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EDITOR. 



VoiniY. IarcU,1888, No. 10. 



Editqeiel Bmi 



HONEIT-DEIV. 



There are ninny golden sweets 

 In the sunny suul's retreats 

 ^Vhich are not from the flowers of our planting nor 

 care ; 

 But are nft heaven-willed. 

 And in mercy distilled, 

 ThouRh the others our heart's had been pHntint; to 

 share.* —Eugene .sccor. 



Coimei'sville, Ind., has passed an 

 ordinance prohibiting the keeping of bees 

 within its corporate limits, declaring the 

 keeping of bees a nuisance ! What are we 

 coming to ? 



Tlie Taliie of lUe Honey imported 

 into Great Britain during the month of 

 January was £46.5, about S2.300. The value 

 of the honey imported from the United 

 States of America during the yearl8S6 into 

 Great Britain, amounted to the grand sum 

 of £37,107, or $135,000. 



CansKlisins are laboring with the rail- 

 roads for a new classification of honey. 

 That is wliat we need, also. There the 

 postage on seeds is 4 cents per ponnil ; in 

 England it is 6 cents, but in the United 

 States the outrageous tariff collected is 16 

 cents per pound ! 



Cod Uver Oil and Honey.— The 

 former is very disagreeable to take alone, 

 and honey cannot be mixed witli the oil, 

 unless there is an addition of some acid. 

 An exchange gives the following formula 

 to make cod-liver oil a pleasant medicine, 

 for it is a great help iu chest affections : 



Take one-half pound each of cod-liver oil 

 and extracted honey, arid the juice of two 

 lemons, and shake it until it is thoroughly 

 mixed. It will be found a pleasant as well 

 as a beneficial medicine. 



Ciallicrins' Slalistics.— The follow- 

 ing, dated March 1, ISSS, is received from 

 Prof A. J. Cook, who desires its immediate 

 insertion : 



Soon after returning from the convention 

 at Ciiicago, I wrote very fully to the Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, and gave my let- 

 ter to President Willits, who was to visit 

 Washington, and asked him to press tlie 

 matter personally, wliich he kindly con- 

 sented to do. He wrote me from Washing- 

 ton that the head of the Department prom- 

 ised all possible aid, and asked that we 

 should suggest how he could best serve us.' 



The Commissioner has also communi- 

 cated with Dr. A. B. Mason, as published 

 on page 132, and again asks for aid. 



The committee, consisting of Dr. A. B. 

 Mason, Mr. Thos. G. Newman, and myself, 

 suggest that the bee-keepers all tbrongh the 

 United Stiites, write at once to Mr. Thos. 

 G. Newman, and otter service as reporters 

 of statistics. 



The Commissioner wishes two for each 

 county. While we can hardly hope for so 

 much at first, the nearer we approximate to 

 it, the more value we shall receive. Let 

 every bee-keeper, then, proffer service at 

 once. Then the committee can select by 

 lot, or otherwise, irom counties where 

 more than two offer. Surely, bee-keepers 

 will be prompt and generous. We ought to 

 have a good corps of correspondents from 

 each State, and one at least from each 

 county in those States where bee-keeping 

 is an important industry. 



The Commissioner will send out blanks 

 to fill out. The nature of these, as to how 

 the bees wintered ; what per cent, of a full 

 crop of light honey in June and July was 

 secured in your section ? What per cent, 

 of a full crop of autumn honey did you 

 secure? What plants are valuable in your 

 section ? etc., will be considered later by 

 the committee. Now for volunteer re- 

 porters ! By Oi'.der of Committee. 



«a- Will other bee-papers please copy ? — 

 A. J. Cook. 



Mr. J. F. Dunn, of Ridgeway, Ont, on 

 March 1, writes thus : 



I believe that the plan you give on page 

 131, for collecting statistics of bee-keeping 

 is the only one by which we can find out 

 exactly all about the honey industry in this 

 country. Just five hours before your Joite- 

 NAL came to hand, I mailed a communica- 

 tion to the Canndinn Bee Jownxal (which 

 I presume will be pulilished in the next 

 issue), detailing a plan substantially the 

 same as the one you give. I send you this 

 explanation that you may not think I wrote 

 the article after seeing yours. 



The bees had a flight on Feb. 24, after a 

 confinement of S3 days. The winter has 

 been favorable for the clover as well as the 

 bees, and as a good sea.son very often fol- 

 lows a poor one, we may expect a prosper- 

 ous year. 



We deemed that plan the best, but the 

 time is now too late for it to be adopted this 

 year— there being so much " red tape " to 

 encounter at Washington. And again, 

 each State has tlie arranging of its own 

 method of assessing ; and we may not get 

 our plan adopted for some years. Mean- 

 while, the plan suggested by the committee 

 may as well be faithfully tried, and if it is 

 "found wanting," then the plan we sug- 

 gested may by that time be " in working 

 order ;" for the methods are for different 

 objects, and do not clash. 



Mrs. Cotlon'M annual circular for 

 1888 is sent us by Mr. C. W. McKown, of 

 Knox Co., Ills., who remarks that she is 

 " still hunting for green-horns, who are too 

 penurious to take a reliable bee-periodical." 

 On the envelope, Mrs. Cotton prints this 

 attractive paragraph : 



Every one who has a Farm or Garden can 

 keep Bees on my plan with profit. I have 

 received one huiidred dollars profit from the 

 sale of Box-Honey from one Hive of Bees 

 in one year. 



So every one who buys her drawings, 

 book and bees, expects a profit of $100 on 

 each hive of bees, for which she charges 

 $20, three times its value, or more. Such do 

 the pursuit much harm by raising the ex- 

 pectation, and then landing the would-be 

 apiarist in " blasted hopes." 



Xlie Cliicag-o Academy of Sci- 

 ent-es held a special meeting on Feb. 28, 

 1888, when Mr. N. W. McLain, Apicultural 

 Agent of the Division of Entomology, De- 

 partment of Agriculture of the United 

 States, delivered an address on "The 

 Anatomy and Physiological Development 

 of the Honey-Bee," illustrated by charts 

 and drawings. The lecture was very inter- 

 esting, and the members of the Academy 

 kept Mr. McLain busy answering questions 

 for over an hour after the conclusion of the 

 address, upon the habits and instincts of 

 bees. A vote of thanks for the very inter- 

 esting address concluded the exercises. 



Corlc-Hnst for '^Vinter Packing-. 



♦-In answer to inquiries received since the 

 reply we gave to Mr. Howe, on page 99, we 

 desire to say that ground cork, or " cork- 

 dust," as it is called by fruit-men, cannot 

 be obtained of any manufacturer or whole- 

 sale dealer — but the retail dealers, who ob- 

 tain imported fruit in original packages, are 

 usually glad to sell the " cork-dust " at 3.5 

 cents per bushel. 



Bees are wintering finely, is the general 

 remark from all parts of the country, from 

 Maine to Colorado, and from Canada to the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Mr. T. F. Bingham, of 

 Abronia, Mich., on Feb. 26, wrote thus : 

 "My bees had a fine flight last week. They 

 are all right— both in and out-of-doors. The 

 season seems to open early, so far." The 

 present indications pomt to an early spring. 



■We are Cilad to state that Mr. W. Z. 

 Hutchinson is improving, and the Revieiv 

 for February will now soon appear. 



If is ■witli Pleasure we notice that 

 Mr. Eugene Secor has just had the honor of 

 being elected one of the trustees of the 

 Iowa State Agricultural College. These 

 are elected for six years, one from each 

 congressional district, by the Legislature. 

 We congratulate Mr. Secor on this new 

 mark of the appreciation of the public. 



One-Cent ^Vax-CaUes.— The Cera 

 Manufacturing Company, of Catonsville, 

 Md., is making a specialty of one-cent cakes 

 of wax. It takes 72 pieces to make a 

 pound. There is a good margin for profit. 



