April 13, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



233 



of the busli is brief, at a given altitude, and the bees have 

 to follow their favorite food higher and higher as the se;i- 

 soii advances. Now, you know the bee makes a ' bee-line ' 

 for the hive as soon as she has soakt her feet in the liquid 

 sugar of the flower. 



" Well, the west Texas bee evidently found it very in- 

 convenient to climb all the way down to the valley with 

 each load of honey, and some smart bee struck upon a plan 

 as simple as it was unique. It is generally known that tlie 

 self-same shrub that gives honey to the bees produces a 

 succulent root, upon which as big and rocky-looking a liz- 

 ard cas you ever saw feeds and fattens. This creature, 

 called a ' yollo ' by the Indians, is 14 inches long-, and is too 

 lazy to get out of its own way. The yollo's back bristles 

 with points, and he is terrible to behold, yet to the bee he is 

 only a God-send, and without the least fear a swarm will 

 proceed to establish its comb between the points of the 

 yollo's pachydermatous back, and without ado fill in the 

 honey. The beast, of course, following the food-plant, will 

 keep the hive always within easy walking distance, and in 

 the fall, when the season is over, the bees swarm back into 

 the lower level, while their diminutive pack-mules wind 

 down the mountain paths to the valley, where the honey is 

 quickly transferred to its winter quarters in the bees' trees 

 or the ranchman's hive." 



Perhaps some of our readers in the locality referred to 

 can tell us something further about this. More tlian likely 

 it is "onlv a bee-storv." 



The Philadelphia Bee-Keepers' Association is thus 



spoken of by the Philadelphia Public Ledger : 



There are many associations of bee-keepers in America 

 and Canada, but of them all that of the Philadelphia bee- 

 keepers is the oldest, and in its day has been the most 

 prominent and influential. Its origin and continuance, and 

 the g;ood work done in and thru it, have all been due to the 

 efforts of the president, Dr. Harry Townsend and his g'ood 

 wife, both of whom are devoted friends of the honey-bee, 

 and thru all the years have had faith that some day its 

 economic importance would be recognized, and farmers, 

 villagers, and even city people, would come to understand 

 that with its aid a luxury could be added to the table, and 

 dimes to the pocketbook, and from the otherwise wasted 

 sweets in the flowers of field, forest and garden. 



As the United States Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold its next annual :neeting in Philadelphia, its members 

 will have the privilege of meeting the members of the Phil- 

 adelphia association. We wonder if it really is older tiian 

 the National society. 



Tin Cans vs. Barrels for Honey.— We hope that tin 

 cans will be considered more favorably this year bj' those 

 who have been using barrels heretofore for holding ex- 

 tracted honey. Cans may be a trifle more expensive, but 

 they are ever so much more convenient for handling, and 

 for reliquefying the honey. Then the\' seldom " spring 

 a leak " as do the barrels. Neither do cans soak up a lot of 

 honey, and thus cause waste and loss to the shipper or 

 buyer. There are so many evident advantages possest by 

 cans over barrels that all need not be enumerated here. We 

 trust that the leaky, bulky, cumbersome honey-barrel may 

 soon be a thing of the past. 



York's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up with a view to create a demand for 

 honey among should-be consumers. Aside from the Alma- 

 nac pages, the forepart of the pamphlet was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to g-eneral information concern- 

 ing honej'. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a verv 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample for 

 a stamp : 25 copies for 40 cents ; SO for 60 cents ; 100 for 

 $1.00 ; 250 for $2.25 ; 500 for $4.00. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



The Premium offered on page 236 is well worth work- 

 ing; for. Look at it. 



Hon. Eugene Secor, of Winnebago Co., Iowa, wrote 

 us April 5 : 



" Two days of spring. Bees are still in the dark. Con- 

 siderable loss is reported." 



♦ * * * * 



Mr. Wm. Fricker, of Hampshire Co., Mass., when 

 sending a new subscriber for the Bee Journal, March 23, 

 wrote : 



"I have taken the American Bee Journal over a year, 

 and I am iiioir t/iaii salisjicd. No bee-keeper should be 

 without it." 



♦ ♦ * * * 



The Farm Journ.ai. is the boiled-down, hit-the-nail- 

 on-the-head paper, cut to fit the wide-awake farmer and 

 villager. We give the Farm Journal for the balance of 

 1899 and all of 1900, 1901, 1902 and 1903, nearly five years, 

 as a premium to every one of our subscribers who will ac- 

 cept the offer on page 222. 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 



Mr. G. M. Doolittle, of Onondaga Co., N. Y., wrote 

 us April 3 : 



" Snow and cold here with no let up for spring yet. 

 Bees out-doors are in bad shape, with many dead, as they 

 have had no good chance for a flight since last November, 

 or nearly 4J2 months." 



« » ♦ » » 



Dr. C. C. Mili^ER is not only a prominent bee-keeper, 

 and a leading writer on bees, but he is also a well-known 

 worker in the Presbyterian church. He bears the distinc- 

 tion of being the only layman in the State of Illinois who is 

 chairman of any of the many committees of the synod 

 which comprises the Presbyterian churches of the State. 

 Sometimes we are inclined to think that it is the Methodist 

 blood in him that helps to make him a good Presbyterian. 

 You know it is said that " blood tells." 



Mr. O. O. Poppleton, of Dade Co., Fla., wrote us 

 March 28 : 



"My honey season is just coming on. As I wrote you a 

 short time ago, our bees are not in their usual strong con- 

 dition for the time of year, and altho the saw palmetto 

 promises an unusually large flow of honey, the lack of 

 strong colonies will prevent my getting a full crop. Other 

 bee-keepers up and down the coast, whose fields were not so 

 badly fire-swept as mine were last spring, tell me their bees 

 are in their usual condition." 



Mr. C. a. H.^tch, of Richland Co., Wis., vice-presi- 

 dent of the United States Bee-Keepers' Association, wrote 

 us April 6': 



" Friend York : — According to present indications 

 there is to be no very serious loss of bees in our part of 

 Wisconsin. I have talkt with four or five bee-keepers rep- 

 resenting an ownership of over 600 colonies, and onlj' one 

 reports serious loss, and this lot were wintered out-of-doors 

 protected by straw packing only. Of course, bees are in 

 the cellar yet, and putting-out time maj' change things 

 somewhat, but I think not much. 



"It is too early to say much about the honey prospect,, 

 but I can say this much, white clover does not appear to be 

 injured. I hope for a good honey season, and a prosperous 



year." 



* # » ♦ ♦ 



The Fearful Traveler. — Dr. Peiro has traveled a 

 good deal, and makes the following observations : 



"It is almost pathetic to note, in traveling, the fear 

 some display- at their surroundings. Not from danger of 

 accidents, but dread of the evils that may befall them from 

 contact with their fellow travelers. 



"From childhood thej' have been admonisht regarding 

 the subtlety of strangers that the unfortunate credulous are 

 at once on guard, and the defensive, lest every hand but 

 their own be raised against them. The anxiety they dis- 

 play on this score is manifested by the ludicrous efforts 



