THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



67 





iiEjmim 



THOMAS 6. NEWMAN, 



Voinill. Fen, 2, 188], 1,5. 



Another tee-paper is to be started in 

 Canada to be called "The Canadian Bee- 

 Keeper," to be published monthly at Brant- 

 ford, Ont. 



An English Horticulturist, who is a 



careful observer of insect life, has noticed 

 that honey-bees rarely go near those flowers 

 which bumble-bees seem to like best. 



The Bee-Keexiers' Advance is the 



name of anew bee-paper published by James 

 B. Mason & Sons, Mechanic's Falls, Maine. 

 It contains Hi pages, and is published 

 monthly at 25 cents per year. 



Died — Mrs. J. T. Wilson, of NicholasviUe, 

 Ky., died of pneumonia on Jan. 20, 1S87, at 

 1 a.m. This we learn from the afflicted hus- 

 band, who is known to our readers as an 

 apiarist, who adds: "She was a faithful 

 Christian, a loving- wife, and a devoted 

 mother." We condole with Mr. Wilson in 

 his bereavement. 



Three Colonies of bees were found, 

 about the middle of January, occupying 

 comfortable quarters in different hollows of 

 the trunk of one tree. Mr. Berl Matteson, 

 of Bingham, Mich., was the one who was 

 thus surprised when cutting down a tree. 

 He sawed out the part containing the bees, 

 took it to his home, and will endeavor to 

 winter them. They appeared to be well 

 provisioned with honey. 



A Correspondent sends us a printed 

 slip, stating that a family In New Jersey 

 had been "made ill by poison in their 

 honey," and asks : " What will be the effect 

 of these frequent reports upon our pur- 

 suit /" As this is a case where the poison 

 was put into the honey for the base purpose 

 of injuring others, it will have no more 

 effect upon the pursuit than it would upon 

 the dairy interest if it had been put into 

 milk. Evil minded persons may put poison 

 into anything. If they are intent upon injur- 

 ing others. 



Home markets for Honey.— We have 

 for years been trying to impress upon bee- 

 keepers the necessity of working up their 

 home markets— creating a demand for 

 honey. Now that prices are low is just the 

 time to thiuk. liee-men have themselves 

 contributed largely in depressing the mar- 

 kets in large cities, by glutting them with 

 honey, and then the prices there reduced on 

 that account are made the standard for the 

 country towns. Now the only cure for this 

 is to prevent the bulk of the honey from 

 being sent to the large marts of trade, 

 and have it consumed at home. This can 

 be done, if every person interested will but 

 labor with this end in view. To illustrate this 

 idea, we ask attention to the following from 

 an e.vchange, which is " right to the point ." 



One characteristic of success is close and 

 wide-awake attention to the work in hand, 

 such, for instance, as marked a New York 

 driver on the line of stages which have re- 

 cently been withdrawn from Broadway. He 

 had a genius for driving a stage, and was 

 noted for keeping his stage full of passen- 

 gers, and for taking in more fares than any 

 other driver on the route. His success was 

 not accidental. His eyes were forever on 

 the lookout, both on Broadway and in the 

 side streets, so that he never failed to see a 

 distant nod nor a slight gesture. 



A similar alertness for business is notice- 

 able among the fruit-venders. Three carts 

 full of bananas and other fruit may be seen 

 standing close tojfether by the sidewalk. 

 The man in the middle cart will work every 

 moment— standing: up calling attention to 

 his stock, and alert to grapple with any one 

 who comes up with the slightest intention 

 of buying. 



But the other venders will be seated and 

 half-dozing-, or reading a newspaper, care- 

 lessly waiting for a customer to ask for 

 fruit. Before noon the appearance of the 

 wagons shows the Inevitable result. By 

 night, the middle wagon is empty, while the 

 other venders wheel home a good part of 

 their stock to keep until the ne.\t day, and 

 complain of " bad luck" and " hard times." 



To follow the example of the "hack- 

 driver " and "fruit-vender" is a sure cure 

 for the "slow sale" and "low prices" of 

 honey. If you cannot do the selling, you 

 can easily hire some one to do it. There are 

 a plenty of men who would be glad of the 

 chance to do it for a commission. 



Ex-President I. N. Cotton, of the 



Indiana State Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 wants to add the following to the remarks 

 heretofore made about lady presiding 

 oSacers at bee-conventions : 



I see that the question of ladies presiding 

 at bee-keepers* meetings has been raised. 

 The Indiana State Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 in 1884, elected Mrs. Irvin Bobbins Presi- 

 dent, and she served for one year with honor 

 to herself and credit to the Society. Are not 

 the Indiana bee-keepers ahead ? 



Honey Sold on Coniniisslon.- We 



have for years urged bee-keepers either to 

 sell their honey in their home markets, or, 

 if they must ship it, to be sure to sell it for 

 cash, rather than to leave it to be sold by 

 commission men. In this issue of the Bee 

 Journal, Messrs. F. I. Sage & Son give their 

 views on this subject in very strong lan- 

 guage. They wind up by saying " either the 

 cash buyers or the commission men must 

 go." They present many good reasons for 

 coming to this conclusion, and we hope 

 their remarks will be read carefully, and 

 considered thoroughly. 



While we have sold considerable honey 

 in Chicago, we always buy It of the pro- 

 ducer and then it is our own, to sell at such 

 prices as we may deem best, and many times 

 have we sold it at a less figure than we gave 

 for it. We have now on hand about fifty 

 thousands of pounds of white extracted 

 honey, and should be glad to sell at any day 

 for less than it cost us. If it was held on 

 commission by some men, it would no doubt 

 be sacrificed so as to get the commission ; 

 but now, while nothing could be gained by 

 an immediate sale, much may be realized by 

 holding it for a rising market. 



It is never right to give the control of 

 your property out of your own hands ; and 

 to ship honey to be sold on commission by 

 unreliable parties, is the greatest of foolish- 

 ness, entailing loss to the owner, and break- 

 ing down the market for allotherproducers. 

 It is always safe to find out whether those 

 to whom you ship goods are reliable, hefore 

 entrusting them with your property. 



1 pages 



Catalogues for 1887.— Those on our 

 desk are from 



Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La.— 20 

 pages — Bees and Apiarian Supplies. 



B. S. Hildemann, Ashippun, Wis. 

 -Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



Frank A. Eaton. Bluffton, O.— 6 pages- 

 Italian Bees and Queens. 



E. C. Long, Williamsville, N. Y. — i pages- 

 Bees and Apiarian Supplies. 



Iowa Seed Company, Des Moines, Iowa— .36 

 pages— Seeds, Plants, etc. 



One Dollar invested for the weekly visits 

 of the American Bee JoiraNAi. for 1887, 

 will richly repay every apiarist In America. 



The Canadian Honey Crop.— In his 



annual report, the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture for Ontario, remarks as follows : 



" The reports from the apiarists of the 

 Province are extremely contradictory as to 

 the success of their industry during the past 

 season. Some correspondents state that the 

 honey yield has been an unusually large 

 one, that bees have swarmed well, and are 

 in fine condition for winter, while others in 

 the same township complain that the very 

 oppositecondition of things prevails. Taking 

 the Province as a whole, however, the favor- 

 able reports are in a decided majority, and 

 the yield of honey may be described as from 

 fair to good. The area of apiculture appears 

 to be extending in the Province, notwith- 

 standing that some old apiarists have given 

 up the industry, owing to the fatality of 

 recent winters, and the fact that the low 

 price of honey— 8 to 10 cents per pound, a 

 figure frequently quoted— is generally com- 

 plained of." 



It is Said that bees can predict the 

 weather. They do it with their little stings, 

 and, curiously enough, they always make it 



The Capital of the United States has 



not a very ancient history, but its early 

 days are worth recalling, when done as in- 

 terestingly as W. Edgar McCann has done In 

 the February number of Frank Leslie's 

 Popular Monthlv. As if in contrast we 

 are then taken from pictures of Old Wash- 

 ington to the " Domesda.v Book," that mon- 

 ument of the political sagacity of William 

 the Conqueror. Dr. Joseph Simms, in an 

 article on " The Forehead," combats some 

 popular ideas, and shows that genius has 

 often lurked under a receding brow, and 

 idiocy or crime under a well-developed one. 

 "The Man Outside"- "An Incident of the 

 San Gabriel Valley" and "Our Sweetheart " 

 are all worth reading, and the illustrations 

 unusually good. 



