THE mv^MMiGRjsi mmm j^&urmril. 



259 



THOS. G.NEWMMJ »»SON, ; 



EDITOR. 



Vol, XXIV. April 18, 1888. No. 16, 



All tin- Hells of lu'iiveu may ring, 

 All tlie birds of heaven may sin>.', 

 All the wells on earth may sprinij, 

 All the winds of earth may bring 



All sweet sounds together. 

 Sweeter far than all things heard, 

 Hand of harper, tone of bird, 

 Sound of woods at sundown stirred — 

 Bees (ire sioarming— welcome word, 



Soundiug in warm weather. 



Hoge's Honey Company, in Lon- 

 don, failed, and in February offered a 

 " fir.st and final dividend " of onesixty-flfth 

 of a penny to the pound sterling to its credi- 

 tors, or about .¥2.60 dividend for $1,000. This 

 is a 'wonderful offer for the London Yankee 

 honey-dealer. 



It is no Secr«'«, although it is said to 

 be "confidential," that an effort is being 

 made to create a life-annuity of §300 for the 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth. This very small 

 amount is proposed to be raised by annual 

 subscriptions or donations— or, more prop- 

 erly speaking, by " free-will offerings," 

 borne by ready hands, with the hearty 

 benedictions of the donors, and the warmest 

 wishes for peace and happiness, to rest 

 upon the liead of this " grand old man," and 

 Father of modern apiculture. As this mat- 

 ter is "confidential" among his friends, 

 any one can obtain full particulars by send- 

 ing a Postal Card giving your name and 

 address to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 

 Mcllenry Co., Ills. 



A ino«leru Bce-Farni, and its 



Economic Management ; showing how bees 

 may be cultivated as a means of livelihood ; 

 as a health-giving pursuit ; and as a source 

 of recreation to the busy man. By S. 

 Siramina. For sale at this office. Price, $1. 



A<liilt<-i-sitioii — Impurity, «'tc.— 



On page 2(i5, Dr. Leers make? some very 

 fine distinctions, while criticising a matter 

 brought out at the New York Convention 

 (see piige 106). These distinctions will not 

 bear the light of the definitions of these 

 words by Webster. 



For instance: To adulterate is thus de- 

 fined : " To corrupt liy some foreign mix- 

 ture, or by intermixing what is less valua- 

 ble; to pollute." Am impurity is "an ad- 

 mixture of base ingredients." The words 

 mean just about the same thing. 



On our desk is one of the slips which one 

 of Thurber's agents had the assurance to 

 scatter at the New York Convention, stat- 

 ing that out of 43 samples of bottled honey 

 analyzed, only 6 were pure, and Thurber's 

 was one of the six. The whole thing looks 

 like a base impostion, to use the words of 

 the member of that convention who sent us 

 the slip. 



It is but a short time ago that the United 

 States Chemist sent to honey-dealers in 

 various cities for samples to analyze. Mr. 

 Muth, of Cincinnati, sent him some, and 

 nearly all were reported as "probably adul- 

 terated." Mr. Muth's were marked "prob- 

 ably pure." The whole thing was worthy 

 of Prof. Wiley, the author of that infamous 

 " scientific pleasantry !" He had the brazen 

 effrontery to send to Mr. Muth for more 

 samples to analyze. This was indignantly 

 refused— in these words : " We know what 

 we deal in, and handle only straight goods 

 —and want nothing more to do with your 

 jrrohably pure." Good, for Bro. Muth. The 

 name of that wily chemist will go down to 

 posterity loaded with infamy ! 



If the chemist is honest and capable, 

 would he not know the result of an analy- 

 sis ? Then is it not an evidence of fraud 

 to say that a sample so analyzed is " prob- 

 ably pure ?" 



i^tatistics of Maine. — Ml'. Isaac 

 Hutchins, Secretary of the Maine Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, has gathered statis- 

 tics about bees in four counties in that 

 State, and here are the aggregate figures : 



Whole number of colonies reported : 

 3,3.53 in the fall of 1880 ; 3,068 in the spring 

 of 1887 : 3,T37 in the fall of 1887 ; winter loss 

 nearly 39 per cent., and the gain in number 

 of colonies from the fall of 1886 to the fall 

 of 1887, 11 per cent. ; average amount of 

 honey per colony, 13^ pounds. 



Xln' Summer Sleep of animals and 

 insects was mentioned by the Kev. W. F. 

 Clarke, on page 331, but his word .^sUvlsm 

 was incorrectly spelled, and Mr. C. desires 

 it corrected. Our proof-reader was not 

 familiar with the word, and consulted Web- 

 ter's Unabridged Dictionary, and not find- 

 ing the word there, made it as near to the 

 writing as he could. .Mr. C's writing is 

 usually excellent, but in this case it was a 

 little " blind," as printer's call it. When 

 using a word not in the Dictionary, all 

 should be very particular to write it so 

 plainly that the spelling cannot be in 

 doubt. Many of our best-informed writers 

 are very careless in this particular. Of 

 foreign words, botanical names, etc., each 

 letter should be separated and written 

 plainly. 



Mr. 'W. Z. llulcUinson wisely re- 

 marks, that to produce comb honey in 

 abundance, bees must bejstrong in numbers 

 at the beginning of the honey harvest, and 

 to secure this desirable condition, feeding 

 must be carried on uninterruptedly for at 

 least two months preslous to the opening of 

 the honey harvest.' ' 'Aside from food in 

 abundance, warmth is the great requisite 

 for breeding. A colony of bees generates 

 sufficient heat, but very much of it is lost 

 by radiation. ,' Warm, beautiful spring 

 weather is sometimes followed by severe 

 freeze which chills some of the brood. 



1'Iie Uuioii, Albinos, etc.— Chas. 

 D. Barber, Stockton, N. Y., on April 9, 1888, 

 writes : 



It is warm here to-day. On April 4 I took 

 my bees out of the cellar. I had put them 

 in the c.Hllar en Nov. 11, 1887, being in 145 

 days They came out in aood condition, 

 and had plenty of stores. I think that we 

 will have a good season this year. I lost 

 but one colony. We have had a very cold 

 winter. I think that we all ought to stand 

 by Mr. Z. A. Clark. I am ready to pay 

 an assessmetit, or five times the amount, to 

 defend the members of the National Bee- 

 Kee])ers' Union. Are there any bees that 

 look like the Italians, but that are white in- 

 stead of yellow ? If so, what kind of 

 workers are they ? 



Yes ; Albino bees have white bands in- 

 stead of yellow, and we have had such who 

 would work fully equal to the best Italians. 



In reference to the case of Mr. Z. A. 

 Clark, we expect to be able to give some 

 good 7iews in our next issue. We can now 

 say this much— that Mayor and those Alder- 

 men have been ousted by indignant citi- 

 zens, and if we mistake not, Mr. Clark's 

 defense by the Union has been the prime 

 cause of their expulsion from office. 



Place oi Meeting.— If the next meet- 

 ing of the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Society is held at Columbus, it seems that 

 we are to have a good place to hold the ses- 

 sions. Dr. Mason, the President, says : 



In a letter just received, I am informed 

 that the hall of the House of Representa- 

 tives has been granted for the use of the 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention, at Columbus, , 

 from Sept. 18 to 31, inclusive. 



We understand that circulars are to be 

 sent to all the mehibers to vote on the 

 change from Toledo to Columbus, O. Let 

 answers be returned as soon as possible, so 

 that it may be decided definitely. 



IScw Calalos>»e8 for 1888 are on our 

 desk, from the following persons: 



M. J. Dickason, Hiawatha, Kansas— IB 

 pages— Bee-H ives and Supplies. 



J. W. K. Shaw cfcCo., Loreauville, La.— 4 

 pages— Bees and Queens. 



Walter Harmer, Manistee, Mich.— 1 page 

 —Two-Ounce Honey-Sections. 



