136 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Mar. 2, 1899. 



PLBLISHT TA'EEKLY BY 



Qeorqe W. York & Company, 



IIS Michigan St., Ciiicago, III. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. *%Sfi SAMPLE COPY FREE. 



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



United States Bee- Keepers' Association. 



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-commission men. 



Atembersblp Fee — 91-00 per Aanum. 



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



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

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



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

 Gen'l Manager and Treasurer— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 39. 



MARCH 2, 1899. 



NO. 9. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthographv of the follow- 

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of 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. 



Bees and Honey in Illinois — In the statistical report of 

 the Illinois State Board of Agriculture for Dec. 1, 1898, 

 ■which is just received, we note the following : 



With the exception of 1891, more honey was produced in 

 1898 than any previous year. By far the greater part of 

 this was produced in northern Illinois, 423,166 pounds, cen- 

 tral Illinois reporting but 128,472 pounds, and southern Illi- 

 nois, 137,802 pounds. 



The Dec. 1 price of honey, 12 cents per pound, is the 

 same as in 1897. 



The value of this by-product of the farm in the northern 

 division of the State is $50,039 ; in the central division, 

 $16,837, and in the southern division, $16,604, giving a total 

 valuation of $82,480. 



There were 62,054 colonies of bees reported to assessors 

 in 1898. 



In view of the almost total failure of a surplus honey 

 crop in Illinois last year, the statement made in the first 

 sentence above is amusing, to say the least. The year 1897 

 was a phenomenal honey-year — honey almost everywhere. 



We often wonder who is responsible for the bee and 

 honey statistics that we see made public from time to time. 

 From their apparent unreliability we fear they are "made 

 up " in some machine shop. 



Somnambulist and Fire-Water.— Somnambulist, the 

 delightful dreamer down in the Progressive Bee-Keepers' 

 locality, while gently touching up the editor of this journal 

 for mentioning such an out-of-date remedy as whisky for 

 bee-stings, takes the opportunity of saying that he (Som- 

 nambulist) is not a temperance fanatic, being a sort of 

 " middle of the road " man, but doesn't want to encourage 



in the slightest degree the drinking of fire-water. Which 

 raises some painful questions. Is it possible that the good- 

 hearted Sommy sees so clearly the evils of fire-water that 

 he doesn't want others under its influence, while he is so far 

 under said influence himself that his devious course requires 

 him to get clear out into the middle of the road ? Stop it, 

 Sommy. You run risks enough walking in your sleep with- 

 out the other thing. 



Advice to Starters of New Bee=Papers. — Editor Hutch- 

 inson, in his February Bee-Keepers' Review, when speak- 

 ing of the recent improved appearance of some of the bee- 

 papers (notably the American Bee Journal), gives this 

 wholesome advice : 



" Let no man start a new bee-journal with any hope of 

 success unless he can make it as neat, at least, as the ones 

 that are now being publisht. Yes, he must go even further, 

 as the friendship between an old establisht journal and its 

 readers is very strong, and, to win' them away, something 

 considerably better must be offered them." 



Actually, some of the new bee-papers that have come to 

 our desk during the past seven years have been simply a 

 disgrace to the printer's art, and quite unworthy of any 

 notice whatever. 



But, surely, Mr. Hutchinson would not suggest that a 

 new paper, or any paper, should try to win away the sub- 

 scribers of another or establisht paper ! We have never 

 tried to do that. We would not strive to lessen the number 

 of subscribers of another bee-paper by winning them away, 

 but would simply have them take the American Bee Journal 

 in add if ion to the other paper. We wouldn't advise any 

 bee-keeper to drop the Review for the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, but we would always urge the Review subscribers to 

 read our paper also. For after a year's trial, we are certain 

 he would have the American Bee Journal regularly along 

 with the Review, that is, if he were really interested in bee- 

 keeping. 



The Door Open for the Union. — In a letter received 

 from Mr. Newman recently, as well as in his report publisht 

 on page 120, he says that he cannot longer than the present 

 year act as General Manager of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union. In the letter referred to, Mr. Newman says : 



" I am working harder and harder and spending more 

 strength and vitality every day than accrue in the short 

 period for rest, and therefore I have concluded to curtail 

 some of my labors outside. I am refusing all calls for lec- 

 turing, and shall not undertake to manage theafi^airs of the 

 Bee-Keepers' Union after this year. Fifteen years of ray 

 life are all that I can spare in that direction. The almost 

 unanimous vote for me has been the only tie that bound me 

 to the work. I did not feel like refusing my many friends 

 to serve them, but now the " physical " demands it, and as 

 I am now close on to 70, I must consider myself a little, and 

 refuse to sacrifice health and strength to labors that can be 

 as well performed by others." 



All know that Mr. Newman has done a grand work in 

 the Union during his many years of faithful service, and 

 for the excellent reaso;is he mentions, he should not be re- 

 quired to wear himself out further in the interest of bee- 

 keepers. 



It has been suggested to us (not by Mr. Newman, how- 

 ever), that the members of the Union might now look with 

 favor upon joining its fortunes with the United States Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. It would seem so to us, and if such is 

 their wish, they will find that the door was left wide open 

 for such uniting of forces, should the time come when the 

 Union felt so inclined. The following paragraph, taken 

 from the report of the Buffalo convention in 1897, will 

 further explain about that " open door :" 



" A Member — Mr. President, as there may sooner or 

 later be an inclination on the part of the members of the 



