GLIvANIXr.S IN l\]'Ai CULTURIv. 



iiiunoiliaU-ly lo secure sampk-s in the ()])L'n 

 market, ami have them analyzed. If tliey 

 |)ii>ve to he adulterated, hrinvj^ them before the 

 proper ollioials. and see that tlu- guilty jiarties 

 are hrou.u;ht to time. I\Ir. W. A. vS.-lser, an 

 expert cliemist, of 10 Vine vSt., Philadelphia, 

 will make a ciualitative analysis of suspected 

 honey for 51 •*'(). I believe it would be a good 

 idea for the U. S. B. K. U. to set Mr. vSelser at 

 work at once; and I would therefore suggest 

 llie wisdom of the (General Manager directing 

 Mr. ISIoore to procure a dozen or so samples 

 of doubtful honey, and have the same for- 

 warded on to IMr. Selser for analysis. My! 

 with such a law as we have above, w^e are 

 foolish if we do not avail ourselves of the 

 o])portunity to strike a blow. — Ed.] 



THE LMTEU STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION. 



BY SKYLARK. 



/?;'. .1. R. Mason: — I send you two dollars 

 and fifty cents as my n^embership-fee (two 

 years and a half) in the United States Bee- 

 keepers' Union — not the little Union whose 

 income last year was only f.'JS.OO, but the great 

 United vStates Bee-keepers' Union, just born, 

 but rushing on to manhood with giant strides 

 — the Union whose income this year will over- 

 leap S;iSOO. The little Union is dying. Its 

 death -knell began to toll at the Lincoln con- 

 vention. Within two years it will be only a 

 memory of the past. Why, then, give up the 

 name of "Union"? We want no "league," 

 no "alliance," no "association." We will 

 stand by the name of "Union," so de^ to 

 every American heart. If our dying little sis- 

 ter society kicks — well, just let her kick her 

 last. It will soon be all over. Then there 

 ^vill be but one union— defensive, offensive, 

 and protective — a union that will make one 

 grand army of united bee-keepers. Dr. A. B., 

 here is my two dollars and fifty cents. 



Room for you, stranger? Yes, if you are 

 quick about it; for who knows how soon our 

 coflFers may be full ? and then you would be 

 barred out. 



I might explain here that a coffer is a large 

 hole in the ground, with an iron door and a 

 big bulldog sitting on top of it. Dr. Mason 

 has his whole garden planted to coflFers and 

 bulldogs, as witness the following dispatch: 



Toledo, O., Jiuie 28. 

 Dear, dear Skylark: — In strict accordance with your 

 suggestion I have planted my whole garden to coffers 

 and bulldogs. They are coming on finely-, as I aip 

 pushing them on the high-pressure-gardening princi- 

 ple, and the dollars are rolling in. A. B. M. 



Yes. stranger, come in; come in now. Your 

 dollar and mine, with thousands of others, 

 will do a world of good, not only while we 

 live to enjoy the profits thereof, but long after 

 we lie sleeping, no matter how far ajiart, 

 together in the dust. Yes, come in. We will 

 unite with the millions who are now clamoring 

 for pure food. We will get there, and get 

 pure honey too. 



But, one will say, " What good will stopping 

 adulteration do me ? They can not adulterate 

 comb honey, and I produce nothing else." 



Well, if I were a double-geared idiot that is 

 just the way I would argue; but as I have 

 been broken only to single harness, I am not 

 quite such a fool. Don't you know that, if 

 adulteration is knocked in the head, and laid 

 out for ever, it will double the price of ex- 

 tracted honey? And then, presto! up goes 

 comb hone}- 8 or 10 cts. ])er povind. Won't 

 pay you, eh? Only a dollar a year! Count 

 even 5 cts. per pound, each year, clear loss on 

 your whole crop, and then say it "won't pay " 

 you. Why, it will pay a man who has only 

 two hives and produces but 100 pounds of 

 honey. A. B., here is my two dollars and fifty 

 cents. 



There is not a single article of food — corn- 

 fodder excepted — that is not adulterated — 

 many of them with poisonous ingredients — 

 that it is at all possible to adulterate. You 

 may not feel that it will hurt you; you have 

 been used to it for years; you are' old and 

 tough, and a whole plug of '" Battle Axe To- 

 bacco " would hardly kill you; but what about 

 the little prattler that is now climbing on your 

 knee, and lisping the name of "papa"? 

 What effect will all these poisons have on her ? 

 Are her perfect health and security not worth 

 a dollar a year ? or do you wish to wreck that 

 perfect model of childish beauty, just fresh 

 from the hand of God? That is just what you 

 are doing. 



Pure food means perfect health, long life, 

 and happiness, for there can be very little 

 happiness without health. Adulterated and 

 poisonous food points its bony finger to the 

 pall, the cofiin, and the grave. And you 

 won't give a dollar a year? No! but when 

 that little angel lies beneath the daisies — when 

 she sleeps the sleep that knows no waking in 

 this world, the memory of that dollar "will 

 burn the bottom out of your soul, and, like 

 Job of old, you will mourn and lament the day 

 you were ever born. 



Dr. Mason, here is my two dollars and fifty 

 cents. 



If you can't spare a dollar a year to utterly 

 destroy adulteration, pile up your hives and 

 burn them. They are not worth having, or 

 you are utterly unworthy to possess them; 

 and you call yourself a bee-keeper! You 

 .stand there and let a highway robber pull dol- 

 lars out of your pockets, and can't afford a 

 cent to buy a brick to knock him in the head. 

 "Oh reason! thou hast fled to brutish beasts, 

 and man alone is mad." 



Dr. Mason, here is my two dollars and fifty 

 cents. 



BEES EVAPORATED— A NEW MALADY. 



A Reasonable Explanation of the Cause. 



BY H. WHITCOMB. 



On page 479 Mr. R. C. Aikin cites what at 

 first might appear to be a new malady among 

 bees. vSeveral instances have occurred within 

 my own State. This can not be attributed to 

 paralysis or the high winds that, during the 

 spring, sweep over mo.st of the plains region 

 east of the Rockies. The honey-flow coming 



