District Convention.— "Shall we have 

 a District Convention ?" is the question 

 now propounded to us hy bee-keepers living 

 near Chicago. Mr. A. Rice, President of 

 the Rock River Valley (III.) Association, 

 writes as follows : 



Byron, 111., May 19, 1880. 

 Dear Mr. Newman : In company with 

 ■quite a number from this section I attended 

 the meeting of the National Convention at 

 Chicago. That meeting was so profitable 

 and pleasant that we believe a District Con- 

 vention should be held in Chicago, each 

 year, during the time of the Chicago Expo- 

 sition, when cheap fares can be obtained on 

 all the railroads. This would give bee- 

 keepers a chance to attend both at a single 

 expense— and that a very small one. Shall 

 we have one ? A. Rice. 



We certainly have no objection; and to 

 test the matter we invite bee-keepers in the 

 surrounding country to give us their views 

 of the propriety of this undertaking. Those 

 who would attend and become members of 

 this association will please write us at once, 

 stating what time will be preferred, if such 

 is to be held. 



HP Mr. Geo. L. Perry, a breeder of Ital- 

 ian bees and supply dealer in Lansing, 

 Mich., has named his apiary of about 100 

 colonies the "Globe," but why we cannot 

 tell. Lansing is a nice town, but is neither 

 the "hub" of theglohe nor the globe itself ! 

 but Mr. Perry is a wide awake and progres- 

 sive apiarist. 



Libel Suit.— The Indiana Farmer has 

 the following item : 



One N. C. Mitchell, this city, has entered 

 suit against us for libel, claiming damage 

 in the sum of $5,000 for a-serting that he is 

 humbugging the people by selling as his 

 patent bee-hive an article which is public 

 property. As we made this assertion solely 

 for the benefit of our readers and to protect 

 them from fraud, we call upon all who have 

 had dealings with Mitchell, or his agents, 

 to write us briefly in regard to the claims 

 they have made, the kind of hive they offer 

 to sell, whether or not it is the same as that 

 •described on the second column of page 2 

 in this number, and any information they 

 may possess regarding the character of 

 Mitchell and his manner of doing business. 

 Please send in these statements at once. 

 Our contemporaries, especially those pub- 

 lishing bee journals, will confer a favor 

 upon us by sending us promptly any infor- 

 mation in their possession having a bearing 

 upon the case. 



Any of our readers who have cause to 

 complain of Mr. Mitchell or his agents in 

 this matter, should write to the Indiana 

 Farmer at Indianapolis, Ind., at once. 



263 



Another Queen Cage.— Mr. S. J. Mc- 



Kinney, of Burlington, Iowa, has sent us an- 

 other queen cage, and says : "I tfcink it is 

 good for introducing or shipping queens. 

 The cylinder is to be filled with a sponge 

 saturated with honey and water; the tin 

 shield is to be used only in shipping a long 

 distance. I think upon examination you 

 will find it a good cage for transportation of 

 queens." It is ingenious, and will do for in- 

 troducing and shipping by express, but will 

 not do for mailing, honey and wa f er both 

 being unmailable. We have added it to our 

 museum. 



Honey Plant.— Mr. R. C. Taylor. Wil- 

 mington, N. C, says : -'I send sample of 

 flower, leaf, etc., of shrub growing near my 

 garden, close to swamp. I counted 1,000 

 blooms on it, and there were from 4 to 12 bees 

 on every spikelet of flowers. Please give 

 name, etc., as to what it may amount to for 

 bees." Prof. Cook notices this plant as fol- 

 lows : Prof. Beal kindly informs me that 

 this is one of the lead-plants. It is Amorpha 

 fruticosa. It is a leguminous plant, and 

 is widely distributed through our country. 



Glucose from Rags.— The Eevue In- 

 dustrielle states that a German manufac- 

 tory is turning out over a ton a day of glu- 

 cose made from old linen rags. These rags, 

 which are composed of hard vegetable 

 fibers, are treated with sulphuric acid, 

 wiiich converts them into dextrine. The 

 latter product thus obtained undergoes a 

 washing with milk of lime, ami is then 

 treated with a fresh supply of acid stronger 

 than the former, when the mass is at once 

 transformed and crystallizes into glucose, of 

 which confections, honey and jelly may be 

 made. The process is said to be a very 

 cheap one, and the glucose chemically 

 identical with grape sugar. A strong out- 

 cry, however, has arisen against the manu- 

 facture of grape sugar from rags, and the 

 enterprise is understood 'to be in danger of 

 being interfered with by the German gov- 

 ernment. 



New Catalogues Received.— We ac- 

 knowledge the receipt of the following cat- 

 alogues and price lists for apiarian supplies : 

 O. H. Townseud, Hubbardston, Mich.; J as. 

 A. Nelson, Wyandotte, Kan.; Ashton, Jones 

 <fe Walton, Muscatine, Iowa ; A. E. Manum, 

 Bristol, Vt.; Lewis A. Best, Best's, Lehigh 

 County, Pa. 



