March 9, 190S. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 



incurred in such case ". It is not the object, expressed or implied, of 

 tlie Association to aid the several States to prosecute their burglars or 

 thieves. , It is the duty of the commonwealth to prosecute criminals. 

 Also collecting debts due our members, losses by fire or freight, or 

 other personal grievances should not be referred to the Association for 

 settlement. It has no such power to enforce civil law in the hands of 

 officers there for such purposes. City ordinances declaring bees a 

 nuisance, in most cases, are result of personal differences between 

 neighbors. I, therefore, ask you to make neighborly calls frequently, 

 and at times donate a little honey, and avoid trouble. 



Make special effort to place your bees out of the cellar after wash- 

 day, so clothes on lines will not be spotted. Our bees have no right to 

 disturb people or stock in highways, or neighbors' premises. If you 

 have never receivtd a copy of my red-covered 37-page book on " Bee- 

 Keepers' Legal Rights ", free to every member, let me know and I 

 will send it. 



If you send me samples of suspected diseased brood liy mail, be 

 sure it is in a light but strong box, so it will stand transfers by mail. 

 The same applies to samples of honey by mail. 



N. E. France, Oen. Mgr. 



Why Not Advertise?— Quite frequently we receive postal 

 cards with requests like the following: 



" I want to sell my bees. It you know any one who desires to 

 buy, please refer him to me." 



"I need a man to help me with my bees. If you know of any 

 good ijee-keeper wanting such place, tell him to write to me." 



"I want to buy some bees. If you know of any for sale, let me 

 know about them." 



It seems a good many people do not yet know that our advertising 

 columns are open to just such notices, and at the low rate of only 10 

 cents a line, one-half inch (or 7 lines) being the minimum space. This 

 would'Cost only 70 cents. Isn't it worth that small sum to find a man 

 to work in the apiary, or to sell your bees, or for any other business 

 you want to do? 



One of the ways of raising the necessary money to pay our oflice- 

 help, to pay for white paper, for printing, office-rent, etc., is through 

 the use of our advertising columns by those who wish to buy or sell, 

 etc. We could not publish the American Bee Journal on subscription 

 receipts alone, when we furnish 53 copies for only $1.00. So we must 

 depend upon our advertising receipts to help out. And the advertis- 

 ing columns are open to any and every legitimate and honorable 

 advertiser. 



-V (£on tribiitcb ^- 

 Special Ctrticlcs 



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Duties on Honey— The National Association. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



I AM in receipt of letters on this question of duties on 

 honey, from Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, secretary of the Col- 

 orado Honey-Producers' Association, and from Mr. 

 Henry Reddert, secretary of the Southwestern Ohio and 

 Hamilton County Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Both writers mention the fact that comb honey from 

 Cuba, of inferior quality, is now being sold in United States 

 markets. Mr. Rauchfuss, while hoping for an increase in 

 the tariff, says that if it were made compulsory upon im- 

 porters and dealers in foreign honey to label it plainly with 

 the country of its production, it would help matters a great 

 deal, as Cuban honey is not so good as the honey produced 

 here, and very much inferior to Colorado honey. The Ohio 

 beekeepers object to comb honey being imported on the 

 same duty as paid for extracted honey. All ask what is to 

 be done. 



If the bee-keepers of this country desire an increase in 

 the tariff, they can surely obtain it by going at it in the 

 right way. It is, however, worth our while to take notice 

 of the fact that duty is always a two-edged sword. Ameri- 

 can honey has often been exported. When California pro- 

 duced enormous crops, which she is likely to do again, the 

 honey from the Pacific Coast flooded our markets and weut 

 to Europe. If we protect ourselves against the importation 

 of an article which we produce largely and may want to ex 

 port, it is quite likely that other countries will retaliate Dv 

 putting duties upon our products in the same line. A duty 

 on Cuban honey may protect us against Cuba, and, in the 

 meantime, France or Germany may consider that as we arc 

 forcing Cuban honey to flow in their direction, it is necei 

 sary to retaliate by putting an interdiction on the importa- 



tion of all American honey, whether from North or South 

 America. , 



But if it is thought best by the bee-keepers of this coun- 

 try to obtain an increase of duty, it should be carried on in 

 a practical manner. The National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion has appointed a legislative committee, but such a com- 

 mittee has neither the right nor the power to act without 

 instructions and backing. I believe that it is necessary 

 that this matter be thoroughly discussed in the bee-papers. 



I strongly favor the compelling of labeling imported 

 honey with the mark of its origin. It is a fact that if all 

 that is sold under the name of honey could be sold exactly 

 for what it is, there would be no trouble in getting rid of 

 all our product. If the tons of fine honey from Colorado 

 were absolutely known by the consumer to be all pure 

 honey from alfalfa (just what it is), it would all sell readily 

 at good prices. If the glucose that has been mixed with ex- 

 tracted honey by unprincipled dealers was labeled just what 

 it is, there would be but little of it on the market, because 

 the demand for it would be killed. Cuban honey would 

 never sell at a price to compare with our home product. 1 

 believe, therefore, that we should lay great stress on obtain- 

 ing laws that will compel everything to be sold for what it 

 really is. 



"The National Association is the proper channel througlr 

 which all National reforms for bee-keepers should be 

 secured, but just now the executive function is in bad 

 shape, owing to the sickness and death of the secretary. 

 Mr. Brodbeck was evidently between life and death several 

 months previous to his demise, and the last election of offi- 

 cers has never been reported by him. Mr. France, the Gen- 

 eral Manager, has taken upon himself many of the duties 

 of the secretary. It is now urgent that the Board of Direc- 

 tors should take steps towards the appointment of a new 

 secretary, if the returns can not be had, for the National 

 Association will become every day more necessary to the 

 welfare of the pursuit in this country. The time has gone 

 by when men fought their way through the world without 

 association and union with their fellow laborers. Even in 

 the most backward countries of Europe the need of union is 

 being felt for success. Hamilton Co., 111. 



w 

 Honey and Pollen in Brood-Combs. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I AM quite often written to by those who think their bees 

 store too much honey and pollen in the brood-combs, and 

 at a bee-convention, some years ago, I heard a man say 

 that he would give S50 for a machine that would remove 

 pollen from the combs without injuring them. And as a 

 letter is just at hand containing these words, " Will you 

 please tell me through the columns of the American Bee 

 Journal why my bees store so much pollen and honey in 

 the brood-combs just before the honey harvest ?" I thought 

 I would write a few words on the subject, believing that 

 others may be helped as well as the one asking the above. 



Two things generally incite to the storing of too much 

 honey and pollen in the brood-combs at the beginning of 

 the season, or as soon as the bees become numerous and 

 active in May and June in this locality. The first is a poor 

 queen, or one which will not lay enough eggs so that the 

 increasing larva; from those eggs will consume what honey 

 and pollen is coming in from the fields. In other words, 

 the old or field bees are too numerous for the laying capacity 

 of the queen. The remedy in such a case as this is to- 

 change the queen for a younger and more prolific one. And 

 such a change of queens is best made in the fall, for it is 

 far better for a colony to have a prolific queen when spring 

 opecs than it is to try to introduce such a queen to take the 

 place of a failing one early in the season. 



The other thing inciting to the storing of too much 

 honey and pollen in the brood-combs is too large a hive. If 

 the hive is too large for the capacity of a really good queen, 

 that colony is placed in nearly the same condition as is the 

 one having a failing queen in a smaller brood-chamber, for 

 if the season opens with any large amount of comb unoccu- 

 pied with brood, the bees will begin storing in the empty 

 comb in the hive rather than enter the sections to build 

 comb there or draw out comb foundation. And having once 

 commenced to store honey and pollen in any large quanti- 

 ties in the comb immediately surrounding the brood, the 

 bees will continue along this line to the detriment of our 

 crop of section honey, and often to the damaging of the 

 wintering success of this same colony. 



But even with a good, prolific queen, and a hive of the 



