THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



11 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Eccentric. 



Now Mr. Editor : did vou ever ? Tlie old 

 reliable Ameiucak Hkk Jouhnai. lias had 

 it's "Novice," "Aiiiateiir," "Tyro," "Fogy," 

 "Begiimer," " and many others whom we 

 don't recall ; and now here conies another 

 91071 dc plume in the way of an "Eccentric." 

 Well, it takes all sorts of peoi)le to make a 

 world, thev sav, and we dont know of any 

 good reason why the bee-keeping world 

 should not have an "Eccentric" as well as 

 other people. So please don't laugli at our 

 queer ideas and awkward movements, lest 

 we become embarrassed 'ere we become 

 wavwised in our new relation, for, to tell 

 vou tiie iilain truth, we must confess to feel- 

 ing a little shaky in the role of newspaper 

 correspondent. We realize our own limited 

 attainments while in the company of the 

 brilliant, racy writers of the old A. B. J. 

 and really are' not sure that we'll be seen at 

 all amid" so many great lights, whose bril- 

 liancy outshines all smaller luminaries. But, 

 pleading our youthful years in extenuation 

 of mistakes and blunders, we'll try and 

 behave properly, doing the best we can. 



By the way, what has become of all our 

 old writers who used to entertain us so of- 

 ten and well ? Where is Gallup ? Has he 

 engaged in the production of corn so exten- 

 siyely, (that yields honey the whole year 

 'round) that he can find no leisure to tell us 

 of his big feats in bee-keeping ? Or has he 

 found a problem in that big, long, hive 

 which he s unable to solve ? 



And Novice. He too, used to amuse "us 

 little folks" with his funny stories, and nu- 

 merous experiments. We suppose he's 

 gleaninq the fields of Medina Co. and really 

 has no time to tell us of what he's doing. 

 Or it may be his "mission in life" has been 

 accomplished, now that the "patent-right 

 fellows" have subsided. 



And where is Quinby with his plain prac- 

 tical ideas and large common sense ; Adair, 

 with his ponderous, jaw-breaking names 

 and brilliant "new ideas :" Dadant whose 

 extensive, accurate knowledge and terse, 

 vigorous sentences were always read with 

 aviditv ; Argo who always had something 

 good to say, and knew how to say it well ; 

 Burch who once wrote regularly, and usually 

 to the point ; and many others, "too numer- 

 ous to mention." Can't they be induced to 

 resume the pen once more ? We trust they 

 may. 



We notice that some of the Journal's cor- 

 respondents have been bothered in getting 

 the pay for their honey. To toil and sweat 

 through the hot summer months to get a 

 nice ftile of honey, trusting that the pro- 

 ceeds in the fall, from its sale, will remuner- 

 ate us for all our hard work, and then be 

 cheated out of a portion or all of our money, 

 by a dishonest honey merchant, may be a 

 nice thing for the latter gentlemen, but we 

 don't exactly appreciate it. In fact it's a 

 transaction that is becoming so frequent that 

 some means should be devised to put an end 

 to it. What we, as bee-keepers, need to-day 

 above everj-thing else, is, some good, sure 

 market for our honey at a fair price, in cash 

 paid on delivery. 



The cold and chilling winds of spring may 

 decimate the ranks of "bee-tlom, ' heat and 

 lack of moisture may cut short the summer 

 pasturage. This we can and do bear uncom- 



plainingly. But to lose what honey we do 

 get, through the dishonest, thieving propen- 

 sity of some city dealer is a little too much; 

 it's the one step from the sublime to the ri- 

 diculous. This may be considered plain, 

 talk, and we are inclined to think so too. 

 We always try to si)eak intelligi))ly, ever 

 aiming to tell the truth. Now, we by n© 

 means wish to be "unch-rstood that wculeem 

 all men (and women) who solicit consign- 

 ments of our honey, as belonging to that 

 class of people who wish to avoid paying for 

 what they buy. Not at all. But there are 

 people of this class, and we would denounce 

 them in unspairiug terms. We know of no 

 better way to make them honest, than to ad- 

 vise people to avoid them altogether. In this 

 connection we would caution all our readers 

 about selling to a New York honey house 

 "on time," unless the parties who run it 

 have a little more regard for their dealing 

 than a Chicago honey nouse, you'll be apt to 

 lose by it. We've been there and "know 

 how it is ourselves." And "Eccentric" isn't 

 the only person who has lost money by deal- 

 ing with these same parties. 



The season just closed, has been rather 

 a dull one in our localtty. Bees came through, 

 the winter in poor condition, faucity of 

 numbers being the rule ; while the fearful 

 months of April and May, just did a sweep- 

 ing business in the diminution of the rem- 

 nants of what once were, powerful colonies. 

 June was warm and balmy, but the avidity 

 of the atmosphere "played smash" with our 

 honey prospects, though our little "baby col- 

 onies" increased in stature with such celer- 

 ity that with the advent of the linden blos- 

 soms on the 8th of July, they were "forty 

 thousand strong" and ready for concjuest. 

 Ah! yes, they were ready, but the linden 

 hadn't any idea of being pumped of its de- 

 licious nectar ; and after "making believe" ' 

 for sixteen days— days of anxious, weary 

 waiting for the good time a coming, ever 

 waiting, but never appearing— doffed its 

 millions of tiny, pendent blossoms, and bid 

 farewell to honey and 1874. And thus it 

 was during the remainder of the season, 

 save that boneset furnished us with enough 

 liquid for colds, croup and catarrh,, the con- 

 comitants of Northern winters. (By the 

 way have our readers ever investigated tlie 

 medicinal properties of the various kinds of 

 honey? If any of you are ailing, we'd ad- 

 vise you too.) And so we've got but little 

 honey, and as honey is low and dull we've 

 surely got less money ; but we have got a 

 a few bees left to die off next winter when 

 old boreas and the "bee-disease" make their 

 annual appearance. 



Mr. Editor: we said honey was low, and 

 the probability of it commanding still lower 

 prices in the hiture, stares us squarely in 

 the face. Now, as consumers of honey pay 

 just about as much money for the article as 

 formerly, we'd really like to know what's 

 the matter. Isn't the solution of the prob- 

 lem to be found in the fact that honey deal- 

 ers are constantly endeavoring to depress 

 prices so as to purchase from the producer 

 at the lowest possible figures. By keeping 

 the price to tlie consumer up to the old fig- 

 ures, of course the profits of the business 

 are augmented. Now what earthly use is 

 there in giving all the profits to some honey 

 houses why not adopt the (iranger's princj- 

 jtle of selling direct to the consumer, and 

 save our hard earned shillings, while the 

 consumer will be benefitted by lower prices 



