24: 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 13, 



OBOROB W. YORK, • Bdltor. 



PUBLIBHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 IIS Sdiclilgaa St., - CHICAGO, ILL. 



$1.00 a Year — Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mall-Matter.] 



United States Bee-Keepers^ Ujiion. 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture: to promote the interests 



of bee-keepers : to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration 



of honey; and to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



Membership Fee— $1.00 Per Annum. 



Executix'-e Committ&e. 



PRESinENT— George W. York. Vice-Pres.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Secretart— Dr. A. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. 



E. R. Root. 



W. Z. Hutchinson 



JBoarcJ of X>Jrectors, 



E. Whitcomb. E. T. Abbott. 



C. P. Dadant. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 GGneral JXanag-er ancl Treasurer, 



Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



Vol. fflVIII. CHICAGO, ILL., JAN. 13, 1898, No. 2, 



Our Heartfelt Xbanks are Due, and are here- 

 by tendered, the many of our readers, who, when renewing 

 their subscriptions for 1898, wrote us such kind words of 

 appreciation of the Bee Journal and Its work. Yes, and we 

 want also to thank all who so promptly renewed their sub- 

 scriptions, for by so doing they showed their cordial feeling 

 toward us and for our efforts. Such things are exceedingly 

 encouraging to an overworkt editor, and spurs him on to do 

 even more and better work, in the Interests of his readers, if 

 that be possible. 



We have been greatly rejoiced, too, that so many of our 

 present readers are doing what they can to help increase our 

 list of subscribers. Those who read the Bee Journal regu- 

 larly are the ones best able to speak of Its merits and value, 

 and we trust that every one of our readers will continue In 

 the good work until all who are trying to keep bees may be 

 found amoug its readers, and thus by reading it weekly learn 

 how best to make a success of their bee-keeping. Surely, an 

 educated bee-keeper is better as a neighbor than one who 

 lacks the information that may be had by reading. 



Tlie Honey lUarket in Chicago.— During the 

 past two or three years It has been our privilege, as well as 

 duty, to help drive out several gangs of honey commission 

 sharks, who were simply robbing honey-producers by getting 

 In the goods and selling at any price, then remitting what was 



left after deducting their commission, cartage, etc., or, as In 

 some cases, not remitting anything at all to the shipper. 



Having prettly well cleaned this market of such rogues, 

 the past few months the legitimate commission men, as well 

 as some others who are trying to sell pure honey to the retail 

 grocery trade, have had another kind of competition to meet 

 that Is very discouraging, to say the least. It is none other 

 than Isome bee-keepers themselves, who live within driving 

 distance of Chicago. It seems they have loaded up, and gone 

 with their honey from grocery to grocery, offering it away be- 

 low the market price — even below a fair living price. It Is 

 not only small bee-keepers that have done this, but some large 

 bee-keepers as well. 



Now, the question is. What are commission meu to do un- 

 der such circumstances ? How can they be expected to hold 

 up prices of comb honey, when a bee-keeper with 10 to 15 

 tons drives around among the retail grocers, and sells the 

 best white clover comb honey at from 9 to 11 cents per 

 pound ? And what are city bottlers of pure honey to do when 

 the same producers offer to hundreds of grocers their ex- 

 tracted honey put up in glass jars practically at cost? 



Of course, such things cannot last longer than until the 

 producers' crops are sold, but that is just long enough to fix 

 the price, and when that price has been fixt at a low point, it 

 is not an easy matter to soon raise It again. IT it were In a 

 small town, where perhaps not more than half a ton of honey 

 Is used In a year. It wouldn't be so bad. But here In Chicago, 

 where over a half hundred carloads are shipt annually, it can 

 readily be seen that a few foolish bee-keepers are not only 

 getting less for their own honey than they might, but they are 

 causing" a loss to the thousands of shippers who send In their 

 honey from a distance, and must pay the expense of freight, 

 cartage, commission, etc. 



We feel very much like publishing the names of a few of 

 the producers who have come Into Chicago the past two 

 or three months, and who have gone up and down the streets, 

 among the retail grocery trade, and have sold their honey 

 away under the prices askt by the reliable honey commission 

 men. But we forbear doing so this time, tho If the thing Is 

 repeated another year we may have to name them In cold 

 print. It would seem that a bee-keeper who is bright enough 

 to produce a good crop of honey would also be bright enough to 

 see what a great mistake he is making by doing as we have 

 described, and also the manifest injustice to his fellow bee- 

 keepers. 



Xbe ijtb Annual Report of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Union is on our desk. We expect soon to publish 

 the major portion of it In these columns. General Manager 

 Newman says in his opening paragraph " that notwithstand- 

 ing the more than usual number of appeals to the Union for 

 protection and defense. It has been successful In every com- 

 pleted case, with good prospects for victory in every one." 

 That is good. 



During the past year 20 new names have been added to 

 its membership list, making S20 additional for the treasury. 

 The balance in the treasury shown in the preceding report 

 was .55-11.20; In the present one there Is a balance of 

 .*)327.65, the expenditures durlug the year being §233.56. 

 It would seem that with the balance on hand, and at the rate 

 It is being used, it was hardly necessary to call for any dues 

 from the members for 1898, but the call is made for another 

 dollar from each, as per the decision of the General Manager 

 and the Advisory Board. 



Sbatnrock. — Statement having been made in British 

 Bee Journal that the shaowock was not a honey-plant, quite 

 a discussion arose as to what the shamrock Is. It seems hard 

 to come to any agreement, the name being applied by different 



