u Journal, 



DEVOTED TO THE INTERl^STS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XIX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., DECEMBER 26, 1883. 



No. 52. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 



®" We point with pride to the 

 copious Indexes contained in this 

 paper. They will be of untold value 

 to those who bind the Journal, or 

 those who use Emerson Binders in 

 which to keep the volume. 



1^ "Fifty-two dividends a year 

 from $2 invested." That is what 

 every one will receive who subscribes 

 for the AVeelcly Bee Journal. 



®° The Rev. S. L. Stiver, of Bunker 

 Hill, Ills., asks: "Will pure honey 

 granulate ? and if so, is it as nutri- 

 tious and wholesome as the ungranu- 

 lated y" Yes ; nearly all pure honey 

 will granulate on the approach of cold 

 weather or before, and is not only as 

 nutritious, but it is preferred by many 

 for table use and medicinal purposes. 



^" As the reading season has come 

 with the long winter evenings, it is 

 just the time to read the various books 

 on Bee-keeping. When renewing 

 your subscriptions will be a good time 

 to get a supply of such literature. See 

 ^ oiu' club rate on Books with the Bee 

 yf Journal, on the first page of this 

 paper. 



^g" We have received tlie Catalogue 

 and Price List of Mr. Elvin Arm- 

 strong, Jerseyville, 111., for 18S4. The 

 Crown bee hive and supplies generally. 



The Volume for 1883 is Finished, 



^" We can supply photographs of 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth, the Baron of 

 Berlepsch, orDzierzon, at 25 cts. each. 



^For $2.75 we will supply the 

 Weekly Bee Journal one year, and 

 Dzierzon's Rational Bee-Keeping, in 

 paper covers ; or in cloth for $3.00. 



With this number of the Weekly 

 Bee Journal, the volume for 1SS3 is 

 complete I The work on it is done— 

 the volume closed— the year ended — 

 another " star " added to the galaxy 

 of the bright luminaries of its exist- 

 ence ! 



The success of the Weekly Bee 

 Journal during the past years of its 

 existence, has far exceeded the expec- 

 tations of its ptd)lisher, and shows 

 that the time had fully come when its 

 existence was a public necessity. Wlio 

 among progressive apiarists would 

 now consent for a moment to go back 

 again to a monthly V Echo asks. 

 Who ? and the echo reverberates the 

 only reply. 



It is a source of much congratula- 

 tion to its friends, as well as its pub- 

 lisher, that it enjoys a reputation for 

 reliability and integrity, of which but 

 few of the publications of the world 

 can boast. 



We are quite willing to submit to 

 the verdict of its ten thousand readers, 

 as to how well it has sustained the 

 promises made a year ago, that it 

 would " continue to lead in all the 

 qualities of our ever-advancing art, 

 and maintain its high position as the 

 most enterprising Bee Paper of the 

 World." The thousands who have 

 already volunteered their appreciation 

 during the year, and testified of its 

 practical value by their continued 

 pationage, and those who now are 

 showing their esteem by promptly 

 renewing their 'subscriptions for the 

 coming year (and with these substan- 

 tial approvals send words of encour- 

 agement) ; all stimulate us to further 

 dilligence in the prosecution of our 

 life work. Its record, character, 

 power and usefulness in the past, is 

 its guarantee for the future. 



We have already engaged an army 

 of regular correspondents of the Bee 

 Journal for tlie year 1884, compris- 

 ing the best apicultural writers of 

 the present age, and many of tlie 



most practical and successful apiarists 

 of the world. 



As heretofore, the Bee Journal 

 will continue to be the medium for the 

 promulgation of the best thoughts of 

 the most advanced bee-keepers of|the 

 age— keeping abreast of the highest 

 progress, favoring the freest discus- 

 sion of all points of interest in api- 

 culture, advancing progressive ideas 

 and the newest practical conceptions 

 and improvements. 



Amid all the rush of correspondence 

 at this season of the year, we will 

 pause a momentto wish all ourreaders 



A MERRY CHRISTMAS, 



AND 



A HAPPY NEW YEAR! 



Honey Crop of France and America. 



Mr. Jas. McKnight, of Capistrano, 

 Cal., writes us as follows : 



A friend of mine, Mr. Louis Darti- 

 gues, of this place, asked me to guess 

 how many colonies of bees there were 

 in France. Of course I could not do 

 so. Judge of my astonishment when 

 he handed me the enclosed strip taken 

 from a French paper : 



Colonies, 1,971 .3(i5; lioney, 9,948,642 

 kilos. ; wax, 2,845,749 kilos. ; value of 

 honey, 14,94.5,835 francs ; value of 

 wax, 8,762,299 francs ; total, 23,698,134 

 francs. 



Translated to our figures it is about 

 as follows: Colonies, 1,971,3&5- honev 

 21,887,000 lbs.; wax, 6,260,600 lbs ' 

 value of honey, $2,989,167 ; value of 

 wax, $1,750,460 ; total value, $4,749,627. 



As we sometimes liear that the 

 United States is the largest honey- 

 producing country in the world, I 

 would like to know wliat tlie figures 

 of the last census gives, or how does 

 it compare with the above ? 



The last census reports have not yet 

 been published, hut it is estimated 

 that there are in the United States and 

 the Dominion of Canada, about six 

 millions of colonies of bees, and the 

 honey crop is valued at about thirty 

 millions of dollars. Tlie wax product 

 is valued at about two millions of dol- 

 lars. Modern management produces 

 less wax than with the old style of 

 destroying the bees for the honey and 

 wax. 



