THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



323 



19J^xl5 inches, usiiis 10 fi-ames to the 

 hive, and I prefer the 7 inch frame, 

 and am cuttincf all my cmiibs to that 

 width. I find they are easier to 

 handle, contain an abundance of sur- 

 face for brood-rearing, with plenty of 

 honey for wintering, and it gives, [ 

 thinlf, superior advantages in honey 

 gathering. 



The season has been very cold and 

 backward here, up to June; since 

 then, we have had too much rainy 

 weather. White clover is abundant, 

 and bees are doing well, when they 

 can, they work strongly and store 

 some surplus, but are not swarming. 



Hinesborough, 111., June 11, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Antidote for Bee Stings, etc. 



E. H. THURSTON, M. D. 



The sting of the honey bee malies 

 cowards of many brave, strong men. 

 Were it not for this, the army of bee- 

 keepers would liave many new re- 

 cruits each year. The bees, though 

 small compared with man, but few 

 are willing to meet in combat. 



There has been some inquiries for 

 an antidote for the poison of stings. 

 Some bee-keepers laugh at the idea 

 of an antidote, while others make 

 very earnest inquiries for it. I have 

 been experimenting with various arti- 

 cles, and have found, 1 think, a true 

 antidote. It may not be new to many, 

 but I feel contideiit, all who are af- 

 fected by the poison, will appreciate its 

 value. It is carbonate of amonia. It 

 should be powdered and kept in a 

 tightly-corked bottle. I always carry 

 a small phial of it in my pocket, 

 which I use in my practice. When I 

 receive a sting, I wet the surface over 

 the sting, and apply a small amount 

 of it. The pain is relieved imme- 

 diately, and it never swells. 



I was called a few days ago to see a 

 child, about 3 years old, who, in child- 

 ish play, put a stick into the entrance 

 of a strong colony of bees. They 

 stung him very badly on the liead, 

 face and neck ; there were not less 

 then 100 stings. I had him bathed 

 with a strong solution of carbonate of 

 amonia, and gave him a solution of 

 some of it inwardly. The next day 

 one could not tell that the little fel- 

 low had been stung at all. 



Did you, Mr. Editor ever hear of 

 roast chicken as bee feed ? We have 

 a box-hive bee-keeper, in this county, 

 who says that every winter he cool^s 

 a chicken and puts it in Ids hives for 

 the bees to feed on ; that they eat it 

 all up clean, not leaving anything but 

 clean bones. This is new to me. 



Bees are just beginning to work on 

 white clover. May was a hard month 

 on them. The cold, snow and rain 

 prevented them from- building up, but 

 they are now doing well. 



Hagerstown, Ind., June 9, 1883. 



[Yes ; we have heard of such before ; 

 some cook eggs and puts in the hives ; 

 others give them whisky — but all these 

 notions belong to the superstitions of 

 the past, with that of " telling the 



bees of a death in the family," and 

 refusing to sell them, because it is 

 imluck!/ to do so, etc. — Ed.] 



Read before the Te.xiia Convention. 



A Few Thoughts on Marketing. 



DR. J. p. H. BROWN. 



That there is a pleasure associated 

 with the production of an article, 

 whether it be a thing of beauty or 

 something that administers to our 

 health or happiness, cannot be denied. 

 The amateur tiorist goes into ecstacy 

 as he watches some" rare flower bud 

 and unfold its petals and display its 

 gorgeous tints. The fruit culturist 

 glories in the production of a s|>eci- 

 men of some rare apple, pear, peach, 

 grape or berry; while the apiculturist 

 prides himself in his bees and in the 

 production of tons of honey. lie 

 loves to see the product of liis little 

 pets. ]5ut aside from the mere pleas- 

 ure of production, there is probably a 

 greater pleasure to know that we can 

 dispose of the product for dollars and 

 cents, and be thereby rewarded for 

 our labor. 



True, the production of honey is 

 much easier than it is to finda market 

 for it, still I am satisfied from my own 

 experience and from the experience 

 of others, that markets can often be 

 made where before there were com- 

 paratively none. As a general thing, 

 the nearer home the market is. the 

 better it is for the producer. High 

 freights and commissions are pretty 

 certain to eat up the profits. There 

 is not a town nor village in the South 

 where a trade in honey cannot be 

 established if the proper means are 

 taken to introduce it. There can be 

 no excellence without labor and exer- 

 tion, and there can be no honey mar- 

 ket without the right kind of efforts. 

 Up to witiiin a few years past, our 

 Southern honey went to market in the 

 worst possible condition— mashed and 

 messed along with pollen, dead bees 

 and juicy larvpe, in old buckets and 

 tubs, presenting everything but an 

 inviting appearance to the purchaser. 

 Such stuff, instead of inviting the 

 buyer, has a tendency to engender 

 disgust. But with our modern appli- 

 ances for obtaining honey, there is no 

 longer an excuse for any such bad- 

 conditioned honey to come on the 

 market. It has been pretty well set- 

 tled by the largest honey producers 

 of our country, that honey put up in 

 small packages sells the most readily, 

 particularly at home markets. Com- 

 pactness, neatness and attractiveness 

 are essentials to be observed on the 

 part of the producer. Many persons 

 who may at first buy a small package, 

 will soon return and want a larger. 



When we cannot sell our honey 

 directly to the consumer, then we 

 have to send it to the middle-man or 

 commission merchant. And right 

 here it should be remembered that 

 not one grocery merchant in fifty 

 knows how to handle honey. The ex- 

 pert salesman, like the expert pro- 

 ducer, must have a natural fitness for 

 the position. When a merchant is 



willing to undertake it, and displays 

 the necessary tact and ability to 

 introduce the commodity to his custo- 

 mers, the bee-keepers of the neighbor- 

 hood should sustain him; because 

 there would be a likelihood of his 

 better being able to keep up the price 

 and exteiKl the sales, then if it was 

 put in the hands of half dozen 

 groceryraen of the town to sell at all 

 sorts of prices, and to be offered in 

 all sorts of shapes. 



Although honey was one of the first 

 articles of sweetening tliat man knew 

 anything about, and the exclusive 

 article for thousands of years, still at 

 the present day the majority of people 

 know comparatively nothing of its 

 properties, and the multitudinous 

 uses to which it can be applied. The 

 people should know of its remedial 

 qualities ; they should know that it is 

 pure, and the syrup that God prepares 

 in the laboratory of the flower, and 

 that it would be far better to use it in 

 their families to the exclusion of the 

 adulterated and glucosed syrups that 

 breed disease and death. Bee-keep- 

 ers' wives should go to the conven- 

 tions, associations and fairs and dis- 

 play their honey-cakes and their 

 tioney preserved fruits. This would 

 attract attention, and give honey a 

 prominent place in the culinary art. 

 If bee-keepers were to distribute 

 pamphlets calculated to educate the 

 people upon these questions, great good 

 would result in the increased con- 

 sumption of honey ; and I know of 

 nothing better for this object then a 

 little book entitled : " Honey as 

 Food and Aledicine," published by 

 Thomas G. Newman, of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, Chicago, 111. 



When it becomes necessary to ship 

 honey long distances it had always 

 better be extracted, well cured before 

 barreling, put up clean, and the bar- 

 rels shouid be secured against leak- 

 ing. It is very annoying to a honey 

 merchant to find a consignment of 

 honey come in a leaking condition — 

 the car floor covered with it, and a 

 stream of it running across the depot 

 — all owing to the carelessness of the 

 shipper. If bee-keepers desire good 

 markets and good prices for their 

 honey, they must encourage concert 

 of action among themselves, be faith- 

 ful and vigilant, and offer their pro- 

 duct in the neatest, most attractive 

 and secure manner. 



Augusta, Ga. 



Local Convention Directory. 



issa. Time and Place oj Meeting. 



June 30.— Fulton County Iowa, at Astoria, Iowa. 



June yC'.— Central Kansas, at Manhattan, Kas. 



Thos. Uassler, Sec. 



Aug. 29.— Iowa Central, atWinterset FairGrounds, 



Z. G. Cooley. See. Pro tern. 

 Sept. 12-14.— Tri-State, at Toledo. Ohio. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, Sec, WaKon Works, O. 



Oct. 9, 10.— Northern Mich, at Sheridan, Mich. 



O. R. Goodno, Sec, Carson City. Mich. 



Oct. 17, 18.— Northwestern, at Chicaco, ni. 



ThomasG. Newman. Seo, 



Oct.— Northern Ohio, at Norfalk, O. 



S. F. Newman, Seo, 



Dec. 5Hi, Michigan State, at Flint. 



U. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich, 



tW In order to have this table complete, Seore^ 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars 

 time and place of future meetinus.— KD. 



