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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 5, 



Geariro W. Y(tr]^, - - Editor. 



PUBMSHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 56 Flftb Avenue, - CHICAGO, IT.T^. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at the Post-OCBce at Cbicaeo as Second-ClasB Mail-Matter.] 



Vol. XXIV. CHICA&O, ILL, DEC, 5, 1895, No, 49, 



Editorial Budget. 



The International Bee-Congress closes its 

 sessions to-day, at Atlanta, (la. It is expected that a full re- 

 port of the proceedings will appear in the "Southern Depart- 

 ment " of the Bee Journal as soon as possible. 

 -t-*-^ 



mr. Hasty, who writes so interestingly for the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review, is a composer of some very excellent hymn- 

 tunes — regular Gospel songs that have the true ring. Dr. 

 Miller, it seems, has just recently learned the above concern- 

 ing Mr. Hasty, and notes It in a "straw" in Gleanings. 



The California Convention Report will ap- 

 pear in these columns next week. At the meeting held Nov. 

 18 and 19, a " California Honey Exchange " was formed. 

 This will be of great interest to honey-producers on the 

 Pacific Slope. Prof. Cook, as President, and Mr. J. H. Mar- 

 tin, as Secretary, were re-elected. 



■*-*-¥• 



A Symposium on "Wintering- occupies 10 pages 

 of Gleanings for Nov. 15. In his recapitulation of the eight 

 different articles on the subject of wintering bees. Editor 

 Root says that " it is significant that they agree on all impor- 

 tant essentials," which, primarily, are, "good bees of right 

 age ; good food, and suitable protection." Further reference 

 to this symposium will be found on page 777 of this number. 



Mr. J. "W. Rouse's Address on "Bee-Culture," 

 at the Farmers' Institute held at Ladrionia, Mo., received very 

 favorable mention in the local newspapers. One said : " Mr. 

 Rouse fully sustained his reputation of being one of the most 

 practical bee-keepers in the State, and at the same time made 

 one of the best speeches delivered before the Institute. It 

 was listened to with great interest." Mr. Rouse has an article 

 on page 775 of this number, referring to the Institute work 

 in Missouri. 



■Winter School of Agriculture.— The Univer- 

 sity of Illinois has arranged for a special term of school which 

 is of great interest to farmers. It will begin Jan. 6, and end 

 March 25, 1896. Tuition free. It is for the benefit of such 

 as are mostly interested in the business side of agriculture, 

 and to whom a knowledge of agricultural facts and practices 

 is of first importance. For further information and particu- 

 lars regarding the Winter School of Agriculture, address, 

 Eugene Davenport, Dean of the College of Agriculture, 

 Urbana, 111. 



Nomenclature of Bee-Culture. — In a recent 

 number of Gleanings Dr. Miller said this: 



" Germans are sometimes prodigal of words, but in one 

 case at least they are more economical than we. Instead of 

 saying a plant 'yields honey,' they just say the plant ' honeys.' 

 I wish we had such a verb." 



Editor Root then followed the above with this comment : 



" Bee-keepers, or, rather editors of bee-papers, might do 

 much at simplifying our nomenclature, without offending 

 good taste or obscuring the meaning. For instance, Lang- 

 strolh recommends the words 'queen' and ' unqueen ' as 

 verbs; and S. T. Pettit would use 'floor' instead of bottom- 

 board, and 'bar' instead of perforated metal. Gleanings will 

 be glad to assist." 



While I think bee-culture is freer from imperfections in its 

 nomenclature than any other pursuit of equal importance, I 

 am ready to help along in the line suggested by Dr. Miller and 

 Editor Root. But I fear "bar" would hardly be explicit 

 enough to indicate "perforated metal." "Hive-floor" for 

 "bottom-board " would be a little clearer, though not very 

 much shorter. "Queen " and " unqueen " are good. The Bee 

 Journal is ready to cn-operate in making improvements along 

 the line indicated. But Just now it thinks of no other impor- 

 tant changes to suggest. 



Three Questions— Please Ans-wer.— Before 

 Christmas (Dec. 25, 1895) there probably will be several 

 thousand of the Bee Journal subscribers who will renew their 

 subscriptions for 1896. Now, I would like all of them (and 

 any who have already paid for 1896), to kindly reply to the 

 following questions, as the answers will be a help to me in 

 more satisfactorily conducting the Bee Journal in the future : 



1. What department would you like to have more of? 

 '2. What department would you prefer less of ? 

 3. What have you to suggest that you think would be an 

 improvement in the contents of the Bee Journal ? 



You can answer simply by number, without writing the 

 question. Please do so on a separate sheet of paper from any- 

 thing else you may write, as I w.sh to file the answers by 

 themselves. Your responses are for my private information, 

 and will be gratefully received. 



I hope all who expect to read the Bee Journal during 

 1896 (and I trust that will include all who now read it), will 

 feel free to answer the three questions I ask above. 



A Xrue-Blue Bee-Keeper.— The following letter 

 contains such a genuinely kind and true spirit, that I feel it 

 should be published in full, so that others, who are similarly 

 situated, may be inspired to " go and do likewise :" 



Georoe W. York & Co.— Dear Sirs .—Please find §1.00 

 to pay for the American Bee Journal for 1896. I had no 

 honey, and had to feed my bees 1,100 pounds of sugar to get 

 them through the winter, and I felt so poor that I thought I 

 could not afford the Journal. Then I thought. "What would 

 become of our American Bee Journal if aJI the men who had 

 a honey-failure should stop the paper?" Then I said, "It 

 will not do; we must pay up." Yours truly. 



Fairwater, Wis., Nov. 25. R. K. McCune. 



Thank you, Mr. McCune. I assure you I appreciate the 

 generous and self-sacrificing sentiment of your letter. Having 

 such friends, I don't see how the American Bee Journal can 

 but go grandly forward. Oh, for ten thousand that could feel 

 as you do! Verily, you will be rewarded for your faithfulness 

 and devotion to bee-keeping and its literature. 



The lUinos State Convention.— Last week I 

 promised that in the next number I would give some notes and 

 incidents relating to the convention held at Springfield, 111., 

 on Nov. 19 and 20. 



Well, Dr. Miller and I left Chicago Monday evening, Nov. 

 IS, at 9 o'clock, going on the Illinois Central railroad. We 



