712 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jsovemler 10 



GEORGE W. YORK. EDITOR. 



pcbijIsht weekly by 

 lis Micbigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



[Entered at the Post-Offlce at Cbicago aa Seoona-Class Mail Matter.] 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION 



Organized to advance tlie 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-commiaeion men. 



Alejabersblp Fee—^l.OO per Anjitiin. 



KXKCUTIVE COMMITTEE-Pres.. George VV. York; Vice-Pres.. W. Z. Hutchinson ; 

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



*°45'i.'''' DIRECTORS-B. R. Root: B. Whitcomb; E. T. Abbott; C. P. Dadant; 

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



General Manager and TREASURER-Euaene Becor, Forest city, Iowa. 



VOL. 38. NOVEMBER 10, 1898. NO. 45. 



Note. -The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the following 

 Kule, 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. 



Care of Bees for Wintering: is a subject on 

 which Mr. C. P. Dadant will write a series of articles for the 

 American Bee Journal, the first of which appears in this num- 

 ber. Every bee-keeper at all acquainted with bee-litearture 

 knows that there is no more competent authority in this 

 country to write on any phase of practical bee-keeping than 

 the Dadants. So these articles will be a treat, especially to 

 the newer bee-keepers. Read them, and heed them. 



Our Front Page Illustration this week will be 

 recognized at once by all who saw a copy of the Omaha con- 

 vention program, as it appeared on its first page. It is the re- 

 sult of an idea incubated in the versatile brain of Mr. H. E. 

 Hill, editor of the American Bee-Keeper, and we think all will 

 agree that it is a very neat and appropriate design. Mr. Hill 

 was kind enough to loan us the engraving, so that all our 

 readers might have an opportunity to see it. When granting 

 its use he wrote : 



Dear Mr. York :— As an advertisement for the Union, I 

 would like to see the cut you request given a place in all the 

 bee-papers, so that its object— that of calling particular atten- 

 tion to the Union, generally— might be accomplisht. As the 

 matter stands at present, I am by no means sure that my 

 plan was a success, since the expense of the advertisement so 

 far would have given me over 20 memberships in the Union, 

 and that, perhaps, might have been better for the "cause" 

 than the advertisement ; but I hope it may have some bene- 

 ficial effect. H. E. Hill. 



Now, why can't at least 100 of our readers send in their 

 membership dues to the Union this month, and make Mr. 

 Hill feel fully five times glad he got up that illustration ? 



Good Honey-Vear in Canada.— Editor Root, 

 in Gleanings for Oct. 15, thus refers to a visit from Editor 

 Holtermann, of the Canadian Bee Journal, and tries to ac- 

 count for the good honey season in Canada, and the almost 

 total failure In the United States : 



Mr. R. P. Holtermann, who made us a short visit on the 

 7th inst., reports that the bee-keepers of Canada have had a 

 most excellent season. The year throughout the United 

 States (excepting Colorado, Florida, Vermont, Michigan and 

 Northern California) has been a most signal failure. Now, 

 why should Canada, so near us, have a good honey-flow, when 

 we here in the United States have had almost the opposite ? 

 I remember last summer, when clover ought to begin to yield, 

 we had been having quite a spell of dry weather. Day after 

 day went by, but no rain. Finally, when It did come, 

 and copiously, too, we hoped, but hoped in vain, that the long- 

 expected nectar would come. While these copious rains 

 seemed to be general over the United States, and while they 

 came in time to stimulate general farm crops, it was evident 

 they were loo Inte to have any decided effect on the honey crop 

 of the United States — too late, perhaps, by two weeks. I'J;>w, 

 why did the bee-keepers of Canada enjoy a good season ? This 

 strikes me as a possible explanation : 



The honey-flows in Canada are anywhere from ten days to 

 two weeks later than in the United States. Assuming that 

 our friends who are north of the line enjoyed those same 

 rains that we did, and at the some time, then those same rains 

 came just In time to stimulate nectar secretion in the blossom, 

 but just too late for the United States. 



Tin vs. 'Wood for Honey.— A short time ago we 

 were again thoroughly convinced of the great superiority of 

 tin over wood for making honey-receptacles. We saw some 

 barrels of honey emptied, which, before the honey was put 

 in, weighed 28 pounds each. After the honey was removed 

 those same barrels weighed -40 pounds. 



We are surprised that any bee-keeper will persist in using 

 barrels for holding extracted honey. He certainly would not 

 if he had to buy honey in them. Besides the large amount of 

 honey which they soak up, they are hard to handle, and when 

 once the honey is granulated, it is a big job to dig it out. 



How different are the 60-pound tin cans. They don't 

 soak up any honey, and the honey they contain can be re- 

 liquefled so easily, in case it has granulated. 



We do hope the time will soon come when wooden barrels 



for holding honey will be generally condemned, and that the 



much lighter, handier, and ever so much better tin cans will 



take their place. 



•*-*-*' 



Apiarian Av%-ards at the Trans-Mississippi 



— The following premiums were awarded in the Apiary De- 

 partment of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha, by 

 Hon. Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa, who was the judge : 



Bee-Hives.— Emerson T. Abbott, of Missouri. St. Joe hive, 

 bronze medal; Douglas County, Nebraska, Improved Langstrotb 

 hive, bronze medal ; E. Kretchmer. of Iowa, collection of hives, 

 gold medal; G. B. Lewis Co., of Wisconsin, collection of hives, 

 gold medal ; Leahy Mfg. Co.. of Missouri, collection of hives, silver 

 medal ; Tbe A. I. Root Co.. of Ohio, collection of hives, gold medal. 



Ai'iAKiAN Implements and Supphes. — E. Kretchmer, gold 

 medal; G. B. Lewis Co.. gold medal; Leahy Mfg. Co., silver medal; 

 The A. I. Root Co., gold medal. 



Bee Books and Bee-Literature.— E. Kretchmer, honorable 

 mention. 



Alsike Clover Comb Honet.— L. G. Clute, of Iowa, bronze 

 medal. 



Heart's-Ease Comb Honey.— L. D. Stilson, of Nebraska, sil- 

 ver medal; L. G. Clute, bronze medal. 



Dandelion Comb Honey. — L. G. Clute, honorable mention. 



Alfalfa Comb Honey. — E Kretchmer, silver medal; Hon. G. 

 W. Swink, of Colorado, silver medal; Lovesy & Bouck. of Utah, 

 bronze medal; Bennett & Diesem, of Kansas, bronze medal; I. L. 

 Diesem, of Kansas, bronze medal. 



Linden Comb Honey. — Nebraska Commission, silver medal; 

 Douglas County, silver medal; E. Kretchmer, silver medal; L. G, 

 Clute, bronze medal. 



Sweet Clover Comb Honey'. — Wm. Stolley, of Nebraska, 

 silver medal. 



White Clover Comb Honey. — Dr. E. K. Jacques, of Minne- 

 sota, silver medal; D. A. Freeman, of Minnesota, silver medal; 



