890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



the lovers of good and pure food would not 

 have much of which to coroplain. Dr. Wiley 

 has evidently hit the nail on the head and 

 we hope he will keep on driving his spikes 

 until he has spiked the guns of all the enemies 

 of pure food. 



ANOTHEB PURE-FOOD SHOW; AN OPPOR- 

 TUNITY FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



Boston is not going to allow Chicago to 

 monopolize the pure-food-exhibition busi- 

 ness, and has decided to hold what it calls a 

 "Food Fair and House-furnishing Exposi- 

 tion;" and as the bean city is the avowed 

 center of the universe it ought to be a great 

 success. 



Every available foot of space in Mechanics' 

 Building, including Grand Hall and Exhibi- 

 tion Hall, with the lower floor and balcony 

 of each, and second balcony of Grand Hall, 

 Banquet Hall, Paul Revere Hall, and Tal- 

 bot Hall, comprising over 200,000 square 

 feet of space, has been leased. 



This seems to u& a very favorable oppor- 

 tunity for New England bee-keepers to show 

 to the world that honey is the best food 

 known to mankind, requiring no cooking, 

 spices, condiments, or other manipulations 

 to make it palatable, and, what is more im- 

 portant, that comb honey can not be coun- 

 terfeited successfully, and also that, under 

 the national pure-food law, extracted honey 

 is protected from adulteration, and honey is 

 honey. There is also a work to be done in 

 educating the public in the matter of distin- 



fuishing the different flavors of honey. We 

 ave made a great gain when a customer has 

 learned there is a kind of honey that exactly 

 suits his or her palate. 



REQUIRING COMMISSION MEN TO GIVE BOND 



FOR THE FAITHFUL PERFORMANCE OF 



THEIR DUTY TOVTARD CUSTOMERS, 



The State of Washington is making an ex- 

 periment which will be watched with con- 

 siderable interest in all parts of the coun- 

 try. A law was recently passed by the leg- 

 islature of that State, compelling all com- 

 mission houses to tile a bond. Houses not 

 rated at more than $20,000 have to put up 

 $3000 for the faithful performance of their 

 duty toward those who ship goods to them. 

 Another provision is that an account-sales 

 must be sent to the shipper within 48 hours 

 after the receipt of the goods. 



The object of the law is to drive irrespon- 

 sible houses out of the business, and in this 

 respect the law will have a salutary effect. 

 The idea of setting a time-limit for sales, 

 does not seem to be wise; at least, 48 hours' 

 is rather too short a time to effect sales. 

 The principle of compelling these houses to 

 tile an iron-clad bond seems to be good, and 

 will probably be imitated by other States. 



The commission business is all right in it- 

 self; but it has been greatly injured by some 

 irresponsible parties who have neither capi- 

 tal nor honesty to back up their promise of 

 a square deal to the shippers. We don't let 

 such people into our Honey Column if we 

 know it. 



CUTTING ALFALFA BEFORE IT IS RIPE — A 

 DANGEROUS PRACTICE. 



"It is well known also that immature al- 

 falfa is much more apt to injure stock when 

 cut for hay than well-manured well-cured 

 alfalfa." So says Prof. A. M. TenEyck, of 

 Kansas Experiment Station. No man in the 

 United States is better authority on the sub- 

 ject of alfalfa than Prof. TenEyck, and yet 

 he unreservedly condemns the cutting of im- 

 mature alfalfa. He wrote the above opinion 

 in answer to a correspondent of the Kansas 

 Farmer, who mentioned the loss of a young 

 horse by eating a few mouthfuls of alfalfa 

 hay cut before the blooming period. Some 

 one attributed the loss of the horse to the 

 fact that the hay had been frost bitten. Prof. 

 TenEyck, however, says alfalfa cut before 

 blooming would have this effect, and frost 

 had naught to do with it. 



Some time ago the Colorado Experiment 

 Station, in a valuable bulletin (Bull. 36) show- 

 ed that, by cutting alfalfa before blooming 

 the net loss was about 38 per cent. 



In the light of these facts it seems strange 

 that many ranchers persist in cutting this 

 crop before it has reached its blooming peri- 

 od. Apparently they have no good reason 

 for a practice that seems to be a distinct loss 

 to all concerned. Bee-keepers would do well 

 to help disseminate this truth. Thex'e was a 

 time when we feared that early cutting would 

 become a general practice, and, if so, the out- 

 put of alfalfa honey would be corresponding- 

 ly reduced. 



THE DOG IN THE MANGER; DESIRABLE LO- 

 CATIONS FOR BEE-KEEPERS IN NEW 

 TERRITORY. 



Every now and then we receive requests 

 for information as to the best places to keep 

 bees. Many of the inquirers state that, ow- 

 ing to ill health, it is necessary for them to 

 move to a warmer climate," such as, for ex- 

 ample, that of Texas, Arizona, or California; 

 what points in any of the States would we 

 advise? 



As a general rule the desirable locations in 

 the Western States where alfalfa is grown 

 have all been taken up. In some places the 

 territory is greatly overcrowded; and for one 

 more bee-keeper to move in is like adding the 

 "straw that breaks the camel's back;" that 

 is, it makes the business of honey production 

 unprofitable for all. 



On page 690 of our issue for May 15th we 

 gave a list of localities that the government 

 was about to irrigate. In most of these re- 

 gions proposed to be watered, the land is 

 cheap, being practically a desert; but With 

 the advent of the one thing needful, water, 

 and plenty of it, alfalfa will be grown by the 

 thousands of tons. This will necessarily cre- 

 ate tine bee pasturage. 



Those who have any notion of changing 

 their location should get in close touch with 

 the places about to be irrigated; then, after 

 learning whether the soil is suitable for grow- 

 ing alfalfa, be the tirst one to set bees in the 

 territory, or at least among the first. The 



