312 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 19. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor. 



PHBiaSHT WEEKLY BY 



lis Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



[Entered at the PostOfflce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail Matter.] 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION 



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-commisBion men. 



Aleuibersliip Fee— S/.OO per J^nnum, 



Executive COMMIXTEE-Pres.. George W. York; Vice-Pres., W. Z. Hutchinson; 



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

 Board of dirkctors-B. R. Root; B. Whitcomb; B. T. Abbott; C. P. Dadant; 



W.Z.Hutchinson; Dr. C. C. Miller. 



General Manager and Treasuheh— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 38. 



MAY 19, 1898. 



NO. 20. 



Note.— 1 he American Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the following 

 Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philological Asso- 

 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. 



Sbipping^ Bees by Freight in less than car- 

 load lots is something greatly desired by many bee-keepers, 

 and we believe that when the railroad men having In charge 

 the arranging of freight rates once see the wisdom of permit- 

 ting bees in hives to be thus shipt, they will speedily grant 

 the request. 



At the last meeting of the Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, Mr. H. Lathrop was appointed a committee to investi- 

 gate this matter, and at once wrote us to see what could be 

 done through the Western Classiflcatlon Committee whose 

 headquarters are In Chicago. Upon explaining what the bee- 

 keepers desire along the line indicated, to Mr. G. S. Crego, 

 who Is a bee-keeper In the employ of the Classification Com- 

 mittee, he suggested that bee-keepers at once write Mr. J. T. 

 Ripley, Room 604, Great Northern Hotel, Chicago, 111., the 

 Chairman of the Committee, telling him just what Is wanted, 

 and giving as many good reasons therefor as possible. 



There Is no more reason why bees should not go by freight 

 In less than car lots than that live poultry should be limited to 

 carload shipments. Bees can be safely and securely confined by 

 the use of wire-cloth ; and of course railroad agents should be 

 careful to see that they are properly enclosed in the hive be- 

 fore accepting them as local freight. But we are not at all 

 fearful that shippers of bees would be careless in this regard. 



It will be necessary for bee-keepers to communicate «t 

 once with Mr. Ripley, as the next meeting of the Western 

 Classification Committee Is to be held June 14, at Colorado 

 Springs, Colo. If favorable action is taken upon the subject 

 there, it may be in time to be of some service to bee-keepers 

 during the present season. 



It will be highly advantageous, we think, to have Mr. R. 

 C. Aikin, President of the Colorado Bee-Keepers' Association, 



appear before the Committee at Its meeting, for the purpose 

 of answering any questions they may wish to ask In reference 

 to the subject under consideration. ^Ve suggest Mr. Alkln as 

 he is head oflicer of a large State bee-keepers' organization, 

 and also because of bis nearness to the place of meeting of 

 the Committee. 



We would also suggest that Hon. Eugene Secor, General 

 Manager of the United States Bee-Keepers' Union ; General 

 Manager Newman, of the National Bee- Keepers' Union ; and 

 the Presidents of all other bee-keepers' societies write Mr. 

 Ripley at once, so that he may see the desire is general on the 

 part of bee-keepers to have such action taken by the railroad 

 companies as shall permit the shippingot bees by freight In less 

 than carload lots. The transportation lines will gain by the 

 change, for the high express rates on bees practically prohibit 

 the doing of much business In the way of shipping full colonies. 



We believe that with the proper effort put forth now, bee- 

 keepers can secure all they desire in this matter. Mr. Ripley, 

 the chairman, is a broad-minded man, and the Committee itself 

 we doubt not is composed of men who will be glad to favor 

 bee-keepers, especially when they see that It will be to the 

 decided advantage of the railroads to grant the petition 



presented. 



■*~»--^ 



The McDonald Relief Fund.— On page 280 

 we gave the first Installment of contributions to this fund. 

 The list stands now like this : 



Roderick McKeuzle. . . .$1.00 

 S. P., Unlontown, Pa.. 1.00 

 Relnhold Liebau 1.00 



R. 6. Vans (Canada). . . 1.00 



Former Amount §22. 00 



Sent direct to Mr. M. 19.70 



Joseph Uebele 1.00 



Volstad Bros 1.00 



G. S. Carpenter 1.00 



This makes a total of $48.70 that we have now reported 

 in the Bee Journal. Mr. McDonald was a Shawneetown bee- 

 keeper who lost his all in the great flood there about two 

 months ago. Contributions are being received by C. P. 

 Dadant, Hamilton, 111. Send to him what you can afford, if 

 you wish to help a worthy fellow bee-keeper. 



Xhe United States Bee-Keepers' Union. — 



In answer to our question on page 2o3, General Manager 

 Secor has this to say : 



On page 233, Prof. Cook Is quoted as saying : " I think 

 we should all unite on o)ic Union, and that the one that would 

 fight every enemy to the knife " That's just what I think, 

 too. I have been keeping my ear to the ground listening for 

 the tramp, tramp, tramp, of the fifty thousand volunteers who 

 are supposed to be rushing to join this Union army. 



Isn't the platform of principles broad enough for all to 

 stand upon '? Here's the vital clause : 



" Its objects shall be to promote and protect the interests of its 

 members; to defend them in their lawful rights; to enforce laws 

 against the adulteration of honey; to prosecute dishonest honey 

 commission-men ; and to advance the pursuit of bee-culture in 

 general." 



It appears to the writer as tho about ninety-nine out of 

 every one hundred bee-keepers are very willing to let the 

 other fellow do the hard fighting while they quietly enjoy the 

 fruits of the victory. 



But says some one, "As yet It [meaning the Union] has 

 only talkt." 



What more could you expect it to do, pray ? 



In the first place, the infant Is only about a year old. It 

 is just learning the use of Its legs. If It has learnt to " talk " 

 before it could walk there are some hopes for the child — only 

 precocious children do that. 



But, really, does any one think that the General Manager 

 can fight "to the knife" all the enemies of all the bee-keepers 

 in this country without the "sinews of war?" Or Is It sup- 

 posed that one bee-keeper Is capable of fighting the battles of 

 ninety and nine who are safely sheltered In the fold of Inac- 

 tive security ? Nay, verily. Don't ask us to. Three hundred 

 Spartans defended the pass at Thermopylse, but there Is no 

 such narrow defile through which the enemies of the bee- 



