Tmm ^MERICSllH BEE? JOURNSI^. 



743 



COTVVEBJTIO:^ DIRECTORY. 



1888 Time and Place of Meeting. 



Nov. 16.- Marshall County, at Marshalltown. Iowa. 

 J. \V. Saruiers, Sec, LeGrand. Iowa. 



Nov. 21, 22,— PanHBnflle,at Wheeling. Vf. Va. 



W. h. Kinsey, 8ec.. Blaine, O. 



Dec. —.—Michigan Slate, at Jackson. Mich. 



H. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich, 

 1889. 

 Jan. 9-11.— Nebraska State, at Lincoln, Nebr. 



J. N. Heater, Sec, Columbua, Nebr. 



May 4.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



17" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinffs.- Ed. 



APPLE-BLOSSOMS 



In the Land of Flowcr!«- 

 Que§tion§. 



-Some 



Writtai for the American BccJaumal 



BY ALBERT VOUGHT. 



Thinking Uiat apple-blossoms on 

 Nov. 1 would be a rarity in the frosty 

 city of Chicago, I enclose a bunch 

 gathered this morning, and I hope 

 that they may not be too much soiled 

 to help make up the bouquet that is to 

 grace )"onr sanctum on the day of ar- 

 rival. Of course these blossoms will 

 not come to maturity, but the bees are 

 having a fine time gathering pollen 

 and sipping the sweets "just the 

 same." Apple-lilossoms two months 

 before Christmas, and again two 

 months after — who says this is not a 

 land of flowers and honey ? 



I cannot give an accm-ate account 

 of honej^ taken and sold this season, so 

 I will not attempt it ; however,-! feel 

 ver}' much encourged with the year's 

 experience. If this has been a poor 

 season, I would like to see a good one. 



I, too, wish to make a protest. Why 

 make any distinction in nice, clear, 

 bright honey ? We have acres and 

 acres of white clover, why class it all 

 as "southern honey," whether gath- 

 ered in nice one-pound sections, or ex- 

 tracted and cared for according to 

 modern bee-keeping, or in the old- 

 fashioned " bee-gum," and mashed up 

 with brood, dirty comb, etc., and 

 " strained ?" I am satisfied that I get 

 as nice honey as that north of tlie 

 "Mason and Dixon line." 



A neighbor said to me one day, 

 " Have you any more of that nice 

 honey ? I declare, that which I got 

 was as good, or better, than any I ever 

 ate in New Yorl;, while I lived there. 

 It doesn't taste like the honey we get 

 here. Your bees must be trained." I 

 told him that it was only a dift'erence 

 in the way they were handled. 



As I am only partially "trained" 

 myself, and depend almost entirely 

 upon the Amekican Bee Journal, 

 and as I have no neighbor bee-keepers 

 (no legislation required here), I wish 

 to ask : 



1. Do bumble-bees drive away the 

 honey-bees ? In my lawn are six or 

 eight honej'-locust trees. I noticed 

 during the past two years, almost 

 countless numbers of bumble-bees and 

 other insects on them, but not as many 

 honey-bees as I thought there should 

 be. 



2. Is the Russian mulberry a honey- 

 producing tree ? 



Illawara, La., Oct. 29, 1888. 



[1. We do not think generally that 

 bumble-bees have any antipathy to 

 honey-bees. We remember that some 

 40 years ago a war between these bees 

 was reported in Wales, at the close of 

 Avhich it is said that "heaps of the 

 vanquished covered the ground, some 

 without heads, others minus their 

 wings, and others completely sep- 

 arated into two parts." One person is 

 said to have " scraped together 8 or 4 

 bushels of dead bees with his foot," as 

 a result of this singular war. This is 

 very unusual, however, for they gen- 

 erally have no trouble with one 

 another. 



2. We think not. We never heard 

 of its yielding any honey. — Ed.] 



SELLING HONEY. 



How to Inereai«e the Demand 

 and Maintain Prices. 



Read at the New Vork Convention 



BY L. c. ROOT. 



Those who have carefully read the 

 various bee-papers during the past 

 )-ear, have observed the unusual in- 

 terest which has been manifested in 

 regard to the disposition of our pro- 

 ducts at remunerative prices. I have 

 many times expressed the opinion 

 that far too much thought was being 

 given in the direction of producing 

 large quantities of honey, and too little 

 to the better quality and proper dis- 

 position of the same. I have so often 

 expressed my views upon this subject, 

 that I shall ofJ'er but few suggestions. 

 Enough has been said, and practical 

 plans enough have been offered to en- 

 tirely revolutionize the sj'stem of mark- 

 eting. To tell the exact truth, we 

 liave had too mudi talk, followed by 

 far too little action. The great needs 

 at present may be briefly stated as fol- 

 lows : ■ 



First, to attain to a higher standard 

 in the production of our honey. This 

 will be readied through the great 

 freedom of discussion which is taking- 

 place in all our bee-literature. I am a 

 thorough advocate of the " question 

 and answer department '' of our 

 papers, where we are enabled to com- 

 pare the opinions of so many of our 

 best bee-keepers, expressed in so con- 

 cise and explicit a manner. We should 

 remember tliat anything tending to- 

 educate in the direction of raising the 

 quality of our honey to a higher stan- 

 dard, is exactly in line with cresiting. 

 and strengthening a better market. 



Our first aim should be a prime 

 quality, and next complete and perfect 

 finish, so that it shall be attractive and 

 agreeable to handle. All this mean* 

 proper fall management and winter 

 work ; successful wintering, and proper 

 spring management ; so that colonies 

 shall be populous, and in condition to 

 store honey rapidly, which aids its 

 neat appearance. In short, it means, 

 all the year round, hard work. 



Second, we need to guard and foster 

 most strenuously the fact that our pro- 

 duct is a pure and wholesome article 

 of food. In fact, the only commercial 

 sweet, furnishetl entirelj' from natural 

 sources, that has undergone no process 

 of manufacture. It is as wholly and 

 truly as natural a production as milk, 

 and" has ranked with it in all ages past. 



Third. We are now come to the 

 point where we need a reformation 

 We talk mucli about " developing a 

 home market," "creating a greater 

 demand for our honey," "making 

 proper exhibits at our fairs," etc., but 

 we fail to practice what we advocate. 

 In my opinion, one of the very greatest 

 needs in the direction of solving the 

 problem, is an entire revolution in our 

 svstem of marketing. Our wares 

 should be handled in eveiy large and 

 important market, by those who are 

 thorouglily informed in every branch 

 of bee-culture. 



It may be urged that by these ex- 

 hibitions we will induce many not now 

 in the business to embark in it. I 

 think not. I believe the better way is 

 to come right out square and let them 

 see what we are doing. I have made 

 exhibitions at the Saratoga County 

 fairs for a numljer of years, and have 

 yet to hear of any one starting in the 

 business as the result, but I know th.at 

 it has been the means of helping hun- 

 di-cds. I may say thousands of pounds 

 of honey, out of the glutted city 

 markets. 



I think, perhaps, you will agree with 

 mc that for the caus^ of apiculture, 

 exlHl>itions at fairs are desirable, but 

 will it pay tlie persons making them 

 for their time and the necessary ex- 

 pense ? We might ask, does bee- 



