Dec. 29, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



873 



THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION. 



Report of the 35th Annual Convention, of the 



National Bee-Keepers' Association Held at 



St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 27-30, 1904. 



[Coatinned from page S54.J 

 Mr. Hutchinson then read the following- paper, on 

 BEE-KEEPING AS A BUSINESS. 



In reply to the query, "What will best mix with bee- 

 keeping?" I have always replied: "Some more bees." When 

 the conditions are favorable, I am decidedly in favor of bee- 

 keeping as a specialty^ — of dropping all other hampering pur- 

 suits, and turning the whole capital, time and energies into 

 bee-keeping. If bee-keeping cannot be made profitable as a 

 specialty, then it is unprofitable as a subsidiary pursuit. If 

 bee-keeping must be propped up with some other pursuit, then 

 we better throw away bee-keeping and keep the prop. 



General farming is very poorly adapted for combining 

 with bee-keeping, yet the attempt is probably made oftener 

 than with any other pursuit. There are critical times in bee- 

 keeping that will brook no delay, when three or four days 

 or a week's neglect may mean the loss of a crop ; and these 

 times come right in the height of the season, when the farmer 

 is the busiest. Leaving the team and reaper standing idle 

 in the back field while the farmer goes to the house to hive 

 bees, is neither pleasant nor profitable. Drawing in a field 

 of hay, while the bees lie idle because the honey has not been 

 extracted to give them storage-room, is another illustration 

 of the conditions with which the- farmer-bee-keeper has to 

 contend. The serious part of it is, that the honey thus lost 

 may be worth nearly or quite as much as the haj' that is 

 saved. Some special lines of rural pursuits, like winter dairy- 

 ing, or the raising of grapes, or winter apples, unite with 

 bee-keeping to much better advantage than general farming; 

 but when bee-keeping is capable of absorbing all of the capital, 

 time and energy that a man can put into it. why divide these 

 resources with some other pursuit? It has been said that bee- 

 keeping is a nrecarious pursuit, that it cannot be depended 

 upon, alone, to furnish a livelihood ; and, for this reason, it 

 should be joined with some business of a more stable charac- 

 ter. It is true that there are many localities where there 

 is often a season in which little or no honey is secured, and, 

 in the Northern States, winter-losses are sometimes very 

 heavj'. hence it would be risky to depend entirely for a living 

 upon keeping bees, in a limited way, in such localities ; but, 

 if the average profit from bee-keeping, one year with another, 

 is not the equal of other rural pursuits, why keep bees? The 

 truth of the matter is that it is greater; and if bee-keepers 

 would only drop everything else, and adopt methods that 

 would enable them to branch out and keep hundreds of 

 colonies where they now have dozens, they would secure 

 enough honey in the good years to more than carry them 

 over the poor years, and thus not only make a living, but 

 lay up money. 



When a man decides to cut loose from everything else, 

 and go into bee-keeping extensively, maKing it his only and 

 his life-business, the question of all questions is that of 

 localit}'. There are few localities in which a small apiary 

 might not yield some surplus, but when a man is to make 

 of bee-keeping his sole business, the securing of the best 

 possible location is time and money well spent. What a 

 good, solid foundation is to a "sky scraper," a good loca- 

 tion is the building up of a successful, extensive bee busi- 

 ness. Having settled in a locality, the bee-keener cannot 

 study it too thoroughly. Especially must he understand its 

 honey resources ; the time when each flow begins, its probable 

 duration, its quantity and character. He must know whether 

 to expect a spring-flow, like that from dandelion, hard maple 

 or fruit bloom, that will build up the colonies for the main 

 harvest that is to come later. If there is likely to be a sea- 

 son of scarcity between the early flow and the main harvest, 

 it must be known, and preparations made to keep up brood 



rearing by means of feeding or the uncapping of honey. The 

 management will depend largely upon the source of the main 

 honey-flow, whether it be raspberry, clover, basswood, buck- 

 wheat, alfalfa, sage, or fall flowers. Whatever the source, 

 the bee-keeper must know when to expect it, and plan to 

 have his colonies in exactly the right condition to gather it 

 when it comes. This is one of the fundamental principles of 

 successful bee-keeping. 



Having secured the most desirable location, the next step 

 is to procure the best kind of bees that can be obtained. 

 There are several different varieties of bees, each with its 

 peculiarities, but, aside from this, every bee-keeper who- has 

 had experience with several strains of the same variety, 

 knows that some strains are superior to others — that there 

 is scrub-stock among bees, just as there are scrub horses, 

 cattle, sheep and poultry. With scrub-stock, the cost of hives, 

 combs and other appliances remains the same ; it is no less 

 work to care for such stock ; and it requires the same amount 

 of honey to raise and feed it as it does the best stock in the 

 world. In proportion to its cost, no investment brings the 

 bee-keeper greater profit than the securing of superior stock. 

 Having secured a good location and good stock, the bee- 

 keeper should adopt such hives, implements and methods as 

 will enable him to branch out, establish out-apiaries, and 

 keep a large number of colonies. At the present time the 

 greatest failing of professional bee-keepers is of too 

 few bees — of clinging to some other hampering pur- 

 suit. Many keep enough bees to furnish them a fair 

 living in a good season, v but when winter losses, and poor 

 honey seasons follow one another in quick succession, 

 there is suffering, or, at least, great inconvenience. If a man 

 is going to follow bee-keeping as a profession, his only hope 

 of success is in a good location, a good stock and the keep- 

 ing of bees in such numbers that when a good year comes 

 he can pile up the honey ton upon ton — enough to keep him 

 several years. The larger a business the more cheaply can 

 it be conducted in proportion to the results; not only this, 

 but the very fact that bees are scattered about in out-apiaries 

 several miles apart, adds to the certainty of the crop; as one 

 localitv often yields a fair crop while another a few miles 

 away yields nothing. ^ 



It has been urged against bee-kee^g as a sole pursuit 

 that, while it keeps a man very busy during the summer it 

 leaves him idle in the winter. Bee-keeping, rightly man- 

 aged, will keep a man busy every day in the year. Too many 

 bee-keepers fail to realize that the selling of a crop is fully 

 as important as its production. The business part of bee- 

 keeping has been sadly neglected. No set rule can be given 

 as to how a man shall dispose of his crop, but it does seem 

 like very poor business management to send away a crop of 

 honey to some commission merchant, and then sit around all 

 winter when good wages might be made selling honey direct 

 to customers," or to retail dealers. The selling of the crop, 

 and the preparations for the coming season may jvell occupy 

 a man during the winter. 



It should be understood, however, that bee-keeping is not 

 an occupation in which one can easily become wealthy. In 

 this respect it is much like other rural pursuits. Rightly 

 managed, in a locality adapted to the business, it can be de- 

 pended upon to furnish a comfortable living, and perhaps 

 enable a man to lay up a few thousand dollars, but such for- 

 tunes as are amassed in merchandising or manufacturing can 

 never be booed for by the bee-keeper. Fortunately^, how- 

 ever, the perfection of a man's happiness bears but little 

 relation to the size of his fortune : and many a man with 

 the hum of the bees over his head, finds happiness deeper 

 and sweeter than ever comes to the merchant prince with 

 his cares and his thousands. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Dr. Miller — I would like to ask Mr. Hutchinson what 

 number of bee-keepers would be left in the field if all are 

 to be driven out except those who made a whole business 

 of it? 



Mr. Hutchinson — I don't know how many there would 

 be left. There probably would not be very many. There 



