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DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., OCTOBER 8, 1884. 



No. 41. 



<f^l5 AMEBIGSi*^ 





Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS Q. NEWMAN, 



Editop. and Pkoprietor. 



" Honey-Dew " for Winter Stores. 



Notwithstanding the caution that 

 •we gave in the Bee Journal for 

 jVug. 6, 18S4, we learn that tliere are 

 quite a number of bee-keepers who 

 assert that tlieir bees will have noth- 

 ing else for winter stores. We do not 

 wish to interfere with their rights or 

 privileges, but will present the mat- 

 ter again, so that they must " sin 

 against light and knowledge " if they 

 " still persist in their murderous de- 

 signs " towards their bees. 



To allow the bees to go into winter 

 quarters with naughtbutthe so-called 

 honey-dew, is sure to result in nearly 

 a total loss. As proof for this asser- 

 tion we will cite a bee-keeper of Wis- 

 ■consin, who, to our knowledge, last 

 winter, lost 107 colonies out of 12.5, 

 because they were condemned to try 

 to subsist on the vile stuff called 

 ■' honey-dew." That they did not all 

 die is due to the fact that the 18 colo- 

 nies happened to have some white 

 clover honey stowed away in their 

 hives where they could get at it, and 

 hence this little gleam of light among 

 the darkness — the few living bees 

 among tlie myriads of dead 1 " What 

 shall we do? asks an enquirer, who 

 adds : " We have nothing else to give 

 our bees ; they have gathered no honey 

 this year." Nothing else to give 

 them, when confectioners' or granu- 

 lated sugar can be bought for less 

 than 7 cents per pound ! Let them 

 die for want of food when a dollar 

 will save a whole colony ! Pshaw ! 



Would you let your best cows or 

 horses shift for themselves, and live 

 or die, as the case may be, depending 

 on the grass they could find during 

 our cold winter blasts— rather than 



spend a dollar or two for winter food 

 for each of them V 



What would be thought of the 

 business sagacity of farmers who 

 would manage as before described 

 witli their stock ? Aye, what would 

 be thought of their claim to sanittj f 



Will bee-keepers show any more 

 business sagacity or sound sense if 

 they let their bees shift for them- 

 selves, gather '• honey-dew" because 

 there is naught else to gather, and 

 then leave them to live or die, as the 

 case may be, when a dollar a colony 

 would save them V 



Let it be borne in mind that the 

 bees will not eat thehonej'-dew fraud, 

 except as a dernier resort — when it 

 comes to that or nothing ! And what 

 is the result ? It takes but a short 

 time to wind up their existence 



Fortunately, in some localities the 

 fall crop of honey is quite good, and 

 the bees will have enough from that 

 source for winter use, for the weather 

 is very favorable for gathering honey. 

 The " honey-dew " may be utilized 

 for spring feeding, when the bees have 

 frequent flights— but not for winter 

 stores under any circumstances. 



Several persons have reported quite 

 severe sickness after eating the trash 

 on empty stomachs. And now let us 

 add a word about the placing of such 

 stuff on the market. 



A tour through the honey marts 

 reveals the fact that quite a lot of the 

 vile stuff is marketed under the cog- 

 nomen of " thick buckwheat honey," 

 in the extracted form. It is equally a 

 serious matter to state (though it is 

 the truth ) that some of the comb 

 honey on this market is tainted with 

 it— so great was the supply of " honey- 

 dew " when there was a general 

 dearth of nectar in the flowers. Now, 

 what will the effect be on the market ? 

 It will retard and contract sales— 

 those who buy it once, want no more. 



But this is not all ; at the beginning 

 of this season comb honey retailed at 

 25 cents, wholesaling at 20 and 22 

 cents ; now we hear of lots being 



sold at 12 cents per pound, and ex- 

 tracted has been sold as low as 6J^ 

 cents per pound. All this because 

 some bee-men have thought more of 

 the " filthy-lucre" than of honor and 

 integrity ! Let us hope that there 

 are none among the readers of the 

 Bee Journal who would be guilty 

 of selling the " vile trash " as honey. 

 If they have, and it is labeled with 

 their names— Good-by to their honey 

 trade in the future. 



This shows the importance of Con- 

 ventions and Bee-Literature. Edu- 

 cate ! Educate ! is the watch-word. 

 Drive out ignorance, non-progressive 

 management, and old-fogy notions, 

 by hard arguments and wise counsels. 

 Let all think these things over, and 

 be wise. 



^ Convention at Chicago, Oct. 15. 

 It promises to be a very interesting 

 re-union of the bee-men of the West. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison, Peoria, 111., writes 

 to tlie Prairie Farmer as follows : 



I can indorse fully all that is said in 

 the call for the Northwestern ]3ee- 

 Keepers' Convention. The member- 

 ship of this Association contains the 

 names of prominent bee-keepers of 

 Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michi- 

 gan. No other city is so accessible to 

 the apiarists of the North and West 

 as Chicago, many diverging lines of 

 railroad centering there. Tlie officers 

 of the Asdociation yearly secure re- 

 duced rates at hotels and restaurants, 

 so that the expense of attendance is 

 trivial, in comparison with the bene- 

 fits gained. 



t^ The preparation of bees for 

 winter should now be the study of all 

 judicious bee-keepers. If not yet de- 

 cided as to how to prepare them, read 

 up at once ; apply the knowledge ob- 

 tained to practice, and be prompt in 

 making all the necessary arrange- 

 ments. — Indiana Farmer. 



t^For $2.75 we will supply the 

 Weekly Bee Journal one year, and 

 Dzierzon's Rational Bee-Keeping, in 

 paper covers; or the Monthly ISee 

 Journal and the book for $1.75. Or, 

 bound in cloth, with Weekly, $3.00 ; 

 with the Monthly, $2.t0. 



