776 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 9, 





CBORGB AW. YORK, • Editor. 



POBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 118 Mlolilgan St., ■ - CHICAGO, II^I^. 



$1.00 a Year — Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 (Bntered at the Post-Offloe at Chicago as Second-ClasB Mall-Matter. 



United States Bee-Keepers' Union. 



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



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



of honey; and to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



Membership Fee-SI.OO Per Annum. 



Executive Committee, 



President— George W. York. Vice-Pres.— W. Z. HriTcniNsoN. 

 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 JlXanag-er and Treasurer, 



Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VoLfflVII, CHICA&O, ILL, DEC, 9, M No. 49 



Editorial Con)n)cr)i^^ 



Unsigfned Contributions, when received at this 

 ollice, generally are given a bee-line for the waste-basket. We 

 must know who the writer is, else we cannot use the produc- 

 tion. We do not object so much to a nom-tle-plume, but, we 

 desire to know who is using it. But, after all, it is ever so 

 much better to use your own name when writing for publica- 

 tion — it gives greater value to your contribution. 

 •»—» 



Ne'w Vork. Foul Brood Law.— The American 

 Ree-Keeper says that under the law, the head of the State 

 Department of Agriculture (presumably of the State of New 

 York) is authorized to appoint a "bee-ageat" if five bee- 

 keepers of any county petition such an appointment, alleging 

 that foul brood exists there. The agent so appointed receives 

 $2.00 a day, which is paid by the county seeking the appoint- 

 ment, and it is his duty to locate the hives contaminated by 

 the disease, and direct the owners to burn them. 



Bec-Keepcrs' and tlie 'Wine-Cup.— Here is 



one of Dr. Miller's " stray straws " found In Gleanings for 

 Nov. 15: 



A writer in one of the German bee-.journals thinks bee- 

 conventions will be better if discussions are held with wine- 

 cup in hand. It doesn't work that way over here. At Rufifalo, 

 a man who had evidently had the wine-cup, or some other 

 cup a bit too much In hand, seemed to be trying to hinder 

 useful discussion. Ills friends should put a seal on his lips 

 In conventions hereafter, or else keep close watch on what 

 passes his lips before coming. 



Yes, the President of the Buffalo convention has a very 

 distinct recollection of at least one winebibbor, or "bibber" 

 of something stronger, at that meeting. If that's the way it 



works with only one who had tarried too long at the wine (or 

 forty-rod), how would it be with a whole convention with 

 hands and stomachs full of that which makes fools out of 

 otherwise sensible and sober men ? No, no ; too many who 

 beyiii with the wine-cup end in the gutter and drunkard's 

 grave. The best way is to do as almost every one of America's 

 best and most prominent bee-keepers do — " touch not, taste 

 not, handle not" the accursed stuff. 



Xlie Illinois State Bee-Convention was held 



at Springfield, Nov. 17 and 18, in the State House. The offi- 

 cers elected for the ensuing year are as follows : 



President, J. Q. Smith, of Lincoln : Vice-Presidents, C. P. 

 Dadant, A. N. Draper, S. N. Black, George Poindexter, and 

 George W. York ; Secretary, Jas. A. Stone, of Bradfordton ; 

 and Treasurer, Chas. Becker, of Pleasant Plains. 



Messsrs. Black, Smith and Poindexter were appointed a 

 committee to wait upon the Governor to ask that one com- 

 missioner to the Trans-Mississippi Expostion at Omaha in 

 1S98 be a bee-keeper. 



Messrs. Stone, Becker and Black were selected as the 

 committee on exhibits of honey, beeswax, etc., at the next 

 Illinois State Fair. 



Joining' tlie Bie'w Union.— We wish to call 

 special attention to Hon. Eugene Secor's suggestions about 

 the work of the United States Bee-Keepers' Union, on page 

 771 of this number of the Bee Journal. Mr. Secor is the 

 Union's able General Manager, and only waits for plenty of 

 financial ammunition and consequent enlarged membership 

 before firing the Union's broadside against the enemy. Are 

 you, reader, among the members of this new and honorable 

 body? If not, why not send your dollar for annual dues when 

 renewing your subscription ? We will see to it that all such 

 money is forwarded to Mr. Secor, who will then mail you a 

 receipt. Or, if you prefer, keep him busy the next two months 

 by sending your dollars direct to the General Manager — Hon. 

 Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



A Record " Talie " ot Honey is what the 

 British Bee Journal calls the amount secured from a single 

 colony in one season, probably the largest ever taken in the 

 British kingdom. Mr. Lancelot Quayle is the man who made 



the achievement. The colony not being abundantly supplied 

 with stores for winter, it had candy given in the spring, and 

 as soon as brood-rearing began it was kept regularly supplied 

 with syrup. The hive contained 12 frames (probably the 

 standard l-ixS'i), and the hive was filled with bees and 

 brood. The second week in June shallow extracting-combs 

 spaced 1% Inches were given in supers, the first extracting 

 was July 13, and the last Sept. 1. The total "take" was 

 334 pounds. The French Revue copies the report, and not 

 to bo outdone gives a yield about 2 pounds larger, by M. J. 

 Carbonnier, in the year 1S92. 



Tlie Consumption of Honey is a subject on 

 which Editor Abbott, of the Busy Bee, discusses in a short 

 item in his September number. Mr. Abbott practices what he 

 preaches. In this line at least, and if only the rest of our pop- 

 ulation would "follow suit" there wouldn't be one-tenth 

 enough honey produced annually in this country to supply 

 the demand. Hear what Mr. Abbott has to say : 



I think it was Horai:e Greeley who said that the way to 

 resume specie payment was to resume. Sol say the way to 

 Increase the consumption of honey is to consume it. I often 

 read In bee-papers about what a great mistake people make 

 who do not use It instead of other sweets, yet you might dine 

 with the people who are Interested In the publication of such 

 papers many times and not find any honey on their table. 



I have freijuently noticed In traveling over the country 

 the absence of honey from the tables of those who produce 



