Aug. 18. 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



567 



problem, as I have a diflferetit opinion in this respect from 

 the majority of bee-keepers. 



Generally, it is believed that quite special qualities are 

 necessary to make a successful bee-keeper. I do not think 

 so. To be successful in any business some qualities are 

 necessary. At first a man must have sense enough. More 

 for some kinds of business than others, that is all. A cer- 

 tain degree of tact is necessary, but more especially indus- 

 try, and practical and scientific knowledge. 



There is no question about it, that a bee-keeper must be 

 industrious. If a man thinks the bees work for nothing 

 and board themselves, and that it is easy to make money 

 by keeping bees and sitting down in a rocking-chair all 

 day, he will soon find out that he is mistaken. In bee-keep- 

 ing everything must be done right, and at the right time. 

 The lazy people generally do a thing either not at all or not 

 properly, and at too late a time. But the same quality of 

 industry is necessary in other occupations. The lazy fellow 

 will succeed nowhere. I mention this only because some 

 have the idea that bee-keeping is so very easy. 



The most essential quality for a successful business 

 man is the necessary knowledge. The whole difference is 

 in the way in which we obtain this necessary knowledge^ 

 and how much of it is necessary to run a certain business. 



In some occupations a little practical experience is 

 sufficient to be successful. In others (and bee keeping 

 among them) a large degree of knowledge and a good deal 

 of practical experience are necessary to be successful. 



Right here comes in the diflSculty in bee-keeping. To 

 obtain the necessary knowledge for other occupations the 

 apprentice goes through a school especially established for 

 this purpose ; or works for some time with a master who in- 

 forms him practically and scientifically. The beginner in 

 bee-keeping very seldom has occasion to use one ortheother 

 way, depending upon the reading of good books and bee- 

 papers. 



I have worked with bees for nearly SO years ; kept bees 

 here in Texas for 25 years, and have seen large and small 

 apiaries started all around me. The most of them disap- 

 peared very soon. In every case of such failure I found 

 that the man either did not read or did not understand the 

 little that he did read. 



Now, we have to consider another point. This self- 

 education by reading and studying is the most difficult way 

 to obtain a certain knowledge ; some degree of elementary 

 knowledge is necessary for it ; some energy, and I might 

 saj' a love for science. 



A much easier way it is if we obtain this knowledge bj' 

 and by, if we practically work in the apiary under the super- 

 vision of a well-educated apiarist who explains everything — 

 every operation not only practically, but in every case 

 gives the scientific reason why something must be done in 

 just this way, and not in the other way. 



For this we Texans can be proud, as we have here on 

 the college grounds such a school it which the necessary 

 knowledge can be obtained. As far as I know, it is the only 

 school of this kind in the 1 'nited States, and probably in the 

 world. 



I will say again, to be a successful bee-keeper the man 

 must possess the necessary scientific knowledge ; then, and 

 only then, he will know always what to do if something un- 

 expected happens in the apiary, and he will be able to im- 

 prove his practical operations. 



The late Baron Berlepsch, one of the prominent bee- 

 keepers of . Germany in the last century, said : "At first 

 learn theory or you will remain a bungler in practical bee- 

 keeping all your life." 



Here ,the word " theory " has another meaning from 

 that for which it is generally used here in the United States. 



Here theory means merely a hypothesisnot entirely proven. 

 In Germany the word is used for science. 



L,. Stachklhausen. 



F. L. Aten said that the greatest essential in the making 

 of a successful bee-keeper was an industrious person who 

 was able to stick to his business. 



[Continued next week.) 



[ Our Bee-KeepinS Sisters] 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Melting' Old Combs into Beeswax. 



I want to tell the sisters how I melt combs. I take a 

 two-bushel sack, fill it with old combs, and place it in a 

 large kettle of boiling water. With a strong paddle pre- 

 pared for that purpose, I begin mashing it, holding the 

 mouth of the sack in my hand. When the wax begins to 

 rise pretty freely I begin dipping it off, pouring it into a 

 gallon vessel of cold water before it gets too hot to handle. 

 I then pour the cooled wax, water and all, into a sack, and 

 the water runs out leaving the wax. I keep stirring the old 

 combs till all the wax is out. I then dip it all off as well as 

 I can. If the sack is dipped up and down in the hot water 

 several times the wax will run off next to the kettle as the 

 sack is raised. Then raise it quickly (if you have melted 

 and stirred it well the refuse will be so clean that it will not 

 stick together when cool), pour the wax back into the ket- 

 tle and melt it thoroughly, so you will have a nice cake. If 

 left crumbled it will mold and make the wax dark. 



Pickens Co., Ga., July 18. Mrs. QuEBN B. Hali,. 



Keeping Bees in a Garret. 



I am perplexed about my bees, and write to see if you 

 will kindly help me. We got a swarm, and put the brooder 

 in a small box in the garret. They are storing considerable 

 honey, but is there not some way in which we can save the 

 bees, so that they will increase as they would in common 

 hives ? Can we put a brooder on the one we have, and will 

 the new swarm go into it another year ? There are so many 

 bees that all of them can not winter in the brooder. If we 

 had put a super with sections in it on the brooder, would^ 

 they have stored honey in it ? It is going to be very un- 

 handy to cut the comb and divide it to sell, as we want to 

 sell part of it. Do you know of any one who is keeping 

 bees in this way ? Mrs. L. Wilson. 



Rutland Co., Vt., July 26. 



This letter was written to one of the leading supply- 

 dealers, who has sent it to me for reply. 



I don't just know what you mean by the brooder, but as 

 nearly as I can make out you want to have the bees in the 

 garret so open that you can get at the combs to cut out 

 honey whenever desired. This has been thought of more 

 than once, as a very handy thing, but it is doubtful that 

 you could get any practical bee-keeper to try it, and just as 

 doubtful that it would be a success if tried. 



Of course, it sounds very nice in theory to have the 

 combs all open so you could take a knife and plate any time 

 and cut away what you desired of the nice, white honey, but 

 some things are not so nice in practice as in theory. When 

 bees are left to themselves in this way you will find that a 

 large proportion of the honey they store will be in the upper 

 part of the combs, while the lower part of the same combs 



