138 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



producer of extracted honey, as you so 

 dramatically put it. Neither is it my 

 purpose to array one class of bee keepers 

 against another. 



I fully agree with you that, in many 

 locations, changed conditions necessitate 

 a change to extracted honey production; 

 however, in the editorial you do not 

 mention any changed conditions. All 

 the excuse you offer for the frequent 

 exhortation to bee keepers to keep more 

 bees and produce extracted honey, is 

 that it requires two or three times as 

 much labor to run an apiary for comb 

 as for extracted honey production. 



I don't for a moment question the 

 right of any bee keeper to produce the 

 kind of honey he chooses; but when any 

 one says that it requires twice as much 

 labor to run an apiary for comb as for 

 extracted honey production, I say, most 

 emphatically, there is something radically 

 wrong with that man's methods. 1 have 

 stated elsewhere, and I repeat it with 

 emphasis, if there is more profit in the 

 production of extracted than in comb 

 honey, in Northern Michigan, or in any 

 other equally good location, then the 

 methods of comb honey production of 

 that country need a lot of doctoring. 



Even a careless reading of the edi- 

 torial in question would reveal the un- 

 mistakable fact that the editor is an 

 extracted honey man, which he has a 

 perfect right to be. I esteem him as a 

 personal friend, and am happy to say 

 can agree to disagree with him, and love 

 him still. 



I agree with his statement that it is 

 natural for some men to seek the line 

 of least resistance, but I am glad to 

 know that all men are not made of that 

 kind of material. ■ Think you that, if the 

 editor of the Review had sought the lines 

 of least resistance he would now be 

 filling the editorial chair of an influential 

 bee journal, or reclining in the lap of 

 luxury in that new home with all its 

 modern conveniences? Shall we look for 

 progress and advancement along api- 

 cultural lines from those who seek the 



line of least resistance, and who drift 

 along with the tide, or from those who 

 with a grim determination that knows 

 no defeat, overcome seemingly unsur- 

 mountable difficulties, turning defeat into 

 a glorious victory? 



Bee-keeping is still in its infancy; but 

 little is yet known about the perfect con- 

 trol of bees which is the foundation of 

 the most perplexing problems of api- 

 culture. It is a mistake to suppose that 

 we can attain to the highest success, 

 financially or socially, by following the 

 lines of least resistance. 



For generations, the bee keeper has 

 been a bearer of heavy burdens, over a 

 pathway of uncertainties; for generations 

 the pursuit of comb honey production 

 has been fraught with disappointing 

 results, and vexatious losses, on account 

 of the inability of man, with all his 

 boasted wisdom and superior intellect, to 

 control the swarming impulse of bees 

 with economy of labor. With this 

 problem once solved, comb honey can 

 be produced in out apiaries cheaper than 

 extracted, and with the difference be- 

 tween the price of these two commodi- 

 ties, it is easy to see which it will be the 

 most profitable to produce. 



It matters little to the writer that his 

 ideas will not be considered as orthodox 

 by the rank and file, as he has not 

 practiced orthodox methods for a 

 quarter of a century, since which time 

 he has refused to follow blindly in the 

 circle prescribed by the founders of 

 apiculture of past centuries, or to prac- 

 tice the primitive and laborous methods 

 advocated by alleged up-to-date bee 

 keepers of modern times; choosing rather 

 to practice those methods that will give 

 him perfect control of bees at all times; 

 and. in order to maintain his reputation 

 for extravagant statements, permit him 

 to say it is the privilege of every comb 

 honey producer to keep twice as many 

 colonies of bees as he is now keeping 

 with no more expense for labor and to 

 enjoy the blessings of perfect control of 



