324 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



meditating on this subject. I could give 

 advice that would revolutionize the world in 

 an hour. How honest and industrious and 

 temperate and peaceful and Christian and 

 blessed this world would be 1 No wonder 

 there are always so many who are ready to 

 give advice. But there is a difficulty about 

 it. To be efifectual it must be taken. Never- 

 theless, with the hope that those interested 

 in bees are more attentive to their interests 

 than are other classes I will close with 



THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE BEE-KBEPEBS. 



Prevent waste. There is no occasion for a 

 well person in this country to be poor. 

 Waste in some form makes the difference 

 between poverty and comfort. Are any of 

 your hive covers or bottom boards or feeders 

 or other implements of the apiary unneces- 

 sarily exposed to the weather ? What be- 

 comes of your broken comb and pieces of 

 wax ? Do you allow the moths to destroy 

 your empty combs ? If so, get your hand 

 on the stop that controls waste and bear on. 

 Get on it with both feet if necessary. It will 

 improve your circumstances. 



Don't chase rainbows. You think you are 

 an inventor, but you are not. That new 

 hive or frame or other contrivance you have 

 been planning so long — drop it. And be a 

 little wary of other people's inventions. 

 Your indorsement is not necessary to save a 

 good thing from oblivion, and your money 

 can't save a bad one. Don't waste time 

 waiting for some promised invention that is 

 to work wonders. The chances are a thou- 

 sand to one that it won't come, and like odds 

 that if it comes it will prove worthless. 



Don't get discouraged. Be neither elated 

 nor depressed. Don't give away your bees 

 nor don't destroy them. Crowd them for all 

 they are worth, but go slow on increase. 

 Add as few to the number of your colonies 

 as possible. Feel your way till you know 

 your ground and stick close to your business. 

 The horse with the best staying qualities is 

 the one to bet on. 



Strike while the iron is hot. In bee keep- 

 ing work must be done at the right time. 

 To do otherwise is to give success away. If 

 you will do everything at the right time your 

 work will not crowd you at any period. Get 

 everything ready this winter for the honey 

 season and swarming and then keep up 

 with your work. 



Finally, don't get excited about new things 

 or new ways. Follow present plans until in 

 your coolest moments you decide a change 



to be the best. Let others try novelties first. 

 Exercise your intelligence and keep your 

 head level. Sleep well at night and keep 

 wide awake in the day time. 



Lapeeb, Mich., Dec. 3, 1892. 



House-Apiaries Properly Constructed and 



Managed Would Greatly Advance Bee- 



Keeping.— The Reasons Why. 



. TATLOB. 



TN YEARS PAST 

 1 I have had as 

 many as 400 colo- 

 nies of bees, and 

 raised as many as 

 2(:,000 pounds of 

 comb honey in one 

 season. I always 

 tjot satisfactory pay 

 for my time until I 

 began to regard a 

 honey crop as about 

 as certain as the sea- 

 sons themselves. But the last three years 

 have not turned out the old time crops, and 

 bee keepers are beginning to ask " What 

 shall we do to be saved ? " You, Mr. Editor, 

 say in your leader: 



" Bee keepers have had winter losses, foul 

 brood, low prices for honey and poor seasons 

 to contend with. Sometimes one of these 

 burdens bears quite heavily, then it becomes 

 less weighty and another takes its place. A 

 few years ago the trouble seemed to be to 

 find a market for our product. Several poor 

 seasons in succession have removed that 

 trouble effectually, but the remedy is worse 

 than the disease. 



Taking bee keeping as it is, what does it 

 most need ? Does it need better appliances ? 

 Shall we keep more bees and establish out- 

 apiaries, or shall we keep less bees and do 

 something else ? 



If a man is to stay in it, what shall he do 

 different than what he is now doing ? 



What is needed is to be able to place an 

 apiary out here a few miles, another out in 

 this direction, another in that, etc., and then 

 have matters so arranged that one man can 

 care for all of them. Or these same methods 

 must allow a man to have an apiary at home 

 and be able to manage it by the use of a 

 small part of his time. I believe that it is 

 in this direction that bee keeping talent 

 should turn its energies." 



This language of yours, Mr. Editor, is a 

 confession that bee keeping is having serious 

 difiiculties to contend with. Yes, sir, long 

 before your leader was thought of, I fully 

 understood these troubles, and had arranged 



