264 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Apr. 29. 



CEORGB Anr. YORK, . Editor. 



PHBLISBT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 MS iUcJilsaa St., - VMICAGO, ILL. 



tl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Pogt-Offlce at Chlcano as Second-Class Slall-Matter. 



VoLinVII, CHICAGO, ILL, APR. 29, 1897. No, 11. 



Editorial Con}xr)cr)i^^ 



Comb Honey Cleaned Up.— Messrs. R. A. Bur- 

 nett i& Co., the leading Chicago honey-commission dealers, in 

 a communication to us dated April 22, said this concerning 

 the condition of the honey market in this city : 



Editor American Bee Journal :— The comb honey has 

 cleaned up well this month, so that the best grade of white 

 brings 13 cents, and there is no surplus of it. A few lots of 

 dark and candied comb remain, but they are insignificant. 

 Thus the season ends with a cleaned-up market for the pro- 

 duct of 1897. 



The extracted product has been less fortunate, but there 

 is not an excessive amount in sight. R. A. Burnett. 



Bee-keepers will be glad to know the above, for it is a 

 good condition of affairs, and will give the 1897 crop a fair 

 chance. 



But, look here : Don't rush a whole lot of the first honey 

 takeu this year, into the hands of some new and irresponsible 

 commission firm, and lei them sell it at a sacrificing price, 

 thus ruining the market for the rest of the year, as did Bart- 

 llng & Co. last year. They received about a carload of flue 

 white comb honey early last year, and offered it at 10 cents a 

 pound ! Of course, that .just knockt out the good prices that 

 they and other dealers might have obtained if they hadn't 

 been in such a hurry to sell, and defraud the shipper. By the 

 way, that case is not settled yet, and Bartling is a member of 

 the present Illinois House of Representatives ! 



We hope this year bee-keepers will be more careful, and 

 patronize only those firms who are known to be honest and 

 upright in their dealing. 



A Genuine ""Volunteer" for the New Union is 

 found in the person of Wm. Elliott, of Wabasha Co., Minn. 

 When sending in his membership fee of $1.00, he wrote the 

 Secretary, Dr. Mason : 



If at any time you want more money to carry on the 

 business, you can draw on me for $5.00. I will be glad to 

 help drive the swindlers out. I have 125 colonies of bees. 

 and live on a farm. Wm. Elliott. 



When Dr. Mason reported the above to us, he added this : 



"That's the talk ! Can't you send Mr. Secor and me the 

 names of 1,000 such bee-keepers? Honey-dealers, commis- 

 sion men and consumers could be included." 



"Oh for a thousand tongues to sing " — a tuno like that of 

 Mr. Elliott's! And there ouy/il easily to be 1,000 boe-keep- 

 ers sufliclently interested in the success of the pursuit of bee- 

 keeping to say and do just what Mr. E. said and did. 



Let every " volunteer " send his or her membership dues 



of §1.00 to Dr. A. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio, who 

 will return a receipt therefor, and see that the dollar is put 

 into the fund and your name added to the honorable roll. 

 « . » 



Xo "^Visconsin Bee-Keepers.— Mr.N. E. France, 

 who has done so much for Wisconsin bee-keepers the past two 

 years, and especially during the last few months, is not re- 

 ceiving the encouragement from the bee-keepers of that State 

 that is due him. We learn this not from Mr. France himself, 

 but from another prominent bee-keeper. Mr. France knows 

 nothing about the appearance of this item at all. 



So that those most interested may know the facts, we 

 wish to say that Mr. France, before the Legislature was called 

 in February, had received pleading letters from over 600 

 Wisconsin bee-keepers, asking him to assist them in getting 

 past the foul brood law, and to have sweet clover removed 

 from the noxious weed list. This Mr. France succeeded in 

 doing, after spending the greater part of two months in the 

 effort, besides carfare to and from Madison. In all, he ad- 

 vanced, out of his own pocket, nearly $40, saying nothing 

 about the time he put in. 



Now it does seem to us that Wisconsin bee-keepers 

 owe it to themselves, as well as to Mr. France, to see to it at 

 once that he is reimburst, at least for the amount of cash he 

 has paid out in their Interest. Since our last appeal, we un- 

 derstand that only one of all the many bee-keepers of that 

 great State has sent in his membership fee of 50 cents ! We 

 are surprised at such apathy and slowness on the part of Wis- 

 consin bee-men to do their clear duty. We trust that several 

 hundred will immediately, after reading this, send to Mr. N. 

 E. France (at Platteville, Wis.) their dues of 50 cents each, 

 and become members of the State Association. 

 ^*-*-*. 



The Tennessee Centennial and International 

 Exposition, to be held in Nashville May 1 to Nov. 1, 1897, 

 has issued a premium list for its Agricultural Department, a 

 copy of which is on our desk. We notice the following 

 awards under the head of "Apiary :" 



Best 10 pounds or more of comb honey 



in most marketable shape $10 00 $5 00 



Best 10 pounds extracted honey in 



most marketable shape 10 00 5 00 



Best 10 pounds of beeswax 10 00 5 00 



Best bee-hive for comb honey Diploma. 



Best bee-hive for extracted honey. . . . Diploma. 



Best honey-extractor Diploma. 



Best wax-extractor Diploma. 



Best sample of comb foundation Diploma. 



Best display apiarian tools and fixtures Diploma. 



Well, that's just $45 ahead of the cash premiums offered 

 at the World's Pair in 1893. Good for Tennessee. But the 

 Illinois State Fair this year offers over ten times as much for 

 its apiarian display. We fear many bee-keepers will think it 

 will hardly pay to aiake the effort to put up a good display. 

 But doubtless Southern bee-keepers will come to the rescue, 

 even if there isn't much more than glory in it for them. 



We have not as yet learned who is to be the judge in the 



apiarian department. Tho we have not been askt to suggest 



any one, we make no charge for offering the name of Dr. J. 



P. H. Brown, of Atlanta, Ga., for favorable consideration. He 



knows how. 



.^-•-^ 



Shipping^ to Commission Firms. — It is sur- 

 prising to note the lack of business sense — or even common 

 sense— on the part of many shippers of farm products. How 

 often is a lot of goods sent to a commission firm without the 

 producer having first written to see whether the stuff is 

 wanted ; or, often shipments are sent without learning in 

 advance anything about the responsibility of the commission 

 firm. Now, no one can afford to do business in that way — it 



