72 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Fel. 3 



OBORGB 'W. YORK, • Editor. 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 lis Afioliig-an St., - CHICAGO, ILL. 



$1.00 a Year — Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Kntered at tbe Poa^Offlce at ChlcaKO as Second-Class Mall-Matter.] 



United States Bee-Keepers' Ujiioii. 



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 tbe dishonest honey-commiasion men. 



Membership Fee— SI. 00 Per Annum. 



PRESinENT 



Secretary- 



Executive Committee, 



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

 Dr. a. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. 



E. R. Root. 



W. Z. Hutchinson 



Board of Direetors. 



E. Whitcomb. E. T. Abbott. 



Dr. C. C. Miller. C. P. Dadant. 



General Afanag*or and Treasurer. 



EnGENE Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



yoLfflVIII, CHICA&O, ILL FEB, 3, 1898, No, 5, 



Indiscriminate Copying- from other papers than 

 bee-periodicals has its dangers. A bee-paper which contains 

 much valuable matter has an article, probably copied, In 

 which it is stated that the drone which meets the queen dies 

 in mating, " his organs being torn from him, and remaining 

 in the body of the queen, forming what Is called the sper- 

 matheca." The last six words could hardly be written by any 

 one at all familiar with bee-matters, and the editor should be 

 more careful In clipping. 



*-»-*• 



Tlie California State Convention.— Prof. A. 

 J. Cook, DOW ex-President of the California State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, has very kindly sent the following paragraphic 

 notes regarding the recent meeting and some of the visitors 

 present: 



The California State Bee-Keepers' Convention, held in Los 

 Angeles, Jan. 10, was a very pleasant meeting. We were 

 greatly honored in the presence of Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, of 

 England, editor of the British Bee Journal, and Mr. W. L. 

 Porter, of Colorado. 



The subject of two Unions was discust, and all felt that 

 there should be but one Union ; and that the one last formed 

 was to be preferred, in that it stood ready to attack any and 

 every evil that confronts beekeepers. A vote expressing the 

 above was unanimous. It was the opinion of all that adul- 

 teration of honey is now our greatest enemy, and should re- 

 ceive no quarter. A national pure food law was stoutly advo- 

 cated. 



The work of the Bee-Keepers' Exchange was praised. It 

 |s a general opinion that this organization is very desirable. 



It Is to be hoped that it will receive the aid and support that 

 It deserves. 



Mr. C. A. Hatch, formerly of Wisconsin, was elected 

 President of the Association, and Mr. J. F. Mclntyre Secre- 

 tary. With such officers the California State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will surely prosper. 



Mr. Cowan recently addrest the large farmers' clubs in- 

 stitute, and the students of Pomona College, on the relation of 

 bees to horticulture. This address is a very valuable state- 

 ment of most important truths. It should be heard by all our 

 people. A. J. Cook. 

 •*~»-^- 



Dr. Besse's Sv*eet Clover L,av«rsuit.— We 



have received the following from Dr. H. Besse, of Delaware 

 Co., Ohio, dated Jan. 18, in reference to his suit against the 

 township trustees who cut down a field of sweet clover just as 

 it was about to be valuable for his bees : 



My Dear Mr. York: — As I promist to keep you informed 

 in regard to my lawsuit, I take the present opportunity to in- 

 form you the jury found In favor of the defendants. This 

 was a surprise to nearly every one present. The court house 

 was crowded during the two days that the trial continued 

 (last Thursday and Friday). I think that the jury were much 

 prejudiced against sweet clover, as the defendants' attorney 

 claimed that I had sowed sweet clover seed along the roads all 

 over the country, and It was such a nuisance ! 



And further, that I had not lented the field on which the 

 clover was of the legal owner, who was my wife, altho she 

 has been in peaceable possession for the period of 24- years, 

 or since the time her first husband died. My wife has one 

 son now living, but was In the far West when his father died. 

 Then in a few weeks after his father died he came home, and 

 staid about six weeks, when he returned West and was chang- 

 ing from one place to another, and in a few years stopt writ- 

 ing to his mother, and for 16 years she never heard from him, 

 until in 1893, when she found that he was living in New 

 Mexico, and wrote him to come home, which he did in Feb- 

 ruary, 1896. When he last left home he left the farm in his 

 mother's care, and she never had her dower set off. Now, the 

 sweet clover was sown the year before he came home, and he 

 found no fault about the growing of sweet clover on the farm 

 until I sued the trustees, and that made him very angry with 

 me, as well as with his mother. You see, the defendants 

 claimed that when my crop was destroyed, the ground was 

 not under my wife's or my control, and the son and trustees 

 had the right to destroy my crop. I think that they had no 

 more privilege to do so than they would have to destroy a field 

 of wheat. 



My attorneys have made a motion for a new trial, and if 

 the Unions stand by me, I will push it as long as they will 

 assist me. I think that we should not surrender at this stage 

 of the fight. Very respectfully yours, 



H. Besse, M. D. 



Feeding Sweet Clover to Farm Stock;.— 



We believe In giving both sides of a question when there are 

 two sides. It seems from the following that " locality " has 

 quite a good deal to do with the eating of sweet clover by 

 farm stock : 



My Dear Mr. York :— On page 25 I notice your editorial 

 regarding Prof. Cook's statement with reference to sweet 

 clover being " worthless for anything except bees." I fully 

 agree with him. There is a great deal of both the white and 

 yellow varieties of sweet clover around my home, but not one 

 of the animals on the place will touch It. I have tried feeding 

 It in its various stages — young, old, fresh, dry, cut and grow- 

 ing. In the early spring before the other pastures are fit for 

 use, one would naturally suppose cattle would be crazy for 

 green food, but they wouldn't touch the sweet clover. They 

 would sniff at it, look at me so sorrowfully and say as plainly 

 as an animal can, " Say, what yer givin' us ? Aren't you 

 heartily ashamed of yourself for offering us this kind of stuff 

 to eat?" 



This matter of feeding sweet clover was not given up 

 after a few trials, but after many, and during the last few 

 attempts I was so ashamed that I couldn't look the animals In 

 the face. My stock may be very peculiar and particular — 

 about that I don't know, but 1 do know they simply will not 

 eat sweet clover in any form. I have no goats — they might 

 eat it. . 



Prof. Cook being askt for his opinion regarding Its feed- 

 ing value, could not answer contrary to what his experience 

 had been. If you will remember, at St. Joseph during the 



