.&. 



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



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAG-O, ILL., SEPTEMBER 21, 1881. 



No. 38. 



^6 Bj g«RgS |J*Fg^|% 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor ash Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



TERMS OF 81'BSCKirTIOXi 



WEEKLY— (5? numbers) *8 a year. In advance. 



Three or Six Months at the same rate. 

 SEMI-MONTHLY— The first and third numbersot 



each nth, :ii $1.00 a year, in advance. 



MONTHLY— The first number of earn month, at 



SO cents a year, in advance. 



fy Any person sending a club of six is entitled 

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

 desired. Sample copies furnished /ree. 



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

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

 able to our order. Such only are at our risk. Checks 

 on local banks cost us 2:> cents for collecting. 



Free of postage In the United States or Canada. 

 Postage to £uro|)e oO cents extra. 



Entered at Chicago post office as sccondclass matter. 



The National Convention. 



It is now quite time for all who can 

 possibly attend the meeting of the Na- 

 tional Society at Lexington, on Oct. 

 5-7, to make their arrangements to do 

 so. As previously announced, the ed- 

 itor of the Bee Journal has an 

 engagement for that time elsewhere, 

 and it seems to be almost impossi- 

 ble to break that engagement, so 

 as to be able to attend the meeting at 

 Lexington. By the urgent solicitation 

 of many of our friends we have en- 

 deavored to make arrangements by 

 which we may be able to attend this 

 important national meeting on the 

 second and third days of its session — 

 October 6th and 7th. 



If it is possible to so arrange matters 

 we shall be there, for our heart and 

 soul are engaged in the work of fur- 

 thering the interests of American api- 

 culture, and to miss this Convention 

 would be quite a sore disappointment 

 to us. 



Mrs. L. Harrison, in the Prairie 

 Farmer, very aptly remarks : " It will 

 pay bee keepers to attend this swarm- 

 ing of their fellows— pay in pleasure 

 and in profit. May the 'swarming 

 fever,' which is so hard to control, be 

 contagious all over the country, until 

 the largest swarm is there congregated 

 which was ever known. And when 

 the discussions are over, we will hold 

 an impromptu meeting in the annex 

 MamVnoth Cave." 



More Good Words for Sweet Clover. 



The Indiana Farmer, which early 

 came to our support in advocating the 

 practicability of planting for honey, 

 and recognized the superiority ofmel- 

 ilot or sweet clover, has the following 

 in reference to this season's experience 

 with it : 



From Mr. Wm. Schofield, an old 

 veteran bee-keeper residing a few 

 miles northeast of the city, we liavi 

 the following satisfactory report in 

 reference to our favorite honey plant, 

 melilnt. Uncle Billy, as he is famil- 

 iarly known, has about two acres sown 

 to melilot. He says it made a pro- 

 digious growth early in the season, 

 but on account of the excessively dry 

 weather matured its seed very early. 

 It had almost quit blooming, when he 

 turned the cattle on it. They soon 

 had all the tops eaten off. and much 

 of it was cut almost to the ground. 

 Soon after the cattle were removed, 

 when the melilot seemed to take a 

 second growth, throwing out new 

 shoots, and blooming as profusely as 

 early in the season. As an experi- 

 ment, he tried cutting back a part of 

 it, and reports the result very favora- 

 ble, as, after being cut, the plants 

 throw out many more branches, be- 

 sides growing tall and compact. He 

 thinks if he had had a few more acres 

 it would have paid better than any- 

 thing else on the farm. 



Now is the proper time to make 

 preparations for planting melilot. Pro- 

 cure your seed at once from some 

 reliable dealer, so as to feel assured of 

 their freshness ; then select the waste 

 places that are now obnoxious to the 

 sight because of weeds, or some por- 

 tion of the farm where nothing else 

 will grow to advantage. If no waste 

 places exist, then set apart good soil 

 for it, as it will much more than repay 

 ground-rent. Prepare your ground as 

 for clover, and lightly harrow in the 

 seed this fall. Fall planting is much 

 the best, as it insures a more uniform 

 germination. If desirable, sow wheat 

 with it; or, if bloom is wanted next 

 season, sow cleome witli it, or in the 

 spring harrow in with it mammoth 

 mignonette. 



(ST At the Chicago Fair, held Sept. 

 13-17, Mr. B. A. Burnett, Commission 

 Merchant of 165 South Water Street, 

 had a very creditable display of both 

 comb and extracted honey. He de- 

 serves credit at the hands of bee- 

 keepers for his efforts in popularizing 

 pure honey in our market. We are 

 sorry to be obliged to say that owing 

 to poor management, the exhibition 

 of bees and apiarian implements was 

 not what it might and should have 

 been, had bee-keepers been given am- 

 ple time and notice to prepare for it. 



We hope another season the apicultu- 

 ral department will be one of the most 

 attractive features connected with the 

 Chicago Fair. 



Metal Corners for Crate Covers. 



From Mr. W. H. Fletcher, of Sauk 

 Rapids, Minn., we have received a 

 very simple little contrivance for at- 

 aching to the corners of crate covers. 

 These can be made of tin, require no 

 especial ingenuity to manufacture, are 

 easily tacked on the corners of the 



covers, and will be found very conven- 

 ient by the grocer or family to hold the 

 cover exactly in place, thereby effect- 

 ually excluding Hies and bees from the 

 honey. The above cut illustrates a 

 section of the cover with the tin cor- 

 ner attached. 



Arkansas State Fair. — We have re- 

 ceived from Dr. W. W. Hippolite, of 

 Devall's Bluff, Ark., the premium 

 list of the Arkansas Stale Fair, to be 

 held at Little Bock, Oct. 17-22, 1881. 

 In the honey department, we rind the 

 following list of premiums, entrance 

 free : 



Best package comb honey, in the 

 best marketable shape, 5 lbs. or more, 

 $5.00 



Best package of extracted honey, in 

 the most marketable shape, 5 lbs. or 

 more, $5.00 



Best crate of honey in the comb, in 

 the most marketable shape, 25 lbs. or 

 more, $10.00 



Best colony of bees in movable comb 

 hives, including their public manipu- 

 lation, $10.00 



Best 5 lbs. beeswax, $2 00 



Best machine for extracting honey, 

 $2.00 



Best display of bee-keepers' sup- 

 plies, Diploma. 



l^ An inventive genius in Ken- 

 tucky says he is perfecting machinery 

 to make rolls for foundation machines. 

 If he succeeds, it will greatly lessen 

 the labor of making, and therefore 

 make the price much less for Hist class 

 comb foundation mills. He promises 

 to have one on exhibition at the Na- 

 tional Convention at Lexington. 



Cook's Manual of the Apiary. 



The sixth edition (eighth thousand) 

 of this popular bee-keepers' hand- 

 book is no w ready. As the lengthened 

 evenings of winter approach, every 

 reading, thinking agriculturist makes 

 out his schedule of text-books to be 

 purchased for pleasurable and profita- 

 ble study, with which to educate him- 

 self and family ; and whether it be 

 the intention to keep a few colonies 

 only for recreation and family use, or 

 a larger number for profit, this book 

 will be found invaluable. In fact, no 

 scientific or rural library is complete 

 without it, and no education is finished 

 until it has been carefully and thought- 

 fully perused. In order to extend its 

 circulation, and as an inducement to 

 bee-keepers to assist in doing so, the 

 price will be reduced to $10.00 per 

 dozen, bound in cloth, by express to 

 one address. This is a liberal reduc- 

 tion on the retail price ($1.25), making 

 a saving of nearly 50 per cent. The 

 last edition has been carefully revised, 

 and contains the results of Professor 

 Cook's latest scientific investigations 

 and discoveries. 



I®" We are always glad to have arti- 

 cles copied from the Bee Journal 

 into other publications, but we must 

 insist that the only honorable way is 

 to give the Bee Journal due credit 

 for them. Several such are going the 

 rounds that were stolen from our col- 

 umns by some enterprising (V) paper, 

 which are now credited to the thiev- 

 ing concern, and they look incompre- 

 hensible to some, as they refer to other 

 articles in the Bee Journal or its 

 apiary, etc. The "New England Bee 

 Journal" gives an article as original 

 that was written by Mr. Chas. Dadant, 

 and may be found on page 81 of the 

 Bee Journal for March 16, 1881. 

 The original manuscript is now on file 

 in this office. We know, of course, 

 the failure to give us credit for the ar- 

 ticle was an oversight, but such omis- 

 sions look badly during the first month 

 of that paper's existence. 



Honey in the Eastern Markets. — It 



will be observed, by reference to our 

 market reports, that Messrs. Crocker 

 & Blake, of Boston, report that honey 

 sells quite freely in one-comb boxes, 

 and add : " A large quantity could be 

 sold in our market at from 20 to 22c, 

 according to quality." Every day 

 furnishes fresh evidence that honey 

 is a favorite with the publicand meets 

 with a ready sale at good prices. 



