Januarj-, 191 1. 



American Tiee Jonrnal j 



above the level of the surrounding 

 country, and the projecting roof ex- 

 tends so far that the Storm has never 

 laid its wet finger on the floor of the 

 cavern. In the rear part of this cave 

 is a hole the size of a babe's head, and 

 into and out of it a vast swarm of ants 

 is going incessantly. 



They travel from the nest-hole in 

 three well-defined paths which radiate 

 from the nest like spokes in a wheel, 

 and so long have the little insects been 

 there working out the task assigned 

 them by the Great Spirit that their lit- 

 tle feet have cut out paths in the solid 

 rock which will take in my thumb. 

 How long, think you, have they traveled 

 there ? Certainly no longer than the 

 bees have been carrying nectar to the 

 hive. 



In ages past animals lived which 

 perished from the face of the earth so 

 soon as environments changed which 

 had given them their special food. The 

 mastodon, mammoth, saber-toothed 

 tiger, giant sloth — a hundred pages of 

 this magazine would not serve merely 

 to mention their names! Other ani- 

 mals, when their food supply was 

 changed, but not cut off, did not per- 

 ish ; instead, they ceased to progress. 

 They became specialized, probably 

 ages before man came on the world's 

 stage to play his foolish little part. 



We t%lk and write glibly about im- 

 proving the bee, misled, probably, be- 

 cause other men have created strciiiis 

 in horses and chickens, causing the 

 horse to do special work and the 

 chicken to lay more eggs. We even 

 mention specialization as evidence that 

 we may hope to attain to some wonder- 

 ful condition — as non-swarming — not 

 seeming to realize that we are advo- 

 cating decapitating to bring a man to 

 life, just as doctors, not many genera- 

 tions ago, advocated bleeding a man to 

 stop a hemorrhage ; and lawyers tor- 

 tured men to make them tell the truth. 

 We do not seem to realize that speciali- 

 zation put an end to physical and prob- 

 ably mental improvement so long time 

 ago that the bee has probably lost 

 almost every memory of other condi- 

 tions. 



But look at the reversion of type ! 

 The hive-bee will today build comb on 

 the limb of a tree under certain pecu- 

 liar circumstances. Could I oflfer more 

 conclusive evidence that the bee has 

 progressed from other and lower 

 forms ? for there is a bee, Apisfiorscdci. 

 see " A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture," 

 under title of " Bees," which still builds 

 its comb out-of-doors. That .///.s 

 mellifica has ceased to progress, is .v/c- 

 cialized, no one, I opine, will deny. 



Had we to do with an animal which 

 had not ceased to develop, or, rather, 

 progress, we might hope to create a 

 strain, "an artificial variety of domrslic 

 animal," but, let me suggest, it is prac- 

 tically impossible to improve an ani- 

 mal which is wild by nature, as the bee 

 is, always was, and always will be. Did 

 you ever try to "tame " a wild-cat or a 

 hyena ? 



It is difficult to handle our flexible 

 language as always to make a meaning 

 clear to all who read, but there is a dis- 

 tinction and a difference between a 

 tame and a wild animal, between one 

 which has been domesticated and one 

 that is wild by nature — one which can 



never be brought under man's control. 

 There are in the world today scarce a 

 dozen domesticated animals, certainly 

 not 20 out of the thousands of species 

 known to man. Those who point to 

 the Good Book to bolster their argu- 

 ment about new strains of bees simply 

 acknowledge their own weakness, for 

 man has not, and never had, dominion 

 over the brute creation ; only a very, 

 very small part of it. It really seems 

 to me that it is the bee-keeper and not 

 the bee that needs improving. 



The Ancient and Honorable Art of 

 Apiculture is not so sacred as to be 

 above investigation ; its followers are 

 certainly fallible, because human, one 

 proof being that they write learnedly 

 of "Hybrids," Sports," and "Strains," 

 and a few — a very few — go into rap- 

 tures over non-swarming, non-stinging 

 and long-tongued bees. In other words, 

 they hope, or seem to hope, to take the 

 bee where the Creator left it and im- 

 prove on it. 



Do we, or do we not, need an im- 

 proved strain of bee-keepers ? 



Buck Grove, Iowa. 



City Honey-Selling— Necessity 

 of Attractive Displays 



BV J. CHARLES FRISBEE. 



As I have had a life-long experience 

 in the production and marketing of 

 comb and extracted honey, I take 

 pleasure in giving what I have learned 

 in this city during the past 20 years. 



Frisbee's Honey Show Case 



In 1890 we purchased the then largest 

 apiary to be found in Colorado, and 

 started to supply the retail trade of 

 Denver with comb and extracted 

 honey, and found it up-hill work for 

 the first year on account of the poor- 

 style packages furnished the grocers 

 by the commission merchants and 

 farmers. 



At first we would have one grocer 

 after another say, " We do not want 

 any more of that stuff; look at that." 

 And he would point to a lot of dusty, 

 fly-specked jelly-glasses or Mason jars, 

 on some high or obscure shelf, filled 

 with dark (usually) granulated honey 

 without any label. How could he ex- 

 pect to sell a glass of honey like that? 



Our first thoughts were how to rid 

 the market of such a package, and keep 

 it out. We were satisfied the honey 

 was pure (with but few exceptions), so 

 we decided to buy it and supply them 

 with a jar that would be attractive, and 

 show them that extracted honey would 

 sell, if put up neatly and attractively, 

 and suitably labeled. 



We spared no expense, and in 1892 

 we had made for us a clear flint jar 

 holding about a pound. This jar had a 

 glass cover and rubber band with wire 

 bail to seal tight, with our firm name 

 blown in the covers. We used over 

 ")0,000 of these jars and got the trade 

 started in the right direction. 



After these were disposed of we 

 found room for progression, and a 

 need of different size jars, which we 

 had made for us in three sizes, and that 

 would sell for 5, .10, and 1.5 cents each. 

 These jars have nickel screw-tops with 

 cork-liners, and are the best style jars 

 we ever had, both for home and ship- 

 ping trade. 



When we found we had the right 

 size and style jars, the next thing was a 

 suitable label for them. We made up 

 a pretty design in three sizes, and had 

 150,000 beautifully lithographed in col- 

 ors. We are still using this same label. 



To complete our work and success, 

 we designed the " Frisbee Honey 

 Show-Case," as shown in the illustra- 

 tion herewith. 



The case contains two dozen of each 

 size jars. The front is glass, 12x14 

 inches. The woodwork is finished in 

 white enamel, which makes a neat and 

 durable finish. A specially designed 

 case for comb honey is here shown, 

 with two one-gallon cans on top to 

 complete the display. 



The cases open from the back with a 

 door, which leaves the fronts intact, 

 making altogether a beautiful pyramid 

 or display for the retailer. We now 

 liave in use, in Denver alone, over 700 

 of these cases, the advantage of, which 

 can readily be seen. They give our 

 (registered) brand of alfalfa clover 

 honey a prominence that nothing else 

 could do. They keep the jars always 

 neat and clean, and right side up. If 

 jars of honey are handled by every one 

 that comes in, they are much more 

 liable to leak, and the loss by being 

 picked up by nimble fingers is no 

 small matter to the retailer. 



The retail price being on the glass 

 front, and the case in a prominent 

 place, many a jar is sold that never 

 would be if set back on a shelf in the 

 usual way. KrTj .. " "" 



Comb and extracted honey is a 



