January, 1911. 



American Hee Journal 



If bee-keeping is in the front rank as 

 a business of quick returns and large 

 profits, then it follows, as the day fol- 

 lows the night, that it must be a busi- 

 ness in which as many and as large 

 fortunes are made as in any other 

 business. Nowadays millionaires are 

 no great rarity. Is there one among 

 them who made his fortune at bee- 

 keeping ? Men who count their for- 

 tunes in six figures are thickly scat- 

 tered all over the land. How many of 

 them are there who have made their 

 $100,000 or more at bee-keeping? Can 

 you point out a single one ? 



Certainly it can not be said that as 

 large fortunes can be made in bee- 

 keeping as have been made in other 

 lines of business. Can it be said that 

 as many moderate or small fortunes in 

 proportion to the number engaged 

 have been made ? 



If there is no other business that 

 produces quicker returns or greater 

 profit, then it would naturally be ex- 

 pected that the average bee-keeper 

 would devote his whole time to bee- 

 keeping, giving no time whatever to 

 any other line of business. On the 

 contrary, the average bee-keeper does 

 /lot make bee-keeping his sole, nor even 

 his principal, business. For every one 

 who is a bee-keeper pure and simple, 

 there are -50, if not 100 or 500, who fol- 

 low some other line of business to 

 help out. More than that, probably 

 not one bee-keeper in 5 makes as much 

 out of his bees as he does out of some 

 other business. 



Going a little more closely into par- 

 ticulars, let us inquire into that matter 

 of quick returns. If a young man in- 

 quires about going into the bee-busi- 

 ness, he is advised to begin with not 

 more than 2 or 3 colonies, gradually 

 increasing his numbers and growing 

 into the business; and if in the course 

 of 4 or 5 years he has a business of 

 any consequence in which the returns 

 have begun to exceed the outlay, he is 

 doing well. Do you call that quick re- 

 turns .' 



"But," says some one, " that's not a 

 fair way to look at it. I can buy an 

 apiary in April, and in July I can sell 

 my crop of honey. Is there any other 

 business that will give returns in less 

 than 3 months ?" 



My friend, your statement needs 

 qualification. In a good year he may 

 have his returns in 3 months; but sup- 

 pose a year, or 2 years, of failure. In 

 that case he would have his returns in 

 1.") months, or in 27 months. 



But even taking your statement at 

 its face value, one need not go far to 

 find a business which gives returns in 

 less than 3 months. In many lines of 

 buying and selling a man turns his capi- 

 tal over in much less than 3 months. 

 A stock-broker may do it in 3 days. 



But you say, " Oh, I didn't mean any- 

 thing in the line of speculating. I 

 meant, of course, a safe, reliable busi- 

 ness." 



Well, there was no such qualification 

 made. And for that matter, I'm not 

 so sure that stock-brokering is so 

 much more of a risk than bee-keeping. 

 How much certainty is there about 

 your next crop of honey? But giving 

 you the benefit of the doubt, there is 

 more than one kind of crop a truck- 

 gardener can put in with returns in 



less than 3 months, and with more cer- 

 tainty of a crop than he can feel with 

 regard to a crop of honey. Neither is 

 that the only safe business in the world 

 that gives returns in less than 3 months. 

 Now as to the percent of profit. Tak- 

 ing one place with another, one will 

 hardly expect to get a good colony of 

 bees in a good hive for less than $.5.00. 

 That's leaving out of account invest- 

 ment for smoker, supers, bee-paper, 

 etc. Just-take the ?5.00. If he aver- 

 ages $.5.00 annually from each colony, 

 he is doing better than most of us do. 

 That's 100 percent. Certainly a good 

 profit. But is there no other business 

 which gives a greater percent for the 

 money invested ^ 



A man can get a first-class ax for 

 $1.50 or less, and with that ax he can 

 earn in a year $.300 and loaf a good 

 part of the time. That $300 figures up 

 20,000 percent on the $1.60 invested, or 

 200 times as great as the 100 percent 

 on the bees. And that same chopper 

 will count it no trick at all to get back 

 mo percent on his investment in less 

 than 2 days time. Clearly, for quicker 

 returns and a greater percent of profit, 

 woodchopping is a long way ahead of 

 bee-keeping. 



"Then if you had it to do over again 

 you wouldn't be a bee-keeper," you say? 

 Yes, I would. But I'll talk about that 

 another time. C. C. M. 



Miscellaneous <^ News Items 



Removal Xotice 



In order to secure more room, and 

 for better transportation facilities, we 

 have moved the office of the American 

 Bee Journal to the second floor of 117 

 N. Jefferson St. This location is with- 

 in onlv one block of the new $20,000,000 

 Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Sta- 

 tion, which is located on West Madi- 

 son St., between Canal and Clinton 

 Sts. This new station will probably be 

 open for business eitwer March 1 or 

 April 1. It covers something like 4 

 city blocks. In order that it might be 

 erected, all the buildings that occupied 

 the space of 4 blocks had to be torn 

 down and removed. 



Our new location is only about 2 

 blocks from the Union Depot, where 

 it is expected a new Union Station will 

 soon be erected. Into this station will 

 run the passenger trains of the Penn- 

 sylvania Lines, the Chicago, Burling- 

 ton & Quincy, Milwaukee, St. Paul & 

 Puget Sound.'and the Chicago & Alton. 

 The Chicago & Northwestern railroad 

 is in 3 divisions, called the " Galena," 

 " Wisconsin," and " Milwaukee." So 

 it is about the same as 3 ordinary rail- 

 roads. This places our new office 

 within a block or two of what might 

 be called 7 of the principal railroads 

 centering in Chicago. We trust that 

 bee-keepers who come to this city on 

 at least the railroads mentioned, will 

 make our office their headquarters ; in 

 fact, we invite all bee-keepers coming 

 to Chicago, on any railroad, to do this. 

 They can have their mail sent in our 

 care, if they wish to do so, and then 

 call for it when they arrive. We will 

 be glad to accommodate our subscrib- 

 ers in any way we can. 



Please don't forget to address all 

 correspondence intended for the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal or George W. York & 

 Co., to 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, 

 111., hereafter. 



reports in Gleanings that he succeeds 

 with empty cans by using them upside 

 down, the same as tin pans are used 

 upside down on the posts that support 

 corn-cribs. The rats and mice can 

 climb the posts, but can not make the 

 turn to climb outside the pan. In the 

 same way the ants can not make the 

 turn to get on the outside of the can. 

 He says : 



Just take an old super or box. Cut four 

 pieces 2x2x12. and nail one in each corner. 

 Round off the projecting edges, tfien melt 

 the tops off from four tomato or peach cans 

 {3-pound cans are best); then invert a can 

 over each leg and nail cross-pieces on top to 

 brace the legs with, and for the hive to rest 

 on; but be very careful not to allow any 

 holes in the sides of the cans that the ants 

 can crawl through. 



Bee-Iii.spection and Foul Brood 



1. Who is the State Bee-Inspector for Illi- 

 nois ? What is his address? 



2. Incase of foul brood, when the inspec- 

 tor is notified and he comes to inspect same, 

 who pays him. the bee-keeper who has the 

 foul hrond. or is he paid by the State ? 



3. Wlmt is the name and address of the 

 proper one to whom to report foul brood at 

 Washington. D. C. or to send sample tor 

 microscopic inspection ? 



Prairie City. III. Elden E. James. 



As these questions with their answers 

 mav interest others, we give them here : 

 i. A. L. Kildow, Putnam, 111. 



2. He is paid by the State through 

 the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



3. Dr. E. F. Phillips, In charge of 

 Apiculture, Bureau of Entomology, 

 Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



Keepiiifj Ants Out of Hives 



One successful way is to set each foot 

 of the hive-stand in a tin can which 

 contains water or oil. A lack in this 

 plan is that the dish needs replenish- 

 ing from time to time. J. M. Caldwell 



Automobile for Bee-Keei)ers 



A. I. Root, in Gleanings, is quite en- 

 thusiastic about an automobile that 

 bee-keepers who are thinking about 

 anything in that line may be glad to 

 know about. After saying that although 

 he admires the $2000 and $3000 ma- 

 chines, he would not want one for his 

 own use, he continues : 



Day before yesterday Iluber and I took a 

 trip of about 30 miles to see a machine that 

 costs only ivH- The same firm makes a ma- 

 chine for only S370; but this one has a very 

 pretty top. and costs only Jws '1 he man. 

 Mr. Jacob Gesaman. has had the machine 

 over a year. As he is a bee-keeper, in the 

 winter time lie puts it in the shop .removes 



