1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



315 



For the American Boo Journal 



Ten-Dollar Award for Best Queen. 



COMMITTEE S REPORT. 



We, the undersigned, committee to 

 award the prize of SH 1 offered by Rev. 

 E. E. Briggs, of this place, for the best 

 queen bee, by virtue of and under t lie 

 conditions by him offered on page 251, 

 American Bee Journal for August 

 10, 1881, beg leave to submit the fol- 

 lowing as our report thereon : 



Before reporting our ratings there- 

 on, it is due both to Mr. Briggs, our- 

 selves and the parties forwarding 

 queens, to state that Mr. B. never in- 

 formed the committee of whom he 

 had received a queen until after the 

 award was made. 



Using 100 points as the standard for 

 each of the four qualifications, the fol- 

 lowing is the total number of points 

 awarded the respective queens, each 

 member of the committee making his 

 own ratings independent of and with- 

 out the knowledge of either of the 

 other members : 



No. Name and Address. Points. 



1-— J. Osborn & Bro., Leclaire, Iowa 1070 



2.— Wm. Lossine, Hoknh, Minn 1090 



3.— C. H. Luke, Baltimore, Md.. failed to arrive. 



4.— Dr. I. P. Wilson. Burlington. Iowa 1155 



5.— M. H. Snyder.Elmwood.Ill 1015 



0.— W. P. Henderson, Murfreesboro, Tenn.l0!>3 



We therefore award to Dr. I. P. Wil- 

 son the S10 prize, and state that she 

 was without doubt the finest queen in 

 every respect we ever saw. Had there 

 been a second prize to award, the 

 above ratings show that the contest 

 would have been very close between 

 Messrs. Henderson and Lossing. The 

 committee were surprised at the size, 

 beauty and disposition of all the 

 queens entered, and extremely grati- 

 fied at the very choice appearance of 

 every colony in Mr. Briggs' apiary, 

 and the evidence everywhere exhibited 

 of a perfect knowledge of the bees and 

 business throughout his apiary. 



A. N. Van Camp, j 



Lyman Allen, > Committee. 



I. PlGGOTT. ) 



Wilton Junction, Iowa, Sept. 20. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Disposal of Honey. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



Producers at large have but little 

 knowledge of the fixed laws of com- 

 merce ; still less of those which fluc- 

 tuate, among the most important of 

 which is the responsibility of the party 

 to whom we trust our goods either 

 upon 5, 10 or 30 days' credit, or on 

 commission. If a worthless and un- 

 principled man gets the idea into his 

 head that he will be dishonest, he gen- 

 erally alights upon the producingclass, 

 knowing that they have less opportu- 

 nities to become acquainted with his 

 scheme and himself, than any other 

 set of men. There exists a strong de- 

 termination in this world, that less 

 than one-half of mankind shall do the 

 work for all, and pretty successfully is 

 this determination carried out, in a 

 lawful and " business " like manner, 

 or unlawful way. Somebody rents a 

 small corner room on some commis- 

 sion street, and perhaps without capi- 

 tal enough to pay that rent more, than 

 a month, or a quarter at most in ad- 

 vance, and solicits your consignments. 

 By some pretending circular, he gets 

 in thousands of dollars' worth of 

 goods, and after selling them out bids 

 the business and consignees an affec- 

 tionate adieu ; or, perhaps, " breaks 

 down," with a fine brick house exempt 

 from his creditors. In times like these 

 when money is plentier, such transac- 

 tions are not so numerous. 



I have never lost a cent yet, but I 

 have used caution. I have witnessed 

 the losses of quite a number of bee- 

 keepers, as well as other business men. 



I feel that I want to know that the 

 party I trust my money or goods with 



is (/nod. I mean by good, thai I can 

 force a collection for any just claim. 

 1 have just read the able article of Mr. 



Geo. W. House, upon centralizing t he 



trade, published in the Bee Journal 

 of Sept. 14, page 291, also the editor's 



comments thereon. Truly, the sub- 

 ject is a great one. and of vast impor- 

 tance to producers. 1 believe 1 agree 

 with Mr. House in regard to central- 

 izing the product on our markets, 

 whrir placed by us to be sold on com- 

 mission, but with the editor as regards 

 buyers. " Supply and demand " make 

 ups and downs in prices. I would like 

 to see the number of buyers large, and 

 their demands great. I know of no 

 better way to increase buyers than to 

 cut down the number of commission 

 men. Buyers are opposed to us ; com- 

 mission men are our agents, and if 

 our honey was to-day all in the hands 

 of one bee-keeper, he would have a 

 " corner" on honey. If in the hands 

 of eight or ten, they would have, or 

 could make a corner on the honey crop, 

 if they could agree so to do. Our 

 agents" can do the same. Buyers are 

 " bears," for it is to their interest to 

 depress the wholesale price of honey. 

 Commission men are the " bulls," for 

 they are working for our interests, 

 and hold up the prices to the best of 

 their ability. 



I believe it is to my interest not to 

 have your honey, reader, in opposition 

 to mine to any greater degree than I 

 can avoid. I feel sure that it opposes 

 mine less in the same store than it 

 would in another across the way. This 

 is all the interest I have in the matter, 

 you have the same. I do not suppose 

 that all bee-keepers are going to ship 

 to one firm, but I. speak of this for the 

 purpose of illustrating the point as ta- 

 ken by Mr. House and followed by me. 

 I think the different names presented 

 by him are well chosen firms, and I 

 have full faith that this selection is 

 made from his best understanding, 

 and without the knowledge of the par- 

 ties spoken of. 



In regard to selling out-and-out, as 

 in comparison with placing on com- 

 mission, each has its advantages ; the 

 out-and-out sale system some very im- 

 portant ones; but as yet comb honey 

 will no doubt bring more money to us 

 put into the hands of the retailer 

 through the commission house, than 

 direct from us in most cases. Ex- 

 tracted honey is more of a staple, with 

 a more uniform grade and price, and 

 I have had by far better success selling 

 out-and-out than by placing on com- 

 mission. That the same condition of 

 things may become true of comb honey 

 I really hope, but I am of the opinion 

 it has not arrived. I was surprised at 

 learning from Mr. A. II. Newman the 

 extent of his sales, and the various 

 uses for extracted honey. These facts, 

 together with my late impressions of 

 the slow increase (or, rather, late de- 

 crease) of colonies, and small surplus 

 yields, remove all fears of over-stock- 

 ing the market, for a time at least. 

 ■ Dowagiac, Mich., Sept. 17, 1881. 



[One great objection to attempt- 

 ing the proposed centralization plan is 

 its impracticability, and that it is im- 

 practicable Mr. Heddon virtually ad- 

 mits when he says, " I do not suppose 

 that all bee-keepers are going to ship 

 to one firm." Nor will all, or even the 

 majority, be willing or able to see the 

 peculiar advantages possessed by one 

 commission house for disposing of 

 their honey over others equally as 

 responsible, quite as well known, just 

 as favorably situated, and who would 

 work as faithfully for the interests of 

 those making consignments to them 

 to be disposed of. We do not think 

 we over-rate Mr. Heddon's business 

 tact, when we assume that he would 

 withhold his shipments from the cen- 

 tral depot as soon as any, if he became 

 satisfied his interests would be sub- 

 served thereby (whether for sale "out- 

 and-out," or to be sold on commission 

 by other parties), even though the ma- 



jority of bee-keepers thought him un- 

 wise in-so doing. Business integrity 

 and holiest purposes are not inherent 

 to a few linns alone in the United 

 States, nor can they, however well- 

 intending, expect to reverse the natu- 

 ral laws of trade. Many producers will 

 ship to whom and where they may 

 think to their best interests, regardless 

 of the light in which some, or even 

 the majority, may view it. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Improvement in Bees— Albinos, etc. 



S. VALENTINE. 



For 35 years I have given more or 

 less attention to the care, culture 

 and breeding of bees. About 6 years 

 ago I procured the very best imported 

 and home-bred Italians, and deter- 

 mined to breed for a high standard of 

 purity, and after careful, frequent and 

 repeated experiments, I find that the 

 purest Italian bees run or develop into 

 albinos, and my acquaintances who 

 follow my method have the same ex- 

 perience. 



Now, why is this result ? It may be 

 partly owing to American climatic 

 influences and breeding, but if we go 

 back to the imported we find there a 

 vast difference, and if we closely ex- 

 amine the best stocks, we see the white 

 and corresponding colors cropping out 

 in some of their progeny, and by breed- 

 ing for improvement, we find as the 

 good qualities are brought out the cor- 

 responding colors also develop. Now, 

 is this climatic influence and breeding 

 the cause, or is the imported Italian a 

 cross from some other ? I am of the 

 opinion that the Italian is not a pure 

 race, but that it has been produced 

 by some amalgamation ; I am also of 

 the opinion that there was somewhere 

 in the past a pure bee with white bands 

 somewhat resembling the so-called al- 

 bino, and from climatic influences and 

 the method of breeding which I have 

 practiced. I believe we have produced 

 a bee that approximates that pure bee 

 which may have existed in the past, if 

 not now. Their kindness in handling, 

 and being a larger bee, carrying larger 

 loads, together with their quality as 

 honey gatherers, leads me to prefer 

 them to the Italian. 



I have procured and experimented 

 with nearly all the imported bees, in- 

 cluding the Syrians, as well as other 

 varieties that have been extolled for 

 their qualities, yet, after all, I must 

 affirm that for all practical purposes, 

 for beauty, for kindness, for longevity 

 of life, and for the quantity of honey 

 they gather, I find none, superior to the 

 albino bee, nor even in all respects 

 equal to it. 



In the August number of Gleanings, 

 page 409, under the caption " Albino 

 Bees," etc., the editor makes use of the 

 following language : 



" When the friends have anything 

 they would like me to see and report 

 on, I shall be most happy to receive it, 

 and will report to the best of my 

 ability ; but the fact of my having re- 

 ceived a nice present, I hope will in no 

 way influence me in reporting for the 

 benefit of the public. Friend Valen- 

 tine has very kindly sent me a nice 

 nucleus of his so-called albino bees. 

 With his letter advising us of their 

 shipment, comes his circular, from 

 which we extract the following," etc. 



Now this language intimates that he 

 had received a present from me, which 

 might possibly be designed to bias his 

 judgment and elicit a laudatory edito- 

 rial in behalf of the albino bee. I 

 wish to say that the editor did not re- 

 ceive a present from me. He pur- 

 chased an albino nucleus, but received 

 no present. 



Respecting his comments upon the 

 description of the albino bee in my 

 circular he is in error, as the facts will 

 establish. The albino bees have three 

 distinct yellow bands and three dis- 

 tinct white bands. The white is not 

 as pure as snow, but is distinctly white, 

 and not muddy or clouded, but so dis- 



tinctly white that any ordinary eye can 

 distinguish them, as I have frequently 

 seen visitors to my apiary, who arenot 

 even amateurs in bee-culture, call at- 

 tention to. 



In my circular I dwelt most particu- 

 larly on the, color by way of description 

 that, these features are characteristic 

 of this variety. I did not argue that 



the color affected the quality of the 

 bee, as he intimated by saying that 

 hens are not any better layers because 

 they were selected from white-feath- 

 ered ones out of a flock of many colors. 

 The white-feathered hen may or may 

 not be a better layer, but if so, no one 

 would for a moment suppose that the 

 white feat hers made the particular dif- 

 ference. The quality of the hen is the 

 character of her laying, but the color 

 of her feathers is the natural appear- 

 ance by which any one would naturally 

 describe the hen. For all we know 

 upon the, subject, the white bands do 

 not condition the good qualities of the 

 albino bee, neither does the color con- 

 dition the good qualities of any other 

 variety or species ; but they do serve 

 as a natural feature by which the va- 

 riety may be described. 



I cannot understand why any one 

 will disparage the albino bee. or our 

 bright American Italians, for the im- 

 ported, unless it is for the greater profit 

 they may derive from the sale of im- 

 ported queens; surely, it cannot be for 

 their superior qualities as honey gath- 

 erers. I have thoroughly tested this 

 for myself, and find that this is also the 

 experience of my acquaintances who 

 have given attention to bee-culture. 



Double Pipe Creek, Md. 



From the New York Tribune. 



Bees, Glucose and Honey Comb. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The following, from an article pub- 

 lished in the Popular Science Monthly, 

 and written by Harvey W. Wiley, 

 shows what awkward work a man 

 may make when he attempts to write 

 about that of which he knows nothing. 

 The misstatements are mischievous, 

 and, as they have been widely copied, 

 deserve correcting : 



" Bees eat glucose with the greatest 

 avidity, or, rather, they act as funnels 

 by which the glucose is poured into 

 the comb. For it is quite true that 

 honey made by bees which have free 

 access to glucose, differs scarcely at 

 all from the glucose itself. But the 

 quantity of honey which a bee will 

 store away when fed on glucose, is 

 truly wonderful. This gluttony, how- 

 ever, rapidly undermines the apiar- 

 ian constitution, and the bee rarely 

 lives to enjoy the fruits of its apparent 

 good fortune. In commercial honey, 

 which is entirely free from bee medi- 

 ation, the comb is made of paraffine, 

 and filled with pure glucose by ap- 

 propriate machinery. The honey, for 

 whiteness and beauty rivals the cele- 

 brated real white clover honey of Ver- 

 mont, but can be sold at an immense 

 profit at \i the price." 



1. Bees do not eat glucose with the 

 greatest avidity. True, they wiil take 

 it when they can get nothing better, 

 and so they will cider, rotten apples, 

 etc. But bees show their good sense 

 by ignoring grape-sugar whenever 

 they can get good wholesome sweets. 

 2. It is probably true that bees do 

 merely transfer the glucose to the cells 

 unchanged, but unless Prof. Wiley 

 has made careful analyses, he does not 

 know it. 3. "This gluttony, how- 

 ever, rapidly undermines the apiarian 

 constitution, and the bee seldom lives 

 to enjoy the fruits of its apparent good 

 fortune." There is a grain of truth in 

 this, as during long severe winters, 

 when bees are confined for weeks at a 

 time, this kind of food induces dysen- 

 tery and death. The same is true of 

 the poorer grades of our common cane 

 sugars, so the wise apiarist never feeds 

 any but coffee A or granulated sugar 

 for winter supplies. Could the bees 

 fly out often, they would receive no 

 harm from glucose. Bees have been 

 wintered safely on a diet of glucose, 

 to the utter exclusion of other food; yet 

 this is exceptional, and the practice 



