1898 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



297 



comb honey from commission men, and so know whereof we 

 speak. Several times — yes, almost every time — the honey was 

 "faced" — dishonestly so, too, and we did not blame the 

 dealer, either, but the bee-keeper, who, evidently, as Mr. Doo- 

 little says, "thought It to his interest to do so." Had the 

 producers' names been on the various lots, we would delight 

 in holding them up right here in print, so that all might know 

 at least a few of the frauds among bee-keepers. 



It is very annoying — to say nothing of the sin on the pro- 

 ducer's part — to get in a lot of honey that looks very pretty 

 next to the glass, and then when a grocer calls and wishes to 

 open the eases before buying, to find that much of that back 

 of the front row is so inferior as to cause the loss of a sale. 



In our opinion, Mr. Doolittle can't any too soon reconsider 

 such " claim " as he sets forth in his paragraph that we 

 have quoted from Gleanings. 



A Xraiiip Swarm-Catcher. — The following 

 tramp-bee "story " has been going the rounds of the news- 

 paper press, and as several of our readers have been kind 

 enough to mail us copies of it, we reproduce it so that all our 

 subscribers can read it and laugh over it — tho not holding us 

 responsible for its truthluless : 



As I sat on the veranda with the farmer after supper I 

 askt him if he was not greatly bothered with tramps, and his 

 reply was : 



"Waal, a good many of 'em come along and want a bite 

 to eat, and some of 'em are pretty sassy, but only one of 'em 

 ever served me a real mean trick." 



" Poison your dog ?" I queried. 



" It was meaner than that. We was eatin' dinner one 

 day in the spring when a hive of bees started to swarm. I'd 

 been expectin' it and watchin' 'em, and had a new hive ready. 

 When bees swarm they will light on most anything handy — a 

 limb, a bush, or even the pump. Just as the bees began to 

 pour out of the hive and circle around along comes a tramp 

 up the path to ask fo'' somethin' to eat. The queen-bee set- 

 tled down on his old hat and the hull swarm followed her. In 

 two minlts that tramp's head and shoulders was covered with 

 bees, and I yells to him for heaven's sake not to try to fight 

 ^em off or he'd be stung to death." 



"He must have been terror-stricken," I said. 



" Not a bit of it, sir. He was as cool as a cowcumber, 

 and when I told him he'd have to stand in a smudge till the 

 bees was killed off he jest laught. When they'd all settled 

 down on him and I was going te start a smudge he sez : 



"Old man, what d'ye consider this swarm of bees wuth in 

 cold cash ?" 



" About So," sez I. 



" Are you willing to give §3 ?" sez he. 



"What fur ?" sez I. 



" Bekase you'll either pay me .^3 or I'll walk off with the 

 bizness and sell out to somebody else." 



" And you had to buy him off '?" I askt. 



"That's where the meanness comes in," replied the 

 farmer. "Them bees was my property, and I wasn't buyin' 

 what was my own. He offered to take $2, but I couldn't see 

 how he could git away with 'era, and refused to comedown. 

 Then he starts off. I reckoned the bees would get angry and 

 sting him to death, but nothin' happened. He just walkt out 

 Into the road and down the hill, and he carried them bees 

 seven miles and sold 'em for a new pair of shoes." 



" And he wasn't stung '?" 



" Not once, sir. The bees seemed to like the smell of 

 him, and he paddled along the road as grand as you please." 



Getting- Rid of Ants. — Vick's Magazine for May 

 gives the following methods of getting rid of ants: 



Ants in the soil can be destroyed by means of bisulphide 

 of carbon : Make a hole about six inches deep in the ant-hill 

 with a round dibble or bar, and into it pour a tablespoonf ul of 

 the liquid, and immediately close up the hole with soil. The 

 liquid is very volatile, and will permeate the soil in every 

 diriection, and destroy all animal life, and not injure vegeta- 

 tion. It is very inflammable, and must be carefully kept 

 away from fire. Ants can often be driven away by sprinkling 

 about their haunts ashes saturated with coal-oil. They can 

 be trapt and killed by placing sweet-oil where they can have 

 access to it, as they are very fond of it, but it has the effect tc 

 close their spiracles and thus kills by asphyxia. 



Dr. E. Gallup, of Orange Co., Calif., wro 

 at for some time he had beeu in ill-health, bu 

 itter again. Referring to the bees, he said : 



th 



better aga 



rote us May 2 

 t was getting 



" My bees commenced swarming March 2(J, and are keep- 

 ing it up yet. They are doing well here in the valley." 



SUCCB.SS IN Queen Rearing is the title of a small pamph- 

 let just issued by Henry Alley, of Essex Co., Mass. It contains 

 32 pages in all, about 14 of them being devoted to queen- 

 rearing, and the balance to Mr. Alley's catalog of queens, 

 drone-traps, etc., and advertisements of bee-supply dealers. 

 The price of the pamphlet Is 25 cents, and can be had at the 

 office of the American Bee Journal. 



Elder Daniel Whit.mer, of St. Joeseph Co., Ind., when 

 asking us lately to replace a lost copy of the Bee Journal, 

 added : 



" I do not want to miss a single number, for the reason I 

 cannot rest good. I want to know all that is going on in the 

 bee-fraternity." 



That's right. If you '• want to know alt that is going on 

 in the bee-fraternitv," of course you want the old American 

 Bee Journal. We are ready to do our pirt in furnishing a 

 bee-paper that will cause every bee-keeper in the land to 

 " rest good." Don't be restless, but subscribe for the Bee 

 Journal, and be e,i.sy and peaceful. 



Mr. Chas. W. Conkli.v, of Logan Co., III., wrote us as 

 follows May 2 : 



" Brother York : — I am very sorry to acknowledire that 

 I am so far behind with my subscription. But that is the way 

 —the good-natured editor is always imposed upon. But to 

 partly redeem myself I will send you a new subscriber here- 

 with." 



We trust Mr. Conklin will pardon us for publishing his 

 letter, but it serves so well as an illustration that we couldn't 

 resist the temptation to print it. 



Just suppose every one of our subscribers who is in 

 arrears would pay up to the end of 189S and send a new sub- 

 scriber for a year, as did Mr. Conklin, what would happen? 

 Well, in the first place, the Bee Journal would have at least 

 8,000 subscribers at once ,• and, in the second place, aH the 

 readers would soon get a paper about 50 per cent, better 

 than they are now getting. 



Guie us the paid in-advance list of eight or ten thousand 

 subscribers, and we'll guarantee to furnish you the rest. " It 

 is more blessed to give than to receive." But we can make 

 the receiDing a blessing to you if you will begin the rjlvliuj part. 



Mr. J. C. Armstrong, of Marshall Co., Iowa, writing us 

 April 30, had this to say: 



" I always read the American Bee Journal with interest. 

 I have taken it for over 30 years, with the exception of the 

 last three years. Four years ago [ had the misfortune to have 

 foul brood among my bees. I got it cured up and saved a 

 couple of colonies. On moving to this place two years ago I 

 sold what bees I had, discontinued the Bee Journal, and de- 

 stroyed a hundred back numbers, thinking I had gone out 

 of the business forever, but I felt lonesome without them. 

 Two years ago I bought one colony of our old friend, 0. B. 

 Barrows. From that one they have increast to seven. If I 

 could have my way they should not increase any more. But 

 they will In spite of me. I never had them winter better. 

 They are booming with bees. The Bee Journal has past 

 through a good many hands since I first subscribed for it. I 

 presume I shall keep a few bees as long as I am able to take 

 care of them." 



We think you are mistaken about the Bee Journal passing 

 through " a good many hands " in the 30 years since you first 

 began to read it. It has had but two different owners since 

 1873. That isn't a bad record, surely. 



