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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



December 8 



GEORGE W. YORK. EDITOR. 



PDBIA8HT WEEKLY BY 



118 Michigan Street, CHICAGO, ILL. 



[Entered at the Post-Offlce 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-commiaaion men. 



AlembersJiip Pee—Sl-OO per Anaaai, 



KXECUTIVE COMMlTTEE^Pres.. George W. Yorlt: Vice-Pres., W. Z. Hutchinson; 

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



*°-i?''„""' DIKECTORS-B. K. Rout; B. Whitcomb; B. T. Abbott; C. P. Dadant; 

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



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



VOL. 38. DECEMBER 8, 1898. NO. 49. 



Note.— The American Bee Journaradopts tne Ortliography of the following 

 Kule, recommended by the Joint action of the American Philological Aiso- 

 ciation and the Philological Society of England r-Cbange "d" or "ed" flnal 

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



The Ctaicagfo Bee-Keepers' Association 



met Dec. 1, as was announced. There were present about 40 

 people interested in bee-keepinR. Some 35 of them became 

 members of the organization, which now quite rivals that of 

 Philadelphia In numbers, tho the latter is perhaps 15 or 20 

 years older. It is thought by some that there are over 200 

 bee-keepers in this (Cook) county. We hope that all of them 

 will send in their 50 cents, and become members. Their 

 membership fee can bo mailed or handed to us, and we will 

 see that it gets to the Treasurer. 



The officers elected for the ensuing year are : President, 

 C. Beers ; Vice-President, Mrs. N. L. Stow; and Secretary 

 and Treasurer, Herman F. Moore. 



As a shorthand report of the proceedings was taken for 

 the American Bee Journal, our readers may look for It after 

 the completion of the Omaha convention report, now appear- 

 ing, which will be about the middle of next month. 



Bee-Literature 'Without Bee-Knowledge. 



— That scribblers who know nothing about bees should con- 

 stantly appear in print with statements that bring a smile to 

 the face of a practical bee-keeper is nothing strange, but it 

 does seem strange that reputable publications that really care 

 for the truth should allow in their columns matter about bees 

 so crude that it would hardly be suffered In relation to any 

 other topic. That very able and reliable paper. The Youth's 

 Companion, has a serial in its September numbers called "The 

 Story of a Bee-Farm," that Is notable for the very little Infor- 

 mation about bees, and the remarkable character of much 

 that is given. A few samples may be given : 



Bees don't sting after you learn to handle them, but for 



the first few seasons you must wear veil and thick gloves. 

 Nuclei are called " nucleus swarms," and colonies are called 

 " colony swarms." Italians gather honey from many flowers 

 which native bees neglect. A good place to winter bees is a 

 room above ground with an oil-stove to raise the temperature 

 to 40^ during cold snaps. " Never throw hot water at the 

 robbers — that Is barbarous and unscientific." (Probably that is 

 the first time hot water for robbers was ever thought of.) A 

 cloudy and damp afternoon, when most of the bees are In the 

 hives. Is especially favorable to begin Italianizing. Queens, 

 not colonies, are " transferred." The expert operator of the 

 story workt every day of the season with her own bees with 

 bare hands and arms, and was never stung once, but put on 

 veil and gloves when essaying to handle bees away from home, 

 because the bees were strangers to her ! The story winds up by 

 saying : 



" At the present date of writing, January, we have 40 

 hives of bees In our dormitory. They are all wintering well, so 

 far as can now be determined, and the outlook is that we can 

 gain a comfortable livelihood keeping bees, even at the pres- 

 ent low price for honey." 



There ought to be a lively demand for a brand of bees, 

 40 "hives" of which would support a family I 



■What Credit Costs. — In the National Stockman 

 and Farmer of recent date we found this paragraph : 



" Did you ever think of how very expensive a luxury 

 credit is ? It doubles the expense of book-keeping, doubles 

 correspondence, multiplies worry many times over, often de- 

 stroys confidence, wrecks business galore, and makes mischief 

 of all kinds without limit. More than all, many of these 

 things enter into the cost of nearly everything which is 

 bought and sold, and even the cash buyer, with all his dis- 

 counts off, pays enhanced prices because of the cost of other 

 people's credit. Imagine the world running a month without 

 the credit system ! Next to the mlllenlum It would do more 

 to create and maintain general happiness than any other con- 

 dition that could be introduced." 



Every word of it is true. And so is the advice of the man 

 who said, " Pay as you go, or else don't go." How much 

 more pleasant it would be to do business if every one would 

 get cash and pay cash. If we could get all the money past due 

 on subscriptions alone, we could not only pay cash promptly 

 right along, but could get, up a much better bee-paper than 

 the American Bee Journal is now. 



Why wouldn't It be a good plan for our subscribers to be- 

 gin at once to keep their subscriptions paid in advance ? It is 

 a splendid feeling to have — the feeling that your financial ob- 

 ligations are all met. We'd like to enjoy that feeling once 

 more, and might soon do so If all who owe us could see their 

 way clear to send It In. 



Killed l»y Eating- Wax is the rather bold heading 

 of this item, which appeared In a recent Issue of the Minne- 

 apolis Tribune : 



"Carl Maynard, son of M. M. Maynard, a fruit-grower, 

 died Thursday morning of a very peculiar malady. The young 

 man had been eating very heartily of honey in the comb, and 

 the large amount of beeswax he ate clogged up his stomach 

 and Intestines to such an extent that sickness and death re- 

 sulted In spite of all efforts of the doctors to save him. Mr. 

 Maynard was about 26 years of age, and workt on his father's 

 farm." 



Mr. John M. Seller, one of our regular subscribers, sent 

 us the foregoing, and added these words: 



"I know the father, but did not know the son. Three of 

 them ate a one-pound section of honey." 



It is just possible that eating the honey had a little to do 

 with the case, but the probability is that it had nothing what- 

 ever to do with it. For three men to swallow the wax con- 

 tained in a pound section of honey is a matter not at all re- 

 markable. One man might swallow that much wax any day, 



