118 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



Now. in all c-andoi-. let me ask what harm has 

 iiK'drpoiation done? What right, just tell one 

 little, lone right, that Canada had before incor- 

 poration that she now lacks? In what way is 

 the North American any less "broad and inter- 

 national " so far as the society itself is concern- 

 ed, than it was before? Will the meeting in 

 Washington be any moie local than its prede- 

 cessors? What single thing has ever been done 

 by the society that it could not equally have done 

 if it had been incorporated at its first organ- 

 ization ? What single thing is there that it can 

 not do in the future that it could do if it were 

 not incorporated? ^Vill any one of the four 

 gentlemen who signed that report answer these 

 questions? 1 am sure that room for their re- 

 plies will be given in the same columns that 

 admit the questions. 



I have too high esteem for the sound heads 

 and kind hearts of Canadian bee-keepers to 

 believe that any misunderstanding, as I am sure 

 it is a misunderstanding, shall l<>ad to any per- 

 manent estrangement. The truth will come 

 uppermost, and we shall know each other better. 



Marengo, 111. C C. Miller. 



A BOUNTY ON HONEY NOT DESIRABLE. 



THE OB.JECT OF rKOTECTION; ClIEAl' SUGAR, 

 ETC. 



Our prohibition friends have a good deal to 

 say concerning special privileges granted by the 

 government to the liquor-traftic. A class of 

 " reformers " demand that the government shall 

 provide ouildings for the storage of agricultural 

 products, and insist that they are asking no 

 more than about what is now granted the 

 liquor-traffic. Now, it seems that a few bee- 

 keepers are disposed to ask that honey shall be 

 granted special favors similar to those suppos- 

 ed to be granted whisky. Did it ever occur to 

 these friends to account for the reluctance of 

 whisky in accepting these special favors? Why! 

 it requires an army of vigilant officials, assisted, 

 in some instances, by Winchester rifles, to per- 

 suade the whiskey-men to accept these alleged 

 special favors. 



"Hie object of a protective duty is to guard a 

 domestic product against the lUthUity of being 

 (rrowded out of our own market by a foreign 

 competitor. From Root's piice list we ascertain 

 that the prices of some grades of tin plate are as 

 low now as they were three months before the 

 "McKinley Bill"' was reported to the House, 

 and on no grade has the price been enhanced 

 to the extent of the additional duty levied by 

 that bill. To protect tin plate it does not 

 necessarily follow that the prices which obtain- 

 ed two years ago shall be advanced or even sus- 

 tained; but it is necessary to guard against a 

 repetition of that kind of competition which 

 quickly suppressed former attempts to manufac- 

 ture the article in this country. 



Yes, when sugar was admitted free the price 

 to the consumer was cheapened to the e.xtent of 

 the duty removed; but does any one believe 

 that a like reduction could or would take place 

 in the prices of salt, linseed oil, and wire nails 

 were they placed on the free list? Does any 

 one know of a locality or of a country where 

 manufacturers sell salt at 10 cents a barrel, or 

 where consumers can buy linseed oil at 1.5 cents 

 a gallon, and wire nails at ^\.m per 100 lbs.? 

 When coffee was put on tln^ free list, did ihe 

 price, in spite of trusts, go down and remain 

 down ? 1 merely refer to these subjects to indi- 

 cate the difficulties to be met in any attempt to 

 formulate cast-iron rules concerning the eftects 

 of tariff prices. 



The protective system aims to build up all 



important American industries; but, to date, 

 the sugar industry has not built up to speak of 

 — it's a going to. Now the beet sugar is making 

 promises. The existence of this iudustry, at 

 present, seems to depend upon protection; and 

 as it has been clearly demonstrated that the 

 consume!' pays the full amount of the duty 

 levied on sugar, and that the price of the do- 

 mestic article, in this instance, is also enhanced 

 to the full extent of the duty levied on the im- 

 ported article, it seems that it would be better 

 foi' our people to pay only the duty on the small 

 amount pioduced here. Under the present law 

 we pay no more to the producers of domestic 

 sugar than we had been paying to them during 

 the last two decades. 



But is honey, under present conditions, entitl- 

 ed to bounty ? To get it. it will require a much 

 stronger case than has been made up yet; and 

 you may rest assured that there is no immediate 

 danger of biding incumbered Ijy a bounty on 

 honey. 



A few years ago strawberry -growers — some of 

 them — were demanding protection against ba- 

 nanas and a few oth(>r foreign fruits. I believe 

 their demand was not complied with; but straw- 

 berries are still grown, and the demand for 

 them continues good. At present I feel like 

 classing this demand for a bounty on honey 

 with that demand of the strawberry-growers. 



E. Springfield, O. R. M. Reynolds. 



BOUNTY NOT DESIRABLE. 



SEALED. COVER, ETC. 



An impression seems to have gone abroad 

 (and I Hnd it in last Gleanings) that the comb- 

 honey industry is independent of the price of ex- 

 tracted honey. Let us not be over-contident. 

 I find a class of customers who would rather 

 have comb honey, but are willing to pay only 

 about 2 cents per lb. more than the price of ex- 

 tracted. It would be only just, no doubt, to 

 have a government bounty on honey: but 1 am 

 sure all kinds will need it alike. But I fear the 

 " Govei'nment Stamp" as a protection to bee- 

 keepers (page 13) would prove a delusion and a 

 snare, and so would the " trade-mark." 



THE winter problem. 



I believe Ernest and G. R. Pierce (p. 9.52) are 

 on the I'ight track. My top cushions are often 

 very damp, and in this condition combs are apt 

 to become moldy and bees sickly. If upward 

 ventilation is the thing, why do bees always 

 seal every thing except the entrance as tight as 

 a drum? I think I should like yonr new Dove- 

 tailed chaff hive, only I fear the chati' wall is 

 not thick enough for our climate. We require 

 a thermometer which is very long at the Unver 

 end. 



Then for the new-old system of wintering 

 mentioned above, it would need a bee-space over 

 the frames to take the place of the Hill device 

 used under cushions; also several years' experi- 

 ence on a small scale leads me to favor Dr. Mil- 

 ler's idea of an inch or more under the bottom- 

 bars. This, of course, would be impossible in 

 bodies intended to be interchangeable with su- 

 pers, but the chaff-hive body is permanent. 



WHO IS the inventor? 



It may be easy to determine who is entitled to 

 the credit of introducing this or that improve- 

 ment; but the name of the inventor may be Le- 

 gion. Take, for instance, your new hive-rabbet. 

 Not liking the sharp edges of your old rabbet, I 

 several years ago devised the identical form 

 which you have adopted; but not finding a tin- 

 ner who had a folder which would make it. I 

 continued to use " linger-cutters." 



