IS'.II? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



13 



Th«' fiDSsip iifomid tlw I'limpiis the ncM iliiy 

 was iihont the cpisdilcs of ilic Kourlli. I'vrtl 

 liiid won a pri/.f in a foot-nu-c: another stiulcnl. 

 was in a tijilit: aiiotluT oainc back tiit> worse 

 from beer. So thi' I'oiirth passed into liistoiy. 

 and on bis journey ii;,Min passos tlie 



Rambi.kk. 



[The Micbijian Asricuitnral College is a 

 jirand place to visit. It is an institution that 

 tlie State of Micbisian may well be proud of. 

 Hy no means tbe least important jx-i'sonage 

 of the i^olieixe is I'rof. ("ook. In faet. he is more 

 widely known for his researches and writings 

 than anv other instructor or professoi- in the 

 collesie.] 



BOUNTY ON HONEY. 



A <.OVI-:iiNMKN 1 STAMf O.N IIO.NKV. A.Nl) WIIV. 



The meeting of the Illinois State Bee-keepers" 

 Society at Springlield, on the 16th and 17th. 

 was pretty well attended. es])ecially by bee- 

 kt'epers near Spiinglield. 1 was quite soii-y not 

 to see Messrs. Miller. Dadaiit. and Newman 

 present. Still. I l)elieve tiuitn'onsiderable good 

 has been accomplished. Tlie proposition of the 

 Northwestern was gladly received, and the re- 

 quest to meet in Chicago once each year was 

 unanimously accedeil to. There, now. brother 

 bee-keepers, not only of th(> nortliern part of 

 the State of Illinois, but all of you in r.-ach of 

 Chicago, come and help us make the Illinois 

 State Bee-keepers' Association what it ought 

 to be. Our interests are one; and the same, and 

 we ought to set^ to it that the annual appropria- 

 tion is well expended. This society ought to 

 take hold of the World's Fair business. Of 

 course. I don't think that it ought to try to 

 monopolize the honey and supply exhibit, but it 

 ought to have a committee there, at least, to 

 welcome the bee-keepei's from other States and 

 from all over the world. 



There is one thing that I think ought to be 

 agitated everywhere, and as often as possible: 

 and that is the two-cent bounty on extracted 

 iioney. The comb-honey production doesn't 

 need it. Now. were the bounty the only thing 

 in it I don't know that 1 should think it so im- 

 portant. But. here: let tlie government goto 

 placing a stamp on what honey is actually pro- 

 duced here in this country, and the adulteration 

 of extracted honey is at an end. See what the 

 government does for the lirjuor interest. It not 

 only labels and stamps their difiei'ent brands. 

 but places a penalty on using their packages a 

 second time. If we can only get this bounty on 

 extracted honey it will do more to lift up the 

 bee-l)usiness and encourage the bee-keepers 

 than any thing else I know of. for it will soon 

 riiak<' an almost unlimited market for extracted 

 honey, for every one will then have confidence 

 in tlie purity of what he is purchasing, for then 

 there will be the gctvernment's guarantee as to 

 its purity on every package. What more could 

 any ijiirchaser ask for'.' IJesides this, there is 

 nfi doubt that the darker grades of honey have 

 got to come in direct competition with sugar 

 that does gel a bounty from the government. 

 Now. why should the sugar interests have an 

 advantagi' of over :.'.") per cent on their output. 

 and the honey interests be forced to compete 

 with tln'ni foi' ;i market '? Such a condition of 

 affairs is manifestly unjust, to say nothing of 

 being forced to compete with a mixture of glu- 

 cose. The government Wfmld. in this way. 

 lake the very best census of the bee-keeping in- 

 terest that it would be possible for us to have. 



I had the pleasure of visiting the Lincoln 

 Monument in company with Mrs. Harrison. 

 N\ hih' at Springlield. .Sheagi'eed with me that. 



if we could get this government stamp on ex- 

 tracted honey, it would be of immense advan- 

 tage to bee-keepers. She seemed to think, also, 

 that the l)ee-business is tiecfiming rather risky, 

 with the present prices for honey, ami the fact 

 that the bee-pastuiage is year by year becom- 

 ing i)oorer and poorei' since the amount of land 

 that is not tilled is t)ecoming less and less. IjOW 

 wet places, that were forn\erly too wet to be 

 cultivated, were tlie natural home of plants 

 producing honey, but they are now either lieing 

 ditched out or el.se underdrained. At I'eoria, 

 where her bees used to get an abundant har- 

 vest, it is now occupied by a thriving city. 



Fri{MSIlI\(; HKl'OKTKKS MATTKH HKI.ATINCi TO 

 CO.NVKNTIONS. 



In r<'tnriiing home, a reiiorter \\iio had seen 

 me in the meeting came and sat down by me. 

 and began to make iruiuiries about bees and 

 honey, and aliout the association. He went on 

 to say that they would liave been glad to give 

 the bee-keepers two or tiiree columns of matter 

 in their journal, while there at Springfield, if 

 they had had any way of getting the copy. I 

 wonder if we can't get the conventions to take 

 the hint, and have a committee to preiiare copy 

 for the reporters when they come around — have 

 it ready for thein. In this way a large part of 

 the public can be reached and educated in re- 

 gard to honey and bees that can not be reached 

 so easily in any other way. Instead of growl- 

 ing at what daily and weekly newspapers pub- 

 lish, try giving them facts, in a readable shape, 

 to publish. A. N. Dhapek. 



Upper Alton. 111.. Dec. lit. 



[We believe this is an important question, 

 but it is one on which we are not yet prepared 

 to give an opinion. We hope it will be thor- 

 oughly discussed in the next few weeks, both 

 as to the desirability and feasibility of having a 

 bounty on honey. Mr. Elwood touches on this 

 .same point in his president's address, which we 

 will publish in our next issue.] 



BEES OF ITALY, AGAIN. 



ITALIANS A fixp:i) kace: amekicans trying 



TO IMPROVE THEM. 



I noticed a communication by Arthur T. 

 Goldsborough. on page 842. 1891, in which he 

 asserts that the bees of Italy are not three- 

 banded. I was in hopes some of the older writ- 

 ers would give us a chapter on the color of the 

 Italian bee: but so far I have not seen such a 

 communication. It seems strange that this 

 writer, being as close an observer as he claims 

 to be. should asseit that no bee would show 

 more than one yellow band. Now. the fact is, 

 among all classes of bees, all mixtures and 

 crosses. I have never been able to find a single 

 bee with only one yellow band. Wherever I 

 find a bee with yellow on any bands, there is 

 yellow on the three; and, again, if the bees of 

 Italy are not three-l)anded. how comes it that, 

 of all the bees that are yearly imported from 

 there, no importer has received a single bee 

 that does not show the three yellow bands'? 

 Any imi)ortcr will guarantee this. Another 

 thing, all the (pieens that are brought from 

 Italy are not tested quiMiUs. Especially last 

 spriiig. the breeders of Italy could not fill all 

 their early orders with tested queens, and get 

 tliem here as soon as the importers wanted 

 them: and yet the liees of Italy, so far as I 

 have seen them (and I have received queens 

 from several breeders in various parts of Italy), 

 are three-banded. The bands are not bright 

 vellow, but more inclined to be red: and I be- 



