potent power in the 

 party, and whatever she can be induced to 

 do is readily adopted by the rest as the 

 proper caper. The bee-keeper who cannot 

 manipulate the queen might as well liberate 

 his swarms and seek a new occupation. 



The reporter remarked that a member of 

 the Northwestern Society would catch any 

 swarm by simply going up to a tree where it 

 had settled, and " cluck and whistle until 

 the bees settled into a compact ball," etc. 



With this starter in Saturday's papers, we 

 need not wonder tliat Sunday's InterOcean 

 should contain the following : 



Yesterday's session of the Bee-Keepere' 

 Convention was taken up mainly by the 

 discussion of how best to exclude the adul- 

 terators and imitators of honey from the 

 legitimate lioney market. The methods of 

 testing honey by chemical analysis were re- 

 viewed by the scientific members of the 

 body, and it was clearly shown that no 

 house-keeper need lack the knowledge or 

 means of assuring herself regarding tlie 

 purity or impurity of honey purchased by 

 her 



A committee was appointed for the pur- 

 pose of bringing the combined influence of 

 the bee-keepers of the country to bear upon 

 their respective congressional representa- 

 tives, with a view to the enactment of a law 

 analogous to thatof protecting dairy butter- 

 whereby all imitations or adulterations of 

 the genuine article shall be marked or 

 branded as such, under suitable penalty in 

 case of neglect. 



The Sunday Times had a similar an- 

 nouncement, beginning with tliese words : 

 "The Bee-Keepers' Convention yesterday 

 declared war against the honey-factories "— 

 a pure fabrication. 



The session on Saturday began at 9 a.m., 

 and lasted until 1:30 p.m., and up to within 

 ten minutes of adjournment, not a word had 

 been said about " honey-factories " or adul- 

 teration. It was then stated that at the Ex- 

 position a method for testing honey by 

 chemical analysis was being exhibited, etc., 

 and it was suggested that a committee be 

 appointed to look into the matter. As it 

 was already past the hour of adjournment 

 (1 o'clock), and many had left for home 

 (among them President Miller), and as all 

 remaining were suffering the pangs of 

 hunger, and wanted to go to the dining 

 room, the vote was put— and stood U to 12 

 for a committee. A motion to adjourn was 

 then made, and there was a rush for dinner. 



Bee-keepers need no legislation against 

 adulteration, for it has been killed by the 

 low price of honey ! When it does not pay 

 to adulterate, no one wants to take the 

 trouble to do it, and as a result but very 

 little, if any, adulterated honey can any- 

 where be found ! All the "swash" in the 

 daily papers about adulteration is, therefore, 

 without foundation or excuse. 



IVew York Honey.— Mr. E. L. Pratt 

 writes thus : " Cobb, Aldrich & Co., large 

 retail grocers of Boston, Jlass., have on dis- 

 play, in their show-windcrw, 4.5,000 pounds 

 of New York clovei^Jtoiey in scant-one- 

 pound sections, at ISeents per section. It 

 attracts a large crowd of people about the 

 show-window.'' Tliat is a sacrifice. 



A. 1>. laiins^wood, of Milan, N. H., 

 took two prizes at the Lancaster Fair — one 

 being for comb honey. The Oazette sajs : 

 " The show in Floral Hall was very good, 

 and we noticed a tine display of honey by 

 Mr. Ellingwood, of Milan." 



Xiie First Eng:ravins on page 64$ 

 is an unfinished sketch. It was sent by an 

 oversight of the author, and is meaniuKless . 



