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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 6, 



CBORGB W^. YORK, - Editor. 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BT 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 Micliis^aii St., - CHICAGO, ILT^. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 (Bntered at the Post-Offlce at ChicaKO aa Second-Class Mall-Matter. 



VflLinVII. CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY 6, M, M 18 



Editorial CQnfn)cr)i^^ 



New ITnion Membersliip Fees are coming to 

 this office DOW. That is right; just send your New Union 

 dollars to the Bee Journal office, and we will promptly turn 

 them over to the proper officer, who will then send you a re- 

 ceipt. Remember, the General Manager can't do a thing 

 towards carrying out the objects of the new society without 

 having a good bank account to fall back upon. So in order to 

 get the General Manager to work, we must furnish him the 

 wherewithal to begin on. We would like to see the Bee Jour- 

 nal readers well represented on the membership roll of the 

 New Union. 



American Fruit Growers' Union.— Hon. Geo. 

 E. Dudley, one of Utah's leading honey-producers, wrote us 

 as follows lately, concerning the American Fruit Growers' 

 Union, which may some day be able to help out bee-keepers 

 ill the marketing of large crops of honey : 



Editor York :— I wish to know through the columns of 

 the American Bee Journal, something about the " American 

 Fruit Growers' Union." They advertise to handle honey with 

 farm produce, and have ageuts in all the large cities in the 

 United States. The general idea is good, but is there any way 

 for you to find out whether they are reliable or not ? 



If this American Fruit Growers' Union is all right, would 

 it not be a good idea to talk with them and get a reliable 

 honey-man to take the honey department with them, and keep 

 in communication with all the large towns and cities, so as to 

 have the honey crop distributed where it should be, instead of 

 Its being piled up in some cities to such an extent as to glut 

 the market and ruin prices ? 



Unless a well known man could be placed at the head of 

 such a department, producers of honey would be afraid to ship 

 to them in large lots. Geo. E. DaDLBv. 



Upon receipt of Mr. Dudley's letter we called at the office 

 of the Fruit Growers' Union, and had quite an extended inter- 

 view with them. We also, fortunately, met the Union's Den- 

 ver agent, who previously had a 27 years' experience In the 

 produce commission business. 



From what we could learn, we believe this Union has a 

 great future, and can be of wonderful service to Its patrons. 

 But It Is yet in its experimental stage, and while It anticipates 

 handling some honey this year, we think It is hardly in a posi- 

 tion to do an extensive business in that line now. 



We really believe that some such organization is just the 

 thing for larger producers of honey to cooperate with, for 

 they can have the facilities for handling the honey-business 

 In connection with their fruit trade, that bee-keepers' couldn't 

 possibly afford alone. That Is, the honey industry is not suffi- 



ciently extensive to swing itself in such a manner, and do It 

 profitably to honey-producers. 



We believe the California Bee-Keepers' Exchange expects 

 to try working in connection with, or through, the American 

 Fruit Growers' Union this year, and after one season's experi- 

 ence it will be better known whether it would be advisable for 

 all large honey-producing sections in the country to thus con- 

 nect themselves with the Union. 



We think the Union has the right idea, but it is a stupen- 

 dous scheme. Of course the majority of the best commission 

 men are opposing it, for they seem to think that it proposes to 

 annihilate them. But such fears are groundless. We believe, 

 finally, that all honest commission men will welcome its aid, 

 tho it can be invariably counted on that the fraudulent con- 

 cerns will forever be against it. You see it will simply cut off 

 the chance for them to get their hands into the producers' 

 pockets, when all produce is first sold to or through the 

 Union. If a success, it certainly will effectually kill out the 

 snide commission dealers — a thing greatly to be desired. 



Perhaps we have said enough on this subject for this 



time. As soon as we can lesrn something a little more definite 



concerning it, we will again bring up the subject in these 



calumns. 



^-.-►^ 



Back Xumbers Since Jan. i. — We are able to 

 supply complete sets of the Bee Journal since Jan. 1, 1897, 

 to any who may desire, at two cents per copy. There are a 

 number of new readers who perhaps would like to get some of 

 the first numbers of this year, to complete their volume for 

 1897. We shall be glad to furnish them as long as they last, 

 at two cents each. 



Stingfless Bees of Central America.— Mr. J. 



H. Martin, in the March Rural Californian, in speaking of 

 stingless bees, says that "the Department of Agriculture is 

 making inquiries into the honey-producing value of the sting- 

 less bees of Honduras. A colony of the genus TSIelipona was 

 brought to the Department grounds in Washington and kept 

 under observation for some time, but they did not prosper; 

 failed to breed up though fed regularly, and finally deserted 

 the hive. The entomologist further reports that these bees 

 win not withstand our winters, as they do not thrive where 

 the temperature goes below 50^ Fahr. They are considered 



of no value here." 



*—-* 



Queen-Bees and tlie mails.— We received an 

 advance proof of the following from Mr. Ernest R. Root, 

 Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United States Bee- 

 Keepers' Union, which also appeared in Gleanings for May 1: 



QUEENS EXCLUDED FROM THE MAIL8. 



A gentleman conversant with mail matters informed E. T. 

 Abbott, ex-Presideiit of the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, that the Government was "talking of excluding 

 queens from the mails." This would indeed be a calamity to 

 the bee-keepers of the United States. The sending of queens 

 by mail has grown to be a large and important industry. Any- 

 where from five to ten thousand dollars' worth of queens are 

 sold in a single season in this country alone. Great good re- 

 sults in the interchange of stock, and without this interchange 

 there would very soon be inbreeding. 



Our older readers will remember that there was a time 

 when queens were debarred from the mails, simply because 

 one ignoramus of a bee-keeper attempted to send a queen and 

 some bees in a lllmsy paper box. Of course, the box broke and 

 let the angry bees out into one of the important offices of the 

 service. The result was that Uncle Sam shut down on send- 

 ing any more queens through the mails, and we all had to 

 send queens by express at a charge of from 15 cents to $1.00. 

 These charges, for the time being, killed the industry. I 

 wonder if another ignoramus has tried sending bees or queens 

 in another paper box, or doing something else equally foolish. 

 It would bo interesting to know why the Government should 

 be talking at this time about " excluding queens from the 

 malls." Bee-keepers have enjoyed the privilege for the last 



