636 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



I really believe there would be less subjects In the insane hospitals had 

 these same people been a little "nutty" about bees. Was there anybody 

 ever sent to the insane asylum because bees had made them crazy? I 

 never heard of any such. Have you? I also believe there would be fewer 

 broken down business and professional men if they had taken time to 

 become interested in a few colonies of bees. I also believe the outdoor 

 treatment of bee culture, taken early in life by the average individual 

 would eliminate many cases of the white plague, commonly called tuber- 

 culosis, not to mention many other ailments that the outdoor life would 

 benefit. 



Are there any weazened-faced beekeepers here today, because of having 

 associated with one of God's greatest blessings to outdoor-loving man- 

 kind? You all look to me like you would take care of a square meal of 

 victuals every time the meal hour came around. 



God made the bees for us. He has heralded the praises of honey in 

 2he book of Holy Writ. Man makes sugar and molasses by chemical 

 processes. The bees make honey by the process invented by God Himself, 

 who never patented the process and never has changed or invented any better 

 way than he started the bee out with from the beginning, notwithstanding 

 all the theories that Dr. Bonney and the many other v/ise and learned 

 fellows are continually contending about in their endeavors to make over 

 the bee and his habits. 



Do you know I have learned to appreciate and love, more and more, 

 God's outdoor of life since I got this bee trouble? I never had seen the 

 sun rise since I was a little boy on the farm until the bees gave vae the 

 morning boost. I have got so I cannot successfully night-hawk it any 

 more, and neither can I lie in bed in the morning while the bees are out 

 and at it. But I have never been able to get out soon enough, that I 

 have not seen them coming home as well as going out. So you see, for 

 me, it has been grand to be "nutty." 



My health is better, I feel better and really am better, because I have 

 learned to love the bees. 



MAKING INCREASE. 



J. W. BITTENBENDER, KNOXVILLE, IOWA. 



There are two ways of increasing, by natural swarming and by artificial 

 swarming or dividing. The artificial swarming is entirely in the hands 

 of the apiarist. If he uses good judgment in making his increase, they 

 should be as good in every respect as natural swarms. Now my way 

 may not be the best method for all localities, but for my locality it is 

 essential to lay the foundation and pave the way for a larger honey crop. 

 Every beekeeper should be well informed in regard to the time of the 

 opening of honey flow and prepare his bees accordingly. Many a good 

 honey flow has passed by for the lack of having the bees in proper condi- 

 tion to harvest it. In my locality the first honey flow begins to open with 

 the first few warm days in spring. With the opening of soft maple, 

 willow and elm, followed up with dandelion, and closes with fruit bloom 



