190c 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



171 



British apiarist whoso name is known 

 aronnd the world, as a progressive and 

 caiTiible bee-master, and which reach- 

 ed this office Juno lltli: "I am much 

 pleased with the American Bee- 

 Keeper. I look forward to its coming 

 with pleasure. Although I have kept 

 bees for more than fift.v years, en- 

 deavoring to progress with the times, 

 I find much that is both interesting 

 and instructing, and there is no bee 

 paper in the English language that 

 can, in my opinion, compare with it, 

 for its articles and general tone and 

 conduct." Such kind comments are 

 exceedingly encouiaging; yet there 

 remains a vast field for improvement 

 in The Bee-Keeper. and they would 

 soon be introduced if our readers, gen- 

 erally, were less reticent. 



This .iournal has for years main- 

 tained that the most important prob- 

 lem with which the American Iioney 

 producer was confronted was that of 

 markets. and the passing of time strong- 

 ly confirms the tenability of our posi- 

 tion. If bee-keepers are unable to get 

 together on a national basis to effect a 

 systematic liandling of the honey 

 crops, they should, at least, co-operate 

 through state organizations, which 

 might ultimatel.v be merged into one 

 grand American institution. The 

 prices and demand for honey 

 have fallen below the profitable limit, 

 especially as relates to extracted 

 honey, in the states which have yet 

 failed to organize, and rely upon indi- 

 vidual efforts. Though the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review met with but slight 

 encouragement in its efforts to do 

 something for bee-keepers along this 

 line, it deserves a vote of thanks from 

 the fraternity for the efforts it exerted 

 in behalf of national organization in 

 marketing our product. 



hand. He placed spies in the yards, 

 and when the fellows came around, 

 they were captured and plead guilty. 

 Mr. France is as good at trapping 

 honey thieves as he is proficient in 

 trapping other animals." 



' The following clipping is from the 

 Platteville (Wis.) .Tournal, a paper 

 published in the home town of N. E. 

 France, and shows the general man- 

 ager of the National Association in a 

 new role. In his present position, Mr. 

 France is a terror to evil doers: "N. 

 E.P'rance superintended the capture of 

 three honey thieves at Soldiers Grove 

 last week. He learned that a raid was 

 contemplated upon the j^ards of a 

 member of the National Association of 

 Bee-Keepers, of which he is manager, 

 and he took the matter personally in 



Dr. Miller and the editor of Glean- 

 ings are troubled, when clipping 

 queens, by the queen's habit of crawl- 

 ing up on the hand, instead of going 

 back upon the comb, as would seem 

 proper for her to do. The doctor sug- 

 gests the use of a leaf or other small 

 ob.iect iipon which she may run, and 

 then be laid upon the frames. It 

 would seem that either of these gentle- 

 men should have had by this time 

 sufficient experience in clipping queens 

 to do it without so much fuss and 

 feathers. When the doctor has been 

 in the business a little longer we think 

 he will recognize the advantage of 

 clipping without removing the queen 

 from the comb, and then this trouble 

 will be at an end. 



In a letter dated May 26, Dr. Blan- 

 ton tells of an exciting experience with 

 bees, which is quite out of the ordin- 

 ary, as follows: "A truck gardener 

 one-fourth mile distant has one and 

 one-half acres of mustard in bloom, 

 and it seem§ as though all the bees in 

 the apiary are after it. Wind was 

 high and the bees flew close to the 

 ground. A negro, 150 yards from the 

 apiary, was plowing across their 

 course and they stung him terribly. He 

 ran with hat off, and the mule ran at 

 race-horse speed, with plow attached, 

 to the house. I had the man bathed 

 with cold water and stings removed, 

 but he had high fever last night." 



Basswood is taking the place of pine 

 for many purposes. In former years, 

 no one thought of using anything but 

 pine or poplar for the siding of houses. 

 Basswood is now being used exten- 

 sivel.v as a substitute, and as a result 

 of this new demand, basswood has 

 gone Tip. thi>» affecting thousands of 

 manufacturers who have use for it. 

 The logging season last winter in the 

 north was very short, and millions of 

 feet of logs which were cut are still 

 lying in the woods.* This shortage in 

 the supply of basswood has made it 

 scarce the past season, but it is 

 thought that a good season will briHg 

 out a large supply for next year. — Ex. 



