360 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 10, 



^^ 



^ JI I'""' Iv''"'*"" '" AMERICA Aj. 



GBQRGB W. YORK, • Bflttor. 



P0BLI8HT WEBKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 Michigan St., - CHICAGO. ILL. 



fl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Pogt-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



United States Bee-Keepers' UjiiDji. 



Organized to advance tlie pursuit of Apiculture: to promote tlie interests 



of bee-lteepers ; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration 



of lioney: and to prosecute the dishonest liioney-commission men. 



Membership Fee— S1.00 Per Annum. 



Executive Committee, 



Pbesident— George W. York. Vice-Pres.— E. Whitcomis. 



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 



General JManager ami Treasurer. 



Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



Vol. mVII. CHICAGO, ILL, JONE 10, 1897. No, 23. 



Editorial Con)n)€r)i^^ 



The Buffalo (K. Y.) Meetingr of the United 

 States Bee-Keepers' Union will be held Tuesday, Wednesday 

 and Thursday, August 24, 25 and 26, 1897, the first session 

 being at 10 a.m. of the 24th. This is during the annual 

 meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic, when railroad 

 rates will be low. Further information as to the hall, hotel 

 rates, etc., will be given later. 



We trust that there may be a grand rally this year at 

 Buffalo. With the assured advantage of reasonable railroad 

 rates, there ought to be a large attendance. Begin to plan 

 now to go. You will have over two months to get ready in. 



Retail Packages for Extracted Honey.— 



Mr. R. C. Alkln, in Gleanings for June 1, has an excellent 

 article on the marketing of extracted honey, in which he truly 

 says that there Is really no popular retail package for it, as 

 there is for syrups. He seems to lean toward the same idea 

 that we advanced in the essay wo read at the Wisconsin con- 

 vention last February, namely, honey-producers will have to 

 put up extracted honey in small tin receptacles — say piuts and 

 quarts — In order to Induce a more general consumption of 

 honey. 



But the groat diiTiculty to overcome is that of granulation. 

 If any pure extracted honey could be retained Indefinitely in 

 Its liquid form, the problem could the more easily bo 

 solved. But as that seems well-nigh impossible, perhaps the 

 next easiest thing is to educate the people concerning the 

 granulating tendency of pure extracted honey, and to get them 

 to purchase only the candied article, and thus feel reasonably 

 certain that they are getting the pure thing. 



We experimented with pint and quart tin cans, with an 



inch screw cap, costing respectively .S3. 50 and $4.00 per 

 100. Perhaps in lots of 1,000 these prices could be reduced 

 10 or 15 per cent. But the grocers objected having honey in 

 tin, as it could not be seen as in glass. They rely principally 

 upon its attractive appearance to make sales, and so they 

 demand it put up in glass. 



It will be a slow, hard job to make a success of selling 

 honey in tin, and then we think it will have to be done by 

 individual effort and education of the public. There are too 

 many people who think that candied honey is only a kind of 

 sugar. 



Honey is so different from everything else, that it is 

 utterly impossible to lay down any regular rule that can or 

 will apply to it. Most people look upon it as a luxury, and 

 until they are educated differently, we do not soon look for 

 any sudden general or extensive demand for honey. Only 

 time, and continued and untiring effort on the part of bee- 

 keepers and honey-sellers will accomplish much, we think. 



A Grand Exposition in CIiicag;o will be held 

 from next Sept. 25 to Oct. 16. It is to be called "The Illinois 

 Manufacturers' Exposition of Home Products," and will be in 

 the "Coliseum," the largest exhibition building in the world. 

 No doubt reduced railroad rates will be obtained at that time, 

 especially in Illinois and the near-by States. 



A reader of the Bee Journal asks, " Why can't there be 

 a meeting of the old Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Association 

 about that time — say the second week in October?" We don't 

 know any reason why there can't be. What do others say 

 about it? We shall be glad to do all we can to perfect the 

 necessary arrangements, in case it is decided to hold the con- 

 vention. 



Suppose all who are interested, and would like to attend 

 such a meeting, just drop us a card to that effect. 

 ♦-»-»^ 



Tlie Simpson Honey-Plant is one that has 

 been well recommended by those who have given it a trial. 

 They say it is a real /i07iej/-plant. Mr. Geo. W. Williams, of 

 Missouri, who has grown it extensively, has this to say 

 about it : 



Editor York ; — While I do not wish to get into any con- 

 troversy with any bee-keeper, and especially one as high in 

 authority as Dr. Miller, still I would like to answer the in- 

 quiry of J. H. D., on page 294. Let me say to him, plant 

 your V acre of spare ground in Simpson honey-plant, and get 

 four times as much nectar as any other plant in cultivation 

 that I am acquainted with. 



Dr. Miller says: "But U of an acre of ground cannot be 

 expected to do a great deal of good, no matter what it con- 

 tains." Let us see. On that f4 of an acre J. H. D. can set 

 and grow 1,500 Simpson plants, and while I have not made a 

 scientific calculation upon the average production of the 

 plant, yet I place it at J^ pound of honey to the plant, which 

 would be a yield of 750 pounds of honey. When I say 

 " plant," understand that I mean hill or bunch, for in setting 

 a single plant It will stool, like pie-plant, and send up from 

 two to six fine stalks from each hill, if properly cultivated. • 



When Mr. Root said : "One bloom of theSlmpson honey- 

 plant Is equal to 100 basswood blooms," he put It very mildly. 



It commences to blossom about the middle of June, and 

 keeps a continuous bloom until a \a,te hard frost cuts it off, 

 and the bees work on It from early morn until dark. 



Yes, by all means, plant that H of an acre to the Simp- 

 son honoy-plant, and watch the bees swarm after it. Of 

 course, I am speaking for ray latitude (Missouri), as I know 

 nothing about what it will do in other places. 1 have been 

 cultlvatihg it for some time, and speak from experience. 

 There are two kinds of it, and one is very much superior to 

 the other. Gv.n. W. Williams. 



In a former communication, Mr. Williams wrote us as 

 follows about this fine honey-plant : 



It pays better than any other crop I can raise. I have It 

 and sweet clover growing side by side, and, to use the boy's 

 expression, the sweet clover "isn't in it" for honey. The 

 early frosts that killed almost all other blooms does not affect 



