1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



585 



valuable. Why, just to meet and get acquainted with some of 

 the grand men of the pursuit ought to be woilh much to any 

 one. 



It was somewhat expensive for us to attend the national 

 convention held in Toronto, Ont., in 1895, but we felt it paid 

 us well, because there we met Father Langstroth (who in 

 a month after died), G. M. Doolittle, J. B. Hall, S. T. Pettit, 

 Wm. McEvoy, D. W. Heise, Wm. Couse, and others that we 

 might name, whom it was an exceedingly great pleasure to 

 see, especially as it was the first time we had met them. 



And then the World's Fair convention, where we met for 

 the first lime Prof. Cook, G. W. Deraaree, Chas. F. Muth, E. 

 S. Lovesy, Mrs. L Harrison, Mrs. J. N. Heater, Mrs. J. M. 

 Null, Mrs. Sherman, Rev. E. T. Abbott, and hosts of others 

 equally pleasant to meet. Did it pay us ? Did it pay yoM, 

 reader, if you were there ? Of course it did. 



Southern California is kept track of pretty well 

 by Prof. Cook, who quite regularly reports as to the apiarian 

 conditions in that region. Writing us Aug. ol, he reported 

 as follows : 



While in most sections of Southern California the drouth 

 remains unbroken, up in the mountains of parts of San Ber- 

 nardino county there have been heavy rains, so that the rail- 

 roads have been washt away. The Indians say this promises 

 a wet winter. It is to be hoped that the Indian knows. At 

 least these rains help lio wet the earth, and give promise of a 

 harvest in 1899. 



In passing apiaries of late, I find already many empty 

 hives. Unwisdom permitted too free extracting last season. 

 The extreme drouth this year, and consequent honey famine 

 has brought on starvation. Deserted hives will attract moths, 

 and general starvation is threatened. It would seem the wise 

 thing in such countries — and all countries are uncertain— to 

 have a generous supply in the hive each season — enough to 

 bridgeover one year of famine, at least ; and also wise in case 

 this precaution was neg!ected,i to find enough to prevent star- 

 vation. Our own good, no less than the good of the cause, de- 

 mands such action. 



The extreme drouth this year in Southern California has 

 paralyzed bean-production, so that source for honey is want- 

 ing. The alfalfa fields, and a very limited area of more 

 abundant rainfall, are the only bright spots in the apicultural 

 sky of 1898. A. J. Cook. 

 ■*-»-»- 



Summer Houey-Drinks.— Dr. Miller, in Glean- 

 ings for Sept. 1, says British B. Mann sent him the following 

 summer drinks ; 



Honeyed Biitter.milk. — One spoonful of honey to % 

 glass of buttermilk. Stir well, then add as much soda as will 

 lie on a dime. 



Honey Pick-me-up. — One egg well beaten in a pint of 

 cold milk, with one tablespoonful of honey added. 



We should think that either of these " honeyed-pick-me- 

 buttermilk-ups " would be good. We'll have to try them the 

 next time we " take a drink." 



Tlie Past Season's Experiences in the apiary 



are quite fit subjects for discussion in the columns of the Bee 



Journal. You are invited to tell about them, and what you 



have learned in connection with them. Perhaps many of you 



never wrote a line for publication. But that won't make any 



difference at all. Just write us about your work as you would 



in a private letter, and we will attend to putting it in proper 



shape for printing. 



# ■ » 



A Correction. — In the second paragraph from the 

 bottom o( the second column on page 549, and in the firs 

 line, it should read " Jiojic" instead of " more," where it says : 

 "In regard to pollen in sections, let me say iwnc will appear," 

 etc. We regret the error, as It conveyed an entirely different 

 idea than was intended by Mr. Hartzell, who so greatly appre- 

 ciates Mr. Golden's method of producing comb honey. 



W. S. Yeaton, of Woodbury Co., Iowa, writing Sept. 3, 

 said : " Bees are booming on golden-rod." 



Frank RuFFNBR, of Shelby Co., 111., wrote us Sept. 5 : 

 We are having quite a fall flow of honey." 



The Proprietor of what is believed to be the oldest api- 

 ary in Alameda county, Calif., writes us that he has taken 80 

 pounds of extracted honey from each of his colonies this sea- 

 son. This is the average ; some colonies yielded 120 pounds. 



Senor T. Estrada DE Palma, of the Cuban junta, it is 

 said, has received, during his day of peaceful residence In his 

 native land, in one year from bee-hunters $8uO for the privi- 

 lege of removing the honey and beeswax from his estate in 

 Santiago province. — American Bee-Keeper. 



Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, editor of the British Bee Journal, 

 writing us Aug. 16, reported that Mrs. Cowan was then with 

 their two daughters in Scotland, and that he had returned 

 from Switzerland a couple of days before where he had met 

 the leading bee-keepers. 



Mr. 6. M. Doolittle, of Onondaga Co., N. Y., writing as 

 Sept. 3, said : 



" It is awfully hot here, and has been for four days ; but 

 I am driven to work from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., out in the hot 

 sun the larger part of the time." 



Mr. Thomas Evans, a bee-keeper of Lansing, Iowa, died 

 Aug. 12, 1898, after a lingering illness of many months, at 

 the age of 52 years. He claimed to be the inventor of a new 

 process of sheeting wax for making comb foundation, which 

 we think is used by some of the smaller comb foundation 

 makers. 



Mr. H. D. Cutting, of Clinton, Mich., an ex-president of 

 the United States Bee Keepers' Union, and for years one of 

 the corps of experts who answer questions in our "Question- 

 Box " department, still continues to suffer from almost total 

 blindness. We were hoping that he would recover ere this. 

 He will have the sincere symoathy of his many old-time bee- 

 keeping friends in his sore affliction. 



Mr. C. M. Martenson, the business manager of the well- 

 known firm of G. B. Lewis Co., bee-supply manufacturers, 

 called on us last week, when in Chicago. Mr. M. reports a 

 busy year — the like of which he doesn't care soon to pass 

 through again. You see, he doesn't want to leave this world 

 just yet. His firm expects to make up a large amount of stock 

 before next season, so as to be prepared for any emergency. 



Mr. J. H. Martin is about to get a bicycle and travel 

 over California awheel, so as to get a store of material for his 

 Rambles. He hopes, by this means, to make more side-trips 

 than he was able to do when using a team. He expects to 

 purchase a " Cleveland " wheel ; wouldn't a "Rambler " make 

 be more appropriate for the Rambler ? The " Rambler" folks 

 could not do better then to send one of their wheels to the 

 well-known correspondent, for it would be a big advertise- 

 ment for them. 



Mr. E. Tipper, editor of the Australian Bee-BuUelln, 

 writing us July 18, said : 



" We are having what we may call a nice winter — a fair 

 amount of rain, with bright, sunny days between. On the 

 ridges above my apiary the white box-trees are laden with 

 bloom, but the days are too short, and the weather too cold 

 (it is our winter here) for the bees to gather much. The yel- 

 low box is also well in bud. We had a good convention in 

 Sydney, the beginning of this month. It was a gathering of 

 practical bee-keepers, and good practical work was done." 



When we received Mr. Tipper's letter (Sept. 3), we were 

 having our hottest days of summer — 90^ above zero. And ia 

 Australia it was winter. 



