1861 



42dYEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 27, 1902, 



No, 13. 



* Editorial. * I 



"Bee-Culture, Bulletin No.77, of the De- 

 partment of Af^riculture of the Common- 

 wealth of Pennsylvania," is the heading of a 

 handsome lOU-pase pamphlet written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, bearinfj the date, lyoi. As he 

 plainly said in his letter of transmittal, " No 

 attempt has been made to write a complete 

 treatise on bee-culture." It is beautifully 

 illustrated. It is simply a handy booklet con- 

 taining those things in relation to the honey- 

 bee and its care that any well-informed per- 

 son would like to know. And the beauty of 

 it is that it is all clear and correct in its every 

 statement. Dr. Miller was employed by the 

 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to 

 write the booklet, so it is for distribution in 

 that State alone. 



We take quite a little pride in the fact that 

 Dr. Miller was called upon to prepare the 

 pamphlet referred to. To be thus selected 

 was an honor to be coveted, and he acquitted 

 himself magniBcently — as is his usual custom. 



Quoting the Honey Market. — We 



have received the following cammunication 

 from a bee-keeper residing near Chicago: 



I have been interested in the honey market 

 of Chicago, as I have been a Chicago bee- 

 keeper for two summers past, and the article 

 on page 121, by B. A. Hadsell, is timely and 

 largely to the point, as tending to explain the 

 low price of honey to-day as compared with 

 the prices of "JO years ago. The commission 

 man has the honey-producers in his grip in 

 this market, more especially when he is a 

 buyer as well as a commission man. A buyer 

 is always a '' bear " in the market, and when 

 he also gives quotations of prices for the sup- 

 posed guidance of honey-producers, it is be- 

 yond liuman nature, however honest he may 

 be in general, not to try to buy low, when it 

 is almost absolutely certain that his quota- 

 tions will go to nearly all possible shippers. 



I am certain there is this tendency here in 

 Chicago, for I have time and time again inves- 

 tigated prices on South Water street, inquir- 

 ing of dealers in honey, as a possible buyer, 

 and invariably had prices quoted me one cent 

 higher per pound on comb honey than the 

 regular "quotations" in the American Bee 

 Journal. 



Again, the prices quoted for Milwaukee, 

 Wis., are almost invariably one cent per 

 pound higher for comb honey of like grades 

 than for Chicago. There seems no good rea- 

 son why Milwaukee, located very much nearer 

 the great basswood forests of the great honey- 

 producing State of Wisconsin, should pay 

 more than (_ hicago for the same grade of 

 honey, unless the market reports are " fixed " 

 to suit some one who is interested in buying 

 honey low. 



The bee-keepers of (;ook County, 111., at 

 least ought to have an organization and in- 

 vestigate just such things, and let the ship- 

 pers of honey know it, as I am trying to do. 



Cook Co., 111. Kip Van Winkle. 



Kip Van Winkle should go into the honey- 

 dealing business a while, for by so doing he 

 would soon learn some things that he will 

 scarcely be able to see in any other way. 

 Suppose the commission man did publish 

 quotations a cent or two per pound higher 

 (at the price he gets for a few single cases), 

 how soon would it be before he would have 

 his store flooded with honey which would be 

 sent to him because of his high quotations ? 

 Then, of course, the market would drop, and 

 the honey would have to be sold several cents 

 below the quoted prices. How the shippers 

 would howl then, when receiving their re- 

 turns. That commission man would be called 

 a fraud, a swindler, etc. 



It is better to quote a cent lower rather 

 than a cent above the market. If comb honey 

 is quoted at 1.5 cents, and then sells at 16 

 cents, and a report is made at the latter price, 

 no bee-keeper is going to kick. But quote 

 the price at 16 cents, and then make returns 

 at 1.5 cents (the best that could be obtained), 

 and how high would the shipper kick ? Well, 

 he'd likely say, "That commission man quoted 

 high so as to get the honey into his hands, 

 then sold it so as to get his commission." 



Any " Rip Van Winkle " who • goes along 

 the street enquiring the price of honey is 

 easily "sized up" by the commission man, 

 who is up to his bu.siness. He (the commis- 

 sion man) can tell very quickly that " Rip " 

 is only " nosing around," and doesn't mean 

 to buy, in nine eases out of ten. We have 

 often been such a " Rip " ourselves, and we 

 felt the commission men of whom we en- 

 quired knew that we were simply out " en- 

 quiring." 



But we would like to have those who quote 

 the honey market in our columns also help 

 answer Rip A'an Winkle, If all of us try, we 

 think he ought to get what he is after — or 

 something else equally satisfactory. 



A Sun-Proof and Rain-Proof Cover 



was described in the Bee-Keepers' Review by 

 M. A. Gill, of Colorado ; a heavy coat of oxide 

 of zinc and lead imint having bedded upon it 

 thin, unbleached muslin while the paint is 

 still wet, another heavy coat of the same 

 paint immediately laid on the muslin, and 

 after drying a third coat. Referring to this, 

 the editor of Gleanings in Bee-Culture says: 



I a.sked Mr. Calvert to figure on the cost of 

 Neponset paper and unbleached muslin for 

 hive-covers. After figuring a little he sur- 

 prised me by saying the muslin cost only 

 about half as much. My impression is that 

 I should prefer it, even if it were twice as ex- 



pensive as paper, because, treated as Mr. Gill 

 recomtnends, it would certainly be verydur- 

 able. If the paint be first applied to the 

 cover, and then cloth be laid upon it while 

 the paint is green, it forms a bond of union 

 with the wood. Now, then, if he covers it 

 with another coat on the outside, it is ren- 

 dered impervious to water, and stitT and hard. 

 I suggest that the readers test paper and 

 muslin side by side. Let us see which will 

 stand the most " grief " in dillerenl localities. 



A New General Manager. — As we an- 

 ticipated when Mr. Secor sent out his annual 

 report as General Manager of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, he almost imme- 

 diately resigned after re-election. His suc- 

 cessor has just been elected by the Board of 

 Managers. The new (ieneral Manager is 

 Emerson T. Abbott, of St. Joseph, Mo., to 

 whom dues and other matters relating to the 

 Association may now be sent. 



Mr. Abbott has a good opportunity to show 

 his ability as a manager of the important 

 interests of bee-keepers. He should succeed 

 in the work. The American Bee Journal is 

 ready to co-operate with him in continuing to 

 make things hum— the things for which the 

 Association exists. 



Errors About Laying Workers, like 

 other errors, seem hard to kill. It was form- 

 erly held by many, if not by all, that a single 

 worker was engaged in the unprofitable task 

 of laying eggs. Actual dissection has shown 

 that in a bad case of laying workers a large 

 proportion of the population contain eggs. 

 Yet there are still instructions given occa- 

 sionally to shake the bees on the ground at 

 some distance from the hive, so that thf laying 

 worker may not find its way back to the hive. 

 With regard to another error, Arthur C. 

 Miller says in the American Bee-Keeper: 



Let any bee-keeper who wishes to satisfy 

 himself that laying workers arise from mature, 

 normal workers, and not from larva; having a 

 bit of "royal food," try the following experi- 

 ment : 



Move to a new stand any fair colony having 

 a young queen which has been with them for 

 at least two months. Provide for the old bees 

 returning to the old location as may be most 

 convenient; they concern the experiment 

 only in that they are not wanted in the moved 

 colony. In ten days or more take the queen 

 and all the brood and eggs away from the 

 moved colony, leaving only the bees, to which 

 give combs of honey and pollen. To be abso- 

 lutely sure no eggs are given these, combs 

 should have been away from the bees for sev- 

 eral days— weeks would be better. Now 

 watch for results. Ordinarily in four or five 

 days a few eggs will appear, and the number 

 will increase daily until the colony begins to 

 decline. The reason for selecting a colony 

 having a young queen, and for getting rid of 

 the old bees, is to be certain that all bees sub- 

 jected to the experiment are reared under 

 such conditions that there can be no likeli- 

 hood of any of them receiving " royal food "' 

 while in the larval stage. 



