276 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



Dear Sir : 



I have just finished reading your 

 editorial in the " Api" of Nov. 11, 

 and feel that I am called to offer 

 you my congratulations, for your 

 open and nianl}^ handling of the 

 question, whether " beekeepers or 

 monopolists are first." P^ver since 

 the advent of j'our journal in the 

 field as a " representative bee jour- 

 nal, I have felt that its "calling 

 and election " were sure, for its 

 primal object has been the diffu- 

 sion of knowledge, experiment and 

 truth, without being garbled and 

 doctored by the prejudice of an 

 unfair and greedy monopoly editor ; 

 and while your undertaking has 

 been one of great labor, and has 

 demanded patience, time and per- 

 severance, as necessary to success, 

 you must ultimately be rewarded, 

 if there is any progress or intelli- 

 gence among beekeepers. And 

 when the time does come, that the 

 " Apiculturist" shall be recog- 

 nized as the leading Journal of 

 America, I hope you will then be 

 amply rewarded for the work you 

 have undertaken and so manfully 

 carried out. I have been a reader 

 of the leading bee journals for a 

 number of years and have long felt 

 that they were not published so 

 much for their readers' benefit, as 

 for the purpose of advertising and 

 selling the wares of their editors ; 

 and whenever a criticism was sent 

 to their journals, if it was per- 

 mitted to be published at all, it 

 was twisted, garbled, and comment- 

 ed upon until all thelifewasoutof it. 

 As an instance, I point to W. J. 

 Hutchinson's articles in "Glean- 

 ings" a few months back, where he 

 shows that this booming, puffing 

 and exaggerated style of bee litera- 

 ture as indulged in by the editor of 

 "Gleanings" is calculated to mislead 

 the novice, and prompts the begin- 

 ner to invest in bees and fixtures to 

 his ultimate loss and discourage- 

 ment. And this model editor of the 

 aforesaid ''Gleanings" how he does 



twist and squirm, and dodge around ! 

 And finallytakeshis correspondent 

 to task, for what? Well, for tell- 

 ing the truth ; and all for the 

 reason that such articles are calcu- 

 lated to do the supply trade harm. 

 Besides this \Qvy serious and hurt- 

 ful characteristic, the monopoly 

 journals are filled with matter from 

 the pens of the novice and beginner, 

 with a booming report, and gener- 

 ally winding up with a recipe for 

 curing corns or felons, and the av- 

 erage beekeeper has been paying 

 for and swallowing these literary 

 nostrums until he naturally revolts 

 and calls for a more healthful tonic. 

 And right here, I promise you Mr. 

 Editor, that hereafter I eschew the 

 sloppy and trashy bee papers, and 

 will give my money and influence 

 to the "Apiculturist"with the hope 

 and desire that it may have pros- 

 perity and speedy success, and to 

 all beekeepers I would say, look 

 carefully to^'our own interests, and 

 remember that to attain the prices 

 and secure the best market that 

 will make our business remunera- 

 tive, we nnist have concerted action, 

 must act more as an organized body 

 considering that our interests are 

 the same, and that cooperation will 

 bring the best and most speedy re- 

 sults. 



" Beekeeper." 



Ohio, Nov. 16, 1884. 



OUR CANADIAN DEPART- 

 MENT. 



R. F. HOLTERMAN, Editor. 



For sometime we have contem- 

 plated opening in our journal a 

 department under the above named 

 heading, and at last we have been 

 very fortunate in securing as its 

 editor INIr. 11. F. Ilolterman of 

 Fishersville,Ont. 



It is known to most of our Cana- 



