424 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



July 6, 1899. 



Pt'BLISHT WEEKLY BY 



George W. York & Company, 



116 Michigan St., Chicago, III. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



SAMPLE COPY FREE. 



[Entered at the Post-OIEce 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 ; t(} protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration of 

 honey ; and to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



Alembersliip Fee—^l.OO per ^nniun. 



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 axd Treasurer— Eug-ene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



JPlace and DatG of Xext Afeetfng-; 



In Franklin Institute, 

 15_South 7th Street, between Market and Chestnut Sts,, Philadelphia, Pa., 

 . — -i September 5, 6 and 7, 1899. Every bee-keeper is invited. 



VOL. 39. 



JULY 6, 1899. 



NO. 2i 



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 Philological Society of England: — Change 

 "d" or ''ed" final to 'H" when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding sound. 



Writing for Publication — In answer to a correspon- 

 dent the Editor of Gleanings in Bee-Culture offers this 

 paragraph : 



" We use only about one-fourth of the manuscript that 

 is sent in for publication. Perhaps some that we do use is 

 not as good as some we refuse. If so, we err in judg-ment 

 in our selection. It is seldom that any publication is in- 

 teresting to every reader, from cover to cover. What will 

 interest one will not another." 



A very few of our contributors get terribly " riled up " 

 when we fail to publish their pen productions. We priiat a 

 good deal more than a fourth of the manuscript we receive. 

 Of course, it is an editor's duty to select the contents of his 

 paper, and he often errs in judgment, as Editor Root says, 

 for he is quite human, just like the rest of imperfect 

 humanity. 



But, take it all in all, the correspondents of our bee- 

 papers are a prettj' nice lot of people. So are those who 

 don't write, but prefer to keep their information to them- 

 selves. But it seems that more than ever before the bulk 

 of the contents of the bee-papers of to-day is contributed 

 by only a few writers, and those the old and thoroly experi- 

 enced. It is far different in this regard from what it was 

 10 to IS years ago. 



Fashions in Bee.Keeping seem to be almost as evident 

 a:id changing as in patterns and styles of ladies' dresses 



and hats. Editor Hutchinson, of the Hee-Keepers' Review, 

 seems to have had his attention called to this subject, 

 doubtless on account of having several charming young 

 ladies in his familj' (in fact, his children are all of the 

 feminine persuasion). Here is his comment : 



Fashions seem to change in bee-keeping in something 

 the waj' they do in clothing. Last year the girls' shirt- 

 waists were plaid. It makes no difference now whether the 

 plaid waists are worn out or not, they must be laid aside 

 for striped ones. Years ago the plain Langstroth frames 

 were good enough. Then they must have metal corners. 

 The corners proved a nuisance, and were laid aside. Next 

 came the Hoffman style of frame. Now some of the folks 

 are talking of making frames and hives two inches deeper. 

 Then there are the changes in supers, separators, sections, 

 smokers, etc. So it goes on until sometimes it seems as 

 tho changes were made in these things simply to have some- 

 thing new to sell, and so that we bee-journal fellows can 

 have something to talk about. Perhaps I am too severe — 

 but then, I am taking my share of it. 



In all seriousness, I suppose new things must be tried ; 

 but don't throw away the old for the new just because the 

 new is tifiv. 



But Editor Hutchinson ought not to be too hard on 

 the folks that are getting up new things. He mustn't for- 

 get that /;<• started a ttezv bee-paper some years ago, and 

 very few bee-keepers, comparatively, have ever had the 

 daring to do that, and expect all other bee-keepers to 

 change from the old and long establisht papers to the new 

 one. 



Of course, all new things in the line of bee-fixtures do 

 not prove of particular value, but from out the many sug- 

 gestions and inventions there ofttimes comes something 

 that is truly wonderful as well as eminently useful. We 

 say, try some of the new, but don't throw away the old un- 

 til satisfied that the new is really an improvement, and is 

 well worth replacing the old. 



England's Honey Supply.— Mr. Benj. G. Irving, of 

 New York, some time ago sent us the following interesting 

 clipping, which originally appeared in the Westminister 

 Gazette : 



English bees are unable to produce as much honey as 

 England needs. Every year we have to import 2,250,000 

 pounds, of which the declared value is 31,000 pounds ster- 

 ling, or about 3 'id- per pound. Among the countries en- 

 gaged in supplying our markets with this product, 

 the principal are the United States, Chili and Peru, 

 the other contributors including the British West Indies, 

 France, Australasia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the 

 Spanish West Indies. No statistics of the quantity of honej' 

 produced in the United Kingdom are obtainable, but it is 

 quite evident that bee-keeping is capable of being much 

 more profitably developt than it is. 



A Hint for Our Advertisers. — It isn't often that we 

 get anything that we can publish especially for our adver- 

 tisers, but here is a letter that we think some of them may 



profit by : ' '~', _ 



DuBUQUB County, Iow.\, June 26, 1899. 



Editor York : — I am a beginner in bee-keeping. I 

 take the American Bee Journal, and enjoy reading it very 

 much, so you can count me a steady subscriber. 



I read all the advertisements, and I see there are a great 

 many who sell bee-keepers' supplies, and can fill orders on 

 very short notice ; and I believe they can, because I sent a 

 $12 order for bee-supplies to Ohio ; I received the goods six 

 weeks afterward. 



Then I sent an order to Des Moines, Iowa, June 6, for 

 $2.00 worth of supplies ; they haven't come yet, but I guess 

 thev will pretty soon. 



Last winter I sent a postal card to one of the large 

 manufacturers of bee-supplies (who advertise in the Bee 

 Journal) for a catalog and price-list ; they wrote me they 

 were just out of catalogs and price-lists, but thej' were 

 going to have some printed, and would send me one. It has 

 not come yet, but I guess it will. 



I wrote to another big firm for their catalog ; they 

 have not sent any ; guess they are out, too. 



