184 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 23, 1899. 



PriU,ISHT WEEKLY BY 



George W. York & Company, 



116 Michigan St., Gliicago, III. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. ^%S^ SAMPLE COPY FREE. 



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



United States Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Organized lo advance the i>iirsuit of Ajiiculture ; to promote the interests 

 of bee-keepers ; to protect its members : to prevent the adulteration of 

 lioney ; and to pro.^ecule the dishonest honey-commission men. 



AlamLecsIiip JFee— $I.OO per .Annum. 



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

 Secretary, Dr. A. B. Mason, Station J3, Toledo, Ohio. 



Bo-^RD OF Directors— E. R. Root; E. Whitcomb; E.T.Abbott; C. P. 

 Dadant; \V. iS. Hutchinson; Dr. C. C. Miller. 



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



VOL. 39. 



MARCH 23, 1899. 



NO. 12. 



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

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolog-- 

 ical Association and the Philolog-ical Society of Eng-land: — Change 

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

 fects a preceding sound. 



New York to the Front.— Pres. Marks' address, as re- 

 ported in the American Bee-Keeper. shows that the State 

 Association is making real progress. The State depart- 

 ment of agriculture has stipulated to set aside a small fund 

 to aid in the interchange of ideas among the bee-keepers 

 and the promotion of apiculture in the State, and it is pro- 

 posed to hold a series of bee-keepers" meetings throughout 

 the State under the auspices of the Bureau of Farmers' In- 

 stitutes. 



I The Union and the Association. — Pres. Doolittle, of 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Union, writes us as follows in 

 reference to our editorial of several weeks ago : 



Editor York : — I take note of what is said on page 136, 

 about "the door open for the Union," and in order that it 

 maj- be kept n'idi' open till the " wedding " is accomplisht, 

 I will quote a few sentences from a letter just received from 

 (ieneral Manager Newman, in reply to mine to him of re- 

 cent date : 



*^ I note what you say about consolidation, and am quite willing that 

 3'ou should undertake the matter and work in your own way to bring it 

 about. I am quite wiUint^r to .assist in arranging nET.^lLS as I alwavs 

 have been. No one will be m*)re pleased to have the riiatter amicably 

 adjusted and the two organizations united for the purpose of doing effec- 

 tive work than will I. I feel that in leaving this matter in your hands it 

 win be prttperly done." 



As I am verj' favorable to the uniting of the two -socie- 

 ties, and as far as I know all those interested are. I do not 

 see why it cannot be accomplisht as soon as the necessary 

 details can be arranged ; and who could be better fitted to 

 arrange these details than the general managers of both 

 organizations ? I am not posted in this detail work, and am 

 waj" behind with my work on account of broken bones and 

 sickness, so I hope to be releast from doing more than is 



actually necessarj-, that the good work of uniting may go 

 on to completion. But I will do all that is necessarily re- 

 quired of me to keep the '• door open " till "the twain are 

 ushered in as one flesh." G. M. Doolittle, 



President Xational Bce-Kcepers^ Utiion. 



We do not see why all details may not be arranged soon, 

 so that the two national bee-keepers' societies will be under 

 one banner. We suppose that a vote will need to be taken 

 by the Union before a consolidation can take place, but we 

 think no vote is necessarj- on the part of the Association, 

 as the Board of Directors were empowered to conclude the 

 negotiations whenever the Union decided to cast in her for- 

 tunes with those of the Association. 



Nebraska State Fair and Exposition. — The State Board 

 of Agriculture and the managers of the Greater America 

 Exposition, after discussion of the subject, have agreed to 

 a plan for holding the Nebraska State Fair within the Ex- 

 position grounds at Omaha, the coming fall. 



The Greater America Exposition agrees to place at the 

 disposal of the State Board of Agriculture whatever space 

 may be found necessary for a creditable exhibit in the Ag- 

 ricultural, Horticultural, Dair3- and Apiary buildings, and 

 to afford proper accommodations for all the live stock that 

 may be placed on exhibition ; and to employ such officers 

 as may be mutually agreed upon to superintend the agri- 

 cultural, horticultural, live stock, dairy and apiary exhibits. 



The Exposition directory appropriated SIOO.OOO for the 

 organization of a colonial exhibit, and to send a representa- 

 tive to the Philippine islands at once. 



No Honey in Southern California. — General Manager 

 Thomas G. Newman, of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, 

 San Francisco, Calif., writing us March 10, said : 



Friend York : — Here is an item from the San Fran- 

 cisco Daily Chronicle of March 8. It is indeed a dismal out- 

 look for Southern California. Animals on the ranches are 

 starving for want of food ; the whole country is a parcht 

 and arid waste, with no verdure to be be seen. 



Fraternally, Thomas G. Newmax. 



The item referred to by Mr. Newman reads as follows : 



Los Angeles, March 7.— The bee-keepers of Southern 

 California are much concerned about the continued dry 

 weather. " We shall make nothing this year." said C. H. 

 Clayton, Secretary of the Bee-Keepers' Exchange, to-day. 

 " In good years we have realized as much as 250 carloads of 

 honey from Southern California. Last year only 60 tons 

 were produced, and this year there will be none. The bees 

 are dying off very fast, and many of the bee-keepers will be 

 bankrupt. Fully 50 percent of the bees have died since 

 Jan. 1. No amount of rain could help us now, as far as the 

 honey crop for this year is concerned, tho a good downpour 

 might save some of the bees. I know of only one carload of 

 honev in Southern California. That is being held near 

 Perri's. It is from the crop of 1897. It is held at 1 % cents 

 above the Chicago price." 



This is indeed a calamity to the bee-keepers of South- 

 ern California. We only wish there was a possible way out 

 of the difficulty, but it seems there is none. It is simply a 

 case of " What can't be cured must be endured." Of course, 

 should there be a good crop of honey in other parts of the 

 country, it will not have to compete with California honey 

 this year. So what is one locality's loss may be another's 

 gain. But there's not much comfort in that thought for 

 our Southern California friends. 



The only thing we see for our discouraged friends to do 

 is to draw on that limitless fund that Hon. Eugene Secor 

 once called " the bee-keepers' bank account "—Hope. But 

 while "living in hopes" let us trust that none may "die in 

 despair." 



The Premium offered on page 172 is well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at it. 



