THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



115 



your zeal for the welfare of extracted 

 honey producers, as well as for the future ■ 

 status of comb honey production, is 

 being weighed in the balance. As a 

 comb honey producer I await your de- 

 cision with the utmost confidence that it 

 will be rendered with due deliberation, 

 and meted out with justice and equity to 

 the producer of both comb and extracted 

 honey alike, and with such a leader at 

 the head of the great army of comb 

 honey producers, who shall gainsay what 

 is herein predicted? 



BiRivuNGHAM, Ohio, Feb. 5, 1910. 



[The foregoing article is exceedingly 

 well-written, and I greatly enjoyed its 

 perusal. I count its author as a pro- 

 gressive bee keeper, and one who under- 

 stands, better than most men, the capa- 

 bilities and possibilities of the sectional 

 hive. 1 have had a lot of correspondence 

 with him, and visited him in his own 

 home, and esteem him as a friend; al- 

 though I don't always agree with his 

 views. When he sent the above article 

 he said that he wished that 1 would print 

 it verbatim, and, with the exception of a 

 few minor corrections, such as must be 

 made in most of the articles that come to 

 the Review, it is given exactly as written. 

 I told my friend that I should be _glad to 

 give it space, but 1 should take issue 

 with him on some points, and he replied 

 that that was exactly what he wanted. 



I feel like writing a long editorial on 

 this subject, and I may do so, but my 

 position can be told in these few words: 

 I don't feel that one branch of bee keep- 

 ing is any more honorable than another; 

 1 see no reason why the producer of 

 comb honey should hold his head any 

 higher than the producer of extracted 

 honey. It has been said that the pro- 

 duction of comb honey calls for more 

 skill. If skill is to receive the crown, 

 then the laurel must be twined about the 

 brow of the scientific queen breeder. 



In gaining a livelihood, man naturally, 

 and sensibly, seeks the line of the least 

 resistance. If he can make more 

 money producing extracted honey, the 



producers of comb honey may shout 

 themselves black in the face, calling 

 upon him to stay by them, and it will be 

 of no avail. If it has reached the point 

 where the production of comb honey 

 must be defended, where bee keepers 

 must be cheered and encouraged to 

 induce them to stand by it, it certainly is 

 in a bad way. I don't incline to that 

 belief. This matter of which to produce, 

 comb or extracted honey, has been 

 threshed over, time and again, in the 

 journals, and at conventions, and the 

 decision has always been that it depends 

 upon circumstances. Following this, 

 comes the fact that conditions change; 

 and where the production of comb honey 

 was once the more profitable, we now 

 find that the bee keeper who cares to do 

 so, can make more money producing 

 extracted honey. As explained in form.er ' 

 editorials, the demand for extracted 

 honey has increased, and methods have 

 been studied out whereby several apiaries 

 may be managed with comparatively 

 little labor in its production, and large 

 quantities of this kind of honey produced 

 at a small cost, and I see no dishonor nor 

 disgrace, nor even condemnation, for the 

 men who take advantage of these con- 

 ditions. In fact, I think that the Review 

 would be lacking in duty and usefulness 

 did it fail to point out these changes. 



There probably always will be places 

 and conditions where the production of 

 comb honey will be more profitable, and, 

 as editor of the Review, I would be a 

 failure did I neglect this branch of the 

 industry. To illustrate: I took a trip to 

 York State last winter almost solely to 

 visit one of her most noted comb honey 

 producer, Mr. S. D. House, and learn his 

 methods and secure his services as cor- 

 respondent for the Review. 



I feel that any bee keeper has a perfect 

 right to make a specialty of either comb 

 or extracted honey production, or of 

 queen rearing, or the raising of bees to 

 sell, and no one has the right to point the 

 finger of scorn at another because he is 

 in a different class.— Editor] 



