^OLDEST BEE PAPER 

 IN AMERICA 



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



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., NOVEMBER 30, 1881. 



No. 48. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, IIL. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION i 



WEEKLY— (52 numbers) #8 a year, in advance. 

 Three or Six Months at the same rate. 



SEMI-MONTHLY— The Brst and third numbersot 

 each month, at si.oo a year, in advance. 



MONTHLY— The first number of each month, at 

 SO cents a year, in advance. 



t^T Any person sending a club of six Is entitled 

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

 desired. Sample copies furnished free. 



U?~ 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 25 cents for collecting. 



Free of postage in the United States or Canada, 

 Postage to Europe 5© cents extra. 



EnUred at Chicago post office as second class matter. 





,MH3L' 

 iiMnm 'un- 



American-Italian Bees in Japan. 



Mr. R. Mayerhoeffer, Taschivitz, 

 Austria, sends us the following trans- 

 lation of a letter received by him from 

 Japan : 



Since 1877 the Italian bees are im- 

 ported to this country from America, 

 and manipulated in a hive of American 

 style. The characteristics of these 

 bees are : more vigorous, larger in size, 

 and the amount of honey gathered is 

 much greater than from our native 

 bees. Their culture is spreading year 

 after year to every district in Japan 

 adapted to bee-culture. I am sorry to 

 say that the Italian bees are often de- 

 voured by the chimney swallows while, 

 on their flight. I think this is caused 

 by their large size. 



This country has furnished Italian 

 bees for Japan, Xew Zealand and 

 Australia, and it only awaits our per- 

 fection of the " coming bee," to ex- 

 change queens, bees and compliments 

 with our Italian friends. Last spring 

 we were consulted by a Swedish gen- 

 tleman in the selection of a sample 

 hive, sections, foundation, etc., for in- 

 troduction into Sweden, and but a lit- 

 tle time will elapse ere our bees and 

 apiarian implements will be familiar 

 objects throughout all Christendom. 



The United States have shipped 

 many tons of extracted honey to China 

 and Japan, where it has found a ready 

 market at fair prices, and been a pop- 

 ular article of consumption with the 



better classes. Properly developed, 

 the Celestial Empire will furnish a 

 market for every pound of honey that 

 can be produced on our Pacific coast, 

 nor will the introduction of American- 

 Italian bees into China and Japan in- 

 jure the traffic, but will, rather, have 

 a tendency to stimulate it. 



Extravagant Economy. 



The above reflection was suggested 

 to us not long since, when we saw a 

 large lot of beautiful honey put up in 

 all sorts of odds and ends, intended 

 to represent sections. The apiarist 

 evidently had these sections on hand, 

 or bought them at half-price, and in 

 a spirit of wasteful frugality deter- 

 mined to use them rather than pay a 

 fair price for a neat, attractive sec- 

 tion. He undoubtedly lost enough 

 time in assorting and arranging them 

 to have paid for a good article. His 

 economy cost him just four cents per 

 pound on his honey. 



It is extravagant economy to delay 

 ordering hives, sections, foundation, 

 etc., till the last moment, or till they 

 are needed for use, for frequently a 

 dealer finds it impossible to fill all or- 

 ders promptly when they are held back 

 till the last moment, and then accom- 

 panied with the parenthetical request, 

 "Send at once, I want it bad." By 

 ordering in a dull time, better figures 

 can generally be obtained, more satis- 

 factory work will be performed, and 

 you can take advantage of your odd 

 time to prepare them for use, and to 

 remedy defects, if any exist. Very 

 frequently a few days delay occasioned 

 by this questionable economy will re- 

 sult in a light honey harvest, or the 

 loss of a few swarms of bees. 



It Is extravagant economy to delay 

 providing pasturage for your bees till 

 a season of dearth comes on, or until 

 you are painfully persuaded your lo- 

 cality is over-stocked with bees. By 

 taking time by the forelock, nature 

 will assist you in extending your pas- 

 turage when most needed in the future, 

 and will furnish the seeds for doing so 

 free of charge. 



It is frequently extravagant econo- 

 my to buy the lower priced articles, 

 simply because they are sold for less 

 money. The cheapest in price are of- 

 ten most expensive in experience. 



If you expect to be a solicitor of pub- 

 lic patronage of any kind, it is extrav- 

 agant economy to practice a " mas- 

 terly inactivity" and wait for the 

 public to discover your merits. If you 

 have more bees than you wish to keep, 



let the world know it through a liberal 

 advertisement. If you have a really 

 meritorious hive you wish to supply 

 to bee-keepers, "push it;" advertise 

 the hive and its merits. If you are a 

 manufacturer or dealer in supplies, 

 let those who read papers devoted to 

 your specialty know it. If you expect 

 to rear queens and bees for the market, 

 provide yourself with good stock and 

 place yourself prominently before the 

 public as ready to accept its favors, 

 and return an honestequivalent there- 

 for. Do not boast of more than you 

 expect to do, but certainly tell all you 

 can perform. It is extravagant econ- 

 omy to wait for the busy season before 

 you begin advertising, for your busi- 

 ness will never be brisk till you are 

 known. Again, during a dull season 

 readers have more time to ponder over 

 your advertisement, to correspond 

 with you, and to form an estimate of 

 your business integrity. 



During the past autumn we have 

 circulated fifty thousand copies of a 

 Special Edition of the Bee Journal, 

 at fairs, conventions, etc., among those 

 who have heretofore read no paper de- 

 voted to bees and honey production 

 in the new and improved methods. 

 We are now daily receiving clubs of 

 subscriptions from these persons, and 

 have been for months past. These 

 will all have to be supplied with bees, 

 queens, hives, sectional boxes, comb 

 foundation and all the necessary ap- 

 pliances for the apiary, during the 

 next few months, and most of them 

 know nothing of dealers in these arti- 

 cles, except what they will glean from 

 our columns in future. Here is an 

 inviting field for supply dealers to 

 occupy, if they advertise early. 



©•On the ground that she married 

 a foreigner, in violation of the will of 

 the Duchess of St. Albans, Baroness 

 Burdett-Coutts-Bartlett, President of 

 the British Bee-Keepers' Society, has 

 been compelled to surrender her half- 

 interest in the banking-house. This 

 takes from her income about §700,000. 



ig&T The editor of the Bee Journal 

 expects to attend the Michigan State 

 Convention at Battle Creek, Mich., on 

 Dec. 8, 1881. Prom present indica- 

 tions it will be an interesting meeting. 



(gT We have received sufficient en- 

 couragement to now definetely prom- 

 ise to get up the apiary record book 

 that has been so generally called for. 

 We will give particulars and prices 

 next week. 



Selling Honey for Cash. 



As another evidence of honey being 

 a staple article, Mr. House, on page 

 3S0 of this Bee Journal says : 



" We have had the pleasure of see- 

 ing men traveling the country buying 

 for cash. This, no doubt, is owing to 

 the earnest work and diligent effort 

 on the part of the heavier producers 

 in this State to concentrate our honey, 

 and we are now reaping our reward." 



We do not quite agree with Mr. 

 House in some details of his article, 

 but on the whole it is a valuable and 

 timely production. 



Yes ; " earnest work " will be re- 

 warded, in every direction while we 

 are endeavoring to make honey a 

 staple article. It is only a question of 

 time when traveling men will be 

 scouring the country, buying all the 

 honey that can be produced, for cask. 

 Our faith in the future of honey as a 

 staple article, like butter, cheese and 

 eggs, is strong and invincible. To 

 this we have devoted our time, ener- 

 gies and means, and we are fully 

 aware that all our " earnest work," as 

 well as that of our co-laborers, will be 

 rewarded. Let us all be wide awake 

 — for " the day of prosperity " for our 

 chosen avocation is just dawning. 



Melting Combs into Wax.— Mr. Jos. 

 Sayler, Fairmont, Neb., writes : "Will 

 you please to give the best method of 

 making old comb into wax, where 

 parties have no extractor V" 



Warm your combs slightly, so as to 

 press into solid, compact balls, fill a 

 coarse sack with these balls, put all in 

 a boiler, and nearly lill with water, 

 first having put strips of wood in 

 the bottom of the boiler to prevent 

 burning ; place heavy weights on the 

 bag to keep it down and press out the 

 wax fast as melted, which will rise to 

 the top, and must be skimmed off and 

 put into a vessel for caking. If there 

 is much sediment in the wax, it can 

 be melted again without water, when 

 the dirt will settle at the bottom. 

 Many use about a tablespoonful of sal 

 soda to five gallons of water in melt- 

 ing the comb. 



igf We are sometimes asked who 

 our authorized agents are ? Every 

 subscriber is such an agent; we have 

 no others, and greatly desire that each 

 one would at least send in one new 

 subscriber with his own renewal for 

 1882. The next few weeks are the 

 time to do this. We hope every sub- 

 scriber will do his or her best to double 

 our list for 1882. 



