18)7. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



665 



a healthier tone to the prices. Some of our Eastern friends 

 notably Mr. Doolittle, have imbibed the impression that we 

 are trying to form a trust, In order to put the price of honey 

 to an exorbitant price. That is far from the real object. All 

 we want is a fair, living prkc. When our best grades of ex- 

 tracted honey are selling for only i3;.; cents, the business of 

 producing lioney is not remunerative, and a continuation of 

 such low prices will cause quite a number to leave the busi- 

 ness. A fair, paying price of say 5 cents per pound is all the 

 bee-keepers of this State ask for, and It can be had only 

 through organization. 



What can be done for California through organization can 

 be done for the whole United States through a National or- 

 ganization. It is well known to bee-keepers that the only 

 action necessary in order to market our best grades of honey 

 for table use, and at a fair price, is the proper distribution 

 into those portions o( the country where but little houey is 

 used. The problem for a National organization to solve is this 

 of proper distribution. 



In closing, I will repeat what I have before stated : "With 

 proper distribution there is not honey enough produced in the 

 United States to go around." J. H. Martin. 



We regretted to see in some of our exchanges lately a 

 seeming desire on the part of their editors to place discour- 

 agements in the way of the successful operation of the Cali- 

 fornia Bee-Keepers' Exchange. Now, we have never felt like 

 doing that. It has always seemed to us to be a splendid un- 

 dertaking, tho we have felt that it was a pretty big job to 

 carry through. Still, the fruit-growers have been fairly suc- 

 cessful in their work of co-operation in marketing, and we 

 cannot see why bee-keepers may not do equally well. The 

 effort is commendable, at least ; and instead of doing or saying 

 anything to discourage those who are brave and strong enough 

 to put their shoulders to this new wheel to roll in the interest 

 of bee-keeper-, we think that the very least the rest of us can 

 do is to cheer them on, and perhaps later on be able to aid 

 them and ourselves very materially. 



Sweet CIOTer Hay Superior to Red Clover. 



— Gen. S. D. Lee, President of the Mississippi Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College, in a letter to the ofBce of a periodical 

 called " The Clover Leaf," said this about the value of swee^ 

 clover to the general farmer : 



" Wbat was the poorest pirt of my plantation six years 

 ago is now the richest, from the use of melilotus, and the hay 

 is, in my judgment, the superior of red clover for stock." 



Sweet clover has been getting some pretty big boosts 

 lately, as a forage plant. This writer knows from actual ex- 

 perience that it is all right as a honey-plant, for his bees 

 stored 100 pounds of comb honey per colony, spring count, 

 from sweet clover the past season. 



A Piational Bee-Cutiventiou in Calitornia. 



—Mr. Geo. H. Stipp, of California, suggests that the next con- 

 vention of the United States Bee-Keepers' Union he held in 

 that State, presumably In San Francisco. Here is what he 

 says about it in a letter received at this office : 



" Why would it not be well to hold the next bee-keepers' 

 convention In this land of milk and honey ? It is a long way 

 to come, but we will try to treat you so well as to make the 

 coming worth the while. We Cilifornians are looking after 

 all the big conventions of the future, and by a combination of 

 the bee-keepers wilb one of these— as in the case of the Grand 

 Army at Buflfalo this year— rates might be secured which 

 would not make the trip prohibitive evan to poor bee-keepers 

 in an 'off' year." Geo. H. Stipp. 



Of course it is pretty early to talk about the place of hold- 

 ing the national bee-convention of 1898. But the E.'cecutlve 

 Committee can consider the above suggestion if It so desires. 

 Our individual opinion is, that the annual convention should 

 be held where there will likely be secured the largest and most 

 representative gathering of bee-keepers. 



Honey as Food Is the name of a 24-page pamphlet, 

 3;4xti'4 inches, which we are now printing fur general dis- 

 tribution among those who should bo users of honey. It is 

 Just the thing for bee-keepers to hand to every one of their 

 customers, and also those whom they would like to have as 

 customers. It Is very handy in size— just right to go into an 

 ordinary business envelope. It contains 10 illustrations, five 

 of which are somewhat comic, and help to make It attractive. 

 There is a blank space for your name and address. About 

 half of the pamphlet was written by Dr. Miller, and then we 

 added thereto many new and valuable honey recipes — for 

 cooking and for medicinal purposes. In all, it makes a neat 

 little pamphlet. Send a two-cent stamp and we will mail you 

 a sample of " Honey as B^ood." 



Prices for quantities, postpaid— 2-5 for 40 cents; 50 for 

 60 cents; 100 for 90 cents : 200 for $1.50. By express, 

 not prepaid, 500 for $3.00; 1,000, $5.00. 



Now let the orders come in, and we will do our best to fill 

 them promptly. Remember, a sample copy is mailed for only 

 a two-cent stamp. 



Ti)c Weekly Budget. 



Db. J. P. H. Brown, of Richmond Co., 6a,, writing us 

 Oct. 7, said : 



" This has been a favorable season for bee-keeping in this 

 part of Georgia. The crop of honey has been fine, and the 

 prices have been remunerative." 



Messrs. A. H. Whitman & Co., whose advertisement ap- 

 pears on another page, are an enterprising firm with whom 

 we are well acquainted. If our readers want pure teas, cof- 

 fees, spices, etc., they can't do better than to get them of 

 Whitman & Co. Write to them for their profusely illustrated 

 catalog, and then give them a trial order. They offer some 

 fine inducements to those who will take orders for their goods. 



Dr. C. C. Miller reports a crop of nearly 17,000 pounds 

 of comb honey this year, closing the season with about 3O0 

 colonies. We think it was the Doctor, who, a few years ago, 

 when many bee-keepers were becoming discouraged, said he 

 had faith that the good years would come again. It.seems his 

 faith was well founded. While the Doctor "don't know" 

 many things, he does know that the past season was the best 

 he ever had. And all will rejoice with him in his success. 



Mr. H. T. Chrisman, of Fresno Co., Calif., called on us 

 Tuesday, Oct. 12. He is a young man full of business, push 

 and energy. He and his father had about 300 colonies of 

 bees in two apiaries last spriug, increast to about 400, and 

 took 24,000 pounds of extracted honey. Their best honey 

 was sold for 5 cents per pound, and the poorer grades for '3i4 

 cents. They moved all their bees to the alfalfa fields in 

 Kings county, about 60 miles away, and did not lose a single 

 colony in the moving. Mr. Chrisman, Jr., superintended the 

 job, it being his first experience in that line. 



The Marshfield Mfg. Co., of Marshfield, Wis., when 

 sending the balance on their advertising in the Bee Journal for 

 1897, on Oct. 13, wrote : 



"We have had a very good year for business, and expect 

 next year will be double. We know the Bee Journal has helpt 

 to do it." 



It is very encouraging to us to receive such unsolicited 

 testimonials, and we are alw.iys glad to learn that our adver- 

 tisers are doing well. We wish them all a very prosperous 

 season in 1898. 



Henry Allev— the veteran Massachusetts queen-breeder 

 —reports in Gleanings that he lately told an enquirer that 

 "everything in the bee-line worth printing could be found in 

 (Meanings:" That's pretty hard on the rest of the poor pub- 

 lishers of bee-papers. Of course. Alley ought to know, for he 

 Is an ex-beepaper-pnblisher himself I His opinion was pub- 

 llsht as a "kind word" for our esteemed contemporary. 

 " Kind words " ought to deserve passing along. 



P. S.— By the way. Mi 'VIley should subscribe for the 

 American Bee Journal and a 'iw of the other bee papers. He 

 could better form an opinio) '-hen. 



