684: 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 24, 



GGor^G \V, Voric, - - E<litor, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 Se JFittb Avenue, - CHICAGO, II^I^. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Poet-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.J 



Vol. fflV. CBICAGO, ILL,, OCT. 24, 1895. No. 43, 



Editorial Budget* 



Rev. E. T. Abbott, of St. Joseph. Mo., visited the 

 Bee Journal office last Saturday. He was on a business trip 

 through the States of Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri. 



That St. Joseph Convention Report.- On 



page 677 will be found the final action taken at Toronto con- 

 cerning the delayed Report of the St. Joseph convention of 

 last year. After a most thorough private examination by a 

 very competent committee, the blame is fixed, and ex-Secre- 

 tary Benton has his choice, either to refund the .$25 paid him, 

 turn over the balance of the Report, or receive the censure 

 voted him by the Toronto conventiou. 



Full of Mistakes.— The long essay by Mr. Allen 

 Pringle, on pages 677, 678 and 679, probably contains more 

 • " mistakes " than anything written very recently. This is no 

 reflection upon Mr. Pringle — it is a fact, but Mr. P. is not at 

 all to blame for the mistakes. He has done a good work in 

 pointing out errors of various kinds which have been, and are, 

 committed daily by both bee-keepers and bee-editors. 



I want to urge all to read Mr. Priugle's essay, even if it is 

 somewhat long. I have read it just four times, and heard it 

 read one time — at Toronto. And I have not changed my opin- 

 ion, expressed at the convention, that Mr. Pringle's essay was 

 one of the very best read at the meeting. It is of particular 

 interest to those who are somewhat new in the bee-business. 

 Read it — and then heed it. 



Honey-Plant InTorniation.— If you know of any 

 plant that is a good honey-yielder, I shall be glad to have you 

 report it, telling about its time and duration of blooming, how 

 to grow it, and, in fact, everything you know about it. Such 

 information would be valuable to all, and I would be pleased 

 to publish it. We cannot know too much about honey-yield- 

 ing plants, and if every bee-keeper would sow some self-seed- 

 ing, honey-producing plants each year, in a few years the 

 sources of honey would be greatly increased. No doubt many 

 could easily get permission to sow on their neighbors' waste 

 land or pastures. If so, that would be a great advantage. 



Then, in addition to the above, don't forget to set out 

 trees that yield honey, such as basswood, honey-locust, etc. 

 Unless there are blossoms for the bees to work on, they can't 

 be expected to fill their hives with honey. Do all in your 

 power to furnish the right kind of bloom, and the bees will do 

 their part, providing the weather and season are favorable. 



For the Ne-w North American.— While lying 

 on my bed several weeks ago, suffering from a severe attack 

 of tonsilitis, I fell to thinking about some of the things that 

 possibly the new society could undertake, and which I believe 

 would serve as an inducement to membership. One of them 

 is this : 



It could employ say four of its members to conduct ex- 

 periments in the interest of bee-keeping. I would have one 

 in the East — say Mr. Doolittle, of New York ; for the South, 

 Dr. Brown, of Georgia ; for the West, Prof. Cook, of Califor- 

 nia ; and for the North, Mr. Holtermann, of Canada. These 

 would not interfere with any State apiarian experiment sta- 

 tions, but could co-operate. Before the season opens I would 

 have all agree to conduct the same experiments, and then all 

 report upon them at the end of the season. Or, perhaps some 

 of them could be completed before the end of the season, and 

 such could be reported upon sooner in the bee-papers. 



I think that four such experiment apiaries could be 

 secured at very reasonable expense, and every member would 

 be exceedingly interested therein. You know every person 

 values more highly something he knows he has actually paid 

 for. One reason, I think, why State experiment stations and 

 apiaries are less appreciated than they ought to be, is because 

 no individual farmer or bee-keeper has directly contributed 

 anything to defray their expense. What is actually paid for 

 is often appreciated much more than an apparent gift. 



I would have the reports prepared by the four experimen- 

 ters published with the report of the proceedings of the an- 

 nual convention. This would help to make it a valuable 

 pamphlet. 



Again, at the annual meeting might be a good place to 

 decide upon the particular line of experiments to be con- 

 ducted the following season. By having State and Provincial 

 representatives present at the annual meeting, ought to make 

 it a fairly authoritative body — sufficiently so that they could 

 definitely outline the work for the succeeding year. 



Please do not understand me to mean that this work is In 

 any way to be a substitute for State or Provincial experiment 

 apiaries. Not at all. My thought is, that after getting these 

 started, it will be easier to interest State and Provincial legis- 

 latures in our behalf. 



Now, I have given here, and in a previous number, a few 

 suggestions for the new society, if such be formed. What 

 have others to say, either as to the practicability of my sug- 

 gestions, or regarding their own thoughts along the same line 

 — that of making the North American more effective and 



helpful? 



-*-*-»- 



Opinions DifTer very much concerning the Toronto 

 convention. While I do not think it equalled either of the 

 two preceding conventions, still I'm not prepared to say, as 

 has one bee-editor who was present, that I consider my "time 

 and money little less than thrown away," and I believe it cost 

 me about as much as it did any one, and quite a good deal 

 more than the critic above-mentioned. 



I was greatly surprised that but a few (probably half) of 

 those present failed to pay their annual dues. The list of 

 members, as published in the report, makes a small showing. 

 I think probably I enjoyed the meeting more because of hav- 

 ing paid my dollar. I cannot understand how anyone can 

 feel satisfied to attend a convention of the North American 

 and not contribute toward paying its expenses. But opinions 



differ. 



♦-»-* 



Mr. R. B. Le^hy, of the Leahy Mfg. Co., of Hig- 

 ginsville. Mo., and publishers of the Progressive Bee-Keeper, 

 called at the Bee Journal office Monday, Oct. 14. I had met 

 Mr. Leahy at the St. Joseph conventiou in 1894, but for a 

 few minutes only. He reported a fairly good year's trade, 

 and a hopeful outlook 



