Oct. 19. 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



665 



Cash vs. Commission in Honey = Dealing. — At Phila- 

 delphia, commission men got their usual share of attention. 

 Referring- to this, and to the idea exprest by some that a 

 commission man might win favor by abandoning the com- 

 mission plan and paying cash, Editor Hutchinson, of the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review, wisely says : 



"This is probably true, but it must not be forgotten 

 that, in the very nature of things, such a dealer could not 

 afford to pay as high prices as might be secured by the com- 

 mission man. If a man furnishes his own capital, and 

 takes the risks of business, he must have pay for it." 



Dr. Miller, in a " Straj- Straw " in Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture, has also a good word for the commission man, as 

 follows : 



" Commission men are getting the worst of it nowa- 

 days. All right, brethren : bat them over the head all you 

 like ; but wait till a year comes with big crops and no 

 offers, and you may be glad to have a commission man work 

 for you. I've seen the same thing in years gone by. A 

 scarce year brought into the field many purchasers. Then 

 came a year of plenty, and ivith few exceptions they dropt 

 right back again into the ranks of commission work, pure 

 and simple. See if it isn't so again." 



Editor Root then adds his comment to what Dr. Miller 

 had to saj' on the subject : 



"I'm not one of those who believe that we can dispense 

 with the services of the commission men just j'et. Indeed, 

 I do not see how we ever can. But if we can induce more 

 of them to do business on cash basis it will do away %Tith 

 some of the friction we find here and there." 



We can't quite see how a commission man would be a 

 commission man any longer after he begins to do a cas/i 

 business. But perhaps Editor Root's " localitj' " differs 

 from Chicago. We still favor the cash business, and never 

 expect to handle honey on a commission basis. Does the 

 A. I. Root Co. handle honey on any other than a cash 

 basis? If that has been their method for years, why can- 

 not all other dealers do likewise ? We believe thev can. 



Mr. George Poindexter, of DeWitt Co., 111., one of 

 the exhibitors in the apiarian department at the Illinois 

 State Fair last month, called on us Oct. 7, when visiting 

 his son and daughter who live in Chicago. 



Mr. John H. Martin, of Los Angeles Co., Calif., writ- 

 ing us Oct. 7, said : 



"There was a little sprinkle of rain in the interior yes- 

 terday. We are hoping now that we will get wetness, and 

 a plenty of it, all thru the winter." 



Mr. F. L. Thompson, of Colorado, we learn, is making 

 a tour of Utah, looking up the bee-keepers of that State. He 

 went toward Salt Lake City on his bicycle until it broke 

 down on the desert, when he had to finish the journey on 

 the train. The yield of honey in the region of the above 

 city was about a quarter of a crop, we understand, and it 

 was sold at from 10 to 11 cents per pound for comb honey, 

 andS'i to6'2 cents for extracted. 



The Columbia Incuhator Co., of Delaware City, Del., 

 is the successor to the Von Culin Incubator Co., of that 

 place. We understand that the incubator offered by the 

 Columbia people is one of the very best on the market, and 

 is " sold on trial," guaranteed perfectly satisfactory in every 

 respect. We don't know what more can be expected. Bet- 

 ter send for a catalog, and mention seeing their advertise- 

 ment in the American Bee Journal. 



Mme. Modjeska was not only a famous actress, but 

 also a successful bee-keeper, as per the following item in 

 the British Bee Journal some time ago : 



"A letter from San Francisco, in the Berlin Tagliche 

 Rundschau, gives an account of Mme. Modjeska, in her 

 present character as a California farmer. She has a ranch 

 at the foot of the Santiago Peak, where she owns large 

 flocks of sheep, from which she derives a comfortable in- 

 come, and she includes amongst her stock 500 splendid An- 

 gora goats. Her great delight, however, is her prosperous 

 bee-culture, for which she has acquired a vride renown. She 

 owns over 700 colonies, and the honey is declared in the 

 neighborhood to be the best in the world. Mme. Modjeska 

 rises every morning at 5:30, visits her stables and cattle- 

 sheds, and makes the round of her bee-hives ; then she 

 mounts her horse, which she bestrides after the masculine 

 fashion, and gallops across her fields to see that everything 

 is in proper order. She finds the actual shepherding to be 

 more laborious, but more pleasant, than the part of the 

 jeweled and ribboned shepherdess a la Wattcau behind the 

 footlights." 



We do not know whether the lady still has her 

 bees, but we presume she has not given them up. Perhaps 

 some of our California subscribers know. 



Hon. Eugene Secor, General Manager of the United 

 States Bee-Keepers' Association, spent Thursday, Oct. 12. 

 in Chicago, when on his way to his Iowa home, from at- 

 tending the annual meeting of the National Farmers' Con- 

 gress \vhich met in Boston early this month. Mr. Secor 

 reports an unusually pleasant time among the historic 

 things and places in "and near Boston. The farmers' meet- 

 ing was held in old Faneuil Hall, famous as the gathering- 

 place of our forefathers when preparing the way for the 

 freedom of this nation ; and later again made sacred by the 

 eloquence of Wendell Phillips and other great orators who 

 were glad to be permitted " to spend and be spent " in the 

 cause of freedom for the colored slaves. Then Mr. vSecor 

 stood on Plymouth Rock, and " shed tears over the graves 

 of the fathers of our country." He visited the old battle- 

 fields of Lexington and Concord, and other places of great 

 interest. Mr. Secor was a delegate from Iowa, and has now 

 attended four meetings of the Congress. Last year it was 

 held in Texas. We know of few bee-keepers that travel as 

 extensively as does our General Manager, and who seem- 

 ing-ly enjoy long railroad trips as much as does he. 



Mr. John Carson, of Newton Falls, Ohio, aged 65 

 years, was stung to death by honey-bees. It seems that re- 

 cently he was afraid of his bees, and burned some sulphur 

 to render them harmless while he workt among them. In- 

 stead of dazing the insects the fumes of the drug infuriated 

 them, and they swarmed about his head and face stinging 

 him in innumerable places. Burning with intense agony 

 he reeled into his house, fell unconscious upon the floor, 

 and expired within a short time. He was an old resident. 

 We alwavs consider it safer to be protected with a veil when 

 fooling a'round bees. There is scarcely ever any excuse for 

 not having the face protected as it should be. One of the 

 best veils costs only 50 cents, and why any one should risk 

 his life for so small an amount is more than we can under- 

 stand. A sting on the hand seldom results fatally, but on 

 the face or head it occasionally does. It pays to be on the 

 safe side by wearing a good veil when doing anything with 

 bees that wear stingers. 



New Edition of A B C of Bee.Culture.— We have re- 

 ceived a copv of the new (1899) edition of " A B C of Bee- 

 Culture," by A. I. Root, and just revised by Ernest R. Root. 

 It is indeed a fine work, very interesting descriptions of 

 which have been given on pages 603, 619, and on page 635 of 

 this number of the Bee Journal. It is a book that every 

 bee-keeper should owti, and read thoroly. The regular post- 

 paid price is 31.20. but to all our subscribers who pay any 

 arrears that mav be due, and also SI. 00 for the Bee Journal 

 for 1900 (next year), we will mail a copy of A B C of Bee- 

 Culture for on'lv 75 cents, provided the order is received 

 before Januarv'l, next. We make this same offer to all who 

 have paid their sub.scriptions to the end of 1899— send us 

 SI. 75 and we will mail you the book and credit your sub- 

 scription for 1900. We make the same offers on " Lang- 

 stroth on the Honev-Bee," revised by Dadant (1899 edition). 



