igo2 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



cheerfully make amends. So firmly 

 rooted has the fabrication become, 

 however, that it is difficult sometimes 

 to convince even the newspaper editor 

 that comb honey never has and never 

 can be manufactured. There is also an- 

 other class of editors with whom we 

 have to deal — their numbers are few, 

 let us be thankful — who assume to have 

 personal knowledge of the existence of 

 such spurious products, and are there- 

 fore unwilling to be instructed on the 

 subject. We have on several occasions, 

 when endeavoring to impart the real 

 truth of the matter, succeeded in elicit- 

 ing only the sympathy of our misin- 

 formed enemy. 

 Some of the newspaper comments on 

 "^ the subject have been very pointed, and 

 evidently calculated to convince read- 

 ers that the author knew very well 

 what he was talking about. Hereto- 

 fore, however, we believe, reporters and 

 editors have failed to indicate the ex- 

 act location of any establishment plying 

 the nefarious trade of manufacturing 

 comb honey, nearer than to name some 

 county of Pennsylvania or other state 

 as the home of the wicked industry. 

 Seemingly emboldened by the smooth 

 sailing which the moss-grown false- 

 hood has had in the past, we learn from 

 a recent number of Gleanings, one has 

 now specifically charged members of 

 the well-known A. I. Root Company, 

 of Medina, Ohio, with producing the 

 bogus article in question; and as a re- 

 sult the enterprising newspaper will 

 have to answer in court to a charge of 

 criminal libel which the Root people 

 have entered. 



There is no doubt that in this case the 

 offending publication would gladly 

 make amends, by publishing a retrac- 

 tion — a thing which all have not will- 

 ingly done in the past — but in this par- 

 ticular instance the publisher, it ap- 

 pears, has been a trifle too pointed to 

 admit of so easy an escape from the 

 merited reward. The A. I. Root Co. 



has determined upon affording an ob- 

 ject lesson; and it is well that it should 

 be even so. There seems to be no 

 shorter road to the bee-keepers* deliv- 

 erance from the evil which this same 

 hoary, yet nimble lie has spread about 

 them. It is, furthermore, a "wholesome 

 thought" that the specific charge 

 should have been brought against a 

 firm whose bank account and clean 

 business record renders the case so eas- 

 ily handled. 



ANOTHER CO-OPERATIVE AS- 

 SOCIATION. 



The depressed condition of the Ja- 

 maican honey market and the unequal 

 division of the gross proceeds from 

 the English markets, which leaves but 

 little for the producer, have conspired 

 to thoroughly arouse the apicultural 

 leaders of the Island. One meeting 

 was held in December, at Kingston, as 

 a result of w^hich a strong circular let- 

 ter was circulated among the bee-keep- 

 ers of the country, setting forth the 

 necessity for immediate and decisive ac- 

 tion, and appealing to them to meet 

 Jan. 7th, to take steps toward the or- 

 ganization of a co-operative association. 

 The following extracts from the circu- 

 lar, besides acquainting the reader with 

 tlife situation which there prevails, may 

 contain a suggestion of value other- 

 wise: 



The times are ripe for the effort, and 

 if we will all pull together we can place 

 our beloved pursuit on a solid and prof- 

 itable basis. A bee-keeper showed me 

 the returns for lo cases of well ripened, 

 logwood- honey, equalling 80 gallons. 

 His net returns after deducting all ex- 

 penses outside his apiary was about 

 Qd. per gallon! My brethren, these 

 things ought not so to be. It is a shame 

 that the producer of such a finished 

 product of Nature should make the 

 smallest profit of all who handle the 

 crop between producer and consumer, 

 but under present methods it is bound 

 to continue. The only way is to elimi- 

 nate the middleman, and get the crop 



