344 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 3, 



CBORGE: W^. YORK, • Editor. 



PtTBLIBBT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 US JldTioliig^an St., - CHICAGO, ILI^. 



fl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Po»t-Offlce at ChlcaEO as Second-Class Mall-Matter. 



United States Bee-Keepers^ Ujiioii. 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture; to promote the interests 



of bee-beepers : to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration 



of honey: and to prosecute the dishonest honey-commiasion men. 



Membership Fee— S1.00 Per Annum. 



Executlvet Committae, 



President— George W. York. Vice-Pres.— E. Wuitcomb. 



Secretary- Dr. A. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. 



Hoard of Directors. 



E. Whitcomb. E. T. Abbott. 



C. P. Dadant. 



E. R. Root. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. Dr. C. C. Miller 



Gen^riil jilanni^or and TrGasurer, 



Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VoiniVIl CHICA&O, ILL, JUNE 3, 1897. No, 22, 



Editorial Oon}n}cr)i^^ 



Time ot the BufTalo Meeting.— A subscriber 

 asks the following question : 



Mr. Editor: — When is the big convention to be at Buf- 

 falo, and what will the round trip from Chicago cost? 



Patrick. 



It has practically been decided that the Buffalo conven- 

 tion will be held the last week in August. The exact dates 

 are not yet arranged, but will be announced later. 



The Grand Army rate from Chicago is one cent a mile 

 each way at that time. The distance from Chicago to Buffalo 

 is 600 miles. That would make the round trip cost $12 from 

 here. Cheap enough ! 



We hope soon to be able to give fuller information con- 

 cerning the Buffalo meeting. 



■*-»*■ 



The Old Union and Adulteration.— In a pri- 

 vate letter. Dr. Mason, Secretary of the New Union, wrote us 

 as follows concerning Prof. Cook's suggestion that the Old 

 Union take up the subject of honey-adulteration : 



" I bellevp Prof. Cook Is ' off his base ' in urging that the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Union take up the matter of adultera- 

 tion ; and that Mr. Newman is right in the stand he takes, 

 that the funds of the Old Union were not contributed for that 

 purpose, and as there Is an organization In the field, the prin- 

 cipal object of which is to look after that matter. It Is not 

 wise for the National Union to enter that field. To be sure, 

 the constitution of the National Union gives the Advisory 

 Board the power to use the funds for any purpose It sees fit, 

 that will benflt bee-keepers, but It seems to me It would be a 

 very unwise move to act In accordance with Prof. Cook's sug- 

 gestion, for the Old Union itself has but recently voted not to do 

 that very thing, and that was what brought the United States 

 Bee-Keepers' Union Into existence. So, under the circum- 



stances, I believe Mr. Newman is right, and Prof. Cook is 

 wrong; and as a member of the National Union, I am most 

 decidedly opposed to the Advisory Board going contrary to 

 the exprest wish of the Old Union, as shown by the two to one 

 vote of last .fanuary. 



" Had Prof. Cook been as anxious about the adulteration 

 matter last fall, as he seems to be now, I fully believe that the 

 New Constitution would have been adopted by the Old Union, 

 and there would now be but one national organization." 



We concur in all that Dr. Mason says. The majority of 

 the Old Union's members, at the last election, practically 

 voted to have that organization stick to its original object — 

 that of defending bee-keepers in their right to keep bees. As 

 one of the members of the Old Union we submitted gracefully 

 to the will of the majority, tho we did, and do yet, object to 

 the unfair means used by the General Manager to secure the 

 majority of the votes against the New Constitution, which. If 

 adopted by the Old Union, would have placed that organiza- 

 tion right with the New Union in all its grand objects for the 

 protection of all bee-keepers and all their interests. 



Score Another for the New Union.— A 



honey-producer had in Pennsylvania shipt some honey to an 

 Ohio commission firm, and could get no returns. When send- 

 ing his membership fee to Secretary Mason, he inquired about 

 the reliability of the firm. He was written concerning what 

 had been done by Dr. Mason for another bee-keeper, and was 

 askt to forward the firm's letters. He did so, and the Doctor 

 wrote them as Secretary of the United States Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, telling the objects of the New Union, and that their 

 patron was a member of the Union ; that it expects to stand 

 by its members, especially where dishonest commission men 

 were concerned. The result was that the firm "came down" 

 handsomely, and the shipper will get his pay. 



That's the kind ot work we want done for bee-keepers 

 who are likely to lose their honey. It will pay to become a 

 member of the New Union. Better join at once, and be ready 

 to call upon It when in trouble.. 



An Early Chicago Swarm.— There are quite a 

 good many bees kept within the city limits of Chicago, and 

 yet so well do they attend to their own affairs that scarcely 

 any one knows of their existence here. 



We had an early swarm this year — It issued Sunday, May 

 16. We had purchast a few colonies as a speculation, the 

 day before, and kept them in the yard with our others for a 

 few days, and while there one of them sent out the swarm. 

 Of course they didn't know any better than to swarm on Sun- 

 day. Our own bees are "trained" to keep Sunday better 

 than that ! Why, we wouldn't have bees that would be so 

 naughty as to swarm on Sunday ! 



But we hived that Sunday swarm, on Sunday, just the 

 same ! It was a very small one, perhaps a quart. It had set- 

 tled on the side of a big hole In the ground In a vacant lot 

 adjoining, and we simply set a hive with the entrance up 

 against the swarm, and soon had them all on four empty 

 combs. 



But they didn't stay. The next day, about noon, Mrs. 

 York telephoned us to come home (six miles away), for the 

 bees were swarming ! Sure enough, there was that same 

 Sunday-fracturing swarm hanging on a small tree. This time 

 in a Manum swarm catcher we carried them back to their 

 hive, and dumpt them on top of the frames. But to have no 

 more of their leaving home we just gave them a nice frame of 

 hatching brood, and that kept them all right, and they are 

 doing well. Too many baby bees around then for them to 

 desert again. Even Chicago bees have a little feeling left. 

 They are not quite as bad as some of the politicians at Spring- 

 field. 



May 16 Is pretty early for swarming In this locality, but 



