88 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Feb. 9, 1899. 



Pl'BLISHT WKKKLY BY 



George W. York & Company, 



118 Miclii(jan St., Ghicaoo, 111. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



SAMPLE COPY FREE. 



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



United States Bee- Keepers' Association. 



Org^anized 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-commission men. 



Afexnbers2iip FeeSl,00 per Annum, 



Executive Committee— Pres.. E. Whilcomb; Vice-Pres., C. A. Hatch; 



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

 Board of Directors— K. R. Root; E. Whitcomb; E. T. Abbott; C. P. 



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

 Gen'l Manager and Treasurer— Eug-ene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 39. FEBRUARY 9, 1899. 



NO. 6. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Ortlioj^-raphy of the follow- 

 ing- Rule, recommended by the joint action (jf the American Philolog-- 

 ical Association and the Philological Society of England: — Change 

 "d" or "ed" final to '*t" when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding sound. 



The Afterthought i.s the heading- of a new department 

 beg^un in this number of the American Bee Journal, in 

 charge of •• Cog-itator." It will probably appear monthly. 

 The idea is to keep up a running comment on what has 

 recently appeared in these columns — to correct errors — to 

 endorse or comment where deserved. Of course, everj'thing 

 that appears in the Bee Journal cannot be toucht upon by 

 the ■' afterthinker," but doubtless the principal things will 

 be " thought after." We believe the new department will 

 be greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all our readers — even 

 by the one who indulges so freely in the cogitations. 



To Our Foreign Subscribers — There are a few things 

 that we would like to have our foreign subscribers remem- 

 ber. First, that iione of our offers or advertisements in this 

 journal, or any other, apply to any one outside of the United 

 States, Canada and Mexico. This is because of the extra 

 postage that is required to reach all other countries outside 

 of the three mentioned. The price of the Bee Journal to 

 foreign countries is $1.50 a year, so when a foreigner sends 

 US$1.00 he will get this journal just eight months. 



Again, we discontinue foreign subscriptions promptly 

 at the expiration of the time paid for, as indicated by the 

 month on the wrapper-label of each copy of the Bee Journal. 

 Your .subscription is paid to the end of the month given on 

 the label. If it is "Dec99'" that means that j'our subscrip- 

 tion is paid to the end of next December. 



We hope our foreign readers will remember what we 

 have said here, and thus save both them.selves and us ueed- 

 le.ss trouble. 



Politico. Economical Discussions in Bee.Papers, in 



the estimation of Editor Hutchinson, of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Review, are not desirable things, and yet he has found it 

 easier to let such things get started than to stop them once 

 they are started. One man blamed facing honey for lower- 

 ing prices, another laid it to something else, another had 

 views a little different, and so a discussion got under full 

 headway that belonged more properly in some paper nof 

 devoted to bee-culture, only to be stopt after several pages 

 had been used in a way hardly desired by the average bee- 

 keeper : and when the discussion was stopt it was probably 

 with less satisfaction to the disputants than if it had been 

 nipt in the bud. All things considered, probablj' the best 

 time to stop such discussions is before they g-et started — but 

 it takes a wise man to foresee always to what end a begin- 

 ning may lead. We know, for we've "been there," and 

 weren't always " wise," even if our name does come under 

 the " Y'.s." 



Alfalfa — the great fodder and honey-plant of the West — 

 was the subject of an illustrated article in the Chicago- 

 Daily News of Dec. 30, 1898. It said that to the Spaniard 

 belonged the credit of having introduced this plant into the 

 New World. It came to them from the Moors, who brought 

 it, together with their patient skill in irrigation, from 

 Africa when the3' crost to Spain. The Spaniard in his turn 

 carried the seed to South America, Mexico, and later to- 

 California, and from there its culture spread over the West> 

 Alfalfa may be grown over at least one-fourth of the terri- 

 tory of the United States with profit and advantage — nearly 

 all over the far West, and along the sandy stretches of New 

 Jersey and North Carolina, and even Canada, -which no-w 

 seem incapable of supporting vegetation may, where the 

 lands are thoroughly drained, become valuable fields when 

 seeded to alfalfa. Perhaps in Utah, Colorado, New Mexica 

 and Arizona alfalfa does its best along the honey-yielding- 

 line. The best grades of alfalfa honey are hard to excel. 



Illinois Foul Brood Bill. — Jas. A. Stone, Secretary of 

 the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, has sent us a. 

 copy of the Bill offered in the Illinois Legislature for the 

 suppression of foul brood. It is House Bill No. 103, intro- 

 duced by Representative Kumler, of Sangamon county, and 

 reads as follows : 



AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF FOUL BROOD AMONG BEES 

 IN ILLINOIS. 



Sec. 1.— Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illi- 

 nois represented in the General Assembly — that upon the 

 recommendation of a majority vote of the members of the 

 Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, the governor shall 

 appoint for the term of two years, a State inspector of api- 

 aries, who shall, if required, produce a certificate from the 

 governor, that he has been so appointed. 



DUTIES. 

 Sec. 2. — The iiKspector shall, when notified, examine all 

 reported apiaries, and all others in the same locality not re- 

 ported, and ascertain whether or not the disea.se known as 

 foul brood exists in such apiaries ; and if satisfied of the 

 existence of foul brood, he shall give the owners or care- 

 takers of the diseased apiaries full instructions how to treat 

 said cases as in the inspector's judgment seems best. 



DESTRUCTION OF BEES. 



Sec. 3.— The inspector, who shall be the sole judge, 

 shall visit all diseased apiaries a second time, and if need be 

 burn all colonies of bees, and combs that he may find not 

 cured of foul brood ; and for colonies so burned by the in- 

 spector, the owner thereof shall be paid not to exceed three 

 dollars for each colony of Italian bees or hybrids, and not to 

 exceed two dollars for each colony of black bees ; to be paid 

 the same as other expenses herein provided for. 



VIOLATIONS. 



Sec. 4. — If the owner of a diseased apiarv, or appli- 

 ances, shall sell, barter, or give away, any bees, honey, or 



