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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Ece Journal. 



Our Honey Markets. 



Mk. Editor : — I v:\s\i to ask through the 

 .TouKNAL wlicthcr other apiarians, wlio ship 

 lioney to any amount, liave any difficulty in 

 getting returns. 1 have had considerable, 

 and it is only because I feel it a duty due 

 to my fellow bee-keepers that I now make 

 public several transactions witli honey mer- 

 chants. For over a year there lias been au 

 advertisement in the American Bee Joxjr- 

 XAL of Baumeister ifc Co., wanting 10,000 

 lbs. of extracted honey. In answer to that 

 advertisement I otlered lo buy them honey, 

 and have their reply stating what they 

 would pay and what commission tliey 

 would give for buying. I bought consider- 

 able, and with some of the product of my 

 own apiary, collected about six barrels, and 

 Avrote them to that cllecl, stating the qual- 

 ity of each barrel whether basswood, clover, 

 mixed or fall honey. By fall houej'Imeau 

 that collected principally from bone-set, 

 buckwheat, fall astor, butter-weed, (or as 

 some call it, tire-weed,) golden rod and a 

 number of other honey plants of minor im- 

 portance, all blooming at so nearly the 

 same time as to render it dithcult to say 

 which tiavor predominates in taking a sam- 

 ple from a barrel. At the time I wrote I 

 also said that I had had au offer of 15 cents 

 l)er pound for it in the warehouse but as I 

 liad written to them previous about it, they 

 had the right to the lirst choice, and if they 

 wished to take it at that price I would send 

 it, and in repl}' Avas ordered to scud it on. 

 But upon their receiving it they wrote say- 

 ing that the honey was not as represented. 

 In marking the barrels I did not rely entire- 

 ly on my own judgement but on the judge- 

 ment of two other apiarians, to whom I can 

 refer ; Init the trouble came afterwards. I 

 looked for money but none come. After 

 waiting a month or two I went to Chicago 

 ' to see about it and found they had sent 

 $20(1 in a letter addressed with wrong in- 

 itials. That being made clear and satisfac- 

 tory, they faithfuilj' promised to send me 

 iftlOO the following week, giving also a note 

 for f 1.10 payable in one month, and $20 in 

 cash. The liouey amounted to $470. In- 

 stead of the $100, only $.■)() came and that 

 two weeks late. Tlie note was paid on 

 time ; but the $')() they now refuse to pay, 

 saying they will only give $2.") ; and it is 

 three week since they otlered that and I ac- 

 cepted it, liut still llu'v do not even send 

 that. 



I have given a rather lengthy account of 

 this one transaction, as 1 would like to 

 know if any others have liad business witli 

 this firm, ;ind whether they do business 

 generally in that style. 



I also sent a bill of honey to J. \V. AVin- 

 der of Cincinuati, amounting to $1L'0; he 



complained of nothing but "panicky times." 

 AVheu the money was due I received $7.> 

 from liim, but for the last few months can- 

 not hear a word. 



I wrote to the Chicago Honey House, -JGO 

 Wabash Avenue, asking what they would 

 give for fall honej^, and stated that I had a 

 barrel (I use 500 ft barrels) to dispose of. 

 They offered me 15 cents, if clear. I ship- 

 ped it, saying it was candied, and now they 

 do not want it at all. 



Who arc the staunch men to whom wc 

 can ship lioncy and feel sure of having 

 speedy returns. AVe can better afford to 

 sell for 13 cents cash, than wait six months 

 at 15 cents, not knowing whether it Avill 

 ever come. Wm. W. Bird 



Ohio. 



For the .Viiierifan r,ec .Tournal. 



Our Opinion of Artificial Queens. 



Dear Journal ;— IMethinks your contri- 

 bution from S. W., Mo., is far and few 

 between. Last fall, I predicted that many 

 blaclc bees in log gums would starve. So 

 they did. Mine (Italians) all wintered, and 

 liave made some surplus. I like Ga,llup's 

 article in the July No., page 1G4, on artifi- 

 cial cpieens, and commend it to beginners 

 in bee-keeping. I would like to have the 

 line of distinction between natural and 

 artificial queens drawn upon a little differ- 

 ent ground. I think natural queens are 

 those produced by natural sAvarming and 

 none others, (iueens that are produced 

 from any and all other causes are artifi- 

 cial. 



If Ave take the queen aAvay from a strong 

 colony of bees in Avarm Aveather, Avheu they 

 arc getting plenty of stores from the field 

 and have bees in all stages of existence, 

 from the egg up to the field Avorkers, avc 

 are apt to raise good prolific, Avcll-colored 

 queens, large size and long lived ; but they 

 should know no scarcity of food. If they 

 need it, they should be fed daily the first 

 eight days. Such queens as these Ave call 

 ai-tificiul. Gallup calls them natural. 

 Such queens as Gallup calls artificial, I do 

 not take any stock in. lu fact I do not 

 have any confidence in any of those Ioav- 

 priced queens, and I do not believe the ex- 

 pert bee-keeper can afVord to raise good 

 queens (or Avhat avc call good queens) tested 

 anil Avarranted for $2 and $;5. He Avould 

 do better to devote his time and force for 

 surplus honey. If those cheap (lUeens are 

 thrown on the market, it will have a great 

 tendency to hinder the introduction of the 

 Italian bee. 1 Avould much prefer paying 

 $5 to $8 for a (pieeu that Avas actually 

 Avorth that, than to pay $2 for a cheap one 

 and run the risk of Ix'ing totally disap- 

 pointed. 



I beg leave to diller with ^Ir. lla/.en, ou 



