186 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



bee keeping, he was told that it was 

 too precarious for a sole occupation — 

 it must be tacked onto the tail of some 

 more stable pursuit. Many were the 

 discussions as to "what would best 

 combine with bee keeping?" We see 

 them no more. The problem has been 

 solved. The answer is "some more 

 bees:" Gradually, here and there, scat- 

 tered over this fair land, may be found 

 men who with courage, vim, determina- 

 tion and the application of business 

 principles, have proved that not only 

 can bee keeping be depended upon as 

 a sole means of livelihood, but to put 

 money in the bank. That it must be 

 combined with some other pursuit has 

 been proven a fallacy; and the one sat- 

 isfaction of my life is that I have 

 helped and encouraged men in the pro- 

 duction of this proof. 



I am not so foolish as to assert that 

 bee keeping can never be profitably 

 combined with some other pursuit, but, 

 in this connection, here is the point 

 that always comes up to me : There 

 are thousands of bee keepers with a 

 single apiary of from 75 to 150 colonies, 

 from which they make just about 

 enough to keep soul and body together. 

 They practically spend all of their time 

 in the busy season in the care of these 

 few bees, when by the adoption of im- 

 proved methods, and the exercise of a 

 little more vim, energy and courage, 

 possibly the hiring of a little help, they 

 might increase their bees and their in- 

 come five-fold. 



Under the most favorable circum- 

 stances, it is likely that my working 

 days will be over inside of 20 years, 

 but those years shall be devoted to 

 helping, encouraging and inducing of 

 bee keepers to "keep more bees." 



[The above editorial, written by Mr. 

 Hutchinson a little over two months 

 before his death, shows that right up to 

 the last his thoughts were on the ad- 

 vancement of his brother bee-keeper. 

 How much good he has done along that 



line can not be estimated. Certain it is 

 that many have been encouraged by his 

 writings. 



When I first began bee-keeping I was 

 often discouraged by the pessimistic at- 

 titude of some "shining light" in "bee- 

 dom." In talking with Mr. Hutchinson 

 about this a short time before his death, 

 he looked up at me with sparkling eyes 

 and said, "Well, you can't accuse the 

 Review of that?" and I certainly 

 couldn't.] 



Why I Took Hold of The Review. 



Flint, Mich., June 3d, 1911. 

 "Mr. Tyrrell: 



Kind and dear friend of W. Z. 

 Hutchinson : — I am forced to write you 

 the very sad news of his death, May 

 30th. You know, of course, it can be 

 nothing but the most serious of all 

 things that could happen to this family. 



I am writing to know if you would 

 entertain the proposition of continuing 

 the Review. It was always a source 

 of worry to Mr. H. that if anything 

 happened to him the Review would go 

 down, and once he said, "Mr. Tyrrell 

 would be a good man to take it; I 

 wish he was my partner ;" and so I 

 have thought of it and wish you could 

 make me a visit to talk over some of 

 this work, as I must do something at 

 once about it. Please think this over 

 and visit me, if possible. Truly, 



Mrs. W. Z. Hutchinson." 



Monday night, June 5th, I returned 

 home from the office, ready for a 

 week's vacation, and found the above 

 letter awaiting me. Needless to say 

 it was not only a surprise, but a shock 

 as well, for I counted Mr. Hutchinson 

 as among my choicest of friends. Only 

 a few days before I said to Mrs. Tyr- 

 rell, "I wonder how Mr. Hutchinson is 

 coming along. I wish I might run up 

 and see him." Although I knew of his 

 illness, yet I was not looking for the 

 end so soon. 



