Dec. 7, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



777 



should be as does the producer, and also knows the market 

 value of honej- in his cit^-. 



We should say, never ship any but the finest grades of 

 honey to a city market. Sell the inferior kinds at home, or 

 give them away, but don"t expect to g-et the price of the 

 best for the poor grades. Or, first send a true sample of 

 the honey you wish to sell. 



When we examined the lot of honey referred to above, 

 we really felt sorry for the dealer who had agreed to buy it. 

 Some bee-keepers have much to learn yet about honey. 

 What they think is the finest often turns out to be a very 

 common or poor grade when compared with other shipments 

 of honey. • But the only way to learn some things is to get 

 it by experience, even if it does seem to come high in that 



Color of Honey — Wm. Muth-Rasmussen complains in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture that many bee-keepers do not 

 classify their honey as to the color of the honey itself. A 

 section of honey is judged merely bv the outside appear- 

 ance. In a room in which the light' enters by only one 

 window, hold the section up between the window and the 

 eye, and thus looking ////// the section you can classify it 

 as to color. If the light enters at any "other but the one 

 place, the color of the honey can be seen only indistinctly. 

 Mr. Muth-Rasmussen suggests having samples of various 

 shades in small vials, these to be used as standards bv 

 which to classify honey. The editor thinks the candying 

 would interfere with the usefulness of such samples," and 

 hints that colored cards might be used instead, such cards 

 not costing more than a cent apiece. It is earnestly to be 

 hoped that Editor Root will not let the matter rest till such 

 cards are produced. Even if they should not fully answer 

 their purpose, it would be much to have something as a 

 standard of color. At present, one man calls white what 

 another calls amber, and perhaps the majoritv have no 

 clearly defined idea as to different shades. By"all means, 

 Mr. Root, give us the color-cards. 



To Our Foreign Subscribers — This paragraph is for 

 those of our subscribers outside of the United States, Can- 

 ada and Mexico. It ought not to be necessarv to announce 

 it, but it seems that we must again repeat tliat any offers 

 we make anywhere, do not apply to bee-keepers located in 

 any country outside of the three above named. This should 

 be self-evident on account of the extra postage to foreign 

 countries. Whenever we receive a«v mone.y from foreign 

 countries (except Canada and Mexico) we just apply it all 

 on subscription, and will stop sending the Bee Journal to 

 such when the time paid for expires. 



We trust this notice will be read by those foreign sub- 

 scribers who have sent us money on our offers of queens, 

 books, etc., in connection with the Bee Journal. We simply 

 mail the Bee Journal to such for the amount thev send, and 

 make no other response. 



Mr. CH.4.S. C. MiixKR, son of Dr. C. C. Miller, has re- 

 cently been promoted to be clerk of the Inspector General at 

 Havana, Cuba. He was in the Government War office at 

 Washington previous to the appointment to his new posi- 

 tion in Cuba. We wish " Charlie " every success wherever 

 he may be. 



# # ♦ ♦ # 



Mk. Wm. a. Pkv.\i„ of San Francisco Co., Calif., wrote 

 us as follows, Nov. 22, about a great rain California has 

 just been blest with : 



" We have just past thru a great rainstorm. While we 

 were not in need of it, it has been of untold benefit, as it 

 assures us of a sufficient rainfall for the remainder of the 

 season. There is not the least doubt but we shall have 

 plenty of rain at intervals during the winter and spring to 



give us a great crop of grain, fruits, etc., nest year. Of 

 course the honey crop is not guaranteed altog-ether by the 

 copiousness of the rainfall ; the atmospheric condition of 

 the weather at the time the flowers are in bloom has much 

 to do with the flow of nectar. Then, if there should be 

 foggy weather at such time, the amount of honey gathered 

 will be materially affected thereby. But, as I have intima- 

 ted, we are in a fair way to count on a big crop of honey 

 thruout the State the coming year." 



* ## * # 



Mr. E. R. Harris, of Ontario, Canada, writing us Nov. 

 20, had this to say : 



"In renewing my subscription to your estimable Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, let me say that I have found great pleas- 

 ure as well as profit in the peiusal of its pages, and so long 

 as I keep bees, and the Bee Journal maintains its present 

 high standard of excellence, so long will I be a subscriber."' 



Thank j-ou, Mr. Harris. We hope you will always keep 

 bees. 



* # * ♦ ♦ 



Editor W. M. B.\rnum, of Baruum's Midland Farmer, 

 has this paragraph in a recent issue of his paper : 



" The probability of the early adoption of the new pho- 

 netic method of spelling by the University of Chicago will, 

 we are sure, meet with tlie heartj' approval of Editor York, 

 of the American Bee Journal. It is a move in the right 

 direction, and we shall take it up ourselves at some future 

 time." 



We would like to suggest to Mr. Barnum that if the 

 spelling reform " is a move in the right direction," he'd 

 better not wait until " some future time " to get a '•'■move on 

 him " like that. " Noiu is the accepted time," etc. 



* # * ♦ # 



Thk Michigan State Convention. — We have received 

 the following from Hon. Geo. E. Hilton, about the next 

 meeting of the Michigan State Bee-Keepers' Association : 



Friend York : — I have just returned from Thompson- 

 ville, Michigan, the place of holding the next State bee- 

 keepers' convention, which occurs Jan. 1 and 2, 1900. This 

 will give us the advantage of the holiday rates on all rail- 

 roads, and I have secured a rate of 75 cents per day at all 

 three of the hotels. We have the Maccabees hall free of 

 charge. This bids fair to be the largest convention held in 

 the State in many years. Either Mr. J. T. Calvert or Mr. 

 Ernest R. Root will be there, and other noted bee-keepers. 



Geo. E. Huton, Pies. 



We would like to urge every bee-keeper who can pos- 

 sibly attend this convention to be present. Michig-an bee- 

 keepers always have a good convention, whether the at- 

 tendance be large or small. But the next meeting ought to 

 be a big one. 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 



Nicotine Poison. — Dr. Peiro, the experienced Chicago 

 physician, writes us as follows : 



"I am interested in Mr. A. I. Root's illustration regard- 

 ing his friend's tobacco habit, as given on page 733. Mr. 

 Herkner's experience is simply that of thousands of others 

 who, thru ignorance or willfulness (generally the latter), 

 persist in the use of one of our most virulent narcotic 

 poisons. 



"For twenty years, and more, I have urged upon patients 

 the absolute necessity of permanentU' quitting the use of 

 tobacco in any form, to maintain or recover their health. 

 Most have an excuse, however, ready and potent to annihi- 

 late all arguments. The way some roll their eyes in abject 

 consternation, and vow their utter inability to forego mak- 

 ing smoke-stacks of themselves, with pipes or cigars, 

 makes me blush for the sex I represent. 



"Such utter despair at the very thoug-ht of really having 

 to stop the use of the loud-smelling weed is indeed pitiful, 

 as indicating the complete lack of manly determination. 

 Young lads, barely entered apprentices in the noxious ex- 

 periment, affect the most doleful sorrow at the suggested 

 abstinence. They bewail the fate that requires so soul- 

 torturing sacrifice 1 Indeed, life could be but an intoler- 

 able burden without tobacco. 'O no-o ! I couldn't live 

 without it ; I'd die, doncherknow I' 



"I wonder what the progeny of such weaklings will be ? 

 Or will Nature come to the rescue to prevent moral degen- 

 eracy ? If not, the common clam will far eclipse them in 

 intelligence. " 



