37G 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 16 



GEORGE W. YORK. EDITOR. 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BV 



lis Micbigan 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 interests of bee 

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

 to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



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

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



*°'i5°,°,^ DiRECTOKS-E. R. Root: E. Whitcomb; E. T. Abbott; C. P. Dadant: 



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

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



VOL. 38. 



JUNE 16, 1898. 



NO. 24. 



'**''??• r^*"^ American Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the following 

 Kule, recommenilcd by the joint action of the American Philological Asso- 

 ciation and the Philological Society of EnglBnd:-Change "d" or "ed" anal 

 to -t when so pronounced, except when the "e" affects a preceding sound. 



California has been blest of late with two fine rains. 

 These will be of signal service to the orchardist, in increasing 

 the water for irrigation, and in thoroughly wetting the earth 

 twice in late spring. But they are too late to very greatly 

 help the grain crop, and it is feared the same will be true of 

 the honey product. It is to be hoped that the bees will pro- 

 duce enough honey to feed them. So wrote Prof. Cook, 

 May 30. 



Bee-Business Enlarging.— In a letter from one 

 of the largest dealers in bee-keepers' supplies, written us re- 

 cently, we find this significant sentence : 



" It looks as if there was a general need of enlargement 

 if the bee-business is going to increase as it has the last two 

 years." 



We presume unless the present manufacturers of supplies 

 prepare to take care of the increasing demand, others will 

 engage in that line of business, and to the benefit of all con- 

 cerned. This country is developing in all its industries, and 

 there is no good reason why the bee-business should not keep 

 pace with the rest. The population is already here to con- 

 sume every pound of honey that possibly can be produced, 

 and at a fair price. 



A Bee-Bed of Flowers.— Mrs. Effie Brown, the 

 conductor of the apiarian department in the Northwestern 

 Agriculturist, writes thus about a bee-bed of flowers: 



When we plant our posies this spring we are going to 

 have one bed especially for the bees. 



All flowers do not yield nectar, and many that do are 

 never visited by the bees on account of the depth of the 

 honey-cups. The rose, lilac, violet and snow-ball are among 



the latter class. I think the flower that yields the most nec- 

 tar to each blossom is the spider-plant. It is a hardy annual, 

 blossoming in July and August. The blossoms are beautiful, 

 odd little things with the petals all on one side, and long, 

 spidery legs on the other, one sometimes containing enough 

 nectar for two loads for a bee. These seeds we will plant in 

 the center of our bee-bed because they are taller than the 

 other plants which we will use. Around the patch of spider- 

 plants we will sow a good broad band of mignonette. Every 

 one loves this sweet, old-fashioned flower, and the bees delight 

 to work on it from morning till night. All around the outside 

 portulacca, or, as grandmother calls them, " moss-roses" will 

 be sown. One of the prettiest sights in nature is a bed of 

 portulacca in full bloom, with dozens of bees hovering above, 

 or resting in the hearts of the flowers. 



i have never been able to discover whether or not they 

 get very much honey from this plant, but I think 1 never saw 

 so many bees to the number of blossoms as I have seen on a 

 " moss-rose " bed. 



Every bee-keeper ought to sow one of these bee-beds — not 

 only for the enjoyment of the bees, but for his own pleasure. 



While it requires a good many flowers to be of perceptible 

 use to bees, still when planting even small garden beds of 

 them, one may as well plant the varieties that yield nectar, 

 especially when they are pretty as well. 



Bee-Paralysis or tameless Disease.— Prof. 

 A. J. Cook, of California, writing us May 30, had this to say 

 about a disease affecting the bees around San Francisco : 



A well-known bee-keeper near San Francisco describes a 

 disease that is affecting his bees quite seriously, but only a 

 few colonies. It is, without doubt, the " nameless bee-dis- 

 ease " of some, or " bee-paralysis " of others. Is there any 

 better way to treat this disease than to introduce a young vig- 

 orous queen ? I think it would be well for the American Bee 

 Journal to ask for the experience of all on this disease. It is 

 not usually very serious, and, so far as I have observed, goes 

 away of its own accord, before very long. A. J. Cook. 



We shall be glad to publish anything relative to the dis- 

 ease, or diseases, referred to by Prof. Cook. Who can give 

 something that will help ? 



Cbas. F". mutll. — A few weeks ago we announced 

 the death of Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati, by suicide. Since then 

 we have learned some of the particulars which we will give 

 in connection with a few items of interest relating to Mr. 

 Muth and his career as a bee-keeper and dealer in honey. 



From the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune of May 17, we 

 take the following, mainly relative to the sad death of Mr. 

 Muth : 



The news of the death of Charles F. Muth, for years past 

 one of the city's prominent business men, came yesterday as a 

 shock to his personal friends and acquaintances. 



He was found dead on his farm near Morristown, Ind., 

 under circumstances tending to show that in a spell of mental 

 depression he had taken his own life. 



For some months past he had been feeling unwell, and at 

 times appeared to be suffering from melancholy. He had suf- 

 fered two attacks of sunstroke a few years ago, never quite 

 recovering from the effects, and his family attribute his recent 

 fits of depression more to that cause than anything else. 

 Nevertheless, last Saturday, when he informed them that he 

 intended going to spend a few days on his farm near Morris- 

 town, they opposed it, and tried to persuade him to remain at 

 home. He persisted in going, however. 



He spent Sunday examining at the grounds and houses on 

 the farm, a tract of some 600 acres, and when. last seen Sun- 

 day night by the man in charge of the place, was engaged in 

 writing, and gave no signs of trouble. 



Yesterday morning he did not appear, and at 10 o'clock 

 the man in charge, tired of waiting for him, went to the little 

 room he had fixt up as an office in the farm-house. A horrify- 

 ing sight met the man's eyes as he pusht open the olHce door. 



Mr. Muth was seated on a couch with a rifle between his 

 legs, a gaping bullet hole under the jaw, and another over the 

 right eye. The rifle had evidently been held under the chin 

 while the fatal shot was fired, and the bullet had ranged up 

 through the skull, causing instant death. 



Mr. Muth was in his 6-ith year. He was born in Hesse, 

 Germany. Coming to America in lS.5-t, he engaged in the 



