58 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



nor since, have had bees so strong 

 and sweet in the spring, and they 

 consumed very little honey. Some 

 colonies had natural stores, some 

 sugar, some part sugar and honey, 

 and about a dozen had plenty of bee- 

 bread, but I could not distinguish a 

 particle of difference. The one that 

 died had not stores enough, and was 

 about in the centre of the tier of 

 hives. I swept up a trifle over 3 

 bushels of dead bees, from November, 

 1883, to April 14, 1884. 



I have been in about fifteen bee- 

 cellars, and I never yet discovered 

 that outside noise disturbed bees. I 

 hope that no one will misunderstand 

 me, and think that one can go into 

 the cellar and kick or handle the 

 hives much as he pleases, without in- 

 jury to the bees, for I believe in keep- 

 ing everything as quiet as possible ; 

 but not as quiet as a bee-keeper 

 thinks who came to see me a few days 

 ago. While in the cellar talking to 

 him about the bees, he stopped me 

 and whispered, " Don't speak so loud; 

 you will disturb your bees." I do not 

 believe that any outside noise what- 

 ever will disturb bees in a cellar, as 

 long as the floor upon which the hives 

 stand, or the walls which they acci- 

 dently touch, are not jarred. 



South Toledo.x) Ohio. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Ttie Honey-Producers' Association. 



DR. G. L. TINKER. 



The editor's advice on page 723 of 

 the Bee Journal for 1886, is the 

 same that I have followed for years 

 in selling ray crop of comb honey. At 

 present my honey is selling in this 

 place on a commission of only 10 per 

 cent. I find that there is no hesita- 

 tion anywhere to taking it on 15 per 

 cent., and I think that is what it 

 should be. There are many reasons 

 why we should pay the retailer well. 

 I am witli our solicitous and un- 

 selfish editor of the Bee Journal 

 and Mr. Baldridge in this matter, 

 heart and soul, and I hope immediate 

 action will be taken by honey-pro- 

 ducers, to stem the course of commis- 

 sion men in forcing down the price of 

 honey in our leading markets. Our 

 merchants and grocerymen in the 

 small towns and cities are guided by 

 these low market reports in making 

 all purchases. 



Farmers and others who have small 

 amounts of honey to sell, are com- 

 pelled to almost give it away ; some 

 refusing the low prices offered, go 

 about trying to sell direct to con- 

 sumers, and the latter opine directly 

 that there is no sale for the article in 

 the market at the price asked, and 

 the result is that it goes a-begging at 

 a price below the cost of production. 

 All this is traceable directly to the 

 low market reports of commission 

 men. But the fact that comb honey 

 has sold here on our streets at 8 and 

 10 cents per pound, has not prevented 

 me from selling mv honey readily at 

 18 cents per pound." I believe that it 

 would sell for more if it was not for 



the discouraging, reports complained 

 of. 



If I bad more honey than I could 

 dispose of at home, I would ship it to 

 large towns and cities, and place it 

 myself in the hands of retailers on 

 commission, and keep out the middle 

 men entirely. Such a course on the 

 part of producers would soon change 

 the tenor of our market reports. At 

 all events I would fix my own price 

 for honey, and in no case let a middle 

 man do it for me. 



I have proved this course to be a 

 practical one, and I hope all will ap- 

 prove of the course suggested by Mr. 

 Baldridge, to establish a honey-pro- 

 ducers' association to make out our 

 market reports, and to offer such sug- 

 gestions as may be to our' mutual ad- 

 vantage. I would further suggest 

 that commission men be not allowed 

 to even advertise their reports in our 

 bee-periodicals. 



New Philadelphia,©* Ohio. 



For tlie Amenhan Bee Joumat 



Bee-Keeping in Culia. 



A. SNYDER. 



Having just returned from Cuba, I 

 desire to give a description of that 

 country for bee-keeping. Scorpions 

 and flies are very plentiful ; the sting 

 of the former is very poisonous, often 

 causing lock-jaw and death. Taran- 

 tulas (large spider) are quite plenti- 

 ful, the bite of which is almost certain 

 death. There are many large snakes, 

 but they are not poisonous. The 

 natives all carry a sharp-pointed knife 

 about 8 inches long, in their belt. 

 Their food is very different from ours, 

 and I thought I had next to nothing 

 to eat ; not a particle of butter was to 

 be had ; no fresh meat, except for an 

 enormous price. Their principal meat 

 is beef cut in thin strips, made as 

 salty as possible, and dried in the sun 

 as hard as leather. 



1 have had Cyprian, Syrian and 

 hybrid bees (all of good mettle), but 

 they are as gentle as lambs compared 

 with the bees that I saw in Cuba. No 

 one can work with bees there without 

 veil and rubber gloves, and then one's 

 clothes are pretty well covered with 

 stings and bees. 



The climate is as fine as one could 

 wish for. There is seemingly no end 

 to the flow of honey, but the price is 

 very low, only about 20 cents per 

 gallon, or 1% cents per pound after 

 paying the duty, which is 20 cents per 

 gallon. Cuban honey is of fair quality, 

 but rather dark. I think that here at 

 the North we can winter our bees 

 with less labor, less expense, and less 

 loss than they can be summered in 

 Cuba. They need constant care dur- 

 ing summer, there being but very 

 little honey in the fields at that time 

 to protect them from fighting robbers, 

 and being destroyed by moths. Their 

 honey harvest is from November to 

 March. All the industries of Cuba 

 seem to be far behind those of the 

 United States. 



Indian Fields, o N. Y. 



Local Convention Directory. 



!887. Time and pUice of Meeting. 



Feb. 2.-N. B. Michigan, at Bay City, Mich. 



W. Z. HutcbiDsoD, Sec, HoKersTtlle, Mich. 



Feb. 3.— Wisconsin State, at Madison, Wis. 



F. Wilcox, Sec, Mauston, Wis. 



Feb. 4.— Fremont Progressive, at Fremont, Micb. 

 Geo. E. Hilton, Sec, Fremont, Micb. 



Feb. 12.— Hardin County, afc Eldora, Iowa. 



J. W. Buchanan, Sec, Eldora. Iowa. 



^F" In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 



Lady Presidents. — Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son, of Peoria,© Ills., writes : 



Hit him again ! Knock the chip 

 from his shoulder ! Mrs. Cassandra 

 Bobbins, of Indianapolis, Ind., was 

 President of the Indiana State Bee- 

 Keepers' Society for 1884 ; and Mr. 

 Muth said that she was the best 

 President they had in working up the 

 meeting ; and made the best address, 

 although she was difiident as a pre- 

 siding oflScer. 



Bees Wintering Well.— Wm. An- 

 derson, Sherman,K5 Mo., on Jan. 17, 

 1887, says : 



Very cold weather has prevailed 

 here for some time. On Jan. 3 the 

 mercury dropped down to 21° below 

 zero. It was the coldest we have had 

 for some time, though my bees had a 

 good flight on Jan. 12 and 15, and are 

 in good condition to stand another 

 long confinement. Bees are doing 

 well in this locality this winter, and 

 if nothing adverse happens to them 

 hereafter, we will have plenty of bees 

 next spring. 



Report.— J. D. Gehring, Parkville, 

 x)Mo., Superintendent of the Park 

 College Apiary, writes as follows on 

 Jan. 18, 1887 : 



We have now 40 colonies of bees in 

 good condition, packed with leaves 

 and on the summer stands. We ob- 

 tained 600 pounds of white comb 

 honey, and 300 pounds of extracted, 

 from 14 colonies, spring count, and an 

 increase of 16. Five were queenless 

 in May, but they held their own and 

 built up to strong colonies, but gave 

 no surplus. 



Raising the Price of Honey.— Geo. 



Poindexter, Kenny,© Ills., writes : 



Having had some experience in 

 selling honey, I would say that when 

 I am in a cily or town with a sample 

 of honey in one and two pound sec- 

 tions, I enter a large grocery store, 

 show the sample, and tell them that 

 it is warranted white clover or bass- 

 wood honey, as the case may be. The 

 grocer says, " That's nice ; what is 

 that worth." I reply, 15 cents per 



