280 



THB AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 5 



GEORGE W. YORK, EDITOR. 



PIBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



[Entered at the Post-Office "at Chicago as Second-Class Mail Matter.] 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture; to promote the in terestsof bee 

 keepers; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration of honey; and 

 to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



JlXeznybers/iip JPee— ^I.OO jiGr -Ajinum, 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE-Pres., George W. York; Vice-Pres., W. Z. Hutchinson; 



Secretary, Dr. A. B. Mason. Station B. Toledo, Ohio. 

 BOARD OP DiRECTOKS-E. R. Root: E. AVhitcomb; B. T. Abbott; C. P. Dadant; 



W. Z. Hutchinson: Dr. C. C. Miller. 

 General manager and Tueasdrer— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 38. 



NO. 18. 



Note.— 'I'he American Bee Jtiurnjil ailopts tli 



'ittiML'i jifiliv nf the following 



Ilule. recommeniled by the joint action of the American Philological A'sso" 

 ciation and the Philological Society of England:— Change "d" or "ed'' final 

 to "t when so pronounced, except when the *'e" affects a preceding sound. 



Xhos. McDonald Relief Fund.— Mr. C. P. 



Dadant, whom we selected on page 248 as the receiver of con- 

 tributions for Mr. Thos. McDonald— the unfortunate Shawnee- 

 town bee-keeper— reports the following names and amounts 

 so far: 



Hon. Eugene Secor $5.00 I A. Y. Baldwin $1.00 



Todd & Arnold 1.50 | H. W. McComb 1.00 



A. H. Kemman 1.00 H. Lathrop 1.00 



Oeorge W. York 1.00 | G. W. Bistline 50 



Chas. Dadant & Son"s contribution was $10. We hope 

 that others will yet send in what they can to 0. P. Dadant, 

 Hamilton, 111., and thus help Mr. McDonald get started again 

 iu the bee-business. 



Sweet Clover.— By thorough experiment it has been 

 proven that sweetclover grows luxuriantly in places where few 

 or no other plants flourish. Being a legume, it fixes atmos- 

 pheric nitrogen and stores it, occupies lands that have become 

 unfitted for growth of other plants, and thus ranks as a use- 

 ful plant capable of increasing the fertility of land. "The 

 plant is the farmer's friend, to be utilized and not outlawed," 

 says the bulletin issued by the Ohio Experiment Station. 

 Stock will thrive upon it if confined to it until accustomed to 

 it. This last statement is one that Prof. Cook might do well 

 to accede to, or else clearly prove its general falsity. 



Langstrotli Monument Committee. — Oj 



page 249 we suggested a committee to take iu hand the rais- 

 ing of the Langstroth Monument Fund. But Mr. Doolittle 

 offers the following in regard to himself : 



Dear Brother York: — I have just noticed what you say 

 on page 249, about Doolittle being one of the proposed 



"Langstroth Monument Committee." Now, please don't, for 

 Doolittle is so overworkt with what he has to do now that he 

 hardly finds time to sleep, and this thing has got to stop some- 

 where, or Doolittle soon passes to the "beyond." I am up in 

 the morning at 5 o'clock, and on a continuous " .jump " from 

 then till 10 or 10:30 at night, without accomplishing all that 

 should be done, then. I tried hard to get out of writing for 

 the bee-papers last year, but you all said ?io, so I finally con- 

 cluded to keep on for another year, as it was thought no one 

 could take my place in this writing matter. But some one can 

 take my place on that committee from this State, as we have 

 very many admirers of Father Langstroth here. Allow me to 

 suggest that the name of P. H. Elwood take my place. Not 

 but what we have others equally good, but he is probably the 

 best known of York State bee-keepers, having been President 

 of the North American Bee-Keepers' Association, and held 

 many other important offices among our bee-keepers. 



Very truly yours, G. M. Doolittle. 



Mr. Doolittle's letter is all right, and so is his suggestion 

 of Mr. Elwood. It will be remembered that we simply sxuj- 

 gesteiX five names as the committee, believing that the five 

 named would make a good committee, and they would. No 

 doubt the other four would serve, and with Mr. Elwood to 

 help for the East would be all right so far as we are con- 

 cerned. But don't forget that we are not runnimj the thing 

 at all — only trying to help a little. If the committee we offered 

 meets the approval of the rest of the bee-keepers, well and 

 good. If not, then it is all right, too. 



But we think something definite ought to be done soon, so 

 that by fall the monument can be erected and paid for. 



Xlie Prospects for the Season must be good 

 among bee-keepers in general, for supply manufacturers com- 

 plain of being behind orders in spite of running over time. 

 But J. H. Martin says in Gleanings: "Southern California, 

 is strictly in it for a short crop of honey again. Ventura 

 county, where the best quality of honey is produced, is as dry 



as a bone You Eastern honey-prod ucers will not have the 



California crop to compete with you the coming year." 



Disappointed Bee-Keepers will be in abun- 

 dance a little later on, if the honey season should be a good 

 one. Already some bee-supply factories have been running 

 day and night for a month or two, and are still behind in their 

 orders. It seems to us it would be well for those wanting 

 supplies to send in their orders at once, so that any delay in 

 filling may not affect them. Also, when possible, give your 

 dealer a chance to substitute other goods if they can be used, 

 in case he is out of the particular kind really desired. Often 

 by so doing your order can be filled sooner. , 



But above all things don't get impatient and try to blow 

 your dealer sky-high when he is doing his level best to serve 

 you and many others who are equally deserving and anxious 

 to get supplies. When the rush is on don't add to his worries 

 by dumping on him an over-supply of boiled-down wrath. 

 Keep cool yourself, and thus if possible try to help your dealer 

 iu his nerve-straining efforts. 



Cost of Apiarian Improvements.— On page 

 225, Mr. P. L. Thompson had a criticism on the no-drip ship- 

 ping-cases and some other recent improvements in bee-appli- 

 ances. In Gleanings for April 15, Editor Root replies to Mr. 

 T.'s criticism in the following manner : 



F. L. Thompson, in the Americau Bee Journal, thinks the 

 price of honey does not bear a just proportion to the price of 

 supplies: and then he goes on to give the cost of the fence 

 and plain sections. In regard to shipping-cases, while he does 

 not condemn the no-drip style, he would like to have some- 

 thing simpler, something that requires less labor to fix up. I 

 grant that there seems to be much of truth iu this. But let 

 us look into the matter from another standpoint. 



Altho we may not at present seem to be doing it, we are 

 striving to save in every way possible that one big item he re- 

 fers to — labor — on the part of the bee keeper, and cost of sup- 



