104 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 18, 





George; w. york, - Editor. 



PnBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 afiohieran St., - CHICAGO, ILL. 



tl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [BDtered at tbe Post-Offlce at CblcaKO as Second-Class Mall-Matter. 



YoLimil. CHICAfiO, ILL FEB. 18, M No, I. 



Editorial Con)n)cr)i^^ 



Dr. Besse Exonerates Mr. Newman.— Dr. H. 



Besse, of Delaware Co., Ohio, who gave us unsolicited permis- 

 sion to publish his letter (on page 40) regarding the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Union not aiding him in his sweet clover suit, 

 wrote us as follows, Feb. 5 : 



Mr. George W. York — 



My Dear Sir :^J wish to modify my statement as made in 

 the American Bee Journal, page 40, after reading a postal 

 card from my friend, Mr. Newman, saying that he is exceed- 

 ingly sorry that letters to my attorney, or from him, have 

 gone astray, and thus interrupted correspondence between us. 

 Now, after reading Mi. Newman's explanation, I entirely ex- 

 onerate him, and wish you to state the same in the Bee Jour- 

 nal, and much oblige. Yours respectfully, 



H. Besse. 



We are glad to give the foregoing as conspicuous a place 

 as we gave Dr. Besse's former statement, for we do not desire, 

 unjustly, to injure any man, and surely not Mr. Newman. But 

 while the above letter exonerates him in this matter, we are 

 still of the opinion that the Advisory Board of the Union 

 should have been willing to aid Dr. Besse in his lawsuit. 



The Illinois Contention will be held in the 

 Senate Chamber of the Capitol at Springfield, next Wednes- 

 day and Thursday, Feb. 24 and 2.5. Besides discussions, the 

 following subjects appear on the printed program : 



What Can the General Bee-Keeper Do to Improve His 

 Stock?— C. P. Dadant. 



Should Sweet Clover be Counted as a Noxious Weed ? — 

 Dr. C. C. Miller. 



What the Statute Classes as Noxious Weeds— Jas. A. 

 Stone. 



What Can be Done to Make the State Association More 

 Effective?— A. N. Draper. 



What Combined Effort is Needed by Bee-Keepers ?— 

 George W. York. 



As an open rate of fare and a third for the round trip has 

 been secured from all points in the State, and no bother abou t 

 railroad certificates, there ought to be a large attendance. 



Xlie TITisconsin Convention.— Last week we 

 promlst to have something to say in this number regarding 

 the Wisconsin State convention held at Madison, Feb. 3 and 

 4, which we had the privilege of attending. 



We left the Chicago & Northwestern passenger station In 

 Chicago at 8:15 o'clock, Wednesday morning, and arrived at 

 Madison at 12:30. It was a delightful trip in one of the 

 elegant parlor coaches found on that splendid railroad. For 



real comfort, that is the way to travel in the daytime. Re- 

 turning, we came by way of Milwaukee, never having been in 

 that city before. 



Well, upon alighting from the cars at Madison, we found 

 Mr. N. E. France and Mr. Harry Lathrop waiting for us. We 

 had never seen Mr. France. Had gotten the idea that he was 

 a big man — up and down — but found him about our own 

 height — 5}4 feet. Of course he's a big man in a bee-keeping 

 way. 



After a hearty dinner at Simon's Hotel, we went to the 

 Capitol building, where the convention met. Among those 

 present, besides the two already named, were, Pres. Franklin 

 Wilcox, Vice-President J. J. Ochsner, J. W. Van Allen (of 

 Van Allen & Williams — bee-keepers and reversible extractor 

 makers), R. H. Schmidt (of R. H. Schmidt & Co., bee-supply 

 dealers), A. G. Wilson, Rev. H. A. Winter, Jacob Huffman, 

 John Hanko, and J. Forncrook (another bee-supply dealer). 



About the first thing ou the program was a paper by the 

 writer, on " Marketing Honey for 1897," which was followed 

 by a general discussion. We will not attempt to go into any 

 details, as Secretary France will soon send a report for pub- 

 lication. 



The amalgamation question was brought up, and thor- 

 oughly considered, and with the exception of but one vote, all 

 were in favor of uniting the two existing national bee-societies 

 as soon as possible. 



As the State legislature was in session, Mr. France was 

 kept busy looking after the Foul Brood Bill before the com- 

 mittees, and also the attempt to have sweet clover removed 

 from the list of " noxious weeds " in Wisconsin. If the pres- 

 ent legislature doesn't hasten to grant the latter request, it 

 will simply be a case of " Where ignorance is bliss," etc. We 

 learned that it was by reason of some petty spitefulness that 

 sweet clover is now clast as a noxious weed in Wisconsin. We 

 hope the legislature will not only straighten their record on 

 sweet clover, but also be ready to grant protection to bee- 

 keepers from the ravages of foul brood among their bees. We 

 would like to see Wisconsin win some fame along the line of a 

 foul brood law. The opportunity is hers. Will she improve 

 it? Only her wise legislators can answer. 



Nearly all in attendance at the convention were extracted 

 honey producers, so most of the discussions were along that 

 line. 



Madison is a beautiful city of some 12,000 population, 

 surrounded by four pretty lakes. The State University Is 

 located there, for which no finer site could be found. We un- 

 derstand the student attendance is large. The campus or 

 grounds could not be excelled. Along one side there is what 

 they call " Linden Drive," being a roadway perhaps one mile 

 in length, on either side of which is a row of graceful linden 

 or basswood trees, perhaps 20 feet apart and 30 feet high, 

 the trunks about 6 or 8 inches in diameter. We should like 

 to see them in blossom, with the myriads of bees that must 

 swarm upon them to gather the precious nectar. 



The ice on one of the lakes (Mendota) was nearly 18 

 inches thick, and as clear as crystal. A number of men and 

 teams were harvesting it. It was a sight to see them cut it 

 Into chunks perhaps 3 feet square and load It upon wagons, 

 all with horses. It was quick (as well as cool) work. Acres 

 upon acres of beautiful ice there, to be had simply for the 

 taking. 



They have a number of ice-boats on the lakes that must 

 be something about as fast as "greast lightning," when the 

 wind blows a galo. We could almost imagine these white- 

 winged argosies going with such rapidity that their youthful 

 passengers would scarcely know "where they are at." But 

 the morning we saw them they were not " sailing." 



We were surprised not to see more bee-supply dealers and 

 manufacturers at the convention. "The woods is full of 



