264 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



April 27, 1899. 



PVBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



George W. York & Company, 



116 Michigan St., Gliicago, III, 



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



[Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Secoad-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. 



ilXembership Pao— 91^00 per Annum, 



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. 



f»iace and Date of Xext JUeetlng: 



Philadelphia^ Pa., September 5,6 and 7, 1899. Every bee-keeper is invited. 



VOL. 39. 



APRIL 27, 1899 



NO. 17. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthog-raphv 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. 



IF. 



If we noticed little pleasures 



As we notice little pains; 

 If we quite forget our losses 



And remembered all our gains; 

 If we lookt for people's virtues 



And their faults refused to see. 

 What a comfortable, happy. 



Cheerful place this world would be. 



—Farm Journal. 



Following the Leaders.— Mr. F. L. Thompson has this 

 sentence in the April Progressive Bee-Keeper : 



" Sad experience has taught me that, all things con- 

 sidered, it is not the best policy to follow the leaders ; but 

 to cultivate an independent judgment in the matters which 

 touch the pocket-book." 



Well, that's a little tough on some of us beginners, if 

 we can't take any advantage of the experience of those who 

 have gone before, but must blaze our own waj- thru the for- 

 est, whenever the pocket-book is to be considered. As Mr. 

 Thompson is one of the leaders, some will probably make a 

 near application of his teaching by not following his pres- 

 ent adjVice. 



The Philadelphia Convention Rates It seems the rail- 

 road companies have already arranged the matter of rates 

 for the Grand Army to Philadelphia in September. And 

 that means the rates are also settled for the annual conven- 



tion of the United States Bee-Keepers' Association. The 

 following paragraphs are taken from the Chicago Record 

 for April 14 : 



For the national encampment of the Grand Armj- of 

 the Republic, to be held at Philadelphia Sept. 4 to 9, the 

 Eastern roads yesterday agreed to make a rate of one fare 

 for the round trip from Chicago and all points in the Cen- 

 tral Passenger Association territory. The same rate will 

 be made over all lines, .standard and differential alike. It 

 was also agreed that the Philadelphia rates should apply to 

 New York. In addition, the lines running out of Philadel- 

 phia and Washington are arranging to make reduced rates 

 for side trips to Richmond and Fredericksburg, and to the 

 battlefields of Virg-inia. 



Tickets will be placed on sale Sept. 1 to 4, inclusive, 

 good for return up to Sept. 12. By depositing ticket with 

 the joint agent of the lines at Philadelphia, and payment of 

 a fee of 50 cents, the return limit can be extended up to 

 Sept. 30. Liberal concessions in the way of stopovers have 

 been made. Ordinary tickets will permit of one stopover in 

 each direction in the territory east of Pittsburg and Buffalo. 

 Upon payment of an additional $2 another stopover in each 

 direction will also be permitted. 



The travel to the national encampment promises to be 

 very heavy this year. ■ The general ptiblic is expected to 

 embrace the opportunity of visiting the seashore in Sep- 

 tember in large numbers. The roads are already " hus- 

 tling " for business, and the gathering will probably be one 

 of the best-attended in the history of the Grand Army. 



We hope that the gathering of bee-keepers in Philadel- 

 phia will be one of the largest ever known in this country. 

 Never, likely, will railroad rates be any lower than one fare 

 for the round trip. It is yet over fotir months until the 

 convention. Let all who can possibly do so make their 

 plans to be there, all being well. 



The Honey Prospects in Southern California. — Prof. 

 Cook wrote us as follows April 10 : 



The rains have come, and we shall have a fine hay and 

 grain crop. Will we have any honey ? I think that re- 

 mains to be seen. We have had far less rain than is usually 

 supposed necessary to secure a honey crop. Yet we need 

 more observation. It maj' be it has come at just the rig'ht 

 time. Last year we had about the same rainfall as this, 

 yet no hay crop. I find the flowers buncht this season. The 

 black sage and other bloom are out two months earlier 

 than usual. It may be that we shall have more and copious 

 rains yet. In fact, a storm is now brewing. It maybe that 

 the rains will be so well timed that we shall have a honey 

 crop even with less than the usual rain. Several of our 

 best apiarists are moving their bees to the alfalfa regions 

 of central California. A. J. Cook. 



Getting Farmers to Keep Bees. — Occasionally there 

 arises some one who in no uncertain words deplores the 

 idea of getting' all the farmers and fruit-growers to keep 

 bees. But Mr. J. H. Tichenor, of Crawford Co., Wis., be- 

 lieves in the opposite view, and expresses himself as follows 

 on the subject, giving reasons for the faith that he holds : 



" What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world 

 and lose his own sotil ?" This is, in my opinion, just what 

 we as bee-keepers are doing when we try to keep our farmer 

 brethren out of the bee-business. Let me give you some 

 reasons why it will pay us to induce our farmer neighbors 

 to keep a few bees : 



1st. Farmers are learning that they must spray their 

 fruit-trees, and in so doing are slaughtering bees by the 

 wholesale. Now, if every other farmer owned one colony 

 each, just a hint to them that they might kill all of f/wtr 

 bees would be sufficient to prevent this evil. 



2nd. It would be no trouble to get them to subscribe for 

 our modern bee-literature, and thus learn that it requires 

 some effort on our part to produce a paying crop of first- 

 class honey. And they would appreciate our efforts to pro- 

 duce good honey. No teacher is as good as experience. 



3rd. They would learn to lii:e honey, and^so would con- 

 sume more of it, thus advancing the price of a first-class 

 article. 



4th. The final outcome will be (I speak somewhat from 

 experience) not more than one out of ten will ever make a 



