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DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUGUST 31, 1881. 



No. 35. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION i 



WEEKLY— (53 numbers) S>3 a year, in advance. 



Three or Six Montlis at the same rate. 

 SEMI-MONTHLY- The first and third numbersot 



each month, at SI. OO a year, in advance. 

 MONTHLY— The first number of each month, at 



SO ceuts a year, in advance. 



IF" Any person sending a club of six is entitled 

 to an extra copy ( like the club) sent to any address 

 desired. Sample copies furnished free. 



fiT" Remit by money-order, registered letter, ex- 

 press or bank draft on Chicago or New York, pay- 

 able to our order. Sucli onlynve atourrisk. Checks 

 on local banks cost us 25 cents for collecting. 



Free of postage in the United States or Canada. 

 PuHtagre to Europe 50 cents extra. 



Entered at Chicago post ojpce as second class matter. 



Ruinous Competition. 



As we should endeavor to draw ap- 

 propriate " lessons " from transpiring 

 events, let us try to do so from the 

 facts presented in this and a former 

 number, concerning the failure of 

 some supply dealers to meet the ex- 

 pectations of the public. 



There are many against whom no 

 word of reproach can be heard, and 

 who enjoy the reputation of being 

 " reliable dealers ;" but why all are not 

 so considered is the question. 



We have been accustomed to con- 

 sider '•' competition as the life of 

 trade," but it will be well to remember 

 that an nnremunerative rivalry is also 

 sometimes the death of it. A mo- 

 ment's reflection will convince all that 

 every person who transacts trade must 

 make a legitimate profit upon what is 

 bought and sold, in order to defray the 

 necessary expenses connected with the 

 carrying on of that business, as well 

 as to pay for the time given to it. 



If irresponsible parties cut these 

 figures so much that honorable dealers 

 cannot derive a legitimate profit, then 

 one of two things must happen — either 

 the business will all go into the hands 

 of the dishonest, by the prudent with- 

 drawal of the honorable dealers, or all 

 will go to ruin together. 



Buyers are much to blame for seek- 

 ing to find the one who cuts the figures 

 most, and then trust him with their 

 money, but very often have to mourn 



its loss, or the non-reception of the 

 goods ordered within a reasonable 

 time — thus making them practically 

 useless to him. By giving encourage- 

 ment to unscrupulous dealers — send- 

 ing orders for queens, bees or supplies 

 to those who offer them at ruinous 

 rates — bee-keepers bring upon them- 

 selves the loss of their money in many 

 cases, and also contribute to the more 

 disastrous result of driving honorable 

 dealers from the business in disgust. 



We are casting reflections on no 

 individual dealer, and only wish to en- 

 force the lesson, that getting "some- 

 thing for nothing " should never be 

 expected. All should send their orders 

 to reliable persons, and get the best, 

 quality considered, for a fair price. If 

 all will do this for the next season we 

 shall hear far less complaints, and be 

 doing our share of the work in " build- 

 ing up," instead of " tearing down." 



The Weekly Bee Journal desires 

 to remedy this evil as much as possible, 

 and would suggest to dealers that it 

 would enhance the interests of the 

 fraternity to have a standard price 

 current, of all kinds of apiarian sup- 

 plies, so that bee-keepers can buy at 

 their nearest reliable supply depot, 

 at the same price as at a distant point, 

 and thus save freight and express 

 charges. This will, in some small 

 measure, remedy the evil, but will not 

 cure it. That cannot be done until all 

 the " irresponsible" dealers are forced 

 out of the business by apiarists who 

 will refuse to buy anything of them. 



We submit these thoughts, on the 

 " events of the hour," to the earnest 

 consideration of all interested in the 

 welfare and development of progress- 

 ive bee-culture. 



Borage.— Robert G. Smith, Falken- 

 burg, Ont., writes us under date of 



August 25th : 



Herewith inclosed you will find the 

 flower and leaf of a plant that my bees 

 work on from morning till night. Can 

 you tell me the name of it ? We have 

 abundance of goldenrod, but I have 

 not seen a bee on it yet. Will Italians 

 work on it — mine are hybrids. Is mul- 

 lein considered a good honey plant i 



The flower and leaf is borage (Bo- 

 tago officinalis). Italian, hybrid and 

 black bees should all work on golden- 

 rod, and yours will probably be busy 

 on it ere the receipt of this paper. We 

 have never observed bees working on 

 mullein, and do not think much of it 

 for honey. In some locations, and un- 

 der certain circumstances, bees may 

 find a little honey in it, but not enough 

 to justify fostering it. 



Lecture at St. Joseph, Mo. 



We have consented to give a lecture 

 on "Bees and Honey," at the Court 

 House in St. Joseph, under the auspices 

 of the apiarian department of the St. 

 Joseph (Mo.) Inter-State Exposition, 

 on Thursday, Sept. 8, 1881, at 8 p. m. 

 R. S. Musser, Esq., the Superintend- 

 ent of the department of apiculture, 

 seems determined not only to have a 

 very fine display of bees, honey, apia- 

 rian implements, etc., but also to try 

 to elevate the science and beget a pro- 

 gressive spirit in the honey producers 

 of the Missouri Valley. 



We hope to see a large number of 

 the intelligent bee-keepers of the 

 Missouri Valley at this meeting; we 

 shall endeavor to elucidate many 

 points of interest to those who keep 

 bees and produce honey. Let there 

 be a general rally. 



Excursion Rates. — The following 

 roads will charge passengers \i rates 

 to and from the Exposition from all 

 stations on their line : Saint Joseph 

 & Des Moines. Wabash, St. Louis & 

 Pacific, The Kansas City, St. Joseph 

 & Council Bluffs. Hannibal & St Jos- 

 eph, St. Joseph & Western, Atchison 

 & Nebraska, Missouri Pacific, Kansas 

 Pacific, Central Branch Union Pacific, 

 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. 



The Indiana State Fair.— The pre- 

 mium list has been increased 20 per 

 cent. Improvements are ordered, and 

 every arrangement will be made for 

 the comfort of exhibitors and visitors. 

 The Capital City will put on its holi- 

 day attire. The Public Institutions 

 will be prepared to receive visitors 

 during the Fair week. Railroads will, 

 as usual, carry passengers and freight 

 at }4 rates, and all combined will make 

 the State Fair the great event of the 

 season. Preparation days, Sept. 22, 

 23 and 24, so that the Fair will open 

 and Committees on Awards begin 

 work on Monday, Sept. 26. The in- 

 creased interest is demonstrated by 

 the unusual amount of applications 

 for space and other business connec- 

 ted with the Fair thus early. 



Local Fairs.— Bee-keepers attend- 

 ing fairs this fall should have a few 

 bee-keepers' manuals, etc., with their 

 exhibits. When taken in 14 dozen 

 lots by express, for this purpose, we 

 will supply any or all kinds, or one or 

 two of each to make the half dozen, 

 at 30 per cent, discount. If wanted 

 by mail, add the postage. We do not 

 send any "on sale or return." We 

 will furnish copies of the Bee Jour- 

 nal free for distribution at fairs. 



Taking Him at His Word. 



Page 413 of Gleanings for August 

 contains the following very singular 

 announcement : 



I agree to be responsible for my ad- 

 vertisers, and if Mr. Burch, or any 

 other one, fails to send the goods, or 

 return the money, I will pay back the 

 amount as soon as it is determined that 

 it cannot be collected of such adver- 

 tiser. It does not seem to me that I 

 should be responsible for damages re- 

 sulting from delays in filling orders. 



Novice has certainly inaugurated a 

 novel feature as a publisher, and one 

 quite as unbusiness-like, though per- 

 haps less reprehensible, than some of 

 H. A. Burch & Co.'s practices. We 

 cannot agree with Mr. Root that he is 

 not as much morally bound to make 

 restitution for damages occasioned by 

 excessive delays in filling orders, as 

 for the money actually remitted. It 

 is easy to imagine cases wherein the 

 latter would sink into insignificance 

 in a comparison. But Mr. Root's 

 whole position is not only unbusiness- 

 like, but it is morally wrong ; it shifts 

 all legal responsibility from the con- 

 tracting party ; it assumes obligations 

 without having received an equiva- 

 lent; it is a temptation to buyers to 

 relax vigilance in the settlement of 

 private transactions ; and it is an 

 incentive to dishonest practices on the 

 part of advertisers. 



In the article above referred to Mr. 

 Root schedules about §400, which he 

 virtually assumes to pay for II. A. 

 Burch & Co. — with many more yet to 

 hear from. It is incomprehensible to 

 us how any sane man can establish 

 such a business precedent. By a peru- 

 sal of the correspondence below, it 

 will be seen he has been taken at his 

 word — not by the parties enumerated 

 in the schedule, but by H. A. Burch 

 tf- Co. Where this matter will end, it 

 is impossible to foretell; but how it 

 will end can be easily imagined. The 

 following letter is from a former cor- 

 respondent on this subject : 



I have at last heard from II. A. Burch 

 & Co., in the shape of a circular on 

 postal card, the contents of which are 

 as follows : 



" Notwithstanding that we have 

 labored earnestly and constantly the 

 present season to fill all our orders, 

 our books show that many are yet un- 

 filled, yours being among the number. 

 In view of what Mr. A. I. Root, of 

 Medina, Ohio, has seen fit to say about 

 us and our business in the July and 

 August numbers of his Gleanings, we 

 request you to make out a statement 

 of your account with us and mail him 

 at once for payment, which he will 

 probably do, as per agreement— we 

 will settle with him for the same. In 



