THE BEE-KEEPERS" REVIEW 



Bee-Keepers, Get Right. 



In .liiicricaii Hcc Journal, J. J. Wild- 

 er goes after the Dixie bee-keepers as 

 follows : 



Bee-keeping in Dixie is burdened 

 with Doubting Thomases, and bee-keep- 

 ers that are "on the fence," and don't 

 know which side to get off on — better 

 bee-keeping and "more bees," or just 

 continue to kep a few bees in any kind 

 of a way, as sua). 



If interested bee-keepers knew that 

 they could go ahead and establish a 

 large bee-business, and thereby make 

 money, they w^ould jump at the proposi- 

 tion. But they are standing around 

 looking on with doubtful eyes. Can you 

 give a solution to this critical problem 

 that confronts so many interested ? 



Then there are some bee-keepers who 

 hold some amount of prejudice or ill- 

 will, or in some way are distant towards 

 some member of their craft. Brother 

 bee-keepers, this ought not so to be. 

 Let's get right, and have tlie good, 

 warm feeling for each other that we 

 should have, and stand ready with help- 

 ing hands to assist a brother in any 

 way opportunity may afford. 



Good for you. Brother Wilder, give it 

 to 'em. The trouble with most of us 

 is that we are afraid to start. Remem- 

 ber that old swimming hole? Remem- 

 ber that when we tested the tempera- 

 ture of the water with just the ends of 

 our toes, that it was "Oh, awful cold?" 

 But when we plunged in all over we 

 could just laugh at the fellow who was 

 afraid, for it just felt fine? Well, that 

 rule applies all through life. The fel- 

 low who isn't afraid doesn't get hurt 

 half so hard as the fellow who is. Of 

 course we expect he will use judgment. 



Ripening Honey on the Hives. 



The reason which has generally been 

 advanced for leaving the honey on the 

 hives until after the honey-flow before 

 extracting, is that a better grade is thus 

 secured. Mr. Scholl gives in addition 

 another reason, in Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture, and that is that it saves time 

 at a very busy time for the bee-keeper. 

 Mr. Scholl's arguments are as follows : 



For more than ten years we have fol- 

 lowed the practice of leaving our honey 

 on the hives until after the honey-flow. 

 This insures a product that can not be 

 obtained by any other method — a thick, 

 heavy-bodied, well-ripened article that 

 has a velvety taste and an excellent 

 flavor, very much unlike the most of 

 the honey on the market. It gives a 

 honey that will be bought by any cus- 

 tomer who may happen to get a taste 

 of it if he likes good honey. "It is 

 thick and ripe enough to chew," if left 

 on the hives long enough ; and the 

 aroma that goes with such honey is 

 lacking in that which is taken off 

 earlier in the season. 



Aside from the question of the qual- 

 ity of honey obtained by this practice 

 we make use of it for another reason. 

 This is a very important one with the 

 bee-keeper managing large numbers of 

 colonies in many apiaries. By tiering up 

 during the honey-flows, and giving his 

 entire time toward securing the most 

 honey at that time, leaving the removal 

 of the crop until the flows are over, 

 an extra advantage is gained. The at- 

 tention given to the bees during the 

 flows insures for him a larger crop, and 

 he can not afford the time to take off 

 honey during this period. After the 

 flow is over, there is nothing else to 

 worry him. and his time is not worth 

 nearly as much, so that he can make it 

 more valuable by devoting it entirely to 

 the harvesting of a crop of a superior 

 grade of honey. 



Bee-Keepers and Associations. 



The Canadian Bee Journal contains 

 an address given by Harry Lathrop be- 

 fore the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, which contains some sug- 

 gestions worthy of thought. Among 

 other things he says : 



The work of a bee-keepers' conven- 

 tion, it seems to me, should consist not 

 so much in going over those petty de- 

 tails of manipulation year after year 

 as in that of dealing with those larger 

 questions that concern bee-keepers as a 

 class, and which have a vital bearing on 

 the industry of bee-keeping. That 

 some such work has been done in '1 - 

 nast we will not deny, but the amount 

 is very small and the field is large for 

 future work. That little has been ac- 

 complished is proven by the fact that 

 the bee-keepers of Wisconsin as indi- 



