1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



205 



honey; but a venture of this kind must be 

 run on sound business principles. 

 Calabasas, Cal. 



TROUBLE BETWEEN A BREEDER AND A 

 BUYER OF BEES. 



What Should Be Expected of Each? 



BY J. C. M'CUBBIN. 



Mr. Root: — The European foul brood (or 

 black brood) had a hold on the bees in some 

 parts of California last year, and I was 

 among the unfortunate. Being anxious to 

 secure two full colonies of good healthy 

 stock for breeding purposes, and from cir- 

 culars sent me by Mr. T. L. McMurray, of 

 Ravenswood, W. Va., I believed that his 

 "Superior All-over-yellow Italian Bees" 

 were just what I needed, as he claimed his 

 stock of bees consisted of only one strain — 

 the "Golden All-over," and all bees were 

 sent out with a positive guarantee to please. 



On May 7th last I mailed him an order 

 for two full colonies of bees with tested 

 queens, enclosing $10.00, his price for the 

 same. After waiting till June 5, and not 

 hearing a word from Mr. McMurray, I wrote 

 him, stating that an explanation of the pro- 

 longed silence was anxiously desired. Short- 

 ly afterward I received the following brief 

 note: 



Mr. J. C. McCubbin: — Your bees have been ship- 

 ped. 

 Ravenswood, W.'Va., June 7. T. L. McMurray. 



Just at dark, on June 14, 38 days after 

 mailing my order, two hives arrived. The 

 bees in one had been dead several days, 

 judging from the odor it emitted, and the 

 outward appearance of both hives showed 

 that Mr. McMurray had not exercised the 

 usual care of queen-breeders in preparing 

 this shipment. 



Prof. Ralph Benton, of the University of 

 California, being about two miles from my 

 place at the time, I called upon him, and 

 he went with me to my out-apiary, where 

 he and Mr. L. Sinn, deputy foul-brood in- 

 spector, opened the hives and inspected the 

 two colonies. In the hive which contained 

 the live bees, instead of a "full colony " we 

 found a very weak nucleus. This hive con- 

 tained eight frames without a wire. The 

 combs had been drawn out only j^ to % 

 size from very narrow starters. Four of 

 these half-combs had been broken down; 

 but as there was not more than a cubic inch 

 of honey in the whole hive, theie was no 

 particular damage from broken combs. 



On opening the other hive we were met 

 with a surprise, for none of us had ever seen 

 such a mess. The ridiculous part of it was, 

 it came from a queen-breeder sending out 

 glowing advertisements. 



From the offensive odor and the entire 

 absence of honey we were unanimous in the 

 opinion that this colony had been shipped 

 out on the 3000-mile journey without stores, 

 and had died shortly afterward. Frames 

 and combs, same as the first hive. There 



was no doubt in the mind of either of us that 

 this had been an old weak queen with a very 

 few bees, and two frames of brood had been 

 added on being shipped. The death of the 

 brood in these two combs was what caused 

 the offensive odor. 



A number of moth cocoons and patches of 

 web four inches across extended through the 

 midrib, indicating that this hive contained 

 plenty of moth when shipped. 



Instead of being "Superior All-over-yel- 

 low Italian Bees," as advertised, not a bee 

 showed over one-half yellow. 



As satisfaction had been guaranteed, I 

 wrote Mr. McMurray a full account of the 

 matter, and in closing said: 



"The queens and bees (had they all been 

 alive) were not what I ordered, and can be 

 of no use to me as breeding stock; and, ar- 

 riving as late as they did, they were too late 

 for that purpose any way. The express 

 charges ou the shipment were $18.13, which, 

 added to what I paid you ($10.00) makes a 

 total of $28.13. As the hybrid bees can be 

 of no use to me, what relief can I expect 

 from you?" 



Up to this time not a word has been heard 

 from Mr. McMurray. 



Prof. Ralph Benton, of Berkeley, instruct- 

 or in apiculture in the University of Cali- 

 fornia, as well as Mr. Sinn, of Reedley, dep- 

 uty foul-brood inspector, have authorized 

 me to use their names as reference in mak- 

 ing this report. 



Reedley, Cal. 



[On receipt of the above we wrote to Mr. 

 McMurray, asking his side of the transac- 

 tion. His reply follows. — Ed.] 



I hardly know what to say In regard to Mr. J. C 

 McCubbin's case. 1 want to please all my custom- 

 ers. I lind it impossible, for some of them don't 

 know what to expect. Take color, for instance. 

 They expect queens to produce bees that are golden 

 all over; but we haven't got to that yet. Now, in 

 buying breeding queens, color has been one impor- 

 tant point, and in breeding I have tried to Improve. 

 The first bees 1 sent out were to Medina to see what 

 you thought of them. See a copy of your letter at- 

 tached which I have on file. 



Mr. McCubbin should have considered the ex- 

 press charges on bees shipped 3000 miles. That was 

 his business, not mine. 1 don't claim my combs 

 are wired, and to be strong enough to stand the 

 rough handling of express companies. Read at- 

 tached circular. 



As for preparing bees for shipment, I think I un- 

 derstand that part. That Is the first bad report on 

 my preparing bees for shipment. Bees are shipped 

 at owner's risk. I send the bill to customers signed 

 up, so they can see, and may be save them a law- 

 suit and get beat in the end, I mean to do right 

 with my customers; and if 1 am wrong will some 

 one please correct ine, and say what he thinks 

 would be right between man and man. You will 

 also find one of many letters 1 have on file. Read 

 what this man thinks of my bees compared with 

 those of another breeder he had bought a queen 

 from; also, read the leaf torn from my circular, and 

 see as a matter of business if I have made my points 

 too fetrong. 



Siiverton, W. Va. T. L. McMurray. 



[We presume there are no queen-breeders 

 or shippers of bees who never receive a com- 

 plaint. Sudden changes of weather often 

 prevent prompt filling of orders; and re- 

 quests for the return of money sent, or ex- 

 planations, etc., pile up at such times until 

 the breeder, who is meanwhile having all 



