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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



MOW TO MAKE OF BEE-KEEP- 

 ING A MORE SAFE, PLEAS- 

 ANT AND PROFITABLE 

 PURSUIT. BY ADA L. 

 PICKARD. 



"If to do were as easy as to know, 

 what were good to do, chapels had been 

 churches, and 

 poor mens' cot- 

 tages princes' 

 palaces. It is a 

 good divine that 

 follows his own 

 instructions." 



Many readers 

 remark that arti- 

 cles written from 

 time Jo time are 

 all right in the- 

 ory, but when 

 put into practice do not work as repre- 

 sented on paper. These statements may 

 be true; but perhaps the reason why they 

 did not work was because the operator 

 failed to carry out the plan and method 

 proposed. No one has any right to ad- 

 vance simply theories, which he knows 

 will not work; instead, he should advance 

 plans and methods which have been tried 

 and proven. Our theme, to which we 

 must resort, is "How to make bee-keep- 

 ing a more safe, pleasant and profitable 

 pursuit." We must first make the state- 

 ment that bee-keeping can not always be 

 relied upon as a safe occupation without 

 any other source of income. .We are en- 

 tirely dependent upon circumstances, and 

 at the mercies of conditions. It seems 

 sometimes that no matter how well the 

 apiary is managed there are conditions 

 which will not permit us to obtain a hon- 

 ey crop. "It is not all gold that glitters" 

 in any occupation. 



Often the winters are open, one day 

 freezing and the next da}' thawing, with 

 no snow upon the grouud, and white 

 clover is "winterkilled;" and in regions 

 where clover is exclusively depended up- 

 on for the honey crop we hear failure, 

 failure as the result. In the basswood 



belts there are also many draw-backs, 

 and discouragements; such as late spring 

 frosts, drouths, and the difficulties which 

 have been experienced with flies and 

 worms working upon the basswood 

 bloom; thus making the long looked for 

 honey crop a failure. Then, in other lo- 

 calities, the apiarist suffers many times 

 from drouths which ruin his honey crop; 

 almost every locality and business has its 

 draw-backs. "Green Fields" are alwa3's 

 far away. Some may think I have men- 

 tioned too many of the discouragements, 

 but when we take the bitter with the 

 sweet, the sweet is all the sweeter. 

 Every stage of life has its shadows with 

 its sunshine, so it is with every business, 

 each has its failures with its successes. 



There is not always a honey crop when 

 there is bloom, as the conditions of the 

 atmosphere greatly influence the secre- 

 tion of the nectar; and after the bee-keep- 

 er has experienced many of these difficul- 

 ties he is convinced that bee-keeping 

 alone is not a safe pursuit. 



But it may be made more safe and prof- 

 itable if operated with another occupa- 

 tion; thus shooting the arrow you may 

 kill two birds, while the other way only 

 one is aimed at and that too may be miss- 

 ed. Some will not agree with me here, 

 but will sa}- divided attention means 

 failure. No ! not necessarily, one can 

 operate more than one occupation and 

 not neglect either if he selects occupa- 

 tions that will work well together. It is 

 a very good motto to say "This one 

 thing I do" but sometimes it is better to 

 say these livo things I do, and place 3'our 

 time and attentions along these lines. 



Supposing most bee-keepers to be 

 fanners, an agreeable occupation that 

 could be combined with bee-keeping with 

 success (and more safety and profit 

 to the bee-keeper, and perhaps more 

 pleasure if it proved profitable) is that of 

 sheep raising. The combination of the 

 two would give the bee-keeper another 

 source of profits if the season proved un- 

 successful with the bees. The sheep and 

 little lambs may be cared for in early 



