1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



261 





Unbusiness-like Transactions. 



Having received many complaints 

 from the patrons of II. A. Buicb & 

 Co., concerning very long delays in 

 filling orders, and broken promises, 

 we have written them many times, 

 urging them to more punctuality. We 

 desired not to unnecessarily bring 

 these matters before the public, pre- 

 ferring to get them settled in a pri- 

 vate way, but the complaints became 

 so numerous that on August 1 we 

 wrote that firm, entreating them to 

 satisfy their patrons, and added : 



It will not do simply to say Mr. I!, 

 has been sick ; there is a "Co." who 

 should see that things move along 

 right, and satisfy customers. Yon as- 

 sured me before I commenced to ad- 

 vertise foryou (in February, 1881) that 

 TOO would -'fill all orders promptly ," or 

 I should not have inserted your adver- 

 tisement. 



We give Mr. Burch's reply in full, 

 as follows : 



Editoh Bee Journal : In answer 

 to vours of Aug. 1, I will say that we 

 regret exceedingly that you should be 

 "annoyed" by complaints of us and 

 our business. The loss of our bees last 

 spring was a heavy bio vv to us, financial- 

 ly, necessitating purchasing largely to 

 fill our orders. This put us back some- 

 what, although June 1 found us re- 

 stocked and in shape to begin busi- 

 ness in earnest, but 2 weeks of cold 

 weather in June delayed us still more. 

 Then it came off very hot, and bees 

 swarmed to such an extent that we 

 could do little shipping during the re- 

 mainder of the month. Then the 

 hives were crowded with honey, which 

 had to be extracted before bees could 

 be safely shipped any distance. This 

 made it very slow work indeed, and 

 as we were unable to procure sufficient 

 suitable assistance, we got further 

 and further behind. Notwithstand- 

 ing, I have worked day and night for 

 the past 3 months, having nearly 

 ruined my eyesight writing nights, 

 we are still behind. We are still 

 shipping bees, but it goes slowly; 

 have returned all the money we can at 

 present, so much so that we have not, 

 enough left to meet our bills. Now, 

 to sum up, we have done all we possi- 

 bly can for our customers, and if you 

 can suggest anv better plan than that 

 of keeping steadily at work and work- 

 ing out of the dilemma, we should be 

 very grateful. 



The course pursued by Novice, and 

 other parties, has materially delayed 

 us, as many parties have obtained the 

 idea they would lose their money, and 

 we have been more than "annoyed" by 

 their threats and importunities. You 

 can perhaps imagine how one feels 

 who is behind, yet honestly striving to 

 do his utmost to be just to all, to be 

 misrepresented as we have been. Now 

 do with us just as you think right. If 

 you feel like saying in the Bee Jour- 

 nal that you regret our being so much 

 behind, but are assured that we will 

 make all satisfactory so far as lies in 

 our power, we shall feel grateful. My 

 partner has been away since last Feb- 

 ruary. Will remit amount of your 

 bill at earliest date we can do so. 



H. A. Burch. 



We are well aware of the troubles 

 that came from the losses of bees, 

 and unpropitious weather for queen- 

 rearing, but the complaints cover the 

 filling of orders for sections, comb 

 foundation, etc. 



In all cases, where orders cannot be 

 filled in a reasonable time, the money 

 should be cheerfully refunded. Mr. 

 B. asks if we can suggest some better 

 plan than the one he is pursuing. If 

 he has used the money belonging to 

 his patrons would it not be better to 

 borrow enough money on his bees, 

 supplies, stock, farm, or whatever he 

 has, and pay back those whose money 



he has used for other than the pur- 

 poses they sent it, ami that, too, with- 

 out their knowledge or consent? 



We have no desire to injure anyone, 

 especially any who are trying to do 

 right, and hence we have labored long 

 and earnestly with II. A. Burch & Co., 

 for their own benefit, urging them to 

 make peace with their patrons, and 

 we do hope that they will act promptly 

 and save their credit as business men. 



Not wishing to burden the Journal 

 with the detailed complaints, we omit 

 them, and simply refer to them in bulk. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Bees and Cider.— Mr. L. C. Root in 

 the American Agriculturalist says : 



Another correspondent suggests that 

 the losses in bees during last winter 

 were largely due to the fact, that from 

 the great abundance of apples, bees 

 appropriated cider quite extensively 

 during the fall. It is unquestionable 

 that the juice from such quantities of 

 decaying fruit, as well as the cider 

 gathered in the vicinity of cider mills, 

 would have a deleterious effect upon 

 bees. While this can hardly be con- 

 sidered as the main cause of our heavy 

 losses, all will agree that all conditions 

 must be most favorable during such 

 severe weather, if success is to be at- 

 tained. Good, well cured and sealed 

 honey is essential, and where cider is 

 gathered in abundance late in the fall, 

 this condition can hardly be secured. 



Use for Propolis.— Mrs. L. Harrison, 



in Gleanings, says : 



I use it in many ways, and there is 

 scarcely a day that I do not use it in 

 something. I noticed yesterday, that 

 bees were in a cap of a hive, and on ex- 

 amining found that they came in 

 through a hole in a honey-box. I got 

 some propolis, worked it up soft with 

 my fingers, and spread it over the hole. 

 If I saw off a limb of a tree, I cover the 

 wound with it, to keep out insects and 

 rain. If the dipper leaks, it is soon 

 mended with it, and the wash-basin 

 can be cured of its leaky tricks by hav- 

 ing a thin coating rubbed on the bot- 

 tom. Old pans and dippers, used for 

 dipping slops and feeding chickens, 

 would be much better, if their holes 

 were mended in this way. Some roofs 

 leak around chimneys, which can be 

 stopped by rolling up propolis into little 

 rolls, and fitting it nicely into the crev- 

 ices, so that the shingles and bricks 

 are glued together, leaving no cracks 

 for water to run through. 



Some have parasols or umbrellas 

 with a carved fish or dog's head on the 

 end of the handle for ornament. We 

 have one, and on the 4th of July our 

 dog's head came off; We worked 

 some propolis then, and wrapped the 

 handle in it, and puton the dog's head 

 again, cleaning off all propolis that 

 oozed out, after pushing it on. To-day 

 we tried to pull it off, but it was no go ; 

 it was just as if it had grown there. 

 Who will try propolis for budding and 

 grafting r Lucinda Harrison. 



Peoria. 111., July, 1881. 



#21.20, or 101) pounds choice comb 

 honey at20 cents per pound. 1 can 

 sell all my extracted honey at lfi cents 

 a pound. Three colonics of bees will 

 produce as much, in dollars and cents, 

 as 2 acres of cotton. One man and a 

 stout boy can attend 150 colonies. 

 These will average 50 pounds, one year 

 after another, and at 15 cents, gives 

 $1125.00. Can a man and a boy do 

 this raising cotton. 



In the neighborhood of Waxahatchie 

 1 found (1U0 colonies of bees, and in my 

 neighborhood about 300. All doing 

 well ; mostly blacks. I have now on 

 my yard Cyprian, Syrian, Italian, Ger- 

 man and Hungarian Bees. I cannot 

 yet tell which are the best^they are 

 all good. 



Honey Show for Canada.— The Ca- 

 nadian Farmer advises the Ontario 

 Bee-Keepers' Association to offer a va- 

 riety of premiums for honey at the 

 exhibition, at Toronto, this fall, and 

 adds : 



A prize should be given for extracted 

 honey done up in the best marketable 

 shape in glass, tin and wood. Comb 

 honey might be divided into three 

 classes, box-honey, section-boxes, and 

 whatever other form may commend 

 itself to the judges. This would give 

 scope for much variety. In addition 

 to the above there should be prizes for 

 implements for apiarian use and also 

 for fruit preserved in honey, as well as 

 other things in the manufacture of 

 which honey is employed. We trust 

 that the display this season will far 

 surpass that of any previous year both 

 in the number of exhibitors as well as 

 the variety of forms in which the honey 

 is presented, so that the public may 

 be made to feel the importance of this 

 infant industry and encouraged to 

 assist in its further development. 

 One of the principal objects of the as- 

 sociation is to show the advantage the 

 country may derive from greater at- 

 tention being paid to bee-keeping, and 

 in no way can this fact be brought 

 home to the general public so forcibly 

 as by the members uniting to make the 

 display in the apiarian department of 

 the exhibition a grand success. 



and from appearances they had been 

 there some time, as t lie walls were full 

 of honey-comb and the industrious lit- 

 tle fellows were hard at work filling 

 the cells with the sweet juices. Your 

 correspondent visited the hive last 

 evening, and would judge that there 

 must be at least a ton of honey there. 

 Mr. Diller says he will not disturb 

 them, but will give them full play in 

 their extensive home. 



Good Report from Texas.— The Texas 

 Agricultural Journal, a new Monthly 

 published at Hempstead, Texas, gives 

 the following report from Mr. B. F. 

 Carroll, of Dresden, Texas : 



I had twenty colonies to commence 

 with ; had the first swarm that came 

 out, in the state— and this was all. I 

 increased to 53 colonies by artificial 

 swarming, and have a surplus of 100 

 pounds per old colony. My bestcolony 

 has brought me, in dollars and cents, 



Superiority of Italian Bees.— Mr. J. 

 B. Mitchell in the Hawkinsville (Ga.) 

 Dispatch says : 



Their good qualities are now con- 

 ceded by all who have tried both vari- 

 eties under similar circumstances, and 

 they are rapidly taking the place of 

 the blacks in all parts of the country. 



They are more active than other 

 bees, making three flights in the time 

 that the black bees make two ; they 

 are more hardy, working earlier and 

 later, and in cooler weather; they 

 gather honey from flowers which are 

 not frequented by black bees; their 

 queens are more prolific, so that they 

 may be increased much faster with 

 safety ; they gather more honey and 

 give more swarms in the same length 

 of time, and are more gentle and 

 easily handled than black bees. 



Their chief point of excellence, and 

 one that is worth everything to bee- 

 keepers in the South is, that they 

 readily and successfully defend their 

 hives against the depredations of the 

 bee moth. A strong colony of Italians 

 is worth more as a protection sgainst 

 this pest than all the moth-proof hives 

 and moth traps that were ever 

 invented. 



A Houseful of Honey.— A Special Dis- 

 patch to the Chicago lYibune gives 

 the following particulars of a hive, 

 which is probably large enough to sat- 

 isfy any one : 



Streator, Aug, 4.— A few days ago 

 Mr. Adam Diller, a wealthy farmer liv- 

 ing a few miles east of here, had occa- 

 sion to visit an old dilapidated dwell- 

 ing that stood on the back of his farm, 

 which had for a long time been unoc- 

 cupied, when he was quite surprised 

 to find that it had been taken possess- 

 ion of by an enormous colony of bees, 



Importingthiceus.— Mr. D. A. Jones, 

 thus describes his method of shipping 

 Cyprian queens, in the Canadian Far- 

 mer : 



It is a very difficult matter to im- 

 port them to this country. The col- 

 onies I bought in Palestine I had 

 sent down to the coast, and then for- 

 warded by steamer to Cyprus. There 

 they were transferred from the cylin- 

 ders into movable frame hives. I 

 then made a box about 4x5x6 inches 

 out of pine lumber. I put a screen on 

 the bottom and one in the top, each 

 about 3 inches square, to let the air 

 pass through. In one end of the box I 

 fixed a bottle filled with water, and 

 having a cork through which a cut- 

 ting was made for a wick. Through 

 this cutting I drew a cotton wick, and 

 by capillary attraction this wick is kept 

 wet with water and the bees drink and 

 then eatsome granulated sugar, which 

 I fastened upon the other end of the 

 box by pouring it in hot and allowing 

 it to cool. Between the bottle and the 

 sugar I had a comb with a little syrup 

 in. There was a queen and from 1(50 

 to 300 bees in the box. I had a crate 

 made to hold 27 of these boxes, and 

 they were separated from each other 

 about an inch and a half, so that a cur- 

 rent of air always passes around every 

 box. I have some bees that were kept 

 6 weeks in that way, and during the 

 whole time they had but one chance 

 to fly, and that was when I arrived at 

 London. Some of the bees appeared 

 to need this, and others did not. The 

 water was very bad, and I have given 

 instructions that in future consign- 

 ments the water should be boiled be- 

 fore being put into the bottle ; this will 

 purify it. 



The best course for a man to pursue 

 who wants to keep bees, simply to get 

 honey enough to supply his own fam- 

 ily, is to get 5 or 6 hives and read up 

 Cook's Manual of Bee Culture ; and if 

 he writes to me I will give him all the 

 information I can. Cook's Manual is 

 decidedly the best manual on bee cul- 

 ture which has been published. 



Prospect for Fall Honey.— The Indi- 

 ana Farmer gives the following as the 

 prospects for a fall crop of honey in 

 Indiana : 



The bees have commenced getting 

 some honey again and in spite of the 

 exceedingly dry weather of the past 

 weeks the prospects for a good fall crop 

 of honey are quite flattering. All sec- 

 tions or boxes that are part full of 

 white honey should be removed, espe- 

 cially so where well capped over. Sec- 

 tions partially filled with white honey 

 and finished with buckwheat or dark 

 honey, do not look well, and will only 

 bring a correspondingly low price in 

 the market. If you want to use the 

 sections partially filled with comb, re- 

 move the white honey with the extrac- 

 tor, or, in the absence of the extractor, 

 uncap the honey, so in finishing up 

 again they will make the cappings all 

 alike. 



(0- The North Eastern Wisconsin 

 Convention meets at Pewaukee, Wis., 

 instead of Berlin, as at first an- 

 nounced. It meets on Oct. 11 and 12, 

 1881. Those in that vicinity should 

 make a point of attending. 



©■The Southern California Dis- 

 trict Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold its annual meeting in Los Angeles 

 City, Sept. 8, 9, and 10, 1881. All per- 

 sons interested in bees and honey are 

 respectfully invited to attend. 



J. E. Pleasants, Pres. 



Anaheim, Cal. 



