897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



201 



the cell-walls to comb built during basswood harvest. But I 

 find the septum to this high sidewall foundation, or comb, is 

 quite a little thicker, or gives nearly double the resistance 

 that the thin section foundation does, and two-thirds more 

 than the septum found in natural comb built in sections. 



But when I come to compare this seemingly thick septum 

 with that of the first thin (?) foundation sent out, I find that 

 the first has four times the resistance that has the septum of 

 this new Weed comb. I, for one, have hailed this high cell- 

 wall foundation, with quite a bit of enthusiasm, and believe 

 that we have arrived at a stage in our pursuit where we as 

 bee-keepers, nor " unscrupulous men," will not tolerate any 

 invention as imperfect as was our first efforts at comb founilii- 

 tiou. Nor do I believe the Roots will risk their reputation on 

 anything which will injure the honey markets by pushing it 

 to the front. Caution is always in order, but censure should 

 not be used till there is occasion for it. 



There have been several suggestions made that would in- 

 dicate that a few people think the makers of this new deep- 

 cell foundation are very careless and thoughtless as to the 

 effect the new foundation will have upon the comb honey pro- 

 duct in the eyes of the public. Now, we are not here to de- 

 fend The A. I. Root Co. — they are well able to take care of 

 themselves — but we wish to quote a couple closing paragraphs 

 from an editorial on the subject in Gleanings for March l.'i. 

 Here they are : 



The brethren must not forget that we had been experi- 

 menting with this thing for about a year before we made it 

 public. The quality of the comb honey, and the manner in 

 which the bees accept the comb, have led us to put Into it 

 hundreds of dollars. We do not even now claim that we shall 

 be able to put it on the marl<et at such prices as will be within 

 the reach of bee-keepers — the future will have to decide that ; 

 but we are in liopcs we can. And please remember, too, that 

 we consulted t<c/"r)cefta?u! some of the brightest and most in- 

 telligent bee-keepers in the country, to whom we submitted 

 samples. Among them I may mention such men as G. M. 

 Doolittle, R. F. Holtermann, P. H. Elwood. Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 Hon. George E. Hilton, M. H. Mendleson, Byron Walker, E. 

 Whitcomb, besides all our local bee-keepers. Some of the 

 men saw the machinery, and saw the product in the hives, 

 and the product after it came out. 



You may depend upon it, brethren, that we shall not put 

 upon the market anything that will In any way injure the 



comb-honey business If we were to do so, we should be 



doing ourselves more injury than any one else — mark that. 



Gro-wing- Sug'ar Beets.— The Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station has arranged with a large number of farmers 

 in representative districts of Illinois to grow sugar beets 

 for the purpose of ascertaining what sections of the State are 

 best adapted to their culture. Realizing that there are many 

 others in this State who are especially interested in the culture 

 of the sugar beet, the Station will furnish, free of expense, to 

 the first 50 wjo may request it a quantity of high grade seed. 

 The only conditions are that the recipient be primarily in- 

 terested in the sugar-beet question, and that he is willing to 

 grow the beets according to directions, and at the close of the 

 season to report upon cultivation and yield, and to forward 

 samples for analysis at the expense of the Experiment Station. 

 Any one interested in this will please address Prof. E. Daven- 

 port, Director, Urbana, III. 



Don't Vou Zee? — It is reported that a swarm of 

 bees coming across a jar of honey tightly closed, held an in- 

 dignation meeting. After complaining of monopoly, and so 

 forth, a bright litMe Italian arose and said: " Roure up, 

 dagoz ; no uze drowzing here, for theirz a thouzand dozzen 

 flowerz to be vizited yet. Zip !" and away they flew. We don't 

 know who reported this, but likely some smart shorthand 

 writer 1 



'I'lie Illinois Slate Fair for IMA? will be held at 

 Springfield Sept. 2T to Oct. 2. inclusive. For any information con- 

 cerning it. address W. C. Garrard. Sec, Springfield, 111. The 

 premium list in the bee and honey department has been very 

 greatly increast. Beekeepers should be thankful for that, and 

 show their appreciation by making a better exhibit this year than 

 last, it that is possible. 



Tl?e Weekly Budget. 



Mr. Allen Latham, of Norfolk Co., Mass., wrote March 

 17 : " Bees are in excellent condition here." 



Mb. W. H. Putman, of Pierce Co., Wis., has returned 

 from his California trip, and reports having had a pleasant 

 time. 



Mr. E. B. Weed, the inventor of both the New Process 

 and the deep-cell foundation, is pictured in Gleanings for 

 March 15. He is a very earnest looking man, with plenty of 

 determination. 



Mr. E. France, the venerable bee-keeper of Grant Co., 

 Wis., has been giving some interesting wolf-hunting reminis- 

 cences in Gleanings. He was as great a hunter in his earlier 

 days as he has been a bee-keeper in his latter days. 



Mr. F. a. Lockhart, of Warren Co., N. Y., is just re- 

 covering from a very severe attack of the grip. He wrote 

 March 22 that the 325 colonies of bees belong to F. A. Lock- 

 hart & Co., have wintered splendidly, and that they are look- 

 ing forward to a prosperous season this year. We hope that 

 it may be so. 



Mr. David Adams, of Minnesota, wrote us as follows, 

 March 20 : "One interested in bees could not but be benefited 

 in reading such a magniflcent paper as is the American Bee 

 Journal. Long may she live, and with the return of prosperity 

 I hope its list of readers may be doubled, and thereby make 

 glad the heart of ' ye editor.' " 



Messrs. Van Allen & Williams, of Barnum, Crawford 

 Co., Wis., we were very sorry to hear, met with a heavy loss 

 by fire recently. Over 200 colonies of bees were burned, be- 

 sides other property. On another page of this issue they tell 

 about it. They say they will be fully prepared to care for 

 their trade all right the coming season. We had the pleasure 

 of meeting Mr. Van Allen at the Wisconsin convention, in 

 February, and found him to be a pushing, hard-working young 

 bee-keeper. 



Mrs. J. N. Heater, of Columbus, Nebr., we were 

 very sorry to learn, died March 13, 1897, from the effects of 

 accesthetics administered for an operation just performed at 

 a hospital in Kansas City, Mo. This will be very sad news to 

 her host of bee-beeping friends all over the world, for all who 

 have read the Bee Journal the past dozen years remember 

 her answers to queries in the "Question-Box." Our sincerest 

 sympathy is hereby extended to the bereaved husband, who 

 now mourns the loss of one of Heaven's best gifts — a true and 

 devoted wife. 



Next week we will publish a biographical sketch of Mrs, 

 Heater, with picture. 



Me. S. T. Pettit, of Ontario, Canada, father-in-law of 

 Editor Holtermann, of the Canadian Bee Journal, is one of 

 the best known bee-keepers " 'tother side of the line." He 

 wrote us recently : 



" I am in my 68th year now, and have been a busy 

 worker, clearing land, building, underdraining, and all that, 

 besides church, Sunday school and temperance work." 



We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pettit at the Toronto 

 convention of the North American Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 in 1895. He is a leader in all good works, including bee- 

 keeping. 



The Alsike Clover Leaflet consists^of 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 20 cents ; 100 for 35 cents ; or 200 



for 60 cents. 



■*—* 



>^liite ClOTer Seed.— We have quite a quantity of 

 White Clover Seed on hand that we will send you at a bargain. 

 A little of it goes a good ways. It usually retails at 2r> or 30 

 cents per pound, but we will tntill you 2 pounds for -10 cents, 

 or for sending us one new subscriber to the American Bee 

 Journal for a year. 



