TUE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



35 



not be readily seen all at once ; 

 recollections tliereof will often 

 spring up atVcfih in our niemory for 

 years to come ; and when we read 

 from time to time the writinus of 

 those whom we tiiere met and witli 

 whom we formeil an acquaintance, 

 the visage and deportment of the 

 author will always be associated 

 therewith in our mind. We shall 

 theiefore very naturally feel more 

 deeply interested, and consequent- 

 ly more largely benefited by what 

 we read. 



Seymour^ Wis. 



For the American ApicuUtirist. 



THE HONEY MARKET 

 REPORT. 



By M. M. Baldridge. 



Hurrah for the Api and friend 

 Alle}' ! It pleases me immensely' 

 to learn from the December issue 

 of the Api that friend AUe}' has 

 at last discovered that the so-called 

 market reports on honey, prepared 

 by the shrewd and self-appointed 

 commission men, are nothing more 

 nor less than free advertisements, 

 also a snare and a delusion. Not 

 content at having got the control of 

 the bee-papers with their /ree ads., 

 but what "cheek" the connnission 

 men must have to demand that the 

 beepapers sliall jniy them for their 

 patronage! Just think of it ! Wliy, 

 friend Root confessed at the recent 

 Chicago Convention that, in order 

 to get fresh market reports he 

 bad found it necessary and advis- 

 able to supply the commission men 

 with postal cards and reply envel- 

 opes ! By this ineans the com- 

 mission men would sometimes 

 change their standing advertise- 

 ments ! 



Now, it does seem to me that 

 the bee-papers and their subscribers 

 will sooner or later awake to the 

 real facts in this matter, and, when 



they do, they will demand a halt in 

 tones that will not be misunder- 

 stood. The time is near at iiand 

 when the .sY'//-appointed honey deal- 

 ers will be obliged to take a back 

 seat, aud wiien the bee-papers and 

 their readers awake from their Rip 

 Van Winkle sleep they will then 

 not only wonder but be amazed at 

 their past and present stupidity ! 

 St. Charles, III. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



SMART IGNORAMUSES. 



Jacob Dickman. 



Your offer to send the "Api" one 

 year to fifty beekeepers for articles 

 of interest makes me feel like trying. 

 'Tis interesting to me to listen to the 

 immense knowledge ( ?) of some 

 beekeepers : when we hear one say 

 that "1 have a way to prevent af- 

 terswarms that beats anything yet 

 discovered," and I ask. Do you take 

 a bee journal ? The reply is, "No, 

 I find experience better than all 

 the bee-journals." I confess I don't 

 know how to talk to that man. 

 There are many such knowing ones. 

 And to prove their knowledge will 

 ask, "Can you tell me whether it is 

 the old or ,young queens that leave 

 the hives when the bees swarm"? 

 or "Can you tell which is the male 

 bee?" Or, when they will sa^^"! tell 

 you it's wax that the bees carry on 

 their legs," or, "my bees died last 

 spring because there were no drones 

 in the hive, the queen's eggs 

 wouldn't hatch." Or, when we say 

 that the bees can get no honey at 

 present, stating the cause, they ex- 

 claim "Pshaw ! bees will go into the 

 carcass of a dead horse and make 

 honey." When told that bees don't 

 make honey, they exclaim, "I'd like 

 to know how else they get it." 

 One to whom we had sent a journal 

 during the summer was asked in the 



