Tmm ?EMERICSN mWiW JOiPieEfSI^. 



485 



In eomiuercial honey, which is entirely froo from 

 bee-nieiiiiition, tlie comb is made of pariitline. and 

 flileci Tiita pure bIuciisc by appropnnte miuiunery. 



Tills iust clause whicli, wlien written, was meant 

 for u scientific plCHsantrv. came near throwing tiie 

 whole bce-Koriii into epilepsy. It appear- that per- 

 sons who tlcvote tlieniselves to BEE JoriiNALS un- 

 dergo a certain ceretira! inspiration which renders 

 tliemmciicafcieofsfiinoijoke. The only point they 

 can appreciate seems lo be the flting of a bee. 



Got. I'orter. in his able ana interestina address, 

 Btti^l something similar to the above, and succeedeti, 

 as lie intended, m raising a ht arty laugh. 



I am appalled to thinlt of the awful solemnity 

 with which the Governor's remark would have lieen 

 received had his audience iieen coninosed exclu- 

 sively of the editors of the BEE .loi'HN'AL, instead 

 of the intelligent yeomanry of Bartholomew county. 



Perhaps in order to secure a "posthumous reputa- 

 tion.'" for which I care little, I might undertake liere 

 to show the Bek .lotTK.NAL the great sinii/ariffy be- 

 tween genuine honey and good glucose, but I tear 

 It would be ■' love's labor lost." He Is evidently suf- 

 fering from an acule attack of .gluco-phobia. and 

 what I might say with the best intentions would 

 only throw him into another spasm. 



Otir remarks after publisliing these selec- 

 tions, seven years ayo, are as appropriate 

 to-day as then, for we have been on the 

 same side all the time, while Wiley has 

 been flopping hither and thither, as the 

 years have come and gone. ' We then said : 



Could any possible good result to society at large 

 from such reckless assertions, there might be some 

 palliation; but when the only .iustiflcation which 

 can be urged is, that it was intended as a " scientific 

 pleasantry.'' it leaves the author but little to con- 

 ^atulate himself upon, even though he has suc- 

 ceeded in disgusting the world. 



Not a pound of " parafflne-comb, filled 

 with glueiise and sealed by machinery " (in 

 imitation of honey) can be found on the 

 market, even though three years of failure 

 of the honey-crop offer the greatest induce- 

 ment for its appearance, and honey in the 

 comb brings lii^h prices ! This fact proves 

 that it docs nut exist ! 



Xlie Apioiilliiral Station.— In the 



recent repoit of Norman J. Colman, Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, to the President, 

 we find the following, on page 18, concerning 

 the work of Mr. N. W. SIcLain : 



The work of the Apicultural Experiment 

 Station has been carried on in the same 

 lines laid down in my last report. For con- 

 venience in obtaining supplies, and for 

 other reasons, the station has been removed 

 from Aurora, Ills., to Hinsdale, Ills. The 

 work has consisted of the study of the va- 

 rious kinds of diseases to which bees are 

 subject, including an inquiry into the causes 

 of disease and application of suitable reme- 

 dies. The work in this line of investiga- 

 tion has been singularly successful and 

 satisfactory. Suitable fixtures have been 

 devised and constructed for securing tlie 

 benelits resultant from selective breeding 

 by means of skillful crossing of tiieditfer- 

 eut races of bees, and persistent effort has 

 been made to secure the control of the pro- 

 cess of reproduction. This feature of the 

 work has been only partially successful, 

 owing to the prevalence of a drouth of un- 

 precedented duration and severity, but much 

 information of Sfientitic value has been ob- 

 teined which will h« of practical service 

 under more favorable climatic conditions. 



Some progress has been made iii testing 

 the finalities anil characteristics of some 

 varieties of ancestral stock, and tlie results 

 attained furnish encouraging assurances of 

 what may be realized in the future in pro- 

 ducing a variety of bees completely adapted 

 to dtmiesticatlon. under the varied condi- 

 tions e.xistiiig in different parts of the 

 United States. Information concerning the 

 wintering of bees, the values of different 

 varieties of bee-forasje plants, etc.. have 

 been obtained, and will have place in the 

 reports of the agent in charge. 



'I'lie Union.— Mr. .J. E. Pond, of North 

 Attleboro, Mass., thus writes about the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keei>ers' Union and its special 

 work : 



Why do not our bee-keepers all join the 

 Union ? It is a suriirise to me tliat so few 

 as yet have enrolled themselves under its 

 banner. 



I am aware that as yet no real necessity 

 has arisen that demands of the many that 

 they should join, still they (the many) ouglit 

 not to take the "self alone" view of the 

 matter. To-day A and B only are pursued ; 

 still, C, D and the rest of the alphabet may 

 be pursued to-morrow, and even if they are 

 not, it does seem to me tliat such a band of 

 brothers as the bee-keeping fraternity ouaht 

 to co-operate in a common cause, and for a 

 common purpose. 



In my own correspondence upon this sub- 

 ject, 1 have been met with the idea, that the 

 Union should take up every trouble and 

 difficulty a member gets into, and fight it 

 out for him ; and in one case 1 was asked in 

 good failh, if I did not think "the 'Union ' 

 ouKht lo fight a personal suit for debt of a 

 member." Of course there is but one an- 

 swer lo such a question ; but in a case like 

 that of Mr. Clark, of Arkadelphia, if he is 

 being persecuted, he ought to have not only 

 the sympathy, but the solid cash of every 

 t)ee-keeper in America. If, on the other 

 hand, he is violating a law, then no matter 

 whether just or not, the Union ought not to 

 support and sustain him, but should use its 

 best efforts toward wiping out the law if 

 unjust. 



The fee is small, and if every bee-keeper 

 would enlist, a force would he raised that 

 would cau<e factious complainants to think 

 twice before they pitched into a member. 



Mr. Pond asks why ! We have often 

 asked wiiv bee-keepers do not en mnsse 

 join the Union, but have never yet been 

 able to solve the problem. Such an organi- 

 zation is of no particular interest to the 

 editor of this J ouitSAL— except as it en- 

 tails considerable labor and trouble upon 

 him— but to the pursuit in general, it is a 

 mountain of strength— a tower of defense ! 



The annual fee is so small that there can 

 be no reasonable excuse for any one re- 

 maining outside— the only word that can 

 convey the exact condition of affairs is 

 aprithy. It is a kind of selfish indifference 

 —a feeling of "dun't care , as long as I am 

 left alone." Brethren, is it not quite time to 



Shahe ofTdull sloth, and early rise 

 To make so small a sucritlce ? 



Admit that you do not personally need 

 the protection which the Union endeavors 

 to give, is it not the duty of every apiarist 

 to assist in upholding the pursuit, and se- 

 cure to its devotees their rights and privi- 

 leges ? While we are writing this para- 

 graph, the Union's attorneys are fighting 

 for a bee-keeper's rights In .\rkadelphia. 

 Ark., before a high court in that State. 



Mr. Z. A. Clark kejit bees in the outskirts 

 of that city— was arrested and placed in 

 jail for maintaining a public nuisance, by 

 the arbitrary Mayor and prejudiced Council- 

 men. 



There seems to be no comi)laint (says an 

 exchange) that the liees have ever disturbed 

 any one, or that any person has ever been 

 stung by them, and the only charge brought 

 against them, is that " They eat peaches 

 and destroy young ducks," a charge so ab- 

 surd that it does not require any one's 



serious consideration. Mr. Clark is a poor 

 man in advanced years, trying to make a 

 living from his bees. He is liiglily sjioken 

 of by his neiglibors as a Christian and a tem- 

 jierance man, uiimJing his own business, 

 and letting that of otliers alone. 



If this will not arouse bee-keepers to a 

 sense of their duly, as well as the dangers 

 lehich threaleii thi-m, we despair of ;vny- 

 thing doing so. The Union should have 

 ten thousand members within the next 30 

 days. Reader, if you have not already sent 

 your dollar for membership in the Union, 

 you should do so at once. Sit down now 

 and send for a membership ticket, and thus 

 show your patriotism and appreciation of 

 the Union's defense of the pursuit, and 

 your own good sense and level head. 



Xlie Honey Harvest — Mr. G. W. 



Demaree, of Christiaiisburg, Ky., gives his 

 views concerning the prospects for a short 

 crop, and the cause which led to it, in the 

 Ca}iadian Dee Journal in these words : 



Not unexpected by me the surplus honey 

 harvest is not a " harvest" of surplus honey 

 in the Middle States of the United States, 

 the present season. Of course, some fa- 

 vored localities have done much better than 

 the general field of operation. But taking 

 all together the honey season for 18S8 is a 

 great failure in Kentucky, and perhaps in 

 the Middle States, and wherever the drouth 

 was severe, and of long dumtion last season. 



When 1 had less experience in such mat- 

 ters, I used to insist tliat the honey seasons 

 were no more affected by the state of the 

 weather than are other branches of agricul- 

 ture. But a more extended experience and 

 (Observation has dissipated this fond delu- 

 sion. The fruit trees on my giounds which 

 withered and faded under the scorching 

 drouth of last season, are now green and 

 flourishing, and are loaded with fruits of 

 their kind in a healthy, growing condition. 

 All annual vet:etatiou has come forward 

 handsomely, and up to this writing, June 45, 

 promises an abundant harvest. But such is 

 not the case witli the sitcptus honey bee- 

 forage, which is catalogued with the hay 

 crop, including all perennial grasses. 



The surplus honey reitmrces of a large 

 portion of the Middle States depends on the 

 perennial nectar producing plants, chiefly 

 the clover, whicli must be developed one 

 season in advance of their usefulness as 

 honey-bearing forage. Hence a severe and 

 protracted drouth during any one season 

 does not necessarily cut down the honey 

 yield of that particular season, but its effects 

 are felt more surely the following season. 

 This because the drouth of one season de- 

 stroys the young plants which ntherwi.se 

 would furnish bee-forage for the succeeding 

 year. 



The present season, following two severe 

 years of doutli, makes a very good honey 

 seasiin at the present, out of the question. 

 Tlie earth is covHreilat this time with a 

 healthy growth of young white clover, and 

 if there is >uflieient rain from now forward 

 to keep it in a growiiii; condition, there is a 

 hopeful future ahead — hopeful to the 

 younger members of our fraternity— the 

 loss of a preeiiius year to i(S older ones is 

 more keenlv felt. Hut after all it is by no 

 means ceitain to hum;in foresight tliat the 

 decade of drouth years is at an end, the 

 rain-fall np to this date has been light, and 

 the showers have been partial. 



In some localiiies there has been rain 

 enouah for the needs ol the crops at the 

 present stage of this growth, while in other 

 localities the crops aie suffering for rain. 

 This state of things makes the outlook not 

 at ail bright to the most hopeful. 



