THE? MMiKRICSK B®© J^^mnMI^, 



581 



Xlie Crop and Honey Market.— 



In the San Francisco Chronicle we find a 

 recent article on the crop of honey, and the 

 market values of the product from wliich 

 we extract the foUowine : 



Reports from all over the State are to the 

 effect that the honey crop is so short that it 

 is no exaggeration to say that it is a total 

 failure. There is hardly an apiary in any 

 of the hitherto most prominent bee-kee])- 

 ing counties of the State which has this 

 year produced surplus honey enough to pay 

 interest on the capital invested therein. 

 The same reports come from the East, and 

 never since the care of bees attained the 

 proportions of a regular industry lias the 

 honey yield of the United States been so 

 limited as in the season now closing!. 



In conjunction with the limited output, 

 however, has come a marked rise in prices, 

 but these comparatively high figures are 

 after all of little value to the bee keeper, 

 for of what use would it be to him were 

 honey to be quoted at even a dollar a pound 

 if his bees produced no surplus tor sale ? 



The experience of the present season is, 

 after all, only a repetition, on a more ex- 

 tended scale, of what has been the uniform 

 history of the industry ever since the first 

 colonies of bees were brought around by the 

 isthmus and sold here for S200 apiece. First 

 there has come a succession of good sea- 

 sons; the stock of bees has largely in- 

 creased ; the price of honey has gradually 

 lowered, and finally many have gone out of 

 the business in disgust. 



Then a bad season has come, or a succes- 

 sion of them ; there have been no wild 

 flowers, or the natural bloom has not con- 

 tained the usual amount of nectar ; the 

 honey crop has been short ; prices have 

 risen, and a few, who were located in ex- 

 ceptionally favorable regions, have made 

 large profits. 



This has stimulated others to go into the 

 business, and the result has been another 

 period of heavy production, low prices and 

 small profit. For those who have been able 

 to secure anything like a fair crop, the pres- 

 ent season will be a bonanza. And those 

 who have been sufficiently far-sighted to 

 provide their bees with an abundance of 

 forage, withont placing any dependence 

 upon the natural bloom, will this season 

 reap a good reward for their enterprise. 



Those who have taken this precaution are 

 few enough by the side of the many who 

 are accustomed to " trust to luck ;" but this 

 lends emphasis to the general proposition 

 that the bee-keeper who treats his colonies 

 precisely as he would any other kind of 

 animals upon which he placed dependence 

 for an inccmie, and sees that provision is 

 made for a bati sea.son, will come out ahead 

 in the long run, while the one who trusts to 

 nature will run behind. 





The St. I>oiiis Fair opens Monday, 

 Oct. 1, and closes Saturday, Oct. 6. Seventy 

 thousand dollars is offered in premiums. On 

 Tuesday, Oct. 2, the grand annual noctur- 

 nal pageant of the Veiled Prophets will be 

 given. The streetsof the city will be illum- 

 inated by .500,000 gas jets, thus jiresenting 

 one of the most realistic sights imaginable. 



All railroad and steamboat companies 

 have made a rate of one fare for the round 

 trip, during the entire week. 



Any of our subscribers desiring a copy of 

 the Premium List will receive one free by 

 addressing Arthur Uhl, Secretary, 718 

 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, Mo. 



Ifonp Full Address, plainly written, 

 is very essential in order to avoid mistakes. 



"Work in i^iirplus Stories.— Many 

 letters are received from beginners asking 

 why their bees do not work in the surplus 

 story. A correspondent in the Piuirie 

 Farmer asked a similar question, and Mrs. 

 L. Harrison answered it in this manner : 



Bees would work in your surplus sections 

 if they had anvtliing to work with ; they 

 cannot make bricks without straw, or, in 

 other words, cannot secrete wax and store 

 honey when there is none to gather in the 

 fields. The honey-tlow has been very little 

 last year and this, with tew exceptional 

 days. Let there be a flow of honey, and 

 your surplus sections would soon be full of 

 hees, hanging in webs, secreting wax to 

 bnild comb, and loaded bees would drop at 

 the entrance. This season they get just 

 honey enough to keep them breeding, and 

 the queen is not crowded for room to de- 

 posit her eggs. I looked into a hive to-day 

 where bees had been hived in a hive full of 

 combs. There was brood in all the combs, 

 but not one cell of honey stored above it, as 

 is their usual way ot doing. If there should 

 be no honey at all for a few days, these 

 bees must starve, it not fed. All the surplus 

 .stored in our apiary this season is where 

 two or three swarms clustered together and 

 were put into a hive full of comb, and sur- 

 plus boxes put right on to give them room, 

 during the blooniiug of the linden. 



I have heard of but one apiary in Illinois 

 where there has been any surplus stored, up 

 to Aug. 14. This one is located on the 

 Illinois river bottom on the east side, and is 

 surrounded with a great deal ot low, 

 swampy ground. The proprietor claims 

 that the east side of the river is better for 

 an apiary than the west ?ide, as many bees 

 are lost in the river while crossing it, on the 

 approach of storms from the south and 

 west ; and the bee pasture is better on the 

 east side, as there is more low land. An 

 apiary located opposite to him on the west 

 side has no surplus, while he has secured 

 1,.500 pounds from 50 colonies, spring count. 



M^ell Expressed.— The Bural Home, 

 an influential farm paper, thus notices the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Union, and the 

 work being done by it, through the pen of 

 a valued correspondent : 



Again the Manager of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Union is out with his yearly report. This 

 report shows that the Union has been suc- 

 cessful in every case that it has undertaken 

 to defend, and It is hoped that the ignor- 

 ance and petty jealousy which prompts 

 certain individuals to make war on the little 

 busy bee, which is ot much benefit to the 

 farmer and fruit-grower, by way of the 

 fertilizing of nearly all fruits and seeds, 

 will cease. 



Ignorance, only can accuse the bees of 

 eating peaches and young duclis. as in the 

 case of the Arkadelpliia, Ark., suit, which 

 has been in court for the past six months, 

 and has caused one of oar best bee-keepers 

 much trouble, besides fines and imprison- 

 ment. The wliole thing seems to have 

 come out of the jealousy of a few individ- 

 uals, and the Mavor of that city. 



Tne Manager of the Union deserves great 

 credit, in that he does not undertake to de- 

 fend any bee-keeper who has not done all in 

 his power to keep peace between his bees 

 and their neighbors. 



The liuriil Home and Its correspondent 

 have the thanks of the Manager for these 

 kind words. Peace is his ardent desire, 

 even if he is compelled to fight for it ! 



Pure Kees are the Best.— On this 

 subject a correspondent of the Bee-Keepers' 



Magazine says : 



The honeybee has been known— if his- 

 tory is correct— for many centuries ; the 

 traditions of the Bible show its great an- 

 tiquity more strongly than does any other 

 liistorical work, so we can safely assume 

 that the apis is as old as' man himself. 

 When, however, we come to the question of 

 whicli of the present known races was the 

 original, or whether either of them was, for 

 that matter, we are wholly in the dark. As 

 well might we assume that the one or the 

 other was the original race, and we may do 

 so with impunity, as no one can bring for- 

 ward any proofs to the contrary. 



I do not propose now to attempt to prove 

 an impossibility, or to assert anything as to 

 priority, the question with me being simply, 

 "Shall we receive greater benefits from 

 keeping our Italians pure than by crossing 

 them '?" I claim, in answer, that we shall, 

 and do, and offer the records of the past in 

 proof of the correctness of that answer, 

 while at the same time 1 will give my own 

 experience during over twenty years past as 

 a bee-keeper, in comparing the Italian and 

 black and their crosses ; as evidence to the 

 same point. 



Scatter tlie I-eaflet».— Look at the 

 list (with prices) on the second page. 



Contentions The time for holding 



Bee-Keepers' Conventions has now arrived, 

 and we cannot give any better advice 

 than this : Let each one attend who can 

 do so, and take part in making these meet- 

 ings interesting and instructive. If you 

 have not already obtained the "Bee-Keep- 

 er's Convention Hand-Book," do so at once 

 to post yourself up on how to conduct such 

 meetings correctly. It contains a simple 

 Manual of Parliamentary Law and Rules of 

 Order for the guidance of officers and mem- 

 bers of Local Conventions— Model Consti- 

 tution and By-Laws for a Local Society- 

 Programme for a Convention, with Subjects 

 for Discussion— List of Premiums for Fairs, 

 etc. Bound in cloth, and suitable for the 

 pocket. Price, 50 cents. We will club this 

 book and the American Bee Journal for 

 one year for .$1.35. It also contains a lot of 

 blank leaves ou which you can note impor- 

 tant matters as they come up. Do not fail 

 to send for a copy of it. 



■%Ve»'Want 20,000 subscribers. Out of 

 the 300,000 bee-keepers in America, certainly 

 this is not an extravagant desire ! It is 

 only one out of every fifteen ! We confi- 

 dently ask those who appreciate the Ameri- 

 can Bee .Joitrnal, to show it by sending 

 us one or more new subscribers. We will 

 give them full value for their money. 



A Modern BEE-FARM, 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. 

 Simmins. For sale at this ofBce. Price, $1, 

 postpaid. 



Ciive a «'opy of " Honey as Food and 

 Medicine " to every one who buys a package 

 of honey. It will sell lots of it. 



