1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



57 



J. P. Israel, or " Skylark," as he was latter- 

 ly known, was an occasional writer of some 

 prominence. He wrote a series of articles for 

 Gleanings entitled " Pickings by the Way," 

 and within a year or so his articles have ap- 

 peared in several of the bee-journals over his 

 usual 7ioin de plume. He was an interesting 

 writer in both prose and poetry — his especial 

 forte being a mild burlesque. Our readers 

 will miss his good-natured fun-making Pick- 

 ings, for they did sometimes pick things to 

 pieces. 



REPORT OF THE NATIONAL BEE- KEEPERS' 

 UNION. 



The report of the National Bee-keepers' 

 Union for 1898 is before us. The following is 

 the report of Manager Newman : 



Balance as per last Report S327 65 



Fees from 149 members, for 1898 (3 having 



been previously reported) 149 00 



Funds returned to treasury 25 00 



8501 65 

 Paid court expenses, attorney's 



fees, etc., in lawsuits 5145 00 



Printing, postage, and incidental 



expenses 58 30 



Manager's salary for 1898 on 149 



members, at 20 per cent 29 80 



$228 10 



1273 55 

 Back salary, voted last election : 



1896—244 old members at 20c $48 80 



1897—271 " " 54 20 



$103 00 



Balance on hand, Dec. 31, 1898 $170 55 



A steady fire has been kept up by this so- 

 ciety against various persons who have attempt- 

 ed to deprive bee-keepers of their rights, and 

 all the ground so far gained is still ours. With 

 the above came the report of the U. S. Bee- 

 keepers' Union. The following is the report 

 of Manager Secor : 



On hand as per repoit of 1897 $182 09 



Received from Secretary during the year 62 91 



Received for membership fees, direct 232 58 



$477 58 



Paid for printing, postage, and ex. 



charges during the year $ 25 15 



Publishing proceedings of Omaha 



meeting 25 00 



Paid E. T. Abbott, delegate to Pure Food 



Congress 60 25 



Paid Eugene Secor, delegate to Pure Food 



Congress 50 00 



Salary of General Manager from time of 

 organization to date, being 20 per 

 cent of receipts by him 136 13 



Paid Mr. Aiken's expenses before Class- 

 ification Committee 6 10 



Total expenditures $302 63 



Balance cash on hand 174 95 



The foregoing statement includes the expenses of 

 the Secretary's office: but as he turns over to me only 

 the net balance after deducting his salary and ex- 

 penses, the amount received by me does not quite in- 

 dicate the full membership. 



Respectfully submitted, 



Eugene Secor, Treas. 

 Forest City, la., Dec. 20, 1898. 



It will be noticed that the cash on hand in 

 the treasury of either society is very nearly 

 the same as in the other. Although the Union 

 has had no case in law this year, its work has 



been "varied and abundant " in disseminat- 

 ing truth relative to honey and our interests in 

 general. In March last, Mr. Secor attended 

 a pure-food congress in Washington, and the 

 U. S. B. K. U. received a full recognition by 

 the side of all other allied industries. Some 

 four cases of attempted infringement of bee- 

 keepers' rights were promptly repulsed. A 

 full report will be sent free by applying to 

 Manager Eugene Secor, Forest City, la. 



REPORTING SUCCESSES AND FAILURES. 



I notice in letters printed in Gleanings, reporting 

 honey crops, a large preponderance of successes over 

 failures. This does not coincide with my experience, 

 and also tends to bring down the price of honey. 



Reedsburg, Wis., Dec. 30, 1898. R. C. Watts. 



I know it is easier to report successes than 

 failures, and have already referred to this- 

 same phase of human nature before. I am 

 aware that there have been some more reports 

 encouraging than discouraging, even in our 

 own columns; and these reports alone would 

 be misleading but for the fact that I have sev- 

 eral times said editorially that this is the poor- 

 est season we have known for years. 



Perhaps you ask how we know it. Largely 

 by the hundreds of letters that come in that 

 are never published because they are connect- 

 ed with the commercial department and can 

 not very well go to the journal without mak- 

 ing some delays in business. 



But another and more accurate index of the 

 season is the demand in July and August for 

 packages for extracted honey, shipping-cases, 

 and honey-labels. During the past season the 

 call for these articles was exceptionally light 

 in comparison with the demand for other goods, 

 earlier in the season. On the other hand, 

 when there is a good yield, as there was in. 

 1897, there is a great demand for all of these 

 articles, especially labels. The supply manu- 

 facturer is, then, in rather better position to- 

 gauge the season than any one else. 



But perhaps the question may be raised, 

 " Why do you report at all the successes?" For 

 the reason that it enables the one who did get 

 a crop to dispose of it to some brother bee- 

 keeper who didn't get any, and wishes to sup- 

 ply his old trade. 



APIS DORSATA FROM THE PHILIPPINES; SOME. 

 BIG STORIES. 



Going the rounds of the daily papers is a 

 statement, more or less modified, that in tak- 

 ing control of the Philippine Islands our gov- 

 ernment has obtained full possession of the- 

 giant bee. Apis dorsata, which bee is to be 

 immediately brought by the government to 

 this side of the world. So many crudities at- 

 tend the statement that the intelligent bee- 

 keeper may be excused from believing that 

 there is very much foundation for what is 

 said. Newspaper reporters are sometimes " ex- 

 pansionists " of an extreme type. Among the 

 items appearing in an article in Toledo Blade' 

 are the following : 



" In the Philippines a comb of honey six 

 feet long by four feet wide and nearly two> 

 inches thick can be obtained for a few Ameri- 

 can cents." (Two hundred pounds of honey 

 in one comb ! ) "The bee is about two inches. 



