548 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 11, 1904. 



this aroma in the extracted form than in the comb, perhaps 

 because so many bee-keepers remove the honey from the 

 comb before it has gone through the necessary curing pro- 

 cess, and then again exposing it to the atmosphere to re- 

 move more of the water, and thus prevent the honey souring. 

 " It is well to remember that a merit in the article for 

 sale is the chief factor. When the salesman finds that he 

 has something that pleases the people, he becomes enthusi- 

 astic and convinces those seeking for a similar commodity 

 to be influenced by his statement, which, if the goods carry 

 out, he has little difScult3' in making a second sale to the 

 same party. Honey without the desired flavor has had 

 more to do with its own undoing than any other one thing 

 that it has to contend with. We have had many instances 

 of this in our business by people buying a nice looking case 

 of comb honey for their own use, and, finding it very differ- 

 ent from what they had reason to expect, either returned 

 the greater portion of it, or refrained from buying any 

 more, sometimes for years. Let them get pure extracted 

 honey of a tasteless nature and they will not buy any more. 

 It is an easy matter, as a rule, to sell to people what they 

 want, and there are a great many people who desire honey 

 that has that fine, old-fashioned flavor that they used to get, 

 but which now they so seldom find offered in the market." 



Mr. Burnett has had a quarter of a century of experi- 

 ence as a honey-dealer, and so is pretty well informed on 

 the side he has worked for so many years — the city con- 

 sumer's side. Surely, bee-keepers must exercise more care 

 in the direction suggested, else it will be only a question of 

 time when honey will be a drug on the market, no matter 

 how fine its appearance. It musf have the right flavor — the 

 bee-hive taste. 





Miscellaneous Items 





Mr. J. T. Calvert, of The A. I. Root Company, was in 

 Chicago recently and gave us a short call. He reports a 

 larger bee-supply business this season than in 1903, and that 

 was a record-breaker. 



A Flexible Bee-Hat came to this office a short time 

 ago with the following words printed just above the brim 

 in front: "W. S. Pouder, Bee-Keepers' Supplies, Honey ^'v: 

 Beeswax, Indianapolis, Ind." 



It is one of the best beehats we have seen, and it is also 

 somewhat less flexible than others. We have donated it to 

 one of the sister bee-keepers, and she thinks it is all right. 



Bees Help Build a Beautiful Home.— On the first 

 page will be found a picture of the lovely home of Mr. J. E. 

 Crane, of Addison Co., Vt. In 1900 he wrote as follows 

 concerning it, in the Bee-Keepers' Review : 



I had almost forgotten that I had promised to write 

 something about the home the honey-bees had helped to 

 build, and what shall I say ? The picture shows the outside 

 of the home better than I can describe it. Of the inside I 

 will only say that it is as convenient and pleasant as it is 

 pleasing from the outside. 



It will be observed that the barn has a wing running 

 out to the right. This is my honey-house, where I store my 

 honey and fixtures and do my work. I like this much bet- 

 ter than where the honey-house is in a separate building ; as 

 I can load my wagon with clamps or hives on the barn 

 floor ; yes, and hitch on my horse already to start, before 

 opening the door. Again, I can bring in a load of honey 

 from out-yards, and at once drive in and close the doors, 

 without any interference from robber-bees. Or, if it should 

 be raining, it is a great convenience to be under shelter 

 while unloading. Some years, when I have a large crop, I 

 have found the barn-floor, after sweeping and cleaning, a 

 most excellent place to pack honey ; as my work-room 

 would be too clogged to give me room. 



But how did the bees help to build the home ? I hear 



some one ask. Well, it was very mucli this way : When 

 young I was very much of an invalid. The best medical 

 advice was that I should live on a farm ; live in the open 

 air. But I could not do the hard, heavy work of the farm, 

 and how was I to make a living without being able to do 

 the work, for I had not the capital to hire it done. Either 

 some branch of farming must be followed that did not re- 

 quire hard work, or some means must be used to make 

 enough to pay for extra help. No one in our parts had 

 made a business of bee-keeping in those days, some 35 or 40 

 years ago, but some of my neighbors kept bees, and in good 

 years sold some honey. I secured Ouinby's and Lang- 

 stroth's works on bees, and studied the subject very care- 

 fully. During the Civil War there were no journals devoted 

 to bee-keeping. One or two that were started just before 

 were discontinued. The bee-keeping world seemed a great 

 blank, compared with to-day. But I was led to believe that 

 if I could not make a living at bee-keeping I could at least 

 sell enough honey to hire the necessary help to run a farm ; 

 so I began in a small way, and did not get a pound of sur- 

 plus the first season, which was a very poor one. The next 

 year was a good one, and my colonies averaged 100 pounds. 

 And then I increased gradually until I had six or seven 

 hundred that I could call my own. 



Of course, I used a frame hive from the first, and kept 

 Italian bees. There seemed to be more difi"erence between 

 Italian and black bees in those days than in more recent 

 years. But I find, by getting new strains of Italian blood, 

 that their old-time vigor seems to be restored. 



The price of honey was high in those days, averaging 

 me 30 cents per pound above cost of selling. 



But if there is one thing above another that I did be- 

 sides carefully studying the bees and everything connected 

 with them that led to my success, it was that I increased 

 my stock slow/y, and as I could manage them. If the sea- 

 son was poor I got what surplus honey I could, and let the 

 increase go till a more favorable year, not attempting to 

 increase by artificial means. If the year was good I would 

 get my crop of honey and what increase I could. In this 

 way I made them earn me something almost every year. It 

 seems to me that I have known more failures in bee-keeping 

 to come from rapid increase than from any other cause, and 

 I don't know but more than from all other causes put to- 

 gether. 



Another thing I ought perhaps to mention, is that I 

 have stuck to my bees through winter and summer, year 

 after year, and now, after many years, notwithstanding 

 the low price of honey, I have reason to believe that they 

 will pay as well in any fairly good section as any other 

 branch of rural industry ; and now, after working with 

 bees for 35 years, I am more than ever interested in them. 

 It doesn't pay to go into bees, and, when there comes a poor 

 year, sell out or let them die, and go crazy over something 

 else. Many sections of our country are undoubtedly unfit 

 for profitable bee-keeping, as much so as are parts unfit for 

 wheat-growing or the raising of fruit, and there is nothing 

 to be gained by trying to make ourselves believe we can 

 succeed with bees everywhere. Such sections can be easily 

 determined by the flora, and the experience of those who 

 have kept bees for some years in such localities. 



J. E. Crane. 



Printer's Ink— the original publication devoted to the 

 science and art of advertising — gives this very complimen- 

 tary paragraph in its issue of July 20, for which it has our 

 thanks : 



" The American Bee Journal, published weekly in Chi- 

 cago, the oldest journal of its kind in the United States, 

 was established in 1.S61. A booklet from the present pub- 

 lisher and editor, George W. York, tells the story of this 

 publication in an interesting way, and compares conditions 

 among bee-keepers of the (jO's with those of to-day. The 

 American Bee Journal is representative in its field, and 

 commands the work of the best contributors among scien- 

 tific and practical bee-men." 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon- 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



